Kjerstin's Dance Recital

Kjerstin's music teacher at school offered a few weeks of dance classes this spring. On April 25, 2010 they had a recital. Here are a couple pictures taken before we left. Isn't our Kjerstin beautiful? I can't believe come September she will be 7 years old. How is it that your first born seems to grow up SO much faster than the rest?

Eli shows off his diaper wearing too

So I figured I shouldn't let Ellie has all the fun in showing everyone how her cloth diapers fit, so here are a couple of Eli too. The light aqua colored one is a Nubunz premium pocket diaper and the darker blue is a Flip diaper in Moonbeam made by Cotton Babies. I love both styles of diaper and they are both one size diapers so he will be able to wear these until he potty trains, what a deal! And isn't our little man adorable? He has such a mild personality and is ready to smile the minute you look at him!

5 Months Old Already!

Can you hardly believe it, the twins are 5 months old already! April 16th marked the day. We are still breastfeeding and the Eli and Ellie have both had their try at baby food but, so far it is a no go. I have them try at least once a week but, neither of them really seem interested and just spit it out. Eli is around 13 pounds and Ellie is about 11 pounds for my best guess. Ellie is still in 0-3 month clothes but many of the sleepers are getting too short so she must be growing at least a little bit! Eli is still in 3-6 month clothes which is right where he should be although he still in the 5% for weight for his age. Ellie can roll both ways when she wants to and Eli just started to roll yesterday from his belly to his back! One day this week they were sitting in their Bumbo chairs looking at each other and Eli looked at Ellie, got a big smile on his face, and then laughed at her! It was the sweetest thing I have seen them do yet. I just hope it was because he was excited to see her and not because he has started teasing her already!

The other day I looked through their photo albums and it really is amazing how much they have grown since birth and how little they really were. When I had them I knew they were small but it isn't until now when I can look back and see how small they really were that it really has an impact on me. As fast as these first 5 months have gone before I know it they will be turning one!

3 year olds Celebrate

Our beautiful Ashlyn turned 3! It is hard to believe that she is 3 years old already. I was just remembering the first two weeks of her life when I pretty much just cuddled with her in the recliner recovering from her emergency c-section. Oh, what a sweet and precious time that was! She still likes to be cuddled but it is never quite the same as that newborn cuddle. We thank God for the time He has allowed us to share with her and help her grow. Now if we could only get her to sleep past 6:30 am!

Here is Ashlyn just waiting for the go ahead to start opening up those presents.











Here are both birthday girls. Ashlyn has a cousin Maddie who is only 3 days younger than her. The girls certainly enjoy sharing the spotlight together.

Econobum system

In addition to making the Bum Genius and Flip diapering systems, Cotton Babies also produces Econobum. Econobum is a great name to describe this diapering system. It works well but is a no frills diapering system. You can get everything you need to diaper from birth to potty training for $99. Now do I think this system will fit well on a newborn, no but, starting around 9 lbs it will fit well. As with all one size systems they tend to fit better the bigger the baby gets. I use my econobums with prefolds and stay dry liners all available through the Bumgenuis line of products, well the prefolds are just prefolds but the stay dry liners can be gotten through Cotton Babies and other retailers like Kelly's Closet or Sew Crafty Baby. All of these sites also offer free shipping for the complete set and at least two of them offer free shipping on everything.

Pros:
Very well priced
Does a good job of holding in leaks
Can be used for a wide range of sizes.

Cons:
Not good for the newborn size
Only one set of snaps for waist sizing ( I like two so I can adjust the hips a little if I need too)
material is light weight ( It is durable though, I just like a heavier material)

I would recommend this system, especially if you feel overwhelmed by all of the choices available and are not sure if you want to spend a lot of money on getting started. Although for the ease of starting cloth diapering if you are nervous about it, I recommend pocket diapers then ease into prefolds and covers. Pockets closely resemble and go on like a disposable easy way to make the transition.

Here is Ellie in a Econobum cover and Indian prefold. She is about 4 months old and 9 lbs 9 ounces here.

Nubunz diaper review

First off I want to say I LOVE my Nubunz pocket diapers! They are the first ones I grab for and I am sad I only have 6 with one out of commission because of a broken snap. But it is getting fixed for free! I just mail it back and get reimbursed for my shipping they fix it and send it back free of charge! Great customer service!

Nubunz diapers are a compliment to the company's Sweet Doll Baby diapers which have been revised three times now. I have the first design and it is a bit bulky but I love the premium Nubunz!

Nubunz are a premium one size pocket diaper. Each diaper comes with two microfiber inserts for $9.50! That alone makes Nubunz rock! You can choose between snaps or round tab hook and loop closures. The snaps have a 3rd snap to help keep the wings up and not droop. The Nubunz are a narrower through the crotch which I LOVE because my little girl is skinny and they make the one size diaper not so bulky as so many one size diapers are.

So Pros:

GREAT price!
Narrow crotch
Lots of color options
Snaps and velcro available
Made in the USA
Has a 3rd snap to help with wing drooping!

Cons:

I like this diaper so much I don't really have anything bad to say about it!

Here is Ellie in her Nubunz with snaps on the smallest rise setting. She is about 10 lbs here. Also only one insert is inside, but two looks just as trim.

Want to start Cloth diapering?

Ok so like the last post there is another HUGE cloth diaper give away going on for the next NINE days only. The owner of Kelly's Closet is celebrating her 9th Anniversary of her store. In this celebration she is giving away NINE ONE SIZE diapers! How exciting! There are several different types of diapers in this give away so it would be a good one to win if you were going to start out cloth diapering. It would provide you with a sample of several different brands. For those veteran cloth diaper users it would give you some fun new diapers and maybe some you have wanted to try but just haven't done so or been able to justify new diapers yet. I love give aways! I just wish I would win. So please head over and check out her blog The Cloth Diaper Whisperer and you can enter to win too!

Ah, Cloth diapering Give aways!

Ok so as I have made my review on the Flip diaper system and I have pictures to do my review on the other two systems I use I have also now found myself entering giveaways on other peoples' blogs! The last can be found here. This is a give away for cloth diaper wipes! I have intentions on making a bunch from flannel recieving blankets we no longer use but with 5 kids I have yet to make it to the sewing room. One day I will get to it...maybe during nap time. I will get my reviews up on the Econobum and Nubunz diapers here this week. Maybe one day I will host my own give away!