Cloth Diaper Week: Why You Should Take the Plunge

So yesterday while reading posts on the various blog hops, I saw that this week April 16-21 is Cloth Diaper Week!  How fitting!  Since I am new to cloth diapers I thought I would just give you a run down of all the reasons you should just go ahead and take the plunge if you are remotely interested in Cloth Diapering.

1.  It is better for the environment.  Now I am not a green freak or anything like that.  I don't know that I care enough to go all out completely, but there is something to say about a diaper not going into a landfill. I know they say that 1 disposable diaper takes 500 years to decompose in a landfill, whether that is true or not, I like to think I am doing my part in not putting something harmful back into our earth.

2.  They are more sturdy.  I didn't realize this until we were gone this past weekend to the in-laws house and used the disposables they had there.  I would look at him in his little diapered self and think "That thing looks like it is about to fall off or burst!"  I like how durable the cloth diapers feel and look and ARE!

3.  They hold in the smell better!  No more too-stinky-to-hold children.

4.  They are just so cute, I mean who can resist a colorful hiney (that isn't cookie monster, or mickey, or elmo)?

5.  He has become more aware of when he goes to the bathroom.  We started cloth diapering when my son was around 16 months old and seriously after only being in them for a couple of days he began to tell me "Tee-Tee" and "Poo-Poo" after he felt it.

6.  They are not that bad to clean.  Honestly!  And even though we started diapering late, my son still had some doozies when it came to dirty diapers.  Honestly, you get over it, and it isn't that bad, you have probably already wiped it off of their hiney anyway.  One thing I will say here is that a diaper sprayer is a must.  We use our shower head in our tiny bathroom over the toilet, but when we move somewhere different I will be investing in one.  I know they are expensive, but well worth your money and if you don't end up liking CDing then you can sale it to someone else.

7.  The washing routine isn't that bad either.  It is just something that has to be done, but we are blessed to live in an age where we have machines to do all the work for us!!

8.   It is something you can care about.  I didn't think this was even part of it, until I started and then went go somewhere I was not comfortable cloth diapering.  Seriously, when you invest this much time and money into something you want to see it work, and work well.

9.  The cloth diapering community is great.  Everyone is so nice and there is a camaraderie there that we are all in this together!

10.  The savings on disposables!  I no longer feel like I am throwing money in the trashcan, instead I feel resourceful and that this just makes more sense really!

My First Vlog(s): Cloth Diapering

I have been perusing the internet lately and looking at many new homemaking websites lately and one thing that interested me a little were "vlogs".  I enjoy watching them some of the time and thought it might be neat if I made one or two about my new found enjoyment in cloth diapers.  For me on a subject like this, it is much easier to see it actually play out in real time than in pictures, so I figured I would give it a try and show you what I have in my stash, how I got the diapers, and what I think so far. There are a lot of videos because the first video I did had all the information about  ALL  the different diapers I had in my stash and it was 12 minutes long!  So I decided to condense it, and show you the diapers, then do individual reviews for the various diapers I have, that way you are free to pick and choose what you do and don't want to watch.  Let me know what you think.  I know I have a strong Texan accent and talk kind of fast, so let me know if you can't understand something and I will try to clear it up. 

This first video is just an overview of what I have and my thoughts.  

The following videos are the reviews I have on the various diapers I own now.  

Thirsties Duo  *I say this is a One Size diaper in this review, but just read on the tag it is a size 2 (fits 18-40lbs children.  Sorry about that*

Flip Diaper

 

Fuzzi Bunz

Bum Genius

SmartiPants

SunBaby 

Trend Lab

The Scheduled Baby

I am so excited to be kicking off this series.  Hands down one of the very best first decisions we made as a parents was to schedule our baby.  Because of this decision we now have a well adjusted, flexible 18 month old who knows what is coming everyday, and a Mama that is much less stressed and isn't run ragged.  Join me for the introduction and overview today at Booty Buns Cloth Diapers to read the rest on my first ever guest post!  See you there!

Grateful In the Uncertainty

For the past year I feel as if I have been in this type of continuous prayer, with everything our family is going through and so many things up in the air, I feel like I could pray at every turn of the day.   I try to pray daily for my family, my husband, my little boy, myself.  I look around and I am scared of the next steps, and also a little excited.  I want to enjoy where we are at, wherever that may be.

In many ways this time of uncertainty, this year where we have no idea what is going to happen, how things will work out, what we are going to do, has been one of the best years in my life.  I have gotten closer to my Heavenly Father as I have had to lean on Him for help, worries, strength.  This year has also been a great one for our marriage.  I don't know if it is because Mark and I have a common goal, and know no outcome, or what, but the feeling of our marriage being strong is wonderful.  I am so blessed to have that man.

Even if none of what we are thinking works out, even if God's will is just for us to stay here another year or two or however long, even if it seems we did all this work for just a time of waiting again, I am ok with that.  In fact I am grateful.  Because without this year, so many lessons would not have been learned, so many blessings would have gone unnoticed, so many opportunities would not have happened.  I am so incredibly thankful for what I have come to call "The Year of Uncertainty" because it has taught me so much more in such a short amount of time than I could have ever dreamed.  Yes, I am thankful indeed, and would do it all over again if I had the chance.  If nothing else I have learned that God is faithful, and He loves us beyond compare.


² For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord! Ps 117:2

Glorious Easter and Scheduling Your Baby

My family here had a wonderful Easter weekend celebration, with many meals shared together with family and friends.  Before we went to Easter lunch at my mother's house, my hubby had a great idea to stop and take some pictures of our cute Easter boy.  He had even thought of a spot and everything!  I have such a great man.  Here are a few of those.  He is such a cutie, and we are so blessed to have such a sweet little guy.

I also have some exciting news to share with you, I will be guest posting this week on Booty Buns Cloth Diapers website about Scheduling Your Baby.  I feel that as first time parents, this was the best decision my husband and I could have made for our little one.  I will be giving an overview for that post, but plan to do a couple more on the logistics here.

A New Look and A New Series

Welcome, welcome everyone to the new face of Faithful Steps!  Isn't it just beautiful?! This new face lift is all thanks to Jeanette at Crafty Hippo Designs.

Here is a before picture of what I tried to do on my own:

Not the best right?

And what you are looking at now is the finished result!

It was seriously so much easier than I ever anticipated it being.  Jeanette is super easy to work with, responds quickly, and genuinely wants to do what YOU want as the customer.  If you are even thinking about wanting a blog redesign, please check her out, you will not be sorry.

Also be looking next week for an upcoming short series on "Scheduling Your Baby."  While I have only had one child thus far, this is the parenting style we chose for those early months, and boy was I ever glad we did.  I will tell you what I learned, what to do, what not to do, and why I think it was the best decision we made during those firsts months of Reid's life.  Don't miss out!

Don't forget, if you like what you read, follow me, through facebook or just subscribe to the blog!  Thanks!

Teaching Character

As my little man is getting older right before my eyes, I am realizing more and more the burden that is placed upon me as a parent to bring up my children in the strength and admonition of the Lord.  I believe more than anything that character building is what helps to bring up healthy, well-rounded individuals.  I know it might be a little early yet to really start concentrating hard on this, but I want to get a jump start.  I have recently been looking for ways to get character training started in a straight forward, easy fashion.  Two resources I have seen have been the Child Training Bible, and Doorposts.  Both have their pros and cons, but I am happy to have options, even if they are limited.

So here is my question to you my readers, what are some ways you get character into your children?  What resources do you use that you have found to be most beneficial to you as a parent?  I am extremely interested in learning anything I can about this topic as it is the one thing that if my children learn nothing else from me, I want them to have learned character, and through that about God's love and gift of salvation for us.