Cloth Diapers

When I was pregnant with Austin, Chris and I had the "disposable s. cloth diaper discussion". At the time, Chris was pro-cloth diapers, for environmental reasons mainly ( and financial too) and I was pretty against it. I had visions of sticking my child with diaper pins, swirling messy diapers in the toilet and a lot of work. And since Chris' arguments were all theoretical (he had never changed a diaper prior to Austin's arrival in the world), I dismissed his opinion completely and so I guess you could say I "won".

Well, times have changed. I learned through some friends of a "diaper grant" that gives a free set of cloth diapers to people who live overseas like us and decided to try it. Months after applying for the grant, I finally received the package. For free, I got about $350 worth of cloth diapers, liners, detergent, diaper pail bag and so on and we have begun. But I have to say, this is not like the horror stories my mom used to tell- cloth diapers have come a long way. They have velcro tabs (no diaper pin worries), very absorbent liners and, well, there are of course still messy diapers to deal with. However, after about 2 weeks of using them, I am a fan. It is more work (washing diapers about every other day) but not that bad. I still have disposable diapers on hand for trips out and travel. BUT it is saving lots of money, and the environment, and is fairly convenient for cloth. The boys don't seem to mind (Austin just wears them at night) and I think I have now figured out the right combination of liners to keep them dry all night. Check out Bennett sporting his.

It does make his rear look like a marshmallow...Bennett already has quite a little butt and now it is even more padded. Austin and Bennett continue to be different in so many ways, including their bottoms. Austin's is so small his pants fall off him and Bennett has plenty to hold his pants up :).

In a totally unrelated picture, this is Austin playing his "newest" instrument, the upright bass. He played along during a recent practice of Chris'. He was concentrating the whole time and would speed up when the tempo was fast and slow down when it slowed. He definitely loves music.