So we went Paleo for a month...

As many of you know, Eric and I attempted Paleo for a month. I will say in these past few weeks, I learned a lot. This is just my take on Paleo, by no means am I an expert.

I did not go Paleo to lose weight. I love cheese, beer, wine, and bread. Oh gosh how I love bread. I don't like diets, I don't believe there is a magic solution to losing weight. I believe in eating healthy and in moderation and maintaining some sort of fitness level.

That being said, what inspired me to go Paleo had nothing to do losing weight. Ever since Kendall was born, I started thinking about food differently. I don't want to create a culture in my house where mom is always on a diet. I want Kendall and all my future children to have a positive body image and I realize that it starts with me. I want my family to have a positive relationship with food. Food is not our enemy, it's not a coping device (though after a stressful day at work, I crave brownie batter), and I believe food should be enjoyed! I don't want to have a fridge and pantry full of low fat/reduced fat "healthy" foods. I want it to be full of whole non-processed foods!

Over a year ago, I gave up soda. It was tough for a few weeks, but now I don't even think about it. I never really drank regular soda, I was a diet coke addict! The dentist pretty much told me it was the soda that was ruining my teeth. So I quit it and started only drinking water, milk, coffee, and tea. (ok, beer & wine too) Anyway, my teeth started improving, I have no sensitive spots, and have had three cavity free cleanings! After this I started to think. If I could cut diet coke out of my life, what other crap could I cut out?

Soon after that, I started thinking about Paleo. My pizza loving, beer drinking husband was not fully on board to the idea right away. I mean, could you blame him? Slowly, I warmed him up to the idea. We did paleo dinners, he gave up soda, and we started eating a lot healthier by cutting out a lot of the processed crap we had been eating.

It wasn't until after we vacationed in California when he was ready to take the plunge. We pretty much ate like crap the entire vacation. I felt gross and lazy and was not happy with myself at all. when we got back to Iowa we dove right into Paleo. The plan was to do it for a month, then slowly add in dairy and some grains.

After we got over the low-carb flu, Paleo was actually really easy! Eric got a headache and some brain fog and I had some sore muscles during the first week. But, we pushed through and stuck with it. During that month some amazing things happened. My energy level was up, and I was more regular than I had ever been before. No cramps, no feeling bloated, and backed up! (TMI, sorry!) Furthermore, I've added SO many veggies into my life. I swear it's almost like we're meat eating vegetarians! I continued to drink wine, because I'm pretty sure the cavemen fermented, and if not, then I'm sorry cavemen! We also were able to get creative with the food. Craving pancakes? We found a recipe. My sweet toothed husband was all over the paleo cookies, waffles, and pancakes and they actually taste amazing. Bananas need to be given more credit. I also fell in love with sun butter and pretty much all of Justin's nut butters. SO AMAZING. Also- enjoy life chocolate chips are the most amazing things on earth. It's allergy free chocolate and only has like 3 or 4 ingredients and it tastes so much better than Nestle chocolate chips that has like 30 ingredients.

So anyway, now that the month is over, we are drinking beer again. Last night I had whole wheat pasta but I felt guilty. I don't really have a game plan for adding foods back in. I know I don't want to overdo it and I also know I will avoid bleached flour and refined sugar to the best of my ability. Will I turn down a meal served to me? Yeah right, I still love food. But I LOVE dairy. I need cheese and ice cream in my life so I will be consuming that.

So that is my take on Paleo thus far. I am happy with it and still feel great and know how my body feels. I am also happy that my daughter will grow up eating real food. She won't see me eating Activia or low fat diet anything. Instead she will grow up in a house where food is not the enemy. She will learn to eat in moderation and enjoy amazing food with her family. Will we have In and Out and pizza? Yes, I'm sure of it. But I won't make a fuss about having to spend 3 hours at the gym burning it off..... because we will eat healthy portions! Most importantly, my digestive tract will stop punishing me for good! Well, hopefully. I'll find out more soon and see if it's dairy or gluten that was causing my problems.... or maybe it is soy. There is soy in everything!

So I hope that helps answer any questions or concerns people had over us doing this paleo thing. Trust me, we're not living off of bacon and red meat so our hearts are safe

A Blog Series?

A few days ago I was talking to Eric about how I had nothing to write about. Last night the genius spoke. He suggested I do a blog series on things I like in Cedar Falls/Waterloo. So I decided to give it a try. Over the next few weeks I will blog about things I enjoy here in town. Believe it or not, there are actually a lot of things I can talk about! 
So here is a list of what I will be blogging about starting tomorrow:
- Local Eateries 
- The Trails
- Farmer's Market
- Downtown Waterloo
- Downtown Cedar Falls
- The Lampost
- Local Events
So there you have it! Stay tuned!


Anyway, on another note, I've been obsessing lately over potential room decorations/decor. I want to change my bedroom to mustard yellow and grey... like right now. I know we really don't have time to paint and the money to change all our furniture but by the time we'll be in a position to do so, I wonder if those colors would even be in style. So I guess that is what Pinterest is for? I logged on for the first time in months and there are SO many neat things and ideas using those colors. So hopefully that will help with this little obsession for the time being. We shall see. 

Conflict of Heart

     Okay, so I've attempted to reflect via blog about my time here in Iowa over the past 2 years. Truth be told, I don't exactly know how to write about it. Every time I've tried, I've been afraid I might offend someone or my tone sounds too miserable to function. This isn't the case at all, it's not that I dislike Iowa, I'm just still adjusting to the culture change. So many people write about being "small town" and moving to the big city, but what about the opposite? Sure, Stephen Bloom wrote a little article about his time here in Iowa that was published in the Atlantic, and people flipped. When I read it, I thought it was quite funny and I understood (sort of) where he was coming from. I think Iowans forgot that he is not a Christian, he's Jewish (I'm pretty sure Iowa is just as Christian as it is white, which is around 90%) and he's not from the big city of Chicago or Minneapolis, he's from San Francisco, California and it's quite different out on the left side of the country. 
     So my conflict is how do I communicate adjusting to the culture of the Midwest without offending the people who live here and without it sounding like I moved to po-dunk nowhere to my East and West Coast friends? Do I have to put a big disclaimer on the top of my post warning people that this is the most rural area I've ever lived in so forgive me? I don't know. So maybe my reflection blog will never be written because I'm afraid of the backlash and offending people. Or maybe the Iowa has rubbed off a little on me... I'm afraid of offending people on a blog? Wow. 
     So here is a quick non-offensive reflection about Iowa. To those people who live in the bigger cities on the West Coast, Fresno is seen as a country hickville, a trashy town or something along those lines. Well Fresno has around a half million people. Here in Iowa, Des Moines is the big city coming in at a massive population of 203,433 and a metro population of 569,633 (thank you Wikipedia). Now that is the biggest city in the state. CRAZY! I've lived in Fresno and New Jersey so please forgive me Iowans when I say that Waterloo/Cedar Falls is a small area. In a lot of ways where I live is kind of like Fresno. Waterloo is about 4-5 hours from any major metropolitan area and Fresno likewise is about 3-4 hours from any major metro area. Waterloo has a reputation of being dangerous and ghetto. South of Shaw, Fresno has the same reputation. Here is what I can't get over. Iowans talk a lot about diversity. I get it, I guess, but then again I don't. When the state as a whole is still over 90% white, it's hard for me to believe this diversity card people are trying to play. Apparently Waterloo has a lot more diversity but when I look, I see a whole lot of vanilla compared to where I am from. There is no beach. This makes me sad. I really, really miss the ocean. No matter how much I adjust to life in Iowa, it will never have a beach. I mean, it's not like I went to the beach every weekend when I wasn't landlocked, but it was nice to know it was there and I could go If that was what my heart desired. It's also really cold here in the Winter. I thought New Jersey was cold, but this place takes the cake. On top of the cold, it's hot too. Not Fresno hot. I miss the dry heat. In Iowa 95 degrees plus humidity is unbearable, I can't breathe in it.  I remember NJ being humid, but not this bad. This is more like Washington DC heat with grossly cold winters. I really only want one extreme, not 2. Don't get me wrong though, I like the fact that we have 4 seasons and I like the idea of snow. I also enjoy going back to Fresno in the winter and seeing people bundled up in scarves, hats, and pea coats when the high is like 50 degrees. On top of that, I enjoy the looks people give me when I'm out in that same weather in just jeans and a long sleeve shirt. 
     Okay, I think that is enough for now.  Maybe someday I'll have the guts to produce a better blog about my time here, until then I will leave you with that. 

I am "one of those parents"

We've all heard it or muttered it, "oh, she's one of those moms." I've even done it myself. Lately, I've been making the comment internally about myself. Here's the list of everything Eric and I do. You be the judge. Am I on of those parents?

1. I breast fed. For as long as I possibly could. My curious, active little daughter pretty much self weaned herself and even baffled the pediatrician by her lack of focus. This broke my heart. I wanted to breast feed longer, so I pumped and pumped some more until I couldn't emotionally handle it any more.

2. Co-Sleeping. Trust me, with every ounce inside of me, I long for the nights when Kendall goes down in her crib and wakes up in her crib. Nothing makes me happier. I love my bed. However, at 3am when she's screaming, I am in no state of mind to sooth and rock her back to sleep. So, I do what many of those desperate mothers do, and I go into our guest room and crash there with her. I don't take her into our bd because Eric takes up too much room.

3. Rear-facing car seat. The law says that children must be rear facing until they are a year old and over 20 pounds. Well, Kendall is a year old and over 20 pounds and facing backwards. Why? Well the suggestion is to keep them rear facing until they are 2. Just a suggestion, not law. So we are following the suggestion. Besides, she doesn't know any better and doesn't share the back seat with anyone forward facing so I don't feel all that bad.

4. Cloth Diapers. I love it. I started reluctantly but it was the best choice we could have made. Poopy diaper are no more disgusting in cloth than disposable. Yes, there is extra laundry involved and Kendall has a "diaper butt," but I love it. Besides the diapers today are light years better than what our parents' options were.

5. No TV. Studies show that children should not watch TV until they are at least 2. Even then, there are only certain programs for them. TV programs designed for toddlers, amazing. The over stimulation is not good for their little developing minds at such a young age so people suggest you refrain. This actually isn't bad at all. Since we don't have cable anyway, our TV has moved down into the basement and is hardly ever on. Our living room/family rom or whatever you want to call it, is exactly that. We are a family in there and we live in there. We don't live for Mickey Mouse clubhouse to come on and entertain Kendall or live for whatever else crap comes on TV. We play games with her, engage. and have dance parties. Don't get me wrong, I still love me some TV time. And the minute Kendall has gone to bed, Eric and I are downstairs in the basement checking out Netflix.

So there you have it. I have become one of those breastfeeding, co-sleeping, rear facing, cloth diapering, no TV watching mothers. Is it that bad? I don't think so!

A new kind of outlook...

Some things are just too toxic. I feel like there is so much negativity surrounding me these days, from the cryptic Facebook posts that show up on my newsfeed, the inability of people in my life being able to get along... Or even talk to each other, to the stress of feeling like I NEVER see my husband. I know he feels the negativity too, it's consumed us both.
I mean really, this should be the happiest times of our lives, we're young, we have a beautiful healthy 14 month old, and each other. Yet, all I can think about is how we're stuck in Iowa all summer. Like the city of Cedar Falls is holding us captive or something.
Since nothing is really in my control , I can let the negativity consume me or take the hand that was dealt to me and do my best. That being said, I am choosing to make the most of it. This summer, Eric and I are going to become "doers." I think we're both sick of talking about what we want to do, so why not just do it?

So, here is what I'm going to do this summer in Iowa:
1. Shop local.
As much as I can. By shopping farmer's markets and the river loop public market in Waterloo, we can feed ourselves and support local farmers and work on breaking free from the processed world.
2. Stay off my damn smart phone.
I truly believe these little devices are ruining humanity. I'm sick of seeing people out together, on their phones. This summer I will be checking my email on the computer. Also, I'll only be facebooking from the computer. Do I need to Facebook from my phone? No. I was perfectly fine without it for so many years. Plus, people use it to be negative and I don't need it!
3. No more Starbucks.
It's expensive, I don't need it, and we have better coffee locally. Besides, whenever I do go, I have a bad experience. Not all Starbucks are created equal.
4. Get out of town when it's possible.
Even though we are on lockdown, Eric has a ton of vacation days to use and 2 days a week off. Even though I'm in a June 4 week class, and we can't really leave at all in July, there's still August and plenty of day trip things we can do.
5. Be outside.
As long as the weather is nice, I plan on hanging out in the backyard as much as possible. Some people play on their phones during their free time, I will be outside with Kendall... Weather permitting of course.
6. Ride my bike.
Honestly, hitting the trails with Eric and Kendall in tow is so fun. We get turned around, make wrong turns, and get to enjoy the beauty of the Cedar Valley from the seats of our bikes for a few hours. I'd like to be able to do a family ride several days a week.
7. Go on a morning walk.
Lately Kendall thinks 5:45/6 is a suitable wake up time. Well, it's summer. So when she does, I'm going to feed her some breakfast, strap her in the stroller a d go for a nice morning walk. I mean, the sun is up anyway, might as well be outside!
8. Get my hands dirty.
I don't really know how to garden, but it'd be nice to learn and maybe add some color to our front yard.
9. Blog more.
I know I have like 4 readers, but I can post updates, pictures, my thoughts, whatever on here and a blog a week isn't really too time consuming.
10. Be positive.
There's no point in complaining all the time. It only makes things seem worse. I also need to hold Eric to this too. We used to spend our walks dreaming about the future, making decisions, and just shooting the breeze. These days it's become a daily venting session about jobs, school, you name it. We need to break free from it and just be positive.
So there you have it. 10 things that I'm going to do this summer. Suggestions and words of support and encouragement are appreciated! Also- come visit us! Haha.

Cloth Diapering... Revisited

I'm still no expert on the subject but now that I've been a cloth diapering mama for several months I have some new insights:
1. I don't like the new Fuzzi Bunz Elite diapers. Okay, it's not that I don't like them, I just like the old one size better. I've had leaking issues with the elites and I'm just not convinced the the minky fabric insert is as absorbent as the microfiber. So from now on if we need to make a diaper purchase, it's BumGenius 4.0 for us!
2. I still don't mind the extra laundry. I do feel that Eric and my laundry takes a backseat to Kendall's clothes and diapers but we've never run out of clean underwear so I guess we're doing fine.
3. In a cloth diaper Kendall could probably get by in 18 month size pants. In a disposable one, the 12 month size pants are pretty loose. Yep. Cloth dipes are that bulky! I love it and love the diaper butt comments from friends. I like to think of it as extra padding when she falls on her bottom.
4. I don't think I can ever bring myself to use cloth wipes. Cloth diapering is good enough, right?
5. Diaper rash cream? No, not us. Since switching to cloth, Kendall's bottom is hardly ever even red. Which is good because the cream messes up the cloth anyway.
I really don't know why I was so anti- cloth in the beginning. It's not bad! I will definitely continue doing it!

Baby gates and baby aches!

In case you didn't know, Kendall has become quite the little mover! As each day goes by, she gets better and better at walking. This is super exciting but I was not prepared to have an early walker. I mean can't I just have a normal baby?
Since Kendall has been a "girl on the go" she has run into pretty much everything in our house. I feel bad but then I see other babies sporting goose eggs and black eyes and have to chuckle to myself... I guess it's just normal! The resilience of babies amazes me.
In other news, Cody is not a fan of baby gates. I'm surprised he hasn't tries to hop over yet! When he's enclosed in a room or locked out of a room, he gets pretty upset and whiny I'm hoping he'll get it together soon because I have a feeling the baby gates will be around for a long time!
Pictures!!!! Yay for 9 months!

Dear Fresno

I don't know when or why I became such a Fresno hater. I'm glad I grew up in the valley, I went to good schools, most of my friends are still there, Indo most my clothes and make up shopping here, get my hair done here, and my entire family is located in Fresno. I do enjoy coming back and visiting but the longer I stay, the more annoyed and pissy I become.
So what's the big deal? I've started referring to Fresno and the valley as a, pardon my language, a shit hole. The air is horrible, I've seen the mountains one time since we've been in town. The unemployment rate is heartbreaking, I believe this is a cause to all the traffic around town. Also- I feel like North Fresno keeps getting ritzier and ritzier while the poor get poorer, or shitted on. Holy cow, there are so many luxury cars around town! Like what the hell do these people all do for a living? I know a lot of people work really hard and earn nice things, but my gut tells me 90% of the people driving luxury cars in Fresno are doing it to keep up with the Joneses and are just digging themselves into a big debt hole. Then I look at all the new development. There are so many empty store fronts in strip malls throughout town, but people keep building new shopping centers. How about you fill up the empty spaces before you build new centers with store fronts that will never be filled?
Maybe I'm not about keeping up with the Joneses, or maybe 5 years of being out of the valley has changed me. I don't know what it is or where my negativity comes from. Maybe some of that East Coast bitterness rubbed of on me, who knows.
I do enjoy seeing my friends who have also left the valley who share my feelings about this place. I don't hate Fresno, I don't think I'm better than Fresno, I mean come on people I live in Iowa. I just think Fresno and people in Fresno can do better.
I guess I just find the doucheyness(is that even a word?) of North Fresno a little annoying and after about a week of it, I can't handle it anymore.
That being said, I love my family and my friends here. The friends I have in Fresno work hard and play hard, they are grounded, have values, and make Fresno tolerable when I am here. They constantly remind me that good people live here and grow up here and are not all crazy douches.

I'd rather die than not get an iPad for Christmas.

Yes, this was a statement that I actually heard in Target a few days ago.

Disclaimer: if your 6-8 year old throws temper tantrums in public and you ignore it and continue shopping for 45 minutes then you probably don't want to read my post.

That being said, here goes nothing.

Ok. Seriously? This kid was no older than 8 and no younger than 5. I had him pinned for a first grader. So this kid was screaming at his mother all through Target about getting a stupid iPad for Christmas and why he NEEDED one. Yes, needed one. Why the heck would a first grader NEED an iPad? Do adults even NEED them. I'm 27 and do not have an iPad or a tablet. At least as adults we know the difference between want and need. So anyway, I heard this boy screaming when I went in to the store. His mom continued to do her shopping and spent a LONG time in the electronics area. Ok, WHY would you hover over there where the iPads are? Clearly your son cannot handle life at the moment and you are just baiting him.

Anyway, no matter where I was in the store I could hear this boy screaming about an iPad. It really did bother me and got me thinking about kids and TV and me limiting what my kids watch. I didn't think I'd be that type of parent but seriously? I'd rather my kids not watch TV and not know what kind of products are out there instead of having the kid throwing a temper tantrum in Target.

Of course at checkout this family would be behind me. I did a great job and ignored it. Yep. go me! No dirty looks, I didn't laugh to myself, instead I thought, "thank God this isn't me right now." So in the checkout line was when the real breakdown happened. I heard things like:

"There's no iPad in the cart, we can't check out."

"Why do you hate me?"

"Go back and get me my iPad NOW!"

"You're a mean mother."

and the best of them all

"I'd rather die than not get an iPad for Christmas."

Sheesh. I didn't realize that life as a first grader was so rough. Please tell me I'm not the only one completely bothered by this. I feel bad for judging, but come on. Kids that age shouldn't be throwing tantrums, right? And for that long? I was in the store for almost an hour and he would not calm down. Personally, if I were in that mother's shoes, I'd of picked him up, left my cart full of stuff where it was, got in the car, and gotten the hell out of Dodge. But that's just me.

The sad part is, I bet that kid is getting an iPad for Christmas.

5 things I don't really mind about motherhood.

1. Kendall doesn't sleep through the night. I may like to complain about my lack of sleep but I really enjoy those moments at 3:30 in the morning in the quiet dark house with her. Strange I know.

2. Cloth diaper laundry. Yes, it's an extra chore and I do a diaper load every 3 days but it really isn't that bad! Stuffing the dipes takes about 15 minutes but I enjoy it. Eric doesn't mind it either.

3. Being a slave to Kendall's schedule. Sometimes I feel trapped at home and Kendall really isn't an ideal sleeper but then again, it's really cold outside and I really don't have anything better to do than hang out with my daughter.

4. Making my own baby food. I was so scared to take this on. This was yet another one of Eric's genius ideas that I am executing. It actually doesn't take too much time and I feel good about knowing exactly what I am putting into Kendall's body.

5. I have no idea about what movies are in theaters and what's going on in my favorite TV shows. In an attempt to save some money, we ditched cable. I'm talking no cable at all, not even basic. We get what's in the air. We decided we didn't want the TV to be Kendall's babysitter and she really doesn't need it anyway. Also, our TV is in the living room down in the basement. As a result of all this, we are hardly down there watching any TV. So really, I haven't seen movie trailers and I have NO idea about what's on TV. I hear New Girl is good!

I survived the weekend

Before the sun came up on Thursday morning, Eric was on his way to Atlanta. He was only gone for 4 days, but really it could have been 4 months. Yes, it was that rough. Usually I enjoy my time alone. I am able to eat the foods I like that Eric doesn't, watch my shows, and basically do what I want when I want. However things have changed. Eric left me alone with Kendall and our dog and man oh man was it a long weekend. By Thursday night I was already wondering how single parents did this.

First of all, we do not have a fenced in yard. I love not having a fence. Being from California, this is not something I am used to and I love it. I also love it because how house backs up to a park so without the fence, our backyard looks huge! This weekend I wanted the fence. Taking Cody out to do his business is a whole event when you're by yourself. I either had to put Kendall in the baby carrier or in her stroller and then leash up the dog, and we would go out to let him do his thing. This really wasn't too annoying until the weather turned icky. It isn't fun at all trying to take a dog pee with a baby in the rain.

Secondly, I didn't get any schoolwork done this weekend. I tried and I failed. It's like Kendall knew that I had stuff to do and Eric was gone so she was super fussy the whole time. When she did nap, it was only for an hour at a time. During her naps, I decided to do other things besides my homework, so I guess that's my fault. It's hard enough going to school with a baby and a husband who works weird hours, but that being said, I'd rather have him home with the weird hours than away.

There were good things that happened while Eric was gone, a few people from church helped watch Kendall while I was in class. The college student who watches her during the week can't be my full time nanny since she is a student too. I also got a TON of laundry done, kept the house somewhat clean, went to bed early every night to try and catch up on sleep, and I did not turn on the TV once the entire weekend! That's pretty awesome.

Needless to say, I really do not know how single parents do it. I survived the weekend and am not looking forward to Eric's next trip to Atlanta in October, but like last weekend, we will survive.

10 years ago I was a senior in high school

It isn't too often that I take time to reflect on the past. Since it is the ten year anniversary of 9-11, I guess it is appropriate.

10 years ago I was a senior in high school, I remember that morning vividly. I was seventeen years old, in fact, I hadn't even been 17 for a full month yet. My alarm went off, my mom came into my room and told me a plane flew into one of the twin towers in New York City. The first thing that went through my mind wasn't that it was a terrorist attack, I thought of other, more innocent things as I starred at the smoking tower on TV. Was is a mistake made by a pilot? Maybe. Then it happened. I watched the second plane fly into the other tower and it hit me. America was being attacked.

I remember going to school, a little shaky, not knowing exactly what was going to happen. It was game day, so I was in my team t-shirt. (I do remember that) In class, some teachers had the TV footage on, and other teachers just treated it like any other day. Teachers are humans too and they were also dealing with what had happened. The last time the TV was on so much during my classes was after the Columbine shooting my freshman year. On 9-11-2011, school was different. All a sudden my 17 year old drama didn't seem to matter.

There wasn't much I could wrap my 17 year old mind around. I knew the world was going to be different from that point on. There was a lot I didn't understand too. I had never been to NYC, didn't know anyone on the East coast and lets face it, I was young.

So ten years later, here we are. I have been to NY several times, lived on the East coast for three years, met people and made friends with some awesome people. In church this morning, Shelly talked about her oldest daughter asking her what the twin towers were last week. She wasn't even born when it happened. It got me thinking, how will I react when Kendall or my future children ask me about 9-11. They will for sure learn about it in class and after some simple math they will figure out mom and dad were alive when it happened. Wow.

I guess I could just start from the beginning. When I woke up that morning my senior year of high school.

The Truth About Cloth Diapers...

http://sweetpeascloth.com

From a skeptic...

Okay, I'll admit it. When we first found out we were pregnant, Eric suggested the idea of cloth diapering. I wanted nothing to do with it. I completely shut him down, I didn't want to research it, didn't want to talk about it, end of discussion. In my mind, cloth diapering was some hippie-mom trend and I did not want to join the ranks.

So fast forward to September, 2011 and we are using cloth diapers. Why the change of heart? I don't like the idea of paying for things on a regular basis. Okay, well we pay our mortgage, phone bill, utilities so don't worry! But baby stuff ranks up their on things I don't like paying for with pedicures, make up, and getting a tan. So there I was at Target, looking at diapers and the cost. "Wow, $20?" I thought to myself, "How long is this box even going to last me?" So I'm cheap, forgive me I come by it naturally. I have no problem spending $150+ on a good pair of jeans, but diapers? No way.

This is when I starting thinking about switching to cloth. I knew it would be a big investment on the front end, but once you've paid, you're done. So I started researching. In typical Jessica fashion, instead of compiling my own research on the forefront, I let others do the research for me by sharing their cloth diapering knowledge. To be honest, it was Heather and Katie who completely sold me on the idea. They had great pitches, and made it seem not so difficult. Great job friends!

After that, I had the big decision of choosing a brand. and HOLY COW! There are so many brands out there and types of diapers. I didn't want to commit to a brand only to find out it wasn't going to work for us. I'm cheap, remember? So we ordered, several brands, and several types. I'm sure I made a bigger deal about choosing a brand than I really needed to, but hey, at least I was making the switch.

During my "research phase" I discovered a lot of things.

1. Cloth Diapering is no more disgusting than regular diapering. Poop is poop. Either way, you have to wipe it of their little bums. There are ways to make it a little less disgusting like buying a diaper sprayer (which we do not have) or buying liners that catch the poopies.

2. Seriously, it's easy. It is a little extra laundry a week but if you have your own laundry room and are not paying for laundry it's really no big deal at all.

Here is a quick summary of what we tried:

1. I do not like Flips diapers. The idea of flips is cool: no stuffing, the ability to buy disposable inserts, and they're pretty trim. However, on Kendall, they just didn't work. She moves around too much and there is really nothing holding the insert in place. So nix on the Flips for us.

2 Best Bottoms Diapers are similar to Flips and Eric's favorite of all the brands we tried. These are pretty cool, I'll admit it. The diaper shell is waterproof and the inserts actually snap in. So while there is no pocket to hold the insert (and no stuffing), the snaps hold it in. Another cool thing about Best Bottoms is that you can change the insert, but keep the shell on. This works fairly well until the baby poops. If it's a big poop, it gets on the shell and I am not about wiping the shell clean. I'd rather just change the shell and start over.

3. All-in-ones. Sounds pretty neat, right? Basically, there is no stuffing, it's a diaper with no insert. Not for us.

4. We did not try the "pre-fold" diapers. Mainly it is because I am lazy and do not want to deal with all that.

5. Fuzzi Bunz are great. They have perfect size and one size. One size fits from birth to potty training and perfect size comes in small, medium and large so as your baby grows, you need to buy more. The mediums are pretty good though, they fit 15lbs to 30lbs. Anyway, what I really like about the Fuzzis are just how trim they are! All other one size diapers adjust with snaps all over the diaper. With Fuzzis, you adjust the elastic around the legs and waist as they grow.

6. Bum Genius 4.0- this was my other favorite. These are also one size diapers and like the fuzzis, you place the insert in a pocket. The Bum Genius has snaps to adjust the size and are a little more bulkier than the fuzzis but I like them equally as much.

So what did we end up going with?

Fuzzis and Bum Genius! We also have 3 Best Bottomss diapers with three inserts per diaper because they were Eric's favorite and this whole diapering thing was his idea anyway, so he got some that he liked to use.

Getting Started:

Heather offered some great advise about getting 2 diaper pails. I took that into consideration and kept my diaper champ and then bought a hanging diaper bin for the cloth diapers. This hangs from the door knob and I just throw the diapers in there and come wash time everything goes in the wash, including the bag thingy. Planet Wise makes some great ones with cute patterns!

Going out was a big concern of mine. Where will I put the dirty diapers when we are out and about for the day? Planet Wise also makes little wet diaper bags for your diaper bag! So all we do is put the icky diapers in the waterproof bag, zip it up, and we are done. This bag is also washable.

So as you can see, cloth diapering is quite simple. We are not cloth diapering at night yet. I am planning on buying some hemp inserts for night time. These absorb more than the fleece so will be better for night. I have also heard that bamboo inserts work great too, but I don't know whether or not they are compatible if the brands I chose.

So there we have it. The Sunderland family made the cloth diaper switch. Cloth diapering hippies? Not so much.

Here are some great sites to compile your own research:

Cotton Babies

Kelly's Closet

Nicki's Diapers

Planet Wise

Have Fun!

No Pictures Until I am Ready!

The above statement can mean so many things right now.

1. I have no idea how to upload multiple images on this blog. I would love for it to go: picture, statement, picture, statement and so forth. Sadly, I have not figured this out yet so there will be "no pictures until I am ready."

2. Kendall's ultrasound pictures. We had 3 ultrasounds with Kendall. One at 20 weeks where we found out the gender, size, and more accurate due date. On this day we also got one of those fancy 3D ones too. When trying to see her face, her lovely hand was covering it. Later, we had to go down to Iowa City for some metabolic testing and we were lucky enough to get a level 2 ultrasound. I was 31 weeks pregnant and really looking forward to seeing my baby girl. We found out several things: Kendall was still a girl, she was measuring "big" at 3 lbs 4oz, and once again her hand was covering her face. Moving on to me at 41 weeks pregnant. I got another ultrasound and once again, she was covering her face. I believe this was Kendall saying, "no pictures until I am ready!"

3. Now to me. So it's no secret that I gained a ton of weight over this pregnancy. It was a combination of a ton of things. I was pregnant, it was an excuse to eat and eat like crap. It was also my first winter in Iowa and I am sorry, when it's -10 outside, no I do not want a salad and chicken breast for dinner. I want a nice heavy pot roast or another lovely crock pot treat. I also worked at an elementary school last year. Holy cow do those people eat. I'm talking good food here. "Oh, someone brought brownies? Don't mind if I do!" On top of all that, working out really wasn't happening. I was tired, anemic, and it was too damn cold outside to really go on a significant power walk. Needless to say, now after Kendall's arrival, I am trying hard to get this baby weight off! I am eating crazy healthy and trying to work out. Sadly, I am a victim to Eric's schedule. Curses for not having a normal job! Add me being back in school, the gym closing at like 8, and the fact that Kendall won't even be old enough for child care there until she's 6 months... it's just one big headache. We need to suck it up and buy a jogger. So this all explains the lack of pictures of me. I don't like my picture being taken right now because I feel awkward and fat. So once again, "no pictures until I am ready."

let's see how i do at this

ok friends, i have decided to start a blog...

more as a form of updating you all on life and parenthood, studenthood, and yeah... living in IOWA.

Hopefully I'll be a good blogger and post fairly often!

much love.