Learning Cloth Diapers

This is an email I sent my girlfriend who is expecting her first baby in October. This is also my take on the cloth diapers I have been using and learning about.

So here is what I found out with the diapers we bought from ebay.
The first 3 AIO (all in one) pocket diapers I bought from China were a super good quality but they would still occasionally leak.
The next 5 diapers I bought (same brand not same seller) were not as good a quality. The first day I put one on Chandler one of the snaps came off. The diaper is still usable but I was disappointed. I have also learned that the diapers should really be worn with a double insert to maximize the length of time between changings. With only one insert you need to change every 2-3 hours (still may leak) with two inserts Chandler can go all night long (about 8-10 hours) with no leaks.
All in all, the diapers are good it has taken me a few weeks to work out all the kinks. They may also not be good on a newborn since they are kind of big and bulky, but as soon as that newborn stage is over they should be great. (After 2 weeks with our big babies :)
Also you should wash them occasionally with a few tablespoons of bleach because that microfiber holds odors more then a regular cotton diaper does.

All that being said. Jennifer let me borrow one of her Chinese cloth prefolds and with my great Prorap cover, Chandler can go all night and then some before I need to change him. That is the best cloth diapering method with little to no bulk between the legs and I think the quality is the best for the money . I am still using the birdseye cotton cloth diapers (the cheap cloth diapers you can buy at Walmart/Kmart etc.) but I have to change him every hour to two hours. They aren't very absorbent but they still do the trick. You just have to change often or change clothes often :)

I have only spent about $120 on all my cloth diapering supplies and that should do me good at least through the end of the year. That is a huge savings to me against the cost and waste of disposables.

Also since we got so many newborn disposable diapers as gifts we used all of them before we started with the cloth diapering experiment. We have only bought 2 packages of disposable diapers and I prefer LUVs or City Market brand Comfort something-a-rather. Diapers don't have to be expensive to still do the job. (FYI I have never liked Huggies, they leaked no matter what)

So here are some links to my favorite cloth diapering websites plus some links to stuff you can make your own cloth diaper accessories. If you have the time make the stuff now cuz you won't find the time once the babe gets here. I am just barely finding the time to make some stuff with all of my obligations. That is why I am giving you these links today :)

This first link is great. I have read the whole thing and really feel like this women knows her cloth diapering stuff. Great links too.
http://diaperpages.com/index.php
This woman is great too and has a great pattern for fleece cloth diapers. They are next on my list. You may even get one soon :)
http://webpages.charter.net/rhamley/diapers/diapertext1.htm
This site has a ton of links to patterns for all things cloth diaper related
http://www.diaperjungle.com/sewing-cloth-diapers.html#FREE%20Diaper%20Cover%20Patterns
This site gives a breakdown of cloth vs. disposables. Plus it has great links. I love Wollypop but haven't bought anything from them yet.
http://www.diaperdecisions.com/cost_of_cloth_diapers.htm
These are my favorite wool soaker patterns
http://www.borntolove.com/frugal-column2.html
http://withatangledskein.blogspot.com/2008/02/little-fire-crochet-soaker-pattern.html
I haven't made these yet but I am gonna try them soon.
http://www.borntolove.com/pattern.html

Spurred Bleach

Chandler has reconciled with his binky and decided to use it this morning. This may still be short lived but he does like to sleep with it occasionally.

I learned that, after washing cloth diapers in cold water and then again in warm and putting them diapers on a clothes line to dry, the sun bleaches out any stains they may have.

Having coffee with my friend Yuri and realizing that I do have a story to tell has spurred me to write in this blog everyday. If I can do that and stay consistent then maybe I can write some creative memoirs about my past. I have to remember to focus on my school work first. But for the last couple of days I have thought of so many things to write about. I need to write them down because I think of any of them right now. Ok I can think of two but there has been many more than that.

"I would be a junkie on the street if it weren't for my children, crocheting and God"
That may be a good opening to story.

5 weeks for all of us

At five weeks old, Chandler is a welcomed edition to our family. We are working out a few bumps. Like, Colton needing extra attention and Caleb wanting more independence. Caleb is a great big brother that likes to quickly pick up Chandler, one hand under is rump the other hand around his head. Zooming him around the house calling him super baby. While Colton has decided, just this morning, that he is going to start paying attention to Chandler.

Colton was laying in the big bed with me and Chandler, watching cartoons. He leaned over Chandler, who was sitting in his Boppy, took his hand, and said "Good Morning" while googling in his face. (FYI-Googling means making funny faces and noises while right in front of someone)

I wasn't sure how Colton was going to adjust to a new baby. Now that he is the middle child, I realize he has always acted like the middle child. Always wanting to be right next to me and bothering his big brother to the point of annoyance show the middle child syndrome.

Chandler is a good baby but just as demanding as the other boys were. Right now he is fussing and whining about needing to "nurse" for the 20th time today. (Small exaggeration but almost true)

Often fussy in the evenings and almost refusing the "binky," Chandler gets to wear cloth diapers, only wearing disposables when the cloth seems too inconvenient. I am mastering the art of washing cloth diapers and have had some ups and downs with them.

Colton's birthday is coming up on Sep. 6th and we will be having a small party at the park if the weather allows for it. This also means that Colton's birthday falls after the cut off date for Pre-school so we get to spend one more year together before he has to go to school. This is a good thing mostly because Colton has been interesting in retaining his alphabet until recently.

3rd grade is beckoning Caleb in 2 weeks and I am excited to see what new things he leans this year. I am already surprised at what he has previously learned and I pray is teacher is as good this year as was his last. Mrs. T from 2nd grade spent time helping Caleb learn to read and find the value in it. Caleb's excellence at math often makes him only want to learn more in the subject.

I am almost revealed of my duties with the local Farmers Market. A few more weeks and the volunteer position will be someone elses to deal with next year. Young Life and working on my degree to become a Pro. Medical Transcriptionist are my only commitments thus far for the rest of the year.

I hope it stays that way.

Whiter than Snow a captivating dramatic tale

Dotson: ‘Whiter than Snow’ a captivating dramatic tale

July 3, 2010

Caroline Dotson

Sandra Dallas’s newest novel, “Whiter than Snow,” is just as epic as her other novels. Dallas stays true to telling stories of small towns and families coming together during times of tragedy.

In “Whiter than Snow,” nine children are buried during a devastating avalanche in the fictional mining town of Swandyce, Colo., in 1920. The lives of the families involved individually unfold through each chapter, and during the avalanche rescue efforts, the people’s differences are put aside and a community is formed.

The quiet mine manager’s wife, Grace, opens up her house — after her son is found alive — as a hospital or morgue to the children and their families as the avalanche cuts the town’s population in half.

Two sisters, Dolly and Lucy, separated for years due to the cowardice of a man, are now able to reunite, but not until one sister loses two of her three children in the avalanche.

A man, Minder, who was a soldier for the Confederate side of the Civil War, befriends a black man, Joe, and a prostitute, Essie, after none of their children are found alive in the avalanche.

The sad circumstances of this story may come off like “Whiter than Snow” is a depressing tale.

However, Dallas does a great job of introducing each individual life story before the tragedy of the avalanche. This allows the reader to become attached to each individual child and root for them as the miners put forth amazing efforts to find the children in the snow.

For more than 15 years, Dallas has been writing novels using mysterious events to tell the main story, enticing the reader.

I love how Dallas uses smaller stories to get to the meat of the story, and how she takes time developing the characters so readers are emotionally connected to them by the final chapter.

As long as Dallas continues to write fabulous novels in her unique way, I will look forward to reading and writing about them.

‘Food Rules’ breaks down the basics of choosing, eating food

Dotson: ‘Food Rules’ breaks down the basics of choosing, eating food

May 11, 2010

From the author of “In Defense of Food” comes a less extensive version on how to eat right using traditional food wisdom, with advice from our mothers and grandmothers.

This is the same advice people accepted long before there were nutritional scientists and health experts.

In “Food Rules,” author Michael Pollan has put together a 140-page pocket book with 64 “personal policies” to remember when making food choices when hungry, at the grocery store, or planning to eat away

from home.

These guidelines have come from many different sources of food culture and none of them are scientific, however they all fall in line with what science has discovered.

The simplest advice he gives is to “Eat Food. Mostly plants. Not too much.” That is to say, real food that is not to be confused with things that are “eatable food-like substances.”

Pollan breaks the book down into three categories: “What should I eat?”, “What kind of food should I eat?”, and “How should I eat?”

Here are my three favorites from each category:

• “Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce.”

• “Don’t eat breakfast cereal that changes the color of

the milk.”

• “Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper.”

The funny thing is, I am sitting here writing this review while devouring a stack of pancakes. I made them myself — they are not frozen — but they did come from a box.

However, instead of the usual butter-flavored high fructose corn syrup, I used real maple syrup.

Reading the book two weeks ago, such as with the pancakes, I have made changes to my eating habits.

I am much more cautious of the foods I eat, how fast I eat meals, and why I am eating. I have doubled my label reading and more than anything I have done my best to cut out foods with a lot of sugar, and food that is processed.

However, I am also seven months pregnant and giving up ice cream is not an option. I did change to ice cream that has only five ingredients, like Pollan suggests, and I know the reason why I am eating it.

I like it.

Since reading “Food Rules,” I have become excited about the challenge of eating real food, and the book made me laugh when I realized some of the food mistakes I was making.

I don’t think I will be able to cut out Big Macs or burrito supremes completely from my diet — at least not yet — but every time I head to the drive-through I remember another of Pollan’s food rules.

“It’s not food if it arrived through the window of your car.”

“Food Rules” is available at the Moffat County Library and Downtown Books & Beads.

Sheep Industry Documentary

This is a dear friend of mine and I am excited about his journey here in Craig.

Craig resident focusing on making sheep industry documentary

Photo by Shawn McHugh. Enlarge photo.

Yuri Chicovsky, 31, plays a song on his guitar Friday at his home on Pershing Street. He intends to use his own music as the score to a documentary he is filming on the Northwest Colorado sheep industry. He prefers the acoustic sound in his bathroom compared to a more open room when practicing.

By Brian Smith

Everything in Yuri Chicovsky’s life has led to this.

Chicovsky, 31, moved to Craig in October 2009 to do what he believes may amount to his life’s work — make a documentary.

“The Sheep People,” the working title of Chicovsky’s film, combines his passion of meeting and interacting with people, along with photography and his heritage.

“I want to memorialize a tradition that I find to be just gorgeous,” he said.

The film, a continually evolving work, is a study of sheep herding history and the current industry in Northwest Colorado.

Chicovsky takes inspiration from his Macedonian sheepherder descent.

“It is the American story,” he said. “It is largely comprised of immigrants that came here with nothing. … It is one way of looking at the American dream.”

Chicovsky has recently decided to pour all his efforts into the project, quitting his job as a server at Carelli’s Pizza. He said the decision is a leap of faith, but one that could be worth the payoff.

The project is the culmination of a lifelong love of photography, music, writing, art and meeting people. A do or die for Chicovsky after wandering through life without a clear purpose, he said.

“Maybe I’m still completely lost and will fail miserably,” he said. “But, I have failed enough times now, it’s just good for the soul.”

Although the project studies the sheep industry, it also focuses on what Chicovsky said is a dying culture.

“I am curious about what it means to have cultures wane and perhaps die,” he said. “I feel like the beauty needs to be preserved and to show the majority of viewers the type of culture there is and the fairly pure way of dealing with our needs as consumers.”

The film project comes with its fair share of hang-ups, however. Chicovsky is currently trying to raise funds for the film, which he hopes to have finished by the summer of 2011.

But, in spite of the odds, he continues.

“I believe I am built to be a documentary filmmaker,” he said. “I’m leaping because I believe I will be embraced.”

Chicovsky, who was raised in Evergreen, attended an elementary school for gifted and talented students.

From an early age he displayed a passion for the arts. He began playing the piano at 5 and won several competitions. In high school, he shifted focus to singing and athletics.

He started playing golf at 13 and showed promise in the sport.

After high school, Chicovsky attended the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he studied poetry and creative writing. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English literature.

After college, Chicovsky took a year off to travel the world, visiting Europe and India. He said he started golfing professionally at 20 and began teaching the sport to pay the bills. During that time, he took students on pilgrimages to Scotland.

During his time as a waiter, he said he was able to bring himself down to earth a little and focus on “artistic pursuits.”

Chicovsky originally visited Craig in 1993, and returned in 1997 on a bow-hunting trip. He continued to return to the area on a regular basis and in 2004, he began to photograph lambing at the Villard Ranch north of Craig.

It wasn’t until he returned to the area in August 2009, during a weeklong antelope bow-hunting trip that he fell in love with the area.

Chicovsky said being surrounded by the “untouched desert” and “magical places” of Northwest Colorado brought out something instinctual from within.

Shortly thereafter, he returned to Berkeley, quit his job and moved to Craig to pursue filmmaking.

His time in Craig, he said, has been serendipitous.

Chicovsky said he is a spiritual person and is “very attentive to signs.”

“After a long time of not seeing very many signs, I started to see them when I came here,” he said. “… People were giving me chances and I didn’t feel like I had been given many chances as an adult yet.”

Within a few months of arriving in Craig, the “signs” started to align for Chicovsky. He found work teaching memoir writing, creative writing and photography at Colorado Northwestern Community College. He started his job at Carelli’s Pizza and began to volunteer with a homeschool association in Craig teaching poetry.

Chicovsky said he has felt welcomed and accepted by the community and could see himself living in the area for a long time.

But, being accepted by the community isn’t the only thing Chicovsky is thankful for.

Being in Craig, among the land he loves and the people he enjoys, has helped him focus his once varied interests into a meaningful and purpose-driven life.

“It is a matter of putting in my hard time,” he said. “It has always been about making sure that what I am doing is using my greatest gifts.

“I want to utilize what I’ve been given.”

Brian Smith can be reached at 875-1794 or briansmith@craigdailypress.com.

Crochet Baby Sandals

This is one thing that keeps me busy. These are for my niece Ari who will be born any day now...
Click on the pic for the pattern so you can make some yourself.