Wool diaper covers...a new obsession?

One area of cloth diapers that has largely remained a mystery has been the wool cover phenomenon. I had scored two handmade wool longies (covers with legs, basically wool pants) in a freecycle bag of diper stuff, and only just tried them out today. Ive been generally totally perplexed about the whole wool diaper deal. But MsZo has a bit of diaper rash which is not normal for her, so i wanted a real breathable cover...now im thinking ooh, wool rocks. Yesterday I was all about the bum genius one size, but I cant afford to majorly increase our stash of those all at once (but will bit by bit :). Neither can I afford to buy wool covers (pricey but I bet a great deal over the longer term, and cute! check out these overalls!) BUT it is possible to make your own home made wool covers ("soakers") from old wool sweaters (happen to have two fancy soft wool sweaters that shrunk) or by knitting them. Well I cant sew and I cant knit, but I am going to try the sewing deal after defending my dissertation proposal. If I ruin the sweaters, well, im not wearing them anyway. You may think wool this time of year is crazy, but its actually breathable and nice (without the legs) but warm in the winter. And i was freaked out by the ability to not wash them hardly at all - sounds gross - but their antibacterial and water resistant nature is amazing. Here is a good list of things to love about wool from another mom that I found while searching for patterns:

1. They are breathable.
2. They don't leave red marks on baby.
3. They are biodegradable.
4. They absorb a lot of liquid.
5. If they contain lanolin they are somewhat water resistant.
6. They have antibacterial properties
7. They are full coverage and resistant to leaks
8. They are non binding and allow for very free movement.

sounds good? got to add: possible to make your own out of old sweaters. but, like i said, i cant sew. so this may be a disaster. going to have to ask for help from my friend with a machine and skill...you know who you are. (oh, and i added sewing machine to my wish list :)

Spring Spring Harrah!

It has been so so warm the last couple days. I went from putting zoe in pajamas, a sleep sack and blanket one night to trying to figure out the right combination of fan, onsie, blanket-or-not?, to have zoe sleep well. Its so warm on our top floor! And the car, oh my. I'm afraid to take her anywhere by car because it doesn't have air and whoa my it gets warm even with the windows down. And its only April, its going to get so so so much hotter!
Anyhow, this is not what I signed on to quickly post about. This is:

Today we finally got outside to dig in the dirt!
Zoe sat in her bouncy seat in the shade while I cleaned up the corner herb etc garden, pulling weeds and finding herbs that survived and flowers that are popping up. I created a little lettuce plot, surrounded by old bricks that are conveniently abundant under our porch. I planted carrots around the lettuce bed. Put a trellis type thing (also found under the porch) and planted peas. Grow peas grow! I set the broccoli and tomato seedlings outside to get better sun. Still bummed the eggplant and peppers never sprouted. Will have to buy transplants.

Oh, and I also managed to hang diaper laundry out to dry in the sun for the first time, and wow! the sun really does do a great job bleaching out stains! As I was hanging it up I was really surprised at how all of a sudden it seemed that there were lots of stains that I hadn't seen before - and poof! A few hours in the sun and they are like new! woohoo!

Setting Zoe in her bouncy seat in the shade lets me get all sorts of outdoor work done! (shouldn't celebrate too much, I'm sure she wont always be in the mood. but a big chunk of the gardening actually happened during nap time - yay monitor technology)

Ill post garden pictures before long.

cloth v. disposables. seriously?

While hanging out at my mothers I watched daytime tv for the first time in forever and saw one of those morning "news" shows, you know that one where they go outside and talk to the screaming people, Good Morning America I think. Anyhow, they did a little bit about how many resources the average person uses in a lifetime and they talked about disposable diapers. Showed images of the amount of plastic, paper, cotton, etc used in all the diapers needed for one child - working on shocking us into disgust. But I was very erked that the punchline of this story was not about how to cut down on all the waste. Missed a big chance to give some tips for decreasing the maddness. They didnt seriously talk about cloth diapers but instead said "and in case you thought cloth was the answer"...well you have to wash cloth diapers and that takes water which is precious, so were screwed either way. Hellooo? Yes, washing cloth diapers uses resources. Duh. But after all that calculating about the environmental disaster of disposables its ridiculous to dismiss cloth so flippantly. We need a serious comparative study people! I am so so so so so so so so so tired of people telling me that they have heard that the environmental impact of 'sposies and cloth come out equal in the end. Why not disposable clothes then? Disposable dishes? We can improve our water conservation habits (grey water etc) easier than we can remedy the massive use of plastics and dumping of non-degradable diapers (filled with human waste mind you - also bad for the earth and for us). I was two extra loads of laundry a week. I use warm, not hot water. Cloth users know that bleach is bad for diapers, and many many use earth friendly detergents. A child uses around 3 thousand diapers in their first year (a little less the following years), and typically go 2 or 3 years in dipes. If 'sposies and cloth are comparatively equally earth damaging, somebody better prove it to me.
harrrumph.

San FranTastic

I am back from my quick little getaway. In two and a half days I packed in some serious activity: professional, rejuvenating, and fun. The conference that took me on this excursion went well enough. The time in a quiet comfortable hotel, cozy bed and relaxing bubble bath was fantastic. A tiny holiday from mommyhood can do much to energize the spent spirit. But of course my favorite part was visiting some of my favorite people. Now I want to move west. Go West! yes. lets.

And Here is the store and community center that I wish was in Baltimore. Thank you Sara for finding it and taking me there. And here is the diaper cover that I got while I was there, which I had been coveting for its adorableness while it has been sold out in zojo's size at the online store that I frequent for its free shipping on covers policy. No shipping when you buy in person! So much better to buy in person anyhow. So fun to be at a store that let me do so!

So thankyou friends for a wonderful time. So glad to have finally introduced you to each other. Next time I'll bring ms zj and her papa and well have even more fun.