Cloth Diapers

Using cloth diapers is a really good way to save money.



Not to mention super cute.

We started using cloth on B in March. I ordered 10 pockets and washed every night. I slowly built my stash and once J was born I ordered a ton of prefolds and cheap covers. One thing that I was afraid of was not wanting to stick with the wash routine. It was a little intimidating thinking about all of the laundry I would be doing with 2 little ones in diapers. It took a some getting used to but after a few weeks it just became a part of my every day routine. I'm going to share exactly what I do with our diapers. First, I got a small trash can to store my dirty diapers until wash day. Once soiled I knock off any solids in the toilet then throw in the pail. I usually end up washing every 1-2 days just depending on how I feel. This is what I do:

Prewash with cold water - to get the ickys out
Cold wash/rinse with 2tspns of Rockin Green Hard Rock
Hot wash/rinse with 2tspn of Rockin Green
Extra cold rinse

If I get stinkies I do a couple extra rinses, if that doesn't help then I use some vinegar and that seems to do the trick. It's really simple.

Another intimidating part of cloth..... prefolds. I'll have a post on that later! :)

Photoshop

Here is a super simple tutorial to make your pictures "pop". Open your picture in photoshop, go to layer > duplicate layer and set it to "soft light" adjust opacity to your liking. I also like to adjust the saturation of this layer by going to image > adjustments > hue/saturation. I set the master saturation at +30 then the red saturation to -20.



Done!

Water Play

The heat lately has been unbelievable! So what do we do? We play outside with the water hose, of course.

Lightroom 3

I downloaded the trial version of Lightroom 3 and it's basically amazing. I used to edit my pictures 1 by 1 in photoshop which took way to long. I installed Lightroom and instantly imported all of the photos off my camera. Easy!


Straight out of camera


After editing, looks much better right? ;)

BG 4.0 pics

B is 30lbs and 36in. J is 16lbs and 26in. I could probably snap it down to the medium setting on B, fully unsnapped makes the rise VERY long which is nice. J is on the smallest setting.

Swagbucks

Anyone not signed up for Swagbucks yet? It's pretty much the coolest thing ever. So far I have gotten $30 in amazon gift cards. I figured I would post my referral link here just in case anyone wants to join ;) http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/jessicalev follow the link, sign up and start searching! It's really easy.

Bum genius! 4.0

I love our BG 3.0 but the velcro is terrible. We don't use it often because it's way to easy for B to take off on her own. I got excited when I found out they adjusted the rise on the new 4.0 and added snaps. I am definitely a snaps girl! At first I thought I'd hate them but my kids are pretty patient during diaper changes so taking a few extra seconds to snap them is no biggie for us. I got my 4.0 in the mail today and once I get some pictures of the fit on both kids, I'll post them. I tried it out on J and it fits wonderfully on the medium snap setting. He is roughly 16lbs and 26in. We have a hard time using cloth on him because every diaper cuts into his chubby thighs, it doesn't seem to bother him but I don't like it. The bum genius never leaves any marks and the elastic is really soft. I am really impressed by it, I ordered another one!

Pics will come shortly :)