My First Fitted Cloth Diaper!!!

So friends, I am very excited to share the first product of my new sewing journey!! It's my first fitted cloth diaper!! I made this one last night using some left over fabrics I had on hand. I've made 2 trips to Joann's already for tons of super cute fabrics so you will definately be seeing those soon. I just wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing before I started using the cute stuff :)

For this being my first time, I think I did rather well!! I learned that I need to make the hole (to turn fabric inside out/right side out) in the front so that I can do the elastic along the back side seam allowance. I also learned that I want to double up on cotton flannel, on atleast 1 side. I also need to add one more layer of absorbency. I think watching all those youtube videos really paid off!! haha. We used the pattern from Darling Diapers, it's the newborn one and it's FREE!! It worked really well for us!

So this diaper consists of a layer of cotton flannel on the outside, a layer of cotton knit on the inside, and 2 pieces of microfiber terry for the soaker. We also plan on sewing velcro on the cute ones, I didn't want to waste velcro since it's not cheap (Because we got colored velcro) and sewing velcro on, really isn't a challange.

So all in all, I think the second one will be much better and I can't wait to share the rest of the stash we create!! I'm also working on burp clothes, bibs, a quilted blanket, and some cloth wipes. I'm going to be busy, busy, busy!!!

My Pregnancy Journal Entry Baby #2 (17 weeks)

I saw this little link up and I thought, I probably should get started on documenting somewhere or else it won't happen.
This pregnancy has really been something else. I can't be more grateful for this child that god has blessed me with. I just felt so sad in the beginning when we were having problems. I had a miscarriage 3 months before I got pregnant this time around. It was devastating. I felt so unsure of wanting to try again. I was at peace with God's plans but didn't want to feel like that again (who would) But I had to accept that if it was going to happen again, then it would and if I wanted a baby, I was going to have to try. So when we found out we were pregnant again, it was exciting, but I was nervous, I wanted to be so careful (as if I could really do anything to help), but then when I was 13 weeks along, I started bleeding, my heart sunk and I felt like it was the end of my world. I wanted so bad to be in control of what was happening, but I had to let go, and accept God's fate, whichever way it was going to go. After bed rest and lots of rest, it got better. Within days it stopped completely and it took about 3 weeks for my body to regain it's energy.
This brings me to today, after having an appointment and ultrasound 2 weeks ago, seeing my baby for the first time and getting good news that the baby looks well, I'm now in a place where I can dream again. I can plan for things to come, I can visualize holding my baby, loving my baby and being a mother again.
So that is the story. Now you know some background. Now to the fun stuff.
My baby at 17 weeks (Taken from Babycenter.com)
Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.

NO, I won't give you a belly pic...I'm a little fluffy so...I would say you couldn't tell if you saw it anyway. haha. Sad, but true. I need to buy some shirts that state I'm pregnant, so at least people don't think I'm just getting fatter. haha.

Symptoms: Well I have my energy back!!! YAY! It's sad that I have been so happy to do household chores, but I was! It's nice, but for some odd reason the mornings are still interesting. My routine for the last 3 weeks not is, wake up, dry heave in the restroom for about 2 to 4 minutes then blow my nose which is full of snot. WHAT THE HECK! haha. But I would take that over morning sickness nausea any day. It's just weird.

Weight Gain: Ok, so I was doing really well that last few weeks, but this week 3 pounds came out of no where!! I mean...well I might know where they came from...haha but I definitely won't let that happen again!

Cravings: It's sad....but it's been cheeseburgers. This is really not something I eat normally, but the funny thing is that I craved the same thing with my first and through my 3rd trimester, it's what ruined me. It's why I'm fat now. NO JOKE! It is! I ate cheeseburgers like they were tic tacs!! Shame on me, I know. But this time around I swore I would take better care of myself and I have! I have completely different eating habits now and I'm alot healthier. But there they are again....calling me....those cheeseburgers! *sigh*

Food Aversions: hahah so I'm gonna quote my husband on this one "You hate healthy things right now" hahahah this might be a little true.

What made me cry this week: My annoying older brother, he can be a jerk sometimes and my hormones don't help that. After a day of shopping with him, I came home, vented to my husband and sobbed for awhile. haha. It actually made me feel better. But surprisingly I haven't cried in a few weeks! I think that's awesome!

Medical Stuff: Nothing really, this week has been the best so far so, I'm excited for things to just keep going up from here! I think the new prenatals that I started taking about 2 weeks ago have really helped with my back pain! So yay! (Garden of Life, Vitamin Code Prenatal) In case you're wondering!

Thoughts from Cody (From the mind of a almost 5 year old) So my son is so funny when it comes to the baby, he has taken ownership of this baby and it is his baby! Earlier this week as we were homeschooling, he stopped his work to ask if I had bought bottles for the baby yet, I said "No, not yet, why?" He said "Well mom, the baby can't drink from cups! We need to buy those bottles soon!" haha I said "Ok Cody, we will."
There are lots of these moments that come up. Like just today, I was trying to give Cody some love and I was hugging him super hard on the couch and he stopped me and said "Mom, remember the baby! You can't squish me so hard, you might hurt the baby!" I was like "oh, ok." I was sad, but glad that he was being so thoughtful. I love my big boy!

Something I am excited about: Online shopping. hahahhahahaha, my husband and I decided to cloth diaper this baby and I'm beyond excited about it, I LOVE CLOTH DIAPERS, and my husband actually is just as excited about this as I am....well maybe not the online shopping, but the cloth diapers themselves. I love him!

Free Friday!!

As you may remember from last week, Every Friday I will be sharing all the contests I've been entering throughout the week, so if you are interested in all things cloth diapering, than these would be right up your alley!!

Sunbaby One Size Cloth Diaper Giveaway Ends March 10th

$25 Giftcard to Modern Cloth Ends Feb. 24th

Bumgenius 4.0 Diaper Giveaway Ends Feb. 29th

Bee Changed Diaper Giveaway Ends March 6th

Fuzzibunz Elite One Size Diaper Giveaway Ends March 7th

Groovycheeks Regular One Size Diaper Giveaway Ends March 14th

$15 or $25 Gift Card to The Tender Tush Ends March 2nd

Cloth Diaper Geek Twitter Party March 6th Tons of prizes!

Knickernappies One Size Pocket Diaper Giveaway Ends March 8th

GroVia My Choice Trainer Giveaway Ends March 16th

Wahmies Deluxe One Size Diaper Giveaway Ends March 10th

AppleCheeks Little Bundle cover+insert Giveaway Ends March 7th

$15 Gift Card to Country Drawers Ends Feb. 28th

Glow Bug Cloth Diaper Giveaway Ends March 15th

There is alot of information floating around out there about cloth diapers and other natural living baby stuff and I must share some videos that really helped me make some sense of it all!

Kayla (obbsandlala) is not only super fun to listen to, she is full of all kinds of information! I love that she is very honest about all of her "reviews" on things. Her video on accessories sure did same me alot of headache of looking each little thing up individually, I sat through the whole video start to finish!!

I also got so much information from (Theschweeps) She did an awesome experiment on Cloth Diaper Inserts, I felt it was very informative and helped me decide which inserts I would like to try for myself! It's a 2 part video and she also does a video on natural fiber inserts!

There is also another video that I found really insightful, from (Dirtydiaperlaundry). I was amazed at the results of their experiment on stay dry diapers, weather the baby is really staying dry or not. Check it out!

Last but not least, informative and hilarious, (Mamanatural) Pick any of her videos from her uploads, especially her show episode. Love watching her and love all the info she shares in such a fun way! Definately worth watching!!

Hope these help some of you out there that are newbies like me to the cloth diapering world!