My favorite things about Christmas...

Christmas has to be my most favorite holiday. One very important reason is that it was when my Lord and Savior left His heavenly home to become a baby and live a perfect sinless life. Only to later die on the cross for my sins so that I may one day live with Him.

I wanted to share a few other reasons with you also...


1. I love spending time with family and friends, we live far from our families, so any chance we can get back to see them is great!! We have made many friends here and we enjoy spending time with them when we can't be with our own family.

2. Christmas music....I absolutely LOVE Christmas music. I start playing Christmas music the weekend after Thanksgiving and play it sometimes all the way until the snow is gone...or until my husband gets sick and tired of it. :o)

3. Christmas cookies and other goodies....my favorite are peanut butter blossoms (pictured above).

4. presents...my husband always teases me that my one most selfish trait is that I love to get presents (I would have to agree with him). While I love to give presents, I also love to get presents!!

5. I also like the snow...I like it but I don't like to drive in it. I couldn't imagine a Christmas without snow sometime during that time (although last year was awful close). :o)

Cloth Diapers Part II

So why do I cloth diaper?

1. In the long run it can save money (although it does cost a bit much up front). I have found that I can make my own cloth diapers for fairly cheap about $5.50 a diaper. I enjoy making them, they take me about 45 minutes to make only one (not to bad for a beginner seamstress). I have learned to LOVE my sewing machine!

2. I found that Annika has had less diaper rashes in cloth diapers. I know people say that there are all kinds of chemicles in disposible diapers. I will say I still use disposibles when I'm out and about and at night).

3. They are sooo cute looking! I never knew there were so many different kinds of cloth diapers! Here is just to name a few:

aio (all-in-ones) these are diapers that you do not need a cover with (they have PUL in them, so they are waterproof). These are great for dads and others who are not that big into cloth diapering. You just velcro (or snap) them on and your ready to go! We have quite a few of these I just got off craigslist.

pocket- these are diapers that you put a cover over. These diapers have a pocket (hence the name) that you stuff yourself with however much absorbent material you need (I use microfiber rags from the auto department sewed in thirds).

fitted-these are similar to pockets but you cannot stuff them, they already have the absorbent material sewn in them (these are the kinds I make). The pictures in part I are all fitted diapers. You do need to put a cover over these diapers.

prefolds-these are the ones that look like a "burp cloth." These are the ones our grandparents used. They are they ones that you have to fold and pin. Although now they got this new little "tool" called snappies. These take the place of pins.

Along with all the diapers you got the different kind of covers. Just to name a few that I have found...

wool, PUL, and fleece covers

A new thing is wool longies. I love these things and would love to own a pair for Annika they are sooo cute! You can get them in just about any color you like!
Here is a few Websites I have found useful:
http://www.diaperpin.com/howto.asp
http://www.cottontailbaby.com/pages/about-cloth-diapers.htm
www.babycenter.com (the diapering board there)

Cloth Diapers Part I

I have decided to start using cloth diapers at home for reason I will share a little later. I have decided to share a few pics of a couple that I have made. I have actually made about 8 of them, but they are the same three I never knew there were so many types of cloth diapers. But here is Baby Love (a.k.a. Annika) in some homemade ones.

Christmas Hat Part 2

So I finished Annika's Christmas hat with some help from a lady at our church. Here's a picture of her wearing it. She was not to excited to wear it, but you can at least get an idea of what it looks like!