(per Amber's request)
Question: Do you use a service or do you clean them all yourself? I wash the diapers myself. I haven't looked into diaper services. Washing is pretty easy once you figure it out. Start with a cold rinse with a squirt of blue Dawn (someone told me to use the blue stuff - don't know why). Then wash a regular cycle on the highest temp setting the diapers you choose will allow. I read that "Free and Clear" detergents actually have more additives than other detergents, and that can cause build-up on the diapers, and more expensive detergents like Tide are too harsh, so I use 1/2 the amount of a cheap detergent or more Dawn. I usually air dry the diapers to save on energy costs and also wear on the diapers. I wash one load of diapers about every 3 days.
Question: How are they as far as holding in the moisture? This, too, has improved with practice. I change Brett more often in cloth than when he is wearing a disposable. With the pocket diapers, you can adjust how much "stuff" you put in the pocket based on what your child needs. Brett needs either one really good insert or 2 average ones.
Question: And the poo? The poo is not a lot of fun. But, you have to clean it off one surface, so it might as well be two! I've been using biodegradable liners about half the time (I cut the large one in half to save $) and they make the job a lot easier!
Question: Do you use them for naps as well?? Yes. He can easily go 3 hours in a cloth diaper with no problems. And sometimes he leaks, but then I just change his outfit.
Question: What are the negative aspects? Other than that it is more work (laundry, dealing with the poo, a few more leaks), clothes are made to fit a kid in disposables, but cloth is a bit more bulky, so he seems to wear the next size up. What else? The diapers take up more room in your diaper bag. That's about it! Overall, I've been very happy with them! Oh, one more negative aspect I guess would be, most people don't have much experience with them, so we end up using disposable ones when he is in other people's care. And I've heard most childcare facilities won't accommodate.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
one year ago today
One year ago today, Bryan and I officially started our adoption journey by submitting our application to Summit Adoption Home Studies.
Wow! What a year it has been! We had originally expected to adopt our child from an orphanage in Liberia. I can't explain the loss we felt when things came crashing down, and we made the difficult decision to bail out. Aside from the emotional loss, we also experienced a great financial loss.
But God is so faithful. While we will always have tender hearts for orphans in Liberia, our son was not there. He was in the womb of a courageous 28 year
old lady in Georgia. And God brought us right to him. At the very same time we were getting our home study revised, an agency in Georgia that we had overlooked in our countless hours of research contacted our home study agency with a desperate need for families hoping to adopt African American baby boys - exactly the desire God had put in our hearts! All the pieces fit together, the papers were signed, and one month later our son was born!
But God's faithfulness extended beyond uniting us with our son. That financial loss we had experienced? God took care of that, too. We received 2 grants totaling over 30% of our adoption costs (and more than we had lost). We found out we would receive one of them while we were staying in the hotel in Georgia the day after we were united with our son!
And now here we are - the three of us. Brett has been in our arms for over four months! It's hard to remember what life was like before him. Brett is a happy, healthy, busy, loud 4.5 month old. (And we are his happy, proud, tired parents!) He has already beat the odds. We look forward to seeing what God has in store for his life, and are so thankful to be part of it.
Ask me if I believe in miracles.
Wow! What a year it has been! We had originally expected to adopt our child from an orphanage in Liberia. I can't explain the loss we felt when things came crashing down, and we made the difficult decision to bail out. Aside from the emotional loss, we also experienced a great financial loss.
But God is so faithful. While we will always have tender hearts for orphans in Liberia, our son was not there. He was in the womb of a courageous 28 year
old lady in Georgia. And God brought us right to him. At the very same time we were getting our home study revised, an agency in Georgia that we had overlooked in our countless hours of research contacted our home study agency with a desperate need for families hoping to adopt African American baby boys - exactly the desire God had put in our hearts! All the pieces fit together, the papers were signed, and one month later our son was born!But God's faithfulness extended beyond uniting us with our son. That financial loss we had experienced? God took care of that, too. We received 2 grants totaling over 30% of our adoption costs (and more than we had lost). We found out we would receive one of them while we were staying in the hotel in Georgia the day after we were united with our son!
And now here we are - the three of us. Brett has been in our arms for over four months! It's hard to remember what life was like before him. Brett is a happy, healthy, busy, loud 4.5 month old. (And we are his happy, proud, tired parents!) He has already beat the odds. We look forward to seeing what God has in store for his life, and are so thankful to be part of it.
Ask me if I believe in miracles.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
earth day
To celebrate earth day, thought I'd post about my favorite earth-friendly activity- cloth diapering! In the 1940's the first disposable diaper was created and continued to evolve until it became the common diaper we all know today. While many mothers praised the disposable diaper for its absorbency and freedom, many feel that there is a hidden price to pay for this convenience. 10,000 tons of disposable diapers are tossed into the landfill each day. They can take up to 500 years to decompose. (Not sure how they know this since disposable diapers have only been around 60 years?)
The average baby will use nearly 6000 disposable diapers which requires about four to five trees to make. Then there is the plastic for the liner and the chemicals used to both bleach the wood pulp and to create the super absorbent inside. After manufacturing the diapers we next have the cost of disposing of the diapers. A baby diapered for 2.5 years will generate two tons of waste in just diapers alone.
And then we have the cost to my pocketbook. Take the figure of 6000 diapers times a conservative $.20 each. That equals $1200 to diaper one child. Multiply that by 2 or 3, or my brother's 5 kids ($2400, $3600, $6000) and that's a lot of money!
I've spent about $100 on our stash of cloth diapers. There is the continued cost of laundering and replacing/repairing diapers that fall apart, but that is minimal. So far, my favorite diapers are pocket diapers like the bum genius and happy heinys, but they retail at about $18 each, so I only have a few that were gifts or bought on clearance. Other than they are super convenient, they have snaps in the front so they grow with your baby.
My second favorite, and much cheaper option is using proraps with homemade inserts. The covers are about $8.50 each and you only need about 2 a day. The inserts cost me less than $1 to make.
I do still use a disposable at night, and when we travel. Bryan uses them a little more liberally than I do. I think he does it so that I will always change Brett's diaper, so he won't put a disposable one on him!
The average baby will use nearly 6000 disposable diapers which requires about four to five trees to make. Then there is the plastic for the liner and the chemicals used to both bleach the wood pulp and to create the super absorbent inside. After manufacturing the diapers we next have the cost of disposing of the diapers. A baby diapered for 2.5 years will generate two tons of waste in just diapers alone.
And then we have the cost to my pocketbook. Take the figure of 6000 diapers times a conservative $.20 each. That equals $1200 to diaper one child. Multiply that by 2 or 3, or my brother's 5 kids ($2400, $3600, $6000) and that's a lot of money!
I've spent about $100 on our stash of cloth diapers. There is the continued cost of laundering and replacing/repairing diapers that fall apart, but that is minimal. So far, my favorite diapers are pocket diapers like the bum genius and happy heinys, but they retail at about $18 each, so I only have a few that were gifts or bought on clearance. Other than they are super convenient, they have snaps in the front so they grow with your baby. 
My second favorite, and much cheaper option is using proraps with homemade inserts. The covers are about $8.50 each and you only need about 2 a day. The inserts cost me less than $1 to make.I do still use a disposable at night, and when we travel. Bryan uses them a little more liberally than I do. I think he does it so that I will always change Brett's diaper, so he won't put a disposable one on him!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
sad news
Our dear friends Dave and Joy thought their baby was going to be born today. They had been preparing their hearts and their home for this baby since early March when they were matched with an expectant mother. But yesterday they got the heartwreching call every potential adoptive parent fears. The mother had given birth and decided to parent her baby. They had invested their hearts and now they are grieving a great loss. Please pray for God's peace and strength to carry them through.
According to a 2007 poll by Adoptive Families, about 1/3 of "matches" result in the expectant mother deciding to parent the baby. So, if a family adopts 3 children, we can expect it to happen at least once, but could you ever be prepared for it?
According to a 2007 poll by Adoptive Families, about 1/3 of "matches" result in the expectant mother deciding to parent the baby. So, if a family adopts 3 children, we can expect it to happen at least once, but could you ever be prepared for it?
Lord, you have been our dwelling place
throughout all generations.
Before the mountains were born...
from everlasting to everlasting
You are God.
Psalm 90:1-2
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
professors, social workers, lawyers, and doctors...and birthdays
Things have been a bit hectic around here lately! Not much time to keep the blog interesting!
Anyway, for my few faithful readers who remain (Hi Grandma and Grandpa), a little update on life at the Wedan household...
Professors-Being in the wonderful field of education, I get to be a life long student to keep my license current. So I have been taking a weekend course on ADHD. It was really hard to stay focused in class and I was disappointed to hear I have to write a long paper, which is due in a couple days and I haven't started-hehehe. So, Daddy and Brett have had lots of time to hang out together, and it was amusing to hear Bryan call Brett "The Little Monster" after one particularly long day!
Social Workers-Our social worker came out on Monday for our last post-placement visit. It went well, and we have a little better understand about the finalization process, which will hopefully be coming up in the next few months.
Lawyers- We are still in our "legal risk" period, as Brett's birth father's rights have not been terminated yet. We had originally heard a court date would be on or before April 17th. However, this week, we learned it will probably be on May 1st, due to our agency's lawyer's schedule.
Doctors- Brett had his 4 month check-up yesterday. He weighed 15 lbs 2 oz (50th percentile), and was 26.5 inches long (90th percentile)! I was glad his doctor supported our decision to start him on solids - I was afraid I was going to get chewed out! Brett's skin has been a continual concern, and his doctor finally diagnosed him with eczema. I have tried so many products on this kid! Hopefully something will work soon!
Birthdays- Amidst everything that has been going on, Bryan had his 30th birthday! And I didn't even make him a cake... Poor guy.
Anyway, for my few faithful readers who remain (Hi Grandma and Grandpa), a little update on life at the Wedan household...
Professors-Being in the wonderful field of education, I get to be a life long student to keep my license current. So I have been taking a weekend course on ADHD. It was really hard to stay focused in class and I was disappointed to hear I have to write a long paper, which is due in a couple days and I haven't started-hehehe. So, Daddy and Brett have had lots of time to hang out together, and it was amusing to hear Bryan call Brett "The Little Monster" after one particularly long day!
Social Workers-Our social worker came out on Monday for our last post-placement visit. It went well, and we have a little better understand about the finalization process, which will hopefully be coming up in the next few months.
Lawyers- We are still in our "legal risk" period, as Brett's birth father's rights have not been terminated yet. We had originally heard a court date would be on or before April 17th. However, this week, we learned it will probably be on May 1st, due to our agency's lawyer's schedule.
Doctors- Brett had his 4 month check-up yesterday. He weighed 15 lbs 2 oz (50th percentile), and was 26.5 inches long (90th percentile)! I was glad his doctor supported our decision to start him on solids - I was afraid I was going to get chewed out! Brett's skin has been a continual concern, and his doctor finally diagnosed him with eczema. I have tried so many products on this kid! Hopefully something will work soon!
Birthdays- Amidst everything that has been going on, Bryan had his 30th birthday! And I didn't even make him a cake... Poor guy.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Rice cereal! Yum!
Bed Hog!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)