Looking back. . .

Phoenix had to be 5 here. This face gets me every time.

This is my first bio baby. I am so incredibly blessed to have this amazing little man in my life. Being his mom is the most amazing gift! So let me tell you a little about this mister!

Phoenix was born on June 1, 2005. A week and a half over due, as per doctors specs. I had an easy pregnancy--no morning sickness, no complications, etc. I did gain almost 70 lbs and had horrible back pain the last month  before he was born. Car rides were a nightmare, I seriously thought my vagina was going to catch fire! Too much? Too soon?

i was induced with Mister, because my body refused to show any signs of labor. After 4 hours of being on pitocin, my sweet boy was born. An epidural that either didn't take, or wasn't in long enough to take effect, and nurses telling me how to labor and threatening forceps, I was exhausted, and THRILLED my sweet 9 lbs 22 1/2 inch long baby was in his Mommy's arms safe and sound!

Brand new! 2005

Being a mother is the only thing in life I KNEW I wanted other than to be married, of course! LOL Little did I know I would be the mom to an amazing step-son--who is my son where it matters more, in my heart--and two biological children! 

I may not be perfect, but my kids are! They are perfectly imperfect, and beautiful souls whom I cherish and adore more than words could ever express! 

My boys, when they were still little! 22 and 8 now.
I miss these moments the most!

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Spark of Amber: Baltic Amber Teething Necklace Review

Spark of Amber's beautiful teething necklace!

Baltic Amber isn't an actual stone, but a fossilized tree resin. Due to it's natural healing properties it has become popular  to aid in pain relief (teething pain, ear, throat and stomach pains, etc.). Baltic Amber reacts by being warmed against the skin and must be worn close to the area where pain is occurring.

Baltic Amber comes in different colors and each product from Spark of Amber is just as beautiful as the one we received. Their Amber nuggets are polished, but still remain true to their unpolished shape, which aids in their healing properties being more pure.

The term teething necklace can be a bit deceiving as these are NOT meant for being chewed on or sucked on by babies/toddlers. The natural properties in these Amber nuggets are released through skin contact, and should be worn under supervision at all times. Spark of Amber suggests removal of necklace during bath time, swimming, and bed time. Please be sure to monitor children at all times while wearing this necklace or any other piece of jewelry, as the pieces are small and can be a choking hazard.

Remember too that Baltic Amber is fragile. You should not store it with other jewelry, but in a soft pouch. Only clean with a soft cloth, as using any chemicals will damage the necklace and it's natural oils.

Miss Rosslyn modeling her necklace.

As you can see in the above picture, my daughter is wearing her necklace from Spark of Amber. We received this as an item to review, and we love it! She doesn't even know she has it on, due to it being light weight! I have noticed that before she had the necklace her teeth were causing her some bit of discomfort, and since wearing the necklace she has been sleeping much better, especially at night time.

We absolutely love our Baltic Amber teething necklace from Spark of Amber! They have more than just children's jewelry over on their website. You won't be disappointed!

Want to connect with Spark of Amber?
Here are links to their social media:
Facebook
Twitter
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Website

Review: Buttler Bottoms Diapers

Do you want to try Buttler Bottoms diapers? They have graciously given me the code: TRYITNOW for 10% off your first purchase with them!!! Now, that is pretty amazing!!!

Not posted: Slate solid pocket. It happens
to be in the wash. 

I am new to cloth diapers, 5 1/2 months new! I absolutely love them, and was thrilled when Buttler Bottoms agreed to allow me a review! I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time on them, but I will tell you that I love my pockets, and these diapers are a welcome addition to our stash!

Top Center: Teal with Brown Fleur de Lis I cannot express how much I love this diaper! Fleur de Lis' are my favorite, so this diaper was a no brainer! One sized, PUL outside, suede inner to pull wetness away, and comes with one microfiber insert.

Bottom Left: Minky 80's Sticker Book Born in the 80's I felt it was only right to have a part of my past represented in my daughters diapers! Minky simply means that this pocket, which has all of the features listed with the Fleur de Lis diaper, has a soft outside with the PUL facing the inside of the diaper. Also comes with one microfiber insert.

Bottom Right: Color Snaps Blue and Yellow Circles This diaper is pretty awesome! I have a couple of extra pictures to show you on this one, as it differs a bit more from the others.

Double gussets so that it holds wetness and dirty better.

 This diaper has a snap to hold insert in place, which is a wonderful bonus! It also has all the features mentioned with the two previous diapers, with just a couple extras.

Openings at both ends of diaper so that stuffing
inserts is easier!

Not Pictured: Solid Slate  A great solid color to go with every outfit! All of the great qualities of the other pockets!

Buttler Bottoms is based in Mississippi and are super great to deal with! Customer service is top notch, and their diapers are incredibly affordable and ship very quickly! You won't be disappointed when buying from Buttler Bottoms!!!

A special Thanks to the people at Buttler Bottoms, for making my daughter and I super happy to get some new fluff in the mail! I hope you all will give them a try and love them as much as I do!

Find them:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/buttlerbottoms

Website: http://www.buttlerbottoms.com/index.php?route=common/home

How do you wash YOUR diapers?

Washing diapers, the controversial topic, if ever there was one!

I honestly think it's whatever works best for you. . . Don't skin me alive just yet! There are some tricks and tips though, and it really is trial and error. Luckily, I have a routine that works for us, and I love it! So, do you wanna know? It's OK, I know you are DYING.

How many diapers should you add?

I have approximately 20-24 diapers with inserts, they all go in the wash at the same time (this is usually every other day to every 3 days).

You want to have enough water in the washing machine to cover all diapers. You also want to have enough diapers so that when it agitates your diapers rub against each other enough to come clean. This is important, you want it to look like soup (loose enough that they agitate and move around freely) NOT like chili (crammed in there tight enough they can't move around all loosey goosey). Remember, the diapers and inserts have to be able to get water in between them and hit against each other or they won't come clean!

How do you start to wash them?

I do a hot pre-wash and rinse first. This helps to break up the poo (which if you breast feed is water soluble and washes off pretty easily), and I don't rinse them off prior to throwing them in the washer. Once that's done (the pre-wash and rinse) I run a regular washing cycle with warm water and the detergent filled to the most soiled setting and dump it in.

Now, your wash cycle is done. What do you do now?

Depending on how long it's been I will use 1/4 cup of bleach, OR 1 cup of white vinegar (helps with hard water and stink issues) and repeat the rinse and spin 2x's. This is to make sure number one that your diapers don't stink and number two so that you can make sure to get all the detergent and bleach out of the diapers.

If you don't want to add bleach to the end of the process, you can add it during the actual washing cycle.

They're done washing, how do you dry them?

During the warmer days I put them outside on a clothes rack we bought at Dollar General and let them dry that way! The sun is a great disinfectant, and it helps whiten the inside of the diapers and the inserts. This is a great time to spray some lemon juice on them too, as an added bonus to disinfect them. Make sure your diapers are wet though so that the sun and lemon juice can do a most optimal job.

If it's cold outside and you a) either don't want to go outside or b) you're afraid your diapers may freeze, you can put them in the dryer. Yup, that's right, I said the dryer. I tumble on low/delicate and sometimes, I dry them on the regular setting.

Whew! That wasn't as hard as you thought?

Remember, this isn't a perfect science. This process depends on your washing machine (I have a top loader) I know it's different for an HE. I use my regular detergent, some people say NEVER do this. My diapers are just fine, they are more resilient that they're given credit for. I promise you won't mess them up horribly and you can always strip them (several hot washes with no detergents) and bring them back if the way you wash them doesn't work.

Don't worry too much, they're diapers. LOL They catch poop and pee, and even though they're super cute, you won't ruin them while you're learning what works best for you!

Why Covered In Cloth?

Let me give you some back story as to why I started Covered In Cloth.

A couple years ago I had met up with some online friends for the weekend. They both used cloth on their babes, and actually Anne makes diapers! Once I saw how easy it was, and realized that the idea behind cloth diapering wasn't really as horrible as everyone had said. I decided to do some research, and oh man was there a lot of research to do!

Between lingo, brands, types, systems, and the list goes on and on, my head got lost and floated away. So I had to stop. LOL I started asking questions, finding blogs, you name it I was doing it. I wanted to know everything I could to make an educated decision as to why using cloth diapers was best for our family. I will tell you now, had Anne not been such a great friend and helped me so much, I probably would have given up and not done it.

Fast forward to the end of 2012, I find out I'm pregnant. I have done the research and I am going for it. When we find we're having a girl! I am so happy to have a little girl! I decide pocket diapers are the best choice for us. I have made one silly purchase, and it was the Gerber prefolds, ya know, the ones with the thick centers? Yeah, not absorbent at all! Burp rags, yeah, diapers, no chance.

My daughter has been in cloth for 5 months now! Is it more work? Sure, washing diapers is an every 2 to 3 day job. Is it worth it? Absolutely! They are so stinking cute and easy to use, that I decided to start Covered In Cloth!

So many people have no clue how cloth diapers have changed over the years, and I got several nasty comment and looks when I mentioned that we were going to do cloth! People telling me how nasty they are, well, to that I say, "No more nasty than cleaning a poopy blow out from a disposable!" You cannot tell me it's nasty, if you've ever been covered in baby spit up, had to wash poopy clothes, etc. Babies are messy, they're nasty at times, and yup, we still love them to pieces.

SO, Covered In Cloth is my way to educate people who don't know how far cloth has come. It's a loan program dedicated to helping people who want to try cloth but don't want to invest all the money and then not like it. I want a way for everyone, not just low income families, to have a way to get cloth to rent diapers.

Cloth diaper parties. Fun with cloth! Let's do it, a fun family oriented party to get cloth diapers, and so much more! Who doesn't like a party?

Meetings for breastfeeding, cloth diapering, and more! Why can't we support our parents, and start conversations that some people may not want to talk about! Parenting is hard, and even harder for a first time parent!

There ya go! Covered In Cloth covers every aspect of parenting, babies, kids, and so much more! I am so excited to bring you a one stop destination to all things parenting! Cloth diapers is just an added BONUS!

Review Policy and About Covered In Cloth

Our Review Policy

Covered In Cloth would love to offer reviews and/or giveaways for any products for house and home, toys, games, clothing, baby products, movies, and more. We are more on the babies/children side of the spectrum, but we will give anything a chance and always enjoy a new experience. Its great to find an exciting new product and share it with our readers. Email us about your product and we will reply if we are interested, but please note we get over 5000 emails a day so not every email will receive a reply, only those we are interested in. 
We ask for one month (30 days) from receipt of the product to post reviews. If there are special circumstances where you need it sooner, please let us know in your pitch letter and we will try to accommodate you, but you must discuss this with us PRIOR to sending the product.

We must receive a full size product or package in order to write a review. We will not review based on small one-time use samples because without a full testing supply we can not write an honest review. Please note that acceptance of a product does not guarantee a positive review. Also we do not return products that are sent for review. Anything you send to us is ours to keep. No exceptions.

Giveaways are available in conjunction with a review or for a fee. If you provide the post content, including the rafflecopter or other means of entry, the fee is $25. If you want us to set up the giveaway for you, the fee to run stand alone giveaways is $50. If we are reviewing your product and you want to include a giveaway, we will do this for no charge.  All giveaway prizes must be shipped directly to the winner. Due to the liability risk involved, Covered In Cloth will not ship anything to winners. Anything sent to us we will assume is for review purposes. 

All inquiries should be directed to info@coveredincloth.com

About Covered In Cloth

Covered In Cloth came about when I realized that I love cloth diapers! I really enjoy the prints, the different types, all the lingo, and so much more! The need for wanting to help people and educate was overpowering and I created Covered In Cloth.

The business isn't just about cloth diapering, it's about all things baby! It's about empowering moms AND dads to follow their instincts when it comes to parenting. It's not a cookie cutter job, it's individualized. Nothing is ever the same for all kids. Embrace the differences, Covered In Cloth wants to be that place to fall for a friendly comment; helpful advice.


Being based in a small town, there aren't many stores around, Covered In Cloth hopes to become a store front that allows parents to come and trade their baby clothes, toys, strollers, etc. for bigger clothes, and so on. Cloth diaper loans and 101 classes (for more than just cloth diapering) will be available as well.
Blogging is just an added way to get our goals out there and to find like minded parents who want the same!

I do hope you enjoy and can get behind what Covered In Cloth is about.

Throw Back Thursdays

 Throw Back Thursday. Me pregnant. This was my second pregnancy. The picture at the underneath on left starts at bottom right and goes up. THEN the picture underneath on the right is the same way bottom right. yeah I did it backwards, it's ok. I was so happy when I found out we were having a girl! My little family is complete with our baby girl. If we decide to have another it would just add too. But, I think we're both happy with the three we have, even if we decide not too try again.

What a blessing pregnancy is! The ability to grow a human. It's what we were designed to do. With that being said, I know so many who cannot do this. It breaks my heart and pains me greatly to see and know that what I can do causes them such heartache. But you know what? They adopt! And it's just as beautiful to see a family with a brand new baby, no matter how that sweet thing got put into their lives! 

Being a parent, isn't always about giving birth, it's so much more than that! The connection with your child to do what's best, and to love unconditionally. There are some people who are parents and by all rights and reasons shouldn't be. They may have wanted too, but when it came down to it they flaked. It's happened; I've seen it. And it's so hard on the kids; life long issues that could have been avoided.

ANYWAY, back to me! LOL I was blessed with three pregnancies. Two of which were carried to term. In between my 8 year old and my 4 month old I was pregnant and miscarried at 10 weeks. My body didn't seem to get the memo that there was no baby to grow, and it kept trying until I was almost into my second trimester. It was rough, and it hurt, and I was broken. I still wonder what he/she would look like today at 4 years old. But dwelling on the past gets you no where. That baby will always be in my heart, and soul.

My two viable pregnancies were easy, no seriously complications. I was blessed with not having morning sickness, wasn't bedridden, etc. I gained quite a bit of weight each time, and my doctor told me numerous times,  BOTH times that I needed to slow down! I had two beautiful and healthy babies. Phoenix was born at 9 lbs even, and Rosslyn was 8 lbs 11 oz. 

So, this is my Throw Back Thursday. Remembering how blessed I was with the 2 pregnancies I was able to hold in my arms and kiss every day! What's your Throw Back Thursday memory?

Wonderful Wednesday's

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here are just a few things on my mind for the new year:

I am so excited to get 2014 under way! There are so many things I cannot wait to add to Covered in Cloth! During the year there will be many new "features" for CIC; one of which being finishing the loan program. Then will be adding diaper parties, and so much more!

Time is flying by so fast, my baby will be 5 months soon, and it seems like yesterday she was born! It's amazing how quickly the grow, and learn in their first short year of life. I am blessed beyond measure to have such beautiful and sweet babies (well not all are babies!).  I can honestly say that my baby was born LAST year!

SUMMER! Oh man, I can't tell you how excited I am for summer. My favorite season, my favorite time. I want to be at the beach, on the boat, anywhere and everywhere!

I am not making resolutions, but I am going to try my very best to be a better me. Getting into shape, eating better. By doing so I am showing my kids how important it is to be healthy, NOT skinny. There is a difference! By being healthy you live longer, being skinny doesn't make you healthy.

May your hopes, dreams, and desires all come true this year! Strive to live each day with integrity and compassion for others!