Book Review: Go Take A Bath!

• Invert the family hierarchy. The tendency of 21st-century parents is to place the child first, a partner second, and the self, third. This is exactly the reverse of a healthy family hierarchy and actually causes stress to children because they are out of place.
• Be a good role model. Children learn through observation and mimicry, so parents must make sure they are demonstrating the right lessons by living full, balanced lives complete with hobbies, vacations, and, yes, even baths.
• Balanced, happier parents create balanced, happier kids. Take responsibility for your own happiness and resolve trigger issues. Exploring childhood traumas and experiences helps parents identify their parenting strengths and challenges.
• Learn the art of letting go. Children can work out many of their stressors on their own, without parental involvement, so encourage them to independently problem-solve when possible. This lesson extends to acting as chauffeur, social director, tutor, and all the other ways parents over-extend themselves for their children. 
• Choices within Limits.  Parents should provide opportunities for children to make decisions—they might be surprised at all the good choices their children make when given the chance! The caveat is that you must be consistent, calm and follow-through with appropriate consequences when they don’t.
• Simpler is often better. Fun is a skill that must be taught, as is joyful living, appreciation for both tangible and intangible things, or unplugging from television and the internet. Parents need to create moments for families to rediscover and simplify their lives together.

Our Thoughts:

In this book you are reintroduced to parenting. We learn that parenting doesn't have to be hard. Taking care of ourselves first so that we can take care of our children is important. They actually have the ability to become more independent and better problem solvers. 

Robin gives us the tools to empower our kids, and give them confidence, while at the same time parenting with a firm and loving standard. This book is amazing and really should be given out to parents, new and established alike. You can read this book ten times and take away something different each time you read it. 

Her approach isn't easy and it isn't quick. In order to change how you've started you have to work. It will no doubt cause some rough edges in your relationships with your kids, but in the end you will reconstruct and build a better more loving one. 

The take away's at the end of each chapter are priceless information! I love them. It's an overview, that requires you to take a toll on your own life and delve deeper. I have to say it hurts, to have to look at yourself as a person and take action before you can parent. But, you kids will be better for it; having a whole parent instead of a spaced out, stressed out one. 

Buy the book here.

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REVIEW: Changing Diapers-The Hip Mom's Guide to Modern Cloth Diapering

 Being new to the cloth diapering world, I had been searching for a book that was comprehensive and to the point. I don't want to be confused in the end, and I really want to learn even more about cloth diapering. Let's face it, when you have a Facebook, and Twitter and you talk about cloth, you need to know your ins and outs. That's where this book comes in, and oh boy!

Here's just a tiny bit about Kelly Wels:

Kelly Wels is a leading cloth diaper expert and advocate who has a passion for helping parents make informed decisions when it comes to how they diaper their babies.

In November 2010, Kelly founded Kellywels.com, which she calls her "passion project." Her mission is to share her love for cloth diapers and advocate for diapering change. She says she believes that through education and knowledge, parents can be empowered to make more positive diapering choices. Kelly also is a green living promoter and social media marketer.

Kelly was previously known by her peers as the founder and owner of DiaperShops.com and KellysCloset.com, two popular online cloth diapering stores. In the summer of 2010, Kelly decided to turn her business over to new owners and pursue her advocacy passion full-time, without dealing with the day-to-day pressures of running a multi-million dollar business. (Biography from Kelly Wel's Amazon profile.)

Cloth diapering isn't rocket science, but it is a skill to learn. With Kelly's book, I was able to read quickly and thoroughly. It was to the point, easy to understand, and had lots of helpful tips and tricks! It is always nice to have a go to source in your hands!

Are you wondering what other think about certain cloth diapering topics! There are mom quotes all over the book to give you a real perspective on cloth diapering! As a mom who doesn't have a lot of other mommy friends that use cloth, this was insanely helpful!

There are so many great things about this book, it's really hard to pick just a few to tell you about! From washing tips, to detailed pictures of different cloth diaper systems, this book is truly a one stop to help your journey! Even if you are a grandparent who's grand-babies are in cloth, this book is such a wonderful know how for everyone! There isn't any lingo that's too difficult to understand, and Kelly doesn't use a whole lot of silly terms. 

You definitely won't go wrong with this book! This would make a great gift for the new to cloth mommy in your life!!

Connect with Kelly:

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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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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!

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!

Monday Morning Thoughts

I seriously cannot get enough of this little girl in cloth! 

Being a parent today is rough. I mean, seriously, look at everything. You have to make decisions every day based on what other think of you, your discipline, and your child's behavior. 

Let's look at this, you choose to cloth diaper but you formula feed, for whatever reason that's your choice. You get ridiculed and looked down on by people not only because of your choice to cloth diaper (Oh, how nasty!) but because you chose to give your child formula. It's a lose lose world out there. 

So, what do I say? Do what's right for your family. It may not be popular, it may not be what people consider the "norm." THEY aren't raising your child, YOU are! If you want to be the crunchiest of crunchy, then you rock that the best way you can.

What we don't need is people making it so parents give up, there's already too much of that. Be the parent you want to be and strive to be the best! Don't back down from your stance. You know what's best for your baby and your family!

Another Day, Another Dollar

Being a parent is draining on your time, energy, and pocket book! What do you do to find ways to save?

When we found out we were expecting our daughter, I wanted to cloth diaper. My husband was unsure in the beginning, but when he saw how cloth has changed he was all for it. We compared the cost of disposables, and we bought used cloth, and we saved quite a bit of money.

Washing hasn't been an issue, other than when you forget you have diapers in the wash! LOL That poses a slight problem. A quick wash cycle and they're ready to hang/dry. Figuring out your wash routine is tricky, since everyone has a different opinion on what works best. Ultimately it's up to you and how you feel works to your advantage.

Honestly, using cloth isn't nearly as impossible as your friends and family make it out to be. Just because they used cloth 30-40 years ago doesn't mean anything today. It's completely different, and yet exactly the same! Cloth has come a long way and is WAY cuter than disposables!

Welcome To Covered In Cloth

I would like to personally welcome all of you to Covered In Cloth! I am so excited to be bringing to you my views and ideas on parenting, then and now, diapering and rearing children in general!
Much more will be added as 2014 gets underway. We have our website in the process of being built, so please be patient with that. I will be adding a loan program, and a cloth diaper parties once I get thing rolling a little more.
I cannot wait to see where this adventure goes, and am so excited to educate on the amazing benefits of cloth diapering!
I do hope you'll stick around and enjoy reading and being a part of the community!

You can find us on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Covered-In-Cloth/675909782443135