Sunday, February 03, 2008

Nice things

I was scouring the classified ads in Friday's paper to see whether there were any potentially wonderful yard sales being held this weekend. Knowing full well that all the best stuff disappears fast, this was, perhaps, stubbornly optimistic on my part, given the fact that I had to work all night Friday and most sales in our area begin at seven or eight a.m. on Saturday morning. I wouldn't even be home until around 8:30, but I decided there was no harm in checking, just in case. Imagine my delight when I saw an ad that practically leapt off the page at me: "OVERFLOWING! Exersaucer, maternity clothes, lots of girls clothes size 0-4T, too many items to list! Saturday 9a.m., no early birds please!" Whoa! Was I in luck, or what?! I asked Darren to please have the kids ready when I got home from work, and before leaving the hospital I picked up muffins and cookies for the kids to eat in the van as a special treat. We headed across town to the specified address, but, at first glance, my high hopes began to slowly deflate as I realized that there were already lots of cars parked in the street and the displayed selections seemed slim. As I started looking, however, I couldn't hide my glee at finding several cute dresses for the girls, a practically-new pair of shoes for Caitlyn, a Wiggles puzzle for Dylan, AND, if you can believe this...diapers! Lots and lots of soft cloth diapers! Two large boxes full of assorted sizes, plus a number of vinyl pull on covers.

Now, I haven't really mentioned here (or anywhere, really) that I've been giving considerable thought lately to cloth diapering our next baby. Probably this silence has been out of fear of adding more fuel to the already raging "Melissa is crazy" fire held widely by several family members and sparked first by our thoughts on procreating, bed sharing, baby wearing, extended breastfeeding, homeschooling, and other such non-mainstream practices. But anyway, now I've said it: we're thinking of cloth diapering our next baby! Our reasons are many, but I think the first seed of an idea was planted in my mind by this beautiful post written by an equally beautiful and much admired woman. (Who knew that diapering a baby could be such a lovely experience?!) She really opened my eyes to an entirely new and different perspective, and for that I am grateful. It was a while before I gave much more thought to the idea, but lately I've been noticing more mommies blogging about cloth diapering and I realized that this really could be an option for us! That is, until I started pricing them online. Wow. I was shocked to see how expensive these things can be! (As much as seventeen dollars for one diaper!) With a few simple calculations, I realized that it would actually be much more costly to choose cloth over disposables. I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that this was just not going to work for us, but accepted the defeat with a twinge of sadness and disappointment. And then these were most unexpectedly made available to us through that wonderful yard sale! Nine dozen diapers in three different sizes and three dozen covers for only thirty dollars! I am overjoyed. I look at them longingly and just can't wait to hold our new baby in my arms!



Oh, and also found at that same sale and certainly worth mentioning here: nine short sleeved Motherhood nursing tops! Perfect for summer and snuggling up with my newest little nursling! Did I already say that I can barely wait?! I'm giddy at the thought of her impending arrival! Fourteen more weeks just seems interminably long. Time speed, please!


And lastly, though this has nothing whatsoever to do with this post, I am absolutely astounded by the exquisiteness of these eager little hyacinths just emerging from the cold earth of our front bed. Aren't they sweet? They are a lovely reminder that spring really isn't too far off, and maybe May 11th really will be here sooner than I think!

7 comments:

Charlotte (WaltzingM) said...

I think it is lovely that you want to use the cloth diapers as an act of love for your newest little one. What great finds!

Annette said...

What a wonderful blessing to find all those things you needed. And what an awesome score on the cloth diapers! I don't know you at all, but I have some extra snappis, which you can see here.
http://www.snappibaby.com/generic0.html
If you'd like one or two, you can email me and I can send them to you.
frontzfamily at gmail dot com

He who wears the most black wins. said...

That's awesome!! I am excited and the goods aren't even for me! You are going to get SO much use out of every single thing you found. Yay!! Yay!!

Have I told you I cannot believe how quickly your pregnancy has progressed?! Holy cow. It seems that it was just yesterday you announced a baby on the way!

Jen said...

What a great deal you found! And a second great deal on those nursing tops. Those things can be very expensive when bought directly from the store. My friend and I have what we call a "swap" when each of us gets pregnant. So far, when one is pregnant, the other has just had a baby, so we swap all of our clothes. And, she has three kids and I have four, so we now have clothes for all seasons. And we are the same size, we gain around the same amount, so I've been so blesed to never really get maternity clothes/nursing tops. Her mom likes to take her shopping each time she gets pregnant anyways, so I always get new stuff to wear when I get pregnant. It's fun! I love the idea of cloth diapering. Alas, recovering from surgery and establishing breastfeeding takes all of my time for the first two to three months. I wish you luck!

Frances said...

God sure smiled on you and your family on Saturday! I will ward off jealousy by expressing how happy I am for you to have found such wonderful deals. I am absolutely committed to using cloth diapers from the get-go, and I have started searching for deals (even though I'm not *yet* pregnant). The only part I still haven't gotten my mind around: how to launder said diapers in the community laundry rooms we have in our apartment complex. That will definitely be a challenge!

Love the hyacinths - at Mass this morning I started daydreaming about the first spring flowers (I know, I should have been more focused!). I can't wait for daffodils!

Michelle said...

Melissa is crazy...but that's a good thing. I, too, priced up cloth a number of babies ago and couldn't afford them. Had I found a deal like that, I would probably have switched right away. You go girl!

Anonymous said...

I am thrilled you are cloth diapering! It's one of my 'crazy' beliefs. (I feel your pain...we have similar parenting beliefs and my family thinks me crazy as well...in a loving way). :)

Yes, cloth is expensive upfront but WILL save you money in the long run!! Especially since you can reuse them with each baby. So glad you found a deal. Check out ebay, too. I found some deals there different times.

In fact, I purchased some exactly like those you show. Do they list a brand by any chance? Mine don't. I liked them with my first and wanted to get more but didn't know what kind they were.

At this point in my cloth diapering career, however, I have become snobby...only using pocket diapers (stuffed with all the prefolds I had used the first time). They are quick and easy like an All-in-one but launder quicker. I just don't have the patience to use a cover right now. I know you have a plethora of patience compared to me, but if you want to make the process a tad quicker, I'd recommend laying these diaps inside the cover so it's all ready to go. Otherwise on some days it feels like changing two diapers in one shot.

I don't mean to discourage you or anyone else!! Just wanted to share the realities I discovered. They're not perfect--nothing is, of course--but it's a worthwhile commitment. I'm so glad you've made it...and that you're sharing it.