14 weeks, 3 days

Nothing new here, really.  Adam and I had an early dinner at Champps--we started with Spinach/Artichoke dip, then Adam had a French Dip (very out of his norm) and I had potato soup.  I also had a salad, but was stuffed, so I gave it to Adam.  We sat by the fireplace, which was nice since I have been frozen to the core all day long.  Now we're sipping on dessert... malted hot chocolates.  Mmmmm!!!

I'm also doing more research on cloth diapers tonight.  Did I mention that we (yes, WE) are really excited about cloth diapers?  So far we've had very little support on this venture, but we're moving forward anyhow.  There are just so many pros that I can't see why we shouldn't give it a shot.  Would you like me to list them?  Well...okay!  :)

Pros to using fluff:

1. Cloth diapers are earth friendly.  Disposable diapers are incredibly wasteful.  Talking to Amy, first time mom to Gabby (3 mo.), she was telling me that she just purchased a box of nearly 300 diapers.  One of her first thoughts as she lugged her new purchase up to the nursery...I just bought a huge box of future garbage.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm no naturalist tree-hugging hippy.  But the idea that I won't be contributing as much waste as I potentially could makes me feel a little better about everything.

2. Cloth diapers are more cost effective.  No, not by huge leaps and bounds, especially with the first baby... but if, God willing, we are blessed again (and again and again as Adam would like), reusing fluff will save us oodles of cash.  And no, I'm not just guessing on this or assuming it based on what "people are saying."  There are some crazy number crunchers out in Cyberland that have dedicated hours of math to figure out the savings.  Some of the websites I found informative are http://allaboutclothdiapers.com/ and http://www.diaperdecisions.com/pages/cost_of_cloth_diapers.php.  

3. Cloth diapers are simply adorbs!  Okay, this is sort of a silly reason, but really, a fluffy, little bum on a baby is so much cuter than a disposable diapered one.  Plus owls are popular right now, which fits nicely into my owly love.  So cute!

4. Cloth diapers are NOT the same diapers our grandmas used on mom and dad.  Can they be?  Sure.  Flat and prefolded diapers are the same/similar to the types from ye olden days.  However, the variety of  cloth diaper types is really quite large, and some cloth diapers ("all-in-ones") are literally as easy as disposables (put on and snap or Velcro shut).  The only difference?  You wash them and reuse them instead of tossing them in the garbage.

5. Cloth diapers are healthier.  The number of cloth diapered babies with diaper rash is much less than those diapered in disposables.  According to http://www.thelaboroflove.com/articles/cloth-diapers-versus-disposable-diapers-pros-and-cons, 78% of babies in disposables get diaper rash as compared to only 7% in cloth diapers.  Sure, my baby might still get a diaper rash... but I like the idea of my baby swathed in natural fibers as opposed to chemically enhanced disposable diapers.  It just sounds... more... comfortable?  Healthy?  

I totally didn't mean for this to sound like a sermon... I swear!  Overall, I'm just excited about the prospect of doing something that I think is better for us and better for the world and better for the baby.  I like it a lot.  

So don't rain on my our parade, okay? :)

I've diverged from my researching and it's already past 9pm, which means I will be struggling to stay awake very soon.  And since I have a big day of shopping with my mama tomorrow, I better wrap up.  Feel free to leave a comment... since 88 people have allegedly read this blog and we have 0 followers and 0 comments (sigh).

Some fluff pictures as a final goodnight...