The return of cloth diapers

When I was pregnant, Carl and I bought a stash of cloth diapers to try out. I did tons of research and found many benefits of using cloth instead of disposable diapers. Well, changing about a million diapers a day coupled with an almost unending supply of free disposable diapers(courtesy of my mother-in-lay) pretty much killed that dream. Yet I kept the cloth diapers next to Max's crib and lately they started calling to me. I would stare at them and think about the money I spent on them whilst contemplating how cute Max would look in brightly colored britches.

Eventually I decided to give them a whirl and have found that the new breed of cloth diapers makes the whole process virtually painless. I know what everyone is thinking- "But what about the poop?" That was my main concern as well so my awesome husband made me a diaper sprayer. There is no need to get my hands anywhere near all that yuckiness and let's be honest, most of us are pretty familiar with our kids' bowel movements anyway since we are the ones cleaning them up until they are potty trained. The offending diaper goes in a diaper pail until I decide to wash them.

So far I have been impressed with the absorption and mess containment of my cloth diapers and Max is diaper rash free. I have several different brands and have only had one minor leak thus far. Admittedly, I still use disposable diapers at night because they are more absorbent but that's about it. I think we are sold on the cloth diapers.

The only question that some of you may still have is this: "Who is this woman and what has she done with Ashley?" I ask myself that all the time. I use cloth diapers and I make my own baby food...I never imagined myself doing either of those things. In fact, I vehemently swore that I would never do those things but I am because I feel like it is better for my child.

Many people told me that having a child would change my life but I didn't understand just how right they were. When Max was first born, I worried about losing my identity. Over time I realized that I wasn't losing anything, I was merely evolving and forming a new and improved version of myself. I can make baby food, keep my baby in cloth diapers, try out baby sign language and wear these awesome shoes at the same time! Instead of worrying about myself so much, I let the love I have for my child motivate me to be better and try new things. It has pushed me out of my comfort zone and into things I thought were beyond my capacity in very unexpected ways. In short, motherhood, messes and difficulties included, rocks.