Qual der Wahl or Decisions, Decisions

I'm not sure how many people know this, but about 4 weeks ago I decided to change to cloth diapers. Please don't ask me why;  I'm not really sure myself. I just woke up one morning and decided I didn't want to deal with disposables any more. Maybe it was the fact that I have two kids in diapers (my older one actually needs more diapers some days than the baby) and I got tired of driving to the store every 2 - 3 weeks and coming out with 6 packages of diapers and pull-ups. Or maybe it was the mountain of garbage we were creating and I felt that we needed to reduce our contribution to the landfill. Or maybe I just needed try it out and see for myself what it was like to diaper "naturally".


When Lucas was born I tried to convince Ralph that we should cloth diaper but I couldn't and lots of people discouraged me from doing it. When Lea was born I entertained the idea again but decided against it. But then one day I thought - why not? It really can't be that much more work. And well, unless you try it you will never know. So I did...


Well, cloth diapering is not really all that much more work. I will never forget my friend Nathalie's answer when I asker her why she cloth diapers: Whether I walk down the stairs and throw out a bag of diapers or throw a load of laundry in the machine it doesn't really make that much of a difference (Did I mention she lives on the 4th floor with no elevator?). Well Nathalie, now that I have started I have to totally agree. I throw the diapers in when the kids go to bed and hang them up before I go to bed and by the next morning they are usually dry. Not too much more work at all.


The challenge to clothe diapering is finding the right diaper. Having tried different disposables (discount, Pampers, environmentally friendly) I know that even though they look the same there are differences. But with cloth - wow! You almost need a degree to understand the differnces. We have now tried out 9 different diapers (no. 10 should arrive tomorrow) and 6 different wraps. We have cotton, cotton lined with polyurethane, bamboo viscose, one-size, all-in-ones, pocket diapers and size diapers. Some are better suited for night, some are thick, some are slim...


It all started with 10 Kooshies that I got on ebay. They were okay but used and a little abused and we kept leeking. So I bought some boosters (extra absorbent cotton liners) from a lady in Austria who also sold me 2 other types of diapers (used). And as I still wasn't convinced that I had found the right diaper I contacted a company in Austria who sold me 4 other diapers and new wraps. Armed with those and a few from Diana we have begun the test phase. I actually have a chart upstairs beside the change table where I document what I felt about each diaper to help me make my decision.


But the fun doesn't stop there. Did I mention that I want both kids in cloth? Yup! Lucky Luke is switching too. I figure at the rate we're going with potty training that he'll be wearing diapers, at least at night, for quite some time so I can definately still save money with him too. His trainers (super padded underwear) should arrive next week and once Lea has put all of the diapers to the test and I know which one is best for nights it's his turn.


And what does Ralph think of all of this? Let's just say he just he's shaking his head.... And what do I say? Why didn't we do this all along? As the add from Kushies says "You don’t wear paper underwear. Why should your baby?"


Stay tuned for the final verdict!

Spring is in the air!

Spring is coming! At least that is what it looks like in my garden. Today I spotted the first snowdrop - a sign that spring can't be that far away. Here's hoping that it is not just a teaser and that warmer temperatures are on their way. We are all suffering from cabin fever and can hardly wait to get the bikes out of the garage and to get moving.

In my front garden the snow melted and there were pansies. I'm not quite sure if they are frozen remants from the fall or they bloomed under the snow. I do hope that the other plants faired well over the winter and that we'll soon be able to begin planting!

What a glorious day! Today was one of those perfect winter days where the sun is shining, the snow glistens and the moutains just call your name. Since one of the perks of Ralph's job as a spokesperson includes occassionally having really cool cars for the weeked and this was one of the thoses weekends, the combination of incredible weather and the urge for a test drive made today the optimum day for a trip.

So after breakfast we all piled into the BMW 5GT (http://www.bmw.ca/ca/en/newvehicles/5series/gran_turismo/2009/introduction.html) and headed towards Brauneck (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Brauneck-+und+Wallbergbahnen+GmbH,+Gilgenh%C3%B6fe+28,+83661+Lenggries,+Germany&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=35.957999,79.013672&ie=UTF8&hq=Brauneck-+und+Wallbergbahnen+GmbH,&hnear=Gilgenh%C3%B6fe+28,+Lenggries,+Germany&ll=47.677741,11.555064&spn=0.007469,0.01929&t=h&z=16&iwloc=A) .

When we got there we loaded the kids up on the toboggan and and headed off to the ski lift. The two of them looked so cute bundled up! From the lift we had about a 20 min. walk to the hut where we were having lunch. We grabbed a table outside. In the sunshine it was almost like summer! We had some yummy fare - pototo soup and wiener and strudel for dessert. Unhealthy but very typical hut food. Besides, rumour has it that at high altitudes only half of the calories count :)

After lunch Lucas hung out with the avalanche training course that was taking place behind us. He was keeping participants entertained while they were waiting their turn. Lea didn't want Lucas to get all of the attention so she entertained the ladies waiting to use the washroom when we went in to change her diaper. As is often the case, there wasn't a change table so we had to improvise; a wide bench in a hallway. The ladies got quite the chuckle as I tried to pin a squirming Lea down, try not to drop the contents of the diaper bag and her snow stuff on to the wet floor and get a cloth diaper and wrap on a moving object. In the end I did win and we did manage to get home without any leaks!

After 3 hours of glorious sun we packed the kids back up and headed towards the ski lift. We enjoyed the panoramic view and watching the paragliders. At the lift we took in the last rays of sun on our faces and took the gondel down.

It was an amazing day. And even though Lucas didn't really move all that much it must have been exhausting because he slept during the two hour drive home!