My Daughter is a Daddy's Girl

My daughter is a Daddy's girl, and I'm okay with that.

This morning we were woken up earlier than usual by Everly babbling away in her crib. We dragged ourselves out of bed to start the day, but both of us were not really awake. Neither was Everly it seemed. She fed and we all went to go back to bed for a bit of an early morning nap. Everly was not having any of it.

I ended up going and getting her out of her crib, in my zombie state I brought her back to our room and cuddled with her in our bed. The whole time though she was staring at her Daddy and trying to get his attention. I finally let her loose and she started swatting at him to try and get his attention. I told her she had to try harder so she started to babble again. This got his attention. She happily played with her Dad and we eventually got our lazy butts out of bed for the second time.

My daughter lights up so much when Jason comes home from work in the evenings, the odd times he does have to go in to the office to work. Sure she does the same thing with me at times, its just incredible for me to see her do this with her Dad, there is just something different to the look on her face.

Today I also had her bouncing in the jolly jumper upstairs, Jason is working from home. He came and joined us for a short moment. He got her giggling and jumping up and down more than I had been when trying to entertain her.  He had to quickly run back downstairs to check something with work and grab his lunch. She stopped what she was doing and just stared in the direction her Dad had gone and waited, no more bouncing up and down, no more giggles and smiles. She was waiting to see if her Daddy was coming back. Sure enough upon his return her whole demeanor changed again and she was back to her joyful self.

I'll be honest, the odd time this does tug at my heart and make me a little sad. Sometimes I just feel like I'm the food supply. However, Everly and I share our moments too. It makes me so happy to see how this relationship is already forming between my daughter and her Daddy. She loves him very much. When Jason and I first met, I knew right away I had someone incredibly special now in my life. Now Everly is seeing how incredibly special he is too.

Little Feet

I find myself often playing with my daughter's little toes, that's also because she is often kicking things with them or grabbing her own toes lately. It gets me thinking about how it used to be that those little feet used to be kicking me in my ribs, now they help my daughter jump and bounce when standing on my lap.

Little feet are just so cute. All the tini little toes, all the wrinkles. You can't help but to smile when she giggles from you tickling her feet. Even when covered in funky coloured socks, or little boots of some sort people often stop and comment on how cute she is and how cute her little feet are.

It makes me think of the future and all of the places those little feet will take her some day. Today, happiness is cute little baby feet.

Slowly Going Crazy

Anyone else remember this annoying song? If you are a child of the 80's you most likely know this song and many others from this group. It sums up how we are feeling recently. We are slowly going crazy,  right now our daily activities do strongly rotate around Everly's routine. As it should be really. She is a very easy going lil girl and that does help a lot, but when she needs a nap, she NEEDS a nap.

It can be really frustrating at times when we have people who seem to not understand that we cannot just wake her from her nap to pack her in a car and visit during a get together or meet up somewhere to hang out. Sorry but Everly does come first right now and if she is in the middle of a good long rest we are not going to wake her.

During the time she is awake we do try to get out and do what we need to, such as get groceries or go for a walk as a family, before we know her next nap will be needed. We do let her sleep in the car if need be, but it is not our favourite thing to do because she does not get the best rest possible when we do this. It is sometimes difficult to get her back to sleep in the crib when we do get home, and we know she needs more sleep.

Sometimes though we feel we are trapped at home, especially if she is having one of her longer naps. We do tidy the house and get other things done. Maybe its time to start up some hobbies, I've always wanted to learn how to crochet. I am more content to just relax at home, however Jason will go crazy if cooped up too long. Its all part of how life changes when you have a little one.

Any ideas or suggestions for how to not go crazy?

Swimming swimming in my swimming pool

I have some great memories of going to swimming lessons when I was younger. My older sister and I had matching purple with white stripe bathing suites. I remember being so happy when I passed a level and got my badge for completing it. One of my old swim suites had the badges sewn onto it. I also remember how devastated I was when I failed levels. My Mom also let me try diving lessons, but I am horribly uncoordinated and managed to smash my head into the diving board on several occasions. Alas my dream of being an Olympic diver was gone.

Jason grew up in Kelowna, in the summer really all you can do is hit the water to stay cool. He also grew up going to swimming lessons. His family also had a boat and he learned how to water ski, and went water tubing lots. He was much more talented in the swimming area than I, he could have become a life guard at the pool for a job back then if he had wanted to.

We've had a few conversations about our kids joining swimming lessons, and really it comes down to water safety. We love being around the water, we go to a summer camp that is on an island so we are surrounded by water, and we'll definitely be doing trips to lakes either when we go camping or visit Jason's family. We want our kids to be confident in the water, and to also know what to do in an emergency. We have decided that we are going to have our kids all take swimming lessons.

The youngest a child can be to start lessons in our area is 6 months, so we have to wait for the July lessons to begin. Jason is really looking forward to the Parent and Tot lessons, and so am I. The lessons at this age are more about getting them comfortable in the water. I know some people are not big fans of the idea of starting swimming lessons this young as there is a fear of ear infections. Jason was prone to them, I was not. We have no idea what Everly will be like, but we do not see that as a good enough excuse for her to not learn how to swim. Did you know that chiropractic care is great for relief of an ear infection? Since Everly is already connected with an awesome chiropractor, I know this will be an option if we ever have to battle one.

We are looking forward to Everly developing skills and becoming a good swimmer. We hope she never has a phobia of the water (though her Mommy does have a fear of the ocean, but that is because she has a feeling that there is a shark with her name on it! [the panic attack while snorkeling in Maui on our honeymoon was interesting]). It already seems like she is a huge fan of being in and around water, she went in a pool for the first time at only a month old just to get her feet wet and loved it, since then the bath tub has become a major splash zone. If she develops interest in doing swimming, diving, or becoming a life guard we will gladly support her in reaching any of those as a goal.

We'd also like to apologize for the the bad weather we have been having recently. We bought a kiddy pool for Everly the last day of the heat wave, and now its just been sitting and waiting for the nice weather to return.

Smiles

There is no hiding the amount of joy my daughter brings me. There have also been tears shed over sleepless nights, frustration, out of concern and worry for her during hospital and doctors visits because of her choking and reflux, and of course hormones.

Each morning with Everly I'm greeted by her wide eyes staring up at me from her crib, and a huge smile. Normally some giggles will follow too.

I see the same sort of look in my Mom when I see her. She is always full of so much joy around all of us daughters. I pray that I will be half the Mom she is. Its nice to know that someone is always happy to see me and hear from me.

I hope to never hide how much joy Everly brings into my life. I hope she always sees my love for her whenever she looks at me, I hope she knows that I am so glad and thankful she is a part of my life.

It might be a little thing but I am going to make sure Everly always gets smiles from me. She shares smiles with me always and so freely. I hope I always light up the same way she does. That is my little goal.

The first time Everly filled my heart with so much love and joy.

Snail Mail

I am a big fan of getting letters and cards in the mail. It seems this is a lost art now. I've always tried to make the effort to send out Christmas cards, that is also a tradition that seems to be disappearing as the number of cards decreases each year. When I was little I always looked forward to the mail coming, especially around the holidays or my birthday. There was just something about an envelope with my name on it and knowing the contents and all the words written inside were just for me.

With having a munchkin I am hoping this is something she will get to enjoy too as she gets older. I hope that she will get to enjoy cards coming in the mail for many different things, and hopefully letters from her cousins, Aunt and Uncle in Ontario.

Organization is a skill I am lacking in a lot of the time, though I do appreciate good organization. I have tried to keep an address book several times over, but I always misplace it. Thankfully a friend of mine enlightened me to a great website where I could ask my friends and family to enter their contact info for me, only I can see it when I login to access it. If you don't think you are in my address book please GO HERE and enter it, I really like sending out Christmas cards, and other little things here and there, so please enter your contact info... especially if you want a card this holiday season.

My question right now is who uses stickers with their address on it? Who uses a custom made stamp? Who just writes in the corner of the envelope?

Jason and I used to have a stamp that said our names and address on it, we used it for all of our wedding invites, thank you cards,  for our Christmas cards during the time we lived at that address, and any other mail we could. It was so nice to not have to hand write our address over and over again. It was just a simple stamp, nothing fun to it.

I am considering getting a stamp again since we are planning on staying routed where we are currently for several years to come. Has anyone had a stamp made that is more unique than what I can just get made at Staples? I'd love to find something with a more interesting font, and maybe even a little design on it. Sure I could go onto etsy.com and find someone who makes them, but I'd love to see if anyone else has done this and who you went through before I commit to getting one.

Early potty training?

Why is it that little ones always have to "go" when they are in the tub? For Everly its as soon as her toes touch the water in the tub. We'd seen a couple blogs on early potty training and one night as kind of a why not try it moment, we held Everly over the toilet and she used it. We both went "Huh, I guess this could work... then we don't have to drain and refill the tub each time.". Call us crazy, but we've stuck with this routine for almost a month now. We've been hovering her over the toilet before her bath, and it has been hit and miss with it working, but Everly is only 4 months old.

I guess you could say we are part time early potty training her. Some people are much more committed to it, and do what is called elimination communication. I do know one family who have been doing that method since very early on with their daughter and are very successful with it. I was much too apprehensive to try it so early. Some people may think there is no way Everly could be ready to try this, but why is it the norm to wait til a child is over 2? That's not what is considered normal in other places around the world, so why not give it a try? Seeing to her bathroom needs is just as much a part of parenting, as seeing to her feeding and sleeping needs. Why not start now? Little ones do tend to give signals for when they need to go, now we're trying to figure out what signals Everly gives. Wish we'd been paying more attention earlier.

With Everly, she is now able to sit on her own for short periods of time when we put her on the ground, she is also able to support herself much better in her Bumbo and chair. I managed to get her an awesome Baby Bjorn Potty Chair which I had read great things about, and have seen it as the one used by many people who attempt to do this. She is able to sit all on her own and we don't have to worry about her toppling over, but we do still keep an eye on her of course. Last night she wanted to play with the diaper sprayer so we let her, anything to keep her distracted and happy while we all wait. The diaper sprayer is coming in handy for early potty training too, great for clean up. Seriously, all parents should think about getting one of those!

The other night we had a conversation about possibly trying this more often. Before we've only tried this just ahead of a bath. We'd noticed that several people suggested trying this first thing in the morning, and after every nap. Today we started doing just that. It has worked every time we have tried today! Obviously if we are away from home it is going to be a bit more difficult so we probably wont try this when out (unless I can find a good travel seat for her little bottom). I'm sure that being away from home is a challenge for anyone with a toddler. We are hoping that by starting potty training this early, that when we go for actually fully potty training her that it will be an easier process when she is a toddler. (Probably just jinxed myself)

Eco-novice is one of the blogs we read about this from, and it had a lot of helpful info.

Has anyone else tried this/are doing this with your little one? Are you considering doing this, why or why not? We're glad we've given it a try. We are trying to just keep it simple, be positive about it, and enjoy whatever success we have with this. We think little ones need to be given much more credit for how smart they really are.

Pediatric Opthamologist

Everly had her appointment with the pediatric opthamologist (Dr. Clein) this morning. It went really well. You can tell the office is child friendly as soon as you go in because there are toys all over the place, and the receptionist has stickers and baseball/hockey cards to hand out to older kids.

The doctors at this practice were great with Everly. They used toys to keep her attention when they were checking her eyes. Dr. Clein confirmed what we had figured already. Everly has what is called ptosis, or a droopy eye lid, over her left eye. Thankfully her eye lid is not blocking her line of vision, if it was it would mean immediate surgery to correct it. Everly does have muscle fibres in her eye lid that are holding her eye lid open, this is why she does have a crease in the eye lid. For now we continue to make sure her eye lid never blocks her pupil, she has another appointment in 6 months to check how it is progressing. We were told if needed in the future surgery could be done to correct it, they like to wait until children are school aged before heading down that route.

Everly was great during the whole appointment and fell asleep in the car after. For now we wait, and pray that it keeps going well. Lots to think about too. Wait til early school age and have corrective surgery done if need be, wait til she is a teen and let her make the choice herself, etc...

Waiting in the doctor's office, all smiles with her squinky eye. 

The Honest Company

Super cute cardboard box it came in

The Honest Company was another diaper brand that was suggested to me as one to try on Everly for when I need disposables. The first problem is they only ship throughout the States, thankfully I have a very nice sister who married a awesome American guy and they do not mind my filling their mail box with stuff I order that can only ship to the States. My sister brought my package from the Honest Company with her when she came to visit on Mother's Day.

I was so excited to dig into this box when my sister handed it to me, but I had to wait until I got home later that evening after the days family get together to celebrate my cousin's birthday and Mother's day. Their package to ship the samples in is very cute, it even has hints on it to reuse it or to recycle it. I am hoping to pack away some keepsakes of Everly's into it. Though I have also seen some parents posts on turning the boxes into a chore board.

The Honest Company is supposed to be all about eco-friendly products, thus the cardboard box my "Discovery Kit" arrived in. This company was founded by Jessica Alba and the former CEO of Healthy Child Healthy World Christopher Gavigan... I do not know anything about that company, and all I know about Jessica Alba is she was in Fantastic Four.

I ordered the "Free Trial" for the diapers and wipes bundle, and the family essentials bundle. You have to pay for the shipping of the product which works out to around $6, and you do have to create an account to order from them. The second problem, isn't really a problem it is just something I do not like, you have to call them and cancel "your membership" that the Honest Company automatically signs you up for. If you do not call and cancel you get charged for a shipment of items that will arrive at your door and is supposed to last you a month... that is a lot of diapers and shampoo if you do not like the products and cloth diaper 100% of the time, and a lot of money charged to your credit card! It would be nice if you could just order the trial kits and not have to worry about that. The companies goal is to have you subscribe and become a member receiving product monthly from them.

Dinosaurs, Hippos, Tiny Prints, Leopard, Strawberries, Hearts, and Bloom

You receive 6 diapers, while it may appear you get to select what print you want in the trial pack you actually get a prepackage set of diapers that are either for a girl or a boy... oddly we got dinosaurs in out set so Everly sported that one first. I had selected skulls, anchors, bloom, pink star, comic book, and leopard as the prints I was hoping to receive. They have some of the most unique prints I have ever seen on disposable diapers, normally you can pick from Sesame Street or Winnie the Pooh. The hippo print is actually connected to a non-profit partnership they currently have with WWF. These diapers seem to fit very narrow, so if you have a "chunky lil monkey" they may not work very well. It also seems like the diapers are smaller in size when compared to other diapers that are supposed to be for the same size/weight of a little one, this may cause you to actually need the next size up. We didn't have any crazy moments with these diapers, so we didn't get to see how they stand up to the dreaded blow out that tends to happen with disposables, because it was not yet laundry day for the cloth diapers we did not put her in one of these for over night yet either, I will update this when we do. The ones we did try already fit Everly well, and we did not have any issues with leaking, they seem to be very absorbent.

You also receive a trial pack of the diaper wipes. I have read on many other reviews that these wipes are very thin and flimsy. They will be getting put the test when we go out during the day with Everly. They are sitting in the diaper bag waiting. I'll again update on those when we use them.

Seriously, how cute is that diaper on!

I would like to see The Honest Company put a dozen diapers in their trial kits as I feel you do not get a true testing of the diapers when you only have enough for maybe a day (depending on your little one). The prints do really sucker you in, as a Mom who loves the prints on my cloth diapers this is one thing that does draw me to this brand. I really like that they shipped everything in a very compact cardboard box that I will definitely be reusing it. The packaging in general is great for all of their items it gets your attention. It would be great if they shipped to Canada! I did have to call and cancel the membership as I do not want to be getting charged for a huge bundle of disposables each month as we will never use that many. When I called they of course try to do their best to convince you to stay with them, but they were very understanding when I explained why I was trying out their product. They even mentioned that with other families who cloth diaper they let the families put a hold on their orders so that the product only arrives when they may need it. They also tried offering me a discount on doing a month order. If this is something you want to try, order the trial and call them saying you are considering cancelling the membership, you will more than likely be offered the discount, saving on disposable diapers is great if that is what you want to use all the time. I am sure many who use disposables would love to have the option of being able to order diapers each month and never having to do the run to the store to buy diapers last minute. With this you would be stocked up ever month and not have to worry (seriously, make this available in Canada for those who do not cloth diaper). It would also be nice to see these products available in stores and not just through the companies website. If the point is to make chemical free products available to families, why do I need a membership to do so?

Next I'll be trying out The Honest Companie's Family Essentials Bundle.

Mother's Day

My Mom and I at my wedding reception

Today many of us celebrated Mother's Day. Last year we celebrated as well, we were still healing from the miscarriage in January but we also had a secret that only a select few knew. We were expecting again. We only told a few near to us as we wanted their support and prayer. I was just told today that one person wished Jason a "Happy Mother's Day" to me, but told Jason because they knew I was still dealing with the loss of one child. They did not know we were also celebrating good news. They were filled in after another family member found out that they had passed on these kind words to Jason for me. It was nice to hear today that others recognize that we consider the one we lost just as much a child of ours as Everly is, who also feels that one day we will get to meet this little one who left us so soon.

Me, my sister Taressa, and my Mom who was prego with Tasya

This Mother's Day was different, this year I woke up just after 5am to the babbles of my little girl in her room. I went in to check on her, and was quickly greeted with big eyes and huge smiles. Suddenly the time on the clock just disappeared, I enjoy my early morning quiet time with my little girl as we cuddled in my comfy chair and got her settled back down to sleep some more after she ate. The night before I held her with tears in my eyes because of how fast she is growing up, it just amazes me because she has already changed so much. I feel like I've almost missed a lot of her "infant" stage, I find myself reminding myself to slow down, forget about the kitchen that needs cleaning and just enjoy her as I only have a baby for a year.

The second time I got to hold Everly

To my Mom, and all the other Mom's I know and who are a part of my life... thank you.

Today I found myself saying a little prayer for all Moms... Moms who have had a baby, never had a baby, lost a baby, surrendered a baby for adoption, and those who had their baby taken away during a difficult time. Mother's day is meant to be a happy day, but for some it can also be a sad day. My heart goes out to all Moms, no matter what Mom you may be.

Since becoming a parent...

Some things I have learned since becoming a parent...

1) Baby's nails are actually little razor blades and they will slice you no matter how short you cut them, its also a work out just trying to hold that hand still so you won't hurt them when trying to cut their nails.

2) Schedules go out the window, yet some how you will get to where you need to be on time.

3) You will get puked, pooped, or peed on right before you have to be somewhere and normally it will happen when you have already changed into your own nice outfit for the place you are going to.

OR

4) Baby will puke, poop, or pee on their outfit right before you are about to leave to go some where with them. (this tends to happen right before church for us)

5) You will forget things! Not just items you need for your child, but you will forget where you parked the car, and you will forget about that important doctors appointment... yet some how you will get there on time!

6) You will have "Mommy/Daddy damage" moments, thankfully they will never remember them. Its amazing how loving little ones can be despite the fact that their stroller flipped over with them in it.

7) When they reach a milestone it is the happiest moment and nothing else matters, you will act like a total fool cheering them on and it does not matter because they are worth the cheering and happiness for getting to that moment.

8) You are going to screw up time and time again, there is a huge learning curve to being a parent, but there is support around you so don't hesitate to ask. Asking others questions is a good thing because others have gone through it too.

10) Their cry will break your heart and damage your ears, its incredible how just a few decibels make a difference in what they are trying to tell you.

11) Nothing is better than the smile on their face when they see you and want to be held and cuddled, it will always melt your heart and even turn the most macho of men into a pansy.

12) Their giggles are absolutely infectious

13) When you fill the tub you will most definitely have to drain it and refill it because they have "gone in the tub"

14) I am working on my patience and being more calm, my little one is helping to mellow me out and cause a whole other type of stress at the same time.

15) My natural instinct to protect is much stronger, hurt my kid or make her cry and you will have me to deal with.

16) Stopping to admire whatever they are looking at too, I'm actually taking time to smell the roses and hear the planes fly over us.

I wouldn't change a thing, and I cannot imagine not being a parent. What are some of the things you have learned that can be added to the list?

Its the weekend

Its the weekend!

 I started off the day by groggily getting out of bed because Everly has taken to waking up around 6am, but she will happily play til about 6:45am. I look forward to Fridays because we normally have our girls coffee get together and the munchkins get to play (or fall asleep in the stroller). For the second time we went outside thanks to this beautiful weather, and hung around the playground in the complex of the town home we meet at. Its great for the kids, they get to play and have fresh air, and we normally get to enjoy them having longer naps later. This get together is right around Everly's nap time so she normally crashes in the car on the way there, and again in the stroller or in my arms later. Today she fell asleep again in the stroller. I'm getting pretty good at transferring her to the car seat still asleep too!

Tonight we are having a bunch of people over to watch the hockey game. We'll see how the parking situation goes as sadly home owners have been using the visitor parking for their own vehicles... *shrug* something for Strata to figure out. Normally we have two spots people can use near our home however we are currently parking our car in one of them because our garage is a disaster. We are still looking forward to everyone coming over, its been a little while since we've done something like this.

Tomorrow we've been invited to dinner at our friend's place, and we get to see their handsome lil guy again. I'm sure we'll fill the morning with other things. Sunday we have church in the morning, and then Jason is sharing his testimony in the evening at Carlton Gospel Hall. Not sure if Everly and I will be joining as its on the other side of the bridge and the meeting happens right around her bed time. It would be nice to get out and see some friends there though.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend. Get out and enjoy the sun, go for a walk to the beach, wear sunscreen it is supposed to be warm.

G Diaper Review

G Diaper Review

I got my hands on some Gdiapers to try for a really good deal compared to the price of one of these diapers new. The prices range from $14 to $28 (in US funds) for a brand new Gdiaper. I really liked the sounds of these when I read into them, after they were suggested as one of the kinds to try out for camping. It sounded great, that all I needed to do was put a disposable insert into a nylon liner on the inside of the fabric cover. 

The idea of flushing one of the disposable inserts is a little frightening
especially if you have a newer low flow toilet.

Basically this diaper claims to be: choose a diaper, put in an insert, and put it on your child. I did not find this to be the case. From the photo above would you guess that to be the front or the back of the diaper? Front right? Wrong. With Gdiapers the velcro goes in the back, so the little G shows on your munchkins backside.  That was a learning curve right there. Brilliant though if you have a munchkin who likes to take off their velcro cloth diapers, it would make it a little more difficult if they have to reach to the back. Out of sight, out of mind sort of idea. I also had to fold the disposable liner to make it fit nicely into the nylon liner. Gdiaper disposable inserts come in two sizes newborn/small or medium/large/extra large. That is a big size difference if you are covering medium to extra large in one liner size. The insert bunched funny, and also moved in the nylon liner a lot. This spells potential for messes.

As soon as I tried these I was just not happy or impressed with the whole process. The fact that I had to use their customer service to make sure the liner was snapped in the right direction, just made me instantly frustrated. It was how I thought it was supposed to go, but their customer service made me second guess it. However, I will give Gdiapers props for great customer service as they did answer all of my questions and talk me through the process which apparently I was doing right on my own.

 I did give these a shot, but wont be going with these as an option for camping. I just don't want to be spending my time washing cloth diapers or nylon inserts if they get messy. That is after all the whole point of this little adventure. If you are new to cloth diaper and want a very basic system to try, this is an option, however I'd suggest pocket diapers over these. I have already turned around and sold the ones I got my hands on. I'd rather see them be used by someone who actually likes them much more than I did. Maybe I would have been won over a little more if I had found some of the fun prints like the one in the picture above... nahhh.

Broody Chick Diaper Review

Broody Chick Diapers

I contacted Broody Chick to see if it was possible to get a sample of their diapers to try on my daughter, I was honest about the fact that I did not want to have to pay for a full box just yet as I cloth diaper 100% of the time. I also explained why I was looking into their diapers. That I needed a disposable option for the weeks we are away in the summer at camps and laundry is not an option. I got more than I expected! The company contacted me back promptly and said they would gladly send me some diapers to try and to let them know how much my daughter currently weighs. 

I don't know about all of you, but I love getting items in the mail. Jason had taken Everly for a walk the other day and checked the mail box. I thought it was weird he was coming back so soon but apparently the mail was all for me and he did not want to lug it in the stroller for the whole walk. One of the packages was from Broody Chick. I eagerly opened it and was surprised to find a hand written note and a whole box of infant diapers. WOW! That was extremely kind of them to send, I was just expecting a couple diapers, not an entire box. This was great because it meant I got to give them a true trial with Everly, to see if she had any reaction to them, and to see how well they would work.

Broody Chick is a Canadian company that is based in Victoria. It was started by a Mom who was looking for an Earth friendly and chemical free product to use with her children. The diapers were introduced to North America as the very first fully compostable and bio-degradable, disposable diapers. 

Lets get down to it...

When I opened the package in the mail the first thing to get my attention was the fact that these diapers came in a cutely decorated cardboard box.  It gets your attention, and its nice to know I can put the package into the recycling. 

Inside the box the diapers are all lined up and wrapped in a plastic bag. The diapers are very simple and white. There are no fancy designs decorating the outside, no colour changing indicator to tell you that your child needs to be changed because they have wet themselves. It is a very basic diaper. To be honest, I kind of liked that. I took the diapers out of the plastic and put the back in the box to use for storage, I did not want to destroy the box, but in the future I'd probably cut off or fold the side flaps down into the box then put the diapers in for easy access to them.

They are more stiff compared to when we used disposables on Everly the first few days, back then we used two of the major diaper companies new born diapers. I also found there was not a lot of stretch around the leg and waist, I wish there was a bit more. I believe this would allow for a better fit around the waist, and a more snug fit around the legs. Everly no longer has skinny mini legs, she has "chunked out" and I found these diapers to be loose around her legs even. The diapers were very trim fitting for under Everly's outfits, this was a nice change to her normal cloth diapers where I tend to have to put her in a size bigger for bottoms. 

During the day these diapers did very well. The diaper does poof up when they are wet, which disposables tend to do. The one thing Jason noticed and did not really like is the smell of a disposable diaper when wet. We have not dealt with that so it was new to us. With this being a more natural option its to be expected, I wouldn't want a perfume smell any ways as that would just mean additives in the diaper. Everly did not have any reactions during the day to the diapers, and we did not have any leaks or blow outs. This was a pleasant surprise as I was expecting them to happen because I was unsure of the fit.

Night time is when I was most concerned. I normally use a heavy wetter cloth diaper on Everly for during the night. My daughter loves her milk, and she loves her sleep at night time. She tends to sleep for 10+ hours at night. This is a long time for a wet diaper to be in contact with her skin. I was so timid about it, that I did in fact put a fleece insert in the diaper to try and help protect her skin. Picked her up this morning... no leaks! She did not soak through the diaper, she sure tried to push the diaper to its limits but we did not wake up to wet clothing and a wet bed sheet. This was a very pleasant surprise. 

These diapers are definitely in the lead for being my go to diaper to use while camping. I still want to give Gdiapers a try, and Seventh Generation diapers (The Honest Company would have been fun to try but it does not look like I can order any... dear sister of mine in the states, can you order some for my to try on Everly?), but the ease of these disposables may have already won me over. I am also intrigued to try other products from Broody Chick.