While my two-year-old daughter is not yet potty trained (it appears this might be the longest training in history) she is still wearing cloth diapers most of the time.  I have tried a number of different diapers and found some that I love.  When I was pregnant, I knew that I wanted to cloth diaper the next baby, but I wasn’t sure when I would start as the diapers that my girl uses aren’t that many and they are also a little bigger fitting.  I didn’t want to invest in any diapers that I was only going to use for a short while and that wouldn’t fit properly when the baby was little.  So, up until the week my son was born (not that I knew it was “that week”, as the time) I had avoided the excitement of buying new cloth diapers.  Then, I got a note that Lil Monkey Bums was having a sale.  Amanda, was hosting a buy-two-get-one.  There were a couple of her diapers that I had seen and wanted to try.  So, I bought some AMPs and a Stage One Drybees Gone Natural.  The Drybees, a sized diaper, was the teeniest, softest, cutest little diaper that I had ever seen and, as it was so teeny and little, my boy outgrew it in two uses.  He outgrew it at 10lbs.  Bummer (ha!).

The AMPs are made in Canada and I was suuuuper excited to be using a Canadian  made diaper (like my much-loved Dimplecheeks) .  The other day, before my boy was in any cloth diapers, my girl needed a diaper change and when I went to change her I found that she was wearing the AMP!!  The AMPs had been sitting, ready, in the diaper stash when all other diapers were dirty.  I was thrilled!  This diaper, that I had hoped would fit our little guy, was also fitting our big girl!!  After they were washed, I eagerly adjusted the snaps and put the diaper on my boy. YES!!  Totally cute and totally trim and totally fitting!!  These diapers fit both my diapered kids?!  The AMPs say that they fit from 7 to 35lbs, and I believe it!  I’ve already seen them fit 10lbs and 24 lbs, with snaps to spare in both directions!  So, I ordered a bunch more.  I have discovered that I love pocket diapers (the ones where you put in and insert to absorb anything the diaper is catching).  I find them easy to use and so much faster to dry. Check out my newest additions to my diaper stash…  I got unisex colours.  They have such pretty colours to pick from!!

Because these are one-size diapers, that means the snaps on the front are adjusted to make the diaper shorter for my boy to wear them, while my girl can wear them with no height adjustment.  In the picture below, you can see the difference.  You can also see how snug the leg hole is!  The “frill” is great for softness on their legs, too.  They are just so soft and so comfy and the elastic is just perfectly snug on their legs and waist.  I’m not worried about them getting a rash, at all.  Both kids are comfortable and dry-bummed when I change their dirties.  Also, the diaper held a fabulously big blow-out by my boy, except it wasn’t a blow-out because nothing left the diaper!!  So thrilled!!

And take a look at this…

Matching little diaper bums.  How cute is that??

I also got some bamboo fleece inserts for these dipes.  I had never tried bamboo inserts.  In fact, the Drybees was the first bamboo diapering product I’ve used.  I’ve just used (and love) the microfibre inserts for my BumGenius diapers in the AMPs (and they totally work).  I loved those microfibre inserts so much that I bought more of them.  But bamboo…. it is a whole new world for me!  These things are awesome.  I can’t even believe how well and how much they absorb.  My boy hates being wet and has grown really fussy in the homemade (not by me, I’m too lazy to make my own cloth diapers) All In One cloth diapers that I have put him in, as soon as he has been wet.  But these?  He doesn’t even notice the wetness.  I’m thrilled.  I could probably even use these inserts in a diaper wrap?  Hmm… I’ll have to try that.
So, the bottom (hee hee, I’m talking about diapers) line is that I adore these diapers and I am so excited that they fit both my diapered kids.  They are easy to use, so cute and so soft and clean up easily.
It’s a match made in cloth diaper heaven!! So, go check out Lil Monkey Bums!!  And if you order some, tell Amanda that Elizabeth sent you !

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 I like to take pictures.  I also like to take pictures of my kids.  Looking back through the albums, my first child has two albums dedicated to his first four weeks of life, and then more albums for the months and years to follow.  My second child has a stack of pictures, somewhere.  I think there are about twenty shots that I caught in her first week of life.  I just had my third baby.  Do I always remember to pick up the camera to capture those moments?  No.  I’m often thinking about something else.  I have a couple shots of my “big kids” as I call them that are framed and hung on the wall of my bedroom.  They are candids, I like them.  However, they aren’t “Wow!” photos.  There are none that I would get blown up and proudly display in my living room, as a piece of art.I recently had the opportunity to watch a great Kamloops family photographer at work.  Dana, from Sweet Life Photography, is relatively new in setting up her photography business, but you’d never guess.  A mom of three, she has experience capturing the innocence and perfection of children.  She’s been taking great photos of her kids for years and capturing all the sweet moments they’ve shared.  Dana took some photos of my youngest boy, when he was only two weeks old.  Already, I look back at the moments she captured and wonder how quickly those moments have passed.  I am delighted to have such incredible portraits of my young son.Dana is friendly and relaxed and it was so easy to be with her as she worked.  I loved the different ideas that she had and the way that she used the natural light available to help make the shots better.  It’s easy to see that she has a passion for working with newborns and catching their purity.Without further adieu, here are some of the amazing photos, all used with permission, that she took of my two-week-old boy.Wow, eh?If you like them, you can check out more of her work on her facebook page.

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