Easter Pictures

April 2nd, we met Cassie Bousson at the Arlington Square for our first official family pictures. We love Cassie, she's awesome AND she's affordable! We got these awesome pictures during one of her "mini sessions" for only $60 and it came with the edited CD :) Love love LOVE her! She also did JE's newborn pictures and will be doing Elsie's newborn shoot as well as some great cousins pictures! The day was beautiful, though a little chilly since it had been raining the day before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Warning: Lots of Beautiful Jane Ellis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My two favorite people in the whole world... how is it they look so much alike!

The Great Cloth Diaper Change! - Memphis

So, anyone who knows me, knows that my sister, Shannon, and I cloth diaper our girls... and love it. And it's so wonderful to have supportive husbands and families who love it just as much. She has CD'd Emma since birth- she's 15 months now, and I've CD'd JE since 2 months(I used the sposies that were given to me first). Recently, I had the opportunity to be involved in a worldwide event called "The Great Cloth Diaper Change". This is the first year and the response was much, MUCH greater than the creator ever imagined.

You may be wondering: what is the GCDC? Well, It all started with Judy Aagard’s desire to celebrate Earth Day by hosting a family event for the Tiny Tots community and quickly morphed into a dream to set the Guinness World Record for the most cloth diapers changed simultaneously. (Awesome!!!) Shortly thereafter, The Great Cloth Diaper Change 2011 was conceived and organized by a small group of cloth diaper enthusiasts that were eager to show North America that cloth diapers are a real option for today’s families.

The initial plan was to develop an infrastructure for any cloth diapering fan in North America to be able to get involved in, either as a participant or an organizer. Word quickly traveled across the oceans and it was soon evident that cloth diapering has a formidable following not just in North America but around the world. Currently, several countries will be hosting locations to help set the World Record, even though for some it will mean getting up in the middle of the night to do so.

We hope this event brings awareness that the cloth diapering community is much larger than people think, and it’s time that we get noticed.

‎203 hosts reporting 6277 participants so far!
Australia – 3
Brazil – 40
Dominican Republic – 5
Germany – 26
Malaysia – 39
Spain – 17
Switzerland – 13
Canada – 891
United Kingdom – 25
United States – 5218



We had our GCDC at Shelby Farms in Memphis, TN. There were over 150 people there and 65 parent-child participants!! When we first decided we would offer this opportunity, we thought it'd be hard to find 25 people to participate (that's the minimum we had to have) But the response was greater than Rachel, Ashley, Toni and Amanda could have imagined! They made the event unforgettable- they offered a raffle where there were Fuzzibunz diapers, Grovia diapers and wipes, dryer balls, Crunchy Clean laundry sets, Boba carrier, a beautiful painting by a local artist, bib and burp cloth sets, and many MANY more items. It was such a beautiful day, where mommas could visit, picnic, and let their babies play in the beautiful sunshine. Emma changed into a Lemon Zest Applecheeks and Jane Ellis changed into a Zinnia BumGenius.

And now the questions you've been wanting to ask:

Why Cloth Diapers?
Reusable cloth diapers have many benefits, including:

■Environmental: Cloth diapers reduce waste for families with children in diapers by more than 50%.
In 1988, over 18 billion diapers were sold and consumed in the United States that year.4 Based on our calculations (listed below under "Cost: National Costs"), we estimate that 27.4 billion disposable diapers are consumed every year in the U.S.

The instructions on a disposable diaper package advice that all fecal matter should be deposited in the toilet before discarding, yet less than one half of one percent of all waste from single-use diapers goes into the sewage system.

Over 92% of all single-use diapers end up in a landfill.

In 1988, nearly $300 million dollars were spent annually just to discard disposable diapers, whereas cotton diapers are reused 50 to 200 times before being turned into rags.

No one knows how long it takes for a disposable diaper to decompose, but it is estimated to be about 250-500 years, long after your children, grandchildren and great, great, great grandchildren will be gone.

Disposable diapers are the third largest single consumer item in landfills, and represent about 4% of solid waste. In a house with a child in diapers, disposables make up 50% of household waste.

Disposable diapers generate sixty times more solid waste and use twenty times more raw materials, like crude oil and wood pulp.

The manufacture and use of disposable diapers amounts to 2.3 times more water wasted than cloth.

Over 300 pounds of wood, 50 pounds of petroleum feedstocks and 20 pounds of chlorine are used to produce disposable diapers for one baby EACH YEAR.

In 1991, an attempt towards recycling disposable diapers was made in the city of Seattle, involving 800 families, 30 day care centers, a hospital and a Seattle-based recycler for a period of one year. The conclusion made by Procter & Gamble was that recycling disposable diapers was not an economically feasible task on any scale.


■Financial: Cloth diapers allow families to save more than $2000 per child.
We estimate that each baby will need about 6,000 diapers during the first two years of life. The following estimates are based on prices in San Francisco, California.

Disposables. For these calculations, let's assume that a family needs about 60 diapers a week. In the San Francisco Bay area, disposable diapers cost roughly 23¢ per store-brand diaper and 28¢ for name-brand. This averages to 25.5¢ per diaper. Thus the average child will cost about $1,600 to diaper for two years in disposable diapers, or about $66 a month.

Diaper Services. Subscribing to a diaper services costs between $13 and $17 each week depending on how many diapers a family decides to order. Let's assume the family spends roughly $15 a week for 60 diapers a week. This equals $780 annually and averages to $65 a month. Over the course of two years, the family will spend about $1500 per baby, roughly the same cost as disposables, depending on what type of covers are purchased and what type of wipes are used. If one adds in the cost of disposable wipes for either diapering system, the costs increase.

Cloth Diapers. For cloth diapering, each family will probably need about 6 dozen diapers. The cost of cloth diapering can vary considerably, from as low as $300 for a basic set-up of prefolds and covers, to $1000 or more for organic cotton fitted diapers and wool covers. Despite this large price range, it should be possible to buy a generous mix of prefolds and diaper covers for about $300, most of which will probably last for two children. This means the cost of cloth diapering is about one tenth the cost of disposables, and you can spend even less by using found objects (old towels & T-shirts).

National Costs. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were about 19 million children under four in 2000. We could probably assume that there are about 9.5 million children under two and therefore in diapers at any one time. Based on previous studies, we estimate that 5-10% of babies wear cloth diapers at least part time. We will average these figures to 7.5% of babies in cloth diapers and 92.5% in disposables. This means that about 8.8 million babies in the U.S. are using 27.4 billion disposable diapers every year.

Based on these calculations, if we multiply the 8.8 million babies in disposable diapers by an average cost of $800 a year, we find that Americans spend about 7 billion dollars on disposable diapers every year. If every one of those families switched to home-laundered cloth prefold diapers, they would save more than $6 billion, enough to feed about 2.5 million American children for an entire year. Coincidentally, the 2002 U.S. Census reveals that 2.3 million children under 6 live in poverty.

Tax Savings. In some specific circumstances, when cloth diapers have been prescribed for the treatment of a disease, tax savings may be available through the use of flexible spending accounts and medical expense deductions. This could represent a 10% - 35% savings on the cost of diapers depending on the family's tax rate.


■Health: Cloth diapers help parents reduce exposure of their babies’ skin and lungs to the chemicals in disposable diapers. Disposable diapers contain Dioxin, an extremely toxic by-product of the paper-bleaching process. It is a carcinogenic chemical, listed by the EPA as the most toxic of all cancer-linked chemicals. It is banned in most countries, but not the U.S.

Disposable diapers contain Tributyl-tin (TBT) - a toxic pollutant known to cause hormonal problems in humans and animals.

Disposable diapers contain sodium polyacrylate, a type of super absorbent polymer (SAP), which becomes a gel-like substance when wet. A similar substance had been used in super-absorbency tampons until the early 1980s when it was revealed that the material increased the risk of toxic shock syndrome by increasing absorbency and improving the environment for the growth of toxin-producing bacteria.

In May 2000, the Archives of Disease in Childhood published research showing that scrotal temperature is increased in boys wearing disposable diapers, and that prolonged use of disposable diapers will blunt or completely abolish the physiological testicular cooling mechanism important for normal spermatogenesis.

■Cute and comfortable: Parents love putting soft cloth diapers, available in a variety of styles and patterns, on their babies.

■Convenient: Once you’ve purchased your stash, no more weekly trips to the store to purchase more – simply put a load in the laundry!

(please visit: http://www.realdiaperassociation.org/diaperfacts.php for references)

Emma in her stylish Lemon Zest Applecheeks
Emma has really started to play make-believe. Here, she's pretending to feed Jane Ellis applesauce

Jane Ellis says "just give me the spoon, I'll feed myself"

Tired girl, taking a nap after lunch :)

Kisses for cousin JE

All tuckered out. Setting a world record is tough stuff!

Back to work

Not much has been going on since Jane Ellis turned 4 months. Starting back to work came and went, and the transition was easier than I imagined. The week leading up to it was hard, but once I started back, I fell right back in to the old routine. Being back is great. I really missed my co-workers, the patients and just the feeling of accomplishment. Oh and the paychecks! The funds were running out! JE has proven to be such an easy, laidback baby for whoever watches her. It's been raining so much that Robert's eaither been home to put her to bed, or goes to work a little late so I can be there to see her in the mornings. Either his mom, my mom, Megan or Jennifer watch her when Robert and I can't be there. It's so so wonderful to have people that you love and trust to care for the most precious possession you have been blessed with.

Here we are at Marquette Park which is just down the street from Shannon's house.

Emma woke up from her nap to find JE there to visit!

Jane Ellis after her bath with her nighttime BumGenius

We love this adorable outfit.

My days off are filled with going to the park, the zoo, walks around the neighborhood with Daisy, eating crawdads, or just relaxing at home. Not much gets done around the house but I just can't make myself stay home to clean when it's so nice outside!

Where has the time gone- 4 months already!!

Jane Ellis turned 4 months old March 22nd. I Cannot believe it's already been 4 months and I have to start back to work!!! Where did all the time I had off go? It has been the biggest blessing to have been able to stay home with my baby girl for 17 whole weeks. I cannot begin to explain the sadness that has come over me knowing I have to leave her. I love everything about being a SAHM. I love being up with her at 730 in the morning, I love taking her everywhere with me -the bank, grocery shopping, the zoo. I love seeing her discover her hands, toes, toys. I love watching her try to sit up on her own just to teeter over on her side. And I love the toothless grins and giggles she gives me over and over and over again. Well, enough about how sad I'm going to be to leave her, here's more about her! She is still the best baby I could have asked for. She stills takes 2-3 naps a day, still sleeps through the night - 730 pm - 430, eats, then back to sleep till 730-8 am. She's taking a bottle great, and nursing even better. We still LOVE our cloth diapers. I've even ordered some Bumgenius 3.0s to make diaper changes easier for daddy and the babysitters - Jennifer, my mom and MIL. She's sitting up in her bumbo and exersaucer really well now and loves to play for very long stretches. She stares at everything, and you can tell she's just taking everything in. Here are some 4 month pictures.

She looks so much like Robert here!

Getting ready to go to the zoo

Here we are at the zoo. This is the first of many trips and I think she enjoyed it. We went with my parents, oma, Shannon and Emma. Emma and grandma. Emma loved it! Jane Ellis is worn out :) Here are a few pictures of the girls on St. Patricks day.

Emma loves her cousin!

Dr.S and Tsunamis

Wednesday Jane Ellis was very fussy, and not herself at all. She is usaually a very easy going, happy, smiley baby who likes to be held but doesn't require holding to be happy. She never ran a fever, and had had a cold for the past 4 or 5 days, so I thought it was just her cold. She fell asleep at 6p then woke to eat at 9p. After she woke up, she cried/screamed everytime she laid down flat. I thought she was just tired and fighting sleep, so I let her do that for about 5 mins. Give her her paci, she'd calm, I'd go downstairs and she'd start again. She does this sometimes if she's really tired, but not for this long. I went back up there, rocked her (she usually hates to be rocked- she likes to just be put in her bed) and she fell asleep on my chest. Everytime I tried to lay her in her bed, she'd wake up screaming. I decided to give her some tylenol- I swear it helped in 15 mins. I let her just sleep on me, then was finally able to lay her in her bed after a few hours- 2a by now. She woke me at 6a to eat and was up for the day - again, not like her, she normally goes back to sleep till atleast 830. By 10 she was soooo fussy/crying, wouldn't really eat and HAD to be held. By now, I knew it had to be an ear infection from her cold. We couldn't see Dr. S until 430 that afternoon. So more tylenol was given which helped calm her again. I was right, it was her right ear (Emma also had a right ear infections when she was just a month or so older than JE - weird lol) After a few more doses of tylenol and some amoxicillin - "the pink stuff" as most kids call it - she had a great night's sleep. And this morning is back to her old happy, calm, beautiful self. I'm so glad the Lord let this happen while I'm still at home. Not that her daddy wouldn't have held her all night, but I just feel so much better being home with her for her first sickness. It absolutely breaks my heart to know I'll be back to work in two weeks. But I know I have to work to keep the house and car, and that makes it slightly easier - slightly.

Now, on a sadder note. The point of this blog is two-fold. I wanted a way for family and friends (should they choose to follow) to stay updated on my sweet JE. But it was also a way to help me remember special things/events/milestones in her life. I want to take a second to write about Japan, and the sadness that has overcome that country. Eary this morning - 2 am our time and 2 pm theirs- there was an 8.9 mag earthquake 80 miles in the ocean. Here's a small excerpt from an article by foxnews:
"TOKYO -- A ferocious tsunami unleashed by Japan's biggest recorded earthquake slammed into its eastern coast Friday, killing hundreds of people as it carried away ships, cars and homes, and triggered widespread fires that burned out of control.
Hours later, the waves washed ashore the U.S. West Coast, where evacuations were ordered from California to Washington but little damage was sustained. The entire Pacific had been put on alert -- including coastal areas of South America, Canada and Alaska -- but waves were not as bad as expected." Here's the website: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/03/11/thousands-roam-tokyo-streets-massive-tsunami-devastates-region/

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives away, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though the waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling- Psalms 46:1-3. Praying for the people of Japan, today. Where else can they find comfort and peace, but in the Lord.

We're 3 months old!!

Jane Ellis turned 3 months old February 22nd! She has grown up so much in the last 3 months, it's crazy! Here are some of the milestones she's hit:

◦She raises her head and chest when laying on her stomach. When she first wakes up from
her naps, you can find her raised up on her arms cooing and looking around.
◦She opens and shuts her hands. She loves to lay on her playmat, and grab the toys
hanging above her head and try to put them in her mouth. She will also pull her legs up and touch her toys with her feet.
◦She has been pushing down on her legs when her feet are placed on a firm surface
for weeks now. Sometimes she'd rather stand on you that sit on your lap.
◦She loves to brings her hands to her mouth and chew on her fists and fingers. She just recently
found her thumb and will prefers her right thumb to her left. She doesn't really suck her thumb
unless she's laid down to sleep, and she will still take her paci.
◦She recognizes familiar objects and people at a distance, and knows when I'm not holding her. She doesn't mind other people holding her, but if she's tired, she prefers me or Robert.
◦Smiles at the sound of your voice - She loves to smile, and coo and does this "gagaga" sound. And "hooo hooo" and she mimics Robert and thinks it's so funny!
◦Begins to babble
◦Begins to develop a social smile - She will smile at people that she doesn't know but sometimes it takes her a minute to feel comfortable enough to.
◦She is rolling over from her belly to her back. I haven't seen her do it, but I've walked in twice and she's been on her back.

She now weighs 14 lbs and is 24 inches long. She sleeps from 6 or 7p to about 4a then wakes to nurse then back to sleep till 8or9. Eats, then naps at 11. Eats then naps at 1, Eats then naps at 3, Eats then to sleep at 6 or so. Up around 4 to eat, then right back to sleep till about 9. Not always exactly those times, but pretty close to it. So far she sleeps and eats great!



She loves to look at books and will pay attention while I read to her. She still wears 3-6 month clothes, but with her cloth diapers will fit into some 6 month onesies. She still sleeps on her tummy - yes, I know all about the whole SIDS thing, but honestly, she won't sleep on her back longer than an hour or so and HATES to be swaddled. She hasn't been swaddled since she was 4 weeks old and has been sleeping on her tummy since 6 weeks. We co-sleep with her in her little bed wight up next to our bed. I love it and don't know how in the world I will be able to put her in her own crib in a few months. She doesn't however sleep in our bed. I've tried to just let her sleep with me in the early morning after she nurses, but like I said before she won't sleep on her back, and she's not much of a snuggler, so back in her bed she goes to sleep for a few more hours.


We still love our cloth diapers and hardely ever use disposibles. They keep her so clean and dry and she's yet to have a blowout. She has had a few leaks, but those got better after I prepped her diaper a few more times. I love all the cute prints and beautiful colors! Here she is in her night time sunbaby diaper. She is such a heavy nighttime wetter, but this keeps her dry and she doesn't leak out like her sposies.

She loves bath time and really likes to sit up in the sink rather than lay in the bathtub.

Emma Turns 1 !

My sweet niece Emma turned 1 year old February 17th! I can't believe that sweet little newborn has grown into a big, happy, beautiful 1 year old! Emma truely has a beautiful spirit. She is so kind, she loves to pet and pat Jane Ellis. She'll pat her and pat her and we'll say "gentle" so then she starts to pet her :) She is always talking to her in her little goo gah blah lalala language. She tries to give her sips of water from her sippy cup, and if her paci falls out she's always quick to try to stick it back in her mouth, even if she doesn't need it. And for some reason she likes to back up and sit on her... not quite sure where she picked that up from, needless to say, we can't leave those two alone together :) She loves her baby doll and has just recently learned how to cradle her and rocks her back and forth. And that kid loves books! She'll get one and throw it at Shannon lol She'll just sit in Shannon's lap and listen to her read one over and over again. She just went to the doctor and was 20.4 lbs. She is still using cloth diapers and they love them. She eats pretty well too. Shannon hasn't found anything that Emma doesn't like. The only problem they are having is that Emma can't tolerate cow's milk. They are alternating between almond, rice, coconut, and goat milk. She likes them all, so Shan just gives her a variety until she's able to tolerate cow's milk.

Emma just a few hours old

Here is Emma in mid-May just 3 months old

And here she is at 1 year!

Shannon threw her a wonderful birthday party complete with balloons, party favors and blueberry muffins!

Wonderfull grandparents

Emma and her baby

Shannon had to wake her up from her nap! She was very surprised :)

Party favors