Hello, friends!

So it is 1:36 a.m....I seem to be most productive at this hour. Or maybe it just seems to me I'm productive in this hazy, sleep-deprived state. Hey, whatever helps me not sleep at night!

Today's topic is DIAPERS. Nappies. Didees. Bottom-covers. Brent and I were all set to start gDiapers (great innovative diapering system started by 2 ex-Aussies who now live & make their stuff in Portland...), BUT by the time we felt ready to make the switch Lucy had outgrown our little "starter kit" of gDiapers that we had purchased in a fit of pre-baby consumerism. Shortly after trying in vain to fasten the "little g pant" around our daughter's girth ("She's healthy! She's breastfed! She's perfect" says her Grandma Linda--a charter LLL member, and most proud of it), we attended the "Green Sprouts Festival." Said festival was a celebration of all things organic, carved-of-wood, and recyclable---and all of it baby- and toddler-related. In other words, it was very PORTLAND, and we loved it. We didn't buy any Tofu Gyros, but we sampled organic produce and looked at all stuff they were selling and I wore my new babysling with pride--and sometimes Lucy even rode in it! :-) (We ran into the ladies who own the shop where I bought the sling---and they actually told me I was wearing it wrong. They adjusted it and showed me AGAIN how to work it, and (gasp!) Lucy actually liked riding in it now that Mom was up to speed!)

ANYHOO...Brent collapsed from exhaustion partway through all the Festiveness and took a nap on the lawn...and Chanda collapsed with giggles at the Musikgarten demonstration (1 fresh-faced instructor + 8 overly-eager parents frantically waving scarves + 6 drooling babies sitting on a large mat) and Lucy collapsed sleepily into her now-comfortable sling...and Chanda stumbled into the Insane World of Cloth Diapering.

(Chanda walks away chortling from the "music class" and runs into a booth)

Ch: Oops! Sorry.
Booth lady: No problem!
Ch (putting out her hand to steady herself): I'm not used to having a sling around my---what are THESE? (her hand has touched something soft, white, and fleecy)
Booth lady: Fuzzi Bunz!
Ch: ?!?!
Booth lady: Surely you've heard of Fuzzi Bunz---they're practically a religion among CD'ers.
Ch: Tell me moooooore!

Yes, I've been preached to, convicted, and dunked in the baptismal font that is "CD'ing" (cloth diapering in Computerease), and I am here to TESTIFY.

Love the Fuzzi Bunz. They are "pocket diapers"--nothing like what our foremothers had to go through when they were diapering us with plastic pants and toilet swirling and PINS. OWCH. Fuzzi Bunz were invented by a mom who hates laundry. I can relate somewhat, and they remain soft and white and fleecy on the insides--no matter what Lucy puts in.

Being the research freak that I am, I have spent weeks online trying different samples of various cloth didees and reading reviews. I have learned the difference between a Rumpster and a Bumkin; a Kissaluv and a Swaddlebee; Happy Heinys, Crankypants, Wonderoos, Tinkle Traps, Little Beetles, and bumGenius! (The exclamation point is actually part of the name....not "BumGenius", but bumGENIUS! Like..."Oklahoma!" and "Oliver!" and "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!")

I kid you not.

To think there was an entire world out there waiting for me to explore, embrace, and research it to death.

After wading through the SchnooglyWear, Fussybutts, and Knickernappies (can I make this stuff up??), I have returned to the Fuzzi Bunz. We love them. We have them in all different colors. I also have a few others that I don't like as much....and I am saving up $$ for a few Starbunz for Lucy's birthday next July. ??? Why??? Because they're just so darn cute. And I figured out on the trusty calculator that we're actually going to be saving thousands of $$ by investing in these now instead of disposables, especially if we have a 2nd child someday. So I might splurge on a few Starbunz for the baby...and she does have a cute little rump. It deserves some pamperage.

Can I get a witness?

Love to you all---I am looking forward to Thanksgiving next week, and the pumpkin pie that accompanies the blessed day.

-chanda