My friend Lee was in town from Florida this past week. We all got together Thursday night. Friday we went into Chicago for a girls day, which usually involves a lot of window shopping and eating. We took the train and it was fun. We didn't have any problems due to the snow since we didn't drive. Our favorite restaurant downtown (nothing gourmet) is the Grand Lux Cafe. We didn't get to eat there this year because their kitchen was broken. We ended up at the Cheesecake Factory. I had some weird pasta dish that smelled like marijuana. Ava stayed home with Justin. They had a good day too, playing with her new toys. A perk of me no longer working is I don't feel guilty spending one of my vacation days without her since I will have her all the time now. It was an immediate change. I am not excited about only having three days of work left. It is more of a calmness.
Saturday night we went with friends to the zoo to see the lights and the laser light show. It was nice. We were bundled up enough that the cold didn't seem to matter. We saw a few animals. Ava didn't seem too interested, but that could be because she couldn't really move due to all of her layers.
I ordered a couple diapers after Christmas and got them already. Meanwhile I am still waiting for the gifts I ordered for my grandparents. I ordered them towards the beginning of December. I got an email saying they were shipped on the 26th. Still not here. As my cloth diapering experience goes on, my opinions of what I like have definitely changed. The bumgenius all in ones are excellent for on the go. They will probably always be my diaperbag diaper. They are reliable and easy to use, just like a disposable diaper. They kind of suck to wash. They take forever to dry and always need to be hung up because they are still damp out of the dryer. They then lose favor in the every day use catagory. Thirsties fab fitteds work really well and dry quickly but they need a cover. In January they are coming out with a pocket all in one. I believe this means it will all be ready to like the bumgenius all in one, but will have a pocket to stuff in extra stuff for night time if need be. My night time diaper will definitely have to be the bumgenius pocket. It never leaks. Velcro is easy to use for off and on, but not a huge fan for during washing, which means it goes down in points. I really do now like the fuzzibuns for during the day. It is a pocket diaper with snaps. It is extremely easy to wash and with the different leg hole size snaps, you can adjust the fit. It is more bulky than say, the bum genius all in one, well not bulky, but less smooth. Justin doesn't like the snaps so it loses points. It then becomes tied with the bumgenius pocket. So my new addition are two Happy Heiny's. http://www.abbyslane.com/catalog.php?category=77 They might become the perfect diaper. Looks to be the ease of washing with the thinness and the velcro for Justin. We will see though. THey came with GIGANTIC inserts. They seriously look to be about as big as the adult diapers I had in the hospital. I have read reviews that they are nice. The thing about pocket diapers, if you don't like the inserts that come with them, you can use a different one. I really don't like the kissaluvs. I plan to try to sell them when I can. I also ordered some Country Save detergent. It is actually cheaper per load than other detergents (if you can get it in the store and not have to pay shipping and handling) and it is additive free, so no dyes, phosphates, enzymes, etc. *Created by the inventor of Elmer's Glue* It is supposed to be a top rated detergent for diapers and it has a little bit of borax in it, which will help with our water since we don't have a water softener. I am excited to see that Target and Dominicks are starting to carry a couple brands of eco-friendly cleaners. Seventh Generation at Target and Planet at Dominic's. I have gotten the Seventh Generation dishwasher detergent and it works fine. When regulations were put in place limiting phosphates in detergents, it effected everything except dishwasher detergent. Phosphates are like a delicious snack for algae so it grows like crazy, affecting other water organisms and life. (Please note I don't claim to be an expert, just what I have gathered from my reading. I could be totally wrong.)
