My cyber friend Megan over at SortaCrunchy is participating in a groovy diaper chatter carnival hosted by Momfessions. I'm waiting for my hair-in-curlers to dry, so I thought I'd dive in...never mind that Shane needs his pants pressed for tonight's Pregnancy Center's Fundraising Gala...this is much more important!

I had never thought about cloth diapering in a positive way since swishing my little brother's poopy diapers in the toilet as a teen. No way would I use cloth diapers! Of course, no one I knew in real life or on the web was using cloth back when I had my first couple of girls.

Then a friend started the cloth diapering talk. I looked into it when I was pregnant with Jaika (number 4) but was quickly turned off by all the different types, their abbreviations, the lingo...too much!

Then another friend called and asked if I was interested in cloth diapers. I had been a little desensitized to them by this point, but wasn't ready to do all the investigating to figure out which ones to buy, nor did I have the funds for them. When I told my friend that I was indeed interested but only if they landed on my front porch, she said, "Great, I think these will look great on your porch!"

Thus started my CD-ing lifestyle. By this time, Jaika was about a year old. Some of the diapers needed some mending so I pulled out my Singer and attempted to replace elastic. I also made some crude cloth wipes. I was so proud! Hubby wasn't so sure, but like with many of my strange ideas, he's sweet enough to just play along.

When I found out I was pregnant with Audrey, I knew I needed absolutely nothing. How could we have any needs when she had 4 sisters to pass things down to her? So I asked for new cloth diapers. My friends came through in a HUGE way and blessed me with enough to use for Audrey full time.

They bought BumGenius 3.0s after I used a now discontinued brand of pocket diapers with Jaika. I love them and use them almost all the time. Jaika is also still in her pocket diapers for naps & bedtimes-she's in Dora the Explorer panties the rest of the time.

I love using cloth. I feel good not putting the chemicals used in diapers next to my baby's skin. I feel good not just throwing money away on what will just end up in the trash. Even cheap diapers are expensive, especially when the cost over the long haul is calculated.

If you're interested in cloth but not so keen on spending so much money up front for diapers, consider requesting them as your main baby gift. After all, clothes are a dime a dozen at thrift stores. What else does a baby need but diapers, clothes, a sling and a momma? (Okay, this 5th baby really needed a swing, but my good buddy Jennifer took care of that, lol.)

Oh, and I still don't swish. I use rice paper liners in the toddler diapers-they're flushable paper that line the diaper so you can just lift the poop out and flush it.

Okay, off to get ready for our big evening!