A few random things:

- Stuff about pregnancy that totally doesn't suck: ice cream at 2am. Mmm.

- Internet Mamas: Anyone here using the Bum Genius 3.0 cloth diapers? I ask, because it's what we've been using with Iz since she was 2-3 months old, and they've been great... up until a few weeks ago. Suddenly? Leakage. It's happened at daycare a few times, and at home as well. Am I doing something wrong, here? I'm wondering if maybe her bladder has grown to a size where the cloth diapers are at capacity now? Does the elastic around the legs wear out at a certain point? (It looks fine, but it's not like I paid a bunch of attention to how it looked before.) Any comments welcome.

- I forgot to mention something in my rant about working the other day.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, my family was not thrilled with our decision to put Iz in daycare. Not only is it not a traditional Mennonite thing to do, but with the recent rash of abuse cases that have become public within our immediate circle of acquaintances, there is increased suspicion and worry around that subject.

My mom and I dealt with it over a series of conversations, and I was somewhat expecting my dad to weigh in on the subject as well -- mainly because I knew she had called him the day she and I had the Big Daycare Talk. A few weeks back, he tentatively brought it up after I made a comment about how good daycare had been for us.

"Your mom called me about that," he started.

"Yeah, I know," I said, preparing to launch into my multiple point presentation about why daycare was really good both for us and for Iz, and why it was necessary, and most importantly, why I wanted this. "You know, I'm much happier when I'm working, and the full time mom thing just leaves me..."

That's as far as I got. He waved me off. "That's just not your personality."

I stopped short, and cut off the urge to continue justifying our decision. He totally got it.

Not only that? If what I wanted was to never work at a job for the rest of my life, and stay home and be with my kids, he likely would have said, "Of course, you're a mother."

He considers it to be 100% my choice, and my right, either way.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but my conservative Mennonite father might just be a really rockin' feminist.

A number of people have asked me in the last few months how the cloth diapering is going, so I thought I'd respond to that here. In short: I love them.

I'm using the Bum Genius 3.0. I chose them because they seemed simple, weren't over-the-top expensive compared to some brands, and are one size (supposedly -- I have doubts about them fitting Iz past one year, but we'll see). We still use disposable when my mom is looking after her, or if I'm gonna be in Van for the day, but her bum is definitely in cloth the majority of the time.

My reasons for liking them are as follows:

- They've saved me a ton of money, and being Mennonite, that type of thing is important to me. I spent about $220 on 12 of them, run a load through the laundry most nights, and have found that that's enough. Compare that to a $40 box of diapers from Costco, and the savings add up quickly. I haven't noticed a big increase in our utility bills as a result of the diapers either, although we tended to do a lot of laundry in the week anyway.

- I would say that we have *less* diaper blow-outs with the cloth than we do with disposable. That's a bit of a tricky calculation to make, since as I say, she's in cloth most of the time, but the cloth seem to fit better and hold everything in better. I had a brief problem for a few months with pee leaking through, but I think that had more to do with how I was putting the diaper on her (letting it be a bit too loose in the back). That issue hasn't arisen for a few months now.

- Cute baby diaper butt. Seriously, they make her butt huge and it's adorable. That probably isn't a good reason to use them. As long as we're talking asthetics, however, I will say that I like putting a diaper on her that isn't covered in little Disney cartoon characters. They're just white. Simplicity is beautiful. And weirdly, so far they haven't stained, which has surprised me.

This public service message has been brought to you by me, and by Izzy's butt. Thank you for your attention.

We are in the midst of Izzy's first day in cloth diapers, specifically the Bum Genius 3.0.

There will doubtless be commentary to follow. Some of it may involve swearing.

So I'm planning on cloth diapering, but I know absolutely nothing about it. So this afternoon I hit up Blue Sky Baby here in Mission and asked them to educate me.

From everything she told me, I'm thinking BumGenius is the way to go. They're a bit pricier than some of the other cloth diapers, but because they're sizable, it seems like in the long run they will save me money, since I won't have to turn around and buy a whole new set when she outgrows the first set. Also they seem not too ridiculously bulky, and I like that you don't have to use a diaper cover with them. I also like that unlike some of the other higher priced diapers, you don't have to do any special washing with them -- 'cuz seriously, like my life won't be complicated enough?? (She started telling me about one type that required hand washing and line drying, and I just cut her off. "I won't be doing that. Tell me about the next type please?")

Mommas? Have any of you used these?