Cloth Diapers

Our family uses cloth diapers.  We bought them when I was pregnant with Jude and started using them with him when he was two months old.  I love our cloth diapers.  I wash the diapers myself and there is a very specific process for that... it's definitely a labor of love!  We use a special detergent that is made for cloth diapers called "Rockin Green."  When washing the diapers I first run them through a cold rinse cycle with no detergent.  Next I run them through a hot cycle with detergent.  The next step is something that I figured out along the way that seems to work well for us... I pull out the clean diaper shells and leave the inserts in for one more round of washing with detergent and a bit of bleach.  Then I line dry the diaper shells and throw the inserts in the dryer.  Once dry, I stuff the inserts into the diaper shells and put them away for the next use.  I typically wash diapers about twice a week.  Using cloth diapers has been very economical for our family!!  Let me explain....the majority of our diapers are called "one size"- this means that the diaper can "grow" with the child.  We've been using the diapers with Jude and now we're able to start using them with Channing too!  (Both of our children are able to wear the same diapers, just snapped to fit their different sizes)  Here's a picture of our cloth diaper stash:

Tonight was Channing's first time wearing cloth!  For fun (and to document this occasion) we took some pictures of Channing showing off her cloth!

Channing, 2 months old

Here's some older pictures of Jude wearing cloth:

Jude, 7 months old (December 2010)

Jude, 9 months old (February 2011)

Jude, 15 months old (August 2011)

I'm excited to now have two babies in cloth (and about all of the money we'll be saving by not buying disposable diapers for two kids!).  Not only are they economical, but they're so stinkin' cute too!!!  There is just something adorable and irresistible about a little cloth diapered bum!

Who's Who?

Ian and I had a good time with this.....  there are two pictures below.... one is of Jude when he was 2 months old and the other is of Channing at 2 months old.  Can you tell who is who?

If you guessed that the first pictures is of Channing and the second picture is of Jude than you are correct!!  It's fun to see Channing wearing some of Jude's old clothes and it's also fun to do comparison pictures.

Little Blue Devils!

We've had some big changes going on in the Walker family!  Right around the time that Channing was born I was offered a job working in the Student Disability Access Office within the Disability Management System at Duke University!  Once I accepted the position, we needed to figure out a plan for the little Walkers.  We toured a few day cares in our area and I also contacted the Duke Children's Campus to find out about their availability.  During our tour of the Duke Children's Campus we were informed that there was an opening that had become available that day and they would be able to accommodate both of our children!!!  From what I'm told, this is amazing because there is normally a waiting list that people have to be on for a year or so before getting into the Duke Children's Campus.  We are thrilled to have the opportunity to have our children attend such a great program that is located within walking distance from my new office.  The children have settled right in at Duke and my job is going great.  I am able to nurse Channing during my lunch break each day and of course I get to sneak a peek at Jude during that time too.  Both children have picked up colds since starting at Duke but we're hopeful that this will pass and will strengthen their immune systems.  Here's some pictures of Jude & Channing supporting their new community (I realize the pictures are all similar, but I think they're all cute and it was hard to narrow it down):

Lets Go Blue Devils!!

Snip Snip Snip!

Jude is nearly 20 months old and has yet to have his hair cut!  He has grown quite the mullet that Ian affectionately calls "the golden mullet."  We've been pondering whether or not to cut it for quite a while and have gone back and forth with our decision.... but today was the big day!!  We took him to a salon in Durham, NC called Peek-a-Do and got the "1st haircut package", which includes before and after photos, a lock of hair, and a 1st haircut certificate.  Here's how Jude's hair looked before:

"The Golden Mullet":  Long enough to be put in a pony tail!

Jude got to sit in a little boat while he got his hair cut.  He kept busy playing with some toys while his stylist got to work.  Here's some pictures:

The first snip!

Jude did a great job!  So long "golden mullet!"  Here's his new look:



Pullen Park Fun

It was really nice outside this weekend and we thought it would be fun to take a trip out to Pullen Park as a family.  The park has been closed for over a year while they redid all of the landscaping and playgrounds as well as built a new structure around the carousel that Pullen Park has been known for and it only reopened within the past few months.  Jude rode the carousel with his daddy and wasn't so sure about it - he clung tightly to Ian the whole time while asking for "Mimi" (mommy).  Even though he wasn't so sure about it, he sure did take a cute picture on it!

We rode the train at Pullen Park as a family while Jude repeated "choo choo" over and over.  After our train ride, Jude enjoyed playing on all of the fun playground equipment they have.  I got a lot of really cute pictures of Jude playing.  Here's the highlights:

Every time the train would pass by while Jude was playing on the playground he would run over to see it and say "choo choo!"  Here's a pretty neat picture I got of him and Ian watching the train pass by:

Miss Channing was a real trouper while Jude was playing at the park.  Other than riding the train as a family, this is what Channing did during our trip to the park:

We had a great time spending time together and playing at Pullen Park today and will definitely be returning there more often this spring!