Enjoying My Breakfast For Dinner

My diapers from Ecomom arrived today! Cute blue and green pastel prints. There should be picture tomorrow after I've prewashed them. I am so grateful to be able to have a little bit of income from GPT sites with which we can buy extra things like cloth diapers, e-books, and a new computer when mine died.

Patrick started playing with toys today. I put him in his carrier with a toy clipped to it. He played with it the entire time I was in the shower. Then, I put him in the Exersaucer while I was cooking dinner (turkey bacon, scrambled eggs, grits, and biscuits-yum) and he played with the toys there. My little man is getting so big!

I'm learning as I go, but I love all the new experience I've had this time around. I feel like I've done everything opposite with Patrick as I did with Austin ten years ago. With Austin, I didn't exclusively breastfeed, I used disposable diapers, he was in child care at six weeks old, he never wanted to snuggle (even though that's all he wants to do now). And soon I'll be making my own laundry detergent and baby food. It seems strange to say, but I can't wait. It sounds like more work, but it's fun and saves money.

And I'm so grateful to all my friends who have helped me save/earn money along the way; you know who you all are. From new ways of earning, to code alerts, to sharing coupons.  I wouldn't earn over $100/month (at 10 earning sites) or get all the amazing deals I get. I hope I've helped out a few of you as well. Austin is always asking what I'm doing on Swagbucks and Patrick is usually sitting in my lap. Starting them early!

I'm hoping to start painting the nursery soon. We're only four months behind. Better late than never, I guess. Of course, I have to actually start. I can't wait to decorate with Dr. Seuss. I wonder if I'll have any help?

A Little of This, A Little of That

If you're not doing Jingit, I just don't know why not. I've made $10.00 since Sunday just watching a couple of ads on Walmart.com. What else do I have to do to convince you? Jingit is the easiest money I make.

I've finally reached platinum status at Calyp by pimping out my Twitter (@stokesreagan). I'm totally fine with it; I really only use Twitter for my GPT sites anyway. I've earned over $150.00 at Calyp this year.

I'm very excited about the newest toy I purchased using money I earned online. Anyone want to guess what it is? Here's a hint: it's not cloth diapers. I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of four diapers in transit right now from various retailers. I'm so impatient when it comes to waiting on cloth diapers! 

I can't wait for the weather to decide what it wants to do. Sweaters one day, tank tops the next. Come on, summer! Only a little more than a month left before school's out so it's almost here. 

Patrick  and I took Austin to school this morning since Jonny had to go in to work early (after my mom came over and helped me jump the battery). I went to the Drug Store to eat breakfast with my mom and grandmother as I always do when I take Austin to school. It just so happens there was a Grammy Award-winning group there. I'd never heard of The New Christy Minstrels, but it's cool to be able to say I've eaten breakfast with someone who's won a Grammy. They even sang a little tune for us. It's not quite my type of music, but if you like folk chorus you should enjoy them. Here's the daily pic of the little guy. He's asleep, as I'm sure you can tell. It won't be long before he'll be awake and wanting a diaper change and some nourishment.

Weekend Update

Austin, Jonny, and I (and Patrick) did our first 5k Saturday. It was an amazing turnout. The Dan River Autism Awareness 5k raised over $12,000 its first year. We all had a great time, especially Austin. You know it's a fun time when there are balloon animals. Next year, we'll start earlier and get in on all the festivities. Here's Team Austin, minus Jonny who was in the bathroom at the time.

I've never seen a baby eat so much or go through as many diapers as Patrick. It's a good thing we use cloth diapers. Otherwise, we'd still be buying diapers every other day. Yes, every other day. That's like $7 a day in diapers. I guess a lot of babies probably need diaper changes that often, but Patrick refuses to sit in a wet or dirty diaper, whether it's disposable or cloth. If he starts crying, the first thing we do now is check to see if he needs a diaper change as it's the most likely. He eats every two hours-some times less-and we change his diaper about every thirty minutes unless he's asleep. It's a good thing he sleeps through the night because his daytime schedule wears me out. 

I joined Bing Rewards today. I can't believe how easy it is. It's not going to make me rich, probably $5 per month, at most, but it couldn't be much easier. You get a reward limit each day and you earn 1 point for every two searches up to that limit. My limit was ten today so I searched twenty times. It took me about two minutes. They have a variety of rewards to choose from: Amazon gift cards, Xbox Live subscription, Redbox codes, Hulu Plus subscription, along with others. The $5 Amazon gift card (my go-to reward) is 525 points. If my limit is ten every day, it'll take me less than two months to earn that. I've heard that eight is the lowest limit. If you'd like to give Bing Rewards a try, click HERE. You don't lose anything by giving it a test drive.

Jingit has started a new campaign. In addition to watching video ads on their website and doing check-ins at places like Walmart, they now have ads placed around Walmart.com (with other websites to follow, I hope). You go to Walmart.com, look around their site some, find an ad with the Jingit curl, and click. You'll get a pop-up window with the Jingit homepage and a video ad will appear momentarily. Once the video is finished, money will be added to your balance. Also, if you'll notice, the weekly limits have increased. If you originally had a limit of $5, it has been increased to $10. Through the month of April, there will be three ads available each day. If you're getting $0.50 per ad, you'll meet that limit easily. That's an easy $40 per month. I'm already at $3.00 for the week and my Jingit week starts today. That's $3.00 just today. Not too shabby.

Should You Or Shouldn't You

 I haven't yet addressed the pros and cons on cloth diapering. That might have been a good topic with which to start this series. But since it's too late for that, I'll do it now. Each system has its own pros and cons, but I'm just going into the advantages and disadvantages of cloth diapering as a whole.

PROS

-:Less expensive long-term than disposables, especially as they should last through more than one child

-No middle of the night runs to the store for diapers

-Reduced occurrence of diaper rash than with disposables

-Better for the environment than disposables, especially if line- or air-drying

-Cloth-diapered children tend to be potty-trained earlier than disposable-diapered children

-Less leaks and blow-outs with some choices of cloth diapers

-Made of natural fibers so no toxic chemicals sitting against baby's skin

-Prefolds and flats can be used as rags after diapering is through; pockets, covers, fitteds, and AIOas can be sold or donated

-Less garbage than with disposables

-Much cuter than disposables

Patrick rocking a Grovia All-In-One (AIO)

CONS

-High initial cost with cloth diapers

-More laundry (although diaper services can take care of this for you, for a price)

-More energy usage with cloth-diapering

-Child care provider (or family members) may not be willing to use cloth diapers

-Cloth diapers can be more difficult in public, especially long trips and vacations where they would need to be washed

-More leaks and blow-outs with some choices of cloth diapers

-Baby will need to go up a size due to larger tushy

-There is a learning curve with using cloth diapers

-Cloth diapers have to be changed more often than disposables (But do you really want your baby sitting in waste any longer than necessary?)

-It can be addictive!

And there's no need to worry about stabbing baby with a diaper pin. Below is a picture of Patrick wearing a prefold fastened with a [white] Snappi. Just stretch it across, throw on a cover, and go.

On an unrelated note, you shouldn't wash disposable wipes. They make a giant mess. I've learned this the hard way. My husband keeps accidentally throwing the disposable wipes into the cloth diaper pail. At least every other wash cycle, I'm picking bits and pieces of a disposable wipe out of my washing machine, or worse, my dryer. If you're going to use cloth diapers, I suggest also using cloth wipes. I was hesitant at first. It seemed expensive and unnecessary. But I've changed my mind. You don't need many. I wash my diapers about every other day and I wash my cloth wipes with them. They go in the same laundry pail.