Awhile back, Emily mentioned that she was considering using cloth diapers for Baby Girl Franzen. My first reaction was, "Why?" Disposables just seem so much easier. But Emily has always been very frugal and also environmentally conscious. So I decided to check out cloth diapering on the Internet. Whoa! Cloth diapers these days are not at all like the diapers and plastic pants we used 20-30 years ago. There are some really cute and practical diapers out there. Okay, you still have to wash them yourself, but in other ways, they seem like a really good option. There are some commercial companies making diapers, like Bum Genius, and there are lots of individuals making and selling cloth diapers.

I found a cute pattern and bought a diaper made from that pattern to check it out. These diapers are absolutely adorable! They are expensive. One of these nice diapers costs about as much as a box of disposables. But modern cloth diapers also seem to have a high, high resale value, even when well used. There is a whole Internet group where you can swap and sell diapers.

So, here are some pictures. First, here is the diaper I bought. Next are some diapers that I made. Joanna helped with putting the snaps on.

There are two kinds of diapers here. One is called an all-in-one. Those that I made have an inner layer of wicking fabric, a layer of diaper flannel, four layers called a "soaker" made out of some kind of absorbent fabric, another layer of flannel, a layer of waterproof fabric called PUL, and a cute outer layer. The other kind of diaper is called a pocket diaper. It has a wicking inner layer, a double layer soaker, the waterproof layer, and the outer layer. It is made with a pocket into which you put whatever kind of absorbent cloth you want--a folded up towel or prefolded diaper or whatever. The advantage of this kind is that you can take the absorbent stuff out so it all dries faster. The all-in-ones apparently take awhile to dry.

How will they work? I don't know. Emily and Preston's decision on whether to use cloth or not will probably be determined, at least in part, by what laundry facilities are available to them in their new place in St. Paul. But at some point, someone will wear these cute diapers and I'll let you know how it goes.

Also, here's one last cake we made for Emily's baby shower. Joanna was the decorator for this cake.

Cake

As part of our plan to learn something this summer, the girls and I have made several cakes. Joanna posted about one here. A week ago we made this awesome cake for Janet's birthday. You can't really tell from the picture, but it's a two layer cake with a layer of ice cream in the middle. Then it's frosted, then ice cream cones are stuck all the way around it and more are balanced on top. It was awesome, if I say so myself.

Before Janet was home for the summer, Joanna and I made this one for Jim Clark's birthday:

In case you can't tell, it's a golf course with a green, sand trap, water hazard, and hole with a little guy swinging a club. Hey, it's not great art, but it was fun. And I think Jim got a kick out of it.