Recently I have embarked on the adventure of cloth diapering and I LOVE IT. Best decision I’ve made as a new mom, hands down. Here are a few of my favorite products:

You can follow my adventures, mishaps and new recommendations on the blog. I shop at GoGo Natural – be sure to check out their site for helpful information and high-quality natural baby products- there is a wealth of information for the new and veteran cloth-diapering parent. So many of my questions were answered and fears alleviated because of their helpful service. Enjoy!

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I took this while Cody and I were driving down the 202 the other day… Breathtaking.

I miss clouds.

I know, I know… HUGE hiatus over the past three weeks or so. Between my surprise birthday weekend (my best friend's visit was the surprise… not my birthday), the Month of Out-of-State Weddings Extravaganza and Other Festivities, and EXCESSIVE HEAT on top of my fun first-trimester symptoms, I've hardly had a moment to gather my thoughts. I'm gearing up for the final wedding in Pasadena this weekend, and ALSO getting ready to experience everything that goes along with second-trimester joys. I am still, however, eagerly awaiting that magical day when I wake up out of the fog I've been in over the past three months, jump out of bed, run a few laps around the neighborhood, cook up some garlicky pasta, eat my body weight in fried chicken, and finally clean the entire house top to bottom; then, after said activities I will not have an overwhelming desire to sleep for 24 hours straight, or die. For now, we just avoid having guests over altogether for fear that they might get attacked by the tornado of paperwork that we haven't bothered to sort through yet.

Over the Fourth of July weekend I was in Minnesota as a bridesmaid in my friend's wedding. I'd say the ratio of pregnant women-to-non-pregnant women in the wedding party (including groomsmen's wives) was 1 in 2, no joke. I was told there were 7 pregnant women at the wedding, and there were 14 attendants, so… huh, look at that. I can do math after all. A childhood friend of mine, fellow bridesmaid and accidental travel partner happens to be due in January as well- three days after me! She is convinced that she is having a boy, and that I am having a girl, and that they will have the same birthday and when they grow up they will get married. If the random ways we connected over the weekend are any indication of our kids' future, it may not be such a long shot after all.

The wedding I'm in this coming weekend in Pasadena is also chock-full of women with child, especially in the wedding party. I mean, really, it's just kind of getting ridiculous.

On another note, this whole time I haven't had even the slightest inkling of what I may be having. There's no reason that I should know anything at this point, but for some reason I've been thinking that I'm going to have a girl. I don't necessarily want one over the other- I would be perfectly happy with either one, of course- but for whatever reason girl names stand out to me more, and I absolutely melt when I see, for example, a little girl all dressed up in a red velvet, white-fur trimmed dress over her summer pants and sandals because she ABSOLUTELY REFUSED TO WEAR ANYTHING ELSE and, according to her mom, wouldn't leave the house unless she could wear her Santa dress, bringing Christmas in July at its finest. My mom immediately decided that I was having a boy, so given a 50/50 chance we may just have to start a guess-the-sex pool after all.

Speaking of adorable little girls, please visit prayforkate.com and follow the updates on this precious 5-year-old. Two weeks ago today, which is really hard to believe given all that has taken place since then, doctors discovered a rare malignant tumor in her brain. The prayer movement has become a globe-spanning wildfire, the only kind we want to spread further until everyone is praying for Kate and her family. As a soon-to-be mom, I cannot even begin to fathom the pain of what her parents are enduring, but I have tremendous respect for their trust in God, and I can only hope to have such unshakable faith should we ever be faced with the unimaginable.

I'm warning you, I'm gonna get mushy for this post. I just can't help myself anymore. And what better day to salute my husband than today- Father's Day!

Some names we like (we've only just begun):

Cody wrote a great blog about his life-altering excursion to the grocery store last week. He went to Fry's for some milk and decided, with absolutely no prompting from me, to start the process of stocking up on diapers early. From what we hear, once baby arrives, we'll never have enough. From our experience with Cruz and his four diaper changes in three hours, the rumors were proven completely true. You can read about his shopping trip here. He's just so sweet I could pinch his cheeks. 

I finally heard back from my doctor yesterday, and it wasn't the great news of anemia I was hoping for. Not to worry, Internet, I'm not dying, and my baby isn't either, but I was diagnosed with mild dysplasia, which fortunately typically clears up on its own. "Nothing to get in a panic about," said the doctor.  So naturally, this translated in my head to, "YOU HAVE CERVICAL CANCER AND YOU ARE GOING TO DIE," which incited panic, which brought on the daily hormonal breakdown, which caused my dear parents to worry sick about my state of mind. Don't worry Mom and Dad, I'm gonna be OK! However, mild dysplasia is scary for two reasons: first, pregnancy suppresses your immune system; and second, moderate and severe cases of dysplasia commonly lead to cervical cancer. AWESOME.