Researching - Hippie Style

I know...I said I'd update you on the Dr. visits today, but I am knee-deep in this right now, so I thought I'd share. I promise to update about last week soon.

We are in the midst of doing some major research. There are 2 things that we are in need of (concerning the baby coming in March...and other little ones that might come our way) and so we are looking into them...majorly (and praying for God to make the way financially to do each if that's what He has for us).

#1 - Vehicle. Not sure if you noticed in that last post, but our car is pretty full as is. If you add luggage to it (as in this picture)...can't even ever take all the things we want/need. The things in the back were falling on the kids' heads, we all had things under our feet, and there was basically a wall between me and Joel in our bucket seats. :-)

When we aren't traveling, we only have one carseat in the car for Eissa. Hadley just uses a seatbelt around town. But, there are only 3 seatbelts anyway...a 4th child is just not going to fit in there...period. So, a different vehicle is just a necessity. These are the ones we've been looking at...

First, this is a Doblo. This particular one is owned by a guy we met at Palavra da Vida...where we stayed on vacation. They have 4 children. This vehicle seats 7 (has 3 rows of seats). The downside is that it's pretty small otherwise...hard to fit anything other than us and basics (stroller, etc.) in it. Not very good for grocery shopping for instance, if the whole family is along. When traveling we would need to use the luggage rack up top...but it does have one, so that's good. The positives...it is pretty nice, does fit us all as I said, and has a radio, CD player, and air conditioner. The radio/CD player I could personally do without, but the A/C would be nice, esp. in the Amazon. This could possibly be our God option as well considering that we "just happened" to meet up with this guy who "just happens" to be leaving next month and needs to sell. They are missionaries there at Palavra da Vida (they work there) and is going to be moving to the states with his family for about 9 months and working with the Word of Life Ministries there in New Jersey and New York. We would be able to pay him in US dollars...he would need them and we wouldn't have to lose money in the exchange rate thing. Also, he said we could pay him in several payments, not all upfront. We'll see.

This is a Besta...made by Kia. It is a nice size and can also seat 7 I believe. Don't know much about these personally...this is Joel's area of research. I will get to mine in the latter part of the post. But, it is also a possibility.

And this is my personal favorite just in terms of the fun factor...a KOMBI!! This is also known as the VW Van. This starts the hippie part of the post. :-) We went and sat in one of these the other day. This is an AWESOME picture, but most of the ones around here are newer models (2001 we sat in the other day) and white...used for more utility type stuff. Oh my gosh...I love this vehicle. It is terribly practical on many levels...big, incredibly roomy, basic, cheaper than the others, would last us with our growing family, and we'd be able to travel with visitors too. But, then not so practical in other areas...Joel doesn't like that you don't have much between you and the oncoming traffic (a front-end wreck in one of these wouldn't be that great) and then there is no A/C...in any of them. It seats up to 9 people, depending on what kind of seats you have. But, we would probably opt for the 8-seater in that we would have bucket seats in the front so that I could reach back if the kids needed something (and they always do). We'll see...I love it though, but would also love an A/C, esp. where we are going. Joel suggested letting the kids fingerpaint it for the complete look. :-)

Alright, and now the other thing we have been researching...you might want to sit down for this...

#2 - Cloth diapers. "What the hoo hoo are you thinking?" some of you might be saying. Well, I will first of all explain the reasoning. Then I will give you a gander at what kind we are thinking we would like.

As we've discussed numerous times, I do like the all-natural, more simple lifestyle (for the most part). I've always loved the idea of cloth diapers. Because of all of our travels and moves, though, have never even been able to consider it an option. But, now that our travels and moves are mostly over (to the extreme that they were before anyway), we have been able to look at cloth diapers as an actual option. So, around Thursday I started my research.

These are not the diapers of yesteryear people. They are not your mother's (or grandmother's) cloth diapers. They do still have that kind, but they seriously have TONS of options in the cloth diapering world...from that old-fashioned kind to the fancy boutique-style decorative diaper. It's crazy and overwhelming. I've been researching non-stop (except for the usual basic household chores...kids, food, laundry; literally, non-stop...I even stayed up until 4am this morning doing just that). Thankfully I've had some major help along the way from a few experienced mamas. Anyway...

So we like the all-natural approach (homebirths...need I say more). We like the thought of no plastic, unnatural stuff spending that much time attached to our baby's tush. Even though I'm not overwhelmingly convicted of this (not Mrs. Green or anything), it is always a good thing to be a good steward of our planet that God made us...so, good to not make as much trash. And of course there is the amazingly astounding good reason...cost savings. More on that later.

Here is the diaper we think makes the most since for us...the bumGenious one-size. It is called a "pocket diaper." There are several pocket diapers on the market. Basically they just have an outer waterproof layer which is sewn to the inner layer forming a pocket in which you put an insert (to absorb the pee). It's nice because once they are laundered you can stick an insert in and put them in the closet. Then when you are ready for a change, you just grab one and go...the convenience, in that aspect, of a disposable.

The reason we chose this one (so far) is because it is, like the name states, one-size-fits-all. It fits babies 7 lbs. up until 35 lbs. Hadley is almost 3 and potty-trained...and not yet 35 lbs. herself (29 to be exact). Therefore, from this claim and from the testimonials I've read, this diaper could fit a child all the way through their diapering days. Not bad.

Although a clear investment upfront, it would more than pay for itself very shortly. We plan to be able to use these with Eissa and the new baby, and hopefully at least 2 more (even more if possible...will just use them until they completely wear out and/or stop working) if those babies should come our way. Hopefully we'll at least be able to use them with at least one more though.

Although we haven't figured this out specifically for our family personally, from several things I've read, most people spend an average of at least $500 a year on diapers for a baby. If you diaper your child for 3 years (which is what we have done on average so far), that's $1500, right? So, let's figure this out, using the possibility of diapering a total of 3 children (newborn to potty-trained) with these diapers...

Diapers for 3 children for 3 years: $4500 (wow)
Cost of 48 bumGenious diapers (what was suggested to us for diapering a newborn and Eissa...that would put me doing 2 laundry loads of diapers a week): around $800 (not including shipping or any accessories...just for the diapers themselves)
Savings: $3700...not bad at all

Of course that doesn't even figure in the time, effort, and gas money for trips to go get diapers either. Anyway, we are excited about this new possible investment and hope it works out.

So, those are just a couple of things that you can be praying with us about...for God to make it clear what to do in each situation and provide the finances for each thing He has for us. Thanks.