Running a blog can be hard work.  Unlike many personal blogs, Dirty Diaper Laundry isn’t just about finding time to pound at the keyboard.  Video work, editing, audio dubbing, and posting written reviews and articles all take a tremendous amount of time.  Without the financial support of my advertisers and sponsors I would have had to give DDL up a long time ago.

I want to take some time to thank the people who keep coffee in my Starbucks cup and help to keep the lights on, so to speak.

Rockin’ Green and Diaper Lab are two of my longest advertisers.  They weren’t the very first but they were pretty close and are still with me!  I hope that means they like me.  I have been using Rockin’ Green since it first came out.  I still remember a time when RnG was not in practically every cloth diaper mama’s laundry room.  And, in one of my trips, I was able to visit Diaper Lab in Somerville, MA.  I remember their adorable Spring window display of stuffed bunnies in cloth diapers!

More thanks to Bamboobies, Peachy Green (Formerly Bright Star Baby), Fluffy Rump, AMP Diapers, Go Green Baby Company, Pumpease, My Baby Wears Cloth and Basic Baby.

I also want to send a huge thanks to those companies advertising on my database, Cloth Diaper Finder.  This website took thousands to build and continues to cost money with the complexity of the design.  When one thing breaks, 5 more things fail and only very skilled developers can handle the fixes and building.  It was my DREAM to build this database and seeing it come to life has been rewarding but far more challenging than I anticipated.  Advertising dollars from the Finder go right back into development and upkeep.  Modern Cloth, Monkey Doodlez, One Posh Baby, Mom’s Milk Boutique, Natural Pure Essentials, and more have helped me keep my dream alive.

I also give diaper companies who list their diaper using my Add My Diaper form the option of making a donation for being listed.  I’d like to thank those companies who kindly did so.  I don’t charge to add diapers because I’d love to add as many as possible, but I make this an option to help offset the time and cost of the website.

Another way I have been able to use the blog to either pay bills, or pay for itself, has been through affiliate sales.  I have been able to earn income and buy more diapers to review thanks to YOU ordering through my affiliates like Kelly’s Closet, Sweet Bottoms Baby Boutique , Diaper Junction and more, so THANK YOU!

I often marvel at the fact that I started this blog with the intention of periodically filming videos on diapers and posting them and seeing it turn into a resource for cloth diapering families that also helps out in the bill department once in a while.  Some months I swear I spend more ON the blog than I make, but then other months are better.  I just hope it all evens out.  I’ve been lucky to work with some amazing cloth diaper and eco-friendly companies over the years.  I will continue to work advertising into my blog in order to make it possible to keep DDL alive while still being ethical and as unobtrusive into the experience of reading the blog as possible.

If you love DDL please consider these companies when making your cloth diaper purchases (or reusable breast pad, hands free pumping bras, and all of the other goodies!) because they keep the coffee cup full.

If your company is interested in partnering with DDL you can fill out my form.and I’ll give you more information.  

It occured to me a few days ago that my refrigerator was telling on me.  How is that?  Refrigerators can’t talk!

They can’t, but they can sure call me out in many ways.  On the outside my refrigerator is a window into my family, my temperament, my habits, and more.  The disorganized photos, coupons, random magnets, and outdated calendar all tell a story.

Admit it: you go to a playdate/barbeque/dinner/party and find yourself looking at your friend’s refrigerator.  Intentionally or not you are learning more about that person than you might after weeks of conversations.  Lots of dental appointments probably mean their teeth are jacked up.  Drug problem?  Or maybe not.. let’s not jump to conclusions.  An organized family calendar full of soccer practice, church choir, recitals, etc is just a sign of a Mom who is far more in control of her life than I am.  We are looking at others through our own filters and comparing ourselves, but who doesn’t?

I would invite you all in to look at my fridge but I only know a few of you who live close enough!  Instead, I grabbed my camera and snapped a photo, resisting the urge to straighten up or remove anything incriminating.

A. Everett with his “1″ Pumpkin.
B. Random photo of my In-Laws’ neighbors
C. Fletcher with his Uncle in San Antonio
D. Suzanne from Bebehblog.com and I in the photo booth at BlogHer ’11.
E. My SIL and Future BIL at Disney
F. My SIL and Future BIL.  Great picture of them!
G.Fletcher last November for his “2″ Leaf photo.
H. Fletcher about 6 months old.
I. Fletcher and Everett in a brothers hugging pose.
J. Julie the “Cloth Diaper Geek” and I at BlogHer ’11
K. Everett at 11 months old.  I love his outfit in this one.
L.  Fletcher’s 3rd Birthday Party Invite
M. The boys with Santa LAST YEAR (photo has been up all year)
N. Our Family Portrait taken when Fletcher was 11 months old.  We were just a family of 3 then.
O. Fletcher and his Great-Grandmother 1 month before she passed away.  He was about 18 months old.

A. Snowflake Chip belonging to item K. to mark days until X-Mas.
B. 2 Food related ceramic magnets I got for X-Mas from my Aunt Tit. (Not her real name.)
C. Obligatory Pediatrician Magnet with contact numbers
D. Lion Butt and Lion Head.  Belongs to a set of heads and butts that are mostly lost.
E. GEN-Y “Save the World Cloth Diaper”
F. Orlando magnet from hubby’s work trip.
G. Savannah GA magnet from vacation when I was 7 months pregnant with Fletcher.  Ankles were tree trunks, it was summer.
H. “Happy Birthday” photo frame magnet.
I.  Fort Pulaski magnet.  Same Savannah, GA trip.  I almost passed out touring that place.  I was HOT.
J.  ”Aloha”
K.  “Countdown to Christmas”  At some point this will make sense.  It took up a massive amount of real estate but never made it to the Xmas stuff box in the basement.  Dec 1. is right around the corner.
L.  ”Kissed on Both Cheeks” magnet from my MIL
M. San Diego Magnet from the hotel gift shop when I went for BlogHer ’11
N. LeapFrog Fridge Farm with all of ONE magnet left.  ”purple purple purple cow.” You know what I’m talking about…
O.  Pumpease Breastmilk Storage Guidelines.  AWESOME and handy.
P. Gently Borne Midwifery contact numbers for my homebirth midwife
Q. Tampa Zoo from a vacation there when Fletcher was about 6 months old.
R. Shape of NC, my home state.  The front peeled off but I can’t seem to throw it away.
S. Cool Spiderman Magnet.  Fletcher loves it.
T. OCCRA letter opener
U. 4 Animal Shapes meant for a magnadoodle thingy but it sucked so I threw it away.
V. Another Orlando Magnet?  hmmm..
W. Green Baby Shoppe, semi local cloth diaper store
X. 3 Mario Bros themed magnets custom ordered from Etsy to be cupcake toppers at Fletcher’s 1st Bday Party
Y. 4 month old Fletcher made into a magnet.

a. Babysitter’s number/name on a Post -it.
b. Artwork by Everett.  Underneath are more works of art by Fletcher.
c. Painting by Fletcher that reminds me of an anatomical heart.
d. August calendar from Paper Coterie…. it is November
e. Sticker remains of a Pediatrician appt of yore
f. Fletcher’s artwork.  It was the first time he traced a shape (an ice cream cone)
g. BEST POSTCARD EVER.  A woman holding farm fresh chicken eggs, nude, with her bearded partner.  It’s an ad for my midwife.  Totally reminds me of the Yert SNL Homebirth Sketch.

So there ya have it.  It is obvious by my fridge that I:

have kids.
have been to various gift shops and paid an arm and a leg for a souvenier magnet.
am not good at cleaning my fridge off.
do not use paper calendars.

If only I were brave enough to show you the INSIDE of my fridge…

What’s on YOUR Fridge?

get the InLinkz code

Tell me in the comments what's on your fridge too!

battle scarred yoga ball

Everett recently turned a year old, but this week marks the one year anniversary of bouncing on my big orange ball.

Regular readers can probably cite many references to my yoga ball.  It all started when Ev was a week old.  That first week was blissful; he slept most of the day and the entire night with the exception of dream feeding at night.  I was counting my lucky stars that everything was going smoothly.  One day things changed- my once content baby was suddenly screaming.  It didn’t sound like a normal fussy cry.  My poor newborn seemed like he was in pain and I had no idea how to help.

I tried the usual suspects: gas, keeping a dry diaper on at all times, nursing, etc….  On a whim I tried sitting on my Birth Ball while holding him.  I bounced and he calmed down.  He stopped screaming, and I breathed a sigh of relief.  I was a ball of nerves but bouncing on that ball turned me into one large aching muscle.  It didn’t matter though because my baby was happy and sleeping.

Every night around 9 pm I had to bounce my baby and nurse him to sleep.  My husband and I would watch a movie while my older son was in bed.  I held my new baby and bounced.  When my back was in such pain I could hardly stand it I would hand him to Steven and he would bounce him.  Back and forth it went until I took him to bed with me.  Some nights he needed to be bounced back to sleep but in general it was just a late evening fussy period.

It took a few weeks for me to figure out that Everett was sensitive to dairy.  By the time the elimination diet worked and he was out of that constant screaming phase he was used to being bounced to sleep.

Along the way the ball became a part of our lives.  It was my right arm.  Many major events were spent on that ball.  Fletcher’s 2nd birthday and Thanksgiving Dinner, Christmas Morning, almost every meal in the early days, and so on.

At 2 months old we drove to visit our family and left the ball at home.  At the hotel after my baby screamed and screamed I sent my husband off to the front desk.  I had him ask their permission to borrow the yoga ball in their fitness room for the night.

When we arrived in Charlotte I immediately sent him off to buy a new ball.  It was bigger and better than my original.  I spent all of Christmas Morning on the ball keeping Everett happy while we opened gifts.

Everett's First Christmas

We deflated the ball and took it back home with us.  From that point on whenever I left town I would deflate the ball and reinflate it at my destination.  Only recently have I left it at home.

This year the blog could be called “The Website Built on a Yoga Ball” because I would guess 65% of my work has been done while bouncing Everett on the ball.  Recently it hasn’t been as much but the first 8 months I was on it for 2-5 hours a day.  Eventually I stopped having aches.  I never noticed when it happened.  Someone remarked that I must have a strong core from bouncing all day.  Honestly, the bonus “fitness” aspect never occured to me until then.  Who knows?  Maybe the ball is why I shrank back down to a size 2 pretty soon after Ev was born.

Remember that awesome animation I made about cloth diapers many months ago?  10 of the 12 hours I worked on it were spent with Ev in my arms.  I animated it frame by frame, one handed, while bouncing.  The Cloth Diaper Finder?  The original spreadsheet of 105 diapers that would become the database was created while bouncing and typing one handed.  And any time you see me at a Monday night #clothdiapers twitter chat I am probably bouncing and typing with one hand.

The majority of my video editing is done when he is asleep on me.  Or at least it used to be.  It was another activity I could do one handed.  My husband bought a trackpad mouse for me when I also purchased new video editing software.  This revolutionized my bouncing and working.  My set up is as follows:

Trackpad mouse on left of keyboard.  Keyboard in center.  Laser mouse on right.  Then I have a monitor in front and my laptop connected which acts as my second monitor when I need one.  If Everett is nursing/sleeping on one side I can use my other hand and the mouse on that side.  It increased my productivity.

Working

I never expected to be bouncing Everett to sleep after he was a year old. Then again, there was a time I didn’t expect I would ever co-sleep with a baby over a year old, or even nurse a baby that long. Funny how your expectations change.  Even a few months back I assumed when I wrote this post when he turned a year old that it would be a farewell…..

These days I am on the ball 1 hour or two a day.  I only have to give him a quick bounce at 12:30 for his nap.  Some days he lets me lay him down, others I have to hold him or sleep with him.  Luckily 12:30 is his brother’s nap time also so it doesn’t hold me back from playing with him.  Each night around 8:30 he gets bounced to sleep.  Same as naps, sometimes I can lay him down and others I am stuck with him.  And when I lay him down he wakes an hour later and I get him again.  If he would sleep in a carrier on me I could have had an easier time of all of this but he rarely did and never does now.

I have to remind myself, and my husband, that my first son was rocked and nursed to sleep until he was probably 18 months old.  And he slept with me until about 20 months.  Now?  He is a fabulous sleeper!  He goes to nap when I tell him and sleeps for 2-3 hours, and he sleeps all night long every night.  Because of traveling for the holidays and some big changes coming soon in our lives I won’t be trying to change his habits anytime soon.  And when we do I will be using the same method I used on Fletcher.  That turned out just fine.

In a few years I will look back fondly on the thousands of hours I have logged while getting to hold my little baby.  I will miss that time where he wants me to hold him and where I am his entire world.  I don’t regret “spoiling” him because he is a baby.  I’m thankful I found a solution that works for our family and keeps him happy.  Overall, he is actually a pretty darn good baby.

If I could change one thing it would be……. the color of that damn ball.  Now it is a part of my home decor and the orange really clases with my green couch and red chairs.  

A black cloud has decided to loom over me for over a week now. A routine blog fix to correct the issue of not being able to browse my older posts past the first page ended up creating a domino effect of issues.  This is partly thanks to the complicated beast that is my Cloth Diaper Finder.

A week later, and a few hundred dollars lighter, things are still not quite fixed. In between those fixes I started seeing emails and Facebook Posts about Malware on this blog. I never got the notices and wasn’t sure how to fix it. Then- Dirty Diaper Laundry was Blacklisted by Firefox and Chrome. Safari apparently isn’t as secure but I was able to see my website just fine and that is my usual browser.

All hell broke loose and I frantically tried everything to restore my blog. I contacted my hosts, the guy helping fix my pages (and the other issues that broke), and my husband trying to get it fixed.

When the link to a malware infested site was located it COULDN”T BE DELETED because my THEME WAS BROKEN. Why would I expect any different?

My husband had to dive into my theme in the FTP and delete it there.

After 3 days of a website invisible to the rest of the world, I logged in only to find that I couldn’t actually post! Well, I could but my posts couldn’t by typed out in WordPress thanks to invisible letters. This is still happening and I am typing posts into Word and pasting into WordPress.

Words are there but not visible

Highlight it to see the words

I’m sad that the money I was saving for a new car seat has gone to blog fixes. I was hoping to buy a floor model demo while at ABC Kids.

And speaking of ABC Kids Expo, I leave for this 4 day event and the RDIA (Real Diaper Industry Association) in Louisville Kentucky on Friday. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you might have noticed that I am in panic mode. My hotel, which is in Indiana (12 minutes drive from the Convention Center), is also across a CLOSED bridge. Why would it be open? Of course not. There are two other bridges but traffic is said to be slow, with waits of up to an hour or more. I now have to rent a car (another few hundred dollars) and drive with a potentially screaming baby to the Convention (he hates riding in the car unless it is moving and he is asleep). I just love starting my day with my son screaming and gagging.

I have looked into other hotels however since we got a great deal (free with our hotel points) and paying 100+ a night for 5 nights would not make it worth even going to ABC Kids, I think we are staying put. My roommate and I will just have to leave extra early each morning.

The cherry on top? Everett and I are both getting sick. He is going to be snot faced and miserable for his first flight unless he fights it hard.

I am still excited about seeing the new cloth diapers (can you say bumGenius?!) and new baby carriers at the show.

I’ll be meeting up with all of my friends who will also be there. After the show I’ll be attending the RDIA meetings. I’m most looking forward to the Laundry Session. I’ll also be wearing my brand new, totally pimped out Wrap Conversion. More on that another day.

This is what happens when you have malware

Sorry again for the flashing red lights you used to see when you tried to access DDL. The issue is supposed to be resolved. Wish me luck on my trip in a few days. I doubt I will be posting much this week unless my blog gets fixed.

********* When I pasted this into my WordPress Editor it was VISIBLE!  Oh please oh please oh please let this nightmare be over. ************

If you are tired of reading about BlogHer posts then I have good and bad news.

Bad news: this post is about BlogHer ’11.

Good news: this is my last Blogher ’11 post.

Now, get ready for Stream of Consciousness writing with no timeline.  Forget the rules of good blogging, grammar, spelling, and sense.

People:

A lot of our Tweeps in one place!

I was fortunate to meet some really amazing women (and men) at BlogHer.  One way that I got to meet (almost) everyone on my list was by attending the Haute Green Social Hour Party on Thursday.  I also happened to be a co-host.  I was able to hug @KatiesPickles, @TheEcoChic, @ClothDiaperGeek, @KellyWels, @HauteMommyBlog, @HygeiaSylvia, @MamaPearDesigns, @EcoNuts, @PhDinParenting, @BabyRabies, @DagmarBleasedale, and so many more it isn’t funny.  These are my TWEEPS!  I love them and I loved meeting them for the first time.  I met many more new people too, which is kinda the point, yes?

My friend came to visit me who is local to San Diego.  Unfortunately it was short but at least I got to hug her neck.  She is hoping for a Homebirth any day now and I am wishing her the best of luck and can’t wait to hear about it.  Thanks Lyndsey!

At the conference I also met @TwoPretzels and @TheGrumbles.  I think I want to run away with both of them.  We were at the same table for the Saturday Night Keynote.  Ricki Lake spoke about women in the media and about her little movie, you know, The Business of Being Born.  I was a wreck about being late for this one so my roomie and I took a PediCab for a 20 minute walk.  It was fun, and 20$ well spent.

That's me and Ricki Lake, Ya'll!

I mentioned before that I was hoping to meet Ricki Lake. I have been tweeting at her and her new show’s Twitter Handle @TheRickiLakeShow for a few weeks now.  Not in a stalkery way, I hope.  I was asked to meet up with Ricki and other bloggers after the speech at the Tequila Bar by the pool of our hotel.  Margaritas were dispensed and I felt positively minute in the company of some amazing women.  I knew that Amy Lupold (@ResourcefulMom) would be there as well so I took the opportunity earlier that day to introduce myself after her session on Professional Blogging.  This was a great decision.  I saw a friendly face in the crowd.  Later on others I knew made it, including Annie of PhDinParenting.  I was able to chat with Ricki Lake, have a photo taken (SQUEE), and then talk to folks from the show.  I may have talked the ear of of a producer for almost 30 minutes about cloth diapers.  He may have sounded very interested in them.  And I may be crossing my fingers that they decide to talk about them on her new show coming in September 2012.

Other Highlights:

In the PediCab with Julie

Watching my roomie, Julie AKA the Cloth Diaper Geek, dance the night away at Sparklecorn.  Eating part of a Unicorn’s butt.  Decorating a few adult toys with googly eyes.  Hopping in a Photobooth with @BebehBlog and making silly faces.  Getting tattooed and having an invitation to “Lick me” written on the back of my neck at Aiming Low.  Eating cheeseburgers taken from silverdomed servingware.  Being filmed eating sausage on a stick.  Taking a Pedicab with Julie (@ClothDiaperGeek).  Joining a Pumping Party.  And of course being a part of the 300 oz+ breastmilk donation.

If it weren’t for Twitter I would have missed the Queen Bee Market, anadorable suite at the Hilton, full of handmade goods.  It was seriously like Etsy threw up in a room.  I could have spent hours and hours there, and hundreds of dollars.  Luckily I only had 10 minutes to spare so I bought a flower for my hair and a ring for my finger.

The Swag:

If you have heard of BlogHer you mostly hear about the swag.  I was either doing it wrong, or doing it right.  I came home with a suitcase full of a few samples and coupons, that is it.  Toothpaste, detergent, 2 bracelets, a DVD, some *ahem* toys, a water bottle, a sponge, stationary, Angry Bird Keychain, and a neti pot.  I didn’t win anything, I didn’t party hop to procure swag, I didn’t run through the Expo Hall grabbing stuff, and I stayed true to myself.  I’m going to be honest and say that I was a tad jealous of the cool stuff I saw, but it is a lot of work to swag it up.  The people with the most swag are either really famous and had it coming at them hand over fist, or good at party hopping.  They also probably missed most of the official stuff in order to swag hop.

More Photos:

At SparkleCorn with Molly

Yumm. I had a million Twizzlers

I would love to bore you with what I LEARNED at BlogHer but my kids won’t sit still long enough for me to make it coherent.

Next year BlogHer is back in New York City.  I am 2 parts excited, and 1 part nervous.  I have never been and I am terrified of traveling there alone.  San Diego is nothing compared to NYC.  Yes, I live 4 hours away from NYC and never go there.  Sad, yes?  See you next year BlogHer!

Thanks again to Swaddlebees and Boba for their generous sponsorship that got me to BlogHer and to the other companies that made my boobies weigh less, look perkier, and be more productive!

I never thought I would need business cards, I’m just a blog!  Well, it turns out my blog is a business too.  Occasionally I will go to a conference or expo and need to give out my information.  And sometimes I will meet someone who wants to learn more about cloth diapers so I hand them my card in case they want to check out my website to learn more or email me with questions.

Mom Bloggers (and moms who want to connect with other moms for play dates) need to have cards on hand.  You really never know when something will come up!

I have used 2 popular card services, Zazzle.com and Moo.com.  I prefer the “skinny” or “mini” cards because everything tiny is cute.  Babies are tiny and they are cute, this applies to all things as well.

My first card order came from Zazzle.com.  I needed cards for a conference I was attending.  I asked on Twitter and many bloggers suggested this company.  No one said Moo at the time so I am guessing they weren’t around back then.  But my most recent batch came from Moo.com.

Zazzle Skinny Cards

Pros:

• Very unique and adorable pre-designed cards to choose from.
• Easy to customize
• Front and back designs
• Comes with stick dispenser (HUGE wow factor when I whip these out, they make a memorable impression and I KNOW businesses would connect me/my card to my follow-up contact email.)
• No minimum orders
• Cards come in packs of 20 for 6.95 or 1.99 per pack in bulk.
• Skinny cards are 3″ by 1″ (they also sell chubby and standard size)

Cons:

• The cards are “flimsy” compared to the stock used by Moo.
• Can’t use multiple designs within one pack.
• Too many designs to choose from!  Users submit them and it can be overwhelming sorting through and choosing (could be a pro depending on your nature)

Why Choose Zazzle?

Moo Mini Cards

Pros:

• You can import photos from many websites including Flickr, Facebook, and more.
• You can choose 2 images per pack for the front, 1 for the back.
• Quality is extremely high and cards are made from hefty card stock that is sustainably sourced and the color is gorgeous.
• You can upload a finished file and design our entire card on Photoshop using their template.
• Cards come in a sturdy and quality mini box.
• Can buy holders in felt or leather for additional charge.
• Many design possibilities and even the ability to print promo codes for dispensing.
• Seamless integration with Etsy shops.

Cons:

• Their interface was very hard to use and I went in 100 circles trying to design and upload my images.  I was beyond frustrated by the end.
• Not a huge fan of the designs available.  Many are just geometrics and florals, nothing innovative.
• Cards do not come with a dispenser, they are an additional 5.00 for plastic.
• You must order larger quantities (100 for 19.95)

Why choose Moo?

It is a TOUGH call to choose between the two services.  Zazzle is so user friendly and economical, however there are more design opportunities with Moo and their cards are a higher quality.

It really depends on the impression you are wanting to make (Zazzle dispenser wins for the cool, thumbing out factor and it is simple to do one handed too) but Moo cards feel nicer to the touch and can really make a “quality” impression.  Both allow you to use a tiny logo or picture on the card.  I did for Zazzle but not for Moo, but I will be using one of thee services again for my BlogHer cards and this will include my photo.  This really helps put a face to the name, literally, for a representative or person who has been handed hundreds or cards.

Who will I choose for my next order? I’m not really sure yet!  I prefer the dimensions of the “skinny” cards from Zazzle but love the look and feel of the Moo cards.  You will just have to wait and see me at BlogHer in August to find out!

I wrote this post on my own, there were no incentives from either company, just wanted to share!

Or in our case, Happy Ham Day! We pardoned a turkey this year, sorry pig!

I wanted to take today to thank all of you for being a part of this blog, whether you are here for the giveaways, the cloth diaper information, or you just enjoy my random posts!  Without you, I would be writing to myself, which is almost as crazy as talking to yourself!  This blog has turned into a hobby and supplemental income and I am thankful for both.

And of course, while I am on the subject, I am thankful for my two beautiful boys.  Early this morning I was able to cuddle them both in my son’s twin bed.  It gave me the time to think of how much they make my life worth living.  It is good to remember that when on other occasions they make me want to run from the house screaming!  Same goes for my hubby!  Despite the fact that he doesn’t do things on my schedule, he usually gets them done and he loves our two boys.  Plus, he is cooking dinner for me today!  I am definitely thankful for that!

As a special thank you, if you are entering my giveaways, please get in some extra entries on me!  5 Extra Entries to be exact! You can do this for each of my current giveaways, but only for today or tomorrow.  If you post the entries later than midnight on Friday they won’t count.  Besides, many giveaways end today so do it now if you have time!  5 per person, per giveaway.

Please write “Happy Turkey Day” and a number for each (example: Happy Turkey Day 1) for each comment.

I hope you all (US friends) have a wonderful Turkey, Ham, Turducken, Roast Beef, Goose, or Duck Day! Or, Tofu Day if you are a vegetarian/vegan friend!

Image credit: Flickr, richcianci using the CC license

It goes without saying, but DDL has undergone a little plastic surgery thanks to Shawna Handke.  I decided I wanted to feature my videos more, which are the heart and soul of the blog, and have given you more access to some of my more informational cloth diaper posts in case you are looking for help.  The videos can be found at the bottom of the page and there is a link to my Cloth Diapers Made in the US/ Canada page and Cloth Diaper Information page.  There will still be a few more changes coming but the design is here.  It might take some getting used to for all of us.

I took a break this weekend to focus on things like doctors appointments (Friday and today) and my 3 year wedding anniversary which was this Saturday.  My husband and I were able to enjoy a nice dinner out and a movie.  And Sunday there was no time for blogging or video making because I had the urge to purge.  We cleaned up the basement and garage and have a few bags of things to take to Goodwill today.

Next week the video review will be ready for you!

On April 9 2009 I made my first post on Dirty Diaper Laundry titled “Welcome to Dirty Diaper Laundry.“ The night before I decided that I was going to start a blog.  I bought a domain name, found a host, and settled on WordPress as my blogging platform.  I knew nothing about blogging.  I just knew I had something to share with the world.  My objective was to blog about cloth diapers and green parenting.  I also wanted to film video reviews to help parents decide what cloth diaper was right for them.

My first button.

I wrote my intro post and then filmed my first video review, which was for Gro Baby.  I had no idea what I was doing.  It took me hours to film, I swear.  My husband was behind the camera.  I sat on the couch with the diapers next to me and and a script on my lap that I was reading from.  I had every “scene” written out.  It was awkward and wordy and not very good.  The review was almost 10 minutes long, so I had to trim and remove whole clips to make it a manageable size.  It took a day of editing since I had no experience with the software.

My second header

I did have a vision, and even with many changes to my films the principles have stayed the same.  I have an introduction of the diaper, I show the various parts (shell, inside, inserts, special features if they have them, how it goes on a baby, and a conclusion)  After a few reviews I decided to leave my opinion out for the most part, and let my written review speak for that.  The videos are neutral because even if the diaper wasn’t my favorite, it is someone else’s.

Now I can film and edit a review in less than thirty minutes.  Instead of writing a script I watch my filmed review and I dub the audio to narrate what I am showing.  While my videos have no special effects they serve their purpose.

Besides video reviews I have had the opportunity to share my opinions on Breastfeeding, Elimination Communication, Babywearing, green living and parenting, and cloth diaper topics.

My blog has also afforded me opportunities to review products that I feel are relatable to you all.  I don’t accept every review offer, and I have contacted companies myself hoping to review items.  This has been a wonderful thing for us.  I have always disclosed that items I review were sent for free, but my opinions have never been swayed by that fact.

Since starting I have also been able to pay for the hosting, domain, various graphic work, etc through advertising revenue.  In fact, my hosting fee will be paid today!  I am extremely grateful to those who choose to advertise on my site.  It makes it possible to go on!  So thank you all!  Funny enough, I started google ads on day 1 and have still not been able to get paid.  I am 10 dollars away!  1 year= 90.00 in revenue.  Luckily I have earned other revenue by selling ads myself and through my affiliate link at Kelly’s Closet.

Lastly, I want to thank all of YOU for reading my little blog. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have a blog.  A blog isn’t a blog without readers, is it?  I am very grateful to those who come by and check everyday.  Some of you comment on almost all of my posts, not just giveaways.  I don’t always reply to all of the comments, but I read all of them!  I started with 0 readers, and 0 Google Followers.  Now I get hundreds of views a day and I have 531 Google Friends!

I hope you will continue to read Dirty Diaper Laundry for the next few years while I still have babies in diapers!  Then, who knows?

Have you visited The Cloth Diaper Whisperer lately?  If you have you might have seen a familiar face on the left sidebar, at the very bottom, on the list of contributing writers.  ME!  That’s right!  I will be adding helpful videos and more to The Cloth Diaper Whisperer.

I love that The Cloth Diaper Whisperer reflects multiple moms’ experiences on cloth diapering.  I especially love reading the “confession” style posts or funnies about dads and cloth!  I hope you will stop by and read mine and other entries!  And don’t forget about Fluff Fridays for chances at winning cloth diapers!