Just Julie: What's the word on the street about the NEW BumGenius Product?

Yesterday Cottonbabies officially announced the retirement of the BumGenius 3.0 OS Diapers. Their exact words were that they have been officially discontinued. A new product will be revealed to the public on June 29th.

What are your thoughts on what the new product will be? They have had testers and I am surprised that none of the top secret details have been leaked. So.... what do you know? Someone knows something, they're just keeping a tight lid on it.

My thoughts? Well believe it or not, us retailers are pretty much just as in the dark as the rest of you. I have heard some who simply believe a new BumGenius 4.0 is coming but personally I don't think so. I don't think they would have used the term "discontinued" if just a new and improved version was coming out.

Will there be prints? New colors? Will they ditch the aplix and only offer snaps? Onesize, Twosize, Biodegradable? Please comment with your thoughts, I'd love to hear from you all.

Just Julie: Ever sent a diaper or diapers to their grave?

I bet you we've all done it, sent a diaper into the beyond, ended it's career of covering little bums. I'd have to say my first experience in sending diapers to their grave could be considered a mass murder.

I was new at cloth diapering, very new, and hadn't yet got my washing routine down. In fact, I don't think I had any clue how long I could let them sit in the dry pail or what to do. I think I may have even washed some with my regular laundry at first, that was how clueless I was.

Well I distinctly remember going into the laundry room, which was basically part of our garage and not inside the house, and realizing I had a load of diapers in the pail that needed washing and I couldn't remember how long they'd been there. I swore it had only been a couple days but heck, I had twin infants and every day was a blur so I really couldn't be sure.

I dumped them in the washer and did my routine as usual. Fill, Soak, Rinse, Wash, Dry...When it came time to fold and stuff the diapers I realized the black mold of death had set in on them and I was super bummed. They weren't unusable I suppose but looked ugly and I couldn't stand seeing my babies in diapers that had mold stains. In all I think only about three were sent to their retirement and the others survived.

It was honestly the last time I did that. I decided that the whole "outta sight, outta mind" thing was not a good idea with the diaper pail. I needed it somewhere that I wasn't going to forget about it. From then on I pretty much washed diapers every day.

Have you ever sent any diapers to their death? If so, share your story with us I'd love to read them!

Just Julie: It's hard getting back on track!

I am having the hardest time with motivation so far this year. I have ideas out the wazoo but when I have the time to make it happen I feel like I can't make myself lift a finger. Not sure what's wrong with me but I am working on getting back on track now.

First thing I did, which was not on my list of things to do, was re-vamp my personal blog and get it back up and running. I miss getting to post about personal stuff, recipes, sewing and crafts, etc whenever I feel like it. Here I try to keep the focus on cloth diaper related info and limit myself to one personal post per week.

So, here I am. Trying to stay motivated and get all my ducks back in a row.

How do you all stay motivated and organized? How do you stay inspired and keep your blogs going? Any and all feedback and/or tips would be much appreciated.

Thanks for reading guys!

Just Julie: Family Portraits make the best gifts!

I must say I am super lucky to have a friend who's an awesome photographer! This year gift giving is going to be so much easier since we've had some awesome family photos taken. My friend Jessica, a member of our local Natural Moms group, has such an eye for photography. She knows just how to capture candid and realistic expressions and our kids know her which made our little photo shoot that much easier.

We met at a local park on the Indian River and the kids were instantly hamming it up. Hubby and I were a little more nervous since we don't really like having our photos taken and don't consider ourselves photogenic. I just wanted to share with you all, my readers, how some of them turned out! Super amazing!
If any of you are in the Space Coast or Central Florida area and are looking for an affordable and talented photographer I urge you to contact my wonderful friend Jessica Manzano. To take a look at more of her work in her portfolio please visit her website http://www.jessicamanzanophoto.com/. To become a Fan of Jessica Manzano Photography on FaceBook click HERE.

Just Julie: I'm trying to have a thrifty Christmas! (with pics of my finds!)

You may remember me saying that we're getting a puppy for Christmas. She will be our MAIN present and despite the long list of items my daughter has asked Santa for, he will only be giving the kids a few small gifts and some stocking stuffers.

Trying to be thrifty during the holidays is a real challenge and it's super easy to just buy-buy-buy! However with all my online adventures I am usually able to come up with some super thrifty gifts, great deals, or creative ways of getting what I want. My husband doesn't really keep tabs on what I'm up to but when I show him my stash of goods and explain how I came by it all he is usually really shocked!

Just the other night he was shopping on Amazon. He had a few things in his cart and was just getting ready to checkout. I asked what he was up to and he explained he had a gift in the cart for me and a few small things for the kids. I asked if he'd price shopped and he said no. We looked around on the web at ToysRUs and a few other sites and Amazon did turn out to be the best value.

Just as he went to click SUBMIT ORDER I yelled "Wait!" In just a nick of time I remembered that I had (2) $5.00 Amazon Gift Cards that I had earned through SwagBucks! We were able to save $10.00 off that order and it qualified for free shipping.

Another cool thing was that I had $25.00 in CafeCash from CafePress.com that I had earned. I used that to purchase 2 T-Shirts for my niece & nephew and didn't have to spend a dime!

I used a Coupon Code for a Free PhotoBook and made one for my Mother-In-Law as a gift. (code has since expired)

I also used a Coupon Code for Free PhotoCards and got 50 Free Christmas photo cards & envelopes. All I paid was $3.19 put of pocket! (code has since expired)
Plus, I try to trade with as many wahms as possible when I have an opportunity to (for my graphic design services), for anything and everthing and have quite a little stash of wahm goodies to use as gifts as well. Currently I have finger puppets, wool dryer balls, knit shorties, cloth wipes, crochet play food, mama pads, chalk board mats, jewelry and more!
Aside from the above things I have mentioned I have picked up some things at yard sales and have also been given some used toys that I plan to use as gifts for my kiddos. Everything else I need I want to try and sew or make.

So what are you up to for the holidays? Are you trying to save big and score super awesome thrifty deals? Do you strictly make your own gifts? Do you only buy handmade? Let me know what you're up to and if you have any thrifty tips or cool finds, please do share!

*ETA: Please read the comments to see some new deals and promos that may or may not work. Please also share new ones and ones you know of via the comments! Thanks!*

Just Julie: I burnt the cheesecake...and other Thanksgiving thoughts!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone has a great day filled with lots of yummy food, family and friends. We're going over to my brother-in-laws house to spend the holiday with his family and I am honestly looking forward to having someone cook for us for a change. Also, they have young kids so we can relax and let the kids play without having to worry about child-proofing, etc.

I'm responsible for the cheesecake. I made one last night and burnt it! I really almost cried and would die of embarrassment if we brought a burnt cheesecake to the dinner. I can just picture everyone's faces as they bite into the cheesecake, assuring me it's "mmm, yummy" when in fact they're thinking ewww, this tastes burnt...and being able to tell by the way they're chewing that they don't really like it.

I was seriosuly bummed. If you knew our family you'd know that my cheesecake is like the MAIN desert, it always turns out awesome and costs a small fortune to make, there's no way I'd bring a burnt one. So, after much late night distress my husband went out to the store to buy me some more last minute ingredients so that I can try to redeem myself this morning by baking another one...wish me luck!

The weather man has promised us a day in the 70's, hopefully some in the 60's, and we're much looking forward to the cool crisp air. It just doesn't feel like the holidays when we're sitting here in the 90 degree heat.

I have much to be thankful for, mine and my families health, our home, my beautiful children, and my hard-working and loving husband. I am also so thankful for cloth diapers. Thankful that such creative wahms exist who invented today's modern diapers. Thankful that I discovered them and began my business. Thankful for all the wonderful wahms and customers I've connected with online. Thankful for my Blog and all it's readers.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Just Julie: Remembering my very first cloth diapers!

Cloth diapering is one of those things, now a huge part of my life and lifestlyle, but not something that I ever knew that I'd like or even thought to research. When my twin sons were born my daughter was about 3.5 years old and finally potty trained. I had never used cloth on her, never considered it, no one ever recommended it, only the older women my mother and grandmothers age would joke about it. Even they had no idea what cloth was like nowadays and they REALLY were joking when they'd discuss cloth and what it was like for them.

Having twins meant that people were super excited for us. I was given a wonderful baby shower and gifted tons of disposable diapers. My husband works for the Fire Department and ALL the guys at his work pitched in money and bought us diapers. He came home one day with, no kidding, maybe six garbage bags filled with packages of disposable diapers. We had them in the first few sizes and enough to last for months and months. Five months to be exact...

Making it to 4-5 months of age without ever having to spend a dime on diapers was a huge blessing but I still couldn't get over how quickly we had gone through what seemed like thousands of diapers.

One day I told my husband that they were starting to get low, down to the last couple packs that would fit them. We were both worried about what we'd do. Since the boys birth I had been participating on a Moms of Multiples Message Board online for support and there were a handful of moms there who used cloth diapers. I saw them in their photos and was curious but up until this point really had never considered asking them about them.

Well as most of you know, cloth diapering mamas love to talk about cloth! So when I asked one of my online friends about her diapers and how they worked she was super excited to help me get started. She explained all the different kinds and also happened to have a HUGE personal stash for her twin daughters. In fact, she had some she was selling used online so she offered me a deal so that I could give them a try.

I don't remember exactly, I think I got 5 diapers total; a Medium Fuzzi Bunz, a couple Mommy's Touch OneSize, and a couple Wonderworks OneSize from her, she also sent them with some used micro inserts. These were cared for nicely but after having given brand new diapers a try I can look back and realize just how worn in they were.

I remember tearing open the package when they came in the mail and washing them right away so that I could try them. Putting them on the boys only to have them pee in them almost immediately so I had to change into the next one. Then within about 3 hours, between poops and pees, I ran plum out of cloth diapers!

Dang! I thought. Then I toook them back into the laundry room and washed them again. By betime I had pretty much gone through those 5 diapers AGAIN! The rest is history, I was totally addicted. I knew I couldn't be doing diaper laundry 5 times a day just so they could wear cloth, so hubby gave me a budget and I purchased some more diapers little by little until I had enough to get us though about 24-36 hours before having to wash.

It really was NO time at all before I was obsessed with them and decided that is what I wanted to do, start a business and sell cloth diapers online. And....here I sit at 7am in the morning writing about cloth diapers when I should be getting my daughter up for school!

Just Julie: My first ever NaNoWriMo!

Wow! I just have to share that I am participating in this year's NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. It is so fun and I am so glad I am giving it a try. I was inspired to try it by a couple of my local moms group friends who are participating.

If you aren't familiar with NaNoWriMo, it is 30 days of fast and furious fiction writing! You join the site, it's free, and they motivate you to write, write, write. They have a word counter to help you keep track of how far you've gotten, forums where you can connect with other locals, and tips and tricks for writing in general.

If you can complete a 50,000 word Novel by the end of November then you're considered a winner. The prize...self satisfaction, knowing that you wrote a NOVEL! How cool would that be. Many people say "Oh, I'd like to write a book one day" but very few actually do.

Scenario: You sign up for NaNoWriMo, you write and write and you finish! You read it, let some friends read it and hey, you think it might be good enough to get published. You submit it to a publisher it and Bam! Your book's in Oprah's Book Club! (can you tell I am an optimist?) LOL

Anyways, you never know and it sure is fun to try. So far I am at about 5,000 words, only 45,000 more to go, and you know what? I actually like my story so far. It started out with me doubting I could find anything to write about and now, 5000 words in I am on a roll. Plus, somehow a dead body ended up in the story, I didn't plan it but my characters stumbled upon it, now I'm just trying to roll with it...

So, it's not to late for you to sign up. And if you need a writing buddy add me to your list! My id is geishagirrrl! Good Luck!

Just Julie: Sweet n' Spooky Treats!

As the boys turn 3yrs old my husband and I realize that the time for having plan our families traditions around them is over. They can now pretty much attempt everything that we intend to do. I never said it wouldn't be messy but at least now they can participate in our pumpkin carving, cookie decorating, gingerbread house making, etc.

This year so far has been fun. My daughter Guinn came home from school Friday and was convinced we should have our own Halloween party this past weekend. She wrote a list of supplies, delegated tasks and made us promise we'd follow through. Trust me, there's no arguing with a 6yr old party plannner!

We headed out to the craft store and bought the supplies we'd need to make decorations and some spooky treats for our party. My husband and daughter spent quite some time working on their spooky cakes "Frankenstein" & "Skeleton Man." I think they turned out fabulous, they did a really great job.
We also made our sugar cookies with royal icing and decorated them to the max! Some were so drenched in icing by the time the kids were done that I couldn't even find the cookie on the tray. But they had fun and that's all that matters. Believe it or not we didn't have any crazy accidents with the food coloring.
It's times like these that I get a glimpse at what our future holds as a family and I really look forward to it. While I did love the baby years, I look forward to all the new ways we can share our lives together and all the memories we can create now that the kids are getting old enough to really get out and experience life with us. Gosh I love my little freckly family!

Just Julie: Homemade Halloween costumes! UPDATE

Whew! We're done. After a last minute decision to attend our local zoo's Boo at the Zoo event last Friday, I realized I had exactly 2 days to purchase the fabric and sew 1 Lava Girl & 2 Shark Boy costumes. I still had no real idea how I was going to do it but the fabric did lend itself to a little inspiration.

For Lava Girl I was most drawn to the pink vinyl and sparkly fabrics, sequins, etc. For the Shark Boys I found a snakeskin that I thought might double as sharkskin. All in all I ruined one whole pink skirt, that's not uncommon when you try and cut a skirt pattern out of your head without taking any measurements or anything. It was way too small and was totally not cut right. Even the skirt that I ended up using still didn't quite fit right, but the Lava Girl belt covers up the imperfections.

For the Shark Boys I was at a loss, I couldn't for the life of me figure out how I was going to make them look like sharks. I made the shorts first, then the arm cuffs, then the vests. It was at the last minute that I realized I had some super strength aplix that I had bought to make diapers and it worked perfectly for attaching the shark fins to their backs. Although, after having worn them to one event the shark fins already need to be replaced with new ones, they took quite a beating...

Maybe I just work best under pressure, who knows!? Just thought I'd update you all on how they turned out. Anyone else working on their costumes yet?

Just Julie: My baby boys turned 3yrs old!

October 11 we celebrated my twins' 3rd Birthday! We rented a pavilion at a local park and invited tons of friends and family. Although it was super hot and we were all covered in sweat, the kids didn't seem to mind and they played all day.

It's hard to believe how big they've gotten, how fast they're growing, how much they're talking, and how their twin bond is growing. I so much look forward to the future and what it might hold but at the same time wish that I could go back and cherish them as little babies a little longer. Their first year of life was a blur, if I knew then what I know now I would have done so much differently.

Never the less, I love my babies and feel truly blessed. Just thought I'd share some pics. :)

Just Julie: A puppy for Christmas? Am I crazy?

Christmas is fast approaching and as usual, my husband and I are scrambling for ideas. The kids already have too many toys and always get loads of presents from family. My daughter has been working on a sleeping poster, she receives a sticker for each night she stays in her bed, and we've made the reward a puppy.

This would also make our Christmas so much easier. She's not scheduled to actually finish her poster until after Christmas so we thought that it would be a great surprise, plus my husband and I have been wanting a dog and know the kids would just love it.

I know it's a lot of work, and just like having another child. In the past we've had our furniture chewed up, floors ruined, baseboards chewed, etc. So we are fully aware of how NOT to raise a dog. This time we're going to crate train the dog, and hope that sets us off on the right foot as far as behavior is involved.

Our dilemma...is how to find the right puppy at the right time, just before Christmas. We're thinking a lab, lab-mix, maybe rhodesian ridgeback, retriever, hound...There's still a lot of research to be done.

We absolutely don't want to (and will not) buy from a puppy mill, preferably adopt from a rescue or the Humane Society.

So what do you think? Am I crazy to want a puppy when I have two 3 yr old's and a 6 yr old? or is this a good time? We've pretty much got our mind made up but I can't help but be a little nervous...Any advice/tips would be greatly appreciated.

Just Julie: The Neverending Summer

Today as I sit at the computer and look out the window it looks sunny, breezy, and inviting, it looks a lot like Fall outside. I'd love to be able to open the doors and windows, let the breeze in and turn off the A/C. But...we live in Florida and summertime weather usually lasts almost through Christmas. I know if I were to open the window I'd be sweating hot in no time. In fact, just yesterday we went to the beach and swam in the ocean. Today's surf report states that both the air and water are 86degrees and holding.

We've had a great summer, the kids are old enough for us to be able to enjoy the beach and not just spend every moment chasing them over the dunes. I'd hate for it to officially be over but I do long for Fall weather, the need for warm pajamas, hot tea, and lots of blankets. It's times like these when I wished we lived up on the Blue Ridge, somewhere that the leaves change and we might get to see snow. If we did I know I'd miss the ocean and the ability to wear shorts and flip-flops almost every day of the year.

I guess for now I'll be thankful for the weather that we do have and rejoice over not having had any hurricanes this season!

Just Julie: Can't they just wear cloth forever!?

Well my twins boys are about to turn 3yrs old and I think it's finally time I try and take potty training a little more seriously. I've been attempting it for quite some time but find myself saying to myself "oh they just aren't ready yet" but maybe I am the one who's just not ready. I go to reach for underwear and they say "diaper!" I am much too eager to oblige.

In a way I feel like I've just learned about cloth and now my days of cloth diapering babies is going to be over. I regret not having tried it or at least looked into it when my daughter was little. She would have looked so cute with a fluffy bum, instead our family album is filled with photos of her in disposables which I find quite embarrassing, especially since I sell cloth diapers! Now that my sons are in underwear most of the day I regret not having taken more photos of them in cloth, maybe I should have had their portrait taken with cute diapers on....oh, isn't hindsight 20/20!?

I'm so thankful to have become as passionate about cloth as I have become, to have fulfilled my dream of owning a business, and have actually tried something that I would have never imagined I'd love so much. With my daughter I can honestly say, the thought of cloth NEVER crossed my mind.

So I guess it should come as no surprise to me that I would be sad at the thought of never putting another cloth diaper on my sons, never having to fold diaper laundry, no longer needing to covet the latest and greatest diaper other than as stock for my store. I can tell my sons are close to being ready and if I stick to my guns and stay committed to following through they'll probably be potty trained in no time. Then there will be no turning back.

Just Julie: If you plant it they will come! re: Butterfly Gardening

You may have read in my Meet the Geek Squad post that I am interested in Butterfly Gardening. I thought I'd use today's Just Julie post to give you guys a little more in depth explanation of it and how easy it is to do.

For me my interest in butterflies started when I attended a play date at a local friends house. Outside in her backyard was a garden and butterflies were fluttering all around it. I couldn't believe how lucky she was to have them all congregating in her backyard. She began to explain how if you plant butterfly attracting plants then the butterflies will come. She rattled off the names of some of the plants and I tried my hardest to commit them to memory.

That weekend I loaded up the kids and headed to our local Home Depot. I purchased Milkweed, Porterweed, Lantana and planted them outside my kitchen window so that I could keep an eye out for the butterflies. It took 1-2 days (maybe), and like magic I began to see butterflies, especially Monarch's feeding on my Milkweed. Within a few weeks my Milkweed was covered in Monarch caterpillars and I had to go out and buy more Milkweed just for them to eat.

Since then our garden has grown and so has the variety of butterflies we attract. We're able to watch them feed, lay eggs, hatch into caterpillars, turn into chrysalis and emerge as beautiful butterflies. It is super easy to do and maintain. I do NOT have a green thumb at all yet I have been able to accomplish keeping these plants alive for nearly a year now.

If you live in the right climate for gardening then I highly recommend you try attracting butterflies to your garden. I promise you won't regret it.

Some great sites you can visit for more information on starting your own butterfly habitat are

• Monarch Watch
• Butterfly House
• The Butterfly Site