Our trip was overall stupendous! We concluded our trip with a ride out to New York City, so Ava could meet her Godmother for the first time. Her godmother also happens to be my older cousin that I haven't seen in 4 months. It was nice seeing her again and having her see Justin for the first time in over a year. New York City was CRAZY busy! We were in stand still traffic, paid a toll that was almost fifteen dollars, and people were walking in the middle of the street like there weren't tons of cars driving by. It was definitely a different experience. We saw the statue of liberty, the 9/11 monument, Brooklyn bridge, etc. The skyscrapers were HUGE! I don't think buildings are even that big in Seattle.

                                 (This was a shot I got on our way into the city)

I tried to get as many pictures as I could, but there was always a building in the way, or people, or traffic! Parking was impossible and the parking garages were all valet. It truly is the busiest city I have ever been too. Great experience for our little family though! How many 9 week olds can say they've spent time in Manhattan? After our time in NYC we started our journey back home! After 14 hours of being in the car, we decided it was time to stop. I love technology sometimes. I was able to use my mobile hotspot on my Verizon cellular device to use my laptop our entire trip. I booked a hotel room for our family at the La Quinta Inn after researching the area of Raleigh, North Carolina on yelp. We had a fantastic experience. No pet fee for our dog, Cooper. The area around Raleigh had a great city feel, and the room was very decent. They even give out military discounts, which is always appreciated.

We took our time on the way home and stopped at some special places along the way. Ava was even better on the way back down. ZERO fussy moments. She was more awake this time around, but she was cooing and full of smiles, like always. The biodegradable diapers we used were a HUGE success for us on our trip, including her chemical free wipes.

NO leakage, Ava has had ZERO diaper rash in her 10 weeks of life, and they were super absorbent. Since we've been home she is back in cloth and Justin and I are happy about that. It's so weird, on vacation, my husband made a comment about how he missed her cloth! That made me so happy to hear! We've still quite a few days of Justin's block leave, so our vacation isn't quite over yet! We haven't made up our mind for our next destination. Atlanta or Florida... Either way I'm excited to have all this exploration time with my husband.

We made the switch

Ava finally fits into her pre-fold cloth diapers and I couldn't be more elated! I remember mentioning in a previous post that I was going to use disposable diapers until my little sprout packed on a bit of weight. I'm so glad that day came ! Disposable diapers were a nightmare for me. I understand the convenience of being able to toss out your infant's waste, but for me that factor alone wasn't enough to win me over. The main thing that annoyed me about disposable diapers were the leakage. Ava has woken up with a side of her shirt drenched from her leaky diaper. We've had leaks at the doctors office as soon as I've undressed her to get weighed. Her urine saturated the white tissue paper on top of the medical seats. We've had leaks that have saturated her receiving blankets as well. I can't tell you how frustrating it was to diaper without proper absorbency. We were using Pampers preemie and newborn sized swaddlers for disposables. I'm not sure if it's an issue with the brand or what, but I don't have any happy reviews to give. I do however have some positive things to say about green mountain diapers! Oh my lanta ! I absolutely LOVE my orange edge pre-folds ! The absorbency, the lack of icky chemicals on Ava's skin, and of course the "going green" factor cloth diapering presents.

 

This is my little girl in her cloth. Believe it or not pre-folds are my husband's preference with cloth diapers. We invested in pocket diapers ( we aren't using these until Ava is a bit bigger) and for some reason he prefers the diapers that aren't so "daddy friendly." I think Justin's initial turn off with cloth was dealing with the poop and urine. Shockingly, he changes his daughter without disgust of dealing with feces. In fact, this afternoon, as I'm watching him change Ava's cloth, he asks me to hand him another cloth wipe. Miss A had gotten poop in like the crevice of her leg and he wanted to make sure he had done a thorough job ! Am I a lucky gal or what? I guess when it's your child's waste it's not a big deal. I have washed a few of these orange edge pre-folds from our hospital stay and the dark, tar, meconium poop that did touch her cloth, did not stain the diaper. I am so excited we are finally getting into the parenting styles we opted for !