Check out more pictures of her here.

Revel and her cousin Alison have recently started a new blog. The new blog, cranmoms.com, is all about Revel and Alison as they “explore our passions and discover the joys of being moms, wives, and keepers of the home”.

Go check it out!

For more photos click here.

A family photo opportunity before the dedication. It was a beautiful day!

Michael and I with Caroline making a promise before God, the congregation, and our family and friends that we will raise Caroline in a Christian home.

For more pictures click here.

For more pictures click here.

For more pictures click here.

Revel, Caroline and I went down to South Carolina for Easter. There, we saw my mom (Grammy), my sister Christine and brother-in-law Ricardo, and my brother Philip traveled from Japan to be there also (his first time seeing Caroline). We had a great trip and Caroline did very well traveling on the planes. We stayed in SC for a couple days after Easter and were able to go to the zoo as well as see Clemson University where I graduated from. Other than being very hot,  it was a great trip and was great to see my family.

For more pictures from the trip, check out this album.

In honor of Easter, the celebration of our Savior, I’d like to share a short Puritan prayer. Wishing everyone an Easter full of joy!

Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine; Let me find thy light in my darkness, thy life in my death, thy joy in my sorrow, thy grace in my sin, thy riches in my poverty, thy glory in my valley.

It really is amazing how fancy and complicated cloth diapers can become, that is if you’re not careful. Once you’ve decided what type of cloth you’d like to use, the next step is to choose accessories.

Here is a list of the main accessories.

• Covers – A diaper cover is anything that covers the diaper to keep moisture in. The main type of covers are plastic, nylon, fleece, wool, and polyester. I found choosing covers to be both fun and overwhelming. There are so many choices and designs. My personal recommendations are  Bummis Super Whisper Wraps, Mommys Touch One Size, and Thirsties. I found that all three of these covers worked very well in that they covered the diaper (prefolds and fitted) very well as well as washed easily in the washing machine. My favorite is Mommys Touch, simply because I find them a bit softer to the touch and they can be worn through many sizes.
• Snappis - If you are going with the prefolds you might want to invest in a  few of these. They are basically the “new” diaper pin. They’re super easy to use and really do hold the prefold very snug.
• Diaper pins – While I can’t vouch for diaper pins, simply because I haven’t used them yet, many prefold users swear by them. I have heard that are fantastic to use when the baby gets a bit older and is crawling around and such. Both the Snappis and diaper pins are cheap enough that it is certainly worth giving them both a try to see what works best for you.
• The Potty Pail – Trying to find a way to wash off those diapers before throwing them into the washing machine? Consider the Potty Pail System or even just the Potty Pail Sprayer. We have just the sprayer, which works amazing at rinsing off dirty diapers into the toilet. However, if I were to do it again, I would have purchased the entire system.
• Wipes - I found using cloth wipes is easier than disposable, plus they’re super cheap. There are many kinds of wipes but I just went with the basic cotton terry on one side and flannel on the other. My big complaint with using cloth wipes is that I have yet to discover an easy method of keeping them moisture and ready to go for changing time. We currently are using a diaper warmer which I like because it keeps the wipes moist, warm, and ready to go. However, it does take some prep work to roll the wipes and pour a wipe solution over them.
• Diaper Pail Liners – A diaper liner makes it easy to move the dirty diapers to the washing machine.

There are many other additional accessories that can be purchased and are extremely useful such as wet bags, wool covers, and diaper lotions. Wool covers, I found, to be amazing especially when it comes to nighttime diapering. I will write more on using cloth at night in another post.

Photo credit.