Swapping

One of my favorite parts of summer is gardening and eating fresh produce. I live in a part of the country that growing food is easy (minus the fact that we don't get a drop of rain until winter) and so backyard gardens or fruit trees are common. I have several fruit trees, but most are either too young to give much fruit yet or don't produce until fall or winter. Compared to the never ending flush of berries that comes in spring and early summer I find this month a bit dull on the gardening front. Outside of melons which we have just started harvesting, most of our garden produce has been the same produce we have been harvesting since early summer. There are only so many zucchinis you need, am I right?

Last year when I found out about a neighborhood crop swap, I found the perfect solution for the mid summer garden blues. A few times a summer our neighborhood has a large crop swap where everyone gathers together with their excess produce and they swap for things they do not grow. This is fun, but the real benefit came in meeting other gardeners to individually swap with throughout the summer or whenever new produce starts to ripen. This year I have given away tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchinis (all of which have been overtaking my counters and fridge) for lemons, nectarines, apples, peaches, pears, figs, leeks, sweet peppers and kale. It has been so successful that between swapping and picking from my own garden we haven't had to purchase produce this summer (outside of onions, bananas and a few recipe specific ingredients).

My goal in the next few years (mainly when my fruit trees start producing large quantities) is to be able to grow enough food in the summer that we won't need to swap produce even though I am sure we will still do it just for fun!

Life At The Moment

I opened my fridge and realized this shelf perfectly capture my life in summertime. It also represents the my absolute favorite and least favorite aspects of summer.

A fridge full of meds, produce from the garden (plums, blackberries, cucumbers, tomatoes and green beans), and sausages for barbecuing at the beach.

Fighting Nausea Naturally

Nausea and CF go hand in hand thanks to all the antibiotics used to treat chronic lung infections. Let's be honest, sometimes our antibiotics cause nausea to such a degree that nothing will help except another prescription, you're welcome pharmaceutical companies. However, sometimes the all day waves of nausea aren't enough to warrant another pill, but are still uncomfortable enough that they can't be ignored. Through lots (and lots) of trial and error I have found a few natural ways to combat nausea.

Ginger/Peppermint tea: Ginger or peppermint tea with the addition of fresh ginger can help ease those waves of nausea relatively well and you get the bonus of hydration (which is important when taking any antibiotics). The only problem with this remedy is that most of my medication induced nausea goes hand in hand with the strange metallic taste that coasts your mouth and for some reason I find tea heightens this effect. So it helps the nausea, but can taste like sipping a hot cup of liquid metal which induces it's own form of nausea. If nausea is an issue without the strange taste buds then using ginger/peppermint tea can be very successful.

Peppermint Oil: Peppermint essential oils helps ease the nausea almost instantly, but seems to only have an impact when I am actively smelling the oil. And subtle whiffs of oil doesn't do anything, it has to be strong. The second I turn my head away from the source, bam, nausea comes rushing back. So unless I am willing to sit around smelling oil all day this really isn't practical for all day use. However, I use this when the waves of nausea are strong, but infrequent. I often use it as I am getting ready in the morning because my nausea seems worse after waking up.

Peppermint Gum: Going with the peppermint theme I find that strong gum actually works really well. It is one of my favorite nausea remedies because it is convenient, long lasting, and can be used over and over (you can only drink so many cups of tea).  The other reason I love using gum is that it helps mask the nasty taste that many meds leave in my mouth so it is a two for one deal.

Snacks: When nausea is constant and severe I find the only thing I want to do is sit by a toilet or garbage can. The very last thing I want to do is put more food in my body. However, I have found that never letting your stomach get too empty makes a big difference. Ugh, I know. But if you can power through the overwhelming desire to vomit and try to put food in your mouth, you will thank yourself later.

If anyone has any other tips I would love to hear them. This round of antibiotics is almost through, but I am sure another nausea inducing medication is just around the corner.

Spring In My Garden

 

Spring has arrived in the part of this world I call home. The first sign of spring arrived several weeks ago. Yes, there were buds bursting from the silence of winter, flowers unfolding in the warmth of the sun, but the first sign of spring for me is the feeling of my lungs clamping down and the chronic wheeze that comes buzzing from these clunky old lungs. Spring allergy induced asthma has always been much more predictable than any weather man I have ever encountered. And despite spring being the absolute hardest season for me to breath in I still hold a special place for spring in my heart. There is no other time of year that I feel so much hope and anticipation for what is ahead. Let me show you what I mean:



Blueberry



Strawberry flower

Peas

Arugula

 

Echinacea just starting to open

 

Yellow Plum Tree

Ornamental Plum Tree

So much hope and promise is held in these few short months. As I walk around my garden I can't help, but feel overwhelmed at the potential of the things to come. Even when my breaths are frustratingly loud and feel as if my lungs are hardly inflating with each breath I take, I still can't help, but feel excited for tomorrow.

A Green Tomorrow

To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.

- Audrey Hepburn

I started my first vegetable garden 5 years ago, in pots that were much too small, outside my apartment's front door in a much too shady and busy walkway. Throughout the day I would move the pots holding my precious tomatoes and peppers to wherever the sun was filtering through the branches of an overgrown pine tree. It was the worst conceivable place to grow a garden, but that little potted garden that gave me a total of three tomatoes and two stunted bell peppers ignited a passion in my soul that I have never been able to shake.

Today, the first sight you will lay your eyes on when you go in my backyard is a large display of raised beds that is home to everything from asparagus to watermelon. My mornings and evening are spent tending to my garden and my kitchen is home to the rewards these plants offer in return for my care and attention. It seems at times my daughter was raised in the vegetable garden and the age of two can rattle off facts about garlic scapes, and the importance of ladybugs, and that melons have both female and male flowers.

I always found it funny that so much of my life is avoiding thoughts of the future, a future that statistics and doctors assure me won't be long. Yet, I spend my time on a hobby, a passion, an obsession that is all about forward thinking and constant planning for the future. The seeds I so careful sow in the ground in spring comes with so much hope of thick green vines heavy with melons that will fill my stomach and soul mid summer. I cover my strawberries today to protect them from tomorrows ravishing birds. Asparagus is planted with the hope that in three years time I will have spears to grace my dinner table.

If you ask me about the future of my garden you will grow bored and restless long before I stop chattering on about expansion, and artichokes, and aphids. If you ask my about my future, the future of my health and my life you will be greeted with a harrowing silence. You will see an empty vastness in my eyes so foreign in a woman still in the prime of her adulthood.

The garden is a way to plan for the future and put my hopes and dreams into a tomorrow that feels so uncertain. Somehow it feels safer to make plans for my plants than for myself. If I never get the harvest of cherries it is much less heartbreaking than never seeing my daughter get ready for prom.

So for now I carefully tuck seeds into the soil so that in two months from now the ground will be stuffed with plump carrots. And as for what lies in the future? The carrots are all I can be certain of.

Early Mornings

My favorite memories are always made in summer. The cool crisp air of mornings in my garden. The chatter of Kaylee talking to lady bugs and dragonflies which frequent our little patch of land. The wide open flowers reaching to the low laying sun, letting me know that a crop will be here shortly. The sleeping bees tucked in the brilliant orange of the zucchini flowers. The basket full of the days vegetables and herbs. The tug of Kaylee's hand asking me to "see ready??" her favorite vegetable of the day. The excitement a ripe tomato or raspberry elicits from her tiny spirit. The feel of bark chips beneath our shoes and soil between our fingers. The warmth of the sun on our backs as the morning continues on. The smell of mint and basil filling the air. My favorite moments are always found in the early morning of summer.

A Walk In My Garden

cucumber

habenero

A strawberry runner that has another runner.

My zucchini is taking over my garden!

My bottomless bowl of zucchini thanks to the plant above.

Cloth Diapering a Toddler

There seems to be a lot of talk about cloth diapers lately among the CF mamas I know so I thought I would do a follow up on cloth diapering now that I have a toddler. Be forewarned this is a diaper post so of course bodily fluids are mentioned...

When I first started cloth Kaylee was exclusively breastfed so cloth was extremely easy. If she had a dirty diaper I would take it off and throw it in a wet bag (although later I realized I much prefer pail liners) and be done with it until I did diaper laundry.

Around 6 months my little nursling was introduced to solid food. I absolutely loved giving Kaylee solids and it was always exciting seeing her experience different textures (we did baby led weaning) and tastes for the first time. However, I hated solids when it came to diaper time. I will spare you the details, but once babies are introduced to solids their diapers need to be cleaned off before being put in the laundry. The problem is their poop is not completely solid yet. Yeah, it as gross as you are imagining. There were a few days that I questioned my cloth diapering ways and I even debated buying flushable liners to make this process a little less gross.

Then one day I removed another poopy diaper and to my delight (yes, I used the word delight while talking about poopy diapers) my daughter's transitional poop had turned into (little) big kid poop. This is like winning the cloth diaper lottery because rather than trying to clean sludge off a diaper you simply let the contents fall off the diaper into the toilet and flush. So simple!! We are officially consistently getting (little) big kid poop and cloth diapering is even easier than when she was a newborn. I am officially back to loving cloth diapers.

Now that Kaylee is bigger the cloth is slimmer on her so I love the way she looks with her fluffy butt. With summer just about here I feel less guilty about letting her run around outside without clothes on because her diapers are a fashion statement by themselves. The biggest challenge I am currently having with my cloth toddler (besides the typical toddler who refuses to lay still during a change) is that she has figured out how to remove the velcro diapers and the kid is a nudist at heart so we are sticking to snaps. Overall, I have absolutely no regrets about my decision to cloth diaper and would recommend it to anyone even considering cloth. 

Homemade Wipe Solution

Before I became a mother I had all these ideas about what type of mother I wanted to be. If you have read my blog you know I am a little crunchy and don't buy conventional beauty products. I don't buy conventional baby products either. So in addition to cloth diapering I decided to make my own wipes. There are lots of tutorials out there on making your own wipes which I followed in the early days. Once I got into full time cloth diapering I realized cloth wipes were easier than making your own disposable wipes. Everything goes in the wash rather than throwing wipes in the garbage and diapers in the laundry. One experience of a homemade disposable wipe in the washer with the diapers (what a mess!) made me forever switch to cloth wipes.

The thing I love about cloth wipes is that the wipe solution I use is extremely versatile. I use it to wipe a dirty bottom, clean dirty hands, and can even use it as a face wash for myself. It is super easy and super cheap. In honor of reduce, reuse, recycle I used my peri bottle from the hospital to hold my wipe solution. It is the perfect size and since it is a squeeze top I can close it so little hands don't spray solution everywhere and I can control how fast the solution comes out onto the wipe.

Here is my wipe solution (I never measure and have never had a "bad" batch of wipe solution)

1. Clean and rinse peri bottle
2. Put a small glob of coconut oil* in bottle (other oils can be used as well. I originally used Mother Love Apricot Birthing Oil because I had it on hand and it worked just as well)
3. Put a small squirt of California Baby Body Wash (or other baby soap) in bottle
4. Fill with warm water
5. Shake

How simple is that! I have never once purchased baby wipes from the store which saves money and I like knowing my baby's bottom is preservative free!

*I should note that coconut oil is solid in cooler weather. I found that if I vigorously shake the bottle before spraying the oil breaks up into little clumps and would come out with the water onto the wipe in small amounts which worked just fine. Now that it is warmer I never have this issue as the oil is in liquid form. If you live in colder climates and the clumps bother you I would suggest a different oil.

So It Has Begun

I am taking a tiny break from 31 Days of May The CF Way to mention my very favorite time of spring. It is the time of the year when the days are long and hot. When the irritation of allergies has faded. The hard work of planting your garden is done...

And you reap the benefits!! I put in my garden April 3rd (my birthday) and it is just now exploding with life!

Kaylee and I garden every morning and the first thing she does is look to see if there are ripe strawberries on our twelve (yes, twelve) strawberry plants. She gets beyond excited if she sees one. She starts squealing  "Num num" (her way of saying she wants something yummy) until I pick it for her. Needless to say my husband and I have not gotten even one strawberry yet...the girl loves them!

It got hot fast this year so I think this will be the last of our beans until fall...

 But my favorite summer vegetable (technically a fruit) is just starting to produce fruit! This tomato plant along with one other has already grown out of its cage. We have three regular and one cherry tomato plant.

One of Kaylee's favorite- squash just starting to grow!

This year we have:

• 45 onions
• 12 strawberry plants
• 12 snap pea vines (that will be dying off shortly)
• 2 cucumber plants
• 4 tomato
• 1 zucchini
• 1 squash
• 6 jalapeno
• 1 habanero
• 2 different varieties of basil
• Lemon Balm
• Mint
• Lavender

I am excited to see how well we do this year since our crop last year was just okay. I think giving birth in the middle of summer, never weeding after baby came, and then forgetting to water for waaaay too long didn't help our crop last year. I am so excited to feed my family organic home grown food this year!

CF Awareness Month Blog - Pros and Cons

The pros and cons of CF. Well, the list of cons is so long I could write a book. Also, I think the cons of having a progressive fatal disease that requires hours upon hours of breathing treatments and medications to stay well are kinda obvious. The pros on the other hard are a little harder to find.

I think the biggest pro for me personally is that CF has opened my eyes to living a healthy lifestyle. Because so much of my life is ruled by meds, treatments, and pills I have looked closely at my day to day life and how I can keep it as pure and natural as possible. This includes the food I eat, the products I use to clean my house, the products I put on my skin, what I put on my daughter's skin, and how I wash my clothes. I want to expose my body to as few toxins as possible and have tried my best (and continually trying to improve) to make our living environment as clean (not in the bleached to death sense of the word) and as healthy as possible. Despite having CF I feel I have a very healthy lifestyle that is full of fresh, healthy food from the earth, a home environment free from harsh chemicals and toxins (or as free as possible considering the society we live in), and full of fresh air and exercise. I am not sure I would care as much about these things if I did not have CF because I am not sure how much I would even think about my health. I also love knowing that my daughter is growing up in this environment and in this life style as I know it will benefit her.

Lemony Fresh

Last month I posted about natural cleaning products that are void of nasty chemicals that are bad for CF infected lungs (or anyone's lungs). One of the cleaning products I use a lot is plain old vinegar. The other day I was using this plain old vinegar to clean my kitchen when I realized how much I hate the smell of vinegar. It smells really gross and even though once it dries the smell disappears, I don't like having to smell it at all! I thought about adding essential oils, but the only essential oil I have is the one I use for my cloth diaper pail and I didn't want my clean house to remind me of my daughter's diapers. So I turned to the internet and I am so excited to share this little tip I found (because I am a total crunchy nerd and am sure none of you really care, but I am telling you anyway). You can infuse vinegar with herbs or citrus. I want to try a bunch of different variations, but considering it is citrus season and I have a big basket full of mandarins, lemons, limes, and oranges from friend's yards I figured I would try infusing with citrus first.

Directions:
1. Peel two mandarins (or any other citrus fruit)
2. Eat said fruit (my favorite step)
3. Put fruit peels in a glass jar. (You can use plastic, but I hate plastic in general so I went with glass)
4. Cover peel with vinegar.
5. Let sit for 2 weeks
6. drain the vinegar into spray bottle and top off with new vinegar.
7. Clean away!

So I am in the infusing phase and have yet to see if the smell of citrus makes the vinegar less offensive to the olfactory system, but I am so excited to have a use to my citrus rinds (besides composting) that I almost don't even care if it works that well or not.

I tried both lemon and mandarin so we will see which one smells better.

I thought the mandarin vinegar looked pretty sitting in the sun.

Artificial Fragrances and CF

When I was a senior in college I lived with three other girls in a two bedroom, one bathroom apartment. Two of these particular girls liked the house to smell good at all times. I don't mean they wanted the house void of all offensive smells, but they wanted our apartment to smell of flowers. They showered our carpets with this chemically floral scented powder so that the when vacuumed it would let off a very strong "floral" scent. Every closet had a fake air freshener to make the closet smell "sweet" and scented candles were almost always burning somewhere in the house. As someone who didn't even know carpet fragrance existed I was perplexed. If the house was clean there should not be any offensive smells and therefore fake fragrances weren't necessary, right? Why do so many people equate clean or nice smells with artificial chemicals that smell nothing like "clean" or "flowers"?

As I have gotten older and no longer live with roommates I have turned away from chemically induced fragrances. I never liked the way they made my lungs feel and my lungs have enough problems as it is! I can't even remember the last time I burned a scented candle. I found as someone with CF I don't  like the idea of filling my lungs and the air my family breathes with man made chemicals that are meant to smell "nice". Whether this is in an air freshener or a cleaning product, I wanted them out of my home.

One of the biggest offenders for me is bleach. A few years ago I cleaned a bathroom and spent the rest of the day feeling as if my lungs were on fire, literally on fire!! My poor husband (boyfriend at the time, that should have told me right there that he was a keeper!) became in charge of cleaning the bathroom shower as the ventilation wasn't very good in the first apartment we lived in and we both worried about my lungs being exposed to harsh bathroom cleaners. But then I worried about HIS lungs. I didn't want him spending an hour in a chemical haze cleaning the bathroom either. I turned to natural store bought cleaners and some homemade natural cleaners (think vinegar/water or baking soda) that were safe for all of us!

Although I liked my natural store bough cleaners I still wasn't sure how natural they really were or if it was all a marketing scheme  My homemade cleaners worked well enough, but not as well as the harsh chemicals and they took a lot more elbow grease which I wasn't thrilled about. It wasn't until recently that I became serious about making a complete change. After having my daughter I realized that everything I put into our home she has to breath with her tiny clean lungs. I also didn't want to worry about having strong chemicals on my hands while cleaning in case I needed to touch Kaylee or her little toys that go in her mouth on a regular basis . So thanks to Pinterest and natural bloggers I have now converted our home to a natural cleaning product home. This is my new favorite shower/bathroom cleaner that I found on several sites online (no way is this my original recipe...I seriously struggled through all 3 chemistry classes I had to take in college!)

It has two ingredients: Equal parts Blue Dawn and White Vinegar! Super easy and super effective. I sprayed the whole shower and left overnight. In the morning before Kaylee's bath I took a rag and wiped (WIPED, didn't scrub at all) and I was left with a beautiful shower and even the grout came out clean and free of any shower yuckiness! I wasn't worried about bathing her in the bath after cleaning because there were no strong and dangerous chemicals used. (Side note: Blue Dawn also works well on stripping cloth diapers so it is my new favorite dish soap!)

I am still on the hunt for a few more recipes. I have heard you can make your own dishwasher liquid, but haven't tried it yet and for some reason I am a little nervous to even try. I have also been wanting to make my own cloth diaper laundry soap, but I am a little nervous as cloth diapers are very finicky when it comes to laundry soap and I don't want to ruin my beautiful stash. Anyone else have natural cleaners they recommend?

Understanding Cloth Diapers Part 3

To read Understanding Cloth Diapers Part 1 go here and for part 2 go here!

If I were to ask 30 women for their favorite brand of jeans chances are everyone would give me a different answer. Your favorite brand may very well be the least flattering brand of jean I have ever tried on. Just as women are shaped very differently so are babies which is why different moms love different cloth diapers. With that being said I am still going to tell you what works for me and why I use the brands I do!

But first, I will say that the cloth diapering world has hundreds of options and when I first started I was a little overwhelmed. Over the past few months I have made decisions that I would not make again, but I was just trying to navigate through all the choices. So here are the things I wish I new before I started choosing diapers.

1. Variety? Unlike what many cloth bloggers will make you believe you can find a brand, love it, and stick with it. When I was looking up blogs to learn about them so many bloggers had dozens of different types of diapers. I found a brand I liked, but felt like I may be depriving myself of an even better brand. So I bought a few and still preferred my original favorite and shouldn't have wasted time or money on trying to see what was out there.
2. China vs Anywhere else: I am weird about buying things from China that my baby will have lots of exposure to. For example, teething toys which will be in her mouth nonstop or diapers that she will be wearing over and over for the next few years. I do know moms that actually get diapers shipped from China because they are SUPER cheap (sun.baby) and love them, it just didn't feel right for my family.

My Favorite Diaper:

So my favorite daytime diaper (drum roll please!) is the Flip. I LOVE LOVE this diaper. To me it is perfection (and  no I am not getting paid to say this, but sooo wish I was!) Here is why I LOVE the flip:

1. Cleaner: When you change a dirty pre-solids diaper (0-6months) and all wet diapers you can simply flip the dirty insert out of the diaper into the diaper pail. Easy and keeps your hands clean!
2. Less laundry: Unlike pockets you can reuse the cover so you have to put in the insert in the wet bag/diaper pail every diaper change, but the cover (unless soiled) is not going to be added to the dirty laundry bag every change.
3. Cheaper: These diapers will fit from 10lbs all the way to potty training!
4. Faster: There is no stuffing. I simply fold the organic cotton and lay the microfiber in her drawer. Easy!
5. Leak Proof: I have never ever had a leak!!! And my baby is great at blowing through any disposable diaper out there.
6. Versatile: You can use Flip brand inserts or any brand prefold so you have more flexibility.
7. Cute: I love their colors and although some cloth have adorable patterns I like coordinating her diaper and her outfit so solids work better anyway.

The Flip can be used with either the organic cotton, microfiber, or a prefold of a different brand. Below I show you the two Flip brand options:

 The microfiber wicks water away from your baby leaving them drier, but is not a natural fiber.Here is how to use microfiber:

1. Here you have a Flip cover and the microfiber insert.

2. It is hard to see in the pic, but the inside of the insert tells you where to fold the insert for a small, medium, or large setting.

Fold and lay in cover. For a boy the folded part goes in front and for a girl it goes in the back. You are done!  Smooth side should be against baby's bottom.  When this gets soiled, flip the insert into the wet bag/pail.



The second option is Organic Cotton. This is better if you want natural fibers on your baby's bottom. It does not wick moisture away as well as microfiber, but is very absorbent. You want to change baby a little sooner if this is the insert you use.

Here is the unfolded organic cotton insert.

Fold into thirds along the seams.

Lay in cover and you are done!!

What is the difference between the two inserts?

Organic cotton on the right. Microfiber on the left.

The organic cotton seem to stain easier, but since I live in a climate that is sunny most of the year I don't mind since laying them in the sun for a few hours removes even the worst stains. Also, I hang dry in the sun anyway so all my diapers get sun "bleached" every wash anyway. If you live in a climate that isn't too sunny you may want to pass up the organic cotton. (side note: the cotton is MUCH softer if it is dried in the dryer so I usually hang dry and then throw it in the dryer with some of my other clothes for a few minutes to fluff it up. Microfiber is super soft even when sun dried).

Also the organic cotton is a little bulkier so some people don't like the extra bulk. 

The top is microfiber and the bottom is organic cotton.

Things to Note

• Microfiber is a man made fiber while organic cotton is  a natural fiber. I like using natural fibers, but also like that microfiber keeps her drier so I like to rotate the two inserts.
• Newborn poop is very liquidy and I felt like the organic cotton protected the cover better than microfiber so I liked it for the beginning when she went multiple times a day. It saved me from going through so many covers. Which leads me to my next point. Yes, the idea is that you can reuse the cover unless it gets soiled and I have heard complaints that newborn poop gets on the cover often. Some people feel this makes the diaper less than ideal for babies before they start solids. It is not a big deal to me if I have to replace the cover a few times a day. And now that she is older I can usually get through the day with 1 or 2 covers. Just know that with newborn poop you may need to change the cover when they have a big poop.

Understanding Cloth Diapers Part 2

You can find Understanding Cloth Diapers Part 1 here.

Below I highlight some of the most common cloth diapers. I did not include them all (such as wool) because I know nothing about them and so I wouldn't be helpful. I give a quick description, pros and cons of each, and pictures where I can:

AIO (all in one): Everything you need for the diaper is all there, it is one piece and you put it on baby just as you would a disposable. Take it off when soiled and wash. Repeat. Easy enough!
Pros: These are the easiest and are most like disposables
Cons: They are the most expensive and take the longest to dry.

(I never purchased any of these so I don't have a picture) 

AI2 (all in two or hybrids) These are diapers that come in 2 pieces. A cover that is waterproof and  an insert. Place the insert in the cover and put on baby. When baby goes to the bathroom replace only the insert as long as cover is clean. If cover is dirty replace both pieces. It is a hybrid diaper when it has a disposable liner option that can usually be flushed (FLIP and GDiapers).
Pro: Most compact for diaper bag, fast drying time, inexpensive. 
Con: More steps than a AIO (see above).

Here is the empty cover which can be reused throughout the day unless it gets soiled.

Slip the insert (microfiber shown) in the cover.

Put on baby!

Pocket: This one is easy to remember because there is a pocket that you can stuff one or multiple inserts in. Stick insert in pocket, put on baby, pull out insert after use and wash all pieces. hen dry restuff and repeat. Pro: Faster drying time that AIOs, Can stuff pocket as much as you want which is nice for nighttime and heavy wetters.
Cons: You have more steps and sometimes when you pull the liner it is saturated with urine.(some people claim if you leave the insert in it will work itself out in the wash, but I was never willing to risk having to rewash diapers so I always pull them out.

Insert and pocket diaper after wash

Putting the insert in the pocket (although you really can't slide it in like the picture shows. You have to stuff it).

Put on baby!

                      

Hook and Loop: VELCRO!!!! Why the heck they call it hook and loop beats me. Maybe cause it sounds cooler?
Pros: easy and fast, unlimited sizing
Cons: Wear out faster and you have to use laundry tabs or they will adhere themselves to everything!!

Velcro

Snaps: These have snaps. Simple enough
Pro: longevity!
Con: more time consuming and wiggly toddles might not like that! Also, unlike velcro you do not have endless possibilities on sizing because if there isn't a snap there, you can't snap it. 

Snaps

 

Wait, there is more!

One Size: Grows with your baby! Same diaper can be used from 8-30lbs, but in all honesty they don’t fit till about 10-12lbs.
Pro: Saves money! 
Con: Bulkier than fitted diapers.

Fitted: These are made for certain weight groups and often come in sizes small, medium, and large.
Pro: Usually less bulky.
Con: your baby will grow out of them and you will have to buy more diapers in a larger size so it is more expensive since you have to keep replacing your stash.

(left to right) Thirsties size 1, Fuzzibuns size small, Flip one size.
The flip is bigger even on the smallest setting, but as you can see it is not that much bigger than the fitted Fuzzibuns.