Cloth diapering and sales!

Josh and I have decided to cloth diaper primarily. This is mostly because we are allergic to spending money cheap and the thought of spending up to $2000 per year on disposable diapers seems a little hard to swallow. Cloth diapering can also be a financial challenge though (see above for our thoughts on spending money) because it is really expensive to get started. However, I am hopeful that we can use the same cloth diapers for multiple kids, and we are hoping to get diapers that can snap to multiple sizes so that the same diapers can fit Ben (and hopefully others!) through a long "life span."
When I asked some of my friends about places to learn about/buy cloth diapers, they pointed me to www.cottonbabies.com as a really good site both to buy diapers and to learn the ins and outs of cloth diapering. It's actually kind of complicated, as there are many types of cloth diapers, and many brands of each, all of which have their pros and cons. Also, the washing/cleaning process can be done several ways, and requires some special equipment (not a crazy amount, but still good to know about!). Imagine my surprise when I went to the website and found out that the physical location for Cotton Babies is in St. Louis, about 1.5 hours away! And imagine my further surprise/delight (don't forget about our allergy!) to find that they were having their semi-annual "garage sale" this weekend! This is an event where moms who are done with the "little kid" stage can come and sell their gently used diapers, diapering gear, toys, clothes, and more. The store also puts out "clearance" diapers, which are diapers that are either discontinued (the model or brand name), very lightly used, etc. We decided to go, figuring that we would save on the diapers themselves if we found any, save on the shipping, and I also kind of wanted to touch and look at the diapers as opposed to just ordering online. It seemed well worth the cost of gas.
And it was! I think we made out like bandits, if I do say so myself.
We found:
A Diaper Champ diaper pail for $15 (normally $50)
An ErgoBaby diaper bag (crimson...pretty, lots of pockets, and several ways to carry that are easier on your back/shoulders...yes, I know I'm a PT nerd) for $15 (normally $55)
5 Bumgenius Elemental 1 size diapers for $15 each (normally $25 each)
2 Bumgenius 4.0 All in One pocket diapers for $10 each (normally $18 apiece)
So we saved $141 on these items! Not bad, and definitely worth the approximately $20 in gas to get out there. We did buy a couple of full price items as well (some as gifts) because I figured we might as well save the shipping on those since we were already there. We have a total of 8 diapers, which isn't even 1/4 of what we will need, but it's a start at least! Oh, and they threw in a super cute frog swaddling cloth (bamboo, so it's light enough to use in the summer) for free since we bought over $75 worth of stuff.
In other news, I am growing (it seems like a LOT in this last week...I thought week 24 wasn't officially 3rd trimester yet!!!) and Ben is kicking up a storm. I think he's still breech because of where he kicks me usually, but he flips a lot still, so hopefully he'll settle into head down in the next week or two. Josh bought Rudyard Kipling's "Just So" stories to read to him...it's really cute...he pulls up my shirt, puts his mouth close to my belly, and reads with AWESOME intonation and enthusiasm. It may be just my imagination, but I think Ben moves more and differently when Josh does that. Work is still going well, though I find myself having dizzy spells because my blood pressure drops precipitously sometimes. The weather is starting to be truly lovely (we went for a 2 mile walk today on one of the dozens of woodsy trails that surround this town, and it was awesome!), and spring flowers are coming out!