Busy Mom of Four

Facebook Rules and Regulations?

2011-06-08T08:35:00.000-07:00

I thought facebook was a great place to connect with people about diapers/sales/giveaways and promotions and now...OH BOY! It has become a bit of confusion for me. Okay, thats a lie cause I am so lost on what we can and cannot do! So, I have a blog which is good because I can offer giveaways here - check - but, how do people ask me questions that want immediate answers? No promotions or advertising through facebook? Not entirely as you can pay facebook to run an ad for you. (Here we thought facebook was a free display place - NOT) That was my today rant! LOL! I am left with the question, is it worth having a fan facebook page?

Early Morning Riser??

2011-04-17T04:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I have to chuckle at myself as here I am "AWAKE" while the kids are all sleeping. Something is wrong with this picture! LOL!

I know I promised a longer blog on diapers by listing one at a time! I thought today I would feature ENVIBUM! This is an amazing cloth diaper with inserts made of, now this is amazing, 100% cotton! When I first saw this diaper I fell in love with the soft minky fabric on the outside. This in itself is no ordinary fabric as it is so thick unlike some other minky diapers common on the market today!

This picture is one of the "old style" diapers that I began using on my little girl when she was born. There is a hidden pocket which you have access to from the front to add extra absorbancy pads. There is a minky flap that covers the pocket and if you ever had fear of the aplix rubbing on baby's skin, you can put that fear away. That flap lifts so nicely still providing a closed pocket and snuggly hugging your little one. You will notice that beautiful sun which is aplix catch to adjust for a newborn!

I want to show you the insides!

There is that flap I was talking about over the front but I want you to look at the cotton waffle fabric. These channels keep the mess inside the diaper!! Yes, when my daughter wakes in the moring she has waffle marks on her skin but, SHE IS DRY! I found a way to keep these from marking my little one at night without changing the amazing absorbancy properties of this diaper. I bought some polar fleece, cut it up into pieces and layed it in the diaper as a liner. Also wanted to mention that there is no sewing needed on the polar fleece as the fabric does not pull apart so it was a simple wash, cut, and go!

Cleaning ability - excellent! Its cotton! I even found that without sunning the diaper I had some minor poo marks but it cleaned up like a charm. This summer I am going to see what happens when I sun the diaper! (That is another one of my ideas, before and after diaper sunning. Does it really work?)

Oh yes, I wanted to also say that my daughter is now 1yr 3wks and we have only added one absorbancy pad in there for overnight or long trips. Like I said, super absorbancy power!

I wanted to post these pictures of our over one year old diapers that we still use today.

Can you guess which one is my favorite? LOL! Yes, the pink one! So these diapers are both over a year old and look at the teddy bear outside! The inside needs some sunning but for the age and some of the messes I found in there this is amazing! Now when I talk absorbancy and channels look at the insert by the pink Envibum and the inside of the pink. I have had no blowouts and there are no poo stains on my insert!

I forgot to mention that this is a ONE SIZE diaper! That's right! But where are the snaps or leg elastic adjustments??? Don't need it! Simply place your little one on the diaper and pull up to close. Is that simply or what! Remember my daughter has had these since birth and she is still wearing them! No having to think your way into the proper fit or which snap to use as the diaper is already to go.

By the way, I bought these diapers so this is entirely my own opinion.

Last thing, the maker of the Envibum Diaper is a beautiful Christian lady with nothing but giving back on her mind. She makes an excellent diaper and at the same time the money she makes she allocates to differnt charities that she lists on her webstore. I do not know about what you have found but as far as I know, she and Charlie Banana are the only diaper Manufactuers that do that! Thank you Rachel for a great diaper and setting a good example for us!

I will post some more pics of my little one in the diaper a little later but right now I'm going to let her sleep a little longer! :-) LOL!

Just wanted to post a picture of the new design Envibum in which the sewn in insert now flips out of the diaper for quicker drying time! My store has just ordered some in and I can't wait to get myself a couple!

Oh yes, I do have a giveaway for cloth diapers!! One is at Mommies Who Love Freebies where she is having a 1000 fan giveaway which ends May 01, 2011. There are so many great prizes there! Just click on the link and follow instructions she has listed. My store sponsored with a Charlie Banana diaper!

Mommies Who Love Freebies

Have a blessed day everybody!

Ever have one of those days?

2011-03-29T18:31:00.000-07:00

LOL! I am not sure whether I should laugh or cry! I am so tired as I prepare for this Great Cloth Diaper Change Event! I have my venue...check...I have my forms for people to fill for pre-registration...check...I have sponsors that have donated items for the evnt by means of a draw or just product to give away for free...check...I have my cloth diapers...have two more orders to place so, I am working on this one...Got volunteers for face painting kids faces...check...oh boy I have to work on vendors! :-) Not so much good luck with that today which is pretty funny. Maybe its because my sponsors are big names but what participant wouldn't like cloth diaper packs, bumbo chairs, robeez shoes, diaper soap, biodegradable wipes, ok, maybe I went overboard with the sponsors :-D

Yes, I own a cloth diaper online retail store in Canada and I have fun with it. Any money I make I give to people who truly need it in the form of donations. Last year I purchased a bunch of cloth diapers and donated them to women's shelters. Does that make me a bad person? LOL! Some people really seem to think so. So, I started blogging just to talk...talk about cloth and being a Mom running a business from home! I would love to hear from other Moms doing the same thing! :-D

Have a good night everyone! I am going to watch Shari Crisco - Baby Experts! :-D

Going a little nuts at times?

2011-03-08T19:59:00.000-08:00

AHHHHH! Today I could just scream...okay, I just did :-) I am running all around getting items together to host The Great Cloth Diaper Change!

An Attempt at getting into the Guiness World records! I am making sample packs to give out to each participant in our area and we will be drawing for a T-Shirt and diaper package from the participants as well! I just need to get together the pre-registration forms and I am good to go! Will you be attending in your area?

Well, yesterday I sure carried on about diapers as it went into the evening! Next time I will be more specific and include pictures of things I am saying. I am going to rewrite about each diaper seperately! Would some of you be interested in my giving away a cloth diaper as I tell you what I have found about those dipes? You really got to let me know! I figure even if I get twelve "you bettchas" I can do it :)

I have an early morning tomorrow so I am really going to cut this short. Have a great evening and blessings to each of you and your families!

Late Night and the Kids are Asleep! :)

2011-03-07T20:21:00.000-08:00

Ever have one of those days in which you are so glad the kids are asleep and yet at the same time you have so much to do, you can't sleep? This is my evening right now, so I put in another load of laundry, folded and put inserts into all of my cloth diapers, grabbed some sleepytime tea, and here I am.

I said I would talk about diapers I have tried and maybe share some pictures with you. The first cloth diaper I used with our latest little one was bummis prefolds. I could not start using them until she was near four months old because when she was born she was just barely 6lbs. I felt comfortable with prefolds as I had used them with safety pins 18 yrs ago...but not a snappi :-) I am going to be honest with you, I still have not figured out the snappi but tend to fold and quickly put the cover on. LOL! Yes, I am laughing at myself because I am ridiculous with trying to figure this thing out. I even watched videos on You Tube but to no avail! Am I the only one out there that can't use a Snappi?

After the prefolds I decided I would try a Happy Heiny Diaper - One Size. My husband loved the velcro as this beat pins and covers hands down but even till today he will wash pocket diapers just not stuff them! LOL! These diapers did not fit my little one well and left her belly with scratch marks from the velcro. I still have them in her stash though but they are near the end of her pile of, if I have to, I will use them. I found the wash tabs and velcro the worst with these diapers as they always came apart and ended sticking to the outsides of some diapers and pulling them. They cost a pretty penny so this made me cry a little. I do like the Happy Heiny Sherpa fitted diapers though! They do up with snaps as does the fleece cover that goes over it! Happy Heiny pockets were just not for me!

Monkey Doodlez perfect size pockets were on clearance so they became the next trial diaper I purchased. It was really too bad they stopped making them because they are still one of my favorites. The colored microfleece is perfect for hiding stains and is still soft to the touch. My daughter has been wearing them now daily (I had to add) for 7 months. They came out with a TAG (Tuck and Go) diaper that was supposed to replace the pockets and I HATE THEM! They always bunched in the center and my daughter can't wait to get them off. I think it is because she is uncomfortable. The absorbancy pads take way too long to dry and wow they stink fast! I wonder if I could beg Cheryl to bring back her pocket diapers...something tells me she would not so politely tell me where I could take that question. LOL! I am not sure why she stopped making them but she had told me via email she had not intention of making them again due to hygenic reasons and other issues (She never disclosed what those other issues may be). I was sorry to hear that :-(

Bum Genius was then my next choice to try...they were on clearance! LOL! I had BG3 One Size Pockets and I am still using them today. The one problem I found is that their super absorbant micrifiber inserts really smalled after a while. I now soak them at every wash with Rockin' Green to try to keep that ammonia smell away! They do their job though, very well! The velcro does not wear well and I am finding that it is seperating but I hear they are now using snaps and they do have refresher kits for the velcro but for heavens sake its only been six months! I refused to use bleach because I am afraid it would ruin the diaper integrity. Bleach in itself does nothing that hanging in sunlight to dry would not do! The sunlight takes out stains and kills bacteria...SO THERE! LOL! I have not yet sunned this stash of BG pocket dipes but I am going to when its summer and I will post pictures!

Ok...then I went and got the most expensive diaper in Canada thinking "you get what you pay for" so these were going to be good! You know what, they were not bad but at the same time they were definately not worth the price you pay for them. I found the other diapers I had contained the messes just as well as these with the gussets. I was paying twice as much for something that did not work twice as good. Here is one thing I will say about them though and that is that their One Size diaper at the smallest setting will fit a tiny newborn!!! When we could buy these diapers from the United States they were definately worth it but now, they are just too much for too little :-(

Hmmmm, my next diaper was an all natural AIO with the option to add extra absorbancy inserts in a hidden pocket with plush minky on the outside. Envibum! I liked their donation arrangement for their sales! They gave back so in a way I did too! These were One Size diapers with no snaps to adjust just stretch the diaper to fit your little one. These are the easiest to use for Grandma and Grandpa and Dad was beside himself! We use these with extra inserts at night and never once yet have we had a leak! I have also used their covers and T-Liners because of the doantion arrangement they make from it. I am not crazy about the T-Liners but this is coming from a Mom that has trouble with the Snappi! LOL! The covers are pretty fly though (did I just let you know my age with that comment?).

Fuzzi Bunz! Not a bad perfect size - I used size small and loved the way it fit my little girl and thin and absorbant! They were on clearance! LOL! Are you catching my theme here? Anything I tried I did so when they were on sale! I decided to try a one size as the print was being discontinued...not my best plan! Although I do still use the One Size now, I find they are not my choice of diapers. The microfleece was the first to bunch and you have to remember, I used Rockin' Green for soap so they should be fine! My outside of the cover also started to leak so I could not use these at night. They leaked by the stitching. These were just not the diaper for me! The customer service also must have been having some bad days cause my simple question on how can I fix the PUL turned into a war as she accused me of ruining the PUL but yet the woman could not tell me how I ruined it...she later said she "suspected" I did. Oh well, we all have bad days! :)

KaWaii - WOW! Cheap diaper that has worked well for me! Suede Cloth was like the BG3 but just a fraction of the price and it did not have the flap for poo to get caught in. Overnight diaper is still PERFECT and I have just got some Bamboo. I am a little afraid that something should go wrong but it hasn't yet! This diaper is a little big though so it would not fit a newborn but it still amazes me!

Charlie Banana is another WOW diaper for both their perfect size and one size. Amazing absorbancy for the inserts. The disposable inserts I do not like so much but when I am in need, I am glad I have them!

This was just a small blurb of things I have tried and I bought each diaper on my own :-) I want to remind everyone that every baby is different and what I found I did not like another Mom may simply just love! The kinds of diapers we like have a lot to do with our personalities as well because what one might see as an easy cloth diapering solution another might find it near impossible!

Have a good night everyone! Pleasant dreams and may your little ones sleep well!

Here is a picture of my three littlest ones staying warm inside! Boy, we can't wait for spring and summer when we can go out without jackets again!

Its Snowing AGAIN!

2011-02-17T09:50:00.000-08:00

Wow another snow day and when I say "day" I mean it seems to last an entire day! My little snowman I posted last week is building a family! He has the stuff! LOL!

I was thinking of many things for little ones to do for fun in the snow. The big kids get a shovel :) My five year old had an idea that I never thought of and yet it was so simple and as a kid I did it too! "Mom," he says, "you lay down in it and catch snowflakes with your tongue!" So I did that with him and giggled as the snow was coming down quicker and thicker! Sometimes it takes one of our kids to show us just what we are missing and how simple things can change our whole out look. Its stopping and taking the time for those moments! I am definately guilty of sometimes running like mad around the house doing things that seem to never end but my reasoning is that if I don't do it who will? As a Mom, I forgot to ask for help :( Simple things like putting toys in order I get my little guy to help and we make a basket sort game. Those daunting tasks, although they take longer, we benefit by getting a sharing moment we would not otherwise have gotten. Do I do this everyday? Are you kidding!?! This is something I attempt to do once a week though (the cleaning with the kids that is)!

What about the big kids and the shovel? When the little ones are in bed I attach a monitor to me and I will go out with a shovel myself. We get in some good talk time, a job done quickly, and Mom usually gets hit with a snowball! I try to throw snowballs but for Pete's sake they are quicker than I am much of a marks man! LOL!

FOOD SECTION!

I had made a promise that every once in a while I would post some neat tricks that had helped me when times were tough and I had kids to worry about as well and this brought to my mind a casserole I used to make that cost pennies but even today it has become my older children's "ask for" supper. Does it have a name? It begins as, "Mom do you remember the..." This one is simple and although it does not sound like much it is definately tasty! Groceries? When bacon goes on special we can get it for $1.89/lb sliced so that was always a great pick up when I saw it. Elbow macaroni, the no name brand is always cheap and it has always worked for us! Can of crushed tomatoes which too is a sale item that ends up less than a dollar. Last but not least a large cooking onion!

Method: Precook your macaroni in water (the amount I used was dependant upon how many I had eating). Chop up one pound of bacon into small chunks. Slice up the onion (as much as you would like). I chopped my real thin because if the kids knew it was in there they would not eat it :) Fry up the bacon and onion in a frying pan until onion becomes see through and bacon is not hard and crunchy. Mix up bacon(with the grease), onion, cooked macaroni, and your can of crushed tomatoes. You want to make sure you have enough crushed tomatoes to well cover and leave moist the entire mix! Put into a casserole dish and now add a topping! This always depended on what I had in the kitchen. You could place shredded cheese over the top as I sometimes did but more often then not I would butter a slice of bread on both sides chop into cubes and fry it in the frying pan until cruchy brown. Use the same pan you fried the bacon and onion as this gives the bread a yummy seasoned taste! Put on top of casserole and place uncovered in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes! This makes sure your tomatoes are heated up too!

I promise to take a food picture to post here next time!!

Here is a picture of fun in the snow and now add about 10cm more of the white fluffy stuff!

NEXT BLOG FLUFF LOVE! ...a cloth diaper review!

A Day in the Life

2011-02-10T13:07:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness we are near the end of another week and I think I have scatched one thing off of my to do list! ACK! At this point in time I am not exactly sure the to do list actually helps me to remember what to do or yells out a reminder of all I have not done yet! Well, at least I got the garbage out to the curb yesterday and washed my little one's diapers :) Yes, I am thankful for small miracles! LOL!

I wonder, in all honesty, how many other moms are feeling the same thing today? I think it is going to be a quick supper tonight! Yup, dig in the fridge and find leftovers. Oh right, we had that yesterday too :( This weekend I am going to dedicate one day to making casseroles and baking! I had the same thoughts last weekend but alas it became a must clean that stuff up weekend that had gotten cut short when my husband got called to work about five hours out of town. One mom left with four kids! The two older ones are teens but arguing with them to help out is sometimes more stressful than doing the job on my own :( Don't get me wrong, they do help out after I ask, and ask, and ask...LOL! The two little ones are age 5yrs and 10 months so they have control of most of my time! (Make no mistake I am write here in my blog and it has taken me 2.5 hrs as the little ones needed me)

I noticed a lot of other blogging moms writing reviews and having giveaways. I promise to work on that as well! One item I am wanting to try is the Reusable Feminine Pads - I have researched what is in disposable diapers and came across an excellent report by CBC news March 2010 that really opened my eyes to disposable diapers but now I am wondering about those disposable pads and tampons! I am under the impression that they too do not have to list their ingredients on the package and its damaging our health and the health of those around us! Dioxin is one scary chemical carcinogen and a byproduct of the fluid being absorbed by yet another chemical! I am not a scientist but just knowing those two things intimidate me! I wonder if anyone else has given that any thought? I would love to try the Charlie Banana reusable pads - I use and love the perfect size and one size diapers because they are so soft and absorbant so I am going to bet the pads are the same! I will let you know ;-)

Baby wearing! Oh yes, I do this and I love it! I use a sling that I had made for me and my little girl has been in it since birth! She was one month premature so this was something our peditrician recommended to us. I was hesitant at first but tried a sling I got made from a SAHM - It was perfect! I will be contacting her to see if she will sponsor a give away so I will say no more! :-D

Cloth diapers you ask? Oh yes, I already have cloth diapers lined up for give aways and leggings too!

As spring rears its head I am reminded of a snowman my little guy built in our front yard and I just had to post the picture! I look forward to writing reviews and sharing information with you!! A CANADIAN PERSPECTIVE!