Dealing with my baby's dry skin!

My son has several red, dry, gross patches of skin on his legs. After trying all the different lotions in the house, I caved and ordered Yoreganics Bye Bye Dry Balm (It was a steal of the day on Babysteals.com). I paid about $11 total for the product and shipping, which is pretty steep for me. Especially if I just want to try something!
The balm arrived in the mail a few days later and I was able to apply it to my son's patchy dry skin. I wish I took a picture of his legs so I could post "before" and "after" photos. His skin looks so much better! I have to admit that I was slightly disappointed with the size of the balm stick. However, I have noticed that the balm lasts a long time (I apply it to his skin quite often).
I know that these patches of dry skin are not really hurting my son, but they don't look so great. I think it was money well spent! I plan on ordering more! I also applied it to a scratch on my son's face and it looks so much better after one day.
So, for all those moms and dads out there dealing with a dry skin issue, give this balm a try. I think I am in love with another product.

Oeko Popo Seconds

I finally opened my package of seconds after getting the kids to bed and unpacking suitcases. I went from feeling dead tired to feeling dead tired and excited!
The seconds looked fantastic. They were just as described. Six out of the thirteen needed the leg elastic stitched. Other than that, they were very pretty and well made. The inserts looked great too! I could barely tell they were second quality.
I stitched my diaper covers and hoped that my handiwork would hold up when challenged with an especially terrible #2. About a half hour after I snapped on an Oeko Popo second onto my son, he challenged my sewing technique!
The diaper held everything in, I was pleasantly surprised! He is a breast milk and formula fed baby, so things got pretty darn messy inside the diaper. No leaks though!
All in all, I would recommend ordering these seconds when they are available. If you want to feed your cloth diaper stash cheaply, this is a great way. Each diaper cost me $4.50 (for the cover and insert). That is pretty great, plus they are cute! I also have the option of using any prefolds that I have for these covers. They are very versatile.
Oeko Popo is coming out with a 2.0 version of their diaper. I would definitely pay full price to try one of them out. I also have to say that the owner refunded me the additional shipping cost I paid for when I forgot to order my inserts. I didn't even ask her to do that. How awesome is that?
(pictured below is a red cover that I stitched. My son is wearing the "whales" design)

Ruby Moon detergent and Wipe Bits

After this hellish week, I am ready for some normalcy.

Easier said than done, I received a call from my aunt this AM telling me my 93 year old grandmother fell and broke her hip yesterday. She is undergoing surgery tomorrow. I may be going back to Dallas sooner than I had planned. I also recall saying that I never want to leave the state with the kids again. I may have to suck it up!

In other news, I used my new stash of Ruby Moon cloth diaper detergent. I bought the vanilla sugar scent, which smells delicious! I also have to say that my order arrived quickly and expertly packed. I was very satisfied.

I threw all my dirty diapers into the washer and added one tablespoon of the Ruby Moon detergent. I enjoyed the scent once more before shutting the detergent tray and rushing off see what my 2yo was yelling about. After running the towel cycle, I was pleased to see that my diapers were white, clean and fresh smelling. To be honest, I did not have any doubts that Ruby Moon would work. I have heard great things about this detergent. So far, after a day and a half of wearing the diapers cleaned with Ruby Moon, no rashes on any bums.

I also created my tush spray using the Ruby Moon Wipe Bits. I boiled two cups of water in a sauce pan and added two squares of soap. After letting the concoction cool I was able to pour it into two spray bottles (one for the baby bag and one for the changing table). The spray smells great and is gentle on my little guy's bottom. I quickly realized after creating my wipe spray that the bag of wipe bits will last quite a while.  I had been using boiled water with a few drops of baby soap and a few drops of baby oil. I could easily continue to use that, however, this is just more fun. All in all, I am very pleased with the products from Ruby Moon and would like to try a few others. I will have to order the clementine scent next time!

Glad to be home

Well, after planning a trip to Texas and Oklahoma with my family, nothing could have prepared me for the terribleness of it. Charlotte came down with roseola and then the other baby did too. We had to take him to the emergency room because his fever was over 100 degrees. When I say "we", I mean my husband took him. I was in bed at my aunt's house because I was diagnosed with Strep throat and had a 102 degree fever.
Ugh. What a terrible trip. I didn't get to do anything I wanted to in Dallas. I felt god awful and the kids were sick. I had a few mini meltdowns too. The flight home was pretty yucky as well, what  a nightmare. I am cannot believe that we paid money for that terrible trip.
So glad to be back home. Also, I am never packing up the kids and traveling again...ever. Okay, maybe that is a bit irrational, but that is how I feel right now. My throat still kills me even though I have been on antibiotics for four days now. When is this going to end? It is definitely hard taking care of grouchy babies and feeling terrible myself.
I guess this is all part of parenthood. Thank goodness I have my husband along for the ride. I certainly do not give the guy enough credit.
On another note, I received my Oeko Popo seconds and they look great! I also received my Ruby Moon detergent and wipe bits. I will post pics of the seconds and talk about the pros and cons of them. I will also review the "wipe bits" and detergent from Ruby Moon.
GLAD TO BE HOME!

My Sweet Pea

My two year old makes me laugh every day. I am not even exaggerating. She is such a sweet little girl and she says hilarious things. Sometimes she waves her fist at the dog and yells "shup pup!". I have since stopped telling the dog to "shut up", I don't want her to tell other people to "shup pup!".

Today, after her nap, she was trying to tell me something. I was changing her diaper and she was pointing to her leg saying something that started with an "f". It sounded something like "flekshls". Needless to say, I had no idea what she was saying. Until I looked a little closer. She was pointing at the freckles on her leg and trying to say "freckle". I finally understood. I laughed so hard because she was so frustrated. I said "Oh, you are pointing at your freckles!". She replied with a big smile and said "Yeah!". She pointed at her freckles and I pointed at the freckles on my arm. I will never forget that. I feel so privileged knowing this little girl and being able to stay home with her. I cannot wait to see what her little brother says. He is just as sweet as she is. I love both of my sweet peas.

Soap Nuts-My Experience with Yoreganics Soap Nuts

I am a frequent shopper at babysteals.com, where I purchased a bag of Yoreganics Soap Nuts. The term "soap nut" is actually referring to soap berries. The idea of being able to use soap berries for my cloth diaper laundry seemed so cool and intriguing. I had to try them for myself!
I placed my order and received my little package of soap nuts about a week and a half later. I tore open the box and looked at these berries that are supposed to clean my dirty diapers.
They looked...well, they looked strange. I opened the bag and they were also sticky. The berries also smelled tangy, if that is the correct word. I wondered to myself if I was a sucker to buy into this nutty idea, pun intended.
The directions said for me to simply put 5 soap berries into one of the bags and tie the bag. I put the laundry into the washer, ran my rinse and spin cycle (like I usually do with my cloth diapers) and then threw in my small bag of soap berries. I usually use Rockin' Green detergent for my cloth diapers, so I was hopeful that this little experiment would work. An hour and a half later, after running my cloth diapers on my "towels" cycle, I ran to see if my diapers and diaper inserts were still stinky  and soiled or clean and white.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, soap nuts WORK. My diapers were clean and fresh smelling. I worried that they would get that "tangy" smell I mentioned earlier. No such smell could be found when I was sniffing and inspecting the laundry. I have two soaps now for my cloth diaper laundry, both Rockin' Green detergent and my Yoreganics soap nuts. It is the little things in life, like cloth diapering and trying different methods to clean them that make life interesting.

Making your own baby food-the contest

I am counting the days until my youngest who is now three months old can start eating solids. I look forward to him sleeping longer at night and also reaching that cute 6 months phase of his life. Mostly I am excited because I will be able to make baby food again. Charlotte loved the baby food I made and it was so easy to make. I played around with various recipes and found a combination that was both delicious (she loved sweet baby food) and nutritious too!
 NUK-USA had a contest for baby food recipes on Facebook, so I entered Charlotte's favorite recipe. Thinking nothing would come of it, I was pleasantly surprised to see an email informing me that I am a semifinalist for the contest. NUK sent me a $50 gift card to Whole Foods and next month the fan favorite will win a $1,000 gift card to Whole Foods. My recipe will be one of the six recipes fans vote on! It would be super cool to win, but if I am completely honest with myself, I am just happy to be a semifinalist! I have never really won anything in my life, so this is totally awesome for me.
So, the moral of the story is, you never know what could come from entering a contest on a whim. You may win something neat! Plus, if it is something you really enjoy doing, that is definitely a plus.

Feeding your stash on the cheap

I recently "liked" Oeko Popo Diapers on Facebook and boy, am I glad that I did. The owner hosted a "Seconds" sale, where I was able to purchase diaper covers and inserts very cheaply. Each cover was $2.50 and inserts were $2 a piece. WOW! I ordered 13 diapers and inserts and cannot wait to get them in the mail.

For those cloth diapering newbies out there (myself included), seconds simply means that they are second quality diapers and could be damaged in some way. The damage can be cosmetic or something minor like a misplaced snap or elastic that needs to be sewn in. I am fairly crafty and able to use a needle and thread when needed, so I thought this was a great deal. The owner of Oeko Popo Diapers included a description of the issues with the diapers and why they are included in the seconds sale. One batch of diaper covers needed elastic sewn into one of the legs and the other batch had too tight elastic on one leg. The inserts had misplaced snaps and some cosmetic damage. All of these issues seem, at least to me, bearable and they will probably not effect the use of the diaper. I have a snapping machine in my arsenal and if the inserts seem too troublesome to deal with, I can always use prefolds in the diaper covers.

I read on another blog about the topic of increasing your stash using second quality diapers. She lists the other sites you can use to buy them and the pros and cons of buying second quality diapers. For me, at least after reading what other mamas had to say about Oeko Popo diaper seconds, I am not too worried. I will post pics of the diapers and write about my experience with these seconds. For now I am hopeful that I am getting a deal without too much heart ache.

I have added a few buttons!

I just wanted to quickly add a few buttons to my blog. I have had fantastic experiences with both Diaper Junction and Fluffyrump. The orders I placed were filled immediately and arrived in fantastic condition. You can tell that the folks running these sites/stores really care about the customer service and the products that they sell. I love the stuff I ordered from them and I plan on ordering more.

I have been using the heck out of the small and large CJ's buTTer sticks (both in monkey farts scent) as well as the original cream (I bought the cake scent).  I originally ordered the small stick from Diaper Junction and put it in my diaper bag. It is about the size of a glue stick and is great when you are cloth diapering on the go. I bought a voucher from mamabargains for fluffyrump and ordered a large diaper stick. I keep that stick at the diaper table. I mix it up and use both the original ointment and the large diaper stick when we are home. Both are cloth diaper safe and I love them! I got sick of the lavender scented/cloth diaper safe ointments, this is a great alternative.

New Cloth Diapering Mama--I love Just Simply Baby

I have to say that I was absolutely against cloth diapering when I was pregnant with my first baby. I was in grad school and was not even willing to consider the option. I thought my husband was nuts for suggesting it and that women who cloth diaper their babies "have too much time on their hands".

 Boy, how times have changed. Now I have my 11 week old and my two year old...I still do not have any time. I have, however, changed my decision to refrain from cloth diapering. After researching cloth diapers and reading about all the big name brands (and gasping at their prices), I finally decided on the brand Just Simply Baby . They have fantastic packages for people starting to cloth diaper and their customer service is fantastic. The owner also runs great promotions and is very personable. I ordered the package of 20 diapers for $200. (That is right, each diaper was $10 a piece!) They all come with two microfiber inserts, which is great. You can also mix up your inserts too! You pay a few extra dollars and you can get hemp or bamboo. (Which is great when you have a heavy wetter or an overnight diaper).

I  love their designs and their minky diapers. The minky diapers are very soft and they also hold in all the moisture. When you order your diapers in bulk you do not have the option of picking out your prints...having said that, there were only a few prints that I did not care for in the whole package of 20.

Since my first order with Just Simply Baby, I have ordered several more diapers with hemp inserts. I also ordered cloth wipes, which are great! I have ventured out and purchased a few other diaper brands but I must say that I love the Just Simply Baby brand.

If anyone is thinking of cloth diapering, these diapers are definitely a great option. Especially if you cannot swing $20 per diaper.

My little guy wearing his Just Simply Baby diaper.