Sunday, April 29, 2012

Baby Kanga: Review


So today, a review of the Baby Kangas diapers that I recently purchased at Sweet Little Blessings.  Baby Kangas are Canadian-made one-size pocket diapers, made to fit approximately 10-35 pounds.  The outer layer is stretchy, to help fit any baby's body type, and the inside is a very soft stay-dry fleece.  They are unique compared to any of my other pocket diapers in the fact that they have a zipper pocket on the diaper's outside where you unzipper, slip in the insert, zip and boom, good to roll! 

I have this diaper in the above red ladybug color - totally adorable - as well as in turquoise surf.   First thoughts?  Very fun and colorful - and I liked that the inserts were added on the outside.  All my other pockets, you put the insert in from the inside of the diaper and on a few of them, the closure isn't very good so there's a chance of the microfiber insert rubbing against my poor baby girl's body.  As soft as that is, definitely not good for her!  So I liked the idea of having the kangaroo pouch on the diaper.  Though, the website claims you can just open the pouch and shake out the dirty insert... definitely had no luck with that in this household.  However I don't mind touching a dirty insert and dumping it, since I just wash my hands after every diaper change anyway.  No big deal.

Baby Kangas do not come with inserts, so I've been doing trial-and-error with trying to determine how best to prevent leaks.  Admittedly, this diaper has leaked on me more than any of my others, so I have found that in order to prevent leaks (and I'm talking daytime use, not nighttime) I need to at least double-stuff, preferably with a microfiber insert on top of a bamboo insert.  Triple stuffing makes it even bulkier, but beefs up the absorbency and prevents leakage.  It's contained all poo messes nicely, but I've had a couple of wet diapers since starting use.  It seems to me that it just needs some thought and testing to determine which insert combination works to suit your baby.

I like their trim fit, they suit Aria nicely and look as though they'll fit her well as she grows.  I know my sister used a few on her son, who is 16 months and 30 pounds.  So she was able to squish his bum into them.  :) 

Here's the ladybug on Miss Aria:



She's wearing a bit of a skeptical look, but she was also very tired and crabby when I took this photo.  Thankfully, right after she took a nice hour-long nap, so hopefully that'll improve her mood.  (She is just waking up as I type, hubby dashed off to collect her.) 

So as you can see, they fit my 13-pounder nicely and should give her nice room into which she can grow.  Though it's a little annoying testing out combinations to figure out how best to prevent leaks, this is not the only brand with which I've had to undergo that process, so I personally feel it's just part of the cloth diapering experience.  Nothing's ever perfect!  ;) 

If I were rating this diaper on a 10-scale, I'd give it a 7.  Not my favorite of the pocket diapers, however there's no major flaws.  It tends to be one of the last diapers I grab when we're waiting on the clean wash to dry, however I have no regrets in making this purchase.


  Look at those cute colors!

As I said, not my favorite, but not a regrettable purchase.  

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Update + Seattle Sky Natural review

It's been awhile since I updated. Things here have been very busy but we are finally resuming normalcy. I have some diaper reviews to type up soon, now that I've been able to try some of them multiple times. 

But until I get time to write them up, I'm just going to toss out a quick shout-out to Seattle Sky Naturals. I ordered a ring sling from Boutique Bella Bambini last year and when it arrived, I received two samples from another business. One of them I'm testing right now - a bath tub tea bag from SSN. It's a giant tea bag that you toss in the bathtub for relaxation purposes. I am LOVING it. It smells great and I am thoroughly enjoying my bath. I am savoring a glass of Spyglass wine (Spy Cat - so good!) and am completely at peace. It's not a strong and offensive smell, but a pleasant scent that is rather relaxing. Reminds me to wonder why on earth I don't take more baths and less showers. 

Cue baby crying. A reminder as to why I get less opportunities to take a bath haha. 

Anyway, if you want a fun, relaxing bath tub addition, I suggest trying the relaxing tea bath from SSN. It's glorious!! 

And now, back to motherhood. Tomorrow, a diaper review on Baby Kanga diapers.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Finally, normalcy resumes.

Yesterday at 8pm, Chris walked through the door and announced that another insane tax season has come to an end.  I was so happy to see him so early!  I know they were blessed in being ahead of the game this year, thus having gotten their stuff done long before midnight.  I bet his coworkers were relieved to go home as well!

So far, cloth diapering is going well.  Everything fits Aria nicely, some are better than others but I don't want to do any 'reviews' until I've had a few more wears from each diaper.  Everything is working well though, and her diaper rash has completely gone away, so we're very happy! 

And I had another great shopping experience - I ordered diapers from Jack Be Natural, and am very pleased with their service.  Not only did my Kawaii diapers arrive in record time (and free shipping + earning credit toward future orders), but they came with samples!  So I now have, to also test and review:

Lexie Lotion for the baby's skin
Crunchy Clean baby detergent

Things have been a bit crazy, I just got home yesterday - we leave again for my mom's tomorrow night, so I likely won't be posting again until Sunday.  But hopefully I'll have some good photos and will definitely have a review or two to post. 

Also received a great FuzziBunz off the cloth diaper swap, and a great fitted made by Star Baby Designs, which has since shut down sadly.  It's the cutest Three Little Pigs print - I love it!  So, yes.  Lots to test, and lots to review in the near future.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Cheaper by the Dozen.

Today, I had quite the experience.  I'm visiting my mom in Lancaster, because Chris is so busy with tax season, it's too lonely and difficult for me to be home alone while he works 18+ hour days this week.  I'm so ready for the 17th to come and go! 

Since I am here, I set up an appointment to meet with Coleen from Sweet Little Blessings, which happens to be down the street from my mother's house.  A few things you should know about Coleen:

She is a wonderful, sweet woman who knows her cloth diapers.
She should know her CDs, because she has twelve kids.

Not all, but the majority, have been CDed.

Needless to say, I was completely overwhelmed when we walked into her basement shop and saw her stock.  I wish I had taken a mobile photo - it was amazing!  She has so many brands, so many fun colors and patterns, and everything is so organized.  Mom and I were completely blown away by everything she had - it was awesome.  And any questions that I had conjured since my visit to Blake... were easily answered there. 

So of course, I purchased diapers.  :)

Baby Kanga OS pocket in Turquoise Surf
GroVia OS hybrid in Mandarin
Best Bottom in Hoot
(again with the owls... lol)


I cannot wait to get them on her tomorrow!  They've been washed, prepped and are all ready to go.  So, reviews and such will come as I get time, and get to test-run them. 


So, if you live in or near Lancaster, or get the opportunity to visit - set up an appointment with Coleen.  You will not regret it!

 

Friday, April 13, 2012

A crunchy adventure.

Since Chris is so busy with tax season, my mom came out yesterday for the big Just Between Friends
consignment sale in Oaks.  Since I am a first-time mom, I got into the presale and my mom joined me.  We had a blast!  I got a couple of nice, barely-used Oh Katy diapers to test, as well as a FuzziBunz.  We found all of what we were looking for, too, so that was great.  Well worth standing in line for an hour to wait for the presale, and I'm so glad that Aria just snuggled up in her Ergo the entire time.  I also ordered a Thirsties cover from Amazon, so I am waiting for that to arrive.

Today, we went on an adventure.  I was on the prowl for some bumGenius diapers, so we started at Whole Foods.  Although that location was listed as a carrier of the BG, they only had gDiapers - what a bummer!  So we headed to Macy's where grandma bought a few dresses on sale - difficult to resist a good sale - then headed to my mom's main goal, Ikea.  After meeting with hubby for lunch, we headed to Ardmore in search of the store Nurture.  As promised, they did carry BGs so we got three OS pockets, as well as a Flip cover.  I cannot wait to try them out this week! 

Then, we began a hunt for the Snappi.  After doing some hunting on Google, it said that there was a cloth diaper seller in Phoenixville - not far from my own house.  The name was listed as Wee Essentials, but there was no working contact information.  Since an address was listed, we decided to be super-creepers and drive by, just to be nosy.  We reached the address where there's a house and a sign out front for Blake's Diapers... interesting.  Aria is screaming at this point, so I pull over and nurse her in the backseat while we look on Google for more information.

At this point, I'm so grateful for my iPhone.  haha.

Anyway, we call the number and there's no answer, but mom keeps saying how there is a car in the driveway, so let's just knock and see if anyone's manning the store.  She runs up the driveway, knocks and chats with the young woman who answers the door.  She then comes back and tells me to get Aria and let's go, Blake's waiting!

Well, Blake is a lovely and super-helpful WAHM who runs Blake's Diapers from her basement.  She was kind enough to welcome us in, even though her business is typically run by appointment.  I got all of my questions answered, and made the purchase of the Snappis as planned, as well as a few unplanned purchases.  Isn't that always the story with cloth diapers?! :)

From Blake, I purchased two amazing Indian cotton prefolds, a Sweet Pea cover (the coveted Owls), a WAHMies pail liner in sage and a WAHMies medium wet bag in the owls pattern - can you tell I love owls?  After thanking her immensely for visiting us with such short (read: no) warning notice, we headed back home feeling quite successful. 

So the diapers have been washed and are currently drying, and I look forward to test-driving them with Aria tomorrow!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Ohhh Katy!

Just a quick update, will elaborate tomorrow...


Aria is loving her Oh Katy diaper!

(and no leaks, woo hoo!)

Saturday, April 7, 2012

frugal pondering.

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. 

I am going to be a SAHM for a few years, at least until Aria can attend preschool.  Obviously, the lack of income from my corner is being replaced by a new sense of frugal behaviors.  The other day, I put pen to paper on how much we spend on diapers in a week.  Then by a month.  Then to a year.  If we continue buying Wegman's brand diapers, which are inexpensive and I admit, work wonderfully for Aria, but... we will pay at least 500 dollars for diapers this year. 

That. is. insane.

Then you think about how Aria will likely be in diapers until she's at least 3... there you have it folks.  Sure, compared to some things, perhaps not an insane amount of money but when you just cut back on one full income, it surely is a hunk of money that I would love to not have to be spending.

So... I've started researching cloth diapers.  It's overwhelming!  There's so many kinds of them - prefolds, pockets, AIOs - not to mention how many brands exist.  I feel completely lost.  But... I'm going to give it a go.  The trick will be convincing Chris to hop on board... eek. 

Thursday, April 5, 2012

beware of primitive mom.

I am tearing up I'm loling so hard.

So, I've neglected to update.  Not that this should come as any surprise, especially because I don't really plan to publicize this blog - it's mostly a personal record for myself.  But after a fabulous little experience today at Target, I've decided I need to start updating my blog more often so, if for nothing else, I can remember the crazy moments in life.

I got in just recently from running errands. It's a nice day and since I'd rather wear Ari and push my groceries in a cart than push her and carry them, I had her in my Ergo. We're at Target and I'm looking at breast milk bags when I hear, "Oh good God there's another one of those dirty hippie moms. Will we ever escape the caveman era?" I begin glancing around curiously, wondering who these two girls to my left are looking at...

Then I realize, they're glaring at me!

I'll add, they're looking at formula (which I have nothing against, don't get me wrong), pushing a Stokke stroller (again, I have no problems with it, other than refusing to pay a month's worth of mortgage on a stroller lol) and glaring at ME while whispering loudly between themselves. We make eye contact ...and I arched a brow while the one girl continues going, "Oh she even breastfeeds. How primitive and... hippie of her."

I was having a really hard time biting my tongue, but I just smiled sweetly and said that yes, I wear my baby. I breastfeed my baby. She even sleeps in my bed. And oh my, I left my house without makeup and a shower.  How primitive and caveman of me!  They gave me a disgusted look and quickly buzzed away, whispering to one another. 

Ignorance is obnoxious.

Note, I did shower, but still. lol. Good heavens, though. I don't make snide remarks, let along ones that can be heard, about other mamas. I try very hard not to judge, because you never know what someone's circumstances are.  So who are you to criticize me?

Anyway, this encounter made me realize I need to blog and remember these moments... because life's too short to not pause for a moment and laugh at the crazier parts of our lives.