Thursday, July 29, 2010

Kids say the darnedest things...

July 29, 2010 2 Comments
The other day I was home from work (because of a horrible night dealing with the kidney stones I've had for the past week and a half).  I was sitting at the dining room table with Hannah when she looked at me and said

"Mama, I go shopping with you!"
I replied by saying "Pardon" I thought I had maybe misunderstood what she said
She says again "I wanna go shopping with you"
My internal reply "I SOOO love this child, I hope Daddy has his wallet ready"
My external reply "Oh baby, I'd love to go shopping with you too"

We didn't go shopping...

but we do have a trip planned to head to Birch Run Prime outlets for the weekend of August 20th.  :)

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Review - Baby Kangas by JamTots

July 27, 2010 2 Comments
I'll put my disclaimer first -  I was not given any products or compansation for this review.  I purchased all diapers and inserts myself and am giving my honest opinion about this product.

I purchased 24 Baby Kanga diapers around the beginning of June.  The reason for the purchase was for our new arrival in November but I figured since Hannah was still wearing diapers we'd try them on her before the new baby came.  I was super excited.  I had heard pretty good things about this pouch diapers and couldn't wait to get started.

A little info from the Baby Kanga website

This innovative pouch diaper features a waterproof pul outer with a microfleece inner to keep baby dry, with a zippered pouch opening on the outside where you add an absorbent insert/stuffer.


The pouch is located on the outside of the diaper to make insert removal clean and easy. Just unzip and shake it over your diaper pail to get the insert out. The zipper closure makes stuffing easy and keeps the insert inside where it belongs.

The colour selection is amazing and I was excited to choose the colours I wanted, I won't bore you with all the colours I chose but look at this selection

Plus theres more!  They just came out with a new line of vibrant beautiful unisex colours.  Unisex was important to us when we chose the diapers initially because we didn't know the sex of baby #2 at the time.

One thing that's different with this diaper than most is, it's not sold with inserts.  You are just buying the shell of the pocket diaper.  This has it's pros and cons.  A pro being, you can choose whichever insert you'd like to use.  This is exactly what we did!  The con, finding the right insert costs money which sucks especially if you're having a hard time finding the right insert. 

We decided to go with prefolds as inserts and here's the reason why!  We wanted to have a stash of infant prefolds for what baby boy is born.  Prefolds and covers for newborns is suppose to be super easy and totally doable.  We were going to buy the prefolds so why not use them as inserts.  I made sure this was an okay option with Kristin from EcoBabies (where we purchased our diapers).  She said of course it would work.  We bought 24 newborn Bummis prefolds.  It did work great - they are a bit bulky for a two year old but it worked but not for night time.

We also wanted to try a few of the other inserts offered through EcoBabies so we bought two JamTots one-size hemp stuffer which is what is recommended by JamTots (Baby Kangas). 

We also bought two microfiber inserts plus two AMP Bamboo Inserts.  We thought we were set to make it night and day in the diapers.  Not so much...we have had some major leaking issues with the diapers especially at night time.  I will admit the 1 prefold folded in the trifold works well for during the day (as do the JamTots hemp stuffers) but at night time it just wasn't cutting it.  I tried everything including stuffing two prefolds into the pocket the problem with this was the legs would then gap from the bulk and we'd have leaks.  I inquired on Facebook through the Baby Kagas page about the issues I was having and this is the response I received.

Hi Kandice,



What are you using to stuff your Baby Kangas so far (and are they the only diapers you are using at night?) Are the inserts soaked in the morning? It might be that your little girl is just wetting a *lot* at night now that she is... older (mine were like that!) and that she needs more absorbency than what you are currently using... With that said... it may even be that you may need more absorbency than what will actually fit inside a Baby Kangas diaper(!)-some kids actually wet that much over night (when you think about it--they often sleep 12+ hours so it can be a LOT of pee!) That may be the reason for the sore legs--the diaper might be too small for night use with the extra stuffing for her--you may need to use a different system for night time--either a sized pocket diaper or a fitted diaper and cover system where you can add extra inserts/doublers -either way where I would recommend going *up* a size from where you would normally buy for her weight measurement--to allow for the extra absorbency that she would need--so probably a large or extra large depending on the brand. I have cloth diapered all 3 of my kids - 2 that wet a LOT at night and I always recommend putting MORE than you think you will need in the diaper - then check to see how much is left dry in the morning and then gauge from there how much (if any!!) you can subtract from there for the next night... Of course this can change over time but it can give you a pretty good idea for a while! I recommend hemp or bamboo stuffers/inserts for overnight for sure but again--you probably need more than what you are using as it sounds like you just don't have enough absorbency to make it through the night!


I hope that helps!


Holly
I thought that was a decent response even though I thought it a bit strange that they recommend using a different system all together. 
 
So here's my final verdict....
 
Ease of use - Very easy to figure out the snaps for both rise and waist adjustment.  Stuffing is SO easy and the front zip up pocket is amazing.  I love it!  Shaking out the insert over the pail is easy and never requires you to touch a soiled diaper.  The diapers are very easy to put on (even my husband commented on it) although I have noticed the rise snaps have popped open a couple of times I've tried the smaller rise on my daughter.

$$$  - at $17.50 it's not a bad deal.  The problem we've encountered is the inserts.  We haven't found a JamTot insert that has worked well for us.  Therefore spending the extra money finding that perfect insert can definitely add up.

Performance - It's been tough, we've had A LOT of leaks with that being said it's only at bedtime.  Hannah is now fully potty trained expect for naps and bedtime so we didn't get a lot of use from the diapers.  I think it's just again trying to find that combination of insert that works for your baby.

Fit - I can't really comment on this wholly.  I am very excited to try the diapers on our little man when he is born and think I will get a much better idea of the fit.  Right now I would have to say that for my daughter who is 2 years 2 months old, approx. 28lbs the diapers fit smaller.  She had pretty severe red marks on her legs and a lot of night time leaks (which I attribute to the fit).  I couldn't imagine a child 30+lbs being in this diaper like JamTots says it should fit.

Overall - I'm unsure, I've since purchase a few other brands of diapers (I will do a review of them soon) and have LOVED them.  I haven't had any nap time or night time leaks and the fit is fantastic for Hannah.  Heck I've even used the infant prefolds and covers with her at sleep time and haven't had any issues.  I'll leave this open for when baby boy is here and we can really start using these diapers.

If you are interested in a review - please check out my Reviews page and send me an e-mail with your pitch!  I'd love to hear from you!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

10 things that make me smile everyday!

July 20, 2010 5 Comments
This is just a quick post because I woke up this morning and thought, can life get any better than this?
  1. Hearing Hannah first thing in the morning scream call me through the monitor.  It doesn't matter what day it is, it always starts with "MMMAAAAMMMMMMAAAAAA"
  2. Feeling Baby boy first thing in the morning, dancing away inside as if to say "Good morning Mama"
  3. Walking into Hannahs room every morning and seeing her beautiful smile looking back at me
  4. Taking her back to my room with "Elmo, dolly and SuSu" (susu is her name for her soother). So we can snuggle and watch cartoons for a few minutes!
  5. Snuggling in bed with Hannah, dolly and Elmo.  Seriously Hannah has the most soft smushy toddler skin ever and I just love getting close
  6. Getting my first hug in the morning from Chris.  He always knows just how to squeeze the sleepiness out of me!
  7. Going downstairs and being greeted by my niece.  They live in the basement of our house while saving money for their first house.  I'm really going to miss them when they are no longer living with us.  It'll be really hard on all of us.
  8. Tim Hortons - need I say more?
  9. Turning my computer on each morning to see what's new on the interwebs!
  10. Going home after a long and sometimes stressful day to see my beautiful little girl.  Most every night she crawls on my lap when I get home for a quick snuggle session before our crazy night time routine starts and the day is done!
Really, I am truly blessed to have such an amazing life!  I probably could think of a million more things during the day that make me smile for instance...

11. talking to my mom at least 1 but it's usually more like 3 or 4 times on the phone throughout the day.  I love that we have such a close relationship! 

12.  Walking down the stairs at work when Chris and I are going out for lunch (we work at the same place) and he's standing there wait for me.  He isn't usually there and I have to wait FOREVER for him, but when he is it always makes me smile.

Okay that's it!  I'll leave it with 12! 

What makes you smile everyday?  Tell me about it.

ProBlogger Summer Challenge

July 20, 2010 1 Comments
I'm challenging myself to a 31 day ProBlogger Summer Challege put on by SITS.  If you're not familiar with SITS check them out here - especially if you're interested in getting more readers to your blog and spreading some love to other women bloggers around the world.

The ProBlogger Summer Challege is set up to get bloggy behinds whipped into shape.  Each day for 31 days, we’ll focus on one task that will help stretch and build those blogging muscles, transforming your blog into a lean, mean blogging machine.

At the end of the challenge I will have:

  • Written a variety of different types and styles of posts 
  • Learned techniques for coming up with new post ideas
  • Promoted your blog in a variety of ways
  • Built relationships with readers
  • Reached out to and developed working relationships with other bloggers
  • Developed an editorial calendar for your blog
  • Discovered ways to be more connected to your niche/topic
  • Designed a plan for your next month of blogging
 
I'm excited!!!  I am a couple of days behind but I will get caught up and be right on track with everyone else that is doing the challenge as well!
 

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

My plans - post baby

July 14, 2010 1 Comments
I haven't forgot about my goals to become a skinny yummy mommy.  I started this blog a while back to track my progress in weight loss and the goals I wanted to set for myself in terms of getting healthy and happy with my life and body.  It still is even though it took a little turn when I found out I was pregnant in February (yeah it's been that long already!!!)

I just wanted to give everyone that reads my blog and myself a quick reminder of what I want to do!

  • Loose 60lbs
  • Run - I don't need to run a maraton or anything like that although maybe in the way future I could do something like that.  I just want to be able to run, go for a 30 minute run and not be totally stupid exhausted by the time I get back.
  • Feel good about my body
  • Eat healthy
I still have my gym membership but I've been really bad and haven't gone in a long time.  I was still going  when I got over the inital morning sickness but then it just sort of stopped.  I am too tired and just don't seem to have the drive to go to the gym during my lunch break.  That will change.  I pay for the membership why the heck not use it.  It's a great facility and has some wonderful resources.  I'm really not sure I'll get back to the gym before the baby is born but when baby boy is born it'll be November so cold, snowy and wintering.  So I probably won't be doing a whole lot of walking outside so I'll have to figure something out so that I can still get to the gym. 

I'll figure it out!  I really want to do it!

I am currently 25 weeks pregnant and 227 lbs - up about 4 lbs from when I first started this blog!

Monday, July 12, 2010

What to do? What to do?

July 12, 2010 1 Comments
This is a post about a stroller! Yeah real exciting eh? But I need help!!!  As you know we're expecting a second baby in November.  We've started to shop around for baby "things".  One of those things is a stroller...this is the problem, I'm not sure we really need a stroller.  Okay, lets go back a few steps here.

Hannah is 2 years 2 months old, when the baby is born she will be 2.5 years old.  She loves to walk, run, skip, etc. but she doesn't mind being in her stroller if we are out shopping, etc.

Baby boy, well he doesn't really have a lot to do with this, it's mostly about Hannah right now.

At first I thought for sure we would need a double stroller.  I started looking and found this.....



You may be thinking - "Wait!  That's not a double stroller?"  But wait, let me show you this...


16 different combinations

I really like this stroller but the price tag is HUGE!  For the pieces we'd want (you have to buy them seperately) it's almost $1000.  That's a big price to pay when I'm not even sure Hannah will want to sit in a stoller for much longer.......

So this is my thinking - if I decide I need a new shirt after the baby is born, (and I can almost gaurentee that's going to happen)  I will need to go shopping!  I will not be able to wear new baby boy and push Hannah in the stroller because I will need to try clothes on.  If I did wear him, I'd be taking him off and putting him ? somewhere ? so I could try the shirt on, this would be awkward and probably not the best idea.  If I put baby boy in the stroller and let Hannah run walk, well Hannah would be running all over the place and I'd be chasing her like a crazy women with a small newborn probably screaming in the carseat and everyone around me would be wondering why this women ever thought she could shop for herself with a newborn and a toddler (this just sounds exhausting).  I could make sure my mom or sister is always with me when I need to go shopping, then they could wear baby boy and I could push Hannah in the old stroller and we'd be on our mary way but what if they aren't available?  So that's my problem?  I'm a baby wearing, stoller pushing mom that isn't sure if spending $1000 on a new stroller is worth it.  Help me out would you?

Oh yeah and if we decided to have more children the next one won't be coming until this one is at least 3-4 years old and then of course we wouldn't need a double stroller.  Hannah would be like 5 or 6!!!  She'll almost be ready to move out and certianly won't want to be pushed around in a stroller!