The Great Fluffy Review

So I have a lot of different types of diapers. Some of them I love entirely, some of them could use some improvement, some of them are okay, and some of them are just a means of getting to the next fluffy change.

But what am I doing with all this knowledge? What good does it do you for me to know that I like this diaper or that one for going out, but that the other is great for bedtime? No good at all unless I tell you!

My goal for 2010 is to review each and every type of diaper we have in our stash so you too will know what the highlights and pitfalls are.

Don't worry, it's not my ONLY goal for 2010, just my fluffy-bloggy goal.

Now I'm just trying to decide where to start. I think I'll go chronological, in the order in which they were introduced to our stash.

Of course, feel free to weigh in on your favorites and the ones that didn't show you all the love you'd hoped they would.

Winter Wardrobeland

I recently learned something new.

Most winter clothes are really not very breastfeeding friendly.

Why?

That's a good question.

Sure, I suppose anything big enough can be lifted up, so what's the big deal?

Well, if it's a really thick sweater, it's not going to get lifted without a great deal of cumbersome irritation, and frankly, I don't like a bunch of extra fabric sitting on Snapdragon's head.

If it's form fitting, it doesn't lift well.

If you're planning on nursing while babywearing, then you really need a wrap or deep v-neck. Those are harder to find in the winter too. So where does this leave me? Rocking a bunch of seasonally inappropriate shirts. That's where.

So, enlighten me, oh wise women who have more than one winter of breastfeeding under your belt. Other than walking around the house nearly topless, what's your wardrobe solution to comfortable and easy frosty-day nursing wear?

Pink Saturday: Babywearing Gifts!

This year I got a most amazing gift. It wasn't a Christmas gift per-se, but a gift nonetheless. See it there? The pretty pink Mei Tai keeping Snapdragon all snuggly close to Mama?

It's the Bohemian Bubblegum Dittany Baby Mei Tai, and I LOVE it. Unlike the pouch sling you usually see me wearing around, it distributes his weight evenly and there's no bizarre sense of leaning the whole time I'm wearing him. It is totally made of win. And I also like the black and white reverse for when I'm feeling less like it's Saturday.

If you haven't noticed, I'm a huge fan of the babywearing. This winter I've decided that what I like the best about it is that I get to keep my arms free so if I need to steady myself on an ice patch, I can, without worrying about dropping either Snapdragon, or the both of us.

How do you wear your baby? And if you don't have a wee one, well, I'm sorry, because they're just the sweetest and cutest and cuddle-snuggle-lovable-est, and when they're close enough to kiss, well everything seems a little bit better.

For more Pink Saturday, head over to How Sweet The Sound.

Sleepy Wrap Winner!

So I know you're all waiting for the Sleepy Wrap winner to be announced, right?

Well, wait no longer.
Congratulations Brooke!

Now, if you want to get to know more about Brooke, of Brooke Van Gory designs, I recommend you check out her shop, her blog, or follow her on twitter! Brooke makes diaper bags, wet bags, Gory Pants, and me laugh.

Brooke on Twitter.

Brooke sells coolness.

Brooke writes profoundly.

Wordless Wednesday: Tidings of Good Cheer

Wordless Wednesday

Post-It Note Tuesday: Christmas

Blue Monday: Yule Blessings

Happy Yule!

At a wedding earlier this year, my best friend's wedding, actually, we all tied ribbons of blessing onto the broom over which they jumped as part of the handfasting portion of the wedding ceremony. I like this picture today, because this night, this longest night of the year, I think it is a wonderful time to sit down together as a family and reflect on the blessings of the year. The delightful blessings, the blessings that were a little harder to see at the time, you know, the lessons learned type of blessings, the unexpected blessings, the planned for blessings, the blessings shared, and the blessings bestowed.

I hope your year has been blessed, and may each year be even more blessed.

Love & Light.

For more Blue Monday, head over to Smiling Sally.

Pink Saturday: My Nativity

This is my favorite ever nativity scene. I made it for an art swap in 2005, and though I was sorely tempted to keep it, I did send it to another artist, who in turn had sent in a delightful nativity painting, which I sent to the artist who had made a plush nativity scene, which is now adorning my china cabinet.

I made this out of a hard book. The kind on which children teethe. I lightly filed the shiny surfaces, gessoed it, and then embellished it mostly with paint, and decoupage techniques.

As you can tell, I was in a bit of a Frida Kahlo fan-girl mode at the time. No, I couldn't resist casting her as an angel, complete with a pinko-commie dress. You can't see it clearly, but the dress has tiny jewel embellishments.

If you look at the wing on the left, you'll see a patch of velcro. That is so the whole nativity book could be closed.
On each page I illustrated different parts of the tale of the birth of Christ. Here I used clippings from an art book I'd deconstructed to to show the annunciation and the marriage of Mary and Joseph, complete with renaissance "shotgun wedding" artwork. I also included the lyrics to some of my favorite carols on each of the pages.

On the page with the typical nativity scene, I included my favorite carol.

Twas in the Moon of wintertime when all the birds had fled, when Mighty Gitchi Manitou sent angel choirs instead. Before their light the stars grew dim and wandring hunters heard the hymn: Jesus your king is born - Jesus is born, in excelsis gloria.

Within a lodge of broken bark the tender babe was found. A ragged robe of rabbit skin enwrapped His beauty round; but as the hunter braves drew nigh,
The angel song rang loud and high: Jesus your king is born- Jesus is born, in excelsis gloria.
I also illustrated, as above, the early life of Jesus, and included (not pictured) an abstract visitation of the Magi.
Here you can see the back of the nativity board book.

I hope you enjoyed this, I had a lot of fun making it, and from what I hear, it was a well received re-purposing of a baby book.

For more of Beverly's Pink Saturday, head on over to How Sweet The Sound.

I Cherish Planet Earth Winner!

And the winner of the fun-tabulous "I Cherish Planet Earth" book and game is.....
You can get to know Krista by following her on twitter, or through her blog, Typical Ramblings, Atypical Nonsense. Personally, I recommend getting to know her brownies recipe while you're at it. The Moistest Brownies Ever. They're phenomenal, or at least, my family thinks so.

Krista, you have 48 hours to respond to the email I'm sending you momentarily. Please don't make me make people juggle iguanas or something equally ridiculous.

Congratulations, darlin'.

Mama's Holiday Wish List

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme
TodaysMama and Provo Craft are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What 5 items are on your holiday wish list this year?

I'd like a pair of pants that fit.

The washer and toilet fixed.

More Rockin' Green Soap

An awesome knit hat

A digital camera
2. What is your favorite handmade gift you have received?

A crocheted poncho from my mother.
3. What handmade gift have you always wanted to tackle?

Knit hats.
4. What was the best Christmas gift you received as a child?

24 Prismacolor colored pencils, in the third grade.
5. What items are on your kid’s wish list this year?

Hello Batty T-shirt, Wii, Genesis Compound Bow, a box on which to teethe.
6. What is your favorite holiday food?

Pumpkin Cheesecake
7. What will you be hand-crafting for the holidays?

Everything! A Quilt, a Stocking, dolls, floor pillows, and if time allows, pajamas.
8. What is your favorite holiday movie?

White Christmas
9. Favorite holiday song?

O Holy Night
10. Favorite holiday pastime?

Baking Cookies

CLOSED Sleepy Wrap Review and Giveaway

This is a special moment for me. Sleepy Wrap was the very first company I worked with in this whole blog review world. We started planning this back in June, and since then I've reviewed a few things, and it's harder than it looks, but very rewarding because I get to tell you if that baby item you're considering buying really is all it's cracked up t be or if it's all just hype.

The Sleepy Wrap is most certainly all it's cracked up to be.

I had the good fortune to win a Moby Wrap this summer. I won it from babywearing.com, and after getting to know it, I realized that there'd probably be some comparison going on in this review, and so you'll have to bear with me.

Ultimately I decided I'd keep my favorite of the two and give the runner up to a mama who needed something to help her keep her baby close. Drumroll- the Moby is in the box, the Sleepy Wrap is about four feet from me.

In case you're wondering, the Sleepy Wrap is a wrap style babywearing device. It's essentially a five and a half yard long piece of stretchy fabric with surged edges which taper toward the ends. Through a simple series of steps you can secure it in a way that you can carry your baby hands free and in comfort.

The Awesome:

Sleepy Wrap evenly distributes Snapdragon's weight, so no walking lop-sided.

Great for long days of babywearing.

Sleepy Wrap maintains it's shape so I don't need to tighten it after wearing it for a while.

Sleepy Wrap doesn't require folding in half lengthwise, so it's pretty easy to put on.

Sleepy Wrap is pretty lightweight so no overheating.

Sleepy Wrap is uber-stretchy so Snapdragon gets comfortably cradled against me without putting too much pressure on his back or joints.

The Not So Awesome:

Wraps take a touch more patience to put on than pouches and ring slings. I admit, I am still more likely to reach for my pouch sling for short duration, or quick in and out babywearing.

What You Should Know:

No kids were involved in making this. Sleepy Wrap has moved it's production overseas, but are made under fair working conditions.

They're made of French Terry, a 95% cotton, 5% spandex blend.

They're a one size fits all, and as a 5'9" mama who weighs over 200 lbs (don't tell) I can honestly say it's comfy on me.

They have been tested up to 45 lbs.

Snapdragon managed to worm his arm out, but he might have had some help. He seems to enjoy being worn in it, though he tends to fall asleep in it...

Want one?

Buy One

You can buy one from Sleepy Wrap, or from any of their retailers. At $39.95 for their classic wraps and $59.95 for their organic wraps, Sleepy Wrap is a great economical and sturdy choice for a hands-free solution to having your hands back.

Win One

Sleepy Wrap has generously offered to give one of you a Sleepy Wrap of your very own.

All you have to do to enter is go to the Sleepy Wrap site and then come back and tell me something you learned about Sleepy Wraps, or babywearing. This entry is mandatory and must be completed before any other entries will be valid. If your email address is not publicly attached to your blogger account, please leave it in the comment. If I can't contact you, you can't win.

Extra Entries.

Leave a comment telling me which color of Sleepy Wrap you dig the most, or which of their other products you like best.

Follow @SleepyWrap on Twitter. Leave a comment letting me know the username under which you follow.

Blog, tweet, or feature this giveaway in your other social media network of choice linking back to this post. You may tweet once per day. Please leave the permalink to the specific blog post, tweet, or entry as a comment.

Grab my button and leave a comment letting me know where you put it.

Leave a relevant comment on any other post on my blog and then leave a comment here letting me know where you did so. You can do this as often as you'd like.

Giveaway will close Tuesday December 22nd. Winner will be selected via a random integer generator, and will be contacted via email, as well as announced on this blog. Winner will have 36 hours to respond, else an alternate winner shall be selected via any method that moves me at that moment. Who knows. It might be an improv babywearing zumba YouTube contest. Don't make me get creative.

Open to residents of the US and Canada.

Disclosure: I recieved a Sleepy Wrap to review. I have not been otherwise compensated for this review and all opinions expressed herein, even the snarky ones, are entirely my own.

CONGRATULATIONS COMMENTER #90!!! Brooke! I'll be emailing you shortly! Thank you for participating everyone!

Christmas on a Shoestring Budget

There's such a thing as miracles. I know this. But right now it's looking like our budget is next to nil for the holidays.

So I have concocted a plan. Specifically, for Mongosine, as she's the one who is most likely to feel hurt if Christmas is nearly barren for the second year.

1. Pull video card from old computer. Put in less old computer. Clear all my files off of it. Uninstall Norton and install avast. Personalize it with things like a password and a background and screen saver that will tickle her pink. Dust well. Add bow.

2. Finish Quilt she designed. (needs backed, quilted, and bound)

3. Make funky floor cushion for her.

4. Convert old pair of her too-small but awesomely-embroidered jeans into a fashion forward purse.

5. Make her a little vampire soft body doll.

This is a lot of work. But I also want to make stockings. Snapdragon doesn't own one yet, and mine is falling apart. But if I make for me and Snapdragon only, Mongoosine is liable to feel left out. And if I neglect he daddy, well, that's just rude. But this project is *last* because step 1 is going to be the most meaningful to her.

Post-It Note Tuesday

Giving

My twitter friend @RockerByeBaby has adopted two families for Christmas through WishUponAHero, and we're chipping in over here. You can read about that here. Why? Because giving is an essential part of humanity, and I feel blessed to be able to help moms in need.

So if you want to make someone's holiday truly blessed, you can get in touch with Amber, or check out WishUponAHero and adopt a family of your own.

Happy holidays.

Labyrinth Balance Board Winner!

Congratulations: Rocker Bye Baby!

You have 48 hours from the time I email you to get back in touch with me, else I'll have to get creative in picking a secondary winner, and neither of us want that!

You can follow her over at her blog, but be sure to check out her shop too! She's adopted two families for Christmas through WishUponAHero. I really hope she enjoys the Balance Board!

Please forgive my tweetdeck notification that popped up in the middle of my screen capping.

Wordless Wednesday: Locks of Love

Wordless Wednesday

For info on how to donate your hair, go to Locks of Love.