Have some baby-name TACT, for goodness sake!

All over the web today I am reading about how the top names of 2011 list has been released. Every Facebook page that has posted it has posed questions to the readers like, "Was your child's name in the top 10?" or "What do you think about the names that made the list?". I responded to a few of them, but had to stop reading others' responses because, quite frankly, they irk me! I can't believe how some people can sit there and say things like, "(insert name here), EWWWWW!" or "Parents who name their kids something 'unique' are just going to have kids who grow up and change their name.". Really? I understand saying you don't like something, but it can be done in a much more tactful way. I wonder how these same people would feel if it was their child's name getting the "EWWW"...? I try to think about these things before I even open my mouth when it comes to opinions about baby names. Even if you don't personally like the name, you have to remember that to someone it is not JUST a name. It is their child. They think the name and everything their child is and does IS that name to them. I also cannot stand when people describe names as "out there". To me that implies that the name is bad, or at best NOT good. Personally my kids' names have not ever been on the top names list in my lifetime. My son's name made it at # 662 for 2011. Definitely not trendy, but I like that. My daughter's name doesn't even have a rank on the list, but it is a name I discovered while researching my family history. It's too bad people don't think about where names come from though before labeling them as "weird".

If you are curious about name rankings for 2011 and/or where your child's name falls (or doesn't fall) on the list, you can view it here on Nameberry.
http://nameberry.com/search/popular_names

Peelers: Not JUST For Vegetables!

I love to eat apples, but honestly I hate the peels. They get stuck in my teeth when I bite in and are just all around annoying, if you ask me. I generally use a knife to peel apples, but I am always afraid I will cut myself. Then there is always that pesky fact that using a knife takes out big chunks of my tasty apple, and who wants that? So tonight as I was standing in the kitchen staring at the apple in my fridge, I got an idea. I took out the peeler that I normally use for peeling potatoes and peeled my apple. It was satisfying how much apple was left after I peeled it! My mommy wisdom has definitely helped me to think outside the box, or rather "outside the knife".



I know what you're thinking... "Did she really just write about peeling an apple?". YOUBETCHA!

Review and Giveaway at Angela's Favorite Things

Angela's Favorite Things has posted a review and is doing a giveaway for a Snugs Boutique One Size Couture Cloth Pocket Diaper +1 microfiber insert. All you have to do to enter is go to the review page and follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter form. For each thing you do, you will get an extra entry. The giveaway entry time started October 27, 2011 and ends on November 8 at 12:01am. It's almost over so GET THOSE ENTRIES IN! Only residents of the U.S. are eligible to win and you must be 18 or over.

The links for Angela's Favorite Things (where the giveaway is being held) and Snugs Boutique are below. Just click on the button/picture to go to the site you wish to visit!




http://www.snugsboutique.com/

PLUMP Diapers

I recently bought a new diaper for my daughter from PLUMP diapers. I won it in an auction and it is black with a pink WOW (world of warcraft) symbol on the back and pink inner. It is made of minky and it's SO SOFT! I have to admit that I sometimes (when it's clean, of course) just want to rub it on my face! Yeah, it's THAT soft! We got this diaper because my husband loves WOW, but I fell in LOVE with the diaper once we got it. It is an AI2 (all in two) diaper. This means that it has an outer portion and then a snap in part for absorbency. It actually came with 2 snap ins so you can modify the absorbency of the diaper. I love everything about this diaper. Not only is it custom and really soft, it's also a one size diaper so my daughter will be able to wear it until she potty trains, which is a LONG time since she's only 6 months old! It cleans very easily and dries quickly in my dryer (since my dog - named CHEWY for a reason - prevents me from line drying). Every time it is clean I am reaching for this diaper to put on my daughter. This diaper has a hidden layer of PUL so it doesn't need a cover! That's a big deal to me. I HATE getting an adorable diaper and then having to cover it up to keep me and others from getting wet down by our super soaker... The only advice I can give for this diaper (at least for our child) is that it's not really an overnight diaper. She wore it once overnight and the pee did wick out at the leg area. That in no way detracts from the awesomeness of this diaper though, because I really want it on her during the day so people can see it because it is so GORGEOUS and excellently put together. I would recommend PLUMP diapers to ANYONE and I have been "stalking" her diapers to try to get more of them. All of her diapers seem to have a lot of care put into the making of them and the workmanship on them is EXCELLENT and definitely comparable to any big name company (like BumGenius, Fuzzibunz, etc.). No loose strings or anything that would make someone think or know that they were made in someone's home. Just quality work and quality diapers!

ETA: Going back through previous blog posts I just have to add (cause I never noticed before) that this diaper is SO TRIM! It's not near as bulky looking as some of her other diapers. It could be because she's bigger now, by a little, but I definitely think it's trimmer. At least in the crotch area. LOL



*~*Sites or companies mentioned in my blog*~*
http://www.facebook.com/pages/PLUMP-Diapers/126672249172?sk=wall
http://hyenacart.com/PLUMPDiapers/

Butterbears diaper (from Amazon)

I got this diaper at the beginning of April, and I absolutely LOVE IT! It fits very nicely on my 14 lb daughter on the smallest settings, so she has A TON of room to grow in it. When she 1st wore it she took a nap in it and when she woke up NO LEAKS. This diaper was also sent to me with 2 soaker pads (a long one and a shorter one). That was a big deal for me because a lot of diapers only come with one which makes this a good buy for sure! The 2 soakers also come in handy cause my girl is a heavy wetter. Some people only need one at a time and switch to the longer one as baby gets older, but I just stuff them both in there. After I washed this diaper, it was still as vibrant as the day I took it out of the package and it didn't "bleed" onto any of my other diapers. The soakers agitated out in the wash on their own (I own a front loader) so I didn't have to touch them to take them out (yuck!). And the best part, for me anyway, is that it dried in a standard dryer cycle. This is a big deal to me! Before this diaper my Bummis Tots Bots was my favorite due to ease of use, but took 2 dry cycles to get completely dry. This one doesn't which helps me save energy (and we all know electricity cost is HIGH these days).



Aside from the qualities of this diaper, I would like to say the owner emailed me very shortly after I placed my order to see if it was for a boy or girl. I love that kind of personalized customer service! (Of course I said I just wanted a multicolor one, but it was still SUPER nice to be asked).

I would DEFINITELY buy diapers from ButterBears again and I would recommend them to anyone I know!

*~*Sites or companies mentioned in my blog*~*
www.amazon.com
www.mybutterbears.com

Bummis Tots Bots Diaper

So I recently received my diaper in the mail that I got from using an Amazon gift card award from SwagBucks. It was a Bummis Tots Bots one size diaper. I just have to say I LOVE this diaper! The pattern I got is "Flower Power" which is perfect for someone like me who loves anything that looks like it came from the 60's (even though I was born in the 80's).

I find myself using this diaper ANY time it is clean. It is a one size diaper, but I don't think it is bulky like some other "one size" diapers look in pictures I have seen. As of last Wednesday my daughter weighed 9 lbs 10 oz and I think it looks great on her!

I like how the "insert" is actually connected to the diaper so I don't have to find the right insert to match the diaper like I do with my gDiapers or my Happy Heiny's diaper. Admittedly, the gCloth isn't too hard to match up either since they have the orange "g" sewn to the side of the insert. I still have to fish the inserts out of the dryer though, which is not the case with the Tots Bots diaper. Since the "insert" is connected I just have the one piece to take out of the diaper. It is also great because the "insert" agitates out in the washer, so on top of the convenience of it being attached to the diaper, you don't even have to pull it out of the pocket before washing, so no touching anything gross. This agitation of the insert also cuts down on drying time. I have used this diaper during the day and night and haven't had any kind of leakage issues thus far... I would definately add more of these to my stash. If I wasn't the type of person who liked to have choices and diversity I might even say I would be okay with a stash that was only this type of diaper. I do like to have options though, so let's just leave it that I would definately add more of these to my rotation. I am not sure what type of diaper I am going to try the next time I have enough Amazon credits, but I am sure I will come here and leave my own personal "review" of the diaper I choose.

*~*Sites or companies mentioned in my blog*~*
www.swagbucks.com/refer/CrazyLeoMom
www.amazon.com
www.bummis.com
www.happyheinys.com
www.gdiapers.com

Cloth Diapering

So the baby is 2 months old now. I was enduced on December 17, because they thought she wasn't growing enough. She was born that day and weighed 6 lbs and 11 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. She has her next doctor's appointment this Wednesday, February 23rd. I can't wait because they will tell us what she weighs now and how she is doing. The only thing I am not looking forward to is her next Hep B vaccination, but at least that's the only shot she needs. I'm also really excited because I just used Amazon gift cards I got from using Swagbucks to order a new cloth diaper for my daughter. She has been exclusively cloth diapered since she was about 3 weeks old and it is going well. The diapers we have most of are prefolds with Thirsties covers. They aren't hard to use, but they take a bit of time to get pinned on. A lot of people use a thing called a snappi to hold them on instead of pins, but I just haven't broken down and bought a snappi yet so the pins take a while to get situated. I can use them, but not really my favorite diapering option. When we are away from the house I usually bring gDiapers with us. We have cloth inserts for those as well. I like the gDiapers for their ease of use, though it did take a while to get used to fastening them in the back. The only negative things I have to say about the gDiapers is that the cloth insert doesnt stay flat between her legs so when I change her it's all squished and I can see the liner on either side of the cloth. Also, it's not the best for night diapering. I have only had 1 leak, but when it leaked, she had pee all over her outfit and had to be changed completely.



The only other (store bought) diaper we currently own in a Happy Heinys diaper. I LOVE THIS DIAPER. It is SO SOFT inside and I haven't ever had it leak. I have used it both during the day and at night with no leak issues.



I do have one diaper that was made by my mother that I stuffed with a prefold, but the 1st time I used it I forgot to use a cover and there was pee everywhere when she wet herself. Needless to say, I remembered the cover the next time.



Anyway, so today I ordered a Bummis Tots Bots diaper in the Flower Power pattern. It is really cute and I can't wait to try it out. Their site says I should get it on Wednesday. I wasn't sure which type of diaper I was going to try out next with my giftcards, but I decided to try the Bummis one because it was rated all around best cloth diaper by Babble! I will see when it comes if I am as in love with it as they are.

*~*Sites or companies mentioned in my blog*~*
www.swagbucks.com/refer/CrazyLeoMom
http://www.amazon.com/
http://www.thirstiesbaby.com/
http://www.gdiapers.com/
http://www.happyheinys.com/
http://www.bummis.com/