Franklin Goose website

Franklin Goose has fantastic organic baby clothes, diapers, nursery items, and baby gear.  They have feeding items, sleeping items, toys, cloth diapering accessories (including the diaper sprayer), and so much other organic or natural stuff I can't list it all. Plus they have some fabulous deals going on that you can find out about by going to this blog: http://couponmommyof2.blogspot.com or to this link here.  I'm only not saying what the deal is because I'm not certain I'm allowed to, but seriously, it is worth the time to click through to find it.  Especially if you have used organic or baby products!!! 

The Goodies I Won from Babykicks!

If you read this blog, you know that I recently won an astounding $250 worth of products of my choice from Babykicks.  I posted what I got, but here are pictures of it after it arrived.  It was really astonishing how much it was when I looked at it all together.

Here is a shot of everything.  All the inserts, pocket diapers, fitted diapers, prefolds, and washies/wipes.  Plus, they sent this card with congratulations on it.  (And yes, that's my fantastic Miche Bag from Stephanie that the card is leaning against.  Plus some Static Guard and the diaper bag, hehe!).

This picture shows the pocket diapers (sorry the color is a little off--they're actually a very pure white. For some reason, the camera wasn't flashing).  The pocket diapers open up as shown, and I discovered that these suckers will snap down to a pretty small size, so I'm thinking I'll be able to use them on a brand new baby someday.  That was sort of my thinking when I chose my products.  I really have enough diapers (more than enough!) for Karina, but I want another baby, and I do not want to use any disposables at all.  We used them on Karina at first, because I simply didn't know what else to do (umbilical cord stump issue).

Here are the fitteds.  They're really similar in style to the pockets, but they're made of hemp terry (feels just like terry cloth) and I don't think they snap down quite as small as the pockets.  I got four pockets and four fitteds.

The inserts.  I ordered some anyway, but I didn't realize that both the fitteds and the pockets came with them!  That is great for us, because we love using them overnight.  Now I can double them up if I need to at night as she continues to grow.

This is the stack of wipes.  They're round and I got to choose the thread color for the edges.  I of course picked pink.  They're really soft and I love using them to dry her little tushy off when she's wet.  I don't use wet wipes on her unless she's dirty, but I don't want to just leave the urine on her body, so I love that I can use these really soft wipes to dry her off.  She likes them, too.  She laughs when I dry her off!

This is one of the three washies I got.  Similar to the wipes, but a rectangle with a pocket for a hand (as shown) to go in, so it's great to use in the tub.  I have not used them yet, but they're just as soft as the wipes.

Prefold.  I got three prefolds, and I thought I would be able to substitute the cotton prefold plus hemp liner for one of these, but apparently not.  Maybe I haven't washed them enough, but they weren't absorbent enough to handle her overnight, um, output.  I did get a smaller size (I can't remember what size exactly, but I know it was a smaller end size), so that could also be contributing.  Again, very very soft.  I originally got them planning to use them for a newborn someday.

And finally, here is the card they included.  I just want to say thanks to them again.  By the way, in case anybody's wondering, they didn't pay me to say any of this stuff here in this blog post or on any other.  I just randomly won some stuff and it happens that I really like all the stuff I got when I won.  I find the products to be really well made and I'm so happy with them!

Thanks, Babykicks!

Miche Bag Giveaway at Savvy Moms Save blog

I just found a great blog that is having a FANTASTIC giveaway of a Miche Bag and 2 shells...YES, the small bag and 2 shells!!!!!!!!  You may recall that I am in LOVE with Miche bags ever since Stephanie got one, and then she gave me the ultimate fabulous amazing and wonderful gift of a bag and a shell for Christmas... But I still have just the one shell (which I LOOOOOOVE).  Stephanie will be having a purse party soon, I hope, if she can work it out, but still...how great is it to win stuff? 

All right, here is the link to Savvy Moms Save blog.  http://savvymomsaves.blogspot.com/2010/03/miche-bag-review-giveaway.html
Check out the blog and see what it's all about, too.

I can't wait to see who wins such a fantastic prize!  The hardest part was picking my two favorite shells.  Ahhhhh! 

The Birthday Party Scheduling Fun Has Begun

Wow, I never imagined we'd start so early.  Well, to be honest, Karina went to her first birthday party when she was only about 2 months old.  Riley turned four.  At the time, I didn't realize what was beginning.  Then over the summer, last summer that is, she went to Nathan's 4th birthday party.  Okay.  Still fine.  No big deal.  Just two parties.  Well, of course, Riley turned five this year, and we went to that one.  Now Karina was actually old enough to run around.  That was so fun--it was at The Little Gym in Chesapeake and she had the best time trying to be a gymnast like the Big Kids. 

Well, during the past year, we've met some more people, and Nathan has a little brother.  We're going to his birthday party in April.  Then the next weekend after that, another birthday party (both of them are turning 1 year old).  I'm sure we'll go to Nathan's party this summer again.  See what I mean?  It's great, and I'm happy about it, but it's funny.  I didn't think the round robin of parties started until they were in school, but what the heck did I know???  I actually really enjoy it, and I love all the kids whose parties we're going to.  The boys belong to a very close friend of mine from church, and Riley is another dear friend's daughter.  The other little girl (the other one year old), Celeste, is the daughter of someone I have just started to become friends with.  So it's all good.  And we're planning to have a half birthday party of sorts for Karina this June, since the poor little lamb gets shafted at the holidays (if you don't remember, because I maybe don't talk about her enough, ha ha, her birthday is December 26th). 

Smooches from my girl

Tonight, Karina did the sweetest thing.  First let me say, she has started to become more affectionate lately.  She has started waving hello and good bye, and she's trying to kiss things and she pats my shoulder or my back.  I kiss and hug her all the time. 

Tonight, we were on the floor in her room, and she walked up to me, put her hands on the side of my face, leaned in really close to me, smiled big, and then put her lips on me.  Like she was trying to kiss me.  It was the absolute sweetest thing ever.  She doesn't really "get" what kissing is; when she kisses the doggies in her books, she just presses her mouth on the picture.  Later on tonight, she did something similar, without putting her hands on me like she did before, but she was making the zerbit noise (Pppppppplllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll).  It's kind of hard to explain but hopefully you can imagine what she was doing.  It was just so adorable.  It made me feel so happy--like she is finally learning how to express love for me.

Comments

Hi, this is a small blog with a very small following (like, less than 10) so please do not use my comment space for your advertisements (ahem, bidet sprayers and otherwise).  It's one thing to let us know about cool things you have found, but quite another to then try to get us to buy them because they have some kind of fabulous five year warranty or whatever.  So no advertisements, please.  Thanks!

Photos as promised

These photos don't even do justice to the ball-havoc that was going on.  The whole time, I was running around, rolling these balls back to where she was playing as they escaped to corners of our dining room. 

Balls. Everywhere.

Bill loves to find great deals on big toys for Karina.  The first was her slide.  It's in our dining room right now.  It has 2 steps up and a slide down, just her size, and on the side it has places to crawl and a net to keep stuff in.  For Christmas, she also got an inflatable ball pit from Bill's cousin Paula.  It came with a bunch of plastic balls, which we put in the net of her slide.  We are waiting for better weather to use the ball pit.  Karina has taken the balls out of the net and carries them around.  She's trying to say "ball" but it comes out "bwa" or something like that. 

The latest big toy Bill got her arrived today.  It's a giant tent, with an inflatable bottom, kind of like a ball pit, but with sides and a roof and some other things you can do with it.  It's four feet in diameter, and he thought it would be good for when we do her half birthday in June.  It came with 50 plastic balls, slightly smaller than the other ones she has.  Well, he opened the box up tonight after dinner, and hilarity ensued.  Karina immediately went for the balls, and literally started dumping them all over the floor of the dining room!  She was pushing them around, and literally swimming in them on the floor.  You can imagine, 50 plastic balls, plus more she had from before, all over my dining room floor, under things, going every direction...so fun.  Such a funny girl!  It's late while I'm writing this and I'm not on my regular desktop, so I can't upload the pictures right now, but when I get a chance, I will.  Because you gotta see this. 

I Went to the Mall to Distract Karina

I think she's getting another tooth.  It's the only time she's ever fussy (I know, you all secretly want to beat me up for my good luck, but really, she didn't get it from me, and I'm sure the next baby will make up for it someday), and she's been cranky for two days.  Plus, she's in full-blown clingy mode, and since she can now walk and stand and stuff, she likes to grab my legs and not let me move.  She cries if I do the dishes.  She cries if I go upstairs to take a shower.  She cries if I take three steps across the kitchen. You get the picture.  So the morning was awful, and I finally decided I'd had enough.  I decided to go out and get out of this house and distract her.  And if she was still cranky, well at least I would be distracted.  We went to the mall because it's all inside (it is cold here) and there's plenty to look at.  I didn't actually have intentions of buying anything, but of course we had to go in all the kid stores, GAP Kids, Gymboree, Old Navy, and The Children's Place.  Gymboree had some stuff on sale for some great prices (I have a pretty tight budget as far as clothing goes and unfortunately I don't get to shop there much, even though I think their stuff is really cute).  I got her a bright and cheerful flower print top for summer.  It's sleeveless and the straps have big ruffles on them.  It is very cute and girly.  I also got her a short sleeved red dress with little white polka dots on it.  Also cute.  Then I got this sleeveless sweater dress for next year.  You can find it here if you want to get it online. 

Then we went to the food court and got Wendy's for a snack.  She tried the nuggets, but really just wanted the mandarin oranges.  She ate a fry or two.  Then we went into The Children's Place.  Oh. My.  Stars.  They had $30 dresses on sale for $10.  No, really.  I couldn't believe it.  I looked at the sign about five times.  If you want to check it out online, go here.  This dress is about a million times cuter in real life than in the picture.  It has some little tulle ruffles underneath, and some sparkly stuff on the flowers, but not overwhelmingly so.  The back is a faux-laceup style, and it has the reverse print from the front, so the ground is blue and the flowers are white.  I couldn't believe what a deal it was.  Maybe it will be for Easter, maybe not, I'm not sure. I just knew I had to have it. 

Karina was super good at the mall.  We were there for about 2 hours and she never fussed.  She didn't make me hold her, either, which she usually tries to get me to do.  I thought once we stopped at the food court, and she saw me on the other side of the stroller, she'd start fussing.  No, she was good!  We came home, she was fine, we played.  The entire rest of the evening, she was fine!  She didn't even cry when I went up to take my shower.  I guess retail therapy works on one year olds, too!

Check out what I just ordered with my prize voucher from Babykicks!!!

	Item: 006		Price	Total
	1	Washies/Wipes 10pack	$14.50	$14.50
		Color Pink
	Item: 0012		Price	Total
	4	Joey-Bunz Medium	$4.85	$19.40
		Thread Color Ivory
	Item: 201		Price	Total
	4	BabyKicks Bumboo Pocket	$18.50	$74.00
		Snap Colors Blue
	Item: 101		Price	Total
	4	BabyKicks Organic Fitted	$19.95	$79.80
	Item: 0031		Price	Total
	3	Pre-Fold Small (newborn)	$5.99	$17.97
	Item: 0032		Price	Total
	5	Pre-Fold Medium (infant)	$6.99	$34.95
	Item: 0061		Price	Total
	3	Premium Washies	$2.99	$8.97
		Color Pink

Is that amazing or what?  I got two styles of washies that I can use to dry her bum or in the bathtub, four one size pocket diapers, four one size fitted diapers, and some little prefolds for the next (someday) baby.  Oh, and the Joeybunz that I use at night in her diapers.  Right now I have only three of those, and boy are they going through rotation quickly!  It will be nice to have some back ups of those!

Many, many, MANY thanks to Babykicks for sponsoring this amazing giveaway, that I was lucky enough to win.  I had some of their products before I won, and I can say that I love them.  Some of their products, I'm excited to try for the first time, and I will let you know what I think of them.  I can say now, those Joeybunz are phenomenal.  And I am not saying that because the company gave me free stuff.  No, I already thought that.  The fact that Karina wakes up dry every morning...that's proof of how great they are. 

Go check out Babykicks to see the great stuff they have at their store.  I can't wait til my order arrives!  Woo-hooooo!

Green Bottoms on Etsy

This is the diaper from Green Bottoms that I posted about a little while ago.  Remember, I liked it so much I bought it?  Well, I got it and washed it and put it on Karina today and let me tell you how great it is.  I put it on Karina sometime in the early afternoon, after she ate and got goo all over her pants.  I figured, if she's pantless, why not put her in the cutest looking diaper ever?  So I put her in it, and by 2pm, she was fading fast...as in getting really tired.  (She's had a few really busy days).  Well, I figured this would be a good test, so down she went for her nap.  She slept for 2 1/2 hours.  She did not leak at all!  I double checked the diaper and she had certainly used it, but there were no leaks!  Makes me so happy that I got it!  Makes me want more of them...  So I can say to you that I recommend these diapers and they worked for us.  I got a medium, which fits 15-30 pounds.  I think it might run a bit small, but there's still room for her to grow.  

Find Green Bottoms here!

And here are a few other All in Two options from the store:

Rose Chain...

Hot Fresh Paisley...

Flirty flowers...

Smartipants giveaway

If you are a fan of Smartipants, the one size fantastic diaper that costs only $14.95 each or 3 for $39ish and is so amazing and I love it, then you really need to be their fan on Facebook, too!  Why?  Well, besides the fact that Smartipants are awesome, you are also entered to win:

Okay Smarti-Moms! You asked for it, and you got it!

SMARTIPANTS TO REACH 900 FACEBOOK FANS 3-PACK GIVEAWAY IS OFFICIAL! Here is how to enter....

1. becoming a facebook fan or if you are already a facebook fan is one entry
2. following us on twitter at http://twitter.com/thesmartipants is another entry
3. blogging about this giveaway and then leaving a link to your blog on our fan page here is one entry
4. blogging about this giveaway and then leaving a link to your blog on our twitter page is another entry
5. Re-tweeting about this giveaway is a 3rd entry

We will choose a winner from OUR FACEBOOK FAN BASE based on the above criteria when we reach 900 fans or more! Let's get there and GIVEAWAY SOME SMARTIPANTS!

 

So there you have it folks.  Pretty easy!  I love these diapers, too.  If Karina wears them and takes a nap they do not leak, like another popular brand always does.  They're the only diaper I've ever used besides her covers and prefolds that I can depend on not to leak.  I loooooove them.

Footed leggings for kids...just what I was thinking!

Just the other day, after church, I was thinking that someone needs to invent baby leggings with feet.  They would be like thigh-high tights for kids.  Why?  Well for me, when I take Karina to church, she goes in the nursery.  I love it because it's one regular time of the week that we are separated, and she gets to play with other kids.  She loves it and I like the time away.  (Seriously, we're together 24/7)  I love to put her in pretty dresses for church, but I feel bad if the nursery staff have to change her diaper and she's in tights.  (If it's cold and she's in a dress, she needs tights, right?)  Tights are a royal pain in the wahooey.  If she's feeling squirmy, forget it.  But the leggings she actually helps me put on!  She thinks they're like pants, and we have no problem with those.  (Yes, let me brag a moment:  my one year old has been helping me dress her since she was about 3 months old.  She puts her arms in the sleeves, pulls them out to undress, and about a month or two ago started helping me put on her pants, even when standing.  Oh yeah, that's my girl!)  Anyway, I thought how great it would be to not do the leggings and socks, which just don't look as...dressy I guess you could say.  I thought, why not leggings with feet, so they would look like tights, but still not need to be removed to change diapers?  Well, I know nothing about knitting or making tights, so I looked on my new all time favorite place, Etsy, and do you know only ONE shop came up with actual footed leggings?  Yep.  Only one that I found.  It's called Jacquelynnies and her footy leggings ONLY COST $5.25!  And if you buy 5, you get free shipping.  I'm sorry, but this is a great deal.  A nameless name brand baby legging can cost $12!!!  That's just crazy to me.  Even with shipping costs, this is a deal.  She has patterned ones on her site today, and I emailed her through Etsy and asked about solids.  She has some.  If you need solids, email her through Etsy and she will let you know.  She was great.  Her name is Karen.
Here are a few of her patterned ones that are up on her site today (remember, this is Etsy, here today, could be gone tomorrow...or the next hour).

So, aren't they cute?  I love them!

Another Adorable Kinders Giveaway!!!

Remember how much I was obsessed with these awesome dolls?  And how I didn't win any of the contests to get one?  And how I didn't want to buy one yet?  Well, there is another chance to win one!  It's at a new-to-me blog called Second Time Around.  I love these dolls, still, and will eventually get one, but for now I'm still holding out for winning one!  They are nice and big, soft, and made totally in the USA.  Check out the blog and see pictures of her cute little son playing with his new buddy, Landon.  Then you'll want one of these dolls, too!

Twinkletoes Diapers on Etsy

Twinkletoes Diapers on Etsy caught my eye a while back  I started following them on Facebook, and saw that they were having a sale...which would bring the price of the All in Two diapers on their site--which are already a great price--down to about $10!  I ordered three immediately.  I have used them on my daughter already and they are working great.  Now, I have to say I have not used the inserts yet because they need to be washed several times to reach their premium absorbency, but I have been using them like regular diaper covers.  No leaks so far.  They have snaps, which is okay, though I usually prefer touchtape.  One thing I liked about them when I got them is that they seem like they might fit a newborn pretty well.  I adjusted one to the smallest rise setting and waist setting, and it looks pretty small to me.  I am excited, because as I've mentioned, I am bound and determined to use cloth on the next baby from the start.  I have a small stash of infant prefold diapers already, from my sister-in-law, so I'm partway there.  I digress.  These Twinkletoes diapers are fantastic.  I am going to try the inserts tomorrow as I've finally washed them several times, so I will update this post when I do that.  I am so impressed with the construction of the diapers, too.  There are three snaps inside the cover that hold the insert in place, but as I said, you can easily use it as a diaper cover with prefolds or whatever.  The inserts themselves are--and I know this might sound weird--a really nice shape and I like the feel of them, too.

So in summary, Twinkletoes diapers are great.  I recommend them!

Here's Karina in one of the diapers.