Belly Bandit

Well I think this is the 5th time I've sat down to update this blog. We will see if I can get all the way through it before someone "needs" me.
Today I'm going to review the Belly Bandit. Ok seriously did you ever think there could be a product out there that could help you shrink just minutes after you give birth?? Well I was skeptical. I had actually heard of the belly bandit and was planning on purchasing it before Elijah was born, figuring I could use all the help I could get. I looked at it on ebay and looked at it on the website and had a hard time justifying paying $50.00 for it so I forgot about it. A few weeks after Elijah's birth I was at the hospital baby boutique and I saw them there, my husband had been out of town and I was depressed, and when I'm depressed I buy things so I bought the belly bandit. I wasn't really sure it would work or that it was for me but I figured it was worth a shot.
So, I put it on and wore it just like the directions say to and low and behold it really did help. Now let me tell you this is no weight loss secret, no hidden plan to help you lose the 60 pounds you gained while you were pregnant. Believe me if it was I would be shouting it from the mountain tops. If you gained 60 pounds I'm sorry to tell you, your going to have to lose 60 pounds. What the belly bandit does do though is help your uterus shrink back to it's normal size and helps get everything back to where it's supposed to be. So, even though I do still have 50 pounds to lose, it really did help me to fit into some pants that I couldn't wear just due to things not being exactly where they should be internally. So, yes it did help tighten and shrink my "belly" too bad it had to tighten and shrink it with an extra 50 pounds but that isn't the point. The point is that if your pregnant and you would like a little extra help tightening your tummy after birth the belly bandit is a fabulous tool to help. I would definitely recommend purchasing the belly bandit to everyone, it was definitely a positive purchase for me.
So, the great news is that I am going to give one away..yes that's right everyone it's our next giveaway, but here's the catch. I have to have 200 followers before I can give this amazing product away. So, get on it everyone if you want to win, all you have to do to enter is be a follower. Call your friends, send them the link, get them to follow. So, the day we reach 200 followers I will do the drawing via random.org.
Happy Following everyone!! :)

We have a winner

The winner of the Orange Pettiskirt by Taylor Joelle is Jessica Sharky!!! Congratulations Jessica, please email me at angelaanderic@aol.com and give me your address and I will get your prize shipped as soon as possible.

Don't forget the giveaway

Hi all just a reminder that I will be doing the drawing for the Taylor Joelle Pettiskirt at some time today. I may not announce the winner until tomorrow. Have a great day!

I've converted

It seems like I'm always thinking about babies, why wouldn't I though I have 3. I was thinking today about my decision to cloth diaper my Elijah exclusively. I tried with Grace who is now 3, I just didn't know enough about it and I got discouraged and basically quit after a few months. I kept the diapers though and again tried with Hannah but again didn't know anything and I thought she just peed to much and they wouldn't work. This time around though I was committed to making it work and I got online and researched brands and cloth diaper topics and really got familiar with how it works and how to care for them to get the best use possible out of them. So, I decided to plunge right in and do it from birth to potty training, for a lot of reasons. Some of you are probably thinking that cloth diapering is expensive, those all in one diapers can cost you upwards of $15 each depending on the brand and by the time you buy enough so your not doing laundry every day your spending a pretty penny. The truth is though that you will spend aproximately $1000 dollars more through out your child's diapering years on disposables. Another great reason to cloth diaper is knowing that your childs skin isn't being exposed to the harsh chemicals and products used in disposable diapers and lets be real it's much better for our environment.

With all that said, I did my research and made some purchases and I now have a stash of about 40 cloth diapers, yes that is a lot, I have my favorites too. Let me give you a run down of what I have brand wise, I have Bum Genius One Size 3.0 and 4.0, I have Bum Genius all in ones size small, Fuzzibunz perfect size, Bum Genius bamboo fitted, Bummis Bamboozle, Flip system, econobum, Grovia, rumparooz, and happy heinys. Well lets talk about terminology first, the one size diapers are diapers that will last your baby pretty much from birth to potty training, you can make them larger as your baby grows, it's a cover with a pocket and you put an insert inside the pocket and then put it on baby. The all in ones are just that, the are the cover with insert sewn in and it's just like a disposable diaper, no tricks or work to it, you just put on your baby and they are sized small, medium and large. The fitted diapers are diapers that have no cover so you have to buy a cover to put over the diaper, I use thirties duo wrap or bummis super whisper wrap. My favorites are the Bum Genius all in ones and the fuzzibunz perfect size. My least favorite are the Happy Heinys but they all seem to work really well so far. I have really enjoyed cloth diapering Elijah, so much that I've decided to convert Hannah, she is 20 months now and will be in diapers probably for another year, I can use the One Size with her and so I am going to give it a shot again.

I never thought I would really enjoy something like diapering but it really is so much fun and they are so cute, it's hard not to spend a lot of money on them though because it can become an addiction. :) I would say if your on the fence, go for it, cloth diapering is really not hard.

So now for what I learned in my research that I did wrong the first time and had NO clue about. First of all who knew that they needed special attention when washing? First time around I just threw them in the wash just like everything else I washed, at the time I was using tide so I put my tide in and then the big no no fabric softener, who doesn't want their diapers to be soft?? Yeah big mistake. Well I learned that fabric softener repels moisture so therefore your diapers won't soak up anything, they will leak and you can't just use any old detergent. So, I researched cloth diaper friendly detergents and found Charlies Soap, I love charlies soap, I bought it just to use on my diapers but quickly converted to full time use. It's a great detergent, and it's safe for your diapers and best of all it's reasonably priced, infact I think I'm saving money and even better than all of that is they ship free to Alaska. I just bought the 5 gallon bucket and they shipped it to me free via fed ex. You know that isn't cheap. Second thing I didn't know a lot about was storage of the dirties. I was spending a lot of time going up and down the stairs to the laundry room to get dirty diapers out of the the babies room. Well, I found planet wise hanging wet/dry bags. FABULOUS.....you just hang the bag on the door, throw the dirty diaper in and I'm telling you there is no smell that comes out of that bag. I have a bag full of dirties and you wouldn't even know there are 15 dirty diapers in the room. Amazing. When it's full I carry it down to the laundry room and start the laundry process. It's a great system.

I have to tell you also that I absolutely love cloth wipes, I especially love Fuzzibunz organic cotton/fleece ones. They are so super soft, I can't believe I ever used regular wipes before. I love these, I put them in my wipes warmer with water and when it's time to use them, I just pull them out and they are moist and soft. I recently discovered too that Planet wise makes a travel wipes bag so now I'm taking my cloth wipes on the road with me. So excited about that. Well I don't know if your inspired now or not but I'm telling you take the leap, jump in because it's something you won't regret. I'm hoping soon to do a giveaway of some "fluff" that is what we cloth diapering mama's like to call it and if your on the fence or baby isn't born yet, maybe you will win and be inspired to take the plunge.

Above is my little Elijah at 4 weeks in his Fuzzibunz perfect size diapers

check out www.theclothdiaperwhisperer for your chance to win

Fluff Friday
1 econobum trial pack
1 bum genius wet bag

Well I'm mostly going to try to keep my blog postings to one a week, maybe 2 but since I have 3 little ones it's not always easy for me to find enough time to sit at the computer. Today is a special day though because it's my first giveaway. Yay!!! For those of you mommies with little girls you will love, love, love this product. I recently discovered pettiskirts. Oh my goodness, can dressing a little girl get any cuter?? I wish I had known about these when both my girls were born because I would have done their newborn photos in one. So stinkin cute!!! So, today my review and giveaway is on the Taylor Joelle orange pettiskirt. I recently discovered this "mommy" business and they have some of the cutest apparel for babies, girls and boys alike. I call it a "mommy" business because it's an online store started by a mommy, and who doesn't like to support a mommy?? Anyway, the pettiskirt I have as a giveaway is an orange size 2-4 pettiskirt. Just to get it out of the way because I know you are wondering, they did not technically donate this skirt I was in the market for one so I bought one, well the one they sent me had a tiny little black spot on it so I emailed and badaboom badabing they sent me another one and I asked about sending the other back but they said to keep it. Customer service doesn't get any better than that!!! So, I "cared" for the one with the spot and the spot came out and so I am giving away the one they sent to replace it. It is so super cute and my girls love these pettiskirts. It's also perfect timing because it's orange and fall is here and halloween is just around the corner, nothing cuter for a halloween or a fall picture than your little sweetie in an orange pettiskirt. So, this giveaway is going to be so easy, all you have to do is be a follower. If you follow you could win. I will be doing the drawing a week from today through random.org, this way it's totally fair and everyone has a chance of winning. So, happy following mommies and friends. :) Oh and go check out http://www.taylorjoelle.com/ you will find some super cute stuff there and they do a weekly hot buy every week which is usually a huge discount on one item. They have ties for boys and and super cute hats (my girls have some of these fabulous hats and we love them.) Check them out for some super cute apparel.

Above is the orange pettiskirt and the other photo is of my sweet grace in her taylor joelle

pink autumn beanie hat

Ok well it's been a while since I started the blog, I now have a 6 week old, a 20 month old and a 3 1/2 year old. Wow, my life sure is crazy. I was thinking last night about some of my absolutely favorite, can't live without baby products. There are way to many to list but I thought I would start by reviewing one at at time. Today I am so thankful for the miracle blanket, wow, what a life saver. I started using the miracle blanket with my first daughter Grace who is now 3. I had the hardest time keeping her asleep at night, I googled swaddle blankets and the miracle blanket came up. I figured it was worth a try, so I bought one. The first night I used it my Grace slept all night long, what a blessing. From that day forward I have used the miracle blanket with all of my babies starting at the hospital when they were born. It has 2 interior flaps that help keep the arms restricted which eliminates the startle reflex, and they are great at keeping those little houdini's in the swaddle. Before the miracle blanket I would call Grace my little escapee. She was always getting her hands free which in turn woke her up. No more though not with the miracle blanket. The only downfall to the miracle blanket is that it only comes in one size. I swaddled my daughters until 6 months old, they were too big for the blanket probably before 6 months but I made it stretch. Love Love Love this blanket and I know if you buy one you'll love it too!!! Above is a picture of my girls Grace and Hannah admiring their brother Elijah in his miracle blanket.