KiDECALS Review and Coupon Code

One thing I did not anticipate when having a baby was the importance of labeling... everything! One would think the ultra-organizer in me would have thought of this, but alas, I did not. When Leif goes to daycare, his bottles must be labeled, and this posed a problem. I didn't want to write on the bottles, so with the couple minutes I had to make a decision, I put on some clear address labels. Problem solved! Well, not really. Turns out those address labels don't stick on or stay very well.

Enter KiDECALS. These labels are meant for kids' items, and they are dishwasher proof and washing machine proof! Not only that, but they have lots of cute design options. KiDECALS sent me some labels to put to the test. Here is what I chose!

I love the design of these labels. I opted for the mega pack so I would have plenty of large and small labels. The small ones are perfect for bottles and bottle tops. The bigger ones would work great on books, bigger toys, and more.

Before I could give these my seal of approval, I had to test out the washability. I mean, cuteness counts for nothing if they fall off in the sink! However, I was pleasantly surprised. After a week of washing bottles in both the sink and the dishwasher, the labels actually seem more sealed to the bottles! Nice.

If you would like to pick up some labels for yourself, your kid, your dog, your kitchen, or just about anything, here is a code just for you! Enter the code TEAMAWESOME at checkout to take 10% off your entire order. They also ship any order for free! Go to www.KiDECALS.com to check out all the options. Happy labeling!

Anywhere Chair Winner!

The winner of the Anywhere Chair is..... Jen M!

Jen, please respond to my email with your shipping address within 48 hours. Thanks!

RundBaby Anywhere Chair Review and Giveaway!

As Leif is wiggling about so much now, having turned six months old, I have come to understand the necessity of many options to... let's say... "restrain" him. That may sound medieval to some, but if you're a parent, you know exactly what I mean!

Add to the mix that Leif does not like to miss out on any action, and some of our options disappear. The Pack n Play? Not unless you plan to sit outside it! The swing? No more. Even the Bumbo is too low to the ground because he wants to see everything.

That's why I was so intrigued by the RundBaby Anywhere Chair. It is ingeniously designed to help your baby sit just about anywhere. They are made locally by Melissa Rund of Rund Baby, who also makes lots of other items and sells them in her Etsy shop as well as at The Market, which is where I first stumbled upon them.

Melissa was kind enough to give me an Anywhere Chair to try out and review! One place we frequent without quite enough "restraints" is Grandma's house, so that is where we brought our Anywhere Chair and put it to the test.

The fabric easily fit around the dining room chair and Leif, which meant he didn't get upset about getting settled in (unlike the carseat, the stroller, and the highchair). Once he was in, he was pretty excited to be able to see all around just like the grown ups! The added bonus was that our dog was keeping an eye on him, and she is his favorite thing in the world. You can see how happy he is here!

The verdict: The Anywhere Chair is awesome, adorable, and super useful. We plan on using it at Grandma's and also in the restaurant high chairs, and I'm sure as he grows we will find more places for him to sit as well! I will also be taking advantage of those handy ribbon loops by attaching a couple favorite toys to them.

Melissa also makes lots of other baby items - I was excited to see she is working on new diaper bags with the super cute fabric she carries! You can see what she is up to at her Facebook page!

That's not all, folks - now you can enter to win an Anywhere Chair! Melissa has set aside this red and white chevron Anywhere Chair for one lucky winner. Enter below! Make sure you like her Facebook page as well. If you win, I will email you for your address - be sure to respond within 48 hours. Good luck!

Back to School, Starting Daycare, and Wipes Redux

The lack of posting the last couple weeks is due to the inevitable fact that I had to go back to school. I am now in my ninth year of teaching somehow! This year is so different because of Leif. Who knew it is so hard to leave your baby at daycare? Well, I didn't!

Leif is enjoying daycare, which makes things so much easier! He's gone from 3-5 hours of napping a day to about an hour of napping because he is so excited about all the kids around him. This makes him one tired boy at home, but it pretty much matches my energy level after a day with high school students. All in all, we are adjusting, but hoping our energy increases a bit soon. We are lucky that we have daycare we trust, in a convenient place, with kids to entertain him, and last but certainly not least, they use our cloth diapers. Win!

On the subject of cloth diapers... when I last posted about using cloth wipes, I tried out a homemade wipe solution. Turns out that is a no-go. Leif's perfect baby skin got bright red again, and it must be from the soap in the wipe solution. We are back to dry wipes with the occasional water bottle spray, and the redness has disappeared.

Leif turned five months recently - here is my favorite picture from all the ones I took. What a cutie!

The Winner of the Woolzies Dryer Ball Contest is...

The Winner of the Woolzies Dryer Ball Contest is...

Karey S!

Karey, please send me your shipping address within 48 hours (by 1 p.m. central on August 24).

Thanks to all who entered - watch for more giveaways soon!

Cloth Wipes (A/K/A I'm Getting Crunchier)

(Looking for the wool dryer ball giveaway? It's in the post below. Ends 8/21/13!)

 As you know, Leif has been in cloth diapers for about four months now, and he went from having acid-burn-like rashes to almost no rashes at all. Almost. However, he seems to have very sensitive skin, and he still had redness a couple times a day. I tried adding fleece liners (homemade by my mom - just cut up washed fleece!) which helped some, but they didn't fully solve the problem. Enter the wipes.

 Even "sensitive" wipes still have lots of ingredients! After I noticed the ingredients list, I thought I better try cloth wipes. Another incentive was the fact that the cloth wipes can go in the same bag as the diapers when changing, instead of having to throw them away - one less step! I bought some flannel, and my mom washed it, cut it into baby washcloth size pieces, and serged the edges for me. (Have I mentioned how awesome my mom is?) They were ready to go!

 I'm going to spare you before and after shots (or spare Leif, that is). The difference has been amazing though! His red spots are now nonexistent. At first I kept the wipes dry, and I left a peri bottle (got one at the hospital after delivery) full of water next to the wipes. My husband Titus wanted something with soap in it though, so he could feel like Leif was getting really clean. Challenge accepted. :) After perusing some wipe solution recipes online, I chose the following:

1 cup hot water,
 1 Tablespoon coconut oil, and
 1 Tablespoon Dr. Bronner's baby soap.

 I mixed them together and poured it over my wipes, which I had folded into my wipes warmer. In retrospect, the only thing I would have done differently is had the wipes cut to match the size of the wipe warmer better. Other than that, we are pretty happy with this experiment! I may add some essential oils once in a while, but honestly they smell great right now with the coconut scent coming through.

The lack of redness is reason enough alone to continue using cloth wipes, but think of the cost savings as well! Disposable wipes aren't cheap and the cost adds up. Cloth wipes are also environmentally friendly.

 If you have questions, just ask below! Since I am not giving you a boring picture of wipes or diaper rashes, here's one of Mr. Leif practicing his rolling skills.

Woolzies Dryer Balls Review and Giveaway!

If you have kids, you are aware of the amazing fact that laundry increases exponentially the second you arrive home with a newborn. My little guy is only four months old, but he creates more laundry than my husband and I combined! Add to that our decision to cloth diaper, and we have a LOT of laundry on our hands.

When reading about using cloth diapers, I saw many recommendations for wool dryer balls. According to seasoned CDers, using wool dryer balls significantly lowers their diaper drying time. We use prefolds and Flip inserts, and I like to wash them nightly. They take about two hours to dry in our not-so-new dryer, and that is with two plastic laundry balls in there. We stopped using dryer sheets a while back when I heard about the chemicals in them, but the plastic balls don't seem to help with static or drying time.

Needless to say, I was excited to try Woolzies dryer balls! I had to see if these six white balls lived up to their claims. I was not disappointed!

Here are the dryer balls I was sent. I was so happy to find them in the mail - my husband thought I was a little crazy, I'm sure!

I was actually disappointed that I had already dried that day's diapers, but I had a load of clothes to dry so I used the dryer balls right away. I honestly don't pay much attention to how long it takes clothes to dry because I use the auto-dry setting. However, I can definitely say that the clothes were soft and static-free!

The real test was the load of diapers that usually takes two hours to dry. How much could these six balls cut off my time? The answer? 40 minutes! That is a third of their regular drying time. Just think of the time and energy savings, not to mention less wear and tear on the diapers. Woolzies dryer balls are the real deal!

Here are their claims and how they truly stacked up:

-Reduce drying time by up to 25% - check!

-Reduce wrinkles - check!

-Reduce static - check!

-Hypoallergenic - check! (I can't wear wool sweaters, but these balls do not bother my skin at all.)

Last but not least, Woolzies balls are made by women in Nepal, and the Woolzies website states that this gives them a steady source of income. This makes me feel even better about using them.

I highly recommend these dryer balls and will continue to use them with every load of laundry. You can buy your own set at www.woolzies.com - or, you can try to win them in this giveaway!

*I was not paid to review Woolzies Dryer balls. I was given a set to try and provide my honest opinion.*