Wee Expressions Fitted Diaper Review & Giveaway! (10/14) CLOSED

CLOSED: Congratulations, Allison!

   

It's time for another giveaway!

   Lauren Daniels of Wee Expressions graciously sent me one of her fitted cloth diapers to review and she's going to give another away to one of my lucky readers!

   Wee Expressions has more than just cloth diapers, too! They have nursing pads, bibs, cloth wipes and more!

   I was so excited to receive my diaper in the mail...and Wee Expressions did not disappoint!

Look at their lovely presentation!

 I can't wait to re-use that adorable ribbon in my sweet girl's hair! 

Washing/care instructions were included

And...surprise! A complimentary matching cloth wipe and pair of diaper pins!

 I thought this was a really nice touch!

 (Wee Expressions was formerly Wee Essentials and is in the process of changing over their tags, etc.)

The wipe is great quality! Matching flannel on one side and soft terry cloth, (very effective for cleaning nasty messes!) on the other!

   I washed and dried the diaper a few times with my other loads before using it to make sure it was well "fluffed" for maximum absorption. It held up beautifully and turned out to be a great fit for Katie! 
   I really enjoyed getting to use a fitted diaper like this, having only used prefolds! So easy to just pop right on her and pin! No folding and adjusting to make sure it wasn't sticking out of the cover. It was a perfect fit around her legs and we've had no leaking whatsoever! 

 (the diaper after several washings)

Inside the flannel layers there are a few layers of a thick soaker fabric that do a great job!

   I would definitely recommend this diaper! I was sent a size large, (18-24lbs) and for my 23ish pound baby it works great and will probably fit her even beyond the 24lb mark, perhaps because she's a little on the slender side. 

BUY IT:  Visit Wee Expressions! Their products are reasonably priced...a large fitted diaper is less than $10!

or

WIN IT!

   Wee Expressions is going to send one lucky winner a fitted cloth diaper in their choice of boy, girl, or gender neutral print and size!

To Enter: (Mandatory Entry!)

   Visit Wee Expressions Etsy shop and comment here, telling me your favorite item or diaper print!

    (You must be a follower of Mama Chocolate for your entries to be valid!)

You must leave separate comments for each entry, (if it says 3 entries, I need 3 comments!) Please leave your email address in your comments, so I can contact you if you win!

Bonus Entries:

(only valid if the mandatory entry is completed!)

   -  Favorite Wee Expressions Etsy shop (3 entries)

   -  Become a fan of Wee Expressions on Facebook (1 entry)

   -  Become a fan of Mama Chocolate on Facebook (1 entry)

   -  Purchase something from Wee Expressions shop before October 12th (10 entries!)

   -  Follow Mama Chocolate on Twitter (1 entry)

   -  Post about this giveaway on your blog. You must have a link to Wee Expressions shop and a link back to my blog included in your post for it to be valid. Leave a link to your post in your comment (5 entries)

   -  Post about this giveaway on your Facebook page. You must have a link to Wee Expressions shop and a link back to my blog included in your post for it to be valid. Leave a link to your post in your comment (5 entries)

   -  Tweet about the giveaway! You can copy and paste this:


#WIN a #clothdiaper #giveaway from Wee Expressions http://tinyurl.com/2gyywnm


or use the retweet button at the bottom of this post.
 Give me the permalink to your tweet in your comment (1 tweet per day - one entry each)

Giveaway ends October 14th, 2010, at 10am PST.

This giveaway is open to US residents. I will chose the winner via Random.org, and the winner will be announced here on my blog and notified by e-mail. Make sure to leave your email, or have your contact available on your blogger site. The winner will have 48 hours to respond, and if there is no response another winner will be chosen. 

*I received a complimentary large fitted diaper and wipe from Wee Expressions for the purpose of this review and giveaway. I received no other compensation, and the opinions expressed in this review have not been influenced in any way.

More sewing...

   Katie was obliging enough to model another one of my sewing projects for the camera...

 I've discovered two helpful tools in getting Katie to hold still long enough for me to get her picture:

the piano, and animals!

Otherwise, we get beautiful, blurry, too-close pictures of a small, happy child running at the camera!

I love this girl!

Papa must have taught her this one...

   I'm hoping to get a few more dresses sewn for this little lady before the New One arrives. I have some fabric and patterns picked out, including some deep-purple crepe for the princess to wear at our church's annual Reformation Party on October 31st!

   I'm excited about our costumes. Katie & I will match this year, and I'm hoping to make my costume so that I can wear it in almost any stage of life...pregnancy, nursing, or not! (I'll be almost 39 weeks pregnant at this year's party!) I was unsuccessful in finding a pattern that actually would accommodate all of these needs, so I'll be wingin' it! 

   I'll keep you updated on how that goes...

Sunday Social Network Exchange!

   Hooray! Mama Chocolate is the Featured Blog on the Sunday Social Network Exchange this week at Frugality is Free!

    Welcome to my new followers! 

Leave me a comment and I will follow you back!

A New Chapter

Among the towels and soap, my bathroom cupboard now houses...

Chocolate chips!

Now that we have a good potty seat (that I won in a giveaway!) we're starting to think about potty training!

Katie will be 18 months in a week, so she's still a bit young.

I'm looking for training advice. We've already had several successes, (with reward: see above photo,) so I know that she has an idea of what she's supposed to do and she's been quite proud of her accomplishments. :-)

But is 18 months a little young? She is excellent at communicating, yet she doesn't seem to mind too much when her diaper is wet...if I ask her if her diaper is wet, she'll tell me "no!" just to avoid the diaper changing process.

Much too busy for such things, Mama. :-)

I don't mind keeping her in diapers for a good while yet. Should I be encouraging occasional attempts, or is it going to complicate things when I want to get her trained "for real?"

Please share your experience and thoughts!

The other issue is...if she isn't entirely potty-trained before the baby comes, (in about 7 weeks!) do I really want to be in the middle of that process immediately post-partum? Or would it be easier to just change her diapers for a few months along with the Tiny One, and then start in earnest once I'm recovered and life is a little more "normal?"

Besides.

My new Thirsties Duo wraps just came in the mail and I like them! Must we phase her out of diapers already?

Okay. So I'm weird.

Sorry. :-)

Accomplished young lady...

I just finished this dress for sweet Katie.

She loves it.

I truly think she's developing a taste for pink.

That's my girl.

A peek into my diaper stash...

I chose to use prefolds and covers when I started out cloth diapering. I bought the preemie size from Mom's Milk Boutique, knowing that later on I could use these teeny tiny diapers (recommended for 4-10lbs) as doublers/soakers/whatever-you-wanna-call-'ems. They also make great burp cloths!

Prefolds

I ended up being able to use them until Katie was at least a couple months old. Even though she was born at 8lbs, 4 oz, she took forever gain weight at the beginning with our nursing problems, (another story!) and she wasn't 10 pounds for quite awhile. I think I used them a little beyond 10 pounds, too. I didn't want to buy anymore yet, because I knew that I was soon to receive a bunch of bamboo velour preflats. A dear friend of mine had access to the luxurious fabric and offered to sew it up for me into these oh-so-soft delights!

This is not the greatest picture, but it shows the bamboo preflat next to my teeny-tiny prefolds. Basically the preflat is two layers of bamboo velour with a layer of bamboo loop terry in between, invented by Amy over at Peanutbutter & Ellie.

The bamboo preflats have fit Katie for months. I can't remember exactly how old she was when I switched over to them, but I never used anything in between the preemie prefolds and these, so she was pretty little! And, still, at 18 months, we're using them!

As for covers, so far I have only used the Thirsties V 2.0 covers. With these covers, I haven't even had to use pins until Katie started walking recently! The preflats sometimes start sinking down in the cover and drooping after she runs around for awhile, so I've started using pins during the day.

The covers have been great...but I'm curious to try out covers with snaps. I've had to repair the velcro on the medium size, (the ones Katie has been in the longest,) several times now. Also, if Katie has a dress on that doesn't include panties...she can, (and will) free herself of her diaper. :-/ I suspect she'd have a more difficult time with undoing the snaps.

I just ordered 4 new covers, this time the Thirsties Duo Wraps, size 2. (In case you wanna know, Mom's Milk Boutique is having a rare Thirsties sale right now, plus their always-free shipping! And they didn't pay me to say that.) ;-)

Three of them I just got in more neutral colors, but I had to get one girlie one...

This print makes me happy. :-) I can't wait for my package to arrive!

I love getting to line-dry my diapers...I'm going to miss these summer days!

As for wipes, I just cut out a bajillion little rectangles of flannel and serged two layers together, rounding the corners to make it easier to grab 'em.

I rarely actually line-dry my wipes. I usually just stack them back into the wipe container and pour my wipe solution back over them, still damp from the washer. Or I toss them into the dryer along with another load.

Occasionally, though, I like to give them a good sunning to get out stains and bacteria.

My Wipe Solution

In a quart jar, add:

2 tablespoons baby shampoo

2 tablespoons baby oil

2-3 drops tea tree oil (to keep any mold away: yuck)

Fill to the top with boiled water.

Ta da!

Pretty simple.

I just pour the solution over a stack of clean wipes until they're all well-moistened and away I go!

A stack that big usually lasts me a week or more!

My diapering station...

I keep clean covers, pail liners (I have two, so I can use one and have one in the wash when needed,) and any clean dry wipes in this drawer nearby.

So, there you have it. That's how I do cloth diapers. Hopefully I didn't bore you to tears. ;-)