GroBaby Review

Okay, I'm late to the party =P I bought some GroBaby Hybrid daipers as part of my Mothers Day gift. What mommy wouldn't want a cute baby tushy for mothers day? ;) Anyways, yesterday GroBaby changed to GroVia and released a improved line of the diapers I have, but I got a great deal on my GroBaby's and I have no regrets! (well maybe one small one, but it's not that big of a deal.)

I bought the Seaside Stripe and the Sunset stripe. I really wish they came in snap closures, but the velcro is awesome, for velcro. It's not the normal hook and loop, it's a very thin and I can see it lasting a lot longer then the velcro on my bumGenius. Although it sticks to EVERYTHING on the diaper, which is good or bad. There isn't a ulgy velcro strip in the front (good) but it likes to stick to the mesh inner (bad).

The soaker (which is very soft) snaps in so there isn't any slipping around in the diaper. It's an organic cotton soaker and I prepped mine only 3x befor use (I know! I just couldn't wait though) and it was still very absorbant. Keira isn't a heavy wetter and the soaker wasn't even wet on the bottom. The GroVia line has waterproof (PUL) backing on the soakers to protect the mesh from getting soaked (which there were complaints.) I think thats a great idea, and my one regret was buying 2 extra soakers at full price before seeing the improved soakers and waiting a week =P. Not a big deal though, even is she did soak through the insert, the covers are easy to hand wash, and they line dry fast. Oh, the covers do reccomend line drying to reduce fading and wear. I love the colors and want to keep them the way they are so I'm sticking to line drying (I think even the bumGenius OS say to line dry the covers). One issue I have with the soaker though, is that it isn't wide enough to catch poopies. We're still breastfeeding and (sorry if this is TMI) her bms aren't always thick enough. Once she's eating more soilds and what not, it'll be fine. We didn't have leaks, just some of it got on the leg gusset on the cover and inner mesh. It washed out fine though...This time.

The Fit: I acutally really like the fit! Keira's long and skinny and some OS diapers don't go small enough in the thighs or the tummy to prevent leaks. I read some people complai ning about the rise of the diaper isn't enough (the GroVia line has a higher rise) but I think it's great. Keira's around 16lbs and 26in at 7 months and she fit the newborn setting (rise) and its still pretty small in the waist too.

The one thing I didn't like is that the extra waist fabric doesn't conform well to her tummy. You can kind of see where it indents because of the thick waist band. It's very trim for cloth, and with the bioinsert (like a biodegradable sposie insert) it's trim enough to fit in normal sized pants. I heard mixed reviews about the bioinsert, and we've only used it once (and for #1only so far) but I liked it. No leaks, good absorbtion and super soft. I got a pack of 20 for free with my purchase ($7.99 vaule) which puts them around $.40 a diaper! That is 1.5x the amount of pampers(/diaper). But they can be flushed (you have to tear off the backing) and they biodegrade. I guess since I use maybe 1 sposie a week, the cost isn't so bad considering the benefits, but still not saving money on them which is my #1 goal with cloth diapering.

Overall, I like them so far (it's only been 2 days) and I can see this easily becoming one of my favorite diapers to use and probalby get more of (2 more liners most likely).

Happy Mothers Day!

I don't think I ever truly understood what it took to be a mother until I had Keira. I mean I knew about the things that kids did, and that I'd have to give up certain things and such, but I didn't know what it was going to feel like and how it would change my perception of the world we live in. She makes me want to be a better person. I think more about my choices I make with her around. How much I do to care about the environment to hopefully preserve the things I took for granted as a kids (growing up in the forest) to how the items on our local, state and national ballots may effect her well being now, when she's a grade schooler and when she's starting her own family.

Every time I see that smiling (heck even when she's crying) face, I'm in awe not only of what I created with some simple chromosomes, but of how she's only been out of me for 7 months and already has multifaceted personality.

I know it's not sunshine and daisies, and one day when she's 16 or so she'll tell me I'm ruining her life and it'll break my heart, but she'll still be my love at first sight.

Happy mothers day to all the mommy's out there!

Our Little Adventure!

This weekend we went out on our first family hike to Chino Hills State Park. It was great weather (around 75 and breezy) and  it was a chance to take my new SUV out for some "rough and tumble" driving...Okay, so it's a narrow, mostly smooth dirt road, but it was as "rough" as it's going it get ;)

So we slathered on the sunscreen (well, Keira and I did) and headed out!

We took the lower loop and enjoyed the easy trail. There were lots of thistles and these yellow flowers, a bunch of bees and butterflies, we even saw some polywogs getting enjoying the sun in a small pool of a stream.

I thought we might find some shade or a place to have a picnic, but most of the larger trees had seemed to been burned (I don't know if there was a fire there in the past few years) and the trail just seemed never ending. So we turned around and Laurence got to take the baby =)

Overall it was a great hike. We were all tired and hungry by the time we got back to the car.

In other news, Keira's 2 bottom front teeth are finally breaking through her gums. I saw a tiny hole in her gums last week, but after all this waiting since seeing her tooth buds first, I wasn't thinking much of it...Sure enough, in the past day or so, I've felt the sharp pointy tip of one of the teeth, and the other is started to break the gum too. It's been a couple rough nights of waking up ever 2 hours, so I hope there is some relief in the near future! She's still very close to crawling too! She'll get both of her knees under her and will rock, but isn't sure what to do next =P

Anyways, hope you are all having a great weekend!

P.S. Happy First Birthday Seth!!!

Great Blog, Great Giveaway!

I found an awesome cloth mama blog a couple weeks ago. "Fitteds and pockets and snappis, Oh my!" is by Maria and she mostly blogs about her "fluffy" experiences, which to say the least is my new obsession. She posts diaper reviews, gives cloth advice and best of all giveaways! Gotta love giveaways! This week she's did a post about Baltic Amber Teething Necklaces. I've been interested in getting a necklace for some while since Keira is having a heck of a time with teething. She gets fevers, is cranky and is ALWAYS chewing on something. Although the baltic amber isn't for chewing, it's supposed to sooth and ease teething pain away. DH sin't convinced, so I haven't bought one. BUT I think it's 100% awesome that she's doing this giveaway!

Fitteds and Pockets and Snappis, oh my! you can enter to win for yourself on her blog! Good Luck!

Half a year gone...

Little Keira turned 6 months yesterday! It has gone by all too fast, but I'm happy that she's growing and learning new things! She had a Dr. appointment today. She weighed in at 14lbs 10oz and is 25.5 ins long! He said she was just above average for height and just below for weight, but still perfectly happy and healthy! I seriously thought she was going to be around 16lbs if not over today, but I guess that is why every new person we meet tells me she's petite! She's been eating fruits and veggies now on a regular basis for about a month, she does like certain foods, but'll eat pretty much whatever I have to give her - and she is demanding about getting her food lol. Her teeth still haven't poked through yet...I thought I would be here by now, but they're still just below the surface! Which means more cranky days (today she's upset because of her shots) but I guess she's not too overall...

She's almost sitting up by herself now, if I put her there...The Dr. didn't seem too worried about that. She loves to walk around in her walker (very entertaining to watch) and yesterday she started doing yoga ;) there are pictures on my facebook of her getting into 'push up' position and sticking her tushy in the air. Some ladies say their babies crawled like that! But it wont be long before she's even more of a handful.

We've also hit our 6 months exclusively breastfeeding goal! I was pretty excited about htat considering how hard it was for thoese first few weeks! I mean of course my dream is to go a full year, but I set the smaller "at least 6 months" back when I was still pregnant. And we've been pretty much exclusively cloth diapering for a full month or more. I had started doing it half time (4-6 cloth diapers a day, the rest disposables) back in Dec, but wasn't sure I would like it. Now I only use disposables if we're out in public (because it's a lot more convenient) or if the diapers aren't done washing yet. I suprisingly really have liked it so far. It isn't as hard or as time consuming as I thought it would be. Not to mention they come in cute colors and patterns! Shes never had a rash since she's been in cloth either, which was happening every so often with disposables (esp the cheaper ones)

Anyways, sorry there was such a gap in updates. I totally forgot last month and by the time I remembered she was already almost 6 months...From now on I'll update this Blog instead of update emails. You can bookmark me, or there'll be a link on my Facebook. And I'll let you know when I post something interesting ;)

Oh and if you haven't seen already - I sent in Keira's picture to a local family magiazine since they have a "kid of the month", she's didn't get on the mag, but she is running on the "honorable mentions" on the web site until the 19th!

you can see here ----> Inland Empire Family

Hope you all have a great day!

Starting Out

I've been thinking to do this for a while...It's just as easy as writting an email for baby updates, but is easier to view...sorta lol

I have a lot on my mind today, but a cranky baby isn't giving me the time to write it all down. Check back on Thursday for a new update - that'll be Keira's 6 month appt!