Changing Diapers - A New Fluffy Book

Most of us in the cloth diaper world have heard of Kelly Wels - she's the founder of DiaperShops.com, KellysCloset.com - two very popular online cloth diaper stores.  She also founded The Cloth Diaper Whisperer which is a popular blog and facebook page.  In November 2010 she founded KellyWels.com and according to her website:

"Her mission is to share her love for cloth diapers and advocate for diapering change. She says she believes that through education and knowledge, parents can be empowered to make more positive diapering choices. Kelly also is a green living promoter and social media marketer."

As you can see, Kelly Wels has a very impressive resume and
a deep knowledge base for all things cloth diaper -

Which is why she was the perfect women to literally
Write The Book on Cloth Diapers.

It was officially launched during a Twitter Party last night and is now flying off the shelves.

About the Book:
It is 215 pages of well thought out content and beautiful full page color photographs.  It features company summaries for the top Cloth Diaper brands and explains the difference between all the styles and materials you'll find in the cloth diaper world.

Table of Contents:

1. Why Choose Cloth Diapers?

2. Snappis, Doublers, AIOs, and Pockets: Understanding Basic Cloth Diaper Talk
- Cloth Diapering 101
- What you need to know about cloth diaper fabrics

3. Brands, Debates, and Dates:  Getting Started with Cloth
- Diaper like a pro
- Choosing the right brand for you and your baby
- Velcro or snaps? The debate sticks around

4. From Newborn to Toddler: Diapers for the Ages and Stages
- Newborns to Three Months
- Four Months to One Year
- One Year and Up

5. The Back to Work and Daycare Diapering Dilemma
- Traveling with cloth diapers
- Using Cloth Diapers in the Hospital

6. And Baby Makes Two (or More): Cloth Diapers Multiples and Other Special Little Ones
- How many diapers should a mom of twins buy?
- What brands are best for multiples?
- Special needs babies are fine with cloth

7. Conquering Leaks, Rashes, and the Nighttime Wet Mess
- Cloth diapers don't leak do they?
- Break out this rash of information
- Conquer the nighttime wet mess

8. Daddies and Diapers

9. Airing Dirty Laundry: How to Wash You Cloth Diapers
- How to handle wet and soiled diapers
- Doing Laundry
- Removing Odors

10. Extra Stuff You'll Need
- Wet Totes and Wet Bags
- Wipes
- Swim Diapers

11. Gotcha Covered

Also included is:
- a list of cloth diaper resources
- deciphering Brands (like I mentioned above)
- Notes
- About the Author
- Extras including lots of lists
- My Fluffy Thoughts - a place for you to write notes
- Index
- Fashion index - see a diaper you love in one of the beautiful pictures, find the brand and fabric name here.

It retails for $17.95, and below is the link to buy is straight from the source herself!

A portion of the proceeds of the book will be donated to the Real Diaper Association to help advocate for cloth diapers.

The Best Carrot Cake You'll Ever Eat

Yes, it's really that good.

I found this recipe WAY back in 2002.  Chris and I had just started dating and it was his birthday.  his request - Carrot Cake.

I've never been a huge carrot cake fan - too dry - and I'd certainly never baked one myself, so I turned to Allrecipes and hunted to a well reviewed recipe.  I can across this one and after I got over my shock that baby food was one of the ingredients, I trusted the other reviewers and tried it. 

Amazeballs.

Moist, delish and very well received by the resident Carrot Cake expert.  He liked it so much that I've been baking it every since.  This October marked the 10th year I've made this cake, so I thought I'd share the recipe with you.

Gymboree Fall Sale - $3.99 and $6.99

I was in the mall yesterday and popped into Gymboree real quick to check out the clothes.  I've never experienced their fall sale before (Hannah was just a babe last year), and I haven't paid attention to whether or not there was a winter/spring/summer sale, so those of you that are Gymboree aficionados will have to let me know how this works.  I started perusing the sale bins and couldn't stop myself once I uncovered the cutest stash of summer shirts in 2T.  These prices were lower than consignment prices and in MUCH better condition. (obviously...)

Hannah will only be 20 months old when summer starts, but she's so tall, I'm sure 2T will fit just fine.

I got the following items for less than $31:

From Summer 2011 Cape Cod Cutie Line

$3.99 - Top

$3.99 - Top

$3.99 - Shorts

$6.99 - Dress

$3.99 - Shorts

From Summer 2011 - Batik Summer

$3.99 - Shirt

White crisp cotton with gold accents

From Summer 2011 - Fourth of July

$3.99 - Shirt

Normal Gymboree prices are around $25 for shorts or a summer shirt, and $37 for a dress.  

That means this haul would have cost $187 full price, and I spent $31. 

This scenario is also known as: I save 83.43% off retail price and the only downside is that my 2 year old will be 1 year behind the 'trends'.  

WINNER! 

You can check out the sale online at the link below, but your local store will probably have a bigger selection of lower priced items.  Mine did!
http://www.gymboree.com/shop/dept_category.jsp?productSizeSelected=0&pageClicked=0&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374304777285&bmUID=1318625469465

GroVia All In One Cloth Diapers

I'm lucky enough to work near one of the two Cottonbabies stores and love to go in and look at the new designs and patterns.  

Today I stumbled across the GroVia all in one cloth diaper.  

I was familiar with GroVia's hybrid system:

 

Hybrid in Snap - OR - Hybrid in Hook & Loop

but I had no idea that they had released this new all in one style:

One Size

Newborn

Since Hannah is WAY out of the newborn size, lets talk about the one size option:  

• It features soft organic cotton, and the side tabs are super stretchy for a comfortable fit.  

• The first difference you notice is the adjustable side snap feature as compared to the more mainstream snap placement that we see in the Newborn option:  

Side Snapped One Size - VS - Front Snapped Newborn

• Even though the side snap design means that the diaper tabs are touching the baby, they are lined with soft cotton and there is no PUL or snaps touching your baby.

• The one size adjustment comes from a snap down rise that we're familiar with.

• The soaker is sewn in  (NO STUFFING!!) and is extra long so that you can adjust for extra absorbency where you need it.  There is a snap in booster (doubler) that snaps on the underside of the soaker so, again, no snaps are touching your baby. 

I love the idea of a long soaker that is sewn or snapped in on one side.  I've noticed a few brands embracing this idea (similar brands: SoftBums or BumGenius' new FreeTime).  We must have finally complained enough about how annoying stuffing your diapers can be.

If you dislike the look of multiple snaps on your baby's cloth diapers, a side snap design like GroVia's All in One cloth might be a more visually pleasing option for you.

It currently comes in nine great colors/patterns:

 

Cosmos - Ice

 

Mod Flower - Nature

 

Owls - Planes

Surf - Vanilla

and Cloud

For more information, please check out GroVia's website:  

https://www.gro-via.com/

To find a retailer near you or online: 

USA: https://www.gro-via.com/usa-retailers.html

Canada: http://www.grovia.ca/where-to-buy

Product images from www.gro-via.com/

California Fights for Breastfeeding Support in Hospitals

Have you heard about California SB502? 
I hadn't either until yesterday, but it was signed by California Governor Brown on October 6th, 2011.