WAHM Archives - My Life: A Work in Progress

CLOSED Bellies To Babies: Maternity & Baby Giveaway Hop Jan. 5-15 #Bellies2Babies

5 January, 2013 30 Comments

Welcome to another awesome giveaway hop! Hosted by MamaNYC, the Bellies to Babies Giveaway Hop from Jan. 5-15 focuses on maternity and baby, bringing you more than 30 blogs with designated giveaways!

Here on My Life: A Work in Progress, there are several prize packages for multiple winners, thanks to my awesome sponsors: Babywearing Workout, Beautiful Burps, Zookiescrafts, Cheeky Bunz, Barry’s Toys, and Delight Designs.

After entering the giveaways below, please scroll down to the linky at the bottom of the page. Then, hop around from blog to blog and enter all the other awesome giveaways!

Babywearing Workout:

The Babywearing Workout is a 30 minute fitness program created by mom Kelli. After Kelli had her daughter, she found herself constantly bouncing around with her daughter in a mei tai, trying to get her baby to sleep. Kelli decided to turn her bouncy movements into exercises to lose weight she gained while pregnant and before. She lost 70 pounds within 10 months! Read my full review HERE.

Beautiful Burps:

Created by working-at-home mom (WAHM) Courtney, Beautiful Burps is a line of adorable handmade bib and burp cloth sets, individual bibs, individual burp cloths, and burp cloth sets of three. She even has decorated onesies and cross over shirts available! Her burp cloths can be used as changing pads when on the go, as a blanket, or under a baby’s head while sleeping to protect from spit up or drool. Read my full review HERE.

Zookiescrafts:

Whether you cloth diaper your little one or not, these cloth wipes by Zookiescrafts are sturdy and soft to clean up messes and wipe little faces and hands. Michele, the WAHM (working-at-home mom) behind Zookiescrafts, has a lot to offer…cloth diaper covers, receiving/swaddle blankets, girls’ skirts and dresses, cloth wipes, beanies, wet bags, loveys, crayon wallets, pacifier clips, and more! Read my full review HERE.

Cheeky Bunz Diapers:

Cheeky Bunz is a line of cloth diapers and other fun, necessary items for babies and mamas, like baby blankets, cloth wipes, and mama cloth. This year, Cheeky Bunz is expanding to selling bags, children’s clothing, some household linens, nursery bedding and quilts. Elizabeth, the hard-working mom and Cheeky Bunz creator, is planning on opening up a brick and mortar shop the summer in Albuquerque, New Mexico! Read my full review HERE.

Barry’s Toys:

In his crowded studio in Southern Ireland, Barry handcrafts beautiful wood animals, puzzles, and other toys. A member of the Etsy Ireland team, Barry began making toys for his grandson. Based on his wife’s experiences working at a Montessori school, Barry designs toys and puzzles by combining his own designs with those of tried and true developmental toys. Barry’s toys are made with sustainable wood and eco-friendly materials. The toys are finished with a water-based varnish, safe for little ones. Read my full review HERE.

Delight Designs:

Jessica of Delight Designs makes more than six versions of cute little baby or children sleeping signs as well as other adorable items. She even sells decals for cloth diaper pails to make sure no trash finds it way in! At Delight Designs, you can find anything from Christmas ornaments to nostalgic and sweet gifts for parents and grandparents. Jessica is open to custom designs, so contact her on Etsy if you have any questions! Read my full review HERE.

Giveaway Terms & Conditions:

Sweepstakes open to residents of the US. Must be 18 years or older. Void where prohibited by law. Odds of winning depend on total number of eligible entries received. Winner chosen via Random.org. Once winner has been selected and emailed, winner will have 48 hours to respond or new winner will be selected. Winner’s first name and last initial will be posted on this blog and other social media and Web sites. My Life: A Work in Progress is not responsible for prize fulfillment. Entrance into the sweepstakes indicates acceptance of these terms and conditions.

If you agree to the terms and conditions stated above, enter below. Please note, there are four different Rafflecopter widgets (one for each prize package). If you have any issues with Rafflecopter, please empty your Web browser’s cache TWICE, then return here to enter.

Winners:
Entry #449 Aubree F. Entry #493 Ellen F. Entry #279 Judith M. Entry #679 Colleen L.

Review

Review: Shhh…Baby Sleeping door sign by Delight Designs

4 January, 2013 20 Comments

He’s finally asleep. You sigh in relief and head back to the kitchen from baby’s room. Then you hear it. Pat-pat-pat. Someone’s walking up the steps to your front door. Nooooooooooo! you harshly whisper. Too late. Ding-dong-ding-dong. Your door bell reverberates around the house. Wah Wah Wah!!!!! annnnnd he’s awake.

What could have prevented this, you ask? A “Please knock, baby is sleeping!” sign by Delight Designs!

Hello! My name is Jessica, and I am the momma behind Delight Designs. I wanted to create cute things for myself, and then others were asking for them as gifts..thus Delight Designs was born in 2011. First it was only “Please Knock Baby Sleeping,” but now I offer over 6 different versions, and I’m always looking for other cute ways to say DONT KNOCK! 🙂 -along with a handful of other cute gifts-

Little bit about Me:
Three babies call me Mommy, and I get to share life with my own Superman. Running shoes are on my feet every morning by 6am, and Mint Oreos are my weakness!

Jessica let me choose a sign to review. I decided on the “Shhh…Baby Sleeping!” sign and chose this cute polka dot background.

This wood sign measures about 6″ by 6″ and has vinyl lettering. It’s 3/4″ thick, so it’s quite sturdy.

The sign has two holes drilled in the top and twine attached, so it can be hung. You can hang it on the outside door to warn potential guests and delivery services, or you can hang it on baby’s door as a cute reminder!

This particular sign would be a perfect gift for the new mom or dad! Check out all the different styles of signs and other cute items by Delight Designs on Etsy. Between now and January 31, get 20% off all items! Use coupon code: bellies2babies

One lucky reader will win this adorable sign featured below during the Bellies to Babies giveaway hop, Jan. 5-15!

Note: I received a complimentary sign by Delight Designs to review and was not compensated for this post. I was not asked to write a positive review, and the opinions expressed above are my own and may differ from those of others.

cloth diapers, Review

Review: All-in-two (AI2) cloth diaper by Cheeky Bunz

3 January, 2013 4 Comments

I’m thrilled to introduce, Elizabeth, the WAHM (working-at-home mom) behind Cheeky Bunz, a line of cloth diapers and other fun, necessary items for babies and mamas.

I started making cloth diapers after the birth of my second child! It started out as diapers for my cheeky baby girl, but they were such a big hit amongst my cloth diapering mama friends that I decided to try selling them here! Now almost 2 years later I am making diapers and so much more!

I am the lucky mom of two amazing kiddos. Noah is my 7 year old. He is my budding diaper maker (we started with pillows), but soon enough he’ll be sewing like a pro. Charly is my baby, she is 22 months old and the happiest baby I’ve ever met (I may be biased). She is the model and my inspiration for this business! And of course none of this would be possible without the support of my amazing husband! He has always stood by me and encouraged me to follow my dreams!

Cheeky Bunz Diapers will be expanding beyond cloth diaper accessories. This year will bring bags, children’s clothing, some household linens, nursery bedding and quilts! I will be opening up a brick and mortar shop, opening (hopefully) in June or July here in Albuquerque, New Mexico. -Elizabeth

I was super excited to review a Cheeky Bunz AI2 cloth diaper with a Zorb II soaker! I’ve always been curious about Zorb, and this was my first time seeing the fabric in action!

Click on Photos to Enlarge:

AI2 diapers are becoming a quite popular cloth diaper choice. An AI2 consists of two parts: the waterproof outer part that can be used more than once in between washing and an inner absorbent parter (soaker) that is replaced when wet or soiled.

Cheeky Bunz AI2 cloth diaper with Zorb soaker

The outside of this diaper is made with waterproof PUL fabric. The inside of the diaper part is lined with bamboo fleece, which is nice and soft against baby skin.

This diaper is one-size. That means, by adjusting the snaps across the front and waist of the diaper, this diaper will fit many babies from birth to potty training. The waist features cross-over snaps for the little, tiny wee ones.

Large setting:

Smallest setting:

The narrowest point of this diaper is 6″ across. That’s comparable to the majority of cloth diapers I’ve reviewed. BumGenius pocket diapers are 6.5″ across in the crotch.

The Zorb II soaker is 15″ long and made of two layers of Zorb II. There are no snaps on this particular soaker; however, when you purchase an AI2 from Cheeky Bunz Diapers, each AI2 generally includes a snap-in soaker and a lay-in doubler (not snapped). So my experience is slightly different than what you’ll get with your own Cheeky Bunz diaper. In spite of the lack of snaps, I had no issues with the soaker moving around. I found that I was able to customize it just fine. Since it was a bit too long for my son, I just folded over the front.

A reversible fabric with a bamboo/cotton face, Zorb II absorbs moisture 20 times faster than fabrics traditionally used for cloth diapers like bamboo, cotton, or hemp. Zorb II also holds the liquid in better and in greater capacity than other fabrics. Each layer of Zorb II is equal to about two layers of microfiber terry, so if you use the Zorb II doubler and soaker, that’s equal to about eight layers of microfiber terry. All in all…Zorb II is a wonderful fabric for absorbing urine.

Our experiences:

I love the adorable elephant PUL. It’s so cute on Baby J!

We got a nice fit around the legs and waist. He could probably wear this diaper on the smallest rise setting, actually; so there’s definitely plenty of room to grow.

Cheeky Bunz AI2 — 7 months, 3 weeks. 19 pounds, 27 inches

I generally change Baby J after he’s worn this diaper for two hours. I put the soaker in the wet bag for washing, and meanwhile let the outer part of the diaper air out for a few hours. When I put it back on him for the second go round, I use a generic doubler or a folded prefold inside as a soaker.

If Baby J wears the diaper for three hours, the soaker starts to get pretty wet in the front. I left the diaper on him for about four hours once, and pee actually leaked through and soaked the seat of his pants and onesie. I’m assuming that if I had the soaker and the doubler both, this probably wouldn’t have happened.

Want your own AI2 by Cheeky Bunz Diapers? Visit Cheeky Bunz on Facebook and Etsy to learn more!

Elizabeth is graciously sponsoring a prize for the Bellies to Babies giveaway hop event that starts this Saturday, January 5! Get a head start on your giveaway entries, by following Cheeky Bunz on Facebook!

Note: I received a complimentary AI2 cloth diaper and soaker by Cheeky Bunz to review and was not compensated for this post. I was not asked to write a positive review, and the opinions expressed above are my own and may differ from those of others.

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