Innocence in a Toque

Charlie Banana Review and Giveaway

I am in LOVE! Charlie Banana is a new cloth diaper company based in Hong Kong. They specialize in pocket diapers in the one size or sized form. They only come in snaps. They have microfiber inserts and you can also purchase disposable inserts for times that call for them.

I received ^^^THIS^^^ package of Charlie Banana products.

2 of their 2 in 1 one size diapers (one periwinkle, one white) 4 inserts total, 2 disposable inserts, 3 single wipes. 3 double sided wipes, and a tote bag.



White: Biggest setting Periwinkle: Smallest setting

The one size diaper has waist and hip snaps and you adjust the rise by changing the elastic setting in the legs. I like that there is only one thing to adjust on each leg unlike some other brands with the elastic system.

Close-up view of the leg elastic (smallest setting)

  The pocket opening is at the front on the inside so the insert that goes in is completely covered up and nothing sticks out of the diaper when you put it on baby. The adjustable elastic is also hidden by the front pocket so it wont be against baby's skin when the diaper is on. I do find the front opening a little harder to get the insert out than other back opening diapers. But its nice knowing I don't need to tuck anything into the diaper after I have put it on. Also, knowing none of the microfiber is touching her skin is a comfort.

 The diaper is so incredibly soft inside. I was amazed at the softness even after washing several times. My other diapers do not compare to the softness the Charlie Bananas have retained. I haven't had any staining on the insert or the lining. I usually use a flush able liner, but it never fails the time I forget it, Sweet Thing does her business that time. The solids (or not so solid sometimes) seem to come off very easily.

You can kind of see how thick the waist is. it is much thicker than the rest of my diapers, it's great, we have not had any red marks with our Charlie Bananas. This is one feature that I absolutely love about this diaper, and it doesn't create any bulk.

This diaper is one of the trimmest we own, which for me, is a huge selling point. We need something to fit nicely under regular clothes. It's cold here and as much as I would love her to be able to wear just a diaper and a t-shirt all day, it's just not possible.

I was so excited for this colour. Now we have a diaper to match our vine babylegs!

It fits perfectly, there are snaps for the waist and thigh individually. Using the snaps and the elastic inside, you can create a truly custom fit for any baby. 

This one we have stuffed with the disposable insert. It's extremely thin this way. Perfect for when it's 'necessary' for it to be disposable.

To use the disposable insert, lay flat inside diaper and tuck the end under the front flap. Easy peasy!

Overall this is a fabulous diaper, it is one I reach for when I want to put jeans on my daughter, or when I just want the best fit and a cute butt! ;) They absorb great, wash great. Just an awesome diaper I am truly glad we have found.

Charlie Banana also carries a bunch of other things, including wipes, tote bags, wet bags, change pads, mattress pads. They also having training pants and swim diapers, leg warmers. They have mama cloth and nursing pads too.

Charlie Banana has offered one Mama to a Sweet Thing reader 1 One-size Charlie Banana diaper.

(Open to Canada and US)

How to Enter:

Mandatory: Follow Mama to a Sweet Thing through Google Friend Connect

Extra Entries:

Check out Charlie Banana and tell me your favourite colour or print of the diapers.

 Like Mama to a Sweet Thing on Facebook

Like Charlie Banana on Facebook

 That is a possibility of FOUR entries per person.

Leave a separate comment for each item you complete.
Please leave your email address in at least one entry so I can contact you incase you win.

 

Giveaway ends November 12th at Noon PST

I received a package of items for review. All opinions are 100% my own. No other compensation was received.

Baby's First Bowling Experience

Sweet Husband arranged 2 games of 5-pin bowling for my birthday. We had a lot of fun and it was Sweet Thing's first time.

Dear Readers,

It has been 5 days since my last post.
I have been slacking lately and I'm feeling bad about it.
I told myself I would be a blogger and try to blog at least 4 or 5 times a week. Lately that has not happened. But yesterday was my birthday, so cut me some slack...

I have decided not to blog on the weekends so I can spend that precious time with my husband and daughter together. Unfortunately that means no more Sunday Show and tell. Which bums me out cause I had a lot of fun with it. But family comes first.

Now here are some pictures of Sweet Thing in a few pretty dresses she owns but never gets the chance to wear. Not too many special occasions around here I guess.



funny face




guess the distraction!



WINNER WINNER

Congratulations!!

The winner of the My Little Noggin Giveaway is:

THE SCHNEIDERS!

I just want to give a big Thanks to all who entered! This was my very first giveaway and I am very pleased with the results. I would also like to Thank the ladies at My Little Noggin for sponsoring this review and giveaway.

I will be emailing the winner, if I do not receive a reply within 48 hours I will select a new winner via Random.org

Giveaway Scout

Have you heard of Giveaway Scout?
They have a great service for bloggers and readers alike.
For bloggers, you submit your blog, if you do giveaways, and they will scour your blog often for giveaways and post them on their site and send out emails with a link to your giveaway for many to see!
As for readers, you can sign up to receive emails of the types of giveaways you are interested in, like mommy stuff or electronics to jewelry, whatever you like. I love this idea, and I get a lot of use out of it.
Check it out for yourself here.

Last Chance

This is your last chance to get your entries in for the My Little Noggin/My Little Legs Giveaway! I will be drawing ONE lucky winner tomorrow afternoon! It is super simple to enter! One Mandatory Entry gets you a chance, and if you want more chances check out the post at the bottom! There is a possibility of 10 entries per person!

HURRY HURRY! Giveaway is almost over and there are only about 30 entries so far!

Thank you and GOOD LUCK!!

Agoo Apparel Review and Coupon Code

I'd like to introduce you to Agoo, they are a Canadian company, specializing in UV protective clothing for children, tushie huggers and adorable bamboo leggings. They even have a mommy jacket.

We received the Mary Jane 'Twozie" in Rose for review just in time for our trip to Mexico.

A twozie is essentially a onesie attached to a dress or shirt. Two items in one. The things I love about the active wear are that they are stain resistant, four-way stretch, it wicks away moisture, and of course that they protect against the sun, which is essential for summer-time around here. Other great features are that they don't use tags on the neck, just printing. They also use flat stitching so there is no chafing, which is great for a baby(or kid) on the go.

I love this twozie, it has a lot of room to grow lengthwise, the tush on it is so cute with the little ruffles. The fabric is soft. I love that this is active wear but it is a little dress and it is still easy to move around in. It is a little confusing to put on, but once you've figured it out, its easy. The onesie part seems a little tight when putting it on, I probably should have gotten a bigger size. Overall, I love this product, it is great quality, I don't feel as if it's going to fall apart like I do with some other children's clothing. The colours are really nice, they aren't overly babyish or bright, and that is something I really appreciate.

Their active wear is made from Nylon and Spandex that they call Active Stretch. They offer a 50+ UPF rating on all their active wear. They have baby clothing ranging from 0-36 months and children's from 2-8 years.

Agoo also has a wide range of leggings, and they just came out with 32 new styles! What I love about the leggings is that they are made from bamboo, which is an amazing renewable resource.

They have also just come out with some new accessories including water bottles and gift sets that include a water bottle with different tops and a matching pair of leggings.

We LOVE our bamboo leggings!

They've also got something that they call Tushie Huggers, which are either a skirt or shorts attached to leggings, so they are all one piece. They just came out with Hockey Huggers, so you can choose your favourite team for your future hockey star!



Grampa's favourite team!

Check out Agoo on Facebook

Agoo has offered Mama To A Sweet Thing readers a coupon code for 35% off your entire order.

Use Code: agoovip35

While Hubby's away the Wifey will....play?

What happens when my husband is gone for a night?

All day long I eat and eat and eat. And not on anything remotely healthy of course. I eat until I get a stomach ache. I eat until I feel ill.

What else happens?

I don't clean up after myself... or the baby.
The kitchen is a disaster, the counters havent been wiped. There are books and paper, dvd's, boxes and clothes all over the floor.


Why does this happen?

It never fails, the moment he leaves I become a slob. A big fat lazy slob.
And then at the very last minute I clean the house to perfection and he is none the wiser when he gets through the door.

And the Winner of the stupidest, most wasteful 'invention' ever goes to...

KLEENEX

for their new disposable hand towels.

You know, it's so hard to wash a cotton hand towel once or twice a week. It's nasty to share a hand towel with your family and friends. You never know what happens between hand washing and hand drying. Thank goodness for these tree killing, waste producing hand towels, it's hard to believe that people lived through all that hand washing and drying through the years. Who knows where we would all end up if we had to dry our hands on *GASP* reusable hand towels any longer.

If you haven't heard of these, check out the commercial here.

It's unfortunate that people are so money hungry they will do anything to make a buck. Even if it comes down to ruining the earth for future generations. I never cared or even realized the consequences of such things a year ago. Since giving birth to my daughter, I feel very strongly about doing all we can to reduce waste. My daughter, my grand-children, great grand-children etc etc have to live on this earth. If stupid people like the Kleenex company keep doing things like this just to make money, there might not be anywhere for my great great great great great...(you get the idea) grandchildren to live, and that pisses me off!

Another thing...they don't even use recycled materials! They are seriously cutting down trees to specifically make these!

And what's wrong with germs anyway? The less germs we come in contact with the weaker our immune system. It's too bad that there will always be people who give in to things like this. Companies like Kleenex are creating germaphobes, and thats exactly what they want. It also looks like they want our home bathrooms to look like that of Gas Stations and Airports. YUCK!

Do yourself a favour and invest in some really nice cushy hand towels (and not a face cloth like they are using in the commercial), a good 'GREEN' detergent, and tell me whether you still want to use a tiny square of paper to dry your hands.

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

I am Thankful for...

- Family near and far.

- Sweet Thing and the way she dances, talks, learns, plays, her health, her wonderfully sweet hugs, slobbery kisses, her naps, everything about this little girl I am thankful for.

- Sweet Husband and all he does to support his family, the silliness he brings, the love he gives me.

- The food in my fridge, in the cupboards and the freezer.

- The freedom I have.

- My pets.

- Warm coats, toques, mittens and scarves.

- The ability to travel to visit loved ones scattered through the country.

- Cameras.

- Water.

- Not having debt (aside from the mortgage). Thanks to my wonderful husband who is so great with money.

- Our health and the ability to expand our family, unlike so many other unfortunate loving people.

- I am Thankful for my life.

Happy Thanksgiving Canada

My Little Noggin Review and Giveaway ~CLOSED~

I LOVE headbands on baby girls!! That is why I am so excited to have recieved the snap gift set from My Little Legs and My Little Noggin. They sell crocheted hats with flower clips, crochet headbands, different gift sets, including Christmas and Halloween themes. They also have a huge selection of baby leg warmers, which I am a sucker for! 

One of the best things about this company is, the more you buy, the more you save! You can get from 20-50% off your entire order depending on how much you spend. Their stuff is beyond reasonably priced in the first place, tack on 20-50% off, you are getting a steal! They also offer FREE shipping to all orders within the US and Canada and a $5.00 flat rate everywhere else.

 

This set is great, everything is interchangeable, everything matches. The snaps are genius! So much easier than clips on bands, I have a hard time with placement of clips, and they never seem to sit properly. So that is why I love the snaps, no guessing, just choose a flower and a band, snap and put it on baby!

You do need to be gentle when pulling the pieces apart. If you just yank on it til it comes off, it wont last forever. The bands are good quality, they aren't scratchy or too tight. The bows are adorable, and they are put together very securely. The flowers are cute and the perfect size for anytime. I do wish they had more colours, I need some blue and red. Overall, I think this is a great product, it works very well, the cuteness factor is a 10/10 and Sweet Thing doesn't mind them being on (after the initial tug anyway, once she is distracted they last forever).

My Little Legs and My Little Noggin has offered Mama to a Sweet Thing readers a coupon code for an additional 10% off your order. Thats a possible 60% off! Awesome!

Use code: "SweetThing" (only valid on orders of $20 or more)

expires October 20th/2010

Also, one of my lucky readers is going to win an item of their choice!

(excluding gift sets)(Open to Canada and US)

How to Enter:

Mandatory: Check out My Little Noggin and tell me what one item you would choose if you won and something you like about their new site design.

Extra Entries:

Like Mama to a Sweet Thing on Facebook

Like My Little Legs on Facebook

7 entries if you purchase using the code SweetThing

That is a possibility of TEN entries per person!

Leave a seperate comment for each item you complete. If you made a purchase, leave 7 seperate comments with proof(order number), numbered from 1-7.

Giveaway ends October 20th at Noon PST

Mexico

Our trip started on the wrong foot. A scheduled 5 hour flight took us 8 hours. Thunder and lightning storms prevented us from making a safe landing in Peurto Vallarta, we tried 3 times. We flew down to Manzanillo, where we refueled and waited for the storm to clear. They could not let us off of the aircraft due to customs. So there we sat, on an idle plane, broken bathrooms, with nothing to eat at dinner time, only a measly bun and craisins in our bellies from lunch. There were about 5 or 6 babies on the plane, they were all angels, including mine. The adults on the other hand, crowding the aisles, shushing each other to hear the announcements, taking their shoes off and walking barefoot. Things didn't get better once we landed. We had to clear customs. This wouldn't have been so bad if we had gotten in line immediately, since we didn't realize we needed to fill the form out beforehand we went off to the side to do what we thought would take a while, when in reality it was a few silly questions that we could have filled out easily in line. The rest of customs went fine except the 200 other people in line in front of us and the humid air in the airport.

We make our way to the bus to take us to our hotel. The ride there was spent praying they would have something for us to eat. Luckily the restaurant was open another 30 minutes. Just in time for us to get in and get out with full bellies. The Buffet on the other hand, not what I was expecting at all. We ended up eating practically the same meal every day the whole week we were there. There was an a la carte restaurant as well but we read children were not allowed.

The next day was tough trying to get used to the heat and humidity. Feeling unsure about going in the sun much with Sweet Thing.
We decided to leave the hotel, we needed to get a few snacks and some water and we wanted to explore. So where do you go? Walmart of course. Yes...seriously, we went to Walmart in Mexico.
To be really honest, I didn't want to be in Mexico, especially after the flight there and I don't cope well with that type of heat. I was not a happy camper. We waited til the evening to go in the pool for the first time.
Sweet Thing loves the water.

A day or two pass, and in the evening none of us are feeling very well at all. Sweet Thing and I were fine by the morning but poor hubby was feeling awful, so the next two days were spent mostly in the hotel room. We were on the 18th floor. The very top floor, and the elevator was beyond slow. Carrying a baby in one arm and a bunch of soda crackers in the other was not an easy task.
We made some wonderful friends who we hung out by the pool with for a while. That was my favourite part of Mexico.
We hung out down on the beach where, merchant after merchant were after us, trying to get us to buy hammocks, and necklaces, temporary tattoos, dresses, and shrimp kabobs. That is the one major drawback of being on the beach. I understand that this is how some people make their money, but it is so darn frustrating, because you cant say yes to everyone and you feel bad about the stories (true or not) that they come up with to sucker you in.

We went down to the boardwalk one day where I really broke down, I was not having a good time, people were constantly after us about trying tequila and getting us to sign up for a timeshare. We were walking hand in hand, baby in the Ergo on daddy, when this man comes between us and puts a bracelet on my wrist and getting us to make him a deal, he put two more on my wrist and gave us a price, we'd had enough so we bought them and got in the nearest cab to get back to our hotel.

I hate to sound ungrateful, because I am very grateful, we had a wonderful opportunity to see something new, and a week to get away from our everyday lives. If we didn't have a baby with us, I think it would have been a much more enjoyable trip and we would have been able to do a lot more things like swimming with the dolphins, or a trek through the jungle, zip lining. So many opportunities. This was not a good family trip, unless all you want to do is sit on the beach or by the pool. Which is awesome of course, just not what everyone pictures when thinking of Mexico.

Now to end on a positive note. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time, most of the time, the sun came out every day after amazing thunder showers at night. The palm trees were beautiful, the ocean was warm, the sand hot on my feet, a light tan on my shoulders, and not a worry of the rest of my everyday world. We got to see a new culture, and feel blessed for the things we have and take for granted.