On the 3rd day of Christmas...

Green Baby Elephant gave to me...20% off ALL Bamboobies products PLUS a free pair of Bamboobies with any BB purchase {while supplies last!}.

Ditch the sposies for the boobies. And pamper yourself or a nursing mama on your shopping list with soft absorbent Bamboobies.

 

Remember, all orders placed today may be entered in to win $30 in Green Baby Elephant store credit!

On the 2nd day of Christmas....

Green Baby Elephant gave to me...a Free Eazz Wrap with any $25 purchase!

Eazz Wraps are soft, organic, made in the USA, and versatile. Use them as burp cloths, lil' blankies, or changing pads. They're great stocking stuffers or new baby gifts this holiday season!

This offer is good today only, 12-2-12. No coupon needed. Purchasing gift certificates may not be used towards this offer.

On the 1st day of Christmas...

Green Baby Elephant gave to me...a Leslie's Boutique Grab 'n Go Bag. And I'm giving away 2 of these fabulous wet/dry bags! I'm so addicted to Leslie's Boutique, and you will be too once you give them a try.

There are so many prints to choose from and so many different sizes of wet bags. I can't have just one of each! Don't forget about the new pail liners. They have handles to help make toting the bag to the laundry room even easier. If you are looking for a non-cloth diaper related gift, Leslie's Boutique changing pads are just the thing. These are sooooo much nicer than the plastic pads that come with diaper bags. The soft minky inside makes for a warm and comfy changing pad during the winter months. Hidden inside is a layer of PUL. This is beyond genius! My boys have a tendency to pee while being changed, and if I used a plastic changing pad the pee would just roll right off and onto their clothes and/or the changing table or car floor {depending on where they were being changed}. With the Leslie's Boutique changing pad, there will not be a river of urine running off the pad. It will soak into the minky and stay there. Yay! Can't decide on what print to get? Pick two and leave a spare in the car. This goes for wet bags as well! :) To read the full reviews of the Grab 'n Go Bags, click here and here . 

And today only {12-1-12}, 10% off ALL Leslie's Boutique Items. Plus all purchases today will receive extra entries for the G 'n G bag. Additionally, ALL orders placed today can be entered to win $30 in store credit. ~whew~ That's a lot of Leslie's Boutique goodness if you ask me. The giveaway ends 12-12-12.
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12 Days of Chrismas Specials

From December 1st through the 12th, Green Baby Elephant will be offering a different sale, freebie, or giveaway. You'll want to check out the blog in the morning or the facebook page to see what the special for the day will be! I asked on facebook what you all would like for the 12 Days of Christmas, and I listened! I hope you will all find something that you knock your socks off or in the very least something to make your Christmas shopping just a little bit easier. :)

Any and all orders placed during the 12 Days of Christmas Specials have the opportunity to be placed in a raffle for $30 in Green Baby Elephant Store Credit. The only limit on the number of entries, is the number of orders you place! So get-a-shoppin'!! You'll find the Rafflecopter entry below and on the the shop's main catalog page.

And in other news, Green Baby Elephant has been nominated for Cloth Diaper Retailer of the Year at Padded Tush Stats! I am so grateful for the nomination, which came about because of the high rating that has been awarded to Green Baby Elephant on the Padded Tush Stats website. Green Baby Elephant is a labor of love. When you make a purchase from Green Baby Elephant, you are supporting a small local business and a work-at-home-mama, not a huge faceless corporation. It is because of each and every one of you that Green Baby Elephant has been able to grow by leaps and bounds. I have had the pleasure of meeting many of you and watching your families grow since starting this business. And I look forward to continuing to be your resource for cloth diapers and other fun treats for your baby. I would appreciate it if you would take a minute and vote for Green Baby Elephant for Cloth Diaper Retailer of the Year at Padded Tush Stats. If you have an extra minute, you can rate Green Baby Elephant here. It's a great way to let other families know about Green Baby Elephant. Thank you very much. And I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.


http://www.greenbabyelephant.com/catalog

GroVia Love x2

Now that I have 2 in diapers, 1 full-time & 1 part-time, I’m all about having a diaper that fits them both with minimal adjusting. GroVia is one of those systems, specifically, the All-In-Two {AI2}. Below are a few photos demonstrating the 3 sizes with the OS shell. Don't worry that the soaker pad is larger than the shell. It's never been a problem when MW is wearing a GroVia AI2.

 

The GroVia OS Shell with a soaker fits them both. BW is now 2 ½ & 28 lbs. MW is almost 8 weeks & 13+ lbs. BW wears a shell & soaker for naps and a shell, stay-dry soaker, & 2 boosters at night. MW wears a shell & a stay-dry soaker during the day & nights. At this point, I’m convinced he is never going to figure out the difference between night & day. Or maybe he does know, and he gets a kick out of torturing me by sleeping way too much during the day. Honestly, he's too cute for me to even care. I can stare at him all day & night. Just don't mind the dirty dishes in the sink. :)

Above is a photo of both the boys in their matching OS Shells. BW’s shell has snaps, and MW’s shell is hook & loop. BW wears the snap shell on the medium rise setting with only a stay dry soaker pad. MW’s shell is set to the smallest rise setting. He began to wear the OS shell at about 9-10 lbs.

 

When BW wears GroVia at night, I use a stay dry soaker pad & 2 boosters. I fold one booster in half and place it under the top layer of the soaker pad at the front of the soaker. And then I lay the 2^nd booster on top of the soaker pad. At this point, the diaper is a tad bulky as you can see. He now needs the rise to be completely unsnapped. It fits him well and is still snug around the legs.

I’ve blogged in the past about GroVia’s AI2 system, but I still would like to point out a few nice features of using the AI2s. Right now, I do laundry every day since MW goes through 12-16 diapers a day. Add 2 diapers from BW’s naps & nights, plus a trainer every now and then, and you get a big load to wash every day. Using GroVia AI2s means the laundry  loads are smaller since the majority of the load will be soaker pads. You can reuse shells multiple times before they need to be washed.  Another nice feature is that the backs of the soaker pads are waterproof {TPU}. When removing a soiled & wet soaker, you don’t have to touch the wet part of the soaker. Instead of explaining, just take a look at the picture below.

With as many diapers that I’m changing throughout the day, I find it’s particularly nice to remove a dirty soaker pad without getting my hands messy. My biggest dilemma is snaps or hook & loop. No need to choose one over the other, so I have both styles in my stash! Want to try out GroVia, check out the whole line of their products at Green Baby Elephant.

Baby MW's Birth

Here is a little backstory before I share about the birth of baby MW. With all 3 pregnancies, we waited to discover the gender of our babies after they were born. CW & BW were both born at the Women’s Center at Northwest Medical Center. This time around, Mr. GBE & I decided a home birth was the way to go. And I’m so glad we made this decision.

Like my other 2 boys, baby MW, took his sweet time to decide on what day to enter the world. He was born at home 5 days past his due date. But once he decided on the day, he wasted no time in making his arrival. Labor to delivery was just barely under 4 hours. Mix that with being able to labor and deliver at home, and this was by far the best experience ever!

A little after 4 am I couldn’t sleep. I had a couple of really long, hard contractions that woke me up. They literally brought me to my knees. At the time I was attempting to sleep in the recliner in my bedroom. These contractions were so intense that I kneeled in front of my chair to let my belly hang down towards the floor. After a few more of these, I went to wake up Mr. GBE. I wanted to let him know that I may be in labor, so I was going downstairs to watch TV. However, it took me about 3 strong contractions before I could tell him what was going on. For the first time ever, he believed that I was in labor, and he woke right away. During my two previous labors, he would mumble something and go back to bed while I would quietly labor in the dark, early morning hours. This time Mr. GBE got right to work. He double made the bed as we were instructed to do. He got dressed. And who knows what else he did. I was having CONTRACTIONS! And these weren’t normal beginning of labor contractions. These were every 2 minutes and were lasting about a minute or more each time. I was in denial that this was happening. I kept waiting for them to become more ‘regular’, as in not so intense and not so frequent. I was in such denial about it that I downloaded a contraction timer app for my phone. While timing them for about an hour, Mr. GBE kept asking me if he should call our midwife. ‘No, no, not yet. I’m fine.’ All the while I’m on my hands and knees or leaning over the reclining chair moaning. Looking back now, I’m such a nut.  I could barely stand up to brush my teeth, but I kept telling him to wait. He didn’t need to call, so about an hour of this went on. And after being ‘nagged to death’ I gave Mr. GBE the go ahead to call. It was time.

A lot of details are lost on me. I didn’t look at the clock anymore. And I can’t recall the comings and goings of everyone. I was too into what I had to do. I hardly remember when my midwife showed up, and as time went on I hardly remember when my other two midwives came as well. I do, however, remember BW coming into my room. He walked over to me and held my hand. I only patted his, not wanting to squeeze and hurt his little hand. I couldn’t even look at him during my contractions, but I loved knowing he was right there with me. He wasn’t scared that his Mama was on her knees moaning and breathing through contractions. Mr. GBE came in and took BW down to get his breakfast. It was the last time I ‘saw’ BW until his brother was born. CW never came to see me that morning, which was totally fine with me. He knew what was going on. I had prepped him on what was going to happen in the weeks leading up to this special day. CW & BW both spent the morning with their Grandpa. Once the two boys were gone, Mr. GBE was back at my side. And at that time, I was already in the tub.

The tub was relaxing, at first. Eventually, I couldn’t stay in it any longer. My legs kept ‘falling asleep’. Somehow my midwife and Mr. GBE convinced me to get out and go to the bed. But first, I made a pit stop. While relieving myself, I suddenly yelled, ‘I HAVE TO PUSH.’ And I should also mention that I have had my eyes closed for the majority of my labor. And at that moment, I happened to look at Mr. GBE. I saw panic. He was freaked that I could deliver this baby on the toilet. That freaked me out a little too. Thank goodness for my midwife. She was so calm, and she along with Mr. GBE moved me to the bed. I don’t know how I got there, but I did. It was show time.

I should disclose that with CW & BW I had epidurals. This time around, I could feel everything!! But the best feeling was reaching down and feeling MW’s head. It really made me feel like all my effort was really doing something. I got really excited to meet this baby, and specifically see if we were having a girl or a boy since we didn’t know that we were having a baby MW. It could have been a baby AM for all I knew at that time. After baby’s head was out, I did feel that my midwife was jockeying baby around a little. I knew the shoulders were stuck, but I’m so glad she didn’t verbalize this. Hearing it probably would have freaked me out a bit. And after the shoulders were worked loose, baby came right out.

And I held baby immediately. I was in love. While holding baby, Mr. GBE and I looked. I waited almost 41 weeks, so we looked immediately. We looked before counting fingers and toes. We looked, and we saw that we had a beautiful, baby boy.  My MW. He didn’t cry or scream. He was so calm. I was so calm. I talked to him, and loved on him. I told him about his brothers. I fell in love all over again.

 

It's not the most flattering of photos, but what do you expect after 4 hours of hard labor? I was lost in the moment of our first cuddle. <3

Grab 'n Go Giveaway!

Below is a partial repost from a couple of weeks ago for those of you that may have missed it.

‘At BW’s age {now 26 months}, I don’t always feel the need to take a diaper with us while running errands. Sometimes I remember and other times I don’t. And really, all I need to take is one diaper for emergencies. Even when BW was younger, 1 diaper was all I needed for short outings. Again, it was more for an emergency diaper change than a need for another diaper while we were out and about. Leslie’s Grab ‘N Go bags are perfect for holding 1 diaper plus a few wipes. They are small and fit in a large purse easily. I should also mention that their size is a plus since I’m not one for diaper bags. As soon as my babies outgrow the need for me to pack along everything plus the kitchen sink, I’m back to my regular bags.

As you can see in the following photo, I’ve placed a diaper in the outer pocket to show how a single diaper looks in the G‘nG bags. I think it’s safe to say that most diapers would fit well in the outer pocket. The yellow OS FuzziBunz is even double stuffed. There’s plenty of room for your bulky diapers and of course trim AIOs {All-in-Ones} will fit perfectly as well.

If you’re a cloth wipe user while away from the house, just put a few pre-moistened wipes inside the zippered wet pocket. You’ll be set to go for your short trip away from home.’

I can’t say enough nice things about Leslie’s Boutique wet bags. The prints are cute. They are made in the USA. The concept of a wet/dry bag with a pleated outer part that is found on the medium & large wet/dry bags are genius. This keeps the outside pocket from taking up room from the inside wet pocket. And the compact size of the Grab ‘n Go bag makes for easy storage for one diaper while on the go. And quite possibly eliminates the need for a diaper bag. Be brave & go run errands using your regular ‘non-mom’ bag.

Green Baby Elephant is happy to giveaway a Grab 'n Go bag in Disco Dots to one lucky fan!!  Good luck to everyone that enters the giveaway.

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