Diapers.com Rocks!

So for those of you who may have missed my tweets I've been in a great debate about buying Avin an organic crib mattress. Yes, we do co-sleep but for the past week or so he's been rolling out of bed or waking up and crawling out of bed (we sleep on a futon mattress in the floor). This makes me a nervous wreck and of course does nothing for his quality of sleep either. I've decided that he needs to sleep in his crib but that I want it to be as safe as possible. That led to me investigating organic crib mattresses. The first thing I noticed was how expensive they are! We are talking upwards of $250 for a crib mattress. The second thing I noticed was that not all "organic" mattresses were truly organic. Some only had an organic layer or two. Most organic mattresses were not waterproof so you need to purchase an additional cover to protect them from bedtime accidents.

Luckily I got a coupon notice from BabyGoodBuys about a 15% off coupon to Diapers.com. I went to Diapers.com and looked around and they had all types of baby stuff including crib mattresses. I shopped around and found two different mattresses to consider- one organic for $299 and one not organic for $150. I left them in my shopping cart and planned to get up and purchase one this morning. During the night it occurred to me that if I bought a cover to put over the mattress it needed to be organic too...and so would the sheets. Those costs add up quick and I finally decided that because I'm not rich I couldn't justify spending $299 on a mattress and then another $100 on a cover and sheets. So instead I went with the $150 mattress but when I went to check out it told me my coupon code was invalid. I gave Diapers.com a call on their 1-800 number and explained what happened and it turned out the 15% coupon was only good through yesterday. However, they were so awesome that they gave me the 15% discount anyways! I was able to combine that with a $10 credit for a first time diaper order (I ordered some diapers too) for a total discount of $54.85!

I just ordered this morning around 11 A.M. and I've already gotten shipping confirmation for the crib mattress, it is being delivered right to my door for free! It should be here by 8 P.M. on Thursday. The customer service was excellent, very helpful and friendly. The products were as cheap or cheaper than other sites I had been shopping and the shipping was free. I'll post again when I get my stuff but right now I couldn't be more pleased with my purchase from Diapers.com. I highly recommend them to anyone shopping for baby gear (they had some great sales going on Britax car seats!) or diapers. (They even sell cloth diapers!) If you decide to shop Diapers.com for diapers please use my referral code AVIN7003. I get credit for each person who says I referred them. :) Happy shopping!

You'll Never Believe What Avin Did Today...

Ok, so Avin will be 10 months old on the 17th so I thought I had months, maybe years before he started being really rotten... it's official, I was WRONG! He's active from the time he wakes up until you force him to sleep and then he's popping back up shortly. Last night he was playing in the floor and my husband turned around to see naked baby buns streaking across the living room. Avin had managed in about 60 seconds to remove his pants and diaper! I laughed and didn't think anything more about it until this morning when he removed his pants again. Still, I didn't stress over it, I just laughed it off. Fast forward to after nap when I am trying to put away his clean clothes and have fished him out from under crib, behind the chair, and everywhere in between. I finally gave up and set him in his crib long enough to hang up his few little shirts. 3 shirts into hanging I heard water running. I whipped around thinking that somehow the humidifier sprung a leak and then I see him...Standing up, hanging on to the crib rail, naked from the waist down, peeing EVERYWHERE and laughing! I had to laugh because he was so happy about the whole process but honestly when I was stripping the crib bumper, the sheets, and the dry pad of the bed it didn't seem nearly as funny. I just pray this was an isolated incident and not a preview of his upcoming antics.

Babies...the only people in the world who can be in the middle of being bad and still manage to make you think they are cute!

I've found my "green" cleaner! BioKleen Cleaners Review

Since I've had Avin I've been searching for "green" or natural cleaning products. The search has been frustrating to say the least. I thought I had found a good product at one point only to discover after using it that it contained ethanol (same as E85 gas!). (See my previous Clorox Greenworks post for more info) I've kept up the search and I have finally been rewarded!!! I received Lavender-Lime Bac-Out Bathroom Cleaner, Citrus Essense Bac-Out Multi-Surface Floor Cleaner, Spray & Wipe All Purpose Cleaner, & Bac-Out Stain & Odor Eliminator for review. The first thing I liked about Biokleen was their history.

According to their website:

Jim Rimer founded Biokleen in 1989. As a previous sales representative of cleaning chemicals in the commercial and industrial industry he became more and more aware of the dangers of the products he was selling and the ingredients they contained.

He saw first hand his chemicals were creating health problems for his customers, causing negative effects - including cancer - on families and pets in the homes and businesses where these supplies were being used. Jim was selling poison and this realization shook him to the core. Jim's drive to take a stand and make a difference helped motivate him to study chemistry. With his newfound knowledge and driven passion he formulated his first cleaner using natural, non-toxic ingredients. Today Biokleen continues to develop and create innovative products, which still measure up to Jim's beliefs and standards:

•Effectiveness
•Concentration
•Non-Toxic
•Environmentally Safe

I couldn't wait to try out the cleaners when they arrived. The first one I tried was the Lavender-Lime Bac-Out Bathroom Cleaner and it worked so well! My sink was covered with globs of toothpaste and liquid handsoap when I walked in with the cleaner in hand. Usually I have to spray the sink down, let it soak, wipe it out, and then scrub it down. I spritzed the cleaner all over the bowl of the sink and wiped it with my rag immediately just to see what would happen. I couldn't believe my eyes when the area I wiped immediately came clean. One quick swipe and all the toothpaste and soap residue were gone! I used it to clean the seat of my toilet bowl, my shower, and my sink and counter. Everything came clean so easily! It didn't seem to do anything about my hardwater build up on the shower walls but then again nothing does! The smell of the bathroom cleaner was unusual. It wasn't overly strong but it was different and I could never decide if I liked the smell or not. It wasn't a bad smell, just different.

I use a swiffer sweeper on my hard floors and I usually have to use at least 2 swiffer pads on my kitchen floor when I mop because they become so soaked from the swiffer solution. My normal mopping routine is to wave the swiffer around and spray solution in a wide path in front of the mop, let it set for a minute, then mop. I usually end up spraying spills or heavily soiled areas again and using the scrubber pad on the side of the swiffer to scrub them up. The Citrus Essense Bac-Out Multi-Surface Floor Cleaner comes in a spray bottle so I decided that I would try it out with my swiffer instead of using the swiffer solution. The spray that comes out of the bottle is a wide, light mist. I sprayed the area in front of the swiffer then ran it across the floor and the floor came clean. I didn't have to let the solution soak on the floor, I didn't have to scrub, I just sprayed and mopped. It was so easy that I was halfway done with the kitchen before I realized that I was mopping left handed (I'm a righty!). Mud, babyfood, and anything else that was on the floor didn't stand a chance against this cleaner. The spray is so fine that the floor barely gets wet, and it is so concentrated that I didn't have to soak the swiffer pad to get the dirt up. It left behind a light citrusy scent on my linoluem. The best thing about it was that I didn't have to worry about any chemicals if Avin crawled across the floor!

While I was in the cleaning mode I tackled the kitchen with the Spray & Wipe All Purpose Cleaner. My husband had tried to be helpful and cook dinner for me. While I appreciate the gesture he does have a habit of getting as much food on the stove as he does the plate. His pots boil over, he doesn't use a spoon rest, he drips sauces when he dishes it out. After he's done cooking it looks like the kitchen exploded. When I set out to clean the kitchen I expected to be scrubbing for at least 20 minutes on the stove alone. WRONG! I sprayed the cleaner on the stove and then immediately tried wiping the stove. The food started coming up instantly--even the boiled on, cooked on, baked on food remains. There was no spraying and letting it soak and then coming back to scrape it off like I've had to do with other cleaners. I gave it a light spray and wiped-the end. The kitchen smelled so yummy and clean!

I was practically dancing with joy because I had shaved a good 20-30 minutes off my normal cleaning routine since I didn't have to practice what I call "spray and wait". Since I had some extra time I headed into the bedroom to try the Bac-Out Stain & Odor Eliminator. We had a cat who in her old age (10 years) got the carpet confused with kitty litter. I had several spots near the litterbox that she peed on and soaked the carpet. I've steam cleaned using every product imaginable, I've tried carpet powders, spray on foams....the works and I cannot get the horrible cat urine smell out of the carpet. I figured that it couldn't hurt to try one more product. I read the directions and sprayed the carpet down with the Bac-Out and set my timer. When I came back in the room smelled disgusting! It was a mixture of citrus and cat urine. Gross! As the carpet dried the smell faded away. I got down on my hands and knees and sniffed the carpet and the cat urine smell had definitely decreased but it still wasn't gone. The bac-out warns that it may take repeated treatments to completely eliminate the smell. I gave it a second dose and once again the room smelled horrible while it dried but once it did the carpet smelled better. I think a couple more treatments and the smell will be gone completely from my carpet. The end result of clean smelling carpet is well worth the temporary gross smell that comes from the bac-out's live enzymes digesting the pet waste.

Frankly before trying BioKleen I expected to be disapointed again. Boy was I wrong! These products exceeded my expectations by a mile. I can't wait to try the Dishwasher detergents, fabric refreshers, and toilet scrub! I recommend these products to everyone now! At about $6-$9 per bottle these cleaners are very affordable. They are super concentrated so you get a lot of cleaning power out one bottle. The fact that there are no harsh chemicals and that it is completely safe for the baby, the dog, and the earth makes me feel so good about using these products.

Go to biokleenhome.com to see their entire line of eco-friendly cleaning products. You can also fan them on Facebook or follow them on twitter to stay up to date on their great products.

Happy Cleaning!

Karma Naturals Natural & Organic Products Review

Don't you love it when you stumble across a new store and it is filled with tons of fabulous treasures that you always needed but never knew about? That happened to me a few weeks ago when I stumbled upon The Morning Sun Gallery in St. James, Missouri. I opened the door expecting a local art gallery and found this delightful, eclectic shop filled with furniture, home decor items, and Karma Naturals Natural & Organic Products. I was so surprised to find a wide select of natural and organic products that ranged from lip balm to makeup to bath salts to lotion and more. I immediately wrote down the contact information from their packaging because I knew I HAD to do a review of these products. I got in touch with Kris, the woman behind Karma Naturals, and she agreed to let me host a review of her products.

I received a variety of lotions, bath salts, baby soap, and lip balm. Most of her products are all organic but some are just made with natural ingredients. The packaging lists every ingredient and it is clearly labeled if it is not 100% organic. The first thing I opened was her unscented lip balm. I applied it to my lips and it felt like silk! It didn't feel waxy or cakey when I put it on. For hours I went around rubbing my lips together because I just loved how soft it made them feel. It was long lasting moisture and it completely healed my winter-dried, chapped lips. She also sent me a lip balm in Toasted Marshmallow and it was so yummy. The lip balms come in over 50 flavors and are all PARABEN, PHTHALATE and PETROLEUM product free! How awesome is that?

I suffer from dry cracked elbows and feet during the winter and I've been trying every lotion known to man to help my ugly elbows get spring ready. I was surprised when I picked up what I thought was a lip balm and saw that it was a lotion bar. It came in a oval shaped container that looked like lip balm and when I opened the lid the product looked like lip balm. I immediately started drooling over the scent of it because Kris had sent me Sugar Cookie scented. I applied it to my elbows and I loved how it was a light layer of moisture that I could apply directly to my elbow area. It moisturized for hours and hours. After a few days my elbows weren't cracking open anymore and the skin was smoothing down so they didn't feel like sandpaper either!

I won't go into details about all the other products she sent me but I will say that so far I've loved them all! I recommend them to everyone (just ask the girl who sits next to me in college!). I even gave the anti-aging formula face cream to my mom! Karma Naturals are just great products. I love that they are natural and organic. The creams are rich, thick creams that really moisturize. The scents are so yummy smelling and are as good or better than what you would find in Bath & Body Works products. Your skin absorbs everything it touches, so when you use products filled with chemicals you might as well be drinking those chemicals in. With Karma Naturals you can rest easy knowing you are only using natural and organic products.

The customer service at Karma Naturals is fabulous. Kris is the woman behind the scenes. Her and her husband created Karma Naturals and it is still a family run business. Despite being a full time teacher and running Karma Naturals, Kris still finds time to provide exceptional customer service. When I contacted Kris initially about the review she had just experienced a death in her family yet she still took the time to get back with me about the review. That is going above and beyond for customer service! I suggest that you give Karma Naturals a try, I promise you are going to love it!!!

Guidecraft Rainbow Block Giveaway & Review {CLOSED}

Congratulations to comment number 188!

I'll save you all from hearing once again about how I LOVE wooden toys and blocks and I'll just jump right into my thoughts on Guidecraft's Rainbow Blocks. (If you haven't read about my deep love of wooden toys please check out my previous reviews and giveaway!) Of all the toy reviews I have posted lately these are my personal favorite. They are cheerful, colorful blocks that work great with his unit block set. I like them because they come in a variety of colors so I can use them as an educational moment every time we play by discussing colors and shapes with Avin. Avin likes all of his wooden toys but when he is playing on his own he most often chooses the rainbow blocks. I think that is because they are colorful and light weight. The colored plexi material inside the block makes them very lightweight so they are super easy for Avin to pick up and hold on to. He seems to be drawn to the bright colors as well. It is so cute to see him dig through a pile of blocks to find the rainbow block! I wanted to post a picture of him playing with them but he's discovered his inner model and now when he sees the camera he drops what he's doing to come smile and pose.

Guidecraft has several different sets of blocks made like the rainbow blocks. Some of the options available include: Mirror Blocks, which have shiny mylar inside that mimics a mirror, Crystal Bead Blocks, which have small plastic colored beads inside, Sand Blocks, which are filled with colored sand, and Shimmering Water Blocks, which contain colored water and metalic flakes. These are all rated for kids ages 3+ (although Avin is only 10 months and loves his rainbow blocks!). These are high quality, well made blocks. Guidecraft assembles them with little ones in mind so they are all sanded buttery soft and all of the edges are rounded. I can see Avin using his rainbow blocks as stained glass windows in his wooden block castles one day.

Guidecraft is giving a 30 Piece Rainbow Block Set away to one of my lucky readers!!! That is a $60.00 value guys! All you have to do to enter is go to the Guidecraft website and pick out your favorite product then come back here leaving me a comment telling me what it is and why it is your favorite.

Additional entries:

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Follow me on twitter and tweet any unique tweet about this giveaway including @diapermom and @Guidecraft (Make sure you leave the permalink of each tweet in your comment-- up to 3 tweets per day)

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Blog about this giveaway and leave a link to the URL in your comment (2 extra entries)

Contest is open to US and APO addresses. You must be 18 to enter, void where prohibited. Please leave a separate comment for each entry. Please make sure to leave your email address in your comment so I can contact you if you win. Contest will end April 29, 2010 at 11:00 PM CST. Winner will be select by random.org and notified by email.

Happy Easter! He is Risen!

The following is a guest post from the author of the blog An Artist, An Architect, & A Toddler. She lives "Bible Green" and I just found that to be so inspiring. She was gracious enough to share some thoughts on Easter for my readers. I wish everyone a very Happy Easter. I pray that each of you finds spring in your heart and that love, peace, and joy bloom within you.

He is risen.

As a born again Christian, Easter is the most somber, yet joyous of holidays. It is the reason I can have faith and am given salvation. I serve a risen King. He came as a baby. He died for my sins. He conquered the grave. Truly, Easter is the complete package of the meaning of life.

A holiday that recognizes defeating death- the one thing as humans we are guaranteed, by new life around us. Early spring blooms creeping out from their winter slumber. Warm air breaking through the harsh cold. Life.

I believe God has called Christians to awake others that are still slumbering. We can show them the warmth that comes from the true light, Christ Jesus. What a great opportunity we have this Easter to do exactly that. On a holiday that drives the unchurched into His house, we can show them how He has called us to live.

How do I believe He has called me to live? With love. I should model myself after Christ. Because of His love, I no longer face eternal separation from Him. His example to me is nothing short of perfection.

My husband and I also feel personally convicted to live as good stewards of His creation. God created the earth and its beauty to bring glory to Him. He also created me in His image. He charged me with caring for His creation (Genesis 2:15)

We don't celebrate "mother earth" (Exodus 34:14). We don't "reduce, reuse, recycle" because we think by doing our part, the earth will last forever (Revelation 21:1). We do it because we are called to.

How has God called you? May this Easter season you answer his special, unique calling for your life with bold enthusiasm.

He is risen indeed.



To read more about living "Bible Green" please visit An Artist, An Architect, and A Toddler at http://escatellier.blogspot.com

Guidecraft Wooden Unit Block Giveaway & Review {CLOSED}

Congratulations comment #6~Have I mentioned I love wooden toys? I hope you guys don't get sick of hearing about my obsession because I LOVE wooden toys and plan to share reviews and giveaways about them as often as I can. Guidecraft provided me with a 34 Piece Unit Block Set to review (in addition to the Block Mates from my last giveaway). I first saw these blocks when I worked as a Daycare Director. We had them at the daycare and they were a huge hit with the kids. They never seemed to age or change any despite years and years of hard use. I loved watching the kids play with them because it was amazing to see what they came up with. I have seen the blocks turn into entire cities, roads, battle grounds, and more. I will warn you that at about the age of three they do become projectiles for awhile. They are the perfect size for a kid to send flying across the room in the middle of a fit.

Aside from being super durable and building imagination I love these blocks because they are made from rubber wood, a replenishable wood source. My husband and son couldn't care less about what they are made of they just know they like building things with them and knocking them down. Avin is still to young to build anything so his dad builds 'em and Avin knocks 'em down. Avin finds it hilarious to come through and knock down a tall tower of blocks. (Sorry the picture is a bit blurry, my camera isn't very good at taking action shots) It is great to watch my husband and son play together, although sometimes Derek is still building long after Avin has crawled off to a new adventure. Avin's 16 year old babysitter was here yesterday and she was playing with the blocks in the floor with Avin. After a few minutes she exclaimed "These blocks are so cool!" A few minutes later I turned around to see an elaborate building constructed from blocks. I really mean it when I say these blocks are fun for all ages.

The blocks themselves are very heavy because they are solid wood. I would use caution when letting very little ones play with them because they could cause bumps and bruises if they toppled over on them. With a 34 piece set you can build some fun structures but I recommend purchasing a larger set if you have multiple kids or a budding architect (or a husband like mine...) They go great with the other wooden block sets that Guidecraft offers like the rainbow blocks, sand blocks, mirror blocks, shimmering water blocks, and crystal bead blocks. (Review and giveaway coming on Rainbow blocks!)

Guidecraft is giving away a 34 piece Unit Block set to one of my awesome readers! Mandatory Entry: Visit the Guidecraft website and then come back here and leave a comment telling me which wooden toy you would like to see reviewed in the future.

Additional Entries:
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Contest is open to US and APO addresses. You must be 18 to enter, void where prohibited. Please leave a separate comment for each entry. Please make sure to leave your email address in your comment so I can contact you if you win. Contest will end April 25, 2010 at 11:00 PM CST. Winner will be select by random.org and notified by email.