Take Me Back Tuesday

I just found this picture a few days ago and simply LOVE it. This was taken in November of 2007, Mason was "watching" Melanie for me & they both fell asleep on my bed.

JumpStart 3-D Virtual World...Review & Giveaway CLOSED

I was contacted a while ago by Knowledge Adventure to review Jumpstart 3-D Virtual World. I was really excited because my kids have been playing Jumpstart games for about 15 years!!! Jumpstart is our favorite educational game & I just knew my younger kids would LOVE this new game as much as their older brothers loved the original computer games. When I logged on to the site for the first time I was blown away. Jumpstart 3-D virtual world isn't "a" computer game it is many many games geared to kids as young as 3, going all the way up to 10!!

I created characters for 3 of my kids and myself and we quickly became hooked on the various games. The kids started out by creating a Jumpy (avatar) and then dressing it any way they liked....my girls probably spent an hour each just checking out all the eye/hair/clothing options. My three year old, Marissa was very excited that this was a game that she could play on the computer. The first few times I sat with her & helped her find her way around, but she was soon tooling around StoryLand with the mouse on her own. She found a place to try even more clothing options on her Jumpy & made her into a cat person. She played counting games & alphabet games & was very excited to win prizes for completing the various educational games. This is the first game she has ever been allowed to play on her own, she will be 4 in August.

Since Marissa enjoyed the game so much I was a little concerned that Morgan & Maggie would find it too babyish. On the contrary, they both had a lot of fun working their way through AdventureLand. Morgan turned 11 in April, so all of the content was easy, but still fun for him. It took him about 2 weeks of playing 30 minutes per day to get to Lost Island, many of the games are entertaining enough that he still chooses to spend his computer time with this site. Maggie turned 9 a few weeks ago and just completed third grade...much of the content in AdventureLand was perfect Summer review material for her. It took her about a month to get to Lost Island and she is still eagerly enjoying the games.

One of the very best things about this subscription is that it allows all the kids in a family to have their own individual Jumpy & play independently from each other. Even if you have six kids between the ages of 3 & 10, they can each play for one subscription price of $7.99 per month or $74.99 per year. I think this would be a fantastic family gift for a group of siblings.

You can try some of the games and activities just by registering on the JumpStart site. I highly recommend everybody check it out & see if you think it is something that your kids would enjoy. Knowledge Adventure is offering a three month subscription to one of my readers.

To sign up for the giveaway leave a comment telling me how old your kids are & what you think they would like most about JumpStart 3-D Virtual World

For Extra Entries:

1. Follow my blog (1 entry)

2. Follow me on Twitter, be sure to include your twitter id(1 entry)

3. Tweet this Giveaway (1 daily entry)

4. Become a Facebook Fan of JumpStart (1 entry)

5. Favorite me on Technorati (2 entries)

Be sure to come back & leave a comment for each thing you do. This giveaway will end on July 19th at 9pm Eastern. The winner will have 48 hrs to contact me with their e-mail info so that Knowledge Adventure can award the prize. If the winner doesn't respond within 48 hrs I will choose a new winner. Be sure your e-mail is attached to your profile or you leave an e-mail address in each comment.

Music Monday

This past Saturday was a GREAT day at the park & by coincidence it also happened to be the 4th of July, so of course I thought of this song....then it was included in the soundtrack to the fireworks & I knew it had to be my Music Monday this week.

My Cloth Diaper Stash...the brands I've tried Part 2

A fitted diaper has elastic at the waist and legs and fastens with snaps or velcro. They do not have a waterproof out layer, a separate cover goes over the fitted diaper. The advantage that I've found with a fitted diaper is that they are generally less expensive than pocket diapers, they offer a nice trim fit and they can be used later as training pants.

Kissaluv Fitted This was the first fitted diaper I bought. It is a size 2 large fitted diaper. The material is a soft stretchy terry cloth. This diaper isn't very absorbent, but it does work well around the house during the day with a cover. The outside is a pale lavender, the inside is natural and it has green stitching around the legs and waist. I anticipate using this diaper uncovered when Melanie gets further with her potty training, it is very roomy & when it's snapped on the largest waist setting she can pull it off & on like underwear.

Thirsties Fab Fitted These are my favorite fitted diaper. They are a velcro closure, which I don't normally like, but on this diaper it works well. I've got three of these, one raspberry, one lavender and an aqua. Melanie still fits well in the medium and will probably never need to move up to a large. They are really thick and absorbent. Melanie often wears these diapers overnight. When Melanie is feeling cooperative about using the potty, this is the perfect diaper to wear around the house without a cover.....it is not waterproof, but it is thick enough to not soak through when she doesn't make it to the potty in time and the velcro makes it easy for her to get it off quickly when she needs to go potty.

Mother Ease One Size Fitted I purchased the Introductory Package for $21.95. It included a one size fitted cotton diaper, a snap in liner and a side snap PUL cover, shipping was included in the package price. I'll talk about the cover in another post. I've been very happy with this diaper. It works well around the house during the day and is fairly absorbent with the extra liner snapped in. It reminds me of the old fashioned terry cloth training pants people used before the invention of pull-ups. It has snaps to adjust the size. I've tried snapping it down, but I have my doubts about how well this diaper would work for a small baby because it seems so wide between the legs.

Bumgenius Bamboo Fitted I was hesitant to buy this diaper because of the velcro closure, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that both Melanie & I really like it! This bamboo diaper did not start out as soft as the Bamboozle, but it has retained it's original feel much better. It is very absorbent. There is an internal soaker inside this diaper that takes a really long time to dry. Now that it's Summer, I have been hanging the diapers outside on a clothesline, but when the weather doesn't cooperate, I hang this diaper up in the laundry room over night after it comes out of the dryer to allow it to finish drying. This diaper is a large and is supposed to fit from 22 to 30 lbs, it definitely runs a bit smaller than any of Melanie's non-bamboo diapers. This is one of the only diapers I think Melanie might outgrow before she is fully potty trained.

Bamboozle Bamboo Fitted I absolutely LOVED this diaper when I first bought it. The bamboo was silky smooth and the fit was perfect! It is the most expensive fitted diaper I have bought (about $20), but I loved it so much I just had to have one. The size 2 is supposed to fit from 10 lbs to 35 lbs. Melanie is about 25 lbs and on the last set of snaps. The bamboo has lost it's silky feel, after about 6 months of use it feels more like a standard terry cloth towel. It is very absorbent and the sewn in doubler adds even more absorbency, but it is a bit rough feeling, so Melanie doesn't wear it overnight. When I first bought it, I wanted to buy a bunch more, but couldn't find them in stock anywhere. Now, I'm glad I only bought one of these.

Tender Tush Organic Fitted I purchased this fitted at a local store. It is a toddler size and is supposed to fit from 20 to 35 lbs. Melanie is about 25 lbs and it's still pretty baggy on her. The organic cotton is thick & absorbent. There's also a sewn in doubler that is attached at the front of the waist & can be folded to increase absorbency in the wet zone. This is another fitted diaper that I think will end up also being used as training pants.


You can read Part 1 about the Pocket Diapers in my stash here. Next I'll be talking about my prefolds, All in Two, Contour diapers and covers. Please leave a comment if you have any questions or if there is anything else you're dying to know about modern cloth diapering.

Kissaluv Marvel One Size Fitted Diaper

I have been excited about this new diaper from Kissaluv ever since Kelly's Closet gave one away several months ago. I had started to think that Kissaluv had changed their mind. Isn't this the cutest diaper you have ever seen?

Every week Kelly's Closet has a Clothdiaper giveaway. This week there is a special giveaway just for bloggers. The Prize...

3 Kissaluvs Marvels One Size Fitted Diapers
1 Kissaluvs Cloth-N-Go Bag

If you would like a chance to win, check out The Cloth Diaper Whisperer's Blog. The winner will be announced next Friday!

My Cloth Diaper Stash...the brands I've tried Part 1

Last Summer I decided to try to save some money by switching to cloth diapers. Little did I know that I would soon have a new addiction. I really have saved a LOT of money using cloth diapers, so I thought it would only be fair to share what I've learned over the last year. I started out with only one type of diaper and I have branched out trying lots of different styles and brands. When I researched cloth diapers I came across so much information it was overwhelming, I'm hoping by explaining the different kinds I have tried and why we either like or don't like them I will be able to help somebody else who is either considering cloth diapers or has already switched to cloth and is looking for brand recommendations. Because they are so popular and there are so many different kinds, I'm going to start with Pocket Diapers....a pocket diaper has a waterproof outer layer, on the inside there is a pocket that holds an absorbent insert.



Fuzzibunz perfect size I have two of these, the first one I bought is a medium, it's a really pretty pink called Bubblegum. It came with a nice microfiber insert that is very absorbent. Melanie is 26 months old & still has plenty of room in this diaper. I recently bought a large Fuzzi Bunz because I just had to have the Pink Gingham print. They discontinued this print last year and I couldn't find anywhere to buy one in a medium. I knew that the large might be too big for her, but I decided to give it a try anyway. The print is my absolute favorite of all her diapers, but I don't think she will ever grow into it. She can wear it at the tightest snap setting, but it's not a snug fit. This large has got to be one of the biggest cloth diapers I have ever seen.

Baby Kanga one size pouch diaper is the first one size diaper I ever bought. It is a beautiful bright Robin's Egg blue. The picture I saw before buying it didn't prepare me for how pretty the color would be. It has a zipper in the front & the insert goes in through that zipper. Most other cloth diaper inserts are put in from the inside of the diaper, so this feature intrigued me. On the front there are several rows of snaps that allow for making this diaper smaller. When we first got it Melanie probably could have worn it snapped down to the medium size, but it fit her well enough on the fully open size that I didn't bother making it any smaller. We have snapped this diaper down to its smallest setting & I think it would work pretty well on a fairly new baby & even though Melanie wears it on the largest setting she is no where near growing out of it. This diaper did not come with an insert. I use whatever insert I happen to pick up when stuffing & have never had any trouble with leaks.

Knickernappie I have a bright orange size large disposanot Knicker Nappie. I don't think they make this particular kind anymore, but we are very pleased with it. I LOVE the bright color. This is one of our hardest to stuff pockets because it is narrower between the legs than any other diaper we have, but that also makes it more comfortable for Melanie. I have heard that the new version are wider and easier to stuff. Knicker Nappie makes a great insert, but mine didn't come with it, so I use a generic microfiber insert and have had no leaks.

Smartipants I was fortunate enough to get to review this adorable Think Pink one size diaper. The pink is actually much lighter than the first picture looks, it is very soft and feminine. The coolest thing about this diaper is the Smart Sleeve, which is open at both ends and allows the insert to come out on its own in the wash. It came with two very nice microfiber inserts. This is the most economical cloth diaper I own. It is a one size diaper with snaps that can be set to make it fit a baby from newborn to toddler. Melanie wears this on the fully open setting & doesn't have much growing room left in it.

Free Diapers for Chocolate from Margarita McClure on Vimeo.Blueberry Minky Last month, I won this diaper for taking brownies to the Swaddlebees/Blueberry office here in my town. I got to pick any diaper as my prize. I picked a Blue Camo one size minky diaper with snaps. I really liked the Pink Camo, but they didn't have it in stock with snaps. This is an amazing diaper. The minky on the outside feels like a stuffed teddy bear. The insert is a big loop of hemp with a microfiber pad sewn to one end, there are snaps to adjust the size of the insert. Melanie could probably wear this diaper on the medium setting, but it isn't too big on her at the fully open setting. She still has lots of room to grow in this diaper. I've snapped it down to it's smallest setting and I think it would be too big on a new baby, but would probably fit from about 3 months on. If we could afford it, I would replace all her diapers with this type...it is my absolute favorite!

Swaddlebees Ecco Nappi I won this diaper from Modern Diapers on Facebook. Since Swaddlebees and Blueberry are basically the same diaper made from different materials, I really expected to like this diaper. The lining is Organic cotton velour, the outside is a polyester PUL and the insert is a long loop of hemp with an organic cotton pad sewn to one end and snaps to adjust the size. It is an Aplix (velcro) closure. I think the issues I've had with this diaper are related to the aplix. The PUL is fairly light weight, while the organic cotton velour is heavier & the aplix pulls the waist down in the front causing Melanie's clothes to get wet at the waist when she wears it. I have considered snapping it down to a medium to see if we get a better fit.UPDATE: 7/3/09 I snapped it down to the medium setting & made sure all the cotton velour was inside with the waist flat against Melanie's tummy....it WORKED, we had a leak free night & I am now much happier with this diaper!!!


Zoonique Baby Our oldest son bought this diaper for Melanie at an Earth Day festival. It is locally made and just adorable. It is a medium & may be too small for her. This is our first experience with a cotton print PUL pocket diaper with velcro closure. Although the print is very cute, the diaper leaks terribly. The only reason we still use it is that Melanie LOVES it.
Next time I'll be showing the various brands of fitted diapers Melanie has tried. If you have any cloth diaper related questions please feel free to ask in the comments section.

Wordless Wednesday...Somebody's not very happy