Maybe you already cloth diaper. Maybe you’re interested in trying it. Or maybe you’re not into it at all.
Any which way you lean, don’t discard this post! There is something for everyone; I promise.
I jumped into cloth diapering not really knowing how it would work out. I hoped we could do it, I was determined to do it, but I just wasn’t sure. When I started to do all of my research and was ready to buy, one of the online stores I chose to buy from was Abby’s Lane. And for every cloth diaper purchase I’ve made since building our initial stash, I’ve gone back to Abby’s Lane.
Things I love:
1. Abby’s Lane offers free shipping on every order, every day. There is no minimum purchase requirement. Want to try out ONE cloth diaper? Go ahead and buy just one; you won’t pay for shipping. I love that, because I absolutely loathe paying for shipping.
2. If you’re a member of their e-mail list, there is always a 5% off coupon code to use on every order (except for Ergo Baby products). While 5% may not seem like a lot, it is more than most cloth diaper retailers offer, and of course, every little bit of savings adds up!
3. Fast order turnaround and shipping. Most of the time, I receive my orders within several days of placing them. Even with the holiday last week, and the fact that the people at Abby’s Lane were bombarded with Black Friday orders come Friday–I placed an order late on Tuesday night, it shipped on Friday, and I received it today. I love that, because when I order something, I want it yesterday. :)
4. Great customer service. One time, I placed an order for a couple different kinds of pocket diapers in different colors. As it turned out, the inventory on their website was off a little bit, and one of the colors I had ordered was out of stock. Stephanie (the owner) e-mailed me right away to apologize and let me know that it was out of stock, requested that I pick a different color, and refunded me $2 just to make up for the fact that I didn’t get my first choice color. Not only that, but it’s easy to ask Abby’s Lane questions–and they answer them, too. Contact them by e-mail, through Facebook, or through Twitter, and they’ll get back to you quickly.
5. Inventory includes a wide variety of products–those involving cloth diapers, and plenty that don’t. All of the cloth diaper brands that I wanted to try are offered by Abby’s Lane. Not only that, but they offer many other fun products as well. BabyLegs, Pedipeds shoes, shopping cart covers, baby carriers, etc.
All in all, Abby’s Lane has been great to me. They are now my go-to online store for all things cloth diapering, and I’m just waiting for Nora to get some fat on her legs so I can order her very first pair of BabyLegs, because oh.my.gosh, so cute.
Because I love Abby’s Lane so much, they sent me a Blueberry One-Size Deluxe Cloth Diaper to review on my blog. I recently told you all how we’ve been using bumGenius and Fuzzibunz one-size diapers, but I was excited to have the opportunity to try out a third brand as well. I picked the “pink lemonade” pattern, and when it arrived, I immediately loved it just for the way it looks.
One thing I don’t care for with bumGenius is the colors–with the exception of their Artist Series they just released, all of their diapers are solid pastel colors. Booooring. Not so with Blueberry–they have many fun colors and patterns. It was difficult to choose just one!
As is the case with most (all?) pocket diapers, the Blueberry came with two inserts–a “newborn” insert, and a standard insert that is longer and more absorbent.
One thing I noticed right away is that the outside of the diaper shell is “silkier” than that of bumGenius or Fuzzibunz. The snaps are a little bit different, but the sizing mechanism is essentially the same as bumGenius–three snaps in the front allow you to “snap down” the diaper to the smaller sizes.
The pocket of the diaper provides plenty of room for extra inserts. It’s also easy to get your hand in there, making for easy stuffing (which is a complaint I have about Fuzzibunz–difficult to stuff!). The pocket simply has an opening at the back; nothing fancy.
Upon trying the diaper on Nora, I noticed that it seemed just a tad bulkier than bumGenius, but still seemed to offer a pretty good fit all around. After wearing it for a few hours, however, when I went to change her, it seemed like the diaper had ridden down a little bit on her waist–meaning it was very low on her hips. This may just be a result of Nora still being a bit too small for this diaper, and perhaps this is something that will stop happening when she grows a little bit bigger. Still, she’s worn the Blueberry diaper a couple of times now and we haven’t had any leaks.
Overall, the Blueberry makes a great addition to our stash. We’re going to wait another several weeks before putting the finishing touches on our cloth diaper supply, and if it turns out we like the Blueberry as much as the bumGenius in the long run, we’ll probably order a few more of them to give some more variety to Nora’s diapers.
Now… Abby’s Lane has offered a $10 gift certificate to one lucky Heather Drive reader! If you aren’t into cloth diapering, don’t worry–as I mentioned before, Abby’s Lane offers other baby/children’s products as well. And if you don’t have children? Well, surely you must have someone on your Christmas list that does, right? :)
Giveaway Prize:
$10 Gift Certificate to Abby’s Lane
Please make sure to follow the entry instructions carefully. They’re not difficult, but you must follow the instructions in order to be eligible to win.
To Enter:
1. Visit the Abby’s Lane website and pick out an item that you would use the gift certificate toward if you were to win. (Please note that if you do win, you don’t HAVE to buy the item you choose.)
2. Come back here and leave a comment on this post, providing: your first name, your e-mail address, and a link to your chosen Abby’s Lane product. (To be eligible to win, you must provide all three of these things.)
Limitations:
Only one comment/entry per person. Giveaway open only to residents of the United States and Canada.
Deadline:
This giveaway will end at 8 p.m. on Friday, December 10. Entries left after the deadline will be ineligible to win.
Winner:
One winner will be chosen using random.org. The winner will be announced on my blog and will be e-mailed notification of the win. Winner has 72 hours to respond to my initial contact, or a new winner will be chosen.
Good luck!
Disclaimer: Abby’s Lane provided the Blueberry Diaper at no cost to me, in exchange for my review of the product. However, opinions expressed within the review are my own. Abby’s Lane is also sponsoring the $10 gift certificate giveaway.
You know how everyone always says that as much as you love your pup, he or she will take a backseat when you have a real baby?
Michael and I never really believed that while I was pregnant. We’d look at Tessa and we couldn’t imagine that she would ever hold any smaller of a place in our hearts. We couldn’t imagine there would be times when we would ignore her. We couldn’t imagine treating her differently.
But I’m here to tell you that it’s true. So very true. As much as it may seem impossible, it isn’t.
It’s sad, really.
Don’t get me wrong; we still love Tess…a LOT. But she gets soooo much less attention these days. I’ll be busy with Nora and suddenly I’ll realize that it’s 5:00 p.m. and I’ve not done much more than give Tessa a glance or two. Forget petting, snuggling, talking to, or kissing her.
After our first day/night home from the hospital (which was a nightmare), Tessa really did adjust quickly and has been pretty great ever since. She generally leaves Nora alone, and aside from sometimes barking during naptime–which sends me into a fit of rage–she’s a good girl. And she takes her loving when she can get it. For instance, as I write this, Nora is napping in her crib, and Tessa is napping sprawled out in my lap.
She goes outside to potty a lot less often during the day.
She kinda stinks. She clearly needs a bath.
She needs a nail clipping like there’s no tomorrow.
I’m pretty sure she has a raging ear infection that had gone unnoticed up until this past weekend. (And believe me, we feel horrible about that.)
But she’s still our Tessa girl. And she’s still a big part of our family.
We took something like 275 photos this holiday weekend. Holy crap.
Between Thanksgiving gatherings with both families plus a trip to Michael’s sister’s house for another gathering, it was a lot. We were busy. And to keep from boring you with a recap of it all… that’s all I have to say about that.
But here is a sampling of the 275 photos. I actually have to give major credit to Michael for these, as he was the one who snapped most of them. Enjoy!
Thanksgiving morning with my girl. I love when she rests her hand on my shoulder like that.
Nora with her grandparents
With Aunt Cristina and “Aunt” Donna
At my mom’s house, even the boys are put to work
In charge of the mashed potatoes (as always)
Opening the wine is a very important job, indeed.
Notice anything different about Kara?
(*hint hint* checkouttheleftringfinger *cough*)
Trevor proposed in front of all of us at his and Kara’s housewarming party last weekend.
So awesome. :)
Great-Grandma reading to Hunter
At Michael’s sister’s house, the boys are getting big. And are so damn cute.
Getting a photo of the three cousins is not easy!
Nora with her Godmother/Aunt Melissa
Brendan with his favorite person, Uncle Michael
A few weeks back, we went to visit some of Michael’s family that lives about an hour away from us. While there, we were served slices of apple pie–but not just any apple pie–caramel apple pie. After indulging in that slice of heaven, I decided that for Thanksgiving this year, I would put a twist on my traditional apple pie and find a recipe that included caramel. Once again, Google to the rescue.
I made and baked the pie the night before Thanksgiving, then warmed it up in the oven prior to serving on Turkey Day. And oh my… it was awesome. Loaded with apples and creamy caramel, this is exactly what every apple pie should be. As it turns out, the leftovers are really good cold as well (not that I would know anything about that).
Caramel Apple Pie
(Source: Adapted from Allrecipes.com)
Ingredients:
For taffy:
– 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
– 1/4 cup butter, melted
– 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
For pie filling:
– 5-6 cups thinly sliced apples
– 1/4 cup white sugar
– 6 tbsp. all-purpose flour
– 4 tsp. ground cinnamon
– 1 tsp. lemon juice
– approximately 1 cup caramel dip (We find this by the apples in our produce section. You can also use caramel ice cream topping)
For crust:
– 1 recipe your favorite recipe for a 9-inch double crust deep dish pie (ummm, I may or may not cheat and buy store-bought refrigerated crust. *wink*)
– 2 tbsp. milk
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. To Make Taffy: In a small bowl combine brown sugar, melted butter or margarine, and flour. Mix well and set aside.
3. To Make Apple Filling: Place apples in a large bowl. Add white sugar, flour, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Toss until all ingredients are mixed well and apples are thoroughly coated.
4. Spoon half of apple filling into pastry-lined deep-dish pan. Spread caramel on top of apple filling (I just did a generous coating–not too much), then top with half of taffy mixture. Repeat process with remaining apple filling, more caramel, and remaining taffy mixture.
5. Place top pastry over filling and seal well (this is very important–if edges are not sealed, caramel will leak out all over). Cut steam vents and brush top crust with milk or light cream.
6. Cover pie with foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil from pie and bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, until crust is golden. Serve warm.
I hope that you all enjoyed your Thanksgivings! The family time, the EATING… it is so great. I love Thanksgiving. Now, let the Christmas shopping begin!
I figured I’d post a few recipes that made appearances on our Thanksgiving table this year. They’re a little bit different than your typical Turkey Day staples, so they’re worth sharing.
First is this delicious corn casserole. I’ve also seen this called “corn pudding.”
Michael and I first had this over a year ago, when we attended a birthday party at which I was hired as the photographer. Once my job was done, we were invited to eat with them–and part of the spread was this corn casserole. I wasn’t sure about it upon first glance, but one forkful and I was sold. With sweet corn, creamed corn, and corn bread flavors, how can you go wrong? And with only a handful of ingredients to throw together, this is seriously easy as well.
The original recipe from Jiffy calls for the casserole to be baked in the oven. But a few weeks ago, as we were planning Nora’s Baptism reception, I thought of this dish and wondered if it could be adapted to be cooked in a crockpot while we were all at church. A little Googling, and sure enough, I found a version for the crockpot. So now it’s even easier.
Perfect as a side dish for a dinner at home, or to take to a potluck gathering, this corn casserole is sure to be a hit with almost any crowd. The recipe below serves about eight people (which was perfect for our Thanksgiving gathering), but when we had Nora’s Baptism, we doubled it without any problems–we just made sure to cook in the crockpot for an extra hour or so.
Crockpot Corn Casserole
(Source: Cooks.com)
Ingredients:
– 1 can cream style corn
– 1 can whole kernel corn
– 8 oz. sour cream
– 1 stick butter or margarine, melted
– 2 eggs, beaten
– 1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix
Directions:
1. Spray pot with non-stick spray.
2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Pour in crock pot.
3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or cook on high 3-4 hours (cooking on high gives you a crisp ring around the outside).
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
