Photo An Hour (ish)

Yesterday, I finally became a member of the I-Phone club (a bit behind... I know!) so I thought I would play around with the camera and various apps to do a photo an hour (ish, I didn't keep to it as much as I usually do) for you :)

Early morning for us today. Papa is away so we had to get up extra early to get all ready for work and playing with Grandad.

 No milk for porridge meant nutella dinosaur toast for breakfast - what a treat!

 Off to work, plenty of orders to pack up!

 And new Nappy Gurus to welcome :)

 Home for lunch, cheesy sandwiches for Mr Bee.

 Then off shopping ready for our week on our own. Papa Bee and Nana Bee have flown the nest for a few days so it is just us little bees for a few days.

Fridge cleaned and stocked up. 

 Stopped into John Lewis for a gift for Papa, I hope he likes it :)

 Lasagne for dinner this evening, possibly my best so far.

 Evening stroll to the park for football....

 And a workout, toddler style.

 After an easy bedtime, I made a start on a bunting cushion cover - turned out beautifully :)

So that was our day today, finally getting the hang of this iphone malarkey ;)

NEC Baby Show 2012

This weekend I shared my weekend with a bunch of wonderful people spreading the word of cloth nappies at the Baby Show in Birmingham. It has been a jam packed few days, making lots of sales and generally spreading the fluffy love. I got to meet some of my lovely Gurus again and some new ones too, especially good to see Asta and her baby twins and also Michelle over at Fluffy Mummy! 

Smartipants EU

 It was great to see all of the other nappy retailers doing so well this weekend too, with the familiar favourites, Bambino Mio, Close Parent, G-Nappies and the infamous Tots Bots!

 On Saturday, Hannah came to our house to park her car and drive the rest of the way with us. It was so lovely to see her again and I think she was pleased that she got to meet Mr Bee. He seemed to quite take to her! Thankyou so much Hannah for helping us, I know you will be reading!

Big thanks to the beautiful Susie for helping us too!

 And this was the most wonderful surprise. The thoughtful Michelle was kind enough to bring us a big box of gorgeous looking cupcakes!! I managed to scoff one on my lunch break but sharing the stand with a Vegan and a dairy-free lady, I was left with the whole box to myself! Of course I am not that greedy, they will be shared around!
One more day of my long working stint, its been a long week but totally worth it to spread the fluffy word.

Ups and Downs

Ups: Having a great week at work getting so much done.Getting all dressed up for a work outing at the Leicestershire Business Awards and meeting some awesome people there. A spontaneous trip to York for Grandads birthday. A gorgeous meal at Chiquitos. Getting gorgeous gifts delivered at work! Driving through HUGE and deep puddles on the way home from work.

Downs: Killing my wrists and various other joints from working too hard. Car failing its MOT. Scalding my hand pretty badly on a mug of Tea. Snapping my glasses in two. Missing out on the 'New Business' Award. Getting really wet walking around York. New glasses shopping. Getting soaked from having the windows open and driving through a huge puddle!

Fuzzibunz Review

Newly landed at the Palace of Pants is the new and improved Fuzzibunz Elite.
I must say, I have never tried any of the Fuzzibunz range before, as I thought they were ever so slightly dated. However, after seeing how popular these new nappies seem to be, I thought I would have a try of one.

Left: Fuzzibunz Right: Bumgenius V3

'Grape'

When I first got my hands on the Fuzzibunz Elite, I was very shocked as to how petite the nappy looked. It would be an understatement to say that I didn't think that it would fit from Birth to Potty, let alone fit Louie at 21 months! However, having a play with the unique leg and waist elastics, which adjust with concealed buttons and elastic (like you get in kiddies and maternity waistbands!) I managed to manipulate the sizing really easily, and drastically. I can imagine that this nappy would fit a newborn beautifully, providing great containment thanks to the great elastication around the legs.




The nappy comes with two Minky inserts. This was quite a new thing for me, and I think it is one of the only nappies which has minky on the inside instead of the outside. I decided to use the nappy with just the one, larger insert to see what it was up to.


With the nappy on in a medium/large setting, I was surprised at what a beautiful fit the Fuzzibunz was on Mr Bee. It has three poppers in a triangular formation, which means that you can get a really adjustable fit both around the waist and the legs.

Once Louie stood up, I gave it a good inspection and was really happy with how slim fitting it was. Once I put his vest on, you would have no idea that it was a cloth nappy underneath.




 I was adamant that I was going to give the Fuzzibunz a good test, as Louie isn't a very heavy wetter. We were going on a day trip so what better time to do a nice trial. After a good play on the play park and a big roam around the gardens of Calke Abbey, Mr Bee finally had his nappy changed at around 1:30. To my surprise, the Fuzzibunz had lasted all that while without any leaks! I was actually really quite shocked at how soft the nappy still felt after it was completely saturated.

Luckily, it was wash night that evening, so I managed to get it washed quite quickly, which meant that I could test the drying time of the minky inserts. My was I impressed, the minky insert was dry quicker than my usual microfibre inserts!

My only misgiving with this nappy, is the size of the pocket. From the first photo you can see that it is considerably slimmer between the legs than the Bumgenius, which does make it slightly more difficult to stuff. It was alright with my small hands but may prove a little more difficult for Daddies to do.

I think I might have a new favourite nappy! I really am so impressed with the nappy overall, the fit, the snugness, the absorbency (even with just one insert) and the quickness of drying. At £14.95 they are fairly reasonably priced, and are honestly worth every penny, and Fuzzibunz have even treated their customers with some cute printed designs too.

Get yours today from Fill Your Pants!

The Baby Show

To draw a close to Real Nappy Week 2011, I spent my weekend converting lots of people to cloth nappies! Smartipants in particular!

Ready and waiting for the doors to open!

Fill Your Pants had a stand at the Baby Show, NEC as the brand Smartipants, this weekend. So of course, every morning I was there bright and early, raring to go!

Friday was quite manic as there were only two of us manning the stand, and we did get some rather busy moments, which meant neither of us managed to have a sit down for some lunch. We managed to get a decent amount of orders though, and thanks to the Competition Trail we took part in, managed to target people who would never even thought about cloth nappies.

On the Saturday, we were joined by Hannah and Sarah, two of our Nappy Gurus, who volunteered to help  us for the day. Saturday was so busy, we barely stopped to breathe! But at least having 4 of us on the stand meant that we all managed to get a sit down.

Sunday was surprisingly the quietest day, and we had Nappy Gurus Faatima and Asta, to help us out. We managed to send home quite a few 24 packs with people, so we did end up getting quite low by the end of trade! Which was brilliant!

We met some really lovely people at the show. We were opposite a lady who very bravely manned her own stand all by her self for two days. She had a really innovative product, a teething necklace worn by Mum for baby to chew. Definitely worth a look if you have a teething little one! Her website is http://www.gumigem.co.uk/ so check it out!

Very bravely, Helen from Cheeky Wipes attended with her very tiny newborn daughter! We managed to have a bit of a chat, and I picked up some new style Cheeky Wipes for my best bud Anna, who is due a month tomorrow! (YIKES!) You can read my blog about Cheeky Wipes here, I think I am head over heels in love with them to be honest, so again, something to check out!

On the Friday, Nana and Louie had a lovely day at the baby show, charming all the ladies so much that I had people coming to the stand especially to tell me how gorgeous he was! But I think he really did bag himself a girlfriend; one of the ladies from the Mamascarf stand! She came to see me on the Sunday asking where my gorgeous boy was. Bless her! The Mamascarf is a fantastic idea, you tie it around your neck and allows you to discreetly breastfeed. It is something I will definitely be recommending when I am doing my rounds as a Breastfeeding Peer Supporter once I qualify in June. I think I even saw Helen from Cheeky Wipes modeling the 'Retro Leaf' one on her stand ;)

Some last minute sales on the Sunday!

Although I was away from my darling boy for 5 days in a row, got barely any sleep, barely ate and talked my voice away (yes, I sound very much like a man now!) it was all worth it and I had a wonderful time. I can't wait to do it again at the Earls Court show in October. Maybe I will see you there?

I would just like to thank Hannah, Sarah, Faatima and Asta on behalf of Laura and myself again, for helping us out so much! It is duly appreciated!

Gen-Y Review

When it comes to change time, the first nappies I always grab are either Pockets or All in Ones, anything that 'goes on like a disposable'. Two parter nappies have always been a bit of a faff for me.
However, like the Weehuggers, I can change for a pretty print! How fickle!

Gen-Y's landed in the UK in January, and immediately took off. I mean, why wouldn't they, they are absolutely GORGEOUS!  For many cloth bum mummies, appearance is everything! And having the best prints around always gets you kudos. And Gen-Y certainly offer the most glorious range of prints around.

Gen-Y wraps come in two styles, the Classic and the Universal, so they really cater for everyone. The Classic cover comes in 5 sizes, XS to XL and the Universal comes in two sizes fitting from 6-18lbs and 18-35lbs. They can also be used over just about any absorbent nappy that you can find! 


The delightful prints are limited edition, and only a certain number of each design will be made, so once they are sold out, that is it. This gives them a high resale value, due to sought after designs. So when I heard news that Elizabeth had sourced a Glow in the Dark fabric with stars on, knowing my star addiction, I could not wait for us to receive our shipment of them!

I opted for the Universal cover, as I much prefer adjustable nappies, as you can get a much better fit with them, and of course they will last that bit longer, which is awesome because I would hate to have to put them away because they are too small :( The Universal cover has adjusting poppers under the crotch, which I really like the idea of, because when your child is in a nappy on the biggest size, you can see all of the poppers. But with the Gen-Y, you can't. I was slightly worried that the poppers might irritate between the legs but there has been no marks or anything. Very impressed.

So far, I have used my Gen-Y cover with Flip Stay Dry inserts, Weehugger inserts, an Issy Bear night insert, prefolds and fitted nappies, all with great success.
With the slimmer inserts (Flip Stay Dry and Weehuggers) I have the wrap on its smallest setting and it fits like a dream. My little man has averagely chunky thighs but a funny shaped tummy, and we had no problems getting a good fit, which was nice and slim.
With the chunkier inserts, I let some of the poppers out to accommodate the bulk. Even still, they provided a trimmer look than other wraps, and they also seemed to smooth over the prefold, not giving that defined bulk that you can get with that style nappy.

Because they are a side snapping nappy, they come quite low on the leg, which is really good news for users of fitted nappies and terry squares. It gives that extra bit of protection and comfort in the leg area, so you don't have to worry about ill fitting coverage.

Down to my love for my Gen-Y wrap and my Weehugger wrap, I have a new found fondness of two-parter nappies. I can just throw a few inserts into my bag and a spare wrap and they don't take up as much space as the pocket nappies.

Gen-Y wraps are also affordable! With the Classic covers available at £10.95 and the Universal covers at £13.50, they are a really reasonable price for such a beautifully made, reliable and versatile product.
You can get yours from Fill Your Pants right now!

Smartipants - A review

Smartipants seemed to come out of nowhere but now are probably one of the most talked about nappies of 2011. I had to get my hands on them to see what all the fuss was about!

Now the key things about the Smartipants, the things everyone have been talking about are;

• The Smart Sleeve
• The Fit 
• The Quality

The Smart Sleeve

Long gone are the days of boiling and wet pailing terry nappies! It is now recommended that modern cloth nappies are dry pailed. But one drawback of the popular pocket style modern cloth nappy is fishing the wet insert out before washing.

This is where Smartipants stepped up their game, by introducing the Smart Sleeve feature. You insert the microfibre into the pocket as you would any other pocket nappy,  however the smart sleeve is open at both ends. This allows the insert to wriggle out during the washing process, so no touching the icky insert! And it really works!

Here you can see the Smart Sleeve and the microfibre insert

The Fit

Smartipants only come in poppers by my, what good poppers they are! If you have a crafty chappy like I do, they are very difficult for little fingers to undo, which means I can rest easy knowing that he isn't going to get it off!

In comparison to their counterparts, the highly successful bumGenius v4, they are a little more generously cut, which is great for larger babies/toddlers but not so good for newborns, however they do feature cross over snaps for the smaller baby. 

Another comparison to the bumGenius is in the bulkiness department. The Smartipants are considerably more trim. On my Smartipants' first outing, I met a fellow cloth user who couldn't even tell it was a really nappy! AND Louie was wearing leggings!

The Quality

The craftsmanship of the Smartipants is great. They are made by US Mums so they have great trade credentials. It is such a small thing, but I love that the stitching on the inside co-ordinates with the outer colour. But on a serious note they are very well made and durable.

Now, most nappies look lush, but after a few washes they lose their lustre. Smartipants hold up so well after washing, you probably couldn't even tell the difference between a new and a washed one! This is going to be music to the ears of you ladies who buy, swap and sell nappies as they will keep their value.

Fresh out of the washing machine

Cheeky face!

Smartipants come with one microfibre insert which is mighty thirsty. It lasted a good 4+ hours on my little boy and was still going strong when I changed him. I have heard a few good stories about Smartipants lasting 12+ hours at night, but I am too much of a wimp to try this! And because the insert is microfibre, it is really quick drying, which is great if you don't have a tumble drier. The inserts should be dry by morning if you leave them out over night.

So I too haven't found anything bad to say about the Smartipants! Generally a great nappy, and they look great on too. They currently come in pastel colours, but I have it on good authority that later in the year they are releasing an exciting new line of colours.

And at £13.50, they are a really reasonable price, especially if you buy in bulk, they could cost you as little as £11.45 per nappy.

Find them here at Fill Your Pants

Back to Work

Well today I started my new job at Fill Your Pants. It has been 13 months since I was made redundant and although I was looking forward to, and have enjoyed being a stay at home mum, I needed a job to being some money in. As of today, I will be working 2 days a week.

My first day was grand, I learnt a lot and had a lot of fun with all the fluffy nappies! I can't wait until Thursday to go back, and have some articles to think about writing in the meantime!

2010

So its a New Year, and a time for new endeavors.
Last year was such an amazing year with so many changes. Louie was born and he has brought us so much joy. I actively tried to change my lifestyle to promote a more green and ethical way of living. I do believe every little helps but I think I have made a very good start!

So a new year, a new job!
I have been offered a job at Fill Your Pants, the online nappy shop. I will be working for two days a week, where I will be leaving Louie for one day with his Nana and one day at Nursery. I feel ready to return to the world of work now, although I would class myself as an attached parent, and would love to stay home with Louie for ever and ever, but needs must. And nursery will be so good for him. It will be one day a week, so it isn't like he will never see me! And he loves children and playing and he will have a ball.
We will still have 5 whole days together, and will still be able to do our Tiny Talk class :)

Now for Christmas, I was a very lucky girly. Many people cottoned on to the fact I was making my own Christmas gifts and I was given some lovely crafty gifts myself! Dan bought me my very own sewing machine, which is amazing, more than I ever thought he would get me! And he gave me the 'Stitch' Cath Kidston book. And my sister gave me the 'Sew' Cath Kidston book! So for my birthday, I think I would like a bigger sewing box, because mine is tincy tiny.
So there will be lots of new projects starting soon. My first project will be for my sister, something she saw in the 'Sew' book ;) But with new babies arriving, I have found some fabric to make some patchwork delights for them.