Blog Marketing Works!

This is the second time I've come across the Shabby Apple on a blog. Man, these guys are smart. What more cost effective way is there to peddle your wares than give one or two away to some mommy bloggers. That just opens the flood gates. In this growing world of blogging, especially for stay at home moms, access to the world comes through the blogs you read. Now I am posting about this company in an attempt to win a give away. Seriously! I don't usually do this stuff but these marketer's know that I'm desperate, don't get out much, and a bit bored. What better way to take advantage than to dangle the hope of winning a stylish dress (1 in 300 chance of winning at best) only to not win (because I have to admit that I have entered one or two giveaways before) and have the image of said dress continue to cross your mind as the only way you'll ever be happy, which at that point you say forget the pledge to keep the budget and you promptly order the dress and a few other accessories while your at it...........

breath Dianne, breath....

I've only just entered the contest, so if you want to as well (even though you'll decrease my chances of winning) go here.

The big Three

A retraction, A trip, A chatter box

First, obviously I'm back online. My attempt to leave internet behind was promptly dismissed by hubby since he needs internet to work from home. I guess I'll just have to grow up and start regulating my online time.

Next, I enjoyed a beautiful trip to Las Vegas this last weekend with my longtime girlfriends (plus two babies). We did a little of thisA little of this...

And a lot of this...

The best part, other than all the girl time, was that I didn't step into one casino or wander along the strip at all. That is my kind of Vegas!

After coming home to a hubby and daughter that not only survived the weekend together but enjoyed their time I was feeling pretty good about things. Even my little Berg seemed to benefit from the trip. He came home and couldn't stop talking!

Going Offline

As you can see my life is full of washing diapers...so I no longer have extra time to spend online. he he he...
Not really, I've just read one too many articles about being "addicted" to the internet and feel that if I'm not already there I'm teetering dangerously on the edge. So, because I have no self control I'm removing my temptations. I'm turning off the cable and internet. Yep. Going to return the stuff today. Cold Turkey! No more internet. Yikes!
So, now I'll have to resort to my old ways of sitting in the starbucks parking lot or will be imposing on my in-laws to use theirs.
Either way, I see my posts as becoming a bit less frequent. More importantly, I'll not be wasting my life looking at everyones profile on Facebook anymore.

TTFN!

Diaper Dootie

It's amazing how diapers can be such a conversation starter. Everyone has an opinion. Who new! Since my decision to use cloth diapers with baby Berg I've received a wide array of comments/opinions ranging from:

"Well now I'm really not changing a diaper" (guess who!)

"Why? Why!"

"Your crazy"

"Your such a hippie!" (which of course I took as a huge compliment.)

"Awe, I used to use cloth diapers on my kids." (usually coming from the 60 and up club)

Actually, now that I think about it most everyone thinks I'm crazy. I don't know why. Cloth diapering has made a huge resurgence in a reasonable way to take care of your little ones biznass.

My take: I really love it. Pretty much everytime I change a diaper I muse on how cute my baby looks with the wealth of fabric wrapped around his behind. Changing the dooties isn't so much a chore these days.

Now there are some definate trade offs to using cloth as opposed to disposable diapers. Here they are for those of you who may not think I'm too off base and may be considering cloth diapers yourself.

-Packing the diaper bag includes a few extra items. I have to have the absorbant diaper, the cover, and the bag to put the dirties in.

-The laundry is constant. I have to do a load of diapers everyother day (although if I had more diapers I could probably strech this out better.) Laundry has never been my thing so the process took a little getting used to. Each load needs a pre-wash, a hot wash, and two rinses. It is a lot of water so the environmental trade off could be debated. I figure that the amount I use to wash these diapers still less than the water used to create the paper product for disposables. Ocasionally I put the diapers on the clothes line to bleach them out and save the energy from my dryer.

-There are also the benefits of surrounding my babies behind with natural fabrics versus product that has any number of chemicals used on it. And, of course, don't forget reducing the waste that goes to a landfill.

Ridiculous and cute. I know the diaper is huge but it helps keep his pants on better!

-The amount of money I spent on diapers and accessories was about $280. Kind of a lot up front but seeing as how I haven't spent anything since I'm feeling pretty good about the investment. There will come a time when I need to get larger diaper covers but there are quite a few options out there.

-Because cloth diapering isn't super common I had to do quite a bit of research on what I needed and the different methods. Yes, there are different methods. Cloth diapers are now are different than what our parents or grandparents used. Of course, I like the old school method. Mainly because I like to do everything the hard way (just ask my hubby!)

There are some great websites (like this one and this one) that help walk you through the basics but it wasn't until I purchase a sampler kit and put them on the baby that it all finally clicked, which really says more about my defective brain than the diapering system!

So there it is. My two cents. My only regret on choosing to cloth diaper is that I didn't start sooner! If any of you have more questions or want some product suggestions let me know. I'm more than happy to ooze over the cuteness!

Vote!

So I've been thinking of starting another blog for quite some time now. I've always tried to be "eco-concious" but find it to be a daunting task in this day and age. I want to find a way to encourage myself and others to minimize our impact on the environment and economy/society. The ideal for being green seems like you either have to be a hippie fanatic or a rich celebrity and it's such a "fad" right now. So, i'm really not trying to jump on the band wagon, rather, I think there are ways that we all can make little changes in our lives to live better, at least that is what I'm hoping. In the blog I'm going to explore the things we do and use in daily life, especially as moms, that we could "green" up.
With that said I need some help with a title. Here are a few. Let me know what you think!

Super Duper Eco Mom
More than green
Not quite green
simply trying
mediocre attempts at a better life
reducing my mommy print
the mean green mom
hippie mom
itsy bitsy greeny weenie
eco mom
simply living
back to basics

blah! I can't think of anymore. What do you think?

The common thread

I have no idea how I ended up with two kids who look nothing alike. There are similar features but I just don't see similarities in the end product.

Help me out here!