Apple Cheeks Envelope Diaper GIVEAWAY from Bellalojo Baby!***CLOSED***

Where cloth is a little obsession...

BeLLaLojo BaBy is  a lovely online store run by a work at home mom who loves cloth diapers! Bellalojo Baby strives for excellent customer service and fast shipping. They want to make you happy and hope you love cloth diapering as much as they do!

This sweet online store ships internationally from the U.S., and is now offering free shipping on all U.S. orders and great rates on orders to Canada!

 BeLLaLojo BaBy offers several popular brands such as Fuzzibunz, Katydid, Doopsy, Rumparooz, Thirsties, and Sloomb. One of their top sellers is AppleCheeks pocket diaper, a two sized diapering system that is especially popular for its trim fit and the fact that the inserts will slip out in the wash by themselves, making cleaning easier.

AppleCheeks is a pocket diaper that features:

• An outer layer of breathable, waterproof polyurethane laminated polyester (PUL), sewn to a butter soft microfleece inner layer, so that only the softest of soft touches your baby’s delicate skin.
• Snug, durable elastic at both the waist and legs for a gentle and secure fit.
• Two rows of easy-to-adjust snaps, allowing for a proper fit at the legs and the waist.
• A beautiful range of truly spectacular colours to appeal to a wide range of esthetic.
• A handy envelope opening, wide enough for daddy’s hands, which allows for the option of placing the absorbent inner between the fleece and the waterproof outer layer if so desired.
• A more generous and longer lasting fit than other similar styles on the market. Size 1 fits from 7 - 20lbs, and Size 2 fits from 18 - 40lbs. All weight ranges are approximate.
• The ultimate cloth diapering solution!
• AppleCheeks™ covers feature a unique envelope design, similar to a pocket diaper, but with NO NEED TO UNSTUFF. The absorbent inserts come right out in the wash!

***GIVEAWAY***

BeLLaLojo BaBy is offering an AppleCheeks diaper  in winner's choice of in-stock size and color to one very blessed reader!

One Mandatory Entry:

Go to BeLLaLojo BaBy and come back here and leave a comment telling me what product you'd be interested in trying!

(Leave a separate comment for each entry. Include your email address if it is not easily accessible through your blogger profile.You do not have to have a blogger profile to enter, as long as you leave a valid e-mail address.)


Additional Entries: 

-Like BeLLaLojo BaBy on  Facebook and tell them thanks for the giveaway on The Cheap and Choosy.

-Follow BeLLaLojo BaBy on Twitter.

- Make a purchase at BeLLaLojo BaBy.

-Follow @applecheeks on Twitter.

-Blog about this giveaway and leave link in comment!

- Tweet about this giveaway (up to 3 times daily) using @bellalojobaby, @applecheeks, @cheapnchoosy, and #clothdiapers.

-Follow The Cheap and Choosy GFC!

-Follow @cheapnchoosy on Twitter!

-Like The Cheap and Choosy on Facebook!

-Grab The Cheap and Choosy blog button!

-Two entries for adding the  "Fluff Your Pockets!" button on the main page of your blog.

-Subscribe to The Cheap and Choosy via email.

This giveaway is open to the U.S. and Canada until Dec. 4, 2010 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The winner will be chosen using a random number generator. I will email the winner, who will have 48 hours to respond. If winner does not respond within 48 hours, another winner will be chosen. I will post the winner when the selection has been made and confirmed by the recipient.

This is not a paid post. You can see my full disclosure here.

Not So Wordless Wednesday: Frugal Fun!

Going for a ride!

 

PLEASE WATCH THIS 30 SEC. FUNNY VIDEO WHILE YOU'RE HERE TO HELP ME WIN:
Babykicks Video Contest! Click here to watch and help us win the chance to giveaway a Babykicks Bumboo Pocket Diaper!

Thank you!

Join me at A Beautiful Mess, Five Minutes for Mom, Parenting by Dummies, WW, Supermom, and Home Grown Families. 

Also join me on Friday at Life As Mom for Frugal Friday! 

What is the Point of Pocket Diapers?

When I first started cloth diapering, I used all prefolds and covers. Then I discovered that my baby's bum was on the sensitive side, and learned about micro-fleece stay-dry liners.The fleece wicks the moisture away from the skin, keeping baby feeling dry. I made my own liners by cutting out rectangular pieces of micro-fleece. They worked great, but were somewhat cumbersome to put on during diaper changing.

I had heard of pocket diapers but had never really given them much thought. I was just looking for the least expensive route for diapering. One day, however, I was thinking about how nice it would be if I could somehow attach the stay dry liners to the diaper to make diaper changing a little simpler. That's when it dawned on me, "I bet that's the point of pocket diapers...I bet the inner fabric is fleece!" I went and did a Google search of the brand of pocket diapers I'd heard of, and discovered that the inner lining was indeed fleece, expressly for the purpose of keeping baby dry and rash free! Suddenly it made so much sense. I ordered a couple to try out and since then I have gradually begun to prefer pocket diapers for daytime use, both for their ease of use and trimmer fit than prefolds and covers.

 

Most pocket diapers have an inner layer of fleece or some other fabric that wicks moisture away from baby, but not always, and you can have an "all in one" with a stay dry inner layer as well, so what is the point of the pocket diaper aside from the stay dry aspect?

Here are the benefits of pocket diapers in my experience:

1. As I already mentioned, if the inner layer is fleece, I enjoy not having to grab my stay dry liner and put it on separately.

2. I like to preserve my PUL. I wash my covers with the diapers usually, but try to let them hang dry as much as possible to help extend their life. I like being able to machine dry the thick absorbent inserts or soakers, but just hang the quick drying outer shell of the PUL and inner liner. This also helps extend the life of any aplix on the outer shell as well. With an all in one diaper, needless to say it's all attached and must all be washed and dried together.

3. In the same vein, I like to be able to put the inserts and soakers through more rigorous washing. With a pocket diaper, though it may still require stripping from time to time for the inner layer of fabric, for the most part the inserts are the part that may begin to hold the most odor and need more frequent stripping or more rigorous washing. PUL can be damaged by a variety of cleaning agents that can be useful in cleaning inserts from time to time. In these cases you can just keep the PUL out for those extra washes.

4. I also like the fact that you can add additional stuffing to a pocket diaper without covering up the inside stay dry liner! You can make them as absorbent as you need them to be, or on the other hand you can keep them as trim as you'd like depending on the type of insert that you use! I like switching up inserts, or using something totally different for stuffing! If you have a favorite kind of insert, you can usually use it with any kind of pocket diaper. You can even use flats, prefolds, flannel receiving blankets, or even t-shirts, or anything absorbent that you can fold and stuff into a pocket diaper for an extra boost or in place of an insert!

For all of these reasons, and the fact that there are so many great styles available in so many fun colors, pocket diaper have become my favorite daytime diaper! I prefer wool for nights and when a rash threatens to break out, but I like pockets for regular day to day use! Some people like to combine pockets and wool for nighttime. You can stuff the pocket all you want and then cover with a wool cover. That way, just in case all the stuffing becomes saturated, the wool will catch any "overflow." I have a heavy wetter and haven't found this necessary, but I know some parents have! It would definitely be a no leak solution!

Do you prefer pocket diapers? If so, what are some additional benefits of using them?

Why Sheep?

The question "Why Wool?" is a common title on blogs and cloth diapering websites about all the attributes of wool and why it's perfect for babies' bottoms.

Have you every wondered, "Why Sheep?" Why is it that this animal in particular that is so carefully clad in such an amazing coat? I know there are other woolly animals, but not all animals are clothed with a fiber that keeps them warm in the winter, cool in the summer, dry all year round, clean of bacteria, unlikely to catch on fire, and on top of that excreting an oily substance that coats these fibers that is also water resistant with antibacterial properties providing even more protection!

I don't believe it is a coincidence that we find sheep, of all animals, clothed in this almost magical fiber! As I began to learn about how wool works more in depth, I exclaimed to my husband, "Wow! God must have really wanted to protect his sheep!" At that moment I was thinking of actual sheep and nothing more, but as soon as the words escaped my mouth, the depth of what I had just said struck both of us.

The Bible often refers to us as sheep, and God as our shepherd. In the new testament and old, in prophesies, songs, stories, and teachings the theme of sheep and shepherd is referred to over and over and over. Isaiah talks about what happened to Jesus and what it meant for us, hundreds of years before it came to pass. Here are just a few lines of it:

" ⁵ But he was pierced for our rebellion,
      crushed for our sins.
   He was beaten so we could be whole.
      He was whipped so we could be healed.
 ⁶ All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
      We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
   Yet the Lord laid on him
      the sins of us all.
⁷ He was oppressed and treated harshly,
      yet he never said a word.
   He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
      And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
      he did not open his mouth...."(Isaiah 53, NLT).


Jesus speaks of God's heart in a story of a shepherd being willing to leave the 99 sheep to find one who was lost, and bringing him back with joy and celebration (Luke 15), so that we would understand that even if just one of us were lost and separated from God, He still would have given everything and endured everything described in the verses above, for even one. His heart is always longing and pursuing those who "like sheep have strayed away."

He also speaks of how a sheep knows his shepherd's voice and obeys him, teaching us that our relationship with Him goes beyond just being rescued and brought safely into His fold, but that we can have a relationship with Him...one of intimacy and trust. "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." (John 10:27) To know Him is to trust Him and know that His desire for us is for our ultimate good.


I've learned from those who've looked intently into the lives of sheep that sheep have been known to follow one another head to tail right into a ditch, piling on top of one another until the ditch was full. That has totally been me at times in my life...following people and ideas only to end up  in a "ditch." Each time, my Shepherd has intervened, pulled me out and set me on the path of peace once again. It sounds like foolishness, but for my part I have found it to be true.


The occupation of a shepherd was regarded as the lowest of the low. It was a job for nobodies, and the least of the least, and so the foolishness increases. In likening Himself to a Shepherd, God is making Himself the least and the lowest. "But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong." (1 Cor. 1:27 NIV)

And he didn't stop there, when led to the cross, "He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth...."(Isaiah 53, NLT). And so Jesus is often referred to as the Lamb of God, because He gave Himself willingly as a sacrifice, so that we could live.

  "The Lord is my Shepherd. I will lack nothing." (Ps. 23:1)