Smartipants winner!

Well, after getting hit hard last week with bronchitis, flu, fevers, yucky noses and the such I've gotten quite behind on, well, everything! So I realize that this is late, but here is the winner of the Smartipants giveaway.
Out of 541 entries, wow, random picked number 240 and the winner is....

Ashley! Congrats, she has confirmed and her information will be sent on to the sponsor. I've got two cool giveaways that I'm hoping to get published tonight, so stay tuned!

Smartipants review and giveaway **Extended until 3/16!**

When I got the Smartipants newborn diaper in the mail, I couldn't help but smile, it's just the cutest thing ever! I was blessed to be sent a "little smarti" newborn diaper from Smartipants for review. I've loved Smartipants diapers ever since I first heard of them and bought my first 3 pack of pocket diapers. They fit my daughter well (still do), are super simple to wash and have the perfect amount of absorbancy. They also come in cute colors.

I cannot wait for baby to arrive so I can put this diaper on him. I didn't start cloth diapering Emma until she was about 6 months old, and I'm really excited to do it from day one this time around! I just can't resist the cuteness of newborn cloth diapers, they really are the most precious things ever. I've taken really good care of my stash (which is mostly onesize diapers) and plan to use them for the next baby.  I don't think I'll need newborn diapers for too long because of all the onesizes we already have, but I do want to have some because I've heard that onesize diapers don't really start fitting until about 10 pounds.

The Little Smarti newborn diaper is an all in one, so you don't need a cover, has a velcro closure, which I prefer, especially for a tiny baby. It has an extra thick layer of absorbant microfiber down the middle and a stay dry top layer of soft suedecloth. It comes in three cute colors. Since my newborn isn't here yet, I solicted Elmo to help me out :) The diaper fit him great.

Here is the Little Smarti compared to two other newborn diapers I have (left to right), a Fuzzibunz size small and a Bum Genius all in one size small.



  As you can see, it's pretty comprable to the BG, but quite a bit smaller than the FB. Now I'm wishing I'd bought xs Fuzzibunz, oh well. I don't plan to use newborn diapers for too longMy thought in even buying newborn diapers was this: I've heard from so many moms that onesize diapers don't start fitting well until around 10 pounds. For my daughter, that would've been about 2 months. Who knows how big this baby will be, but I'm not expecting a tiny one, since my first was 8lbs. 14oz.

Here is the Little Smarti next to two onesize diapers on the smallest setting. Left to right: Smartipants pocket diaper and a Bum Genius pocket diaper. Admittedly, the Smartipants onesize on the left is about 18 months old, so the elastic is probably on it's last legs. The Bum Genius on the right is a 4.0 and quite a bit newer, so it's much more similar in size to the Little Smarti.

Have I convinced you yet? Wouldn't you like to have a Smartipants of your own? You can get them here.

OR

Win a great Smartipants prize package right here! One of my lucky readers will win a Smartipants diaper with insert in choice of color and a smartfit cover. I'm so jealous, wish I could win.

How to enter:

Each action counts as one entry unless otherwise stated. Leave a separate comment for each entry and please include your email address. You must complete the mandatory entry before you are eligible for any other entries.


**Mandatory Entry**

Visit the Smartipants website and let me know which of their products is your favorite.



Extra Entries

*like Smartipants on Facebook
*sign up for the Smartipants mailing list (enter your email address at the bottom of the website)

*Follow me publicly through google friend connect-counts as 3 entries! Leave 3 separate comments.

*Subscribe to my blog by email, through feedburner-counts as 3 entries!

*Grab my button and tell me where it is posted

*Blog about this giveaway, link back to my site and leave me the URL of your blog

*NEW!!! Like my brand new Facebook page- counts as 5 entries!!!!






The fine print:
This giveaway is open worldwide and will end March 9, 2011 at 9PM pacific time.

Winner will be chosen by random.org and contacted by e-mail, then must respond within 48 hours or else a new winner will be chosen.

I was not paid for this review, and received no compensation. I was provided the product mentioned (little smarti newborn diaper) for review purposes. All opinions expressed are my own and completely truthful.

New adventures in cloth diapering

I must first give a HUGE shout out to my college/post college roommate and friend, Camille! She's been so supportive, informative and encouraging. I consider her my go-to girl for all things cloth!

Even before I got pregnant I thought I wanted to use cloth diapers. I really like the thought of being kinder to the environment and my child's behind, not to mention the cost-effectiveness of using cloth. But, actually getting started was a whole other thing. I started doing research and asking around only to discover that cloth diapering is like it's own world. The users are fiercely loyal, there are networks, blogs and websites totally devoted to cloth diapering and all it's accompaniments and, the most confusing of all is the language: there are all kinds of acronyms, terms and slang. AIO's, prefolds, fitteds, CD, ahhhhh, I must confess: it was a little intimidating and almost caused me to throw in the towel.

This past week, I finally put thoughts into action and ordered my first cloth diapers, a three pack of Smartipants. I was so excited and anxiously trekked to the mailbox each day until, at last, the diapers arrived. They were so cute! I washed them immediately and put one on Emma for nap time. I guess I'm brave, but I really wanted to give 'em a good try. I'm glad to report that she woke up happy and DRY! We weren't so lucky with the overnight try, but I wasn't able to double stuff (something that knowledgeable cloth diapering mamas do) and her disposables leak most of the time anyway. So, for now I'll use the cloth only during the day until I'm able to build up a better "stash".

So, I'm really glad that I've finally gotten started and wish I would have sooner! I would definitely recommend cloth diapers, they've come a LONG way since the old, scary pin/plastic pants combo that I grew up in! There's such a huge variety that anyone who wants to, can find something to fit their lifestyle. I'm now a CD mama and can't wait to try some BG's, FB's and get rid of those nasty sposies!