A Journey Into Cloth

Hello, my name is Beth! I am a SAHM to five boys and a cloth diapering mama. I am going to be keeping you entertained and up-to-date while Brandy takes a break from blogging. I have been using cloth diapers for over a year now and loving it.

As I look back onto my last year of cloth diapering, I am amazed at how far I’ve come. When my son was born, I wasn’t really thinking about cloth diapers. I had three huge boxes of Huggies in my nursery that I received at my baby shower and another huge box of wipes to go with it. I can’t exactly remember what prompted me to start browsing the internet for cloth diapers. Perhaps it was just my desire to give my baby the very best, or maybe it was the thought of all those disposables sitting in a landfill for the next 300 years. Whatever it was, I’m really glad I made that first step.

Of course, a mom who knows nothing about cloth diapering can get completely lost and overwhelmed looking through the internet and seeing today’s selection of cloth diapers. Who knew that there were so many cool and neat diapers! That was my exact thought at the time – “neat.” LOL. I had no idea that cloth diapers were as easy as stuff in an insert, put the diaper on, and go. As far as I knew, you had to use pins and swish them in the toilet. I was thinking “diaper service”. That’s when I found the BumGenius one size pockets.

BumGenius was my “gateway” diaper so to speak. It showed me how easy and fun cloth diapering could be. Not only were they easy to use, they were super cute! I found myself becoming addicted to cloth diapers. I wanted to try every kind I could, and the cuter the better. Now, a year later, I have settled on the diapers I like the best. And yes, BumGenius is still one of them. I love them for nights and going out of the house for long periods of time. Other than that, I have found the love for fitted diapers. Together, my pockets and fitteds make the perfect combo for me and my son.

The thing I love the best about BumGenius is that I know they will last my son for many years. As a one size diaper, I know they can really grow with them. And with the new BumGenius colors out, I have a reason to buy more! I have to say, these diapers have made my journey into cloth diapering enjoyable, simple, and fun!

News, News, NEWS!

I am so sorry it's been a LOOOONNNNGGGG TIME since I posted last but life has been very hectic but I have some great news for everyone!

I have just started volunteering for Miracle Diapers and any donations that you send in to me you will receive $1.00 in store credit for every one diaper. Please email me for details!

1- From Today through 9/30/08 shop in our store and earn gift certificates!
We will giving free gift certificates away depending on your order total. You can use these yourself or email them to friends. To receive a Gift Certificate of $5 spend $50 and more, to receive a $10 gift certificate spend $100 or more and to receive a Gift Certificate of $15 spend $150 or more and to receive a Gift Certificate of $20 spend $200 or more. We will issue gift certificates as your orders are processed.

These will be no limit on the # of Gift Certificates you can earn.

Please put Gift Voucher in the notes at check out to receive your free gift.

Feel free to forward this information to your friends just make sure they put a note in the box when checking out as this is not a publized sale so we will not be giving everyone the discount.

DON'T FORGET: WE PAY FOR REFERRALS! IF YOUR FRIENDS ORDER FROM US WE WILL PAY YOU $5.00 FOR ANY ORDER OVER $25.00


ALSO! We are having a Baby Photo Contest This month Thru 9/30/08. Only requirements are:

a-Baby is wearing a brand we sell

b- Baby is 0-48 Months

c- By Submitting your photo you give permission for your childs photo to be used on this site or our sister sites. All sites being family friendly or natural parenting stores. (specific list can be obtained by emailing me). We will be using these photos in our advertising and diaper posts to help other parents see the fit and look of the diapers.

d- all submissions must be received by 9/30/08

Prizes? Of Course there are prizes :)

First all of just by entering you will receive a 10% off coupon that is good until 12/31/08.

Then Grand Prize will win $50 Gift Certificate to LMD, 1st Runner Up will receive a $25 Gift Certificate and lastly 2nd runner up will receive $15 Gift Certificate to LMD.

Winners will be selected around 10/1-10/7/08.

Also! There is a new parents message board especially for Green families. This is currently set up for US visitors as far as specific message boards but if you are international and want a board set up just email the admins.

www.FamilyGoGreen.com

But the Big news about the board is they will be offering a free Green Family Prize Pack. Everyone who reaches 30 posts will be entered. I know some of my products (hanging pail/Wet Bag) will be in it as well as some toys, Bum Genius, Happy Heiny diapers and more! Free stuff rocks!


If you want to see something we don't have or have a product for us to see please email us!
We look forwarding to nurturing your natural family soon!
www.luvingmammadiapers.com

Kindest Regards,
Brandy S. Miracle

New Products and a Featured WAHM Product

HI All Sorry I haven't posted in almost 2 months but I have been very busy since we opened for wholesale. It was more successful than I had even imagined!

One big item we are wholesaling are bamboo products, prefolds, wipes, and so much more. Here is a picture of our embellished prefolds that are available for preorder but will not be shipping until July as we are backed up on orders for both wholesale and retail:




These are bamboo terry and work well with pins or snappis. They vary in price depending on size, embellishment and dye. Some bamboo prefolds will be available at www.KeenBambino.com in July as well.

Another new product to the market place that I just had to tell you all about is the Burpie Baby Mess Kit. This little kit is ADORABLE, made from yummy fabrics and MAMMA Friendly prints it's not all sheeps and storks LOL, it includes:



*1- Burpie Bag to hold all your accessories- room for wipes and such too. But it's not just a bag its a burp cloth too- it unsnaps all the way open and makes a GREAT burp cloth- and it's not one of thos teeny tiny ones either!

*1- coordinating bib - YOU KNOW we all like to match- and to have the burp cloth and the big all matching it's just to DIE FOR!

*1-Coordinating recieving blanket (and not those little micro sized one for a cabbage patch) but a GREAT one you can actually use on a normal sized baby!


These are hand made by a wahm and can be found at: www.burpiebabymesskit.com. We will have them at LMD eventually but these are just to die for and are ready to buy now in a TON of prints from the Designer/Creator Rachel direct. Rachel has graciously offered all my clients a discount as well of 15% of if you put LMD in at check out. Rachel is coming on board with LMD as a seamstress and we welcome her skills she is amazing!

Have a happy Mothers Day everyone!!!
Brandy

A Dad's First cloth Experience- Contrary to current published reports :)

This letter was received by me from Jon Rhein a first time dad who emailed me a short while ago about converting to cloth. He ordered a mix of diapers to try to see what they liked and embraced cloth wholeheartedly. His little princess has issues with disposables and rashes much like my son so its not surprising she is so much happier in cloth.

Thanks Jon for taking the time to email this to me and for letting me post this.


_________________________________________________
Hi Brandy,

Ok, maybe you can ask the manufacturer if she has 8 available....

Ha, the wife's comfort level with laundry? The prewash, wash, and dry
is me - she is the stuffing and folding! lol.

Truthfully, we are both finding it *way* easier to use cloth than
disposable. I am really quite surprised. Basically, Leela has gone
from crying to be changed every time she pees a little bit (sometimes
every 20 minutes, and naturally we'd always oblige!) to, at times,
going upwards of 5 hours with the BGs! It might seem unbelievable,
but I can honestly tell she is happier in them - she has always been a
happy girl, but now she seems untroubled, and her bum shows no trace
of rash. I've been using the Northern Essence at every change, to be
sure.

Basically, any additional labor involved (which is marginal - a load
of laundry every day or two) is more than offset by doing only about
10 changes a day vs. I have no idea how many! I don't see ever going
back, and I think that most people with a washer and dryer in their
home would feel the same way, if only they knew!

I think our precepts cause us to prejudge and make often incorrect
assumptions, and as open-minded as I pride myself on being, I just
assumed CD would be a huge challenge, even once I'd decided to have a
try. What a pleasant surprise the experience has turned out to be!

Of course, I tend to be more of a child-centered parent than some
might approve of, so I don't find washing poop out of a diaper
problematic any more than I do having my girl fall asleep in my arms
for 3 hours straight. :-)

My still-novice ratings of the diapers is that the BGs are probably
the best over all, since with that extra infant insert, you
effectively have a free extra soaker with every 3.0, which works
amazingly well for overnights/long afternoon naps. The Just Ducky is
great because of the snap out soaker, though, and I think is nearly as
absorbent as the BGs are with a single soaker. The Baby Kanga, not
sure yet, every time we put her in it, she lets off big time, lol.
Hasn't gotten a proper audition yet. My only negative experience has
been the two HH diapers - in that one, unlike any of the others, Leela
seems to instantly feel wet, and needs to be changed, just like with
disposables.

Well, sorry for the long ramble -I do tend to go on!

Best,

Jon





CC: Parents Magazine.

Charlies Soap review by Meagan Johnson and Bumpil every nursing Moms Dream!

We have a guest blogger this week. Meagan Johnson sent me a honest review of Charlies Soap and Oxy Prime. I asked her to convert it to a blog post for this months blog. Here is her awesome review!
___________________________________________________________________________________
For the past two months I have been using a combination of Charlie’s Powdered Soap
and Oxyboost on my diapers. I also switched to Charlie’s for all of my laundry.


At first I purchased two small bags of Charlie’s to try, and I was using Oxyclean
baby. The Oxyclean baby was expensive and we seemed to go through the small
containers quickly,and the closest place to me that sold Oxyclean baby was 45
minutes away. I decided to take the plunge and buy a 5 gallon bucket of Charlie’s
Powdered Soap and also a Large Pail of Oxyboost from Brandy’s site.

I was so excited when they arrived! I have been very pleased with the oxyboost. It
really does well on stains. My daughter is exclusively breastfed, and with Oxyclean
baby, I was having to rewash some diapers two or even THREE times to get all the
stains out.
I am very particular about stains, but I also want my diapers to last along time and
to be able to use them for future children, or to resell them. I currently use
prefolds, pockets,and some All In One’s, and I have about 12 different brands of
diapers. The Oxyboost was taking the stains out of the diapers in one wash, and I was
able to use 2-4 scoops based on the soil level of each load. After two months of
using Charlie’s and Oxyboost, I have had no issues with buildup, smells, or diaper
rash. My diapers smell so clean and fresh, andthere are no stains.

I had been talking with another mom online, and she said
that she had problems with her cloth wipes staining. We both use Baby
washcloths for wipes, and I have never had a wipe that was stained, so I urged
her to use Oxyboost for stain removal and disinfecting.

I also often hear people talking about how Charlie’s is “too expensive” and I
couldn’t figure out what was so expensive about it, except that you are buying a
larger amount. I did the math and discovered that using Charlie’s exclusively is
saving me $75 a year on laundry detergent. We use Charlie’s for all our laundry, and
it is especially working great now that she has started solids. It takes care of
those “carrot stains” and also cleans up her burp rags and bibs in a flash…. The
Oxyboost takes care of any food stains on the bibs and the white gerber burp rags
that we use.

Here’s my breakdown:
The past two months we averaged one bag of Charlie's amonth, equaling 80 loads of
laundry each month. By purchasing in bulk, I spent less than $100 on a 5 gallon
bucket of Charlie's, which is 1280 loads. At the rate we are going, that should last
us 16 months and cost us less than $6.25 a month.

A concentrated bottle of ALL Free and Clear (what I used previously) costs $4.97 here
and does 32 loads. That's $0.155 a load, which would mean at 80 loads a month, ALL
was costing me $12.40 a month.

Therefore Charlie's costs me HALF of what All free and clear does. And the packaging
waste is significantly less also. And that adds up to $75 a year that I am saving in
laundry detergent. And tons and tons of plastic reduction for the environment, and
the soap is also safe for the environment. How's that for good news!

Meagan Johnson
www.adventuresineverydaylife.com
____________________________________________________________________________________
My name is Meagan and I am a cloth diapering addict. My husband Evan and I have been
together 11 years. We met in high school. Our daughter Ardyn Isabel is 6 months old.
I work full time in IT and do web and graphic design, and hope to soon be a stay at
home mom. In my "previous life" I loved to do crafts, scrapbook, sew, read, cook,
and blog. I love to be organized and creative, and I can't wait to have more time
for my family and home!

Meagan J. Johnson
www.dazed81.com ~ dazed@dazed81.com
Blog www.adventuresineverydaylife.com
or subscribe to my blog via RSS Feed
____________________________________________________________________________________

Bumpil- the newest nursing pillow on the market and the best to date- this baby is the Rolls Royce of nursing pillows because it isn't just a nursing pillow. It is a body pillow when your pregannt, it is a nursing pillow for baby, and it also provides a safe area for baby to play and sleep with built in bumpers. This pillow is quality made and for a great price. If you bought a nursing pillow and a body pillow it would be nearly the price of this pillow and you wouldn't have the play/sleep area.
Check it out today! Its one of our best sellers!

Thanks All!

Karma and other neat stuff

Recent events in my life, witnessed by me and watched on tv has really made me cherish the good deeds we can all do.

I am a firm believer in Karma- whether it is religous karma (i.e. following Gods path etc), regular ole karma, or do onto others as you wish done on to you. It all brings the same things upon our door step.

I try in my life to do good deeds each week for which I get no recognition, no popularity and no benefit from but someone gets a great benefit from. This can be donations, personal ear to help them sort things out, or creating a product for them for free. Its just a way to give back. I am not rich so cash isn't usually option.

I do this for a few reasons A> I hope that my good deeds will bring positivity and meaning to my life, B> In my religion it is a requirement C> I truly relish in the thank you emails that I receive because they know I am not doing it for a publicity stunt etc because no one knows. With these reasons in my heart I can do things that I am proud of and be sure of my own self.

What I have noticed as of late is many people on the internet use this mode of communication to BASH and degrade others for the stupidest things, their beliefs, their lives, the number of children, lack of children, how they feed their children, what types of products they sell and the list could go on for hours.

In my belief system these people will get their paybacks with stress, drama and other negativity because that is what their sending out. BUT they hurt so many people along the way....

I live my life as I see fit and respect others who are strong enough to do the same. We should all live and let live and agree to disagree.
LIFE IS WAY TO SHORT FOR THAT KIND OF DRAMA, NEGATIVITY, AND PAIN IN OUR EVERYDAY LIFE.

I personally pity those that bash - we should be celebrating our lives not bashing them. If we took the time to support each other instead of bashing what a powerful world this would be, just imagine what we could accomplish.

Ok. I will step off my soap box now but I have just seen some suprising things in the many areas I visit and it really makes me sad to be a part of those communities...

Already a year! Where did the time go?

We are quickly coming up on our one year anniversary and I cannot fathom where the time went. We started off with 3 diaper brands and a few skin care lines and only one national brand.

Now one year later we have most of the national brands, we have established some really good relationships with both customers and wholesalers but more than that we have not lost our original vision.

The end of the year brings so many new and exciting things.

~We are receiving our inital stock of BumGenius 3.0 One Size pocket diapers tomorrow. We pursued selling this brand from day one because we truly believed in and used the brand. We waited 10 months but we were able to finally retail this brand. We could not be happier. My family and I do not use one diaper or one brand but a lot of many different styles, brands and materials but this is one brand that both hubby and I like using.

~In the first quarter we will be releasing our wet bags. These will be signature line and will be products that I am proud to have our name on. Our signature wipes are already available in the store. I used these personally for months before offering these for sale and I cannot find any other wipe that compares with them. They really get the job done.

~Fuzzi Bunz is releasing their new diapers over the next 30-60 days. Some stores will have them before us because we are new retailer for them but I truly respect that as loyalty is important. I respect that someone with a proven ordering (aka track) record gets to order before me and I think they earned it. I am patiently awaiting my turn to order however.

~We will be having our semi annual sale from Jan 1-31. All customers will receive 5% automatically however our newsletter customers will be receiving special additional discounts.

~Thirsties covers & Fab fitteds are on sale until 12/21. Most of the covers are sold out however there are still a lot of fab fitteds available.

~Knicker nappies are on sale as well. These side snapping trim fitting diapers are one of my favorites because they fit under jeans - without any issues and my son now wearing a large (AHHH he can't be that big) can't tear it off as easily as he can velcro/applix.

We have exciting plans for our second year, we will keep doing what we do best and try to improve on what we need to but I hope you have enjoyed our first year as much as I have.

Thank you for giving us a wonderful start in this business!
Kindest Regards,
Brandy & the LMD Family.... (AKA The Miracle Boys)