Off Topic Thursday - Easy pull-up style cloth diapers

As some of you already know, I cloth diaper my son at night. Unfortunately, he comes from a long line of deep sleepers, so he is not always dry at night yet. Once they get past 2 or 3 years old, it becomes harder & harder to find anything in cloth that will fit them, even though 20% of all 5 year olds still wet the bed. When he outgrew his last set, I ordered some from Daniel Creations, and they were absolutely perfect. I highly recommend them. I needed a couple more, but we've been on such a tight budget lately that I felt like I really needed to make some myself. Since Jack's skin is super sensitive, anything tight will irritate his skin, and I wanted to make something without elastic. I was thinking about how I could make something similar to his soakers, when it occurred to me that I should use Katrina's wool soaker pattern to make cloth pullups! For materials I needed something absorbent, stretchy, and soft, and found the perfect things... one of Jack's outgrown organic crib sheets, one of his organic receiving blankets, and a regular cotton receiving blanket from the thrift store (the stripey one). Since they were already used and washed several times over, the materials were already super soft & super absorbent. Since nobody will be seeing his diapers but us, I played around with different ways of sewing the soaker part (a few layers of waffle texture cotton from a receiving blanket) in, not caring how they look, and they all work just fine! The first one I made was the one on the top right. I made the mistake of using the pattern size he's in for wool soakers (diaper covers), not thinking that the wool soaker allows room for a diaper underneath, and the diaper itself needs to be smaller (duh!). It's quite big, but it still works. I learned my lesson, and made the next 2 smaller.

I love that I was able to reuse things I already had to make these :) !

Off Topic Thursday - YummyEarth giveaway!

When I made my son's Valentines a couple of weeks ago, I used YummyEarth lollipops. They are the only lollipops I buy, other than Trader Joe's. I originally bought them because they are all natural, organic, contain no dyes or high fructose corn syrup, and were a great price. I like to make sure my son eats healthy, like all moms, but I especially want to keep the bad stuff at bay. Did you know that some food dyes are already banned in Europe, because of their harmful affects? I also feel good about passing these out to Jack's classmates for treats, and felt like a responsible neighbor when I passed them out to the neighborhood kids on Halloween. What I didn't know, when I ordered them, was how yummy they were! They are, hands down, the tastiest lollipops i've ever had. When my son comes home with candy that contains dyes & high fructose corn syrup that people give him, he happily trades me for more YummyEarth lollipops. Another great thing is that they are practically allergen free. My friend's son was able to have one, and he's allergic to dairy, eggs, soy, wheat, and nuts. I know some of my readers are vegetarian & vegan, and will be happy to know that their lollipops are 100% vegan too!

When YummyEarth asked me if I would taste their new organic gummy candies, and review them, I almost drooled on my computer. I LOVE gummy candy, and knew if they tasted anything near as good as the lollipops that i'd be hooked! They are!!! They are better than any of the gummies in the stores... it's fantastic to know that they are better for you too! First I tried the regular gummy bears. I was very happy to see that they have 100% rda of vitamin C, since my son & I currently have colds. When I tasted them, I was transported back in time. When I was a teen, I would go to Marshall Fields just to buy their imported gummy bears, and these taste just like them! Of course my son loved them too! His opinion on them, and I quote, was "Mmmmmm!!!!". I will definitely be buying more! Next I tried the sour worms and they were just as good! I like tart, but a not usually a big fan of sour candies, because they leave my tongue feeling raw all day. That was not the case with these! They tasted just like the gummy bears, but with a little bit more intense of a flavor... YUM! Bottom line? These are the best tasting gummies out there, and YummyEarth is a fine example of how a company can provide a quality product without harming our children with food dyes and high fructose corn syrup. Did they pay me, or ask me, to say these things? No. They asked me if I would try the gummies and review them, and I did. If I didn't believe in their product, I would have never agreed, and I would never be dishonest in my opinion.

Where can you get some?? You can buy them on their website, on Amazon, in stores, or you can win them in my giveaway (details below)! I bought my YummyEarth lollipops from Amazon, and they are a steal at $20.51 for a five pound bag, or about 6 cents per pop. They even qualify for free Super Saver Shipping! I like to use my Swagbucks to get Amazon gift cards to buy them. What are Swagbucks? You can sign up for free by clicking on the Swagbucks widget on my right sidebar (you may have to scroll down a little), and you earn Swagbucks just for searching the web through their search engine (just like using Google). When you have enough of them, you can turn them in for merchandise or gift cards. I have already earned over $25 in Amazon gift cards!

Ready for the giveaway details? YummyEarth sent me 2 bags of organic gummy bears, so I am sharing the 2nd bag with you (this is the ultimate proof that I love you, Resweater blog readers!). The winner will receive one 5 oz. bag of Yummy Earth organic gummy bears, like the one pictured at the top of this post. There are 2 ways to enter, become a fan of their Facebook page and say so in the comments here, go to their website & report back here what looks the yummiest, or do both for 2 entries! Each entry must be a separate post. Please leave an email address, so I can contact you if you win. This contest will end on Tuesday, March 9th at 10:00 PM (central time), and the winner will be chosen by Random.org. Good luck!!