Product Review: Bébélelo Bouncer

I was recently contacted by Bébélelo to try out one of their bouncy chairs. Of course i am always happy to try out different baby products,  and give my honest opinion.

Out of the box, the chair is fully assembled (just snap the toy bar into place). We like not having to assemble things : ) This bouncy chair has several different incline adjustments. It would be suitable in full recline for a newborn baby, or fully upright for an older baby who wants to see the world. It also has different height adjustments, and a stability bar at the front, if you want to stop it from rocking. Ellie enjoyed the hanging animals, but i would likely remove the toy bar for her use, as she is able to climb in and out of the chair on her own (Hence her not being strapped in. Babies should always be securely strapped into a bouncy chair until they are old enough to safely climb in and out on their own. ) The attached bear pillow is especially nice for younger babies who would probably sleep in the chair.

I mostly liked this chair, as it seems very well made and durable. Other chairs tend to be flimsy, with thin frames that just don't seem like they would stand the test of time as well. I also liked that it is gender neutral and not too "themey" (read: princesses)

You can check out all of Bébélelo's products on their website. They also have a Facebook page. 

Bébélelo is located in Laval, QC, and delivers all over Canada!

Wordless Wednesday

Fugal Mama Tips: Cloth Diapering

Having children can be expensive, or you can choose more frugal options. I wanted to do a series of posts, demonstrating a few ways we have found to save money, while raising our two kiddos. The first, and possibly biggest money saver has been cloth diapering.

Most estimates put the cost of using disposable diapers from birth to potty training at around $2900 per child (I'm sure this number could be A LOT lower depending on the brand of diaper used) I estimate our costs for cloth diapering to be around $1000, for TWO children. Saving us approximately $4800!

 To break that down, $300 for the actual diapers (that includes around 36 diapers and extra absorbent liners for overnight) $600 for laundering the diapers (assuming each child is in diapers for 3 years) and another $100 for a wet bag (to contain the diapers while out of the house) a diaper pail, and cloth wipes. We do buy disposable diapers occasionally for use on longer periods of time away from home, or if I just plain old forgot to wash the diapers before we ran out! We also used disposable wipes for a long time, only recently really switching to cloth.

The diapers we use are around $6.00 a diaper. I like Kawaii, Comfy Rumps, and Alva. All of these more affordable brands have stood the test of time, and could easily be used to diaper more than one child. This is where you can either save money, or actually spend substantially more than disposables if you choose a more expensive brand of diapers. Some popular brands are around $20-$25 per diaper. I do have a couple of these, and they really don't preform any better than a much cheaper option.

Comfy Rumps

Kawaii

Boosters/inserts/liners are essential for overnight cloth diapering. I prefer hemp, it is very trim and ultra absorbent. We like AMP Hemp Boosters. We use 2 at night, as both of our kiddos sleep for 12 hours.

We use a plain old white waste bin, with a locking top, for storing the dirty diapers.

Our wipes are homemade. I cut an old receiving blankets into squares, and sewed the edges to prevent fraying. These were basically free. I just place them in an empty wipes container, with a little water.

Lastly, our wet bag, is by Bummis. We use a small one for traveling away from home.

As for washing the diapers? It's simple, every 3 days, i run them through a cold rinse, then a hot/warm cycle with soap (not all laundry soaps are created equal, for a list of cloth friendly laundry soaps check this out) I personally use Sunlight powder, and have had no build up or smell issues.. Diapers need lots of water to get clean, so the load size should be set on Max. 

Any tips or questions about cloth diapering? Let me know! 

A Wedding

My sister in law Kaitlin was married a little over a week ago. I don't have many pictures from our camera, the boy was too wild to pose, and it was a crazy hectic day. However i do have a couple that i love <3

My favorite Jelly bean

He NEVER stops!

The only photos of them together. Thats real life though ; )

She loves her some Daddy kisses

This girl is always smiling!

This is the year! I hope to have family pictures taken. There are just so few of us all together.

Ellie Jane: 11 Months

ELEVEN! Almost one year. I don't even have the words, my last baby is almost a freaking toddler!

Miss.Jelly (that is pretty much her name at this point) is a whirlwind of growth and development at this point;

She can walk almost fully now, and it is the cutest thing ever. I say almost, as she still crawls about half of the time.

Ellie loves to take things out of bins, containers and boxes, and put them back. She also likes to take her books off of the shelves and put them back.

She learned a fun new skill this week, dumping cups of water over her head in the bath, over and over again, squealing with delight.

Ellie also loves to imitate sounds, noises and silly faces. She isn't much of a talker yet, mostly babbling still, but she can imitate the silliest of sounds.

Our girl so growing like a weed! I know everyone says that, but it's really true. She is almost 24 pounds. I will likely not know her height until I can get her to hold reasonably still for more than a mere moment.

Most importantly, our jelly bean steals our hearts, more and more with each passing day. I swear she is the smiliest, happiest baby ever (unless she is tired, then, get her to her bed before she kills the world!) And, although i may be biased, i do believe she is the most beauiful little lady in all the land. 

Only 3.5 weeks until the big first birthday :*)

Lately.

I wish there was a camera that could truly capture the beauty of their smiles.