Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil review and GIVEAWAY

I stumbled across coconut oil a few weeks back, when I was looking for ways to treat Kingsley's supposed yeast rash. I was amazed at how many different containers it came in at the Health store. Large glass jars down to itty bitty plastic tubs. It was in the health food aisle as well as the cosmetics aisle. All, I knew at the time was it had an anti-fungal agent and would help with the yeast rash. Well, turns out it wasn't a yeast rash, and so, it did not help BUT....it really did not hinder either and it is organic after all. I actually had my mom use it as make-up remover when she was in town! Less, than 2 weeks after buying a small tub for $7.99 I saw tweets by @troptraditions for bloggers and reviews. I immediately responded, thinking, there had to be much more I could do with it, than what I had already done.

I received a huge glass quart container of Tropical Traditions to review and couldn't wait to start cooking...well, I mean, I was excited to cook with it, not that I like cooking or anything. So, I got out chicken tenderloins and Vigo breading. I realized we were out of eggs, which I normally dip the c hicken in before the breading. I decided to dip the chicken in the coconut oil before the breading and then fry the chicken in coconut oil as well! There are many advantages to cooking with coconut oil, that I did not know, like the fact that is has was less calories than vegetable or olive oil. The fat content in coconut oil also turns to energy instead of lingering to the heart or arteries. It is chalked full of vitamins and minerals too!

Even with my head cold, I could smell the coconut. Christian worried that it might taste too coconutty and he wouldn't like it....I was worried too. Let me tell you, that they were delicious. They did not taste like coconut at all actually, but did give the chicken a bit of a sweeter taste. Zealand ate two whole chicken tenderloins and there wasn't any leftovers for Kingsley today. Then tonight, Christian made beef cube steaks and prepared them with flour instead of Vigo but used the coconut oil with dinner tonight too! All on his own, he liked it so much.

On the site Organic Facts I read the following: Coconut oil has been known to help with irritable bowel syndrome due to its high anti microbial properties, it is also good on for pancreatitis and weight loss. It as been known to strengthen the immune system and aid in healing and infections. Diabetes, bones and teeth have all seen an improvement by using coconut oil.

This is more than a one use product. And now I am so glad, I was sent such a huge bottle!

Wanna know where to buy some? Visit Tropical Traditions!

Wanna win a quart of coconut oil for your very own?

Mandatory entry:
What other Tropical traditions product would you like to try?
OR
What recipe from here sounds good?

Additional entries:
Subscribe to their newsletter
Follow @troptraditions on twitter
Follow my blog
Follow me on twitter
Subscribe via email
Tweet (once per day...leaving me your tweet link)

Winner we be drawn December 21st.

Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product

Planet Wise wetbag and Sugar Dipes Review and Giveaway

Sugar Dipes an online cloth diaper store sent me a small Planet wise wet bag after we "met" on twitter. I do, have 2 other bags, 1 being a Wet Happened that I picked up at Target. I have found that it not only holds stench but it does not stay dry! I have had leaks through my bag! I also have a bag from Bumkins, it is not lined with PUL and is merely just a bag...no wet part about it!

I was anxious to see how small, the small bag was. I was pleasantly surprised that it would in fact be the perfect size for our family. When we travel, I only bring 2 diapers as changes and I rarely have to change both babies on a trip out and about. On Tuesdays, I do however change both babies when we are at a breastfeeding mom group. There is plenty of room and we have Zealand's speech therapy immediately following, so that puts us out of the house from about 11-2:30. I put them directly down for naps the moment we walk in the door at 2:30, so a mid day diaper change is a must, if I want them to last till 4ish when Christian gets home and they inevitably wake up.
2 diapers fit perfectly and to be honest, I could probably fit 4!

I love the prints that Planet wise offers. I love the size options. I love the way I feel comfortable knowing I can just throw it in the diaper bag and not worry about any moistness leaking through because of their seam sealing
I love how cute Sugar Dipes store is and all the great stuff she has to offer too!
(Now if I can only talk her into carrying Drybees fleece heehee)

She will be carrying Smartipants soon on top of already carrying Rumparooz and Fuzzi Bunz. She has Softbums (that I have been dying to try) as well as knickernappies and Happy Heiny!

The shop is small but it does pack a punch of some great products. I think once she gets up and running, she knows what products are the right ones to carry. Stop in, grab an insert or a diaper and help a mama out. It is the right thing to do, to help the small stores!

Wanna win a small wet bag of your own?

Mandatory Entry:
Click the Planet wise options link to see all the color options she carries. Chose which one you want when you win!

Additional Entries:
Follow Sugar Dipes on twitter
Fan Sugar Dipes on facebook
Follow Sugar Dipes blog
Follow me on twitter
Follow my blog
Subscribe to emails
Enter my Tanya Pecora giveaway
Tweet once a day

Contest ends on 12/14 during #clothdiaper chat
Open to US

Sugar Dipes sent me wet bag for review.

Tanya Pecora Review and Giveaway!

I found Tanya (ezphotoinvitations.com) through google (don't you just love that invention!). I was looking for cute girly skulled themed invites. I have been searching for MONTHS and doing lots of research on what I wanted. I loved the fact that Tanya custom makes everything. You don't go window shopping here, you go couture shopping! You tell her what you want down to the dot and she makes it happen! I also love that I didn't have to wait to see the finished product, I didn't have to pay shipping or processing. Nope, I just sent the jpg to my local Walgreens to pick them up, in ONE hour!!!

She was awesome to work with, super easy. Just 2 emails and she had my idea done. She does everything imaginable too! She asked if I wanted cupcake toppers, bottle or chocolate bar wrappers or even a pennant. Let's talk about a one stop shop for your party needs....all we need now is a clown! (Or a pirate!)
So....Isn't my card (uh, I mean Kingsley's card) cute!?!

Tanya has offered to give YOU a design of your choice PLUS 2 graphics to match!!

Make it your Christmas cards, or holiday cards or birthday or baby shower invites!
OPEN AROUND THE WORLD!

Ends December 10th.

Mandatory entry:
Look around and tell me your favorite card

Additional:
Follow Tanya Pecora on facebook
Follow her on twitter
Follow my blog
Subscribe via email
Follow me on twitter
Tweet (once per day)

Tanya gave me jpg to review. I was not paid to write this review, in any other way nor does the free jpg affect the ideas listed within.

Little Diva Tutu Review

Kingsley will be one on December 20th. Where did the year go? She is SUCH a snuggle bug. Well, I take that back, she is such a clingly bug. She sure has a special thing for her Mama (yep, me!) She pretty much hates the floor, unless there is food on it. She just surpassed her birth weight x3, which was my goal for her. I'm not sure where I read that, but supposedly, that is a sign of a healthy breast-fed baby. So she is a whopping 19.4 lbs and still just a teeny tiny thing.
Her nickname is Punky but Zealand calls her Kiki....so we'll see what wins :)

Her party is in just about 2 weeks in the theme of a girly pirate. I rented out the gymnastics studio, where they will have it set up for free play for the toddlers to roam. I will be bringing my own hot pink table cloths and hot pink and black balloons. I ordered pirate cups from oriental trading company and will be stuffing them with pirate necklaces, stickers and tattoos. My mom just brought me little skull candy holders, so I need to find some pink and black wrapped candy to stuff in those! I ordered a Pirate swashbuckling CD from Amazon using my swagbucks, so the gym will be filled with pirate music argh!!

Kingsley will be wearing this adorable tutu sponsored by Little Diva Tutus. She sent us the hot pink and black one, to match her hot pink with black skull leggings, I found on etsy. I will pair up this tutu with a simple black turtleneck but I had much grander plans but live in a small town, without a fabric store!

This tutu arrived in a large box (as so not to get squished) and it was just ADORABLE! The perfect amount of color! I have to say that it is a SUPER great quality for the price. I know if you are in the market for a tutu you have noticed the prices are RIDONKULOUS! Even for ugly ones!! MOST tutus on this site are just $19.99 and I think that is totally a price that anyone can afford. She has an amazing photographer and I am in love with all her pictures. (She has a shirt on one of her mannequins and when I asked about the shirt, she said it was a STICKER....and it still looked so stinkin' cute!)

And.....she has a fundraiser on her site. She donates a percentage of certain tutus to help Layla Grace and St. Jude's Hospital! Now, that is amazing. She is giving back during a time where everyone is hoarding their money.

Want to read something interesting about Melissa?? Check out her great story on her site, trust me....you will LOVE what you see!!

Christmas is approaching fast....hurry up and snag one of these for picture time. I can't think of a cuter thing for a little lady to be seen in!

Gro Baby Bio-Soakers written by:Betsy

Danielle had the good fortune to win some Gro Baby bio-soakers from Barefoot-Eco but since she does not have a diapering system in which they can be used, she has asked me to do this review. As I said before, gDiapers are our main daytime diaper. We use them with the gDiaper flushies and with gFlappers bamboo cloth inserts (made at The Nappy Shoppe).

The Gro Baby bio-soaker is a disposable, compostable insert designed to fit into their Gro Baby cloth shell but the company assured us that they would work quite well in the gDiapers. They are a little different than the flushies that I am used to- 1) They have stretchy, gathered leg casings, 2) They have a waterproof backing on them and 3) They have 2 large peel off stickies on them, one in the front and one in the back. After taking a look at these bio-soakers, I decided to try them inside my gDiaper but with the snap-in liner removed. I peeled off the covers for the stickies and applied the bio-soaker directly to my gDiaper little pant.

To put it simply- they worked great! A typical gDiaper flushie absorbs well but lasts my little soaker only about 2 hours, 3 if I’m lucky. The Gro Baby bio-soaker lasted 4 hours every time I used one! And the elastic leg casings gave me the extra confidence that we would not have a diaper blowout while out and about. The stickies on the back almost work too well! When it was time to remove them from the gpant, they held so well that some of the screen-printed washing directions came off the gpant as well! (These are not new gDiapers so the screen-printing was loosening before hand.)

I disposed of my bio-soakers in the trash as I have a temperamental septic system and have yet to begin a compost pile (must start that soon!) so I do not know how they fare as far as other disposal methods.

All in all, I loved the Gro Baby bio-soakers and need to order some before the Buy One Get One Free deals that I’ve been seeing all over the Internet end!

Stripping diapers 101 from The Rash Specialist aka Dani from Baby Cotton Bottoms

OK....so she might not have the name tag that says Rash Specialist and she may even laugh knowing that I call her that but she holds a mean grudge against rashes. She takes a no holds bar approach and is FIRM about how to rid babies of their rashes.
Danika on twitter had heard my exasperated attempts at trying to clear Kingsley's rash..only for it to come back with bells on. She recommended that I contact Dani, (Baby Cotton Bottoms) through her online contact form on her website. I was semi-familiar with her site since I was "owl-hunting" on it for the Great Cloth Diaper Hunt, just a few weeks prior. Dani immediately responded and fired off LOTS of questions.....are you sure it's yeast? Has it been tested? What diapers are you using? What have you tried? She informed me that if it was bacteria and I was treated it as yeast, that I was in fact FEEDING the bacteria and visa versa.

She informed me that vinegar does not cure...it feeds.
Dr. Smith's which is zinc-based has boric acid. DRYING out the rash but not curing it.
The TTO...I was using? Could have been killing her natural womanly flora since I was adding it to bath water....and we know where the water goes;)
She recommends Earth Mama Angel Baby Bottoms Balm.

So, these emails are shot back to back quickly and VERY detailed. She even asks if she can CALL me!
(The day BEFORE Thanksgiving!!)

Now, Dani, is working closely with the CDC in Atlanta because she is writing a book! She called out a few detergent products, which I will NOT name but I will list what she DOES recommend. AND because Kingsley is now rash free, I trust her.
END OF STORY.

She likes Allen's,
Bum Genius (which is a country save partnership)
and
the new Thirsties (which has the anti-bacterial agent)

Lots of detergents are new or haven't been tested enough or are simply NOT cleaning the diapers the right way.

She asked about how I was storing dirty diapers, liners and wipes? If I had attempted sterilizing changing pad covers, blankets and washcloths? Bacteria LIVES! And I never thought that one tiny bad bacteria could be living in her changing pad cover or a cloth liner!

Now we move to stripping.
BOIL
All but your PUL covers
Like you would boil pasta....10 minutes
then dump in washer add detergent and wash.

FOR PUL :
Using one of the 3 detergents above use 1 scoop and add 1/4 cup of chlorine bleach wash on your HOTTEST water that your thermostat has.
MAKING SURE YOUR DIPES ARE 1ST CLEAN not DIRTY!
Then repeat.
1st time takes a layer off the fungus...2nd time KILLS it.
Then rinse rinse rinse. Till they smell like cloth again!
Make sure you don't overfill the washer. Give them room to float around.

Don't forget using a NON-RESIDUE detergent is the way to go. Choosing the wrong detergent, may cause the process to fail.

This should clear up all ammonia issues as well, I assume, for those JUST battling that issue!

Till December 2nd Baby Cotton Bottoms has FREE shipping on everything in store by using HOLIDAY as your coupon code.
So go grab one of these 3 detergents with FREE shipping
(you won't find that ANYWHERE!)
No minimum purchase required.

I know this should work for you too!

The infamous RASH (Ruby Pinwheels review)

If you really know me and follow me on twitter...then you know I have been dealing with rash. Lots and lots of diaper rash. I assumed it was yeast when it was just on Zealand and we dealt with it appropriately with Nystatin creams and Bourdeaux. It got worse each time he had a bowel movement. I had been told by a pharmacist friend to mix equal parts nystatin cream, mylanta (or Maalox) and Desitin. I mixed it up and slathered it on. Only to find out that Desitin creamy isn't even approved for baby's skin per @thesmartmama. You will have to ask her all the details but I totally trust her on being green, cause that is her thing! I took Zealand to the Pediatrician, where we were told bacteria. We were given bactriban orally and topically. At this point, Kingsley's rash was just starting to surface. NOONE told me not to bathe them together....never even thought about it, ya know! Kingsley followed in to the Pediatrician the next week or two after I couldn't clear that up.

Both rashes cleared and I was thankful for about 7 days.

Kingsley's came back with a vengeance.

I tried ALL of the following: Nystatin cream, the homemade triple cream, liquid acidophilus, coconut oil, Dr. Smith's diaper cream, Tea Tree Oil (in baths, laundry and even dabbed directly on spots) Grapefruit seed extract (in wipe mix and in sippy cups), Vinegar (also in baths and in wipe mix and laundry). I bleached the diapers and changed detergents numerous times.

At simultaneous times, I was given the opportunity to chose a product from Ruby Pinwheels to review while I was working with a "Rash Specialist"

(I will talk about her in a later post if anyone is interested).

The "RS" said they ONLY cream she recommends is the Earth Mama Angel Baby Bottom Balm. that the others contain zinc which is just a barrier. She works closely with the CDC on testing baby products and the ingredients that are used in them.

I talked to her via email and then phone! (She called me!)

Kingsley was put back on the prescription cream Bactriban with directions to apply 2x a day for 7 days. ALL 7 days. If it gets worse, then we will attempt oral medications but the WHOLE reason, I went to such extremes with the organic and holistic remedies was I did not want to her to have oral antibiotics. We also switched to Earth Mama Angel Baby cream to use on all other changes and we switched to disposable diapers.

We made the switch on Thursday.

Today is Sunday.

ALL GONE!!

I'm not a gambler....only because I hate to lose....but I am pretty confident that Earth Mama Angel Baby cream had something to do with it!

Ruby Pinwheels sells all organic, so you know you can trust what you get from them, starting with Earth Mama Angel Baby products.

I don't want to shop somewhere that sells bad products mixed in with good ones because it makes money...I wanna shop somewhere that sells only good products because they believe in them and they care what I put on MY baby.

Right now Ruby Pinwheels has 20% off their site....probably won't last long!

Use code: Thanks20

(what a perfect coupon code because I so THANKFUL for this product!)

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