Citrus Lane

I've been wanting to try Citrus Lane for awhile now. I've been seeing posts of people super excited about their boxes...new toys and products to use for their little one. Jenna, over at A Mama Collective is doing a Battle of the Boxes reviewing three different monthly subscription boxes...Citrus Lane, Stork Stack, and Bluum. 

I was even more intrigued.

Then I got a promotional email for Citrus Lane...two months for the price of one!

I love, love, love a deal.

So I placed my order and waited ever so patiently.

Soon my boxes arrived, one right after the other! The cute boxes with the yellow stripe are almost enough to gush over.

July Box

• Aden + Anais Burpy Bib ($9.95) I love these burpy bibs and I love anything from this company! I have their swaddle blankets, sleep bags, bibs, lovies, and a list of wants. I was super excited for another one of these!
• Pack & Go Mini Mobile ($14.95) I have never seen this before and I love it! Even better, Ted loves it! I can hear him laughing and swinging the mobile around in the car. I love that it is so easy to clip on and off his car seat.
• Little Buddy Wipes ($2.95) These are nice because they are easy to pack in the diaper bag. Can't say I would continue to buy them, but nice to have.
• nurturmeals This is a sample of dried organic food. Ted's not ready for solids yet, but I'll keep it around and maybe try it. I think you can use it to replace rice cereal.
• Aden + Anais Mum and Bub Ointment This is also a sample. I've always wanted to try this stuff and as I said earlier, I love everything from A+A!!
  

August Box

• Rich Frog Little Stacker ($12.95) So, this looked pretty cute, but it's actually kind of lame. The velcro on it is really weak and I envision this becoming one of the dog's toys...he already dragged it to the living room twice. When I looked up this company, I really wish this would have been in the box instead! I mean, how cute are these? Not impressed with the stacker.
• Cleo's Alphabet Book ($6.95) This is a pretty cute board book. Ted's starting to really like looking at books too!
• Ah Goo Baby Bottle Strap ($10.49) This is actually pretty cool! You put it around baby's bottle/sippy cup and then attach it to their car seat or stroller. If they drop it or throw it...stays off the ground. The prints are really cute too!
• Clean Well Hand Sanitizing Wipes ($5.24) Well, since I got sanitizing wipes in the previous box, I wasn't too jazzed about this at all. :-/
• Weleda Calendula Natural Baby Cream This was a sample, but not a cute little tube like the Mum+Bub...several of those annoying packs you have to open and only use once because you have to tear them open. I am sure this is a great product, I just don't like samples like this.
  

So, I'm happy with my Citrus Lane boxes, but only because I got a month free. The only products I am really excited about are the A+A burpy bib, Pack and Go Mini Mobile, and possibly the Ah Goo Baby bottle strap. I never would have paid $10 for it, but since I have it I will probably use it. 

Overall, I'm not really that impressed with these boxes. I was hoping for more toys or activity things for Ted and less product. Am I missing something? For those of you who have raved about your boxes, what do you love about them? 

I am really excited to see what Jenna at A Mama Collective gets in her other boxes!

Mama Kisses...A Cloth Diaper Review

I have a confession to make...my name is Kellie and I am addicted to cloth diapers. There, I said it! Right now, I am in dire need of a haircut and color and I've been rotating the same 2-3 outifts because nothing fits and I need to go shopping, but all I can think about is...CLOTH DIAPERS!!

My son is 7 weeks old and we have been using cloth since he was 1 week old. I built a pretty good cloth diaper stash before he was born and bought all of them on Craigslist. I LOVE finding good deals, so I stalked CL for weeks before I bought any and consulted with a friend of mine before purchasing any. My stash consists of 15 Small Fuzzi Bunz, 5 Fuzzi Bunz OS Elites, 9 white OS Bum Genius, 6 blue/orange OS Bum Genius, 3 Thirsty covers Size 1, a dozen indian prefolds, 4 Bumkins Contours and 2 Rumparooz covers. Clearly I show no brand loyalty with cloth. I bought everything pretty neutral because we did not know if we were having a boy or a girl. I got all of this, minus the Thirsty covers and prefolds for $250! I was pretty proud of myself! I also got 4 wetbags, 1 travel wetbag, some disposable liners and CD detergent. 

Now that our boy is here, I really wanted to "trade in" the white Bum Genius. Once I saw how cute my boy looks in cloth, I knew I just could not settle with white. I decided to sell the 9 Bum Genius and buy some replacements that were more colorful. I've pretty much been banned from Craigslist for awhile (there are some unfinished projects in our garage that must be finished before buying anything else I've been told.)

What was I going to do?! I seriously can't picture myself ever paying full price for cloth diapers. I love them, but I love getting deals just as much! So, this new obsession lead me to an online store Kissed By the Moon. They have something called "Mystery Fluff". You can spend a certain amount of money and get a surprise of cloth diapers. For example, if you get "Baby Kisses" you spend $30 and get a surprise worth $30-$40. I did Loved Mystery Fluff, in hopes of getting more for my money and getting used diapers. I got $60 for my Bum Genius diapers, so I purchased the "Mama Kisses" (spend $60 and get a package worth $75). Perfect!! In the comments I requested "I would like OS or Medium diapers, please no GDiapers or white".

I ordered my Mystery fluff on Tuesday and was so happy to see a package by my door on Friday afternoon! Yay!!

Look who's excited for new diapers too!

Here's what was waiting for me...

The Sustainablebabyish Flat diaper was my "Carnival Prize". It is so cozy and soft! I actually can't imagine letting my baby boy poop in it! We'll see...

When I ordered this I was expecting to get 6-7 diapers that were visibly used. I only received 5 diapers, but two of them (Bum Genius Elemental and Simplex) look brand new!! The Bum Genius 4.0 is in EEUC too! FuzziBunz and Rumparooz are in GUC, but the wear is more obvious. The Rumparooz velcro is pretty worn, but it still works! I am not the biggest fan of velcro, so I am happy that I only got one...all the rest are snaps!

I love doing the Mystery Fluff because I get to try new diapers! I am super excited about the Simplex because it's crazy adorable print and it's more narrow between the legs so I think it will fit baby boy great! I've also never used the BG Elemental or Rumparooz Pocket OS! If I were to do this again (which I am pretty certain I will!) I would do the same order, but specify that I prefer snaps to velcro in addition to my other requests. 

I would definitely recommend this to someone who is not set on one specific brand and is interested in trying new diapers.

My cloth diaper guru of a friend, Jenna, and my CD consultant for EVERY question (check out her blog A Mama Collective) said this is what these would cost new...

THAT'S $116 worth of diapers for $60!!! Did I mention it's also free shipping for orders of $49 or more too?!

Here's my boy in my new favorite diaper, the Simplex! Love the print, love that it is sized (medium), love that it is AIO and LOVE how adorable he looks in it! Still a little big, but it will fit him soon enough!

I would ABSOLUTELY order the LOVED Mystery Fluff again! In fact, I might just go order more right now! Shh...don't tell :)