applecheeks swim diaper WINNER!

hi all,

i forgot to post the winner of the applecheeks swim diaper yesterday. sorry about that! so i thought i'd do a quick post before the hubby and i head out for new year's eve festivities.

the winner of this giveaway is ...

congratulations to beth! look for an email from me in the next little bit. please respond with your mailing address so i can forward it to the people at applecheeks. if i don't receive a response by sunday, jan. 2nd, then i will draw for a new winner.

stay tuned for a new giveaway coming next week! you won't want to miss it.  :o)

happy new year!!!

review + giveaway: applecheeks swim diaper

i know i've been MIA for a while. we were away for a short bit in november for a family vacation. as hard as we try to be environmentally-friendly, we just can't give up travelling...which is probably one of the most "un-green" things you can do.

since N is turning two this month, we thought we'd squeak in one last plane trip before having to pay full fare. so we went to the beautiful island of maui! it is already starting to get cold here, so we were looking forward to heading to warmer climes. since we'd be spending lots of time on the beach, it seemed like a good time to try a reusable diaper on for size. i've been wanting to try them for a while, but we're not allowed to use them at the pool where N has his swimming lessons. i approached the kind folks at applecheeks about doing a review on their new swim diaper, and they happily obliged by sending me one of their super cute corsica swim diapers.

so we took it for a test drive on ulua beach in south maui. we arrived at the beach, set ourselves up on a patch of sand, and proceeded to change N into the swim diaper. for those of you have never used a reusable swim diaper before, let me tell ya that it holds in solids (i.e. poop), but does not contain any kind of absorbent layer for liquids. i knew that going in, but what i didn't expect was for N to pee as soon as i put him in it. literally, he was in it for less than a minute when i noticed liquid trickling down his leg. :oP i then had to rinse off my straw beach mat since there was now a small puddle on it. overall, the diaper held up well and had a great fit. at the time of the trip, N was 23 months and 25 lbs. the size 2 was a great fit for him, just like the regular size 2 applecheeks pocket diaper. in fact, there is still a lot of room for him to grow into it, but the elastics were snug enough that nothing would leak out and the rows of snaps allow you to adjust to a perfect fit. i could definitely see using this as the beach instead of a disposable swimmer. unfortunately, i don't think it will work for the pool at the community centre as the ones in our neighbourhood state that diapered children have to be huggies/pampers-type swimmers.

here are some shots of N playing on the beach in his applecheeks...

* GIVEAWAY ALERT *

applecheeks is kindly offering up one of their fab swim diapers to one lucky reader! visit www.applecheeks.com and indicate which colour and size you would pick if you won. they come in two sizes and two colours (corsica, as pictured on N, and bonfire)

* EXTRA ENTRIES *

(please leave a separate comment for each additional entry)

• follow my blog via Google Friend Connect

• follow the AppleCheeks blog 

• like Applecheeks on Facebook

• follow @AppleCheeksDipe on Twitter

• follow @mylilsweetpea on Twitter

this giveaway is open to residents of Canada and the U.S. until Dec. 30, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. EST. the winner will be chosen using a random number generator. please include your email address in your entry so that i can contact you if you are the winner. you can email me at ecoparentblog [at] gmail [dot] com if you prefer not to post your email address here. if the winner does not respond within 72 hours, another winner will be chosen. good luck!

some me time

yesterday i got the chance to have a little "me time" and went to have a facial at a spa. a couple of friends had given me a gift card for a facial for my birthday, so i figured it was about time i used it (since it's been almost a year already!). the gift card was for a facial at pure + simple, which is a spa that uses all-natural (and mostly organic) products and its services emphasize holistic health principles. i've been experiencing bad skin since giving birth to my son almost two years ago. not sure if it's the weird hormones or if it's something else, but it's been a struggle dealing with it. the facial was very relaxing (with the exception of the extrations) and the esthetician was very good about explaining what she was doing and the products she was using. she explained that i needed to drink a lot more water since my skin was very dehydrated. i ended up getting a sampler kit to try some of their products at home. seems like quite the regimen, but if it'll give me nice skin, i'll do it!  :o)  if you live in the toronto area and you're looking for more natural skincare products, i highly recommend checking them out. david suzuki recently released a report about the "dirty dozen" cosmetic chemicals to avoid and all of the products at pure + simple are free of those chemicals.

mama earth organics

 i've been curious to try out one of these organic produce delivery services for a while, but with so many different ones out there, i couldn't decide which to try. i recently found this one company called mama earth organics and it seems to be reasonably priced. you don't have to commit to an entire season, but can just go week-to-week so the financial commitment is a lot less. for just $25 you can get a small produce basket delivered straight to your door. they also offer other organic items that you can add on to your order (such as bread, baking supplies, canned goods, cheeses, etc.). delivery is free for orders over $30 and the day of the week your basket gets delivered depends on where you live within the GTA. i think i'll give this a try some time this month. i figure at least it'll expand on the type of produce we eat and we'll also be supporting local farmers! more to come once we experience our first basket!

another applecheeks giveaway!

in honour of their move to new offices, applecheeks is doing yet another giveaway! gotta love prizes, right? i still have yet to win any type of online giveaway, but that doesn't deter me from trying.  ;o)  check out applecheeks' newest colour...dark chocolate! i love it!

for your chance to win one of three little bundles or reusable liners, click on the following link:
http://blog.applecheeks.com/posts/2010/10/5/our-new-offices-giveaway.html

contest closes on oct 20th!

btw, i'll be doing another review of some applecheeks product next month so stay tuned for that!