Wunder Unders

Wunder Unders 

We quite often get asked about the best night time options when it comes to cloth diapering and potty training. There are several really good options for diapering at night but there aren't as many for trainers. When I came across Wunder Unders, I was immediately impressed with the look of them and her descriptions on her page. She was very detailed and explained everything very well. Not only does she offer a variety of colors and prints, but she offers a custom fit to your child's needs. There are so many choices and options to choose from it becomes overwhelming in a good way...because you don't often see that with any trainers out there. This is by far the best night time trainer that I have personally tried out on my kids. 

I was sent an AIO pocket style pull up trainer. When my son saw it, he immediately fell in love with it. He got to pick out his blue flame print when we were in the beginning process of creating our trainer. We were also sent these super soft inserts as well.



Lincoln is almost four but still has night time accidents. I have heard a lot of Moms have this issue with their kids. The main complaint is that there isn't anything that works in the cloth world for night time accidents for bigger kids. I always tell them to check out Wunder Unders.

Danielle is the "Wunder Woman" behind these amazing trainers. She is awesome to work with and really takes pride in her work. She is great at figuring out what you want or need, sometimes even before you do! She has been working on trainers for a while now and can guide you through finding what size, absorption and style that you child may need. 

This is a pic of the back inner-cute tag and an opening for stuffing if needed.

There are a few different choices that you'll have to decide on once you get going. Here is the link to get started with a custom trainer. (There may be different pricing depending on the choice you make but it is all very clearly displayed) You'll need to decide if you want a pocket style, hybrid, or an AIO. The AIO has a soaker sewn in the wetzone for day time accidents but it also has a pocket opening to add inserts for night time. We went with the AIO. On nights my son didn't have a lot to drink, we didn't need to add any extra boosters and we didn't have any leaking.

Here is  pic of the front inner. There is a small opening in the front and you can see the sewn in insert as well. This helps with daytime accidents.

After you decide the style, you get to pick the fun colors, prints and if you want minky! Here is a link to her options. You get to pick everything even down to the color of the elastic. If you aren't sure which will match a certain print, Danielle does a great job helping you piece things together. After color choices are made, you have the option to have snaps added at the waist for easy removal. These will work great if you have a beginning potty learner in case of a poo accident. We went with no snaps to create a more underwear feel. You also get to choose which type of inner material you want.

 You can choose from stay dry, feel wet or swim diapers. We went with stay dry for ours because Lincoln has such sensitive skin and has woken up from rashes from other trainers that do not have the stay dry. The feels wet material is great for your little one during the day to help them realize when they went. 

We had very minor pilly around the edges of the trainer but they were easily picked off and were not an issue.

Once you have everything picked out, she can help you with getting measurements if you aren't sure how. Overall her prices are great and she has a really good turn around time for getting them to you. We absolutely love our trainer and fully intend to get more. 

We had a great fit on Lincoln. The trainers are really thin yet really absorbent. He calls them his night time undies and from using them for about two months now, he has actually started having less accidents at night.

These pics were taken without the extra inserts added so it looks a little saggy in the butt but there was a great fit. The legs were not too snug and the waist band was perfect for him.

We love our Wunder Unders trainer. This is by far the best trainer I have tried for overnight. 

You can get your own Wunder Unders from Danielle for about $17 average. It could be more or less depending on which type of style you get and if you get prints etc. That is such a great deal! 

Here is the link to order from: NEW ORDER

Danielle is also super amazing for offering a OS Pocket trainer with accident insert to a lucky reader!! Just enter the rafflecopter form below. Make sure you follow the directions for the blog post comment. 

Giveaway ends April 25th at midnight. 

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Rain Barrel Love

I thought I'd share with you guys a simple, but really useful way that my family has gone green.  And it might be useful to some of you for the hot, summer months coming up!

The first summer we moved to Richmond, I really wanted to keep my yard green and looking nice.  I ran the sprinkler for an hour or two a few times a week.  I watered all my plants/vegetables at least once a day.  And then I got my first water bill.  Ouch.  I never realized how expensive city water is!!  Growing up, we had our sprinklers and hose attached to a well, so it didn't really cost anything to run.  Well, city water is a different story.  Let's just say, the rest of that summer, my lawn didn't look quite as nice as it did when we moved in :)
But, a few weeks after my love of my sprinkler went away, I found someone selling rain barrels at our farmer's market.  I had never really seen a rain barrel before.  But I went home and did a little research on them, and learned that they're basically a giant barrel attached to your gutter drain to collect rain water.  I thought it was genius and bought one the next time we went to the farmer's market.  And I haven't been disappointed.

our lovely rain barrel

There's our rain barrel.  Now, it's nothing fancy-they do make really nice ones.  Ours was just a big blue barrel that was painted green to blend in a little more with the landscape.  The paint is peeling off a little bit, and there's a few things I would change, but overall, this thing has been awesome.  While I can't water the grass with it, I do water all of our landscaping and vegetables with the water from the barrel.  We never have to use the hose to do any of that!  Which saves water and money.  I also don't feel bad letting Myles fill up his little elephant watering can about 30 times an afternoon to "water" the grass, because this water doesn't cost us anything!

Basically, the water just pours in through this hole from the gutter spout.  One thing I wish this rain barrel had is a filter or a screen to keep leaves and sticks from coming in.  Some rain barrels just have an open top, covered with a screen to keep debris out.  

don't mind the dirt and pollen on top!  it doesn't get cleaned often :)

It also has a little hole on the side, so when the barrel fills up, the extra comes out the side and doesn't back up the gutters.  

I would highly recommend a rain barrel to anyone looking to save some water and some money!  They're pretty easy to install, and super easy to use.  Although it's a little more work than using a hose, we love using the rain barrel.  Also, we get a discount on our storm water bill for every rain barrel we have!  Definitely something to look into in your area.  

rain barrel love :)

Sweet Bobbins Cloth Wipes

When I first started researching cloth diapers I had never heard of, or even considered, cloth wipes. Once I heard about them and started thinking about the benefits to my budget and the environment, cloth wipes just made a ton of sense. I also love that I'm not wiping chemicals on Ava's bum with each change. Personally I think that if you use cloth diapers, then it is just easier to also use cloth wipes! There isn't much extra work involved if you're already doing a load of diaper laundry anyway, and with cloth wipes you don't have to worry about having a separate place to put used disposable wipes. Cloth wipes are a great way to go green without much extra effort.

When I contacted Sweet Bobbins to see if she would like to do a review with us during Earth Month, she offered to send me a 12 pack of cloth wipes in my choice of gender and theme. I chose a girly woodlands theme, and got twelve adorable wipes! Sweet Bobbins also sells flat diapers, blankets, crib sheets, wet bags, unpaper towels, nursing covers, and more. Make sure to check out the awesome products she makes!

Don't you just love these prints? Sweet Bobbins' wipes are flannel on top and organic bamboo velour on the bottom. They are so plush and soft! The prints have held up great through many washes are aren't getting faded really at all.

I use cloth wipes not only for diaper changes, but also for dirty hands, noses, and really anything that Ava manages to get dirty! These Sweet Bobbins wipes are my favorite for her nose because the bamboo velour is so soft and gentle on her skin. I also love the velour side for changing dirty diapers. It is soft, but has enough texture to get her bum nice and clean!

These wipes have quickly become some of the most reached for ones that we have, and I am excited to tell you that Sweet Bobbins has offered to give away a set of 12 wipes in the winner's choice of gender and theme! Enter in the form below.


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Conscious Box!

We have an exciting offer from the folks over at Conscious Box today. They are offering a 50% discount code for our readers. They offer subscriptions to boxes of natural and earth friendly products once a month. Here's some info from their website:

"Discover the Best Natural & Eco-Friendly Products on the Planet

Conscious Box helps you discover the purest, healthiest natural products in the world from the most ethical companies! From natural beauty to health food and non-toxic home goods, you'll find better alternatives for all areas of your life. Open up your world today with Conscious Box"

I haven't tried a subscription like this before but it sounds very interesting and tempting for those of us in rural communities that don't always offer as many options as we'd like.

Their coupon code is: LOVELIFE for half off a month

Head on over to their Facebook page as well to like them and leave a note saying we sent you!

Adventures in Repurposing

While we are on the topic of green living with our Earth Days month, I wanted to share with you some fun ideas for the home and garden. Here in Oregon, we have mild seasons so getting the jump on summer with a green house is a great way to extend the growing season for veggies and flowers. I love my little veggie garden and around this time of year I am chomping at the bit to get out there and plant. The down side is that we still have danger of a light frost until May. So my project I want to share with you today is building a tiny, re-purposed  and attractive greenhouse. This mini green house is made from 6 old windows that we bought at an estate auction but can also be found at recycled home building supply stores like Habitat for Humanity's Restore.

We used four windows that are the same size and two that are a bit skinnier for the roof.

Here is Matt lining the up to be perfectly square. I grew impatient with his attention to detail but in the end it was appreciated because the 4th window we added to the base was the door and it swings closed easily on it's hinges. We added a small latch with a simple hook and loop.

Here is the finished project. You can see the the roof is still open, which is fine for ventilation in our area which is plant hardiness zone 8. If you are in a harsher zone, a bit of clear plastic stretched over these triagle shaped gaps would be great. Find your zone here 

I planted these spinach and basil seeds 3 weeks ago, which is very early for basil here. They are happy and growing is their little glass house!

Some things to watch for when using old windows is often the paint can flake off and contaminate edible plants. I scraped off the inside of these windows and continue to keep on eye on the surface as moisture and temp created more peeling. I haven't had a problem with it but use common sense, which I know you will.

More fun ideas for re-purposing items this spring can be found on Pinterest.com but here are some of my favorites and hopefully, soon to be in my house!