A Reusable Diaper Revolution:

Officially AppleCheeks™

So as much as I ADORE having so many faithful followers, I know that a good proportion of you are here because of AppleCheeks™ and are not so into my posts of a more personal nature. So guess what? We've created a blog JUST for you!

Yes, that's right! Today we launched the corporate AppleCheeks™ blog. We're SO excited! Our goal is to turn that blog into more of a public space with a lot of guidance and support from you, our loyal customers. We'll be having plenty of guest blogging opportunities, giveaways, video clips, and important company updates.

I hope that some of you will stick around as I'm going to develop my own blog further and work on my writing, but if you don't, that's okay too!

See you all on the other side!

Orange Zest WINNERS!

I'm going to do something rather crappy and force you all the head on over to our newly launched AppleCheeks™ corporate blog to find out who the winners are...

Check it out, and please feel free to let us know what you think of it! It's a work in progress so we'd really appreciate your input and insights!

The AppleCheeks™ Official Blog

Twitter party TONIGHT! Prizes galore...

I'm SO excited! Just to warn you all, I'll be running on pure adrenaline as my eldest started school today and I was up at 6am (or rather, Ione was up at 6am - I didn't actually HAVE to get up until 6:45am). We're going to have so much fun, though, and give away so much STUFF!

So to refresh your memories, AppleCheeks™'s first ever Twitter party is the brainchild of Katie from Pickles and Paisleys. Katie also happens to be our rep for South Carolina. It will take place tonight at 8pm EST(DST) out in the Twitter verse and Katie has written a great guide for how to participate in a Twitter party. You still have 10.5 hours to figure it all out...

Okay, so why should you attend, you ask? Well, for one, because you LOVE AppleCheeks™ diapers and want to share the love. Secondly, it's a great opportunity to ask us questions about anything AppleCheeks™ or cloth diaper related. And thirdly, because you can WIN!

Want to know what you can win, exactly? Here's the updated list on Katie's blog.

And another reminder, please RSVP for the party. If you don't RSVP you can't win...

See you tonight!

A Tale of Three Sisters

When we found out that our third baby was going to be a girl we were -and I'm not ashamed to admit this - a little disappointed. Yes, Fred and I wanted baby number three to be a boy.

Never mind the fact that the twenty week ultrasound is not supposed to be about the sex of the baby. And never mind the fact that we were INSANELY grateful that for all intents and purposes we appeared to be carrying another healthy child. That's neither here nor there at this point. We wanted to know the sex ahead of time, plain and simple. I am not good at surprises (remind me to tell you my Azure experience one of these days so you'll understand) and Fred likes to be prepared.

I'm all about the planning. Wait, no. Scratch that. Planning is too strong a word. I'm all about the dreaming. I'm your quintessential chicken counter. I recently heard a piece on CBC Radio about a study that showed how the anticipation of a trip is WAY more fun for most people than the trip itself. That's me in a nutshell. Get it? I like to know if I'm going to have a new shopportunity on my hands or if I should be reorganizing all my bins of hand-me-downs and giving away all the pieces I don't absolutely cherish. I need things like this to fill my head space.

So past all the details I've listed above, the REASON I was disappointed was because I had this romantic vision of a little boy growing up in the  caring and nurturing shadow of two older sisters. Azure and Phoenix would remain best of friends with no one to interfere with or challenge their sister-dynamic, and they'd be further united by their love for their little brother. Sigh.

So after the ten minutes it took to digest the fact that our newest baby was penis-less (and hopefully vagina'd - she is) the image I'd been nurturing for the previous 18 weeks was quickly replaced by The Tale of Three Sisters. I imagined a kind of Russian babuschka doll set - three girls, each one a scaled down version of the next, in frilly little dresses, all posing on a warm spring day for the slightly grainy archival photo that I'd frame and hang in the bedroom on top of my dresser. I imagined tea parties and dressup and baking sessions with mom (me) and neat bedrooms. I imagined laughter and sunshine and languid afternoons making daisy chains.

Cue the record screeching to a halt. Whose life is THAT? Not ours, that's for sure.

You know what the problem is with this image? I can't get past their INDIVIDUALITY. No matter how much I squint, I just can't line up the image in my head with our actual life. They are each so different and so far from resembling each other that I can't make them blend. 

Azure was my princess until she became my rock star. She's confident and strong and beautiful and a force to be reckoned with. She's alternately my best friend and my biggest adversary. She's my rock and the one element in my life that challenges me to question everything I've held as true up until this point. She's fascinating and smart and doesn't miss a beat. With the right guidance she'll end up a leader and a role model. She's my mission and my companion.

Phoenix is my dreamer, my tomboy, the resident animal-lover. She's funny, adorable, clownish and competent. She's my sidekick and my sedative. She's the child with whom I could always just be without having to do. She's kind and caring and disturbingly empathetic for a three year old. She's generous and open and warm. She's expressive and kind. She's physically capable and emotionally grounded. She's my little monkey.

And then there's Ione. Ione is only three months old so there's not much to say about her yet, personality-wise. But for Ione I feel the pure, unadulterated kind of love that a mother can only experience now when there's none of the other emotional stuff to filter it. Ione is joy and sweetness and happy all in one squishy, glowing package. She's possibility and undefined potential. She's done me such a HUGE favour by accepting the pacifier that she has my eternal gratitude. When I hold her up to face me and she smiles with her whole body and tells me in clear, urgent, babble how much she loves me, every fibre of my being strains towards her like a flower to the sun. She's my last chance to really appreciate the simplest side of mothering, the easy stuff that's defined by how many hours she sleeps at night and the way my body uniquely sustains hers. She's the one who showed me that things that I took for granted for 34 years and two pregnancies, such as slim ankles, should be wholeheartedly appreciated. 

So there you have it. My Tale of Three Sisters is a book that is waiting to be written. And you know what? It won't be any less romantic than the vision I had. It's just that it will be ours and it will be real.

Summer the AppleCheeks™ Way Photo Contest WINNERS!

Man, that was TOUGH! It's taken us a full four days to decide amongst ourselves which of the many submissions we received was the one for our splash page. But finally, we did it!

So if you recall, there were two ways to win this contest. One way was to get as many votes as possible. And Katie's Austin blew the rest out of the water with a staggering 87 votes.

And winner number two, chosen after MUCH deliberation but the team here in the offices, is Dawn's baby whose name I don't know...yet!

We just love the colours and artistic styling of this photo taken on the dock by the water. It really captures a relaxing summer day at the cottage, and we love the fact that Dawn's family uses their AppleCheeks™ even while travelling and on vacation!

Congratulations to Katie and Dawn! I'll be in touch to arrange your prizes. 

I've got my spine, I've got my Orange Zest...

So a lot of you have been asking when the VERY limited Orange Zest diapers will be available to order, and I'm SO happy to be able to officially let you know that we should have them in hand by next

Thursday, barring any unforeseen incidents, and retailers should have them within a few weeks of that date.

Finally!

We're reserving only a very small percentage of the stock for our own store in order to make it available for our retailers, so we'll have our retailers post on our fan page when we've confirmed with them that their stock is shipping.

Orange Zest was actually a really popular colour when we first introduced our line back in 2008, but it's one of those colours that you either love or hate, and from a business perspective it makes more sense to have a permanent collection of colours that illicit more of a neutral response. But the "love it" aspect of this colour is why we love to offer limited editions when we can.

A few facts about the colour orange from Sensational Color (do you know how much it hurts me to have to spell colour that way?):

Orange around the globe

• American Indians associate the color orange with kinship.

• Orange is the Netherlands' national color, dating back to the Dutch War of Independence and the rebel Prince of Orange.

• In Ireland, the use of orange dates from the reign of William of Orange, the Protestant English king and a Dutch stadholder.

• In China and Japan, orange is used to symbolize happiness and love.

• Orange County, California

• Orange, CA

• Orange, NJ

In order to celebrate the arrival of our long-awaited Limited Edition, we at AppleCheeks™ will be giving away TWO Orange Zest Little Bundles (cover+insert)!

How to Win (each criteria filled will earn you one entry into our contest - please make sure to detail your entries in the comments box below):

1. Follow my blog publicly.

2. "Like" us on Facebook.

3. Follow me on Twitter.

4. Post one interesting fact about the colour orange.

5. Tweet the following - Ooh, I hope I #win an @AppleCheeksDipe Limited Edition Orange Zest! #giveaway #clothdiaper http://www.ajadedmama.com (1 tweet per hour, 1 entry per tweet)

6. Invite 10 friends to join our Facebook page. (Make sure to keep a list of first names only. Each additional ten names gets an additional entry)

7. RSVP to our Twitter Party which will take place on August 31 at 8pm DST(EST).

8. Mention my giveaway on your blog.

9. And because I am SO grateful to Katie for organizing our Twitter party, follow her blog!

BONUS ENTRY

10. Tell me the artist(s) whose song I am referencing in the title of this blog post.

This contest will close at midnight DST(EST) on September 1, 2010. No entries will be accepted after that time.

GOOD LUCK!

We're having a Twitter party. What the heck is that, though?

Well, colour me old fogey but at the tender age of 34 I'm feeling left behind, technology-wise. I never thought I'd see that day, but it's finally here.

Twitter parties. Have you heard of them? It's a party but it's on Twitter. It's a virtual party. It's my DREAM party! I don't have to dress up or put on makeup and if I get a bit tipsy I can just stumble up the stairs to bed. There's no babysitter to pick up and drop off and pay. I don't have to make small talk and I don't have to worry about bits of hors d'oeuvres getting stuck in my teeth.

But I've never been to one. Not that I've not been invited as I sure I must have been (not that it matters - anyone can participate!) but they tend to take place when everyone ELSE'S kids are asleep and at a time when I'm not supposed to be online anyways.

So what do you think about the fact that, in conjunction with Katie at Pickles and Paisleys, I'm playing co-host to my very first Twitter party!

I think it's pretty wild, especially as I have NO clue what's expected of me.

Yes, that's right. I'm a Twitter party virgin. This will be my first time. I'm nervous and excited. Sound familiar? Yeah, well, we won't go there.

So Katie, who is our very own rep for the lovely state of SOUTH Carolina, is hosting an AppleCheeks™ week on her blog and it's her enthusiasm for our line that started this whole series of events.

I'll let her little bundle of sweetness, Austin, lead the way to her post with all the details. Click on him to read Katie's post:

So why would you want to attend? Because you can win STUFF! Not only will we be giving away our own fluffy stuff, but so will Lulu's in the Fluff and Wooltopia! And who knows who else will decide to participate between now and August 31 at 8pm when the party is set to begin.

Stay tuned to both my and Katie's blogs as we put together a list of prizes.

One little note - You must RSVP. If you don't RSVP you can't win. From what I understand, during the course of the party Katie will be randomly selecting numbers from the list of attendees and when she calls your name, if you're not there, you can't claim your prize. It's like a door prize thing, I guess. You can RSVP here.

Stay tuned...

It's Monday at 2:30pm and I'm lopsided. How are you?

I'm meant to be working right about now. Baby is sleeping and has been for TWO HOURS and I'm feeling relatively focused and rested, so now is a perfect time to thump out those things on my to do list that I wasn't able to face last week.

But I'm distracted. You know why? Because I'm lopsided. And it hurts.

Well, my CHEST is lopsided, to be precise. No joke. And no, I'm not posting a picture.

I'm an ardent co-sleeper and when Phoenix was born our setup was such that Azure slept on my right in a twin bed sandwiched between our king-sized bed and the wall, and Phoenix slept between Fred and me. By the time Phoenix was three months we'd moved Azure into her own room and Phoenix took up residence on the twin.

In that new setup, when it came to the nighttime nursing, I got lazy. She'd wake up once or twice in the night, I'd nurse her from the right breast, and we'd both go back to sleep. And because I'm right handed and like to nurse on the go and was working at our boutique with her in tow, daytime nursing was just easier on the right breast as well.

By the time Phoenix was about six months old, production on the left had slowed down to almost nothing and the right breast was single-boobedly sustaining my strictly breastfed baby. Lefty shrunk as the milk ducts collapsed and dried up and righty grew. And grew. And grew.

It got so bad that I had to pad the left breast with two or three nursing pads just to maintain the illusion of symmetry. I went bathing suit shopping with my good friend Millie and we could barely make it out of the change room, we were laughing so hard at my dilemma. Thank goodness for gel inserts, is all I can say!

Amy, my partner, could not get over my tilt and would focus on it whenever we were together in person and scold me for allowing it to happen.

And then I weaned Phoenix at the age of 26 months and suddenly I was balanced again.

So here we are once more, exclusively breastfeeding baby number three. And guess what? THE BODY REMEMBERS! You know how birth is so much easier after the first time because of this fact? Well, apparently milk production follows that lead.

Despite my best efforts to balance out the feedings and even to concentrate feedings on the left breast, righty is once again trying to outperform her partner and I get completely engorged on the right but never on the left.

Will I come out of this last breastfeeding experience lucky or will I be permanently tilted? Only time will tell. In the meantime I'm trying to will the left breast to pick up the pace. Did I ever mention that my husband is a boob man and it was my rack that caught his attention in the first place, before my personality closed the deal? You see my dilemma...

Let this be a warning to all you breastfeeding mamas! DON'T FAVOUR ONE BREAST OVER ANOTHER, no matter how convenient.

And there is Ione, awake and ready to feed, thank goodness, because I'm about to topple over!

And the winners of the Maxwell Designs and AppleCheeks™ Giveaways are...

Thanks for all those who entered our joint AppleCheeks™/Maxwell Designs contest!

Here are the winners based on the drawings through random.org.

The two main winners of an AppleCheeks™ Little Bundle and a Maxwell Designs Wet Bag are:

Jessica S and Kristen (husskl@...)

The winners of the Gentle Cleansing Solution and Wipes and the Changing pad are:

Kelsey (kelsey_munroe@...) and Rebecca S. (@LilyBearLove)

If you would all be so kind as to email me it at ilana [AT] applecheeks.com with your full postal addresses and your baby's age, approximate weight and gender, along with your top three colour choices for those of you who won the Little Bundle, I would be MOST appreciative!

CONGRATULATIONS, and thanks to all those of you who took the time to enter our contests!

Doulas

Let me take a moment to count my blessings.

• Three gorgeous, happy and healthy daughters.

• A strong, committed, loving and reliable husband.

• A beautiful home and financial security.

• A thriving business that brings me great pleasure and fulfillment.

• Three successful and relatively easy homebirths.

Whoah.

Who could ask for anything more, really?

And yet, how often do I just take all those things for granted?

I've been thinking a lot these days about how lucky I am. But as I wrap up my final childbirth experience and settle in to the next stage of my life which focuses solely on child rearing and hopefully not anymore on childbearing (CALL ME BACK, MR. UROLOGIST. Fred needs a little snip, please!), I keep coming back to the fact that I had not one, not two, but THREE amazing home birth experiences.

That's three for three. In an age where the medically-managed birth is standard issue, how many women can say that they had amazing birth experiences for ALL of their children? From the reading I've been doing, not all that many...and it's really sad.

I'll probably write a post one of these days about the home birth experience from my perspective, but what I really want to focus on for this post is the reason WHY things worked out so well for me.

Okay, if I'm being totally honest here, my first birth experience was no picnic. I was in labour for a full 24 hours before Azure decided to make her appearance, and it bloody HURT. Thank goodness I was at home because I was left with no option but to soldier on through the pain. Guaranteed that had I been in the hospital I would have taken that epidural when it was offered. I'm not made of that sort of stuff, truly, despite my convictions. And believe me, at the age of 27, I was chock full of convictions.

I suffered during that birth, no question. Despite the presence of my husband and two midwives, I still somehow felt alone and not all that well supported, and this feeling was compounded by the midwives' attitude that any interference on their part would slow down the birthing process.

They were right, of course. Left to my own devices at 1am, a time of night I prefer not to face awake, I stopped playing the victim and got down to the messy business of birthing my baby. But I was left with this feeling that I'd been abandoned and that something was missing from that birth experience.

Fast forward three years and three months to Phoenix's birth experience. Holy night and day, Batman.

Okay, granted it was my second birth experience, and statistically second births are way quicker than firsts. The body remembers and that journey from 0 to 10cm is not quite the grueling experience it tends to be the first time around.

My memories of this birth are all sunshine and light and happiness. The birth was fast and easy and took place at a decent hour after a good night of sleep.

It was FUN!

You know what made all the difference? My doulas.

I had two amazing women supporting me during this birthing experience - renowned Montreal doula Lesley Everest, and my dear, dear friend, Millie Tresierra. Both of these incredible women form the core of the MotherWit Doula Services team now but at the time Millie was there only because I'd asked her to be.

Wow, what an amazing experience that was, that second birth. About five minutes after Phoenix came out I was ready to do it all again.

I felt loved, surrounded, supported, held and connected. And in retrospect I can't help but think how my opinion of my first birth experience would have been changed had I realized how much I needed that kind of female presence. The doulas were my rock when my capable but very pragmatic midwife was off desperately trying to set up all her equipment before the baby decided to grace us with her presence.

My third birth experience was also pretty close to perfect. This time around I didn't feel the need to hire a professional, and instead I asked Millie once again, and also invited my very good friend Jennie Anstey (world's awesomest osteopath, by the way). Millie brought her 11 year old daughter Elena, who was really anxious to witness a birth. I also somehow ended up with three midwives this time, which made for a total of six women.

Ione was born surrounded by a circle of women. Imagine me centred on the double-sized guest bed, on my hands and knees, supported by soft pillows, soft hands and soft words. Ione made her way peacefully into the world and was immediately swaddled in blankets of love.

I'm incredulous for a lot of reasons. I'm amazed that anyone would choose to attend another woman's birth because though I don't mind doing it all myself, I have NO interest whatsoever in witnessing another woman's experience. I think I'd have a panic attack and/or faint. Just the thought makes me nauseous. But these women live for the birth experience! They actually get off on all the blood and pain and all that stuff that makes me want to run for cover. They support birthing women for a LIVING, for heaven's sake! And I humbly bow at their feet.

Lesley owns a very well-written blog, which I encourage you to subscribe to. Keep in mind that this woman never sleeps and writes high on the adrenaline of the post-birth experience. I don't know how she does it, but then again, she probably doesn't either. On top of her regular job, she takes the time to run regular Meet the Doula soirées and recently ran an intensive doula training session for a week in Morin Heights. She trains and teaches, all while raising her own four children. Her job description is listed here.

And Millie, my best friend, where can I even begin? Never was a woman born whose role in life was more clearly spelled out. Millie was born to nurture. I can't tell you how grateful I am for her presence in my own life, let alone those of my own children. She held my hand through two births and the fact is that as far as physical appearances are concerned, my babies resemble her more than they do me! Talk about imprinting. She's my go-to girl and the closest thing to a sister I've ever known. Millie's post-partum doula job description can be found here.

So here's to the doula. They are much maligned in the medical world as they are perceived as interfering (read Lesley's latest blog post for just an inkling of what she finds herself up against on an almost daily basis). They are misunderstood and need convictions of steel to do the job that they do. Ladies, I offer my everlasting gratitude to you for what you do!

Lastly, if you're in the Saint John, NB area, did you know that my partner Amy's sister Sue is also a doula? Now you know...