These shirts are all made in Canada (Granville Island, BC!) and fit true to size. They recently added a beautiful new floral design to the mix. All sizes and colours have been restocked on the site. Place your order by Monday morning to ensure delivery before Mother's Day! Need a card? Contact us about adding a handmade Mother's Day card to your order.

Just when we thought winter almost behind us, cold and snow seem to be on the horizon yet again. What to do? Try to drive your umbrella stroller through the snow? Lug out the bigger stroller you haven’t touched since your baby was tiny…and even though it’s easier to use in the snow, dragging it on public transportation or squishing it into your already-stuffed car trunk is a major challenge. Babywearing has been your lifesaver so far, but how will you keep your little one warm in a carrier?

Well, I don’t know a ton about strollers, because I don’t have the patience for them, but I CAN tell you that babywearing in the winter is easy and as convenient as it is the rest of the year. You can strap on your carrier right on top of your jackets or snowsuits! Or, you can wear normal clothes, and then put your coat around the two of you together. And that gets my vote.

The Make My Belly Fit panel extender works to make your normal winter jacket fit both of you together during the colder months. It’s wonderful, because your combined body heat will make you snuggly and warm without adding any extra layers beyond what you’d normally need for that day’s weather, and bonus—if your baby falls asleep on the trip, you can take off your jacket without unwrapping him and leave him tucked up asleep on your chest.

Stay snuggly this winter. Don’t try to lug your stroller around if you don’t have to. All it takes is one small addition to your jacket, and you’re set to explore your Winter Wonderland.

BONUS: Still pregnant? Get a panel insert now! It snaps closed to make your regular winter coat work as a maternity coat, and then snaps back open to use with your baby once he makes his appearance. No need to shell out the extra change for a dedicated maternity coat if you don’t have to.

As pictured here, Mandy (who is 5 months pregnant) has the BellyFit panel zipped into her jacket with it snapped to the smallest setting. It's nearly a seamless look on her existing winter jacket and there's still room for growth through the spring! Then next winter, she will be able to use it to keep her new baby warm while on walks in her neighbourhood.

***Use the form below to enter our giveaway to win a BellyFit panel for yourself from the amazing folks at Make My Belly Fit (retail value $67.95 CAD)! 

http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=ad897a8f0cb442576bef4cb24&id=dbd274e52c&e=[UNIQID]

That's not all though! To thank you for your support of our small business, we are offering freebies* based on your order total. You will have to go to our freebies post to add your qualifying freebie to the cart. 

If your order total before taxes and shipping is...

• $40-55: get a free Jack N Jill organic toothpaste

• $56-80: get a small tin of Delish Naturals yum bum butter

• $81-100: get a Colibri snack bag

• $101-149: get a free bottle of Piggy Paint

• $150-175: get a 4 oz Sili Squeeze bottle

• $176-200: get a Lulujo or aden+anais swaddle blanket

• $200+: get a reusable wet bag

• $300+: get a cloth diaper

*while quantities last

If you place a $100 order, but you would like the freebie from the $40-55 or $56-80 level, just select that in the drop-down. One freebie per order.

ALL orders (no matter the total) placed between Thurs, Nov 27th and Mon, Dec 1st will receive a surprise as well.

i was (not so) secretly hoping she would pick one of my faves...

but she did not seem to dig mommy's monochromatic choices. her pick? why the hearts, of course!

she had a ball sporting her new leggings earlier this week for her third birthday. these 100% organic cotton leggings are super soft, which make this little girl very happy. she's not much of a jeans girl, and always picks leggings instead. with these leggings, my lil fashionista gets to be both comfy and trendy! the best of both worlds. ;)

want to try these stylish leggings for yourself? the generous folks at brikHOUSE have kindly offered my lil sweet pea readers 20% off their entire purchase. go over to www.brikhouse.com and use code sweetpea20 at check out to receive your discount. this offer is good until november 5th.

i just went to their site to double check my links and noticed that they just released a cute new pattern for the holidays. check out "winter trees"! simply adorable!

i'm a bit of an etsy addict. i love handmade and i love small businesses. one of my latest obsessions is instagram. there's a great big lovely handmade artisan community on there and inevitably, clicking on one profile leads you down the rabbit hole and an hour later, you wondered where all that time went. it was during one of these browsing instagram times that i discovered freshly picked and their beautiful moccasins. this company was started by a mompreneur five years ago and has grown a huge following in that time (including celebs!). all her products are produced with great care in the USA. 

i wish i had known about these moccs when my kids were still babies. my youngest is 2.5 years old and i wasn't sure if she would be interested in wearing them. she's quite the picky fashionista. i was fortunate enough to receive a pair of moccasins for review, but had the difficult task of trying to figure out which colour to get. as i said, my girl is very picky. i settled on the radiant orchid moccs as her *fave* colour is purple. i figured it was a safe choice. the moccs were very quickly shipped off to me (same day!) and arrived in about a week. not too bad given that they had to cross the border. i opened up the box and showed them to my daughter. her first words: "oooh! they're super cute!" phew! unfortunately, i was so excited to order them that i didn't properly measure my daughter's foot and the size i picked is quite big on her. the bright side is that she will be able to wear these for a looooong time! ;o)

these moccs are made impeccably, they're "super cute" (to quote my daughter), and they stay on little feet well. if i had ordered the right size, i'm sure they'd stay on even better. 

freshly picked is very generously also giving away a pair of their moccasins to one of you! this giveaway is open to residents of the USA and Canada; however, Canadian residents will have to pay the shipping fee ($11.55 USD). the winner cannot have won any other giveaway including a pair of freshly picked moccasins within the last 60 days. giveaway closes on july 26th @ midnight (EST). good luck!

you have blown us away with your support of our fundraiser via the customized applecheeks cloth diaper cover we put together with the help of the applecheeks rejuvenation clinic. we will continue to make these for as long as there are people who want them, but because we are only two people, it will take some time, so we thank you in advance for your patience. 

a portion of the proceeds from the sale of each "hope" cover will go directly to programs which help individuals with autism and their families. the charity we have chosen to donate our proceeds from this particular batch is unity for autism, a non-profit that is located in our area (york region). 

we are working hard to produce more "hope" covers and anticipate that the next batch will be ready in september or possibly even earlier. if you'd like to get on the list to be notified when they stock again, please fill out the form at: http://goo.gl/9Sgz8v.

The latest addition to the AppleCheeks line-up is finally here.....welcome RIPTIDE! Riptide has now arrived to my lil sweet pea and is ready-to-ship.

Go to our Cloth Diaper section to see our selection!

1) sweet pea picks - fundraiser edition! (*on sale date: monday, april 7th // limited quantities) Sweet pea picks are back and you won't want to miss out on this fantastic instalment. I've approached a few fantastic shops to bring you some fabulous items. Normally, sweet pea picks are a surprise, but this time you'll get to see what you're getting before you purchase. This sweet pea picks contains the following: • Exclusive-to-us coin pouch/purse from marine parents. This coin purse is great for holding anything from loose coins to cards. I'm a huge fan of marine parents and love to support this talented work-at-home mama. • Arrow necklace from wifey singer. I met this inspiring mama through buying one of her handmade necklaces through her Etsy shop when I was part of a handmade exchange. I definitely don't think it's coincidental that I happened upon her blog and shop, as she has been a big inspiration to me in her positive attitude and outlook while parenting a child on the Autistic spectrum. One of her hashtags on Instagram really sums it up for me: #autismisblessingme. • Kids Kawaii Cloud T-shirt from Whistle & Flute. I first heard about this company through Instagram and fell in love with their fun and adorable designs. They are a small business based out of Victoria, B.C.

2) Giveaway coming up! 

Help us spread the word about our fundraising items and you could win a super special version of the sweet pea pick! It will have the arrow necklace, a Whistle & Flute LOVE t-shirt and kawaii cloud button, *and* a one-of-a-kind mommy and me ruffled wristlet set from marine parents! Earn extra entries when you purchase a sweet pea pick!

3) Custom snap AppleCheeks cloth diaper cover (*on sale date: TBA)

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm all about cloth diapers. And I love me some AppleCheeks! When I was thinking about fundraising ideas, one of the first things I thought of doing was a custom diaper cover, and Shannon at the AppleCheeks Rejuvenation Clinic totally helped me bring my idea to life! We took a regular St. Lucia AppleCheeks cover and swapped out the snaps. Oh and it's going to have a custom tag as well! Can't wait to share it with you guys at the end of the month. I thank you for your continued support of my small business. I appreciate each and every one of you so very much. It is thanks to you that I am able to be at home with my children and still contribute (even if it's just a bit) financially to our household. Much love from our family to yours!

The Tula website recommends not using the toddler size until your child is 18 months old and/or roughly 25 pounds. But many with bigger babies who are at the 20+ pound mark but not quite 18 months old yet are unsure about whether to go with the standard or get the toddler and presumably get more use out of it. Though the toddler carrier starts at 25 pounds, the baby one will still last you through til your child is over 40 pounds. I've taken some comparison photos using my daughter as the model so you can get a sense of the difference in the standard and toddler sizes on the same child.

In this photo, my daughter is 22 months old, 25 lbs., and 33" tall. Though she fit comfortably in the standard and still had a decent "M" seat, the toddler Tula was a more comfortable fit and what I would choose in this situation. It felt much lighter carrying her weight in the toddler than it did in the standard. And then just for kicks, I tried my 5 year old on in it too. ;o) He wasn't so keen on being worn, but he definitely still fit and didn't feel horribly heavy in it (he is 40 lbs.).

For those who are into the specifics, I've laid the carriers on top of each other and taken their exact measurements. See photo below.

Overall, the Tula is a fantastic carrier and definitely my personal favourite. It comes in a wide range of fashionable and attractive prints, so there really is something for everyone. We receive shipments frequently, so if there is a print you have your eye on that you don't see available, please feel free to send me an email or message me through our Facebook page. I would love to help you find your dream Tula!

Save on almost everything in our store this weekend only! Here is a look at some of the products that will be on sale: • 20% off all aden + anais product (*10% off singles) • 15% off all AppleCheeks items (*Joy! diaper cover excluded) • 10% off Boba 3G/4G carriers and accessories • 25% off Wee Urban sleep sacks • 10% off AMP and Peachy Baby diapers • 10% off Maxwell Designs bags • 20% off The Laundry Tarts products • 30% off Jellystone Designs Jellystone necklaces • ...and much more! All of our Black Friday deals can be found in the Black Friday category of our shop.

Free Gift with Purchase!

Don't forget, AppleCheeks also recently retired their Chocolate coloured covers and replaced them with one of my personal faves...Lake Echo. We will have some Chocolate covers available, but once they're gone, they're gone. And as you know, retired AppleCheeks colours can fetch you a pretty penny later on. ;o)

1. classic muslin swaddles (aden + anais) • $18.50 (single) / $59 (4-pack)

these swaddles are so multi-purpose that you can use them for anything and everything and even beyond the newborn stage. when baby is newborn, you can use them to swaddle for sleep. they can also be used as a nursing cover, burp cloth, change pad cover or a stroller cover. as your child grows, they can use them as a light blanket.

2. reusable swim diaper (applecheeks) • $19

whether you choose to cloth diaper or not, a reusable swim diaper is a great item to have. it's user-friendly, good for the environment and for the wallet. you get a much better fit with this swim diaper than you would from one of those throwaway ones. plus, these look way cuter. *made in canada

3. sleep sac (wee urban) • $49.99

this luxurious sleep sac is made from a blend of bamboo and organic cotton. it's incredibly soft and can be used in any season. both my children slept with sleep sacs from 3 months of age until almost 3 years old. ensured that they stayed comfortable and cozy all night long. these come in four beautiful colours and designs. *made in canada

4. chocolate bar teether (jellystone designs) • $16.95

these teethers are a fun gift for any teething babe. they are made from 100% BPA-free silicone and fun for all ages.

5. baltic amber necklace or anklet (healing amber) • $13.99 (anklet)/$18.99 (necklace)

we don't go anywhere without our amber! baltic amber acts as a natural pain reliever and works great on our teething babe. at first i wasn't sure if it was having an affect on her...until we went on a 3 week family vacation and forgot it at home!!! she drooled like mad and was crankier than usual. needless to say, i searched the baby stores in vancouver for a replacement cuz we just couldn't wait until we got home.

6. silicone silly bib (ulubulu) • $11.99

these are my fave bibs and definitely a fave baby gift to give. they are made from food-grade silicone and are a dream to clean up. if you're anything like me, i often forget to wash the bib out immediately after a meal and don't remember until it's time for the next meal. no biggie with the silly bib. just wash, dry and go. it's particularly great for when you're camping or on holidays as you can wipe it up right away rather than carry around a fabric or nylon one that is dirty and damp.

7. boba 3g baby carrier • $139.95

we love baby wearing! while for newborn stage, i still prefer either a wrap like the Cuddly Wrap or a ring sling like a Sakura Bloom, once baby gets to about 3 months old and feels too heavy for extended wearing in a wrap or sling, the Boba is my carrier of choice. it's super comfortable and comes in fun prints and colours. the best thing about the boba vs. other soft structured carriers is that, if you want, you can use it starting from 7 lbs without having to buy an infant insert. just snap it down to shorten the body of the carrier and you're good to go!

8. stow-it-all diaper clutch (maxwell designs) • $34.00

this handy clutch is great for both cloth diapering and non-cloth diapering parents alike. great for those times when you don't want to lug your entire diaper bag out with you. it easily fits a few diaper changes, an extra set of clothes, and a small pack of wipes. it's got two water-resistant pockets, so you can even use the smaller outside pocket for your own essentials (i.e. keys, phone, cash, cards). once you're past the diaper stage, you can easily repurpose this bag to a mama clutch. *handmade in Canada

9. organic skin care (delish naturals / anointment) • from $6 to $14.99

nurture baby's skin with organic skin care products! both of these skin care lines are handmade right here in Canada; delish naturals is based in british columbia and anointment in new brunswick. some of our favourites: anointment's baby balm and soothing skin ointment, and delish's yum bum butter, body wash, and lotion. *handmade in Canada

This long weekend, all orders over $59 before taxes will receive FREE shipping within Canada (rural addresses not included; not valid on orders with detergent). There are so many amazing Canadian companies that we work with such as AMP Diapers, Anointment, AppleCheeks, Bummis, Delish Naturals, The Laundry Tarts, Maxwell Designs, Peachy Baby and Wee Urban. Take some time and check out their wonderful products.

This weekend we are also offering 15% off all The Laundry Tarts products. The Laundry Tarts is based in Richmond Hill, Ontario, not too far from us. If you haven't tried their dessert-themed line of detergents or their fabulous stain stick, now is a great time to give them a go. All their products are made with natural ingredients, completely biodegradable, 100% vegan, and free of phosphates, EDTA, phthalates, dioxins, phenols, parabens, SLS, SLES, nitrates, sulphites, and chlorine!

Happy Holidays from my lil sweet pea!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your friends and loved ones. We have had two of three family dinners already and think we'll need a food detox after all this decadent eating. :) Our family has had a challenging year, but I am so thankful for the encouragement and love from friends and family and also for your support of my lil shop. As a small token of thanks, I would like to extend a gift to all of you.

Until Dec 31, 2012, get free shipping* on all orders over $35. We've also got a few Boxing Week specials like 20% off The Laundry Tarts and AppleCheeks Cloth Diapers full-time kits. Don't forget to check out our clearance section too for some amazing deals!

May you have a happy, healthy and joyful 2013!

• orders of $50–74.99 will receive a delish yum bum butter sample or laundry tarts sample.
• orders of $75–99.99 will receive a pacifier/toy clip.
• orders of $100–149.99 will receive a planet wise sandwich bag.
• orders of $150–199.99 will receive a cotton tote bag.
• orders of $200–249.99 will receive a free medium (or larger) sized wet bag.
• orders over $250 will receive a free cloth diaper.

cloth diapers have evolved a lot over the last fifty years. today's cloth diaper is a far cry from what our grandmothers (or our mothers even) used. no more big plastic pants, safety pins and dunking and swishing in toilets. you've got all different types for all different budgets. there are the more traditional prefolds and covers type all the way through to all-in-one diapers that are just as easy to change as throwaways. best of all, they come in a vast array of colours and ultra cute prints. no matter what cartoon character or pattern throwaway diaper companies try to put on their product, there is no way it's going to match a cloth diaper in cuteness. if you haven't given cloth diaper much thought before today, take a look at the chart above. this chart is meant to give you an overview on the costs of throwaways versus cloth diapers. the costs will, of course, fluctuate depending on whether they are on sale or if you have coupons. laundry costs (including detergent) were factored in to the total in the cloth diaper line under the "average cost per child" column. the figures used for calculate laundry costs were taken from an article on www.mother-ease.com. as well, i used an average of 8 diapers per day over a period of 2.5 years. when a baby is younger, you will often change their diaper upwards of 10 to 12 times per day. as they get older, the number of diaper changes decreases. furthermore, newborn diapers are often more expensive per unit than size 2 or 3 diapers. i also used an average of 2.5 diapering years as some children potty learn as early as 2, but many children are age 3 or older before becoming completely toilet trained. i know with my son, we didn't have him completely off diapers during the day until he was around 38 months old. where you will ultimately see the biggest savings is when you cloth diaper for more than one child. in the chart above, the total cost of cloth diapering your first child is calculated at $868. if you were to use the same stash on your second child, you would only be incurring the laundry costs (which were calculated at $328). that means for two children, it only cost you $598 to diaper each child and it just goes down from there (for 3 children, $508; for 4 children, $463). if you buy good quality cloth diapers from the start, your stash could easily last you through three or more children. of course, some of the benefits of cloth diapering just can't be measured. the environmental benefits to cloth diapering are huge, even when you factor in water usage to clean them. furthermore, with cloth diapers you know that you're not putting harsh chemicals and toxins against baby's delicate skin. but back to the pee and poop. this is what i figure: whether you use throwaways or cloth diapers, you will have to deal with cleaning pee and poop. in my personal experience, i found that when my babies had a poop in a throwaway, it resulted in an entire outfit change as the diaper rarely contained the mess. having used cloth diapers now for over three years, i can honestly say that i can count the number of blowouts we've had on one hand. when blowouts have occurred, it was basically due to user error (yes, grandma, i'm looking at you).  ;o) if you're in the greater toronto area and interested in finding out more about cloth diapers, please feel free to contact me to set up a private consultation or find out when the next cloth 101 workshop will be held.

applecheeks envelope diaper in lemon zest

many inserts = good absorbency = puffy bum syndrome :o)

we finally did it! we are now officially cloth diapering our lil guy full-time! as i had mentioned before, overnights were our last hold out. we were worried that having a wet bum would interfere with nate's sleeping and, as any parent, we did not want anything causing him to wake up in the middle of the night. but we decided to give it a go and find something that would work for his heavy overnight wetting. ilana at applecheeks suggested their envelope cover with a three layer insert and a stay-dry booster. after doing the initial prep wash (3 x in hot water), i was ready to test it out on nate. first impressions: he looked awfully cute in his yellow applecheeks! we stuffed the cover with the three layer insert, the stay-dry booster, and the two layer bamboo booster. once it was all put together and on our boy's behind, it looked pretty bulky. it was hard to put his jammies on, but we managed to fasten all the snaps. fingers crossed that this first night would go well. we were pleasantly surprised when we woke the next morning and realized that nate didn't wake up overnight. when we went to change his diaper, there were no leaks and the bottom of his undershirt wasn't even damp. the applecheeks diaper, on the other hand, was quite heavy. eureka! looks like we've got a winner on our hands! now we just have to get at least one or two more to keep us going between washes. in the meantime, we've started using our bamboozle fitted diapers again for overnights when the applecheeks one is dirty. we pair the bamboozle with either a bummis super whisper wrap cover or athirsties cover. then we layer on a 4-layer hemp doubler insert and a fleece liner to keep moisture away from baby's bottom. this has also proved to be a good solution with no leaks, great absorbency, but the same bulkiness as experienced with applecheeks. looks like there is no way around the bulky factor if you want to ensure no leaks. on a side note, one of my favourite things about applecheeks is that they are a canadian company (based in montreal) and all their products are made there as well!

1. all babies look adorable in cloth diapers! (see above) they come in so many fun patterns and great colours that cloth is simply fun to use!
2. they are way cheaper than disposable diapers (especially if you plan on having more than one child). you can save thousands of $$$ by using cloth.
3. they are healthier for baby. disposables contain chemicals, toxins, bleaches, etc. also, while we've cloth diapered our son, he hasn't experienced any diaper rash.
4. they are so much better for the environment. did you know that almost 1.5 billion diapers end up in canadian landfills each year?! the numbers for the u.s. are even more staggering at 27.4 billion per year. it is estimated that it takes 250-500 years for disposable diapers to decompose so they're going to be sitting there for a loooooong time to come.
5. they are easy to use. this ain't your grandma's cloth diaper. choose between snaps or velcro styles. definitely just as easy as disposables. plus you save yourself time from having to run to the store to buy disposables every couple of weeks.
6. believe it or not, they are less messy than disposables. before we made the switch, our lil guy always had "blow-outs". one particularly bad episode happened while we were at the mall! definitely not a good time. but ever since nate's been in cloth, no blow-outs have occurred.
7. cloth is more comfortable against baby's bottom.
8. potty training is easier! cloth diapers help kids potty train faster because it makes them more aware of urinating.