Thursday, June 04, 2009

A new start!

It's been almost 2 years since I posted anything meaningful about The Stork Wearhouse! Life has been busy and most days it's been all I can do to get myself and the kids dressed and get packages out the door. We also undertook a major project to upgrade the website and our systems - to make the shopping experience smoother for our customers, and life much more efficient for me. And it's finally live! Ta-da: The (new) Stork Wearhouse: Natural Baby Stuff

Policies and prices remain the same, but in addition to a beautiful place to shop, you should start seeing packages shipping faster (we hope to get to next-day shipping most of the time) and more great stuff in stock when you want it, so that you can get everything you need at one stop and take advantage of our free shipping over $75.

You'll also see new products! (And some old favorites returning)
  • The Blueberry Cover-All one-size diaper cover - this very popular new products is hard to keep in stock! We have good stock of the snap closure version, and are hoping to stock the velcro version in the next few weeks.
  • The Drybees Gone Natural bamboo fitted diapers - a two size system works great. And this bamboo is SOOOOO soft...
  • Tomorrow the FedEx man will deliver our shipment of the Knickernappies one-size side-snap pocket diaper - this is the first one-size diaper with side snaps that I know of. So if you love the fit of the Knickernappies pocket diapers in small, medium, and large, wow are you going to love this! I love the fact that a large Knickernappies still fits my 5-year-old for use at night.
  • Yesterday we got our shipment of the ChicoBag Vita, a reusable grocery bag with a 40-lb capacity! I've loved my Chico Bags for a long time - when I forget my canvas bags at home, or when I make quick unplanned stops at Target, the health food store, etc., my Chico Bags are there for me! But sometimes I wished they held just a little bit more, or could be carried on my shoulder. Voila - now I have it! And they're on sale this summer, too!
  • We now have the Happy Heiny's MINI one-size diapers in stock. (Cute as bugs, too, they are.) It's true that most one-size cloth diapers don't work for newborns - they need to chunk up those thighs just a little first. But when you get diapers that really do fit those 6 or 7 lb newborns, they only last a month or two. So enter the MINI one-size! It snaps down to really fit the tiny newborns without extra bulk, but then expands to last a little while, too.
  • Baby BeeHinds wool diaper covers are back! The colors stopped getting made for a while, but they're back now! This is a wonderful cover for heavy wetters at nighttime.
  • We also have the new FuzziBunz microfiber inserts with four layers of microfiber instead of the usual three - what a great idea! Just a little extra boost of absorbency is what some kids need, without adding extra bulk. We have the medium/large in stock, smalls are on order.
  • We ordered just a few of the Swaddlebees bamboo wipes, to see if they really were anything special. And oh my, how soft. You'll love them. There aren't many in stock yet - more with our next shipment.
  • The Organic Heiny Spray made by Happy Heiny's is a great option for keeping your kids with sensitive skin clean and fresh at every diaper change. Or if you use water at home, throw one of these in the diaper bag for changes on the fly.
  • Wow - I didn't realize we had this much new stuff! Three newbies in the diaper pail liner category - the FuzziBunz In and Out Hanging Diaper Pail (or it can be used to line a kitchen-size trash can) is a very clever idea - a zipper at the bottom so you can just unzip and quickly dump everything into the washing machine. (If you do this, make sure you're unstuffing pockets and closing laundry tabs on velcro when you first put a wet diaper in the bag.) Also, the old-favorite Wahmies pail liner has a new design that they're calling the Wahmies DSQ (Diaper Service Quality) Pail Liner. An upgrade in the PUL, and fewer seams make this even better. Plus we added the Blueberry Diaper Pail Liner - either use to line a trash can, or with a drawstring for travel. And such cute prints!
  • Those of you who love your Ergo Baby Carrier, we brought in the sucking pads by request - so if your baby loves to chew on the carrier straps, you don't have to wash your whole carrier as often. :-)
  • In the interest of keeping both you and your little ones well-hydrated (without chemicals added), we brought in some new products from thinkbaby/thinksport. There are inexpensive phthalate-free sippy cups, including replacement parts for your toddlers. And for mom and dad, there's my new favorite product, the stainless steel insulated water bottles. If you like your cold drinks cold and your hot drinks hot, this is a must! And if you're a loose-leaf tea drinker, the internal mesh filter is your new best friend.
  • And be friendly to the environment as well try a Wrap-n-Mat for sandwiches or snacks, instead of plastic bags.
  • We love BabyLegs in the winter, so we had to sneak a peek at the BabyLegs Cool for knee protection, sun protection, or just plain style in the summer. Very cute.
  • Just for Mom, we are now stocking the Knickernappies Stackable Menstrual Pads - we're suckers for innovative designs, and this is certainly a good one! A pantiliner, regular flow, or heavy flow pad, all in one, depending on which pieces you snap in. And very comfy, which is another of our key standards when deciding what products you'll love.
  • If you're a Klean Kanteen stainless steel water bottle lover, check out the new Sports Cap 2.0 - much faster flow. I think this just might finally convince my husband to throw out his plastic biking water bottles.
We also have some favorites that we just added to our CLEARANCE page (who doesn't love a deal in this economy??)
  • Basic microfiber inserts for pocket diapers are sale priced at $1.95 each, with quantity discounts on top of that for 6 or more. Combine this with free shipping over $75 (because of course you're going to shop around for all your cloth diapering/natural parenting needs while you're here) and you've got a GREAT deal. Microfiber does wear out over time, especially when dried in the dryer (as most of us do). New inserts can be a very inexpensive way to improve the performance of your diapers!
  • The last few of the older style of Wahmies pail liners are sale priced - great way to pick up an extra liner to make your life easier on wash day.
Whew - until I made this list, I didn't really realize how many new things were added as part of the site upgrade. No wonder it took so long! But we hope it will move us further toward our goal of providing a one-stop shop for best-in-class natural parenting products!