A new vitamin line for moms & kids AND 2 of you can WIN a HUGE prize!

Have I ever mentioned that I love when people send me free things for the blog ? Not everything we get is super fun and makes the kids giddy but sometimes we get something we really NEED and this is the case with our latest gift and that made me pretty happy! We received the new line of Dr. Greene’s vitamins made by Twinlab and Dr. Alan Greene’s latest book Raising Baby Green. We didn’t just get samples, it was a HEAVY package that arrived! We got real full sized bottles of everything (there are 6 different products included) and TWO of our readers will be lucky enough to get the same thing plus signed copies of the book!

The vitamin line is ideal for woman to start taking when they are trying to conceive and to keep taking throughout breastfeeding. There is a Prenatal Complete Multivitamin & Mineral Supplement, Healthy Bone Formula and Omega-3 Fish Oil Softgels all for mom. Then there are Toddler Drops that you can add to your 1-3 yr old’s food or drink and then Chewable Vitamins for the 4+ crowd. The great thing about these vitamins are that they have no added junk, “Our products contain only natural colors (no FD&C colors) and flavors, and have no high fructose corn syrup or added preservatives, so you can help your children get the nutrients they need, without those extra additives”. I was never a fan of those gumball or gummy bear vitamins (and how many kids know the Flintstones today anyway!) so these sounded very appealing to me but I wasn’t sure if the kids would agree. The boys each got a bottle of chewables, one was orange and the other berry. They both said they liked them but prefer the berry but we agreed to alternate between the two flavors (and they are fine with that luckily so orange can’t be so bad!). The kids chewables are rectangular but they have animals on them so the boys like to see what they’ll get each day. Jamie hasn’t noticed anything when the toddler drops get added to her morning OJ so I suppose that is a thumbs up from her too. If you have a growing family like mine or are planning on one these would be great to check out!

Want to win a bunch of vitamins and the signed book? Enter:

• Visit the website and come back here and comment with something interesting you found out or something you like about the vitamin line.
• Contest open to US mailing addresses only and one entry per person.
• Contest closes Friday November 21st.
• Be sure to click on our “current contests” above to see what else we are giving away right now!

Bilt Stainless Water Bottles for kids review and CONTEST!

I love that we’ve made the switch to stainless bottles for our family! After my recent review of the Earthlust bottles I am excited to have found another great option that I hadn’t heard of before. BILT makes bottles for both adults and kids and they might be just what you’ve been looking for! BILT’s Vite kids water bottle comes in colors or stainless (with a colored top) and retails for $11.50-$14 CAD. I was very happy to test these bottles out and Bilt generously offered one for each of the kids AND a 4th to give away to one of our readers! The kids were pleasantly surprised when the bottles we were sent had graphics on them! Ethan’s has what he calls a “transformer” robot on it, Ben’s has some cute little guys fishing (one caught a boot and the other a fish) and Jamie’s is PINK with a cute little bear-like creature on it. We have an extra the same as Ben’s (the one on the left) to give away!

Here is our family’s take on them:

• VERY cute bottles, the kids definitely prefer the look of these bottles compared to their Klean Kanteen. The designs we have would suit kids of all ages (not just toddlers like some Sigg I’ve seen).
• HUGE opening on top which will accommodate even the big chunky ice cubes that you get from standard trays. I am sure this would be a big plus for people without ice makers because in my opinion all drinks need ice!!!
• The big open top makes for easy cleaning.
• Sports tops are easy for kids to open on their own and they haven’t leaked for us.
• There is a loop on top that you can put your finger through to carry the bottle or add a clip to if you wanted.
• Lids are made of #5 food grade polypropylene (pp). Bilt says that “#5 PP is a plastic with good durability and no known leaching characteristics”.
• These 16 oz bottles are the PERFECT size for my kids (their Klean Kanteen are 12 oz but since the top screws inside the bottle I can’t fill them all the way).
• The kids (2 yr old Jamie included) have no trouble holding these bottles even though they hold more liquid. There are little indents on the sides for fingers to grip.
• This isn’t something that we need but for serious camping families Bilt says that the “thread pattern fits bottle adaptors of most backcountry water filters including msr and Katadyn; great for travel”.
• The bottles are dishwasher safe and have done fine so far in mine (although they recommend hand washing for longer life).
• When I asked 6 yr old Ethan which of his metal bottles (Klean Kanteen and Bilt) he liked to drink from the best he told me that he liked both the same and that both were good to drink from. I thought he might prefer one sports top over the other but he didn’t. He clearly likes the look of his Bilt bottle better though!

Here is Bilt’s Why Use Stainless Steel Bottles link!

You can’t buy directly from their site but there is a store locator and I found them sold online at REI and EMS (although EMS didn’t carry the kids Vite they do have 5 Bilt bottles available).

We have an extra Vite Kids bottle just like Ben’s to GIVE AWAY!

• To enter please click over to the Bilt website and come back to comment on what you think of their adult bottles (or another product of theirs that you like). Warning… if you don’t do this luck won’t be on your side !
• Contest is open to US and Canadian addresses only, one entry per person.
• CONTEST ENDS SUNDAY November 30th!
• I have quite a few current contests running right now on the blog (like a Siliskins baby bottle, Pillsbury gift bag, Huggies Free diapers, Personalized Name Stamp, Potty Training Book, and more to come next week) so go take a look!