A Birth Announcement that sticks!

Ever get a magnetic photo card in the mail? Thanks to the Parent Bloggers Network and Magnet Street we got these ADORABLE magnetic birth announcements so that all our family and friends can be greeted by Jillian when they get a snack from the fridge! Of course they’d be great to stick up at work too so I’m sending John with one this morning for the cabinet above his desk. This is one coolest ideas I’ve seen to announce a new baby and I’m hoping it catches on. I wish I knew about these when our other kids were born! With Ethan and Ben I went nuts making scrapbook type of announcements and it took a lot of time to do. By the time I had Jamie I just sent a photo that I added text to but even that took me awhile on the computer and it was pretty simple looking. This time I had a ton of fun designing the announcement and I was able to personalize my colors and text. It was really easy to do, I mean really easy! I actually made two different designs online and then had a tough time choosing which to get. There are so many options and lots of ways to customize them. Here is the one I picked, I kept the text the same but I changed the border color and the main color. I was very happy with how I could match the colors to my photos, it really made a big difference when I was playing around with the options and I am very proud of my creation! Magnet Street is not just for birth announcements, what a fun idea for a wedding or party invitation or a holiday card! Honestly I am so excited about these and I am almost done writing out all of the addresses so I can’t wait to mail them and hear what everyone thinks!

*Just a note, John edited out our last name for the blog image so our names are not off center.

Amazing Baby book!

So babies are on my mind a lot lately since I just had my 4th exactly 2 weeks ago! I know I am very fortunate at the moment to be able to experience the newborn stage one last time and I will miss it as baby Jillian grows! Its wonderful to have reminders of being pregnant and this newborn time but its hard to find the time to take all the pictures and write all of the memories down. That is part of the reason I was so excited to receive a copy of Amazing Baby to review from the Parent Bloggers Network. I was also interested in the book as a way to help prepare the other 3 kids for Jillian (and John and I too really, it has been 2 years since we last had a baby after all!).

Amazing Baby is a BEAUTIFUL big hardcover book filled with truly “Amazing” pictures of babies and info about their first two years! Its almost too nice to share with the kids but its too special not to let them take a look. I wish I could take these kinds of pictures of my kids (actually I think I’ll try to replicate some of the poses with Jillian but I’ve still got a HUGE amount to learn about taking pictures).

This would be a wonderful baby shower gift and it would be so nice if all pediatricians and OBGYN offices had it in their waiting rooms (it would have made the wait so much nicer during all of my prenatal visits!).

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!

“Little Stamp” Signature Stamp Giveaway (and COUPON)!

Ben is four and has his own unique signature. He is making some great progress with writing his name but there is lots of room for improvement (especially with his Ns and his full name)! He is very independent and doesn’t seem to want help from me so I am giving him his space and giving him his own stamp. The Little Stamp Company offers a wonderful product for kids like Ben, a connect the dots personalized name stamp! Ben can do the self inking stamp all on his own and it makes practicing fun for him. The stamp is a great way to help kids add their signature to their artwork, greeting cards and thank you notes (and when there are lots of thank yous its a huge help).

The Little Stamp Company was created by a clever mom when her 3 yr old daughter was learning to write her name. I love that its a mom owned business and that the stamps are made to order so any name is available. You can choose between all capital letters or just the first letter capital and the rest lowercase (I chose the lowercase option since that is how they teach the kids their name in school). You can also choose what ink color you want. Go check out their site to find out what 3 colors you can choose from but I’ll tell you that all the inks “are child safe as they are non-toxic, water based, washable inks that are made from FDA approved ingredients (that means they are edible!)“. I think its a great idea to get one for last names too (and then all of your kids can share that one!). Ben and I both give his stamp a thumbs up and I wish we knew about it a few years ago for Ethan!

The Little Stamp Company doesn’t leave the older kids out though, they also sell Funky Font Stamps for kids of all ages to add personalization to whatever they choose. The Funky Font Stamps are available in 11 different fonts and you have the upper/lower case option with them also.

*Even if you aren’t the winner, you are lucky! I have 15% off your Little Stamp Company purchase if you use coupon code: MYFAMILY15

Enter to win a “Signature” stamp for a special little kid in your life:

• Visit The Little Stamp Company and come back to leave a comment letting me know what name you’d put on your stamp if you’re the winner AND the ink color you’d choose and if you’d like all caps or not.
• One entry per person.
• US and Canadian mailing addresses only.
• Contest ends Friday November 14th.
• I have a LOT of other contests running right now for some reason so go CLICK ON CURRENT CONTESTS to check them out!

*contest is over, congratulations to Melanie on winning!

Pillsbury Savorings appetizers and GIVEAWAY gift bag!

I am all for easy entertaining so I was eager to try the new line of Pillsbury Savorings Flaky Pastry Bites frozen appetizers (so eager that John and I tried them out minus the entertaining). They make Cheese and Spinach, Mozzarella and Pepperoni, and Buffalo Style Chicken. We chose to try out the Cheese and Spinach, can you ever go wrong when you mix cheese, spinach and flaky pastry?  Well as I expected they were yummy and definitely will be on my mind as a great appetizer for the holidays this year and anytime we have company. Although for the past 6 years most of the get-togethers I have hosted have centered around children, I would love to organize some “moms only” nights where we can have grown-up food and wine! I suppose that being in the last few weeks of my pregnancy really makes that seem super appealing to me! I’m sure once things settle down a bit that I’d be up for having my friends over (while sending John and the 3 oldest kids out for the evening!). Fortunately I will be a little more prepared with the wine gift bag Pillsbury sent me and the ease of knowing some good ready to bake finger foods are waiting for me in my store’s freezer section (this line is brand new so don’t fret if you can’t find them just yet, only one local store had them by me but they will be easier to find soon)!

Here is the Pillsbury promotion link so you can print out some coupons!

Here is what you can win:

Pillsbury put together a cute little wine themed gift bag for me and will send out another to one of our lucky readers (mine was in a cute beaded cloth bag and included a wine bottle opener, wine bottle stopper, wine glass charms, and wine guides) along with a coupon included for a free Pillsbury Savorings product!

To enter:

• Leave me a comment and tell me your FAVORITE Pillsbury product (ours are the cinnamon rolls)!
• Open to US residents only.
• Contest ends Friday October 31st.

***Congratulations to Tamara on winning!

Win a Siliskin Glass Baby Bottle!

I was very excited when I first saw the Siliskin glass baby bottle by Silikids. I am trying to make safer choices with the products my kids use and with our new baby arriving shortly I knew I had to replace our old plastic bottles. I think glass bottles will be making a big comeback and with a silicon sleeve over them the Siliskins are a perfect way for people leery of using glass to make the switch. The silicon sleeve makes you feel safer that the glass bottle won’t break and its also a terrific way for babies to grip the bottles easily. The bottles come in 4 oz and 8 oz sizes, in a variety of transparent colors and I think that with the little polka dot holes they’re adorable! Siliskins are dishwasher and microwave safe. I am really glad to have found a product that I know is 100% safe for my baby to drink from. I have breastfed all of my children exclusively in the beginning and none of them really took to a bottle until they were about 9 months (if my memory is working) but I always pump and have a supply of frozen milk in case something comes up (like my 3 hour dreaded dentist appointment when this baby will only be 2 weeks old). I still give 26 month old Jamie a bottle of water when I put her to bed a lot so she has tested the Siliskin bottle already and she approved. The glass bottle is actually made by Evenflo and the Siliskin EASILY goes on and off for cleaning (although it went through the dishwasher just fine still on the bottle for me). I bought some extra Evenflo bottles and I figure I can just share the Siliskin between a few of them since it doesn’t really get dirty. Silikids will also be selling the Siliskins separately soon if you already have glass bottles that you’d like to make safer and easier to hold.

WANT TO WIN ONE? To enter:

• Visit the Silikids website and let me know what else you like of theirs or why they use silicone for their products!
• One entry per person, US mailing addresses only.
• Contest ends Friday November 14th.
• Click on our CURRENT CONTESTS to see what else we are giving away right now!

*contest over, congratulations to Rashmi on winning!

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!

Wild Planet toys are FUN but John is so SLOW!!! (oh and Happy Birthday Honey!!!)

READ ON TO GET 10% OFF SOME GREAT TOYS!
I LOVE that we get things for our family to review on this blog! I am the one who does the majority of reviews and I’m generally pretty speedy with them. John has done a few though and I have to say he is being super slow with one in particular, so slow that I keep thinking of writing it for him BUT that would set a bad president (so I’m just bugging him about it instead and of course just because today is his birthday I’m posting about it).

So here is what you’re missing out on reading about: WILD PLANET makes some very cool toys and they were especially nice to send one for each of our kids this summer! We already own and love Hyper Dash so they sent the boys Hyper Jump and Animal Scramble. Jamie was lucky enough to get a Water Baby to help her prepare for being a big sister. I better stop before this turns into the review BUT I wanted to let people in on the fact that WILD PLANET is a great choice when you’re looking for presents for the kids in your life and since its always nice to do holiday shopping early I’m putting up the DISCOUNT CODE that we were given to share with our readers.

*Go check out Wild Planet toys and during checkout type FAMILY in the coupon code section and you will receive 10% off any order (excluding Gift Certificates, Toy Bundles and Party Packs as they are already discounted).  This offer will expire on 12/31/08.

Once Upon a Potty Book & CD (WIN the BOYS version)!

Potty training can seem like such a huge deal at times. I have gotten two boys potty trained and managed to live through it, hopefully the two girls will be even easier! I take any help I can get though so I gladly accepted the Parent Bloggers Network’s offer to review the girls version of Once Upon a Potty with 26 month old Jamie. She had been making some good potty progress this summer but she just doesn’t seem ready to leave diapers behind right now. I’m in no mood to push the issue since she is still little and with another little girl due this month we don’t need any extra craziness added into the mix right now! So we are taking the laid back approach and talking about the potty/toilet but I only put Jamie on it when she clearly wants to. I like that the Once Upon a Potty book is also relaxed and pressure free. Jamie really likes the book, we actually already had the paper version but this new thick board book is so much nicer! It is the perfect size for a 2 yr old to hold herself and sturdy enough to stand up to a girl who is rough on books! This great board book version has a nice CD on the inside cover so you can listen along to the story and song. Jamie will sit for me to read the book to her and she is always excited to point out what is going on. We change the words to fit what we call things (just like the author recommends) so for example we say pee-pee instead of wee-wee. Obviously this can’t be done when listening to the CD but its not an issue to me. Jamie also likes to “read” the book herself and I will hear her talking about the potty so I am happy that it gets her thinking about the subject. I am sure this book would benefit any child who is in the process of learning to use the potty.

Alona Frankel wrote the Once Upon a Potty book in 1975 but it has really stood the test of time perfectly. The illustrations and text are simple and still appealing to children today and I bet it will still be around when my grandchildren need it!

So on to the GIVEAWAY! I was sent both the girl and boy versions of the book and since my boys are 4 & 6, I am giving away the Once Upon a Potty BOY book & CD to one lucky reader! To enter:

* Leave a comment on this post letting me know who you’d like to win the book for.

* You can earn another entry if you leave a separate second comment with a helpful suggestion on how we can improve our blog.

* Open to US mailing addresses only.

* Contest ends Sunday November 9th!

Joovy Ultralight Caboose Stroller

I am VERY picky when it comes to strollers and I have yet to find the absolute perfect one that meets all of our families needs. I’m not sure such a stroller exists so we have a growing collection of strollers that we use for different types of outings. Our latest addition is the Joovy Ultralight Caboose Stroller, I was very interested in trying this stroller because its a stroller designed for a baby and a bigger sibling. The baby has a traditional seat (and there is an easy to use car seat adapter for newborn use) and the older sibling can either stand on the back or sit on a bench type seat. We have a standard Graco double stroller that we bought when our second child Ben was born but I have never been thrilled with it. The Graco is so long and heavy and hard to maneuver in stores. I used it a lot when we just had 2 kids but when we had Jamie I found I used it much less for some reason. We also have an InStep double jogging stroller and its great for going to playgrounds and anything else outdoors but its too big and wide for indoor use. Our other stroller is a single jogger that we can use both indoors and out fairly easily but then we can only put one child in it and we’ve had so many times where one of the boys gets tired and wants a ride too but can’t.

Back to the Joovy Caboose, this is a great idea for a stroller for so many reasons! Its not as big or heavy as the Graco double and so its nice for having a baby who needs to ride in it while having just enough room for an older sibling to hop on when they get tired. I feel confident that this is our new indoor stroller with the new baby in the front and Jamie mainly as the backseat driver (I’m sure there will be times the boys ride in back when Jamie isn’t in it)!

Here is what I love about it:

• I love the ease of the older child being able to be more independent getting on and off the stroller as they choose.
• I can still buckle in the older child if I want to discourage hopping off.
• The size is great for indoor shopping with a double stroller.
• The parent organizer is very different from most strollers and I think its great! You have a nice zippered area to put things like a wallet and cell phone. Its made out of neoprene so the TWO parent drink holders actually keep your drink cold and prevents them from falling out if hit a bump in the road!
• The hood is designed very well and is adjustable to block sun or cover a sleeping baby.
• The front baby seat has a great comfy pad that is reversible for different seasons and easily comes off for cleaning.
• The basket underneath is great.
• 2 year old Jamie can ride easily in the front or the back and she is excited about standing so that keeps her happy!
• There is an easy to install attachment for use with a infant car seat (just snaps in place instead of the front snack tray).
• It was VERY easy to put together, it took pregnant me 25 minutes with the 3 kids “helping”.
• Unlike other strollers we have the child snack tray doesn’t just pop off or unbuckle easily (our daughter has a thing for flinging our single jogging stroller tray off). The child tray also has 2 cup holders.
• A HUGE plus is that is folds up really nicely and compactly for a double, so much smaller folded than the Graco double or even our single jogger! When I first folded it I was amazed!

Here are the things I’d like to see improved with the stroller (yes I did say I was very picky about strollers so some of these are minor details but strollers are a big purchase and I don’t want to leave anything out!):

• The only big thing is that I would love more all-terrain type of wheels, I just don’t think this stroller is ideal for going to the playground and navigating easily over grass or wood chips.
• I’d like the rear seat to hold more weight. My kids are all pretty tall and at 4 Ben weighs exactly what his big brother Ethan weighs: 50lbs. Both front and back seats of the stroller are designed to hold up to 45lbs each. This means both boys are heavier than what the back seat is designed for. I’m letting the boys sit on it anyway though because at 4 and almost 6 they still get tired and need a seat sometimes!
• It doesn’t stand on its own when folded. If you lock the wheels before you fold you can lean it against something though.
• There is a latch that you need to push down after opening the stroller and then you need to lift it up before you fold it. Obviously this is a safety thing but I’ve never had a stroller with this feature and its something to get used to.
• You need two hands to open or close this stroller, so there is no way to hold a baby at the same time.  With other strollers I am able to open/close them with one hand and I’ve done so holding one of the kids on several occasions. This isn’t a big thing for me though because when I get to the car I normally put the kids in before putting away the stroller.

So the bottom line: Everyone’s stroller needs are different but for me right now this is an ideal stroller for going anywhere indoors with all the kids and it will be great once I have the baby (it definitely replaces the Graco double for us). I love that when I have the new baby Jamie can still sit to ride or feel like a big girl and stand if she wants to. I will still use one of my joggers for going to the park and “off road” activities like apple picking but I have a minivan so I can fit two strollers in the trunk if I don’t know where the day will take us!

Next Page »