About a month ago, Jen with Spray Pal approached me and a few of my friends about a project she was interested in putting together. After a lot of private Facebook messages amongst ourselves, we decided to begin contacting some of the men in the baby industry. Kim (Dirty Diaper Laundry), Amanda (Green Child Magazine), Jen from Spray Pal, and myself coordinated to get some pretty amazing photographs of the men that were selected for this project. Did someone say photographs of men? What kind of photographs? Join us Tuesday night, November 25th as we reveal our first ever, Men of the Baby Industry calendar for 2015!! If you've followed us around Instagram and Facebook you may have seen (and guessed) some of our hints and the brands that are part of this project. You may see the men behind Planet Wise, AppleCheeks and bumGenius....and a few others we've kept secret...on the pages of the calendar. Here's just a little teaser for you... Follow us ... [ Read More ]
Surviving Parenthood…..one bag of hair at a time!
Parenting is hard, yo! There are no owners manuals to raising kids. Just when I thought I was starting to grasp this parenting thing, my daughter thought it would be fun to write a new story in her childhood. It was just an ordinary day; I had left the house to go pick the kids up after school, stop off at home for a few minutes to change clothes before heading off to Girl Scouts. We have our routine conversations on the way home. You know, "How was your day?" and all that jazz. I had just pulled out of the school parking lot when I asked that question today. My son started by telling me about a project he was working on. We made it about 1-2 miles down the road when my life was changed forever!! It started with my son. I honestly can't remember what he said, but my daughter must have handed him the bag of hair. He asked her a few questions before I realized what was going on and he handed me the bag of hair. It was at this time that I think all the breath left my ... [ Read More ]
Flu Shots? Yes or No?
While this post is sponsored by CVS MinuteClinic; all opinions are my own. Let's debate (peacefully please) flu shots! Do you get them for yourself? Do your kids get them? Why or why not? I asked this question earlier in the month on Facebook and received a wide range of replies. Many of you swear by the flu shot and get them every year for your entire family; while others are anti-vaccinations and never get the flu shot. I can respect both sides of this debate. Post by The Eco Chic. Fact: This is the first year that I can ever remember getting the flu shot myself. Fact: My children almost always receive the flu shot; although we haven't made it in to the doctors for them yet this year. Fact: My husband almost always gets the flu shot at work. Why did I decide to get a flu shot this year, but never have in the past? I'm sure as a child and young adult that there were years when I probably received it; I just don't remember. The last time I ... [ Read More ]
MommyCon Newport Beach – November 1st – Giveaway
It's time for another exciting MommyCon weekend. This week they will be in Newport Beach, California celebrating with a Halloween flare! If you're in the area and are pregnant, have babies, or even toddlers....you should consider going to MommyCon. MommyCon is a full day of workshops to help parents learn some valuable tips to help make parenting a little bit easier, and much more fun. During the day you can attend workshop sessions on cloth diapering, breastfeeding, sleep consultations, babywearing, car seat safety and more. Dr Alan Green will be there to help you navigate your way through the tricky toddler years when your child may not want to eat what you are eating. Jamie (The Baby Guy NYC) will help you find the right baby gear during; Don't Buy Things That Suck and will be in charge of some of the giveaways at the end. Did I mention the giveaways?? With your general admission ticket (only $40) you'll be entered to win giveaways (valued at over $10,000 total) and ... [ Read More ]
Ecocentric Mom Box Review October
The mailman once again delivered my small box of eco-friendly goodies (sent to me for review from Ecocentric Mom - affiliate link). My mail guy (Jeffrey) knows when to bring the bundle of goodies to my door and when to leave them in the mailbox; this is one of those times when he knocks. Since his deliveries have become later and later in the day, I have to fight my kids for a few minutes of peace while I open MY box. I explain to them that MAYBE I'll share some of the goods with them....MAYBE! I slowly cut a slit in the packing tape and find the pretty pink tissue paper staring up at me with love. I resist the urge to rip the paper and tear into the goods. Instead I gently pull open the tissue paper to see what awaits me. This month was fun, and I did end up sharing a few things with my kids. The Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin book came just in time for my newest little bookworm to enjoy for Fall. You can find this adorable board book (and other books by Tad ... [ Read More ]
Nut-Free School Lunch Ideas – Fun With Lunch Series
Have a little fun with your kids lunches this year. You don’t have to spend hours creating beautiful Bento Boxes that look like Hello Kitty to make them fun. Your kids will love the little touches and I promise, you can do this in less than 5 minutes! With an increased awareness of nut allergies, many classrooms and schools are going nut-free for everyone. I know that my daughter's class is completely nut-free (a few children in her class have nut-allergies) and it can be challenging to find things they will eat that comply with the nut-free zone. As a mom who loves peanut butter, it hurts to have to spend a little extra money on peanut-free butters - but the lives of the other children are worth more than those few dollars. I'm thankful that I don't have to stress out about my child being exposed to nuts in the classroom because it only takes one small encounter for an allergic child to have a reaction that could be fatal. Note: Some of the products featured in this post ... [ Read More ]
Easy {Healthy} Pre-Packed Lunch & Snack Ideas – Fun With Lunch Series
Have a little fun with your kids lunches this year. You don’t have to spend hours creating beautiful Bento Boxes that look like Hello Kitty to make them fun. Your kids will love the little touches and I promise, you can do this in less than 5 minutes! In todays post I'm sharing some easy (and healthy) pre-packed lunch and snack ideas for busy moms. Note: Some of the products featured in this post have been sent to me free for review. Others I have purchased myself. I’m sharing them with you because I reach for these first before anything else in my fridge or pantry. I'm going to let you in on a little secret, my kids have been eating school lunch all year! I have tried to get them some fun, healthy lunches like the ones you see above, but they insist on buying lunch. For my daughter, it's a novelty for her to order lunch. This is her first year in school and she really likes feeling like a big girl. With that secret out in the open, I still have to pack snacks for my ... [ Read More ]
Waste-Free Lunch Containers – Fun With Lunch Series
Have a little fun with your kids lunches this year. You don't have to spend hours creating beautiful Bento Boxes that look like Hello Kitty to make them fun. Your kids will love the little touches and I promise, you can do this in less than 5 minutes! In the first part of this series I'm sharing some of my favorite waste-free lunch containers. Note: Some of the products featured in this post have been sent to me free for review. Others I have purchased myself. I'm sharing them with you because I reach for these first before anything else in my collection. Waste-Free Lunch Containers: Let's talk about the containers for a minute because the container alone can make for a fun lunch. Laptop Lunches (affiliate link) are a complete Bento Box system with one large box with the 5 smaller boxes inside. I love that they have both closed containers and containers that are open. They even have a tiny container that is perfect for sauces or dressings. Another great container ... [ Read More ]
5 Reasons Skating Rinks Need Open Bars for Parents
We are nearing the end of the second week of school and I just survived the first school skate night of the year....barely! I am convinced that every skating rink needs to have an open bar for the parents and taxi's waiting outside to take them home afterwards. 5 Reasons Skating Rinks Should Have Open Bars for the Parents 1. Your kid doesn't know how to skate! It's only been 2 months since she last practiced with her friend but she was terrified because of all the big kids on the rink. She decided to cry instead. 2. Your child's friends skate better and faster than they do! Her little BFF just wanted to skate and had no fear. They both had their little PVC trainers (see here if you don't know what I'm talking about), but her friend was faster than her. She decided to stop and cry instead of catch up with her friend. 3. Big brother is skating with his friends and not little sister! Big brother is (finally) confident with his mediocre skating abilities and is off ... [ Read More ]
Ditch the Baggies – 10 Uses for Zippered Snack Bags (Reusable of course)
This post is sponsored by Maxwell Designs. Keep reading to find out how to enter to win your own reusable zippered snack bag like the one shown here! Have you ditched disposable snack and sandwich bags from your life yet? What are you waiting for? Disposables are such a waste of money, single use plastic, and destined for the landfill (if they made it that far). Many disposable snack bags don't even make it to the landfill and end up littering the streets and eventually finding their way to our waterways and endangering wildlife. There is a simple alternative - reusable zippered snack bags!! With kids going back-to-school this month, it's a great time to add a few snack bags to your lunchbox arsenal and a simple step in "going green!" These bags are latex-free, BPA-free, and do not contain DEHP, formaldehyde, brominated flame retardants, or lead. I bet you didn't even think about what was in those disposable bags, did you?? These bags are fabric on the outside and ... [ Read More ]