Mommies With Style

Remember Linus and his blankie? We love him. We love that he needed a security blanket the way Middle needs his thumb. While none of the kids has attached to a blankie, they do love to pull them up and cuddle.

One such great cuddling blanket is the Classic Dream Blanket by Aden & Anais. Its so-soft fabric is made of a natural, gentle muslin, making it breathable, flexible and very comfortable.

A great baby gift, the dream blanket is available in colorful bright prints. It uses 4 layers of the light muslin fabric, making it plush enough for a true cuddle.

Thanks to Aden & Anais for providing a sample for this review.

My son is accustomed to falling asleep while listening to ocean waves. He had a hard time going to sleep as an infant and the waves just seem to sooth him and put him to sleep.  When we travel, we always have to lug his wave machine along, which is a hassle. So when we received the Dozy Dolphin On The Go by Cloud b for our recent trip, we were thrilled!

The Dozy Dolphin On The Go helped recreate his sleep time routine by bringing his familiar sounds of ocean waves with us on our trip. It plays four water-based sounds with individual push buttons: Dolphins Playing, Whale Songs, Tranquil Melody, and Ocean Waves.  There is a volume control button and two sleep timer options: 23 and 45 minutes.  My son absolutely adores his Dozy Dolphin! He plays and cuddles with it when he falls asleep.  It is super soft thanks to the soft hypoallergenic bamboo fabric so it won’t irritate sensitive skin.  Bamboo fabric grows without the need for fertilizers or pesticides, is the most renewable resource on the planet and is 100% biodegradable.  It’s also antibacterial, anti-fungal, anti-static and softer than cotton.  Attached to the Dozy Dolphin is a Velcro strap that allows for easy attachment to cribs, strollers and car seats!  Included with the Dozy Dolphin is a booklet that teaches children about endangered dolphins, a Dozy Dolphin Storybook and adoption certificate. Besides the Dozy Dolphin On The Go, Cloud B also has 2 other travel animals – Sleep Sheep On The Go and Gentle Giraffe On The Go!  

Cloud b’s mission is to thoughtfully design and develop useful products that help children sleep better, and simplify parents’ lives. I agree that their products have helped my children sleep better as we also have the Twilight Turtle and Ladybug to add to our collection.  My kids use them every night when their room is dark and it lights their rooms right up! They can’t be without them at night!

Check out their products and save 15% off most regular priced items on Cloud b’s site by entering code MWS-310 until March 23rd.

The newest Palm Web OS update, 1.4,  is here — and now the Palm Pre Plus has video, among some other great functions. Disclosure: I am taking part in the  Verizon Palm® Pre™ Plus Mommy Blogger Program and will be testing out the phone for the next month on Mommies With Style.

Now, I can easily shoot video from my new Palm Pre Plus. but I can also make edits and upload my footage to YouTube or Facebook (or send them via email or MMS). It was really easy to shoot the video — here’s one of my first attempts.

Another feature of the update I liked were enhanced notifications: LED in the Gesture Area now lights up (and pulses) if I have a notification (even when the screen is off). I can also customize my notification sounds in messaging, email, and calendar. And there are new notification sounds in the ringtones library.

See more details of the Palm webOS 1.4 update in action here.  The Update will automatically happen once Palm webOS 1.4 is available on your carrier, but you can also trigger the update using the Updates app (which is what I did).  It will take a little while to upload and install.

Verizon supplied me with the new Palm Pre Plus and are paying for 1 month of service, including internet access. No other compensation was received. All opinions expressed are my own.

It’s not too early to start thinking about summer sandals! This season, Livie & Luca, who I’ve been a fan of for a long time, has come out with some gorgeous ones.

We’re wild about Bloom ($45), pictured above – a bright lime green leather sandal with a hand-cut magenta flower. It also features a Velcro closure for easy on and off. Get it in toddler/little girl sizes 4 – 13. Running true to size, my little girl will look so stylish wearing these sweet sandals in the warmer weather! I wish they made them in my size too.W

We also loved the Haru. Using commissioned artwork of Livie & Luca’s new friend Haru playing on the beach beneath the sun’s rays. It’s silk-screened onto textile and then overlaid on Livie & Luca’s soft leather. The insole  is removable, which allows for sizing and hand-washing. Comes in size 4 -8.

Disney Family.com (formerly family.com) has added recently added a Self Section.  I recently attended the launch of this new section, which features beauty, diet & fitness, and relationships. It struck a chord with me, because with 2 children and a third one on the way, I don’t do much for myself anymore, beyond semi-regular haircuts. I haven’t gone clothes shopping in a while and I haven’t bought any new makeup (except my favorite lipstick, Paula Dorf’s Spunky, and my beloved Mac Studio Fix Powder) in years.  I’ll be going back to work in the fall and I’m going to need some help getting stylish!

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Last week, our preschool had a raffle and table sale going on. 

One of the tables was a local rep from a company called Juice Plus.  They promote healthy eating with their product.  But what lured me over to to the table was the display you see in the image here. 

It’s a Kid’s Happy Meal from McDonald’s.  Looks pretty normal, right? 

The crazy thing about this Happy Meal is that it’s 4 years old.  That’s right.  It hasn’t rotted, decomposed with time or really changed it’s appearance at all that time.

Needless to say, it was shocking.  I’m making a vow to try and eat healthier with the kids.  But I need help, people.  When we’re out on the road – what are our healthy options?  Wawa?  Chick-Fil-A?  What do you guys feed your kids when you’re in a hurry and need to pull in somewhere quickly?

Because cool toys and convenience or not, I don’t know that I can continue to feed my kids something that’s going to be dug out out of the ruin by future archaeologists in its original state.

My kids have recently gotten into PBS show Martha Speaks.  It comes on right after we get my son off the bus (along with Cyberchase and WordGirl) and true to PBS Kids, it’s not just entertaining but educational.

Are you or your kids fans?  Then you should know that there’s a new Martha Speaks DVD releasing today. Martha Speaks: Say It with Flowers has 8 episodes and is over 100 minutes long.  If you have a child who is  fan of Martha Speaks, check it out.

Disclosure: I received a screener copy of this DVD for review.

Another product we brought along on our trip was the GoPillow! My son and daughter loved the Go Pillow! so much that they actually fought over whose turn it was to have it! The GoPillow! is a portable pillow that has a built-in blanket tucked away inside. My kids loved snuggling with it on the airplane (of course taking turns), since it is super soft and cozy. The portable pillow consists of an inner core of soft, pliable cushion/foam and a soft outer fabric covering.

The Go Pillow! reminds me of a cylinder type pillow that you can place your hand on up to your elbow inside to securely cradle your child while feeding them. The built-in blanket tucks neatly inside, providing easy access to pull out while on the go to allow for mother and baby privacy while out in public breast feeding.

Besides being great for snuggling and breast feeding, it also makes a fabulous nap blanket since your child can rest their head on the pillow while lying on the blanket. Additionally, it makes for a nice place to change your child’s diaper. The GoPillow! is washable (we were thrilled since we took it on the plane) and is available in pink and blue. Check out the GoPillow! where you can see pictures of the fabulous ways it can be of use!  Receive a free breastfeeding guide with every purchase-no code required.

At February’s Toy Fair, Disney Online previewed their fabulous World of Cars Online website — free-to-play browser-based, virtual world based on Disney/Pixar’s “Cars”. Since that is my four year old’s favorite movie, he is going to love the features — which are designing your own car, making new friends and playing mini-games. The premise is that Lightning McQueen and his friends are helping new race cars train in Radiator Springs, which is growing due to new businesses opening.

Kids Can:
• Create Their Own Race Car – Pick the body style, color, name and more to make it totally their own. This was cool and kids are going to really enjoy being creative.
• Explore the Road – Drive beyond Radiator Springs to explore Carburetor County. Enjoy backroads racing and adventures with Mater and others!
• Community –  Kids can see when their friends are online and interact with them to create a Cars Community.
• Race and Play –Cars can warm up the road on a variety of tracks to win badges and trophies. They can also play mini-games like Lightning Storm and Ramone’s Paint Blast to earn coins and more!

If you want to upgrade from Free-to-Play to Subscription, you’ll get access to:

o Paint jobs, gear and accessory purchases to customize your Car and home
o A Pro Racing Career and access to exclusive Piston Cup race tracks
o Special Events and Adventures

Bottom Line: Kids are going to really like the World of Cars Online. It offers children a chance to be creative with making their own cars and have adventures driving around Radiator Springs. Best of all, it’s mostly free (if you want to change your car more than once, you’ll have to get a subscription). Parents create an account, and then create sub-accounts for their children. They can monitor their child’s progress on the site.

The site will officially launch later this year – but it’s in Beta now, so take a look!

Who needs to spend hundreds, if not, thousands of dollars on kids beds when you can have an Aerobed for Kids?  All my kids ever want to do is sleep in theirs.  Sometimes I don’t even know why we bother with real furniture.

So we treated them to a two-night sleepover in my 3-year-old’s bedroom this weekend.  They pulled their two aerobeds up side-by-side and had all sort of fun. 

This weekend’s theme?  The beds were the “safety rafts” as they drifted around the ocean with hungry sharks biting at them, of course.

Love it.  Hours of entertainment, not to mention super-portable and convenient when we’re on the go.  It inflates in minutes, and the raised edging still helps to keep both of my boys inside of the bed and off the floor on lieu of bedrails.

You can almost always find a deal on Amazon – the price goes up and down so watch for it.  While I’m writing this review, it’s currently $68 with free shipping (32% off the original $100 price) for one.