Mommies With Style

How cute is Middle’s new Skip*Hop Monkey lunch bag from their Zoo Lunchies collection? The minute I opened the box, his boring, old lunchbag was pushed aside in favor of the monkey, for all its personality.

I was a little worried about the size, because it seemed smaller than his other bag. But it fits a sandwich, apple, side snack and a reusable bottle into the bag, plus a cooler pack, napkin and utensils.

In addition to its easy wipe-ability, I love that the carrier strap hooks on to other bags, like Skip*Hop’s Zoo Packs, as well as bags not made by  Skip*Hop.

Thanks to Skip*Hop fro providing a sample.

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.

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.

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.

There were two reasons that our Disney trip was unswimmable: 1. the un-Florida-y weather that week and 2. the Luna pool at the Boardwalk Villas was closed. But that doesn’t stop me from telling you just how great the Azula is for your vacation/summertime adventures at the pool.

The Azula is a little butt-matt protects your swimsuits from snagging when you sit at the edge of the pool. ’nuff said, right? I mean, any mom of a toddler can attest to how necessary this is. It extends the life (and look) of your sexy little swim suit from first wear. So newborn moms are certainly wondering why?, right? Because as soon as your little one is toddling she is going to l-o-v-e the pool. And hours at the baby pool will mean two things: Good sunscreen (reviews to come) and snagging suits. Unless, of course, you get an Azula.

The Azula is lightweight and rolls up really thin so that its simple to keep in your pool bag. I know you’re ordering one for summer*, but you may want to order a few extras. They’re also great against burn on a leather seat in your car, sporting events (keep that butt dry during soccer, Mom!), beaching, boating and more.

Thanks to Its Pretty Smart for providing a sample Azula.

*I know, seems crazy to talk summer with over 30 inches of snow this winter, right? But its helping me to think summer while I shovel!

I recently went on vacation with my husband and two kids and we decided to test out a bunch of fabulous products that I will be reviewing over the next several weeks! I will be sharing my children’s and husband’s opinions as well.

The first product is one that we used over and over again and were thrilled that we had it with us. My husband was a bit skeptical about why we really needed it, but boy was he ever so thankful that we had it with us on the very first day of our 9-day vacation!

Minimus.biz is the leader in all things travel-sized and individual-sized. They stock more than 2,000 products including over 100 pre-packaged kits and gift sets. Products you couldn’t possibly imagine come traveled sized and Minimus.biz carries them all. All of their liquids and gels are TSA compliant (3.4 oz or less), which makes packing that carry-on all the easier.

The Traveling with Toddlers kit holds all of the essentials you could possibly want as a parent. It contains 21 travel-size products in a zippered 10″x8″x2.5″ clear vinyl bag which makes it a breeze to find what you need at any time! The kit came in handy when the following happened on our trip:

- My son fell on pavement and scraped his elbow pretty badly. Never fear – the handy first aid kit came to our rescue. The kit contained not only bandages, but towelettes to wash the area, alcohol prep pads to cleanse the wounds, anti-biotic ointment (bacitracin) to promote healing plus more!

- My son had developed a diaper rash and needed cream. I never carry cream anymore and was thrilled to have Boudreaux’s Butt Paste in the kit which instantly gave him relief and eliminated me from having to take a trip to the store.

- My kids’ hands needed disinfecting and washing a lot as we were very active with activities everyday. Hand sanitizer and the Candy wipes came in handy often.

- My kids’ noses were always running so the pocket tissues were a huge help!

- We forgot shampoo for my kids’ baths and were thrilled to find California Baby Shampoo/Bodywash and Bubble Bath!

- The stall in the airport was out of toilet paper so the Charmin To Go was perfect!

- We had a few spills in the car and the Bounty to go Mini Roll of Paper Towels was the best!

There is so much more inside the kit as well. It even came with a small flashlight with batteries included. We were so impressed with this kit and couldn’t get over how many times it came in handy and made travel easier! We were so thankful to have it with us on our trip. It has found its new home in my car and has been great to have on the go!

We also received some travel games such as Candy Land Travel Fun On the Run and Tangoes which my kids loved playing on the plane and when we had down time. They were both the perfect size to travel with. Also, with airplane food a thing of the past, we were well-prepared on the plane with great travel friendly treats. My kids enjoyed the Squeezers Peanut Butter & Jelly combo and individually wrapped Ritz Cracker packages while my husband and I had the Wild Garden Hummus To Go and Cracked Wheat Wafers which were delicious. We all liked the Kool-Aid 2 Go packets which we just dropped in our water bottles!

With over 2,000 items and 15 categories to choose travel products from, you’ll be sure to find what you are looking for. The next time you travel or just want some simplicity for the travel sized products you tote around town the most, check out Minimus.biz – you’ll be thrilled you did!!!

Save 5% off the Traveling with Toddlers Kit or the Toddler Travel Kit (smaller version of the Traveling with Toddlers Kit) by entering code mommieswithstyle at checkout until March 31, 2010. Free shipping is offered on orders over $20.

With all the flight restrictions its a bit nerve-wrecking to pack for a plane trip. And I hate to welcome food into my car if its likely to be messy, so before trips I work hard to find foods that are acceptable for security, acceptable for my car and, of course, acceptable for my kids’ health.

Our last road and plane trips we tested out a few snacks worth sharing:

FruitaBu’s Smoooshed Fruits are the favorite amongst the clean and healthy snacks. There’s a real depth to the flavor and, a bonus for moms, there is never a mess in these flat fruits and rolls. Easy and fun to eat, they’re healthy and made naturally.

We’re big fans of Kashi. Their Heart to Heart cereal in Honey Toasted Oat offers flavor to the healthy bites (and cute little heart shapes, too.) Its great for breakfast or a dry snack on-the-go. My kids would prefer to eat a TLC Bars  over cereal though. Their favorites include Dark Mocha Almond Chewy Granola Bar, Pumpkin Pie Fruit and Grain Bar, and every option of the GOLEAN Crunchy! Bars. But overall, my 4 year old loves the Blackberry Graham TLC Cereal Bar best. And, while I love cooking with their Pilafs, I’m just happy they like Kashi because I’m confident they’re eating healthy, well produced foods.

Finally, I was sent a sample of Popchips. Now, I’m not a potato chip person. I’m one of the people that gives you her free bags that come with sandwiches and leave the chips on the plates. Chips, in general, are too salty. But what I really don’t like about them is that they stick to my teeth. Hate that. That said, I still tried out Popchips. And, honestly, I liked them. Its like that old Mikey commercial. No one could believe I was eating Popchips. But they were harder than the normal chips, didn’t stick to my teeth as much. And the salt was more balanced in the flavor. We tried all of the flavors and, while my favorite was Barbeque, I also really liked Parmesean. The kids loved orignal and cheddar potato. So, I never send chips to school in their lunches, but I did send popchips! They’re all natural and they’re made by popping, not baking or frying. So less grease, less fats. Just less. But lots of flavor.

Thanks to the parent companies and their agency for sending samples for testing.

My family and I just returned from Jamaica on Friday. We had an awesome and smooth trip, and a large reason why is due to the Joovy Caboose Ultralight that we brought along.

A little background first…

My boys are 5 and 2 1/2. We rarely use strollers anymore, however, I knew I would need to bring something on a trip involving airports, lots of walking, and general travel. When I learned that I had the chance to try out the Joovy, I figured, “why not!,” not truly realizing how fabulous this stroller is and how perfect it was for us and for our trip.

Now a bit on why this stroller is so amazing!

Our Joovy Caboose Ultralight allowed our two boys to comfortably sit throughout our travels. My younger son Jonah (2 1/2) sat in the two-position front seat and my older son Jacob (5) alternated between sitting in the padded, adjustable rear seat and standing. Jacob, who is a very tall child, had no problem using the back seat/standing. (The stroller accommodates kids 6 months through 45 lbs.) Jonah, who never really napped in a stroller previously, enjoyed the Joovy so much that every day around 2pm he asked to get in and take a walk to take a nap. Every single day of our trip Jonah napped in the Joovy for over 2 hours! (See why the Joovy was so important to the success of our trip?!) He also enjoyed keeping his cup and snack in the child tray and cup holder.

I also really loved using this stroller:

• First of all, it was a pleasure to steer. I am not going to slam any other stroller manufacturers, but I have been using another tandem stroller for 2 years and will not be using it again after my experience with the Joovy. My now-former not-to-be-named stroller was too hard to push with both kids in it, and much heavier and more cumbersome than the Joovy. The Joovy, however, has these amazing swivel “smooth-glide” wheels which make it a pleasure to push.
• It also has a large, awesome basket (which sometimes you lose on a double) and comes with a neoprene parent organizer! (How awesome is THAT?!) The parent organizer holds water bottles, cell phones, keys, iPods, credit cards and money, and more. We stuffed our sunscreen, room key, and some water bottles in it each day and were off!
• I also loved that it was extremely easy to fold up and was very light weight. We were able to easily store it in our hotel room (which was not huge) and even got compliments throughout our trip from other parents on how nice and compact the Joovy folded.
• A huge bonus for me and my family was the large sun visor/canopy. With a red-headed fair-skinned child in the Caribbean, we were definitely concerned about burning. But the Joovy’s huge canopy easily covered him and also covered part of my older son in the rear seat.
• Finally, the Joovy is a really nice looking stroller. Not that I am vain or anything but as far as the typical Sit and Stand goes, I think the Joovy is really attractive. And I love that it comes in a ton of great color choices. We had the bright and fun Sunset color, but also available are Sage, Black, Brownie, Blueberry, Orangetree, and Greenie.

One feature that I did not use but that is fabulous should you have a little one in an infant carrier is the universal car seat adapter. This easy-to-install adapter accepts most major brands and allows you to safely and easily tote around your newborn or infant along with your older child.

Really, I could go on and on about this stroller. It is my new favorite must-have for parents of two little ones. I’m not sure why it took me so long to experience the Joovy Caboose Ultralight, but I will certainly be using it all of the time now… and I highly recommend it to you if you have (or are expecting) 2 young children.

Thanks to Joovy for donating the Caboose Ultralight!

Have a used car seat/stroller/bassinet, etc. lying around? I have a few old car seats that are from my daughter and I don’t think they are safe to use for my 2-year old son. So when I heard about the “Great Trade-In” event, I was thrilled!

Through Saturday, February 20th, Babies “R” Us and Toys “R” Us stores are holding the “Great Trade-In” event providing their customers with the opportunity to trade-in any used car seats, strollers, cribs, bassinets, travel systems, play yards, toddler beds or high chairs in exchange for a 25% off savings on the purchase of a new baby item, in any of the product categories from select manufacturers. Participating brands are: Britax, Babi Italia, Baby Cache, Baby Trend, Bergamo, Bertini, Carter’s, Chicco, Contours by Kolcraft, Cosco, Delta, Eddie Bauer, Evenflo, Graco, Jeep, Little Tikes, Safety 1st, Sorelle and Step2.

The “Great Trade-In” event places an emphasis on specific baby products, that due to safety concerns, may not be the best candidates to be handed down or resold. Beyond recalls, certain older and used baby items can be potentially unsafe for a variety of reasons, including damage or lack of compliance with recent advances in product safety standards.

You don’t need to have purchased the item you want to “trade-in” from TRU or BRU. You can bring in multiple items and you will be given one 25% off discount for each item traded in. The discount must be used that day on another item from the participating categories and manufacturers. Trade-In items and purchased items can be from different categories.

Next month, I’m headed down to Florida with the family to Disney for the Social Media Moms conference, and a little extended family vacation.  As I always do when we’re on the road, I’m planning ahead with bags and entertainment for the kids on the plane.

The first thing I’ve packed is our Crayola Glow Station – I got one for the boys for Christmas and it’s been a hit in our house.  The kids use the “wand” to draw different shapes and trace their hands and other random items on the glow tablet.  It’s currently 43% off on Amazon, marked down to only $12.00 – definitely a steal for such a great on-the-go kids product.

Next, I received some samples of Wikki Stix, which I’m hoarding in a hidden drawer until we get on the plane.  Love all the creative ideas they have on the Wikki Stix website – crap these wax sticks around sticks, rocks and more.  It’s all about creative play with Wikki Stix – I know my boys are going to love playing with these on our trip.

Lastly I’m eyeing up Crayola’s Color Explosion Glow Board – we have the Glow Dome and I’m sure they would love this too. (It’s currently 45% off – hard to resist a good sale!)