Mom Reviews

New Spring and Summer Fashions for Our Kids

April 7, 2010 by Jennifer 8 Comments

Now let me just say, I am not sure if any of your kids are like my youngest daughter L, but she is VERY PICKY when it comes to clothes. I was so spoiled with my oldest daughter M, as she is so laid back and loves pretty much all clothes that I pick out for her. This is so not the case with L. Some scenarios:

“Mommy, that is not beautiful enough.”

“Mommy, that color purple doesn’t look good.”

“Mommy, the kids in my class will not like that shirt.”

“But Mommy, Mrs. Teacher says she doesn’t like the color yellow.”

Those are just some of the conversations that we have in the mornings. I just smile and try to come up with a compromise. When I was first shown the new fashions for Garanimals, I was immediately took back. These were so not the Garanimals basic plain tees and shorts that I remember from seeing on my little cousins in the 90s. They actually have hip and style now… which I immediately thought, I wonder if L would really like this new style.

Just look at this cuteness:

When these arrived at our door, L immediately tore into the box with mommy and as I was holding my breathe at her reaction… she shouted “Oh mommy these are so beautiful, can I wear them now?” Well hallelujah, Praise the Lord… we have found a new line of clothes that L LOVES! She loved the bow on the skirt, the colors on the shirt and the bows on the shorts. BINGO… mommy was so happy. You know why mommy is so happy? Let me tell you! No matter which outfit you choose in the Garanimals Line, each item comes at a price-point of only $3.50 (varying slightly in different markets), so moms know most definitely that we are getting the most attractive and affordable clothing in kid’s fashion. Hey, if this achieves Picky L’s seal of approval, then you know your kids are so going to enjoy them.

Just look at how cute the boy’s line is:

Visit the Garanimals site to see more styles and info on where you can buy Garanimals in your area!

Full Disclosure: L was sent the girl’s styles above from Garanimals. This in no way had an effect on my review and L will totally let you know if she does not like a particular style ;).

Who Knew Wood Could Be A Favorite Toy

March 26, 2010 by Jennifer Leave a Comment

Ever since becoming a mom, I have noticed one thing? My girls are not all that thrilled with a bunch of flashy lights or toys that require batteries. You give them a cardboard box and some crayons… they will be good to go for days.

Even L’s preschool teacher likes to tell me that all L likes to play with in class mostly is the wooden blocks. I love it! It is time to get back to the basics and I have just the company that will help you do that. Plan Toys is a green company and they are here to help us moms make sure we have save toys that are going to help our kids develop as well.

We were sent the wooden toy Tower Tumbling. We couldn’t even get the package opened fast enough and L was already talking about what she was going to build. She sat for a whole afternoon putting up different towers.

We played different games to such as

Using all one color on one level of the tower.
Turning on a stop watch to see the fastest time to build a tower.
Use all multi-colors on each level of the tower.
Build the tower with the least number of pieces.

Isn’t it amazing to see a child’s imagination work? Just give her some wood and L got into her building zone all the while just smiling away!

Are you ready to get back to the basics and let your kids use their imagination while they are playing with their toys, then make sure to check out Plan Toys 🙂

Disclosure: Plan Toys did provide us with this toy to review to get our honest opinion. We were not compensated in any way for our opinion. L did get to keep the toy to continue to play with though!

New Music for Babies Launches in the Music World

March 24, 2010 by Jennifer 2 Comments

Do you remember the music we grew up to listening when we were kids? Just to name a few of the Hit Music Gigs back in the day: Queen, Aerosmith, Guns N Roses, U2, The Rolling Stones and Bob Marley.

Sure you do… 🙂

What would you say, if I said there is new music hitting the wavelengths that is pairing up your favorite music group from back in the day with Lullaby music for your baby? You would say… NO WAY! Oh… but it is true.

Rockabye Baby is hitting stores and appearing in TV all across the world. From their site:

“Rockabye Baby! is staffed by music lovers from all corners of the world. Headquartered in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Silver Lake, the label was born of the need to make children’s music cool–not only for babies but for their parents too. We turned to our record collections for inspiration: punk, metal, classic rock. The resulting albums are revolutionary yet reverential. In other words, the perfect gift for a newborn, new parents, or yourself.”

We were so excited to be able to review Rockabye Baby. Everyone knows that evening times can be a peek time when a baby gets overtired. Go into the nursery or bedroom and turn down all the lights. Hit play on the CD player and a gentle, calming music will fill the air that will be relaxing to the baby and not bore mom or dad. I’m sure you will get caught back up in the music and listening to the old songs just like we did.

Also a cool feature on their site is their blog. They have recipes, coloring sheets and play lists too!

Right now Rockabye Baby has a special going on with Starbucks. first Rockabye Baby collection featuring our best-loved lullaby renditions of baby’s favorite rock bands – plus an exclusive bonus track! This special album is available exclusively in participating Starbucks stores in the U.S. and Canada now through 4/19/2010.

Rockabye Baby has become a children’s music phenomenon. The albums have won three iParenting.com awards and the National Parenting Publications Award (NAPPA) as well as an Esquire magazine Esky award. Media outlets like People, Us, Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, ABC World News, MSNBC, NPR, Newsday and many others have sung its praises, while such child-rearing magazines as Parents, Parenting, Child, Baby Talk and Working Mother have also given their seal of approval. The albums have been a hit with celebrity parents like Sheryl Crow, Christina Aguilera, Kate Hudson, Denise Richards, Tori Spelling, Nicole Richie and others. Rocker fans, like Steven Tyler of Aerosmith and Kirk Hammett of Metallica, whose tunes are featured on Baby’s Favorite Rock Songs, have joined the chorus of cheers for the series. Tyler even penned liner notes for Lullaby Renditions of Aerosmith.

P.S. Keeping it real…. I was supplied two review copies of Rockabye Baby but let me tell you… this review is my own opinion and I definitely put my seal of approval on this new music for babies 🙂

Progresso Soup is my Friend

March 15, 2010 by Jennifer 6 Comments

As many know… I have lost a big amount of weight over the last year. I did it so I could feel better about myself and have made some huge lifestyle changes to keep the weight off. To look back on myself before the weight loss, I just want to cry that I let myself get that big. I want to make sure to instill good eating habits in my children while they are young, so they can carry on the lifestyle changes when they are adults.

One food that our whole family loves and it helps in maintaining the weight loss is Progresso Soup. With Progresso Light and 100 Calorie Soups, you can enjoy a delicious cup of soup that provides great taste and variety all at 100 calories or less. Also they are 0 and 1 points for Weight Watchers :-). With surprisingly hearty ingredients like pasta, beans, corn and rice, and flavor-packed vegetables like tomatoes, carrots, and peppers, Progresso Light and 100 Calorie Soups offer varieties with a good source of fiber and a full serving of vegetables. Satisfying your taste buds, Progresso Light and 100 Calories Soups can help curb your hunger, making it easier for you to stick to your weight management plan.

Even my girls are asking for Progresso soup, so you know it has to be pretty darn tasty for kids to like it as well! I don’t really have a favorite in the Progresso soup as I like to have a variety, so when I purchase at the store… it is always a mixed combination. I was not able to try all the flavors until my friends at Progresso Soup and MyBlogSpark sent me 15 different kinds of Progresso soup. You know that made getting through this snowy winter so less stressful :).

Progresso Soup is going beyond just cooking up a healthy bowl of soup. They want to help you by offering a contest. You have to hurry… it ends tonight! Go to www.Progresso.com/SouperYou to enter the Progresso “Souper You Debut” contest for the chance to win a full makeover in New York City.

Three grand prize winners will be awarded a trip for two to New York City from May 21st-23rd. The prize includes roundtrip airfare, a two-night stay in a NYC hotel, a full makeover, a $1,000 wardrobe shopping spree and personal consultation at a New York department store.

To enter, you´ll need to do the following:

* Go to www.Progresso.com/SouperYou to learn more and enter the contest

* Submit your essay (200 characters or less) telling Progresso why you love Progresso Light or 100 Calorie Soups and why you would like a makeover

* In addition, please submit a photo of yourself that visually reinforces the theme of your essay

Once you enter, you´ll have the chance for your photo and/or an excerpt from your essay to appear on www.Progresso.com/SouperYou, so be sure to check back frequently! Once the 10 finalists are announced, you can visit www.Progresso.com/SouperYou from March 29 through April 12 to vote for your favorite.

In addition, throughout the duration of the contest you can visit www.Progresso.com/SouperYou to download a coupon for $1 off any three varieties of Progresso Soup!

Also with the help of Progresso Soup, I want to help you as well. One of my readers can win their very own Progresso Soup gift pack. It contains the mug, jump rope and two cans of Progresso Soup.

All you have to do is leave me a comment below telling me what your favorite soup is and I will pick one Random winner on Wednesday, March 17, 2010.

Big Thank You to Progress Soup and MyBlogSpark for letting me participate in this giveaway!

Disney Social Media Moms Celebration Day 2

March 9, 2010 by Jennifer 1 Comment

This is a conference that I truly walked away feeling so uplifted and inspired. Day 2 definitely helped in that inspiration.

We started out the day at Epcot at the Volunteer Celebration.

Disney brought in families from all over to congratulate them and express their many thanks for all the volunteer hours they were able to put in for our country. You see Disney put on an awesome event called Give A Day Get A Disney Day.

From Disney’s site “The overwhelming support we received for the “Give a Day. Get a Disney Day.” program has helped us reach our goal of inspiring one million people to volunteer a day of service to their communities.”

For Disney to take the time to so appreciation to all these families is just so inspirational and just what our great Country needs. I was so happy to be involved. Our own families were able to volunteer right there on Disney Properties during this Day 2. Seeing all the families working together just big a big huge smile on my face.

During the event, a special guest arrived to showcase the biggest Can Food Drive. I have two videos to display this event.

After the volunteer events, we headed into the Epcot world showcase. This was neat as the girls had not been to Epcot since they were 2 years old and 8 months. We enjoyed walking through all the countries and seeing all the culture changes that each country would have. We stopped and danced, visited characters, dined on different foods and L’s favorite spotted out all the animals that we could.

Fast forward to the evening, and we were invited to an all exclusive dance party that included one of the Jonas Brothers. M was so excited and stayed right there at the stage watching every minute while Mommy and L dined on all the different foods that were served to us.

I do have a funny story… A cameraman came right up to us and I didn’t realize he wanted to video us and I was looking all around me trying to figure out who he was going to video… then DUH it was us. L gave him one of her infamous looks that said get that camera out of my face while mommy is over here acting clueless that he wanted to actually video us. I laughed so hard after the cameraman left…just another clueless moment for Jen right? :).

Disney really put on a spectacular show/concert for us and we were all over the moon heading back to the Polynesian that night.

Up next Day 3 of the wonderful conference with some superb guest speakers. Stay tuned for the post coming up 🙂

Mom Reviews

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