Celebrating Memorial Day with a Staycation

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Stephanie

We’ve sort of been “in the weeds” for the past few years with such young children so close in age. In fact, going out with the kids in tow has been one of those things that I really just dread. The boys are now closing in on 5 and 3 1/2 years old, and are getting slightly better at behaving while we are out and about. At six months old, Baby Girl is still so easy going and portable I confess I sometimes double check that I did put the car seat in the car!

But… we’re not out of those woods yet. Anyone who has driven from Philadelphia to a Jersey shore point knows that Friday afternoons and holiday weekends such as Memorial Day are traffic nightmares. Even our “back roads” route is now overly congested. That 2 hour drive to get to my grandmother’s beach house can easily become a 3+ hour crawling-at-five-mph drive. Not a fun time with three children under 5 in the car! I’ll save our trips to the shore for mid-week getaways to avoid the traffic and the crowds.

So that begs the question, what to do this Memorial Day weekend? How can we honor those that died in our nation’s service and for our freedoms? Staying at home opens up so many options but with little kids we’ll start small.

Fire Up the Grill

It’s the unofficial start of summer after all! While we grill year round, nothing says Memorial Day like a delicious grilled dinner! I’m talking hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, chips and corn on the cob! I headed to Giant to pick up some necessities we needed for the weekend.

I wanted to find summertime staples to kick off the holiday weekend right and the Giant circular did not fail me! The front page of the circular this week features products perfect for Memorial Day: Heinz Ketchup, Whole Watermelon and Corn on the Cob not to mention great grilling items like steaks, chicken and hot dogs.

Using my Giant Bonus Card plus a coupon from the weekly circular, I was able to get several great deals. The first was a bottle of Heinz ketchup for $1.77. I’m pretty sure we go through a vat of ketchup each summer, so purchasing this deal was a no-brainer. Another fabulous find? A HUGE seedless watermelon for just $3.88. A perfect snack for the boys before dinner.

And seeing the pallet of corn on the cob ready for the shucking just screams summertime to me!

We’re also going to have a fun dessert of S’mores. The boys enjoyed making these last summer and it was a fun way to spend the evening together. I like to have a back up plan just in case the weather doesn’t cooperate and we are unable to use the fire pit, so I grabbed some Klondike bars just in case.

You can see more of my shopping trip by visiting my Google + album.

Memorial Day Parade

Like many, our town has a local Memorial Day parade. We pass our town’s VFW often and the boys love that they have a tank on the lawn (yes, a real tank). This year’s parade is expected to include over 60 floats, bands, representations of military units, antique cars, horses, bike brigades, and fire engines. Sounds like something my boys would enjoy watching!  Plus, I don’t recall going to a Memorial Day parade before, so this will be a first for me as well!

Decorate the House

The boys love that our neighbor puts flags out in his garden all summer long. It’s certainly a nice touch and a great way to celebrate Memorial Day but showing pride for our country. While at Giant, I found flags perfect for our holiday weekend. I plan on placing them in a glass vase as a centerpiece and after we have our dinner I’ll move them to the flowerbeds in the front of our house.

I also grabbed some festive paper plates and napkins so we can have a “fancy” dinner. The boys seem to think that if we are using paper plates it is a more special dinner.

My little patriot already found the flags for the flowerbeds, and proceeded to sing us the Pledge Allegiance which he just learned in preschool this month while waving the flag. He got hung up twice, but he did pretty darn well remembering the entire pledge!

This Memorial Day, we’re opting for a “staycation” to spend some quality time together AND save some money as well as our sanity! How are you spending your holiday weekend?

For more information about Giant Food Stores, check out Giant’s Facebook page!

* Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client. #cbias
Posted in Family, Holiday, Sponsored | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Soft Scrub® Mold & Mildew Stain Remover

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Stephanie

As a Purex Insider I received a bottle of Soft Scrub Mold & Mildew Stain Remover for this post.

I may have mentioned once or twice about how I constantly fight to keep a clean bathroom. I am always on the lookout for household cleaning products that can help with my shower and baths. One issue I have been having is all the residue that is left on the shower stall floor. Seriously, I just doesn’t seem to come off no matter how much I try to keep it clean. That no slip surface has little areas where the dirt just cozies up.

I mean… ICK, right?

 So I am trying out the Soft Scrub Mold and Mildew Stain Remover that has no harsh fumes and the spray is said to be just right. It’s a gel, so when it sprays it seems to cling to the area you sprayed it on (the stains). This particular Soft Scrub product is perfect for Tile, Grout, Tubs and Showers. While the directions say to either wipe or rinse clean, my shower stall needed a bit more elbow grease so I used a brush to be sure I got in between that no slip surface.

I only left the gel on for about 30 seconds before I started scrubbing and I probably should have left it on a little bit longer but I intended to do a second pass anyway. Up next are the tiles… I’m hoping it helps tame that gritty hard water residue I’m always combating!

The Say Goodbye to Mold & Mildew Stains Sweepstakes Is LIVE!

Soft Scrub is proud to introduce the Say Goodbye to Mold and Mildew Stains Sweepstakes featuring NEW Soft Scrub® Mold & Mildew Stain Remover! One lucky winner will receive $1,000 and a year’s supply of Soft Scrub, while 250 second place winners get to try NEW Soft Scrub® Mold & Mildew Stain Remover for FREE!

Keep up to day with Soft Scrub by liking them on Facebook!

Looking for more cleaning product reviews from Soft Scrub? Check these out:

*Disclosure: I am a Purex Insider. The Soft Scrub brand provided me with a sample of and coupons for their  new Soft Scrub Mold & Mildew Stain Remover in exchange for this review. All opinions and experiences expressed here are my own.
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Nuby Potty Seat

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Stephanie

As a Nuby Mommy Blogger, I received this product for review.

Potty training for 3 year old Bbear has been trying to say the least. His 3rd birthday was in late January, and about a week before that happy day he seemed interested (finally) in using the toilet. He loved the idea of a potty seat on the big toilet. We had great success for about a month and we were slowly trying to encourage him to do #2 there rather than in his pull ups. I’m really ready to have two kids in undies and only one in diapers!

It’s been three long, long months and while Bbear seems to enjoy standing to pee, he has no interest and possibly a fear of using the toilet for #2′s. So, I decided we’d switch gears and try out an actual potty seat to hopefully get things moving – no pun intented. The folks at Nuby have a cute little potty seat that I hope will help.

What I like about this potty seat is that it’s so easy to use. There is a removable that the child sits upon to do their business. I was a little apprehensive about taking that basin out after said business was in the pot, but it comes off without any jarring and nothing spilled. It is really easy to empty and easy to clean. One quick flip and the contents were in the toilet and flushed away. Just wipe down and ready to use again. I also leave a little bit of water in there for when I think #2′s are on the way (thanks to my mom for the tip) so that it is easier for them to slide out.

I put the potty seat in our powder room while the boys were asleep. When Bbear came down that morning he was so excited he took a toy in to the room and sat down on it. I was happy to see that his 3 year old bottom fit nicely on the potty seat, which was a concern when I first saw it – it looks so little!

He was very excited to have his own little seat.

And has quite the encouragement from his big brother – I’m fine with that if it helps us move past his daily-#2-in-his-undies stage!

So far, Bbear has taken his new Nuby potty seat mobile. I’m so appreciative of the non-skid base since he is the one moving it from room to room. I guess he likes a view for his “office” Honestly, I don’t mind if he takes this seat to the living room, kitchen or even outside if it means I have him doing all of his business in the big toilet or the little potty seat!

About Nuby

At Nuby™ we strive towards making the lives of parents and children easy, simple and fun. The highest quality standards, global trends and continual product development help us bring parents everything they need for their baby’s development. Our products are inspired by nature and offer the best, safest and most simple choices for you and your baby.

Where to Buy

You can find the Nuby Potty Seat at: www.BuyBabyDirect.com

Stay Connected

Check out Nuby’s Facebook page. They have great product information as well as contests! You can also connect with they on Pinterest and Twitter!

Looking for more posts on potty training? I apparently have a lot to say:

*Disclosure: I am a Nuby Mommy Blogger and as such have received this product in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own.
Posted in Family, reviews | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Happy Half Year, Baby Girl!

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Stephanie

I can’t believe we have half a year under our belt with BGB in our lives! How can she be 6 months old???

She’s growing leaps and bounds, and not just in terms of her height and weight (we’ll get those stats next week at her well visit). She is a big time babble baby, way more than the boys ever were. She’s also really drooling big time (did you see the pictures in my recent post – all that drool) and just this morning I felt the rough ridges of her first tooth on the bottom gum.

BGB has been having some issues sleeping. Getting her to bed is high on that issue list – it sometimes takes me a good 2 hours to get her to sleep. I’m guessing the problem is three-fold: 1. teething; 2. she’s rolling to her belly and that ticks her off to no end and 3. she’s really working hard on getting on all fours. This little girl is going to be seriously mobile in no time – I think I was spoiled with the boys being so content to just roll or better yet stay still! I’ve also not figured out how to get her to nap in her crib. I really need to work on that as she is napping less and less on the go which means she is waking at 6am and just dozing while nursing throughout the day.

We’re working on solid foods. She is just now getting the hang of how to move food around her mouth. That is one area I don’t recall the boys taking so long to master. She loves her peas and seems to not be a fan of bananas. Right now she is still getting one meal a day, usually at dinner, and I’m trying to get her a mid-morning “brunch” in as well. I’ve found it’s been hard to nurse her and feed her solids in between preschool picks ups, but that’s all changing this week since school is over and we will no longer have the time crunches.

And now for our usual bear pictures!
Posted in BGbear, Family | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Nuby Teething Blanket

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Stephanie

As a Nuby Mommy Blogger, I received this product for review. All opinions are my own.

Oh yes, we  have a teething baby in the house again! Just look at that drool!

I feel like we’ve had this stage going on for months, but really it’s just ramped up in the last two weeks or so. Every now and then I can see her discomfort, and I’m just wishing for those first teeth to pop through so she can get some relief. Overall, she’s such a trooper and quite the happy baby so we’ve had a decent teething experience so far!

When she isn’t nursing, she is trying to chew on my fingers, arm, nose… you name it. I spied this adorably colorful Nuby Teething Blankie and knew it would be a hit with my Baby Girl Bear (BGB for short)! BGB seems fascinated with anything that crinkles and is colorful. She giggled with delight when she saw the blankie for the first time. I didn’t think those big blue eyes could get any wider but they did!

Our teething blankie has a lion in the center. This is the second lion item we have and she smiles whenever she sees them. I think lions may become her favorite animal! The lion’s head squeaks but she hasn’t the dexterity for that yet so I do the squeaking for her before handing the blankie over for her chewing pleasure.

The Nuby teething blankie has these little tag materials on one side of the blankie and I have caught BGB sucking on those frequently too.

She is really giving those hard teething surfaces at the corners of the blankie a run for their money – she chews on them nonstop! Though it’s funny, I haven’t seen her gnaw on the blue one yet.

I’ve been taking this teething blankie around with us everywhere and I love that the hard corners of the blankie have open centers – just perfect to put a link clip on so I can attach it to her playcenter or stroller.

Since the Nuby Teething Blankie is in her mouth constantly, and on the floor quite often, I am a little nuts about cleaning it. It’s easy – just use a little soap and water and wipe it off. I tend to give those hard corners a good, hard scrub just to be sure they are clean.

About the Nuby Teething Blankie

The Nûby™ Teething Blankie is designed to comfort and soothe your toddler through the teething process. The multiple teething surfaces on each corner allow your baby to chew and cut their first teeth, relieving sore and sensitive gums. The blanket crinkles and squeaks with a gentle squeeze of the soft fun characters and helps stimulate your baby’s senses and imagination.

About Nuby

At Nuby™ we strive towards making the lives of parents and children easy, simple and fun. The highest quality standards, global trends and continual product development help us bring parents everything they need for their baby’s development. Our products are inspired by nature and offer the best, safest and most simple choices for you and your baby.

Where to Buy

www.BuyBabyDirect.com, www.amazon.com, www.walmart.com, www.idealbaby.com, www.echildstore.com, Bealls, Sears and DD’s Discounts

Stay Connected

Check out Nuby’s Facebook page. They have great product information as well as contests! You can also connect with they on Pinterest and Twitter!

*Disclosure: I am a Nuby Mommy Blogger and as such have received this product in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own.
Posted in reviews | 7 Comments

Can the Best Wireless Plan be a Cheap Wireless Plan?

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Stephanie

Cheap Wireless Plan

It seems like finding a lowest price rate plan often means that you are excluding those fabulous unlimited plans when it comes to cell phones. We struggled with the decision to move to smartphones nearly two years ago because of the price.  However, it seemed that the market was pushing us toward a smartphone but that a cheap wireless plan was no where to be found.

Luckily, since my work nearly requires a smartphone and my husband’s work offered discounts at leading cell phone carriers, we were able to find an unlimited plan that worked for us. Even with the discount and free phones it was tough to get used to the cost of our new family plan ($120/month) which was nearly double our old non-smartphone monthly plan price. While I know many people will think, “$120/month? That’s nothing!”, to us it was a big “ouch” in our pocketbook.

When we first started entertaining the idea of becoming a smartphone family, we did our research. Price and Service were tied as our biggest points of interest. We make several trips each year to the beach as well as mountains so we need a plan that will have service in those areas. We also found price to be quite a different component than it was when we just had basic phones. Apparently, when it comes to smartphones, “unlimited” doesn’t always mean without a limit regarding data. We did find a plan that actually is unlimited in our data usage as well as text and talk and we’ve been very happy with the service.

I do have issues with all the junk apps my cell phone provider installed on my device that I do not need yet cannot remove or move to the SD card. This eats up so much internal memory and I am constantly getting Low Disk Storage errors and being told I cannot update apps because I haven’t the space available. It’s very frustrating and it’s one of those issues I know to inquire about with future phones.

As content as we are with our current wireless plan provider, that price is still something we look to minimize while maintaining (or improving) our current wireless plan quality.

Walmart Family Mobile

I was excited to learn about Walmart Family Mobile. I had never heard of a no-contract, unlimited and post-paid cell phone service that was a decent price. I certainly had never thought they would have the name brand phones I was accustomed to seeing the big name brand wireless providers carry.

Best Wireless

This exciting new plan allows you to use your own phone or purchase one of the phones at Walmart. The unlimited plan costs just $40 per month per line without a contract. You read that right – NO CONTRACT! That price puts us nearer to the basic phone service price we used to have!

Each phone does need a Starter Kit to activate the service. We were able to do this in-store and were in and out in about 25 minutes. I then set up my voicemail and account information and we were good to go!

Lowest Price Rate Plan

And I did this with all three kids in tow, so our outing could have gone downhill quickly if it wasn’t easy! (See more from our shopping trip by visiting my Google + album)

The phone I am using is the TMobile Concord, which is a bit smaller than my current HTC phone and does not have 4G capabilities. I’ve been using the device for 3 days now and have only had to charge the phone once which amazes me because I am constantly recharging my current phone. Like usual, I’ve spent most of the time on email, Facebook and Instagram. I haven’t ventured too far from the house, but the calls I have made seemed to be of the same service caliber. So far, so good!

Unlimited Plan

May and June are busy months in our family. We have a 90th, 37th and 5th birthday to celebrate as well as preschool graduation and summer adventures. I’m excited that we’ll be able to use the phone to keep in touch with everyone, whether it be through using texting and apps or going old school and actually dialing a phone number to speak to someone. We’ll also be taking several short trips to the shore as well as to the mountains for some fresh air fun. Reception in both those places can be spotty, so I’m excited to see if our cheap wireless plan from Walmart Family Mobile is really the best wireless solution for our family!

As I test out the phone and Walmart Family Mobile wireless service plan, I hope to see that it is truly an unlimited plan with excellent call quality. I was never a fan of the pre-paid option for cell phones, so I really believe this new service with a predictable cost will be a perfect match for our family budget and technology needs!

Stay tuned… I’ll be posting my thoughts on this experiment in early June!

* Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client. #cbias #FamilyMobileSaves
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Kid Friendly Meals with Tyson Chicken Nuggets

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Stephanie

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias®  and Tyson. #cbias #SocialFabric #SpringtimeNuggets

Dinner ideas for a kid friendly meal in our house typically involve Tyson chicken nuggets, especially with two picky eating and opinionated preschoolers! We kicked off this weekend by including some healthy eating options and a little fun with our food by adding a little springtime decorating to our baked chicken nuggets. The boys love doing kids crafts, so I knew getting permission to play with their food would be a hit.

We typically have the Tyson Fun Nuggets in the freezer, but for decorating fun I opted to head to Walmart and purchase some of the traditional Tyson Nuggets, french fries and condiments. (You can see more from my shopping trip on my Google + album.)

I got home and was ready to prepare our meal. I love when I can fit both the chicken nuggets and the fries on one tray, but in this instance it also helped that the nuggets would be finished cooking before the fries as I needed them to have time to cool before the decorating began.

I also prepped red, green, orange and yellow bell peppers in a variety of shapes and sizes – the boys love bell peppers and it is often our veggie of choice.

I decided we would do a little outdoor nugget family for our food art project. Since we have never encouraged the boys to play with their food, I prepped a plate that had a little springtime inspiration:

Then we did one together that included: 1. a sun with orange pepper rays and honey mustard smile; 2. a butterfly with yellow pepper wings, orange pepper antennae and barbecue sauce eyes; and, 3. what was supposed to be a baseball and bat (ok, that last one did not really turn out!).

I was pretty sure Bbear would get down and dirty decorating his food but Cbear has some issues with getting dirty (and he’s not a fan of condiments at all). I placed the condiments in little dip-able containers so the boys could use their veggie sticks to brush the ketchup, mustard and barbeque sauce on the nuggets.  As I thought, Bbear was very interested in using the condiments to add a little color to his nuggets, but Cbear wanted nothing more than to use his peppers to decorate his chicken nuggets. They put quite a bit of thought into what should go where on their Tyson chicken nuggets.

It was really quite a silly adventure once the boys started to design their nugget people. I had hoped we would create a family of nugget people, but what came about was much more fun. The boys laughed and ate as they created fun people with their food. And asked for seconds!

Cbear even added orange pepper hair and a green pepper “baseball” hat to his nugget-man:

The fries were a complete afterthought for the boys. In fact, they were so involved in decorating their food that they forgot about them completely! I’d love to give the kids permission to play with their food more often, as appropriate. If you’re looking to get in on the decorating fun, visit the Club Tyson fanpage on Facebook for some creative, chicken nugget kid friendly meal ideas!

For more information, check out Tyson’s website, follow Tyson on Twitter or visit the Tyson Chicken Nuggets Facebook page!

*Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias®  and Tyson. #cbias #SocialFabric #SpringtimeNuggets. All opinions are my own. 
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Graco FastAction™ Fold Jogger Click Connect™ {review}

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Stephanie

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Graco

My Graco FastAction™ Fold Jogger Click Connect™ arrived this month and I was so excited to test it out! Those that know me may be confused because, well, I’m neither a runner nor a jogger. I do have runner’s knee from a time when I *tried* to be a runner about 5 years ago. Those 3 months of running have given me that lovely clicking knee! So, I can safely say I will not be running with my new Graco Jogger, but we are an active family and I have plenty of other uses for this versatile stroller!

Just before the new jogger arrived, I tried using my traditional stroller to make my way over to the ball park to watch my son’s first Tball game. The path to the field is all gravel and my wheels just didn’t spin so I was essentially pushing a lead sled over gravel. I was ready to put the new Graco FastAction™ Fold Jogger Click Connect™ to the test for his 2nd game. The difference was amazing – the wheels turned and the baby slept as I pushed my way over the uneven terrain.

We also did a trip to the zoo where I was appreciative of two other stroller features – the smartphone tray and the extra-large basket storage. I loved having my phone always accessible. But the basket storage… WOW! I was able to fit a lunch bag PLUS a huge diaper bag AND some light jackets. After our zoo experience, I’m really excited about taking the stroller to the shore this summer. Walking the beach, boards and around town is sure to be a breeze!

Graco FastAction™ Fold Jogger Click Connect™

Last week, A Grande Life’s Steph and I headed out to Smith Memorial Playground to meet other bloggers testing the new stroller.. Our host, Erica Voll, reviewed all the great features of our new strollers:

CLICK CONNECT TECHNOLOGY allows the stroller to accepts all Graco SnugRide Click Connect™ Infant Car Seats. The jogger comes with the Click Connect 35 infant seat, however we use the Click Connect 40 seat for our everyday travels. I was happy to see that I could use our usual seat with the jogger. Click Connect technology locks the seat into the base of the jogging stroller making the infant seat secure! Removing the seat is as easy as removing it from your vehicle’s car seat base.

Baby Girl loves being snug in her car seat while in the stroller. If she falls to sleep, which she often does while in motion, I can completely cover her with the canopy of the car seat and the stroller to block out the light! We currently have the seat fully reclined with the infant seat in use, but once she is a little older I love that the seat is not only padded but has multiple reclining positions.

FASTACTION FOLD. This is one I’m still getting used to because it’s just so easy! My three other strollers need two hands to fold. With the Graco FastAction Fold Jogger Click Connect, I just need to pull the red strap in the center of the seat and in a one-second, single step the jogger has collapsed and is locked in place WITH a kickstand to stand it up for storage! No wrestling with the stroller here!

ON THE GO COMFORTS AND SAFETY As a parent, I appreciate that this jogger grows with my child and that I can use any Click Connect infant seat or a 3- or 5-point harness to secure my child. The large wheels are air-filled rubber tires that help provide a smooth ride. Every time BGB has gone for a ride in the jogger she has passed out so it must be a nice ride! As she grows older there is an easily removable child’s tray which includes 2 cup holders & snack tray. And for me? I already mentioned the spacious basket but there is also a fabulous parent’s tray that also has 2 deep cup holders, a smartphone tray with a hidden compartment.

For runners, the front wheel of the jogger can be locked in place and then easily unlocked for a leisurely stroll. A BIG safety feature that I like is the wheels have reflectors on them for low light visibility – why don’t all strollers have this important safety feature?

We wrapped up our event with a great workout by the ladies from Stroller Strides of Cherry Hill. I definitely used some muscles I had forgotten about during our exercises!

The Graco FastAction Fold Jogger Click Connect is available at Babies R Us, Amazon, BuyBuy Baby, Target or WalMart. The jogger retails for $179.99 and the travel system for $299.99.

Graco’s NEW jogger is the ultimate crossover stroller, combining all the comfort and convenience features of a traditional stroller (FastAction Fold and Click Connect Technology) with performance and maneuverability of an all-terrain jogger.

As an added bonus, Graco’s innovative one-second, one-hand FastAction™ fold automatically locks & is self-standing.

This post is sponsored by the Graco.
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The Big Toy Book #BTBBabyPalooza

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Stephanie

I had the opportunity to attend the Big Toy Book BabyPalooza and received a swag bag.

We had a great adventure to New York City last week checking out The Big Toy Book‘s fantastic line up of toys and baby products for 2013! Baby Palooza was yest another great event hosted by Joey Fortman and Charlene DeLoach.

Thankfully, my friend Steph volunteered to drive myself and our bloggy friends Devon, Lauryn and baby girl to the big apple!  In addition to a hilarious car ride with these lovely ladies, our adventure allowed me to chat with the representatives from such companies as Delta, VTech to learn about their great new products for this year. Seriously, times have changed in even the 3 short years since Bbear was an infant!

The theme for 2013 is to be Safety Smart, Parent Smart, Technology Smart and Baby Smart. Here is a glimpse of what you will see in 2013:

Delta

Delta so graciously hosted our event at their NYC building in Manhattan. I never realized that Delta made these fabulous children chairs that my kids love! I was excited to see many more options – including such Disney hits as Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Doc McStuffins and Sofia the First.

And of course Delta has some amazingly beautiful baby and children’s furniture. So many gorgeous cribs and furniture displayed I was mentally redecorating BGB’s nursery while in the showroom! And what I wouldn’t give for a glider for those late night/early morning nursing sessions!

VTech

If you haven’t had a chance to read my review of the new VTech InnoTab 2 Baby, go check it out! We seriously loved all the fun this new tablet provides for the younger crowd. Often, Bbear would request to play with his older brother’s tablet, but it was just slightly too old for him and proved frustrating. The InnoTab 2 Baby is a perfect starter tablet and I’m sure this time next year I’ll be telling you all about how BGB is now playing with it!

 

I also had the opportunity to check out another VTech product (review coming soon) called the VTech Go Go Smart Wheels product line. There are several options with this product that any vehicle-loving child will enjoy.  We were able to see the airport while at the Big Toy Book Baby Palooza, and it is fabulous! As the toy airplane rolls along the runway, there are various smart areas that let the child know what is going on. I can’t wait to test it out ourselves with BGB and BBear who are on either ends of the product age recommendation!

The First Years iAlert Convertible Car Seat

We live in modern, technology-infused times, my friends. I was able to see the next generation of car seats in action with this new, coming soon car seat (you can currently pre-order on Amazon). The First Years True Fit iAlert Convertible Car Seat is the first mobile-synched car seat. The seat uses a connection to your smartphone and monitors “four key safety areas including installation angle, unattended child alert, child out of seat alert and temperature check”. I for one love the idea of the installation angle because even if you never remove the car seat after proper installation, it can shift. That peace of mind is fabulous to me since I’m always running to a certified car seat safety specialist to make sure we have ours installed properly. I also love the child out of seat alert since Cbear has excitedly shown us he can unclip the chest buckle of his seat. Again, peace of mind that all is well in those back seats is fantastic! And let’s face it… I always have my phone with me :)

Mega Bloks

Oh do we build here! We build up and we build out. In fact, we have even started using our Mega Blocks sets to build mazes, dead ends and all, on the train table  for cars to drive through. We were given a great new set of Mega Bloks at the event that have numbers and mathematical symbols on them.  Cbear LOVES math, and has been adding and subtracting for some time now, so I love that we can use this set of Mega Bloks to enhance that love of learning!

Madame Alexander

Madame Alexander is celebrating 90 years of dolls for the youngest of children. I have a number of Madame Alexander dolls stored in their boxes in my childhood bedroom. They’ve been that way for decades since they are collectibles. Madame Alexander would NOT be happy about that – she developed these dolls to be played with by young girls. So, the nearly centenarian company had now designed Washable Babies as well as toddler and baby dolls that children will be encouraged to play with and now house in a closet. I must say, any child product that is washable is a hit in my book! These new dolls will help children care for their own baby – an exercise we could have used twice so far in the last 3 years.

Cloud b

Those Twilight Turtles always make me smile, but did you know Cloud b has a wide range of products. They have “upgraded” the Twilight Turtle so that it now has sounds as well as blue tooth technology allowing you to remotely turn the turtle back on without entering the room. Cloud b has also introduced a new travel-sized companion called Twinkles to Go Octopus which also displays a starry sky in a darkened room (I may need one (or rather three) of these for the kids). And if you have a little one that needs comfort in the middle of the night, Cloud b has just introduced the Sleep Sheep Smart Sensor product which actually responds when your child is awake in the middle of the night by playing soft sounds of nature or even a heartbeat!

The Big Toy Book Baby Palooza was a wonderful trip! And, maybe more importantly, BGB had a nearly cry-free first visit to New York. I was pretty nervous she would uncharacteristically cry the entire time, but she only made a peep the last half hour or so of the trip and I know she was hungry then. BGB was her happy slef or asleep for most of the trip which made me a much more at ease mama!

*Disclosure: I was invited to attend the Big Toy Book’s Baby Palooza and was given a swag bag which included a few of the items mentioned above. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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VTech InnoTab 2 Baby {review}

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Stephanie

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Vtech.

Have you seen the latest tablet on the block? It’s the VTech InnoTab 2 Baby: a tablet designed for the younger toddler crowd (ages 12+ months) that can grow with your child through age 9.

innotab 2 Baby VTech learning toy

The VTech InnoTab 2 Baby includes a touch screen with a chunky stylus pen and content that is specifically geared toward infants including Baby Sign Language, a Noah’s Ark e-book and sing-a-long nursery rhymes. My littler man, Bbear, loved the nursery rhymes and was so excited when he heard the ones I always sing to him (such as Frere Jaques).

Using the VTech Learning Lodge Navigator from your computer, you are able to download additional apps or move on to the next stage of apps for your growing child. I was browsing the vast catalog of learning apps available for Bbear and was happy to find that it also includes apps with familiar characters such as Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Monsters, Inc.

But Bbear’s favorite app? It’s the Art Studio which comes with the tablet. Both my boys love coloring and drawing, and using the Art Studio and stylus pen enables them to do so wherever we are mess-free!

InnoTab for Baby learning lodge

Features We Liked on the InnoTab 2 Baby

It grows with the child. While the InnoTab 2 Baby can be used when the child is 12 months old and over, my 3 year old was absolutely fine jumping on the tablet and using it. I like that it can grow with a child so that I do not need to buy additional device after device and just load age-appropriate apps to the device.

No Wi-fi. I know some may argue with me on this point, but I liked that this InnoTab 2 Baby does not include wi-fi. I see no need for my baby, my toddler, or even my preschooler to have access to our wi-fi. I do not mind using the USB cord to connect to my laptop so I can download apps to the device. All too soon my children will be exposed to the world wide web on their own, so for now I’m happy to not have that feature on this device. I feel safe knowing they are playing with only the apps that I have reviewed and agreed are appropriate for them.

The built-in, rotating camera. The boys are always trying to grab my camera or my phone to snap photos and take videos. Bbear’s toy digital camera recently bit the dust so he is really enjoying using the camera on the VTech InnoTab 2 Baby. Bbear likes that he can rotate the camera and take some self-portraits. He also likes how big the snapped photo is on the screen.

The protective, removable gel cover – YES!  This tablet was dropped twice in the first hour it was played. I’m not sure it would have come through unscathed if it had not been for the protective gel shell.

VTech Tablet for children

learning toys

Would be Nice …

It would be nice if the device came out-of-the-box with a cord to tie the stylus to the tablet. The spare stylus is secured to the back of the tablet, but I’ve found myself looking for both styli very soon after handing the InnoTab 2 Baby over to my son. I understand why they would not want a cord near a 12 month old. I do see there is a place where the stylus could be tethered to the device and it would be nice to have the option if I preferred to have the stylus attached to the tablet.

Overall, this is a great starter tablet for young children. Bbear is so used to using our phones to play games, he did get a little impatient waiting for a game to load on the InnoTab 2 Baby, but once loaded it he was using the tablet and stylus like a pro. He feels like such a big kid using a tablet now. He may have some competition as baby girl already appears to be checking out the VTech InnoTab 2 Baby – but it’s all Bbear’s until she hits that 12 month mark (at least)!

The VTech InnoTab 2 Baby learning app tablet (MSRP: $89.99) is currently available in stores. For more information on VTech’s product lines, follow them on Facebook and Twitter!

*Disclosure: This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of VTech. I was provided this product while attending the #BTBBabyPalooza to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.
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