More Hands Free Help!

First there was the hands free pumping bra.  Then the baby katan.  Now the wireless headset.  And I'm in love.


So I tried using the bud headset that came with my smart phone for a while and it seemed to work okay for calls and when I wanted to listen to music; however, the wire on them kept getting tangled and twisted up.  Plus, Jack liked to play with it when he sat on my lap.  After a while, it just wasn't working for me. 

A few weeks ago, my client asked me to call him about a work question.  I happened to be home at the time with a sick Jack.  Although Jack was quietly playing on the floor, I knew I could be in a danger zone.  Just as my client starts asking me his question, Jack started crawling over, screaming and crying.  Of course I panicked, hit the mute button, and reached down to grab my baby.  When I pulled him up, my headset detached from my phone and I couldn't hear a thing.  It felt like forever before I got my phone back to my ear so that I could listen and answer the question.  I missed it all.  I took a random guess at what he was asking and somehow I got lucky and guessed right. 

I don't think the client ever knew what happened that day, but the thought still haunts me.  It was just too close of a call.

This week I just decided to finally invest in a Bluetooth Stereo Headset.  For the $30, it's well worth it.

So far I love it.  I'm hands free when I make calls and I have the ability to control volume from both my phone and headset.  I can also run and listen to music now without a pesky wire!  Everyone at work will be jealous when I'm on the treadmill.

Happy Friday everyone!  Cheers to wireless chatting this weekend!

Bath Fun! Stack It Up

My baby, like most babies, adores his bath time.  He loves to splish, splash, and splosh in the warm water.  Since he moved over to the big boy tub (a.k.a. big bath tub), I got him these super cute-o-la
caterpillar stacking cups.  That's right, we are cranking bath tub time up a notch.

They are so much fun and my baby loves them!  He always grabs at them as the float in the water...great for that bath time chew.  He needs to always have at least one in his hand.  I have fun with them too.  We stack them, smack them down, flip them over, and toss them around. I dump water on his head with them of course too.

For $6 bucks they are a great buy.  Honestly, if I took baths, I would probably play with them too.

Butt Cream on Baby's Face!

Not sure if any of you noticed in yesterday's post, but my little man's cheeks are SO very chapped this winter season.  It's about 7 degrees out in Kansas City these days, not to mention terribly snowy, and the dry air just hurts that sweet baby's skin oh so much.

What's a mama to do?

Well, I've tried all the recommendations...primarily baby lotion and Aquafor.  They simply don't work in the long run.  The thing that seems to work the best is A&D diaper cream.  Yes, I'm telling you to put butt cream on your baby's face.

Since the cream smells a bit and you definetly do not want your baby to consume it, I recommend putting it on his face right after he feels asleep. It works like a charm and in the morning their skin is oh so baby-soft once again.

Unfortunately I don't think this chilly winter weather is going away anytime soon so my kid-o is going to get some butt cream on his face every night for a while!

Happy Friday and happy weekend!

Socks! Army Baby!

Even though we have Jack wear size 12 month pants (he is only 8 months old), his pants always ride up, leaving him with some pretty cold angles.  It's seriously a problem for my little dude. 

Last weekend I hit up Old Navy to score some deals.  In the baby section I found out they sell socks for $1 each when you buy 5 pairs.  Good deal!  After wearing them a full week now, I can tell you these are some super stellar socks.  They are long and go up his leg a bit which help this pants situation.   They are also really cozy.  Warm little dude.

They have all kinds of cute varieties too.  The other morning I put him in some army socks.  I couldn't stop laughing when he was in his white onsie and these socks.  With that semi-bald head of his he could totally go into the Army...

He might have to lose a little bit of baby weight first though!

Hope everyone has a happy Friday!

Review: Holiday Shopping Help!

Let's face it, time is running out for holiday shopping.  It's hard to come up with new ideas for family members too, especially if you are procrastinating like me this year.  Ha!

I recently learned about this site, www.become.com, and was pretty impressed with it.  Basically you can research and find where to buy products online all in one place.  Kind of like a shopping guide.  Super easy and convenient for that working (or even SAH) mama.

During my search I came across these pretty snazzy baby cribs.  I wish I would have known about these modern on sale! oeuf cribs when we were shopping for a crib last year.  Perhaps I'll consider it next time if I have a little girl.  It would be fun to decorate a room around this crib.

For the little kids, they have all kinds of fun gifts on this site.  I know for Jackson, he loves hooded towels, and so do I.  They keep him nice a snug in the winter time after his bath.  Check out the cute Koala hooded towels.  They are a pretty good price.  Perfect stocking stuffer or gift for baby!

Now I also have to buy gifts for my nieces that seem to have a lot of dolls and toys.  My 3-year old niece is getting to the point where she loves to dress up and she adores anything related to princesses!  I think this Disney Princess mermaid perfume would be a unique gift for her, but I better ask her mom first.  Perhaps for her birthday coming up in April?

 

Oh the joys of last minute shopping.  I wish you all the best of luck at it!

**Please note this was a paid review; 100% opinions are mine

Buy This, Not That: Breast Milk Bags

As some of you may know, I was an exclusive pumper for almost 6 months. At 8 weeks postpartum, I hit my peak. I was making 55 oz/day when my little one was only drinking 30 oz/day! Talk about a sweet surplus.

I was a pumping maniac. I was driving myself (and probably everyone around me) crazy. That's what happens when you life revolves around breast milk day in and day out. Yes, day out. I sure don't miss those 2am and 5am pumping sessions by the way.

I learned so much during those mama milk machine days. Now that I'm burning through all of my frozen milk supply that I built up last summer, I have a new learning I felt compelled to share.

Buy This: Lansinoh Breast Milk Bags

They are more affordable than some other leading brands and they have a big label to write your little one's name on it for daycare. Also, no holes were discovered when defrosted, and most importantly, measurement was right on.

Freeze them flat and they are so easily to defrost for a yummy milk treat (per Jackson).

Do Not Buy That: Nuk Seal N Go Breast Milk Bags

I thought I would try these bags because they were cheaper. I wish I would have gone with the Lansinoh bags for all my frozen treasures.

When reheating, I've discovered holes in my bags and have lost several bags of milk. Let me tell you, it is devastating to pour that milk down the drain, especially when your little guy is screaming to eat.

The measurement is off or was hard to figure out when pouring milk in the bag. I froze over 250 bags of milk and about 70% of my Nuk bags had 5.5 oz in them when I thought I was saving 6 oz. Very frustrating. Thank goodness I froze 1 oz milk cubes just in case.

Now Nuk makes some other outstanding products, like their binkies are great. I just would think twice about buying their bags. They have some more work to do on improving them.

Lansinoh image via Target
Nuk image via Bed Bath & Beyond

Good Deal: High Chairs are Out

So let me just start out by saying that I wanted to do something special today given it's my birthday. I was thinking of hosting my very first giveaway. Well, unfortunately I caught some kind of nasty virus. I woke up at 3am with a 103 fever! Lesson learned. Never continue working when you are sick because you will just get sicker.

Luckily I survived and am able to post once again.

So let's do a good deal and then we will do a giveaway next week!

So my little guy is now able to sit in a highchair. I know, he is pretty impressive. Not only did I not want to invest in a highchair, but I don't want to clean up the sticky messes that go along with them. Can you blame me?

After talking to many other ideal mamas, I came across two solutions that would be a better solution.

First is the Phil and Ted's attachable seat. It attaches right to your table top. It has this fabric that is super easy to clean and the price is 50-70% less than an average high chair.

There are other brands that sell this style, but this one is the most portal and light weight.

Problem is with this chair, if your table has leaves, it won't work. This happens to be why I had to return mine. I found out it works best on kitchen islands (oh how I wish I had one of those).

The chair I ended up getting is the Safety First Booster Chair. Let me tell you, I love it and so does my little man. It fits easily to a chair and he can eat right with us at the table. This is one of our new favorite activities.

The chair is super easy to clean and actually has a removable tray that can run through the dishwater. That's what I'm talking about.

The colors are great too. Very neutral and works with almost any decor.

Oh wait, did I mention the price? $40 at Babies R Us. You just can't beat that good deal.

So there you have it. Another (birth) day, another deal.

A Serious Analysis of Goodnight Moon

Happy Monday.

Goodnight Moon. A favorite book of many children. A hated book by many parents. Why? Well, it's considered terribly boring and/or just plain weird. For those of you that need a reminder, it's about this bunny going to bed and saying goodnight to everything in sight. Yes, I can see how someone may think it is boring.



But is it really?

Every night when I get Jackson to snuggle up with me before bed, I crave this book. Not only because it teaches him about process and obtaining a goal (thanks for the smart sounding insight epionion), but because I seem to always uncover new and fascinating questions. Off the top of my head...



-Does this take place in a living room or a bedroom?
-Where did the bunny get the red balloon?
-Why does a bunny need socks and mittens? Where are the pants?
-Why are these bunnies anyway?
-Who is that old lady bunny?
-Who eats mush before bed?
-Why are there two clocks?
-Wouldn't little bunnies be scared of bears? Why hang them on your wall for Pete's sake?!?

And the list goes on and on.

One question I can answer: what is my favorite part?

"Goodnight mush."