MomReviews

When I was pregnant with Ryan, it wasn’t until I read it in a magazine that I realized that I would need some kind of birth announcement. I ended up buying a pack of cards at Target and filled them in by hand, mailing them out after Ryan was born. Now, thanks to sites like Izzyprints.com, expecting parents can choose from a wide variety of styles of birth announcements that are unique, stylish, and are as much of a gift as an announcement!

With a personalized announcement like this one, you can let everyone know your child’s sex, name, date of birth, height, and weight, as well as provide them with a sweet photo of your new baby. Announcement styles come in stripes, florals, polka dots, there’s sure to be one to fit your style!

Before the baby is born and after, you’ll need party invitations to your baby shower, the baby’s Baptism/Christening, First Birthday party, Sweet Sixteen party, and eventually *sniff* Graduation. The site also sells Holiday Cards to personalize with your family photo, and don’t forget to buy Thank You Cards for gifts! Izzyprints is one-stop shopping for party invitations, birth announcements, and cards, in great styles and colors.

Bookmark This Post:

When her first child was born in 2004, Allison Friedland found that she wasn’t the only Mom who wished she could find fashionable Baby Clothes that reflected her daughter’s unique personality. After her son was born in 2007, she put her MBA and marketing background to work creating a line of clever infant and toddler clothing, called Uncommonly Cute. Her adorable onesies, short sleeve t-shirts and long sleeve t-shirts come in infant, boys, girls, and twins styles, in sizes that fit newborns up to size 6. Look at how cute these are:

Not only is each piece made of 100% super-soft combed cotton, they are also machine washable, safe, durable and made in sweatshop-free American studios. Your child will look great and be socially conscious, too! Uncommonly Cute supports the charities Room to Grow and R Baby Foundation by donating a portion of their profits as well as merchandise to help children in need. Depending on which style you choose, the shirts come in white, blue, pink, or black, and are priced at around $22.00 each.

Uncommonly Cute Baby Clothes can be purchased from the site or at stores in 33 States, Canada, and even in Australia-check the site for locations as well as shipping info. You’ll want to visit the site and look for the onesie or tee that fits your child’s unique personality!

Bookmark This Post:

I received a full bottle of Purex Natural Elements UltraConcentrate Liquid Detergent to sample, and liked it so much that when the bottle ran out, I told my husband we were switching from our “usual brand” (rhymes with Ride) to Purex!

There are a couple of things I really like about Purex Natural Elements, including the fragrance of the bottle I received which was Apple & Melon. That fragrance wasn’t available at Target the day we shopped there, so we chose Linen & Lilies instead, the other fragrance is Cherry Blossom & Vanilla. Purex uses natural fragrance extracts, but this detergent works just as hard as “regular” detergent.

With five people in our family, we do a LOT of laundry, including Kaitlyn’s food-stained clothes and the boys’ grass-stained clothes. I didn’t even pretreat anything before washing, and all the stains came right out. I was skeptical of how small of an amount the directions said to use, but I guess that’s why it’s called “Concentrate”, because a smaller concentrated amount works just as well!

I also like the fact that Purex Natural Elements is better for the environment than regular detergent, and to explain why, I’m going to quote from the Purex Products website:

Purex is formulated with 100 percent natural cleaning ingredients from renewable resources, including natural fragrance extracts and naturally softened water. It has a biodegradable, concentrated formula that requires 50 percent less liquid per dose and a recyclable bottle, and it is also hypoallergenic and dye-free.

Suggested retail price for a 50 oz. bottle is between $3.49 and $4.99, and for a 100 oz. bottle, it’s $6.99 and $8.99, making it a great value as well as being great for the environment. Fabulous!

Bookmark This Post:

School is out next week, which means my boys will be home all day with nothing to do, because there is nothing fun to do here, despite bookshelves crammed with reading-level-appropriate books and bins full of toys that they once insisted they had to have, and an entire backyard to play in, plus the school playground just down the street. Instead, I know I will be spending hours every day forcing them to turn off the TV and do something educational, something that will keep their brains from turning to mush.

Thanks to Parent Bloggers Network and the website Educational Insights, we reviewed the Solar Science Lab, which has 30 experiments that will get my boys away from the TV and doing something educational for at least part of the summer! The Lab kit comes with 20 parts required to perform the activities, we just need to provide some common items like glasses, spoons, and dishes. There is also a full-color Guide book which includes interesting facts about Solar Energy. The 30 lab activities teach kids ages 8 and up about how heat and light can do everything from increase the temperature of a room to power a mobile.

It does help if you have windows that get direct sunlight, but if not, many of the activities can be done just using a table lamp. Between the time we received the kit and my writing this review, we had so few sunny days that we only completed one experiment that required direct sunlight! We learned that if the sun’s rays are reflected onto a mirror, the temperature in the room will go up, so the lesson is, don’t hang a mirror directly across from a window that gets direct sunlight. Excellent!

You can get the Solar Science Lab for $27.99 from Educational Insights, which is a great deal for 30 activities that will get your kids doing something educational. Thanks again to PBN for providing the Solar Science Lab for this review. To read what other bloggers had to say, visit the Parent Bloggers Network.

(photo: EducationalInsights.com, this is not one of my kids!)

Bookmark This Post:

John Wm. Macy’s CheeseSticks and CheeseCrisps are deliciously unique crackers that are delicious to eat right out of the box, or with your favorite toppings. I received one of each of the three varieties to try for this review, and not only did I like them, but my boys gobbled them up!

Melting Parmesan CheeseSticks have a buttery taste, with a subtle Parmesan flavor. Sesame Gruyere CheeseCrisps tastes like a cheese biscuit turned into a crispy cracker. Cheddar Gruyere is my favorite, it has a good balance of cheeses. And now John Wm. Macy himself is holding a contest to find the best recipe using CheeseSticks or CheeseCrisps, with a Grand Prize of a two night stay in New York City, $500 cash, your picture and recipe on the back of the package of crackers used in your recipe, a tour of the factory with John himself, and a years’ supply of CheeseSticks!

To enter, visit the John Wm. Macy’s Twist ‘n Crunch 2008 Recipe Contest site for how to enter, a list of prizes, and all the rules. And pick up some CheeseSticks or CheeseCrisps too, they are delicious!

http://www.cheesesticks.us/how.htm Contest

contact: Will Wheeler [wwheeler@schneiderpr.com] and ccavaretta@schneiderpr.com

Bookmark This Post: