SoundBeginnings by Creative Baby, Inc Review & Giveaway Coming Soon!

Having a baby is such an exciting moment in anyone's life and with the increase of technology and new advancements, there are so many options available.  For years I have heard and read the benefits of music to the unborn and although I wasn't very good at exposing my unborn children to music, the options to do so now are amazing.  Creative Baby, Inc has a great new product called Sound Beginnings.  It's a device that fits around the expecting mother's belly and has a pocket for an MP3 player.  


My lucky daughter had a chance to try out the Sound Beginnings device and even before she received it, she was excited to try it out as this is her first child.  The Sound Beginnings Pre-Natal Sound Delivery Device is very comfortable.  It's made of nylon/lycra with a built-in speakers that allows her to play music, voice or any other soothing sound she likes via her iPod or any MP3 player.

No batteries are required since the band is powered by the MP3 player and the high quality sound are designed to keep the sound output safe for the baby.  The band is washable using the gentle cycle and cold water but you cannot dry it in a machine.  Another neat feature are the split headphones which allows two people to listen.  The one year warranty also adds to assurance that of a quality product.


The bands are versatile and come in three colors of nude, black and white and sizes of 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 with a great chart that shows what you are pre-pregnancy and what size belt to purchase.


It was so easy to use with the pocket and convenient, secured, velcro strips.  She was able to listen and play the music with little effort for her baby.  The recommendations are to use Sound Beginnings during the third trimester.


Here is a bonus feature:


Sound Delivery offers parents, friends and family a chance to bond in a unique way the unborn baby.   This amazing service allows anyone to record a message via their telephone.  Those messages are then sent to the parent via e-mail to upload the MP3 file to their player.  Each person has a unique account with a specific code to assure privacy.  With my husband stationed in Kuwait, this is a wonderful way for him to send a message to his grandbaby.   It's a 1-800 number for callers.  There is a fee for the account owner but not for the caller.  


This is revolutionary in allowing those from afar to stay connected and I really love the idea.


To see more, check out this video:





We both highly recommend the Sound Beginnings by Creative Baby, Inc.  If you would like to purchase, click here.


Stay tuned for a giveaway coming soon for the July Baby Shower Extravaganza!


Sound Beginnings is a sponsor of Blogmania 2010!


Here are some of the awards Sound Beginnings already received and for a full list, click here:

   

*I was provided a complimentary product from company or PR representative.

Orglamix Review and Giveaway Coming Soon!

I keep touting the importance or interest I'm having with turning more to natural products and trying to live a healthier life.  I'm amazed at the number of products available to help achieve this goal but am also cautious as many products are still made by the bigger corporations.  When it comes to something that is often overlooked, make-up, it was a big wake up call when I read the ingredients we put on our skin every day and sometimes multiple times a day.  If the skin can absorb so much, can you imagine what we are absorbing through our cosmetics?  

I like this: The next generation of mineral make up:  Orglamix.  Zero synthetic ingredients and are formulated without nano particles, bismuth oxychloride, synthetic dyes, petrochemicals or parbens.  There is even a guarantee that you will love Orglamix or your money back!  Buying products that can back be backed up with a money back guarantee strengthens my desire to want to try as we all know, make up can be expensive.

 

Orglamix is available here and has a variety of products available.  Whether you need foundation, glow, eye or cheek color, brushes and more, Orglamix has it covered.


To stay up to date with Orglamix, check out the following:

• Orglamix's Facebook page
• Orglamix's Twitter page
• Orglamix's Blog

Stay tuned for a review and giveaway!

Solo Company Second Annual Online Photo Contest 8/6

The Solo Cup Company has launched their second annual online photo contest with a grand prize of $5,000 for the best photo featuring Solo products.  You'll be able to enter your favorite photos at www.SoloCups4ever.com until August 6th.  In addition to the grand prize, two $1,000 runner-up prizes will be awarded at the end of the contest. 


By entering, you'll also have the chance to win daily and weekly prizes of gift certificates and Solo products- a great way to extend the fun of summer well into the fall!

Click here for all the rules.

Here are some Solo Fun Facts:

• Solo® Cup has been an American icon since its red party cup was introduced in the 1970's
• Solo brand cups aren't just for drinking, they've been used to make everything from Halloween costumes to flower pots to a runway dress seen on a popular TV show
• Solo brand cups are a backstage must-have - rock bands and movie sets stock their dressing rooms across the country

Look at last year's winner:  isn't she a cutie?

Baby Shower Party Ideas

Do you have any ideas of how amazing the internet is?   I'm in the middle of planning a Minnie Mouse party for my youngest, another birthday party and baby shower for my oldest.  The summer is always the busiest in our family with quite a few parties.  Since hubby is in Kuwait, his birthday will have to be in a box so that's another planning session!

While blog hopping, I've found so many cute ideas so I thought I would share them as well as keep them in my "memory bank" as I proceed as I'm finding way too many I love.


This is from Jenna Eat Drink Pretty:

Monster truck party from Posh Tot Events.

Who can resist ladybugs?  This one is from The Celebration Shoppe:

One of the hardest things I find when planning a party is the back drop.  I always hate not being able to find the perfect backing.  Celebration Shoppe also has posted about this

Back to where I started:  Pink and Brown Polka Dots is the theme I'm looking for the baby shower inspired by The Celebration Shoppe.

• Chocolate & Raspberry Napoleon Heart from Martha Stewart
• Centerpiece from The Knot
• Pink Lemondade from Southern Living
• Candy bar from Pretty Chicky

Another great find at The Celebration Shoppe are printables!  You buy the template and print as many as you like.  Cute tip she listed too on the toothpick appearance for a raised look:  use the foam stickers you get at a craft store!  

She's really making the idea of the baby shower sound even easier with an all in one package of invitations, thank you notes and printables.  I'm really liking this theme too:

Have a party?  Check out The Celebration Shoppe here.

For the girls' Minnie Mouse party, I'm following what Heavenly Blooms Floral Design did for her daughter:

 

Too Adorable!

Father's Day Gift Idea: Tie Cakes

Need a new spin on a tie gift this Father's Day?  I can honestly say that out of the .... years of my life, I have only given ONE tie for Father's Day.  Ties are nice and are given to many fathers but for a new spin, check out Matt's dedication to the classic tie in a edible way here.

 

I love cakes and wished I could make such creations as Matt has in his post.  If you want to try something different, try a tie cake!

More about Matt:

Matt loves ties and his site, www.tiepedia.com is devoted to ties, cool facts and fun posts for crafts and more!

Strider Sports No Peddle PREbike Review & Giveaway Coming Soon!

If you read my earlier post on how to teach your little one to ride a bike without training wheels, you know a little about Strider Sports already.  If you haven't read it, it's GREAT information on how to get them ready to ride and you can click here to find out.   As soon as the weather settles down, I plan to take the wheels off my seven year old's bike to get her used to balancing.  

  

Next week, we get to start the actual review of the Strider Sports PREbike and I will be providing updates on their progress with learning how to ride without the training wheels.


I look forward to the challenge for the first time as before I started communicating with Strider Sports, the task was more than daunting hence the reason my seven year old still doesn't know how to ride.  I can honestly state that Strider Sports is totally committed in the arena of customer service.


If you want to get a jump start, click here to learn more!

How to Make a Huggies Diaper Cake with Glue Dots Adhesives

My oldest is pregnant with her first baby due 10/10/10 (cool isn't it?)!   For part of her gift, I'm making a Huggies Diaper Cake and I'll provide the instructional here.  I just started to make it ahead of time for this post so I'm missing some of the gifts but you will get the idea if you decide to make one yourself.


Step 1:
Take one Huggies diaper and roll up as shown in the picture below.  Start with the open end, roll and secure with a rubber band.

Step 2:

Take seven more Huggies diapers and add to the first diaper as shown below. 

Step 3:

The first layer is finished and now for the middle layer, roll 16 Huggies diapers and secure with another rubber band as shown below. 

Step 4:

With a larger rubber band, it's time to make the bottom or base of the Huggies Diaper Cake.  Take 45~ Huggies Diapers and roll up as you did in the other steps.  Secure with the large rubber band and your base is finished.  


Step 5:
You can either make your own base to sit the entire cake on from sturdy cardboard or purchase a cake base from a party or craft store.  This will provide stability to the weight of the cake pending how much extra you add.

Step 6:
In each layer, you can add Huggies coupons as an extra surprise or leave as is.  Use dowel rods or other like material to secure all three layers together. This is a step that professional cake makers use to secure their layered cakes.

Step 7:
Once your layers are secure, you can take out some of the Huggies Diapers from the top and replace with toys, other Huggies products or whatever you want.

Step 8:  

Add ribbon or whatever you want to make it more special.  You can take long swaddle blankets, fold in lengths and use it to wrap around the layers to hide the rubber bands.  I used Glue Dots Adhesives to secure my ribbons in place, the pinwheel and the extras items that I added.  They worked amazingly well. I'm sold on both Huggies and Glue Dots!


Step 9:

Purchase cellophane wrap from a craft or party store to secure it together and you can wrap a rattle or other toys to the top.

Here are some of my other projects I created with Glue Dots in preparation for my daughters' birthday parties in July.


I used Glue Dots to hold the ribbon on the vases, the feather boa on the front, the Minnie ears on the lolliop along with her bow.  I also used Glue Dots when adding the bow to the ball on the second picture and to keep the boa fastened.  I used flamingo picks to attach the circles using Glue Dots.

Want to learn more about Glue Dots?  Check out the Facebook page here or to be a part of this DIY project with TwitterMoms and Glue Dots, click here.





I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Glue Dots blogging contest to be eligible to receive a $30 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here

The Day in the Life of My Huggies Little Mover

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m partnering with Huggies to become a Little Movers Ambassador and will be writing several blog posts are on their behalf. Since I started the partnership, I’ve thought a lot about my children starting at 22 (expecting herself now) down to my baby and have found that there isn't much difference in a little mover.  Some are more active than others, some are more adventurous and some are just a breeze.  No matter which type there are, one thing is the same and that is the need to have a diaper that can last longer than the little marathon movers!


I was curious as to what all a day in my life entailed with my Huggies Little Mover so I decided to write it down:


7 am - charged out of bed with a full diaper but dry clothing! Triumph again!  Now with a new Huggies Little Movers armed, she's set and dangerous to begin our mission of renovating the house (i.e. destroying it), trying out new textures and colors (i.e spilling drinks and food on clothes) and playing diplomacy or not (i.e. fighting with siblings).

Noon - lunch time and she's already broke free of her diaper twice as she loves to try to change her own diapers and that of her babies and stuffed animals.  I think we've watched one episode of Max and Ruby, counted 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9 and had a contest to see who's fingers can get the brightest color of orange from eating Cheetos with her sister instead of eating their sandwiches and carrots.

2 pm - post nap and rearing to go ..again.  A new diaper and she's fit to recreate everything that happened starting at 7 am with some extra fights, messes and tantrums.  I can't remember the last time I napped.  Every time I try to nap, it's like my head is connected to a mystery world that makes the door bell or phone ring.

4 pm - I've already put in 10,000 steps towards my fitness program with the chasing around, cleaning up, and breaking up fist fights (okay, not really fist fights but man they can fight)!  If only they bottled up that energy!  I decided if I really wanted to get in shape, all I need to do is follow around my little tot for two days and I'd have it made!  Time to make dinner or do I dare?  Calling for pizza delivery is a much better idea even though not healthier.

7 pm - post dinner and bath time!  I will admit that sometimes with all the busy times, I may not change her as much as I should but one thing for certain, Huggies accepts the mission and succeeds!

8 pm - bed time ...shew all this 'remembering' has made me exhausted..time for bed!  


It reminded me how Huggies beat my little one at Disney and lasted longer!

So, all in all, I left out a lot!  How does your little one keep you moving?  I know one thing for sure, I have been able to count on the Huggies line of products to keep my little ones dry and leak proof!

Huggies recently approached me and asked me to be a brand ambassador for their Little Movers diapers, and as part of the partnership I will be writing several blog posts on behalf of the brand.