Congratulations to Jennifer, winner of our Smart Girls Who Surf giveaway! She will receive a Sun Savvy Kit and a logo sun visor. Thanks so much to Smart Girls Who Surf for this great giveaway. Winner has been emailed.
You may remember our recent Earth Mama Angel Baby post. I boasted about this company and am excited that they’re releasing a brand new product, Happy Mama Body Wash! This body wash is made for the pregnant mama, with ingredients such as fresh ginger to help fight nausea and bright citrus essential oils to lift those groggy and tired spirits. As with all of Earth Mama Angel Baby products this body wash contains zero toxins, is chemical free and has USDA Certified Organic ingredients. It’s so pure and natural you can even use it on your little ones when in a pinch and out of their usual wash. I was lucky enough to try Happy Mama Body Wash and love it! If you visit Earth Mama’s website before March 16th you get a free bottle of Happy Mama Body Wash with the purchase of Mama’s Pregnancy Essential’s bundle, so hurry!
Can you guess what his Kimochi is:)
Being a mom to a three year old is, to sum it all up, an adventure! Sometimes, I’m sure that the terrible two’s has got to be hyphenated, “two-three’s” and we all just missed the memo. They are just learning how to sort out and communicate their preferences and opinions with us and their peers. When I think about it, it has got to be insanely difficult to be so small and so limited. Don’t you wish there was some way to intervene in the middle of those dramatic temper tantrums? With the help of Kimochis, take the opportunity to make it a teaching moment that is both fun and positive.
Plushy Feely Corp., home of Kimochis Toys with Feelings Inside is a company founded by Moms who are dedicated to promoting social and emotional wellness in children and families. Their vision is to provide families with fun, playful and engaging products and educational resources to help develop emotional intelligence and strengthen parent child connections. Feel good inside and out!
Kimochi(key-mo-chee) means “feeling” in Japanese. And Kimochis are what come inside each character! Kimochis are small pillows with a feeling (happy, sad, silly, brave…) printed on one side, and a corresponding facial expression on the other. Each character has a special pocket where kids can store their “Kimochis”- or feelings. Using the characters and their Kimochis, kids can get in touch with their emotions in a fun and comfortable way through puppetry and play. When kids are comfortable talking about their feelings, they build self esteem and confidence.
Tiny Tester:
I love so many things about these little plushies. Kade is my visual, kinesthetic, and tactile learner. Being able to see, feel and act out how his emotions are and should be in a fun and creative way has been amazing! He is now less inclined to enter the downward spiral that is the temper tantrum. My sweet, sometimes emotional, boy can be so much more in tune with his feelings and initiate the conversation about them all on his own! The Kimochis website has teaching tools and guidelines to help you best utilize your new helper. Each plushie has their own personality, challenges and cute little quirks. We chose Huggtopus, who is cute and cuddly, but sometimes overbearing and doesn’t realize her own strength. From the moment Huggtopus was in Kade arms, he has been obsessed with showing me how he feels. And, how adorable are the “KI-motions”?! Not to mention, it’s ridiculously cute to hear him say,”KEE-MOW-CHEE”:)
Sorting his feelings
Then, his brother discovered them. That did not make Kade too happy.
And he got right to telling me how it made him feel:(
GIVEAWAY: For your chance to win a Kimochi and two sets of Mixed Feelings, leave a comment below telling us which personality best fits your little one.
To read about each character and their story, click here.
Extra Entries: Please leave a comment for every entry you complete.
Contest ends March 20,2010 at Midnight PST. Winner will be chosen by Random.org and emailed. If they do not respond within 48 hours, another winner will be chosen.
Always looking to bring you the cutest baby and toddler clothing, I’ve struck gold again! Glug Baby offers up ridiculously cute designs for the upcoming spring and summer seasons. The clothing is of top quality and so soft, perfect for your precious child. The clothing is adorable and original, covering girl and boy designs, YES boy designs as well. I found the fit of the tee to be unbelievably perfect. A company has finally figured it out! The bottom isn’t too wide, it’s long enough, the neck and sleeve opening are perfecto. I imagine the whole line is just as well designed and I will be finding out soon, as should you! You can find their products in a host of online stores, including Giggle and Chasing Fireflies. Check out all of their adorable designs on the Glug Baby site. Order their new spring line at moxiekidsonline.com.
Erin: Glug’s line of clothing is refreshing with their adorable prints and colors. I was really impressed that it had zero shrinkage when I washed and dried it. It’s soft, not too baggy, made from high quality material and my daughter absolutely adores it. What more can you really ask for? Only hard thing is trying to decide what other items to purchase for the hot weather that’s already here!
Any mom who has eyeballs and ears, has heard and seen Haba toys. Haba has been bringing parents innovative, safe, and cherished toys for over 70 years. With all that experience, you can certainly trust them to provide stimulating and safe toys. While on a search for bright and fun infant toys for the ITKM Swag Bag, Introducing…, my top choices remained with Haba. It is hard to ignore the sheer volume and know-how that Haba has. It is crucial to find bright, stimulating, AND age appropriate toys for your newborn baby. From the moment they open their tiny eyes, they are learning, soaking up everything around them like a sponge. We must provide them with contrasting colors, sounds, and textures to explore and expand their minds. Here are a couple soft baby toys that I found to be my favorite for 2010 (girl and boy): Anton the Beetle and Fidelia the Flower. Notice they both change forms, both have bright contrasting colors, and both crinkle and jingle.
And here’s my not so newborn with the toys (which she shook over her doll baby’s bed for 10 minutes). Notice Simon the cat nearby. He couldn’t resist the jingling and crinkling of the two toys!
I’m a crafter. I admit it! I’ve been sewing again for the first time since my sewing class back in 8th grade. Scary, I know. I love finding items that aren’t impossible to do (like an entire quilt) but functional and fun for my family. I browse etsy and blogs for inspiration and try to recreate what I see. I figure there has to be a few of you out there like me, so I might as well share my findings and projects. I found a tutorial on one of my favorite sewing blogs here and felt that burning desire to tackle this project.
When my daughter was a baby she loved to grab on to things and shake them all around. As I’m sure you know, a lot of grasping toys are plastic or wood and I swear, she’d always smack herself in the head with them. This is why I felt motivated to attempt the ABC Book from Moda. Not only are the items soft, but they’re the ABC’s so they provide an additional function as flashcards for later on. They’re made from cotton, so they’re safe for little ones to chew on during those teething months. The snail, well the snail is just cute! I picture it on my daughter’s bookshelf of something adding a bit interest to a boring nook. I purchased the fabric on etsy from this store who sells Moda fabrics. Hopefully this crafting projects inspires a few of you as it did me.
My daughter has been a picky eater since she turned one. I’m sure you’ve heard me whine about this several times. She loves fruit and snacks, but meals are just plain difficult for us. She used to love her veggies, but I can’t remember the last time she ate a vegetable in it’s natural form. Now as we approach 3 years of age, we still have our challenges, but I’ve gotten much more creative. She loves applesauce. She especially loves items she can suck out of a package. This is why Trader Joe’s is my hero. They’ve created these Apple Carrot Fruit Sauce Crushers. Brilliant! She has no idea that she’s eating carrots, she thinks it’s all applesauce and loves them. If you have a picky eater, I highly recommend these crushers especially for lunches, on the go or just as a sneaky healthy snack. Purchase them at your local Trader Joe’s. Let us know if you have any great healthy snacks for picky eaters too!
We’re a modern minimalist family. Since adding a new addition to the family, Simon the cat, we’ve had to bring in new household items. One such item is the dreaded litter box. It’s a must have for every cat but the options are absolutely horrendous. They are and you cat owners all know it. I knew that there HAD to be a solution out there somewhere in the cyber universe. I was right! I stumbled upon ModKat, who offers clean lines and modern style… in a litter box!! I knew immediately I had to have one, I mean Simon had to have one. They require a top entry from the cat so there is zero litter mess on the floor. Gravity takes care of the “litter feet”, as well as the top grate. My kitten had no issue jumping up there and made an easy transfer to the ModKat litter box. The box features an amazing scoop that has bristles on the side to sweep stray litter off the top grate. The scoop clicks right onto the side for easy access and storage. ModKat also comes with a reusable liner, helping our environment by eliminating those plastic disposable liners. The liner velcros to the inside of the litter box and has handles for easy removal and dumping. Overall I give this litter box ten thumbs up. It looks great, it’s totally functional, and it looks great… oh did I say that twice? 
Erin:I married a man who grew up with cats, so this was a new venture for me when we first met. We got married and shortly thereafter adopted a kitten. This was my first experience with litter boxes and I must say, it wasn’t a pleasant one. We tried all different styles, igloos, boxes, you name it and they all just seemed throw litter all over the floor when our cat would jump out of it. Made me bonkers and I’d find myself sweeping up constantly. Now mind you, I’ve seen a few other litters with a similar style as the ModKat at the local pet store with the hole on the top, but they are definitely NOT the same. With the others, when the cats jump out and land on the top ledge, the litter just piles up and after a while gets knocked down onto your floor along with the cat when they jump off. ModKat’s top ledge has holes in it allowing the excess litter to fall back into the box eliminating the excess mess and waste! The handy lid on the ModKat actually just flips up with the push of a button and quickly dumps any litter that didn’t fall through the holes right back into the box. Our entire family loves our new litter box!
GIVEAWAY: For your chance to win a ModKat Litter Box, leave a comment below telling us what color you like best. To see their color options, go here. This is a $180 value!
EXTRA ENTRIES: Please leave a comment for every extra entry you complete
Contest ends March 16, 2010 at Midnight PST. Winner will be chosen by Random.org and emailed. If they do not respond within 48 hours, another winner will be chosen.
I recently came across this post on ohdeedoh and instantly felt inspired. In the picture they drew a tree on a large piece of paper, then using different color greens, created leaves on the tree by dipping their thumbs in the paint. They had the guests of their wedding sign each of the leaves. Such a great idea for a baby shower or even a modern geneology. Maybe you want to have your child add a new leaf every year of their life to see the different size prints they have and date them. The possibilities are endless!
Snug Organics creates adorable gender neutral pajamas made from organic cotton that can easily be passed down from one child to another. Using the same clothes between siblings is a great way to keep old clothing out of landfills, keeps consumption rates down and it saves you money in the long run. Snug Organic’s pajamas provide a welcome alternative to the many pj’s available with synthetic fabrics coated with flame resistant chemicals. Children’s pajamas that are made with natural fabrics such as cotton do not need to be treated with flame retardant chemicals. These natural fibers do not melt near heat, the way synthetic fabrics do. I’ve always known that organic clothing is a better choice since the cotton or bamboo grown to use as the fabrics are not treated with pesticides, but hadn’t considered how synthetic fibers were manufactured covering them in flame resistant chemicals. Honestly, I would see a label that said “Flame resistant” and think “safer.” Not anymore.
I could tell my little Test Baby loved wearing these pj’s because she walked around the house rubbing her belly with both hands enjoying the super soft fabric on her body, which she never does! I never knew one pair of pajamas could educate me so much and fuel my passion even further towards conservation of our Mother Earth. The more we buy organic, the more readily available it can become. Available in sizes 0 -3 months to 4T. Click here to browse Snug Organic’s line of pajamas for your little one or as a great shower gift for someone special. Support Snug Organics on their Blog, Facebook, and Twitter.
Test Baby, enjoying some cozy time by the fireplace in her Snug Sleeper
