It’s that time of year again - Back to School season! 

Back to School time is notoriously stressful and hectic, as well as being incredibly emotional for both parents and kids.  Although I don’t have a school aged child (yet!), I am the best aunt ever and love taking my nieces and nephews school shopping.  This year, however, I am doing a lot of my school shopping online thanks to PTPA’s list of back to school items.   

First thing on my list of things every kid needs is their own personalized labels from Mabel’s Labels.  This is especially true for kids that attend daycare, preschool, sports clubs, or even play groups and have a tendency to walk off without all their belongings when they leave (I’m talking to you, dear nephew).  While the focus here is Back to School, it should be noted that Mabel’s Labels are also incredibly useful for kids who are nowhere near school age, but who also frequently take little items out of the house with them and often lose them while they are out.  

Really, personalized labels are a must-have item for kids of all ages, and something I really believe should be required for young children and at least suggested for older kids.  I know I’m not the only parent out there who wholeheartedly agrees, which is why Mabel’s Labels is often raved about online and has even won that coveted PTPA Seal of Approval. 

So, first on my Back to School list is a pack of LOL Labels which are adorable and eye catching as well as completely versatile for baby all the way to adults.  They are perfect for the child who has a schedule of playdates to go to or for kids who are attending daycare or summer camp, or even just for the kids who are constantly battling over which cup is theirs at dinnertime, the LOL labels by Mabel’s Labels ensures all your children’s belongings make it home safely and end up with the right kid at the end of the night.

To shop, you ca head to: http://www.mabel.ca/

The Boob Nursing Singlet (tank top) was one of the first items I received from PTPA to review and wow, was I impressed! The design, comfort, style and overall usefulness of this item made me instantly glad to be a member of the PTPA Panel of Moms so I could learn about great nursing tops like this one. Like I mentioned before, breastfeeding in public can be challenging partly because most clothes are just not designed for nursing, even when you’re nursing in a designated room. There’s the issue of trying to manipulate your clothes with one hand while holding the baby with the other, and then also the concern of being exposed while nursing. Call me uncoordinated but I often fumble with my nursing bra and Leah is not the most patient baby so easy access is incredibly essential. This means no more fitted and buttoned tops, dresses, and long tunic/dresses. Instead, I wore lots of stretchy shirts/tanks, hoodies and cardigans. Once I started breastfeeding I looked at my wardrobe completely differently and zoned in on those items that allowed me to nurse discreetly and easily. Unfortunately there just aren’t too many every day items that allow you to do this. Enter the Boob Nursing Singlet!

The Boob Nursing Singlet is a black tank top with a clever double layer fabric design over the bust, allowing for discreet and comfortable nursing. The opening is simply pushed aside with one hand, leaving the other one free to hold your baby. Made from organic cotton, this garment is good for you and for your baby.

With the double layer fabric, you don’t end up exposing your waist while nursing, plus the top layer over the bust discreetly covers up any boobage that might otherwise show. The fabric is soft and stretchy and super comfortable (I think I wore it every day for a week when I first received it in the mail!). The design of the tank is slimming, particularly if you get it in black, which is great when you’re still dealing with your postpartum body. I especially love how the tank top is extra long to cover up my lower belly pooch.

In general, it’s a simple design that works really well. Everything you need to breastfeed in comfort and maintain a positive self-image. And as a bonus, it doubles as a maternity top so I’ll be able to put it to use for #2, both during my pregnancy and postpartum. YAY!

Learn more about this PTPA Winning Product here.

Check out the Boob website here.

In my mind, Kodak is synonymous with picture taking.  It just seems like a company who dedicated so much of themselves to developing the best photo paper and development services, would likely put just as much effort into a cameras to go along with all of those services.  So why exactly in my entire career of buying cameras have I never considered a Kodak?  Whatever the dumb reasoning behind it (or possibly the good sales people who pushed the more expensive brands), it was a mistake.  I snuck into our “Toy Room” at PTPA recently (and by “toy room”, I mean visualize the Shoe and Clothing room  in the Devils Wears Prada because that’s how great our selection of toys is,is minus the shoes and clothing) and decided to borrow our newest Kodak winning camera, the Kodak Easy Share M530 Camera.

Okay, let’s put aside the fact that it is purple and that happens to be my favorite color.  Let’s simply consider the facts:

Taking all of these things into consideration is what I look for when purchasing a camera, and I can assure you I have purchased my share of cameras (this is camera number 9, please don’t tell my husband).

There is no learning curve with this camera.  Point and shoot. The results are unbelievable.  Firstly, my kids are moving targets and I found that I still captured the shot without any blur.  whether I was inside or outside, the auto feature worked perfectly in terms of adjusting the flash use.  It doesn’t hurt that the camera has an 8 x optical zoom.

So the obsessive mom that I am, I took one of the shots and blew it up to 26 x 34 ad had it printed on canvas and the results were fabulous.  The quality is amazing, the price is right at only $155.00 and I have since seen it on sale at amazon.com several times.  As a mom who has made a career in trying to find the best value and quality in a product, this one makes the grade and in fact excels.

I had an amazing opportunity to experiment with the new Corel Paint it! software awhile back and I thought it was so cool to find out that Corel Paint it! is a PTPA Award Winning product!

I take a lot of pictures with my digital camera.  I have tons and tons of pictures stored on my hard drives.  I’m one of the guilty ones that doesn’t print them so they just sit there and hopefully they never get deleted.  I keep vowing that one of these days, I will create a scrap book or something like that to display all my cool pictures!  Corel Paint it! certainly helps me get creative with my pictures so at least I am half way there in getting a scrapbook put together!

Corel Paint it! is photo painting software for your computer.  Simply put, Corel Paint it! will take your favorite photos and transform them into hand painted pieces of art.  There are many different Painting Styles you can use: Oil, Impressionist, Modern, Illustration, Detailed Watercolor, Watercolor Sketch, Colored Pencil, Pencil, Pen and Ink and Pastel.

Here is on of my favorite creations.  This is a picture transformed using the Pencil feature:

Corel Paint it! is suitable for photography enthusiasts, scrapbookers and well anybody that just wants to get creative with their photos!  The software is so easy to use, my boys and I did these pictures together!!  In three simple clicks of the mouse, you have an original piece of artwork.  Upload your photo, select the style you wish to use and then click start.  Corel Paint it! takes over and creates your new masterpiece!  You can even get really creative and tinker with the artwork even more.  There are buttons to change the paint strokes, change colors, erase different pieces and so on.  Sounds pretty cool doesn’t it!

Have you tried this out yet?  Let me know what you think!!  If you are interested, I happened to notice you can Download a Free Trial and take this software for a test drive yourself!

Until Next Time,

Tracy

When I received the Baby Daze baby organizer to review, I instantly wished I had one when Leah was born. The first few weeks as a new parent (or should I say months), are all about recording information about your baby. First its breastfeeding and dirty diapers, then it becomes sleep habits and solid foods that they’ve tried. I had so many different slips of paper, notebooks and agendas lying around in attempt to keep myself organized, but in my “daze” I could hardly understand my own shorthand and chicken scratch. Had I known about the Baby Daze organizer, I would have been in a much better state!

The Baby Daze organizer is incredibly well designed and simple to use, it’s no wonder it is one of the PTPA Summer Campaign winners! I highly recommend it for any new parent. It has sections for: Feeding and Diapering, Sleeping, Pumping, Milestones, Gift Tracker, Medical Log and Contact Information. The design and layout of each section is well thought out so that you can easily record the information you need for your child. The organizer comes as a small 3-ringed binder so you can add and remove sections easily, with tabs to flip to the section you want.

For the Feeding and Diapering section you can record what time you last fed the baby, circle which boob you fed the baby on (L or R) and how long each feed was (these are all the things you need to know that you always forget when you’re sleep deprived). For the diapering section, you can indicate whether the diaper was wet or soiled so you can make sure your baby is producing the right number of wet diapers, thereby ensuring your baby is properly hydrated. In the Sleeping section, you draw a line through the hours that the baby slept so you can see patterns in sleep habits over several days or weeks, valuable in the sleep training stage. When the time comes for solids, the Food Diary is incredibly useful for recording what different foods your baby has tried and their reaction to it, so you can make sure you wait the necessary 3 to 5 days before starting a new food.

After using the Baby Daze organizer, it is easy to see that it is designed by a professional organizer and a mom. It really does make life with a baby a little easier and has helped get through the daze of being a new parent.

To learn more about the Baby Daze baby organizer, check out the website: http://www.babydaze.net

I  never thought I would say that I was in love with a change pad, but this one had me at hello!!  Thanks to Silly Pants I had the wonderful opportunity to review the Patemm Change Pad, and it get a lot of use with Dominic, 12 weeks old.  Oh boy, did it ever get good use when he finally had a bowel movement after 6 days of none  

My diaper bag comes with a change mat attached to it, but the Patemm is so revolutionary that I will continue to bring it along and use it ALL THE TIME!  Patemm coins their mat as the “patemm® pad- a smart, stylish and practical solution to the diaper bag.”  Do they ever live up to it! What I loved the most about this change pad is that I could take the mat on outings, with a cloth diaper and change of clothes stuffed in one of the pockets.  I didn’t have to carry a big diaper bag if I didn’t want to.  Everything I needed was right there.When finished changing I could put the dirty diaper in one of the pockets and continue on with my day.  That being said I would advise that you don’t be forgetful like us and leave a cloth diaper full of pee inside the pocket for 2 days.  IT WILL STINK! The good news? I put the mat in the sink with a little bit of dish soap and cleaned it right up, smell and all.  I would like to see some of the pockets designed a little larger to be able to fit more of my cloth diapering accessories. It would fit a few disposables no problem, with wipes, cream, etc. but I found it hard to carry more than one prefold and cover without making it too bulky.  When going out for the day I need to bring a few prefolds and an extra cover and would be unable to do so if I was just taking the mat with me.  A pocket that was wider and deeper would have solved this for our cloth diapering need. 

This is the first change pad I have ever seen that is round.  My little guy could move his arms and legs as much as he wanted and never did I have to worry that he would touch whatever dirt was around us when we were out.  No I am not one of those moms who worry about a little dirt on the grocery cart, but I am one of those moms who will put her child on the floor and change them anywhere! 

The mat is soooo simple to fold up, check it out here No matter what way you fold it up you just pull the handle over it and you are ready to go!  There are 4 handles so no matter how you fold it up there is a handle right there ready to go! Did I mention you can fold it up with one hand while holding a squirmy baby?! I know, impressive! 

And you know what? The mat is multi-purpose! Use it as a carry all for crafts, or items for when you go out with your child. Going to a restaurant or to your oldest childs ballet class? Bring the mat along with some crayons, paper, cars, etc. and your children have an instant place to play!  Some kind of hook on the pad or another way to attach it to the outside of diaper bags (for example would have been helpful when our diaper bag was full and we still wanted to bring it on an overnight trip) or when we just wanted to take the pad and were out with the stroller. 

The Patemm has a price point of $55+, depending on the pattern and colour you choose, and in my opinion is worth every penny.  If you weren’t planning on using this mat as a diaper bag when going on short outings then it may be a little high price. However, if  like us, you use the mat to put your baby items in when going on short outings (ie: walk, grocery store, etc.) then I believe its worth the cost.  This item has become a staple in our baby items that we carry everywhere with us.  I am so glad that I discovered this wonderful item while still on my first child! I know it will be used over and over again with the next ones to come! The next time I have to buy a baby gift this will be it.

Guess What?! We are having a giveaway on my blog at Namaste Mommy! Come on over and enter to win!

When Mike Canapini became a new stay-at-home-Dad, he saw firsthand the challenges of raising 2 preschoolers full time. He soon became determined to take the ease off of parenting woes for everyone by inventing safe and innovative products for children. Thus, the Learn ‘N’ Turn Utensil was born. This smart product is fully adjustable utensil that can be interchanged with either the fork or spoon attachment. You can adjust the angle of the utensil {from the handle}, which makes it easier for your toddler to learn how to feed themselves.

• The only adjustable, interchangeable spoon and fork utensil that helps teach your child eating skills
• Accommodates left or right-handed learners, as it rotates to all angles
• Unique grips on fork help hold food on tines

For toddlers, eating with utensils is quite the challenge. Not only are they not used to it, the bones and muscles in their hands and wrists are still developing, thus making rotation and correct positioning difficult. Yet, they are determined little ones indeed, they persist on trying by themselves. I recall when the Twins were first using utensils, one caught on quickly which my other daughter simply could not turn it far enough. Still to this day, she still has a harder time. I know the technique will come in time, yet I see her frustrated that every second mouthful falls from her spoon.

My Twins were able to try the Learn ‘N’ Turn Utensils, and they have had nothing but success. See, the nice thing about this product is that it grows with baby - I bend the utensil only slightly for my Twin that has almost mastered self-feeding. Yet, for my other Twin, her angle is much smaller. So, once they are comfortable with self-feeding and they have more control and dexterity, simply adjust the angle for more of a challenge and keep doing that until you have a straight utensil - and success! I know some 4 & 5 year olds that still don’t have complete control with self-feeding, still having troubles with dexterity. I can’t help but wonder if the Learn ‘N’ Turn Utensil was introduced to the as babies - would they have done better with self-feeding now?

And, I really like the design of the spoon and fork attachment, both compatible with one handle. It really saves on purchasing multiple utensils, and switching them is so easy. One more benefit is that the Learn ‘N’ Turn Utensil is BPA & Lead-free, and completely dishwasher safe. As well, the handles come in a nice selection of colors. Each part can be bought separately if you need it, which is a nice option for customers. The Learn ‘N’ Turn Utensil is a PTPA Award winning product, and a well deserved award winner in my opinion.

** My Organized Chaos is hosting a
giveaway for the Learn & Turn Utensil, make sure to enter!

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I love to see a fabulous Canadian company hold their own in the online world of organic clothing. Too often us Canadians have very little local choices when it comes to eco-friendly clothing for toddlers. I’m very happy to introduce you to Squishy Fish an Ontario, Canada owned and operated company that is a PTPA Media Award Winner! Squishy fish even uses local Canadian manufacturing to support Canadian economy and to oversee the operation.

For review, my Twins were each sent an adorable organic tee from Squishy Fish, for a product review on my personal blog, My Organized Chaos. One is the pretty and girly ‘love’ design with the flower, and the other a stunning and striking ’shine’ design with the bee.

The first thing I noticed when I seen the tees was the color. Squishy Fish uses non-toxic, Azo-free dyes and the colors are simply beautiful. When I first touched the organic tees from Squishy Fish, I gasped at the softness of the fabric. Made from 100% Control Union certified organic cotton which is chemical free and unbleached, the texture is as soft as a child’s skin. Yet, it’s not flimsy or too delicate - after all, toddlers need sturdy clothing to stand up to their wear and tear. That’s why I like that the organic cotton used are interlocked fibers and it holds it’s shape against pulling and tugging. I also noted that after washes, and intentional pulling and twisting of the tee - the design doesn’t flake, peel nor change shape. Amazing how quality organic cotton can be so very tender and loving on the skin, yet packs more muscle than you would think. For the Twins sensitive skin, and just for the sheer comfort of having such a silky fabric surrounding them - Squishy Fish has it covered. And, the fun and playful designs - they suit toddlers so perfectly as well!

Squishy Fish has onesies & tees, pants & blankets and gift sets too. There are styles to suit any toddler, boy or girl - and sizes range from 3-6m to 18-24m. For online shoppers, shipping is always a question when it comes to purchasing. I added many combinations of Squishy Fish products to ‘my cart’, from a $25 order all the way into the $100’s, and shipping stayed at a constant $4.95 for Canadians and $6.95 for US residents. And, make sure to check out the retailers section for a list of online stores that carry Squishy Fish, as well as some storefront shops.

** Squishy Fish is having a contest on their Facebook Fan page. Simply “like” Squishy Fish on Facebook and then comment to this post saying that you are a Fan, and you will be automatically entered to win a tee or onesie {winners choice}. Easy peasy, right?

Make sure to enter, and good luck!

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