Posts Tagged ‘review’

August 16th, 2011

Couture Clips Review

I recently got the opportunity to review a couple soft headbands made by Couture Clips… an adorable boutique online, and actually they are becoming available in retail stores all over the country, even close to me in Milford, Connecticut in out mall!   I was super excited to see that as well because I think the key to buying headbands and hair accessories for little girls is actually seeing and touching them.   I have bought some headbands for myself, and for Addison on Etsy and been less than pleased when I actually got them, which is why I started making my own not too long ago.

The first one we tried out was the Light Pink felt rhododendron which for a headband that has not just one, but two flowers fit nicely on Addie even with her being so petite.  It was soft, fit perfect, and she had absolutely no complaints, although I think I have her slightly trained at this point when it comes to head accessories. Although I think she still hates hats!

It is a nicely crafted headband, and is available in a ton of different colors, which is another up side for headbands.  Most moms, especially those like me… want to collect one in every color!

Next we modeled the Ladybug in white which is probably one of my favorites because it is the only headband that Addie has that isn’t a flower.

How cute is that?  I love the elasticity in the headbands as well because these can grow with her as time goes on.  She isn’t going to out grow them once she hits 6 months old like some of the other headbands I have for her.

Last one we tried out was the Rachel… I love this one as well… although when I hear “The Rachel” I think I will always think of Friends and the Jennifer Aniston haircut that was so popular for years…

I love this picture of Addison although she looks confused to say the least. LOL   I opted for the black because in the upcoming months we are going to have more formal holidays that we are going to be dressing up for and black goes with anything really.  And like the others it is something she can continue to grow into for a while.

The same design comes in several colors as well.  I love the white flower on the black headband as well, it was tough to decide between the two.

Couture Clips also offers a ton of other accessories besides just the soft headbands which I opted to review.   They have actual hard headbands with designs, and different accessories for older children, I love the glitter headbands, and have my eye on some for when Addison gets older and can wear those.

They also have clips, barrettes, hats, Pony O’s and much more including custom orders!

Couture clips soft headbands were provided to me for free to review on Momotics.com

July 27th, 2011

Kolcraft Mom Review: Contours Optima Tandem

I think I am slowly becoming a stroller snob. In the past couple months since Addie was born, I have had the chance to try out a ton of different strollers, but the best part about being a Kolcraft Mom was being able to try out the Contours Optima Tandem stroller, and keep it to replace our older, over-used, and bulky double stroller I have secretly loathed for almost two years now.

We originally bought it before Ben was born, and we only bought it because it was compatible with the infant car seat we had at the time, also made by Graco. I was ecstatic to find out the optima actually was compatible with our new infant car seat we bought for Addie.   That was the first highlight of the stroller. In fact, it is compatible with most infant car seats that are currently on the market.  There is a full list of the car seats that can be used you can view it on the Kolcraft site for the stroller.

So when the Optima came, I couldn’t help but rip it out of the box, and make up some family trip we needed to use it on.  Which just so happened to be the zoo, an awesome place to try it out.  Before we left for the day, I put the stroller together… all on my own!

Which I am not the most technically savvy person,  especially when it comes to building baby gear.  Typically I run right to my husband and tell him he has something to put together.  So this really was a huge accomplishment, and it goes to show how easy assembly is!

When we got to the zoo for the big test drive, I realized how smooth and easy to maneuver it was. I mean, on a day that the zoo was packed I was dodging kids left and right. Not typical for a larger double stroller. Which I was super pleased by!   Making life with more than one child super easy.

Ben in the front seat

Then there is the storage space.  We went from a double stroller we struggled to stuff our diaper bag and accessories in, to a HUGE full sized storage area that I didn’t need to fight to get my diaper bag in and out of.  And we won’t have a giant diaper bag, just a simple SkipHop Duo, and for those of you who are diaper bag snobs like me, you know it is not a large diaper bag!

Another one of my favorite options on the optima is the seating options. There are so many!  You have the both seats fitting forward, facing each other, facing apart, the option for the car seat, etc.   It turns into 6 seating options, and with my kids, sometimes they need to be apart, or NOT facing each other!

Then comes the cup holders.  It may not sound like a huge deal, but to me and my husband it is, because when we are out together, at least with our old stroller we always fought over the cup holder.  Because there was only one… But in this stroller there are four!  Two for the kids… and two for adults, as well as a space for storage on top, which I typically throw my iPhone into, and it fits perfectly.

Addison hanging out in her carseat in the Optima

And there is a great one year warranty on the stroller.  Which is a huge perk for parents. Although two full months into use, we have had no issues or anything break on our stroller, and our kids are pretty rough on it!

Overall, I think it is a great double stroller for parents!

I am a Kolcraft Mom, and the Optima Tandem was provided to me free of charge to review.

July 20th, 2011

Snooze Shade Review

I had the opportunity to review the Snooze Shade for Addison recently, and I can say I enjoyed it very much, although seeing as we don’t go out too often when she is sleeping, but it is a great product to have for the situations that you are out with a sleeping baby for sure!

The idea of the shade is genius, because we all know, once a baby falls asleep, we want them to stay sleepling!

The shade is sold for various different strollers, and infant carriers, so no matter what your little one has for a ride, there is a snooze shade to accommodate.  What I really like is the fact that they have them for infant carriers that most of us use to lug our little one around for their first months.

When it comes to new mothers, it is not hard to get them to register or buy all the new age gadgets, but some of us veteran mothers would wonder why the heck we would need something like this… right?

Ever try to drape a blanket or towel over a stroller or car seat to keep your little one asleep?  I know I have and now with two older children in tow, they are the first to try and pull the blanket off and say “HELLO BABY!!!!!”   No joke!

Wouldn’t it just be so much easier to put this over your little one and not worry about the slipping towel, or blanket and just go on your way?   Um, I do think so myself!

Are you a beach lover like I am?  Then you will love the fact that the Snooze Shade is also UPF50+ to protect your little ones skin from the rays of the sun without having to use sun screen which we know is a pretty big nono for new little ones.

And of course the shade is breathable… but I don’t think the shade would actually be on the market if it wasn’t!

This is a favorite of some celebrities also.  Last month I gave away a celebrity basket of baby goodies, and the snooze shade was actually included as a celebrity favorite!

Overall, I would totally recommend this to other mothers, it is one of those products we never would think we need then wonder how we ever lived without it!

The snooze shade was provided to me free of charge from Rachel Florio PR on behalf of Shooze Shade.

April 26th, 2011

FuzziBunz Cloth Diapers Review & Giveaway

Continuing my cloth diaper event post, I am getting into a review of FuzziBunz cloth diapers, one of my personal favorites. I was originally introduced to the brand by The Feminist Breeder at BlogHer last year. I had not had any personal experience with them until that point. Of course I had heard about them, but never tried them, or bought any.

I was able to score a free diaper in one of my all time favorite colors, Apple Green!  Isn’t it just the best color ever, especially for a little boy?   I have a thing for bright green… but anyway, enough about the color itself.

When I got home I was super excited to try the diaper out, and add it to my cloth collection which at that point only consisted of one type of diaper. Heck, I still consider myself a cloth diaper newbie, and I will fully admit we have disposable diapers in the house still. Sometimes we just need them.

Not only did I fall in love with the one FuzziBunz I had in my collection, I knew that I needed more of their diapers!  We had no leaks, the quality of the diaper itself, and the absorbency of the liners were all home runs out of the park for me.

Not only that but the colors are to die for. That is a big selling factor for me when I start shopping for diapers. Colors. I am allllll about colors!   They have everything from bold to pastel, and even neutral colors. One of my other big favorites is the choco truffle… well and the cotton candy. Heck, I could probably list half the color choices and consider them favorites.

This time around I knew I would be adding more FuzziBunz into my collection for the new baby, and thus far we have two cute ones for her in Cotton Candy, and Crushed Berries, which I have also been trying out on our youngest son who is cloth diapered. Nothing better than my little boy, who is all boy… dirt, snakes, bugs.. you name it… running around in a pink diaper. Hah!

There are tons of reasons to pick FuzziBunz, but they have an awesome resource section of their website that highlights why moms should choose their product.

In honor of our daughter Little Miss A coming, cloth diapering from the newborn stage on, and the review today… I am going to be giving away a one size FuzziBunz diaper, and a hanging diaper pail!

To enter to win, you need to be signed up for the cloth diaper event first!

Then below comment about why you love FuzziBunz Cloth diapers, and what your favorite feature of the diaper is!

Be sure to also become a fan of Momotics and FuzziBunz Cloth Diapers on facebook!

Good Luck!

And thank you to FuzziBunz for providing two one size cloth diapers free of charge for review.

April 7th, 2011

Charlie Banana’s Cloth Diapers

I was approached by Charlie Banana’s earlier in the year to review their cloth diapers, and I was certainly excited because still being so new to cloth diapering I really am not familiar with diapers other than AppleCheeks and FuzziBunz so any chance to expand my knowledge, and check out new diapers rocks.

I was provided, free of charge, a couple diapers for my youngest son, and the new baby (once she is here of course) as well as cloth feminine hygiene products, which of course I will be giving a try once Little Miss A makes her exit.

I was excited when I got the goodies in an awesome reusable tote bag, with all kinds of information on the product itself.

One of the first things I love is the fact that they have prints available!  Most larger cloth diaper companies only have color covers, and when I saw prints, I was super excited.  I am planning to purchase the butterfly cover for the baby shortly.

But other positives of the company as a whole includes their dedication to charity, something that really means something to be as a mother, and consumer. They are involved with operation smile, a charity that repairs cleft lip, cleft palate, and other facial disinformation in children.  While 1% of worldwide profits doesn’t sound like a ton of money, it is, and most of these surgeries cost as little as $240 in US dollars!  Crazy huh?

But back to the diapers. Although standard, the CB’s cover comes with two inserts, and the inserts themselves are nice and absorbent. We have been able to use them as overnight diapers without any kind of leaks, which for us is a big deal.  My youngest son is a huge pisser as some would call it, and for a while we had night time leaks while getting the hang of what diapers work for our family, and what don’t work for daytime trips, or overnight coverage.  Huge plus for us!

Another thing I loved was the variety of colors including black. The first time I saw a black cloth diaper was when I was approached by CB’s to review a couple of their diapers.  I had to have one!  I know it sounds silly to be so excited over a simple color of a diaper, but I think when it comes to my cloth stash, I am totally a color snob.

These two diapers we have waiting for Little Miss A currently… I am excited to be cloth diapering from infancy this time around since we started with Ben when he was a toddler.  It is a whole new world and project for me, but certainly exciting.  Another product of CB’s that I am excited about are the re-usable menstrual pads.

Why?  Well besides the fact that plastic pads, and your typical grocery store pads kill my legs and lady parts, and have caused a serious rash in the past, I needed a change!  I haven’t used them yet, but I have tried them on, and I can say not only do they fit perfectly, but the snaps and way they are packaged is genius!

In one package comes three, for a great price ($15.99) and they open up, and work awesome!

During the trying on process, I can tell you… they are as comfy as they look. Very soft, and comfortable compared to the typical pads most of us have been subjected to over the years. CB also markets re-usable breast pads as many of the cloth diaper companies today do. I am really excited to try those out myself also because those things are a must have in our house!

Overall, our experience with Charlie Banana’s I would give two thumbs up!  I will certainly be adding more to our cloth diaper stash over the years, and I am excited to see what the company will be coming out with in the future.

Tune in today on Zulily.com to check out their boutique for diapers, wipes, and re-usable breast pads for up to 40% off of retail prices!  Great deal, but hurry up!  It is only for a limited time!  Till they sell out, or April 10th, at 6am!

Products were provided by Charlie Banana’s free of charge for review

February 6th, 2011

Week 6 – Babyletto Mercer Crib Review

While every week thus far I have done a review, as well as a giveaway for my readers, this week it has been scaled back to just a review. Sorry guys!  I will continue to work towards getting an awesome discount code if you are interested in getting a babyletto crib for yourself.

With my oldest two children, we basically never used the crib at all. It was a glorified changing table, and laundry rack. But this time around, especially after battling with my second son who had no interest in co-sleeping, and would rather sleep in a playpen, or co-sleeper… I wanted to really work on getting her to use a crib once she is a couple months old. The problem I was having was the cribs out there and their styles. Just really didn’t fit what I saw or wanted for the nursery. Then I came across the Babyletto New Haven crib. I was so excited to find a canopy looking crib, but when I found out it was discontinued, I was heart broken.

After working one-on-one with amazing rep’s at Babyletto, I decided on the mercer model. And I couldn’t be more happy! What I love most is the two tone coloring of the crib. I opted for the white and espresso mix. I wanted something light that would go nice for a little girl.

Now for the review on assembly, I will include some comments from my husband.  (I was going to make a small video of it, but I feared for my life once my husband actually started building it… if I came in with a camera, I may not be here right now…)

On the ease of assembly: “It was easy to assemble to a certain extent, I had some issues with the bottom drawer installation.”

On the directions: “The directions were very simple, and easy to understand and follow”

Overall he said it was pretty easy to assemble. Maybe I could have even done it myself?  Although I may have broken a bone trying. I will stick to building bouncers and swings.

And the crib itself goes perfectly with the wall art, and contemporary style we have decided to go with decorating this time around.

I plan on posting more pictures obviously once we have a crib mattress in the crib itself, along with our bedding set, and wonder bumpers up. The nursery is still a real work in progress, and I couldn’t have picked a better crib. I highly suggest any of the babyletto cribs for those who are choosing to use a crib for their little one. Even if you just get the crib as a safe place for peace of mind while you shower, or do chores around the house. My main concern was having someplace I can put the baby where my son’s cant get to her and run her over.

I think another huge perk is the drawer underneath the crib. It not only slides out, but it also gives much needed extra storage room that we don’t have right now. I will be able to put all of our extra blankets, bedding, and whatever else under there and once the rest of the crib bedding is on, it won’t be visible.

Anyone else have a babyletto crib they love?

Be sure to check back next week to the Momotics Virtual Baby Shower when for week #7 we will be reviewing, and giving away a Little Bundle from AppleCheeks cloth diapers!

Disclaimer:  Babyletto provided our crib free of charge for review.

September 9th, 2010

Alphie : A Review by my Toddler

When I was growing up, one of my favorite toys from the 80′s was Alphie. Remember him?  The learning robot everyone had? Well fast forward a couple decades, with children of my own, I was contacted and asked if I would like to review the new modern day Alphie with my toddler. The age range for Alphie is three and up, seeing as Camden is certainly advanced in his vocabulary, and he he will be three in just three months, I thought lets go for it!

When the Fed Ex guy showed up, he was super excited because I had hyped him up for a couple days telling him he was going to get his own Robot. Yes, any almost three year old will kind of go a little nuts with something like that. I wanted to make sure from the get go, he was interested enough as this was the first review I was truly depending on him to basically write for me.

Let me tell you, Alphie has become a huge hit in our house.  Not only is he educational, and has been helping Camden to learn his numbers and colors (He thinks that only certain numbers exist  1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 9 because those are the numbers of the fire trucks at Daddys fire house) .  He is starting to learn how to count one through ten, not just the numbers of the fire trucks. He is also starting to learn his colors better. For the most part he knows them already, but sometimes gets confused. Alphie has helped him to have minimal confusion in the color department.

Now for his opinion…

Camden Says :

I like my robot, Mommy where is he?
(As he goes off to play with him)

I like his buttons, they are fun to push. Sometimes I like confusing my robot by pressing all the buttons at once.
(Thank you for your expert opinion Camden!)

There you have it people, Alphie is where it is at for the kids!  I would totally suggest him, and heck, in another year, I am probably going to have to buy a second one when Ben is older and they start fighting over the bigger toys, like Robots.

August 20th, 2010

Dakota’s Personalized Gifts Review

I was contacted by a website called Dakota’s Personalized Gifts not to long ago, and was asked if I would be interested in doing a review on one of their products, and was able to pick a product out of their online store.

I wanted something that we could use as a household, instead of something that I could only use for one person, or as a gift, so I picked a cute welcome sign we had personalized to our last name, as well as our names, with the kids names, a family gift.

Obviously our sign said Elwood. LOL!  I am a sucker for Canvas. I have canvas paintings, and art work in our house, one of my favorite being my Marilyn Monroe hand painted framed canvas print. When I got our welcome sign in the mail, I was impressed. It is hand crafted, and made of great, and strong materials. I know for sure because my toddler got a hold of it!

The Bio of Dakota’s Personalized Gifts says :

We started in a spare bedroom about 5 years ago more as a part time hobby than a business with The Anniversary Rose making roses for the traditional anniversary gifts (i.e. 1st year paper, 2nd year cotton, 5th year wood etc) cutting rose petals by hand with scissors.  It quickly grew from a part time hobby to a full time business, adding help and equipment to keep up. Then, we started expanding into personalized anniversary gifts.  We started getting many requests from our customers for personalized wedding, Mother’s & Father’s Day and Christmas gifts etc.  That’s when we started Dakota’s Personalized Gifts. Soon the business took over a second bedroom and the garage, the following year it occupying two bedrooms, the garage & a full basement. With no room left to expand we were forced to move into a commercial location in 2009.  We continue to expand with new products and updated equipment all the time which allows us to produce most of the personalized items in house.

It is certainly a company I plan to use for myself in the future!

For a discount to their online store use the following :

code  10-AUG31  offers $10 off $50 purchase
code  15-AUG31  offers $15 off $75 purchase

These coupon codes are scheduled to end on August 31st but if you e-mail them, and let them know you are a reader of Momotics, they will extend the coupon codes within a reasonable amount of time, meaning weeks, not around Christmas time! LOL

May 3rd, 2010

Horizon Organic Chocolate Milk Review

I recently had the opportunity to review Horizon’s new product, which myself, and my toddler greatly enjoyed.  Horizon on their website describe the product as :

“Mmm chocolate! Horizon Organic® Lowfat Chocolate Milk Plus DHA Omega-3 provides a great-tasting and easy way to add calcium and DHA to your family’s diet. DHA Omega-3 is an important nutrient that helps support heart, brain and eye health. “

When they say Mmm they mean it!  My toddler took a drink of it, only after I tried it first, and the first word or sound out of him was “Mmmmmm Mommy”!

But even more than just the product, I like that Horizon not only is 100% organic, and environmentally conscious, but they work with only local organic farmers from over 500 small family farms all over the country, instead of the large, non animal friendly type dairy farming we are seeing nation wide.

The nutritional value of added DHA as well as Omega 3 is another benefit, which to me makes the sugar content more acceptable. While some may not feel the same, limiting the sugar in moderation is not harmful.

So between my taste buds, and the two year old who runs the house, the Horizon Organic Chocolate Milk gets two big thumbs up from us!

Keep your eyes pealed for a giveaway here on Momotics from Horizon in the upcoming months!

April 15th, 2010

Ergo Baby Carrier

My husband and I recently purchased an Ergo Baby Carrier after nearly two years using a Mei Tai carrier full time through two children. My oldest is a little over 2 years old, and about 26 pounds, he is a little guy and totally takes after me. Our youngest is about a month away from from his first birthday, and nearly the size of our toddler. HAHA!

Anyways, from the moment we got the Ergo home, first my husband tried it on with the toddler in it and he LOVED it as well as DH! Then it was time to get the baby in, and he loved it just as much. It has now become our main carrier that we keep in the car for when we go to the store, mall, on a walk, to the cupcake truck, Easter egg hunting, where ever!

I can certainly say, I have not been the biggest fan of baby wearing. I never got into the slings, or wraps, or anything like that. But with the purchase of the Ergo, I want to wear the kids everywhere!

It is by far the most comfortable carrier I have ever worn, not only for me, but for the kids also.

I highly suggest spending the money, and getting yourself an Ergo!
It is my new carrier on my top 10 baby products!