EIO Kids Cup review and Giveaway!

With our Daughter's 2nd birthday quickly approaching and nursing now behind us (emergency surgery to blame..sort of!) I'm desperate to get my big girl off the sippy cup and drinking from a regular cup! If you're the parent of a toddler, or were at some point, then you know it's a very tough task to find the perfect training cup without a "sippy" nipple. Teaching our daughter how to sip and not suck has been a very tough task. The EIO Kids Cup is an awesome cup to help ease the transition! I'm super excited to share these with you! 

Kathy, a mother of two was tired of what all bottle/sippy cup mom's are tired of...finding matching valves, nipples and lids for our overflowing piles of plastic drink-ware! After the battle to get the gunk and mold from inside the tiniest valves and digging out sippy cup pieces from her dishwasher, Kathy had enough. She was using 8oz mason jars for her children to drink out of. SAFER and EASIER TO CLEAN! With the help of her husband they created a lid that would fit the inexpensive jars and a silicone sleeve to prevent breaking from a game of pickup! 

...and I'm so glad they did! I love this cup and although Layla is still struggling with getting the hang of the sip and not the suck. She still spills it down her shirt every now and then but these cups are really great. I LOVE how easy they are to clean & I love the little smiley face on the lid to help little ones know they're holding it correctly! :) 

A few very informative FAQ's!

Why is there no valve?

Because research suggests that any child over the age of 1 year SHOULD NOT use a cup with a valve. Sucking from a valve rather than sipping may be detrimental to dental development.  Not to mention valves harbor mold and are easily lost.

*From The Journal of the American Dental Association, Vol. 135, No 3, 387. The American Dental Association does not endorse or support EIO Products, LLC.

Where’s the spout?

You mean the bit young children chew?  Spouts encourage suckling rather than the natural motion of sipping. Plus, researchers have determined that spouts with valves can be detrimental to dental development.

*From The Journal of the American Dental Association, Vol. 135, No 3, 387. The American Dental Association does not endorse or support EIO Products, LLC

So it’s not spill proof?

Neither is a plate, but we teach our children to use it. EIO encourages healthy habits and seeks to teach children mealtime skills. 

*** I LOVE THAT LAST ONE!***

EIO Kids Cups sent me this product to review and is also going to give one lucky MMR reader an EIO Kids cup as well! 

To Enter!! 

Mandatory- You must be a MMR subscriber (Leave a comment telling me so!)

Go to EIO Kids Cup and tell me one thing you learned and which color you would choose if you won! :) SIMPLE!

Extra entries!

 "Like" EIO Kids Cup on Facebook! Thank them and tell em who sent you!

Subscribe to her YouTube Channel! 

Subscribe to MMR by email (top right) 

Contest will end at 11:59pm EST on Oct. 8

Goodluck! 

Let's make a baby! :)

.. Or at least try! I'm going to attempt to make YouTube vlogs following our TTC/pregnancy journey for a second baby! I hope you'll watch!!


Here's our first attempt at a video...excuse the appearance, I just finished nap-time! Here it is on Youtube ->TTC Baby #2!

Blog Blast Round 3..Ready for take off!

I am uber excited to be a part of Blog Blast for round 3! I had such success with round 2 and welcome all my new followers! Thank you to Ashley for putting such a fun bloggy event together! 

This round is just like last time, but if you're new and don't know the deets.. here they are!

Blog Blast is YOUR shot at $200 paypal cash!! 

Below is a Rafflecopter widget with all the hosts links to enter! It's so easy, do as little or as many as you like, (obviously the more you do the better your odds!) Most hosts have other awesomeness going on so check them out!

Contest is open WORLDWIDE & Ends at 12:01 am September 27th!

Here is a list of participating blogs: 

Freckleberry Finds

The Home Economist

Ramblings of a Christian Mom

The Flower Hazard

Simple-Homemaking

Planet Weidknecht

We are All in This Together

Modern Mama Reviews 

inRandom

Susie B. Homemaker

Fabulous Finds

Generations of Savings

Mommies Point of View 

Adventures of Frugal Mom

Frugal on the Cheap

Ta-Ta Tents Nursing Cover review!

T

I know in my recent posts I've mentioned how I'm not always a cover user, but this cover is simply amazing! I used another cheapy cover when my daughter was first born and used it when I was around my husband's side of the family. Oh!! How I wish I had known of Ta-Ta Tents! 

These are one of the biggest nursing covers on the market, with dimensions of 66cm H x 91cm W & not only that but during our Big Latch On event, I had a chance to touch and try on a couple other covers and not one of them was made out of the stretchy material that Ta-Ta Tents has.  "Need a place for the pacifier?  Nursing pads?  Nipple Cream?   Lipstick?  Bubblegum?  Tylenol?  Whiskey?  Picture of your loving husband?  Ativan? Our front pocket ensures you can store what ever you need EASY! " <-- Took that from their Store, cause it's catchy and made me laugh! 

 They have 5 prints available. I was sent the soccer mom print and I LOVEE it. It's super cute and really soft.  I only wish they had even more patterns to choose from but here's another fav! See how BIG?!

**Ok, so I had photos of me using this at the park with my daughter, but she totally dropped my memory card in water. So, I had to re-do it and she was a crabby patty, so I'm "nursing" a dolly! ;) But wanted to give you an idea of how big this really is!

Once again, toddler soaked memory card and I needed to do this in a jiffy, sorry for the muteness ;) 

MoBoleez- Modern nursing Bonnet! Review and Giveaway

 Has anyone seen these adorable hats? MoBoleez, Modern Bonnets for breastfeeding babies. I'm a huge fan of hats on Layla. She's not always the biggest fan, but she's a trooper! So when I heard that MoBoleez was a sponsor for The Big Latch On during world breastfeeding week, I was super excited to email them! Diane was a pleasure to talk to and sent a couple to donate to our local event. I was also given the opportunity to do a review on one myself! :-D


As I've mentioned before, I do consider myself skilled at latching on and off without exposing much of anything. You usually get more of a peep show if I'm fiddling around trying to cover up. I love this hat because of the EASE. Layla was already wearing the hat to keep the sun off her face while we played at the swan pond, so it was no hassle at all trying to get her to wear it in the moment.


The idea is to have the large brim of the hat cover your breast but not your baby! BINGO! This hat does just that. It's excellent for hot summer days when you don't want to fight with the cover. Bonus for compliments everywhere you go with MoBoleez hats, nursing or not we got tons of " I love her hat!" + "I wish they had those when I was nursing!"  


The hats come in 2 sizes.

• 0-6 months- - this size fits a baby from birth to about 6 months. With a newborn, they'll have  room to grow.  Head circumference is 16 inches.
• 6-12 months- this size fits a baby from about 6 months to 1 year old. Head circumference is 19 inches.

Also, 2 styles.. 

• MoBoleez Classic hats are made of all-natural, super soft blend of cotton/bamboo fibres (60% cotton, 40% bamboo).
• MoBoleez Couture Collection is offered in super soft, breathable 95% cotton, 5% spandex jersey knit - it is a nice solid weight, like a high fashion t-shirt material, double layered.
  I had the opportunity to feel out both styles (the one pictured above is a Couture.) The classic hat doesn't have quite as much stretch as the Couture & the brim has no give on the Classic. Both hats are made extremely well. I would highly recommend trying either or purchasing one as a shower gift for any Mother wishing to breastfeed!
  Also, check them out on Facebook. 
  
  
  BUY ONE- Here, Here or if you're local to me, HERE! (Basic Baby in Manlius!) 
  WIN ONE!- MoBoleez is giving one of you lucky readers a chance to win your very own hat.
  
  This giveaway is open to to US and Canada! Must be 18 or older. As always you must be a GFC follower to enter!
  Mandatory Entry-  Please leave your first comment stating you are a GFC follower then go to the website and let me know which hat is your favorite! Like this "I'm a GFC follower and my favorite hat is Tropical Tiles." 
  Extra Entries- 
  Go to MoBoleez Facebook and tell them MMR sent you and thank them for this giveaway! +2
  Are you a MMR Facebook fan? +1 if you are!
  Google +1 this post! +2 entries
  Share this giveaway on facebook! +1 ( Up to three times daily!)
  Share this giveaway on Twitter! +1 (up to 3 times daily!)
  
  Contest will end at 11:59 pm on 9/18! Winner has 48 hours to respond and claim prize or a new winner will be drawn. Goodluck! 

Home-Made Spaghetti Sauce

We're not much of tomato eaters in this house. Every so often my husband will eat a sliced tomato on a sandwich but that's about as far as it goes. I recently saw a recipe for home made tomato sauce on OurKidsMom and wanted to try my hand at making my own sauce! This recipe is crazy good and thick so it actually sticks to your pasta! My toddler finished her plate and even asked for seconds which isn't usual! :) 

And for a simpler way to skin these bad boys, a trick that wasn't quite new to me.. Get a pot of water to a rapid boil and drop in your tomatoes. Let simmer for about 45 seconds and then remove and set aside to cool off. Pinch off the ends and give a slight squeeze. Voila!! They pop right out of their skin.

Recipe is credit of Allrecipes.com ( We skipped the meat & mushrooms!)

INGREDIENTS

• 12 ounces spaghetti
• 1 lb lean ground beef (skip for vegetarian)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons dried minced onion
• 2 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
• 1 1/3 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 1 (4.5 ounce) can sliced mushrooms

DIRECTIONS

1. Brown beef over medium heat. Drain off fat. (again… skip this step for vegetarian. We did and it was fantastic!)
2. In a large pot, combine beef, salt, sugar, oregano, pepper, garlic powder, onion flakes, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and mushrooms. Simmer at a low heat setting for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
3. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain. Serve sauce over spaghetti.

YUM! :) 

snackTAXI review and giveaway

My husband takes a lunch to school/work most days and for a while he was bringing Tupperware containers and forgetting them in the car (Yea,Gross!) So he started taking disposable baggies and not only was that getting expensive, but c'mon..we quit using disposables to save our money (Err.. TRY to save money, but have you seen how cute cloth diapers are?!) and also to save our precious planet ;) So, why not ditch the sposie baggies too?

As most of you know, I recently co-hosted a Big Latch On event with Mother Earth Baby here in Syracuse! I contacted Erin at snackTAXI who was more than generous in sending me 3 sets for the event and this blog of mine! How sweet is she?! 

For review I was sent a Sandwich Sack which measures 7.5"W x 6"H and a Snack Sack  which measures 6"W x 4.5"H. These are huge compared to some snack/sandwich bags. I was able to fit TWO sandwiches into on sandwich sack and about 15 ounces (that's almost the entire container of peanuts) into the snack sack & still easily close the high quality velcro tab!

 My almost 2 year old loves these! She really likes the bright colors and that they are easy enough for her to open and close independently! When we're not using them for snacks and PB&J she puts small toys, cell phones, keys and hair bows in them!  I love that these will pay for themselves in just a couple of months! Ranging in price from 6.95 for a snack sack and 9.00 for a sandwich sack. They not only come in kiddie prints but they are great for working adults who don't want to borrow their child's snack sack covered in abc's&123's! 

These "Food movers" do travel very well! snackTAXI fits perfectly in our diaper bag & we have yet to have any kind of yucky mess! 

snackTAXI was created back in 2003 when all three of her children started school..that's over 500 packed lunches each year! Something needed to be done to stop the Ziploc from going to landfill and that is when the home-based business began! 

• All materials are lead, phthalate and BPA free!
• Hand wash or Machine wash (with unscented detergent) "As with anything that gets washed, they will last longer with hand washing and air drying, but they are quite durable any way you wash them!"

Other products by snackTAXI include... 

Lunch-sacks

twice-as-nice-napkins

Produce Sacks

T-Shirts

BUY SOME! 

Shop online! or At a store near you!

WIN SOME!

The rules are easy! 

Be a GFC follower, US Residents only, pleas & 18years or older!

MANDATORY ENTRY:

Visit snackTAXI, and let me know which print(s) are your favorite!

Extra Extra:

(+1) - "Like" snackTAXI on Facebook.

(+1) - "Like" MMR on Facebook.

(+3) - Subscribe to my blog via e-mail.

(+5) - Blog about this giveaway! Please include a link to the giveaway...and a link to your blog!

(+1) - Tweet about this giveaway. This can be done 2x daily! Please include a link to your tweet!

(+1) - Share this giveaway on Facebook this can be done 2x daily! Please include a link to your post!

(+1) - Enter any of my other giveaways. One entry per giveaway.

(+1) - +1 this blog post! (it's just below the post next to the comment button!)

Giveaway will end 8/26 at 11:59 pm est. Goodluck!!