Winter Favourites - Christmas Light Spotting

Heather E shares on her family's favourite winter pastimes:

"...a fun activity when driving in the evening is light spotting - we count how many houses are lit up, rate how 'big' the display is, and comment on the colours...so practice colours, counting, etc."

Great idea Heather! H loves to look at the lights too! We will be going for lots of drives this season to check them out for sure!

Favourite Tips - Making Your Child's Bed

Kit shares this great time saving tip:

"When you make your child's bed put a mattress cover, a sheet, another mattress cover and another sheet on it. That way if there are any accidents / mishaps during the night all you need to do is take off the dirty sheet and the cover and you have a fresh clean bed, your baby/child can go back to bed faster and you don't have to run around finding clean sheets in the middle of the night."

What a great idea, Kit! Definitely a time saver! I am going to do that as soon as we move H into his big boy bed! I hate getting up in the middle of the night and anything that can make it smoother and quicker is worth it for me! Thanks!

Winter Favourites - Personalized Christmas Stories

A friend passed this link on to me where you can create personalized Christmas stories that you can print off for your little one.

They just need a few minor details to add to the story (they don't save any of the info) you hit create and it is ready to go.

It is a cute idea and even something you could send to them from Santa.

Check them out at www.northpole.com/Den/PersonalizedStories

**There are also a lot of other neat things that you can do on this website**

Favourite Websites - Baby Wit

Remember those skull shoes that I just couldn't live without? Well they finally arrived, but unfortunately there was a small mixup and I was sent the wrong pair. I politely emailed the company (hey, mistakes happen) and they got back to me telling me to keep the incorrect pair and that they were sending me the correct ones right away! So now I have 2 pairs of skull shoes for the price of one! What great customer service!

Please check out their website www.babywit.com - they have a variety of funky and unique items for babies, toddlers, kids, men, women and dogs! They offer things that I have never seen anywhere else! Lots of vintage and rock apparel, toys, shoes - you name it!

I am so happy with how my order was dealt with that I cannot wait to order from them again! Their shipping was also reasonable and my order arrived promptly!

Thanks Baby Wit!

Bathtime Favourites - Alex Toys

Just last week, we decided it was time to replace some of Hs old bath toys (they were looking a bit moldy). I picked up the following two bath toys (both made by Alex Toys) and he LOVES them!

1. Rub A Dub Hoops In The Tub - it is a net that suctions onto the side of the tub. It comes with three squirting balls and the mesh net does not have an opening so the balls stay put.

2. Magnetic Boats In The Tub - this is a set of three soft vinyl boats that can either be played with separately or chained (magnetized) together as a set of three. They float great and don't have any openings where they can take on water. The magnets are all inside of the boats, so there is no worry about them getting loose or rusting either.

They both were fairly reasonable and totally worth it as they have already given H tons of fun in the tub!

Check them and other bath toys out at www.alextoys.com/category/62460/Bath

Pregnancy Favourites - Babytones

Just the other day I remembered one of the things that I just couldn't have lived without while I was pregnant - my fetal doppler that I rented from Babytones.ca

Now, you may be asking yourself, what? So I will explain.

I was very nervous and anxious during my pregnancy and was constantly worried that there was something wrong with the baby, so I found this company online that rented out fetal dopplers. This way, I could listen to the baby's heartbeat whenever I wanted, instead of either a) stressing myself out or b) having my husband take me to emerg every time I thought there was something wrong.

Babytones is a Canadian company that is based out of Toronto. They rent their dopplers by the month and their usual rate is $49.95/mth, but the longer you rent it for the better the savings. It is shipped to you within 2-3 days and comes in its own carrying case with a tube of ultrasound gel as well. Shipping is a flat rate of $19 across Canada, $12 across Ontario.

I kept my doppler for quite a few months up until I could feel the baby move quite often. It was peace of mind for me!

Even a few other moms that I know have rented one themselves after hearing about it from me.

If you are an expecting mom, and a nervous one like I was, I would highly recommend getting one yourself!

Check them out at www.babytones.ca

Right now they have a special where their monthly rate has been dropped to $37.50!

Favourite Snack - Mini Wheats

Right now, my little Hs favourite snack is Mini-Wheats. He asks for them ALL of the time, breakfast, snack and even tonight for dinner! He likes them dry and with milk. Currently, his faves are the Blueberry Muffin and the Strawberry flavours. We have also tried the Little Bites and he likes those too, but we keep the original size ones in the house for us, so we just cut them in half for him. We think that they must be somewhat healthy (and fibrous).

If you are looking for a new snack, I would highly suggest trying these!

Stonz Mitts on Sale

I was just on the Stonz website and they have their mitts on sale right now for 15% off for a limited time.

Toddler Favourites - Me in Mind Shoes

OK, so many of you have heard about my small obsession with dressing H in skull apparel. (I just love anything that has skulls on it!)

So, awhile ago I purchased him these cute pair of slippers from one of my baby discount websites and I fell in love with them. They are soft, yet have a bit of a sole (unlike Robeez) they are easy to put on and one other thing that I didn't realize when I purchased them - they are vegan construction (no leather used).

The company sells boys/girls footwear, and some clothing and accessories. I am not a big fan of really any of their other products, but I do LOVE these shoes.

If you are into the "rocker" kind of stuff for your little one, give their website a check at www.meinmindfootwear.com

FYI - I just ordered H a bigger pair and their shipping is outrageous ($!7)! I found the shoes I liked from another online store and the shipping was only $3, so if you find something you like try to see if another store sells the me in mind product. I got mine from www.babywit.com which is another cool online store that sells very unique items.

Looking For - A Good Parenting Book

Hello there mommies! I have a friend who is looking for a good parenting book with suggestions/advice for things like fighting with siblings, biting, hitting, tantrums, increasing confidence, teaching morals, etc. I know of Barbara Coloroso, but who else is out there?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!