Just For Mom - HandStamped Jewelry by StephieMc Designs

As soon as I saw this woman's jewelry on one of my discount websites I fell instantly in love with it!!! She makes personalized hand stamped jewelry such as necklaces, bracelets, rings, key chains and more. Her jewelry is very basic but includes small hints of colour and style. I really like her pieces where she has put the names of family members and such. I will be ordering a necklace myself once our second little one arrives and am even looking at a necklace for grandma and a keychain for daddy.

Check out her items at www.etsy.com/people/StephieMc?ref=pr_profile. She has 7 pages of items to browse through and you will find yourself going back through them again and again. She also has a facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/StephieMc-Designs/79189542741

The business is based out of Kansas and right now she also has a special of free shipping worldwide. It takes about 2 weeks for your item to be made and then a few more weeks for it to arrive internationally.

Please let me know if you end up ordering something from her - I would love to hear your thoughts!

Favourite Updates - Bebe Bella, Buggy Bubble and Sleeptrainer

OK, I have received 3 products in the past little bit that I had previously posted about on my blog under Looks Good, here is what I think of them so far.

1. Bebe Bella - My minky pillowcase arrived this week and H was so excited as he thought it was another blankie. It washed well and it is on his bed, but I was a bit disappointed tonight when he chose to sleep on his Cars pillow instead. It is only night 1 - things may change!

2. Buggy Bubble - My Buggy Bubble arrived the other day and it came with a nice surprise. I had been waiting about 3 weeks for it, and finally, nicely, emailed the company to see how long the shipping would take. It turns out that my order did go through on PayPal but they had not received record of it. The company was very apologetic and said that it would be here in 2 or 3 days. When it arrived, I was surprised to find 2 of them. They had sent me an extra to make up for the wait and for me to pass on to a friend. Tara, is the lucky recipient! I have yet to try it on my infant carseat but am so far impressed with the company's customer service!

3. Sleeptrainer - We finally gave H his sleeptrainer clock this weekend for his birthday. He was so excited about the monkey clock and for the first day he kept it in the living room close by. Tonight it is in his room and he watched me set the alarm and the monkey's eyes closed. We talked about how the monkey was sleeping and that when his eyes were open it would be time for H to get up. He was very excited again and had to say "Night, night" to the clock many times! I like how the clock has both an analog and digital clock and how you can either set the alarm with sound or not. The only thing I am worried about is the loud ticking sound the analog clocks makes. Perhaps it will be soothing to H, but I think that I would find it quite annoying! We shall see how the first few nights go!

Just For Moms - Canadian Family Magazine

Ever since I had H two years ago I have been subscribing to Today's Parent. When it arrives it sits for a few days beside my bed before I get a chance to actually open it. I have found the articles ok - but I can get through the magazine in about an hour and really don't feel like I learned one thing from it.

This year, from the suggestion of my friend Dawn, I did not renew my Today's Parent subscription and started a new one with Canadian Family.

So far, two magazines have arrived and I read them and enjoyed it. It reminded me a bit of Today's Parent, but its stages section seemed longer and more interesting. I can't give it a real decision yet - but so far so good.

You can check the magazine out online as well at www.canadianfamily.ca

I will keep you posted!

Looks Good - Anamalz

Here is another product that always catches my eye when I see it (but have yet to purchase some of them for my little guy) - Anamalz.

Anamalz are wood toys that are designed in Australia and are easily bended into a variety of poses.

From their website:

"sustainable
anamalz are made from maple wood that comes from plantation forests & our manufacturer is FSC approved. even the waste wood is used on a farm to grow mushrooms.

hand made
each piece is hand painted & assembled in factories that are of the highest standards & meet international factory regulations.

child friendly
we use waterbased paint and our fabric is azo dye & formaldehyde free.

recycled
where possible, we use recycled paper for swing tags & packaging. all anamalz accessories are made from recycled plastic.

safe
all products are rigorously tested & certified in line with international Toy Standards. anamalz are ASTM, EN71, CE, CPSC, Canada & Australian standards approved"

WOW, they sure sound pretty cool and would be a great gift idea for those animals lovers that we all know! There are 4 collections that you can pick animals from: Farm, Forest, Outback and Safari. I found them on Polka Dot Pond for $8 each and they currently have a $5 flat rate shipping offer all across Canada***.

Check them out at:
https://www.polkadotpond.ca/Storefront/main_pages/browseProd_brand.php?mid=15

New Look

So, I got kind of tired of how the blog was looking and it has almost been a year - so I decided to change it up!

I now have 3 columns, instead of 2 and if you are looking for the list of categories it is now on the left. I also went with a different colour scheme...

What do you think? Do you like the new look, or did you like the old way?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Favourite Websites - Polka Dot Pond

This website's slogan is Pure, Organic, Natural, Distinct. They sell products for Babies, Kids, Parents and Pets. They offer a great selection of items such as Mealtime, Playtime, On the Go, Skincare, Bedtime, Bathtime and more. They also carry a lot of good brand names such as: Sprig, Haba, Kid Basix, Plan Toys, and Klean Canteen. They are a Canadian company run out of BC. They offer good shipping rates ($11.50 to Ontario) and you can collect something called Pond Points which you can save and redeem later for products (for every dollar you spend you get 1 pond point and you can redeem 50 pond points = $1). One last perk is if you create an account with them you automatically receive 50 pond points to begin with.

Check them out at www.polkadotpond.ca

Looks Good - Baby Moon Pillow

So I am starting a new category today called Looks Good (but never tried). I keep seeing all of these new products on my websites, they look good, but I have not had a chance yet to try them. So I thought I would start this new category to showcase these products and some may hopefully catch your attention.

Today's "Looks Good" product is called the Baby Moon Pillow. It is a ring shaped pillow for you to use to support your baby's neck and head, but alleviate some of the pressure on the back of their heads from spending so much time on their backs. I know flat head was something that I was worried about with H, so I was constantly lying him at different ends of his crib and having him lie one night on one side of his head and vice versa.

The Baby Moon Pillow is not meant to be used in the crib or playpen when your little one is sleeping unattended, but it is meant for those times on the floor, or in their bouncy chair or their swing. Once your little one is about 6 months, it can open up and become a neck support for in their car seat or stroller.

They come in a variety of colours and sell for $28. Check out their website at www.shopbabymoon.com

It is a neat idea and I may consider picking one up once our new little one arrives. Check them out and make the decision yourself.