Baby Let's Shop

Let's build some fun

2009-12-15T18:17:00.000-08:00

We are big Lego fans here at Baby Let's Shop. I remember having the most giant Lego collection when I was little which sadly went to my younger brothers and sister when I moved out. Now preteen C is working on his giant Lego collection. When little L was offered the chance to try out Lego's My First Lego Fire Fighter Building Set we happily jumped at the chance. Now we must point out that this set is for ages 4-7 and not recommended for under 3 years of age. L has just recently turned 3 and did receive the set shortly before his 3rd birthday but he has always been good with very small pieces and we have not had any issues with him swallowing random small items. This Lego set was no exception with L, he did great with the Lego and though it did take him a couple of days to figure out how to put the pieces together he was very determined and is now Lego crazy building everything he can think of. Though at 3 they don't look much like they should and he has yet to master following instructions or building the fire set without the help of someone. This is definitely a great little starter set to peak the interest of a future Lego lover. It has unquestionably blossomed a huge love in Lego for L and he is forever trying to raid his big brother's stash and eyeing up all the sets in the stores. Lego is also remarkably easy to keep clean, we have have in the past put our Lego in a mesh laundry bag on the top rack of our dishwasher. It's also the type of gift that children never seem to tire of and young and old still enjoy it, I mean come on admit it sometimes it's still fun to sit down with the kids and build your own masterpiece.
The Lego Fire Fighter Building Set retails for $12.99 CAD and can be purchased directly from the online Lego Shop, they ship to both US and Canada. While your there check out all the other sets too.

We love SAMi and you will too

2009-11-23T22:38:00.000-08:00

SAMi's flip-a- face and flip-a-shape books published by Blue Apple Books are well loved and adored by both L and myself. Their bright colorful hardcover pages are inviting and engaging. The pages are cut out giving you a glimpse of the next page and sparking the imagination to wonder what it could be lurking on the flip side. The books are simple with only one word per page which are great for the littles all the way up to an early reader who may be easily frustrated by too many words on a page. We have quite a few books by the author including Baby Animals, Baby Talk, Big Little, Colors, Play and Yum.

Aside from books SAMi also has other items in their line that are just as wonderful as their books; we also have their cardboard Flip-a-face nesting blocks with familiar pictures of animals and little people from their books. For cardboard they are remarkably sturdy and have held up well to the rough play of my little maniac L.

We also have their Flip-a-Face cards Same? Different? and Look Baby! These large cards, again featuring people and animals from their book series, encourage matching skills and stimulates your babe. The Look Baby! set contains both black and white and color cards. The Same? Different? set contains people with an assorted variety of looks that are all similar but not identical. For example one pair of people may have glasses but one pair of glasses might be purple and the other pair green. Though we haven't completely got the hang of using these cards the intended way yet they are still a huge hit and are played with often.

SAMi's books and other products retail starting at around $10CAD and up. They can be purchased in Canada at Amazon.ca and in the US at Amazon.com.

Watergeeks Bottles

2009-11-10T11:59:00.000-08:00

This past school year C was using the WaterGeeks Insulated Stainless Steel 24oz bottle. This bottle is a generous size compared to the other stainless steel water bottles on the market. It has a removable tea strainer that originally confused C but once he realized what it was for and that it was removable all was fine. We both really loved that the bottle is double walled for both hot and cold drinks and that because of this feature there is no need for a cover as you cannot feel the temperature through the bottle. Some other great features;

- available in 4 great colors: stainless, black, pink, blue
- wide mouth for ice cubes, small mouth for drinking
- made with unlined, 18/0, food grade stainless steel
- ergonomic, curved design
- lightweight, easy to carry
- non-leaching and BPA-FREE

Lately I have been using the bottle a lot when I take L and C to a local indoor playground once a week. On these days I always hit up Starbucks before we get there, usually I have a coffee but since I have been pregnant I have been opting for Strawberry Blended Lemonades as I don't think my baby is too fond of coffee. I love that the bottle is big enough to accommodate a Venti and that my drink stays cold all day long. The double size lid option is great as the smaller size is perfect for my straw. The wide mouth easily fits a cleaning brush after in case I forget to clean it out right away so I am not left with a crusty residue that won't wash out. Watergeeks recommend that you wash by hand but ours has gone through the washing machine many a times and is still as good as the day we got it. All in all these are great bottles and I would love to try out some of the others, especially the kids version.

WaterGeeks Insulated Stainless Steel 24oz bottle retails for $19.95 CAD and can be purchased in Canada at O'Baby Organics a Canadian based store in Surrey, BC. They also sell a variety of other Watergeeks products.

Much awaited update

2009-11-10T11:47:00.000-08:00

Ok I know it seems as though I have been neglecting my blog but with good reason. As you know I am pregnant, around 23 weeks to be exact. I have been diagnosed by my midwife with extreme exhaustion, not only the blog but most of the other aspects of my daily life have fallen by the waist side. We have also started homeschooling this year so not only am I home all day with 3 year old tester L but now 12 yr old tester C is here all day adding to my daily stress. This has been a great decision for our family but it has changed our daily schedule and has taken some time to smooth out and feel normal for us. But as of lately things have picked up and I am starting to feel back to my old self. My house and family life and finally almost back on track and I need to get back to the blog. The reviews and emails are piling up. So hopefully over the next few weeks I will be back on track. Thanks for understanding.

The season for bugs and all things crawlie

2009-07-15T10:22:00.000-07:00

Kids are odd; C is not a huge fan of bugs at all in the least, in fact he is often terrified by them but he could not have been happier to receive the Bug Book and Bottle and Bugs Fandex by Workman Publishing. Paired together these two products make way for a great afternoon of bug finding, gathering and identifying. I had planned on making a day for the two boys together to go out and have some bug finding fun together but before I could C showed up with a friend begging to take the products out and go on their own bug hunt. Their bug hunting went fantastically and the two boys were solidly into it for close to a week which is an eternity in tween boy time.

The Bug Book and Bottle comes with a plastic container with holes in the lid to gather and keep your bugs in, a magnifier, bug identification chart, bug journal (to record all of your finds) and the bug book. The Bug Book is filled with with 47 fascinating bugs inside, how to catch, identify and care for insects and other creepy crawlies. The only flaw that C noted with the Bug Bottle was that he wished the lid would stay on more tightly so he taped it shut.

The Bugs Fandex consists of 50 die-cut cards on a fan-deck. The top of each card is a giant creepy picture of each bug and below and on the reverse are interesting facts about each bug. Overall these are two fabulous products to keep your bored kids busy this summer.

The Bug Book and Bottle retails for $13.68 CAD and the Bugs Fandex retails for $10.79 CAD they can both be purchased at Chapters.Indigo.ca in Canada and Barnes and Noble in the US.

Bath time stress no more

2009-07-14T12:39:00.000-07:00

The thought of bathing a newborn in a tub makes me so nervous. Those squirmy tiny little delicate bodies, never mind adding soap and water to the mix making them oh ever so slippery. Then add a tub over water that you hope to not drop them into. Yes I know I have had 2 kids already but the newborn bath is a scary little game for many mothers no matter how many babes they have. Well fear no more moms, Belly Laf's Grippee's are here to save the day. These adult sized bath mitts not only help wash your little one with it's ultra soft 100% biodegradable, antibacterial and hypoallergenic bamboo fabric but the little rubberized grippee's on the mitts help you hold on to that slippery little package making bath time a breeze so you can enjoy that special one on one time instead of stressing about it. I absolutely love these bath mitts and cannot wait to use them with my future babe. Belly Laf's also has MiniMitts for the older babes. Made of the same eco-friendly bamboo fabric as the Grippee's; MiniMitt's are thumbless easy on/off wash mitt's aimed at the 2-5 age group to help encourage good hygiene skills. L being at the very independent 2 year old stage loves his MiniMitt's. They make him feel like a big kid and he loves have the option at doing things himself and bathing himself is no different. Both the Grippee's and MiniMitt's are adorned with cute and friendly looking creatures of the sea such as Rocko the Crab, Zippo the Blowfish, Echo the Whale, Glo the Jellyfish and Cosmo the Starfish; they are all made of colorful geometric shapes combined together to create characters that appeal to children and hold their attention. They are also machine washer and dryer friendly.

Belly Laf's Grippee's retail at $16.95 US and the MiniMitt's retail at $9.95 US. You can purchase them through their online US based store, the ship to both US and Canada. Also whenever you purchase a Belly Laf product, Belly LAf will donate 10% of the profits to the Hide & Seek Foundation, a non-profit organization that raises money for research into deadly childhood diseases.

Bling to teeth on, fashion at it's best

2009-07-13T10:45:00.000-07:00

I used to wear a lot of jewelry; I couldn't leave the house with out some earrings, a necklace or two and maybe some bracelets. Having L though put an end to my jewelry wearing days though. First it was too much of a hassle, then he was grabby and now everything is his according to him. One product I really love and came in handy was Smart Mom Teething Bling. Smart Mom makes safe jewelry for mamas to wear and their teething babes to chew on. I have the donut shaped pendant and bangle in Jade and they are very stylish no one would even know that they are teething toys in disguise. Even when L was passed the teething stage he was happily kept occupied playing with my bangle or pendant. All Smart Mom Teething Bling products are non-toxic, phthalate, BPA, PVC and lead free and all pendants come with a breakaway clasp. They are easily washed with soap and water if they do get dirty or you are worried about germs. I've had mine for quite a while now and they still look as good as new. Smart Mom also carries heart shaped pendants, keychains, onesies, gift sets and gift cards. They are available in a variety of colors and even patterns.
Smart Mom Teething Bling donut shaped pendants retail starting at $19.10 US (right now though they have red,white and blue pendants sale for $9.50 US on their website), the bangles retail at $12.75 US. They can be purchased online at their US based website and yes they do ship to both US and Canada or see here for a list of retailers in the US or Canada.

Stay tuned..........

2009-06-26T23:27:00.000-07:00

Please stay tuned for our upcoming review of the Fleurville Re-Run Lark Diaper bag in Geobot Chocolate Teal supplied to us by All Modern Baby. All Modern Baby is a modern children's furniture site that carries a variety of products including Maclaren baby carriers and Stokke Tripp Trapp high chairs and much more. They are a US based store but they offer shipping to both US and Canada.

Robeez all grown up

2009-06-26T20:14:00.000-07:00

Now that Summer is here that means new shoes for the kids. I like to have two pairs for the little ones; one nice pair and one for play. Right now though L only has one as he has outgrown his play pair and we are still looking for a suitable replacement. One requirement I have always looked for is a flexible sole, which are sometimes difficult to find in local stores once they hit the toddler years. We are currently loving L's new Robeez Tredz loafers. Tredz are the newest Robeez for older tots with a flexible yet sturdy sole in sizes 3-7US. I'm very fond of the sweet little old man type loafer we chose, they are a bit dressy but have held up great to outdoor play too. Because they are his only shoes at the moment he has been wearing them out to play quite a bit, running around in the grass, playing in his friends sandbox and they have even gotten a little wet yet they are still holding up strong and still look brand new which is surprising b/c of their suede like texture. They also have some sportier styles too that I have been eyeing up. I really love the Biker H&L-Ocean Blue, L would go crazy over the little motorcycle on the side but unfortunately they are sold out in his size. They are a bit pricier than your regular old Walmart shoe but they are well worth the extra cash as Robeez are top quality and usually last through a few kids before they wear out. As for washing Tredz are spot clean only with mild detergent and a damp cloth and air dry, that sounds simple enough. We are unquestionably Robeez lovers for good now.

Robeez Tredz retail for $41.95 CAD and can be purchased at Robeez.com in the US and Robeez.ca in Canada. Check out their website now for their Summer Sale! Also when you buy 2 pairs or more, you receive free shipping.

Not all books need words

2009-06-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

Being loosely inspired by Waldorf learning, putting an emphasis on the seasons is very important to us in our home. I try to draw attention to the changing of seasons and magical changes outdoors. We read a lot of seasonally inspired books and have a lot of nature inspired toys. We recently received a gorgeous set of seasonal books by Gerda Muller. This set of four picture books are a lovely way to inspire creativity and imagination in your little one. Each book contains it's own season (Spring, Summer, Winter and Autumn) packed full of detailed drawings of activities or nature from each season. It's such a nice change of pace having some picture books in the house. We like to curl up together somewhere cozy and talk about the scenes on each page. We discuss the weather, the animals, the people and what they are doing. We talk about them in relation to our life as well, how our weather or the nature outside our home is the same or different, about the things we do in each season and how they might be the same or different as the people in the book. The most wonderful thing about these books as that the story is always different, there are always new things to discover and new stories to tell. We also separate our books by season and keep off season books put away till the appropriate season, I find this adds to the magic of the books and keeps the little ones more engaged and interested.If you are looking for some creative ways to introduce the Season's to your kids or even just hoping to get some picture books this set is a definite must.
Spring, Summer, Winter and Autumn by Gerda Muller must be purchased separately and retail each for @$10 US/CAD they can be purchased at Amazon.com in the US and at Chapters.Indigo in Canada.

Express yourself and have fun doing it

2009-06-22T09:54:00.000-07:00

Sticklers have got to be one of our top fun reviews. Everyone wanted to be in one this one. Sticklers, made by Sakura of America, are a fantastic new craft idea that consist of metallic colored die-cut outline stickers in gold or silver that come with special pens to color inside the outline. The pens are very "liquidy" and the liquid helps to cover the surface in side the metallic outline. There are many different colors and types of pens to choose from, types include Souffle (3D opaque ink) and Glaze (glossy transparent ink). The great fun about Sticklers is they can be stuck almost anywhere you can think of. Some idea include dog tags, handmade cards, gift tags, luggage tags, cell phones, cameras, laptops, computer mouse, gift boxes, gift bags, metal tins, cardboard boxes, picture frames, notebooks, ornaments.....the possibilities are endless. Everyone who came over to the house just had to get in on this review from young kids to adults, Sticklers were a big hit with everyone. I put my Sticklers on my cell phone, my laptop hard plastic cover, the daddy's cellphone, notebooks, gift tags, cards....The sticklers were easy to remove off these items if you decided you no longer wanted them there too. Just peel of the sticker portion and use your fingernail to scratch off the ink. The only time I had a hard time removing it was from my laptop case so just in case it might be a good idea to do a test spot on something just in case you might be stuck with it forever. I loved the idea of being able to decorate my cell phone, which is white so it turned out fabulous, better than the daddy's blue cellphone. My cell doesn't have fancy cover plates so I can now decorate it as I please. Because it's a cell phone though and gets used quite a bit and banged up against other things in your bag the sticklers do rub off after a while but they did stay for quite a while and you can always do some touching up. The daddy on the other hand was not impressed by our dressing up his phone so he was happy that it came right off, hmmmph men.

Sticklers kits retail at $6.99US and can be purchased directly from their US based online store, they ship to both US and Canada. Or you can use their store locator to find a retailer near you.

Surprise!!!!!!!!

2009-06-22T09:34:00.000-07:00

So after a few month's of trying we are PREGNANT!!

What a sweet baby belly!! I would like to say it's mine but alas it's not. I'm not quite that pregnant yet. Now you can all why we have been having a few months of slack posting as we have been so busy! But things are slowing down and are getting back to normal as will the blog. Thanks for hanging in there with us. So let the pregnancy and maternity product reviews start rolling in!!

2009-06-21T09:33:00.000-07:00

Your new mighty little helper

2009-06-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

I'm sure some of you remember our glowing review on Think King's Soft Buggy Cup, in fact our review was even mentioned on one of our fav reads,Ohdeedoh, (thanks ohdeedoh!). We are still crazy about our Buggy Cup and it's still gets used almost daily and it's still looks brand new. Now Think King has a new product out; the Mighty Buggy Hook. The Mighty Buggy Hook are two hooks that velcro on to the handle bars of your stroller for carrying your diaper bag or other bags such as groceries and such. They are very solid and rugged looking and not as delicate as the other stroller clips on the market which is a plus for anyone who is looking for something more durable looking. Maybe your hubby is looking for something more manly? One issue I sometimes have with the other stroller hooks on the market is that they require two hands to clip your bag off and on. The Mighty Buggy Hook's ingenious design requires little to no effort to put your bag off and on. Just line the hooks up with your d-ring or other loop for attaching to stroller and it slides right on, to remove you can just grab your bag and pull up and it slides right off, no muss, no fuss, no clips, nothing. Grocery bags or other totes are just as simple just slide the handle over the hook and remove when done, simple.
Think King's Mighty Buggy Hook's retail at $14.99US for a two pack and can be purchased at their website, they ship to both US and Canada.

We're Back!!

2009-06-08T09:56:00.000-07:00

Yes we are back!! Things have been pretty slack here at Baby Let's Shop and we are sorry for that. We have been planning our elopement and it was taking over our lives leaving not much time for anything else. But the good news is all is said and done and the daddy and I are officially MARRIED!! We took a lovely trip to the Dominican Republic just us and the two boys and got married on the beach. It was wonderful and gorgeous. But I am so happy to be home and get life back on track though it's been a little difficult to get a jump start on regular old life again. All I need now for married life to be official is my wedding certificate so I can officially change my last name on all my id. Oh and to change the boys last names and then I'm finally done. Aaaah!! The pressure of the wedding is finally off and the pressure of the blog is back on. :D

Michael Recycle/ teaching kids the importance of going green

2009-04-23T08:50:00.000-07:00

"There once was a town called Abberdoo-Rimey, Where garbage was left to grow rotten and slimy" but not to worry Michael Recycle is here to save the day. Michael Recycle by Ellie Bethel is a fabulous book for teaching your children about recycling. Michael is a recycling superhero who flies around from city to town teaching people how to and the importance of recycling. This book has been a great help in our household teaching L why and how we recycle. The story is told in rhyme which is great for drawing the kids in and holding there attention. The illustrations are beautiful large full colored pages, each page is full of excitement. At the end of the story are some going green tips for kids about recycling, turning things off when not in use like lights and water etc, composting, lessening your paper trail and more. Even preteen C enjoyed this book and has read it to L quite a few times. This is a must get book for parents wanting to introduce recycling and going green at their level.
Michael Recycle by Ellie Bethel retails for @ $15 CAD and can be purchased at Amazon.com in the US and Chapters.Indigo in Canada.

Stainless Steel Bento's! yay!

2009-04-22T16:19:00.000-07:00

I have been a huge fan of bento box's and have lusted after them for awhile. I even am a little embarrassed to admit that I stalk websites dedicated to bento box pictures. But with all the BPA warnings lately I have been trying to eliminate plastic in our house wherever possible. A lot of the bento's out there are plastic and most do not have the number on the bottom telling you if the plastic is safe or not. So I have been waiting for a stainless bento to fall into my lap. Luckily for me (and you) there is now a fabulous Canadian based online store The Tickle Trunk, don't let the name fool you, this is not Mr Dress Up's tickle trunk of costumes but a tickle trunk of stainless steel products. Oh yes it is my heaven! We have spent the past few months testing out some great products from The Tickle Trunk; food storage container (SC01), food storage container 3 (SCo3), food storage container 4 (SCo4) and food storage container 140ml (SC07). Basically the three products except for SC07 are stainless steel bento's in 3 different sizes. The SC01 and SC03 are the perfect size for a toddler lunch and the larger one is perfect for an older child with a larger appetite.

C takes the larger SC04 (the larger version of the SC03) to school and finds it perfect for his sandwich's and some snacks, his only complaint is that the top level is quite shallow. He can only put a sandwich in the bottom and the top level is limited to the items it can hold. But I find that is you cut the sandwich in half sometimes you can stack it which leaves some extra room beside the sandwich for more food.

The other bento's (SC01 and SC03) I use for L (and sometimes myself), I find them just perfect for packing him a nice sized lunch on long trips away from the house during the day. I find that you can pack a lot into these little babies especially for toddlers because their portions are so small that you can fit more of a variety of items in. Likewise I have noticed that L eats more when I pack one of his bentos that he usually would at home, I think he enjoys the novelty of them, hmmm... maybe I should start using them at home too. I bought some silicone baking cups for dividing different items inside the tin so that they don't touch and stay tight and compact with a variety of different choices packed in together. They work great and make his lunch extra cute with their fun bright colors. You could also use the cups with the larger bento but since it's for C, I don't use them b/c the amount that fits in a cup will not satisfy him. I am still searching for a better option for dividing items for him.

We also use the smaller SC07 because this has a silicone seal it's great for more than just dry items, we love to pack yogurt in it if we know it will be eaten right away. L is yogurt crazy! I love that I don't have to buy individually packaged yogurts which are a waste and so pricey and that I don't have worry about leaks in my precious JJB.

My only complaint would be that these products all need to be hand washed (except for the bottom of the SCo7), as you all know I hate hand washing anything, but it's not really that much of a task as C washes his own because he makes his own lunch and L only uses his about once or twice a week because we don't miss lunch at home very often. Often they only need a quick rinse because we don't put in very messy items and we don't leave them sitting around to long when they are dirty. I love that they are reusable and eliminate the use of plastic bags from my kids lunches. I also don't have to worry about BPA because they are stainless steel. The different latches on each container have also made for a fun new way for L to learn a new skill. As an added bonus I am teaching my children about the importance of reusable items, having less waste and doing their part to help save the planet.
All the items reviewed above retail from $7-10 CAD (wow!! talk about a good deal!) are available at The Tickle Trunk though they are based in Canada they ship to both US and Canada. While you're there check out the rest of their great products from stainless steel water bottles, ice cube trays, dish's, cups, cutlery and more.

Going green for the whole family (your new going green bible)

2009-04-22T12:24:00.000-07:00

If you are looking at making your home and lifestyle more green but don't know where to start you need to check out the book Eco-Friendly Families (Guide your family to greener living with activities that engage and inspire... from toddlers to teens.) by Helen Coronato. We have always recycled and tried to do our part and reduce our carbon foot print but I really felt we, as a household, could be doing more. I seriously cannot stress enough how much I love this book. Eco-Friendly Families is a sort of how to book to going green and how to encourage and coach your family in making greener decisions. The book is a huge wealth of eco information loaded with tips and ideas. I really like how the author has laid out a different green activity per month, Helen encourages you to start out small and take a step at a time to not overwhelm your family as well as yourself. She also includes a lot of different techniques to get your children on board from toddlers to teens. Every chapter of this book is jam packed full of more going green ideas than you could imagine. Green ideas such as simplifing your life, composting, reusing, buying second hand, buying fair trade, making your own cleaning supplies, eating organic, meal planning, home made gifts, growing your own food and more. This book will definately become your going green bible, a book that you will be finding yourself refering to regularly. I've already finished reading every last word in the book but I still find myself going back and leafing through it quite often.
Eco-Friendly Families by Helen Coronato retails for @ $13 CAD and can be purchased in the US at Amazon.com and in Canada at Chapters.Indigo.

Happy Earth Day!!

2009-04-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

Happy Earth Day!! Sorry for the lack of posts, we have been so caught up in planning our last minute wedding. I know that's no excuse but really it's been one problem after another and unfortunately something was bound to suffer. But here we are for Earth Day, I promise to try and not let the wedding plans take over my life. So stay tuned for some green related reviews in honor of Earth Day.

A good egg

2009-04-12T09:21:00.000-07:00

Easter is here and if you are looking for a last minute gift or even just looking to celebrate Spring check out the book Good Egg by Barney Saltzberg. This sweet little story about an egg is exciting for little ones because it's so interactive. This is a lift the flap, pull the tab, slide the tab, velcro and pop up book keeps your little one entertained and sucked right in to the simple yet cute story line. Check out this video of the author reading the book to a group of kids. This is L's first pop up book and he is more than enamoured by this book. From the minute it arrived he has not put it down and also hasn't been very willing to share the book with friends during a few recent playdates. Though I do love and enjoy this book as much as L, I would not recomend it for children under 4 yrs as within a week this book has come into the misfortune of some rough hands due to all the flaps and tabs. L was frustrated at times when he was unable to pull some of the tabs and was a little forceful but this is purely due to age and not having experienced this type of book before. L was also a lot more gentle with the book after he damaged it. Damage done and in the past though we all loved this book and it was a big hit and it is still being loved.

Good Egg by Barney Saltzberg retails for @ $10 US/CAD and can be purchased at Amazon.com in the US and Chapters Indigo in Canada.

The new Jawbone

2009-03-26T09:08:00.000-07:00

One thing I have yet to master is talking on the phone while driving and I have no intention of mastering it. Talking on your cell phone is dangerous and puts everyone around you at risk. That's why I am loving my new Jawbone. Jawbone is a hands free bluetooth earpiece for your cell phone. The new Jawbone is 50% smaller than the original model, it has Noise Assassin which eliminates all outside noises beyond your own voice, invisible touch controls, over 4 hours of talk time when fully charged, comes with interchangeable ear-loops and buds to customize your fit and is available in 3 colors; black, silver and rose gold. The Jawbone is a definite must for me in my life b/c I spend a lot of time in my car running errands and sometimes I need to be on the phone in the car, it's just unavoidable. Whether I am calling the daddy for a reminder of what I went out for, endless phone calls from preteen C just looking to chat or catching up with a super busy girlfriend who calls me on her breaks I tend to use the phone quite a bit while out and about. But this little baby is not only good for in the car but great when you are out and about and need both hands for other things or even just at home trying to coral the kids. When I first received the Jawbone I did have some used issues with the invisible touch controls b/c they are invisible it took a bit of fooling around to figure things out but I finally got the hang of them.Once I mastered the touch controls and found the ear-loops and buds that worked for me it was smooth sailing. Answering the phone and hanging up is a simple touch on the front of the earpiece and the volume can be turned up and down by pressing the top of earpiece multiple times. Once your Jawbone's battery has drained you have two options for charging, a charging cord is provided that plugs into the wall or the male end of the plug comes off and the cord can go into the USB port on your Mac or pc. Though I do think the Jawbone still seems a little large in comparison to the other hands free units out there I think it makes up for it in style. I love the pattern on it, it seems almost jewel like, it's really hard to describe. I do have a few girlfriends who do tease me when they see me wearing it out and about but I choose to believe they are just jealous, haha!! The only snag I have ever run into is adjusting the earpiece, sometimes when I am on a call the earpiece feels like it is going to fall out and when I adjust it it hangs up on people sometimes. But that aside I really love my Jawbone and am very sad on the days I have forgotten to charge it or even worse forget it in the house when it is fully charged. I would love an optional car charger for it, though I wouldn't use it all the time there are times when it would have been handy. (They now do have a car charger option for an extra $29.99US, oh I need one!) This reminds me, I need to charge that baby up.
Wanna get your own Jawbone so you can look as cool as me? (jk haha) The Jawbone retails for $129.99US and can be purchased at their online store, they ship to both US and Canada or locally at your local cell phone provider. I have seen it at both Telus and Bell in my city. It also comes in two more colors now Rambling Rose and Babbling Blue.

Kissaluvs cloth diapers just too much trouble for this mama

2009-03-17T09:27:00.000-07:00

We've recently been trying out Kissuluvs cloth diapers and I'm not sure we are really keen on them. There are good points and bad points to the diapers though. Kissaluvs come in 3 sizes; size 0- newborn (5-15lbs), size 1- medium (10-25lbs) and size 2- large (20-40lbs). They are custom made in the US and consist purely of soft absorbent material. There are a few different fabric options including unbleached cotton fleece and organic cotton with hemp. There are also a variety of colors to choose from if plain doesn't float your boat. Along with the actual diaper you also need Booster Doublers and/ or Super Soaker Doublers. Both are inserts that you lie in the diaper for extra absorbency, with the Super Soaker Doublers being more absorbent than the Booster Doublers. When we try out cloth diapers I always like to test them out at night because L does not poop at night usually but he pees a lot! Since we use disposables regularly and they we have yet to have a leak at night I expect a cloth diaper to hold up at night as well. The thing I like about the Kissaluvs is because they are so absorbent I have yet to wake up to L being soaked right through to his bed. The things I didn't like about this diaper; you have to buy your own diaper cover as the diaper does not have one built in nor does Kissaluvs carry their own. (I just went to Zellers and picked up a super cheap pack of plastic covers 3 for $2 and they did the trick but they were ugly and plastic, lol.) They make your babies behind HUMONGOUS!! Seriously they seemed much fatter than other lines of cloth diapers, after the first time wearing them L had to bend over and check them out and he walked bow legged for a bit. It was also quite the scene to get his pants on afterward. The snap system in theory was a good idea as they are adjustable and can over lap to better suit a more skinny-waisted baby, the problem for me was shear confusion I wasn't sure about all the snaps at first and over lapping they were way too tight and at the next snap down they were a bit too loose. I chose to keep them loose so they didn't hurt L, they did stay on fine though. Overall they did perform well but I thought they seemed like a lot of extra trouble compared to other cloth diapers on the market. I just don't need extra trouble. I would prefer a diaper that has it's own attached cover and it not so huge. If these things don't bother you though, this might be the diaper for you.

I did on the other hand love their Terry Cloth Wipes; textured on one side for easy clean up and gentle on the other for a nice soft wipe. We have used these wipes for everything from diaper wipes, face cloths, snotty noses or just to pat dry a wet bum. Both Kissaluvs diapers and wipes are washer and dryer friendly, we have washed both numerous times and they look as good as new and smell great. Though b/c the diapers are so thick sometimes they come out of the drier still wet in the middle and need to be dried more. If unnoticed they start to smell a bit so double check that those babies are really dry.

Kissaluvs diapers retail at $12.95US (unbleached), $13.95US (color) and their wipes retail at $2US each, check out their retail locator for a list of retailers in the US or Canada.

Tag, you're it!!

2009-03-11T09:42:00.000-07:00

The new Leap Frog Tag is like a smaller more compact version of their popular Leap Pad. The Tag is a large chunky "pen" that is a magical tool to help your child in the sometimes daunting journey of learning to read. I was really amazed by this product the first time we used it. Along with the Tag you get a book that looks just like any other regular book. The book it comes with is soft cover but the extra books you buy come in hard cover, they all have paper pages made of regular paper. It baffles the mind how the pen is able to read the seemingly normal book but the special printing on these pages allows the Tag reader to understand and read the book aloud to your child. Like the Leap Pad it not only reads the story aloud but responds to certain items on each page with noises and sounds. Each page also has a fun game to play as well. The great thing about this system is unlike the Leap Pad once your child has mastered reading the books are just normal books and not like the regular Leap Pad books. We had a wide variety of kids who tested out our Tag and it was a big hit for everyone even those who could already read and even baby L loved it though it is recommended for ages 4-8. Aside from reading the story along with the book the Tag is also capable of reading the story without the book which is a feature that baby L adored. The Tag can hold up to 5 books at a time and connects to both Windows Vista or Mac operating systems to load new stories or keep track of your child's process, both of which are simple and easy to do. Along with the books we also received a National Geographic Kids Activity Card set, this cards are great their are over 40 cards in a set with pictures of different wild animals on each card front and back. Touching the "pen" to these cards and you can hear what sound they make, where they are from and a little tidbit of information about them. I love these activity cards because they are so educational, they even taught me a few things I didn't know. The first few times L used the Tag he was rough and banged the "pen" frantically on the pages, he has gotten better with it and treats it more gently now but I do agree that this unit would be better suited for ages 4-8 as the older children seemed to be a lot better with unit. It looks like Leap Frog is set to come out with Tag Junior for ages 2-4 in May. Though we haven't tried out the Tag Junior if it's anything like the Tag it should be amazing!
The Leap Frog Tag retails for @ $49.99 US/CAD. In the US it can be purchased at LeapFrog.com and in Canada at any local retailer such as Walmart, Zellers or Costco.

Where am I?

2009-03-05T12:18:00.000-08:00

So I'm sure you are all wondering where I went? Posts lately have been few and far between and I am sorry for that. We are still pretty behind on reviews from before the holidays and so far behind in catching up on emails as well. As most of my readers know Baby Let's Shop consists of just my family me (the mama), the daddy, preteen C and baby L. I write all the reviews at home in my free time which is hard to come by these days. That alone makes it hard to catch up but on top of that the daddy and I are planning to elope far away to get married. We were supposed to get married this month but due to passport issues with myself and the children it doesn't look like March is our month, which is sad b/c I'm holding off getting pregnant again till after the wedding. I have spent to much time filling out paperwork, mailing it in, filling out more, faxing it in. Endless hours have been spent on hold or actually talking to a live person but my questions are never answered, everyone has a different response and very few people have been helpful. This has been contributing to the lack of reviews. I hope you understand and please keep checking back for new reviews. We hope to be back to smooth sailing shortly. I promise to try harder to pop up a review or two in the meantime but I just wanted to update everyone on what's been going on here at the Baby Let's Shop homestead. Please keep your fingers crossed for us as I feel I am way behind due for both a wedding and another baby.

Yay for Spring!!

2009-02-17T13:03:00.000-08:00

With the coming of the new season comes another great line up of new Ju-Ju-Be items. You've all seen our other review on how fabulous our JJB BeTween is and now they have some out with 2 great new patterns Cherry Lemonade and my absolute new favorite Zany Zinnias. Not only have they come out with some new patterns but new products too!! There is the BeMajor which is the new grown up version of the BeMine (which I do own and love but now I'm thinking I really need a BeMajor!), BeRich (smaller version wallet), CheckaBe (for your checkbook), BeThrifty (even smaller version wallet) and the BusinessBe (great for business cards or just organizing your everyday cards). But not only that they are introducing a long awaited JJB lunch bag, the BeLicious and an even bigger mess shuttle for cloth diapering mamas called the Space Station!!! Something tells me there are going to be a lot of broke Pink Ladies this spring. Here's a sneak peak at the new line below, hopefully the main site will be updated in the next 24 hours with all the product specs and such. (Or you can search the Pink Room to get all the little details before it goes up on the main site.) Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to plan a big bank heist. ;)