JORD Wood Watch Review with giveaway

I hadn't worn a watch in years when I was approached by JORD Wood Watches.  I bought my husband a wood watch years ago, and I really like the look, so I was excited to check out their designs. Their website is beautiful to look at and fun to read.  Each watch's description reads like the introduction to a good book. Personally, I don't know much about drive systems and tuning fork types, but all that info is there for you, too.

Jord has a great variety of unique and classic men's and women's watches.  I chose the Fieldcrest Dark Sandalwood and eagerly awaited its arrival.

I was not disappointed.  The packaging was unique and presented the watch luxuriously.  I couldn't believe how light the watch was for its size. It definitely makes a statement, and although I chose the Fieldcrest because I thought it would go with most of my wardrobe, the brighter colors choices available aren't obnoxious when mixed with the naturalness of the wood. Not matter what series you choose, it's a cool watch!

I broke it out of its box right before we left for Sunday brunch.

If you are looking for a wood watch of your own, enter TryItMom's contest here for a chance to win a $75 e-gift code.  And EVERYONE who enters gets a $20 e-gift code! The contest ends 11/20/16.

This beauty keeps catching my eye and distracting me from my work.

This post is sponsored by JORD Wood Watches.

Wooden Watches by JORD

Cardiff Travel Headrest

When I was approached to review Cardiff's Travel Headrest, my first question was about safety.  I know that it is not safe to have "extra" things in the car that could become dangerous in a crash, but I was assured that it meets the FMVSS213 and CMVSS213 standards.   

My kids definitely have a bobble head affect when they fall asleep in the car, and it looks so uncomfortable!

A three-way car nap is awesome, and this is how it starts with James.  A few more minutes and he's slumped over with his head hanging over the arm rest

Once assembled (I had a little trouble snapping the pieces together, but it's SOLID, high quality stuff), it was quick to install.  It can stay in the car all the time because the arms can swivel up and out of the way.  The arms of the headrest have soft, padded fabric sleeves that are removable and machine-washable for easy cleaning.
It didn't work with our high-back booster, but it was great with the BubbleBum.  I think I'll claim that seat on road trips so I can nap!

sweet dreams. no sore neck.

Here is JD with all three products from the giveaway: Cardiff Headrest, BubbleBum, and MyBuckleMate.

I'll be posting car-related posts all week, ending with one big giveaway of all the items, including the Cardiff Travel Headrest!  
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**Disclosure: Cardiff sent me a free product to review.  All opinions are my own.

Minivan Problems (and KidzCanDesign giveaway)

We picked up the new minivan last week, and we are LOVING it.  The only issue that I am having a hard time with is the key.  I know it sounds ridiculous, but my old car had a keyless entry system with push button start, and leaving my keys in the bottom of my diaperbag/schoolbag/purse for 5 years has made me a very lazy girl.  

At least once a day I walk up to my car and wonder why it won't just open- which is especially embarrassing when driving coworkers out to lunch (I've got two car seats and everyone can still fit in! Woohoo!)  Baby brain + new, kinda important thing to remember = I HAVE to make my keys easy to find/something I don't mind having in my hand all the time.

Enter KidzCanDeisgn.  They specialize in converting your child's work of art (or photos, handprints, etc.) into a high quality, sterling silver, custom piece of jewelry.  When I was approached to review a product by KidzCanDesign, I knew right away I would chose a keychain.  And I knew right away the piece of art I wanted to use.  

JD painted this picture a while ago and described it to me and "Mommy and Keith holding hands and happy."  For anyone who's read or spoken with me about my divorce, you know that JD was very sensitive to my feelings- and especially concerned about my happiness level. It brought me to tears to know that he saw me as happy in my and Keith's relationship.  I framed it, and it has hung in our bedroom since.

The KidzCanDesign process was extremely user friendly.  I simply chose my item and uploaded a picture of the artwork.  Their site is full of beautiful examples to give you ideas of what you can have done.

I can imagine the kids would love getting a pendant made of some of their own artwork someday, too!

The final piece arrived beautifully packaged (think great gift idea for grandma or a special friend), and I am so happy with how it came out!  The quality really is great, and it still captures the feeling of JD's art.

Now for the fun part: We are giving a KidzCanDesign item away to a lucky reader, and they will get to design their own special piece!  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: I was given the keychain for free for the purpose of this review.

My Natural Baby Boutique Giveaway

I am so excited to share this with you!  My Natural Baby Boutique is going to give one of you a gift certificate, but before I get into that, let me tell you about some awesomeness.

They sent a Bounce Back Aromacology Spa Kit for me to try and a Knotted Natural Teether for my little biter.  O got right to work on the teether, and while the boys were napping, I took a break for a little pampering.  Wooohooo!

The only thing that could make this teether better would be if it were machine washable.

First, I love that everything in the Bounce Back Kit is all-natural and safe for pregnant and nursing mommas.  Besides smelling yummy, the Citrus Sugar Body Polish was gentler and much less oily that other scrubs I've used.  I followed it up with the Resilient Body Oil and Energizing Body Lotion.  

Those of you that read regularly know that I've been working hard to tone up with P90X, but my pregnant-twice-in-two-years belly skin is anything but toned.  All the ab ripper workouts in the world will do nothing for the skin.  These products are full of essential oils and plant extracts that will refortify my trouble spots.  Over 9 hours later my skin is still super silky smooth.


The best part of the set for me though is the Cucumber Tea Eye Gel. I've been shocked by photos of myself lately when I see just how bad the bags under my eyes really are.  This gel noticeably reduced the puffiness around my eyes after one use.     


Besides teethers and awesome spa stuff for mommy, the online boutique offers only certified organic cotton and all natural bamboo baby clothes and accessories, eco-friendly non- toxic toys, all-natural unique gifts for moms and so much more.  


You NEED to check out the cute clothing lines!  You will see adorableness like this:

This giveaway is closed.  Congratulations, Katrina!

Friday Favorite: Jersey Babys

My hubby is a social butterfly (and I mean that in a masculine way, of course), and he meets a lot of interesting people in his job as a basketball trainer.  A couple weeks ago, he came home with a CD given to him by the parent of a client, and I was so excited!  

See, I was raised on the oldies.  My dad always had on music by Chubby Checker, Marvin Gaye, The Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, The Righteous Brothers, and of course, The Four Seasons.  When Jersey Boys opened on Broadway, I bought my parents tickets for their anniversary.  They loooooooved it. 

The Jersey Babys CD is adorable.  The songs are like a whimsical cross between soothing lullabies and happy carousel tunes.  They seamlessly run into each other and every couple minutes you hear the familiar melody of classics like "Walk Like a Man", "Can't Take My Eyes Off You"", "Big Girls Don't Cry", and "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)".  We listened to it on our drive to PA for Easter, and JD asked for MORE when it was over  :)

Danielle Gaudio-Lalehzar is the daughter of Bob Gaudio, an original member of The Four Seasons (and therefor a Jersey Baby herself), and she is the brains behind the project.  There is a great quote from her dad in the CD jacket: "Sometimes you just have to listen to your kids!"

You can see more info on the Jersey Babys website and the music is available on Amazon (both the CD and individual MP3s).  I can't wait to share this with my dad!

Our 1st Video Review! 2 New Fisher Price Toys

My parents visited yesterday to celebrate my dad's birthday and an early Easter.  Of course they brought new toys for the boys: Fisher Price's Little People Wheelies Stand 'n Play Rampway for JD, and Lil' Zoomers Spinnin' Sounds Speedway for O. (What's with the super long names & all the apostrophes, Fisher Price?)  My dad is a big NASCAR fan, so he was very excited to put these together and play.  


This morning we recorded our very first video review. Please ignore my screeching toddler, barking dog, and dirty hair!

We hope you enjoyed it!


**Don't forget to enter the NotFindingOut giveaway! 

Not Finding Out Giveaway

Tomorrow O will get a new playmate!  One of my best friends will be having a new baby, and we can't be more excited!  Yipee!  And do you know what makes me even more excited- like I-am-losing-sleep-excited?  THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE HAVING!!! 

I will keep myself busy right here while we wait.

It is hard for me to wrap my brain around this concept because I found out with both boys, and I planned and decorated and shopped and organized.  But there is just something special about awaiting this surprise.  Hubby and I have even started talking about not finding out with future #3.  (Not pregnant!  Definitely not pregnant.  But holding this tiny, new baby may bring one a strong fever.)  That may be our last baby, and I think not finding out is an experience I would like to have.  


Our biggest issue with finding out is that I wanted my boys or girls to have boy or girl things.  We did get gender neutral BIG things, like the stroller/car seat/high chair so that a possible future baby girl could also enjoy them, but I drew the line at the little things.  I didn't want a nursery full of green and yellow- both perfectly fine colors in small doses- but gender neutral EVERYTHING just doesn't do it for me.


Enter Not Finding Out. This is the coolest registry I've ever seen.  I wish I had known about them way back when, because even if we still found out, I may have registered with them- not just because I had so many issues with Babies R Us- but because it is so fun.

The site is full of way too many adorable little pink and blue things!

Not Finding Out allows you to register for everything you need, including gender neutral essentials that you would want before the baby is born, and all the fun gender specific stuff you dream about. Everything is super high quality, and I was excited to see some fun, bright patterns and also many eco-friendly options.  It is definitely not your traditional registry! 


I had way too much fun creating a pretend registry that you can check out here.  The people behind Not Finding Out were so wonderful and sent me the Classic Bib Set and Classic Burp Cloth Set from Camden Lane.  They were both super soft (like I-want-to-rub-my-face-all-over-it soft) and arrived beautifully packaged.

O started drooling over the burp cloth.  haha

How it works:
You click though their site registering for things the way you would on any other registry.  Anything marked "NFO" has a boy/girl option.  After you register, after your 20 week sonogram, you give your doctor a very simple card that comes in your registration packet.  Your doctor lets Not Finding Out in on the secret so they can prepare your gifts.  

This is the card for your doctor.

Once you confirm that the baby is born, Not Finding Out ships your goodies right to you.  There is a ton more information on their website, so go check them out if you are interested in starting your own registry.




The Giveaway is now over. 
One of my lucky readers will receive the bib and burp cloth sets in either pink or blue (a total of $58 in goodies).  The winner chooses!

Diaper Buds Review & Giveaway

I was sent a pack of DiaperBuds to try during our travels, and they are so cool!  They are basically vacuum-packed diapers that are 70% smaller than a regular diaper.  They come individually wrapped, so they stay nice and clean in your bag. 

JD checking it out.

Before they are unwrapped, they can also be used as an impromptu ball :)

These would be perfect for any outing, but especially the beach.  Everything in my beach bag ends up wet and full of sand, and those are not good traits for a diaper!  I will also use these when I am running out quickly and don't think I need the big diaper bag.  Tossing one of these in my purse for an emergency will give me piece-of-mind, and I don't have to worry about it getting all gross from floating around free in my purse.  They would also be a great addition to a baby shower gift basket or a wishing well.


There is a 22 sec. video on their site that shows exactly how it works.






This giveaway has ended

Family Travel Kits Review & Giveaway

The kind people at Family Travel Kits sent me some ingenious products to try out during our trip.  Their product line combines safety with convenience and entertainment for all aspects of traveling with children.  Their commitment to customer happiness is to be commended, and the speed of their communications and order processing was outstanding.  

Along with their products, they shared a lot of important information with me. 

"The US National Transportation Safety Board – the “watchdog” of safety for all forms of travel - is focusing in 2011 on CHILD SAFETY IN AVIATION. They are spreading the word about the importance of small children to have more upper body support than just the airplane seatbelt supplies. They showed off CARES [a safety restraint for flying with infants or toddlers] at their major conference in Washington DC last month."  Check out their website for more details about CARES.

The "Around the Town Kit" comes with all of this! JD loves drinking out of the big boy water bottle. (We totally used it as a bribe. I'm not going to lie.)

The "Around the Town Kit" for a toddler contains an insulated lunch bag, books, sports bottle, activity poster, "fun crayon", sunglasses, a snack, child ID kit, disposable placemats, potty toppers, bibsters, and more all inside a convenient drawstring bag! For under $25, you can't beat the value and convenience.  (They have similar kits for other age groups and specifically for road trips, air travel, and hotel safety.)

This crayon is so fun.  Hubby played with it more than JD did!

There was plenty to keep him busy on the plane, in the car, and at restaurants!

The Safety Tat is a write-on safety tattoo.   We put it on at the airport before we left, and didn't take it off until the day after we got home!  If I had a dollar for every mom who stopped me to ask about it, I could have paid for our trip!  Thankfully we never got to test out whether or not somebody would actually see it and call us, but JD is sneaky and fast, so there were more a couple close calls!

Right after we put it on (which was super easy) before I wrote our number on it.  He was interested in it for a couple minutes and then totally forgot about it.  

The tat in action at Disneyland.  As soon as someone let him down, he was running to "find Mickey".

Still going strong 10 days later.  When I peeled it off, it came off easier than a band-aid and didn't seem to bother him at all!

Family Travel Kits is offering TryItMom readers 10% off at their online store with the coupon code: TRYITMOM.  

This giveaway has ended.

Patemm Pad Review & Giveaway

The nice people at Patemm sent me their pad to try out on our big California Adventure.  I was super excited to use this for O in the hotels where we are staying along the way, because frankly, hotel carpets/comforters skeeve me out! 

He likes it!

This pad is great because it no matter how O stretched out his little limbs, he's always on the pad.  Our old changing pad was long and narrow, so his hands would always be grabbing around the changing table or floor.  Yuck!  The multiple pockets around the circumference of the pad can hold diapers, wipes, change of clothes, or whatever you need.

Yesterday morning I found another use for this pad.  JD is used to eating when he wakes up, but we were not ready to hit a restaurant.  We had packed some oatmeal and granola bars for this reason.  In the hotel, I assumed we could set him up at the desk, but it was too high for him when he was sitting in the chair, and it was making a mess.  So I put him on the floor with it.  It was better, but he was still spilling milk and some oatmeal on the carpet.  Then I thought to sit him on the "magic breakfast spot", and he sat on it (for the most part) and ate his breakfast.  I just wiped it down when he was done, and I didn't have to worry about him eating food off the yucky hotel carpet.  Awesome!!

He was dumping out his animal crackers before eating them, but I didn't have to worry about yucky hotel carpet because of the patemm pad!

Patemm is happy to offer my readers a 20% discount on their site with the code: TryItMom

One lucky reader will win a MANHATTAN MOMMA patemm pad made of CPSIA-certifited laminated cotton which is BOTH wipe down to clean and machine-washable.

The Manhattan Momma patemm pad

This giveaway has ended.  Random.org picked #58! Congrats beckeesdeals!

Loving Motherlove's More Milk

First, let me get this out of the way: You do not take More Milk because it tastes good.  Definitely not.


You take it because it works.


The nicer than nice people at Motherlove sent me a bottle of More Milk to try.  It couldn't have come at a better time.  The night before I started it, I went out to celebrate my best friend's 30th birthday.  O drank 12 oz. from my freezer stash while I was gone (12 oz.!!!!!), and I had only pumped 7 oz.  I was freaking out.  With JD, I had milk practically coming out of my ears.  He didn't take a bottle, but I still built a huge freezer stash that I used when I made his food.


By my second day taking More Milk (I took 1ml 4 times daily, as per the directions), I had a "fuller" feeling.  By the fourth day, I was pumping enough to replace what he was drinking from a bottle.  Now, a little over a week in, I am back to building up my freezer stash.  Wooo hoooo!


And there are other things to love about Motherlove.  Their products are certified organic, kosher, and cruelty free, and their Nurturing Life Foundation promotes breastfeeding and supports mothers-in-need nationwide.  Throughout 2011, Motherlove will be giving 10% of More Milk sales to the Best for Babes Foundation.  


Aside from More Milk, the company also sells products for pregnancy, birth, and baby.  There are great resources for expectant and new moms on their website, www.motherlove.com.


**UPDATE: Two days later & I am literally leaking- like when my milk first came in leaking.  I'm going to stop taking it for a bit, because I don't need it anymore!  wooohoooo This is awesome.

Beautiful Music! Beautiful Creatures!

We've been listening to this CD in my house for the last couple of weeks, and we're hooked!  Not only is the music catchy and rhythmic for JD, but it's also entertaining and educational for mom and dad too. (Who knew a warthog was an omnivore?  Who knew what an omnivore was?)  I even caught DH singing "Imvubu the Happiest Hippo", one of our favorite tracks, in the shower yesterday!  JD's favorite is "Lucas the Lazy Lion" mostly because it encourages him to roar and growl repeatedly.  I would totally listen to "The Night Song" while relaxing at night- even if I didn't have a baby.  It's amazingly calming.


"Beautiful Creatures was formed in South Africa in November 2004 by Alan Glass, Ed Jordan and Paul Choritz who felt there was a need for "Parent Friendly" children's music. Using the best session musicians, actors and singers in the country, Beautiful Creatures prides itself on being uniquely South African with a positive global message." 


You can learn more about the company here.  


Here is where you can order the CD, and here is where you can check out tracks on iTunes.  You won't regret it!

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I wish I had Dr. Carey's Baby Care Kit from Day 1!

My husband always embarrasses me at JD's check-ups because he asks so so so SO many questions.  I'll admit that they are good questions, and I want to hear the answers, but I don't want to be "those parents".   We chose our doctor very carefully, and she is incredibly patient with us, but I want to appear like we've done our homework and can handle the little guy.  The truth is, most of my info is obtained from skimming What To Expect: The First Year (who has time to really read all that- it's thicker than the Bible) and asking other moms on twitter.  

I wish I had Dr. Carey's Baby Care Kit from day one.  Not only are the items must-haves, but the incredibly informative book is a manageable 96 pages!  The pictures in this book are what make it far superior to any baby care book I've seen and would have saved me a lot of unnecessary worry.  For example, JD has Stork Bite on the back of his neck.  The picture on page 32 looked familiar, and it was reassuring to hear again that it is nothing to worry about.

Important note:  I would not read the chapter about messy diapers at the dinner table.  The pictures are priceless though.  None of my friends or family breast-fed, so I had no idea how different the diapers would be!  

More about the kit:

It comes with the book, Dr. Carey's Baby Care, a cute baby blanket, diaper rash ointment, pacifier, squirt bottle for homemade saline solution, digital thermometer, and a nose suction bulb.  The packaging is great- the box is even reusable.  It would be a perfect gift for new parents, or a great addition to your mommy library.

You can purchase a kit here for 49.95.  

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