Tommee Tippee Bottle Warmer

This summer I reviewed a few products from Tommee Tippee so when I was recently offered a chance to review more I was pretty excited.

I was sent the Closer to Nature Travel Bottle Warmer.  We no longer use bottles around here and neither of my kids ever needed their bottles warm but I can see how this would be a great product for some people.  I've known a few babies that refused to drink a bottle unless it was warm so I know their parents would love this.

The bottom part is a thermos that keeps the water warm.  The cover can be used as a bottle warmer.  You have the option of using the warm water to make a bottle or filling the cover with water and putting the bottle in it to warm.


I have a friend who is in labor as I write this and I know she will be traveling a lot so I'm planning on giving this to her and I look forward to hearing her opinion.  So far I have not been disappointed by Tommee Tippee products and I have a feeling she is going to like this one too.


Disclaimer - Bottle warmer was provided to me by Tommee Tippee and Mom Bloggers Club.  I was not compensated in any other way for my review.

Tommee Tippee Review

I've seen Tommee Tippee products in recent Toys"R"Us ads and wondered if they were a good product so I was excited when I was offered to review a few of the items.  Tommee Tippee is a popular brand in the UK that has just recently entered the US market.

The first item we tried was the water bottle.  I was a little skeptical when I gave it to my 13 month old because the water bottle is for a bit more advanced user and is recommended for 18+ months.  It turns out it was easy for him to use and he loves it.  I have a strange child in that he does not like cups with a valve in them so we have a hard time transporting liquids and we have to keep a close eye when he drinks at home to avoid spills.  This water bottle will be our new travel cup as the valve didn't bother him at all and it is spill proof.

Next, we tried the Explora Easi-Mat along with the weaning bowls.  I was excited to use the mat because it is supposed to keep bowls and plates in place.  Unfortunately, in about two seconds my toddler figured out how to undo the suction.  I love the concept for the mat and like that it can be rolled up for easy transportation but it did not work for my child.  I did like the weaning bowl and spoon though and like that there is a storage place in the lid for the spoon.  This would make an ideal bowl for on go.

Tommee Tippee products are all BPA free and are available at Toys"R"Us and Babies"R"Us.

Now through July 23, all Explora items are buy one, get one 50% off at Babiesrus.com.

Follow Tommee Tippee on Facebook or Twitter.

Disclosure: I was provided these products to review on behalf of Tommee Tippee and the Mom Bloggers Club.  No other compensation occurred.

Busy Mom's Bible Review

Zondervan sent me the Busy Mom's Bible to review. I've been looking for something quick and easy for my daily Bible time and this fits perfectly with what I need at this stage of my life.  There are 52 thought starters spread throughout the Bible.  Each one has a quick one minute verse and topic to read.  It then has options for if you have an extra five or ten minutes.  At the end of each thought starter is a "word to take with you today".  I like this because one word is pretty easy to remember and I can think on this topic as I go throughout my day.


There are other great features besides just the thought starters.  First of all, the cover is made in a fun pink leather.  Since it is pink, I don't think I'll have to worry about my husband or boys taking it.  Second, it has great references such as weights and measurements conversions, a concordance, and colorful maps.


I'm looking forward to using this Bible daily and think it would make a great gift for any new mom.

Disclaimer: Zondervan sent me the Bible to review, no other compensation occurred.

Baby Food Discovery

Last week you heard me mention our baby only wants baby food, not homemade food. Last night I discovered Big Lots sells stage 2 jars for thirty cents each. This is a significant discount. They didn't have a lot of choices but every little bit helps.

Then, this morning I ran to the dollar store for something and found an even wider variety 3 for $1. I checked at both places and the expiration dates were still good - some even had a year to go.

Eat from the Pantry Update

I'm happy to say that I'm clearing some things out of my freezer thanks to this challenge, but I'm not happy to say I'm going to have to up the budget a bit - there is no way we are going to make it this month on $100. This is due to three things I didn't account for:

1. One of our dogs has been sick for about 6 months. Her blood work finally came back normal last week but she is still having problems maintaining weight. In order to help her, we are to soften her food with whole milk. Between the kids and the dog, we went through 3 gallons of milk last week (and that doesn't count my soy milk). At $3 a gallon, that adds up quickly.

2. Our baby is having problems gaining weight also and we were told at his 6 month appointment to feed him as much as he would eat - starting with a min. of 3 jars of food a day (he was already eating 2 at this point). My goal the entire time with feeding was to grind up what we eat and let him have that for each meal. Think again. He loves baby food but he only loves it from a jar. I did a mix of jar and homemade food with our first but this one will only eat the jar kind. It adds up quickly but I will do anything to help this one maintain his weight.

3. My husband would decide out of the blue on the coldest day of the year that he suddenly needed to go to the store. He came home with about $10 of junk. That isn't a lot but when you are trying to only spend $100 for the month, that is 10% of the budget.

I'm still working on using up what is in our freezer and finding ways to utilize the random items I find in our pantry so the challenge is helpful. It is also helpful in that I still plan on spending less overall this month than normal so that extra can be moved to next month's budget as some of these expenses will not be going away for awhile.

How are all of you doing? Stay tuned this week as I plan to post some of the recipes I've been using with to help me with cleaning out the freezer and pantry.

A Week of Thanks: Healthy Family

Too often we take our family and our health for granted. This summer, when I went into labor exactly one month before my due date, I was scared of everything that could go wrong. Our youngest came out healthy though. This situation gave me a new appreciation for life and my healthy family. Take time today to give your family an extra hug.

Body After Baby: Week 8

This is the last week of the Body After Baby challenge at Mama Notes. I did very well last week with the water challenge but not so hot with the exercise. I did manage to get two days of exercise in though. Overall, I have lost 5 pounds during this challenge. As I've said before, I am a very slow loser while breastfeeding so I feel pretty good having lost five pounds. My challenge now is to keep those 5 lbs off during the holiday season. Congratulations to everyone on the challenge as I've seen some great results from many of you.

This is week 7 of the Body After Baby challenge at Mama Notes. Once again, I forgot to weigh this morning but I feel I did pretty good this week. My clothes are still feeling loose so that is a good sign.

Our challenge this past week was to get 8 hours of sleep. I was in bed by 9:30 every night but it was another rough week with the baby and my husband was called in to work several times in the night so 8 hours of sleep did not happen. I at least tried and that was the point of the challenge. We did get one night that was pretty good and the baby only woke up 3 times.

This week we are supposed to exercise for 30 minutes at a time and drink our water. I know water won't be an issue, I'm not too sure about exercise though. I did get some in today as I worked in the yard while my son played in the leaves. It was a beautiful day here and we played so hard outside we were exhausted this afternoon. I'm hoping for a few more nice days as I've enjoyed being outside lately.

Body After Baby: Week 6

Today starts week 6 of Mama Notes Body After Baby Challenge. I forgot to weigh this morning so I'm not sure how I did weight wise but my clothes are starting to fit a bit better so I'm thinking all the Halloween candy didn't cause too much damage.

I had to laugh at this week's challenge - get 8 hours of sleep. She says it is ok to get up to take care of the baby. Apparently she hasn't met my baby. For about 3 weeks now, our little guy has been up about 6 times a night and 4 of them are to feed. He was only up 1-2 times a night before he hit a growth spurt, then entered the 4 month wakeful period, then learned to roll over and practiced it all night, etc. I'm starting to feel like the zombie I was with our oldest. He was up 7 times a night for the first year of his life. So, I will do my best to get sleep this week by going to bed a bit earlier but I can't guarantee it will be quality sleep.

Good luck to everyone else in the challenge. It is hard to believe we are on the downhill stretch already.

Body After Baby: Week 5

Last week was a pretty good week for me on the Body After Baby Challenge over at Mama Notes. I did all 50 of my sit ups everyday except one and on that day I only managed 25. I'm happy to say, I also lost another pound. That makes three pounds since the challenge started. We are half way through and I would like to lose a few more pounds so I need to keep it up this week. There is no specific challenge this week but my goal is to keep up with the eating and exercise. Does chasing a preschooler count for exercise? Actually, we've had several rainy days lately and have been stuck inside so I've been challenging him to races around the couch and down the hall. It gives us both much needed exercise and quality time together.

Body After Baby: Week 4

This is week 4 of Mama Notes Body After Baby challenge. Last week's challenge was to eat better. I did really good until I went out of town. I actually planned to continue eating great then too but random circumstances kept me from it. For one, we planned on a great dinner at an Italian place Saturday night and when we arrived the wait was about an hour. I was not waiting around with a baby for an hour. We then went to a few other places nearby and they all had a long wait too so we wound up at the only place quick that was nearby and by then, I didn't care what I ate as long as it was food. On the positive side, I did a ton of walking while my husband was in his conference so I think I worked off a lot of the junk I ate. We were in Kansas City and I did The Legends and Crown Center twice each.

Since this challenge began, I've lost 2 pounds. I know that doesn't sound like a lot but I had plateaued for the 3 weeks before so I'm excited to finally see the scale moving again.

This week's challenge is sit ups. I don't think that will be a problem as I can do that while hanging out with my kids. I may wind up with a child jumping all over me, but that is ok.

Body After Baby: Week 3

I've survived the first two weeks of this eight week challenge that Mama Notes is hosting. Last week we were supposed to track our walking. I said I would find time to walk 3 days for 30 minutes. I wound up walking one day for 45 minutes and one for an hour so I kind of kept my promise - I got the time in, just not the days. The 45 minute walk was with my 3 year old and it was a huge workout. I'm not a runner, but he wanted to race almost the whole time. I'm not sure I've mentioned it before, but we think he is going to be a cross country runner. At age two, he was already able to run a mile!


This week's challenge is to eat healthy meals. I fell off the bandwagon on that last week so this is a great challenge to get me going this week. If you will remember, my husband was working insane hours last week. Due to this and a very cranky 3 year old, I never found time to go to the grocery store. He picked up milk one day on the way home from work but that was it. I had a few frozen veggies in my freezer and a few still left in my garden, but that was all the produce we had since I never made it to the store. By the end of the week, I was missing my produce. I made it to the store on Monday though so I'm stocked up again with lots of fruits and veggies and I have a meal plan in place.

Body After Baby Challenge: Week Two

This week is the second week of the Body After Baby Challenge from Mama Notes. Last week's challenge was to drink more water. I did good and upped my water intake for the week. I didn't do as well as I hoped in the Diet Coke area but I did decrease it so that counts, right? I've tried to limit myself to one serving per day and I even went two days without one.

This week's challenge is to walk. I love to walk but it will definitely be a challenge this week. I cannot take walks with my preschooler because he runs off and he can climb out of a stroller so that idea is out too. I have a treadmill but he likes to walk on that too which is dangerous. My husband normally watches the kids so I can walk or we go as a family so one can watch the baby and the other can chase the preschooler. Unfortunately, he is working at least 60 hours this week so there is little time for his help. I am committed to losing the weight though so I will try to get in at least 30 minutes 3 days this week. I know it isn't much, but I'm being realistic. I will report back next week on how I did. It really does help that all of my readers are keeping me accountable!

Body After Baby Challenge

The baby weight is not falling off like it did with my first child so when I saw this challenge, I knew I needed to jump on it. For the next 8 weeks, Mama Notes is having a Body After Baby Challenge. I've been working on changing bad habits that have crept in but I think this challenge will help keep me more accountable. For the record, it took me 9 months to lose the weight with my first, but I barely exercised . I know it will take at least 9 months to lose it again since I'm nursing, but I'm actually trying this time and it is still taking its precious time.


This week's challenge is to drink more water. I'm a huge water drinker but since having the second child, my Diet Coke habit has crept back in. I've been trying to curb it but it is a wonderful treat mid-afternoon when I'm physically and mentally exhausted. I'm going to work on limiting the soda to just a few times a week and focusing more on water. I will check back in next week and let you know how it goes, plus give details on the next challenge.


If anyone would like to join the challenge, head on over to Mama Notes for all the details.

Babywearing Week: Sleepy Wrap Review

This is me holding our newest edition while he sleeps in the Sleepy Wrap. Please excuse the strange look, I was caught off guard by the camera.

This week is International Babywearing Week so I thought I would highlight my favorite wrap. I was always intimidated by a wrap because it looks complicated but I finally took the plunge when our newest was only a few weeks old. I bought the Sleepy Wrap because it had good reviews and I could use my SwagBucks to purchase it from Amazon.com. After a few tries, I realized how easy it was to use and I wish I would have had it with our first child.

I had a Snugli with my first child and he hated it. Honestly, I'm not sure he would have liked any carrier because he simply hated being still for more than two seconds (and still does) but I think he would have liked the Sleepy Wrap better simply because there are various ways to hold the baby instead of just upright. With the second child, I bought a sling, thinking it would be the answer to carrying a newborn while chasing an active toddler. Turns out, the sling isn't for me. Our second child wasn't very happy in it but I was uncomfortable too so that may have contributed to it. I pulled out the Snugli and discovered our newborn wasn't big enough for it yet and that is when I set out on a mission to find something we both would like.

By the way, he is now big enough and my husband thinks the Snugli is the best thing ever. We actually have been known to fight over who would wear the baby because we love having him snuggled up next to us.

My favorite part of the Sleepy Wrap is that as long as I tie it tight, I do not have to re-tie it as you have to do with some wraps. The material is stretchy and conforms to your baby. I also like that it is easy to use and comes with a booklet showing you various ways to hold your baby. Once you get the basic wrap down, you do not have to learn more, just how to maneuver the parts to hold your baby in different ways.