Monday, September 28, 2009

Discovery Toys: Teach, Play and Inspire

Discovery Toys moto is Teach, Play, and Inspire. They believe that children grow to their fullest potential when parents are involved in play, and it seems that each of their toys are designed to deliver just that. We recently received four items from Discovery Toys for our mommies to try out with their own children. The toys that we received were the Marbleworks Deluxe Set, Go-Go Caterpillar, Roll & Play, and Sound Like Fun CD. Each of our mommies had an opportunity to play and interact with their children using these educational toys. We would love to share our findings with you.

I got to use the Roll and Play game with my 2-1/2 year old granddaughter and we had a ball! The game includes a large soft block, like a dice with different colors on each side, as well as colored activity cards. The child, or children, roll the large block and whatever color is on the top tells us which card to pick. If the Purple side of the block is on top then we pick a purple card and act out the activity on the card.

A little preparation is needed by the adult prior to playing the game, such as gathering props. As an example, one card says to "Hug a Teddy Bear", so I made sure we had a teddy bear nearby before we started playing the game. Since there was just the two of us playing we took turns rolling the block. Since Sydney is learning her colors it was fun to ask her what color was on top, then have her find that color card in the stack. I would read the instructions, they were very simple, like put your feet and hands in the air. A picture on the card clearly depicts how to do each activity, so after a while Sydney could even pretend to read the instructions herself.

This is a very interactive game where both parent and child get to be physical and have fun. I really enjoyed the game and thought it was a great way to include other lessons, like finding colors, counting, hunting for objects. Each activity presented the opportunity for additional lessons, like when we were suppose to ring the doorbell, we had to also open the door and figure out how to get up to the doorbell safely.


Jennifer received the Marbleworks Starter, Marbleworks Wild Ride, and Marbleworks Crank-it Up toys and here is what she thought...

The Marbleworks Deluxe was given to my 8 year old son M, a few weeks ago and he absolutely loves it. He will play with it for hours, almost every night. My husband enjoys playing with M and the Marbleworks toy too.

The Marbleworks deluxe kit included the Marbleworks Starter set which has 46 pieces that include colorful tubes, chutes, and bases that can be connected in numerous ways. It also comes with 10 marbles to race through the set, although my 4-1/2 year old ate one of the marbles the first day we had it because she thought they were candy. The addition of the Wild Ride & Crank-it Up accessory sets made for even more excitement.

Crank-It up is a one piece set that sends the marbles speeding through your Marbleworks creation. You turn the crank to set the marble in motion and as you spin the handle the gears grab hold of the marble and lifts it through the tube, sending it racing through the set. The Wild Ride consists of a spiral flume and chute that you also attach to send the marble racing. The Marbleworks accessory sets add even more fun and creative play to the main set and are a GREAT buy at only $15 per set!

Not only is Marbleworks super fun, but it is also educational. It is great for fine motor development and problem solving. The set is very sturdy and durable. I believe that Marbleworks would be a great purchase at any price because this is something that M will play with for years to come.

The toy is recommended for children ages 5+ but I don't think I would recommend it for children under the age of 7 or 8 without close supervision because of the choking hazard. The Marbleworks set takes time to put together and some help from an adult is needed, but once it is put together it provides hours of fun.

My only complaint would be that the storage container for theMarbleworks should be more durable, but overall I think that this is a must-have for parents with children over 7 years of age. I know that my children will be enjoying this toy for years to come.



Whitney tested the Go-Go Caterpillar and the Sound Like Fun CD, here are her thoughts.

The Go-Go Caterpillar was definitely a huge hit with both of my kids. The Caterpillar body has very vibrant colors that makes it look fun and holds a babies attention! My 2-1/2 year old daughter, "Miss Independent" loves it because she feels so accomplished when she pushes the middle of the caterpillar down into a flat position then lets it go and caterpillar goes racing off across the room. I think its an awesome toy for my 9 month old son also. He cannot yet push it down to make it go, but he recently started crawling so he grabs the caterpillar with one hand and uses it to crawl faster. It is so cute to see him and the caterpillar crawling across the floor. Together my kids have fun with the Go-Go Caterpillar because my daughter pushes it down and my son goes crawling after it. It is a great activity for them to do together, but I may have to purchase a second one so they will each have their own.

I think the Go-Go Caterpillar is very reasonably priced at $15.00. I would recommend this toy to anyone with active, imaginative babies.


We played the Sound Like Fun CD in Sydney's playroom, thinking it would be up-beat toddler music, but it was rather slow. The songs were cute and slow enough that the pronunciation of every word could be clearly heard but we thought it would make a better nap-time music CD. It seemed to have a calming effect which was not necessarily a bad thing. We think that Discovery Toy should re-market this toy as a calming music CD or a bedtime CD and it would be a hit.

The kind folks at Discovery Toys have offered to give one of their great toys to one of our Lucky Readers. The lucky winner will be able to pick a single toy from their new Fall Catalog with a maximum value of $50.00, that includes about 90% of their products!

To WIN a Discovery Toy for your child, here is what you need to do:

Entries in this particular giveaway are limited to the US & Canada only.

FIRST, you must complete the Mandatory Entry by visiting the Discovery Toys website to see view their new Fall Catalog. Then comment below to tell us what toy you would like for your child if you should win. Be sure to include your email address in the comment so I can contact you if you win. To prevent bots from picking up your email address and sending you spam, please enter your email address as: "BloggerMommies at gmail dot com"

After completing the mandatory entry above, you can get additional entries by doing any or all of these tasks: (you must leave each entry in a separate comment in order for them to each count.)

~ Become a Follower this blog. (then post in the comment box to say you are now a follower of this blog.)

~ Subscribe to our Posts or Comment feeds. (Then comment about that too)

~ Follow @teachermom22 on Twitter. (then tell us that you follow @teachermom22 on Twitter & post your Twitter name in the comment box)

~ Follow @BloggerMommies on Twitter (then tell us that you follow on twitter & post your Twitter Name in the comment box)

~ Tweet about this Review & Giveaway on Twitter, you must include at least the following in your tweet but feel free to add your own words too: Discovery Toys: Teach, Play & Inspire. Win up to a $50 Toy! @BloggerMommies http://tinyurl.com/ye38znt (Copy & Paste as it is, to prevent errors in your tweet.) You may tweet this up to 3 times per day, no more often than every 4 hours. Be sure to post a comment here immediately after each time you tweet and include your Twitter ID & link to your status in the comment box (I will reject any comments that say "tweeted yesterday, or earlier this morning", comments must be submitted within an hour of when tweet posted).

~ Become a Fan of BloggerMommies on Facebook. (then come back here and mention that in your comment, include your facebook name in the comment.)

~ Link to Us: Grab our 'Button' in the right-hand column and post it somewhere on your blog or websites home page. Then copy the exact page address from your browser window and post that in the comment box. Note: If it takes me more than 30 seconds to find it on your blog it will not count, please don't put it on a hidden page or on one of those really long scrolling blog rolls.

*NOTE: Your comments will not immediately appear because they have to be verified & approved first.

This Giveaway will end on Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 5:00pm (Mountain Time). One random comment will be chosen at that time. The winning comment will be verified at that time so if you said you follow the blog in your comment and we don't find you in the follow list, we will choose another winner. The winner will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to reply with their name and shipping address. If a response is not received within 48 hours that winner will forfeit the prize and a new winner will be selected. Sorry, no exceptions. [08109-18635]

Good Luck to Everyone!
Posted by Anna D (Admin) at 7:08 AM 332 comments
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Sunday, September 27, 2009

Skitter the Self-Propelled Ride On Toy

Have you heard of the Skitter? It is a self propelled ride on toy. Don't ask me how it works, I don't really understand that myself, but somehow turning the steering wheel back and forth in quick quarter turns causes the Skitter to move forward. No batteries required...they run on pure kid energy!

I recently received one from Michael Newhouse, CEO of SkitterToys, an American company, based in Southern California. The Skitter is recommended for kids age 2 and up so I thought I would let my 2-1/2 year old granddaughter give it a try. She has lots of ride on toys, but most are either motorized or the type that you just push with your feet to make them go. I thought the Skitter might be kind of fun for her since you have to move the steering wheel in order to make it go forward.

We received the bright Pink Skitter (her favorite color) in box with only minor assembly required, unfortunately the box did not include assembly or operating instructions. Not a big deal though, we were able to quickly locate both instructions on the SkitterToys website and got it put together in short order. The Skitter they sent us also included the new upgraded Polyurethane Wheels that are suppose to give you a quieter, smoother ride. We immediately changed out the wheels so I have no idea how the old wheels would have performed.

When we first let Sydney use the Skitter she didn't understand that she needed to put her feet on the top and use the steering wheel to make it go, that was a totally new concept for her. She kept trying to use her feet to push it around.

Her daddy actually had to get on the Skitter himself to show her how to make it go forward. That was pretty funny because his legs were way too long to sit on the Skitter for long. I took her to the smooth surface of the back storeroom of our store where she could safely ride to her hearts content without worrying about traffic or uneven surfaces. After giving her just a few minutes of instructions to 'twist' the steering wheel back and forth just in tiny amounts, she was able to make the Skitter move forward. Watch these two very quick videos of her in action.

Watch Skitter Lesson 1 (21 seconds)
Watch Skitter Lesson 2 (20 seconds)

I had to remind her a few times to put her feet up but very quickly she realized that SHE was making it go forward by moving the steering wheel back and forth. That was all it took, she was working the Skitter back and forth across the room. By mere accident she turned the steering wheel completely around and started working it back and forth and discovered that she was now going backwards. It was so fun to watch her ride it across the room then get off and turn it around to ride it back across the room again.

She will have to practice a while before she gets the turning around part, but she loves it as it is now. She was having fun and getting lots of exercise riding the Skitter around the storeroom. I will have to get her some pads and a helmet before she takes it outdoors, but I think it will be great for riding in the paved area of the park, well away from the street or parking lots.

The weight limit is 150 lbs and they come in six different colors so it would be great for any age boy or girl (and some adults). If my 2-1/2 year old granddaughter can figure it out in just a few minutes of practice, than anyone could learn to ride the Skitter.

Michael is offering a Skitter Ride On Toy to one (**SEE UPDATE BELOW**) of our Lucky Readers, so if you would like to try one out, just follow the instructions below to enter to win one of your own. Visit the SkitterToys website to purchase one now. If you have more than one child you know you are going to need more than one. The are reasonably priced at $69.95, but I see that they are on sale, as of the posting of this review, for just $55.95! (the upgraded wheels cost extra)

***UPDATE 10/7/09: SkitterToy is so pleased with the response to this review that they have upped the Prize!!! They will now award 1 Skitter for Every 100 Entries!! As of the moment of this update we have 162 Entries so only another 38 entries and they will award TWO SKITTERS! If we reach 300 Entries before the Wednesday Oct 14th Deadline, they will award THREE SKITTERS!! And so on!

To WIN a Skitter for your child, here is what you need to do:

Entries in this particular giveaway are limited to the US only.

FIRST, you must complete the Mandatory Entry by visiting the SkitterToy website to see all of the colors and learn more about the Skitter Ride On Toy. Then comment below to tell us what color your child would like to have if you win. Be sure to include your email address in the comment so I can contact you if you win. To prevent bots from picking up your email address and sending you spam, please enter your email address as: "BloggerMommies at gmail dot com"

After completing the mandatory entry above, you can get additional entries by doing any or all of these tasks: (you must leave each entry in a separate comment in order for them to each count.)

~ Become a Follower this blog. (then post in the comment box to say you are now a follower of this blog.)

~ Subscribe to our Posts or Comment feeds. (Then comment about that too)

~ Follow @SkitterToys on Twitter. (then tell us that you follow @SkitterToys on Twitter & post your Twitter name in the comment box)

~ Follow @BloggerMommies on Twitter (then tell us that you follow on twitter & post your Twitter Name in the comment box)

~ Tweet about this Review & Giveaway on Twitter, you must include at least the following in your tweet but feel free to add anything else too: I'm trying to Win a SKITTER, the Self-Propelled Ride On Toy, @BloggerMommies http://tinyurl.com/ybtujhl -1 for every 100 entries!! (Copy & Paste as it is, to prevent errors in your tweet.) You may tweet this up to 3 times per day, no more often than every 4 hours. Be sure to post a comment here immediately after each time you tweet and include your Twitter ID & link to your status in the comment box (I will reject any comments that say "tweeted yesterday, or earlier this morning", comments must be submitted within an hour of when tweet posted).

~ Become a Fan of BloggerMommies on Facebook. (then come back here and mention that in your comment, include your facebook name in the comment.)

~ Link to Us: Grab our 'Button' in the right-hand column and post it somewhere on your blog or websites home page. Then copy the exact page address from your browser window and post that in the comment box. Note: If it takes me more than 30 seconds to find it on your blog it will not count, please don't put it on a hidden page or on one of those really long scrolling blog rolls.

~ Blog about this giveaway on or before October 12, 2009 and receive 3 Entries! Must mention new updated prize award of 1 Skitter for every 100 entries to qualify. (Comment with the URL to your blog post and #1 entry, #2 entry, and #3 entry) Note: Do NOT copy & paste this blog post to your blog, that is not "blogging about this giveaway", that is copyright infringement and is against the law.

~ I will even give you an extra entry if you watch the two short video's included in this review and tell me what you think. (after watching the two video's, return here and comment about them. )

*NOTE: Your comments will not immediately appear because they have to be verified & approved first.

This Giveaway will end on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 5:00pm (Mountain Time). One random comment will be chosen at that time. The winning comment will be verified at that time so if you said you follow the blog in your comment and we don't find you in the follow list, we will choose another winner. The winner will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to reply with their name and shipping address. If a response is not received within 48 hours that winner will forfeit the prize and a new winner will be selected. Sorry, no exceptions. [07950-16876]

Good Luck to Everyone!
Posted by Anna D (Admin) at 1:51 PM 609 comments
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ScareMeNot Dolls Take the Scary Out of Bedtime


We recently had the pleasure of testing Innovative Toy’s award winning line of ScareMeNots™. These "Plush with a Purpose to Protect” dolls are not only adorable, they really make children feel safe & protected at night. When Carl Restivo, president of Innovative Toy's, contacted me about possibly doing a review of their dolls, I was a little skeptical that these dolls would do any more than other dolls that we as parents and grandparents have purchased in hopes of bringing some nighttime comfort for our little ones.

I know from my own experience that making a toddler or child feel safe sleeping alone in their own room can be difficult. Mom's can feel a mix of heartbreak and frustration when a child expresses fear of sleeping alone in their room. We try to comfort them and offer reassurance that there is nothing in the closet or under the bed that is going to hurt them.

When I saw the ScareMeNots and read their stories I thought, "These 'good' monsters just might be worth a try." Two of our mommies received a ScareMeNot for their daughters. Whitney's 2-1/2 year old daughter received Watchdog Wally and Katy's 19 month old daughter received Guardian Gus. Here is what they thought of the ScareMeNot dolls.


Whitney: (Watchdog Wally)

When I first heard about the ScareMeNot dolls I was so excited to have one. I thought, "What a wonderful idea!!" Kids are scared of monsters so introducing monsters to protect them is just brilliant.

My daughter isn't so much afraid of monsters, as she is of noises, dark, etc. She currently sleeps with a pile of dolls, to make her feel safe, so many that she barely has enough room in her bed for herself. Even with all of those dolls she still ends up in our bed probably 5 out of 7 nights a week. But all of that was before we were given 'Watchdog Wally' for Sydney.

When he first arrived I read through all of the information and background of ScareMeNots. He was so cute! I decided that I would not just hand him over to her right away. I sat her down and read to her all about Wally and how he was going to keep her safe at night, incorporating her name into the story. She was so excited when I finally gave Watchdog Wally to her that she hugged him and immediately ran downstairs and climbed into bed.

Watchdog Wally is bright orange and very big, he sits 14" wide and 14" tall and is 33" long with his tail fully extended. He has a Velcro patch on his tail so you can make a loop out of his tail and hang him on the door knob or off the bed post or even put his long tail between the mattresses so he hangs out the side of the bed to protect the bed during the daytime. He has 3 eyes and a large hole where his nose should be. As is explains in the packet of information, each ScareMeNot has individual superhero like traits. Watchdog Wally has an impeccable sense of smell which is why his nose is a large hole, so he can better smell from both sides and all around.

Since Watchdog Wally has entered our lives, Sydney only wants Watchdog Wally in her bed and has only ended up in our bed 1 out of 14 nights! We think that's a sign that she feels much better sleeping in her own room. She even takes Wally when she goes to spend the night at her nanny & papa's house. I would recommend the ScareMeNot dolls to anyone, even if your child doesn't seem afraid at all. These ScareMeNots are too cute to pass up.


Katy: (Guardian Gus)

What a great product! K received "Guardian Gus." The monster comes with a cute short story about how the monster is use to protect your little one. Gus has eyes on his hands so he can look under doors, in closets, and around curtains. His long tail is made into a loop with a piece of Velcro so it can be used as a handle so your little one has a good grip when its time to look under the bed.

When it was time for me to give the monster to K we sat down together to read the story. After the story I showed her the picture of the monster then told her to go look in her closet, she was so excited to find him she wouldn't put him down. I found at bed time that she went to bed easier, without 30 minutes of fussing, and she also slept though the night which was great because K has never been a good sleeper.

The monster is so cute and soft and just the right size at 19" tall and 26" long with the tail extended. Gus also stands by himself so he can stand at attention for your little one. I got so many compliments about the monster. K's grandpa thought it was the greatest idea. He told me about when I was little and I got afraid of the boogie man or the monster under my bed and there really wasn't anything to make me feel safe other then a night light in my room, that didn't work most of the time! He's so excited about Guardian Gus that he wants to buy the whole set of ScareMeNots for my kids. He was even more thrilled when I told him the price just $24.99! I think anyone having trouble with there little ones being afraid at night should definitely look into this wonderful product!


There are 6 ScareMeNots to choose from, each with their own Superhero-like talents & stories to share. The recommended age range is 3 to 9 years however, the children in this review were both under age 3. They love their ScareMeNot's and both felt safer sleeping alone in their room after receiving a ScareMeNot. I think everyone should give one to their child, grandchild, niece or nephew that is fearful of sleeping alone in their room, no matter what their age. At a price of just $24.99 each, and free shipping if you buy 2 or more, it will bring you and your little one some pretty inexpensive peace of mind.

Innovative Toys has generously offered to give a ScareMeNot doll to one of our Lucky Readers. If you would like to enter to win one for your child just follow the instructions below. You can also visit ScareMeNot's website to purchase one (or more) now!



To WIN a ScareMeNot for your little one, here is what you need to do:

Entries in this particular giveaway are limited to the US only.

FIRST, you must complete the Mandatory Entry by visiting the ScareMeNot website to see all of the ScareMeNot dolls and read their stories. Then comment below to tell us the name of the ScareMeNot doll that you think would make your child feel protected. Be sure to include your email address in the comment so I can contact you if you win. To prevent bots from picking up your email address and sending you spam, please enter your email address as: "BloggerMommies at gmail dot com"

After completing the mandatory entry above, you can get additional entries by doing any or all of these tasks: (you must leave each entry in a separate comment in order for them to each count.)

~ Become a Follower this blog. (then post in the comment box to say you are now a follower of this blog.)

~ Subscribe to our Posts or Comment feeds. (Then comment about that too)

~ Follow @ScareMeNot on Twitter. (then tell us that you follow @ScareMeNot on Twitter & post your Twitter name in the comment box)

~ Follow @BloggerMommies on Twitter (then tell us that you follow on twitter & post your Twitter Name in the comment box)

~ Tweet about this Review & Giveaway on Twitter, you must include at least the following in your tweet but feel free to add anything else too: ScareMeNot's take the Scary out of Bedtime, WIN one @BloggerMommies http://tinyurl.com/y86mrp7 (Copy & Paste as it is, to prevent errors in your tweet.) You may tweet this up to 3 times per day, no more often than every 4 hours. Be sure to post a comment here immediately after each time you tweet and include your Twitter ID & link to your status in the comment box (I will reject any comments that say "tweeted yesterday, or earlier this morning", comments must be submitted within an hour of when tweet posted).

~ Become a Fan of BloggerMommies on Facebook. (then come back here and mention that in your comment, include your facebook name in the comment.)

~ Link to Us: Grab our 'Button' in the right-hand column and post it somewhere on your blog or websites home page. Then copy the exact page address from your browser window and post that in the comment box. Note: If it takes me more than 30 seconds to find it on your blog it will not count, please don't put it on a hidden page or on one of those really long scrolling blog rolls.

*NOTE: Your comments will not immediately appear because they have to be verified & approved first.

This Giveaway will end on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 5:00pm (Mountain Time). One random comment will be chosen at that time. The winning comment will be verified at that time so if you said you follow the blog in your comment and we don't find you in the follow list, we will choose another winner. The winner will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to reply with their name and shipping address. If a response is not received within 48 hours that winner will forfeit the prize and a new winner will be selected. Sorry, no exceptions. [07868 - 16425]

Posted by Anna D (Admin) at 8:29 AM 204 comments
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Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Glow-In-The-Dark Light Switch Extension For Kids!

If you are the parent or grandparent of a toddler than you know that their favorite thing to say is, "I Can Do It Myself!" I hear that from my granddaughter Sydney, probably fifteen times a day. She doesn't want help getting up into chairs or inserting the straw in her juice box or even turning the water on and off when she washes her hands. She is 2-1/2 years old, going on 10!

But there is one thing that she cannot do by herself and that is turn the lights on and off, unless she climbs up on whatever objects she finds nearby or unless an adult lifts her up to reach the light switch. But that is not the case now that I discovered the KidSwitch created by Greg & Wendy O'Sullivan.

The KidSwitch is a Glow-In-The-Dark light switch extension for use by Toddlers! As you probably already know, my granddaughter Sydney comes to work at my baby store everyday. She likes to pretend that she actually 'works' there, so it's her job to turn the lights on in the morning and off at night. Until now, I had to lift her up so she could reach the light switch, but not any more!

The KidSwitch is an extension stick that easily attaches to your existing light switch. You only need to replace the two existing screws on the face plate with the ones provided with the KidSwitch. The bottom of the extension stick has a cute half-moon shape, it reminds me of the "Cow Jumped Over the Moon" nursery rhyme. The child simply grabs the half-moon and pulls down to turn the light off and pushes it up to turn the light on. And the KidSwitch does not interfere with adult use of the light switch.


Sydney mastered it within seconds, with only a few tries and very little instructions. Teaching her to use the KidSwitch was also a great opportunity to teach her 'pull', 'push', 'up' & 'down'. Now when we arrive at the store in the morning Sydney runs to 'her' light switch to turn the register area lights on, and at the end of the day she runs to turn them off again, 'all by herself'. She feels so independent and responsible with her own lights to control. My daughter is now installing 2 KidSwitches in their home for Sydney too, one in her bedroom and one in the bathroom, since she is now potty training, she may need to get up during the night to use the bathroom.



I think the KidSwitch is one of the best inventions for toddlers since the Pull-Up pants!

The KidSwitch company has been in business since 1995 and has hundreds of positive feedbacks from their many happy customers. Before agreeing to do this review I sat down and read the comments left by over 200 users...Yes, I read more than 200 comments! I found that 97% of the users were super pleased with the KidSwitch and would gladly recommend them to their friends, while only about 3% wouldn't. No wonder they were voted the #1 consumer rated child safety product for 2008 at Buzzillions.com.

That is pretty impressive, but apparently not impressive enough for Greg & Wendy, because they listened to the 3% that were not happy and took the KidSwitch back to the drawing board to be re-engineered to resolve all of the complaints by those 3%. And they weren't done yet, just recently they also introduced the KidSwitch in 2 new colors, Pink & Blue!

I love the KidSwitch so much that I decided to stock them in my store! I highly recommend them to all parents, grandparents, and care takers of toddlers. They are reasonably priced online for around $8.95 each, plus you can save $1 when you by two, $3 when you buy three, and $6 when you buy four!

Greg & Wendy of KidSwitch have generously offered to provide a FREE KidSwitch to Four (4) of our Lucky Readers! Just follow the instructions below to enter to Win a KidSwitch! Since you know you are going to want more than one of these, please visit the KidSwitch website to purchase more of them right now! They are having an 'End of Summer Sale' until September 30th, so for a limited time you can even get Free Shipping!

To WIN a KidSwitch, here is what you need to do:

Entries into this particular giveaway are limited to the US & Canada.

FIRST, you must complete the Mandatory Entry by commenting below to tell us what is the age of your toddler(s) and what rooms you would like to have a KidSwitch installed in. Be sure to include your email address in the comment so I can contact you if you win. To prevent bots from picking up your email address and sending you spam, please enter your email address as: "BloggerMommies at gmail dot com"

After completing the mandatory entry above, you can get additional entries by doing any or all of these tasks: (you must leave each entry in a separate comment in order for them to each count.)

~ Become a Follower this blog. (then post in the comment box to say you are now a follower of this blog.)

~ Follow @BloggerMommies on Twitter. (then tell us that you follow on twitter & post your Twitter Name in the comment box)

~ Follow @KidSwitch on Twitter. (then tell us that you follow @KidSwitch on Twitter & post your Twitter name in the comment box)

~ Become a Fan of BloggerMommies on Facebook. (then come back here and post your facebook name in the comment box.)

~ Become a Fan of KidSwitch on Facebook. (then tell us you are now a fan of KidSwitch on Facebook, include your Facebook name in the comment box)

~ Tweet about this Prize & Giveaway on Twitter, you must include at least the following in your tweet: I want to be 1 of 4 WINNERS of a KidSwitch for my Toddler! @BloggerMommies http://tinyurl.com/nc23m9 (Copy & Paste as it is, to prevent errors in your tweet.) You may tweet this up to 3 times per day, no more often than every 4 hours. Be sure to post a comment here immediately after each time you tweet and include your Twitter ID in the comment box (I will reject any comments that say "tweeted yesterday, or earlier this morning", comments must be submitted within an hour of when tweet posted).

~ Link to Us: Grab our 'Button' in the right-hand column and post it somewhere on your blog or websites home page. Then copy the exact page address from your browser window and post that in the comment box.

~ Subscribe to our Posts or Comment feeds. (Then comment about that too)

If you do not see the Comment Box, click on the 'comments' link below.
*NOTE: Your comments will not immediately appear because they have to be verified & approved first.

This Giveaway will end on Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 5:00pm (Mountain Time). Four (4) random comments will be chosen at that time. The winners will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to reply with their name and shipping address. If a response is not received within 48 hours that winner will forfeit the prize and a new winner will be selected. Sorry, no exceptions. [06069]

Good Luck to Everyone!
Be sure to take alook at our other Reviews, you could win more great stuff too!


WE HAVE FOUR WINNERS!!
Details will be posted on our Winners Page once the winners reply to their confirmation email.
Posted by Anna D (Admin) at 7:31 PM 79 comments
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Sunday, September 6, 2009

The Baby Dipper Bowl for Babies or Toddlers!

Barbara Schantz, mother of not one, but two sets of twins, knows a thing or two about the daunting task of feeding babies from a regular bowl. Trying to feed two babies at one time proved to be nearly impossible without making a mess of everyone. Trying to hold the bowl, keep babies hands from catapulting the contents of the spoon across the room and scooping the last of the baby food without chasing the bowl all over the table was a problem that she faced at every feeding time. So she created the Baby Dipper Bowl.

The Baby Dipper Bowl, which is both Phthalate & Lead Free, is triangular shaped with low sides that are a translucent blue so you can see the contents through the sides of the bowl. The inside of the bowl has a contoured shape with one of the three corners being lower than the others to allow food to naturally gravitate toward that lower end. The bottom of this bowl also has a non-skid surface to keep the bowl in place, even when you are scraping the edges for the last morsel of food. Unlike bowls with a suction bottom that don’t work on tile table tops since they cannot make a tight seal, the non-skid bottom of the Baby Dipper Bowl works on any surface.

As the owner of a baby store I’ve had the opportunity to see and use many different types of baby & toddler bowls. They each have a unique shape, size, or a feature to help a toddler who is just learning to feed them self. However, none of them have all of these features in a single bowl, other than the Baby Dipper Bowl. So, when I first heard about the Baby Dipper Bowl I ordered them to sale in my store because I knew they would be great for moms feeding their babies as well as for toddlers, like my 2 year old granddaughter, who are learning to feed themselves.

And what a mess an independent two year old can make feeding themselves. My granddaughter loves to go out to lunch with me and her favorite food is cottage cheese. When we go to lunch at our favorite sandwich shop, they either bring her cottage cheese in a small condiment type dish, which is way too small so it tips over when she puts her spoon in it, or they bring it in a soup cup with tall sides that cause her to scoop too much on her spoon, which then it spills on the table and her lap. So we decided to give the Baby Dipper the ‘Toddler Test’.

The next day we went out to lunch again and this time we brought the Baby Dipper Bowl with us. She ordered her usual side of cottage cheese. When they served our meals I put her cottage cheese into the Baby Dipper Bowl. The no-skid bottom prevented the bowl from moving all over the table while she was trying to use it. The low sides and triangle shape made it easy for her to scoop a bite of cottage cheese without getting too much on her spoon or tipping the bowl on its side. And the contoured interior shape helped her food work its way down to the lower corner where she could easily scoop up the very last bit of cottage cheese, which made her very happy. Hooray, Success! She managed to eat the entire bowl of cottage cheese without tipping, spilling, or dropping any of it! In this picture you will notice that she is not wearing a bib, like she usually does and that she is not covered in cottage cheese, nor is the table!

I absolutely LOVE this bowl! It was originally created to allow one-handed feeding by moms, and it works wonderfully for that, but it’s also fantastic for toddlers.

Watch this 2 minute demonstration video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9HymLUi5Rg

The Baby Dipper Bowl comes with a soft-tipped spoon specially shaped to fit nicely in the Baby Dipper Bowl. The spoon is perfectly sized for feeding small babies but my granddaughter uses her own curved spoon for toddlers, which also works well with this bowl.

Barbara, the creator of this wonderful bowl, has generously offered to send One FREE Baby Dipper Bowl with matching spoon, to One of our Lucky Readers! If you don't want to wait to see if you win, or if you want more than one bowl, which is always nice, Barbara is offering a 10% discount off of the retail price to our readers who use the code 'BLOGMOMS' for up to 5 Baby Dipper sets purchased (at one time) now through Sept 15, 2009! Click here or on the picture below to shop for Baby Dipper Bowls.


To WIN the Baby Dipper Bowl,
here is what you need to do:

Entries into this particular giveaway are limited to the US only.

FIRST, you must complete the Mandatory Entry by commenting below to tell what are the ages of your baby (or babies) and why you would like to win a Baby Dipper Bowl. Be sure to include your email address in the comment so I can contact you if you win. To prevent bots from picking up your email address and sending you spam, please enter your email address as: "BloggerMommies at gmail dot com"

After completing the mandatory entry above, you can get additional entries by doing any or all of these tasks: (you must leave each entry in a separate comment in order for them to each count.)

~ Become a Follower this blog. (then post in the comment box to say you are now a follower of this blog.)

~ Follow us on Twitter. (then tell us you now follow & post your Twitter Name in the comment box)

~ Follow Barbara @BabyDipper on Twitter. (then tell us you are now follow & post your Twitter name in the comment box)

~ Become a Fan of Baby Dipper Bowl on Facebook. (then tell us you are now a fan of Baby Dipper Bowl on Facebook, include your Facebook name in the comment box)

~ Become a public follower of Barbara's Blog, "My Double Life". (then tell us you are now a follower and include your follower ID in the comment box)

~ Tweet about this Prize & Giveaway on Twitter, you must include at least the following in your tweet: I want to Win a Baby Dipper Bowl! @BloggerMommies http://tinyurl.com/l2vluu (Copy & Paste as it is, to prevent errors in your tweet.) You may tweet this up to 3 times per day, no more often than every 4 hours. Be sure to post a comment here immediately after each time you tweet and include your Twitter ID in the comment box (I will reject any comments that say "tweeted yesterday, or earlier this morning", comments must be submitted within an hour of when tweet posted).

~ Become a Fan of BloggerMommies on Facebook. (then come back here and post your facebook name in the comment box.)

~ Link to Us: Grab our 'Button' in the right-hand column and post it somewhere on your blog or websites home page. Then copy the exact page address from your browser window and post that in the comment box.

~ Subscribe to our Posts or Comment feeds. (Then comment about that too)

If you do not see the Comment Box, click on the 'comments' link below.
*NOTE: Your comments will not immediately appear because they have to be verified & approved first.

This Giveaway will end on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 at 5:00pm (Mountain Time). A random comment will be chosen at that time. The winner will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to reply with their name and shipping address. If a response is not received within 48 hours that winner will forfeit the prize and a new winner will be selected. Sorry, no exceptions. [05703-07651]

Good Luck to Everyone!
Be sure to take alook at our other Reviews, you could win more great stuff too!


WE HAVE A WINNER!!
Details will be posted on our Winners Page once the winner replies to their confirmation email.
Posted by Anna D (Admin) at 12:23 PM 52 comments
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Thursday, September 3, 2009

BABY 4-1-1 (A Baby Shower Game)

With one of our mommies being pregnant, we are all thinking about her upcoming baby shower. One thing that is always done at baby showers are games. You are probably quite familiar with the usual games, pins in the bottle, guess the measurements of mom's belly, wearing a diaper pin until someone catches you saying the word 'baby', but now there is a new baby shower game that is not only fun, it's educational. It's called Baby 4-1-1 and it was invented by Daphne Hennesey, who was assigned the job of planning the baby shower games for a friends shower. She was always fielding questions from new moms about labor & delivery, taking care of a newborn and such, so she decided to create her own game for the shower that would teach the mom-to-be some of this stuff and allow the experienced moms to show off their knowledge.


Daphne sent us a Baby 4-1-1 game to review. Since Anna L is due in January, we thought it most appropriate that she do the review. Although her baby shower is not planned until early December, she has had the opportunity to play the game with her friends and even her husband. Here is her review...


When I first got home with the new Baby 4-1-1 game, I set it up and started putting the cards in the slots, and low and behold my husband wanted to play! So I read the questions which were very easy to read and understand, and he would answer. Some of the questions we knew because this will be our second baby, but some I really didn't know at all! The instructions were very easy to understand, as the game is played much like Jeopardy.You can have 2-20 people playing. If you have more than 6 people it is suggested that you play in teams. One person from each team pick's a category and what dollar amount they want, then someone reads the question (usually the guest of honor). If someone from that team answers the question correctly, that team wins the money for that question. Then the next team picks a question. The game goes on until all of the cards are gone. The winner is the person or team with the most money!


A few sample questions are:

Q. How soon should you go to the hospital after your water breaks?
A. Immediately
Dollar Amount $2

Q. What is the color of most newborns hands and/or feet?
A. Bluish (I didn't know that one)
Dollar Amount $3

Q. What does SIDS stand for?
A. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
Dollar Amount $2

My friend came over and I pulled out the Baby 4-1-1 game. We had a blast playing it. Sometimes we would end up talking about the questions for awhile and sharing our different experience's. She really liked the game, and also thought it was neat that it had 'Baby Bucks'. We thought it would be even more fun with more people playing, make it a race for the money! My friend said she would like to have the Baby 4-1-1 game too. I really think this is great for someone who is getting ready to have their first child or even a second or third! I can't wait to use the Baby 411 game at my baby shower, I think it's going to be a hit!

 I would definitely recommend the Baby 4-1-1 game to a friend having a baby! You can learn a lot as a new information for first time moms and it even helps you refresh if it's your 2nd or 3rd child. At just $14.95 I think it would make a great baby shower gift that could be used at the shower. I wish there was another game for AFTER the baby is born as well!

If you would like to purchase the Baby 4-1-1 game for your next baby shower, visit the Baby 4-1-1 website to make your purchase.

Daphne has graciously offered to award a Baby 4-1-1 game to one of our Lucky Readers!

To WIN the Baby 4-1-1 game here is what you need to do:

FIRST, you must complete the Mandatory Entry by commenting below to tell why you would like to Win this game. Be sure to include your email address in the comment so I can contact you if you win. To prevent bots from picking up your email address and sending you spam, please enter your email address as: "BloggerMommies at gmail dot com"

After completing the mandatory entry above, you can get additional entries by doing any or all of these tasks: (you must leave each entry in a separate comment in order for them to each count.)

~ Become a Follower this blog. (then post in the comment box to say you are now a follower of this blog.)

~ Follow us on Twitter. (then tell us you now follow & post your Twitter Name in the comment box)

~ Tweet about this Prize & Giveaway on Twitter, you must include at least the following in your tweet: I want to Win the Baby 4-1-1 game! @BloggerMommies http://tinyurl.com/mgedpy (Copy & Paste as it is, to prevent errors in your tweet.) You may tweet this up to 3 times per day, no more often than every 4 hours. Be sure to post a comment here immediately after each time you tweet and include your Twitter ID in the comment box (I will reject any comments that say "tweeted yesterday, or earlier this morning", comments must be submitted within an hour of when tweet posted).

~ Become a Fan of BloggerMommies on Facebook. (then come back here and post your facebook name in the comment box.)

~ Link to Us: Grab our 'Button' in the right-hand column and post it somewhere on your blog or websites home page. Then copy the exact page address from your browser window and post that in the comment box.

~ Subscribe to our Posts or Comment feeds. (Then comment about that too)

If you do not see the Comment Box, click on the 'comments' link below.
*NOTE: Your comments will not immediately appear because they have to be verified & approved first.

This Giveaway will end on Monday, September 21st, 2009 at 5:00pm (Mountain Time). A random comment will be chosen at that time. The winners will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to reply with their name and shipping address. If a response is not received within 48 hours that winner will forfeit the prize and a new winner will be selected. Sorry, no exceptions. [05283-07483]

Good Luck to Everyone!
Be sure to take alook at our other Reviews, you could win more great stuff too!

WE HAVE A WINNER!!
Details will be posted on our Winners Page once the winner replies to their confirmation email.
Posted by Anna D (Admin) at 10:26 AM 13 comments
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Anna D (Admin)
Mother of two grown daughters, my youngest is one of our blogger mommies. I have two grandbabies, my granddaughter is almost 3 years old and my grandson just turned 1 year old. I am also the owner of The Baby Store Plus and creator of the Mommy Focus Group which evolved into this group of ladies that I affectionately call my 'Blogger Mommies'.
Jennifer
I am the mother of three children, my son "M" is 8 years old, my daughter "G" is 4 years old, and another daughter, baby "B" just born in February of this year. I am a stay-at-home mom & in-home child care provider.
Katy
I am the mother of two children, my daughter "K" will be 2 years old in January and my sweet baby boy "T" was just born in April of this year. I am a stay-at-home mom.
Whitney
I am the mother of two children, my daughter "S" turned two in February and my son "R" was born in December of 08. I work full-time, however, I am fortunate that I get to take my kids to work with me at The Baby Store Plus, where work with my mom.
Guest Reviewer
Unfortunately, one of our expectant mommies could not remain in our group due to conflicting events in her life. Until we fill this position permanently, we will have guest reviewers for any maternity products.