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Frugal Novice

Start Your Baby off Right – Sealy Posture Perfect Crib Mattress {Giveaway}

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When you bring your newborn home from the hospital, you’ll likely have everything all set and ready to go. Where they sleep will be one of your biggest decisions, and having a safe space is vital. When we picked our crib mattresses for each of the boys, we did research on the features and safety information of various options. We knew we wanted something we could really feel good about them sleeping on.

Do you need a few tips for picking out a crib mattress? Be sure and check out this video for some really helpful suggestions:

Sealy is a brand name in mattresses that we’re familiar with and have confidence in – they’ve been around for years! We felt really good about using the Sealy Posture Perfect mattress for baby #3, especially after reading up on it. Here are its features:

  • 180 durability tested innerspring coils provide long-lasting posture support
  • Secure-edge heavy gauge steel border rods give maximum support around the perimeter where toddlers will sit
  • Two firm hypoallergenic layers cushion and comfort baby while providing a supportive sleeping surface
  • GREENGUARD® Children & Schools Certified: This entire mattress is GREENGUARD® Children & Schools certified for indoor air quality and low chemical emissions to help create a healthier sleeping environment for your baby
  • Waterproof cover and lock-stitched waterproof binding resists stains, moisture and mildew
  • Entire mattress wipes clean with a damp cloth for a sanitary sleeping surface
  • Mattress also fits toddler bed frames
  • 35-year warranty on workmanship and materials
  • Meets or exceeds all flammability, lead, phthalate and CPSIA testing and does not contain toxic fire retardants
  • Proudly Made in the USA

The mattress is great – it fits wonderfully in our crib with no gapping around the sides. It’s a thick, firm mattress that will provide a supportive, safe sleeping surface that we can feel good about.

One winner will receive a Sealy Posture Perfect crib mattress (ARV $109.99)! This contest is open to all U.S. residents aged 18+. Entries will be accepted until the end of the day (midnight Central) Monday, September 17. By entering this giveaway you agree to the Official Rules.

Note: As a Kolcraft Mom, I received a mattress to facilitate my review, and one is being provided for the giveaway. I was not compensated monetarily for this post. All opinions are honest and are my own.

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Five Tips for Hosting a Dinner Party

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Dinner parties – they either turn out delightful or disastrous! We typically have more casual get-togethers with friends, but with the holidays approaching I thought you might enjoy this guest post on how to make your next dinner party a great one!

Everybody has heard or experienced first-hand when a dinner party goes wrong, but follow these five tips and your next soirée should go swimmingly.

Think of a theme

A themed get-together can give a dinner party some much-needed structure and brings into play a fun element, with fancy dress always a good laugh. Fancy dress is also a good ice breaker when mens and womens costumes can range from the weird to the wonderful and from serious to sexy costumes from fancydressball.com, which is a site worth checking for inspiration on themes.

Keep it simple

Create a menu of dishes that you’ve made before as the last thing you want is for some unexpected mishaps in the kitchen to lead to a culinary disaster. While you’ll be keen to show off your skills in the kitchen and could be tempted to be ambitious with what you make, don’t try and be a show off because there’s always the chance that it’ll backfire.

Set the mood with the perfect playlist

The music you listen to at a dinner party is just as important as the food choice and the selection of drinks to go with it. Ideally, music should be a background noise that’s not too intrusive and creates a good ambiance.

Relaxation is crucial

Hosts should go out of their way to ensure their guests feel as relaxed as possible – and hosts need to feel at ease as well. Staging a dinner party can be stressful, which means things like keeping the menu simple can help to reduce the pressure. Make sure all your guests have been introduced into each other if it’s the first time they’ve met.

Put on some original entertainment

Having an ‘activity’ to distract your guests can be the difference between a good dinner party and a great dinner party. Maybe you or somebody you know has got an unusual hobby that you could teach them? Or maybe you could have an interactive element to your evening, like DIY cocktail making.

Whatever you decide to do for your party, keep it true to your “style” and it’s sure to be a hit!

Winners – Sunny Stroll, Asurion, Spring Float

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It’s that time again! Congratulations to the following winners:

Sunny Stroll from Tiny Love:

Gift card from Asurion:

Spring Float from SwimWays:

Ubbi Diaper Pail Brings Style To & Removes Odors From Your Nursery

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Almost every nursery has a diaper pail, whether parents choose to use disposable or cloth diapers. They’re never the most attractive things, but they’re functional so we stick them off to the side and hope they won’t really be noticed.

That’s not the case anymore thanks to Ubbi diaper pails! These pails are made of steel and come in a variety of fun colors that really enhance the style of your nursery.

Of course, with having our first girl (and after having two boys) I am totally embracing the pink, and was thrilled to get the hot pink Ubbi to review for our nursery. I love that it adds a pop of color, and I am planning on putting it in a spot right inside the door – a very visible spot that I probably wouldn’t put a normal diaper pail! You can even get decals to add more design flair to your pail, but I like the look of ours as it is.

The top has a sliding mechanism to open and close it, and it has a lock feature that allows you to keep little hands from unintentionally opening the pail when you’re not ready.

There’s a rubber gasket around the lid that helps to seal in odors.

One of my favorite aspects of the Ubbi pail, though, is the ability to use a standard 13-gallon size trash bag and NOT have to buy specialty bags! I can’t tell you how many times with our old pail we’d run out of refills right at the most inconvenient time. And it’s SO easy to install the bag!

When you open up the pail there’s a ring:

You just tuck the bag down inside the ring, folding the sides of the bag over the outside of the ring and inside the pail:

And voila! You’re all set to go:

I am a huge fan of the Ubbi pail. It does retail for more than the pail we used to have, but when I consider the fact that I’m not going to have to spend $6+ on each and every refill, I feel like the costs balance out pretty quickly… and to me the aesthetic appeal of the Ubbi is worth a lot in itself. This would be great to add to your registry, or to give as a gift to someone and really add something special to their nursery.

Keep up with Ubbi on Facebook and Twitter for news on the latest colors available and other great updates!

Note: We receive an Ubbi diaper pail to facilitate this review. I was not compensated monetarily for this post. All opinions are honest and are my own.

Wubbanub – Cute & Useful Pacifier!

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Whether you’re a parent or not, you’ve likely heard of a pacifier. You may not, however, know about the Wubbanub – I know I didn’t until just recently, and this is my third pregnancy! The Wubbanub was created by Carla Schneider when she grew tired of losing the pacifier for her baby – she sewed a favorite toy right to the pacifier, making it easy for infants to snuggle the toy and get comfort from the pacifier all at the same time.

The pacifier is made of medical grade silicone and BPA free. The soft plush portion provides comfort to the touch and makes it so much easier for the baby’s little hands to grasp and manipulate the pacifier them self. Which means fewer bouncing, rolling and lost pacifiers and less rooting around in the stroller or bag to find the pacifier.

So cute, isn’t it? And look at all of the varieties available:

Wubbanubs are available at stores and boutiques around the country, and on some online stores (like Amazon) as well!

Note: I received a Wubbanub to facilitate my review. I was not compensated monetarily for my post. All opinions are honest and are my own.

 

Brownies on the Brain: Fiber One Prize Pack Giveaway!

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I LOVE chocolate, and brownies pretty much always sound good to me. But when you’re trying to eat healthy, you can’t exactly just chow down on brownies… or you couldn’t, anyway, until Fiber One came out with their 90 calorie brownies. They have two varieties – chocolate chip cookie and brownie – and both are really delicious! They’re slightly airier than your typical brownie, but they’re still soft, chewy and rich tasting, giving you the sense of treating yourself. Also, each serving provides 20 percent of the Daily Value of fiber (5g)!

One winner will receive a Fiber One prize pack, which contains:

  • 1 box of Fiber One® 90 Calorie Brownies, Chocolate Chip Cookie flavor
  • Survival kit including:
      • Brain Stress Ball: To help relieve stress from a busy day
      • Water Bottle: it’s important to drink enough water during the day to stay refreshed
      • Ear Tube Buds: Listening to music (especially classical) can help you focus and spark creativity
      • Office Turf: Nature is a source of relaxation. Bringing a little bit of the outdoors inside can help you feel rejuvenated and calm
      • Mini tote bag: Can carry all the items for the “survival kit.” This bag can also be used as a lunch bag or to carry wholesome snacks like Fiber One® 90 Calorie Brownies

     

This contest is open to all U.S. residents aged 18+. Entries will be accepted until the end of the day (midnight Central) Friday, August 31. By entering this giveaway you agree to the Official Rules.

Note: I received a Fiber One Gift Pack set to facilitate our review, and one is being provided for the giveaway. I was not compensated monetarily for this post. All opinions are honest and are my own. The gift pack, information, and additional sample have all been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

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Ton of Fun: The Latest Chuggington Stack Track, Wilson’s Wide Ride! {Giveaway}

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We love trains in our house, and the boys are always excited to have new trains and tracks to play with. When our latest review item arrived, the boys were thrilled. This is one impressive track, at 2 feet tall! There are four different layouts you can build, and this set attaches with other stack tracks, allowing you to build a really impressive and wide-spread setup to play with.

Here’s J with the track so you can see how it compares size-wise to him:

There are a lot of fun features to this track, including a lever at the top that both sends your train down the track and makes fun noises, construction cones that fly off and a sign that spins as the train goes by, and the winding track that is fully navigated from top to bottom in one swoop. It’s a lot of fun, and really sturdy, too.

Oh, and you know I mentioned the sets can be put all together to make one massive set? Check out what you could end up with when you combine them:

One winner will get a Chuggington Stack Track set! This contest is open to all U.S. residents aged 18+. Entries will be accepted until the end of the day (midnight Central) Thursday, August 30. By entering this giveaway you agree to the Official Rules.

Note: As Chuggington Conductors, we received a Chuggington Stack Track set to facilitate our review. I was not compensated monetarily for this post. All opinions are honest and are my own.

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Stylish Items for All Things Baby from PishPoshBaby.com

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I have had a blast looking at baby stuff since getting pregnant, especially since we found out we’re having a girl. Of course, I think I’ve mentioned before that my options for shopping locally are somewhat limited, so online shopping is definitely a favorite of mine. I recently discovered an online baby boutique with all kinds of baby gear from great brands.

Pish Posh Baby has the big items like car seats and strollers, but all sorts of other accessories too – in great, bold colors and fun, fresh patterns that will add a little style to your baby. We got a chance to review a car seat canopy by Oilo from their site.

This is SUCH a cute cover, and in a modern design & color scheme we love – and it’s SO much more “us” than anything we’d seen locally.

It attaches easily with velcro straps to the handlebar, keeping it secure but making it easy to remove. I know from experience with my boys that just tossing a blanket over the car seat is a huge pain – it’s always slipping and falling. With this, you don’t have that problem!

Another thing I really like is that it’s got elastic around the back – this helps keep it snugly in place and keeps the fabric from flying up in the back when you have the car seat outside. Of course, it’s still really easy to access your baby because the front flips up, like so:

Oh, and did you notice the striped print on the underside? Yep, the canopy is reversible so you can have two different looks depending on what you’re in the mood for!

So, if you’re looking for something for your baby or for a baby gift, Pish Posh Baby has a lot to offer – check out the list of brands they’ve got available:

  • Boon
  • Britax
  • Bugaboo
  • Bumbleride
  • Cybex
  • Diono
  • ErgoBaby
  • Glenna Jean
  • Graco
  • Green Frog Art
  • iCandy
  • Inglesina
  • Jamie Rae Hats
  • JJ Cole
  • KidKraft
  • Lullaby Earth
  • Maclaren
  • Maxi Cosi
  • Mountain Buggy
  • Mutsy
  • My Baby Sam
  • Naturepedic
  • Oilo
  • Peg Perego
  • Phil & Teds
  • Recaro
  • Sasha’s
  • Skip Hop
  • Spot On Square
  • Stokke
  • Svan
  • Tegu
  • Tiny Love
  • UppaBaby
  • Valco
  • Stanley Young America

Note: I received the car seat canopy to facilitate my review. I was not compensated monetarily for this post. All opinions are honest and are my own.

Safety Features Abound With the Britax Pavilion 70-G3 {Giveaway!}

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I’m pretty obsessed when it comes to my children, safety, and the car. When we recently traded our vehicle in for a minivan, I researched on crash test ratings for hours. And when it comes to car seats, we want nothing but the best and safest options.

Both of the boys have ridden in Britax Marathon seats since they outgrew their infant car seats, and we’ve loved them. We did a lot of research (shocker, right?) when it first came time to purchase J’s seat, and we knew from statistics and tons of parent reviews that Britax was the brand we wanted to go with. Oh, and as if we needed another reason to buy Britax, they now have a Registry Rewards program that lets parents earn a free convertible Britax car seat!

Now they’ve added another model to their line-up – the Pavilion 70-G3.

We got sent a Pavilion to review – C, our 3-year-old, was SO excited to get a new seat – and we continue to be impressed with Britax and their thoughtfulness in designing products. For one thing, their convertible car seats can be used for a LONG time – 5-40 pounds rear-facing, and up to 70 pounds forward-facing.

This means that you can use the seat right from the start (once baby E is born in September watch for a post showing you how the seat works for newborns too!) and all the way up until your child is ready for a booster. I personally am a huge fan of kids staying in a 5-point harness for as long as possible, so I love the high weight limit on their seats.

I’ve got to list all the features of the seat –  it’s an impressive list, and if you don’t know about Britax seats yet, you’ll quickly see why their seats are top-notch (I’ve added my thoughts to some of the features in bolded parenthesis):

  • HUGS Chest Pads with SafeCell Technology are affixed to the seat shell to ensure proper positioning while SafeCells compress to manage energy and provide resistance to the forward movement of your child in a crash, reducing the risk of head injury (If you watch the crash-test videos of kids in car seats, head injuries are by far the scariest aspect in my opinion. This added technology helps protect the most critical parts of our kiddos.)
  • EZ-Buckle System retains the harness buckle in a forward position and prevents the child from sitting on the buckle when boarding (Oh, how I love this feature. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve had to get the kids to pull the buckle out for us to be able to buckle them up. This makes it SO much easier!)
  • True Side Impact Protection is deep side walls with energy-absorbing EPP foam along with a head restraint which offers a double layer of EPP foam to distribute crash forces, shield from vehicle intrusion, and contain the head, neck and body while keeping them “in true” or aligned.

 

  • Base with SafeCell Technology features SafeCells designed to compress in a crash, significantly lowering the center of gravity and counteracting the forward rotation of the child seat which normally propels the child toward the front seat.

 

  • Integrated Steel Bars strengthen the connection to the vehicle and reduce forward flexing of the child seat during a crash (This is one of the first things we noticed about the seat, and it really is reassuring to see those strong steel bars protecting the sides of the seat).
  • Energy-Absorbing Versa-Tether features a staged-release tether webbing to slow the forward movement, reducing the crash forces reaching the child, and a two-point attachment to minimize forward rotation while anchoring the top of the child seat.

  • Click & Safe® Snug Harness Indicator is an audible aid that provides extra assurance when the harness is within range of appropriate snugness (This is SO useful, in part because we had our straps too loose for a while without realizing it!).

  • Tangle-Free, Five-Point Harness distributes crash forces across the strongest parts of the body and provides a secure fit.
  • 70-pound Weight Capacity for safety and comfort as your child grows.

  • Rear and Forward Facing Recline for child comfort and positioning.
  • High Density Comfort Foam provides an extra layer of padding to gently cushion your child.
  • Plush, Easy-Remove Cover with matching comfort pads and infant body pillow to provide extra comfort and easy cleaning without disassembling or uninstalling the child seat.
  • Two Buckle Positions for your growing child
  • Infant Positioning Insert may be necessary for small infants to achieve a snug fit of the harness around your child (sold separately).
  • Quick-Adjust, No-Rethread Harness repositions the harness shoulder height without disassembling the harness straps.

  • Premium Lower LATCH Connectors for a quick and simple installation featuring a push button for easy release.
  • Built-in Lock-Offs ensure a snug lap and shoulder belt installation with minimal effort
  • Anti-Slip, Contoured Base grips and protects the vehicle seat while offering optimum vehicle fit.
  • Harness Holders keep harness straps pulled to the sides when placing your child in the car seat.
  • Certified for Aircraft Travel
  • Made in the USA with global components

As you can see, this seat has it all! We also loved how easy it was to adjust the height of the seat by simply squeezing the handle at the top and pulling it up.

I’d give this seat 5-stars all around. It’s comfortable, easy to install, easy to adjust, great to look at, and most of all SAFE. As I said, we were already Britax fans but this seat just cements that even further.

The Pavilion 70-G3 retails for $339.99 and you can find it many places – online at retailers like Amazon, and in-store at Buy Buy Baby, Babies R Us and more. But guess what? You can also…

One winner will get a Britax Pavilion 70-G3 car seat (ARV $339.99)! This contest is open to all U.S. residents aged 18+. Entries will be accepted until the end of the day (midnight Central) Saturday, September 15. By entering this giveaway you agree to the Official Rules.

Note: We received a Britax Pavilion to facilitate our review. I was not compensated monetarily for this post. All opinions are honest and are my own.

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Nuby Makes Mealtime Fun!

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If you’re the parent to preschool-aged kids, you know that meals can be a real battle. Our boys are 3 & 5, and while our 3-year-old eats pretty much anything, our 5-year-old is PICKY with a capital “P” (he totally gets it from me, I fully admit)! Anyway, it helps a lot to make meals more fun, and Nuby has done just that with their fun iMonster dishes. They can be used for kids as young as 18 months, but I’ll tell you – the boys debated over who’d get to use which dishes – they thought they were SO cool.

Can you tell C (our 3-year-old) loves this plate?

All of the iMonster dishes we reviewed are available at BuyBabyDirect.com and at Burlington Coat Factory, in case you want to get some for your own little monster!

We also got to try out some feeding bowls (we use these great colorful plastic bowls for cereal – they can be found at Diapers.com, Amazon, BuyBabyDirect.com, and Walmart) and sippy cups. Both of the boys are old enough to drink out of “big kid” cups and do at the dinner table. But when they’re wanting drinks throughout the day we still use sippy cups to keep spills at bay. The cups we received are both fun, easy to clean, and work well at not dripping.

The Sports Sipper on the left is available at Amazon & Walmart, and the insulated cup on the right can be found at BuyBabyDirect.com, Kmart, Target, & Walmart.

What doyou do to make mealtime fun for your little one(s)?

Note: I am a Nuby Mom Blogger and received these products to facilitate our review. I was not compensated monetarily for this post. All opinions are honest and are my own.

 

Rut-Busting Tips

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With all the running around we do, I’m always looking for ways to be more productive with my time – hopefully you’ll take some good tips away from this infographic!

This infographic is brought to you by Noomii, an online directory of business, life, and career coaches. You can find a life coach in Houston as well as thousands of other cities around the world.

Setting Up Our Nursery

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Our house just has three bedrooms, and we’ve always had one of the bedrooms set up as a play room. When we found out we were expecting baby #3, we decided at the time that we wouldn’t set up a nursery. Both of the boys slept in a pack n’ play until they were 6-8 months old, and I’m sure it’ll be the same this time around too.

Of course, now that the nesting phase has hit me full force I have changed my mind and it now seems very crucial to have at least some space dedicated to baby E. Thankfully Brian is pretty laid-back and just went with it when I suggested we go ahead and get a crib. We’re going to make the play room partially a nursery, while still keeping some of the toy storage for the boys.

We put together a crib this weekend, although we still need to put in the mattress – I love this crib! It’s modern and light, and it even came with a bed rail to turn it into a toddler bed down the road – beautiful and practical!

I’ll post more photos as the project progresses – we’re doing letters for her name (thanks to my lovely sister-in-law Lauren for finding the idea for what we’re doing!) and I’m attempting to make a valance for the window (was going to make curtains, but don’t have enough of the fabric – whoops).

We’re also hoping to add a little bit of storage to the room, but I haven’t 100% decided what to do. I am leaning toward saving up for the changing table that matches the crib (it’s sooo pretty!) but I’ve also been scouring a variety of chest of drawers to see if there’s an option there that could work as a changing table & still provide the storage we want. Right now we’ve cleaned out a few drawers in our room for baby things, but that’s not going to work long-term.

I think the room will turn out really cute, and it’s fun having a reason to be crafty (seriously, can’t wait for you to see the letters once I finish)! Do you have any nursery ideas you just love that I should try? Share them in the comments!