Tiffany Merritt - Stuff Parents Need

Meredith LeVande What Are the Odds?

August 30, 2010 · by Tiffany Merritt · 43 Comments

Meredith LeVande, you have 2 new fans. First, and foremost, is Darah. She loves your fun and funky tunes; they make her giggle. Second, I am totally a fan of yours, now! I think your lyrics are clever and quirky and your tunes are oh so easy to hum along to. You’ve even inspired me to work on telling Darah all about numbers now, thanks to your album’s flagship song, What Are the Odds?!

I’m a little bit late to the Meredith LeVande party. She released her first album, Monkey Monkey Music, 5 years ago, and has been devoting herself to, “putting the child back into children’s music” ever since.

Meredith performs for children in intimate settings all around NYC. If you aren’t a resident of the city that never sleeps, though, that’s ok! Meredith would love to give you a private concert in your own home, courtesy of her cds!

From the press release, “With the new Monkey Monkey Music CD, What Are the Odds?, Meredith has created something remarkable, finding the middle road between baby songs and pop band songs where kids’ lyrics are simply added to music that would otherwise be played for adults. Meredith’s music is not only child-friendly, it’s truly child appropriate, developed with the healthy growth of the young child in mind.”

What Are the Odds? was released today. Hooray!!! You can buy the album now for $14.99.

or….

Edit: This giveaway is closed
Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need Reader will win a copy of What Are the Odds? What are the odds that you’ll win?….not good if you don’t enter!!!! The contest will run until September 10th at 7:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize before it is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Limit one entrant per household, please. Open to residents of the United States.

Mandatory entry: Tell me anything odd…your favorite odd number (and why), a time when you beat the odds, your oddest craving, anything odd (and family friendly) will do!

Additional entries:
1. “Like” Meredith LeVande on Facebook
2. Follow Stuff Parents Need on Twitter
3. “Like” Stuff Parents Need on Facebook
4. Subscribe to Stuff Parents Need by RSS, email or Google Friend Connect (only one extra entry, even if you subscribe multiple ways)
5. If you are a blogger (posted something within the past 3 months) put my button on your blog and leave a url so that I can find it.

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways (listed on the sidebar of my home page)

Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Some Seriously Awesome Organic Pouch Baby Food

August 28, 2010 · by Tiffany Merritt · 104 Comments

So I try really hard to make all of Darah’s food. It keeps our costs under control and I know that she is getting mostly organic and preservative-free stuff. Win-win.

But people, life happens, and sometimes you just need to be able to reach for something that is already made and that the baby will eat at room temperature. So I do use pre-made foods whenever we travel. I also have a few containers on hand in the pantry for the times when she totally rejects whatever delicious meal I have lovingly prepared for her. 😉

I recently learned about a company called Ella’s Kitchen. They have a limited line of products that come in these really cool pouches so you can squirt the food directly onto the spoon. That really helps with the mess factor. Great design, people!

We recently had the opportunity to try out a few different products and let me tell you, Darah went nuts over every single one. Seriously, she loved them so much I actually had a moment where I thought, “Is my food really terrible? She acts like this is the first time she’s ever had something delicious!” I tasted every product for myself, and you know what, Darah’s on to something. Everything was yummy!

One night I actually had some homemade veggie medley on hand for Darah, but she refused to eat it (even after I added cheese!). Fortunately, I had Ella’s Kitchen pouch food as a backup, so I broke out the Carrots, Apples and Parsnips. She ate every spoonful and smiled the whole time. I checked the ingredients. It had just what the title said, “carrots, apples and parsnips.” All the fruits and veggies are organic. So basically Ella’s Kitchen successfully accomplishes what I’ve tried to do on my own, only what they produce is consistently excellent and what I produce is hit or miss. Sort of like my cooking for everyone else, too!

Other things we tried and loved from Ella’s Kitchen included Strawberries and Apples, Peaches and Bananas, and The Yellow One Smoothie.

Let me just put it to you this way: even though I make 90% of Darah’s food, I have already found out where in Chattanooga I can buy these products. And buy them, I will. If you haven’t tried these products out yet, I definitely recommend that you pick a few up. I bet your little one will LOVE them, just like mine did!

Buy it!: You can check out the store locator here to find your nearest retailer, or you can shop online at places like Diapers.com or Amazon.com!

Win it!: Ella’s Kitchen wants to give your little one a gift pack of their yummy pouch food. Hooray! The contest will be open until September 7th at 7:59pm CST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry: Tell me anything about your child’s eating habits: favorite/least favorite food, your attempts at preparing your own, whether or not you feed your kid organic. Anything relevant to the topic at hand will suffice!

Additional entries:
1. Follow Ella’s Kitchen on Twitter
2. Sign up for Ella’s Kitchen newsletter
3. “Like” Ella’s Kitchen on Facebook
4. Follow Stuff Parents Need on Twitter
5. “Like” Stuff Parents Need on Facebook
6. Subscribe to Stuff Parents Need by RSS, email or Google Friend Connect (only one extra entry, even if you subscribe multiple ways)
7. If you are a blogger (posted something within the past 3 months) put my button on your blog and leave a url so that I can find it.

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways (listed on the sidebar of my home page).

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

New Furniture for a New Home

August 27, 2010 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

I’ve mentioned this a few times before, but if you missed the notes, WE MOVED! Our living room is completely full of boxes and we are slowly unpacking and trying to figure out where everything will live.

We moved from 2,000 square feet to 1,300 square feet. Oh boy.So when we left Memphis we got rid of the majority of our furniture. And now we are looking for new (and smaller) as replacements. Currently I’m looking for a new dining table. I haven’t been shopping for one of those in several years, and this time, I’m going to get something very functional. I would say that we have an eat in kitchen now, as opposed to a separate kitchen and dining room. I imagine that Darah and I will be spending a lot of time in that area, and I don’t want a big dining room table hogging all the space. I really like the look of this drop leaf table…it even has some storage space underneath! Most of the time, we would keep the leaves down and that would leave lots of room for Darah to play, which is what we really need!

In addition to looking for dining room/kitchen furniture, we are also looking for a couch and some dressers. I’m excited to tell you that I’m partnering with CSN Stores again and will be reviewing something super cool to help keep Darah organized. I’ve had very positive experiences with CSN Stores in the past and can’t wait to try out another one of their stores! Stay tuned for all the juicy details…

What piece of furniture would you most like to replace in your home?

Low Radiation Hair Dryer: Barbar Eco8000

August 27, 2010 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

Today is my 30th birthday. Wow.

Actually, I feel fabulous and like my 30s are going to be an incredible time. I’m just now embarking on a brand new career (staying at home with my little girl full-time!) and I know that our days will be adventure-filled. Basically, I’m about to do childhood all over again, and I can’t wait.

But at the same time that I’m crawling around the house, playing peek-a-boo and enjoying my youth (again), I’m still grown up Tiffany and I still want to make sure I take care of myself. And a girl only turns 30 once (or 29 twice, depending on how you look at it). It is a milestone age, and reaching it does mean I deserve a little treat, don’t you think?

And oh yes, my friends, I did get a special treat. I got something I probably would have never bought for myself, but that I LOVE now that I have it.

Check out my new salon-worthy hair dryer! This is the Barbar ECO8000 Blow Dryer and it is one lean, mean green machine!

First, you have GOT to watch this video. It shows how the radiation output is so unbelievably reduced in this dryer…it blew my mind (no pun intended)!

It is also very powerful! My hair dried extremely quickly, so don’t let the 1,000 watts listing fool you…this dryer is serious business.

I just love knowing that my new dryer actually uses the electricity it pulls in (yay for my electric bill), does NOT put out much radiation (I had no idea my old dryer was doing that…very scary stuff) and dries my hair quickly. I’m just going to go ahead and say it: I think this is the greatest hair dryer EVER.

I’m thrilled to have such a nice product in honor of turning 30, and I know I’ll have this dryer for years and years because it is such a great quality product. You know, as I get older I realize that in many cases, spending a little extra on something that is truly the best quality can actually save you money over time. I believe that is the case with this dryer.

Barbar is an awesome company with many great hair styling products. You should definitely check them out if you think it is time for a product upgrade. And if you are freaked out by that radiation output reality, definitely consider getting a Barbar Eco8000 hair dryer!

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own! Affiliate links may be included at no cost to you.

Hampton Inn Chain of Friends Sweepstakes

August 25, 2010 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of . All opinions are 100% mine.

Hampton_logo

The is my very favorite hotel chain, at least of those I have had the pleasure of staying at thus far. Every time I have stayed there, the beds have been SUPER comfortable, and they don’t have those horrible comforters on them that are ugly and itchy (maybe that tells you something about my budget when staying in a hotel…). I’ve also always found the service to be outstanding. Hamptons are usually at the top of my budget, but I’ll spring for them whenever possible, because I know I’ll be pleased with the room and the hotel, overall.

I just learned about a cool sweepstakes that Hampton Inn is currently running. It is called the , and every day they are giving away a free weekend stay at the Hampton of your choice. There is also a crazy grand prize: an entire hotel for 2 nights (100 rooms)! What?!!!!

First, let me just pretend that I even have 100 friends. If I did, and I won this, I would have so much fun just hanging out with people I love and that I don’t get to see very often. It would be like my own personal family reunion.

What would you do if you could bring 100 of your closest friends and family together for a weekend?

Where would you go if you won one of the daily prizes? I know exactly what I would do…head to Atlanta for a fun getaway (we only live 2 hours from the city now). We could seriously use a vacation, and downtown Atlanta would be such a great place to check out. I haven’t been there in probably 10 years!

Follow the Divas on Twitter and Win! (Amazon GIVEAWAY!!!)

August 25, 2010 · by Tiffany Merritt · 16 Comments

I wanted to make sure all my readers knew about this fun promotion happening with Double Duty Divas, a network I am a part of that brings together a lot of great PR friendly mommy bloggers.

Right now, you can enter to win a $20 Amazon gift card. Woo hoo!

How do you enter? It’s really quite simple. You will need to follow all the Double Duty Divas on Twitter. We’ve made following everyone very simple. Just use this link to follow all participants with one click. http://tweepml.org/Meet-the-Divas/ Then come back here and leave a comment that you have completed the above step. This is very important, and your entry won’t count for the giveaway if you haven’t left a comment!

There will be one gift card given away to one lucky follower, and I hope it is you! Good luck, everyone! The giveaway will run through 09/02!

Our Favorite Organic Shampoo for Babies: Little Twig

August 25, 2010 · by Tiffany Merritt · 235 Comments

Bath time is totally where its at in our house. Darah LOVES to take a bath, and she comes by that honest. Tim and I are both bubble bath fanatics (hope I didn’t just embarrass you, dear).

Thanks to the power of moms talking online, I learned about organic shampoo for babies by a company called Little Twig, and they specialize in shampoo for baby and other bath products for tiny tots. Thanks to a great blog win by my little sister Laura, we’ve been using Little Twig unscented baby wash, and it has rocked! It gets her clean as can be, and there’s never been the slightest irritation. I also have had the opportunity to work with little twig, and they sent me the Happy Tangerine baby wash. HEAVEN IN A BOTTLE! The smell is amazing, and Darah seems to like it, too!
Now, I’m going to tell you, when I saw the prices for the products, I thought they were a little bit steep. They are $10 for an 8.5 oz bottle. BUT….the more I use the stuff, the more I realize that the price is actually amazing. The products are completely organic and natural (I recognize everything on their ingredient list). AND let me tell you, a little goes a long way. We are going to be using her bottle of baby wash for several (as in, probably 6) months before we run out. And we bathe Darah every 1-2 days. So $10 for baby wash that will last 6 months and that is not scary for my baby = TOTAL STEAL! They also sell the products in a 17 ounce container (with a pump…super nice) for $14.50, which lowers the cost per ounce quite a bit more!

We also had the opportunity to test out the little twig mineral sunscreen. This stuff goes on smoothly, is water-resistant and is nasty chemical-free! I’ve been very pleased every time I have put it on Darah, though I do wish the SPF was a bit higher than 30.

I also want to point out something really awesome about Little Twig. From their site, “Each month little twig chooses a charitable organization benefiting our environment and children’s issues. little twig donates 15% of the purchases you make every Wednesday to organization we have chosen.” I love it when companies actively give back. You rock, little twig!

Buy it! Overall, I’d have to say that little twig offers an incredible line of delightful and effective products that you can use without worrying about your child’s safety. I highly recommend them! You can buy Little Twig products on Amazon.

Win it!: little twig wants to give one lucky Stuff Parents Need reader a $50 gift certificate to use on their site. You read that right, $50!!! That will take care of your bath and body needs for a long time! The contest will run until September 4th at 7:59pm CST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. You will have 48 hours to respond to your winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.
Mandatory entry: Tell me anything about bath time at your house. Is there a favorite tub toy? Favorite shampoo for baby? How often do your kids take baths? Any relevant comment will do!

Additional entries:
1. “Like” little twig on Facebook
2. Follow little twig on Twitter
3. Follow Stuff Parents Need on Twitter
4. “Like” Stuff Parents Need on Facebook
5. Subscribe to Stuff Parents Need by RSS, email or Google Friend Connect (only one extra entry, even if you subscribe multiple ways)
6. If you are a blogger (posted something within the past 3 months) put my button on your blog and leave a url so that I can find it.

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways (listed on the sidebar of my home page).

Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own. This post may contain affiliate links.

A Quick Update

August 24, 2010 · by Tiffany Merritt · 5 Comments

We’ve been moving over the past handful of days. We are working to get settled in to our new home city of Chattanooga, Tennessee. That’s why things are a bit quiet over here at Stuff Parents Need! But we’ll be back in business in no time. In fact, there’s a great review and giveaway headed your way tomorrow. Stay tuned and thanks for bearing with me!