Stuff Parents Need

Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

Cars 2 Toy: Die-Cast Cars Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

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Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you know that Cars 2 just came out on the big screen. If you didn’t catch it during its first two weeks out, here’s a preview that you can check out to determine if you want to put it on your calendar this week:

In celebration of the new movie and the beloved characters, Disney has released some great new toys and games that you’ll want to check out. We were sent 3 of their die-cast cars, which are my personal favorite in their line of Cars 2 merchandise. They are very high quality, and they each came with an unexpected surprise: they light up and talk!

Each of these cars has several quotes from the movie that can be heard with the push of a button. If you hold their buttons down for 2 seconds, their headlights come on! I wish there was a way to disable the sound but keep the headlight feature working. We couldn’t discover such an option, and so, we simply removed the batteries altogether. We immediately picked up on the fact that Darah played with the cars until she figured out that they talked, and then she just sat and kept pushing their buttons. She’s not old enough to really get the jokes or to incorporate their sayings into her play, so the talking feature was really a minus for us, as it was keeping Darah from using her imagination. This might not be the case for older kids, though.
But now our cars are noise-free and ready to roll. We all play with them in our long hallway. Poor Mater, he never does win a race! Holley Shiftwell is the reigning champ in our home, always beating out Lightning McQueen!
Buy it!: Cars 2 merchandise, including these great die-cast cars, is available at the Mattel Shop online. AND, you can get 20% off any Cars 2 item until August 1st using the code CARS2BL (limit 5 units per order). So exciting!
Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a set of 3 die-cast cars (sponsor’s choice) from the movie Cars 2! The contest will run until July 15th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected via Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to 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 your favorite die-cast carfrom the series!
Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Like Cars 2 on Facebook
2. Blogger love: Follow Stuff Parents Need on Google Friend Connect (found on my sidebar)
Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of the page.
Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Why I’m Glad I Bought a New Convertible Crib

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When we were expecting with Darah, I spent a LOT of time online researching baby gear. For the most part, I found myself getting freaked out over all the recalled items. It seems like everything out there designed for baby was dangerous, as it turned out! And all the online sources said, “Don’t buy used! What if it is on the recall list and you don’t know it? What if it has missing parts??!!”

I wasn’t convinced enough to freak out about this over swing seats and bouncers. My bff offered to let us borrow the ones she had used for her little one. Therefore, I knew that they had only been through one child and that they were still relatively new and easy to double-check for any recall problems (and of course, there weren’t any).

It was a different issue for the crib, though. The whole “missing parts” possibility I just couldn’t shake when thinking about buying used (and keep in mind, I’m not shy about buying used AT ALL…you all know my favorite place to shop is the thrift store!). Most people who are selling a crib won’t still have the user’s guide or the box, and might not even know the brand of the crib (not important for status, but rather for looking up if it is on that dreaded recall list). Additionally, it is really easy to misplace a screw or 3 when you are taking a crib apart. The problem is magnified if it has been moved from storage place to storage place or from family to family. So that’s why I decided that I would be buying a new crib for Darah.

Once I made that decision, I had to figure out exactly what type of crib I wanted. Money was definitely a factor. I wanted to find the best crib for the least amount of money, basically. So I spent a TON of time reading consumer reports (I didn’t already have a baby, so I had the time to spare!). For me, I decided that part of getting the most bang for the buck would be purchasing a convertible crib. These are the cribs that convert into toddler beds and even twin beds (though you need a different type of mattress at that point). Some people say that a convertible crib is pointless with your first child because by the time one baby outgrows it, you will likely have another one on the way. That may be true, but we just aren’t sure when Darah’s sibling will be headed our way. It could be a few more years (sorry grandparents!). In any case, I like having the option to let this furniture grow with Darah or to re-use it as a crib later. Eventually there will be no more babies and then we’ll have furniture that can grow up a bit with the child who has it!

We ended up with an espresso crib set by Graco that got great reviews for its value and its safety (perfect combo!). It has been a few years since I have done shopping, but I see some really pretty convertible crib sets out there, like the DaVinci Kalani convertible baby crib. I love all the finish options! Who knows? We may just buy a convertible crib set again for the next baby down the line. That’s how great I really think they are!

What about you? What did you decide on for your baby? Were you less freaked out than me and willing to go use? Did you do convertible or no?

Yo’ Drops: Available at Ecomom ($15 Gift Card GIVEAWAY!!!)

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I love Ecomom as a shopping destination for Darah. Even though she’s not a baby, anymore, Ecomom still has tons (and I do mean TONS) of great things that are perfect for her. I recently did some shopping with them and picked up so many great items for her upcoming birthday (shhh…don’t tell her, but this easel will be all set up for her when she wakes up on August 7th!). I even found some things for me, including this cup that is absolutely perfect for my iced coffee addiction. I highly recommend it!

Ecomom was sweet enough to throw in some Yo’ Drops with my order and asked me to tell you about them. Yo’ Drops are a new snack option and they are perfect for school lunch boxes. Basically, they are yummy like yogurt, but in a freeze-dried and teeny tiny form that you can just pop in your mouth (think a yogurt version of pop rocks, minus the fizz).

Darah, unfortunately, doesn’t seem to care for them. But that doesn’t have anything to do with the taste. The taste is very similar to other yogurt melt products we have tried. For her, the size is just too cumbersome. She’s not old enough to dump the whole package in her mouth. But a school-aged kid would be, and would have a lot of fun doing so. Even though they aren’t the right fit for my kid, I would still recommend them. They retail for $3.99.

Whether you are looking for yummy organic snacks for kids, or something that will evoke imaginative play, or even a little treat for yourself, Ecomom is a place to look! Right now you can score 15% off your order using the code SBBL234.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a $15 gift certificate to Ecomom! That will buy a lot of Yo’ Drops! The contest will run until July 13th at 11;59pm EST when a winner will be selected via Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to 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: This contest is open to all my Facebook fans. Be sure to “like” Stuff Parents Need on Facebook, then come back and tell me you did so here.

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Like Ecomom on Facebook
2. Blogger love: Follow Stuff Parents Need on Twitter

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my site.

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

Parent’s Choice Infant Formula Savings Sweepstakes: $10,000 Up for Grabs!

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This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of PBM Products for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Parent’s Choice, the house brand of formula sold at Wal-Mart, has been providing parents who need to formula-feed their babies a nutritional and affordable option for over 13 years now. They have just launched a new sweepstakes that is geared toward helping one family offer the best for their child in the form of a college education. From now until August 1st, you can enter the Parent’s Choice Infant Formula Savings Sweepstakes for a chance to win $10,000 in the form of a College Savings 529 Plan.

I’m going to be totally honest with you. I hope I win for Darah! But I also hope that you will enter so that you have just as good of a chance as me at winning! Unless you already have plenty saved up for college. In which case please tell me your secret!

Just imagine what a boost $10,000 would make to your college savings, and to your child’s overall loan debt amount. I can tell you from experience that significant loan debt is a real downer. It had an impact on a lot of our decisions, and continues to do so. I would love nothing more than for Darah to not have the same financial burden I had for my education. We faithfully set aside $50 each month for her college expenses, but it is going to take so much more than that to really put a dent in the projected cost of a college education in 2027! What a game changer it would be to $10,000 right now that could grow for the next 16 years! Wow! 

But if we aren’t the lucky winners, then I hope it is one of you. It won’t be if you don’t enter, though! 

Visit Sponsor

Tropical Traditions Raw Honey Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

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Today I’m bringing you my fifth product review from the truly fantastic company Tropical Traditions (if you need to get caught up on what I’ve tried so far and why they all rock, check out my reviews on organic coconut oil, eco-friendly dishwashing detergent, organic thick rolled oats and organic hair oils).

Today we’re going to talk about raw honey. Now, I’ll be honest with you. I had a vague notion that raw honey was good for you and that I should try it, but that’s about as far as my knowledge spanned. When it arrived, I noticed that Tropical Traditions Raw Honey doesn’t have that clear and shiny look that I’m used to seeing. It’s much lighter in color (really a pale yellow) and looks very creamy. The taste….DELICIOUS! So I knew right away that raw honey looks and tastes different.

But I still wanted to learn about why raw honey was better for me and my family than the stuff I’ve always bought at the grocery store (I usually just get whatever is cheapest). Fortunately, the Tropical Traditions site is always brimming with helpful information. I learned on the site that raw honey has not been subject to high heat and pasteurization, unlike the vast majority of honey products on the market. When you heat the honey up to such high temperatures, you remove many of the natural enzymes and nutrients found in honey. I also learned that truly raw honeys don’t deteriorate with age. This is definitely NOT something you can say about other honeys (we are constantly battling hardening honey. In fact, we previously bought a glass jar for our honey so that we could keep it in there and microwave it before every use because it was always hard). It has been really nice to realize that the Tropical Traditions raw honey isn’t going to have that problem.

tropical traditions raw honey So now we all know why raw honey is a better choice, in general. Now it’s time to learn about what makes Tropical Traditions Raw Honey a most excellent choice. From their site, “Tropical Traditions Organic Raw Honey comes from the frontier areas of Canada, and is only harvested during a 6-week period in the summer. Tropical Traditions is the exclusive source of this premium organic honey in the U.S. Most commercial honeys available on the market today come from bee farms, where the bees are controlled within a certain area and get their pollen from usually only one kind of flower. Many of the plants that produce these flowers (clover, orange blossom, etc.) are grown with pesticides and fertilizers as well.” So this honey is not only raw, but also organic. It is also exclusive, meaning that you can’t find this exact same product anywhere else. The taste of the honey is more complex and satisfying, as well, since the bees are able to gather pollen from a variety of flowers and since the honey is only harvested at a period of time that naturally makes sense for the bees.

Buy it!: Tropical Traditions Honey retails for $19.50 for a 17.6 oz glass jar, but through 07/03 it is on sale for $9.99! If your pantry needs some more honey, you will most definitely not be disappointed with this purchase!

Win it!: Hooray! One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is going to win a 17.6 oz jar of Tropical Traditions Raw Honey! The contest will run until 07/12/2011 at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected via Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to 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: Poke around the Tropical Traditions website and tell me another product that you’d like to try (good luck choosing just one!).

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Like Tropical Traditions on Facebook
2. Blogger love: Follow Stuff Parents Need on Google Friend Connect (found on my sidebar)

Rare bonus entry: Subscribe to the Tropical Traditions newsletter (and hear about their sales!).

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

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

Free App for Easily Making Movies: Flixlab

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There’s a saying that the best camera is the one that’s with you. I don’t always remember to bring my camera with me places, but I’m pretty darn good about bringing my iPhone with me. I love the built-in camera feature and I use it frequently. If you have a fancier smart phone than mine, yours also comes with the ability to take video. I’m totally jealous of you, by the way.

Are you like me and utilize these features all the time, only to leave your images and video clips sitting on your phone or in your flickr stream?

That’s me, 100%.

Enter FlixLab. This is a FREE (oh yes, FREE) app that will do all the hard work for you to edit your videos and make something magical (or at least something that won’t be boring to watch!).

With FlixLab, you are literally just a few clicks away from creating and sharing your movies and slideshows, and they will be super slick, too! Three cheers for technology that helps us look like we are savvy (and I suppose we are, since we had the good sense to download FlixLab!).

It gets even better, though. Let’s say that you want to make a movie from your child’s birthday party. You got some terrific footage. So did your sister. But she’s the world’s worst at getting stuff like that over to you, so you know that you won’t be able to include her photos and video in your final product. FlixLab makes it pretty much painless to share these files with each other. No more having to hound folks for those pictures you want! 🙂

My only question to you now is why are still reading this post? Download Flixlab Free right now! You have nothing to lose but poorly edited videos! Also, be sure to check out Flixlab on Facebook. You can show off your new extra awesome movies and slideshows there and hear about how other folks are using the app for awesome!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by FlixLab in conjunction with Blog Friendly PR. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Peaceable Kingdom Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

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Sometimes a company will just nail my hopes and dreams for the kind of play environment I want to create for Darah. Check out this introduction to Peaceable Kingdom: “Welcome to the kingdom—Peaceable Kingdom! Where dinosaurs roam and a mermaid princess swims, where a child can host a fairy tea party or sail the open seas on a pirate ship. A place of imagination and exploration and fun! Since 1983, Peaceable Kingdom has created fresh, fun products for kids that educate, inspire and tickle funny bones. Connect with the kids in your life with Peaceable Kingdom.

YES! When I’m looking for products for Darah, I’m looking for opportunities to create those worlds of pure imagination. I want the mermaids and the pirates to be welcomed guests at Darah’s tea parties. I hope to create a space for her in our home where she can dream up anything she wants!

Peaceable Kingdom totally gets that desire, and they have created toys and games that help a child create delightful worlds in which to play. Today I’m highlighting a game that they have, and that is absolutely perfect for Darah to get started with right away. It’s the Animal Alphabet Match Up Game, and it is adorable! The cards are all a very sturdy cardboard, which makes it ideal for little ones who tend to bend cards easily. Right now we are playing by turning all the cards face-up and then going on a hunt to find pairs of animals. We can do the same thing with letters. When Darah gets a bit older, we can play the more traditional “memory” game by turning them face-down and then hunting for pairs. I LOVE that version of the game, so I’m really looking forward to teaching it to her! Currently, this game will hold D’s attention for about 10 minutes, which is a long time! She gets SO excited when she finds a match!

Peaceable Kingdom offers an excellent assortment of match-up games, card games for children, board games and even cooperative games. Poke around their shop, and I think you’ll be really impressed with the quality products that are offered for reasonable prices. The game we reviewed retails for $9.99, which I think is more than fair, especially for the quality.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win the Animal Alphabet Match Up Game! The contest will run until July 11th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected via Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. No P.O. boxes, please. Limit one entrant per household.

Mandatory entry: Tell me one other product offered by Peaceable Kingdom that your kid(s) would love!

My answer: I would love to get Go Fish for Darah, although I think she’s still a little bit too young to play.

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Like Peaceable Kingdom on Facebook
2. Blogger love: Follow Stuff Parents Need via Google Friend Connect (found on my sidebar).

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

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

King Arthur Flour Products Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

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Today I have the pleasure of highlighting a company that we have been loyal customers of for several years now: King Arthur Flour. When we started making the switch over to unbleached and whole wheat flours, King Arthur is the brand we started to buy. We have been very pleased with the freshness of their products and now it is the brand I always grab (and there are VERY few food companies that I have such brand loyalty for, so this is kind of a big deal!). They are clearly doing something right, because they have been in business since 1790. Nope, not a typo. Crazy, right???

What I didn’t realize until recently, though, is that King Arthur Flour has SO MUCH MORE than just flour! They have a catalog of products for the discriminating baker that will absolutely blow you away. Once I started poking around their website, I saw at least 20 things that I needed. That was my cue to step away from the computer and gather my composure before overspending!

I have the opportunity today to highlight a few products that are just the right fit for my family, balancing convenience in the kitchen, which we need, with maximum value, which we are always trying to find.

First, I want to highlight their fabulous pizza products. As you know, we make our own pizza at home (I seriously can’t tell you the last time we ordered delivery). Did you know that King Arthur offers a Perfect Pizza Blend? They do! This is a very convenient way to get everything you need for making a good pizza (except the water) all in one place. So easy!

Now, if you want to make an AWESOME pizza crust, then there’s one more thing you might want, which is the Pizza Dough Flavor. This adds a little something extra that makes your crust taste like something from a local pizza parlor (the ones with the REALLY good pizzas).

Why stop with the crust, though? King Arthur Flour also offers a Pizza Seasoning packet, and this is like the best version of Italian Seasoning ever! When you combine all three elements into one pizza, you’ve got something worth bragging about, for sure.

The other item I want to highlight is one of the very top sellers at King Arthur Flour. It’s an item I would have completely overlooked and considered to be frivolous had I not been encouraged to try it. It’s called a dough whisk, and if you make breads of any type at home, you are going to want one of these. Promise. Watch this video to see how it works!

The dough whisk is $14.99 and is SOOO worth it!

If you have never tried King Arthur Flour, you should definitely check out their resources that share with you their commitment to quality and why you get so much more when you choose King Arthur Flour.

Additionally, there’s an AWESOME resource of 2,000 free recipes that King Arthur flour has available. That’s a must-see!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is going to win all the items I reviewed! That’s a $36 value! The contest will run until July 10th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected via Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States and Canada. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry:
King Arthur Flour wants to connect with you, so you have a choice of signing up for their newsletter (bottom right of linked page) or liking them on Facebook. Choose one and then come back here to tell me you did so.

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Follow King Arthur Flour on Twitter
2. Blogger love: Subscribe to Stuff Parents Need by email or RSS.

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my homepage.

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