T-fal and time!

Life has been busy even though it's still summer break. Just a week before our long planned family vacation Oliver, then Carter, followed by Nolan all came down with hand foot and mouth disease. While they recovered in time to be cleared to head to the beach, it put a damper on our planned vegetable party with friends to highlight T-fal's new line of fun kitchen gadgets. Instead of hosting our veggie share playdate in mid July, we had to bump it to early August. That darn contagious virus!!

 I still want to share the new Ingenio line now in July with everyone and will come back and post pictures from the playdate. At our party, every mom is bringing along a favorite fresh veggie and we'll clean, prep, and chop them for the kids to explore and taste.

Included in the pack to share and show friends was the following:
• T-fal Ingenio Rapid Chopper

• T-fal Ingenio Micro Edge Peeler
• T-fal Ingenio 4 Quart Bowl
• T-fal Zen 6” Utility Knife
• T-fal Ingenio Tripod Strainer
• Good Cook Poly Cutting Board

I've been using each ever since with lots of luck. Some of the highlights of each gadget include the small gouging piece on the side of the edge peeler which helps pop out potato eyes. My favorite, no surprise, is the hand powered rapid chopper. I made a fun video highlighting how well it works! I ALWAYS break the small electric choppers so this is the perfect replacement. It quickly prepped nuts for our salad. 

Knives are another gadget I need more of in my kitchen. Surprisingly we've never purchased a nice set and only have a mis match of non sharp knives. The 6" Zen utility knife has been great for prepping lunches for the kids. I chop veggies and fruit in no time and the cutting board has made for easy cleanup. 

If you thought T-fal was just pans you're going to be surprised! Check out their entire Ingenio line and more online at http://www.t-falusa.com/

 

IO Block building and play

Thanks to Tryazon and Guidecraft, the boys and I were able to try out the new IO Blocks and share them with our MOMS Club friends. We've been using them for building, counting, and more in our weekly TotSchool besides having a fun technology and IO Block playdate. 

IO Blocks are made from a soft rubber like material and snap together in various ways. Each set has 12 shapes of blocks and those shapes comes in 6 different colors. They can be slid up and down various pieces and aren't static like legos for instance. Guidecraft calls it a friction sit system which makes perfect sense. This allow open ended play and building. The blocks pair technology with fun, hands-on building through their App. You know my boys are app obsessed just like their iOS developer dad so this was amazing. 

The block set comes with durable cards showing models an ideas of what can be built and with a blank "tracker" card. Using the app and this tracker card you can get additional ideas front he app, see a model in 3D and get custom building tips.

Here in this photo you can see the tracker card and the app displaying a model I chose. Now using the App I can get detailed instructions on how to build. I have to admit it seemed slightly complicated for me but even my 6yr old jumped in and understood it within seconds. I love that when I'm being asked if they can please play on phones I can say yes now and still insure they are doing more than just vegetating on the couch!

IO blocks have a vehicle accessory pack coming soon that the boys have seen and are begging for!  This new set of 48 pieces comes with bumpers, spoilers, cabins, wheels and more. An IO Blocks® Hero figure is included too.  

I love waking up to see them playing bright and early instead of just wanting to watch a show. 

Sharing IO With our friends! They have been loved and tested here with kids ranging in age from 15mo to 8 years old! 

Overall I'm a huge fan and love the sturdiness of this set of blocks. They have been in our house for over 3 weeks now and there isn't a day that goes by that they aren't played with. Right now here is my via as I type this post! These are equally as loved as legos here and I love that they are unique! 

Healthy Eating, Healthy Life

Although I try not to post on it too much, I have small sized children who aren't great eaters. They aren't picky in the sense that they will only consume junk food or a specific brand of something. They just don't ever eat much. If they fill up on non nutritive items first, the healthy stuff will get skipped. I've worked with my friend Chew Chew Mama and have seen nutritionists and dietitians with our local children's hospitals because along with their eating habits they are very small. We now know some tips for better success at meals and work on getting each bite to matter calorie and nutrition wise.

I recently saw Fresh Baby products and thought they might be a fun tool in our arsenal of feeding gadgets, toys, and equipment. Fresh Baby has a line of toddler/preschooler eating plates and utensils that highlight proper nutrition and help engage your child in the meal process. Their 4-piece set  comes with a partitioned plate, sturdy plastic meal guide, bowl, and big kid cup with nice lid.

I have to say the big kid cup turned out to be one of our favorite pieces. My kids usually have sippy cups at the table, yes even my 6 year old, because they aren't careful and knock over their cup 4.7-million times each meal. This cup doesn't have a spout or anything "babyish" but stops full spills while still teaching them to drink with normal mouth movements. Win win!!

The plastic guide that comes with the set has been a fun teaching tool. At our weekly TotSchool last week and at home afterwards we talked about nutrition. The kids learned different food groups and while looking at the divider plate and food guide picked out their favorite foods from each category. Then they drew pictures of their favorite foods. Lunch that day, Carter picked many of his favorites too!

The guide and plate support the USDA My Plate program and give serving size examples. 

We also use the Fresh Baby cutlery set with travel case. It has preschool appropriately sized fork, spoon, and knife in a cute neoprene like zip container to take with you on the go. The knife is child safe and was a huge hit. Even my 6 year old was jealous his brother has a new knife to use. Carter spent time cutting up items (and then eating them) he normal wouldn't touch or eat just to get to use the knife. 

I love adding new tools and fun instruments that make meal time easier for us. I tried Fresh Baby through a promotional program that sent me the items in exchange for a blog post detailing our usage. No compensation was received and all opinions and ideas are all my own! If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. You can find your own sets of this BPA free meal time fun on Amazon. 

Meal Plan Monday

Here's what's for dinner!!

Monday

   Cowboy (not)Lasagna 

Tuesday

   Enchilada Cups 

Wednesday

   Chicken Noodle Casserole 

Thursday

   Sloppy Joes with veggies

Friday

   Pesto Salmon with iIalian Style Veggies

Baby Hair!!

All three of my kids have had crazy hair as babies and it's so much fun. We used to say Nolan at 2-3mo had a Trump comb over. When the crazy politics started this campaign season, I knew my thoughts to make a "Trump Hair, Don't Care" shirt for the kids was over. I wouldn't want to be associated with Trump and his cause. Luckily other policiticans have bad hair too!! Thin, crazy, and long baby hair!!! I present Oliver in his designed by momma, digitized by momma, and stitched by momma shirt!!

Mothers on the Move, Mo+m

I love showcasing baby carriers here on my blog since they are such a huge part of our life. It's even more amazing when I can share one that is both a great priced gateway baby carrier and perfect for seasoned baby wearers who just want one more! I saw the Mo+m carrier and was afraid it was too good to be true so I contacted Mothers on the Move and asked about reviewing it for my readers. I have to say I'm really really impressed!!

As with any hobby, once you get "hooked" you realize the wide variety of prices out there.  Baby carriers are no different. Some are handwoven or machine sewn and not mass produced leading to such differences. It's hard to sell someone, who has never worn their baby but is interested in trying it out, on a $200 baby carrier. That's where Mothers on the Move comes in. Available on Amazon, with Prime shipping even for just $39.95 right now this carrier is definitely in the right price range to be recommended a lot.

I have posted before on my blog about the problems with buying a baby carrier from Amazon. Many times Amazon allows third party vendors to sell items and there is no oversight as to whether the are compliant with US laws. Baby carriers are actually a huge market for knock offs which haven't been tested or rated safe. I feel really passionate about only ever recommending CPSIA, BCIA compliant carriers and Mo+m is both! This carrier is ASTM F2236 - 14 & CPSIA Sec.101 certified and the products have been checked for Cal Prop 65 elements

In addition, when purchased form valid retailers (Amazon is one) there is a lifetime warranty on the carrier. I am sitting here today with a handmade and very expensive baby carrier that started to wear (there's an actual hole!) after very minimal use. I contacted the manufacturer and the response I got today was that it was just cosmetic not structural as only the outer decorative fabric has the wear hole so carrier could be used still. No mention of the fact that poor design led to this issue and now my expensive carrier I planned to still have value for resale once I was finished with it is worthless. Very disappointing and something that wouldn't happen if it also had a warranty.

Now for the fun features of the carrier. I have the Mo+m® Classic Cotton 3 Position Baby Carrier which has a mesh cooling vent, removable hood, and pocket in Navy.  

Here you can see the pocket open. It's large enough when expanded to hold my wallet and cell phone plus a disposable diaper. Game changer!!

Hood has been unsnapped here and is in it's front stash pocket. The large zippered pocket is behind that. 

The mesh cooling vent is open. It doesn't come completely off the carrier so no worries about loosing it but it opens to vent and add circulation to baby's back. 

Here carrier is snapped as it might be when wrong. You can see the chest clip is sturdy and glides along the webbing which keeps it in place. 

inside view of carrier showing mesh area. It's laying on my Lenny Lamb baby size carrier for comparison. It can produce a nice ergonomic seat! 

It's definitely similar in seat size to an ERGObaby carrier and lets you get a proper M-position seating  through infancy up to toddlerhood. It's comfy and great for the wearer too. The hood is perfect in that it's removable which leads to all sorts of fun customizable options too!! I know my Tula hoods are pimped and accessorized and this one is the next I plan to make our own.

Here is Oliver's seat. The base is 12" wide and O gets great support. 

At 14mo Oliver is able to go arms out if he wants or tuck them in for snuggles. 

The Mo+m is rated for babies between 12 lbs and 36 lbs.

If you're nearby and would like to see it in person just send me a message! I love sharing the baby wearing love!

I received this carrier in order to complete my review. No compensation was taken and all opinions are my own. Have a question? Ask away!!

Sunday Suppers

Getting my meal plan published a day early for this week!! We have a busy week with lot sod appointment and plans so early on in the week I need to rely on my crockpot a bunch! Those are handy recipes I have made forever so no real recipe to follow but if you need some help just comment and I'll come up with one.

Monday
     Marinated Baked Chicken with Curried Couscous
Tuesday
    Crockpot Meatball Subs
Wednesday
  Crockpot Chicken Pot Pie
Thursday
  Mexican Black Bean Pasta
Friday
  Roasted Tomatillo Curry with Pita Bread and Hummus