Interactive plush pals review

I don't know about your kids, but mine LOVE music. Tabitha sings all day and loves to listen to music. So I was excited to have the opportunity to try the Interactive Plush Pal Freddie Frog from Viatek. These cute animals are a fun new way to listen to music for kids and adults. Tabitha is a huge fan of Phineas and Ferb, so I plugged freddie into the headphone jack of my ipod and put on some music for her. The first time I tried it Tabitha was sleeping and it was just Eva up with me. Eva was freaked out and started crying, but by the next morning she was interested in it and kept trying to make it sing. Tabitha thought it was so funny to see the frog singing one of her favorite songs.

The Viatek Interactive Plush pals come in three varieties, Freddie the Frog, Patch the Dog, and Manny the Monkey. All three are adorable and sure to be a fun way for kids to listen to music. The speaker is really good quality too. You can even plug the interactive pals into your smart phone's headphone jack and watch as Freddie the frog talks for your friends!

There are a few things I would change about this product. First its very top heavy. It falls over fairly easily. So with small kids I had to keep putting it back upright every time they touched it. Its not really a problem if you put it out of small kids reach. Also I would either like it to have a pocket to put your ipod/phone in or a longer cord. The Cord is not very long and as we were trying to let my 3 year old play with it, the 1 year old kept grabbing the cord and pulling the ipod away. It would be nice to be able to put your ipod/phone in a pocket on the back so that there were no cords hanging out to get caught up on. The cord issue aside I think this is a really fun toy and we will definitely be using it for our daughter when she wants to listen to music in the future.

The Interactive pets take 3 AAA batteries which are not included and retails for $39.99.
I received the Viatek Interactive Pal Freddie the Frog for the purpose of reviewing this toy and all views are my own.
This post was originally featured on Mommygaga.com as a guest post.

Tommee Tieppee Review

Last month I was sent some awesome Tommee Tippee products for Eva to try out. We already knew my kids were Tommee Tippee fans. Tabitha would only take their binkies when she was little and when she started taking sippy cups I could never find any that she couldn't bang on the floor and make a mess with. Until we found the Tommee Tippee explora straw cups. Tabitha loved those cups and so did I. No matter how hard she banged on the ground with them, they didn't leak. They were easy to clean by popping out the inner seal and putting the small pieces in the basket in the dishwasher.

When Eva came along I tried every bottle I could with her and like Tabtiha she was not a fan. I finally got her to take a bottle when we tried the Tommee Tippee Sensitive tummy bottles. She is not a fan of any binkies except the Tommee Tippe ones so when I got the box of items from Tommee Tippee I was excited to see what they had sent me.

 In the box where two kinds of sippy cups, the truely spill-proof trainer cup girl cups, and the closer to nature first sips weaning cup. We hadn't used any sippy cups up till 10 months because Eva had no interest in sippys. Eva loves both of these cups. We started with the first sips weaning cup because it seemed to be the easier for Eva to use. She took to it right away. She loves these cups. The closer to nature first sips weaning cup really is a non spill drinking cup. Even with everything Eva can throw at it it doesn't leak. The first sips weaning cup is designed to ease the transition from bottle to cup drinking (although Eva is breastfed, it was a great first cup for her). It has a patented advance-flo technology for easy drinking, with ta super-soft and sensitive spout with flexible ribs. It has a 5 fl oz capacity. This cup is BPA and Phthalate free. The awesome part is the cup base is interchangeable with closer to nature nipples. And the best part it has a hygiene cap that will cover the spout when it falls on the floor! This cup is recommended for babies 4 months +.

 As far as the Truely Spill-proof trainer it took a little longer for her to warm up to this cup. This cup being a truly spill-proof cup is harder to suck out of so its not for young babies or for babies first sippy. Its best if they know how to use a sippy for this one. But now that Eva has the whole using a sippy down she loves these cups. I fill one half way with water every day and just leave it for her. She likes to crawl over to it and take a sip every once in a while, she also loves to carry it around with her around the house. Tommee Tippee is our go to sippy cup around here. Until Tabitha stopped using straw cups we only used Tommee Tippee cups for her. The Truely Spill Proof Trainer holds 9 fl oz. It has a dura spout: a soft touch spout for younger teeth. Its guaranteed easy to drink and hold. The lid is interchangeable with all Easiflow cups specifically for baby's age and stages. These cups are for babies age 6 months +. They are super easy to clean and are dishwasher and microwave safe. I will continue to use Tommee Tippee cups for Eva as she gets bigger.

The other thing that was included in the package from Tommee Tippee were two different Chewthers. First was the Closer to Nature Chewther stage 1. This is a really cool Chewther/teether. The Chewther Teether stage 1 was scientifically developed in association with a leading authority in pediatric sedentary. It is designed to support lip, jaw and muscle development. Chewther teethers are supposed to help with the pain associated with teething, and I think they do a pretty good job! Eva loves this teether. I didn't even realize she was getting a tooth in till I thought about the fact that she has had this thing in her mouth non stop for a few days. She hasn't been fussy but she has just been happily chewing on this Chewther.

Here's some of the features of the Chewther stage 1 teether:

Helps prepare baby for thicker liquids
Supports jaw, lip and muscle development
Supports oral development
Self soothe - sized and shaped for your baby to stimulate and develop gums
Speech development - helps develop lip seal and muscle coordination for speech development
Progressive feeding - encourages jaw and muscle coordination appropriate for each feeding stage
Tooth care - textured surfaces help care for fragile new teeth
BPA free

With Tabitha I tried a ton of different teethers and none of them worked. With Tabitha we mostly used teething tablets and that worked well but I could tell she wanted something to chew on and none of the teething rings or anything I could find worked for her. I'm so happy I have these new Tommee Tippee teethers for Eva to try.

The second teether they sent us is the Closer to Nature Dual Ended Teether. It has two different shaped teethers on each end to sooth the pain associated with teething. Eva likes to hold on to one end while she has the other end in her mouth as she cruises around the living room. This teether is must for long car drives too. Eva Loves it and so do I. Some of the benefits of the Closer to Nature Dual Ended Chewther are:
Helps prepare baby to chew pureed foods,
Supports jaw, lip and muscle development.
Suppoorts oral development
Self sooth-sized and shaped for baby to stimulate and develop gums.
Speech development- helps develop lip seal and muscle coordination for speech development.
Progressive feeding- encourages jaw and muscle coordination appropriate for each feeding stage.
Tooth Care- textured surfaces help care for fragile new teeth.
And its BPA Free!
The Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Dual Ended Chewther is recommended for babies 4+ months.

This is yet again another win for Tommee Tippee! I've yet to find a Tommee Tippee product that hasen't totally nailed it! Tommee Tippee products are sold at Babies R Us and Target.

The Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Dual Ended Chewther retails for $6.99.
The Tommee Tippee Explora truly spill-proof trainer  retails for $8.49 for a 2 pk.
The Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Stage 1 Chewther retails for $6.99.
The Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature first sips weaning cup retails for $6.99.

I received these products free in order to facilitate my review. I would never recommend a product I myself would not use for my children. 

Lucky 13 Giveaway hop

Welcome to the LUCKY ’13 New Years Giveaway Hop hosted by BloggerPR! In order to kickoff 2013 with a BANG, BloggerPR has organized an event to celebrate the new year with some amazing prizes! Each of our amazing  bloggers are giving away a prize valued at $20 or more.  This event will run from December 29th until January 12th, which gives you plenty of time to hop down the linky list below. Good Luck & Happy New Year!

I am excited to be providing the winner of the Lucky 13 giveaway on Crafting in My Closet a pair of Sarah boots from BearPaw!! i love these AWESOME boots! Oh my gosh so freaking warm! These boots will be staying on my feet all winter here in Idaho! These boots are so soft, so warm and so comfortable. I love these boots. I have snow boots, but thse are so amazingly warm and I never want to take them off. 
The Sarah boot retails for $84.99. 

I got these boots in charcoal grey and seriously I don't want to take them off! These boots are 10" tall, made from cow suede upper and have 3 toggle buttons on the ankle. The lining is made of sheepskin and wool blend, and they have a classic low profile rubber wedge outsole. 

Make sure you like bearpaw on facebook for all the information about their awesome shoes.

Disclosure: I received a pair of Bear Paw Sarah boots in order to facilitate this review. All views are my own. I was not compensated in any other way for this review. All views are my own. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure you enter the other great giveaways! <!– start InLinkz script –> <!– end InLinkz script –>

Review: John Deere by Uncle Milton

Do you have a little one who likes to get dirty, collects bugs and rocks, loves animals? Well Uncle Milton has you covered. Uncle Milton has a great new line of John Deere toysfor the little farmer in all our kids. Uncle Milton sent me 4 products to try out from the new John Deere toy line.

First they sent me the John Deere BugJug. This is a cute little jug that you can use to catch bugs and look at them with a magnifying glass. Tabitha not being a huge fan of bugs was excited to use it to look at ladybugs. Tabitha and her friends had fun collecting all the bugs and watching them walk around the bug jug. The bug jug was easy to put together and would be a lot of fun for a child who likes nature and bugs and wants to get a closer look. After trying it out with Tabitha I gave it to my 5 year old niece who is really into nature and I hope she gets more use out of it in LA than we would in Idaho (where it snows 6 months out of the year). (unfortunately I took a bunch of pictures of Tabitha playing with this then my computer crashed and now its too cold for bug catching)

Next we got to try out the John DeereFarm Dough. This was Tabitha's favorite toy that we got from Uncle Milton. It comes in a yellow container that is covered with a rubber tire tread. It comes with some brown Farm dough, a chicken and pig toy and some vegetable toys. This thing is great. It keeps Tabitha entertained for hours on end and she is always asking to play with it. It is recommended for children 4+ (Tabitha is 3 ½ ). Keep an eye on those little tiny vegetables that come with it, they are small and can cause a choking hazard. I make Tabitha play with it at the table with some paper or the cheap table cloth under it. The smell of the dough is a little off putting. But it doesn't seem to bother Tabitha at all.

Next we tried the John Deere Mini FarmProjector. Tabitha my little flashlight obsessed kid who is also a huge fan of animals thought this was an amazing little toy. She enjoys switching the lenses so that she can see all the different animals. She is having a lot of fun playing with it, but because there are so many different pieces I have taken to making her put them all in a plastic bag when she is done so that she doesn't lose any pieces and her little sister doesn't put them in her mouth. The Farm Projector comes with 6 different farm animal images, and needs 3 button batteries that come with it. It says it is best for 4+ but Tabitha has no problem working it.

The last item we were sent is the JohnDeere Chick hatchers. Now these I was not a fan of. They say you put the egg in a cup of room temperature water. The egg is supposed to crack and let out the chick fairly quickly. I put the egg is slightly warmer than room temperature water. It sat there for over 18 hours, before I got annoyed and put it in hot water because the egg hadn't even cracked. After putting it in very hot water the egg started to crack after an hour. The chick began to expand, but it really smelled awful and was slimy. When the chick looked to be done expanding, I took it out of the water but the smell of formaldehyde was so strong that I couldn't give it to Tabitha. We tried washing it to get the nasty smell off but it wouldn't come off and Morgen and I weren't comfortable giving that to Tabitha.

The John Deere line also has an ant farm for kids 6 and up.

I Love Uncle Milton products and with the exception of the egg hatcher I would buy all of these products again.

Disclaimer: I was provided these toys for the purpose of this post. I was not compensated in any other way. All views are my own. 

Rice Krispie Treat Pumpkins with a surprise!

Are you looking for something fun to do with your family for Halloween? Or maybe your stuck inside with all the crazy weather and you want to do something that will make your kids stop asking when they can go out and play or if they can watch another movie? Well Have I got a fun one for you. f you have older kids they can help, and younger kids like Tabitha love to watch and say "when can I eat that!" haha. I recently got a great package from Kellogs, with Rice Krispies, marshmallows, a bag of mini 3 musketeers bars and a trick or treating pumpkin! Score! Now to make a yummy concoction for the family to munch on for Family home evening.

Here's the recipe for the Pumpkin Shaped Halloween Rice Krispies Treats with candy inside.

Ingredients

                        3 tablespoons butter or margarine

                        1 package (10 oz., about 40) Marshmallows

                        - OR -

                        4 cups Miniature Marshmallows

                        Orange food coloring

                        6 cups Kellogg's® Rice Krispies® cereal

                        12 MILKY WAY® Brand Minis or 3 MUSKETEERS® Brand Minis

                        OR

                        6 FUN SIZE® Bars*

                        Canned frosting (green)

                        12 small green gum drops

Directions

1. In a large Saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Tint with orange food coloring.

2. Add Kellog's Rice Krispies Cereal. Stir until well coated.

3. Using a 1/2 Cup measuring cup coated with cooking spray, divide warm cereal mixture into 12 portions. Using buttered hands shape each portion into pumpkins, shape around one candy piece. Pipe frosting onto each for vines and attach gumdrop for stem. Best if served the same day.

Some tips from making them, I used a cast iron pot to heat its great for distributing the heat so the marshmallows didn't burn. I moved the cereal mixture onto a cookie sheet to cool a little before making the pumpkins. The first one was a little too warm and it ended up melting the chocolate a little. The first one also stuck to my hands like no other even though I had greased them up pretty well. If the mixture is too warm it will stick to your hands no matter how much you grease up your hands so make sure they are cooled enough to not stick to you but warm enough to be malleable. Its a fine line.

Tabitha LOVED helping, even if it was only to put the candy on top. We took some to our neighbors and they loved them too. These are a great treat and lots of fun to do as a family night activity.

I was sent a Kellog's Rice Krispies Surprise Pumpkin Treats ™ kit to create these wonderful treats from Kellog Company® to facilitate this review and giveaway. My opinions are my own and I would never recommend a product that I would not use myself. I have not been paid to write a positive review of Kellog Company or its products.

 

Noxicare Pain relief Cream Review

I don't know about all of you but I'm constantly dealing with pain. Pain in my neck, my back, my knees, I'm falling apart. I have tried a few different pain relief creams and most of them smell horrible and few really work. One of the first things I noticed about the Noxicare is that it doesn't have that gross medicine smell that most pain relieving creams do.

Noxicare contains Turmeric, Willow Bark, Ginger, Holy Basil, Rosemary Extract, Alpha Lipoic Acids and Boswellia Extract. According to Noxicare, "Noxicare™ Natural Pain Relief is a breakthrough natural, patented pain relief formula that is a proprietary combination of 7 of the world’s most potent natural pain relievers that quickly and effectively alleviate inflammation, muscle aches and nerve pain—with NO known side effects and without a prescription."

 I used the Noxicare cream on my neck for the last few weeks. I've been having issues with stiffness and It was becoming a real problem. At first I was skeptical, I didn't have an immediate "This stuff is magic" reaction, but I wasn't expecting that, (Although I have seen reviews that said almost exactly that.) I kept using it, and the more I used it the better my neck began to feel. I think that this is a good cream for minor pain relief, I found it easy to use, it didn't have any nasty smell and it made my neck feel better. I love that this product is all natural.

Some of the ingredients have wonderful uses that I didn't know about. Turmeric is known for its anti-inflamatory properties, willow bark has been used to treat pain and inflammation since Ancient Egypt, Ginger helps alleviate muscle strains and improves the effectiveness of other herbs, holy basil is an anti-inflammatory herb which also has antioxidant, antibacterial and antiviral properties, Rosemary extract can be used as a topical treatment for joint pain and musculoskelatal pain, Boswellia extract is used as an anti-inflamatory agent to treat joint pain. I always try to find the most natural of anything I need and this seems to be it. Another thing I like is that you don't need a ton, a little goes a long way. I was sent a small bottle and still have 3/4 left after using it for almost 2 weeks.

Bottom line, while I don't think this is the be all end all of pain relief this did work for me.


 I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

TruKid review

So Tabitha has like the worlds most sensitive skin. Seriously, I thought I had super sensitive skin but hers is way worse. Poor girl. She also takes after Morgen in that she burns very easily. She has to wear sunscreen all year long, although really everyone should wear sunscreen all year long. Even in the snow you can get a sun burn. And Poor Tabitha sunburns quickly. Put those two together, and it makes for an interesting time finding a sunscreen she isn't allergic to and that works, add to that I don't want her using any sunscreen with avobenzone, and its even harder! I have found one that I like but its been almost impossible to get it because everyone wants it. So I went looking for more sunscreens that were safe, and she wasn't allergic to. In my search I stumbled upon Trukid.

Trukid is a California based company that specializes in natural, value-priced personal care products for the whole family. Their goal is to help children create healthy habits that will last their lifetime, by making better personal care choices. TruKid's philosophy is to create a sustainable future for our kids by teaching them to take care of themselves, each other, and the enviornment. TruKid's products are free of harmful chemicals, parabens, phthalates, gluten, BPA, and Petrolium. Trukid takes it one step further by trying to educate parents in what they should be on the look out for to keep away from their kids. TruKid has created a "Toxic Bad Guys" list in order to raise awareness in parents and kids about harmful ingredients found in most personal care products. They even provide you with a handy little print out you can take to the store so you know what to look out for when shopping!
Besides doing their best to keep you and your kids safe and healthy, they are doing their best to keep our planet safe and healthy. They strive to use innovative and green packaging to minimize waste and make recycling easier. Whenever possible they replace traditional materials with ones that are biodegradable or recyclable.
TruKid helps parents make healthy decisions by proving a line of gentile, natural, and organic skincare that is safe to use on babies as well as big kids. Their bottles are color coded so kids can learn what to use when and have fun while doing it. Blue is for cleaning, green is for nourishing and orange is for sun protection.

I've been using TruKid Sunny Days SPF30+ face and body stick, the TruBaby Everyday play SPF 30+ mineral sunscreen (no Vitamin A) and the TruVillage SafeSun naturals sunscreen lotion SPF30+ since this weekend. I have to say I love it! I use the TruKid Sunny Days Stick on my forehead every morning before I go on my daily walk and I have noticed a marked improvement over using the store brand sunscreen I was using on myself. I use the Sunny Days stick on Tabitha's face because its so easy to swipe on and rub in and I can get it done with minimal fuss from her. I use the TruBaby Everyday Play on any other parts of her body not covered by clothes, then I put them both in her backpack for school. She has to bring her own to school since she is allergic to the kind they use at school. Tabitha is doing great with the TruBaby and Trukid sunscreen. Her skin looks great and she's not getting burned, two big pluses from me! I love the way the TruVillage sunscreen feels, it doesn't feel like I've got a bunch of junk caked on my skin like a lot of other sunscreens do, and it works!

TruKid has a ton of products for your everyday needs, from shampoo and conditioner to hand wash, body wash, sunscreen, detangler, body lotion, face wash, Children's hero stick ( a healing balm), to a baby line and a skincare line for adults. I am now a big fan of TruKid and will be buying this sunscreen and probably some more of their products for the girls in the future.

TruKid is offering Crafting in My Closet Readers a FREE Happy Face and Body lotion with any order of $30 or more at Trukid.com! Use the code happymom. This is a one per customer coupon.

Would you like to win all three products that I got to try out? Well you are in luck! I'' be giving away a TruKid Prize pack with all three of these amazing sunscreens in the traveling with baby giveaway starting today! Click here to go to the giveaway!

Do you or someone you know have super sensitive skin? HAve you tried TruKid? Tell me what you think!


I received these products for free in order to facilitate my review. All views are my own. I would never recommend a product I would not use myself.

Glow Bug Cloth Diapers #GBGreenFam

I hope you all are enjoying the Green Family Giveaway hop! the #GBGreenfam giveaway still has a few more days so hurry and enter these great giveaways!

I know i've already told all of you about my Love of Glow Bug Cloth diapers, butI wanted to spread the word a little more for those who don't know. If someone were to ask me what my favorite pocket diapers were, it would be hands down Glow Bug cloth diapers! I tell everyone I can about Glow bugs and how amazing they are. 

What is it that I love about Glow Bugs? So many things, here's a short list of why I love this diaper. 

* Snap in insert. It doesn't wiggle around like other inserts or bunch up at one end (always the opposite end of where you need it on other diapers). 

* The insert agitates out in the wash! I HATE pulling stinky wet icky inserts out of pocket diapers, its enough to make me not use pockets, but with Glow Bug Cloth diapers all you have to do is unsnap the insert and throw it in the washing machine. The moment of the washing machine slides the insert out. 

* Double gussets. Double Gussets are the best thing to happen to cloth diapers in a long time. They really contain those nasty blow out diapers. Eva has definitely put our Glow Bug diapers to the test. She likes to challenge them to make sure they still work sometimes =)

*AMAZING Customer Service. Seriously. The BEST customer service ever. When I did my first review of Glow Bug Diapers I had a problem with the diaper they sent me, the elastic had come loose and the back was unsewen. They assured me it was a fluke and sent me a new one right away. Then a month or so after I wrote my review, somehow morgen lost my inserts. I emailed them to ask if I could buy some new ones, and they were so nice. They sent me two new inserts at no cost. Seriously its the best customer service ever! Their amazing customer service alone is enough to make me a life time customer and fan! 

Eva and I at the Great Cloth Diaper
 Change
Sporting her Glow Bug Hawiian print.

two rows of snaps

 

The only thing I thought was missing from Glow Bug cloth diapers before was that they didn't have a hip snap to prevent wing droop. Well guess what? Glow Bugs now have hip snaps! Heck Yeah! Seriously Glow Bugs are the perfect diaper! I love them so much! And whats even better? Glow Bugs is sponsoring the grand prize of the Green Family Event! One winner will receive a whole stash of Glow Bug Diapers! How exciting is 
that!

IF you aren't the winner of the Glow Bug Green Family Giveaway, you can buy Glow bug Diapers for $150 right on my side bar! I love them so much I'm an affiliate for them. 

Pre Order your girl or boy prints now for Shipping in October and get FREE Shipping!

Glow Bug has come out with some totally adorable new prints both boy and girl, as well as a super cute ugly sweater themed special edition diaper. Seriously check out the cuteness. 

   

I am planning on buying the new girl prints as soon as I get a check from the state of CA i've been waiting on for 3 months, but I also want to get a set of boy prints, I really think the boy prints are gender neutral and would look adorable on Eva. I have no problem putting an adorable wrench diaper on my girls, especially since I plan on teaching them how to fix stuff so they don't have to rely on others to do it for them. 

Go check out all the new prints Glow bug Diapers has to offer, Like them on Facebook , then head on over to Formula Mom and enter to win a full stash! 

Disclosure: I received a Glow Bug Cloth Diaper for the purpose of writing this review, all views are my own ad I would never recommend any product I would not personally use. 

Uncle Milton Rainbow in My Room Review

Have you heard of Uncle Milton? They are a great toy company who make a lot of fun toys that I really wish I had as a kid! Uncle Milton was kind enough to send me the Rainbow in My Room for Tabitha to try out as part of the keeping kids creative giveaway hop.

Read more »

Teething tots Review and Green Family Giveaway

Welcome to the Green Family Giveaway sponsored by Formula Mom and Glow bug Cloth Diapers!
I'm very excited to be part of this great giveaway hop. The Grand prize is seriously amazing, and I have a little something I think you all will love as well! Some Awesome blogs have gotten together some great green family prizes and I can't wait to see what everyone has come up with. Each blog has a prize valued at at least $20. This Giveaway is open from 9/15 at midnight EST to 11:59 pm EST on 9/30. The Giveaway on Crafting in My Closet is open to US and Canada 18 years or older.

Glow Bug Cloth Diapers is the grand prize sponsor for the Green Family giveaway. One lucky reader will win a complete cloth diaper stash! The stash includes 24 cloth diapers with inserts featuring the newest prints! The winner will be able to choose from either a boy set or a girl set.  

 Enter the Grand Prize Giveaway!

Disclosure: Formula Mom, and the Green Family bloggers are not responsible for sponsors that fail to fulfill their prizes.

One of you AMAZING Crafting in My Closet readers will be winning their choice of amber teething necklace from Teething Tots (a $22 value)! Teething tots Amber Teething Necklaces are made of 100% natural Baltic Amber. They are beautiful andI really know they work.

We love our Amber teething necklace from Teething tots. We have the rainbow nugget necklace and I can tell you that it works. There is no doubt in my mind. These necklaces are beautifully made and work so well. 

When Evangeline got her first tooth in, I hadn't received our teething necklace yet, she was miserable, crying and not sleeping well, then the tooth came in and it all made sence. When her second tooth came in, she had the necklace on. She was a little fussy, but no more so that if she was a little late for a nap. She slept well, nursed like a champ and was smelling, so the next morning when i noticed a tooth had popped threw, I was a little surprised. The only real sign that she had been teething, was she was a little more clingy and drooling a little more than normal. 

One thing I LOVE about these necklaces is that each bead is individually tied on. This is good, because since the beads are made from natural amber, there is a possibility that there could be a flaw in the bead and one could break. This happened to me, one of the beads cracked and half of the bead broke off. But the good thing is that since each bead is individually knotted on, there wasn't a bunch of beads falling off. The other great thing is that once I got a hold of Teething Tots and told them what happened, they were so nice and are sending me a new one. I offered to send my old one back, but they were wonderful and said it was ok. Its nice that there are companies out there who really do care about their customers like this. 

For those who don't know about Amber Teething necklaces let me fill you in on why they are so great. Amber is fossilized sap from prehistoric trees. Amber is not a stone, so it is therefore warm to the touch, as well as lightweight to wear. Amber has been used for centuries as a natural pain remedy, its analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties make it the perfect option for a natural, drug free teething pain reducer. Amber teething necklaces work by the skin heating the amber and releasing healing oils including succinc acid which is absorbed through the skin into the blood stream. 

Evangeline is 7 months (but she's kind of a peanut) and you can see in this picture where it falls on her. Its not right at her neck, but since she's been wearing it for about a month, she has only tried to play with it once. She wears it all the time (although I should take it off in the water to keep the cord nice). They recomend you take it off when your child is sleeping or alone, but Eva co-sleeps, so I leave it on her. I always have it under her onesie at night and I've never had it come out of her onesie in her sleep. But if your child sleeps in a crib I would take it off at night just in case. 

After seeing how well the Amber Teething necklace from Teething Tots works on Eva, I've decided to buy a rainbow bean mommy necklace from Teething Tots for myself. I'm hopeful it will help with my back and neck pain. 

Would you like to win an Amber Teething Necklace from Teething Tots for your baby? Well its your lucky day! As part of the Green Family Giveaway I am giving away 1 Amber Teething necklace of winners choice! Thanks to Teething Tots for this amazing giveaway! 

Make sure you like Teething Tots on Facebook, Follow them on Twitter and Check out their webstore. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclosure: I was sent this amber teething necklace from Teething tots in order to facilitate my review. I was not compensated monetarily and I was in no way required to give a good review of this item. All views are my own and I would never recommend a product I would not personally use.

Make sure you enter the other giveaways in this hop!

Lansinoh Affinity Double Electric Breast Pump Review.

     When I had Tabitha, I didn't try to give her a bottle till she was 3 months old. And I didn't push it very hard. She had such a hard time learning to latch after our traumatic birth experience (I wish I had known all my rights and had a supportive nursing staff like my birth with Eva, but thats another story), that I was terrified she would say to heck with it and go for the bottle instead of nursing. Not that I really had to worry because she nursed till she was 32 months old, but my old pump SUCKED. It was horrible. It was a single electric (that the company doesn't even sell any more, and it doesn't offer any customer service for it either I recently found out).

       I had this old single electric for 3 years, and while trying to use it for Eva, I was in pain. It was awful. But one day a few weeks ago it just stopped working(It had done this so many times, I was used to it by now). I tried to fix it like I always had, but this time when I opened it up a plastic spring flew out and was broken. It was it, no fixing it anymore. Into the trash it went. I was then left with the hand pump I received from WIC. It gets the job done, but it takes a very long time and is a pain. I have been having to pump more often because I started Physical Therapy for my back and have to leave Evangeline and Tabitha with Morgen when I go, and no matter when I go, Eva wants to nurse while I'm gone.
       Trying to get everything around here done, with the girls and having to use a hand pump was just getting to be too much, so I contacted Lansinoh about reviewing their double electric Affinity breast pump. I was so excited when it came. I washed it, read the book and set to work. Some things that took some getting used to,

• it has a let down cycle. It does a slow almost massage to encourage let down for 2 minutes, then it switches to pump and the flood gates open. This was different than my old single electric or my hand pump as they just go straight to the suck the juice option. 
• you can change the pump length and strength settings. Luckily Lansinoh knows moms are not one size fits all.
• you can use it as a single pump too! In the back of the pump there is a plug, you unplug one of the tubes and stop the plug up to make it a singe pump. I actually use it as a single more often than a double, because Eva tends to nurse on one side and fall asleep, so I pump the other side while she is sleeping. Its a good system for us. 
• The Lansinoh Affinity pump is really easy to clean. I love that. No special pipe cleaners to clean things, like my last pump. 
• All parts of the Lansinoh Affinity breast pump can be washed and sterilized in microwave bags or boiled except the tubing which doesn't need to be washed since it doesn't come into contact with the breast milk. 

       Lansinoh Affinity breast pump is easy to use, comfortable to use, and it takes so much less time than my old single electric or my hand pump. When I go to Physical Therapy, I like to leave Morgen with 4oz of breast milk for Eva. That 4 oz took me 45 minutes to an hour three days a week with my old hand pump. Now that I am using the Lansinoh Affinity breast pump, I can get 4 oz in about 8-10 minutes. I only pump 3 days a week, mostly because i'm lazy, and Eva has stopped eating rice cereal so I don't need it for that anymore. I would highly suggest you get a pumping bra so that you don't have to hold the pump if you are going to be pumping with any regularity. I can't say enough good things about the Affinity. If I had to pump all the time and couldn't afford a hospital grade pump (and actually probably if I could too, because the one time I used a hospital pump with Tabitha it hurt like crazy.) I would use the Afinity. Its light weight, and very easy to use. Its perfect for working moms who only have a short while to pump at work. 

      I've found that the Lansinoh website is a gold mine of breastfeeding advice and support. There is some great information about pumping, choosing the right pump, storing breast milk, introducing solids and even tips for dads.  If you are a working mom click here, to get a back to work checklist to help with your pumping. 

     If you would like more information you can sign up for Nurture Notes, the #1 breastfeeding newsletter from Lansinoh here. 

    You can also read some amazing articles and watch some insightful videos on the Lansinoh site here.

    You can buy the Lansinoh Affinity double electric breast pump at Target, Walmart, Babies r Us, Amazon.com, Diapers.com, Motherhood maternity and the Lansinoh website. 

    I would definitely recommend this pump to any of my friends looking for a breast pump. I've tried one other double electric before and this is by far the easiest to use and the best i've seen. This is the #1 breast pump in my book. 

    I received this breast pump for free so that I could review it and share my views with my readers. I would never recommend a product I wouldn't or haven't used. All views are my own.  

Kelly Kits Review and giveaway

Have you heard of Kelly Kits? Kelly Kits is a self contained art kit subscription that is delivered to your house once a month. Kelly Kits offers 4 different types of membership: (From Kelly Kits Facebook Page)

1. Monthly Subscription- With a Kelly Kits subscription, you’ll have an all-access pass to fun, educational, and instructional support videos as well as monthly contests and drawings to win cool art stuff! For only $9.99 a month (shipping included) you will receive one Kelly Kit art play activity in one of five art disciplines: painting, sculpting, drawing, printmaking, or collage. The kit contains materials for the activity to be done by 2 children or one child can do the project twice! 2. Gift Packs- Each Kelly Kit Gift Pack contains 5 projects, you’ll get painting, sculpting, drawing, printmaking, and collage activities for TWO CHILDREN all in one gift-pack! Your choice of two super cool Kelly Kit collections the Original Kelly Kit Gift Pack or The Kelly Kit Picasso Gift Pack for only $24.95 each. Kelly Kits are allergen-free, and are for children ages 18 months to 10 years! Check out our website for more information! 3. Sensory Gift Pack- Our Kelly Kits Sensory Edition Gift Packs are specially designed for children with sensory integration issues. This collection of art play activities focuses on sensory stimulation in art featuring special textures and scents, and it’s GLUTEN FREE! Includes enrichment ideas as well as special text dialogue geared toward preparing a sensitive child for a new sensory experience in art for $24.95! 4. Birthday Party Packs- What could be easier and more entertaining than a Kelly Kits birthday party!!! These Birthday Party Packs are sold in sets for 8 guests with additional add on options for more party goers! Make birthdays easy and fun without costing a fortune! Birthday Party Pack are $49.95 for 8 guests! (add on packs for 4 guests for only $19.95). Each kit contains party favor and a special gift for the birthday boy or girl!

We recieved the print making set, and had a ton of fun doing it with Tabitha's friend Afton. Our kit came with everything we needed for two kids to do a fun art project. It came with a bag of tempura paint, a cup to mix it in, sponge paper (Tabitha thought that was the coolest thing watching the sponges grow in the water), little scissors, a pencil and paper. Tabitha is 3 and Afton is 2, so we used the kit to work on shapes. I drew a bunch of easy shapes, star, heart, circle, square, triangle, rectangle and cut them out for each of them. Then we put them in water and watched them grow. The girls loved that. Then we let the girls go to town making pictures. They had so much fun stamping away with their 

little sponges. 

                                   

                                      

The girls had so much fun doing their print making, and keep asking to do more crafts. These kits really are wonderful. For only $9.99 a month ($19.99 to Canada) you get everything you need in one easy package, you also get access to online extras like instructional videos. 

Morgen watched Tabitha while she was stamping for a bit and said we should sign up when he's done with school and we have more of a budget for this kind of stuff, I whole heartedly agree. These kits are great. Would you like to win one? How about a WHOLE YEAR of Kelly Kits? Thats right, one lucky Crafting in My Closet reader will get a year subscription to Kelly Kits, and everyone who enters will get a free kit (you pay shipping). How awesome is that? If that weren't enough, you will have two chances to win, because I will be giving away a year subscription to kelly kits to one lucky winner in the keeping kids creative giveaway in September! 

You can enter using this special link for 48 hours. Please note that this will take you to the Kelly Kits facebook page. I am not responsible for any information you use to fill out the giveaway on the KElly Kits facebook page. 

Discalimer: I received the above product free for the purpose of writing this review. All views are my own. I would never recommend a product that I would not personally use. 

Sponsor Spotlight: Green Toys, Natural Newborn event

Have you heard of Green Toys? The Environmentally friendly Eco toys, that are BPA and Phthalates free? They are made from 100% post consumer recycled materials how cool is that? They are also packaged in 100% post consumer recycled cardboard with no twist ties or plastic that has to be thrown away.  I first heard of Green Toys when Tabitha was 1, she got a Green Toys sand play set for her birthday from a friend.

Two years later we still have this entire set of sand toys, because unlike other sand toys, Green toys are built to last. I was really excited when I contacted Green Toys about sponsoring this giveaway hop and they said they would love to. They sent me a Green Toys School Bus, which is perfect, because Tabitha is OBSESSED with school busses, and Eva Loves anything with wheels. It says it is for children 1+, but Eva is 6 (almost 7) months old and loved playing with it. Tabitha is 3 years old and had a ton of fun as well. 

 

 


The girls Love this toy, and I love that not only is it something that they both love, but its is good for the environment!
Some of the things I LOVE about Green Toys:

• All toys and their raw materials are produced in California, which means less transportation of materials and less green house gasses. Also California has some of the strictest regulations for toys, so you know that they are the cleanest toys out there.
• Environmental Packaging: All Green Toys are packaged in minimal packaging consisting of post consumer recycled corrugated cardboard, with no twist ties, plastic or cellophane, which makes them easy to open and ready to recycle. 
• Green toys are SAFE! No BPA, no Phthalates, no lead paint. Every toy passes a number of safety protocols. 

Green Toys main ingredient is HDPE A plastic made from recycled milk jugs, yep the very same milk jugs you recycle every day! 

Tabitha and Evangeline give Green toys two big smiles! 

One Lucky Reader will win one of these awesome Green Toys School Bus' in the Natural Newborn Giveaway Event Starting on 8/17! I hope you are all excited for this event!

Make sure you check out Green Toys and Like them on Facebook!

Disclosure: I was sent this toy from Green Toys for the purpose of my review. I would never recommend a product that I wouldn't personally use, and don't personally love. I stand behind this review.