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SnugZee
LiveMom Guest Review
August 2010
Have you ever had to drive around with a screaming infant in the car? Then you know how frustrating and dangerous it can be to try to calm them and stay on the road at the same time. I have a two month old and always felt a little bad when we loaded her into her carseat- she always looked so uncomfortable and would cry without any reason, at least any reason that I could mend. When we started using the SnugZee, I was eager to see if it would make the car rides any better. After using it for a couple of weeks, we have so much less crying-for-no-reason. She just seems to be a lot more comfortable now than she was before in the car seat. The SnugZee keeps her head from flopping around and seems to make her much more comfortable!
Reason number two for liking it:
It’s washable! We had a little spit-up on it, which is not at all uncommon with newborns, unwrapped it (easily) from the car seat strap and threw it into the washer. I didn’t dry it because I was afraid it would shrink, but it is small enough and dried in no time at all.
Really, the only thing I would change would be the softness of the material. It seems a bit rough, especially since it sits right next to my daughter’s sweet face. We haven’t had any issues with rubbing against her skin, I just am all about softness now that I have a baby girl!
Little Looster
Katie Mastovich
July 2010
When the Little Looster was sent to LiveMom for a review, were just getting into full-on potty training mode. I already had a small, frog-shaped potty which sits on the floor, a potty seat, and a bench so she could reach the toilet by herself. I thought I was pretty well set. The potty training was going pretty well. She mostly went on the little potty but was starting to warm up to the big potty while using her potty seat. I was skeptical about liking the Little Looster because I already had a bench she could stand on to get to the potty. Could a longer U-shaped bench really improve upon my bench enough to be worth the price tag (It’s $39.99 plus shipping)? Once I put the Little Looster in the bathroom, she started going all by herself without even telling me until after she had peed and needed help wiping! I could not believe it the first time she called me to the bathroom. We had been doing pretty well, but she had never gone in on her own and gotten on the big potty by herself. The next time she called me in I found her on the toilet with no potty seat! She was so comfortable with the help of the Little Looster that she told me- yes, she told me- that she did not need the potty seat anymore; she could do it like a big girl. Hello! That was awesome. No awkward transition from little potty to toilet with potty seat to just plain toilet; with the help of the Looster we did it in a few days. The Looster is shaped to fit around the base of all toilets. If you look at the pictures on the website, you can see it is just a wide U-shaped bench. The beauty of the Looster is that it is the perfect height for little bodies. My daughter felt so comfy up there because she was no longer swaying around, desperately clinging to the potty seat handles. She could sit like a grown up perfectly balanced with her feet flat on the Looster. Another bonus, which quickly cured my original bench skepticism, is that it is amazingly stable. I would always hover around my daughter when she was standing on a bench because she would inevitably stand on one side and go tumbling to the ground. With the Looster, she can stand up after going to the bathroom and walk around on the bench over to the side to flush. It stays completely still. No more balancing acts for us!Another important feature is that the top is textured so it is not at all slippery. I am a first time mom so you can guess how overly cautious I am, but after seeing the Looster in action I don’t worry about her in the bathroom by herself any more. We will keep on using the Looster until she is tall enough for her feet to reach the floor. It makes us both more comfortable with her going on her own, has made her proud of her independence and has made the whole training process so much easier. If you are even thinking about potty training or just have a little person who has to wiggle their hiney across the seat to even sit up there, give the Looster a try. You will not be sorry.
Massage Harmony Review
Jennifer Ford
May 2010
Book Review: “Courageous Parents, Confident Kids”
Edited by Amy Tiemann
April 2010
Ok, so Parenting is challenging, right? They don’t send us home from the hospital/birth center/inflatable pool in your living room with a handbook that tells you how to handle every situation you will come across as a parent. As a parent to two active and spirited (that’s the nice way to say totally crazy, right?) boys, I am always on the lookout for a book, blog or homeless guy standing on the corner that might have a fresh new perspective on parenting that will help me make sense of it all. I had just begun reading a book on positive discipline (“I will positively take away your Legos next time I step on one with bare feet!” That’s it, right?), when I was invited to read an advance copy of ‘Courageous Parents | Confident Kids,’ edited by Amy Tiemann, PhD. The book’s tagline promises to discuss “letting go so you both can grow.” I was immediately interested, as I’ve been struggling with how to help my sons gain independence and confidence without looking like a neglectful mother. Helicopter parenting be damned, I started reading. ‘Courageous Parents | Confident Kids’ is broken down into several parts. Each part contains chapters written by different women, all mothers. The very first chapter discussed the importance of self-care for mothers, nay, women (because we aren’t just mothers). The author of the chapter made some pretty good points, including the need to model self-love and self-acceptance as a means of demonstrating it to your children. There were a few exercises to complete at the end of the chapter, as well as a few challenges. One that I am going to try (and it may take more than one try to get it right) is not criticizing myself for an entire week. The author also emphasized the importance of finding your tribe (helloooo, Livemom!) Having moved to Texas from California without knowing a single person outside of my husband and sons, I am learning the importance of finding your tribe/establishing a network of support firsthand. There is an excellent chapter on becoming your own parenting expert and breaking-free from feeling guilty for not following the ‘What Not to Expect…’ books by the letter. Do you remember those books? Sheesh. Talk about anxiety-inducing! I remember thinking, “how am I ever going to digest all of this information?!” Good thing I stopped trying, I think I would have been a mess before my children ever made their entrances into the world. Maya Frost, the author of the chapter entitled ‘Developing Your Own Courageous Parenting Style,’ coined a term that is a combination of the words “fear” and ego.” Ladies and germs, I give you: “Fego.” She says that pushing our kids in the direction we feel they should go is fear-based parenting. We may think we are doing our child a favor by mentoring them and showing them what we wish we had done when it was our turn, but really we are keeping them from becoming their own person and learning through life’s many successes and failures. I took lots of notes during this chapter! Linda Criddle penned an excellent chapter about Internet safety. She discussed when it might be appropriate to allow your child to have his or her own email address and ways to educate your child on the potential dangers lurking around the Internet. My five-year old knows how to open my laptop, wait for it to connect to the internet, and find his way to PBSKids.org. And he doesn’t even know how to read yet! My jaw dropped to the floor when I saw my son look for, and locate, the “P” on the keyboard, because he knew that was the first letter in “PBS,” and he selected the correct site from the history list that popped-up. When I was five, I was outside playing war or building a tree fort. It’s definitely a different world, and our children are growing up in this technological age. We must teach them how to protect themselves in ways we never had to consider when we were their age. The last section of the book is all about becoming politically involved in your community. The authors of the section are women from www.MomsRising.org, www.TheMotherhood.com and the blog PunditMom. I found the insights of the authors to be fascinating. I have a degree in political science and at one time wanted to make politics my life. I became a bit jaded and dropped out of politics. Want to know why? I got tired of the old boys’ club that existed in my party, and the fact that women were so ugly to each other, mainly because they were trying to fit in with the club. Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, co-founder of www.MomsRising.org, stated that as women, not only do we have to deal with the ever-present “glass ceiling,” but we mothers also have to deal with the “maternal wall.” It made me tingly in my feminist place to read that “women without children make about 90 cents to a man’s dollar, women with children make about 73 cents, and single moms make only about 60 cents to each dollar earned by a man.” If that’s not enough to get you politically-motivated, I don’t know what is! The book ends with several comments made by women on the aforementioned websites. I found them all to be wise, funny and encouraging. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book. There is truly something that will speak to mothers of babies and children of all ages, from birth to college. ‘Courageous Parents | Confident Kids’ brought together a fascinating group of women and in effect, created something of a one-stop shop for information and encouragement on motherhood, being a woman and raising confident, independent children. To receive your very own FREE downloaded copy of ‘Courageous Parents | Confident Kids,’ surf on over to www.MojoMom.com and sign up! There are no hoops to jump through, no trial offers to complete. Simply a free book . You must sign up by April 19, 2010 in order to receive the free download, so why not click on the link and sign up now? After April 19th, ‘Courageous Parents | Confident Kids’ will be available on Amazon. Written by Jennifer Ford
Lulla-Bear: July, 2009
I was contacted a couple of months ago by CrowleyJones, an Austin based company, to see if I was interested in reviewing Lulla-Bear, one of their newest products. The product sounded cool and so I agreed, especially since it’s coming from a local company! A few days later, a couple of boxes were waiting for me outside of my door when I came home from dropping off my two year old at school. I quickly opened one of them, even though I knew what was in it, as I love getting boxes in the mail. I took the Lulla-Bear out, inspected it and then laid the bear back in its box so that my daughter would have a “surprise” to open when she got home. She’s a lot like me and likes to get presents just as much as I do.
The entire ride home she questioned me about this surprise present. What was in it? Was it for her? We opened the door and she ran straight to where the box was sitting at the table. She tore open the box, took out the bear and I pushed the button to turn the music on. The first song that played is one of her favorites- “If you’re happy and you know it….” She was happy and started to sing along while carrying around the stuffed bear. I thought for sure that this would be one of her favorites, but the bear just sat for weeks, mostly un-played with.
Lulla-Bear is a cute stuffed bear that comes loaded with over 90 songs: kid songs, nature sounds and relaxing nighty-night music, as we refer to it in our household. It also has a USB cable tucked inside that plugs into your computer to upload even more songs or to personalize it with your very own voice, which is a great feature! There are so many non-kid songs that we listen to that my kids love and I really can’t wait until I can upload them to the bear. The bear has three different buttons on its left paw that allows you to choose what type of music to listen to. On the right paw sits the power button and the up or down volume. And, as an added benefit, it turns off on its own when the songs are done playing. It’s a good-sized bear, not really one that will fit into a diaper bag, but will definitely not get lost either.
The Lulla-Bear was initially created for infants, but it seems to me like it would be a perfect companion for kids all the way through pre-school. I was anxious to see how my daughter would play with it; would she throw it in the corner where most of her collection of stuffed animals lies or would this one take on a special place in her heart since she loves music (and there are buttons to push on this bear… an added bonus)? Over the past couple of months, there have been a handful of times that we’ve grabbed it, turned it on and listened to the music, but until a few days ago, she really didn’t seem to take much of an interest in it, even though she loves listening to and singing along with music. While we were sitting in her room, getting ready to dig through her dress-up container, she spotted Lulla-Bear sitting in her play shopping cart with a couple of other stuffed animals. She decided that it was time to play some music, so she asked me how to turn it on and then, once the music started, she started singing along while we played dress-up in her room. It was the first time that it cycled all the way through the songs and I realized that all of them are the classic songs that all kids love. I think the bear is starting to grow on her. I’m sure they will be inseparable before long and I’m hoping that she can take the enthusiasm that she has for her binky and put it into Lulla-Bear. Fingers crossed!
All in all, the Lulla-Bear is a pretty cool little bear. It would make a great baby shower gift- perhaps if the cost is split between two since it retails at around $50. I can certainly see infants using this bear by their crib to fall asleep and then continuing to use it as they get bigger. Getting it to turn on was a but confusing at first, but it worked fine after we read the directions and played around with it for a little bit. The only thing missing is an option for earphones as an accessory for the older toddlers and pre-schoolers who are attached to Lulla-Bear. My son always has his earphones in while listening to his MP3 player and my daughter is always wanting to take them from him so she can have earphones too. Many fights start that way, so if she had her very own MP3 player (Lulla-Bear) and earphones to listen to in the car, we’d be set!
Bess Bistro: April, 2009
I’d heard of Bess Bistro from a review that I’d read on another local blog that made me decide to schedule our monthly book club meeting there. We were reading Straight Up and Dirty by local writer/ blogger Stephanie Klein. She agreed to meet us there for dinner and drinks to talk about the book.
When booking the semi-private room at Bess Bistro, the manager stated that it holds up to fourteen people. We had eleven that evening and it was incredibly awkward seating. I can’t imagine how uncomfortable it would have been if we had to squeeze three more people in! There was one large round table and another long rectangular one. So, in order for all of us to hear Stephanie speak, we had to do some rearranging of the furniture. We did the best we could by moving the round table up against the rectangular one, but it was still suboptimal seating. I faced the back of another lady the entire evening and the people down at the other end had a hard time hearing our guest speaker. Long story short, if you are planning such an occasion, keep in mind that you might also have a tough time hearing your guest of honor. Other than that, the room was very lovely, being that it was tucked in a corner of the restaurant with a nice built-in bookshelf to help set the tone for our book club meeting.
Half way through the night, I stood and looked around from our little semi-private room to view the rest of the restaurant. I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw: exposed brick throughout with candles placed atop the tables, a few gas lights adorned the brick walls for that extra romantic touch, giving off the perfect lighting. Rather than it being a large open space, there were pockets of tables in cozy areas with booths tucked in here and there; the perfect ambiance for a quiet evening away with a sweetheart, I thought. I instantly fell in love with the surroundings and thought it was time for another date night with my husband.
The food, that evoked a whole other emotion in me. I looked at the menu online and had an idea- well, I actually already knew- of what I would order for dinner. As soon as I saw the description of the seafood risotto, I knew that I’d have a go at it. Here’s how it was described on the menu:
White wine saffron risotto with mussels, shrimp, wild snapper, scallops and shaved fennel- $21.50
Let me also tell you that I was starving. Yes, I was so hungry that I was actually feeling kind of light-headed in the car ride down to the restaurant. I had a granola bar stashed away in my purse in case one of the kids ever needed a snack, which I considered eating to hold me over until we got there. I resisted the urge to not spoil my appetite for what I knew was coming; a plate of yummy goodness.
When my food finally arrived, I asked the waiter to refill the bread basket because my dinner plate looked like there was no way it was going to satisfy my intense hunger. No, this wasn’t a case of my eyes being bigger than my stomach. It was a very small portion, especially for something that cost $21.50. It was maybe a couple scoops of risotto with two shrimp, two mussels and a few other chunks of random seafood. I could have easily have forgiven the size of the serving if it would have been incredibly tasty. Not so much. There was crab meat in it, which wasn’t in the description at all. It would have been fine if it had been REAL crab meat as opposed to the fake stuff. The risotto was a bit too crunchy and could have been cooked a tad bit longer. I didn’t see fennel or scallops, the two ingredients that I was most looking forward to in the dish.
I did eat all of it. It wasn’t horrible. Just not something I’d ever go back for. It was something I could’ve made at home, and when I go out to eat, I generally try to get things that aren’t so easy to prepare. I thought that I might have gotten a dish that just wasn’t made properly that night, but on the ride home, I found out that another patron in our group ordered a duck plate and about eighty percent of the duck was RAW. Like purple flesh raw. Ugh…. she was crossing her fingers that she wouldn’t get food poisoning, but since she only nibbled around the raw meat and tried to stick to eating only the cooked part, she was thankfully safe, surviving the night without any intestinal issues. Most of the others who carpooled with us also had similar complaints on the ride home.
Some redeeming qualities were the creme brulee; it was perfect. The waitstaff was nice and very attentive to us. In fact, everyone we dealt with that night at the restaurant were pleasant and helpful. They have curbside valet parking so you don’t have to drive around looking for those hard-to-find downtown spots.
It’s owned by Sandra Bullock and we heard it through the grapevine that she’s been in town, frequenting her restaurant. We were hoping she would hear about our exclusive book club meeting there (kidding on that exclusive part) and pop in to say hello to us. We were also disappointed in the fact that she didn’t show up, but know that there must have been something way more important going on that night to not come to our book club. We forgive her lack of appearance, but not the quality of her restaurant’s food.
Would I return? Possibly, as a dessert only option. Maybe stop in for coffee and creme brulee after a dinner elsewhere. Perhaps it was just a bad night for the chef.