My mother-in-law has been a longtime Macy’s fan, so I’m quite familiar with the First Impressions baby apparel line that’s only available at Macy’s. When First Impressions contacted me and asked if they could sponsor a giveaway, I didn’t hesitate to say, “Yes, Please!”

First Impressions was nice enough to send a few sets of baby clothes for my review as well. Unfortunately, my camera was out of town when we first took them off the hangers for the test drive, so I didn’t get any personalized photographs of Haiden and Piper in their new duds. I can say, however, that I love this brand! I live in the land of Macy’s, and I’ve done quite a bit of shopping for my babies there over the past two years, and we also receive gifts from there. The apparel is high-quality and adorable, and I love pretty much everything about it.

My favorite thing about the First Impressions brand is that the styles aren’t too grown up. I like to dress my little ones in very age-approprate clothing (think cute and babyish) and First Impressions fits the bill. At the same time, the styles are definitely classy and well put-together. I usually find myself shopping the brand when I’m looking for clothing for a special occasion!

I honestly don’t see a need for improvement in the quality or style or even price of anything sold by First Impressions. The only thing I’d love to see changed is availability. I hoping that some day the brand will be offered in other stores outside of Macy’s!

First Impressions has generously offered up 4 First Impressions gift sets! Each Gift set includes an outfit, a five-piece layette set, and an adorable plush animal (the winner can even choose if they want a girl or boy gift set!).

Want to Win? Leave a comment on this post letting me know if you’d like a boy or girl gift set.

The above entry is mandatory. If you’d like additional entries, you may do the following:

1. Subscribe to the Baby GoodBuys feed either in a reader or by email. You can do this by clicking here and adding this site to your reader, or you can enter your email address in the box near the top of the page on the right. You must click the confirmation link in your email if you choose to be an email subscriber. (Leave a comment letting me know you’re a subscriber to get your extra entry for this option)
2. Add Baby GoodBuys to your Blogroll or post my button on the sidebar of your blog (it must be on your front page sidebar, not in an individual post). (Leave a comment with your website URL)
3. “Like” Baby GoodBuys on Facebook (leave a comment with your Facebook display name)
4. Follow BabyGoodBuys on Twitter (leave a comment sharing your Twitter handle).
5. Sign up for Ebates by clicking here. (Your email address will be verified by Ebates, so leave a comment letting me know you signed up and I’ll validate with your email address that’s not publicly displayed in your comment)

Contest Details: Contest ends on 7/25/2010. United States residents only. Valid email address is required. All entries without a valid email address will be disqualified. Duplicate, fraudulent and/or invalid entries will be disqualified. Winning email notification must be responded to within 48 hours or that winner will forfeit the prize and a new winner will be selected. Winner will be selected with the random integer generator at random.org. Screen print of Random.org selection will be saved and provided upon request. Winner’s first name will be posted on this giveaway/contest All questions should be directed to babygoodbuys(at) gmail(dot)com.

FTC Disclosure: This was not a paid post and honest opinions were expressed. Many thanks to First Impressions for providing the items to review and the prize for the winner.

Giveaway: First Impressions Baby Apparel Gift Sets {4 Winners!} is a post from: Baby GoodBuys

Since I’m an Infantino Test Drive Mom, My babies get to try out an assortment of new Infantino products, and I get to post adorable photos of them online! For Phase 1 of the test drive program, we received the Twist and Fold Activity Gym. While this product has been around for awhile, the product we received is a new design, Baby Animals, (available July 15th) that coordinates with the Infantino Jumbo Wheel Play Space.

Let me tell you, this activity gym is a ton of fun! Since my little ones started playing with this when they were a bit bigger (10 months and 22 months), I can’t say exactly how great it is for infants. I can tell you that they’ve both really liked playing with it, so it’s likely a toy that will get some mileage from newborn age to at least small toddler age. There are some great features to this activity mat that make it fun entertainment for my babies! Here’s what they especially loved: Piper loved the brightly colored animals that I attached to the crossbars. The swinging and dangling caught her attention and she loves to grab them and chew on them. She’s also a little teething monster right now, so the bright plastic rings used to attach the toys to the activity gym help give her gums some relief. Haiden things the way the crossbars bounce and spring back is super fun! He likes pushing down on the crossbars from the top, then jumping back to see the whole mat bounce back! (I totally understand that this isn’t an intended feature of this toy, but it works for us!)

The toy was really easy to set up: all I had to do was attach the crossbars to the mat and secure them with buckles. The crossbars then lock down to create a “T” at the top. The four included toys can be secured with rings to either the crossbars or the bottom of the mat.

As a mom, I understand that tummy time is really important. While both of my babies have outgrown the actual need for tummy time, this toy has some wonderful features to make tummy time more enjoyable for babies. It comes with a bolster to prop baby up on her chest, and all the toys can be attached to the loops on the mat to provide entertainment at eye level The mat is also adorably decorated to entertain (distract?) baby while she’s getting her tummy time, and the pieces can be placed in a variety of areas to help encourage her to move her head around.

I think the portability and stowability of this activity gym is far and away the best feature! If you don’t have an activity gym, you might not realize exactly how much space they take up. Additionally, most of them don’t fold up easily to tuck away for storage or for cleaning up when company’s coming. The Infantino Twist and Fold Activity Gym has a design that collapses and folds up into a long, slender shape that makes it much easier to put away! It also makes it ideal for travel if you have a need to take the toy with you when you leave your home. I didn’t have a chance to take a picture of our gym folded up, but here’s a photo of a different style gym all folded up into its compact state:

Pretty nice, right?

The only suggestion I have for the Twist & Fold Activity Gym would be to add some lights to make it even more mesmerizing for tummy time. We also have a Sound & Lights Activity Gym that worked amazingly well to keep Piper distracted when she was on her tummy as an infant. I know how difficult this exercise can be, and I think that the more distractions there are, the better for both mom and baby!

If you’re interested in buying an Infantino Twist & Fold Activity Gym, it’s available on Amazon.com for around $40-$55. The price depends on the style you choose. They’re all adorable, so you really can’t go wrong!

Infantino is in the process of releasing several new, fun and innovative products for babies! You can connect with them and stay updated by visiting their blog.

Disclosure: I am a participant in a Mom Central campaign for Infantino and have received various Infantino products to as part of my participation.

Review: Check out the Infantino Twist and Fold Activity Gym! is a post from: Baby GoodBuys

A few weeks ago I reviewed the Diaper Genie II Elite as part of my participation in the Mom Central Diaper Pail Test Drive program. This is part 2, and we’re going to meet the Arm & Hammer Diaper Pail by Munchkin.

Like I said in the first post, I’m a newbie to diaper pails. I always thought a garbage can would work (and it had, for about 20 months!). After trying out the Diaper Genie II Elite for a week, my opinion was starting to be swayed. Now that I’ve also tried out the Arm & Hammer Diaper Pail by Munchkin for a week (plus an additional week), I have to say that I fully understand why so many people recommend diaper disposal systems.

I changed up week 2 of the Diaper Pail test drive by putting the Arm & Hammer Diaper Pail in Haiden and Piper’s bedroom. When I first started these reviews, I had thought we changed most diapers in our living room. After thinking about it, I realized we also changed quite a few diapers upstairs, either on our bed or in the bathroom at bathtime, especially on the weekdays when I worked. My first thought was that this diaper pail was relatively small. It was definitely smaller than the garbage can I had originally put in their room to contain the dirty diapers. There was no assembly required, all I had to do was pop the bag into the pail, snap it in place and get started. You also have to peel a sticker off the baking soda capsule attached to the inside of the lid so it can start dispensing real backing soda into the diaper pail. After both of those things were done, we were ready to start filling it with diapers.

The Arm & Hammer diaper pail is not hands free: you have to push a lever on the top and pull the lid up to put the dirty diaper inside. The closing motion of the lid automatically shakes some baking soda into the pail, helping to control odors. There’s also an extra odor-controlling measure on the inside of the pail. The closing of the lid also moves a circular panel to block the hole at the top of the diaper pail. Because of that, there’s a second barrier to keep odors inside the pail when the lid is closed.

The actual disposal of the dirty diapers is really easy! The refill bag has a ring around the top that snaps into the pail to keep it secure when it’s in use. When the bag is full, the ring unsnaps from the pail and the entire bag is removed through a door in the side of the pail. Then the ring folds in half and snaps together to seal the bag up.

Here’s what I’ve ended up liking about the Arm & Hammer Diaper Pail by Munchkin:

1. It’s compact. with an advertised capacity of 25 dirty diapers, it take several days to fill this up, even with two little ones in diapers. Granted, not every diaper goes into this pail, but I don’t change diapers in a single dedicated place.
2. The self-sealing bags. These are really nice. Last night I emptied one bag and put in a fresh one. I sealed the first bag up and put it at the top of the stairs until I was ready to bring it down. If the bag hadn’t sealed in the odors, there’s no way I would have done that!
3. The easy emptying process. Pulling out one bag and popping in another is as easy as it gets!

I do have a few suggestions for improvements in this diaper pail:

1. It’s not hands-free. I don’t think you appreciate this until you’re holding a really dirty diaper and a squirmy baby! I’d love to see a foot pedal to pop it open when both hands are occupied.
2. Waste less plastic bags. I don’t think I’ll ever be satisfied in this area. When I took the full bag out of the diaper pail, there was definitely room for 5 or 6 more diapers in the bag, but they wouldn’t fit in the pail.  I hate that the bag isn’t really filled to capacity when the pail can’t hold anymore diapers.
3. The cost of refills. Again, this is a a baby bargain website, and I have a hard time with the idea of buying a refill pack of 10 bags for $6.99. The bags are modified trash bags, and that’s a hefty price tag when you total it up over time.

Diaper Genie II Elite Vs Arm & Hammer Diaper Pail by Munchkin: Final Thoughts

When all is said and done, I still don’t believe a diaper pail is a necessity, but I can see how it can definitely find a place in the “Nice to Have” category! Both contained odors much better than a regular garbage can with a lid and required less time and maintenance than a garbage can. They also both had different pros and cons. Since they performed so similarly, I think the biggest difference between the two is the exterior design. The Diaper Genie II Elite was definitely made with style in mind, while the Arm & Hammer Diaper Pail was made for function. If performance is the question, I’m going to be diplomatic and call it a draw. I think both work quite well and do the job they’re made to do.

I am a member of the Mom Central community and I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central, sponsored by Diaper Genie, and received a free Diaper Genie diaper pail and a free Munchkin Arm & Hammer diaper pail to facilitate my review.

Diaper Pail Test Drive: Arm & Hammer Diaper Pail by Munchkin Review is a post from: Baby GoodBuys

I seem to continuously struggle with meal planning. I totally understand that it’s not rocket science, that it’s that “ounce of preparation” that makes dinner a challenge on the evenings after working during the day. Finding easy meals that appeal to both my husband and I can sometimes take the fun out of cooking for me.

I’m not against convenience foods by any stretch. While I prefer to cook from scratch, my lack of preparation skills usually makes it impossible to get dinner on the table before 7:00 PM if I’m making it all from individual ingredients. That’s unacceptable with “2 under 2″. Thankfully, General Mills and My Blog Spark let me try out Wanchai Ferry’s new Beef & Broccoli complete Chinese meal for two. The entire setup cooks in 14 minutes, meaning dinner can be on the table within 30 minutes of getting home. As an added bonus, it requires only a little supervision, so I can watch the kiddos while letting dinner pretty much cook itself.

As for the flavor, I love Chinese food, and I was really happy with how good the Wanchai Ferry Beef & Broccoli tasted! The texture of the beef was much better than I expected; I didn’t have a single issue with it. And the slightly spicy and sweet sauce perfectly complemented the beef and vegetables.

The only improvement I would suggest for this frozen meal would be that it’s not quite enough food for both myself and my husband. James eats a lot, and I found that there just wasn’t enough rice to stretch between the two of us so we’d both be satisfied. If I had any of those organizational skills I’m always dreaming of, I would have cooked up an extra batch of rice to serve with the rest of the meal to make sure my hubby didn’t go hungry!

Want to try out Wanchai Ferry’s Beef & Broccoli? You can print a coupon to save $1.60 off Wanchai Ferry’s Beef & Broccoli meal here!

General Mills and My Blog Spark are offering one lucky reader a Wanchai Ferry Gift Pack that includes an Asian Tea Set and a package of Wanchai Ferry’s Beef & Broccoli meal!

Want to Win? Leave a comment on this post sharing your favorite Asian meal you’d like to see offered by Wanchai Ferry.

The above entry is mandatory. If you’d like additional entries, you may do the following:

1. Subscribe to the Baby GoodBuys feed either in a reader or by email. You can do this by clicking here and adding this site to your reader, or you can enter your email address in the box near the top of the page on the right. You must click the confirmation link in your email if you choose to be an email subscriber. (Leave a comment letting me know you’re a subscriber to get your extra entry for this option)
2. Add Baby GoodBuys to your Blogroll or post my button on the sidebar of your blog (it must be on your front page sidebar, not in an individual post). (Leave a comment with your website URL)
3. Become a fan of Baby GoodBuys on Facebook (leave a comment with your Facebook display name)
4. Follow BabyGoodBuys on Twitter (leave a comment sharing your Twitter handle).
5. Sign up for Ebates by clicking here. (Your email address will be verified by Ebates, so leave a comment letting me know you signed up and I’ll validate with your email address that’s not publicly displayed in your comment)

Contest Details: Contest ends on 6/28/2010. United States residents only. Valid email address is required. All entries without a valid email address will be disqualified. Duplicate, fraudulent and/or invalid entries will be disqualified. Winning email notification must be responded to within 48 hours or that winner will forfeit the prize and a new winner will be selected. Winner will be selected with the random integer generator at random.org. Screen print of Random.org selection will be saved and provided upon request. Winner’s first name will be posted on this giveaway/contest All questions should be directed to babygoodbuys(at) gmail(dot)com.

FTC Disclosure: This was not a paid post and honest opinions were expressed. Many thanks to General Mills and My Blog Spark for providing the items to review and the prize for the winner.

Giveaway: Wanchai Ferry Beef & Broccoli Gift Pack is a post from: Baby GoodBuys

My family loves Costco. Really. Not only is it the best place to get milk in our area, it’s also awesome weekend entertainment for our two little kids! We’ll head there on a Saturday morning, see the new products, pick up some samples and get the milk that’s always on our shopping list. At the end, we’ll grab a hot dog to share and be on the way to enjoy the rest of our day!

Because I’m such a huge Costco fan, I was thrilled when General Mills and My Blog Spark contacted me to do a review of the Costco Sunny Days gift pack! They sent me Nature Valley Chewy Trail Mix bars, Simply Fruit Roll-Ups and a Costco Gift Card for some purchases of my own. The Chewy Trail Mix bars are delicious. Even though they only have 140 calories in each one, there are whole almonds, peanuts, raisins and cranberries in every bar! Plus, they’re 100% natural. I have to say that these make a great breakfast on the go, and they’re a fabulous afternoon snack to boost my energy just as I’m winding down. The Simply Fruit Roll-Ups are a great treat or snack for Haiden. They get a little sticky and messy if I leave him to eat one on his own, but they’re delicious and he loves them. If we’re away from home, I’ll help him by tearing off bits to keep it as clean as possible! In addition, they’re a good source of vitamin C and they’re made of 90% real fruit and juice.

The best part about both snacks is the massive sizes they come in! Since they’re from Costco, you get 48 Trail Mix bars in one pack and 42 Fruit Roll-Ups in the other. That’s enough to last our family for many weeks of snacks!

My Blog Spark is so great, they want to give one lucky reader a Costco Sunny Day Snacks Prize! The winner will get a 48-count pack of Nature Valley Trail Mix bars, a 42-count pack of Simply Fruit Roll-Ups and a $25 Costco gift card!

Want to Win? Leave a comment on this post sharing a healthy item you want from Costco.

The above entry is mandatory. If you’d like additional entries, you may do the following:

1. Subscribe to the Baby GoodBuys feed either in a reader or by email. You can do this by clicking here and adding this site to your reader, or you can enter your email address in the box near the top of the page on the right. You must click the confirmation link in your email if you choose to be an email subscriber. (Leave a comment letting me know you’re a subscriber to get your extra entry for this option)
2. Add Baby GoodBuys to your Blogroll or post my button on the sidebar of your blog (it must be on your front page sidebar, not in an individual post). (Leave a comment with your website URL)
3. Become a fan of Baby GoodBuys on Facebook (leave a comment with your Facebook display name)
4. Follow BabyGoodBuys on Twitter (leave a comment sharing your Twitter handle).
5. Sign up for Ebates by clicking here. (Your email address will be verified by Ebates, so leave a comment letting me know you signed up and I’ll validate with your email address that’s not publicly displayed in your comment)

Contest Details: Contest ends on 6/21/2010. United States residents only. Valid email address is required. All entries without a valid email address will be disqualified. Duplicate, fraudulent and/or invalid entries will be disqualified. Winning email notification must be responded to within 48 hours or that winner will forfeit the prize and a new winner will be selected. Winner will be selected with the random integer generator at random.org. Screen print of Random.org selection will be saved and provided upon request. Winner’s first name will be posted on this giveaway/contest All questions should be directed to babygoodbuys(at) gmail(dot)com.

FTC Disclosure: This was not a paid post and honest opinions were expressed. Many thanks to General Mills and My Blog Spark for providing the items to review and the prize for the winner.

Giveaway: Costco Sunny Days Gift Card and Snacks! is a post from: Baby GoodBuys

Being a mom of “two under two” means that I’m going to have both little ones in diapers for a while! While I’m aware of diaper disposal systems, I honestly never thought they were something we needed in our home. After Haiden was born, we quickly realized that we never changed his diaper in the same place. We never used our changing table, so we didn’t have a central area to put a diaper pail. But, when Mom Central offered me an chance to try out two competing brands of diaper disposal systems, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to see if I thought they were worth the money. As always, I want to only recommend the best baby products at the best prices for all of my readers, and this opportunity will give me some real experience with diaper pails!

I started Week 1 of the Diaper Pail Test Drive by trying out the Playtex Diaper Genie II Elite. It was beyond easy to set up and start using. The only assembly required was fitting two big plastic cylinders together, then inserting the plastic bagging system. It took all of 5 minutes from taking it out of the box to having it ready to go!

My first impression was that it looked pretty good for a modified garbage can! I’ve seen older versions of Diaper Genies at baby resale shops and garage sales, and this design is much sleeker and more modern than what the Diaper Genie used to be. That’s good, since it’s pretty big. James (my husband) and I usually find ourselves changing diapers in our living room so the most logical place to try it out was in there. It’s not a gigantic space, so the Diaper Genie II Elite does stick out a little bit, but the clean design definitely doesn’t scream “dirty diapers”!

The first week’s results: I am pleasantly surprised by the Diaper Genie’s performance! The plastic bag “refill” pack says that each refill will hold 180 soiled diapers. I haven’t counted, but I’ve been very, very happy with the minimal amount of times we’ve had to remove the full bag of dirty diapers and refill the clean bag. I also think the removal and replacement of the plastic bags is pretty fantastic. The system is designed to waste very little plastic, and it seems to work. You just grab the top of the bag, slice it off with the cutter, then pull the new bag down to the bottom and knot it off. I also knot off the dirty bag, since, well, it’s full of garbage!

So far, here’s what I like about the Diaper Genie II Elite:

1. It’s easy to use: There’s a foot petal for hands-free operation. That’s fabulous when one hand is holding the diaper and another is carrying a baby!
2. It’s modern design: I can’t imaging having a big garbage can in our living room, so this is a great option for disposing our diapers.
3. Smell containment: Yes, there’s definitely a horrible odor when you open the Diaper Genie II Elite to throw another diaper away. But when it’s shut, it contains smells far better than an ordinary garbage can!

Here’s what could use improvment:

1. Refill cost: At about $7 each, the Diaper Genie Refill inserts don’t come cheap.
2. Plastic waste: I know I said that the waste of plastic bag inserts was really minimal when replacing the bag. But I keep thinking that it’s still just a plastic bag. I have lots of those that I could be reusing to line an ordinary garbage can, or just not use one at all. As someone who’s trying to be a bit greener, buying and using another form of plastic bag doesn’t appeal to me.

Overall, I’m happy that we’re using the a diaper pail for odor control alone. The rest of the features are just icing on the cake!

Next week I’ll be reviewing the Arm & Hammer Diaper Pail by Munchkin!

I am a member of the Mom Central community and I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central, sponsored by Diaper Genie, and received a free Diaper Genie diaper pail and a free Munchkin Arm & Hammer diaper pail to facilitate my review.

I’m a Diaper Pail Test Drive Mom: Diaper Genie II Elite Review is a post from: Baby GoodBuys

I love going out to eat! I don’t think I’m alone in that sentiment, but with two little ones and a budget to stick to, we rarely dine with just my husband and I and our two little ones. Plus, sometimes it’s way easier to eat in than get everyone ready and keep things under control once we’re in a restaurant! Lucky for us, though, Chili’s invited us to come in and try out their new menu, so I quickly accepted!

A few weeks ago, James (my husband) and I packed up Piper and Haiden and headed to our neighborhood Chili’s to experience their new menu items. It’s been a long time since we’ve eaten at Chili’s; I don’t think we even had kids the last time we went there! I had forgotten the pleasantly American/Tex-Mex selection.Even though I’m a Minnesota mommy I have a weakness for salsa, tortillas, corn and guacamole, so I was really excited to dive into the menu! My husband ordered a half-rack of ribs with the NEW Shiner Bock BBQ Sauce, and I conveniently forgot that I should have ordered something new, and I ordered the Quesadilla Explosion Salad! What can I say? I saw the combination of cheese quesadillas, grilled chicken, corn relish and cilantro and I couldn’t even look at the rest of the menu! Plus, I was thinking that Haiden didn’t need a whole kids meal for himself, so I could share quite a few items from my salad with him (which he loved).

I have to admit that I don’t have huge expectations when we go to chain restaurants, but this experience at Chili’s definitely exceeded my expectations! My husband’s ribs with the Shiner Bock barbeque sauce were hot and his fries were really crispy. My salad was cold and the quesadillas on top were warm. They even got my picky salad dressing specifications (dressing on the side plus a side of ranch) right! That, combined with their location of about a mile away from our home, made us agree that we’d definitely be back again! When we do go back, there are a few items from the new menu that I’d like to try, like Santa Fe Chicken Wrap with avacado and fire-roasted corn, or a traditional Taco Combo! Here are a few mouthwatering pictures to get your appetite going!

Now through August 30th, 2010, Chili’s is hosting the Shout Out to Eat Out Contest. Just go to ShoutOuttoEatOut.com and upload a 10-30 second video telling Chili’s why you don’t want to cook tonight, and they’ll reward one random entry per day with a Chili’s gift card!

Here’s one more reason to love Chili’s: Sign up here for their E-mail club and you’ll get a printable coupon in your inbox for free chips and queso! I love freebies and printable coupons, so that really appeals to me!

Chili’s wants one Baby GoodBuys reader to try out the new menu on them, so they’re offering a free $50 gift card to one reader!

Want to Win a $50 Chili’s Gift Card? Just leave a comment on this post.

The above entry is mandatory. If you’d like additional entries, you may do the following:

1. Subscribe to the Baby GoodBuys feed either in a reader or by email. You can do this by clicking here and adding this site to your reader, or you can enter your email address in the box near the top of the page on the right. You must click the confirmation link in your email if you choose to be an email subscriber. (Leave a comment letting me know you’re a subscriber to get your extra entry for this option)
2. Add Baby GoodBuys to your Blogroll or post my button on the sidebar of your blog (it must be on your front page sidebar, not in an individual post). (Leave a comment with your website URL)
3. Become a fan of Baby GoodBuys on Facebook (leave a comment with your Facebook display name)
4. Follow BabyGoodBuys on Twitter (leave a comment sharing your Twitter handle).
5. Sign up for Ebates by clicking here. (Your email address will be verified by Ebates, so leave a comment letting me know you signed up and I’ll validate with your email address that’s not publicly displayed in your comment)

Contest Details: Contest ends on 6/21/2010. United States residents only. Valid email address is required. All entries without a valid email address will be disqualified. Duplicate, fraudulent and/or invalid entries will be disqualified. Winning email notification must be responded to within 48 hours or that winner will forfeit the prize and a new winner will be selected. Winner will be selected with the random integer generator at random.org. Screen print of Random.org selection will be saved and provided upon request. Winner’s first name will be posted on this giveaway/contest All questions should be directed to babygoodbuys(at) gmail(dot)com.

FTC Disclosure: This was not a paid post and honest opinions were expressed. Many thanks to Chili’s for providing the gift card for the winner and one for my family and I.

Chili’s: Shout Out to Eat Out, Free Chips & Queso and a $50 Gift Card Giveaway! is a post from: Baby GoodBuys

Giveaway has ended. Congratulations to Cathy!

Earth Month was in April, but there’s really no reason to not go green every month, is there? I try to help myself and my family be as green as we can be (while still maintaining my sanity – I can’t handle cloth diapers!). We recycle everything we possibly can, we compost, we reuse products and I especially try to waste as little as possible in everything I do. Some use and waste, however, is non-negotiable for me. Toilet paper is one of those things. I know there are some alternatives, but my family is definitely going to use TP!

It’s nice to know, however, that there are a few eco-friendly options that allow us to lessen our impact while still using toilet paper! Marcal Small Steps makes toilet paper, napkins and paper towels from 100% premium recycled paper, not trees. Why the name “Small Steps”? It may seem like a small thing, but using 100% recycled products (like Marcal Small Steps) really adds up. If every household in the U.S. replaced one package of traditional toilet paper with Marcal Small Steps, together we could help save nearly one million trees.  And, in your own home, a family of four could save two trees a year (17 trees over 10 years) just by switching to paper products made from 100% recycled materials. That’s incredible! Marcal Small Steps sent me some samples to try out their products, and I’m happy to say that I like them! Marcal sent me toilet paper, napkins and paper towels to try out.

Overall, I have to say that the products do their jobs. I usually buy the budget, single-ply, big rolls of toilet paper, because I’m just not picky about that sort of thing. The Marcal toilet paper was very similar, so no complaints there! The napkins were the same story. They’re not restaurant-quality napkins, but they worked just fine to clean us up while we were eating dinner, so these products get my vote, too! I do have to admit that I’m not a big paper towel user. In my effort to reduce my own waste, I tend to use rags for almost everything, so I can’t really compare the paper towels to the performance of other products. I did, however, find that they worked just fine to clean up a secondhand bread machine I picked up a few weeks ago. They didn’t shred or fall apart, and the machine cleaned up beautifully, so I’d recommend the Marcal paper towels, too!

I think one of the best things about Marcal is that their products are environmentally-friendly without the “green premium” that’s often attached to other eco-friendly products. I actually learned that Marcal products typically sell for less than their competitors tradtional paper goods that often have dyes and chemicals that Marcal doesn’t. Plus, those other products aren’t made from recycled materials! Also, I often find coupons for Marcal products in my Sunday newspaper so I can pick up the product for even less than their regular low price. A green product that I can get for a fabulously low price? I’m a convert for sure!

Want to know where to buy Marcal Small Steps products? Click here to find a store near you!

Giveaway

Marcal is so fabulous, they’re providing  a 1-month supply of paper products to one lucky Baby GoodBuys reader! Here’s how to enter:

Leave a comment letting me know a “small step” you’ve taken to become more green.

The above entry is mandatory. If you’d like additional entries, you may do the following:

1. Subscribe to the Baby GoodBuys feed either in a reader or by email. You can do this by clicking here and adding this site to your reader, or you can enter your email address in the box near the top of the page on the right. You must click the confirmation link in your email if you choose to be an email subscriber. (Leave a comment letting me know you’re a subscriber to get your extra entry for this option)
2. Become a fan of Baby GoodBuys on Facebook (leave a comment with your Facebook display name)
3. Follow BabyGoodBuys on Twitter (leave a comment sharing your Twitter handle).
4. Sign up for Ebates by clicking here. (Your email address will be verified by Ebates, so leave a comment letting me know you signed up and I’ll validate with your email address that’s not publicly displayed in your comment)

Contest Details: Contest ends on 5/28/2010. United States residents only. Valid email address is required. All entries without a valid email address will be disqualified. Duplicate, fraudulent and/or invalid entries will be disqualified. Winning email notification must be responded to within 48 hours or that winner will forfeit the prize and a new winner will be selected. Winner will be selected with the random integer generator at random.org. Screen print of Random.org selection will be saved and provided upon request. Winner’s first name will be posted on this giveaway/contest All questions should be directed to babygoodbuys(at) gmail(dot)com.

FTC Disclosure: This was not a paid post and honest opinions were expressed. Many thanks to Marcal Small Steps for providing the products for my (very!) personal use and additional products to give away.

Giveaway: 1-Month Supply of Marcal Small Steps Paper Products is a post from: Baby GoodBuys

It’s no secret that I love Boon products. I post all the deals I can find, and I always, always tell people that the Boon Squirt feeding spoon is one of my number one favorite baby products! Really, I’ve stopped couples registering for baby products at Target and told them to add the Squirt to their registry! Recently, Boon asked me if I wanted to try out one or two of their products. Of course, I agreed, and I was thrilled when they sent me both the Grass and the Stash!

I use my dishwasher for almost everything, but I draw the line at putting bottles and sippy cups in there. I want to scrub out every inch and make sure they’re clean! I have two babies under two, so we go through a lot of drinkware for the little ones each day. I’m not a neat freak, but I do like a clean sink, and the full dish drainer was driving me nuts! Really, this is what it looked like almost all the time!

I recently saw Nicole from Making it Lovely using the Grass drying rack, and I fell in love with the look! I need tons of help in the decor department, and her post showed me how the Grass drying rack literally looked so fresh on her countertop!

When I received my own Grass countertop drying rack, I wasn’t disappointed! The thing is so cute, it looks like a little piece of art on my kitchen counter! Plus, it serves it’s purpose well: It allows me to separate the bottles and sippy cups and get them out of the sink. It also works really well to keep track of the little bits and pieces that you need to wash when you have a baby. The Squirt feeding spoon has a little cap that I’ve lost a few times. Now, I can pop it in the dish drainer right next to the other pieces and keep it all in one place. I also never have to dig in the silverware drainer for the little valves that go in the sippy cups! Finally, for measuring only 9.5″ x 9.5″, the rack holds an extraodinary amount of cups and bottles. I hang some over the edge, plop more in the middle and stack the bottle rings on top of each other to maximize the space!

Once the washing is done, it’s time to put everything away. Cluttered surfaces never feel truly clean or peaceful, but what mom has time to put bottles away in a cabinet (or maybe I’m the only one who just doesn’t do that!)? I just find it so much more convenient to assemble the bottles and leave them out and ready to go for the next feeding. While the convenience was nice, it never looked good. I was so happy that Boon sent me the Stash Multi-Room organizer in white, because I didn’t realize how much I needed it!

After I’d washed out all of Piper’s bottles to try out the Grass rack, I opened up the Stash to see how it would work. It’s just as stylish and functional as the Grass! It has various-sized circular compartments that are just ideal for storing bottles, silverware, and other products that are just most conveniently left at arms reach. Plus, it looks great on my countertop with the drying rack! I know you want to see it:

Another great thing about it is that it’s portable. If I have company coming over and I really want to clear off the surfaces, I can just pick the Stash up and tuck it away somewhere. Of course, I don’t have the empty cabinet space to just put it away in the kitchen, but I can’t be the only one with a mixer, bread machine and feeding storage solution in her laundry room, right?

The last thing I absolutely love about the Stash is that it will continue to be useful long after my babies are done with their bottles and special cups. It comes with hardware to mount it to a wall, or it can stay on a flat surface. It can be used to hold a variety of items, from art supplies to bath products, so I know I’ll be able to find a place for it when I’m ready to move it out of the kitchen.

I only have one issue with the Stash Organizer: the packaging! I usually don’t get as frustrated as say, my husband, when I have a hard time opening something. I just patiently get my scissors and work on it until I can get it open. The package for the Stash, however, literally broke my scissors! Even after that, it took a long time to get the package open enough to get the product out! Fortunately, the Stash itself is issue-free!

Buy Them! 

The Grass Countertop Drying Rack has a regular retail price of $17.99. It’s sold here at Amazon.com

The Stash Multi-room Organizer retails for $24.99. It can almost always be found for less at Amazon.com.

If you love Boon products, you can find them on these social networking sites:

Boon News blog:  www.booninc.com/blog
Boon’s Facebook Fan page:  www.facebook.com/booninc
Follow Boon on Twitter:  www.twitter.com/booninc

FTC Disclosure: This was not a paid post and honest opinions were expressed. Many thanks to Boon for providing the products for my review.

Baby Product Review: Boon Stash and Boon Grass is a post from: Baby GoodBuys

I don’t think I have what it takes to be 100% organized. Believe me, I need all the help I can get! I usually have papers everywhere, and a stack of papers waiting to be filed in the stacking paper sorters (how much sense does that make?!)! At the same time, I’m a pushover for cute organizing products, and I believe that the right products do have a place in my life to help me keep things in order as much as possible. As a busy, working mom of two who also runs this website and maintains a home, I’ll take any help that’s out there!

I was recently sent several products from the Mead OrganizHer line that’s now available at most Target stores nationwide. I had a lot of fun integrating the products into my household, and I’m happy to say that I’m on my way to being more organized in at least a few areas!

Mead OrganizHer Family Organizer Review

Are you familiar with Flylady? While I find most of her directives a bit too restricting for my lifestyle, she does have many wonderful ideas I’d love to adopt. One of those is the Control Journal. It’s supposed to be a centralized place for daily routines, lists, and other bits of information we should always have at our fingertips. I’ve tried and failed at making my own home notebook, but Family Organizer comes very close to what I’m looking for. Plus, I don’t have to do any work in creating it!

This is a stylish three-ring binder that’s easy to use. It comes with a bunch of preprinted pages, including undated calendar pages and meal-planning sections. There’s also storage slots and a pouch to keep on top of things. Even better, you can download additional planning pages at Mead’s website. I love that!

The Family Organizer can be found at Target for $14.99.

Mead OrganizHer On-the-Go Family Planner Review

I carry a big purse that’s full of tiny scraps of paper, receipts and coupons. I’m always at a loss when I look into the black hole that is my bag, but the On-the-Go family planner is helping to change that. I used to just shove important coupons that I really wanted to use into a side pocket, thinking I’d find them before the expiration date. It never worked, and it only made a mess out of my bag. Now, I’ve started noting the coupon expiration date and reminder in my planner, along with other important notes and dates. It also helps me keep track of things that I need to know on the go. My only hangup is that it’s not all that portable. It’s small enough to fit in my big satchel-style bag, but it does get bulky, and it definitely won’t fit in every purse!

The On-the-Go Family Planner can be purchased for $9.99 at Target.

Organizer Meal-Planning Notepad and Write & Wipe Meal Center Review

I love these products for exactly the same reason. They are drastically improving my ability to plan our meals! Not only are they nice to look at on the side of my refrigerator, they’re functional, too! I use the tear-off planning sheets to brainstorm my plans on the weekends. After they’re finalized, I transfer them to the magnetic board. It’s so great that the board is easy to wipe clean and reuse, because our plans often change with little notice, and I like to keep the postings up-to-date! I use the brainstorming sheet as my shopping list, if I need any groceries. I don’t use the checklist attached to the memo board right now, just because I know the other tearpad will run out one day and I’ll start using it then.

Find the Meal Planning Magnetic Notepad for $3.99 and the Write ‘N Wipe Meal Planner for $7.99 at Target.

OrganizHer Month-to-Month Wall Calendar Review

The Month-to-Month Family Wall calendar is probably my favorite item I’ve received, and I really haven’t even started using it yet! Every year I’m on a quest for an affordable calendar that fits my criteria: large spaces to write on, pencil-friendly, and minimal photographs. I have a calendar I enjoy using for now, but I’m going to start using this one in 2011 because it meets all of my needs! I love that you can choose to start it any month, any year, all you have to do is fill in the dates. It also has 4 pages of labels that can be stuck and re-stuck (think Post-its) to classify important dates and items! I know it’s weird that I’m reviewing an item I haven’t used, but I’m looking right at it, and I have big plans for that calendar!

Buy the Month-to-Month Family Wall Calendar for $12.99 at Target.

Giveaway!

Onto the exciting part: One lucky reader will win the same set of OrganizHer products that I featured here. PLUS Mead is throwing in a $25 Target Gift Card!

Enter by visiting the Mead OrganizHer online display (this is a PDF document), then leave a comment letting me know what your favorite item is.

The above entry is mandatory. If you’d like additional entries, you may do the following:

1. Subscribe to the Baby GoodBuys feed either in a reader or by email. You can do this by clicking here and adding this site to your reader, or you can enter your email address in the box near the top of the page on the right. You must click the confirmation link in your email if you choose to be an email subscriber. (Leave a comment letting me know you’re a subscriber to get your extra entry for this option)
2. Become a fan of Baby GoodBuys on Facebook (leave a comment with your Facebook display name)
3. Follow @BabyGoodBuys AND @OrganizeHer on Twitter (Leave a comment with your Twitter handle)

Contest Details: Contest ends on 5/21/2010. United States residents only. Valid email address is required. All entries without a valid email address will be disqualified. Duplicate, fraudulent and/or invalid entries will be disqualified. Winning email notification must be responded to within 48 hours or that winner will forfeit the prize and a new winner will be selected. Winner will be selected with the random integer generator at random.org. Screen print of Random.org selection will be saved and provided upon request. Winner’s first name will be posted on this giveaway/contest All questions should be directed to babygoodbuys(at) gmail(dot)com.

FTC Disclosure: This was not a paid post and honest opinions were expressed. Many thanks to Mead for providing the products for my personal use and additional products to give away.

Mead OrganizHer + $25 Target Gift Card Giveaway and Review is a post from: Baby GoodBuys