Category — Product Reviews

Today is the official SkinnyKidz website launch!  In 2008, I started working on developing a toddler belt that was both functional AND adorable, since traditional belts are a hassle and completely impractical for infants/tots in diapers, potty training, or newly potty trained.  I often get about a 30 second warning to get my toddlers on the potty before I have to change their clothes; if I had to fiddle with a belt buckle in order to get pants down, I’d be doing a LOT more laundry.

Instead, I needed something that didn’t cross the midline, and because I’m SUPER lazy busy, I also wanted it to be completely machine washable, adjustable, and durable!  On top of that, I wanted a cute, boutique-type look.  After a lot of experimenting with different materials and closure mechanisms, my business partner and close friend, Jena, perfected the prototype.  For all those moms who share our plight, we present to you the solution for your young plumber: the SkinnyKidz belt.

What is a SkinnyKidz Belt?

It is fabric-lined elastic that uses buttons as closures to cinch the pants snuggly around the child’s waist without crossing the midline.  Because the belt does not cross the midline, it does not have to be “unfastened” in order to pull the child’s pants down for diapering or potty training.  There are 2 button holes, making the belt adjustable.  Because the belt’s elastic is lined with preshrunk fabric and it uses buttons, rather than other closure mechanisms, it is completely machine washable and very durable!  We believe once you put a SkinnyKidz belt on your child’s pants, you’ll never want OR need to take it off!

SkinnyKidz belts come in 2 sizes: 9mo-2T and 3T-6.  They are comfortable, easy to use (click here for picture and video demos), and ridiculously stylish with the funky prints and coordinated buttons.  Please check out our many adorable girl, boy, and unisex prints and be sure to check out our charity belt too, as 100% of proceeds from that will go to this month’s charity sponsor, Giving it Back to Kids.  SkinnyKidz is guilt-free shopping since 10% of our overall monthly proceeds, in addition to 100% of charity belt proceeds, goes to our charity partner that month.

We are starting up affiliate and wholesaler programs, so if you are a SAHM looking for a way to make some money, this is your gig!  Every single time I go out with Jack, Shane, or Finley in a SkinnyKidz belt, I end up answering “what is that and where can I get one?”

PROMOTIONS:

• Orders over 3 belts receive free shipping
• The GIBTK Charity Belt print is in limited quantity, so hurry and order now!  If we run out, we will replace it with a new print.

WHAT’S UP FOR GRABS IN THIS GIVEAWAY:

• Winners’ choice of a SkinnyKidz belt (excluding the Charity Belt)

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

• Drop us a comment by May 7th telling us your favorite print from the SkinnyKidz Girl Belts or Boy Belts page
• Winners will be drawn at random and announced May 8th
• Earn 1 extra entry for each of the following: follow us on Twitter, fan us on Facebook, blog about our giveaway, facebook our giveaway, tweet our giveaway, or sign up for our SkinnyKidz newsletter (on our website) – please link to this post and www.skinnykidz.com
• Earn another 2 entries for adding our avatar button or logo button to your sidebar (just copy the text in the box below & paste it into a text widget on the sidebar of your blog):

<a href=”http://skinnykidz.com” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo234/lauriegood/skinnykidz-boy-web.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”SkinnyKidz”></a>

<a href=”http://skinnykidz.com” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo234/lauriegood/skinnykidz-web-1.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”SkinnyKidz”></a>

• Remember, each entry requires a separate comment to be counted…so don’t forget to come back and tell us (in individual comments) how you earned all your entries!

I was lucky enough to score this awesome painting set for my son, Jack, and we have been very impressed with it.  Ever since we got this Faber-Castell art set in the mail last week, Jack has requested painting as his art project every single day.  The set says ages 5+, but at 3.5yrs old, it’s perfect for Jack, and even Shane (2.5) and Finley (22mo) love to paint with the fun brushes included.  The set comes in a great little clear, zipper case with handles that Jack calls his “art bag.” 

It has 5 different types of texture paint brushes that are varied in color and rubber based, so they’re super easy to use and just as easy to clean (a plus for Jack AND his mama!).  It also includes a bowl for mixing paint, paper, and 5 colors of non-toxic tempera paint.  Jack has been experimenting with mixing the paints to generate secondary colors and his own unique color concoctions.  He loves mixing different amounts of red and blue to alter the shade of purple, etc., so that has been very educational.  The textured brushes are really neat, and Jack has used them to make things he calls “waves, flowers, fireworks, tire tracks,” and other designs he wouldn’t have been able to create with the standard paint brushes that just glob color onto paper.  I love the Faber-Castell kits because they make arts & crafts so easy for parents and so fun for kids.  Their website also has a craft of the month page that provides creative ideas for little projects parents can do with their kids.  I highly recommend this painting set, which retails for $17.99. 

I have 1 Young Artist Texture Painting Set to giveaway.  GIVEAWAY winner will be announced Tuesday, February 16th.  Here are the giveaway entry rules:

• Must be 18 or older and a resident of the US or Canada
• Drop a comment on this post telling me a product you like from Faber-Castell’s Creativity for Kids website
• Earn extra entries (up to 3): blog about this giveaway, tweet it, or facebook it; don’t forget to leave an additional comment for each extra entry. 
• Total of 4 entries per person.  Winner will be selected by random.org and announced on 2/16.

THIS is an event you HAVE to attend if you have kids.  Or even if you don’t, though that’s a little weird.  It was seriously awesome and our kids loved every second.  Fin was humming along to all the songs, Shane was dancing, and Jack was just so thrilled to be there that he kept leaning over and kissing my shoulder throughout the show.  Anything that inspires that kind of feel-good-fun is something we’ll be doing again!  So here’s a special discount deal for the local Coloradoans if you want to catch Disney on Ice while it’s here: purchase tickets online and use the checkout code MOM to get 4 tickets for $44 for weekday shows, or $4 off all weekend tickets!  There’s also a princess pre-show, where all the sparkly gowns are displayed.  It starts an hour before the show and pre-show admission is complimentary for all ticket holders.

Word to the wise: don’t show up a few minutes late if your kid is most excited about the cast of Cars!  But just to reiterate how freakin awesome the show was…we MISSED the Cars act, got there in time to see the rest (Little Mermaid, Lion King, Tinkerbell) and they loved it so much we didn’t hear a peep about “where’s Lighting” or ANYTHING at all about Cars.  Is that amazing or what?!  My favorite part of the show was Little Mermaid, and I think that was definitely my kids’ favorite part too, although Jack was really excited to see Mickey on ice skates.  I think I know every single word to all the Disney movies from when we were kids, so it was fun to sing along to the songs and enjoy the show along with my kids.  The ice skating was very impressive, and the costumes were spectacular (especially Ursula).

After the show, some good friends came over to play…the STICKLEY family, who we know through the Vietnam adoption community!  We had a blast with Emilie and Chris yesterday, and all the kids did great together.  It’s SO good for our kids to have little buddies, and Nova and Juneau are such easy going kids, making them the perfect playmates for our wild bunch.  It was super cute to see Fin and her look-alike, Nova, co-parenting this lucky little babydoll, who was dumped on her head several times while the girls got the bottle-feeding thing down. 

Group photo of all the kids together:

Jackie and Juneau:

I am a HUGE fan of creative arts and crafts projects with kids.  The hardest part for me is coming up with a project idea, actually making it to the craft store, remembering everything I need for that particular project, and not overspending because I am forced to buy way more than I need (since everything comes in packages of a million).  Also, as an aside, it is a NIGHTMARE to take toddlers into Michaels, Hobby Lobby, etc.  We break at least 1 thing almost every time we visit…not so cheap.  SO, when I came across the craft kits by Faber-Castell’s Creativity for Kids, I JUMPED at the chance to check out one of their kits with my kids.  They have put together VERY creative arts and crafts projects with all the supplies you need into a neat little kit.  There’s no hot glue gun necessary, no sewing, and nothing labor intensive.  Stress-free, cute, fun, convenient, inexpensive, creative projects that take the pressure off having to come up with the ideas or collect the supplies yourself.  The hardest part for me was choosing WHICH kit we wanted to try first!  Here are just a few of MANY creative options (Pop Up Book kit, Wee Enchanted Garden kit, Mini Tea Set kit):

I let Jack help decide, and together we picked the sock puppets, which all 3 of my kids loved:

If you can’t tell from the pictures below, I saved this craft project for a snowstorm day!

WHAT’S UP FOR GRABS:

• Winner’s Choice!!  Faber-Castell is sponsoring this awesome giveaway and allowing the winner to pick any kit from their Creativity for Kids website’s collection.

HOW TO ENTER:

• Browse Creativity for Kids website, come back and drop a comment on THIS post before midnight, November 22, telling us which kit you will choose if your name is drawn by random.com as the winner (something other than the ones I’ve mentioned)
• Check back on November 23rd to see the winner.  You’ll have 48 hours to claim your prize, so don’t forget to check!

EARN EXTRA ENTRIES (up to 3 extra entries):

• Earn 1 additional entry by tweeting about this giveaway with a link to this post – drop another comment here with your twitter ID
• Earn 1 additional entry by blogging about this contest and drop another comment here linking to your blog post
• Earn 1 additional entry for post about this giveaway on a chat group, Facebook, My Space, etc. and drop a comment letting us know which of those you did

You may enter up to 4 times total if you do all of the above for additional entries.  Enter before midnight, November 22rd.  Drawing will be done at random, and the winner announced November 23rd.

[There is a promo code at the end of this post!]

I was SO lucky to be part of the Feld Family Activator program through Mom Central so that my kids could experience The Greatest Show On Earth again this year.  The Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey current circus theme is Zing Zang Zoom; it’s a TOTALLY different show than the one we saw last year (which Jack STILL talks about to this day).  It’s full of magic, suspense, drama, and flare!  Some of the craziest magic tricks included a disappearing elephant and a person turning into a tiger; it was like David Copperfield meets the Ringling Brothers!  A truly incredible performance.  The kids loved it, and we loved watching them love it.  Finley’s favorite part, as expected, was the poodles doing tricks - at the end of that skit they had one of the poodles go into a doghouse, said “zing zang zoom,” and the dog disappeared.  Finley asked “where dog go?” the remainder of the show!  I think she went to bed wondering about that poodle last night;)  Just like last year, Shane’s favorite parts of the experience were the popcorn and the music; he took a few breaks from stuffing popcorn into his face to bust a move every once in awhile.  Jack LOVED the tightrope walkers and the confetti explosion at the end of the show.  The elephants were my favorite part:

The circus is always incredible and is one of those unique family experiences that kids remember into adulthood because there’s just nothing quite like it.  It’s so grandiose it’s bound to make a lasting impression!  I think if Jack isn’t a rocket scientist like his Uncle Alex when he grows up (a shout out to my little brother), he might just run away with the circus to be a tightrope bike rider.  But the funniest thing was hearing Travis say he wants to be the Zingmaster for Halloween.  Can you even imagine Travis wearing these nut-huggers?!

Now THAT would be the greatest show on earth!  Bwahahahaha! 

There was one part of the show that I’d recommend using as a popcorn break if you have kids in the 3 to 5 age range…it’s the part right before intermission when they sing “Don’t Try This At Home.”  They do some really cool magic tricks, but it could be a little creepy for a kid like Jack who is old enough to kind of get what’s going on, but not old enough to understand it completely.  They tie one clown up in a wooden box so that just his head, arms, and feet are sticking out.  Then they use a chain saw to cut the wooden box in half where his torso would be, separate the 2 halves of the box to give the illusion that he’s been severed, and then his feet are wheeled away from the rest of his flailing body.  The older kids around us were totally enthralled, and I was also left fascinated, trying to figure out how the heck they did it.  It was pretty cool.  For a moment though, Jack’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head, so it took a little bit of explaining to help him understand it was pretend and just a magic trick.  I think he believed me later when that clown had another dancing scene and he was all in one piece.  We didn’t wake up with any nightmares, so I guess it didn’t scare him like I thought it might.  But just a heads-up to other moms anyway.  The rest of the show is appropriate and totally awesome for any age.

For you families out there with kiddos from Vietnam, guess who we got to go to the circus with??!!  Drumroll please…..The Stickleys!!  We had a blast with them, as I knew we would.  Emilie and I have “known” each other awhile now, but this was our first time hanging out in-person and it was awesome.  We have a ton in common, including the way we built our families, our stay-at-home hubbies, and our careers as doctors (Em just finished her training as an OB/Gyn).  Travis and I are both thrilled that they’re here in Colorado now, and if I were a betting girl, I’d guess you’ll be seeing them a lot more in my pics.  I hope so anyway.  How friggin cute are the Stickley girls, Nova and Juneau (very close in age to Fin and Shane):

So, if you are interested in experiencing The Greatest Show On Earth, but can’t make it to our house to see Travis as the Zingmaster for Halloween (snort, I crack myself up), check out this deal:

Mom Central is excited to extend the following special family offers; look for the box marked “MC Promotion” when purchasing tickets from http://www.ticketmaster.com/:
*Offer #1: Get 4 tickets for just $44 by entering the code “MOM” at select ticketing channels. Offer good on all weekday performances, which includes all weekday evening and Friday matinee performances; minimum purchase of 4 tickets required; additional tickets above 4 can be purchased at $11 each.
*Offer #2: All weekend performance tickets will be $4 off the original price.
*Offer #3: Get the best Circus Celebrity, Front Row and VIP seats available – We have reserved seats in these sections just for you! Enter the code MOM. No discounts available on these sections.
* Not valid on Circus CelebritySM, Front Row or VIP seats and may not be combined with other offers including special Opening Night pricing. Other fees may apply.
The above offers are good in the following cities:
Denver: September 30 – October 11, 2009
Boston: October 14-18, 2009
St. Louis: October 15-18, 2009
Cleveland: October 21-26, 2009
Rosemont/Chicago: November 5 – 29, 2009 *available for purchase on Sept. 8. 2009
Auburn Hills: November 18-22, 2009
Charlotte: January 27-31, 2010 *available for purchase on Sept. 12, 2009
Atlanta: February 12-21, 2010 *available for purchase on Sept. 12, 2009
Cincinnati: March 10-14, 2010 *available for purchase on Sept. 21, 2009
Dayton: April 29 – May 2, 2010 *available for purchase on Sept. 21, 2009
To learn more about Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey shows touring the country this year and to find shows in your area, visit the Ringling site at http://www.ringling.com/. And don’t forget to use the special discount code when purchasing tickets online!

My Creations makes personalized stories for unique families, like mine and all others that have been formed through adoption and/or reproductive technology.  Recently, I had been looking for books that could begin introducing the concept of adoption to my kids, and Jack especially since he is starting to talk about these things.  It’s not that we haven’t told him his adoption story already, but books help kids grasp things at a different level and give us a springboard for our adoption-related discussions.  Having a physical book about HIS personal story will also allow Jack to flip through pages and revisit his history over and over again, as often as he wants to, and at his own pace.  The illustrations in the My Creations book are so cute and captivating, they alone would make the book fun to read again and again!

When I came across My Creations, I was really excited to learn that each story is customized both in its illustrations (ie: skin, hair color), as well as its text.  The illustrations are ADORABLE, and the level of detail in the storytelling is appropriate for a baby, toddler, or child (I’d venture to guess 0-11) but could probably be tailored beyond that age if you made a special request (the owners are just awesome like that!).

My Creations personalized books serve a separate purpose from a lifebook, which would typically go into more detail about the child’s pre-adoption circumstances, first family, life in foster care or an orphanage, birth country, and any other known relevant information.  The biggest distinction, in my eyes, between a ‘lifebook’ and an ‘adoption story’ is the point of view from which each is told – a lifebook is soley your child’s early story, told from the child’s perspective such that his/her adoption is not the first chapter nor the main focus of the book.  An adoption story, like the ones created by My Creations, is about the child’s entry into your family, told from the parents’ perspective.  I see the necessity to have both, but Jack’s My Creations story is much more age-appropriate now and tells him how he joined our family and became our son.

I realize there are a ton of children’s books out there that try to help us tell our kids about adoption, and while some of them are wonderful resources to have in our collections, none replace a book like this that “stars” YOUR unique child and tells HIS/HER unique story.  Our kids love to hear stories about themselves, over and over again, and a customized book with precious character depictions of each of us is a gift we can all treasure.

MY CREATIONS has offered all Pho for Five readers a 20% discount on regularly priced products now through the end of July!!  Just enter the code “TWIT20” in the comments section of the personalization form on their website.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

• What’s up for grabs: 1 My Creations ring-bound personalized story book ($38.95) with the modifiable pdf version so you can print it out as coloring book pages, revise it as often as you’d like, and see it before it goes to print ($12.99)
• Rules to enter: answer this prompt in a comment below- what was the first thing you noticed about your child when you first set eyes on him/her?  I’ll go first with my answer - Jack’s HUGE, dark eyes, Shane’s button nose, and Finley’s head of hair (and girl parts, since we were totally anticipating a boy!).  You must have a US or Canadian shipping address or be willing to pay shipping costs!
• Deadline to enter: July 13th at midnight
• Earn up to 3 extra entries (leave a separate comment for EACH additional entry): blog about this giveaway, twitter with a link to this giveaway, facebook it, chat about it on a yahoo group, or mention it on any other social networking site!

First, I want to tell you what an honor it is to work with Ana, the owner of The Pretty Peacock.  I first saw her stunning artisan jewelry a few months ago and fell in with this piece:

Then she showed me this piece made of eco-friendly fine silver (99.9% pure silver composition as opposed to 92.5% in sterling silver) she is offering to the winner of THIS giveaway, and I fell in love a second time:

When Ana found out my boys were adopted, she mentioned her interest in creating a few pieces of jewelry to celebrate adoption.  So, in a post a few weeks ago, I asked for some input on a piece of adoption jewelry Ana could design to honor adoption, first parents, and our children.  We got a lot of awesome feedback and Ana has created an INCREDIBLE collection of jewelry called “celebrate adoption,” with pieces just as unique as our families.  For my family, I really wanted something that incorporated Nature and Nurture, which speaks to me and also makes room for all my kiddos (adopted & bio)  Those 3 words, “Nature & Nurture,” on this piece Ana created is just perfection in my eyes.  I had goosebumps when I saw it; just look at the detail:

The other side of the heart says “Nature & Nurture,” and each ornate silver tag has a birthstone on the front and the child’s name hand-stamped, oxidized, and polished on the back:

But my absolute FAVORITE piece of jewelry, EVER, is a “Nature & Nurture” piece Ana created to go with a poem I wrote.  My poem is based on an analogy I came up with that uses the sun, moon, and sea to represent the birth parent, adoptive parent, and child.  I wanted to make sure I was not making any assumptions or speaking for a birth parent in the analogy or poem, so yesterday I wrote this:

Nature and Nurture, by Laurie Good

I the moon,
And you the sun,
We, together, shape the one

The one that will grow,
The one that will be,
Vibrant and strong, he is the sea

The sun gives him life,
The moon helps him glow,
One presence he’ll feel the other he’ll know

The sun gives him warmth,
The moon guides his tide,
Nature creates what nurture will guide

I the moon,
And you the sun,
We, together, shape the one

Ana thought out every detail when she created this jewelry to match the poem.  She used citrine for the sun, sapphire for the moon, and aquamarine for the sea.  The necklace has a subtle, but eye-catching toggle closure and you’ll notice all the circles Ana used in this piece – fitting with the Circle of Life, interconnectedness theme.  Tasteful, elegant, unique.  How gorgeous is this piece:

The sun, moon, sea piece of adoption jewelry will be packaged with the poem insert – I think this would make an amazing gift for anyone who is adopting or has adopted a child.  Here it is altogether:

We also LOVED Jme’s explanation of “Forever Family,” which was also the theme for HeatherM.’s and Jena’s great ideas for an adoption jewelry piece.  Jme said:

We use Forever Family, but in 3 ways.
1. Our son’s birthmother is his family forever through birth. They are forever connected.
2. Our family is a forever family connected through love.
3. We (birthmother, bio sibs, me, hubs, son, etc.) are a forever family through an incredible journey of love and sacrifice.

Ana incorporated those 2 words, “Forever Family,” in this meaningful bracelet I think a lot of families touched by adoption will appreciate.  The back of the tag will be personalized for your family and Ana used 3 bracelet circles to symbolize the 3 parts of the adoption triad.  Simple, elegant, and fittingly symbolic:

Understand that with Ana’s artisan work, if you can dream it, she can make it…and chances are, what she’ll create with your idea will be more unique and beautiful than anything you could have imagined.  So whether it’s “Hers. Mine. Ours.” “Three-way-tied,” “Born in Our Hearts,” “Ohana,” or any of the other thoughtful suggestions many of you made, Ana can customize it for you to honor your special family.  We appreciated all your ideas, btw, and would LOVE any more people would like to share!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

What’s Up for Grabs:

A personalized Sparklette Tag from The Pretty Peacock’s Eco-Friendly Good Karma Collection, with a hand-stamped initial and birthstone:

The Pretty Peacock is offering a 10% discount to all Pho for Five readers.  Just enter PHO as promo code!  Discount applies from now until 6/19/09, so get your orders in soon!

Who Can Win:

Anyone with a US or Canadian shipping address

How to Win:

Visit The Pretty Peacock and leave a comment here telling us your favorite piece from her collection by 6/12 at midnight!  Winner will be randomly drawn and announced 6/13.

To Earn Extra Entries (up to 5 total entries per person):

• Blog about this giveaway and drop your link in a separate comment
• Twitter about this giveaway and drop a link with your twitter id
• Facebook this giveaway or chat about on a group elsewhere and drop a comment telling us where you spread the word
• Give yourself an extra entry if you commented with a suggestion for a piece of adoption jewelry on my previous post – leave a separate comment on this post telling us you contributed previously!
• Give Ana another idea or suggestion for an original jewelry design in a separate comment below (1 extra entry per person for this)
• Post The Pretty Peacock button on your blog sidebar:

DON’T FORGET TO LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY!<–>

Thanks for entering DadGear giveaway – the winner was comment #42, Julie (I’ve sent her an email notifying her).  Please check back for the next giveaway, which will be coming up sometime by the end of the week; you’re going to love it!

So, Father’s Day…it’s right around the corner (June 21th), so what are you getting the dads in your life for Father’s Day?  How about a gift that keeps on giving?  The kids and I gave Travis his Father’s Day gifts early this year, and they were all huge hits.  Here are my suggestions if you want to his a homerun this Father’s Day:

I have to say, the best gift Travis has ever received in his life was the kegerator conversion kit (best seller is $116) from Kegman.  David, the Kegman, sponsored a keg conversion kit giveaway around the holidays and is a super helpful, awesome guy.  Just contact him if you have any questions about what you should buy, or what he would suggest on your budget.  Have an old fridge laying around?  If not, they’re super cheap on Craigslist!  All you need is an old fridge or chest freezer and the conversion kit, and you too could enjoy draught beer in your home.  Here are some pictures of what a kegerator looks like after you’ve used installed something like the kit I linked to above:    

Just ask Travis, they are very easy to install and you can have beer on tap the same day!  If you (or your husband / partner) has any trouble with the installation, David has been very willing to help…just call and ask your questions or see his website for trouble shooting.  We aren’t “just any beer” lovers.  We love our local microbrews and they taste even better on draught!  The great thing is, we never have to buy a full keg; “kegs” come in all different sizes, so we can sample different brews in 8 gallon sizes and are able to host friends and have awesome beer on tap when we do.  Also, did I mention beer is MUCH cheaper when you buy it kegged than bottled (or even, God forbid, canned…depending on how shitty the canned beer you buy really is).  Anyway, that’s the best gift out there and the one that truly keeps on giving (so long as you keep your keg full;).  Cheers!

My next Father’s Day gift suggestion is a Flip Video Camera.  We have been lucky enough to receive the Flip Ultra HD for review and have LOVED this new video camera.  I can’t even believe the quality of the videos; they are SO MUCH higher quality than the big Sony video camera we got for Christmas for ~5 times the price just a few years ago!!  WOW, technology has come a long way.  Our new Flip Ultra HD has 2 hours of recording space, 8GBs of memory, uses rechargeable AA batteries, turns on almost instantly so you’ll never miss that moment waiting for your camera to power on, has a pop-out USB so you can plug it right into your computer without any wires needed and upload directly to YouTube, and is tiny enough to throw in your regular camera bag or your pocket.  This thing is bad ass.  He will LOVE it, I assure you.  Flip has a few lines of cameras – the least expensive is the Flip Ultra, which goes for $149, then there’s the Flip Mino for $179, then the HD versions of those at $199 and $229.  Of course, you can search around and find them for quite a bit less if you’re savvy. 

Then there’s also the super cool DadGear stuff, which is especially awesome for new daddies.  My personal favs are the courier bags ($62), the diaper vests ($82) and the diaper backpacks ($92).  Travis and I are both big fans of his diaper backpack.  If you missed out on winning this through the giveaway DadGear just sponsored on my blog, don’t give up on your hubby owning this product!  Go get him one now. 

So what are your Father’s Day plans?  Anybody else find any neat gift ideas for Dad? 

Some of you may remember Chrissie’s adorable company, Precious Ponchos, which sponsored a giveaway around the holidays.  A Precious Poncho is a super soft blankie that you can throw over your child on a chilly day - I use ours all the time when I’m in a hurry or don’t want to bother putting sweaters on my kids.  They wear them in the stroller for walks when it’s chilly, in the wagon at the zoo, and around the house because they’re really comfy.  We get compliments on our Precious Ponchos ALL. THE. TIME.  Chrissie was so sweet to encourage my cupcake obsession and sent us a really cute Precious Poncho for Finley’s 1st birthday - it matches her Kick-Ass Bow and the little purse our friend Rebecca gave Finley!  As you can see, Finley is pretty excited about her new cupcake-themed goodies:

This is her best attempt at looking angelic:

Chrissie set up a link on the Precious Ponchos website for visitors from my blog (click on the Good Happenings link).  If you’d like to buy a poncho from her, enter “FINLEY ROCKS 1″ in the promotional discount code box and you’ll get free shipping PLUS 10% of the proceeds from your order will go to one of my favorite Vietnam charities, The Hoi An Foundation.  Their work in Central Vietnam is incredible and the founder is a doctor from Colorado, Josh Solomon, who has helped me with my Derm Project.  I first “met” Josh while we were in Vietnam last time.  Some of you might remember that little girl from the Hoi An Orphanage with hydrocephalus, who I wrote about while visiting her orphanage in 2007.  As soon as I saw her, I emailed the Hoi An Foundation to inquire about getting her a brain shunt and Josh Solomon promptly responded to my email, informing me he had already had CT scans done and had been following this little girl’s health status personally.  She was, unfortunately, not a candidate for the shunt, but Josh had done everything possible to have her evaluated.  Dr. Solomon is currently living in Vietnam, seeing patients in the countryside of Quang Nam (province Shane is from), and working to help rural docs recognize and treat illnesses they see through health education seminars he orchestrates every 2-3 months.  Your money will go far, so happy shopping at Precious Ponchos!  Thank you again Chrissie for your thoughtful generosity! 

And because my Little Cupcake provides us with hours of entertainment, I want to share some more of it with you:

Does this kid scare anyone else?  Because she terrifies me…and makes me laugh a lot too (and that’s Travis cracking up behind her).

Man are we’re in trouble with this one!

Update: if you don’t win this giveaway but still want a piece of jewelry from TTD, use the promo code TTD006 and you’ll get 20% off!  Thanks Melissa!

Melissa over at Tiny Tags made me a beautiful necklace that I now wear every single day because I love it so much.  I’ve had a few incidences of whiplash, where a kid grabs it as I’m setting him/her down, but Tiny Tags has endured the tiny snags so far! 

If you know me well, you know I’m not a make-up, jewelry, perfumey kinda girl.  I wear my Ironman Timex watch even when I’m "dressed up," and if I ever did put on any kind of glitz, Travis would tell me to turn around and take it off (he’s not into make-up or fancy fashion either).  But my Tiny Tags necklace is beautiful, simple, and so personal.  It has each of my kids’ names hand stamped on a sterling silver disc, oxidized, them buffed and polished.  The sterling silver ball chain is durable, casual, but elegant enough it can be dressed up as well.  I just love it!

Dates can also be stamped on the tags like this:

Melissa has generously offered the winner of this giveaway a free Tiny Tags necklace with 2 stamped discs, you’ll just tell us the names/dates you want on there (additional discs will be a small charge - see website for pricing).  Tiny Tags jewelry makes a great gift - Melissa packages everything beautifully and has a really pretty card she includes with a personal message.

Giveaway Rules:

1)  Drop a comment with the names/dates you’d have stamped on your tags.  Contest ends Friday, Oct. 24, at midnight, winner will be announced Saturday Oct. 25.

2)  Please remember to use a valid email address!! If your comment lands in my ‘moderation’ queue, don’t duplicate it; I will approve your comment and your comment will maintain the order in which it was left (the same # it would’ve been had it not gone to moderation first).

3)  Winner will be RANDOMLY selected using www.random.org integers (whoever leaves the comment that matches the first randomly selected integer will be the winner)

4) You may enter twice if you have a blog and link to this post. Just drop a second comment linking to your blog post, that way I’ll know you linked and you will have 2 comments that’ll be entered.

5)  You have to be willing to email me with your shipping address so I can send you your loot! Therefore, your comment will be disqualified if you are “anonymous” or have an invalid email address.