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If you know me, you know I love free stuff. What I like almost as much as getting free stuff is giving it away! So here ya go mamas and papas, some free stuff for your little one! Enter to win in the raffle box below. Without further ado, here are the prizes in the jackpot going to one lucky winner:  Miny Moe Diaper Sampler (6 brands / 30 count) Not all diapers are created equally, and not every brand or style will suit every baby. Saving you time and money, Miny Moe diaper samplers are a great way for you to try out some of the top disposable diaper brands and find out quickly which brand is the best fit for your baby. The winner will receive this pack of 30 diapers (5 diapers from each of the following 6 brands: Honest, Huggies, Pampers, Luvs, Target, & Walmart) and can choose between size Newborn, 1, or 3. You'll also get the Miny Moe score card, which includes categories of price and eco-friendliness (both pre-scored) and allows you to rate each brand on fit, irritation, and design. does Miny Moe was just voted a top 10 baby shower gift in the Red Tricycle Totally Awesome Awards and featured in Momtrends' Baby Shower Guide!!  Miny Moe Disposable Nursing Pad Sampler Not only does Miny Moe offer diaper samplers, they also carry nursing pad samplers! Our winner will receive Miny Moe's disposable nursing pad sampler, including one pair from each of the following 3 top brands: Johnson's, Lansinoh, and Nuk. Miny Moe also carries a 6-brand nursing pad sampler that includes washables as well as disposables. These breast pad samplers are great for nursing and pumping moms (and even some women while still pregnant!), so they can find which pad meets their needs in absorbancy, size, visibility, price, and eco-friendliness!  Flowspoon Flowspoon is a great new baby spoon that helps baby transition from breast or bottle to spoon. It's SO much easier to use with those first solids, you know, the super duper liquidy ones that are too runny for a regular spoon but too thick for the bottle. See Flowspoon in action here. Our winner will receive one Flowspoon.  MAM Start Newborn Pacifier This ultra soft silicone non-bpa pacifier has an anti-slip texture to keep it comfortably in baby's mouth, and a symmetrical nipple ideal for baby's jaw development. The curvature and textures on the shield allow for air circulation, and it's good for 0+ months! Our winner will receive one of these great MAM pacifiers!  NUK Genius Pacifier This extra soft and thin non-bpa pacifier was developed by dentists to provide optimal oral development, is suitable for babies age 0-6 months, and 1 will be going to our winner!  Boogie Wipes Saline Wipes (Sample & Coupon) Boogie Wipes are gentle saline wipes developed by moms tired of using dry tissues on their children's runny noses. They come in scented (grape or fresh) and unscented. Our winner will recieve a Grape scented Boogie Wipes sample and coupon.  Dapple Baby Laundry Detergent (Sample & Coupon) Dapple laundry detergent is hypoallergenic and free of parabans, phthalates, 1,4-dioxane, SLS, SLES, fragrance, and dyes. It's biodegradable, made from natural ingredients, and perfect for baby's clothes and cloth diapers. Our winner will receive a sample of this great detergent as well as a coupon.  Boudreaux's Butt Paste (Sample) This zinc oxide based cream can be used to prevent and treat diaper rash. With a mild smell, it spreads on and wipes off easily, and with this sample our winner can give it a try! You gotta get in it to win it, so enter in the Rafflecopter box below (US residents over the age of 18 only please)! Don't forget, you can get extra entry points daily with tweeting, facebook shares, and pinning! ^_^ 
 
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Kenzo just hit 10 months, actually about 30 minutes ago! ^_^ I really can't believe how fast he's growing, it's kind of scary! Exciting, but scary. One by one his friends are all turning one year old and all the moms say what a hard day it is, full of sobbing and memory lane. I feel full of anxiety just thinking about that and it's still 2 months away!! Speaking of turning one, we just booked his birthday party - we're gonna have a joint one with 2 of his baby friends who were all born within a week of each other during the crazy week of Christmas and New Year. Of course all 3 of us moms have been sucked into Pinterest getting ideas for save the dates and invitations and decorations and food and.... Man, that thing is EVIL! haha!! Anyway, back to my 10 month old little one... he's got 6 teeth now (4 top, 2 bottom), is taking solo steps, usually about 2 but up to 5 at a time! I introduced chicken and turkey so he's no longer a vegetarian! He is really into cuddling now which is uber uber cute, he is also a big fan of clapping, waving, and most recently throwing things. Ha! He's still a monster at night (since about 6 months) waking up multiple times and I've totally been enabling him as I just pull him into our bed and nurse him back to sleep cuz it's the fastest and easiest. He's dealing with his 3rd cold in about 6 weeks, but I swear as soon as he recovers we're conquering this sleep thing!! You're in for it little dude!!!  Also as one year approaches I'm having to think about the whole going back to work thing. I really really don't want to. I've got my hands in so many pies at the moment (blogging, Miny Moe, Mommy Nearest, Kidz Central Station, Eczema Company, and of course my Facebook groups Bay Ridge Baby Mamas and Bay Ridge Swappies) none of them raking in a ton of cash but together they take care of groceries, haha. But they keep me busy and my hope is that through them I'll develop the right skills and meet the right people so when/if it comes time for me to find a 9-5 again I'll have some good connections. And no one can ever say I was just twiddling my thumbs during maternity leave, that is FOR SURE!!
The first annual New Jersey Baby Bazaar is set to take place on Sunday, November 3 from 10:30am-5pm at the W Hotel Hoboken (conveniently located just 3 blocks from the PATH station, making it easily accessible from NYC). Presented by Mommies 247 and Jumblzar, the Baby Bazaar will be an "exclusive all day family event that helps you connect with all the top baby brands, local businesses and experts". And heeeeeeeeey I've got the hookup!! 50% off tickets, whoohooooo!! Just purchase your tickets HERE and enter the code "BloggerFriend13". Check out more info in the flyer below or on their website! See you mamas and mama-to-be's there!! 
Have a child that you don't keep home locked up in a bubble? Yes? Then get used to cold after cold after cold running amok in your family. Or at least that's what everyone's been telling me. We made it 9 months before baby's first cold (followed without a break by baby's second cold - both of which he passed on to me. Before that it had been over 2 years since my last cold!).I've heard that colds will strengthen baby's immune system, so I should be happy each time he gets sick, or that I should even seek out sick friends for him to play with and catch their illnesses! This is B.S. if you ask me. Something they tell moms so there is a shimmer of a silver lining to the anxiety and annoyingness that a cold brings. We often have play dates and there have been a couple of times that someone will bring along a baby with a runny or crusty nose and a cough and I casually ask "Ummm is he sick" to which I am either ignored or nonchalantly answered with, "ohhhhh no he's just teething". Meanwhile, their baby is drooling away on my baby and they're excitedly putting each other's toys in their mouths and I'm trying my best not to flip the F out!! So, I took to Google today, as we do, for some help in understanding how the spread of cold and flu works. Here are the basics of what I found...  Contagious Period * Flu: children are contagious about 1 day before symptoms start (great!) until about 2 weeks after symptoms started (even if they’re feeling better, fever is gone, etc). Adults are contagious about 1 day prior and 7 days after symptoms started. * Cold: often before symptoms start to about 4 days into the illness (this one surprised and relieved me!) Survival time of Cold and Flu Viruses: * Hard Surfaces (books, toys, etc): 8 hours (can be longer if temperature and humidity are ideal) * Skin: 3 hours Prevention * Wash your hands: you should scrub hands with soap for the length of the “Happy Birthday” song (20 seconds) - this makes me question whether quickly washing toys in soap and water will do the trick... * Disinfect:
3/4 cup warm tap water 1 tablespoon baking soda 10 drops of tea tree oil (antibacterial, antifungal, etc.) 2 drops oil of lavender essential oil (optional) (antiseptic and smells nice) Do you have any tips of preventing the spread of germs? I'm finding it especially difficult not to catch baby's colds, as his hands are always slobbery and find themselves creeping into my nose and mouth, not to mention his adorable wet open mouthed kisses, and coughs/sneezes that he can't cover up yet.
Kenzo is nearly 10 months old now, I know right, time friggin' flies!! But that is beside the point. He's still exclusively breastfeeding, and eating 3 "meals" a day. Meals is in quotes because they consist of about 2 ounces of pureed fruit, veggies, and meat (we only started meat last week!). He's happy with this, as am I. Who needs all the choking hazards of real food what with it's chunks and chewiness. No thanks! But... I know he is growing up and needs to develop proper eating habits and abilities, or that's what I hear anyway. When we are out and about with our baby friends, they're all snacking away on their Cheerios and Puffs, so I figured it was about time Kenzo had a go. Here he is examining the goods:  I had to make sure these things are water soluble as they claim to be and so I popped one in my mouth. If did dissolve, not super fast but fast enough to satisfy my choking anxiety. So I popped a puff up on his high chair tray for him, expecting him to pop that thing into his mouth with super speed. Much to my surprise, this is what happened: Apparently, he needed some help figuring out what to do with that jumping puff. Mom to the rescue, well, more like MOM FAIL FAIL FAIL!!!! Poor guy!!!! So, yeah, I'm a bit traumatized. I know gagging is a natural reflex to protect babies and of course they'll gag on solids the first (many??) times they try them. But still, it was scary!! He is still not drinking from a sippy cup so it's not like I can be like "Oh here drink this it'll help you get it down". So if he's really choking, my only defense is flipping him upside down and whacking him on the back. A few of my mommy friends have dealt with choking babies recently and that is some scary sh!t man. EEEEEEEeeeeeeeeek. I think Kenzo will be on purees until college...
I've always been a straight A student and all around overachiever. My credit score is pretty dang high (pats self on back), but after marrying dear hubby and bringing him over from Japan I was suddenly hit with a situation I had never dealt with. He had NO CREDIT SCORE!!! Banks, credit card companies, phone companies, property management companies, they were not too happy with this. But what could be worse than NO credit score? How about a BAD credit score! YIKES!!! So, if you're in either of these situations, or looking for ways to avoid the latter, let me introduce you to a company I recently came across: Card.com. Card.com is a pre-paid debit card that does not run a credit check (but government regulations do require a social security number), has no overdraft or late fees, no check cashing fees, and you can use it anywhere that accepts Visa or Mastercard. They have thousands of designs to choose from, picking just one is REALLY hard - you have been warned!! ^_^ Here are just a few examples:  I chose the Manhattan skyline on the bottom left, of course!! I see Card.com as being awesome for your kids - just throw whatever amount of money you deem appropriate on their card, monitor their spending, let the grandparents access the account and add money for birthdays, etc! How great!! Safer than cash, and safer then giving them your $10,000 limit credit card!! It's also great for someone not keen on banks. You can set up direct deposit for your salary to go directly onto the card! Set up a direct deposit of at least $800 a month and your $5.95 monthly fee is waived. Yay! You can also transfer funds from PayPal, your bank, and even get your federal tax refunds deposited in there! It's also great for bacon lovers, apparently...  Here are some more deets about the card (but go to their website for more info or to get your own Card!):
Sponsored Post Disclosure: I do my best to provide accurate and informative information through my blog but am only human and cannot be held responsible for the occasional oversight or being one-sided, outdated, or incorrect (yikes, I hope not, but please comment if I ever am!!). Opinions are my own and not swayed by compensation of any kind. This was a sponsored post, but I limit such posts to companies that meet my moral standards and I feel I can really stand behind (hey, I'm not a sell out!). Take my posts with a grain of salt and please be sure to do your research to come to your own informed decision for anything regarding you and your baby!
A few months ago I went to the launch party for the new infant spoon, Spuni. Kenzo didn't cooperate at the event, so I was really disappointed that we didn't get to give the cool new baby spoon a whirl. But... look at what we just got!!!   You can see the shape and design of Spuni is unlike any other baby spoon out there. The idea is that with the tulip shape, baby can't push food to the back of the spoon, resulting in a cleaner and easier feeding. The shape is also supposed to promote the instinctual latch and suck. It's free of BPA, BPS, Phthalates, PVC and is dishwasher safe. I should also add it's super light and quite comfy to hold!  He didn't suck the spoon or treat it any differently from his regular baby spoons, but perhaps that is because he's been using them for 3 months now and has gotten the hang of them. The tulip shape was interesting though and did lead to a cleaner collection of the food from the spoon. His top lip kinda went over and up to the peak and then scooped everything into his mouth!  Sure we still had some food around his mouth and side of the spoon, but that's probably more my fault what with trying to feed him with my left hand and take photos with my right! haha! After I put the camera down we got into the swing of it! So, do I recommend Spuni? For sure! It's cute, it's comfy (for feeder's hand and baby's mouth), it's unique and innovative, and it does a good job! Disclaimer: Although I did receive this product free of charge, I was not compensated in any other way to do this product review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and completely unbiased.
I highlighted Melzy Baby a few weeks back as part of my Baby Bonanza Giveaway. Unfortunately I hadn't received it in time to do an actual review. Now I've got the Soaker Stopper in hand so here we go!! If you have a baby, I'm sure you've had your share of leaks and blowouts and all that fun stuff. It's usually the product of a terribly made diaper, a diaper that doesn't fit your little one properly, or downright dirty luck. Melzy Baby came up with 2 really cool products to help parents in the fight against leaks and blowouts: the Blowout Blocker and the Soaker Stopper. I would have killed for a Blowout Blocker around months 2-4 when they were happening rather regularly, ughhhhh. But now at 9 months they are thankfully a rare occurrence (thanks to the introduction of solids!), so we went with the Soaker Stopper:   It's just one piece that wraps around and secures on itself and onto the diaper with velcro. You'd probably figure it out even without the instructions, but they're helpful anyway!  Alas, what is this strange new toy???   Hey, uhhhh mom?? My belly is turning green! Hold off on the peas will ya?!?  It is super soft and stretchy, so not uncomfortable in the least for baby! I also love the extra velcro strip that comes down and attaches to the diaper to keep it from riding up. Unfortunately my son tends to hold his business overnight, so we weren't really able to give that aspect of it a proper testing. However I did do a little science experiment to test out it's liquid holding abilities and the "waterproof outer layer"... I placed the Soaker Stopper over a tissue and poured 1/2 a cup of water onto the Soaker Stopper. Waited a few minutes. Lifted it up and PRESTO - not a drop of water had gone through to the tissue! Seems to get the job done!!  Half a cup of water made the Soaker Stopper quite heavy, but nothing leaked and you can see it could still hold quite a bit more! Disclaimer: Although I did receive this product free of charge, I was not compensated in any other way to do this product review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and completely unbiased.
Over a month ago I was the lucky winner of a set of Wall Candy wall decoration stickers from Parents and the City blog. The stickers are super cute and I've been meaning to get them up but they'd been hanging out on the back burner with a bazillion and one other projects. But, I've finally gotten to them and HOORAH! Here are the decals freshly removed from their canister. Bonus - the canister is SUPER FUN in and of itself! Baby loves to roll it around, and mama loves to bang on the two ends like a bongo! Fun for all!  Here's the before shot - I know, horrible... I should add we don't have a nursery, baby's crib is in our bedroom. I loved the elephant canvas because the elephant is Kenzo's mascot since one of the meanings of "zo" in English is, you guessed it, Elephant! But now we'll find a new home for it as well as the Japanese Yukata (summer Kimono). As for the storage boxes on the right, they'll have to remain unfortunately! Such is the life of a family of 3 in a tiny 1 bedroom in Brooklyn!!  Here's my little assistant hard at work:  Getting started... They're actually really easy to use. The car tires were the only ones that were rather difficult to peel off. The others were easy, and came off nice and clean when I had to relocate a few.  And we're done!! Loving it!!! Thank you Parents and the City for a great giveaway!!  
So you've started hosting giveaways on your blog - congrats! They're fun, especially when you receive the item free yourself for review. Woohooooo! They can also drive extra traffic to your sight, which is always welcome!
There are a few different programs you can use for your giveaway. I personally use Rafflecopter. One tip is to include extra entry points for tweeting, pinning, and Facebook sharing about your giveaway. This will pull in friends and fans of your participants, and help spread word exponentially. You should also include extra entry points for following your own social media accounts and those of the company sponsoring the giveaway - this won't necessarily spread word but gaining fans is a huge benefit of hosting giveaways! Another tip is to list your giveaway on as many linky lists as you can. Here's the list I use, divided by the day of the week that each blogger posts her giveaway link-up: MONDAY GIVEAWAY LINKYS: Born 2 Impress Conservamome Mommy Gaga Nerd Family Things Our Kids Mom Posh on a Budget Thrifty Jinxy TUESDAY GIVEAWAY LINKYS: 3 Boys and a Dog Bless their Hearts Mom Frugal and Fabulous Home Grown Families Journeys of the Zoo Mom Advice Mommy Has to Work Mommy Moment Outnumbered 3-1 Shawn Ann The Art & Tree Chatter of Aquariann Two of a Kind Working on a Full House Woman Tribune WEDNESDAY GIVEAWAY LINKYS: All Ruby Cakes Busy Mommy Media Chaching Queen Coupon Clipping Mommy Handmade Shopping Guide Happy Deal Happy Day Holly Bee Tells I Could Use a Deal Kate N Kaboodle Live Spoiled Mom Vs. the Boys *Must be open to Canada Mommies with Cents Mrs. Money Saver THURSDAY GIVEAWAY LINKYS: Coupons are Great Go Grahm Go Hip Home School Moms Lemon Tree Cards Life is a Sandcastle Maple Leaf Mommy *Must be open to Canada Menopausal New Mom The B Keeps us Honest The Night Owl Mama The Shopping Mama Shibley Smiles FRIDAY GIVEAWAY LINKYS: A Heart Full of Love A Hen's Nest Blog Booty Blog Giveaway Directory Bonggamom Finds Change Diapers Green Mamas Pad Maman Loup's Den Mommy Living the Life of Riley Musings from a SAHM Outnumbered Mama Sarah's Blog of Fun Smoochie Frog Reviews The Neat things in Life SATURDAY GIVEAWAY LINKYS: A Nut in a Nutshell Bargain Fun Busy Working Mama Contest Corner Just Another New Blog Mama to 3 Blessings Miki's Hope Mommy's Hangout Mom Saves Money Mom's Own Words SUNDAY GIVEAWAY LINKYS: 5 Minutes for Mom Blessed Beyond Words Deal Seeking Mom Look What Mom Found Menopausal New Mom Minnesota Mama's Must Haves Mommy Jenna NYC Single Mom Real Moms Real Views Sweet Deals 4 Mom The Mommy Files ONGOING LINKYS: Canadian Mommy Giveaways *must be open to Canada Facebook: Blog Giveaway Directory Facebook: Blog Giveaways Facebook: Contest Blogger Family Focus Blog Giveaway Promote Hobo Mama Reviews Mama of 3 Munchkins Mommy Only Has Two Hands One Scrappy Mom Online Sweepstakes Sweep Tight The Black Cell The Eclectic Element US-Japan Fam LOW ENTRY LINKYS: A Lucky Lady Bug Just Another Hat Mama Dweeb Mom Bloggers Club Oh Savvy Mom Such Fun To Give Your Golden Ticket Have a tip or linky I missed? Just comment below!!
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About ME:I'm a NYC metro area mom blogger living in NJ with my Japanese husband & our 3 kids (twins + 1), focusing on fun and honest product and travel reviews, helping busy parents find the best for their families! Find what you need in the menu bar or search section above! 
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