Traveling with baby..

Regardless if you're an experienced traveler or a novice traveler, when you add babies or kids into the mix it's a whole different matter. I used to travel once a week for business and had the routine down so well that I was able to fit 3 days of clothes into a 1/2 sized carry on suitcase and was called out by name by the parking attendants, TSA, and the Southwest crew members.

Then we decided to take our little one on a plane when she was 3 months old. We were headed to Tahoe and determined to carry on, we never checked bags. Seemed easy at first, how much could this little bundle really need? Then as I started packing I realized I was forgetting all kinds of things: bottles, diapers, formula. It didn't matter how cute she was going to look in her snow suit if she didn't have any food or diapers. After a few calls to a trusted friend and mother herself, I was confident that I wasn't missing any essentials. She also gave me great advice to buy diapers and formula at my destination instead of packing enough for the entire trip.

I just heard about See Jane Fly. It's a free website that will help you plan your trip. You select your destination and it will build a customized travel planning guide. They also have a great section called Toolbox that has useful checklists, such as Dress Me (what to pack), Romantic Urban Escape, and Baby's First Trip. The website is full of tips, great finds, and perks for planning any type of trip. Our upcoming road trip this summer from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh doesn't seem as daunting after reading some tips on the site.

Paper or Plastic? - neither, I brought my own

I'm not one for New Year's resolutions. Why wait until January 1st? Otherwise, I'd have to wait a whole year to go through with my decision. Although I've often tried to remember to bring my own bags to the grocery store, I'll admit that I have been too lazy to go back to the car when I've realized I left them in there. And I am definitely guilty of not taking my own bags to stores such as Target and other retail stores.

So my January 26th resolution, I mean decision, is to take my reusable bags everywhere. Luckily there are countless options and designs, at a large spectrum of prices to make sure I have enough bags. One of my favorite, Envirosax, has a design for everyone. They also let you design your own and have smaller ones for kids. Once my little one is just a bit older, we'll definitely be getting her one her size so she can learn this lesson much earlier than her parents have.

Why stop at shopping bags, at Reusable Bags Depot, you can find a reusable bag for all of your household errands, even drycleaning. They also have a great selection of reusable shopping bags and great prices.

You found the right bag, now make sure you have the right stuff in it.

Most moms spend weeks looking for the perfect diaper bag. It has to be stylish (it is taking over as your purse after all), functional, and wipeable.

Once you have that bag, it's easy to stuff it full of all kinds of things you *might* need and just as easy to forget the one thing you really did need. Other than the basic diapers, wipes, toys that you will always need, here are a few other finds:

*Cleanwell 1oz pocket-sized all-natural hand sanitizer. It's sold just about everywhere these days. It's compact, all natural, toxic free and alcohol free. It's spray is a great way to get your kids involved in cleaning their hands. (thanks Jess for the recommendation)

*For those moms whose kids are now eating solids, my favorite way to tote around snacks is this great Boon snack ball. It stores great in the corners of your bag and like all Boon products it's BPA free.

*It's inevitable that when you put your kid in their cutest outfit to go out to dinner, that's when they will be the messiest. These bibs by Oots are made of terry cloth to absorb and cover your little one's belly & arms. Not to mention the adorable designs they come in.

*Even with the Oots bib or other mess ups, sometimes you need to pull out that change of clothes. Put the dirty, wet, soiled clothes in a Wet Happened? bag, zip it up and stash it back into your diaper bag until you can get home. The bag is waterproof, pvc lined, and is machine washable. It folds up small and is so lightweight, I often forget I have it in our bag.

*The Butt Naked Baby shea stick is one of the most versatile items in our diaper bag. It's great for chapped lips, dry skin, and anywhere else that baby is chapped or irritated. I'll admit, I've often used it on my own chapped lips. Just use a clean finger each time for application.

Every mom's favorite store now has online coupons

Whether you're going in just to get another box of tissues and cough drops because it's cold season, or you just wanted to "pick up a few things", somehow you don't leave Target without spending much more than you were expecting. It all starts with the $1.00 bins at the front of the store and before you know it, you're browsing all the aisles, checking out the clearance stuff at the ends. Not to mention the basic tees, bathing suits, and other items of clothes and accessories that catch your eye as you're walking by.

Target now has online coupons that you can choose, click, and print before you head out to the store. Type in your zip code at the top and the coupons will be customized to your area. It won't keep you focused enough to not do any random browsing, but at least you'll save a few bucks on the stuff that was on your list.

Happy Shopping! Maybe I'll see you there tomorrow, when I stop by to "pick up a few things".

High Performance Pampers.

Pampers has started rolling out it's new version of Swaddlers & Cruisers. The new technology is called "Dry Max" with diapers that are 20 percent thinner. According to P&G, these new diapers will be their "driest diapers ever". They have not gone public with the new diapers but have been testing them in select markets - in the OLD packaging. There has been a lot of confusion and frustration on popular outlets such as Facebook and Diapers.com about the "sudden" flimsiness and leakage from their Pampers. It seems parents aren't finding these new diapers to be the "driest diapers ever". Although I do really like the idea of 20% thinner diapers for many reasons including less space in the diaper bag and in landfills, I'm not willing to trade that for leakage guard.

Many moms have switched to other brands such as Huggies Organic, Target, and even grocery store brands. We haven't seen any issues in the diapers we have yet. Have you?

A few more of my favorite things...

Manic Mommies blog and facebook page - blunt honesty and a reminder that it's not just you and it's totally fair and normal!

Baby Shoes - Robeez were perfect as Soph's first walking shoe. Now she's strutting her stuff in her Pedipeds and they have been great. Other favorites that are functional and in great designs: Stride Rite
also I'm loving the designs and reviews for Livie and Luca shoes.

Why can't I find any good fruit?

I always end up craving juicy, sweet fruit in the winter, when there isn't much in season so the markets (especially in Vegas) are full of apples. There are of course the random baskets of strawberries and they just look a little sad. That's because strawberries aren't actually in season until March. These poor guys have either been in storage or have been produced in an artificial environment.

In case you are like me and never know what's in season when (or just wanting to know when cherries are coming back to the market), here are some great, fridge posting friendly, charts:

Vegetable Seasonality Chart
Fruit & Nut Seasonality Chart

The website has links for printer friendly versions and also shows seasonality for flowers, meats, & cheeses.

Food experts list the top 7 foods to avoid

Of course some of the ones on the list are some staple favorites. No canned tomatoes or microwave popcorn? Now they are messing with the meals for kings (and queens).

It looks like BPA is back - this time in our canned goods. If everyone knows BPA is bad, why haven't the manufactures changed anything, that would be nice. It also looks like the lining in microwave popcorn bags could cause infertility. Not surprising, the inside of those bags did always look a little sketchy, but the popcorn is so yummy!

Here is the complete detailed list.

And here is a list of 25 power foods you should be eating a lot of.

Happy New Year!

A deal for Mommy!

Who doesn't need another pair of shoes? The new Uggs, pair of platform pumps if you're going back to work, or maybe a new pair for date night.

Piperlime is having a one day only sale tomorrow, January 5. Enter the code TREAT4ME for an additional 20% off. They also have free shipping and free return shipping.

Happy Sole Searching!

Is it really Pure and Natural?

A new report and study from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics shows that many of the baby shampoos and washes that claim to be pure and natural actually contain formaldehyde and/or 1,4-dioxane.

See this link to see how the products you use came out in the testing.

Looks like this house might be going back to Burt's Bee from Aveeno Baby.

Breastfeeding Advice

If you're like a lot of us and not pleased with the help from La Leche League, here is another site our member, Manpreet found:
http://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/default.htm

Do you get any advice you found to be priceless?

Restaurant.com Deal

Restaurant.com has a new stock of certificates, plus 50% off when you use “FIFTY” at checkout.