Mom and baby product reviews on The Mommy Insider

A Mother's Day Giveaway! Win an i776w phone from Boost Mobile + $50 re-Boost Mobile card!

Want to give mom a new cell-phone but afraid of locking her into a two year contract with expensive monthly payments?  Boost Mobile has the answer!  This Mother's Day, give mom a stylish, affordable prepaid mobile phone from Boost Mobile to help her stay connected for less or how about FREE?

Thanks to Boost Mobile we are giving away an i776w and a $50 re-Boost card to a lucky reader.

Stylish moms will love Boost Mobile's i776w handset.  The purple i776w is a sleek/lightweight flip phone that is the perfect accessory for mom's busy schedule. 

Features mom will love:

• GPS
• Wireless Web
• Text and picture (multi-media) messaging
• Digital camera
• Hands-free speakerphone.  -- My iPhone doesn't even have multi-media messaging!
• $50 UNLIMITED monthly plan includes taxes
• No credit checks and no contracts
  

Frugal moms will love Boost Mobile's Monthly Unlimited plan which provides UNLIMITED talk, text messaging and Walkie-Talkie, all for one flat rate of $50 per month, taxes included!  Check out how Boost Mobile's plan compares to others here.
 
The i776w is available online at www.BoostMobile.com for $99.99 and at select retail stores, including RadioShack, Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Sprint stores.

GIVEAWAY!
To enter to win the i776w and $50 re-Boost Mobile card, leave a comment below telling me why your mom rocks and why you want this phone.  That's it!

HP 3.5" Digital Picture Frame Mother's Day GIVEAWAY brought to you by TheMommyInsider.com and TheFind.com

 

TheMommyInsider.com and TheFind.com have partnered to bring you the chance to win an HP 3.5" Digital Picture Frame!

What is something that all moms have lots of? 

If you said photographs, your right.  What good does it do to have photographs covering our walls, nightstand, and bookshelves when most of the people we want to share our photographs with never step foot in our home?

With the HP 3.5" Digital Picture Frame you can carry your photographs with you every where you go.   This 3.5" frame is the perfect size to go in a diaper bag or purse and is protected from 'the elements' (juice, milk, etc) inside the included black leather carrying case.

With the flip of a switch you can start a slide show, or you can browse photographs manually.  Up to 45 images can be stored internally but you can insert a memory card including however many photographs you put on it to share a virtually unlimited amount of photographs with your friends and family.

You can buy your very own HP 3.5" Digital Picture Frame here at Amazon.com but be sure to enter our giveaway too!

GIVEAWAY!  We have 2 HP 3.5" Digital Picture Frames to give to lucky readers!
Tell us in 3 or more sentences in the comments below , why you want to win an HP 3.5" Digital Picture Frame for Mother's Day and/or tell us a funny story involving a photograph.  If you've got kids, you have a funny photograph story! Winners will be notified via email May 6th.  If you are a winner, you must respond to our email by May 7th so we can ship your prize to you for Mother's Day! 

Official Giveaway Rules

iPosture, the gadget that helps improve posture

 When you walk by the mirror are you surprised to see that you are a little hunched over?  Even just a little hunch is too much.  I've seen that little hunch my mirror one to many times.  Hunching in your 90's is one thing but having a hunch in your 30's is another.  Moms sit, walk, bend, and rock constantly and keeping good posture while doing all of these things is important but how do we know when our posture is just right? 

The iPosture is an intuitive electronic device designed to improve posture. Just over one inch in diameter, the iPosture clips to your bra, hangs on a necklace, or sticks to you with a little sticky pad.  When you put the iPosture on the first time, push the button to record your posture then the iPosture will automatically sense when your body slouches, and will alerts you with brief vibrations to correct it.  The vibrations are gentle, not zaps.

The iPosture provides a multitude of benefits including trimming belly bulges, easing common back problems, and making you look taller, younger and sexier.  Just ask your husband after you've been wearing the iPosture for a few days.

You can think of the $65 (current price) iPosture as a money saver.. you won't have to get a massage nearly as often because you won't have the sore back muscles caused by poor posture.

iPosture website

PakNak® Charms

PakNaks® are fun soft rubbery 3-D decorations for kids to personalize all of their stuff with. Backpacks, lunchbags, headbands, nightstand lamp, a flower pot, and anything else you can imagine.  They are weather resistant by using super strong self adhesive Velcro.   Each PakNak® has a best PakNak® friend, how cute.  For example, Sola the flower's best friend is Birdy-Birdy.  There's a PakNak® for every personality.  Some of my favorite's are the robot, soccer ball, flowers, birds, monkey, skateboard, and Ted the Head.. the frog.

The colors are vibrant and have yet to fade since we've been using them.  There are currently 38+/-  PakNak® charms to choose from.

Click here to print out a PakNak® coloring book!

WEBSITE

COUPON CODE: Use coupon code PAK20 to get 20% off your order through April 2009.

GIVEAWAY: 4 lucky winners can choose 3 PakNak's to be their very own!  I will announce the giveaway contest and rules soon.  Sign up for our newlsetter to be the first to know when the contest starts!

Dyson DC16 Root 6 Vacuum - Pink

I've had the cordless pink Dyson DC16 Root 6 Vacuum for a little while and everyone in my family loves it, including the kids.  We have two hand vacuum's and 9 times out of 10, the Dyson is the vacuum we use.  This hand vacuum has uses Root Cyclone technology and has great suction, about twice the suction of other hand vacuums and it recharges about 3 times faster. and tools to make cleaning easier in tight spaces, as well as on hardwood floors.  
The Lithium ion battery lasts for 6 minutes or so giving amply time to clean small messes hand vacuum's are intended for.  The battery charger can be wall mounted and the vacuum features a low-battery indicator which is awesome for me because my 9 year old forgets to put the vacuum on the charger and I can tell how much battery is left.  
The DC16 is a bagless hand held vacuum cleaner and has a 1-touch cup-emptying system which I LOVE!  The 1-touch emptying system is great for those of us who make our kids vacuum their own small messes because they can easily empty the vacuum themselves.  Image that!

You can buy the pink Dyson DC16 Root 6 Vacuum at Amazon.com for about $149.  Dyson and Target will partner to give $30 of each upright purchase and $10 of each hand vac purchase to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation for a total donation of $1.4 million

Top 10 iPhone applications for parents

I rely on my iPhone for every day from setting up reminders, writing notes, sending & reading email to listening to and finding music and taking & sending photographs. Here are my top 10 favorite iPhone applications that I (or my kids) use almost every day.  The prices and features of these Apps may change.

1. Jott - Free. A really easy to use notepad that turns your voice recordings into notes and sends them to your email if you want.  Website, desktop, and iPhone sync available, free!
2. Grocery Gadget Shopping List - $2.99.  Keep track of what you need, edit & delete items, and keep a running track of your total while shopping!  Popular grocery items are included but you can manually add and delete items as needed. I love this app.
3. FLEX Photo Lab - Free.  A must have for parents.  If you take photographs with your iPhone, you have to download this app.  You can adjust the brightness, contrast, and saturation of your photographs and apply cool effects.
4. Say Who Dialer - Free.  Don't dial and drive!  Just say a name in your contact book or a telephone number to connect your call.  You can create an auto-dial list and even nickname favorite numbers like 'pizza' or 'babysitter'.
5. Burning Monkey Puzzle Lab - This is a really fun collection of 5 puzzle games.
6. reMovem - Free and paid version available.  This is an addictive iPhone game.  All you do is remove blocks of colors to get points. The bigger the block of the same color, the more points you get.  When you clear the screen you get 200 bonus points.
7. Preschool Adventure - .99.  Madelyn loves this game.   Toddlers will learn shapes, color, sounds, and matching with bright colors, and fun sounds.
8. Shazam - Free.  This is a great app that will recognize any song and tell you what it is so you can buy it via iTunes. Just hold your iPhone up to your radio speaker and it will tell you what the name of the song is in about 10-12 seconds.
9. Easy Relax - Free and paid version available.  High quality ambient and background noises to help you relax.  Easy Relax is great for using for yourself or your kids at bedtime.  The sounds are real and so relaxing! There are 7 preset relaxing sounds.
10. Pandora - Free.  Pandora streams music right to your iPhone.  Create your own personalized music station that plays your favorite songs and artists.

WrapMaster plastic wrap and aluminum foil dispensers

At the beginning of the school year, kids like to think that they will buy lunch at school but it never fails, after the first couple of weeks they are begging mom to pack a lunch so they don't have to eat the yucky meatloaf and green beans served by the school. I don't blame them. What is the primary food that moms pack in their kids school lunch? A sandwich. Where there is a sandwich, there is plastic wrap. That is where WrapMaster comes in.

The WrapMaster is an inexpensive, easy to use and safe plastic wrap and aluminum foil container and dispenser. These neat little dispensers make it easy to store and use plastic wrap or foil without getting yourself wrapped up in plastic wrap or cutting your fingers on the sharp edges of the box.

WrapMaster dispensers are easy to use. Just pull out what you need and push down the lid and you get perfectly cut plastic wrap or aluminum foil every time. No fighting with the box, the wrap or sharp edges! The safety shield protects little fingers from the blade and the WrapMaster snaps shut when not in use.

Available as single units or combo packs, WrapMaster can be purchased online at http://www.wrapmasterusa.com, QVC, and Linens N' Things retail stores.

Color Changing Digital Room Thermometer - Grobag Egg

This is one of the most innovative products I've seen in a long time.  The Grobag Egg is incredibly useful and it looks really neat in a baby nursery.  I am obsessed with the Grobag Egg in Madelyn's room.   I have the Grobag Egg on Madelyn's armoire so I can easily see if the room is too hot or cold.  Lately, it's been way to hot so the Grobag Egg glows bright red and has a frown.  The Grobag Egg helped me prove to Tim that Madelyn's room was too hot especially for her to sleep in and he finally accepted that the air had to be turned down.  Before I could show him the Grobag Egg thermometer to prove that her room was too hot, he said it was just me.. I was the only one that was hot. 

When we started using the Grobag Egg thermometer I would yell downstairs to Tim and tell him how hot it was in her room which ultimately led to the air being turned down!  Thank goodness.  When her room reaches an acceptable temperature, around 75°F, the egg is a little lighter in color but still has a frown, and when the room is at the most ideal temperature, 61-67°F, the egg is a very vibrant yellow and has a smile.

The Grobag Egg thermometer glows softly and the temperature is backlit so I can see it easily at night while it provides a nice nighlight for Madelyn.

I have a few Grobag Egg thermometers to give away!  Stay tuned and sign up for our newsletter to be notified when the giveaway contest starts.

Website: Grobag Egg thermometer

mylo personal communicator: "My Life Online"

Do you have a tween or teen that is always on her cell phone, not only talking but texting and surfing the Web which skyrockets your cell carrier bill?  mylo is for you then.  mylo will connect to the Web from any Wi-Fi location such as a coffee shop or even your Wi-Fi enabled home and does not require a cell carrier contract. 

Complete with a 3.5 screen and a 1.3 megapixel camera, users will have a great time surfing the Web, texting, listening to music, and taking pictures!  Does it get better than that?  Did I mention that you don't have to pay a monthly fee to access the Internet from mylo?  Maybe I did.

WedgEz, a mommy must have

WedgEZ is a product that I never would have dreamed of but can't imagine doing without after having used it.

It's undeniable that children are drawn to electrical outlets.  When I was 6 or 7 years old, even after being warned of the danger of putting something (especially metal) in an electrical outlet, I put a hairpin in an electrical outlet.  It hurt and scared the daylights out of me and needless to say, I never did it again. 

Outlet plugs were invented for a reason which is to keep children safe.   Rightly so, outlet plugs were designed to be difficult, if not impossible for children to remove.  You can't deny though, that it is very frustrating when you need to remove an outlet plug and the thing won't budge.  I've heard stories of parents using kitchen knives or tweezers to remove outlet plugs.  Yikes!

WedgEZ makes life a little easier for parents.  WedgEZ is a small tool that conveniently attaches to a standard vacuum for quick access.  I keep one in our kitchen drawer because it seems like we are always removing an outlet plug for one reason or another.  WedgEZ fits nicely in your hand for a good grip.  Simply wedge WedgEZ between the plastic outlet cover and the electrical outlet and the outlet plug will come out with ease.  You can buy just one WedgEZ or a multi-pack of three which I highly recommend so you can place a few strategically throughout your house.

Website: WedgEZ