Mom and baby product reviews on The Mommy Insider

Thomas and Friends Talking Railway brings the fun to life!

My daughter loves trains.  More than my son did when he was her age.  She is thrilled with Learning Curve's new Talking Railway series.

Learning Curve's new Cranky the Crane is an extension to Learning Curve’s Thomas Wooden Railway.  The Talking Railway Series features Radio Frequency Identification technology and brings the world of Thomas & Friends to life like never before.  Because these products are compatible with the Thomas Wooden Railway, Madelyn can integrate these pieces into her track.  She's going to have one massive railway one day!

Sir Topham Hatt recognizes each engine by name upon their arrival at any Talking Railway destination. For example, when Talking Railway Series Thomas passes through the Stop & Greet Station, Sir Topham Hatt greets Thomas by name, saying, “Thomas, you are right on time!”  Madelyn gets a kick out of the fact that Sir Topham Hatt talks and recognizes the trains by name.  It never gets old.

For more information and to buy a Talking Railway product, click here to go to Learning Curve's Talking Railway page.

Features:

• Ages: 3 and up
• SRP: $69.99
• Sir Topham Hatt recongnizes each engine in the series by name
• Phrases
• Sir Topham's head turns right and left
• Also works with traditional engines by triggering non-personalized phrases - how great is that?
  

GIVEAWAY!
Two lucky subscribers will receive a Thomas Talking Railway Engine and a Cranky the Crane destination.  Go to our Subscribe page, subscribe to our newsletter if you haven't already then fill out the contest entry form on that page.

Give "Namaste" For Mother's Day

Give mom the gift of yoga this Mother's Day. If mom hasn't discovered yoga yet, she's in for a surprise. It's a tried and true way to relieve stress and help maintain flexibility as you age. My dad does yoga three times a week and he is in excellent shape! To get mom started gear her up with the essentials. Of course she'll be more motivated if there is a cute outfit involved - the loungewear pajama set is ideal for the beginner at home. A guided yoga practice from Suzanne Deason will help give an introduction to what's in store at the yoga studio; mom will be a perfect downward dog in no time. And of she'll be off to yoga class in no time with her yoga mat, water bottle and a chic yoga tote to carry it in.

Beau Yoga Mat Tote in Grey, $30
Organic Loungewear Set with coordinating jacket, $24.99 - $39.99
Gaiam Bronze Medallion Aluminum Water Bottle, $13
DVD, Yoga Conditioning for Women, $15.00
Antimicrobial Yoga Mat, $50

All available at Gaiam.com
Coupon code – THEFIND4, Free Shipping on orders over $25., April 1st – June 1st.

From our friends at TheFind.com.

Philips Bikini Perfect Deluxe Spa-at-home grooming system + Mother's Day Giveaway!

Having this is the next best thing to laser hair removal.  Philips offers moms the perfect solution for bikini line trimming with their wet/dry Bikini Perfect Deluxe system.  Philips at-home hair removal kit pairs a  soothing and smoothing spa touch with a sensitive, skin-friendly, super-precise buzz.  New moms just don't have the time to care for their bikini line like they used to!  The Bikini Perfect Deluxe system makes the process quick and easy.
 
Features of the Bikini Perfect Deluxe system

• Lemon+sage body butter
• Personal trimmer with six attachments to trim and shape 
• Rechargeable for up to 60 minutes of cordless grooming
• Wet and dry use
• bliss-Philips drawstring beauty bag to store your Bikini Perfect Deluxe in

GIVEAWAY!  What.. what?
Yes, we are giving away even more great stuff for Mother's Day! 
Enter to win a Bikini Perfect Deluxe for yourself, your mom, or a friend.  If you are a winner, we want to deliver your prize to you by Mother's Day so this entries are accepted until 10pm May 6th!  Winners will be notified May 7th by email and must respond May 7th with their mailing address.

You must be a subscriber to enter, then leave a comment below, telling us why you want a Philips Bikini Perfect Deluxe.

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

Greener Clean line from Scotch-Brite

If you are reading this blog you are probably a mom or a dad, maybe a grandparent.  And if you are one of those, then you probably spend a good amount of time cleaning.  Whether it's wiping juice off of the counter top, squished food off the floor, toothpaste off of the bathroom counter, or dried up ketchup off of a plate, you're cleaning something.  For years I used paper towels to clean up small messes, that is until I realized that was not a very smart or 'Green' thing to do.  With as many messes as I have to clean up, I would throw away dozens of paper towels every day.  That's not very earth or wallet friendly.   Scotch-Brite's new greener clean line of cleaning products is perfect for people like me who have mess after mess to clean up and are trying to stop using paper towels.

The Greener Clean collection of reusable cleaning products combines the cleaning power consumers have come to expect from the Scotch-Brite brand with eco-conscious natural and recycled materials. That means there’s no need to spend extra money on disposable cleaning products like paper towels and cleaning wipes, saving consumers a bundle.

My favorite 'greener clean' products are the 'soap loaded scrubbers' and the 'Biodegradable* Absorbent Sponge'.  I use these two products everyday.  The sponge is great for every day counter top cleaning and the soap loaded scrubbers are gentle enough to use on my stainless steel pots and pans without scratching them. 

Almost all of Scotch-Brite's Greener Clean products are Biodegradable and the packaging is made from 100% recycled material.  It is said on the Scotch-Brite website that their Biodegradeable Absorbent Sponge will outlast 30 rolls of paper towels while the Absorbent Cloth will outlast 16 rolls. You can learn what some of the terms used here such as Biodegradable mean on the Scotch-Brite website here.

Learn about the full line of Scotch-Brite Greener Clean products here and where you can buy them here.

Little Tikes Picnic n' Playhouse

"This is awesome!" - Madelyn, 2 years old

Those were Madelyn's first words when she saw the Little Tikes Picnic n' Playhouse all put together.  While Tim was building the playhouse she couldn't stay off of it and had her share of yelling at, but now that it's built she doesn't want to come out of it.  I don't blame her.  She eats her breakfast and lunch in her playhouse when it's nice outside while I enjoy a nice peaceful meal on the back porch.  So besides being a great toy for Madelyn, the Picnic n' Playhouse from Little Tikes gives me a few minutes to myself each day that I literally didn't have before.  Who would have thought a toddler playhouse could do that for a mom?

The Little Tikes Picnic n' Playhouse is relatively easy to put together.  The only tools we needed were a mallet, a power screw driver and the playhouse was built within about 2 hours including breaks.

What Madelyn loves about the Little Tikes Picnic n' Playhouse:

• She can eat inside or outside the house with the fold-down table and pop in/out chairs
• The working light
• She likes to play princess or captain on the platform at the top of the slide and climbing wall
• She gets to call all of her friends from inside her playhouse with her very own cordless phone
• The slide is her relaxing spot when she's tuckered out from a long day on the phone

What I love about the Little Tikes Picnic n' Playhouse

• It's spacious enough for both Madelyn (2) and Sebastian (9) to fit inside and enjoy
• It's easy to move from place to place in the yard.  I like to keep her out of the sun.
• I can enjoy a snack outside the house while she's inside but were both sitting on a slide out chair.

I wish..

• The slide was a little longer
• That there could be a floor
• A doorbell would be cute!
• I had one when I was a kid.

You can buy a Little Tikes Picnic n' Playhouse right from the Little Tikes website or from Amazon.com.  I think it's shipping free from Amazon.com here.  Double check.

Mother's Day Gift Idea #1: Skagen Denmark Shiny Silver watch with Crystals

This watch is a piece of art.  Flexible, comfortable, and attractive, Skagen Denmark gives moms the opportunity to wear a gorgeous time piece without breaking the bank.

The design of this beautiful watch from Skagen Denmark is inspired by the Danish sunsets, where soft colors glisten off the coast. Crystals Made with CRYSTALLIZED™ –Swarovski Elements surround the case of genuine Mother-of-Pearl in light pink, and the signature mesh bands in silver clutch the wrist ever-so gently.

Skagen Designs is committed to designing an impressive and unique yet attainable product which is a great combination for families on a budget as are most these days.

Priced at just $130, this Skagen Denmark watch is a great gift for Mother's with a passion for beautiful jewelry.

GIVEAWAY!
We are giving away a one pink and one blue 'Shiny Silver with Crystals' Skagen Denmark watch!  Subscribers can enter to win from April 29th - May 3rd and the winners will receive their Skagen Design watch by Mother's Day!

WAT-AAH!

Do kids ever WANT to drink water?  When WAT-AAH!'s available mine do.  That could be because we don't have juice in our fridge very often, so the options are water and milk.  But, 9 times out of 10, both of my kids chose milk - pre WAT-AAH!. 

When I put WAT-AAH! in the fridge in cluster of milk, regular bottled water, and apple juice, Sebastian chose WAT-AAH!.  The first time he chose WAT-AAH!, he said it was out of curiosity but he enjoyed it.  I caught his enjoyment on video but for some reason I can't get some of my videos to upload onto my new computer.  Just a little while later he chose WAT-AAH! again, over apple juice.  When I asked why he chose WAT-AAH! over the apple juice, he said it was "because the bottle is cool and looks fun".   I asked him about the lack of flavor and if he felt like his thirst was quenched and he replied with a simple "It's water mom.  Water doesn't have flavor and I'm not thirsty right now, I just drank some water". That was a bit of a smart-alic answer but he was being truthful.  It is in fact water, and after drinking about 1/3rd of the bottle of WAT-AHH! he wasn't thirst anymore.

There are currently four 'flavors' (unflavored) of WAT-AHH!; Brain, Body, Energy, and Bones.  You can learn more about WAT-AHH! here.

Audiovox Homebase messaging center and digital frame

What do you have on your fridge?  A calendar, a few photographs, some notes?  That's what I had on mine up until a couple of weeks ago.  I am so excited about Audiovox's Homebase Audio and Video system because it allows me to replace all of the visible fridge clutter with a pretty little shiny frame like device that does it all.

What is the Audiovox Homebase messaging and digital frame?

• A calendar
• A 7 inch digital photo frame
• A video messaging center with a built in a video camera
• A whiteboard
• A magnet board
• A post-it note holder

The Audiovox Homebase can be mounted to your refrigerator, wall, or set on your counter top.  They really thought of everything when designing this device.. there are even 3 different color cords you can use to conceal the cord going from the device to the wall outlet.

What do I do with the Audiovox Homebase system?

• Leave important video messages for my husband and son
• Watch my husband and son's funny video messages
• Write reminders on the white board
• Put cute photographs and small drawings on the magnetic strip
• Manage my appointments
• and much much more!

The Audiovox Homebase is a MOMMY MUST-HAVE!

Learn more about the Audiovox Homebase here or buy one here.

We are giving away an Audiovox Homebase to one lucky subscriber!  Learn how to enter here.

Exclusive offers from our friends at TheFind.com

Edun Online is offering 25% off of the Spring/Summer 2009 Collection from April 20 until April 30th, 2009 with online coupon code, TheFind25

Delight.com is offering a 15% discount and free shipping on orders of products from the eco-delightful collection of $40 or more through May 1, 2009 with online coupon code, TheFindDelight

Gaiam.com is offering free shipping on purchases over $25 through June 1, 2009 with online coupon code, TheFind4.

More coupon info on our blog:
http://blog.thefind.com/thefind_theblog/2009/04/exclusive-earthday-discounts-with-thefind.html