Clean It Up!

So, I'm going to break some news to all of you...I don't want you to be alarmed or unnerved by this piece of information, OK?
::Clearing My Throat::
Hi. My name is Jessica. I'm a Germaphobe. I am terrified of germs, infections, and bateria invading my body and my families bodies.
Phew! There I said it, I feel a lot better now... I'm sure there are others out there just like me. Folks who refuse to touch door handles, tote hand sanitizer by the gallon, and rarely allow their children to play on public play areas. Needless to say, I'm constantly on the prowl for the perfect products to keep my family safe. With five kids under the age of three, one of whom is in preschool, and just for giggles let's throw in a husband with cancer whose immune system is compromised. HA! Lo & behold, Cleanwell Products came up with a wonderful way to keep my family happy, healthy and smelling good too! Their line of antibacterial soaps were sent to me by Parent Bloggers Network, I was intrigued immediately by the lovely aesthetic bottle. Its sleek design and pretty color looked nice on every sink in my home. The company sent all three of their scents, Orange Vanilla, Lavender Absolute, & Ginger Bergamot. Initially the scent was a bit confusing, we were trying to pinpoint exactly what it was we were smelling... It ended up being the mixture of all of the essential oils, but most prominently the Thyme. It had a very peculiar way of lingering on the skin, we all became quite used to it, but it did take a day or two.
I am absolutely enamored with the way Cleanwell has managed to make this product so friendly, not only to the environment, but to our family as well. There is not a trace of Triclosan in this product. If you pick up any household anti bacterial agent, the likely active ingredient is Triclosan. Cleanwell boasts the use of their own anti bacterial agent called Ingenium. According to the Cleanwell website "Ingenium is the only all natural antimicrobial that meets EPA & FDA standards for germ killing efficacy". "It contains no alcohol, and no harsh chemicals..." It seems to be the obvious choice.
They also have a line of sanitizing sprays that are the cat's meow... Know why? Because they're safe for my kiddos to use. I really didn't like using any of the other brands of anti bacterial products on their little hands. Especially knowing that those fingers were going directly into their mouths... I never knew which was worse, the chemical, or the germs! Now I no longer have to choose! What's even better about the product is that it's now available at my local Target stores. Run out, buy some... Stay healthy during this flu season!

Not Just Any Baby...That Baby!

Thank you Rob & Lisi Wolf. You've saved Me. You've saved me from a lifetime of singing the same inanely repetitive songs over and over and OVER again my head. If I hear Brandy singing that opening song to the Elmo video one more time... gah. So you can understand that a new DVD and CD brimming with music that isn't tinny and over the top silly, made me insanely happy. Truth be told, I didn't get my hopes up... When Parent Bloggers Network approached me to review this DVD/CD combo, I figured "eh, what have I got to lose". However, after I received the That Baby DVD & That Baby CD, I could see that it was different... Based on packaging alone I was impressed, my kids were too! But what really got me, was the awe struck look on ALL FIVE of my children's faces as the DVD spun it's magic web of gloriousness across my playroom. After the That Baby DVD was done playing, the kids literally begged for more... Dancing around the room, they fell in love with the music, and took both Jon and I with them. We as parents are constantly submerged in the shows & music that our kids are enjoying, but it's rare when we too are enjoying it with them. I found myself slipping the CD into the car CD player, long after the kids were out of the minivan... Was I ashamed? Not at all. This is the most family friendly music I've been introduced to in a very long time, and I can't thank PBN enough for sharing it with us.
You too can experience the wonder that is the That Baby DVD & That Baby CD... In my opinion a perfect gift for the holidays. You can buy the DVD for $24.95, the CD for $14.95, or the CD/DVD Set for $34.90 (you save $5). Plus, with orders over $25, you get free shipping and you can save an additional 20% off your purchase when you order here and use code PBN. This knocks the whole kit-n-kaboodle down to under $28!! Also, just to show you how family friendly this company is... They will replace your CD or DVD anytime, for any reason, no questions asked. How many times have you heard that from your kids DVD company? I'm pretty sure I've never heard it...
Run, don't walk people!

**Edited To Add**
I also came across the trailer for the release of the DVD. It showcases some really neat parts of the DVD, as well as highlights some of the wonderful music that you can experience through this DVD. Click on this link, and go check it out!!

The Great Diaper Debate

So... Here we are, the triplets are now almost 2.5 years old. They are unfortunately still all in diapers and no closer to being potty trained than they were the day they were born. I've also got the girls, also in diapers. 5 babes in diapers. An average of 25 diapers a day. 5 per child. Gah... Too much.
So I was pinching pennies the other day, and trying to figure out just how I could save another buck or two on this diaper fiasco. I remembered back in the day when the boys were itty bitty, I was a real diaper snob. I wouldn't even look at a pack of diapers if it wasn't a Pampers brand Swaddler. I moved on up into the world of cruisers, very begrudgingly, but learned to love them as well. But if someone offered me a Huggies, Luvs, or White Cloud Diaper I would snub my nose very gently at them. I just wasn't one of those girls... I was a Pampers kind of Momma...
The girls came along, and Jon and I decided that there would be no other brand than Pampers touching the girls bottoms... After a few months, I noticed that the Pampers Baby Drys were on sale at a much lower price, and that they now offered stretchy sides... I thought how bad could they be? I tried them, loved them, and haven't gone back... I've justified my change as "staying within the Pampers Family"... I'm crazy.
Recently I found out that I would be saving .08 per diaper if I tried Luvs. Luvs, with their Blues Clues characters on the waistband... What would the trio do without their familiar Sesame Street Characters on the waistband? Who would Will play peek-a-boo with? Certainly not Blue, he had never seen him before...I figured what did I have to lose? I chanced soiling a pair of pants (or three) and sulking back to my tried and true brand. So I smuggled a pack of size 6's into my cart and paid a mere $7.99 for it at my local Target store. Getting home I felt like I had to explain myself to the family. "I know, I know, but they were on sale, and they look so soft...and..." I was met with a lot of stares and looks of disbelief, especially from Jon. I think he felt betrayed. That night we opened the package together, I pulled one out, looked at the specimen, and was actually impressed. It was thin, "far too thin to hold our kids pee" Jon quipped. It wasn't crunchy "crunchy means absorbant" Jon shot at me. I was starting to feel a little defensive over these little Luvs. Afterall they were cute...And soft...And not crunchy.
Trying them out, we've been more than pleased. They are really giving Pampers a run for their money... quite literally. We've been using them now for about a month and a half, and they've contained quite their share. They've leaked on occasion at night, but not near like the Pampers brand did. We've yet to have a "blowout" that they couldn't contain. And most importantly, nobody's skin is reacting poorly to the change.
My thought is this... When the babies are small, the mess is hard to contain. We're new at parenting (and diapering) and the messes are difficult. We find one brand that works for us, and we stick with it. We think that it's the miracle brand. But really, its just that we as parents finally got into a groove, just as that diaper was introduced. Now, this is only my theory. What do I know? I'm just saying... If can save you all $8 on a case of diapers, without using a coupon... It's worth a shot, right? Right. :)

The Shoes Have It All!

I really don’t think that anyone loves a good pair of baby shoes more than me. When I was approached by The Parent Blogger Network to take a quick peek at a spiffy line of baby shoes, I nearly threw myself through my computer screen. After peeling myself from my laptop, I eagerly sat by my mailbox, and then nearly attacked our innocent UPS carrier about a week later.

Tearing open the Vincent Shoes box with reckless abandon, I was graced with two pairs of the cutest shoes ever. I’ve been a fan of Robeez, as well as a great lover of the Pediped, but these seemed different. Aside from the bare bones packaging, I was pleased with what I saw. I chose two pairs of the Mini Betty shoes, one in Purple, one in Pink. Unfortunately the girls were sleeping when my package arrived, but after seeing the shoes in person, I nearly woke them up just to slip them on…

The first thing I noticed about these gorgeous shoes was the awesome craftsmanship. They were made of wonderfully soft buttery leather, not too stiff… A very supple, and lovely early walking shoe. The second thing I noticed and fell in love with immediately, was that the shoes are lined with a light terry cloth fabric. I thought this was an ingenious idea. I had noticed in the past after slipping off other shoes, that the girls’ feet seemed damp, I assumed from the lack of breathability in their current shoes. This was a fabulous idea. I also didn’t feel it completely necessary to have a sock on with this particular shoe because of the terry lining.

The girls were almost as smitten with their shoes as I was. On first step they had no issues with tripping over the toes (which I’ve had problems with in our Robeez shoes). After wearing them for quite a few hours, I took the shoes off to examine for rub marks. I was so pleased that even without a sock, the girls didn’t have a single rub mark or obvious area of discomfort! When the girls tried to take their shoes off, they were faced with a very strong line of Velcro that didn’t simply attach on the one side; it was a full-length piece of Velcro. This is something I surely appreciated, we have issues often with the girls throwing a fit and trying to rip their shoes off… No can do with our new Vincent Shoes.

Long story short, I love them, I’d buy them, and truthfully I don’t think any babies or childs wardrobe is complete without them. So There.

Now…How cool is it that PBN is giving all of you, my readers, the opportunity to win some of your very own shoes! Two lucky winners will win a $50 gift certificate to Vincent Shoes! Just leave a comment here and let PBN & Vincent Shoes know which shoe is your favorite! (It doesn't need to be a prewalker style, and since Vincent makes shoes for newborn to 3 years old, you'll surely find something for all the little ones in your family!) Winners will be selected on 11/1 at random.

But!! If you simply cannot wait, and think your possibility of winning is slim, you can also go ahead, order your shoes online, and use the coupon OCT-20-OFF and receive 20% off anything in the shop! This coupon is only good until 11/11/07, so act quickly!

Happy Shopping!

Just a Girl and Her Bag...

So my friend up the street, Kelly, asked awhile back if there were any things in my life (other than my stroller) that I just couldn't live without. I have so many Mommy-sentials that seem SO important to me, and then when I tell them to other people, stressing just how awesome they are... Nobody ever seems to get it. It must be that I live in a world all my own, filled with strollers, sippy cups, and of course...Diaper Bags.

Ahhh... The Diaper Bag...

I've got a few girlfriends who have ONE diaper bag. Girls, that makes me cringe. To me, that's like having one pair of underwear. Diaper bags are like jeans. You have many different kinds, the kinds that you can dress up, the kinds you can dress down, the kinds that hide all your flaws, the kinds that make you look all sleek and stylish... You know what I mean... One pair of jeans is not always equal to the next. I know you understand this.

Anyway, I've got about 10-12 different bags, all of which I love for all different reasons. I adore my 3 different Vera Bradley Diaper Bags. They're incredibly versatile, they're so pretty, and I can stuff them so full that just when I think they're gonna pop I can fit in another onesie. I have a simple Petunia Picklebottom Bag that is not at all practical for triplets (or twins) but is so freakin' cute, that I couldn't pass it up. I got it on clearance at Nordstrom Rack when I was pregnant with the Trio... It has served me well... I have endless other bags including an L.L. Bean, Bean bag that my Mom gave me. It's super cute, has Mommy embroidered on it (in case I ever forget my name) and is a sweet color combo of Orange and pink. It's perfect for a long day filled with lots of sippy cups and many diaper changes.

This brings me to my latest purchase. The purchase that sent me cleaning out my hall closet, aka: diaper bag central. I bought a Skip Hop, Spark. It is the God of all bags diaper. It does what I've asked every single one of my other bags to do for me. They have all failed at this. Attach to my stroller. I've had to keep a link-a-doo attached to my stroller handle to keep my bag from sliding down the handle and hitting the wheels. Not with this little baby, no sir-eeeeee!! It's just lovely!! It has two large clips on the outer edge of the bag, that helps it to clip around the stroller handle (it's adjustable of course) and then allows for perfect access into the bag itself. The design is flawless...

The best part?

It's Red.

It matches my stroller as if it was made just for me... And sometimes, I like to walk around town, pretending that that's just the case. Is that so wrong?

Oh, and this little gem of a bag?? I didn't pay the $50 retail price on the Skip Hop website, oh no ladies... I paid $29.99 at TARGET. You heard me... Target. Run, Do not walk... It comes in black and Camouflage too... But not the pink Camo that I love so much... You win some, you lose some...

My New Stroller

So... Can I just tell you... I LOVE MY NEW STROLLER!! I am completely an utterly in love with it. I've realized that I'm now looking for times to get out of the house, just so I can use my new stroller... Ahhh... I love it. So let me tell you all about it, and maybe THEN you'll want to run out and get one all for yourself!!

This little baby is quite the contraption. It is a total of 55 lbs and is by no means a lightweight stroller. It is however incredibly sturdy, and easy on the eye. It's a dream to push, and honestly I can push it one handed, holding another child on my hip.
The things I love about it: It's super easy to push. I love all the random seating options it has, the kids can both face forward, they can both face backwards, you can have one facing back & one facing front, you can have them face each other!! The possibilities are endless!! Also, the recline feature on the seats are to die for... SO SMOOTH. You can do it one handed, and you can so easily recline a sleeping baby (majorly important). The basket!! Ahhh the basket... It's so large!! Roomy!! Wide open!! I can fit a lot of stuff under there, and I think it's a fabulously easily accessible basket too... So nice. Another really neat feature, see in the picture that little red 'hook'? Know what that is? It's a handle!! For your older kiddo to walk alongside and hold onto!! No more holding onto the side of the stroller for William, he actually has his very own handle!! And there's actually 2 of them, one on each side. So smart.
Now of course, in a perfect world, this would be the PERFECT stroller... But we all know that everything has flaws...Even me. :)
The things I'm not wild about: You have to remove the front seat in order to collapse the stroller down flat. With that being said, Kolcraft made this so easy, it barely seems like an inconvenience. But, it's still slightly annoying (only slightly though). Before I bought the stroller, the common complaint amongst owners was that the seats were a bit too shallow. I agree with this assessment. My girls are very small, petite even, but they do seem to look occasionally like they're sliding out of the seat. No big deal though. The only other problem I have currently, is due to the "shallow seat". It appears that the crotch strap will adjust improperly and start to irritate the inside of the babies leg. It rides up oddly and then looks painful. Neither of the girls has complained a bit about it, but I notice it and it seems a little off. I'm sure there's something i just need to tweak in order to get it all moving in the right direction...
So that's it!! I needed to let you all know how it was going, and to give you all the 411 on my new ride... Hope you all love your strollers as much as I love mine... But I doubt you do :) I think I'm going to start carrying a picture of it in my wallet... hee hee...

**For those of you who are interested in this stroller, please go see it HERE. I bought mine through Target.com, and waited for one of their sales where Free Shipping was included. It saved me a bundle since the stroller isn't light, and must be heavy to ship!! Sorry I didn't include that information earlier!! Happy Shopping!!**

The True Studio

Last week, I dragged my entire family off to have professional pictures done. I'm sure you've gathered by now that I have a deep passion for photography, I've gotten so many wonderful compliments on my 'work' here. My family keeps encouraging me to begin my own business... That's a WHOLE other story. Unfortunately always being behind the lens leaves me little room for actually being IN the photos. I have very few shots of me with my family, and I have zero photos of my whole family. I finally got everyone in the same room, and most everyone was cooperative. We went to The True Studio where we met Janie Stockton. She was LOVELY. The shoot took 1 hour total, which was so important. Then the viewing of my proofs was very smooth, she helped me to adequately weed through all the shots that were just ho-hum, and of course then delivered me these GORGEOUS photos in such SPEEDY time!! We saw her on Monday... Today is Thursday, and my pictures arrived... Wrapped beautifully in ribbon and tissue... They are gorgeous. I hope that you all enjoy them as much as I do...
And stop by Janie's website, see her work... It is breathtaking.