Hello, all you Bloggy Giveaway folks! Look what Evenflo sent me in the mail and has promised one more to one of my readers. Don’t have a child who needs a car seat? I’ll bet you know someone who does. If you want to gift this to someone else, your winner-ness is transferable to the recipient of your choice. You can even donate it to your favorite charity! How cool is that?

Evenflo says it all.

The new Symphony car seat offers parents the latest in car seat innovation from Evenflo. First-to-market features help make safety, installation and use as easy as possible for parents. Exclusive to Evenflo, the Symphony features the innovative SureLatch, a new technology that makes installing a car seat correctly easier than ever using LATCH, Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children. The SureLatch system consists of two connectors that are used with a vehicle’s LATCH system. With a simple “Click, Click, Push”, moms get a safe and snug installation to the vehicle in a fraction of the time of a traditional seat. The Symphony also features the Infinite Slide Harness Adjustment System that slides to any height with no rethreading, allowing for proper harness placement as the child grows. With an increased weight rating from 5 to 100 lbs., moms can use this same car seat from infancy to eight years old. From birth to booster, this is the only car seat moms will ever need. The Symphony is available at Babies “R” Us and retails for $199.99. More information can be found on www.evenflo.com.

What did I think of it? LOVING the booster seat. It only took this pregnant mother 14 minutes to take the thing apart according to the instructions so it was a booster seat for The Boy. 14 minutes in pregnancy time is like 2 nanoseconds to the non-gestating. And I’ll confess I didn’t use the instructions until the very end. Impressive. I like that it is super easy to adjust and that it goes from 5 pounds as a rear-facing seat to 100 pounds as a booster seat. That’s good considering the Commonwealth will probably be requiring car seats up until the boys are in high school.

So how can you win it? Just leave a comment here and I’ll pick a random winner on FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31 at midnight. Actually it will be Saturday morning because as God as my witness, I had better not be up at midnight. And don’t forget the big fall sale over at Baby Brewing for all your “Mommy Needs a Cocktail” needs. Or latte needs. Or chocolate needs. Use the code BG2008 to receive 20% off your order until Monday, November 3.

10% of the proceeds during this sale will go to Nie Recovery Fund.

“I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream.”

I challenge you to read those words without a sway in your body. Can’t do it, right? Well, this classic is back because it’s just about time for a new crop of little girls to forever be ruined by the greatest Prince of all time. Admit it. He’s the awesomest. Maybe I just think that because he reminds me of my husband.

Sleeping Beauty was the first classic Disney movie The Boy sat down and watched from beginning to end. Sure he still had to hide under the blanket for Maleficent’s better moments. Can we take a timeout here to remember that Maleficent was angry because she wasn’t invited to the baby shower? Just keep that in mind if you are possibly considering keeping someone cranky off your list next time.

If you haven’t seen it in years, it’s fun to go back and relive the scene with his father getting hammered while they wait for the wedding. Disney is timeless, don’t you think?

The Sleeping Beauty Platinum Edition has way more extras than you will ever know what to do with. The nice thing is, it comes with the standard dvd (for the yet-to-upgrade crowd like us) and the Blu-Ray hi-def video. That’s great because we all know how it goes with Disney. They don’t mess around with that availability for a limited time only thing. Which is why people like me still have some VHS Disney tapes. Disney is thinking ahead this time.

Retails for around $ 29.99. Get them before they are gone. Who cares if your baby is only 4 months old. You want her to be the hippest four-year-old around when she is finally old enough to see it.

Look what I got in the mail.  I got this sweet Epson Artisan 800 thanks to um, Epson and Nataly for passing my digits on over at Work It, Mom.  My review over there is much more grown up and circumspect.

Dude, do you have any idea what this thing can do?  It prints up COLORING PAGES from photos.  I’m not saying we are doing any copyright violating over here right now but someone who shall remain nameless may be coloring pictures  of characters that may rhyme with Trackyardigans AND Did the Dience Kid.  I’m just saying.  Maybe I’ll color up some pictures of some old boyfriends or something.  Photoshop is SO last year.

It also prints up LINED PAPER.  Hi, my name is Kristen and I am officially a geek.  Or a dork.  Either one.  Oh, and it faxes, copies, blah, blah, blah.  Did I mention it will print CD labels?  On the CD.   Future brides all across America are giddy with potential.  No trying to get those damn labels to line up properly in your printer.

The Epson boasts Ultra HD photos.  What that means is your colors look like colors and not all variations of green.  And all the creative things you can make with your photos?  Craziness I say.  Take a whirl at the 7.8″ LCD screen that even I was able to figure out.

Retails for $299.99.  Now I’m off to make magnets to sell at the Holiday Fair.

Review by Kristen.

Look what came this week.  The gracious people at Britax sent me this lovely new car seat to try out because they heard about my children.  Kidding.  Actually I was interested in trying out this car seat because I heard that with the Click and Safe feature, you know your child is safe in his seat.  For my kids who like to get out of car seats, any features that dime them out for bad behavior is good.

So what’s the big deal with this brand new Britax coming to a retailer near you in October?  Beyond one of our favorites (made in the US), the adjustable headrest makes this car seat comfortable for every sized kid in your house.  It also makes The Baby fall asleep nearly every single time he rides in the car.  Every single time.  It’s odd.

Some other perks are the Click and Safe feature.  You are all, Click and What?  According to Britax,

The Britax Boulevard CS® car seat introduces the new Click & Safe™ snug harness indicator, the latest advancement in child safety, which addresses the leading misuse with safety child seats. The Click & Safe™ feature is an audible aide to help determine when the harness is secure by clicking when the harness straps are snug.

This might seem like no big deal but if you happen to be the proud parent of an arguer, it’s nice to have a  leg to stand on when you can just say “the seat tells us when your seat belt is on properly.  I know you think it’s too tight, but until we hear the click, we aren’t ready to go. ”

It works like a charm.  Even  my child can’t argue with a seat belt.  It’s not like the seat belt is going to argue back or get annoyed about arguing.  The Britax Boulevard CS is also great because it can hold kids up to 65 pounds.  This is fantastic is you live in a state like mine which has changed the law so that most children will still be in car seats when they get their driver’s licenses.

Downside?  At a whopping 19 pounds, this one was a little painful to take on a trip.  I guess it made me stronger.  On the bright side, it was a huge incentive to NEVER take it in and out of the car.   And we all know that taking the car seat in and out increases your chances of installing it improperly, so that is probably a good thing that I am loathe to remove it from it’s place of honor in the back seat.   That and how else would I get The Baby to take those long car seat-induced naps?

For more information on safety features, check out Britax.com.

Review by Kristen.

Oh yeah–that’s right, its contest WINNERS plural!  It actually turns out that I have not one, but TWO $25 giftcards to give away this morning.  So without further ado, courtesy of our friend the Random Number Picker , our two winners are comment # 14 (Jess) and comment #23 (Elda). 

 If both of our lovely winners would like to email me their mailing info at trena ‘at’ youmeandababy ‘dot’ com (remove the parenthesis and spaces :)), I’ll get them mailed right off to you.

 Thanks so much everybody for commenting and if you didn’t win, don’t despair–we have LOTS more neato giveaways coming up, so next time may be your lucky opportunity.  Besides, where else would you hear straight from the Mommy’s mouth what we think about all kinds of products and services you need to know about?

I fully embrace that I was a child of the 80’s.  Yes Internet, there is photographic evidence floating around out there somewhere that shows why, through my overzealous application of Rave Hairspray to my bangs, I am probably responsible almost single-handedly for the hole in the ozone and/or global warming.  Something else that I loved almost as much as my can of hairspray were all the great shows that were on television during the 80’s as well.  I didn’t get to watch a ton of TV growing up, and the programs that I did watch were closely monitored by my mom, but I very fondly remember having a few favorite shows that we would watch each week as a family.  My little boy Owen isn’t quite old enough to be into TV all that much yet, but it really saddens me that I’d really have to search to find something ‘family friendly’ that is enjoyable to watch as well.

 That’s why I was so excited to find out that HP (yes, the computer people) have partnered with the PTA and The Boys & Girls Club of America to launch two sites, PTA Video Store and The Boys & Girls Club Video Store where you can find all family friendly movies and TV shows on DVD, Blue Ray and as digital downloads. I was really impressed with the huge selection (both sites have the same catalogue available) of old favorites and new releases. In fact, I saw quite a few titles of some older favorite TV shows that I had completely forgotten even existed and I am definitely planning on adding them to our home DVD library. The prices of any of the titles are household budget friendly and you would definitely be able to significantly add to your family friendly home viewing collection without breaking the bank. Shipping is extremely reasonable and fast as well. I received notification the day after I ordered that my DVD was already on its way to me.

I ended up ordering the first season of the Muppet Show for our house–I love that show and I am hoping that Owen will enjoy it just as much. It’s really nice to know that I have a great location with a ton of titles that I can go to in order to find something decent that we can watch as a family without worrying about content.

I also have a $25 gift card for one lucky reader to spend at either the PTA Video Store or the Boys & Girls Club Video Store . Just leave a comment between now and midnight EST (that would be Eastern Standard Time) Thursday, July 10th and I’ll randomly pick a winner to be announced Friday morning.

When I started my baby birthin’ back in 1993, things like Boppies and  Bumbos HADN’T EVEN BEEN INVENTED.

Can you even imagine? Baby food came in glass jars, grocery stores did NOT have those cute little kiddie carts shaped like trucks, strollers and car seats were two distinctly different piece of equipment (so handy when they finally fell asleep in the car and you arrived at your destination!), and you either carried your kid on your hip, in your arms, in a crappy front carrier that required at least one hand to keep it steady so really, what’s the point?!, or in a hippy-type sling.

Being a klutzy person by nature, I avoided slings.  I just couldn’t see how a bolt of fabric and a brass ring could keep my precious angel from falling on his head and ruining his chances for a scholarship forever, even after numerous explanations of how incredibly EASY they were to use. (On the plus side, I can now crush walnuts in the crook of my right elbow, so great is my strength from carrying around my four babies for all those years!)

Recently, I was given the honor of watching a friend’s darling baby girl a few days a week, which serves several purposes.  Not only am I getting my baby fix (much to my husband’s tremendous relief), I’m getting firsthand experience with all the amazing new products, and when people see me with the baby, instead of noticing weight GAIN, they tell me how terrific I look for just having had my 5th.  It’s a win-win, I tell you!

When Kristen offered me the Chic Papoose to use with my wee charge, I initially turned her down, using the klutz excuse. 

 ”Just try it” she insisted (as it wouldn’t be HER friend’s baby with the closed head injury) “All you do is put it on, set the baby’s bottom on the seam and slid their legs in Buddha-style.” Oh sure, she made it SOUND easy.

 The next time I had my wee girl, we did a trial run over the couch and a huge mountain of pillows, just to be safe.  And darn if that Kristen didn’t know what she was talking about!   It WAS easy!  And better yet, the baby loved it! 

When I got brave enough to remove my support hand from underneath the Chic Papoose, (approximately 30 minutes later, because again, NOT MY BABY) she stayed secure next to my body, peeping out at the world and making all passersby smile and think “Damn, that new momma is lookin’ good! Oh, and that sling is nice too!”

I can’t even being to imagine how much of a timesaver a Chic Papoose would have been back when any one of my boys were small enough to cram into one, but it’s best not to dwell in the past, right?!

The Chic Papoose is available online in sixteen different gorgeous fabris (Alex is my favorite) that are all reversible. They retail for $68 which seems like a lot until you figure out how much the fancy stroller or swing your child won’t sit in without screaming cost you.

Chic Papoose gets this klutzy mom’s seal of approval.  If I can safely transport a baby in it, anyone can!  It would make a great welcome-to-the-family-small fry or shower gift.

Well hello there.  I’m Trena and I’ll be your co-captain for this here pleasure cruise–oh wait, wrong gig. You can usually find me here or here. Kristen asked if I would be interested in doing reviews here at Mommy Needs A Review and I happily accepted. Free stuff? Fun reader giveaways? Getting to tell people my opinion? Really, how could I turn her down?!!!

I know things have been a little slow around here as of late, but all that is about to change. We have an excellent giveaway coming next week that you are definitely not going to want to miss.

One of the best things about being pregnant in the winter?  Your internal body temperature is hovering at around 200 degrees and you don’t have to wear a lot of clothes to feel comfortable.  The down side of being pregnant in the winter?  It  would have to be, hands down, taking public transportation.  After a ten hour day at the office, getting onto the Metro at one of the busiest stops during rush hour really sucked.  And because I was wearing my winter coat, people didn’t realize I was pregnant.   You are covered up and don’t look pregnant, no one will offer you a seat.  You may find yourself plopping right down on the floor because you can’t seem to catch that guy’s eye so you can point to your belly.

So I was curious about this book when Melissa from Mother Talk was looking for a few people to review it.  In The Working Woman’s Pregnancy Book, Dr. Marjorie Greenfield gives you all the tricks of the working pregnant mom trade.  And to think I thought I was the only one sneaking a pillow in before work hours and closing my door at lunch to take a nap under my desk.  She provides insight from how to get more sleep when you are pregnant (a pipe dream) and suggestions for deciding on when to tell the boss.

The book is comprehensive and full of real world experience from working women.  Wanna know how much calcium is in any given piece of food?  Check the list on page 174.    This book is PERFECT for the mainstream working mom who is going to have her baby in a hospital, with an OB and get that epidural she was promised (3 1/2 pages on the joys and 2 on the downsides).  Like any pregnancy book, you take the parts you like and you leave behind the parts that don’t apply to you.

Yeah, I forgot.  Thanks for reminding me!

 The winner of the Skin Milk is Aileen.  And Adrienne. 

The teething bling? 

Trena and Liz. 

You winners you.  Now I have to find another contest.  I’m trying.  I’m tired.  Oh, you know.  You can get a free box of Fiber One cereal over here if you sign up for the newsletter.  That’s free for everyone.  See.  You all won.  LOL.