Kix Cereal: Brayden Tested, Brayden Approved

Recently I had the opportunity to test out Kix cereal. Or should I say, Brayden had the opportunity to test out Kix cereal? haha. It's funny really, since we are a cereal family. I'd say 5 out of the 7 days I eat some type of breakfast cereal for breakfast. It's easy, most of the healthier ones are filling, and it doesn't make me feel blah like some breakfasts' do. What's weird is that I haven't tried to give Kix to Brayden. He normally doesn't eat cereal for breakfast, but cereals make a great snack for babies and toddlers. And Kix is a GREAT snack for him. It's the perfect size for his little fingers to grasp, it tastes great, it's made with whole grain corn and is an excellent source of iron. It also is a good source of calcium, fiber, and Vitamins C and D. Original Kix has no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. So when the little man nods in agreement that Kix is a good snack (enter exhibits A & B):




Exhibit A

Exhibit B

This momma was happy! And I am not ashamed to say that Kix tasted so good right out of the box that I may have eaten some for myself! Sorry B-man, you're going to have to share this stuff!

Because I think good things are meant to share, I'm excited to let you know that I have a prize pack to giveaway! One lucky reader will win a Kix “Kid-Tested, Mother-Approved” prize pack including a 24-piece counting-themed floor puzzle, fun learn-to-count flashcards, a sippy cup, a portable snack container and a box each of Original Kix and Honey Kix cereals... how's that for a prize pack?!?!?! If you'd like to win the prize pack, all you have to do is leave a comment letting me know your kid's favorite breakfast cereal (it can be what they eat for snack too, like we do!).

And because I have to, here are the rules:
- the giveaway is open to all US residents. 
- comments will be open until Wednesday, November 17, 2010.
- 1 comment per person. Duplicate comments will be deleted.
- You are not required to have a blog to enter; however, please be sure to leave a way for me to contact you.
-The winner will be announced on this blog and also contacted by me. They will have 48 hours to respond with their information, otherwise a new winner will be chosen.


Disclosure: In exchange for this review, I received a Kix Prize Pack from Kix through MyBlogSpark. The information and additional prize pack to give away were also given to me by Kix through MyBlogSpark. All opinions shared in this review are my own, and I was in no other way compensated. To view my full disclosure policy, please click HERE.

Coming Soon: CSN Stores Review

By now most of my loyal readers know of my obsession with CSN Stores. With Christmas just around the corner, it seems only natural that I'd spend a good deal of time perusing through all of the awesome stuff they offer. And a good deal of time it requires! CSN has over 200+ stores that offer everything from upholstered headboards, to some of the cutest handbags that you could find! Don't believe me? Well, check out a few of the things I found that I think are adorable:

Cute stuff right?! I'm so excited to let you all know that in a few short weeks I will have an opportunity to review one of the many products that CSN Stores offers. I can't wait to reveal to you what I have picked out... and as you probably have already figured out, I've had a hard time making up my mind :)

Thanks to all who entered in my Pillsbury Flaky Cinnamon Rolls giveaway, and a special thanks to Pillsbury and MyBlogSpark for the opportunity! I had 8 total comments on the post, so I plugged everything in to random.org and got this:

And the 5th comment was Jana from Happiness is Homemade!

Congrats Jana! Be sure to email me within the next 48 hours to claim your prize pack! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Baby Center Giveaway & Review

For those of you who have COMPLETELY missed the newsflash for the past 9 months... I'm pregnant. AND I have an 18 month old. Translation? I am a woman who is tired, cranky, easily irritable and who doesn't have a lot of time to read and browse through every single pregnancy and toddler book out there. So when I found out I had the opportunity to review a few Baby Center products, I was pretty excited.

You see, I've been a member over at Baby Center since I was pregnant with Brayden. I love getting personalized emails about new milestones, complete with question and answers about some of the key issues that I may face with his new phases. And they have pregnancy down pat too, with weekly email updates letting me know about my baby, things I can expect, and answers to common questions. What I didn't know about Baby Center is that they offer books that basically compile all this information in an easy to read, well organized/layed out book. I'm not one of those people who read and read and read about birthing and the early baby info. But I do like to have something handy so that if I have a question, I can look it up and find the answer. The Baby Center Pregnancy and Baby Center Baby books basically do just that. The pregnancy book is laid out with a week by week guide to your pregnancy, plus some post partum info too. The layout of the book makes it an easy read, and easy to find things without having to read an entire chapter. I've only flipped through the Baby Center baby book, but have found that the layout is the same way, and so I intend to make it my 'go-to' book on those things that I might have forgotten about for the early weeks and months with Connor.

Another thing that Baby Center now offers is online birthing classes! Since this is my second go round at this thing, and my birthing experience wasn't really that long ago, I have yet to sign in and actually take the class. However, I almost feel that an online format would have benefited me when I was pregnant with Brayden. You can learn at your own pace, still ask questions to the birth educators, and enjoy it all from the comfort of your own home. I don't know about you, but I absolutely hate it when a class gets stalled by someone asking WAY too many questions, or having to deal with being uncomfortable in a class room setting. This class sounds very appealing to me. And it's a lot cheaper than we paid for our birthing class at our hospital. For the entire access to the online class, it's $39.99. If you're interested in finding out more information or signing up for the class, you can go to: www.babycenter.com/childbirth-class

And now for the fun part; Baby Center, through My Blog Spark, has provided me with a Baby Center prize pack to give away to one of my readers! The prize pack includes two new BabyCenter parenting books (BabyCenter® Pregnancy and BabyCenter® Baby), a package of Seventh Generation diapers, a gift card from BabyCenter partner, Shutterfly, and a BabyCenter bib. Pretty awesome, right?!?!

To enter to win this awesome package, all you have to do is leave me a comment with either your due date, or the due date of someone you know that you would give this pack to. 

That's it! Just a simple comment. And just because I have to, here are some of the rules:

•  The contest is open to US residents only.
• Comments will be open until 7:00am, Wednesday, November 10th. 
•  1 comment per person. Duplicate comments will be deleted.
• You are not required to have a blog to enter; however, please be sure to leave a way for me to contact you.
• The winner will be announced on this blog and also contacted by me. They will have 48 hours to respond with their information, otherwise a new winner will be chosen.

Good luck!


Disclosure: In exchange for this review, I received a Baby Center prize pack from Baby Center through My Blog Spark. The information and additional prize pack to give away were also given to me by Baby Center through MyBlogSpark. All opinions shared in this review are my own, and I was in no other way compensated. To view my full disclosure policy, please click HERE.

Pillsbury Flaky Cinnamon Rolls: Review and Giveaway

If you read my weekend in review post for this past weekend, you probably already know that we enjoyed a rare breakfast together as a family. Brayden slept in until 7:30, so we all got up at the same time. I wanted to make breakfast a family affair, so I had Drew and Brayden help me put the cinnamon rolls on the cookie sheet.

getting instructions from daddy on what to do

such a BIG helper!

icing them down... the best part :)

We rarely eat together as a family, so these Pillsbury Flaky Cinnamon Rolls were a great way to get us all excited about breakfast, and they were super easy and fast, which is a necessity when you're trying to get breakfast to a hungry 18 month old! I got the ones with buttercream icing... if you know me, you know I LOVE icing, and buttercream is my favorite kind. These cinnamon rolls were melt in your mouth good, and the icing was excellent! Pretty sure it hit the mark with the biggest critic in the house:

looks like someone liked his cinnamon rolls!

We had a great time as a family, and I am hoping to make it more of a tradition that we continue, especially since we rarely see Drew before he leaves for work during the week.

I'd love for you to share some good family breakfast ideas with me. In fact, every person that leaves a good family breakfast moment idea in the comments of this post will be entered to win a Pillsbury prize pack (please, only one comment per participant). The prize pack includes:
a scrapbooking kit, scrapbooking supplies like scrapbook scissors and glue as well as a coupon for a free package of the new Pillsbury® Flaky Cinnamon Rolls. And if you don't want to wait to see who wins the prize pack, you can always go to your local supermarket and get some for yourself. Pillsbury's even given me this awesome link to share a coupon with you: http://www.myblogspark.com/uc/main/42b1/

some of the minor details:

The prize pack giveaway is open for US residents only. The winner will be announced on my blog and contacted by me. Please be sure to leave a way for me to contact you-- either through your blog or your email. The winner will have 48 hours to provide me with their information, otherwise a new winner will be chosen. Comments will stay open until Friday, November 5th at 8:00am. A winner will be announced later in the day on Friday.Good luck!

Disclaimer: I was given a Pillsbury prize pack from Pillsbury through My Blog Spark in exchange for this review, and was also provided with a prize pack to give to one of my readers. All opinions in this review are my own, and I was in no other way compensated for this review.

Yoplait Giveaway Winner

Ahhh, I am so far behind on blogging it's not even funny. I apologize for getting this up so late... normally I am on my A game when it comes to giveaways! We only had 3 comments on the Saving Lids to Save Lives giveaway... and random.org picked comment #1:

Comment #1 was:
Angela, at A Day in the Life of the Robinsons! Congratulations Angela! Be sure to email me with your information so that I can send you your prize pack!

And to all my readers, remember to save the pink lids off of your Yoplait yogurt!

*A special thanks to Yoplait and My Blog Spark for making this giveaway possible*

Baby Jogger City Mini Double: A CSN Stores Review

It's been so long, you've probably already forgotten about this post, where I told you I was going to get the opportunity to review one of the many items that CSN Stores offers. The item I desperately wanted, the Baby Jogger City Mini Double, was on back order due to the manufacturer and product demand. So I waited. And waited. And called. And waited. And FINALLY. It came today! Hooray! Drew and I put it together tonight and I am already in love.

I currently own the Baby Jogger City Mini Single, and LOVE it. So when we found out I was pregnant with Connor, I knew I wanted the double. The problem was, we just weren't sure we wanted to spend the money on the double. But after purchasing a popular branded tandem double stroller, I knew I couldn't go back. The City Mini is SO light compared to the standard double strollers you see out there. Most doubles average between 40-50 pounds. That's A LOT, especially considering you have to swing that puppy up into your trunk! The City Mini Double weighs in at about 25 pounds, and it holds up to 100 pounds, which is about 30 pounds more than what the traditional double stroller that we had bought held. It's a side by side stroller, which I find maneuvers more easily than tandem strollers, and it's still slim enough to fit through most standard doorways! It has ALL kinds of accessories you can get, and even will hold one infant car seat if you have a toddler and infant like I will have. I plan on purchasing the belly bar for the double (I don't have it for the single), as well as the parent console to hang on the handle bar. Both seats independently recline,

 (The first picture shows the seat reclined with the mesh showing; the second one has the all weather protection covering it).

and both have independent canopies (which actually work to shield your child from the sun instead of just look nice!) The canopy on the left is pulled out 1 click, and the canopy on the right is pulled out fully at 2 clicks..

 But my favorite part of the stroller? The fold. It's amazingly simple, and it folds down SO compact. That's what made us realize we just couldn't go with a different stroller; Baby Jogger has the size and fold down to a complete science! Drew demonstrated for me how easy the double folds and unfolds:

And that's the stroller! It's amazing, and if you're in the market for a double stroller (or even a single since I own the single too!) I HIGHLY recommend this stroller. You won't be disappointed, and while you'll spend a little more for it, it's TOTALLY worth it!

And CSN Stores? Well, they pretty much knocked my socks off! Once I found out the stroller was on backorder, I contacted their customer service department and was connected with Hannah. She was WONDERFUL. She sent me emails updating me on the status of when the stroller was coming in stock (it changed a few times between July and now), even taking my number and email so that she could PERSONALLY call and email me to let me know of any changes. She even made a quote for me so that if the price had changed once it came back in stock, I could get the price I had originally found. I was VERY impressed with their service department. And to me, customer service is a make or break situation for me. A lot of times I'll go out of my way to use a company that has better customer service. I just want to know that I am going to be taken care of, and that's how I felt with CSN Stores. I ordered the stroller last Thursday, and it was shipped the same day. I was issued a tracking number and was able to see where the stroller is during the transit process, and it was shiftly delivered this morning... FAST shipping! Overall, my entire experience was great, despite having to wait a few months to get the stroller. Thanks so much to CSN Stores for making this review possible!




I was given a CSN Stores promo code to go towards the cost of the stroller in exchange for this review. I paid the remainder balance of the stroller cost on my own, and was in no other way compensated. All opinions in this review are my own. To view my full disclosure policy, please click HERE.