A Few of My Favorite Things: Elite Car Seats.com

We're going all European when we add baby 3 to our family, and keeping our current Nissan Rogue instead of upgrading to an SUV with three rows of seats, or opting for my dream car, the Volkswagen R0utan. I know, I know, it's totally not cool to actually desire a mini van, but I want a car that I can open from the house so that I can send my kids out the door while I grab all the last second stuff. I want to be able to move around and dole out snacks, or Kleenex, or toys when we're on long car trips, without having to pull over. The list goes on and on. But, I digress, this is supposed to be about my favorite new car seat shopping resource, Elite Car Seats.com.

We've spent the last month trying to find the perfect combination of car seats to fit three across in the back seat of our Rogue. Without Elite Car Seats, this job would have been much, much harder. Elite Car Seats tells you just about everything you want to know about a car seat or booster. They have handy little charts to help you compare models at a glance. This includes that hard to find data on whether or not a car seat is FAA approved! Once we narrowed down our list to the seats we felt would be the safest, we used the specifications tab on the individual seats to find the one with the narrowest footprint. This might not seem like that big of a deal, but it's hard to find details on how wide a car seat is, even when you go directly to the manufacturer's site. There are many, many other reasons to love Elite Car Seats.com. As a source of information, I'm not sure that there is another site out there that can even compare, and I also found the prices to be perfectly competitive with other stores. Plus, they offer free shipping on orders over $99. As we all know, it's not hard to spent $100 when you're buying new car seats!

So, what's the verdict on the three across car seats? If you have three kids in convertible car seats, then the Sunshine Kids Radian is the way to go. At only 17" across, you can easily get three of these across the seat of a car. Since Nadia is now 4, we opted to move her up to a booster seat. We went with the Maxi-Cosi Rodi XR given its ultra-narrow 15.5" seat base. Issac is moving from his Britax Roundabout to a Sunshine Kids Radian. Baby 3 will ride in a Graco SnugRide until he or she moves up to the Britax Roundabout. That's the combo that worked the best for us.

If you are planning on moving your child from a car seat into a booster, I would highly recommend checking out the special report that the Institute for Highway Safety published on their Best Bets for belt-positioning booster seats. Armed with this information, we felt much more confident in our choice to move our 4-year old up to a booster seat.

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Giveaway! Nowali Moccasins

Sometimes Mother Nature can be so cruel. Out here in Seattle, we just experienced the most beautiful February that I can remember, but now here we are, almost half way through March, and I've got the space heater on in my living room again. Isaac's favorite saying is, "I'm cold, Mom." Luckily, I can just tell him to go get his slippers, and he's toasty warm again! He's been sporting these cute Nowali Sailboat Moccains around the house during the day, although he's not much of a fan of keeping them on at night. I've always loved Nowali Moccasins both for their simple, yet adorable styles, and for the ease in which they slip onto my children's feet. They are perfect for shuffling around the hardwood and tile floors in our house as they come complete with non-skid leather soles. They are easy to care for as you can just throw them in the wash when they get unbearably grimy, too. Trust me, Mother Nature is not finished with the cold weather, keep your little one's toes toasty warm this spring with a pair of Nowali Moccasins!

We have a giveaway today! Nowali Moccasins is offering one of our lucky readers the choice of Nowali Moccasin in one of the new spring styles. (Limited to sizes in stock.) You can choose from the new Nowali Sailboat Moccasin, the adorable Frog Moccasin in blue or brown, the Dots and Stripes Moccasin for girls in red or pink, or the bright Spring Flowers Moccasin. To enter the giveaway, please visit the Nowali website and choose your favorite moccasin style. Come back and leave us a comment on this post, and you'll be entered to win your choice of the above mentioned spring Nowali Moccasin style. All entries must be received by 11:59 PST on Monday, March 22. Winner must be 18+ and a resident of the United States. You can read our other giveaway rules HERE.

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Review: Zoku Quick Pop Maker

I've wanted to try a Zoku Quick Pop Maker ever since the first time I saw one. My kids and I love popsicles, especially in the summer, but I find it hard to find 100% juice versions at the local grocery store. There's often a sugar-free version that is sweetened with Splenda, but I'm not much more of a fan of artificial sweeteners than I am of high fructose corn syrup. So, the Zoku seemed like the perfect product. Delicious homemade popsicles that I can make in just a few short minutes. I've never been really good at planning ahead with popsicles that take the normal amount of time to freeze. After watching the Zoku video on the Williams-Sonoma website, I learned that not only could I make regular old popsicles, but that I could also make my favorite long-lost pudding pops, I had to take matters into my own hands. I splurged a little on this luxury item and am very much looking forward to a summer filled with ice cold popsicles that I can make in just 7 short minutes! Click on Read more... for my full review.

Review based on a 4-star scale:

Functionality *** - The Zoku was as easy to use as the video made it seem to be, even with first-time user error. I filled our milk and pudding pops a little too full the first time we made them, but a quick rinse under the water to melt the part that was over the line, and the rest of the pops came out just as they were supposed to. Each stick has it's own drip guard which is perfect for small kids. Not completely mess-proof, but it does cut back on melted juice running all the way down to your child's elbows! I was surprised at exactly how relatively little space the Zoku takes up in my freezer. It's about the size of a 1/2 gallon of Dreyer's or Breyer's (depending on where you live) ice cream. That's all! I don't miss the space at all, really. The maker comes with 6 sticks, and you can make up to 9 popsicles before you have to refreeze. Even if you only buy the individual Zoku, you can make enough for your kiddos plus a friend or two. Depending on the size of your own brood, of course. If you read the reviews on Williams-Sonoma, there's a big demand for the sale of additional sticks. Hopefully, we'll see those in the near future.

Waiting patiently.

Materials/Durability **** - The Zoku is very sturdy and seems to be well-made. I anticipate ours lasting for years. It is recommended that you wrap the Zoku in plastic wrap or put it in a Zip-Loc freezer bag to prevent freezer burn. Enjoying a butterscotch pudding pop with a vanilla milk center. (It was the only pudding I had on hand.)

Price ** - Here is where things kind of fall apart. Anyone who shops at Williams-Sonoma knows that you are paying a premium for what they sell. They are the only retailers for the Zoku which means that yes, it's a little pricey. It's absolutely a convenience item, no doubt about it. I know you can buy much less expensive popsicle makers, although I don't know of one that can make a popsicle in just 7 MINUTES! It's clearly not the product for everyone, but will eventually pay for itself over the years in the savings I will get from not buying expensive and unhealthy popsicle treats for my kids.

Overall Rating *** - A fun idea for the summer, albeit a little pricey. I can vouch that it works as described. You definitely won't be disappointed. I only wish it would hurry-up and get warm. I want a reason to eat a pudding pop!

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Review: Puj Tub

As you know, the kiddos of our writers here at KidBuyProducts are a little too old to be reviewing things like baby bath tubs! (At this point I can barely remember when Lilly and Max were that young!) When the opportunity to review the new baby bath tub from Puj presented itself, it was too cool to pass up, so I asked my friend Sara and her new baby Kellen to do the review for us. Here she is:

Soon after the birth of our second baby boy, I remembered the joy of bathing a newborn. Not only are they a little awkward to hold in the water, but it's back breaking to lean over the tub. I was so excited to try out the Puj tub for this reason, hoping it would allow me to focus more on how cute bath time was, rather than how much my back was aching.

What I first noticed about the Puj is how compact it is. It comes completely flat so you can store it easily, unlikea traditional plastic baby tub. It folds together easily as well, and fits into a standard size bathroom sink. When you're done you just unfold it and let it air dry. I also liked the silky smooth texture of the Puj tub. It seemed to be a much more comfortable fit for a newborn.
When I received the Puj bath tub, Kellen was 2 months old, and it couldn't have come sooner. He was much more relaxed in the Puj than he had been in our other baby bath and I was more comfortable too. It also made me feel that Kellen was more secure. The way it is designed there is really no place for baby to go. To my complete surprise my husband even used the Puj to bathe Kellen. Apparently, it also made him feel more secure, as he did not bathe our other son, Jacob, until he was able to sit up on his own!
The only trouble I had was in rinsing Kellen after washing him. The directions do warn you not to run the faucet directly over the baby for obvious reasons. However, the tub doesn't really hold enough water to use for rinsing. Luckily we have double sinks in our bathroom, so I just filled a cup in the other sink. Without the double sink, I would have had to have a bucket of warm water ready. Also, the product advertises for babies up to the age of 6 months or up to 17 pounds. My babies tend to be on the longer and larger side, so Kellen who is just now 4 months old is already too big, though he is 2 pounds shy of the weight limit. While we were able to use it, however, it was always my choice to use the Puj tub, and I imagine Kellen would agree!

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Review: HABA Tier and Tier Game

My sister Courtney received this game to try out with her 4 yr old Logan. Below are her thoughts.

This game is only for only two people ages 5-99 and contains small parts. We've found that a lot of games are usually off on the ages and that Logan can usually play them sooner than the recommended age, but that really wasn't the case with this game. It was difficult for us, let alone him.

Each player has the same set of four animals and the object of the game is to be the first person to successfully stack them. It is a game that really requires concentration. It is not easy to stack the four animals on top of each other without them falling, especially if you play be the rule that more than two animals can never touch.

Logan (maybe because of age) did not stay very interested in the game after two attempts. I played with him and it is not easy to build a stack. It takes time and thought which younger kids have a hard time being patient with. We'll try to play the game more as he gets older, in the meantime the wooden animal pieces are cute and fun to play with.

Overall, I feel like this game is average, something that the kids will go to every now and then but not be a favorite. The pieces are small and there aren't enough of them to grab their attention. I've seen other stacking games that seem more doable (but still challenging).

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A Few of My Favorite Things: Smucker's Uncrustables

Spring is just around the corner, and if you're like me, you don't like to miss out on a chance to take advantage of unexpected beautiful weather, even if it means changing plans. One of the staples that I always have in my freezer are Smucker's Uncrustables. My kids love them, and they are perfect for just throwing into our lunch box for a day like yesterday where I decided at the last minute that we should head to the zoo and enjoy the amazing sunshine here in Seattle. They are also great for travel, although be sure to have plenty of wipes handy for your youngest diners. I don't even feel as guilty as I usually do when I feed my kids convenience foods because both the PB & grape jelly and the PB & strawberry jam come in whole wheat versions! They really do thaw out just in time for lunch, and while I don't usually pack one for myself, I often have just a little taste of one, and they are quite delicious! If you haven't seen these before, check the freezer section of your local grocery store, or use this store locator to find a store near you!

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Review: Alphabotz

"I- am- a- ro-bot" This phrase came home from preschool with Lilly several months ago and has stuck around! She is a huge fan of anything robotic and loves the Robot Store that we have here in town. This love for robots, what she knows of them anyway, coupled with her current obsession with figuring out the alphabet ("a-d-f-g-e-r- Mom, what does that spell?" and invented spelling are common activities around here these days!), meant that I was more than happy to review Alphabotz--a series of flashcards with cute robot characters that help children master the phonics that make up our language. Now I know that Lilly at age 3 was a little young for any real reading "instruction", and I am by no means trying to push her forward in learning to read at a young age- but that is one of the reasons that I really like Alphabotz- A kid who is just beginning to show interest in learning the components that lead to reading can begin to learn in a very fun way! Click on Read More to see the full review!

Official Review (on a four star scale)
Fun Factor: *** 1/2 Like I said, Lilly was 3 when we got these and I knew that it was possible that they would be a little over her head- To some degree I was both right and wrong. On one hand, there were many things about them that she enjoyed- she liked learning the different names of the Robots on each card and liked when I read the information about them or told little stories about them. On the other hand, we had a 5 1/2 year old over recently who adored them and used them in ways that Lilly was not quite ready for. As a beginning reader, he delighted in using both the context clues in the pictures and the words to learn about the different robots and promptly lined them up in order of his most favorite to least. In my humble opinion, one mark of a good toy or game is its ability to grow with your child- to be used in different ways at different stages and still be engaging and fun- Alphabotz certainly does this! One of my other favorite features is the helpful information for parents and the games and activities cards that are included as part of the set. Teaching or supporting children in their learning doesn't come easily for all parents and even those of us who are former teachers always appreciate when products provide such tools to help us make the most of them.
Materials and Durability: **** These cards have held up very well after several uses and I would guess that they will continue to do so. I had suspected that we would be able to use erasable markers on them, but had not had the chance to try that out yet before we got an email update from the company touting this additional feature and way to use the cards! Lilly enjoys tracing the letters and drawing on the characters as we talk about them.
Price: **** A full set of 50 Alphabotz cards runs about $19.99- A pretty good price I would say for something that can be used for several years by each of your kids!
Overall: ***3/4

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