7/24/08 - Exersaucer review
Not too long ago, many of the people from my office threw a baby shower for Makenna and since we had gotten pretty much everything we needed from previous showers, they all chipped in and got us a Exersaucer
. We had picked out one that was slightly different, but they decided to go with this one because it had several different stages that allowed the child to grow with it, basically from birth to several years old. Although I will not say that this is the absolute best product out there, Makenna loves hers. She is a little too short still to have her feet completely on the ground so we have to stack stuff under her so she can stand up. Once you put her in there though...she is content for easily 30 minutes. The crazy thing is that we haven't even put batteries in several of the things, so she doesn't get to push all the buttons.
The downsides that I see to this product is that it is extremely large. It does not fit through most doorways, so by putting it together in the living room, that is pretty much where it stays. On the same note, the amount of assembly was a little surprising to me. Nothing was put together at all and although I enjoy putting together puzzles, I could have spent the hour or so doing something else if it had already come put together. Also, it is much more difficult to collapse and then expand than I would have liked. It really takes at least 2 people to do it with no hassles.
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being a perfect product, I would put this at a 7. It could have come with a few more pieces already assembled. Likewise, the size and difficult to collapse does not make it very portable at all. We like to use these types of things in the bedroom and the living room, but we have to pick one or the other with this item. As much as Makenna loves it, I would get it again if it came down to it.
Labels: product reviews
0 Comments - Leave one yourself7/22/08 - The swing review
The correct name of the Baby Swing we purchased is actually Fisher-Price Papasan Cradle Swing. For the sake of not having to type that every time, it's called a baby swing. If it were not for this swing, I have no idea where Cristi and I would be. Since Makenna was about two weeks old, she has slept in her swing every night and for every nap she has taken. She is not a fan of sleeping at all, but the noises and motions of this swing put her to sleep within minutes of putting her down.
Some of the features include multiple positions of the cradle portion. You can increase or decrease the incline. You can also switch the direction of the swing from side to side to front to back. Makenna only likes the side to side, but it was good to know we had the option available.
It also has several audio options, Makenna prefers the rain forest sounds and the 6 levels of speed although helpful to some, has not been a benefit to us as we have only used the highest setting. This particular model is very portable, in that it collapses to a much size so technically if we ever needed to take it with us somewhere, we would be able to. It is still very tall which might be a problem for some, but it should still fit even in the trunk of the Accord.
Biggest drawback. The battery usage. It requires four D batteries to run, and as much as we have been using it, that lasts somewhere between one and two weeks. At a cost of $5 per four pack (cheaper when bought in bulk) that can start adding up over the long haul. We have recently invested in rechargeable batteries which has helped in that regard, but what would be really nice is to have some sort of ac adapter available for this model so we could just plug it into the wall and not have to worry about batteries at all.
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being a perfect product, I think we would have to rate this product around an 8. Maybe slightly lower. It is fairly expensive as swings go, and although the different options are nice to have, they aren't really needed and therefore we haven't really gotten our money's worth of these features. usage wise, we have gotten our money and then some. The biggest negative is of course the use of batteries.
Labels: product reviews
1 Comments - Leave one yourself6/10/08 - Wendy's Hand-Spun Shakes
I was really excited about these when they came out. I loved the original Frosty. Then, they came out with the Vanilla Frosty which seemed even better than the original, especially in the form of a float (and I'm not much of a float kind of guy).These looked to be awesome. The strawberry is what really got me excited as I thought it would be an awesome combination...the sweet coldness of the frosty and the wonderful flavor that is the strawberry. Today, I decided to head to the local Wendy's and get me one.
I was out of cash, so I scrounged around and found 2 dollars in quarters thinking that would be plenty. This thought process was based on the fact that the last time I got a frosty, a small was only $.99. I figured they would charge an additional $.25 or even more for the flavor and then add tax...even with a bit more markup, no way could it be more than $2.
When I pulled up to the drive-thru...I was very surprised. At $2.39, I was obviously way off on my estimate. My next thought was that the size for that dollar amount was quite a bit larger than the value meal frosty. Nope...same size...12oz. On top of that, I found out that they have raised the price of Frosty's to $1.19.
I was still excited about the thought of the frosty and strawberry goodness, so I scrounged around in the console to find more change. All together, it was $2.62 and I was able to get enough quarters, dimes and pennies to pay the tab. With Frosty in hand, I was ready to give me tastebuds a ride they would remember.
WOOOOOOOW!!!!....I was more disappointed by what I was presented with than basically the entire Indiana Jones movie....and that movie sucked. I'm not really sure where to start, but I'll give it a shot.
1) The price. If the flavor had been off the charts, the price wouldn't have been a big deal. It wasn't, therefore price gets on the list. I paid an extra $1.29+tax for a cherry, a blob of whipped cream, and probably about 2 cents worth of strawberry syrup. That is unacceptable, and if nothing else, the whipped cream and cherry adding NOTHING to the package.
2) Presentation. The pictures on the website, advertisments, commercials, etc all show what is obviously a vanilla frosty with swirls of strawberry flavoring. That is what I was looking for. I love the vanilla frosty flavor, and wanted just that extra flavor from the strawberry. What i recieved instead was a cup of vanilla frosty that had been thoroughly blended with an overpowering amount of strawberry syrup. It didn't even look good when I got it.
3) Flavor. As I mentioned just above, the strawberry was too strong. If they would have put about half as much flavoring, it would have been so much better. Along the same lines, if there were simple ribbons of flavor, instead of a fully blended item, it wouldn't have been a strong in each bite.
4) Options. After I ordered and really got to thinking about it, the choices they offer are pretty lame. If you order a Vanilla Bean Hand-spun frosty shake, you basically get a runny vanilla frosty. Get the chocolate shake, and you are presented with a runny original frosty. The strawberry of course is the only "new" item they put on the menu. That's pretty stupid. Once again, the ribbons would make a HUGE difference.
5) Hand Spun? There is no way what I got was hand spun. If by hand spun, they mean put under a commercial blender and someone hand pressed the button to start it up, then yeah...I guess it was hand spun.
At the end of the day, I'm glad I went and got one because it looks so good on TV and in ads. I would have been wanting one for all eternity if I never did go up and get it. However, I'm going to rate this thing a 3 on a scale of 1-10 with ten being the perfect dessert. I'm not against Frostys in general, because I would give a vanilla frosty a 8 on that same scale.
Labels: product reviews
2 Comments - Leave one yourself6/1/08 - Nursing Pad Review
When Makenna was first born I used the disposable nursing pads. I used Medela pads which I liked a lot. They hold a lot of milk and they don’t leak. After a while they started to irritate my skin and became scratchy. So a friend told me to try the washable nursing pads. There are many different kinds, but there are two that I especially like. I use Medela cotton washable nursing pads and Gerber washable pads. They have different features that work well for different things. The Medela pads are bigger and thicker and absorb a lot more milk. Since Makenna is sleeping through the night I tend to leak a LOT of milk at night. I use the Medela pads at night so that I don’t wake up covered in milk. However, they are not good for during the day because they are very visible through clothing. I use the Gerber pads during the day, especially if I’m going somewhere. They are thinner, smaller, and absorb less milk, but they don’t show through clothing as much. Since she is eating more frequently during the day, these pads seem to work fine. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being a perfect product, I would have to rate the Medela washable pads a 9 because they are very absorbent and they don't leak, but they are visible through clothing. The Gerber pads I would give a 6 because although they are less visible through clothing, they don't absorb as much and they leak often.Labels: Cristi, guest post, product reviews
0 Comments - Leave one yourself5/30/08 - Lanolin product review
Anyone who has ever breastfed knows that you get sore nipples. Now there is a product called lanolin that is safe to use. You don’t have to wash it off because it is safe for the baby. It works really well to soothe sore nipples and help them heal. There are several different brands but I like, Lasinoh is one of them. The hospital gave me a brand called Purelan 100 which I don’t like as much. It is very thick and dark yellow and it stains my nursing pads. I also don’t feel like it works as well. The Lansinoh brand lanolin looks a lot like vasoline and has the same consistency. It is very effective and I use it often. I would highly recommend it. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being a perfect product, I would have to rate this item a 9.Labels: Cristi, guest post, product reviews
0 Comments - Leave one yourself5/16/08 - Breast pump review
This is obviously another guest post from Cristi as she reviews the breast pump she has been using.Since I’m going back to work in a few weeks I have started using a breast pump to build up a supply of breast milk for when I go back to work. I use the Medela Pump In Style Advanced
. I love it. It comes in a very stylish bag that is not too big or too small. The pump is inside the bag, but you never have to take it out to use it. The front of the bag has a zipper that you unzip and there is the pump, ready to use. The instructions were very simple and it is very easy to set up and use. It comes with a cooler and ice pack that fits the four 5oz bottles that come with the pump. It also comes with a pack of cotton washable nursing pads and a package of disposable nursing pads and some plastic storage bags for freezing milk. Although it is expensive I would highly recommend this product to everyone. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being a perfect product, I would have to rate this item a 10, it really is that great of a product.Labels: Cristi, guest post, product reviews
0 Comments - Leave one yourself5/7/08 - Nipple Shield product review
As you will probably quickly notice, this is another product review from Cristi. She has written several more posts that I will put up over the next several days.The first week that Makenna was born I had a problem with my nipples cracking. This is VERY painful and I didn’t know what to do. Someone told me to try a nipple shield. This product turned out to be a curse and a blessing. I use the Medela contact nipple shield
. When I first started using it I thought it was great because although it still hurt to breastfeed, it was much less painful and allowed my nipples to heal. I thought once I was healed I would go back to nursing as usual and get rid of the shield. I was wrong. What I didn’t know is that once you use the shield you are stuck with it. After a week of using the shield I tried to nurse without it and Makenna wouldn’t nurse. She is almost 7 weeks old and I have tried numerous times to get her to nurse without it and she just won’t do it. So, I guess we are stuck with it. At home it isn’t a big deal to use the shield, but in public it is just one more thing to mess with and makes nursing very difficult. The next time we have a baby I will not be using the shield unless absolutely necessary. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being a perfect product, I would have to rate this item a 7 because it's very effective for it's intended use but then the baby relies on it.Labels: Cristi, guest post, product reviews
0 Comments - Leave one yourself4/25/08 - Boppy Review
This is the first post, of hopefully many that my wonderful wife will be contributing. I don't use the boppy for anything, but the occassional couch pillow, so she knows much better than I, how it works.There are things that I like and things that I don’t like about the Boppy
. I like that it has a removable cover that you can remove and wash. That comes in very handy. It is also popular so the covers are easy to find. I also like that it is very portable. However, there are things that I don’t like about it. You have to be sitting straight up on a couch or in a chair that has a straight back in order for it to work properly. If you are sitting in a rocking chair that has a curved back, then it doesn’t work so well. It also tends to slip forward off of your waist, leaving a gap between you and the pillow, which leaves no support for the babies head. When this happens, then you are left holding this heavy babies head for about 20 min or so and your hand gets very tired. The sides of the pillow also seem to fall when you are using the football hold to feed. While doing this hold, the baby is lying on the side of the pillow and the side seems to slide down which makes the baby slide down with it.
Overall I would give this product a rating of 6. I do like it and I’m glad that I have it because you have to have some kind of support pillow when you are breastfeeding. However, I would encourage people to look into other products before they choose the Boppy.
Labels: Cristi, guest post, product reviews
0 Comments - Leave one yourself4/10/08 - Nail Clipper review
One of the products that I knew we were going to have to have was a set of nail clippers. Not just any nail clippers though, I knew we would need one of those tiny sets. One thing that I've run into when using nail clippers, even full sized, big boy clippers is that I have trouble getting a good grip to get a nice clean cut through the nail.Cristi and I both agree that we had one basic requirement: it had to be easy to grip. Luckily, advancements in science and technology have allowed companies to put a large mound of plastic on the back end of the clippers which makes for very easy handling. (I need to find these in big-boy clippers too).
These types of clippers can be found all over the place, Wal-Mart, Babies-R-Us, Amazon.com
, etc....but there was one that looked really promising. It comes with a magnifying glass on the end which is supposed to give the user a close up view of the nail being cut. That seemed like a great idea and would make our jobs much easier when cutting Makenna's nails. Here's the problem though. The lens is WAY too small to actually be used.If babies laid still and didn't move on command, that would be one thing, because I can imagine you could lay the baby down, get real close to the nail and use the magnifying lens without much problem. Unfortunately, (at least Makenna is this way), babies like to move around a lot and don't like it when you hold their arms, hands, etc still. They like to try to squirm out of your grip. This makes the cutting process even harder and quite frankly, the little lens just doesn't help. If anything, it makes things blurry.
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the highest quality, I'd give this a 7. The magnifying glass, as I mentioned is a great concept, just not carried out very well. It does move out of the way and stores very nicely on the underside of the cilpper so I can't deny the fact that the large handle works great.
Labels: product reviews
0 Comments - Leave one yourself4/9/08 - ClipX - a great little utility
This post will be slightly nerdy, it will contain computer terms and it is a review of a free piece of software that I have started using quite a bit.The name of the utility is called ClipX. In it's most simple form, it is a clipboard extender. Most everyone who uses the computer, uses the copy/cut/paste functionality quite often. The problem that I have run into is that the clipboard will only hold one item at a time. If you have three or four seperate items you need to copy, you have to make three or four seperate trips.
With ClipX, all you have to do is highlight and copy all the different items from the source document. Navigate to the destination document and where ever you want to paste one of the items, press Ctrl + Shift + V (that is the default Hot Key and the setting I still use). Upon doing this, you will be given a drop down menu of the last 25 items you have copied in chronological order of when they were last used.
Another awesome feature that I just recently came across is an add-in that you can download from the link I supplied at the top. The add-in simply provides a permanent list of oft used phrases or strings. I haven't had a reason to use this much, but in the past, I can recall times when it would have been helpful.
I don't make a dime from this and I am in no way associated with the company/individual who wrote the program. Along those same lines, I do make money any time you visit the Adsense links (ONLY THE ONES THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO YOU) and when you shop at Amazon using the link at the top right of the website or this link --> Amazon.com
Labels: product reviews
2 Comments - Leave one yourself4/1/08 - Stork's Choice Diaper Service Review
Cristi's mom, right after we announced that we were having a baby, offered to subscribe to a diaper service so that we would not have to worry about diapers, especially for the first year. We were EXTREMELY grateful as we knew this would save us the trouble of having to constantly head up to Wal-mart whenever we got low, and of course, it would save us the expense. The name of the service was Stork's Choice. We read up on the website, and it looked like the diapers they were going to be providing were very impressive. They almost made it sound like it was a special diaper that they were specially making. In fact, on their products page they give a description of the "Stork's Choice Premium Disposable Diapers".
The cost of this service is $49.95 per month. On their faq, they explain how many diapers you get, which seemed reasonable. They also offer to throw in "Stork's Choice Premium Pop-up Wipes" (also found at the bottom of their products page). The wipes are an extra $4.99 a month, and after reading through a bit more, you find that that only consists of 2 packs of 80 wipes each for a total of 160 wipes.
Here's where it gets really frustrating. First of all, the diapers are not "Premium", they aren't "Stork's Choice", the only thing they are is disposable diapers. You can buy the same brand at Wal-mart (Parent's Choice) for a little less than 6 dollars a pack. And although their faq states they send 8 bags of 26, they don't, they send 4 bags of 56. Still, close to the same amount, but the point is, the same diapers only cost a total of about 24 dollars at your local Wal-Mart. I don't think shipping costs 26 dollars, and even after they get a profit, that is way too high of a markup. Another thing to mention is that for the same amount of money, you can purchase the same number of Pampers Swaddlers at Wal-mart (or as you can see, even cheaper at Amazon.com)
It doesn't stop there. At first, we didn't realize it, but the wipes are a joke. First, they are not "Pop-up", tey are not "Premium" and once again, they aren't even "Stork's Choice". We've gotten two different brands in the only two shipments we received. As far as quality, we could probably have gotten away with just wetting down a paper towel or some toilet paper, because these wipes were very thing. In comparison, on Amazon, you can buy 924 Luvs Wipes for $24.58. Find something else on Amazon.com for .42 cents and you get free shipping. Granted, this is about the same price, but the quality (I can only assume) is probably greater online. Besides that, a search for Baby Wipes returns several more options that are either cheaper and slightly better quality, or slightly more expensive and much higher quality.
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the highest quality, I'd give this a 2. The only reason for the 2 and not a 1, is because it is convenient. You would never have to leave the house assuming you use an average number of diapers (of course, wipes you'd have to buy). But at the same time, you can order diapers online for cheaper, so the service is not any more convenient than Amazon.com
. The items are overpriced and too low of quality. Cristi's mom has changed her method of hooking us up with diapers, and we thank her for that. I stand by my stance though that Stork's Choice is a horrible deal and should not be used.
The cost of this service is $49.95 per month. On their faq, they explain how many diapers you get, which seemed reasonable. They also offer to throw in "Stork's Choice Premium Pop-up Wipes" (also found at the bottom of their products page). The wipes are an extra $4.99 a month, and after reading through a bit more, you find that that only consists of 2 packs of 80 wipes each for a total of 160 wipes.
Here's where it gets really frustrating. First of all, the diapers are not "Premium", they aren't "Stork's Choice", the only thing they are is disposable diapers. You can buy the same brand at Wal-mart (Parent's Choice) for a little less than 6 dollars a pack. And although their faq states they send 8 bags of 26, they don't, they send 4 bags of 56. Still, close to the same amount, but the point is, the same diapers only cost a total of about 24 dollars at your local Wal-Mart. I don't think shipping costs 26 dollars, and even after they get a profit, that is way too high of a markup. Another thing to mention is that for the same amount of money, you can purchase the same number of Pampers Swaddlers
at Wal-mart (or as you can see, even cheaper at Amazon.com)It doesn't stop there. At first, we didn't realize it, but the wipes are a joke. First, they are not "Pop-up", tey are not "Premium" and once again, they aren't even "Stork's Choice". We've gotten two different brands in the only two shipments we received. As far as quality, we could probably have gotten away with just wetting down a paper towel or some toilet paper, because these wipes were very thing. In comparison, on Amazon, you can buy 924 Luvs Wipes
for $24.58. Find something else on Amazon.com for .42 cents and you get free shipping. Granted, this is about the same price, but the quality (I can only assume) is probably greater online. Besides that, a search for Baby Wipes returns several more options that are either cheaper and slightly better quality, or slightly more expensive and much higher quality.On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the highest quality, I'd give this a 2. The only reason for the 2 and not a 1, is because it is convenient. You would never have to leave the house assuming you use an average number of diapers (of course, wipes you'd have to buy). But at the same time, you can order diapers online for cheaper, so the service is not any more convenient than Amazon.com
. The items are overpriced and too low of quality. Cristi's mom has changed her method of hooking us up with diapers, and we thank her for that. I stand by my stance though that Stork's Choice is a horrible deal and should not be used.
Labels: product reviews
0 Comments - Leave one yourself3/22/08 - Diaper Champ Review
The Diaper Champ (in blue and pink) has so far been the best purchase we have made as far as baby products go. We spent quite a bit of time researching the different products including the Diaper Genie II (We didn't even bother with the original Diaper Genie). We also glanced at the Diaper Dekor Plus. After all the research, we decided to go with the Diaper Champ for multiple reasons.1) The Diaper Champ
does not require refills. You can simply use regular trash bags which in the long run, can save you quite a bit of money.2) The actual cost between out two favorites was the same no matter where we looked. That price was $29.99. By then taking number 1 into consideration, it made sense to go with the Diaper Champ.
3) Our Sunday School class, many of whom have had children of their own, all recommended AGAINST the Diaper Genie for several different reasons. These reasons included difficulty of use and the simple fact that it didn't really keep the odors out very well.
4) From our own research, it appeared that the Diaper Champ would be both easy to use and would actually work. We received no input from others regarding this, but descriptions on the box, analyzing the diagrams on the box, and simple common sense led us to believe it would be the best choice.
Here is what we've learned about it so far. IT WORKS!!! Not only does it work, it is very easy to use. The only downside to this particular item is that there is a rubber ring around the top that can sometimes get caught. When this happens, you have to simply smooth out the area and it will work just fine. For us, this only happens on one side of the lid.
The trash bag we use holds about a weeks worth of diapers, and we could probably put more in, but we didn't want to push the ability of the Diaper Champ to hold in the odor. I found out very quickly that it really does work. I carried the entire thing to the garage to empty it out. As soon as I opened the lid, I was hit in the face with a horrid stench of baby pee and poop. If that smell had been hovering in our bedroom where we are currently keeping it, I would have been either sleeping on the couch or in my truck. Although the smell was bad, it was very easy to contain. Once I tied off the garbage bag, it was gone just as fast as it had arrived. I put in the new bag and back to the bedroom it went.
On a scale of 1-10, I'd give this item an 8, but only because of the problem we've had with the rubber seal getting stuck. I might could get this fixed with some crazy glue or something to make it stay in place better, but I feel the product should come original with this taken care of. Everything else about this item is wonderful and considering the poor reviews we got on all of the other options, I believe we made the right choice.
Labels: product reviews
0 Comments - Leave one yourself
