Product Review and Coupon Code: Boumy Baby Shoes

One of the things that has been tough this summer is that Erik is wanting to be up and walking all of the time and his feet are bigger and wider than most baby shoes, and I don't want to put him in 'big kid shoes' yet, because I know that he'll learn to walk better in bare feet or soft shoes.  The opportunity to check out Boumy Baby Shoes was too good to pass up!

Snapily.com Review, Discount and #Giveaway!

I am always looking for unique ways to share my kids with relatives, especially since we are so far away from them, so when I had the opportunity to check out Snapily.com and their neat animated photo cards!  Here's a sample:

Product Review and Discount - Tugboat from Green Ostrich, LLC

I love coming across a fabulous find that's totally environmentally friendly too!  Green Ostrich makes it so easy to find fabulous children's products, home products, gifts and school supplies by bringing them all together on their website: http://www.greenostrich.com/.  There are tons of green gifts available for everyone in the family!

When I saw their offer to have a product review from their site, they were promoting some great home products, like the bamboo utensil set:

but Liam was sitting beside me, and noticed the Green Toys Recycled Milk Container toys, like:

I ultimately settled on reviewing the Green Recycled Milk Jug Tug Boat, because a 4 year old boy can never have enough bath toys, right?

"Our Green Toys Recycled Milk Container Floating Tugboat offers all of the fun of a floating tugboat made from new plastic, without the stress on the environment and the worry of unknown side effects to the health of your kids."

Feature List

• Floats
• Wide spout for scooping and dumping water
• Made in the USA
• Appropriate for 6 months and older; meets EN71, ASTM F963, ISO 8124 and the CPSIA
• Meets FDA standards for food contact; wash thoroughly before and after each use
• Dishwasher-safe
• No BPA, PVC, or phthalates
• 100% Recycled #2 HDPE (Plastic Milk Containers)
• 100% Recycled Packaging Printed with Soy Ink

Before I get to our review of how much fun this toy is, I want to share some fascinating info from Green Ostrich about the impact of purchasing this recycled toy:

Make a Choice: The Recycled Milk Container Floating Tugboat from Green Toys is dishwasher-safe and reuses 100% recycled milk containers collected curbside and sorted by local recycling companies. This durable toy, made to hand down to multiple generations of children, will last for years and is a great green gift. After some reprocessing of the milk containers, Green Toys creates clean #2 high-density polyethylene (HDPE), one of the safest, cleanest plastics in the world. On average, every pound of recycled milk jugs used in the making of these toys saves energy equal to 3,000 AAA batteries, and saves enough electricity to power a TV for three weeks or keep a laptop computer running for a month.SOURCE: US Department of Energy, US Environmental Protection Agency.

Not a Sacrifice: Most toys today are made from new, not recycled plastic. Every purchase of toys made from new plastic contributes to the mounting challenges with the substance that degrades slowly over hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years. What's more, most toys made of new plastic contain Bisphenol A (BPA), a compound that acts as an endocrine disruptor, which may mimic the body's own hormones and may lead to negative health effects. Phthalates, substances added to plastics to increase their flexibility, transparency, durability, and longevity, also appear regularly in these toys. In 2008, the United States National Research council recommended that the cumulative effect of phthalates be investigated. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phthalate and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A.

Our Review:

When I unpacked this toy from the shipping box, Liam ran for it immediately - and started 'swimming' it around the living room... he didn't even wait to take it to the bath tub... 

Once he finished with it, I was able to get a closer look - this is a really sturdy toy that will offer hours of fun in the tub and, as Liam proves time and again when he takes it out of the bathroom, out of the tub too!  This tugboat is well fitted and has no small parts that can be lost, swallowed or damaged - and is a bright and colorful toy!

Here are a few pics of him using his new toy in the tub:

  

In terms of ordering from Green Ostrich, I couldn't have been happier about that either - their customer service was wonderful, and their website is straightforward to maneuver!  One of the best things about it is they use Click n' Ship from the USPS, so that you know immediately that your product has shipped and can easily track its movements to you!

I am looking forward to ordering more great items from Green Ostrich in the future - not only are they great to work with, but they make being environmentally conscious so easy and empowering!  If you are in the market for Green Gifts, then Green Ostrich is a fabulous choice! Their slogan, Make a Choice, Not a Sacrifice is a perfect description of what you will find on their site- high quality, environmentally responsible products!

The tugboat retails for $12.34, a bargain at twice the price!

And now for the discount!  From now until January 31st, just enter the code 'AB' at checkout and you will save 5% off any purchase at Green Ostrich

disclaimer: I was provided with this product at no cost for the purpose of this review, all opinions are 100% my own.

BPC Review and discount - The Wiggy Roll

What on Earth is the WiggyRoll you ask?

The WiggyRoll is a fantastic invention that I think every parent of an infant needs - it's a blanket that's specifically designed to work with your carrier/car seat to prevent slippage, keep baby warm and it stays rolled up and attached to the car seat when not in use!

From their website:

Introducing the first ever, easy to use, infant carrier blanket! Made with durable 100% anti-pill fleece, the WiggyRoll is a long-lasting way to keep your bundle of joy snug and warm. Using precise measurements, the WiggyRoll neatly tucks into any carrier with no overhang. The WiggyRoll offers a detachable fastening system that allows for quick removal without causing any disturbance to your baby. Our unique, compact design provides convenient storage both on your carrier or in any baby bag. Patent Pending

My review:

The hardest part of this review was honestly making up my mind about which cool blanket I thought Baby E would like... turns out it wasn't my call at all, Robyn proclaimed that Baby E needed the Dino Camo WiggyRoll to complement our stroller colors.  Although Baby E is strenuously maintaining his place in my womb, we went ahead and attached the Wiggy Roll to his Carrier in preparation for coming home from the hospital - it was incredibly easy and fast - it just slipped onto the carseat and presto, we were in business... One of the multitude of stuffed animals was our official product tester and boy, he just didn't want to get out of that carrier :)

I've also tested the no-pilling claims that Wiggy Roll made, by washing our Wiggy Roll several times - and it's still as soft and pliable as when I first opened the package!

I think that the Wiggy Roll is a fabulous concept and it will make getting Baby E in and out of the car so easy this winter, because the blankets won't be slipping all over the place and he'll be warm and snug in his carrier, just waiting to go!

Buy your Own Wiggy Roll:

Retailing for just $29.95, the Wiggy Roll comes in a wide range of color/print choices and there's an additional option of purchasing the Wiggy Roll and Snail Cap in combination for just $31.95!

As an Acting Balanced reader, you can also save 30% off any order at WiggyRoll by using the code WR30OFF