Ain't No Mom Jeans

How Did I Live Without This Backpack-Kid-Carrier? (A Kokopax Carrier Review and Giveaway)

Mamas, you know those hiking backpacks?  The big ones?

Hi, Dad.

Yeah.  They are heavy.  I bought this one (after trying on, like 10 others), simply because it was the only backpack I found that didn't make me feel like I was going to fall backwards, turtle-like (It's MEC, btw. WOOT WOOT Canada).

Notice, however, the date. Raines is juuuust over one.  And he was in the 7th percentile for weight.  7th, Mamas.  THE SEVENTH.

How much use do you think I've gotten out of that pack since?  Yup - you guessed it:  Nada.  And certainly not with Pax.  Not. Even. Once. 

I could eat my brother for breakfast.  75%, baby.  75%.

I had pretty much abandoned back-pack use.  The Ergo I love, and used it quite a bit with Pax...but in the last several months, the kid is just too big.  Even with the Ergo on my back, I can only wear him for 20-30 minutes.  And my beloved Belle baby carrier in leopard?  Running errands (in and out of the car) only. 

Which is too bad, because Pax loves to be carried.  Like the big, 'ol baby he is.  Sorry buddy - your Mum is just too small.

Enter the Kokopax carrier:

 

Mom Street Style | Bugaboo Donkey Sighting

I am honor bound to begin this post by writing, “S. was right.”  We hotly debated the merits of the Bugaboo Donkey convertible double stroller when we heard about it last year.  I balked at the name and the $1,700 price tag.  S. pointed out that the side luggage basket would be perfect for icing beer and wine for jazz in the park.  I conceded that point and softened to the Donkey’s appeal, but it was not until I had my first Donkey sighting outside of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto a few weeks ago that I actually fell in love—serious, covetous love—with this stroller. 

Favorite New Nursing Cover: The Dria

As I rule, I refuse to enter any restaurant that serves Italian, Asian, American and Mexican fare.  It just never works out.  So when the gals at Rookie Moms asked me if I wanted to review the Dria Nursing Cover, a cover that could be used as a pregnancy poncho, nursing cover, car seat cover AND stroller sun-blocker...I was skeptical at best.  A bit snarky, even.  I think my initial response was a, "will it feed and burp the baby too?"

Snort.

So imagine my shock when the nice folks at Dria sent me this little number:

Whoa.  This thing was cute.  Like really, really cute.

(And I love how Raines is also posing.  Good grief - what am I teaching him?)

Anyway, the Dria cover also looks really cool belted...voila:

Handmade Alternatives: Shopping Cart Covers

A shopping cart cover was a baby item that I had never even heard of, let alone considered buying, before I was pregnant. I mean, can't the baby just sit in the shopping cart without any kind of buffer? The answers I got when I asked my mom-friends this question ranged from 'NO, certainly not when we have swine flu and whooping cough and ebola to worry about! GERMS, Lane, GERMS!' to a milder 'Well sure, they can do without the cover, but they will be more comfortable and less likely to touch something grubby. But you know, whatever you think...it's your baby.'

So essentially, I learned that when it comes to shopping carts or high chairs at restaurants, this cover is an essential.

You can find versions of these everywhere, including Leachco Organic Smart Prop 'R Shopper at Babies'R'Us for $59.99 (pictured at left)...

...but I think you might fall in love with the designs and choices available on Etsy instead! Consider the following:

Handmade Alternatives: Slings and Carriers

The list of items you need to buy for your baby is seemingly endless. As soon as I became pregnant, I was bombarded with ideas of things I must-have, will-need, or can't-live-without!! If you're like me, you can't buy anything without seriously over-analyzing the choice, and comparison shopping until the laptop battery dies. Or if you are already a mom with the knowlegde of what works best, you are always searching for the perfect version of your favorite item to give your future-mom friends.

Your local Babies'R'Us, Target or baby boutique is filled to the brim with the items on your shopping list. But...if you are the kind of woman that feels up to shopping outside the box, Etsy gives you a great opportunity to patronize small business owners, shop locally, find something original and show off an awesome handmade version of an otherwise mass produced, made in China item.

While I was on my epic search for a diaper bag, I ended up with an Etsy product that I LOVE, and my many previous experiences with Etsy sellers keep me coming back for more. Once I read the laundry list of baby items to search for, I knew I would be spending several hours (a day?) scouring Etsy's shops until everything was checked off. The results are a series of posts sharing the fruits of all my VERY hard work with you, with alternatives to popular slings and wraps kicking things off.

So if you were looking at a something like a Moby Wrap (pictured below left), sold here for $39.99 from Babies'R'Us, or a ring sling like the MayaWrap (pictured below right) from $59.58 on Amazon.com....

....then consider alternatives like these from Etsy sellers:

Back to School: Best Toddler Backpacks

If my mom had said this to me ten years ago, or, I’m embarrassed to admit, maybe even 5, I totally would have rolled my eyes.  But life since having children has flown by at an alarmingly fast (and heart wrenching) clip.  It’s weird because my teens seemed to drag on and on in Grunge-induced adolescent angst.  My twenties were a blur: first job, first solo apartment, near-miss (and one hit) romances and more parties and bars than I can shake a stick at.  My early thirties just seemed like a slightly more mature and soberer extension of my twenties. 

Until there was Huck.  Then Lou.  And now I have purchased (gasp!) a backpack (!).  For my little son who is quickly growing into a big boy and is going off to his first day (sob) of early learner school next Tuesday.  With a backpack on his tiny back—the very same back that closed around the neural tube (which is the core of his fabulousness today) growing deep inside my belly a little over three years ago.  Ugh.  Truly, where does the time go, and other such mother-speak clichés.   

Given the significance I have attached to said knapsack, naturally I wanted it to be the best, so I trolled the Internets for the best of the best.  Here are my picks for the back-to-school season’s top-five preschooler backpacks. 

In-Line Double Stroller Review: Baby Jogger City Select vs. Phil&Teds Vibe

 As I may have mentioned before, I have a serious stroller affinity.  I walk a lot, more than I drive (in sunshine, rain and even knee-deep snow), and take my two wee ones, both well under three, with me everywhere I go.  So, I consider my stroller to be an alternate vehicle and it needs to function as such.  

Since reluctantly giving up my Micralite Toro early last year for a Phil&Teds Vibe ($809 with extra seat) in anticipation of our Little Lou, I’ve acquired three additional strollers to meet my various strolling needs.  These include an umbrella stroller, a higher-end umbrella stroller with recline and a Maclaren Twin Techno.  

The question is, though, why, after paying an arm and a leg for a Phil&Teds Vibe + doubles kit, the in-line stroller that’s touted as an all-around solution, did I purchase three other strollers where previously just one Micralite Toro did the job?  A good question indeed.  One my dear husband has oft asked, until he too fell for my latest and greatest stroller acquisition, the new Baby Jogger City Select ($660 with extra seat), which I now take everywhere I go. 

Mamas, it's sad but true.  Just 28 months into parenthood, I finally figured out what you may already know. When it comes to a stroller, for me at least, it’s all in the fold and that is Baby Jogger's speciality.

How to Score Cool Mom and Baby Gear on Ebay

I am, admittedly, an Ebay junkie.  While waiting for the birth of my son, I spent many hours on Ebay, trying to score some cool baby stuff.  I'd blame it on nesting, but my Ebay habit started long before my pregnancy.  At first, many of my purchases bombed.  There was the $50 plane ticket (to anywhere!!) that turned out to be a hoax.  (How did I not know that???).  And there was a host of ill-fitting dresses, uncomfortable shoes, and a purse that I just didn't need.  Or love.  I just got caught up in the bidding war.  BUT....over the years, I've learned a few things, gotten a little smarter, and managed to use Ebay to score some really great things for the babe.  My piece de resistance?  My super-cool, denim Bugaboo Frog stroller for $350, or maybe the 25 piece lot of Splendid baby clothes for $70.  Here's what I've learned:

My Default Shower Gift: Aden + Anais Muslin Swaddling Wraps

It's one of the first skills you learn as a mom:  how to swaddle.  You watch the nurses whip the fabric around your kid so fast that it's a blur.  Gingerly you try to repeat their movements, and softly tuck an edge of the blanket beneath the tiniest arm you've ever seen.  You kid starts wailing.  The nurse comes back in and WHAM!!  Just like that, your kid is swaddled and happy.     

For some (like my husband and I), swaddling becomes an life-saving way of life, practically an art form.  A well wrapped swaddle often made the difference between getting four hours worth of sleep as opposed to just two.  If that doesn't sound like a big difference, then you have either never been a mom or you have given birth to freaks of nature that sleep through the night. 

Because we were relying on swaddling as a method to keep our sanity in those early days, we wasted a ton of money trying every swaddling blanket under the sun.  We tried various sleep sacks (too roomy - he'd wake too early), "miracle" swaddling blankets (too thick, too hot) and an assortment of others (most were the wrong size and he would wiggle out, or they would cover his face). Then we discovered Aden + Anais.

Pimp My Umbrella Stroller

Everyone has one -- and I'm not talking about the super stylish and cool MacLaren version for $100 and up.  I'm talking about the $20 Target special.  The one that is given away as a free gift with purchase at Babies R 'Us.  The one that, despite spending $800+ on a Bugaboo, you find yourself pulling out of the trunk when you are too tired to deal with your "real" stroller.  Yes, I'm talking about the Umbrella stroller.  It's cheap, it's boring, it's very, very practical.  So let's pimp it. 

  First, to keep you little one cool and out of the sun on those scorcher days (or rainy - it actually works for both) check out Shady Baby's stroller parasols available in retro patterns or bold and vibrant single colors.  All of Shady Baby's parasols are UV-protected with a SPF of 50+ so no matter how much time you spend strolling, there will be no evidence on your little one's skin.  Additionally, all Shady Baby's parasols come with a universal clamp that works on almost all strollers and are adjustable in 3 places so they effectively block the sun from all directions.