November 18, 2015 by Krista

Do More with Levana Ayden™ Baby Video Monitor

I’ve had three babies. All three of them have been different kinds of sleepers – My oldest was a dream, my middle baby was a nightmare and my youngest is somewhere in between. Mr. Napping was unemployed for much of my pregnancy with my oldest and we had to really decide what were needs and wants for our new baby. Big J was our first baby and we had nothing. We depended heavily on hand-me-downs and consignment store finds. We lived in a multi-level townhouse when my oldest was a baby and we used some two-way audio receivers Mr. Napping already had as our baby monitors. They worked and we already had them – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it – so we didn’t look at baby monitors much. They weren’t in the budget.

With my middle little one we started out in a two-bedroom apartment that was less than 1000 square feet and there was no need for monitors. You couldn’t get far enough away to not hear the baby. When he was three months old, we moved into our single-story home and we still didn’t need a monitor. He was (and still is!) such a restless sleeper that it was better if I didn’t have a monitor on him because every movement he made put me on edge… Is he getting up? Is he gonna cry? Should I go get him? We both slept better without a monitor – I wasn’t constantly hovering over him while he was trying to sleep. He expected me to be there every time he stirred and he was terrible at putting himself back to sleep because of it. It didn’t help that I need sleep or I am one grouchy momma. It really was better for both of us.

Between my middle baby and my youngest, my sister-in-law had their first baby. They went all out with the changing tables, video monitors, diaper pails and more. I thought it was a little unnecessary… Then we were at my grandma’s house with the whole family and it was loud! Both of my younger boys still napped. Our room was too close to the noise and kept them from getting a good nap unless we put them in the attached apartment my parents were staying in. But we had no easy way to make sure our kids were still sleeping, safe and sound. My brother’s video monitor suddenly seemed like more of a need than a want, or at the very least not unnecessary. We made do with some apps on our mobile devices and tablets, but it meant someone had to leave their device in with the sleeping kids and the apps chewed through the battery!

Enter Levana’s Ayden™ Baby Video Monitor. Even though my little Baby N is closer to being two than one, I am so excited to have this monitor now. I know it will be so useful while we are traveling next week! I absolutely love this thing. It has all kinds of features I am so excited about. The most important feature to me, though, was a secure signal – I want to be confident that I am the only one checking in on our children. The Ayden™ Baby Video Monitor offers Private ClearVu® Digital Signal that is private, secure and interference-free from up to 750 feet away.

The picture quality is fantastic on the 3.5 inch screen and there is even an LED Night Vision option to give you a clearer picture of your baby in the darkness. This is amazing and essential for me, as our nursery is incredibly dark even during the day. I love being able to see my baby without having to shine a bunch of light in on him and worry about waking him. The actual picture clarity is even better than this photo.

Another feature I was very excited about was the option to use battery or wall power for both the monitor and video screen units. This means we can even take it camping! I am very excited about the freedom that will give me! You can turn on PEEP mode and your monitor and camera will enter sleep mode if it’s quiet. You see what you need to see when you need to see it and don’t use up lots of battery when there’s nothing to check on. This allows for up to 48 hours of battery life before you need to recharge.

3 TIMES I LOVE BEING ABLE TO USE MY LEVANA AYDEN™ BABY VIDEO MONITOR

1. When my Baby N finds himself overstimulated and tired. When this boy has had enough, he needs his space. Even momma is too much company. The worst case overstimulated scenario has the poor boy in hysterics and cuddles from momma or daddy just make it worse. I like being able to keep an eye on him while he calms himself enough for a snuggle before going to sleep. I don’t have to worry that he’s going to hurt himself or be naughty – he’s climbing all the things these days – while he’s alone in his crib.
2. To check on Baby N before I go to bed. You know what they say – Let the sleeping beast lie! Baby N regularly kicks his blankets off, but not all the time. I love being able to check and see if he needs to be tucked in again without entering the room and disturbing his slumber.
3. In the middle of the night. Baby N gets up usually once during the night, but he’s been sleeping all night more often lately. It’s really nice to be able to check on him when I first hear him fussing to see what he needs. Is he cold? Hungry? Did he just lose his pacifier? It helps me get him taken care of and back to bed faster.

The temperature monitoring is a nice feature. My youngest two boys kick the covers off all the time. With the Ayden™ Baby Video Monitor you can check on the temperature in their room and see if they need to be recovered without risking waking them up. There’s nothing worse than checking on them and them waking up just as I’m heading to bed. My boys have usually been asleep long enough they think it should be time to get up and play. Not what a tired momma wants!

The smart indicator ring was also something I thought was very cool. The ring around the directional pad will change colors according to the noise level in the baby’s room. You can keep an eye on your baby even when the sound is turned down. This would be a great option for times when your surroundings are loud already and for hearing-impaired parents and caregivers.

Two more features are a night light option and a lullaby option that you can turn off and on from the video screen menu. You don’t even have to go into the room. There are three lullaby options and the night light is a calming yellowy-orange color that comes from the top of the camera. There is a two-way communication feature that lets you talk to baby.

I am incredibly happy with this monitor. It’s feature-rich, I can keep eyes on my kiddo and I will be able to do more knowing my child is safe. That’s all this momma wants! Enter the giveaway below for a chance to win your own baby video monitor.

Get more info and stay up with all the latest and greatest from Levana on their Facebook page. Or check out the Ayden™ Baby Video Monitor and get your own with the button below!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Levana. The opinions and text are all mine. Pinky Promise.

August 8, 2015 by Krista

11 Places You Should Keep Huggies Wipes & 25 Reasons Why

It’s a blessed day in the house of mothers everywhere when, miraculously, you no longer need to buy diapers! It’s a day I anxiously await in our house, even though I know it’s at least a couple years away. While the days of diapers eventually end, there will always be reasons to keep wet wipes around.

1. In the car. Even if you don’t have kiddos in your car routinely, you can use Huggies Wipes to clean up those little spills or keep the dust and dirt off the dash and out of the air vents. It’s nice to have some wipes to clean up your shoes or hands or feet when you’re finished splashing in puddles, hiking in the mud or dirt or playing at the sandy beach before you track all that nature into your car. Don’t let a little mess get in the way of a lot of fun! HUGGIES® Wipes helps our whole family enjoy all of our adventures.

2. In the bathroom. I use wipes in the bathroom all the time. And not once on dirty bums. Okay, maybe once… or twice. We are potty training after all. But I use them more to clean up messes like soap spills, typical bathroom grime and gunk, make up build up on the counter top, or pee puddles. See reference to potty training above… It is a boy’s bathroom. Soap scum in the shower and soap goop on the counter are easily taken care of with a swipe or two of a wipe. I love Huggies Wipes for cleaning up after bathtime. It allows my boys to be a little more independent with their bath routines, but I can clean up any bath time play and soap spills with one or two swipes.

3. In the bedroom. I use wipes in the bedroom to take off my make up before I go to bed. So easy, much less messy when I’m not trying to splash soap off my face and Huggies wipes are gentle on my skin. I can enjoy all the day’s adventures, trying to keep up with my little explorers and still take care of my skin, even after I’ve already collapsed into bed. Middle of the night diaper changes are a snap with wipes in the bedroom. I don’t even have to take my baby out of his bed to get the job done. Wipes can be great for cleaning up grown-up bedroom messes too. Maybe invest in a wipe warmer for you…

4. In the kitchen. Little kitchen spills are perfect messes to use wipes on. Whether it’s wiping up faces and hands after dinner, cleaning up the sticky Popsicle someone left on the counter or the juice spilled on the floor. I love that using a wipe keeps the sticky messes to a minimum, is gentle on my boys’ faces and makes it easier to keep up with the messes in my kitchen. Dinnertime doesn’t have to mean messes!

5. On vacation. Whether you’re visiting Grandma, exploring somewhere new or making a weekend beach or mountain getaway Huggies wipes can come in handy for lots of life’s adventures. Keep grandma’s treasures as clean as they were before you arrived, clean up minor scrapes and injuries, freshen up dirty hands and faces, and get off that pesky beach and that seems to creep its way into every crack, crevice, nook and cranny. The photo is of an actual suit case we took with us on vacation to North Idaho before I unpacked it. I didn’t even have to stage the wipes in it, they really were already there.

6. In the Office. I use Huggies wipes in my home office often. Mostly, I use them to clean off wet and dry erase markers from my white board. They are also great for a quick computer or tablet screen wipe down. Dust and grimy fingerprints are no match for a quick swipe with a wet wipe.

7. In the Classroom. I am not a professional teacher, but my children’s educations are one of my top priorities and as such we have a small space dedicated to learning activities. Wipes play a major roll in our learning activities. We have an easel with a white board on one side and a chalkboard on the other. Wipes render a clean surface to practice spelling, writing and other concepts on the boards. They also make quick work of left behind play dough residue when we play with Play dough. They clean up paint activities and have even been used to scrub crayon off my counter top. We do a lot of learning activities during play time too and Huggies Triple Clean Layers helps keep the messes under control so we can learn and have fun!

8. At the Store. Have you ever wiped down a shopping cart? If not, you’re probably doing yourself a favor. Huggies wipes can help get the worst of the gross, grimy yuck off your shopping cart. I always try to wipe off the handle at least when we go to the store. It’s a little more peace of mind for me when my baby inevitably licks it. Gag factor=10.

9. At the Park. We use these epecially if we are going to have snack time while we are at the park. My kids are dirt magnets and the last thing I want to do is hand them a snack to hold with their grubby dirty hands. A quick wipe down helps me ensure they aren’t ingesting all those playground germs with their mid morning snack. And I’ve cleaned up more than one scraped hand and skinned knee with a wipe before.

10. Camping. We just spent a week camping and wipes were one of the first things I packed. I lost count of how many times we used them to clean up the boys’ faces, hands, and feet. We used them to clean up our high chair tray and our boys that still use their fingers to eat with at meal times. There was even a wipe down for me every couple days. Because even that is better than not showering for a week. I also used a wipe to shave my legs while we were camping. Yes, that actually happened. And it worked so much better than the dry shave I attempted a couple days before. No razor burn when I used the wipe.

11. In the yard. We don’t actually keep Huggies Wipes in our back yard, but they are right inside the back door. These are for cleaning off hands or feet after I’ve been out in the garden or for when my toddler ends up covered in grease or when my boys have been particularly adventurous in their exploring and damage control needs to be done before they are allowed back into the house.

Huggies Wipes with Triple Clean Layers offer a superior clean and a wipe thick enough I don’t have to worry about rips or tears while I’m wiping up some of life’s most unmentionable messes. Wipes get used all around our home, not just during diaper changes. Check out the 101 Uses of Huggies Wipes at Walmart video for even more reasons to keep a package of Huggies around your home, car, and on vacation and make sure to add a package of wipes to some of your family’s favorite places. Because Kids Outgrow Diapers, Not Messes.*

August 6, 2015 by Krista

Keep Rocking With Lenovo™ 500 Bluetooth® Speaker Giveaway!

I have always loved music, ever since I was a little girl. I spent many afternoons tucked away in my room after school, working on homework, with my stereo playing away. One of my first purchases after I moved out was a cheap CD player. My computer has always been full of music for as far back as I’ve had my own computer. Only recently, as my kids have started realizing that music is actually words that have meaning, have I started being especially selective in what music I play around them. I wanted them to be exposed to all kinds of music, not just the overly-bouncy music marketed to children. I love just about every kind of music and I wanted to share that with my boys. My love of music has made up a little bit for my lack of talent in that department. You might be able to imagine that music is a pretty important part of my life.

The Lenovo™ 500 Bluetooth® Speaker has been rocking my music world for the past week and I have been finding a whole new way to take my music with me. We recently took a nearly 2,000-mile family road trip to visit Mr. Napping’s parents. We spent hours and hours and hours in the car with three young boys. It got rough a few times. We bought a van back in February and it has a blessed video system built in, which means at least we could entertain two of the three fairly easily. But Baby N is only 17 months old and isn’t into the fascinated-with-movies stage yet, so using headphones with him is a joke. So we have to pipe the movie audio through the entire car in hopes he will be mildly entertained while strapped into his car seat. As much as I love a good animated movie, 14 hours of Baymax, Nemo and Rapunzel is enough to drive me crazy. With the Lenovo™ 500 Bluetooth® Speaker, Mr. Napping and I can turn the audio system off in the front seats and listen to our own entertainment. It makes the miles pass more quickly and so much more enjoyably.

Even better, the Lenovo™ 500 Bluetooth® Speaker is more than just a speaker! With the push of a button, it goes from playing music to speakerphone for phone calls. I found I needed to turn the volume up when I used the speakerphone feature, but the controls are right there on the speaker and it’s a simple press of a button. You can use the speaker and still be hands-free in the car. My mom said the call quality was better than when calls go through the Bluetooth built into our van.

The sound is great. My audiophile husband was impressed with the output of the Lenovo™ 500 Bluetooth® Speaker. Clear, crisp sound blasting 270-degrees and a rechargeable 1800 mhA battery with up to 4 hours of playback make this super light speaker, just over 1.5 pounds, a total dream and the ultimate take-and-go unit! It’s got NFC, which makes it a breeze to pair with your phone; and, it’s incredibly easy to switch between devices. I’ve got music on my phone and Mr. Napping had some audio books on his phone. Regardless of what we wanted to listen to, it was super easy to get it all hooked up and working in a minute or less.

Sounds pretty sweet, right?! Think you’d like one? Would you like to try and win one?! That’s right! What are you waiting for? Get all the details and enter to win with the Rafflecopter widget below!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

July 27, 2015 by Krista

Road Trip Snacks Kit

We love a good road trip. One of our goals is to squeeze every little bit we can out of summer, including all the road trips we can manage. But traveling with kids can be tricky if you’re not prepared. And great road trip snacks are a major factor of success.

I have put together a road trip snacks kit that is sure to save the day. It’ll keep the whole car happy – and that means momma doesn’t have to spend the whole trip opening juice boxes and chucking bags of chips into the back seat.

ROAD TRIP SNACKS KIT

PUTTING YOUR SNACK KITS TOGETHER

This part is the most crucial part. But that’s ok, it’s important but it’s also pretty easy. You’re just dividing up snacks for each person – yes, like you do every day – but, today it’s for the entire day… at one time. You got this! It’s a little more work, but it will be worth it. Ready?

Materials for your road trips snacks kit:

– small baskets that are easy to see inside – it will be easier to find what you are looking for if you can see it.
– snack friendly foods – I’ll get more in-depth in just a second. It’ll be worth it, promise.
– small containers or ziptop bags – consider serving sizes when selecting these.

Directions to put together a road trip snacks kit:

– Purchase or make your snack-friendly foods and divide your road trip snacks into single serving sizes. Not single serving in terms of nutrition facts, but how much you want to consume (or to be consumed) at a single time.

– Fill your small containers with your single-serving sized road trip snacks. Consider the age of the kit’s owner as to how much you put in each container. For example, I wouldn’t give my husband and my three-year-old the same sized snacks. There would be a mutiny on my hands.

– Store all road trip snacks inside the small baskets. Each person gets their own basket. Place the baskets within easy reach of each person’s seat. If you will have to hand out snacks to the kids, make it so you can reach them.

– Depending on the length of your trip, you can decide if you will refill the road trip snacks baskets at a certain time or not. On our nearly-900 mile trip, I will be refilling the baskets about every 200 miles. This will help my family pace themselves in their snacking and, hopefully, help avoid any carsick episodes from overeating.

ROAD TRIP SNACK IDEAS

DISCLAIMER: These are just ideas. Depending on the age and diets of your travel companions, you may want to adjust this list and consider choking hazards. Choose foods your family enjoys and focus on your specific snacking needs. The kit I created was for me and it doesn’t include all the items listed. I would make adjustments to my kit for both my kids and my husband. Do what is best for each member of your family. That’s why everyone gets their own kit.

– licorice
– candies
– chips
– pretzels
– trail mix
– fruit cups
– granola bars
– applesauce
– dried apple slices
– dried apricots
– dried bananas
– dried mangos
– crackers
– string cheese
– cheese cubes
– raw almonds
– raw pecans
– pistachios
– peanuts
– grapes
– apple slices
– cucumber slices
– grape tomatoes
– baby carrots
– celery sticks
– jicama slices
– mango cubes
– fruit snacks or leather
– Water

ROAD TRIP BINGO!

I also made a little game up for my kids. Because 900 miles is a long way. And they are on a Bingo kick right now. This is super simple to put together and it might help pass a few miles with out the “are we there yet?” version of 20 questions. There are two ways to play. You can mark off the boxes as you see the item in each box along the road. Or you can print an extra Bingo card and make little cards out of them that you draw and then each player can mark off the picture on their game board.

Materials:
– The Road Trip Bingo game boards. There are three versions of the boards. All the boards have the same pictures, but in different spots. Make prints of the same game board to see who is being the most observant and race each other to Bingo! Or print off all three boards and see who can get Bingo first the traditional way.
– Laminator and laminating sheets (or contact paper will work too)
– Scissors

Directions:
– Download the game boards. You’ll have to click each link to download and save it to your computer.
Version 1 Version 2 Version 3
– Print the game boards. If you opt to make a set of cards to draw and play that way, I would suggest printing at least the extra game board on card stock so you can’t see through the paper. I didn’t even think about it and just used regular paper – so my cards are see through. Do as I say, not as I do. It’ll save you some paper and ink. And time when you have to print and laminate them again.

– Laminate the boards.

– Cut the extra board apart on the black lines.

– Lay out the squares on a laminating sheet. Make sure there’s enough space between each card. Laminate the cards and cut them apart.

– I made a little pocket on the back of one of the game boards to hold the cards when they aren’t being played with. I just took some duct tape and taped a ziptop bag onto the back of the board. Totally optional and it doesn’t look real pretty, but it will help us keep from losing the pieces.

That’s it! Super easy. You can use a dry erase marker or pencil to mark off the boxes as you play. If you put the pocket on the back of one of the game boards, you could store the dry erase markers in there too. Or just use pieces of your road trip snacks kit to mark off the boxes. First one to “Bingo!” gets to eat their board markers!

HAPPY ROAD TRIPPING!

AND HAPPY ROAD TRIPS SNACKS!

July 13, 2015 by Krista

Helping Baby Sleep Better on Vacation with Crib Bedding

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MagicBabyMoments #CollectiveBias

I have been lucky to only have had one troublesome sleeper out of my three boys. Little J has never been a great sleeper. He’s even been treated for sleep apnea. He also inherited his dad’s ability to pop out of bed like a daisy. It makes moving him while he’s sleeping nearly impossible. I’ve tried lots and lots of ways to try to help him sleep better and in doing so, I’ve discovered a few things.

We just spent two weeks traveling. Two weeks of my kids routines and schedules thrown completely out the window. There was one week where my kids were out of the house until after midnight three times! EEK! Bedtimes were thrown to the wind and the hour difference in time zones did little to help. Naps were snatched between errands, play dates and general mayhem – usually in the car. Car sleep is less than restful, in my opinion. It’s a huge understatement to say my kids didn’t sleep enough.

So how do you encourage your kids to sleep better when you’re away from home? Well, it should obviously start with not keeping them out until after midnight… note to self. There are some other things you can do, though, to help baby sleep better when routines can’t help but be disturbed. It starts with their bedding…

TWO WAYS YOU CAN USE YOUR CRIB BEDDING TO HELP BABY SLEEP BETTER ON VACATION

1. To help baby sleep better, use the same bedding you do at home. The Disney Baby crib bedding set was a huge lifesaver this last couple weeks. Even though Baby N slept in a pack and play instead of his crib, I used the same bedding I do at home. It was just enough to help him feel calm and comfortable in his new environment. The first night we arrived, we got there late and I didn’t know where the bedding had been packed in the car (cue panic moment when I was afraid we’d left it at home). We didn’t search for it, as we were exhausted, and Baby N didn’t sleep well that night. I’m sure it was a combination of his schedule being all mixed up, the new environment and an increase in background noise. Once I found the bedding the next day and got it all set up in his pack and play, he was more content and calm, which made getting him to sleep a whole lot easier. He wasn’t as wound up from the beginning and that helped him get to sleep sooner, more easily and sleep better.

A fitted sheet can be wrapped around the pack and play mat that goes in the bottom. Pull it tightly around the back of the mat as you drop it into place so the sheet fits tightly. Loose bedding in a baby’s bed is a no-no. (I’m sure you’ve heard it before but here’s my disclaimer: loose bedding has been linked to an increased risk of SIDS and should NEVER be used while an infant is sleeping!) Baby N is a pretty calm sleeper, so I just tuck it under as I’m laying the mat down and it stays in place. If you have a wild sleeper, you may want to use a few small safety pins to secure the sheet around the mat better.

2. Cover the pack and play with a fitted sheet for outdoor use. We had a family reunion while we were gone (actually, it was the primary reason we took this little trip) and it involved camping. We were outdoors for about three days straight. Have you ever napped during the day inside a tent? And did I mention the humidity was around 80% each day? Our tent made a nice little sauna and not a great place to try to lay a baby down. I moved Baby N’s pack and play outside and stretched the fitted sheet of our Disney Baby crib bedding set over the top. It made a much cooler napping spot since the light breeze could still blow through the sides. It also kept the bugs off Baby N. My sister-in-law used it with two-month old and I think she’ll be packing a fitted crib sheet next time they go on vacation! Letting Baby N nap outside definitely helped him sleep better than he did in the tent. Despite the increased distractions, the kid slept like a rock. That’s the wake up face of a good nap!

This is super simple. You just stretch the sheet over the top of the pack and play and secure the corners of the sheet with the plastic corners of the pack and play. Try to get the sheet as taut on the top as you can. You don’t really want a bunch of loose fabric hanging into the pack and play and over your baby. It’s probably not long enough to entangle your baby, but better safe than sorry. Kids can do some crazy acrobatics, even while they are sleeping. If you end up with a lot of loose fabric draped over the sides, roll it under the elastic on the sheet to help keep the excess out of the pack and play.

BONUS WAY TO USE YOUR CRIB BEDDING ON VACATION

Use a comforter at the beach, the park, the lake, or anywhere you need a ground blanket. I used the comforter in the backyard while we were outside one afternoon and my older kids were playing in the pool. I actually used it both in the grass and in the bottom of the pack and play. Baby N was not asleep when the comforter was in the bottom of the pack and play. Putting him in the pack and play was a nice way to keep him out of the pool while the bigger boys played. He loved that it was his space and his blanket was in there with him too. And he thought the pool water was too cold anyway and was more content to sit and play in there than I expected. When the comforter was on the ground it was a safe haven from that awful poky grass.

Want to try taking your own set of crib bedding on your next vacation? Disney Baby has some adorable collections and they are super easy to care for. I love the bag it comes in, which makes packing it up incredibly easy.

We have the Nemo set, which I picked up at my local Walmart, and Baby N loves it. The textures and colors on the comforter are engaging and the sheet is comfortable on his skin. The Disney Baby sets also include a dust ruffle for your crib back home. Check out the entire Disney Baby line at Walmart! Which is your favorite collection?