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Monday, December 31, 2012

Boba 3G Carrier Review

I recently had the opportunity to review the top baby carrier of 2012....Boba! Super cute, super comfortable and most important super useful!

About Boba
"Boba designs thoughtfully-crafted products for active parents who want the time and freedom to create a real and caring bond with their child, while living life to the fullest. We care deeply about what we do, and our customers’ happiness is our highest motivation as a company." - Boba

Boba Review
As you can see above Boba wants to give you only the best quality items and service. And from my contacts with them I believe this to be true. I've had a great experience with Boba so far with the people and with the 3G Carrier I had the opportunity to review.
I had the opportunity to review the 3G in the Tweet pattern. Oh my goodness I am so in love with this carrier and I'm so sad I did not have this when Big Brother was a baby! Just look at the bright vibrant colors and adorable pattern of the Tweet. Very gender neutral. The carrier fabric itself is a dark brown which pairs perfectly with the pattern and any outfit!
Well of course the Boba isn't only about the cuteness factor but the ability to get out and about with your baby/child or even for use around the house. Great bonding and safety too for your little one.
I had another (I won't mention) front pack carrier when Big Brother was a baby. And let me tell you the Boba carrier far surpasses that carrier. I always felt like I had to have a hand under his behind so he wasn't just dangling there. And it was horribly uncomfortable and hurt my back.

Boba has really thought of everything to make this the most useful and comfortable, not only for you but  your baby too. Just look at the list of features! And not only comfortable but practical. For instance the shoulder strap holders to keep your diaper bag or purse in place. Only a mom would know that a few extra hands are needed when juggling the baby and all the gear. One less thing to worry about. It also has numerous storage pockets. You could even possibly leave the purse at home!
Features of the Boba:

  • 100% Cotton
  • Front and back carry options
  • Removable sleeping hood
  • Adjustable sleeping hood, adjusting in length to fit growing babies
  • Zipper pouch may be used to store your hood when not in use
  • Comfortably fits heights 5’0” – 6’3”
  • Waistband range: 25” – 58”
  • Additional adjustments for easier fit & breastfeeding
  • Patent-pending removable foot straps
  • Elastic bands neatly roll up straps
  • Shoulder strap holders keep purses and diaper bags in place
  • Easily adjustable chest strap
  • Uniquely designed to “hug” your child
  • Converts to an infant carrier without an insert
  • Extra head support adjustments for infants
  • Body of carrier rises 2-3” higher than other brands
  • Multiple pockets for on-the-go storage
  • High quality military grade buckles


I also love the detachable hood. It easily snaps on and off and can either be tucked into the zippered pocket for safe keeping or left at home and you have a nice big storage pocket. The hood also is adjustable. It has super stretchy elastic, snaps and buckles all to adjust to the perfect size.

The Boba also has Patent-pending foot straps! These are too cool! They are removeable so you can take them off if you don't need them, but are great for little feet and keeping your little one comfortable and secure. I have never seen foot rests on a carrier before.
Big Brother weighs about 33 pounds and Little Brother weighs in at about 25 pounds. This means I can use the Boba for both boys! That's right, it goes from 7-45 pounds! Big Brother is a lightweight and a bit tall at age 4.5 and looks a bit goofy and dangly in the pack, but the Boba is so comfortable and designed right that you can hardly feel the weight. I don't use the pack obviously that often with a 4.5 year old but did run into a time on a hike where Big Brother was so tired and needed a lift to go the final stretch. I was thankful I had packed the Boba as a piggy back ride would not have been nearly as comfortable of an option.
You can see in all the pictures how the Boba hugs around the boys. They just sit comfortably in the pouch. No need to hang on, but just enjoy the ride. 
With the Boba you also get everything you need in one purchase. It is designed to fit all shapes and sizes with no extra accessories needed. Plus you get the hood and the foot straps. It will also fit an infant with no extra accessories. The Boba 3G costs $125 and you will no doubt get your money's worth out of it with just one child. Have another and it will be one of the best investments you have made. 

And you don't have to be an outdoorsy, hiking, traveling type to use the Boba to it's full potential. Think chores around the house with a fussy newborn, or even just to snuggle that new baby. Or a trip out to get the mail and of course grocery shopping. This thing is a life saver at the grocery store! Especially with two kids! Pack one kid and have the other in the cart. More room for groceries, less squished produce and touching items on the shelf and of course less running up and down the isles causing chaos!

The 3G Carrier is just one of the products Boba offers. They also offer the BobaAir, a lightweight version of the Boba Carrier, Boba Wrap, Boba Mini ( a carrier for your child so they can be like mom and dad) a stuff sack to store your Boba products and keep them in exceptional condition and teething pads! The Carrier and Wrap both come in organic fabric options as well.
You can see why the Boba is the top carrier of 2012! An amazing number of features for any busy family! I would gladly recommend the Boba to any parent. This is one item you will definitely want on your registry!

You can find Boba on Facebook and Twitter for updates, video's, information and all things family and kid friendly!
Disclosure: I received this product for the purpose of review. I did not receive any compensation for this review. The opinions in my reviews are my own, and others’ opinions may vary. This post was written by me and not edited by anyone.

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Rally 4 Jillie - Week 10 Giveaway


This is week 10 of 9 weeks of giveaways!
(that's right! We had so much support we are able to bring you and Jillie another giveaway) 
All sponsored by amazing companies with 
huge hearts and all for little Jillie. 
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WEEK 10 GIVEAWAY
This giveaway will run from December 31-January 6 and is hosted by Kids, Clutter & Chaos and A Spectacled Owl!
This week's giveaway is sponsored by the following companies...
In The Zone Entertainment Group: Global entertainment company specializing in serving families, kids and tweens (ages 4-12) with music entertainment content! They are sponsoring a ZhuZhu Pets Gift Set which includes...(1 ZhuZhu Pets Meet The Beatles CD, 1 Quest For Zhu movie DVD,1 Quest For Zhu soundtrack CD, 4 ZhuZhu Pets movie character figurines, 1 ZhuZhu Baby toy with accessories, 1 movie poster and kid's activity book!
Music for Little People: Celebrating Over 25 Years Of The Best In Children's Music, Music For Little People has garnered over 140 awards, including:
  • 53 Parents' Choice awards (20 Gold and 2 Classic Gold)
  • 16 American Library Association "Notable Children's Recording" awards
  • 10 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio awards (including 4 Gold and 6 Platinum)
  • 20 National Association of Parenting Publications (NAPPA) awards (including 11 Gold)
  • 2 Grammy® nominations in the "Best Children's Recording" category
  • They have also received Parents' Magazine Parents' Prize awards and National Association of Independent Record Distributors "Indie" awards
In addition to CDs they also manufacture and sell DVDs, MP3 & CD Players and Musical Instruments.
Green Kid Crafts: Green Kid Crafts is the maker of the original kids craft subscription box. They are a mom-owned, green company that provides sustainable crafts for kids. Their eco shop provides monthly gifts for kids & more. Whether you are looking for green gifts for kids or eco craft products, their crafts and activities for children are sure to please. With Green Kid Crafts, both parents and kids can enjoy crafts and activities for children that spark creativity and cultivate respect and love for the environment. (Review 1) (Review 2)
Children Inspire Design: Children Inspire Design is a line of modern, eco-friendly and culturally diverse artwork designed to help children learn compassion for our earth and all who inhabit it. Each piece incorporates repurposed paper materials, soy inks, and biodegradable packaging. Encompassing everything from prints to posters, wall cards and more, the line even offers a very special Global Compassion Poster of which 100% of the proceeds go to Future Fortified to help provide nutrients for children around the world.
Lets Go Chipper from IAGmedia: The perfect gift for family travel! Soar to new heights with Chipper as he takes his first flight. From what to pack, to check-in, security, boarding, flying and arriving, Chipper playfully teaches kids good manners and safety when traveling. Eco-friendly packaging - arrives in a reusable tote! Includes:Story and Activity Book, 8-Pack crayons, Plush Pillow “back” Pack and Reusable Tote Bag.

It's all good. IAGmedia Inc. is a family-lifestyle entertainment company developing award-winning educational apps, movies, music, and books for children. We are committed to delivering products and programs that help build good character and positive life values in young children while helping encourage future stewards of the environment. Based on the principles of 4-H (head, heart, hands, and health) our characters and stories instill in children a sense of respect for self and family, and inspire contribution to community.

Prize Package includes for one winner: 
1. Zhu Zhu Pet Gift Set from In the Zone Entertainment Group
2. 6 Children's CD's from Music for Little People
3. Discovery Box from Green Kid Crafts
4. When Skies are Grey 11x14 print from Children Inspire Design
5. Let's Go Chipper Activity Set from IAG Media
Not only will one of you win this amazing HUGE prize package, but the same prizes will be sent to Jillie in the hospital as well! AMAZING!

In case you missed what Rally 4 Jillie is all about, read on then enter the giveaway below. I am truly blessed to have the opportunity to work with these amazing companies who have stepped up to help. 

If you would like to sponsor and be part of these giveaways please feel free to contact me.
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It is hard to even know where to begin this post and even harder for me to write it. As most of us are parents to young children you all know how hard it can be to see our children sick or hurt. I can't even begin to imagine the feeling of finding out your child has the dreaded "C" word. Cancer.
No child should have to face cancer. They shouldn't even have to know what cancer means. They should be riding bikes, playing, going to school and just being kids!

Why am I writing this about cancer? Thankfully both of my boys are healthy. However a close family friend of mine hasn't been so lucky. Her little girl Jillie, just 2.5 years old was just diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. A fast moving, aggressive form of leukemia that if not treated, could be fatal in a few months.

Luckily after weeks of being sick, Jillie was diagnosed and quickly moved to an amazing children's hospital. She will now be living in the Ronald McDonald housing for the next 6 to 12 months as she undergoes many many treatments and blood transfusions.
Remember she is just 2.5 years old. How do you even begin to explain to her what is going on and why she is now living far away from home and facing months and months of treatments?

So far Jillie is being a rockstar and keeping a smile on her face! She actually feels good with new healthy blood running through her! She is a fighter and one tough little girl. If anyone can fight this it is Jillie and her family.

In my small way of feeling less helpless and helping out in any way I can, I've started Rally for Jillie on my blog! I'm seeking sponsors willing to donate two items. One to add to the giveaways and one to send to Jillie. My hope is that this will keep her spirits up, help keep her occupied, to just keep her being a kid through this ordeal.

If I could hug the sponsors that have stepped up to help, I would in a heartbeat!  Their kindness and generosity to help a sick little girl says more about these companies than any review I could ever post. So if you are reading this, please take a moment to show some love to these amazing companies. To thank them for their small act of kindness that can go a long way in the journey to heal and cure baby Jillie.
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ENTER HERE!
And please if the kindness of these sponsors have touched your hearts like it has mine, take an extra minute to say thank you on their Facebook pages or in a quick email.
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Kids, Clutter & Chaos 2,000 Fan Celebration!


I promised you all a big 2,000 fan celebration giveaway! I'm a little over 2,000 now and finally have the prize package and giveaway ready to go!

I want to thank you all for following me on this journey this past year and hope you will continue to follow and like the reviews, giveaways and randomness you will find here in 2013!

I'd love to hear from you all if you have anything you would like to see or have the chance to win this coming year!

Now for the amazing giveaway to show you my thanks.........................

$400 worth of Schlage locks in the finish of your 
choice from their decorative collection!

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Schlage Locks Review & Giveaway

Sometimes I wonder how we put up with certain things for so long. Do we just not see it? Do we ignore it? Or is it just not that big of deal?

Well I was asking myself this same question the other night when I was changing out my old brass doorknobs with my new aged bronze knob collection from Schlage! The very first brass knob that was replaced made such a difference! I couldn't believe I have lived with the shiny gold/brass ones for the eight years we have lived in this house!
I had the opportunity to work with Schlage a few months ago on this wonderful lock set with built in alarm, and now again with their fabulous door knob decorative collections. You don't just choose a generic one design fits all doorknob, but you get more than 1,000 customized design and finish options from traditional to modern! Your style, your way!
My style is the Camelot Collection with Georgian knobs in the aged bronze color. I can't tell you how good these look on the doors! They totally make the look and feel of my home complete.


One of the very cool features on Schlage's web site is their style selector. You choose your door, your room and your knob style and you can get a visual idea of what the knobs will look like on a door. No more guessing which style "might" be best.

I'd like to think of myself as advanced in skill in the home improvement department. If something needs to be done around the house I take care of it. But installing door knobs is incredibly simple, even for a beginner. Especially if you are just replacing an already installed knob.

For the installation of the indoor doorknobs I only used what you see here in the photo. A small hand screwdriver and a small electric screwdriver.

1. First take off the knob on one side. There will be a small push button and it should pop right off.
2. Then remove the knob ring. You will most likely need the small flat head screw driver for a little leverage.
3. You will then see your main screws. Simply remove the screws and the knobs should come right off.
4. Pop out the latchbolt and your now ready to install the new.

1. Determine if you want a faceplate. My doors did not have a faceplate installed. Schlage is super smart and allows you to remove the face plate and add a silver plug instead. This saves you from having to chisel out the door.
2. Install your latchbolt.
3. Connect the two sides of your doorknob. Center and screw in. ( I removed the knob to make it easy to screw the sides together.
4. Remove old strike plate, screw in new matching strike plate and wala! done!


I had a total of six interior knobs to install. Each one probably took me about 5 minutes.

My 7th knob to install was my handleset for the front door. This is usually very simple as well if you are just replacing an old handleset. However Schlage is always concerned with safety and this set had an extra security faceplate to install under the normal decorative faceplate. This prevents and makes it much harder for somebody to kick in or tamper with your door. I can't believe I didn't have one of these already, but my set that was previously installed didn't come with one I guess. I'm all about safety so I took the extra time to install this.

This required some chiseling, drilling and going deeper into the wood to fit the new thick security faceplate. If you have all the right tools this should only take you a few extra minutes. But requires a little more cleanup too. I feel good knowing my door and family is more safe now.


This particular handleset is really cool too because no matter what you had on before, Schlage makes it very easy to fit your current holes. The bottom of the handleset has a slider to position the hole where you need it. So no more frustration and returns, you can pretty much guarantee you will be able to fit your door.

All installation is pretty much the same as the above knobs for your handleset as well. You just need to do the steps twice, once for the knob and the other for the deadbolt.

The front door looks so good and the quality is amazing! You can tell the quality just by touching the handles. My sister was visiting for the holidays and even mentioned how nice the handles were and how nice and easy they turned. You wouldn't think the movement of the knobs could be different between brands, but I'm telling you, you can really tell the difference in the turning mechanisms. Smooth, quiet and sturdy. Who knew you could love a doorknob so much!

Here are a few different styles you can choose in the decorative collection. There are some very cool combinations!


They also have the built in alarm knob sets like I reviewed before and the key less sets! I so want to try one of these! With kids this would be so handy!
So why can you count on Schlage and their quality? Well for one they have been around for 90 years! Two they are the leader in home security and hardware products! And three, they are meticulous designers, painstaking engineers and proud craftsmen! That all sounds pretty good to me!

Schlage is big on social media and will keep in you in the loop with all of their new, old and best products! They also do many contest for chances to win their awesome products! Find them here on Facebook, Twitter and lots of photos on Pinterest!

Looking to upgrade your home? You can find Schlage products at many well known retailers such as The Home Depot, Lowe's, Amazon, True Value and many more you can see here. And of course if you are designing your own you can purchase them straight from the Schlage website.

WIN IT: Not familiar with Schlage? Want to try them out...say for FREE? As if Schlage and their products aren't awesome enough already, they are offering one of you the chance to win up to $400 worth of locks in the finish of your choice from their decorative collection! Did you all hear that $400!!!!! Get ready, set, GO! Enter and spruce up your home for the new year!
Disclosure: I received this product for the purpose of review. I did not receive any compensation for this review. The opinions in my reviews are my own, and others’ opinions may vary. This post was written by me and not edited by anyone.
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