March 11, 2013
Happy Monday everyone, and a big thanks to everyone who participated in last week’s Ella’s Kitchen giveaway!
The four lucky winners are…
Please e-mail us apellasgiveaway[at]gmail[dot]com so we can send your sampler packs along!
And remember to “LIKE” us on Facebook for the latest A&P news and future giveaways 
March 4, 2013
We’ve got something yummy and healthy for your little one today…
Thanks to our friends over at Ella’s Kitchen, 4 lucky winners will receive a sampler pack of Ella’s Kitchen products!
Ella’s Kitchen foods are healthy, organic, and a great pick for feeding on the go. From the Ella’s 1 First Tastes to the Ella’s 2 Yum Yummy Baby Cookies, Ella’s provides easy nutrition for your growing baby, and we can’t wait to share it with you.
Winners will receive samples of:
Ella’s 1 Baby Food: 100% organic fruits + veggies with nothing else added, not even water!
Ella’s 2 Meals: Introducing more texture + new flavors for curious taste buds.
Yum Yummy Baby Cookies: Munchy, not crunchy, soft biscuits with no added sugar or salt.
Smoothie Fruits: 100% organic fruit snacks – perfect to pop in lunchboxes, or to enjoy as a fun snack on the go.
(Product information from ellaskitchen.com)
To enter:
You can also find Ella’s Kitchen products in your local A&P store!
IMPORTANT NOTES:
Disclaimer: Ella’s Kitchen generously supplied the product assortment, free of charge, but is not responsible for distribution to winners. Any reviews or opinions posted are solely our own.
TopJanuary 24, 2013
I have always been a fan and frequent buyer of Huggies products. I used the diapers on my now 6-year-old daughter, and love the Huggies® Little Movers for my 15-month-old son, Bradley. Bradley is a very active, big boy who loves to walk, crawl and “scoot” all over our house. Now, Brad isn’t the smallest baby for his age, as he LOVES to eat all day long. I need a diaper that’s going to be strong enough to handle his messes and durable enough to stay snug against his curvy body. I find that we get the most use out of the Huggies® Little Movers diapers – he stays drier longer and seems more comfortable in them.
My son also has sensitive skin and it seems these diapers protect him a little bit better than other brands of diapers we have tried. The elastic tabs are very flexible and provide a strong, snug hold to his body. We also use the Huggies® One & Done wipes. Not only do we use them for diaper changes, but we use them to wipe down the kids or clean their faces and hands. Occasionally both my children decide to use these wipes at their own discretion and clean anything they see with them.
Someone doesn't feel like sharing... 
These wipes are the most durable, moist wipes we have ever used! They are thick and strong and one wipe can clean a big mess. I strongly encourage anyone to try the Huggies products, especially the Little Movers diapers and the wide variety of other diapers and wipes they carry.
He's clearly a fan as well.
– Tara G.
Disclosure: A&P sent me these products to review. All opinions are my own.
Tara is a wife and working mom of two (a lovely 6-year-old girl and lively boy of 15 months). She enjoys all activities with her children, and is part of her daughter’s PTA committee. She loves getting involved with her daughters school events, extracurricular activities and general hobbies.
TopJanuary 10, 2013
Recently, I returned to work. I was lucky that I was able to stay home with my youngest son for a year but the slow paced, do things on our own time, period came to an end. This brought up a number of things that caused me anxiety. For instance, how will my little guy handle being away from me all day, let alone how will I handle it? Also, littler concerns such as: how will we handle the child
ren’s schedules and how will I get the baby moving in the morning?
One concern that I did not really give much thought to, until the night before he was to start school, was how I was going to pack him an easy nutritious lunch every day. When we were home, I could try a variety of foods with him and I could really monitor what and how much he was eating. Now, I would be leaving that job to someone else and I needed an easy way to make sure that he was still getting his fruits and veggies. By this point, he refused to eat traditional baby food and insisted on feeding himself so packing baby food was out of the question. He was also hit or miss with eating cooked veggies and certain fruits.
I turned to the baby aisle for some guidance and came across the new Gerber® Graduates® Grabbers™ pouches. They come in such a great variety of flavors and provide him with the nutrients that he needs. So, we grabbed a few of his favorite flavors and decided to give them a shot. Initially, I was a little concerned that my little monster would spray the food all over himself, but after a few attempts he got the hang of eating out of the pouches by himself and actually thought it was kind of cool! I was so excited that I was able to calm one of my anxieties so easily.
The Graduates Grabbers have not only made packing lunches for school convenient, I always keep one in my diaper bag for when we are on the go. Now, when we are out and about and he gets hungry, I do not have to load him up with empty calories, I just pull out a pouch and know that I am satisfying both his hunger and his nutrition!
Michele is a wife and working mom of 4 (ages 18 months, 7 years, 9 years and 11 years old). She juggles her time around her family, children’s activities, work and is always looking for ways to save her family money.
TopAugust 23, 2012
I cannot believe how fast the past year has gone. I am no longer the parent of an infant; we have officially moved into the toddler zone!! I love watching my son trying new things and copying off of his older siblings. One of the things that he has given up as he entered toddlerhood is any and all baby food. This has been one of the biggest challenges we have faced in the past few months. This has made meal time a little bit tricky as we struggle to find foods that he can feed himself (he refuses to let anyone feed him). So, on our quest to find finger foods that he likes, we have been giving him a little bit of everything to try. While he has enjoyed this exploration, not all foods agree with him and have given him a diaper rash on a number of occasions. We have found that he loves anything citrus, which of course is known to cause diaper rash in little ones. Because of his new found love of foods that wreak havoc on his bottom, we have tried a variety of diaper rash products to help ward off and treat these rashes.
Luckily, we had a number of different kinds of crème at the house while this was going on so we were able to try different things to calm his rash. We started out using A&D ointment which normally cured any little rashes that he had as an infant but it just did not cut it with the recent rash outbreaks that he had been having. We moved onto Petroleum Jelly which did not help at all and then onto a regular zinc oxide cream. The zinc oxide cream would help a little bit but our poor little guy just could not kick the rash. Finally, I went to the drug store and bought Triple Paste. This finally did it. I was so happy that we found something that helped sooth his rash and worked rather quickly. Now we use either the A&D or zinc oxide cream for everyday use but have a tube of Triple Paste on hand just in case he gets the urge to eat oranges every day! When I suspect that a rash will be coming or he suddenly develops a bad one we use the Triple Paste and it is usually gone by the end of the day.
Michele is a wife, stay at home mom of four children ( ages 9, 7,5 and 5 months) and a part time student. She juggles her time around her family, children’s activities, school and is always looking for ways to save her family money.
August 8, 2012
“No, don’t do that.”
Lately, these have been the phrases that I repeat all day. It’s turned into the Mother of a Toddler Mantra. Our little girl isn’t even 2 yet, and she’s doing it already. She’s testing her boundaries.
I was hoping we’d have a few months before this started; the constant odd behavior, doing what she wants, when she wants, and not caring about if Mom and Dad approve. Oh joy, we get to experience it all early. I equate it with knowing you’re going to get coal for Christmas and finding out a week before the Holiday. Yes, it’s that serious.
I think the defiance is what gets me the most. She doesn’t want to keep on her Pampers, especially right after I change her. She’s not satisfied with her breakfast of bananas and Cheerios, but gets upset if I don’t at least offer it to her, so she has the chance to turn up her nose at it. The frustration is settling in here. But, there is hope. We’ve been through this before.
This isn’t our first rebel rodeo. Our 6 year old son had his defiant time in space, and we got through that. We understood that he was testing his boundaries as a son, as a child and to create a life challenge for his parents. My daughter is following suit, showing us what we’re made of. This is the time when your child is intentionally trying to be a daredevil and place themselves in harm’s way. How you handle this part of their life will reflect how you’ll handle the same rebellion in their teenage years. Or at least, that’s what I’m imagining. Well, my dear little daughter, challenge accepted. Now, can you please stop tearing up my magazines?
Amiyrah is a Wife, Mother of 2, Airman in the US Air National guard and all around Frugal maven. Her goal is to show how frugality can be fun and that “misers” can be cool, witty and do actually have friends and family. She blogs over at 4 Hats and Frugal, a family-friendly, humorous take on raising a brood on the cheap.
TopJuly 5, 2012
As a new mom, you cherish one on one time with your baby and with my older three children, bath time was one of those times. So, when my fourth was born, I was looking forward to those times when it would just be him and me and the warm sudsy water in his bath tub. Unfortunately, when he was born he proved that all babies are very different when it comes to what they like and don’t like. From his first sponge bath my little guy screamed from beginning until end. I figured it was only a matter of time until he relaxed and learned to enjoy bath time, well he proved me wrong.
He is now 8 months old and I can finally say that he sometimes actually enjoys his bath. I wish I could say all baths are fun, bonding moments but some are just all out screamfests! Luckily the fun baths have been outweighing the not so fun baths these days and I credit those to our bath time rituals. I try to make baths as routine as possible and tell him what we are doing all along the way. He watches me run the bath and get all of his bath time accessories together. I have also found that when I use a bath wash with a soothing scent, he is usually calmer. I have noticed that when we use Johnson’s Vanilla Oatmeal Baby Wash, we have more happy bath times than not and I love the smell too!
After I get him out all squeaky clean and smelling yummy, I like to lay him on the floor on his towel and give him a little baby massage using Johnson’s Vanilla Oatmeal Lotion. He loves his after bath ritual. I usually try to give him his bath right before bed because it relaxes him and gets him into his quiet mode.
When you have a new baby it is often trial and error before you discover exactly what they like and don’t like. But in the end, you come up with what is right for you and your baby and enjoy each moment along the way, even the screamfests!!
Michele is a wife, stay at home mom of four children ( ages 9, 7,5 and 5 months) and a part time student. She juggles her time around her family, children’s activities, school and is always looking for ways to save her family money.
June 28, 2012
As any parent would tell you, preparing a baby or child for bed time is a rough task. Giving a snack, washing faces, brushing teeth, a bedtime story and finally, all is well.
………At least that is what we hope.
Reality is, bedtime is like a 12 round bout with our little wee ones. As much as I try to follow what the countless parenting books suggest, night time in my home is everything but calm and quiet. If you happen to walk into my house at 9pm, you might hear crying, whining, jumping up and down on a bed, banging on a wall or children babbling.
It’s as if going to bed is like saying no more sweets or treats until you’re 18.
To help combat against this I have found a few things that help motivate my little ones to not only be happy about bedtime, but embrace it. If not now, they will when they start working!!!!
First, I’ve learned that kids will follow whatever you want them to by making it fun. We start with bath time. Crayola Bath Art Center is a great start! You can color the bath water; kids can paint the inside of the tub and even themselves! These easily washable, non-toxic crayons and paint are a great start to our night time festivities.
Next, washing them with Johnson’s Soothing Baby Wash relaxes them to the point of squeezing out a yawn or two before we leave the bathroom. Just the action I want to see; long and sometimes loud yawns from my little ones. Then we apply Johnson’s Soothing Lotion and we’re ready for the next phase of bedtime; teeth brushing.
After they are washed, dressed and teeth brushed, we say our prayers and pick out a book. One of the all time favorites is Good Night Moon! It’s a classic and a hit with the kids, plus it’s short and sweet. We then give our snuggle kisses to each of them and explain that sleeping gives energy to play outside the next day. No energy, no outside. That seems to be motivation enough.
Night lights are on and main lights are out. For the baby, Fisher Price makes a fabulous Rainforest Mobile that plays relaxing classical music with twinkling lights; enough to lure my little one to sleep.
Night time now is something that is looked forward to and now, appreciated in my home.
Sheena is a Wife to Steve, Mother of two kids: Issy and Ethan, and a believer in Jesus Christ. Thrilled to be a SAHM, Sheena uses her time to make life happy and stress free for her family, even if the house, television, laptop and shopping have to take a back seat. Over at her blog, http://mommysavesalot.blogspot.com/, you can find Sheena talking about her family, saving money, budgeting/finances, and life’s ups and downs.
June 18, 2012
When you have children, particularly young ones, you are constantly looking for ways to save money. Whether you shop the sales, use coupons or buy discounted items, every little bit helps. I do all of these things and have recently added another strategy to help save on baby supplies. I recently discovered America’s Choice store brand baby products. With the arrival of our fourth child, 5 years after our last baby, it was almost like starting over for us. My memory was a bit foggy on what we used for our older three children so I began trying out different products to see how we could get the most bang for our buck. We tried out the typical baby brands and soon found our favorites but I noticed that we were spending a lot on things like diapers and baby bath items so I decided to pick up the store brand at my local Pathmark. I was a bit skeptical but after a few days, we were impressed with how the products compared to major brands. We could not 
see any difference in the bath products, my son’s skin was as soft and clear as ever and he smelled great! I was mostly skeptical of the diapers because we see a lot of leaks, especially during the night. But we gave them a try and we were quite happy with how they held in leaks and fit my son so nicely. We actually found that while they are comparable to some major brands, they are actually better than others. By making the switch to America’s Choice baby products, we have cut down on some of our weekly grocery costs which has allowed us to put aside some more money for fun family outings!
Michele is a wife, stay at home mom of four children (ages 10, 8, 6 and 7 months) and a part time student. She juggles her time around her family, children’s activities, school and is always looking for ways to save her family money.
June 13, 2012
Recently, I was able to try out the new America’s Choice Diapers and was really impressed with the way they fit my baby. I think this is due to the new accordion-stretch waist, which allowed for a better, more snug fit and improved leakage protection. Sometimes you don’t want to spend the money on products that have the same ingredients as major brands. I often buy store brands–recently I switched over from a major brand’s eye makeup remover pads to a store brand that was almost half the price. My wallet loved the savings and my eyes were none the poorer for the switch.
Similarly, with America’s Choice diapers, you can know you are getting the same great quality as you would expect from an A&P store brand.
I’ve often been frustrated with diapers that either don’t fit well or are too constricting in the leg area. This can cause irritation on baby’s thighs and can further aggravate diaper rash. When my oldest child was born she often had diaper rash and it was so distressing to us as new parents. We tried every diaper rash cream imaginable. Now, I think it might have just been diapers that didn’t fit well (allow enough air to circulate) or were just not as absorbent enough. With my next two children we had almost no diaper rash issues!
I’m sure you, too, will be pleased with the new, improved America’s Choice Baby diapers.
Mira Park is a wife and mom of three kids, ranging in age from 6 yrs to 18 months. Her blog, MiraBest gives North Jersey moms tips on what local spots to check out, which preschools are worth looking at, what weekend events are the best for their families, and so much more! The goal is to save moms everywhere time and money. The topics are her passions…food, travel, education, party planning, budget living.
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