Kid Clothing and Toy Storage

It's amazing how much space baby stuff takes up. Our bedroom is overflowing with diapers, toys, baby blankets, diaper bags and baby clothes. I'm on the search for a nice way to keep everything organized. If possible a "one-stop-shop" station where I can keep Dean's things in one area of the room without it looking cluttered. So far I really like these storage ideas:

I really like the look of this but I'm not sure if I can pull off this as a design element in our room:

Or maybe have an ottoman with a hinge to store toys and can double as seating?

And of course, there's the good old wicker basket:

I'm still looking for fresh ideas that will work for a small space but I think that long ottoman might work best for us. How have you figured out how to store kids items?

Links Worth Sharing

• Rachel Zoe's baby is Stylin'
• Kind of loved hearing this about Beyonce
• Childhood Keepsake Ideas from Martha Stewart
• Cute new blog alert: Prudent Baby

Organic Baby Food

I made Dean's baby food using the baby bullet about a week ago, but I haven't had the time to make a fresh batch since. I need to find a way to get the consistency right because I feel like it comes out too thick. I'm thinking of taking an afternoon or weekend day to experiment with fruit/veggie combinations until I get it right. In the meantime, I have been buying him different baby food products to try. I have found some really good brands of organic baby food that don't have preservatives, parabens, artificial colors, pesticides...etc that he seems to really like. I'm very surprised (and excited) about the growing number of these products becoming available in stores.

Since Dean just started solids last month I have bought a few different brands. His pediatrician suggested he stick to one kind of fruit/veggie for a few days to make sure he doesn't have any kind of reaction/allergy and so I have given him a different brand each week. I am looking around to see if there is one he likes better than the rest. The products he's tried so far include Earth's Best, Baby Gourmet, Happy Baby and Ella's Kitchen and Plum Organics.

He seems to be a fan of them all but seems to finish the sweet potatoes from Earth's Best and the mango puree from Happy Baby the most. Aside from being organic and tasting yummy, what I love about most of these is the cap that you can twist off. You can attach a food dispensing spoon (they sell these wherever these pouches are sold) that you can twist on and off for feeding time. Also, if Dean doesn't finish his food in one sitting, I can always put the rest in the fridge and save it for later. I love that these products are natural, have no added sugars and taste great (I know this because, yes, I have tried them). The packaging is BPA free and very convenient for traveling; I can just throw it in his diaper bag and go- love that!

Food Dispensing Spoon from Boon.

And, last but definitely not least, Earth's Best. Their food is USDA Organic and also taste great. I feel like these are more readily available in grocery stores in comparison to the others. I found them at Fresh & Easy when I made a quick run for groceries about a month ago. I love that I know exactly what ingredients are put into all of these products and know that he is getting exactly what is listed on that front label.

February Bluum Box: Sweethearts

I'm glad I am finally getting the chance to blog about Bluum box! I received this month's box 3 days ago- themed Sweethearts for February (every month is a different theme).

As I mentioned before, Bluum is a box delivered to your door monthly that has 4-5 full-sized samples of baby products (and products for mom) to try. I'm surprised to find that the boxes have included samples of many goodies on my list to try out for baby. My favorite items so far include CJ's Butter (smells AMAZING), Baby Gourmet baby food, StriVectin-SD Intensive Concentrate for Stretch Mark and Wrinkles and Dapple Dish Liquid.

This month's box included the following:

1. Camilia Teething Relief

2. Nurturme Crisp Apples

3. Seventh Generation Baby Wipes

4. Mederma Stretch Marks Therapy

5. Good Baby Barrier and Diaper Cream

6. Choice Organic Tea (Wild Forest Black flavored)

Although Dean has long started teething (he has two of his bottom teeth already) this may come in handy when the rest start to emerge. According to Camilia's website, this product is safe and natural and doesn't contain benzocaine, sugar or preservatives. I was kind of hesitant to try Orajel because of the safety recall due to potential health problems.

I first heard about Nurturme from an email blast a few months ago, I was curious to try it out but had completely forgotten about it because Dean was still strictly breastfeeding at the time. I will give updates on this product soon.

Seventh Generation is such a great brand- they don't whiten their products with chlorine and don't contain alcohol or dyes/fragrances/synthetics. I included this on my baby registry months ago so needless to say I am a fan of this brand.

Mederma is well-known for their stretch mark cream and although I was fortunate not to have gotten stretch marks, I do have a small mark right above my belly button. I will be testing out this product to see if I see any significant changes.

Good Baby Barrier is another diaper cream... I have to admit I have tried quite a few and there are a couple I am very fond of. One of my favorites is Boudreaux's Butt Paste because it goes on easy and treats irritated skin. My other favorite includes California Baby... but I might have to post an entire other entry on all California Baby products (I LOVE everything).

I tried the Choice Organic Tea, and it was great. All teas are gluten free and are USDA Organic.

Yay Bluum.

Baby Sleep Positions

Seriously though, how does one tiny person take up so much room? LOL

 

Source:  http://www.howtobeadad.com/

For Mom: Zoya Nail Polish

2 weeks ago, Refinery 29 posted a link to free nail polishes from Zoya (all I paid was shipping) and I finally got my box in the mail today. I received two full-sized bottles of colors I chose from their website (it was very hard to choose from the long list of colors they have). I finally decided on a gold shimmery color called Goldie and a beige color called Clover.


Aside from the fact that they were free I also liked that the polishes are vegan friendly and formaldehyde/toluene free (as well as DBP and camphor free). The package included a pamphlet with all the colors they carry (300+ you guys! talk about choices) and a few color plates with samples of other colors. They are like little trays with acrylics that have nail polish colors on them that you can hold against your own nail and test out colors before you buy them. I guess you can request these on their website before buying (you can buy individual colors called 'spoons').


I think I'm kind of hooked- they have really great colors and you can even look at some before commiting to buying a whole bottle.