Top 3 Thursday's

Wow! I haven't noticed how long it's been since I've written in my blog. Sorry to all my readers for not keeping things up to date if you are following my blog. I really haven't noticed how many viewers I actually have until I logged in today! So thank you!


I wanted to do another REVIEW on three fairly new products I have that have shown to be a great hit for my daughter and I. So lets get right to it!

1. Skip Hop Forma Diaper Backpack:

                                      

Bag Description:

Black quilted look with a teal interior. 

Exterior: 3 zipper compartments; 2 bottle slots on the sides; adjustable backpack straps with stroller clips; top handle

Interior: small zipper compartment contains a small slip pocket; medium sized compartment contains no interior pockets; main compartment contains two small slip pockets, and a large slip pocket to hold the changing pad. Changing pad included along with 2 cubes. 

I know I posted about a new diaper bag a few months ago in "Baby bag Dilemma." At that time, I was using a Vera Bradley bag called the Carryall Cross body. I unfortunately had to stop using it as my main diaper bag because, now that my daughter is a little older (will be 2 in a couple of months.... AH!), it was just too small to hold everything I needed for a whole day out. Since she's older and loves to run around an be active, I found myself taking her out on longer day trips to the park, or to grandmas, etc. So I definitely needed a bigger bag to hold all of her stuff. I was planning to still use the Carryall Cross body but I completely fell in love with this new diaper bag, I haven't reverted back to it.

Now, before I went wasting anymore of my money on diaper bags that wouldn't last long, I did my research until I stumbled upon the PERFECT bag for me. I knew I definitely was sold on having a backpack diaper bag but I just didn't know which one to go with. I was stuck between this Skip Hop diaper backpack OR another Vera Bradley item, the Campus Backpack. I went with this one for these following reasons that sold me:

A. Lightweight. Well, its essentially lightweight until I put ALL my stuff in it. I'm a packer, but even still, wearing it on my back doesn't feel uncomfortable, so that was a plus. The straps are padded and fit very comfortably. Con- the straps could adjust better where it lays on my back propped up and not hanging off my back. Vera Bradley bags lay very well on your back to where it doesn't add strain to your lower back. But I'm working on sewing the straps shorter so it will fit on my back according to liking. 

B. Stroller Clips:

 This was ideal! I don't know how many times I've struggled trying to grab things from my bag when it's sitting in the storage compartment under the stroller. This enables me to clip it to the hand bar and makes getting things in and out of my bag quick and easy. It also frees up the storage space to put our jackets or anything else we are carrying.

C. Roomy Interior:

 It is very spacious inside!

D. Two cubes included:

One cube is insulated for bottles. I use it for my daughters snacks. And the other cube has a mesh front which I'm not really sure what the use is intended for but I found it to be great as my medicine bag. 

E. A mommy pocket!

 Yes! This was so exciting for me. The front zipper has a built in cell phone pocket which I love. My other diaper bags, I had to put my phone in a pocket with my other things and my phone screen would get scratched up. This pocket protects it from everything else in the pocket. Although I don't use the pocket as a mommy pocket currently, I would still use this pocket for my cell.

I've had this bag for about 3 months now and I will never go back to my old diaper bags! I found a winner. I was hoping I did after paying $70 for it at Babies R US. Ridiculous. Never would of thought a diaper bag would cost this much. But at least I'm happy with it and its a good investment. I'm hoping it will work when my hubby and I expands our family and I have children to pack for.

I will follow up and do a 'what's in my diaper bag' soon to show you what this bag can hold! Look forward to that soon! 

2. Step 2 Neat and Tidy II Cottage

This playhouse has proven to be a really great investment for my daughter. She absolutely loves this playhouse and could play outside for hours in it. She loves dragging me in there with her. I'm not going to lie, it became my playhouse as well. We have a blast in it. I bought it from Walmart online. It retailed for $159. Its actually one of the cheaper playhouses I've found. This playhouse is good because it has a floor where as some of the other playhouses do not. It also comes with cute stick on features to create a homey look such as a fireplace, light fixtures, and a wall clock. The playhouse includes a toy cell phone, built in shelf, a table, and built in seat, grill, shutters that you can open and close, a dutch door, working doorbell, and a compartment for flowers or whatever you want to make it. (I kept it as a flower bed with some fake flowers). 

Floor bottom

The Grill

Her flower garden

It comes in parts and was very easy to assemble on my own! So that was a PLUS in my book! I highly recommend this playhouse if you're looking for one and don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on one.

3. Gaiakids Sleep & Relax herbal syrup 

This product is one that I've started using about a week ago. I'm not a fan of any kind of sleep aids especially for a toddler. What gave me ease about this product is that it is completely herbal. Its made of chamomile which is a natural relaxing herb, lemon balm, and passion fruit. With very little ingredients, I felt comfortable enough to give this a try. 

Ingredients: 

Organic sugarcane, water, xantham gum, lemon fruit juice and orange natural flavors.

The instructions say to give the required dose for each age group and hour before bedtime. The reason we turned to this is because my daughter has insomnia. We've been battling this her whole life! Some nights are worse then others. She just has the hardest time falling asleep. So I wanted to find something that will help her to relax and let sleep naturally come to her. Since my little girl is NOT a fan of drinking water, I couldn't give her chamomile tea so this product was worth a shot. Its sweet and can be easily mixed into a cup of juice. 

Our first 2 nights were a success. Within 30 minutes, our baby girl was off to sleep. The next mornings, we saw a huge improvement in her behaviour. She woke up well rested and not looking too fatigued from the long night she encountered. This product was seeming like God's gift to us. As the week went on, it started taking longer for her to fall asleep. So I'm not completely sure if I can say its a miracle worker but we will see how it goes. I'm definitely not going to give it to her every night but as for now, it's helping a little. 

Well, there you have it, my top 3 products for the week!

 Thanks for reading :-)