Teething Bling Teething Jewelry (review)

We've all seen it: the baby chewing on whatever they can. Doesn't matter where they are, doesn't matter what it is. THEY. MUST. CHEW. This can be adorable (aww, fingers! yummy!), or disgusting (ewww, that is a shopping cart handle!)... or just plain frustrating (mommy's necklace... it might break!).

Then again, that last one doesn't really apply if it's Teething Bling. Teething Bling jewelry was made for baby to chew on. Consisting of safety-tested nylon string and a commonly-used, medical-grade, food-safe silicone pendant (or beads), Teething Bling is safe for your teething youngster to gum away on! The silicone used is the same material found in many teething toys and other baby products, too. It's not some weird new substance you've never encountered!

Teething Bling contains no harmful chemicals: no phthalates, BPAs, PVCs, lead or latex.  All their products are CPSIA compliant, carry the European CE mark for safety and are FDA approved.  Additionally, pendants also come with a breakaway clasp as an added safety feature (though you should never put the necklaces around baby).

So how much do babies really like these items? Are they really all that convenient over a teething toy? Yes and yes. Teething Bling was generous enough to send me a pendant and gemstone necklace to try out. I received Grey Gemstones and a Moonstone Donut Pendant (both pictured above). I was actually getting ready to head out to the store when I got these, so I did a quick wash on them and put on the grey gemstones necklace.

(The fact these were all taken from this outing means they were all taken with my phone and thus aren't the best quality photos.)

She was quick to grab them and knew just what they were for!

I babywear all the time, so I figured this might help keep my youngest distracted. She's been trying to eat everything, and been very grabby with my hair. Not only did she adore the necklace, but she left my hair alone the whole time! She loves grabbing a fistful of the beads in each hand and being able to gnaw on some, too. I loved that the beads didn't go around the neck because that prevented them from pulling my hair (and I have a very sensitive head).

Chewing on her Teething Bling while being worn through the grocery

So why was this better than a regular teething toy? Simple: It never ended up getting thrown on the floor. I swear I have cleaned teething toys more often than anything else! They love chewing them, but they love throwing them, too. The necklace stayed put and didn't get dirty. Yay!

She loved them so much she fell asleep chewing them and still didn't let them go!

Before our shopping trip was over, my husband was very hungry and asked me to run in to get a burrito at Chipotle. Seeing as how we fed Bobble before we left (and Squiggle is on mama's milk still), I thought it was a great idea. I ran in and waited to place an order. As I stepped up to the counter, the woman/girl on the other side of the counter raved about my necklace. She was talking about how cool it was, and asked where she could get one. I had not OWNED this necklace more than a couple hours and was already getting compliments!

This jewelry really impressed me! I am not a big jewelry person (literally, I like small stones/gems/beads etc.) so I was a bit self conscious wearing a larger bead out. (Yes, I know... silly thing to be worrying about, eh?) Being complimented so quickly really helped with that. I thought it looked nice, but I've never been one someone turns to for fashion advice. A complete stranger wanting to know where I got my necklace? Yeah, that did the trick! They have so many styles and colours that it's hard not to find something that would be perfect for your wardrobe, too!


Bobble also loves them. He likes to wear the pendant necklace and try to get Squiggle to chew on it. It's so cute! I might have to get him one of the fish pendants so he can have his own!

My husband has worn my Teething Bling, too! Granted, he didn't go out of his way to find it, but when I had to hand him Squiggle for something and I was wearing it, I would just put it around his neck so she had something to play with until I came back. He's a good sport. (He wasn't going to smile for the picture, though!) Perhaps I should have gotten him a Babe Magnet tie! (Actually, he never wears ties, so I have better odds of getting him to wear necklaces.)

You can head on over to http://www.smartmomjewelry.com/ to learn more and see the rest of their amazing products! Teething Bling is one of the sponsors for next month's LOVE giveaway, too. If you want to try and win a Teething Bling gift set, come back February 1st and get in on the action!

Disclosure: The product mentioned above was provided to me by Teething Bling for review. This did not influence my opinion of the product in any way. My opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.

Helping Out

I've found that Bobble, who will be THREE this month *faint*, is better behaved when he is helping out with Squiggle (or in general). Granted, he's nearly 3, so he's pretty crazy as it is... but still. He wants to help with everything right now, so I've been trying to find more ways to include him.

• Diaper Laundry - he folds the wipes (actually folds them instead of balling them up, finally!)
• Regular Laundry - he searches for socks and stacks them in a nice pile (if the laundry is clean), and he helps carry the basket to the room (he gets one end, I get the other. 
• If the laundry is dirty, he takes it by the armful out to the laundry room.
• Diaper Changes - he is in charge of keeping Squiggle happy (which is actually a great help because she keeps her hands away from her diaper area when he's on his stool talking to her!) and picking out the new diaper.
• This gets tricky because he wants so badly to clean her off and put the new diaper on (which I let him try once, but ... yeah. not yet.) 

Do you have a little one that wants to help but isn't very "helpful"? What are your tricks to getting them to help (while not messing up what you're doing)?

Funbites Review & Giveaway

Do you have a child that gets sick of eating, sometimes? Do they play with their food or just get bored with it? Well, ideally, children would know that food is for eating and that's that... but that's not reality with young toddlers, that's for sure! That's where Funbites come into play! Funbites quickly cut food into fun shapes for your little one to enjoy. Whether you're wanting to make eating more fun, you're trying to make bite-size pieces for your munchkin, or you simply are making appetizers for a party and want them cut quickly and evenly, Funbites is your answer!

Bobble isn't without his quirks, and eating quirks are near the top of the list! It got to the point where we would call things that looked remotely like cake "cakes" (corn bread, for example, was 'corn cake'), and anything long and skinny would be called "fries" (chicken strips & fish sticks... both 'fries'!). It's not that he didn't like the foods, but he didn't want to take the first bite unless we referenced something he loved first. Fish fillets/sticks are one of his favorites, but if they aren't "fish fries", you might not succeed in getting even one bite into his mouth.

Thankfully, Funbites sent us a sample of their product for review. Funbites was started due to eating quirks, too! We got the squares, though there are more 'fun' shapes to get if you prefer. The funbites come in two parts that fit together nicely. One part you push down onto the food to make a quick and easy cut (yay, shapes!), and the other part it simply "holds" the cutting part.

The plastic is easy to clean, a durable. We tested it out on various foods... even some that shouldn't have been tested on. If you have a big slice of melon (flat slice, mind you), you can quickly cut a bunch of cubes (or whatever shape you picked) to serve multiple people, or just make a nice little bite-size snack that is easy for your little one to pick up! You can cut sandwiches just as easily! 

Remember how I said that we tested it on some food that shouldn't be tested on? My husband decided to try it on a sloppy joe. Yes, a sloppy joe. Nothing about that idea sounds remotely smart to me. This product is designed to cut, not contain a gigantic blob of sloppy joe! Surprisingly, it worked. Yes, lots of the meat came out of the sandwich, but it made bite-sized cube-ish pieces (honestly, you can't expect clean-cut cubes in a sloppy joe!) that my husband then squished a bit to put them together. It made it a million times easier for Bobble to eat! Still messy, but not as bad! Yay!

While Funbites aren't a necessity, they sure do make bite-size cutting really easy! If you have some of the more fun shapes (like the hearts) then you can cut cute / fun shapes in the blink of an eye! Definitely recommended if you like to make appetizers, have a picky/bored eater, or like to make cute packed lunches for your little one!

You can buy Funbites for $12.99 individually (buy more than 1 and save!) from the Funbites.com store.

Follow Funbites on FaceBook and on Twitter (@Funbites) to keep up-to-date with all the FunBites happenings!

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Disclosure: The product mentioned above was sent to me by the company in exchange for a review. This did not influence my opinion of the product in any way. My opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. Thoughts Of Fluff is not responsible for shipment of prizes.

** My apologies to the gracious people at FunBites for the enormous delay on the publishing of this review! I didn't realize I never scheduled it to go live, and it had been sitting completed for months! ...can I blame mommy brain on that one? **

Happy New Year!

I'd like to wish all my readers a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I know I've not been around much, and I thought I'd try to let you know why before the kids wake up. (Yes, both fell asleep! YAY!) My youngest, little Squiggle, has decided she is very much a 'velcro baby'. She gets super upset if she's basically not with/on me 24/7. Many days her naps end up being taken in my arms just so she'll sleep. Between her being very high maintenance and Bobble being a very VERY active toddler, I've had no time!

A quick update on us: 7 months later and still no job. It's weird going from a full-time working mother to a stay-at-home mother.... especially when much of your time at home is spent searching for a new job. It's like I have a job outside of a job... and one that pays pretty crummy! We have had many conversations about moving, and it's looking more and more like we might need to do that. I'm very sad at the thought of losing my adorable room decorated full of lovely decals from Wallsneedlove.com, and I am sad about not having a place to put the decals if I do decide to try and take them with. Having no luck here in my town, no luck in my state, and not even a single interview from ANYWHERE... I'm starting to look out of country, too. I don't know what 2014 will hold for me or my family, but I'm hoping it's something good!

Speaking of something good... I have something good for you, my lovely readers! Next month is a day many know for celebrating love. Well, I want to share the love with YOU! I will be hosting a very special giveaway that is all about love. Love for mama, love for baby, love for fluff! I hope you'll join me in the celebration!

Happy Holidays

I hope you are all enjoying the holidays this year. Times have been tough around our household as I still haven't found work (nearing 7 months!), but  we are very thankful for what we do have. Both children have been fairly healthy as of late (save a cold here and there), and I was one of those crazy people who shops for holidays all year round, so I actually already had a few presents for the children before I got laid off. They are so little that they won't know the difference... but they will love opening presents!

I even lucked out in a few giveaways recently, one of which was for a pack of 12 diapers. Obviously, I don't need those diapers... I have a LOT! I contacted my local cloth diaper store and they knew of a mother in need (who had literally no diapers), and now some local mother has a beginning stash. My favorite part of the season is that others recognize the need for kindness and generosity more (though I wish they did all year round!), and I was saddened when I still had no job because I feared I might miss out on being able to help someone. I always try to donate items this time of year, but it just isn't in the budget when you have no income... so thank you, all you other bloggers holding giveaways... you helped me help someone else!

I'm sorry I've been so scattered with blog posts. It doesn't matter how often I tell myself that I'll get better at it, because Bobble has other plans. Squiggle does, too, of course... but Bobble will walk up to me, shut my laptop, slide it under the couch (great storage place, eh?), and say, "Play with me, mom!"

You can't say 'no' to that!

Happy Holidays, and keep a look out for a few other reviews that I've had lined up (and waiting on pictures), and maybe even a few giveaways! *wink*

Rumpkinz Cloth Diapers (review)

One of the awesome prizes in the (Un)baby shower event was a Rumpkinz Cloth Diaper. Rumpkinz diapers are made by a work at home mom, so you know lots of care was put into the making of these cute diapers! We were sent an AI2 to try out, and since we got it before I had Squiggle, I tested it out on Bobble. He didn't mind the flowery diaper, though hubby gave me a funny look when he saw it on our little man!

Perhaps you can see why? *laughs*

This diaper featured a cute floral print on the back side and a soft minky material on the front. Very cute (for a little girl)! Rumpkinz does custom diapers and custom embroidery, too, so the possibilities of cuteness are endless!

I tested this diaper as much as I could with Bobble, and it held up to his (ploppable) poos as well as his messy ones (illness). Nothing got out! I didn't have any leaks with this diaper at all, but it was a different story with my husband. He said the diaper was cute, but said it leaks horribly. I went to change Bobble and he was, indeed, soaked.... but the insert was also sticking out a bit between his legs and I guarantee you that cute flowery fabric wicked away as much moisture as it could! Since I had used it many times with no leaks, I'm going to chalk that up to user error. In fairness to hubby, he hasn't really used many diapers where there is an insert on top that you have to make sure is tucked in. Perhaps I should have pointed that out to him when I was changing Bobble, but I know he won't ever put the flowery diaper on him unless it's last in the rotation, so I don't have much to worry about!

Since this is a one-size diaper, I tried it on Squiggle after she was born. I believe she was roughly 10 lbs when I tried it on her. She had a visible gaping at the legs, so I took it right back off her as that would just be asking for a mess! I tried it again around 12 lbs and had the same issue, but I have yet to try it on her now (roughly 16 lbs). I do believe that is actually due to how she is packing on the weight, though. These look like they should work easily with a 12 lb child. I had absolutely no fit issues with Bobble.

All in all, I would say this diaper is a good diaper and the cuteness factor totally makes this diaper! Rumpkinz diapers are obviously a good quality (you can just tell from holding them), and work very nicely! You can also get mama cloth, pocket diapers, or cloth trainers in addition to the AI2s. Check out their store to see more!

Disclosure: I receive sample(s) for the purpose of testing and review. These opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. 

Walls Need Love (Giveaway & review)

A while back, I was fortunate enough to discover Wallsneedlove.com, a site that does wall decals and stickers. Not too much later, I was given the opportunity to review their product and I jumped on it! I had my eye on a few things, and for a while I couldn't decide what I wanted. I had a particular theme I wanted to do for Squiggle's room, but I couldn't find just what I was looking for. My husband actually fell in love with a pre-made set on their site, but if he hadn't, I was going to take advantage of their custom stickers.

I apologize in advance for the poor quality of a couple of the pictures. My camera died partway through the pictures, and I had to switch to a phone for a few while the batteries charged. (Then I grabbed the barely-charged batteries to snag the rest of the photos, so you only have a couple poor quality pictures!)

This is how the room looked to start out:

I had a gift card to spend at the website as well, so I got to get more than I thought I would have for her room. I got a flowering tree, a cartoon-y owl set, and butterflies. I really liked that I could pick any colours I wanted for the tree and the butterflies. They have a colour chart (and also a previewer so you can see how it would look on your approximate wall colour) that allows for customization of the feature. I could have made the tree trunk purple, the leaves orange, and the flowers green if I wanted!

The stickers were surprisingly easy to take off the sheets and put on the wall, though I had one heck of a time climbing up and down while super pregnant to do so! I had my mother and my husband put the tree on the wall since that came in segments that needed to be lined up, and then I decorated it with leaves and flowers.

I have extra stickers for the tree and the owl set, so I could have made a pile of leaves at the bottom of the tree if I wanted (which I considered), and extra leaves for the owl set as well. I opted to actually stick pretty close to the examples on the website since I really liked the set up, but there are still little changes you can see between my walls and the website.

Leftover stickers

I actually had the stickers up on the wall and pictures taken back in late May/early June, but I didn't have time to type up the review then... and I'm glad I didn't. Squiggle is now 3 months old and completely in love with her walls. I didn't realize that she was going to enjoy them so early, but at first it was just something different to look at. Darker colours contrasting against the light wall. I know newborns don't have the best vision! As time went on, though... I realized she was actually interacting with them. Right around 2 months old, I noticed she was smiling whenever I picked her up off the changing table... and I realized that when I did that, she was staring directly at the wide-eyed owl stickers. I moved closer to them and she smiled bigger. She likes to stare at her birds, butterflies, owls and the tree. She smiles when you move her around to different sides of the room, and smiles when she gets her diaper changed because she is surrounded by her wall decor.

WallsNeedLove can help you with all your decorating for any room in your house! They are also offering one of my readers a $50 gift card to get started on their next decorating project! Enter below for your chance to win! Giveaway starts at 12:00am 11/9/2013, and ends at 11:59pm 11/30/2013.


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Disclosure: Some of the products mentioned above were sent to me by the company in exchange for a review, while others were purchased by myself. This did not influence my opinion of the product in any way. My opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. Thoughts Of Fluff is not responsible for prize fulfillment.