What you can expect to learn:

See, lately baby girl is really trying to get a feel for things by sticking everything into her mouth, and I’m a bit hesitant to keep giving her all the plastic toys we had when Cody was an infant. (Yea, I didn’t know then about all the junk they put in plastic!) So I’ve been trying to give her the cloth toys we have, but it seems sometimes she likes to actually chew or bite. So I figured it was high time to go get her a wooden teether!!

It was a hard choice since there are so many cute ones to choose from, but I decided to go with the turtle.
It’s so cute and so easy for her to get her little hands around. Because at only almost 5 months old she’s still working on the whole grasping thing!

Oh, oh! Almost got it!
There we have it!
Aren’t these fabulous!?

I’ll bet you’re jealous aren’t you? Want one too? You can! They sell them over at Dad’s Wooden Toys on Etsy. And no, they didn’t ask me to post this (they’ll find out later!) and I paid for the teether myself. They’re just a great family and Josh does some great work! He even makes wood toys for older kids as well. I know my 3 year old would love the farm animals as well as the African animals.

My favorite part about these is that it’s just wood. I don’t have to worry about paints and dyes or anything else.

They carry a berry lemonade, grape, and tropical tango flavor and actually sent us each one to try. They were all quite tasty (yup – I snuck a sip before handing it off!) but not sickeningly sweet. Supposedly they have about half the amount of sugar in them as conventional drinks do. I didn’t check though since I don’t have the other stuff in my house, so I’m taking their word for it. Another plus is that it’s made out of all organic ingredients so I don’t have to worry about chemical laden stuff. But the biggest plus of all in my book is the fact that it has no high fructose corn syrup in it!

And in the packs they are super easy to carry around and unlike the packs they had when I was younger, these are really easy to stab with the straw!! If I saw these in the store, I’d definitly pick some up to have on hand for those times when we head out to the park with friends and they pull out “juice” boxes for their kids. Mine can fit in without compromising all of my nutritional values.

Seriously.

Everyone has them at their house in the summer right? Right.

Except we also have a good size river that floods during the spring/summer rains and then proceeds to fill all of the low lying areas just a few hundred feet from our front door. I mean, we used to live 2 miles (big move huh?) from where we are now and it was nothing compared to this. At night we get swarms of the outside the sliders and basically can’t go outside after about 6pm. It borders on ridiculous.

And that is the reason why I jumped at the chance when Momfuse asked if I wanted to try out some Don’t Bite Me Patches. This patch is a new, natural, way to repel those stupid biting insects. It contains only vitamin B1 and aloe. The vitamin B1 travels through your system and the excess is the sent out your pores, thereby masking the carbon dioxide you body emits. The aloe is an anti inflammatory that helps minimize any inflammation that occurs if you do get a bite.

Sounds great right? At least a way to not use lots of chemicals. But does it work?

I put one on my leg about 2 hours before I tested it out. (it takes 2 hours to be effective) After dinner I went outside, right up to the edge of the woods. What transpired was really weird. I was being swarmed, yet none landed on me. After a few minutes I received only one bite, which is a miracle seeing how many where out there.

Since then I have used the patches a few more times, and each time received one bite or less. So these things really do work! My only beef is that it takes a couple hours to be effective so it doesn’t really work for impromptu outings. But for camping or for when you know you’ll be outside for great lengths of time, these are awesome! They’re waterproof and they even last for about 36 hours!

Best of all, you can put them on kids without having to worry about Deet!

So if you’d rather not feed the mosquitoes this summer, try out the Don’t Bite Me Patch. I’m pretty sure they can be found nationwide at RiteAid and I’ve also seem them at our local Health Food Store.

Here’s just a little ditty about Jennifer and kangaroobabe:

My name is Jennifer and I live in Northwest Arkansas with my husband Grant and our 13 month old son Elliott. I became interested in babywearing after my son was born. Like a lot of babies he wanted to be held all the time and I found it hard to do much of anything since he was always in my arms. When I was pregnant I came across an original style padded ring sling at a thrift store for only $5. I tried it out with Elliott but it was awkward and hard to adjust so I set it aside and forgot about it. I began doing some research on babywearing and the different types of carriers. I started out by making a simple wrap out of a long piece of stretchy fabric. Elliott loved it and so did I; but I found it a bit inconvenient to get all wrapped up when we went out. I went back and studied the thrift store ring sling. I decided to cut the rings out of it and proceeded to use them to make my own sling. I had so much fun doing it I haven’t stopped since! Now I sell my slings, along with a few other things like baby leg warmers, tutus, onesies and bibs with ties on them in my etsy shop, www.kangaroobabe.etsy.com.

A little bit about my slings:

My slings are made with two layers of 100% cotton. I use aluminum sling rings from SlingRings.com. These sling rings are non-toxic. They are not welded so they have no weak points and they are tested to hold up to 250 pounds. I do multiple stitching at the weight bearing seams for added strength and durability. Ring slings are great because they are fully adjustable; no sizing is necessary. They are convenient to throw over your shoulder and slide your baby in. They can be used from newborns to toddlers in several different positions. The different carries are the cradle carry or the newborn carry, tummy to tummy, front facing or kangaroo hold, hip carry, and back carry. When worn properly the fabric will spread out across your back and shoulder to distribute your child’s weight.

Babywearing takes practice so don’t get discouraged if you don’t get it right the first time. YouTube has tons of great videos on how to use a ring sling; that’s how I learned. Stop by my blog, www.kangaroobabe.blogspot.com, to read about the benefits of babywearing.

Now Jennifer asked me if I had a preference on fabric before she sent me one, and from looking through her etsy store, I could tell anything she sent me I would love. She uses some pretty cute stuff! And let me tell you, the blue and green paisley she sent was right up my alley! So pretty.

But the rings.

Oh those rings.

For some reason they just looked confusing to me.

So I set it down in my office for a few days before giving it a go. And Jennifer must have somehow sensed I needed help, because I got an e-mail with all sorts of links to you tube videos showing how to put it on and put baby in. After watching a couple short clips, I was ready to go!

It did take me a couple times to figure out the best way to put the baby in, but once we got it, we got it! I’ve used it while making dinner and of course, I’ve used it while out shopping. And the one thing that always struck me as being in the way (the tail that hangs down) isn’t in the way at all! Plus it can be very useful to use as a nursing cover while nursing them in the sling! Cool huh?

Now, all ring slings are used in the same manner. It’s fabric and rings. But let me tell you, this one is easy to use, and the quality is fabulous! This woman can sew. Seriously, I am constantly impressed by what these crafty work at home mama’s can do! This definitely doesn’t look like something I made, the stitching is perfect, and it feels like it could last wash after wash.(the only reason I’m holding her was because right when I went to take a photo she started bobbing her head all around and moving like crazy!)

So, if you’re in the mood or looking for a ring sling, check out kangaroobabe! You won’t be disappointed!

*oh – plus she has some other cute stuff in her shop too, like tutus! And I soooo hope my little girl is into tutus, cause she’s gonna have one as soon as she can walk!

Here’s a little ditty from Michelle:
My parents named me Michelle and I became Lloyd when I married my husband nine years ago! I married an Australian and had the privileged of living in South Australia for the first 5 years of marriage. We had 2 boys there, now 7 and 5, then we moved to the states. We’ve lived in my hometown of Spokane, Washington for 4 1/2 years now and are surviving the winters…..barely! We have since had 2 baby girls, now 3 and 20 months.

It was after the birth of my 3rd child that I discovered the benefits of “baby wearing”. She was an extremely fussy baby. I felt that my whole life was spent on the couch nursing, and I was struggling to find a way to keep her happy and get anything else done in my day (including meaningful interaction with my boys) That is when I happened upon a sling and I never looked back. I researched other carriers and eventually landed on the Mei Tai. One of the things that attracted me to it was that I could easily make one myself and thereby change the look as much as I wanted. I loved it at first for the convenience, but have come to appreciate the wonderful benefits of having your baby so close so much of the time.

It was with the birth of my last child that I started making the carriers for other people. First, as gifts, and then I started selling them to friends who had one and wanted to give them to someone else. I never imagined I’d be selling them to people I didn’t know, let alone people all over the country! I named the company Jellie Babies after my daughters – Josephine and Ellie – and chose the butterfly symbol simply because of it’s beauty. I work out of my basement, mostly in the evenings when the kids are in bed and my husband is working on the computer.

The Mei Tai is something I love, but I realize there are many carriers out there and people have their own favorites. That is why I get so excited when someone else shares my enthusiasm for this carrier. I try to use designer fabrics, patterns that I love or imagine someone else will really love. I make all my carriers with sturdy, breathable, cotton twill and line them with Minky or twill, depending on your preference. I triple reinforce the stitching where straps attach to the carrier, which makes it durable. I have a carrier I used for both my girls and it’s still going strong. It does take a few times practicing to get it all down, but now it’s fun to put my toddler on my back, secure her with the straps, and head off down the grocery aisle. I hope you like the Jellie Babies Mei Tai as much as I do!

When I first got this in the mail, I was immediately impressed by the quality of the fabric and construction. And the fact that it had lightly padded shoulder straps! I wasn’t expecting that and was very pleased to see it. I also loved the fact that it’s lined with super soft Minky fabric. How awesome is that?

The instructions she sent me were easy to follow, though she’s right – it took me just a couple times to really get it right. Sophia seemed very comfortable in it and proceeded to fall asleep right away. Something about being carried right up against me knocks her out every time! The carrier keeps her very secure and I never once felt as if she would fall out. It’s also light weight enough to where neither one of us get to hot. I do normally put her in it while sitting down though. Makes it easier for me at this point, but I’m sure one day it’ll be so second nature that I could put it on in just a couple seconds standing up. I had it tied under her bum for awhile, but have since noticed that she stays put better (doesn’t slouch) if I tie it at her back.

I’ve since used it around the house during the day and also at the grocery store. And I’m actually able to get this review because she’s in it! It’s been easy to put on and it’s also nice that I can take it off while she’s sleeping without disturbing her to much. The only downside I’ve noticed with this type of carrier (each type has it’s own!) is that again, the straps are long and I worry about getting them dirty when I put it on out in public.

All in all it’s a great carrier and really good quality. So if you’re looking for a Mei Tai for yourself or as a gift for someone else, check out Jellie Babies and support handmade!