One of my favorite blog discoveries recently has been Pediascribe. Pediascribe blog is the blog behind the podcast, Pediacast. Pediacast is a pediatric podcast for parents. I havent’ had the chance to check out Pediacast just yet but I will be adding it to my Ipod ASAP. I’m sure it’s just as great and informative as the blog.

Pediascribe, a humorous and informative family blog,  is written by husband and wife team, Dr.  Mike & Karen.  Right now Pediascribe has a $20 Amazon Gift Certificate up for grabs. All you have to do to enter to win is comment on their blog or write a review just like this for an extra entry. Don’t forget to check out their latest podcast, Night Terrors, Colic & Lead.

HBO’s Franklin and The Turtle Lake Treasure is a charming and educational DVD for kids of all ages. Of course, there are themes on death, illness, and growing old so you may want to watch this movie with your child to explain what is going on if they have any questions.

Movie Summary without spoiling it! Franklin and his friends goes on an exploration to find the treasure of Turtle Lake in hopes to cure his aging granny’s illness. This Franklin movie is a little more in depth than the regular Franklin cartoons and it’s longer too!
Franklin and The Turtle Lake Treasure goes on sale May 22, 2007 in stores and online. You can also place a pre-order on Amazon.com for only $12.99

Overall, we gives this fun movie a thumbs up! If you and your kids are Franklin fans, you are going to enjoy this movie too!

And, now I present you with our first ever Video review from amomsreview.com. This video review features my 6 year old son and his take on Franklin & The Turtle Lake Treasure. It’s a sweet & endearing video indeed!

Video Review Here

We are also giving away 5 copies of this DVD over at the ContestForMoms.com “mom blog”. Click on over there and leave a comment for your chance to win!

I came across a really unique online baby boutique called Alex Casey Baby. Alex Casey Baby presents a simple boutique like shopping experience offering whimsical yet functional upscale baby gifts and necessities all in one place. To look at all the items, visit AlexCaseyBaby.com today.

I received the Sippy Rocket, a molded mini sippy cup cooler, for my toddler a few days ago and we love it! It’s cute, stylish, and functional! I love carrying it around! You can even fit your favorite 12 oz canned beverage in this mini cooler. At 3 inches wide, this cooler can fit almost everything out there that doesn’t have handles.

We give this product a big thumbs up! Alexcaseybaby.com is offering our amomsreview.com readers $9.50 off shipping when they enter code AMR in the promo box during checkout! So go on over to AlexCaseyBaby.com There is something one of a kind for every mommy & baby.

If you are like me, you love reading and you love reading to your child. You know how important it is as well as how entertaining it can be. However, there are many parents out there that don’t realize this and need an extra boost in reading to their babies and toddlers. Reading with Babies, Toddlers, and Twos is a great guide book on reading. This book can help you choose when, why and what to read to your baby, toddler or two year old child. It’s also an excellent reference book for parents who already love reading to their child. In essence, this book is a great guide for new parents as well as parents who’ve been reading to their kids for a while.

This book offers up book suggestions based on several categories such as books for bed time, books for sharing, potty training, art for babies, books for first day of school, books for a pet dying, and book lists for many more things! Some of these book suggestions can be used for older kids too.

I’m fond of all of the different book lists and suggestions. There are so many great books that I hadn’t heard of before that I know both of my children will love. I’m going to look around today to see if I can find a few books off of the book lists!

The Fun Book For Moms by Melina Gerosa Bellows,editor of National Geographic kids, was sent to me for review. The Fun Book For Moms offers 102 ways to celebrate family.
While reading through the book, I found myself laughing at some parts and giving a silent “me too” at some of the truthful feelings presented by the author in the beginning of the book. The fun book for moms gives readers fun ways to celebrate their day to day life with kids. There are many simple activities as well as extravagant activities from watching a thunderstorm to taking your child shoe shopping in Paris.

One of my favorite ideas from the book is on page 69. It says:

“Regard Your Children as Buddhas sent here to teach you the lessons you need to learn in life. Lessons kids are Zen Masters at:

Living in the moment, trying everything, never holding a grudge, never judging, and being curious about the world”

I’m glad I was given the opportunity to read and review this beautiful book. You can order the hardcover book from National Geographic for $12.95. I give this book a big thumbs up! Additionally, I think it would make an excellent Mother’s Day gift.

I’ve used the busybodybook and loved it! It’s a great resource for moms! And now I have the Busybodybook Fridge Grid Pad. You can put this family calendar on your refrigerator and pencil in all of your important events, appointments, activities, and even your home business deadlines like I do. You can also do whatever you want with the extra grids because the busbodybook fridge grid is undated and blank. You get to put in the dates and what you want in the columns so the possibilities are endless for how you want to use this magnetic fridge pad! I love mine and use it for a lot of different things!

You can order the busybodybook fridge grid pad for $11.95. You can also get the 2007 busybody book planner for only $6.78. Tha’s 60% off the original price.Wow! Go to busybodybook.com to place your order today!

CVS Pharmacy & Playskool have teamed up to bring Moms a new line of innovative baby care products. These products can be found on the CVS website as well as in the CVS Pharmacy stores nationwide.

Now when parents pick up a prescription at CVS Pharmacy they can also pick up diapers, wipes, bottles, and more baby care products.

I was recently given the Toddler Insulated Flip Top cup to review. This cup has an easy to hold design. It also has a soft silicone straw that is gentle on toddler’s gums and teeth. The great thing about this cup that is boasted about on the package is that it’s spill proof. Liquid only passes through when the child sips. Many sippy cups say they are spill proof but I’ve experienced that most aren’t spill proof as they say. However, I can vouch for the Playskool flip top cup truly being spill proof as my son used it as his water cup in bed.

My 2 year old son instantly fell in love with the flip-top cup and design. Since he liked it so well, and since it performed so well I have nothing but praise for this straw sippy cup. It also keeps cold drinks cold like the package says and we think that’s great especially since the warm weather is on it’s way.

Overall, we give the Playskool flip top cup an A+ rating for being one of the better sippy cups out there. This cup is currently the only cup our son will drink out of . At the low price of only $3.99, you can stock up on a few of these cups. Use them in your home, during traveling, and keep one at grandmas house.

Come back again this week to see our review of a few more of the new baby care playskool products line at CVS Pharmacy. Better yet, go to your CVS Pharmacy today and see what they have to offer. I’m sure you will be pleased.

Since our son is allergic to many foods, peanuts being one of them, we have had a hard time finding yummy snacks and something similar to a peanut butter sandwich for him. Until we came across Nutella in the peanut butter aisle at our local Food Lion.

Nutella is a chocolate hazelnut spread much like peanut butter.  Our 2 1/2 year old son absolutely loves this stuff and eats at least one “chocolate sandwich” daily. The rest of the family loves it too, even me.  You can eat it with fruit, on a bagel, or as a sandwich.
At around $3.00 for a 13oz container, it’s a good deal since many allergen-free foods are much more expensive.

There is some peanut oil in the product but it goes through a hot extraction process and is generally non-allergenic. Our son has a mild peanut allergy and he tolerates Nutella really well. However, I strongly suggest you talk to your allergist before trying this product if you have a peanut allergy.

Overall, I give this yummy Nutella a  big thumbs up. You should try it!

K’nex is the creator of the world’s leading building sets for children. They are also the makers of the original lincoln logs. The Kid K’nex Country Friends set was sent to me for review recently. The Kid K’nex Country Friends is for children ages 3 and up. I have a 6 year old son and a 2 1/2 year old son (will be 3 in two months). Both of them enjoyed this set very well so I think it’s great for many ages.

My 6 year old was able to quickly build all of the animal ideas included in the building set as well as create animals and creatures from his own imagination. A few of his favorite creations were a snail, a cat, and the dog (the photo at the left top is the one he made). These parts are durable and easy to put together as well as easy to take apart. Each set comes with a handy carrying case. The kits and their cases are small so you can take them just about anywhere.

The soon to be 3 year old had a harder time at building the animal ideas given but he could easily put together the K’nex parts & pieces. However, he enjoyed playing with his older brother’s creations specifically the cat you see there on the left. So it was a win-win situation with these fun educational toys.

The best thing about these building sets is that it stimulates the child’s mind and encourages imagination. The ability to encourage a child’s imagination is something that many toys lack today, and that is why Kids K’nex gets a huge thumbs up from this mom.
My 6 year old son is saving his money to buy the undersea pals and the dinosaur pals.

The next time you are thinking about what kind of gift to buy your 3-7 year old child, please consider the Kids K’nex series. These sets would make a great birthday or other holiday gift for your child or grandchild. I’m so glad we were introduced to them. You can buy these toys at Knex.com. The sets range from $9.99 and up. The price is perfect and a super great deal for what you get in one kit. Another bonus is that many of these kits can be used together to make even more creatures, animals, and just about anything your child can dream up. Many of these kits can also be purchased on Amazon.com, your local toy or chain store. Go on over to Knex.com today to see all of the kits they have to offer. There is something for everyone…even adults.

I was sent the book Good Kids Bad Habits: The Real Age Guide To Raising Healthy Children to review some time back. I read the book a while ago but hadn’t had a chance to put my thoughts on to paper or to the keyboard.

Two sentences from the introduction of the book hooked me in and I knew that I needed to read this book once I had read and absorbed what those sentences were saying. Here is that excerpt,

“Kid’s today have developed so many bad health habits that they’re facing heart attacks in their 30s. Experts predict they’ll be the first generation of children to have a lower life expectancy than their parents“.

Those two sentences should be enough for anyone to want to read this book and see what it’s all about even if you already think you are doing a good job with your kids.
This book steers you in the right direction as to what healthy habits and choices your child should be making no matter what the age. Of course, most of what is in the book is common sense but it’s a great book nonetheless.

It’s a great book because you can find out how well you and your child are doing healthwise by doing the Real Age test provided in the book.

I did the test for my 6 year old son and he did surprisingly well.His overall score was an 8. Sure, I knew we were already doing pretty well on teaching our son good healthy habits but I realized we weren’t doing so swell with the physical activity part during the cold months.

When it gets cold here in our neck of the woods, it’s hard to get outside and there are no resources or places to take your kids to let them run around, play, or exercise. There’s not even a playland or anything like that. Someone needs to build one here in our small town for the sake of our children’s health. Public schools aren’t much better. Most of them only provide 1 hour per week of physical education classes. My son isn’t in school yet and when he does start, it seems like we will have less time to be physical. I guess I need to start getting more creative with physical activities. I’m thinking of buying him the Dance pad for his Playstation for cold weather and when he can’t go outdoors to get his exercise in every day.

So now, thanks to the Good Kids Bad Habits book, we know what habits to work on for our son which are more physical activities during the inclement weather and better teeth health. I admit to not making my 6 year old son floss frequently but it will become part of our routine very soon.

Overall, this book is an excellent resource for parent to have. It’s also a good way to measure how well you are doing with instilling healthy habits for different age ranges as your child grows. I’ll keep this one handy for a while.

You can purchase Good Kids Bad Habits here and I totally recommend it to all parents who want the best for their kids.