Baby Essentials Giveaway!

Welcome to the Baby Essentials Giveaway

hosted by: Thrifty Nifty Mommy and Mommys Craft Obsession

Epic Tales of a First Time Mom is happy to participate in this giveaway and wishes you all luck at winning a prize!

The Tortle

Tortle is a simple, comfortable beanie that helps prevent and treat early stages flat head syndrome: plagiocephaly & torticollis. It makes the job of repositioning newborns safe and easy. It is recommended that all newborns wear a Tortle for the first few months of life to aid in repositioning; which supports healthy development. Tortle works by gently deflecting your baby’s head when she's sitting or lying on the back of her head, to gently move her head from side to side.

The incidence of plagiocephaly and torticollis (or flat head syndrome) has increased by 600% since 1992 due to the amount of time infants spend on their back (the safest place to be). However, if left untreated, treatment is expensive and can be hard on the baby. Moreover, long term developmental delays can occur. But plagiocephaly and torticollis almost 100% preventable with repositioning, which Tortle makes easy.

2 Red Hens Rooster Diaper Bag:

The Rooster Diaper Bag is the most popular bag from 2 Red Hens. To a passerby, the Rooster bag looks like a cute purse, but look inside, and you’ll see the functionality that every mom needs in a diaper bag. With an interior zipper pocket, bottle holder and 2 elastic pockets, organization is a cinch! And, never dig for your keys again with an attached key Fob for easy access! Other features include: removable stroller straps, magnetic snap & button for extra security, water-resistant backing for easy, wipe-down cleaning, & extra-long polka-dot changing pad (26" x 12.5").

MAM Products:

Behind each MAM innovation is a perfect combination of medical and technical expertise. Internationally recognized designers, medical professionals and developmental psychologists collaborate to develop safe and innovative baby products. For this reason, MAM's mission is to provide babies with an optimal start in life and cool, easy style for their parents! At MAM you'll find lots of great BPA-Free products including pacifiers, sippy cups, bottles, teethers, and more!

This prize package ARV is $95!

Enter using the Giveaway Tools form below.  Good Luck!

Open to the US only.  Ends 8/16/13 at 11:59 PM EST.

Entry-Form

Disclosure: No compensation was received in exchange for hosting this giveaway.  The participating bloggers are not responsible for prize fulfillment.

Still no mama...

It didn't bother me when Minion's first word was Dada, after all it is easier for a baby to say and he's still a Mama's Boy so I was happy to throw Hubby a bone. At almost 13 months he now says a lot of words: Dad, Daddy, Dog, Juice, Tickle, Hi, No... and a few others we can make out that most people probably wouldn't understand. As proud as I am that he is picking everything up, I'd be be a liar if I said I'm not upset that he doesn't say Mama yet. Every day Hubby and I try to get him to say it and he just laughs, he knows I'm Mama and what it means but it never comes out of his mouth. Sigh. I'm starting to think he will never say my name. I feel strange wondering if this is normal, but I also can't help it. Call me selfish. I guess I just assumed it would be one of his first few words. I do love to hear him babble even when it's not understandable. Oh well, hopefully I'll get to hear it by 15 months.

What was your baby's first word?

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the Daddys. Any guy can be a Father but it takes a real man (& a special one at that) to be a Dad. Minion is lucky to have one of the best :-) Also Happy Day to the single Mamas pulling double duty, you deserve both days!

Timbutt2oos Review

So I've talked before about my extreme love for gDiapers (it's more of an obsession really), I just can't get enough of them. A few months ago I came across a diaper making mama in my local cloth diapering group, she makes Timbutt2oos. I "liked" her page on Facebook but wasn't sure I would ever actually order anything since I've never used anything but my beloved gs... Then I saw the galaxy print. It's beautiful and I had to have it so I ordered a pocket diaper, the mama was so nice and asked the dimensions of the inserts I currently use so that I can use them as well and she also included 2 inserts of her own instead of one.



Once I received the diaper I was in love with the print even more, so much cuter in person. That being said, I was confused as to how to get it on Minion since it has a bunch of buttons instead of Velcro like the diapers I normally use. I prepped and dried the diaper and decided to try putting it together off of Minion first, I thought I had it figured out but somehow having it on him made a difference (all of his squirming didn't help much) and I was lost all over again. The first time I out it on him it was really loose around the legs and I actually didn't keep it on him long, 1. because he needed a bath and 2. because I was afraid it was going to leak. I contacted the mama and she got right back to me explaining a bit how it worked (great customer service) I was going to take it to the sitter's with me because she uses them too but I ended up figuring it out before I got the chance (AKA before I remembered to pack it).

The next time I put it on him, I used one insert and it held up really well, he had it on for about 2 hours with no leaks. I'm not sure it was on the "right" way but it worked and there was no gaps anywhere. It is a bit bulkier then the diapers I normally use but that's not really a big deal to me. I put it to the test last night and used it as an overnight diaper with both inserts instead of disposables like I normally do, up until last night I have not been able to find a cloth combination that Minion doesn't leak though at night. When we got up this morning and Hubby changed him I was in awe, not only were his jammies and outside of the diaper completely dry but it also contained a massive messy poop. I can not tell you how impressed I am. I can't wait to wash, dry and use it again as my overnight diaper, I'd love to be able to get rid of disposables all together.

When I ordered the galaxy, I had also ordered another print which had not come in stock yet. Originally when I was having fitting issues I had asked her to make it into a wet bag for me instead because I didn't think I was going to get it to work out, sadly there were some issues with her source and the print was unavailable. I was offered a refund or to pick another print, I went with the refund just because we were short on cash at the time but now I really with I had ordered another diaper. I figure if I have at least 4 that would be enough for nighttime and maybe I'll get a few more and put them in my daytime rotation. I'm hoping by the end of the summer to never have to buy disposables again! I'm not sure how happy Hubby will be about that but that's my goal. HEHE.

Mama Love Giveaway!

Epic Tales of a First Time Mom is so excited to bring you an amazing Mama Love event for moms and babies.

Hosted by: So Sew Mama

We have put together two separate prize packs for you! One for the pregnant/new mama and one for the cloth diapering mama! There is over $300 in Prizes up for grabs!

This contest is being hosted by the awesome So Sew Mama, be sure to check out her blog and send some love. Thank you.

Mama and Baby Prize

$50 gift card to LePetit Mon Ami on Etsy. Check out So Sew Mama's review!

$25 gift card to The bird and elephant on Etsy

Maternity Gown from Mommy Moxie! A $60 Value!

$25 Gift card to Pink Blush Maternity! Read the review!

Momo Baby Soft Sole shoes! A $19 value! Read the full review.

Jack and Lily Soft Sole Shoes! valued at $30. Check out the review.

Fluffy Mail Prize 

earthLINGZs AI2 Hybrid diaper. Read the full review at So Sew Mama.

 Dreaming in Cotton Cloth diaper! Read the review here at So Sew Mama.

Brown Cow Cotton diaper shell. Read So Sew Mama's review!

(please note that the diapers are probably more girly.)

This giveaway will be live from June 12 to June 24. you must be 18 years old or older to enter and live within the US. no P.O boxes. All additional entries increase the odds of winning. Please leave the best email to reach you in the rafflecopter. Winners who do not respond within 48 hours will lose their prize and the runner up will be emailed. All entries are verified by Desiree. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway * Disclosure: Epic Tales of a First Time Mom and So Sew Mama was not compensated for this post. So Sew Mama received the mentioned products to review, all views are 100% So Sew Mama's. This blog and participating bloggers are not responsible for prize shipment. I am disclosing this due to the FTC guidelines. If you have any questions or wish to have your product featured on So Sew Mama, please contact Desiree. 

Party Planning

Minion will be 1 in a month! I can't believe it, where has the time gone? We decided to so "The Notekins" from Baby First TV for the theme since Minion loves music. For a while that show was magic, if he was crying and it came on...he instantly stopped. That doesn't work now of course but he still loves it. The show teaches pitch, harmony, tempo and more all while entertaining with gentle music. I think I have a future musician on my hands and I love it. It's kind of hard party planning when your theme is not common enough to find in any stores but that also means I have to make most of the decorations which will save us a ton of money. The Notekins each stand for a different music note and are each a different color so I'm going to get plates, napkins, plastic wear etc. from the dollar store because they have all different colors that way I can just mix it up to match the theme. Most of the decorations I should be able to make with my Cricut which will take a lot of time (and I don't have much to spare) but I know I will get exactly what I want that way. The invitations were easy. I just Google image searched The Notekins and added the party info to the one I liked best on Photobucket, a friend of mine has a connection at Staples and offered to print them out for me free of charge.

One of the hardest decisions was figuring out where to have the party. I don't really want to have it at our house because my family is huge so even planning for immediate family (which to me means aunts, uncle and cousins) is a lot. We also don't have any entertainment for the kids and I always get nervous that someone will let the dogs out (our yard is not fenced in), we also can't really afford to rent a place out. We finally decided on a park near the river with a pretty nice size playground. It has covered tables and bathrooms, basically everything we need. We were originally going to bring the grill but are now going to get hoagie trays so no one have to man the grill for the whole party. Of course I'll make potato salad and all too.

A few months ago I had a vanilla gDiaper customized from Paint Spatter Designs by Audrina Leigh Zaczyk and it's been so hard not to put it on him but I've been to afraid it will get messed up. I had a second one made too (which has also not been on the butt yet), Audrina is so talented, her shop is closed now because she just had a baby but I'm hoping she opens back up soon because I need some more of her work. She has a Batman design I'd love to get my hands on.


This is the birthday diaper.


And this is the other one. Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my obsessions.

I have not picked an outfit yet... I suppose I should get on that. I suppose I could make him a shirt as well now that Cricut has iron on fabric.

I'm both excited and sad about his birthday. I don't know where the time has gone, I feel like he was just born but I love watching him learn new things. He's definitely a Mama's boy but he gets a little more independent every day, except of course when he's teething like the last couple of days. In one month my baby boy will no longer be an infant but a toddler. I'm not sure how I feel about that, my baby is growing up.

Mama Love Giveaway Event

Mama Love Giveaway Event
Blogger Opp

June 12 - 24

Hosted By: So Sew Mama

Some of the awesome prizes are sponsored by:

First Prize: For Mama & Baby

Jack and Lily Foot Wear

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Momo Baby

Bird and Elephant

Le Petit Mon Ami

Mommy Moxie

Second Prize: Cloth Diapers

Dreaming in Cotton

earthLINGZ diapers

Brown Cow Cotton

Still adding more prizes! If you want your product featured please contact Desiree.

Free Twitter link with announcement post!

Additional links available for purchase.

Co Host spots and Host pages available.

For more info, and to sign up for this event go to this form.