Saturday 29 December 2012

“Monthly Gifts of Awesome?” SIGN ME UP!!

According to their website, “Littlefox is a monthly online subscription service of fun, modern, sustainable, eco-friendly baby clothing & gear,” also known as “monthly gifts of AWESOME!"
 The concept of a monthly subscription to baby clothing and gear was a totally new concept to me: I had no idea they existed. Suddenly, nearly overnight, pretty much ALL the crunchy mamas I know online were RAVING about a Littlefox and I had no idea what they were talking about. They were described as, “monthly gifts of awesome.” Ummm, I’m awesome, my kid’s awesome, we like awesome things... why weren’t we in on this little secret?!

I soon contacted Christine from Littlefox and I was greeted by amazing customer service, patience and the answers to all my questions. Turns out that she had tried other monthly subscriptions of baby clothing and gear (yes, apparently more than one of these exist), and was sadly disappointed. She then thought to herself, “I can do better than this!” Shortly there-after, Littlefox was born.

Two days after Christmas, our Littlefox package arrived at our US P.O. Box (don’t worry Canadian mamas, you too can subscribe to Littlefox without a P.O. Box, just contact them in advance). Subscriptions are available monthly for $37.95/month, in an auto-renew manner that will deduct from your PayPal each month before the 15th until you cancel your subscription. Subscriptions can be cancelled at any time. Yearly subscriptions are also available with a one-time payment of $455.40/year. Shipping is included in your set price, so that’s pretty cool too.
Once I arrived home with our little box o’ awesome, daddy and R quickly got to work at opening up the package and discovering all the fun that lay inside. First up with the December Littlefox t-shirt. The size 2T fit R perfectly, unlike many other 2T shirts that are often too wide or too long, it was seriously the perfect fit, and the design was AMAZING. Look at that little fox over there, looking all... foxy. R soon found the Tegu blocks. For those that don’t know, Tegu blocks are natural wood blocks that are also magnetic. Perfect for the toddler who is still developing his fine and gross motor skills!

Next up came the slubbed jersey aviator hat from Coyuchi made of 100% organic cotton. Sadly, the cap was too small for my child who’s head is literally off the charts. I was not worried at all though, because my 3 month old nephew is going to look adorable in it AND I can slip it in his Christmas present before we see them next week! WIN/WIN!

 Mr. R then discovered the Hulababy Bar from Sweet Knee, a certified organic, vegan and gluten-free baby soap. It smelled awesome, lathers up great and got our dirty little toddler squeeky clean! Finally came the reusable food pouch from Little Green Pouch that is BPA free and dishwasher safe. We have tried other brands of pouches and squeezes and my 18 month old still can’t really figure them out. This he was able to use with ease, he just needed a bit of help squeezing the pouch. A word of advice when filling it, make sure the cap is screwed on, otherwise, it *may* squirt apple juice up your sleeve.... The best part about the pouch is that Little Green Pouch totally has recipes on their website! BONUS!

Last but not least, my favourite part of our first box of awesome from Littlefox, was that immediately after opening the package, putting on the t-shirt and exploring all the cool new products, R ran to the kitchen, grabbed the dustpan and started cleaning the house. You heard it folks, Littlfox packages inspire your children to clean the house!!! The ULTIMATE dream product for every tired parent sick of a disorganized home.

So I’m going to give you the website with a warning, don’t be sad when you too decide how amazing this product is and try to sign up only to discover that monthly and annual subscriptions are Out of Stock. I have a secret for our new readers: stay tuned to the website from January 1st to January 15th and more subscriptions are being released!! Littlefox is also on Twitter and Facebook and there is even a BST and Chat page for subscribers to trade products and chat about how amazing their packages are. Thanks again to Christine for allowing this mama to attempt her first product review.


FindLittlefox

Friday 28 December 2012

The Day Our “Free” Kitten Became No Longer Free

This is Neil, short for Neil Catrick Harris. Last spring, my kitty of 7 years, Lilly, didn’t come home one day. I was devestated. She was the second cat I ever owned and my first taste of adult responsibility, before I even moved out. I bought her, cared for her, paid all her bills and we were the best of friends. She used to follow us on walks around the neighbourhood. She even “heeled” better than the dog (pictured here in the background). After 6 weeks had passed and still no Lilly AND our wedding had passed (this was a “we can’t get another cat until this event has happened” deadline for hubby), we decided to look for a new kitten. We wanted it in time for R’s first birthday and we wanted it cheap. A friend soon advertised that her aunt had a kitten and the mother free to a good home. We went to look at the kitten, and, the rest was history, he came home with us.
Look at those ears!! Who could resist those?! R fell instantly in love with him and hubby decided to name him Neil, short for Neil Catrick Harris. Things were great. Neil passed his vet examinations and was fitting in with the family. There was a slight hiccup when he got neutered in November and the vet office learned that not “ALL” cats don’t require stitches or a cone after being neutered... yah... but for the most part, Neil was a great companion to our toddler and our 75lb Lab-Bernese Mountain dog, Daisy. Then, on Christmas Eve, Neil caught his first bird. Neil was then seen eating his first bird. Then Neil was seen puking, not eating, not drinking and just lying around. Not that it wasn’t nice that he wasn’t climbing the furniture and Christmas tree and constantly trying to steal R’s food every moment, but we knew something was wrong. 

How wrong you ask? How about $580 wrong? Lesson of the day: don’t let your cat eat birds. Birds are dirty and carry diseases that can result in Bird Toxicosis and you may need multiple blood tests, x-rays, anesthetic, injections and antibiotics to find out. Lesson learned.

Wednesday 26 December 2012

So the World Didn’t End and I Got Presents

My accomplishments for the week are as follows:

  • Survived the apocalypse.
  • Survived my second Christmas as a parent.
  • Went for a run with my dog.
  • Saw The Hobbit and only had to take 2 self imposed intermissions.
So we were a little excited about R’s first Christmas as a mobile, talking, expressive little boy. Last Christmas was different, he just kinda lay there, smiled, rolled over and pooped, all dressed up like a little Christmas blob. It was very cute, but this year, this year would be different. 

His BIG present from Santa was a solid wood train table with 200 pieces. A lot of people thought we went a little overboard, but what they don’t know is that a certain teacher mama had enough Scholastic coupons to pay for almost half of said table. AWESOME. 

Christmas eve came and we went to “fetch” all the gifts to lay them out under the tree (and of course wait for Santa to arrive). This is when it struck us: an 18 month old was not going to get very excited for an oversized box, too big for Canada Post to deliver or even help carry to the car, REGARDLESS if there was an amazing train table inside. So the constructing commenced... and lasted a couple of hours. Friends even came by to partake in holiday wine and helped assemble the masterpiece.

The next morning, at 5:00am, the magic of the super, amazing, best gift ever, train table *may* have ended up second seat to a certain first tricycle from *certain* grandparents and it *may* have been the second thing R played with, BUT he was soon zooming the train cars around the tracks. I think if R has his way, he’ll figure out how to sit on the tricycle and reach the train table at the same time, that would be his utopia.

Monday 24 December 2012

Where it All Began

So where did this story begin? Like so many others, it began with a few too many Long Island Iced Teas, two attractive single people and a common love for Wales, Trevor Linden, motorcycles and adventure. We danced at a local establishment until it closed and then went with friends to Denny’s for 3:00am breakfast. After, he came back to my house and we talked until 6:00am! 6:00 in the morning, TALKING, who DOES that?! The following month, after only 6 weeks together, we vacationed in Waikiki and talked of marriage. Friends called us crazy, so we decided to wait.


We had been together for just under a year when THIS happened. Yes, there’s two tests there, because CLEARLY the first one, the pink, might not ACTUALLY have two lines, so CLEARLY a 2nd trip to the drug store was needed for SOMEONE to pick their OWN brand of test.... 

A couple of panicked phone calls and some visits to various family members later and we began to prepare for PARENTHOOD, dum, dum, dummmm (cue music). I quickly learned that I knew NOTHING about babies. Upon hearing I was pregnant, a friend, shopping for her sister-in-law’s baby shower, asked me what a receiving blanket was. OBVIOUSLY a pregnant woman would know the answer to her question. Well, that was easy I thought, it’s for catching or “receiving” the baby in when it’s born... duh. I had A LOT to learn.