Lexie Rose Saves the Day for Fashion-Forward, Car Seat Toting Parents

Car seats - essential, but pretty darn ugly. They get even worse when you transition from the infant car seat to the monstrous toddler seat. As if it wasn't bad enough that we had to lug a stroller, diaper bag, toys and baby around! You would think that car seat manufacturers would have put some more thought into aesthetics. Oh well. I guess I should just be grateful that the seat is safe and will protect my baby.

That said, I am still fixated on appearances...which is why I was overjoyed when I came across Lexie Rose. Named after their daughter, this line of seat covers are super cool, chic and comfy. They are universally-sized to fit most infant and toddler car seats and they don't interfere with any transportation safety regulations. And to top it all off, they are also washable! So don't worry if your tot spits up or spills something on the cover - it'll all wash off!

Check out all the styles at www.lexierose.com. My personal favorite is the diva dot print!

In the unlikely event of an emergency over water...

We drive long distances, we live in busy cities, we walk around at night, we fly all over the world... The reality is that we do not live in a particularly safe world. I always knew that, but (possibly due to my naïveté and belief that we were all invincible) I never gave much thought to how the whole safety issue. That said, I am much more safety conscious now that I am a parent.

I thought that I was pretty much covered since we bought the usual things, such as a car seat, baby monitor and a bunch of child proofing products. But after talking to a friend of mine, I realized that there was at least one more crucial thing we needed to do: We needed to organize our emergency contact information. After all, what if something happened to my husband and the hospital was trying to reach me. The hospital would have to root through his wallet in hopes of finding the proper phone numbers, etc. I don’t even know if my husband has anything in his wallet with our home number on it.

So, to make a long story short, we came across an organization called Emergency Contacts. Their mission is to make it easy and convenient for people to ensure everyone in the family carries enough information to ensure fast communication in the event of an emergency. Emergency Contact offers annual family memberships for $34.95. The memberships include:

1. A complete family ID kit
2. A 24/7 emergency call center
3. Secure and convenient online member account access

The ID kit is different from any other type of personal identification. It doesn’t have personal, private information about you, your family or your emergency contacts, rather your information is stored on an encrypted database so it remains secure and private. This means that your profile is never accessed by anyone except our emergency agents and only in the event of any emergency.

I know it’s not pleasant to think about the worst-case scenarios in life, but now that you are a parent you really should think seriously about the type of contact information your family carries. The Emergency Contacts membership is good because everything is already organized for you. It’s affordable and hassle-free. For more information check out www.emergencycontacts.com

Elegant Baby Adds Flair to Baby Products

If you haven’t noticed, pregnancy and parenthood is hipper and sexier than ever before! Our good friends Gwyneth, Britney, Ben (Affleck) and Brad (Pitt) have proven to the world that parenthood can be quite fashionable. In fact, it’s a great excuse to go shopping and Elegant Baby is a great place to start. They really know the importance of adding flair to the functionality of baby gear – After all, they have been around for 40 years.

You can get a bunch of personalized gifts and keepsakes as well as cute blankets, nursery accessories and bath time essentials at www.elegantbaby.com. My favorites are the polka-dotted piggy bank, sea squirties and the indispensable medical kit.

The sea squirties are as much fun to use as they are to say. They will quickly become your baby’s favorite bath time toy.

It’s never too early to teach your tot the value of saving money. The polka-dotted piggy is a fun way to squirrel away your coins and it’s a great accessory in any nursery.


We have two of these medical kits – one in our nursery and one in the under seat bag of our stroller. The kit is equipped with all the basic stuff you need to care for your baby, including a:
- Medical spoon
- Nasal aspirator (which is particularly useful since our tots won’t grasp the concept of blowing their noses until they are around 3 or 4 years old)
- Plastic coated nail clipper (another useful tool since baby nails grow faster than weeds)
- Digital thermometer
- Water-filled teether (need I say more?)
- Comb and Brush

Check out the entire Elegant Baby line at www.elegantbaby.com.

Keeping Baby Feet Cute One Step at a Time

I don't know about you, but my favorite parts of my baby are his feet. His little toes and his chubby ankles are beyond cute - they are almost edible! And for the last 11 months, I have allowed my son to wiggle and crawl around barefoot as much as possible. His feet seem to have a personality of their own and it's always a joy to watch them explore and react to their new environment. But now that he has started to stand and is on the verge of walking, I realize that the carefree, shoe-less days are nearing an end. The time has come to finally put shoes on my baby.

To avoid restricting my son's feet in the hard leather, orthopedic-like shoes that I wore as a baby, I set out to find shoes that are comfy and cute. I was happy to see that there were a lot of soft-leather footwear out there and I was particularly impressed by the cute styles offered by Cute Baby Shoes (CBS). Holding true to its name, Cute Baby Shoes offers a wide range of colors, styles & designs to suit your baby's unique style. I am particularly fond of the bumblebee shoes, which, in my opinion, are beyond adorable. In fact, my son’s feet may even look cuter in these shoes than they do barefoot!

And if you have a baby girl, make sure to check out CBS’s Mary-Jane style shoes in cool brocade fabric. These should be available at www.cutebabyshoes.com in mid-May.

But you should know that Cute Baby Shoes are more than just cute. There is actually a functional element which makes them even more appealing than other shoes on the market.

1. CBS shoes feature a layer of padding to cushion baby’s first steps, yet still feature all of the benefits of soft soles.

2. All of their shoes have black suede soles, which keep them looking newer longer. No more dirty foot outlines showing on the bottom of their shoes.

3. Gentle ankle elastic is wrapped with smooth leather - not cut off, exposing the raw leather.

4. Their breathable leather uppers are soft and flexible, and keep feet cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

5. They are lined with soft cotton fabric, which means no dye transfer on baby’s feet or socks.

6. Unlike some other brands, CBS has not saturated the market. This means parents buying our brand know their babies are unlikely to be wearing the exact same shoes as the baby next door. Parents purchasing a boutique item want the item to be unique, fun and fresh - Cute Baby Shoes offers that!

CBS shoes are so cute and practical that they were able to convert a barefoot fanatic like me! Check out their entire line at www.cutebabyshoes.com.

Ju-Ju-Be Bags are Smarter and Sweeter than Candy!

Sure babies are cute, but there are things about them that aren’t so great. They poop, pee and need a lot of stuff. And the last thing you want is to be out-and-about without bottles, toys, diapers and wipes. Fortunately, there are a million diapers bags on the market to help us stay organized (or at least attempt to look organized) while toting our tots around town. And better yet, we are no longer forced to sacrifice our pre-baby chic image by carrying our baby gear in anything with a Disney character on it. The real challenge, however, is finding a diaper bag that exudes style while also being practical and super functional.

Look no further! Ju-Ju-Be, a high end line of baby bags and accessories, has effectively put the FUN in FUNction. As colorful and delectable as our favorite childhood candy, Ju-Ju-Be has
partnered with DuPont to create the first line of TEFLON® treated diaper bags that repel stains. Ju-Ju-Be is also the first to include an antimicrobial treatment to kills germs, mold and fungus. Bacteria won’t have anything to grow on because Crumb Drains™ make sure that the leftovers can be left behind. Smart pockets mean that our new life as a parent is easy while memory foam changing pads keep little baby comfy. With quiet magnetic closures, baby can sleep soundly ... and that makes everyone happy.

With a variety of fashion forward prints and subtle but sassy solids, mom gets to show off her style as well as her smarts. The best part is that there is also a dad line of Ju-Ju-Be bags that help men look particularly studly while they are out with their offspring. And we all know how sexy it is too see a dad with his baby! Enough said…check out www.ju-ju-be.com for more juicy details.