Can't get a man to make your coffee, get a robot!

Some tasks can feel so overbearing; washing dishes, vacuuming, making coffee....

Well here is a little buddy to help with at least one of those tasks- a small robot that makes coffee for you! This little manga inspired robot was created by a person in Japan who goes by the name of Clockwork who did a great job marrying cute with coffee.

If you want to get techincal and have an idea of what makes this robot run here is a tidbit. (And I won't lie...I have NO clue what it means, but it doesn't mean it's not important....I guess)

The robot is a reduced version of Kondo KHR-2HV and it uses 20 digial KRS-788HV servos plus one GWS-PICO-STD servo motor and they are all controlled by a PCB located in the head.

Wine + Chocolate = Happiness!

How could it not? And thanks to the Dove website, they've even paired wines with chocolate to get the best flavors and enjoyment out of the two when paired together. Here are some notations on what they feel is fitting:

DOVE® Silky Smooth Milk Chocolate with a Merlot or a Tawny Port. The Merlot adds a substance and body to each silky smooth taste, while the nutty Tawny Port brings out the creamy caramel flavor hidden in each bit e of DOVE® Milk Chocolate.

DOVE® Silky Smooth Dark Chocolate - With a subtle, fruity Ruby Port. The essence of a dark chocolate like DOVE® - with its notes of red fruit, plums, cherries and vanilla balances perfectly with a glass of sweet port.

Visit Dove for more info!

Welcome to the movies, mom!

Tired of hearing your friends talk about that movie that just came out that you've been wanting to see but your babysitter canceled at the last minute or your kid is now sick which forces you to sit at home and watch Kung Fu Panda on HBO....again??

Well wait no more! We now have the golden opportunity to watch movies as soon as they hit the theater! Baby Pictures lists theaters that are geared towards a parents enjoyment by listing complexes that not only host the movie showings but accommodate us by being stroller friendly, having changing stations and even managing to adjust to lighting and sound so the baby isn't bothered by the sonic boom of Transformers!

Take advantage and take your baby or kids with you to see movies that are out now in a participating theater near you!

Go here for listings of theaters near you!

Yellow Pages Booster Seat

Your kid still can't reach the top of the table yet? Don't spring for that fancy booster seat or high chair (Bloom high chair, anyone?) Instead go with tradition and grab the Yellow Pages! No, not that free one that you've neglected at your front door, the one that's available at Perpetual Kid for $20. This foam formed Yellow Book replica even has a hand-crafted butt-print for your young one to sit comfortably at the table...and with such style!!!

Falling Leaves Cinnamon Martini

Here are the instructions on how to make!

4 ounces premium vodka
1 ounce Grand Marnier
2 ounces Goldshlager, refrigerated
2 cinnamon sticks
Ice

Combine the vodka and Grand Marnier in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously until ice cold. Strain into martini glasses and then add Goldshlager (we don't want to leave the gold in the cocktail shaker with the ice so we add it to the martinis after they are strained).

Garnish with cinnamon sticks. Serves two.

Finally! Porn For Moms!!

Maybe not the porn you were expecting, but it'll definitely get your emotions off with sweet, dreamable quotes that we all wish our boyfriends or husbands would say.

Here are some examples:

"Now, remember, it's my turn to do the midnight feeding, so don't get up!"

"I'll do the dishes."

"I'll take care of the baby, you're working." (A quote from MY boyfriend!)

The Pregnancy Guide Instruction Manual

If you enjoyed the Baby Starter Kit, you will definitely enjoy the Pregnancy Instruction Manual, jam packed full of helpful information from fertilization to birth and is sure to make for a great gift or good for personal use.

You can buy it easily on Amazon for about $14.00!

Baby food recall for possible Botulism

Plum Organics is recalling its apple and carrot flavored baby food for fear of botulism poisoning. The California-based company announced the recall Tuesday morning, saying the product did not meet FDA requirements.

Read more here.

Cute costume....but what the hell is it??

Ok so I've found a reasonable amount of wacky baby costumes while searching for one for my son, and have actually come across some that are..well...friggin adorable! The problem is I don't know what some of them are! Here are a few that I found:

What the?.... It's a?... Uh...Duck-baby-man? Oh the MorningStar mascot!

Kids! I don't know what's wrong with these kids today.

One of my favorite songs from the great movie Bye Bye Birdie. And if you haven't seen it you need to rent it immediately!

*This clip is even subtitled!!! Awesome!*

Finally, a baby starter kit for dummies....that means us...

When you think you've received all the advice you can from doctor's, your parents, and friends...your baby goes and poops something bright orange or better yet not at all for days. Don't forget those special days that you go to pick him up and he has a nice pile of hot surprise waiting for you in his chair. Or now that he's beginning to teeth he chews on everything he gets a hold of... EVERYTHING- such as cords, body parts (yours), shoes and more. (Thanks son for providing such useful examples.)

Now you can free your mind and the rest will follow with this starter kit about babies. The kit contains:

• The Baby Owner’s Manual
• Growth Chart, with stickers for marking baby’s progress
• Diaper Changing Instructional Poster
• Babysitter’s Memo Pad
• Decorative magnet

and more!

If not for yourself, definitely a handy gift for the expecting. Go here for more info and price!

Items we love - Combi Pod Bouncer

What better than a good ole' two-fer: have a safe fun place to put your baby and listen to your favorite songs on your iPod or MP3 player. The bouncer has a hammock style seat design with 2 position recline, removable toy bar with three wooden toys and a built in sound and vibration unit and with a price tag averaging $70 you can't really go wrong!

Taga Stroller

While extremely versitile and futuristic looking, this stroller/bike combo is only available in Europe and costs a steep $2,500. But it's definitely fun to look at.
www.taga.nl
Read more here, too.

Chicago- Transit raises unFare (get it??)

So last year we had a fare increase that went from $1.75 to $2.00 per ride and a decrease in transfers. Now we are being threatened again with a fare hike to a preposterous $3.00/ride and even increasing the 7 day pass from $23 to $30 dollars! Chicago, jeez! You already put a higher tax on alcohol and snack food so now I can't afford to drink away my sorrows or binge on junk food, now I can barely afford to take the bus to work...or to the store to buy the overpriced booze!


How sad that site will be, me riding a bike with a basket full of wine, chocolate...and my baby! Please, CTA, save me the embarrassment!

..... I don't want to look like this mom....

For a city that was ready to invest almost $3 BILLION dollars to host the Olympics, it's astonishing that they are about to bleed our pockets dry for us to try to travel in the city. Chicago is also working hard to become a very green city, though if these changes were to occur it would cause more people to purchase cars therefore adding to the pollution of the city....and the world! Considering Chicago used to be deemed one of the fattest cities in the states, maybe this is some underlined tactic to get people to start walking more. Now THAT would be impressive.

More Costumes- The Edible Baby

So it's one thing to have your children dressed as cute pumpkins or a pea pod....but when did baby costumes, such as a slice of pizza, become the rave?? Here are some costumes that I've found that brings reality to the saying "So cute I could just eat you!"

Healthy = Autism?

Recently at work after updating some friends on my son's 6th month check up and how he braved all of his shots, I was informed by a designer to be cautious of the shots that are given now because certain ones are causing autism in children. He explained that he has a friend that has a son whom after a particular shot the next day he was blank behind the eyes and soon after he was diagnosed with autism. Of course when I asked him which shot his friend is claiming caused it he had no idea, which caused me to be both nervous and weary of this news.

Until...later that day I talked to a co-worker who said that she has a friend who has had that same claim and has even noted that Jenny McCarthy wrote about it in her book Louder than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism about her son. From what she told me the shot that is causing this is the mumps, measles and rubella shots, the very shots that are needed for children to attend school.

Apparently the worry started in the late 80's and is continuing today though there is no conclusive evidence that they are linked, there is also nothing to prove that the shots do not cause it either. Since 1994 when the shots became mandatory, there has been a raise in autism diagnoses.

I started to look up this information and this is what I was able to find:

Studies cannot link MMR to autism
If MMR caused a significant fraction of the rise in cases of autism, one would expect that its introduction would have been associated with a jump in autism cases. Studies have examined this question in both California and Britain. In neither case has any link been found.

Far from being covered up, the MMR/autism hypothesis has been intensively studied. One of the authors of Wakefield's original paper has recently stepped forward to say that "There is now unequivocal evidence that MMR is not a risk factor for autism -- this statement is not spin or medical conspiracy, but reflects an unprecedented volume of medical study."

The parents of autistic children are some of the most courageous and dedicated in my practice. I can only begin to grasp their level of frustration surrounding the many uncertainties that attend the cause of autism. The studies admittedly cannot disprove that MMR has ever provoked a single case of autism. But they do show, unequivocally, that if this has happened at all, it has happened only extremely rarely, and cannot begin to account for the rise in autistic cases that has caused so much distress. There is no doubt, on the other hand, that the dangers from measles itself are real and well-documented.

What are your thoughts?

t

Another not-so-good baby Halloween outfit!

Funny Baby Video!

Some videos that I think are hilarious!

Top 10 things to do in Chicago

1-The Sears Tower
2-Deep Dish Pizza
3-The Art Institute of Chicago
4-Millennium Park
5-The Signature Room in the Hancock Building.
6-The Museum of Science and Industry
7-The Field Museum
8-Shedd Aquarium & Oceanarium
9-Chinatown
10- Chicago Hotdog

What do are your thoughts?

Huggies, Pampers and Luvz, oh my! The big diaper decision

The big diaper debate!

Since having my first child I have pondered many questions: What should his temperature be? When does teething start? Why does his poop change to so many colors? Then while on the topic of poop comes the big question: What is the best diaper to use? Having a baby who blows through about 100 diapers a month makes is easy to test the different brands to see which can uphold his mighty hole.

Between leaking, beading, tearing and major spillage, finding the right diaper can be a challenge! Here are the brands that I have tried and others that rated by other moms-

5th Place
Target-
While target might be home to all of the brands that are being reviewed, in my opinion the make the worst non-brand diapers on the market! While they are inexpensive, one good poopie diaper will show you why. They fill up very fast and are very bulky. Now that my son is in the size 2 category, it always seems that they are out of stock when I walk in the door!

4th Place
Luvz-
Now I have tried these back in the day when my sister was a baby and they were no good. While pregnant I had asked other moms about them and apparently the design and quality of them haven't changed in the last 15 years strangely enough. Apparently when they fill up they tear and leave beads on the baby's tush. While on their website they do not offer any samples, supposedly they offer a money back guarantee for their ultra leak protection.

3rd Place
Walgreen's-
While is this being recently determined due to a quick diaper run to Walgreen's a few weeks ago, I must say that they are actually not that bad! While my son works hard not to disappoint and supplies consistent dirty diapers, Walgreen's' diapers have stood their ground well! Generally if you buy diapers from Walgreen's they have pretty good sales for the middle of the night buy. I was able to buy two bags of 40+ diapers for buy one, get one 50% off! 80+ diapers for less than $15. That's a pretty good deal.

2nd Place
Huggies-
Huggies actually isn't terrible. The problem with Huggies is that they are very plastic-y and and seem to bunch up on the sides of his thighs. However, there is a brand of Huggies called "the softest" which I bought, yes, at Walgreen's which was lived up to it's name and was pretty soft. And to make them even better, I got them on sale!Huggies also offers free samples of their Pure and Natural brand. Having had posted this coupon on MITC before, I received mine in the mail and it consist of three diapers and a plastic diaper baggie. These diapers are very nice with a soft texture and cute little pictures of Pooh bear (oh the irony- there is "Pooh" on the diaper!) So my final analysis of the Huggies brands would be this:

3rd- Original Huggies
2nd- Huggies "The softest"
1st- Pure and Natural

1st Place-
Pampers Swaddlers-
While I have already planned on using Huggies before I gave birth, it was further confirmed for me when it was what was given to use in the hospital just after his birth. These were also suggested from moms right before my son was born and when I started to use them in the hospital I saw why! Not only are they extremely absorbent, they are also very soft, quilted feel and seem as comfortable as a wearable toilet can be for the baby. The other benefit to Swaddlers is that there is a stripe in the front that changes color when the baby wets him/herself. While there are no samples on the website, they do offer a "Changing Diapers for Dummies" tidbits in the details of the diapers. The one downfall to these are that they are the most expensive out of the bunch, but if you are looking for quality diapers, these are for you.

Here are some reviews on diaper labels from ezinearticles.com

Seventh Generation is one of the few alternative diaper brands that has recently gained popularity by the environmentally conscious. This diaper product is chlorine free. They are also non-toxic and not irritating to a baby's skin. Not only are these chlorine free diapers less harmful to the environment, but they are also gentler to a baby's sensitive skin.

gDiapers are the last diaper brand I'd like to highlight. This baby product is very Earth friendly in that it is a flushable diaper. This is possible because they are made up of biodegradable ingredients that break down in years, not centuries. This alternative disposable diaper brand offers a lot of convenience, less smell, less garbage and no guilt.

What are your thoughts? Do you have a diaper you deem to be the best?