A baby monitor is an essential piece of equipment for any mother.  I remember the night that I finally stopped sleeping on the couch, right next to my newborn daughter in her bassinet and instead, slept in the adjoining bedroom to her nursery.  I was so nervous that I was going to miss something, that I might not hear her cry out, that she might get wedged in the corner of her crib, etc.  A mother's worries never end, right?

I remember depending so heavily on my baby monitor to alert me to every one of Riley's coos and cries.  Now that Riley is older, I still depend heavily on my baby monitor.  I like to know exactly when she gets up from a nap and when she's having trouble falling asleep at night.  I also find it extremely entertaining to hear the little "performance" that she puts on every night before she goes to sleep.

{Read more about that in an earlier blog post of mine entitled, "The Beauty of the Baby Monitor"}.  I honestly never thought about having a VIDEO baby monitor before and I definitely jumped at the opportunity when the folks from Safety 1st asked if I'd like to give the True View Color Video Monitor a try.

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Every new mom worries about EVERY thing regarding their baby.  I constantly want to make sure that I am doing my absolute best by my daughter.  I also happen to be extremely concerned with the state of our environment and try to be a smart, environmentally conscious consumer too.

Thankfully, Seventh Generation is a company that takes those same goals to heart.  They have created an entire line of completely natural products to be used in our homes, that are also good for the environment and for our loved ones.  I was very excited to review the Natural Baby Starter Kit from Seventh Generation!

PRICE: The Seventh Generation Natural Baby Starter Kit retails for $70, and includes everything you see here:

• Seventh Generation Recycled Bag
• Natural Paper Towels (120 sheets)
• Baby Wipes Tub with 70 wipes
• Baby Wipes Refill
• All Purpose Cleaner
  
• Disinfecting Multi-Surface Cleaner
• Disinfecting Bathroom Cleaner
• Disinfecting Surface Wipes (35 pack)
• Natural 2X Concentrated Baby Liquid Laundry Detergent (50 oz.)
• (4 packages) Baby Diapers, Stage 3 (35 count)
  

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Summer is around the corner and now that Riley is walking and running all over the place, I know that we will be spending ALL of our time outside!  I'm a little concerned about this, because here in Texas, summer time means a TON OF SUN TIME!  I have really fair skin and Riley seems to have inherited that from me.  Also, her father has a history of cancer in his family, so I can't ignore some startling statistics:

• 1 in 5 Americans are victims of skin cancer
• 90% of skin cancer is caused by the sun’s harmful rays

Sunscreen is great, but I'm always so afraid that it will be rubbed, sweated or washed off.  I'm also fearful that I will miss some spots when applying the sunscreen or forget to reapply it when it's time to.  For these valid reasons, I'm so glad that I got the chance to review the SunSkinz girls' short sleeve rash guard shirt.

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Ever since Riley became old enough to use a sippy cup, we have had problems in one way or another.  First, we started with the cheap sippys from Wal-mart and they were horrible.  The lid was ridiculously tough to get off and on and the valve would come out any time the cup was bounced or dropped.

Next, we tried using the Avent sippy cup inserts for our bottles.  Riley used Avent bottles the entire time I breastfed her and so we thought that maybe the sippy insert in the top of her bottle would work well, since these were her favorite bottles.  The result?  I've never seen anything leak or crack so badly.

Unfortunately, Riley has a habit of throwing her sippy cup on the floor when she doesn't want to eat any longer and I'm pretty sure all of our bottles are cracked or broken in one way or another.  Then, I was contacted by Tommee Tippee to review their new explora truly spill proof sippy cup and I thought, "A sippy cup that can stand up to all of the abuse that Riley dishes out?"  I've gotta see this.

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Ever since Riley was born, I have been frightened by the possibility of SIDS and have tried to do everything in my power to prevent her from succumbing to it.  One of the most popular things I knew to do was swaddle her when she went to sleep.

Newborns love being swaddled because it stops them from waking themselves with their sudden, jerky movements, and because it helps recreate the snugness they felt in the womb.  Once Riley outgrew the newborn stage, we moved on from swaddling blankets to sleep sacks.  She is such a wild sleeper though, ending up in every part of the crib at one time or another during the night.

Using a sleep sack instead of a blanket, was the only way I felt safe to keep her warm.  I've always heard that a baby can easily get wrapped up in their own blanket and suffocate themselves.  Riley absolutely loves her sleep sacks and even associates them now with sleep itself.  She knows that when she is being put into her sleep sack, that it's time for bed or for a nap.  I'll admit though, that Riley has never had a quality sleep sack before, and so I was very excited to be able to review the aden + anais muslin classic sleeping bag!

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