Allowance

Today in church during Priesthood/R.S. we talked about tithing. That brought up the idea of teaching our kids, and allowing them to gain experience paying tithing, which naturally led to the idea of allowance. This has been a subject my husband and I have talked about extensively, and it was again discussed at dinner tonight. What it comes down to is we have no good ideas how to give our children money to practice paying tithing. We have a few years before the idea of "allowance" becomes an issue, but it's something we hope to reconcile before Greta reaches the age where she can ask for money, and have a grasp on how to spend and save. We know we want to give her money to use, but we don't want to end up teaching her that she can get something for nothing and/or that she'll get paid for doing the things that she's expected to do as part of a family (i.e. chores). So we're at a loss.

What are your thoughts? Did you receive an "allowance" growing up? How do you plan on giving money to your children so they can learn the essential skills of money management and the blessings of tithing?

"How old is she?"

How do you label your babies after their first birthday to people who ask their age? Do you still do it by months?

Surviving Public Bathrooms

I have an aversion to public restrooms. I hate them and will do a lot to avoid them. However, I had the most pleasant experience at one this week. Our local mall is totally family friendly. They give out crayons and coloring pages to the kids, have a play area for kids, the food court and play area have hand sanitizer dispensers and I discovered their bathrooms recently. Mall bathrooms are usually nothing to rave about. But this one is. I walked back to the bathroom area and the entry is a sitting area with comfy couches and several changing counters with all the amenities for diaper changing. The mens and women's rooms are to the left, but to the right there are two nursing rooms and two family bathrooms. The family bathrooms are the coolest. They are normal bathrooms, plus a miniature toilet, sink and hand dryer close to toddler height! Plus, they have one of these. It's a fold down wall seat to keep your kid in one place if you need to go and don't have a stroller, etc. I think these are so cool. And much better than the other option (see the cute baby to the right) I found while searching for a pic of a wall-mounted chair. So for someone who holds it at all costs until she gets home, I was quite pleased with how family friendly this bathroom area was.

When you gotta go, you gotta go, but what are your essentials to having a pleasing public experience???

I'm on the hunt...

Hi Ladies,
I need your expertise in the sweetest, cheapest, "best deal" baby shopping department. Last month we found out that our little #2 is a girl. We are totally and completely thrilled, but I feel less prepared for this teeny little one than I did with our son, being that I have lots and lots of boy stuff, but little to no sweet girly stuff. Lately I've been searching for warm clothes for the arrival of our little bundle of joy and have yet to find even a basic onsie for less than $5-10. I know lots of you ladies are the mothers of girly girls, so I was hoping you'd be willing to share any hints or tips you might have. Like lots of you, we're working on a budget here, so the less expensive the better.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Just when I started to feel like an "expert" in this mothering thing, another exciting adventure enters our lives. I love it!

And the winner is...

The winner of the Peekaboobaby nursing cover is....

Trenda!!

Congratulations!!

Visit Peekaboobaby, choose your fabric, and then e-mail Julie at julie@peekbaby.com

For another chance to win, visit this post on Tales from the Crib!

Many thanks to Julie!!!

Last chance

Tonight is the last chance to sign up for the Peekaboobaby Freebie. Spread the word!! Tell your friends about Peekaboobaby!

Blogging templates

Hi all,
I have checked out some of the contributors blogs and I have to say they look so good! I have been wanting to spruce mine up a bit to make it more personal but can't seem to get beyond a basic template offered by blogger. So how do you all do it? By that I mean change the background, etc. I have searched on the web for some tutorials and haven't found anything that is easy to understand. I have a basic knowledge of html, if that helps. I would appreciate any tips or hints!

Wednesday Weekly

If fat calories, cholesterol, etc. weren't an issue, what three name-brand foods would you feast on?

The Wonder Wash

So this is something I never thought I would do-- hand wash my clothes. But when we moved into an apartment without a washer and dryer, costs quickly were adding up to do our laundry at the apt. machines. At a $1.45 per wash and then another 1.45 per dryer load and doing anywhere from 3-5 loads a week, we were spending from $9-15 a week on laundry, which turned into the lovely amount of $36-60 a month! That is awful on our student budget!!!

In order to save money, we found this amazing little hand washing machine. It costs $43 at http://www.laundry-alternative.com/ and is great! You put in your water, your detergent, then your clothes, turn the crank for 2 min. to wash, drain the water, then rinse, and voila! clean clothes! Here are the advantages as listed on the website:

-Washes a 5-lb. load super clean in just a couple of minutes.
-Has a patented pressure system that forces detergent into the fabric at high speed for a fast, efficient, economic and very easy wash
-Is ideal for campers, single persons and even for the housewife with small frequent loads like hand washables and diapers.
-Is ideal for delicates such as woolens, silks, knitted dresses and cashmere garments.
-Uses 90% less water and detergent than conventional washing machines.
-Uses far less water than even hand washing.

I still do our under garments in the conventional washing machines along with Margaret's clothes. But everything else is done by hand. We can't hang clothes outside to dry so I either take my wet clothes to the dryer (at least I'm saving half the cost of doing laundry!) or wring them out really well and hang them on our makeshift clothes drying rack inside.

At times I feel like a pioneer and get excited about our new found way of saving money. But I do admit, sometimes I get overwhelmed at how quickly laundry piles up and the fact that I have to spend about 30 min of my time after Margaret goes to sleep doing laundry (just about every other night). But it's a budget saver for us and therefore is worth the extra effort to me!

Shelf-life of herbs

Does anyone know how long fresh, store-bought herbs like rosemary or bay leafs last in your refrigerator? I couldn't find an exp. date, just a "sell by" date.

Hi Everyone!

Hello! I'm Jenny Lowe (aka Jen... I added my last initial to my name since I see there is another Jen). I'm really excited to be apart of this blog! I've been reading for about 2 weeks now and figured I should just join :) I know quite a few of you from MI, and I used to live above Lindsay and Nate at the Living Center.

I've been married to Michael for almost 2 1/2 years, and we have a beautiful daughter, Margaret. She is 10 1/2 months old and a JOY to have in our lives! Earlier this month she started standing on her own, so we're getting excited for those first steps to happen. She loves dogs (that was her first word other than "ma ma" and "da da") and calls everything from squirrels to deer dogs. But I love being a mommy, and I'm so blessed to be able to stay at home with her!

We currently live in Ithaca, NY and LOVE it here! The saying is "Ithaca is Gorges" and I think you can see why at right. This is my favorite gorge/waterfall. Michael is attending Cornell for his PhD in Chemistry. So we'll be in the area for about 5 years. But the area is fantastic, and I could live here the rest of my life! If anyone plans a trip to Palmyra, let me know! We have lots of floor space :) That's our temple district and we're about 1 1/2 hrs away.

I love cooking/baking, sewing, canning, camping, being outside, finding new ways to save money, reading, painting, photography, being with Michael (which is rare these days), and of course, spending my days with Margaret. I currently teach piano lessons and studied vocal performance at Central Michigan University.

I think that's about it. Anything you want to know, just ask :) OH!! I read in a past post (from april I think) that someone has a brother serving in the New York Utica mission... well we live in that mission! I'm sorry, I can't remember who wrote the post but what is your brother's name? Maybe we'll meet him :)

Don't Forget!!

It's the last week in September so be sure to tell us about your favorite products! And be sure to sign up for the freebie below-the winner will be announced on Thursday!

Happy Fall Day!

I love Fall! I got out my fall decorations a few weeks ago-couldn't resist- but it's finally here! I love the crisp air and pumpkins and changing leaves and the humidity finally going away! It may not feel a lot like fall where you are (it's 80 degrees here today but the leaves are already changing!) but celebrate, change is coming!! This year, I'm determined to take my toddler to a pumpkin patch and go apple picking. I've never been! What do you love about fall? What do you like to do in the fall??

Alligator Chopper

I searched high and low for an easier way to chop onions (including the Pampered Chef food chopper, which apparently works for everyone but me), and finally found this at Crate and Barrel 4-5 years ago (it's still there--I checked). It's a bit pricey at $20-30, and there are cheaper ($10) versions now at Bed Bath & Beyond and Target which may work just as well. However, if this ever breaks (which honestly seems impossible, other than the little self-cleaning screen that eventually cracked in one spot because we kept bending it to put it in the silverware containter in the dishwasher), I would happily plunk down $30 for a new one--and that's saying a lot from me! :)

Oreo Cakesters

So this might be a silly product review, but if you're like me, you've seen these and wondered, hmmm, are they any good? The answer is yes! They are soft, yummy chocolate cookies with the good-ole-don't-think-about-what-it's-made-of white stuff inside! My mom in law bought us some and we enjoyed them thoroughly. Do they replace oreos? Nope, but they're good in their own right. 4.5 stars

A room mate in college taught me to make homemade oreos and they are so yummy. So if you just want to make your own:
Mix:
1 chocolate cake mix
3/4 cup shortening
2 eggs

The batter will be thick. Roll into balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Cook at 375*F for 5-8 minutes until they crack. Make sandwiches with your favorite frosting and enjoy!

It's time for a freebie!

Do you want to win a Peekaboobaby Nursing cover with your choice of fabric??? Post a comment here!

Thank you so much to the generosity of Julie Sivley, owner of Peekaboobaby. These products rock!

The winner will be announced Thursday, September 27!

Sewing machine dilema

(I apologize before hand if you already read this on my personal blog...but I thought it would be fun to get some more opinions)


So I have been searching for quite a while now to find a machine. I have looked online and done my own research and thought I knew what I wanted. I have saved about $250 now, but have learned that just might not cut it.
I am a beginner, so I don't need the very best, but at the same time I would like something that I could use for a long time too....
I went to buy this Singer machine online that had like 36 great reviews and then waited for some reason. I saw the same machine at Walmart and got a little skeptical.

The lady cutting fabric said, "Oh I wouldn't tell my worst enemy to buy a Singer" and then told me that it was once a great company and then sold out to another company and has just gone down hill ever since.

So...back to square one. I know Pfaff and Bernina are the best, but what if I don't have $600-$800 to spend? Do any of you like to sew, and if sew (haha) what do you have or recommend to a beginning sewer?

Wednesday Weekly

If you had your own talk show, who would you have on your first show?

Need an opinion...

Other people have done this, and it seems like a great way to get a lot of honest, unbiased opinions from women in my age group, with similar interests! So I'm asking for your help! Ok, so here's my dilemma:

I work part-time as a nurse. As many of you may know, our country is faced with a nursing shortage. So, like many other hospitals, ours has an employee incentive for referring new nurses. If you refer a nurse who ends up working for our hospital, you get a nice bonus, in two installments. Part of it after 3 mos, and the rest if they are still working there after a year. A gal moved into our ward last year and started asking me questions about getting a job at the hospital I work at. I actually spent a fair amount of time helping her get a job in my department: talking to her on the phone, talking to my manager, talking to the interview committee, and helping her with her application. She got hired, and now works in my unit. Yeaaa! Since then, we have kind of become friends as well. A few people think that you should split the bonus with the person that essentially, helped you get it. But it's hard for me not to view it as a blessing from Heavenly Father, for paying our tithing, and to help us get through a rough spot. I can see splitting it if the person is trying to get a job at your hospital and says, "Hey, I'll put your name down and we can split the bonus..." But neither of us really knew about the bonus ahead of time. I was honestly just helping her get a job, which is what it's set up for. Anyway, maybe I'm justifying it in my head, because I want to keep the money! That's where you come in. I was thinking more along the lines of giving her a gift certificate to a restaurant, for her and her husband to go out. What do you think" Lame? Since we have become friends, I want to keep her as a friend. Am I wrong for thinking the money is mine??? Be honest!

Beds

When did you move your baby (or babies) out of the crib? What did you move them to next?

A New Throne

Any good recommendations for a good potty chair? My 19 month old is young, but so fascinated with me going to the bathroom, I figure she might as well sit with me rather than just stare at me! :) She's showing all the early signs-hiding to go to the bathroom, she tells me when she's pooped and actually brings me diapers and lays down to get changed when she feels wet! The research I've done so far loves the baby bjorn chair but I thought I'd see what those of you who've done this before have found works well.

Check out Peekbaby.com!

Ladies!

Peekaboobaby has recently renovated their website! It looks fabulous, is easy to navigate, shows off their To-Die-For CUTE products, and displays all of their various adorable fabrics.

Julie Sivley, owner of Peekaboobaby, has given me permission to display some of their pictures in this post.

Peekaboobaby makes fantastic nursing covers and even burp cloths to match. They allow nursing mothers to breastfeed in public in comfort...and with STYLE! Seriously, you have GOT to check out the fabrics.



Check out this part of the site to view the features of the nursing covers some of which include that they are machine washable and breathable, include a small pocket in the corner, can double as a lightweight blanket or sun cover for baby, and more. It even comes in a darling organza bag with product card--if you want to give it as a gift, it's all set for giving!



Stay tuned to Sugar & Spice next week for your chance to win a free Peekaboobaby nursing cover...

Goin' Green!

In Stephanie's blog below, there were a few great hints on "green" cleaners, so I thought I'd throw my two cents in! I'm a huge fan of vinegar and water (I do usually put a couple drops of dish detergent in it, just for scent and suds--I doubt my Palmolive is eco-friendly, but I'm okay with it). For scrubbing the sink/tub/oven, baking soda is the way to go (not with the vinegar, just with plain water--ever make a volcano in science class?) However, vinegar and baking soda do a great job of cleaning the garbage disposal--they break down all the fats and oils that build up. (Run a few ice cubes in there every few months to sharpen the blades, counter-intuitive though it may seem.) I wondered for a while if I was just being cheap, but Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook backs me up, and I love that my toddler and preschooler can "help" me clean, with no worries. Plus, vinegar, baking soda, and water can all be part of your food storage, so in an emergency, you can still have a clean house! ;)

Here's a great article I found that talks about how and where to use vinegar and baking soda, as well as lemon (which I'd never thought of, but which totally makes sense): http://housekeeping.about.com/cs/environment/a/alternateclean.htm

As a non-green aside, although I've read that vinegar and water can be used to clean glass, I can never depart from NAME BRAND Windex--nothing else compares, in my humble opinion. Also, I love Lysol Power toilet bowl cleaner (blue bottle). I've tried a few different toilet cleaners, but this is the only one that gets rid of major hard water stains (as in "I never thought that'd come off!"), which was a big problem for us in our last apartment.

Okay! I will now close my epistle.

Avenue Jeans

I found the perfect jeans four years ago. Last week, for my birthday, I took my old, ratty pair in and told them I hoped they still existed! As a plus-sized Mom, finding modest clothes isn't really the hard part-most of us want to cover up! :) The tough part is 1) finding things that are affordable-the more fabric, the more money, I guess! and 2) finding things that are youthful looking! I have had randomn successes with Old Navy and Kohl's and I used to work at Talbot's Woman during grad school and found a few things there (when they were heavily clearanced!) However, I have found one place where the pants ALWAYS fit and there is ALWAYS a sale and they send out regular, addictive coupons! I Love Avenue Denim Lite Jeans!!! They are cute, stretchy (always a plus in my mind), light-weight, and sooo comfortable! I just put on my new ones today and it didn't even feel like it had a waistband! Hooray!! I give them 5 out of 5 stars, so if you're not skinny like me, you gotta try these!

Magic cleaning products

Ok, so my product reviews probably aren't anything new to you. But these two things are must haves for me and keeping my house clean (or as clean as possible.) I use Soft Scrub for EVERYTHING. My favorite thing to use it on is our kitchen sink. It's white porcelain, and I hate it! It's impossible to keep looking nice, but Soft Scrub does the trick! I use the kind with bleach, and then I feel like it "de-germs" it as well. I've used it to clean sticky stains, my bathtub, etc. It's a great general cleaner!

The Magic Eraser is truly magic. If you've never tried it, you MUST. With hardly any scrubbing, it literally takes away every spot and mark on your wall. There were spots that I thought for sure were scratches or something that would never come off, and they did! My walls looked like they had been freshly painted after I used it the first time. Love it, love it, love it.

Both 5 stars in my book!

(p.s. I'm always open to other good cleaners if any of you have some you love, I'd love to hear about them!)

Wednesday Weekly

What is the best gift you have ever given?

Fall Premiere Week is coming!

I'm going to admit it. I watch too much TV and I enjoy my share of shows. I'm a longtime LOST addict-I'm bummed they won't be back for a while but hoping that means I can catch up with their competition and another favorite, Medium. And for me, of course, Grey's Anatomy . Some of the new ABC shows look good too. I like Christina Applegate (is that her name?) so I think Samantha Who? looks fun and I'm fascinated by the Pushing Daisies. I'm also intrigued by a few of the NBC shows like Bionic Woman and Chuck.

Any other TV junkies out there? What are you looking forward to?

Six years ago today

Where were you six years ago today? What were you doing when you heard about the planes colliding with the Twin Towers and the other plane going down in Pennsylvania?

I was a senior in high school. I was getting ready for seminary (we had early morning seminary before school) and I was listening to the radio and going about my business as usual. I remember the DJ saying that a plane had flown into something, I didn't catch what or where, and I thought "oh man....that stinks" or something like that. I wasn't really paying attention. I sat down in my seminary class and the others were talking about the attack. I thought "Oh my gosh, that must have been what they were talking about on the radio!" At school all of my teachers had the TV turned to the news so we could see what was going on. I think thats all we did that day in each class, watch the news. We all wanted to know why it happened. I got home and turned the news on. My Dad and I watched the news that evening and we wondered what my Mom was going to do! She was with her best friend in England and they were supposed to return a few days later. We were worried that she wouldn't be able to get home or worse ... she would start to come home but not make it all the way. Thankfully she did!

It's hard to believe that six years have already gone by. I'm sad for those families that lost loved ones on the attack. I am thankful for the men and women protecting our country and other countries. I am very thankful that families are eternal.

Flushable moist wipes

I give flushable moist wipes 5 stars.

I never used flushable moist wipes until I married my husband. When he started asking me to get those at the store, I thought it was kind of strange and was a bit bummed to add the extra dollars to my shopping list. But now I'm hooked.

He uses a celebrity endorsement of Will Smith to defend his use of flushable moist wipes: "Will Smith was seen on a talk show, (I think on Oprah) at some point, and the subject came up that he uses wipes instead of toilet paper when he goes to the bathroom. He gave an analogy saying that if you had poop on your arm, what would you want to use to clean it off, a piece of toilet paper, or a wet wipe??"

I bought Cottonelle or Charmin or something for awhile until I realized I could save like 75 cents a pack by buying Target brand (usually found in the "Incontinence aids" aisle by the Depends) or Walmart's Brand: Equate. We've been just as happy with those brands. And we buy the refill packs, not a new box every time. They are $1.27.

If you're avoiding extra purchases, you may want to pretend you didn't read this e-mail, but if you think it would be cool to feel extra clean after you go #2, flushable moist wipes are for you!

ELF Product Review

We received a great tip on a great deal on makeup a few weeks ago and I want to know what everyone thinks of their new makeup! I got mine last week so some of you must have yours by now.

A few things I learned in the mean time. I did a search for ELF and Nordstrom and the only thing that came up was a rumor control report that said that ELF had been shown on Oprah but was not connected to Nordstrom or Bloomingdale's and never had been. hmmmm... not sure if my source was correct either, but it was interesting.

When I got mine, the first thing I noticed was one of the things I ordered was not there. There was a sheet that said they were out and I'd be credited for it. Not back-ordered, just no more of them. Then, I went on the website and it said it was still in stock. hmmmm..... The next thing I noticed was everything looked smaller than it had online. But that was no biggie-the stuff was only $.50 for crying out loud!!!!

I am not a big makeup person. Makeup for me is a Sunday or date affair. I'm not a makeup expert. I stick to mascara, eye shadow (sometimes) and lip gloss. This time I ventured out for some coverup though-once, again, $.50!!! Yeah, things looked smaller and the lip gloss doesn't taste good (my very expert quality test!) So, since I don't know much about makeup and since it was such a good deal, I wasn't expecting much either. So I was not disappointed!

Things I liked: good colors on the lip glosses and eye shadow, the mascara worked fine (my current mascara was four years old, people!) and it was only a dollar!!!! Even the cheap stuff at the supermarket is 3 or 4 dollars and this was only a dollar!!!!

What did you think? How many stars?

How Much Sleep?

My little one is an awesome sleeper and has been from the getgo. She's now 19 months and usually sleeps 11 hours at night and 3 hours during the day. I know, I'm very lucky! My latest email from Baby Center was about how much sleep babies need . I always find this interesting. It took me a while to learn that when babies are having trouble napping, going to sleep, they're often OVERtired. So when we interpret them as "they're obviously not sleepy yet" we're often wrong. It's that they are so wound up from being tired, they can't settle down.

Last night this exact thing happened to us! M didn't get her full nap yesterday as church is right in the middle of her nap (gotta love 11am church on Sundays!) So she was short on sleep and smart us, we'd let her stay up late Saturday night so she was extra short. Sunday evening, we had friends over for dinner, and she was wound up but exhausted and lost it! Weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth galore! We finally got her to bed at 8 only to have her wake up at 9, 10, 11, and 5 this morning. This is sooooo unlike my girl. And when she woke up, she was not to be consoled unless I rocked her. Since this is so uncharacteristic of her, we immediately worried she was feeling sick, but she woke up right as rain. Just tired! Hopefully today is one of those two-nap days! :)

Underwire Bra

Can someone remind me why a pregnant/nursing mother is advised against wearing underwire bras.

Artful Blogging

My MIL gave me Artful Blogging Magazine about bloggers who display their art on their blogs. It makes my little photoblog seem pretty simple. It was fun to look at though and gave me some good ideas. At the back of the magazine, it talked about "Blogging Etiquette". I thought some of it was interesting, so I thought I'd share it here.

"Whether you have a blog yourself, or you just enjoy reading them, there are a few rules-a code of conduct if you will-that can help make the experience more pleasant for everyone. You'll probably discover that every blog has its own set of expectations about proper behavior, but here are some basic Do's and Don'ts that will ensure you're welcome everywhere you visit.

Do: Comment on a post if you found it enjoyable or moving. Bloggers love to hear when their efforts are appreciated.

Don't: Make comments that are irrelevant to the post or hte site in general. A lot of readers find comments that have nothing to do with the topic disruptive to the conversation in process.

Do: Respond to people who leave comments on your blog, either in email or by visiting their blog, if they've left a link. Visiting and commenting is essential to buildign that valued sense of community.

Don't: Comment anonymously. This is considered the height of bad manners in the blog world: if you can't own up to your words, maybe you should keep them to yourself.

Do: Link to another blog when you mention it, especially if you are reposting any content. It's only fair to give credit where it's due.

Don't: Link to someone else's images. If you must show something in your own blog, upload the picture to your own server before displaying it on the Web. For extra points, check with the origianl poster to make sure it's OK if you use it.

Do: Let your readers know if you're to be away from your blog for a while and tell them when you'll be back. That way, they won't have to keep checking back to look for a post that doesn't appear.

Don't: Ask someone to link to your Web site or blog. Instead, invite them to visit and comment on something you've posted.

Be thoughtful. Be courteous. Be kind."

I think we're pretty relaxed here at S&S, so some of this doesn't apply. I like that it encourages comments, because it's made me be more bold to comment on sites that I like to read so they know who I am (I got up the guts to comment on a girl's blog in NC this morning-no clue who she really is but she does great crafty stuff!).

Wednesday Weekly

What is your favorite cheese?

Cutco Knives

My favorite kitchen "gadget" is my knives. My husband was a Cutco salesman for about a month way before I met him. It was long enough for him to amass a collection of some of their best knives for his demonstrations but not really use them. Hooray for me! Cutco knives are the best. They never need sharpening, they're lifetime guaranteed so if they break or do need sharpening, you send them in and they fix them or send you new ones. My favorite is my chef knife (see right). I use it for EVERYthing-I often wash it several times during meal prep so I can use it on my meat and veggies because it chops everything well, cuts through everything like butter, including tomatoes. My Mom has a whole set and says they're expensive (one more reason I was thrilled to "inherit" them!) but she gives them to my brothers one by one for Christmas to make it more affordable! I give them 4.5 out of 5 because they're awesome but I will hate to ever send them in and not have them if I have to get them fixed!

Swiffer WetJet

I give the Swiffer WetJet 3.5 stars. The product itself I truly give close to 5 stars, but I rated it less because the accessories add up in price. For myself personally, a woman who has never enjoyed the mopping process, the price is totally worth it and it works for me because I don't have a whole lot of tile floors to mop (so I don't have to pay for replacement stuff too often). Swiffers are so easy and incredibly user-friendly. The bottle of antibacterial liquid slides right into the wand and you just plop a pad onto the bottom. I usually run my vacuum across my kitchen floor first and then swiffer away. It sprays with a button you press on the handle and then you just wipe it up. It dries quickly too. You have to pay for replacement pads (there's like 6 per box), bottles of liquid, and occasionally AA batteries. That's the downside to the Swiffer.

Baby Bjorn Bib 4.5 Stars

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this bib. My husband is a crazy researcher about everything we buy and he researched this bib and saw that it had the best reviews and so we bought it and LOVED it. (Here's the link to the amazon page with reviews.) We tried the plastic-y bibs before, but they were SOOOO hard to clean and they gave my daughter a rash around her neck because I could never get them clean enough. Plus, they didn't have an adjustable neckline, so the food would go right through the top of the bib and get all over her clothes anyway. Dumb.

Then, I tried this sweet, sweet bib. It has an adjustable neckline, which is great! It's impossible for her to pull off, which is great. It is SOOOOO easy to clean. You just wipe it off and you're good to go. I love that! The tray catches all food/liquid ever (seriously...well, most of it at least...kids are still sneaky!). Anyway, the reason that its not a full five stars is because it doesn't cover the tops of her arms, so she still gets food on the sleeves of her shirt. But that only happens when she touches her sleeves with her dirty hands. So anyway, this is a product that I love. If any of you are searching for a bib--this is the one. It's a little more expensive...but definitely worth every penny!

Product Spotlight September

All September long, please post your reviews of products: new products you've tried that are or are NOT amazing, products you've had for years and can't live without, etc. The sky's the limit in terms of what type of product or the price range. Please give your product a score out of 5 stars at the top of your post! Happy September!