Win Tickets to the Best Baby Show in Town

If you live in the Southern California area (or you love travelling to Southern California!), there is a great event coming up the weekend of April 12 and 13. Baby Celebration LA is the hippest mommy event of the year and is being held at the LA Convention Center. Baby Celebration LA has tons of great vendors, including one of our favorites, Joggermom.com.

To check out the coolest and latest gear, gadgets and fun for parents and babies/kids alike, try and make a trip to Baby Celebration LA. There will also be several col fashion shows and presentations on a wide variety of topics, such as How to Keep Your Children Safe and Sound.

Tickets are just $10/adult for the event. Thanks to Joggermom.com, (5) lucky Houses, Couches and Babies readers can get tickets for free! But wait, the (5) lucky winners get to bring a guest, so really, 10 lucky people get in for free!

These tickets are on a first come first serve basis, so the first (5) readers to leave a comment on this post along with their email address will be given the tickets.

Hurry, the competition is on!

A Road Trip with the Kids...Good for Your Marriage?

The past two weekends my husband and I have travelled in the car with our kids five hours there and back. I will be the first to admit I really dreaded the trip (of course, not as much as an airport, which is why we decided to drive!). I especially dreaded the packing and preparation. You really have to pack everything and the kitchen sink with a newborn.

While packing the car, my husband and I did get into a few tiffs and exchanged evil glares as to avoid using profanity in front of the kids. But once we got in the car and got moving, it was actually peaceful. Sure, my daughter cried every so often and my son kept wanting to change the DVD he was watching, but my husband and I actually got to talk. We even saved up some topics knowing that we would have so much time in the car.

What is so great about the time in the car is that I feel like my husband and I were able to reconnect. Not that we were ever disconnected, but in the dad-to-day craziness, sometimes we don't get around to having a good conversation. (Even if we attempt to, it is usually interrupted by my son pretending he is Spiderman and jumping off the top of the couch!)

As a result of our back to back road trips, I feel like we renewed our vows or something. I know that is cheesy, however, it makes me have that warm and fuzzy feeling inside, and hey, who doesn't need that?!?

So the next time you have an opportunity for a family road trip, go for it. Having your spouse as a captive audience for more than 20 minutes is worth it!

P.S. I highly recommend bringing a portable DVD player for the road trip if your car is not already equipped with one.

Photo courtesy of aaa.com

7 Tips to Happier Mothering

Do you ever feel like you can never do enough for your kids? If you are like me, then you may have this feeling quite often.

So what are you going to do about it?

Here are 7 tips to check out from ParentCenter.com that can help lead to happier mothering. I personally like the first one on guilt...hello!!! Will it ever go away???

Cold Seat Surprise Giveaway Winners

Thank you to all who entered the Cold Seat surprise giveaway. I must say, I was very impressed with your creativity. Without further ado, here are the (2) lucky Cold Seat winners...


Cricket who said...
Loading into the car in the summer months requires a special checklist here in sunny AZ.

Oven Mitts - checkSunscreen for any exposure to windows - check

Burn Ointment for when you touch bare skin to ANYTHING in/on/around the car - check

Windscreen to deflect skin melting hot air coming from air conditioning unit for the first 10 minutes - check

20 gallons of ice water for when your tire blows out on the scorching pavement and you are stranded waiting for hubby to rescue you and the kids from the heat.

My daughter likes Looney Tunes and she actually made the comment that "My biscuits are burnin'" a few times when she got put in her seat. For that reason alone she (and I to alleviate my guilt over her burnt buscuits) need this nifty invention. I wonder if they have considered making it in adult size yet?

and

Don and Lisa Osborn who said...
I would love to win this because I live in San Antonio and it is supposed to be 92 tomorrow--March 14th. That's crazy. I worry all the time that I am going to burn my daughter on the nasty metal buckle. I told hubby last year someone needs to come up with a cooling device for car seats. Glad to see someone beat me to it!!! Great find.

Cricket and Don and Lisa Osborn please contact us information@housescouchesandbabies.com with your shipping address so that we can send out your Cold Seat.

Stay tuned for many more fun giveaways!

How do You Pick Out Fruit at the Supermarket?

Everyone has an opinion on how to pick out the perfect fruit. To be honest, all I really care about are the fruits you can't see. You know, like cantaloupe or watermelon. Some people say you have to feel it, others say you can pick the best fruit by it's smell. I have been resorting to asking the man who works in the produce department, and lately, he has been picking out some lousy watermelon!

What do I do?

Well, first I found some tips for picking out ripe fruit...of course watermelon is not on the list, but there are some helpful hints for other fruits.

After digging a little deeper, I found a great resource that tells you what to pick, what to avoid, and how best to use your fruit. Click here for the full chart of fruits from A to Z courtesy of Cook'n Newsletter.

And, here is also a great segment on fruits and veggies from 10news.com in San Diego. Did you know that you are not supposed to put your tomatoes in the fridge?

What do you think? Do you have any sure fire ways of picking the perfect watermelon...or any other fruit for that matter? Please, please, please share if you do!

Oh, Oh, Lansinoh!

My friend, Romney, has a product that she swears by, and I thought I would share her thoughts with you. So here is it, from her fingertips to your eyes...

"I wanted to tell you that the Lansinoh breast ointment is great for so much stuff beyond the usual nipple use. I had a tube left over from breast feeding the babies and I use it as chapstick, on my cracked heals or any other dry skin disorder. After changing diapers all day and doing dishes and laundry my hands were so dry and I would put on the ointment and some cotton hand gloves and use it overnight. It is really fast at healing. If it can cure cracked nipples it can cure anything. Caution: it is greasy and will stain clothes. My mom, sisters, and mother in law all love it and carry it in their purses. My kids ask for it every time their lips are chapped. Just a little tip of what to do with that stuff after you get the hang of breast feeding. "

Thanks for the great product tip, Romney! Click here to find out all the details about Lansinoh Lanolin for Nursing Mothers - 2 oz Tube.

Do Grandma's Really Favor #1?

According to Grandparents.com, more than half of the grandparents out there think it is important to invest in their grandchild's future. In this study, it was also revealed that grandmother's love the firstborn more - well, at least money-wise.

The good news for grandchild #1...grandparents save an average of $3,150 for #1, while saving only $1,343 for grandchild #2.

If you see this as a trend in your family, now is as good a time as any to share this interesting study with good ol' grandma and grandpa!

Surprise Giveaway: The Cold Seat

Although I hate losing an hour of sleep, I do love the thought of spring and summer. But with the warmth of summer comes the stifling hot car that we must be subjected to. And car seats seem to make our babies even hotter...yet another worry!!

Thanks to Cold Seat, there is one less worry this summer. (And for many more summers to come!)

What is the Cold Seat? I am glad you asked! Cold Seat is a car seat cover that provides a safe and comfortable environment for your children during hot weather months.

By using this freezable seat cooler, you don't have to wait for the air conditioner to cool that seat down. It's ready, it's cool, and it's safe! Using freezable ice packs tucked into an attractive cover, Cold Seat provides a durable, reliable, and affordable way to protect your child from burns or other heat-related injuries. Just by covering the car seat - it's that simple!

And thanks to the maker of Cold Seat, (2) lucky Houses, Couches and Babies readers will win a Cold Seat to protect their precious cargo throughout warm/hot weather (retail value $49.95).

Here's how to enter:

• Check out the Cold Seat website and post a comment right here telling us why you would like to win a Cold Seat (creativity counts!)
• In your comment, please be sure to include your name (or blogger name) as well as your city/state/country (anonymous comments will not be accepted; obviously because we won't know who you are!)
• Post your comment by midnight PST on Sunday, March 16th.

The winner will be announced some time after March 16th, so please keep checking back to see if you are a winner! THE WINNER WILL NOT BE CONTACTED...SO KEEP CHECKING BACK!!!

Good Luck!

Stay-dry Bath Apron and Towel Winners

Thanks to everyone who entered the Stay-dry Bath Apron and Towel surprise giveaway.

And the two lucky winners are...

oharakim, who said...I, too, have a VERY active daughter and would love a Stay-Dry Bath Apron and Towel to protect myself from her wet wiggles and splashes. I hope I win!

and

Hanna, who said...I would love to win the Stay-Dry Bath Apron and Towel for my boss. She is having her first child and I would love to surprise her with this. Not many people can say that they have a great boss, but I do and I am so grateful.

oharakim and Hanna please contact us at information@housescouchesandbabies.com with your shipping address so that we can send you your Stay-dry Bath Apron and Towel.

And if you didn't win this great product this time, it's okay. Treat yourself, your family and your friends to this fabulous product! And remember, Houses, Couches, and Babies' readers receive 10% off with discount code # SP0308.

Potty Training Help

My husband and I have been pulling out our hair lately. Why you ask? Potty training!!

My son went "pee pee on the potty" for the first time nearly a year and a half ago, and we don't feel like we are any closer to having him potty trained.

And going #2 on the potty, forget about it. But I think there is hope. I just found a very interesting article at BabyCenter.com entitled "How can I encourage my preschooler to have a bowel movement on the potty, instead of in her diaper or training pants?"

I definitely had a few ah-ha moments while reading this article. For example, the author discusses something called a "toilet sit," which is basically a time when you have your child sit on the toilet just to get relaxed on the toilet, not necessarily to actually go.

I also found another great article called "Parents say: Toilet training tips." Check out this article for simple tricks that made potty training easier for other parents.

If knowledge is power, I feel at least more powerful than an ant...now!!