Wordless Wednesday: Happy Birthday to me!

I am 31 today. Bleh.

Baby me.

Me now, with my new haircut. :)

Plan Toys Trimino Bugs Review

I am a really big fan of Plan Toys and I cannot tell you how excited I was when I was given this opportunity to test out one of their new toys. Plan Toys makes high-quality and quite honestly beautiful wooden toys. But they are so much more than that too. It is one thing to say you make a green product but it speaks volumes when you can say that not only is your product green but the processes that you use to make it are green as well.

PlanToys practices the "Three R's" of green living: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Our manufacturing processes are designed to reduce waste and save energy. We reuse materials, and have introduced innovative methods to recycle paper and other products. We are always looking for new ways to improve and preserve our environment.

Plan Toys uses green materials in their toys such as organic rubberwood, water-based dyes and non toxic glues. They use solar energy and low emission biofuels to power the machinery that kiln-dries the wood as well as using biomass to produce heat. So in every possible way, they realy are a green company making green toys.

 

Plan Toys makes some really great educational toys and developmental toys and the new Trimino Bugs  matching game (pictured above) is an excellent addition. Now I had no idea which toy they were sending me but I was thrilled when I opened up the box to find this one. Well, I would have been thrilled with anything they sent me. One of my favorite things about the Trimino Bugs is the vibrant colors. They immediately catch your eye and draw the kids' attention. In the Trimino Bugs set there are 5 wooden tiles and 9 colored bug pieces. The wooden tiles are used to create your pattern. You can arrange them in any pattern you want, here are two that we came up with.

Once you have your pattern set up with the tiles, then you can start using the bug pieces on top. The bug pieces are green with a different colored bug on each side: red, blue and yellow. And not all of the bug pieces are the same either. There are 2 slight variations.

This adds a little bit of an extra challenge because you may only have all of your pieces matched up on top of the tiles but the bugs on the last one don't match up with the spot that is left. So the child has to rework their matching a little bit to make it all fit together.

I have mentioned before on my blog that my twins (who will be 3 in May) both receive speech therapy and occupational therapy (for fine motor skills). So I immediately knew this would be a good toy for them. For one it helps them with colors and color words. There is also some logic involved which gets their brains moving and thinking. I loved watching them sit down and look at the pieces and figure out how to match them up. They honestly surprised me on how well they did with it. They even got silly after a while and would match up the wrong colors and then look at me and say "noooooooo". Now I focused on the twins with this so I never even showed it to my oldest (5) at first. Then one morning he saw the box, opened it up and figured it out all on his own. "Look mommy, I made a hexagon!" he told me and he had all of the bug pieces matched up already. I was impressed that he knew what the wooden tiles were for without any instruction for me.

I am extremely happy with the Plan Toys Trimino Bugs set. We have had a lot of fun with it and I try to incorporate it into daily therapy with the twins. And any parent will love the quality and craftsmanship that goes into all of the toys that Plan Toys make. These are toys that will last a lifetime to be passed onto future generations

Shop
You can purchase Plan Toys directly from their site or use their Shop Locator to find a retail store near you. From baby toys to preschool toys, they have something for every child.


Please note that the opinions and views expressed in this review are my own and based on my personal experience with the product. You may encounter a different experience with this than I did. Plan Toys provided me with a product for review.  

Green Giveaway Friday 3/26

Here are some featured Green Giveaways that I have found around the blogosphere. Please add both your green and non-green giveaways and contests into Mr. Linky below so we can do some blog hoppin!

You can also submit your green giveaways to me during the week for me to feature on Fridays.


Just Another New Blog

Simple Green Naturals 3/28
Odor Neutralizing Natural Soy Candles - 3 winners 3/31
Ecover Dishwashing Products and Bag 4/4
Case of Peter Rabbit Organics 4/4
Recycled Glass Soy Candle 4/4

Seventh Generation Pack 4/6


Look What Mom Found... And Dad Too
GummyLump Melissa & Doug Playfood Sets 4/8
Horizon Organic Chocolate Milk 4/13
 
mkokopelli
ecojot 5x7 and 6x9 Journals 3/26
Putumayo Rhythm & Blues CD 3/27
Moonrise Jewelry $25 GC 4/2
Elegant Roots $50 GC 4/12

The Mom Buzz
HonestKids Juice Pouches 3/31

Mom Wear Your Tees
Child Organics Soap Nut Concentrate Green Detergent 3/30
Circle of Friends Organics Eczema and Sensitive Skin Line 4/2
ReUsies Reusable Snack and Sandwich Bags 4/13

Mommy Is Green
Biokleen Household Cleaners 4/6

Pure Natural Diva
Seventh Generation Home Starter Kit 3/27
revitaPOP - The Vitamin B12 Lollipop 4/10

Exederm Ultra Sensitive Skincare for Eczema Review & Giveaway

My 3 older boys all suffer from eczema in some form. It is usually seasonal and appears most often in the cold winter months. The combination of hard water and cold dry air just drys out their skin so much. One of my twins, Luke, has a different skin ailment called Keratosis Pilaris. Unfortunately he has this year round, though it is worse in the winter. Keratosis Pilaris is small, rough bumps on the skin that primarily appear on the back of the upper arms. It can also occur on thighs and buttocks and even face, as you can see in the picture of my son's cheek below (he has it on all the body parts I mentioned).This is hereditary and unfortunately there is no cure for it and the suggested treatments really do not do much. From what I have read most children will outgrow it by adulthood, but what concerned me was that Keratosis Pilaris on the face can sometimes lead to permanent scaring.

I had read several rave reviews from parents of children with eczema about the Exederm skin care line. So I reached out to them to test it out for my boys, especially Luke. Exederm ultra sensitive skin care has a very simple philosophy: avoid irritants that trigger eczema and always use the mildest ingredients possible. All of their products are free of
Fragrance
Color or Dyes
Parabens
(SLS) Sodium Laureth Sulfate
Lanolin
(CAPB) Cocamidopropyl Betaine
Propylene Glycol
Phthalates

We believe that exederm is a simply sensible approach for anyone with eczema, dermatitis and dry or sensitive skin. With exederm it's possible to gently cleanse, to deeply moisturize and get smoother and healthier skin - without using unnecessary chemicals.

In 2008, Exederm received 12 separate "Seal of Acceptance" awards from the National Eczema Association to acknowledge their ultra sensitive formulations. Exederm has a wide range of products for adults including moisturizers, washes and even haircare. They also have a line for babies/kids.

I feel very fortunate because Exederm was super generous and sent me the entire baby line to try out. I did not have any expectations that this would clear Luke's condition because I know that there is nothing that will do that. I just wanted to use products on him that would be less irritating to his super sensitive skin and if I was lucky improve it even just a tiny bit. The baby line consists of baby bath (body wash), baby shampoo, baby oil, baby lotion and baby moisturizer. Let me first say that I love that these products do not contain any nasty chemicals or irritants. Even some of the "natural" baby products out there will have irritants like Cocamidopropyl Betaine in them.

I have been using these products during every bath time since I received them, particularly on Luke and new baby Daniel, and I am extremely pleased with the results. Both the wash and shampoo lather pretty nicely considering there is no SLS in there, and that is usually one of my biggest complaints when it comes to natural products. It gets everyone nice and clean. The lotion and moisturizer are great to put on right after the bath to lock in moisture. Now I don't really use baby oil often, but I read an interesting suggestion on the bottle. Add a little bit to the bath water to moisturize the skin more. I had never even thought to do that before. Just be careful because it tends to make bath toys a little bit slippery. I also use the baby oil on my baby's scalp. He is 3 months old now and has a little flaking on his scalp. So at the start of the bath I put some of the baby oil in his hair and I let it soak in for a few minutes. Then I gently scrape some of the flakes off with my nail and wash out. (Luke had the same thing as a newborn and my pediatrician gave me those instructions). It is clearing up a little more with each application.

As I said I didn't expect for this to clear Luke's Keratosis Pilaris. I was just looking for something that would be less irritating to his super sensitive skin and would help with my other boys' winter eczema. There was no change to Luke's skin condition, but I do feel that the Exederm products help to minimize flare ups. As for his twin brother Joshua and my oldest William, it worked really well for the dry skin they have during the colder months. They both will have dry skin all over but then tend to get scaly eczema patches on the back of their arms. By using all of the products, especially the lotion and moisturizer, I was able to eliminate those patches. My problem is with 4 boys to bathe at a time, I sometimes get so crazed that I forget to moisturize. Skipping that will just be counterproductive so it is important to moisturize every sing day. Especially after baths.


Shop
All Exederm products can be purchased on Amazon or directly on Exederm.com.


Giveaway *CLOSED*
One (1) winner will be able to choose one (1) of the products that I reviewed from the Exederm baby line for themselves.

Mandatory Entry
Take a look at the products on the Exederm site and then tell me which one product from the baby line you would choose if you win.

Extra Entries
- Vote for me in the Dick's Sporting Goods "Starting Lineup" Twitter contest. You must follow @dickssportcmo for it to count and then tweet this: @dickssportcmo I nominate @GreenMamasPad  for the #startinglineup because she's a sports loving mom of 4 boys! You may do this daily and it is worth 2 entries per tweet (so leave 2 comments)
- Follow me on Google or subscribe to my RSS feed in a reader.
- Subscribe via e-mail. Your email must validate or it will not count.
- Add my Green Mama's Pad button to your sidebar or add Green Mama's Pad to your blogroll. Leave your blog link.
- Follow @GreenMamasPad on Twitter and and tweet this giveaway. You can tweet once daily. Leave link to tweet in comment. You must have at least 50 followers. Exederm Ultra Sensitive Skincare Giveaway from @GreenMamasPad! No harsh chemicals or irritants. #giveaway http://bit.ly/aDzoXv
- Blog about this giveaway. Your post must include a link to this post plus a link to the sponsor. Please leave link.
- Stumble this post and comment with your ID.
- Stumble one of my non-giveaway posts and tell me which one.
- Become a fan of Green Mama's Pad on Facebook.

This giveaway is open to US Residents 18+ only and will end on Thursday, April 8 at 11:59pm EST. One winner will be chosen at random using Random.org and will be posted on the Winner's Announcement Page. Winner has 48 hours to claim his/her prize otherwise a new winner will be picked. You must leave your e-mail address in all of your comment(s) so I can contact you. I will not share your e-mail address with anyone, it will strictly be used to notify you if you win. Good luck!

Please note that the opinions and views expressed in this review are my own and based on my personal experience with the product. You may encounter a different experience with this than I did. Exederm provided me with products for review and is providing a product for the giveaway. This post contains affiliate links

Earth Hour: March 27, 2010

For some reason, Earth Hour snuck up on me this year. It wasn't until Hyla at Green Earth Journey sent me an email invitation this afternoon that I realized it was this weekend.

On Earth Hour hundreds of millions of people around the world will come together to call for action on climate change by doing something quite simple—turning off their lights for one hour. The movement symbolizes that by working together, each of us can make a positive impact in this fight, protecting our future and that of future generations. Participation is easy. By flipping off your lights on March 27th at 8:30 p.m. local time you will be making the switch to a cleaner, more secure nation and prosperous America.

The Earth Hour site also offers various tools to help spread the word and get more people to participate in this event. You can download toolkits and logos, get widgets like the one bleow for your site or blog and they will even update your Twitter and Facebook statuses for you.

I know you may think that 1 hour is nothing and it won't make a difference. But I don't think that is true. 1 hour from millions of people is a lot. It is more than saving energy for one hour. It is about people coming together around the world to show that we care for this planet and that we want to make a difference.

I plan on turning our lights off. Honestly, this exhausted mom of 4 will probably just go to bed.

I hope you will participate too.

Green Giveaway Friday 3/19

Here are some featured Green Giveaways that I have found around the blogosphere. Please add both your green and non-green giveaways and contests into Mr. Linky below so we can do some blog hoppin!

You can also submit your green giveaways to me during the week for me to feature on Fridays.

Look What Mom Found... And Dad Too
GummyLump Melissa & Doug Playfood Sets 4/8
 
mkokopelli
Earth Mama Angel Baby Mint Herbal Lip Balm & Bath Blossoms 3/19
Planet One Gifts Divine Chocolate Coins  3/19
ecojot 5x7 and 6x9 Journals 3/26
Putumayo Rhythm & Blues CD 3/27
Moonrise Jewelry $25 GC 4/1

The Mom Buzz
HonestKids Juice Pouches 3/31

Mom Wear Your Tees
Child Organics Soap Nut Concentrate Green Detergent 3/30
Circle of Friends Organics Eczema and Sensitive Skin Line 4/2
ReUsies Reusable Snack and Sandwich Bags 4/13

Natural Mommie
Boba: Organic Baby Carrier 3/21
Copco: Set of Travel Mugs 3/21
Snug as a Bug: Set of Organic Burp Cloths 3/21

Pure Natural Diva
Seventh Generation Home Starter Kit 3/27
revitaPOP - The Vitamin B12 Lollipop 4/10

Wordless Wednesday: Puerto Rico

As I was digging through old photos to find something for today, I came across some pretty neat shots from our honeymoon almost 7 years ago. These are in San Juan, Puerto Rico- one of the stops on our cruise.

Now while I have you here, let me take a moment to BEG you for some votes for the Dick's Sporting Goods "Starting Lineup" Twitter contest. If you are up for it, here is what to do (and you can do it daily if you are feeling generous):
1. Follow @dickssportcmo on Twitter. This is mandatory or your votes won't count.
2. Tweet this: @dickssportcmo I nominate @GreenMamasPad for the #startinglineup because she is a sports loving mom of 4 boys!

Thank you and happy Wordless Wednesday!

Save 15% at Grab Your Bags (Bagnesia.com)

Grab Your Bags (Bagnesia) is celebrating St. Patrick's Day by offering 15% off on their eco-friendly shopping kits. If you are in the market for some reusable grocery bags or reusable produce bags, then check it out. Great value!

I Need Your Votes!

Last week I posted information on the Dick's Sporting Goods "Starting Lineup" Twitter contest along with a $50 gift card giveaway. The top 10 vote getters in the Twitter contest will win a spot on the Starting Lineup team. Being a part of this team includes doing a bunch of cool stuff like trying out new products. Now I ask, as a mom of 4 young boys, am I not perfect for this? My oldest, 5, just finished his first season of hockey and he LOVES it. We are very much into sports in my household so all of my boys will be very active in various sports. And yes, I will be enrolling them all in hockey. I hope the rest do as good as my 5 year old did.

OK so now for the begging. I need votes. I need lots of votes. So it would be really great if you all could vote for me. If you want to help me out and vote, here is what you need to do:

1. Follow @dickssportcmo on Twitter. This is mandatory or your votes won't count.

2. Tweet this:

@dickssportcmo I nominate @GreenMamasPad  for the #startinglineup because she's a sports loving mom of 4 boys!

3. You can tweet this daily until March 31. Now I am happy if you just tweet it once. But if you are so inclined to tweet it daily, well that would just be awesome!

And as a little incentive and thank you, each time you tweet your vote for me it gives you TWO extra entries into my current giveaways!

Thank you in advance for your help, I truly appreciate it!

Plum Organics & Revolution Foods Review & Giveaway

As a mom I always try to give my boys healthy, all-natural foods. In the past I always felt like organic / all natural food options for kids were limited. Especially in the baby food and toddler food departments. The organic baby selection at the grocery store was pretty small with only one brand to choose from and only a few flavors. For toddler and preschool aged foods, well there really weren't any organic options. So when I read about Plum Organics and Revolution Foods on another blog, I knew we had to try their food!

Plum Organics and Revolution Foods are sister companies that are under the parent company of Nest Collective.

Nest is a place to hatch world-changing ideas, grow mission driven companies, and nurture a new way of doing business that embraces the best of what nature and people have to offer. Nest is a collective of companies and people out to make the world a little better, twig by twig.

Plum Organics offers a variety of organic baby food and organic snacks for tots. There are two lines of baby food: the just line and fruit & veggie blends. The just line is yum 1 stage (4-6 months) baby food fruit purees and are made from 100% organic fruit. There are 6 fruits available: apples, mangos, bananas, peaches, pears and prunes. The fruit & veggie blends are the yum 2 stage for 6 months and up. These are available in a variety of combination including pear & mango and apple & carrot. All of the baby food purees come in portable, resealable, BPA-free packaging and have no added sugars, colors or flavors. My baby is too young for baby food so obviously we didn't try any of these but I am anxious to try some once he is 6 months old.

For tots Plum Organics has three organic snack options: mish mash fruit purees, fiddlsticks gluten-free fruit & grain sticks and fruity fingerfuls fruit & grain bites. Once again everything comes in BPA-free packaging.  I had received a package of the fruity fingerfuls in apple to try out. This is kind of like two snacks in one pouch since you have freeze dried fruit and and heart shaped whole grain, which is kind of like cereal. My 2.5 year old Luke loved these. I poured a generous amount on his plate and a minute later he was handing the plate back to me asking for more. The fiddlesticks look yummy as well and I really think my twins would enjoy them because they are different looking and fun. I have yet to find them in a store so I am going to have to order some online.

Now Revolution Foods makes organic lunch box snacks for older children, I'd say preschool aged and up. What is great about all of their snack items is there are never any transfats, high fructose corn syrup or artificial ingredients.

The snacks they make are:
~ Grammy Sammy: 100% whole grain, yogurt filled sandwich bar
~ Jammy Sammy: 100% whole grain sandwich bar filled with organic fruit spread
~ Mashups: squeezable fruit puree
~ Popalongs: whole grains snacks that are popped not fried
~ Raisins: organic and California grown

We received one Jammy Sammy, two Grammy Sammy and two Mashups to taste, one for each of my older boys. William (5) had the Cocoa Graham & Banana Yogurt Grammy Sammy, Joshua (2.5) had the Honey Graham & Strawberry Yogurt Grammy Sammy and Luke (2.5) had the Peanut Butter & Strawberry Jammy Sammy. Each one of them INHALED their Sammy. In fact when I first opened the box of samples, they practically attacked me to try these. They literally ate them within 5 minutes of the package arriving at our house. they LOVED them. Revolution Foods had also given me one coupon for a $1 off so I went to Babies R Us 2 days later to buy more. Not only are these good for lunch boxes, but also good for snacks on the go in the car or when out and about. I now always have a box on hand of the Peanut Butter & Strawberry Jammy Sammy and I toss it my diaper bag when we visit family ust in case my stubborn boys don't like what is on the menu. If they don't want to eat whatever our host is providing, at least I have these healthy Sammys as a backup.

Revolution Foods also has an In-School Lunch Program which delivers healthy meals and nutrition education to schools across the country. They currentlty are working with schools in Northern and Southern California, Colorado, and Washington DC. Some of the highlights that I really like about these meals are: the meals are prepared fresh daily and are fried, overly processed, or microwave; they do not contain high fructose corn syrup or trans fats; they are free of artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, and sweeteners. Most schools today serve highly processed junk, including the schools in my town. When I am done writing this I need to ask Revolution Foods if they plan on expanding this program to New England.

Shop
Plum Organics and Revolution Foods are available in several stores such as Whole Foods, Babies R Us, Toys R Us and H-E-B. They can also be purchased online at BabiesRUs.com, Amazon.com, Diapers.com and Drugstore.com.

Growing Up Organic Giveaway
One (1) winner will receive a selection of snacks from both Plum Organics and Revolution foods with snacks for your baby, toddler and kids! The prize includes a kids t-shirt, a reusable lunchbox filled with some samples from the Plum Organics baby & toddler line, a reusable lunchbox with samples of Revolution Foods organic kids snacks and a secret snack selector (fortune tellers).

Mandatory Entry
Visit Plum Organics and Revolution Foods then tell me which products you think your kids will love.

Extra Entries
- Take the "Generation Organic Pledge" and display the badge on your website or blog. You must use a valid email when you take the pledge and leave me a link so I can see your badge on your site. Worth 2 entries so leave 2 comments. 
- Follow me on Google or subscribe to my RSS feed in a reader.
- Subscribe via e-mail. Your email must validate or it will not count.
- Add my Green Mama's Pad button to your sidebar or add Green Mama's Pad to your blogroll. Leave your blog link.
- Follow @GreenMamasPad, @PlumOrganics and @RevolutionFoods on Twitter and and tweet this giveaway. You can tweet once daily. Leave link to tweet in comment. You must have at least 50 followers 
- Blog about this giveaway. Your post must include a link to this post plus a link to the sponsor. Please leave link.
- Stumble this post and comment with your ID.
- Stumble one of my non-giveaway posts and tell me which one.
- Become a fan of Green Mama's Pad on Facebook.
- Become a fan of Plum Organics and Revolution Foods on Facebook.
- Vote for me in the Dick's Sporting Goods "Starting Lineup" Twitter contest. You must follow @dickssportcmo and then tweet this: @dickssportcmo I nominate @GreenMamasPad  for the #startinglineup because she's a sports loving mom of 4 boys! You may do this daily and it is worth 2 entries per tweet (so leave 2 comments)




This giveaway is open to US Residents 18+ only and will end on Friday, March 26 at 11:59pm EST. One winner will be chosen at random using Random.org and will be posted on the Winner's Announcement Page. Winner has 48 hours to claim his/her prize otherwise a new winner will be picked. You must leave your e-mail address in all of your comment(s) so I can contact you. I will not share your e-mail address with anyone, it will strictly be used to notify you if you win. Good luck!

Please note that the opinions and views expressed in this review are my own and based on my personal experience with the product. You may encounter a different experience with this than I did. Nest Collective, Plum Organics and Revolution Foods provided me with samples for review and is providing the items for the giveaway.

Green Giveaway Friday 3/12

Here are some featured Green Giveaways that I have found around the blogosphere. Please add both your green and non-green giveaways and contests into Mr. Linky below so we can do some blog hoppin!

You can also submit your green giveaways to me during the week for me to feature on Fridays.

All Things Mamma
Ecostore USA 3/14

Look What Mom Found... And Dad Too
Xtrema 10" Open Skillet 3/18
 
mkokopelli
Seventh Generation Disinfectant Line 3/12
Earth Mama Angel Baby Mint Herbal Lip Balm and Bath Blossom 3/17

The Mom Buzz
Surf Sweets Gummies and JellyBeans 3/14
HonestKids Juice Pouches 3/31

Natural Mommie
Boba: Organic Baby Carrier 3/21
Copco: Set of Travel Mugs 3/21 
Snug as a Bug: Set of Organic Burp Cloths 3/21

Pure Natural Diva
Seventh Generation Home Starter Kit 3/27
revitaPOP - The Vitamin B12 Lollipop 4/10

Wordless Wednesday: Birthday Fun

Nothing says happy like a Boba Fett figure and his spaceship!




Boba Fett!!!!!!!!!!!

~CLOSED~ Dick's Sporting Goods "Starting Lineup" Giveaway

Last year I won a $100 gift card to Dick's Sporting Goods via Twitter. It was very exciting for me and we went on a mini shopping spree to get soccer and hockey equipment for my oldest son. It was my first time ever at Dick's and I couldn't believe how much they had. Their selection is enormous and they have every sport covered.  Well Dick's Sporting Goods is having another Twitter contest that I am excited to tell you about.

Starting Lineup Contest

For this contest, Dick's is looking for people to be on there "Starting Lineup" team. What does it mean to be part of the “Starting Lineup”?

• A chance to try out and preview new products

• A spot on an online panel of experts for one season (for approximately 3 months)

• Access to exclusive online surveys

• A chance to sound off on all things sports

Sounds pretty cool doesn't it? If you want to try and be a part of the "Starting Lineup" here is what you do:

• Follow http://twitter.com/dickssportcmo

• Recruit people to follow @dickssportcmo on Twitter and have them vote for you by Tweeting @dickssportcmo your Twitter ID and stating why you should be nominated.

• Vote for yourself by Tweeting @dickssportcmo with your Twitter ID and stating why you should be on the “Starting Lineup.”

• You can only vote for the same person once per day, but you can vote for multiple people in the same day.

Sample Tweet:  “@dickssportcmo I nominate @TwitterID for the #startinglineup because...”

For all of the details visit http://bit.ly/dBMkl8

Green Mama's Pad Giveaway!
One winner will receive a $50 gift card for Dick's.

Mandatory Entry
Leave a comment telling me what you will buy if you win the $50 gift card.

Extra Entries
- Follow @GreenMamasPad and @dickssportcmo on Twitter and tweet this giveaway. You can tweet once daily and you must leave a link to your tweet. You must have at least 50 Twitter followers.Sample tweet (you may copy): Win a $50 gift card to Dick's Sporting Goods @dickssportcmo from @greenmamaspad! http://bit.ly/cdXW1J

- Vote for me for the Starting Lineup contest on Twitter. You may tweet your vote once a day and leave the link in your comment. This will get you 2 entries per tweet, so be sure to leave two comments for each tweet. You may tweet this: @dickssportcmo I nominate @GreenMamasPad  for the #startinglineup because she is a sports loving mom of 4 boys!

- Follow me on Blogger or subscribe to my RSS feed

- Subscribe via e-mail. Your email must validate or it will not count.

- Blog about this giveaway with a link to Green Mama's Pad and Dick's Sporting Goods. Please leave link in comment.

- Add my Green Mama's Pad button to your sidebar or add Green Mama's Pad to your blogroll. Leave your blog link.

- Stumble this post and comment with your ID.

- Become a fan of Green Mama's Pad on Facebook.

This giveaway is open to US Residents 18+ only and will end on Tuesday, March 23 at 11:59pm EST. One winner will be chosen at random using Random.org. Winner has 48 hours to claim his/her prize otherwise a new winner will be picked. You must leave your e-mail address in all of your comment(s) so I can contact you. I will not share your e-mail address with anyone, it will strictly be used to notify you if you win. Good luck!

Green Giveaway Friday 3/5

Here are some featured Green Giveaways that I have found around the blogosphere. Please add both your green and non-green giveaways and contests into Mr. Linky below so we can do some blog hoppin!

You can also submit your green giveaways to me during the week for me to feature on Fridays.

All Things Mamma
Ecostore USA 3/14

Look What Mom Found... And Dad Too
Xtrema 10" Open Skillet 3/18

Katydid & Kid
Horizon Organic Lowfat Chocolate Milk 3/7
 
mkokopelli
Boiron Homeopathic Medicine Set 3/10
Seventh Generation Disinfectant Line 3/12
Earth Mama Angel Baby Mint Herbal Lip Balm and Bath Blossom 3/17

The Mom Buzz
Surf Sweets Gummies and JellyBeans 3/14

Natural Mommie
Halo: Organic Cotton Layette Set 3/9
IsaBooties: Any pair 3/9
Simply Chickie: Organic Tee/Onesie 3/9
Boba: Organic Baby Carrier 3/21
Copco: Set of Travel Mugs 3/21   

Pure Natural Diva
Seventh Generation Home Starter Kit 3/27

Carry It Again Bags Needs Our Votes!

In 2009, Dana Delaney started Carry It Again Bags to help reduce the amount of plastic waste entering our landfills every year. The Carry It Again Bag Kit teaches you how to make a bag out of common household plastics like bread bags, frozen vegetable bags, etc. Dana has applied for the Pepsi Refresh Grant which would give her $50,000 to help with the Carry It Again Bag project.

If you have a minute to spare, please submit a vote for her. You can vote once a day but even just one vote will help.

http://www.refresheverything.com/CarryItAgainBags

Wordless Wednesday: Snow Day

These were taken last week, we had back to back snow storms. Hopefully these will be the last snow pictures I post for WW, but it is snowing again now as I type this. Come on Spring!

  

Natural Mat Organic Crib Mattress Review

Babies are so sweet and precious aren't they? We do everything in our power to care for them and love them and keep them away from harm. It is a shame though that the mattresses that we lay them to sleep on are made with toxic materials. Conventional mattresses are usually made with polyurethane foam, vinyl, and other petroleum based products and then treated with a multitude of chemicals (fire retardants, etc.). All of these chemicals release toxic fumes into the air our babies breathe. A safer choice is an organic crib mattress for your baby.

The Natural Mat company was started in 2000 in Devon, England by Mark Tremlett and Peter Tindall. They were unhappy with the synthetic mattresses used on boats which didn't breathe and became damp and musty. So they set out to develop mattresses made of natural fibers. A year later they incorporated baby mattresses.

With a belief that every child deserves the best start in life with a good sleep in a safe, comfortable and natural environment, Natural Mat offers a superior range of entirely natural, organic crib mattresses. Natural Mat’s hand crafted mattress collection combines the finest natural and organic raw materials such as lambswool, natural rubber latex foam, coir, mohair and cotton, offering parents peace of mind that they are doing what’s best for their baby and the environment. 

Natural Mat crib mattresses are handmade in England with natural fibers. They do not use chemicals, plastics or PVCs and they offer 3 different organic crib mattresses: The Coco Mat, The Latex Mat and the Mohair Mat. I feel very fortunate that Natural Mat sent me a Latex Mat to review.

The Latex Mat is made from natural latex rubber foam put between layers of organic coir which is then wrapped in lambswool. It is the most allergy safe and supportive crib mattress. The natural latex foam is anti-microbial and anti-bacterial. The coir (made from coconut husks) is naturally anti-dust mite and it is very breathable for good ventilation. Lambswool is a natural disinfectant fiber so it resists the growth of bacteria. It also is naturally flame retardant.

I was so very excited when the box containing my mattress arrived. By the way, the mattress box is  made from a mixture of recycled and renewable paper resources from FSC managed forests and all mattress packaging is biodegradable and recyclable. Considering the size of the box the mattress comes in, it is nice to know it was manufactured responsibly. The mattress literally arrived the week after my little man was born, so things were kind of crazy around here. It was probably another week or so before we actually unpacked it and put it in his crib.

I have to say that this mattress is heavy! At least it seems heavy to me, but I'm not exactly strong either. I love that there is no layer of plastic around it and no "new mattress scent" (aka: toxic fumes) since there are no chemicals in there. And it is not as stiff as a conventional mattress so it seems like it is more comfortable. Of course my 2.5 month old can't tell me if it is comfortable, but he sure is a happy guy when he is laying in his crib! He loves to lay in there and play with is mirror or look at his mobile and he sleeps really well in here too. As well as a newborn sleeps anyway. :) All of the Natural Mat mattresses come with a removable cotton cover that can easily be unzipped and thrown in the wash when needed. In the picture below you can see that I unzipped the cover so you can get a little glimpse.

Natural Mat also has a line of Organic Crib Bedding and they sent me a Breathable Mattress Protector to go along with  my new mattress. Let's face, babies make messes all.the.time. Weather it be a leaky diaper or some spit up, chances are they will get their bed wet in some way and often. if you are going with an organic mattress then you certainly need an organic mattress protector to go with it. It would defeat the purpose if you went out and bought a protector that is made with PVC vinyl (to make it waterproof) and treated with flame retardant chemicals. the Natural Mat mattress protector is made of 2 layers of organic flannelette with a thin layer of polyurethane in between. There are elastic bands on each corner for you to easily attach it to the mattress.

Now I am used to the types of mattress protectors that have the plastic (usually PVC vinyl) backing so I was skeptical of how well this would do when wet. So for my first test of it I dumped about 2 tablespoons of water on the protector and let it soak in. After a few minutes, I lifted it and felt the mattress - completely dry! In fact the underside of the protector was dry too. Since then my baby boy has spit up a lot in his crib and nothing every gets through to the mattress. And on laundry day it is super easy to pull the protector off and toss it in the wash and dryer. in the below picture you can see how the mattress protector attaches to the mattress.

 

 

Now I know what you are thinking, how much is an organic mattress going to cost me? I will be totally honest - they are expensive. The Latex Mat that I reviewed here sells for about $399. But considering the toxins in their traditional mattress counterparts, is it not worth it for your baby's health? Babies come with a lot of expenses and the price may scare you. But if you purchase only one organic thing for your child's nursery, I strongly urge that it be an organic mattress. In fact I would tell you to pass on things like organic toys, clothing, towels, etc. and get an organic mattress. Those other things will be quickly outgrown while the mattress they will be spending at least 10 hours a day on and will be with them through toddler-hood.

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All Natural Mat crib mattresses and crib bedding may be purchased through them directly at www.NaturalMatUSA.com