Mommy FTW

Recently I was talking to a friend who is 7 months pregnant and I asked her what she was using on her baby belly to prevent stretch marks.  She said she had just run out of what she was using, and was thinking of trying something else.  That reminded me of an amazing product I used when I was pregnant with Cameron which another mom friend had recommended to me – L’Occitane Shea Butter.

This product, while not specifically marketed as “stretch mark cream” is, I think, the best thing out there for the job.  Most stretch mark creams have shea butter in them, but this stuff is 100% pure shea butter!

I knew from my own experience this stuff really works(I didn’t get a single one *knock on wood* for next time) but I wondered why shea butter actually helps prevent stretch marks so I asked my friend Google!  Here’s what I found out:

Because of its high concentration of non-saponifiable fatty acids, shea butter has a moisturizing and healing effect on the skin. The lipids contained in the butter are highly beneficial to the cells found in the epidermis and promote skin healing and improvement. Shea butter works well to improve the skin’s elasticity, thus enabling it to stretch with greater ease.

Sounds good to me!  You can buy this cream on Amazon.com, on the Sephora website, in Sephora stores, or at L’Occitane stores. It is a little pricey, but I would say that not getting stretch marks is worth it! One 4.9 oz tin will most likely get you through the whole pregnancy.

Posted from New York, New York, United States.

Today I was excited to see that Cameron’s favorite sleepwear (Tea Collection) was on sale at the Mini Social.  I just snapped up 4 sets at various sizes… some for now, some for later.  Tea Collection jammies are soft, super comfortable, and cute!  Check out the Mini Social to get some at a great price!  Usually these PJs sell for $35, but you can get them for $17.50!

Tea Collection at the Mini Social

If you haven’t heard, the Mini Social is a site that does online sample sales for babies and kids.  They feature designer quality brands at great prices.  Sign up and get their daily emails about what is on sale.  They often have brands like Melissa and Doug, Plan Toys, Robeez, See Kai Run, and more.

Posted from New York, New York, United States.

Soap.com (sister site to Diapers.com) has finally launched! Use the coupon code SOAPISHERE to get 20% off (up to $20) expires 7/22/10.

I think all us moms realize that Diapers.com is a lifesaver when it comes to getting your baby supplies FAST!  Well, now when you shop you can shop both Diapers.com and Soap.com at the same time with 1 shopping cart and 1 checkout.  With EVERY order over $49 shipping is FREE.

Here are a few other highlights:
Overnight delivery to 70% of the country, 2-day shipping to everyone else – just like with Diapers.com
HUGE selection – 25,000 health and beauty products today, 40,000 by the end of the year, 100,000 by end of 2011
Savings of up to 25% off drugstore prices on your favorite products, and a best online price guarantee

So check out Soap.com today! And enjoy the 20% off!!

Posted from New York, New York, United States.

Although I try and do most of my shopping on Amazon (with their subscribe and save, the prices are great) more often than I’d like to admit I realized that I’ve almost run out of diapers…. Tragedy is at hand, and in that situation Diapers.com is my savior.  Here’s a cool video I saw recently that shows just how amazing they are behind the scenes.  I know here in Brooklyn, NY I get my orders next day – even on Saturdays – which has saved me for more than one birthday party.  Anyways – they are, in a word – awesome.  Enjoy the vid!

I can’t wait to try out Soap.com when it launches!

I think twitter is an amazing way to get and share news about your neighborhood, talk to brands directly, and just have fun. I follow a lot of twitter accounts of websites that I read regularly because they will often post extra information – little tidbits, pictures, and news updates – and the brands will sometimes post about special sales, contests, and promotions.

Try twitter, even if you just want to follow people and not post. It's great! Plus, people will think you are cool.

So, if you give twitter a try, here’s my list of people you should think about following:

Brands:

Huggies – Huggies – my diaper of choice for Cameron, weather its their Little Movers, Overnights, or Little Swimmers. Whoever does their twitter is amazing. They are really active with the community, and love to share everyone’s pictures and advice.  Plus, there are lots of giveaways!

PullUpsBigKid – Huggies Pull Ups – for those of you who are potty training, get expert advice.

Sephora_Expert – An expert from Sephora (which is also on twitter) that gives expert advice and will specifically answer all your beauty questions. Go ahead, ask them a question!

FreshDirect – Fresh Direct – the grocery delivery service.  They offer lots of specials via twitter.

diapersdotcom – Diapers dot com – My go to spot when I’m in a pinch for baby supplies. Who can resist free overnight shipping?

PatagoniaNYC – Patagonia – Find out when the sales are on, and get excellent customer service. They even put Cam’s sizes on hold for me to be sure what I needed was there when I got to the store.

CCCalifornia – C and C California – I love this company’s super soft tee’s and clothing. Follow them to find out about all the sales and specials going on.

Neighborhood news / local bloggers:

PolishBar_Bklyn – Polish Bar of Brooklyn – This local mani-pedi spot is my favorite in the neighborhood.

Brownstoner – Brownstoner.com – Get up to the minute updates on what’s going on in brooklyn.

OneHungryMama – OneHungryMama.com – Get great food + kid related info.

fortgreenepark – fortgreenepark.org – Get local news straight from the Fort Greene Park Conservancy.

PrattArea – prattarea.org – The Pratt Area Community Council

LOVEofBROOKLYN – fortheloveofbrooklyn.com – If you love photography and you love Brooklyn, then you will really enjoy these tweets.

BrooklynKids – brooklynkids.org – the Brooklyn Children’s Museum – get the latest scoop on the new exhibits and activities.

achildgrows – achildgrowsinbrooklyn.com – All the news any Brooklyn parent can use.

clintonhillblog – ClintonHillBlog.com – Covering news specific to our ‘hood.

BKLocal – fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com – the New York Times Local covering Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.

bklynbotanic – bbg.org – the Brooklyn Botanic Garden – see pictures, and learn about events.

PATHBrooklyn – parentsaroundthehill.com – See the latest from Parents Around the Hill.

camerongood – See what my son Cameron is up to. I post lots of pictures, and we check in on Gowalla, so you can see where we are at.

mrsbetsygood – That’s me! I tweet a lot about neighborhood news, as well as random stuff about my life in general.

During our last little heat wave I called 311 to find out when the sprinklers and water fountains would be turned on at the local parks. According to them, sprinklers are on from 10am – dusk once the weather reaches above 80 degrees for three consecutive days between Memorial Day and Labor Day (but not before, no matter the temperature). So, unfortunately we’ve still got about a month to wait.

Last summer, the Camel Park Sprinkler in all it's glory

Strangely, (but thankfully) the water fountains at Greene Playground (near PS11) and at Edmonds Playground (aka Camel Park) are already on. I wish they would get the sprinklers going as well! Both Cameron and I could use a little cooling off!

I also did a little checking to find out when my beloved Clermont Pool will reopen (Cameron and I spent many days there last summer!) According to this page at nycgovparks.org NYC pools won’t open for the 2010 summer season until “Late June.”

For more NYC info, you can call 311 (they were very nice and informative,) you can check the 311 website, and you can even follow 311 on twitter!

You’ve had a long (but typical) day taking care of  your little one, perhaps doing some laundry, attempting to keep the house in semi-order, and all around being super-mom.  Bath time is over, and your baby is snoozing in his crib – and now it’s time to cook dinner?!  Um – no.  It’s time to order out!  My husband has gotten me into using this online service called Seamless Web.  It allows you to order via their website and pay with a credit card (even include the tip amount you want to leave).  It’s fast, it’s easy, and it’s great because so often I realize too late that I don’t have the cash to pay for delivery!

Do you live in one of these cities? Then give Seamless Web a try!

All you have to do is check out the Seamless Web website, sign up for a FREE account, and then check the delivery options for your area.  They actually operate in 14 cities.  If they don’t have your favorite places to order from, you can suggest them.  Currently there’s about 20 choices for my zip code (11205) – and more are coming all the time.  Again, Seamless Web is free – there is no charge to sign up, and no charge to order.  I admit I was nervous the first time I used it…. but my food arrived safe and sound!

Here's the process you can expect once you order.

Once you order on the Seamless Web website, your order prints out at the restaurant.  Then the restaurant will confirm your order, and you will get a confirmation email.  Then the food appears at your house, like it normally would – you sign the receipt and start chowing down!  As of yet Seamless Web does not have an iPhone App, but I heard from them via twitter that they are working on one.  I’ll let you know when it comes out!

I am excited to say that in May we’re going on vacation somewhere warm – and not in the US!  So, we needed to get Cameron his passport.  Since the Pratt Post Office is closed, I had to find somewhere else to submit his application.  I searched online at the usps website and found that the Adelphi Station was the place I should check out.  The website said that I needed an appointment – so I got on the phone and called.  And called.  And called.  No one ever answered.  I moved on to another post office – the Cadman Plaza Branch.

Again, the usps website said that I needed an appointment.  So I called – the phone was answered by an automate service saying if I was on a touch tone phone to press 1, and then I was routed through a few menus finally ending up at the passport application people.  The phone rang.  And rang.  And rang.  No answer.  I tried over and over again – with no success.  Finally, I called and when asked if I was on a touch tone phone I said that I wasn’t – and I got a real live person right away!  So, if you are trying to reach someone at Cadman Plaza – I suggest you take this route.  Although, when we got there it didn’t seem to matter that I had an appointment. Good thing I put all that effort into it!  I would just recommend that you show up a few minutes before the passport window opens so you can be first in line.  The whole thing took about 10 minutes.

Cam strikes a pose

Anyways, there’s a few necessary things for getting your baby a passport:

1) A passport photo – we got ours at the local Walgreens.  It was easy – they had him stand on a crate and snapped the pic with a digital camera.  1 hour later – voila!  Passport Photo.

2) Fill out the passport form – it’s called DS-11 (you can do this online, and print it out and bring it with you).  Be sure not to sign the form until you are in the presence of the passport agent.

3)Your baby’s official birth certificate with both parents name on it.

4)Your baby’s Social Security Card.

5)IDs for both parents – Drivers License or Passport will work.

6)Copies of the IDs that can be sent in with the passport application.

7)Both parents must show up when applying for the passport.

Check the official government page to read all about the documents required to get a passport for a minor, and to fill out the passport form online.

I’ve been wishing for a long time that Fresh Direct had an iPhone App – and recently, my dreams came true!  For those of you who don’t know, Fresh Direct is a grocery delivery service that us New Yorkers are lucky to have – and now we have it on the go!  The other day, I used the iPhone App to place a grocery order while Cameron was on the swings at Underwood Park.  How great is that!

Fresh Direct makes your life easier - again!

As far as I can tell, you can do pretty much everything you can do from a regular computer – reserve a delivery slot, check out what’s on sale, change your order, even shop from your favorites.  Now, Fresh Direct is even having a giveaway with $1000 in prizes – check here to enter.  And get the free iPhone App now!

FYI – Fresh Direct just launched their facebook fan page – become a fan and get a free delivery!

Etsy was my go to spot for Cameron’s winter hats this year – and he got so many compliments!  It’s nice to have a hat that is a little unique I think.  So, with the weather turning to spring (thank goodness) it’s time to start thinking sun protection for our little ones – which means a nice sun hat!  Of course, I thought of Etsy again.  Here’s a few that I found – but there are lots more.  I’m sure you can find the perfect sun hat for your little one.

These first two come from the worthygoods shop (FYI, I liked pretty much every one of their hats!):

This hat is reversible - I am loving both sides

A less traditional sun hat - but I love the attitude

And now something for the ladies – these come from the blissfulmoments shop:

perfectly pink and adorable

I am a sucker for an orange flower

And now back to the boys:

This one is also reversible - more planes on the inside

This baby is ready for a 4th of July BBQ

Don’t see one you like, or want to check out more options?  Then take a look at this search for “baby sun hat” on Etsy.