Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Hotline to God Story Stix: Review of a great Children's Toy #sponspred

I received the products in this review for free in exchange for writing a review. All opinions are 100% my own. The products were supplied by Hotline to God. I signed up for the review through Buzz Plant's BuzzBlogger program.


When I received the package from Hotline to God we were having a crazy day getting ready for Little Man 2's first birthday party. I didn't have time to deal with it so I put it up on a shelf and forgot about it. I remembered it the other day when it was raining all day and I needed something to occupy the little men so I wouldn't go crazy. When I pulled them out and let the kids play with them I wished I wouldn't have waited so long.

The kids loved them! Little Man 2 was the first one who got to explore them because he woke up from his nap earlier than Little Man 1. He couldn't figure out how to push the buttons so I pushed them for him. You should have seen the huge smile when it was talking to him. Then he put it up to his ear like a phone (he has seen Little Man 1 talk on various objects like a phone). He gestured and smiled just like he was listening to someone on the phone. Whenever it stopped talking to him he handed it back to me and I started it again. I wish I could post the pictures I got of him listening and smiling, they are super cute. But Mr. Random and I agreed when I started this blog that I would not post pictures of any of our faces. You can see a few pictures below of my kids cute arms etc and their new favorite toys.




When Little Man 1 woke up he loved them too. He pushed the buttons over and over. He also loved the Serenity Prayer key chain. He really loves key chains right now. He will loop them around his fingers and carry them around. This key chain recites the serenity prayer when you push a button. SO now I hear the serenity prayer a lot :)



Hotline to God sent us 4 Story Stixs, 1 Key Chain, and 1 Phone to God. I haven't gotten batteries into the phone yet, but I have no doubt the boys will love that too. They both love pretending to talk on the phone. The story sticks are interesting. Each of them tells 1 bible story: Jesus, Noah, David & Goliath, and Adam & Eve. The stories are broken down into 6 parts, each button tells a sentence or two of the story. If you press each of the buttons in order you will hear the entire story. But they also set it up so each button makes sense on its own. They were well designed. The only thing I would change is the option to turn down the volume. The website says they are recommended for ages 3 and over, but my 2 (almost 3) year old  and 1 year old love them.



If you are looking for a good toy or present for a children these would be great!


Monday, September 8, 2014

Diaper Wars 8 the New! Huggies Little Snugglers #MC #sponsored

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Huggies and Target. I received samples and a promotional item to facilitate my review.

Let me apologize in advance, my shift button is not working well so capitalizing is twice as hard as usual. So if there are any words incorrectly capitalized I am sorry. This is what happens when little hands pry off your keyboard keys and putting them back on just doesn't fix it right.

I reviewed Huggies Little Snugglers diapers before and I was impressed with them, so when I was offered the opportunity to review the New! Huggies Little Snugglers diapers I jumped at the chance. These are some of my favorite diapers and if i could afford to I would use them all the time. As it is, I do use them when i have a newborn because I feel they are gentler on newborn skin.

Part of the review was that I had to go in store to Target and buy the diapers there (with a gift card provided by the sponsors). This was no hardship for me because I love Target! I buy all my diapers there anyways so this was nothing new. Target is always easy to navigate and find what I am looking for, and the staff is always friendly and accommodating. I also love their selection!

Target also has an excellent baby registry. I have registered there with both my boys. You can register online or in store (if you register online make sure you go in store to get the free gift bag, there are some really good coupons and freebies in there!). And right now if you create a Target baby registry and register for Huggies Little Snugglers diapers and Natural Care Wipes you can enter to win a year supply of free diapers! You can sign up for the sweepstakes on the Huggies Register Your Wish website.



Huggies Little Snugglers
Positives

Softness
The New! Huggies Little Snugglers are incredibly soft! I think these may be the softest of all the diapers I have tried. If you have read my previous reviews then you know that softness is very important to me. I don't like putting something on my child that I would never put against my skin. And hard scratchy diapers are not something I am willing to use. The softer the better in my opinion (as long as it doesn't reduce the use-ability). So this is a huge positive for me with Little Snugglers. I have no compunctions against using these on my son and i would have no problem using them on a newborn (I use store brand diapers most of the time, but i do go for the higher quality, softer diapers for my newborns). These diapers really feel like they would be a soft hug for newborns.

Absorbancy
The Huggies Little Snugglers are absorbant. They have a new GentleAbsorb* Liner  with hundreds of tiny absorbant pillows to help draw the mess away from the skin and keep them dry. Little Man 2 has not had any hugely wet diapers yet, but so far we have had no leaks. Even when he sleeps in them all night. And they seem to be helping with his rash a little (he has had a really bad rash for several days and using these in addition to diaper rash cream seems to be helping). So they are great skin care for your little one.

Wetness Indicator
Huggies Little Snugglers does have a very nice wetness indicator. The way that it works is that there is a yellow line on the outside of the diaper extending from the front to the back. When the diaper is wet the line will turn blue. It is easy to read and shows up even if there is only a little wetness. That is pretty important in the first few weeks when you don't really know what you are doing and have a hard time telling if your baby has peed and you are supposed to be recording how many times they have peed every day. I definitely recommend these diapers for the first month or so with your first child.

Rewards Program
Huggies has a rewards program. You earn points by entering codes from diapers and wipes, and other Huggies products, and inviting friends (by the way send me your email address if you want an invitation, you get 10 points for signing up through an invitation). Apparently you can also get points for reading articles and writing reviews but I'm not sure how that works because I haven't done it. As far as the rewards go you can get shutterfly products like photo books and photo prints, magazine subscriptions, and things for your children.

Deals
I see coupons for Huggies all the time. Usually for $1-3 off. On amazon right now there is a coupon for $2 and $4 off Little Snugglers. 

Fit
These diaper are very stretchy! They have a unique SnugFit* waistband in the back that stretches to provide a gentle secure fit. They have a flexible pocketed back waistband to help keep in the mess. They also have an umbilical cord cut out for newborns. I didn't need this feature, but I know it is great when you have a newborn. The stretchiness works well to make the diapers fit. The only area I'm not sure about is around the legs. I got size 2 because that is the size that my son wears in other diapers. But Little Snugglers runs a little bit smaller than the other diapers so it is possible a size 3 would have fit better in the leg. One problem with diapers running smaller is that your child grows out of each size a little faster, and the smaller sizes are slightly cheaper so staying in the smaller size saves you a little money. But this is not a deal breaker for me.


The stretchy back waistband

The pocket in the back waistband. It really does work to keep in the mess!

The stretchy sides.


Availability
You can find New! Huggies Little Snugglers in most grocery stores and mass retailers.


Neutral

Blowout Rate
Little Man 2 has been pooping a Lot lately. So I got a chance to test this out. He had one blowout. It came out around the leg, so it could have been our fault. Mr. Random put the diaper on so I didn't see how it fit around the leg.  And I don't really blame Huggies because Little Man 2 has been going through a blowout phase, and is having blowouts in any diapers I put him in. What I did like about these diapers is the pocketed waistband in the back (see picture below) because it stopped the blowout from going all the way up his back.


Negatives

Price
Prices are for size 1 diapers for equal comparison.
Walmart - Box of 216 diapers for $47.17 = $0.22/diaper
Amazon- Box of 198 diapers for $46.86 (with subscribe and save, free shipping) = $0.24/diaper
Target - Box of 216 diapers for $47.19 = $0.22/diaper

*Prices reflect the price at the time I checked, they will vary. I am not responsible for difference between these prices and current prices.


Conclusion
These diapers are great! The only downside is the price. But I am willing to pay the higher price for diapers for newborns. And of course when I find a great sale or coupon I would jump at the chance to get these diapers. They are great diapers and the changes are only for the better!


I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Huggies and Target. I received samples and a promotional item to facilitate my review.
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