Giveaway - youTunes

Admit it, I know you've been there too.  The kids are all in bed, but the music is still on.  You find yourself singing along while doing the dishes (or folding one of the laundry mountains that have taken up residence on your couch...) and then you realize... you're singing along to the Fisher Price Classics.  You try and remember the last time you listened to something catchy that *isn't* Elmo And I Know It... and you realize you can't because it's been so long.

Now I'm more of an independent music fan, myself, and there are lots of artists on my music playlist that I guarantee you've never heard of (or maybe you have, some of my favourite indie acts have a way of making it big, and I don't realize it til I'm out shopping and hear a song I actually know playing on the speakers in a store...).  But as you know I'm also a runner, and as I'm training for a race this spring (actually training this time, not winging it like last time I tried a 10K...), I like having a selection of newer, upbeat music to run to.  Problem is, I don't know any of it.  And there's only so much you can glean from a 30 second clip in the iTunes preview.  Wouldn't it be great if I could listen to some top-100 music at home, so that I can then go and buy the tracks I really like?  Without having the blaring, screaming ads that all the popular radio stations are so full of?  Yes please!

Well it turns out that with youTunes, you can do just that, and more.  YouTunes is a free music player that lists the current top 100 tracks of pretty much whatever country you can think of, lets you add them to your own custom playlist(s), and then not only plays the song but also shows the corresponding video from YouTube.  Sometimes it's a music video, sometimes it has lyrics instead, but regardless, it's a nice way to catch up on what's hip outside of the preschooler scene.  It has great potential for a mom's night in (or as a prelude to mom's night out) by gathering up all the stuff that's playing on the dance floor, for your own party at home or in a hotel, as long as someone brought a MacBook and there's free Wifi...

In addition to automatically having access to each country's top 100 songs, you are also able to search for other songs if there is something you want to hear that isn't on there.  Now I do find that if you are searching for something more obscure, you are less likely to find what you're looking for, but the same thing would happen if you're looking directly on YouTube.  Most songs that show up in the search/top-100 list have links directly to iTunes where you can buy the official track or music video.  It would be nice if they add a link to purchase the song itself too, but that doesn't seem to be a feature in the app just yet.  I'm told that the company that makes the app is considering putting some settings into place to let you filter out songs with explicit ratings (making it sort-of kid safe, though I personally wouldn't play much of this stuff with my preschooler around), but there's no word yet on when that might be available.  So for now, this app gets the mommy stamp of approval, but consider it one you'd use when your kids are asleep or in another room playing quietly by themselves getting into trouble.

This is currently a Mac only app, available for download in the Mac App Store for $0.99, a pretty small price to pay to have all this music at your fingertips.  Plus, I have a bunch of promo codes to give away, so you could have the app for free!  Here's what I'm going to do.  I will give away 1 promo code.  If I get more than 10 entries to this giveaway, I'll give away a second promo code.  20 entries?  I'll throw in another one to give away.  (Max 10 promo codes to be given away).  So share this review, and tell your mac-owning friends, as in this case, more entries could actually improve your odds of winning (2/11 is better than 1/9, right?)

To find out more, or to buy this app, visit http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/free-music-player/id502305134?mt=12

Bummas "The Wild Ones" Cloth Wipes Review & GIVEAWAY!

There has been an evolution of wipes in our household.  When my son was born, we used disposable diapers, and disposable wipes.  Once he grew big enough to fit into the Kushies AIOs we had at the time, we switched to cloth diapers, and homemade disposable wipes (paper towel & homemade mix of distilled water, lotion, and baby wash).  We soon got tired of the inevitable crisis whenever we ran out of homemade wipes, because the middle of a baby poop emergency is totally not the time to start making a new batch of wipes.  Plus, with the money we were saving on diapers, I figured that having to buy wipes every now and then was not the end of the world.  So we went back to disposable wipes.  It drove me bananas every time I opened the washing machine and found little specks of disposable wipes all over the diapers in the wash.  I mean, it's so easy and second nature to roll up the dirty diaper, stuffing the wipes inside.  Plus, the garbage can got kind of nasty where it was full of used wipes that were not contained by disposable diapers.  I thought there had to be a better way, but honestly it never occurred to me that CLOTH WIPES were the answer.

Thankfully this time around, I had the brilliant realization that cloth wipes were a much more reasonable solution.  You have to wash the diapers anyways, and instinctively, you put the dirty wipes in the diapers, so why not cloth wipes?  They go in with the regular diaper loads of laundry, and don't require any special treatment.  There are several options for when you use them - the easiest is to run them under the tap when you need them.  For the upcoming winter, I have opted to dampen them in advance and store in a wipes warmer.  Others use a wipes solution in a spray bottle and spray it on baby or wipe at change time.  The wipes I have been using are basic handmade squares of double layered flannel serged together.  I made them from a stack of old receiving blankets I had kicking around in the baby-stuff-I-saved-for-our-second bin.

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to receive a package of Bummas in the mail to test out for this blog.  They have been #1 in my rotation since I got them.  Made of a single layer of cotton velour fabric, they are velvety soft on one side, and terry-cloth textured on the other side.  This makes them perfect to clean up big messes and small ones.  I was surprised at the size of them, 5" x 7", which I thought would be too small to do the job well.  However, they seem to be just right.  They basically cover my palm & fingers, so I can use them terry side out for bigger messes, and do a final cleanup by folding in half and using the soft velour side to get any remaining mess.  I wet them before use, and wring them out, so they are damp but not dripping wet.  So, I don't have any issues with moisture on baby's bum before applying her diaper.  However, Bummas wipes are also excellent for drying off baby's bum if you had to use wetter wipes to get things clean.  I agree with one of the cute sayings on their eco-friendly minimal packaging that states: "After the wipe and before the dipe, use a soft kiss of cloth to dry bums off."  I also got a kick out of some of the other rhymes on there, such as "Avert the squirt", since, according to their website, one Bummas wipe can absorb an entire pee - this would have been great when my boy was in diapers...

The wipes have held up very well, going through my usual diaper laundry routine of soak/wash/rinse/rinse and line dry (or occasionally in the dryer) without any ill effects.  They have not shrunk or frayed AT ALL, which I'm impressed with because I am ALWAYS re-edging my homemade wipes because the corner where the serged edges meet is always fraying on those.  Bummas wipes are also great to use as facecloths, cleaning up after mealtime, or wiping a runny nose.  They also say on their packaging that they could be used as burp cloths, but I don't think that would work well for my little one because when she spits up, it tends to be an epic affair that goes from my shoulder to my elbow (and often ends up splatting on my hips, thighs, or calves, depending on how I'm standing or sitting).  So for now, I'll stick to burping with a receiving blanket.  If your little one doesn't spit up much though, using a Bummas for a burp cloth would definitely cut down on the bulk of cloth you would need to carry around with you in your diaper bag.

Bummas wipes come in 4 adorable colour combinations - the fabric is white cotton-woven terry velour, and the serged edges are done using bright beautiful colours.  They used to have different colour fabrics and different coloured edges but it seems they are phasing this out on their site.  They now have a "The Boys" set which is edged in shades of blue and green, a "The Girls" set that is edged in shades of pink and purple, a "The Calm Ones" set edged in shades of orange, brown, and green, and finally the "The Wild Ones" edged in ten different random shades of every colour under the rainbow.  They are sold in sets of 10, and each set sells for $16.99.  They ship worldwide, and accept paypal, so if you're reading this, you can buy them!  Check out www.bummas.com for more pictures and information on their wipes.

Great news!  Bummas has agreed to sponsor a giveaway right here on Geekmommy Reviews, with the prize being your very own 10 pack of Bummas wipes!  To enter, you must visit the Bummas page on Facebook and "Like" them, then comment back here that you did so.  Be sure to include your name on Facebook and your email address in your comment so that I can contact you when you win!

You can earn up to 3 extra entries by:

1. Liking "Geekmommy Reviews" on Facebook and telling me you did this in the comments (be sure to let me know your name on Facebook)
2. Following @geekmommyreview on Twitter and tweeting about this giveaway (be sure to link to the tweet in the comments)
3. Following this blog on Google Friend Connect and telling me you did this in the comments

Winner will be drawn on Friday October 7th, 2011 using Random.org.  Your odds of winning obviously depend on number of entries received.

*Disclaimer:  Geekmommy Reviews was given free of charge the product(s) to review in exchange for featuring this product on http://www.geekmommyreviews.com.  Any opinions or statements given above come only from Geekmommy Reviews and were not influenced in any way by the product vendor.

Cloth By Tel - OS Pocket Diapers Review & GIVEAWAY

For a quick rundown of my cloth diapering past, check out the first post in this series here.  As you know by now, I've chosen to go with OS Pocket diapers with snap closures.  That's OS for One Size (fits 7lb to 35lb, supposedly, using a series of snaps to adjust the length/rise of the diaper) and Pocket meaning they have a pocket between the outer layer and the inner layer, into which the absorbent liner(s) is placed.  The snap closures allow the diaper to be fastened over and over, securely each time (as opposed to a hook & loop closure which can get less "sticky" as time goes by and threads/lint clog up the hooks).

Smallest rise setting

I purchased a number of generic brand OS Pocket diapers from a local retailer, Cloth By Tel, and have happily been using them for over 5 months now.  They come in regular (smooth fabric) or Minkee (soft/fuzzy) outside layers, in solid colours or various patterns.  I think the Minkee cow and zebra prints are just the sweetest!  The inside liner fabric is a fluffy fleece that helps wick away moisture from baby's delicate skin, and presumably the fluffy factor also helps remove solids from the diaper (we're still 100% on breastmilk here so have not had to deal with "real" poo yet).  The diapers have a generous sized opening in the back for stuffing the liner(s) in, and a fleece flap that folds over the liner to keep the microfiber off baby's skin.  Each diaper purchased includes a single liner, and Cloth By Tel also sells extra liners if you want some for overnights.

Spotless, after 5 months of use.  Elastics all in great shape

Thus far, the diapers have held up well to being used in regular rotation, washing every three days, and line drying the pockets.  I do occasionally throw the liners in the dryer, especially on rainy days, and they don't seem to be any worse for the wear.  The construction seems to be pretty uniform, the tabs each have two snaps, the front of the diapers have 10 snaps in a row so you can really customize the fit, and the rise adjustment has three levels for different size babies.  My baby girl started wearing these as soon as her umbilical cord stump fell off, around 8-9lbs.  She is now a robust 17lb 15oz at 5 months old, and so I've got the diapers at the largest rise setting already.  I am curious to see how the diapers will continue to fit as she gets older, but I do remember with my son that as his shape changed over the months, I had to adjust his diapers differently to get a good fit, so I imagine these will be similar.

10 snaps across the top of the diaper

There are sturdy elastics sewn in at the back of the diaper (to keep runny messes in), as well as in the leg openings (ditto).  They are very stretchy and as they are sewn inside the diaper, no elastic marks are left on my baby's legs.  I was concerned that the thick fleece inside would be too warm in the summertime, but it did not seem to be bothersome to my daughter at all, and she did not seem too warm in her diaper as compared to the rest of her body.  We have had very few diaper rashes, sometimes just a touch of redness, which went away after a bit of "air time".  On the odd occasion that we've wanted to use diaper cream, we stuck with Skinfix, and made sure to use a diaper liner (as is recommended for all balms with cloth diapers).  We have not had to do anything special with the diaper cleaning process, the initial prep wash was super easy with just a squirt of dish detergent and a double rinse.  Even after 5 months of continuous use, they are all still stain free and smell fresh and clean with our current routine:
-dry pail with pail liner for 3 days max
-cold 20 minute soak
-hot 10 minute wash with EcoNuts laundry soap
-2x cold rinse
-line dry/sun when possible, else line dry covers indoors and machine dry liners

Largest rise setting

I've talked enough about the diapers, but I do definitely need to mention Cloth By Tel's fantastic prices and deals - the diapers run from $8 for the regular/print/Minkee ones, to $10 for ones with bamboo inserts.  She also sells leg warmers, swim diapers, wet bags, wipes, bio-liners, and extra liners/soakers.  Cloth By Tel is on Facebook, and frequently has great sales/package deals to help you get the best bang for your cloth diapering buck.  Shipping charges are very reasonable, and she ships the diapers quickly, so you get them without much of a wait.  Go check out her selection over at http://www.clothbytel.com!

Cloth By Tel has generously sponsored a giveaway of ONE regular in-stock OS Pocket Diaper to one of my lucky readers (*Canada and US only for this giveaway*).  This contest will be open until Friday, September 23rd.  To enter, please visit http://www.clothbytel.com and leave a comment below saying which product is your favourite.

Plus earn up to 4 extra entries by:

1. Liking "Geekmommy Reviews" on Facebook and telling me you did this in the comments (be sure to let me know your name on Facebook)
2. Liking "Cloth By Tel" on Facebook and telling me you did this in the comments (be sure to let me know your name on Facebook)
3. Following @geekmommyreview AND @clothbytel on Twitter and tweeting about this giveaway (be sure to link to the tweet in the comments)
4. Following this blog on Google Friend Connect and telling me you did this in the comments

Winner will be drawn on Friday September 23rd, 2011 using Random.org.  Your odds of winning obviously depend on number of entries received.

Leading Lady - Nursing Bras and More - GIVEAWAY

Last week, I received a wonderful package in the mail. I had been anticipating a nursing bra from Leading Lady to review on this blog, and imagine my delight when in the box were TWO lovely nursing bras, exactly the ones I had hoped to be able to review for you all.

Leading Lady is more than just a retailer of nursing and full-figure bras, they also support nursing moms via their website.  They have a dedicated section of their website called Amy's Corner where user submitted questions are answered by a lactation consultant.  Their helpful articles there include tips on breastfeeding in the heat of summer, breastfeeding your baby when you are sick, and making holidays less stressful so you can spend more time with baby.

They also make and sell some great and affordable nursing bras, such as the "Baby Sees It" molded seamless underwire, and the lovely molded seamless lace edged underwire, both of which I will review here.  Each of these two bras is well made, the stitching is tight and secure, and the bands are wide enough for a triple hook closure (there are also FOUR! different closure settings so I could really customize the fit).  They both look brand new even after being worn, spit up on, and washed.  The cups are molded so even when nursing, I can maintain a sleek silhouette under summer's light tees and tanks*.  The inside slings are secure and so I felt supported even when baby was nursing, and the fact it didn't shift around also made it easy to pull up the molded cup and fasten the clasp with one hand while balancing a sleepy baby with the other hand.  The openings are generously sized, and do not leave any unsightly bulges at all.  When I chose the size bra to order, I followed the website's fit guide, which suggested a 36C.  I am currently wearing a 36D and 34D in other brands, so I took a chance, and ordered a 34D despite the size chart's recommendation.  Both bras fit me very well, however, the band on the Baby Sees It bra is less stretchy than the lace edged one, and so I have to wear it on the very last closure setting.  If you are uncertain which band size to order, for this style I would suggest rounding up, since it has four settings for the closure, you should get a good fit that way.  The lace edged one fits like it was made for me, since the band is a bit stretchier, and so I use one of the middle 2 sets of hooks to close it.

* Both bras also received the husband-thinks-they're-sexy stamp of approval.

The Baby Sees It bra has a couple of really neat special features: the sling fabric is printed with a bold high-contrast pattern to draw baby's attention to it while feeding, and the straps are wider and padded for comfort.  I found that when nursing with a button front shirt, the printed sling "Baby Sees It" feature really did draw my baby's hands and eyes to it (and kept her from pulling my hair, yay!).  The effect was a little less noticeable when nursing in a shirt lifted up for baby's access, because the tucked up shirt covered part of the sling.  I was concerned that the print might be distracting or keep baby from falling asleep at the breast but I didn't have to worry (I guess the sleep-inducing powers of breastmilk are hard to beat).  The wide padded straps really added to the comfort of this bra, my only other molded bra up til now has ridiculously tiny straps that dig in within the first hour of wearing it.  Now that I have these two lovely bras in my collection, that old one is going into the bin.

I was unsure about how comfortable a lace edged underwire bra could be, since lace can be a scratchy material, but the lace used in this bra is the softest I've ever felt, it looks very elegant and feels so soft against my skin.  The straps are not padded like the Baby Sees It, but they are still generously wide, and have the convenient feature of adjusting in length at the FRONT.  Most bras have the strap length adjustment in the back, but this bra has it on the front of the strap so you can actually get the correct length without having to either contort your arms behind you or take it off to do the adjustment free-hand while you are not wearing it.

Leading Lady has been kind enough to offer to ONE of my readers a $10 discount off your order with free shipping on the entire order.  They do only ship to the US at this time, so this giveaway would make sense for my US readers or those with a US shipping address.  To enter, please visit their website (http://www.leadinglady.com/) and leave a comment here saying what you'd like to order using the $10 discount.

Their bra prices are already very reasonable, so having an extra $10 off plus free shipping would be a great deal!  They also are running a great deal on their website right now (til August 31st 2011) with 20% off your order and free shipping if you buy over $75.

Plus earn up to 3 extra entries by:

1. Liking "Geekmommy Reviews" on Facebook and telling me you did this in the comments (be sure to let me know your name on Facebook)
2. Following @geekmommyreview on Twitter and tweeting about this giveaway (be sure to link to the tweet in the comments)
3. Following this blog on Google Friend Connect and telling me you did this in the comments

Winner will be drawn on Friday September 16th, 2011 using Random.org.  Your odds of winning obviously depend on number of entries received.

*Disclaimer:  Geekmommy Reviews was given free of charge the product(s) to review in exchange for featuring this product on http://www.geekmommyreviews.com.  Any opinions or statements given above come only from Geekmommy Reviews and were not influenced in any way by the product vendor.

Worldictionary - GIVEAWAY!

I was recently given the opportunity to try out and review an iPhone app called Worldictionary.  Worldictionary is a translation app that harnesses the powers of the iPhone camera and Google translation services to give you real-time translation of text from over 20 languages into over 50 languages.  Basically you set the from/to language pair very easily by tapping on the language at the bottom of the screen (or reverse the pair by tapping a quick reverse icon), then you focus the center of the camera image on the word you wish to translate.  There is a circle at the center of the camera viewfinder that shows an outline while you are moving around, and a solid circle when it is focused on a word.  The word comes up and so does the translation.  In addition, on the bottom right of the screen, it gives you an icon to let you hear the pronunciation of the word (not the translated word, but the actual word you are pointing at).  It also tries to give you some guidance on word usage by looking at 2-word pairs, and in this way it helps to avoid incorrect translations of expressions that lose their meaning when translated literally word for word.

The app also allows manual input through the iPhone keyboard, in case you have a shaky hand or in situations where the camera might be able to focus on the word you want (if it's far away on a billboard or road sign, for example).  You have the option of enabling the iPhone flash too, so you can still use the Worldictionary app in low light situations.

Once the word is translated, you can click on it to look it up in the dictionary, in Wikipedia, and for some reason, also on YouTube.  I'm not quite sure why the YouTube integration is there, but the dictionary and Wikipedia links are useful as you can quickly and easily find out more about the word in question.  The app also keeps track of your previous translated words, in case you quickly want to go back and see info about any of them.  You can even set bookmarks on words if you think you'll be needing them again.

Overall, I found the app to be easy to use, very effective at translating, and the app performed quickly and correctly identified everything I threw at it.  If I had to make a few suggestions for improvement, I would like to see pronunciation available for both the original text AND the translated text, since I was mostly translating my native English to other languages and not vice-versa.  I would also like to see some sort of automated detection of the language of the source text, because I could imagine in some cases, if you are looking to translate something into your native language, you may not always know what exactly the source language is.  I've been assured that the automatic detection of the language of the source text is coming in a future version, so that's exciting!

I think this app would be great to use with kids that are learning to read - if they have it handy, and don't know how to pronounce/read a word, they can easily use the app in English to (anything) mode - then the app will read the English word to them.  It may not be that great for really young readers, if they're like mine, and don't have a super steady hand to hold the iPhone steady while detecting a word.  Also, if I ever have the opportunity to travel to a country where I don't speak the language, I will definitely be making good use of this app.  And right now I think it will be fun and handy the next time I get to a Chinese restaurant - then I'll know once and for all what's REALLY in the Szechuan Chicken dish.

Worldictionary is available in iTunes for $5.99 and you can read more about the app on the company's website at http://worldcard.penpowerinc.com/product.asp?sn=300

Wait, there's more!  One lucky (Canadian or US) reader will win a promo code for their very own copy of Worldictionary!  To enter, just leave a comment below telling me why you'd love to win this.

Plus earn up to 3 extra entries by:

1. Liking "Geekmommy Reviews" on Facebook and telling me you did this in the comments (be sure to let me know your name on Facebook)
2. Following @geekmommyreview on Twitter and tweeting about this giveaway (be sure to link to the tweet in the comments)
3. Following this blog on Google Friend Connect and telling me you did this in the comments

Winner will be drawn on Friday August 12th, Monday August 15th, 2011 using Random.org.  Your odds of winning obviously depend on number of entries received.

*Disclaimer:  Geekmommy Reviews was given free of charge the product/software to review in exchange for featuring this product on http://www.geekmommyreviews.com.  Any opinions or statements given above come only from Geekmommy Reviews and were not influenced in any way by the product vendor.