Wishpot - The answer to all your wish list wants

Have you ever been in the middle of fixing up an Amazon wish list only to come across an item that's no longer sold on their site? I know, it's pretty rare, but it's so irritating when it does happen. How about discovering a product that's so new and innovative that it's only sold on the creator's website. How are you supposed to tell your pals that it's the perfect birthday present? A "check this out" email is sometimes a tad too obvious and obnoxious, but what's a girl to do?

Well now Wishpot is here to save the day. Wishpot is the ultimate wish list organizer. Download their handy "Add to Wishpot" button and "window"-shop to your heart's content. Whenever you see something you just have to have, tap the button and poof the item is in your wish list. Millions of stores, one list. Brilliant. You can create multiple lists: 'birthday', 'holidays', 'just because', 'in my wildest dreams', 'if you are seeking forgiveness', etc, etc...

And if you thought that it couldn't get better you were wrong! As if Wishpot weren't cool enough, today they are rolling out their Baby Registry option. Now new and expectant parents are no longer at the mercy of Babies R Us or Buy Buy Baby. Have I mentioned how brilliant this is? And yet there's even more. I know. I can't take it either. Since the brilliant people at Wishpot know just how stressful creating a baby registry can be. And since they don't want expectant parents' heads to spin they've rounded up an impressive panel of Mom Experts (and I'm not just saying that because I'm one of the lucky few) to create sample lists that anyone can peruse to get tips and ideas.

So what are you waiting for? Don't tell me there aren't a few things you've had your eye on for a while, I won't believe you. Wii anyone?

For the Kids - For all the bopping we do around the kitchen

In the Rose household we love to dance. Wait, let me rephrase that. In the Rose household we love to boogie in the kitchen while waiting for our dinner to cook. We pop in a CD and dance like maniacs until the giggles bring us to our knees. What can I say, I love to hear my kids laugh at me. Plus, some days it's the only exercise I get.

Our favorite CD, hands down, is For the Kids. It's a compilation of kid themed songs sung by awesome big shot artists: Five for Fighting, Barenaked Ladies, Sarah McLachlan to name a few. The songs are all brilliant, not a one needs to be skipped, and most should be on repeat. The themes may be kid friendly but the music is most definitely not dumbed down and won't make you want to rip your hair out after hearing it a couple times.

My personal faves are Willie the King by Dan Wilson; a touching take on how kids wish they could control the grown-up world and the Chantal/Raine Maida version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star which I guarantee you will still be humming days after you last heard it. Oh wait, I also really like Guster's I've Got to Be Clean and Dan Zanes' Wonderwheel. Oh! And! And! And you get the gist.

Definite thumbs up for this gem of a CD. Get it even if you don't have kids to enjoy it with.

The new buddy on the block

"Momma? Can I sleep with the flashlight?" C pleads as I'm tucking her into her big girl bed. I'm loath to say yes, how many batteries am I supposed to buy to feed her night light habit? But I understand the fear a dark room can spark and here are just no available outlets in her room for a traditional night light.

And then I found the perfect solution. The Tyke Light is a rechargeable, portable glowing night light shaped like a cute little ghost. You plug him in during the day and he stores up enough energy to glow all night long. Kids can carry him around, making it possible to find their way to the potty or to mommy and daddy's room in the dead of the night.

His three light settings: high, low, and low fading to off are handy, though maybe a tad bright for a night light, but the ease of operation more than makes up for a little extra light. Some nights C doesn't even want him on, she just makes sure she knows where he is so she can turn him on if she gets scared.

A very definite thumbs up for this cute little buddy who comes in six fun colors.

Thermos Foogo sippy cup

My sister's post on the BPA issue made me pull my head out of the sand and consider the issue. C and Little L both use sippy cups. It's taken me a long, long time to find cups that didn't leak and weren't a pain to wash, so I was really loath to hunt down some BPA free cups.

In the end the threat of cancer was enough to send me to the camping aisle at Target where I had heard the Thermos Foogo cups were hiding. At $14.39 the price was a little steep, but I figured we'd just make sure to leave this one at home so as to not lose it and I threw it in the cart. I'm hoping to get C to give up sippies completely so I only got one for Little L.

At home I pried the shiny metal cup from its plastic casing and took it apart to clean it. On the plus side the cup comes apart pretty easily. The valve doesn't have any annoying nooks or crannies to clean. The opening is large enough to be able to wash with a sponge.

I filled the cup with cold water and gave it to the baby. That's when I realized the only real drawback; it's a heavy metal cup. When the cup is filled with water Little L at 9 months can lift it to her mouth, but she has trouble tilting the cup so she can actually drink. When it's only half full she has no trouble drinking.

I concede a thumbs up, I didn't want to give up my beloved Gerber sippies, but if I have to this might be my best bet. Overall I like the cup. It keeps the water nice and cool and it's pretty easy to clean. The weight is a drawback (especially when she drops it on my foot. Ouch!), but soon it won't be an issue any more. The price is a bit prohibitive if your kids are prone to losing sippy cups, but compared to other BPA free metal cups it's not too bad.

DaBib.... totally Da Bomb

In case you didn't know, I have two kids. Over the last three years I have bought countless bibs and inherited even more from friends and family. I have a huge kitchen drawer full of the dratted things and yet I still never find one that really does the trick. The cloth ones are always too small or not thick enough, the plastic ones don't really work with really runny baby food.

Given my frustration with the whole bib situation it's no wonder I pulled out my credit card as soon as I heard about DaBib. This mom invented product hasn't let me down. Phew! The bibs are nice and big, but most importantly they have an innovative "scrunch" neckline that does a beautiful job of keeping food from dribbling into the baby's neck. No more pea or carrot stained collars! The smart "fold out crumb catcher" really catches the stuff that doesn't quite make it into the baby's mouth and the waterproof back protects the baby even when she's wearing the terrycloth bib. Brilliant!

I ordered both the terrycloth and the waterproof polyester bibs, thinking that one could live in my purse for the many times we end up eating out and one could be used in the kitchen. As it turns out the 3 year old has adopted the waterproof bib, leaving the terrycloth one for her sister. I think I'm going to need to pull out my credit card again if I want one for my purse!

Definitely a thumbs up! Order one for yourself and get a couple for your friends. These would make great shower gifts, especially for moms who already have a tyke or two and who would really appreciate the superior quality of these bibs.

Her father's daughter - Jammin' with her microphone

It arrived in the mail and I tore into the package with kidlike excitement. The folks at Team Mom had been hyping the new Baby Jamz toy line for weeks and I was thrilled to finally get my mitts on the toys. For C, of course. Heh.

The little blue Baby Jamz Jammin' Microphone has the heft, look, and feel of a real mic and C couldn't wait to rip it out of my hands to try it out. As soon as she started to push buttons and sing into it I grabbed my roll of duct tape. The music is cute but way loud so I applied my own brand of silencer to the speaker on the back. One thick layer of duct tape later and the noise level was tolerable.

The buttons are pretty self explanatory: record, play back, sing along, or just play the prerecorded music. Easy enough for an almost three year old to figure out on her own. (Which is a good thing because in the scuffle we lost the instructions... oops.) Weeks later C still hunts this toy out on a regular basis to belt out a tune or give us a quick concert. She loves to record herself singing to the recorded tracks, and we have to admit, M and I get a kick out of recording little messages for her.

Thumbs up Baby Jamz! For $9.97 this toy is definitely a good choice for a kid's present or even for your own budding recording star!

Just try it.

Every decision I make always seems momentous, like it's the be all end all way things are going to end up. The stress this causes is paralyzing, what if I make the wrong choice? What if I choose the wrong path?

For years I was convinced that there was no such thing as a "wrong choice". I told myself that once a decision was made the only option was to make sure that it was the right one. I made sure to head down my chosen path with a sure step, no looking back, no second guessing. Pick something and then commit.

To be fair, when you are a teenager or a young adult, waffling is not really an option. There are huge life changing decisions waiting around each corner and indecision can be disastrous. To make things worse you have a skewed notion of time and it feels as though each choice you make will affect the rest of your life. Then you grow up and you realize that what you thought was a long time is really just a hiccup along the road of your life.

I think I've finally grown up. While I still believe in making any choice be the right one, I no longer believe that every decision is set in stone. One of the great things about life is that it's long, definitely long enough to try new things just for the sake of seeing how they work for you.

Want a new hobby? Take a class or two. If it turns out to not be your thing, all you've wasted is a little money and a little time. The knowledge you've gained, both about the subject and about yourself, is well worth it.
Bored with your career? Life is long, maybe it's time to start researching a new field. It's a win win situation. Either you'll discover that you are in the right job, or you'll find something that's better suited to your strengths.
Itching to spread your wings? Go! If you hate the place you're headed, you can always go back.
Next time you are faced with a fork in the road, don't torture yourself, chose the road that feels right to you, then give yourself a deadline. When that time is up, if you're miserable, you'll know it's time to try something else, and if you're happy, then you'll know you made the right choice.