Mom Blog Work

We have a joint review for you! Two weeks before our annual Disneyland trip we spotted the Boba carrier on Zulilly and managed to both score a new carrier for a decent price.

We had both had an eye on the Boba for awhile now but couldn't find a good reason to buy one full price. We were both hoping it would be a carrier for the kids who usually walk or stroll but need carrying every once in awhile.

Who we carried like pack mules all over the Happiest Place on Earth:

• Rey, age 2, 29lbs
• Brady, age 1, 28lbs
• Margeaux, age 4, 32lbs

What we liked:
K: The fabric is sooo soft
K: Great for big kids - foot straps were perfect for Mo's long, lanky legs and the body is nice and tall and covers most of her back
K: Sleeping hood rolls up and stores smartly and easily.
M: Easy to schlep around. Could just throw it in the stroller.
M: Pretty comfortable.

What we didn't like:
K: No pocket! I'm so used to the handy pocket in the Ergo and I really missed it.
K: I just couldn't get a comfortable front carry with B at all which was dissapointing. The shoulder straps were constantly falling off for some reason if I wore him in front. Not a problem in back. He was sick this trip and I wanted him close and in the front so I opted for my trusty Ergo after the first day and honestly haven't gone back to the Boba again.
M: My boba's top front strap was sewn on backwards. So, it's sort of weird, but not a huge deal.
M: When I'm carrying Rey, the top strap gets really close to my neck, and it can't be pushed down anymore than it already is. I'm thinking I could probably adjust it somehow, but I haven't figured it out yet.

Final thoughts on the Boba:
K: My husband really likes it for carrying our long, lean 4yo. It's "their" carrier now and we keep it in the car all the time. It doesn't get a ton of use (she's pretty big now) but it's handy and works really well for the two of them.
K: Minus the missing pocket and my inability to get the straps right in a front carry it's like they took the Ergo and made it even better.
M: I don't have another carrier, and we're very much past the baby stage, so we won't be buying another one. I'm glad the Boba works pretty well with Rey. I even put him in it to carry him around the mall. It's convenient and fairly comfortable. It's nice that both my husband and I can use it.

I'm kind of in love with our double stroller.

Combi Twin Sport in Wasabi

We bought the stroller right before our Disneyland trip a few months ago because I wanted a double stroller that folded up relatively small for travel, was side-by-side and that Margeaux (age 3.5) could sleep in. We have one of those big, heavy, gigantic double strollers with the sit-stand platform but I pretty much hate it. There are soooooo many things I hate about that thing but the two main reasons why it wasn't going to come to Disneyland with us was it's size and the fact that big kids couldn't sleep in it.

Enter the Combi Twin Sport to save the day. (Queue super hero music.)

The MBW families strolling at D'land

This is the double stroller I was imagining all along. We've pushed various combinations of the kids from our two families in this stroller - Margeaux and Brady all over, Margeaux and Alex, Megan's son, with a combined weight of around 75lbs, Relio and Margeaux, etc. Brady and Margeaux nap happily in it. It was easy to fold up and gate check. It was a wonderful travel stroller!

Big kids, little kids - the Combi Sport can do it all!

Pros

• folds and unfolds quickly and easily
• easy to push, maneuvers well and fits through doorways
• big kids can get out on there own
• seats recline (quite far) easily and smoothly so you can lay a sleeping kid down with out disturbing them
• great colors
• No more big kid jumping off the uncomfortable sit-stand platform while you're walking
• stroller handles are at a nice height - neither of us felt awkward pushing it like we do with our single cheapie umbrella stroller

Cons

• the opening for the storage basket is small making it hard to get things in and out
• the clip that holds it together when it is closed seems like it's going to give soon and could be sturdier
• i wish the footrests were more adjustable - Brady's feet just dangle because he can't reach yet
• soft tray makes it easy for kids to spill snacks or liquids that are in the cup holders
• No grown-up cup holders

Price
The 2010 model is selling for $229 on Amazon. We were lucky enough to catch it on sale/clearance (I think switching to the next year's colors) on AlbeeBaby.com for $179 plus free shipping.

All in all, a great stroller that we'll be using for years to come!

In honor of the WalletPop article Megan was featured in yesterday we thought we would make list of our all-time favorite apps for iPad and iPhone. It's so hard to choose!

iPad

(by Megan)
(Apparently I only use my iPad for gaming and other fun stuff. I'm...er...saving my review of productivity apps for another post. Right.)

Words with Friends
OMG, this game has consumed my life. Right now, I'm in the middle of 10 different games with my friends. I really need to find a way to make money doing this. Aren't there any professional Words players?? No? Hmm...too bad. BTW, I'm megnotarte if you want to start a game!

PartyPlace Marble Mixer
This is a really fun and easy multi-player game where you compete to roll marbles to a target. You actually flick the marbles across the board! The kids really love playing this game, and it's easy enough that both my 4 and 2 year old can play together. I like how this game also explores the notion of the iPad as a board game replacement. In fact, at a recent Mobile Portland meeting, James Keller, an iPhone/iPad interface designer, remarked that she won't be buying any more actual board games. She likes the iPad interface so much, and really, she's got a point. No pieces to lose, boards to ruin, etc. (Do you know how many times I've bought Chutes and Ladders??) In any case, I'm not sure I'd go that far, but this sure is a fun use of the device.

AIM
AIM has provided a pretty robust chat client for the iPad. It allows you to login to many of your Lifestream service such as AIM, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter. You can allow push notifications when someone messages you, so you'll even get chats while you are working in another program. (FWIW, this is not 100% reliable, but it's a nice attempt at the elusive multi-tasking on the iPad.)

iPhone

(by Karissa)
I've had my phone for a few years now so it's tough to narrow my favorite apps down. I managed to break it down into a few top favorites and then two lists:

Moxie
Addictive word game that my husband and I haven't put down in months. Create words out of randomly presented letters and earn bonus points for "Moxie" words. So fun!

Gratitude Journal from Happy Tapper
Great for daily "Good Stuff" list keeping. Even allows you to upload a photo for each day.

Bloom
Part ambient music, part visual art. This is soothing, relaxing and interesting all at once. Adults and kids love it. Margeaux and I both fell asleep to it the other day.

The Best Camera
"The Best Camera is the One You Have" app is useful and fun and one of my all time favorites. It's a great tool for quickly and easily adding filters to iphone photos. I have saved a number of typical too dark iphone photos with this app as well as enhanced some of my all-time favorite photos on-the-go. There is a community feature to this app that is also fun and interesting. You can also post photos to various sites (Twitter, Flickr, Faceboo, etc) or email photos directly from the app. Here are some of my favorite Best Camera photos:

"Utilities" - I use the term lightly:

• Meebo - Great mobile instant messaging app. Has every major networks and is a well done, good-looking app.
• Pandora - I listen to this everywhere
• CriBaby - make two iphones into a baby monitor. Bailed us out on a weekend trip when we forgot the baby monitor.

Apps for Kids
I have a number of kid apps on my phone for my 3.5 year old daughter. Here are our faves:

• Peekaboo Barn great for younger kids. Features animal words, sounds and pictures.
• Giraffe's Matching Zoo and Giraffe's PreSchool Playground. A matching game with fun animal pictures and sounds and an educational-based set of preschool games including letter and number recognition.
• Feed Me! - current favorite. Great education game.

What are your favorites? Got any we should review? Tell us in the comments!

If you've been living under a rock for the last week or so, you might not have heard yet about Apples latest "magical" and "revolutionary" addition to the technological landscape: the iPad. Prior to its release, peoplewere predicting that this device would ultimately change our concept of computers and how we interact with them at work and at home. It was supposed to render the modern laptop obsolete.

As you probably know, I've worked in the tech industry for over 10 years now, but I would never consider myself cutting edge. Most of my career has been in the Microsoft-based world and I've only recently been working in an Apple-centric environment. I honestly don't think I've ever bought a new device on the day of its debut. Until last weekend.

I got caught up in the iPad frenzy and was lucky enough to get my hands on one the day it was released. It was just the retail therapy I needed to make it through the days leading up to, and after, Rey's surgery. (Seriously - the distraction was AMAZING. Anxiety and worry went buh-bye with the purchase of the iPad.)

I've had the device now for a week, and I've been playing around with how it could be incorporated into our family's life. What niche does it fill? Why not just buy a cheap netbook? (BTW, we have one, an HP mini. It's great.)

Here are my first impressions:

• Form Factor: The way you hold the device in your hand makes for a more intimate computing experience. I just makes sense to gesture on the screen to scroll. Pinching, for example, is amazing, but is nothing new for iPhone or iPod Touch users. I have to say that when I'm using a traditional laptop now, I often find myself trying to gesture on the screen to move things around.
• Multimedia: The iPad is sweet for multimedia. You can download movies, TV shows, and music on iTunes directly from the device. iPad-specific apps are sort of limited at the moment (not to mention buggy) but this will only improve as developers get a chance to test and work with the device.
• Touch Screen: the kids love that they are allowed to touch the screen. The finger-prints that are left are unsightly, but I've gotten over that. Tip: Rey loves to touch the screen over and over, which means he might accidentally open apps, or send off an IM. If you lightly place your finger on the edge of the screen and leave it there, and no other taps will register. Great for when a kid wants to touch the screen but you don't want them accidentally IMing your boss or deleting music from your library.
• iPad in the Kitchen: I can't wait to use it more in the kitchen.The Epicurious app is great (and beautiful!), but I'm more of a food network type cook. The web renders really well (as long as there is no Flash) so cooking blogs and recipe sites work great. I should probably invest in some sort of screen guard so I don't splatter!
• E-books: The iBook reader on the iPad is great. This is my first foray into electronic books and so far I'm liking it. I've downloaded the Kindle app as well, and I've heard that it's great. My coworker Lyza did a fantastic write up comparing the Kindle and the iPad. Read it.

There really is a lot to say about this; it's hard to sum it up in one post. I haven't even talked about the updates that will come in the next version of the operating system (multitasking, anyone??). Geez, it's been out a week and I'm already behind!

All in all, it's a great gadget, but in no way can it replace a laptop. As much as the fanboys and girls want tout this as a revolution in computing, I just don't see it. As my astute colleague pointed out, the first thing you do when you unbox the iPad is hook it up to a computer. If you are in the market for a netbook in addition to your desktop or laptop, this might be perfect then.

Case in point: my Mac is in the shop, so the timing of the iPad release is perfect for me. I figured I could use the iPad while my Mac is away and maybe the pain of being without it would be dampened a bit. Unfortunately, while some iPad features have been helpful (Calendar, for example), I've had to use at least one other laptop while using the iPad. This seems to be a common occurrence. In my office, it seems like every iPad owner is using it while they are using their regular computer. During our MBW secret summit this weekend, Karissa and I actually had three computers out: her laptop, my laptop and the iPad. Oh, make that five if you include my blackberry and her iPhone.

Perhaps if/when I get better at using the on-screen keyboard, I'll be able to use the iPad at meetings for note-taking. But I just can't seem to get the hang of it. I started this post on the iPad, but finished it on my netbook. Too many typing mistakes and false auto-corrected text was frustrating.

That being said, I really am happy I bought it. The kids really enjoy the games. I was in the market for a new portable DVD player, but I think I'll hold off and use the iPad instead. I'm anxious for more iPad-specific apps to be released because I really think that's where the utility of the device comes in. Otherwise, it's just a giant iPod touch, which is OK for me. I don't have one of those...yet.

When I left my work-at-home job and started working full-time away from home, I quickly realized that I would need to plan ahead in order to get dinner on the table every night. Previously, being home during the day, I had the luxury of throwing together meals at the last minute (or running to the grocery store whenever I needed to).

I picked up a copy of Fix, Freeze Feast after reading about it online. I've been using it on and off for the last 8 months or so, and I have to say, it's been a lifesaver for this working mom.

The premise of the book is that you can save money and time by shopping at wholesale stores (like Costco), buying in bulk and then cooking large quantities to store in your freezer. The club-store promise didn't pan out so much for me (more on this later), but the freezer meal aspect really works for my family.

The beauty of this book is the quantity cooking. There's been nothing more satisfying, meal-planning wise, then having a freezer full of relatively healthy food, some of which can be cooked directly from a frozen state. I convinced a friend to start making these meals as well, and we try and swap meals when we can. We end up with more variety and less work overall.

Since there isn't a prescribed meal plan, I"m able to prepare one or two of the recipes per week, and slowly build up a stash in the freezer. Some of the recipes are really easy (basically mix some yummy ingredients together, add meat, freeze!) so they don't take too long to prepare. After a few weeks of doing this, you can fill a freezer quickly.

That being said, there were some things that didn't work so well. In my area, I'm not able to easily acquire the exact quantities that the book recommends. This means I have to buy more or less, and then fudge the quantities of everything else to make up for it (or be left with some extra meat to use for something else). I don't like that I have to make these considerations, but this definitely isn't a show stopper.

Also, I wish there were more recipes overall. After a few months, I find that I would like to try something new, but I've pretty much made everything that sounds appealing. How 'bout another edition, ladies? (Since I'm a big geek, I even emailed the authors with this request. No response. Sad.)

Finally, I feel like there aren't enough vegetables worked in. When I'm cooking a recipe from this book, I generally open a bag salad or steam up some vegetables to serve with it. That works for a while, but it's getting a little boring.

All in all, this book has become a staple in our kitchen. At this moment, my freezer is jam packed with food. Which reminds me...I better remember to get something out for dinner tonight! Beef Fajitas or Berry-Roasted Chicken?