Gearhead Mom

Heidi’s Holiday Hints: Spy Gear

My daughter is an epic mystery fan. For her ninth birthday, we went all out and had a Nancy Drew party. It was a huge hit. So for Christmas this year, it’s all about the spy gear.  Of course that means her four year old little brother is also all about the spy gear, so here are a few of my favorite secret agent gift ideas. Spy stuff is HOT!

Jenny’s Holiday Gift List (For Kids)

Here’s a list of some of the toys and fun stuff I am eyeing for kids’ gifts this year.

Top Ten after the jump.

Jenny’s Holiday Gift List (For Adults)

Over the years, our family has whittled holiday gift-giving down to Draw-a-Name Exchanges for both siblings and cousins, making lists of gifts to give and get manageable (and presciently appropriate in this economy). Nevertheless, I always enjoy perusing the catalogs for cool stuff and culling good ideas from magazines’ gift-giving guides. Here is a list constituting a combination of items I either admire, would really like to have or would really like to give. 
Photo via MarthaStewart.com

Jenny

RE-POST: GHM Top Ten List: How to Keep Junior Happy on the Road

It’s a family week for us, so I thought I’d re-post some favorites. I wrote this last year before the travel season and I still agree with everything I wrote!

If you are traveling for more than about nine minutes, it’s good to have a few things hidden in your bag to keep the travel blues at bay. Here are some easy to pack supplies for the kiddos along the way.

Top Ten List: Must Have Baby Products

This top ten list has been compiled by my friend Ashli, mother of an almost one year old girl. She found all of these items to be absolute Must Haves!

1.  “Spicy Baby!” Baby Food - flavors include Mashed Garlic, Pureed Jalapeno, and Brown Rice and Chili Powder.  Spice up your baby’s diet!
2.  “Wee Bits” play set - A plastic bag full of small, bite-sized plastic pieces for your baby to explore and chew.
3.  High Heel Trainers - make baby’s first pair of shoes one that will provide her with the experience she’ll need to move into pumps.  The one inch high platforms will create the foot arch support she’ll need.
4.  From the makers of scoopable cat litter, “Diaper Clumps” - simply scrape the ball of urine or poop out of the diaper and reuse… our special process coats and clumps, saving on costly diaper changes.
5.  “My Lead Buddy” - A colorful toy that actually changes colors as baby chews through the multiple layers of paint. 
6.  Baby Thongs - enough with those grandma-style panties!  Baby thongs are fashionable and washable. 
7. The Baby Suri Wig - your tyke can resemble the seemingly lavish locks of baby Suri - comes with highlights and “no slip” glue.  Good for 1 month and up.
8.  The mini Segway - baby can stand but not walk?  Solve that problem with the mini Segway.  Baby can zoom effortlessly at 11 mph around the house and neighborhood.
9.  The “Who’s My Daddy” gameset for baby’s first party - great fun for your next family gathering!  One swab from “dad”, baby and mother get dipped in the analyzer fluid and the hilarity ensues as the guests wait to find out if he is, or isn’t.  Made by Maury Povich Games.

10. April Fool’s! Hope you played lots of tricks on your kids.

GHM Top Ten List: Board Books for New Baby

Since Jen’s sister just had a baby (Congrats to you, Mama K!), she has new baby on the brain. Here are some of her all time favorite board books for wee ones.

Top Ten after the jump.

GHM Top Ten List: Ten Great Sites to Shop This Holiday Season

Did you get any shopping done over the weekend? If you are still undecided, here are some of my favorite sites for some outstanding children’s gear. I know safety has been in the forefront of many a parent’s mind this season, so I am listing sites with more natural toys. I have highlighted an item from each store, but believe you me, it was incredibly hard to narrow it down. Holiday madness has pretty much struck me right in the brain. Must.Put.The.Catalogs.Down.

Top Ten after the jump.

GHM Top Ten List: What to Take in Your Diaper Bag

Thinking about the Top Ten Lists got me excited, so I am posting another one today.

OK, so I am just going to say right now that I’ll definitely be going over the “ten” part of the Gearhead Mom’s Top Ten List more often than not. There’s just a lot of gear out there and I love a lot of it. As your child gets older not all of the items are needed every time. This is also a great baby shower gift to give. Get a diaper bag (off their registry if they have one picked out) and fill it up with all these items. It makes that first trip out of the house a little less scary if you feel prepared.

GHM Top Ten List: How to Clean Up After a Tummy Bug

So as I mentioned yesterday, Sy was slammed with a random stomach virus. She’s allergic to eggs so sometimes I wonder if she ate something that flew under the radar, or did she just run her hands against the wrong germ pool? Perhaps it’s because the words “Back to School” are in the air, which in my house means, “Back to Sickness.” Germs must throw a party of their own on Labor Day weekend.

My girl tends to pick up every single solitary stomach bug. Some bugs are a few hours, some last a week. She’s a gagger and a hurler by nature, so it’s just her go-to illness. She used to puke down my shirt about every ten days for the first year and a half of her life. Ah, memories.

So anyway, this here house of ours is prepared should we be hit with a vomit-a-thon. After we got back from the hospital in the Spring we were so ready for anything that came our way.

Here’s my first Top Ten List to clean up during and after a tummy bug.