The first time I saw a commercial for it, I just knew it would be perfect for my little girl. I know it is recommended for ages 18 months and up, but it seemed like a playset she could enjoy even though she won’t be 18 months old until the end of April. I mean, she loves animals and it doesn’t require complicated play for her to have fun with it.

The Animal Sounds Zoo combines jungle, arctic, grasslands, and water habitats into a zoo playset. It comes with three animals: polar bear, gorilla, and lion. The set also includes the Zoo Keeper. The jungle portion features high treetop areas for animals to sit and a swing. The grasslands has a fun peekaboo door. The arctic has an icy slide that ends at the pond where a hippopotamus resides. Next to the hippo is the zoo keeper hut.

So where do the sounds come in? Well, the lily pad in the pond is a button that opens the hippo’s mouth and makes animal sounds. The zoo keeper platform can be pressed down to give a friendly sounding tour guide. Sometimes it plays jungle sounds for the habitat, too. The most unique part though? The red button in front of the tree is very fun! When the animals are placed over it, the name of the animal is said and the noise they make!

The box is a decent size and has several pieces needing assembly. The instructions were pretty straight forward. Most of the pieces snapped together but needed a few small screws to keep them together and keep the playset steady. I found the hardest part to assemble was where the tree slightly overlaps the rock. It was a little awkward to get them to snap together right. All the while, Rissa was trying to be patient. She could not wait to play with it herself. Once she quit hovering over me, I was able to finish it up quickly.

I like that there aren’t small parts, the animals are big and chunky for her to grasp, and the voice capabilities. Thankfully there are additional animals to buy! I want her to have the whole set…

I love that this set is made for creative and imaginative play. It will also better help her to learn the animals by sight and sound. She is able to get them on the red button all by herself too! (Not 100% of the time, but she’s better coordinated than I thought.) She’s also figured out the peekaboo door, which has been a very fun activity.

Where to buy: Find Little People Zoo Talkers Animal Sounds Zoo on Amazon and at major retailers such as Walmart.

Summary (Released December 13, 2011):

America’s most dysfunctional family, the Griffins, return with another outrageous and hilarious, uncensored volume. Follow unconventional dad Peter Griffin (SETH MACFARLANE) as he gets up to plenty of antics with the reluctant help of his caring wife Lois (ALEX BORSTEIN), their awkward daughter Meg (MILA KUNIS), dorky son Chris (SETH GREEN), maniacal baby Stewie (MacFarlane) and Brian, the family dog who is both a ladies man and a heavy drinker.

Family Guy Season 9 starts off with a bang with Peter nearly ruining his father-in-law’s company and ends with him nearly ruining his marriage. The uncensored set includes scenes cut from television and F-bombs.

Lots and lots of F-bombs.

It didn’t really phase me until Stewie swore! That woke me up. On the one hand, it was amusing to watch extended scenes contain jokes and language not fit for television, but sometimes I thought it took away from the humor. Sometimes blanking out or alluding to obscene words and phrases packs a bigger funny punch! And, hey, just because it is animated doesn’t mean it is for kids! Animation allows for comedic freedom and expression that simply cannot be done by real actors!)

I did laugh at Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson playing with Lois and Peter dolls to simulate a hot bedroom scene.

Like previous seasons, the episodes are independent of each other. Although their isn’t a lot of continuing storyline across the episodes, I noticed more Brian and Stewie bonding. Oh, and the James Woods terror continues over the course of the whole season. This season is full controversy, line crossing, and all done with (im)mature humor. There are times the show touches on hot button issues and mocks them, but if you look past the fart jokes… Sometimes lessons and values can be uncovered as well. I like this show, even if it is crude at times. It’s often pushing the offensive envelope and makes you say “Oh no, they didn’t really go there, did they?” My favorite character continues to be Brian. I love how he is human in speech and vices, yet his dogginess takes over to bark at things, get excited for his ball, and a few other things.

Besides the 14 episodes of season 9, there are extras on the last disc such as The History of the World by Family Guy. It was amusing in that taboo way as it mocks it’s way through the start of the universe and beyond. If you are easily offended you will want to stay far away from this segment. Then again, if you are easily offended, Family Guy is not a good show for you to watch.

Do you watch Family Guy? Would you be interested in watching it uncensored?

Well… let’s see what The Mommy Mindset had to say!

This week’s moms include Mariah from Formula Mom, Gena from Life with Captain Fussybuckets, Ghada from Mama Goes BAM, Darcy from Tales From the Nursery, Valerie from Valerie’s Reviews, Leila from The Go To Mommy, Emily from Nap Time is My Time, Lena from Way2GoodLife, Ashley from Maryland Momma’s Rambles & Reviews, Tamara from Mommyland, and Ashleigh from Living Off Love and Coffee.

The Mommy Mindset: Where Should Baby Sleep?

Mariah: There are many books and many articles on the internet that give advice about where your child should sleep. Each one seems to have its own collection of reasons to back up their argument. When I was pregnant, I read everything I could but the past 13 months have proven that I just go with my gut and what works for us. That means that W sleeps with us in our bed at least part of almost every night. He has had a few nights where he did the whole night in his crib in our room but usually he ends up in our bed. We’ve never rolled over onto him or anything like that. I have had the delight of waking up in a big wet spot and getting kicked through the night. Despite all of that, it works for us. It’s just what developed when I was struggling to breastfeed and also having new mommy worries. I just W close to me and I still do! Where does your child sleep and how did the arrangement come to be?

Gena: My one year old sleeps in his crib all of the time and believe me, I WISH he would sleep with us sometimes! It would really help to be able to pull him into bed. But that was a bad habit that we developed with #1 and I’ve said sleeping with him is like sleeping with a rabid octopus. He is NEVER still! He is three and does come to our bed (after starting out in his bed and then coming to his couch on our floor) a few days a week. It’s so sweet to see him sleeping there, but I can rarely sleep when he’s beside me because he’s so active in his sleep. I really do admire co-sleepers, though and they do get a lot of flack. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to get some sleep!

Do you pull W into bed because he won’t go back to sleep in his crib?

Mariah: Gena, I will be honest and admit that part of the reason W is with us most of the night is because neither J nor I wanted to be up all night. We quickly learned that when W woke up and wouldn’t go back down, it was easier to bring him into the bed and he went right to sleep. I do not believe in letting baby cry it out, so to make it easier to go to work in the morning, we do pull him into bed. I also like laying with him on nights when he is having trouble going to sleep. As a working mom, I value the little moments like those so much.

Ashley: My son sleeps in his crib almost all the time. On the occasion, if he wakes up super early on a weekend, I’ll put him in bed with me because he falls right back to sleep. He is only 9 months, so if he has trouble falling asleep, I usually rock him. However, on occasion I have let him fall asleep in the bed next to me, but always move him over to his crib. However, since we only have the one bedroom, his crib is right next to the bed. This makes it very easy to move him to his crib and be close to him too.

Gena: I don’t blame you AT all! If Baby is asleep, then you can go to sleep!

Mariah: Ashley, W’s bed has always been in our room. When he was small, it was his pack ‘n play and now it is his crib (because his bedroom needs to be painted). We do try and start him in the crib whenever possible. Teething always seems to rear its ugly head as soon as he starts sleeping through the night in his crib.

Ghada: With our first we would pull him into bed with us quite a lot at first because he was often in pain from reflux. Or I’d have just fed him and he’d chuck it up so I’d have to start all over! Like Mariah said, I needed my sleep to be ready for work in the morning. Having him in bed with us meant he generally slept well. Not an octopus, but a snuffler so that was okay. My midwife taught us a few tricks that worked – placing my bra on his bed to smell and feel as if I was there. Covering the bassinet with hubby’s shirt and warming it with a water bottle before putting him down. These all tricked him into thinking he was still sleeping on us. His sleeping habits changed every couple of months — from awesome to patchy. Happy to say we never rolled on him and he’s a great sleeper at 4. He walks himself off to bed. For me it’d have been crazy to stick to one method as he changed all the time. He was even a headbanger around 2.5 to 3. But that’s a whole different topic!

Ashleigh: Mariah, I do the same. I knew when I was pregnant that I wanted my son in a bassinet in our room so nursing would be easier. Eventually he ended up in bed with us once he was to big for the bassinet. He’s young, 9 months, so he is still getting a lot of growing in and I know that most of it is done through sleep. Whatever works for him to sleep I am fine with. Currently he sleeps in his crib and comes into bed when he’s throwing a teething fit.

Darcy: I literally fell into bedsharing. Before having my daughter I was TOTALLY against it. I planned to have the bassinet in our room for about 3 months then transfer to crib in the nursery. Well, after the first couple weeks, she would instantly wake up crying as soon as anyone tried to lay her down. She was swaddled, not swaddled, my shirt near by … everything. She wanted to sleep ON everyone. I cried. I had nightmares about rolling on her. For several weeks I slept in a chair with her on me then began reading more about cosleeping in bed. Now that I know more about it and found it worked for us (she’s sure happy snuggled up to mama!) I can see why it’s more natural. It does get a bad rap like Gena said, but I think there are more of us than we realize!

Leila: Both kids started in our rooms in their own beds. My son did end up in our bed a few times because it’s so much easier to nurse in bed when he wakes up every hour! As they have gotten older, we try to keep them in their own bed, but when my daughter doesn’t have school my son sleeps with her. If they have bad dreams, they sleep with us (or me with them since they have queen size/full size beds). For a little while, our son got into a habit of falling asleep in my arms in the living room and then we moved him into his bed. I think its a matter of what is most comfortable for the parents and the kids. In our house, it varies based on everyone’s mood, health, etc. I don’t think there is a right or a wrong!

Ashley: Mariah, I feel you on the teething pain! Baby C is going through the same thing. I can usually get him to go back to sleep by giving him a pacifier and turning on his aquarium soother that is attached to the side of his crib. Sometimes I would love to snuggle with him in bed, but I worry about creating a “bad habit” for when he is older. I do love that his crib is close to my bed. Even if there was a second bedroom, I’m not sure I would be ready at this point (9 months) to put him in another room far away. I told myself though by 2 years old he is going to have to have his own room whether this momma likes it or not.

Valerie: My girls have almost always slept in their own bed. In the beginning they did end up in my bed occasionally but just because I was so tired. Now that they are 4 and 7 they are great sleepers and never climb in my bed. They do sleep together most of the time though. I’m not even sure why they have 2 beds .
Mariah: I’ve really learned that it’s all about figuring out what works for you. Yes, that is the whole basis of this blog of mine. We can read up as much as we want but we all have different situations and different things that just feel right. I’m not too worried about bad habits. I think things will naturally progress. I doubt he will still be sleeping with us when he is 17! If he is, we will need another king sized bed to go next to our king because I’m pretty sure he’s going to be one tall guy!

Tamara: I co-slept by choice, well half co-slept we had a side car so they were always with in arms reach without getting out of bed or even sitting up. To us it seemed more natural that way. When they were around 14 months or so is when we moved them out.

No Mariah, he wont be sleeping with you when he is 17, at least mine isnt except when hubby is working graves and he is really sick. Then he comes and cuddles watches TV with me then falls asleep (and like a sleeping baby I have learned never wake a sick child) You will know when the time is right to make the switch completely.

Leila: Tamara, are you saying your 17 year old will sleep with you when sick!?!? I hope my babies will do that! Like I tell mine, regardless of how old they are, they will always be my babies!!!

Tamara: Yup, I was laying down this afternoon because my back was acting up he stayed home because he has strep and in he walked layed his head on my lap and said “Mommy make it all better,” then he rolled over and we took a snooze.

Leila: Aw, too sweet!

Emily: When The Boy was an infant, he was in a bassinet in our room until 4 months, from there he moved to his room. I was still breast feeding him, and would occasionally bring him to our bed-mostly because I have a horrible time getting back to sleep and found this helped ME!

A few weeks ago, we transitioned from crib to toddler bed…and The Boy creeps into our bed at some point each night. I love our semi co-sleeping arrangement as it gives him independence and lets me snuggle with him again. I miss those snuggle times since he self-weaned at 16 months old, but that’s also a topic for another day!

Lena: I came to the sad conclusion that the bassinet is a waste of money when my son overgrew it in less than 2 months. It was comfortable for me to keep him close to my bed, but he looked quite uncomfortable, so we moved onto the huge crib. Fast forward 2 years and he is still in his crib. It’s his little house, he climbs in there any time he want to hide. I guess, my vote is for the crib.

Leila: My daughter used a bassinet, but with my son he was not comfortable with it so we put the crib in our room right next the bed. Like I said before though, there were nights he would come into our bed because it’s so much easier to nurse that way. And I love snuggling with my babies!

Emily: Last night, around 3 am The Boy came wondering in. He was crying hysterically asking “where is Daddy” (he’s out of town for business), once I finally calmed him down I let him sleep in the big ol’ bed with me. This morning, I’m telling my husband the story and he says “You gotta quit doing that!” I said “Ya, but I love snuggling with him.” Sometimes, the men just don’t get it!

Darcy: Yeah for us, it was the only way to get sleep. Like Mariah, I’m not comfortable with letting a baby cry it out especially not a newborn. So I followed Rissa’s lead. And she has slept through the night since we started bedsharing (with dream feedings but no real waking up at night). It makes intimacy challenging but I love the snuggles.

Mariah: Just like so many issues that come along with parenthood, I think this is one where you have to go with the flow and figure out what works for your family. Some people think I’m crazy but then they tell me what they do and I think they’re crazy so it’s all a matter of doing what works! If baby’s sleeping and we can get some rest, I’m all for it!

Conclusion – I’ve changed my tune on my view of where baby should sleep based on what works best for our family. Whatever choice another family makes is their choice and I hope they do all they can to make it a safe sleep environment wherever that may be. I have seen some awfully dangerous cribs…so a family bed is not an auto-death trap!

What works for you? Were you surprised by how it went? Did it go to plan for you or do a 180 like it did for me?

Welcome to Get Pinspired!

Get Pinspired! is a weekly Pinterest link up that will be featured by ShePromotes, Tales From the Nursery, and Thrifty Ninja every Friday. The linky will be open Friday through Thursday, so you’ll have plenty of time to join in on the fun!

To Participate:

You may link up (2) links on the linky below!

• One link is to your Pinterest Profile
• One link is to a post you wrote that you believe is pin-worthy

Linking Up:

1. You may link up your Pinterest account to gain more followers.
2. Pin at least one other post, preferably the one above you.
3. You may link up one pinworthy post that you wrote (not a collection of pins) and would love others to pin. {Please see the hosts posts for examples}
4. Share about Get Pinspired! Grab the button at the top of the post and link back to http://shepromotes.com/category/weekly-blog-hops to spread the word. (This is optional but a great way to support each other!
5. You can also get the InLinkz code and include it in your own post.

Please note that this is only a Pinterest related link up. Links to other pages such as Twitter and Facebook will be deleted without warning.

Looking for more awesome blogs to follow? Want a chance to win cash? Then you are in luck! For the next four weeks TFTN is participating in the Social Media Boost hosted by 7 on a Shoestring. Each week will feature a different way to follow participating blogs (which may or may not be the same crew each week!) We are now onto week three! And then there’s just one more giveaway next week for another $30.

If you already follow… Then you save yourself a step and can just fill out the form!

This week is Google+ accounts and the prize is $30! Good luck and have fun!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Food poisoning has lots of causes such as leaving food out too long, which is really about being kept at proper temperatures. When I worked in the deli, I routinely had to check temperatures of food to ensure we were in the safety zone. I’ve carried this over to my home by having thermometers in the refrigerator and freezers. I’ve been asked to share four easy steps with you to keep you safer:

Clean – Separate – Cook – Chill

Fun Fact: More than 1.25 billion wing portions will be consumed during Super Bowl weekend in 2012, totaling more than 100 million pounds of wings, according to the National Chicken Council’s (NCC) 2012 Wing Report.

Food Safety Tips for popular Gameday snacks:

Plate of Sandwiches –

Clean – When preparing party foods, wash hands and surfaces often.

Plate of Raw and Grilled Hamburgers and Sausages and a plate of lettuce and tomatoes (if possible) –

Separate – Use separate plates for raw and cooked food when grilling.

Chicken Wings –

Cook – Cook to the right temperatures.

Vegs, Salsa and Dip –

Chill – Don’t leave food at room temperature for longer than two hours.

____________

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services have teamed up with the Ad Council to launch the “Food Safe Families”campaign. This post is sharing their information. No compensation was received.

Mmmm. I love cake and I know it loves me too. Good thing the month of love is coming up. My sugar affair is running an all time high right now! After seeing some scrumptious candy cakes on Pinterest, I decided to make one of my own!

(Well my own improvised version anyway. I’m all about finding quick and easy ways to make store bought & box goodies “my own” even though I’d like to bake from scratch more. This is just.. faster..usually. Okay I will shut up now and get to the good part!)

Valentine’s Day Candy Cake

What I used:

• Pillsbury Valentine’s Funfetti Cake Mix
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 c oil
• 1 c water
• Pillsbury Valentine’s Pink Vanilla Frosting with candy sprinkles
• Generic brand Pink sugar wafers
• Sweet Sayings M&Ms

Directions:

• I baked the cake as directed on the box.
• After it cooled, I frosted it.
• Then I broke the wafers in half and placed them around the outside of the cake, pressing into the frosting. They were too tall in one piece, but kind of short in half.
• I sprinkled the frosting topping on.

• Last I poured the M&Ms over the top, pressing them lightly into the frosting.

Caution: I did not store the leftovers in an air tight container, just wrapped it in foil. The wafers ended up drying out by the next day.

For years I wore cross body purses. I seem to have an issue with keeping straps on my shoulders, so bags are always sliding down. It’s super annoying and hard to free up my hands that way, so cross body was perfect for me. When I worked in rough neighborhoods I also knew the cross body would deter purse snatching because it’d be too much work to get it away from me. So after years of slingin’ my purse across my chest, I ran into a major issue after Rissa was born.

For a few months I insisted on continuing to lug around a purse AND a diaper bag. Ugh. Do you know how awkward it gets trying to wear a purse and sling a diaper bag over your shoulder? It was a royal pain in the rear, especially since I had to have both bags on the left side of my body. Then I started putting my purse inside the diaper bag, but it took up precious real estate. Eventually someone clued me in that my diaper bag was now my purse…

My first diaper bag was a gift. I liked how it looked, but quickly discovered it didn’t fit much inside of it. I started dragging around two diaper bags (yes, I was a new mom bag NIGHTMARE!). Then, last summer I was blessed with the opportunity to work with Amy Michelle and reviewed the Lotus diaper bag. I really like that bag. I do have the “stay on my shoulder” issue when wearing a jacket and other times it will slide down, but it’s been a great bag. I have been extremely impressed with the quality and functionality of it. It also looks stylish! (And it still looks new despite it being my go-to bag!)

Then… then Iris arrived. And let me tell ya, she’s a beaut!

She holds all our outing essentials…

I transferred everything over and stil have some room. I was surprised because the bag looks smaller from the outside. It’s not as poofy and wide as the Lotus, I think. There are three zippered areas on the front of the bag, perfect for holding mom’s stuff! Inside has pockets for organizing and zippered areas too. There are snap straps inside for your keyring and/or pacifiers. There’s a changing pad, antimicrobial lining, stroller straps, and a zipper that goes around the bottom to expand/contract the size. Oh! And the strap! There is one adjustable strap so you can wear it over the shoulder OR cross body.

Least favorite feature: Lack of an outer pocket on each end. I miss the pockets on the Lotus. They were easy to reach into for lotion and hand sanitizer. I mistakenly thought this one had zippered pockets on the sides, but it’s actually a zipper that expands the bag.

Favorite feature: The cross body strap! I have never seen a diaper bag with a cross strap. I’ve seen shoulder and backpack types. The strap is not cushioned like some of the shoulder ones are and it can rub your neck a bit like a seatbelt, but it makes it so much easier for me to get Rissa ready, in & out of the house and the car. I no longer have to pull the “put my knee up for a pseudo shelf as I rummage through the bag, whereby almost tipping over repeatedly” act.

Price Point: The Iris retails for about $100. This may seem pricey, but I’ve learned that diaper bags are not cheap… especially the good ones. I believe the price of Amy Michelle bags is very reasonable considering the functionality, style, and quality. The bags are well made, they look fantastic, and they don’t scream diaper bag. You could use it for a large work bag after the diapers and sippy cups are long gone too.

Purchase Amy Michelle Go Totes at www.amymichelle.com and connect with them on Twitter @amymichellebags and on Facebook!

Now, you can just Stumble.

What is StumbleUpon?

StumbleUpon is a social sharing service that offers a great way to share content with the masses and “surf” easier with a few clicks of a button.

How does StumbleUpon work?

When a person (stumbler) enjoys a post, they “stumble it” by submitting it via the post’s Stumble button or by “thumbs up” on their StumbleUpon toolbar. The first person to do this “discovers” the post for StumbleUpon. They are asked what category it fits in, if it’s safe for work, and an optional review.

If you really like a post, I recommend reviewing it as it seems more likely others will find it.

Once discovered the post goes into a queue to be submitted to StumbleUpon. It will decide if the post is accepted or not. If not, it just sits there with 1-0 views (depressing). If it goes into the database, then someone “random stumbling” may see it pop up. The more people thumbs up a post that pops up randomly, the better it does and EVEN MORE people see it!

You can also share with your Stumble followers.

Like… this video is hilarious and it’s something I’d stumble under humor and music.  Now just replace “Shufflin’” with “Stumblin’” and you can stumble to the beat!

Get Your Random Stumble On!

When someone is flipping through lots of sites that pop up when hitting the Stumble button on the toolbar (or in their account), that’s what I call random stumbling. The only sites that should pop up are ones submitted by other users. Occasionally it says I discovered a post I thumb up which is wonky. But, it’s a nice, easy way to randomly find content across the web. You can sort by interests too. I can’t think of a better way to find random content to just trip over. (That said, the new SU is wonky and buggy but I can’t login half the time anymore!)

StumbleUpon is my top traffic referrer.  I get surprised at some of the posts that do well and bummed when others I thought would do well just… don’t.  You don’t need to go out of your way to use SU, but if you are an active user and you have readers that are active users… then it will help bring new eyes to your site.  It’s another tool in the ol’ blogger tool belt!

Since I previously reviewed the Omni, this time I received the Echo from SoftBums.  I received it in chocolate and they have a few other colors available in snaps now.

Snaps!!

The Echo is similar to the Omni because they have the same slide adjustment for the legs and are one size.  The Echo is just a shell though, it is not a pocket diaper like the Omni.  I noticed that the Echo shell was a little shorter than the Omni, but that was fine on Rissa.  For some reason though, I could not find where to snap in the insert.  It still worked all right without snapping it in, but I found it moved around and would get bunched up a bit.  I only used the Echo for day use and naps.  I didn’t want to try to lay too many pods inside at night.  It washes and dries well, so laundry has not been a concern.  The snaps crossover so I can get a nice snug fit around her skinny waist!

I really liked the snaps.  I felt the shell fit around her waist better that way; plus, Rissa couldn’t take it off!  I do prefer the Omni over the Echo for us, so I plan to get some with snaps.  Have you tried the Echo or Omni?  Are you a snaps lover or hater?