As a two time unplanned cesarean mama, I’m the queen of numb belly skin & scar tissue - the mark of a C-Mama. I know - you’re jealous of my hottness.

One of our favourite Canadian online shops, Ecobaby Canada, has post-surgical mamas like me in mind with their C-Mama Healing Salve from Earth Mama Angel Baby. The clinically tested healing salve was created with 100% natural ingredients rich in Vitamin C, essential fatty acids and amino acids — all nutrients necessary for proper cell regeneration and wound repair. Formulated especially for cesarean section and other surgical wounds, old c-section scars and stretch marks, and inflamed rashes and burns, the C-Mama Healing Salve is toxin-free, cruelty-free & certified vegan.

I’ve been using this salve on my well-worth-it-war-wounds and it’s absolutely lovely. It keeps the scar soft & supple and if I could see past the flab I’m sure I’d see it looking better too.

Ecobaby Canada was also featured on T.O.P. here and here.

Win it! EcoBaby Canada is giving one randomly selected T.O.P. reader their own C-Mama Healing Salve valued at $44.99! To enter, leave a comment on this post with your favourite product(s) available from EcoBaby that are not mentioned in this post. Contest closes on September 2, 2008.

Canadian residents can receive an additional entry for this giveaway by voting for Andrea in the SavvyMom Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Go vote (you’ll need to confirm your Canadian citizenship) and leave an extra comment letting us know you did.

Additional entries available. See contest entry information and rules.

We don’t often write about diaper bags here. It has to be a pretty darn special bag before we’ll consider recommending it, and it has to be worth any extra money you pay over what you can pick up at the local department store. Ladies, pull out those credit cards because the bags from Ju Ju Be are fan-freaking-tastic! Boutique level fashion with function you didn’t even know you needed. Now that’s what a mama is talkin’ about!

There are a ton of great bags & accessories to choose from at Ju Ju Be, and the available colours are so stunning that I could spend hours just browsing. It’s so hard to choose, but having seen the citrus & green print in person I can tell you without a doubt that if you’re a lover of the vibrant colours that are hip right now you should just go for it.

My favourite bag of all is the largest bag they make. The WannaBe ($160 - pictured bottom right) is absolutely huge. You’ll never want for a pocket or a place for anything when you’re carrying the WannaBe. It features removable backpack straps (two hands to wrangle children!) and shoulder straps, too. The top closes with a strap that’s easily tucked away. The bottom is seriously ingenious. The entire thing zips open to release beach sand through the mesh that hold all of your stuff in place. The pockets on all of the Ju Ju Be Bags are incredibly smart and this is no exception. There’s a cooler pocket with insulation and a wipe clean lining, and electronics pocket with dividers and cushioning to keep your iPods, phones & other goodies from bumping each other or anything else that could scratch them, a magazine pocket, a book pocket, bottle holders and tons of organization for toys, clothes, diapers, beach stuff…whatever! There are two elasticized straps on the outside to hold a towel, leaving a metric tonne of room on the inside for the crap that’s sure to accompany you on a long trip or a day at the beach. Look inside the WannaBe here.

Our next feature is at the opposite end of the spectrum in size but right up there in quality. The BeLight, ($35, pictured top right) the lightest diaper bag on the market at just over 6 oz., is completely reversible and has ingenious straight straps that you can tie any way you choose. Look inside the BeLight here.

Smart features are standard on all of their bags. They’re all machine wash air dry and the outer fabrics are waterproof & treated with Teflon to repel stains. The gorgeous satin linings are waterproof too, and are also anti-microbial. Not only are the linings beautiful but they’re all light coloured which makes it way easier to find your things than the black pit that most bags turn in to. There’s no velcro to snag on things - they use smart magnets in those places instead, and all of the bags feature metal hardware, because plastic just sucks.

You can purchase Ju Ju Be bags at retailers and e-tailers all over the world.

Or, you can try to…

Win it! We’re giving away BOTH of the bags pictured above to two separate randomly selected winners.

To enter, leave a comment on this post before August 26/08 stating either WannaBe or BeLight on the first line so that we know which draw to enter you in.

After that, please tell us your favourite Ju Ju Be item(s) & colours NOT featured in this review. To enter to win both bags, you must leave a comment for each one.

Additional entries available. See contest entry information and rules.

Everyone I know who’s ever been pregnant has experienced preggo-brain to some extent. Sadly, it only gets worse once the kid is out. My brain hasn’t been the same since conception, quite frankly.

As with any other part of our bodies, our brains need exercise. The sudoku craze has to be doing something great for our species, but what do you do if you aren’t a fan? Or can’t figure the damn things out?

Check out Brainiversity. It’s one of the best brain training games I’ve tried to date. Edison the talking light bulb accompanies you as you play, and he can be muted at any time (which can be a very good thing). There are a huge variety of games to play and more are unlocked as you progress. If you play daily, you’ll take a quiz each day composed of 4 tests which is recorded on your personal graph.

Many games in this genre are ridiculously easy for the intelligent among us (ahem) but this one is neither simple nor repetitive. It’s incredibly enjoyable, actually. It would be too easy for advanced brain trainers, but for kids, the average adult (particularly those with kids) or seniors, Brainiversity is fabulous! We talk a lot about baby shower gifts here, but I think this would make an awesome retirement gift.

Buy it for less than $20 at Amazon.

Win it! We’ve got a copy of Brainiversity to give away. To enter, leave a comment on this post by 11:59 mst tonight - August 7/08.

Additional entries available - up to four per person. See contest entry information and rules.

CONTEST CLOSED AND WINNER EMAILED

We’re back from our Heritage Day long weekend. Our apologies to our American and overseas friends who were looking for us yesterday. It was a long weekend here and we didn’t think to check if everyone else had one too.

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The Opinionated Parents have been trying out Pop’rs, the newest way to get your kids to eat…anything!

Pop’rs come in one ounce shaker jars and are available in eight flavours and are incredibly versatile in their uses. Imagine the Pop Rocks of your youth with a variety of flavours and vitamins added. Some need to be added to food to taste good. Others, like the red Color Burst, taste exactly like Pop Rocks and if you’re anything like me your kids won’t get any and your tongue will be blue for a few hours. (Yes blue. I was confused too…)

Check out their blog for more information, and read on for our writers’ opinions and a reader
giveaway.

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With seven children I have faced more picky eaters than I would have ever liked to have seen. Normally, if you can just get them to TASTE the food you know they will like it, but getting that bite into their little clamped-shut mouths is nearly impossible. Until now!

Pop’rs are just the trick to get those mouths pried open and show those little ones that food DOES taste good. Pop’rs are like the candy Pop Rocks, they explode on your tongue. With 8 choices to choose from, any food can become a tasty, fun treat for your child. I was so happy to see great flavors for the adult child, too, such as Buffalo flavoring, which is amazing on pork.
Butter flavoring on veggies and potatoes may not seem exciting, but when the kids start hearing the crackling they just have to give it a taste, and their mouths a treat.
Across the board, my entire family enjoyed Pop’rs on nearly everything. Potatoes, meat, oatmeal, ice cream, vegetables; you name it, we sprinkled it! - Lisa

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Want a better way to jazz up vegetables than smothering them with cheese sauce? Would you like your kids to devour yogurt without it having to be in a squeezable tube or frozen on a stick? Would it be nice to make less-sugary and more-economical tub oatmeal just as jazzy as the individual packs? Enter: Pop’rs. Pop’rs is like nothing you’ve ever seen or heard of before — I guarantee it. It’s probably something you’ve never even dreamed about.

What are Pop’rs? Imagine Pop Rocks as a food topping. They’re not candy, though….they’re better than candy. They even have vitamins in them! Imagine carbonated, fizzy vitamin granules in a variety of flavors that your kids will love sprinkling on everything.

They currently manufacture eight flavors: Strawberry, Color Burst, Butter, Cocoa, Taco, Cinnamon, Buffalo, and Raspberry. We tried the Buffalo Pop’rs on our broccoli and chicken. Very authentic buffalo flavor, and an amazing, fizzy kick, for sure! Kids will delight in the fact that sizzling noises erupt from their plates before them, as well as within their mouths as they gobble up their meal!

There are a wealth of other ideas for Pop’rs: Butter Pop’rs over popcorn, Strawberry Pop’rs over cereal, even Cinnamon Pop’rs over stewed apples. The possibilities are endless!

-Meg

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I confess, when I was first asked to review Pop’rs®, I was confused. What is it exactly? Flavored sprinkles? How can sprinkles help encourage healthy eating? After trying all eight flavors, though, I’m a believer. Pop’rs sounded like Rice Krispies when added to milk and every flavor tastes like the old pop candy you remember from years ago.

Rachael Ray is also a fan. In her May 2008 magazine, she said Pop’rs “…add pop to anything! We like the cinnamon on buttered toast. FIZZ FACTOR: full fireworks …”

Pop’rs are available in EIGHT FLAVORS: strawberry, raspberry, color burst, cinnamon, cocoa, taco, buffalo and butter.

–Sprinkle Color Burst on any flavor of yogurt (and sprinkled on vanilla ice cream, it turns plain vanilla into something a lot like cotton candy)

–Chocolate’s a super flavor on top of pudding (my husband tried it on milk and we both laughed at how much it sounded like “Snap, Crackle and Pop!”)

–Introduce Strawberry to your kiddos’ cereal in the morning.

–Raspberry is a treat with yogurt & ice cream.

–Corn & other veggies take well to Butter (so does popcorn! Yum!)

–Taco can’t be beat on mashed potatoes.

–Buffalo (as in the seasoning used on wings) goes hand-in-hand with broccoli & its kindred spirits.

Like what you hear? Go here to purchase Pop’rs at some VERY reasonable prices and get to popping! -CPA Mom

Win it! We’re giving away a a complete box of Pop’rs - all eight flavors valued at $14.99 - to one lucky TOP reader! To enter, simply leave a comment on this post before 11:59 mst on August 12, 2008.

Additional entries available - up to four per person. See contest entry information and rules.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED

I have admitted here many times that I’m a snob. A blanket snob, a toy snob, a clothing snob…and yes, a butt cream snob. If it’s toxic, it’s sure as heck not getting rubbed on the nether regions my babies. I’ve tried many creams over the past few years (organic, natch) and they’ve all been satisfactory enough, but the Bottom Balm from Lalabee Baby Bathworks surpasses even my expectations. It clears up diaper rash in a flash (seriously, I’m talking an hour) and there’s nothing in it to irritate baby’s tender skin. Applying it feels like a strange cross between unsalted butter (but not greasy…is that possible?) and really thick olive oil. There’s no resistance and it makes my baby smile even when her little butt is at it’s most tender.

The entire Lalabee line is handcrafted in small batches using certified organic and natural ingredients in beautiful Kelowna, BC by mom Sara Johnson. There are no chemicals, preservatives or dyes in any of the Lalabee products and they use only edible ingredients purchased from local suppliers where possible.

All of the Lalabee containers are reusable or recyclable and the tins are food grade - no plastic to be found. Check out the rest of the baby line and the mama line too.

A portion of sales is donated to buy Heifer International Honeybees. Canadian, mom-run, organic, green, and helping the less fortunate? You’ve gotta love that.

Win it! We’ve got a tin of the fabulous bottom balm for one lucky reader! To enter, leave a comment on this post before 11:59 pm mst on August 7/08.

Additional entries available - up to four per person. See contest entry information and rules.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED

Not only did I lose all of my contacts and files, but I haven’t even been able to use the 15 minutes per day that my kids are both asleep to attempt to recover them because I’m totally addicted to Jishaku.

What’s that, you ask?

Don’t worry. So did I.

Jishak, the Japanese word for magnet, is a portable strategy game like chess or checkers that can be played anywhere. Unlike any other game, though, there is an element of surprise when the magnets jump out of position without warning.

All magnets have North and South poles. Jishaku magnets do too, but they aren’t marked. As you carefully place your magnet in a hole you can feel the tug of magnets all around the board. Skilled players (apparently…I’m not there yet) learn to use magnetic force in their favor- repelling the magnets closest to them without forcing them into other magnets.

Depending on which version of the game you choose to play, I’m Out, Roundup, or Elimination, your goal will vary. The suspense that you feel as you place your stones, though, never changes. Even when you play it all by yourself as I’ve been doing.

See it in action here and then tell me you don’t want to buy this game. Trust me. You do.

Save 10% through 7/31 with the code TOP100.

Win it!We’ve got a game of Jishaku for one randomly selected winner. To enter, simply comment on this post before 11:59 MST on August 4/08.

Additional entries available - up to four per person. See contest entry information and rules.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED

When I was learning to breastfeed my first baby, I wasn’t all that shocked (well, maybe that’s a lie) at the cracking, scabbing and as-bad-as-labour searing pain that came with it for the first few weeks. I was, however, shocked that as an experienced exclusive breastfeeder the same thing happened when I began to nurse my second child. Granted, it didn’t last quite as long and it wasn’t quite as bad but holy bajeebus did it ever hurt. Without a lot of air drying, a little relief-pumping and some great natural products, there would have been a lot more screaming heard from my house.

You likely remember the recent headline news about the nipple cream for nursing moms that contained potentially harmful ingredients (chlorphenesin and phenoxyethanol) that could cause respiratory distress or vomiting and diarrhea in infants. This product was taken off the market, thank goodness, and we’ve got a great alternative for you.

Nipple Nurture Butter and Nipple Nurture Cleansing Pads from Bella B Natural Bodycare are 100% edible and are perfectly safe for newborns and moms.

Nipple Nurture Butter ($9.99 for 2 oz.) is a great lanolin-free alternative to other breastfeeding creams. Many people are unaware that lanolin comes from sheep’s wool. Nipple Nurture Butter is an excellent alternative for those that prefer a plant-based product. It contains only the very best natural ingredients including cocoa, shea and mango butter. All of the ingredients are food-grade and free of parabens (which, in case you didn’t know, are controversial but widely used artificial preservatives that are rapidly absorbed, have estrogenic activity and have been found in breast tumours).

Nipple Nurture Cleansing Pads ($9.99 for 80 pads) are a clean, natural solution to cleaning nipples before and after breastfeeding (which I had never done prior to discovering these pads and still don’t do reguarly, but it’s lovely and would be especially awesome in times of thrush.) They not only clean tender nipples but provide excellent soothing and healing properties. Fortified with aloe vera, the cleaning solution is healing and refreshing to sore, cracked nipples.

Win it! One randomly selected winner will win one of each of these great products, together valued at $19.98. To enter, simply leave a comment on this post before noon MST on July 25/08.

Additional entries available - up to four per person. See contest entry information and rules.

CONTEST CLOSED - WINNER EMAILED - Congrats Heather!

This is a guest post by Lisa Friedman, owner of SomeoneSpoilMe.com and an expert in giving and getting fabulous gifts. If you haven’t browsed her site yet, trust me when I say you want to. You really, really want to. And you also want to email the link to your husband, mother in law and best friend. Now.

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Baby season is here!

Since summer months = baby months, we thought we would share some helpful advice on fabulous gifts to give the new mom. Yes, in addition to a gift for the baby, it’s also nice to give a gift to the new mom (and for Dads, this is not optional). Here are some of SomeoneSpoilMe.com’s top gifts for the new mom.

Charm Necklaces: Ease postpartum pain and help her look fashionable with the Helen Ficalora Charm Necklace. A perfect gift for the new mom is the “MOM” charm and the child’s initial. Now she will always have her child close to her heart (without the extra 30 pounds).

Brag Books: Mom’s may have different hair color, personality, and traits, but one thing they have in common is that they LOVE to brag. Why not give the new mom an easy way to brag with the Aimee J brag books. Pick a color and personalize this luxurious album.

Photo Stones: While she may have bought a ton of décor for the nursery, she probably did not have time to buy any for her room. A thoughtful and personalized gift is the Keepsake 8×8 photo stones. The toughest decision you will be faced with is deciding which photo to send in.

Momager Cards: Being a mom is a lot to juggle and a lot of responsibility. Help the new mom do it all with these adorable Momager cards. List her baby’s name, her cell and her email. Playdates and carpool arrangements will become so easy.

For more gift advice check out our friends at SomeoneSpoilMe.com.

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SomeoneSpoilMe.com is THE trusted source for giving and getting fabulous gifts. From timeless classics to the latest and greatest must-have items, Someone Spoil Me has expert recommendations sure to “WOW” even the toughest critic. (Your hard to please mother-in law included!) Since it is impossible to buy for friends without spoiling yourself, you can create your very own Wish List by adding items from the Spoil Me Gift Guide or any site on the web. Share your Wish Lists with friends, get the gifts you have been dying to have, and see what your friends want. Gift giving AND spoiling yourself has just become fun, fast and hassle-free!