We’ve done the baby monitor thing. Cheap never works, 3 cheap baby monitors later you’ve spent more than a quality device would have cost to begin with, why not just spend the money on the good one first?

Motorola MBP33 Wireless Video Baby Monitor with Infrared Night Vision and Zoom, 2.8 Inch

4.1 out of 5 stars, 381 reviews. 

What people are saying:

“ Works great, sound and picture are very clear, monitor screen is a great size. ” Dvaughn  |  117 reviewers made a similar statement

“ The sound quality is great too, I can usually hear my baby sleeping if I turn it up all the way, and there is no feedback/static noise that keeps me up at night. ” TJ  |  70 reviewers made a similar statement

“ Very nice to have the peace of mind to see baby breathing and hear every sound without getting up and walking into another room. ” Sleepless in Midwest  |  74 reviewers made a similar statement 

After your first child is born you really begin to get a sense for the future, and what you’d like to pass on to the next generation. Few things are invested with more memory and emotion than baby’s first bed, especially if that bed is used again for the next sibling.  I purchased an inexpensive though reasonably sturdy bassinet for my first child, which is now an ugly mess after all my kids went through it. The fabric is frayed, the metal scratched and dented from storage and reassembly, the mat stained from the usual post digestive events. Needless to say it will not be passed on (though it is lovingly stored).

I do very much regret not buying something durable and high quality.

Here is the Infant Carter’s Classic Comfort Wood Bassinet 

It is sturdy, beautiful and well made, and it’s a Carter. It is what I wished I had spent my money on. The bassinet includes a soothing noise maker (womb sounds), and good quality fabric.

The Kicker? (As in I could kick myself I never bought it) It’s less than $200.00, I spent the same money for much lower quality.

The reviews are very favorable: 5 stars out of 9 reviews.

Here’s what people are saying;

“ The fabric is soft and beautiful…also gender neutral. ” Samantha  |  2 reviewers made a similar statement

“ Perfect for a princess! ” Sandy  |  1 reviewer made a similar statement

“ Installation is very easy. ” Chris  |  2 reviewers made a similar statement

If you buy a crib in a brick and mortar store nowadays, the nice ones will set you back over $400.00, the salesman will show you reasonably priced options that look and feel terrible, shaming you (nervous new parent) into the high priced flashy models on display. It’s a scam. Pure and simple.  The retailers mark up is usually triple what their cost was, and what they sell is mostly low quality soft woods and cheap shiny finishes that will look horrible after a year of use and need constant re-tightening.  Enter the internet! Now we can search multiple stores and compare prices, quality and read reviews from people who actually bought the item we’re considering.

Look at this for only $195.00- Stork Craft Verona 4-in-1 Fixed Side Convertible Crib, Black

converts to toddler bed

can be made into full size bed frame after that

Comes in black, white, cherry, cognac, espresso and oak.

5 Stars out of 10 reviews

“ The color I ordered is black and it looks great. ” New Dad  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement

“ It is very sturdy and seems well made. ” TMomma  |  2 reviewers made a similar statement

“ The bundle of joy isn’t here yet but the crib looks GREAT! ” Lynette    

THE LIFE ZONE, written and produced by Del Vecchio, a veteran filmmaker of over 15 movies and best-selling author (novels and legal books), stars Academy Award and Emmy nominee Robert Loggia (Scarface, Independence Day, Big), Blanche Baker (Emmy winner; Sixteen Candles), Lindsey Haun (Broken Bridges, Shrooms, “True Blood”), Angela Little (American Pie Bandcamp, My Boss’s Daughter), Eric Etebari (The Lincoln Lawyer, An Affirmative Act, “Witchblade”), Thomas G. Waites (And Justice For All, The Thing), Nina Transfeld (The Great Fight) and Eileen Fulton (Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award; “As the World Turns”).

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By Dave Banks

We’ve been trying to get our kids to ride their bikes for about a year and a half. It hasn’t been a constant battle — we would try for a bit, then take a month off. Rinse. Repeat.  It’s been tough, but that’s what makes today so rewarding. Today, we have success. All three kids riding: spinning around the driveway, hair waving in the wind, ear-to-ear smiles on their faces. Life is good.

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“A nation of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves.”
~ Bertrand de Jouvenal

At this point in time, few people have not heard the stories about the West Texas Polygamists who had some 440 children seized by local authorities. The courts recently ruled that there was insufficient evidence to seize the children in the first place. The authorities acted outside their rights in taking the children from their mothers, members of the sect, so says the Austin-based, Texas Third Court of Appeals. Regardless of one’s feelings about this particular group of people, it still strikes me as convenient selective logic to attack this group, or any other supposed cult, particularly when those attacks come from the State. When those attacks are supplemented with the cataclysmically misnamed Child Protective Services it just makes bad matters worse.

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