Zulily Provides a Checklist for Ultimate Family Fun This Summer

Zulily, a retailer dedicated to providing moms and kids with all the trendiest essentials at unbeatable prices, has constructed a quick and easy checklist of everything you need this summer to be prepared for some family fun in the sun. With the weather getting warmer everyday and the school year coming to a close, it’s safe to say pool party season has begun. So whether it’s a pool party at your place or someone else’s, there are certain supplies that no pool party should go without. 

1. The Summer Tote

Every mom needs at least one tote, and the arrival of summer only makes one more useful. It provides a portable and easily-accessible way to always have your summer supplies (sunblock, snacks, wallet, and so on) on hand at all times. The summer tote has to be able to withstand some wear and tear from the sun, sand, sunblock, and kids. Zulily designs totes that are practical in these conditions while still being super cute and trendy. 

2. Drink Holders

Out in the hot sun, it’s important for you and the kids to stay hydrated. But instead of wasting tons of plastic bottles, invest in some cool plastic beverage holders. Spill-proof and break-proof, they are perfect for on-the-go and young kids.

3. The Ultimate Wondershade

It can get hot and exhausting to be exposed to the sun all day, especially for little ones, and sometimes sunblock can only carry you so far. Get a break from the sun with an umbrella. Zulily’s Ultimate Wondershade is not only a large, portable umbrella, but comes with cup holders and towel racks too. 

4. Hangers

Wet bathing suits and towels in your car can be a huge drag. Solve this problem with Zulily’s towel clips. Toss some into your tote and near the end of the day hang wet items from lounge chairs or umbrellas for a comfortable, dry ride home. 

5. Pool props

From floaties to inflatable chairs, pool props are a must for any pool party. And they come in all shapes and sizes, so Mom can have one of her own for some relaxation in the sun. 

6. Pool toys

No pool party is complete without pool toys! From fins to goggles, Zulily has everything to maximize your child’s pool time fun.

ONCEKids Publishing is run by literacy advocate and Mompreneur Eileen Wacker.  Click here to find her acclaimed books

Survive Your Summer Pregnancy With These 10 Tips

Without question, pregnancy has its ups and downs, but during the hot summer months it can feel impossible for your body to adjust. Extra blood flow causes higher than normal body temperatures, then add on a few extra pounds, combined with 90 degree temperatures and the term “bun in the oven” is going to start to feel literal. Luckily there are a few tips for mommys-to-be on how to stay cool this summer without racking up sky high air conditioning bills. 

1. Go for frequent swims

The best way for anyone to cool off in the hot summer weather is by swimming, but for our mommys-to-be it doesn’t just do that it also takes some pressure off the sciatic nerve and lets her relax and float seemingly weightlessly for a little while. 

2. Stay hydrated

Drinking lots of fluids is always important for expecting mothers but during the hot summer months it can be easier to get dehydrated. Not drinking enough fluids can lead to increased risk for preterm labor, early contractions, and an overall increase in pregnancy aches. In addition to at least 8 glasses of water a day, pregnant women should also be drinking plenty of sports drinks, milk, and orange juice to replenish electrolytes and stay refreshed in the hot sun!

ONCEKids Publishing is run by literacy advocate and Mompreneur Eileen Wacker.  Click here to find her acclaimed books

3. Adjust your wardrobe 

Keeping your closet filled with lightweight, breathable clothes made from fabrics such as cotton or linen is a tremendous help when you’re stuck in the heat. They help circulate air, keeping sweat stains and heat rashes to a minimum- plus they are just more comfortable.

4. Stick to comfortable shoes

When the summer months come around, it’s hard to not want to get out your wedges, sandals, and flip flops but those shoes may just not be practical for your comfort these days. Make sure to wear comfortable and supportive shoes that are larger than your normal size to make room for some swelling. 

5. Invest in a good pair of sunglasses (or five)

For those mornings you aren’t feeling your best (cause morning sickness isn’t hard enough now it’s in 85 degree weather), giving your eyes a rest from the bright sun can do wonders. 

6. Treat yourself to a massage

The fluid that causes swelling, especially in your hands, feet, and ankles, often gets worse in the hot summer weather so make sure to prop your feet up and treat yourself to a professional pregnancy massage every now and then to help soothe some of the aches and pains. 

7. Avoid excess sodium

While it’s important not to cut out sodium altogether, reducing some of your sodium intake can help with some of the heat-induced swelling. 

8. Opt for stay-cations rather than vacations

Long road trips in hot weather with a pregnant belly can be very uncomfortable and sometimes stressful on mommys-to-be. So instead of trying to go on lots of trips this summer, keep your vacations closer to home. Use your time off to do everything you’d do on a real vacation, just in the comfort of your own home. I had a family friend who referred to this as a “stay-cation”. 

9. Lounge as much as possible

This is your time to relax and kickback before the baby comes, because once your baby has arrived you won’t be doing much relaxing! So spend time with the husband, read your trashy magazines, watch your guilty pleasure shows, lounge by the pool, go for walks, and so on. 

10. Hit the mall

The heat outside can make you not want to leave your house- but we don’t recommend hiding out at home for three months. Instead hit the mall, a place known to blast air conditioning. This way you can still stay cool and indoors without being confined to your house. Maybe you can even get a little baby shopping done!

To find the book series that inspires these stories, click here

Zulily Helps New Moms By Generating a List of Your Baby Must-Haves

Anyone who has been a new parent or expecting knows how everywhere you turn there are dozens of people trying to give you their two cents on what you need for your baby- which can be very helpful but sometimes get confusing. The list can feel endless and easy to forget- but luckily one of our favorite retailers, Zulily generated a narrowed down, straight to the point list of all your “baby-must-haves”. Every item on the list serves to be both functional and practical without costing you a ton of money. It’s perfect for moms on a budget, so you can have some fun shopping for your little one without breaking the bank.  

Zulily’s Baby Must-Haves Include:

1. Motion Bassinet

One of the best ways to get your baby to calm down or go to sleep is by rocking them, but for the times you just have too much to get done to continuously keep them calm, resort to your motion bassinet. The gentle rocking motions will keep your little one calm and happy while you put that load of laundry in the dryer or have a quick shower. 

ONCEKids Publishing is run by literacy advocate and Mompreneur Eileen Wacker.  Click here to find her acclaimed books

2. Baby Sling

Baby slings are becoming increasingly popular for new moms. In addition to being trendy, they are also very functional- allowing you to have your baby close to you at all times while being hands-free. Zulily recommends this baby product for every mom-on-the-go. 

3. Nightgowns and beanies

Have a stylish baby during the day and through the night with Zulily’s adorable and comfy bedtime sets. At amazing prices they will ensure your infant has plenty of outfits to stay warm and comfortable night after night. 

4. Bibs

When you have a child it can be difficult to keep all their adorable and stylish clothes staying adorable and stylish, this is where bibs come in. Like pacifiers or shoes, there is no such thing as having too many! Have a bib for every day with Zulily’s “Days of the Week” bib. 

5. Swaddle Blankets

Zulily has awesome bargains on their swaddle blankets, so moms-to-be can stock up in preparation for their baby’s arrival. The muslin blankets are so soft that you’ll want as many as you can get- no to mention the cute patterns and prints they come in. 

6. Eric Carle’s Very Little Library Boxed Board Book Set

Complete your nursery library and relive your childhood with this timeless box set, with popular stories including The Very Hungry Caterpillar. 

Zulily is a company whose passion and goal is bringing the trendiest mom, child, and baby products to all moms at the best prices. The store and site features the most popular brands at prices you really can’t get anywhere else, sometimes on sale for up to 70% off! The available products are constantly changing and new things are always coming in, so even the regular customers never run out of a fresh selection to choose from. 

The Best Places for Mom to Online Shop

Online shopping can be tricky- one place might have sizes that run small or you might not know if something will look good without trying it on, or you think you’ve found a great deal and then they charge a fortune for shipping. But for busy moms, these are small problems compared to the idea of carting impatient children from store to store, waiting in lines, and dealing with crowds. So what’s the best way to shop without leaving your house but also ensuring you don’t pay a fortune and are happy with your products? And importantly, where should a busy mom even go to online shop? 

The key is to treat online shopping like shopping in a store- keep all your receipts and keep track of what you’re spending and where.  Keep your anti-virus software up to date and most importantly, use common sense! 

Which leads us to where the best places to online shop are. On the Internet there are endless sites to surf and shop, but generally when you are planning on actually purchasing clothes and various items from the web, its best to stick to places you’ve heard of before, were recommended to you by someone, or have accessible reviews of the products. But you’ll find below a list of awesome sites to buy trendy clothes for your little ones at amazing prices, and even some things for you too!

1. www.Zulily.com

Zulily features trendy products for moms, kids, and babies- so you can get all your shopping done at just one place! There is a wide variety of amazing brands but the best part is the amazing prices you can get them for- sometimes up to 70% off! And with a selection that changes daily, there is always something new to choose from. 

2. www.bumblebean.com

Find your baby/child unique and trendy clothes, toys and more at awesome prices here as well as some cool stuff for mom too! The best part about this site is that they feature a weekly offer from one of their many brand names and provide experts that create collections that you can search through to help you save time and find what exactly 

you’re looking for. 

ONCEKids Publishing is run by literacy advocate and Mompreneur Eileen Wacker.  Click here to find her acclaimed books

3. MiniChic &Co

Dubbed the “e-boutique for little ladies and gents”, this site is definitely worth checking out! This place offers exceptional service, amazing brands, and unbeatable quality for children aged 0-4.

4. www.Lollipopmoon.com

If you’re looking for impossibly cute clothes at reasonable prices, Lollipop Moon is the perfect place for you. The well-designed website makes it easy to find what you’re looking for without doing too much hunting around. Over 20 categories are featured on the side of the homepage, everything from sales to newborn clothes to a category called “trendy mom”! 

5. www.babyearth.com

If your shopping needs involve high quality baby products such as car seats, crib bedding, diaper bags, and baby clothes- then Baby Earth should definitely make its way into your browser history. The unique store offers a range of eco-friendly and organic baby products at a good price and includes free shipping on all orders over $99!

6. www.Giggle.com

Giggle’s website is a mother’s online dream come true. With everything from toys, bath products, nursery decor, furniture, strollers, clothes and more this site has everything you could possibly imagine for your baby or child. If the amazing selection, good prices, and aesthetically pleasing website wasn’t enough, Giggle also has their own blog- which definitely gives them an A+ in my book. 

To learn more about the characters and world of Fujimini Island, click here

Join Us May 14th For Zulily's Kids Book Collection

There is a lot of excitement buzzing through OnceKids as we prepare for tomorrow’s big event! Join our Fujimini Island book series and characters for Zulily’s Kids Book Collection on May 14th. 

If you haven’t heard of zulily or visited their website, zulily.com, you are seriously missing out! The company features clothes and other items for moms, kids, and babies. There is a wide variety of amazing brands but the best part is the amazing prices you can get them for- sometimes up to 70% off! And with a selection that changes daily, there is always something new to choose from. 

We are proud to be joining Zulily’s Kids Book Collection, featuring the Fujimini Island Box Set. Our four book box set holds Green Hamster and the Quest for Fun, Red Penguin and the Missing Sushi, Silent Samuari and the Magnificent Rescue, and Pink Hamster and the Big Birthday Surprise. Regularly priced at $29.99, tomorrow is your chance to get the set for just $9.99! 

Learn more about our Fujimini Adventure Series and check out Zulily’s amazing prices at:

http://fujiminiisland.com

and

http://zulily.com 

MommyBlogger Elle Walker Creates Awesome Video for Her Childless Friends

For any Mom who has ever struggled to explain to their childless friends why they are bad texters or have “disappeared off the face of the earth” for a few weeks at a time- this is the perfect video for you! Youtube star and mother of two, Elle Walker, created a humorous and spot-on video of why she is sometimes “flakey” in the eyes of her friends without kids. Walker is a viral mommyblogger, quickly becoming a superstar through her insightful, funny, and accurate videos on her Youtube channel, “WhatsUpMoms”. 

The video was originally made as a creative way to apologize to her friends for being slow to text back or not answering phone calls instead of making the same old excuses- but since being put on the web it has gained a tremendous amount of popularity since so many moms can totally relate!

Click below to watch the hilarious video by Elle Walker: To my Friends Without Kids

Thank You Mom (For All the Crazy Things You've Put Up With)

Every year, Mother's Day encourages us to show our moms how much we love them and appreciate everything they do for us. As that video, The Toughest Job in the World, showed us- being a mother is no easy task. It means unlimited patience, 24 hour a day availability, being nothing short of a professional multi tasker, putting her children’s needs before her own, being a chef, as well as a pro at managing 20,000 loads of laundry, and so much more. And being a mother also means witnessing, putting up with, and doing some pretty weird stuff when it comes to their child. So for this Mother’s Day, we are inviting you to take a moment and think about all the things your mom did for you that no one (and I promise you, no one) else would have done! When we asked, these are the responses we got from real people about what their Mom did for them and what they are most thankful for.

Learn more about the award-winning Fujimini Adventure series.  Purchase the books here

So thank you Mom for…

"Keeping me out of jail."

 "Always being a good sport."

"Putting up with me through my teen years."

 "Not complaining when I went to college and you thought you were free from my laundry but I still brought it home on weekends."

"Not being too embarrassing the first time I brought a boy home to meet the family."

"For not letting me get that “meaningful” tattoo on my 18th birthday."

"Listening to my hours of teenage drama and resisting the urge to tell me he’s a loser and won’t matter in a year anyway."

"For functioning as a counselor/hair stylist/coach/teacher/therapist/friend/parent…sometimes all at the same time."

"Being understanding when I forget to call."

"Putting up with my middle school phase. Sorry again!"

"For being my best, and sometimes only, cheerleader."

 "For home cooked meals. Those never get old!"

"For scaring those bullies even more than they scared me."

"For keeping me in line!"

"For teaching me how to love myself."

"For being there through all my victories and losses."

"For watching The Lion King 1,000 times with me."

"For changing all those diapers."

"For putting up with not just me, but now my kids too!"

"For showing me how someone can evoke genuine terror with one look."

"And for the whole, you know, giving birth thing." 

What are you most thankful for? 

ONCEKids Publishing is run by literacy advocate and Mompreneur Eileen Wacker.  Click here to find her acclaimed books