As a Mom of a new little one, I must say one of my favorite things is finding something that is a “Must-Have“ for my baby that turns out to be treasured for it‘s comfort and cuteness. Finding a company that makes cute baby hats that are also organic is priceless!

When we were asked to try out a hat from Beanie Designs I jumped on it!  Once you look at their catalog you will be just as excited as I was, and just as torn between which one to pick.

I finally gave in and let my eight year old son decide which was best and I was very pleased at his choice. As you can see, my baby boy looks adorable in his little frog hat!

I was impressed at the shipping time and mostly the quality of workmanship and the softness of the yarn used. I will definitely be back to www.beaniedesigns.com to keep my sweet baby in fun hats year round!

Disclosure: Beanie Designs sent the hat mentioned to us to review and tell you about. All opinions are my own and completely honest. You can read our full disclosure policy here.

If you’re like me and have maybe health and weight loss goals on your list this year, here’s a couple simple tricks to help you out.

Don’t do too much too fast.

This is quite possibly one of the best ways to completely kill a goal. We all do it from time to time when we’re “in the moment”. We’re excited about our new goals and we go crazy with all the great possibilities of ways to get there.

If your goal is weight loss and overall physical health for instance, going out and signing up for an intensive program that costs a fortune right out of the gates and then you work out like crazy for a week, there’s a good possibility you’ll get burned out fast. So take it slow. For most people, getting unhealthy took a long time, so reversing that will take a bit of time as well.

Set realistic goals.

This of course goes quite well with the first tip, but making sure that the goals you have set make sense and are actually attainable is best. If you set a goal of losing 10 pounds per week for a month (though who wouldn’t love to be able to do that), you are not setting a realistic goal and are going to fail.

If, on the other hand, you were to set a goal of losing one to two pounds per week along with making a plan for HOW you are going to do that you are far more likely to reach that goal.  Spend more time with the people in your life who already practice the habits you want to gain for yourself.

If you have friends and family that already do eat healthy or exercise in a way that you are trying to get in the habit of doing, spend more time with them.  We learn so much from the people around us just by watching and being there, so this is a great way to help develop those habits for ourselves.

Make time for physical activity and planning.

This is true of almost any goal in life, but for those who are trying to achieve better eating habits, overall healthy living and better physical fitness, this is very important.  Making time each day for a walk or whatever exercise you want to do is essential. It doesn’t have to be a long time each day, just so long as it’s worked into the schedule somewhere.

Keeping your other healthy living goals in sight is also something you’re likely to need to make a bit of time for. Learning how to cook healthier doesn’t happen overnight, it’s something we must practice and learn about in a very real way. As my children study at school or do their homework, I’m likely not far away learning about nutrition or eating healthier or one of many other health subjects I’m currently studying.

Make it fun.

There’s nothing better than realizing that I have just done a full workout and hardly even noticed it! Walking with friends, playing games outside with the kids and other activities that are simply fun to do are absolutely the best way to achieve your health goals.

I can sit on my behind all day in front of the computer, blogging and working and emailing and … well… you get the idea. But that’s so not healthy, I have to get up and move around and once I do, I start feeling so much better. I can think more clearly (this is a big deal to me because I actually have struggled a lot with my mind feeling very foggy), I breathe easier … there’s just so much to be said for the simple act of getting off the couch and moving around.

If any of you have started losing sight of your goals for health and activity, I sincerely hope that this helps you find a renewed interest and excitement in those goals.

Last week was an adventurous one around here. Most of the kiddos were spread out here and there. One was at camp, two of them with one set of grandparents and two more with another set of grandparents. CJ was the only one home most of the week, but there was a reason.

I went in for minor surgery on Tuesday. It honestly wasn’t a big deal and I have felt very good all week despite it, as long as I don’t overdo. Add to that the insanity that is called ‘signing up a child for high school’ though, in addition to daily life with 6 boys and things definitely feel a little more nuts.

As we head out of summer and into yet another fall/school year I am gathering many many very fun ideas and products to share with all of you. So, after taking a lot of time off from blogging this summer I am definitely looking forward to the exciting things I have planned for you very soon.

I am going to be featuring a couple of weeks of giveaways and now is definitely the time to start spreading the news! Next week we will be having a Back To School Bash. The fun thing is, this bash will offer great items and ideas for kids AND moms!!!

Then two weeks later I will be offering several super fun and exciting products and ideas mainly for the grown ups (though there might be a few items for little people thrown in as well)!!  Feel free to join in the festivities during my Hooray for Fall Week!  I’m so looking forward to it and hope that I can squeeze everything in to the one week for each that I have alotted.

Here’s your chance to get a jump start on extra entries!

1. Have a blog? Mention my Back to School Bash (August 30 – Sept 3) and/or my Hooray for Fall Week (Sept. 13th – Sept 17th).  Once the giveaways come around for each event simply leave a separate comment with a link to your blog post as an extra entry.
2. Tweet it! If you use twitter, feel free to tweet about these events to let everyone know with a link back to AFrogInMySoup.com and in addition to the extra entry you usually get for tweeting each giveaway you’ll get yet another entry for any giveaway you choose to enter.
3. Share on Facebook! yep, if you choose to let your friends on facebook know about these events with a link back to the site you will get yet another entry.

These options offer you an additional three entries PER giveaway that you choose to enter during both giveaway weeks! (yes you are welcome to cheer). Until I have a better way for giving each of you lots of entries with one submission I am afraid that you will have to leave a separate comment for each qualified entry for each giveaway.

Not every review featured during those weeks will offer a giveaway, but there are some amazing products out there that I simply felt you all should know about.

Celebrity chef Tyler Florence created Sprout Baby Food, the leading organic gourmet baby food now available on the market.  Reminding us that healthy eating needs to continue as babies begin to try solid foods, delicious combinations of healthy food is what you will find in Sprout.

Available in three stages to grow with your baby, you’ll find yummy combinations such as Roasted Bananas, Sweet Peas & Garden Green Beans, Roasted Pears & Apricots, Sweet Baby Carrots and Sweet Potato and many more.

My niece got to try out a few samples of Sprout Organic Baby food and my sister was very impressed not only with the fact that it’s organic, but with the packaging itself, “I love that I can seal it and throw it in the bag not worrying about it spilling all over.”

The packaging is very unique, definitely not your average baby food….

Complementing Sprout’s high quality organic recipes is the Company’s dedication to serving its gourmet baby food in the Company’s proprietary ecologically packaged, re-sealable pouches. Not only are the pouches eco-friendly and convenient to use, they also deliver Sprout’s organic baby food in a revolutionary manner that maintains superior taste and nutrition when compared to traditional glass jar baby food packaging techniques.

Sprout Baby Food also provides added assurance with your baby’s nutrition and development by providing a recipe growth chart, guiding parents on what meals to feed their child until they are toddlers. In addition to being available online, Sprout Organic Baby Food’s 18 highly nutritious “farm-to-pouch” recipes are also available at retail locations across the country.

You can purchase Sprout Baby Food at Whole Foods, Publix, Kroger, United Supermarkets, Raley’s and many other locations. If you are looking for a discount, you can shop at Amazon.com or Diapers.com.

Disclosure: I always give honest and forthright reviews and will not present something that poses a conflict of interest &/or that I do not like.  I received sample pouches of Sprout Baby Food that my niece tried out…these were provided to me in order for me to offer you with an honest review of their product. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

Today is Earth Day. In fact it’s the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day which is pretty impressive in my opinion. So to celebrate the amazing innovations available to us in taking even small steps to protect our Earth, today I’m talking all about Bento Boxes at Mom Central Food.

Earlier this week I talked a little about simple yummy foods like a homemade Bruschetta. Don’t get overwhelmed by the stigma some foods seem to have, just because they sound gourmet doesn’t mean your children won’t want to eat them or that they aren’t simple to make.

Fun things to try out…see you there!

This year marks the 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off

Looking for yet another way to go Green?

One of the simplest ways to start going green is to start using your own reusable grocery totes instead of the plastic grocery bags they offer in the store.

The Green Path Company has introduced yet another great “green” product!

Are you ready?