Products Archives - Page 3 of 8

Joovy New Room Review

November 28, 2016 by Tamara 1 Comment

Disclosure: The Workout Mama is a Joovy Moms ambassador and as such is provided with product for reviews. All opinions are 100% honest and my own.

Last summer after Josh had his vasectomy we thought we were done with the baby phase in our home. We went through our entire house and donated or sold all baby related items.

It was great…until a few months later when I came to Josh and said that I would be open to fostering a child and adopting. This is another post for another day but needless to say he was elated because this has been something he has wanted to pursue since we dated.

We slowly began gathering up hand me downs from our friends that they no longer needed. By the time we had our home inspection to get our foster care license we had a crib and a dresser. Several days after we passed our inspection we found out we were pregnant! You can listen to the entire story on our vlog Vasectomies, Foster Parenting, and a Pregnancy Test.

Our little boy, Jesse, joined our family 14 days ago. In case you missed Jesse’s Birth Story you can read it HERE. Over the last few months leading up to his birth we have been blessed by family, friends, and even amazing brands like Joovy! We have received hand me down baby clothes from friends and our family has helped with diapers and other items we needed! We are overflowing with gratitude! Joovy has sent us a Caboose Ultralight Stroller and Room, which I will be reviewing today.

The initial setup of the New Room took Josh around 30 minutes. We attached the bassinet, changing table, and parent organizer. When is was all put together we realized that the Joovy Room is a very swanky nursery center.

The bassinet can be used for baby’s up to 15 pounds. The mattress is securely attached to the bassinet insert. I love that Joovy includes a waterproof mattress sheet as a standard item with the Room.

The changing table flips off to the side, making it super convenient for diapering, and is very securely attached to the side rails of the Room when in place. I love that I have an extra place to change the baby out in the living room and can easily keep in eye on Caden and Maisie while they continue to play. There is a large pocket on this side of the New Room that we are using to store extra outfits in case of the occasionally diaper blowout.

The surface of the changing table can be easily cleaned and holds your baby up to 25 pounds.

On the opposite side of the changing table the parent organizer attaches and can hold diapers, wipes, ointment, and anything you might need while changing a diaper.

Once the baby outgrows the bassinet the insert can be easily removed and the Room becomes a playard. This would be such a great purchase for a family who travels often with a little one, has limited space in their home, or is looking for an additional changing table and safe spot to let their little one rest. The Room has two wheels so it can easily be moved around the house as needed.

Everything neatly fits in a carrying case making it very easy to bring the Room on vacation, which we plan to do in January. Josh and I might be slightly crazy but back in October, before the baby was born, we booked a cabin up north because Caden has been begging to play in the snow. Wish us luck!

I am so in love with this little boy and can’t imagine our family without him. He is our little miracle baby!

Joovy really thought about everything a parent would want or need in a playard. This would make an excellent gift for a soon to be or new mom!

ABOUT JOOVY

Joovy is an american based company that is a family-run business that considers their employees, customers and factory partners as members of the family. Their goal is to design and manufacture family gear products that are extremely useful, practical, good-looking and FUN. You will not be disappointed if you decide to purchase this stroller or any other product from Joovy.

WHERE TO FIND AND BUY

Joovy Website, Amazon, Joovy Facebook, Joovy Twitter, Joovy Instagram

Thank you Joovy for letting me review the Room! The Buschel Family is very thankful for how generous you have been to us!

Filed Under: Postpartum, Pregnancy, Products Tagged With: Joovy, Joovy New Room

Joovy Caboose Ultralight Review

October 21, 2016 by Tamara Leave a Comment

Disclosure: The Workout Mama is a Joovy Moms ambassador and as such is provided with product for reviews. All opinions are 100% honest and my own.

This blog has allowed our family the opportunity to work with several awesome brands over the last few years. We are very thankful to Joovy and their partnership with our family! Today I am reviewing the brand new 2016 Joovy Caboose Ultralight double stroller and the features our family really enjoys.

This stroller is lightweight and comes in several eye catching colors. It is very easy to maneuver and weighs 24 pounds. We went with the firetruck red color. It is so pretty! There are also several different seating configurations that can be utilized with this stroller that you will be able to see in the pictures that follow.

There is a huge canopy with canopy extension to the rear seat offering even more shade for your little ones. When a child is seated on the bench seat the extender can be used for a shady ride. The extender is attached to the parent organizer and zips in place on the canopy.

The rear bench seat and standing platform are perfect for the older child. The Caboose Ultralight features a built in rear bench seat and also a stand-on platform that allows for your older child to hop on and off easily as needed. The rear seat is for children 2.5 years + weighing up to 45 pounds.

If your child is younger than 2.5 years old there is an optional rear seat adaptor that can be purchased. The caboose rear seat adds a full-size, reclining, front-facing rear seat. This easily snaps on to the bench seat and around the stroller making it a secure and comfy ride for your little toddler.

The parent organizer, snack tray, and universal carseat adaptor come included with your stroller. This is huge! Most strollers that we have previously owned have not come with these items and needed to be purchased separately, which can add at least another $100 to the cost of the stroller. The included Parent Organizer holds two beverages and has a zippered pocket for keys, wallet or phone. When using the universal carseat adaptor there is still room for a child to stand on back platform.

This double tandem stroller can hold a child 3 months + in the front seat and reclines to 3 different positions. The weight capacity for the entire stroller is 90 pounds, 45 pounds per seat. We are excited to use this new stroller even more in November when baby #3 arrives.

While we were taking these pictures Maisie decided she would like to swing from the stroller. Josh and I were shocked that it didn’t tip over on her. It was actually very sturdy and didn’t budge with the carseat attached. We pulled her off right away and told her not to swing on the stroller again. Of course several nights later as I was getting the kids ready for an evening walk she made her way over to the stroller and tried to swing on it again. This time the carseat was not attached but thankfully the stroller was parked on the carpet so she had a soft landing when she tipped it over. Oh Maisie, our little climber.

Overall this stroller is the favorite we have owned! It is not super complicated to used, easy to steer, and is a fun color!

ABOUT JOOVY

WHERE TO FIND AND BUY

Joovy Website, Amazon, Joovy Facebook, Joovy Twitter, Joovy Instagram

Thank you Joovy for letting me review the Caboose Ultralight Stroller! The Buschel Family loves it!

Filed Under: Products Tagged With: Joovy, Joovy Caboose Ultralight, Joovy Mom, Stroller Review

Grocery Shopping at Natural Grocers

July 20, 2016 by Tamara 2 Comments

Last week Josh and I had the opportunity to attend an event at the now opened Natural Grocers on Val Vista and Williamsfield in Gilbert. This is Natural Grocers 121st store. I also thought it would be fun to share our grocery shopping trip with you and show you what we purchased on this visit.

Grand Opening Event

The event we attended focused on educating about Natural Grocers and their commitment to quality food and supplements. We were treated to a wonderful meal that included a green salad, chickpea salad, chicken salad, fruit, and the hands down best vegan and grain free cookie I have eaten!

Why You Would Want to Shop at Natural Grocers

Natural Grocers does NOT carry products that contain artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners or preservatives. They do NOT sell hydrogenated oils or partially hydrogenated oils. My favorite thing about Natural Grocers is not having to search between conventional and organic produce! You will only find USDA Certified Organic Produce at Natural Grocers.

They also believe healthy foods and nutritional supplements should be affordable to everyone and they are the low price leader in this industry and they will price match. During this shopping trip we wanted to see what the prices were on items we typically purchase at Sprouts and Whole Foods. If the items were cheaper we purchased them, more on this later.

Things to Know Before You Shop at Natural Grocers

They don’t have a butcher but they do carry Mary’s, Applegate, and several other popular non-GMO brands. The reason they do not have a butcher is to keep their costs down so they can provide better discounts throughout the entire store to their customers. Natural Grocers is also a bagless store. Either bring your own, buy reusables from them, or grab some boxes at checkout to carry out your purchases.

Another point I want to mention before I get to our shopping trip is that each store has a Nutritional Health Coach that is available for FREE consultations to shoppers to answer questions on special diet needs, design eating programs, and can educate consumers on individual health and fitness goals.

Sara is the Nutritional Health Coach at the Val Vista location and has been a dietician for 11 years. She began her career in hospital and clinical settings but soon realized that she didn’t truly believe in what she was being trained to tell her patients about nutrition. She is thrilled to work for a company that wants to promote whole food eating and she would love to work 1 on 1 with anyone in the community looking to better their health through nutrition.

Natural Grocers is very big on community education and has a separate room at the front of the store for this purpose. Be sure to check out their monthly calendar in store to see upcoming events you can participate in FREE of charge.

Our Shopping Trip

Onto our shopping trip! We wanted to really try to stay true to what we would normally buy during our weekly grocery shopping trip. We tend to buy most of our organic meat these days at Costco as well as whatever organic produce they have in stock. In order to give a good idea on what a typically shopping trip would cost we did purchase Mary’s chicken while at the store. We did also buy a few supplements which would normally not be an item we include in our grocery budget.

Supplements

We LOVE Natural Grocers vitamin selection! There many great quality brands to choose from and by far one of the lowest prices for many brands we have seen locally. If you are running low on your vitamins be sure to check out their prices before you purchase at another local store. We ended up purchasing several different supplements along with a body wash and sunscreen on this trip.

While Natural Grocers does carry a plethora of different brands they unfortunately do not carry the major brands that we use in our household. Want to see what supplements we use in our house and why we picked these brands? Additional Reading: Vitamins and Supplements for a Healthy Family

Produce

We didn’t go crazy in the produce department, but we easily could have. All the produce is so pretty and vibrant. Our kids adore watermelon and we snagged up this almost 10 pound organic beauty for $5.63.

Meat and Cheese

For meat and cheese we purchased Mary’s chicken, our beloved Applegate Organic Hotdogs (and yes I know they are still hotdogs but if you are going to eat a hotdog this is the brand to choose) they were a full $1 cheaper then what we normally purchase them for, and Rumiano cheese. The cheese was hands down an amazing deal! Each block was $3.99! These typically cost us between $5.69 – 5.99 a block. With the price being so amazing I bought several and put the extras in the freezer.

Bulk Section and Inner Aisles

And then we came to the bulk section and inner aisles of the store. We really try hard not to go crazy in the inner aisles of grocery store and shop the majority of our food along the outer edges. Which is a really good thing for me because at Natural Grocers my new found favorite cookie dough, Capellos, is in the refrigerated section along the outer edge of the store.

Some of our favorite brands/products we wanted to mention that Natural Grocers carries are Namaste Waffle and Pancake mix (this is so good and gluten free and GMO free) and Yummy Earth Fruit snacks (the kids love these, the price was $5.69 for a 10 pack, and let’s be honest we love them too). Josh was also really happy to peruse the bulk section and he discovered an assortment of raw/organic nuts and coconut date rolls.

Total Cost of Shopping Trip

I am sure, by now, you are all wondering how much money we spent on this little shopping trip. While we only left the store with two reusable bags filled with our purchases and carried out our watermelon we did feel like we still had a very successful shopping trip. Our grand total was $240.78.

Now this amount also included supplements that wouldn’t normally be on our list and we also were kindly given a $30 gift card after the VIP event that we applied to this amount. If we subtract the supplements, soap, and sunscreen and the gift card from our total our shopping trip cost $141.26.

Final Thoughts and Overall Impression

I do feel like we did get some good deals on products and brands that we normally buy but there were a few items that we typically purchase that we had to pass on at Natural Grocers. We always buy organic apple juice to add to the kids water bottles for flavor but found that because they don’t carry their own brand of apple juice the price on the brands they did carry were more expensive, $10.99 compared to $7.99. So we had to pass. We also buy canned coconut milk for smoothies and breakfast porridge and the canned organic coconut milk was $2.99 compared to the brand we normally buy $1.99.

Our overall impression after shopping at Natural Grocers was a positive one and we will definitely be back. We were happy with our purchases and what we were able to buy at better prices.

1625 E Williams Field Rd, Gilbert, AZ 85295

Store Hours: Mon-Sat 8am – 9:04pm, Sun 8:30am – 7:35pm

(480) 917-9000 | www.naturalgrocers.com

I want to hear from you! Have you ever shopped at Natural Grocers? What is your monthly food budget?

PS…Natural Grocers also has stores in Gilbert (Baseline/Gilbert) and Chandler (Kyrene/Ray)!

PSS…While we were invited to the grand opening event and given a gift card to Natural Grocers this post was not sponsored or solicited. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Nutrition, Products Tagged With: Natural Grocers, Organic, Shopping Trip