[category_specific_rss_menu] Since holiday gift buying season is now – with the help of other running mama’s – I gathered enough information to write a two part series on great gifts for active moms: 10 Great Stocking Stuffers for Running Moms and 10 Must Have Holiday Gifts Every Running Mom needs. Part One focuses on 10 Great Stocking Stuffers for the running, multi-sport mom or a special woman in your life. These little gifts are small enough to be placed into an already stuffed stocking. Just remember, although these items are small, doesn’t always mean inexpensive. I organized the 10 Great Stocking Stuffers into five categories: Accessories, Fashion, Motivation, Music Lovers, and Recovery and Relaxation.   ACCESSORIES If your loved one loves to be active—and stylish—then accessories are the way to go. 1.  Road ID The Road ID ($19.99) offers stylish bracelets in different colors to fit your athlete’s persona.  In the event of an accident, if you can’t speak for yourself, your Road ID will.  I use my Road ID for every activity. I have mine in hot pink and my hubby has his in orange. 2.  Head Bands If you’re looking for something more fun, yet practical, why not pick up some headbands. Running or working out with hair in your face is annoying—a sturdy headband keeps hair in its place, and your athlete can focus on her workout. Many running and triathlete moms I asked suggest Bondi Bands. Bondi Bands are are a comfy, colorful and creative way to hold your hair back with a wicking favorite.  According to some moms, you can also get them personalized as well. Active.com suggests Sweaty Bands ($6) offers cute styles and never slips.  Sweaty Bands are the ultimate sports and fitness headband, uniquely designed...

  I have been waiting since February 2011 – nearly 7 months – when MSNBC reported on the Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Apptivity iPhone Case that supposedly would be toddler proof iPhone case that would become available to the general public.  My son had just turned one and never used the iPhone before, but I knew that it was only a matter of time before he was introduced to it. I do not view the iPhone as a parenting substitute, but a tool to help maintain control and provide a piece of mind for moms and dads while traveling with a baby and/or toddler – which we do a lot. Here it is! Finally the second week in September, I received the Fisher-Price catalog in the mail and it highlighted the Apptivity iPhone case. I was so excited – not only because it was released – but it was only $15. The next day, I ordered directly from the Fisher-Price website and received it a couple of days later. With shipping and handling it cost $20.99 ($15 for the case and $5.99 for shipping).  This product can also be ordered from Amazon for $14.99 not including shipping & handling and will be available in retail stores in October 2011. This case has been tested by my 19 mos. old son. This Apptivity iPhone case has not let me down; I am in love with it and so is my toddler.  Here are some of the highlights that I love. 1.  With the Apptivity iPhone case it eliminates any fear that if your toddler drops the phone that the glass will break.  Most cases, including mine, do not have a protective front cover. 2.  You do not have to worry about your toddler constantly touching...

  I am writing about this because I recently witnessed a mom getting barraged on Twitter about being an “unfit” mom because she had a registry for her son’s first birthday.  Abusive, not providing for your child, not educating your children can classify as unfit, but a gift registry. This is the site she used. Now, I do admit back before I had C2, I might have thought the concept of a gift registry was a bit greedy, but no longer. The practice of registries has been around since 1924, when Chicago-founded department store Marshall Field’s first instituted the bridal registry as a means for the engaged couple to indicate chosen china, silver and crystal patterns to family and friends. As some might recall, I made C2 Amazon Wish list public for his 1st birthday and the reason why is because I had so many people ask me what C2 wanted and I found myself copying/pasting the links into an emails and repeating that process several times.   So to be more effective, save time and reduce frustration, we made the decision to go “public”.  I did have a lot of hesitation about this because I knew some people would view it as being greedy.  Or people would think we expect everyone to purchase him a gift.  Or this may be considered rude or tacky by some people.  Yes, as I suspected I did receive some comments. But, before I move on, I do want to make this clear. We were, are and always will be grateful for any gift C2 receives and by no means do we expect anything or everything from anyone. Now my question, is why ask for suggestions then make a “to do” out of it when a website with gift...