Get your motors runnin’ for our WHEELS gang! Hope you enjoy our cruisin’ bunch. Thanks to everyone who entered.

Scroll down to vote for your favourite!

• One vote per IP address (NOT email address) — so have your family, friends and co-workers cast a ballot. Email, Facebook and Twitter away to gather more votes!
• Voting ends Sunday evening at 9 p.m. Winner posted Monday.
• Click here for details on, and how to enter (or sponsor!), our bi-weekly photo contest

Photo Friday is back with a new theme to honour these early days of summer: WHEELS!

Send in photos of your kid on her/his bike or scooter, or lounging in a wagon or stroller.

Because we’ve had a bit of a break, and we’re feeling extra generous this week, we’ve got TWO prizes up for grabs:

• A Baby’s Book: The First Five Years (keepsake book) sponsored by Durham Region Daycare
• A Buriti Baby Essentials kit from the Body Shop at the Oshawa Centre

Photos are due this Thursday, June 17 at midnight. Voting goes Friday-Sunday, with the winner announced Monday, June 21.

Click here to enter!

Click here for contest details.

UPDATE: Congratulations to #14: Jen for winning the Monkeywrap!

Today we welcome Dawn Whitney — an Oshawa stay-at-home mom to SEVEN kids! — for a guest review.

The first day I got my Monkeywrap, I didn’t take it off all day!

My daughter Gaia ALWAYS wants to be held which makes it hard to do pretty much anything. I’ve learned to do lots with one hand (also challenging with 6 other children, LOL!).

Since receiving the wrap, I have been cleaning the house, doing dishes, hanging laundry even changing my second youngest child’s diapers all without having to worry about putting Gaia down and having to hear her cry until I am able pick her up again, or trying to do it with one hand! She loves to be in it! She gets to be up with mom, and I still have hands free.

Yesterday afternoon I had to be somewhere, so just wore the Monkeywrap all ready to go until we got there then I was able to quickly put Gaia into the wrap and be on my way to my appointment without trying to carry her in her infant carseat or worry about a stroller. It was SO easy!

Thursday evening I went to a spring concert at the kids school, and just brought Gaia in my Monkeywrap and it was so much easier to move around without trying to push a stroller (which she probably wouldn’t want to be in anyways and I’d end up carrying her around while attempting to push a stroller).

Today I asked my husband to watch the baby while I did something. About 5 minutes later he came up with the Monkey Wrap on and Gaia in it! She was having a blast!

If you haven’t guessed, I am in LOVE with this wrap. I don’t know how I did anything around the house with the other kids when they were younger without one!

Designed by 2 moms with style in mind, Monkeywear offers Canadian families the Monkeywrap – a uniquely designed tight stretch wrap baby carrier. The Monkeywrap offers a tailored, non-bulky alternative that looks like a shirt and was designed for closeness, comfort & convenience. It is just the right size to provide a custom fit for you and baby every time.

Monkeywear owners Jen and Lesley have a wrap for a lucky Durham Region Kids winner! Take a spin through their site, and return with one (or more!) things you love about Monkeywear in a comment.

We’ll pick and announce a winner Monday. Good luck!

UPDATE May 25/10: And the winner is…#19 Candace! We’ll be in touch with details. Thanks to everyone for entering!

In the four years I’ve been a parent, I’ve been through at least five diaper bags.

Like my purses, I like them big and roomy ’cause I carry a ton of crap around: change of clothes, mini first aid kit, snacks, diaper and wipes, reusable grocery bag, kleenex, emergency distraction toys, plus room for snack cups and more when we go out.

Total high maintenance bag girl here.

Our other bags have been great, but something is always missing or wrong: A flap that made opening cumbersome. Too small. Too pretty. Not enough pockets.

Then my friend Kristen, who is also the co-owner with her sister of T Bag & Co. and the wife to a guy I went to school with and who lives down the street (wow, this is incestuous…) gave me one of her wine bags for Christmas. You may have seen Kristen and Laura at any number of the parent shows the past few seasons (most recently Mamas & Chicks in April).

Now, I love wine. Capital L Love it. But my first thought when I opened this black and white beauty was what a fabulous diaper bag it would make.

So that’s exactly what we use it for.

It’s four roomy compartments help keep all our kid junk separated. The open top means easy access. It’s oh-so-stylish. It’s sturdy, with tough (but not utilitarian-looking) handles.

Last week a cup of milk spilled, and saturated the fabric. a) I liked that the fabric absorbed the liquid and didn’t pool at the bottom, and b) we tossed the whole thing in the wash, and it came out great — no fading, shrinking or ironing required.

To illustrate how it works with wine, I snapped this pic this morning:

Realizing I only had one bottle of wine in the house (aieeee!), I supplemented with a few bottles of Eric’s scotch.

The bag works great either way. Here are a few of my regular totes (two from the pretty in pink collection) that we use for shoes, groceries, lugging stuff to daycare and more:

BAG LOVE!

Kristen has offered up a wine bag to one of my lucky readers. It’s super easy to win: Go visit the T Bag & Co. website, and pick your favourite collection. Or if you’re already a bag owner, share what you love most about them.

We’ll pick a winner after the long weekend.

Good luck!

On a side note, this post took me around two hours because of the terribly distracting working environment. I’m thinking of filing a complaint with HR:

UPDATE: Congratulations baby Lyndsey and mom, Kelly, from Bowmanville!

Is there anything a kid loves more than a romp at the playground? These smile-inducing photos will make you think not! Vote for your favourite below. The winner receives a pack of play passes to My Bubble in Whitby.

• One vote per IP address (NOT email address) — so have your family, friends and co-workers cast a ballot. Email, Facebook and Twitter away to gather more votes!
• Voting ends Sunday evening at 9 p.m. Winner posted Monday.
• Click here for details on, and how to enter (or sponsor!), our bi-weekly photo contest