Virtual Baby Shower

How do you throw a baby shower for a sister in-law across the country? Host a virtual baby shower.

My brother in-law, along with help from MarthaStewart.com hosted a virtual baby shower for his wife.

Here's what he did:

1. Sent out email to family requesting letters

2. Ordered fun supplies from MarthaStewart.com

Here is a sample of the email he sent out:

Dear Friends and Family,

The past 38 weeks have passed by so quickly and though we have been so far away from most of you, we have felt your support throughout pregnancy #3! Thank you all for being so thoughtful and supportive!

We are now entering the "Final Countdown" - a mere 8 days away! As many of you know, the last few days after a long pregnancy can be some of the most trying days for an expecting mother - and so I would like to invite you to participate in a "virtual" baby shower!

So what is a "virtual" baby shower? And how can you participate? To answer these questions, let me first "paint the picture" for you:

On Saturday A will receive a visitor (son #2) at the front door with an invitation in hand - inviting her to a special baby shower. She will be given a blindfold to place over her eyes and will be led into the back yard where son #1, Dad, and marthastewart.com have decorated the patio with balloons, streamers, flowers, etc. The table will be filled with A's favorite treats (that she has been deprived of due to her gestational diabetes) and her favorite lunchtime menu.

On the center of the table will be a gift for her to open - and this is where YOU come in:

Please respond to this email over the next few days (no later than Thursday evening) with a personalized letter or note to A. Help her to feel as though you are present with us through your words. She is so excited for the arrival of Baby Boy #3. Help us to celebrate this momentous occasion with all of you! Your words of encouragement, love and support will be a gift that will last forever!

I will transfer your letter/note to an individualized card - which she will discover when she opens the gift on the table.

For those of you who, in addition to the letter/note, would also like to Skype in on Saturday, I will have our laptop and webcam ready to receive your calls throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday Also, please feel free to call, text, or leave a message.

With your help and involvement, this will be a very special "virtual" baby shower for A!

Love,

Dalton Family

- Kathy

First Thing's First

This year has marked a lot of firsts for me and my family. My wife had her first official book signing. Kid Z lost his first tooth. This was the first time I've launched a new company (:D) and attended an expo as a vendor. It was also our first year we owed taxes instead of getting a refund (blerg). And many more. Some good, some not great. But one in particular happened this last Monday, and it was a monumental experience for my wife and I. Our youngest, Kid A, officially became a little boy. He is no longer our little stinker that helped us invent the baby butt spray and would run around the house telling everyone to "smell my butt!" after spraying him with the several test samples as we perfected the formula (he loved being our guinea pig). He's growing up and Bree and I got a little emotional about it. Maybe its a little silly, but this experience made us reflect on our lives, our children and realize how blessed we are. It made us nostalgic for all the fun times we've had so far with our boys, but also excited for their future and how awesome they are bound to be.

So what was this groundbreaking, monumental, and time altering rite of passage that Kid A experienced?

His first SOLO bike ride.

Take a look at a little video of it I was able to capture on my phone. (Sorry about the sound quality. I apparently had my finger over the microphone as I was jogging to keep up with him)



After a an hour or so of riding around the cul-de-sac, Kid A also experienced his first crash. I was so proud of him because he just got right back up, brushed himself off, smiled at me and got back on the bike. I hope he does that whenever he falls-- on the bike or in life. As a side note: we found when we were done that the boys had that not-so-pleasant-I-can't-sweat-yet little boy smell. Good news! We found a new use for Little Stinker Baby Butt Spray :P

Here's to all the many firsts in life and the many more to come, because with life's experiences come wisdom, strength, and happiness.

-Brick

Join us at the What a Woman Wants Show

We are excited to inform our readers that we will be attending the What a Woman Wants Show on April 16th and 17th. We haven't been assigned a location yet, but we did get some extra tickets to share. Which is good news for you because we are giving them away on our blog!

Here are the the details.

Prize:

We have 20 tickets to give away in pairs, so a total of 10 winners are possible.

Rules:

1. You must be a follower of the blog to win.

2. Enter the contest by posting a comment to this post that answers one of the questions below, or by sending your answers via email to us at info@littlestinkerusa.com with WAWWS in the subject line.

3. Bonus points for making us laugh (+1)

4. Bonus entries for blogging, tweeting, facebooking links to the contest (+2, +1, +1 respectively)

5. Additional bonus entries for getting someone else to enter the contest (+3 be sure to tell them to let us know who sent them)

6. You can win twice, but no more (i.e. you can win up to four tickets).

Duration:

Contest ends midnight April 9th. Winners will be announced April 10th and tickets will be mailed April 12th to make sure you get them in time for the show.

Questions for contest entry-- Answer one of the following questions in your comments:

1. What was the worst poopy diaper change experience you've ever had?

or

2. What does a woman want?

I'll be honest. I have been married for nearly a decade now (9 years end of this month to be exact) and I still couldn't really answer that question. But in that time, I have definitely learned a lot about what a woman DOESN'T want, and I can tell you this-- nobody likes a poopy diaper. Not mom, not dad, not even the kid.

Lets face it. Poop stinks. Figuratively as well as literally. And that's were we come in. Ok, so we can't stop the poop from happening. Probably wouldn't be a good idea to try anyway. But we can stop the gag reflex and help avoid some of the awfulness that is changing a stinky diaper. We can also eliminate that inevitable lingering odor.

Be sure to stop by our table for some fun, to say hi, and to try out our Baby Butt Spray. See ya there!

-Brick

Sci-Fri - You put Marshmallows in your butt spray?

Welcome to Science Friday, where we take a moment to discuss and explain some of the science behind our product formulas. We believe in blending science with natural and organic botanical ingredients to create unique, essential, safe, and effective cosmetic products, which can be applied with confidence to maintain the health and beauty of skin.

Today, we wanted to discuss the Marshmallow in our Little Stinker Baby Butt Spay. If you look closely at the ingredient list for Baby Butt Spray, you may notice the name “Althaea officinalis” which is also known by its official common name “Marshmallow” root. This herb should not be confused with the sugary treat commonly roasted over campfires to make yummy s’mores (great... now I want s'mores). However, the French did use this herb historically in their confection “pate de guimave”, which was made from the plant’s root. And very tasty.

The marshmallow plant has been used traditionally in many cultures for its medicinal properties and even as food. The generic name, Althaea, is derived from the Greek, altho (to cure), from its healing properties. Hippocrates described this herb as a valuable treatment of wounds. Medicinally, the dried or powdered roots have been historically applied as a poultice on skin abrasions, ulcers, and eruptions.

The inclusion of this extracted herb in Little Stinker™ Baby Butt Spray was not accidental. Baby Butt Spray’s unique blend of botanical extracts provides soothing, calming, and moisturizing properties to your baby’s delicate skin. Sure, your main purpose for using this product may be to de-stinkify lingering baby odors, but the secondary benefits to your child’s skin make Baby Butt Spray much more than “butt-deodorant”.

Travis and Brick

Hey, guess what? We're LIVE!

Yes, its true. The long await is over! We are officially open for business!

*mighty applause from the crowd*

Ok—maybe it was just me that was clapping, but I can't express how excited I am to be sharing this news with the world, and sharing what I believe to be an incredibly awesome product with all of you. It's been a little over a year since we first thought of the idea of Little Stinker™, and to see it going live is a dream come true.

Last January, Travis, Kathy and I sat down and decided we needed to solve a problem. We were on a mission to find a way to make the unpleasant task of diaper changes and the inevitable lingering poopy smell that come with them better. I mean seriously... is there anybody out there that actually enjoys changing a poopy diaper? (Um, I'd advise you to keep silent if you do... because that's just kind of weird.)

So there we were with a problem. With a dream to make the world better—one diaper change at a time. And out of the realm of awesomeness (yes, there is a realm) was born our Little Stinker™ Baby Butt Spray concept. Now, after a year of hard work, making sure the product was as effective and great smelling as possible, yet still gentle on your baby's delicate skin, we are more than proud to announce its birth.

Go ahead. Check it out. You'll be impressed :D. And be sure to check back with us often as we have more exciting products coming soon and we hope to have a lot of fun here on the blog sharing our own parenting adventures.

Thanks for stopping by.

-Brick, Co-Founder

Baby Butt Spray

Little Stinker™ neutralizes lingering odors caused by stinky little ones. Sensibly formulated to be ultra gentle for little ones’ delicate skin with the nurturing benefits of Aloe Vera Gel, Allantoin, Vitamin E, and Certified Organic Extracts of Lavender, Chamomile, Marsh Mallow, Cucumber, Apple, and Blueberry. Your baby will smell so fresh and clean, you’ll probably want to eat them… but you know... you shouldn’t do that. Before you reach the point of negotiating every stinky diaper change, let Little Stinker be the perfect answer for your poopy prancer.

Directions for Use: Apply 1-2 sprays on bum after each diaper change. If that doesn't work, make sure your baby isn't poopy again. It happens. Other uses: diaper pails, bedding, bathrooms, stinky feet, husbands, and anything else that might need a little de-stinkification.

Little Stinker contains natural and organic botanical ingredients and is both dermatologist and pediatrician tested.

Supply: 2 months, depending on usage.

Volume: 4 fl. oz. (118 ml).

Ingredients: Water, Vegetable Glycerin, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Inulin, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Althaea Officinalis Root Extract*, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract*, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract*, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Flower Extract*, Pyrus Malus (Apple) Fruit Extract*, Vaccinium Angustifolium (Blueberry) Fruit Extract*, Allantoin, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Chlorphenesin, Disodium EDTA, Hexylene Glycol, Fragrance**.
*Certified Organic. **Allergen-Free.