Withings Home Wi-Fi security camera

This blog post contains affiliate links.

The Withings Home Baby Bundle - Wireless Video Baby Monitor is a great Wi-Fi security camera with a lot of embedded perks: video streaming, air quality monitor, push notification alerts for motion activity and cloud storage of video footage. The Home packs a 5 megapixel HD camera with infrared night vision that has a field-of-view of 135 degrees which is pretty wide without looking like a wide angle camera. It has sensors for sound, motion and air-quality which will be able to alert you via the companion iOS app (iPhone, iPad, AppleTV or Apple Watch).

The product is great because it has two-way audio with “push-to-talk” option via the iOS app that let’s you speak to whoever is in the room. They also have a baby bundle package which pairs the camera with two covers: one blue and one pink which slip over the woodgrain finish.

We think this product is a great option for families who are looking for a baby monitor or just a plain security camera. The two-way audio is a great way to soothe your baby to sleep from anywhere by just using your iPhone and the camera. You also have the option to turn on a Lullaby mode which turns on an LED light and sound program to lull your child back to sleep.

Priced at $199, it offers quite a few bells and whistles to help ease parents’ anxiety. The air-quality monitor is really nice because it can warn you when carbon-based Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in parts-per-million go above a specified thresh-hold and also tracks the data so you can try and figure out if it’s a one-time occurrence or something that needs to be looked in to. 

The Apple Watch integration is really nice because you can also be notified when there is motion and just glance at your watch to see an image of what’s going on.

I can’t believe it (and I know you won’t be able to as well) but the great folks at Withings have offered us a Home security camera to give away to one of our lucky readers… Enter through the Rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

NOTE: I received a Withings Home to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own. There was no promise given of a positive review, but this camera rocks! Winner must be 18+. This blog post contains affiliate links.

Calling all Kids! Join the Red Sox Kid Nation FREE!

Photo Credit: @RedSox Twitter

This year, the Red Sox are continuing what they started last year in making Kid Nation Rookie memberships FREE for all kids! We did this last year and it was great! When you join you'll get a kid nation passport, free Red Sox game ticket (while supplies last), email newsletter and discount at the official store among other goodies! What are you waiting for? Register today!

So, I'm super excited to let you guys know that this year, I'm going to be working with the Red Sox to help promote some of their family friendly activities as a Red Sox Dad! I can't begin to describe my enthusiasm as that was the twitter handle I chose some years ago, never thinking it would amount to this!

The Red Sox have a few other things in store for this year:

• Special student discount tickets for high school and college students with a student ID, you can get a $9 ticket for every regular season home game. The “Student 9’s,” presented by Selfeo, guarantee at least an entry into standing room with the possibility of an upgrade to seats when available.
• The Red Sox will take Fenway Park on the road with a new mobile truck that will bring the ballpark experience to communities throughout New England. The Red Sox Mobile Experience presented by T-Mobile features a 15-foot truck with panels that move to remake the Green Monster wall. The truck will carry a batting cage, virtual reality dugout, and pitching stations to dozens of cities and towns during the 2016 season.

Wally's Clubhouse got a few new additions as well:

• A rolling mobile exhibit will feature a miniature fiberglass version of Pesky’s Pole that youngsters can sign with a dry erase marker, a piece of the padded field wall that lines the infield and outfield, and various compartments with objects for them to feel, such as a deconstructed baseball and Fenway Park dirt.
• Miniature lockers staged to look just like the ones in the Red Sox clubhouse will be installed in Wally’s Clubhouse, and an oversized trunk filled with authentic Red Sox jerseys, cleats, and batting gloves will be available for kids to play dress up.
• In addition to the tactile elements, enhanced organized games and activities such as Red Sox bingo, story time, Q&A sessions, and lessons on scoring the game will take place in the space. The Red Sox will also host a comprehensive clinic later in the season for kids who want to learn how to score the game.    
• Tessie the Green Monster (Wally’s sister) will take her place in the Kids Concourse where she will be a permanent staple before and during Red Sox home games throughout the season.

NOTE: I super excited to share this info with you guys as a participating Red Sox Dad which is part of the Red Sox Moms/Dads blogger program. No compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

The Harvard Pilgrim Finish at the 50 - 5 and 10k - THIS FRIDAY!

Hey everyone!

I'm happy to report that my weight loss is going well. I'm now just over 17 labs lost overall since I started this journey. It's been a while since I"ve seen the scale below 210, but it's now there! I hope I can keep going in this direction.

To that note, Emily, Lily and I are all still preparing for the Harvard Pilgrim Finish at the 50 5k this Friday at Patriot Place. Tonight, I went for a run in the misty weather and it was quite refreshing. Now, I can run for 5 minutes straight without getting winded. That wouldn't have happened just a month ago!

If you'd like to join us, you can register online through Wednesday, July 1 at http://www.finishatthe50.com

There's a great Kids Fun Run starting at 3 pm, where the kids can all run around the stadium field and finish at the 50 as well. They will get a special finisher medal, too!

There's also great deals available for runners throughout Patriot Place and you can also browse the Fitness Expo each day. There will also be some great fireworks right at dusk.

NOTE: We have been provided with complimentary entry to the Finish at the 50 5k. There was no promise made of a positive review... Can't wait to see how we do!

Have any old sentimental t-shirts lying around? Make a blanket!

The great folks at Project Repat (a nice local Boston-based company)  will take your old t-shirts and turn them into a great blanket for a very reasonable price. It all started when co-founder, Ross Lohr, was working in Kenya and decided to start a company that would take old donated t-shirts and turn them into bags, scarves, etc and then repatriate them (i.e. return to the country of origin) back to the US to be sold and raise money for non profits in East Africa. They realized while selling items in and around Boston, that everyone liked the idea of a bag made out of an upcycled t-shirt but didn’t like it to purchase it, however everyone was asking for a t-shirt quilt.

They partnered with two companies to do the work and make t-shirt blankets, Precision Sportswear in Fall River, MA  and Opportunity Threads in Morganton, NC. This allows folks to take their sentimental t-shirts that were designed in the US, screened here and send them to have a blanket made rather than just throwing them out or donating them. You have to cut the t-shirts out (which for our 49-panel blanket, took me an hour) and then package them up and send them to the location specified in your order (ours was in Fall River - a short 40 minute drive from our house).

While some quilting friends of ours had asked why it won’t have batting (filler) or interfacing, the Project Repat folks are able to keep the costs down because they have found that by stitching all of the pieces of the shirts together and finishing the sides reduces the time it takes to make the blanket which makes it cheaper for you.  They use a PolarTec fleece backing which was founded in Massachusetts as well.

Our queen size quilt costs around $230 to make since we were using mens XL shirts the squares had to be 14x14. A few shirts were smaller so they added some fabric. One problem we found was that a piece of fabric ended up having a tiny hole in it. When I emailed their customer service, one of the founders(!) got back to me and offered to have us send it back in to get it fixed. Not only did they fix it in a prompt fashion, they also provided shipping both ways.

We are VERY happy with our t-shirt blanket and think it would make a wonderful family keepsake or gift for someone. If you are thinking of buying a gift for someone you can actually pay for a virtual “gift box” which provides for shipping in both directions for the recipient. The regular product (like ours) requires you to ship the shirts to them and then they will send it back to you.

The project repat folks often run some type of discount so keep tabs on their Facebook page or website to often get a code for 20% off…

 

NOTE: The Project Repat folks provided me with a complimentary blanket in exchange for this post. An affiliate link is being used in this article and I will receive a small comission. There was no promise of a positive review. No other compensation was provided.