Awesome Products

I'm quoting someone...although I do not know who.

Giving credit where credit is due.

The average family will spend $12,000. on a child each year, every year while they live with you.

Wow. That's some change, but I almost think that number for most of us, is really smaller than reality.

Averages are..well..averages...

I found a totally cute item to help you along the way to meeting that dollar figure:

The blooming bath. $40 of cute-ness:

www.mimi-zilla.com

Doh!

I had my very own Homer Simpson moment today...

I've been shooting pictures for three days and every picture almost had a blurry spot at the bottom, or on the right hand side....

I was so awake in the middle of the night wondering if I needed to hire a professional photographer..

Spend thousands of dollars on real photography equipment...

Shut down Mimi-zilla due to not being able to do this...

Advertisements are set to go out in two weeks and this site is not stellar...

as I whined to my better half..he said...

Is your lens dirty?

NO. NO. NO...I said.

Yes...Yes..Yes it was.

*cheers*

www.mimi-zilla.com

Why choose Mimi-zilla.com?

I guess the reason for choosing us kind of hinges on why we started...

I'm busy. Who isn't?

The economy is tough. We're all feeling it...but you know..this isn't enough..and these reasons don't make for a real story.

We're real people. Seriously, no robots here. You deserve a real story.

My sister has twins (imagine the cost of clothing them). She took some of her outgrown kid's items to a consignment shop and they gave her $2. in store credit for her items.

Better yet, she had a 60 day window for her items to sell--or become property of the store owner (aka donate to charity in this case).

I had been kicking around the idea to open an online consignment store as a creative outlet from my 9-5, and as a way I guess to say...that's just not how I would do things.

As I began telling my friends about my new project and focus..I began hearing stories of them dropping off items (both adult and kids) at locations across the US and never hearing back from the stores, and never getting money for items...and I thought...that wouldn't work for me. Why should that work for anyone?

So a vision came about via several brainstorming sessions about finding a way for people to easily get quality items to us, and from us..and a company that has a mission to exceed expectations and  anything others can offer was born.

How can we do this? We have low overhead and a current philosophy that it's more about the philosophy than the profit.

• We can do things others can't because of this...like give you a 50% take on sold items. 
• We can list your items for 9 months or longer if we wish, because we have zero storage limitations.
• As IT nerds, we've developed a web front end that makes starting the process with us very easy & a web back end that can track items for you so you never have to worry about never knowing where your items are...or how much they sold for. 
• We've put a significant amount of change into marketing...if you're going to do something..why do it halfway? You will have a national audience for your items.
• We're open 24/7 because we are online.
• (In the works we have something super cool with UPS that you'll also love as a busy person..keep your fingers crossed and your eyes back on our web to see if it comes to pass)...

In short, we're striving to be rock stars...so you'll love us. 

www.mimi-zilla.com

No eggs...just bubbles

We're going through a nearly naked baby phase. I'm quite positive my neighbors are growing tired of seeing the diaper look Mimi sports...anyway...I'm going down a bunny trail and off the path of the blog.

The healthcare executive in me is surfacing here. Take it for what it's worth. 

Recent studies have shown a dramatic increase in the past few years of cavities in toddlers. Meaning everything from the small to the root canal and even on to let's damage permanent teeth variety. Dental hygiene is critical. The cause is being attributed to everything from bottled water lacking fluoride to sticky fruit snacks to juice. I read the study and promptly took Miss Monster to the dentist. 

After the dentist visit I took her to daycare where I was given the monthly flier. April 6th Egg Hunt. Please bring large pre-filled eggs to the class. 

Hmmm....what to fill a large plastic egg for toddlers with? I had the same dilemma for the basket at the house for Easter morning.

I asked the school..you know...stickers..stuff...

I can't be sticking stickers in eggs for toddlers to choke on. 

45 minutes into staring at shelves in Target I break down and ask my spouse for input.

He comes up with sticky fruit snacks. I cringe, but fresh out of better ideas buy the snacks and stuff the eggs.

Pick her up from school..apparently all other parents had the exact same idea. We munched on fruity snacks. She and I..and then we brushed. 

And the Easter basket at the house? Bubbles. Bubble Machine. 

Required a ton of batteries and a gallon of bubble juice. 

File it under toys that matter..and...well...make that dental appointment for a check up if you haven't. 

Newest Best Thing Ever

Target.

Bath Department.

Knee Pad.

Not to be confused with the knee pad in the gardening section, although they pretty much look the same.

Naturally the bath section knee pad is a bit more expensive. It has a smidge more padding in the knee section. A bit more contoured.

Either way. Once kiddo has graduated from baby bath and baby bath kinds of safety things...and moved on to I don't trust you for even two seconds in this tub by yourself....this is awesome.

Try it.

Even if it's the garden variety. :)


www.mimi-zilla.com

Baby Sign Language

Babies are brilliant. Let's face it, as parents we know this to be true.

I'm a product of the 70s. You know the days of no padding anywhere on the playground and the time where car seats may have been optional..or my mom may have been breaking the law...I'm not positive..but you get the idea.

Baby language skills have come a long way...boys and girls invest in this..we are amazed every day at the things that kiddo knows and just can't say with words.

Take Saturday for instance. Lunch at the beach. Doggie box filled with french fries. How did I know she was finished? She signed "all done".

We get in the car, princess and I and head down a road that requires focus.

She starts screaming "need, need, need" as she points to...I know the box of fries.

I toss one back to her and angle the rear view mirror as I still have a please use your teeth thought running through my head as she crams the entire thing into her mouth...

She is signaling "more"...

it is not working as I'm trying to drive...resorts back to screaming "need" as she rapidly motions for "more" with her fingers.

I'm throwing fries..

She's not stopping..

I'm convinced she is trying to kill us.

I'm being yelled at by the bilingual baby...proud...frustrated..still trying to drive...wondering if signaling and broken english constitute bilingual...

Minimal key words they/you need to get by:

More
All done
Milk
Book
Eat
Drink

Try it. Amzing.

www.mimi-zilla.com

Mimi-zilla.com is "live"

Oh wow....

Today our site: www.mimi-zilla.com is live!

We have put hundreds of hours into development, programming, testing and acquiring a starting inventory and I must say I'm very proud of the outcome.

Development actually finished two weeks ahead of schedule. Kudos team!

We will continue to add inventory items over the next few weeks as we have several hundred items to photograph and process, but we are underway with this exciting project.

Thank you for coming along for the ride.