Introducing my BlogHer '12 sponsor: Itzbeen!

Last week I introduced you to Simple Wishes, one of the two fantastic companies who are helping me get to BlogHer. Today I'd like to introduce you to the other, but first, for those of you who are unfamiliar, I realized that I never did that great of a job in telling you exactly what the BlogHer conference is! Sorry about that. BlogHer is the preeminent blogging conference in the US and will take place in New York City in just two weeks! BlogHer’s mission is to “create opportunities for women who blog to pursue exposure, education, community and economic empowerment.” I am excited to meet blogging friends, learn from the educational sessions, share the geekiness with others, and have some fun, of course. Now that you have a better idea of what BlogHer is, let me introduce you the other company helping me get there: Itzbeen Innovated!

The Itzbeen pocket nanny is my #1 absolute must-have baby item. If you know me in person, you've probably heard me express my love for this relatively tiny bundle of {electronic} joy. You might have seen me mention it here, as well. It was the very first item I described in the inception of my favorite things posts! Even at almost 9 months we were still using it all day every day. It makes an appearance (next to my beverage of choice for the evening) in my Day in the Life post from back in September.

Comes in blue, green, and pink!

We started using it in the hospital just hours after Carina was born. Simply push a button when you feed or change baby, and you'll always know how much time as elapsed since you performed that task. This was invaluable for us those first few weeks of {almost} sleepless nights when we would fall asleep and wake up - not knowing whether 5 minutes, an hour, or 4 hours had passed. I'm way too lazy to write everything down on paper and carry around a notebook with me, or to manage to unlock my iPhone and mess around with typing anything in. I love the simplicity of the Itzbeen pocket nanny - just press one button and you're all set. There's a backlight and even a small flashlight to help when it's hard to see in the middle of the night, too.

In addition to tracking diaper changes and feeding, we used the other two buttons for awake time (how long it had been since she woke up from her nap), and nap duration (how long had she been napping for). If she started to get uncharacteristically fussy? I'd glance at the Itzbeen - oh, she has been awake way too long, time for a nap! It meant that I never had to stare at the clock and try to count the minutes or hours. This little gadget did it all for me. Also? When I went to work or left the house it was so easy to just hand the Itzbeen over to Mike, or the Nanny. Our Nanny loved using it to keep track of everything; she said it made her job so much easier.

We retired it right around when we moved, when Carina was 11 months old and her routine became much more predictable. Needless to say, when Aurelia is born I am really excited about breaking out the Itzbeen pocket nanny once again. I think it will be even more important this time around, considering how busy {and distracted} Carina already keeps me ;)

More features!

More about the Itzbeen:
ITZBEEN™ Baby Care Timer was developed by a new mom and dad who found themselves sleep-deprived and needing help to remember baby care details, such as when their baby last ate or napped. They tried charts and journals, but thought there had to be a better way. So, they created the ITZBEEN™: a multi-purpose nursery tool that helps new parents remember the basic details of baby care. The ITZBEEN™ has four timers that count up with the touch of a button, and a host of other helpful features, all designed with the needs of a new parent in mind.

The Itzbeen is available on the website (free shipping in the USA!), Amazon, and likely at a store near you.

Thank you so much to Itzbeen for keeping these tired parents sane through the first year of Carina's life, and for (of course) sponsoring me at BlogHer '12!