It’s time to play the music! It’s time to light the lights!

As we anxiously await the first Muppet Movie in over ten years to be released on November 22, we
can get our Animal on with the inspirational, celebrational, muppetational Green Album, featuring covers of popular Muppet music by contemporary artists.  Sing along to old favourites like "The Muppet Show Theme Song", performed with a rock edge by OK Go, a quirkily wistful rendering of "Rainbow Connection" by Weezer (featuring Hayley Williams), and a stunning "Halfway Down the Stairs" by soprano Amy Lee of Evanescence.

Even Statler and Waldorf couldn’t give a negative review. —Jennifer Nachshen

Available on iTunes.

Avoiding stretch marks requires attention during your pregnancy, not after. Once baby is born, you'll barely find the time to brush your teeth let alone care for your expanded waistline. Here are three of our favourite belly beauty products:

Mama Mio Tummy Rub Stretch Mark Oil is made from sweet almond oil, wheatgerm and rosehip oil, which includes anti-oxidants and EFAs.
$37.00 from www.beautymark.ca

Weleda’s Pregnancy Body Oil is great all over the body and is the least greasy oil we’ve tried so far, so your clothes won’t get stained.
$29.99 from Whole Foods, www.wholefoodsmarket.com

Bug & Pickle is a Vancouver-based brand that offers pre and post belly solutions. Use their Belly Cream during your pregnancy, and then switch to the Belly Firm for nourishing the skin while you shrink back to your old waist size. We hope.
Both $20.00 from Saf and Benjamin, www.safandbenjamin.com

Editor’s tip: Buy a few nude cotton tank tops and wear them under your normal clothes while pregnant, to avoid getting oil stains all over your dry-clean only pieces. —Alexandra Suhner Isenberg

London has always had its own particular sense of style, one that has everyone (man, woman and child) always looking effortlessly cool.

On our last trip there, we paid particular attention to the very well-dressed men (wink, wink) and wished that guys this side of the pond would take a fashion tip or two from the British blokes. The good news is our boys can now adopt London's edgy style with GapKids’ new Brick Lane collection.  The twill pea coat ($49.95) and Straight Dog Town Denim ($39.95), both shown on the left, will certainly have the boys outdressing their fathers.

And they’ll look really cool when they run to the shop to get us a pint of milk for our tea. —Alexandra Suhner Isenberg

GapKids’ Brick Lane collection (for girls and boys) is in stores now and online at Gap Canada, www.gapcanada.ca

We take the words “non-toxic” for granted, and we assume it means safe. But does anyone ever question what non-toxic means?

Diana, an art teacher, did. She decided that there was no point having any unnecessary ingredients in children’s art supplies, so she went about making her own from natural ingredients. Clementine Art makes crayons, markers, paint, glue and modeling dough that are safe, natural and washable with water and soap (except the markers). We love that they explain the purpose of each and every ingredient on the Nitty Gritty page of their site.

How about using the markers to make fun paper glasses or the glue for some cute rock animals? And when they eat the glue, no need to panic. —Alexandra Suhner Isenberg

At ByNature.ca and local kids stores.

The ukulele is a great kids’ instrument: it is small, easy to play and it never gets too loud (reason why recorders aren’t allowed in this home!).

That’s why we loved this make your own ukulele kit (US $40) from Uncommon Goods. It comes equipped with a wood body, neck, and strings which are easily assembled, and then you can customize it with different paints, stains or decorations.

And, when you've heard Old MacDonald Has A Farm for the one thousandth time, you know how they put it together, so you can take it apart.
—Alexandra Suhner Isenberg

Available from Uncommon Goods. Make sure to check out the Canadian shipping instructions here.

Our little ones deserve to be just as hip as their mom, but we didn’t expect that they would out-style us.

Little Edie moccasins put our moccasins to shame. These baby and toddler booties are entirely handcrafted from Canadian elk leather and intricately painted and embroidered. From breezier suede styles to wintery shearling-lined, their precious little tootsies are protected in style. We have to admit, we’re a little envious. Thankfully, Little Edie designer Becky Brisco has a phenomenal line of jewellery for us grown-ups that will do the trick. —Anya Georgijevic

$90 at Block, 350 W. Cordova Street, Vancouver, 604-685-888, www.theblock.ca, The Waldorf Hotel, 1489 E. Hastings, Vancouver, 604-253-7141, www.waldorfhotel.com and online at www.beckbrisco.bigcartel.com

If Chanel can do temporary tattoos for us, then why not invite some of New York’s top graphic artists to design tattoos for our kids?

That’s the idea behind Tattly, an online shop selling “designy” temporary tattoos. We love You’re Late by Julia Rothman, Tattone by Josh Smith, and Scribble by James Victore. In fact, they are so cool, we don’t even think we are going to share them with our kids.

Besides, it is inappropriate for them to be wearing tattoos to school, but we can definitely do our business meetings with a scribble on our arm.

$5 for set of 2, shipping to Canada is $2, www.tatt.ly

We love a good DIY project.

Especially when the recipient is so gosh-darned cute, we’d do anything for her. Happy Sew Lucky  kits come with everything we need to sew our own baby gifts. Our favourite? The dinnertime book. Printed on 100% organic cotton, it requires sewing only in straight lines (bonus!) and stars all the cute and cuddly characters in the Happy Sew Lucky family.

Just B.Y.O.S. (bring your own sewing machine). —Kelsey Dundon

http://happysewlucky.com

The good news: your toddler has finally started sleeping through the night. The bad news: she’s accustomed to sleeping at home, and you’re about to head out on a family roadtrip.

Don’t fret. The inflatable Toddler Travel Bed by the Shrunks is designed to use her favourite crib sheets and blankets, so she’ll sleep just as soundly as she does at home (at least until the crack of dawn). With security rails so even the most active sleepers will stay put, it inflates with its own electric pump so your lungs don’t have to do all the work.

You just might find you’ll start taking it on all your trips. Even when the destination is grandma’s house. —KD

Shrunks Toddler Travel Bed, $84.99 at Baby’s World, http://babysworld.ca/

If it's "early to bed, early to rise" for most people, then it's "never to bed, always to rise" for new moms.

You may not have the little one sleeping through the night quite yet, but Canadian-made sleep sacks by Big Fat Hen will at least keep them comfy while they learn to doze for more than two hours at a time. Made with eco-friendly fabrics, these sleeveless sacks unzip easily for diaper changes and are soft inside and out. Made for babie 0-18 months, they come in three cute designs (yellow chicks, pink piggies and green owls) and hold up well in the wash.

And one day soon, the sun will rise before you. We promise. —MT

$79.90 at www.bigfathen.ca