Thursday, December 4, 2014

The jury is in...

...and Squirel is growing like he should be now!

His 6 month appointment went as awesome as I was expecting with him weighing in at 15 pounds 13 ounces and measuring in at 25.5 inches in length. 

He is about the 18th percentile for weight and 10th percentile for length so he is on the smaller side of the charts, but he is on the charts and has been slowly coming back up. 

There are no words to describe the amount of joy that I have over the news, the knowledge that out fight with his weight gain is over. 

He is healthy!

He is finally healthy.

It didn't seem like I was ever going to be able to say that.

Here are a few pictures of my happy boy at his appointment today


Meet Joey!

Meet the newest member of your family, Joey!

He is a 3 month old aussie/queensland mix that joined our family on Novmber 23rd. 

He is a super sweet, smart little puppy who has decided his best friends are the boys. He loves to be at Moose's side where ever he happens to be.

And if Squirrel is close by, you can bet he is getting some baby lovin' too.

The cats aren't too sure of him still. Simon growls when every he sees him and Sergeant stays in the master bed to avoid being around him.
It has definitely been a bit of a life style change, but he is worth it.

6 month check in!

Squirrel goes in for his 6 month well baby check this afternoon and for once in his short life, I am not dreading seeing what he weighs. 
He has been doing so well and eating like a champ that I am looking forward to it with hope and excitement. I know that he should be somewhere between 15 and 16lbs at this point which puts him anywhere between the 8.5 and 21 percentile on the weight charts. 8.5 isn't what I was hoping he would be at when we started the formula in September, but is a relief for me now since it means he is on the charts and just a short jump away from the 10th percentile. 
He is such a happy peanut most of the time, he loves to stand, jump, "fly", be talked to , played with. He loves our new puppy Joey
(I know, I forgot to introduce him), the cats, and Moose. 
He has the biggest pale blue eyes, little chubby legs and has started saying "mama". 

I can't wait to update later with how his appointment goes. No matter what, he has come so far, I can't help but smile and think about how bright the future is.




Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Influencing the world with Influenster

Have you ever thought to yourself, "I love to try new products and share my opinion on them, but I wish I could get the word out to more people"?
Would being a part of a community of people who enjoy being the first to try new products for companies and give honest feedback to them and the world interest you?
If writing honest reviews, asking and answering questions on a website about products you use, restaurants you visit, and food you try, sharing pictures, videos, blog reviews about those things then Influenster.com may be the place for you.

You may be wondering what #Influenster is right now.
The about us section describes it as "a community of trendsetters, social media hotshots, and educated consumers who live to give opinions of products and experiences."
As part of Influester, you decide to unlock "badges" based on your interests and current life stages. As part of the badges, you write reviews for products.
 The most active are invited to receive special voxboxes which contain awesome products pertaining to your interests for you to try, review and interact with social media to inform the masses about what you tried.

What kinds of things would you be asked to do as recipient of a vox box?
Sometime you are asked to write blog reviews, make a pinterest board, share on facebook, write on companies facebook walls, share on twitter, make a vine video, youtube video, post to instagram, or write a review on a conpanies website.
By doing the tasks for the vox box you unlock special brand badges and the top people who unlock a brand badge are then thanked for their hard work with more gifts from the company or companies.
If you thought it couldn't get better, you're wrong.

Ifluenster has recently launched the #Influensterapp that you can download to your phone to help those who are part of the community to be more active. 
With the app you can take pictures of the barcodes of items you use to make it easier to add items or find items in the database for you to write reviews.


Instead of trying to manuver a full webpage from a phone or always having to log in on the computer (which is not easy with young kids, byw) you can now have the whole community of Influenster right at your fingertips!
If you are itching to be apart of this awesome community of influencial people, it's easy to join.
Simply go to https://www.influenster.com and click to join. Enter your email, follow the directions and you're in!

On your phone? Download the app, click to sign up, enter your email and follow the directions.
I can't wait to see you there!

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

The struggle is ending

I mentioned before that we were struggling with Squirrel not gaining weight properly and it seems that after two months and adding in formula , he is on track! At his  weigh in, my tiny boy was up to the 6.5  percentile. He is eating like a maniac and looks so healthy. I'm really happy that we went the route we did and started him on formula. Seeing the difference in my precious boy in such a short amount of time is remarkable.
He is getting so strong, is such a smarty and a pretty happy kid most of the time. Except for this "leap 5" thing that he is in fir the next two weeks. Don't worry, I'll explain the Wonder Weeks (where the leaps come from) in a later  post. I'm still learning about it myself.
As of now, almost 6 months old, he sits and plays on his own, rolls over (when he wants), tries to stand, stands with assistance, loves to jump, and is quite the chatter box. He loves his big brother more than anything, adores animals, and is mister social as long as mommy isn't around.
It's amazing to see how far he has come and knowing that he can conquer everything else that comes at him.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Back with a new name

After taking a step back from blogging and product reviews, thanks to a friend's suggestion I decided to come back with a new name and stop focusing on product reviews. 
I will write them occasionally, but my focus is going back to what is truly important in my life and that is my family, friends, our adventures, our highs and our lows. 
After talking to her, I thought about it and realized that just writing about products isn't what I created this blog to be for. I created it as a way to talk about life, to have a place to look back on the good things and smile, to look back on the bad things and see how far we have come, and as a place to share it with others who may go through the same things. 
Because sometimes the world is a lonely place.
So thank you to my friend for giving me the idea to take my blog back and make it what it should have been all along.
You are the best!

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Children 'n Us Stroller Organizer Review


I love taking both of my boys out to go do things and let them explore the world around them. 
One thing i dread is dragging the bulky diaper bag around with us,
Don't get me wrong, I love my diaper bag, But with a change of clothes for Moose, 2 for Squirrel, a diaper for Moose in case of accident and enough diapers to get us through a day for Squirrel, the diaper bag gets a bit heavy. Especially when we go places, like the zoo for a few hours and I don't need to take everything with us inside (but need to have it for the rest of the day).
I just figured that a heavy diaper bag everywhere would be something to live with until I found the Children 'n Us stroller organizer (www.childrennus.com). 
At first, I thought that it looked small and wondered how on earth it was going to hold what I need for 2 kids, even for a small trip. But when I decided to give it a test run I was surprised how much it really holds. 

At first, I tried it with just diapers. 
The picture shows six size 1 and seven size 2 diapers! 


Since there was still room, I added in two 3-6 month sleepers.


Amazingly, there was STILL room for more and the top was able to close perfectly.



One of the nice things about the organizer is that it can go on a stroller, bike, in the car, on a shopping cart, etc, etc, etc. The options are endless!
And if you need to make the loops smaller or bigger to fit on different things, they are adjustable!

I tried it on our Peg Perego and it it is so much lighter than strapping the huge diaper bag on. I no longer have to worry about the stroller flipping over if 35 pound Moose isn't in it. 



As if that isn't enough for you. the stroller bag has a front pocket for your cell phone, a Velcro pocket for pacifiers or other small items, and 2 insulated bottle pockets on each side for your child's drinks, parents' drinks, or both!

The stroller organizer comes with a 100% money back guarantee if you aren't happy with it and their customer service is very quick to respond should a problem arise. 
And for those who love to celebrate small business, this is definitely the company to buy your organizer from!

If you want to purchase your own stroller organizer, you can do through amazon.com by clicking here: http://www.amazon.com/Super-Stroller-Organizer-Strollers-Investment/dp/B00KJ6A1FE


I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Natural Facial Moisturizer Review


I believe that one of the best things a person can have in their beauty routine is facial moisturizer.
Honestly, the worst thing I have probably done for my face was to stop using moisturizer years ago. 
After so long, I just got used to dry, flaky skin.
Then I was able to try Adovia Natural Facial Moisturizer and I realized just what my skin was missing.

Adovia facial moisturizer is dermatologist tested and approved, has a very light scent, and is great for all skin types. I personally have acne prone combination skin and it has been amazing, even in 90 degree heat.
It is quick absorbing, not at all greasy, and contains Dead Sea Minerals for moisture balance.
After one day of using it, my skin was already softer and seemed more healthy.
After a few weeks, my skin glows, no longer fakes from dry skin, and is super smooth.
Honestly, I didn't realize that my skin could ever look as good as it did when I was younger with how much I beat it up and tend to not take care of it with 2 young kids.
(I know, shame on me).
I thought I was destined to have crappy skin the rest of my life, but not anymore.

Not only am I impressed with the moisturizer, but the customer service is amazing. Seriously, they are quick to respond to questions you may have. 
They also carry a large variety of other Dead Sea Mineral products that I can't wait to get my hands on.

If you would like to get your hands on my new favorite moisturizer, you can purchase it here from Amazon.com.


*note: I'm working from my phone currently, but will have pictures up in the next couple of days

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Mega Mesh Premium Magnetic Screen Door review


Since my family moved into our current house, we talked about wanting to put in a screen door where our sliding door is to make it easy to go in and out while cooking or hosting parties, but keeping bugs out.
The Mega Mesh Screen Door seemed like the perfect opportunity to get exactly that, only better.
I was so excited to open the packaging and set up my Mega Mesh Screen Door as soon as possible to get the most use out of it.

As soon as I was able to set Squirrel down, Moose and I opened the packaging and looked into how to get this baby all set up on the door.





The first snag I ran into was that I hadn't looked into how it was installed, so when I went to put it up at my sliding glass door I found that it couldn't stick down on one side. 
The problem with one side not being stuck down is that while the top was securely stuck down, it would gradually come unstuck and fall through out the day.


Once it started to fall, the two mesh sides no longer connected and the screen stayed open until you physically put it back together.

I loved the idea though, so decided to find a new place in the house for it.
After eliminating the 2 swinging doors that go outside, I decided to try it in the open doorway between the kitchen and living room. 
It worked perfect.


For the first few days, Moose thought it was a great toy. Running back and forth through it, testing out the magnets and hold on the walls.
Simon the cat was terrified of it and refused to go into the kitchen.
After a week, Moose still thought it was fun to run through, but thought it was fun to drive all of his trucks through now as well.
Simon realized that it wasn't scary and decided to spend his days attacking the bottom and trying to climb it.
I'm proud to say that it managed to hold up pretty well to the torture.
Only one bottom velcro strip wouldn't stay together when child and cat decided to abuse it.
It not only held up well to the abuse, but it did a great job at keeping out the bugs!

My only real complaint was that while the screen and velcro managed to stay attached to the wall through the abuse, when I went to take it down briefly part of the velcro strips on the side that hadn't been previously attached to anything came off of the wall.
Not a huge deal, just a little irritating since I'll have to reattach it and hope it will stay.

Reguardless of the one down side, I have seriously thought about getting a couple of screens to put at the bedroom doorways to keep bugs out of them too.

 I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Pure Shea Butter Review

I am one of those people who has extremely dry skin. It's honestly a curse. 
In the summer, it's bad. In the winter, it's worse.
The biggest problem I have run into is finding products that moisturize, I am comfortable having around the kids, and help keep my skin not only hydrated, but soft.
On top of those requirements, I can't really afford to pay out the nose for products that will be gone in a week due to needing to be applied every few hours.
I've always heard good things about shea butter, so when I saw a post to try and review shea butter, I jumped at the chance.


The shea butter I tried comes from the company Cleopatra's Choice and was purchased through amazon (I will link where you can buy later).
Cleopatra's Choice shea butter is 100% natural, organic shea butter made with the finest hand selected nuts from shea trees in Ghana.
The one I got is an ivory colored African shea butter. I arrived in the tub and is very solid, so no worrying about it melting and having to deal with nasty messes.
I'll admit, the fact that it has stayed solid has been really nice since Moose has tried to get into it a few times and I don't have to worry about him making a huge mess all over the floor.
I started using the shea butter on my arms a couple of days after I received it and noticed that my arms stayed softer longer than they do with any other processed lotion.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to get any good pictures that could show how dry my skin was before vs. how soft it is now. 
Maybe in the winter, I'll stop using it for a week or so and see if I can document a difference.
This last weekend, I got a pretty good sunburn and started using the shea butter on that as well. In just a couple of days I've already noticed a difference.
My skin doesn't feel hot to the touch any more and the redness is beginning to go away already.
My next experiment will be to try it out on the stretch marks my boys have graced me with. 
I plan on documenting if there is any difference for a month to give the shea butter plenty of time to help repair the skin damage.

Those are just a few of the things I plan to use my shea butter for. Other great uses for pure shea butter are: natural relief from dry skin, psoriasis, eczema, stretch marks during pregnancy, hair care and more.
It is so amazing for your skin due to it containing Vitamin A, Vitamin E and Vitamin F. It doesn't clog pores, so you can literally use it anywhere with out worry and is highly moisturizing and long lasting.

For the amazing price of just $19, you can get a one pound, resealable tub of shea butter.
Yes, you read that right. a one pound tub.
And it's completely resealable so you don't have to worry about it trying out.

You can find Cleopatra's Choice shea butter here on amazon to buy some for yourself: Cleaoparta's Choice Shea Butter on amazon

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Learning to listen and not to yell

I read a fantastic post on facebook the other day from a mom who wrote about being frustrated with how her daughter was acting and treating others in the family, but rather than yelling st her about it, she took a step back, responded to the situation calmly and respectfully. 
There was no big blow up, no yelling fight.
Instead, it was all handled in a calm manner, her daughter took a moment, and eventually changed her attitude.
It struck a chord with me since lately I felt overwhelmed every night.
During the day, Moose would choose to act out. Sometimes due to boredom, sometimes out of jealousy, sometimes because he is 2 years old and that's just what 2 year olds do at times.
I was good at remaining calm early in the day, if I wasn't over tired, but as he continued to push the limits, my patience would start to disappear. 
Before I knew it, I was yelling.
And once the yelling started, that's all that happened for the rest of the day. 
I would yell, he would yell, I would yell back, and Squirrel would start crying which would only aggravate the situation further.
I knew that I needed to change something. Going to bed frustrated every night wasn't healthy.
Waking up that way was even worse.
I looked into things I could do with Moose to help him feel more loved, to help him feel included, to make sure he knew that he still had his place in this family, that he wasn't being replaced. 
I looked into why 2 year olds were destructive, why they acted out and what I could do about it.
I talked to other parents, vented to my mom, tried to get ideas besides "stay consistent" since that little piece of advice just wasn't working.
At the moment I read that post, I decided to think about the way that I was acting, about the example that I was setting by yelling rather than talking to him calmly and giving him respect. 
I realized that I yelled a lot. Way more than any person should ever yell at their child. And I decided that I needed to change first.
I couldn't expect my small child to change his attitude and how he reacted to things when I set a constant bad example for him.
How unfair I had been.
Things needed to change, and that change would start with me.

My experiment began yesterday.
For the first time in almost 11 weeks I didn't yell at Moose once.
Not once.
He still had a couple of temper tantrums, but rather than take it personally and let it get to me, I walked away when I felt frustrated.
We got through the hiccups in our day and were still happy after.
I actually ended my day in a good mood. Not stressed, not frustrated, not on the verge of tears.
I felt good.

Today was day two of the experiment and we added in a new challenge: getting daddy in on the program.
I managed to handle myself and kept from yelling, which was a lot harder on 4 hours of sleep. I'm proud that I am keeping it up s early in the day. It does seem to be helping Moose to not hear the yelling all of the time.
I know that it will be a long process to break us out of our bad habits, but it is a process that I am willing to do to make our household healthier, make our relationships healthier, and teach my boys a better way to respond to their frustrations.

If you would like to read the post, you can find it here courtesy of Jessica of Beyond Moi: https://www.facebook.com/BeyondMoi/posts/627312344054760

Thursday, August 7, 2014

It doesn't get better than life with a Lillebaby Complete carrier

I've mentioned my love for cloth diapers before, but I don't believe that I have talked about my love for baby carriers.
I would seriously be a hoarder of baby carriers if I were rich. 
There are so many styles, brands, cute patterns, beautiful colors. 
It's like Pokemon, I want to catch them all.
Since I'm not rich, I've settled for only having 4 carriers, 3 SSC (soft structured carriers) and one ring sling.

One of them is a super cheap $20 baby carrier that I bought at Walmart long before I ever had kids.
I used it with my dolls when I was younger and those babies in health class.
When Moose came along, we found that it was easy and comfortable while he was younger, but as he got bigger it be came more uncomfortable to wear him.
So we upgraded to an ergonomic carrier by Infantino.

We were so excited to be doing something right by having an ergonomic carrier, until we went to put his little 4 month old self into it and found out that he wasn't quite big enough yet. 
Once he did fit, it was nice, Much more comfortable than my cheap little $20 carrier. As he got closer to 20lbs this carrier too began to get more uncomfortable.
Then one day I won a giveaway for a Lillebaby Complete.
The. Best. Win. Ever.

I'm not kidding when I say that either.
Lillebaby makes fantastic carriers with a million incredible features that allow you to carry your child from 7lbs to 45lbs all in the same carrier, without ever having to buy any extras.
The padded straps are super comfortable, much better than anything else I have ever tried, the lumbar support is absolutely amazing. I haven't had back pain while baby or toddler wearing since. The head support is great for little babies and the hood is perfect for a little extra breast feeding cover, to keep sun off of your child's head, or as a hood at nap time. I love that it has a built in seat belt as well to help keep even the smallest peanuts safe in the carrier.


At the newborn stage, you have the seat all the way wide, roll up a blanket, have the baby "sit" on the blanket like a seat and the seat belt them in.
It really is that simple.

Once they start getting a little bigger, you can make the seat smaller for little legs to hang out, or for forward facing (once they can hold their head up properly).

Once they get big enough to sit on the seat at it's widest, you can make it wide again to keep them in an ergonomic seating position.

Since I've had issues with other carriers hurting my back with Moose once he started getting big, I decided to try it out with him now at 35-36 pounds. It worked out pretty well.
 Don't mind that we both look a little uncomfortable, I put him in it quickly to take a picture so I didn't have the lumbar support attached or his clothes fixed from picking him up.
As you can see though, it is perfectly capable of holding a 38 1/2 inch, 36 pound 2 year old!

I have yet to try out the hip carry position, but can't wait to try it in a few months when Squirrel gets a bit bigger and can hold his head up regularly.

Lillebaby carriers come in the Complete, Airflow, or the new All Seasons carrier and in lots of great colors. Prices range from $115- $149

If you want to check out Lillebaby more, you can find them here at their website: Lillebaby




I was in no way compensated for my review, nor was I asked to write one. I brag about this product all of the time and thought it would be the perfect way to get word out better. 





Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Share The Love: Cloth Diaper Donation program

I have an immense love for cloth diapers.
It started the minute that I received our first package of them in the mail when Moose was only 8 months old. The cute patterns, the fluffy-ness, knowing that potentially harmful chemicals were no longer against my precious boy's bum and best of all, we would be saving money.
Since that first day, by stash has grown a little through giveaways and then baby showers for my little Squirrel.
Unfortunately for us, the diapers we originally bought for Moose are beginning to fall apart after 2 years of daily use so we would need more to get us through potty training with Moose and then the next 2 years with Squirrel. 
Knowing what I do now, I didn't want to buy a whole new stash of "Chinese cheapies" aka inexpensive diapers that are made and sent from China, most of these do not follow US labor regulations and are not the best quality. And we didn't have the money to buy a whole new stash.
I began the search for a way to keep Squirrel in cloth.

In my search, I came across Share the Love.
Share the Love is a cloth diaper donation program through Cotton Babies (the makers of BumGenius, Flip, and more) where families that are low income and part of the WIC program can borrow diapers for free for the length of time that their children are in diapers. 
The requirements are that you are part of the WIC program,
have at least one child in diapers,
write a short essay about what being able to participate in the program will do for you and how you will be able to help others in the community and spread the word,
live within 40 (or 45 I don't remember) miles of one of the diaper donation sites,
and fill out the form.
Within a few weeks you should hear back from one of the people in charge of the diaper donation site that you applied for letting you know if you were approved and if so, you can make arrangements to pick up some diapers.
For the boys, we were given a nice stash of natural fiber fitteds, flip covers and flip inserts to borrow.
It has helped out a ton already.

The great thing about the program is that they also accept donations of old diapers, so when you are done with your stash, they accept diapers that are in usable condition to loan out to other families.
My hope is that when we finish cloth diapering Squirrel, at least a few of my diapers will be in good enough condition that I can donate back to the program to help another family out.


If you are interested in checking out the Share the Love program, you can find them here: Share the Love website

Experiences with acid reflux and breast feeding

Since Squirrel was tiny, I told my husband that I thought that Squirrel might have acid reflux. He would do a strange gagging type thing but nothing ever came up and spit up often. After taking him in for his 2 month appointment, the doctor became concerned that he isn't gaining weight like they would like him to, diagnosed him with possible acid reflux, and put him on medication to help him gain weight.
Since getting the diagnosis, he is getting medication twice a day and I have to make sure that he is eating at least ever 3 hours for 20-30 minutes at a time.
It has been exhausting to say the least.
Today was a particularly bad day, which prompted me to start writing about our struggles through our hopefully long breast feeding adventure.

Due to his reflux, Squirrel will have days where he prefers to be kept in an upright, almost standing position all day. Those days I usually carry him everywhere in one of my 2 front pack baby carriers. He eats there, sleeps there, is cuddled and it allows him to keep most of his stomach acid where it belongs. 
Today was one of those days where he had to be held up right all of the time. 
The bad thing is that after a bit, he tends to get mad that he is in a carrier and just wants to be held. But he must be held the way he wants to be held, or face his wrath.

To help his stomach issues, I have taken dairy out of my diet and if the medication and increased nursing sessions aren't helping him gain weight, I plan on doing a bigger elimination diet to try and find out a way to nurse him until at least a year and cause him as little discomfort as I possibly can.

Our first weight check appointment is on Friday and I can say that I am a nervous wreck already. To feel like your body could be failing to do one of the few things it is designed to do is absolutely devastating.
So if you have any extra good thoughts, throw a few our way on Friday. We'll need them.

Here were Squirrel's preferred ways to eat today. Poor guy got upset if I had him in any other position.



Welcome Little Squirrel, birth story and official announcement

*Warning: this post contains a full birth story, so it does get a little graphic*
On May 30, 2014 my husband, big brother Moose and I welcomed little Squirrel into the world weighing 8 pounds 15.5oz and 19.5 inches of absolute perfection.

Pregnancy was "easy" in the sense that nothing major went wrong and since I had been through it before, I knew what to expect.
In my eyes, however, it was far from easy.
We found out that we were expecting a new little peanut in September of 2013, only 2 short months after my breast feeding journey with Moose ended. I was lucky to only have some slight nausea at night for the first 3 weeks after we saw those 2 pink lines. Unfortunately, at the 8 week mark the dreaded morning sickness set in and to be able to properly care for Moose I ended up on prescription nausea medication for the next 10 weeks.

At 18 weeks we found out that our new little bundle was going to be another boy.
We were all ecstatic!
Despite lingering nausea that lasted until about half way though the third trimester, everything checked out perfect. Squirrel was right on track to arrive on his June 5th due date.
May 24th we ended up in Labor and delivery due to contractions that were getting closer together. We were sent home about 4 hours later with no progress made. I spent a solid week before and a week after in false labor.

I woke up the morning of May 29th having intense, yet inconsistent contractions. I timed them through out the day, but thought nothing of it due to the previous two weeks of false labor. Around 11pm that night I decided to head to bed just in case he decided to show up the next day.
Sleep was hard to come by since I was woken up with each contraction. And at 2am I woke up feeling wetness and the urge to pee. Unfortunately, what I thought was my water breaking turned out to be a lot of blood, followed by a clot type thing about the size of a golf ball and even more blood. It looked like a slaughterhouse in my bathroom.
Moose woke up right as my husband went to get him, we grabbed all of our stuff, dropped him off down the road with his grandparents and sped to the hospital.
I think the funniest thing through it all was how calm and serene I was through it all. Once we were on our way to the hospital I felt completely relaxed and at ease.
We arrived at the hospital, checked in, and were taken directly to a labor and delivery room where I was told to immediately strip down and put on a gown to be checked and hooked up to monitors. I was at a nice 8cm with contractions 2 minutes apart. We decided to bypass medication for as long as I was handling labor well. Everything was pretty relaxing until the doctor came in and offered to break my water.
If you have never given birth before, or had an epidural and didn't experience contractions with a broken water, that is when things got real.
After a bit, I was to 9.5cm and the attending nurse decided that it would be a good idea to do some practice pushes while she helped get rid of the last little lip of cervix. Unfortunately, after ever push, I got such intense pain to my right hip, it felt like someone was trying to break it. After several tries to keep breathing through the pain, I gave in and asked for an intrathecal so that I could focus on getting Squirrel out and not on the pain that came after each pushing session.
Once the intrathecal took full effect, we decided to have me sit up and labor down to help make things easier. It worked a little too well and Squirrel was crowning before I was able to finish my first practice push. The doctor came in, and in 6 short pushes and a cord removed from his neck, Squirrel was born.

He was such a chubby little guy and absolutely perfect in every way.
I was surprised how different he looked from his brother and despite being almost bald, he looked more like me than Moose had.


 One of his first pictures, just after being cleaned up

Meeting big brother Moose

Chubby little love bug

1 month old

2 months old

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Shandali Travel Towel Review

Have you ever gone to the gym or the pool and wished that you had a smaller towel that not only helped you dry off fast, but did't stay wet, dripping everywhere hours after use?
 Maybe you've been caught trying to run to your car in the middle of an unexpected rainstorm only to find that you had nothing to help dry yourself off. 
 No matter the situation, if you have ever found yourself wishing you had a great travel towel that could not only help you dry off quickly, but dried out quickly rather than leaving a watery mess everywhere, then the Shandali Travel Towel is for you.


The Shandali Travel Towel is made of 100% microfiber which makes it ultra-absorbet and dries ten times faster than a normal cotton towel. 
How amazing is that?

It is incredibly light weight and comes with an attached loop for hooking onto just about anything for an active lifestyle.
 It folds up nice and small to fit into small spaces to save room in your bag for other important things, and because it is so lightweight, you won't even notice you are carrying it.


Washing is easy. 
It doesn't bleed so you can throw it in the wash with your regular laundry and then just use the convenient hook to hang dry. 

 The first time I used my travel towel, my 2 year old "Moose" was out playing in his pool. 
When he finished I realized that I had forgotten to grab his regular bath towel so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to try the travel towel.
 I was not only able to get him dryer faster than with his regular towel, but I was able to get him more dry. 
No more wet little foot prints trailing through my house and no more dripping mess through my laundry room! 
I was so pleased that it saved me from having to clean the usual water mess off of the floor. 
It fit great in my diaper bag as well, which is filled to the brim with cloth diapers and changes of clothes for two children.

 The Shandi Travel Towel comes in two sizes, and three great colors so no matter your lifestyle, it can find a place in your home. 

The Shandali Travel Towel is an exclusive to amazon.com and comes with a hassle-free, 100% satisfaction, 30 day money back guarantee. 
So if, for any reason, you are not satisfied, you can get a full refund. You can purchase a Shandali Travel Towel or 5 for your home through this link here: 



 I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Monday, July 14, 2014

TLC Vox Box (for mommies) from Influenster

This is the first vox box I received in a while and I am so excited that I get to write about this one.
It was such a surprise to receive the email from Influester saying that I was o the short list to get this vox box and was able to take the selection survey. 
I sadly haven't been as active as I once was and would like to be, so I wasn't expecting to be included anymore.
Once I received notice that I was chosen to receive the box I anticipated it's arrival every day.
When I opened the box I was thrilled.
(In my excitement to open and try out everything, I forgot to take pictures. My apologies)
The box included:
A coupon for free Breyers Gelato Indulgences
(definitely worth breaking my new dairy free diet for)

A Neosporin to go
(which is currently living in the diaper bag, ready to go at a moments notice)

A bar of Ivory soap
(Which was made into a soap cloud then turned into a blue soap block)

A Shell Fuel Rewards Program Card
(because who doesn't like to help make their gas less expensive)

A travel pack of Puffs tissue
(also living in my diaper bag for days when little noses run)

and
Avon ANEW Reversalist Complete Renewal Wrinkle Smoother
(which I gifted to my mom since I don't have wrinkles quite yet).

Breyers Gelato Indulgences:
I am a huge gelato fan, so the Breyers coupon is burning a whole in my pocket. 
I tried their strawberry cheese cake gelato in the past, but have been on a dairy free diet since having my new baby who has an issue after I ingest products containing cow's milk, so I have been holding off on redeeming it until I find a great excuse (because it's hot and I want ice cream isn't a good enough excuse, right?). 
I plan on using it when we go grocery shopping this weekend for either the chocolate or vanilla caramel one. 
I haven't decided yet, but will write update reviews after.

Neosporin To Go:
When Moose saw the Neosporin To Go, he had to try it out.
After a few attempts to spray himself with it, he gave up and handed it back to me.
I love that he had trouble trying to make it work, so I don't have to worry about him wasting it or getting it in someone's eyes.
He wasn't fazed when I sprayed it on a scratch that he had like he normally does with antibiotic creams or other sprays, so I'm glad that there is a product out there that I can use when he gets hurt. 
The only complaint that I have is that it was a little difficult for me to get it to work at first and when it did work it was more of a concentrated stream than an all over spray so I had to rub it in rather than just spray and go.

Ivory Soap:
I was excited to find new ways to use the Ivory soap.
In the past I had made some into dish soap and wanted to try making some into laundry detergent.
This bar I wanted to find something fun that I could do with Moose so we had a special craft for us.
We ended up choosing to make a soap cloud by putting the soap in the microwave and watching it grow.
After making 2 soap clouds with the one bar we crumbled it up, added a bit of warm water, some blue food coloring and turned it back into solid soap for him to play with in the tub.
(the picture isn't very pretty, my apologies)

A word of advice, if you let small children play with the soap, make sure they rinse their hands off well before wiping their face.
Poor Moose ended up with soap bubbles in his eyes.

Shell Rewards Card:
I can't wait to start using my Shell Rewards Card, but haven't started yet.
Typically we get gas from Arco since the prices are significantly cheaper.
I'm not a fan of putting mine of my husband's debit and credit in online forms where hackers can access them, so I don't think we will be using that feature.
I'm not sure what kind of rewards we can earn without using that though.

Puff's Tissues:
I love how soft puffs tissues are and that they are going to be sold in the soft packaging rather than cardboard boxes to make them more travel friendly.
I currently have our little pack in the diaper bag ready to treat little noses may it be from a cold or allergies.

Avon ANEW Reversalist Complete Renewal Wrinkle Smoother:
At 26, almost 27, I am lucky to have a sooth, wrinkle free face. To not allow the product go to waste, I gifted it to my mom who enjoys trying out skin care products that can help with the few wrinkles she is starting to get.
I plan to ask her for an opinion on how well it works, so keep an eye out for a later update.

All in all, the vox box was amazing, with lots of great products from a lot of awesome companies.
I am very thankful that I was one of the chosen few to receive it.




I received all of the products mentioned above for free to try from Influenster.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.