100 Fan Celebration.

Ok due to the crazy Facebook giveaway rules, we will hold our celebration here on the blog! The pictures of items that are up for grabs are in the 100 Fan Celebration folder on my Facebook page as well as in the contests and freebies tab on here. We met our goal and now you can feel free to comment! To enter you will need to:

-Like the sponsors page
-Thank the sponsor for sponsoring our celebration
-Leave one comment under this post for EACH item you are entering to win, please include your email.
-Please make sure to name the item you want and let me know you liked the sponsors page.

I will count comments for each item and the winners will be chosen via Random.org. I will post the winners in a blog post as well. I will hopefully be adding some sponsors to the giveaway as we go so I'm looking forward to that. =0)

Sleep Deprivation

My husband and I have always co-slept with our kids til they are about one. But lately I have been having this horrible nightmares that one of us has suffocated the baby so I wake up, what feels like, a hundred times a night! I'm constantly checking to make sure she's breathing, that we're smashing her little arms or legs. I think it may be time to move her to her room but man I'm scared. What if she falls out of the crib? Gets one of her legs stuck  in the slats? Oh the lists of worries goes on. Ok well I'm done with my morning ramble, doesn't quite make for good reading, but if you have any advice, please feel free to leave it.

Wanted: Liberation from my Mommy Body

                   I told myself when I decided to sit down and write this that I would be honest........not only with myself but my readers as well. I've always struggled with my body image and self-esteem. Seeing my body as something beautiful has always been a difficult thing for me. I've always been short, had big legs that were mismatched from my body and I've always been kind of awkward. After having children that struggle has become more of a battle, a war within myself. I have yet to lose a lot of my pregnancy weight, in fact I've put some weight on. Mostly in part because I've created such an elaborate love affair with food and also because in some ways I've given up. I look in the mirror and see a disfigured belly from the three different times it's stretched and un-stretched, breasts that sag due to breastfeeding and that space between my thighs that used to be somewhat cute and never touched, now it does. Oh, and how did I forget the stretchmarks that seem to cover all the parts of my body that are supposed to be beautiful.

                    Sitting here, writing this is difficult but I need to do this for me..........and for her. My sons have a strong, confident role model in their lives, I want to be that for her. I don't want her to grow up and look up to the 95 pound pop star, I want her to look up to me. I wand to be the strong, influential woman in her life. Even if I never fully regain my pre-children figure, I want to love my body, for once feel beautiful in it. It has sheltered, birthed and nurtured three wonderful kids and the stretchmarks and weight are testimony to the lives it has created. I want my daughter to know that no matter what her body looks like, that she is beautiful and that she will be strong and I want her to learn that from me.

Bee Changed Micro Suede Diaper Review

            Like most baby product companies,   The Little Bee Co. was started by a mom determined to provide a quality product for her child. I recently received the opportunity to try the Bee Changed Micro Suede Cloth Diaper. I received this diaper in Japanese Cherry Blossom, which is an absolutely beautiful shade of pink.

         
            The diaper comes with two microfiber inserts that snap together, a feature I found convenient for stuffing purposes. The inner lining of the diaper is very soft so I'm sure my LO found it to be quite comfy on her bottom. The prepping process was by far the easiest I've encountered. You simply wash once in hot water with a little bit of cloth diaper detergent then tumble dry. I first used the diaper overnight because my daughter is a heavy wetter and normally leaks through her usual "night time" diapers. I was very impressed in the morning when I woke up and there were no leaks, not even the slightest bit of dampness around her legs. It was incredibly easy to find a good fit around her waist with this diaper, but it did leave deep, red creases around her thighs. Now I can't say for sure this is because of the elastic on the diaper or because she has extremely chunky thighs. I have since used it multiple times during the day to see how crawl-worthy it is and how it withstands, ahem, blowouts.......again a success! Another thing about this diaper that I thoroughly enjoy is the "Wrap and Go" feature. You can snap the tabs together to allow for mess elimination or if you have a baby with a tiny waist you can use it to snap over.

"Wrap and Go"

            Overall, I believe this diaper is every bit worth the try. The price of these diapers are quite a bit cheaper than FuzziBunz OS and the same price as BumGenius 4.0 OS, but every bit as quality made. To say the least, I am extremely impressed with this diaper and would love to add more to my fluff stash. I would like to add that a quality I like about The Little Bee Co., is it is a philanthropic entity as well. For every diaper purchased from them, they will donate a diaper to an orphan in need. Great company, great diaper, great mission. This is a diaper I would highly recommend. =0)


*Note: After following some advice from the creator, I re-aligned the lower snaps on the diaper to better accommodate my daughters thighs and no red marks! Thank you Jona!

Preschool Panic!

So I'm sitting at the playground with my kids, talking to another mom when it suddenly hits me.........My son is starting preschool! I'm not really sure what scares me most, how he'll behave or what I'll do with the extra time. I'll admit neither me nor my oldest son were prepared for preschool and I was a helicopter mom, I don't want to do that to my soon-to-be four year old. After the initial panic set I realized I have done nothing to prepare him for this momentous occassion. So I searced the net and got in tune with my previous teacher self and compiled a list of ways to prepare your child for that first day.

-Get Your Child Involved: Interaction with other children his/her age is the best way to get them ready. Play dates, playgrounds, children's museums. Anywhere that they have to interact, share and play fair is a great place to prepare your child.

-Talk About What To Expect: Make sure to let your child know what to expect from school. Don't tell them that it's all going to be okay because they are bound to run into some trouble those first few days (especially if they're not used to being without you). Find and read books about starting preschool together.

-Build A Strong Good-Bye Routine: Make sure to let your child that you WILL be back to pick him/her up. As a former teacher, some good advice that will make it easier for both your child and the teacher, Don't linger. Say good-bye then leave, saying good-bye then hanging around only makes it harder for your child when you do go.

-Read Everyday: Building those listening skills is key. Reading helps your child sit and stay focused, this will come in handy  for lots of activities done in preschool class rooms.

-Get Creative: Get your child in tune with his/her inner artist. Paint (with brushes, sponges, fingers and toes). Play different kinds of music for your kids to paint to, getting creative can help your little one relax and express themselves.

I know it's a little early to worry so much about this but preparing early is never a problem. I'll add on to this list and repost the closer we get to school starting. Do you have any suggestions or ways that you prepared your children? Please share with us. Thank you for reading and I hope this helps.


    

Rockin the Green

I finally ordered some Rockin' Green laundry and cloth diaper detergent. I ordered the Hard Rock 2.0 in Rage Against the Raspberry (smells delicious) It arrived just in time as I had a couple of diapers that I was convinced were ruined. We had gone on a road trip and I was not able to rinse the poo off of the diaper in a timely manner. There was a hard build up on the diaper that would NOT come off. I took the Rockin' Green and made a paste that I scrubbed into the liner of the diaper. Then I let it soak for 20 minutes, after a cold, a hot and a second cold rinse the stain and build up was GONE! The only sad part is that due to the second rinse (in my opinion) I could no longer smell the scent, no biggie though.  I must admit I went a little crazy afterwards, trying it on the stains on my carpet, dining room table chairs and the interior of my car. Everything looks good, it may not have removed all the stains, but man it really faded them. I'm so impressed with this stuff, I think I'm now a loyal customer. I placed a second order already with Rockin' Green directly this time and can't wait to smell it. =0)

And the winner is............

Comment #17, Sara Perkins!!!!!! Congratulations Sara, please email me at themcfamily5@yahoo.com with your shipping information. I sincerely hope those of you who didn't win choose to continue to be a fan on Facebook and follow the blog. I'm hoping to have many other contests and giveaways in the future. Once again congratulations Sara!!!

In the spirit of summer!

Summer is here and most of us are gearing up for our family vacation. Got the kids packed? check. Your sanity? Hmmmmm not so sure. Here are some tips that can hopefully keep your kids at bay during those long car rides.
 -Stop at the dollar store and pick up some little knick knack toys. Whether it's a slinky,coloring       book or puzzle it's bound to buy you a little peace of mind.
 -Have games lined up that kids usually enjoy like I Spy. A great one my MIL taught me is Robot. You tell the child to move like a robot in various ways then say you are going to turn the robot off. My oldest son was quiet for 30 minutes pretending to be a turned off robot.          
 -Lastly, my husband invested in a portable DVD player which is only used in the car during the trip, once we reach our destination it's turned off and we enjoy our vacation as a family.

Beauty from the Earth helps spread the word.

As a person who has struggled with depression on and off this story touched home for me. A makeup company is helping to raise awareness about the seriousness of suicide. It's a topic often times avoided amongst parents and teens, but one that should be discussed more often. You can now purchase two new colors from Beauty from the Earth ( http://www.bftecosmetics.com/ or their blog at http://beautyfromtheearth.blogspot.com/ )
 to help spread the word and, of course, you can also visit http://www.zachsfriends.org/ to see how else you can help. I feel so very sorry for this families loss and pray that we can get the word out and help young teens realize that they aren't alone. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope that you will decide to contribute.

GroVia Review

Well both my lil' ones are down for their naps so I finally have a chance to post this review. I'd like to first state that I have not been compensated in anyway to do this review, the giveaway in this review is being provided by myself and is not associated with GroVia or Facebook in any way.

I would like to start by giving you a little history on the start of the company that manufactures the GroVia AIO diaper, The Natural Baby Company. Like most cloth diaper companies it was started by a mom of course. Her name is Kim Ormsby and she started it all in her laundry room in 2008. I'm so very happy that she started this company, because after using the GroVia AIO diapers for one whole day and one at night, I'm in love. I truly wish that I had known someone who used them before I chose to CD this way I could have spent most of my money on them. Ok enought with the history lesson though and on to the review.

For me the prepping process was long compared to my other cloth diapers, but very much worth the wait. Before the first use it is recommended that you wash and dry them a total of five to six times to increase absorbency.The covers come in some very adorable colors and prints. For my daughter, I ordered the AIO in Cosmos, Owls and Mod Flowers. The AIO's are designed to fit babies 10-35 pounds. As some of you probably already know and as you can see in the picture the liner has a snap on it that you snap the doubler onto. The liner is actually sewn onto the cover so there is no stuffing or snapping on that part.  I like that the closure snaps on these diapers are different from the other diapers I own. 

The fabric on the cover is very soft and doesn't feel hard or like plastic and the liner and doubler are both very soft as well.  The cover is also very stretchy which I'm sure my daughter who is a bit on the chunky side can appreciate. I really like that the washing instructions are so simple compared to other brands, no multiple wash cycles or extra rinses required (a handy feature for a busy mom of three). So now I guess I should tell you about personal experience, this diaper definately stood up to my daughters test. She is a new crawler and we had no leaks whatsoever. We also braved it and traded it for our usual overnight diaper, again, no leaks!  After using this diaper I can honestly say that I'm in love with them and look to purchase more in the future. And now for the moment, I've truly been looking forward to......the giveaway details!!!!!!!!

To enter you must:

-First and foremost, you must "like" the Facebook page.

-Then, subscribe to the blog

-Lastly, comment on this blog entry as this is where I will count the entries and pick the winner.

Once the page reaches 50 fans, I will pick the winner via Random.org by comment number (I hope that makes sense). I hope that if not chosen people will not unlike the Facebook page ot unsubscribe to the blog as I plan on having more giveaways and contests in the future. Thank you and spread the word so we can pick a winner.

"Blog Warming" Party

Hello all! I am in the midst of planning my Blog Warming Party. I already have a few sponsors for giveaways so stay tuned and don't forget to subscribe to the blog as well! Talk to y'all soon.