My Cloth Diaper Experience -- Part 2

My Cloth Diaper Experience is coming to an end, but my cloth journey is just beginning! My first cloth diaper was a Fuzzibunz Perfect Fit, and I think that it can persuade anyone to try cloth. From that point, I was intrigued and you can read more of my initial cloth diapering thoughts.

For the past 2 weeks, I've been mulling over what would go into this post, and up until that time, I was the Fair-Weather-Cloth-Diaperer because I hated dealing with poop! So I (close your eyes, those of you who are devout cloth mommies) would put a disposable on my little one at night because most of the times, she'd do her business in her early waking moments, and if she didn't take care of business then, I'd keep her in disposables until she went! Slowly I got more and more brave; she made an extra special christening in a couple of diapers, and I managed to deal with the poop. Amazing how poop seemed to roll of suede and sometimes fleece. So I decided to jump in 100% and go full throttle into cloth --- and she decided to go full throttle in return, when one morning, I had a loaded diaper full of pee and poop in my dear Fuzzibunz, and we had plans that morning! Yuck. I was extremely inefficient, trying to figure out how to get the poop off without touching it. It was massive. . . and smelled massive. . .how could I go on with this?!?

You'll find out in a couple of days! In the meantime, make sure you've entered to join in my very first event! Share about the event and cloth diapering!

• Mother-ease One Size Cloth Diaper System 2/28
• Knickernappies One Size Cloth Diaper 3/1
• Thirsties Duo Cloth Diaper 3/1
• Super Skivvies Cloth Training Pants 3/6 (Low Entries)
  
• Wahmies All Day Wet Bag 3/6 (Low Entries)

Florida's Natural Orange Juice Review and (mini) Giveaway!

We love our juice -- there's usually some sort of juice in our fridge! I must admit that we have our preferred brands, and recently, courtesy of Smile.ly, I was reintroduced to Florida's Natural Orange Juice. It is NOT from concentrate, without additions of water, sugar, or preservatives -- it does have a fresh taste, and is not as sweet as other brands. But the major difference between Florida's Natural and other brands is that Florida's Natural is owned by Florida growers and uses ONLY Florida oranges -- note: a strong juice competitor imports some juice from other areas, like Brazil. This co-op of Florida growers was first organized in 1933 and today is one of the largest Florida citrus co-ops with more than 1,000 growing-members (taken from website; you can read more here).

There's quite a bit of interesting, background information at FloridasNatural.com, including a test to find out how much you know about your OJ! Take the test and leave a comment telling me how you did, and I'll run the number of comments left through Random.org to send a few coupons out to a winner! Open until March 7 (my birthday!), 2011!

And, hurry to enter to win a free year of OJ -- ends Feb. 28!


****This is not a paid post. The opinions are solely my own and may vary from others. I received a free sample and coupons from Smile.ly!****

Vitamins - do you or don't you?

Image: Carlos Porto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Long before my married years, my gynecologist recommended taking a multivitamin and calcium tablets daily; the multivitamin would ensure that I was getting all the essential nutrients I might have missed in my diet, and the calcium would protect me as I got older, as most of calcium storage is built up in your twenties. Dutifully, I followed the regimen of taking my multivitamin and calcium before I went to bed -- I did it in my single years and into my early married years.

I still try to make sure I remember my multivitamin and calcium now, but some times I'm overcome with Mommy Brain and can barely remember what's next on the To Do List. My husband also likes to take herbal supplements, so I've added a few herbs to my supplements.

Overall, I do advocate a healthy diet and vitamin supplements just to ensure proper nutrients are in place! Here's to good health!


This post is part of The Blog Dare's prompt: Vitamins.

Surprise! What's at the door?!?

The door bell rang as we were cleaning up after dinner. I stopped loading dishes in the dishwasher, and my husband and I exchanged questions as to who that would be. He and our little one went to the door first to check it out.

"Bus."
Our toddler thinks anything bigger than a sedan is a bus, and she had christened the FedEx truck a bus. And I kept thinking, what did I buy?!? When we opened the door, we saw the rectangular box to the side of the door, and all I could see was the word "TOY" on the side, and my mind kept searching my memory to think of what toy I bought! And amazingly my toddler knew what the word TOY meant as she was quite excited to open it!

As I took my scissors to slice open the heavily packaged box, my toddler was right there, trying to pry her little fingers in to any opening I created. Again, that word TOY, and I kept thinking what in the world did I buy!

Turns out, it was a Play Doh Mega Fun Factory I had won in another blog's giveaway! (I like to join in on the giveaway fun too, and most times I'm not as lucky to win!) We all sat there for a while -- actually my husband and I sat as my daughter played with the box. But it was too late or too early to save it for Christmas, but (and I wish I had taken a picture!) my husband and daughter decided it was Christmas, and they saw on the kitchen floor and stamped their play doh! The little play doh factory would run a conveyor belt, with the help of two C batteries, but since we had none, my fingers worked the belt. Eventually, my daughter decided it was more fun just to take the play doh containers and put them back into the "factory." The simple things.
It really is true -- the simple things make life sweet.

eMommie.com Review and Giveaway!

One of my mantras is "Never pay full price!" But it was extremely difficult to live up to that one while pregnant. In order to fit my budget, I borrowed a lot of clothes from a friend, while shopping at the Goodwill and the sales at Motherhood Maternity, but often times came up empty handed. I found very few consignment stores that carried maternity clothing, at least ones worth owning. With the popularity of web stores, I'm excited to share about eMommie.com, which sells discount, new, and barely worn maternity clothing.

Emommie.com is the leading website for inexpensive maternity clothing, both new and consigned. With humble beginnings as a one-woman, mommy herself, work at home company, eMommie.com quickly grew to its 5-person team. As well as offering growing mamas great deals, it also will pay cash for lightly worn maternity clothing and accessories! One thing I that stands out to me is their excellent customer service; they truly go above and beyond to personably meet your needs.

They have a variety of styles for all sizes XS, S, M, L, and XL, and their website is SO easy to navigate to find your right fit! There's plenty to peruse though, and if you're sized Medium or Large, it will be easy for you to find something you like. They also carry a smaller selection of Nursing styles. There's also a Clearance section with even greater discounts.

I picked out a 3/4 sleeve new, Old Navy top, a clearance t-shirt, and clearance pair of exercise shorts -- when I was pregnant before, I had the hardest time finding shorts I liked -- for a total of $25.17! Shipping within the US was $7 (shipped by Priority Mail), so I'd advise loading up the cart before checkout; everything was efficient as I ordered Monday and received it Thursday! I also took advantage of the extra 25% off clearance items. It was disclosed on the website that the clearance, pink t-shirt had a spot on it, but it would have been nicer for the consumer to know where it was, ie. by the left ribs.

If you're expecting or know of someone who is, be sure to "like" Emommie.com on Facebook or follow @emommiedotcom on Twitter for special offers and discounts, and to hear when new inventory items arrive!

eMommie.com is gracious enough to offer a $25 GC for a lucky reader! This is open to U.S.
To enter, browse through eMommie.com and telling me what catches your eye! This is required and must be done before the extra entries count! PLEASE leave your name and email address with your entry.

EXTRA ENTRIES!
You can do any of these things for an extra entry. Make sure to leave a separate comment for EACH thing you do along with you email address.

1- For ONE extra entry, Follow me via Google Friend Connect.

2- For ONE extra entry, Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway.

3 - For ONE extra entry, Like Emommie.com on Facebook

4 - For ONE extra entry, Like Discovering the Me in Mommy on Facebook.

Contest ends at 10pm EST on Sunday, March 27, 2011 when I will draw a winner at random. PLEASE leave your email address in your entry. I will notify the winner, and s/he will have 36 hours to respond!

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. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.
****This is not a paid post. The opinions are solely my own and may vary from others. Thank you to eMommie.com who supplied the products for the review and giveaway!****

Friday Follow and Low Entry Linky

If you haven't already noticed, I'm hosting my first event, and wow has this been exciting! Check out the fun giveaways!

I hope you'll enjoy your visit! And check out the low entry giveaways below! =)

Previously Stephanie from The Ten Talents' shared her Low Entry Lowdown, but she's no longer doing that. So I'd like to list a few low entry giveaways (less than 100 entries) which end in the next 2 weeks. Add more with the linky!

• Super Skivvies Cloth Training Pants 3/6
• Wahmies All Day Wet Bag 3/6
• $25 Restaurant.com GC 3/2
• $25 CSN GC 3/2

Buy One, Get One Free - Chipotle!

Just watch a 90-second commercial and then you can print a coupon for a free burrito at Chipotle when you purchase another one. This coupon expires March 3, 2011.

Thanks, Cha-Ching on a Shoestring!

Borders Closing 200 Stores!

Did you see this?!?
Borders is closing over 200 locations by April 2011. I haven't been to the one close to the house yet, but I've read that, so far, reductions are about 20%-40% off.

See the full list of locations closing here.

Thanks, Capitally Frugal!

Boiron Cold & Flu Care Pack Review and Giveaway

In our household, we value the aid of homeopathic remedies and have experienced great success with many companies. One we have yet to try is Boiron.

Boiron, world leader in homeopathic medicines, is a $730 million public company with 4,000 employees and distribution in more than 80 countries. It is best known for its top-selling flu medicine, Oscillococcinum®, and its Arnicare® line of pain relievers. For nearly 80 years, Boiron has been committed to funding scientific research and educating the public and healthcare professionals on homeopathic medicines. As a pharmaceutical company, Boiron maintains the highest standards in manufacturing, complying with U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations, the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States and drug Good Manufacturing Practices.


Coldcalm is used to temporarily relieve cold symptoms like sneezing, runny nose, congestion, and sore throat. For those 3 and up, dissolve 2 tablets in your mouth every 15 minutes for 2 hours; then take 1 dose every hour until symptoms are relieved. There are also no side effects.


Boiron recommends taking Oscillococcinum at the first signs of any flu-like symptoms, to reduce the duration and severity of those symptoms. For anyone over 2 years of age, dissolve the entire contents (pellets) of one tube in your mouth, and the sweet-tasting pellets will melt away. There should be no side-effects or interactions with other drugs. You can get more information at www.oscillo.com


Chestal brand cough syrup combines homeopathic medicines with the natural goodness of honey, for everyone 2 and up. Ever since my daughter turned one, if I knew her throat was scratchy, I'd give her a little bit of organic honey to soothe her throat. The honey provides some relief from sinus irritation with the added benefit of natural sweetness! Chestal is a multi-purpose formula which relieves unproductive (dry or spasmodic) cough, which may prevent restful sleep, and productive (wet) cough.

When I first applied and was approved for Boiron's campaign, two-thirds of our household needed Oscillococcinum, Coldcalm, or Chestal, but when I received the products, we had recovered! For those of you in the 44 states reporting widespread or local flu activity, according to the CDC, consider Oscillococcinum, Coldcalm, or Chestal to soothe your symptoms!

BUY IT!
You can purchase Boiron's products on its website or on Amazon.com (You can also use the subscribe and save option to get another 15% off)!
The prices range from $12-$20 depending on the products.


WIN IT!
Boiron is giving away one Value Pack which includes one box of Oscillococcium, one box of Coldcalm, and one box of Chestal. This is open to U.S. To enter, leave a comment telling me which of the products interest you and why. This is required and must be done before the extra entries count! PLEASE leave your name and email address with your entry.

EXTRA ENTRIES!
You can do any of these things for an extra entry. Make sure to leave a separate comment for EACH thing you do along with you email address.

1- For ONE extra entry, Follow me via Google Friend Connect.

2- For ONE extra entry, Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway.

3 - For ONE extra entry, Follow Boiron on Twitter.

4 - For ONE extra entry, Like Discovering the Me in Mommy on Facebook.

Contest ends at 10pm EST on Sunday, March 20, 2011 when I will draw a winner at random. PLEASE leave your email address in your entry. I will notify the winner, and s/he will have 36 hours to respond!


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. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

Sponsored by Tomoson.com