Gift Ideas for Mommy

I have already made a post for gift ideas for men, so let's handle the other side of the equation in what I will affectionately call:

Mommy's Time Out

After a particularly long day at work and/or a difficult day with my minions, I can find my energy reserves depleted. For me, having a bit of quiet time is essential. I need that time to decompress, and I find that without having my "time outs", I easily become over-stressed, irritable, and even depressed. Once I started taking "me" time more seriously, my emotional and mental well-being improved tremendously. 

Here are some of the items that I use to pamper myself, decompress, and de-stress. 

I try to take mini breaks each day whenever I can fit them in. However, at least once a week, I try to actually take some scheduled time to myself. For me, the best way to spend this time is soaking in a hot bath. But not just any bath, oh no. I like to soak in a bath that smells nice to really add to the relaxation factor.

Bath Salt - for use in the actual bath and nothing else. (I don't want any zombie incidents.)
For the past several years I have really enjoyed Village Natural's Bath Salts for Aches and Pains.

The Aches and Pains Relief is made with Eucalyptus and Menthol and does have a very sharp smell, but it is a smell that I find really relaxing. This scent is also great for if you have a cold; the smell is similar to Vicks VapoRub. Village Natural bath salts dissolve fairly quickly, and I find it takes maybe up to 3-5 minutes, but then it is good to go.

Up until about a week ago, this was the only variety of Village Naturals bath salts I was aware of, but I recently discovered that there are a few other scents.
The bath salts also come in Juniper and Menthol for Stress and Tension Relief, and Lavender, Passion Flower, and Chamomile for Restless Nights. I have not tried these two scents yet, but if they are anything like the Aches and Pains Relief I am sure they are amazing.

Bath Foam

Village Naturals also makes the bath salt in a foaming bath soak. It comes in the same fragrance as the Aches and Pains Relief, but this will foam a little bit like a bubble bath populated of tiny bubbles and it won't color your bath water green like the salts will.

Mini Bluetooth Speaker

These little Bluetooth speakers by Krazilla are convenient for when I want to listen to music to help me unwind. Their small size and ability to wirelessly connect to many different devices makes them extremely portable and versatile. So, whether I want some music to help drown out the whining in the next room while I am cooking dinner (I said it will be ready when it is done!), or while I unwind in my bubble bath, this little speaker is essential to my "me" time.

Travel Pillow (Mommy time out in the car)

Most mommies have been there before. You are out running errands in the morning and you rush to get home before your little one's nap time. You pull into your driveway, glance at the clock, and breath a sign of relief. You have approximately 30 minutes before the little one's usual nap time. You turn off the engine, and instead of being greeted by silence or the shuffling sounds of impatient waiting to be released from the bonds of their car seat, you hear the almost imperceptible sounds of little snores.

During my first child, I would be foolhardy and try to gently remove them from their seat without waking them to get them in the house and bedded down. (Just so you know, that never works.) Instead, minion rouses, and is fully recharged even if their nap were only a few minutes long.

What I do now, if it is not too hot outside, is roll down a window and pull out the travel pillow I leave stored in the car for occasions like this one or for long road trips.

The Daydreamer Neck Pillow is one such pillow that I keep in the car.

This awesome travel pillow is an air pillow with a "90s Reebok Pump-style" button pump built in. This saves me from almost passing out while trying to manually inflate the thing. It comes with a little storage pouch to protect it while it is not in use from spills and getting dirty, and even if it does get dirty, the soft fuzzy covering comes off and can be washed. It is designed to cradle the base of your head making shared car nap time an enjoyable piece of "me" time.



Last, if not least, if you can just make it until your minions lay down for the night there are always adult beverages to aid relaxation, if you are not staunchly opposed.

I find that theKitchn has the perfect citrus beverages to be enjoyed any time of the year.

No matter which poison you pick (Screwdrivers, Greyhound, Rum and Orange) they always taste better with freshly squeezed juice. My essential tool for this task is the Premium Double Squeezer Bundle w/ Zester. It has different size hollows to hold on to any size citrus and the zester that it comes with is perfect for adding citrus zest for flavoring as well as garnish. Both tools are of all-metal construction and can withstand quite a beating in the dishwasher as well as being dropped.

This rounds out my collection of items for Mommy's Time Out for now. Keep an eye out, I will be opening a new page to collect these and future suggested items on the new Mommy's Time Out page.

As always, comments, feedback, and suggestions are always welcome.
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Disclaimer: Any items mentioned in my blog may have been received for free or at a discount in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Great Diaper Debate part 2

So to continue on my previous topic on the Great Diaper Debate I found this video that compares the three brands I have used in the past along with the Honest Company's diaper.

I hope this video helps you to make the best decision for covering up your little one's waste elimination end and helps you to avoid the catastrophe that I endured.

Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

Meatloaf was right with two out of three ain't bad, except when it comes to sick children.

These past few days has created a complex mixture of emotions within me. My two youngest children have been feeling under the weather with a stomach virus. My morning started out well enough. I had gotten to sleep in because the older two were out of school for Fall break.
I woke up and got Number 3 ready for day care and running errands. My plan was to run errands and then drop him off later. Number 3 was acting a little weird and that should have been my first indication, but I just chalked it up to a restless night for him. Right before we reached out second stop, he started whining in the back seat. I stop the car and look back at him just in time to watch him throw up. Well, not just trow up, but turn into a spewing fountain of curdled milk.

 (You would not believer how many pictures there are of babies projectile vomiting.)

From his car seat he projected the vomit so violently that he almost got it on the back of the seat in front of him. It took about two seconds for the shock of vomiting to register within his toddler brain. When it finally did he freaked out. Never in his 1.5 years of living could he recall his body betraying him in this manner. Then to top it all off, he was now covered in slimy milk curds. His little mind could not wrap around the events and so he sat there, too afraid to move for fear of getting the milk curds anywhere else on him and he cried. Needless to say my errand running for the day was over.

But that was only the beginning.

When I got Number 3 home, safely in the door, I started stripping him down less than two feet inside the house to contain the mess. Number 2 comes up to me before I am done stripping down Number 3 and informs me that her head hurts and that she has already thrown up this morning. Concerned with an emerging pattern I call Number 1 to interrogate him on his well-being. He reported that he felt just fine.

I cleaned up Number 3 and got him and Number 2 some Tylenol as they felt like they were running fevers and then I convinced them both that what they needed more than anything was some rest.

What then followed is what causes me to have my internal conflict. Number 2 and Number 3 slept. The got the rest their little bodies needed. Normally all three of my kids interact with each other antagonizing and fighting creating most of the noise within my whirlwind of a life. However, with Number 2 and Number 3 out of commission my house experienced a quiet peace it had not experienced since before we moved in. I watched Number 2 and Number 3 in their cute and peaceful slumber. I also got to read a book without being interrupted every other line. For the most part my day was perfect with the exception of the occasional instance of vomit in stereo as Number2 and Number 3 coordinated  stomach onslaughts. Part of me feels bad that my children were not feeling well, but the other part recognized that I do not get many breaks and rejoiced at the opportunity for quiet.

The Great Diaper Debate

One of the most important items you will purchase after the birth of a child is diapers. But there are so many different kinds and brands. How will you know which one is right for you?

For the longest time I didn't know. It pretty much took until my third child before I became convinced that I had finally got this whole diaper thing figured out.

For me this was never a question. For my lifestyle and the fact that I was always chomping at the bit to return to work after each new addition to the family it was a no-brainer that I would go with disposable. Yes, I know that decision is the worst for the environment, but I try to make up for it elsewhere. Life is about compromises, you know.

A mommy friend of mine who also had a child about the same time I had number 3, opted for the cloth reusable diapers. For me she is a trusted source of information. She was a stay-at-home mommy and when all was said and done, she stated that the diapers only added about one additional load of laundry to the pile. She also pointed out that in changing a diaper you are already up to your elbows in baby poo, so just complete the cycle and clean out the cloth nappie. That is a very noble decision on her part, and I give her props for being more of a supermom than I can commit to.

So instead, I opted for disposable diapers for all three of my children out of convenience. With child number 1, my husband insisted that the premium diaper brands (ie: Huggies and Pampers) were priced as more because they obviously were of a better quality, and only the best would do for his baby. I remained skeptical and stubborn and purchased which ever brand of diapers were on sale or whichever ones I happened to have a coupon for. (I mean really, how much do I want to spend on an item that is designed to catch poop and be thrown away?)

I have used three major brands through out the course of my three children: Huggies, Pampers, and Luvs. I mostly used Pampers when the kids were really small. All the hospitals I delivered at used that brand in their nursery and generally we just continued using them after we got home. I have never had any complaints about Pampers. They work wonderfully and very rarely leak, even on a long night after the baby has drained a lot of bottles. I love the Pampers Swaddlers brand, but that line stops right about the time the baby is a year old and begins to walk. At that time, I guess we are supposed to switch over to Pampers Cruisers. My one and only complaint is the price for the larger sized line.

The price for these larger sized diapers are substantially higher than the Swaddlers line and me trying to be frugal would eventually win out over the spouse and begin purchasing Luvs which is much more affordable.

And this is where things start to decline. With my older two children, using Luvs was an occasional inconvenience. Every once in a while they would fully empty more liquid into their diapers than I previously thought to be possibly contained within their pint-sized (appearantly gallon-sized) bodies. Leaks bad enough to have to change out their crib sheets maybe happened once every two months. So even with this little inconveniences, the product was still worth the price.

That was until child number 3.

On this fate-changing morning, I woke the older two and got them ready for school to catch the bus. It was early in the school year and light was streaming in through all the windows, promising "Today is going to be a beautiful day! Nothing can go wrong!".

It lied.

After gathering up the necessary items to wake number 3 and get him ready for daycare, I approached the door to his room. The gentle snoring from within lulled me into a false sense of security, and I cracked the door open quietly. (I love getting in the room before he wake up so I can see him sleeping peacefully.) However, as soon as the door was cracked the air from the room spilled forth and enveloped me within a putrid cloud.

Something was very wrong, if the smell assaulting my nose was to be any indication. I carefully creep over to number 3's crib and peered in. The sight laid out before me was one of parenting horror. Number 3 was still snoozing contentedly on his stomach, knees drawn up under him, BARE bottom up in the air with poop smears on both cheeks like some sort of yoga sun salutation: poopy variation.

Poop was EVERYWHERE!

(This scene has been recreated for dramatic purposes and is not an actual scene from the event)

I picked up Number 3 as gingerly as I could to contain the already catastrophic mess and ran him to the bathroom. Number 3 grumbled at his rude awakening but settled quickly and contentedly into a bubble bath. With the bathroom door open I went across the hall to assess the damage and try to piece together what happened. The only incriminating evidence as to what happened was the sad, scraggly Luvs diaper with a broken strap on the side. In the middle of the night, Number 3 woke briefly and dropped a decent deuce. He then curled up and went back to sleep. Somehow twisting around in his sleep the strap on the Luvs diaper broke spilling the stinky contents within. It took several hours to clean the mess. Since then, as the slogan for Luvs goes, (and almost gets it right) "You live and you learn, and then you DON'T get Luvs!"

The saying goes you get what you pay for and I definitely got what I paid for. 

For more information regarding the Disposable vs. Cloth debate below are some awesome sites that help break down the pros and cons.

www.thebump.com

www.babygearlab.com

And So the Winds Rise

Hello Everyone,

This is the first post in what I hope will be many.

I am a mom of three kids (age ranges from 1-9 years old) and I work full time. From my life experiences I want to share with you the things that work for me and what does not in the hopes of saving you time, money, heartache, and maybe even a temper tantrum or two.

Mission Statement:

I want to provide honest feedback of not only items I try in my household, but even the life hacks we all want to try to see if they really work but maybe hesitate on. If ever you see something that you would like for me to try, please leave a comment and a link to it (if you can) and I will see what I can do.

A Little About Me:

I am 29. I have no shame in admitting my age. I have a bachelor's degree in Media Arts and Studies and I am only a few classes away from a Master's degree in Communications with an emphasis in Marketing and New Media.

As I mentioned above, I have three kids. The oldest, Jacob, is nine. My middle child, Bianca, is six. Nick is the baby, born in 2014.

I will be drawing on my personal experiences in day-to-day products and activities and hopefully my humor will shine through.

Life can be hectic, hopefully by showing you the inside of my whirlwind of a life, I can help you through yours.