Brio Toy Giveaway

BRIO Horse and High Chair Toy Giveaway! ($52 RV)

Love, Mrs. Mommy is hosting a fantastic giveaway for 1 lucky person to win over $50 in toys from BRIO! 

Sponsored By: BRIO

Hosted By: Love, Mrs. Mommy

Co-Hosted By:

Seasonal Family Fun

1 Lucky Winner Will Receive: A BRIO Horse and High Chair Toy! ($52 RV)

BRIO makes high-quality, timeless toys that will last for years to come! Be sure to check out my BRIO review HERE!

Open To US - Must be 18+ to enter

Giveaway Dates ~ 4/30 12:00 AM EST through 5/14 11:59 PM EST Good Luck!
 

Entry-Form

Disclosure: Love, Mrs. Mommy and all participating bloggers are not held responsible for sponsors who do not fulfill their prize obligations. Love, Mrs. Mommy received 4 BRIO toys at no cost to facilitate the above-mentioned review. This giveaway is in no way endorsed or sponsored by Facebook or any other social media site. The winner will be randomly drawn by Giveaway Tools and will be notified by email. The winner has 48 hours to reply before a new winner will be drawn. If you would like to participate in an event like this please contact LoveMrsMommy (at) gmail (dot) com. 

Stay Dry With Softies Nursing Pads! (Review)

             Hey breastfeeding mamas! Is there anything worse than leaky boobs? Well, ok, there are a lot of things that are worse, but work with me here. How many times have you woke up in the middle of the night with a wet shirt plastered to you or had an “uh oh” moment in public? Whether you pump or give it to your baby straight from the source, chances are one of these things has happened to you at least once. With that being said, I think we can all agree on the importance of investing in a good quality nursing pad!

             I recently had the chance to try out Softies nursing pads from Fairhaven Health. I've been meaning to make or purchase some more absorbent reusable nursing pads, especially for nighttime, for awhile, so I was more than happy to give them a shot! Softies consist of three layers, the inner layer being microfiber and the layer next to the skin being bamboo rayon, making them nice and thin, but surprisingly absorbent! It should go without saying that they are super soft too! Much softer than any of my other reusable nursing pads.

Help Your Baby Sleep Better With Snug & Tug! (Review)

             Hey folks! I have a parenting confession to make: I have been treating Ripley, our second daughter, way differently than Myka, our first, just for the fact that she is more than likely our last kid. Is that terrible of me? At least I realize this about myself, right? I've done so many things differently this time around and have, naturally, gotten more lax about certain “baby rules” too. One thing I've done the same, however, is swaddling.

             If you've never swaddled a baby, let me tell you that it can be a real life-saver. Well, at least a sanity saver. Swaddled babies tend to sleep longer (and more restfully since they're not able to startle themselves awake as easily) and swaddling can help with colic and fussiness. I have found that it seems to help them fall asleep faster most of the time as well. I can't remember how we came into the swaddles we received with Myka, whether we bought them or they were gifts, but I am so glad we had them and still do! It's one of the few baby products that I was afraid would be totally useless, but was pleasantly surprised that it was not. Anyways...

Best Bottom Diapers Review

*This post may contain affiliate links.*

             Hey folks! I talk about how much I love Best Bottom diapers all the time whenever I talk about cloth diapering since that's what we mainly use. For some reason, though, I have never written an actual review for them! Well that ends today because if you're looking for a quality diaper AND don't want to spend a fortune to start cloth diapering, you need to know about Best Bottom Diapers!

             We did quite a bit of research on different brands and styles of cloth diapers while I was pregnant with my first daughter. Neither John nor I liked the idea of all-in-one or pocket diapers, not to mention you have to buy even more of them, which equals more money! I don't know how we came across Best Bottom Diapers, but we both liked them (both their functionality AND price) and the rest is history. We used them from the time Myka was a little over a month old until she was potty trained and plan to do the same with Ripley.

Making a Homestead: Update in Pictures 4/18/16

             Hey folks! Boy, have we been busy outside! The Indiana monsoon season seems to be on pause for now (or hopefully gone! Not that I don't want water since we need it for plants, but uh, it's one of those “too much of a good thing” scenarios.) and the weather has been perfect! We've really been cracking down on getting things done. Lucky for you, I've been so busy and haven't had much time to get on the computer and write that this update will be mostly pictures and minimal rambling! (hopefully ;) )

             I finally got some pictures of the area next to the walkway that's finished! See that weird spot in the back next to the stones in both of the bottom pictures? Yah. That's the mole hill that turned into a geyser I was telling you about in a previous post. We finally found a new home for those plants and rocks in the background too. ;)

Jackson Galaxy Cat Crawl Tunnel & Space Station

Hosted by: Queen of Reviews, IMHO Views, Reviews & Giveaways, Dorky's Deals, Michigan Saving and More, Seasonal Family Fun & Barbara's Beat

Sponsor: Jackson Galaxy

Prize:

This Jackson Galaxy Cat Crawl is a fun little tunnel that allows your cat to find privacy, rest, engage in stalking behavior and more in the comfort of her own private shelter. This collapsible nylon tunnel is easy to store or transport, features metal supports for sturdiness, and promises to become a favorite hangout for your kitty.

This Jackson Galaxy Space Station will keep your cat active and entertained. Watch as your cat hunts the ball from multiple openings inside or outside the station, satisfying a natural urge to hunt, stalk and pounce while remaining thoroughly entertained.

Dates: 4/16-4/30

Open to: US Residents 18+

Enter to win using the widget below. Good luck!

Entry-Form

Disclosure: Mixed Bag Mama did not receive compensation for this post and is not responsible for prize fulfillment.

Fabulous Fitteds: A Cloth Diaper Event Looking for Sponsors!

            Are you a cloth diaper manufacturer, retailer, or wahm business? Do you offer or specialize in fitted cloth diapers and/or breathable covers? (no PUL) How would you like to gain more exposure for your business and reach new customers? If this sounds of interest to you, join Mixed Bag Mama's "Fabulous Fitteds: A Cloth Diaper Event"!
             This will be a fun event to highlight an often overlooked and underrated diaper. Fitted diapers and natural fiber covers can be great overnight solutions, help even more than regular cloth diapers in preventing diaper rash, and be a great alternative during the day for heavy wetters. I'm hoping to spread the word on how awesome these diapers are through product reviews and give at least one (possibly more) lucky reader the chance to try out fitteds and natural fiber covers for her/himself with a huge prize package giveaway!
            If you would like more information on being a sponsor for this event, please email me at aliciaowen6814@yahoo.com.

My New Love of Flannel & Bamboo

             Hey folks! As much as I like cloth diapering, I don't write about it much because, well, we have a pretty boring set up. We found something that worked with Myka and stuck with it. Up until recently, I've not been very adventurous in the cloth diapering department. Part of the reason being that we don't have loads of expendable income to spend on diapers and I am especially loathe to pay for something, try it out, only to find that I don't like it or it doesn't work. Sure, I could try to resell them on my local B/S/T cloth diaper group, but the few things I have for sale on there now aren't selling very quickly.

             Anyways, you may have read my recent review of one of Greenchild Creations' diapers, where I fell in love with fitted diapers. If you've not tried these kind of diapers, they are great for nighttime! As much as I like the flannel ones that I tried because they are super absorbent, I've noticed that if Ripley doesn't wake up during the night, she ends up with a red butt in the morning from having it on so long. And so began my journey into trying different fabrics out...

             I just joined the B/S/T cloth diaper group that I mentioned above a few weeks ago. I've been scouring the sales posts for fitted diapers and wool covers. (I'll get to that later.) I was excited when I came across a Sweet Pea one size bamboo fitted diaper that looked practically brand new! Even better, it was $10 less than it would cost brand new! 

             So far I've only been able to try it out a few times (we were out of town for a funeral last weekend), but it seems to be helping with the red baboon butt situation! Little Bit had it on for about 6 hours the first time with no issues. She had it on for a whopping 9/9 ½ hours another time, and even pooped in it, and it performed beautifully! Not only did she not get a diaper rash, but it kept the poo from getting on the cover as well, which always makes me happy. ;) Oh. And no leaks either!

             As for the flannel fitteds, I'm hoping and thinking a more breathable cover would help prevent diaper rash. We exclusively use PUL covers at the moment, so I'm planning on trying out at least one fleece and one wool cover in the near future. Greenchild Creations has a fleece cover I've been eyeballing for the longest time and I'd like to try one of her bamboo fitteds out. There are a couple of wool covers for sale on my B/S/T group, but I haven't decided which I want to go with yet.

             It's not cloth diaper related, but I have somehow ended up with a plethora of nursing pads. I've been trying to find/make some that will actually keep me dry overnight, mainly the nights that Little Bit decides to actually sleep all night without waking up. Someone on a Babycenter post said she used flannel to make her own. I had made a few myself before Ripley was even born, but didn't use flannel for some reason. Duh!

 Yes, they're uneven. Yes, the sewn by hand job is terrible, but hey. They work!

             So I finally got around to finishing these in the picture with four layers of flannel and PUL on the back for extra protection. I tried them out for the first time last night and, funny enough, Little Bit actually slept through the night. I usually wake up to a fairly wet shirt on the mornings this happens. I'm happy to report that I only had one tiny little wet spot and I'm pretty sure that's only because ALL of my nursing pads move around when I sleep. Yay! I'll definitely be making more now that I know they work. I'm so sick of waking up and feeling like I've entered a wet t-shirt contest some time in the middle of the night! Lol (I also have a review coming up for Softies nursing pads which I think will work just as well as my flannel ones, if not better, so stay tuned for that!)

             Moral of my rambling: I'm glad I'm finally getting adventurous and breaking out of my boring ole cotton bubble. ;) What fabrics do you like in cloth diapers? What have you found that works for you overnight, whether it's cloth diapers or nursing pads?

Era Organics Mama & Baby Giveaway

            Welcome to the Era Organics Mama & Baby Giveaway! Era Organics specializes in producing high quality skin care products for any skin type and nearly any skin condition. Their slogan is “The Best of Mother Nature Perfected Through Science”. They use USDA certified organic ingredients such as hospital grade organic aloe vera, manuka honey, MSM, coconut oil, blue green algae, shea butter and more! You can be certain that their skin care products are free of harsh chemicals, fragrance, useless fillers, mineral oils, alcohol, cheap synthetics, and dyes! They are safe for both you and baby! That is SO important these days with the constant battle against chemical-filled products. Slowly but surely, we will all figure out how to weed out the toxic products and switch to healthier, organic products.
            One lucky winner will have the opportunity to win a prize package to help switch their daily skin care routine to non-toxic products! Giveaway Dates: April 8-22, 2016 Open to US Residents, age 18 years and older. Luxurious Mama & Baby Prize Package Valued over $200 Includes:

• Facial Moisturizer with Aloe Vera, Manuka Honey & more
• Manuka Honey Walnut Face Scrub & Mask
• Natural Face & Body Cleanser
• Healing & Moisturizing Stretch Mark Oil
• Talc-Free, Natural Baby Powder
• Nipple Cream for Breastfeeding Moms

            For more detailed information and price value of all Era Organic prizes, please visit Mommy & Love and you can read the full review.

Era Organics Giveaway 
 

*This giveaway is not associated with Facebook or any other social media platform. Sponsor is responsible for prize fulfillment.

Making a Homestead: Walkway Work, Fruit Trees, & More!

             Hey folks! Things have been interesting this week. We pretty much got the first half of the walkway area finished. We still need to clean some things up (read: find a new home for the yucca plants we dug up and get rid of the godforsaken hostas). John got some flowers and herbs planted in what is finished, as well as thinned out and replanted some of the irises. However, I've not taken any pictures of it because we've been getting deluges of rain and it's been super muddy. Not very pretty yet. We have a huge mole problem too and it actually rained so much one evening that there was a geyser coming out of one of the mole hills! No joke!

             It was insanely windy last Saturday. I was sitting on the couch nursing Little Bit when I heard a noise outside. I looked out the window and saw one of the electric poles bend like 20 degrees and the power lines shaking like crazy. The pole went back up, but I kept looking out and thinking, “Has that power line always hung down that far?” because you can only see part of it from the living room. Anyways, I finally went outside when Ripley got done eating and sure enough, a giant limb had fallen on the line.

             The top left picture is of the initial limb that fell and messed up the pole. The top right is from about 4 hours later when even more limbs fell, blocking the driveaway. :/ The bottom two I was trying to get a better picture of the pole and how far over it was leaning. It's right in front of the chicken coop, if you're having a hard time finding it. It's not even the one I saw from the living room window! So yah, John is going to try and fix the pole this week because the power guys came out and said it's our problem since it has the meter box on it, I guess? The things you learn when you're an adult and have to be responsible. Ha ha I think it's a bunch of crap, personally, that they don't fix it. They at least tied another temporary cable to it so it wouldn't fall any more.

             Needless to say, we had a lot of clean up to do Sunday afternoon. Very glad we have a chainsaw! (I still need to have John show me how to use it. I've finally come around to the idea. Lol) As you can see in the picture, we replenished our wood pile in a major way! Speaking of which, we really need to find a place to move that too. It's always nice enough for a fire the day after it rains...which means, of course, all of the wood is wet. :/

             We were very excited when we found some decently priced fruit trees at Walmart, of all places. There were only two pear trees left that weren't in good shape, sadly, but we were able to get three apple and two peach trees. I can't remember exactly what varieties all of them are, but I know we have at least one pink lady and one gala. I can't wait! Yum!

I was trying to tempt them with chickweed as a treat. They weren't having it. lol

             What would a homesteading update be without a picture of cute baby chicks?! You probably can't tell from the photo, but they have grown quite a bit this week. It always amazes me at just how quickly they grow! I knew they were kind of bigger birds going into this, but I was especially surprised by how big the Black Australorps and Buff Orpingtons had gotten! (The Buffs are pretty obvious. The Australorp is the one in the back with the all black head. One of them, anyways. ;) )

             What's been going on in your neck of the woods? Have you had any nasty weather? What spring preparations are you working on?

Yummi Pouch Reusable Sandwich Bags Review

            Hey folks! Do you like finding easy and affordable ways to go green? Have you tried out reusable sandwich and snack bags yet? It's a simple change to make, inexpensive, AND it can help making going green fun for your kids!

             Revelae Kids offers Yummi Pouch reusable snack and sandwich bags in fun prints for kids. They are 100% polyester, BPA, pthalate, PVC, and lead free, and even machine washable! (both the dishwasher and your regular washing machine) Yummi Pouch sandwich bags are also water resistant and measure 7in by 7in, so there is plenty of room whether you use it to store sandwiches or snacks.

             We recently had the opportunity to try out Yummi Pouch's reusable sandwich bags in these fun “girly” prints. I've been wanting to try some reusable sandwich bags for quite awhile and just haven't gotten around to it (read “lazy”), so I was particularly excited to try these since I already know Yummi Pouch makes quality products. There were tons of things about them I liked and think you will too!

             As you can imagine, they are convenient to take on the go: playdates, road trips, picnics, trips to the store. The possibilities are endless. It seems like we are in the car quite a bit, especially when my husband is home, running to the this store and that, visiting family on the weekends, playdates during the week, so these sandwich bags are a welcome new friend in the diaper bag. Speaking of which...

             The bright, vibrant patterns make them so much easier to find in your purse, diaper bag, backpack, etc. I have our diaper bag packed for two kids, so it goes without saying that there is a LOT of stuff in there. The Yummi Pouch bags are nice and easy to spot so you're not digging through the entire bag to find a darn sandwich or snack! (We all know how patient kids are anyways, right?)

 

I would have pictures a whole sandwich, but Myka hardly ever eats a whole one. ha ha You can still tell there's plenty of room in there for one, though!

             That's another thing I like about these bags: since they are sandwich sized, they are big enough to use for a sandwich or snacks. Not that I'm trying to talk anyone out of the snack bags too, but I like things that can be used for more than one thing. You can't fit a sandwich into a snack bag, but you can fit snacks into a sandwich bag! Or you can buy both and be set for years. ;)

             I have also found that besides their obvious use, Yummi pouch reusable sandwich bags are good for storing leftover sandwiches and snacks at home. I have a 3 year old who rarely eats all of, well, anything. These are handy for storing pb and honey leftovers, apples, chips, you name it.

             With the fun prints these bags are available in, I'd like to think it helps going green more fun for children. Myka, being the bossy little thing she is anyways, enjoyed telling me which bag she wanted for her sandwich. She likes anything girly and pink and not surprisingly chose the one with butterflies. (That's my favorite too. ;) )

             Last, but not least, these are great if you have multiple children since they come in sets of 3. (Although if you have younger children you may have to break up arguing over who gets which bag.) Even if you don't have multiple kids, I don't think the prints are too “childish” to dissuade adults from using them as well.

             Visit Revelae Kids to peruse all of their fun kids items and purchase your own reusable sandwich and snack bags. You can stay up-to-date with them on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.

Era Organics Giveaway

Hosted By
Amy & Aron's Real Life Reviews

Sponsored By: Era Organics

You can find Era Organics on social media 
Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumbler, and on the blog. 

1 Awesome Winner will receive

1 Bottle of Era Organics Cleanse Body & Face Wash, 1 Jar of Era Organics Dead Sea Mud Therapy, and 1 Bottle of Era Organics Honeybuns Baby Body Wash

A special shout out to my awesome Co-Hosts

Deliciously Savvy
&
IMHO Views, Reviews, & Giveaways

Thank you to all of the bloggers promoting this giveaway. All of our giveaways are so much fun when we do it all together.

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None of the Bloggers promoting this giveaway are responsible for shipping the prizes or compensated for promotion. If you have any questions about this giveaway or the prizes please feel free to email Amy & Aron's Real Life Reviews at grovesamy81@gmail.com