Blue Monday: Blue Bear

Snapdragon likes his blue bear suit. He also likes his sister's zebra scarf. And the animals down on the farm. Did you knwo sheep had blue legs and ears? I didn't, but his toys have schooled me. So when you're out looking at the pretty baa-baa lambs, make sure they have blue legs, otherwise they're counterfeit I tell you. F-A-K-E fake. How do I know? Snapdragon says so, and he should know. He came complete with his own barnyard.

But seriously, do your older kids treat your younger kids like dress-up toys?

Worse yet, did you treat your siblings like that, or horror of horrors, did they treat you that way? Did it mess you up like Spouse jokes it will mess Snapdragon up, or, like the rest of us, did you turn out pretty okay despite the dress-up?

For more Blue Monday, round up your cows and herd them on over to Smiling Sally.

Gypsy Jewels Nursing Clips Review

We've all had that moment. You know, the "gee I wish I had a nursing cover with me right now" moment.

As you've probably read before, I only like nursing covers when they're there for mom and baby to feel more comfortable. Maybe it's too sunny where you're nursing. Maybe baby's overstimulated. Maybe you're sitting too close to some cat-calling types or just someone creepy. Sometimes a mama wants a cover. Sadly, if you're like me, it's less and less likely that you'll have one with you when that urge strikes, whether it's because you're de-cluttering your diaper bag, your cover is in the wash, or you simply didn't think you'd need it.

Enter Gypsy Jewels nursing clips. They're a simple solution to the sudden need for a cover.

The idea is pretty straightforward. A pretty and sturdy string of beads with a clip at both ends. Attach to a recieving blanket, or any other piece of material for that matter, and instant nursing cover. I've used it with my pouch sling folded just to see if it made sense to use it that way. It's one of those too simple ideas that I was surprised never occurred to me.

Simple and brilliant.

Pros-

You can clip it to the inside of your diaperbag and never have to worry that you'll end up walking through the mall nursing out the top of your sundress with the whole world staring at you just because your nursing cover got locked in the car before your party split up. (No, I'm not joking, this happened to me this summer.)

It's surprisingly strong. Neither Mongoosine, Snapdragon, nor I have been able to break it. Though we did not go to extremes, we did some over-the-top yanking. Is it possible to break? Probably, but I suspect it'd require intention to do so.

They are really quite lovely.

Cons-

Unlike a shaped cover with a rigid boning in the top to make it stand out away from your body and facilitate eye contact, you are likely to have trouble seeing your nursling. That's the nature of a cover. That said, Gypsy Jewels makes a special carseat and stroller friendly blanket that is designed to have the proper contour to facilitate bonding while nursing.

These would make a great gift for a new mom, especially if she's a shy mom who would be nervous nursing in public without a cover.

They're hand made by Juliea, whose etsy shop, Gypsy Jewels, features not just nursing clips but also gorgeous jewelery, whimsical decoupage jewelry boxes, and even buddy blankets.

Gypsy Jewels Nursing Clips sell for $13, and that's a really reasonable price for something that can be so versatile and help encourage a mom who otherwise might not feel comfortable nursing in public, or even with the in-laws visiting.

Disclosure: I received a free clip set to review.

I Cherish Planet Earth Review & Giveaway

CLOSED
You may have missed it, but in my household, we're really trying quite hard to go a little greener. So when I was offered the opportunity to review I Cherish Planet Earth, a game which pairs the age old delights of pair-matching with ecologically relevant affirmations, complete with colorful and delightful artwork and a story book "A Love Letter to Our Planet."

It's fun, and encourages ecological thinking from an early age, and that's key to making green a way of thinking and acting as a native quality in our children, instead of having to deprogram them when they're older consumerists. Also, I Cherish Planet Earth has won the Dr. Toy 2009 Best Green Product award.

How it's green:

It promotes green thinking.

It's compact, no bigger than a children's book and with no extra bulky boxes and packaging other than the shrink-wrap, it avoids all the nasty packaging waste associated with most children's games and toys.

It's printed on recycled paper with vegetable oil based inks, and is made in the USA.

All this means it's not only green, it's UnEvil.

I Cherish Planet Earth comes complete with a 48 piece pair matching game and drawstring cotton bag, and a 32 page full color story book.

In all honesty, we haven't played with this much. I've looked at it, enjoyed the artwork and message of the book, and I like it, but I Cherish Planet Earth is right up Mongoosine's alley. She will like the positive environmentalism and affirmations as opposed to the scare-tactics of most ecologically conscious toys. I love the friendly tone of the book and game, and so will she. She's the girl who likes to throw B-Earth Day parties where we plant things. So this is her sort of thing. So much so, that this baby is going to go under a certain conifer which just might have beads and other trinkets decorating it, hint hint. It's designed for the whole family, ages 4 and up. Better still, unlike some games which involve loud rattling dice, this is a game that doesn't have to get headache-inducingly loud. That's a double win for me.

I am not sure if I like the positive tone of I Cherish Planet Earth or the artwork better. I am sure Mongoosine will prefer showing off her mad matching skillz to anything else, but such is youth. But what I think the affirmations and game extensions are probably the most meaningful, because not only do they help children to internalize a deeper sense of connectedness to the planet, but they also encourage meaningful thought and positive ecological action.

If you'd like I Cherish Planet Earth for the child, children, family, or school in your life, you can buy it at any of the following:

Amazon

Three Sisters
MyToysMart.com
Tree Hollow Toys
My Little Green Room

If you'd like to win your own I Cherish Planet Earth, I've graciously been given the opportunity to give one to one of my followers.

Mandatory Entry:

Leave a comment telling me what lesson you want your children to learn about the environment.

Additional entries:

1. Leave a comment letting me know what username you follow Challenge&Fun on twitter.

2. Leave a comment letting me know you follow my blog.

3. Leave another relevant comment here on my blog and leave a comment here to let me know where I can find it. (unlimited entries)

4. Blog or tweet about this giveaway, linking back to this post. Leave a comment with the permalink. (tweet up to once daily, blog once, don't irritate your followers)

5. Grab my button and leave a comment with the URL where I can find it.

Please leave your email address in your comments if it is not easily accessible via your blogger account.

Giveaway will close December 9, 2009

Open to US and Canada

Winner will be selected via a random number generator and will be contacted via email, as well as announced on this blog. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to notification email, else an alternate will be selected via whichever ridiculous methodology moves me. Iguana racing or some such nonsense.

Disclosure: I received a free I Cherish Planet Earth to review.

Thirty Thankful Years

When & What, a brief tour of gratitude.
1979- Mommy
1980- bottle
1981- blankie
1982- neighbour kids
1984- Barbies
1985- Aunt-sister
1986- twirly dresses
1987- Disney
1988- certainty
1989- cousin
1990- bubble bath
1991- independence
1992- fiction
1993- travel
1994- grandparents
1995- public library
1996- boyfriend
1997- scholarships
1998- adaptability
1999- Mongoosine
2000- freedom
2001- education
2002- friends
2003- Spouse
2004- health
2005- degree
2006- cats
2007- Daddy
2008- swimming
2009- Snapdragon

Dittany Black Friday Event!

I love all the pretties at Dittany Baby. That, and the owner is pretty sweet too. Seriously, go drool a little with me. The "festive" mei tai with the owls? Amazing. Then I read about their great black Friday deals. My good friend Jess over at My Silly Monkeys posted the following. I wanted you to know about it too, and it is therefore republished here *with* her permission.

Skidpants $4.00 (60%off)Pouch Slings - $25.00 Mei Tai's - $45.00Luxury Tights - $9.00 ($7-$11 off)Baby Lua's - $35.00Collegiate Skidpants - $5.00Nursing Covers $18.00 ($10 off)Sale price applies to instock merchandise only and is notapplicable to previously purchased items or combined with any otheroffer including any/all coupon codes

TELL A FRIEND REWARDS!!Have a friend put your email address (Fentonslee at gmail, hint hint) in the comments box during their checkout on any Black Friday sale purchase and you will receive a $5.00 gift certificate emailed to you for use on your next Dittany Baby purchase! Earn even more Black Friday "Tell a friend Rewards" by posting about our Black Friday Sale on your blog or moms group & send us the link! You can do so by commenting on FaceBook, DMing @DittanyBaby on twitter, or emailing jess@dittanybaby.com

Thirty Awesome Things.

In honor of being pushed, over-eagerly, into the world some three decades before this moment, I'd like to tell you some thirty awesome things I've done, in no particular order.

1. Created Human Life. Twice.

2. Edited and published an anthology.

3. Sang in an Opera. Twice.

4. Ate dinner with Benazir Bhutto.

5. Wrote a novel in November. Twice.

6. Wrote a screenplay in June. Twice.

7. Learned to quilt.

8. Wrote a novel in a weekend.

9. Fell in love.

10. Got married.

11. Breastfed my son.

12. Learned how to play the piano.

13. Learned to ask for help when I need it.

14. Earned my AA in music.

15. Earned my BA in history, my worst subject.

16. Joined a fraternal organization.

17. Learned to TYPE.

18. Composed music that wasn't awful.

19. Volunteered.

20. Swam in the Ocean.

21. Reclaimed my sense of self.

22. Conquered my fear of roller coasters.

23. Experienced a tornado from the inside.

24. Became a human lightning rod.

25.Learned to ride a bike at the age of:

26. Saw a water spout stop at a stop light, wait for it to turn green, and continue on it's way.

27. Learned to sew.

28. Had my artwork displayed in a museum.

29. Survived a mild stroke.

30. Discovered the power of *friends*

Leg Huggers Giveaway Winner

And the winner is: #31! Atilla & Tamara of Szögedi Home. You can also follow Tamara on twitter!

You can head over to her blog for some lovely cloth diapering "hippie" good reading, as well as some delightful pictures of some seriously cute babyhood. Just don't tell her son, Levi, that I called him a baby. He's a whole great big year old these days. :-)

Tamara will have 48 hours to respond to the email letting her know she won, else I'll have to go get all creative and have people you tube some competitive slam haiku or something to determine an alternate winner. Don't make me get creative. :-)

Wordless Wednesday: One Half of One Year

Wordless Wednesday

Mommy Panic

Sunday, the 15th of November marked an interesting milestone.

The daycare milestone.

Well, that's not accurate. The childcare at the gym milestone.

The leaving-my-baby-in-the-care-of-a-stranger-for-an-hour milestone.

Yeah.

My gym's childcare center will watch children between the ages of six months and ten years, for up to two hours daily so mom or dad can work out. In my case that's swimming, and now that Snapdragon is six months and ten days old, I decided it was more than necessary for me to be able to get back in shape without counting on daddy's babysitting convenience schedule, and that means the gym's childcare.

To make things even better, my mother in law decided to gift me his "membership" so that I can take him.

Well, I'm sure you can imagine my panic. I'm raising an exclusively breastfed baby who spends more time in a sling than in anything else, well, other than my arms. We co-sleep, I wear him in the shower, we are nearly never apart.

Deep breaths, right?

What if he gets hungry? My teats are in the pool! What if he needs his diaper changed? (like two hours in a fresh diaper is a make or break scenario?) I was worrying about things like his propensity to spit up and the fact that he doesn't sit up well. And that we don't let him sit/lay and cry. What if they did?

Turns out that my sweet Snapdragon isn't suffering from sufficient separation or stranger anxiety for me to have had cause to worry.

Maybe it was a good mood, maybe it was a sign of being well-adjusted, but Snapdragon was fine. There were no tears. He was cheerful.

Maybe there's something to this whole attachment parenting thing after all.

Or maybe the girl who works in the childcare center is simply really good with babies.

Blue Monday: Halloween Blue

This year for Halloween Mongoosine decided that in order to be a proper gothling, she needed blue hair. Who am I to argue?

Besides, it went well with her blue eyes, and her brother's blue pajamas!

For more Blue Monday, sail on over to Smiling Sally.

Failbook Promotions: or, How a Social Media Giant Learned to Stop Meeting The Needs of It's Users and Love the Bomb

So I've been fixing my various giveaways ever since I found out about the new Failbook promotions policies. I don't want to accidentally refer to them by name, since they're all hot about useage of their name, like coupling the word "face" and "book" in a blog giveaway and saying that the sponsor would like to extend you an extra entry just for joining their fan page is somehow going to make Failbook liable for anything. Seriously. It's not like us bloggers are witch doctors who somehow got a hold of their true name and are going to curse it's tech types with impotence. Nope, they're doing that to themselves with their new promotions guidelines.

Seriously? No big. They don't want to exist in the world of promotions and giveaways? Fine. I don't steer traffic to their site, there's less traffic, they make less from advertisers. Who needs em?

But isn't it all a touch ridiculous?

I think the main points of the new promotions guidelines are pretty simple.

The first rule of Failbook is don't talk about Failbook.

The second rule of Failbook is don't talk about Failbook.

No, really though, don't run your promotions and giveaways on failbook.

Don't allow any entries to any giveaways for doing anything on failbook. Not fanning, not commenting, not posting, nothing.

Don't mention Failbook in your promotions or giveaways- in other words, see rules one and two.

I think I'm just going to roll my eyes and remember that I use Failbook to connect with my parents and great aunts and uncles, and not get too uptight about it. How 'bout you? Is this going to be a big impact on the way you do things?

Posh Pads Winner

Congratulations Jaime!

Please respond to the e-mail I sent you, because I really would prefer to run a reasonably cruelty-free blog here, and wombats might get hurt if people have to juggle them for an alternate winner selection process!

I do hope you enjoy your Posh Pads!

Thanks for playing, and may your shirt stay dry.

Wanna get to know Jaime better? You can follow her on twitter, I, for one, do.

UnEvil Guide to Holiday Gifting

Education, eco-friendly, made in the USA, WAHM made, forward thinking, or just downright UnEvil. I hope these gift ideas inspire you to feel good about your holiday gifting. Please check back often, as I like to add things as inspiration strikes. Thank you, and happy holidays!

Kids of All Ages:

Hugg-a-Planet!

They're extra-tasty-crispy not-evil educational and environmentally conscious. And lets be honest, a huggable gobe for your kids? How cool is that?

Labyrinth Balance Board

Made in the USA, encourages movement, and not all plastic-i-fied.

I Cherish Planet Earth

Made in the USA, encourages eco-activism, made of recycled content and vegetable inks.

Reusable Sandwich and Snack Bags!

There are so many makers, though I've liked looking at these for a while now. They personalize your kids' lunches, while reducing the waste impact of their daily life, and they offer a great conversation piece for your budding environmental activist.

Handmade dolls

I am a huge fan of WAHM-made goods, and found these diverse dollmakers on etsy, like ProjectGrabBag and HollyHobbyShop

Handmade Stuffed Animals

Did I mention, WAHM-made means supporting moms and families? I love these and these from etsy. This shop even has a robot plush doll.

Ethical Chocolate

Candy for kids, that no kids were involved in the making of. Sweet.

You can go to ChocolateWork.com for sources of Slave-Free chocolate. You'll feel better about it.

Baby:

Felt Food!

WHAM made. Because babies love food, we just don't want them all eating it.

Baby Blocks

There are some awesome Baby Block sets on etsy. Like the Rockin' Blocks Skull n Bones alphabet blocks by beebles.

Grown Ups:

Make a donation to a charity which is meaningful to them. I personally am a huge fan of Heifer International.

Magazine subscriptions. Preferably UnEvil ones. You know, the type that focus on ways to live in better harmony with the planet or something educational.

Reusable Bags

I personally am in love with HautTotes for their stylin' individuality and flair, but for something simpler, there's Cathy's Totes.

Conversational Games

They're great because they bring people together, and that's UnEvil.

Here are some party games that are made in the USA.

Nursing Dyads:

Baby Wearing apparatus.

It's nice to be able to nurse on the go, and Mei Tais and Wraps make that really easy, while promoting bonding, and bonding is UnEvil. Dittany Baby makes Mei Tais and Pouch Slings which are made in the USA, and that's even more UnEvil.

Nursing covers.

Sometimes a little cover can be a good thing. There're types that drape over the pair. Types that go between the pair, and even clips to convert a blanket on the fly.

Disclosure: I have not been compensated to specifically include any product in this list as of the original posting. Should I receive any products to include in this list, I will denote said products by marking them ^ and will disclose appropriately following this statement.

Labyrinth Balance Board CLOSED

Mongoosine is one of those hyperactive kids. You know the type. The can't hold still through dinner, has to be running, jumping, thumping, clapping, snapping, bopping, dancing, drumming, twirling, hopping, jumping up and down and making mama dizzy types.

Well, I am loving the Labyrinth Balance Board because it has her, at least ocassionally, focusing all this exuberance in a manner that doesn't make me feel like I'm going to have a (boom-boom-clap) nervous (boom) breakdown (de-clapty-clap).

Here Mongoosine is tackling the Labyrinth Balance Board with two of the three large wooden marbles. She's trying to make them both go in, which is harder than making them go out.

I think it's great that as she gets better there are different challenges she can try. She can use one marble and make it work it's way out of the labyrinth, or if she's feeling talented, she can work it toward the inside. Then she adds more marbles. She hasn't quite figured out how to move one inward while moving the other outward, but is having a good laugh (and secretly working her core muscles trying not to fall over) trying to figure that out.

As she gets better, I'm thinking of getting out a timer from one of our underplayed board games to see if she can beat the sand. I appreciate that there are many routes to upping the difficulty of this toy.

I haven't quite had the guts to get my less than skinny self up on the board, but her cousin seemed to think it was grand fun the last time she visited.

What I love about the Labyrinth Balance Board

It makes me work on my spelling (labyrinth labyrinth labyrinth).

It's made in the USA! (Score one for the home team!)

Problem solving skills and motor skills, all in one game.

It's durable. Mongoosine has mad skillz when it comes to breaking things. All she's managed to do is scratch the bottom of the balance peg using it on the rough sidewalk. Unlike her bunk bed rail, she hasn't broken it.

It's wooden. I don't know why, but wooden toys make me much happier than plastic ones.

The not so awesome:

It's hard for me to keep track of the 3 wooden balls which come with it.

Overall, I like it. I think the Labyrinth Balance Board is a good option for the kids. It's recommended for ages 5 and up, and since my 10 year old has been caught enjoying it, then I take the "and up" seriously, which is nice, since so often the "and up" really means "anyone older wouldn't be amused," but this time, "and up" means "your ten year old will play with this too, and possibly your teen." Today she says that she thinks that it's probably better suited for kids a little younger than her, but I'll be shocked if she doesn't drag it out again later this evening. Ah tweens.

Want one?

Buy it. You can order your very own Labyrinth Balance Board from Challenge & Fun or Museum Tour.

Win it. That's right. You can win one, just in time for Yulemas! Christanzaa? Kwanakuah? You get the idea.

Rob from Challenge & Fun has generously offered to give one of my readers their very own Labyrinth Balance Board, just enter below.

Mandatory Entry: Head over to Challenge & Fun and tell me what other of their awesome products is your favorite. Leave a comment letting me know which it is. If you don't do this, you can't win. You need to include your email address in your comment if it isn't publicly attached to your blogger account (username [at] host [dot] com or something similar). If I can't contact you, you can't win.

Extra Entries, because we all like to get extra entries.

1. Follow my blog and leave a comment letting me know you do.

2. Follow Challenge & Fun on twitter and me, and tweet the giveaway up to once daily. Leave a comment with the permalink to your tweet. Tweet MUST include a link back to this giveaway, and mention @ChallengeandFun. (For permalink- click the date/time below your tweet and it will take you to the page with the permalink as the URL)

3. Blog about this giveaway linking back to it and Challenge & Fun. Leave a comment with the link of your specific blog post.

4. Grab my button and put it on your sidebar, then leave a comment letting me know where I can find it.

Congratulations to RockerByeBaby, #29, for winning! You have 48 hours from the time of my email to get in touch before the competitive haiku begins!

Fine Print: Contest open through 12/2/09. Winner will be selected using a random number generator. Winner will be emailed and announced on this blog. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be selected via some bizarre and creative method like competitive haiku. Don't make me get creative.

Giveaway open to US residents only. Sorry Canada, it's bulky.

Disclosure: My family received a free balance board for the purposes of this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

Why so quiet?

If you're wondering why I've been a little quiet lately, wonder no longer.
We've been gearing up for a babywearing event in December, which means lots of babywearing, and less time blogging.
Looking for a guide to an UnEvil Guide to Holiday Gifting? That's coming soon too.
Shameless self-promotion: I'm still looking for sponsors for both my babywearing event and my UnEvil Guide to Holiday Gifting. If you'd like to sponsor, email me!
I'm planning some great babywearing reviews, at least one giveaway, babywearing artwork, and a tutorial or two.
For my UnEvil Guide to Holiday Gifting, I'll be waxing enthusiastic about some eco-friendly, developmentally relevant, creative, non-toxic,WHAM made, US made, free trade and/or ethical options for gift giving.
So be sure to pop back by every so often. I'll be going UnEvil shortly before Thanksgiving, if all goes as planned!

Six Months

Six months of exclusive breastfeeding, on cue, with the recent addition of a few tastes of Mama's banana.

Six months of cloth diapers.

Six months of co-sleeping.

Six months of baby-wearing.

Six months, 20 lbs, 28" of love.

Leg Huggers Review and Giveaway

CLOSED

Wanna see something so cute you just may never recover?

At least I warned you.

Here Snapdragon is rockin' a pair of Leg Huggers by Agoo.

He seems to like them, though he wasn't willing to offer up a quote. That said, I LOVE them. Why do I love them? Perhaps a list is in order.

1. They're cute! I've long gazed at the various offerings from Leg Huggers, sad that they only came in girly colors and prints, but now that they have some more "boyish" and neuter gender offerings, I'm 100% sold on the cuteness factor. Leg Huggers sent us the Army Friends print*, and I think it's adorable, but love that it isn't baby-specific. It's the sort of print that a tween could borrow for her arms, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

2. They fit well! Leg Huggers are a bit bigger than BabyLegs, which makes them a nice option for my chunky baby. I like the extra room, especially when Mongoosine is thinking about snitching them for under her t-shirts.

3. They keep my baby's legs warm. Even when it's fluffy change time. I don't know about you, but when I'm trying to change Snapdragon's diaper in the middle of the night, my goal is to avoid rousing him any more than absolutely necessary. Cold tends to be one of those "I'M AWAKE, WHAT DO YOU WANT!" sorta influences, and I try my best to avoid it.

4. They keep his legs covered and warm when his pants get all hiked up while babywearing. I love babywearing and as it gets cooler, I am glad that Snapdragon has these to keep him happy and warm and stylin' when we're slingin' it around town.

5. They make great sleeves with the sleep sack! If your baby likes to sleep in a sleeveless sleepsack, you may have noticed that his arms get cold if he isn't wearing a long sleeve shirt under it, but if he is, well, then sometimes he might get to hot. Well, with Leg Huggers acting as arm huggers, I again have a happy baby.

6. They can help keep my arms warm at night. I admit it, some nights my arms get cold. Because we are a co-sleeping family, I don't want heavy blankets in the bed, and I don't want the lightweight and loosely knit, breatheable blankets to be pulled up too high. Well, this means that sometimes my arms get cold, because not all my bedtime wear is complete with long sleeves. Enter Leg Huggers- and my arms can be warm while my sweet nursling snuggles beside me.

7. They're dang cute with his cloth diapers. 'Nuf said.

8. They're bamboo. First of all, I love the word. Say it with me, "bamboo." Say it three times fast. "Bamboo, bamboo, bamboo." Add some rhythm and repeat. It's a fun word. But seriously, according to Leg Huggers' website, Leg Huggers are made from sustainably harvested bamboo, and that's the kind of green I like. Leg Huggers' website also points out "It is also hypoallergenic, and its organic, natural fiber properties make it non-irritating to even the most sensitive skin. Bamboo apparel also protects you from UV rays, naturally." What's not to love? Bamboo doesn't have the ecological impact of cotton when sustainably harvested, not requiring fertilizers or pesticides for a great big eco- WIN. So yeah, I heart the bamboo.

9. They wash up well. I hand wash all my baby leggings, and even when I oopsidentally let a poo-tastrophe get up close and personal with the Leg Huggers, they washed up just peachy.

10. Cuteness overload. Oh, and as he starts to become increasingly mobile, Snapdragon's knees aren't going to get rug burn.

More Awesome:

Leg Huggers come in really cute prints ranging from trucks to pink leopards.

Leg Huggers offers free shipping on orders over $50.

Want to get your hands on some of this seriously awesome cuteness?

Buy Them: Head on over to the Leg Huggers website, or Agoo to pick up a pair or three. Remember that free shipping on orders over $50?

Win Them:

Bob from Leg Huggers has generously offered a pair of Leg Huggers to one of my readers. Want to be the lucky reader? Enter below. Just be sure to leave your email address in your comment if it's not visible in your blogger profile. ( username [at] server {dot} com or similar format please) If I can't contact you, you can't win!

Mandatory Entry:

EDITED:

As of 11/15/09- Mandatory entry is now let me know what your favorite Leg Huggers are.

(Become a fan of Leg Huggers is no longer an entry due to Failbook's new promotions policies. All earlier entries will remain valid. You are of course welcome to become a fan so you see the latest and greatest of their designs and promotions.)

Extra entries:

Follow Leg Huggers and me on twitter AND tweet this giveaway, up to once daily. Leave a comment with the permalink (click on the timestamp beneath your tweet for this) to your tweet.

Follow my blog, leave a comment letting me know you do.

Participate. Leave a relevant comment on any other of my blog posts and leave a comment letting me know where I can find it. You can comment on as many posts as you'd like!

Put my button on your blog. Leave a comment letting me know where it is.

Have fun and good luck. I will draw a winner using a random integer generator on Wednesday, November 18th at 10pm. I will announce the winner both here on this blog and on twitter, and I will contact the winner via email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond, or I will pick another winner however the spirit moves me to pick one. Perhaps a haiku throw-down?

*Disclosure- I recieved a free pair of Leg Huggers for this review.

CLOSED Posh Pads Review and Giveaway

Congratulations #34- Jaime! You will have 48 hours from when I email you to contact me with your info, else the wombat juggling begins!

As you may remember, I've had some genuinely leak-tastic moments lately, like the drenched shirt at the funeral and waking up in a puddle of milk. So, when Amy over at Makes Mom Happy ran her series of Breastfeeding related giveaways for World Breastfeeding Week, and I was blessed to win a set of Go-Green Baby Posh Pads*, I was sorta-kinda ecstatic. Since I've already been reviewing for your better knowledge some other eco-friendly nursing pads options, from day one I've been wearing these thinking about how they compare to the others, and what you, dear readers, would like to know about them.First of all, Posh Pads are made of organic bamboo with one side covered in a decorative print, very similar to the WeeEssentials nursing pads. Again, the pretty print goes in toward your breast so that you're not filling up your car at the petrol station and flashing your flower power to the world through your shirt.

Posh Pads are finished with a serged seam around the edges, so there's no worry about fraying, and they don't have the added bulk of a turned and stitched seam. In size, they offer the same coverage as the WeeEssentials and the La Leche League nursing pads I previously reviewed.

The one design difference I would point out, construction wise, is that the Posh Pads and the WeeEssentials offer a flat profile, while the La Leche League nursing pads have a contour.

I like the Posh Pads. I think they're quite comfortable, and I like the way the bamboo absorbs. I also like the sound of the word. "Bamboo." Say it with me. "Bamboo."

That said, flat profile pads tend to require more attention when you go to "reassemble" yourself, since the contour style pads tend to want to revert to their natural shape. If you're not overly boob-tastic, the reassembly shouldn't be quite so hard, but I tend to take a lot of reassembly, and it tends to take both hands to reposition the pads. That said, with the way that they absorb, and absorb without getting stinky, it's worth it, especially since no pad is re-position free.

I especially like all the fantastic prints the Posh Pads come in. I love the environmental benefit of using reusable organic products, but I admit it, some days, I'm a girly-girl, and I like having a cute floral print on the girls.

Silly? Perhaps. Delightful? Definitely.

Seriously though, I love any product which can make me feel even better about breastfeeding. Lets face it, there are some small sacrifices, like being able to wear tight fitted tops that don't have tata access points. I miss my girly-dresses that zip up the back, so anything that makes me feel pampered and secretly fashionable makes me smile.

What you need to know about Posh Pads.

Posh Pads are comfy, cute, and they work well. These cute little buggers do their job. They keep the milk in and my shirt dry. I don't know what else I can ask for in reusable nursing pads.

Want to try some?

Buy Them.

You can head over to Posh Pads where they have more adorable prints that you can shake a stick at. Well, more than I can, anyway. They're even introducing Heart Shaped Posh Pads!

Win Them.

Posh Pads has generously offered to send one of my blog readers their own pair of Posh Pads in their limited edition Holiday design! Cool, no?

Please be sure that if your email address is not attached and publicly viewable on your blogger account, that you leave it in your entries in the username (at) eserver (dot) com, or similar format. If I can't contact you, you can't win. ;-)

Mandatory Entry:

Visit Posh Pads and pick out your favorite print, then leave a comment letting me know which it is!

Extra Entries:

Join Posh Pads' Facebook page and leave a comment letting me know you did.

Follow Posh Pads and Me on twitter, AND tweet this giveaway up to once a day, linking back to this giveaway. Leave a comment with the perma-link of your tweet. (Click on the time stamp beneath your tweet and it will take you to a page with just your tweet. The URL of this page is your permalink.)

Follow my blog and leave a comment letting me know you do.

Comment, meaningfully, on any of my other blog posts and leave a comment letting me know where you commented.

This giveaway will close at 10pm central time on Sunday, November 15th, 2009. A winner will be selected by using a random integer generator. The winner will be announced on this blog and will also be contacted by email. The winner will have 48 hours to contact me or a new winner will be selected via whichever method I find most entertaining, such as wombat juggling, jingle writing, or something truly ridiculous like which entry made me snort giggle.

*Discolsure: I am not being compensated for this review.

EEK! It's Nano Time!

November has rolled around and here I am trying, to decide just which of my plot ideas I want to see turned into a full 50k word amateurpiece.
That's write, it's time for National Novel Writing Month.
You can learn more about it at NaNoWriMo.org

I am going to set up another blog for the writing of my NaNoNovel, since I'll be writing it mostly from my phone and I need a decent way to save my content.

So, stop on by and sign on up. I've done it in two weeks, so missing the first day won't kill you.

50k words in 30 days. You can do it.

Of this I am certain. This will be my third foray into NaNoWriMo, and I hope to be able to keep my word count up, even with the tiny tiny crackberry keyboard. So come on and join in. All the {insert group you are easily swayed by here} kids are doing it.

Besides, being able to say "I've written a novel" just feels good. You just might surprise yourself.