I am completely clueless when it comes to thermometers. I know there are a lot of thermometers on the market, everything from the basic ones that you stick under the armpit, to others that you place in the ear or on the forehead.  For me, it just looks too complicated.  I just thought that a thermometer should measure one’s temperature and that was about it. Whatever gets the job done.  But having my daughter, I’ve learned that the accuracy of the temperature measurement is very important.

The only thermometer we have at home is the one that we received at the hospital three years ago when I gave birth to my daughter.  It’s a simple stick that you place under the armpit.  You press a little button and you leave it under the armpit until it beeps and then you can read the temperature.  You have to wait for a good amount of time before it beeps, but it gets the job done.

Well, the last time we had to go to the ER, and my daughter was boiling hot, we measured her at 104 degrees.  When we got to the ER, the nurse said the thermometer we had was probably off about 1 degree, which meant she was close to 106 degrees.  When I learned that, I was in utter shock because that night could have been very scary, almost a life and death situation.  The difference in 1 degree could be life threatening.  After I learned that fact, I decided that I needed to get a good thermometer that was accurate for my entire family.

After countless research, I came across Exergen Temporal Artery Thermometer.  First, it was user friendly which is definitely a must when you have children. Second, the accuracy of the thermometer is comparable to a rectal thermometer reading.  The thermometer measures the temperature of the skin surface over the temporal artery, which is a major artery of the head.  This provides for an accurate reading.

Features:

This past weekend, my daughter had a slight fever.  We were able to use the Exergen Temporal Artery Thermometer to measure her temperature.  It was very easy to use because we had to gently stroke her forehead and we were able to obtain her temperature.  We did it twice to test the accuracy and it was a tenth off from the first reading, so it was accurate. My daughter did not cry while we took her temperature, as she usually does with the one that we place under her armpit, and it was rather quick.  The process of not having to struggle with my daughter, saved a lot of time, and therefore we were able to get an accurate reading.

If you are a parent like myself, who is completely lost when it comes to thermometers, I would suggest you read more about the Exergen Temporal Artery Thermometer at www.exergen.com.  The thermometer is sold nationwide at many stores including Toys R Us, Babies R Us, Costco, Walmart, and Walgreens.

(Disclosure: Product was provided free of charge for review purposes and does not affect my views or feedback of the product.  This review is based solely on my personal opinion and experience and results may vary person to person.)

Today, I had the pleasure of visiting Dan the Man’s Superkids. Yes, it’s my Saturday and it’s only one of two days that I actually spend the entire day with my daughter, the rest she is in preschool.  For months, I have been seeking a good active program that would keep my daughter engaged and that would promote an active lifestyle.  I also had a good amount of mommas ask me about possible programs that they could enroll their children in.  With all that in mind, it was so great to hear of the program over at Dan the Man’s Superkids.

Being pregnant and giving birth anyday, I didn’t think I would get a chance to go over to Dan the Man’s Superkids.  But today, since I didn’t have my baby yet and my daughter wanting to go to the park, I thought it would be the perfect time to take her there.  What’s great about Dan the Man’s Superkids is that you can do a free trial class for your child to see if it’s a match.  If you don’t like it, then you have nothing to lose, and if you love it, you have everything to gain. It’s definitely a win-win situation.

One of the most important aspects in enrolling my child in any program, is great customer service.  I always make sure I call to see the real person behind the phone. You can definitely learn a lot about the environment through one phone call. I knew a couple weeks in advance that I wanted to do a trial class for my daughter, but I literally waited until the last minute to give them a call.  The class started at 11:20 am and I called at 11:00 am to see if I could take her to the trial class.  A very warm and nice lady named Olga picked up the phone.  You could clearly hear that the noise behind her was very busy, but she was very patient, calm, and inviting.  She told me to bring my daughter on by and took down our name and phone number.  At that point, I knew I wanted to visit the gym.  Had she been loud, abnoxious, and short, I would have hung up the phone and passed. So great customer service is a must, and they were nothing short of excellent there.

We live fairly close to the gym, so I had my daughter get dressed, and it took us about 5 minutes to get there.  They are located on the corner of Olympic and Sepulveda, with ample parking. Lots of parking on the Westside of Los Angeles, is pretty much unheard of.  We went up to the gym and it was very clean and bright, with lots of energetic children, coupled with their parents.  It was nice for me to be able to go into another room and view sitting down.  Every little thing helps when you are pregnant.  They had a viewing room, which had a sofa and toys for the little siblings to play with while they waited.  The gym was air conditioned at a nice temperature, which made it a more comfortable experience.

Before they started class, the children were able to play around the gym, which was nice for my daughter, since it was her first time.  I could tell she was exploring all the new things she had never tried.  To start out the class, Dan the Man, had all the children sit around in a circle and introduce their names.  Always a great ice breaker, even for children.  Then they did their warmup, by jogging in a circle.  After that, they sat back down in a circle, and did stretches.  It was simple enough that my daughter had no issues following along.  The stretches were followed by exercises that included animals. Then they broke into groups to work on the parallel bars, trampoline, and the balance board.  I could tell that my daughter was loving it. Those activities were followed by an obstacle course, a ball activity, sit ups, and handstands.  Every activity involved the children repeating words, following directions, and cleaning up after an activity.

My daughter took the Dynamic Do’ers class which was targeted towards 3-4 year olds.  I loved that the staff were very nice, friendly, and knowledgable.  You could definitely tell that they had a camaraderie thing going on, which made every transition from activity to activity seamless.  While I was there, I also noticed that they were setting up for a birthday party.  I thought it was a clever idea to host a birthday party there, with activities from Dan the Man’s Superkids.  Any party that has kids learning anything, and encouraging active lifestyle is a plus in my book.

The classes there are very reasonably priced at $176 for an 8 week session, which comes out to be $22 for an hour long class.  They have classes from Monday-Saturday (5 months-12 years old).   For more information on their classes, summer camps, and transition program (2-4 year olds), visit them at www.danthemangym.com.  I love when I come across noteworthy programs.  Dan the Man is very animated, warm, and inviting to the little ones.  You could tell his passion is an active lifestyle for children!  I give a two thumbs up and recommend this to any parent.

SuperKids
2143 South Sepulveda Blvd. 4th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90025
phone:(310)263-8300
email:info@danthemangym.com

This April, I attended the Baby and Tween Celebration.  I was really excited to go and see all the new products on the market, as well as the products that I was familiar with.  As I made my rounds around the convention room floor, I came across a product that really stood out to me.  It was called My Hug-a-roo.  A product developed by a mother for her daughter.  My Hug-a-Roo is a pretty simple solution to an everyday problem that we see with our children.  It’s a neck pillow that envelopes our child’s neck and prevents our child from those awkward head bopping, or the painfully looking forward facing head hang.  It looks like a fashionable neck brace, but obviously more functional, for the needs of our child.

Problem

When I stood in front of their booth watching a DVD on My Hug-a-Roo, I knew I had to try it out on my daughter.  So many times have I cringed looking at my rear view mirror, seeing that my daughter was clearly uncomfortable as she was sleeping.  On our lucky days, I would have my mom put her head back into place every time it moved to an uncomfortable position.  Obviously, we don’t have many days where we getting a helping hand.  So this would be the ideal solution for my daughter.

My Hug-a-roo supports and cradles the neck from hyper-flexion, which puts constant strain on the child’s neck and spine. The features that My Hug-a-Roo offers:

Solution

Total Neck Support
Magnetic release design for safety
Cozy and Comfortable
Easy to use
Machine Washable
Made of 100% natural cotton
Fire-retardant polyester filling
Tested LEAD Free

To me, all these features are very child/parent user friendly.  Anything that can make my life and my child’s life easier, is a plus.  I gave it a go with my daughter when we went to visit the Santa Barbara Zoo.  The ride from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara was approximately an hour.  My husband and I knew that during the ride, with the sun hitting on the car, that our daughter would eventually fall asleep. First, we adjusted my Hug-a-Roo to fit our daughter’s neck, by pulling the straps behind the headrest.  It was pretty simple and took no time.  We released the magnetic strap for the time being because we knew that my daughter would not keep it on from the start of our car ride.  Eventually, my daughter passed out, and I was able to snap it on. It was so nice to see how it cradled my daughter’s neck and she just slept so peacefully.

I would recommend this product to all parents.  It’s such a great solution to an everyday problem. Recommended for children 18 months and older.  It comes in four different colors and two sizes.  Adults can use this as well. Made in the USA (Let’s continue to support our economy). Please visit www.myhugaroo.com for more information on this product.

(Disclosure: Product was provided free of charge for review purposes and does not affect my views or feedback of the product.  This review is based solely on my personal opinion and experience and results may vary person to person.)

I just had a big social media makeover with the team over at Shesconnected.com.  They have been so great at giving my site the long awaited Facelift.  They also have been non-stop in getting my site up because of the baby. She is suppose to make her entrance any day.  Through my site, I wanted to thank all those people who have contributed to making my site, such a special one.  It truely represents ME!

I have a lot of product reviews that are waiting to be posted, but I wanted to wait for my site to be up and running, and that I can comfortably maneuver my way through it.  Plus, waiting for the baby has truely tested my patience.  I literally text my husband at work, telling him I wanted to cry, I wanted to laugh like a crazy person, and that I wanted to chop off my back.  It truely has been a rollercoaster, especially when all the cramps and back pain kicked into full gear.  I am a tough cookie, but all the physical things us pregnant women go through, we deserve a merit of honor.  Maybe I’ll create one!

I will stop rambling on and on.  I look forward to hearing your feedback about my new site.  Thanks for all your ongoing support!

I love body care products that make you feel special and loved. For me, my body is my temple. That being said, I like to nourish, embrace, and baby my body. When I came across, Earth Mama Angel Baby, I had to see what they were about. Especially their trademark, “Gift from the earth for your gift from heaven.” I mean just reading that makes me melt and want to take an extra glance at my belly and smile. A name says a lot about what the company is about and clearly when reading their name, all I felt was warmth, love, and happiness.

When I came across Earth Mama Angel Baby, I had to try out their products. Primarily because they fit my description in what I look for in a skincare. Even if I like the name, if the product is full of toxicity, chemicals, and anything bad, I’ll turn my nose up and look the other way. Sometimes you just have to be stuck up when it comes to you and your body. When you are pregnant, you are making decisions on behalf of your unborn, so there is nothing wrong with being super picky, super paranoid, and super super-mommy. I don’t like to put on lotions, potions, or concoctions that have ingredients on the label where I am like, umm…dictionary please?

I wanted to try out the Earth Mama Body Butter because it looked like a good overall pregnancy lotion. The label says, “Herbal Shea Butter Lotion for Expectant Bellies, Breasts, and Way Beyond.” The body butter combines organic calendula and organic chamomile with essential oils in a shea butter body lotion. It works with your growing belly and encourages the belly’s natural elasticity. I love that it will not aggravate morning sickness and it’s the purest lotion for your pregnancy stretch marks, made with 95% organic ingredients. On top of that, it’s completely vegan, cruelty-free, and toxin free. Can you top that?

At first, when I saw the words “Body Butter,” I was a little afraid because for some reason my brain associates body butter with greasy, thick, oily, slab of lotion. Don’t ask me why. After my shower, I pumped the Earth Mama Body Butter on to the palm of my hands and started to rub it on my belly. Let me tell you, the Body Butter was creamy, non-oily, and went on like smooth butta! I thought it would be super thick, but it was more creamy than thick, and had such a airy consistency on top of it. My belly did not feel greasy or stuffy. It felt more refreshed and enlivened. I read the ingredients on the label, and there was nothing in it where I had to refer to a medical dictionary. It’s just heaven in a bottle and you can quote me on that. I loved it so much, I went to Whole Foods and bought 2 more bottles.

I also wanted to try something else in their line, which happened to be the Breastfeeding Support Kit. Since I am going to breastfeed this would be super essential to my breastfeeding ritual. The Breastfeeding Support Kit has four of their best all-natural necessities for the breastfeeding mother. The Milkmaid Tea is USDA certified, 100% organic, Certified Kosher, and helps support healthy breast milk production. The Natural Nipple Cream is lanolin-free and helps prevent sore, cracked nipples. The Booby Tubes are gel-free breast packs that help ease sore breasts, and the Bosom Buddies, an herbal breast compress to help ease with engorgement or mastitis. Now that’s taking caring of me, so that I can take care of my baby! You just have to constantly refer back to their name, Earth Mama Angel Baby. Their products really stand by their name.

For more information on Earth Mama Angel Baby please visit them at: http://www.earthmamaangelbaby.com/

(Disclosure: Products were provided free of charge for review purposes and does not affect my views or feedback of the products.  This review is based solely on my personal opinion and experience and results may vary person to person.)

One of my readers will win a travel sized and clinically tested A Little Something for Baby.

Main Entry into the Giveaway, you must answer the questions below:

Gather some of the most common personal care products you use regularly on yourself or on your baby. Personal care products include shampoo, lotions, soaps, diaper cream, stretch mark oil, etc.

Go to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics’ Skin Deep database (http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/) and enter a product name in the search field. Add up the Skin Deep toxicity rating for all the personal care products that you use on a daily basis to find out what your score is. When you have your score, post your answer to three quick questions (below) in the comments area.

Your post in the comments section with your three answers is one entry into the contest. Don’t worry – there are no right or wrong answers, but we think you’ll be surprised at how high the toxin score is, even for those products you are using that are labeled “natural” or even “organic”.

What was your Skin Deep toxicity rating score?

How did you feel about your score and/or ingredients?

Were you surprised at how high the toxin score is for any products labeled “natural” or “organic” ?

Most women are truly shocked at the toxin scores of the pregnancy or baby products they thought were safe. All Earth Mama Angel Baby products are rated a 0 (lowest possible rating). Also, all Earth Mama Angel Baby products are toxin-free and contain no artificial ingredients. Just pure, natural products for pure, natural mamas and babies! As Gold Members, and one of the earliest compact signers, Earth Mama Angel Baby® is fully compliant with all levels of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. We are one of only 6% of compact signers who can make that claim. At Earth Mama Angel Baby, we are just as serious about taking care of the Earth and her resources as we are about taking care of mamas and babies. That even extends to our packaging and office practices – learn more by reading our sustainability statement.

For helpful advice and safe, natural products that work, women can trust Earth Mama Angel Baby. After all, if Mama wouldn’t use it for her own family, then she doesn’t sell it. Mama’s Promise™.

For additional entries:Please leave a comment for each additional entry you complete. (current followers and subscribers count as well)

• Follow my blog.
• Subscribe to my blog.
• Follow me on Twitter and Tweet about this giveaway (with a link to this page) on Twitter. Please leave a link to your tweet.(2 entries)
• Blog about the giveaway and link back (2 entries)
• Add me as a favorite on Technorati

The giveaway will end on Sunday July 26th at 11:59pm(PST).Rules: In order to win, you must provide a valid email. If there is no email address provided, to contact the winner, another person will be chosen. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email notification with their complete mailing address. If this information is not received within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is open for US mailing addresses only.

My Own Score: 3

What was your Skin Deep toxicity rating score? 3

How did you feel about your score and/or ingredients? Well, I only use three products on a daily basis because of my pregnancy. One of them happening to be Earth Mama Angel Body Lotion which has a 0, Novena face wash which came up as N/A, and then the shocker, my Avalon Organic that came up as a 3.

Were you surprised at how high the toxin score is for any products labeled “natural” or “organic” ? OMG, yes! My jaw dropped open. The Shampoo that I have been using all throughout my pregnancy, which was recommended by the people at Whole Foods, is cancer causing. I would have never bought it, or have used it, if I knew this fact. I like to think I am a purist when it comes to products and this was quite disturbing. This is shocking and I am pretty upset about it because I have been avoiding so many things during this pregnancy because of its negative impact on the fetus, and now come to find out, my shampoo was cancer causing. Yuck!

My weekend was mostly spent at home resting as well as trips to Labor & Delivery. On Saturday, it seemed as though my water broke, but I wasn’t one hundred percent because it was more like a leakage rather than a gush. With my first, I definitely knew my water broke because it was a super gush, like a huge waterfall.

On Saturday, everytime I stood up from using the restroom, I would have a leakage. I wasn’t sure if it was urine or if it was amniotic fluid. I monitored it for an hour and it kept consistently happening, so I decided to call my midwife. I called and waited for about another hour and did not hear back. So i decided to go into L & D to make sure everything was fine and it was not a ruptured sac.

I went in that evening and they did a test on me. The strip test came out to be positive, but the other two tests came out negative. They said in order for it be a positive that my sac ruptured was if 2 out of the 3 tests came out positive. I only had one positive, which meant it was negative. They did an ultrasound on me to see the fluid level. The first time around, it came out 7, which is borderline low, and the second time it came out 9, which is really good. They had me walk around for about 15 minutes with a pad, to test the leakage on the pad. After that was done, they sent me back home and told me to come back within 24 hours.

Today, which is Sunday, we went back to L & D to check on fluid level, as well as do another test to make sure there was no amniotic leakage. The fluid level was at a nine, and the test came out negative. So everything checked out fine. I am super relieved and expect to deliver soon. I just hope that I don’t have to go back to L & D until I actually deliver . They say that this Tuesday is a full moon, so I guess we will see!

I woke up at 2:09 am this morning with menstrual-like aches. I dismissed it and went and refilled my water bottle to drink more water. I laid back down on the bed and changed positions. The feeling did not go away. Around 3:40 am, those menstrual-like aches were then followed by this surge of energy that went through my body, and then I would feel weak, nauseous, and short of breath. It felt like an onset of a flu. The odd thing is that they came in intervals like contractions, every 5-6 minutes. But the feelings that I were feeling were not at all contractions, just major discomfort.

I went and laid back down at 4:05 am and nothing went away. After that, I just got paranoid, and started laying to the side to see if I could feel the baby moving. I counted how many times the baby moved, and if the baby only moved a little, I got a little freaked out. I tried changing positions, drinking more water, going to the bathroom, checking to see if I leaked amniotic fluid, and everything and anything I could think of. I woke up at 6:01 am and went online and googled all sorts of labor tags and came across other mothers who went through this when they were in labor, as well as false labor.

After my false alarm last week, I just wanted to make sure I had all the grounds covered before I went rushing to L & D or made a call to my midwife on call. Right now, I feel nauseous and completely drained, like the wind was blown out of me. This pregnancy is so different from my first, I don’t know what to expect anymore. I just made a call to the midwife and am now anxiously waiting for her to call back.

After last weekend’s false alarm, we were just all praying that the baby would stay put in my stomach until it reached it’s full term date, which is today. The baby is now 37 weeks and as of now, she is still in my tummy!

I have not done much in the last week, so that I wouldn’t provoke any unnecessary contractions. My husband has been taking our daughter to pre-school every morning, and my mother and I have been picking her up late afternoon.

I went to my midwife’s appointment on Tuesday and every looked great. The baby’s heart beat was right on target and she also measured really nicely too. After last weekend’s semi-scare, my midwife believes that I will be going into Real Labor soon. I guess we will see if I end up with a Fourth of July baby!

My last cervix check up, I was a good 3 cm dilated, 50% effaced, and -2 station. That was last Saturday. The midwife did not do another check at this appointment, probably not to irritate anything. I still feel cramping and tightening, here and there, so hopefully that means I am continually thinning out and dilating.

I do and so does my daughter. I know a lot of parents are hesistant in giving their children anything that contains sugar because of how it could affect their children’s behavior. One of the guilty pleasures in our family is endulging in some good old fashion gummy bears and gummy worms. I call it a guilty pleasure because there are a lot of ingredients that are in it that are not good for you, especially the colorings, additives, etc. It’s one of those treats that we have very seldom because of the contents. However, when we have it, we do indulge.

One day, I was reading another mommy blog and they blogged about a company named Surf Sweets. Immediately, I went to their website and started looking up their product information. They carried a line of gummy bears and gummy worms that were healthy. None of their products contain trans fats, GMOs, corn syrup, gluten, artificial colors, and flavors. This is definitely important for me and my children. I don’t like feeding myself or my child, products that contain ingredients that are unhealthy and have been in the news for causing cancer, etc. I had to try these out for myself because ultimately healthy or not, it really comes down to taste. If they are healthy and taste like mud, I am not going to eat them, that is the simple truth.

I tried out the gummy worms, gummy bears, super sour worms, fruity bears, jelly beans, and the sour berry bears. Let me say, they tasted even better than what I usually get. The regular gummy bears or worms, usually leave an oily after taste, and sometimes you can see the oil through the package. These had a really great fruity taste without the oily mess. The sour bears and worms, left me wanting more. They had the perfect sourness to my favorite treat. The fruity bears and the jelly beans had a nice fruity taste, which my daughter loved a lot. They were so good, I actually finished all the packages in one sitting. I also liked the fact that I could enjoy eating these treats without the guilt of consuming all those icky ingredients. Another great plus about these were that they contained 100% of our Vitamin C serving. So while we are indulging, we are getting in our “Cs.”

I loved it so much, that same day I went to our neighborhood Whole Foods and bought 8 more packages of the gummy worms and bears. I think they will be gone before the end of the week. For parents and children who have food allergies, they have products that are vegetarian, Vegan, and Gluten-Free. So there is a treat for everyone. I am allergic to dairy, so these treats were ever-so perfect for me, and they are processed in a facility free of wheat, dairy, soy, eggs, tree nuts, nuts, fish, and shellfish.

So if you want to get your sweet tooth on, please visit: http://www.surfsweets.com/. A lot of stores, such as Whole Foods and Toys R Us carry their line of products. If you don’t see a store in your neighborhood, go to the local store manager and urge them to carry these products.

(Disclosure: Product was provided free of charge for review purposes and does not affect my views or feedback of the product.  This review is based solely on my personal opinion and experience and results may vary person to person.)