My pregnancy so far, 14 weeks...

I'm officially into the second trimester now, no turning back! This pregnancy is definitely different than my first one. The morning sickness this time around has been almost non-existent (thank God and knock on wood). I felt nauseous pretty much all day long for about 2 weeks back in the second month but never actually got physically sick, so I shouldn't complain. I'm know I'm lucky because so many women have it much worse than I do.

I did however, have a little heartburn last night. Really? This early? I had TERRIBLE heartburn in the last trimester of my first pregnancy. It was so bad that it woke me up in the middle of the night and made me throw up! I'm kinda hoping last night's episode was caused by the cheddar and sour cream potato chips I ate right before bed and is not a preview of things to come.

According to my scale this morning, I've lost one pound. That's right, lost weight! How can that be??? It must be a mistake because I am showing a little bit. I do think that I won't end up gaining as much weight this time because I'm at home, I pretty much only buy organic, whole foods and cook all of our meals. Last pregnancy I was working full time as a social worker, eating out for lunch a lot and sitting at a desk all day long. This time I'm chasing after my toddler, taking walks and eating much healthier, so that's a plus!

This time around, however, I'm having awful skin issues. My skin just looks horrible, I feel like I'm in high school again, yuk! I didn't have this issue the first time. Good news, though, I'm currently reviewing a couple skincare products from an awesome online maternity boutique: Maternitique. So, look for an upcoming review and giveaway post!

If you read my daughter's birth story you know that she was born through cesarean section. I'm determined to give birth vaginally this time and I'm working with a midwife who is very encouraging. I go back and forth between feeling positive about natural birth and being afraid that I'll have to have another c-section. No matter what (unless it's an emergency, of course) I'm going to let my body go into labor naturally and at least attempt labor. The scary part for me is that since I've not pushed a baby out before, I don't know what to expect. Also, I know how awful a c-section recovery is, and it's even worse if you've labored first (which I will). But, overall, I'm excited to have the opportunity to give birth naturally and follow my body's cues this time!

Nachomama tees review and giveaway (1/5)

Looking for a great, one-stop t-shirt shop to find the best funny, vintage and/or 80's t-shirts? Then you should definitely check out Nachomama Tees. It is a really neat online store featuring a huge selection of great t-shirts.
I love funny tees and found quite a few that were just hilarious. Just look at these:

These are a few of the funny, mild ones that I like. If you're a little more on the edgy or offensive side, they have shirts for that, too. The t-shirts are all very reasonably priced, most are around $15. They also feature a daily deal shirt for just $6.99.
For this review, I picked out this shirt for my husband:

It arrived quickly and was high quality. The customer service at Nachomama is great, they are responsive and timely.

How would you like to win a shirt of your own? Nachomama is offering one of my readers the opportunity to choose either a mystery tee or a $15 gift card!


How to enter:


Each action counts as one entry unless otherwise stated. Leave a separate comment for each entry and please include your email address. You must complete the mandatory entry before you are eligible for any other entries.

**Mandatory Entry**

Visit Nachomama tees and let me know your favorite shirt.


Extra Entries

*Like the Nachomama Facebook page (note: Nacomama is owned by Crazy dog tees)

*Post a comment on the Facebook page telling Nachomama what your favorite tee is or ask them a question about the shirts

*"Like" or "Share" one of the products on their website.  The buttons for these are on all product detail pages, above the main image. Come back and let me know you did.

*Follow me publicly through google friend connect-counts as 3 entries! Leave 3 separate comments.

*Subscribe to my blog by email, through feedburner-counts as 3 entries!

*Grab my button and tell me where it is posted

*Blog about this giveaway, link back to my site and leave me the URL of your blog

*NEW!!! Like my brand new Facebook page- counts as 5 entries!!!! Let me know the name you follow under.



The fine print
This giveaway is open worldwide and will end January 5, 2011 at 9PM pacific time.

Winner will be chosen by random.org and contacted by e-mail, then must respond within 48 hours or else a new winner will be chosen.

**Winners cannot have won a shirt from Nachomama or Crazydog tees or have been sent a shirt for promotional purposes in the last 90 days or own a blog of their own.**

I was not paid for this review, and received no compensation. I was provided the product mentioned for review purposes. All opinions expressed are my own and completely truthful.

Smartmom Teething bling review and giveaway! 1/3

I heard about Smart mom teething bling a little too late for my daughter, she was beyond teething when I learned of the awesome line of innovative and functional jewelry. Even so, I knew this product would come in handy and I was sent a Moonstone donut pendant for review and I love it! It's simple enough to wear everyday, yet versatile and classy enough to pair with something more dressy.

Smart mom jewelry is such a cool company, staffed entirely by moms with a mission and purpose. All aspects of product development take place in the US and the moms make it a point to be easily accessible to customers. All of the Smartmom products are made with the same quality silicone that most baby teething toys are made of and contain no harmful chemicals. There is also a breakaway clasp for added safety and to avoid choking.  And, check out the newest addition to Smart mom, Babe Magnet Ties. Babies can even be entertained by dad's accessories!

Even though Emma is not really actively teething, she is slowly getting molars, but it doesn't seem to be bothering her, I told her she could bite the necklace and she just thought that was the best thing ever!

The Smartmom website does give this warning, though: "Children with fully developed teeth may be able to bite through Teething Bling ®. Therefore, parents must determine what is best for their own situation and child and as always, we remind everyone that children - of any age - should never be left unattended with jewelry of any kind."

I can't wait to wear this necklace around baby number two (due in June). If I'd had it when Emma was little, it may have saved a lot of hair pulling. You would never guess by looking at the pieces that they are tough and durable enough for a teething baby, or even toddler. They just look like regular, trendy jewelry that anyone would like to wear.

Buy it

Of course you can buy Smartmom products from their website, and select retail partners.

-or-

Win it!

One lucky reader will win a gift set (a pendant and 2 coordinating bangles) of his/her own choosing.


How to enter:
Each action counts as one entry unless otherwise stated. Leave a separate comment for each entry and please include your email address. You must complete the mandatory entry before you are eligible for any other entries.


**Mandatory Entry**

Visit Smartmom teethingbling and let me know which set you'd choose if you won.

Extra Entries

*Go to the Teething bling website and tell me something else you learned about this awesome company that I didn't mention here.

*Follow me publicly through google friend connect-counts as 3 entries! Leave 3 separate comments.

*Subscribe to my blog by email, through feedburner-counts as 3 entries!

*Grab my button and tell me where it is posted

*Blog about this giveaway, link back to my site and leave me the URL of your blog

*NEW!!! Like my brand new Facebook page- counts as 5 entries!!!!


The fine print
This giveaway is open worldwide and will end January 3, 2011 at 9PM pacific time.

Winner will be chosen by random.org and contacted by e-mail, then must respond within 48 hours or else a new winner will be chosen.

I was not paid for this review, and received no compensation. I was provided the product mentioned for review purposes. All opinions expressed are my own and completely truthful.

Mom Blog Monday!

Are you a Mommy blogger? Do you blog about your kids? Do you blog about great things for Mommies? Do you wanna meet other Mom Bloggers?


If you answered yes to any of those questions then link up!

This blog hop is hosted by Sippy cups and cloth bums, The Not-So-Secret Confession of a first time Mom , and Luxury Living Frugal Style!

What is a blog hop?

A blog hop is an awesome way of meeting and reaching out to more bloggers.

Rules?

All we ask is that you follow the hosts, Sippy Cups and Cloth Bums, The Not- So- Secret Confessions of a First Time Mom, and Luxury Living Frugal Style. Be sure to leave us a comment so we can follow you back! We always follow back!

Please link directly to your blog ONLY! Please do not link up your giveaways. These will be deleted, as we monitor all links.

We would LOVE it if you'd grab our button and put it somewhere on your blog or in a blog post! This would help us spread the word. However, you aren't required to.

You can follow as many or as few blogs as you'd like.

*Each week one lucky blogger who links up will be the next week's featured blogger.*

This week's featured blogger: me, yay!

Eco Mom review and $15 gift code giveaway 12/31

I recently had the opportunity to work with Ecomom and have been very pleased. I love their site! They only carry high quality, eco friendly and safe baby, kid and mama products. The team at Ecomom partners with  well known and trusted agencies devoted to child safety such as Healthy Child Healthy World and Environmental Working Group to help make sure all the products they carry are safe and healthy for children.

We were sent the Hape Early Melodies Rhythm Set for review

This is a very high quality, wooden toy set. I LOVE wooden toys, I always opt for natural over synthetic and I cringe over all the nasty chemicals that can be in plastic. This musical set will definitely withstand the banging and shaking of more than one child. My husband is a big music lover and has always insisted that we instill the love of music in our daughter, so he was really excited about this toy!

Emma just loves shaking and banging and making "music" with this set. It's getting more and more difficult to get good pictures of Emma these days because she's really busy and always on the move and doesn't much want to perform for the camera. I was able to capture a couple pics of my daughter and my nephew making music. Check out the action in the second shot:

I just can't say enough good things about Ecomom. If you're trying to go green and still need holiday decorations, they have some unique and classy selections. And of course, search the green gifts guide to find the perfect present for anyone on your list.

Another really cool feature of the Ecomom website: The Ecopass. You can purchase a membership for $99 and get free shipping, as well as a %15 discount on every order. Pretty awesome deal, huh?! I'm definitely thinking of taking advantage.

Buy it


You can get the same musical toy set we received from the Ecomom website, along with about a million other eco-friendly products.
Ecomom is also offering a %15 discount off your first order, just enter code: SBBL704 until Dec. 31.


-or-


Win it!

One lucky reader is going to win a $15 gift code to buy whatever you want from Ecomom!

How to enter:

Each action counts as one entry unless otherwise stated. Leave a separate comment for each entry and please include your email address. You must complete the mandatory entry before you are eligible for any other entries.


**Mandatory Entry**

Visit Ecomom and tell me what you would buy if you won.

Extra Entries

*Follow Ecomom on Twitter at EcoMomCEO

*Become a fan of EcoMom on Facebook

*Join the EcoMom newsletter

*Follow me publicly through google friend connect-counts as 3 entries! Leave 3 separate comments.

*Subscribe to my blog by email, through feedburner-counts as 3 entries!

*Grab my button and tell me where it is posted

*Blog about this giveaway, link back to my site and leave me the URL of your blog


The fine print
This giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian residents and will end December 31, 2010 at 9PM pacific time.
Winner will be chosen by random.org and contacted by e-mail, then must respond within 48 hours or else a new winner will be chosen.
I was not paid for this review, and received no compensation. I was provided the product mentioned for review purposes. All opinions expressed are my own and completely truthful.

Time to pick out holiday cards!

Have you checked out the great selection of Christmas cards at Shutterfly? If not, you really should, there is something for anyone and everyone! Since the first time I heard of Shutterfly, I loved it. Going digital sometimes means that pictures stay on the camera, but Shutterfly makes it really easy for me to upload, order and get my pictures right to my mailbox so I can frame them or scrap them. I usually turn to Shutterfly for my holiday cards and I had a heck of a time picking just one, so here are a few that catch my eye:

I love the red hue and the elegant simplicity of it. Peace, love, joy, those words describe what the holidays are about exactly!

This one would be perfect for documenting all the exciting events that happened this year

Now, to pick the perfect photo. I like to incorporate the whole year in our Christmas card and there were a few significant events this year.
Emma turned one, started walking, talking, getting into everything.....all the things that come with toddlerhood

Baby number two was conceived and is on the way
Cirt's photography career really took off and is making us some extra money, yay for that!
We had a really awesome and fun snowstorm!

I really like this picture that Cirt took while we were cutting down our Christmas tree:

As you can see, all these pictures are of just Emma. That's because most of the pictures we take are of just Emma. What I can I say, she's a first born and she pretty darn cute, if I don't say so myself! :) It's going to be tough to find a picture of the whole family, as it's usually daddy behind the camera and Emma saying cheese. I think we'll have to actually make an effort to gather together only for the purpose of taking a Christmas card photo.

And...I think a great idea for Christmas gifts next year would be the photo calendars, especially for grandma and grandpa. Next year is going to be great, too. Emma will turn 2, the new baby will be born and who knows what else! Speaking of Emma turning 2, I think I'll come back to check out the birthday cards section for birthday party invites!

Oh, and if you're a blogger, check this out to get 50 free cards of your own.

A Merry Fluffy Christmas WINNERS!!!!!!

I hope you all enjoyed this awesome event, I know I had a ton of fun and can't wait to do it again! If you didn't win, don't worry, I've got some other great giveaways coming up! I've emailed all of you, so if you haven't already responded to my email, please do so within 48 hours to claim your prize.
Now, on to the winners!

Day one:

Laura said...
Email subscriber! entry 2



Day two:

Amy said...
I subscribe 3



Day three:

Njos Family said...
receive your emails



Day four:

Janine said...

I follow you via GFC.



Day five:

SAPsMaMa said...
I subscribe to your blog via email
entry #3