Peter Pan - Diamond Edition

 For a Limited Time

Puff the Magic Dragon - Board Book

I remember when I was a little girl I had a cassette tape of Puff the Magic Dragon and I would listen to it over and over again. It has been years since I've heard that song! Did you know that this year id the 50th Anniversary of the song? So when I learned that there was a new board book for that famous dragon I was excited to check it out.

This book is just beautiful. The illustrations truly bring the story that is told through music to life. I was so excited to share this book with my daughter. It was like bringing a piece of my childhood to her. And since she is still young it was really nice to be able to have the book with the illustrations to help me tell the tale.

Now the words will be stuck in my head for days to come, but at least I can sing them with my daughter now. I would highly recommend this beautiful book to any fans of the famous song. It is a story that can be shared by generations for generations.

OrnamentShop.com Review

Can you believe it's almost October? Christmas will be here before we know it. And this Christmas is going to be extra special (and extra busy) with the planned arrival of our little bundle of joy just a few days before. So when I was given the wonderful opportunity to check out OrnamentShop.com I jumped at the chance.

OrnamentShop.com is a great place to do some holiday shopping. They really have something for everyone! And they personalize the ornaments for free. We are bog ornament people in my house. Everyone gets a new ornament every year and I love giving ornaments with meaning. With Ornamentshop.com I can find an ornament that is really personal to the person I am giving it to. And I love to have them dated so people can look back on them.

This year we are all about the new baby coming. So I wanted to do something special for my daughter who will be a big sister for the first time. So I did a search to see if they had any Big Sister ornaments, and of course they did!

I found the perfect Big Sister ornament for my little girl. We know we are having a boy, so we chose a big sister/baby brother. I had her name put on it and the year, but I left the baby's name blank as we don't have a name yet.

I was really impressed with how quickly my ornament arrived. I anxiously opened it up and found the sweetest ornament. Everything about it was just what I wanted. It's a good size, so the name is visable and clear. It's truly an adorable ornament and will hold special meaning for my daughter for many, many years. 

I would highly recommend you check out Ornamentshop.com for the perfect ornaments this holiday season. They are priced very fair and seem to be high quality products. You can also check them out on Facebook and Pinterest for sales and promotions.

* I received a free ornament for review purposes. However, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and have not been influenced in any way.

Healthy Schools, Healthy Minds Campaign

As a mom and a teacher I am so excited to share with you some information about a great new campaign going on now. Stop & Shop and Produce for Kids have teamed up for the Healthy School, Healthy Minds campaign that is running now through October 20th.

Local shoppers can contribute to this cause and support your local schools by adding produce to their Stop & Shop shopping lists. During the campaign, participating fresh fruit and vegetable suppliers will make a donation based on consumption of their fresh produce items to DonorsChoose.org, which will support local classroom projects.

Shoppers can be on the lookout for the Produce for Kids display unit, featuring characters from popular Sprout shows, LazyTown™ and Noodle and Doodle, in the produce section of their local Stop & Shop store. The more items shoppers add to their shopping lists, the more local classrooms will benefit!

This is a win-win situation for all! You would be getting fresh, healthy produce for you and your family and the local schools would benefit from your purchases.

Stop & Shop will also feature the Ideal Meals™ program from Produce for Kids in the produce department. Ideal Meals cards provide 12 quick, easy, and healthy chef-created/dietitian-approved complete meal solutions for breakfast, lunch, dinner and desserts.

Here is the Baja Breakfast Burrito:

Serves 4
Preparation Time: 20 Minutes
Ingredients:
·   1 Tbsp. olive oil
·   ½ cup bell peppers, seeded, diced
·   ½ cup onions, diced
·   1 cup black beans, drained, rinsed
·   ½ cup tomatoes, diced
·   1 cup spinach, cooked, drained
·   ⅓ cup salsa
·   6 large eggs, scrambled, cooked until firm
·   4 whole wheat tortillas·   ½ avocado, peeled, sliced
·   12 cucumber slices

Directions:
1. Heat oil in large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add peppers and onions, and cook 5 minutes, or until tender and browned.
2. Add beans, tomatoes and spinach. Cook until beans are heated through, stirring often.
3. Remove from heat and set aside. Mix in salsa.
4. Assemble tortillas by adding eggs, bean/vegetable mixture, avocado and cucumber.

 Nutrition Information:Baja Breakfast Burrito  Calories 472; Fat 16.42g; Protein 25.36g; Carbohydrate 55.84g; Fiber 10.87g; Cholesterol 288mg; Sodium 371mg; Calcium 443mg; Vitamin A 2092 IU; Vitamin C 31.65mg; Iron 4.04mg

Produce for Kids has also launched a Pinterest contest where you could win gift cards to your local grocery store. Check it out HERE for more information.

* I received a gift card in exchange for sharing information about this campaign.

Get the Best Deal from Dish-Systems.com

Dish-Systems.com wants to help you get the best possible deal with Dish Network. They have an easy to navigate website that has compiled all of the best Dish Network deals to help save you time and money. They have taken the guess work out of getting what you want from your cable at a price you can afford.

As a busy mom, the idea of trying to figure out all of the options available these days for cable is overwhelming. I know what I need from my cable company, but I don't always have the time or energy to do my research and make sure I'm getting the best deal. So I was really interested in checking out Dish-Systems.com to see what kind of resources they pulled together. Since I don't know much about Dish Network I figured that if I could understand it and walk away with some more information then my readers would be able to as well.

Dish-Systems.com drew my attention towards three areas of interest:
Dish Network Discounts
Dish Network Blockbuster
Dish Network Tailgater

Within the Dish Network Discounts page they have broken your packages down into an easy to understand chart. You can click on the name of the package to get all of the details about what you would receive. They are listed in order of price from lowest to highest and let you know how many channels you would receive.

Dish Network Blockbuster gives you all of the information you need to know about adding Blockbuster @Home to your package. Again, they have laid out the prices of how much it would cost a month for a certain number of disks at a time. I had never even heard of this option, so this was all new to me. They listed some common questions and answers right on this page, so I was able to gather a ton of information in a short amount of time.

The Dish Network Tailgater is another option that I had never heard of. Did you know that you can take your Dish Network with you and watch TV outside? The Tailgater is a portable satellite TV antenna that allows you to hook up to a compatible dish receiver and watch TV. You could take it camping or to tailgating events.  You don't even have to have a yearly subscription. You can just active and stop your service as needed.

I think the Dish-Systems.com site is a huge help in learning about what Dish Network has to offer and what the right deal is for you. They have put a lot of time and effort into creating an easy to use and easy to understand informative site. Check it out today and learn more about what you could be getting with your cable.

* This is a sponsored post. However, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Baby Shower - Tommee Tippee

I am a big fan of Tommee Tippee. But I was introduced to this brand when my daughter was a toddler, so I am mostly familiar with the Explora collection. The Explora collection is filled with bright colors and fun designs that make meal time fun and functional. I was really excited when Tommee Tippee became available at Target, one of my favorite stores!

But with a new baby on the way my interest was focused on a much younger line, the Closer to Nature collection. Finding the perfect bottle for your newborn can be very challenging. This was very true for us with our daughter as she was breast fed and bottle fed. So the idea of using a bottle that is close to the natural design of a mother's breast is very appealing to me. And they are even designed to reduce air flow and make the babies feed comfortably.

I was fortunate enough to receive a bottle set, bottle cleaner, and set of bibs from Tommee Tippee to check out in person. The bibs are so incredibly soft and are designed with a dribble catcher. The dribble catcher absorbs leaks and spills as a baby eats. This helps keep things dry and reduce the possibility of irritation on baby's sensitive skin. I am very excited to use these with my new bundle of joy!

I have always been a fanatic about cleaning my baby's bottles. I use hot water and scrub into every nook and cranny that I can possibly get into. With the Tommee Tippee bottle cleaner has wide bristles to clean the insides as thoroughly as possible. And the nipple brush is conveniently tucked into the handle. so you always have it on hand. I love the design!

I am so impressed with Tommee Tippee. Their website is filled with useful information for getting feeding off to a good start, and continuing on through the first few years. I feel like this is a brand I can trust and I feel confident that I am using quality products at an affordable price. Their products are easy to find at Babies R Us and Target. I would definitely recommend that new moms and moms of young children check them out!

Baby Shower - Utterly Yours Pregnancy Pillow

The one thing I didn't have during my first pregnancy was a pregnancy pillow. So I knew going into this pregnancy that it was a top priority on my list. What I didn't realize was how quickly I was going to need one!

With my first pregnancy everything seemed to easy. It wasn't until the last month or so that things started to get uncomfortable. It was difficult to fall asleep and I started to have some back pain. This time around I felt like I was in my 9 month when I was only in my 4th! I'm not even kidding. My body seemed to remember being pregnant and I popped a big belly and started all my aches and pains.

This baby is measuring big... I'm not too surprised since my daughter was 9 lbs. 11 oz. But I truly wasn't prepared for how uncomfortable I would be so early one. Fortunately I knew I had an Utterly Yours Pregnancy Pillow on it's way. I had done some research on this product to see what other moms thought. I read about the facts on their website and then visited Amazon where there were several product reviews. The word seemed to be positive, so when this puppy arrived I opened it up and put it to use.

Here is a little about the product:

Proven to reduce back pain within the first few nights
OB/GYNs across the U.S. recommend it for optimal sleep positioning
Chosen by Disney as the #1 Pregnancy Essential
Recipient of the National Parenting Center 2012 Seal of Approval
Yoga instructors use it in class as a way to keep moms comfortably in place during their practice
Best-selling author of prenatal fitness books recommends it. She's an expert in body mechanics and promotes the pillow as a way to encourage side-sleeping as the safest position.
Folds into a cube and used as a decorative pillow when not in use
Easily fits into a suitcase for travel
Made with designer fabrics ECO FRIENDLY
Under $50

I was specifically looking for a couple of things with this pillow. I wanted support for my ever expanding belly. When I would lay on my side I would actually feel my belly pull down toward the bed. I found myself stuffing my blankets under to keep it supported. I was also looking for support for my back. I'm a back sleeper and staying on my side is very challenging. So I would stuff pillows behind my back so that I could roll slightly on my back while still staying on enough of an angle that I wasn't flat on my back.

I feel like this pillow was designed for me. It is the simplest set up with simply opening it up and laying between the two pillows. The pillow for your belly is softer, while the pillow for your back offers more solid support. My body literally melted into this pillow. My belly was comfortably resting on the soft side, but I also was able to lean towards my back for a change in position.

This pillow has kept me sleeping comfortably on my left side. The first night I woke up and removed the pillow so that I could roll onto my right side. I felt the difference right away and brought the pillow back. What a change you can feel when you have some support and then you go back to none! And my husband loves this pillow because it's very compact. It doesn't intrude on his side of the bed. And it's easy for me to take it with me when we travel. I would definitely recommend this product for any momma-to-be!

* I received this product from the company for review purposed. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and have not been influenced in any way.

Baby Shower - NUK Review

NUK recently sent me the most amazing box full of goodies. With my second baby on the way I am feeling a  bit more prepared for the whole newborn experience. With my first I was kind of in this world of ignorance is bliss. I didn't know too much about babies, except for changing diapers and feeding bottles (thanks to my years of babysitting). I was fortunate enough to have amazing doctors and friends who walked me through the new mom experience without making me go crazy doing research and trying to know it all.

One are where I was completely lacking any knowledge was baby dental care. I mean, they're toothless right? Boy was I wrong. Oral care for newborns is extremely important and can set the stage for how your child's mouth develops down the road. Using the correct pacifiers, bottles, cups, and cleaning tools can lead to healthier smiles and less time and money invested in dental care.

When it comes to providing the right products for healthy oral development NUK is the brand to trust. They have been the authority on this topic and have recently unveiled their new line of orthodontic pacifiers, orthodontic bottles, and oral cleansing products. These products have been designed to specifically promote healthy oral development at birth for life long benefits.

While these products have all the right stuff to keep your child's oral development on the right track, NUK didn't slack off the cute department. After all, these are babies and we moms want cute everything! Each product has designs geared towards girls and boys with bright, fun colors. And there is variety so you can try a couple of different kinds to find the one your baby likes, without sacrificing the health benefits.

Here is a little bit of information about each of the new products:

NUK® Grins & Giggles® Infant Tooth & Gum Cleanser (MSRP: $4.99)Designed for the tiniest mouths, the NUK® Grins & Giggles® Infant Tooth & Gum Cleanser properly cleanses gums and baby’s first little teeth of residues associated with feedings and saliva. This kit includes a soft finger brush to fit snugly on mom’s finger and feels great on baby’s tender gums.  The cleanser is made with enzymes found in breastmilk, is fluoride-free and safe to swallow and has a delicious natural apple-banana flavor so baby’s introduction to regular mouth cleansings will be a pleasurable experience.

NUK® Grins & Giggles® Toddler Tooth & Gum Cleanser (MSRP: $5.99)Created for toddlers of 12+ months, the NUK® Grins & Giggles® Toddler Tooth & Gum Cleanser includes a toddler sized brush with an ergonomically designed wide handle so even the littlest hands can easily hold it. The cleanser is fluoride-free and safe to swallow and has a delicious natural mixed berry flavor that will make the next step in mouth cleansing a breeze for parent and child alike.

NUK® TrendLine Dots Orthodontic Bottle 10-oz. (MSRP: $5.49)Lend a touch of style to feeding time and a bit of grace to post-feeding time!  This hot new orthodontic bottle features the NUK® brand’s unique orthodontic nipple for healthy oral development, plus the NUK® Air System which reduces colic. Great looking bottle styles coordinate with like-named pacifiers and learner cups, and are available in a variety of colors as well as in a smaller 5-oz size.

NUK® Soft OrthoStar™ Advanced Orthodontic Pacifier (MSRP: $3.99)Innovation in pacifier technology will gift baby with lifelong benefits courtesy of the NUK® Soft OrthoStar™ Pacifier.  This advanced orthodontic pacifier is made of 100% silicone and features five distinct OrthoStar™ advantages for little mouths. The flexible heart-shaped shield provides greater comfort while the nipple shape mimics the shape of mom’s nipple during breastfeeding.  To encourage healthy oral development, the scoop nipple cavity maximizes tongue movement to build strength, and a thinner neck lessens jaw pressure while integrated channels lessen palate pressure. Winner of 2012 Mom’s Choice Award for Pacifiers/Teethers. Available in a variety of colors. Available in silicone, 0-6 months.

NUK® TrendLine™ Babytalk Orthodontic Pacifier (MSRP: $4.99)Trendy pastel graphics with ABC’s, 123’s, and a pop of color mean baby can sport one of several hot new pacifier designs just introduced by NUK®, the #1 selling pacifier brand on the market. This top-selling orthodontic pacifier features key oral development benefits including being optimally adapted to baby’s oral cavity and mimicking the shape of mom’s nipple during breastfeeding.  This Pacifier features a design that coordinates with other NUK® TrendLine™ bottles and Learner Cups too, so baby will be fully outfitted with the most beneficial gear and smile bright too!  Available in silicone in sizes 0-6 months and 6-18 months.

NUK® Juicy Orthodontic Pacifier (MSRP: $4.79)These fresh-squeezed bright and juicy colors are as healthy as they look! Its natural orthodontic shape mimics the shape of mom’s nipple during breastfeeding and is optimally adapted to a baby’s mouth. Available in silicone and latex in sizes 0-6 months, 6-18 months and 18-36 months.

NUK® Lollipop Orthodontic Pacifier (MSRP: $4.79)Looking good and feeling great has never been so easy for baby. Translucent candy colors show off baby’s sweet smile when out on the town in the deliciously-styled NUK® Lollipop Pacifier. This top seller is available is several fun colors to match any outfit or baby, while featuring the brand’s trademark natural orthodontic shape which mimics the shape of mom’s nipple during breastfeeding and is tailored to benefit baby’s oral development. Available in silicone and latex in sizes 0-6 months and 6-18 months.

NUK® Babytalk Learner Cup 5-oz. (MSRP: $7.99)Babies start learning language in the womb, and can even cry in different accents as early as three days after birth. Show off your baby’s smarts with the NUK® spill-proof Babytalk Learner Cups –and help her transition to sippy cups in style. The spill-proof, soft spout is designed to be gentle on gums and the removable easy-grip handles with anti-slip grips make it easy to sip, travel, and learn all at the same time!

I also received the NUK Expressive Single Electric Breast Pump. I am so excited to try this out! I am planning on breast feeding, but with all the trouble I had with my first I want to be prepared to pump in case I need to do so between feedings to increase my supply. I am also planning on going back to work, so this will be a must! I love how compact it is, making it easy to take on the go. I will be sure to let you know how it works out once the baby is here.

Baby Shower - Pure Romance

I had never heard of Pure Romance before, but I'm glad I found out about it! It's one of those fun companies where you can become a consultant, host parties, or just shop online. They offer products for the bath, beauty, and the bedroom. These are the perfect products to chat about and look at during a fun girls night. Add a little wine and fondue and I'm there!

I was fortunate enough to get to check out one of their products up close and personal. With all the changes my body is going through it could use a little pampering. And what better way to do it then to fight the appearance of stretch marks at the same time!

Save My Skin is just what my body needed. It moisturizes and nourishes the skin with essential oils. I was starting to get that itchy tight feeling that comes along with the ever expanding belly, so each morning and night I would spray some of this fabulous oil onto my belly and slowly rub it in using circular motions. The oil glided on smoothly making it comfortable for me to apply. It also dried pretty quickly, so I didn't stay feeling oily all day. 

This oil has become a part of my daily routine. I won't say I'm without stretch marks (he's a big baby!) but I am much more comfortable. My skin feels great and I am growing each day! I would definitely recommend this for any mom to be! 

So head on over and check out Pure Romance online. You can learn all about the opportunities to host or become a consultant. Or you could just browse their selection of products and place your order online!