Winners!

Random.org has chosen our winners for the Chicken Soup for the Soul: Christmas Magic and  a new winner for the Magic Cabin Giveaways!!

Chicken Soup for the Soul - #20 Glogirl

Magic Cabin - #52 Carol M

Congratulations to our winners! E-mail notifications have been sent. The winners will have 48 hours to respond or we will have to choose another winner.

Thank you to everyone who entered!

Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 is coming Soon to DVD and Blu-ray

On February 1st Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment will release Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 on DVD and Blu-ray.  Everybody's favorite talking Chihuahuas are back! The newlywed Chihuahua parents, Papi (voiced by George Lopez) and Chloe, are surrounded by their playful puppies. When they find out their human owners are in trouble they will stop at nothing to help them out and find themselves on a heroic adventure.  The combo pack includes the "This is My Paradise" music video, Blooper Faux Paws, an interactive game and much more!  Get ready for the cutest puppies as Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 comes to DVD and Blu-ray 02/01/11. 

Beech-nut Review and Giveaway!

Beech-Nut^® is a family owned company dedicated to making nutritious, great-tasting infant and toddler food. We've been making baby food for over 75 years at our headquarters located in the heart of upstate New York. We have our very own test kitchen where we taste our food to make sure it’s healthy and delicious. It’s the purity and simplicity of our products that makes us proud to share our meals with your baby. We hope choosing Beech-Nut makes you just as proud.

When it was time for my daughter to start eating "solid" food I asked everyone what was "the best." Of course I got lots of different opinions and finally decided that the only way to find what was best for me and my daughter was to try lots of different kinds and do my research. 

Of course I started with what was available at my local grocery store to help make things easier for myself. Beech-nut was one of those brands so I started to do my homework. I was immediately impressed by their website. They laid everything out in a way that was easy for first time moms to understand. They broke their products down into age groups and offered a chart that told you where the food fell if your baby was on a special diet. The chart told you if a particular item contained milk, if it was soy-free or gluten-free, if it was Kosher... pretty much everything you would need to know before you even got to the store. It was great! And of course, everything is made with natural ingredients.

Beech-nut had been a part of my daughter's diet for while, so when I was offered the opportunity to try out their new Homestyle Cereals I said yes! Beech-Nut recently introduced Homestyle Cereals for baby, made with natural ingredients and no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. The Homestyle Cereals have a new gentle texture (made especially for baby), are Soy Free (with the exception of DHA) and are made with high quality ingredients, including 45% of the Daily Value of Iron and 25% of the Daily Value of Zinc & 7 B-Vitamins.

I received an amazing bag full of goodies.....

The organic cotton tote included two soft all natural bibs, three organic cotton burp cloths, one knitted organic teething rattle and samples of (and coupons for) the new Homestyle Cereals (valued at $70). Wow! Everything in this package blew me away, from how incredibly soft the burp cloths and bibs were, to how impressed I was with the cereals. I am beyond happy with Beech-nut! My daughter has been enjoying the cereals and I have even been mixing them with fruit. It's been great because she is practicing feeding herself and the thickness of the cereals make it easy and fun for her.

You can check out www.beechnut.com/starterkit to sign up for a Beech-Nut starter kit that includes free samples, coupons and feeding tips.

I am also really excited to tell you that Beech-nut is also now offering new toddler products! They are on our list to try.

GIVEAWAY: One Lucky Reader will win the same tote full of goodies that I received!
 
HOW TO ENTER: Leave a separate comment for each entry and be sure to leave your e-mail address!

MANDATORY ENTRY: Check out Beech-nut's website and tell me something you learned or a product you would love to try.

EXTRA ENTRIES:
1. Enter another one of my current giveaways (1 entry each)
2. Follow my blog
3. Follow me on Twitter and tweet (1 entry per tweet - 1 tweet per day)
4. Fan me on Facebook
5. Grab my button and tell me where it is (3 entries)

6. Sign up for the FREE E-Newsletter (2 entries)

This giveaway is open to US and Canada.
This giveaway ends on January 21, 2011 at 5:00 pm EST. One winner will be chosen by Random.org and notified by e-mail. Please respond within 48 hours or a new winner will be selected. Good Luck!

She Did Great.... I Survived

So our first "week" of childcare is over. I feel funny calling it a week when it's actually only two days. But I am very proud of both of us!  The drop off yesterday was tough. I cried. I don't really know why. I'm used to being away from her on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and now she's even closer to me then when she was home with my mother-in-law. I really think it was just my nerves. Would she like it? Would they take REALLY good care of her? Would the kids be nice? Yes, a whole lot of stressing. I think when they cut that umbilical cord you automatically grow an invisible one that can never be cut.

I did pretty well with the rest of the first day. I didn't want to go in and visit because I wasn't sure of how she would react. So I peeked through the window a couple of times and sent my co-worker in to check on her twice. She ended up having a great day and only cried at nap time. She also only took a 30 min nap, so last night she was passing out at the dinner table.

Today was great. I dropped her off no problem. Hugged and kissed her goodbye and didn't cry. I did the same thing and just peeked through the window. And I only sent my co-worker in once; and that was to see if she was sleeping during nap time. She wasn't. She slept for 20 minutes today. Yikes... my night is going to be fun!

I really thought I would have this big eventful post for you, but I am happy to report that I don't. When she woke up this morning I asked her of she wanted to go to school and she said "skoo" with a big smile. So I think she's having fun. I really feel comfortable with her teachers and all the kids seem so sweet. I think I've found a nice balance of working part time and having her be a part of group. The socialization and skills she will learn will be wonderful! I have a nice positive attitude, but of course will keep you all updated. I will probably be singing a different tune the first time she gets sick.

DailyFeats

DailyFeats is a new online social platform for people to share the positive actions, or the feats, that they do. With valued partners like 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, DailyFeats’ goal is to help people improve their lives via simple but meaningful feats that benefit the body, mind, home and community. DailyFeats awards points for the feats people do and share, which can then be redeemed for rewards, savings and gifts from leading local and national brands. Doing good and spreading cheer is easy, fun and rewarding at DailyFeats.

I signed up for DailyFeats not too long ago and it's so easy to do great things! You get points for eating your fruits and vegetable or whole grains. Or you can get points for taking the stairs or visiting a park. All easy things that will make you feel great. They even have a kid friendly section... so get the kids involved too! They can earn points by including someone who is left out or giving something away. It's a fun way to get everyone involved.

It's also really fun because you can see what other people are up to and support them on their DailyFeats!

You can use your reward points to earn awesome things.... like discounts on restaurants in your area or gift cards to places like 1-800-flowers or Amazon. I think you should check it out and start getting rewarded for the great things you do on a daily basis and building a great community with others!

Wordless Wednesday

I am posting this tonight because tomorrow is our big day! It's the first day little miss will be in childcare! I'm sure I will have a post later this week to fill you in on how it goes!

This past week we had a lovely family "staycation." And this is pretty much what it looked like all week...

Winners!

Random.org has chosen our winners for the Chicken Soup for the Soul, Ecomom, Skoy, and Magic Cabin Giveaways!!

Chicken Soup for the Soul - #13 Glogirl

Ecomom - #78 Candice

Skoy - #48 Krista

Magic Cabin - #209 Bethany

Congratulations to our winners! E-mail notifications have been sent. The winners will have 48 hours to respond or we will have to choose another winner.

Thank you to everyone who entered!

Lots of Changes in 2011

2011 will bring a lot of changes for me and my family. You all know about the weight loss and healthier lifestyle adventure that my husband and I will be taking. With this will bring a test of my cooking skills. My "go to" meals are not the healthiest, so I will be looking for new and exciting recipes that will keep us fit and trim while still tasting yummy. So if anyone has any they would like to share please e-mail them to me and I will post them for everyone else to enjoy as well!

You will also see a change in my blog. In the past I have focused to much on reviews and giveaways. While I think these are great and a huge part of Momma Drama, I feel other areas of importance have suffered. I want to make more of an effort to get back into Momma Blogging. Sharing stories, issues, and life in general. I feel like my readers need to "know" me in order to trust my opinions or relate to my reviews. So I will still be having awesome reviews and giveaways, but I will also be Momma Blogging a lot more! Plus, I need to balance my blogging life with my family life, and that means cutting back a little.

And the biggest change is that my little one will be entering the world of childcare. As most of you know, I work 2 days a week at a school for children with multiple disabilities. I am in charge of the technology department and love what I do. I have been there for exactly one year today... yay! And for that whole year my mother-in-law was making a huge sacrifice for us and driving 2 hours to stay with my little one two days a week. This was tough on everyone. It was a long drive for her every week, it was tough for us to have an overnight guest every week, and if she couldn't make it one week for whatever reason we had no back up plan.

There is a small childcare center in my building, so on Wednesday we will be starting our little (19  month old) daughter. She will go two days a week and I think it will be good for her. She loves to interact with other children, and I think the structure and change of scenery will be great. Of course I'm a wreck. I think it's hard no matter what to trust someone... anyone... with your child. I went through it when I first left her with my mother-in-law, and now I feel like I am starting all over.

It will be great to have her in the same building, and it's a huge relief that I already know the people taking care of her. But it's still a tough adjustment. I would love any words of advice from momma's who have been in this spot.

So that's my year ahead in a nutshell. I am really looking forward to growing more relationships with my readers and learning more about you! Happy New Year!

New Year's Resolution

I think I make the same resolution every year. I am going to lose weight. Sometimes I am more successful than others. Sometimes I am just not successful at all. But this year I want to change it up a little. Yes, I want to lose weight. But I also want to change my eating habits to help me live a healthier lifestyle. Having my daughter has made me realize that my health is really important. I want to be around for all the fun things in store, so I need to not only take care of my little one but also myself (and my husband who will be taking on the same dietary lifestyle completely against his will).

I am what you would a weight fluctuator.  I'm guessing that's not a word since my spell check doesn't like it... but that's what I am. I loose it, gain it, loose it, gain it. Let's look back.....

This is me on my wedding day. It was 2006 and I wasn't my heaviest or my lightest.

This is 2007 and I had lost some weight but wasn't totally happy.

By Summer 2008 I was looking and feeling great! I had started Weight Watchers and it was working.

Then I got pregnant in September of '08.

By April of 2009 I was about the size of a house. Luckily little miss arrived in May '09.

So over a year later here I am.....

I'm still about 30 pounds over the weight I was right before I got pregnant... yikes, I know. You can see it the most in my face. Don't get me wrong, I know I'm not unhealthy. But I know I can be healthier. So my goal is to lose 25 pounds before I get pregnant with my second. I am hoping to be able to have a healthier pregnancy and not gain as much weight as I did the first time around. I am totally guilty of "eating for two" at all hours of the day and night. Not this time around! It's so hard to bounce back, so I want to make the bouncing easier. 

Time Frame: 6 months

Plan: Eat healthier foods and smaller portions

Exercise: Haha! Chasing a toddler? Oh, and Just Dance 2 on the Wii (it is a great workout!)

Accountable to: YOU! I can't get to a Weight Watchers meeting every week with my schedule. So I will be sharing my progress with you!