The Cheese Says....Mmmmm

Curious George Christmas Special Review

2009-12-04T08:55:00.004-05:00

A Very Monkey Christmas, the new PBS special featuring my kids' favorite little monkey Curious George, premiered just before Thanksgiving. Thanks to PBS, we were lucky enough to get a copy for review a little earlier than that! Plus PBS sent me a free copy to watch and another free copy to give away to a reader, so lucky me and lucky you!

I knew that because my kids love Curious George that this would be a hit in my house, and I was not mistaken. It's a very welcome addition to our Grinch-Rudolf-Charlie Brown rotation, both for the kids and the parents. In the special George and the Man in the Yellow Hat fret over what to get each other for Christmas. They solve their problems and discover the true meaning of the holidays with the help of the whole cast of friends. There are Christmas songs throughout the special, with a few originals thrown in for good measure!

And in the spirit of the season, leave a comment and you'll be entered to win your very own brand new copy of A Very Monkey Christmas, guaranteed to arrive in your mailbox before Christmas!

Melissa & Doug Jumbo Knob Puzzle Review

2009-08-20T13:52:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago I was asked to test toys for a company called ebeanstalk. They sent out a number of baby toys and toys for 1 year olds to toy experts (moms) for their review. While ebeanstalk picks great toys, they like to get some help from the real experts - moms - and we help them select great learning toys. The toy they sent was Jumbo Knob Wooden Puzzle from Melissa & Doug who makes lots of ">wooden toys.

My daughter, who will be two this weekend, loves puzzles. As in L-O-V-E-S them. So she was quite smitten with it the moment I took it out of the package. Even though assembling the puzzle was quite easy for her, I was able to ask her questions about the shapes and colors of the puzzle pieces to keep her interested for a bit longer than she would have been just putting it together. Additionally, my 3.5 year old son wanted in on the action. The puzzle is simple enough that he could easily participate in quizzing my daughter as well. It was more than adorable to hear him ask her, 'What color is this square, Lucy?'

We have an arsenal of puzzles in our house, and this one keeps pace with the other favorites in our collection. Which is pretty impressive to me, considering it doesn't make noises or anything like some of our others. I enjoy wooden toys in general, and I think Melissa & Doug makes some high quality products, though I would like to see more of them made in the USA. That said, the Melissa & Doug website does have a full section devoted to safety, with each individual item's general conformance certificate available for inspection.

Overall, I think this puzzle is fun and age appropriate for a one year old child. Its simplicity would make it an ideal puzzle for a first birthday gift.

2009-03-31T06:20:00.001-05:00

Here is your winner! Congratulations CanCan!

List Randomizer

There were 11 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

CanCan
valmg
laura-dolcepics
Valerie
NadJen
Feener
one frugal lady
MJ
ilinap
Bonggamom
Wacki Jacki

Timestamp: 2009-03-31 11:20:16 UTC

Doin' What Comes Naturally

2009-03-22T19:07:00.005-05:00

Last year we planted our first garden. Despite some rookie mistakes, it was a rather successful endeavor. All winter we planned and plotted, started composting and got excited for the new gardening year.

We planted our seedling less than two weeks ago. Last week they looked like this. Just one week later here they are!

I'm almost worried that they'll grow too big before they are able to go into the ground!

While I'm excited about all of the tasty food we'll have come summer, what's really got me jazzed is how involved the kids want to be. Sam has been all over me to help plant seeds and help dad dig in the dirt. I asked his advice about what to grow and he actually suggested something! Peas! We're growing peas at the request of my child! Beyond growing our own veggies, we're also thinking about joining a co-op, or donating our excess to a local food bank.

There is a lot to do, and there is a lot to think about. I'm glad I have the company of my family to accompany me on these journeys.

This post was brought to you by SC Johnson's Nature's Source and The Parent Bloggers Network!

Leap Frog Tag Reader Giveaway for You and Your Local Library!

2009-03-11T11:43:00.002-05:00

Last July we reviewed the Leap Frog Tag Reader, and as I said back then we absolutely adore this thing!

"The way this fun little gadget works is really cool. It looks like a thick pen, which is easy for little hands to hold. Once you install the software on your computer you can download books onto it just like an ipod. But it doesn't just read the book. When you touch the tip of the book to the pages it can read them or you can use it to play games! "

Since then not only have we have purchased additional titles for our own library, but we've given the Tag Reader as a gift to several other friends and relatives. Every time we always hear that both the kids and the parents love it. I even suggested it to an indecisive grandma at Target one day, after hearing her wonder out loud what she should buy for her grand daughter.

In conjunction with National Reading Month, Leap Frog has launched the 1 Million Reading Hours program to encourage literacy and families reading together. To achieve this goal, Leap Frog has been kind enough to offer one of my faithful readers their very own Tag Reader with five book titles for their collection. In addition, Leap Frog will also send an expanded memory Tag Reader and ten book titles to their local library for community use.

All you have to do is leave a comment by Monday March 30th at 12 noon EST stating how much time you wish to pledge. The click over to the pledge page and record your pledge there as well. No registration is required, but you do need a valid email address. On March 31st a random winner will be selected! It's just that easy!

Don't Tell My Mother, But This Post Is About Sex Toys

2009-03-10T11:00:00.006-05:00

When I was first contacted to do product reviews for Eden Fantasys (I know and they know it's misspelled) I thought it was some kind of spam. I get several pitches a week and most of them are garbage. However, the gentleman who emailed me seemed like a real, live person, and he was friendly, too!

So then I had to really think things over. I mean, was I really interested in writing about sex toys. Here, where anyone (my mother comes to mind) might be able to find me? Did I really want to put that part of my life out there on the interwebs? It took a long time, but I finally decided that if Kristen can do, well then so can I! Plus, I'm pregnant and in about three or four months my husband isn't going to want anything to do with me physically. It's not his fault, it's just a mental thing, but a girl has needs, you know?

So if you are my mother, or anyone else who isn't interested in reading about thing I may or may not do in the privacy of my bedroom, then please click away. Go visit the totally innocent, adorable site Cute Overload!

The first sex toy I ever used was a plain old vibrator. And it was lame. Mostly it sat in a drawer. So when I got to choose my first item for review over at Eden Fantasys I tried to pick something I really thought I would like to use. Because of it's popularity in mainstream culture, I decided to go with a rabbit style toy, but I also figured why not throw in some other gadgets as well. Luckily, the Orgasmic Foreplay Kit 1 featured not only a multi-speed rotating rabbit vibrator, but also a multi-use probe sleeve with a removable micro-stimulator. Check it out here.

After a few weeks of really running it through the ringer, I can say that the multi-speed rotating rabbit vibrator is a winner. Let's just say it gets the job done in record time, every time. Personally, I think every gal should have something like this in the night stand. It's a bit on the loud side when you turn on the rotation, but not so bad when only in vibrate mode. It has multiple intensity settings so you can easily work your way up to climax, and the rotation mode can go in either direction for even more variation. I did find it a little odd and a bit humorous that in order to add texture the vibrator, they covered with raised pictures of fruit. Somehow, a pineapple just doesn't scream sexy to me, but you can't really see it when you're using it.

Since I'm pregnant and puking a lot of the time, we haven't had much opportunity to really use the kit together. I have to act when the mood strikes me, and often it's when the hubby isn't home. The micro-stimulator was helpful when used in conjunction with a partner, but maybe a little too powerful on the high setting. The sleeve looked interesting, but to be honest I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. I think that since the battery pack was attached via a wire, I was a little more awkward with it, as opposed to the rabbit vibrator, which has the batteries contained in the base.

Overall, I think this kit is a great way to start out for someone who isn't too savvy in the realm of sex toys. With all of the options, you'll figure out pretty easily and quickly what you like and then you can move on from there. I know that's what I plan to do!

Houseplants Beware!

2009-02-20T09:54:00.003-05:00

This is my cat Simon. He is awesome. He loves people, he is insanely patient with the kids, he's neat and clean and doesn't shed too much. His one and only negative quality is plant eating. I could buy this guy all the cat grass in the world and he turns his nose up at it, but if I bring home as much as one little house plant it gets devoured within minutes. So it follows that his favorite place to sleep isn't on the furniture, but as close as possible to the newest addition to the buffet!

Luckily, I care more about my out door plants than I do the indoor varieties!

This post was brought to you by the Pledge Fabric Sweeper - Show Off Your Shedder contest and the Parent Bloggers Network.

All Is Busy, On New Year's Day

2009-01-11T19:11:00.003-05:00

Every year my husband works on New Year's Eve, which means that most of the time he is off on New Year's Day. Since we are those people who decorate waaaaaaaay back in early December (or late November, occasionally) our tree is usually crispy by the 24th. With two kids and one cat, bits of wrapping paper are tucked under and in every little nook and cranny. Toys are strewn about and the animatronic Santa in the front yard is half burnt out.

It's really quite tragic.

So we spend the day sorting and piling, packing and filing. He's in charge of the outside and I take care of the inside, with a little (and I mean a little) help from the kids. Once everything is safely stashed in the basement in their big red and green tubs we haul out that vacuum and start sucking up the needles. Luckily, the kids like this part and are quick to point out any strays that I missed.

Once everything is finally clean and the kids are in bed we enjoy the champagne we missed out on the night before!

This post was brought to you by The Parent Bloggers Network and right@home. Click through to PBN to find out how to play and win!

Cheese Party Reviews Button

2009-01-08T13:16:00.001-05:00

Cheese Party Button

2009-01-08T13:01:00.001-05:00

Avoidance: It's the Only Way

2008-12-14T21:01:00.002-05:00

Here it is, plain and simple: when we go back to visit our families of origins during the holidays the drinks flow a little too freely. My mother-in-law loves champagne, as do I. My parents always stock up on Mike's Hard Lemonade over Christmas. As soon as five o'clock rolls around (technically, it's actually when the kids go to bed) the libations begin flowing. And sometimes they keep flowing late into the evening. And sometimes early into the morning. Which only leads to sorrow the next day when someone is calling for 'Mommy' at 7:05am. So this year, to control at least some of the chaos, I am going to try to avoid the booze. Maybe not every day, or maybe not 100%. Let's just be honest here, some occasions necessitate a drink.

Just maybe not three.

This post was brought to you by the Parent Bloggers Network and BigTent. Click on over to find out how to play and maybe win a $250 Target gift card. If only they sold six packs!

eebee's adventures!

2008-11-30T15:07:00.007-05:00

Waaaaaaaaaaay back when Sam was a baby and we were new to the world of videos on demand, I went through the entire 'kids' menu trying to find some good quality programming. Amidst all the PBS and Nick offerings I stumbled upon eebee's adventures. It was a big hit with my wee boy, and for a few months we would watch some of the short videos every few days.

Cut to almost three years later. Sam is now very opinionated, and when we flip on the TV he is usually the one choosing the show. Lucy doesn't seem to mind too much, but I've been trying to come up with something they can both watch and enjoy. Plus it needs to be something I don't find to be completely mindless drivel as well. Needless to say we end up watching the 'Your Baby Can Read' DVDs quite often.

Luckily the Parent Bloggers Network came to the rescue, sending us an eebee's adventures DVD and a soft eebee book for our viewing/playing pleasure. The video contains three segments: laundry list, just you and me and little objects, big ideas. The book is all about laundry time and ties in nicely with the video.

The main focus of eebee's world seems to be learning from the objects around you. Eebee and the other children featured in the video use fabrics, mirrors, cereal and pots and pans in their learning adventures. There are simple, catchy songs that got both of my kids dancing and singing along. Plus the title song is easily adaptable to accommodate any child with a two syllable name. I don't get it entirely, but they both lose their minds when I substitute 'Sammy' or 'Lucy' for 'eebee' in the song.

The book is also a fun little learning experience for young minds. The laundry book has activities such as putting towels in the washing machine and hanging clothes on the line to dry. It's bright and colorful and full of different textures. Lucy especially loved the crinkly parts. Being almost three, Sam was a little too old for this book, but he actually had some fun showing Lucy all of the ways to play with it.

As a bonus, it doesn't feel like they are trying to sell my kids something every other minute. I mean, even Sesame Street had commercials these days. Yes, they have toys and other merchandise, but they don't beat you about the head with it.

As a parent, I have very much enjoyed eebee's adventures. It's simple approach to learning and exploring with everyday objects has made me more creative with my own everyday objects.

Care to win a copy of eebee's adventures 'All in a Day's Play' and the 'Laundry Time' soft book? Leave a comment here by friday 12/5 at midnight to enter!

Truly Amazing

2008-11-03T18:00:00.003-05:00

From the moment my first child was born I was astonished. His tiny body, so recently surrounded by my own, made so many miraculous changes practically in the blink of an eye. The transition to breathing rather than getting oxygenated blood via the cord. The closing of heart valves and the opening of new ones. Without these, his life, and human life, would be impossible.

In Amazing Baby, Desmond Morris covers everything from these first moments until your sweet little newborn is somehow a two year old. From organ systems to personality development, this book covers basic biology in a way that would make any person, parent or not, interested in these lovely little beings.

Accompanying Morris' text are hundreds of stunning photographs. These are what transform this from simply a parenting reference to a work of art. Take it from someone who considers photographing her children a highlight of her day: these photos are a big part of what makes Amazing Baby amazing. Also, you don't have to take just my word for it. Both of my kids attempted, on several occasions, to kiss the photos of the adorable babies. Luckily I had dry washcloths near by so that the book wasn't ruined. Several of the photos are also accompanied with overlays which show complex internal structures, such as the newborn skull, eye anatomy or brain lobes.

With all of the information on development and anatomy, Morris never misses an opportunity to drive home his main point that parents have the most profound effect on their child's development. As he states at the end of the book,

"Looking into the tiny face of a newborn baby as she nestles in her mother's arms, it is important to remember that they way the little infant is treated during the first two years of her life will have a profound effect upon the course she takes later as an adult. It should be easy enough for a child who has enjoyed a loving, richly stimulating, fun-packed infancy to grow up into a happy, well-adjusted adult. For an neglected or deprived infant, however, it may prove much harder."

Thanks to the The Parent Bloggers Network for introducing me to Amazing Baby. I'm definitely going to be holding onto this one. You know, just in case!

Autism's False Prophets

2008-10-20T17:43:00.002-05:00

Just before Lucy was born I reviewed Paul A. Offit, M.D.'s book Vaccinated. I know it's odd to say that I enjoyed reading a book on vaccine history, but as a (former) scientist and a parent, it appealed to me. It was well written and well researched. When The Parent Bloggers Network reached out to me to review his new book, Autism's False Prophets, I couldn't say no. The first book only covered the history of vaccines, and as any person, parent or not, knows, vaccines have been very much at the center of many major stories in the past decade.

Offit knows his work has consequences. He starts the prologue by quoting some of the more colorful hate mail he has received. Having my own children, I cannot fathom how difficult it must be to parent one with special needs. I can imagine that these parents, in moments of desperation, are just looking for someone to blame. Many choose Offit as their target, and while this could lead to risks to himself and his family, he presses on. Why? Because he believes he is doing the right thing. The just thing.

I admit, I have to agree.

Offit spends the beginning of the book discussing Andrew Wakefield's proposition that vaccinations, specifically the MMR vaccination, causes autism. The way in which the information was presented lead to a media storm of enormous proportions that had millions believing unproven, unsound data. After Wakefield's bombshell, Offit goes on to detail many of the supposed treatments for autism. These treatments had parents of autistic children digging deep into their pockets, giving them hope of a cure. None of the children were 'cured' and some of them were even harmed in the process.

Offit also delves into the scientific and judicial process for the reader to dissect exactly how these process work in relation to these cases against vaccinations. (I know it sounds boring, but seriously it's not!) He also discusses the relationships between science and the media, science and society and how those can affect the way information is disseminated.

Paul A. Offit M.D. is, no doubt, a man with an agenda. He wants to protect children from unnecessary, harmful procedures. He wants to protect parents from spending countless dollars on what amounts to snake oil. And he wants to protect the doctors and scientists who are hard at work on autism causes and treatments.

Which is why I hope we continue to hear from Paul A. Offit, M.D.

Finally! An Acceptable Form of Bathroom Reading. Once Upon a Potty.

2008-10-13T06:18:00.002-05:00

Remember a few weeks ago when I posted a picture of Sam in big boy underpants? Yeah, well, that was kind of a short lived adventure that ended in me cleaning poop off of the floor in three separate locations! Fun times. So when the Parent Bloggers Network sent me a copy of Once Upon a Potty (actually two copies! The girl version and the boy version!) I was ecstatic!

Truth be told, we already owned a copy of the boy version, with Joshua and his mother, and it had been a big, big hit. But when our new copies arrived I couldn't have been happier. First of all, they have sturdy, board book-like pages which are nearly impervious to ripping little hands. Plus they came with an audio cd of original music, introductions by the author Alona Frankel, and a reading of the story.

The songs, 'The Joshua & Prudence Theme' and 'The Potty Song' are kick-y little jazz numbers that come both with lyrics and as instrumental pieces. This is a nice feature if you have a little song bird in your house. It's like toddler potty karaoke! The only drawback to the cd is probably unique to us. As soon as Sam sees a disc, he assumes it's a video, so he was initially a little disappointed that there was only music. Once he heard the song, though, he was grooving his little bum to the sax.

The reading of the book is quite lovely as well. There is music and plenty of cute sound effects. Sam especially likes the sound of the Joshua's present being unwrapped and of the toilet flushing. Why am I not surprised?

Wanna know the best part, though? Last week Sam peed and pooped on the potty! I was so excited! And so was he! As soon as he was done, he turned around and looked into the potty to see his accomplishments. When he saw what was in there, he exclaimed,

ALL MINE PEE AND POOP WIGHT INSIDE IT!!!

Which is a toddler variation of what Joshua says when he finally pees and poops on the potty. I made sure to tell him that I was very happy and proud, just like Joshua's mother. He couldn't have been happier.

And that is the moment I will choose to remember in the future when I recall the trials of potty training. Not that one where I was cleaning human poop off of the floor in my living room, foyer and bathroom.

The First Time I Ever Found Myself Rooting for Another Man's Sperm

2008-09-15T18:20:00.005-05:00

One of the first blogs I ever read was A Little Pregnant. I was newly pregnant myself (hence the obsession with blogs that had the word 'pregnant' in the title) and had plenty of free time (since I had no kids yet) and so I spent the better part of a work week reading Julie's archives. It became an obsession, but in a good way. As I would later find out, having a little insight into an infertile couples' struggles helps when dealing with the situation in real life. I have been very fortunate to only have know a few people who have dealt with/are dealing with infertility and I feel I was, perhaps, slightly more aware of my words and actions because of reading this blog.

Enter Maybe Baby, a book by Matthew M.F. Miller, who also pens a blog of the same name. This story of infertility is somehow entertaining and gut wrenching all at the same time. It's also unique because it is written by a man, baby. In this whole slew of parenting blogs there is a good corner devoted to daddy bloggers, but this was the first infertility blog/memoir I had heard of that was written by the less fair sex.

Miller delves into his past as an overweight adolescent and the road to becoming healthy in a way that makes you really invested in his story. Once he's met Constance, his wife, you can't help but root for the guy. When they decide to buy some Pottery Barn crib bedding before they even begin trying for a baby, though, you know you're going to be reaching for the tissues by the end.

And if this story doesn't quite convert you to Matthew M.F. Miller fan-dom, check this out: He's going to run 22.6 miles (the distance between their first apartment and the fertility clinic) and get sponsors in order to help fund another couples' fertility treatments. He's calling it the 1st Maybe Baby IVF Scholarship. Constance is a lucky woman.

I've become a total fan of Miller and his story, and am now an avid follower of his blog. I won't spoil it for you, but I have a feeling there's a happy ending in store for them down the line!

Thanks to the Parent Bloggers Network for bringing this book and blog my way. As if I didn't have enough blogs to read, now I'm hooked on one more!

How the Good Lord Helped Me Learn About Finances

2008-09-10T11:17:00.005-05:00

When I had my first communion I received over two hundred dollars in gifts. To a seven year old it was like hitting the lottery. My parents took me to the bank and helped me open my first savings account. They also let me keep ten bucks out to buy myself a toy, which made handing over the rest of the money a little easier. They explained how the savings account worked, and even though the interest I was making amounted to less than a dollar a year I was enthralled.

As I got older I worked as a baby sitter, a bingo waitress and at McDonald's. Every time I got a paycheck I went to the bank and made a deposit into this same savings account.

I started thinking about that day a few months ago when Sam became aware of money. Coins, to be exact. While I'm not sure he understands their specific value, he seems to grasp that you can exchange it for goods and services. When he uses the potty he often requests a quarter for his potty prize in lieu of a stickers or candy. As soon as he gets the money in hand he darts upstairs to put it in his bank. Unfortunately he doesn't quite understand about paper money. This became immediately apparent when we took him to trade in his full bank of coins for paper money. He pitched a fit of epic proportions in the bank lobby. As he gets older we plan to let him start buying a toy or treat for himself with money he saves in his bank.

We often play grocery store and use pennies to pay for our baskets of pretend apples. I've bought him a play cash register for Lucy's birthday (although I never did give it to him because so many other people brought him gifts!) and once we break it out I'm hoping he'll get a little better understanding of things.

Once they both get a little older we'll start assigning some simple chores that they can do in order to receive an allowance. Then the savings accounts will be opened, and allowances and birthday moneys will be deposited with great gusto.

I think my parents did a pretty good job teaching me about money and savings. I can only hope I can do the same for my kids.

One way I can help to save money now is by winning and iphone instead of buying one! Capital One and The Parent Bloggers Network are giving away THREE iphones this weekend! Just write a post about how and when you taught/plan to teach your kids about money and then email the post to the folks over at PBN.

Moe' Yoyo Mommy?

2008-09-01T18:57:00.005-05:00

A few weeks ago we got a coupon in the mail for some Yoplait Kids products thanks to the Parent Bloggers Network. I've seen them before in the supermarket, but honestly I usually spring for that other 'Yo' brand yogurt for kids and babies. The main reason for that is that I can't stand when a product has licensed characters plastered all over the packaging, and these Yoplait products seem to be Nickeloden's whore. Dora, the Backyardigans and Blue's Clues adorn every container. However, the claim that they have 25% less sugar than the leading kids yogurt and are supplemented with DHA always caught my attention, so I was glad to give them a try for free!

I picked up the drinkable yogurt in mixed berry flavor and the yogurt cups in vanilla/banana. The drinkable yogurt was a huge hit. I tasted it, too, and I found it to be pretty yummy. As an added bonus Sam was able to drink it through a twisty straw. It's actually a double bonus because not only does he love it but it's good for his speech therapy!

The yogurt cups went over well, too. We usually mix yogurt with some fruit and cereal. The banana and vanilla flavors lend themselves to this very nicely. The texture was smooth and Sam gobbled them up.

One thing I really liked is that when you visit the Yoplait Kids site you can get all of the nutritional information for each different style and flavor of yogurt.

Because Sam isn't a huge milk drinker (unless it's chocolate milk, of course) it's very important that he gets calcium from other sources. He likes cheese, but he loves yogurt. Since these yogurts contain less sugar, they are a plus. However sugar is still the second ingredient in ~~most~~ all of the flavors. I would love it if they made a plain yogurt as well since we usually just mix our own flavors with fruit purees, but these are a nice, quick snack. Plus they are a little cheaper than that other 'Yo' yogurt brand I usually buy.

And I know they are a big hit because I constantly receive the request for 'Moe' yoyo Mommy!' after every helping!

Reality Bites

2008-08-07T09:07:00.004-05:00

The one and only piece of advice I give first time parents is that they should try and eat out as much as possible when their new baby is born. With the baby. Why? Because until that baby is, say, 4 or 5 months old eating out with him or her is a snap. They are too young to require any food of their own, even when crying they are relatively quite, they are uber-portable, and if you are lucky, they'll fall asleep in the car seat on the way there and remain so for the duration of your meal.

But once you hit a certain age, all bets are off. We learned this the hard way with Sam when he was about 7 months old.

In Atlanta, at least for a while, we didn't have a babysitter. We tried to eat out early so that we could take Sam. Plus the restaurants usually don't get busy until 7-ish, so if you show up at 5:30 there are fewer people for your kid to potentially annoy.

One night we were feeling bold and decided to try a new, upscale causal place. SOB had heard from a friend at work that it was family friendly, so we packed Sam up and headed out for our early bird special. With traffic and parking difficulties we didn't get into the restaurant until almost 6:30. We were nervous, but they staff was kind and seated us way in the back. Unfortunately the place filled up right quick and soon Sam was terrorizing the hell out of us and everyone nearby. He was throwing puffs, toys, spoons, anything he could get his hands on.

Needless to say, we took our desserts to go.

This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by Burger King Corp.

I'm So Savvy!

2008-07-10T18:23:00.007-05:00

Thanks to the Parent Bloggers Network, The Savvy Source for Parents and Leap Frog, a few weeks ago Sam got a fantastic new present in the mail. It was a Leap Frog Tag reader, and from the first moment he simply adored it. The way this fun little gadget works is really cool. It looks like a thick pen, which is easy for little hands to hold. Once you install the software on your computer you can download books onto it just like an ipod. But it doesn't just read the book. When you touch the tip of the book to the pages it can read them or you can use it to play games! Our package came with three books, including Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, one of Sam's absolute favorites. He loves it so much that he's barely even looked at the other two. As an added bonus to moms and dads, it has a headphone jack so it would be a great take along item for a plane or car trip.

The Leap Frog is working in conjunction with The Savvy Source for Parents on this outreach. The Savvy Source widget you see over there in the sidebar is filled with questions about your preschooler. Once you complete the quizzes (there are 8: visual arts, language development, early science, music, early math, social skills, movement and coordination, and orientation in time and space) you are given a list of games, toys and activities that would be useful for your child's development. The quizzes don't take too long, but you can save you results and finish later if you get overwhelmed. The list items range from activities suggested by other parents (which are usually FREE) or things you can buy.

We tried several activities, but Sam's #1 favorite involved sorting and counting M&Ms. I had him separate them by color and once he counted each pile he was allowed to eat them. I'm sure you can figure out why he liked this one! Also, since we already had a few of the books recommended in the visual arts guide, we focused on them at bedtime.

Finally, the part of the Savvy Source site that I really think has the most potential is the pre-school assessment quiz. When choosing Sam's current school we had to really just go with our gut after touring and meeting with staff members from different places. On the Savvy Source page parents can answer questions about their child's school for something of a data base. Once enough data gets collected this will be an awesome online resource for parents when choosing schools.

By the way, if you are interested in running the Savvy Source widget on your blog, drop me a line at cheeseparty@gmail.com. You could make a little bank from your blog!

FYI, My Baby Is A Girl

2008-05-21T19:08:00.003-05:00

Lucy is only nine months (!) old and her hair was a bit late to come in, so I shouldn't be surprised that so many people think she's a boy. (Aside: By the time Sam was nine months old he has so much hair people were confusing him for a girl.) I'm all for dressing her in feminine hues, but if she's in the stroller or just having a neutral outfit day, I get a lot of comments of the Oh-your-little-boy-is-so-cute variety. Luckily, we were rescued from a few more (wretched) months of gender confusion by Maiden America and the Parent Blogger's Network!

Maiden America, founded by Tristan Benz, hand crafts non-slip barrettes for kids and adults alike. They also make handbags, headbands and frames are soon to follow. Their non-slip technology is patent-pending even! Now I honestly say that as this campaign came my way, Lucy had just barely enough hair for barrettes, but since they said that these stay put in even the finest of hair, I couldn't resist.

I was not disappointed.

Within minutes of opening the package we had this lovely little green number in her hair. It stayed there for almost 5 hours until daddy got home so that we could show him how effing cute it was! It had to come out for bath time, though.

I literally put these barrettes in first thing in the morning when I'm getting her dressed, and they stay put all day long.

This ladybug one is a personal favorite of mine. I even put it in her hair for the monthly studio pics.

Here she is so adorable even she can't stand it!

As an added bonus, Maiden America threw in an extra little treat for us in the form of 1) a bonus barrette and 2) a cool little ribbon with rings on the end deal-ie to store them all on. I know that doesn't explain it well, but it's in the room with the sleeping baby. Otherwise I'd take a picture. But it is awesome, to say the least.

It's also nice to support a company who is pro-parent/pro-childhood. The company's name came about when Tristan Benz explained to her daughter that, "Maidens are “everyday princesses” with the freedom to learn, work, earn and do SO much more. How fortunate we are to be maidens! How sorry we feel for the princesses! :-)"

So I guess I should consider myself one of the lucky ones. I never went through the pitfalls of trying to find hair accessories that are pretty and that stay put on my little maiden's head. I'll never have to worry about that, because I'll be shopping at Maiden America.

A Great-Grandmother's Dream Come True

2008-05-12T19:37:00.003-05:00

There is no denying that we live in a digital age. However, not all of the inhabitants of this earth are technologically inclined. Take, for example, my grandparents, and probably yours as well. My uncle provides them with state of the art phones, cameras and computers but my Grammy has never once sent an email. She still answers her phone by saying, 'Who is this?' instead of learning to program our numbers. Then as soon as I identify myself she demands to know why she hasn't seen recent photos of her only great-grandchildren.

Busted.

You see, I spend a great deal of time putting photos online for all of my friends and family to see. Most of them love seeing the photos of Sam picking his nose even though we live hundreds of miles away. Every Sunday my mother visits my grandmother and she tells her all about the most recent pics I've emailed to her. An hour later I get an angry call demanding prints.

The other big complaint I get from friends and family is that I send too many pictures. As a precaution I back up all of my photos to an online source (in addition to an external hard drive. What can I say? I'm nuts.) That means that my second cousin Carrie from Ohio usually has to sift through 900 random photos to find the 6 or 7 cute ones.

Sound familiar? Guess what? I've found a solution!

It's called Kinzin. It's a new family photos sharing website that takes your privacy and your non-computer savvy family members seriously.

According to the site, Kinzin allows you to 'Keep tight control over who has access to this valuable personal content,' i.e. your kids images. Now I've never been shy about putting my kids' mugs online, but as they get older it's something I think about more and more. Kinzin makes it easy (both for you and the people you invite to share with) to keep things private. Plus the site is fun. If you already have your photos in a flickr account you can link the two services up to avoid additional uploading. You can caption each photo as you upload it, so it's almost like a virtual scrapbook. And? You can use your photos to actually create an actual scrapbook if that's your thing.

As as added bonus, if you use facebook you can make your kinzin page available to people already in your friend pool as well as us non-facebook users as well. I'm sure there is a better way to express that, but since I don't do the facebook thing I don't know the lingo. Sorry! If you are a facebook user definitely check it out.

But the thing that sells it best for me is the mail service. While membership to the site is free, for just $2.99 per month you can have the ten most recently uploaded photos shipped to three separate addresses. Every month! As in real, true photos in my Grammy's mailbox every month. I haven't received my first set of photos just yet, but I should get them tomorrow. There was, however, a little mix up where I received photos of kids I don't know, and I have to say the print quality looked awesome!

Overall I have really enjoyed my experiences with Kinzin and plan to continue using it. Don't believe me? Check out all of the Kinzin reviews over at the Parent Blogger's Network. I'm not the only one who's been singing their praises!

Mama Rock's Rules Proves That Mama Rock Rules!

2008-05-08T07:02:00.005-05:00

If my mother somehow ever came face to face with Rose Rock, mother of comedian Chris and author of Mama Rock's Rules, I'm pretty sure they would become fast friends. Why? Because Mrs. Rock's Ten Lessons for Raising a Household of Successful Children are right up my mom's alley. These lessons should be required reading for any parent. I mean, she did raise ten kids of her own and seventeen foster children, so I'm pretty sure she qualifies as a parenting expert.

Now not everything in this book is groundbreaking information. In fact, a lot of this falls into the common sense category, but Mrs. Rock presents it in a humorous and warm fashion that makes it fun to read. Even when she's being serious and stern she's still hilarious, like when she suggests you 'pull out that can of whup-ass' to help change your child's negative behavior. Also adding to the book's overall friendly feel are stories from her children peppered in the margins of each chapter. You can tell her kids approve of her methods because of these contributions.

Mrs. Rock hits on many important topics like sitting down to dinner as a family, self respect, the importance of reading and even sex education and spirituality. Even though some of this information presented is stuff most people (should) know, that doesn't mean there is nothing to be learned here. For example, I loved her idea about scheduling some regular family reading time, just as you would do for any other type of appointment. This is something that would have never occurred to me, but now I plan to put it on the agenda ASAP.

I also appreciated how she handled the chapter on spirituality. We are not a religious family, so when I began reading I could feel my eyes beginning to roll. However I was pleased to find her discussion of faith fairly balanced. She also touched upon something, that as a biologist, I find very important and that is recognizing the beauty in nature as a form of prayer. I may not see god looking up at a crucifix, but in watching a seed sprout I can find a higher power.

Another nice touch, at the end of each chapter Mrs. Rock added a bullet point summary of all the wisdom imparted on the previous pages. I have to think that she did this on purpose, knowing that in moments of parental insanity having these valuable lessons summarized and at our fingertips would be highly useful!

Whether your kids are six months or sixteen, Mama Rock's Rules is for you. These are rules that have and will stand the test of time.

Visit the Parent Blogger's Network for more reviews of Mama Rock's Rules and other great stuff!

25 Is the New 18? Really?

2008-04-27T19:00:00.005-05:00

I can think of at least seven people in my life who would benefit greatly by reading Were You Raised By Wolves?: Clues to the Mysteries of Adulthood by Christie Mellor. My brother, for one, who is embarking on his first ever apartment alone (at age 26) after living with my parents, grandparents, and his ex-fiancee for the last 6 years. A smattering of soon-to-be college graduates who are younger siblings of some of my life long friends. And, let's face it, me. Being the ripe old age of 29 doesn't mean I can't use a few new tricks up my sleeve, and this book is chock-full of 'em!

Besides giving practical advice on everything from making your bed to making a flower arrangement, this book is packed with witty humor and fantastic illustrations. Mellor, author of The Three Martini Playdate (note to self: update my GoodReads to read list) has a wealth of information and talent to go on, and the list of Unbelievable Baking Soda Tips! is worth the price of the book alone. There is also tons of info on behavior in the workplace, how to dress, hosting parties, and 'Not Being an Embarrassment.' There is an extremely useful chapter on the kitchen and cooking which instructs on how to boil and egg and make your own mayo. I particularly enjoyed the section on how to poach a chicken, because honestly, I had no idea.

Also enjoyable was the chapter on starting your own holiday traditions. Since all of our family lives about 300 miles away or more, we were forced to choose between schlepping every mother loving child-related item in our house to Pittsburgh or inviting folks to our place. Now we host Thanksgiving, and I found several good ideas to throw into our celebration for next year!

Also, since January I've been trying to spend less money on silly things (read: starb*cks) and tuck it into a savings account. So far I've been doing quite well, but I wanted to make some projections. Guess what? She references a 'Stop Buying Expensive Coffee and Save' calculator, and I found it very handy indeed!

So overall, I'm going give Were You Raised By Wolves?: Clues to the Mysteries of Adulthood a big old recommendation, both for those newly hired twenty-somethings who are getting paid enough to buy it and us older folks who should buy it for them if they can't! Many thanks to the Parent Bloggers Network for bringing this gem to my attention!

Truth

2008-03-28T14:57:00.002-05:00

Before becoming a parent, I wish I had known that the things that I fear myself would be magnified by a thousand percent or more for my children. I knew that having kids would open up a whole new world of fears and phobias, but I never realized how many nights they would keep me awake. It's so much more difficult to manage these anxieties when you know that, ultimately you have no control. I may stay out of the ocean because I'm scared of it, but I can't make my kids do the same. The loss of control makes things terrifying to the Nth degree.

Perhaps if I had realized this earlier I would have done some preemptive therapy!

This Blog Blast was brought to you by Discovery Health and The Parent Bloggers Network! Click on over for details on how to participate and check out the prizes!

Get the Scoop on Diaper Goop

2008-03-24T11:59:00.004-05:00

Right around the time of Lucy's six month check-up she developed a nasty looking diaper rash. We had the pediatrician take a look, and while he wasn't worried, he did suggest trying a few things to help clear it up. First he said to try an over the counter anti-fungal cream, because she had a fungal rash nearby, even though they didn't look that similar. If that didn't work he suggested an over the counter antibiotic ointment. Well, two weeks later she was still all rashy. Luckily we had agreed to try out (that is, I agreed to experiment on their bums in the name of science) a cool diaper cream called Diaper Goop for the Parent Bloggers Network a few weeks before and the package had just arrived!

I opened the first jar and examined the contents. Diaper Goop is a creamy yellow color and a little sticky because it's lanolin based. Which is, um, awesome if you are also a nursing mom like me! Not only can you use it on your baby's bum, but you can use it on dry nipples! I'm not currently suffering from that particular affliction, but I have had some wickedly chapped lips lately, and guess what helped heal those right up? Diaper Goop! They should call this stuff 'Everywhere Goop' because once I started slathering it on myself I couldn't stop. Crusty, winter hidden knees and elbows look fresh and new! My heels are as soft as butter! Flaky cuticles smooth as silk. Both kids currently have colds, and I've been using it under their noses to prevent chapping. Superb!

But how about the bums? Well, unfortunately Lucy's rash was a particularly tenacious bacterial thing that required a prescription, but since we've finished that up I've been using Diaper Goop on her every night as a precaution. And Sammy loves it. He actually asks to have his bum gooped before bed. Well, not so much 'asks' but when I'm putting on his overnight diaper he lifts his legs, points to his nether regions and says, 'Mommy, cream!'

We received a few extra tubs of Diaper Goop to pass along to friends, but I might be tempted to keep them for myself! Thanks PBN!

Mah Preshus Boi

2008-02-29T14:26:00.003-05:00

We all love our children and think they are the most beautiful/intelligent/athletically gifted people in the universe. After all, aren't they a perfect blend of you and your partners' most glorious traits?

Don't you want to just eat him up?

But recently we've been dealing more with where Sam is lacking rather than where he is excelling. It took all this time, but we finally have a speech therapist coming next week to start working with him. For the duration, I was so focused on this one negative. But guess what? Sam has a lot of positives. He can sing along with any tune. He can finger paint with reckless abandon. He can whip up a mean plastic food soup for lunch. But the thing I think he's best at is loving.

Yes, he may have trouble with telling me how much he loves me, but he shows me in a million ways every day. First of all, one of the only words he speaks clearly is 'Mommy' which he calls out all day. Frequently he says 'Mommy' while he makes the sign for 'I love you.' Talk about heart melting!

But it's not just me. He loves everyone. When I pick him up from school it takes us 15 minutes to say goodbye because he. Must. Hug. Everyone. Including Max, who never wants to be hugged. Then he must blow everyone kisses. Then he must say 'Bye bye' to every single person. And they all love it! Except for Max.

I frequently hear him mumbling to himself while playing. When I listen closely (and because I know his secret language) I hear him naming all the people he knows and loves. It goes like this most of the time:

Mommy
Dada
Yanni (Aunt Allison)
Pop-Pa
Nana
Yeow (our cat)
Oose (Baby sister Lucy)

And repeat.

So my little guy, while not the most talkative boy in town, might be one of the most lovable.

And god damned if he isn't cute!

--

This post was brought to you by the Parent Bloggers Network and Jennifer Fox, the author of Your Child's Strengths. Visit PBN for all the details!

Backyard Bugs

2008-02-22T09:35:00.002-05:00

When I was in college I did an internship at the Philadelphia Zoo. The duration of my summer was spent inside a small rotunda with about 75 different kinds of bugs. Like African hissing cockroaches, scorpions and tarantulas. Part of our 'job' was to become very familiar and comfortable with the animals on exhibit because the kids were allowed to hold most of them, and we had to be able to transfer them from the terrariums to their arms.

Yeah.

So I got over my fears of scorpions pretty effing quickly.

After a few days I realized that these creatures, who most people treat with scorn, are really quite exquisite. After that, my love of insects only got more intense. (Except for bees. I HATE bees.) I ended up doing my senior project on crayfish, which are like insects that live underwater. And all of this was because I was pressed to move beyond my comfort zone and really learn to appreciate creatures totally different from myself.

I hope one day that I can do the same thing for my children. When they come home with worms or lizards, snakes or rodents, I'll do everything I can to foster and encourage their interest. Maybe one day they'll write a paper on the combative nature of Orconectes obscurus.

Salt N' Peppa Got It Right

2008-02-06T18:43:00.001-05:00

Let's talk about sex, baby

Let's talk about you and me
Let's talk about all the good things
And the bad things that may be
Let's talk about sex

After reading Sex Detox : Recharge Desire. Revitalize Intimacy. Rejuvenate Your Love Life. by Dr. Ian Kerner, I wouldn't be at all surprised if he had found inspiration in these lyrics. After all, a key component to this plan (besides the 30 days of abstinence) is conversing. Conversing both with yourself and with your partner, honestly, about sex.

In the book, Dr. Kerner sets out to fix Americans' sex lives, which have been busted to pieces thanks to our poor diet and exercise habits, the mainstream media's beauty ideals, and porn, just to name a few of the culprits. He deals with both the coupled and the single folks in separate modules at the end of the book, but the first part is for everyone. What Dr. Kerner suggests is that by keeping sex off the table for 30 days, and by following daily journaling exercises designed to help get to the root of any sexual issues, then afterwards you will be rewarded with great sex.

After undertaking the 30 day fast/self examination portion of the program, then you are slowly allowed to get back into the groove, so to speak. This is the section that interested me the most. There are two modules here, one for couples and one for singles. In the section for couples Dr. Kerner says that by touching and being intimate without the intention of having intercourse or orgasm, we can strengthen our bonds as a committed couple. I have always loved being hugged, holding hands, being caressed, and now I know that it's because those sensations spark my body to release oxytocin into my bloodstream. This is the same chemical that is released when a mother is breastfeeding her baby, helping to form a strong mother-child bond. It's powerful stuff, no doubt.

I wish I could tell you more about the section on singles, but this book has a great deal of appeal. So much so that someone stole it from my elliptical machine while I was getting some paper towels to wipe the machine down when I was finished with my workout. My wallet, cell phone and iPod were still there, but Sex Detox was gone.

The only drawback to this book is that it seems to be slanted to women in my opinion. Besides the hot pink cover, none of the men I questioned said they would care to participate in the journaling exercises. Perhaps these man have no sexual issues. That is unlikely, but I can see how daily reflection might be a bit too Stuart Smalley for some fellas, which might be a turn off to some guys. No pun intended.

In the end, there were interesting and valuable lessons to be learned from Sex Detox : Recharge Desire. Revitalize Intimacy. Rejuvenate Your Love Life. Even if you don't follow the protocol to the letter, just thinking about sex so much is sure to get you in the mood a little more often!

Care to hear what others have to say? Visit the Parent Bloggers Network and read all the other reviews of Sex Detox : Recharge Desire. Revitalize Intimacy. Rejuvenate Your Love Life. by Dr. Ian Kerner.

Swiss Penguin Enchants Many, Including Hasselhoff

2008-01-31T13:45:00.000-05:00

Sam loves Penguins. We have several books featuring these delightful arctic creatures. Pingu the Swiss pengiun seemed like he would be a big hit in our house. The Parent Blogger's Network offered up this DVD back in December and we patiently awaited its arrival.

We don't watch much TV at our house (clarification: the kids don't watch much TV. Mom and dad are addicts. And also hypocrites.) I've been trying to slowly phase in a few programs so that Sam doesn't get culture shock in a few years. I like the idea of DVDs because it give me a lot more control over what he's watching, and for how long. The disc is composed of eight short episodes, each running around five minutes long. To me that was a huge plus because we could watch one episode at a time and not OD on the television. Also cool? None of the characters actually speak. Instead they squawk and honk in some oddly humorous penguin dialect. There is also a lot of gesturing and pantomime used in lieu of words to communicate the action of the story.

The first time I popped in Pingu: On Thin Ice for my own viewing, I was enchanted. First off,, the theme song is an excerpt from David Hasselhoff's Pingu Dance rap. I am so not kidding. The show itself was silly fun, and the clay-mation reminded me of episodes of Gumby from my youth. I also dug the family dynamic presented. Even though the father penguin was shown going off to work at the post office, he also did plenty of helping around the house, including the knitting!

While I found these quirky little birds (and seal) entertaining, Sam didn't seem to share my enthusiasm. I wouldn't say he disliked the show, but it didn't really hold his attention well. I think that, at not quite 2, the lack of clear communication made it difficult for him to follow along with the story. He would watch for a minute and then jump off the couch to find some toys. I tried playing it for him several times and at different times of the day, but he just wasn't that into it.

Even though Sam wasn't enthralled with Pingu, I think most kids would love him. He's cute, funny, and a little mischievous. As proof, I checked out the other reviews over at PBN and guess what? He's very popular.

So check him out. Or buy your own copy here. Or drop me a comment or email and maybe a free copy might find its way into your mailbox!

P.S. If you're commenting to win the DVD, please make sure you leave some way for me to contact you. If you don't have an email attached to your Blogger account, then just send me an email me at cheeseparty@gmail.com instead! I'm still waiting to hear from Demi who won a copy of The Ultimate Tea Diet.

Winner Annouced!

2008-01-21T17:17:00.000-05:00

Congrats Demi! You won yourself a brand new copy of The Ultimate Tea Diet! Email me at cheeseparty@gmail.com with your contact info and I'll ship it right off to you.

Oh, and I went to Weight Watchers this morning. I lost 4 pounds!!!

It's High Time for Tea Time

2008-01-16T10:00:00.000-05:00

When I was a little girl, my grammy and I would have tea parties where we would drink tea with milk and sugar (in my case, tons of sugar) and eat saltines with cream cheese. These parties were something I looked forward to more than I can express. I felt so grown up drinking tea.

Now that I am grown up, tea is still something I enjoy immensely. In fact, I have three different brewing devices and more than a dozen loose leaf teas. When asked by the Parent Bloggers Network to review The Ultimate Tea Diet by Mark Ukra, I though how perfect! I already have a bunch of tea, and I already have a big butt! Why not let one take care of the other?

As soon as the book came, I started reading thirstily. The mainstay of the diet is to drink tea all day long, eat healthy meals, have a positive outlook and exercise. The plan is complimentary to other weight loss plans, which is nice. I'm starting back to Weight Watchers next week, and by adding tea and tea recipes to my plan the book claims I can enhance my weight loss results.

The main concern I had when I started drinking tea was about caffeine. Ever since Sam was born I've switched to drinking mostly decaf. Whenever I would have too much caffeine from coffee, I felt awful. I would get sweaty and agitated, and have trouble focusing. Tea also has caffeine, but it also contains other compounds that make it better for you than coffee. Caffeine, L-theanine and EGCG are the main components linked to tea's weight loss properties. I quickly found that even after drinking three cups of fully caffeinated tea, I never felt jumpy or anxious, just alert but calm. At night I would switch to decaf teas, but during the day time it wasn't a problem at all. Plus I learned from the book that most of the caffeine is extracted out during the first steep. So if you re-steep the same leaves, the subsequent steeps are nearly caffeine free!

So after two weeks of cutting out coffee and drinking tea instead, did I lose weight? Probably. Like I said before, I'm starting back to Weight Watchers next week so I didn't get officially weighed. And my bathroom scale is highly unreliable. But I feel as though I did. I also noticed a drastic reduction in my hunger levels. My mood during the day was so noticeably calmer that SOB commented on it multiple times. I plan to try and incorporate some of the recipes into my diet as well since they look pretty yummy.

As far as the book goes, I did enjoy several things about it. Mark Ukra got several of his Tea Garden patrons to participate in a weight loss challenge with him, so at the end of every chapter is a TEAmmate profile detailing that specific person's challenges and successes. There were also many interesting studies mentioned that, as a scientist, piqued my interest.

That said, being a scientist who is married to a physician, I do have issues with people who call themselves Dr. Anything when they are not. It's misleading, disingenuous and somewhat disrespectful to those who have earned an MD, DO or PhD. He could have easily called himself Mr. Tea. And then he could have made himself a necklace of gold plated tea bags. Although that turned me off at the beginning, reading the book brought me around. While I don't agree with his self appointed title, I would recommend this book to people looking to either expand their knowledge of tea or lose weight, or both!

Interested? Read more reviews at the Parent Bloggers Network! Or...leave me a comment and WIN a brand spankin' new copy of The Ultimate Tea Diet!

Mango's Big Dog Parade: The Wheels on the Bus

2008-01-07T07:24:00.000-05:00

When the Parent Bloggers Network asked for reviewers of Mango's Big Dog Parade: The Wheels on the Bus DVD, I decided to take a chance. We don't usually watch TV or DVDs, but since The Wheels on the Bus song is like crack to Sam, and The Who’s Roger Daltrey is the voice of Argon the Bus Driver, I had to give it a try. I was raised by a classic rock loving father (except it wasn't classic rock to him, it was just rock) and The Who is a family favorite.

Doing some research before the DVD came, I read on The Wheels on the Bus home page that, "Dr. Dorothy Singer, from Yale University’s Family Television Research Center, ensures the content is appropriate for young children and that the series conveys important life skills in an intelligent and fun way." So I had some reassurance that I wasn't going to be showing Sam some junk TV.

Once the package arrived, I popped it in for my initial viewing. The songs were catchy and the colors were bright. With a mix of live kids and puppets, I knew Sam was going to love it. And he did. With lessons like taking turns, getting along and listening to your mother I didn't mind either! There were also segments on insects, counting, and singing in Spanish. It sounds like a lot, but it's presented in a way that isn't overwhelming.

My only small complaint about this DVD is kind of nit-picky. In general I try and present lessons to Sam in the most positive way I can. The lessons in Mango's Big Dog Parade: The Wheels on the Bus DVD generally start out with two characters arguing, or child being disobedient. It's a little thing, but in a perfect world I would prefer a more positive message.

Overall, Sam really enjoyed singing along with all the versions of his favorite song The Wheels on the Bus. If you're looking for a new DVD for your collection, I would give this one a big thumbs up. Click over to PBN to read the rest of the reviews if you want more info!

Happiness Runs...

2007-11-28T09:45:00.002-05:00

That Baby CD and That Baby DVD came into our home via the Parent Bloggers Network. We are big music fans in this household, so I had high expectations. Luckily for me, these products lived up to my expectations.

I am a mother guilty of buying CD after CD for my kids in hopes of finding one that they love and I don't hate. I've found a few here and there that are ok, but most of them are still kids music through and through. The great thing about That Baby CD is that if you change the album art, it's a cover CD of great folk music any adult would buy. All of the music on the disc is right up my alley, and the performers, mostly by Stephanie Schneiderman and her sisters, are fantastic. She has a lovely voice, and the harmonies sent chills up my spine! I'm a little biased (I Will was our wedding song), but I think the song selection is awesome, too.

On to the That Baby DVD! In the past, Sam hasn't shown much interest in DVDs that simply have scenes set to music, but this one he really seemed to enjoy. Maybe it was all the kids featured in the video. While I find it a little creepy to watch kids lip syncing to Brass In Pocket by the Pretenders (a song I've always found bizarrely sexual) Sam L-O-V-E-D to watch it. And while I feel a little guilty admitting this, Lucy (my three month old) was quite content when I placed her in the bouncy seat in front of That Baby DVD while I made Sam dinner. The only small complaint I might have about That Baby DVD is that it has three less songs than the That Baby CD. Those three songs just happened to my favorites from the CD.

Overall I would give the That Baby CD and That Baby DVD a big thumbs up. I would buy the CD for just about anyone, kids or no! The DVD is fun, too, even though we don't watch much TV 'round these parts. And as an added bonus, moms and dads won't get annoyed when the songs get stuck in their heads!

Oh, and I almost forgot! Enter PBN for 20% off! at your checkout and receive 20% off your purchase price! Yay for coupons!

Beauty Confidential: Ten Reasons Why Everyone Everywhere Should Own This Book

2007-11-13T10:00:00.000-05:00

Beauty Confidential by Nadine Haobsh is hands down the best beauty book I have ever read. I could kiss the ladies over at the Parent Bloggers Network for bringing it into my life. Also, I want to find Ms. Haobsh and make her be friends with me. Not just because she wrote this awesome book but also because we have the same favorite band and TV show. As soon I read, "I don't enjoy Pearl Jam casually. They are my favorite band in the history of the world and I am besotted by them and they will be the soundtrack of my life until the day I die," I knew I would follow this woman's advice on just about anything.

Therefore, I present to you my list of ten reasons everyone everywhere should own this book.

10. Can you say funny? There is a reason only certain bloggers get asked to write books, and that is because they write well. This book is as entertaining as it is useful.

9. Men, you need this book. It has a million and one gift ideas in it. I guarantee that you'll find something that your wife/girlfriend/mother/great aunt Tessie will adore. The section of fragrances alone will keep you in steady supply of gift ideas for years.

8. Anniversary? Night out with the girls? Even if only once a year, every woman should know how to execute the perfect smoky eye. Chapter 4 gives you all the know-how for this essential look.

7. What I didn't know about skincare could fill a book. Well, at least a chapter of a book. Which is why chapter 5 was so great!

6. So far I've tried three of the twelve things on her 'Must List.' And? They've all been fantastic. More than fantastic. My eyelashes have never looked better, thanks to definicils. The other nine? They're on my Christmas/birthday wish list.

5. The product/pricing guides at the end of each chapter make shopping a snap!

4. I never knew how much to tip the shampoo girl at the hair salon. Now I do! Is it rude to read a magazine while getting a hair cut? Find out on page 43. Best way to change your look without any major hair commitments? Page 48 has all of your answers. Oh, and I finally figured out how to make my ponytail look chic!

3. I am of Hungarian and Slavic descent, therefore I turn a burn-y shade of red after three minutes in the sun. But self tanner has always been perplexing to me. With Haobsh's step-by-step instructions and product suggestions, I might just get it right the next time!

2. The detailed description of what to expect during a bikini wax made me wish I could go back in time and give myself this book circa 2001. Owwwwwww!

1. Because, finally, it's always nice to feel pretty. On those days when I'm feeling bad about my post-partum belly flab or my lack luster social life, a good blow-out or sexy scent can make my day. This book is full of tips and tricks, and it reads like your best friend is the one administering the advice.

As if this list wasn't enough evidence of how much I loved this book, I'm also buying it for at least three people for Christmas! So if you're interested, click over to PBN to read all the other reviews, or head over to the Beauty Confidential home page.

The Daring Book for Girls

2007-11-07T06:49:00.000-05:00

When I received The Daring Book for Girls by Andrea J. Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz (compliments of the Parent Bloggers Network), my initial thought was that it reminded me of a hip throwback to the Encyclopedia Britannica. The textbook size, sparkly cover design and illustrations are so fun and retro! I think it's been well established that I am a geek. As a child, I was gleeful on the days we were trotted down to the library to write book reports using the old encyclopedias. Well, this book contains a wealth of entertaining and useful information worthy of any encyclopedia set!

The essential gear list alone is something that should be required reading. Beyond those first pages, the book delves into topics ranging from the rules of basketball to making your own paper to math tricks. In between the book is peppered with lots of female-centered history. I was delighted to finally figure out how to tie my hair up with a pencil, and to be reminded of the rules of TV tag. Also, the section on women inventors and scientists is a great list to have handy if your little lady wants to join the Science Olympiad Team and is looking for a role model. Not that I would know anything about that.

While the book is called The Daring Book for Girls, there is a ton of pertinent information in there for women. From negotiating a salary to what to have in your toolbox, many a topic in there is useful for us grownups. Honestly, this book would also be useful for boys! Everyone, regardless of gender, should know how to build a fort or change a tire. Which reminds me that need to re-read that tire chapter.

Overall, I enjoyed having this book around for those random moments when I found myself with some free time. Plan to read for five minutes, and you could easily find yourself in the same position an hour later. It would make a fun gift, too, for either a young lady or perhaps the mother of a new baby girl.

Want more info? The Daring Book for Girls is available on amazon, or head over to the Parent Bloggers Network to read all the other reviews.

Deceptively Delicious Lives Up To The Hype

2007-11-01T12:49:00.001-05:00

Never mind my kids, my husband won't touch vegetables. At all. Ever. Well, occasionally I can get him to eat a small salad, but it's usually drenched in some yummy-yet-fat-laden dressing. When we order Chinese food, he makes me request it 'without vegetables.' As if it wasn't bad enough already! So when the Parent Bloggers Network offered me a copy of Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld (yes, Jerry's wife), I enthusiastically offered to do some experimenting. The idea of getting him to eat some roughage in the form of trickery was very appealing to me

First things first, I read the book. I wanted to know what I was getting into. Mrs. Seinfeld talks about her motivation for writing the book, and introduces the cast of characters, including Joy Bauer, nutritionist extraordinaire. She also gives a good rundown on kitchen equipment and pantry staples that are helpful to have on hand. It doesn't hurt that these sections are well written and easy to read. Plus, the book itself is delightful to look at. The photos are scrumptious looking and the illustrations are colorful and adorable!

The key to the book is the purees. By adding pureed vegetables and fruits to everyday meals, you can boost nutritional value. I know there has been some debate about the effectiveness of this technique, but I think that you have to pick you battles. Both the author and the nutritionist recommend serving visable veggies along with the invisible ones, and I agree. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

Some people might be scared off by the thought that pureeing all those veggies is going to be a pain. Honestly, it's pretty simple, and once you get the hang of things it's pretty quick work. I had some practice when I made baby food, and if you've ever done that, well, it's basically the same idea. Steam or roast the food, then puree. Clean-up is pretty simple as well. One pot and a blender. Mrs. Seinfeld recommends making purees once a week, which helped me with meal planning as well.

On to the recipes!

The first few dishes I made were all things that we usually eat around here, and instead of following the recipes to the letter, I simply made them our regular way and then added veggies. My first experiment was pasta with bolognese sauce, which gets a nurtition boost from sweet potatoes. Since we usually use a little sugar to cut the acidity of our bolognese sauce, no one noticed the sweet potatoes, and the dish was a hit.

Next I tried adding some butternut squash puree to our mac n' cheese. I served this to some guests and everyone cleaned their plates. Including Sam and SOB.

As a final test, I decided to serve a few dishes from the book at a party. I decided to keep it simple and make chocolate chip cookies, salsa dip and deviled eggs.

The cookies have chickpeas in them! In the past I had read other recipes that added chickpeas to cookies, and they always recommended pureeing them whereas Mrs. Seinfeld suggests adding them whole, like the chips. I decided to go the puree route, however, and I'm kind of glad I did. I've read a few other reviews of this recipe that said the whole chickpeas didn't go over so well. Either way, the cookies came out great, especially if you like your cookies on the cake-y side.

Both the deviled eggs and salsa dip contained carrot puree. And by the end of the night all three dishes had been devoured. A true testament, indeed.

Even more surprising to me was that the next day, SOB asked for more cookies, even though he knew what was in them!

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Interested in hearing more about Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld? Click over to the Parent Bloggers Network to read all the other reviews!

Warning! Not For Use By Idiots!

2007-10-18T08:54:00.000-05:00

The previous owner of our house was kind enough to leave us a fire log in the fireplace.

Isn't he sweet? This is the type where you simply light the paper bag the log is contained in and then sit back and enjoy. However, the manufacturers want to make sure that you understand that by lighting this paper log on fire, you could be at risk of....starting a FIRE!

Really? Because it hadn't occurred to me that lighting a fire log could create a fire. Also, the flames on the bag don't really communicate 'fire' well enough. Luckily I have the fine makers of Pine Mountain Giant Size paper logs to set me straight.

Have you seen any ridonculous warning labels lately? The folks at Sick of Lawsuits and the Parent Bloggers Network are just dying to give away some cold hard plastic cash to the blogger who finds the best one by Friday! Get the details here! And get your cameras clicking!

The Wheels In Mommy's Head Aren't Spinning Quite Fast Enough

2007-10-12T10:00:00.000-05:00

One day Sam came home from Jesus School twirling his arms madly. He seemed very insistent on performing this task, but he was angry that I wasn't participating in some way. The trouble was that I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing.

The next week, he came home and put one hand on his hip, stuck the other arm out and walked around crooked. I tried copying his actions, but that wasn't the right thing to do, apparently. He would get noticeably frustrated when I couldn't figure out what he wanted, and meltdowns would ensue.

Finally, a friend was over and noticed Sam doing the arm twirl thing again. She casually asked if 'The Wheels on the Bus' was one of his favorite songs. I must have looked at her like there were lobsters crawling out of her ears, because she went on to explain that to her, it looked like Sam was doing the arm motions that go along with that song. Well, no sooner than the words left her lips Sam started dancing around like a wild man. We started singing and he was deliriously happy.

It still took me a few more days to figure out that the other dance was 'I'm a Little Teapot.' Rhodes scholar I am not.

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Scholastic wants to know, 'What are your kids learning in school?' Click over to the Parent Bloggers Network to find details on this blog blast and to read about what other kids are learning in school!

Oh, and By the Way...

2007-09-25T10:09:00.001-05:00

I nursed Sam for almost 16 months, and Lucy, too, is breastfed. In public, I rarely use a blanket to cover my child when I nurse, 'cause guess what? The baby covers the boob quite well. I'm more likely to use the blanket to conceal my flabby post-partum belly! This whole facebook thing is outrageous. If I had an account, you can be damn sure it would have been canceled.

Born to breast feed. And to read blogs.

Check out the League of Maternal Justice for button codes and more info on the virtual nurse-in!

The Dog Faces Downward Because She is Ashamed of Her Wardrobe

2007-09-07T08:54:00.000-05:00

Despite watching waaaaaay too many repeats of What Not To Wear and Project Runway (I totally missed Tim Gunn's Guide To Style last night, but I am hoping that TiVo will save me!), I am 100% guilty of succumbing to mom-wear. If you add up all the pairs of 'yoga pants' I own, I'm betting the total would be more than the actual amount of yoga classes I've ever participated in.

So when PBN announced their big blog blast, wherein the winner gets $250 to spend at Coach, (where I have been drooling over this little darling) I almost died. Because I just took 17 bags of clothes to the donation center last week. As in the day before I got this announcement in my in box. And this time I did a really good job, clearing out all but maybe 15% of my wardrobe. So I have no embarrassing stuff left to show you. Two weeks ago I could have shown you my creepy-crawler dress. Or the combat boots I've been holding on to since 1995. Or the pair of pants I got at French Connection on sale that fit me for one day. Seriously, it was a comedy gold mine in my closet.

But alas, and alack, I cannot play along. So you do it! Win yourself something pretty. Then maybe since I inspired you, you might pick a little something out for me when you're out shopping!

Shake Your Booty

2007-08-31T11:55:00.000-05:00

My parents and I took Sam and Lucy to the mall on Wednesday. The place was almost deserted, so they let him run free of the stroller while Lucy and I ambled along behind them. Sam L-O-V-E-S to dance, and whenever he hears music he immediately starts breaking it down. Well, since the mall was so quiet he could hear the music playing in every store. He'd run from door to door, listening for the beat. He'd dance for a few seconds at each shop before he run looking for the next tune. My father managed to capture a bit of this insanity on his camera. No one in our house is big into dancing, so I guess he picked up these moves at Baby Loves Disco!

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Click here for details on this PBN Blog Blast. Free shoes, people!

As If I Don't Divulge Enough...

2007-08-17T12:40:00.000-05:00

Lora has tagged me for the '8 things' meme, so without further ado...

The Rules:
1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.

2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.

3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules.

4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.

5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

The things, in no particular order:

1. As a youth, I was in a theater group that consisted of all females. Since I was the tallest, I always had to play the male lead.

2. I hate dogs. Sorry, but it's true.

3. Because my mother made me dust our entire house every Saturday for the first 18 years of my life, I only dust my own home quarterly. It can get kind of gross sometimes, but I don't care.

4. I used to have a tattoo of a ladybug on the nail bed of my big toe. You know, the one that is missing a toenail. Unfortunately, the tattoo artist didn't go deep enough and the entire thing fell off in the shower about three weeks later. I have one little black spot to remind me of my stupidity.

5. I like big butts, and I cannot lie.

6. I occasionally let my inner sancti-mommy out when I need to vent some frustration, and I don't want to dump on someone I know and love. For example, this morning we took Sam to the Little Jumping Bean again, and this 4 year old punk kept pushing on him and even on SSIL Allison. She kindly asked him to stop, but he was all about the rough housing. His mother was parked on the couch with her nose in a magazine, and she only got up once, and that was to buy him two bags of candy and a sprite. At 10:45 in the morning. I might have made a passing comment to her about how her son was making it difficult for other children to enjoy the activities. I'm a bitch, what can I say?

7. It's incredibly easy to knock me up. I wouldn't get too close if I were you.

8. I have several 'special cups' that I must use when I'm drinking water. And you all about how I love me some water. They are big and plastic and hold a great deal of liquid. My husband thinks this is hilarious.

There you have it. Eight things. I'm not sure who to tag, because most everyone I know has done this already or was already tagged by Lora. If you haven't and you want to, by all means jump in! I'm sorry, but I'm not up for digging through archives to figure out who's been tagged!

Love, Amy

Family Fun Time!

2007-08-10T11:04:00.000-05:00

Since we've been living in Atlanta, family time has taken a hit. We don't have a dining room or a proper table, so we don't eat together. Sam eats in his high chair and after he goes to bed we eat at the coffee table. We used to take walks together almost every day. When Sam was very wee, SOB would carry him in the bjorn thingie. Then we started strolling him around. Once he got to walking, we would stroll him to the park and let him play all crazy-like. But now? It 107 degrees every damn day, and I can't go outside for more than three seconds without collapsing into a molten puddle of progesterone. At this point, I consider it good family time if we go to the grocery store together.

I'm hoping that once we move (and we have a fun new kitchen!) we'll start eating more meals together. Sam is getting older and we can eat more of the same foods, so meal prep won't be as complicated. And the baby will be on the tit exclusively until sometime in early 2008, so her meals should be a cinch to prepare. By the time the weather starts warming up again, we can resume our family walks to the park, too, since there is a playground nearby.

And maybe, just maybe, Sam and SOB can start playing boy games together. Like catch. And Phantasy Star II. Or, if we're lucky, Boogie!

This post is brought to you in conjunction with Parent Bloggers Network & EA's Wii-Boogie, a family gaming experience. Shake it. Sing it. Create it.

My Baby Can Read, Can Yours?

2007-08-07T10:00:00.000-05:00

Previously on The Cheese Says....Mmmmm, we reviewed the Starter DVD and the Volume 1 DVD in the Your Baby Can Read program. If you read (or re-read) my original review, you might recall my initial skepticism. And then how that skepticism was shattered in the face of a baby that would clap when shown the word 'clap' on TV.

Well, We're still going strong! Recently the people at Your Baby Can Read and the Parent Bloggers Network provided us with the Volume 2 DVD and yet more word cards, both of the regular and sliding variety. And the verdict? Sam still loves them! The songs, the kids, the cards. He loves it all. We're still operating on the same routine of watching the disc during breakfast. On weekends, we try and review the Starter DVD and Volume 1. With the help of these videos, Sam can easily identify over a dozen body parts, make multiple animal sounds and sing along to several different songs. He loves to play with the cards, and flip them around to see the words on front and back. The only trouble we've had is with the 82 double sided word cards. These aren't quite as durable as Sam's age (17 months) requires. This mistake was learned at the expense of the word 'Happy.'

While I don't think Sam is truly reading yet, I have noticed some changes since the last review. Now when we read books to him, he seems to be following along with his eyes. In some books that only have a line or two on each page, he will actually point to the words with his finger, kind of like how they do on the videos. I've tested him a few times by reciting the text from future pages before I actually turn to that page, and he will find the appropriate page for me. Also, he will often point insistently to a word he recognizes until I say it. Honestly, I find this nothing short of amazing.

Also, as much as I hate to admit this, my kid loves the TV. Dear old dad gives into his adorable requests for Sesame Street all too often, me thinks. But the Your Baby Can Read program has helped keep the peace around here on more than one occasion. As long as these DVDs are playing, I don't get nearly as pissy when I come home to find that daddy has had the TV on for hours.

As a final testimonial as to how much we enjoy and utilize these DVDs, let me tell you that before PBN contacted me about reviewing the Volume 2 DVD, I had already ordered a copy at my own expense. That's right folks, I was more than willing to part with my own dough in order to continue Sam on this program. Luckily, I have a friend who I turned on to the Your Baby Can Read program, and she was more than happy to take the extras off my hands! I also intend to show these programs to Numero Dos once she makes her presence known. Which she better do soon if she knows what's good for her.

Truthfully, I couldn't be happier with this program, and I would have never heard about it if it weren't for the PBN peeps. I'll make sure he thanks you, along with Dr. Robert C. Titzer, Ph.D. when he's receiving his (first) Nobel Prize.

You Know Your Kid Is Narcissistic When...

2007-08-06T10:00:00.000-05:00

Sam's favorite 'story' to 'read' at bedtime is the photo album I made of the first year of his life. Guess who is prominently featured in every single photograph? This little ham!

The kid, he loves himself. Most kids his age do. So the idea of putting his face in an actual story book that we could read was almost too good to be true. But ImagiTales and the lovely folks over at the Parent Bloggers Network made my dreams a reality when they offered me three personalized children's books.

I got to work building my ImagiTales on a lonely Saturday night. The first step, and by far the most involved, is finding a digital picture of the little one (and yourself or spouse in some cases) that works well with the process. This means that the subject is looking squarely into the camera. The ImagiTales web page offers the advice that both ears should be showing. A toddler who rarely sits still for the camera is rarely photographed head-on. Actually, most of my pictures are of the back of his head. Still, I managed to find two that would work.

Once you upload the photo to the site, just follow the easy instructions on how to outline the head. Word of warning: the instructions are easy. The task, not so much. This was, for me, the most difficult portion of the program. It involves making an outline of dots around your kid's head and hair. The more close together your dots are, the finer the cutout will be. If you have even a hint of perfectionism in you, this step could take you hours. The site advises you to 'just take your time and enjoy the process,' which I may have been able to do if I had the liberty to enjoy the process with a glass of wine. But once I got the hang of it, I was able to add several heads to my 'faces library' in a reasonable amount of time.

Once I had all my faces in order, I set about making some books. There are several titles to choose from, and each comes in a Beginner version and a Standard version. Even though Sam's been religiously watching his Your Baby Can Read dvds, we went with the Beginner version. I selected I'm A Big Brother, Nature Things and My Body. After a few minutes inputing names and pronouns, the books were ready for proofing! This part was really quick and easy, so once you have your 'faces library' in order the process is pretty effortless.

As soon as you're finished, you get to see a proof copy of your book. Read it very carefully. I did not. Somehow I accidentally replaced the word 'sister' with the word 'sleeping.' One page reads, 'Daddy and Mommy hold the baby because my little baby sleeping is so little.' Another says, 'I read my favorite book to my baby sleeping.' What can I say? Pregnancy has ruined my brain.

After you verify that all of the words you entered were correct and the genders you assigned are right and proper (I also accidentally made Daddy a she on one page) you are finished! You can buy an E-book of your ImagiTales for $2.95 or a paperback version for $9.95. If you purchase a paperback, you get the E-book for free, by the way. The E-book is nice if you have a lot of folks you'd like to share with. Or if you've used a particularly funny picture of your spouse in one of the books, you can email it to all of his friends and family!

The books arrived in a very timely fashion. The site says to allow for one to two weeks, but I think ours came even sooner. More importantly, Sam ADORES these books. At bedtime, he wildly gestures to the shelf where we keep them, and as soon as we finish one he starts calling for the next. He loves to point to the pictures of himself, and when we read My Body, he even points out his real life parts as we read. We do have to keep them up on a higher shelf because they are a bit flimsy, and Sam is a ripper/shredder when it comes to paper pages. But if your kids are a little older (or have more respect for fine works of literature) then this shouldn't be an issue.

Overall, I think this is a great product. And since you can make your first E-book for free, you should really click over to the ImagiTales homepage and find out for yourself. I can't wait until Sam is grown up and we can pull these out to embarrass him in front of his prom date. He loves them so much now, I hope they last that long!

Steal This Post!

2007-08-04T08:17:00.000-05:00

If you haven't heard about IBC from WhyMommy over at Toddler Planet, read on, and steal away!

We hear a lot about breast cancer these days. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes, and there are millions living with it in the U.S. today alone. But did you know that there is more than one type of breast cancer?

I didn’t. I thought that breast cancer was all the same. I figured that if I did my monthly breast self-exams, and found no lump, I’d be fine.

Oops. It turns out that you don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer. Six weeks ago, I went to my OB/GYN because my breast felt funny. It was red, hot, inflamed, and the skin looked…funny. But there was no lump, so I wasn’t worried. I should have been. After a round of antibiotics didn’t clear up the inflammation, my doctor sent me to a breast specialist and did a skin punch biopsy. That test showed that I have inflammatory breast cancer, a very aggressive cancer that can be deadly.

Inflammatory breast cancer is often misdiagnosed as mastitis because many doctors have never seen it before and consider it rare. “Rare” or not, there are over 100,000 women in the U.S. with this cancer right now; only half will survive five years. Please call your OB/GYN if you experience several of the following symptoms in your breast, or any unusual changes: redness, rapid increase in size of one breast, persistent itching of breast or nipple, thickening of breast tissue, stabbing pain, soreness, swelling under the arm, dimpling or ridging (for example, when you take your bra off, the bra marks stay – for a while), flattening or retracting of the nipple, or a texture that looks or feels like an orange (called peau d’orange). Ask if your GYN is familiar with inflammatory breast cancer, and tell her that you’re concerned and want to come in to rule it out.

There is more than one kind of breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer is the most aggressive form of breast cancer out there, and early detection is critical. It’s not usually detected by mammogram. It does not usually present with a lump. It may be overlooked with all of the changes that our breasts undergo during the years when we’re pregnant and/or nursing our little ones. It’s important not to miss this one.

Inflammatory breast cancer is detected by women and their doctors who notice a change in one of their breasts. If you notice a change, call your doctor today. Tell her about it. Tell her that you have a friend with this disease, and it’s trying to kill her. Now you know what I wish I had known before six weeks ago.

You don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer.

P.S. Feel free to steal this post too. I’d be happy for anyone in the blogosphere to take it and put it on their site, no questions asked. Dress it up, dress it down, let it run around the place barefoot. I don’t care. But I want the word to get out. I don’t want another young mom — or old man — or anyone in between — to have to stare at this thing on their chest and wonder, is it mastitis? Is it a rash? Am I overreacting? This cancer moves FAST, and early detection and treatment is critical for survival.

Thank you.

Check It, Yo!

2007-07-31T14:24:00.000-05:00

Have you seen the new design over at the Parent Bloggers Network site? It's suh-weet! And if you were unconvinced about how awesome we are, just check out the testimonials!

Gaining Insight

2007-07-20T08:45:00.000-05:00

My husband doesn't speak to his father. This has been going on for almost four years now, but the problems began more than a decade ago when his father got re-married. I have foolishly tried to help mend the gap on several occasions, only to end up being on the receiving end of a load of bullshit, for lack of a more eloquent term.

Part of my motivation to fix things is selfish. I don't want to have to explain to my children why their grandfather isn't allowed to see them. But the larger thing motivating me is anger. I can't understand how a person could so cleanly cut off his own flesh and blood at the directive of a spouse. Even more, I can't imagine choosing to stay with a spouse who would force you to pick between your children (and innocent grandchildren) and them.

I was hoping that When Parents Hurt, by Joshua Coleman, Ph. D. would give me some insight into my father-in-law's decisions so that maybe I could let go of some of my anger. Because at this point, even if things changed and he wanted to see us, I don't know if I'd be able to do so. Because this book addresses troubled relationships from the perspective of the parent, maybe reading it could help me to understand some of my father-in-law's choices. Additionally, knowing how their damaged relationship had affected my husband, I was hoping this book could help me gain a little information on what not to do with our own kids.

One of the chapters I found most helpful was Divorce Wounds. My parents are still together, so I sometimes have trouble understanding the complexities underlying the relationship between my husband and his parents. After discussing potential effects on the family dynamics, Coleman discusses several key issues that may be upsetting to parents after a divorce, and includes things to 'Strive to avoid' and to' Strive to.' I immediately zeroed in on 'I made my child a lower priority than my new partner.' Reading this section did help, but it also made me realize that, at least according to the author, most of my father-in-law's actions were not made in the interest of preserving his relationship with his children. Does this make me more or less angry? I'm not quite sure yet.

Even if you don't have any family trauma/drama, there is some very interesting information in this book. Chapter five, Brave New Parents of the Twenty-First Century, chronicles the evolution of parenting from the early 1900's to the present day. Coleman points out how the addition of electricity, appliances and vehicles to the home in the 1930's lead to a significant increase in accidental deaths of children. Although I may have been able to make this connection on my own, I may not have though to link this to a major change in parenting norms due to the increase of parental guilt.

In the end, a part of me wants to ship this book off to my father-in-law, no strings attached. I think it could help their relationship immensely if only his wife would let him use some of the strategies therein. But I've learned my lesson, so I won't interfere.

Which is good news for you, dear readers! I have a brand new, hard bound copy of When Parents Hurt, by Joshua Coleman, Ph. D. to ship off to one of you. Please leave a comment or email me if you are interested. If more than one person contacts me, I'll have to do a random drawing, but fear not because you can buy the book on Amazon. Need more info? Check out all the reviews over at the Parent Bloggers Network.

Body, Soul and Baby

2007-07-12T10:00:00.000-05:00

When I was pregnant with Sammy, I religiously poured over the pages of the traditional 'What To Expect' pregnancy tome. It provided me with tons of information, but little insight. I didn't notice at the time, because I was so high on excitement and progesterone, but the book seemed to focus more on issues or problems that can occur during pregnancy, while only giving a brief mention to the more positive aspects of pregnancy.

Now it's the second time around, and the excitement of the unknown is missing. Add to that the fact that I'm a little older, a little heavier and I have a toddler to chase and you can imagine why this pregnancy has been a little less the thrilling experience that my first was. When I went to consult with the pregnancy book, I came away feeling even more negative then when I started. I had read some earlier reviews of Body, Soul and Baby by Tracy W. Gaudet, M.D. but I wasn't sure a new book was the answer. I trudged through my first and second trimesters like a good little soldier, but I wasn't really enjoying being pregnant.

And then there was some sort of mystical intervention. The Parent Bloggers Network was looking for bloggers to review Body, Soul and Baby. I decided to give it a try, figuring that it couldn't make things any worse, right?

Once I started reading, I knew that this was not your normal pregnancy book. Dr. Gaudet stresses focusing on the experience of being pregnant, both physical and mental, instead of just playing attention to the 'condition' of being pregnant. She recommends the use of integrative medicine (combining 'the best of conventional Western medical practices with a careful selection from a range of other, less mainstream therapies') to help enhance a woman's ability to tune in to her body during this dynamic time.

Early chapters include questions and tools that can help with this process. While some of these tools seemed a little too 'new age' for me, others, like journaling (aka blogging) seemed to make good sense and were pretty simple to execute.

Preconception and conception are covered, but since I had mastered that part back in December, I skimmed ahead to the discussion of the actual pregnancy. Each trimester is covered over four chapters: Reflection and Observation, The Inside Scoop, Medical Care and Self Care. Labor and delivery and the postpartum period are also covered in the same way. This organization is helpful because say you have a question about labor that is of the medical variety, it is easy to locate the chapter where that information can be found.

Since I started reading Body, Soul and Baby I have recommended it to several other pregnant friends. They also have had similar positive responses to the book. There are a lot of books out there aimed at expectant mothers, so it can be difficult to find one that appeals to a wide variety of personalities. However, because Dr. Gaudet combines complimentary and alternative techniques with her medical knowledge, her approach to pregnancy and birth can be appealing to many different types of women.

Usually after reading a book for a PBN review, I offer it up to one of my readers. Bad news for you though, because I think this one if going to stay on my shelf for a little longer. I'm betting it'll come in handy during the first week of September when my body is reeling from progesterone withdrawal!

August? Are You Sure? Well, Maybe You're Having Twins.

2007-07-06T08:33:00.000-05:00

There is a line in the movie Annie where the orphans are fighting and someone yells, 'Can it, you twit!' That is my favorite line.

It's also the phrase that most readily springs to mind when friends/relatives/strangers have found occasion to comment on my current pregnancy.

Look, I know that my babies are going to be close in age. This may come as a surprise to you, but I took two semesters of calculus and physics as requirements for my biology degree. I think that I'm more than qualified to count the months between by kids' birthdays. Hell, I bet Sam can even count to 18 thanks to Sesame Street. And while I understand that this is the south, if one more random person at the Y/Little Gym/playground asks if I'm catholic after hearing that my kids will only be 18 months apart, I might invoke the name of the lord in ways that are inappropriate for children's ears.

Also, please understand that I visit the doctor regularly and I am certain that my due date is correct and that I am not having twins. I am painfully aware that I weighed the same when I got pregnant the second time as I did the day I delivered Sam. I am not happy about this, and I was planning to work on losing weight before I got pregnant again, but guess what? I got pregnant by accident! If you keep asking, I'm going to start giving a more detailed account, including dates, of the circumstances leading to my accidental pregnancy. Is that what you want? A very clear mental picture of me and SOB getting a little tipsy on our first real date in Atlanta and then going at it? Do you? 'Cause I'll go there.

So to you, Aunt Jo Ann. And you Uncle Scott. And you, Carter-from-Little-Gym's mother, and you random lady at the pool with the same maternity swim suit as me. I say, emphatically:

Can it, you twit!

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Don’t you wish you could have just handed them this ?

What would you do in these situations? If you've got a witty comeback, click over to the Parent Bloggers Network and tell your story. You could win a new iPod Shuffle!

Kaboom! An Aptly Named Product for Your Toilet

2007-06-22T09:30:00.000-05:00

Before we get started, there is something you should know about me. I am lazy. In addition, I hate to clean. Anything. I can mildly tolerate doing laundry, but anything that requires scrubbing or a specialized tool of any kind (i.e. vacuum cleaner, toilet brush) I loathe. Clutter bugs me, so I'll organize and neaten. But when it comes to anything that requires the application of elbow grease, well, most of that gets done by SOB.

Imagine my delight when Kaboom sought reviewers from delightful pool over at the Parent Bloggers Network. When I saw the words 'NeverScrub! Toilet Cleaning System' in the email, I positively swooned. As a bonus, they were also throwing in their Shower, Tub and Tile cleaner.

The Shower, Tub and Tile cleaner works like most other cleaners out there. It comes in a fancy purple and green bottle. The cleanser is a thick-ish foam that you spray on surfaces and wait 1-3 minutes before wiping it (and hopefully the muck) away. The consistency of the foam helped it to stick to the shower walls instead of just running down into the tub. After a short soak and a brief scrub, my shower did look much nicer. There were still a few stains from the previous ~~slobs~~ tenants that I couldn't get out, but the overall appearance was much improved. I hesitate to comment on the 'fresh great scent' that manufacture touts as a selling point because given my current condition (severely knocked-up) any scent is too much for me. But I will say that it didn't smell like chemicals.

Let's move on to the delightfully named NeverScrub! Continuous Toilet Cleaning System, shall we? You might already be aware of the fact that I am a tremendous geek. As soon as I volunteered for this campaign I started devising an experiment in my mind. Just like many homes, we have more than one toilet, so I decided that I would run a comparison study between two of ours. One would get the Kaboom NeverScrub! Continuous Toilet Cleaning System and the other would go without. The two toilets in the study get about the same amount of use, but one is nearly brand new while the other is not. Since I though that the newer device would be more resistant to ick simply due to its age, I decided to really test the NeverScrub! Continuous Toilet Cleaning System by installing it in the older toilet. According to the instructions, I scrubbed both toilets very well before installation. Observe...

Before: Control Toilet

Before: Kaboom Toilet

In the 'small complaint' department, I will note that upon installation of my NeverScrub! Continuous Toilet Cleaning System, I accidentally broke a small plastic thing-a-ma-jig and my toilet started leaking a little. This resulted several trips to the Home Depot for SOB. However, he informed me that it was more likely due to the fact that our landlord had the cheapest toilet ever installed in our unit and that it was not the fault of the NeverScrub! Continuous Toilet Cleaning System, or me for that matter. It was a very simple and inexpensive problem to fix if you know anything about toilets beyond how to flush them. Oh and installing the NeverScrub! Continuous Toilet Cleaning System was a piece of cake. On to the data!

As per the name, I NeverScrubbed either of these toilets for five weeks. Observe...

After: Control Toilet

After: Kaboom Toilet

The pictures speak for themselves. The toilet that had the NeverScrub! Continuous Toilet Cleaning System looked virtually unchanged from beginning to end, whereas the control toilet looked like something that you'd find in a gas station bathroom. The reason this study only lasted five weeks and didn't continue up until the week of this review, which was the original idea, was because I couldn't stand the sight of the nasty control toilet. Mind you, this was the brand new, recently installed toilet.

Additionally, this system is very affordable. The initial kit costs about $10 and lasts for three months. After that, the refills run about $5 and last three months. I would gladly pay $25 a year to never have to touch a disgusting toilet brush again. That's much cheaper than maid service, for sure! Both items can be found at grocery stores and any other place you can buy cleaning products.

Oh, and for those of you like me who are blessed with a toddler who thinks that putting his hands in the toilet water is the peak of hilarity, the Kaboom folks assure us that, 'with NeverScrub!, the bowl water won’t harm your pets or kids and the cleaning solution won’t harm your tank parts or septic system.' While that doesn't negate the grossness of toddler toilet hand, it does at least ease some fears of fingers burning off due to toxic chemicals.

In summary,

NeverScrub! = Throwing out your toilet brush = Happiness.

Vaccinated

2007-06-15T07:15:00.000-05:00

Maurice Hilleman may be the most important person you've never heard of. World over, millions of lives have been saved by this man, and the living, breathing people he saved, going about business as usual, don't even know it.

Do you know anyone who has ever had the measles? The mumps? Rubella? Me neither. That's because Mr. Hilleman spent his life developing vaccines against these diseases, along with a whole host of others including hepatitis A and B and chickenpox. Besides his numerous scientific accomplishments, Hilleman lead a fascinating life. His mother and twin sister both perished due to complication from birth, but Maurice survived. His father, unable to look beyond the painful circumstances of his birth, sent him to be raised by his aunt and uncle. By doing so, his father unknowingly set in motion an astounding series of events that would lead to his son becoming the most important figure in microbiology and vaccinology.

Vaccinated: One Man's Quest to Defeat the World's Deadliest Diseases by Paul A. Offit, MD details the life and circumstances of Maurice Hilleman. I found this biography fascinating from beginning to end. In a former life, I was a chemist for a large pharmaceutical company, and I have a degree in biology, so this was right up my alley. However you need not be a science geek like me to understand and enjoy this man's story.

Also, instead of simply detailing the history of one man and his journey, Offit also delves into the scientists, scientific practice and history that came before Hilleman. I was fascinated (and a little grossed out) when I read that the first vaccine against small pox was made by draining pus from blisters of a girl who was infected with cow pox and injecting the untreated pus into another person. The. Pus. Ok, so maybe I was a lot grossed out, but still! Fascinating! Offit also throws in fun bits of trivia and humor, which helps the book read more like a novel than a biography.

Science aside, several chapters deal with the politics of vaccines. Even though this is a touchy subject for some, I feel that Offit does a nice job of compiling the facts and presenting them in a way that few would find offensive. I have always been a supporter of childhood vaccinations. I've done plenty of homework to back up my beliefs, so I was surprised to find a lot of new-to-me information on the history of the vaccination debate. A debate that is still raging today.

Maurice Hilleman died in April of 2005 at the age of 85. Despite a laundry list of titles and awards, he never won the most coveted of scientific prizes, the Nobel Prize, which cannot be awarded posthumously. He developed cancer, and he spent the last few months of his life experimenting on cells he had taken from his own body. Not surprising, when you consider that this was the man who swabbed his own daughter's throat and used the resulting cultures to make his vaccine against the mumps. Unfortunately, Hilleman's final experiments were never completed.

Vaccinated: One Man's Quest to Defeat the World's Deadliest Diseases is a fitting tribute for Hilleman. "Because of Maurice Hilleman, hundreds of millions of children get to live their lives free from infections that at one time might have permanently harmed or killed them. In the final accounting, no prize is greater than that."

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To find out what others are saying about Vaccinated: One Man's Quest to Defeat the World's Deadliest Diseases by Paul A. Offit, MD click over to the Parent Blogger's Network where fourteen other bloggers will be weighing in!

I Think It Might Be In His Diaper

2007-06-08T10:25:00.000-05:00

Last week, Sam decided that my watch was the coolest thing in the entire universe. No matter what his malady, if I just hand over my timepiece all is soothed. Since it's a $20 watch from Target, I don't really care about it being gummed or thrown across the room. It doesn't seem to have any small dislodge-able parts that could be harmful to the boy, so I let him have at it.

Unfortunately, this often leads to my watch ending up behind his dresser or under a couch or in a toy box, where I can never seem to find it. Consequently, we've been late for quite a few appointments in the past seven days.

Sometimes when I try and explain this to people without children of their own, they look at me like I have three heads. Why on earth would I let my toddler play with my watch? I can imagine that when I was pregnant I would have thought the exact same thing. I was so sure that I wasn't going to be that mother who let her kid chew her keys or cell phone. I was a sancti-pre-mommy. But guess what? I totally am that mom. Anything to buy a few more minutes with a friend, at the mall, in the gym, even to clean the house.

So from now on whenever I need to explain away my tardiness, I won't tell the whole story of Sam and his love for cheap wrist-wear. I'll simply state that my baby took away my time and hid it from me. People might think I'm crazy, but then they'll be less likely to ask follow-up questions, right?

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This post was brought to you by Light Iris, and the Parent Bloggers Network. These fine peeps are teaming together to send one lucky lady to BlogHer '07 free of charge. Well, you still have to pay for your transport, but you get a two-day pass, which is worth $200! I can't go to BlogHer this year, which is a sore spot for me, but if by some twist of fate I win this bugger, I will be glad to pass along my winnings to one of my lucky readers! Because I'm awesome like that. If you'd like to play along, click here to find the details!

Savory Chicken

2007-06-06T07:16:00.000-05:00

Back when I was in middle school, I was on the fringe of the popular circle. I think I was only really included to even things out, since it was a small group. There were eight 'cool' boys, so there had to be eight 'cool' girls, too. At lunch, we all sat together at one long table. All the girls would sit at one end with four of us on each side, and they boys mirrored our positions at the other end of the table. Every other Tuesday, though, us ladies would sit at a table of our own. Why? Because every other Tuesday was Savory Chicken day.

Savory Chicken was basically rotisserie chicken with some herbs and spices. I never ate it, because us popular girls only brought lunch from home. The boys, however, had developed a passion for this cafeteria foul, and would come to school on Savory Chicken day with their pockets bulging and jingling with change.

Now you could buy an entire tray lunch for $1.25 back in those days, but these fellas were only interested in the chicken. They made an arrangement with the lunch ladies to buy individual pieces of Savory Chicken for 40¢ apiece. They would all pony up a nickel, and one kid would go and buy a single piece of chicken on a paper plate. When he returned to the table, he would place the solitary thigh or breast directly in the middle of the group of boys. They would all sit down, and then someone would issue the signal. For the next twenty or thirty seconds, the entire table turned into a flurry of arms. It was like some kind of primitive feast where they all fought and scraped over tiny bits of dry, commercially prepared chicken as though it were a fresh kill. When it was finished, they would sit back down and survey the remains. Then they would all put their nickels on the table and the next boy would go and fetch their next piece of chicken.

This would continue for the entire lunch period, every other Tuesday, the entire three years of my middle school experience. I wish I could make some sense out of their behavior, but I've never had the pleasure of being a pre-pubescent boy. At least I can look back and remember these guys when Sam hits that age and starts doing some crazy-weird shit, right?

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Check out School Menu and its parental counterpart Family Everday, two sites that work together with School Food Services Directors to provide and promote healthy eating and physical fitness for kids and their parents.

Light Iris Review

2007-06-02T10:00:00.000-05:00

The Parent Bloggers Network peeps recently turned my attention to Light Iris, a new site devoted to expectant and new moms. Light Iris launched on Mother's Day, which is all too appropriate if you ask me. The first thing you'll notice when you click over to Light Iris is that it's soooooo pretty. If you read my other blog, you've probably noticed that I have a thing for the pairing of pink and green. The design is simple, but nicely put together. While the site is up and running, there are still a few features in the works. The most interesting coming feature, in my opinion, will allow users to perform a search of only blogs. iVillage, Baby Center and Parenthood.com may have lots of information, but sometimes you're more likely to find comfort in reading someone else's account of bleeding nipples or going 19 days without baby having a poop than in a sterile article.

The crux of the matter over at Light Iris is the special search feature, which is built on Google but filters out all of the crap new moms don't have time for. For example, I recently was wondering about Sam's teeth, or lack thereof. He's fifteen months old and only has six teeth. Because of this, he is very particular about eating foods which require anything more than minimal chewing. The phrase '15 month old only has 6 teeth' searched by both Google and Light Iris yielded very different results. The Google search results gave me articles about 10 month olds with 8 teeth and 15 month olds with diarrhea for 6 days. The Light Iris search provided more relevant returns. The first and third search results provided exactly the kind of information I was looking for. The top ranked article on the Light Iris search was the seventh ranked article on Google. You get less info per page on Light Iris as well. When you're holding a screaming baby in your arms and typing with one hand while your left boob is hanging out, less can be more, especially if you're getting quality over quantity.

Now on to the double plus fun part! Light Iris has teamed up with the Parent Bloggers Network to give one lucky blogger a free two day pass to BlogHer '07! All of the info can be found right here, but the gist of it is you write a post on the topic of 'Where Does My Time Go?' on June 8th. Email a link to the Parent Bloggers Network at parentbloggers@gmail.com and you're entered to win! Lovely in its simplicity, just like Light Iris.

Blast!

2007-06-01T21:01:00.000-05:00

Let me tell you why I need a couple hundred bucks to go on a date with my darling SOB.

It is our five year anniversary, and we celebrated by going grocery shopping together. Then, for a romantic dinner we had chips and dip, followed by cookies. Well, I had a lobster first, but that's not the point. I'm not even sure we're going to do it tonight.

God help us.

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This post was brought to you by E-Harmony’s new Marriage Wellness program and the lovely folks over at the Parent Bloggers Network.

Now the World Don't Move to the Beat of Just One Drum

2007-05-25T09:25:00.000-05:00

PBN has started a new monthly feature called Different Kinds of Parents. The first installment went live today, and it's pretty snazzy. For the kick off, the gals interviewed Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of Family Pride - the national non-profit organization committed to securing family equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer parents, guardians, and allies. Definitely go and check it out!

A New Point of Vue

2007-05-15T10:44:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update! If you were at all interested in my review of the Saturn Vue Hybrid, check out the PBN mid-campaign round-up, where lots of people say stuff!

Oh My Heck!

2007-05-15T10:04:00.001-05:00

The fine folks over at the Parent Bloggers Network have done it again! They are having another big fun Blog Blast, but this time, the potential rewards are off the flippin' charts! On Friday June 8th, write a post on the following theme: “Where Does My Time Go?” Then send your link in an email to parentbloggers@gmail.com. One lucky participant will be drawn at random to win a two day pass to BlogHer '07! That's over $200 bucks of stuff, plus you might get the chance to rub elbows with some super cool bloggers, and maybe even learn some stuff! Click here for the total rundown!

I am sad and weepy because I cannot go to BlogHer this year due the event being scheduled only a wee bit before my due date. I can't have my uterus exploding all over Chicago, right? But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't go! And not have to pay for it! Do it for me, won't you?

Becaues We All Like Free Stuff, Even if You Never Had a Baby Come Out of Your Vagina

2007-05-07T09:27:00.000-05:00

Hey Inter-Peeps! There are approximately seven-hundred and forty-two contests going on in honor of Mother's Day (and anniversaries and what not) this week. And guess what? You don't even have to be a mother to win anything! I'm all for equal oppertunity contests, and loads of cool, free stuff. So to make your prize winning chances even better, I've assembled a list of all current give-aways that I am aware of for your clicking pleasure. Read on!

The delightfully talented (she just had her first gallery show!) and amazingly funny Pioneer Woman is having a spectacular 'Give that photo a name' contest. The prize? A bomb-ass camera. Hurry on this one, though, 'cause you only have until 7pm pacific time today to enter!

Real Mom Truths is having a fun contest with another awesome prize. You might recall my submission to the Real Mom's page from a few months ago. Just click on over and follow the steps to win a 4G iPod/Chocolate Gift Set worth $215, plus a plug on the Real Mom Truths home page.

Want something easier? Click over to Light Iris, which is launching this weekend. All you have to do is fill out a simple sweepstakes entry form and you are done! No essays or creative thinking required! Prize? Oh just $3000 in gift cards. It's the give that keeps on buying!

Design Mom is having an awesome Giveaway-A-Day from May 7th (today) until May 11th. All you have to do is leave a comment! Easy as pie!

Feeling generous? Head over to Helzberg Diamonds to nominate a mom you know and love to win the Mom's Month Off Sweepstakes. If you love me, you'll put my name in the Nominee's Information field.

Still yearning for more? Well, finally, my buddies over at the Parent Bloggers Network are hosting a Blog Blast this friday, May 11th, that ties in with the Light Iras launch. Julie sums it up nicely:

On Friday, May 11, write a post about what makes you a mother - what’s that personal defining quality of motherhood for you (whether you’re referring to yourself, your spouse or partner, or your own mother) - and send your readers back to Light Iris to enter the sweeps. Then e-mail us at parentbloggers@gmail.com with a link to your post, and you’ll be entered to win!

So there you have it. I've done the hard part for you. Now all you have to do is click click click your way to a house full of goodies. If that doesn't make me worthy of a nomination for the Mom's Month Off contest, I don't know what does!

Good luck!

Habla español?

2007-04-27T10:00:00.000-05:00

Knowing a second language is becoming more of a necessity than a luxury these days, so when the lovely folks over at the Parent Bloggers Network put out a call for reviewers for the Boca Beth program, my hand shot into the air. Their program aims to teach children English and Spanish starting at birth and continuing through grade school. The program employs several different tools to help engage children across the age group, from coloring books and puppets to cds and dvds.

A few weeks later we received a package containing a cd, a dvd called I Like Animals/Me Gustan Animales, a Boca puppet, a coloring book and a maraca. Right away I noticed the big sticker declaring the program the winner of the Teachers' Choice Award for 2007. I was impressed.

We always play music in Sam's room, so the next time we were in there I popped in 'My First Songs In Spanish'. At first, I was underwhelmed. The recording was a little muddy, like your freshman roommate's demo tape that was recorded in your dorm room. Since I don't know Spanish, I found this to be a major issue because I couldn't understand what they were saying during the non-English portions of the songs. While lyrics aren't provided with the cd, they are available on the web page, but it took me almost two weeks to look them up. However, the songs were catchy. I found myself singing 'Kiss, kiss is a beso!' to the tune of 'Skip To My Lou' on more than one occasion.

The dvd program helped to make up for my disappointment with the cd. Sam loves watching it, and I love that the words being spoken appear on the screen so I don't feel like an idiot. The musical numbers always get his little bum shaking, and when I pull out the maraca for him during the songs he squeals. There is a sequence at the end that captures an entire Boca Beth class. We haven't had the patience to sit through this entire portion yet, but when split into two viewings we can usually make it through.

Sam loves playing with the maraca, but the puppet and coloring book haven't really caught his attention as of yet. He's still learning the ins and outs of crayons, so when presented with the book he simply tried to rip it to shreds. One very useful tool for parents, though, is the short glossary/pronunciation guide in the back of the coloring book. Every time I try and use the puppet, he thinks I'm playing peek-a-boo with my hand and pulls it off. Since he's only 14 months, though, I'll keep trying as he gets older. The program is labeled for birth to grade school, so I wasn't expecting him to love every single thing right off the bat.

The big question is: does it work? Well, folks, I'm sorry to tell you that you may have to wait awhile for the answer. The only words we get, grudgingly, from Sam are mama, dada and no. Check back with me in a few more months and maybe I can give you some more information. What I do know, though, is that my baby enjoys these educational programs, which helps in more ways than one. First of all, I don't feel as guilty parking him in front of the TV because I know he's potentially learning something while I pee. Secondly, I don't get as pissed at daddy when he has the this video on TV on all morning instead of Star Trek, which was their usual fare, when it's his day to get up with the boy. I doubt that Captain Kirk can impart as much knowledge to my boy as Boca Beth. Now that I've instructed him to watch I Like Animals/Me Gustan Animales with Sam in the mornings, I can sleep peacefully.

If you are interested in buying some Boca Beth products, click over to the Baby Center Store where they are currently running a big sale on Boca Beth products. Even better? Visit the Parent Bloggers Network page to win yourself a Boca Beth prize package valued at $45! Free stuff! What could be better?

There's no need to thank me. I'll just say 'de nada.'

Saturn Vue Green Line: A Hybrid For the Masses?

2007-04-16T10:00:00.000-05:00

A few months ago we bought a new car. During our search, we heavily considered a hybrid, but had trouble finding one that was both large enough for our growing family and priced within reason. I have always been a supporter of fuel efficient vehicles, but found it discouraging that the models on the market didn't fit the needs of the average American family. Saturn has found a way to fix that with the Vue Green Line Hybrid, which combines ample space for tots and their associated gear and a sticker price that won't force you to sell off a kid just to pay for it.

On a Tuesday morning, two guys from GM hand delivered a Silver 2007 Vue to my front door. The car looked pretty nice. Unfortunately, the delivery men did not. They were a bit surly and couldn't answer the few basic questions I had about the vehicle. They did help me transfer my stroller and car seat, though. Luckily, Sam was at Jesus school, so I had a some time to spend online getting info on the Vue. I found that the SUV gets an EPA estimated 27 miles per gallon in city driving and 32 miles per gallon on the highway, and has a base price of $23,495. When I played the 'Build Your Own' game and tricked it all out with a sunroof, heated seats, and satellite radio, it still only came in at $26, 750.

One way Saturn has managed to keep the shock off the sticker is by using a simpler version of hybrid motors that are already on the market. In the Vue, the battery assisted motor only kicks in when the car is at a stand still, or when you need a boost to pass another vehicle. Because of this, the battery packs are much smaller than other hybrid models. On the plus side, they take up almost no storage space in the car, but on the negative side, the car cannot run solely on battery power. This is also why the Vue has lower economy ratings than the other hybrid SUVs on the market. The battery also supplies power to the radio, lights and air conditioning when the gas engine isn't running. One piece of information the GM guys could have provided that would have made my driving experience more pleasant is that there is a small green button inside the vehicle that, when pressed, also economized the AC. I wasn't aware that this feature was on, and I found it mildly annoying that the AC cut out every time I came to a red light. Otherwise, my first day of driving was a satisfying one.

The Vue drives like a normal vehicle in most circumstances. It was only slightly noticeable that the gasoline engine stopped when at an intersection. The transition from gas to battery that occurred when going down hill was the only thing I found a little alarming. When the system would switch to battery charging, I noticed a slight deceleration. After a while, I got used to it. The standard stereo was fine, although if I were purchasing one, I would probably go for the upgrade. There was plenty of room in both the front and back seats for passengers, baby and miscellaneous stuff. There was less room in the trunk area than I would have liked, but I drive a looooooong station wagon and can fit three strollers in my cargo space, so I'm a little biased. SOB sat in the driver's seat as well, and he said that he was impressed that it drove like a normal car. Being on the tall side, he also appreciated the extra head room, especially when loading Sam in and out of the back seat.

At the end of the week, the GM guys came right back to my front door and took the car. Again, they could have used a touch more charm, but I can't really complain about door-to-door service. I'm glad that Saturn is making a car that has some environmental conscience, and a price that won't send most people running for the hills. Knowing that GM has the capacity to manufacture a car that runs entirely on electric power, it's a little disconcerting that we're not able to move further in that direction. However, I read somewhere that future models will have even better fuel economy ratings, so there is hope. This car is a great way to help spread the hybrid mentality to as many people as possible.

And? I got a free car for a week!

Sweet Dreams are Made of These!

2007-04-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

They say if you have plenty of vivid dreams, then you are getting good quality sleep. Last night I had a dream that I was taking a school tour through a museum that just happened to be haunted. And I was being protected the object of my high school affection, Todd W. The dream was filled with plenty of detail, and plenty of making out in dark corners.

Before I read Good Night The Sleep Doctor's 4-Week Program to Better Sleep and Better Health by Michael Breus, Ph. D. I don't recall dreaming ever since Sam started hanging around.

Long time readers may recall that I've mentioned my sleep troubles before. They might also remember my adventures with ear plugs. I've been a troubled sleeper since adolescence, and the situation has only been compounded by snoring sleep partner, a baby and a pregnancy. For a period during college, I spent some time in behavior modification therapy with the main intention of improving my sleep. While it helped, it wasn't as comprehensive as I would have liked. Now a few years later, Dr.Breus' book has provided me with all the information my therapist left out, and I've noticed a big difference in my sleep quality.

When I started reading Good Night, I was initially discouraged. There is a little caveat on page 57 that says pregnancy complicates the hell out of everything, and a discussion of such is beyond the scope of the book. However I decided to press on. I'm not going to be pregnant forever (only 20 more weeks!) and I'm sure I'll use the strategies I develop because of this book after the arrival of Numero Dos. Or at least a few weeks (or months) after the arrival of Numero Dos.

After the introductory chapter, the book goes into a series of quizzes to determine what type of problems, or disordered sleep, you are having. The book makes a clear distinction between true sleep disorders (insomnia and sleep apnea) and disordered sleep, which is what afflicts the typical person. After taking the quizzes, I determined that the root of my sleep trouble was anxiety and my sleep partners. Duh. After each quiz is an action plan to be put to use immediately.

The very first item on my action plan turned out to be the most effective sleep inducing technique I have ever tried. It was so simple it was almost elegant, the very definition of good science. All I had to do was count backward from three-hundred by three. On the fist night, I was asleep before I even hit two-hundred.

After some additional evaluation of my sleep environment, I jumped headfirst into Sleep Boot Camp, which is detailed in chapters 8, 9 and 10. While I wasn’t able to stick to the schedule exactly as it’s outlined, the book allows for a little personalization. I found it very useful that the sleep diary discussed in the book is clearly outlined in the appendices, as well as many of the retailers Dr. Breus mentions in the text. We ordered not one, but two white noise machines from the Ear Plug *Super* Store. All of these resources can also be found through Dr. Breus’ blog, The Insomnia Blog.

Overall, I was very pleased with the newfound quality of my sleep. Despite being pregnant and having to get up to pee at least once a night. Already. If I manage to keep up the good habits I’ve gained as a result of this book, I’ll be in halfway decent shape once F Squared arrives.

How about you? Do you think you could benefit from better sleep? Um, you’re lying if you said no. Leave a comment by Monday at 10am and WIN my gently used copy of Good Night The Sleep Doctor's 4-Week Program to Better Sleep and Better Health by Michael Breus, Ph. D. Winner to be chosen by my highly technical randomizer. Good luck!

Skeptics, Draw Near! My Baby Can Read! I Think...

2007-03-13T10:00:00.000-05:00

When The Parent Bloggers Network issued a call for folks to review a series of DVDs called Your Baby Can Read! I though I was hitting the proverbial snark gold mine. This was ready-made mocking territory, and I hadn't even gotten to the part about it being based on the research of Robert C. Titzer, Ph. D.

(I know. I am juvenile. Like, fourteen.)

But then I read some of what Dr. Titzer had to say and watched the 'parents' section of the video and I thought, hey, this might make sense. Dr. Titzer's theory is that babies can learn written words as easily as they learn spoken words, often at the same time, by using a multi-sensory approach. The videos show the word, say the word and then show a picture or an action related to the word. For example, they show the word 'Cat', say the word 'Cat' and then show a short clip of a cat with a simple narrative. It didn't hurt that the video also showed numerous babies and toddlers actually reading, including Dr. Titzer's own children. So I decided to dedicate a few minutes of Sam's day to these DVDs and playing with the accompanying cards.

Right out of the gate Sam seemed to enjoy what he was watching. Naturally, we began with the Starter DVD. The images are engaging without being over-stimulating, so they held his attention well. There are also segments of song, which he seemed to enjoy even more. The accompanying cards, while seemingly plain, have been and continue to be a huge source of entertainment for him. There is a word printed on each side, and a pull tab at the end. When you pull the tab, a picture or action of the word slides out of a pocket.

Every morning, I would put on the Starter DVD for Sam as he ate his breakfast. Initially I was thinking that he probably just enjoyed watching TV while eating, something we try to discourage in the household, Daddy. But I noticed that he did seem to be paying attention. I think it helped that all of the people featured were children or babies. Also, all of the narration is done by children or soft-spoken adults. There are several requests in the video for the viewers to repeat words. At twelve months, Sam only says 'Mama' and 'Dada' so he hasn't gotten around to actually saying any of the words yet, but he has picked up on some of the actions. The first time he clapped when the word 'Clap' came on screen, I considered it a fluke, but I encouraged him. So you can imagine how shocked I was when he did it the next day. And the next. And then later that afternoon when I showed him the card that says 'Clap.' Is he reading? Dr. Titzer says that at first, the babes aren't truly reading, but memorizing the look of the word. Over time, they can begin to recognize individual letters and can begin true reading, but it takes time. Once we started Volume 1, I noticed that Sam would sometimes clap when the word 'Chimpanzee' came on the screen. Perhaps he's made some sort of connection to the letter 'C'

We've only just begun. It's recommended that you watch the starter DVD for one month, and then Volume 1 for two months, while occasionally reviewing the starter DVD. There are five DVDs in total, and I'm hoping to continue to see Sam make progress as we continue to watch. If you are interested yourself, go get yourself a free demo DVD or watch some testimonials. Or click on over to the Parent Bloggers Network and see what other parent bloggers have to say about it.

The only major drawback I can fathom is that we'll have to be much more careful about spelling out words when we don't want him to know what we're talking about. It would be really embarrassing to be corrected by a three year old.

Huzzah! Cheese Party Reviews School Zone Discovery Cards for the Parent Bloggers Network!

2007-03-06T10:00:00.000-05:00

When we arrived back home from Pittsburgh, we were delighted to find a package waiting for us. I love presents, even when they're not exactly for me. I tore open the box to find that our School Zone Discovery Cards had arrived. Since this was going to be my first review for the Parent Bloggers Network, I was very careful to give everything a good once over before giving up the goods to my evil overlord. We received the Peak-a-Boo Bunny Guess Who set and the Fuzzy Animal Friends Discovery Cards. My initial reaction was that these cards seemed like something I would probably buy if I saw them at Target or Babies R Us. The packaging was colorful and engaging enough that Sam probably would have been happy with that alone! I do have one small complaint in the packaging department. The Peak-a-Boo Bunny Guess Who box had little tabs that held the cards in place, which were secured with several small pieces of Velcro. The glue holding the Velcro in place wasn't the greatest and two pieces came off. I found one stuck to my rug and another stuck to the back of Sam's jammies. It wasn't a huge deal, but worth mentioning in my opinion.

We started out with the Fuzzy Animal Friends Discovery Cards. These cards are suggested for babies six months and up and retail for $15.99. Each card has an animal on it with different 'sensory rich' parts, such as the bird's feathery tummy or the alligator's shiny teeth. Each card also has fabric tags that stick out from the edges. Each card has two sides, so when Sam flipped them over there was a whole new animal to play with. On one side you get a frog with crinkly eyes, and on the other you get a mouse with crinkly ears! A short phrase accompanies each animal for the grown-ups to read aloud. The big hit in our house was the card with the googly eyes. He would shake the card wildly as I would read 'Slither and Shake Purple Snake!' While Sam appeared to enjoy these cards, they didn't hold his attention very long. I do think, however, that these would be ideal for a baby who is closer to six months, and maybe slightly less independently mobile. I can imagine he would have spent more time figuring them out when he was a wee bit younger.

Next we moved on to the Peak-a-Boo Bunny Guess Who cards. What I liked initially about these cards was that they seemed slightly more complicated, and hopefully that would translate into more interest from Sam. These cards are recommended for babies nine months and up and retail for $11.99. The was they work is kind of hard to explain. Basically, there is a magnetic card with a plush bunny head on top, and six other cards that you stick to the bunny card. Each card has a picture with two animals, say a cat and a spider, on one side with a question such as 'Peak-a-Boo! Who lives in the web?' When you flip the card over, there is a flap that you pull down that reveals the answer. 'Spider lives in the web!' Additionally, the plush bunny head has magnets in the hands and eyes, so you can cover and uncover the eyes as you flip the card. There is also a squeaky toy in the bunny head! Do you see what I said about it being more complicated?

Initially, Sam only wanted to play with the bunny head card. He had a good time exploring the magnetic peek-a-boo hands. He then tried to get the bunny's ears to play the peek-a-boo game, too, and he got a little frustrated when that didn't work. Once he mastered the bunny, we moved on to the cards. One problem I encountered with this product was that the magnets in the cards weren't very powerful, and frequently the cards would not stick together. Several times we ended up playing with the question cards without the bunny card. Sam really enjoyed pulling the flaps down on the answer side of the cards. I am quite pleased to report that after almost two weeks of playing, none of the flaps show even the slightest signs of distress. Since he loves to grab the cards by the flaps and swing them around, to me this is a true mark of durability!

Overall, I was pleased with both sets of cards. The Peak-a-Boo Bunny Guess Who cards could use a little work in the magnet and Velcro departments, but the concept is what matters most. Both sets of cards are very educational, but they come across as just plain fun to babes. I plan on tucking away the Fuzzy Animal Friends Discovery Cards until early next year when I will whip them out for Numero Dos.

Want more? Click on over to the Parent Bloggers Network to see what other folks are saying about the School Zone Discovery Cards!