Natural in the New Year Giveaway Hop - Baby Bullet #NaturalNewYear

Disclosure: I have received this product in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions are 100% my own and may differ from yours.  My Jordanian Nugget is not responsible for shipment of prizes.

Welcome to the Natural in the New Year Giveaway Hop hosted by the Blogging Mamas Network. The New Year always sparks a desire in me to better my life. One of the things that I love to work on is living a more natural life.  I've joined a group of 30 other bloggers that have come together to help you do just that!  Each blog in the linky below has a natural prize to give away worth at least $25!  So, join us all by going more Natural in the New Year!

Babies create situations where there is a lot of waste and with that they also bring lots of opportunity to do things a bit more natural. I try to minimize the waste created by my baby every day. We use cloth diapers and wipes instead of disposables. I use reusable breast pads instead of disposable. When looking for toys, I much prefer recycled materials or long lasting ones that will make for less waste.  

With all the effort I put into my baby having a smaller carbon footprint, it would be silly to not make sure that feeding him was done in the an eco-friendly manner as well, right? There is a lot of waste that goes into feeding babies: jars, pouches, and wasted food. Not to mention most of the baby food out there is extremely processed. I don't put all this effort into breastfeeding to then feed my baby crap when it comes time to introduce solids. One of the best ways to avoid this is to make your own baby food. In this giveaway, I am bringing you the Baby Bullet which helps you do just that! Turn the vegetables and fruit that you have in your house into wholesome, natural baby food. Best part? It is quick and easy! Enter to win one below!

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Now that you've entered my Natural Giveaway, check out the Grand Prize for this Event...

Enter the Grand Prize Here.

Fanny Foozle and the Fantuckle Festival

Disclosure: I have received product unrelated to this post in exchange for the review of this application.  All opinions are 100% my own and may differ from that of yours.

Nugget is only 10 months old so there is really no need for him to be playing with a phone...no need, yes...does he?  I try not to let him... Anyway.  I do try to have some apps on there when desperate times call for desperate measures.  Sometimes I just need to distract him.  The app I am talking about today is a fun reading app for all ages, Fanny Foozle.

When you open up Fanny Foozle you will be able to choose if you want to read or if you want Fanny to read to you.  We usually pick Read Along because Nugget is still very small.  Fanny Foozle is a wonderful story full of alliteration about the town of Flamboozle and the Fantukle Festival.

Everyone in the town is getting ready for the festival and waiting for the four leaf Fantuckle to bloom.  This flower only blooms once a year and only if everyone in Flamboozle is in a cheerful mood.  The whole town gathers and waits for the flower but it doesn't bloom.  They later find Fanny Foozle is sad because his foodle dog had run away.  Naturally everyone fanned out and searched all of Flamboozle to find the Foodle dog Sam to save the Fantuckle Festival.

The town soon found the foodle dog and got the festival underway.  Everyone is laughing and singing and the Fantuckle bloomed.

Fanny Foozle is great to teach reading and working together to reach a goal.  The colors are bright for little ones and the pictures are simple and easy to follow.  You children can follow Fanny Foozle on Facebook, You tube and Twitter.  The app is available free through iTunes and Android stores and can be purchased for $1.99 in the Kindle Store.  

We are giving away one Fanny Foozle book!  Enter Below!

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5 Simple Toys Your 10 Month Old Will Love

A crazy thing happened right after Christmas.  Nugget started to  play with toys!  He moves the car back and forth correctly.  He can almost stack things.  Over all he is just more interested.  So what is that little Nugget playing with now-a-days?

1. Ikea Trucks

Ikea makes some really great and super affordable baby toys.  They are mostly wood which I much prefer over plastic.

He got this set for Christmas and loves them.  Each piece comes apart and you see that black piece on the yellow truck...that is his favorite.  

2. Uncle Goose Blocks

I was hesitant on buying these.  Who knew if he would like them and I thought they were a little pricey.  We have them in Arabic but they are available in English as well.

We build up towers and house and stock his trucks full of blocks and let him knock them down.  He love it.  They are good quality and have endless possibilities.

3. Y-Bike Pewi

This genius toy is Nugget's main mode of transportation around the house.  It is versatile and easy to use.

I think this will definitely grow with Nugget as he gets better at walking.

4. Play Keys

We have tried several sets but he seems to love this simple set of two keys.

One is soft and spongy and the other hard to give different sensations.  Such a simple toy but he always goes for it.  He also thinks it is HILARIOUS when I pretend to bite the keys.

5.  Melissa and Doug Spinning Penquin

As you can see from the list, Nugget like simple toys.  This one was received in a Bluum Box.  He is totally entertained by it.  He can chew on it, make it into a car or spin the wheels in the middle.

He is easy to please, that's for sure.

What is your baby's favorite toy?

10 months!

Nugget is: 10 months

Nugget weighs: About 22lbs

Nugget is wearing: 18 month clothing.

Nugget's favorite food is: Daddy's famous fried rices.

Nugget's Firsts:

First Sled Ride

First Christmas on the Outside

First Ride down a slide

And Just for Fun!

Nugget has been driving Dufda crazy with his turbo charge life style.  He loves to climb evertyhing.  He is doing great at eating solids and every little thing that the vacuum doesn't pick up off the ground.  It was pretty amazing that Christmas just happened.  I remember this time last year.  I kept thinking about how we would have a little baby running around and I couldn't wait for him to open presents on Christmas morning.  The fantasy is much different than the reality.  Nugget was not even remotely interested in opening presents but he did have fun playing with them after, of course.

How was the holidays with your little one?

Did my Underwear get Smaller or...

Today as I was getting ready for work all I could think about is,"Did my underwear get smaller or did my vagina get larger?"  I bet this thought is sitting in the minds of most postpartum women....or not. The problems is, is that can I really even be considered postpartum.  So here is my gripe:

I use to trot into Victoria's Secret and snatch up the 5 for $25 underwear and was so happy with the fit.  I probably had 400 pairs, because what else do you spend your money on before you have children?  Low rise, g-string, invisible...those were the best underwear.  This was all fine and dandy until Victoria Secret decided it was a great idea to change said underwear.  

They took their reasonable cotton underwear and added a scrunched seam in the back...why?!  The problem is you go to buy new underwear for whatever reason and you are struck with this discovery that your underwear no longer exist.  You pick up your allotted five pairs and go home slightly defeated but also excited because maybe these underwear are going to be awesome.  Well they aren't because who wants a seam that spans the length of your butt...no one.  Now I am stuck with these stupid underwear that I insist one day I will wear so I don't get rid of them.  

I go back to wearing the old pairs and make another trip out to Vicky's a couple months down the road and see that now they have done away with cotton completely.  My only option for underwear is now spandex yoga underwear that says stupid shit on the back like: Not tonight or I'm so Hot!  I pick up my 5 pair and get on my way.  These end up not being so bad and I stick with them for awhile.  Then something happens, something that will change my outlook on underwear forever.

I get pregnant!

I realized that being pregnant was going to make my size fluctuate so I headed for the Big Red instead of Vicky's for the maiden voyage in to maternity underwear.  I got some real practical cotton undies from my friend Gillian and O'Malley.  They too have a 5 pair deal, but for only $20!  What a steal.  For my first two trimesters I had about exactly 5 pairs of underwear that fit, it was awful.  They lasted through my whole pregnancy and stretched out to fit my ever growing bump.  Then something happened that would seriously make my underwear hunt ten times harder.

I gave birth!

Yeah, so I guess it was inevitable.  My maternity underwear that I loved so dearly were great right after I had my baby.  Then I started to shed the baby weight and thought I should give my former underwear a try.  Really what the hell was I thinking?  No self respecting woman should have Wanna Date? plaster on her ass.  The worse part is that I am seriously convinced that, overtime, Vicky's has sabotaged my underwear search by decreasing the crotch size on me....that or my vagina just got bigger.  I don't believe the latter to be true because my underwear drawer is basically a Victoria's Secret time capsule of the evolution of their panties.  Their crotch use to be as wide as a point and shoot camera.  Now?  We are looking at a stick of gum.  What the heck Vicky?  To my dismay I now need to go buy more underwear.  I go visit Gillian and O'Malley again and pick out some size appropriate drawers, obviously searching for the same ones I bought before.  I must have been feeling adventurous that day because I got silk and of course I got 5.  Why?  Because they stopped making the ones I liked!  My job basically equates to me climbing stair for a living, what the hell am I suppose to do with silk underwear?  No one likes silk underwear and if you do you are lying for the sake of your husband.  So I am now stuck with wearing my too big underwear from my pregnancy days.  Baggy underwear are the worse but I seriously do not have the patience to start this search again.  If I am not stuck in the saggy G&O's, I am prancing around with Out of Your League on my ass while Dufda just shakes his head.

Seriously why does underwear shopping suck so bad...or am I the only one?

Makin' some Bubbly with Sodastream

Disclosure: I have received this product in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions are 100% my own and may differ from yours.

Seriously, how annoying is buying pop from the grocery store.  You can only fit two in a bag.  They are super heavy.  The ones you want are never on sale.  They always go flat before you get to the bottom.  The list goes on and on, well maybe not on and on but there are definitely some things that irk me about the soda industry and the packaging for their product.  Sure you can buy cans or smaller bottles, but then you pay more.  Sodastream solves just about all of these problems, while giving you a variety of choices in the process.

I am sure you have seen Sodastream some where and probably thought that it looked pretty neat.  So what does it do?  Sodastream is an at-home soda maker that allows you to turn tap water into sparkling water in under 30 seconds.  You then add your flavor to get cola, an Arnold Palmer, flavored water and who slew of other options.  You have control over the fizz and the flavor allowing you to concoct your perfect soda.  

The process is simple.  First you hook up the cabonator to your Sodastream.  Then you fill the bottle with regular tap water and insert it into the machine.  Next you press down on the front of the machine to carbonate the water.  The LED lets you know how much you have added.  Choose a flavor.  Pour it in and mix it up and you are ready to go!

So what does it taste like?  If you are looking for this to be an exact match to Pepsi, it won't be.  It is a different flavor for the cola, not bad, just different.  My favorite is the Half and Half, iced tea and lemonade.  I love the machine for just plain sparkling water as well.  Keeps me from buying it!  They have everything from cocktail mixes to energy drink.  The best part?  It has 2/3 less calories than that of the name brand soda.

 While it does taste good and it is better for you, Sodastream also saves you money.  Even the cheapest can of soda will cost you about 50 cents.  Sodastream cuts that in half and won't leave you with any flat soda that needs to be thrown away.  If your state requires a bottle deposit, you get to skip that as well.  The Sodastream also keeps lots and lots of bottle out of landfills.  The only person in the house that doesn't like the Sodastream?  That would be 10 month old Nugget...he LOVES playing with 2-liter bottles.

Soda is heavy and if you are a mom, you don't want to be lugging babies and soda bottles in and out of the store.  The bottle of soda mix will yield you 33 cans.  Your 1 carbonator will make 60 liters.  No more storing bottles and then having to wrangle them all up on trash day.  The Sodastream is extremely convenient.  It makes this soda without batteries, electricity or plumbing.  I still haven't figured out how it works, it is almost magical!

Have I sold you on the Sodastream yet?  I did forget to tell you that the Sodastream looks great on your counter.  It doesn't clash with your kitchen.  The design is modern and sleek.  You are able to pick up a Sodastream at all these retailers or order one today on Amazon.

Sippy, Spout or Straw...Oh My!

Disclosure: I have received this product in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions are 100% my own and may differ from that of yours.

Before I had children I had always heard that you shouldn't give babies bottles after 1 year.  In my mind this was just a simple fix, your baby turns one and banish all bottles from the house.  Now that I have a child, I learned that wasn't exactly the case.  What do you you give after the bottle: sippy, spout, adult cup or straw cup?  There are about a million and one options and you will probably try every one of them before your child picks your last attempt.  

When Nugget was old enough to be in the high chair, I offered him a sippy cup to play with.  I doubt he even took a sip.  We started with a soft spout and it was never really a hit.  Then one day I offered Nugget to drink out of my cup from the straw.  To my surprise, he started chugging all of my water.  I knew that our next move would be a straw cup.  I have heard lot of stories about straw cups leaking and being hard to clean so I was nervous about that.  Since I am a Nuby Mom, I naturally went with a Nuby cup first.  The Clik-it™ FlexStraw™ combined everything we need to give Nugget an alternative to the bottle.

The  Clik-it™ FlexStraw™ features Nuby's leak proof technology which gives an audible click whenever it is completely tightened.  I fill this with water and throw it in my diaper bag, never once has it leaked on me.  Nugget gives this cup a beating to and it hasn't affected the seal or the click.

The straw.  This isn't just a normal straw, there are a couple of valves that prevent water from just spilling out of it.  When I first looked at it, I thought it would be hard for Nugget to suck through the straw.  I tried it myself and although it requires a little more work, Nugget was able to learn it very quickly.  I have to admit, I think Nugget is super cute when he drink out of this.  He just looks so grown up sipping away.

When we finally make the transition to rid of the bottles completely, these will be our go to cups.  They come into 4 pieces for easy clean up and have a contoured shaped that makes them easy to hold.  Would you like to pick up a  Clik-it™ FlexStraw™ Cup of your own?  They are available at Amazon, Target and TJ Maxx.

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