Time Out For Mommy

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I am very good at dividing my time between my kids. Sadly I haven’t included time for myself in that division. Time for me has always been put on the back burner, I like most Mom’s spread themselves thin, caring for kids, husband, and home leaves you just plain tired. 

When Alexis first contacted me she didn’t even have a name for her business. She was passionate though about what she was going to be doing. Alexis said “I know mommy’s need to take care of themselves, too, and I want to fill that need! “ She was determined and she just knew I’d love her stuff. So nameless we continued to set up a review, she had me pick from a selection of scents and asked what color I liked. 

The Scents I had to choose from were:

Eucalyptus mint

Honey almond

Tropical Temptation

Mandarin bergamot

Cucumber and green tea

Sun ripened fruit

Fresh linen

Lavender vanilla

I settled on Almond Honey and Fresh Linen.  And blue is my very favorite color. 

I love getting mail, it makes me happy!

Everything came all wrapped up and pretty.

She sent me a body wash 

and sugar and salt scrub that was Honey Almond,

an, oh so very pretty blue Fresh Linen bath bar 

 I took off the wrapper and found a lovely embossed design on it

and BONUS a massaging Mandarin bergamot soap bar!

I took the time to actually take a bath, now it might have been at 2 am but I took the time =o) Everything felt lovely. The salt and sugar scrub made my legs oh so very soft, and felt like a little massage. The body wash is exfoliating too, and very clean rinsing, leaving you feeling clean, not feeling slimy or anything. 

I loved the smell of the soap bars, they were not too overpowering but not wimpy either. I really dig the massaging one, makes cleaning somewhat fun haha.

Alexis has since come up with a name for her store, Time Out For Mommy, but is lacking in names for her products so look on the facebook page for a naming contest for her lotion! Winner will recieve one 4oz trial of the product named.

This week, you will have the opportunity to win a $10 gift card to Time Out For Mommy, that way you can pick just what you want!

Her store should be open soon, until then check out her facebook page, Time Out For Mommy .

Rules:

You must complete the mandatory entry for any of your extra entries to be valid. Winner will be chosen via random.org and posted on facebook and in the winners circle on October 30, 2010. 

The winner will have 24hrs to contact me via email, if no contact is made a new winner will be drawn.

Mandatory Entry:

Visit Time Out For Mommy's store and tell me your favorite item- 1 enry

Additional Entries:

Like Time Out For Mommy on facebook- 1 entry

Like Mama Digs It on facebook- 1 entry

Follow my blog publicly- 1 entry, leave the name you are following as

Follow Mama Digs It on twitter- 1 entry

Share this give away-1 extra entry limited to two entries each day. share the link.

Place an order with Time Out For Mommy and send me the invoice, 1 extra entry for every .50 spent.

Referral Contest #1

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10/22
First place winner will recieve 50 extra entries to the give away of their choice.
Second Place winner will recieve 25 extra entries to the give away of their choice.
Third place will recieve 12 extra entries to the give away of their choice.
Everyone who has at least one referral will win 3 extra entries to the give away of their choice.

How to play: have your friends come and follow my blog publicly via Google Friend Connect, then comment that you sent them and leave the name that they are following as. It's that simple.

Contest will end Thursday at 12:00pm est.

Go forth and refer!

Melissa's Barefoot Reading Rug

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Melissa’s Barefoot Reading Rug

I have a mixed house when it comes to feelings about reading. James thinks reading is ok, but he doesn’t want to read aloud and its hard to find books he loves. Madilyne can’t stop finding stuff she wants to read, and she’d rather I read with her then anything else. Ansel has just started the oooing and aahing over books.  I do not have very many board books since I gave away most of them after Madilyne out grew them,  Haha fast forward four years and now we have no books for Ansel, DOH!

When Melissa contacted me about a review I was over the moon excited. I have a hard time paying for the over commercialized books, Madilyne loves Barbie, but I’d rather she be reading something with a little more meat to chew if you will. 

I started browsing the books at Melissa’s Barefoot Reading Rug and they were all so adorable, they all looked like they would make us very happy! One problem, I couldn’t choose who to get a book for. I mean my first thought was for Ansel since he didn’t have any books, but then I thought Madilyne because she loves to read, and then I thought James because there were some awesome choices for his age range….

The final choice? I let Melissa choose haha! I told her that way I can’t get blamed for picking one over the other.  She surprised me and in my mail I received 3 fabulous books, one for each of my children. That was so generous of her, and I am sold!

We received a cute board book for Ansel called  Secret Seahorse,

We  also received a nice paper back book for Madilyne called Elephant Dance, 

and  a fantastic hard back book for James calld  The Adventures Of Odysseus.

All well bound, beautifully illustrated, and authored.  The best part was they were not the common overly commercialized stories. These are books we will all enjoy together time and again. 

The customer service was fantastic, shipping time was nearly non-existent, I can’t say enough about this product! The only downside I can think of is well I want more!


Can't wait to win? Use coupon code FRIEND for 20% off, free shipping on orders over $60 until Christmas Eve!

Melissa is offering up to one lucky winner this paper back book with CD.

Farmyard  Jamboree

You must complete all mandatory entries in order to win. Leave an email address in your comments. The winner will be chosen via random.org  on October 23, 2010 and will be posted on facebook and in the winners circle. If I do not receive any contact within 24hrs I will draw another winner.

Mandatory Entry:

Visit Melissa’s store and tell me what is your favorite product there- 1 entry

Additional entries:

Like Melissa’s Barefoot Reading Rug on facebook-1 entry

Like Mama Digs It on facebook- 1 entry

Follow my Blog publicly via gfc, leave the name that you are following under-2 entries

Share this give away-1 entry include links in comment, (limited to 2 entries)

Follow Mama Digs It on Twitter- 1 entry

Purchase something from Melissa, send me a copy of the invoice, receive 1 entry for every .50 spent.

Play nearly nightly for extra entries on Mama Digs It facebook page

The fun stuff...

Life isn't always about the fun stuff, trust me I've had my hardships. But more often then not, I've been blessed in my life. I may have had 11 miscarriages, but I have 3 AMAZING kids. They are healthy, intelligent, vibrant and loving. The greatest gift I've even been given was the gift of Motherhood. I have a fantastic Husband who loves me.  A supportive family, who didn't think I was crazy when I told them I was starting my review blog, And then there are you all...yes that's right my nearly 600 likers, readers, fans what ever you want to be called.  If it weren't for you I'd be dead in the water.

I started this blog out of a joy for sharing things I love. I love to write, I love to try new things, and I love to make new friends. I have found many wonderful people through the fantastic vendors who sponsor these reviews, and then the fantastical people who play the games and enter the give aways.

I hope to keep going, to be able to bring many more things to everyone. I can't wait for some of the amazing stuff I have coming up for you all!

Thank you for everything you make possible for me!

Live much, Laugh often, Love always =o)

~Mama D~

Chic Alaskan

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Finally I have something that isn’t just for Mom’s.

Lets preface to say I am not a huge jewelry person; I can count the pieces of jewelry I own on one hand. I have my sapphire engagement ring and wedding ring, a pair of diamond earrings Brian bought me, a silver claddagh that Brian bought me, and a couple years ago, Brian bought me a white gold diamond solitaire to wear with my Mom’s wedding band that she gave me.  That’s it, not much, I do love pretty pieces, I would love to have more but I have a hard time finding things I like. I’ve always wanted a strand of pearls, I love bracelets but my wrist is larger then the average girl and I never can find anything that fits right. 

So this brings me to Chic Alaskan, oh my gosh BEAUTIFUL stuff.

It’s all hand made by Amie Joy. She is a fantastic quirky chick!

When I asked her about sponsoring a review and give away I never imagined she’d turn around and not only donate such a fabulous piece, but custom make this fabulous piece over night! Yes that’s right, from the time I first contacted her to the day she shipped out the piece was only 3 days. I was expecting a pair of earrings that she already had. She has another Amethyst piece that I totally love and she just felt inspired and made this just for Mama Digs It  to give away!

It came in a lovely box, and when I opened the box, wow it was stunning.

It’s sterling silver, Amethyst, and Moonstone. Hand crafted items just amaze me. 

This piece is fancy schmancy, I’d wear this to a special night out. She makes jewelry for all occasions though. Check out her Etsy store, she has lovely earrings made from previously loved items.

I had my niece get all dressed up and we snapped some shots so you could see it on a neck. I like to see things on people it gives me a good idea of what it looks like. It has a nice weight to it, it's not heavy as crud but it is enough that you won't have to constantly check if it's there.

I am waiting on  a few more items from Amie and I can’t wait! Amie also has a store front in a shopping mall so if you are ever in Alaska look her up!

Contest rules:

Winner will be drawn from the comments posted to this message. Winner will be drawn on 10/16/10. Entries are open until 11:59pm on 10/15/10.

An entry = one comment, multiple entries need to be left as seperate comments. Please leave your email address in your comments. I'd hate for you to miss winning because there is no email address for me to contact you.

You must complete all the mandatory entries before any extra entries will count.

Mandatory entries:

Visit Chic Alaskan’s etsy store tell me your favorite thing. -1 entry

Extra entries:

Like Chic Alaskan’s facebook page- 1 entry

Like Mama Digs It's facebook page-1 entry

Subscribe to my blog-1 entry

Tell people about this give away- 1 entry (limited to 2 entries per day)

Buy something from Chic Alaskan, email me the invoice and get 1 extra entry for every dollar spent.

Wee Expressions Cloth Wipes Review & Giveaway

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Converting to this whole cloth thing has seriously messed up my diapering mojo, some ways good some ways bad. It would be great if I were rich and could just buy everything I needed and wanted all in one shot. Then the mojo wouldn’t be messed with. Alas I’m not rich, and that’s ok. I can tell you, it seems almost defeatist to use cloth diapers and disposable wipes. I mean the wipes do their job whether you throw them away or toss em in the bag with the dirty diapers. BUT when using disposable diapers you just wrap the nasty wipes up with the nasty diaper and throw away, but what do you do with the wipes when you are using cloth? They have to be thrown away and set somewhere while you are wiping. THAT is annoying!

So I started searching, I found lots of cool wipes, cute prints. But I had a hard time, I thought why would you even buy a “wipe” why not just use a washcloth? It seems good enough. I hadn’t been sold on the whole cloth wipe thing. I found Wee Expressions, Lauren makes super adorable diapers and wipes and all sorts of other things. When she offered me a set of wipes to review I decided I certainly would try them. She sent me VERY quickly some lovely wipes. I was so excited to open the package that I forgot to take a picture of it! It was nicely wrapped in tissue and had a cute bow tied around it =o)

They had such cute prints on the flannel, but my first thought honestly was “eh…I could take em or leave em.” But I had a review to do so I washed them, and they fluffed up and I was more excited.

So there I sat, and waited and waited for Ansel to have a poopy diaper. I mean seriously did I just resort to looking forward to changing a poopy diaper?

But about an hour after I got the wipes out of the wash,  there it was, I thought about having Brian take pictures but umm well that’s gross. So you’ll just have to take my word for it when I say that the diaper was BAD.  A diaper like this is not something one would be excited about normally, but I was ready I just KNEW it was going to take all 3 wipes plus some of my disposables.

 So there I was all geared up to use everything in my arsenal, oh my GOSH, I totally only used one wipe. That sucker cleaned up Ansel in no time, something that would have normally taken no less than 15 disposable wipes. ONE wipe holy cow! Ok but I know you are thinking, yeah but which side did she really use. So here is the low down:

I used the terry side for the majority of the mess, then I used the oh so soft flannel to do the final wipe over.  It made clean up super easy and the best part in my book? I just tossed it in the bag with the diaper!

The wipes are 7x7 square, cute flannel print on one side, terry on the other.

She sells these at her etsy store as a set of 6 for $5.00

When folded in half you can squeeze 3 of these into a hard travel wipes case. 

Pros:

They do their job!

nice and thick keeps your hands clean and cleans up the messes

easy cheesy to deal with dirty wipes

One does the job of 15 disposable

Good price

Doubles as a wash cloth

Lauren is very personable and excited about what she does. She answered all my questions.

Cons:

I could do with maybe some softer terry, like micro terry or something.

3 isn't enough for a rotation, but she sells them in sets of 6 so that's a little better.

So Lauren is offering a 3 wipe set in your choice of boy or girl print!

Here is what you gotta do:

All entries are entered as a seperate comment, please include an email address with at least one of your comments, I'd hate to not be able to give you your prize. 

You MUST complete every Mandatory entry...before ANY extra entries will count.

Winner will be drawn October 9th and announced on my facebook page.

Mandatory entries: 

Visit Wee Expressions Etsy store and tell me what you like best- 1 entry 

Extra Entries:

Like Mama Digs It on facebook- 1 entry

Like Wee Expressions on facebook- 1 entry

Subscribe to my blog on the right- 1 entry

Let your friends know about the give away (limited to 2 extra entries a day)-1 entry

Share this on a forum other than facebook and post the link in your comment-1 entry 

Buy Something from Lauren get 1 entry for every dollar spent

Play for extra entries on Mama Digs It facebook page!