I don't recall if I mentioned this before or not (yay, pregnancy brain!), but I have a big event planned for the near future to celebrate Squiggle! I have some lovely sponsors on board to offer you, my readers, some lovely prizes! If you are interested in sponsoring the event, please send me an email to:
ThoughtsOfFluff (at) gmail (dot) com
For all my fabulous readers... get excited! More details will come in the future... but for now, I need to come up with a name for the event! Suggestions are welcome! :)
A mother of 2 posting on greener living and life in general.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Steam Machine Free Blogger Opp!
Here's a great Free Blogger Opp
for all of you bloggers out there who are looking to get more social
media followers and exposure on their blogs! This giveaway will be for a
Steam Machine worth $99.99!!! In exchange for posting the giveaway on
your blog and sharing it on Twitter, you will receive your choice of one
free Twitter link.
HOSTS: Mizz Review Lady and J's Reviews & Giveaways PRIZE: Steam Machine - Multi Purpose Steamer that can be used to do many tasks including removing wallpaper, sanitize and clean floors, and much much more!
BLOGGER SIGN UPS: February 3 - February 25th
GIVEAWAY EVENT: February 28 - March 28th
You will receive one free Twitter link for participating. A couple of days before the event goes live I will send you the review and giveaway code. You will then be required to alter it a little and post it to your blog. Also, please post it on Twitter, if possible. The post will need to be posted on February 28th and then submitted to the form(that will be sent to you in a future message). If you would like you can purchase extra links for only $1 each. Your choices include Facebook, Google+1, Pinterest, and GFC. Also, if you are interested in becoming a co-host you may pay $10. Each co-host will receive a visit to their blog as an optional entry and as many links as you may wish from those listed above.
Please send co-host and link payments via PayPal to mrs.cakes01@yahoo.com.
Additionally, although it is not required I would love it for you to share this blogger giveaway opp anyway possible. The more people who sign up, the more people that enter, and the more expose we all get!
To enter please visit this LINK and fill out the form, completely.
HOSTS: Mizz Review Lady and J's Reviews & Giveaways PRIZE: Steam Machine - Multi Purpose Steamer that can be used to do many tasks including removing wallpaper, sanitize and clean floors, and much much more!
BLOGGER SIGN UPS: February 3 - February 25th
GIVEAWAY EVENT: February 28 - March 28th
You will receive one free Twitter link for participating. A couple of days before the event goes live I will send you the review and giveaway code. You will then be required to alter it a little and post it to your blog. Also, please post it on Twitter, if possible. The post will need to be posted on February 28th and then submitted to the form(that will be sent to you in a future message). If you would like you can purchase extra links for only $1 each. Your choices include Facebook, Google+1, Pinterest, and GFC. Also, if you are interested in becoming a co-host you may pay $10. Each co-host will receive a visit to their blog as an optional entry and as many links as you may wish from those listed above.
Please send co-host and link payments via PayPal to mrs.cakes01@yahoo.com.
Additionally, although it is not required I would love it for you to share this blogger giveaway opp anyway possible. The more people who sign up, the more people that enter, and the more expose we all get!
To enter please visit this LINK and fill out the form, completely.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Earth's Best NEW Veggie Puree Giveaway!
Are you excited about the NEW veggie puree flavours by Earth's Best? Enter to win a sampler pack of ALL their NEW veggie puree flavours here!
Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Earth's Best NEW Organic Puree Flavours
Earth's Best has lots of fantastic foods and snacks for your little ones of all ages. You can always count on them to have wholesome foods rich in vitamins and without all those nasty things you just don't want in your food or your little one's food!
The Earth's Best difference:
You can look for these new puree flavours, along with many other Earth’s Best products, online at the Earth’s Best Store, from Amazon.com, many other online retailers, or you can use the Earth’s Best Store Locator to find a retailer near you!
You can also enter to win some HERE!
The Earth's Best difference:
- Organic ingredients grown without harmful pesticides
- No Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
- Most items are made only from whole grains
- No added salt, modified starches or refined sugars
- No artificial flavors, colors or preservatives
- Kosher (excluding meat varieties)
- Rigorous product testing
You can look for these new puree flavours, along with many other Earth’s Best products, online at the Earth’s Best Store, from Amazon.com, many other online retailers, or you can use the Earth’s Best Store Locator to find a retailer near you!
You can also enter to win some HERE!
Finicky Eater Tips From Earth's Best
Fruits and veggies are a very important part of your little one's diet. Wait, your little one is a bit finicky with fruits and veggies? Earth's Best put an educational video on their YouTube Page on starting your little one on fruits/veggies.
A few tips from Earth's Best:
Parents who eat more fruits and vegetables often have kids who
a) are less picky
and
b)consume more fruits and vegetables.
Don't pressure kids to eat. Studies show that parents who pressure their kids to eat actually get kids with higher levels of pickiness and kids who eat significantly fewer servings of fruits and vegetables.
Looking for some more tips? Check out the Earth's Best article Plant The Seed For Vegetable Loving.
A few tips from Earth's Best:
Parents who eat more fruits and vegetables often have kids who
a) are less picky
and
b)consume more fruits and vegetables.
Don't pressure kids to eat. Studies show that parents who pressure their kids to eat actually get kids with higher levels of pickiness and kids who eat significantly fewer servings of fruits and vegetables.
Looking for some more tips? Check out the Earth's Best article Plant The Seed For Vegetable Loving.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Switch to Cloth (Giveaway)
Welcome to the Switch to Cloth Giveaway Event hosted by SAHM of Drama Queens & a Prince, My Cloth Diaper Stash, A Year With Mom and Dad, Mommy of One and Counting and Adventures of Mommyhood. Together we are bringing one lucky winner a cloth diaper prize pack worth over $450. Below is a list of everything you can win!
Rockin Green - Rockin Bundle (winner's choice of formula), Funk Rock and a Diaper Sprayer
Glowbugs - 4 pack of winner's choice Girl or Boy/Gender Neutral - Read Karine's review and Shannon's review
Chelory - $30 Store Credit
Poppy Fields - Fitted Poppy Fields Diaper - Read Shannon's review
Sweet Pea Pocket Diaper - Read Karine's review
Spray Pal - Spray Pal
Diapers by Chris - Diaper
Red Barn Cloth Diapers - Heavy Doody Diaper
Sports Bumz - Fleece Cover (custom slot)
Lots of great prizes for you to win.... and if you don't want or need all those items, they are a great baby shower gift!
One lucky winner will win everything listed above.
Giveaway is open to US residents only and will end on March 14th at 11:59pm EST
Disclaimer: I received no compensation for this publication. My opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. Thoughts Of Fluff is not responsible for shipping prize to winner, nor did I accept any compensation for this promotion.
IntelliGender (review)
This review is a 3-part review being published all at once.
For anyone who hasn't heard of IntelliGender, it is a baby gender prediction test that you can take as early as 10 weeks of pregnancy. You simply use the first morning urine and.... voila! Test results come in!
Before I get into how easy to use this test was, I'd like to let you know a few things first. One, I've felt that Squiggle was a girl from the moment I found out I was pregnant.... much like I felt Bobble was a boy from the moment I saw those two little lines. This pregnancy has treated me very differently from the start, and that only further confirmed my theory that Squiggle is a girl.
I also want to let you know that, as a fellow blog READER and excited new mother, I had entered an IntelliGender giveaway at another fabulous blogger's page. It just so happened that when IntelliGender got in touch with me in November (after said event ended and I received no notification of winning), that they sent me a test kit to review for all of you once I was far enough along. A couple days after I received that test kit, I received an email stating I won the other giveaway. I'm not sure if the giveaway winner drawing was delayed for whatever reason, or if I simply forgot that I ever entered it in the first place and forgot that it was still going on (I did forget I entered at first!).... but now I had two kits.
My first thought was to give one to a coworker slightly farther along than me and let her test it out too. My husband actually declined that idea, so I then decided to do a more thorough review of the kit for all of you. I decided I would do one at the earliest point possible (exactly 10 weeks), and then again at either 15 weeks or 16 weeks of pregnancy to see if it changed any. Since we know that hormones alter and that morning sickness tends to die off (TENDS to... doesn't always!) a bit after the first trimester, I thought taking it after the first trimester was over would be smart. However, I was very curious as to how the test would read at 10 weeks as well.
The kit was super easy to use, so that was a relief to me first thing in the morning! You collect a urine sample in a cup, use the syringe to collect the specified amount to add to the test bottle, peel back the sticker on the top of the lid, inject urine slowly, swirl (rapidly!) for 10 seconds, then let it sit for 5 minutes. That's it. I set it on some toilet paper to ensure I had only white contrasting it and that it wouldn't skew the reading at all.
The test was read easily enough, and it was definitely GREEN. If the liquid turns GREEN inside, it means it is a boy. If the liquid turns ORANGE/YELLOW, it means it is a girl. I will admit, my heart sunk a bit when I saw that green. I could have sworn that Squiggle was a little girl! True, the test isn't 100% accurate.... but the trials performed that show the test results are around 90% accurate still had me a little bummed.
The top two pictures are with flash, the bottom two are without flash. Flash does make a difference in how the colour appears... especially in the lighting you have at 3am!
For the record: I would totally love another boy.... but my hubby only wants two children (I want four!), so if we only have two, I was hoping to have one of each!
I went back to look at the test after about 15 minutes, and noticed that all the granules (now green) had settled to the bottom in a pile, so now you could see yellowish coloured liquid with a pile of green. I decided to email customer service with a picture for them to help read it (and to see how fast of a response you get!), and in the mean time, I compared my results to the sample results they provide for you from various email submissions on their page.
To my surprise, I had a response from the customer service within TWELVE HOURS. Talk about speedy! I was especially surprised since I performed the test around 3am, and emailed them around that time, too. They confirmed my initial reading of BOY.
Now 15 weeks came and went without a test due, but I figured 16 weeks was just as good. Unfortunately, at 16 weeks is when I had that nasty bug that wouldn't allow me to hold down food OR water. Not only did I not feel like taking any test of any sort, but I didn't even have enough liquids in me to feel like I could have provided a decent enough sample amount.
Feeling better at 16 weeks and 3 days, I took the test..... again, at 3 in the morning because that's when I woke up and had to go. (The test recommends first morning urine, at least 2.5 hours after you last went. Last time I recalled going was around 8pm, so I thought this was my best chance!)
Again, I was thankful for how easy it was! Open box, collect sample, inject specified amount, swirl, wait, read. Easy-peasy! This time, at 16 weeks and 3 days...... it was an ORANGE hue! I was super excited! The only thing this made me wish is that I had a test kit for every week to see where it started to change over to orange instead of green, or to see when it definitively changed.
If I had only one test kit, I fully planned on testing around 13 or 14 weeks as that would be out of my first trimester. (Again, referring to the hormonal changes in your body and thinking it might be a better time for me than 10 weeks.) I would probably recommend waiting until 13 weeks, personally, just for that reason.
Now to await the ultrasound! The ultrasound is scheduled for February 11th, so we still have a few weeks to go, yet. Obviously, my first concern is for Squiggle's well being. With all the illness I've had this pregnancy, I really just want to see he/she is developing properly and is healthy! If he/she isn't shy, however, will be an added bonus!
For all pictures taken, I'd like to mention that flash photography skewed the results in those pictures. In the second test performed, use of a flash made the liquid appear greenish (see below for a flash picture from the second test!) despite the fact it was orange.
While the only SURE way to know what your child is would be to wait until birth, and a more reliable way (while still pregnant) is with an ultrasound, IntelliGender is definitely a fun test for any pregnant mother! They are pretty darn accurate (probably more so after the first trimester is officially over, I would think), and super easy to do! You can pick up an IntelliGender test kit at stores like Babies-r-us, Walgreens, CVS, and RiteAid (store locator for retailers carrying this product can be found HERE), or you can order online from IntelliGender for only $27.99! Happy testing, mamas!
Our ultrasound revealed to us that Squiggle is (appearing to be) a very active little GIRL! I had a feeling Squiggle would be a girl, and my later IntelliGender test also suggested as such. I'd probably wait until just after the first trimester before testing at home with IntelliGender so your hormones can regulate. :)
Disclosure: The product mentioned above was provided to me by IntelliGender for review. This did not influence my opinion of the product in any way. My opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.
For anyone who hasn't heard of IntelliGender, it is a baby gender prediction test that you can take as early as 10 weeks of pregnancy. You simply use the first morning urine and.... voila! Test results come in!
Before I get into how easy to use this test was, I'd like to let you know a few things first. One, I've felt that Squiggle was a girl from the moment I found out I was pregnant.... much like I felt Bobble was a boy from the moment I saw those two little lines. This pregnancy has treated me very differently from the start, and that only further confirmed my theory that Squiggle is a girl.
I also want to let you know that, as a fellow blog READER and excited new mother, I had entered an IntelliGender giveaway at another fabulous blogger's page. It just so happened that when IntelliGender got in touch with me in November (after said event ended and I received no notification of winning), that they sent me a test kit to review for all of you once I was far enough along. A couple days after I received that test kit, I received an email stating I won the other giveaway. I'm not sure if the giveaway winner drawing was delayed for whatever reason, or if I simply forgot that I ever entered it in the first place and forgot that it was still going on (I did forget I entered at first!).... but now I had two kits.
My first thought was to give one to a coworker slightly farther along than me and let her test it out too. My husband actually declined that idea, so I then decided to do a more thorough review of the kit for all of you. I decided I would do one at the earliest point possible (exactly 10 weeks), and then again at either 15 weeks or 16 weeks of pregnancy to see if it changed any. Since we know that hormones alter and that morning sickness tends to die off (TENDS to... doesn't always!) a bit after the first trimester, I thought taking it after the first trimester was over would be smart. However, I was very curious as to how the test would read at 10 weeks as well.
The kit was super easy to use, so that was a relief to me first thing in the morning! You collect a urine sample in a cup, use the syringe to collect the specified amount to add to the test bottle, peel back the sticker on the top of the lid, inject urine slowly, swirl (rapidly!) for 10 seconds, then let it sit for 5 minutes. That's it. I set it on some toilet paper to ensure I had only white contrasting it and that it wouldn't skew the reading at all.
The test was read easily enough, and it was definitely GREEN. If the liquid turns GREEN inside, it means it is a boy. If the liquid turns ORANGE/YELLOW, it means it is a girl. I will admit, my heart sunk a bit when I saw that green. I could have sworn that Squiggle was a little girl! True, the test isn't 100% accurate.... but the trials performed that show the test results are around 90% accurate still had me a little bummed.
The top two pictures are with flash, the bottom two are without flash. Flash does make a difference in how the colour appears... especially in the lighting you have at 3am!
For the record: I would totally love another boy.... but my hubby only wants two children (I want four!), so if we only have two, I was hoping to have one of each!
I went back to look at the test after about 15 minutes, and noticed that all the granules (now green) had settled to the bottom in a pile, so now you could see yellowish coloured liquid with a pile of green. I decided to email customer service with a picture for them to help read it (and to see how fast of a response you get!), and in the mean time, I compared my results to the sample results they provide for you from various email submissions on their page.
To my surprise, I had a response from the customer service within TWELVE HOURS. Talk about speedy! I was especially surprised since I performed the test around 3am, and emailed them around that time, too. They confirmed my initial reading of BOY.
Now 15 weeks came and went without a test due, but I figured 16 weeks was just as good. Unfortunately, at 16 weeks is when I had that nasty bug that wouldn't allow me to hold down food OR water. Not only did I not feel like taking any test of any sort, but I didn't even have enough liquids in me to feel like I could have provided a decent enough sample amount.
Feeling better at 16 weeks and 3 days, I took the test..... again, at 3 in the morning because that's when I woke up and had to go. (The test recommends first morning urine, at least 2.5 hours after you last went. Last time I recalled going was around 8pm, so I thought this was my best chance!)
Again, I was thankful for how easy it was! Open box, collect sample, inject specified amount, swirl, wait, read. Easy-peasy! This time, at 16 weeks and 3 days...... it was an ORANGE hue! I was super excited! The only thing this made me wish is that I had a test kit for every week to see where it started to change over to orange instead of green, or to see when it definitively changed.
Now to await the ultrasound! The ultrasound is scheduled for February 11th, so we still have a few weeks to go, yet. Obviously, my first concern is for Squiggle's well being. With all the illness I've had this pregnancy, I really just want to see he/she is developing properly and is healthy! If he/she isn't shy, however, will be an added bonus!
For all pictures taken, I'd like to mention that flash photography skewed the results in those pictures. In the second test performed, use of a flash made the liquid appear greenish (see below for a flash picture from the second test!) despite the fact it was orange.
Our ultrasound revealed to us that Squiggle is (appearing to be) a very active little GIRL! I had a feeling Squiggle would be a girl, and my later IntelliGender test also suggested as such. I'd probably wait until just after the first trimester before testing at home with IntelliGender so your hormones can regulate. :)
Disclosure: The product mentioned above was provided to me by IntelliGender for review. This did not influence my opinion of the product in any way. My opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.
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