The post Green Your Routine Giveaway appeared first on .
]]>Giveaway
You could win a $127 CAD Green Routine Prize Pack:
– Two (2) packages of 180-count Swisspers (affiliate link) cotton swabs ($6);
- One (1) Radius (affiliate link) Source toothbrush with one replacement head ($10);
– One (1) package each of Radius Mint Floss and Cranberry Floss Sachet and Organic Silk Floss Sachet ($10);
– One (1) Size A Lily Cup by Intimina ($45);
– One (1) Cotton Candy Eco Cloth light reusable pad ($7);
– One (1) package of Öko Creations reusable makeup removal pads ($12);
– One (1) tube of Primal Pit Paste in Orange Creamsicle ($13);
– One (1) wooden comb from Life Without Plastic (affiliate link) ($24).
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]]>The post Ladies Collective Linkup – 9 appeared first on .
]]>Welcome to the Ladies Collective Linkup! A linkup where you can share your favorite posts and meet new blogging friends. Every week, we will feature the best of the best and blast their awesomeness across social media!
Meet your hosts
www.bestofbabylady.com www.mommyzoid.ca www.glamgranolageek.com
Best of Baby – Iulia Gulia is a mother of a spunky toddler and a squishy infant. With a touch of sarcasm and a good dose of self-deprecating humor, Iulia writes about her obsession – pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding…basically all things baby.
Mommyzoid - Stephanie is a new mom and military wife with a penchant for DIY, home-made, and home-grown!
GlamGranolaGeek – Self proclaimed modern hippie and former office manager turned stay-at-home Mama of two little rascals, Sarah blogs about the crunchier side of parenting, beauty and life at home with kids.
This Week’s Features
1. Who Does Google Think You Are?- The Unremarkable Files
2. Trendy Wednesday – Aubrey Hepburn Inspiration - Classy Yet Trendy
3. Tips On Caring For Your Clothes - Green Issues By Agy
The Ladies Collective Linkup is live! #bloghop #linkparty #LCLinkup
Click To Tweet
Linkup Guidelines
1) Please follow your hosts in some way (check out the links above)
2) Stick around for a while and check out some other lovely ladies’ blogs. We all love a good comment!
3) Link backs are appreciated and if you were featured feel free to grab our button!
Note: Please make sure you abide by image copyright and third party content use laws. By linking up you are confirming that you own the rights to the photo you are using in your post or that the photo is in the creative commons/public domain. You are also giving us permission to use your images on our blogs and social media platforms. We will not feature images to which you do not have legal rights.
The post Ladies Collective Linkup – 9 appeared first on .
]]>The post How I Make Money Off Used Baby Clothes appeared first on .
]]>If you’re like me, you have bags full of tiny little onesies and little baby jeans that you just don’t know what to do with. If I save them for the next kid, I will A) probably have a girl and not use them or B) they will be out of style and I won’t use them.
So what do you do?
FACEBOOK BUY, SELL, AND TRADE GROUPS.
My love for BST groups began when I started looking for used cloth diapers (yes, there’s a market for used diapers!). I discovered I was able to purchase gently used baby gear at a fraction of the price, all from local moms. I was able to find our Phil & Teds Stroller, Bumbo, and a tonne of cloth diapers at really great price points and all in really great condition.
So how do you successfully sell your pre-loved gear?
You can easily find a buy sell and trade group in your area by searching “buy, sell, trade” + your location. Facebook has made it even easier for BST groups to operate by adding the option to post an ad instead of a traditional post.
1. Sort as you go
This will make your life a lot easier. Take a bunch of shopping bags and label them with the size and type of clothing that’s in each bag. As you out grow your clothes, fire them in the bag. Once you have a decent amount in the bag, it’s time to move on to step 2.
2. Take good pictures
People scroll through the listings fairly quickly so it’s important to catch their eye and not make them squint to see what’s in the photos. You only have a few seconds to make an impression. In order to get the best photos possible, I lay my clothing out on the floor flat and take photos from above. I also prefer to use natural light so I take them mid-day or late afternoon.
3. Price fairly
The goal isn’t to sell things for more than you paid but rather recoup some funds to purchase new items for your little one. I will usually price things about $1 – $3 per piece and sell them in lots.
EX: 10 0-3 month onesies, $15
Smaller size lots tend to sell better. Going through garbage bags of clothes to then have to turn around and donate the rest to charity isn’t fun.
4. State the condition
When it comes to online BST groups, they have some lingo you’ll want to learn:
NWT = New With Tags
NWOT = New Without Tags
EUC = Excellent Used Condition
GUC = Good Used Condition
UC = Used Condition
I always like to tell the buyer what condition the item is in and price according to that. Obviously you wouldn’t call a stained onesie EUC but rather UC. Just imagine you are buying the items and determine what condition you would consider them to be! But remember that the condition something is in can be subjective! What you consider to be EUC might not be what someone else would consider EUC.
5. Sell in lots
Rather than selling things individually, you will save lots of time by selling in lots of same size and type of clothing. It’s a bit of a grab bag for the buyer but if they like majority of the items, it’s still a great deal. If you sell each onesie individually, you’ll be running around town selling each item at a time and only making a few dollars. Not worth the time or the effort!
6. Stay safe
The BST group I use is a group of local moms who all cloth diaper. It’s a close nit group and it has a document on file that you can add to and share your experience with each seller. Before I meet up with someone, I check the document. If it all checks out, I meet the person in a public place because safety first.
Have you been successful on selling your used baby gear and clothes on Facebook Buy Sell and Trade groups? Got any tips!?
PS: I’ll be sharing this post on these fabulous blogs!
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]]>The post Bring Back Bonnets – Giveaway appeared first on .
]]>A baby in a bonnet — is there anything sweeter? Umm, I don’t think so. I don’t have a little girl to put a bonnet on but fortunately Iulia from Best Of Baby does and she has reviewed these adorable bonnets by Nora Bees Bonnets Etsy shop and is letting my readers get in on the giveaway. How sweet is that!? Go read her full review here.
Isn’t Iulia’s daughter gorgeous?
*Sigh* can you imagine a world where all baby girls wore bonnets like this? #BringBackBonnets!
Nora Bees Bonnets is offering one special reader the chance to win a beautiful handmade bonnet from her shop. (But if you just NEED one now, especially with Easter around the corner, don’t wait until this giveaway is over…enter the giveaway, and then treat yo self!)
I just entered to win a handmade bonnet from @BestofBaby #BringBackBonnets
Click To Tweet
(Note: Some bonnets have limited sizes…you may be required to choose a different bonnet if the bonnet you want is not available in the size you need.)
Good luck!!
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]]>The post Ladies Collective Linkup – 8 appeared first on .
]]>Welcome to the Ladies Collective Linkup! A linkup where you can share your favorite posts and meet new blogging friends. Every week, we will feature the best of the best and blast their awesomeness across social media!
Meet your hosts
www.bestofbabylady.com www.mommyzoid.ca www.glamgranolageek.com
Best of Baby – Iulia Gulia is a mother of a spunky toddler and a squishy infant. With a touch of sarcasm and a good dose of self-deprecating humor, Iulia writes about her obsession – pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding…basically all things baby.
Mommyzoid - Stephanie is a new mom and military wife with a penchant for DIY, home-made, and home-grown!
GlamGranolaGeek – Self proclaimed modern hippie and former office manager turned stay-at-home Mama of two little rascals, Sarah blogs about the crunchier side of parenting, beauty and life at home with kids.
This Week’s Features
1. Discovering Allergies- Nourishing My Scholar
2. Throwing a Pinterest Activity - Aspen Jay
3. Plan- Blogger Loves The King
The Ladies Collective Linkup is live! #bloghop #linkparty #LCLinkup
Click To Tweet
Linkup Guidelines
1) Please follow your hosts in some way (check out the links above)
2) Stick around for a while and check out some other lovely ladies’ blogs. We all love a good comment!
3) Link backs are appreciated and if you were featured feel free to grab our button!
Note: Please make sure you abide by image copyright and third party content use laws. By linking up you are confirming that you own the rights to the photo you are using in your post or that the photo is in the creative commons/public domain. You are also giving us permission to use your images on our blogs and social media platforms. We will not feature images to which you do not have legal rights.
The post Ladies Collective Linkup – 8 appeared first on .
]]>The post Back to Work After Baby – Me at Work vs. Me at Home appeared first on .
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In the next few months I’ll be packing my lunch and heading back to work. Right now it feels a little unmanageable seeing as I barely have the time (let alone the energy) to get dressed nicely in the morning, do my hair and make up, and get us out the door to run errands.
This is part one of my series titled “Back to Work After Baby”, where I take a good hard look inside and compare me at work vs. me at home.
Through out this series I’ll share how our family is preparing for this life-altering change to our daily routine. I’ll cover such topics as Nursing At Work, Choosing Childcare, Night Time Routines, and Meal Planning.
There are so many things to consider when you decide to go back to work after having a baby. Once my son came into my life I couldn’t imagine leaving him. But I always knew my plan was to go back to work, I just couldn’t see how anyone could pry my son from my hands, hand me a microphone and send me back out to report the local news. But I here I am and I’m determined to get our family through this time of transition.
To help me mentally prepare for my journey back to work, I scribbled out a list to help me visualize why me going back to work was the best thing for our family. This is my list and will be vastly different from someone else’s list. This isn’t meant to keep stoking the firey war that seems to rage on between stay at home moms and working moms.
Me if I went back to work…
MONEY
This one seems like a no brainer. I don’t regard money as the be all end all and it in no way trumps my happiness but it sure is nice to have some extra coin to spend on new clothes, vacations, savings…you name it.
MENTAL HEALTH
K, so I will preface this with saying I love my son soooo much and I love the time we spend together BUT I enjoy adult conversations, as well! There is room in my life for both. Stimulating my mind is important. I’ve felt like my brain has got a little… well… mushy…while I’ve been away from the office. That’s one of the main reasons I began this blog so I could have something to keep my mind sharp during nap time.
CHILDCARE
We have found an amazing woman to look after our son while I am at work. Her programming is amazing, the environment is stimulating, and she is caring. Our son will get more out of being with her and other kids around his own age than being at home with me simply for the fact that when he’s in my care I’m also cleaning the house, doing laundry, making meals, etc.
CAREER
I absolutely love my job as a local news reporter. Every single day is a new adventure and I honestly don’t know what is in store for me from day to day. I’m pushed out of my comfort zone daily and it’s very thrilling. No joke, I have electricity zinging through me just thinking about my job. Rare, right?
Me if I stayed home…
MONEY
No one is going to pay me to stay home with my son. Although in theory we’d save money on child care costs, I wouldn’t have any extra money to spend. Like, at all.
MENTAL HEALTH
I have a history of depression and I can see myself slipping back into a state of hopelessness if I was to stay at home. Even while on maternity leave I’ve had pangs of guilt, even though I know I am contributing to my family in a very important way, even if it’s not monetarily.
CHILDCARE
I would love to be the one to spend majority of the day with my son, but that being said, we would have to go outside of the home for interaction with other kids his own age and it would be in a playgroup setting as opposed to a group child care setting. Our son seems to thrive when he’s left to interact with other kids and as an only child, he doesn’t have the opportunity to play with other kids regularly.
CAREER
My career would essentially be put on hold until I decide to go back into the workforce. Because I work in the media field which seems to be ever-evolving, I know the landscape will change drastically over the next 5 to 10 years. If I attempt to get back into it a few years down the road, I don’t reckon I’d have much success.
Keep in mind this my list. My experiences, family dynamic & situation, personality and countless other factors go into this list. This isn’t to say that working is better than staying home with kiddies. I also understand I am fortunate to have a choice
I hope you’ll come back next week and check out my post on choosing a child care provider.
PS: I’ll be sharing this post on these blogs.
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]]>The post Ladies Collective Linkup – 7 appeared first on .
]]>Welcome to the Ladies Collective Linkup! A linkup where you can share your favorite posts and meet new blogging friends. Every week, we will feature the best of the best and blast their awesomeness across social media!
Meet your hosts
www.bestofbabylady.com www.mommyzoid.ca www.glamgranolageek.com
Best of Baby – Iulia Gulia is a mother of a spunky toddler and a squishy infant. With a touch of sarcasm and a good dose of self-deprecating humor, Iulia writes about her obsession – pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding…basically all things baby.
Mommyzoid - Stephanie is a new mom and military wife with a penchant for DIY, home-made, and home-grown!
GlamGranolaGeek – Self proclaimed modern hippie and former office manager turned stay-at-home Mama of two little rascals, Sarah blogs about the crunchier side of parenting, beauty and life at home with kids.
This Week’s Features
1. Becoming a Blogger - Just Another Mom
2. How We Add Fruits and Vegetables To Our Diets- Adoring Creations
3. What I Wore- The Resourceful Mama
The Ladies Collective Linkup is live! #bloghop #linkparty #LCLinkup
Click To Tweet
Linkup Guidelines
1) Please follow your hosts in some way (check out the links above)
2) Stick around for a while and check out some other lovely ladies’ blogs. We all love a good comment!
3) Link backs are appreciated and if you were featured feel free to grab our button!
Note: Please make sure you abide by image copyright and third party content use laws. By linking up you are confirming that you own the rights to the photo you are using in your post or that the photo is in the creative commons/public domain. You are also giving us permission to use your images on our blogs and social media platforms. We will not feature images to which you do not have legal rights.
The post Ladies Collective Linkup – 7 appeared first on .
]]>The post 5 Perks of Baby Led Weaning appeared first on .
]]>
When I first heard the term “Baby Led-Weaning”, I scoffed and thought it was just another silly…
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Back in my pre-baby days when I first heard the term “Baby Led-Weaning”, I scoffed and thought it was just another silly parenting trend and didn’t give it much thought. But once our son was born and we started looking at options for adding food to his diet at 6 months, BLW just made sense. I now call it “self-feeding” because that’s essentially what it is!
With BLW, you give the child food that you would eat in manageable sized pieces they can handle. So for example if we have chicken and salad, I will pull apart some chicken, in french-fry sized pieces and I will pull out some tomato chunks and cucumber for him to eat.
I’m no expert when it comes to BLW so I’ll direct you to the same resource I turned to when I needed help before we started feeding our son. Also, I’m not a doctor. What I’m sharing is purely anecdotal!
The Baby Led Weaning book explains the mechanics of self-feeding and I kept having a-ha moments while reading. The book explains how kids want to touch, lick, bite, and explore their food before they eat it. When we hand our son something to eat he flips it over and over and over and examines every aspect of his food before it even hits his lips.
Here are a few of the perks we’ve found of Baby Led Weaning!
1. CHEAP
There’s no need to buy expensive pre-prepared purees or cereals. The baby literally eats what you are already cooking for yourself. If I’m having oatmeal for breakfast, I give him a couple spoonfuls or if I’m having eggs, I make an extra egg for him.
2. EASY
We spend zero extra time in the kitchen preparing food for our son. There is no preparing of vegetables, steaming, pureeing, and freezing. He eats when we eat and eats the same stuff. The only additional work is putting a few pieces of food on his plate.
3. ENJOYABLE
Dinner time is family time. Our son sits at his little high chair at the table with his food in front of him and feeds himself while we eat. Both my husband and I get to enjoy our supper and no one has to rush to finish in order to feed him. This will be increasingly important when there are more kiddies at the table.
3. LEARNING OPPORTUNITY
I once read (can’t remember where) that there is no toy that can teach a child all the things BLW can. From eye hand coordination to fine motor skills, BLW helps teach all those important skills. If you’ve noticed your little one puts everything in their mouth to taste, you’ll see they already pretty much know how to eat. If you replace that toy with something they can eat, you’ve got BLW!
4. HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD
We’ve all had to sit at the table when were kids until we were finished, even when we didn’t want to. With BLW, there is no forcing. The child will learn to listen to their own bodies and decide when they are finished. Before 1 years old they are still getting majority of their nutrients from breast milk or formula so there’s no need to force food if they don’t want it. The goal with our son and future kiddos is to let them have a healthy relationship with eating and to teach them to listen to their bodies, which is instinct for them,l if you let it happen naturally.
5. FUN
I totally pictured feeding my future baby to be a sweaty struggle, pushing purees into their mouth, them screaming and spitting it out. BLW is actually super fun. He looks like such a little adult sitting there eating big people food. We get to experiment with flavours and textures and he loves it! Having food with flavour isn’t a big deal for little ones who drink breast milk because they have been tasting different flavours through mom’s breast milk all along.
BLW works for our family but it certainly isn’t for everyone. We have been very lucky and haven’t experienced any choking, gagging, or vomiting which I’ve read can be common for some families. If we went through that with our son, BLW might not be such a positive experience for us. It’s not for everyone!
And once again, I’m not a doctor and this is all anecdotal information. If you have any questions about your child’s diet I urge you to seek out a professional to answer your questions.
Have you heard of BLW? Tried it and loved it or it wasn’t for you? Let me know in the comments!
PS: I’ll be sharing this post on these blogs.
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]]>The post Ladies Collective Linkup – 6 appeared first on .
]]>Welcome to the Ladies Collective Linkup! A linkup where you can share your favorite posts and meet new blogging friends. Every week, we will feature the best of the best and blast their awesomeness across social media!
Meet your hosts
www.bestofbabylady.com www.mommyzoid.ca www.glamgranolageek.com
Best of Baby – Iulia Gulia is a mother of a spunky toddler and a squishy infant. With a touch of sarcasm and a good dose of self-deprecating humor, Iulia writes about her obsession – pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding…basically all things baby.
Mommyzoid - Stephanie is a new mom and military wife with a penchant for DIY, home-made, and home-grown!
GlamGranolaGeek – Self proclaimed modern hippie and former office manager turned stay-at-home Mama of two little rascals, Sarah blogs about the crunchier side of parenting, beauty and life at home with kids.
This Week’s Features
1. 5 Reasons I Loved Internet Dating My Husband - All That Srocks
2. Fear Less Blog More: One Blogger’s Confessions - Faith Filled Food For Moms
3. Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit Review and Swatches- The Classified Chic
The Ladies Collective Linkup is live! #bloghop #linkparty #LCLinkup
Click To Tweet
Linkup Guidelines
1) Please follow your hosts in some way (check out the links above)
2) Stick around for a while and check out some other lovely ladies’ blogs. We all love a good comment!
3) Link backs are appreciated and if you were featured feel free to grab our button!
The post Ladies Collective Linkup – 6 appeared first on .
]]>The post 5 Ways to Make Dinner Time Family Time appeared first on .
]]>
Before our son was born, we ate nearly every meal around the coffee table, soaking in the news and whatever else was on TV. It was our routine that helped us unwind from our days but we knew it was bad habit to get into. We decided once our son was able to sit up, we would get him a high chair and we would start forming some better dinner time traditions.
Here are some of the ways we are practicing making dinner time family time:
1. Get them involved
Our son either sits at the bar in his phil&teds Lobster Highchair
2. Meal plan together
On Sunday we write out what meals we would like to make for each night. This makes grocery shopping a lot easier, too. I’m able to run in, grab what we will actually use, and get out. This also helps when it comes to budgeting. When you run into the store last minute to grab things, you usually end up spending way more money and getting items you otherwise wouldn’t have bought. Getting the whole family involved in the planning process also means everyone has a chance for input, so no complaining (ha ha)!
3. Make the table a screen-free zone
And that includes mom and dad! I am so guilty of checking my phone at the table. Having the TV on or my phone in hand means I’m not actually engaging my family. I mean, I haven’t seen my husband all day long and now is the time where we both have each others un-divided attention where we can discuss important family matters or just joke around. I miss all that if my nose is buried in my iPhone.
4. Engage each other
This is our opportunity to get to know what is going on in each others lives. Not such a mystery when it comes to our 9 month old as I’m pretty aware of what he’s got cookin’ in his world but as he grows up, this will be the time of day where he/they will share what he/they did at school and he/they will be able to ask us questions and learn from us and us from him/them.
5. Start early
It’s never too late to build healthy habits like this but it’s also never too early. From the time Oliver could sit up, he’s been sitting his phil&teds Lobster Highchair*
Suppertime in our home will always be the time of the day the kids will be able to count on having either mom or dad (hopefully both, not always possible) to chat with, confide in, and vent to. It wont always be possible because of extra curricular activities and eventually jobs but I want them to know we are here for them when they need us.
Does your family have any suppertime traditions? How has it changed the family dynamic at supper hour?
PS: I’ll be sharing this post on these fantastic sites!
PPS: Asterisk denotes an affiliate link. See full disclaimer here.
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