Product Review: Indigo Baby's Jar of Hope

My toddlers Kliven and Korby have so many insect bites on their legs. Just because recently, they found joy in spilling their milk all over the bedroom and leaving cookie crumbs on the bed and floor. The ants somehow found their way to sweetness delight. I tried so hard in cleaning up after the kids, making sure that no crumb and milk spills remain but the ants are clever and kept coming back, checking for morsels. The result? Full blown insect attack on my babies’ skin. Kliven usually stays where the ants marched because he’s curious and somehow most of the time accidentally steps on them. I’ve been meaning to find the best ant remedy because they leave ugly black marks on the skin. My dad recommended this “unknown” ointment from a Chinese store. It works but I was kind of skeptical because the label is in Chinese and so are the ingredients. I wouldn’t know what’s in it. But while hubs and I were watching a late night show on ANC, they featured Indigo Baby and its amazing organic products. I checked out their Multiply site on the web and that’s when I read about soo many good things about Indigo Baby’s bestseller, the Jar of Hope First Aid Gel.  Made out of blue chamomile essential oil, this gel is great for mommy and daddy burnouts, stress, insomnia, fussy babies, insect bites, motion sickness, inflammation, (relieves puffy eyes from sleepless nights) rashes, cuts and wounds. Also helpful with teething!! The reviews were promising and I really wanted to order asap! So I ordered online through email. The response was swift and the owner Denise is friendly and accommodating. A jar costs around 380 pesos but I had to add 110 for shipping since I live in the Visayas. The parcel was delivered on time and as promised! The first thing I did was rub equal amounts on both my itching toddlers to relieve their itches and stored the jar on the fridge afterwards as advised by Denise. At first glance, once you open the jar, it was really watery.  

So what I did, I stored it on the fridge in an attempt to solidify it a bit. What I love about this product is that it smells good, like apples plus all the good herbs, refreshing actually and it remedies swollen insect bites in a jiffy.  I have yet to try it on its other medicinal purposes though. When you rub it on, it feels like rubbing water on skin, not sticky or heavy at all. Plus it feels cool and tingly. I tried it for myself just to see what it really feels like. Korby tried to lick the lid and must have loved the taste. And to know that it also works on teething babies by rubbing them on baby’s gums, I know it’s all goodness.

Noo..He's not devouring the whole jar. Just munching the lid, people.

So far it works great. Now I know why it’s their bestseller. For a 30 ml jar, you might think it will be empty in a few days but I think this will last a long time because a little bit of rubbin’ works fine. I’ll probably get another jar once this one’s done. To order, you may visit their Multiply shop and order HERE .

You should try their products. They’re organic and 100% safe for babies and all the yummy mummies and daddies out there. J

  

Kliven's "Three"

Son no.2 is obsessed with the hand sign of the no.3. Whenever, wherever we take photos of him, it's always the same thing over and over again. Sometimes, I have to continually ask him to put his hand down because it's covering his face.  But he rarely listens, of course. I think this is not actually what he meant but I believe it's a peace sign gone wrong. LOL. I did not realize the multitude of photos with this hand gesture until I transferred new photos today from my cam to my laptop. And oh boy! He's obsessed! Here are some photos of Kliven with his no.3/peace sign. 

I think toddlers are always like this.  Obsessing over one thing this minute or even days, and moving on without batting an eyelash before you even know it. Toddlers are an amusing bunch , don't you think? How about you? What are the things your toddler did that made you guffaw? I'd like to know..

Stay Connected with STRAIGHT TALK!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Straight Talk for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

In this day and age, cell phones are almost coined as a basic need for us to get through our day to day survival.  But with so many cell phone brands, mobile carriers and plans out there in the market, choosing the best or even the most budget friendly among the rest remains to be mind-boggling until... I met STRAIGHT TALK.  As users, we all have our choices.  But with trying times, sometimes money is tight and we oftentimes find ourselves in the Hook, line and sinker. With Straight Talk, there are no contracts, no surprise bills and no credit checks.  It also has great nationwide coverage and excellent       reception/connectivity.  So you could Call a friend in great clarity.  For those on a budget, the "ALL YOU NEED PLAN” meets even the needs of heavy phone users with 1,000 minutes, 1,000 texts and 30 mb of web data.  You can save a whole lot of money with their Unlimited Monthly Service which is only $45, and includes calls, text, picture-messaging and web.  That’s only $499.00 for a whole year of unlimited calls, text, picture-messaging and web.  It’s also free from activation, reactivation and termination fees.  Imagine the amount of money you could save switching to Straight Talk.  I love the idea that I feel richer with Straight Talk because it cuts my cell phone bill in half.  Why would you want to be on a contract these days when you can get everything you need without one.  What would you buy with the extra money you save?  I’d probably go on a shopping overload for the kids.

Now for the phones, Straight Talk only uses trusted phone manufacturers like Nokia, LG, Motorola, Samsung and Kyocera.  But with your kids or teens getting whiney about phones, reconditioned phones are also available from $10.00 with camera, mp3 player, and mobile web access and blue-tooth capability which are great for young users.  There’s also a wide array of smart phones, touch screen phones and app capable phones with amazing features.  Straight Talk indeed has Everything you need and more!

 For more information on Straight Talk and their phones, please check out the video below:

Good Promotion = Good Business

A friend of mine who's a business woman once told me that she needed to think outside the box to keep her customers happy and to make her mark in the business world.  In the course of our everyday businesses, the happiness and satisfaction of our customers really matter.  We sometimes ask ourselves what to do to retain the loyalty of those people who supported us along the way, how to put smiles on their faces and what to give to thank them for good patronage.  I believe that one good idea is to give out personalized gifts or prizes to express gratitude and well, business promotion.  Here in the Philippines, we Filipinos are suckers for free stuff.  If it's free we'd love the company or person giving it even more.  I mean, people love free stuff!  My friend could start giving out free pens, free mugs, free calendars, the choices are endless!  With Amsterdam Printing, you have a whole lot of colours and styles to choose from.

If you ask me, no one ever says no to free stuff.  It's like a huge magnet.  People will remember your name and your business if it's engraved on say, their coffee mugs which they probably use every morning or during coffee breaks or on their stylish pens.  Why go to a company who's virtually unknown?  I say people who's got their business going on should check out Amsterdam Printing for their collection of superior quality promotional items, at super low prices.  One of their bestsellers are their amsterdamprinting personalized pens which are laser engraved personalized pens which they create with your own custom logo.  Customized pens can really create a statement.  If you want to shop from the comforts of your home, check out their  amsterdam printing shopping coupons. Amsterdam Printing isn't just all about pens and calendars.  Their wide range of promotional products include apparel, bags, drinkware, keychains, magnets and many more. Now that's great advertising!

Near Accident

Today I had a huge scare. I turned my back for a second and my toddlers almost got themselves into trouble. The television came tumbling down and missed them by an inch. My two year old climbed on the tv rack which made the tv topple over. His younger brother was also on the floor playing. I was terribly shaken. It could have been something far worse. But thankfully, there were no scrapes and bruises from the two. Lesson learned: Toddlers can get into serious trouble when left alone even for a split second. So it's better to be safe than sorry. For now, I am the only one who's visibly upset. Kliven immediately ran to his art work to finish it right after the tv incident, like nothing happened. While I'm still shaking :(

Family Cooking Time

 By:Kathleen Thomas

Today, I'm going to feature a guest post by this wonderful lady, KATHLEEN THOMAS. I agreed to post her article because I'm a firm believer in doing activities as a whole family. 

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The kitchen is often a gathering place for a family. Preparing and eating food is a great way to spend time together and bond. With all that goes on in the kitchen, the littlest members of the family usually want in on the action as well. While cooking as a family is a great learning and bonding experience, parents must closely supervise children and take steps to ensure that everyone stays safe while working in the kitchen. 

The kitchen is one of those places where it is absolutely essential for safety that everyone follows rules. Before allowing your child into the kitchen to help, make the kitchen safety rules clear. Rules like no touching the stove and asking permission before using knives are examples of rules you might enforce in your kitchen. To make the rules completely clear, you might have your children help create a list of rules and hang it in the kitchen for all to see. 

Give your child age appropriate jobs and guide them in developing new skills as they spend more time in the kitchen. A child that is invited into the kitchen to help with cooking but then is not given any tasks or direction will become bored, and will be more likely to get into trouble and get hurt. Be sure to consider your child’s age and abilities, and then give your child specific jobs he or she can do. A child as young as two can assist with stirring and pouring, and these tasks will help refine their motor skills as well. As your child grows a little older, give them jobs like measuring that will help with math skills. When you feel your child is old enough to learn more difficult and potentially dangerous tasks like using a knife, provide demonstration, detailed instructions and constant supervision. 

Keep cooking relaxed and fun and embrace the mess. While it is important to enforce rules without exception, making a mess should not be against the rules. Part of learning and having fun as a family in the kitchen will mean being messy. Cookie batter will spatter and eggs will get dropped on the floor. Make cleaning up a family event and focus on the fun family time cooking allows rather than worrying about the mess it creates. Be sure to recognize everyone's efforts when you finally get to taste the meal you created. 

Making cooking a family event has many benefits. The family can learn together and spend some much needed time completing a task together in the kitchen. Cooking also gives young children a chance to practice important skills they will need before they enter a day care or preschool setting.  Implementing rules and carefully supervising your youngest cooks will ensure that cooking as a family is fun and worry free.

Kathleen is a Communications Coordinators for the Atlanta Day Care facility, a member of the AdvancED® accredited family of Primrose Schools (located in 16 states throughout the U.S.) and part of the network of preschools delivering progressive, early childhood, Balanced Learning® curriculum.

Going Mobile

This is supposed to be my first mobile post. I haven't tried mobile blogging before so this is kind of new and I think I like it. :) I recently googled for free mobile internet and I got my wish. I did the whole process on my own and I'm glad I ended up with favorable results. I can now browse for free even with zero load. The best thing is, I can now blog on the go! For those of you who want free mobile internet or tricks and tutorials, visit www.symbianize.com. This is only for Filipino users unfortunately. I love this site. Totally a huge help!

Be my Guest!

Guess what? I'm finally going to feature a guest blogger on my blog.Someone emailed me through this blog and she indicated that she wants to guest post. At first, I was hesitant. Not because I don't want other people's work posted on my site but because when it comes to guest blogging, I'm totally clueless. I kind of thought about it for a while and played around with the idea. But I got sick for 3 days and that's when it somehow looked like I've been thinking about it for the longest time because of the late email reply. I am familiar with guest blogging, having read blogs with guest posts on them. What I'm unfamiliar about are the guidelines and rules when it comes to guest blogging. So when my would-be guest blogger emailed me for the details, I was like what details? Shouldn't I be just saying YES and thar's it? And so I did my own little research and sure enough, I was unprepared and clueless than I already am. For starters, I should have my own set of guest blogger guidelines for my guests to follow but I don't have one so... But I'm going to work on that once I get a breather from my own hectic life. And I also realized that guest blogging isn't as simple as it sounds. That me and my guest blogger could actually get great benefits from all this: traffic and exposure to name a few. This actually made me sit up and think that maybe accepting guest bloggers is a great idea. So here I am sipping Coke at 6:30 am in the morning, locked up in a spare room at home, away from all the baby wails and seriously contemplating the fact that I'm finally going to embrace a guest blogger in my arms, er..at least in my blog's arms for that matter. I don't think I have a popular blog. With just 33 followers here on my blog and 200 followers on Twitter, that's not popular! I do have 1,000+ followers on Facebook but I kind of got tired begging them to follow my blog. Some people just don't know how to follow a blog and go through the short procedure. Tsk! Tsk! But I love writing and typing and typing..I just write whatever keeps me fancy but I don't have that dream of hitting it big in the blogging industry and making a name for myself in the virtual world. For me, as long as I love writing, I'm going to keep on blogging. I have to admit that when someone emailed me for a guest post, my heart kind of swelled with pride because someone noticed my blog from all those blogs bigger than mine and that someone had the trust to display her great work on my blog. I hope this is the start of a string of guest bloggers on my blog. If you're interested, just email me at supahmum@yahoo.com and we'll take it from there. So now if you'll excuse me, I have to go. I'm starting to have tummy cramps. I know I shouldn't have Coke this early. Damn!

10 Toddler Gift Ideas for Christmas 2011

It's September.  And usually, the start of the ''ber'' months makes us think almost automatically of Christmas.  Christmas is synonymous to gift giving and with that,we moms scour all places for the best if not the perfect gifts for our children.  Given the fact that I have 2 toddlers, I have decided to post about the coolest toddler toys that are purr-fect Christmas gifts. I don't know if the family budget will allow me to give expensive toys this year.  But one thing I've learned, with children, the price isn't always important.  It's always the thought that really counts.

1.Chicco - Turbo Touch-Speed Truck --$59.99    BUY HERE

This fun, free-rolling truck makes fun engine noises and transports up to five Turbo Touch vehicles (one is included). Best of all, it opens up into a race track over 3 feet long. A working race light signals the beginning of the race, and a sensor on the track senses when the cars cross the finish line... charge your Turbo Touch vehicle and let it race, if it crosses the finish line with a green light you’ll hear claps and cheers as the vehicle exits from the hidden door chute at the front of the truck.

2.P'kolino Multi-Solution Shape Puzzle - Robot --$16.34  BUY HERE

Multiple puzzle combinations! How many can you create? Simple shapes make puzzle suitable for early developmental stages. Multiple puzzle combinations entertain longer and stimulate creative thinking for advanced development. 

3.Radio Flyer Classic Bumper Car-- $49.99  BUY HERE

The fun of an amusement park bumper car comes into your own home with the Radio Flyer Classic Bumper Car. Buy multiple cars so kids can bump into each other for even more excitement. ride-on toy features caster wheels for 360 motion; bumping action activates seven fun crashing sounds foam bumpers are safe on walls and furniture cool retro styling with honking horn Ages 1 -3. 

4.Mega Bloks Pirate Ship Pull Along-- $28.95  BUY HERE

Little swashbucklers will absolutely love having a pirate ship of their very own by claiming the Pull Along Musical Pirate Ship as their flagship vessel. This multi-dimensional playset allows little pirates to sail about the Seven Seas with a pull-along pirate ship that plays a magical buccaneer tune when pulled! 

5.Rocket Baby Play Set--$13.50  BUY HERE

6-piece soft plush play set packed with multi-sensory activities. Each play piece has a different texture and sound: Astro Dog barks, Moon crinkles, Shooting Star rattles, UFO jingles and Alien is made from stretchy material. All pieces fit inside the soft plush rocket ship, which features a take-along link on the back. 

6.Fisher-Price Dance Star Mickey-- $46.79  BUY HERE

Watch Mickey come to life right before your eyes! Now more realistic than ever! Mickey walks, talks, and dances his way into history! Featuring new moves and grooves like you've never seen before. With multiple songs, interactive activities, and silly humor, Mickey is sure to knock your socks off!

7.Playskool Weebles Musical Treehouse--$21.71  BUY HERE

Whee! When your WEEBLES figures want to play, where can you send them? Let them have tons of teetering, tottering fun in their very own playhouse, this WEEBLES Musical Treehouse playset! There are all kinds of levels of wobbly fun for you and your four friendly-faced WEEBLES figures to explore.

8.Leapfrog Cook & Play Potsy-- $15.14  BUY HERE

Get children's imaginations brewing with Cook & Play Potsy! Learn about opposites, listen to music and rhymes, and explore counting, colors and more! Parents can connect to the online LeapFrog® Learning Path for customized learning insights and ideas to expand the learning. 

9.VTech 3-in-1 Learning Zebra Scooter--$58.95  BUY HERE

The VTech 3-in-1 Learning Zebra Scooter grows with your child as they learn colors, animals and destinations on the go. It converts easily from a push walker to a ride-on scooter. Kids can discover their wild side as they move with the zebra and explore new territory with the scooter's walkie-talkie, compass and flashlight. 

10.Hide-and-Seek Jojo Interactive Bunny-- $30.23  BUY HERE

Introducing Hide-and-Seek Jojo, the interactive bunny that really plays hide-and-seek with your preschooler! Jojo lowers his ears and counts to 10 while your child hides with the magic carrot. Jojo tracks the magic carrot, spinning around and celebrating when he finds it. If Hide-and-Seek Jojo cannot find the magic carrot, he will congratulate your child on doing a great job of hiding.

 I hope these gift ideas helped!