Carina's new big kid cup - Philips AVENT Natural Drinking Cup Review & Giveaway! CLOSED

We just hit 500,000 lifetime pageviews on the blog! Thank you so much for reading, everyone! To celebrate, I'm kicking off a week of giveaways :)

With all of Carina's feeding and weight gain issues, we have really been struggling to find a way to get her to drink more cow's milk. She does okay with traditional sippy and straw cups, but to our frustration she just never drinks enough. When Philips AVENT told me about their new Natural Drinking Cup for toddlers 12 months and up, I knew we needed to give it a try!

The BPA free Natural Drinking Cup is truly unique; it is a spoutless and strawless transition cup for growing toddlers. The cup helps your little one easily move from sippy cups to grown up drinking, without the mess. The unique spill proof valve is activated once it touches your toddler's lips, and allows effortless drinking from all around the rim - just like an adult cup. There is no need to suck! (lol?) It holds 260 mL of liquid, or almost 9 ounces.

Verdict? Carina LOVES this cup. She clamors for it and tosses her sippy aside in favor of it if we happen to have both within her reach. She really seems to enjoy drinking from it. When she brings it down from her mouth she is always smiling; it's the cutest thing. We have found the cup itself to be quite spill proof, but unfortunately she has figured out how to activate the valve with her finger, and enjoys pushing it to release some of the milk. Silly girl.

So while it does make a little bit of a mess every now and then, both Mike and I think it is well worth it because it gets her to drink so much more milk than a standard straw or sippy cup, and she has a lot of fun drinking out of it! If we even try to take it away and give her another cup? The little miss gets rather upset.

The Natural Drinking Cup is dishwasher safe and comes with a hygienic snap-on lid, so there is no need to worry about spills while on the go. And it retails for just $6.99 - you can't beat that.
 
Shop
The Natural Drinking Cup and many of Philips AVENT's products for babies, toddlers, and Mommas can be purchased at their online store, on Amazon, or at most local retailers that carry baby and toddler feeding products.

Win
Philips AVENT is generously offering one of my readers a Natural Drinking Cup for their toddler!

How to Enter:
This is a Rafflecopter giveaway. Click "Read More" below and then follow the instructions on the widget. All currents count! Giveaway is open worldwide. Ends at 11:59 PM on Monday, May 7th.

The first entry is mandatory - Visit Philips AVENT and tell me one feature that you like about the Natural Drinking Cup. Once you complete this entry, the widget will give you the option of completing the rest. Complete more steps for more chances to win!

19 week bumpdate

Mike didn't think I was smiling big enough, this was my response

How far along? 19 weeks

Weight gain/loss: 121 lbs. No gain since last week. Up 3 lbs. I was already up by 10 lbs. at this point when I was pregnant with Carina. I blame being so focused on how she is eating, sometimes I forget to eat myself :(

Feeling: Much better. I think I've finally kicked whatever sickness/allergies I was dealing with for weeks, yay!

Maternity clothes? I just dug all of my summer maternity clothes out of storage. When I was pregnant with Carina, the summer was from weeks 8 through 22. I don't think many of those clothes are going to fit me this time...

Sleep: I'm getting a pretty solid 8 hours a night. I guess I can't complain.

Food cravings: Hot chocolate with mini marshmallows. Can't get enough.

Movement? He/she is kicking constantly. He is most active while I am nursing Carina to sleep. Is he trying to tell me something? haha

What I miss? Rum & Coke. My sister and her family are coming to visit this weekend and she mentioned that she will bring some. I wish I could partake :(

Best moment this week: Mike didn't go into work this weekend, so we had a great family weekend for the first time in a long time.

What I'm looking forward to: Anatomy scan TOMORROW! Eeeek!

Next Appointment: The ultrasound of course, after that my next OB appointment is on May 18th.

Milestones: Baby is about 6 inches long right now. I can't believe I'll be half baked next week!

At 19 weeks with Carina - definitely bigger this time. Last week I had thought that I might be "catching up"...yeah I don't think so ;)

Quick and Easy Technical Blogging Tips

I often get e-mails from readers or have friends ask for blogging tips or suggestions. By no means am I a blogging expert, but there are a number of things I have stumbled upon or tried over the last year that are easy and have been good for my blog. This is part 1 of 2: technical tips! Part 2 will come in the next week or so, and will include more general or broad things. Most of these are specific to Blogger but I would imagine that other platforms have similar options as well.

Each of these should take you no longer than 10 minutes each!


Make your pictures bigger. I love seeing photos of your babies, you, your pets, etc. When the photo is just a small rectangle, it's hard to see you! Make your photos as large as possible without expanding beyond the margins of your post. An easy way to do this in Blogger: when you upload a photo, click on it. You'll see this menu:

Try the different sizes! I find that X-Large works best for my post width. If you store your photos elsewhere, see if there are different size options when you copy the image location HTML.

Ensure your post body font is readable. Nothing makes me more sad than when I arrive on your blog and can't read your posts. I think that fancy or wacky font is fun for your header, tag line, post titles, sidebar titles, and any other auxiliary areas of your blog. But, you should stick with a common and easy-to-read fonts for your posts. If you aren't sure, maybe ask a handful of friends to give it a look-see? If even one of them has trouble reading your posts, change your font. It's not worth it! If you need to make a switch, I think that all of Blogger's font suggestions are pretty good:

Get rid of CAPTCHA. I know I posted a "how to turn off CAPTCHA" tutorial not too long ago, but I want to mention it again, as I am still seeing a lot of bloggers using it! Every time I encounter that box of evil I want to bang my head against my desk. Please, if you have it on, or aren't sure if you do, check out my tutorial. CAPTCHA has no real benefits and discourages people from commenting on your blog. If you're worried about Spam, just turn on comment moderation (in Blogger, click on Settings > Posts and Comments > Comment Moderation).

Set a Favicon. A Favicon is the little icon that appears in the web page tab at the top of your screen. Mine is my button, which is a picture of Carina. Blogger's is that weird orange thing (is it supposed to be a B?)

This is just a unique touch that I think is nice. It also makes your blog easy to spot amongst all the others if someone has a number of tabs open in their browser. In Blogger, select Layout and click the "Edit" link in the Favicon section (top left).

 Then upload your blog button, or another picture to represent your blog. Save. Done!

Add your blog link to your e-mail signature. If you use a separate e-mail address for your blog (like I do), adding your blog link to the signature is a great idea. Whenever I get an e-mail from another blogger, I am always happy when it includes a link to their blog. Sometimes it's hard for me to recognize someone from their e-mail address, but when I can jump to their blog quickly it's much easier for me to figure out exactly who I'm speaking with! How? If you use Gmail, it's simple! At the top right, click the gear icon, and go down to Settings. Then, scroll down to Signature and add your link! Make sure to Save Changes (I forgot last time, oops!)

 

Create a button. If you have a grabbable (is that a word?) button, other bloggers can post it on their blogs! Sharing or swapping blog buttons is a great way to reach a larger audience. You can pay someone to make one for you, or you can try yourself! Despite having absolutely no artistic skills, I have made a few of my own. It's really easy. Upload a picture you like to picmonkey.com and Crop or Resize your photo. For either option, enter the size you'd like (125x125 and 150x150 are common sizes) and Apply.

Then select an overlay (I used a rectangle for the button below) and then put your blog title over it, or just put the title directly over the picture somewhere. Save, and store wherever you store photos.

Overlay and/or title text

Now the more confusing part. You need a text box with the code so that someone can actually grab that button you just created. It looks like this:

On your Layout screen, copy and paste this into a Blogger HTML gadget, and edit what is bold below:
<a href="yourbloglinkhere" target="_blank"><img src="imagelocation" /></a><br />
<textarea name="blogname" rows="5" style="width: 250px;"><a href="yourbloglinkhere/" target="_blank"><img src="imagelocation" /></a></textarea><br />

The number of rows and width of the text box can be adjusted to fit your blog sidebar. You don't have to keep "5" and "250".

Align your buttons/ads. Maybe it's the anal perfectionist in me, but it drives me crazy when things on my blog don't line up. It's pretty easy to make sure all of the blog buttons or ads you display are the same size and aligned correctly. I think it looks more clean and professional that way. Just follow my easy tutorial!


Please weigh in! What tips or suggestions would you add? OR - are there blogging-related things you'd like to know more about, or how to do?

Whoa, when did this happen?

It's official. While looking straight down, my feet are no longer visible. Oh man, I was not prepared for this at 19 weeks.

Does anyone remember when their feet disappeared?

April Sponsor Love!

Sandy Storck - Independent Scentsy Consultant

I am a working mom of a toddler who never liked or thought about doing direct sales. I was introduced to Scentsy through another new mom. I thought that the idea of a wickless candle as a safe alternative for a traditional candle was a great idea. I was so hooked on the product, I wanted to tell all my friends about it! Becoming a consultant just felt like a good place to start. I get a discount on the product by hosting my own "parties" and I am able to get some pocket money each month.

Scentsy | Facebook | Twitter

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jenni from the blog

Hi. I'm Jenni. I'm a married, working mom of two adorable kiddos: Carter and Brynn. I'm the middle child of three girls and love it {this also explains a lot about me.} My family is my world and I just love that it continues to grow more and more with each passing year. I'm a Philly sports lovin', wine drinkin', hard workin' mama of 2. I grew up just outside of Philadelphia, in a beautiful town in South Jersey {go ahead... get your jokes in now, but I love being a Jersey girl.}

Blog | Facebook | Twitter

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Bethany Sherrard - Sweet December Hats

Photo Credit: Bliss Photography of Rochester, MN

I make adorable headbands, hair clips, crochet hats for all ages, and newborn photography props.

Etsy | Facebook | Twitter 

Looking for some awesome new blogs to read? Look no further!

This baby better have a penis! ;)

"You must be hoping for a boy this time, right?"

"A boy would make for the perfect family!"

"Will you be upset if it's a girl?"

So long as deuce cooperates, we should find out whether he/she is sporting a peen or has the tell-tale three lady lines come Tuesday morning. Frankly, I am sick of people assuming that I'm going to be disappointed or even go so far as to cry my eyes out if certain masculine parts are nowhere to be found.

Hewwo in there! (Actually Carina, at 20 weeks)

I really, truly, honestly don't have a preference. I would love a little boy and all the uncertainty that would bring (I grew up with 3 sisters), but I would also really like for Carina to have a sister. And we already have all the girl's clothes and things we would need ;)

"Oh come on, I won't judge, you can tell me which you prefer."

No, really; no preference. I'm always surprised when people push. Is it that hard to comprehend? Does every pregnant woman out there need to have their heart set on pink OR blue instead of pink or blue?

And the concept of the "perfect" family sort-of bothers me. Can a family only be perfect if it consists of at least one boy and one girl? Does a family remain incomplete if the children are all girls or all boys? I think a "perfect" family is a loving family, no matter the size or sex of the people contained therein. Ha, sorry to go off on a tangent...


Tell me! Did/do you have a sex preference? What {ridiculous} comments have people made to you regarding the sex of your baby?

Results

After almost two weeks and multiple nagging calls to the Pediatrician's office, we finally got Carina's blood work results. The doctor had ordered a battery of tests at her 15 month appointment due to her not gaining weight and generally not wanting to eat.

Everything was normal except her CO2 level was low. Coupled with her lack of growth, the doctor suspects something called Renal Tubular Acidosis. It is a condition in which the kidneys fail to properly acidify urine, resulting in an accumulation of acid in the body. It's rare, but very easily treatable, thank goodness.

What's next? More blood work, a urine sample (which apparently involves taping a bag to her lady parts?), and a kidney ultrasound. The thought of putting her through more tests is making me cry, even though I know it's what's best for her, and necessary. If left untreated, it can lead to growth retardation, rickets, bone disease, kidney stones, and/or eventually renal failure.

What? More tests? :(

At this point I'm not sure for what I am hoping. I obviously don't want anything to be wrong with her, but if this is what she has, it explains the feeding problems and stunted growth we have been experiencing for months now. And according to some of the literature I am reading (I know, I know...I shouldn't have Googled), it is very easily treated with Sodium Bicarbonate and half of the cases even go away on their own before children reach Kindergarten. If the tests come back negative, though, then we're back to square one.

::sigh::

Any prayers or positive thoughts would be much appreciated. I just can't stop crying at the thought of my poor little peanut being sick.

Yep, let's do this - BlogHer'12

After some consideration and your words of encouragement, I have decided {definitively} to attend BlogHer ’12 in New York City. I have yet to be away from Carina for a night and haven't really done anything for myself in I-have-no-idea-how-long, so it's safe to say I am really, really excited about this. It will likely be my last chance to get away and have some {very much needed} girl time before this baby comes!

The awesome news:
My amazing friend Stephanie over at The Froggy and the Mouse has graciously offered to let me stay with her in her free hotel room AND New York City is practically in my backyard. Just a quick hour and 40 minute train ride, no need to worry about flying!

Woot! All of the below is taken care of!

In an effort to cover the cost of the conference ticket, travel, meals, and materials, I have done 2 things:

• Compiled a few partnership/sponsorship packages for companies or businesses interested in working with me.

• Discounted my ad space through August! All ad proceeds will go directly towards getting me to BlogHer. I have had 50,000+ pageviews each month for the last few months, so now is a great time to join me! Also, I just added a new ad size perfect for blogs (125x125) and to celebrate my going to BlogHer I am offering a completely free 125x125 ad for 1 month to the first 2 people who use promo code FREE (*sorry already taken, wow that was fast!) for the "Baby Geek" size ad. Yay!

Package prices are negotiable and I am open to other suggestions as well. Contact me as soon as possible so we can get the details worked out. There are only a few months before August!

Who is going to be at BlogHer? Post a comment and let me know!

The eyes say it all

I swear my child can communicate her thoughts and feelings with one glance, or glare.

With furrowed brows, or wide, bright eyes.

They themselves smile or laugh, or simply say "enough, Mom".

These were all taken at my parents house on Easter. I think a few of them make quite a funny contrast to the oh-so-happy and excited pictures of the Easter Egg Hunt the same day.

Does your little one have a signature look or glare? Carina's furrowed brows have become legendary within our families ;)

Toddle Along Tuesday - In My Diaper Bag

I've been through a number of diaper bags since Carina was born. First, I started with a Skip Hop ginormous monstrosity (which you can see the contents of, over at Hello Jack), then I moved on to a lovely Coach diaper bag my Mom gave me for my birthday. After Carina got a little bit of spit up on the Coach one (noooo!) I retired it as diaper bag and now use it as a tote for when I go out by myself ;)

Since then, I have been using the timi & leslie Farah 2-in-1 Diaper Backpack that I reviewed back in November. I love it.


Now for the contents! A few things for Mommy (coupons, wallet, chapstick), a couple toys, bibs, and then the focus as of late: food. I usually have a Happy Tot food pouch on me, as Carina really likes them. Cheerios and our new favorite - crunchy veggie-potato sticks are most often found inside, as well.


Of course there are diapers, scented disposal bags (we use these at playdates or when we are visiting family), wipes, and a changing pad. Other important things include sunscreen and an extra onesie. Most of the time we have a whole extra change of clothes. We had to use it recently and it looks like I didn't replace it...oops! Carina often pulls her headbands off in the car and I end up stuffing them in the diaper bag. They usually end up forgotten there. Lastly, disposable placemats. These are AWESOME. You stick them onto the table at restaurants and peel them off when you're done. I can't tell you how helpful they are.


Most of the time I feel like there is a ton of stuff in there, but looking at it all lined up like this, I'm actually feeling like quite the minimalist.

<center><a href="http://www.growingupgeeky.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x324/mchupie/Growing_up_Geeky/tatbutton150.png" /></a></center>
My co-host for Toddle Along Tuesday this week is Nancy from The Chrancy Family and the topic is What's in your diaper bag? Show us your bag and what's in it! I can't wait to see everyone's. There are no rules here, except that you link up a relevant post (old or new) rather than your whole blog.



Next week's topic is Bedtime Routines! What do you do before bedtime?

If you like advance notice for TAT, I just added a section at the bottom right of the blog that lists the Toddle Along Tuesday topics for the next few weeks! Would you like to submit a topic idea and/or volunteer to co-host one week? E-mail me!

18 week bumpdate

How far along? 18 weeks

Weight gain/loss: 121 lbs. Up 3 lbs.

Feeling: I'm beginning to think I'm having seasonal allergies for the first time in my life. I can't imagine why else I would be congested and coughing for 2+ weeks.

Maternity clothes? I think I need a new pair of maternity jeans. Any recommendations; what is your favorite brand?

Sleep: Better. Some mornings I don't feel like a complete zombie.

Food cravings: Salad. Can you believe it? I think this is the first time I haven't been craving french fries or deep fried anything-I-can-shove-in-my-mouth in months.

Movement? Feeling him/her mostly late at night while we're watching TV. Maybe the drama in Game of Thrones is making deuce excited? lol

What I miss? Being able to sleep on my back! It's already getting to the point where it's uncomfortable.

Best moment this week: Having a lovely dinner out with Mike (and Carina) for our 3rd anniversary.

What I'm looking forward to: Anatomy scan on May 1st! I am counting the days.

Next Appointment: See above :)

Milestones: Baby's sense of smell, taste, sight and hearing are all developing this week.


Hmmm...I think I actually look pretty similar to my 18 week pic from last time. Wow, though, my fancy new camera does a bit of a better job with pictures than my old iPhone did ;)

Thirsties Duo All In One - Review & Giveaway! CLOSED

I don't think there has ever been a more appropriate time to talk about cloth diapers than Earth Day! In addition to the many other benefits of cloth diapers (saving money, super cute, often fewer rashes, etc.), they significantly reduce the amount of garbage headed for landfills. For our family, using cloth diapers has really been a win-win. Okay, now onto the fluff!

We love our Thirsties Duo Diaper so much, I was ecstatic to have the opportunity to try out their brand new Duo All In One. The Duo AIO comes in two sizes: 1: 6-18 lbs. and 2: 18-40 lbs, and two different closure styles: snaps and aplix. We opted for Size 2 in Orchid. So far, almost all of the cloth diapers we have are gender neutral colors. I was so excited to get a girly purple one for Carina this time. Love the color.

Duo AIO in Orchid

My favorite feature of the Thirsties Duo All In One is the fit. The tabs are stretchier than our other diapers, which makes it much easier for me to fasten them snugly. It also seems a more comfortable fit for Carina. I was afraid that this AIO would be bulky, but to my surprise it is actually just as trim, if not trimmer, than some of our pockets! It has become one of my go-to diapers to wear under leggings or other tighter pants.

Tunnel for stuffing!

If you need to add absorbency (like we often do), the Duo All In One has a unique tunnel design that gives you the {sometimes much needed} ability to bulk up. We have fit a number of different types of inserts in the tunnel. Most of the time, we don't need them, though. The absorbency of the AIO by itself has been quite impressive for both #1 and #2. The built-in three-layer microfiber terry soaker actually absorbs seven times its weight! We experienced one leak, but it was when we first received the diaper and silly Mommy used the middle set of snaps instead of the bottom set. Once I adjusted to the correct-for-Carina's-size bottom snaps, we have been leak free.

There are a couple other benefits to the design including more thorough washing and quicker drying (compared to All In One diapers without the tunnel). One con is that it takes a little longer to dry than our pocket diapers, but that I was expecting. Other awesome features of the Duo All In One include gentle elastic around the legs and waist (no red marks on Carina), and a durable waterproof exterior.

Like the Duo Diaper, the AIO will grow with Carina until she no longer needs diapers. It boasts 3 rows of snaps to allow for the perfect fit now, 6 months from now, and even a year from now or more. I'm hoping that she will be ready for potty training sooner rather than later, but it's comforting to know that this diaper will fit up to 40 lbs. Crossing my fingers she will be using the potty before then ;)

Potty training?  I'll stay in these forever, Mom!

I think this diaper is a fantastic choice for both cloth diaper newbies and enthusiasts. I think it will be one of the few we leave when we have babysitters watch Carina, just because it is so easy to use and no disassembly is necessary. Just unfasten and throw right in the diaper pail.

Thirsties doesn't just make fantastic cloth diapering products, they are also a really cool company:
-They are committed to greener parenting and Eco Friendly solutions. Their warehouse is 100% wind powered.
-The diapers are made right here in the USA by work at home mothers who are very close to their warehouse, reducing carbon output.
-The customer service reps are experienced cloth diapering moms, and offer knowledge to retailers and customers alike.

Adorable prints!

Shop
Thirsties diapers can be found at many retailers throughout the world! Find the location closest to you. You can also request or download a catalog. Check out Thirsties on Facebook for news of discounts and other giveaways!

Win
Thirsties is generously offering one of my readers a Duo AIO! The winner can pick what size and color/print they would like.

How to Enter:
This is a Rafflecopter giveaway. Click "Read More" below and then follow the instructions on the widget. All currents count! Giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada. Ends at 11:59 PM on Tuesday, May 1st.

The first entry is mandatory - Visit Thirsties and tell me one feature that you like about the Duo AIO, and what color/print you would choose if you won. Once you complete this entry, the widget will give you the option of completing the rest. Complete more steps for more chances to win!

Under Construction!

Eeek! My friend Becca over at Jumping Jax Designs just installed my new design! I hope you like it. I loved my giraffes and the bold colors but over the last few months the brightness actually started hurting my eyes. It's either pregnancy related, or I'm just getting old ;)  So I thought something still insanely geeky but a little more muted would help ameliorate that.

I have a lot of work to do tweaking things, matching colors here and there, and resizing, so please bear with me, friends!

P.S. No more "M" and "Mama G". We're Mike and Melissa. Or Missie. You can call me what you like ;)

Carina, the meerkat

When we were in Massachusetts for Easter, we went to the zoo with Carina's cousins. She didn't really know what to make of most of the animals, but did enjoy pointing at the Tiger and declaring, "kitty!"

I could watch her, watching the animals and making her funny faces all day long.

I don't know about this, Mom

Are you sure I can get this close to animals?

Chatting with the birdy

I'd rather be elsewhere, Mom

Carina and her cousins Riley and Conor

This one cracks me up