The Girl Is A Mom - The Girl Is A Mom

Tuesday

Jul272010

Hours in the day

Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 8:15PM

My shower today came at 6:30pm, while dinner was in the oven I stole away a few moments to bath. Kinda sad. There are simply not enough hours in the day, which I realize is a complete cliche but honestly very truthful. I am doing a brand new juggling act of attempting something new, while continuing to be everything as a mother and wife. Somedays I literally want to tear my hair out but I'm so excited by my new venture that I push through.

The heirarchy dictates that the blog suffer. I don't even want to say what the other project is, it is in the prestages at this point but it is time consuming for sure. Taking care of Coraline full time, maintaining a healthy relationship with JP, making sure everyone is fed,bathed and in a general state of good health, does not leave much time for working on a product review.

I'm very glad that I am taking part in BlogMania because it means a lot of really great reviews and giveaways are coming up. I'm going to be talking alot about my great sponsors...

They are all providing amazing products to include in my giveaway packages. That in iteself is a ton of work on the backend, but I really do want you all to know how much I appreciate the support you have given over the past year. What better way then to give you the chance to win over $500 in prizes.

So I'm working on "the project", blogging, getting The Cloth Diaper Awards out there, I'm planning Coraline's 1st Birthday Party, BlogMania, wife, mother, sister, friend. You all get it but I am not complaining in the least. Simply stating that over extending myself is good for no one. Come September at least 3 of those things will be finishing up and I plan to devote most spare time to the new endeavor. My blog will probably feature fewer giveaways. I hope everyone will stick by me and continue to read about our adventures. I definitely owe you all some more cloth diapering posts!

I have great giveaways coming, I know I have done a million mentions but getting them written is hard on my brain and time!

just to name a few!

Now, how does a mother find time for shaving her legs, actually talking to her husband (you know a real conversation not "take the trash out"), reading a book, and relaxing?

Kimberly |

Winner! Baby Signing Time

Sunday, July 25, 2010 at 10:40AM

I think it is great that another baby is going to get to learn all the great things Cora has already! Thanks to everyone who entered to win the Baby Signing Time DVD Set, I highly recommend buying it for those of you who didn't win. We have already ordered more from this series!

Winning number via Random.org

Winning Entry

Congratulations to Sandy and her little Bean!

Winner has been contacted via email and has 48 hours to respond.

Don't forget you can enter to win a Safety 1st Air Protect Car Seat!

You can also start gaining extra entries in the BlogMania Event!

Thanks for reading!

Kim

Kimberly |

BlogMania Prize Package Preview!

Sunday, July 25, 2010 at 10:04AM

It is no secret here at The Girl Is A Mom that I love EcoMom. Whenever I am looking for a new toy, organic clothes, a yummy new food or bath product for Coraline, I always see what EcoMom has. One of the best resources on the product page is under the products where they tell you why they like something. It's literally like being able to ask your best parent friend why something is great.

EcoMom is sponsoring an entire package for the BlogMania event September 15-16! EcoMom CEO Jody Sherman and I picked out a prize package designed especially for my readers. The theme of this package is Green Baby. Take a look at what is included and read below to find out how you can get additional entries to win!

EcoMom Green Baby Prize Package ($105 Value)

Baby BeeHinds One Size Hemp Fitted Diaper

Baby BeeHinds Wool Diaper Cover

Sweet Knee Petit Gift Bag

PlanToys Stacking Tree

PlanToys Fish Castanet

This package is so awesome, I can not wait for someone to win. You win the entire package! It's something you will not want to miss. During BlogMania you will only have one chance to enter( those are the rules of participation) but I am able to offer pre entry specials for the rest of the summer!

You will definitely want to keep reading, add me to your google reader or "like" The Girl Is A Mom on Facebook so you don't miss out on extra entries!

To gain extra entries in the EcoMom "Green Baby" BlogMania Giveaway

Do any or all of the following, then fill out the form letting me know.

Join the EcoMom community

Subscribe to the EcoMom newsletter

Follow EcoMom on Twitter

Like EcoMom on Facebook

Go to entry form

Kimberly |

Laundry Soap

Friday, July 23, 2010 at 2:14PM

Aside from posts about Coraline, I think the thing I talk about most is laundry. Every mother out there knows that laundry is the never ending battle! I'm not complaining, make no mistake, just pointing out that I do laundry everyday without fail. Some days I swear to myself that the laundry can wait, I'm not going to touch it and then we spill something on a rug or the cat vomits on something, you all know the drill.

I feel like it is my personal mission to test every laundry soap out there, if you read my reviews, you know that I have done a great job. I'm committed to using all natural cleaners, I will not budge on this topic. There are more all natural cleaners out there then I had ever thought possible. I finally figured out why that is, because it is really simple to make laundry soap. Yep, I'm sure some of you mamas have been in the know for years! Here I was sitting in the dark thinking laundry soap was some magical concoction only to be purchased. I made my own laundry soap this weekend, turns out it is one of the easiest d.i.y. projects ever.

These are my supplies...

1 Bar Castile Soap (mine is Burt's Bees Rosemary Mint but Dr. Bronners would be great)

Baking Soda

Borax

Washing Soda*

Fels Napatha (which I didn't end up including)

Empty Jar

* I could not find Washing Soda anywhere! I looked in all of our supermarkets to no avail. Maybe because I live in the city and city moms clearly don't make their own laundry soap? I'm not sure. Anyway, it is available online for sure, made by Arm & Hammer, Ida from Trees Will Bend brought me some, hence the plastic bag :)

Step 1

Gather Supplies

Step 2

Using a cheese grater, grate the bar of castile soap into a very fine powder. This is the most time consuming step, I think it took a whole 5 minutes.

Step 3

Measure all of your ingredients into your jar. This is what my measurements were...

1 cup castile soap

1/2 cup Borax

1/2 cup baking soda

1/2 cup washing soda

Step 4

Put it all in the jar and shake til it is well mixed, with the lid on clearly

Step 5

Oh, you are done. No step 5. I labeled my jar. Ready to use. It took me 10 minutes from gathering the ingredients to sticking the label on.

I use 2 Tablespoons per load in my front loading HE machine.

The best part of the whole thing is not even the satisfaction I got from making my own laundry soap but the fact that it totally works. I washed my sheets first and they came out clean and soft and smelling good. I haven't tried it on my diapers yet, I still have 2 bags of my favorite diaper soap Rockin Green. I have a hunch that I won't have to purchase laundry soap any more though!

Cost

I know all of you thrifty mamas want to know if it is cost effective!

Borax $5.00 for 76 ounces, I used 4 ounces... .26cents

Washing Soda should cost about $4 for 55 ounces, I used 4 ounces ... .29cents

Baking Soda $.50cents for 1lb... 1/2 cup... .12cents

Castile Soap $4 for 1 bar, I used the whole bar.

Jar...free

Total $4.67

I made 2 1/2 cups of soap. That means I will get 20 loads of laundry done. Which equals .23 cents a load. Yep, totally cost effective.

Kimberly |

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Thursday

Jul222010

BlogMania Preview!

Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 8:08AM

I am so excited to be a part of BlogMania 2010! One of the best things about my blog, aside from constantly talking about myself, is showing you new and great products. Knowing I have a hand in bringing you products from companies that I truely stand behind, makes all the work I put in worthwhile. BlogMania has given me the opportunity to build some really awesome prize packages for all of you!

My BlogMania theme is "Green Urban Mom", I thought that encompassed my lifestyle the best. During the month of September I will be posting content based on that theme. I look forward to sharing our Green Urban lifestyle with all of you!

BlogMania is mostly a huge blog giveaway party and as my readers, you have an open invitation!

Here is your BlogMania Prize Pack Teaser....

Urban Mom Theme

Daytripper bag from O.R.E. ($40 value)

Pocket Purifier from Purely Products ($15 value)

SmartMom Jewelry ($19 value)

This is just a portion of the "Urban Mom" package! Valued at over $100, you can be entered to win everything!

Other package themes include the "EcoMom Green Baby" and "Green Home" as well as a few single prizes valued at over $100 each! So far, I am giving away over $500 in prizes!

As a special treat, starting next week I will begin posting ways to gain extra entries for the BlogMania Giveaways! During BlogMania there will only be one way to enter each giveaway, so yo will want to get your early entries in!

Kimberly |

1 Comment |

BlogMania,

Giveaway