All Natural Kids Bugs Spray Review and Giveaway!

We were graciously sent Absolute Green's 100% Natural DEET Free Bug Spray a few months ago to try out.  It came just at the right time, when the bugs here in North Florida were starting to peak.

Ya'll know what freaks Tara and I are about buying everything organic and chemical free and bug spray is no exception.

I really liked this spray.  When I sprayed it on Penelope it smelled nice and did not leave a heavy residue.  And it seemed to work just fine.  Now, were not in the middle of a swamp, but for normal outdoor activities it has been really great for us.  I like, Tara, found I had to really put a lot on, but its so light and smells good that it isn't really a problem.

Here is what Tara said:

"I liked the bug spray for Arabella and I.  It didn't have as strong of a smell as my other all-natural spray.  It was nice to come in from being outside and not have a cloud of citronella around us.  I did have to use a little more than I normally do, to keep those pesky mosquitoes away though (we really put it to the test by going out at dusk).  I didn't mind having to do that because of the all-natural ingredients.  Great product!"

More about this awesome product from Absolute Green:

This bug spray repels mosquitoes, including the west nile virus producing mosquito's, biting flies, gnats, no see-ums and other annoying insects! Our spray of essential oils keeps the bugs away while your children enjoy nature, look for seashells, find frogs or just play outside without getting bug bites!

Absolute Green Kids Natural Bug Repellent is a non-toxic bug spray that works great, dries non-oily and has a pleasant aroma. Convenient 4oz size allows for an easy travel companion. Lasting 4-6 hours between applications. Recommended for the whole family.

Contains: Witch Hazel Distillate, Ethyl Alcohol (from corn), Lemon grass Eucalyptus Essential Oil, Neem Seed Oil, Cedar wood Essential Oil, and other essential oils.


So would you like to try this awesome bug spray?  Well today's your lucky day!  Absolute Green is giving away 3 BOTTLES to HMHB readers!!!

Here is what you have to do to enter:

MANDATORY ENTRY
Check out Absolute Green on Facebook and "like" them.

You must be a Healthy Mama, Healthy Baby Google Follower to participate.

EXTRA ENTRIES
Must include email address if not listed in profile. Each entry must be a separate comment.

* Follow Healthy Mama, Healthy Baby on Facebook.  We have a blast over there!

* Blog about this Giveaway on your blog and provide post URL.

* Post about this Giveaway on Facebook and tag Healthy Mama, Healthy Baby AND Absolute Green.

Good luck everyone! Giveaway will run until 7.30.11! I will use random generator to pick a winner and will email the winner and announce it here on the blog. The winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be announced.

DISCLAIMER: We were not paid for this post.  Thank you, Absolute Green for allowing us to review your products and for the awesome giveaway. If you are interested in having me do a review and giveaway for your business or product, or about our advertising pricing, send us an email at healthymamahealthybaby at gmail dot com.

Supplements I Give My Toddler

Some health experts will tell you that if you eat perfectly then you don't need any supplements. Other experts say, even if you eat perfectly, you still can't meet all your nutritional needs without supplements.

Although I am certainly not an expert, I am in the other camp, and I am a big fan of supplements. I don't even eat perfectly yet, but I also agree that it is really hard to get everything you need from food consistently even if you do eat absolutely perfect.

I took my dear friend Lindsey, to New Leaf Market the other day. New Leaf Market is a great little co-op natural food store in my hometown. They can be a wee bit snotty, but overall it is amazing resource. I can even buy raw milk in the store!

Anyway, we went shopping together, because she was a little overwhelmed with the supplement choices and she wasn't sure what her 2 year old son needed, but she new he was lacking in some nutrients and wanted help.

So we went up and down the isles together and I showed her the brands I like and use for Penelope.

Here is what we got:

• Cod Liver Oil
• Vitamin D
• Vitamin C
• Multivitamin
• Probiotics

If your child has some serious issues like eczema, epilepsy or even cancer I highly suggest taking an herbal supplement called Protandim.   Please email me if you want more information.

Here are the brands I like best for each supplement:

• Cod Live Oil: Green Pastures.  They do not make chewables anymore, so I get the liquid and put it into Penelope's smoothies.  If she doesn't have any smoothie on a given day, I give her a chewable version I get from Earth Fare.  Nothing compares to Green Pastures, but if you can't afford it or can't get your child to take it in liquid form, a chewable version is fine. Or even better, slather it on their butt during one diaper change a day.  The oil and nutrients get absorbed right through the skin!
• Vitamin D: Solaray makes a sugar free, flavored chewable tablet.
• Vitamin C: I like Hyland's best
• Multivitamin: I use Shaklee's Kids.   Penelope loves them and they have no sugar or food coloring or yucky fillers.  And I like supporting a mom who is running a network marketing business.
• Probiotics: Nature's Way makes a loose powder form which is great for slipping into smoothies or bottles of milk.  Even a newborn should get probiotics.  You can sprinkle some on your nipple before the baby latches on, or sprinkle some on their tongue.

Please be clear, I am not an certifiable expert in supplements, this is just what I do for Penelope, based on lots of research, but still I am not an MD, nor am I doling out medical advice.

I also use my intuition as a guide once I do my research.  If I feel in my gut that she needs two things of vitamin C one day if a cold is coming on, or two things of Vitamin D if she is teething. I go with my gut. If I forget to give her everything one day, I take it as a sign from my higher self that she didn't need it.

What supplements do you give your child? 

Flying with Toddlers

Last week I got back from an awesome trip with my family.  It started out a little hairy with Penelope getting a fever and then Delta canceled all flights on the day we were originally going to leave.  But all ended well, with the end result of one happy family.

Before this trip, I was terrified about flying with Penelope.  Actually, I was more terrified about flying and pumping.  If I had flown before I was done pumping, I would have had to pump in dirty, public bathrooms, lug around the pump and a cooler full of milk.  I was worried about TSA touching the milk or worse pouring it out and being treating me like a terrorist like this mom was.  I was also worried about the TSA touching Penelope for a pat down.  Thankfully, no body ever laid a hand on her.

But even without the added craziness that is exclusive pumping, I was still  very nervous to fly with Penelope.  She is what I like to call a wild child.  You know the ones. Highly spirited and energetic.  Not so keen on listening.  She likes to do exactly what she wants to do, at exactly the time she wants to do it. She doesn't want anyone to help her or hold her hand, she is off like a rocket to explore.  I can't blame her much, the apple does not fall far from the tree.

Surprisingly, things went really well for us.  I never once felt overly stressed, I mean there were some tough moments, don't get me wrong, like on our 6 hour drive to Mammoth Mountain.  She cried for 45 minutes, even with me leaning over her car seat to nurse her.  Maybe it was because I was just so damn grateful to be traveling somewhere, but either way, these are things I did to prepare and things I did to help keep Penelope happy.

First, I checked out LOTS of blog posts to get some advice.  There were my favorites:


A Cup of Jo- Tips for flying with toddlers and babies.

Rhythm of the Home- Tips for flying with toddlers and babies.

Mamapedia- An article about how traveling and doing new things, meeting new people can be really over stimulating, especially for sensitive children.

Travel Mamas- Just an all around cool site for traveling with kids.

Baby Center - This one has a few good tips in their packing list.  I like the bring a clip on reading light so you can read if you child has fallen asleep on the plane.  And bringing outlet covers for the hotel or house you will be staying at.  Luckily for us, we were visiting friends who have a 4 year old, so the house was child proofed and filled with toys!

I also asked everyone in our lovely Facebook community for tips.  I really liked the tip about boarding the plane LAST.

After all that research and my personal experience, here are my tips for traveling with babies and toddlers.

BUY AN IPAD.  Seriously.  If you have been considering if for a long time, like we have, just go for it. Just go and buy it.  We have a DVD player and thank God for it, because seriously, I do not know what I would have done with out it, but an IPAD is slim and light, no fumbling around for DVDs and then scratching, said DVDs.  You can put games and other things on it, other than cartoons, so it is multifunctioning.  When your kid is asleep (hahaha), you can use to read or whatever.     I realize this is not the ideal for everyone, due to money and parenting phiolospohy about toddlers watching cartoons, but if you can afford it and don't mind your tot watching a little TV, then is the way to go. Trust me.

BUY A DVD PLAYER.  If you can't swing an IPAD, get a DVD player.  I let Penelope watch about hour of TV a day on our normal days at home.  This started a couple of months ago.  I realize that some people don't want their toddler to watch TV till age 2, and follow the AAP guidelines on it, but this is where we are as a family.  When we were traveling, she watched more TV on some days and none on others, so it even out.

NEW TOYS.  I realize I am making quite the consumptive and materialistic list here, but what can I say, it's what we did.  I went out and bought several new toys for Penelope.  I wanted her to be suprised and entertained by whatever new toy I pulled out of my bag.  And it worked.  Anytime she was getting antsy or fussy. I whipped out a new toy.  Now, they were not expesive toys.   A coloring book, some spinning tops, a travel art easel, etc.  I talked to another mom on the plane home, and she wrapped all the new toys, so her daughter had the added fun (and time killed) on opening up the new toy.  I liked that idea a lot.

FAMILIAR TOYS.  I also packed several of her most favorite books and stuffed animals so she could have the comfort of toys she new.  When we couldn't watch a DVD, during take off and landing, we nursed and read books.  Which brings me to my next tip.

NURSE.  I know not everyone can nurse, so use a paci or a bottle, if you can't nurse.  But if you are so lucky to be able to nurse, this is the Magic Wand of travel tips.  Anytime, anywhere, the boob helps.  Whether to nurse your little one to sleep, calm them down or help with ear pain.  The boob works wonders.  I also brough organic lollipops with me. I was afraid she wouldn't want to nurse with all the excitement and new things to look at. And since she is weaned from her bottle and she doesn't have a paci, a lollipop was the next best thing she could suck on. I also brought them in case a melt down occured.   I gave her one on the last flight, way past her bedtime and she needed something to help get to the finish line.  She only ate half of it.  Each lollipop has about 5 grams of sugar, not too bad.

So there you have it.  My tips for flying and traveling with toddlers.  Tell me, what is your best tip?

This Moment: Happy Family!

My family and I just got back from an amazing trip to California.  My husband drove out by him self and stayed with friends and went to several national parks.  Penelope and I flew out to meet him and we all stayed with friends in Ventura, California.  We planned on just going to the beach and camping while we were there, but a last minute decision to go to Mammoth Mountain to snowboard, also landed us in Yosemite National Park.  I have a buddy from high school that works there and the stars aligned perfectly for us to get a campsite.

Most of these pictures are from Yosemite and the last one is while camping in Leo Carrillo.  But they all have a theme.  Can you see it?  Relaxation and Happiness!

These picture clearly depict why I was so adamant about getting on that damn plane.  This family needs to travel.  We are happiest while on an adventure, exploring new things, and not having a detailed plan.  This was our first real trip since Penelope was born.  I am so glad we went!  Peter needed it so bad.  He is like a new person.  The person I fell in love with almost 8 years ago.  Thank God!  So this trip really made it clear to us, how we need to reprioritize our life and make sure that traveling is at the very top of the list.

I will do a  more detailed post next week and share some tips about traveling with toddlers, but moral of the story, we are one happy family!

Sort Of Healthy Cupcakes

These are the cupcakes I made for a July 4th party we went to.  I was trying to make a patriotic version of a rainbow cake, but without using food coloring.  They didn't turn out the way I envisioned, but they were so tasty!

Everyone raved about how moist they were and my husband devoured them!  Well, truth be told, so did I!  I didn't let poor Penelope have any, but she learned the word cupcake.  I know its only a matter of time before I wont be able to control her sugar consumption, so I am going to hold out as long as possible.

First, get your cutie set up in the Learning Tower.  I had intentions of making her a July 4th dress, but this Mini Boden dress she had was perfect, so I will save the fabric for next year.

 Now, for the secret ingredients!  I used pureed blueberries in one batch and pureed strawberries in the other, just like I did when making Penelope's first birthday cake.

I used local blueberries that I picked and froze a few weeks ago.  I bought 10 pounds of blueberries and put them in the freezer.  Penelope actually likes to eat frozen blueberries better than fresh ones! I think it must feel really good on her budding teeth.

I just loved the way the bright color of the fruit looked against the bright orange pastured egg yolk and grass fed butter.  The cake mix was organic and I used raw milk. So these cupcakes, could have been much healthier by using sprouted flour and some sort of natural sweetener, but these are still a million times better than crap you buy at Publix.

The strawberry batch and the blueberry batch.  The strawberries turned the batter pink not red, I somehow forgot that and then the blueberries turned the other batter purple.  Not exactly, red white and blue, but like I said, tasty!!

For the first round, I did strawberry, blueberry, strawberry, trying to get a gradual linear stacking, a la ombre, of the colors.

The second round I just did what. ever.

Because this is what the inside looked like no matter what.  It was actually pretty cool looking, like a tye-dye art project.

Lastly, I put raspberries and blueberries on top to get the festive colors.  I was hoping to print out and make these cupcake toppers, but never got around to it.  Maybe next year!

P.S. These are the cupcake liners I used:

Mama Yoga: Legs Up the Wall Pose

After child's pose, this is probably my most favorite yoga pose of. all. time.  Can you see a theme with my style of yoga?  I like my yoga to very restorative (read: lazy and easy).

I love this picture so much!  I had my husband snap this picture while we were in our room at Mammoth Mountain during our recent California trip.  Not that I was tired from snowboarding, since I didn't get to go, being on baby duty 24/7 and all.  I figured I have the rest of my life to snowboard, but Penelope will only be a baby once.  Riding in the gondola with her was fun enough.

In the picture, with me and Penelope, is my sweet friend Stacey, or as Penelope calls her EeCee.  Penelope really liked EeCee.  She is about 31 weeks pregnant and she is a real trooper.  Her boy (4 today!) is Wild with a capital W and even after chasing after him all day, she is always game for camping or surfing or whatever.  If I have another baby, I hope I have her energy and her patience.

If you don't have a lot of energy, Legs Up the Wall pose, is a great all around pose for everyone.  If you only do one yoga pose a day, or a week for that matter, do this one.  Doing this pose for 5 minutes is like taking a 25 minute nap.  It literally gives your body a break.

I first learned about this pose as a girl during a dance show. Actually, it was a video we were shooting for somebody, and we were about 12 years old.  The taping was taking all day long, and it was verging on child abuse, so our dance teacher/den mother gave us a break and lined us all up in a vacant room and told us to stay there with our legs up the wall for 20 minutes and we couldn't move.  Lo and behold, after 20 minutes we were all rearing to go.

Which makes me think, if you could get a toddler to do this for a few minutes, it would be a great thing to do when they need a nap, but are refusing to go down.

If you are pregnant, one of the reasons you get so tired is because your heart is working double time. It is exhausting for your body simply pumping blood back to your heart from your extremities.  Putting your legs up, lets gravity do the work for your body. 

If you get tired of having your legs up, you can do what we are doing in the picture above, for a modification.  It's basically Reclined Bound Angle pose with your legs up on the wall.

Also, if you are pregnant, you can put a rolled up towel or blanket under your right hip if you are worried about laying on your back for a little bit.  But remember, you will feel dizzy and light headed, long before your baby is getting less oxygen. If you are you doing this pose and you feel fine, then your baby is fine. 

Our Lady of La Leche

 

Our Lady of La Leche is an amazing little Catholic shrine in St. Augustine, Florida.  I first heard about this place from a dear friend of mine.  She brought me back a necklace and prayer card from her visit.  For a long time I wore the necklace and prayed hard for my sweet Penelope to come to me.

On Mother's Day in 2008, I visited the shrine with Peter.  We both went in and lit candles and prayed, well I prayed and Peter respectfully sat next to me.  I prayed for a healthy baby to come to me.

This is the first shrine dedicated to the Blessed Mother in the United States.  Like me, pilgrims who make their way to this shrine, ask for blessing in motherhood and for healthy children.

The statue at the front, is of Mother Mary nursing baby Jesus, and it is just stunning.

Here is the prayer to Our Lady of La Leche if anyone is interested:

Lovely Lady of La Leche, most loving mother of the Child Jesus, and my mother, listen to my humble prayer. Your motherly heart knows my every wish, my every need. To you only, His spotless Virgin Mother, has your Divine Son given to understand the sentiments which fill my soul. Yours was the sacred privilege of being the Mother of the Savior. Intercede with him now, my loving Mother, that, in accordance with His will, I may become the mother of other children of our heavenly Father. This I ask, O Lady of La Leche, in the Name of your Divine Son, My Lord and Redeemer. Amen.