Works Like A Charm Nursing Necklace Review ... And Giveaway =)

   Good Morning TMG followers! It is time for my first official post and I thought I'd start off with a review and giveaway that is near and dear to my heart ... literately! We're talking about breastfeeding! I am currently breastfeeding my 4mo Velociraptor and she is going strong! My plan is to breastfeed her as long as she wants to (as long as she keeps her teeth to herself!) Yes teeth, my 4mo has recently popped her 2 bottom front teeth in and she keeps using her teeth =( Luckily I was given this beautiful and functional nursing necklace as a baby gift from Works Like A Charm!

                 Here is Velociraptor at 2 weeks already knowing how to use it... My boobies thank her!

   

    I am so glad to have recieved this, until you have used one you have no idea how nice it is to feed your baby without the worry of having your hair pulled or your "boo boos" scratched and pinched! I remember with Jubbs and Cpt. Caveman all the fistfulls of my hair and all the painful bruises and scratches... it's NO fun! But with this very simple yet very pretty necklace I no longer have to worry about that! She has recently has been also using it for its other use which is a wooden teether and she loves it!


  The first nursing/teething necklace I recieved is made up of a 2" natural, hand-sanded wooden Birch ring and finished with organic olive oil. It has a beautiful 30mm Fancy Jasper donut and wooden accent bead. Keeps little ones hands busy while eating. The wooden ring can be used as a teether, but the stone donut should not! It is on a black satin adjustable cord. One continual cord for safety. No clasps that could break, no worries of loose beads. The Jasper is perfectly neutrally colored so it goes with anything!

    The second  nursing/teething necklace I recieved is made up of a 2 1/2" natural, hand-sanded wooden Birch ring and finished with organic olive oil. It has a beautiful 40mm Pink&Blue Howlite Turquoise stone donut. The pink and blue coloring on this stone really makes this necklace POP!

   As you can see the Howlite Turquoise and the Fancy Jasper necklaces are different in size, though that does NOT affect their functions of this necklace in the least. The sizes and colors of all her different choices is merely for style preferences! (In this picture you can also see the opposite side of the Howlite Turquoise.)

    These beautiful creations of Work Like A Charm are not the only products she makes! She also used these hand-sanded wooden rings along with natural bamboo velour that is knotted and has came up with one of the nicest, functioning teethers my LOs have ever fought over (LOL)! Cpt. Caveman is constantly stealing the wooden ring and wearing it as a bracelet while the Velocirapor is left crying!

  I feel so lucky to have been able to try these products and more so that my kids have been able to benefit from them and will continue to due so through their breastfeeding/teething journey. And even better yet, Mommy will always have these beautiful necklaces to wear whether I have a nursing/teething baby or not!

Because I am an avid supporter and admirer of WAHMs and LOVE knowing what inspired them to start their own business from home .... made up of their own creations from the heart, I thought you enjoy learning a little about what inspired them too =) So here is what Celeste, the creator behind Work Like A Charm nursing and teething accessories, has to say ...

"Hello, My name is Celeste. I am the wahm behind “Works Like A Charm” Nursing necklaces.
I have been married to my wonderful husband since 2007 and we have two children.

When my son was born in 2009 I was determined to breastfeed. As he got a little bigger and more curious, I realized I was getting a lot of hair pulled, chest scratches, and delicate jewelry broken! That is when I started making my own nursing necklaces made of safe non-toxic materials and strong cord to withstand all of the tugs and pulls it would take! And to my delight they “Worked like a charm”!

My Daughter was born only one year later in 2010, and this time around I had worn my nursing necklaces from the very beginning and as long as I had it on I never lost even one strand of hair! It got me thinking that I probably wasn’t the only breastfeeding mother that had this problem and that other mother’s would benefit from these nursing necklaces as well. So in early 2011 Works Like A Charm was born and has been a very helpful accessory to breastfeeding mothers ever since."


    Well said Celeste! And I must say myself ... they really do work like a charm!  Not only has Celeste so graciously offered these beautiful (and extremely helpful) necklaces up for me to review, she has also sent me one for a giveaway so one of you lucky ladies can try one too! This is the 2" hand-sanded (by Celeste) natural Birch wood ring with a 3mm Unikite stone donut and a wooden bead accent ~ Beautiful, isn't it?

Check out Works Like A Charm ...

on Etsy at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/cinzinga?ref=si_shop

on Hyena Cart at: http://hyenacart.com/stores/workslikeacharm/

on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=1211043867#!/pages/Works-Like-a-Charm/278248332189300

on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/#!/WorksLikeCharm

     I have also heard that Miss Celeste has now started another WAHM business .... I ALSO heard that its quite fluffy .... =)

*Random breastfeeding tip... I have found that if you unclench at least one of their little fists while their eating and leave it lay flat in your hand or on your cheek and the rapid suckling will calm to a more gentle and relaxing feeding for both Mama and Baby!
("Tips" are just MY experieces that I am passing on)

Thank you all for reading and GOOD LUCK! ~Robin

Terrific Twos!

I was all ready to write a little "this is my journey to mamahood" piece when I looked at D and had a total brainstorm: nature versus nurture.  

So, D will be two in August.  One weekend, I looked at him throwing a "Display of Greatness" (temper tantrum) because I wouldn't let him go outside again to draw with chalk and realized "Oh, my...I have a two year old!"

I have been preparing myself for this phase.  I was just talking to Daddyguy in the car about how I was so very careful not to use "no" or "mine" as a part of our daily vocabulary to prevent a crazy unleashed animal screaming "NO NO NO MINE MINE MINE!"  I've tried to instill how to share and be a friend in everything we do together--how to give cuddles and use gentle hands when he tries to smack my Bulldog Riley (who, by the way, is more patient than any dog I've ever seen, thank GOD!) D is awesome 98% of the time.  I really couldn't ask for anything more.

I believe we have tried to set up good habits for behavior the past 21 months and now we are reaping the rewards...but how much is nurture and how much is nature??  A friend complimented me on D and I couldn't help but say he was just born this way.  I hesitate to take too much credit.  In the same vein--when someone has a challenging child, I believe part of the issue is that the child is just wired a certain way.  Teaching has also reinforced this opinion...

Thoughts?  How much of our child is our nurturing and how much is just hard wired through nature??

<3 Jen

More on Me, Laura B.

Hi everyone! My name is Laura B and am lucky to call Laura D a best friend!! I have shared on her blog a couple times in the past and look forward to sharing lots more. I am a SAHM to my two beautiful children C and A. C is 4 ½ and is the sweetest boy. A is 2 ½ and such a spunky fun loving girl. I am so grateful to be able to be at home with them. We live out in the country and are very fortunate to have a simple life. We like the country and all that it offers us. I met my husband in high school and we have been together since I was a junior and he was a senior. We got married in 2004, 5 years after we started seeing each other.

My family enjoys camping and fishing. We take many camping trips through out the spring, summer and fall. It’s so hard to find the time, yet we make the effort to get out and camp as much as we can. We love nature and being outdoors, so state parks are one of our favorite places to camp. We love hiking and just enjoying the beauty of nature.

My family didn’t have a lot of money growing up, so we were green before green was cool! ;) We gardened, composted, reused, etc. I was raised that way, and have continued these things on with my family. My DH and I have a decent sized garden in our back yard. We grow and eat out of the garden all summer, and also can and freeze a bunch of things. Last year we made homemade spaghetti sauce, salsa, applesauce, sauerkraut, sweet and dill pickles, and grape jelly that we canned. We also froze beans, peas, etc. We hope to make even more stuff this year. There is nothing like the taste of fresh food from your own harvest preserved to enjoy through the winter season.

After becoming a mother and worrying about what is in bought products, I’ve made a lot of things from scratch. Not only are you getting things with no worries about chemicals, it’s also saving you a ton of money. We’ve made homemade play dough, bubbles, glue, and slimy goo. They are some of the things I hope to post about also! I enjoy being frugal. It’s my way of contributing to our family when I don’t bring in an income. I've made my own foam hand pump soap, cleaners, etc.

Both of my children were breastfed from birth til they self weaned. C was around 15 months, right when I conceived A. Then A nursed a bit longer around 18-19 months. It was so gradual that I never even knew when the last time was. Which was nice because it was such a slow process that she led herself. I am a huge breastfeeding supporter!

I cloth diapered C from about 9 months. That is when I became brave enough to try cloth! I started out with prefolds and covers. I then bought 12 bG diapers. I then bought newborn diapers for A and started her out with cloth right after her cord fell off. We are just now out of cloth diapers entirely. She’s been wearing cloth trainers, just cheap ones made by Gerber. They worked really well for her. We did use the pull ups when we were out and about in case of accidents, and also at night. Right now she is *knock on wood* day and night PL!

I love being crafty and have not had the time to do a lot since having kids. The only thing I seem to make time for is sewing, and that is few and far between. I’ve also made A some cute hair bows. I love to sew and create things for my children.

Well that’s me, Laura B. Hope you know a bit more about me now and I look forward to sharing with you on Fridays!

An expanded about me.....

Hello!


I'm so excited to be contributing to TMG. I really am hoping things make me more accountable to blogging. I started a blog (www.andtheycallherblessed.blogspot.com) probably a year ago and was wonderful with posting often... really often.  And then I quit my job - and became a SAHM....um so yeah you know where this is going... suddenly I had NO time to blog :)  But now that my youngest Miss N is almost 6 months old and sleeping 10-12 hours a night I feel human again.


A little more about me - I am a SAHM who up until a year ago worked at a local university. I have three children - Miss L who is 4 1/2, Mr J or is 2 1/2 and Miss N who is 6 months.  Life is busy to say the least. We also have a rescue dog named Rufus who is lucky he makes it to the next day sometimes.... he's the biggest trouble of all four! I am married to my first and only boyfriend - my other half who completes me.  I am so blessed to have him in my life. I am very involved in our local church and have a wonderful church family.  This fall I will begin homeschooling Miss L and hopefully teaching Mr J some things along the way too. I am very excited but yet nervous at the same time. 


I do not CD although I wish I could/would. I had every intention of doing that with my third child but then she came and something had to give and that was my vision of CDing. It just wasn't going to happen - life was too busy and sometimes you just have to say 'No' even though you really don't want to. I am a huge supporter of breastfeeding though and absolutely love doing it. I nursed my first two children till between 14-16 months and Miss N is still going strong. Those quiet nursing session in the middle of the night are my favorite.... just you and the baby snuggling deep into bed... sigh.... heaven on earth!


My contribution to this blog is going to be sharing some of my money saving (and money making) tips that has helped us become a family with a SAHM. :) I won't say it's easy and we give up a lot of stuff but the benefits way out weigh those material things we are giving up. I hope to be honest and upfront with you.  I will also say that anything sites that I share with you I have tried these programs and am an active member in them. I will not (knowingly) share sites that will spam or trick you. I will cover everything from surveys, home tips, recipes, product testing groups, to things we've done to cut corners. I will also share any local classes that I will be teaching - see my first one listed below!  I have presented at large conferences, small groups, and at retreats. I am open to traveling ;)


I hope you enjoy the ride!

And just to show you how wonderful some of my posts will be – here’s a new program I just found out about and have already had success with - Smiley360.com. I signed up and within minutes completed my profile and checked out my ‘Offers for you’.  I was selected for Knorr Homestyle Stock Mission – I’m going to receive 1 Full-size pack of Knorr Homestyle Stock, 3 coupons to share, 1 cooking ladle, and 1 recipe booklet.  Sign up today and let me know what you’re selected to try!

For those of you who don't know me...

Hi Guys!

You all know me, but a new bio and updated story never hurts!  I want us all to seem like old friends to you and not just like writers for a parenting blog!  So grab a cup of coffee (decaf for you pregnant ladies) and here is a little more about me!

I am a 29 year old wife and mommy from central Pennsylvania.  I met my husband in college, so many crazy and unbelievable occurrences happened to bring us together and we are still amazed that the cards lined up so perfectly for us!  We met in May of 2005, were engaged July of 2006, and married June of 2007.  Yep, didn't take me long to KNOW that he was the one for me!  He is my best friend and I could not get through a single day without him!  In June of 2009, we welcomed our first little bundle of joy, Miss A.  My pregnancy was quite easy with her, no morning sickness or problems, until my 32 week appointment.  At that appointment I discovered that my blood pressure was rising and I had developed PUPPS (pregnancy rash).  These two concerns were my constant companions for the rest of my pregnancy.  Lucky for me and for my little unborn Miss A, neither was too much of a problem and at 39 weeks I delivered her vaginally and started my incredible journey as a mama!

My first moments as a Mommy with Miss A.

When Miss A was born, I was still working Full Time as a Labor and Delivery nurse.  I absolutely loved my job!  Nothing compares to bringing life into this world and witnessing the miracle of birth on an every day basis.  I started working in L&D in 2007 and for sure, it was the perfect fit for me.  But what is even better than your dream career?  Your dream of being a SAHM!  This was my absolute #1 all time dream...but never thought it would be possible!  I tried not to hope or wish for it, but God must have heard my prayers!  Around Miss A's first birthday, my husband took a job with a better salary to cover what I was making and it was further away with longer hours, making it impossible for me to continue work anyway!  My dream of becoming a SAHM was finally a reality!

Around this same time, I took the plunge into cloth diapering.  Miss A has very sensitive skin and we were having trouble with eczema and other skin irritations.  Add to that, I had just become a SAHM and wanted to save some bucks!!!  So I started looking into cloth, but got so overwhelmed that it just turned me off immediately!  I met with some friends not too long after this, and one of my BF's (new contributor Laura B.) had her little girl in cloth diapers!  I casually asked her about them and about what she was wearing, and thus started my journey...um, addiction, with cloth diapers!

One of the first CDs Miss A tried...a BumGenius 3.0.

Being a SAHM is on of the most incredible and rewarding jobs EVER!  But it is also one of the most challenging and stressful jobs EVER!  Miss A definitely keeps me on my toes and there is never a dull moment...and she is almost THREE!  But she is my little bundle of energy and spunk!  I have never spoke on here about some of our more recent problems (mainly out of embarrassment) but we have had some speech delay problems and I plan to discuss this journey more in coming months.  We had noticed for a long time that she was not where she should have been speech wise, but our pediatrician (love him dearly but...) blew it off as nothing to worry about.  As she reached 2 1/2 we took matters into our own hands and had a speech consult.  I knew she was behind, but that evaluation really opened my eyes to just how behind she was.  The eval was just before Christmas and I am happy, proud, thrilled, etc to say that she has made HUGE improvements and is well on her way to getting back on track for her age.  It is just scary because a speech delay may or may not indicate other issues later in childhood and life.  So it is a constant worry and concern for us, but the improvement is astounding, so we keep hoping and praying that is was just a speech delay and won't be something more!

Add to all of that...we are expecting baby number two on June 6th!  Little man (Baby J) is 33 weeks baked and we are just so excited to meet him and become a family of four (seven if you count our dog Daisy and cats Maddy and Molly)!  I am excited to meet him, see what Miss A thinks of him, and just start our journey as a bigger family.  It is just so hard to believe that I am 33 weeks already...seems like just yesterday we were trying and getting nowhere fast!  It took us about 8 months to get pregnant this time which was extremely frustrating after we got preggo the first month we tried with Miss A.  It seemed like forever.  I know in the grand scheme of how long most people try to get pregnant, 8 months is nothing...but I can completely sympathize with those of you having troubles!

31 weeks preggo with Baby J.

My pregnancy this time has also been extremely easy.  No problems thus far!  No morning sickness and I got through my 32 week appointment last week with no BP issues...so I am going to keep doing what I am doing and pray that I can get to my due date with no concerns!  I have been working out (most of the time) and have been trying to watch what I eat a little better.  The past week or two, my diet has seriously slacked and so has my exercising...so I need to be better about that...especially in these final weeks when I really want to keep my BP in check!

I am really excited for the newborn stages coming soon!  Our nursery is back to being a nursery (we moved Miss A into her big girl room), I still need to wash baby clothes, but they are all out and sorted.  So washing is all I need to do and we will be ready for baby J.  I am excited for the prospect of the not knowing when he will come, when labor will start, etc.  I am just so anxious to see how his entrance into the world will be!  My labor and delivery with Miss A was fairly easy, so I am curious to see how this one will be!  I am excited to breastfeed again and do all of those tiny infant things!  Miss A was a breeze with breastfeeding, so I am anxious/excited to see what breastfeeding Baby J holds!   I am excited to get newborn cloth diapers on baby J and see how cute they are on him!  I am just excited for the whole deal!  The next 7 weeks just cannot pass fast enough!

30 weeks, my 4D Ultrasound picture of Baby J.

So here we are, with a new fresh start to my little blog!  I started this blog in August of 2010, just shortly after I got into cloth diapering.  After my experience with getting started and seeing how completely overwhelming the world of cloth diapering can be, and how wonderful online mamas were for helping me to get started, I wanted to pay it forward and create a blog where parents could come for honest information to help them on their journey!  From there it branched into other topics such as breastfeeding, babywearing, natural parenting, etc and now has grown to include 4 other mommies and their experiences!  I am extremely anxious and excited to see all of the wonderful things that come from this newest addition to the blog!  Each mama has her own flavor and ideas for what she hopes to do on the blog!  We still have a ton of kinks to work out, but this is extremely exciting!

I will still be working on cloth diapers (Miss A has no desire to PL) and will be doing my newborn cloth series after baby J is born!  More breastfeeding, babywearing, natural parenting, natural household supplies, and other topics to come from me!!!

A Little Backstory To Say Hello....

     Hello TMG followers. My name is Robin and I will be Tuesday's blog contributor. I am have been married for almost 4 years to my "balancer". I call DH that because with him being so laid back and me being so outgoing (and outspoken), he has calmed me down alot! At the same time I have brought him out of his shell a bit as well! We have three beautiful children together, all which have been "pushed out" and breastfed. Jubba, our eldest daugher, just turned 5 in March. Captain Caveman, our only son, will be 3 in July. And the Velociraptor, our youngest daughter, was born in December of 2011 and is just 4 months and still breastfeeding. Our children are 2 years and 4 months apart from each other and none were "planned" considering I was on bc when I got pregnant with each of them ! I consider them blessings and treat them as such. I have always wanted to be a Mommy for as long as I can remember. People would ask what we wanted to be when we grew up and most of my friends would say ballerinas or princesses... I would say I want to be married and have LOTS of babies!

     I am lucky to be a stay at home Mommy at this point. It is the most rewarding job I have EVER had. I get to watch my babies grow and learn on a daily basis. My children have never been in daycare nor do I have any plans on them ever being there. Jubba started K4 this past fall in a cyber school program that offers a brick and mortar facility for them to attend actual school. I would LOVE to homeschool but I believe socialization is a big and important part of a child's learning experience. We do have a membership to the children's museum and use it quite often. I also enjoy taking my kids to the zoo, the park, the aviary ... really anywhere were they can experience new and exciting things. Watching them enjoy themselves makes my heart smile.

     I am a cloth diaper addict. I currently have two in cloth, but I am hoping that Cpt. Caveman will potty learn soon. He has expressed intrest so as soon as it warms up a bit more we will start "bootcamp" (which will be a blog series in itself). I started using cloth on Cpt. Caveman when he was 20m and I have never looked back! Cloth is my new favorite addiction! I love all things cloth! I have a stash of over 100 dipes and it continues to grow! My stash contains pockets, aios, ai2s, fitteds, prefolds, doublers, covers, and woolies ... I do NOT descriminate, I LOVE all cloth =) I also use cloth wipes, wipe solution, cloth friendly bum creams and cloth friendly detergent on all my laundry. And when Auntie Flow decides to visit again I will be using cloth pads as well! I have wooden teethers for the Velocirapor (when she's not devouring her Sophie) and I have nusing necklaces that protect me from pinches and also double as teethers. To help some this part up, because my list can go on and on .... if it's related to cloth or natural in anyway I probably use it =)

     I am a big fan of baby-wearing and do it as often as possible, even around the house! I love it and so does the Velociraptor. I love being close to her just as much as she does to me. Though some people would say I spoil her with this I say that is where babies belong! She is a well-balanced baby, she is not always in the ring-sling she gets some much needed tummy-time too! Baby-wearing helps me get stuff done around the house and keeps my baby happy so in my opinion two rights can not make a wrong =)

     I enjoy all things outdoors. Camping and fishing are two of my faves. I also enjoy reading, it allows me a little time in another world "away from it all". I love making matching dresses for me and my daughters. I am trying right now to take my sewing skills to a new level by trying my hand at making some fitted diapers for the Velociraptor. I enjoy listening to music, I have tons that I love and only a select few that I don't. I'm not big on wearing make up though I will for certain events and I own dress clothes and heels but am more comfortable in jeans, a cute top and some tennis shoes. I am pretty easy going and can be very spontanious at times, though being a Mommy has given me alot more responsiblities and spontanaiety and parenting does not fit all the time!

     I will be posting alot about my children (obviously, lol) and my experiences with them. I will also be doing alot of reviews (and giveaways!!!) on items I use and some I have never tried. I want to be as interactive as possible whe it comes to reviews so if there is anything you would like to see reviewed please let me know and I will do my best at securing it for you =) Speaking of reviews and giveaways ... I have a couple all ready lined up so be on the look out! I look foward to sharing my experiences with you and I hope you enjoy reading them =)

Let me introduce myself...

Hi!  I am Jen and I will be Monday's contributor : )   I am very excited to try my hand at blogging & add to TMG!

I have been married for 6 years to my best friend from high school...we dated for forever (ok, "only" 8 years lol) and we have our Cub, the most amazing 20 month old son I could ever have asked for.  We also have a "daughter," Miss Riley Jade, our English Bulldog. 

I have nursed my son since the beginning and we are still a great nursing team.  I never thought to quit, even through allergies and sensitivities and pumping at work (which was quite an adventure, but I'll save that for another post : )  I love "wearing" Cub and he loves it just as much!  He has had a fluffy butt since around 3 1/2-4 months old and we use cloth wipes as well.  I made all his baby food.  Add to this all working full time and you have one very tired and sometimes overextended mama!

I'm all about taking Cub places like zoos, farms, aquariums, and anywhere we can see and do and enrich.  Don't mistake me for a crazy teachermama though, I am extremely babyled and whenever he is ready for things, he lets me know.  I'd describe my parenting style as an overprotective surfergirl--I let him do his thing but hover ; )

I lovelovelove scrapbooking (and I finally have the Holy Grail of scrapping...a BABY!!)  I have started sewing (cloth wipes, snack bags, flannel pants for Cub and a skirt for me, not too bad) and I am thoroughly addicted to Pinterest.  (Thanks to Pinterest, this weekend, Cub now has tons of homemade playdough and 5 bleached tees--another post for later :) 

I wear many hats--mama, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, teacher!  I teach second grade and have been for 5 years now.  I have taught at two different schools, first a religious school (4 years) and now a charter.  My students have always been my kids, but things really change when you have a baby of your very own.
   
I work and this is a tough thing for me.  I can't quit and stay home to be with Cub.  I love teaching but of course I'd much rather be home snuggling and playing.  I suppose I get the best of both worlds--a paycheck and all the regular school vacations.  But still, it rips my heart out every morning and I race home every afternoon.  My son is such an incredible little creature and being away a moment is painful.  But life goes on!  Gotta keep on truckin' until that winning lotto ticket falls into my hands!  hehehe

<3 Jen