The Angel Forever

3 Years of Blogging today

Posted on February 4, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

On February 4, 2007, I was about 6-7 months pregnant with my second son. I had just had quite a medical scare with my pregnancy and was trying to enjoy the time with our oldest son NHL before the new little guy’s arrival.

For several months, I had been following along while a few of my friends shared their blogs. I would check in to see what was new in their lives. That night I was tired, uncomfortable and did not feel like lesson planning for school. Rather than do work, my friend helped me to set up my first blog (originally on LJ). The first post was nothing big and exciting. Simply testing things out and stating my purpose of sharing events of the day. As I was getting to know LJ that evening I made a second post. As you can tell, back in those days I liked the flashing, funny saying buttons. You know like this one that helped to inspire my tag line:

That same evening, I decided to write about the events of the day. We had taken NHL to his first ever Sesame Street Live. We were all in love with the show and I figured it was a great chance to try and put photos of ours onto the blog. Nothing fancy was done, but I eventually got them there. Over the last three years, I have outgrown using the flashy buttons (thank goodness) and focused more on sharing memories through photos in creative ways.

Although my blogging style has matured over the last three years, the purpose of my blog has not changed. Blogging is a creative and fun way for me to capture memories of my family, share items with family/friends and meet fabulous new people. My blog has long since moved from LJ and I now have my very own header that I adore. These days I not only do I write about my family, but also about events of the world, reviews of products we have bought/been asked to try, and do giveaways.

I am a Mommy Blogger and proud to say it. Being a Mommy blogger has given me opportunities that never would have happened other wise. I have met wonderful people, formed great online friendship for people that I genuinely care for, and found something that I truly enjoy doing. If it was not for blogging, I never would have gone onto Twitter and beyond and be heading to my first conference in a short time and to BlogHer ’10 in NYC with TechyDad.

Thank you to my family, friends and readers that have been there supporting me since day one. To all of the wonderful PR people and companies that I have worked with – thank you for the amazing opportunities past, present and in the future. Without all of you, your inspiration and comments, I would have stopped having fun and quit long ago. I have always promised myself that the minute blogging becomes a chore, it will be time to stop. Here is to wishing that that time never comes!

I am working on something special for my readers to celebrate my 3 years of blogging. For now, I will open up to questions you may have for me. So feel free to ask away!

Categories:
birthday bloggy friends decisions fun looking back me moments milestone web fun

A big boy and his Boppy

Posted on February 3, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Categories:
jsl Wordless Wednesday

Scanning old picture memories

Posted on February 2, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

I have always loved looking at old photos. Growing up, I remember pulling our old photo albums that my parents had made. They ranged in topics from when I was first born, growing up, birthdays, Disney World vacations and beyond. My parents collected items to do 70’s and 80’s style scrap books. I love looking at the attention to detail in the books. Unfortunately, the old albums contained chemicals that are damaging to the memories within them. We now need to figure out a way to rescue them.

Last year, JL’s grandmother passed away. When this happened, he wanted to help and preserve the photos from her past. He agreed to get a new scanner and capture them onto DVDs for all of his relatives. That project involved scanning over 200 photos. I always figured when JL was finished we would move onto the photos that my parents have.

The other night after dinner, I asked my father to help me find the old albums in the basement. We brought up my baby album, along with two from Disney World. In addition to that, there was a shoebox filled with a variety of photos. These ranged from when my brother and I were little, trips to Disney World, Hershey Park, Circus World, fun with neighbors, and Girl Scouts. My father wants us to figure out how to work on the photos that are in the albums without ruining them. So for the time being I took home the shoe box to work on.

Thanks to getting ready to go away, I pulled out 30 pictures that I really wanted scanned. The other night, JL did them for me. I now have photos scanned of my Nana & Papa, special times with my cousins (whoa the 80’s hair), and little me getting autographs of characters at Disney World and more. Below are a few to preview.

This would be my family at Disney World. We were staying at the Contemporary Resort. This is the day bed in the room. My mother is hiding behind me and that is my little brother just before he turned three.

Here we are waiting for Dad to fix his big camera on the concourse at the Contemporary Resort. This is basically right outside of where Chef Mickey is now located.

This would be my little brother taking a nap in the really old style Disney strollers. Holy cow have these suckers changed over the decades! I believe we were waiting outside a garden at EPCOT waiting to meet up with family friends.

Those are just a few of the photos that were scanned. I will be sharing more in the next few weeks.

Do you scan your old photos to preserve them for future generations? Always curious to see what others are doing.

Categories:
Disney family interesting looking back me moments photos

Let a sleeping child rest

Posted on February 1, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Something I have learned as a mother is never to question the way a child sleeps. If they appear comfortable and are sleeping without trouble just leave them alone. This rule works not only when they are in their beds, but also napping in the car, asleep in a stroller or any other odd location that could occur with children.

Case in point: The other day, TechyDad went in to check on the boys while we were still up. He told me to stop by and look. Check out NHL and how nicely he was sleeping. Please ignore Diego who appears to still be awake in this shot.

NHL was definitely a peacefully sleeping six year old. He really was quite happy. Yet, at the same time I questioned whether or not to move him some. Here is a little further out to understand why:

Now you can see that Diego is actually on the side of his bed near the rail. NHL does not have his head on his Mickey Mouse pillow and well check below to see where the rest of his body is:

Yikes! While not the most unusual position that NHL has ever slept in, this was up there. In the end, I opted to leave him alone. I was afraid to wake or bother him. Thank goodness since NHL really needed the sleep. A few hours later, he woke up complaining of a sore throat. He got some water and went back to sleep. He was up again for good at 5:30. The poor kiddo was really stuffed up. Looking back at the photos, it is obvious that he was breathing through his mouth.

Thanks to these photos, I learned a few lessons. #1 Leave a child alone to sleep no matter how you think that would make your body ache. Kids are great and spring back until they hit their 30’s like us and realize they are no longer children. #2 Taking lots of photos helps being a parent investigator. These pictures made me realize that NHL was definitely mouth breathing from whatever his body is fighting off.

Now let us just hope that JSL, who shares a room keeps sleeping peacefully and does not join the sick club.

So do you follow the rule of letting a child sleep? Just wondering what other people do.

Categories:
decisions jsl nhl photos sick kid sleep

Exederm ultra sensitive skin care (review/giveaway)

Posted on January 31, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

In our house, we have always been very careful about the products that we use on our skin. Since I have extremely sensitive skin, we are constantly on the lookout for products that contain no fragrance. The truth is, these types of products are quite hard to locate most of the time. Even if something says fragrance free, I have often found fragrance listed as one of the ingredients on the back of the bottle.

When the boys were born, we knew it was possible that they would have sensitive skin like me. NHL was diagnosed with eczema when he was about four. My little guy had patches on his body early on. Then just a few months back, I went to the dermatologist and found out that a funny looking spot on my leg was severe eczema (looks a little different on adults). I was told to ditch my Dial soap and use items that were more moisturizing when bathing and to follow up with a moisturizer after.

At about the same time, I was asked by Family Review Network to review some baby skin products by Exederm. This seemed like a great opportunity to try something that could help my family and our eczema.

Exederm Products

Information about Exederm:

Exederm has a simple philisophy which is to use the mildest ingredients in their products. By doing this, they proudly state the following about their products:

No Fragrance

No Color or Dyes

No Parabens

No Lanolin

No Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLS)

No Propylene Glycol

No Formaldehyde

No Phthalates

No Cocamidopropyl Betaine (CAPB)

About Exederm from their company:

We’ve worked with a team of experts to create a range specifically designed for eczema and dermatitis sufferers.

Too many personal care products contain ingredients that may irritate sensitive skin, especially for those with eczema or dermatitis – allergic reactions and rash are common.

Most everyday skincare products are actually designed for the average person – even some of those products laveled as ‘Sensitive’ or ‘Mild” or ‘Hypoallergenic’.

Many ‘natural’ or herbal products can be just as bad too!

ECZEMA & DERMATITIS SUFFERERS ARE NOT AVERAGE – and average skincare is just NOT good enough.

Exerderm offers an intelligent and common sense approach. We believe people with sensistive skin need to avoid irritants – why take risks?

The National Eczema Association honored exederm with 12 ‘Seal of Acceptance’ awards in acknowledgement of our products’ ultra sensitive formulations.

Exederm offers a variety of products for people with sensitive skin that may include eczema and dermatitis.

To help heal flare ups, there is Exederm Flare Control:

Helps heal eczema flare-ups

Fast soothing relief of itchy, red skin

Maximum strength without a prescription

America’s only paraben-free hydrocortisone cream

For hydration of sensitive skin, there is Exederm Intensive Moisture cream, body lotion and body oil:

Deeply moisturize dry or flaking skin

Soothes red, cracked or itchy skin

Ultra sensitive and non-irritating

Award winning formulations

To help avoid irritating triggers, Exederm Body Wash shampoo and conditioner

Ultra sensitive, non-irritating formulations

Rich, soap-free and non-drying wash

Low foam shampoo or healthy hair & scalp

SLS (Sodium Laureth Sulfate) free

Our thoughts:

We received a complimentary package of Exederm baby care line products to do this review. Here are a few photos of the items and them in use:

By the time the products arrived, my eczema flare up was under control, but keeping it that way is critical. My 2 year old son has a few patches on his body right now thanks to the dry winter. We decided to test the products on him one night in the bath tub. First, we used the body wash. We noticed that it did not have any smell. Wahoo – truly fragrance free like it promised! Hubby was able to lather it up a little on my homemade knit cotton washcloths. Unlike some of the body washes/soaps that we have used in the past, this one did not bother JSL. He kept playing with his toys and splashing like nothing was going on.

Then it was time to test out the shampoo. JSL still has cradle cap, so we need to really scrub his scalp to work at the scales. We were pleasantly surprised with the results. Hubby was quickly able to use a very small amount in his thick hair and work it around nicely. Check out how you can see it in his hair and not wonder if you have any in (photo above).

The little guy is not a fan of moisturizing, so I tried those on my skin after a shower. I really liked the Intensive moisturizer. It was really thick and worked nicely on my overly dry hands. Although it was thick, it still soaked into my hands quickly and did not leave me feeling slippery. My goal is to try to use the baby lotion on JSL. He really is dry in the winter and recently I have seen some small patches of eczema cropping up on him. I also tried the hydrocortizone cream on an itchy spot and unlike others it did not burn. It quickly soothed the area and was not bothering me anymore.

We will definitely be purchasing more of Exederm for our family since it works well and most importantly helps to protect our very sensitive skin.

Giveaway:

Thanks to Exederm, one lucky reader will be able select one item of their choice from the Baby Care Line. .

Rules for Giveaway:

MAIN RULE – Head over to the Exoderm website and answer the following question: What item would you select to try if you win the giveaway?
1 Bonus Entry – Who would this product be for? Does this person has sensitive skin, eczema or dermatitis?
1 Bonus Entry – Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter. Be sure to include @TheAngelForever and Exederm Giveaway in the Tweet. Please leave a direct link to your Tweet in a separate comment for each daily entry. Example Tweet (feel free to use): Do you or your children have sensitive skin? Review/Giveaway of Exederm from @TheAngelForever http://bit.ly/aBJynX
1 Bonus Entry – Subscribe to my RSS feed (or let me know if you already are) in a separate comment.
1 Bonus Entry – Leave a comment on any of my non-giveaway posts from the month of January/February. Be sure to leave a comment here to let me know which one. This Bonus entry may be done only twice per person.
3 Bonus Entries – Add my blog button to your website and leave a link with the location. Be sure to give yourself 3 comments for credit.
5 Bonus Entries – Write a post on your blog linking to my blog about the Exederm giveaway. Be sure to leave 5 comments about this to get credit for all of your extra entries

To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today, January 31st, and ends at 10:59 EST on February 14, 2010. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to U.S. and Canadian residents only.

Disclosure: I received the package baby care skin/body products complimentary of Exederm to facilitate this review as part of The Family Review Network. No other compensations was given. The opinions expressed in the review are my own feelings about the product that our family tried.