Reviewsio

I ran across a new site that will be launching called Reviewsio.com.  The site will go live on October 1^st, but I was able to sign up early.  Woo hoo! 

 

Reviewsio’s homepage says this: “Interested in receiving Amazon products for FREE in exchange for your honest opinion?”

 

When I first saw that I was like ‘Seriously?!  You want MY opinions, and you’re going to give me free products!?’ 

Of course I was all over that; I signed up right away!

If you’re like me and LOVE doing product reviews in exchange for free or deeply discounted products, give Reviewsio a try! 

Or if you are an Amazon addict.. Not that I know anyone like that or anything. ;)

It does take a little time to test a product and write the review, but over the past few years I’ve found product testing/reviewing to be really enjoyable and a fun hobby of mine.  After your first couple reviews it gets much easier.

You can check it out Reviewsio here:

Quincey B.’s Reviewsio ReferralLink

 

If you sign up using my referral link I’ll get 100 points, or if you aren’t ready to sign up yet but want more info you can do that through this link as well (and I’ll get 10 points).   Thanks guys! 

Sexual Intimacy... On a Shelf In The Church Library.

 I was asked to type up a book review of Pulling Back the Shades for my Church Library.  It's been about 6 months since I've talked about PBTS on my blog, plus I don't even know if my review will be approved for the church newspaper, so I thought I'd share my little review here with all of you. 

 

 

 

Pulling Back the Shades.  This book focuses on a topic we don’t talk about a lot in the church, and that’s sexual intimacy.

Here’s my perspective on this book as a woman in her 20’s.  Late 20’s, yes, but still 20’s.  ;)

When I first heard of this book my initial reaction was ‘it is probably lame, and written like a textbook from the 1960’s’. I mean what can a Christian author say about sex and intimacy?  Does the Bible really even talk about those things, or where are they getting their info?  Can WE as Christians talk about that stuff in a way that is honorable to God?

I included God in every other area of my life, but the thought of God being a part of the intimacy I share with my husband, well, that was a little awkward to me.

The book initially comes across as an anti-Fifty Shades of Grey title.  In some ways it is, in that it explains why we are drawn to that type of material.  Even if you have seen or read 50 Shades, you can still appreciate this book and what it has to offer.

The chapters look a little like this “The Sexually Satisfied Woman”, “Reviving More Than Your Sex Life”, “The Spiritually Satisfied Woman”, and more.

The authors explain the longings of a woman’s heart.  They talk about the different emotional and physical needs between men and women. 

This is a book I am passionate about.  I have put a copy of this book in the hands of a range of women; from a single woman, to a young woman preparing for marriage, all the way to own mother, who has been married for 40 years, and all sorts of other women in between.

I’ve been through this book as a small group once, and I would love to do it again this winter at Immanuel with anyone who is willing to give it a try.  I promise to make the atmosphere a safe place where you can share as much as or as little as you are comfortable with. 

You can find this book in the Church Library, the Forest City Public Library, or online.

 

 

Product Review & Rambles: Graco snugride carseat

Up for review today is the Graco Snugride carseat. 

First some rambling.  If you only want the pros and cons, just scroll to the bottom of this post. 

I kind of love this seat.  And really, I'm not sure why I *LOVE* it, and not just like it.  I suppose at one point I read about the great safety ratings, and decided it was the only seat for us.  There are other seats on the market with even better safety ratings, and great features, but this one works well for us.
  We used a Snugride for my son, 5 years ago.  I first bought a used one from eBay.  It was blue, and ugly and dirty....  And that's what we brought our baby home from the hospital in and used for a couple weeks (should've saved the money and bought a nice one in the first place!).
  Then we bought a Travel System.  This was one of our biggest mistake baby-type purchases.  I hate the strollers that come with travel systems.  So the travel system we bought in a neutral print, because we knew we wanted to have more children, and it would be cost effective to just use the same one for the next kid that came along.  That would be mistake #2.  It ended up taking us a while for baby #3.... Actually, it took us so long that our gender neutral money saving seat expired.  I grew sick of the neutral colored stroller, that hardly got any use, and eventually worn out badly and sold cheap on a garage sale.

So, You live and learn right?  Now we're on baby number 3 and I feel like I'm pretty smart with our baby purchases.  So this time........... I did buy another travel system.  No, I'm not a slow learner, I'm a frugal gal.  You see, I had my eye on an adorable print that I wanted, but of course, it only came in a travel system. 
I prayed on it, and God delivered!  Wal-Mart had the travel system on clearance for like cheap! I actually found lots of baby items we needed while I was shopping that day.  He's SO good like that.  ;) 
 I kept the car seat and base that came with it, and sold the stroller as new. I would've gladly paid the clearance price for just the seat alone, but the fact that I could sell the stroller made it an even better deal.  I knew that for our life style, I just wouldn't use that stroller enough, if ever.

Ummm, oh yeah-  About the seat!

PROS:
Light weight
Not bulky
Adorable prints
Good safety ratings
Easy to install
The base stays secure in the car
If your baby falls asleep in the car you can bring the seat in the house and keep them sleeping

CONS:
You have to adjust the straps from behind/under the seat.  I put the seat on the table to do this.  It's a bit of a hassle, but doesn't have to be done often.


Graco makes a swing and a stroller that the car seat can snap right on to.  We have both and I think they're both super convenient.

I'd recommend this to a friend.  And if we are ever blessed with another baby, this will again be the seat we use.

Product Review: Medela Pump In Style

When you're a mom you get to try out all sorts of gadgets and products.  When you're a nursing mom you get to try out even more! 
I really love trying new products, who doesn't love new things, right?  But one that I wasn't so excited about testing was my breast pump.
You see, I had this idea that I was going to nurse my baby and we wouldn't need a pump, bottles, formula, etc.  I had visions of nursing her in all sorts of places, and until she was well over a year. 
However, between my PCOS possibly causing low milk supply, my daughter being tongue tied & having a heart condition that physically made breast feeding difficult for her, we've been forced to rely on the pump. 

At the suggestion of the Therapy Shoppe employee, I purchased the Medela Pump In Style, back pack version.

The Pros:

• The back pack is awfully handy, especially when we're traveling somewhere and my hands are already full of baby gear.
• The bag is black, so no one knows I'm lugging around a breast pump.
• The pump isn't terribly loud (see below). But my mom can tell when I'm pumping while we're talking on the phone.
• The suction has been great so far.
• The pump is built for daily use.  I was using it up to 10 times a day for about 2 months straight.  More recently I've used it 2-3 times a day.  There has been no change in the quality of the pump over 4 months time.
•  Easy to clean.
• Comes with 4 bottles, ice pack, & cooler.
• Amazon sells a car adapter so you can pump in your vehicle if necessary.  I bought one, but haven't used it yet.  It's winter here in Iowa, folks.  I'll gladly awkwardly pump in other peoples homes than sit out in the cold van. haha. 

The Cons:

• The pump isn't terribly quiet.  Since I mostly pump at home, this isn't a problem for me.  Don't get me wrong though, this really isn't a huge deal.
• It only comes with medium flanges.  You can't specifically swap out for another size without purchasing a pair separately.  For most people, this may not be a problem.  But for me it was, and having the wrong size flanges caused for less milk to be pumped, and the whole process to be less comfortable.  Again, you can get those on Amazon too.

I've used it for about 4 months and I can honestly say, I would recommend this product to a friend!

Product Review: Fibber Board Game

Today I'm going to review for you, the board game Fibber.
My oldest daughter was gifted this game for Christmas from her cousins. 
This game is ready to play right out of the box.  The instructions are easy enough that the boy (5) can play it too, & actually keep up.
I will say though the name of the game is Fibber, which means lying.. something my 5 year old didn't know how to do yet.  So we actually had to teach him so he could play the game with us... So far it seems that he has only used this technique in the game, Thank God.
The board itself is kind of cheap, but it just sits on the table and doesn't do much, so that's not a problem.  The glasses and nose pieces are made of a nice hard plastic.  They seem durable.  Around here we need durable! 
We have played this game several times and taken it with us when we have gone places. 
The kids haven't gotten bored with it, & my niece asks to play it each time she visits.  I'd give it 5 stars!  Great game!

Product review: Graco Nasal Clear Nasal Aspirator.

If there is one product that I'd recommend to new parents above all the others, it'd be the Graco Nasal Clear Nasal Aspirator.
I can't remember where I first saw it, maybe the big box store. 

The Pros:
*Quickly and effectively gets the snot out
*No holding the baby down fighting with the bulb syringe.
*No bulb to wash out and hope you got it all the water out so you're not flushing mold into your babies nose the next time you use it.
*It comes with a handy bag to keep all the parts in (there are two different tips).
*It easily fits in the diaper bag and can go anywhere you go.

The Cons:
Um, maybe the cost, I mean $20, for another baby item.  But trust me, this one is worth it!

You really should clean it after each use, which takes a little time, but much less than the bulb syringe... I leave it at the changing station and clean it after each day we use it.  To clean it I just turn on the water and press the button to get a tiny bit of water in it, then I take it apart and wash it.  Less than 2 minutes.  Easy peasy!

Our son had a milk allergy that caused a constant runny nose (yuck!).  This thing was a life saver!

Bathroom Upgrade: Shower Filter

Last night we installed a shower filter.  This should have taken about 5 minutes, but quickly turned into 20.  Oh how I wish I would learn to read the directions FIRST.

It all started yesterday, Sunday, when went to Home Depot for a few pieces of lumber we forgot to order from the local lumber yard on Saturday (when they were open and we ordered the rest of the lumber we needed).

  I was browsing and decided to look for a new shower head & hose for the kids' bathroom.  Theirs has been broke for quite some time, so they've only been using the bath in there. 
After MUCH comparison (mostly on the gallons per minute, and the "looks"), I decided the $12 shower head was just as good as the $74 one.

So it was settled, until..... I saw a shower filter!  This is something I've been meaning to look into.  So there I was again, now comparing shower filters for our grown up bathroom (the one that doesn't have rubber ducks everywhere).  I decided on the Sprite Slim Line.
This brand claims to do quite a bit, you can read about that HERE.

Total cost of upgrade, about $20 and 20 minutes

Oh, and the lumber there didn't work out for us... So I'll be ordering that from the local lumber yard today ;-)