Monday, August 4, 2014

Sweetleaf Liquid Stevia Sweet Drops

I have recently been chosen to review Sweetleaf Liquid Stevia Sweet Drops through the Mom Ambassador program*. I was sent a sample kit that included a 6ml Sweetleaf Liquid Stevia Sweet Drops Cola, an info flyer, and a coupon code for 30% off. I have been informed today that I will also be receiving a full size sample to try.



Sweetleaf Liquid Stevia Sweet Drops are made with stevia leaf extract and natural flavors, can be added to foods or beverages. The Cola drops are recommended to be added to sparkling water as an alternative to diet soda. The info sent with my kit informed me that "women who drink two or more diet drinks a day were 30% more likely to have a heart attack or other cardiovascular event, and were 50% more likely to die during those cardiac events than women who rarely consume diet drinks."

This is a statistic that surprised me! When you drink "diet" you think it is healthier, but that is not necissarily true. By replacing your diet cola with Sweetleaf Liquid Stevia Sweet Drops Cola you are taking yourself out of this risk statistic. It is always nice to know there are real natural healtier alternatives out there. Sweetleaf Liquid Stevia Sweet Drops Cola does not make you feel like you are missing anything either. The taste is very comprable to that of leading diet colas. I made the switch with my family one night for dinner and they did not know the differnce until I told them!


Sweetleaf Liquid Stevia Sweet Drops comes in 20 different flavors, so you have many options and can add it to anything from yogurt, to coffee, or ice cream, etc.... I will continue using ths product in my home and would recommend it to others.



Just the facts
• SweetLeaf® Liquid Stevia Sweet Drops™ Cola is a healthy alternative to
traditional diet sodas!
• How does it work? Simply add two drops of Cola Sweet Drops to your
glass for every ounce of sparkling water (or to taste), and you get
delicious cola taste without the bitterness.
• Cola Sweet Drops are portable, convenient, and a great value at just 5¢
per serving.
• SweetLeaf Sweet Drops contain no carbohydrates, calories, sugar
alcohols, methanol, aspartame or sucralose. They are all natural and
gluten-free.
• Like all SweetLeaf products, Cola Sweet Drops is made with USDA
certified organic stevia.
• The retail price for SweetLeaf Szxweet Drops Cola is $4.39 for 37
servings, or $14.99 for 100 servings. Pricing may vary based on retailer.

Snag (and share!) this discount
Love Sweet Drops Cola? Visit SweetLeaf online to order more! Use the
code “ColaMD” at checkout to take 30 percent off your online purchase
(plus you’ll get free shipping).

Learn more online
Connect with SweetLeaf online to see their latest products and get
exclusive access to discounts and special offers!
SweetLeaf.com
ShopSweetLeaf.com
facebook.com/sweetleafstevia
twitter.com/SweetLeafStevia
pinterest.com/sweetleafstevia

*I received this product for free from the sponsor of the
Moms MeetSM program, May Media Group LLC, who
received it directly from the manufacturer. As a Moms
MeetsSM blogger, I agreed to use this product and post
my opinion on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of May Media Group LLC or the
manufacturer of the product.


Tuesday, July 8, 2014

TLC VoxBox from Influenster


Influenster has given me the opportunity to try all these wonderful products for free! Included in the box is: Ivory, Avon Anew, Puffs, Neo to Go, Shell Fuel Rewards, and a Free Bryers Gelato coupon!
I have tried everything and love it! Ivory is classic and has so many uses. Avon is timeless and helps me look and feel timeless too! Neo to Go is great for me as a Mom to keep in my purse, as are the Puffs. You always need to have tissues with you for whatever reason. Shell Fuel rewards is good because who doesn't want to save money on gas? And the Bryerd Gelato... I tried Tiramasu and cab you say YUMMY!!! 
I will continue to use these products and would reccomend to others!

Monday, July 7, 2014

Potty update

Potty update for those following along... July 4 was Gianna's Indepedence from diapers Day! 
First day with underpants after a week of bare bottom training and we learned that she goes far less often with the underpants on. She had 3 successes and 2 accidents, and that was all! She stayed dry when we went out to the grocery store, and through her nap, and dinner time! A great day!

7/5- 1 accident all day! 5 success.
7/6: Too many distractions today, but more successes than accidents. 6 out of 10. She seems to be having a rough day for some reason... teeth?
7/7- So far we are 6 and 1 and we are only at naptime! The one this morning shouldn't even count b/c she did tell us, we just didn't realize until after, but in fairness I counted it anyway as a miss.

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Giving it another "go"...

So we tried 3 day potty training around 19mos with very little success. This time we are at 25mos and doing it a little different. Instead of just one potty in each bathroom, we keep one in the main living room and one outside as well. we are doing "bare bottom" training first. Diapers, pull-ups, and cloth diaper like undies are too hard for her to pull down. We have not tried regular undies yet... Why spoil a good thing right now, right? She is on Day 2 and doing PHENOMINAL!

Day 1: I didn't track it, thinking it might just be a fluke, but experimented with keeping her bare bottomed all day since the afternoon before she was playing outside in the nude and got her potty and used it! We thought, "Hey, we might be onto something here! Maybe she needs to NOT have something to hold the waste when she goes to be motivated to find another place to put it, aka the potty!" So back to day 1, no technical data, but her accidents were few (maybe about 3?) and were really only half accidents (stopped mid stream and went to finish on potty). I want to say about 9 successes based on her sticker chart, so a 66% success rate (apx). Not too bad. She was covered in stickers, chocolate, and temporary tattoos for rewards!

Day 2: 7 successes, 2 accidents!!! (And the two accidents were only outside!) A 78% success rate! And she was/is doing it on her own, no prompting! She will stop and go, wipe, wash, and carry on with her day! I have been continuing to reward her greatly!

Looking forward to see how this pans out! Once she is mostly trained, we plan to introduce the regular undies again and work on that part of it. Will update later... FX that this is finally it!!




Day 3: Today we ended with 11 out of 15! 
Considering the 2 accidents were when we had friends over (too distracting still apparently), and 1 when we were outside (also distracting)...Not too bad! I had a feeling the company would be too much, but we gave it a shot anyway. Besides, we are potty training, not hermits!



Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Jamberry! My Venture Adventure!

So after attending a few, and hostessing one, Jamberry party, I decided to become a Consultant myself! This is great because I got a discount off my Consultant kit (which is only $99 to begin with anyway) and I LOVE nails! I have always had a passion for nail art and debated on cosmetology school some years ago, but decided a traditional job and more schooling was more than I could handle. As years passed I grew a collection of polishes, glitters, rhinestones, decals, foils, acrylic,... you name it!

The only thing I have been missing is people to share it with. So few of my friends have the time to sit for a full manicure and nail art, then sit even longer to let it dry. I did some nails for my friends before I became a mother, but even then with everyone busy working it was tough. Now it is even harder to find time! So, with everyone I know busy 24/7, when do WE get to feel beautiful?? The answer is now simple... ANYTIME!

With Jamberry nails you can have a perfect manicure or pedicure, as simple or detailed as you like, in just minutes! You can get interrupted by your kids in the middle and drop everything without worry of damaging or smudging your nails, or getting polish all over your home and family! Your toddler cannot spill your wraps on the carpet. You can't drop your wraps on the tile and shatter them. You will not get a fungus or ruin your natural nail as can happen with fake nails. Your design sheet will not dry out and get goopy and have to be thrown away if you want to save it for a long time. The positives go on and on....

As a Jamberry consultant, I am hoping to share my love of nail design and art with others who never had the time, money, patience, skill, or maybe never even thought about it as even being an option for them. There are so many ways to enhance your natural nails or make that set of acrylics/gels you just got really pop! I hope to be sucessful in my new venture not for money, but for fun! Nails are so awesome and we all deserve to feel beutiful and special!

Show some love and support by visiting and liking my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CassieFarnsworthJamberry

And checking out my personal website: http://cassiefarnsworth.jamberrynails.net/

Here are some photos of what Jamberry is:








Thursday, May 15, 2014

Catching up...

So I have had a few inquiries into my blog lateley and have had to admit that I have been an absentee blogger for a bit. I am hoping to change that starting now! So what I have been up to? Well...

I have been doing LOTS of awesome product testing and party hostessing! Some of the latest include:
Jamberry nails, Veet Infini Silk, Bic Soileile Glow, Chobani Multi Serve, Beech-Nut all natural baby food, Coppertone Clearly Sheer Sunscreen, Finish Jet Dri, Hada Labo Tokyo skin plumping serum, Seventh Generation healthy baby products, Pull-Ups, Simple Truth, and Charles Worthington London Conditioner.

All these have been provided to me at no cost by programs like BzzAgent, Influenster*, Expo, Smiley360, Mom AmbassadorHouse Party, and directly from the companies themselves. Jamberry nail samples were provided to me by my consultant Cindy for hostessing a party.
*(To be an Influenster you need an invite. Send me your email if you would like me to invite you, spaces are limited.)

Here are some photos:
   




   

I will try to keep you posted with info on how all these products work out! For now, this is a quick catch up :)


Thursday, March 13, 2014

Colgate Optic White


For being an Influenster, I recieve free samples of products to try and review. This box was filled with the sparkiling gift of Colgate Optic White Whitening kit, toothpaste, and coupons. So far I have really enjoyed using my Colgate Optic White. It is simple amd comfortable, the taste is pleasant to neutral, it can be done quickly and without fuss, and the results do show!




Friday, January 10, 2014

My Daughter is in the 3 percent...

So we decided to try a 3 Day Potty Training "Boot Camp" program and see how it went. After having some potty success over time, we decided to jump right in. We completed 2 days of the program and one "pre-day" before deciding this was just not for our daughter. The program claims a 97% success rate, but by day 2 this obviously was not going to work for us. Perhaps if we were willing to give it longer (as some peoples' testimonials claimed they needed) this could have worked, but in  my opinion it was torturous for the parent and frustrating to the child.

I stumbled upon this program while surfing the web for potty training tips. Looks and sounds pretty good in theory. in practice, THIS IS A LOT OF WORK for the parent. Letting your child have accidents all over your house for 3 days is a pain to say the least! No wonder so many children are not potty trained by age 2. I can't say I saw no progress whatsoever, but not enough to make it worth the energy it would take to continue this for any reasonable amount of time, or more than 3 days. By the end of day 1 I was EXHAUSTED! Like worse than when she was a newborn exhausted! I am not saying the program would not work for someone else, it just did not work for us. If you are interested in trying this is what we tried: http://www.startpottytraining.com/.

Here is the diary I kept of our three days:

1/8/14, "Pre-Day", practicing with diapers and undies:
6am- woke wet, sat on potty, stood up, started peeing, got 1/2 in 1/2 out. Good enough.
6:30- dry diaper
6:45-7am- sat on potty happily, but no go
7:15- dry diaper, POTTY! 1/2 in 1/2 out. Good enough.
7:30- diaper a little wet, sat on POTTY, BM!
8:10- warm wet, sat on potty, but no go
8:30- dry diaper, no desire to try potty
9am-  dry diaper, sat on potty, but no go
9:15-  dry diaper, sat on potty, but no go
9:20- fresh wet diaper, whisked to potty, changed right away
10:10- fresh wet diaper, whisked to potty, changed right away
10:30- dry diaper, no desire to try potty
11am- dry, resisted potty, wet herself as soon as I put panties on her. She was upset.
11:20- bm/dry, changed right away, sat on potty, but no go
11:45am-12pm- Played bare bottom in/out of bathroom, accident in front of potty. She was upset.
12:15- playing in/out of bathroom again
12:45- she went into bathroom to wet her diaper, changed her into JUST UNDIES
1:15p- dry, sat on potty, but no go. Wanted big potty, still no go though.
1:45- dry, sat on potty, but no go
2pm- dry, no accidents! Changed into pull up for nap/
2p-4:15p- NAP
4:20- woke dry! POTTY! 1/2 in 1/2 out. Good enough. Put on undies.
5pm- dry diaper, sat on potty, but no go. Accident.
5:30-7pm- pull ups to go to Wal-Mart, bought more panties.
6:45p- wet
7:30p- PERFECT POTTY!
8pm- Bed w/undies only for 1'st time ever!

Results: 12 accidents, 5 potties, apx 30% sucess rate

1/9/14, Potty Boot Camp Official Day 1, undies only:
6am- woke wet (cold), sat on potty, but no go
6:30- dry, sat on potty, but no go
7am- accident #1
7:30- dry, sat on potty, but no go. Accident #2
7:50- accident #3
8:10- dry, poop in panties, sat on potty, but no go.
8:30- accident #4
8:50- dry, happily sat on potty, but no go
9:20- dry, happily sat on potty, but no go
9:30- accident #5, got a little in the potty.
10am- dry, POTTY success!
10:30- accident #6
11am- accident #7
11:30- dry, POTTY success! (11:45)
12:05pm- dry, sat on potty, stood up, started peeing, got 1/2 in 1/2 out. Good enough.
12:30- accident #8
1pm- dry, sat on potty, but no go
1:15- accident #9
1:30- dry, sat on potty, but no go. Resisted.
1:30-3:30pm- NAP, woke DRY
3:45- POTTY!
4:30- dry, sat on potty, but no go
4:50- accident #10
5pm- She went to bathroom, said "bye-bye", closed door and peed on floor. Hmmm.
5:40- accident #11
5:45- accident #12
6:15- accident #13 in her high chair while eating dinner
7pm, dry, BM POTTY!
7:45- peed in tub
8pm- dry, bed time

Results: 13 accidents, 5 potties, 1 miss, apx 30% success rate

1/10/14, Potty Boot Camp Official Day 2:
4:30 am- accident, changed her, back to sleep.
6am- woke dry, sat on potty, but no go
7am- accident #1 (signaled?, ran to potty together, sat, but she held it, changed her, she peed again #2, she cried.
7:45am- dry, sat long on potty, but no go
8:30- accident #3, sat on potty, but no go
8:40- accident #4, no signal, peed in her tent. I CAVED and put on a pull up.
9:45- dry, sat happily on potty, but no go
10-11am- pull up for Kindermusik
11:30- wet (10:45ish), sat on potty, but no go, pull up
12:10- dry, passed gas, sat/protested, stood, peed 1/2 in/ 1/2 out of potty. Good enough.
1pm, dry, sat on potty, but no go
1:10- peed in p/u (pull up), accident #5, ran to potty together, but no go
1:30- dry, NAP in p/u
3:30- woke wet, accident #6, sat on potty, but no go
3:50- wet, accident #7, sat on potty, but no go
4:20-  wet, accident #8, sat on potty, but no go. Back to undies.
4:40- accident #9
5pm-  sat on potty, but no go
5:15-  sat on potty, but no go
5:20- accident #10
5:45- went into the bathroom to poop. She told us "out", went in, shut the door, came back out, said "help and took my hand, I helped her with her panties, then she said "bye bye", shut the door again, and pooped on the floor. ??
5:50- accident #11
6:20- tried potty, protested, peed on bathroom floor. Put on pull up over undies.
6:45- wet herself while playing, didn't seem bothered.
7:30- dry, bath
8pm, dry, bed with pull up.

Results: 11-13 accidents, 1-3 potties, apx 15% success rate.


What did we learn? Our daughter does better when she is not stressed and we are not stressed. She does better with sitting on the potty at intervals when we play the Potty Time song (http://www.pottytime.com/). She actually stays dry longer in the pull ups (probably because she is not stressed). She is capable of learning what room to eliminate in. She gets happy when she succeeds. She does not yet seem bothered or uncomfortable when she has an accident. She loves to flush the toilet and say "bye-bye" to the pee or poo. We are gonna take it slower and see how it goes.