Slendertone Giveaway Winner....

Nothing like closing out a giveaway almost a week later than I should have! The rampant sickness that has rocked our household has me more than a little distracted :-)

At any rate, I am happy to say that Patty from So Young Now is the winner of the ab toner system from Slendertone. Enjoy, Patty!

Slendertone GIVEAWAY!

I recently went to a fantastic event hosted by Colleen of Classy Mommy and sponsored by Role Mommy and Slendertone called Moms Night In! It was an amazing night that was full of pampering and fun for all of the Philadelphia mommy entrepreneurs and bloggers that had gathered there. As always, there was great food, great wine, and great conversation as we all caught up with our bloggy buddies that evening and we even got to partake in FREE manicures and makeup consultations courtesy of Calista Grand Salon and Day Spa! **(As an aside, have you seen the specials that Calista is offering to Chester County Moms Blog readers? Go check it out!)

The highlight of the evening was hearing a brief, but highly informative presentation from the folks at Slendertone about their AMAZING product line! The Slendertone range of products includes a variety of solutions that includes everything you need to stay trim and in shape. Whether it’s a firm, toned midsection, shapely arms or a tighter bottom and thighs you’re after, there’s a Slendertone garment for you. And the best part? You can use it while doing cardio, taking a walk, doing chores, or even just sitting in front of the TV.

We all got to try a variety of Slendertone products at Moms Night In. The toning garments were all super easy to wear and to operate. And, they also let us try out their ReVive Professional Muscle Conditioning product. I have to say..... that was one of the best massages I've ever had. With backaches becoming more and more frequent in my household as I haul my 29 pound toddler around, I look forward to using that product over and over again.

OK, back to the awesomeness of toning while multi-tasking in your life!!! So, who doesn't want stronger, firmer abs in just 8 weeks??? I know I do. Well, here's your chance to win a FREE Slendertone Ab toner! That is a $99 value folks!!! All you need to do is leave me a comment here (PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL) to tell me why you'd like to win the ab toner system!

Also, bonus entries can be obtained if you blog about this giveaway or link to it on Twitter. Just come back and write me a new comment linking to either your blog post or your Tweet!

The contest will end on Wednesday, March 18th. Good luck!

In the meantime, check out this funny and adorable You Tube Video on the Slendertone Ab product!

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics' new report: "Toxic Tub"

Traditionally, bath products and cosmetics don't list ingredients on the label, so even the most ingredient-conscious parents wouldn't know whether the product is safe or healthy. Many bath products for your baby are labeled as "gentle"," "pure" or "naturally refreshing", which can be even more confusing, since these words are unregulated and don't hold significant meaning.

Right now, children across America may be unfortunately sitting in bubbles tainted with harmful chemicals. Recently, an independent lab tested 48 kids' products for 1,4-dioxane and found it in 67 percent of the products. Of the 28 products tested for formaldehyde, 82 percent were positive. Seventeen products were contaminated with both 1,4-dioxane and formaldehyde, both linked to significant health effects.

To find out the specifics, you should check out the new Campaign for Safe Cosmetics report, "Toxic Tub", for all the details, but in the meantime, I encourage you to Take Action and Voice Your Opinion.

Ask your legislators to clean up kids products.
Ask your friends to request their legislators give the FDA the authority it needs to ensure that all cosmetics, from baby shampoo to lipstick to body lotion, are truly safe.

We owe it to our families to demand that the hygiene products that we all use are safe!

Here, Kitty, Kitty

Both Madison and McKenna have a fascination with kitty cats right now. I'm not exactly sure why, considering Matt and I aren't really "cat people", they aren't around any cats, and we actually have a dog as a pet. But, they just think that cats are super adorable. Both kids have stuffed kitty cats, and Madison is particularly attached to hers right now. It's pretty much with her wherever we go and is definitely the "go to" stuffed animal for bedtime.

Madison has been so into kitty cats lately that she has taken to pretending she is a kitty cat while playing. She asks us to pet her and she purrs. It's actually quite cute!

With all of this kitty cat focus, it's no wonder that one of the first animal "sounds" that McKenna could recognize and repeat was "Meow". So, we often ask her what a kitty cat says and she adorably tells us in her cute little voice!

So, last night at dinner, Matt was going through an almost-daily routine with McKenna where we go around the room and point to different people and say "Who is this?". She can say all of our names with no issue and had already identified Dada when Matt pointed to Madison. When Matt asked her who Madison was, we expected her to reply her usual "Maddie". Instead, when Matt asked her tonight, she responded that Madison was "Meow"! I guess that our kitty fascination has now escalated to an all-time high!

McKenna's first haircut!

McKenna got her first haircut in early February. Her hair doesn't look very different from before. We just needed to get the back of her hair (that had grown into a mullet) evened up. Since I didn't want the management of bangs just yet, we opted to just get the front of her hair evened out as much as possible without taking off any real length.

She did really well with the cut. At first she was tentative, and at one point she whimpered a little bit, but then she rallied and seemed unphased by the whole process. Then, when it came time to blow dry her hair, she was so intrigued by the hairdryer. She was trying to dry her hair herself. McKenna was cracking our stylist up ... she kept saying "I hope you are getting pictures of this, Mom!"

The first snip and holding Daddy's hand for reassurance

Now she's not so sure about this...

Then she sees decides that this is no big deal

But, the hairdryer really made her curious

She was literally trying to hold it herself and dry her hair

She would push it up to her head and let it sit there

And, she didn't want to let go!

I didn't get any "after" shots. We were all just laughing too hard about the hair dryer and I forgot. She looks adorable with her little baby bob!

Snow Angels

During the first week of February, we had our first measurable snow here in the Philadelphia area. Madison was so excited to go outside and play in it! This was McKenna's first snow to play in, so we were excited to get her out there and see what she thought of the whole thing.

Overall, we had lots of fun. Although, with McKenna not walking, it was somewhat challenging to manage her during our adventures. After she was sliding down my hip for the 100th time because of all of the nylon clothing we had on, I finally decided to set her up in her sled and she watched as Maddie took turn after turn going up and down our hill in the backyard! After a while though, McKenna was less than amused at being bundled up like the Pillsbury Dough Girl and wanted to go inside. Luckily, the prospect of hot chocolate and a movie was enough to lure Madison into wanting to come inside with us when McKenna had enough!

Having a ball sledding!



McKenna's first time playing in the snow... not too excited!


Whee! They went down the hill together.... so cute!

McKenna and Mommy in the snow

Telling me that she wanted to have a snowball fight.... doesn't she have a mischievous look on her face!

There's the first attack on Mommy


And, now she is using her sled as a shield as mommy gets her turn to throw snowballs!

Wordless Wednesday: Climbing

At 16 1/2 months, McKenna STILL won't walk (although we are getting close, I think), however, she WILL climb on anything and everything she can reach!

Bippity Boppity Boo

For Madison's 4th Birthday in January, we decided to take her to the Disney On Ice show in Philadelphia. This was a special treat just for Madison, so Mimi came to the house to spend the morning with McKenna for us. There was a Disney Princess Pre-Show event that was right up Madison's alley! We could arrive up to an hour early and get a tour of all of the princesses most beautiful gowns up close. Madison was in heaven! The even bigger surprise was that Belle and Cinderella both made appearances and waved to Madison in the crowd and even said hello to her. She was so excited.

Then we headed in for the main event and were entertained by scenes from Cars, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, and Tinkerbelle, not to mention several appearances by Mickey and Minnie!

We had a Disney-rific morning together!

Our little Belle posing by Disney Belle's dress

And, there is the "real" Belle behind Madison

With Snow White's dress

Posing with Cinderella in the background

Daddy and Maddie ready for the show to start!

Showing us her brand new Belle necklace that she bought as a souvenier at the show with the money that Mimi and Pop-Pop gave her!

The Laptop Saga Continues...

Well, we've resolved the laptop issues... partially! The laptop will need to be sent away this weekend for about a 2 week vacation back to HP. The good news is that HP is being AWESOME in their customer service. The bad news is that I'll be without the laptop (and my pictures) again! So, in the meantime, I am going to do a huge dump of all that's been going on here in the last 2 months before I can't share my pictures with you for another long period of time!