Ever since I was a baby, I have suffered from excema. Usually it is made worse by the dry, cold winter air. For the most part, I grew out of it. But I noticed that all three of my children get patches of red, itchy skin every winter too. I used to ask my doctor for a prescription cream, but now I can save money by purchasing Neosporin over the counter medication for their skin!

A few weeks ago Lucy and David both broke out in rashes on their tiny tushies.  It was excema, I could tell.  I saw an ad on tv for the new products from Neosporin and picked up the small trial size tubes, just to try them out. It worked! In just a few days my babies had clear skin. So when the opportunity came along for me to share this with you (along with a fantastic coupon) I jumped at it!

Save $5.00 at Walmart.com! Visit: http://see.walmart.com/neosporin

Get visibly healthier skin in 3 days! Here’s how it works:

#1 Daily Body Wash
• Proven gentle and non-irritating, even on eczema-prone skin
• Fragrance-free, soap-free
• Gentle enough for everyday use

#2 Daily Moisturizing Cream
• Deeply moisturizes
• Relieves itch on contact and irritation due to eczema
• Helps strengthen and restore the skin’s natural barrier function
• Fragrance and steroid-free

#3 Anti-Itch Cream
• Clinically shown to improve dryness, flaking and appearance of redness
• Maximum strength of itch relief
• For occasional use

Get the full eczema care line from the experts in skin care health for over 50 years.

You can find this set at Walmart in the first aid aisle. Click the big button above to access the $5 off coupon and learn more!

I was compensated for this post through Global Influence. But you know what? This cream is fantastic and I would have told you about it anyways. That’s my opinion 100% and I realize others have different experiences.

In high school, I was a drama queen. (shocker!) I read the gothic literature Wuthering Heights and fell in love with the deep, dark passion that overtook Heathcliff for Catherine Earnshaw. I was sucked into the emotional waves that engulfed Jean Valjean in Les Miserables.

But today I do not have the excess emotional energy to spend on a piece of fiction.

I am constantly giving to my babies, comforting, encouraging, distressed over sickness and living the theatricals I used to read about.

So when I pick up a book, I need it to be lightweight. I need it to distract me from the heaviness of my day and uplift my spirits. I cannot grieve with an antagonist about her dying child or become enraged over the maltreatment of a fictional alcoholic.

Here are my favorite books right now. They make me laugh, make me giggle, make my spirit soar lighter and open my eyes to a lighter, happier life. Please share your favorite books below!

One Thousand Gifts

This book changed my life. Ann Voskamp shares a deeply painful story from her past and then takes you on a very personal journey with her as she discovers God’s glory and eternal love. God showed her how to start writing a list of 1,000 blessings – no matter how big or small – she discovered in her life. When she focused on the blessings her heart was refreshed with God’s joy and peace.

I have started my own “1,000 blessings” list and noticed a dramatic shift in my attitude. I always knew that focusing on God would help, but this list is a way for me to manually force myself to always look Heavenward. Whenever I talk to a brother or sister in Christ that has not read this book, I ask why not? It is amazing, encouraging and shifts my anxiety to gratitude!

The Help

Josh actually listened to this on audiobook before I picked it up to read.  He couldn’t stop telling me about it so I finally read it. WOW! It is everything I love in fiction right now.  It has some delightfully humorous parts and the characters really come to life. Lots of it is light hearted. There are some pretty sad and dramatic episodes, but thankfully they are not driving force behind the book. The book is kept upbeat and optimistic. The good win and that is what I love reading!

sidenote: The book and the movie are not too far off! That made me happier too!

Water for Elephants

I read this book before it came out in theaters. This is a tad more dramatic than The Help but not so dramatic that I was put in a depression.  (Perhaps this is because my emotional attachment for animals is not nearly as passionate as others).  I was entranced by the world of the train circus – Sara Gruen really painted a vivid picture and I found myself in love with that life as much as I hated it.  The best part of the book was the end. I was seriously shedding the happiest tears as I read what became of the main characters!

Formula For Murder

I bought this book on Kindle after I met the author Diana Orgain at Type A Parent Conference last year. This is the perfect book for light reading. It is the third book in a murder-mystery series. The main character is a mother-turned private detective. I love how Diana intertwines hilarious experiences of new motherhood within the crazy antics of murder suspects and danger. It has enough drama to keep me reading but (so far) there is never any real danger to her baby or family, so it is more fun than dark.

What have you read lately that was enjoyable? I need a new book to read!

Hi! Vlog Moms time! Christine of the fab blog From Dates to Diapers asks this week: If you could live anywhere where would you live?

Forgive me, but I don’t have time to type out my answer here. I am excited about next week’s question! It is about what makes us giggle

see the other Vlog Moms!

The one way my iPhone kicks my old droid’s butt is the camera. I am madly in love with the front facing camera and now I am becoming slightly addicted to all the fun camera apps. I justify the cost by telling myself that $3 in apps is very affordable for how much entertainment it gives my daughter on the road, at the doctor’s office, basically anywhere she has to contained.

Here is a screenshot of my current photo apps. Not pictured is Camera + and Hipstamatic because my folder ran out of room.

I will show you examples of my favorites below. I am considering deleting Pic Collage. It is fun, but I prefer collages that are organized. Pic Collage is more of a free form collage-maker (think snapshots on a corkboard).  It’s fun, was a free app (can’t beat free!) and Lizzie enjoys playing with it, so I kept it.

Face goo is totally an app I downloaded just for my kids. It makes your photo elastic…as you drag your finger across the face it stretches it. This cracks David up!  And it has lots of stickers that Lizzie loves to play with.

Also, Tweegram is not so much a photo app as it is a text app. Basically you can choose from different backgrounds and fonts and write a sentence or even a paragraph and then send this “picture” to instagram.

Sketch Me

Sketch me was free for a limited time so I downloaded it.  It is a lot of fun for Lizzie, but I don’t think I will be using it very much myself.  It has lots of options to take your photo and make it look like an artist’s sketch.

 Label box is definitely one I use a lot! I love the different fun little labels you can choose to slap onto your pictures! I wish it had some more photo editing features as well, but I put the label on it then edit the photo in another app.

If you are a font-geek, then you will like Phonto! I do wish it had more photo editing and/or stickers options though. Phonto has a long list of available fonts you can pick from to write on your pictures. It has thought and speech bubbles too. It is a really great basic app.

Hipstamatic

I will be honest, I don’t get Hipstamatic. I’ve heard lots of people rave about how much they love it. I need a tutorial to understand all the options.  This app is not free, so I am determined to learn how to use what I paid for.  Basically, it is a retro camera. You choose the type of flash, the filter and the film. The picture above is how it looked directly after I took it, I did not edit after I snapped the picture like I do in other apps.  It has lots of options for you to buy other films, flashes and overlays. And it has a “family album” where I think you can follow others and share your pics with other Hipstamatic users.

Halftone is my favorite!  It turns your photos into a comic strip! Isn’t that picture of David adorable? You choose the font, the type of paper and can put “POW” or “hahahah” stickers on it too. It’s a lot of fun!

If you like stickers for your photos then Deco Pic has a TON! It reminded me of MySpace a smidge since the stickers tend to be very very girly and flashy.  This is a really fun app for Lizzie. She loves scrolling through the stickers and putting them on the pictures.

I kinda cheated with this picture – the outside black border is from Instagram but the inside blue circle collage was made entirely in Diptic. Diptic is a fantastic collage making app. It doesn’t have options for photo editing, but it exports directly to lots of editing apps (like Instagram).

Camera + is full of photo editing tools! It has options to help you take a quality photo. Then, it has a ton of options to edit it with. The “Scenes” button brings up other filters too. I love playing with this app when I am editing pictures on my phone.

I think TypoInsta is Instagram’s best friend.  You can take a photo with it then it crops the photo to be the correct size for Instagram. It has a ton of photo editing options too – like borders, filters and adjustments.  It also has a ton of fonts! If you only want to download one extra app to expand your Instgram experience, I totally suggest TypoInsta!

These are my favorites! What are yours?

I’ve been all over the map lately. First I didn’t care what I fed my family. I didn’t know any more than the basics – fruits/veggies good, sugar/fat bad. That was the long and short of it. I was able to save money by buying boxed mac & cheese and frozen meals. Then I watched “Forks over Knives” and realized how eating red meats, dairy, cheese and processed foods are so bad for me. I started to buy fresh plant-based whole foods.

Then that became expensive. Fast.

Then the kids had their annual dental visits scheduled this month. Cue the “ohmygosh I have no money” freak out.

Thankfully I have amazing friends with way more knowledge about how to eat healthy and save money. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. Eating healthy, non-processed foods does cost more, but it does not have to break my bank. I sent a call out on my Facebook fan page and got the best responses ever. I had to share them with you!

That little infographic are my favorite tips of all. Here are some other tips from my blogging friends:

• I will use frozen organic veggies from time to time when we’re on a budget. Buy in BULK!!! Rice and beans are also affordable and yummy! Kristin ~ Our Ordinary Life
• I’ve been spending less since I’ve switched us to eating a (mostly) plant-based, whole food diet. I joined a Bountiful Baskets food coop and get a “basket” (2 laundry baskets 50/50 fruit and veg) for $15. ~ Charmed Valerie
• I spend about $75 a week. My husband eats a ton. We don’t eat processed foods and we try for organic when we can. I save money on milk by having it delivered, a dollar less per gallon adds up. We also have a freezer and buy large portions of meat when we can. This year we bought a 1/4 cow and half a pig. That helps with cost. I try to stock up on things when hey are on sale and pull from my stockpile for cooking when things are not on sale. I agree with what was said above, beans and rice are inexpensive, oats are less than boxes of cereal, and things like nuts and dried berries are way cheaper if you can but them from bulk bins. ~ Catherine, Evolving Mommy
• I have this book called “Cheap. Fast. Good.” You bulk cook X meat plumped up with onion, etc and freeze in portions. Then for the recipes in the book, you thaw X meat and add in rice or pasta, etc. I believe they were on $100 a week budget when writing the book. Get it at your library or it should be cheap on Amazon. ~Reanne
• Make a meal plan and only buy what you need to complete the meal! It will amaze you how much “extras” your used to getting. And make sure you only buy enough to get you to the next week. When you make your plan make sure and use as much of what you have at the house already. Use that can of veggies or box of stuffing that’s been around a while. ~ Audrey, Motherly Misadventures

My friend Kelly has a super blog all about saving money! Kelly of The Centsible Life – check that blog out, tons of valuable info.  She plans a 4 week menu and rotates through it every month.  You can download her (free) spreadsheet template and make your own menu plan too.  She eats a gluten free meal and buys mostly organic, so if you want to peek at her menu, here is her 2012 menu.

Kelly admitted that she spends more on organic produce so she is diligent about tracking where she spends money elsewhere and uses coupons to save money on other items that are not as important – like tissue paper, etc.  She also said just cooking in her house saved them a bunch of money. And her kids’ favorite time each week? “One night a week we eat whatever is left in the fridge,” Kelly said. “My kids love this because there is such a variety on the table for them.”

Now that I have all this awesome information I am going to put it to use. I have a bunch of stuff in my cupboards and freezer to use up before I go to the store, but I will let you know how much I spend and if I am able to keep my grocery bill below $100 each week.

How do you save money on groceries and food? How much do you currently spend each week? Thank you for helping me!

It’s cold outside. And the air is super dry. My children inherited my eczema so all three of them have a few patches of red, itchy skin and I feel terrible for them.   The opposite of what they need is a shampoo and soap full of fragrances to help with the irritation.

Aquaphor from Eucerin has two products made specifically for babies to take care of their sensitive skin.  I am most excited about the baby wash and shampoo since Lucy had a lot less skin rashes after using it.  The healing ointment is cool too, but it is for diaper rashes and thankfully we don’t get very many of those anymore.

Aquaphor Healing Ointment – The Baby Healing Ointment is a pediatrician-recommended formula that will soothe and protect your baby’s uncomfortable dry skin and provide effective relief for dry, cracked skin.

Aquaphor Gentle Wash & Shampoo -  is a mild, tear-free and fragrance-free cleanser for daily use on baby’s sensitive skin.  Aquaphor soothes and protects your baby’s skin to help keep your baby comfortable throughout the entire winter.

I was sent both these products to review. Honestly, I didn’t use the healing ointment very much. Lucy hasn’t had a diaper rash, so I lucked out there.

But I did open it and check it out. It has no fragrance and goes on clear as opposed to the white look of other diaper creams. It is also very thick, so I bet it does a wonderful job protecting baby’s skin while it heals.

Now the wash and shampoo is my favorite! Just like the ointment, it has no fragrance! It rinses completely and leaves Lucy’s skin soft – not dried out.  It is very gentle to her eyes – no tears! I loved how simple and effective this was a cleaning and protecting her skin from the dryness of the winter weather.

Coupon Alert!!

You can get a $1 off coupon from the Aquaphor US Facebook page.  Go to their facebook page, click “Like” then “like” the coupon itself to download it. Super easy and saves you money!

 Giveaway

One mama dweeb reader will win the skin protectant, wash & shampoo and a $50 VISA gift card!

Required Entry:

Comment with the one item in your diaper bag you always forget to pack!

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Giveaway ends February 26th at 11:59 pm CST. Winner will be chosen randomly via plugin and have 24 hours to respond to my email before another winner is drawn. Open to USA only. I received a gift card and products to review all opinions are my own.

Hi! It is time for the third installment of Vlog Moms!  A small group of bloggers are all flexing their vlogging skills by answering one small prompt each week. I hope you enjoy my video this week. I added a bit of music to make it more fun. But I am on the fence about it. I wonder if it made it obnoxious.

Theresa of Rock On Mommies asked the Vlog Moms: “What is the best and worst parenting advice you received while pregnant?”

My answer:

Worst: Just let your baby cry! She is manipulating you and if you hold her every time she cries you will be spoiling her.
That advice just didn’t work for me or Lizzie. Tried it for 4 months. Then I gave up and just started to nurse on demand and co sleep and we all got sleep and peace once again!

Best: Parent from your gut and your heart.
Yes! Finally! When I started to parent the way Lizzie needed me to and the way that kept me the most even-keeled, life was happy!

What about you? What is your best and worst advice?

My Vlog: