Blow it out your nose - a SinuSense review

Ten years ago if you asked me what I wouldn't travel without I probably would have told you my hairdryer and curling iron.

Now, I won't travel without my sinus wash.

I know, I'm sounding old. But I sure do enjoy having clear sinuses!

Recently MomSelect and Waterpik offered me the chance to try out Waterpik's new SinuSense line of products, including their SinuSense Squeeze Bottle and SinuSense Neti Bottle.

I've been using a fairly traditional form of the Neti pot for the last year, but I was open to trying some other options so I said yes.

First, let me tell you that if you aren't doing some form of nasal/sinus rinse and you have sinus issues, you really should try it. It was a little strange the first time but once I got over the fear that it was going to hurt (It doesn't!) or I was going to choke or inhale it (I didn't, just make sure you breathe through your mouth when you use it.) it was really kind of cool.

I know it sounds gross, but I actually get a kick seeing how much crap I can get out of my sinuses some days. I've never been that great at blowing my nose and usually feel like my congestion is further back in my sinuses than I can easily blow out. The sinus rinse gets in further and cleans more out than I could ever blow out on my own.

(I wish I could get my husband to try it. He's chronically congested and of course snores like a rough engine at night because of it.)

Waterpik SinuSense™  Squeeze Bottle- allows you to customize the amount of water flow for a complete cleanse, simply with an easy squeeze. The SoftSeal™ nozzle maximizes comfort and the One-Way FlowControl™ valve prevents backflow to maintain solution purity.

      Waterpik SinuSense™  Neti Bottle- a unique approach to the traditional neti pot; its ergonomic shape, SoftSeal™ nozzle and One-Touch FlowControl™ valve make the Neti Bottle easy to hold, comfortable against your nose and creates a controlled gravity-fed water flow that provides a gentle sinus cleansing.

One of the issues I have with the traditional Neti pot is that they aren't sealed, at least the one I had wasn't. It was very much like a tiny tea pot without a lid. Since you add a packet of saline salts to the water, I typically ended up using my finger to mix it up since the cat was always stealing the little spoon that came with it and I could never find it.


With the SinuSense products you remove the nozzle, fill the bottle, then replace the nozzle, which allows me to shake it to mix in the saline powder. (It's the little things people, I'm lazy, I admit it.)


I used both the Neti bottle and the squeeze bottle for a month and I think I prefer the squeeze bottle over the Neti bottle, but by a small margin. I'd really like to try the Water Pulsator since it sounds like it is a bit more aggressive in how it cleanses, now that I'm an experienced nasal cleaner. *snicker*

You can check out the Waterpik site to read more about their SinuSense line and the health benefits of a sinus wash.

MomSelect and Waterpik provided me with the products. All opinions are my own.

Staples Back-to-School review and giveaway - ended

***And the winner is Leslie, who says she hasn't bought a single thing yet.***

I have mixed feelings about school starting back up. On one hand it will be nice for Noah to get back to a more structured environment, and not have to worry every day that I'm going to get a phone call about his behavior. On the other hand it means homework starts again, and that is a struggle I am not looking forward to. (I think we might be on a path to make that a bit easier, with glasses and some vision therapy, so if you read my main blog I'll update you all on the latest very soon.)

One thing I do love however, is shopping for school supplies. I love colored pens and pencils, fresh notebooks, and all the little do-dads that make organizing my office at work a little easier. I frequently use colored ink to help me organize data and notes for reports at work, and I get a little thrill every time I open a new set of pens! 

With school shopping for Noah I get to buy all the fun things I don't get to use at work (like crayons!). 

When MomSelect and Staples contacted me and offered me a chance to participate in a back-to-school review and giveaway, I of course said yes!

For many Moms, back-to-school  season can be chaotic as we scramble to run errands and pick up supplies. Our friends at Staples want to make sure we spend our time soaking up the end of summer with our families, not combing store aisles for the lowest prices and hard-to-find items. That's why they're committed to making back to school shopping easy, by providing the best deals on everything your family needs for a successful school year. And because they know that Moms love to be prepared, they're offering you and me a chance to experience their fantastic back to school offerings! 

 

They sent me a back-to-school goodie bag full of cool stuff including DoSomething.org-inspired note books and a date book. These feature cool designs and help students stay organized while learning about important issues impacting their communities.

 
The gift pack also included a Glam Rock stapler, pen and calculator. Noah of course was all over these glittery objects! We were sent the clear crystal set, which is very sparkly! (I think I have Noah convinced that keeping these at home is a good idea. His class is all boys and I think some of them may think they are a little girly. I hate to set him up to get teased. What do you guys think? Am I teaching him gender stereotypes or just protecting him?)

 

We also received an Omnitech 2GB Swivel Flash Drive ($12.99), which is designed to keep the cap in place and are available in some cool designs including black and white, multi-colored dots, and peace-sign patterns.We received the peace sign pattern, and I'm going to use it to transport reports back and forth from work, when I need to work from home.

 
And how cute is this? The Zip-it pencil case. It's a pencil case made out of a really long zipper. Just pull it and watch it zip into shape! It is the brainchild of an Israeli student whose class project called for turning an everyday item into something new. The Zip It-Unzip Your Mind pencil pouch ($5.99) is available in black, purple and pink with exclusive rainbow-zipper design for Staples. Ours came in my favorite color - purple.

And finally, we received the Omnitech Portable Speaker ($9.99), which is a mini pod that plays music from any device equipped with a 3.5mm headphone jack; including MP3 players, notebooks, mobile phones, and gaming devices. This might just inspire me to actually put music on my iPod. I know, I'm pathetic and way behind the times.

I'll be finishing up our school shopping this week at Staples, and I'll probably buy myself some new colored pens for work. I deserve it, right?

 
Now, I promised you a giveaway, and here you go. Staples and MomSelect have provided me with a $25 Staples gift card to give to one of my readers to help make your school supply shopping a little easier.

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me what you still need for your back to school list.  One comment per person please! You have until  Friday, August  20, 2010 at midnight (EDT) to enter.

Discloser; MomSelect and Staples provided me with a gift bag including the items I have shown above. All opinions are my own.

Kung Zhu Pets review and giveaway! - ENDED

***And the winner is Abbi who tweeted about this giveaway! Congrats Abbi! You should receive an email from me shortly.*** 

Introducing the hottest new line from Cepia evolving from the Zhu Zhu Pets...Kung Zhu Pets! These warrior hamsters are far from being the cute and cuddly Zhu Zhu Pets that everyone fell in love with. But make no mistake, these ultra cool, tough pets will be a sure competition to the original Zhu Zhu Pets! With eight original characters split into two battling groups called Special Forces and Ninja Warriors, Kung Zhu Pet owners will have the thrill of training each character to transform them into fighting, battling warriors. While these Kung Zhu hamsters may start off as "cute" and "mild-mannered," once they are sent into their main training grounds, smart chip technology will actually allow you to hear a distinct personality transformation of fighting ninja and warriors.

 *****************************

A couple weeks ago I came home from work to find this box waiting on my front steps.

I was pleasantly surprised when I opened it to find it full of the latest toy craze - Kung Zhu Pets! Noah was pretty darn excited himself! How lucky were we that MomSelect chose us to review the newest Zhu Zhu pet craze!

Thor had a few ideas himself about those pesky hamsters.

Noah, Thor and I spent a very fun couple of hours unpacking and setting everything up.

Thor was especially concerned about keeping us safe from those fierce Ninja and Special Forces hamsters!

Kiel came home and was slightly underwhelmed by the training zone that had taken over the family room. That is until he realized how much fun Noah was having.

 Then he was right in the middle of it all.

Much like Thor was.

 Over all the "three" of them did a great job playing together.

It was a pretty impressive setup!

Even if it did take over the entire family room floor.

Seriously, the entire floor. I couldn't get them all in one shot.

Is it possible to have too many toys?

Stel says, "Yes, Yes it is." Especially when they move and make noise. 

The Kung Zhu pets in action.

Training time.

So what do I think of the Kung Zhu pets? Well, as I said before, they take up a lot of space! We were fortunate to be able to review the original Zhu Zhu pets last year when they first came out, and I can say that they have improved the design. This set was much easier to put together and the connections between pieces stay together better. The entire design is pretty impressive considering all they do. Unfortunately, in our case whenever they were in the arena the same hamster always ended up losing, even when we switched the armor between the two. Noah and Kiel were less interested in the arena action than everything else, so that wasn't a big deal for us.

Unfortunately, one of our hamster's wheels are no longer turning, but you have to remember that Kiel is only 2 1/2, and these are recommended for ages 4+, so that very well could be because he insisted on pushing them along the track rather than letting them go on their own. 

We had a lot of fun with the entire set-up over the last few days, but these type of toys don't do well in general with my boys. Too many pieces and way too many ways to interact inappropriately with them (as in now their monster trucks and Lego men are interspersed throughout the training area - but I love watching their imagination in action). It will be interesting to see how long this lasts with them. (Again, remember that Kiel is 2 1/2 and Noah isn't a "typical" child.)

So, ready to hear the really exciting news? 

Yes, it's true. I have Kung Zhu pets to give away to one of my lucky readers! 

In fact, I have two Kung Zhu pets, two sets of Kung Zhu armor, a Dragon Hammer and Missile Attack Tower, and the Giant Battle Arena. Everything shown in the picture above! And believe me, it was a difficult task for Noah to decide which two hamsters he was going to keep and which two he was giving away. 

To win all you need to do is leave a comment on this post and tell me who you would like to win this for! 

For extra entries you can do the following:

1. Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter with a link back to this post. You can tweet once a day. Make sure you come back here and leave a comment on this post each time.

2. Post it on Facebook. You can post once a day. Make sure you come back here and leave a comment on this post each time.

3. Follow my blog on Google connect or as an RSS feed.  Leave a comment here letting me know you do.

4. Follow my main blog (Mommy Needs Therapy) in a reader or via email. Leave a comment here letting me know you do.

5. Post about this giveaway on your blog. Leave a link in the comments to let me know.

Don't forget to include your email address in the comment. I know you have to include it to publish the comment, but unless it is actually within the body of the comment or you have email enabled on your Blogger profile I can't see it.

You have until midnight on Friday, July 16, 2010 to enter. I'll announce the winner that weekend. Again, don't forget to leave your email so I can contact you!

US and Canada mailing addresses only.

Full disclosure:  MomSelect  provided me with the Kung Zhu pets to review and the set to give away. I am not receiving monetary compensation for hosting this giveaway. The opinions in my review are purely my own.

Help fight Ovarian Cancer with Electrolux and enter to win a $25 Am Ex gift card! - ENDED

Wow, this is the best response I've ever had to a giveaway! I actually had to come back and make sure I didn't say somewhere I was giving away the refrigerator and freezer! Thanks to everyone that visited Kelly-Confidential.com and made a banana split!

The winner of the $25 American Express gift card is commenter number 185 - missrantsypants!


***Don't forget to enter to win the Apple Bottoms 3-piece outfit I have here!***

First, can I just say "holy crap, who wouldn't love to have a refrigerator and freezer like this?!" Of course my kitchen isn't big enough to fit both, but a woman can dream can't she?

So anyway... Electrolux has a new stand-alone refrigerator and freezer! And to celebrate they have joined forces with Kelly Ripa and Stephen Bruce, the "Emperor of Ice Cream" and owner and founder of Serendipity 3, the landmark New York City restaurant and dessert spot.

The cool part (pun intended) is that Kelly and Bruce are making banana splits for a cause. And you get to dig in too, with your virtual spoon! 

Go to www.Kelly-Confidential.com, and you can build your ultimate banana split using virtual ingredients from classic whipped cream to caramel sauce to rainbow sprinkles. For each "split", Electrolux will donate $1 to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund as part of its $750,000 commitment to help fight ovarian cancer.

As usual, Electrolux and Kelly find new and fun ways to say thank you to those who support this great cause. Everyone who logs on to the site and builds a split will be automatically entered for a chance to win the daily prize - $50 towards sweet summer treats - and the grand prize: the new stand-alone refrigerator and freezer from Electrolux.

You'll also find some of Serendipity 3’s ultimate banana split recipes on the site – sure to inspire incredible ice cream confections from experts and novices alike.  

And to sweeten the deal a little more, MomSelect has offered me a $25 American Express gift card to giveaway to one of my readers! All you have to do to enter to win it is go to Kelly Confidential and build your virtual banana split, then come back and leave a comment here telling me what goodies you included! Besides bananas of course!

For an extra entry tweet about this post on Twitter and leave a link to the tweet in the comments. You can tweet once a day.

You have until midnight on Friday, July 9, 2010 to enter!

Disclosure:  As a thank you for posting about the campaign MomSelect is sending me a $25 American Express gift card for my own use.

***Don't forget to enter to win the Apple Bottoms 3-piece outfit I have here!***

Apple Bottoms 3-piece outfit giveaway and Akademiks outfit review - ENDED

 ***And the winner is commenter #11 "TJ and Amy"! Congrats! ***

I was very excited when I was given the opportunity via MomSelect to review an outfit from the Parigi Group. For nearly a quarter of a century, Parigi Group's stable of brands has played a major role and are some of the main contributors in helping to shape and define the children's fashion apparel market. They represent brands such as PUMA, Apple Bottoms, Akademiks, and LRG.

I'll admit, there aren't a lot of "cool" brands in my boys closets. We tend to stick to OshKosh and Carter's, with the occasional Gap outfit thrown in. At seven, Noah has yet to ask for specific brands, but I'm sure that will happen soon. *sigh* For now both boys pretty much wear what I put out for them, so the thrill of having something "cool" in the closet for Noah to wear is more mine, than his.

That said, Rich, Noah and I were all excited when the box came from the Parigi Group and we opened it up to find this outfit from Akademiks!

I thought it looked a little big for Noah, and he was in a bit of a mood, so instead of asking him to try it on I just set it out to take the picture. Well, he decided he wanted to see if it was too big.

Apparently in the seven-year-old world of fashion this is how you test out size. Fortunately feeling the outfit under him was enough to inspire him to try it on.

Here are the jeans. A little big on him right now but I think they will be perfect in the fall. Cool pockets, yes?

The "ensemble" moved him to show off some of his karate moves while I was taking pictures.

 MomSelect and Parigi have offered to give away an outfit to one of my readers! 

For you, my lucky reader, they have chosen an Apple Bottoms 3 piece outfit in a size 3-6 months (shown above). It looks absolutely adorable and makes me seriously sad I don't have at least one little girl to dress up in my family! We only grow boys on both sides of the family it seems, so I'll just have to live vicariously via one of my readers.

To enter to win all you need to do is leave a comment on this blog post and tell me who you would like to win this outfit for!

For extra entries you can do the following:

1. Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter with a link back to this post. You can tweet once a day. Make sure you come back here and leave a comment on this post each time.

2. Post it on Facebook. You can post once a day. Make sure you come back here and leave a comment on this post each time.

3. Follow my blog here in a reader or via email. Leave a comment here letting me know you do.

4. Follow my main blog (Mommy Needs Therapy) in a reader or via email. Leave a comment here letting me know you do.

5. Post about this giveaway on your blog. Leave a link in the comments to let me know.

Don't forget to include your email address in the comment. I know you have to include it to publish the comment, but unless it is actually within the body of the comment or you have email enabled on your Blogger profile I can't see it.

You have until midnight on Friday July 9, 2010 to enter. I'll announce the winner that weekend. Again, don't forget to leave your email so I can contact you!

US mailing addresses only.

Full disclosure:  MomSelect and Parigi are providing the clothes for this review and giveaway. I am not receiving monetary compensation for hosting this giveaway. The opinions in my review are purely my own.

Don't spend more than you have to!

It's never been a secret that I loved breastfeeding! In fact you can read all about it here.

Breastfeeding was one of the big things I felt that I missed out on with Noah. It's definitely one of the big reasons I wanted to be able to give birth to our next child.

That being said, I have nothing against formula. We used it with Noah and despite everything else that is going on with him the kid is healthy! We paid up the wazoo for his formula because he had serious reflux and constipation that we attributed to a dairy sensitivity, so the doctor recommended we give him Enfamil's Nutramigen. Talk about expensive!

It turns out that we probably would have been fine giving him soy formula instead, but we never tried. I have no idea why. After he was a year old we tried soy milk with him and he did fine. He still drinks it.

With Kiel of course you know I breast fed, but despite all my efforts to increase my milk production I never quite had enough for him, so we supplemented with formula when needed. I never felt bad about supplementing with formula, although it pissed me off that there was another part of my body that wasn't doing what it was supposed to. I do think "breast is best" as much for the health reasons as for the amazing bond Kiel and I have because of it, but when I say "breast is best" I mean it was best for us! I don't think you are doing something horrible if you choose not to. Its a personal decision and not one that anyone else should judge.

When we did supplement with formula of course we only bought the "best" for Kiel! No store brands for my child. They aren't as good as the name brand, right? I believed Enfamil when they said Lipil was best and store brands could not compare.

I used coupons whenever I could, but still that shit is expensive!. I'm thankful we only had to buy it occasionally.

So, imagine how pissed off I was when I received an email from MomSelect that told me about the false advertising the makers of Enfamil were involved in. Here's a little bit of the email they sent me:

In a landmark federal court case, a jury verdict confirmed that Mead Johnson, the maker of Enfamil LIPIL Infant Formula, has engaged in false advertising by stating that store brand-infant formulas sold at Walmart, Target, CVS, Walgreens and other retailers, do not provide the same nutritional benefits as Enfamil.

The jury found that Enfamil advertisements were false and misleading, especially since store- brand formulas have the same nutrients at the same levels as Enfamil. In the process, they have exposed the truth about infant formula: store-brand infant formulas are nutritionally equivalent to, and confer the same developmental benefits as, the more expensive national brands like Enfamil. Buying a heavily marketed formula from a big pharmaceutical company does not get you any closer to breast milk.
If you would like to read more about this you can go here, here, and here. Even Consumer Reports supports store brand formula.

It really busts my boiler when I hear of companies doing things like this, so when MomSelect asked if I'd pass on the information I said hell yes. I just want to know when Mead Johnson is going to reimburse me for some of that money I didn't need to spend!

Disclaimer: While I was offered compensation to post this information I have declined. I feel it is important that parents know this and not spend money needlessly. We spend enough money on our kids, use those dollars on something else!