Making Babies Review and Giveaway

**The Winner is: Jessica B** You have been sent an email!

Guest Post by Jennifer Allen

I had the opportunity to review the Making Babies DVD series, and the Making Babies Book as well. In the Making Babies DVD series you will be purchasing 3 DVDs for $75.00. Shoshanna Easling presents her information in a very energetic and informative manner. I was impressed with the wide range of information shared in the course of 7 hours of instructive pregnancy and postpartum help.

In Making Babies DVD Volume 1 you will find recipes, remedies, herbal concoctions, and information about pregnancy in the first trimester such as dealing with morning sickness. There is some brief information about fertility and conception.  This DVD is 2 hours 30 minutes long.

In Making Babies Volume 2 you will learn how to make healthy recipes, remedies, herb concoctions, and information about the second and third trimesters, exercise, birth preparations, and more. This DVD is 2 hours 15 minutes.

Making Babies Volume 3 is full of more healthy recipes, remedies, herbal concoctions, and information about birth, postpartum, loosing weight, getting into shape, and more. It is 2 hours 20 minutes long.

I found each DVD follows the general format of a lovely outdoor location where Shoshanna shows you how to make a herbal concoction or remedy. Following this is a pregnancy tip, followed by a recipe she shows you how to make in a beautiful indoor kitchen, and some more helpful tips. You are following along with Shoshanna during her pregnancy, birth, and postpartum time. I learned a great deal of herbal information I was not aware of shared in the DVD’s.  Some of the tinctures and herbal recipes shared would be worth the purchase of the DVD’s on the merit of that information alone. I was impressed with the quality of the filming for these DVD’s.  It made watching these very pleasant, along with Shoshanna’s cheerful sharing of information. 

I enjoyed watching Shoshanna in the kitchen as she shares many healthy recipes in the DVD’s. A huge part of a healthy pregnancy and baby can be on the way you eat. I thought she shared some delicious looking recipes.  At the end I was so inspired by her recipes that I want to try and use them solely for next month's menu plan. She uses lots of vegetables and good proteins without tons of exotic items that would cost you a fortune when grocery shopping. She does feel it is best to go gluten free during portions of your pregnancy and after baby's birth so there are gluten free recipes shared as well.

Following the Making Babies DVD series is the awesome Making Babies Book available for $35. Talk about being impressed! I was blown away by this 480 page book. The minute you open the book the first thing that jumps out at you is how beautiful it is. That may sound funny, but the photography is so gorgeous throughout the book. With bright lovely photos, Shoshanna’s signature energetic style jumps out at you through the pages. 


Beyond that, the book begins following the Making Babies DVD’s. You will find the recipes and herbal remedy recipes from Making Babies DVD Volume 1, followed by the recipes for Volume 3 and 4. Moving on from there is a large section titled My Pregnancy Cookbook.  There are over 100 recipes shared running from Beverages to Breads, Desserts, Breakfast, Main Course Salads, Sauces and Condiments, Vegetables and Side Dishes. Following this is a “Did You Know” section with basic tips and suggestions shared for a healthy pregnancy. Grandma’s Remedies section covers practical recipes for pregnancy, nursing, and beyond. A Baby Diary is included with approximately 50 pages to fill in for the 1^st month of pregnancy to the birth of your child. Despite the Making Babies title I would recommend this book to any woman on the basis of healthy recipes and herbal remedies alone. I know I will be using it for next month’s menu plan!

Would you like to win a set? The Bulk Herb Store has graciously agreed to giveaway a set! Enter using the Rafflecopter Form below (email subscribers please click through to enter). 

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MamaRoo Review and Giveaway!

As the birth of Deborah grew closer I realized that I needed to purchase a new bouncy seat. After having four children our previous bouncy seat had finally seen it's last days.

I saw the mamaRoo being reviewed on different blogs and it interested me. I was thrilled when I was sent one to review, and even more excited when the company agreed to give one away to one of you!

The mamaRoo was designed two mimic a parent naturally swaying and bouncing their baby. This unique seat sways from side to side and up and down in five different motion settings.

The seat comes with different sounds you can turn on for your baby, but what is really neat is the option to plug in your mp3 player and play your own music for the baby!

When the mamaRoo came we found it packaged extremely well.

Here are all the parts taken out of the box. 

My husband assembled it in little time and found it very easy to do. 

I choose the plush silver fireworks pattern as the plush version unzips and can be washed. With as much as babies spit up I thought that would be wonderful to be able to throw the main part of the seat in the wash! 

Here is a video explaining more about the mamaRoo. 

This is Deborah in the mamaRoo seat! 

We have this in the dining room to use while I'm cooking dinner. We've been given a baby who wants to be held more than anything else, so the seat and our swing we have has not been used that much. She did fall asleep once in this, and that was nice. Now that she is just over a month old she is starting to look at the mobile more. 

 A few minor negatives you might want to be aware of are the plush mobile has (what we would call) scary creatures on it, and the soothing nature sounds are while perhaps soothing to the baby are not quite so soothing to the parents (they are low quality). 

Overall I think the mamaRoo is a neat design, we just haven't been able to use it as much as I had hoped due to our baby wanting held a lot. On the plus side of this seat, it is very well designed and is made out of high quality materials. You can tell they put a lot of thought into every detail of this product.

To enter the giveaway, use the rafflecopter entry below! 

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The Money Saving Mom's Budget Book Review

I have been blessed to know the blogger behind Money Saving Mom since she was a teenager as we used to write letters to each other, and I subscribed to a Christian Young Ladies magazine she put out through the mail! It has been so amazing to watch how successful she has grown and how many lives she has helped.

When I heard she was writing a book I was thrilled! I was even more ecstatic when I was able to receive a pre-release copy of The Money Saving Mom's Budget to review, and I have really enjoyed reading it.

For those of you who are not familiar with Money Saving Mom, she is a Christian blogger who shares how to save money while not going insane about it. :) I have learned a lot from her tips over the years and appreciate all the resources she has freely shared.

If you regularly read her blog you might be thinking that you don't need to read the book as she just copied and pasted her blog into a book. I felt like reading the book went far beyond her blog and she shared more in depth on how to budget, save money, run a household, grocery shop (with and without coupons), etc.

My favorite chapter was "Are The Chaos and Clutter in Your Life Keeping You From Financial Success?" My husband actually bookmarked this and left a note for me to read it. Ha! There must be a message there. :) Yes, my husband is a perfectionist and I am not...and it reflects in our household. She had a lot of good tips and things to ponder on in that chapter that really convicted me.

Right now it is available to pre-order on Amazon and it will be shipped in about 3 weeks I believe. Do you want to know another very good reason why you should order this book? Because Crystal did an amazing thing and donated 100% of her profits from the book to Compassion International. So when you order this book you are not only blessing your family by learning how to budget your money better, you are also blessing children in need! When I read she was doing that I honestly was speechless for a minute.

If you are wanting to give this book as a gift to someone for Christmas, Crystal has gift cards available to print here if you pre-order the book. What a great idea!

Visit Our Lovely Sponsors and Affiliates! 

Sweet Little Blessings - Cloth Diapers and more 

CPT Fertility Products - A frugal resource for pregnancy and ovulation tests

Lilla Rose - Beautiful yet practical hair clips

Vision Forum - Godly Resources for your entire family  

Winners of the Vision Forum Giveaway Announced!

The winners of the fantastic Vision Forum giveaway are:

$100.00 Giveaway - Angie (dangiebrady@)

$200.00 Giveaway - Charlotte (knitter82@)

$300.00 Giveaway - Melissa (smijangley@)

Congratulations!! I have emailed each winner already, so check your email if you see your name listed! 

Mini Beco Baby Carrier Giveaway!

When I have a new baby I love to carry it in carriers like the Beco for the first year. I honestly don't know what I would do without a nice carrier, I use it so much. Since I have a 3 year old daughter  I knew she would be very interested in carrying her doll around when she saw mama carrying her baby in a carrier, so I was thrilled when Beco agreed to do a review and giveaway of their mini beco carrier. It's designed just for children to use!

Beco sent me a mini doll carrier in the Ginger Espresso print so it would match my carrier! My daughter was so excited to be given a surprise package, and her eyes lit up as soon as she saw it. After I put it on her she wore her dolly for the rest of the night, and even wanted to wear it to church that night! I love products like this that promote and nurture little girls learning how to be mothers themselves. Sweet, innocent, and a training tool for the future.

The carrier is made out of the same material the real baby carriers are made out of, and the straps are high quality and look like they will last for a long time. It was very easy to put on and off. If you have multiple little ones that will want to share a carrier it was not hard to adjust. This carrier can be worn with a doll or stuffed animal on the child's front or back.

Something I really liked about the carrier is that it is made in the USA, like all of the Beco Carriers are! Also, the fabric is 100% organic cotton.

You can purchase a carrier for $29.00 at Beco. This would make a really sweet Christmas gift!

Beco has agreed to give one mini carrier away! To enter, use the rafflecopter form below, and make sure to hit the green "I Did This" button on each entry! 

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Christmas Gift Ideas For Girls {And Info on Great Sales!}

I love to buy gifts for my children. Every year my husband has to hold me back at birthdays and christmas because I find all sorts of neat toys or educational items I would like to get them. We try to limit christmas gifts to three items each, and that doesn't mean three toys. So I have to think through each gift we get long and hard to make sure the child will like it.

Buying for my girls is easy, as I understand the girly mind and what it wants. :) I also have learned how easily cheap plastic items get torn up, and broken in a mere matter of minutes. So we try to invest in nicer items that will last longer.

If you are looking for some gift ideas for girls, below are some that I would suggest.

The Jubilee Doll from Vision Forum is on sale for $56.25, which is 25%off the price! Plus, if you spend $25.00 at Vision Forum you can get free shipping with the code: NOSHIPPING all week long! We don't personally own this doll as our girls are not old enough yet, but I read a lot of sweet reviews online about them. 

If you have need of more than one doll, you can save an additional 10% off the retail price of each doll when you purchase 2 or more! 

Of course you can't have a doll without sweet clothes to go on it! This Southern Belle dress is 40% off, making it $11.40. That is a lot cheaper than the American Girl doll clothes! 

Another favorite dress of mine is Elsie's Day Dress. So sweet. 

To browse all the dolls and dresses that Vision Forum offers you can go here. 

Here is a list of our other favorite items from Vision Forum for girls. 

We own this coloring book and it is the sweetest coloring book I have seen in a long time! I almost didn't want to let my children color in it! I Highly recommend this if you have a little ( or big!) girl that likes to color.

My daughter owns this tea set, and it receives a lot of use. I love that it is made out of tin and not glass, which is perfect for a girl's first tea set. 

We have been through several doll strollers until I finally got smart and realized we just needed to invest in a nice one that will last. My dad purchased this Chico Doll Stroller as a birthday gift for my daughter.  Let me tell you - this stroller will withstand the harshest treatment just fine! Our one year old plays with it just as much as our three year old, and she has sat on it so many times without it affecting the stroller at all. While the price is more than other strollers, I don't regret getting this at all. I know it will last for years to come! This is one of our most played with girl toys in the house. 

I just purchased this Melissa and Doug doll diaper bag for our soon to be  two year old's birthday in December. It looks like it will hold up under wear and tear, and is it is the perfect size for little girls.

If your daughter is into building blocks, wedgits are a great investment. I've been surprised how much our one year old even loves these. Guess what she is getting for Christmas? :) They even sell pink and purple wedgits for the girly girl! 

My mom purchased these magnetic dress up dolls for our daughter a few years ago, and they have been well loved and played with, by all our children actually. I've seen a lot of magnetic paper dolls but these are my favorite.

Here is a tip for buying gifts off Amazon. I do my usual online searches on swagbucks throughout the year, and then cash them in for Amazon gift cards! It really does add up quick and helps save money on gifts. A few years ago I saved all year long and put my gift cards towards buying my husband an iPod touch that he wanted. That really saved us some money! 

Finally, if you are looking for great gift ideas for the whole family, check out the entire Vision Forum sale they are having this whole week where you can save up to 50% and receive free shipping! 

Modest Middles Nursing Tank Top Giveaway!

The next three days will be filled with a fun giveaway each day, so make sure you check back to see what else will be given away. If you have a little girl and still need a great Christmas present for her you will want to check back tomorrow! But I'm getting sidetracked here....back to the present giveaway! :)

I was very intrigued when I came across information about the modest middles nursing tank top. Honestly I thought I knew about every nursing camisole there is out there-because there just isn't that many options. So I was excited to find something new!

The Modest Middles is a unique tank top that looks like a regular tank, but it is cut really low in the front to scoop under your bra, thus making it easy to nurse in. The ingenuous thing about it is that it will cover your front, sides, and back while you nurse! Who hasn't experienced that embarrassing moment of realizing your side is showing while you are nursing? I know after nursing four children I have had that happen to me!

The fabric used to make these are silky soft and comfortable. It is a blend of 93% cotton and 7% spandex. I'm looking forward to wearing this after the baby comes! 

The Modest Middles comes in four colors - black, white, nude, and gray. They are made in the USA, and were designed by a mother of five children herself!  

They are priced at $29.99 for one, and the price goes down if you buy more than one. I have a special coupon code for you though-you can get FREE SHIPPING on this when you enter this special code at the checkout: MM143. 

The Modest Middles company has generously offered to give a tank top away to one of The Modest Mom readers! To enter, please fill out the rafflecopter form. Please make sure to do the entry, and then click the green "I Did This" button so you will be entered! 

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$600.00 Vision Forum Gift Card Giveaway!!

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED! 

The Vision Forum company has been a blessing to our family, so when they asked me to sponsor this giveaway I didn't have to think twice! 

For many years now we have benefited from the wonderful materials that this company has produced. The quality Christian books they sell, the toys for the children, and the outstanding audio resources have been wonderful resources for our family.

My husband has enjoyed the history materials they sell, particularly the Bill Potter audio sets and the History of the World series. 

For several years now our two son's birthday presents always include something from Vision Forum. Whether it's the shield and sword set, the WW1 helmets, or the pop guns, they have played long and hard with whatever they receive!

Our daughters are not old enough yet to have a really nice doll, but our three year old daughter loves to look at all the pretty dolls and dresses whenever the catalog comes! They also have really sweet historical play dresses for girls. 

If I had to pick one product that has blessed me the most, it would have to be the Large Family Logistics book they published a few years ago. This book gave me great encouragement, and I feel like it would do the same for any mom - whether they have one child or ten! Another favorite book that I pull out often to read from is The Family book by J.R. Miller. There is much wisdom contained in this book concerning the proper roles and responsibilities of each member of a godly home.

If you are not receiving their catalogs you are missing out on an exciting fall day when the mail comes! To sign up for their free catalogs, go here to request one. 

Vision Forum has also started their Black Friday Super Sale-which goes on all week long! Buy two items and receive the third item of equal or lesser value FREE!! This sale ends Saturday, November 26th at Midnight. 

Now comes the really exciting part of this post! Vision Forum has generously offered to give away $600.00 in gift cards through the Modest Mom blog! There will be three winners in this giveaway. One person will win a $100 gift card, another a $200 gift card, and yet another a gift card worth $300 good for any purchase from Vision Forum. Per the request of Vision Forum, the person who wins the $300 gift card needs to have blogged about this great giveaway, using the words "Christian books" in your post with those exact words linking to www.visionforum.com . So if you have a blog I'd suggest you get busy and write a post about this awesome giveaway! If you don't have a blog, don't despair - you still have a great chance at winning the $100 or $200 gift card! 

Please use the rafflecopter form to enter below. You must leave your email address so I can contact the winners. The entries will be verified that you really did them, so please read the instructions carefully! This giveaway will end December 3 at Midnight.  

I can't wait to see who wins, and rejoice with three blessed families!! 

(Click "Read More" to use the entry form!)

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Timberdoodle Block Builders Review

Do you have a budding architect in your family? Blocks of any sort have always been a huge hit in our house. Whether they are used to build towers, castles, roadways, or just used as bombs (!) blocks are played with frequently around here, if not daily.

As part of Timberdoodle's Blogging Review Team, I was sent a package of the Block Builders to review. Or rather for my children to review! This is a unique set of 6 blocks. Now a mere 6 blocks does not sound like it would do much, but these blocks are hinged where they can open, close, flip, and stack! The blocks come with a set of fifty challenge cards showing you ways to build architecture designs with the blocks.

My children were all excited to open up the package, from my eight year old down to my almost 2 year old! The eight year old loved the cards that came with it, and we sat and tried to build the designs together. I have to admit, we relied on the back (which shows you exactly what blocks to use) most of the time. My mind is architecturally challenged! My six year old and 3 year old loved to just use the blocks to build their own towers without the cards. When my husband came home from work he sat on the floor and became fixated on trying to put the more challenging designs together!

I keep these blocks in my school cabinet and when I need one of the children to be busy with something while I'm helping another child, they can go get these blocks out. Whether they are actually using the cards or not, I feel it's a great educational toy for them to use that gets their brain thinking!

If you have a builder in your house, someone who loves to follow directions than these blocks would be perfect!

Timberdoodle also has their Holiday catalog out, which highlights their best educational toys of the year that they carry. We all poured over it, talking about the many unique items found in it. Christmas at our house is a little different than Birthdays, and we try to focus on getting a few more educational type items instead of just toys. The catalog was so helpful to get ideas from! If you are still looking for high quality items for gift ideas, take a look at Timberdoodle's website!


Thanks to Timberdoodle, I was sent these blocks free to review as part of their review blogging team. I received no compensation for writing this post. 

JM Cremp's-A New Store For Boys!

The JM Cremp's catalog came in the mail this week, and my boys went wild with excitement. :) My husband and I discovered this company at a local homeschool convention we attend, and I quickly signed us up for a catalog as I knew my boys would love it. 

This company reminds me of Vision Forum as they have a few of the same products for boys. But they have so much more variety than Vision Forum, and after looking at the toys at the convention I was impressed with the quality of the items! 

They have everything you could possibly want for boys! Fishing, hunting, camping, hiking, and toys galore for boys who want to be gallant knights, brave soldiers, or adventurous astronauts! 

I'm always on the lookout for companies who promote godly manhood and have excellent products, so I was excited to share with you all about JM Cremp's company!They are a family owned company who are raising five boys of their own, so I'm sure this stuff is put to the test before they sell it. :)

If you are looking for some new gift ideas for Christmas, be sure to check this company out! 

31 Days of Femininity: A Giveaway!

I thought it would be fun to do a giveaway during the 31 days series! So I was thrilled when Beth from Wired Vintage agreed to sponsor a review and giveaway. She makes the most beautiful jewelry!

Wired Vintage specializes in making earrings out of vintage buttons. The results are stunning, she does a fantastic job.

Here are some of my favorite items from her store.

1920's Czech glass buttons with iridescence

Antique Pink Czech glass button earrings

Vintage Inspired White faux Pearl Button Earrings

Antique black glass art deco button earrings

I was sent the black button earrings to review along with the pendant that is included in the set! They are just beautiful, and the quality of her work is excellent. The buttons used in this set date back to the 1920's or earlier! 

Here is a picture of me wearing the earrings. Mind you this was taken last night right before bed, so I'm looking a little tired! 

That will give you an idea of the sizing on the earrings. 

Beth has agreed to giveaway a set of the black button earrings and pendant to one of you! To enter, simply use the form below. 

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Free Shipping At Lilla Rose!

Lilla Rose is offering free shipping on any order of $20 or more! This sale only happens a few times a year, so it is a fantastic time to stock up on Christmas gifts, special gifts, or just to get one for yourself! 

The sale runs today (October 6th) through October 8th, so you only have a few days to make your purchase! 

The pictures below are of myself before I cut my hair shorter last year. I had never been able to put my hair up in any sort of plastic clip, it would so silky it would just fall out. But with a large size flexi I was able to put it up in the morning and leave it up all day long, without a headache! I was in-between large and x-large, on days when I had just washed my hair it was hard getting the large in but I preferred it tight to feel secure. 

This is the easiest way I know to create a feminine undo while taking literally a minute to accomplish it! 

Here is a sizing video you can watch if you need help deciding what size to get. If you are still stuck after watching the sizing video, here is a tip. Put your hand around your full ponytail and squeeze down....If the amount you are holding down resembles a nickel, you're an extra small. A quarter, you're a small. A 50 cent piece, you're a medium, and anything bigger and you will need a large or x-large flexi.  

The jewelry is also on sale for 40% off the regular price, and the sale items are marked an additional 40% off! Have fun browsing! 

Huge Clearance Sale At Vision Forum!

Vision Forum is about to release their new catalog! To make room for the new products, they have put over three hundred products on clearance! 

I'm thinking of Christmas....and Birthdays! We have two October birthdays, a December Birthday, and a March birthday, so it's a great time to plan ahead! 

Here are some of my favorites for girls:

A book every mother and daughter should read together! On sale for only $8.00, which is 60% off! 

This book is written for teenage girls, and while I've only glanced through it, everything I read was good! On sale for $5.40.

When my daughter is a little older, this lace parasol will be a must for her! I always dreamed of having one as a girl. :) On sale 40% off for $19.20. The ultimate feminine look for little girls! 

Or if your daughter prefers playing outside with her brothers all day (my daughter is a mixture of dolls and tagging after brothers) here is a pink cowgirl hat! 

This wooden doll bed is perfect for tucking that special doll into bed at night! 

My favorite items for boys:

A vintage Paratrooper bag! 

A military vehicle for the lego fan! 

A military flight suit for your son who loves to play dress up. Both my boys would love this!

Have fun browsing!