The Amazing Jolly Jumper

Hey everyone!

Today I wanted o give you my review of the jolly jumper! I have this ages old picture of my baby girl in her Jolly Jumper. 

She was very sleepy in this photo, but this is her about seven months of age. 

I love the Jolly Jumper. It was a life saver at times. You know those times when your baby is just learning to crawl, so they get into everything you don't want them to, but they also fall all the time, so you need them to not distract you when you are trying to get ready to go to a wedding, or a party, or a playgroup, or pack for a vacation, but they just on't stay put because they have found this lovely wonderful new way to move? Well, that is where the Jolly Jumper comes in. You simply put the baby on the floor on its back, strap it into the Jolly Jumper harness, and then clip them in (they aren't very heavy at this age). Make sure that their feet can touch the ground with a bent knee, and that their arms are correctly though the straps. Then, watch then go to town.

Ella used to love being in her Jolly Jumper! Loved it! She could be in there for forever, but the recommendation is 15 minutes at a time. I will admit, I kept her in there for thirty minutes at a time because she loved it so much. If you have a baby that likes to sleep a lot, or gets tired easily, I would say, don't leave them in there and leave the room, otherwise they might fall asleep in the Jumper and that is very bad for the baby's neck. 

Jolly Jumpers are not very expensive, and they definitely pay for themselves over time. We bough the Jolly Jumper with the stand, though you can buy the one that goes in the doorway if you want. There are also transitional packages that make it so you can have the Jolly Jumper at home, and then take the harness and the Jolly Jumper door way attachment to a friend's house, or on vacation, or even to another room in the house. 

I would recommend buying a Jolly Jumper, and especially asking for one for a baby shower gift. 

I hope this helped you a little. 

See you next week for more Babies, Toddlers, and Kids Oh My.

Warm wishes.

Yes to Tomatoes Final Review

Hello all, 

I wanted to give you my final review on the Say Yes to Tomatoes line of facial cleansers. I used them for half of January, and I have to say, I was not saying yes to tomatoes. 

I used the Gel Cleanser, which is an oil control cleanser, as well as the acne fighting lotion for 14 days straight, every morning and every night and after the gym or the pool. And my skin went to hell because of it. I really wanted to like it! I had heard great things about it, and even after reading the ingredients, I thought, hopefully this will still be a good product, but it killed my skin. On day 12 of 14 I developed two huge dry, flaky spots on my face that no make-up or lotion or primer would stick to, and they itched, and they were hideous. Not fun. Then, my make-up wouldn't stay on my face. I put the lotion on, then my primer, then my make-up, perfectly normal routine for me, but then as I was touching my face, to put my other products on, the foundation was coming off on my brushes and on my fingers. It was horrible! I re-tried twice! So, to make sure I did at least a full 14 days for you guys, I just went without make-up on that day. On day 13 of 14 I developed these HUGE UGLY DISGUSTING pimples-11 of them- on my face! It was horrible!!!! I couldn't believe it.  

I really wanted to like this product! But I can't bring myself to promote it. 

If you have very very very oily all over, then this product MIGHT be for you, but because I have dry and oily skin, it make my oily skin matte and my dry skin flake off and made my make-up melt off of my face. 

On top of all that, I had a reaction to it around my eye, so now one of my eyes is swollen. 

Again, you can try this product out if you want, but I will be sticking with my Clean and Clear for now. 

I hope this helped you decide if you wanted to buy this product or not. 

Have a great night, and I hope to see you back for more Beauty is on the Inside on Friday. 

Warm wishes. 

Rub A Dub Dub This is the Baby's Tub

Hello everyone!

I wanted to share how we organize the baby's bath to maximize fun and minimize accidents and mess.

So the first thing that everyone who has a child knows about is that their reach seems endless, especially the more they grow. 

In our bathroom, the showers had shelves built in, but if you don't have this you can do one of two things:

1. Invest in shower organizers. You can do this in several different way. You can buy these organizers that attach to the shower head to hold all of your little one's products out of arms' reach. You can also get each family member a tote. Write your loved ones' names on a 3"x 3" piece of construction paper. Take some laminating paper, or even more accessible, some clear packing tape, and "laminate" the construction paper. Use a hole punch and punch one of the corners. Use a thin 6" piece of  ribbon, and tie the name tag to the tote. Store under the sink or on a shelf so that the name tags are facing outwards. This way, each family member can grab their own tote when it is shower time. This eliminates the toddlers getting into the razors and Nair and shaving cream, or whatever you have in your shower normally, and prevents your shower being packed with a thousand different products, hence leading to that shampoo bottle on your foot.

2. Go to the store and buy another tension shower curtain rod. This only works if you have a shower with square corners, not rounded corners. Put your tension rod along the back wall. Hang shower organizers with each person's name on them. You can use permanent marker for this, and it will last through the water in the shower.  This is only goo if your shower is a little wider otherwise you will be knocking your shoulders against the bins. This is a good idea if you have children though, because even when they start taking showers, they will still be lower than the totes, meaning you can just bring their toiletries down for them and then to clean up, just put the items back in the tote. 

For us, we have shelves in our bathroom, so this is how we organize Ella's bathtub. 

First, we have everything on the highest shelves we can put them on. We have the main shampoos/ bubble-bath mixed on one shelf. 

Next, we got this adorable little luffa for the baby. She loves it! She loves washing herself with it, and it does double duty as a toy and a washing tool. 

Next, we have a cup for rinsing her off and we have a large bucket of toys right next to the tub. This lets her play for a little bit before we wash up, and gives us a waterproof place to put her toys in. 

Having everything in it's place is the perfect way to feel great about your space and your home. 

I hope these suggestions helped you a little, let me know if you try anything. 

Leave any suggestion you'd like. 

Warm wishes. 

DIY Earrings

Hello again, 

So I wanted to do this post to show you guys how easy it is to make your own earrings. I will doing this for different pieces of jewelry throughout the year, but right now I have the materials to make some earrings, so I decided to make those for you today. 

It is so simple and all of the materials you can find at your local craft store for very very cheap. I think I bought all these things for less that $5. I mean it. You can make beautiful pieces of jewelry that no one else will have that you can wear with pride. And when people ask you where you got your earrings you can smile and say, I made these. And watch the shock on their faces. It makes you feel all warm inside. 

So, all you need are two pairs of needle-nose pliers, a pair of snips, copper wire, earring medalions of your choice, beads of your choice and earring hooks. 

 Now, cut a length of wire about 6 inches long. 

Next, thread it through the decorative part of the earring. 

Next, tie a very tight double knot, using the pliers as your fingers to ensure that the knot if very tight. 

Next, thread both sides of the wire through your bead. 

Then, tie both of the wires through the earring hook making sure to double knot it and make sure it is secure. 

Cut off the excess, repeat with the other earring and you have yourself a very pretty pair of earrings that you paid less than $5.00 for. 

Happy crafting!

P.S. I will post a picture of myself with the earrings on tomorrow when I lost my outfit of the day. 

Warm wishes. 

January Favorites

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to give you guys a January favorites list to let you know what I am loving this cold, dry winter. I will be doing a products I regret buying a little later, and I will do an empties post every six months. I will be doing a favorites post the first week of every month just because my life changes, and I find products that work well for me and for my family, so hopefully this will help you in deciding to buy some of these products or not. 

Let me know what you think, and let me know how you liked these products. 

Also, none of these brands pay me to promote their products, and none of these retailers pay me or asked me to promote their stores or sites, this is just the most information I can give you, in the hopes that you will easily find something you truly love. 

First up is my LUSH Bubblegum lip scrub. I love this product. I have been using it every morning and every night and it has done wonders for my lips. It has been horrible and ugly outside for about a month and a half now, and I can't stand it. My lips crack and are dry and flaky every morning, and it feels disgusting. Using this has helped so much. It is raw and vegan and made without animal testing and of recycled materials. The only downside to this product is that it costs $9.95. Ugh. So, I made some of my own lip scrub. I think it's just as good. You will have to decide yourself. You can buy this product here, or make your own. 

The next favorite on my list is my Revlon Steel My Heart Nail polish. I have worn it pretty much everyday this month. I think it is sexy yet sedate. I filed my nails down short just to really give off that "bad-ass-mom" vibe. it looks great with every outfit, but then I think that about almost all nail polish colors. I use it with my Nail Strengthener by OPI and my RapiDry Top Coat by OPI. I feel that it helps my nails not to chip and break like they often do in dry weather, and let me get on with my day.  

It might be hard to see but this is a gunmetal grey metallic nail polish and I can't get enough of it. You can find it at Walmart or here.

Next on my list of January must haves is my GlamGlow mask. I love it! I haven't done a post on it yet, but I will! I love this mask. It removes all the dirt and nastiness from your pores one use at a time. The first time I used this mask my face looked BLACK because of all the oil and dirt it was pulling out of it, and the next time I used it, it was still pretty dark, but not as much as the first time. I use this mask every week and for spot treatments. If you are a big mask person, especially if you have acne prone skin or acne problems, I would definitely suggest this mask. I will do a full post later on, and I will demonstrate how it works and all the lovely goodness that is the GlamGlow mask, but for now, I will say buy it. The only downside to this mask is that it is $70. But if you use it for a full mask you get 17 uses and for spot treatments, you get 1,000 uses, according to the packaging. I will be re-purchasing it when I run out. There is also the GlamGlow 10 minute photo ready mask, and I love that one as well, but I rarely use it because it comes in such a small container, and while it does exfoliate your skin and give you a really nice finish to put your make-up onto, I don't have 10 extra minutes in the morning to wait for my mask to dry, so I only use it when I have the extra time. But it is very good as well, though not a favorite of mine. 

Here is where you can order the GlamGlow mask.

My next favorite I actually got out of necessity and then found out that I loved it. It is the BIOLAGE Color Care UV protection Orchid scented shampoo. I love the way this smells, my husband loves the way this smells, I think that the dog loves the way this smells. It is great. So subtle yet elegant and soft and lovely. I feel fresh and new when i use this shampoo. It makes my hair super soft and shiny and my color has stayed put for weeks now. It comes in a big ol' bottle and it lasts me for several months. It is so much less expensive than a big bottle of salon brand shampoo. Now don't get me wrong, I love my Big Sexy Hair Shampoo and Conditioner, but I don't have a salon near me right now to purchase it. So, I would say that this is probably the next best thing to the salon brands. 

Here is a link to Amazon where you can buy it, but I found it at my local Walmart.

This month has been a busy one for me!!! Between getting my blog up and running (thank you for reading me!) and adjusting to my hubby being home, and the baby is going through some crazy phases, and I'm going to this parenting class during the week, and about a hundred other things, I have sometimes been too busy/lazy to actually wash my hair. The longest I can go without washing my hair most weeks is one day and then i have to wash it again. So if I wash my hair on Monday, I have to wash it on Wednesday. But, with the miracle of a great dry shampoo, I can wait an extra day to wash my hair. And when I say wash my hair, that is all I mean, I shower everyday, but it being Canada, if I were to go outside with my hair all wet, it would literally freeze. Which means that every time I wash my hair, I have to blow dry it or not leave the hours for two hours. So, I take a shower, without getting my hair wet, and then I wash my face at the sink and that is that. But, my hair gets super oily when I don't wash my hair, so I use KMS make-over spray. I love this product. I am going to see if I can find one that I enjoy equally as much because it is quite expensive, as you can see here. I have found that my local Winners sells batiste at half price, so hopefully in February I will be able to find that again, but back to KMS. I love the way this spray smells, and what it does for my hair. It isn't thick or gross or too powdery. I just can't get enough of it. I will do an official review later, so come back next month and see what I have up! 

My next monthly favorite is my Elizabeth Arden Lip Balm. Years and years ago, my grandmother gave me this balm and I fell in love with it. it is very, very expensive, but in my opinion, well worth it. For me, it brings back a lot of good memories of learning how to put make-up on with my grandmother and how thoughtful she was at every chance. It is smooth and creamy and the consistence is beautiful. i just can't get enough of this balm. I'm really happy to have it back in my stash again. I will review all of my lipsticks, balm and glosses when I do my lipstick swatch post. Keep an eye out for it. You can find Elizabeth Arden at your local drugstore that sells beauty products. I found mine at Shopper's and you can buy it here as well. 

This past month I have really been trying to amp up the health factor in my family. We eat less sugar and more fruits and veggies, and we are no longer soda drinkers, and we have officially cut out artificial sweeteners from the entire house. There are many more things, but they are too numerous to list here.  Another thing I am doing for myself, is cutting caffine out of the equation. Don't get me wrong, I love coffee as much as the next girl, but it just wasn't good for my stomach or my skin. So, I needed a different sort of pick me up. I started doing my research and I found a natural way to increase blood flow in the morning and a great way to wake up is by taking natural vitamins. I take B100 vitamins every morning now. I make sure to take them on a full stomach and they don't make me sick or even slightly nauseous. And they work. I take fish oil for my skin and folic acid for my nails and hair and B100 to help give me that little extra boost in the morning. They are so beneficial for you and I absolutely love them. They feel so much more natural than drinking coffee and I don't crash afterwards. In Love. I bought them at Walmart, but you can find them where ever vitamins are sold. Or here. 

These last three things are not beauty related what-so-ever, but they are still my main attraction in their categories for this month. 

The first is J.R.Ward's Lover At Last. I read this book this month, actually I am still reading this book, I have been way busy, as I mentioned before, and I barely get time to read, but i am determined to finish this book. Look for my post on silly goals on the home page. You will see a list of silly goals I have for this year. Coming soon to a computer near you... Anyway, I love this series. If you are a fan of supernatural romance then you will love this series too. It is hardcore and sexy and funny and tear-jerking, and exciting and everything you could ever want from a book series. Mrs. Ward is an amazing author, who I was actually able to meet! Hopefully one day we will be able to meet again, but until then I will just revel in the amazing-ness of her books and devour all that I can. 

My video game for this month is Two Worlds. It is a horribly laggy and glitchy video game, but I am obsessed with it. it has a good story line and about a hundred thousand different quests. It does have some flaws which make it simultaneously the most annoying game I have ever played, but to beat it would be an accomplishment in and of itself. So, that is what game I am loving this month. 

These were my favorites for the month of January. I hope you liked them. And I hope you will look forward to my February favorites. I am trying a lot of new products in February, so come see me on March 1st and hopefully you will see something you like. If there is anything you want to see me test out, let me know and I will try my hardest. 

Warm wishes. 

Grooming Khaleesi

Hello guys,


Today I groomed my baby beast. She was a mess! So I trimmed her face and cleaned her tear stains and I use a coat whitening shampoo for her. This time I am only giving her a face trim and a good brush, but once a month I have to give her a full on haircut, and I use buzzers for that.

Today I will be brushing her, then trimming her face, and taking care of her tear stains.

First, I remove her collar.

Oh, so dirty.

 I use this fine bristled brush to brush by Hartz and fluff Khaleesi. And, this is silly, and may be irrelevant, but for some reason, I always blow on her when I brush her. It's subconscious really. I doubt it helps her dry faster when I do wash her, but I do it none-the-less.

I then rub Diamond Eye on her tear stains. I have found that this product works, but maybe you have found something different, let me know if you have found a tear stain remedy!

Then I take the time to really brush her all over and get her really fluffy.

Now comes the really fun part.

I use these small dog grooming shears to cut around her eyes and nose. I trim her eyebrows so she can see, and I trim out her mustache so that she doesn't have this giant muzzle and she can see clearly, and I carefully trim the top of her nose. She has freckles on her nose that I love to display because I think they are adorable. I trim just a tiny bit off the top of her head and then I am done. I brush her over again and then let her go shake. I follow her around for a bit making sure that her face and head is even and then she is free to go.

While doing this, I wear junk clothes because you do get wet and furry and tear-stained yuckiness falls on you. It's easier for me to just take off my junk clothes and put on some normal ones.

I also put her collar back on just in case she decides to bolt out the door.

I will be posting about how to clean a German Shepherd's ears and brush their teeth next week.

Hope you enjoyed this, and if you have any questions, let me know.

Here are all the links you need to purchase the items that I use.

My Brush was bought from Walmart: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Hartz-Living-Slicker-Brush-for-Dog/16900820

You can purchase Diamond Eye online, this is where we purchased ours from: http://www.entirelypets.com/diamondeye.html

The cotton swabs can be purchased at Walmart or any other toiletries supplier.

The scissors came from a ConairPro dog grooming kit. We purchased ours from PetValu, here is a link: http://www.conairpet.com/

Happy grooming!

Warm wishes.

A Daddy and Daughter Date

Hi everyone!

So Tuesday night my husband took my little girl to a spaghetti and meatballs dinner at our local family center. It was a very nice time and they both had so much fun. I just wanted to share with you what my husband wore so you can see how to dress casually, yet emanate a masculine simplicity and confidence. My husband doesn't dress all frilly and he doesn't have expensive taste. SO while this outfit is simple, I also think that it is a perfect outfit for when you want to look good without having to try. This is actually one of my favorite outfits on him for the summertime because it is simple, yet form fitting, and he can either hide or display his arm tattoos. He has an athletic, casual look that I think many dads could pull off and was appropriate for the situation. 

Shirt: Waffle Long Sleeve shirt from Superstore
Jeans: Guess Straight leg
Shoes: Crossfit Low support sneaker from Adidas
Watch: Ironman Timex

I know this was a short post, but there really isn't much to say when it comes to my husband's wardrobe. Some of these outfits will be really nice, and some will be a little more mild, like this one, but I think that he has a really versatile wardrobe that mixes simplicity with style. 

I hope you enjoyed this look, and if you want more or have any questions, let me know. 

Warm wishes.