First Time Mom and Losing It

Every year it never fails, my husband and I go overboard with the Christmas gifts. She is our only child so we tend to go a little crazy around the holidays. Even though she received a lot of gifts this year, there are only a select few that she still plays with on a consistent basis.


One of the Christmas toys I see my daughter take out at least once a day is the Lite Poppers. She always loved building and creating her own things so I knew she would love it. The lights on the Lite Poppers is a huge plus that keeps her entertained for a long time. My husband always loved building as a child too so it's nice to see them spending lots of quality time building. She is having fun creating and making stories with her new creations and I love that she is learning while she plays.

While playing with the Lite Poppers I know she is learning how to construct, problem solve and using fine motor skills. Looking at the colorful and easy to follow instructions also helps to start on math and reading skills. At first we built the models in the book together and then I let her go at it inventing her own models.


Lite Poppers is a construction toy with unique spherical pieces that click and pop together to create virtually anything you want. It comes with a rechargable LED base that lights up the pieces. It also comes with cute little characters that can interact with your creation to create a great story. The fun and colorful instructions, comic book and trading cards that also come with each kit gets the kids interested in reading too.


For more information on Lite Poppers and to find out how you can purchase your own, head on over to www.litepoppers.com.

*I received the product below free for my review. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be a good fit for my readers. All opinions are 100% my own.

Being on a ketogenic diet it is super important to drink lots of water. This is because "one molecule of glycogen usually attracts four molecules of water and as a result of it, when your body gets rid of glycogen, it also exerts water." (KetoDietApp.com). Every time I started a new diet I made it a habit to drink 8 glasses of water. Now that the I am on the ketogenic diet I know that I have to drink even more.


Drinking tons of water can get boring really fast. I am the type of person that needs my water to be super cold in order for me continue to drink throughout the day. I was always filling up my water bottle and leaving it out. As soon as the water was warm I would lose interest in drinking my water for the day. I would put it back in the fridge and then I'd forget about it all day. I would be stuck at the end of the day without getting my daily requirement in.


The answer to my water problems came when I got the Stainless Steel Tumbler by VALRO. It holds 30 ounces of water so all I have to do is fill it up 3 times to get 90 ounces of daily water in. The double wall vacuum insulation keeps my water super icy cold all day. I add some ice in the morning to make it even colder and the ice is still there when I empty it out to pop in the dishwasher at night.


I love the that Valro comes with a stainless steel straw, straw cleaning brush, and air tight splash proof sliding lid. The materials it is made from keeps bacteria at bay and is eco-friendly. The Valro can also be used for hot drinks like coffee and will keep it hot for up to 6 hours.

You can check it out on Amazon to get your own.

I have always had uneven and dry nail plates that always peeled. I would always use those big box nail buffers that were hard to use and too rough. I also tried to skip the buffers and go to nail ridge polish but it didn't make my nails look smooth enough so back to the buffers it was.

I was excited to try the Acoco Electric Nail Polisher, not only was it electric but the buffers were small enough to go evenly on the nail plate. It was easy to install the AA batteries and with one button that goes up and down for left and right it was super easy to use. I love that you get three different rollers so that it does all of the work in one tool.


The grey roller is great to shape your nails and to smooth out any deep ridges in the nail plate. The green roller buffs out any unevenness to the nail plate. The pink roller beautifully polishes the nail plate so that it looks like you used clear nail polish.

Three Steps to Get Shiny Nails
1. Use the included Gray roller insert to file your nails to your desired shape
Although you can file your nails to any shape as you wish, we do suggest a square shape for your nails to help all your nails keep a more beautiful shape and its growth
2. Use the included Green roller insert to smoothen the surface of your nails, and prepare for polishing. But take care not to buff your nails over 20s, or make your nails too thin
3. Use the included pink roller insert to polish your nails, and provide a natural looking shine, this step can be repeated until you achieve your favorite shiny level 

You can order your own Acoco Electric Nail Polisher on Amazon. 

*I received the product below free for my review. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be a good fit for my readers. All opinions are 100% my own.


Now that I am down 65 pounds I have a lot more confidence and go out a lot more. My hair is long so I used to always keep it in a bun. Now that I like to go out and dress up I have been straightening my naturally frizzy and wavy hair. I have used so many different hair tools to straighten it and a flat iron is by far the best way to get it the sleekest.


The Diamond Hair Styler by Irresistible Me had every single feature that I wanted in a straightener and more. First of all I like how small and light the tourmaline hair straightener is. It is thin enough that I can wrap it around my hair pieces to curl the ends under or to even make springy curls like with a curling iron. I love that it heats up in only 15 seconds! I will usually do my hair and makeup when my daughter is napping so this is perfect for me.



By far the best feature of the Diamond Hair Styler is how smoothly it glides through my hair. Every other styling tool I have used before, my hair would get caught and I could feel pieces of hair breaking. That didn't happen at all with the Diamond Hair Styler.  The infra-red heat is made by the
tourmaline infused ceramic floating plates that are coated with crushed diamonds. This makes it healthier for hair than regular heat.



It was so easy to use and it worked really quickly on my long hair. I didn't burn myself at all or feel that it was too hot. It left my hair super soft and super shiny.


Irresistible Me is an amazing Hair Company that sells hair extensions, hair accessories and hair tools. Check out what they have to offer at www.irresistibleme.com.

**I received the product below free for my review. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be a good fit for my readers. All opinions are 100% my own.


The Taylor Bluetooth Body Fat Smart Scale has to be the coolest scale I have ever used. I have reviewed countless scales and the Taylor is the one that has every feature that I have wanted in a scale. When using the scale you first set up a profile with a free app called SmarTrack that you just download onto you smartphone. You put in all of your statistics like age, height, activity level, etc. According to your weight it will tell you how many calories you can eat to maintain the weight. Once you lose weight it lowers your calories needed. By just eating less then the calories recommended it is a great start towards the path to weight loss.


After you create your profile with the app you then set up your smartphone to get paired with the bluetooth on the scale. After you are all set up your weight and other stats will be automatically sent to your phone. Before having a smart scale I was always writing down my weekly weight on pieces of paper that I always lost. This is the perfect way to keep track of weekly weigh-ins especially if you are on a long weight loss journey like me.

Not only does it have a great app that keeps track of your information, bluetooth capabilities to automatically send data, but it is also a Body Fat scale. It tracks your weight, body fat, body water and muscle mass. I feel that it is important to track more than just a weight number. Sometimes you won't have a good scale number even though you worked hard so seeing a change in fat or muscle percentage can definitely keep you on track.


I like to keep track of what I eat with the myfitnesspal app so I love that you can connect it to the Taylor Bluetooth Body Fat Smart Scale. It's great to be able to keep all of my stats in one place so that I can quickly look at things an adjust them if I have to. The scale can also connect to the RunKeeper and mapmyfitness apps.

Click on the link to learn more about the Taylor Bluetooth Body Fat Smart Scale and purchase one for yourself on Amazon.

**I received the product below free for my review. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be a good fit for my readers. All opinions are 100% my own.


I do yoga at least once a week and usually on Sundays. I do the very basic yoga poses and watch YouTube beginner videos when I do it. I also use yoga blocks to help when I don't have a long enough reach or need help with stability. It really helps me relax and is a nice change from cardio or my walking exercise.

I have been wanting to improve on my stability so it was the perfect opportunity to review the Clever Yoga Balance Pad. It is a large and super thick pad that can help with your balance, core muscles, yoga training and advanced yoga training.

I first used it by sitting on the pad with my legs crossed. It felt really nice to just sit on it with my back straight while I closed my eyes and meditated. It took a little bit of core muscle to be able to sit straight. Then I started using it to help with my balance and stability. I used the following video and worked on the different exercises little by little.


I have been doing this video a few times a week for three weeks and have noticed a difference in my balance. I am usually a clumsy person and have noticed that I haven't tripped or lost my balance once. This helps when I constantly have to catch myself from falling with all the little toys my toddler leaves on the floor.

Now that I am comfortable doing the first video I will be incorporating some of the steps and moves shown in the following video. I have also started using it as a knee pad when I have to do certain exercises that require you to be on your knees for a long period.

**I received the product below free for my review. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be a good fit for my readers. All opinions are 100% my own.


I remember as soon as I became pregnant with my daughter I started the research on baby products. I also got advice and asked about experiences with every mom I knew. Car Seats and Strollers was on my husbands and I most important list so we took months to pick one. I did like the car seat we got and my daughter fit in it so comfortably and safely but after she quickly hit the max height it was time to switch. I was left with a car seat and stroller (I got the stroller where you click in the car seat) that I couldn't use. I did donate them to a friend in need but I did wish I could have made a wiser choice to be able to use it longer.


This is why I am so in love with our new car seat, the Evenflo Platinum Evolve 3-in-1 Combination Seat. It goes from 22 to 110 pounds. It has three different phases that easily transforms. You have the first phase which is a front facing high back harness booster, the second phase which is a high back booster and the final stage which is a no back booster. I was so happy to see that the Evenflo Platinum Evolve 3-in-1 Combination Seat was fully assembled and all I had to do was pull it out of the box. Their SureSafe installation made it so easy to install into our car with quick Connectors and Latch Guides. I can not tell you how long it was for us to install our first car seat. My husband and brother-in-law took like an hour with watching YouTube videos to be able to install it. I was proud that my husband installed this one quickly without any extra help.


As soon as I put my daughter into the 3-in-1 Combination Seat she was super comfortable. OUTLAST® Performance Fabric keeps her cooler when it's hot and warmer when it's cold. I was so surprised that she wasn't sweaty at all when we drove to the park in almost 90 degree weather. The top side head rests keeps her head upright whenever she takes a naps. That is a super plus for my husband and I who dreaded her naps in the car with a flopping head. Now we welcome those restful naps after a long car ride. My toddler loves the dual cup holders because she feels like a big girl because she can get her water bottle herself whenever she wants a sip. She uses the other cup holder to hold her favorite little princesses.





I love that this is the last car seat we have to buy for her and will confidently use is as she grows. Click on the link find out more features about the Evenflo Platinum Evolve 3-in-1 Combination Seat and purchase it at Babies R Us.

Evenflo® is taking extended use and comfort to the next level with the introduction of the Evenflo Platinum Evolve 3-in-1 Combination Seat. Visit Evenflo.com for more information.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Evenflo®. The opinions and text are all mine.

**I received the product below free for my review. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be a good fit for my readers. All opinions are 100% my own.


If you are looking for fun, great quality and educational toys for your kids you have to check out the HABA brand. Last month I got to view a selection of their amazing toys for babies up to 8+ years. I was so excited when I got contacted to review some of their toys that I jumped at the opportunity.

HABA is a wood manufacturing company best known for their amazing wooden toys. They are expanding their toy catalog to plush and even textile toys that are all brilliantly made. I love that most of their toys have some kind of education aspect to it.


My daughter got to try out the Dress-Up Doll Lilli Magnetic Game. It comes with a metal container, 4 background scenes and 54 magnetic pieces that include clothes, hairstyles, accessories and even some cute little pets.


I love that you can put the scenes right into the back of the tin and the doll and clothes stick right onto it. This makes it perfect for those long car rides we take with her. I love how she just picks the background and chooses the right clothes. Her favorite is the school background where she puts the perfect school outfit on and accessories Lilli with books and eyeglasses. Since the pieces are made out of magnets it is very durable and can make it through the hundreds of dress changes my daughter loves to make. I also love how all the pieces get stored right back into the tin when she is finished playing with them.



We also got to play with the Butterfly Threading Game. It comes with a huge colorful butterfly that is made out of thick wood.


It is extremely durable so I know my daughter will get lots of years out of this one. It also comes with 3 threads, 42 tiles and 2 double sided templates. My daughter loved all of the pieces that came with it and had fun playing with and stacking up the tiles.


I took the opportunity to go over the colors and shapes with her while she was playing. Then I showed her how to thread the tiles onto the string. She had fun doing that for a while and then I showed her how to add the tiles to the butterfly. I had her pick a template and helped her put the tiles on. She had so much fun playing with it and I had so much fun teaching her how to add the tiles.



HABA has so many more amazing toys and I will definitely be shopping around their website often. Their products are also available at major retailers too.

Which HABA toy is your favorite? 

**I received the product below free for my review. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be a good fit for my readers. All opinions are 100% my own.


Now that I am in my mid thirties I have tons of fine lines and wrinkles on my forehead. It really didn't help that in my teen years and twenties I never took care of my skin or used any facial moisturizer. With so many great products out there I am trying to reverse the damage that I did to my skin so I am up for trying all kinds of creams and serums.

I got to try another serum called Xanadu 24K Gold Serum. Yes it does have beautiful specs of gold in the bottle. The bottle is absolutely gorgeous and I love how easy it is to pump out the serum onto your palms to apply. It is said to "moisturize, reduce the appearance of wrinkles, even skin tone, repair sun damage, and give you a golden youthful glow.


The Xanadu 24K Gold Serum has:

• 24K Gold.
• Vitamin C - which helps to brighten the skin and help with wrinkles and dark spots.
• Vitamin E - which helps to moisturize and heal.
• Rose Extract - which helps smooth out skin and makes the serum smell really nice
• + other ingredients to support your skin's own collagen, supply energy to your skin cells and much more.