Categories
Baby Life Reflections & Lifestyle

Product Review: Dr. Brown’s Baby Bottles

These bottles are advertised as “the best baby bottles.” I beg to differ.

These bottles have been nothing but trouble from the start in terms of leaks. And, BEFORE people comment that there is troubleshooting advice for that on the website; don’t bother –been there done that; the advice works as haphazardly as the bottles. Leaking was still an issue.

However, when they aren’t leaking I am happy to report that my son hasn’t suffered from colic (yet) so perhaps the leaky bottle issue is outweighed. Maybe the “anti-colic” promise from the maker is valid. BUT, then again that may not even be a result of the product but rather the baby (because he’s awesome!)

My recommendation is to try out a bunch of different bottle brands BEFORE committing to one. If you don’t experience leaks that is great but just be prepared for you and your baby to covered in formula or breast milk; regularly.

Categories
Writing Prompt Wednesdays

November Journal #1

Are you a sports fan? Do you watch or participate? Which sports?

I am not a sports fan at all. I was never raised to be and I only ever participated in volleyball and basketball at school and when I say school, I mean elementary school. The competition was too steep in high school and I was too intimidated to even try out. In elementary school no one was turned away; which is nice because you can learn some skills and try the sport out in a low stakes situation. I did the obligatory swimming lessons and I did enjoy my skating lessons. I never kept up with either of them’ too afraid of drowning (which is counter-intuitive because you think that would be the impetus to practice) and too afraid of falling and breaking a bone. These are two sports that my son is MOST DEFINITELY going to keep up with. In terms of watching sports; I only watch hockey when my husband puts on a game or we have friends over. But I love watching the Olympics both summer and winter and I watch whatever I can from them. I also enjoy the Calgary Stampede; the chuckwagon races in particular. When my husband and I first got together he was playing slo-pitch so I would go an watch him play. I am not a gambler but I do love participating in the March Madness pool or the Stanley Cup Playoff pool at work. I even won the March Madness pool once, but that was a total fluke. Technically, I won twice but COVID hit and I was the only paid entry so they deemed me the winner.

What about you? Comment below!

Prompt from: Piccadilly’s 200 Writing Prompts

Categories
Entertainment

October Book Club

I crushed a ton of books in September but I only managed to find time to read one book this month; but it was so good and I can’t wait until the third one comes out. This month I read…

A Murder Most French by Colleen Cambridge

In this novel, Tabitha must solve the murders of two chefs and the attempted murders of her beloved monsieur’s with the help of Julia Child. From the demonstration kitchen at Le Cordon Bleu to the catacombs under the city of Paris; Tabitha throws caution to the wind to bring a killer to justice.

Categories
Writing Prompt Wednesdays

October Journal #4

List 25 things you will never do!

  1. Cheat
  2. Quit my job
  3. Give up on love
  4. Like snakes
  5. Skydive
  6. Bungee jump
  7. Scuba dive
  8. Wear high heels again
  9. Be good at sports
  10. Be brave enough to eat alone at restaurants
  11. Reconcile with those who betrayed me
  12. Have a castle and Scotland
  13. Meet my literary idol
  14. Compromise my values
  15. Learn to drive stick
  16. Win an Academy Award
  17. Wear make up to work again
  18. Make assumptions about others
  19. Move back to BC
  20. See my dad again
  21. Take my friends for granted
  22. Put up with disrespect
  23. Waterski
  24. Stop reading or buying books
  25. Originally, I had “have kids” listed here but we were finally blessed with a baby in the summer so I guess I have to think of something else to add to the list

What about you? Comment below!

Prompt from: Piccadilly’s 200 Writing Prompts

Categories
Entertainment

Back to the Vault: Halloween How To

Considering that my “Guess Who” costume won the contest last year; I figured I would re-share in case you are looking for a winning costume this year. I am not dressing up this year; however, my little guy is going to be an dinosaur!

Halloween How To: Guess Who

Categories
Writing Prompt Wednesdays

October Journal #3

Imagine you were at your next high school reunion. How do you think your old-school friends would react to the person you are today?

I have never attended one of our high school reunions. This summer it would have been TWENTY years! I never had the inkling to go either. To be honest, I don’t even really keep up with anyone; I doubt they keep up with me. I had a few friends in high school, but we drifted apart or they moved while we were in high school. A lot of my friends or rather those who I thought were my friends came from Sea Cadets instead. I kept to myself pretty much in high school. I don’t know if anyone would really care too much or even give me a second thought at high school reunion. A very, very tiny shred of me would love for them to be impressed by me: teacher, wife, mother, business owner but I don’t really care about their opinion at all.

What about you? Comment below!

Prompt from: Piccadilly’s 200 Writing Prompts

Categories
Food & Drink

French Onion Meatballs

We only planted potatoes and onions this year and we got quite the crop so I am looking at integrating those into most of our meals. I saw this type of meal at Costco in the form of one of their ready-made section. So, I did some Googling and came across this recipe; we tried it and loved it.

French Onion Meatballs

Categories
Writing Prompt Wednesdays

October Journal #2

What does spring look like in your neighborhood?

Melted snow
Reveals the dead brown grass below
The in between stage
Finally earth starting to show

Temperatures unpredictable
More sunlight; moods more stable
Inching closer to gardening season
Takes so long; seems a fable

It is so very short; blink and you’ll miss it
Soon summer will come — pure bless
Oops! a spot of spontaneous winter
Then back to spring, how confusing is this!

Rest, Easter having fun
Kids will ask when school will be done
Fleeting quick
Then it is done

What about you? Comment below!

Prompt from: Piccadilly’s 200 Writing Prompts

Categories
Baby Life Reflections & Lifestyle

Product Review: Baby Brezza

When I first heard about this product I wanted one. I thought to myself: wow, this is gonna make my life easier. After unpacking it and reading the instructions I was immediately feeling regret —to the tune of $229. 

Not only does the manual not include the feeding chart, but the extra parts and the frequency in which they must be washed put me off.

As instructed I went to the website to find the chart; it was NOT readily available and I had to hunt it down. It’s a little scary to trust it because improperly made formula can make babies quite sick. 

There are 6 pieces that needed to be washed before starting and the funnel components must be washed after being used four times. I already spend an inordinate amount of time washing and sterilizing things —why am I taking on more?

This was definitely the case of being conned into thinking technology was better than simply pouring distilled water into a bottle and adding a scoopful of powdered formula into a bottle. We only serve our baby room temperature formula so why do I need a machine that can make room temperature formula as one of the settings.

The product is supposed to produce less bubbles in the mixing process but that isn’t enough to sway me. 

The adage of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” applies. Make the bottles yourself and if you want warmed formula you can easily pop it into a more reasonably priced bottle warmer. 

Also interesting to note I posted the machine on Marketplace and I have had zero interest… hmmm….

Categories
Writing Prompt Wednesdays

October Journal #1

You have been given $100 on the condition that you must spend it all on yourself. What will you do with your money?

BOOKS!

I would 100% buy a ton of books. Considering that the books I typically read (both paper or iBooks) are about $14-$18. I would actually end up with 5-7 books so perhaps “a ton” is a bit hyperbolic. Right now I’m devouring mystery book after mystery book; you can check out what I read at the end of each month in the archive section. It’s not surprising my go to books are mysteries since my favorite author is Agatha Christie. I read all of her novels, plays, stories but I’ve been able to find a few authors that can hold a candle to her. My too be read list is huge; just currently waiting for various release dates!

What about you? Comment below!

Prompt from: Piccadilly’s 200 Writing Prompts