Life as Leels

Happy Dance for LEGO® KidsFest 2013

Leila — Thu, 23 May 2013 05:52:50 +0000

Let me tell you – as a 30 year old, I remember LEGO® bricks when I was young. Hubby remembers playing with LEGO® bricks when he was young. While Buggy never really got into them, Buddy definitely got into LEGO® bricks (and he’s only 5!)

When I was provided the opportunity to not only attend LEGO® KidsFest 2013 here in Phoenix, but to give away a pair of tickets to one of my readers – you bet I jumped at the opportunity!

LEGO® KidsFest 2013 is coming to Phoenix in July; San Francisco Bay Area at the end of August/beginning of September; Portland in October; and New England in December (you can find out about past and upcoming events here).

My family and I will be attending the Phoenix event and at this point, I’m not sure who is more excited – me or hubby! I haven’t told the kids as I really want to surprise Buddy! I cannot wait to see his expression (and be sure to follow me on Facebook so that you can catch a pic of his face when we get there as I capture his excitement and surprise on camera!)

One thing I need to note, the event (any of the events) can sell out in all promotions at any time so it is wise to purchase your tickets in advance online.

If you’d rather wait and try your luck, I will be providing my readers a special savings code to purchase tickets AND I will be giving away a set of tickets (two tickets) to the Phoenix event opening night session on Friday, July 12th from 4pm to 8:30pm (the same night my family and I will be there so I would love to meet my winner!)

If you’d like to get a head start on the giveaway, you can by following LEGO® on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Be sure to check back often to follow updates on the LEGO® KidsFest 2013 updates, savings, and of course, the giveaway!

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Pains of Working in an Office

Leila — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:02:00 +0000

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of American Osteopathic Association for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I spend a lot of time sitting at a desk. If I'm home and blogging, I'm usually sitting at a desk – some days, longer periods of times than others (which is roughly four days a week). The other three days of the week, I work as an office manager outside of the home which requires desk work (and then go home and sit at a desk if blog work needs to be done). I easily average 6-8 hours of desk time a day – every day.

It is no wonder that my tail bone and back usually end up hurting at the end of the day and that I experience chronic pain.

I am a diligent worker which means I want my work done as fast as possible. But that also means I may not get up from the desk to stretch as often as I should because I want to complete my work and lessen my load for the next day.

If I am at work, the only times I will get up from my desk is to speak to my boss. I don't even take bathroom breaks because I want to work through. And lunch hour? Usually spent at my desk working.

According to the American Osteopathic Association, more than 70% of workers sit at a desk for 5+ hours a day. And I'm one of them!

Rob Danoff, DO, an American Osteopathic Association board-certified family physician has created a short video to Break Through Your Pain.

The video is short (one minute and ten seconds) and provides two very easy, very quick stretches that can be done while sitting at your desk. They are literally stretches that would take seconds to complete and help you feel better and your body feel better. I know in just the short time I gave them a try, I could feel my back loosen up almost immediately.

We need to remember to take time out for ourselves and take care of ourselves. I know for me, I'm going to remind myself to get up and walk around at least every hour and do the two stretches that Rob Danoff showed in the video to keep my back loose and hopefully end this pain that I experience!

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Get Dad a T3 Tactical Auto Rescue Tool for Father’s Day!

Leila — Fri, 17 May 2013 04:01:05 +0000

Hubby and I had just been discussing pocket knives. I have always wanted a pink one and had finally found one I liked that also had the window punch. We were my purchase of said pocket knife when I was provided an offer to review the T3 Tactical Auto Rescue Tool. With Father’s Day coming up, I knew this would be the perfect gift for hubby!

I have to admit, I was super excited to give this to hubby. And clearly, in order for me to share my excitement with you – I had to give it to hubby before Father’s Day.

The T3 Tactical Auto Rescue Tool is four tools in one – a knife, a seat belt cutter, a light and a spring loaded window punch. The knife blade is 3 1/4″ with the entire thing only being 5″. If you ask me – it is the perfect size. It fit nicely into my hands and my hands are smaller than hubbies.

The overall weight is 6.4 ounces. Initially, I personally thought it was heavy, but then I thought if I can’t get the knife open fast enough and someone was approaching me, the weight is enough that combined with my striking force, would make a good tool to hit someone with.

Now, if they would only make it in pink for us women. (Hint, hint!)

The T3 Tactical Auto Rescue Tool has a spring loaded steel tip window punch; a 440C stainless steel hook blade for seat belt cutting; a LED light with replaceable batteries (that stays one with one click so you don’t have to hold the button down to keep the light on); 1/2 serrated 440C stainless steel blade; and stainless steel belt clip and heavy duty nylon belt sheath (sorry, hubby forgot to get a picture of the case that came with it!)

Hubby’s Dislikes:

While not really a dislike, but more of a suggestion; hubby thought that the frame should have been lowered where the tabs are to pull out the knife and seat belt cutter. He felt like he couldn’t swipe his thumb against the tabs well enough to open the blades swiftly. Additionally, he suggested making the thumb tabs bigger and/or on both sides.

The tolerance between the blade and the lock was… off. I noticed this as well. Apparently, when you open the blade, it should lock into position. It took me three times to get the blade to lock. I had to make a conscious effort to bring the blade back as far as it would go to ensure it locked in place.

Hubby’s Likes:

Hubby liked that it is a durable knife and that the metal of the blades is very strong.

He likes the convenience of 4 tools in 1. He said it will come in handy in any emergency himself or someone else may be in.

He thought is was user friendly and looks great.

He really liked that the spring loaded window punch is reuseable. He was worried that because it was spring loaded it would be a one time use. Fortunately, it can be reused over and over again.

Lastly, he liked that the pouch could be worn on a belt vertically or horizontally so it lined itself with the belt.

Overall, he really liked this tool and as I mentioned earlier, if it came in pink, I would be the first in line to purchase it for myself as I think this would be a great product for women, but until I see pink, I’ll continue to recommend it for hubby and his male family members!

Looking for a great #FathersDay #gift? How about 4 tools in 1 with a T3 Tactical Auto Rescue Tool from @statgear? bit.ly/14xtLJA

— Leila (@LifeasLeels) May 17, 2013

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Homemade Fried Pickles

Leila — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:01:45 +0000

For some reason, hubby and I have had a hankering for fried pickles. We had never tried them and while hubby wanted to make them at home, we decided we would go out and try them at a restaurant first.

Unfortunately, not many places carry fried pickles.

Fortunately, we found one place that did.

The restaurant we went to used pickle spears which, while they were yummy, hubby complained of the difficulty biting through the pickle skin. So when it was his turn to make them at home, he used the dill pickle chips and I have to say – they were bite sized and delicious!

Ingredients:

Hamburger Dill Chips (pickles)
Juice from pickle jar
Dill weed
Lemon Pepper
Eggs
Milk
Flour

You will need to make a wet mix and a dry mix for the batter.

Wet Mix:

2 eggs
A splash of milk
1/2 tsp dill weed
A splash of pickle juice

Dry Mix:

Approximately 2 cups White flour
1 tsp dill weed
2 tsps lemon pepper

Dip the pickle chips into the dry mix, wet mix, and dry mix again, so you are coating the pickle three times.
Place on a plate or sheet pan and place into the fridge for 30 minutes. This will help keep the batter on the pickle when you fry them.
Heat your oil to 375*
Fry the pickles, turning half way.

Remove pickles from oil when they become lightly brown.
Place on paper towel to remove excess oil.
Let cool and enjoy!

If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to Pin It or Tweet to your followers!

#Homemade fried pickles from the @lifeasleels kitchen! bit.ly/12wc3pC

— Leila (@LifeasLeels) May 16, 2013

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The Guide to Baby Sleep Positions {Book Review}

Leila — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:01:19 +0000

Disclosure: I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are 100% my own.

When Buggy was born, I had never heard of co-sleeping or bed-sharing. When Buddy was born, co-sleeping was all the fad with baby sleeping in bed with you. If you have read my Co-Sleeping vs Bed-Sharing post, you know that now days, there is a difference. Co-sleeping is having baby next to the bed in their own sleeper (playpen, arms reach co-sleeper, crib, etc.) and bed-sharing is baby actually sleeping in bed with you.

Buggy and Buddy didn’t co-sleep or bed-share, but there are always those times when a kid sneaks into your bed in the middle of the night for one reason or another. In our case, Buddy tended to be the sneaker and this book definitely represents him! (Fortunately Lil Miss is still too young too move much, but I’ll be picking out her sleep positions once she gets more mobile!)

Anyone who has tried to sleep with a baby is probably familiar with “The Snow Angel,” “The Booby Trap,” and “The Roundhouse Kick”; they’ve experienced these sleep positions even if they didn’t know their official names. Now, with The Guide to Baby Sleep Positions, new parents can identify exactly which bedtime contortions they’ve already mastered and perhaps preview some positions that baby hasn’t tried yet.

My Thoughts:

The Guide to Baby Sleep Positions: Survival Tips for Co-Sleeping Parents is a humorous book for all parents!

It’s not quite a book you “read” per se, it’s more of a picture book for parents!

The book includes one page with the sleep position name, a summary of said sleep position, the side effects of said sleep position, tips, the difficulty of said sleep position, and a check box system for when your sleeper has mastered, in progress, or occurred said sleep position. On the opposite page is a picture of said sleep position in case you are visual learner!

I got a good chuckle out of this book and found Buddy’s “mastered” sleep position:

Buddy has mastered this one so well, he could teach others!

This book really is a great gift for new or expecting parents! (It would work for Mother’s/Father’s Day too!) It really is a good humored book that every parent should own! (It makes a great coffee table book for company and as a conversation starter!)

About The Authors:
Andy Herald and Charlie Capen are the talented dads behind the growing entertainment website HowToBeADad.com. Andy is a graphic designer and Charlie is an actor; together, they crank out a humorous stream of “anti-instructional” parenting content in the form of info-graphics, spoofy product ideas, and hilarious videos. All of their posts generate hundreds of “shares” across social media, but the Baby Sleep Positions stand out for garnering the biggest buzz.

Buy the Book:

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Motherhood Then vs Motherhood Now

Leila — Tue, 14 May 2013 04:01:07 +0000

I like to catch up on current events by browsing the headlines on the internet. I try not to watch the news or read too many stories because they’re usually negative and let’s face it – who needs that negativity.

Today, I happened to stumble across a headline that read 5 Ways Motherhood Has Changed. Of course, I had to read it. And after reading it, had to share my thoughts.

Per the article, the #1 way motherhood has changed:

More moms work outside the home…

Yeah, I believe that. I remember growing up, my mom worked from home quite a bit or did daycare from the home. She stopped working when my twin sisters were born and didn’t go back to working outside the home until we were all back in school.

I am a work out of the home mother. Unfortunately, that is the only way for us to afford life.

… But they also spend more time with their kids

Now that is one I think I’ll keep in my back pocket for those who criticize us moms who work outside the home, but I think it has to do more with fathers than it does mothers. I think moms have always spent more time with their kids.

Back in the day – that was the mother’s job. To raise the kids and keep house. “Stay at home dad” wasn’t really a thing when I was growing up. Fortunately, I am happy to say that there are a lot more stay at home dads now and that is fabulous! It’s great that the stereotype is going away and that parents are able to overcome those labels and do what works best for them and their families.

Most people like moms more now …

I guess I never really thought of this because I haven’t lived in a time where there was that separation of genders, but I can see it.

Back in time, women were to stay home and raise the kids and keep house. Then there was the time when women who stayed home to raise the kids were freeloading off of their husbands and spending all their money. Now days, I think people really respect what a mother does. We aren’t just mothers – we are several things that include, but are clearly not limited to taxi driver, chef, teacher, and caretaker. Mothers are important too!

… Except other moms

If you are a mother in today’s society you know this to be true more than ever!

Moms are constantly judging other moms.

Breastfeeding is best. Cloth diapering is better. Don’t circumcise. Co-sleeping isn’t healthy. Don’t let them have a paci.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I have never heard such cattiness until I became a mother. It’s ridiculous. Instead of supporting each other in a time when we could really use friendship and support, you find mothers tearing down mothers. It is appalling. Really.

I think for the most part, the changes have been positive, but their is still room for growth and I think that one area of growth really needs to be moms supporting moms.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the topic! Feel free to share them in the comments with us!

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Children Medicine Safety

Leila — Mon, 13 May 2013 04:01:05 +0000

In 2008, six weeks after having Buddy, I went to my in law’s house with both kids. My mother in law was going to watch Buggy for me so that I could take Buddy with me to my six week post partum check.

Unfortunately, I didn’t make it.

While waiting to leave for my appointment, Buggy came up and indicated she had eaten something off the floor. My mother in law saw something small, round and white.

My mother in law is diabetic and takes medication to help control it. Our first thought? Buggy had eaten a pill that might have accidentally dropped on the floor.

We didn’t hesitate. We contacted Poison Control immediately (1-800-222-1222) and informed them we thought my 29 month old had taken one of grandma’s diabetic medications.

Poison Control advised us to take her to the hospital and asked which hospital we would be going to – they called and alerted them we were on our way.

We had to spend the night for observation and took precautionary measures to ensure there was no decline in her blood sugar, but fortunately, she was fine. To this day (5 years later) we still are not 100% sure if she took a pill or not and frankly, we will never know, but it is better to be safe than sorry. (And I must add that Poison Control was amazing! They called a few days later to check on my daughter and make sure she was okay! They are now on my speed dial on my cell phone!)

Children and medicine can be a very scary mixture. After working several years in residential settings with safety measures and being a mother, here are a few tips for children medicine safety:

Keep medicine out of reach of children. Some of you may be saying to yourself, “well, duh”. Yeah, duh, until your child becomes a monkey and figures out where you keep the medicine and can move furniture to retrieve said medicine if they are so inclined. I keep medicines in three locations in my home – on the very top shelf in a hallway cupboard; on the top shelf in a kitchen cupboard; and locked up in a lockbox on top of the fridge in the kitchen.

Keep the childproof caps on the medication. Shoot, even I have trouble with some of those caps! And if your child can open them, at least it buys a little bit of time rather than just pulling off or twisting off a cap.

Med sheets help if kids are taking medication. When our kids get sick and need medication, I like to print off a med sheet for hubby and I to keep track on. Or even a slip of paper that says what medication they took and at what time. It helps make sure that there isn’t an accidental overdose in case of miscommunication.

Properly store medication. If it needs to be cold, keep it cold. If it needs to be room temperature, keep it room temperature. Altering the temperature of a medication will affect how it works.

Properly dispose of expired medications. Call your pharmacy or doctor’s office on how to properly dispose of medication and be sure that whatever that disposal method is – the children cannot get to it!

Follow the instructions provided, including the dosing instructions. If it’s an antiobiotic that says take for ten days, take it for ten days. Not following the directions as prescribed can have an adverse affect.

Before combining medications, ask the doctor or pharmacy if it is okay to combine medicines. Some medications have reactions to other medications. Make sure before giving two or medications within the same 24 hours that it is okay to mix them.

If you have even a slight suspicion, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222. With children, you can never be too sure and it’s better to be safe than sorry.

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A Book for New Babies: Newborn Necessities

Leila — Sun, 12 May 2013 04:01:44 +0000

Disclosure: I was provided a copy of Newborn Necessities in exchange for this review. All opinions are 100% my own.

With the birth of Lil Miss, they had us keep track of when she ate, how much she ate, when she dirtied her diaper and by which means she dirtied her diaper.

They had us do the same thing with the prior to deliveries and had I actually been packed and prepared for my scheduled c-section, I probably would have remembered to bring the book. Unfortunately, because Lil Miss decided to join us a few days early, I was sorely unprepared and forgot the book so I wasn’t able to use it at the hospital, but have used it since coming home.

Are you a new or expecting parent? Do you know someone who is? If so, this book is for you. There are many items you will need to get ready for your baby, and Newborn Necessities is one of those things. As soon as your baby is born, your doctor, midwife, nurse, and/or pediatrician will ask you to keep track of his or her feedings and diaper changes. Make it easier on yourself by writing it down. Using the charts provided in Newborn Necessities will help eliminate common feelings of stress and anxiety associated with, When did I last feed the baby? Is he/she eating enough? When was their last bowel movement? This book is designed for parents by parents. It is intended to make your journey into parenthood a little bit easier by providing you with easy-to-use charts to document this information. It is a quick, compact, and easy-to-understand way to chart this information, thus leaving you more time to spend with your baby and catch up on your sleep! Jennifer Cigale lives in Boca Raton, Florida, with her spouse and two children. As a new mother, she developed these charts for her own use and was soon sharing them with friends and family who were also starting families. She holds a master’s degree in Occupational Therapy and has used her education and training as an occupational therapist to identify problems and develop working solutions for her patients.

The book is divided into two halves:

Feeding Facts

The feeding facts work for breast fed or bottle fed babies.

The chart is set up to write down the time you start feeding, how many minutes they spent at the breast or how many ounces they ate from the bottle, plus a place to put comments (maybe a comment on which breast you started nursing on first to help remind you for the next feeding).

Diaper Facts

The diaper facts allow you to keep track of dirty diapers.

The chart is set up for the time of the dirty diaper, along with a box for pee or poo, and any comments.

This book not only comes in handy those first few weeks of a newborns life when trying to ensure baby is getting enough to eat, but it also comes in handy when baby is sick.

With two big siblings (one of them school aged), Lil Miss caught her first cold within her first month. I was worried about dehydration (as I always am with any of my children getting sick) and was able to keep track of her eating habits and diapering habits to ensure she was staying hydrated.

Another bonus with this book is that we were able to keep track of her bowel patterns. She has had an issue with only going poo every four to six days so I was able to keep an accurate record of when her bowel movements were and noted the consistency in the comments. I was able to bring the book into her pediatrician’s office to show the doctor her bowel pattern and help determine if there was a problem (which fortunately there wasn’t and she now goes every other day or every other two days – yes, I know, TMI, but if you’re a parent, you get it!)

This is definitely a “baby shower gift” go-to for any parent whether new or experienced. You can purchase Newborn Necessities on Amazon for a great price and any gift recipient will thank you for this handy tool!

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Johnson & Johnson For All You Love

Leila — Fri, 10 May 2013 04:01:03 +0000

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of The Motherhood. All opinions and thoughts are 100% my own.

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, Johnson & Johnson is doing a campaign that celebrates selfless and unconditional caring of caregivers, including moms, and all the ways they care for those they love.

As part of this campaign, recognizing their commitment to the health and well-being of moms and kids worldwide, Johnson & Johnson is also planning to donate $25,000 this Mother’s Day to Save the Children®.

If you are a reader of my blog, you know that I am a mother to three beautiful children. So of course, I give selfless, unconditional love and caring every day to my babies.

I was also a caretaker once upon a time.

I did residential care for adults with developmental disabilities, juveniles who were removed from their homes and placed in residential care, and adults with severe mental illness and addiction.

I am full of love and caring for others.

With Mother’s Day around the corner, I wanted to share a special love for a special person.

My Grandma…

Growing up, I spent a lot of time with my grandparents. If I didn’t have school, chances are, you would find me at my grandparent’s house or on the road with them visiting their cabin up north or family in Wisconsin. No joke. I think I spent the night at their home nearly every weekend. And in the summertime, I would go on trips with them. I was always with them.

My grandparents gave me selfless, unconditional love. And with my grandfather’s suicide four years ago, I find myself wanting to return the selfless and unconditional love my grandma showed me.

It is hard being 1700 miles away. It definitely makes relationships harder, but I try to keep in touch with my grandma via text, cards and letters. I send her pictures of the kids. I have invited her to stay with us in Arizona. If something were to happen to her, I would be by her side as fast as travel would allow me.

My grandma holds a very special place near and dear to my heart. I was fortunate enough to spend Mother’s Day with her in 2009 when my grandfather passed and I cannot wait to plan a trip to spend Mother’s Day with her again in the near future.

She has always provided her grandchildren (and great-grandchildren) with selfless, unconditional love and I only wish that we could be closer today and every day of the year.

In celebration of Mother’s Day this year, JOHNSON’S® Baby has established JOHNSON’S® Baby CARES Care Cards, a digital e-card platform encouraging moms to share positive messages of encouragement with other moms across the country, while simultaneously supporting Save the Children®.

You can help, too!

Simply pick and share a card filled with messages of reassurance for a Mom in your life on Facebook at www.johnsonsbabycares.com. For every card sent, shared or liked, JOHNSON’S® Baby will donate $1.00 to Save the Children® (up to $150,000) to benefit early childhood education programs that foster education and reassurance for new moms. These cards will not only spread encouragement to Moms throughout the country but will also provide Moms in need with the skills and knowledge to successfully support their child’s growth.

Who would you send a card to? I will be sending one to my grandma!

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Pizza Lasagna

Leila — Thu, 09 May 2013 05:21:27 +0000

Lately, hubby has been scouring the website for new recipes.

He found one that was floating around Facebook that was rotini pasta made with pizza ingredients.

We tried it. It was… “okay”. It didn’t quite have the taste that I was looking for so I made a few adaptions and created a pizza lasagna that was so delicious, I have been eating leftovers for days (which sadly is rare for me!)

(Forgive the not-so-great picture. Lasagna does NOT photograph well!)

Ingredients:

Lasagna noodles (I purchased a box of the non-boil ones)
1 lb sausage or Italian sausage
42 ounces of pizza sauce (give or take; I made mine with roughly 49 ounces and I found it to be too saucy)
32 ounces of cottage cheese
2 – 2 1/4 ounce cans of sliced black olives, drained (optional)
1 – 4 ounce can of mushrooms, drained (optional)
24 ounces of shredded mozzarella cheese
6 ounce package of sliced pepperoni

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a 9 x 13 pan.
If you are using sausage; brown sausage and drain.
Mix together pizza sauce, cottage cheese, sausage, olives and mushrooms.
Pour a thin layer of the sauce mixture on the bottom of the pan and top with a layer of lasagna noodles.
On top of the lasagna noodles, spread a decent layer of the sauce mixture.
Top the sauce mixture with pepperoni.
Top the pepperoni with mozzarella cheese.
Lay a second layer of lasagna noodles.
On top of the lasagna noodles, spread a decent layer of the sauce mixture.
Top the sauce mixture with pepperoni.
Top the pepperoni with mozzarella cheese.
Continue layering until you run out of noodles or you are content with the amount of layers you have. (I had two layers of noodles before running out and it was still good. Be sure to end with the mozzarella cheese layer being the last layer.)
Put in oven and cook for approximately 30 minutes.
Let cool and enjoy!

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