Ramblings-n-Writings » helpful posts/products

Review: Baby bathtubs

Kara_S — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 01:23:02 +0000

Baby bathtubs. Who knew they could be so different?

We are on our 2nd bathtub for the twins. No, they didn’t wear the first one out. I just found it increasingly difficult to bathe the girls as they got bigger and more active in the tub.

The First Years Sure Comfort Newborn-to-Toddler Tub

I really liked this tub when the girls were newborns up until about 4 months old.

The sling was perfect for introducing the girls to water baths instead of sponge baths. The sling attaches easily to the tub and is simple to remove for cleaning – throw in the washing machine for a thorough cleaning. The sling fits around the baby nicely to keep her/him from tipping to one side or the other. With adjustable straps, the sling lowers for the baby to sit low enough in the tub to get used to the bump.

Once our girls were too big for the sling, they loved to kick and splash in the water. The slope of the infant side of the tub is ideal for little ones to lay back and be able to move their legs. (I’m beginning to think that LG is part frog or a future Olympic swimmer!)

However, after about 4 months, the girls really got active and I found myself constantly holding one hand on their stomachs to prevent them from sliding down in the water. If you ever tried to bathe a baby, sometimes you just need two hands – one to hold a little hand while you wash under a arm – but with The First Years tub, this was a challenge.

To me, the bump is misplaced or not high enough and fails to keep their backside in place. The other side of the tub, not sloped, is probably great but it was too straight for my girls to sit in at 4 months old.

Another plus for this tub is that it fits perfectly across a double kitchen sink. Our counter space wasn’t ideal for putting the tub on the counter so I was very pleased with how securely this tub fit in the sink.

Fisher Price 3-Stage Aquarium Bath Tub

The best thing I can say about this tub is that I love it! The shape and contour of the tub seems very fitting for infants.

Since the girls were older when we started using this tub, we did not use the sling. I’m not even sure how it attaches. And I’ve only ever used the tub in the bathtub, but it does have the insets on the bottom for use in a sink.

The water temperature thermometer on the bottom of the tub is a great feature! It’s simple to understand with smiley faces – water too cold or too hot has frowns, just right gets a smile. The thermometer is definitely useful for first-time parents or for those who don’t frequently bathe infants. No reasons to wonder if the water is too cold or too hot.

As the girls learn different things, such as pulling themselves up from a reclined position, I’m discovering that this tub still works for them. I don’t have to worry about keeping a hand on them at all times. Eyes – yes, hand – no.

Other features of this tub are a turtle and starfish toys and a hanging hook to keep the tub out of the way when not in use.

I really don’t have much else to say about the Fisher Price 3-Stage Aquarium Tub other than if you have a choice, definitely go with the Fisher Price tub over The First Years tub. There is a price difference, but you get what you pay for.

My Favorite Shampoo

Kara_S — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 19:28:29 +0000

It’s not very often that I share a product I use. I feel kinda weird about it – like it’s a personal detail not meant for the world to know. And there’s so many reviews out there from mommy bloggers that I imagine my two cents really aren’t valuable. But as you can tell from my ever-so creative title, I’m going to tell you about my favorite shampoo.

I’ve been using this shampoo for a little less than a year, and I will be very upfront and tell you that I will use this shampoo for the rest of my life or until it goes off the market. (Please, dear little shampoo, for my sake don’t ever go out of production.)

Since most of you don’t know me in real life and those of you who do probably never paid much attention to my hair, here’s my hair type …

Thin
Fine strands
Lots of hair
Oily

Okay – thin but lots of hair? Yep. Hairstylist are amazed at my head. Seriously, I’ve lost track of how many stylists have commented on my having thin hair but a lot of it. I think it has something to do with having baby fine strands of hair. If I pulled all of my hair back into a ponytail, the ponytail is about as thick as my pinky finger, maybe smaller. Honest.

Once my hair gets past a certain length, I have to have a perm. Otherwise my hair lays flat and limp. And I have to wash my hair every single day because it is oily. Now for the first time in my almost 34 years, I actually have straight (other than natural wave) shoulder-length hair (that I still wash every day but it’s straight!). I’m totally excited about it too!!!

Are you curious to know what shampoo I use?

First, let me tell you the list of shampoos that I’ve used in the past … Herbal Essences (loved it til they reformulated), Suave (okay except it made my head itch if I used it more than a couple of times), Head and Shoulders (great for flaking, not so good for volume or anything else) and who knows what else, but those were my most recent shampoo trends.

Are you ready?

My favorite shampoo in the entire world is Pantene’s Nature Fusion Moisture Balance shampoo. This is a somewhat new shampoo and I know I’m not the only one who likes it because in a recent edition of Better Homes & Gardens magazine, it was listed as one of the top products of 2010.

Why do I like it?

My hair has volume – lots of volume.
My hair doesn’t go limp after an hour or after high humidity (and trust me, we’ve had a lot of high humidity this summer).
I can make it to about 32 hours before needing to wash my hair.
No tangles or knots unless I’m riding with the car windows down.
A small amount goes a long ways.
I can style my hair a variety of ways and the style stays.
My hair holds a curl or stays straight all day.

So if you are like me and have baby fine hair, try Pantene’s Nature Fusion Moisture Balance Shampoo. There’s another shampoo in the Nature Fusion line but I haven’t tried it. Why change a good thing? There’s also a matching moisture balance conditioner that I use about once a week. I’m not a big conditioner person, so I really can’t judge it as good, bad, or so-so.

By the way, I was not paid for this post, did not receive free shampoo, or anything else. This is just something I felt like sharing with my readers in hopes of helping someone else find a shampoo she might love.

Syncing My Digital Calendars

Kara_S — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:01:20 +0000

Back in April, I introduced you to my iPod Touch.

I’m still in love with my Touch. However, one of the things I mentioned in my original post was that I couldn’t combine my digital calendars without doing double entries (one on my PC computer and one on my Touch).

A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled across the fact that the Touch iCal program will sync with Google Calendar. Hmmm… I didn’t use Google Calendar, but if there was a way to sync Google with my laptop’s Mozilla Lightning, I’d be in business!

I’m sure you’ve already guessed already … there is a way!!!! Yay! My life is in perfect harmony now. Well, not really, but it sure feels like it.

First, I have to mention that there is no need to download additional applications to the Touch in order to use this feature. A lot of posts out there contain misinformation and tell you that you need to sign up for special services (Plaxo, Nuevasync, SaiSuke). Don’t listen to them! As long as you have a current version of the Touch firmware (version 2.2), the features are built in and all you have to do is activate them.

Here’s the process I followed to sync my PC laptop calendar (Mozilla Lightning) to my iPod Touch calendar (iCal). The intermediary is Google Calendar.

To sync Lightning and Google, I downloaded the Provider for Google Calendar add-on for Lightning. This add-on allows two-way communication of a primary calendar. If you enter information on Google, it shows up on Lightning and vice versa.
I created a primary calendar in Lightning. This is necessary because the add-on doesn’t export from my individual calendars (book reviews, work, home), only one central calendar. However, this is easily overcome by creating the individual calendars in Google because Google will download to individual calendars – just not upload. Wierd, I know.
To add an event, I put it on the primary calendar in Lightning or the individual calendar in Google. And the event shows up in both Lightning and Google.
Once Google and Lightning are synced, follow the Google steps on this page to link the Touch’s iCal to Google. Note: If you already have information in iCal, make sure you have a backup version somewhere because the sync process will erase all current data in the calendar. You can also use these same steps to sync your Google contacts with the Touch.
The final step is to tell the Touch that you have individual calendars. Those steps are here.

Does all this work? Yep! As long as you carefully follow the Google steps.

Monday morning, I was in the doctor’s office with the Farmer. I made his follow-up appointment and added it to my Touch. By the time we got home, the appointment was waiting for me on both Google Calendar and the laptop’s Lightning calendar. Sweet!

So, please, next time you hear someone say syncing isn’t possible without a 3rd party program (Plaxo, Nuevasync, SaiSuke) or, especially for PC users, without Microsoft Outlook, send them this way because it does work!

What I Learned about Potting Soil

Kara_S — Mon, 18 May 2009 23:10:56 +0000

Today I’m blogging over at Garden Vines about the differences in potting soil brands.

If you enjoy gardening, whether veggie, flowers, or both, come join Jendi and me at Garden Vines. We offer glimpses of our gardens and share what we’ve learned through research and trial and error.

P.S. – Don’t forget that today is the last chance to sign up to win a copy of Mary Byers’ book “Making Work at Home Work.” Just leave a comment HERE.

My Favorite Organizational Tool

Kara_S — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:28:37 +0000

Ron Edmondson wrote a post yesterday titled “How do you calendar your life?” He observed a friend organizing his schedule with a regular paper calendar, and Ron was somewhat surprised. Paper?!? This is the digital age.

Ron then asked, “What do you use to keep track of your life? How do you stay organized?”

Up until 2 months ago, I was a paper calendar person for the most part. I wrote daily items on my 8-1/2×11 spiral bound paper calendar, and I recorded certain items in my Mozilla Lightning calendar on my laptop. I also had a mini calendar I carried in my purse just in case. That system worked fairly well.

Notice I said, “Up until 2 months ago…” That’s when I got my iPod Touch. Bye-bye multiple paper calendars; helloooo slim, sleek digital calendar.

All of my appointments, scheduled book reviews, deadlines, birthdays, and anything else I can think of are recorded on my iPod Touch. It travels in my purse, rests on the kitchen island or the nightstand, and is never far from my reach. I no longer aimlessly flip through pages of a calendar.

The only downfall is I can’t sync the iPod Touch with Mozilla Lightning (if anyone knows a way to do this, please tell me! Update: I figured out how to sync Lightning with Google Calendar and iCal on Touch. No 3rd party download necessary either.), so I’m still entering information in two places. But it beats writing it out by hand!!!

Besides the iPod’s calendar feature, I use the Notes program to brainstorm ideas, take notes on podcasts, write rough drafts of book reviews and blog posts (when I’m not at home), and record goals. The best feature is I can then e-mail the note to my laptop.

I also like the To Do application where I can create an item, record details, and set priority for the item. My lists cover everything from grocery shopping to household chores to writing research.

Lest you think my life revolves around my iPod, I do have a regular old paper calendar hanging on the refrigerator. Not much is written on the month of April, just the date where the Farmer started some seeds. Never mind that we have 4 doctor appointments this month, a 6-day vacation, house guests coming this weekend, and an important mediation next week. Why mess up a calendar with such a pretty picture?

Sharing Some Friday Linky Love

Kara_S — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 18:45:00 +0000

Today, I’d thought I share a few of the little treasures in bloggy world that I’ve found recently via Entrecard…

Daisy the Curly Cat – These often humorous, daily posts feature photo sessions of Daisy and Harley, both cats. Almost every day I get a giggle out of the silliness. My favorite so far has been the Groundhog Day joke and Daisy laughing at the end.
Golden Prague – This blog is all about living in the city of Prague. Personally, I love reading this blog because my maternal grandfather grew up in Dubrava, Slovakia. (It was Czechoslovakia then.) And while my maternal grandmother was born in the USA, her parents both came from that region too.
Life from My Laptop – I love Alyssa’s tagline: “Juggling my life. Relying on my faith.” Alyssa found me on Twitter awhile ago, but I’ve only recently started reading her blog. She’s an aspiring writer who is doing quite well in reaching her goals. She’s an inspiration to me.
The Virtual Dime Museum – This blog is a collection of old photos and newspaper clippings as well as the stories behind them. Great for history buffs especially if you’re looking for the unusual. Also great for plot ideas.
Modern Historian – Want to know what happened today in history? This blog doesn’t give the usual fare of political history.

I have plenty of others in my Google Reader that I’ll share another day. What blogs do you like reading?

Look Who Dropped the Most in January!

Kara_S — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 17:05:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about Entrecard, a blog traffic generator. After about 6 weeks or so of use, I still enjoy Entrecard. I’ve found a lot of great blogs that I enjoy reading each day. Some give me a chuckle, and others give me something to think about.

A common practice with Entrecard users is to post their “top droppers” at the end of the month. These are the people that visited my site the most and, hence, earn the title “top dropper.”

So without further ado…

By the way, now that I’ve participated in Entrecard for a full month, I checked my traffic numbers. I compared January to November. I know I’ve done a couple of other things besides Entrecard to gain traffic, but my increase was 79%!!!!!!!

And in case you’re wondering, my traffic increased 30% from December to January. I started Entrecard midway through December, so that’s why I went back to November to see just how much my traffic increased.

A Must for Every Christian Writer & Freelancer

Kara_S — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:16:00 +0000

Have you seen Christian Writers’ Market Guide 2009by Sally Stuart? What an amazing resource with a wealth of information! In previous years, I’ve used the regular Writer’s Market (I actually just got rid of my 2003 edition), and I have to say that the Christian Writers’ Market Guide 2009 is easier to use by far.

The guide breaks the writing market into three broad categories – book publishers, periodicals, and specialty markets (greeting cards, gifts, software, games, CD/DVD/Video).

The book publishers section starts with a listing of topics and the names of publishers interested in that topic. Over 150 topics are included ranging from autobiography to fiction for teens to marriage to self-help to worship resources. What a great way to find publishers to target!

Following the topical listing is a detailed listing of each book publisher. The alphabetized listings detail contact information, basic guidelines, special needs, and lots more for each publisher. A separate section is devoted to subsidy publishers. Those publishers that do not accept unsolicited manuscripts and require an agent are noted along with those who accept book proposals via The Writer’s Edge and Christian Manuscript Submissions.

Next is a list of book distributors followed by a market analysis. This section is useful for the discerning writer who wants to target the best publishers. The analysis covers the number of books published, what topics are most popular, and who had the most bestsellers.

After book publishers comes the periodical section. The divisions are similar to publishers – topical listings, alphabetical listing, and market analysis. The major difference is within the alphabetical listing, the periodicals are alphabetized within their type, such as children’s, pastor/leadership, music.

Because of this method of organization, when I found a periodical in the topic listing that I was interested in, I turned to the index for finding the detailed listing of the magazine. Otherwise, I would have to look in each periodical type for the name.

The back section of the book contains valuable information for writers – conferences and workshops, writers’ groups, editorial services, literary agents, and contests. With the exception of literary agents and contests, the groups are organized alphabetically by state location.

As a special bonus, a CD is included with the book. This CD is perfect for the writer that travels frequently and doesn’t want to lug around the actual book. What’s on the CD? The entire book in a searchable format along with additional resources for writers! I could spend hours pouring over the additional resources and have barely comprehended all that is included. To say that the CD is priceless to a freelancer, a beginning writing, or an author doing his own promotion would be an understatement.

The big question on my mind about Christian Writers’ Market Guide 2009 was “Is it usable?” Not having an immediate project that I needed the guide for, I put myself in the shoes of a friend of mine who recently wrote a short story and needed possible magazines for submission. The problem is her story is a little longer than what the average magazine accepts.

I flipped to the teen section of periodicals since her story is geared for that age level. A couple of minutes of scanning gave me information for 2 magazines that will accept her word count. Then I looked at the topical listing section for periodicals, cross-referenced the names to the alphabetical section, and found another possible magazine for her. Two of the three magazines are ones that I’ve never heard of so probably wouldn’t have found otherwise.

If you’re concerned about the cost of a book that will go out of date in a year, realize that the detail listings for most companies include their website addresses. While the contact information, such as the editor, might change over time, a website address will probably remain the same and give you a good starting point for finding the current information in the future.

If you are a writer interested in the Christian publishing world, buy your copy of Christian Writers’ Market Guide 2009. You won’t regret it!

Product Details:
List price: $34.99
Paperback: 560 pages
Publisher: WaterBrook Press; Pap/Cdr edition (January 13, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307446433
ISBN-13: 978-0307446435

What is Entrecard?

Kara_S — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 19:27:00 +0000

Entrecard is a word that I heard on Twitter about a month ago. Someone said that Entrecard increased their blog traffic, so I was curious to know what it is. Who doesn’t want more traffic?

Here’s the blurb from Entrecard…

Entrecard is a free blogging network that truly brings visitors to your blog. By joining our network, you can earn Entrecard credits which allows you to display an ad of your blog on other blog sites within our Network.

How does Entrecard work?

Basically, every blog that participates in Entrecard has a special button in its sidebar. You can see mine under “Blog of the Day” (right underneath my button for Garden Vines and above my Twitter updates).

When an Entrecard member visits my blog, they click on the “Drop” button and leave a “calling card” in my Entrecard inbox. The “calling card” allows me to see who visited so I can visit their blog in return. To drop my “calling card” on another blog, I click their “Drop” button and I earn one Entrecard credit.

After accumulating a couple of credits, I’m able to purchase one day of advertising on someone else’s Entrecard button on their blog. My advertisement exposes my blog to readers I might not otherwise find.

(The thousands of blogs on Entrecard are broken into categories, so it’s fairly easy to find bloggers with similar interests.)

Does Entrecard take work or a lot of time?

I average about 45-50 drops a day, but I also don’t drop every day. Making 45-50 drops takes me about 20-30 minutes. I visit each of the blogs that I “drop” on and read their new posts.

I’ve also created a group in my Google Reader for Entrecard blogs so I can routinely drop on those blogs that I like.

The number of drops is limited to 300 per person per day. Personally, I’ve never achieved that many and really don’t plan to.

Another way to earn credits is to post regularly on your blog. I’m not 100% certain about this but I think each post earns 25 credits. It might be each day that you post that earns credits – so if you post 3 times today, you’d get 25 credits for posting, not 75. I’m not entirely clear on how that works so if someone knows, please tell me in the comments!

For me, the hardest work is finding blogs that I want to advertise on and that I can afford with my credits.

Has Entrecard increased my blog traffic?

Most definitely! I’ve seen a significant increase in traffic over the past week as more people are being exposed to my blog via my drops and the “advertising” I’ve done on other sites.

Since I started about a month ago, my traffic has gone up by at least 30%, possibly more. I’ll have a better idea when January is finished.

If you have Entrecard and I haven’t dropped on you, let me know in the comments so I can visit you!

Bloglines vs. Google Reader

Kara_S — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:42:00 +0000

Yesterday I mentioned that I was no longer happy with Bloglines, the RSS feed reader I use. I went on a hunt for a new one and discovered Google Reader (GR). Here’s what I like about GR and how it compares to Bloglines:

I was able to easily import my Bloglines subscription list (including my folder organization) to GR. Having never imported a list to Bloglines, I assume that it is just as easy. But if you are worried about switching to GR, it’s quite simple!
GR is web-based so I can access my feeds from any computer. Bloglines is also web-based.
GR shows all of a blogs previous posts so I can easily browse the list to find a post I want to re-read. Bloglines removes the post when you read it, unless it is marked to save.
I have the ability to “star” posts that I think are important for future reference. I can look at my “star” list to find a post and don’t have to remember who wrote the post. Bloglines saves marked posts but only files them under the original blog so you have to know which blog it came from to find it.
GR recommends blogs I might like. (I found a couple of nice garden blogs that I’m now subscribed to.)
GR tracks trends and shows me graphs and stats about my usage and about blog activity. Not entirely necessary in a reader but interesting to look at for people like me. =)
My Firefox GR add-on shows the number of new posts. Bloglines required a mouse-over to see the number.
The Firefox add-on also has a mouse-over pop-up that shows the name of the updated blogs. I like this feature because when I notice there’s a new post, I can see if it’s from a favorite blog and one I want to take a break to read.

So I’m glad I made the switch. If you use Google Reader, what features do you like?

By the way, did you know that you can subscribe to Ramblings-n-Writings? It’s really easy! In the far right column, there’s a “Subscribe to This Blog” feature. Just choose your RSS reader. Help me grow my subscription numbers!!! =)