It has been brought to my attention that this week, August 1-7, is National Breastfeeding Week. It seems that since I have been a breastfeeding mama 2 times around I should have known such a thing, but I did not, so thank you Cat! Not only is this week Breastfeeding Week worldwide, August has been named Breastfeeding awareness month.

I know that breastfeeding is a choice that needs to be made between a mother and her child, it is a very personal decision. I am not here to tell you that you should breastfeed or not, I just would like to share my story with you.

My first baby was born when I was just 1 month shy of 19 years old. I was so young, and had no idea what to do to prepare.  I babysat most of my way through high school, but preparing for your own child is completely different. I took the classes and read the books. My mom encouraged me to breastfeed, as she did my brother and I. She swears that is why we’re both so healthy and always have been. So I decided to try. Rob and I decided before I gave birth to Ryan that I would stay home with him for at least the first 6 months and that I would try to breastfeed that long as well, without pressure. When Ryan was born it was clear that he and I were naturals at this. While it was very very excruciating painful those first couple weeks, I made it through without supplementing with any bottles whatsoever, as that is what the nurses told me, “No bottles!” By the time 3 weeks had rolled by we decided it was time to try a bottle, just to see how he does. It was a no go, he would not take the bottle. Who knew that babies could potentially not want a bottle? This happened over and over again no matter how we tried to give it to him. I bought every bottle and nipple on the market, filled it formula, breast milk or a mix of the two, and had numerous others try feeding it to him. Continue Reading

The air is getting cooler at night and the signs are hung throughout area stores. It’s that time, time to head back to school! This year is extra exciting because Ryan is going into Kindergarten, everything is new and fun for him.

I was able to review Bumkins Wet Bag Line for going back to school with. These have been awesome for keeping things organized, for Ryan and Olivia. I love the versatility and the fabulous colors. The wet bags I reviewed were the Waterproof Mini Bag, Waterproof Quickee Bag and the Waterproof Dirty Duds Bag.

The Waterproof Dirty Duds bag is perfect for wet swimsuits or dirty diapers. I’ve used it for both so far and love having the use of a smaller wet back when being out and about with a cloth diapered baby. It has a draw string with a toggle closure, is stain and odor resisitent (very true) and is machine washable.

I think the Waterproof Quickie bag is my favorite. I’ve used this for several things. I’ve packed a couple bananas and quick snacks in here, I’ve used it for baby wipes, to contain beverages that I’m carrying in the diaper bag. Ryan has used it to carry action figure to and from Grandmas house, he’s used it to carry his notebook and crayons and just to pack any miscellaneous items that he likes to take with him on his travels. You can also use this bag for soiled diapers and wet swimsuits. It is made with BPA free waterproof material and also  has the drawstring closure. I love that it has the mesh pocket on the outside of it to carry items as well.

The Waterproof Mini bag, not surprisingly, also has a variety of uses. More times than not when I have the kids in tow I use just the diaper bag, as opposed to using the diaper bag and my purse. I throw in my keys and wallet and off we go. It never fails though, I always lose my keys in the depths of the bag and it takes us an extra 5 minutes to leave. Instead I can put my keys in this bag to make finding them 100% easier. I’ve also done this with Olivia’s pacifiers. You could store an mp3 player in this, a cell phone, or even snacks!

To Buy:

Visit Bumkins and you can find the Waterproof Dirty Duds bag for 12.95, the Waterproof Quickie bag for 12.95 and the Waterproof mini bag for 7.95. You can also find many many other items to fit your needs, especially for preparing for back to school.

Discount:

When spending $35.00 or more you can receive free shipping using the code b2school09.

Bumkins Back 2 School Blog Tour!

You can visit the Bumkins Back 2 School Blog Tour page and find out what moms are saying about Bumkins Back to School items. In addition, you can enter to win a $35 gift card to use at Bumkins, perfect for Back to School items! 5 winners will be chosen beginning the week of August 10.

All you have to do to enter is comment here, on the Bumkins blog, or on ANY of the participating blogs’, Bumkins Back 2 School Blog Tour posts!