Callie Washer from TLC's Extreme Couponing

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.
  

This past weekend we had a big party at our house and I was worried we would not have enough seating for the event. Thankfully I got this  120cm/48″ Teak bench into review from Teak Closeouts and instead of putting it outside I decided we would leave it inside for the party in case we needed more seating. What started as a temporay thing might turn into a permanent idea because the bench was a hit at the party and at all times throughout the party, someone was sitting on the bench!

I enlisted my former woodworking husband to put it together and he was immediately impressed that it was made out of teak. He can tell the difference between high quality wood and the cheap stuff and he was really impressed with this bench! He had the bench assembled in under 30 minutes which says sometimes when sometimes our kids toys can take hours to put together. He thought it was really high quality. 

It came in 1 large box where most of the pieces were bigger which helped in how easy it was to put together because the less the pieces the quicker you can assemble it. This Teak Bench looks so beautiful when it is put together and the finish is so smooth!

They also have a lot of beautiful outdoor teak tables to choose from like this one here:

I am pretty sure I want this one for my back yard! Summer is coming up and how fun would this table be to sit around this summer?

And every girl needs a place to sit and check what is in her purse before dashing out the door and that is exactly what my little one did this morning on our Teak Bench. If you are looking for a bench, table or anything teak, I highly recommend Teak Closeouts. 
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

 I participated in an Influencer Program on behalf of Mom Central for Nutri-Grain. I received product samples and promotional item to thank me for participating.

I knew when I was pregnant with our 4th child that things were about to really get hectic. I felt like I had things down to an art juggling 3 kids but I was so scared having a 4th because have 4 kids under the age of 6 can gray anyone’s hair overnight. 

I not only want to make it through these sleepless nights and crazy days but I want my kids to look back on their childhood and only have good memories! So my kids are in gymnastics, ice skating, life groups, church, play dates and more and sometimes finding matched socks is such a big accomplishment that getting the kids a good wholesome breakfast on the go can be a challenge.

Couple that with a few picky eaters and we have a perfect storm on our hands.

Thanks goodness for Nutrigrain Fruit and Oat Harvest bars.

And not only am I trying to feed my kids healthy food on the go but I am also trying to loose weight and I have learned that not eating a good breakfast can set me up for failure later on in the day. If I skip breakfast I am starving by lunch time and I will grab the nearest big mac and it throws off my diet for the rest of the day.

Nutri-Grain® Fruit & Oat Harvest Cereal Bars contain 4 grams of protein and a hearty combination of real fruit and whole grains so I feel great eating one myself and let my kids eat them while we rush to the next appointment. They fill me up and I need feel the need to snack before lunch.

This little angel is snacking on the blueberry bliss. He loved it so I know I can feel confident in packing them for a lunch time picnic or a rushing to church breakfast.

How delicious do these look?  They look and taste homemade. This is the Country Strawberry flavor.

Like Nutri-grain on Facebook here!

 And for all you mom’s out there who want to loose weight like me but can’t make it to the gym, here is a little inspiration. Use your house for your workouts! Lately I have been not only using my house as a gym but I also involve my kids.  

I normally pick 3 exercises and do 3 sets of each exercises. Like today we choose running up the stairs…

Jumping jacks…

And lunges.

You will be amazed at how a few exercises like this along with eating good wholesome foods like Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Fruit and Oat Harvest bars will help you get you on the road to happy healthier you!

 My little brood when to visit the Milk bank of Colorado last week and halfway through the tour my little one started to get a little antsy. It dawned on me, he was little a kid in a candy store surrounded my breast milk! Since this is the only things he “eats” I really believe the smell to him was overwhelming and I looked down and found him smiling like this!

The Mother’s Milk Bank of Colorado asked me to come and tour their facility last week so I loaded up the kids and headed to downtown Denver. I really wasn’t sure what we were in store for but since I have been able to breastfeed all 4 of my kids I have always been a huge breastfeeding advocate. I have seen first hand with my own kids how breastfeeding has kept them from illness’s, so far they have not inherited my husband’s allergies and are overall very healthy kids and I believe that is in part to breastfeeding. 

The Mother’s Milk Bank of Colorado helps those than cannot breastfeed or infants that are born so early their mother’s milk has not had a chance to come in yet. I don’t know if it was my hormones or what but they told us this story about a sweet little baby boy who was born and immediately had to be put on hospice and it made me cry! The boy had little chance to live, but after receiving milk from the Mother’s Milk bank he began to improve and is not 3 years old and thriving!

This is a quote from him mom:

I also got to hear amazing stories of mother’s who children had passes away and they continued to pump in order to donate breast milk. Amazing women than selflessly give so that other’s can have breastmilk. 

As a first time mom, I knew I wanted to breastfeed. I didn’t know ALL the benefits but I knew 2 things. It was healthy for my child and FREE, haha!

I think a lot of first time mom’s don’t know all the information about breastfeeding. What I think is one of the best things I learned that I didn’t know is some hospitals are more breastfeeding friendly than others. When I gave birth to my first in Louisiana I was afraid my milk had not come in fast enough so the only alternative was to supplement with formula. I want you to know this is not a “let’s bash formula” article because I know some people simply cannot breastfeed or encounter problems that forces them to quit so I don’t think I am a better mom just because I got to breasted my children but I do wish I knew I could pick a hospital that was breastfeeding friendly. The hospital I delivered in Denver works with the Mother’s milk bank so if I did have problems breast-feeding I would have access to the milk bank if I needed it. I was simply not given that option is Louisiana. 

One thing the Milk bank needs it donor’s so if you have a freezer full if frozen milk you don’t need, call the milk bank and inquire about being a donor. All the mom’s are screened so they take every precaution in order to be assured the milk is saving that they receive. 

A program of the Rocky Mountain Children’s Health Foundation, the Mothers’ Milk Bank is one of 13 operating donor human milk banks in North America. In 2011 and 2012 the Mothers’ Milk Bank Colorado provided more milk to hospitals than any other non-profit milk bank. The milk is sent to 120 different hospitals in 24 states supplying milk to babies across the country that have allergies to formula, certain illnesses or need human milk to thrive.

This was the jars of milk they were packaging to be sent to TONS of hospitals and not just in denver, all over the US.

The darker milk is the colostrum and the lighter is the milk after about 10 days after a baby is born. I have always heard about colostrum but being able to see it like this was amazing!

This picture was SO interesting to me! The first 2 sheets is all the ingredients in breast milk. The 2nd are the ingredients in formula. As you can see how many more added ingredients that breast milk has.

If you want to donate or want more information about the milk bank, check out their website here!  They are celebrating 30 years of being in the breastmilk business so show them some love on their facbeook page!