Happy THIRD Birthday, Gianna!!

Wow. I cannot believe my baby is THREE YEARS OLD now!! THREE!! Where has time gone? 

From my teeny tiny 5 pound 7 ounce, 18.5 inch long, badly jaundiced newborn:

To my chunky 21 pound 4 ounce, 27 inch long one year old: 

To my independent 27 pound, 33.5 inches tall two year old:

And now my (unofficially) 31 pound 8 ounce, 35 inches tall three year old:

She has come a longggggg way. She can count to 10 (and sometimes higher) with assistance. She knows her ABC's and loves to sing them with her BFF Anna. She loves the Frozen movie, and we spent quite some time watching it 5 times a day! We are currently down to once every week, if that. She loves to color with crayons and markers. She is fully potty trained during the day (has been since 18 months old), and we are currently night training her. She will be starting her first year at Head Start this September! We are very excited!! Oh, she also has mastered the scissors quite effectively. See??

I woke up to ^^that^^ right next to me in my bed. And the following on the floor:

This is our end result. Those little ringlets you see on floor in the previous pic came from each side, and those long locks I woke up next to are from the front. She has a baby mullet. 

I seriously spent 20 minutes crying over it Thursday morning. I was sick to my stomach over it. I put the scissors away, and even covered them, just in case. Gianna is more determined than my other 2 combined. She knew I was unhappy and didn't make a sound while I bathed her after discovering her new hairstyle. She didn't whine when it was time to come out. She didn't cry, but she didn't smile either. I genuinely think she understood I was upset. We did get it fixed today, so it looks better. Of course, there is nothing we can do about the mullet in the front, because it's so incredibly short, but at least the rest of her hair is even with the sides. 

Gianna definitely gives us a run for our money, and keeps us on our toes, but we wouldn't change it for a bit. She is healthy, happy, and brings us great joy. She is finally sleeping through the night (in her own bed even!) and she has weaned a little over a month ago. Roughly the same time she started sleeping through the night! Oh, and she is still rear facing in the car with no plans to turn around any time soon. Yay ERF! It has been an awesome 36 months thus far. I can't wait to see what the next hold for us! Though, I could do without the scissors. I don't think her clothes appreciate it much, either.

Happy Birthday, Captain Destructo! We love you so much!!

**REVIEW** ADOVIA Dead Sea Salt Soap

Usually, I am very reluctant to use bar soap. I've heard all the claims, "Won't dry your skin out!" or "Super moisturizing!" and so on. For me, they've always dried my skin out terribly. But when I saw this soap available for review, and read about it, I decided to give it a try.

Before trying it, I was expecting the same result as every other bar soap I've ever tried. I was expecting my skin to feel tight, itchy, and dry. But I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe it's all the minerals in the soap, maybe it's the Dead Sea salts that are exfoliating my skin, but it felt amazing!

There is something familiar about the scent that I just can't put my finger on. I recognize the smell, I am sure that it's the same scent as soap that I have used as a child, but I'm not exactly sure. It's not unpleasant, however.

Excuse the horrible picture of myself. This is before using the soap. My skin is really dry, and oftentimes, it's flaky and peeling. Even with lotion, it's constantly dry. 

The first thing I noticed about Adovia Dead Sea Salt moisturizing soap is that it doesn't create a lot of lather. As much as I appreciate not having excessive bubbles, it was kind of hard to think of it cleaning my face without the lather I'm used to. The second thing I noticed was that, while using my hands to wash my face, it felt like my skin was tightening and drying out. My hands kind of "skipped" over my skin, indicating that it was taking grease and oils off of my face. But I couldn't help but think it was overly cleaning- removing ALL moisturization from my skin. The last thing I noticed was that my face felt lighter, more airy, if that makes sense.

Not a lot of lather. Made me think it wouldn't clean my face as well as it claimed to.

When I rinsed it off, again my hands "skipped" over my skin. I started to think that maybe I made a mistake by giving this soap a try. I didn't have high hopes, despite really wanting to believe that it would feel good. However, once I fully rinsed it off, and pat dried my face using a wash cloth, I noticed immediately that my skin felt different. It felt lighter. Really clean. My skin looked amazing, as well! Nice and clear, smooth, no rough, dry patches, no flaking skin. Within 5 minutes, the feeling of tightness went away, and it was super soft! I did not use any other lotions or moisturizers after using this soap.

My skin seriously looks so much different!!

I absolutely love this soap, and have used it twice daily since receiving it. Every time I use it, my skin feels softer and softer. I don't see any dryness any more, and my complexion is much more even. The only warning I have for this soap is, make sure you don't get any of it in your eyes!! I made the mistake of not rinsing it off all the way before opening my eyes, and man did it burn! Keep a towel or wash cloth right next to you so that you can wipe your eyes before you open them. You can purchase the Adovia Dead Sea Salt soap on Amazon.

Have you ever used Dead Sea Salt soap? If so, what did you think of it? If not, would you consider it?

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.

**REVIEW** Shandali UltraSport Travel Towel

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

The Shandali UltraSport Travel Towel is an interesting product. It is a microfiber towel that is extremely lightweight, yet extremely absorbent. I was excited to try it out as part of my two towel showering system. I, honestly, did not have high expectations for it. Once I took it out of the package (from Amazon, so you know it was excessive!), I thought it was way too thin, and way too flimsy to do any good. Also, I was always told that microfiber should not touch the bare skin as it could potentially cut you, due to the sharp fibers. However, this towel is incredibly soft and smooth. It feels great against my skin!

While it is incredibly thin, don't let that fool you. I ordered the Medium size (24" x 48") because I have long hair. I was hoping the towel would cover my hair completely so that I could make this my permanent hair towel.

My original designated "hair towel" is thick, and would take forever to dry. Sometimes, it'd still be damp when I took a shower the following day. Which would then lead to it smelling musty, and my hair if I forgot to bring a new towel in the bathroom with me. With the Shandali towel, I don't have to worry about that. It dries very quickly (usually no longer than 30 minutes, in my experience). I hang it right on the back of the bathroom door.

My only real complaint thus far is the fabric loop. The first time I hung it up, it started to rip a little. While the towel was wet, it still wasn't heavy enough to cause the loop to tear like this. My guess is that it likely came like this. I failed to check it directly out of the package, so I can't say for certain. While some people may consider the loop an important piece of the towel, to me, it wasn't a big deal. It wouldn't stop me from recommending it to someone.

It held up well in the wash, with very minimal shrinking, if any at all. The color didn't bleed, and it didn't fade with one wash. Washing instructions say to wash in cold water and tumble dry low. For some reason, my washer doesn't wash on cold, so I washed it on hot. I also used the high setting on my dryer.

Overall, I really do love this towel. While I don't find it to be big enough to use as a beach towel, it's perfectly acceptable as a shower/bath towel. It would likely be perfect to dry a car after washing it. Though there are cheaper options.

You can purchase your very own Shandali UltraSport Travel Towel here.


Already own one? Tell me what you think about it!







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.