I’m going to write about a product I love and I really can tell my real opinion once it was used everyday several times a day when my son was using diapers. I’m talking about: Mustela Vitamin Barrier Cream. This was the only Barrier Cream that worked on my son diaper rash and I used it until he stopped using diapers.

It was not necessary a thick layer to protect him and prevent the rash and I could use it frequently, I can say I used it in every diaper change. This is a product I recommend to everyone that asks for my opinion about preventing and cure diaper rash. When I found that the Mustela Vitamin Barrier worked so well on my son I ended up buying several other products from Mustela like Shampoo and cleansing and soothing wipes.

While I was pregnant of my daughter I adopted all the Mustela 9 Months line and I must say I was very pleased with the results.

If you are pregnant or have a baby and you are searching for answers to your doubts then you should take a look at the useful feature of Mustelausa.com called Parent’s Corner. Here you can find advise, tips, product tips regarding your pregnancy and new baby. Tips are never too much and you are going to need them throughout the all process of taking care of yourself while pregnant as well as of the new life you have in your hands.

Blogging has been a big issue lately for me. My income from blogging has dropped a lot, PayPerpost is not a regular anymore, Social Spark doesn’t seem to be working for me either and besides some direct approaches, PayU2Blog has been my major income provider.

Of course I blog because I love to write and express myself but I must confess that sometimes some posts are written because there is a schedule and keywords I must use. To me this means a lot of pressure once I work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week and still have my kids and house to take care.

Although I want to continue to blog even without any income coming from it the pressure for getting traffic, subscribers, follow Twitter, Facebook, blogcatalog, read my blogger friends posts, etc. is draining my energy and mental sanity. I want to keep up with everything but I can’t.

I admire all the bloggers I follow (on blogs or twitter) but I also realize that most of them are SAHM or WAHM meaning there is a flexibility to blog I don’t have. One of my goals is to be able to have a site like http://blissfullydomestic.com but how can I manage something so huge if I don’t even have time to write my regular posts. Most moms still have time for crafts, scrapbooking, etc…I feel that I’m not living, I have no time for those things.

I’m giving more attention to affiliate programs, promoting their products but I really don’t believe in 6 figure blog income. (4 figures would be just fine :)).

My Buy Better and Have a Better Life blog is more “commercial” like a review blog, but in two years Google Adsense means 33 dollars to me, affiliate programs 0$, the paid reviews and PPP were a good income but I almost don’t have it anymore so I wonder, is it worth to have a “commercial” blog with no income? I dedicate almost all my free time to write posts (I barely watch TV or read a book) for what? Just for the service of letting readers know about certain products?

Blogger world is full of good bloggers, blogs repeat the subjects, the reviews, the products, etc.. Is blogging a nearly extinguished species? Of course a personal blog is something very special that will always be important to the writer but informative blogs, will they last or only the Really Good ones will survive? Is paid post near the end?

Halloween is just around the corner, it’s time to buy costumes and get ready to party but don’t forget your camera to take photos of the best moments. Then, well, store the photos in CD’s or in a computer folder and it’s done.

NO, don’t do that. A Halloween photo book is a perfect Halloween jewelery!!! Keep your memories alive by printing the best Halloween photos on a photo book.

You might be thinking that a photo book takes a lot of work, print photos and glue them on pre-made books or glue them on background pages you print on your printer… no way…that’s why Inkubook.com exists.

With Inkubook.com you can build your book in minutes, you just have to choose the perfect style, perfect background, book size, layout, choose the pictures you want, add some text and your perfect book will be ready in no time.

Here is a screen shot of the Inkubook.com “working place”:

See the dark orange button that says Invite? This is a great feature of Inkubook.com. If you want to create for instance a Halloween Photo Book but some of the photos were taken by another friend and you want to include them in your book, you just have to send an invitation to that friend using the Invite button and your friend using the link provided in your invitation will be able to put the photos he/she has directly on your book.

This feature is great when we are creating Holiday photo books or other kind of books that are related to an event where several people took photos and together they can make a piece of art.

Inkubook.com is offering a free Halloween photo book to new members that join Inkubook.com. If you still are not a member just follow the instructions:

• Sign up with Inkubook.com by October 31, 2008 and start your book.
• Using the “Invite Friends” feature, invite someone to join Inkubook and submit a few photos to include in your book. We’ll send your friend a promotion code to use for a free book.
• Finish your book then order it within 30 days of when you joined Inkubook. Use promotion code PMPKN31, which is good for any book up to 120 pages!

Following these steps you will have your book for free. Spread the word, invite your friends and keep your memories alive.

It has been a while since I last posted a kid’s recipe. My daughter reminded me of that because last week there was the Food Day 2008 and she got a lot of advices from her teacher about healthy food. She’s always telling me know that: vegetables are healthy, we should eat a lot of fruit, onion is good for our tummy and so on. I take advantage of her advices and when she doesn’t want to eat a certain ingredient I tell her: That’s good for our tummy. Yes… I know I’m mean but don’t tell her ok?

Today I bring here a recipe with a lot of vegetables,. Although it takes around 1H 40M to get read, this recipe is very healthy and tasty for adults and kids. I picked this recipe from All Recipes. Here is a comment from Kris W.:

“This soft-textured meatloaf is speckled with vegetables. My kids and I love the flavor of this dish. There’s always enough for sandwiches the next day and crumbled into spaghetti sauce the day after that.”

So here it is the recipe for Pork Turkey Meatloaf prepared for 4 people:

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 pound ground turkey
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cooking oil
• 1/2 carrot, minced
• 1/4 red bell pepper, minced
• 1/4 onion, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons thawed frozen chopped spinach
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup wheat germ (optional)
• 1 eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1-1/2 teaspoons honey
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ketchup

DIRECTIONS:

• 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
• 2. Set the ground turkey and ground pork out at room temperature to warm slightly.
• 3. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook the carrot, bell pepper, onion, garlic, and spinach in the heated oil until soft; set aside to cool.
• 4. Mix together the turkey, pork, bread crumbs, wheat germ, eggs, 2 tablespoons ketchup, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add the vegetable mixture and continue to mix until evenly combined; shape into a loaf; lay on the prepared baking sheet.
• 5. Whisk together the honey and 1 tablespoon ketchup in a small bowl; spread over the meatloaf.
• 6. Bake in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center, 60 to 70 minutes; remove to a serving platter and allow to rest 5 minutes before slicing.

I hope you and your family enjoy this recipe.

I’m almost leaving to pick up the kids. Of course my blogging-to-do-list was not accomplished, I really need more time to be able to keep up with blogging.

For me being at home writing posts, trying to sell products, advertise products and write about them is something I love to do even for only one afternoon, and I really regret that tomorrow I’ll have to get back to my 8 hour working job. The income I get from blogging is very little so I really can’t think about living from internet income, maybe in a near future.

Today it was supposed to be one of those special days when you have everything planned and scheduled and everything…. Well, guess what? My plans changed.

Today I was taking a day off work to surprise my kids by picking them up at school, something I usually can’t do because I’m working. Well, I had completely forgotten that today is the day that the Photographer is going to day care (where they stay after school) to take the annual pictures. I was so mad at myself for nor remembering that, so I really couldn’t decide what to do today: work or stay at home even without surprising my kids which was the main reason (besides writing a few posts while they where at school) of my day off.

So in the morning I was really hesitating on what to do, so I decided to go to work and take another day off. Besides I have a cold, running nose, headache and I didn’t feel like staying home sick as a vacation day. I tool a pain killer and while I was working in the morning I realized I could do another thing: take the afternoon off, catch up with blogging and pick up the kids a little earlier than usual at daycare. And so I did.

I’m writing this from home, I have a to-do-blogging list, and I intend to call the daycare later on to see if the photos are taken and I can pick up the kids earlier. I hope to accomplish most of the things I have on my to-do list.

Why did I choose Wednesday, well it’s the only day in the week when my kids have different schedules. My daughter leaves school at 15.30 and my so at 16.30 so I can pick her first and then go to another school and pick the other up. I intend to take another Wednesday off to accomplish the original plans.

Working full time is really hard when we have no schedule to pick up the kids at school, so a surprise is always a happy moment for them and for me.

So, let’s start blogging for real and write a few posts. I also want to try to open a store, from Amazon or Zlio, I really don’t know it it works or not but I’m really in blogging mode.

One month ago I was asked if I would like to review a book called “Hurry Down Sunshine” from Michael Greenberg. As usual I said I lived in Portugal and asked if they were able to send me the book to me. I was really surprised when I received an email saying that yes, they could send it to Portugal. I was really thrilled because being a No-US resident brings me some problems when we are talking about samples for review.

I received the book last week but unfortunately I haven’t had time yet to read it. I give it a sneak pick in the first pages and I must say I will love the book. I expect to read it soon and write my thoughts about it here.

The book was written by Michael Greenberg and basically the story is about his 15 year old daughter that has a mental breakdown. Is it genetic? Is it his fault that he was not able to provide a good house stability that was essential for his daughter? A stepmother and a brother will be involved in the development of this story.

I know that when I start reading this book I won’t be able to stop until I reach the end. Having had a breakdown myself a few year ago, the eager for answers is inside me. I know this book will help me understand that I’m not alone and how difficult it is for other people, even close ones, to understand what is going inside our minds while we are going through a mental breakdown.

I look forward to reading this book and to write my review. For now, take a look at these articles about the book and about the writer Michael Greenberg.

Now that Autumn is bringing us the cold and rain, indoor activities are more frequent, but how can we make exercise indoors?

If you own a Wii Console and you want to get fit than you should try the Active Life Outdoor Challenge. This game can be played by people of all ages so no matter you are 3, 20 or 99 years old you can play it.

The Active Life Outdoor Challenge game is a source of body movement. The special designed mat puts you away from the couch and you are “forced” to keep your body moving throughout the wide variety of games. All games have multiple levels and they will for sure make all parts of your body exercise: log jumping, jump rope and water trampoline are just three of the games available.

So, stay away from the couch and start exercising with your family and friends.

Active Life Outdoor Challenge Video

Usually it happens once or twice a year and it happened Friday night.

In the office every week 7 workers play in the Euro Millions. It costs us 10Euros a week, we give 2 Euros each meaning 4 Euros goes to an envelope. Each time we win some money (usually 7-10 Euros) it goes into the envelope and when we have an amount of money that allow us to go out and have dinner “for free” (only with the money from the envelope) we schedule a Friday night and usually go to a sea food restaurant. An so we did.

Friday my husband stayed with the kids (they loved it because he took them to Mac Donalds) and I went out to have dinner with my co-workers. The sea food was excellent, shrimps, clams, edible crabs, among other food. I love sea food but I barely eat it because it’s too expensive for my pocket so I loved it even more.

After having dinner we went Bowling. I didn’t play bowling for 11 years so it was a blast. I loved it.

Well we have a good time, we ate, we drank, we said bad things about our bosses so, what can I say more…we had a great time!!! :)

We had another movie night on Friday, this time we watched “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”.

I’m (my husband too) a huge fan of Indiana Jones, I’ve watched all his previous movies and I was looking forward to watch this one.

Here is the plot summary:

During the Cold War, Soviet agents watch Professor Henry Jones when a young man brings him a coded message from an aged, demented colleague, Henry Oxley. Led by the brilliant Irina Spalko, the Soviets tail Jones and the young man, Mutt, to Peru. With Oxley’s code, they find a legendary skull made of a single piece of quartz. If Jones can deliver the skull to its rightful place, all may be well; but if Irina takes it to its origin, she’ll gain powers that could endanger the West. Aging professor and young buck join forces with a woman from Jones’s past to face the dangers of the jungle, Russia, and the supernatural. Written by {jhailey@hotmail.com}

The movie has a lot of action and adventure as the previous ones. Some special effects are not that special but they got the effect of danger and spectacular scenes. Marion is back better than ever and Col. Dr. Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett) plays a fantastic role. Of course I missed the charming Sean….

This is a great movie to watch in family and although my 4 years old daughter fell asleep my 9 years old loved it.

Almost one week since I last wrote a post on this blog. This week was not an easy one.

#First Issue: Be a witness in court on my boss’s case. This had to do with a cops issue in which my boss was accused of using violence against cops. At the end it showed that the cops in fact where the ones that used extreme violence against him. Although I did not see a think I was a “friendly” witness meaning I was asked how he behaved as being my boss (if he was aggressive, violent, etc. etc.). Although this is not a matter that should worry me because I just had to say what happens during the day at work, I was kind of nervous because it was my first time in court and in front of a judge.

#Second Issue: Dani had headache, throat ache, fever…doctor says it is a pharyngitis, he didn’t go to school for two days, instead he stayed at daycare where they have conditions to keep “feeling sick” kids. As soon as he started taking the antibiotic he got better.

#Third Issue: I’ve been dealing with some female issues with my daughter. At pre-school the teachers want the kids to go alone to the bathroom (to be independent) but some of them just don’t clean themselves as they should. Having a daughter I’ve been facing issues I didn’t have with my son like itching, rash, etc in her private areas.

#Fourth Issue: My daughter is having a running nose, a lot of coughing and some sore throat. Nothing serious but annoying.

#Fifth Issue: The search for extra money and having a co-worker that plays Poker has made me think about getting started with Online Poker. I already have a poker table on my computer, I’m starting to learn the techniques and practice is something I have to do a lot. The problem: even more lack of time. Why? If I already had little time to blog, now that I want to learn how to play Poker, I have even less time. I really don’t know if I can manage every think. We’ll see….

#Sixth Issue: Twitter is a great place to write our doubts, ideas, questions, “doing right now” tasks, etc., for me this means less posting because instead of posting I tweet the issues and then I feel it’s not worth to post them. What a dilemma!

Safety was something that always worried me about when talking about my two kids. Nowadays there are dangers of several sources and although we can’t protected our kids 100% at least we can try to apply and teach some rules them can help them to be safer kids. Here are a good tips:

Help Your Children To Protect Themselves

Children are precious gem to all parents. Protecting them from harmful strangers is a great a responsibility. Yet, whenever you could not be there for them, you should help them to protect themselves.

Every parent has different ideas of the dangers that their children will meet everyday. No matter what those dangers are, it is always advisable to prepare your children early. Children naturally trust other people easily, especially friendly adults. Parents may find it difficult to explain to their children how to exercise caution with these people.

Here are some basic guidelines on how to help your young children to protect themselves.

Teach names of parents and siblings

• This is a task all parents must teach their children since young. Children must not only know their own names, they must also know their parents’ and siblings’ names. If you are living in a multi-lingual community, make sure your children know your name in different languages. (Every language has different pronunciation of the same name.)

Know home address and telephone number

• It is good to drill your children their house address and telephone number at an early age. If possible, write the information down in a small card and remind your children to keep it safely. Drill your children a few times a day.

Know the emergency and personal numbers

• Teach them the emergency numbers in your area. Write the numbers down if needed and drill your children every now and then. Also include some personal numbers your children can call during emergencies. Tell you children that they are welcome to call at any time.

Have a few channels of communication

• It is advisable to practice making calls with a make-believe telephone or a mobile telephone. Since your children can remember correctly the home and your personal numbers, let them call you once a while as a practice. Make sure your children’s mobile telephones are active and fully charged so that they can make calls during emergencies.
• Teach your children to use a public telephone. Then, buy some public telephone cards with credits for them. This may be another emergency gesture, just in case your children have forgotten their mobile phones at home.
• Some parents equip their very young children with simple ‘push to talk’ mobile phones. Although these gadgets cannot be used to make calls, parents may find it useful as young children can use it easily. Parents can rest assured their children are safe.

Set up some rules at home

• Setting rules at home can help to discipline your children. At first, they may find the rules restricting. Explain to them why such a rule is made. Children choose reasoning first before accepting. Once you have explained to them, they will accept the rules easily.
• Include also certain rules of answering the telephone. Tell them not to give out the address of their house, home telephone number or their own names.

Never accept gifts or lifts

• You can start by telling stories of how smart children take care of themselves. Remind them all the time not to accept gifts or lifts from strangers or people they do not know well. Some children may not think twice accepting gifts or foods because they are just too young to do so. So, it is always good to remind them the danger doing so.

Be notified of their whereabouts

• Remind your children to notify you their whereabouts. Even if they are playing in the garden, they ought to inform you first. This will itself become a habit to your children. Do not let your children out of your house compound without your permission. Always lock the front gate.
• For older children, always remind them to inform you of their whereabouts if they have mobile phones. If you are not available; then, remind them to inform a close relative or neighbor before going out.
• Always be punctual to fetch your children from school or tuition centres. Do let them wait too long. If you are late, give them a call first and remind them to wait for you only. Also remind them to wait for you at a bright spot or with a group of friends.
• Remind their school teachers to call you if your children are absent without reasons. Have their teachers to watch out for their behaviors too.

Talk to your children about abduction

• To most parents, this is not a topic to discuss with their children. However, children have a right to know as their safety is at stake here. Tell in a gentle way and have them come up with ideas what to do facing such danger. Most children who were abducted had no exposure of such occurrence.
• For course, your children will have all sorts of heroic ideas to get out of the situation. Always warn them of the dangers they would face. Let them know that they are no child-heroes like the ones they saw in movies.

Talk to your children about sexual abuse

• Another topic which most parents find difficult to talk to their children. Tell your children gently that nobody is allowed to touch them in any way that makes them uncomfortable. Remind them it is all right to run away or fight back if that occurs. Remind them to tell what happen to a trusted adult immediately.
• Tell your children they have rights to refuse any request from strangers they do not know. Teach them to decline politely and run away swiftly.

Ask for help from policemen or security guards

• If anything happen in a shop, tell your children to run and get help from the shopkeeper or sale persons in charge. Tell them to get help from a policeman on duty or security guards if they see one.

Teach them to scream, shout and run

• Parents want their children to be quiet and nice all the time. Yet, when in danger, facing with strangers, they all want their children to scream and shout for help. So, let your children be noisy.

• Noisy children are more active and react faster during emergencies. They can run far and do lots of counter attacks such as kicking and biting when needed. Allow your children to take part in sports and games, this will help to make them strong and able to fight back should there be troubles.

Lock all doors and windows

• When it is late in the evening, remember to make sure you lock the doors and windows. This is a good example your children will follow. Always lock the front gate. If possible equip your house with a security camera and alarm to avoid unwanted intruders.

Playing with friends

• Encourage your children to make friends in school. Teach them how to share and treat their friends well. This is a way to have friends to help your children if they have trouble. When they need to go anywhere, remind your children to walk in a group.
• Abductors are wary when they see a group of children together. They may find it quite difficult to grab a child without getting the attention of other children and people around them.

Listen to your children

• Listen to your children when they are telling you their feelings about people and places. Do not criticize them for expressing the fear. Teach them to trust their instinct. Let your children know that you are always around for them.
• Some children will tend to exaggerate to get attention. This will be the time you ask more questions. Reprimand your children gently when the truth is found out. However, always show your support by listening to them.

Be attentive at public places

• Teach your children to be attentive at public places. Get the older children to look after the younger ones when you are busy shopping. Warn your children not to walk alone. Allow your older children to carry their mobile phones with them. It makes things easier should you suddenly lose sight of them.
• Some parents make their older children carry small sharp objects to protect themselves. This is a good move too. However remind them not to scratch any public objects or you will be in trouble.

Take note of children’s distinctive features

• Every child has his or her own distinctive features. They may come as moles or shape of their faces or even birthmarks on their bodies. Take special note of that. If possible, take their individual pictures yourself. If something happens, these photographs can be a great help.
• You can buy a finger-printing tool to print your children’s finger prints. You can make an activity out it. Keep your children’s finger prints easily accessible at home.

Be alert to change of behavior

• Children with emotional problems are usually withdrawn and secretive. Be attentive for these sudden changes shown in your children. Talk to them. They need your emotional support more than anything else. Find out the root of the problems. Ask questions, but do not force the child to say anything he or she does not want.
• Be alert why your child or children show unexplained hostility towards a friend, relative and baby sitter. Children are generally friendly, unless they are disturbed emotionally.

Going online

• Do not encourage your children to spend time online without your permission. In fact, lock your PC with a secret password or a few passwords.
• Do not allow your children to chat with their friends through chat-rooms with your supervision. Never allow your children to parade in front of the webcams for your friends or families. The possibility of your PC being spied is great.

So whatever you do, you know you are protecting your children. You are not being protective, just be careful. Your children are more important than other treasures you have.

I found this article at scribd.com.