Silly Creatures Giveaway

How was your Memorial Day weekend? I hope it was great! We did a lot of stuff around my house, but somehow we ended up with a bigger mess than we started with. Somehow I need to find some time to fix that problem!

I am happy to announce that today we have a giveaway! A while ago I was contact by Flor, the owner and creator of Silly Creatures. After reading her story and visiting her website, I was excited to have the opportunity to share one of her Silly Creatures with you.

I love the fact that her products are all made with eco-friendly and natural materials, like organic cotton. In addition, Flor is working toward receiving a B Corporation certification. I had no idea what this was until I learned more about it here. Certified B Corporations use “the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.” That’s pretty cool!

Even before I decided to run a nonprofit, I always felt more compelled to do business with companies who were generous. I truly appreciate that Silly Creatures gives back to the community and is making a difference for meaningful organizations and programs.

The company and concept of Silly Creatures started as a request from Flor’s son, Simon. He drew pictures of what he wanted and even gave the creatures names. Flor bought the supplies and started to make her first Silly Creature. When Simon wanted to play with the stuffing, Flor decided to create a digestive tract. A child could then pretend to feed the toy and have the “food” come out the other side.  

The K-BEU family of Silly Creatures

The Silly Creatures idea was born, and several different types are now available. Polished stones serve as the food that kids can give to the creatures, and then they can push it through the digestive tract. The creatures provide play with several functions, including learning about anatomy and also helping to develop fine motor skills.

Flor was kind enough to send me a Silly Creature to give away to you! Isn’t that great? If you have a child that you think would enjoy this toy, please take a moment and enter to win! The giveaway will be open through Saturday and then I’ll announce the winner next Monday.

Don’t forget to visit Silly Creatures on Facebook and Twitter! Good luck!  



a Rafflecopter giveaway

A really awesome GFCF giveaway!

If you were on Facebook over the weekend, you know that I promised some big news on Monday. Are you ready? I’m doing an awesome giveaway! Really, really awesome. Like $200 awesome! Do I have your attention? Good!

I was over at Earth Monkey Moms the other day (you remember my Extreme Makeover Home Edition friend) and they were doing a giveaway that was super cool. They were giving away 10 spots in an upcoming live online dietary coaching program on how to start the GFCF diet for your kids. As it turns out, the consultant that offered up the prizes was someone I wrote a guest post for back in September. You can read that post at the Apples to Oranges blog here.

Anyway, I left a comment on the EMM blog that day, mentioning that if they picked me as a winner that I would happily forfeit it to someone else. After all, I do talks and meetings all the time about the GFCF diet through my support group and nonprofit organization. I don’t really need this kind of class when so many others out there could really use the info so much more than me!

Guess what? I ended up being one of the winners. And guess what else? Lindsay at EMM told me to keep the prize! And guess what I’m doing with that prize? I’m giving it away to one of you, my dear readers!

Can I just reiterate how awesome this prize is? I'm doing a little happy dance for you right now! Do you like that visual? Anyway....sorry. I'm just a teeny bit excited. 

I can tell you from my own experience that when you first start dealing with dietary restrictions it can be very overwhelming and scary. So, how cool would it be to have someone hold your hand through the process?

The dietary coach and fellow mother warrior is Lori Brienesse-Frank, and she is the gal behind Apples to Oranges Consulting. She will take you through everything you need to know about the GFCF diet in the 8-week live webinar series, which will begin in January.  

Christmas is coming early for one lucky reader this week! Would you like to know how to win? The only mandatory requirement is to leave a comment below this post, but please use the widget I’ve included below. The rest of the items listed will give you bonus entries if you complete them. So, fill in the little blanks and check the little boxes and you are done, my friends.  

I can’t think of a better way to start the New Year, than with some professional guidance from a dietary coach like Lori. You only have a few days to enter, so get moving! Good luck!

A Keurig-style machine for baby formula?

I think you can easily gather from my name that I LOVE coffee. I consider myself to be a coffee aficionado and connoisseur. Some of you might call me an addict. Whatever… I may or may not resemble that remark!

Have you heard of Keurig? It’s the latest thing in making your morning routine simpler. A lot of my friends love their Keurig machine and think it makes a great cup of coffee. Personally, I am not a huge fan of the Keurig machine. I admit it. Don’t boo me if you own one. To each their own! Right? I like being able to buy my organic beans, grind them, use filtered water and make the absolute perfect cup of coffee my way.

I was flabbergasted when I happened upon an article about a Keurig-style machine that Nestle created for the sole purpose of making baby formula. At first glance the concept seems sort of scandalous, while at the same time strangely interesting and novel. Nestle calls their machine “BabyNes,” and it’s being marketed as a “new lifestyle consumer machine.”

The machine costs almost $300 and the capsules of baby formula cost almost 4 times as much as their coffee equivalent. One feature is a built-in water filtration system to eliminate concerns over bad water being consumed by infants. The BabyNes is being trialed in Switzerland before Nestle determines if they will expand into other markets, including those in developing nations.

Critics of the BabyNes say, “The current trend is manipulating young mothers into believing infant feeding is a lifestyle event like drinking Nespresso.”

Nestle has had problems over the years when it comes to their baby formula products, including some quality control issues related to bacterial contamination. Some people believe that the machine would feed into “rampant commercialism that could come at the expense of infant health.”

I breastfed both of my boys and I can tell you with some confidence that I would probably never own a machine like this, had they been around when my boys were babies. That’s not to say that for some women it would be a wonderful thing, particularly those who are unable to breastfeed their babies. But, you would probably need to have a fairly large wallet to afford it!

Is this a product you would like to buy? I’d love to hear what you think about this machine! Please leave your comments below.  

A sneaky parent’s guide to getting your child to take their vitamins

For those of us parents that take the biomedical path in treating our kids with autism, we are often completely stymied as to how to get all of those expensive vitamins and supplements down the gullet of our ever-moving children. This is made even more complex if you have a child who is too young to understand how to swallow pills, or if you have kids like mine that lack the motor coordination to get their tongue to cooperate in the pill-swallowing process. Some day they’ll figure it out. I hope. Sooner than later. Please.

Since I’ve agonized over the vitamin dilemma, I am going to give you some free advice based on the successes I’ve had with this issue. But unlike most free advice, mine is actually good. Trust me.

Things to Consider

1.       Does your child eat anything you put in front of them, no matter the color/temperature/texture/taste?

Okay, so this is sort of a trick question to see if you’re paying attention. I imagine that your answer is a resounding “NO!” Most moms struggle with picky eaters at some point, and that includes moms of neurotypical kiddos. If your answer is no, then welcome to the club. Be prepared to change your game plan as often as necessary. We’re going with the flow here, or at least, we’re trying to make a good effort while our teeth are gritted behind a Stepford-like smile.

2.       Does your child have difficulty swallowing or do they have a strong gag reflex? 

If your answer is yes to either part of this question, then teaching your child to swallow pills should probably wait until they are older or have learned to better overcome their motor/sensory issues. Feeding therapy might be a good idea to aid what you’re already doing at home. If you, like me, do not enjoy your child making the face and sound of a cat coughing up a hairball (rendering any vitamins in their mouth into a slobbery and unusable mess), then just wait to cross this bridge. But, don’t fret! There are things you can do to help your child take their vitamins. More on this in a moment.

3.       Can your child only palate certain textures?

If your child can only tolerate certain textures in their mouth, then giving them the wrong thing could cause a tantrum, hunger strike, flying food, or other ghastly calamity that us worn out parents don’t have time or energy to deal with. You might want to stick with what you already know. There’s actually a lot that can be done with different textures, so hooray for that! And yes, I know you’re still waiting. Patience is a virtue, people.

4.       Does your child respond to rules, a picture schedule, or rewards for positive behavior?

If your answer is yes, then we’ve got even more to work with here. Do not despair! We have options. Let’s check them out now, shall we?