SOOTHE Your Eczema

Being a food allergy mom myself, mi have come across so many parents struggling with their child's eczema which often goes hand in hand with food allergies. There has gotta be nothing worse then watching your child suffer. I've had eczema on my fingers before finding this amazing product and let me just say it sucked! I had to stop wearing my wedding ring for several months, it itched so bad. So anyways, I had to share this awesome before and after with you.

Zeke
“My 8-month-old son, Zeke, had eczema. His skin looked red and irritated on the back of his knee. I have not wanted to use steroid creams because he is so little, so I applied SOOTHE every day for three days. THE LOOK OF REDNESS AND IRRITATION HAS ALMOST COMPLETELY
DISAPPEARED.”

How amazing is that? SOOTHE is one of four skin care regimens by Rodan + Fields, the Dr.'s behind Proactiv. It's formulated specifically for sensitive irritated skin and facial redness. Like I said, I use it on my hands for my eczema and love it! It's actually one of the reasons I partnered with Rodan + Fields. 

So if you or your little one suffers from eczema, whatever the cause, you gotta check this stuff out. And please, send me your before and after pics! 

A Few Great Organizations And How You Can Help The Tornado Victims In Oklahoma

Stuffed Animals For Emergencies, or SAFE,  is an awesome non-profit organization run completely by volunteers. They collect both new and gently used stuffed animals to be donated to emergency organizations for children in traumatic situations. I have had nothing but great experiences using SAFE as a way to get my kids involved in giving. It's such an amazing concept. If you have kids, your bound to have a ton of stuffed animals. I don't even know where half of them come from, they just multiply. So every so often, rather then throwing them out, my kids and I will go through and pick out the ones that are no longer played with and/or have no meaning. Then we donate them to SAFE hoping that one of our stuffed animals puts a smile on the face of another little boy or girl. It's really easy to donate. For more info visit their website. 

Now I want to share some info I received from Stuffed Animals For Emergencies about two great charities currently looking for our help due to the recent devastation in Moore, Oklahoma. Both are providing relief to the families in Moore. 

First, is Feed The Children in Oklahoma City. They are in great need of stuffed animals, blankets, toys, any kind of baby items, diapers, children's clothes and any kind of non-perishable food items. The items are being sent out as they are received. Here is the address you need to send to: 29 N. McCormick, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73127. If sending gently used items, ALL ITEMS MUST BE CLEANED FIRST INCLUDING THE STUFFED ANIMALS. You can check out a guide to cleaning stuffed animals here on the SAFE website along with some further information.

Second, is Gleaning for The World. They have what is called the Teddy Bear Brigade and they take trucks with emergency supplies and stuffed animals straight to these areas and are currently sending trucks to Moore, Oklahoma. If you would like to help by donating your stuffed animals, you can send them to The Teddy Bear Brigade at 7539 Stage Road / P.O. Box 645 Concord, VA 24538. Here is a 

link to their website as well http://teddybearbrigade.gftw.org/

DIY'er Giveaway!

Good Monday to you all! I am excited to get to my new giveaway. If you don't already know, I am a huge wanna-be-DIY'er. There's just one problem, I usually suck! So when I got this new "I SPY DIY STYLE" book by Jenni Radosevich I knew the best thing to do with it was to give it to someone who could actually use the book and give it the justice it deserves. It's a pretty bad ass DIY book for anyone who loves fashion; another usual flop for me.

The book can be found on Amazon if you don't have the patience for a giveaway and need it now.

Click on the image to view product on Amazon

And for the nitty gritty.... the giveaway rules!

1. The contest is open to those in the US only.

2. You have TWO chances to enter the contest by leaving comments below:
    First Entry (manditory): You must follow PlayDates and Chardonnay using either google friend    
    connect or by Email, both of which can be done on the right hand sidebar. Say "follow" in your              
    comment/entry below along with a valid email address.
    Second (Bonus) Entry: you must follow PlayDates and Chardonnay on twitter @OCFAmom. Just             say "twitter" in your second comment/entry.

3. The contest will end Monday, May 27th at midnight PST.

4. The winner will be contacted by email on Tues. May 28th and will have 48 hours to respond or a
    a new winner will be selected. DOUBLE CHECK YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR
    COMMENT!

Good luck!

Awareness Success!

Yeah! I was so excited today to see food allergy awareness flyers in my sons preschool folder when I dropped him off this morning. His school has been awesome this year! Unfortunetly its my kindergartener who has the food allergy, but I'll take whatever awareness I can get. Any one else have success with spreading awareness in your schools for this years Food Allergy Awareness Week? I tried with my kindergarteners principle, but got nothing; partially my fault for being so behind this year I suppose. Here's the color page and informational sheet from FARE that was sent home with my preschooler. Sorry, It's a terrible picture but here is the link to them on the FARE website along with some other great resources: http://www.foodallergy.org/food-allergy-awareness-week. Its never to late to start spreading awareness.

Its Not a Joke

Yesterday marked the official start of this years Food Allergy Awareness Week and to kick things off F.A.R.E. has released a PSA on food allergy bullying. For those of you who are familiar with my blog you probably well aware that my oldest son has a severe nut allergy, therefore, this sort of bullying is a huge concern that I have well he is attending school (which is scary enough). Its no secret how evil some kids can be and never ceases to amaze me the leghths in which they will go to in order to torment their peers. Then again this is no surprise concidering some of the ignorant parents those of us with food allergic children have had to deal with in our attempts to do nothing other then keep our little ones safe. Suppose thats a whole nother rant.

Lets keep this possative. Mamma needs a drink! :)

FARE's "It's Not a Joke" Campaign can help you learn more about food allergies and how you can prevent food allergy bullying. Watch their PSA below and visit www.foodallergy.org/its-not-a-joke to learn more about how you can help make a difference. Dont forget to share!

What I really want for Mothers Day

It's almost here, that wonderful day where we as mothers are forced to spend time with our kids and vice versa.... Mothers Day. Yeah, more time with my kids!

This Mothers Day I've lucked out some what and at least got rid of my husband, or third child I should say. He's been reliving his 20 something's in Vegas at a Bachelor party this weekend and I actually couldn't be happier. See, this Mothers Day I intend on doing absolutely nothing! That's right. I will proudly plug my kids into a video game (dont judge) and enjoy the awesome weather out on the back patio with a drink in my hand. As I see it, this is a win win for all involved. My kids will think I'm great for letting them play video games and I get to enjoy some peace and quiet.

Why is it that every other Mothers Day seems to be more work for ME and a good excuse for brunch or bbq for everyone else. There is nothing like cleaning the house, getting ready, and preparing food for a crowd all well still chasing the kids around to celebrate this glorious job we call motherhood. What do we get in return? A maccaroni necklace, flowers that will inevitably die by the end of the week, and a cheesy card.

Sure that may sound a bit unappreciative, but don't act like you've never thought about how nice it would be to spend the day NOT being a mom. Think of it like Labor Day, shouldn't you be getting the day off?

I know some of you are fortunate and get your day at the spa and all, but I'm not much of spa kinda girl. I'm not looking to be waited on and pampered. I'm thinking more of an evening at a nice hotel...ALONE. I would wear the big fluffy white robe, rent a couple chick flicks, order champagne and room service, maybe read a book, pee in the bathroom without an audience, and of course sleep or at least lay in bed as long as I damn well please. Now that's what I call Mothers Day!

A girl can dream right?

I'm Back!

It's been almost a year since my last post, but I'm happy to say, "I'm back!" I'm also very excited about my new business venture (more about that soon). Keep checking back, because as I work my way back into the flow of things, I've got a couple great giveaways to announce. However, this is that crazy time of year with both boys are heading into their last couple weeks of school so be patient. Hell, I'm still working on figuring out all this blogging stuff too, which for a computer illiterate person like myself, this could be interesting. Wish me luck!