Are there Fireworks at the Eiffel Tower on New Years Eve?

NO

Trust me this is fully based on experience. After ending a 2 week backpacking trip in Europe we found ourselves in Paris waiting for the new year to start 5 years ago. After standing around for hours and waiting...huge disappointment....THERE ARE NO FIREWORKS AT THE EIFFEL TOWER ON NEW YEARS EVE.

The only exception is for the new millennium and when they were putting in a bid for the Olympics. I truly hope they change this because people expect fireworks.

I never thought to Google it before we left because I just assumed there would be fireworks. Recently a friend posted on Facebook about how she is excited to see the fireworks at the Eiffel Tower on New Years Eve in a few months and I tried to tell her there wouldn't be any just to warn her. Heck I wish I had been warned! She brushed me off saying I was wrong. So here is my warning for others. Not a reason not to go as Paris is one of my favorite places to visit just a cautionary note when planning your festivities.

Au Revoir!

Guest Blogger

I have joined the team over at the blog Outnumbered 3 to 1 as a guest blogger and reviewer. This blog will still contain my personal rants and raves. I will be blogging over there on a monthly basis about outdoor family fun kinda stuff and posting reviews and giveaways of some great products you might be interested in. My bio can be found on their blog here. Check it out!

Exciting News....

I am super excited about what lies ahead for my family. Big changes. After living in our current city for 4 years we will be moving back home to where I grew up. Move on over Mickey you are getting some new neighbors, Orlando here we come! This coming January we will find ourselves starting a new journey for our family.

I say new journey because ever since we had kids this is the only place we have lived. It is a small coastal community and although I am use to a much faster paced city it has become home. Well at least home for my girls. I am not one for change. Living here has become comfortable. Like an old sweater. Everything is in its place. The idea of finding new pediatricians, dentists, pediatric dentist, hair stylist, optometrist, family physicians, preschools and a place to live is a bit daunting. Husband's current employer is letting him transfer offices so he still gets to stay working with a group that he likes. Not to mention that every single provider of services we have here I absolutely love. Right down to the local donut shop and how they know us even though we don't go very often.

I never wanted to move away from home. Life had other plans. We found ourselves pregnant with our first baby and my husband was fresh out of law school in a horrible job market. Eight months later a great job offer came along but it required us to move. It was a no brainer. Less than two months at his first job as a lawyer and we were first time parents to an extremely difficult baby. Transitioning to small town life was difficult for me. Add in the fact I didn't have a single friend within 100 miles and I became extremely lonely.

Slowly things started falling into place. This city started out as a not so comfortable itchy sweater, after lots of wash and wear it has become quite comfortable.

As slow and easy as small town life is I have always craved something more. I crave theme parks and outlet malls. Heck, my first job ever was working at a roller coaster. I love that I will be living in the same city as my parents....free babysitting...score! Another huge benefit of the move is that the school system we currently live in is horrible. Like worst in the state kind of horrible. I am all about public school but those around here are bottom of the barrel. Leaving our current house will be hard. We got it in foreclosure and gutted it and fixed it up right down to the oil rubbed bronze doorknobs. The house really is too big for us so we are hoping for something smaller.

I am writing all this out because the hubs has prevented me from sharing it on facebook....just yet. I am just so excited and nervous at the same time. I'm ready though. I really feel that in the long run Orlando is where we belong.

What's That Sound....

Oh right that is the sound of my thighs scraping together. It has finally happened, the husband and I are officially members of our local gym. The important thing to remember here is we are both lazy. Like sit in front of the TV and veg out kind of lazy. Like watch yet another House Hunters International kind of lazy.

In high school my husband played football and was on the weightlifting team. So he was in the gym 5+ times a week. He worked out hardcore. After high school he called it quits.

In high school I was an athlete. I was on the soccer team, rowed crew for a year and for a few years was on the...ahem....bowling team (that is still exercise!!!).

All of that was over 11 years ago for us. Seven years of marriage and 2 beautiful baby girls later and it is time.

Of course there will always be the issue of our mutual love of laziness. Hopefully trying to remain fit (notice I did not say skinny) will prevail. The gym is 2 minutes from the house. Locally owned by a family for over 30 years. Nothing fancy about it. But hopefully we will be there. Making ourselves healthier for ourselves and our family.

Let's face it, we will never give up McDonald's tasty salty fries. Exercise is healthy for the mind and soul as well as the body. So I raise my sugar free vanilla iced coffee in the air and toast myself....You can do this Katrina!

Super Undies - Review

As a cloth diapering mama cloth trainers can be just as important as cloth diapers. The sad thing is there does not seem to be a lot of cloth trainers out there that can be easily pulled on and pulled off by my toddler yet still be big kid looking enough for her to want to wear them. That is where I found super undies to excel. With a name like super undies what big kid wouldn't want to wear them. No diapers for these big kids!

I opted to try the pull-on potty training pants on my oldest daughter since we are towards the end of our potty training journey and they offer an easy on/off with some padding for small accidents. When I opened the package I was actually surprised with how soft the material on the sides were. Like super soft. When I showed them to my 3 year old and told her they were super undies she wanted to wear them right then and there. They were so trim! Of course the pocket version or the overnight version would be much bulkier. It came with an extra insert that was simple to tuck into the flap on the inside. I love that you can adjust the absorbancy to fit my daughter's needs.

I found these are great for my toddler since she has very few accidents. She can wear these on long car trips where we might not be able to pull over right away and at night to keep the bed from getting totally soaked in the case of an accident. These are way nicer than disposable pull ups that cost a fortune and are more filler for our landfills (see how I inserted my somewhat crunchy mama-ness into this review).

The pull on potty training pants are made from the following materials (taken straight from their website):

Inner fabric - Touching skin:	A smooth poly-Lycra blend
Absorbency inner:	Microfiber Terry Cloth
Colored outer fabric:	Waterproof PUL
Tabs:	Lycra

The inner fabric reminded me of a stretchy bathing suit layer and it is actually quite soft and not irritating at all. My daughter hates tags or itchy fabrics and she did not complain once about the super undies' materials.

The only con I found is that even though my 3.5 year old is completely average in size she told me that the leg holes were too tight on her. I got her the medium that said it fits 2-5 years of age and I wish I had gotten her the large that is suppose to be for ages 5+. The elastic around her stomach fit great. They obviously need a tight fit to hold in pee but they did leave little red marks on her legs after using them overnight. This would not dissuade me from using them though. I would just get her the next size up. Of course I would also love it if they added some cute prints to their designs.

I wish I had known about super undies months ago when we started this whole potty training process. When it comes time to potty train my youngest I will definitely want several of these on hand. It took overnight for them to line dry (which is how I dry most of my cloth diapers) so I will need several on hand. When it is really hot around the house I will let her just wear these. They are cute enough that they don't need shorts over them when we are all just hanging around the house. In fact super undies should make matching shirts with capes so that toddlers can run around screaming "super undies."

Check out their videos to learn what will work best for your kiddo. Sure the videos are cheesy but I like to view videos because it gives you a better idea on how they work besides just looking at cute pictures.

As quite the super hero fan I find that super undies are indeed super!!! Completely off topic but the Incredible hulk is my favorite super hero.

Buy It:
Visit the Super Undies website to find some cloth trainers for your big kid.

Connect:
You can follow Super undies on Facebook & Youtube

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned product from Super Undies to facilitate in this review. No other compensation was received. I was under no obligation to write a positive review. This is my 100% honest opinion and may differ from yours.

First Family Trip - Success!

Breastfeeding Humor

Recently we took our very first family trip since our first was born. Off to Stone Mountain, Georgia with my parents. My baby girl was amazing during the entire car trip from central Florida. My oldest was able to watch movies and play on her itouch so she was as good as a 3 year old that does not want to sit still can be. It was just so much fun to just get out of town. Violet just loved staying in a hotel. The hotel pool was awesome and since it was the hottest day on record in Atlanta since records have been kept everybody was in the pool. Because it was freakin hot!!!!

Ready for the Laser Show

Lily is now 9 months old (8 months in the picture). Yet again time is flying by. In fact it is flying by even faster than with my first. She is crawling super fast now and likes to pull up on stuff but she is a little timid so walking is several weeks away yet. She will take steps with her push toys but not independently yet. I am constantly saying how did I get this lucky???? Nothing beats being a mom. Lately Violet has been telling me she wants to grow up and be a super hero doctor mommy. I told her that would be just awesome.

Sisters on top of Stone Mountain, Georgia

Getting a picture of them both together without my oldest throwing a tantrum or poking her younger sister is next to impossible. So here you have it. Both are relatively happy. For some reason Lily took to this particular pacifier during this trip so this picture is Maggie Simpson style. Upon return home she will only take a pacifier in the car or in bed.

Lots of stuff going on in our family lives. Big changes in the future. Right now I will settle for evening swims in our pool and impromptu beach trips on the weekends. Days spent sleeping in as a family (all in the same bed plus a giant dog and a cat). Loving how simple life is right now. I am one lucky mama.

How I Wash Cloth Diapers in My Front Loader HE Washer

When making the switch to cloth diapers by far my biggest concern was how am I gonna wash these diapers and keep them clean? I googled the issue more than humanly necessary. For every blog and/or article I read on how to wash them I found another one contradicting it. I am writing this post on how I do it. I will preface this by saying that every mom is going to do it different. It all depends on your washer/water type and so on.

I start with a simple rinse and spin cycle with no detergent on cold/cold. This is to get any loose poop off.

I then do a normal cycle hot/cold with detergent and I press the button for an extra rinse. I also set it to heavy soiled to give it maximum water levels. This gives it a very long wash with hot water to kill bacteria and get them clean. You want lots of water so that it can get them clean. HE washers use less water than top loaders so to me this step is key.

You will read everywhere to use as little detergent as necessary. I find this to be wrong. I bought and tried a multi pack of many different all natural detergents. They all work just fine. For me I use powdered Tide original formula. The enzymes in it keep the whites white and the bacteria away. We have had zero stink issues and my diapers look like new. I am well aware that this is the opposite of natural and crunchy but I completely OK with that. I use a scoop full up to the 1 line.

I then do an extra rinse and spin cycle on cold/cold to make sure to get all of the suds out of there. This helps to prevent buildup. Buildup can make your diapers repel liquids. If there are still suds I will repeat this step.

I hang all my diapers on a small rack in my laundry room. I stick all the liners in the dryer with 4 wool dryer balls. The dryer balls are to help reduce dry time by absorbing liquid and mine have a scent called hint of baby which makes them smell nice but not overpowering.

I wash mine every 3-4 days. I use a diaper pail that looks like a basic kitchen garbage can. I use a reusable diaper pail bag that I wash along with my diapers and hang dry. I shut my lid after putting each soiled diaper in but I leave the lid cracked a very small bit (like a millimeter). I find this keeps the diapers from smelling too bad and I never smell anything near the changing pad and I am cursed with a very strong sniffer.

I do use bioliners for a majority of the changes. They are basically a thin layer of biodegradable material that catches poo. I just wipe and throw away. I also use a diaper sprayer to get a majority of the poo off for when I don’t use a liner or when it does not contain all the poo. All the poo does not need to be removed. Just the big stuff.

When it is nice and sunny out I line dry my diapers outside. This is not very often because I am busy and a wee bit lazy. It is important not to leave your diapers in the sun too long or the strong heat can break down the laminate in your diapers. It should be 2 hours max unless you live in a strong heat climate like Florida and then you should leave them in the sun for no more than an hour. inserts can stay out longer.

So that is how I wash my diapers. Like I said everyone is different but this is the method that works for me. There is a lot of information out there on washing diapers and it can be very confusing. In this household I do all the laundry and I actually enjoy making my diapers fresh and clean each time.