Fiber One Brownies Review + #Giveaway

I haven't participated in a My Blog Spark campaign in quite some time, so I am happy to bring you the latest info about Fiber One Brownies + a prize pack giveaway below! I've been a lover of Fiber One products since having my daughter in 2011. Prior to that, I never truly realized the benefits of eating enough fiber. The Fiber One box states that about 4 out of 5 Americans don't get the recommended amount of fiber. I think that Fiber One has made it possible for us all to fix that. They offer some truly great tasting products with high amounts of fiber.

In today's food world, there's no reason to think that fiber has to be bland, hard to swallow, or unappetizing. I found Fiber One Chewy Granola bars and instantly fell in love. They really taste like a candy bar to me!


Recently, Fiber One released a new product--fiber in the form of brownies! They are a great afternoon snack, long-office-hours-pick-me-up, or stash-in-the-diaper-bag treat. Perhaps you've read another review of mine--the one about Betty Crocker brownie mix? If so, you know that I am a true blue brownie lover--potentially addict. I'm a tough brownie critic; the sample I was sent tastes good but I definitely think I'd prefer the chocolate fudge or chocolate peanut butter flavor over the chocolate chip cookie flavor. The chocolate chip cookie flavor does not have a traditional brownie taste to it. If you go in knowing that I think it taste more like a cookie bar, rather than expecting a 'brownie'; you'll be more appreciative of it's 90 calorie goodness.
The thing to remember about Fiber One Brownies is that they are only 90 calories, 3 grams of fat, and have 20% (5g) of the recommended amount of fiber! Knowing that, how could you turn one down?? From my personal experience with the brand's variety of products and quality taste, I definitely recommend Fiber One products as a way to increase your fiber intake. I've not tried one of their products that I don't love. Be sure to check out the new Fiber One Brownies at your local store!

For when you've got Brownies on the Brain

Enter to win a prize pack from Fiber One & My Blog Spark below. The prize pack contains fun little items to relieve stress or have a 'me' moment--all are listed below on the rafflecopter form.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclosure: The product, gift pack, information, and additional sample have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark. Giveaway entries involving Facebook are not mandatory and Facebook has no legal ties to, responsibility / liability for, this giveaway. Giveaway ends 8/25 at 12:01 am EDT.

Party Works Party Pack Winner

Thanks to all who entered the giveaway for a set of party supplies from the Party Works. There were 627 entries (61 people) & the winner is:

I'll be posting a new giveaway by Monday, so be sure to enter that! It's for a My Blog Spark Fiber One prize pack with some great things in it.

To Do List + taking suggestions

Find an infant car seat that fits our budget (less that $150) but is also very safe (cute doesn't hurt).
Find a double stroller that has the capability to have a car seat clipped in (jogging style preferred).
Find either a big girl bed for G or a new crib for baby boy.
Find a new OB doctor and baby boy / G new doctors, OR move back to our old town :-)
Figure out where to give birth...home's not really an option.
Drink more water and eat lots of protein.
Buy & wrap Christmas presents in advance.
Take a fall trip to the Midwest if we don't get the okay to move back asap.

I've got a lot spinning around my head right now, but I promise to get back in the regularity of posting :-) My sister was here for a week, so that is why things slowed down even more!

Gender Announcement #WW #Linky

BABY BOY!!!! For his sake, the XY photo shall remain off the internet, so you get a beautiful picture of his face at 20 weeks--in 4D no less! His hand is up by his eye, and his other arm was moving a lot, so there is a swirl on the right side of the photo.

here you can see baby boy's face, covered by his arms --and a foot peeking in too! What an acrobat!

We are so excited to welcome our first son into our family this holiday season :-)

If you have a wordless Wednesday Post, please link up below!

SAVE in San Antonio, Texas

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of SAVE for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

When I was in college (University of Missouri), our football team did pretty well. One of their bowl games was in San Antonio, Texas. Prior to that, I didn't really know how cool the city is. While I wasn't able to attend the game, our local sports network did a great job at showing all that the city has to offer. I also got to see pictures from my friends on social media sites. To make a long story short, San Antonio is definitely on my list of places to visit!

This summer, you can experience all that San Antonio has to offer while saving money. Coincidentally named SAVE, the San Antonio Vacation Experience, gives travelers a way to get exclusive discounts, deals, and special offers to theme parks, shopping, museums, hotels and resorts around the city. The SAVE deals are for any price point or taste--from budget to luxury options. I know that a lot of families are struggling to make ends meet, let alone take a nice little summer trip. I'm glad that SAVE exisits so that families wanting to see a culturaly rich area can save some money while doing it.

I'm a big planner, and love saving money--especially on vacation--so here's a little itenerary I came up:

August 22 - 25, 2012 (two adults, G is free at all places because she is under 2)

Hotel: $10 per night savings at Drury Plaza Hotel Riverwalk. Drury is one of our favorite hotel chains--typically found in the Midwest, with tons of free extras (like AM and PM food). The Riverwalk Drury is actually not your average Drury, it looks really fancy from the photos and reviews. We'd want the two room suite with a king bed (one bed room and one living area). The regular rate is $140, but with SAVE the price is $130. Total savings: $30

Day 1: $7 per ticket savings on Splashtown water park. I'm always up for a good theme park, and in the summer there's no better place to cool off than a water park! Splashtown is great because it has free parking, 40 water slides, and all the classics like a wave pool and lazy river. Total Savings: $14

Day 2: $10 per ticket savings on Sea World (there are also discounts on tours and behind-the-scene excursions). My husband and I really want to take our daughter to a Sea World and the one in San Antonio is actually 4 parks in 1 on 250 acres! Total savings: $20

Day 3 morning: 20% off at the San Antonio Children's Museum. Part of going on vacation with a toddler is planning activities that will engage their ever-expanding minds and bodys. I love taking our daughter to kid-oriented museums. It's fun for my husband and I to see her explore a place built just for her--and get a break from the heat! Total Savings: $3.20

Day 3 afternoon: $2 off per ticket on the Alamo Trolley. We'd love to take a tour of the culturally rich heart of Old San Antonio. On the Alamo Trolley, we'd hear a narrorated history and get to hop-on-hop-off all day with the hop pass. Total Savings: $4

Day 4: Before leaving town, I'd drag my husband and daughter to the outlet malls--because mom deserves some personal fun too! Through SAVE, at the San Marcos Premium Outlet Mall you can get a VIP coupon book for free, though it usually costs $5. With SAVE you can get another free VIP coupon book (with over $900 in savings) for use at the Tanger Outlet Mall. Total Savings: limitless! :-)

I've found that SAVE is not only helpful for finding deals on lodging and activities, it's great for planning your San Antonio trip in general! I love the map feature, because you can see how far apart your activites are, and plan out a route.

Explore the SAVE – San Antonio Vacation Experience website for even more ideas to score trip savings. Also, be sure to follow @SAVEinSA to get updates on Limited Time Offers, deals, and other ideas to help you plan your trip to San Antonio.

Mega Bloks winner

There were 1439 total entries into the awesome Mega Bloks giveaway, I appreciate every one (all 120 of you) who took the time to enter!

Be sure to check out my new giveaway, for The Party Works party pack for 8!

Cheesecake Day Wordless Wednesday #WW I#linky

My sister came to visit us, so we had to pick her up at the airport today. We made a day of it by going to the outlet mall for a tiny bit of shopping (got G the cutest shirt and shorts) and then running to the Cheesecake Factory for their national 'Cheesecake Day' celebration extension (1/2 price slice through a facebook promotion). The only bummer was I forgot my credit card at the Cheesecake Factory--bummmmmeeerrr! Also, G took forever to fall asleep because her nap was so late.
Here are a few photos:

camera phone pic of the NEW Oreo Dream Cheesecake - ahmazing

even G got some & said, 'mmmmmmmm!'

I forgot her cup in the car, so this worked for a little bit, but my sister did run to get her cup eventually

If you have a WW post this week, please link up below!!

The Party Works {party pack for 8} Giveaway

This a unique post on Letters from Momma, as I haven't ever posted a giveaway for something that I haven't personally reviewed. Recently, though, I was offered the chance to giveaway a package of party supplies from a San Francisco based online retailer, The Party Works. I couldn't turn it down because I know so many of my readers have kid's birthday parties to plan and budget out. I hope to help one of you out with a free party pack for 8! (If you are needing more, you can purchase additional matching items or an extra pack as needed)

17 months & 18.5 weeks

Call me lazy, but I prefer re-prioritized, the blog has taken a back seat (once again) to life with a toddler and growing fetus.

G has reached 17 months of age! WOW!! Next month she will be a year and a half old. Looking back at her early infant days, I thought 18 months sounded so far in the future--so old--but it really has flown by.

At 17 months, I think I'll just do a bullet point list because it's better than not getting this post published!

•  Roughly 32 inches tall & 22 pounds (with a belly). 12 teeth. blue eyes and fast growing blonde hair that I refuse to cut into bangs. Size 18 month clothes, and some 2t shirts (and shorts with cloth diapers). Size 4.5W (and a few 5) shoes.
• "All the time words" as of 7/25: Dada, Bite, Drink, Yeah (often repeated quickly), Please, Up, Bye-Bye, Hot, and her version of blueberry
• "Sometimes / prompted words": Dog, Ball, Kitty, Momma, Night-Night 
• Most of her words are not particularly clear or complete. For instance, Ball is typically "bah" and Please is just "puh-puh-puh." The "B" sound has become more prominent in her vocabulary and she'll repeat it a lot. I'm waiting for baby to come out :-)
• Animal Sounds as of 7/25: Woof, Roar, {snort attempt for pig}, Eeee-Eeee {monkey}, Dool-Doo {rooster}, tweet-tweet and cheep-cheep for birds and chickens {these aren't always clear}, finally Meow has appeared for kitties, and she now tries really hard to make a fish face for fish--it's SO CUTE

waving to the cow

• Foods: Still not a fan of meat except for ham-off-the-bone, the occasional hot dog, & chicken or beef ravioli. Loves scrambled eggs with cheese. Fruit is a big favorite, but she ADORES blueberries above everything else. Still drinks 2% milk, much to my chagrin. Likes carbo snacks like pretzels, crackers, etc... Likes cereal and granola bars. Will eat the occasional PB&J, but not often. Pasta makes a daily appearance at lunch or dinner. Doesn't like fresh farmer's market (or otherwise) tomatoes and still scoffs at potatoes. Does like Veggie Pasta :-) -- I generally have to make veggies fun (except grilled zucchini, that she loves) by making them jump or fly or sing.

• Sleep: G sleeps from about 8:45 (bed time is 8:30) until 8ish in the morning. She takes one nap (you may recall that she's been on one nap since about 11 months old) from about 1:45 to 3:15 pm. 
• Some nights are better than others, as far as ease of falling asleep. I've not determined a viable reason. I would blame it on teeth, but it isn't consistent, so who knows. In general, she sleeps through without crying out, but with teeth, she definitely cries some in the middle of the night or early morning. I love how reliable and predictable her sleep patterns have become. I will miss that when the new baby comes.
• Social: G is seriously so social! She likes to wave & say hi or bye to whoever will participate. She has gone on a lot of play dates this past month. I've really been trying to get her used to not being the only kid in town. She will sometimes interact with other kids (especially at the gym), but will still solo-play a lot, too. She's not scared to go to other kid's houses, as long as I'm there. At our neighbor's house, she even went into another room to play--out of my sight--and was giggling as if she didn't even notice I was "gone." 
• So far, it seems, her favorite playmate is the 2.5 year old who lives across the road. He is always up for a game of chase and I think she kind of likes his rambunctiousness--even though she was put off at first. He does a lot more 'big kid' things that are fun for her to see and try. His house also has an awesome ride-on toy that bounces.

tuckered out at the end of a play date

• Temperance: The 'terrible twos' have made a few appearances. I know it has to do with her inability to communicate effectively--not to mention she doesn't always get what she wants. I just ignore some fits, talk calmly through some, and distract her out of some. In general, though, she's a very mild mannered baby--I'd probably go so far to say she's one of the best kids around. She is helpful, polite (for a toddler, you know), friendly, sweet, and smart. She doesn't bully, in fact, she is often the "bullied" on play dates but takes it in stride. I think it's because she's super pint sized and knows it...haha
• Milestones:
• Building a 6 high block (wooden) tower! She can build super tall Mega Blok towers.
• Getting pretty successful at using a fork, but with most foods she prefers her hands. She's also moved on to eating bigger bites / I don't have to cut things up as small any more.
• CLIMBING! She loves to climb up on cabinet doors that have little molded borders (no clue what those are called), so that she can see what is on the counter or into the mirror. I know I need to get her a step stool.
• Running. She had jogged a little bit before, but she can now pretty much take off at a decent pace for a 1.5 year old.
• A full month or more with NO tears or looking back when I drop her off at the gym. She LOVES it. I'll talk about this in another bullet.
• Participating more and more at library story time.
• Helping make more things in the kitchen and now she loves playing with tongs.
• Trying to put on shoes by herself (this had appeared before, but it's more often now), and trying to put on shirts. She will try to put shorts on her arms. She also got a hold of a bra she tried to wrap around her too...comical, though I suppose inappropriate.
• first painted toes!
• swim lessons
• nearly a month of being weaned -- hasn't asked for it since a few days after

• Fun little anecdotes:
• G is usually doing something different every time I come to pick her up at the gym. Once she was in the little kid's gym where the 3-6 year olds were playing with balls. I thought she would be scared of all the action, but one of the girls said she was just loving all the noise and fun! Another time she was 'helping' a big girl color, while sitting at the desk with her. Another time she was playing with this little touch screen thing with a 4 year old girl. I watched them for a bit before G noticed me, and the little girl put her arm around G and gave her a little kiss on the head. It was SO sweet!
• G's been playing in the dirt since my dad showed her 'how' to do it, but this month she decided sitting in the dirt to play was better than sitting on the edge....greeeeaaat.
• G took a bite of a crayon this month. I was freaked out when I saw a weird red thing in her diaper, but then I remembered....
• Speaking of diapers, G is pretty much ready to potty train. She doesn't have words for pee or poop yet, and she doesn't seem to hate having a non-clean diaper; but she has a good amount of bladder control + will sit on the potty for a long time. I just need to 'mom up' and do the 3-day thing where she doesn't wear a diaper and learns what going on yourself feels like for real. I'm waiting until we get back from our Tahoe Trip (our small 2-night vacation for the summer).
• I also think G's pretty close to a big girl bed. I reaaaaallly don't want to push this one, but I know it's coming. She would totally climb out if she wasn't so tiny. She's beyond independent, so I assume after potty training, we'll get her out the crib.
• G loves buckles. If you have any cool toy ideas with buckles, let me know! My husband figured out that our Beco Gemini (soft-structured-carrier) is great for keeping her busy. She loves trying to do and undo all of the buckles it has.
• G likes to play with either of our wallets. We had our best hour at church last weekend because during consecration, when she got a little ancy, she took things out of my wallet and tried to put them back in. I should get her own and fill it with fake or canceled things, rather than things I'd hate to lose.

I always feel like I leave stuff, out but I think that's a good run down of G at 17 months :-)

July 22 2012

And not to waste your time with additional clicks to other blogs, I'll throw a few facts in about myself at 18.5 weeks pregnant with #2.

• Mostly the same as last time I wrote...except I am showing WAY more. The check in lady at the gym was pretty bold, and announced I am having twins by the way my belly just jumped out over night. I sure hope not!
• I've had a few days of real blah-feelings. The new baby must have been going through a HUGE growth spurt because I felt soooo fatigued and had two bad headaches this week. I was also starving, but didn't know what to eat.
• The other night, my husband (who has been feeling the baby for quite a while now) and I experienced a SUPER earthquake in my belly. The baby was moving like crazy for about 5 minutes straight.
• Still jogging, but not as often, about 2-3 times a week instead of 3-4. I go to the gym 4-5 days a week, but do the elliptical and light weights the other days.
• Still craving dairy. I got mozzarella jalapeno cheese sticks this week and they are soooo amazing. I could eat 4 at a time, but they weren't cheap, so 1 a day :-) I'm doing better at making myself take time to care about eating healthy for the new baby. With G, it's hard to be "selfish" like that.
• I'm up to about 12-13 pounds gained...a bit on the high side of average, but that's how my last pregnancy was too and I lost all of it plus extra, so I'm not worried. Unless it is twins...then I'll be stressed.
• Our ultrasound is less than 2 weeks away. I cannot wait! I was hoping they'd say it's a boy...but to be honest, I love our agreed upon girl name so much, that I kind of want them to say girl now! :-) SSSOOO either way, I will personally be totally stoked. Watch them say {a} we can't tell, or {b} there's two! GGGAAAHHH!

Tilden Park, Bay Area's Best

In my humble (less than a year resident), Tilden Park is by far the cheapest, coolest thing for toddlers in the entire Bay Area.

Maybe it's just because we had such an AWESOME day yesterday, but we all absolutely loved the activities in Tilden Park. It's nestled in the hills between Berkeley and Orinda (so it's part of the northish East Bay).

If you are coming to the Bay Area for a vacation, or live in the area but haven't checked it out...do so ASAP!!