Monthly Its: January

Welcome to 2014, y'all! This last year flew by, didn't it? I can't believe that I'm 33 weeks and that my little girl is almost 2 years old. Pretty soon I'll be calling her 'my eldest.' Where has the time gone?

This weekend was packed full of fun family stuff - my mother in law's 50th birthday party, visiting with my parents and our 3rd trimester babymoon at Salish Lodge and Spa (I can't wait to share about it with you!). But in all honesty I'm hoping it's the last exciting weekend before Ruby arrives. I've reached the stage in my pregnancy where I'm in full nesting mode - I've got my dresser project, I've pulled out all the totes of Penny's newborn clothes and gear (just need to wash everything), we have the second half of our kitchen renovation to finish, and I just plain want to relax and have quiet family time until my little girl makes her arrival.

Bloggers and website owners: if the new year means a new look for you, I highly recommend Fantastique Designs! She is offering free blogger to word press conversions when you purchase her Wordpress design package. As you know, she's done a great job in my blog revamp and I can count on her for support when it is necessary. Lauren from The Median Mommy was the winner to my giveaway of a blog redesign package and it's just another example of Monique's great design work. Check out her personal blog about homeschooling at Living Life and Learning for a ton of resources.


Have you heard about Doodle Pants? These are leggings for both boys and girls, with cloth diapered bums in mind. Penny pulls out one of her two pairs (Pink Fox or Blue Rainbow) at least once a week when we go to pick out her daily outfit. Adorable! These have also been spotted on celeb babies such as Maxwell Johnson (aka: Jessica Simpson's daughter!). Get your littles into Doodle Pants with the 15% off coupon code PIEROGIE15.

Do you treat yourself on Valentine's Day? Does it always have to be chocolate? Why not gorgeous handmade soap? StarGazer Soaps' 2014 Valentine soap line includes Merope, Capella & Electra. They will be ready to ship on January 26th. If you want to be sure to get them by Valentines Day place your order by February 11 (with priority shipping). Don't forget to use discount code PIER10 for 10% off! I'm excited to share a $25 gift certificate to StarGazer Soaps with one lucky reader starting January 23rd as well!

Sankofa Diapers is the newest diaper that Penny has been wearing and is by far her favorite print. Why? Her nickname from her Polish babcia (my mom) is Zabka, which means froggy. Consider that your hint - I've got our review & giveaway for a 3 pack cloth diapers from Sankofa Diapers going live this week so keep your eyes peeled!

Check out my current giveaways - we've got cloth diapers and organic baby food pouches!

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Monthly Its December

Seriously, November and December have flown by. Pretty soon it will be January and I'll be approximately 8 weeks (pleaaaaaaaaaase no longer than 10 weeks!) away from delivering my sweet little Ruby. Yowza!

I'm sure you've noticed that there has been an increased number of "sponsored" posts on the blog this past month. I've been very blessed with the amazing growth of the blog (thanks to YOU!) and many doors have been opened for me recently. "Sponsored" posts mean that I work with a business in exchange for compensation (sometimes it's monetary, other times it comes in the form of gift cards). You'll also notice that further down on my sidebar that I've got a couple affiliate programs that I'm a part of - Amazon, Pretty Mommies and Diaper Safari are a few that I'm currently trying out. When you click on these links, I get a little kickback (because I'm providing ad space on my blog) but the costs are no different to you. I'd love it if you considered that when making future purchases from these companies :)

With all that being said, I do my best to ensure that every connection that I take part in is relevant to the blog and not 'spammy.' A couple have opened up new ideas for me to write about, so I'm thankful for the fresh content. The point that I'm getting at is that I am always working on the balance between writing personal content with sharing about deals or products that I think you might enjoy. If you feel like The Pierogie Mama has gone in a direction where you aren't finding a connection with anymore, please please please send me an email. I write for me and for you! 

Sadly my busyness has kept me from really keeping track of all my favorite posts throughout the month! So this time around I'm going to focus on my wonderful December sponsors. Please check them out as they are not only really great businesses to work with but also are a big part of why I'm able to keep The Pierogie Mama going.

Monique of Fantastique Designs is the lovely gal who's re-done my blog in the last month or so. I'm still so absolutely in love and was excited to share her talent with the two bloggers who won my giveaway last month! If you haven't checked her work out yet (besides what you see here), you really need to.

Not a blogger or business owner? No worries. She'll craft a new cover image for your personal social media accounts too. Check out her a la carte.

If you're a homeschooling parent (or hey, a parent of any kind!) be sure to check out her blog Living Life and Learning.  Check out her post on the importance of physical activity while homeschooling.  Keep up with Monique on Facebook.

Now truth be told, Nicole from StarGazer Soaps is one busy gal. Between homeschooling 3 girls and continually coming out with soaps - I don't know how she finds time to email back and forth with me ;) Her soaps are natural, handmade and beautifully crafted. I always like to check out her pre-orders page to see what she's got in store as well as her youtube channel to see her big reveals when she cuts into her soap bars for the first time.  Be sure to look to the right sidebar for a StarGazer Soaps discount (think "stocking stuffer") and I'll be hosting a giveaway in January!

Maggie from Chalk Treatment is another artsy gal who's work I've fallen in love with. This past week I just ended a giveaway for a custom ornament and I hope I get to see what the winner chooses to do in the end. When you look through her shoppe you can see that the world is your oyster when it comes to designing an ornament or chalk board. I asked her what has been a really unique project that she's recently worked on and she told me about a family chalkboard that she made for a cattle ranching family. The mom gave her a list of words that represent their family and Maggie took this as an "adventure" to gather all the info (like find out what a steer head looked like) as well as incorporate their family brand. There's still time to get a 10% discount (info on right sidebar), and get some inspiration from creations this season on facebook!

A new diaper that I'm trying out over the next couple weeks comes from Sankofa Diapers, based out of Utah. Winnie's story on starting her own diaper brand is so interesting - born and raised in Ghana, she was shocked at the difference in diapering mentality between her home and America. Cloth diapering isn't a lifestyle choice - it's the only option. She also found that cloth diapering is way easier over here, as modern cloth is in many ways designed similarly to disposable ones, and she wanted to put her own spin on it. Check out her December special on the right sidebar and stay tuned for a review and giveaway of Sankofa Diapers in the new year too!

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Monthly Its: November

Happy November everyone! This month's installment of Monthly Its includes 3 discounts and as always, my favorite reads from this month.

In case you haven't noticed, things have started looking a lot prettier around here. And I owe it all to Monique from Fantastique Designs. Monique took my blog from the haphazard mess that it's been for the last few months and turned it into a place where I really like to hang out. I hope you do too! Monique offers a variety of design assistance - blogs, websites and website maintenance. In addition to full on renovation packages she also offers a la carte, so let's say that you just want a social media facelift. BOOM. Done. Check out my review of her work as well as enter her fabulous giveaway - where 2 winners will be chosen!

WIN HERE

What's even better is that between now and December 2, 2013 Monique is offering $20 off all custom blog design orders! Fill out her getting started questionnaire by that date in order to obtain the discount. 

Nicole from StarGazer Soaps has been busy these last couple weeks! She's always coming out with fresh scents kind of make me wish I could wash my hands all day. Her facebook page gives you a sneak preview of what is curing in her shoppe so check her out. Also - Pierogie Mama readers get a special 10% off discount using the code "PIER10" on StarGazer Soap's website. Read about my personal experience with StarGazer Soaps.

I'm proud to welcome Chalk Treatment as a new sponsor to The Pierogie Mama. Maggie is a very talented graphic artist who knows how to put words together and make them look pretty. Enough said. I'm very excited to share the awesome ornaments that she's crafted for our tree (and the grandparents' tree too!) in the next couple weeks. In the meantime, check out Chalk Treatment on Etsy and take advantage of another special Pierogie Mama discount for 10% off: "CHALK4YOU." Ornament orders must be placed by December 15th in order to make it to your tree by Christmas!!

So besides all that wonderfulness, I've got a lot in store for you in December. I've got 2 huge giveaways in the works - each featuring a prize pack of $80 - 90. Don't miss out on my announcement post for the Merry Fluffy Christmas and Santa's Little Helper giveaways 

with the prize information. 

On to some reading material for you -

This has been floating around on my facebook feed for the last week and it has struck a chord in me. How many of you just get plain old frustrated when your child gets up too often during the night, seemingly only for the sole purpose of waking you up? Well, in reality...maybe your two year old just needs you. I'm pretty lucky that our night time routine really only takes 20 minutes of snuggles and rocking (though yes, some nights it takes a lot more than that), but who am I to complain? My child wants me to love on her and protect her from the monsters in the corners.

On the topic of giveaways, if you follow The Pierogie Mama on Twitter you probably see that I share about a ton of them. That's because I read a lot of blogs and I also love winning. Winning. Winning. Who doesn't? I've been pretty lucky lately and have won 2 fabulous cloth diapers that I haven't gotten to try out before and it's opened my eyes to a couple new brands that otherwise I probably wouldn't have tried. And so, Cloth Diaper Guru shares a few secrets to winning cloth diaper giveaways - easily adaptable to other kinds too :)

Have you seen my easy crockpot recipe for bone broth? Here's 5 ways that bone broth actually benefits you.

The holidays = travel for a lot of us. Some of us will road trip, some of us will fly. Here are two resources on how to keep a toddler busy on a plane and sanity saving car ride ideas for kids. My newest tip - peel an apple (don't slice it) and give it to your toddler for 20 minutes of quiet time. And I love hearing her little teeth scrape away at the apple - it's so cute! (Of course, use your best judgement if your child is ready to eat an apple more or less unattended)

Two awesome posts from That Mama Gretchen, pretty much my favorite blog of all time. She talks about baby-led weaning (and how she introduced solids to her still exclusively breastfeeding son), which we did with Penny as well, and a really awesome gift guide for brothers and sisters.

Finally, I'm not too worried about the zombie apocalypse or anything, but natural disasters are not something to shake a stick at. Living in the Pacific Northwest, we have fairly common earth quakes and several active volcanoes. So you should think about how you are going to feed your family in case of an emergency. How many of you watch the National Geographic show "DoomsDay Preppers?" There are some pretty crazy wackies out there, but sometimes you can learn a thing or two from them. This tip came from a Russian Zombie Prepper- how to open a can without a can opener. All you need is a can and concrete. Fast forward at least a minute into the video and then you'll see how they do it - very easy. I'll be keeping this in mind for our next camping trip.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Do you have a family friendly business or event that you'd like to have featured on
The Pierogie Mama? Please email me for details.