Kangaroo Care Breastfeeding and Babywearing Necklaces- a Review

It's always a pleasure to write a review of a product that you totally love, and that's exactly what I'm doing today! After browsing the Kangaroo Care shop, I had a pretty good idea that I was going to like the necklace I chose, but I had no idea just how much I would end up loving it.




The package arrived on Saturday(all the way from Estonia!), and as soon as I opened it I was in love. The necklaces look pretty and fun on the website, but totally don't do justice to how nice they look in person! The necklace really is gorgeous- and I picked a boring black! You should check out all the other options in the Kangaroo Care story- Varja, the momma behind Kangaroo Care, is definitely not afraid of color, and there are some really fun color combos to choose from. I picked black because I needed a new black necklace, but I think next time I'm going to get one of the rainbow necklaces or another colorful one.

 I'm not a photographer, and my camera is crappy. You should definitely check out the great photos in the Kangaroo Care shop too. 

The necklaces are made to be worn while breastfeeding or babywearing(side note- I love the gorgeous nursing photos in her store!), and while I couldn't really put the necklace to the test for those purposes, I can definitely see how it would be helpful for both. The necklaces, particularly the colorful ones, would easily catch a baby's eye, and the contrasting textures between the smooth wooden beads and the knitted beads could provide sensory stimulation for a baby, whether they were touching it or chewing on it. Heck- I'm an adult and I can barely stop touching it when I'm wearing it- it just feels so cool! Both of my kids have noticed it and wanted to touch and smell it.




I was concerned that I wasn't going to like the fact that the necklace was on a string type foundation, or that you have to tie it in the back to wear it(I can be sensitive and picky with those kinds of things), but neither one of those things have bothered me at all. The necklace is actually really lightweight to wear, but not in a "this is really cheaply made" kind of way. I can barely feel that I'm wearing it when I have it on, which is always nice. I've only had it for a week, so I can't speak to durability, but the necklace seems like it's very well made and should hold up for quite a long time.




I was so, so pleasantly surprised to discover that the necklace has a wonderful scent! (I should totally have read the description a little closer, because it tells you about the scent right on the item description.) The wooden beads are made out of juniper wood, which I had never smelled before, but the scent reminds me of cedar- it's like a light cedar-y scent. It's very refreshing, and I love getting little whiffs of it throughout the day.

As you can tell, I totally love this necklace. I've had it for 7 days now, and I think I've worn it 5 out of those 7 days! It's so comfortable and goes with so many things in my closet. I've gotten several compliments on it too. My only complaint, and it's not even a complaint about the necklace, is that there are no earrings to match! I like to wear earrings to complete my look, and I would love to have a pair of super simple earrings to match my necklace. I can picture a small dangle earring with one of the smaller wooden balls and a knit ball below it, or even just a simple stud earring with one of the knit balls would look really nice and really help to complement the necklace. Although I suppose if baby's used to being able to grab at and pull on the necklace, you wouldn't want something encouraging them to pull on your ears! Maybe earrings would only be realistic for us mommas with older kiddos.




Go check out Varja's shop, and make sure you like her page on Facebook too. She's got amazing products, and is very pleasant and friendly to work with! Thanks Varja!







Disclosure: Everything shared in this post is my honest opinion of the product. I was not paid to do this review, but I did receive the necklace for free.

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Diva cup vs. Moldy tampon?

So since I'm on the topic of vaginas.....

I've been meaning for a while to tell you about the Diva cup. I LOVE this little device. It's like the difference in wearing glasses or contacts- but for your period. It's totally changed the monthly period experience for me. I don't plan on ever going back to pads or tampons!

So what is it? The Diva cup is a flexible silicone cup that is inserted in the vagina to collect the menstrual blood. It can be left in for up to 12 hours, and can be sanitized and reused over and over. No need to keep on buying boxes and boxes of tampons! No yucky trash in your bathrooms wastebasket! No waste polluting the landfills! It costs about $30, but if you've been buying disposable products, it'll pay for itself after just a couple of cycles.

First time you've heard of the Diva cup? I know what you're thinking. Your brain's probably twitching a little bit. I remember the first time I heard about it- I think I was around 14. It was a pretty awkward time for me, and to say I was uncomfortable with my body would be a huge understatement. It was a pretty brave step for me to ask one of my mom's friends if she used pads or tampons- I thought it would be a "woman to woman" bonding moment. When she said "neither", I was totally confused. What else WAS there? I had no idea there were alternatives to pads or tampons. When she said she used a cup, I had no idea what she was talking about- and I didn't want to know!!! I'm pretty sure I tried to block that memory from my brain for several years. Thankfully I didn't, because now that I've become comfortable with my body (and all things natural living), I absolutely love using a cup!

You definitely do have to be comfortable with your body to use the Diva cup. You'll need to get familiar with how everything works up there. If you haven't become familiar with that part of your body before, I really encourage you to. It's really empowering. Why should there be a part of your body that's unknown to you? It's not weird, emberassing, gross, or awkward- it's just a part of your body! Take a little time and get to know yourself- if you're anything like me you'll be glad you did.

There is a bit of a learning curve when you first start learning to use the cup. Some people have a really hard time with it, but I actually found it pretty easy. There are lots of websites out there that will teach you different folding and insertion methods, and you can try different ones until you find out what works best for you. I honestly didn't have any trouble with it! I can insert it easily on the first try, and it's very comfortable. I've also never had a leak. The great thing is that most of the time I'm able to almost forget that I'm even on my period. You only have to change it every 12 hours(unless you have a really heavy flow), so just twice a day. Amazing!

As if I didn't already love my Diva cup enough, today I came across something that made me more thankful than ever that I've made the switch. Have you heard about the moldy tampon yet??? SO gross!!! I wonder how many women have inserted moldy tampons without even knowing it?!?! I wonder if moldy tampons have contributed to toxic shock syndrome??? I know one thing for sure- I don't ever, ever, ever want to stick something moldy inside of my VAGINA for goodness sake. I think I'm going to be a Diva cup user for life!!!

Zooper Twist Review

The time had come for a new stroller, and like the baby gear nerd that I am, the choice was not something I took lightly. I spent hours reading stroller reviews and watching review videos on you tube. I asked other moms for their opinions. And after narrowing it down to my top three choices, I even made a list of all the stroller's features and scored each stroller first, second, or third. The stroller with the top overall score would be the one I would purchase, of course.

I'm pretty sure that if I could afford it, I would be a total stroller snob. 

But since I can't afford to be a stroller snob, and since I knew this would most likely be the last stroller I would ever purchase, I wanted to get the most out of the experience. I decided on the Zooper Twist.


The Twist is a upgraded umbrella-type stroller. It folds compactly, umbrella-style; but still has a lot of the features that you probably love about your travel system/full size stroller. I think it's pretty snazzy looking! It looks great in person- the colors are vibrant.