7 Years, 8 Months and 15 Minutes of "Fame"

Monday November 15th marked Shay Bug's 8 month birthday and Tuesday the 16th was Jeff's and my 7 year anniversary. To celebrate, I took Monday off of work and we enjoyed a wonderful long weekend together as a family kick started by a great time hanging out with our friends Tony & Greg on Saturday followed by a fun time with my friend Jen (another friend from Belmont...I love reconnecting with my college friends as of late) and her beautiful family!

Monday also marked the first day the Opryland Hotel re-opened its doors over 6 months after the big flood hit Nashville. We love the hotel. It's absolutely beautiful with all of its amazing tropical garden atriums, especially when its all decked out for Christmas. Whenever friends and family from out of state come to visit, the hotel is one of our favorite places to take them. When the flood devastated the area, it was really sad to see the hotel close, needing 200 million+ for repairs.

So we figured, what better way to celebrate our anniversary but to head over to the hotel. I had told my mom that we planned to do that about a week before and she so thoughtfully arranged to have a gift certificate waiting for us in the newly renovated Cascades Lobby (thank you Mom!). We enjoyed a great lunch together at the Cascades Cafe and a leisurely stroll around the gardens with our Shay Bug. What a beautiful day! Here are some pics of us and a happy Buggy:

 Mmmm...applesauce

 Buggy & me

 A happy Jeff with his favorite guy...Sam Adams!

 Peek-a-boo is funny!

 LOVE this little mug!

 My world (well, and a giant teddy bear)

New blown glass art piece in the Cascades Lobby

As we were heading out, we asked a lady if she would take a family snapshot of all of us in front of this beautiful new blown glass art piece showcased in the middle of the Cascades Lobby. While we was taking the picture, we noticed another guy also taking a photo with a really nice camera. At first I thought it was a little creepy that some stranger was taking my family's picture but then he came up and introduced himself as a photographer for the Associated Press who was doing a story on the hotel's re-opening.

The next day, I found the photo on the Associated Press' image site. Then I typed in "Opryland Hotel Jeff and Jamie Burton" into a Google search articles from news sources all across the country popped up with our picture! Everything from ABC and Yahoo News to the LA Times to a rinky dink newspaper in Idaho. So there you have it...our 15 minutes seconds of fame, LOL!

Photo courtesy of the Associated Press

Best. Anniversary. Yet.

Earth Mama Angel Baby Shampoo & Body Wash Review

Saying that there are a LOT of products out there for babies is like saying water is wet. It can be mind boggling for new parents. Eight months ago, I was pretty much clueless about most of the vast number of baby products on the market. Now, while certainly not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, I have learned a lot and continue to be on the lookout for healthier, safer, all around better products. This time, the hunt was on for new shampoo/body wash for Shay Bug.

After much researching, I decided to go ahead and order Earth Mama Angel Baby Shampoo & Body Wash.  Ever since having her, I've gotten on a more natural kick and am slowly adding to our expanding list of natural products. We still have a mix of traditional consumer products but I just don't want to put unnecessary parabens, sulfates, and a laundry list of other ingredients that I don't recognize, can't pronounce and that can be potentially harmful to any degree. Especially now that Shay is starting to get into things and crawl everywhere, I don't want to use harsh chemicals that can get onto her hands and therefore, into her mouth.

This product comes in a special dispenser that foams the soap. Why would this be necessary? It helps keep the soap from getting into baby's eyes. I opted for this even though it specifically says it's not formulated as a tear-free wash. This is due to the fact that it uses all natural ingredients (listed below) and is free of anesthetizers typically put into tear-free products.

Organic coconut oil, Organic olive oil, Organic aloe leaf juice, Organic vanilla bean extract, Organic orange oil, Kosher vegetable glycerin, Potassium citrate, Organic shea butter, Organic calendula extract

Angel Baby® Shampoo & Body Wash contains no petrochemical, synthetic surfactants, foaming agents or toxins of any kind. That means no sodium laureth sulfate, cocoamidylpropyl betaine, Quaternium-15, 1,4-Dioxane, formaldehyde or phthalates.

• USDA Certified Made With Organic Ingredients
• No 1,4-Dioxane, formaldehyde, or phthalates
• No sodium lauryl sulfate, cocomidopropyl betaine or other synthetic surfactants
• No artificial preservatives (parabens, phenoxyethanol, etc)

Also, we use cloth wipes paired with Thirsties Booty Luster but I thought this video on how to make homemade baby wipes was interesting.

The verdict? I deferred to my husband on this since he's the one who bathes our Shay Bug the most. So far, so good. The foaming dispenser is nice because it is easy to put on your hand and then apply to baby without it running everywhere. It smells good and seems to work well with no adverse skin reactions. The only small complaint was that the foam disappears quickly when applied with a washcloth so it's not as easy to see the soap application...a small price to pay for the benefits of the ingredients. Overall, a good product!

Next on the Mommy agenda is to try out some of the organic baby products from babybaby.

(Disclaimer: I am not paid to review any products on this blog. I just figured I'd share what works (and what doesn't) for us in the hopes that it helps anyone thinking about purchasing these products.)