Giveaway -Studio Studios baby photo session

Studio Studios specializes in your photo and video needs and they have locations in Toronto, New Market, Mississauga and will be opening in the Burlington/Hamilton area by the end of 2011! Studio Studios has been in the industry for 20 years and they have a group photographers, videographers and designers to create the perfect finished products.  They are definitely the studio to contact if you are looking for someone to capture your wedding day or the wedding day of someone that you love!

I have been talking with Jenn at Studio Studios and she is looking at expanding her baby portfolio.  This I find very exciting as not only are they there to capture your wedding day, but they will also be able to capture your little bundle!

Some great other areas Studio Studios Toronto can capture you photography needs is with a portrait party.  A portrait party is for minimum 10 children and you receive a 5x7 included as well as the online gallery.  It is only $20.00 per child if you host the portrait party you receive your session free.  If you are having a themed party for your child this would be a great add on to your party.  Jenn would meet with the host before hand so that you can discuss details such as day, time, location, theme and props.  Not only can you get some great memories captured  of your child with their friends but an updated photo of your child!

WIN IT:
I am so excited to offer my blog readers with this great giveaway for 5 lucky readers with babies and I know you will be too if you live in the Toronto, Ontario area.

What each winner will win is their own session and an online gallery (a value of $250).  Your photographer will come to you so you do not need to worry about rushing out of the house and how your baby will do in a strange environment!  Your baby will be safe and comfortable in your own home on your baby's schedule!  You are then able to purchase whatever pictures you like at very reasonable prices too!  Parents are welcome to be in a few of the pictures, but remember this will be mainly focused on your new baby!

Mandatory Entry: Like Studio Studios Toronto on Facebook and leave your city you reside in. (1 entry)


BONUS Entries: To qualify for extra entries you MUST complete the MANDATORY entry and please leave a separate comment for each!  Leave email with each comment or have your profile public.


1. Follow Studio Studios on Twitter (1 entry)


2. Follow Two Children and a Migraine on Twitter (1 entry)


3. Like Two Children and a Migraine on Facebook (1 entry)


4. Follow Via Google Friend Connect (1 entry)


5. Tweet this comment " I entered a giveaway @MomwithMigraine to #win a free baby photo session courtesy of @StudiosToronto http://networkedblogs.com/eRdRO " (1 entry though can be tweeted up to 3 times a day at least 1 hr apart.  Seperate comment with each tweet)


6.  Follow Two Children Via Networked Blogs ( 1 entry)


7. Subscribe via email to Two Children and a Migraine (1 entry)


Contest Ends Tuesday March 14th @ Midnight Eastern Time. Open to CDA entrants that live in the Greater Toronto Area only!  Winner will be chosen by random.org and announced soon after the contest ends.  Winner will be notified by email then has 48 hrs to respond before a new winner is chosen.

 

Disclosure:  Studio Studios Toronto are allowing me to host this giveaway to help promote their products and website.  Jenn @ Studio Studios Toronto will be responsible for prize distribution after I provide the information of the winning entrant. No monetary compensation was received for this post.

Did you know???

My two year old loves the lullaby Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I find there are so many traditions that we carry down, such as nursery rhymes, but we do not know anything about them. Every Thursday I am going to educate myself on various areas and this week it is going to be Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.


"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is a popular English nursery rhyme.


The English lyrics were first published as a poem with the title "The Star" by sisters Ann and Jane Taylor (1793–1824) in Rhymes for the Nursery in London in 1806. The poem was written by Jane. There are five stanzas. The repetition of the first two lines at the end of each verse is not in the original, but is needed to fit the usual melody. Below is the whole text with only the first phrase with the repetition of the first two lines added:

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky!


Repeat:

*Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!*


When the blazing sun is gone,

When he nothing shines upon,

Then you show your little light,

Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

(*repeat)


Then the traveller in the dark,

Thanks you for your tiny spark,

He could not see which way to go,

If you did not twinkle so.

(*repeat)


In the dark blue sky you keep,

And often through my curtains peep,

For you never shut your eye,

Till the sun is in the sky.

(*repeat)


As your bright and tiny spark,

Lights the traveller in the dark,—

Though I know not what you are,

Twinkle, twinkle, little star.



As for the famous melody that is another story in itself :-)




Twelve Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman", K. 265/300e, is a piano composition by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composed when he was around 25 years old (1781 or 1782). This piece consists of twelve variations on the French folk song Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman. The French melody first appeared in 1761, and has been used for many children's songs, such as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Baa, Baa, Black Sheep and the Alphabet Song.



Thanks to Wikipedia for the information above and it can be found at the below links along with more details. Id recommend checking it out!



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twinkle_Twinkle_Little_Star


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variations_on_%22Ah_vous_dirai-je,_Maman%22

Wordless Wednesday!!!

At my work at Halloween we had to decorate a pumpkin without cutting it....This was my teams :-)

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Looking at new ways to post or find giveaways??

I am always looking at new and exciting ways to let everyone know out in the blog world about fabulous products I have been able to try and have a giveaway on.  So I am happy to say I have just heard of a new service for both finding and posting giveaways called Giveaway Scout.  If you're a blogger, you can submit your blog and it will automatically scan it for new giveaways and share it with the site's subscriber, Facebook fans, twitter followers.

  Of course if you are searching for those perfect giveaways this is also the place to be and most importantly it is a free service!  All that is required is that you need to spread the word on your blog about it!  I'll let you all know how it goes in a future post!

Portobella Mushroom Pizza!

So the past couple of days I have been making some new and fresh meals in our household.  Tonight I made a Portobello Mushroom Pizza.  I was a little worried how it would taste, but was willing to give it a try and was so glad that I did!  Its quick to make and only 97 CALORIES PER PIZZA and they were very filling so I definitely recommend checking out this one!

I'll be adding pictures once my camera batteries recharge, it died as I took my last picture! :-(


4 whole portobello mushroom caps without stems
1/2 cup low-fat marinara sauce
1/2 cup lean turkey Italian sausage-cooked, drained and crumbled
4 tablespoons shredded fat-free mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon chopped basil

Clean the mushrooms and place them on a baking sheet. Then place spoonfuls of the sauce over the tops, sprinkle the sausage and the cheeses. Then bake at 350 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Garnish with fresh basil.

Enjoy!

Biggest Loser Challenge:Will I be the biggest Loser- 1 Month in!

So it has been a month since I have started the Biggest Loser Challenge with some moms that live in my city!  As you may have remembered if you have been following my journey it has been a lot of ups and down.  I have to say that this past week has to have been the hardest.  The family has been sick off for weeks (and yes we still have the cold bug in the house) with being tired from it all I stopped tracking my food.  I originally told myself oh it is just for one day and then as always it turned into another and another.

Of course I knew better then to do this but I was getting so sick of feeling like garbage and tired of the added work of having to track my food intake so Istopped.  I also began eating again after my shift at work, which was one of my big problems.  I was watching my food intake still, but it was like once I stopped caring for one, I stopped caring for it all.

Today I do not know what it was but I woke up and said this is enough and had a nutritious breakfast blueberries, yogurt and a piece of cheese, then I decided today I was going to track my food intake again.  After taking my eldest to school I was thinking that part of my problem when I got sick was nothing was tasted good I was eating food I shouldn't be looking for something that would satisfy my taste buds (more often then not it still didn't).  So I realized that I was bored with my options so I sat down and decided to make a new grocery list and plan meals for the week with new meals I have either never had or have not had for a long time.

So the past two weeks had not been a total flop as I only messed up the last week  out of all and I still managed to loose 4 pounds!  Yay!!  So that brings my total for the month down 12.5 pounds!  I know I have to get back into the workout groove.  Whats done is done though and I am looking forward to my new meals and crossing my fingers they turn out okay.

"Build time for physical activity and exercise into every day.  If you miss a day it becomes too easy to miss the next, and the next-so do something everyday even if it is just a 15minute walk around the block"- Pam Smith Season 3 BL

Wordless Wednesday!!!

Having pets is good for your children!

So I have had pets in my life from before I can even remember.  You name it I have had them!Dogs, Cats, Turtles, Fish, Budgies, Guinea Pigs, Rabbits and probably lots I have failed to remember.  I am thankful to my family for allowing me to grow up around all my different animals and think looking back it was a great teaching experience for myself as a child.

The love of animals is something that has stayed with me through the years.  I was so excited this morning when I opened my email and received the following and wanted to share with everyone.

courtesy of SparkPeople

Kids who grow up with pets in the house are less prone to allergies and asthma than kids who grow up in a pet free home. Here are the details of what the latest studies have found:

• For a newborn or a child without pet allergies, having multiple pets that spend time each day indoors decreases the risk of allergies, eczema, and possibly even asthma.
• The number of pets is inversely proportional to the incidence of allergies--an increase in your pet population equals a decrease in allergies.
• Unfortunately pets can't help a child who has allergies to things besides pets, but they won't hurt, either.
• If a child has allergies to pets, then having pets in the house will only make their symptoms worse.

Besides providing health benefits, pets can help kids learn to be responsible, gentle and kind. Plus, if you've ever seen a child cracking up at the sight of a bouncy dog, you know how much fun pets can be!

If your looking at including your pet into your workout you'll want to check out their current article:
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_articles.asp?id=519

Review and Giveaway: Child Safety Vital ID Wristbands

I had the pleasure back in the fall to receive two Child Safety Vital ID Wristbands from Sonya over at Belly Charms.  This was perfect timing for myself as I had recently gone through a scare in a water park with my two children who are 4 and 2.

I had been at the water park on a hot sunny afternoon with my two girls.  We had met some other moms and their little ones who were the age of my eldest daughter so she was having fun and running around in the water.  The water park was very busy that day of course as the kids were still out of school for the summer. Plus this park recently had done some renovations and everyone was going out to check up new updates of the park.

The spray pad was a decent size and they had built the play park joined to it so the children can go back and forth between the water park and the slides and swing, you name it.  Thanks to the wonders of pretend turf the children loved it and the parents as it makes no mess like sand does!  Before we headed out I made sure the girls had their brightest bathing suits I owed on and made sure they wore their hats while playing in the water park.  I did whatever was possible to make them stand out.  Although their bathing suits did stick out with all these little bodies running around it was so difficult to keep track of them and of course they both wanted to go different ways after a while.

There were 3 moms, including myself,  I was watching my two year old play with this water wall, her sister was playing with her friends (which the other two parents I was with were theirs) and somehow within 30 seconds the children disappeared.  With all the chaos of the children somehow 3 parents could not see their children anymore.  Of course what most if not all parents would do we panicked.  I grabbed my youngest and we went searching for them.  How hard was it going to be to find 3 four year olds playing together and mine was in a neon orange bikini. 

Well its not as easy as you would think especially when they were found no longer together anymore.  They all decided to leave the water park and go play on the park that is adjoined to it, but they did not want to play on the same toys there so they separated.  The saying that it can happen in a blink of an eye is true for us.  We had more then one set of eyes watching our kids, but there were more children then parents so among all the chaos the kids got away.

This is where The Vital Id wristbands would have came in handy for us all.  Of course no parent wants or intentionally tries to "loose" their child, but they do have minds of their own.  Though these bands are a great piece of added security that all parents would love to have for their children! Luckily we found them right away after running around frantically, but if someone else had found them if they had strayed farther, these bands would have helped dramatically!

You may remember I mentioned earlier that I received these in the fall.  So I can say without a doubt they are made durable for your children and will definitely stand the test of time!  I have had many months to test and try them out!  There are so many colour options there will definitely be one that suits every child's personality and is also fully adjustable so it can grow along with your child!

I am assuming my children are just like everyone's and having something water proof is a definite selling point for me, which these bands are.  They are suitable to swimming pools and oceans! No need to worry about having to take these off before you head into the water.  I am happy to say this is one last thing to worry about, as parents we always to seem to have more than enough too.  These bands fit children from ages 3-9 years of are and fit a wrist circumference of 5-6 inches and are also LATEX FREE!  All this for a great price of $11.99.  This is a perfect gift for those little ones in your life, who doesn't want to help keep them protected!

If you love to shop you will need to for sure check out what else Sonya has available over at Belly Charms!  She has everything from maternity belly button rings to necklaces and I would say most importantly the Affirmation & Inspiration Jewelry - Sandi's Fight.  I recommend everyone to head over to Sonya's shop and read about her sister Sandi and her fight for her life on her mission to beat brain cancer!  If you ask if shopping can make the difference in someones life the answer is YES!!

BUY IT!!
You definitely have to check out Belly Charms and grab yourself some of her fabulous products for those you love(and treat yourself while your at it)!!!

WIN IT!!
Sonya at Belly Charms has been so generous that she is offering one of my lucky readers to win their own Child Safety Vital ID Wristband!!

MANDATORY ENTRY:
Head on over to Belly Charms the Blog and let me know how many dogs does Sonya's family have!


BONUS Entries:To qualify for extra entries you MUST complete the MANDATORY entry and please leave a separate comment for each!

1.Follow Two Children and a Migraine on Twitter (1 entry)

2.like Two Children and a Migraine on Facebook (1 entry)

3.Follow via GFC Two Children and a Migraine (1 entry)

4.Like Belly Charms on Facebook (1 entry)

5.Follow Belly Charms Via Twitter (1 entry) 
6.Follow Belly Charms the blog via GFC
7. Tweet this message (can RT 3 times a day at least 2 hrs apart for 1 entry each tweet) 


" Enter to #Win from @BellyCharms a Child Safety Vital ID Wristband with the #giveaway on  now @momwithmigraine. US/CDA http://nblo.gs/e1YnO "

Contest Ends Tuesday March 1st at Midnight Eastern Time. Open to US AND CDA entrants!!  Winner will be chosen by random.org and announced soon after the contest ends. Winner will be notified by email then has 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. 

Disclosure:  Belly Charms  provided two child safety Vital ID wristbands for review purposes. In addition, they are allowing me to host this giveaway to help promote their products and website.  Belly Charms will be responsible for prize distribution after I provide the shipping information of the winning entrant. No monetary compensation was received for this post.

 

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Enjoy!

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