The Best Table Booster Seat for Young Children + Booster Seat Giveaway

I received a complimentary Bumbo Booster Seat for the purpose of this review.  

All opinions below are my own.

We have finally found the perfect booster seat for young children!  Our little family has tried several different types of table booster seats over the last two years - at home, during travel and while visiting family, and to be honest I was quite unimpressed with all of them.  The one we had in our home was too tall, too hard and not easy to clean.

When our new Bumbo Booster Seat came in the mail, I couldn't wait to toss the old seat aside and place this one at our table.  I immediately noticed the contoured and flexible cushioning that makes Bumbo products stand out.  I also noticed that the seat is incredibly light and fit perfectly on our dining table chairs.

The Bumbo Booster Seat is a comfortable and supportive seat that fits most standard four legged chairs.  It comes in several different colors including red, shown above.  The seat is easy to clean with no grooves for food to get stuck in.  It is super easy to install and has a really cool modern look to it.

We've been using the Bumbo Booster Seat for just over a week and we are convinced that we have found the best table booster seat for young children!  The seat is very secure when installed and has a three-point harness with adjustable straps.  The buckle is definitely a challenge for little hands, so that is also a plus for our little lady who manages to be able to escape from similar buckles.

Another great detail about the Bumbo Booster Seat is the price.  The suggested retail price is $39.99 which makes this a very budget-friendly modern booster seat.  As if all of the features I mentioned above weren't enough, I have to share one more reason you will love the Bumbo Booster Seat.

With every purchase of a Bumbo product, a portion of the sale goes directly to supporting humanitarian efforts in South Africa through Bumbo Cares.  Over the last eight years, over 10 MILLION DOLLARS has been given to fund projects that take care of orphans, new mothers and babies as well as families in poverty who need help with food and shelter.  Funding has also been provided for special needs daycare, a sports center and other community programs to improve the well being of many children and adults in the community.

Bumbo Cares was founded to take care of the underprivileged and special needs children and families in the community where Bumbo International was created.

I don't know about you, but I love knowing that products I purchase are supporting companies who believe in changing the world around them for the better!  Bumbo Cares is one more reason to love Bumbo!

So, how would you like to win a Bumbo Booster Seat today!?  I am pleased to be able to offer you that chance via the rafflecopter below.  (You must have java enabled to view the rafflecopter widget).  Don't want to wait?  Find out where to buy the Bumbo Booster Seat and other great Bumbo products.
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I Am Fierce!

Several years ago I began a fight with an invisible foe in my life.  I picked a fight with the demons of my childhood.  The battle has been fierce and their have been casualties.  Lucky for me, I am not one of those.  Today I want to share with you how I have been fierce and victorious in my life.

My story begins not at the start of my fight, but somewhere close to the climax and most intense battles.  You see, I grew up believing a lie about my childhood.  In fact, I believed my own lie in order to protect myself from the pain of reality.  I had no idea how that one lie would threaten to undue me in my adult life at the time I created it, and maybe if I had I would have never believed.

The lie I believed was that my life was normal, my parents were okay, and that I was okay.  Truth is, my childhood was anything but okay.  I was abused and neglected in different ways by both parents.  My childhood and innocence were stolen from me as if they never belonged to me in the first place.  And out of fear, pain and turmoil, I protected myself by rewriting the story as it went.  

It wasn't until I became a wife and then a mother myself that I began to realize the catastrophic effect of believing this lie.  But, the truth came looking for me and wouldn't let me be.  I didn't want to accept the truth, the truth that the very people who were supposed to provide unconditional love, acceptance and safety - were the very ones who hurt me and wounded me, but if I didn't stand and face it, I knew I would never become the woman I was created to be.

I chose to stand.  I chose to stand up for myself against the abuse.  I chose to accept the truth.  I chose to open myself up to grieving the loss of my childhood and coming to terms with the full reality of the abuse I suffered.  For the first time I saw my biological parents as they really were.  I stopped protecting the people who hurt me.

I had to fight.  I looked at where my life would go if I didn't.  I was already struggling with repressed memories and emotional numbness, how on Earth would I be able to be "all there" for my daughter if I didn't stop running from the pain?  On the darkest days of my battle I would literally feel and relive the overwhelming terror of my childhood surfacing.  Panic attacks, nightmares, profound sadness and fits of rage and anger followed.

I kept fighting.  As I progressed through the stages of grief, I began to heal.  I began to see myself and my behaviors through a filter of what was a "triggered" response, versus an actual legitimate response to situations and circumstances in my life.  I felt true emotions again.  I softened.  Real change began to occur and a free woman, a strong woman, a victorious woman began to emerge.

I still fight.  My battle is not over, but it is already won.  I can face the future knowing that my daughter will know a mom who provides the unconditional love, acceptance and protection she deserves and needs.  My daughter will have a mom who is emotionally there for her - who responds rather than reacts to life.  My husband will know a wife who does not hold him accountable for the pain caused by her father.  He will have a wife who can choose to trust completely despite the many justifiable reasons she could choose to trust no man ever.

I am fierce because I stood up to the past that tried to destroy my future.  I am fierce because I am more than a survivor of childhood abuse and neglect, I am an overcomer.  

Have a story of a time you were Fierce? Want to help Clever Girls Collective support women and girls to be Fierce? Find out more about the Fierce Fund and the Traveling Blue Wig Project.

      

Lingerie that Can Change Your Life

I truly love Braologie Posture-Contour lingerie - that being said I am getting a free Bracie for posting about this sale!

Remember when I shared about Braologie's amazing posture-support lingerie, and even gave away a couple of their amazing items?  Now I'm back to tell you that their incredible and updated mini vest, now called "The Bracie" is on sale for a limited time.  I could go on and on about the benefits of ALL the Braologie lingerie but for that you can read my previous Braologie review.  Today, I'm just going to focus on the Bracie!  Lets start with some before and after pictures.

Most bras in the marketplace lack underbust support and rely on the shoulders to do the work of carrying breast weight.  Typically this results in severe strain in the shoulders, upper back and back of the neck.  Over time you develop a slouching posture.  No good.  With the Bracie, you get enhanced postural support - thicker straps and a unique x-back design reduce strain on the back and shoulders while providing additional support for the breasts.  The Bracie is great for women, like myself, who tend to slouch forward while working on a computer.

Another issue with most bras is that they allow breast tissue to migrate behind and in front of the armpit area.  There is no support to keep the breast tissue contained within the cups of the average bra.  The Bracie fixes this by providing no means of escape for breast tissue, the high sides keep breast tissue in its place within the cups.  While wearing the Bracie, much of your breast tissue that had previously escaped will be reclaimed, giving you fuller breasts and better cleavage.  Who doesn't want that!?

So here is the best part!  Right now the Bracie is on sale for $19.99+FREE Worldwide Shipping!!  (Just until 10/25!!).  That is 60% off, and totally worth it.  You can purchase the Bracie alone to wear with any bras that you currently own or you can check out the other Braologie's Posture-Contour bras.

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Innocent Beauty

Dress & Headband by Rogue Baby Boutique

When I look at my daughter I see the beauty of her innocence.  In so many ways she is so much freer now than she will be years from now.  Right now her worries are few, her troubles mostly unimportant. She lives fully in the present with very little grasp on the reality of darkness in our world.

Months after I left my full-time hospital administration job to be a stay-at-home mom, I remember running into an old co-worker, who told me how alive I looked compared to when I was there on the job.  I worked in a very high stress role, where I often had internal battles based on my passion for justice and the money-hungry reality of doing hospital business.  At that time my job was sucking the life right out of me.  I was in the office and commuting anywhere from 12-14 hours a day.  I wasn't sleeping well, rarely taking time to eat and exercise right, and I was in a rut.

It wasn't pregnancy that made me leave my job the first time, it was actually a call to action from God.  A movement within me that led me on that day to give my two weeks notice and pack up determined to leave New York city.  That is a story for another day though.  I ended up back in that environment, although this time I took a different approach.  It didn't take very long for me to start feeling drained once again.

I've always known that the corporate environment is not the best place for me.  When my husband blessed me with the opportunity to come home full time, I almost felt entitled to it.  And now, as I look back over these last three years that I've been privileged to be home, I see the beauty in it all.  I've grown so much as a woman, as a human, as a wife and as a mom.  

When I look at my daughter, and recognize that I get to be a part of protecting her innocence for as long as possible, I feel honored.  When I see that my life and the struggles I've been through, and my determination to overcome the residual effect of those experiences, have given Zion the freedom to enjoy her childhood without worries, part of my innocence is reclaimed.