Works for Me Wednesday -- Google Reader

REMINDER: Aussie Muslin Baby Swaddle Wraps contest ends today. Click here to sign up!

I can’t believe it’s already Wednesday and I’m just getting a chance to log on. I love themes, for parties, for coordinated Christmas wrapping paper and newsletters, and prompting me to log on and blog about something. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in my daily “to-dos” that I forget about things that used to excite me. I’ve always loved to write but was never disciplined enough about it to get the relaxation that comes to me from blogging.

So on to today’s theme…Works for Me Wednesday (special thanks to We Are That Family for my recurring Wednesday prompt). Today I had a couple of meetings with friends/coworkers and all of them seemed to center or quickly focus around being organized. I think sometimes those of us who have to work at organization want it the most. My husband thinks he’s funny when he says I’m the best fake organized person he knows. I like to talk about it, I love to teach others how to do it, but I’m not the best at implementing it. Well, working at constantly being more organized is what keeps me moving in the right direction.

I love gadgets (probably too much), am addicted to sites like Stumbleupon.com where I learn of fascinating new things to help me get even more organized (somehow that additional knowledge tends to take way more time than doing something the old fashioned way, but hey, it's fun!), and am always searching for a new tip or trick that will allow me to do something, anything, better.

In honor of this I want to highlight one of my favorite things to date…Google Reader! If you like to bookmark blogs so you can read them later but never seem to have time to check back up on them, you’ll love it too! I have a blackberry (I did admit to liking gadgets right?) and with the Google reader downloaded on my phone, standing in line at the grocery store, or waiting for prescriptions is now my time to relax and quickly catch up on the blogs I love to read.

Each blog you add pulls together into a running list of posts from your favorite sites. Although you can read this online, I find that I stay up to speed far better catching this in short bursts during time I would otherwise have spent getting impatient. Ok enough rambling, if you’re a blog reader go to Google, Click the More link at the top, Click on Reader and check it out! Soon you’ll be slowing down the grocery store line by not paying attention too!

Oh and the Aussie Muslin Swaddle Contest ends tonight, so be sure to head over here and sign up before its too late! ☺

Works for Me Wednesday--Frugal, Sanity Saving Tips for New Moms

I was recently asked if I wanted to review some new muslin baby wraps by aden and anais, and to possibly blog about them. They are Australian swaddling cloths and are large enough to continue to be useful after the days of swaddling (or squaddling if you are talking to my father) are over. Since swaddling saved my sanity when Alex was a colicky, fussy wee one, I thought I would give this a shot. Even better, the picture shows the set being given away free to a reader this week!

The wraps arrived and were that lovely soft feel of good cotton, and as the packaging promotes the more you wash them the softer they get! They had cute designs in a light green and brown pattern that was pleasing, but not in any way gender specific, and best of all as soon as I took it out of the package my two year old made a grab for it and took off using it as a cape, thus proving that far beyond their days of swaddling and lulling fussy infants off to sleep, these blankets would still find use around our house.

The blankets are about twice as large as the hospital giveaways you come home with and are very thin, light cotton. They were very easy to use in a typical swaddling fold and my out of practice husband even got a refresher course in swaddling how-to as I was playing with them.

In the last few weeks this cloth has done double duty as a light blanket for our already overly warm Texas nights, is the perfect size rolled up to fit in the diaper bag and travel anywhere with us, and unlike the mountains of nice, fluffy fleece blankets we have left over from Alex’s babyhood, these stack and store in a minimal amount of space.

I’m a huge fan of swaddling babies and am often suggesting to friends that they should try it out to help baby, and them, get more sleep at night. My frugal tip for Works for Me Wednesday is to try swaddling. Before you buy Mylicon drops, before you buy a white noise machine, before you look for the latest gadget you simply must have to help you get some sleep at night, reach for blanket, or better yet a aden + anais double layer muslin wrap (you can win one today for FREE, how’s that for frugal ☺) and swaddle baby up tight for bed.

When we started swaddling Alex my family thought it was some new trend in parenting…but it’s not. Swaddling is a time honored tradition of helping little ones adjust to life outside of Mommy. All that extra space and lack of Mom’s cramped quarters can be upsetting for babies, but tucking them up in a tight swaddle brings back the security of Mommy.

If you’re a recent new parent or even a veteran that is looking for something new to try, check out this week’s contest and give swaddling a shot!



Free Giveaway for Frugal Works for Me Wednesdays!
Aden + Anais is giving one of you a free set of two double layer muslin wraps (retail value $49.95): Read how to enter below and spread the word about this great giveaway!

Contest Rules: VISIT adenandanais.com and tell me some other uses they have listed for their swaddling wraps or something about these wraps that I haven't mentioned in the above post!

EXTRA ENTRIES:
To receive these extra opportunities for entries, you must fulfill the first REQUIRED entry. But for extra entries, you can:
* Tell your own story about how swaddling saved your sanity.
* Tweet the contest with the following text “Traveling the Tightrope Great Giveaway—Free Aussie Muslin Wrapshttp: http://easyurl.net/TTCGiveaway”. Leave the Twitterlink in your comment.
* Blog about the contest - add a link to Traveling the Tightrope and the Sponsor aden + anais
* Add Traveling the Tightrope widget (on the right under the blogroll) to your site OR add Traveling the Tightrope to your blog roll.
*Become a Traveling the Tightrope follower.


One person will be randomly chosen when the contest ends on May 12 at midnight CST. Check back next Wednesday when we announce the winner. I will contact the winner directly through your email or blog link that you leave when commenting.