What to eat….

My husband sometimes gets so frustrated at me when it comes to eating. I can’t decide what i want to eat because I never know what I really want.

I am soooo hungry but I don’t know what I’m hungry for.

I’m craving for something to munch on but I don’t exactly know what.

I want to drink something that’s really icy and cold but I’m not sure what kind. Maybe I’ll just sleep on it.

Eczema Relief For Babies and Toddlers

This is sort of a continuation of my recent post “Dealing With My Toddlers Eczema” . I wanted to share my review and my personal opinion about baby moisturizers and creams that I’ve used on my daughter to treat her eczema.

My #1 choice for the best eczema relief is AQUAPHOR BABY HEALING OINTMENT combined with AVEENO BABY Soothing Relief Moisture Cream.

Just to give everyone a brief overview my 19 month old daughter suffers from eczema. Her eczema is not as severe as before but it still occasionally flares up. She’ll get red with rashes and she’ll just itch all over. The itchiness was her #1 problem. She would scratch her arms, her legs, chest, tummy, forehead, ears and neck. This mostly happens at night. I don’t know why, but it does. Sometimes she’ll wake up with scratch marks all over.

We’ve been using Aquaphor since she was a month old and it works wonders on her skin! It works fast, it relieves her itch, moisturizes her skin and it takes away the redness.

To tell you the truth, I didn’t like Aquaphor at first because it was so greasy. Her skin would feel so slippery and she would just shine from the grease. But I guess the grease works because her eczema would diminish fast after applying Aquaphor on her body and especially her face.

Even though this product is thick and greasy ….. it works GREAT AWESOME on her skin!! Her skin got smoother and there was less redness every time we use it. I love it!

If you don’t like the grease, then I would try Aveeno Baby Soothing Relief Moisture Cream. It’s non-greasy, and it does the same thing as Aquaphor, it soothes and relieves dry itchy skin.

Using both Aquaphor and Aveeno

I actually like to use both, Aquaphor and Aveeno. I use Aveeno during the day when we have to go out or when she goes to daycare and Aquaphor at night after her bath. Sometimes I just use Aquaphor on her face when it gets really red and irritated and Aveeno on her body. I found that Aveeno does not take the redness out, at least not for her. But either way they both work very well on her skin.

I’ve also tried other brands such as Gentle Naturals Eczema Body Wash, California Baby and Vanicream but I also go back to using Aquaphor and Aveeno.

Pickymommy recommends Aquaphor and Aveeno to other parents out there who are looking for eczema relief.

Dealing With My Toddlers Eczema.

My 19 month old daughter Lauren suffers from eczema ever since birth. It started a few weeks after we brought her home when we noticed that her cheeks were inflamed with red bumpy rashes. We didn’t know at first if it was allergies or eczema. So we took her to the doctor and he said that it was a combination of both. The doctor told us that the chances of her having eczema was very high because my husband also suffers from the same skin condition.

My daughter Lauren when she was 1 month old.

I’ve done a lot of research about eczema and I found out that it is hereditary. If one or both parents have eczema there’s an 80% chance that their child will have it too. We were hoping that it will bypass her but of course it didn’t happen. The good thing was it wasn’t severe.

Just in case you’re wondering what eczema is…

Eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, is a skin condition that causes recurring skin rashes, dryness and itching. Some of the symptoms also include redness, red bumps, flaking, crusting, bleeding and temporary skin discoloration.

What is her excema like?

Not all eczema are alike. In my daughter’s case her rash was mostly visible on her cheeks, behind her ears, inside her elbows and behind her knees. Sometimes it comes and goes, but when it does appear her cheeks gets red and bumpy. Her elbows and behind her knees gets really dry, scaly and patchy. She would also get rashes on her tummy and behind her neck.

The most frustrating part is the itching and the scratching. She gets scratch marks that turns into scars mostly on her arms and behind her knees. She scratches so hard that sometimes it bleeds. The intense scratching mostly happens at night. She’s usually fine in the morning and in the afternoon but as soon as night time comes she scratches like crazy.

If anyone knows the reason why, please enlighten me!

How do we treat her eczema?

We’ve tested a lot of different products and some of them worked for her and some not so much. But our main rule in buying baby products is no perfume and no dye. Here’s some tips that worked for us.

• Bathe in lukewarm or cool water.
• Always, always moisturize! We found that Aquaphor works the best!
• In worst cases where she can’t stop itching we would give her children’s Zyrtec especially at night.
• When her eczema flairs up we apply a small amount of hydrocortisone to relieve itching and to reduce the inflammation

We are still treating her eczema everyday and every night by greasing her up with Aquaphor. When it does flair up we try to control it as fast as possible by applying 1% Hydrocortizone. It’s frustrating for us but it’s probably more frustrating to her. We’re just hoping that it will improve soon.

Picky Eating Is Genetic??

I came across an old article on Working Woman’s magazine about picky eaters. It was a surprise to me that, according to a research by the University College London, children who are fussy eaters is 78% genetic and 22% environmental.

I had no idea that being picky with food can be genetic??!! Does that mean that there’s a possibility that my daughter will be as picky with food as I am?? Yikes!! That’s what I’m trying to avoid.

I am EXTREMELY picky when it comes to food. Here’s a few of my weird eating habits.

- I would eat a hotdog, but I refuse to eat a burger or any other meat inside a bun.

- I love strawberries, but only if I eat it as a fruit. Strawberry ice cream, cake, shake – I won’t eat it. It makes me nauseated.

I know it’s all in the head, but I can’t help it! Although I do try new things every year. Last week for example, I had my very first steak fajita at Chile’s……

…. actually I just ate the tortilla and the steak. I left the guacamole, cheese, sour cream and whatever else they put inside a fajita on the side.

Does anyone else have a weird eating habit or are extremely picky with food? Please share it with me by posting it on my comment box.

Writing about myself is not that easy.

Why do I have a really hard time writing about myself? My “About Me” page still says “coming soon”. Ok, what’s coming soon??? My self-discovery perhaps??

The thing is, I really don’t like talking about myself. Whenever I get that “Tell me about yourself” question, my mind just goes blank. It’s not that I don’t know myself, I just blank out.

Maybe I should take one of those self discovery quizzes or fill out the 20+ “get to know me” questionnaire that your friend forwards you on your email. I don’t know.

Does anyone else come across this problem? or is it just me?

If anyone else has any tips or advice that they can give me feel free to leave a comment. I’m open to any suggestions.

Review: Snoogle Maternity Pillow

On my 32nd birthday my husband gave me a gift I never thought he would buy….a Maternity Pillow. I am 31 weeks pregnant and my gigantic belly has been giving me not just back aches but all around body aches. Sleeping at night has been a pain in the ass for me. I’ve stolen my husbands pillow and surrounded myself by 4-5 pillows, just to get myself comfortable. Did it work? Not really.

Then comes Snoogle, the all over body maternity pillow!! What a blessing! It’s amazing how one long pillow gave me comfort and support on my neck, my back, my legs and my big belly! I slept like a baby that night and my husband got his pillows back!

The only drawback I found was that it was a little bit hard to reposition myself with the Snoogle when I turn around to sleep on the other side. But overall, I love this pillow and so does my 19 month old daughter.

My Toddler and TV Time

This is my confession.  During days where I have to work from home or if I needed to get something done I let my toddler watch TV for more than 2 hours.

She doesn’t watch TV for 2 hours straight. She’ll watch 1/2 hour – 1 hour in the morning and probably another hour in the after noon.  And the programs she watches are educational, like Sesame Street or Yo Gabba Gabba.

I feel so guilty BUT…

Sometimes it’s just something that I have to do to get some work done. I’m pretty sure other working moms out there are doing the same thing. Aren’t they?

Review: Dyson DC17 Animal. The Best Vacuum Ever!

We have a 3 year old, gorgeous Victorian Bulldog that sheds like CRAZY!! His sheds huge chunks of dog hair that would stick to our clothes and our couch! And no matter how much we brush him, his hair would continue to fall out! It’s crazy!!

So my husband called me one day and asked me if we can buy a Dyson Animal. Of course the first thing I asked him was “how much”? He tried to sugar coat it at first, then he said “probably more than $500″.

“Hell no! More than $500 for a vacuum???” I wasn’t about to fork over hundreds of dollars for a vacuum. But then I thought about our horrible shedding problem so I did some research.

Well anyway to make the story short, after hours of research and looking for other reviews I finally gave in and we bought a Dyson DC17 Animal at Lowes that night!

I was still somewhat skeptical but excited to use it. We’ve used other brands of vacuum cleaners before and they’ve never really satisfied our cleaning needs. The other brands still left a lot of dog hair on my carpet, my clothes and furniture. So I was hoping that this will solve our dog hair problems.

Our first try was the living room. We went over a small area once we couldn’t believe our eyes! Hair, dirt and dust started to accumulate inside the container fast! My eyes were fixed on the clear container and my jaw just dropped!

My dear fellow moms and consumers, my heart beats when I say this with passion….

“THIS IS TRULY THE BEST VACUUM EVER! IT’S WORTH EVERY SINGLE PENNY”

We could not BELIEVE how much dog hair, dirt and dust it picked up. It was so disgusting. We were both staring at the container in awe. We could’ve made 2 new puppies with all that dog hair that we picked up.

So we put our new Dyson DC17 Animal to another test. Vacuum one of our rooms with the regular old vacuum (starts with B ends with issel) and see how much dirt and hair it picks up. Then vacuum the same spot with the Dyson DC14 Animal and see if there are any leftovers.

The results. The Dyson STILL picked up A LOT of leftover loose dog hair and dust after vacuuming the same spot with our old vacuum. Amazing!!

Can I just say it again…

“THE DYSON ANIMAL IS THE BEST VACUUM EVER! “

In addition to it’s awesome and powerful suction the Dyson also comes with a bunch of other attachments that makes cleaning a lot easier. We’ve used it for our curtains, hardwood floors, upholstery, our stairs and even our car!

Sometimes we vacuum for entertainment. We show it off to our friends and family and their all SOLD!! Dyson should hire me in Sales! I suck at selling but I can sell this product easily because I truly believe in it.

I don’t think I can ever go back to using the other vacuums. Yes, I forked over hundreds of dollars but it’s really, really, worth every penny, especially if you have pets who shed. I love this vacuum!!

Did I mention that…

“THE DYSON ANIMAL IS THE BEST VACUUM EVER! ”

Picky mommy gives the Dyson DC17 Animal 5 stars!

Who’s Got The Time To Blog?

Why am I blogging? I don’t even think I have the time to commit to this. Like any other moms, I am busy juggling work, my family, cleaning the house, paying bills and so on and so forth. So why bother? I guess a big part of me missed the fun of writing about just anything that comes to mind. It’s a great release and escape for me, where I am free to vent out my frustrations. It’s also a great way for me to get creative and share my experiences with others. Alright so I got my reasons out.

Now for my biggest challenge …..finding the time to actually post articles on my blog.

So how did I find time to write my first blog?

Well, my husband decided to go to Lowe’s to get a new filter for our Dyson (which is THE BEST VACCUUM EVER), so I told him to take our 19 month old daughter with him. I was in the middle of folding clothes (which I absolutely hate) and I thought this would be the perfect time for me to start on my blog while they are gone!

Hurray!! My first blog! Now I gotta go back to folding clothes. : (