NEW BLOG LAUNCH!

Alright alright the big day is here! I told you all earlier this week that I would be launching my new blog today, and the time has come!!!

I encourage you all to go check out my new blog, fabulously titled: Alexandra Elizabeth.

CLICK HERE!!!

I would love some feedback and support as I start this new blog.

BIG thanks to all who have supported Mommy Glow for the past 2 years and I hope you will all continue your support over on the new blog!!

THANK YOU and Happy Friday!!!!

Review: Mario Party 9 Wii Game

I looove my Wii, I wrote about how user friendly and interactive the Wii is in my previous post The family that plays together, stay’s together. When we get the chance to get new games we love figuring out how to play and uncovering new levels!

We were thrilled to review Mario Party 9! I mean who doesn’t love Mario!! Lots of laughs and fun have been spent in our house playing Mario Kart, and it lets me know that my daughter should probably never ever get her license!!

For the first time in the franchise, boss battles crash the party and challenge players to compete to defeat a common enemy. In addition, players now travel across stages together in a vehicle towards a common goal – overcoming obstacles, battling bosses, and collecting Mini Stars stolen by Bowser and his minions. Featuring 80 new minigames, adventurous new stages, and all-new ways to play that blend cooperative and competitive action for up to four players.

Playing games for the first time can sometimes be a bit frustrating, and we did feel that way about this game. We loved that it was a team effort, and all the characters are playing towards the same goal, but it was a bit confusing for my daughter, and even for me. You have the option of having help and tips along the way which were helpful and helped to explain some of what was going on, overall my daughter wasn’t very impressed. The minigames though were another story, and the fact that there are so many to choose from were exciting, the many times we played we never played the same one twice. You also have the option to practice playing the minigames before the actual game, which we did every time. These minigames include making pizza, escaping haunted mansions, and racing snowmobiles.

We’re happy to add Mario Party 9 to our collection of Wii games, though we’ll need more practice in understanding how to maximize playing the game!!

What’s your favorite Wii game?

Disclosure: This post was created as part of a Stiletto Media campaign. I received the above product, free of charge, to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions are those of reviewer only. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

News! News! News!

It's hard to believe I started Mommy Glow two years ago!! The friendships I've gained and the support I have recieved have been phenomonal, and so much more than I ever anticipated. I've been provided some fantastic opprtunities through this blog, and I'm looking forward to even more honest writing and opportunities in the future. And that's why I'm excited to share with you some NEWS!

In just 4 short days I'll be launching my NEW blog!!! Same great content, just at a new location, with a fresh design!! I do hope that you all will join me at my new site when it launches on Friday!! Stay tuned for more information!!

Happy Monday!!

The family that plays together, stays together #Wiifamilia

Up until Christmas last year I was what you could call a Wii hater. Having not been able to justify the purchase of a video game system in my budget, I was stuck being in awe of the Wii at my friends and family’s home. I’d urge certain friends to have us over so I could secretly play their Wii. It became clear within the first five minutes of arriving that I was there to play the Wii!! After seeing my daughter’s face light up after playing Just Dance 2 a few times, I knew that purchasing a Wii was a must somehow, someway!

Christmas morning rolled around and my daughter was ESTATIC to find out that one of her presents was a Wii complete with Just Dance 2 and 3! I called it the gift that keeps on giving, because I was as excited as she was to have a Wii in our home. I am always looking for more creative and engaging ways to get some fitness in, and have had to focus more on at home workouts because of my daughter. I thought this was perfect because it was something fun we could do together that wouldn’t only strengthen our bond, but also burn some calories. Win, Win!

Having never been a fan of instruction manuals I eagerly setup the Wii console, and to my surprise setup was extremely user friendly, moved some wired here, plugged in some things there, and we were good to go! We had tons of fun setting up our virtual characters then we were off to Just Dance! Though I think that the sensor is a bit funny, we have had loads of fun playing the Wii, and it’s a great game to bring out when we have people over. It doesn’t take up much room and easily lives on our entertainment center. As the title says, the family that plays together, stays together!!

Disclosure: This post was created as part of a Stiletto Media campaign. I received the above product, free of charge, to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions are those of reviewer only. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Foodler Review

We all love a home cooked meal. My idea of a perfect meal would consist of cheesy baked macaroni and cheese with a breadcrumb topping, sautéed kale with garlic, warm buttery rolls, and barbecued chicken that has been marinating overnight. Yumm, right? As a busy working mom I am forever on the go, and even though I try I don’t always win with meal planning and therefore a lot of meals are last minute. I do try to cook a home cooked meal each night for myself and my daughter, but listen it doesn’t always work like that! Between late nights at work and her various activities and birthday parties, sometimes takeout is the answer.

And that’s what I love Foodler! They make online ordering of take-out and delivery food from local restaurants quick and easy! Foodler is a fast-growing network of online restaurants in many cities that offers a wide selection of menus and cuisines.

Foodler Gives You:

·       Easy, intuitive, and free online ordering from restaurant menus.

·       Complete listings of restaurants that offer delivery and take-out in your area.

·       Accurate prices, restaurant savings, and online coupons.

·       A variety of menus including Chinese, Italian, Pizza, Mexican, Japanese, and Thai.

·       Exclusive restaurant and dish ratings

Foodler Rewards You:

·      Earn FoodlerPoints for every dollar you spend and every restaurant and dish you review.

·      FoodlerPoints can be redeemed for gift cards, FoodlerBucks and even cash.

·      Exclusive discounts

·      Rebates in the form of FoodlerBucks for trying new participating restaurants

·      Contest every Friday on our Facebook that rewards FoodlerBucks

My ordering experience with Foodler was great! I ordered from one of my favorite local restaurants providing fresh local ingredients: Stone Hearth Pizza. I was craving some of their delicious parmesan flatbread and chopped salad. Everything was very clear on the website and 45 minutes later I was inhaling my online order! The website could use some sprucing up, but other than that everything I ordered was exactly how it was delivered to my door! Bye bye to a messy menu drawer, and hello to a whole new way to order take-out and delivery!

 Disclosure: This is a sponsored post by Foodler. All opinions expressed are the blogger’s own views not influenced by any outside biases. 

He Wasn’t Meant to Marry

As I continue going through the painful motions of co-parenting with my daughter’s father is has me traveling down memory lane remembering how I became a single mama and the end of my relationship with a man I loved oh so much.

I became a single mom in 2008 when my daughter was about two years old. Her father and I were at a point in our relationship where there were more arguments than laughter, more tears instead of kisses. We realized that over time our needs had shifted and the distance between us was too great to repair. Raising a toddler put a lot of strain on our relationship. I was 19 when I gave birth to our daughter; I was still growing and learning about the world when I had her. At the time of our breakup I was busy reenrolling in College, living on my own with our daughter, and trying to figure out who I was and what the heck I was going to do with the rest of my life. I needed to focus on me. He was busy raising two other children, starting a new career, and getting settled. He needed to focus on him.

It took me a looong time to realize that he and I just weren’t meant to be. It’s bittersweet when you finally accept this truth; it puts so much into perspective. Simply put, he wasn’t meant to marry. In an ideal world our daughter would love to see us together, married, and all living together? Yes, she’s told me countless times, but that is not how our cards were dealt. I had to stop with the guilt, with beating myself, wondering what I could have done differently, how I could have made us work. But, some things are not meant to be repaired and patched up.

He is someone I loved very dangerously, he is the father of my child, and she is the spitting image of him. I will always have a connection with him, regardless of the issues that we encounter; there will always be some form of love. He just wasn’t meant to marry, and I’m finally ok with that. It’s funny how life happens, the end of that relationship brought sunnier days to my life. Being able to focus on me allowed me to really get to know myself and in the process enabled me to fall in love and my heart is happy. Really really happy :)

What’s been keeping me up at night

Well aside from my insomnia and sleep apnea….coparenting. Yes another post on coparenting from me. Co-parenting has always been something I have struggled with being a single parent. This past year has been an incredibly tough year for me and my co-parent and his relationship with our daughter. Our daughter is old enough now where she is severely affected when he is not around when he says he is going to be. Watching my daughter’s big brown eyes peer out the window waiting impatiently for her Dad, and him never showing up has shattered my heart into pieces. His previous absence and inconsistency really affected her, and as her Mother, I of course want to protect her and don’t want to see her hurting. 

I wrote a post titled What Scares Me About Co-Parenting, it was a very honest post about my concerns with this our usually dysfunctional co-parenting relationship. From the post: I am afraid that my daughter will grow up not trusting men. I fear every time she asks where her Daddy is. I fear that our daughter will resent me because I’m the tough parent and he’s the fun parent (when he’s around). I fear that she will grow up to be me. A worried child who felt like her Daddy didn’t love her. Because if he did he would surely want to spend time with me. He’d want to come around on birthdays, at my high school graduation, at the birth of my child. 

I’m glad I’m taking the time to be mindful of all these issues, but at the end of the day, she has me, and if I can say so, she’s pretty damn lucky to have such a passionate and loving mother. I can’t change her father; all I can do is keep the line of communication open with our daughter so she’s comfortable enough to have conversations about how she’s feeling. And we’ve had a few so far, they haven’t been easy for me, but they are important to have. It’s important to respect her feelings. This situation is difficult for her as well, and she needs to be able to have a voice. So while all these worries consume me at night, when I peek in her room and see her peacefully sleeping tangled between her favorite pillows, one foot hanging off the bed and snoring, I take a small comfort in knowing that I’m enough.