Dunellen Cinema Cafe Review

Dunellen Cinema Cafe

In December 2011, I had posted about a Child Friendly Cinema Cafe!  We had an opportunity to visit this theatre, Dunellen Cinema Cafe, to watch "The Lorax"!

It is a quaint little theatre.  Not a super fancy 3D place, but it has a very nice old school rustic setup.  Tickets are sold 30 minutes before the show (not available in advance or online), but mind you there is a huge line!  Food is served at your table, and your family can enjoy their food while you watch the movie.  The volume is also not super high, so its great for younger kids.  The seating is pretty spaced out as well, so even if your kid is not being very quite (kids being kids), it does not really bother other guests at the theatre.  There is also enough space for them to move a leg and not hit the seat in front either!

We had kids ranging from age 2 to 6, and all of them enjoyed the theatre experience. Definitely worth a visit and also worth a repeat!

As far as "The Lorax"... the movie was cute and vibrant and definitely worth a watch!

The Cornucopia Institute - Supporting Local, Organic & Authentic Food!

The Cornucopia Institute is an organization seeking economic justice for the family-scale farming communities. Through research, advocacy, and economic development, the institute empower farmers and consumers in supporting ecologically produced local, organic and authentic food.

The Cornucopia Institute

Not all natural and organic brands are created equally, and if you are researching brands to choose from at your local grocery store, check out their score cards (link at the top of their home page) for egg, dairy, soy, and cereal.  Several reports about baby formula, nuts, beef, soy meat alternatives, Walmart-organic can also be found here.

If you wish to support, The Cornucopia Institute accepts tax-deductible donations,  recognized by the IRS as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) public interest group. 

You can also find them on Facebook. 

Is Your "Natural" Baby Product Really Natural?

Have you ever wondered whats in your child's body wash or toothpaste?  Or even your sun screen and make up kit?

EWG Skin Deep

Launched in 2004, Environmental Working Group's (EWG) Skin Deep Cosmetic Database is an online safety guide for cosmetics and personal care products.  Skin Deep aims to help people find safer products, with fewer ingredients that are hazardous or that haven't been thoroughly tested. The Database fills in where industry and government leave off. Companies are allowed to use almost any ingredient they wish, while the U.S. government doesn't review the safety of products before they're sold. You can search more than 69,000 products at the Skin Deep database!

You can also follow Skin Deep on Facebook. 

When You Are Expecting Multiples...

What is the go to book for a mommy to be, you ask?  Most of my friends have referred to What to Expect When You Are Expecting, by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel!  This is an excellent book walking your through each step of your pregnancy!

However, what do you do when you are expecting multiples?  Some of the question you may face are... How much weight do you need to gain (say 50 lbs?) and how do you bulk up on those super extra calories?  How do you find a Maternal/Fetal Medicine (MFM) specialist - doctor?  How do you handle months of bedrest and possible complications (to name a few: early on set of Gestational Diabetes, Intrauterine Growth Restriction, Twin to Twin Transfusion, Preterm Labor)?  What to possibly expect in the NICU (... Neonatal Intensive Care Unit).  How do you survive the first several months of multiples at home? 

When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets or Quads

You can find answers to  the above questions in Dr. Barbara Luke's, When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads. Dr. Luke outlines a practical, nutrition-based program to keep Mommy and  babies healthy during this unique pregnancy experience! Besides the nutritional information, she also offers a comprehensive tour of what you can expect during the pregnancy and childbirth. Women who have followed Dr. Luke's guidelines, have had significantly fewer complications during pregnancy - and their babies are born weighing 20 to 35 percent more than the average twin, triplet, or quad.

Dr. Luke also has a website, where you can find answers to many of your questions. 

This book was truly a blessing in our journey through the twin pregnancy.  It gave us an insight about the possible issues we could have faced and prepared us for asking the right questions to our medical team at the right time. 

A Bible to Breastfeeding Mothers!

When women get together and start swapping stories of the days when their babies were small and the subject of breastfeeding comes up, chances are at least one woman will say, "I couldn't make enough milk, so I had to quit nursing".  If the subject changes quickly, no one gets to hear the sadness behind those words or the questions that could be asked: "What happened? Did anyone give you a reason?"  That's where this book comes in to picture, The Breastfeeding Mother's Guide to Making More Milk, by Diana West, IBCLC, and Lisa Marasco, M.A., IBCLC. Almost like a bible to breastfeeding mothers, above, are the forewords from the same book!

Facing the challenge of raising twins, I knew there was a chance that I could face problems with milk supply.  Thanks to a couple of my online twin Mommy friends, I chanced upon this book and read every page of it before my twins arrived.  I could successfully and exclusively provide for my twins till 8 months (no supplementing with formula), and then until I stopped at 10 months!  I can not review this book in any better words than the above mentioned fact!  

 

The book covers topics including but not limited to: supply and demand, hormones, lifestyle, working moms, galactogogues (milk supply enhancing herbs and medicines), pumping, prematurity, baby behaviour due to physiological or genetic abnormalities, mother's emotional well being, assessing and planning for next pregnancy... and many more such topics.  The author also has a website which can provide you with more information - see here.

Some other good resources for breastfeeding and parenting are:

Kelly Mom

La Leche League 

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Every individual is biologically different, and nursing experience can never be the same for every Mother.  Unfortunately, most women enter motherhood with the presumption that nursing is a very natural act, which is not always the case.  It takes a lot of determination and perseverance, along with a strong family support!  And finally, no matter what the outcome is, what matters most is a healthy-happy Mommy and Baby! 


Are there any breastfeeding books, forums or websites you would refer to a new Mom?  Please feel free to share!

World of B Toys!

Welcome to the World of B!

B toys are creative, intelligent, delightful, vibrant, yet simple! All the toys are lead, phthalates and BPA free and are made of wood, plastics, cloth, ribbon and many such materials!

We have owned B toys for over a year now, and none of them have broken or malfunctioned yet.  We have thus far adopted the Zanny Zoo (pictured on right; courtesy: Target), Wheeee-Is, Param Pum Pum, One Two Squeeze Blocks, Meowsic (see toys here)!  We have also gifted several of these toys to our friends and they absolutely love them! 

B Toys can be purchased at Target ($cheapest$), Amazon and sometimes Costco.  For more locations, click here.  You can also find them on Facebook!

B Toys also supports Free The Children, which is the world's largest network of children helping children through education, with more than one million young people involved in innovative programs in 45 countries.