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8.28.2012

Hux Style & a nice little giveaway to boot!

Hux totally has his Daddy's style.
Some of the get-ups this kid has worn...holy wow. 
I secretly love having Matt dress Huxley, because quite frankly--I never know what he will come up with next.

It's a good thing I never claimed to be a fashion blog!

 (Okay--this outfit I did have a hand in...it was his "Mosquito Protection Suit"...and he didn't get bit. So there.)


This post was brought to you by the wonderful folks at Farm Rich. They generously offered up a couple of Farm Rich's products for us to try. Daddy picked out the Mozzarella Bites & Pizza Slices (and pretty much ate them all within the a matter of days!). For those that aren’t in the know about Farm Rich they are a company that has been making great tasting products for over 25 years. As a mom I like Farm Rich because of the wholesome ingredients in the products and because they are easy-to-prepare. They are made with 100% real mozzarella cheese--one of the only cheeses that I'll let slip in the door. Perfect for little hands or even for appetizers at a party & best of all...no mess. 

Farm Rich has offered up 2 coupons (Valued at $6.99 each) for one of you lovely readers! 

Simply comment below on which product you'd like to try to be entered to win!
(for an additional entry you can vote for our blog daily)

xo

8.26.2012

Happy Days + Sad Days.

It's been one rough weekend.
Hux burnt his hand Friday afternoon and we made our 2nd trip to ER.
 (sadly, I don't think it'll be our last trip there...)

I had just removed a pot from the stove when he placed his right hand on the hot hot coils. Such a Mama fail moment...one I won't get over any time soon.

On the upside, we've asked Hux about 10 times if he wants to touch the stove again, and he immediately shakes his head and says, "No, HOT!".

I think he's learned his lesson on this subject...

The healing process is no fun for any of us. Hux has to keep his hand salved + bandaged and be oh so careful not to disrupt any blisters...super difficult when he predominantly uses his right hand (the one that's hurt).

We can't wait for our vacay next week! Almost two weeks near the shores of Lake Michigan? Yes, please!


Here are some photos from a happier moment...Huxley's first cone at home...we got him gluten-free cones + Coconut Milk ice cream...YUM.




(Hux loves to find airplanes in the sky.)



xo

8.22.2012

Making healthier choices for you + baby.

It's hard, I know, to consistently prepare healthy fresh meals for your family, but it truly is an investment on everyone's health.

Once you've made the decision to live a healthier lifestyle, you begin to pay closer attention to the foods you eat, products you use and even the clothes that you wear. You also pay close attention to the supplements that you take. I have Hux on a regimen of Multi-Vitamins, Flax oil, and pro-biotics, daily, and knock on wood--he hasn't gotten sick in a lonnng time.

Making the dive into conscious healthy living began in college. I did a week long Master Cleanse Detox and afterwards eliminated all meat products from my diet. I felt ah-mazing. I also had the luxury of being able to work out once (sometimes even twice!) a day.

Fast forward to now, and my lifestyle is a little bit different. I haven't had a regular work out schedule since 2010--although I did practice yoga throughout our pregnancy and afterwards. 

I began eating chicken, turkey while pregnant and now will eat fish every now and then. We focus more on what not to keep in our home. Things like junk food, soda, or candy (except the occasional organic lollipop) will never make it through the door. 

I also strive to make Huxley's meals from scratch with organic local produce. Of course there are nights where he gets an organic turkey dog with veggie sauce noodles, but as he grows he's really getting into the healthy stuff & I couldn't be more thrilled!

In a pinch I am fortunate enough to have some pretty amazing local products at our disposal thanks to working at Whole Foods Market. 

One of my all-time favorite snacks to have on hand is Helen's Pure Foods Tofu Tahini and Carrot spread. This spread is super yummy on your favorite cracker or veggie sticks and is packed with nutrition. Unfortunately, you will only find Helen’s Pure Foods products sold in the Mid-Atlantic region, but if you are ever out this way you definitely should try one of the various dips, spreads, or hummus treats that Helen creates!


xo


*This was a paid post brought to you by the lovely folks at Helen's Pure Foods where their products are made fresh, shipped fresh, and enjoyed fresh.*

8.19.2012

Hux's new favorite food & word...

Let the records show that our child is a genius. After his first bites of apple & asking "what's that?"...I told him, "it's an apple". 

Now, the kid won't stop saying "apple".

No joke. 
He's saying it as I write this...

I love this little person.


xo

Wild Crazy Long-Haired Hippie Boys + Brobands.

Do you have a long-haired hippie boy?

We're on the fence about trimming Huxley's hair---only because it's at that awkward stage where it's falling into his eyes and he can't seem to figure out to brush it aside, which results in some massive eye-rubbing sessions.

I've Google searched for "boy head bands", etc etc. Nada.
There are only gaudy giant flowered pink obnoxious things for girls.

Enter Brobands.
It's a little project I'm starting (as soon as Huxman is in school mid-September) via Etsy.
I'll be whipping up some bro-friendly bands to keep your bambino's locks out of his eyes made with upcycled tees, & vegan leather.

Here's a very rough prototype to give you an idea of how cute your little man is gonna look sportin' a Broband..

The main difficulty is getting Huxley to stop ripping it off his head--distraction works the best & then he forgets about it entirely and it keeps him from being blinded! 

I seriously can't wait to share this with all you pro-hippie heads.

My parents think they're gonna cut these sweet curls off Hux's head while we're visiting...
but I just don't think I can part with them.

Until then, we'll be Broband'in it up!
Literally.








PS: we have a natural born rock climber on our hands...soooo stoked.

xo

8.16.2012

life with the Hux. September Sponsors

Welcome, welcome to our little internet home. 

It's that time again where we are taking on new sponsors for September, which just so happens to be my birthday month & one of my favorites! 

We have very affordable rates and love our sponsors. 
We will work with you to promote your blog, business (large and small), etsy, website, etc etc, using just about every social networking outlet possible. 

This blog began almost two years ago as a way to share Hux and all of his amazingness with friends and family. We've totally taken off since then, and have a great following of wonderful readers.


Thank you for your interest, love & support--we hope we can partner up and make great things happen here at life with the Hux.

 You can check out our current ad rates HERE.
Ad spots run for the entire month--purchase of 3+ months will receive a 20% discount.

If you'd like me to feature a GIVEAWAY or a REVIEW, please email me at lifewiththehux@gmail.com. I will only feature giveaways/reviews for items worth a minimum of 50 dollars. I am also happy to include a "Sponsored By.." in our daily posts, and only feature products I truly care about.

all good things,
Hb + Hux

xo

 

8.15.2012

Clipity clip clip...Coupon Chief saves you $$

Have you been on a Back-to-School Shopping frenzy? Waiting 'til last minute? Want to save some cash when you make your online purchases of goods/services?

Check out CouponChief, a new cool site that saves you the hassle of sifting through all those other coupon sites filled with unusable couples and codes.

CouponChief lets you search for coupons on various sites & products, and provides you with the code you need when you checkout. 

You can learn more HERE via a snazzy little video tutorial.

CouponChief invites their members to comment, rate and validate coupons--- this way everyone always has access to the best deals. Here's something I really like about CouponChief--once a coupon expires, it gets removed from the site so you only see what's absolutely valid---love this, HATE expired coupons.

Best of all, you can earn $$ by submitting new coupons you've found to the site, because sharing is caring and CouponChief wants to share revenue with you! For any coupon you submit, they will share 2% of revenue earned from purchases made with that coupon. Ba-zing!

 CouponChief literally has hundreds of stores on their database (check them out HERE)-- I just did, and I found one for 15% a $50 purchase at Patagonia, which wasn't hard to do...and I got Hux his winter jacket! Boom! It was super easy to navigate through the list of stores, find the one I liked with the appropriate coupon and enter the promo code in..so easy, and saved me almost fifteen bucks!

This looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship...thank you CouponChief, thank you.




*This is a sponsored review via CouponChief--all opinions are 100% mine.

8.14.2012

Zaggora Viva Hot Pants Giveaway

So hot.
Literally.
Zaggora HotPants are made of a material reminiscent of my paddling shorts I wore when I whitewater kayaked. Except my shorts were ugly & black. These are sexy, neon & are an amazing addition to any weight-loss program you may be rocking. 


Here's the skinny on these little beauties...
Zaggora's extensive research has shown women lose weight 4x faster with HotPants, because they're specially designed with Celu-Lite technology fabric lining. HotPants increase your natural body temperature to warm you up in the areas you want to target most (thighs, bum, and legs).

Tested at the Chelsea School at Brighton University, HotPants™ are proven to use your body heat to increase energy expenditure before and after exercise by raising your core body temperature by up to 18%. Since you’re heating up and your body is using more energy, you are burning more calories; calorie burn increases by 26% in the hour after exercise with HotPants™ too.  

Burn calories=burn fat.
The lab tests also demonstrated that in just 30 minutes of exercise, women lost 4x more weight with HotPants™ than they did when doing the same exercise in standard workout clothes.

So ditch your nasty sweats & yoga pants, and shimmy in a pair of HotPants before your next workout!

Bonus---enter to WIN a pair! Zaggora was awesome enough to offer up not one, not two, but THREE pairs of Viva HotPants.

That's thrice the chance of winning, yall.


How you can get entered...



-Follow life with the Hux on GFC

-Tweet this Giveaway: I just entered to win @Zaggora HotPants @lifewiththehux http://lifewiththehux.blogspot.com/2012/08/zaggora-viva-hot-pants-giveaway.html

-Comment on any other life with the Hux. blog post!


 (Giveaway will end on the 27th & winners will be chosen via random.org)

 
(See? Mama was a badass.)


xo

& the Three lucky winners are...

-Amy Honious said...
liked, followed and voted! thanks for an awesome giveaway! i could really use a pair of those! lol

8.13.2012

& we're back!

Oh, hey there!
Sorry we totally disappeared on you for a moment there--our server was down & we finally are back up and running today.

& guess what...Mama found here camera charger!!
Brace yourself for some major photo dumpage this week.
I've got some good ones.
(What photo of Hux isn't? Right?)

I've also got some huge stuff I have to get on the blog...think GIVEAWAYS, and other awesome things of that nature. Speaking of which, the Amazon + Starbucks GC Giveaway winner was finally chosen and announced HERE.

We've just been truckin' along over here. Waiting for these horrid molars to break through all the way, and enjoying these gorgeous summer days. Huxley is all signed up for school (tear) and will be starting mid-September.

I'm so emo over that last sentence you don't even know...
Where did my tiny little Squish Bug go? He's such a little man, and talking ALL. THE. TIME.

It really does just keep getting better & better...






xo

8.06.2012

Green House Cleaning



As promised to a lot of you ladies I wanted to share my "Green Cleaning" tips that I use on the daily and save soooo much money this way. 

 First, let me just tell you just a few reasons why you shouldn't use bleach or other common household cleaners.
  •  Bleach vapors are especially caustic to the lungs  
  • Exposure can cause chest pain, vomiting, coughing, difficulty breathing or excess fluid in lungs
  •  Irritating to eyes, nose & throat as well as skin  
  • Chronic or long-term effects such as cancer have been linked to ingredients found in household cleaners
  •  Because the chemical formulas of fragrances are considered trade secrets, companies aren't required to list their ingredients but merely label them as containing "fragrance"-- these can be hazardous to respiratory systems & reproductive systems 
For a more extensive break down here is a really interesting website covering this vast topic (OrganicConsumers.org


The following are my favorite naturally occurring cleaning agents to use in my daily cleaning routine. But for the most part I clean with a mixture using three inexpensive ingredients:
  • Food Based Hydrogen Peroxide
  • Distilled White Vinegar
  • Purified Water
I literally use this spray for everything since it's safe and effective and cleans naturally with the strength of bleach without the harmful chemicals and side-effects. 

For cleaning our wood-floors I'll make the same spray but add organic lemon juice & rubbing alcohol (you can also use cheap vodka which is basically the same thing..blech.)

Greening up my cleaning products has taken such a load of stress off my shoulders as these products do not pose any imminent harm to Hux---of course he shouldn't be guzzling the "Floor Cleaner" or eating beeswax or castile soap, but the health risks of common house cleaners are completely eliminated. 

Here's the list of my faves + all the good stuff they do...

Baking Soda (sodium bicarbonate) – Baking soda is a natural substance that maintains pH balance by neutralizing both acids and bases. It is a natural deodorizer and is great used as a mild abrasive. It adds to the surfactant power of water and can get things sparkly clean without scratching. It also rinses away easily without leaving any residue.
Washing Soda (sodium carbonate) – Washing soda is a highly alkaline chemical compound that removes stubborn stains easily. It is commonly referred to as soda ash. Washing soda should not be confused with washing powder or baking soda.
Castile Soap – Castile Soap is an all natural cleansing product made from vegetable and hemp oils.
Distilled Vinegar – Vinegar is a multi-purpose, biodegradable liquid that is a natural bi-product of vegetables, fruits, and grains. One of the key ingredients in vinegar is acetic acid. Vinegar has cleaning power because the acetic acid is able to break down grease and bacteria. It is great for disinfecting, restoring shine, removing wax build up, and is a deterrent to insects.
Hydrogen Peroxide – Hydrogen Peroxide is a combination of hydrogen and oxygen. In low concentrations, such as the types found in many homes, it works as a disinfectant and antiseptic.
Borax (sodium borate) – Borax is a naturally occurring alkaline mineral. It is a disinfectant, herbicide, fungicide, and insect repellant. It is most used for cleaning, deodorizing, and as a whitener for laundry.
Beeswax – Beeswax is a substance secreted by worker honeybees from four pairs of glands on the underside of their abdomens, and it is used for the construction of the honeycomb. Beeswax is used to make candles that are beneficial to life and our environment. They last longer than other candles and as they burn, negative ions are emitted. Because negative ions are drawn to positive ions, the positive ions hold on to airborne things like dust, mold and odors and that causes the contaminated positive ions to fall to the ground resulting in cleaner, purer air. Beeswax is also used in cosmetics and natural homeopathy.
Sea Salt – Sea Salt is a naturally occurring substance that is used to give a mild abrasive to cleaners. Sea salt, obtained by the evaporation of seawater, is used in cooking, cleaning, and cosmetics.
Vodka – Vodka is a distilled liquid with a high alcohol content that can be produced from a number of different materials but is mostly derived from grain. Because of the high alcohol content, it is a potent insect killer, mold and mildew remover, and because it is fast drying, it aids in cleaning shiny materials such as glass and mirrors. Use the bottom shelf stuff...no need for a Kettle One clean mirror!
Coconut Oil – Coconut oil is an edible oil extracted from the kernel or meat of matured coconuts harvested from the coconut palm. In cleaning, it is used to remove grease and wax stains (not build up) and is also used to maintain the moisture in cleaning pastes. Coconut oil contains lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid, and has properties such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, antifungal, and antibacterial)
True Lemon & True Orange - True products are crystallized citrus. It is 100% natural with no artificial ingredients or sweeteners, preservatives,sodium or gluten.  This product allows you to have the benefit of lemons and oranges in a dry form. 
BPA Free Spray Bottles - Spray bottles are used for storing and distributing cleaning solutions. BPA free bottles are best. These can be purchased new or you can reuse other natural cleaning product bottles. 
Microfiber Cloths – Microfiber Cloths are a blend of microscopic polyester and polyamide (nylon) fibers that are split during manufacturing to create microscopic “hooks” which act as claws that scrape up and hold dust, dirt and grime. 
Essential Oils – An essential oil is a liquid that is distilled from the leaves, stems, flowers, bark, roots, or other elements of a plant. Essential oils contain many life giving properties depending on the natural plant they are derived from. They also give great scents. My favorites are lavender, tea tree, eucalyptus which all contain natural antiseptic properties.

Would love to hear your feedback on all of this and any of your tips & tricks too!

xo

8.03.2012

AstroBrights Paper beats Rocks AND Scissors.

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Astrobrights Papers by Neenah Paper for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.



AstroBrights papers come in 23 bright colors--that's a LOT of opens to catch your audience's eye.
Perfect for projects at home, school or the office or even to promote your band!

Stand out from the crowd — choose a lively AstroBrights papers for your next brochure, invitation, flyer, announcement or craft project. AstroBrights paper is all letting the creative juices flow and getting noticed. AstroBrights papers provide a bold color canvas because they believe ideas are important, thoughts aren't shy and standing out from the crowd is important.

Support your local elementary school by entering the "Give a Brighter Year" sweepstakes. You can win a cash prize and school supplies valued at $30,000 for the school of your choice.

AstroBrights wants you participate in the family-friendly "Make Something Astrobright" design challenges and unleash your creativity for a chance to win AstroBrights Paper and other prizes! Share your projects with pictures and video! And if you share anything via Pinterest or Twitter please use the hashtag #goastrobrights

Hey Teachers! How will you organize and get ready for back to school this year? Any projects AstroBrights can help you with? Here are a few ideas but I am sure you’ve got even more!

PTA meeting flyers
After school chore chart
Summer book reports – with pizzazz
Stand-out-from-the-crowd Fliers
Craft-time with the kids
Scrapbooking about summer vacation
Party Decorations & Invites

Share your ideas on how you can catch someones eye with AstroBrights papers and make sure to enter the "Make Something Astrobright" contest today!

xo
Visit Sponsor's Site

8.01.2012

What you come here for...

So I am on the Instagram bandwagon & it is so equally awesome and confusing.
Eventually I'm sure I learn how to use this app with ease, but until then I had to piecemeal send each of these photos to my email to upload them onto Blogger.

Sigh.

This is what they would call in Twitterland #firstworldproblems.

Here is a major photo dump of our unrelentingly adorable Hux...













xo