I have babies on the brain...

and certainly not because I am or will ever be pregnant again...because I'm not and I won't. I have babies on the brain because I am going to be an aunt again...to twins! They are 13 weeks right now.

So, I definitely have baby brain. I even subscribe to BabyCenter's weekly newsletter, so Bailey and I can freak out about their development each week.

When MomSelect contacted me about sharing information about a landmark formula case, I agreed. Normally, I would have passed on this opportunity, but with baby brain, I decided it was a great idea.

Obviously breast milk is best, but if you are not able to nurse or decide not to, choosing formula is a daunting task. When you think of formula, the brands that come to mind first are Enfamil and Similac. Enfamil actually put out false advertising, claiming that the store brands were inferior, even though this is not true!

In a landmark federal court case, a jury verdict confirmed that
Mead Johnson, the maker of Enfamil LIPIL Infant Formula, has engaged in false advertising by stating that store
brand-infant formulas sold at Walmart, Target, CVS, Walgreens and other
retailers, do not provide the same nutritional benefits as Enfamil. The
jury found that Enfamil advertisements were false and misleading, especially
since store- brand formulas have the same nutrients at the same levels as
Enfamil. In the process, they have exposed the truth about infant formula:
store-brand infant formulas are nutritionally equivalent to, and confer the same
developmental benefits as, the more expensive national brands like Enfamil.
Buying a heavily marketed formula from a big pharmaceutical company does not get
you any closer to breast milk. So what does this mean to Moms? It
means they could have been saving up to $600 a year by using store brand
formulas, which cost half as much as Enfamil LIPIL and other national
brands. We want to be very clear that by sending you this information
MomSelect is not suggesting that formula feeding is the best available option
for infant nutrition; breast milk is best for babies. We just want moms to know
that they don't have to spend money unnecessarily

Official Press Release:
http://www.pbmproducts.com/press.aspx?ID=310
http://industry.bnet.com/advertising/10004868/a-desperate-mead-johnson-loses-135m-jury-verdict-over-false-claims/
http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/esearch/e3i6328aaffeb014c13fbcc5dbedc3d4fd7
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/baby/2009/07/save-money-on-baby-stuff-cheap-formula.html

For participaing in this campaign, I will be recieving the Consumer Reports Best Baby Products Book, which I will be promptly passing on to my sister-in-law!

Guest post

I have another guest post up at Once A Month Mom. Check it out and give me some feedback!

The Pioneer Woman's book signing

So, Staci & I were at it again! Two of our favorite bloggers had book signings in Atlanta in a month's time. How exciting! First, we saw Jen from Cakewrecks. If you missed my recap of that event, check it out here. Last night, we had the opportunity to see Ree Drummond, AKA The Pioneer Woman. If you haven't yet heard of her, you need to check out her blog. She has a great story of city girl meets country boy, falls in love and turns into a country girl herself...living on a working cattle ranch, homeschooling four kids and still finding time to show us all of it through the eye of her impressive photography skills. Not to mention her cooking, oh her glorious cooking. The book she was signing was actually her cookbook, which I adore.

The book signing starts at 7:30 pm, so to be safe, we get there a little before 6pm. When we arrive at Borders, they tell us that she has changed it to 6pm. Whaaat?? We are no longer early? I comment that I would have been pretty mad if I had arrived at 7:30. Then I realize that arriving later wouldn't make you miss anything. They had cancelled the "talk" or Q&A section of the book signing. I was disappointed with this because that was my favorite part of the Cakewrecks tour. But, looking back, I can't imagine what time we would have left there, had she talked for a while starting at 7:30! As it was, we were there until at least 9:30 before we saw her! We had green wristbands with the letter B on them, so we had to wait for the orange wristbands A-J to meet her, then it got to green. That was about 3 1/2 hours...and there were about 5 colored bracelets after us! Oh my...

Here we are, waiting and playing on Staci's laptop. She was so smart to bring it, even though she had to lug it around.

Here is me with Bakerella. Uh...Staci did some fine photography here...

Finally, we get to meet Ree...and we were starstruck...we froze...and my hair quit standing up in a cute and whimsical way and started just standing up, apparently. Neither of us could figure out what to say, so I stupidly blubbered a question about how to let her know that I blogged about it so she could hook me up with a link. Ugh. Then I did tell her that I adore Grandma Iny's Prune Cake . She starts describing it to me and I agree- that's when I told her that I'm addicted to it! I think she was happy with that. :) Staci asked if she was going to Blissdom and she wasn't sure, but didn't deny it. How cool would that have been? So, Stace and I tried to think of what to ask her that would make us stand out...we couldn't think of anything. On the way home, I kicked myself because I thought of the perfect thing! My Compassion International child that we write to, is one of the kids that Ree and Ladd sponsor financially! I was one of the select people who responded quickly enough to get a child to write to. Maybe next time!

Another highlight was getting to meet Hyacinth and Betsy! They are both key parts of Ree's blog. They were very easy to talk to- discussed our blogs with us- posed for pictures- took pics of Staci's earrings and my hair, which Hyacinth exclaimed "cool haircut" when she saw me!!

Then, the night was over...and we headed for Waffle House before home...and then crawling into bed at 11:30pm!

Have a Fancy Yancy Christmas

Are you looking for a new Christmas CD that is a mixture of traditional Christmas carols and contemporary favorites, but all performed in a very fun and modern way? Look no further than Have a Fancy Yancy Christmas. Yancy penned two songs: “Merry Christmas, Happy Christmas” and “Christmastime”. Both are sure to become staples for many Christmas’s to come. The song "The Greatest Gift" is being played at radio across the U.S.

As soon as I heard that Yancy was putting out a Christmas album, I ran out to buy it as a gift to my chiropractor. I can't wait to hear it playing as I get adjusted! My very favorite song is Merry Christmas, Happy Christmas. Take a listen over at Amazon or Itunes.

You can find Have a Fancy Yancy Christmas at Amazon, Itunes, yancynotnancy.com or your local Christian bookstore. You won't be disappointed!

Track listing:

1. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

2. Merry Christmas, Happy Christmas

3. Wonderful Christmastime

4. Joy To The World

5. Christmastime

6. The First Noel

7. Medley: Jingle Bells, Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree, Feliz Navidad, We Wish You A Merry Christmas

8. Angels We Have Heard On High

9. O Come All Ye Faithful

10. The Greatest Gift