Reviews by eka192003

eka192003 says "Great product at a reasonable price" about Target Infant formula

eka192003 — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 03:51:19 GMT

When I first had children I knew I wanted to breastfeed and didn't give much thought to formula. However I had a ton of samples from the hospitals and formula companies in case I ever needed it. Fortunately I did not need to buy much formula for either of my children but when I did, I spoke to my doctor about what to get.

Once the samples ran out I discovered that the cost of formula was atrocious. My first son was a big boy at almost 10 lbs and I had a hard time keeping him full on breastmilk alone so I suplemented with formula pretty early on, though I continued breastfeeding for almost a year. When I asked my doctor what I should be buying at the store he told me that I could try whatever was available and if it didn't bother him then brand wasn't an issue.

Since I do most of my shopping at Target I decided to try their store brand since it was about half the price of the brand names. I examined the labels and found that mostly it was the same ingredients and all the nutrients were fairly...

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eka192003 says "An instant room brightener!" about Laura Ashley Laura Ashley Laminate Flooring- Honey Oak

eka192003 — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 03:39:47 GMT

We recently purchased Laura Ashley laminate flooring in the honey oak color for our kitchen and bathroom. Even though we have read that laminate flooring is not great in moisture, we decided to go ahead and put it in those rooms because they were previously carpeted. It was an amazing transformation!

My husband did each room over a weekend by himself. We did have a friend come help for a day with tearing out the old carpet that was glued down but other than that it was pretty much a one man job. The directions were easy and it snapped together very well.

One nice thing about the Laura Ashley laminate flooring is that coordinating trimwork is available. We also got the quarter round trim and threshold pieces to go with the flooring and it is a seamless transition from our kitchen to bath now.

The honey oak color is great because there is a lot of variation in the grain which makes it go well with everything. We have wood cabinets and doors in the kitchen and its an older house so there was...

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eka192003 says "Great value!" about Bissell Powerforce upright Vacuum

eka192003 — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 03:26:14 GMT

Before purchasing this vacuum I had a Dirt Devil bagless vacuum that always broke belts and smelled like burned rubber every time I used it. I chose the Bissell Powerforce because it was a great price ($40) and Bissell is a good name brand. I thought the bagless was the way to go before, that being all I had ever had, and was a little discouraged at getting a bagged vacuum for the first time.

I really like the Bissell powerforce and think it does a great job, especially considering how inexpensive it was! The bags are very easy to change and it is all contained without dust flying everywhere. I have 2 cats and 2 small children so I need a vacuum that can keep up with all that and this one definitely can. There are also bags for this vacuum especially designed for pet households too.

One of my favorite things about the Bissel Powerforce is that it is so lightweight. Taking it up the stairs is no hassle at all and the onboard tools store securely for getting into crevices and under the...

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eka192003 says "great grill for a great price" about Amana 3 burner gas grill plus side burner

eka192003 — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 03:10:00 GMT

I got this grill on sale at Target for about $160, which I thought was a great buy for a gas grill with three stainless steel burners and an additional side burner. We had wanted to get a gas grill because it would be easier and quicker than dealing with charcoal.

I really like the 3 burner Amana grill. It is a very nice looking grill with stainless steel and black porcelain enamel grates. The hinged lid opens large enough to get things in and out easily on the main and top racks. There is also an area to put a rotisserie in it. The shelf on the side makes for a nice place to keep utensils handy and the side burner has a lid that shuts flat for another shelf if needed.

We have really enjoyed this grill and it does a nice job of cooking things evenly. The drip pan underneath is simple to remove and clean, with a hole in the bottom to drip in a little pan that pulls out even easier. The setup was simple and we have not had any problems with it. The wheels underneath make it easy to move from...

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eka192003 says "Makes you feel like you worked out" about Dancing with the Stars Latin workout

eka192003 — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:31:25 GMT

I got the Dancing with the Stars Latin workout DVD for a few reasons. I wanted to learn to dance like the people on TV (yeah right!) and I thought it would be a good way to tone up and shed some extra pounds. It took awhile for me to actually give it a try as I am incredibly uncoordinated and have a rather small living room.

The steps are broken down fairly easily so that it can be followed by anyone, not just dancers. It is kind of fun to have the dancers from the show instructing it because if you have watched the show you know some about their personalities and what they are capable of.

Most of the dances have warmup and cooldown portions which is nice so you don't get too cramped up. However, I still noticed that after doing the entire video for the first time I was extremely sore for a few days. I'm sure much of that is because I do not work out on a "regular" basis unless you count chasing kids and running up and down the stairs to fetch things all day.

Even though they break things...

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eka192003 says "Does a great job" about Medela Pump N Go Shoulder Bag

eka192003 — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:20:29 GMT

For my first child I was planning to stay home and got a manual pump as I did not plan on being away from my child much and didn't see a need for a big expensive pump. It was cheap and uncomfortable and made my hand hurt by the time I got 2 ounces of milk. It also broke rather quickly and was discarded long before I was done nursing my child.

Knowing this, I decided with my second child to go ahead and get a nice pump to make things easier. It helped that our insurance covered part of the cost, but either way I was very pleased with our decision to get the Medela Pump and Go set. The motor was durable, with an adjustable knob for getting the proper amount of pressure without causing pain. It came with four bottles and lids with a cooler bag and freezable insert that all fit in the shoulder bag perfectly, making it super easy to pump and keep the milk good. The bottles could also have nipples attached to make feeding easier and no transferring to another container. It was very easy to clean,...

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eka192003 says "Kirkwood lacks in many areas" about Kirkwood Community College

eka192003 — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:15:40 GMT

I first attended Kirkwood in 2005, about a year after I graduated from high school. I took their anytime/anywhere classes during the summer and did not do very well at first, due to not having my own computer at that time and depending on library access to get me through. If you want to take online classes it is necessary to have access at your own home to keep up with everything that goes on. For this reason, I chose to take on-campus courses the following semester. I started out half-time due to working a full time job and having other time commitments as well. I really enjoyed my evening class (American Literature: American Dreams) as there were more adults there and our teacher was very good. A lot of other students complained about his methods but I thought he did great because he actually got you to think for yourself and come up with answers on your own and he made you do the work. His assignments were challenging and not easy to b-s your way through. The other teacher I had that...

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eka192003 says "The Best Cookware I Have Ever Used!" about Pampered Chef Executive 7 peice cookware set

eka192003 — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:35:10 GMT

I just got my Pampered Chef Executive 7 Pc Cookware set in February and I absolutely love it! It is the best non-stick cookware available and is quite reasonably priced compared to similar items on the market.

The 7 pc set consists of an 8 quart covered stockpot (lid also fits skillet), 3 quart covered saucepan, 1.5 quart covered saucepan and 10" skillet. Basically, all the essentials for every kitchen.

The first time I used the skillet I was amazed! Usually making scrambled eggs is a mess because my family loves cheese and we put a ton of it in with the eggs. In a stainless pan this means an hour of scrubbing with the SOS pads to remove all the mess. But these pans just wipe clean! I no longer complain when my husband wants to make queso dip because the Velveeta washes out with ease. Oatmeal, creamy soups, everything just comes right out.

All the Pampered Chef Executive cookware is hard-anodized aluminum reinforced with titanium for a super durable piece. DuPont coating keeps them...

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eka192003 says "Great images!" about Canon - PowerShot SD800 IS / IXUS 850 IS Digital Camera

eka192003 — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:06:43 GMT

I bought my Canon SD800 iS at Staples for a trip to Texas that I took with my family. Before buying this camera I solely relied on disposables for all my pictures because I have no idea how to use film. I thought digital photography sounded like a dream come true.

Now I really wish I had gotten a digital camera sooner. For my first son I took him to the photo places and got pictures done with some regularity but I never had very many at home pictures of things that he did. When I got this camera he was about 18 months old and we were planning a vacation to southern Texas to visit his great grandparents. Never having visited Texas before I definitely wanted to have a nice camera to capture every moment.

I chose the Canon SD800 IS because it was very reasonably priced. It was the last one they had in stock so I got it for a little more than $100. I knew Canon was a good brand in cameras and I liked the large screen as well as the ease of use. It has many options that I still haven't discovered...

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eka192003 says "Bumbo is awesome!" about Bumbo Baby Seat

eka192003 — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 22:46:05 GMT

I had never heard of Bumbo chairs until my husband's brother and his wife bought one for our second child. They have a daughter who is a month older and started sitting long before our son did. Apparently their daughter had a Bumbo that she used on a regular basis, and thinking maybe that was helpful, purchased one for our son.

Our son immediately loved the Bumbo chair. Even though he was still really wobbly at 5 months it allowed him to be positioned in a way that he could learn to use his back muscles to sit up. It has still taken him awhile to get used to sitting on his own but he is doing really well and we have found all kinds of great uses for the Bumbo. We take it to grandma's house so he can sit on the table and watch her make supper (ONLY UNDER SUPERVISION OF COURSE!), he can sit in it while he plays with his toys, I put him in the chair on the bathroom floor before I take a shower so I know he can't get into anything. I also feed him in it like a high chair sometimes.

We went...

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eka192003 says "Not as space saving as I would like" about Fisher-Price Space Saver High Chair

eka192003 — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 22:22:01 GMT

I got the Fisher Price Space Saver High Chair when I had my first child in 2006. Since then the design has not changed much. I now have an 8 month old baby that we will use this same high chair for. I recently saw one with a different colored cushion on it but other than that it had all the same features. I thought it would be great since we have a small house to not have an extra piece of furniture sitting around, so I opted for the space saver high chair in lieu of a full size model.

For starters the Space Saver says it has a recline feature on it, however I never found that to be terribly helpful because if it is strapped onto a chair with a back, you really can't recline it anyway. So if that is something that is important to you (it never was for me really) then you may not like this high chair.

When the high chair is strapped onto a regular chair, the chair does not push up to the table as close as other chairs, so it still takes up more space than a regular chair. Granted, I don't...

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eka192003 says "Beautiful story that will captivate you!" about Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1)

eka192003 — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:59:58 GMT

At first I wasn't sure that I really wanted to read this book as it was recommended to me by a sixteen year old girl who works at our local library part time. I thought it was probably aimed at a younger audience and would not be able to interest me enough. A few months later the hype really started on this series and I became a little more intrigued by all the people who were raving about it. However, I still put it off because many times I am not as impressed by things that people get all crazy and rave about as maybe I should be. Finally I decided to break down and buy the book and give it a try as curiosity had gotten the best of me.

I am so glad that I gave in to my curiosity. Normally I hate movies that win Oscars, I don't always agree with reviews of things in magazines or online and I find things others get excited about to be less than exciting. Not so with Twilight. It has been over 2 months since I finished the fourth book in the series and I still cannot stop thinking about...

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eka192003 says "Jack Lalanne knows how to make a juicer!" about Jack Lalanne Power Juicer Deluxe

eka192003 — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:04:07 GMT

I got my Jack Lalanne deluxe power juicer to try and lead a healthier lifestyle. Although I do not use it as often as I would like, I love the juice I make with it. I grow a garden every year and am really excited about making my own vegetable juices. I have never had better grape juice or apple juice than what I make with this juicer. It is so fast and easy to use, just stick the fruit or vegetable in the machine and watch the juice pour out! I don't have a dishwasher so cleanup is a little more difficult, getting all the pulp off of everything. I do like that the pulp resevoir holds it all in there and you can simply bag it up and use it to make muffins or breads and other things that are in the recipe book that was included. It is a great way to use all of your produce and get more nutrients in your diet! There is also a recipe book that contains drink recipes created by Jack and his wife. They are so delicious. My husband thought I was crazy when I first purchased this, but he loves...

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