Need a Babysitter?

We moved to Houston shortly after our daughter was born(she is now 7) and we moved to this city without knowing a soul. We still do not know many people even after being here almost 7 years now. Finding a babysitter has always been an issue for us.

For the first 2.5 years in Houston, we would not go anywhere or do anything if we could not take our daughter. Once I joined a playgroup, I made friends and every now and then one of the mom's would watch our daughter and eventually our son. Now with 3 kids it is harder to ask them to watch them so my husband and I can have some time to ourselves.

So now becomes the task of finding a complete stranger to come and care for my children for a couple of hours. Just the thought of this scared me. It made me anxious and very much put me on the verge of a panic attack. I had no idea where to start or who to trust in something as serious and as precious as my children.

Fortunately I found a great website that has helped put my mind at ease and helped me realize I can find a qualified, responsible and caring individual to care for my children whenever my husband and I need some "adult" time.



NannyPro.com is just that site.

Nannypro.com is the premier online matchmaker for families seeking nannies and babysitters with the primary goal of creating a safe platform for families to connect with caregivers in the US and Canada, and obtain valuable advice and information all around the topic of childcare, parenting, and more.

Registration for nannies and sitters is free, and parents choose from various membership levels, which give them the unlimited ability to post jobs, and search, contact and hire nannies and babysitters in their areas. Detailed nanny and babysitter profiles allow families to find a caregiver specific to their individual needs.

NannyPro.com offers families 4 types of best in class background checks and pre-screens each new nanny and babysitter profile before posting it to the site. Additionally, NannyPro.com works with the International Nanny Association to offer the Basic Skills Assessment to each new caregiver upon joining the NannyPro.com community giving parents peace of mind in hiring a highly qualified caregiver.

NannyPro offers great membership options for families.

1 Month Membership - $ 24.99 USD
Plus the Complete NannyPro Hiring Guide FREE!
Full access to all of NannyPro's features

3 Month Membership - $ 49.99 USD Save more than 30%
Plus the Complete NannyPro Hiring Guide FREE!
Full access to all of NannyPro's features

6 Month Membership - $ 79.99 USD Save more than 40%
Plus the Complete NannyPro Hiring Guide FREE!
Full access to all of NannyPro's features

12 Month Membership - $ 99.99 USD Save more than 60%
Plus the Complete NannyPro Hiring Guide FREE!
Full access to all of NannyPro's features


I have been searching the NannyPro site now for approximately two weeks and I have already found at least 3 individuals that I think would fit perfectly into our family as a caregiver. It's so easy to use and I love that I have not had to put in any of my contact information. I have seen sites and joined other sites that I had to put in my contact information and I had people calling me before I was even ready to choose someone. I value my privacy and NannyPro does too!

WIN IT!

The Founder of NannyPro wants to offer one of my readers a 6 month membership to Nannypro.com! That's a value of 79.99! What a amazing deal!!!

Here are the ways you can enter:

Mandatory- Visit NannyPro.com and browse the site. Come back and tell me what features you like the best! Make sure you post a valid email address when you post! Any anonymous posters will be deleted.

Bonus Entries:
1. Tweet this giveaway-using @gutimom in your tweet. You can do this 2 times a day. Each time you will earn 1 entry. Come back and let me know EACH TIME YOU TWEET WITH THE LINK!

2. Follow me on twitter. Just click the little birdy and come back and let me know you now follow me. This will earn you 1 extra entry.

3. Blog about this giveaway and come back and post the link in a comment. Blogging about this giveaway will earn you 5 extra entries!

4. Follow my blog, come back and comment letting me know you do. This will earn you 2 extra entries.

5. Email your friends about this giveaway(BBC the email to me at gutierrezmommy01[at]gmail[dot]com) and/or post on a social networking site such as myspace, facebook,etc. Come back and post with the link if you post on a social networking site. This will earn you 2 extra entries!

Hurry before this great contest is over!

Ends November 17th at midnight CST.

Open to US and Canadian residents only. Winner will be notified by me via email(so make sure you leave me a valid email in your first post!) and will have 48 hours to contact me.


**I received a 1 month membership to review for this website. I did not receive any monetary compensation and my opinions are my own.

Space Center Houston Review

For part of our mini vacation last week, we made a stop at Space Center Houston.

This is a pretty neat and educational place for the kiddos.


During the summer they have all these great extra exhibits. This year they had a lot of items from the George Lucas films such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Willow. My son loved the Star Wars area. He got to see Storm Troopers, R2-D2, and C3-PO. The Storm Troopers were not out on stage long, which I did not like. I wish they would of spent more time out or at least walked around the exhibits to allow kids to have their pictures taken with them. The R2-D2 and C3-PO were not live characters, just the replicas. They were still neat to see even if they were protected behind glass.

They had a Indian Jones rope course. My kids could not do this because they were not tall enough. You have to be 44 inches to play. It looked like a lot of fun though.

As far as the space exhibits....just let me say this...WOW! It was so amazing to see a real space shuttle, well at least what one looks like up close and personal. At times my daughter was afraid, we are not sure why. When they studied space in school she came home talking about it so excited, so we thought for sure she would be running around enjoying everything. I think most of it was that its a little overwhelming to think that there is something else out there, something else beyond this world and it frightened her a little. My son thought everything was really neat, even though he really had no idea what he was looking at!

My favorite exhibit was walking into this big room and you are looking at a mock up of the first landing on the moon! When you walk into the room you see all the Apollo mission's patches and pictures and information about each mission. The room is dark with tiny white lights all along the ceiling, making it look like you were looking up at thousands of stars. Then, there is a moon. You see the astronauts and in the distance you see the Earth...exactly as it would be if you were standing on the moon. It was amazing and gave me goosebumps to think of how far we have come in space exploration.

Obviously this picture does not do this exhibit justice but its the best I have!

If you are ever traveling near Houston, you have to check out Space Center Houston!

Doing Laundry- Simplified!

I am sure a few of you just had to laugh when you read my blog title. I am sure you are all asking, "Now Lori, how can doing laundry be simplified?"

I too was skeptical with this claim. How can one make laundry something simple?

Well, Purex has figured out how we can do this! They have developed a new product called Purex Complete 3-on-1 Laundry Sheets.

Now, I can hear you asking, " How does this laundry sheet help make my life easier?" The answer is that they eliminate all the waste and mess of pouring detergent into the wash, the need to run back to the laundry room because you forgot to add the softener and you definitely do not have to throw in a dryer sheet! No more large, heavy jugs or boxes taking up room on your laundry room shelf! My laundry room is not big and the shelf I do have in there is even smaller so it is so nice to have room again! Now I can put a money jar on the shelf so when hubby forgets to empty his pockets, I get to stake a claim to the change that comes out in the wash!

It is not often that I find a product that does absolutely everything that it claims to do, but this is one of them. I love how easy it is...you literally just drop a sheet into the wash and you do not have to think about the wash again, not even when you are moving them to the dryer. This one sheet does the job of 3 different products!

I will not push the brand messages onto you, just know that this is my honest review and I truly love this product.

I do want to share with you a program Purex is participating in. Purex is trying to change lives not only with this revolutionary new product but also by helping others. They have teamed up with Kiva.com to support women owned businesses around the globe. Visit PurexChangesLives to view the profiles of women-owned businesses. You can support a female entrepreneur of your choice just by entering the bar code from any package of Purex Complete 3-in-1 Laundry Sheets. For every bar code entered, Purex will make a donation to a Kiva Approved women owned business. Please spread the word about this great cause!


I received my box from Momselect and they have been gracious enough to allow me to giveaway one box to one of my readers!

So here are the rules.
1. OPEN to US and Canada residents.
2. You must make a comment logged into your account! I will not count your post if you post anonymously.

That about sums it up!

Here is how you can enter.
1. Visit Purex and tell me which fragrance you think you would like. (Keep in mind I already have the box that you will win, so you might not get the fragrance you actually want, but hey..its free!)

For extra entries
1. Tweet this giveaway(comment back with the link)
2. Follow me on twitter(just click the little birdy)
3. Follow my blog (comment letting me know you do)
4. Blog about this product review and giveaway on your blog(comment back with the link)


This giveaway will end Wednesday, July 15, 2009 @ 12:01am

Disney on Ice

We had the opportunity to take the kiddos to Disney on Ice: Mickey and Minnie's Magical Journey at Reliant Arena a few weeks ago.

This was our 4th time at a Disney on Ice production and every time the kids have had a fantastic time so I knew that it was going to be a night to remember.

When you walk into the arena you are surrounded by tons of Disney souvenirs and workers willing to take your picture with a backdrop created with your favorite Disney characters. We decided to get the picture taken with the Mickey and Minnie backdrop. As you can see below it turned out beautifully!

When it was show time, you could feel the enthusiasm and electricity from all the kids in the arena. The music is superb, the skaters are so athletic and mesmerizing, and the costumes help bring the story to life.

My 6 year old and 2 year old enjoyed the whole show and screamed with glee at their favorite stories( Madison being Ariel the mermaid and Christopher when Peter Pan flew across the sky).

I totally recommend the Disney on Ice shows to anyone who has children who love Mickey and Minnie. Its a wonderful thing to see your child's face light up when these wonderful characters come to life!