Great Giveaways - 9/30

So I didn't get to post my list of great giveaways this past weekend - so here is a quick list of some giveaways going on this week...

Dirty Diaper Laundry is giving away 2 Kiwi Pie OS Fitteds on 10/5. Lots of ways to enter, so hurry on over there!

The First Time Around is giving away a Snap-Ez Eco OS diaper. Giveaway ends on 10/4.

My Four Monkey's is giving away a Rock the Tote Diaper Bag. Giveaway ends on October 1st.

Life Happens During Naptime is having a birthday bash!!! As part of the birthday bash, here are some great giveaways going on: (1) A GAD (green acre designs) diaper of your choice - giveaway ends on 10/14! (2) LHDN is offering a lucky reader a Serene Locked Donut Mommy Necklace. Giveaway ends on 10/12.

Three Green Peas Review is giving away a Hazelaid hazelwood necklace - an all natural remedy for your teething little ones! Giveaway ends on 10/12.

Three Green Peas Review is also giving away a Smart Mom Necklace. These necklaces are wonderful! It kept my 8 month old daughter very busy during a recent airplane ride and I didn't have to worry about her dropping it on the floor. Giveaway ends 10/2.

First Time Around is giving away a Wet Happened? Wet Bag from Let's Go Strolling. Giveaway ends on 10/9.

The First Time Around is also giving away 3 Fuzzibunz One Size Pocket Diapers (yes, that is correct - 3!!). Giveaway ends on 10/6.

Another giveaway from The First Time Around is a Snap-Ez Eco OS diaper - giveaway ends on 10/4.

Family of Cloth is giving away a Drybees large fleece nighttime pocket diaper in sage. Giveaway ends 10/2.

Life In a Shoe Reviews is giving away a Thirsties cover and fab fitted diaper of your choice.

The Cloth Diaper Whisperer is giving away 2 - BabyKicks One Size Bumboo Pocket Diapers with 2 Joey Bunz Inserts. Winner is announced this Friday!

The Diaper Discussion's Pimp Your Stash giveaway includes a Drybees Hybrid AIO diaper this week. Giveaway ends on 10/2, so head on over to enter!

The Cloth Diaper Blog's Feed Your Stash Friday includes one (1) bumGenius! One Size Diaper, one (1) bottle of bumGenius! Odor Remover and one (1) bumGenius! Cloth Diaper Detergent! Giveaway ends this Friday!

Good luck!!!!

I'm Back!!!!

So it's been awhile since I've had the time to post to my blog! Last week was pretty busy for me working on last minute stuff for Emily (my future sister-in-law)'s bridal shower, packing for my 8 month old daughter and I to fly up to Connecticut, and getting my older two kids prepared for Mommy to be out of town for a few days. They were staying at home with Daddy, so I knew they would be well taken care of, but it was the first time I would away overnight for my 2 year old. It was only the 3rd time for my 3 year old (but he was too young to remember the first two times, so in his mind, this was the first time again!).

My older two kids did wonderfully with my husband without me! Daddy took them grocery shopping on Saturday morning and swimming in the afternoon. On Sunday he took them shopping to buy my son a new pair of sneakers (he's already in a size 11!!!!!) and on Monday he took them to Lion Country Safari (a drive though animal safari pretty close to our house). Each evening, we talked on Skype so they were able to see their Mommy and baby sister. They had a blast with their Dad and were waiting for me at the airport with open arms on Monday evening.

For my youngest, this was her first time going on an airplane (and actually, it was her first time traveling at all...). She fussed a little bit on the plane both ways because she was having a hard time falling asleep. Once she was asleep though, it was a peaceful ride. I was really hoping I would have been able to read more of Twilight while she slept, but no such luck! Both times, the way she fell asleep, I really had no free hands. If I don't post again for a few days, you'll know why - I'll be too busy finishing my book because it is getting just too good to put down!

On Saturday morning, my brother, sister and I took my daughter apple picking. We had such a great time. Maybe it's because I live in Florida now, but I really miss being able to go apple picking. So whenever I end up in New England this time of year, I make sure to go. This was actually the first time in over a year that my brother, sister and I have been together in the same zip code! So my sister made to sure to ask a random person at the apple orchard to take our picture (we needed the trip documented for my mom & dad!) Although my daughter was too young to actually pick apples, she enjoyed sucking on the ones I was eating :) Here is my daughter trying to lick the apple juice off the apples:

And after we were done, she enjoyed sitting with a bunch of pumpkins...

On Saturday night my sister and I worked hard to get ready for the shower the next day. We decided to go with a "fall" theme since we all love the cool autumn weather. We had lots of delicious food - and for dessert we had a cake that my sister and I baked, a pumpkin roll, apple pie, vanilla ice cream and warm apple cider. Here is the cake we worked very hard at:

My sister made awesome favors that I wish I had taken a picture of. She made diffusers with small glass jars she bought at Michael's. She decorated the jars with fake fall leaves and twine and filled the jars with an apple cinnamon scented oil. We gave 4 reed sticks with each jar, so when the guests went home, they could take the cork out and put in the reed sticks. As the oil absorbs up the sticks, it gives off a nice scent. It is a much safer alternative to candles. If I can get a picture of them emailed to me, I will definitely share later on!

We had a blast while openning gifts. During the gift openning, we quizzed Emily on a bunch of questions about my brother (I had emailed my brother a bunch of questions the week before so we had all of his answers). They ranged from how he likes his eggs & coffee to what he hopes Emily will be wearing on their wedding night. Based on their answers, I think they are a perfect match! My daughter also had fun while openning gifts - here she is playing with some ribbons:

And when the shower was all over, here we are relaxing on my parent's couch:

Diapering While Traveling

I just got home last night from a weekend trip to CT with my by 8 month old daughter. We had such a great time!!! We flew up for Emily's (my future sister-in-law) bridal shower. I will be sure to post about our trip later on today. In the meantime, I saw that Dirty Diaper Laundry was sponsoring their 3rd Cloth Diaper Carnival (and the subject is "Traveling with Cloth Diapers"). Seeing as I just got home last night (with a disposable on my daughter), I thought I would write about why I choose to not use cloth diapers when I travel and why I am okay with it.

When our family travels, we are most often flying since all of our family lives up in New England and we live in Florida. With a family of 5 (and my 3 kids very young - 2 still in diapers), we already have so much stuff to bring with us. Our suitcases are full of clothes (and jackets & sweaters when traveling when it's cool up north), all 3 are still in carseats, a double stroller, 2 diaper bags (one with the actual diapers & change of clothes for the airplane and the other for toys and snacks to keep them occupied on the plane) plus our 3 kids, I'm not sure my husband and I could really handle another bag of cloth diapers. Both of my girls are in diapers, so that would be A LOT of diapers to bring! And then the water is so different where our parents live compared to what it is down here, that I haven't really wanted to attempt to wash them there. We also do not get to see our family that often, so when we get up there to visit everyone, I try to make my life as simple as possible so I can have more quality time with my family.

This past weekend, I was only away for 3 days and 3 nights. Even though I only had 1 daughter with me (and wouldn't need as many diapers), I didn't see the point in bringing my cloth. I was traveling alone with my daughter and wanted to pack as light as possible (and needed to make sure I had room in my suitcase for the bridal shower gifts). I already had 1 large suitcase for our clothes/gifts, a diaper bag, and her carseat. I also knew I would be super busy when I arrived getting everything ready for the shower. To make things easier for me, my mom went out and bought me a package of eco-friendly diapers and some organic baby food (I usually make all of my daughter's baby food as well) that were waiting for us when we arrived.

For 3 days, I knew my daughter would be just fine in some disposables while eating her jarred baby food. Although this trip was planned for Emily's bridal shower, it also became a mini-vacation for me. I did only have 1 of my kids with me! For those of you that have more than 1 child, you know that when you all of a sudden don't have to care for all of them, it feels like you are getting a break! Going down from 3 to 1 it felt like such a nice and needed break! And how could I call it a vacation if I was still doing all of my day-to-day activities I do while at home (washing diapers, making baby food, cooking dinner, etc.). When on vacation, we shouldn't be made to feel guilty for putting our children in disposables, feeding them jarred baby food, and letting the rest of our family cook dinner :)

We will be traveling as a family later this year for 3 weeks for my brother's wedding (driving from Florida to Boston with many stops along the way to visit friends & family) and I already know we will be using disposables. I just can't see myself showing up at friends' houses to visit for a day with a bag of diapers to clean! And with lots of small visits with many people, I again, just want to make life simpler for us. For those of you that have mastered traveling with cloth diapers, I congratulate you! That is great! I just don't see it happening for me anytime soon and I'm not sure if it is something I would even want to try. I have enough laundry to catch up when coming home - no need for diapers as well!

If you would like to read how others travel with cloth, head on over to Dirty Diaper Laundry.

Piggy Paint on Her Piggies

I was very intrigued about Piggy Paint after reading so many great things about them in a bunch of the blogs that I visit. I was reading about so many moms out there painting their little girls nails with this great non-toxic nail polish. So of course, my thoughts were, "I want some!". I used to love getting my nails painted as a little girl and really wanted to be able to do that with my daughters. But, if you know me, you know how concerned I am about exposing my children to unnecessary chemicals. Seeing as I did not paint my nails (or color my greying hair) during all 3 pregnancies for fear of what the chemicals could do to them, you probably wouldn't be surprised to hear that I had no intention of painting my girls' nails anytime soon.

That is until I heard about Piggy Paint! Piggy Paint is supposed to be non-toxic, water-based, hypoallergenic nail polish with a low odor, fun, vibrant colors that will dry to a hard, durable finish. I'm not going to lie to you though, I was a little skeptical. How would this non-toxic nail polish look on my daughter's nails? Would it look like clown paint - thick and goopy? If it did look at all decent, would it stay on? My older daughter's birthday was coming up and I thought this would be a great gift for her, but everytime I would go to order a bottle, I would change my mind. I was afraid it would be a total waste of money and I wouldn't be happy with the product. Lucky for me though, I won a $20 gift card to Piggy Paint from a giveaway at Pink Nothings.

So with my $20 gift card I decided to buy my daughter the Fight Breast Cancer Gift Pack. My daughter loves the color pink so this package seemed perfect. It includes Forever Fancy, Angel Kisses and some nailpolish remover. At first I was just going to buy her 3 different colors, but then I figured what was the point of buy safe, non-toxic polish if I would have to take it off with the nail polish remover sitting in my bathroom (full of lots of chemicals!).

So on her birthday, she openned her package of Piggy Paint and was very excited! Here she is holding her 2 new bottles of nail polish:

The next day she couldn't wait to use her nail polish. My son was also excited about his sister's birthday gift and needed some explaining as to why I couldn't paint his nails. I just need to make sure he doesn't talk to his uncle about this because I'm sure his uncle would love to share with my son the fact that I painted his nails a few times as kids. One time I painted them right before leaving for our annual family portrait so my poor mother never saw the nail polish on his nails until we were getting set up for pictures!

Anyway, my 2 year old daughter sat so still for me to paint all her fingers and all her toes. We did her fingers in Angel Kisses and her toes in Forever Fancy. She even sat still for me to use the hair dryer on them (as instructed on the Piggy Paint website). It has been a week now since I painted her nails and there is still some polish there. It has definitely chipped away on some of her little toes and some of her nails, but it doesn't look any different than what I would expect other nail polishes to do. She is a tough 2 year old that runs around all day, tackles her big brother, climbs on everything and stubs her toes non-stop. And what about my fear of the nail polish looking like clown paint on her? Rest assured, Piggy Paint looks no different than other nail polishes do. I even used the Forever Fancy the other day on my own nails!

Here is a shot of Piggy Paint on my little girl's piggies for the 1st time (and definitely not the last!):

Note: I was not asked or compensated in any way to write this post about Piggy Paint. I won the $20 in a giveaway and wanted to share with others my positive experience with it.

Great Giveaways - 9/20

So here is my weekly list of great giveaways!

The First Time Around is having a diaper giveaway during her Fluff Butt event for a Nubunz OS Pocket diaper in Aqua. Giveaway ends on September 27th.

Cloth Diaper Tips is giving away 6 BumGenius one size diapers (yes, that is correct, 6!!!!). Giveaway ends on 10/2.

Family of Cloth is giving away a DryBees Fleece Nightime diaper in Sage. Giveaway ends on 10/2.

Rave & Review has a bunch of great giveaways going on right now! There are 2 that I thought you might be interested in: (1) A Lauren Nicole Gifts necklace (I love these!) that ends on 10/18 and (2) a Sandra Magsamen Snuggle-Me Stories Prize Pack that ends on 10/3.


Diapers & Dimples is giving away a Softbums Bamboo Basic Pack that comes with 1 Softbums Perfect Fit cover, 2 organic bamboo inserts, plus a FREE Bamboo doubler. Giveaway ends on September 29th.

My Wee View is giving away A Pish Posh Mommy Stuff diaper bag organizer - I could really use one of these as my diaper bag is a disaster!!!! Giveaway ends on September 28th.

Northern Baby is giving away a set of 3 Zorb™ doublers. These doubles are made of two layers of OekoTex certified bamboo fleece (70% bamboo, 30% organic cotton) and one layer of Zorb. Giveaway ends on Sept. 23rd.

Dirty Diaper Laundry is giving away a $20 gift certificate to Dapa Diapers - an online diaper store that carries a variety of brands such as Snap EZ, Monkey Doodles, FuzziBunz, Sweet Pea, and WAHM items.

Monster Fluff Studio is having a giveaway for a Free embroidered custom soaker. If you haven't stopped by their store before, you should go check out their soakers with some cool monsters!

Mommy Loves Giveaways is giving away a Smart Mom Teething Bling Gift Set of your choice. Giveaway ends on September 23rd.

The Cloth Diaper Whisperer is giving away Bumgenius One Size Sample Pack as part of Fluff Friday. Winner is announced this Friday!

The Cloth Diaper Blog is giving away 12 Diaper Rite prefolds and 2 Bummis Super Whisper Wraps as part of their weekly Feed Your Stash giveaway. Giveaway ends this Friday!

Good luck!

Baby Milestones & Diaper Mishaps...

My little one was a night owl last night so I was up with her late - until almost 2 a.m. I remember with my first, I always dreaded those nights I was up late with him. I just wanted him to sleep so I could get some sleep myself (I'm not a good napper so rarely ever napped when my babies did). But when my daughter has nights like these every once in awhile I really do enjoy it! It is the only time that I can sit with her and focus 100% on her. Her older brother & sister were asleep and my husband was out of town - so we had 3 hours straight of playing, goofing around and cuddling. It was the best 3 hours - even though I am paying for it today....

Which leads to my little mishaps today...

I started doing diaper laundry last night, but got sidetracked with spending time with my little one, so I never finished it. By the time I got her back to sleep, I looked at the clock and figured I would just finish in the morning. But when morning came, all 3 kids were up together at 7, everyone was hungry, and I was tired! (and hubby wasn't home so it was exhausted mom trying to throw together a breakfast). Do you think I remembered about that laundry I started last night? Of course not!!!! After breakfast when I was doing diaper changes I realized I was putting my last diapers on both girls. I made a quick run to the laundry room and hoped I could get everything dried before they needed to be changed again .

And wouldn't you know, when naptime came for my youngest, the diapers weren't dry yet. I threw on a sposie and hoped for the best!

When I heard my daughter crying about an hour later, this is what I walked into...

Yes, that is her sitting up all by herself!! This is the first time she has ever gotten herself into sitting position without some help!!!! We were all very excited - so excited that I grabbed the camera to take a picture before picking up my very upset little girl (you see, if I don't take a picture, when it comes time for scrapbooking night, I will NEVER remember when my children reach all of their milestones!). Lucky for you, you can't see why she decided today was the perfect time to sit up (and why she is screaming for me). Yes, I'm sure you've guessed it, poop all up her back!

So after a bath, I thought my smart little girl deserved to wear her Smartipants diaper...

A Giveaway to Share

I wanted to share an awesome giveaway that I came across today - it is over at Or So She Says. They are having a monthly giveaway (that ends tonight at midnight!) that includes 9 different shops (which results in 9 different winners!). The shops look very cool - some kid clothes, aprons, cookies, handbags and jewelry.

Don't forget - the giveaway ends tonight :)

It's Openned!

My etsy shop that is! My shop's name is Domestically Green - it is where you will find products that I've discovered (and make myself) as I've become more "domestic" & "green" since staying home with my kids. Currently, I have listed handmade wool dryer balls to use in your clothes dryer as a replacement for dryer sheets (these are great with cloth diapers!). Coming soon I will also have available reusable swiffer sheets to use with your dry swiffer broom or pledge grab-it broom.


So when you get a chance, head on over to Domestically Green. If you have any questions about anything, please let me know.


Thanks!

Time Out for Theta Mom Thursday

I cannot believe that it is already Thursday again!!!!! I am not sure where my weeks are going, but they sure are flying by. Today is going to be a quick post because I just got the kids to bed and I have a ton of stuff I want to accomplish before I put myself to bed : )

So first things first - why are my weeks going by so fast (which has resulted in me not having anytime to visit all the lovely blogs out there)?

It could be because my 2 year old has all but given up on naps these past two weeks. Without her napping, my has not been doing great with his "quiet time" in the afternoon. So, I haven't been on the computer in the afternoon.

It could be because I have been busy doing lots of things to get ready for my future sister-in-laws bridal shower that is next weekend. I would love to go into details here on all that I have done (besides follow up on rsvp's) but in case she reads this blog, I don't want to spoil anything! Don't worry, I will fill you in the last week of September. There is one thing I made for her that I so want to share tonight, but I will hold off (this is why I don't do any xmas shopping too early, I hate to keep a secret for very long!)

It could be because I have been busy cleaning my house the past few days to prepare for some visitors this weekend (yay!). We live so far away from all of our family, so we always love when someone comes to visit.

It could be because I was a little distracted after hearing that my uncle is in the hospital and not doing well with his battle against cancer. Please keep him in your prayers for us.

It could be because my husband was out of town for a few days to visit his uncle who is having heart surgery next week. Please keep him in your prayers for us.

Or it could be because my 7 month old has decided that she is hungry again at 4 a.m. this week so my sleep is lacking.

So are you wondering if I was ever able to get in my hour this week? Believe it or not, I was!! :) My husband took my 2 older kids with him to a football party on Sunday afternoon. He left the baby with me (sometimes that is just easier since I'm still nursing), but conveniently went during the baby's naptime. Here is a picture of him with our kids all dressed for football season! Don't they all look so cute? So I had 4 hours without hubby and my 2 older kids and I had a full 2 hours all by myselft. It was the exact amount of uninterupted time I needed to finish one of the gifts for my brother's fiance (which I so want to tell you about now, but I won't). Can you tell I can't keep a secret sometimes?

Well, if I don't post again for a few days or I don't comment on your blog like I usually do, you now know why. Once things slow down here, I'll be back!

Now, head on over to Theta Mom to find out how she spent her hour :)

Wordless Wednesday - Pots & Pans

Here they are patiently waiting for dinner to be ready...

A Piggy Bank

A few of our relatives sent my daughter birthday cards last week for her 2 year birthday. She was so excited to get mail! Each time I came in the house with a card for her, she would immediately stop what she was doing and come over to try to open the envelope.

Well, one of the cards included $2 since she was 2 years old. She looked up and my husband and I and asked where her piggy bank was. Hmm, she doesn't have one yet. My son has a piggy bank (it was actually my husband's while growing up that my in-laws gave to us when he was born). He loves it and whenever he gets money he goes right to his piggy bank to put it in. Obviously, my daughter has been closely watching her old brother and was wondering where her money should go.

We explained to her that she didn't have one yet, but asked her if she wanted her own. I'm sure you can imagine her answer - yes, of course! Since I already had to pick up a few things at Target, we went as a family and let her pick out her own. Now, before you read on further and see the picture of her bank, let me just give you some background information on my husband and I (haha!). My husband is as "guy" as you can get - he is a big guy, LOVES sports, cooking on the grill and beer. I am not exactly a very "girly girl". I was never into all the princess stuff growing up and having everything pink. So it really cracks us up when we she shows so many signs of being a "girly girl". She LOVES to dress up in princess outfits! Loves to get her nails painted. Loves to have her hair done. Loves to pick out new shoes. Loves the color pink. The list can go on and on.

So here is the piggy bank that she insisted on having...

I tried to really talk up the other ones at the store but she always went back to this one as her favorite. My husband finally just gave me "the look". The look to give up and let her be her own person - as girly as that may be! I really do love that she is so girly, it just makes me laugh some days! Who would have known that I would end up having such a girly little girl?

Charlie's Soap Giveaway

Life In a Shoe is giving away a Charlie's Laundry Powder Combo Kit (valued at $51.92) this week. If you love Charlie's or want to give it a try, head over there and enter :)

Great Giveaways - 9/13

Here is my weekly list of some great giveaways going on that you may be interested in:

Three Green Peas Review posted a great review of the GAD Baby diapers. She will now be giving away one GAD Baby diaper on Sept. 23rd.

Paisley and Pretties is giving away a SmartMom necklace on September 21st! Head on over to enter one - I would definitely love to win one of these :)

My Four Monkeys is giving away a Diego DVD - Go, Diego, Go!: Diego’s Arctic Rescue. Giveaway ends on September 18th, so head on over to enter!

Diapers & Dimples is giving away a beautiful Mommy Necklace on September 15th.

Barefoot Mommies is giving away a diaper that I had never heard of before - a Dagny's Promise Pocket diaper. I would love to win this to try it out - the giveaway ends on September 22nd, so go on over and enter!

The Cloth Diaper Whisperer is giving away some Rockin' Green laundry detergent this week as part of their Fluff Friday - let me tell you that I LOVE this detergent! I would definitely recommend entering this giveaway!

You should stop by Dirty Diaper Laundry because Sweet Baby Bottoms gave her a GroBaby diaper and a package of Bio Soakers to giveaway. Giveaway ends on September 14th.

The First Time Around has the Fluff Butt event going on right now (just started on September 6th). The Fluff Butt event was where Cassidy at The First Time Around was documenting her switch from disposable to cloth diapers. As part of the Fluff Butt event, she is giving away a Gro Baby diaper from The Natural Baby Co. on September 23rd.

A Mom's Balancing Act is giving away a Vibe Dangling Donut from Mommy Necklaces on September 24th.

Diaper Discussions is giving away in their Pimp Your Stash weekly giveaway a 3 lb. bag of Charlie's Laundry Powder & All-Purpose Spray Cleaner. Giveaway ends this Friday!

The Cloth Diaper Report is giving away a $20 gift card to Piggy Paint. I recently tried out some Piggy Paint on my 2 year old and she loved it!!! Giveaway ends on September 21st.

How Addicted Are You?

Brandy from The Buzz: My Coupon World had this posted today and had to try it for myself!


58%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Dating Sites

Take the quiz and let me know your results :)

Dagny's Promise Pocket Diaper Giveaway

Dagny's Promise just reached 1,000 followers on Twitter! In celebration of reaching 1,000 followers, they are offering some great giveaways to their fellow Tweeps!

Grand Prize: Custom Promise Pocket™ cloth diaper or Custom knit felted LTK ™mocs (size newborn – child)

First Place: Trial pack of Cyclez products for Mom or Gift Certificate for 25% off any instock purchase

Second Place: Free Petit Fold™ snappiable Bamboo prefold and Snappi™ Fastener or 1 dozen bamboo velour wipes

Third Place: 6 pack Cyclez organic facial cleansing pads and a Gift Certificate for 15% off any instock purchase.

If you already love her products, or are interested in trying them out, head on over to enter - just make sure to become a Twitter follower of hers if you aren't already :)

Shopping for Quality & Great Value for Kids (under 5)

It amazes me everyday how fast our children grow up! It seems that everytime I think they have enough clothes, one of my three has already outgrown what they are wearing! Just yesterday I noticed my baby is starting to feel snug in her size 9 month clothes. We just had to go out and buy my 2 year old new shoes this past week. And my son is starting to look a little funny in some of his shorts that are just a little too short!

Luckily for me, I was let in on a sale by Twittermoms this morning with Gap Outlet. By the way, I love this store for shopping for clothes for my kids (as well as myself!). I've gotten some really great deals there in the past. And what is even better, I feel like the quality of the clothes is very good. So many of my older daughter's clothes that I have bought there, have held up very well so I am able to use them on my younger daughter. How great is that?

The sale is the Semi-Annual Baby Sale for newborns to 5 year olds taking place September 11-24, 2009 at Gap Outlet. If you shop at Gap Outlet stores you can save up to 40% off the already low Factory Store prices during the semi-annual Baby Sale! In addition, Twittermoms, gave me as well as all of my readers an additional 10% off coupon code .

Gap Outlet - Semi-Annual Baby Sale


TwitterMoms Exclusive: Gap Outlet Semi-Annual Baby Sale Savings!


Enjoy the sale - and happy shopping to everyone!

My Little Girl's 2nd Birthday!

I still can't believe that my little girl turned 2 today! It seems like yesterday that I was in the hospital holding her trying to get her to stop crying. Yes, she was born a screamer. And after 2 years, I can't say that much has changed. I say that in a loving way though :) She is great! She is a tough little girl that doesn't take anything from her older brother. She always lets us know how she is feeling - whether it's to give us hugs and say she loves us, yell when her big brother takes something from her, or to cry when she is upset about something. There is never any secrets with her!

Whenever I asked my kids today whose birthday it was, she always answered with a great big smile "mine!". Then when I asked her how old she was, her response was "4". The poor girl really wanted to be 4 years old today. I tried to explain to her that she was only 2, but after every conversation, she still always reverted back to 4. Then I figured out what the problem was at some this afternoon. She wanted to be older than her big brother!!!! It became obvious when I was explaining to her how old she was now and how old she will be next year. When I told her that she would be 3 next year, she commented that that was how old her big brother was. When I said that he would be 4 next year when she turned 3, she was NOT happy about that. That was when she decided to tell me again today that she was 4 today. How does someone so young figure that out at such an early age? I was just amazed!

Anyway, we had a low-key day to celebrate her day. She got one present in the morning before Daddy went to work (a Little People Farm toy). We hung around the house today so I could catch up on housework and decorate her birthday cake. Before dinner, her grandparents called her on Skype so she could open her present from them over the webcam. My kids LOVE skype and being able to talk to our family that is far away! It is so funny how excited they get when they hear my computer "ringing"!

Once Daddy got home, we ate dinner, openned presents and then had cake. It was so hard to cut into the cake I made for her - all that hard work this morning, just to cut it up and eat! Oh well, it was delicious!

The funniest part of her openning presents was when she openned up a pair of new sneakers that my husband bought for her (my husband picks out the BEST girly shoes for her!). They are these adorable beige Sketchers sneakers with sparkly pink and silver on them - so girly! Well, living in Florida, these are actually her first pair of sneakers - she's always just worn sandals. When we put the sneakers on her feet, she says "Oh no, where are my toes?". All we could do was just laugh!!!! She did also get some Piggy Paint nailpolish for her birthday. I was very excited when I won a $20 gift card to Piggy Paint a few weeks ago, so made sure to buy her some nice pink polish for her bithday! Once I paint her nails, I will let you know how I like it.

And to think that exactly two years ago today, I was sitting in a hospital bed with my little girl in my arms....

My "In the Nick of Time" Time Out

I thought for sure that my Time Out for Theta Mom Thursday post today would be a quick blurb on how I was unable to find my 1 hour this week. I definitely needed some time to myself, if not so much to recharge from the kids, but to get some fun projects I've been working on done. This week was tough though because my husband had been super busy at work - he even had to work on Saturday this past weekend (his long weekend started a day later!). Since I hadn't seen much of him lately, I took Sunday & Monday to spend some extra time with him & the kids.

This week went my so fast (since for me it didn't really start until Tuesday) and I didn't see how I would have any time to myself (especially since my husband went out of town on Tuesday for work). But the all the stars aligned for me on Wednesday afternoon! Without much effort on my part, all 3 of my kids took a nap from 2-4. That is 2 whole hours to myself that wasn't even planned! So, in those 2 hours, here is what I accomplished;

• I ate lunch
• Caught up on some emails with old friends
• Baked my daughter's birthday cake
• Baked blueberry muffins for breakfast the next morning (special breakfast for the birthday girl!)
• Talked to one of my girlfriends on the phone
• Dried & folded diapers I had cleaned in the morning
• Cleaned the kitchen & dining room (including mopping the floors)

Now I know that laundry and cleaning the kitchen shouldn't really be a part of my "me time" without kids, but having those 2 things done definitely allowed me to be much more relaxed the rest of the day. I was almost out of diapers (and diaper laundry is really the easiest laundry of mine to do) and for some reason, I feel totally relaxed in my house when my floors are mopped. My husband thinks I'm crazy sometimes, but there are days where that's all I need to do to get into a better mood :)

So that was how I spent my 2 VERY quiet hours yesterday. Did I get to finish that bathrobe this week for my daughter's 2nd birthday today? Unfortunatly, no. But, I'm hoping I can still get it done by this weekend (she won't notice if it's only a few days late, right?). Head on over to Theta Mom to find out how Heather and everyone else spent their time this week!

A Fun Day at the Zoo

Today I met one of my girlfriends with a boy the same age as my baby and we headed to the zoo with the kids. It was still so hot outside, but what a fun day we had!!!! School is back in session here so it was not crowded at all. Both my 3 year old and almost 2 year old were able to walk almost the whole day as it felt like we were the only people there. The baby got a little fussy with the heat still, but overall, I think she had fun. Even at 7 months old, she got very excited to see some of the birds!

I think some of the kids favorite animals were the jaguar (they even saw a baby jaguar like Diego's!!), the white alligator, the ant eater, the enormous turtle, the python snake and the ostrich. After looking at the animals, the kids took a break and cooled off in the water area. Here is a picture of my son walking his little sister to the water. She is a bit nervous with spray water parks so didn't want to go in at all. After he did some convincing, she finally agreed and walked over with him. Wouldn't you know, as soon as they reach the water, my son (who looks so protective and caring of his little sister here), gave his little sister a slight nudge so she ended up standing over a water spout! I felt bad for her, but it was really funny to watch. My son knew I wasn't happy because he made sure to tell me, in all seriousness, "Don't worry mommy, I only pushed her VERY lightly so she wouldn't fall down."

Once we made it to the car, everyone seemed to get very relaxed in the air conditioning. We timed it perfect because as we pulled out of the parking lot, the rain started up (and when I say rain, I mean pouring rain!). The baby slept the whole way home while the 2 older kids played with their toy monkeys they got at the gift shop. The kids are already asking when we will go back!

Great Giveaways This Week - 9/7

So here it is again - my weekly list of great giveaways going on right now!


ThetaMom is giving away a set of Bummas cloth wipes - these are great to help prevent diaper rashes on your little ones! This giveaway ends on 9/13.

Thrifty & Chic Mom is giving away to 5 moms (yes, that's right,5!) a Smart Mom Jewelry Gift Set. Giveaway ends September 17th and midnight.

Our Life Upstate just reviewed a Softbums diaper and is giving away a Softbums basic pack on September 19th.

Barefoot Mom is giving away a Rocky Mountain diaper (I've heard such great things about these diapers and would love to win one myself!). Head on over there, her giveaway ends on 9/15.

Moma to the Littlest LoveBug is giving away a BumJoy diaper to 3 of her readers! Her giveaway ends on 9/13.

Happily Domestic is giving away a Planet Wise pail liner on September 23rd.

This Mom Can Shop is giving away a Mommy Necklace in their choice of style, length & color on 9/15.

My WeeView is giving away a once size Fuzzi Bunz diaper of your choice on 9/14.

My Four Monkeys has a great book giveaway going on again this week (especially if you like Boston) - Shankman and O'Neill's The Boston Balloonies. This giveaway ends on September 10th (my daughter's birthday!). Wouldn't this be a great gift for her?

Take Time to Smell the Roses is giving away a Swaddlebees AIO - size large in lavender on September 14th.

Four Fabulous Families has is giving away a L'il Monkey's Personalized Baby Blanket on 9/15.

Momma D and Da Boyz has a giveaway for a beautiful Katie's Kreations Personalized Scrabble Tile Pendant that ends on 9/13.

Luvn Life has a couple of great giveaways going on right now. She is giving away a Safe Sippy 2 from The Soft Landing on September 20th and a Seventh Generation Living Home Starter Kit on September 21.

The Giveaway Addict is giving away a Smart Mom Necklace - her giveaway ends on September 24th.

The Cloth Diaper Whisperer is giving away (as part of Fluff Friday) 1 Smartipants one-size diaper and 1 Grandma El's gift pack (which includes Grandma El's Diaper Rash Remedy & Prevention cream, Tear-free Gentle Baby Shampoo, Tear-free Gentle Baby Wash, and Free organic washcloth. Winner is announced this Friday!

The Cloth Diaper Blog is giving away 12 Diaper Rite prefolds and 2 Thirsties Diaper Covers. Giveaway ends this Friday!

Diaper Discussions is giving away a Thirsites Fab Fitted Cloth Diaper & New Duo Wrap this Friday as part of their Pimp Your Stash weekly giveaway!

Good Luck!!

Grilled Cheese Problems

I am not sure what my problem is, but EVERY time I go to make a grilled cheese sandwich, this is my result...

I'm not kidding - this is the sandwich from tonight for my son. I burnt one for my daughter's lunch yesterday. I burnt one for me on Friday. Yes, that is 3 grilled cheese sandwich's in the past 4 days that I have burnt. One time, I burnt the sandwich so bad that there was a permanent burn stain on my pan!

I do enjoy cooking & baking and I can honestly say that I rarely burn things. But for some reason, my brain is not capable of making a grilled cheese sandwich. My poor kids - everytime they are waiting patiently for their sandwich to be made, they are forced to wait just a little bit longer until I can cook a second.

Maybe one of these days I will be able to successfully cook 1 grilled cheese sandwich without having to make a second to actually eat. Until then, I will just keep extra fruit on hand to feed the kids while they are stuck waiting for yet another sandwich! Or maybe I will just hope my kids will stop asking for them...

Do you have anything that, as a mom, you are just incapable of doing? Something that you feel you should be able to do, but it just never works out? If so, please share!

Piggy Paint Giveaway

If you haven't heard of Piggy Paint, you should really go and check them out! It is so crazy to think of all the chemicals that are in our everyday nail polish. Piggy Paint has a large assortment of non-toxic nail polish for your little girls. I recently purchased some for my daughter (although I haven't used it yet!). She turns 2 next week and it is part of her birthday present :) Once we try it out, I will be sure to post back here and let you know how we like it!

If you would like a chance to enter to win a $20 gift card to Piggy Paint so you can try their stuff out, head over to Beauty 4 Moms - they are giving away a $20 gift card on September 30th!

Recipe - Butternut Squash Puree

What baby doesn’t love a good butternut squash? I know my older 2 kids LOVED theirs! And after making a batch recently, I found out my youngest is also a big fan!

The other day I shared with all of you my reasons for making my own baby food and promised to start sharing my recipes. Here is how I made our most recent batch of butternut squash for my baby that is just starting on solids…

Cost: $8.69 for a 3.49 lb. organic butternut squash


Ingredients:
1 butternut squash
Water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400


2. Cut squash down the middle from top to bottom.


3. Scoop out all seeds and discard.


4. Place flat on roasting pan (inside of squash facing down). Add almost an inch of water to pan.


5. Bake for 45-60 minutes. To check if done, I stick the squash with a fork and if the fork goes in easily, it is done.


6. Let the squash cool until it is easy to handle.


7. Scoop out all the squash from the skin and place in either food processor or blender. I’ve made baby food in both and find it much easier with a food processor. It can definitely be done with a blender though.


8. Use the food processor or blender to puree. Add additional water as necessary to reach your desired consistency.


9. Scoop squash into ice cube trays, cover with plastic wrap and place in freezer. Each cube in the ice tray is approximately 1 ounce.


10. Once frozen, remove from ice cube trays and store in labeled freezer bags (the food will last approximately 1 month in the freezer).


11. At night, I usually take out the desired number of cubes from the freezer and place in covered blow in the refrigerator. By the morning, it is defrosted and ready to eat!
    
    

In the end, my squash yielded approximately 40 ounces of pureed baby food. This resulted in a total cost of $0.21 per ounce. At my local grocery store, a 2 ½ ounce jar of stage 1 organic baby food is approximately $1.00 (or $0.40 per ounce). So by making my own, I saved my family almost 50% of what we would have paid in the store!

Free Entrance to Museums!

I just got a reminder email today from Bank of America that I thought I would share. This coming weekend is a long weekend for most people, and what better way to have some fun family time (and let Bank of America pay!). Family time is always fun, but when it's free, that's even better!

There are over 100 museums offered over the U.S. for this program. All you need to do is show your Bank of America card and a picture I.D. and your entrance fee is waived. Here is a link to the Bank of America Museums on Us program.

I just found out there is a Science Museum near us that participates! If we end up going, I will let you know how it was :)

Shopping All Alone

Most of my errands I usually do during the week, with all 3 kids along for the ride! If you have kids (or if you don't and you've ever watched a mother with her kids at the store), I'm sure you can appreciate how stressful those trips can become. Forget about looking for sales, going through your pile of coupons, reading labels, running to the opposite end of the store for that 1 thing you forgot while you were already over there, or just all around enjoying your shopping trip. Before I had kids, I LOVED shopping! I could walk through the mall for hours and just window shop.

Now though, I am usually rushing through the store & trying to get everything I need as fast as I can. I am hoping my 3 year old, who is usually walking next to me, doesn't break anything. I am hoping my almost 2 year old can sit still long enough in the cart & be happy before she realizes she is not walking like her big brother. I am hoping that my 7 month old doesn't start screaming to eat "right now" (or decide to have a poop blowout - I try so hard to avoid changing diapers in the public bathrooms at stores!). And then don't even get me started on getting in line to pay for everything..."Mommy, can I have this?", "Mommy, can I have that?", "Mommy, that looks so yummy! What is it?", "Mommy, I really, really, really want that!", "Wah, Wah, Wah, please Mommy!!!!" Seriously? Not only do stores have candy and crackers in the check-out lines, but now toys too!!! It drives me crazy!!

Anyway, so that gets me to my 1 hour by myself this week. I used that hour to go shopping at Jo-Ann Fabric to pick out some fabric for a bathroom I'm making my daughter for her birthday (which is next week already!!!) and an apron I'm making for my future sister-in-law for her bridal shower (which is at the end of the month!). I can't even describe to you how relaxing it was to walk up and down (and then back down and up) all the aisles to pick out the "perfect" fabric. I was even able to carry on a lovely converstation with the woman cutting the fabric!

So with my shopping done, will I actually be able to find time this week to sew my daughter's bathrobe before her birthday? Since her birthday is next Thursday, you will just have to wait until then to find out :)

Now what about you? Were you able to find an hour to yourself this past week? If so, please share! Also, make sure to stop by Theta Mom to read some other "Time Out for Theta Mom Thursday" posts .

Wordless Wednesday - A Sunset

Making Your Own Baby Food

So are you a mom with baby getting ready to eat solid foods? What better way for you to be a little green, save a little money, and serve healthier foods for your baby than to make some of their pureed fruits & veggies yourself!

Making homemade baby food is super easy. I try to make them around the same time I may be serving that fruit or veggie to the rest of my family. When I do that, it usually involves me only cooking a little extra and then keeping it aside to puree. When I am prepared and have purchased enough fruits/veggies from the grocery store, I try to make huge batches and just freeze the leftovers. All extras I add to ice cube trays, wrap in plastic wrap, and freeze. Once frozen, I remove from the trays and store in a labeled freezer bag. That makes it very easy to just defrost a little from the freezer to come up with a quick lunch or dinner for my baby (basically as easy as opening a jar from the pantry).

I try to serve my baby only organic fruits and vegetables. Although the stores are definitely starting to get a much larger selection of organic jarred food, it can still be hard sometimes. I remember when my oldest was a baby, it was near impossible to find organic jarred food at most stores around me. Now they do seem to be at most places we shop. I’ve been trying to avoid jarred foods though ever since the risks of BPA were all over the news. From what I’ve read, there is a risk of BPA in both the plastic containers and the tops to the glass containers.

I just started feeding my 7 month old some pureed veggies a few weeks ago (so far she’s had butternut squash, carrots and sweet potatoes). As I’ve been making these myself, I thought I would share with you how I make them, store them and serve them. I also wanted to share with you what it was costing me to do this. So now that I have shared with you my reasons for making my own baby food, stay tuned for some recipes and cost analysis!