It's that time again... Giveaways ending 10/1-10/31

Hey! It's that time again. Time to enter giveaways like mad in hopes of helping out at Christmas. I decided this spring that giveaways were taking up too much of the time I needed to be spending with my kids, but now Joshua is a little older and needs a little less attention (just a little!) and Christmas is quickly approaching, so here we go again! Chuggington Traintastic Adventure Prize Pack from Acting Balanced Ends 10/5

Birds Nest Cookies

These look delicious! I think I will try them with peanut butter morsels and/or chocolate chips since I'm not a fan of butterscotch. I will take pictures and give details after I try them out.

Original recipe from http://artofdessert.blogspot.com/2010/03/birds-nest-cooies.html

Giveaways Ending 2/15-3/31

Pawsitive Living- I <3 Minnie DVD Ends 3/9

http://pawsitiveliving.ca/2012/02/i-heart-minnie-on-dvd-giveaway.html

Pawsitive Living- Chuck & Friends DVD Ends 2/28

http://pawsitiveliving.ca/2012/02/chuck-friends-2.html

Celebrate Woman Today- Diva Cup Ends 2/22

http://celebratewomantoday.blogspot.com/2012/02/whats-behind-that-diva-cup-review.html

Monday Musings

Ever wonder what the down side is of EC (elimination communication)?
We started EC with Joshua because he DOES NOT like to pee in his diaper. I had read in an article about EC that for some babies, unexplained fussiness can be as simple as they have to pee. Joshua started fussing one day last week, and i thought "What the heck" so I put him on Emma's little potty and sure enough he peed and then was just as happy as can be. I put that same dry diaper back on him, and we tried a few more times. I have to admit, I think I'm pretty good at this so far. (I hope I didn't just jinx myself!)
Anyway, back to the original point: the down side. The downside is that Joshua expects (and insists really) that I will get up and take him to the potty if he decides he needs to pee at 4:30 in the morning. Which is actually not as bad as 6:55 on my day to sleep in because I couldn't go back to sleep. Having less diaper laundry kind of makes up for it, but I'm hoping all this hard work pays off when it comes time to potty train him. We'll see...

Wordless Wednesday A Little Late

Wordless Wednesday or "Why my Living Room Smells Powder Fresh" or maybe "Why You Should Never Leave a 2 Year Old Alone With Baby Powder, Even For A Second"

Wordless Wednesday

We had family portraits done on Saturday, and I couldn't be happier with the results!

Wordless Wednesday: Joshua Levi

Well, I guess I'm ready to rejoin the blogosphere :) I decided to take a little time off after Joshua was born so I had just one less thing to worry about. But now that we're getting into a routine and he's almost 3 weeks old (tomorrow! already!) I'm ready to share with you guys. I'll be writing up his birth story soon, but for now here are a few pictures from the hospital. Enjoy!

And here is a close up of his white spot. (I have one too.)

Giveaways Ending 2/1-2/15

Double Duty Mommy- Britax B Ready Stroller and B Safe Infant Car Seat Ends 2/1*R
So Easy Being Green- Boba Wrap Ends 2/1*R

Giveaways Ending 1/16-1/31

Life With My Littles- Happy Heineys OS diaper Ends 1/16*R

One More Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest- Applecheeks diaper Ends 1/18*R

Fishful Thinking- bottle of krill oil Ends 1/19*R

Change Diapers- Arm's Reach Cosleeper Ends 1/20R
So Easy Being Green- $75 gift certificate to Diva Diapers Ends 1/20*R

Eco Baby Mama Drama- Red Barn AI2 or fitted diaper Ends 1/22*R

Mommy of Two Little Monkeys- 2 bottles krill oil Ends 1/27*R

New Age Mama- Angelina Ballerina: Sweet Valentine DVD Ends 1/28*R

Mommy of Two Little Monkeys- BabyCakes Cake Pop Maker and Lemon Cake Pop Mix Ends 1/30*R

Eco Baby Mama Drama- $20 Gift Certificate to Rumpeez Ends 1/31*R
Thrifty Nifty Mommy- Angelina Ballerina Sweet Valentine DVD Ends 1/31*R

Winner for the Dumbo Blu-Ray/DVD giveaway

Congrats to Jenny Anwar! Out of 135 entries, random.org chose number 93 and Jenny won the movie. She has been emailed and has 48 hours to respond.

Giveaways Ending 1/1-1/15

Mommy Kat & Kids- Kung Fu Panda on DVD/Blu-Ray Ends 1/8*R

Eco Baby Mama Drama- itti bitti tutto from the Green Nursery Ends 1/8*R
Dirty Diaper Laundry- Ecobubs Ends 1/8*R

Change Diapers- My Brest Friend Prize Pack Ends 1/10R

Eco Baby Mama Drama- Lulu Wrap Ends 1/11*R
Change Diapers- Little Lemon Tree Diaper + microfiber insert Ends 1/11R

Eco Baby Mama Drama- $25 Gift Certificate to Slightly Crunchy Mama Etsy Shop Ends 1/13*R

Life With My Littles- $50 gift card to MomBecks.com Ends 1/14*R

Eco Baby Mama Drama- Apple Cheeks Cover + 2-ply Bamboo Insert Ends 1/15*R
This Flourishing Life- Rockin' Green Ends 1/15*R

* denotes a giveaway with entries for daily tweets available

R denotes Rafflecopter giveaways

G denotes Google form giveaways

Another Giveaway! Size XL Christmas shirt for your dog!

Hey there animal lovers! I have a quick giveaway for you! We received this doggie T shirt for our dog, but the XL is just too small for our Great Dane, and I have decided to over it up as a giveaway.

This will be a very short giveaway since Christmas is so close, and I'd like to get it to the winner in time for Christmas. The shirt has never been worn before and still has the tags attached. Enter below and good luck!

Monday Musings

I know that probably 70 billion+ women have wondered this who even knows how many times, but how do you know when your contractions are actually labor? I've had contractions, mainly at night, for 5 days now. Right now they are about 7-8 minutes apart, and part of me is saying, "We have a 2 1/2 hour drive. Let's go!" while another part of me is saying, "It's 2:00 in the morning, and I don't want to wake everyone up and drag them out of bed if this isn't the real thing." The biggest problem is, until this afternoon, Joshua was facing out, and now he is facing in (towards my spine) which is much better for birth (yay!) but a little harder to tell what's going on contraction-wise. Anyways, only time will tell. I'll post again when I can...

Baby Update- Still No Baby

Not sure how much the blog will get updated when labor really begins, so I wanted to assure you guys there is still no baby. I generally take the weekends off blogging to spend time with the family, so don't be concerned (or excited) if you don't see me for a couple of days. I will be back tomorrow unless we head to the hospital before then...

Thankful Thursday

Well, I have been having (very mild) contractions for a couple of days now. This is a totally new experience for me. When I had Emma, I never felt a single contraction until they pumped as much pitocin as they could into my veins, so I really did not know what a NORMAL contraction felt like. Most of them have been just the painless tightening of the uterus, but I have had some I would describe as mildly uncomfortable. None that are painful yet. I am so thankful to be experiencing a normal pregnancy and the very, very beginnings of my body preparing to give birth to our little boy. I am thankful I still feel pretty good most of the time, and I can feel Joshua moving around so I'm pretty sure he's doing well too. God is so good!

Wordless Wednesday

Here are some pictures of Emma at birth. Nesting is definitely kicking in (It's 2am, and I'm washing diapers and making trail mix), and I'm having a few contractions. Most completely painless and not at all regular, but they made me realize it won't be long before we're doing this all over again :)

Attention Cloth Diaper-ing Bloggers

Midnight Mommy is looking for bloggers to review and giveaway cloth diapering products. What a great opportunity! I know a lot of you have found me through my giveaway lists, so I know you love giveaways. Click HERE for more details.

30 Days of Thanks: Day 30

Today I am thankful for all that God has given me. From the outside, or the world's standards, it may not look like much, but God meets all of my needs.

30 Days of Thanks: Day 29

Ok. So a little late. But I'm gonna finish out the month. Thank you Lord, for the health of my sweet Emma. She seems to be recovered, if not completely than awfully darn close to it. She has no fever; she has her appetite back. Even her coughing is almost completely gone. We still have a few days left of antibiotics for her ear infection, but I am so thankful I don't have a sick toddler anymore!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 28

Today I am thankful for the kids in my youth group. They keep me busy, active, and involved. And positive most of the time :) I'm so thankful that God put us in their lives and them in ours. I love those kids and love knowing that we are making a difference in their lives, and thus (hopefully) in turn, in the lives of the people that they come into contact with. To think that God could use me for such a task...

30 Days of Thanks: Day 27

Today I am thankful to have made it "full term" with this baby! Although I have a tendency to see Emma as pretty much perfect, I know that we had a lot of problems when she was first born that can be attributed mainly to her prematurity, and I am so thankful to have made it to the official 37 weeks with Joshua. Not that I am in a hurry to sign his eviction notice now. All we learned with Emma taught me that it is best to let babies come on their own, so he can stay as long as he would like.

500 Twitter follower giveaway: Dumbo 70th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack

I am so excited to announce to all of you that I will be hosting my first blog giveaway! I won 2 different copies of Dumbo: 70th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo pack in giveaways and will be hosting my own giveaway for the additional copy! This giveaway is to celebrate my Twitter followers. Right now I have 449 followers on Twitter. Although I am opening up the giveaway now, it will close 2 weeks after the date I hit 500 followers. I will update this blog post with the official end date after I hit 500.

Enter to win in the Google form in the link below. ALL ENTRIES WILL BE VERIFIED so please do not complete an entry unless you actually do what it says. Winner will be emailed and have 48 hours to respond. In the even the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHh2dGoyRlB1ekx5ODNOTWZ5MkM1cFE6MQ

UPDATE AS OF 12/14: I HAVE OFFICIALLY HIT 500 FOLLOWERS. THE GIVEAWAY WILL END 12/28. WINNER WILL BE NOTIFIED BY EMAIL NO LATER THAN 12/31.

30 Days of Thanks: Day 26

Today I am thankful for our nice warm house as I listen to the storm outside. It's certainly not the nicest or most expensive house around, but it gives us walls and a roof to protect us from the elements, it gives us a place to keep our worldly possessions, and it gives a place to gather together to feel safe and loved. The fact that it's almost paid off puts it pretty high on my list of things to be thankful for too! ;)

30 Days of Thanks: Day 25

Today, on Kristen's birthday, I am thankful for all 6 of my brothers and sisters. I love you all very much, and I love knowing that my kids have so many aunts and uncles they can turn to for love and support. I'm so glad our family turned out just the way it did because I appreciate each one of you being a part of my life!

30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 24

Today I am thankful to have the opportunity to spend time with my family for this holiday, for good food, and for the freedom to thank GOD for giving to us all that we have.

30 Days of Thanks: Day 23

Today I'm thankful for my mama. Now that I have kids of my own, I have a greater appreciation for all that she did for us. And I can't wait to see her & my stepdad for Thanksgiving today!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 22

Today I am thankful for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We had the Lord's supper at church tonight, and I am so thankful for that because it caused me to take some time to reflect on the love and sacrifice of Jesus for me. Thank you God for giving your Son, and thank you Jesus for being willing to pay my debt.

30 Days of Thanks: Day 21

Forgot/didn't have time to blog yesterday as we spent nearly all day out of town for a doctor's appointment. Yesterday I was thankful that Emma has made drastic improvements. The doc said her lungs sounded clear (yay!) and continue what we were doing although we could cut down some on the meds & breathing treatments as long as she continued to do well.

30 Days of Thanks: Day 20, Our Awesome Pharmacist

Today I am oh-so-grateful for our wonderful pharmacist. When I took Emma to the ER on Tuesday and she was diagnosed with RSV, the ER doc told me to follow up with our primary care physician ASAP. I told him we still had some albuterol for breathing treatments, so he did not write me a prescription (I will not do that again!) for more since we would be seeing our regular doc soon. I called before we even left the parking lot and had an appointment scheduled for Wednesday at 2:30. The next morning, the doctor's office called and said we could not get in until Monday because our doctor was ill and would not be in. Not thinking about the prescription, I said no problem because I was pretty sure I could handle this, having dealt with RSV once before.

Then came Friday. I notice we were getting down to just a couple of packages of medicine (5 doses each), and Emma had been needing treatments more often. So I called the doctor's office and told them I needed another doctor in the office to write a prescription for us so we could make through until Monday. I was told no problem. Then at 4:00 the receptionist called me back to say all the doctors had been in a meeting and closed early for the day without anyone writing Emma a prescription. No one was on call and no one was left at the office. Sigh.

So I called the ER we went to on Tuesday. That doc was not on call then or at anytime this weekend. No one from our doctor's practice was on call all weekend. Her old pediatrician was not on call, nor was anyone from his office- all weekend. Don't get me wrong- the nurse I was talking to was GREAT. She tried everything she could to get me a prescription without having to bring Emma back, exposing her to more germs with an already weakened immune system or exposing more people to RSV (including checking the on-call schedule for the whole weekend for us for every doctor we had ever seen). But legally, there's only so much they can do because the ER doc we saw did not write anything in her chart about needing a prescription. (Here's where I began kicking myself for telling him we didn't need one.) I told her we would come in to the ER if we had to and hung up, thanking her for all her help.

As a last ditch effort, I call our pharmacy and explained what was going on to our pharmacist, who had already helped a lot by dosing out Mucinex and Triaminic for a 25 pound 2 year old (I honestly think we'd have ended up back at the hospital without that). He said, "No problem. I'm sure your doctor will ok a refill on Monday. Come on up and pick up some more medicine anytime before we close." What a life-saver! He saved me a 45 minute trip to the ER where we would have been had to wait who knows how long while exposing her to who knows what just for a prescription refill.

So long story, but I LOVE our pharmacist! That's the kind of treatment you don't get at big name stores, but he considered it no big deal. So Thanks Shane! You're the best!

Giveaways Ending 12/16-12/31

Mommy Katie- Earth Mama Package Ends 12/16*

Thrifty Nifty Mommy- $100 Array Gift Card Ends 12/16G

Mommy Kat & Kids- VeggieTales Little Drummer Boy DVD Ends 12/16*R

One More Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest- Mother Ease Wizard Uno cloth diaper Ends 12/16*R

Mommy PR- Giving Back Christmas Giveaway ($50 in surprise toys and a ham) Ends 12/16

Mama Loves Her Bargains- Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series DVD Ends 12/17*R

Thrifty Nifty Mommy- VeggieTales Little Drummer Boy DVD and O Holy Night CD Ends 12/17G

Eco Baby Mama Drama- Grandma El's Diaper Rash Prevention and Treatment Ends 12/17*R

Little Love- Woolies Dryer Balls Ends 12/17*R

EcoBabyz- BabyKicks 3g Ends 12/18*R

WiC Project- Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series on DVD (THREE WINNERS!) Ends 12/18*R

Mommy PR- $50 Giftcard to Build a Bear and 1000 Build-a-bearville points Ends 12/19*

All in One Mom- Earth Mama Angel Baby A Little Something for Baby Gift Set Ends 12/19*R

Eco Baby Mama Drama- Go Green and Adapt-a-Snap Ends 12/19*R

Little Love- Action Baby Carrier Ends 12/19R

The Mommy Goods- Tube of Grandma El's Diaper Rash Remedy & Prevention and $5 coupon Ends 12/20*R

So Easy Being Green- $25 Gift Card to Ultimate Green Store Ends 12/20R

Eco Baby Mama Drama- 45/90 bag of Rockin Green Soap Ends 12/20*R

Eco Baby Mama Drama- Oh Katy! One Size Cloth Diaper Ends 12/20*R

Brookie's Baby Bargains- Thirsties Duo Diaper Ends 12/20*R

Our Kids Mom- Zoobie Pets of Choice Ends 12/21*R

Newly Crunchy Mama of 3- Beco Butterfly2 Baby Carrier Ends 12/21*R

Newly Crunchy Mama of 3- Incredibum Wet Bag Ends 12/21*R

Mommy Kat & Kids- HEXBUG Nano Prize Pack Ends 12/22*R

Feisty, Frugal, and Fabulous- Recordable Storybook Ends 12/23*

Simple- 24 oz bag of EcoSprout detergent Ends 12/23*R

Measuring Flower- Fuzzibunz Elite OS diaper Ends 12/23*R

Eco Baby Mama Drama- Red Barn AI2 diaper Ends 12/24*R

Happenings of the Harper Household- Zoobies Pet of Choice Ends 12/24*R

Musings of a SAHM- $10 Amazon.com Gift Card Ends 12/27R

Simple- Boba Carrier, Boba Wrap, or Boba Travel Pack Ends 12/30R

Thrifty Nifty Mommy- Diaper Style Mystery Prize Pack Ends 12/31G

Pregnany & Newborn Magazine- Diono Radian RXT car seat Ends 12/31*

Pregnancy & Newborn Magazine- Happy Heinys Cloth Diaper Starter Kit Ends 12/31*

30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 19

I am thankful for the 6 little words that woke me up at 4:30 Friday morning. I heard "Mommy I need to go peepee" for the first time in the middle of the night. I can't even remember how long it has been since Emma had an accident at night, but this is the first time she has woken me up to take her to the potty. I have always been half afraid if she had a full bladder in the middle of the night she just might have an accident. So I thought waking up at 4:30am was pretty awesome! :)

30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 18

Today I'm thankful to have off next Wednesday already so I can go to the midwife appointment I had to reschedule. I did not want to drag Emma all the way to OKC today OR expose anyone there to RSV. It's bad enough that I am exposed, but I don't want to expose any other pregnant women- or worse, newborns- to it!

30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 17

Today I am thankful for my wonderful husband and what a great father he is. I got to witness the most adorable Daddy-daughter moment the other day. Emma LOVES Green Eggs & Ham, and consequently we have been reading it a lot. Jason was a little tired of reading it and decided to sing it Emma, blues/jazz style. It was so cute! And then Emma started singing it too. Indescribable and unfortunately I did not have the video camera ready. But if he does it again, I will definitely go grab it.

30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 16

Today I'm thankful that I'm still breastfeeding Emma. I'm hoping the antibodies in my milk will help ease her case of RSV and speed her recovery.

30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 15

I had a post in my head yesterday but never got a chance to sit down and type it out. So here's yesterday ;)

Today I am thankful for the peace we have in God. For the ability to simply trust and know that all is in His hands, and that He wants the best for us all. As I care for my little girl, ill with RSV for the second time, I am honestly not even worried. I will do my best to care for her and ease her discomfort, but I rest easy knowing that all is in God's hands.

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11

VeggieTales: Little Drummer Boy Giveaways

Mama to 4 Blessings- VeggieTales Little Drummer Boy DVD/O Holy Night CD Combo Pack Ends 11/18*R

Our Kids Mom- VeggieTales The Little Drummer Boy Ends 11/22*R

Newly Crunchy Mama of 3- Classic Christmas Collection Boxed Set, VeggieTales Little Drummer BOy DVD, VeggieTales O Holy Night CD Ends 11/28*R

Mama Report- VeggieTales Little Drummer Boy DVD and O Holy Night CDEnds 11/28*R

Simple- VeggieTales Little Drummer Boy DVD and O Holy Night CD Ends 11/28*R

To Be Thode- VeggieTales Little Drummer Boy DVD and O Holy Night CDEnds 12/3*R

Mummy Knows Reviews- VeggieTales Little Drummer Boy DVD and Lovable Labels Ends 12/6*R

Tethered Mommy- VeggieTales Little Drummer Boy DVD and Christmas Classics on Blu-ray Ends 12/6*R

Mommy Kat & Kids- VeggieTales Little Drummer Boy DVD Ends 12/16*R

Thrifty Nifty Mommy- VeggieTales Little Drummer Boy DVD and O Holy Night CD Ends 12/17G

No specific date given:

Impress Your Kids- VeggieTales Little Drummer Boy DVD and O Holy Night CD Combo

30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 14

Today I am thankful that I'm still pregnant. At 35 weeks 2 days, we are now in uncharted territory as I had Emma at 35 weeks 1 day. So I am thankful for good blood pressure, good movement, and a normal fetal heartbeat. In other words, a healthy pregnancy! Here's to a full-term baby!