DVD Winner!

Congrats to Cindy for winning my dvd giveaway!

Where the Wild Things Are

Have you seen it yet?

If you don't know what I am talking about I am referring to the movie version of Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" that was released in theaters yesterday. I have not had a chance to take Madison yet but I don't think she will stop reminding me that her "favoritest" book is in the movies until I take her.

In the meantime I was fortunate enough to receive a copy of "Where the Wild Things Are And 5 More Stories By Maurice Sendak" from Scholastic's Storybook Treasures. This video was an instant hit in our home. Maurice Sendak's stories "Where The Wild Things Are", "Pierre", "One Was Johnny","Alligators All Around","Chicken Soup with Rice" and "In the Night Kitchen" have all been animated and given a read along function on the dvd. The dvd also comes with "Where The Wild Things Are" stickers. I don't know if it is the same in your house but in my home everything is better when it comes with stickers!

The Scholastic Storybook Treasures lone comes from Weston Woods Studios,"world-renowned for their acclaimed, unabridged film and audio adaptations of best selling children's storybooks." Each dvd is $14.95 and features at least one hour of storytime along with the read along function. The videos can be purchased at http://www.newkideo.com/. The site also features information on new releases, product reviews, activites for children and more.

Although $14.95 is a great price for these awesome videos isn't it always better to get something for free? Yep, I thought so. I have another copy of "Where the Wild Things Are...And 5 Mores Stories By Maurice Sendak" to give away.

Just comment on your favorite childhood book for a chance to win the video. For a second chance to win post about this giveaway on your blog with a link back. Just be sure to let me know if you have a link.

The winner will be randomly selected Wednesday, October 21st. Please make sure you leave me a way to contact you in case you win. Winner must live within the U.S. and must contact me within 3 days of me announcing the winner. If the winner does not contact me within 3 days I will randomly select another winner.

Good luck to all!

A Chance To Go Cloth!

I know I have been MIA for quite awhile now and there is good reason for that. This summer has been awesome and filled with non stop activity. I have lots of catching up to do and intend on getting to it shortly. For now though I just want to fill you in with a great giveaway that you have to check out.

Pacing the Panic Room is a blog that I've been reading for awhile ever since I got hooked on the Maternity Series. Seriously people you NEED to check it out. I wish I had an ounce of the creativity and skill that this guy has. Anyway over on Pacing the Panic Room they are giving away a supply of FuzziBunz cloth diapers.

I'll admit the thought of cloth diapering even six months ago scared the crap out of me and I would have never given it a second thought. Within the past couple of months I have given it much more consideration and was ready to take the plunge until my husband was like "You are gonna spend how much to get started on something the baby is gonna do what in?" Sure I tried to rationalize and show that although there is a large initial expense ultimately we would save money especially if we have a third baby and can reuse the diapers but he is just not buying the cloth diapering deal. Now if I were to say win them he would have to give in!

So what's the deal with Fuzzibunz?

• They are adjustable, one size which means I can use them on our 1 year old and eventually on our next child (no one in the making yet but I'm sure he/she will be here some day)


• They have snaps which I've heard is WAAAAAAAAY better than velcro 'cause it doesn't wear out like velcro.


• For the fashion savvy babies the colors choices are much more exciting than disposables


• They have pockets for absorbent inserts so nothing shifts to the wrong place.


• Oh and a fleece linign to help baby stay rash free!

From a disposable only mom's point of view these FuzziBunz seem like such a great way to pop my cloth diapering cherry!

I Have A Winner!

Happy Holidays everyone! I haven't been blogging lately 'cause life has been crazy to say the least! Between the girls, Madison being sick, Christmas and looking for a dog to adopt (yep I caved) I really haven't known which end is up. Now instead of catching some z's while the rest of the fam is sleeping I stayed up late to play with the family's new Wii (so addicted to Mario Kart) and let you know who the winner of my My Baby Can Talk giveaway is. Congrats to abcdbanda for winning! As always if the winner does not contact me within 3 days I will select a new winner.
That's all for now folks. I'll catch up with on the holidays, my new do and hopefully a new dog soon I promise! DOn't worry there will be lots of pics to go along with the update too!
TTFN!!!

A Winner And An Awesome New Giveaway!

Congratulations to Elsie for winning the $25.00 gift certificate to Beadedbling.etsy.com!

Now for everyone else how about another giveaway? This time it is for the little guys. Baby sign language has always been something that has intrigued me. I bought a book on it when Madison was an infant and signed with her a little. The result was her knowing how to sign "more" and that was about it.

This time I've taken a much more active interest with signing with Stella and have already begun introducing some basic signs to her. I've also decided to use only ASL (AmericanSign Language) signing with her that way she can not only communicate with us but also friends of ours that are non-hearing. What is really fun to watch is Madison's interest in learning to sign also. One morning she inquisitively asked "Whatcha doin' non?" when I was signing with Stella and immediately wanted to learn too. It turns out she has already been learning the ASL alphabet at school!

I know that some parents don't agree with teaching babies to sign. They feel that this will prolong them from speaking. I disagree. Personally I beleive that babies can communicate much earlier than they can form words and signing allows them to do so. Many times toddlers throw temper tantrums and parents get frustrated because they can not figure out what the baby wants and the baby can't tell them. Having a baby that can sign may be able eliminate or at least reduce these types of tantrums! Here is a story and a video of my friend Danielle's baby Eliza signing that help to prove my point.

I recently got a collection of DVD's and Board Books in the mail from My Baby Can Talk. This collection is ASL based and has loads of awards. The books and dvd's were created for babies 10 months and older. Madison loves to watch the DVD's and both girls enjoy looking at the vibrant pictures in the books. I personally love the signing for dummies sections in the books. Every sign has diagram of how to hold your hand as well as directions as to how to move them. Trust me I need them!

Wouldn't you love this collection for your little one? Well lucky you 'cause I have one to give away too! The My Baby Can Talk collection includes...

• 3 dvds First Signs, Exploring Signs and Sharing Signs
• 3 board books First signs, Sharing Signs and Exploring Signs

If you were to purchase this it would cost over $75.00. It is well worth the cost but isn't everything better when it is free? To enter this giveaway...

• please post a comment about who would be using the collection and why you want to sign with this little person.
• Receive a second entry by blogging about this giveaway linking back to me and commenting letting me know that you blogged about it.
• Make sure to leave me a way to get back to you.
• The winner must contact me within 3 days of being announced or else I will select another winner.
• This giveaway will end on Christmas Eve next week.
• The winner will be announced Christmas Day.
  Good luck to all that enter!

Sleep, Sleep, Why won't you sleep? and my giveaway winner!

It is official Madison has her first major stomach virus! She is nearly 4 years old and has a few rounds of diarrea but this is the first one paired up with major vomitting. I know nice mom for sharing that with your kid! She already seems to be doing better this morning and through the whole thing keeps insisting she wants to eat in between barf trips to the bathroom. It also hasn't stopped your amped up, count down to Christmas, warp speed, bounce off the walls attitude that has appeared since Thanksgiving.

In the meantime Stella has decided that there is something she definately doesn't like and that is SLEEP! The child simply won't do it. We lay her in her crib and she screams until she throws up and starts choking, we hold her until she falls asleep and the second we lay her anywhere including the swing her eyes pop open. She then stares at us with a look that screams "You didn't seriously think this would work?". She has also stopped sleeping through the night. Up until this whole sleep boycot thing started 4 days ago she would go sown around 9:00 and sleep through until 6/7 am. Not anymore! Now it takes until about 11 to get her down, she is up by 2 for several hours and than it is anything goes from there!

I've been blaming her teeth because she is sooooooooo close to cutting the first two. I really thought they would have been there for Thanksgiving. The only thing that makes me question this beleif is that she is rarely fussy! When she wakes up she just smiles and coos and wants to play. It is me that seems to be throwing the temper tantrums and having meltdowns. Like everything else I know we will get through this lack of sleep thing. Madison did it too. I think it was around the time she was teething but I can't really remember. In the meantime I'm just slightly cranky and would love any tips that anyone can think up for us to try. I'm positive that if I let her snuggle into our bed she would have no problems but I've got to tell you that is not an option! We just got our bed back from Madison and I'm not about to give it up again. Besides I don't feel comfortable with someone so tiny sleeping in our bed yet. There is also a really good chance Madison will find her way into our bed in the middle of the night and not knowing Stella is there hurt her.

Anyway now onto more important news. No I didn't forget about my Keurig Platinum Brewer giveaway. I was just a little overwhelmed yesterday. Congratulations to Jim! He was randomly selected (name out of hat) to win this awesome prize! I know you'll love it and it may even become your favorite kitchen appliance like mine has recently become to me!

Coffee Anyone?- New Giveaway!!!!

• Okay so I'll let you in on a little secret. It is nearly 11:00 p.m. the night before Thanksgiving, I have 20 people coming over for dinner tomorrow, my house is a mess, not even a single pie has been baked and I just ran into my office to get the brining recipe for the turkey. Lucky for you I got side tracked by the computer!
  
  I say lucky for you 'cause I have an awesome giveaway to share with everyone. Here is where you should be imagining a drum roll.......
  
  The giveaway is for a Keurig Platinum Brewer! This brewer's features include 5 cup sizes (4 oz, 6 oz, 8 oz, 10oz and 12 oz), a removable 60 oz. reservoir,fully programable features, blue backlit display, quiet brew technology and an award winning design. Keurig Brewers use single use K-Cups to brew some of the best coffee I have ever had. There is also reusable k-cup filter basket available for purchase in case you have a specific type of coffee not available in single use K-cups.
  
  Although I love to cook making coffe has never been a strong point for me. No matter what coffe pot, coffee or water I used it was never good. This meant that whenever Justin or I wanted coffee we would have to run out to our local coffe shop or wait until we were at work to get a cup. My coffee is so seriously bad that when we had some contractors siding our house in the middle of winter they kindly refused my coffee after just one cup. This is no longer a problem for me now that we have our own Keurig Brewer because it is totally fool proof! Making coffe is as simple as filling the reservoir with water, turning one the machine so it heats, popping in a K-Cup and pressing a button. Within a minute a fresh cup of delicious coffee is not in my hot little hands! There are many different types of coffee, tea and hot chocolate that you can choose from including Fair Trade coffee on Keurig's website or you can purchase your K-cups wherever the Brewers are sold. I am able to pruchase them at Bed Bath and Beyond, Target, B.J.'s and some of the better food stores in my area.
  
  Looking for details on how to win your own Keurig Platinum Brewer along with an 18 K-cup variety? You have two chances to win.



• Go to Keurig's website, check out all of their different coffee, tea and hot chocolate and then post a comment about what you would like to try first if you win the brewer. Make sure to use a sepcific coffee, tea or hot chocolate name so I know that you went to the site!



• Receive a second entry by blogging about this giveaway on your blog with a link back to me and a second comment letting me know you did so.

It is seriously that easy! Please make sure to include your email address so I can reach you if you win. This contest ends Wednesday, December 3, 2008. The winner has 3 days to contact me. If he/she doesn't I will randomly select a different winner.

Good luck to everyone and have a great holiday season! Now it is seriously time to brine a turkey!

Bloggy Giveaways

5 Minutes for Mom has gotten into the Chrsitmas spirit with loads of great giveaways. Be sure to stop by and check them out!

Mango Ink Winner....again!

Once again I did not hear back from the winner of the Mango Ink gift certificate. So I had to draw a new name out of the hat. Literally. I'm so psyched 'cause this time Danielle from New Mommy Rant one!!!! Regardless of whether or not she emails me back she is the winner 'cause I already have her address!! No more wait and see.

Now for a blog update. I actually had 5 minutes to myself yesterday and started to investigate what the heck happened to my buttons and all the other stuff on my sidebar. Turns out when I attempted to change my layout I clicked on a button that reverted my blog to the original Blogspot. Just one click of the mouse gave me back all my missing stuff! Huge releif. Needless to say I'll be doing more research on layouts and templates before attempting to change my design again. This has put me in a much better bloggy mood!!!

New Winner!

I did not hear from the first winner so I picked another. Congrats to 1 Stop Mom!!! She is the new winner. Like before if I don't hear from her in 2 days I'll pick a third winner!

Mango Ink winner!

Congrats to jessleigh!!! You won the gift certificate for Mango Ink. Please contact me at whatsonmommysmind (at) gmail (dot) com. Thanks!

Very Cool Giveaway1

I like to think of myself as a creative person. In the past I was huge on making my own everything. Christmas cards, birth announcements, invitations, party favors and the list goes on. It isn't that I don't still love crafty projects there is just not enough time in the day. While looking around for super cute, original birth announcements for Stella I came across Mango Ink.

They have some of the most adorable birth announcements that I've ever seen. They also have beautiful thank you cards, invitations, holiday cards, you name it! Heidi from Mango Ink sent me a sample pack to see what her creations are like in person. Believe me when I say for as gorgeous as they look on the site they are 1,000 times more awesome in person! Perfect for keepsakes!

Plus there is a great Summer Sale going on right now! If you purchase any standard card or thank you card before August 31st you will receive a $25 gift card towards your next purchase to be made at some time during the rest of 2008. If you purchase their square cards you will receive a $50 gift card towards your next purchase during 2008. How great is that? Not only are you getting a beautiful product but also some freebies!

Wait I'm not done (wow cheesy that sounds like an infomercial!)! Heidi was also gracious enough to offer a giveaway to my readers. One of you lucky bloggers will receive a sample pack of your own and a $50.00 gift certificate to Mango Ink!

Here is how you can win.

• Receive one entry by checking out Mango Ink and commenting on this post about what product you absolutely love from them.


• Receive 5 additional entries by blogging about this giveaway and leaving a second comment along with a link to your blog.

All entries must be received by midnight Friday, August 22nd. I will be submitting winner info to PRIZEYWinners, you can check there to see if you won my giveaway or check back here on Saturday, August 23rd. The winner must contact me within 2 days of my winner announcment to claim the prize otherwise I will select another winner. Good luck to all!

The winner is. . .

The winner by default. LOL. Is Dana! Congrats. Enjoy the book

Chicken, Lobster or Chameleon?

No I'm not planning tonight's dinner. Although I hope you figured that out at Chameleon. These are just 3 new fun colors from Devine Color. I blogged about them a couple months ago. They not only had some of the most beautiful colors that I had ever seen, they were also 50% animal-cruelty free! Why not 100% you ask? Well there are no standards by which some components of paint are tested and in order to say this paint is 100% animal-cruelty free there would have to be.

Anyway Gretchen from Devine color was so super nice when I contacted her. Just one more reason why I love this company! She sent me three mini-paint pouches to test out in Chicken, Lobster and Chameleon from her new Flaura-Fauna line due out shortly. Each color is so different from one another and yet something I could definately see using in my home office. I'm not up to painting quite yet but when I do I promise to post a poll along with some pics to see which shade you think I should go with.
Gretchen also sent me Devine Colors Handmade Sample Book. This is so AWESOME 'cause instead of those silly little paint cards you get at a paint shop I've actually got a booklet with REAL paint dabbed on the pages that allows me to see what the colors actually look like. Now that I'm out and about again I'm going to be stopping in some local paint shops and showing of this great Handmade Sample Book because as of right now there is no one in NJ that carries Devine Color . I'm determined to change! In the meantime for any of you NJ residents or anyone else that doesn't have a Devine Color dealer nearby you can purchase the paint online.
Hold on! There is more! Gretchen Schauffler is also the author of "Devine Color When Color Sings". Guess What? She sent be two copies of the book too! One for me and yep you guessed it one for me to giveaway!!! This book is so different than most color theory books because it doesn't have all the flashy pictures and color combinations that you usually see in this genre of book. Instead it is mostly in black and white and discusses how to bring color into your home in a way that is meaningful to you instead of what someone else has in mind. How cool is that? I'm sure anyone who wants to make there living space a place of their own with colors that call out to them will truly appreciate this book.

So how do you win? It is easy! Check out Devine Color Collections and then post a comment telling me which color is your favorite. make sure that when you comment you either leave your blog or email address that way if you win I have a way to reach you. This giveaway ends Wednesday, August 13th. The winner has two days to contact me with their mailing address after I have contacted him/her. If they do not contact me I will pick another winner. You must have a U.S. or Canada mailing address in order to enter the giveaway! Good luck to all!

THE WINNER IS ...

JAMIE! CONGRATULATIONS ON WINNING THIS GIVEAWAY. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED. I WAS SO EXCITED TO HAVE SUCH A LARGE RESPONSE. I ALSO APPRECIATED EVERYONE'S TIPS AND OWN STORIES ON BREASTFEEDING. ALTHOUGH I DON'T WISH A TOUCH EXPERIENCE ON EVERYONE IT WAS COMFORTING TO HEAR THAT I WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO DID NOT SUCCEED WITH BREASTFEEDING THE FIRST TIME AROUND. FOR THOSE OF YOU TRYING WITH #2 I CAN HONESTLY SAY THE EXPERIENCE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THE SAME AS WITH YOUR FIRST! SO FAR (3 WEEKS ALREADY I CAN'T BELIEVE IT) EVERYTHING IS REALLY WORKING OUT. WE HAD TO SUPPLEMENT AT FIRST TO GET STELLA'S BILLIRUBINS DOWN BUT EVEN THAT DID NOT AFFECT BREASTFEEDING. GOOD LUCK TO ALL YOU EXPECTANT MOMMAS!

Lucky For You I'm Impatient!

I know I've hinted around about it but I just can't wait anymore! In a few days the World Breastfeeding Awareness Week will begin (August 1-7) and I have the most exciting giveaway for it! Bailey Medical has graciously donated one of their Deluxe Nurture III Breast Pump for my latest giveaway! "The Nurture III is the only small pump approved by the FDA for multiple users, so after you're finished with it, you'll be able to pass it along to a friend! It is safe for multiple women to use the same Nurture III Breast Pump motor, provided that each woman has her own collection set. Our Double Collection Kits contain everything needed for single or double pumping with the Nurture III except the motor."

I also love, love, love this company because they are small! They believe that "breastfeeding is an important step towards healthier children and a better society" and by purchasing a pump from Bailey Medical you are not only buying a great product but putting money into the pockets of real people with names and faces that you can see on their website! This is so different than purchasing a more popular brand of pump that goes towards big business. Plus Bailey Medical offers discounts to people with a limited income. How many companies do you know of that do that?

I'm guessing that right about now you would like details on how to win? It is simple. Just comment on why you have chosen to breastfeed or a tip that you may have on breastfeeding (I'm new to it so any advice I can get is greatly appreciated!) to get one entry into my randomly chosen raffle.

To get a second entry blog about the giveaway and comment a second time with a link to your blog. I told you it was simple.

Now for a few rules. You MUST live in the U.S. or Canada, you must have a blog or leave your email address so I can let you now if you win and the winner must send me their home address within 2 days of winning or a new winner will be selected. Any questions feel free to ask.

Good luck to everyone! All entries must be received by 5:00 p.m. eastern August 7, 2008.

The Winner is . . .

Lilith Silvermane! Congratulations on winning your Soda Club Fountain Jet. Please make sure to contact me at tramacg (at) yahoo (dot) com within two days to claim your prize.

For everyone else make sure to check back later this weekend. I have an AMAZING giveaway planned for World Breast Feeding Awareness Week!!!!!

My First Giveaway!

So yesterday in the middle of me practically having a melt down after finding out we may be having the baby this Saturday and not July 29th (I'm 2 1/2 weeks from my original due date I shouldn't be freaking!) a large package arrives at my door step. Don't you just love when this happens? Inside is my Soda Club Fountain Jet. Even though it is Madison's nap time and she is in her room picking out her nap time stories I can't help but tear the box open. Inside is a shiny new soda fountain, the carbonation tank and a bunch of yummy sounding soda flavors. When Madison sees this new gadget her eyes light up in excitement and says"No nap Mom we have to play with this!". Wrong I told her it was a soda machine for a soda party we were going to have once Daddy got home. Madison's first question after nap time, "Is Daddy home yet?".

Once Justin got home we started our little party. I had the two bottles of plain old water chilled and ready to go. We put the Fountain Jet together in less than 5 minutes and started making our first batch of soda. At his point I was so psyched 'cause I have not had soda since trying to become pregnant last summer and before then I was a soda fiend. Madison has had Sprite or root beer on several occasions but never any hard stuff like Coke or Pepsi. For the sake of the review I figured what the heck we'll hit the hard stuff and gave the Cola a whirl.

In the directions we read that we would hear a loud buzz after several presses of the carbonation button but I never heard anything more than a hiss. This resulted in me over carbonating the water. Oh well it was my first try so we still have to work out the kinks. After carbonating the water I unscrewed the bottle from the carbonator and added the Cola flavoring. No I didn't read that you should tilt the bottle and add the flavoring slowly. The result was having soda fizz up to the top of the bottle and overflowing all over my baby shower thank you cards. Strike two for me! Finally when we got to taste the finished product we all liked what we tasted. Madison LOVED the fact that Mommy and Daddy were letting her have a taste of soda! Justin said he couldn't taste the difference between this cola or any major brand. Like I said I used to be a fiend and would only drink Pepsi so I could taste a slight difference but nothing that major. Overall I was pretty impressed!

For our second batch we gave the orange soda a whirl. I gotta tell you that this was pretty darn good and so far my favorite. We still have more to try and I plan to order the cream soda and the flavor that is comparable to Dr. Pepper. I also love the fact that they are going to start offering tonic. Vodka tonics are a favorite cocktail with my family and whenever they are over we blow through a fair share of those tiny tonic bottles. Being able to make our own will not only save money but cut back on our household waste big time! I also love that the Fountain jet doesn't need batteries or electricity so you can literally take it anywhere.

So how would you like to win one for FREE? Yep thought that might get your attention. Not only did Soda Club send me a Fountain Jet to review they are also graciously sending one to one of my readers!

• In order to get a chance to win, check out Soda Club and comment back to me about what your favorite feature of the Fountain Jet is and the flavor soda you would most like to try (no guarantees that the flavor will be sent to you). This will give you one entry into my giveaway.


• Receive a second entry by blogging about this giveaway along with a link back to my blog to receive a second entry. Send me a seperate comment telling me you blogged about the giveaway with a link to your blog so I can check it out!

Deadline for entrants is Saturday, July 26th. You must be a U.S. or Canadian resident. You must also have a blog or include your email in your comment so I can contact you when you win. If the winner does not get in touch with me within 2 days of me notifying that person they will forfeit their prize and I'll pick a new winner. Good luck and happy soda drinking!

Pack Those Bags!

I just got back from my weekly ob appointment and my head is spinning! I generally have very low blood pressure but today it decided to spike! This is the same thing that happened when I was pregnant with Madison although I was overdue at that point. When you combine that with my swollen feet, headaches and the fact that I have occasionally seen stars over the past week the doctor was pretty concerned.

The next step? I have to collect my urine starting tomorrow a.m. for 24 hours. and store it in the fridge. Thank goodness we have a second fridge for water, beer, etc. 'cause I don't want even my own pee near my food. After the collection period, the doc wants me to go directly to the ob floor of my hospital drop off the pee pee and have a few more tests done. Depending on the results I will more than likely be having the baby on Saturday. Does it make sense that I'm ready to not be pregnant but not ready to have the baby? My bags aren't packed, I've yet to buy anything that remotely resembles hospital garb (mostly 'cause I'm expecting a few goodies in the mail for reviews) and I NEED a pedicure (GASP)! Now I know all of these little items are ultimately unimportant and my baby's health is all that matters but I'm just not ready!

I'll make sure to keep you posted. In the meantime make sure to check back tomorrow because I have a review along with an AWESOME first giveaway planned. I'm thinking the end date will probably Saturday, July 26th but that all depends on what happens this weekend!

Can't Wait to Wear My Baby!

Nope no baby yet. I've just been super busy trying to help Justin finish the bathroom in any way I can and get ready for or annual Mexican Fiesta tomorrow. Not sure what I was thinking when I gave the green light on that one so close to my due date and all. Anyway I haven't had much time to do a real post or any updates but I did find another great giveaway. Save Your Money Mama is giving away a gorgeous sling from Serena and Lily in the color and size of your choice. These slings look nice and light for the hot summer weather and I can't say enough about how beautiful they are. Check out the post for a chance to win! Good luck!