Month: September 2009

Stride Rite First Steps Giveaway

Published by dee on September 14, 2009

There’s nothing like seeing your baby’s first few wobbly steps. They work so hard to get across such a short distance, only to end up falling to the floor.

With my son, I remember spending hours trying to get him to walk between his daddy and me. To him, it was just a fun game, but to me, it was watching my baby turn into a toddler.

My daughter preferred to do it on her own. She took her first steps at day care holding onto a rolling toy. By the time we got home that night, she was practically running across the room holding onto her toy.

When my kids were learning to walk, everything I read said not to put them in shoes, and if you must then to make sure they were soft soled shoes. Regardless of what the “experts” said, I felt like my kids needed to be in shoes. I only wish they could have had a pair of Stride Rite’s new Sensory Response Technology™ (SRT) shoes! Not only do the SRT shoes allow babies to feel and grip the surface beneath them, they also help to distribute their weight properly to keep their balance.

The best part of the Stride Rite SRT collection is all of the adorable styles! The fall collection has four great styles for boys and seven for girls in sizes 3-8, with various widths for the perfect fit. Additional styles will be released in the Spring, but I’m already having trouble choosing which ones I like the best! You can take a look at all of the available styles on Stride Rite’s Facebook page.

So, why am I telling you all of this? Because you have a chance to win one of five pairs of SRT shoes courtesy of Stride Rite and the Momfluence network!

5 winners will be chosen to receive one pair of SRT shoes, available in sizes 3 to 8 infant/toddler (including medium and wide). Each pair is a retail value of $50. In order to enter, readers must fill out the following form: http://bit.ly/zb2Qb

This contest is open to legal U.S. residents 18 years or older. The giveaway begins at 12:00 a.m. ET September 14th and ends at 11:59 p.m. ET September 28th. Five winners will be chosen to receive a pair of SRT shoes – toddler size only ($50 RV per pair).

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Summer Ends Too Fast

Published by dee on September 10, 2009

The temperatures have cooled down, schools are starting up, and just as we’re finally starting to really enjoy it, summer has to end. Over Labor Day weekend we took one last trip to my dad’s lake house. We had an amazing time riding around on the pontoon boat, fishing with the kids, sharing meals, and just spending time together (me winning the game of Scrabble was just a little bonus!). There’s really not much more to say, so I’ll share some of my favorite photos from the weekend instead.

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School Days

Published by dee on September 9, 2009

This is the first year that I’ve had to deal with the whole “Back to School” craze. Though he’s not officially in school yet, we did decide to put Zach in preschool this year. Since he’s been at a home daycare for the last year or so, he needed a few supplies. He already had a backpack, but we bought a brand new cars lunch box and thermos, some new tubs for his cubby spaces, a few new shirts, underwear and socks. You know, all of the essentials.

Yesterday was Zach’s first day at his new preschool. I had a really hard time deciding where to take him. I wanted a balance of convenience (because he and Evie now have two separate drop-offs/pick-ups), cleanliness, friendly teachers, and a good curriculum. It doesn’t help that my sister is an amazing preschool teacher, but is too far away to enroll Zach where she teaches. I ended up enrolling him in a church preschool/day care just down the street from the home day care that Evie attends. He’ll stay there all day, Monday through Friday so I don’t have to worry about any half-day transportation issues.

Zach has been ready for preschool for a long time. I’m the one that has been dragging my feet on it. He really should have been in last year but I liked having both kids at the same place. Over the last six months or so he has been begging me to let him go to school. When we went and visited, he jumped right in with the other kids. He is going to LOVE it, at least until that honeymoon period wears off.

I am just hoping that I picked the right place. There are things I love about this school and a few that I don’t like about it. It will take some time to adjust for both of us. It will take time to make sure that he fits in, that he likes it. It will take time to see if the concessions I made on curriculum are made up for by the friendly teachers and convenience. It will take time to get used to the new morning/evening routine, packing lunches, and getting out of bed earlier.

The scary part is knowing that I have to start this process all over again in a few short months to figure out where the kid is going to go for kindergarten. Unless we are able to move before then, we may be looking at private school which is a whole other world of scary!

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Letters Simplified

Published by dee on September 2, 2009

Nearly two years ago, when my daughter was growing in my belly, I thought it would be a great idea to buy some of those pre-cut wooden letters to decorate the kids’ room with. Since the two would be sharing a room, I was trying to come up with some fun ideas that would give them each something of their own in the room. I think I searched all over town before I finally found all the right letters for both of their names. Unfortunately, they ended up being slightly different sizes and styles. The letters have been sitting on a shelf now for well over a year just waiting to be painted.

A week or so ago, I finally got them out to paint. When Zach saw what I was doing he wanted to help too. I let him do the first coat of paint, then I did a second coat to cover up any splotches.

I had really grand ideas of how I was going to paint these. Evie’s were supposed to have flowers and butterfly designs painted on. With Zach’s I wasn’t sure, but I figured I would come up with some kind of design to decorate them with. As you can see, I did none of that. To save time, I just went with solid colors. Since I did Evie’s all in the same color, I used a little bit of ribbon to tie some bows for decoration.

They weren’t at all what I had in mind when I started out, but they’ll still spruce up the room a little.

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Promote Yourself With 500 Free Business Cards

Published by dee on September 2, 2009

I was so excited when I got to give away 250 Custom Greeting Cards from DigitalRoom.com earlier this week, but thanks to my awesome blog sponsor, UPrinting.com, I now have another incredible giveaway from Digital Room! How would you like to win 500 free business cards to help promote your business?

There is no better way to share your information than on a greatly designed business card. Business cards are so versatile. Not only do they include all of your important contact information, they can also be a great way to showcase your work if you are in a design related business. Plus, they are small enough to keep a few in your pocket or purse at all times. You never know when you might meet a prospective client!

Don’t have a need for business cards? There are tons of other uses! You can use them to pass on your phone number at playdates or school functions, to promote your web site or blog, or even as gift tags. With all of the great business card sizes available, surely you can think of some way to use these! I personally love the die-cut business cards and am dreaming up some fun designs using the different shapes.

The Digital Room website allows you to easily design your own cards, use a pre-made template on the site, or download their easy to use templates to create your own original design. And the best part? They’ll send you a free proof before you pay to make sure you are getting exactly what you want.

Can you tell I’m excited about this giveaway? Okay, here are the details:

TWO (2) PRIZE WINNERS WILL RECEIVE

500 Business Cards

Choose size: 2×3.5”, 2×3”, 2×2″;

Choose paper: 14pt cardstock (matte or gloss coating) & 13 pt cardstock uncoated

Choose Color: (4/4) Color both sides; (4/1) Color 1 side , B/W backside; (4/0) Color 1 side, black backside

Shipping must be paid by Winner. Offer Valid for UNITED STATES SHIPPING ONLY.

How To Enter:
Leave a comment below telling me how you will use your 500 business cards from Digital Room. Make sure to leave a valid e-mail address where you may be contacted if chosen as the winner.

Contest will remain open until September 10, 2009 at Noon (Central time). Two winners will be chosen at that time by random number generator at random.org. Winners will be posted here and also notified by e-mail.

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Because Your Boobs Are Worth It

Published by dee on September 1, 2009

pinkribbon Last Friday I had an appointment with my OB/GYN. It was just my regularly scheduled yearly exam to check all the girly bits so I didn’t think anything of it. I had a few questions to ask her because of some pain I’ve been having that I though may be related to PCOS, but otherwise I’ve been pretty healthy since I’ve seen her last.

Just as I expected, everything turned out just fine. Since I do have a history of having ovarian cysts and I’ve been having pain, she scheduled me for a pelvic ultrasound. Then she brought up having a mammogram. Most women don’t have their first mammogram until they are at least 35, sometimes 40. But, with my mom’s history of breast cancer, my doctor wants to take all precautions and I’m totally fine with that.

My doctor had the nurse check with my insurance and she scheduled me for a mammogram on Monday. I was expecting to have a little more time to prepare myself, but might as well just get it over with, right? I wasn’t really nervous, but wasn’t exactly ready to get my boobs all squished and flattened either.

When Monday came along I headed over to the imaging clinic for my mammogram. It wasn’t exactly pleasant, but it wasn’t the most horrible thing I’ve ever had to do either. It was quite uncomfortable, well okay it hurt, but only for a few seconds at a time. And then it was over.

The good news is that everything checked out just fine for me. Now that I have my baseline done, it will be much easier in the future to detect any changes that might occur. I’m glad that I got it done. The next time it won’t be so bad because I’ll know exactly what to expect.

The bad news is that so many women don’t get mammograms. Either they don’t have insurance and can’t afford it, or they just keep putting it off until it is too late. The reality is that mammograms don’t catch everything, but having regular mammograms does greatly increase the chances of a lump being caught in time to do something about it and possibly save your life. That makes the pain a little more worth it, don’t you think?

Coincidentally, I received an e-mail on Monday from my friend Amy telling me that she is again participating in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on September 20th. On top of providing education and mammogram screenings for uninsured and under-insured women, the Komen foundation is the largest private funder of breast cancer research in the world.

Even though money is pretty much always tight these days, I try to squeeze out a little each year to donate to Race for the Cure. Not only am I supporting a cause I absolutely believe in, I also get to support the fund-raising efforts of one of my very best friends. If you would like to help, you can donate to the Portland Race for the Cure through Amy’s page. If you do, I’d love for you to leave a comment or send me an e-mail to let me know.

And by all means ladies, get those mammograms. It just may save your life.

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