Wordless Wednesday - Caught by Surprise

ugh.

Yep, the title says it all. Ugh. That is how I feel right now. BooBoo and Bug are both sick and I am as well. BooBoo had to go for a Strep test and have blood drawn Thursday. That was a wonderful experience since we had NO idea she was having blood drawn. I cannot handle needles and of course J was at work. Then Bug woke up Friday morning with no voice and a horribly, croupy cough. That of course progressed into a wheeze, so I called her peditrician and they told me they would not be able to get her in until Monday. Awesome. So we hit the ER tonight and thankfully it is just croup but I was scared for awhile. BooBoo is now sleeping in her bed and Bug is in her carseat here at my feet. I have the worst deep chest cough and face crushing sinus pressure. And it snowed yesterday, so at least the girls are sick while it is crummy out. blah, bleah, humpf.

Rockin' Green Hard Rock Review

I've been having stink issues with Bug's diapers in recent weeks. It has been so bad that I have had to wash diapers EVERY day! I began to wonder what was stinking up my sweet baby's diapers, so I went to the one place I knew could help: the Twitter cloth diapers chat on Mondays. After some discussion I came to a few conclusions. A. I have hard water, B. Bug's diapers most likely have urine buildup (ahh, that would be the perm solution stench I keep smelling) and C. I also might have a detergent buildup problem. So, I stripped Bug's diapers and gave them a good, long soak in the sun. This worked for about two weeks before the stink began to rear it's ugly head again. It was back to stripping, wearing, washing, stripping, wearing, washing, stripping...well, you get the idea. A few cloth diaper mamas suggested giving Rockin' Green detergent a try because they had great success with the soap. As luck would have it Kim, the wonderful mama behind Rockin' Green, was looking for mom bloggers with hard water to review the new Hard Rock formula. I sent Kim my information and she sent along a sample of Hard Rock.

The Review:

I immediately put Hard Rock the test with a mini-soak of Bug's diapers. They came out of the dryer smelling cleaner than I thought possible. And, at the end of the day.....still no stink! Score one for Rockin' Green. I waited the normal two days before washing the diapers and prepared myself for them to stink after they were removed from the dryer. There was still no ammonia stench! Score two for Rockin' Green. I even experimented and split Bug's diapers into two loads. I washed one with Rockin' Green and one with our current cloth diaper detergent. Our current detergent did not even come close to the cleaning power of Rockin' Green.
My favorite thing about Rockin' Green's Hard Rock version is that Bug's cute, little bottom did not break out in a rash like it has with the other detergents we have used. So if you are looking for a cloth diaper detergent and you have hard water problems, let me recommend Rockin' Green Hard Rock. Your diapers will thank you, trust me!

This review is 100% my own opinion. I did receive a free sample of Rockin' Green Hard Rock detergent but that in no way affected my review.

Winner of the Princess Party Bag!!!!

And the winner of the Princess Party to Go Princess Party Bag is ........... #39 BusyMom of Busy Mom of Two!!!

BusyMom said: Follow your blog through Google Friend Connect.

Congratulations!! I will be contacting you via email and you will have 48 hours to respond!

My babies just keep growing

BooBoo turned 4 on March 6th and while I knew it was coming, I was still not prepared. She is after all my first baby and sadly, she is constantly reminding me that she is now *sigh* a "big girl". Now, while her 4-year checkup at the pediatrician is not until the very end of March I thought I would give you a little rundown of what BooBoo can do. =)

-BooBoo has not started reading yet, but we are working on it and she can recite/remember many of the books we read together
-She can count to 30 on her own
-She can count to down from 5 to 1
-She can count to 5 in Spanish
-She is learning basic subtraction
-She can write her cousin's name which is only two letters away from her own
-She can stand on one foot and bounce from one to the other
BooBoo does so much that I honestly cannot recall everything she can do. I just know that she is a bright little girl and she teaches me something new everyday.
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Bug is now 7 months old and growing so fast! We are still nursing but we have also begun adding in solids. She loves avocado! She still definitely prefers mommy over solids and I have no problem with that. I am slightly thankful that she still does not have any teeth because she has learned to bite down when she is nursing. Ouch! BooBoo had two teeth when she turned four months so this is a new experience. Bug is almost mobile now! She can push herself up on all fours and push herself backwards so I know that it is just a short matter of time before she is going forward full speed. Lastly on the Bug updates is that she is now babbling "dada". The crazy thing is that she almost never says it unless J is home. She loves daddy and now he knows it. =)

*Stay tuned for my post on BooBoo's growth and doctor's appointment at the end of the month!

Wordless Wednesday - When did my baby become a big girl?!?!

Do I really need a Double Stroller???

When I was pregnant with Bug, J and I discussed on numerous occasions whether we needed to purchase a double stroller since we would now have two little ones or if we should stick with a single. After much deliberation we decided that since BooBoo was/is at the age where she prefers to walk everywhere and I was planning to babywear Bug quite a bit, a single stroller would work fine. With the single we could babywear Bug and push BooBoo if she got tired of walking or we could put Bug in the stroller when she got tired of being held and BooBoo could walk. This has worked for the past 7 months, but now J and I have been talking about trying for another little one when Bug is a few months older. This sent me into a mini panic as I started to question whether we made the right decision with the single stroller. The stroller we have is part of a travel system so both the stroller and carseat are girly pink. What if we have a boy next? While I have nothing against putting boys in pink I just prefer not having to explain to everyone why my son is in a pink stroller. Mind you, when we purchased the travel system we were dead set on not having anymore children. But people change their minds and that is what we have done.

So now I have begun to look into double and tandem strollers. In all of my research into strollers have found that Kolcraft makes some wonderful ones. You can view Kolcraft's strollers here. I have even found one mama, Madison, who is giving away a Kolcraft Contours Options II Tandem Stroller to one of her lucky readers! Head on over to Life Happens During Naptime to read Madison's review and enter her giveaway! I have already entered and even if I do not win I have at least found one stroller to add to my list!

My Princess Party To Go Review and Giveaway (3/12)

*This Giveaway is now Closed*

My oldest daughter, BooBoo, loves to play princess. She will spend hours dressing up in frilly dresses and heels, putting on her tiaras and making anyone in the room her "prince". Lately she has become obsessed with pretending she is Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. With a little girly girl like her the idea of the Princess Party in a Bag from My Princess Party To Go sounded inviting. So I contacted My Princess Party to Go about a blog review and giveaway. I was sent the Sheer Fun Princess Party in a Bag to review. BooBoo was so excited when it arrived that she threw everything on and wore it all day! (She gets very excited when the mail is for her) She also had J wear one of the two crowns that come with the package. Unfortunately, he was not willing to let me take a picture for you fine readers. What did I think about the Princess in a Bag? My Review:

I received the Sheer Fun Princess Party in a Bag in Blue. This product comes in a sheer Organza bag and includes: 1-Tulle Tutu, 1-Jewel Crown Wand, 1-Sparkling Tiara(matches wand), 1-Craft Foam Tiara w/stick on jewels to decorate.

I was very pleased with the quality of the tutu. I was expecting rough, itchy tulle like the kind you find on Halloween costumes but this tulle is so soft. The waistband is sewn together with smooth, satiny material which is great for BooBoo since she likes to wear hers sans leggings. The wand and sparking tiara have jewels that make the color of the tutu. They also have color matched maribou on them which I think really pull the princess outfit together. The foam tiara is a very nice addition to the princess bag. This gives little ones the chance to make their own unique crown. The jewels for the foam tiara are stick-on so all you have to do is pull off the backing and place it on the tiara. Easy peazy.

I was pleasantly surprised by the entire Princess Party in a Bag. This would make a wonderful gift favor at any princess party. The best part about My Princess Party To Go is that they many different Party in a Bag choices (even packages for boys!). I love the Sheer Fun Fairy Party in a Bag and may purchase it for BooBoo down the road.

Want to win a Princess Party Bag for the little girl in your life? My Party Princess to Go is giving one of my lucky readers their own Sheer Fun Princess Party Bag.

For your first entry head on over to My Princess Party and check out their Sheer Fun product line. Come back here and leave a comment letting my know which Sheer Fun product is your favorite. (THIS IS MANDATORY!) *Remember to leave a valid email address with your comment so that I can contact you if you win.

Want extra entries? Of course you do!

1. Follow my blog through Google Friend Connect. (1 entry)

2. Follow My Princess Party on Twitter. (1 entry)

3. Follow me on Twitter. (1 entry)

4. Become a Fan of My Princess Party on Facebook (1 entry)

5. Tweet this giveaway. Make sure to include @graceandbrynley, @MyPrincessParty and link the URL back to here. (1x daily)

This giveaway is open to US residents in the 48 continental states and will end on 3/12/10 @ 11:59pm EST. The winner will be drawn via random.org and will be contacted by email. You will have 48 hours to claim your prize or I will have to draw a new winner. Again, remember to leave a valid email address with your comments and leave a separate comment for each entry.

*I received a Sheer Fun Princess Party Bag in exchange for my review. This in no way affected my review and this review is my own honest opinion.

Blog Awards!!!

I am so amazed and humbled to know that I received my first blogger awards! The first award I received was the Beautiful Blogger award. I received this award from Monkey Tales blog. All I can say is Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! The fact that you enjoy my blog enough to give me for an award is the reassurance I need to continue. Those of you who have not visited this mama's wonderful blog, you don't know what you are missing!

Here are the rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award and insert a link to their blog.

2. Pass on the award to about 10 other bloggers who you recently discovered and think are great!

3. Contact the other bloggers and let them know they have been chosen for this award.

4. Say 7 things about yourself.

Wow, 7 things about me...

1. I have been married for 2 1/2 months but was engaged for 4 1/2 years before the wedding!

2. My first word as a baby was Pizza!

3. I want to dye my hair Pink (or at least add chunks) but am scared.

4. I *not so* secretly want a set of twins.

5. I could live off Wendy's french fries and Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers if necessary.

6. I have no idea what I am doing when I blog but I have fun doing it!

7. I have my Bachelor's Degree in Human Services.

I also received the Sunshine Award from Monkey Tales! Thank you again mama for brightening my whole month!

The rules are:

-Put the logo on your blog or within your post.

-Nominate at least 10 blogs with great attitude or gratitude.

-Link the nominees within your post.

-Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

-Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award!

Taking a cue from Monkey Tales, I am also nominating 10 wonderful mamas for both awards!Here they are in no particular order:

Newly Wed, Newly Bred

ACU's, Stiletto Shoes, and Pretty Pink Tutus

Diapers and Dimples

Life Happens During Naptime

Baby To Green

Mommy and Sweet Pea Make a Blog

Between the Lines

Thrifty and Chic Mom

Truth Be Told

Molly and Mommy