Sunday, July 31, 2011

Zutano Shopping Spree!

A fellow blog of mine, Sammy Makes Six, is having an INCREDIBLE giveaway right now! They are giving away a Zutano shopping spree to a lucky reader! Who doesn't want (and NEED!) clothes for their little ones, and Zutano has the most adorable outfits and patterns! This is a must have! Head over and enter now, and check out the rest of the blog as well! :-)

Melissa and Doug Sand Toy Giveaway - Fellow Blogger!

Alli over at Couponing for 4 is having an AWESOME giveaway of 4 sets of Melissa and Doug sand toys, perfect for this summer weather and trips to the beach!! I know my kiddos would love these toys...yours would too! So what are you waiting for? Head on over, enter her giveaway, and check out the rest of her blog while you're there! :-)

Fellow Blogger's Giveaway - Sophie The Giraffe!

My blogging mama friend Lindsay is having an awesome giveaway over at her blog, Your Are the Roots. Head on over and enter her giveaway, and while you're at it, check out the rest of her blog and read about her adventures as a first time mom with her beautiful new baby boy! :-)

Eden Fantasys Review - Mature Content- 18+ Readers ONLY

Last year, I contacted Eden Fantasys about working with them on a review of their products. Eden Fantasys has a large array of products, from sex toys, books, lingerie, DVD's, party favors, and MUCH more! I'm a big reader (when I get time with all the kiddos running around!) so I broswsed through the selection of books on the site, and chose How to Make Love Like a Porn Star by well known porn star Jenna Jameson.




                       
product picture
Book by Jenna Jameson / Neil Strauss
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Regan Books
        This product was provided free of charge to the reviewer.



I'm always intrigued by the life of porn stars. Not in a weird way...just a normal way, like we all are I suppose. I know I definitely could not live that lifestyle, so it's interesting to me to read about or hear about how they live it, how they got started, and most of all, WHY they chose that path for themselves. There's always a good story behind it all.

I received this book within a few days, and had read it front to back within 2 or 3 days of getting it. I just could NOT put it down! Jenna talked about her childhood with her brother and father, and certain events in her childhood that led her to the adult film industry. She talked about her beginnings in the industry, her successes, her failures, good times and bad. Throughout the book, she also added her own "advice" on entering into the adult film industry and how to be successful in the industry once you are in it. Also included in the book are personal photos of Jenna and her friends and family. Some are photo shoots she has done, others are her own personal photos to give readers a small glimpse into her world. I wouldn't call myself a "fan" of Jenna Jameson, as I'm not a porn watcher LOL But I knew her name and what she did for a living, and that drew me to this book immediately, and I am so glad I chose it! I would recommend if to everyone, even if the idea of the adult film industry disgusts you...you will NOT be disappointed. This is not just a book about a "porn star." It's her life, her highs and her lows, and when you are done reading, you'll see that she was simply an innocent little girl who lived a difficult childhood and teenage years, but has overcome that, regardless of her adult life and how she makes her living. You'll see she is a person just like you and I, not just a girl who has sex for a living.

I just came across this book while unpacking from our move, and I know I will definitely read it again. Not many books I have read are complete "must reads" but this one definitely takes the cake!

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Remind Me...

If you know me, you know I love country music. There's just something about a good country song, sung by the right person (or in this case, people), that tells a remarkable, touching, or funny story, or just brings back special memories for you.

Brad Paisley's newest song, with Carrie Underwood, "Remind Me," does just that for me.

In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, and even more so in life with kids, we forget about how things used to be. After being together for several years or even several months, things can tend to get "routine." The spark that may have been there in your relationship with your significant other when you first met may not spark as brightly anymore. Things may get boring...and not just intimacy, but everyday moments with your spouse can get this way too.

When you first meet, there's an obvious attraction to one another, that leads to a relationship starting at all. That spark that started that attraction still hangs around, and then the months and years go by, and maybe a few kids are added to your lives...and things just get mundane. It's the same thing every day, instead of the spontaneity and youthful excitement that used to be there.

It's hard to remember to take time with each other every day, or at least on some sort of a regular basis. It's hard to remind each other of that spark you once had, of the special moments you once shared regularly, of the things that attracted you to each other to begin with. But it's something that all couples, married or not, need to remember to do. It keeps your love alive, and especially the bond you both share.

This song does that for me. It brings me back to the early days of my relationship with Frank.


From that first chance meeting at a local restaurant/bar (Bonz...now Moogs Place! LOL), to our first date, the first time we were intimate together, the first night we spent together, all the times I lied to my parents just to be able to spend a little bit of time with him (needless to say, they didn't quite approve of our relationship at first....), our first apartment together, our engagement (also at Bonz...appropriate since it's where we met :-) ), our wedding day and night...I could go on for days.


 And then I look at our life now. I would not change one second of the life we have now. We have a beautiful family, and our children remind us every second of every day how to live life to it's fullest. But at the same time, there's no more spontaneity or excitement like there was in those early months and years of our relationship.



Don't get me wrong; we're still intimate on a regular basis. (3 kids don't just make themselves ya know!) But I do feel like telling Frank to remind me of the way we used to be...and I'm sure he feels the same way sometimes. The lyrics of this song speak perfectly to this...

We didn't care if people stared,
We'd make out in a crowd somewhere,
Somebody'd tell us to get a room,
It's hard to believe that was me and you.
Now we keep saying that we're OK,
But I don't want to settle for good not great,
I miss the way that it felt back then, I wanna feel that way again...


This was us...the typical, young couple in the "honeymoon" phase of new, summer love...tons of PDA and all that jazz...now, we barely kiss at all some days! I do miss the way it felt back then. We had some terrible times early on though as well, and those I could definitely do without re living. But the good moments, the "making out in a crowd somewhere" moments, I'd give anything to have go back and re live those times again, if even for a little while.


Been so long that you'd forget, the way I used to kiss your neck,Remind me, remind me...So on fire, so in love, way back when we couldn't get enough,Remind me, remind me...






Now, don't get me wrong again. We are SO in love still. There's just not a whole lot of times we show it, to ourselves or to each other. Back then, early on, we couldn't get enough of each other. Today, sometimes we get TOO much of each other! There are days I could strangle Frank...and I am sure there are many times he feels the same towards me. It doesn't mean we love each other any less, it's just the monotony of life as we grow and change and settle into a life together.
 
Remember the airport dropping me off,
We were kissing goodbye and we couldn't stop,
I felt bad cause you missed your flight,But that meant we had one more night...




Do you remember how it used to be,
We'd turn out the lights and we didn't just sleep,
Remind me, baby, remind me...
Oh, so on fire, so in love,
That look in your eyes that I miss so much,
Remind me, baby, remind me...

As parents, there aren't many nights we turn out the lights and stay awake...LOL Pure exhaustion of the day from taking care of the house and the kids and from Frank working all day hits us as we collapse into bed, give each other a half-hearted peck on the lips or sometimes the cheek, and mumble good night. Did it used to be like that? HELL NO. I don't think I need to go into much more detail on this...but I do miss those nights when Frank would look at me with more love than I had ever experience before, and we'd start out snuggling on our way to sleep, and find ourselves entangled in each other and the sheets before the night was over.



I wanna feel that way, 
Yeah, I wanna hold you close,Oh, if you still love me,
Don't just assume I know...




I think this is something couples do all too often. Just assume you still love each other, but not say it nearly enough. You can never say the words "I love you" too much. We can't just assume each of us knows that the other loves us. Of course deep down, I'm sure we know. But there's nothing like just hearing it periodically. You don't have to over use it, but saying it out of the blue is a nice surprise sometimes too. :-)





 Do you remember the way it felt?
You mean back when we couldn't control ourselves?
Remind me...
Yeah, remind me...
 
There were many days and nights we couldn't control ourselves early on in our relationship. Which is probably how we got so intimately creative at times... LOL

All those things that you used to do,
That made me fall in love with you,
Remind me, oh, baby, remind me...


If someone were to ask me why I fell in love with Frank, I could easily tell you. He's incredibly sexy (to me!), has a great sense of humor and never ceases to keep me laughing, is a sweetheart, accepting of everyone, even people he barely knows, can make friends and win people over easily with his great personality, is incredibly handy to have around and can fix anything...LITERALLY. He's a great friend to his buddies, and would give the shirt off his back to anyone that needed it. He works hard to provide for his family, and is an amazing father to our children. There's lots more I could add here, but it would take pages upon pages. I am reminded everyday about why I fell in love with him. When I see him off to work for a 10 or 12 hour day and never hear one complaint. When he plays with the kids for hours, or takes over bedtime duty to give me a break. When he gets up at night with Mason to let me get some sleep, after he has worked all day and has to be back at work in the morning. When he makes dinner, helps clean the house, says something that makes me laugh or brings back special memories or something sweet that melts my heart into a million pieces.

Yeah, you'd wake up in my old t-shirt,
All those mornings I was late for work,
Remind me...



What husband, at one time or another, has NOT been late for work? For the obvious reason here...

When that spontaneity and the mood hits, you just gotta take care of that "itch," if you catch my drift. ;-)

In all seriousness, there's no need to be sickeningly sweet with each other. There's no need for constant PDA or to live life like 2 young, raging hormone teenagers. But a little reminder to each other now and then about the spark that brought you together in the first place is something to be appreciated and cherished. Life is too short, and it doesn't take much time out of our busy lives to remind each other why we fell in love in the first place.


♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Brad Paisley - Remind Me (Duet With Carrie Underwood)

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Eco Mom Stacking Clown Toy Review and Giveaway

I've worked with Eco Mom in the past on some reviews and giveaways. They are a wonderful, eco friendly company with a large variety of products for parents and children. From their website:

 "Founded to address the connection between the health of our children and the health of our environment, ecomom is committed to making eco-conscious living easy, affordable, and rewarding. By helping women begin to take better care of themselves and their families – with education, support, tools and products - we empower them to take the all important first steps toward a healthier, more balanced, and sustainable lifestyle."

I recently received the PlanToys Stacking Clown for review. I wasted no time in opening the toy and Merasia wasted no time in playing with it. ;-)

Connor even got in on some of the fun with it...

This is a great teaching toy for the twins' age group. It helped them learn to stack blocks and make them all fit, because they were excited to see the end result -- the clown -- at the end. They would play with this for hours sometimes. It also helped learn shapes and colors. They still don't have all the shapes and colors down quite yet, but they have gotten better by playing with this toy. And I cannot stress enough how much they LOVE the clown! ;-)


I also love that this is an all natural product and wood, instead of plastic. It's extremely appealing to toddlers, not only because of the clown, but the bright colors and the fact that it provides endless activity, fun, and learning.


I would highly recommend this product to anyone with toddlers, you will definitely not be disappointed.

Now, for the other fun part....

EcoMom has agreed to provide a $15 gift certificate to one lucky reader of A Day in the Life of a Mother of Multiples!

How to Enter:

MANDATORY ENTRIES (MUST be done before any extra entries will count! Post separate comments for each):

1. Follow my blog publicly, and post a comment here that you are a follower

2. Go to www.ecomom.com and tell me here in a comment what product(s) you like most and why

3. Comment on another of my blog entries and post a comment here that you have done so

EXTRA ENTRIES (Post a separate comment for each extra thing you do):

4. Friend me on Facebook, and post a comment here that you have done so. Or, if you are already my friend on Facebook, just post the comment (1 extra entry)

5. Tell your friends about this blog on your Facebook page, to help me get more followers (2 extra entries, post 2 separate comments)

6. If you have a blog of your own already, post about this review and giveaway, and post a comment here that you have done so, and include the link to your post so I can see it. (2 extra entries)

**Giveaways ends at midnight on August 20, winner will be announced here on my blog the next day.**

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

My Favorite Time of Day

For Frank and myself, with our busy schedules, there is very little down time, or time together as a family. That's why we cherish greatly the days he is off from work, as they go by way too fast and are few and far between at times. Though I don't work outside the home, my days are packed full of cleaning, cooking, organizing, laundry, grocery shopping, other errands, dressing kids, changing kids, putting kids down for naps, and the list goes on and on. On the rare moments I fit in some down time at home with just me and the kids, I cherish that time as well. But there is one time of day that has become my absolute favorite time...





We recently started reading the twins a story before bed. We had tried this in the past, but they just were never interested or were too overtired and cranky to care. One night a few weeks ago, Merasia asked me to read her a book at bed time. I had nothing else to do, and who am I to pass up some special quiet time with my angels? So I obliged, and that turned into a new every night ritual. I absolutely love it. I look forward to it every night, and the twins do as well. They run to their room and say "book" or "booky" as soon as their pajamas are on. With the never ending hustle and bustle of every day life and work for Frank, it's nice to lay on the floor or cuddle in bed with the kids, read them a couple stories, and just enjoy the quiet and snuggles from our love bugs.

I know these days are are very limited, and our angels will be older and more independent before we know it, and these bedtime snuggles will be gone just as quickly as they began.

So we'll continue to cherish them every second of every day, and make them last as long as possible.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Sunday, July 24, 2011

TEETH!

I believe I mentioned in a previous post about Mason, that he cut his first two teeth a few weeks ago, shortly after turning 4 months old. Yesterday, while at a friend's house, I took a look at his bottom gums, and saw a white, bulging bump. I knew he had yet another tooth very close to popping through. Sure enough, last night was a rough one. He was up all night, irritable and cranky, crying and fussing. I felt those bottom gums this morning, and there was that tooth! Sharp as can be! :-) So, at 4 months and 2 weeks, he has THREE teeth! That's just crazy to me! I know it happens, but it's different when it's YOUR child.


Mason deals with teething pretty well. With Connor, the only sign we had of him teething was a small red rash on the side of his face (from the drool, I suspect) and the occasional diarrhea. Other than that, we never knew he was cutting teeth until the teeth had broke skin and we caught a glimpse or a feel for them! Merasia was a little more noticeable. She'd get diarrhea almost every time, and was just irritable. She still slept fine at night, but was cranky and irritated all day. Mason gets some looser poops, but not exactly diarrhea. But they make him have a yucky diaper rash that bleeds. :-( The biggest tell tale sign he's cutting teeth is he is literally up allllllllll night. He doesn't sleep through the night any other time, but he sleeps longer stretches than when he is cutting teeth. He is up every hour or so when teeth are coming in. But then after that, he's fine and happy as can be!

I'm sure a 4th tooth won't be too far behind....we'll see in the upcoming weeks! :-)

Monday, July 18, 2011

The Big Move!

We have finally moved! We have been looking for a new apartment for quite a while now. We needed a bigger place with more room for the kids to run and play, something fairly newer and therefore, in better shape and more taken care of, and of course, something with a good yard for the kids to play in that wasn't right by the road. Another important aspect of a new apartment was location. We wanted and needed something that was closer to work for my husband. He works at the mountain in Stowe, Vermont, as a cook, and where we lived before, it was an hour commute to work and from work for him. Round trip, it was 60+ miles.

My (adopted) father owns a few properties, and one in Stowe. I asked him about the building he owns there, and one apartment happened to be empty, and had been for a few months. He agreed to rent it to us to help us out, and it could not have come at a better time! It's just perfect for us. It's a large 2 bedroom, which is all we need right now since Mason sleeps in our room and will be for a while still anyway. It has great carpet (where we lived before was all hard wood, old, gross floors), the living areas and bedrooms are larger than our last place, and it even has a bathtub...a luxury our last apartment did not have. It also has a wonderful yard that is next to the main road, but back far enough so I can relax when I am outside with the kids and not have to worry about them being in danger. It's a 10 or 15 minute commute to and from work for Frank, which is soooo wonderful. It's just perfect for us! We moved in July 3, and are LOVING it!! Here's some pictures of Mason hanging out in his stroller during the big move...





The kids were great during the move, and we were all done within a couple of days. Connor and Merasia were actually pretty helpful, carrying in bags and light boxes and their toys and things. The day we moved and got their beds in their room, Connor set out unpacking clothes and putting them away on their small book shelf:




The kids absolutely love the new place. They love having so much more room to run and play and just LIVE. The first night in the new place, they HAD to have a bath, of course!



They LOVE being able to take baths now instead of showers, and I love it too, since I have my showers all to myself again, instead of sharing with one or both of them. ;-)

They seem to sleep much better in the new place too, which I am LOVING. It's much more quiet and just feels more like home than the other place ever did.

It was time for a change, and we made a good one. ♥ ♥

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Summer Fun!

The twins are at such a fun age this summer, that we have made a huge effort to pack this summer with more fun than past summers, since they are old enough to do more this year. We went to the beach as a family quite a few weeks ago, but it was later in the evening and spur of the moment, and the water wasn't very warm, so it was kind of a bust. I was invited by a friend of mine to go to a different beach with her and her 2 year old son and 8 month old son. It was a beach I had never been to before but not too far away from home. I had never hung out with this friend before, we had just met a few times at the same baby and toddler play group we go to a couple times a month. So I was nervous about going, especially since it would be the first BIG outing for me on my own without the hubs, with all 3 kiddos. I decided to go though, and am SO glad I did! We had a complete BLAST! We got up bright and early and packed and got ready to go. We set out and met our friends there and I got the twins undressed and ready to go in the water. Merasia is a total fish and loves the water! She soaked it up. Connor played on the shore with our friend's son, dipping a little in the water off and on, more than he had before, so that was good. I dipped in the water while Mason napped and it was fabulous! The water was warm but not too warm where you didn't get cooled off in the hot sun. After swimming for a bit, we all got out of the water and had a picnic lunch at the beach...peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, goldfish, crackers, and fresh fruit was on the menu. After eating and playing for a bit on the slide and swings, the kiddos headed back in the water for a while. I was in and out of the water with Mason, in between nursing. We packed it up later that afternoon to head home. The kids and myself were exhausted but I would do it all again in a heart beat because it was so. much. FUN! And I have to say, I am proud of myself for venturing out without the hubs, especially to the beach, with all 3 kiddos. ;-)

Here are some pics from the day...











4th of July Festivities!

Our fourth of July this year was the best yet! It was packed full of fun, sun, family, friends, food, laughs, love, and of course, fireworks.

Our morning started with the local parade. Connor and Merasia LOVED it this year. They sat on daddy's lap the whole time and loved watching all the different floats and kids and the bands and the sirens of the fire trucks. And course, they came away with some treat candy. :-)









Mason was content hanging out in his carseat/stroller or on grandma's (my mom) lap:



After the parade, we went to my family's camp on the lake, and had a barbeque. It was so fun visiting. My sisters were there with their kids, and my sister who lives out of state was up for a short visit as well. The kids had a great time running around and playing in the sun and especially in the water. The water was soooo nice and it was just good to hang out and relax with those we love.









After hanging out with family at camp, we went to the local high school where there were some small events taking place. We went and hung out with friends and the kids got to run around and play while we waited for the fireworks. We took our small grill and grilled some burgers, hot dogs, and corn on the cob for dinner. Connor had a blast running around and playing ball with some other kids around his age.




Mason had fun rolling around on the grass, and Merasia made some new friends too. :-)




We changed the twins into their pajamas in preparation for the fireworks, and they played with sparklers to pass the time...






Finally, it was time for the fireworks to begin. Merasia loved them and kept pointing and saying "pwetty!" Connor got scared at first, but daddy held him and he was fine after a while. Mason was content sitting in his stroller. :-)












It as definitely the best 4th of July we have had yet. We all fell into bed, completely and utterly exhausted that night, but it was beyond worth it. We made so many new and great memories this year, and I already can't wait for next year's 4th of July! ♥ ♥