Sunday, July 29, 2012

Swaddle Designs Giveaway WINNER!


  • Name: Ashley Babybump Facebook
  • Option: Easy entry for all Mama2Multiples fans on Facebook
  • Extra Info: 
  • Time: Fri Jul 27 2012 00:00:00 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
Congratulations Ashley!! Ashley has 48 hours to reply to my email and claim her prize or I will be forced to choose a different winner. Thanks to everyone who entered and for following!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

College...GRADUATE?!?!

It doesn't seem possible to be that in 5 very short months, I will be a college graduate! Granted, I still have a lot more schooling left afterwards, but still...one degree will be done and over with and in my possession...finally!


I remember moving out of my parent's house at the tender age of 17, a few months after I graduated high school, and living in the dorm son campus at a college close to home. I was young, naive, scared, excited, and on my way to falling in love (yes, with Frank). I ended up dropping out of college a month or two later, because I was nowhere near ready for college and the commitment that came with it at that age. I moved back home to my parent's house, worked for a while, and lived the "adult" life of coming and going and hanging with friends and not having many worries in the world. I moved in with Frank on my 18th birthday, and though we struggled for a while, we managed. When we were finally somewhat settled a year or so later, I enrolled in my first semester at my local community college. I was going part time, for an Associate's in Human Services, and my plan was to then continue on to a Bachelor's in Social Work. I wanted to help foster children like myself, and give them the love and support I lacked from my social workers. Of course there were the semesters that I took off while I was pregnant with the twins, after I had the twins, and when I was pregnant with Mason, and of course when he was born, so a 2 year Associate's Degree has actually taken me 6 years to complete. But that's the beauty of community college. There really is no rush, you can work at your own pace, and it's so worth it! The other beauty if I have done the majority of my work with online classes, so college hasn't gotten in my way of being a stay at home mother, which is my top priority and first dream come true.


Back in the spring of this year, I switched my major to be an Associate's in Liberal Studies, which covers a broad range of topics, so that I can continue on to a Bachelor's in Nursing. Not only is  nursing a well paying field, but it's so very rewarding, it's guaranteed work no matter where you live, and for me, it will be fun! I realized I wanted to do this line of work after Mason was born, because I want to help in the labor and delivery of babies. Years down the road, I am considering going to medical school for OB-GYN, or midwifery school. But that's a whole other story altogether......


So, I will hold my first degree in my hands in December of this year. This fall, I will be taking my last CCV course, my Senior Seminar in Educational Inquiry. It's my huge culmination thesis class/project/paper to finalize my time at the Community College of Vermont. My plan for afterwards is to transfer to the college I attended at the age of 17, Johnson State College, about 10 minutes from where we live. There, I will be completing my Bachelor's degree in Wellness and Alternative Medicine. That will take me only 2 years if I go full time, or about 3ish if I go part time. After that is completely, I will then apply for a nursing program at Vermont Technical College, about an hour from me. It's the most popular and competitive nursing programs in Vermont, because it's shorter. The first year is for an LPN (Licensed Practical Nursing) and the second year is the actual RN degree. Since it is much shorter than your average nursing program, it's much much more intense and hands on, but it will be beyond worth it! So, when all is said and done, I will have my Bachelor's in Nursing, and by that time, I will be ready to head back into the working world, as all 4 (we are planning number 4 as we speak!!) children will be in regular school, freeing up a lot of time for me to get back to work.


I think my plan is a great one, and I cannot wait to get started! I cannot believe I have come so far, and I look forward to the next journey!

Nature's Sleep Slippers Review & Giveaway!


I have had kind of a pet peeve since before we had children. I gt slightly anal about cleaning at times, and when I slack a bit on the cleaning, I can't stand walking in my house barefoot or in just socks if the floors are dirty. This got even worse after having kids and dealing with their mess with meal times and snack times. I cannot stand stepping on and crunching on food particles in stocking or bare feet. So I developed a slight obsession with wearing slippers. 

Fast forward to today. I usually get a cheap pair of slippers at my local dollar store or Walmart, because they endure so much wear and tear anyway, why bother spending a ton of money on them? The only issue with this is that they weren't always super comfy, since they were so cheap. The material was flimsy and thin and they wore out easily.

I recently discovered Nature's Sleep slippers and other products, and it was love at first sight.

From their website:

"Nature's Sleep designs products for comfortable, healthy, harmonious sleep. Our memory foam products cradle your body in perfect balance, providing gentle support and relief throughout the night. We offer products that use organic and hygienic materials that nourish your well-being, so you wake rejuvenated.

And though our products are luxurious, they're also affordable, because everyone deserves a good night's sleep.

As a global manufacturer and distributor of specialty sleep products, Nature's Sleep is passionate about developing new innovations. We rely on sustainable practices to protect the earth’s natural resources, and our unique systems allow us to deliver premium quality at a lower cost. We proudly supply a wide range of national and regional specialty sleep shops, furniture and department stores, mass merchants, internet dealers, as well as serve the hospitality and healthcare industries.

Sweet, blissful comfort underlies everything we do."


Nature's sleep has such a large array of products,  but for my review, I received a pair of pink memory foam closed toe slippers.


I was SO excited to try these slippers out as soon as I got them, as my current ones were wearing out quickly! As soon as I slipped my feet inside these gorgeous slippers, I felt like I was literally in Heaven. I know that sounds silly and cliche, but it really is true! It's amazing how something so little and something that seems so meaningless to others, could make me so happy! ;-)

I feel like I am floating with these slippers. I LOVE the memory foam! 


I chose pink because, of course, it's my favorite color. :-)

These slippers are SO soft, too! This only adds to the comfort and coziness of them! 


The material seems very strong and durable too. These slippers have pretty good tread on the bottom as well. Not that I wear them outside regularly, but I could! Some of the slippers I have had in the past can be very slippery on the bottom on my kitchen floor, but not these! The tread is thick and non slip, which I also love. I just love these slippers all around and would highly recommend them to my friends and family!

Purchase It: You can purchase the slippers reviewed her, and many other products at Nature's Sleep website!

WIN IT: ONE lucky reader of Mama 2 Multiples is going to WIN a pair of slippers from Nature's Sleep! To enter, simply follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter form below!

4th of July...Oops!

While looking through my blog posts today, I realized I never even updated about our 4th of July holiday! I can't believe I missed updating that one! So, here goes!


Hubs had to work that day, which was a slight bummer but I was still excited to take the kids to the parade and spend the day together. We were up and ready in our new 4th of July outfits!


Mason was not up for pics.....





I love Mason's face in this picture:



When we were all dressed and ready to go, we went to get my mom to come watch the parade and things with us. We got to the parade a little early so we could be sure to get good seats. Someone involved with the parade and festivities came by and gave the kids little flags, which they loved!




The kids LOVED the parade! They got a TON of candy and loved marching along as the band went by, dancing to the music, and seeing the fire trucks and animals.






After the parade was done, we had a few errands to run and had to take my mom back home, and then we came home for the kiddo's nap time. Hubs got home around 4 that afternoon, and we packed up again and went up to the local high school where there were festivities and fireworks at dusk. We ordered pizza for dinner, got balloons, had yummy cotton candy, listened to music and danced, and just hung out with friends while waiting for the fire works to begin. It rained around dinner time, so it was up in the air if the fire works were really going to happen, but thankfully the rain subsided for good and all went off without a hitch!







Finally, it was dark and time for the fireworks! The kids had been waiting in anticipation all evening and definitely were not disappointed! And to my surprise, Mason wasn't afraid of the fireworks. He slept through them last year (he was only 4 months old then), but I was afraid that this year, with him being older, he may be afraid of them. I was very glad I was wrong though! 










All in all, it was an amazing and memorable 4th of July! We had a blast, and most of all, the kids had a blast and were more then exhausted that night, which was good for mom and dad. :)

How was your 4th?? Feel free to share in a comment below!



Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Royal Tea Party 2012

We had such a fun filled weekend this past week! On Saturday we went to a Royal Tea Party at our local family center. It's an even they have every year around this time, and it's just a fun event for kids to dress up as prince's and princesses  and meet Cinderella and Prince Charming, and do little arts and crafts and play with other children. They can make princess hats and wands, drink tea and eat sandwiches and cookies, and run and play.


I got Merasia the cutest Snow White dress up dress for the tea party. I figured with her dark hair, it would be the best choice. :-)



I searched everywhere for a prince costume for Connor and Mason. I finally found a royal prince cape and crown for Connor at a local party store.


I was going to get a prince costume for Mason or make one, but then realized I had a Snow White theme going on and the perfect option for Mason would be for him to be one of the seven dwarfs and keep up with the Snow White theme for all 3 kids. It seemed perfect since Mason is so short (like a dwarf). I set out looking up how to make a dwarf costume. I knew he wouldn't keep a dwarf hat on, or a dwarf beard. So the only dwarf without a beard is Dopey. And, since Mason is pretty clumsy and runs into things often in his day to day life, it was a perfect match! ;-) I found easy ideas online for making a Dopey costume. I got some blue pants in a size 3 at a local used clothing store. I got them bigger so they would be baggy like Dopey's pants are. I also got the shirt in a size 3 to be a little bigger too on purpose. It was just a solid green long sleeve shirt. On the top corner of it I wrote "Dopey" with a sharpie marker so everyone would know. Then I got him a belt at the same used place, and he has a pair of brown cowboy boots, so we were all set. I was even more excited when I got him dressed up and saw how much he really looked like Dopey!



The first thing we did at the tea party was wait for our turn to get out photo taken with Cinderella and Prince Charming. It was sooo cute! Merasia was a little scared at first but she was fine when Connor sat next to her and "Cinderella" held Mason next to her.

When the pictures were done and printed, they were put in cute little frames.


Connor even got a photo of just him and his fellow Prince Charming. ;-)


For the rest of the time we were there the kids pretty much just played on the swing set and ran around. It was good for them to do that and a good time for us adults to relax, sit back, and mingle a little bit while they burned off energy. Our good friends Jenn and Terry went with us with their kids Cloey and Carter. Cloey was Tiara and Carter was the frog prince. It was adorable!




Overall, it was a great day and the kids enjoyed themselves a ton. They were exhausted that night though and Sunday was spent lounging around, cleaning, and then hanging at the beach in the afternoon.




Amazing weekend making amazing memories. :-)


Monday, July 23, 2012

A Little Catch Up

It has been an absolutely crazy week on our end! For starters, we had my college grad party this past Friday night. I will be graduating from my local community college in December with an Associate's in Liberal Studies degree. My best friend and I planned a party for me this summer, because we wanted to do it in a warm month, and hubs and I are beginning the trying to conceive journey again, so I will be pregnant by the time I graduate in December, so a party then is definitely out of the question. 


So, all of last week was spent shopping for last minute supplies and decorations, all while trying to keep up with school work and the kids and housework and everything else that goes along with life in general. Thursday was spent decorating so there would be less to do for the party Friday. It turned out so good, I think!











In case you couldn't tell, our theme was hot pink and black zebra print. :-) The day before the party, I got my nails done for the first time in my life! Of course, they matched the theme....


I LOOOOOVE them!!!! They were even more amazing then I expected them to be! 

We invited quite a bit of people, but most couldn't make it due to work or other prior commitments, and some simply didn't want to go, I suppose. So it was Frank, myself, our best friends Jenn and Terry and Terry's brother Jimmy. It was amazing, even still! Frank's best friend, Patrick, is a DJ and gave us a major deal for doing my party, plus it was a great excuse for Frank and Patrick to hang out and catch up. They have been friends since they were like 13 years old, so they are tight! 

We danced. We drank. Perhaps a little too much. We visited. Shared stories of the past. And just enjoyed each other's company and made a ton of new, special memories. It was truly a night I will never forget, and I wish we could go back and re live it over and over again. Here are some photos from that night....some are a little wild! ;-)

Patrick dancing to Michael Jackson!



Group shot!



Yes. I danced in a chair.




And on the counter.





The end of the night:



It was just an amazing, epic night and I am so, so, SO thankful to our great friends for celebrating all of my hard work with me! I could not have asked for a better party with better people!

More to come on the kiddos....they are good and happy and healthy though! ;)