Sling giveaway alert

Kristin over at Bits and Pieces From My Life is giving away a sling! She reviewed three and is giving away winner's choice of one. The contest ends Friday the 13th at 9 pm. I really like this one, the Rockin' Baby Sling. It is beautiful but expensive, which is why I'm hoping to win one :-) It is getting harder and harder to explain to Jordan why I need to buy another baby sling.



I mostly got over my sling fever when Suzi got big enough to walk on her own, but now that I'm pregnant again I can't help but think how cute the new baby will look peeping out from a gorgeous new ring sling!

Kristin also reviewed a pouch sling from the same company and a hotsling, so go enter!

Win a gorgeous sling!

Here's another great contest for you. (Thanks for the heads-up, Beth.) Little Window Shoppe is giving away a ModMum sling! I have one of these and they are great. They are deeper than hotslings and are good for breastfeeding discreetly and carrying a baby from newborn to toddler. So go enter! You have until Wednesday the 27th. Extra entries if you post about it or email some friends! If I win, I want the Olivia pattern, pictured above.

Tagged: Six things you may not know

I was tagged by Melissa at Living In A Peace Of The Puzzle to share six things people may not know about me. Here they are:

1) I love winning things and I am lucky, although not quite as lucky as some people. (I really am happy for you, Vicky. And I'm serious about the lottery pool. Call me!) In the past month I've won at least four or five things on blogs, and it makes me happy. While we're on the subject, visit the Redheaded Lefty's blog and enter to win a pair of girly Robeez! They make the best baby shoes. I am always finding contests to enter, but I also like to give stuff away. I've been putting my own contest off, because I guess I'm afraid no one will enter?

2) I used to love shining shoes. It's rarely necessary anymore, though.

3) In college I wrote several short stories I liked, and I never tried to get them published. They were well-received by my fiction workshop classes, and those people don't generally sugar-coat their opinions. One day I'll get around to submitting them somewhere.

4) There are a few words and phrases I refuse to say, such as the name of this dish at IHOP, because they sound stupid. I can't remember them all right now, but I have to be careful to get around saying them when they come up in conversation. Jordan keeps nagging me to say them but I refuse.

5) I'm a grammatical error snob. It's especially bad when I'm reading an opinion piece and disagree with it. If there are typos or misspellings, they detract from the writer's credibility in my mind. I try to ignore them, but I just can't. I proofread my own writing obsessively and hate it when a mistake slips through the cracks.

6) I might have OCD. It would explain a lot.


I think I'll tag Vicky, Kelly, Emily, and Kathleen. If anyone else wants to do it, I'd love to see your answers! Just leave a link in the comments. (And if any of you ladies I tagged don't want to do it I'll understand!)

Mommy needs a beer

It's tough to cook dinner with a teething baby whining as she tugs on my pants and stomps around my feet. I'm not a good cook in the first place and she is distracting.

This apron makes it a little easier to keep my sense of humor.


I won it during the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival from the adorable Baby Brewing shop. (The blog is Mommy Needs a Cocktail.) You should take a look at the website, which is filled with hilarious gifts for any mom (or baby) with a sense of humor. Here are my favorites:

A travel mug that assures onlookers, "I swear, it's coffee!"


Jordan could've used this "Drinking for Two" shirt when I was pregnant. I think most men would find this shirt preferable to "Pickles and Ice Cream Fetcher" and the like.


During my pregnancy I kept dreaming that I gave birth to a kitten. I like cats, but it was disappointing nonetheless.

There are also lots of sassy onesies and t-shirts for kids. I will definitely be keeping this in mind for Christmas, baby showers and other occasions. Thanks Baby Brewing!

Saturday's treasure hunt (and contest idea)

I even found a little treasure chest at our first yard sale--along with a bunch of clothes.

I added yards of fabric to my stash; this isn't even all of it:

This sale had a big table full of fabric, along with all the ribbon, lace and other notions you see here. I don't even know what some of it is, but my mom will. The box it's all in is a homemade wooden toy box on casters that we got for $4. I figured we could put Suzi in it, give her a wooden spoon and let her row around the kitchen.


I got this apron for 10 cents. The couple holding the sale were in their seventies (I think) and the woman asked the man "Wasn't this your mom's apron?" He sold me his mom's apron for a dime! It makes me sad but I'm glad I can give it a good home. It is stained but I kind of prefer it that way. It means I might actually use it, and when you hold it you can just feel all the hard work she did while wearing it.


Plate and cup sets for when you're having a drop-in; guests can securely hold the plate and cup with one hand. The bulk of our get-togethers involve pizza and beer instead of hors d'oeuvres and punch, but maybe these will come in handy someday.

And my idea for a monthly contest: I love finding cool stuff at yard sales, but sometimes I'll find something I love that I can't use personally. It'll be a beautiful ring that doesn't fit, for example--which is what I found yesterday. Anyway, I've decided to do a monthly Treasure Hunt Giveaway with these things and occasionally things I make. I'm not doing one right now because I just did one, but I plan to start in a week or two. Let me know if you have any thoughts on this.

Crisis averted

Monday morning I kissed Jordan and Suzi goodbye and they got in the car to leave. I heard it crank, and then a horrible thought struck me: Where is my purse??? Usually my purse and I are like peanut butter and jelly, but the night before we arrived home from Columbia after dark and I was in the back seat with Suzi. My purse was still in the front. Since I didn't get back into the front, there it sat all night. Holding my cell phone. My wallet. My keys. My LIFE!

Had I not run out the front door at the last second (and I mean as Jordan was backing out) waving my arms and yelling for Jordan to stop, he would have left me sitting at home with no way to drive to work and no way to even call and let them know I was stranded. (We don't have a home phone.) Although everything I needed was right there in plain sight from the van window, I wouldn't have been able to get in without a key!

I just thank God for saying Jenny--ahem--isn't there something important missing this morning?


P.S. Sorry for the lapse in posts. I have been obsessing over entering contests at the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival and haven't had time to write anything! You should go too! The 1000+ contests should keep you occupied for a few minutes.

*Updated with winner* My first giveaway ever!

And the winner is... Blueberries & Peanut Butter!

Here are your random numbers:

19 

Timestamp: 2008-08-02 04:00:45 UTC

I've had so much fun entering these contests! The laundry may be piled up, and the sink may be full of dishes, but this comes only once a quarter and just lasts a couple of days. I got an email earlier that I won one of the prizes and I'm so excited! Details later on what it is.

I'm thinking of doing a monthly giveaway. It'll be something small, of course--I'm not rich and famous, and it may even end up being bi-monthly. I wasn't expecting 129 comments! My idea is to give away something I make myself or a vintage treasure I find while yard-saling and flea-marketing. I find lots of good stuff, namely jewelry and accessories. But if I do that, you all have to enter or it'll hurt my feelings. Even those of you who normally just "lurk" and never comment! We are going to yard sales tomorrow so we'll see what I can come up with.

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I had been thinking of having a giveaway for a few days when I realized Bloggy Giveaways was just about to host the quarterly Bloggy Giveaways Carnival! Fate!

Here is what I'm giving away:

It's a hot pink Braggables purse which holds a picture of your sweet baby (or teenager, cat, or dog--whomever you'd prefer)! It's easy to change the picture when you get a new one.

To win, just leave a comment and include an email address.

Please also note:

1) U.S. addresses only please. I'm not being a snob, I just can't afford to ship it out of the country!

2) You don't have to be a blogger to win, but please leave an email address whether you blog or not so I can contact you if your name is drawn! You may want to type it as somebody (at) somewhere .com to discourage spammers.

3) The contest will end at midnight August 1st and I will select the winner randomly. I'll email the winner (and post here) and if she has not responded with shipping information within four business days I will pick someone else.

4) Duplicate entries will be disqualified--you know, the usual stuff.

Yay! I'm excited!

Another contest to enter!

Here's another one! This is sponsored by Baby Cheapskate... a site I will soon be blogrolling. I think if I find any other contests within the next few days I will come back and post them here, so keep checking back! (Thanks Beth!)

July Babywearing Contest and a fun summer afternoon

Have you entered this contest yet? Get out your red, white and blue and start taking pictures! I know some of you have slings that would be great for this, and you can win a pair of BabyLegs! This was our Saturday afternoon activity, and this first picture is my entry:

We are sitting on the steps of the red caboose in the Botanical Gardens in Clemson. We were headed there because it's such a pretty green place with lots of space for Suzi to explore, and when I saw the red caboose I thought, that's perfect! Somewhere there's a newspaper clipping picture of me playing in that same place when I was four. My mom used to take me there to play.

Daddy wears Suzi too!

After a few minutes we decided to take Suzi to the largest grassy field we could think of: Bowman. She walked...

And walked...

And walked.

We walked up to the Military Heritage Plaza and Suzi met the cadet statue.

Did you know those are Colonel Whitley's footprints?

(In case you were interested)

We left and went to Subway. We ordered Suzi a sandwich but she mostly ate strawberry yogurt and drank water. Then she got a second wind.

This makes me proud of Clemson. It is a start!

Poor little squirrel without a tail. I wonder what the story is there! Apparently they are sterilizing squirrels on campus and it makes their tail fur fall out temporarily, but this little guy is like a bobtail squirrel! This was as close as I could get for a picture; he was giving me the stink eye.

This is what we ended up with by the time we pulled into our driveway...

Good night!

Seriously, who doesn't like free stuff?

I just received some free popcorn in the mail thanks to Lindsay, and decided to do a post on winning stuff. These are some things I've won:


The Rookie Mom's Handbook--an excellent perk-me-up book for new moms, especially ones still on maternity leave! Thanks to Mama Knows Breast.

At the same time I won Margarita Mama, a book of "mocktails" for pregnant women.

My ModMum Sling is probably my favorite. You know how I love carriers!

I also won a Take-Along Tether from the Pinks & Blues girls (MomGenerations now). I don't have it in the picture because it's in my mom's van. It keeps Suzi from throwing her toy phone overboard where no one can reach it.

Winning stuff is exciting, isn't it? (Julie's "major award" comes to mind.) But even if you have only won a butt-ugly fishnet-covered leg lamp, it's still fun. Because, you know, if all else fails, you can sell it on eBay. For 200 bucks. If you haven't seen A Christmas Story I'll bet you're confused right now.

Anyway, I wanted to share how I find contests. Most of you probably know about Prizey. Many product review websites use this site as advertising, and you can count on them not to get you in over your head with spam after you divulge your email address. All the prizes in the world are not worth hundreds of unwanted emails!

Aside from Prizey, I have a few favorite sites I go to for information and then enter the contests because it's something I want and I'm already there! These include Adventures in Babywearing, Baby Sling Blog (they are currently running a patriotic babywearing contest), Mama Knows Breast, Mama Speaks, MomGenerations, Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog (one of my favorites for breastfeeding info--they'll keep you abreast of current issues), Suburban Turmoil (in the reviews), and of course Along for the Ride.

**Right now they're doing a cool contest over at A Mama's Blog: a year's subscription to Kiwi Magazine! All you have to do is visit the magazine's site and tell what you thought was interesting. They have all kinds of eco-friendly (and bank account-friendly) ideas! Go enter now!**

I have been thinking about doing my own giveaway just because, I don't know, it would make me happy. It may sound corny but blogging has given me so much--a place to store our memories with Suzi, new friends, a way to connect with other moms--and it makes me want to give something back! But first I have to find something. I'll let you know.

Another awesome contest!

I found this on Kristin's blog. Enter here to win an unbeatable stash of carriers: Gypsy Mama Wrap, Hotsling, BabyHawk, Beco Butterfly, ZoloWear Ring Sling... Is your mouth watering yet? I know this might sound a little bit crazy, but I think I could use all these! Enter by July 31st!

You really MUST enter this contest.

Go here to enter to win 18 bumGenius diapers, a diaper sprayer, a dozen cloth wipes, and bottle of odor remover OR a gift certificate to Nature's Child of comparable value ($250)! What could be greater than that?!?

If you win and don't love these diapers... Suzi and I will gladly take them off your hands.

My new ModMum baby sling!

A few days ago I received the ModMum sling I won from the MomViews.net Scavenger Bloghunt Party! There were so many fabulous prizes that if you took the time to participate you were more than likely going to win something. (I bet you're really kicking yourself now for not entering.) Here I am enjoying the sling with Suzi:

These are the things I love about the sling, which is the Taylor sling in case you want to know:

1) Unique pattern and high-quality fabric. The sling is soft, and the cute dot pattern reverses to green on the other side. If you can only afford one sling, this one is perfect because it matches most any outfit! All their nine styles of slings are reversible, and the two layers of fabric make it extra supportive--a high priority for a sling which is holding my precious daughter!

2) Generous pouch to allow for front riders. Suzi (7 months) is still a front rider and when I put her on my hip she straightens her legs and tries to escape. I'm hoping this is just a phase. The sling I used before, while fabulous, was not as deep as this sling and she grew until her legs wouldn't fit. The ModMum sling is deeper, not just bigger; it's roomy enough for Suzi and still snug enough in the shoulder for me.

3) Best of all, I can breastfeed her in this! Woo-hoo! I used to enjoy breastfeeding Suzi in her other sling, but she grew large enough her head couldn't lay back into the sling. I know you can breastfeed an older baby in the hip position, but she isn't ready for that yet. This sling is deep enough to accommodate her whole body, which saves a lot of tears and screaming (Suzi, not me!) in the grocery store when she gets hungry. Please see picture below of me discreetly breastfeeding her at a birthday party. (The blanket is there because I had a brain cramp and forgot to wear my Bella Band.)


Since I am a Southern Belle and we are big on thank-you notes, here's my virtual one:

Dear MomViews and ModMum,

Thank you so much for this awesome sling! We love it. I already had some slings and couldn't afford to buy another one even though Suzi needed a different one to meet her needs. We're so happy to have this one from ModMum. I've always thought a baby sling is the ultimate baby present because you're not just giving a fashion statement... You're giving a new mommy the gift of closeness with her child. As she carries her baby close to her heart, she is forming the cornerstone of their future relationship. There's a lot of love in those slings.

Love,
Jenny and Suzi Harmon