popchips review and giveaway

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Giveaway closed.
Congrats Marcia Goss!



Think Popped!

Never fried. Never baked.

That is popchips...the all natural chip that is never fried, never baked.  They are popped. 

"Our all-natural pledge: no fake colors, no fake flavors, no preservatives, no fluorescent orange fingertips, and no wiping your greasy chip hand on your jeans. No, really. We only use ingredients you can feel good about eating. And we leave out the bad stuff, like hydrogenated oils and msg, that give snacking a bad name. Because popchips™ brand chips have no preservatives, make sure to get a good chip clip after opening the bag to keep our popped chips fresh. Or better yet, just eat them all at once."

Popchips come in many flavors...one of my favorites were the sea salt and vinegar!  Yummy!  The Popchips are different, and take a little "getting to know" with your taste buds, but I found I quickly started to like them more and more.  My picky husband, even said "hey, did you tell them those chips were good".  He really enjoyed the barbeque.  With my New years resolution to get fit, and lose weight I think the Popchips are going to be a great way to still have some chips to snack on.  The snack bags were just 100 calories!


For more information visit http://www.popchips.com/  where you can find locations where you can purchase. 

One lucky reader can win a month’s supply of popchips!  To enter visit popchips and tell me which flavor you think you would like the most. 
 

For two extra entries:   “like” popchips on facebook & comment that I sent you there for a chance to win.   For the month of December everyone wins something, because they are offering all of their facebook fans (both old & new) a coupon for $1 off their next bag of popchips: http://popchi.ps/hnPjlH

This giveaway is open to US only.  Please leave a seperate comment for each entry.  This giveaway will end on Jan. 12 and the winner will be chosen by random.org. 



disclosure:  I received free chips to feature popchips on my blog.  This is my families personal opinions.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

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Lauren's first Christmas...

She was up first, but back to sleep she went!

Zach was the most excited this year!

It was great finally having a child really into Christmas.

Here is sweet Kennedy.

Here is Bob, who took 2 hours to get his Transformer transformed....lmao!



Chicken Soup for the Soul~ Christmas Magic (giveaway)

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Giveaway closed.
Congratulations Karenk, Marjorie, and 409Cope!


101 Holiday Tales of Inspiration, Love, and Wonder

Christmas is a magical time of year — a time of family, friends, and traditions. And all the joys, blessings, and excitement of the season are captured in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Christmas Magic with its 101 new holiday stories covering everything from finding the perfect Christmas tree, being with family, and seeing the wonder in a child's eyes to goodwill, love, and the true meaning of Christmas. This book will delight every reader, from the young to the young at heart, and bring back the magic of the holiday season. "Santa-safe" for kids!

Seeing we have a fairly quiet Christmas Eve, I thought this would be a great book to pull out tonight and share with the family.  I am picturing sitting around the fireplace and enjoying some great stories to make us feel the magic of Christmas!

Unfortunately I didnt receive this in time to offer my readers the giveaway to arrive before Christmas, but three lucky readers can win a copy of this!  You could start your Christmas gift thoughts early by winning a copy and saving for next year, or just enjoy once the winners get their copy.  To enter:  Just leave a comment about your Christmas celebrations.

Extra entries:
Subscribe to my blog.
Follow my blog with google friends connect.
Follow my blog on facebook.
Follow me on twitter and tweet this giveaway. (1 entry daily)
Write a review of my blog on alexa (3 extra entries).

You can find my info to follow in my sidebar.  Please leave a seperate comment for each entry.  This giveaway is open to US and Canada.  The giveaway will end on Jan. 7 and the winners will be chosen by random.org.

disclosure:  I received the title for free to feature on my blog. 

The first gifts opened

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Zach couldnt wait any longer to open some gifts....Gary brought out some gifts from Sue and him last night and Zach was trying to go to bed at 5pm so this morning would come quicker.  So he got to open those this morning...and he hasnt left it since. 

And no...he would not let Zeus come in! 

Baby's first bath

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Surprisingly Lauren LOVED her bath!  I had to drain it and run a put in new water as she decided to pee as soon as she got in.  She loved it though and only seemed a little concerned if she moved a bit too much.  There were no tears!  I couldnt get any pics during bath, but heres one after. 

And here she is all cozy and warm, smelling all baby fresh!  All her hair standing everywhere!

Dont forget about your dog this Christmas ~ Hartz dog toys review

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Are you looking for some great new toys for your dog, or maybe a gift for under the tree?  Did you know that Hartz makes many different types of dog toys?  They do and they sure are fun!  We received the Hartz® Tuff Stuff™ Nose Divers™ and the Hartz® Dura Play® Ball for our dog to play with.....and play he did!  He absolutely loves the Hartz Nose Diver.

Hartz Nose Divers soft chew toy and nylon tug toy has been designed to provide exceptional durability. Heavy duty cotton rope runs through the entire product to evenly distribute stress from pulling. Ballistic nylon exterior provides enhanced durability for tough chewers. Available in three eye-catching colors.

The first day even if we came anywhere near it, he would grab it ready for some tug of war.  He has been playing with it all week long.  He loves chewing on its head and the ability to play tug of war with us.  He also loves that there is a squeeker in the body.  I love that it is not an annoying squeeker and he is not able to make it squeek constantly.  The only issues I have is our dog managed to chew apart the head, and pull the stuffing out.  What I don't mind about that, is that I still feel it is ok to let him play with.  The inside of the head had some stuffing in it, but was mostly made up of the tied rope material like the other end, so he is still able to chew and play with the toy.


For the Hartz Dura play ball all we have to do is squeek it and he comes running from what ever room he is in.  He has been a bit more concentrated on the nose diver, but I do keep finding the dura play ball out too.  He likes playing catch, but with this toy tends to like chewing on it more than bringing it back to us.  It is such a soft material, yet very strong.  We have not had any issues with this toy coming apart, or being chewed apart. 

Hartz® Dura Play™ Ball provides an exciting new chewing experience for dogs. Our patented technology combinines a latex exterior with a foam-filled interior, making Dura Play™ dog toys durable, flexible and fun.









disclosure:  This is a mamabuzz review.  I received free products to review from Hartz.  This is my personal opinion based on this review.

Our Christmas present!

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 Lauren Elizabeth

Dec. 16, 2010

8 lbs 6 oz ~20 inches

Today is the day!

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Well we are heading to labor and delivery this morning, scheduled for the C section at noon.  If this baby has turned and we do not need the C section then this mama is begging to be induced.  Im telling them Im not leaving until I have this baby! 

Thank you MaryAnn for watching Kennedy, I know she is in good hands!  Dont let her giggle too much with your new doggy chewing on her! 

Zach says he is ready for a baby in the house....We told him he might not be quite so ready when he isnt getting so much attention.  I think he will be pretty good though.

After all the press yesterday about no longer making or selling drop sided cribs, Bob went out and bought a brand new crib!  We got rid of our old one, as it was really unsteady and needed lots of work.  Then we picked up one from a rummage sale this summer...which is drop sided.  So guess we have some more firewood.  Oh well...we wasted some money, but better safe than sorry right!  I thought it was pretty sweet that he decided to go out right away and get one, and he did it all on his own!  We have a bassinet for right now, but guess he has some time to put it together. 

You wont see any blogging this weekend from me.  I have decided not to bring the computer with me, and just take this time for family and hopefully getting some relaxation in while I am at the hospital.  So I will post some pics and do more blogging next week!  If I have any giveaways that say they have ended, but I havent actually posted the winners yet, feel free to still enter.  I will extend their closing dates to when I get back next week to pick a winner. 

yep I was right, my kiddo is trying to trick me

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We have a morning routine right now that Zach gets to turn on the Christmas tree lights and switch the numbers on the "Days til Christmas" countdown.  This morning he says "countdown to 8"...and I was thinking we were on 10 yesterday morning.  Sure enough the number said 9, not 10....I think he must have cheated last night while I was gone shopping and switched it to 9 so he could get an extra piece of chocolate!  Geez...now Bob's really gonna be picking on us.  He says we should be one day higher...although I say it could be either way...because technically after the last day marked off, we just have hours left, not days.  So I am have been going by what my countdown calendar on here says.  Oh well guess the rate we are going we will be at Christmas by Wednesday, especially with me not being around this weekend. (Go in for csection tomorrow).

updating this....Zach came home from school and once again switched the numbers after I switched them back...and was looking for that number piece of chocolate and wondering where it went!  That little poop!

Purely Products Healthy Night light review and giveaway

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Giveaway closed.

Congratulations Cheryl F.

Purely Products New Healthy Night Light ™ is An Air Purifier Inside a Night Light

• Cleans the air 24/7 when your family is asleep & awake! Pennies per year to operate

• Revolutionary Healthy Night Light™ (patent pending) an LED light with a built-in ionizer.

• Built-in ionizer releases negative ions that clean the air, removing dust mites, pollen, mold spores, pet dander, smoke and other airborne allergens.

• Cleans the air 24/7 even when the light is off

• Great for the nursery & children’s bedrooms

• Great for senior citizens’ living spaces

• Also perfect for hallways, kitchens, bathrooms, garages –anywhere low-level light at night is needed

• Automatic on-off light. Cool to the touch

• Effective in a room up to 12’ x 12’

• Long life LED 35,000 hours

• 1-Watt Very low energy consumption. Pennies per year to operate

• Available in cream, pink or blue

• 100% Happy 2 Year Warranty - unconditionally guaranteed for 2 Years

The built-in ionizer cleans the air by generating negative ions that attract positively charged airborne allergens (such as pollen, dust, mold spores, smoke & pet dander) and removes them from the air. Negative ions have been shown to increase levels of serotonin in the blood, delivering more oxygen flow to the brain and promoting an overall feeling of well-being.


I have been using the healthy night light in my bedroom, as I thought it would be good as we put the baby's bassinet in our room for the first few months.  My bedroom has always felt stuffy to me, especially at times when my husband seems to sweat a lot in bed.  I have definitely felt the room seems fresher since putting the healthy night light in it.  The night light is a perfect level of light, as it is not too bright, but has enough to give the room some light.  I originally had it in my sons room, but decided to try it in my room because I felt my room needed more freshening seeing it is warmer, dustier, and the pets go in our room more.  I am thinking I need to get one for each of the bedrooms now.
  


Buy it:  1 pack- $19.95; 2 pack- $29.95 at http://www.purelyproducts.com/healthy-nightlight/
A significant portion of every Purely Products purchase benefits diaperlove - - a non profit organization providing diapers to children in need.

Win it:One lucky reader can win one Healthy Night Light. ( Open to U.S. and Canada only.)
To enter : Like Purely Products facebook.  ( my apologies to non facebook users as this is a requirement from the company to enter).

Extra entries:
like my blog on facebook.
follow my blog with google friends connect.
subscribe to my blog.
follow me on twitter and tweet this giveaway (once daily)
follow Purely Products on twitter
write a review of my blog on alexa (3 extra entries)

(all my information for entries can be found in the sidebar)

This giveaway will end Jan 1 and the winner will be chosen by random.  Please leave a seperate comment for each entry.  The winner will be notified by email. 

disclosure:  This is a mamabuzz review.  I received the product for free from Purely Products.  This is my personal opinion from doing this review.

My favorite brand of snacks....Frito Lay

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I by far buy more Frito Lay brand snacks than any other brand out there! This time of year I use Frito Lay brand snacks more than ever.  You can find me serving up some nice hot chili and Sunchips for dipping.  Stop on by for some football watching and get some hot wing dip served with Tostitos.  For my husband who doesnt really like taco shells, you can find him scooping up his taco fixings with those tostitos also...or his favorite tostitos dips for nachos.  For me I am so picky about my salsas that Tostitos is the only brand salsa I buy!  Seriously you will not find another brand of Salsa in my shopping cart.  Also the only brand of corn chips you will find at my house is Fritos...gotta love their chili cheese flavored.  Their Fritos scoops are awesome for some homemade chili cheese dip!    Serving up some guacamole?  You gotta serve it with Tostitos hint of lime tortilla chips!  MMM yum! 

So as you see I could go on....so I guess I will share a couple more favorites too.  My husbands newest favorite is the late night cheeseburger flavored Doritos.  Wow have you tried them? They seriously taste like a cheeseburger!  Ok and for pregnant me....well you know pregnancy, gotta have those pickles.  I absolutely love the dill pickle flavored Lays potato chips!  If you find me with a bag of those, then you know I am happy!  The one thing I have been missing, because I have a hard time finding where I live now, is Smart food white cheddar popcorn....That stuff is the best! 

Ok ok so I went on again...I'm pregnant and love my snacks!  Ok so I love my snacks even when I am not pregnant.  Guess that is why I make a great Frito Lays Fan!


Did you know? 

· Frito-Lay starts with fresh, farm-grown ingredients, making many of our chips with just three simple ingredients: potatoes or corn, all-natural oils and salt.

· They were the first major food company to remove partially hydrogenated oils from our cooking oil way back in 2003. That means their chips have 0 grams trans fat because we use all-natural oils such as corn oil and sunflower oil.

· Many varieties of their chips provide whole grains like Tostitos® snacks, which contain 8 grams of whole grain corn per serving, and SunChips®, which brings 18 grams of whole grain per serving to your diet! SunChips® are also a good source of fiber.

· Frito-Lay supports American farmers and buys the potatoes used to make our potato chips from 80+ farms across 27 states.

You can be a Frito Lays Fan too....visit their blog to find out how and read more about what's new with Frito Lay.  You can even find some holiday recipes there too.  http://www.snacks.com/

disclosure:  I received free samples by becoming an official Frito Lays fan.  You may find my family eating some other brand snacks out their, but seriously Frito Lays is our favorite! 

#mamavation monday

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Well I havent been doing much for exercise this week, besides cleaning up the house.  I will most likely be going in on Thursday to have a csection.  We found out last Thursday baby is breech.  I go again tomorrow and if she didnt turn then will have to have csection.  This will be the first for that.  So I am guessing my healing time will be a little longer....any suggestions on ways to help get back into exercising after csection would be great.  I am assuming the stomach muscles are going to be even more sore than regular delivery. 

Well not much else going on besides that it is FREEZING here!  So I will try to stay warm and join you guys for the mamavation/ easports active 2 twitter party tonight! 

Costumes are not just for halloween... Plus size economy elf costume review

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How about celebrating this holiday season with some cute costumes!  Even at 9 months pregnant I was able to find a cute plus size adult costume to get some giggles from my kids.  I visited the plus size womens costumes and found this cute elf costume.

Plus Size Economy Elf  Costume

Additional Product Details :
This is a great Plus size elf costume for her or him featuring a felt tunic trimmed in gold stitching, collar with gold bells trimmed with gold stitching, gold cord belt, matching elf hat with bells and elf shoes with bells.

•SIZE Plus (Fits chest size 50-54 inches)

•Red/green elf tights and green pants sold separately.

I found the costume to be a very flexible fit.  As you see being pregnant I tied the gold belt up high, but you could wear it lower for a regular fit.  My hubby didnt get a picture with my elf shoes...and I gotta find some better pants to wear with it, but I wanted to post this before I wasnt pregnant anymore.  I thought it was great being able to find a costume to wear at 9 months pregnant, and something that I could wear again next year not pregnant!  The costume was a light weight felt material that was easy to put on.  The collar is seperate from the body so you could wear that seperate too...Here are a few pics of my son with the hat, collar and the elf shoes on.  The shoes fit me, without my shoes on.  I wear a size 8.5 shoe.  They were tighter with shoes, but probably could be worn over some light shoes if you needed to wear shoes.  I am not sure if they would fit on many mens feet.  You can purchase other elf shoes from the company too...and also the pants or tights that are shown in the picture above can be purchase seperately.  The hat was nice and stretchy, so it fit not only me but my 6 year old son also.  The costume in whole had many bells on it which ring easily when walking around.  (That is why my dog is so interested lol)

For other great costumes in many different sizes check out http://www.costumesupercenter.com/
They have adorable ones for the kids, and many different styles for us adults.



disclosure:  I received the elf costume for free to review from costume super center.  This is my personal opinion of the product.

Well we finally get snow....

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and lots of wind to go with it. I have no idea how much snow we have, seeing in some parts you can see the grass. Then the drifts look like this.

iCaughtSanta.com review and giveaway

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Do you believe?...or more importantly does your child still believe?  Well here is a way to help your child keep believing in Santa!  Catch Santa in your own photo by going to iCaughtSanta.com and creating a photo keepsake with Santa! 

iCaughtSanta makes it easy to print photos at home by supplying the pictures in many popular sizes including 4x6, 5x7 and 8x10. Also new this year... one-click photo-sharing via email, Facebook, Twitter and 30 other social networking sites.


The site offers more than 20 Santa poses ranging from the traditional (with milk and cookies) to the outrageous (being kissed by Mommy). Last-minute shoppers can purchase Gift Cards and eGift Certificates for loved ones... making iCaughtSanta a great gift idea even if you don't have kids; perfect for grandparents, God parents, friends, neighbors and nannies.

It is so easy!!!!  You simply upload one of your photos, choose a Santa pose, and rearrange to your liking.  Here is our iCaughtSanta photo. 

Are you looking for a photo with The toothfairy, cupid or the Easter bunny?... check out http://www.catchacharacter.com/media/.  Search: iCaughtSanta in the iPhone app store to catch Santa anywhere.  http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/icaughtsanta/id341400468?mt=8


For just $9.99 you can visit http://www.icaughtsanta.com/ to make your own.  My readers can get a 25% discount by entering the code:  FINDING-OUR-WAY-HOME

Also five lucky readers can win one!!!  To enter: Go over to iCaughtSanta.com (http://www.icaughtsanta.com/poses/) to choose your favorite Santa pose, then come back and tell me which one you like best.

Extra entries:
Follow my blog on facebook
Follow my blog with google friends connect
Subscribe to my blog
Write a review of my blog on Alexa (3 extra entries)
Blog about this giveaway linking back to this post (3 extra entries)
share this post on your facebook wall (3 extra entries)
Follow me on twitter and tweet this giveaway (once daily)

Please leave a seperate comment for each entry.  This giveaway will end on Dec. 19 and the winners will be chosen by random.org.  I will contact the winners by email, so please leave a valid email if it is not in your profile. 



I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

I'm back home

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well turning the baby did not work...she would not budge!  She was doing good though, so we got to go home.  We will schedule for a C-section sometime probably mid next week, unless I go into labor before that. 

Have to go to labor and delivery in an hour

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Well I had my 38 week appointment today and baby girl is breech!  So I am going in at 4:30 to labor and delivery to try to turn the baby.  So there is a chance that I may need a c-section if baby doesnt tolerate it well.  If we can turn the baby and everything looks good then I will probably come back home.  Then we will check again either if I go into labor or next week to see if she stays heads down.  So wish us luck! 

Thousand Thanks Thursday

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I just wanted to send out a special "Thank You" to all our friends that came over Saturday for a somewhat surprise babyshower.  Thank you MaryAnn and Dan for putting it together and getting everyone invited.  So sorry things didnt work out at first....poor MaryAnn got really sick the night before she was throwing us a surprise shower...so she then let me know about it.  It worked out well though and we had a really nice time.  We got really nice gifts and lots of well wishes!  Thanks everyone! 

THank you Andrea and Lexi for these yummy cupcakes!!!

and check out this adorable cake Maryann made...so cute!  and those yummy things in the bottom corner are so addicted...Thanks Tony for making your famous monkeyballs!

Thank you everyone for all the cute gifts....even those that couldnt make it to the shower!  You can let my hubby know I need a new camera...mine likes to take blurry pictures...so I am just sharing this one (or that you could tell I was getting tired, as I look like crap in many also lol).

Today I go for my 38 week appointment....last week there really wasnt nothing going on still...so hoping for some better results this week.  Last week I was measuring 38.5 weeks...and right now according to my regular due date I have 13 days to go, but according to my 20 week ultrasound I have just 3 days...So I am really hoping to get this baby out!  Although at the same time Kennedy has a fun day planned with school on Monday, so I guess I would be ok either way.  Also all that snow back home needs to stop soon so that my family can make it out here for Christmas like they are hoping to!  I am sure three feet of snow in the past few days is plenty for them!