Here he is!

Just a quick one-handed update while he eats! You can find some pictures here.

Welcome to the world Jackson!

Oh my gosh

In less than 12 hours I will be at the hospital, preparing to give birth to baby number two. I am so nervous, and so excited at the same time. I will update everyone when I get home!

Christmas and then Car Accident

Merry Belated Christmas all! I found myself very far away from the computer the past few days. Which is probably a good thing. Mason had an amazing Christmas. Santa brought the presents to Andrew's parents' house, so the whole family went over there. The amount of presents for Mason was just overwhelming. We tried not to go overboard, but there were other people also buying presents for him too. It is his last Christmas as the only little guy in the family, so I'm glad it was a good one. :)

I had a good Christmas too! I got a digital camera. Welcome to the digital age, right? I've never actually owned my own digital camera. It's about time. I also got a Tom Tom GPS for my car. No more calling Andrew when I get lost! (Which is a lot.) Andrew got an iPod from me and his parents. He was speechless when he opened it. We've been sharing my little 4G Nano, which does not hold enough music that both of us agree on. I got him a 120G, and he's barely got it halfway full. There will be a lot of new music downloading in the coming days/weeks I'm sure.

Mason got a bike! We hid it until all the rest of the gifts were opened. At that point he was having a meltdown and was crying because he just wanted to play with one toy. As soon as he saw the bike, he was completely speechless. That was the first time I've ever seen him speechless since he learned to talk! I wish I would have gotten his reaction on video. :/ He sat on the bike for about a half hour until breakfast. We couldn't take it outside because it was raining. He did finally get to ride it yesterday and he was very happy.

Now onto the car accident. We were stopped in a left turn lane at a red light. The light turned green for straight traffic, but not for us. The girl behind me reacted like our light had turned green and drove straight into the back of my car. It was so loud and I thought the back of my car must have been completely smashed up. All it left was a deep indentation of her license plate frame. Everyone was fine. I did call my doctor and I had to go to the hospital for a non-stress test to make sure the baby was okay. And he was perfect. I was kind of hoping that the shock would have broken my water or something, but I guess he just really doesn't want to come out. Well, I only have two more days until the scheduled induction, so it's not so bad.

I am officially not perfect.

Something bad happened today. I lost Mason. It was a case of "I thought you had him," and I never thought that I would ever do something like that. We were in my husband's office building and I was bringing the giant tray of cookies I made over to the kitchen area so everyone could enjoy them. Mason was standing near Andrew, but Andrew saw that he had a message on his business phone, and was waiting for an important call so he went to check it. The whole office is a big open area, so Mason was just right next to him, but when he started to walk away Andrew didn't notice. Well, in the 15 seconds that I had walked away, Mason disappeared. I was calling for him and I heard him say "Here mommy!" but I couldn't see him, and it sounded like he was in the elevators. Knowing how much he loves elevators, it's not surprising he would be in one. I pressed the buttons, hoping he had gone in but not gone anywhere. There's 14 floors in the building, so he could have gone to any one of them. I didn't know what to do so I went to the lobby, figuring if he wasn't there I could at least notify security. Well, sure enough, I went down to the lobby, and there were some people standing with him, and when they saw me running frantically out of the elevators they said "Is this your son?" I almost broke into tears. Not to mention I can barely lift him right now, but I've never picked him up so fast in my life. Ugh. Most horrible feeling ever.

I always snickered at those Duracell commercials about the child-locating device. Why would anyone need one of those? Well, now I know why.

My apologies

It's been kind of hectic around here, and I know I'm lacking in content.

Friday I had a doctor's appointment and I was 3-4cm dilated. I went again today for a checkup. Why so close together, I don't know. Anyway, I am still at 4cm, so no progress. If he's not going to come like tonight, I definitely would like him to at least wait until after Christmas dinner to make an appearance. I'd like to get through all the family stuff and let Mason have his Christmas, since this is the first year he actually understands and is excited. I just don't want to be in the hospital on Christmas day. But I know that's out of my control.

Also, if you use Twitter, and you would like to be among the first to see a camera-phone picture of the baby when he does show up, feel free to add me! @itsahumanzoo

Skin MD giveaway winner!

And random.org chose the winner to be...

Claire!

I am emailing her right now, and will send the product out as soon as I can! Congratulations to Claire.

Now, for those of you who didn't win, there's still a chance for you to try the product. If you go here, there is an address where you can send a SASE to receive free samples. There's also a guarantee, so if you spend $2 to buy the samples, you can get your money back if you're not satisfied. I hope everyone who wanted to try it is able to try it!

Pictures

Mason is a huge ham. When Andrew gets his camera out, Mason is right there cheesing it up. So when we came to the decision to get Christmas pictures taken, I didn't think it would be any trouble at all.

Well I was wrong.

He would not sit or stand or lie down in any of the positions that the photographer was trying to put him in. He kept sticking out his tongue instead of smiling. He kept leaving the frame entirely. He started having a break down. All he wanted to do was sit on this little rocking horse that was in the corner. Well, the picture we chose for the package we got is a picture of him on the rocking horse, because those are the only ones that actually had him genuinely happy.

I don't think we'll be getting him into modeling anytime soon.

Baby update

I had my ultrasound today to measure the baby, because my doctor thought he was measuring a little big. Well, the results are in. He's a whopper! By the measurements, she said that he is almost 7 pounds already. His head is huge though! 12.36" around! Mason's head was over 14" around, so if this one could just stop growing for a couple weeks, then I think I'll be okay. He's already in position, so it's just a waiting game now. I hope he comes sooner than later!

P.S. Don't forget to enter the giveaway! There's lots of chances to win. :)

Ornaments!

My favorite part about Christmas is decorating the tree with the family. My husband's parents get their tree and then my husband and his brothers (and families) come over to decorate. Last year we made some new ornaments, and decided to continue the tradition again this year. We started on Thanksgiving day by making some cinnamon ones, and a few days later we made salt dough ornaments. Last night we all got together and painted our ornaments. I wish I had some pictures to share!

I actually still have quite a bit of dough left and I think I will make some more ornaments to give to friends as gifts along with some homemade cookies. Anyway, I thought I would share the recipe we use, in case anyone else wants to give them a try!

SALT DOUGH

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup salt
1/2 teaspoon powdered alum
3/4 cup water

Mix all ingredients completely with hands.  (If dough is too
dry, work in 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons water.)

To Roll:  Roll dough 1/8 inch thick on lightly floured
board.  Cut with cookie cutters or cut around paper patterns
with sharp knife.

To Mold By Hand:  Form dough into shapes (flowers, fruits,
animals, storybook characters) no more than 1/2 inch thick.

To Bake:  Heat oven to 250 degrees.  Place ornaments on
un-greased cookie sheet.  Bake until completely hard and dry,
about 2 hours.  Remove from cookie sheet; cool.

Public Service Announcement

The CPSIA wants to make toys safer for children, which is great. They want to make sure that any item that is intended for use by children (clothes, hats, toys, etc) is heavily tested for lead. HOWEVER, they are trying to pass a very broad law so that not only are the toys imported from China being tested, but every single item sold in the USA has to be tested. For a small business or WAHMs, this means having their finished products tested by a third-party, which costs a minimum of $100 per item. I can see the end of a lot of etsy stores if this happens.

I agree that lead is hazardous and should not be in our children's toys. However, I have never heard of a WAHM recalling her products because of lead. Anyway, it's worded better on the petition. Check it out if you're interested!


"CPSIA Impacts on Children's Apparel Industry"
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/economicimpactsofCPSIA?e


Thanks!

Review and Giveaway - Skin MD Natural Shielding Lotion SPF15

*THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED*

Having several years of experience in the beauty industry, I was super excited when I was emailed and asked to review this skin care product. I have tried so many different lotions, I can't even keep track of them. But there's something different about this one. It's not your typical moisturizer. It's a shielding lotion. My first thought was, "What the heck is a shielding lotion?"

From the website:
Skin needs help to keep out these moisture-robbing irritants. A fundamental difference between Shielding Lotions and traditional lotions is that a Shielding Lotion enhances the skin's own natural protective abilities by turning the outer layer of skin into what could be described as a hydrating invisible shield. This makes Shielding Lotions many times more effective than mere "protective lotions and moisturizing creams".

So as soon as I got my package and opened it up, I started reading all the information that came with it. One thing in particular really stood out to me.

From Dr. Peter Helton:
"Nice thing about the antimicrobial effects of Skin MD Natural is that it contains homeopathic, natural ingredients that help to decrease bacteria. This is probably better than using the typical antibiotics that we use in medicine because bacterial resistance can be obtained with these drugs and essentially they become ineffective after a period of time. With homeopathic and holistic quantities that they have in this product it is much more beneficial in decreasing the overall bacterial load."

Score! I wouldn't consider myself as someone who has acne. But I would say that I occasionally get pimples. Usually only one or two at a time. But regardless of the amount, it's still frustrating. I don't use acne products on my face. I find that they either don't work at all, or make me break out worse. My face cleanser is just a plain, all-natural, foaming soap. This product goes along perfectly with the cleanser that I use!

You don't need to slather this all over your face either. I put a small dab on my fingertip, and it was more than enough for my entire face and neck area. The directions tell you that a little goes a long way, and that is the truth! I'd also like to mention, that a short time after putting this on my face, I noticed a difference in my skin. First of all, it is so smooth and soft. Not greasy or oily. Secondly, I'm usually a little pink around the cheeks and nose, but it wasn't there at all. I put this on before I had showered, so later when I did shower, I was surprised to find out that I did not need to reapply! My face is still soft and hydrated, even after washing!

Last but not least, this particular formula also has SPF15. As a skin care specialist, I always told my customers that the number one cause of aging is the sun. I can not stress how important it is to protect your skin, at any age! This product not only protects you from the number one cause of aging, but since it's a shielding lotion, you're also protected from the number two cause; free radicals in the environment. There are so many things that this little bottle of lotion can do, and I can definitely say that I am a fan!

WIN IT! 21st Century Formulations has generously offered me a second bottle of Skin MD Natural SPF 15 Shielding Lotion (A $25 value!) to give to one lucky reader! But I'm going to make you work for it!

How to enter:
Visit the Skin MD website. Look around, and learn something about it. Then comment back here telling me what feature of this product most applies to you, and why you would love to win it.

For extra entries you can:
-Subscribe to this blog via email
-Follow this blog
-Blog about this giveaway in your own blog and comment back with a link
-Post a relevant comment on another post in my blog (and comment back here saying you did, and you can do this up to six times)

You can earn up to 10 entries if you do all the extras. This giveaway will be open until 11:59pm on 12/18/08. I will randomly draw a winner the following day. I'll gladly send it anywhere in the world, so everyone is welcome to join! Good luck!

Surprise Giveaway Prize!

Since Tara got her package today, it's safe for me to post what I sent her! It's kind of a mish mash of stuff, but I thought it would be a nice mix of fun stuff just for her. Here's a pic:



From left to right we've got a back massager, lavender scented body cream, a photo album, a chinese caligraphy set, an oil warmer with creamy nutmeg scented oil, and a necklace. I hope that Tara enjoys this stuff as much as I enjoyed sending it to her! And I definitely can't wait to do another giveaway!

Winner!

Here are your random numbers:

27

Timestamp: 2008-12-01 18:02:59 UTC

Tara said... I am a subscriber

Congrats Tara! I am emailing you right now!

For everyone else who didn't win, stay tuned! I'll be doing another giveaway soon!