The Mommy of All Baby Events!

Today Loblaws started an amazing new program for moms.  The Mommy of All Baby Events is running from October 10th-October 24th.  

I was checking it out and they have some pretty great deals going on, as well as contests!  You can win a $5000 RESP or 1 of 3 $250 Joe Fresh gift cards!!

I have been shopping more frequently at my local Superstore and Zehrs.  I love that I can go to one store and get my groceries, medicines, eyeglasses, and clothes all in one stop!  If you read my blog you know that I have a pretty busy life, between my own 5 kids, plus my bff and her 4 kids (I get my brand new baby fix when I see her;-).  We are always running to a store, or a program, or an event or a school activity etc...it just never ends!

This is my sweet baby girl Ava, that I get to hand back when she cries or is poopy;-)

I was checking out some of the deals at our local Zehrs, and I think I was more excited about the diaper and wipe deals then Ava's mom was!!  

Another important aspect of life when you are expecting, or enjoying your new baby is being healthy.  It is easy to forget to eat healthy when life becomes busy with baby.  I know first hand...I don't even have little ones around all the time, but I still forget about breakfast some days.

During The Mommy of All Baby Events there are Healthy Eating for Mommy and Baby classes in the cooking school.  There are 2 listed in our area and I am thinking that I may go along with Cheryl and Ava, just because it sounds like fun!  It costs $10 for the class, but you walk away with a $10 gift card afterwards, so it really is free!

There is also a feeding guide to follow during the different stages of baby's nutrition and a section on pre-natal health.  

To save time when I am shopping, I find that if I have planned my meals out ahead of time and written out my grocery list (which I get my kids to help out with), my trip to the store is so much quicker.  I will also try to fit my shopping trips in when I am either on my way to or from work, so that when I get home I don't have to go out again.

What tips do you have for saving that precious time that runs out all too quickly?

Disclosure: I am a P&Gmom/mamanP&G. As part of my affiliation with this group I receive
products and special access to P&G events and opportunities. The opinions on this blog are
my own. 

Pampers Through the Stages Giveaway

With 5 kids we have used our fair share of diapers! Now, with Faith finally fully potty trained, day and night we have just finished the final stage of diaper wearing. My best friend is just about to have a baby girl and I am excited to smell the new baby, cuddle her and do the occasional diaper changes...

Some of the PG Moms that I have met through this program created some videos to share with readers about the stages and advice that they have to offer to new moms and parents on the diaper to potty training journey.

Pampers Swaddlers are so soft for newborns! They keep your baby dry and comfortable.

Pampers Cruisers are a great transition for when your baby is on the go!

When we potty trained, we used a sticker chart too!  It was a great instant reward for my kids!

Pampers Village is a great way to get questions answered and collect points for some cool gifts!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I am a P&Gmom. As part of my affiliation with this group I receive products and
special access to P&G events and opportunities. The opinions on this blog are my own.
By entering the following contest you are accepting that if you win your contact information will be shared with a P&G PR and shipping agency for the purpose of mailing your prize. Please allow 4-6 weeks from the contest closure date to receive your prize.  This giveaway may appear on other blogs as part of the #PGmom program. However, to be fair, you can only win once per giveaway. If your name is chosen more than once, another winner will be selected.

Cheerios First Foods Blog Tour

Cheerios are more then just a great first food, they are great for edible crafts too!!

So, I have 5 kids.  It is neat to see how things changed from the first baby to the last one.  I remember, about 15 years ago, being a young mom, having read all the books, I knew how to handle the first foods my baby was going to be given.  There were set guidelines, at this age cereal, at this age veggies etc...

We started with the regular stuff, rice cereal, peas (which were mostly spewed across the kitchen), some fruits.  The best though was when he was old enough to be able to eat some foods on his own.  The first time he had a cookie, or some Cheerios, was very exciting!  It was the first sign of independence and a little bit more freedom for me:-) 

After him as our guinea pig, we were a little more relaxed.  We knew more and were comfortable with our previous experience.  We were a little more lenient with the ages, and what we introduced when.  Our second child was eating chicken breasts at 9 months!!  She was crazy, but loved to chew away...I bet it felt nice on her gums (this is not reccommended...she was a very advanced baby - in everyway, now she is 12 going on 19 most days).

We would regularly make our own baby food and loved to carry convenience foods with us.  It was great to be able to throw a handful of Cheerios or baby cookies into a container and have them ready at any moment. 

Something else I used a lot, when we finally got a computer (I am not sure how I lived without one for so long;-) was the Babycenter It is such a helpful site.  I signed up right at the beginning of my pregnancies, and I still receive emails about Faiths age and stage!  They have a great community that I have been able to connect with and a plethora of information!  It is like a lifeline for me:-)

There is a new section on Babycenter now, called Cheerios First Foods that is brought to us by Cheerios. This new section is full of articles, recipes, what the experts are saying, polls and something I think I just may find handy...Meal Planning sheets, plus a first foods diary and a caregiver meal sheet!  There are even some great videos to check out.  This is definitely a great resource for parents to help work through this new stage of development.

I am hosting a cool Cheerios giveaway on my blog.  The Cheerios Prize Pack ($50 value!) will include a: Cheerios On-the-go Tot Container, Cheerios playbook, Box of Cheerios, Bowl and utensil set and a $30 Cash Card.

The contest ends February 14 at midnight EST
 
MANDATORY ENTRY:

• All you have to do is leave a commet sharing your feedback about the Cheerios First Foods section.

For EXTRA ENTRIES:

• Follow this blog - Mom's Musings - on Google Friend Connect (it's THAT easy!) The "Follow" button is in the right-hand sidebar
• Following Mom's Musings on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway – #giveaway - $50 Cheerios Prize Pack from @momsmusings http://tinyurl.com/4s9knhr CAN ends Feb 14th (RT once a day for more entries)
• Like Mom's Musings on Facebook
• Follow Mom's Musings on Networked Blogs
• Subscribe to my blog by email (in the right hand sidebar)

Disclosure - I am participating in the Cheerios First Foods program by Mom Central on behalf of General Mills. I received a gift card as a thank you for my participation. The opinions on this blog are my own.

10 days overdue...

Yup, 10 days overdone is more like it. I am heading into the hospital today to see if there is anything new that can be done to help this baby along!!

Will keep you posted...

Potty mouth and baby names

Yup, my titles are sooo original...

We definitely have a problem here, Cutie Pie's mouth has surely sunk into the gutter and it is being used in full force...

Last night, we had another mouse incident...Mr. Hockey was in the kitchen and heard a snap, being an 11 year old boy, he opened the cupboard immediately to watch the mouse die. Well, that mouse was only caught by a leg...mmhmm...

It literally jumped out of the cupboard and started running around the kitchen. It tried to duck back into its hole but that darn trap was too big...

All the kids ended up in the kitchen watching this poor little mouse run around like crazy and I was in the living room yelling at them to "GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN, NOW", and yes, it was all in caps...

We just left the mouse until Pete got home, and he could be the one to deal with it this time...I have posted earlier about my dealings with live mice, so it was now his turn.

He had brought a friend home just to switch vehicles and drive the guy to his house on the way to soccer. His friend is not a Montreal Canadiens fan (can you blame him;-) and found one of Pete's hats and proceeded to bring it outside as Pete was setting the mouse free (it got away from him before he could kill it...much to Princess' happiness)

His friend said that he was going to kill the mouse with the hat, and when the mouse ran away, he gave the hat to Cutie Pie and told her to go to the bathroom in it (yeah, aren't we the most politically correct family you have ever met? I am sure our children will be scarred in some way...we will leave it to the therapists to handle down the road)

Cutie Pie, in all her cuteness says, "I am going to throw this hat in the damn garbage". Um, yeah...where did that come from? We really need to watch what is said around our kids. This time, I threatened soap...this was not just a rhyming mistake...she used it in the right context...

Isn't our house fun? Don't you want to come and live with us? Think of all the great things your kids can learn here!

And now, onto baby name selection...we have 2 winners!! If we have a girl, she will be Emily Faith, and if we have a boy he will be Justin Riley and that is that. No more changing...

Alrighty, have a great day everyone, I am sure I will have something even more exciting to post soon...it never ends here...

Is it a boy or a girl???

Short post this morning...

I am going in for my ultrasound today. Hubby can't make it, so I am bringing in an envelope and am going to have them write it down and seal the envelope. Then when hubby gets home, which won't be soon enough, we are going to open it and find out together...

We have a girls name picked, Emily Faith, and a boys name tentatively picked...I am not 100% sure that I like it, so it could change...Curtis Samuel. Though I think he would be called Samuel, regardless...cause that is who the kids have been praying for...

Right now, we have 1 son and 3 girls at home, and 1 girl in heaven. Mr. Hockey came first, in August 1995 then there was Princess in March 1998, Angel in December 2000(should have been January 2001), Cutie Pie in December 2001, and Pooky in April 2005. I am not sure if that changes what to expect or not...I am due October 2007.

You have a day to put in your guess as to what the gender is going to be...I will post the results tomorrow night.

It's Official

Our Princess is starting school tomorrow. She is ecstatic and so are we. I will have to get some batteries for the camera to take a picture of her "first day of school". This is a first for our family, we have done preschool and stuff like that, but this is real school.

We decided on the private school out in the country with a more relaxed feel. It is a nice small class of about 13 kids (mixed grade 3 and 4) and I like the fact that it is not promoted by a particular church, so they are more focused on being Christian and not a denomination.

On another note, we have a midwife appt. today and are really hoping to hear a heartbeat, finally. It has been a long month of waiting for this. I so desperately want to hear that sound of life in me. I feel like I have felt some movement, but can't be sure that it wasn't gas either.

I am going to say that we would like an ultrasound to determine the gender and we will have to decide whether we really want to or not. I want to know and hubby is not sure. I have felt, ever since losing Angel, that I have a much closer connection to the baby when I know the gender. We can pick a name, start getting prepared and feel a bond growing stronger. That is just how I felt afterwards, with the last 2 babies. Might not make any sense to anyone else, but that is how I feel.

Alright, going to go and get lunch finished for the kids.