Vintage Pearl Giveaway!

Happy Thursday friends. Anyone remember this post where I talked about this site I loooove, The Vintage Pearl? Well, it was a year ago and Jeffrey never got my subtle hints so I'm still wanting, wanting something, everything from their store!! Today they are doing a big giveaway on their site so check it out and enter to win. They are giving away 5 giftcards for $100 each and I want one. I tweeted, facebooked, and blogged about it so cross your fingers :)

9 months old

It's been a somewhat difficult past few months for Noah. Pediatrician appointments, pulmonologisy appointments, ENT appointments, urgent care, breathing treatments, steroids, antibiotics, ear surgery, ear infections, blah, blah. When it's all laid out like that it's not too surprising that I'm several weeks late with his 9 month post. I took the adorb pic on the day he turned 9 months old...just never got around to actually blogging about it.

I love that my kids are still mostly happy when they are sick. They smile and laugh and play. This is great news because if they acted as sick as they are sometimes it would make it 500x tougher on everyone. Noah is amazing. He's funny and has THE best laugh. His smile is oh-so cute right now as he still has just the two bottom teeth hanging out. They came in so fast one right after the other and then just stopped.

The lack of teeth have not slowed down his eating though. Holy crap this kid. He's still having about 25-30oz of formula a day and three solid food servings during the day. He eats the larger containers, plus we have to bulk them up with cereal because simple baby food just doesn't do it for him. In addition to those 7 meals we've added in snacks during the day which is always fun (& messy!). I wanted to give him finger food but when I checked around the house everything that would work had honey in it. Honey nut cheerios, honey graham crackers...after a quick shopping trip he devoured cheerios. Loved it. I kept giving him a handful of them which is like 20 cheerios and then they'd be gone and he'd be grunting/yelling/gibbering for more. I'd give him more and the same thing happened over and over until I realized I'd given him something loco like 6 handfulls. Another night I gave him a piece of bread, sans crust. He ate it and looked at me like, "um, what else ya got?" I grabbed a tortilla next and he ate that. The human garbage disposal wasn't done. I grabbed my new box of honey free graham crackers and he ate three whole graham crackers - this after the bread and the tortilla...and a whole meal of baby food+cereal!! Beast baby :)

nom, nom, nom - crackers :)

He wants to walk so badly and has really taken to his walker. Once we showed him that it would allow him to get around and see what was going on everywhere he loves it. He pushes it around everywhere and also thinks everything should be pushed around like this little walker. He'll stand up, put his hands on chairs, tables, his big jumper and push them around the room like a little tank. Yesterday I was feeding him and he stood at his walker - he'd take a bite, walk around a bit, return for another bite and so on. As for talking, he'll do the mamamamamama thing so I'm pretty sure we're going to say he says mama. yup. he does. He'll do dadadadada too but not nearly as much. It's only fair - Connor said dada first so I was due. Although he doesn't say the word NO yet, he's thinking it. Anytime we say No to him, which is often since he's threatening to walk, so he's into everything, he smiles and shakes his head vigorously. I love it. It cracks us up - we tell him no just to see him doing it. It cracks him up too!

the drying area for bottles, sippy cups and other kid stuff - note all the medicine thingies. geez.

(ps - the day I'm finally posting this Noah turns 10 months old! I'll get his 10 month pic posted but most of the stuff above is the same :)

Giveaway Winners Announced!

Thanks to all who entered to win the coupons for free Purex Complete with Zout! Hopefully Purex will keep it up and I'll get more goodies to giveaway soon.

Congrats to the winners: If you won, please send me an email (my email address in profile) with your email & mailing address and I'll get the coupons to you. If I haven't heard from the winners in two days (by Monday at midnight) I'll choose another winner.

Thank you!

PS - If you didn't win, never fear...Purex is challenging you to "Prove it to yourself" by offering a free sample of Purex Complete with Zout. Go to http://www.freesamplepurex.com/ and get yours.

A to Z

Thanks to Karen for posting this on her blog. I'm doing it too since I'm too lazy busy to post anything original.

A. Age: 30 - I'm good with being 30. Seriously. I can't believe I'm 30, but I'm good with it. :)

B. Bed size: We've always had a queen. Jeffrey desperately wants a king, but we have sheets and everything for a queen...seems like so much effort.

C. Chore you dislike: Dishes, and pulling weeds.

D. Dogs: nope. we lack both the time and patience to deal with anything that won't eventually end up taking care of us in our old age.

E. Essential start to your day: seeing my boys. I hate when I leave for work and they are still asleep. It's rare, but it makes me so sad.

F. Favorite color: I think Green is my favorite color. Jeff and I were talking about this last night and it was always purple, but I really think it's green now. Yes, green. It's decided.

G. Gold or silver: Silver

H. Height: 5'4"

I. Instruments you play(ed): Recorder in elem. That's it. I sang in choir though so I'll say that.

J. Job title: Resale and Disclosure Manger, Mom, Alumnae President. I got a lot of hats :)

K. Kids: Connor & Noah

L. Live: Arizona

M. Mom’s name: Barbara

N. Nicknames: Linds, mom...I think that's it

O. Overnight hospital stays: 3-one for each c-section and when I had my gall bladder removed

P. Pet peeves: People that can't spell correctly, poor grammar, "not my job" mentality...there are too many to list.

Q. Quote from a movie: "I wish I liked anything as much as my kids like bubbles" -Knocked up, "Tattoo on the lower back, might as well be a bullseye" -Wedding Crashers,

R. Righty or lefty: Right

S. Siblings: only, but 3 SIL

T. Time you wake up: 5:15am

U. Underwear: yes please

V. Vegetables you don’t like: Peas. Gross.

W. What makes you run late: Having two young children

X. X-rays you’ve had: numerous

Y. Yummy food you make: Meatloaf, casseroles, mexican food. I like to cook - when it's somewhat simple.

Z. Zoo animal favorites: Owls, duh.

A boy and his sock

Noah has an obsession.

Neither of our boys have ever been really attached to a blanky or a stuffed animal or anything really. Until now. Luckily, it's an attachment that's easily replaced, cleaned and switched out. Noah's obsessed with socks.

Daycare told us that he's always taking his socks and crawling around with them - all day. They also told me that if one of the other kids takes their socks off they always find them with Noah. Creepy, right? Yes is the answer you're looking for. I know. (shame) Fortunately for all of us, he doesn't scream until he has them - he just loves toting them around everywhere. They are great for distraction too.

We noticed it at home too and just kinda laughed at it. Then I noticed when I was looking through pics of the last couple weeks that I have a LOT with Noah and his security socks.

you can't see it really well, but he's holding onto a red sock here

trying to get Connor's socks off

I guess it could be worse, but it's just so funny. He doesn't care about color or size. He will find a sock in a pile of laundry and he literally carries it around with him everywhere. He'll crawl around and play for hours holding onto one (or two if he's lucky) socks. I love my weird kid.

Photos, photos, photos!

We took the boys to a Suns game this weekend. It was Noah's first Suns game and only Connor's 2nd or 3rd. Connor is so weird about basketball - he loves watching it but associates it with really, really loud noises. His cousin Jalen plays basketball and Connor HATES the screaming buzzer noise. We continue to try and rationalize with him that the noise is way worse at Jalen's game since it's in the tiny gym but he just wasn't buying what we were selling. Anytime we talk about going to a basketball game he puts his hands over his ears and talks about it being too loud. We surprised him with the Suns game so we didn't have to deal with it this time. We didn't tell him we were going until we put his new Suns shirt on and he handled it ok :)

Super excited waiting for the light rail. We take the light rail lots when we go to things downtown (unless they are at the ball park obv). It's just so nice to park somewhere and take the rail into Phoenix. No parking fuss, saves on gas, etc. Plus, Connor loves riding the train. This was Noah's first light rail experience, though I rode it a few times when I was pregnant with him.

clearly, he was thrilled about the first ride too

Noah did love watching the game though


this is a typical picture. Connor annoyed by all the picture taking and Noah trying to escape
this would have been a really great pic had the weirdo guy on the right not yelled Cheeseburger at the last minute, distracting bear. Thanks random guy, enjoy your beer.

Awesome parenting tip #345: Make your own baby gate so you can enjoy watching the game

it's been sicko central in the Barnes household, so there are lots of otter pops, or popsis as we call them, going on. Here's Connor teasing Bear with his. Bro love, gotta love it.

so cute. sadly, right after this pic was taken Connor let go of Noah and he fell over.

photographic evidence of why germs spread like wildfire in our house

Don't forget to enter my giveaway to win some free Purex with Zout - you can enter up to three times and the contest ends this Friday!

Purex Complete with Zout Review & Giveaway!

Today I got my first product since becoming a Purex Insider - me likey so far. I thought they'd send me a sample size and expect me to review it but no...full size Purex Complete with Zout thankyouverymuch. Super thrilled.

So thrilled that I pulled some of our constantly multiplying laundry out and started a load up. We don't really use fabric softener that often since I have two little boys with sensitive skin. We just usually use a free and clear detergent and then toss some free and clear type of fabric sheets in the dryer and call it a day. My laundry is going now so I'm anxious to see how it worked.

The first thing I realized is how yummy it smells. Since I normally use plain free and clear products I miss out on the smell. This is the Fresh Morning Burst and it smells somewhat berry to me. Very good, and not too strong. I can't handle when laundry has too much smell to it so I like this, as it's not too overdone.

I didn't have any tough stains to test this out on (shockingly) but it did get out some ketsup and some paint that connor came home with on his khakis so I am a pleased mama so far. I'm actually looking forward to testing it out when they bring home something serious like blood or grass. The product works as a pretreater too so it does double duty in that way.

So I've heard of Purex of course and I've heard of Zout but this is the combo of the two products that promises to clean your clothes and take on your toughest stains. With two dirty little boys I know tough stains for sure. (I just wish it could do something about jeans with holes in the knees!)

The product contains three enzymes to fight the stains:
1. Protease: works on protein based stains like grass & blood - both common in my house
2. Amylase: handles starchy stains like chocolate & tomato sauce - again, common stuff here
3. Mannanase: works on guar, which is more common than it sounds (but just as gross). It's in ice cream, salad dressings, bbq sauce and lots of other foods. This stuff is sticky which is what makes it so tough to get out of fabric
(don't be too impresssed, I took this info straight from the Purex fact sheet they provided me with so that I'm actually giving you accurate info)

GIVEAWAY - Purex gave me two coupons to give away here!! Hooray free stuff :) Each of the coupons will get you a FREE bottle of Purex complete with Zout Cleaner so be sure to get your entries in by Friday, March 18th at midnight. You can enter 3 times, so read on:

MANDATORY ENTRY METHOD

1. Visit Purex.com and in a comment come back and tell me what you think of the Purex Crystals they are bragging about. This is a brand new, not even out everywhere product. You must actually click through to Purex using THIS link, otherwise this entry will not be valid.

OTHER ENTRIES (to be done after mandatory entry)

2. Become a follower of this blog (see top right hand corner of blog). If you are already a follower, give yourself an extra entry by posting that in a comment.

3. Tell others about the giveaway via Facebook, Twitter, or your blog and leave a link to your post in your comment.

That's it, simple. I'll be randomly selecting the two winners and will notify you that you're entry was selected. I'll post the winner on Saturday the 19th and you'll have two days to contact me to claim your prize. Doesn't get much easier than that. Be sure to enter all three ways for the best chance to win :)

Thanks for checking in. I'm excited about this Purex thing. A way to try new products, let the manufacturers know what I think and give away freebies to my friends and those who read my blog!

Update to sicky sick sick

Well, we've all been to urgent care in the last 24 hours and the outcome: we're gross.

I drug myself into my favorite urgent care and was diagnosed with pneumonia. I was told that if the fever persisted for another two days I'd be hospital bound. I got a z-pack (my antibiotic of choice), a steroid and some codine cough syrup to help me sleep and control the incredibly painful cough that is seriously kicking my rump. The doctor told me that I'd feel noticeable better in 24 hours and he was correct. I still feel pretty miserable but most of the symptoms are gone. The cough is lingering and I can feel the junk in my chest but all the other stuff is way lessened. I can walk around without my body being in intense pain today so that is a great accomplishment!

While I was at my appointment, jeffrey took the boys to ped urgent care where we found out that Noah doesn't actually have RSV but that he has bronchiolitis again. Good lord! Not only that but his left tube (put in about 3 weeks ago only) is blocked. Fan freaking tastic. They gave us an antibiotic to try and battle the ear issue and later that night the other ear started draining which means that there's an ear infection there. So we're using the drops we have in both ears additionally. Hopefully we'll breakdown the blockage in the left ear and resolve the infection in the right ear. That's a twice a day thing. The oral antibiotic is twice a day too, but has to be done before 4pm so that's somewhat difficult. We've got to stay on the breathing treatments and they added another Rx to add into the breathing treatment regimine so we're loaded up on this whole routine.

Poor Connor. We thought he'd just have a bad cold or something but it turns out that he's got strep. He seems totally fine but his fever will not quit. We have to keep telling him to slow down and rest but he just feels ok so I suppose that's great news.

Jeff went to urgent care this morning himself and found out that he's got a bad respiratory virus

Regardless, they are both staying home with mom tomorrow.

I drove into the office tonight after dinner and grabbed a ton of work to do. I love being busy at work but I really hate that no one else knows what I do and can back me up if I am this sick. Job security is one thing but this is just crazy town. I don't talk about work often on here because, well just because. My office is run really, really lean and most of the departments consist of several people who all do the same jobs so they can step into each others tasks if needed. I'm a department of one and not a single person knows my job so I can't really take time away. Plus, my work is time sensitive and there are state laws that regulate how quickly I need to turn things around to banks, lenders, buyers, etc. so being behind really isn't an option. So hopefully I'll be able to get some work done tomorrow so that Tuesday when I roll in I'll just be 'normal' behind, not ridiculous behind. In other words, I'm kinda a bid deal.

On a side note, we're so thankful to our family for their help this weekend. My mom brought us a large batch of chicken noodle soup that we ate all weekend. I just had the last of it for dinner tonight and am thinking that I may make a batch of soup again this week - just so yummy! Jeff's mom really saved us today. I was pretty much quarantined to the room since bear and connor really can't get pneumonia. That left everything to Jeffrey who was really sick himself. He needed to get to urgent care so Diane came over this morning and handled all the medicine, breathing treatments, diapers, feedings, cuddles and everything else. She also bullied me into getting back in the room when I'd wander out and try to clean the kitchen or something else. :) I was mortified, but also incredibly thankful, when I saw her folding our laundry. We do 10-15 loads of laundry a week...seriously...and the clean loads were piling up, literally. That was a lifesaver!

That's it for now.

PS-I realized tonight that this is my 501st post!! Can you believe it?? That means I wasted the exciting 500th post on talking about germs and illness. Lame, but typical!

sicky sick sick

ugh. noah had a 3 week reprieve of sickness, if you don't count his ear surgery on 2/16. I don't count that because he came out of it with flying colors and didn't slow down a bit.

A couple days ago he started with pink eye - grossest thing ever - but we got it all fixed like immediately with an antibiotic eye drop. The next day the tell tale runny nose came and then yesterday morning he woke up with a fever. Excellent. Jeff stayed home with the boys yesterday and took him to the doctor. Hello RSV.

RSV is our nightmare. Connor had it at almost the exact same age as Bear and was out for 3 weeks. Horrible. It was tough. I remember he was the same size as all the kids in his class and then he was home with RSV for three weeks, eating much less than normal, and when we took him back we all noticed that he was a head shorter than his besties. Seriously though, there was a noticeable difference.

Yesterday while Jeff was home with the boys, my throat was super sore all day long. Last night it really hit the fan with full on hacking and junkiness. You're welcome. Jeff's not feeling stellar either but I stayed home with Noah today and Jeff took Connor to school.

Noah's eating hasn't slowed at all so I'm not worried with that happening. He is all boogery and has a hacking cough every now and then. The fever is gone so the worst thing we're dealing with now is that all the snotty mucus sits in his tummy and he usually spits up his first bottle in the morning. It's not like it's a symptom, it's just that his tummy is all full of nastiness from the drainage all night. No fun.

These next two weeks are doctor's appointment-palooza. We have his 9 month well visit (ha) on Tuesday, his Pulminologist follow up is Friday and then his ENT surgical follow up is the following Wednesday. I think it's really safe to say that once those three appointments pass, we will have had nearly 25 doctors appointments (just for Bear!) since Thanksgiving. No joke.

I feel so icky...and I am trying to get work done but Noah seems to be just as obsessed with my laptop as I am. As long as he's still fever-free tomorrow he's heading back to school. He's not contagious anymore and they will do his breathing treatments there which is great. We do a steriod treatment in the morning and night and then another albuterol breathing treatment every 3 hours. Poor baby :)

Ok, well I'm off to try and get a little bit of work done. Hope you're having a great week...it's almost over!