Zhu Zhu Pets Giveaway at Double Bugs

Did I mention my daughter is obsessed with zhu zhu pets? I think I did. And now there's another grreat giveaway over on Double Bugs to win one of these furry friends for yourself.  Head on over and enter. She has lots of other great giveaways going on too.

http://doublebugs.com/2009/09/08/zhu-zhu-pets-review-and-giveaway/

The Halfway Point

I am now twenty weeks pregnant. Yes, I know. I'm a cow and I look like should be nine months pregnant already. Nope, only 4 1/2. Is this really only the halfway point? It seems like I've been pregnant forever. This is partially because I had a miscarriage at twelve weeks back in April and than got pregnant again right away in May. I had to go through the whole first trimester morning sickness/exhaustion thing twice in a row. So that might be why it seems like forever.




Things have been rough with this pregnancy. I feel like I have every possible symptom imaginable from morning sickness to leg cramps. I don't remember it being this hard with my other two. Maybe it was because I was almost ten years younger. Plus I'm always worried about every little twinge. I've already been in the ER once with contractions due to dehydration. And between the miscarriage and the fact that my son was a preemie and spent his first two weeks hooked up to a respirator, I'm just a nervous wreck. I'm always wondering how bad things will be this time. I know I should be keeping a positive attitude. I am a firm believer in the power of intention. But believing it and keeping my head from going to those dark places sometimes are two different things. Your brain is a hard thing to control. I just wish a healthy baby was already here and in my arms so I could relax. And I will be more relaxed even if I am up all night every night for six months straight. In my world, that's the easy part. Bringing a healthy, full term baby into the world is the hard part.







On the lighter side, I have the craziest cravings this time around. I swear, I could eat French onion soup and scrambled eggs every day. And I don't want to touch anything sweet. Candy and cookies and stuff totally put me off when normally I have a major sweet tooth. And like I mentioned I am MUCH bigger this time. My first two babies were only six pounds when they were born, but I swear this one is trying to break that new record of 19 pounds. LOL And that would be okay as long as it was healthy!

Your Baby Can Read Giveaway at Momstart

Snugli Sway Soft Carrier Giveaway at Momstart

As a mom to be, I'm looking for anything to make things easier. Especially since I'm ten years older than I was the first time around. This Snugly Carrier is just what I'm looking for. You can enter to win one at Momstart.  Here is the direct link:

http://momstart.com/2009/09/snugli-sway-soft-carrier-and-on-the-go-breastfeeding-try-it-giveaway/

Gothkill DVD Giveaway-My First Blog Contest

In honor of Halloween, I'm offering up a great horror movie. Just a warning, it is pretty gruesome so make sure the kids are asleep before you put it on.

Movie description
A gang of modern-day Goths are forced to put their money where their mouths are when Nicholas Dread, the vengeful centuries-old spirit of a Catholic priest and Inquisitor who was burned at the stake along with two women accused of witchcraft, is awoken and ready to claim his kingdom: a city 100,000 corrupt souls.

For your primary entry, you must follow my blog and leave a comment on this post that you do. You must also leave your email in your comment or I will have no way to reach you.

For additional entries you can:

1) Subscribe to my feed

2) Follow me on twitter @gabbylowe (please leave your username)

3) Tweet this giveaway (please leave the link to the tweet)

4) Post this giveaway on your blog (please leave the link where this can be found)

5) Tell me your favorite scary movie

6) Comment on any of my non-giveaway posts and let me know which one

Additional entries will only count if you have completed the initial entry. Any comments which do not follow these guidelines will be eliminated. Winner will be chosen via a random generator. Once the winner is chosen I will email them and they will have 48 hours to respond with their mailing address for shipment.

THIS GIVEAWAY WILL END ON 10/15/09 at 12:01 am-Open to the US Only.

The Ghost of Christmas Presents Past

Its waas about 3am in the morning. I woke up to the sound of a low pitched whine. It sounded kind of like a dying animal. I wanted to ignore it, but I hear it again. Are one of the kids having a nightmare? Did the dog finally catch one of the cats? Grudgingly, I pull my big pregnant self out of bed. My hubby doesn't stir at all. I creep into my son's room first, but all is quiet there so I move onto my daughters room. The room glows eerily in the slight illumination on the tinker bell night light when I hear the sound again. Its was allot closer this time. Before I had a chance look around the room, the culprit turned to look at me, nearly scaring me out of my PJ's. Slowly, the head of Butterscotch Pony turns to face me, and lets out one final pathetic whinny before his batteries gave out.

Butterscotch Pony was the big one on my daughter's Christmas wish list year. Santa had to sell allot of homeowners insurance to be able to afford the $200 plus gift. And where is it now? Still sitting in the same corner it was put in the day after Christmas, barely ever touched again. In addition, the set of tinker bell fairy dolls she received were still in the bottom of her toy chest in the packages. I guess she's at that middle age where she's starting to loose interest in dolls. It makes me wonder what I can possibly get her this year. She already has a DS compliments of my ex and I hate how much time both kids spend playing on them. But at least my son will still play with action figures and get off his rump and go outside once in a while. My daughter would stay permanently glued to the sofa if I let her.

Oh well, I knew the day would come when the barbies would be cast aside for bigger (and more expensive) things. I just can't believe that day has already come.

Organic Elderberry Review

My husband and I are both into natural and homeopathic remedies, so this summer when he had a serious attack of sciatica I hit the google search engine to try to find something other than the steroids the doctor recommended. I hit pay dirt when I discovered Organic Elder Berries from www.SharpWebLabs.com. I can't boast about this product enough. I feel like the found the fountain of youth!

Elder Berries are dried and can be seeped to take a fresh herbal tea. I first purchased the berries in the heart of the summer when it was too warm to make hot tea so I tried making it iced. Now as much as I like my new age and organic products, I normally dislike most herbal teas, finding them somewhat bitter. I was amazed to find that this one tasted very similar to fruit juice when iced. Even my kids liked it. And not only did it taste great, but it worked miracles for my husband. He would have a glass every night and the pain in his back and leg caused by the sciatica would immediately loosen up. He allowed him to get a good night's sleep with no muscle spasms.

Fast forward to this week, and I here I am home with bronchitis. I'm expecting so I'm limited in what I can take, and like I said, I don't really like taking drugs anyway. Going back to the search engine, I find that elder berries are also great for colds. So I make another batch, hot this time. Its just as tasty warm, and I didn't even need to add any sugar. A few sips into it, and my chest felt a lot lighter. I've barely coughed at all since I drank it this morning and my sore throat is completely gone. Best of all, its all natural and completely safe for my baby--a fact I confirmed with my OBGYN before drinking it. Again, I have to say I think I found some kind of magic elixir. Its just too good to keep to myself.

I purchased my package of elder berries from a great little website called www.sharpweblabs.com They have a wide range of 100% certified organic products to choose from and I found their prices to be very reasonable. A bag of elder berries is $13.99 but they will price match if you find a better deal! The quality is excellent with Sharp Web Labs, so I wouldn't even bother going anywhere else. Don't wait to get yours! With cold and flu season swiftly approaching, I would recommend everyone keep a bag of elder berries on hand.

***Please note I received no compensation of any kind for this review***

Zhu Zhu Pets Giveaway at Playground for Parents

Zhu zhu pets are my daughters new obsession and I have to admit I like the idea of a toy hamster instead of a real one. We had a gerbil a few years back and I hated having to clean out its stinky cage. Playground for parents is giving away a hamster of your very own. You can enter here.

http://www.playgroundforparents.com/playground_for_parents/2009/09/birthday-bash-giveaway-6-toy-from-zhu-zhu-pets.html

Keurig Coffee Brewer Giveaway

Coffee with the Mrs. and Shoffee are having a great giveaway for a Keurig Coffee Brewer. We use this coffee at work, and let me tell you, its awesome. I especially love when they get a box of various flavored coffees (in decaf at the moment since I'm expecting). Making one cup at a time guarentees that every cup in delicious. And let's face it, no one likes getting the sludge from the bottom of the pot. I would love to have one of these at home and you should want one too!

Here is the one to the giveaway:

http://www.coffeewiththemrs.com/2009/09/shoffeecomkeurig-brewer-review-giveaway.html

Another Casio Giveaway

I really want to win one of these so I'm posting another giveaway. You can check it out at Coffee with the Mrs. She has lots of other great contests going on as well. Here is the direct link to the casio giveaway.

http://www.coffeewiththemrs.com/2009/09/casio-exilim-ex-s12-digital-camera.html

Win a Casio Camera from 3 Kids & Us!!

http://bit.ly/tpuaB

You can win this great camera over on the 3 Kids and Us. Enter now!

You can also check out lots of other items from Casio here:

http://www.casio.com/products/Cameras/

Great Giveaways at Simply Stacey!!

1) You can win this great bella ring at Simply Stacey's and Anastasia Rinaldi Design . Check out all her other great designs.

Check it out here http://stacievaughansblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/anastasia-rinaldi-design-twilight.html

2) You can win a bag from Envirosax in the design of your choice.

http://stacievaughansblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/envirosax-review-giveaway.html

Introduction-My first Blog Post

Well, I've been lurking around the blogging world for a few months now, entering giveaways and reading reviews. I'm been bouncing the idea around for awhile of starting my own blog, but I kept putting it off. Was it going to be beyond my level of computer literacy? Was it going to be too time consuming between work and school activies? But I decided to stop making excuses and just give it a try. I'm going to start off with intoducing my little family.

The picture above is of my two kids. Gabrielle is 9 and started third grade this year. Frankie is 7 and is in first grade. They both play soccer, basketball and judo which keeps mom running around most nights.

My husband Timmie is my soul mate and the love of my life. We met on the internet on yahoo personals (I told you I was an internet junkie), and got married this past March. We are expecting our first child together this February and we can't wait. Either can the kids. Everyone is all about babies in our house right now. We'll see how long that lasts!

In addition to the kids we have two cats, Hercules and Stripes, who spend most of their time fighting with eachother, and a six month old golden retriever named Amber who has already eaten all my favorite sandals. LOL

So as you can see we have a full house that's soon to get even fuller.

Well, that's about all I have time for right now. I'm hoping to make lots of friend out here in cyber space and hope to be offering reviews and giveaways in the near future.