Fab Friday Giveaway: Mama Momo!

Y'all, i have been excited about this giveaway since June! You mamas out there are going to LOVE it!

Mama Momo is an incredible online resource and store for moms, especially moms who cloth diaper. Monique, the proud owner behind this fab store, is based in Charlottesville, VA. Lets find out a little more about her!

Monique became interested in cloth diapers while pregnant with her son, Kenneth. After a few trial and errors with diaper services and disposables, they finally bit the bullet and cloth diapered full time from their house. This is where the true diaper obsession started!

Like me, Monique found herself constantly talking about and giving advice to others about cloth diapers! Her obsession with all things cloth took off when she decided to open her own store in late August of 2008 and sell all the BIG names diapers that a lot of you know. Monique is now working on expanding the products she carries and is even working on creating her own cloth diaper line! Cool!

Monique's favorite product that she sells is the Northern Essence Diaper Salve. If you cloth diaper you know that it can be hard to find rash cream that is safe to use on your child AND your cloth!

Mama Momo's best seller is the Thirsties Diaper Covers. I've been contemplating trying these out--according to Monique, they are wonderful. She has NEVER had any leaks with them and she feels like they are the best covers out there for a reason and the sales show it. If you haven't tried this cover, Monique says you need to! (okay! I'm convinced!)

Despite the Thirsties being tops in sales, Monique thinks the Green Acre Designs Pockets should be the best seller! They are a sized side snapping pocket and are wonderful for babies with chunky legs. They come in cute color combinations too. I think they make cloth diapering a little more fun!

Want to buy some cloth diapers or accessories for your baby?

BUY IT!

Head on over to Mama Momo and use code TMM10 for 10% OFF (excludes bumGenius due to her wholesale agreement with them). HURRY! this code expires on the 8th! AND every purchase made will get a FREE Northern Essence Sample for mom or baby. NICE!

Want to try your luck?

WIN IT!

Monique is very generously giving away a $25 gift certificate towards any product in her store!

MANDATORY first entry: visit Mama Momo and tell me what you'd buy with the Gift Certificate. There are so many products to choose from so please do not choose something that I mentioned above!

Extra entries: (please leave me an extra comment for each valid entry)

• Buy something from Mama Momo (please tell me what you bought--5 entries!). Don't forget the 10% discount!!!
  
• Follow Monique's Mama Momo blog (one entry)
• Become a Fan of Mama Momo on Facebook (one entry)
• Follow Monique on Twitter (one entry)
• Tweet this giveaway. (One entry/day) Please tweet:

Win a $25 Gift Certificate from @MamaMomoOnline on @monkeysonthebed http://bit.ly/Sa3Lt

• Follow me or subscribe to my RSS feed (one entry for one or both)
• Extra special this week! Get a daily bonus entry by coming back each day and telling me something else you'd like from Mama Momo. Please comment with "DBE" and then your product of choice!
  

The fine print:

This giveaway is open to anyone who in Canada or the USA, aged 18 and older. The giveaway will end sometime on Saturday, August 8th. You must leave the mandatory comment before receiving extra entries. You must leave a way for me to contact you with each entry! I will draw a winner via a Random Integer Generator and announce the winner on this blog and email the winner as well. If the winner does not reply to me within 48 hours, I will draw a second winner. I reserve the right to delete your entry if you do not follow the rules listed above.

Thankful Thursday: Week 14

This week has been full of ups and downs with my grandpa but we are still thankful for the many small blessings God bestows on our family every day...here are a few from this week:

We are thankful...

1. ...that Esther Grace is doing incredibly well! If you remember, she is the sweet little baby who was born exactly THREE MONTHS EARLY (i know! crazy!) to our college friends. If you'd like to read her most recent post, you can find it here--full of good news that will leave you smiling!



2. ...for all my sweet friends from all over the world who are praying for my grandpa. My dad reported that within minutes of me and the twin sending updates via email, blog posts, facebook, and twitter, my Grandpa started breathing easier. God is powerful and hears our prayers!



3. ...for strong Christian friends that walk with Christ and listen to the Holy Spirit in such a way that they inspire "all who come behind them to be faithful"
   



4. ...{warning: this "thanks" is L-A-M-E!} that Jillian picked Ed in the Final Rose Ceremony. He was so my favorite from the first episode. YAY! {extra side note: No, i don't agree with everything they are doing from a moral/Christian stand point}





5. ...for a generous friend from church who took time out of his day to walk through two houses with J. He helped J see the potential, see if they were worth fixing up, and basically acted as a personal home consultant! Thank you Christopher!
   



6. ...that we are actually beginning to look at houses! yay!
   



7. ...for six (6) wonderful years of marriage that we will be celebrating this weekend (August 2nd). I love love love my husband!
   

W.o.G. Wednesday: Colossians 4:2 & James 5:16

{Quick side note: I usually use the NIV or NASB translation but am using the Living Translation today}

Colossians 4:2 and James 5:16

Colossians 4:2
² Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.

James 5:16
¹⁶ Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

{A picture of my grandparents from earlier this morning. His "sudden" change of appearance startled me and made his ailing health seem more real!}

My friend sent me those two verses after hearing of my grandpa's downturn in health.

I have to admit that my prayer life is largely pray-as-you-go time. It is not, unfortunately, something that I solely set aside time for on a daily basis.

I understand the value of it and I know the power of it. What gets in the way? ME and my LAZINESS. Oh what I don't give for a few extra minutes of sleep instead of time in the Word and Prayer.

These verses are meant to encourage me (and, maybe you!) to be more devoted to prayer, knowing that "The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results."

Tutorial Tuesday: Blue Ribbon Peach Cobbler

Well, I have 40 minutes to write this post before it is Wednesday! That is what two naps in one day does to you!

Okay, back to the Tutorial! I just made up the name "Blue Ribbon" but, seriously, this could win you a ribbon at any country fair. Trust me and try it!

First, the ingredients:

• 10 quasi-ripe peaches (you want to be able to cut them without them getting all mushy!)
• Heaping Tbl Cinnamon
• Heaping tsp Ginger
• 3 eggs
• 3.5 cups sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 1.5 tsp baking POWDER
• teeny tiny bit of salt (pinch)
• 3 eggs
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter

1) Peel all the peaches and then cut them into thick slices

2) Put the peeled, sliced peaches in a large bowl.
3) Measure a heaping TBL of cinnamon into a separate mixing bowl

4) Add the heaping tsp of ginger to the cinnamon
5) add HALF (1/2) a cup of sugar to the spices and mix mix mix!

6) Pour the mixture over the peaches and gently stir to coat the peaches.

7) Set aside

8) Combine the remaining dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt) in a new bowl
9) Mix thoroughly

10) Make a well in the middle of the flour/sugar mixture
11) Crack the three eggs into the center of the well

12) Blend the mixture together. It should be slightly lumpy
13) Melt the stick (1/2 cup) of butter in a bowl

14) While the butter is melting, pour the peaches+spices+sugar into a 9x13 baking pan
15) Evenly coat the peaches with the crumbly mixture.
16) Slowly pour the melted butter over the top making sure it is as evenly distributed as possible (sorry, no picture)

17) Bake at 350 for approximately 40 minutes
18) EAT it! But don't forget to take a picture of it before it is finished!

Prayer Request!

It was SO amazing and encouraging to read all the Twitter tweets and blog posts about how people all over the world were (ARE!) praying Baby Stellan and his MckFamily.

He is doing much better than yesterday but prayers are obviously still needed!

After reading about Stellan, thinking about Stellan, and praying for Stellan all day yesterday, I was amazed by the power of God and His people.

This morning my Dad called me and the twin to let us know that our Grandpa is not doing well at all today. He, like Stellan, has extremely extremely low hemoglobin and ALL of his counts are going down. This comes a day after he was stabilizing.

We KNOW that God is mighty and in control. We KNOW that God can heal our grandpa or chose to take him home. We KNOW this. While we pray for healing we also pray for God to be glorified and for His will to be done, whatever it is.

We ask that you join us in praying for our grandpa. He is a man of integrity, the father of 5 wonderful children and 12 incredible grandchildren (okay, i'm including me and the twin in that list but you get the gist). If you find a minute, please consider praying for healing for our Grandpa.

Thank you!

I ❤ Faces: Week 29

This week, the theme at I ❤ Faces is "At The Beach". I searched desperately for an incredibly sweet photo of my grandpa and grandma at the beach. Those of you who follow my blog know that my grandpa is not doing so well. He was diagnosed with an Astrocytoma Brain Tumor in its 3rd Stage of cancer. He had it removed, started chemo and radiation and everything was smooth sailing...

Until three weeks ago when everything was decidedly NOT smooth sailing. He has good days and bad days but he is actually doing MUCH better than 3-weeks ago thanks to the many prayers being prayed for him all across the nation and world.

Because of what he is going through, i wanted to honor and encourage him by posting that aforementioned picture But...I...Can't...Find...It. I'm so sad. I'll keep looking!

The last time we were at the beach was when we went to visit my Grandpa shortly following his brain surgery. He was doing really well and we took some great photos of him with Baby C. Sadly, none of those were on the beach.

But J and I took Baby C down to the beach and I found this picture especially endearing--the two people I love the most having so much fun together.

While mine isn't a "good" picture (like every week, I'm just entering to play along!), I cannot wait to see what amazing pictures of beaches + faces people captured. I know the opportunities for an incredible photo shoot on the beach are endless so please join me in heading over to I ❤ Faces and drooling over the other entries!

My father-in-law and sis-in-law, AND sister, all have great photos of the beach, too, so make sure you check those out, too! (links to come--this last sentence was a STRONG hint to them to post their own entry!)

Oops I did it again!

I forgot to announce the winner of this past week's giveaway: A little Bit Tipsy!

Thank you so much for entering and, of course,
Thank you, Cathy (from A Little Bit Tipsy) for your excitement and generosity!

WOW! #1 Won! I know it is a random integer so every number gets a fair chance but you just don't see "#1" being "#1" that often!

Congrats to Ashley, the mom behind THREE blogs...

but my new favorite...

The Hip Hostess

which is currently featuring THREE giveaways! Go enter!

Closd: Fab Friday Giveaways: Heidis Handmades

Well it is Friday again! Can you believe it? I couldn't yesterday--because I looked at my calendar and saw that I had forgotten to line up a giveaway for today! I advertised my lack of planning on Etsy's promotion boards and Heidi stepped up to the plate instantly! I am SO thankful for her!

Heidi is the genius behind Heidi's Handmades. She lives in sunny Florida with her husband (who is proud to claim the title of United States Marine!) and a busy mom to her three children.

Nine years ago, Heidi took a soapmaking class in 2000 and fell in love with the craft! After several years of playing around and making things for friends and family, she decided it was time to finally sell her creations. Then she found Etsy and, ever since, she's enjoyed every minute of Heidi's Handmades! Besides the websites listed in the giveaway section, you can find Heidi outside of Etsy on her website, MySpace, and Flickr.

Heidi only uses 100% vegetable oil, skin safe colorants and fragrance or essential oils in her products to make sure it's safe AND fun and delicious to use. NO chemicals! Now that is awesome! Heidi also makes many of her products immediately following a placed order. She loves the scent of Lavender (YAY! my fave, too!) and honey is her favorite material to work with...so lets see what she does with those:

Look at this scrumptious strawberry sugar scrub! I'd be tempted to eat it!

I thought this body spray was hilarious: Monster Away Spray! It comes in a lot of different scents that sound divine!

How about unwinding at night with a bath and a bar of chocolate soap? ooo la la!

I love ALL things lemon so this body butter would probably be my top pick!

She even makes candles! With a cousin serving abroad as an Army Ranger one holds a special place in my heart because 50% of the proceeds from this candle go to the troops! How neat is that?

Want it RIGHT NOW?
Buy it!

Heidi has had 999 sales! AND 100% positive feedback! WOW! She must be awesome!

She is offering 40% off to her 1,000th buyer's entire order! (In a paypal refund.) So what are you waiting for? Get on over to Heidi's Handmades and be her 1000th buyer!

If you miss out and are 1001, don't worry--there is still a 10% off discount code for Monkeys on the Bed! readers! Just mention that you saw her products here and she'll refund you 10% off your order.

Want to try your luck?
Win it!

Heidi is giving away a basket of bath and body goodies worth $15!:

Plumeria Hand & Body cream
Hello Sugar Soap
Rosehip Jasmine Body Spray

MANDATORY first entry: visit Heidi's Handmades and tell me your favorite product. There are so many to choose from so please do not choose something that I mentioned above!

Extra entries: (please leave me an extra comment for each valid entry)

• "Heart" or "Favorite" Heidi's Handmades etsy store (1 entry)
• Tweet this giveaway. (One entry/day) Please tweet:

Win a luxurious Bath and Body gift set from @HeidisHandmades on @monkeysonthebed http://tinyurl.com/ngqfps

• Follow Heidi on Twitter (one entry)
• Buy something from Heidi's Handmades (please tell me what you bought--5 entries!). Don't forget the 10% discount!!! OR 40% off if you are her 1000th buyer!
• Follow Heidi's blog (one entry)
• Become a Heidi's Handmade Fan on Facebook (one entry)
  
• Follow me or subscribe to my RSS feed (one entry for one or both)

The fine print:

This giveaway is open to anyone who is aged 18 and older. The giveaway will end sometime on Saturday, August 1st. You must leave the mandatory comment before receiving extra entries. You must leave a way for me to contact you with each entry! I will draw a winner via a Random Integer Generator and announce the winner on this blog and email the winner as well. If the winner does not reply to me within 48 hours, I will draw a second winner. I reserve the right to delete your entry if you do not follow the rules listed above.

Featured Follower: Love and Marriage

I'm excited to announce this week's Featured Follower on Monkeys on the Bed!

Drum roll please!

It is Elizabeth from Love and Marriage!

I remember when Elizabeth's gorgeous profile picture first popped up on my list of followers...(yes, I totally judged the "blog" by the "cover"). But, seriously, isn't this a gorgeous photo from her wedding (and, yes, its small but it is a profile pic!)?

Speaking of her wedding, Elizabeth is participating in Kelly's Korner "show us your wedding" linkup:

Elizabeth is a 24 year-old blogger that lives in Kansas (hello! i should have waved when we drove through it two weeks ago!) with her husband, Guy, and her two Doberman Pinscher's, Halle and Mosley, and cat, Luca.

Here is a sweet picture of one of her dogs when he was just a puppy:

Elizabeth is a bit of a dare devil (at least according to me!) because she just got a scooter! Fun! Scary! Cool!

Elizabeth recently wrote her own 100-top-things-to-do Bucket List. How neat! I'd love to write one of these someday...Check hers out here

I hope you'll spend a little time getting to know Elizabeth on her blog! One day soon she hopes to be blogging about pregnancy and mommyhood so stay tuned!


PS Do you want to be a featured follower one day? Please fill out this form--ONLY people who fill out the form will be eligible as I do not want to invade anyone's personal blogs unannounced and without being asked! Thanks for understanding!

Thankful Thursday: Week 13

Our summer days have been so busy playing outside that it isn't until we come inside for naptime (or bedtime!) that I remember..."Oh! I have a blog! Must. Write. Post."

So, here I am, a little bit late but ready to find 7 things to be thankful for this week! I hope you'll play along!

This week I am thankful...

1. that Baby C was only sick for 3 hours yesterday! Granted, she threw up 5 times and was very very sad and miserable BUT, after waking up from a nap, she was the same ol' happy-go-lucky kid with a VORACIOUS appetite!



2. for where we live--I am able to run all over the place and to fun destinations because there are...gasp...SIDEWALKS! Woohoo! Today we ran to Ikea. Fun times! I bought C some flowers to turn into headbands. They're going to be so pretty!
   



3. that my lactose intolerance issue isn't THAT bad...because I went and splurged a whole Dollar (yes, $1) on an Ikea Fro-Yo Cone. Now that was divine! and I was very thankful for the fro-yo, too, as we cruised around Ikea



Image courtesy of FroYoMind

4. for a neat crafter on Etsy who kindly stepped up to the plate to offer a giveaway for tomorrow when I FORGOT that I hadn't scheduled one. Oops! Thank you, Heidi!



5. that J is staffed on a local project for the next 9 weeks and 1 day. Even though he may come home late at night, i still get to see him. I almost don't know what to do with myself but I am enjoying making him lunches!



6. that the cats, Churchill and Margaret Thatcher (aka Maggie or Mags) are finally coming around to Baby C. It has kind of taken a while but I love their company and C finds them incredibly entertaining. You'll never see her crawl faster than when she spies a cat and wants to pet it!



7. and last, and most importantly, that my Dad is able to travel to Florida today to be with my mom and grandparents as my Grandpa currently battles the worst of his troubles since his cancer diagnosis. And, FOR YOU, for including my Grandpa in your prayers. I can't even begin to thank you enough!

Okay, enough about me! What about you?