Memos from Mommy is back! And this time it’s sponsored by Twist Organics Water, which is USDA Certified organic, less than ten calories, non carbonated, preservative free, all natural water flavored with a “twist” of fruit flavor and organic agave nectar. They sent me six bottles to try and I’ve sucked them down all weekend, starting with Saturday morning after my long training run (9 miles!).  My favorite is West Indies Lime …mmmm…tropical.

I look at Twist as not an alternative to bottled water, but an alternative to drinks like sports drinks, juice and vitamin enriched waters because I can’t get behind buying bottled water. I’m a firm believer in buying a good re-usable bottle (like a Sigg) and getting water from your own tap, even if you have to filter that water with one of the many inexpensive at home filters for your tap. However, if I am thirsty for something with a little bit of flavor, maybe reaching for a calorie and sugar loaded bottle of juice to pack for a picnic, I would be happy to reach for a bottle of Twist instead, and then I would be sure to RECYCLE that bottle when I’m done.

And I have to say, it gets Kendall’s stamp of approval. I split my strawberry flavored bottle with him yesterday and he couldn’t get enough. (I finally broke down and poured half in his sippy because he kept getting all his goldfish backwash in my drink. Blech!) I normally water down some juice for him a few times a week as a treat, but this was a nice substitute. It’s less calories, just as much flavor and organic. Totally helped me gain some Mother of the Year points.

(Click on “Find Us” to see where you can pick up Twist. Retails for 1.29-1.49/bottle)

There will be three winners this week and each winner will get to try two flavors of Twist. To enter MFM just submit your own open letter to your child/ovaries/bellybutton lent/pool boy in the comment section. The three winners will be chosen randomly by Random.org next Monday. Anyone can play, but only posters with US mailing addresses are eligible for a prize this time.

Memo time…

Dear Kendall,

You are amazing. Your brain must be busting at the seams with all the cool things you are learning. Seriously. I love you in all your toddler-ness. You are so much cooler than you were a year ago with colic. You make me terrified of newborns. You make me want to gestate the next one for 24 months so that I can birth a babbling, baby signing, happy, belly laughing, book reading, watermelon loving little person.

Perhaps I am feeling this way because you are at “school” right now and I’m not the one chasing you or feeding your massive quantities of messy food. Perhaps I will long for the days that you didn’t move from the spot I left you when you return home later today and I have to save your life, AGAIN, by catching you before you fling yourself from the top of the couch onto the fireplace hearth. But, for this moment, as I look around the tidy living room just waiting for your return so you may tear through it like a F5 Tornado, I am loving toddlerhood.

Love,
Mommy

Kendall is almost 15 months old

**** This giveaway is closed. Congrats to Emily, Steffy and Roshelle! Thanks for playing.****

I am so excited my friend Sam, an amazingly awesome person and artist, is sponsoring this week’s Memos From Mommy! Sam does more than just paint and draw.  She’s truly passionate about her subjects and goes to great lengths to advocate for their well-being and the preservation of their environments.  Who are these lucky subjects? Bugs! And frogs! And bees! And lots of other cool nature stuff. You can read more about Sam and all she’s doing to help the environment while pursuing her passion for art here.

Sam sent us two vibrant frog prints as a gift when Kendall was born, and they now adorn his bathroom walls with matching primary colored towels and shower curtain. I love that they aren’t cartoonish but they don’t look like something out of a science book either. Kendall has mastered the baby sign for frog now and sticks his tongue out (which happens to be the actual baby sign for frog) every time they catch his eye.  They are cheerful but not childish, making them great pieces of art to last for years to come.

The winner of this week’s Memos From Mommy will win an 8×10 print of their choice from Sam’s gallery. Check it out, and you’ll see there’s a lot more than just frogs to choose from.  Enter your memo in the comments section below. Get creative. Remember, it doesn’t necessarily have to be to your human baby, mmmkay? The winner will be selected next Monday by Random.org and notified via email. Good luck!

Dear Kendall,
I just want you to know, in case the day never comes again, that at some point in your early life major news networks reported things like actual news and not the latest location of Michael Jackson’s lifeless body. 

Love,
Mommy who is pretty happy to not work in a newsroom right now

Kendall is 14 months old and the King of Pop is dead

***Entries are closed, the winner is comment #4 (as drawn by Random.org). Congrats Sarah!***

This week’s Memos are coming at you thanks to Rhea over at Sunshine Diapers. That name may ring a bell if you have been following my cloth diapering experiences.  This is the company that does the awesome Newborn Kissaluv Rental Package that worked so well for us.  They were also the Featured Sponsor of my first ever Cloth Diaper giveaway.  Rhea has been super helpful over the last year, always very quick to return an email or phone call when I had questions.  

They sell more than just cloth diaper stuff, as well, including Charlie’s Soap, which is a great detergent that you can use on all your laundry (although it happens to be excellent for cloth diapers, too).  We’ve been using this as our main detergent for nearly a year now and have loved it.  It’s also really cost effective, especially when you buy 4 bags and get free shipping. We bought 4 bags about 9 months back and I don’t think we will need to buy more until close to the end of the year.  That says a lot considering the massive quantities of laundry we are doing around here.

The winner of this weeks MFM will win a Sunshine Diapers Green Pack, including lots of “green” goodies, like a canvas bag, a reusable Iplay water bottle, a Charlie’s Soap and Charlie’s Soap To Go sample, a Baby Bits sample and some reusable wipes (which have many purposes, even if you don’t cloth diaper), a keychain and a free shipping coupon.

Just post your own Memo in the comments section below.  Memo to your child, twinkle in your eye, lol cat, whatever.  Winner will be drawn by Random.Org next Monday.  Have fun!

Dear Kendall,

You are not yet two. You are, in fact, nowhere near turning two. You are merely one and some very small change. So this whole crying for no apparent reason, throwing yourself on the floor, turning to jelly anytime we try to remove you from a dangerous situation that all just smacks of the Terrible TWOS can stop. Right. Now.  Oh, and those 2 year old molars? They better wait a good 10 months, too. I am so over teething and looking forward to a break now that you’ve got a full set of chompers. Seriously, overachievement isn’t always a good thing.

Love,
Mommy

Kendall is 3 days shy of 14 months and a VERY long way from TWO

***This week’s MFM is now closed. The winner, drawn randomly by Random.org, was commenter #21, Jill. Congrats Jill! Awesome name ; )****

Now, all that “lovely” stuff is great, but what’s even better is that Pangea Organics is a company with the planet in mind, too.

Pangea Organics was born out of the desire to do right by the planet, and is continually looking for more ways to live up to that dream and let you in on the fun, too.  Hence the idea behind the new Radiance Gift Sets.  Just when you think you’ve received a lovely box of organic skincare products — surprise!  You’ve also been given the gift of giving back to the earth by way of a spruce tree.  Inside the fibers of the Radiance gift boxes, there’s a Spruce Tree just waiting to be planted. 

 Americans emit, on average, five (5) tons of carbon per year per person?  While a single tree will absorb only one (1) ton of carbon dioxide in its lifetime. If everyone plants their gift box this year, there will collectively be 2,500 trees planted – that’s equivalent to NOT driving roughly 615,000 miles in one year!  The average lifespan of a spruce tree is 75 years, that’s an energy savings of approximately 46 million miles.  What a difference you can make in your very own backyard! 

 The gift boxes are 100% compostable, biodegradable, plantable and made from a Zero-Waste process using 100% post-consumer newsprint, without glues and dyes. The outer labels are made of uncoated Monadnock’s Astrolite PC 100 paper (100% post-consumer, FSC-certified, elemental chlorine free, and printed with vegetable based inks). 

 What we choose to consume today, directly impacts how we – and future generations – will live tomorrow.  With that in mind, 5% of net profits will go towards helping build the Pangea Institute, an emerging non-profit organization dedicated to researching and teaching all aspects of sustainable living and business practices.  Choosing to buy Pangea Organics means you, too, are positively impacting the future.  

 

To enter to win your very own Radiance Gift Set by Pangea Organics, just submit your own Memo to your child/fetus/pet/pet rock/favorite nose hair in the comments section below. One will be randomly chosen by Random.org next Monday (only open to US residents this time, sorry other countries!).  If you aren’t lucky enough to win, you are still lucky enough to get a really great deal. This set, valued at $167, is only $100 with free shipping right now.  I know that’s a hefty chunk of change these days, but these are full size products you’re getting.  So if you’re in the market for these things, or even just in the market for a nice self indulgence or a great gift, this is a good value.  You can also buy the products individually.  I LOVE the scrub and the mask.

Memo time!

Dear Kendall,

What language are you speaking? What planet were you sent from? Where is your translator? “Duhb, cuck nab NAB gaaa GOG” means nothing to me. I’m so sorry you are frustrated with my lack of comprehension.  Perhaps I could find the meaning in the Baby Babble to English dictionary that surely shot out of my vagina, along with the parenting manual, but I have been looking for those things for nearly 14 months now, and, well, I’m afraid they got tossed out with the placenta. Please bear with me as I struggle to learn just what the hell you are saying.

Love always,

Mommy… say it with me, maahhhmmMEEE

Kendall is approaching 14 months old

****Entries are closed and according to Random.org the winner is comment #2.  Congrats Michelle!!! Hope you get those solid poops you’re requesting ********

Memos From Mommy this week is brought to you by a fabulous gal by the name of Maureen Lipinski and her new book, A Bump in the Road. Maureen and I struck up a little internet friendship not too long ago and have come to realize we have many things in common.  For example, she is really pretty, cool, and ridiculously funny ; ) So I KNEW you all would love to hear about the newest baby she just birthed, her very first novel.

 

Sometimes, the unexpected can be a whole lot of fun…despite the extra thirty pounds.

 After a weekend in Vegas, twenty seven year-old event planner and famous blogger Clare Finnegan finds herself in one place she wasn’t quite ready to be: pregnant. As the stick turns pink, she’s quickly thrown into a world where eating lunchmeat is equivalent to smoking crack and maternity clothes appear to have been assaulted by a Bedazzler.

 In the midst of her slow transition from beer bottles to baby bottles, Clare juggles burgeoning internet stardom, plans Chicago’s biggest black-tie gala and attempts to keep the peace between her two feuding best friends–Julie, an overweight nurse who thinks she’s a cast member of Sex and the City and Reese, a stay-at-home-mom who is quickly discovering why suburban women are the fastest growing category of drug users.

 Not only funny but smart, sassy, and witty, this is a debut novel that will have you laughing for a good nine months.

 

Now, doesn’t that just sound hilarious! I admit, I haven’t read it just yet, but plan on rushing out to my bookstore as soon as I can get it together enough to put on matching clothes, or at least something other than my pajamas to grab a copy. One of you lucky Memos From Mommy entrants will win an autographed copy!  You can  read a little more about Maureen and her book in this Chicago Sun-Times article and on her website, MaureenLipinski.com.  You can also follow her on Twitter @MaureenLipinski.  And if you don’t happen to be the lucky winner, you should still get out and go buy her book!  This would be a GREAT “Hooray! You’re expecting!  Have fun with that!” present.

On to the Memos… same rules.  Anyone can enter, really. I’m pretty liberal. You can write a memo to your child/fetus/pet rock/dog.  In fact, this week I’m choosing to write a passive aggressive letter to the dimwit in the mall play area I ran into last week.  The winner will be chosen at random next Monday by Random.org.  Everyone who enters their own memo in the comment section will be entered to win. Maureen will ship the book anywhere in the world so even my lovely Aussie followers (dude, I seriously get major love from down under…that’s what she said) can enter…and the rest of ya, too.  AND, remember, she’s gonna autograph it and personalize it for the winner.

Dear Fellow Mall Playground Mommy,

I suppose it is your right to choose to feed your child their lunch in the middle of the mall playground where other children can see and NOT at the food court tables located 100 yards to your left.  That’s fine. However, please know that my son is very much like a dog.  It is cruel and unusual punishment to set out your fine fares of crackers, cheese and lunch meat at his eye level, mere feet away from the slide he is attempting to scale, and not expect him to lunge for it. We have not quite mastered the art of restraint at the tender age of 1.  And, really, I can only apologize to your dumb ass so many times as he sprints toward you, mouth agape, fingers clamoring when he sees you preparing your own personal baby buffet on the park bench. So please, stop giving me the side eye and sighing your annoyed sigh, looking at me as if I can’t control my child. I can sigh right back at ya AND roll my eyes.

Signed,
Mother of out of control mini-human garbage disposal

****This giveaway is now closed. The winner is comment #7 (as drawn by Random.org).  Congrats Teresa!*****

This week’s Memos From Mommy is brought to you by CupKozy, a company that I am thrilled to collaborate with.  For those not familiar, CupKozys are an awesome, reusable and convenient alternative to those cardboard sleeves coffee companies put around your cup to keep your coffee warm and your hand cool.  According to CupKozy, “It’s estimated that 14 billion cups of coffee are served every year wrapped in single-use, cardboard coffee sleeves, which result in 2.8 billion pounds of trash!” And, “Based on 2008 sales reports, CupKozy helped to keep 19,000 pounds of trash out of U.S. landfills.”

I happened to win a CupKozy from a Twitter contest (whadaya know…talking about Twitter again, follow them @CupKozy) and now I’m a huge fan. Back at Christmas, I crocheted a bunch of my own reusable coffee sleeves, and while they are adorable, they are terribly hard to keep track of.  The cool thing about the CupKozy is it rolls up neatly and attaches to my key chain.  MUCH easier to find with one hand while the other is holding a 26 lb squirmy toddler who wants nothing more than to wiggle free and pester the other patrons.

Here are some other cool facts about CupKozy  

-       CupKozys are handmade. No factories, sweatshops or slave labor.

-       The fabric used in making CupKozys is wool, a renewable resource.

-       Fits most 12, 16 & 20 oz. disposable coffee cups.

-       CupKozys are compact and can be rolled-up for attaching to your key-ring, bag, belt loop, etc.

-       Available in a variety of stylish color combinations.

-       Can be custom printed for corporate branding opportunities.

CupKozy is offering not one, not two, but THREE CupKozys to Memos From Mommy participants, so you people better get it together and ENTER! Seriously.  This is a cool prize. I go nowhere without mine (and I’ll definitely have it with me when I go check out the new changing tables coming soon to my local Starbucks!!). I will draw the random winners next Monday, so entries will be open all week.

For those of you new to MFM, you can enter by submitting your own “memo” to your child/children/fetus/dog/pet rock in the comments section.  All winners are chosen at random by Random.org.

Here’s my memo:

Dear Kendall,

I feel it’s important you know that your name is actually Kendall, not Robble. I apologize for the confusion.  It’s an odd nickname, I know.  It seems that in your early days you made what we call “Hamburgler noises”.  The “robble, robble, robble” sounds that you chattered early on have made a lasting impression.  So much so, that you father and I have a hard time going a day with out calling you Robble.  It was wonderfully cute and our own little inside joke when you were younger, but now I’m terrified you are actually thinking this is your name.  You respond to it sometimes better than your own.  And just yesterday I heard your dad call you Rob.  Your nickname has a nickname that sounds like a real name and it’s not your name.  Please note this.

Love,
Mommy

Kendall is just about 13 months old 

*****Entries are closed now and winners are comments 5,6 and 8 (Austingurl, Callie and Stephanie).  Thanks for participating!****

This week’s Memos From Mommy is sponsored by the creators of Nipple Seal, “the best way to stop bottles from leaking”. 

“The baby bottle Nipple Seal™ was created to stop bottles from leaking in our diaper bags, purses, strollers, and cars. This product will stop you from reaching into soaked bags that smell like sour milk. Diaper bags and purses are expensive, difficult to clean, and can be ruined if liquids are spilled in them. Using this product will make traveling with bottles easier than ever. We have successfully tested the seal on nearly every bottle on the market with great success.*  The Nipple Seal™ slides over the nipple and pinches off the flow. It is that simple; it creates a seal that stops the liquid from flowing out. Bottles companies claim they have no drip nipples, yet every brand we tried still leaked. The Nipple Seal™is the answer to this problem”.

You can purchase a Nipple Seal directly from their website, www.nippleseal.com, for $8.95.

And I’m changing up the way MFM works a little.  You can enter your own Memo From Mommy all week and the winner(s) will be drawn next Monday before the new MFM is posted.  This week we’ll have two winners, drawn at random.

 Good luck and have fun with it!

Dear Kendall,

Despite your newest discoveries of the word “snack”, or “nack” as you like to say, and the joys that hide behind the pantry and refrigerator door, I regret to inform you that snack time is not a never ending thing.  Just because you can fling yourself at the refrigerator while shouting “dat! DAT! nack! NAAAck!” over and over, doesn’t mean you will be fed at your every whim. I would also appreciate a little consideration when I open the refrigerator.  No need to shove your way past me and reach for every condiment in sight.  You are not starving. You are very well fed.  No, you may not drink mustard.

Love, 
Mommy

Kendall is 1 year, 3 weeks and 2 days old 

***Congrats to Kitty and Tara!!  Entries are now closed, but come back next Monday for another chance to enter.***  

I wish I would have known about this when I was pregnant, and now I can’t WAIT for the release of the My Baby Book Digi Time Capsule.  I keep saying that the reason I am slacking on the paper baby book is because the digital one will be so much cooler anyway.  I can also say that on a personal level Sherri is a really awesome person, and I’m so happy for her escalating success! If you are on Twitter, follow her! @DigiTimeCapsule  She’s bound to end up on Oprah any day now.

You can purchase My Pregnancy Digi Time Capsule on DigiTimeCapsule.com for $49.95.

As with every Memo From Mommy Monday, you can enter to win just by simply entering your own memo below.  I will draw a random winner on Tuesday. 

And pregnant gals, since this prize is perfect for you, don’t forget to enter your own memos to your current uterus tenant!

It’s Memo time.

Dear Kendall,

I know I’m not all toned up and buff, despite the handful of pushups I’ve done in the last month.  However, let me make this perfectly clear, the chub on the back of my arms is not, under any circumstance, a handle for you to grab on to and pinch anytime I hoist you on to my hip.  It hurts like hell and you are leaving bruises.  No amount of chub pinching is going to keep you from falling anyway.  You know who keeps you from falling?  ME.  The person you are abusing.  Let’s just think about that for a moment.

Love,

Mommy

Kendall is 1 year, 2 weeks and 2 days old

**WINNER**

Congrats to Amy!  She is this week’s randomly chosen winner of Memos From Mommy and will get a My Pregnancy Digi Time Capsule.  Here’s her MFM:

Dear G,

You are amazing! Your adventurous attitude toward food is awesome and I love the foodie in you. The fact that you dig through your veggies to get at all the lima beans is a bit odd, but I’ll take it. Way to go!

Mama

This week’s winner, drawn at random sometime on Tuesday, May 11th, will win the Peace Sign Dot Pink Soft Tee, which retails for $40. As a belated Mother’s Day gift to all my readers, PeaceLoveMom is also offering free shipping until May 15th on orders over $20 in the continental US!  Enter the code BABYRABIES at checkout.  

Let me just start by saying that I hope you all had a fabulous Mother’s Day!  I have to say that I am so grateful to have such wonderful readers who continue to chime in with valuable insight, hilarious stories, and helpful advice.  Thank you for coming back for more!  Now, get your typing fingers ready and your memo’s prepared.  Post yours in the comments section for a chance to win your shirt from PeaceLoveMom.

(I’ve decided to ditch the blue “memo” with fun handwriting font as it’s an extremely huge pain in my ass, and a pain in the ass to read, too, I’m afraid.)

Dear Kendall,

Mother’s day was PERFECT.  Thank you for collaborating with daddy and hooking me up with some sweet loot.  And, most of all, thank you for saving your very first bath tub poop explosion for the first bath daddy gave you after his week long business trip!  Your timing was IMPECCABLE.  High Five, little man! Daddy told me that was his favorite present ever, and since he loved it so much, I wanted to make sure you know that it is okay with me if you save up all your bath time poops for daddy.  I promise I won’t be hurt.  You can make it up to me with slobbery kisses.

Love,
Mommy

Kendall is 1 year 1 week and 1 day old 

Congrats to Carolyn Potts!  She’s this weeks random winner with this memo:

Dear Lulu
Thank you for being such a good girl while we were camping, but I was very tired when we got home, and really want a good nights sleep.
So i wasn’t as excited as you where to be up at 12:56am, 1:34am, 1:51am. 2:47am and 4:20am this morning.
Let’s not play this game again, I don’t like it.
Love Mummy

We’ve been lucky enough to only have to deal with a few nasty colds in Kendall’s first year, but each one of those turned him into a little crusty booger and snot monster.  The first time around, I just wiped his nose with a wet washcloth or a tissue, but each and every time I came at him a battle ensued.  I felt like I needed a straight jacket to hold him down just so I could clean the layer of mucus that was covering his face and plugging up his nose.  And it didn’t matter if I came at him with something as soft as a cloud, he was having none of it.

Then I noticed Boogie Wipes at my local megamart.  Figuring they couldn’t be any worse than the box of tissues I intended to buy, I bought them instead.  They worked so well! Kendall doesn’t fight them.  In fact, he sits still and seems to almost enjoy them. Now, I’m not one to really buy a lot of unnecessary paper products.  We don’t use paper towels or napkins, but washable rags and napkins instead. This is one place I make an exception.  One pack of Boogie Wipes lasts through more than one cold, and one Boogie Wipe can be folded and used more than once. Plus, they are phthalate and paraben free, made from natural saline, hypoallergenic and alcohol free.

The winner of this weeks MFM, drawn at random sometime tomorrow, Tuesday, May 5th, will win two 30 count packs of Boogie Wipes in Grape and Fresh scent, courtesy of the Boogie Moms at Boogie Wipes.

Good luck and have fun!

OH!  And Kendall is ONE YEAR and 2 days old!  I will have more on that later

Congrats to Ariana from Becoming-Mom.net!  Random Number Generator chose #6, so you win the Boogie Wipes!  Here’s Ariana’s Memo:

Dear Jasper,
Please stop babbling while you eat.. it’s cute at all other times, but not so much when carrot puree flies everywhere.
Love,
Mommy