Swagg Sponsored Post ~ Best Gift I Ever Gave

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On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

We all know the traditional Christmas Carol, but have you ever thought about what the best give you ever gave was?

While you are busy making your lists this year, maybe take a little time to reflect on the best gift you ever gave. For me it really helped to reflect on the meaning of the holiday season.

The Best Gift I ever gave was not for someone I know. In fact, the best gift I ever gave isn’t something you can pack into a box or wrap with a large ribbon.

The Best Gift I have ever given is the gift of My Time.

From the time I was a little girl, my mother always made sure we knew how important it was to give gifts to those in need. Whether it was the soup kitchen, or the mitten tree, or buying gifts for a family who couldn’t afford it that year, giving the gift of my time in any form has really helped to remind me the true reason for the season.

If my mother is reading this, I am sure she would tell you I wasn’t always so into going to the soup kitchen, but I always remember having a good time.

I think that continues to be true to this day, I may not always start off excited about spending my time doing something for someone I don’t know, especially nowadays when my time is stretched so thin.

But no matter what and without fail, each time I do, whether it is the simple act of donating to a charity in need, or actually donating my time to a particular cause, I am always reminded that,

My Time is the Best Gift I have ever given, or could ever give.

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* 2 night/3 day stay at Yarrow Hotel in Park City Utah (Jan 21 - Jan 23, 2011)

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Learn more about the coolest new app that revolutionizes the whole shopping, gifting, and gift card-organizing experience and Download the SWAGG app to your iPhone or Droid. I was selected for this sponsorship by Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity.

Easy Way to Give Back!

Are you looking for ways to give back this holiday season?

How would you like a super simple way to make a big difference?

Nuk has teamed up with Operation Smile to donate $10,000 to children who really need a smile this holiday season!  

For every person that registers at Nuk the company will donate $1.  Sign up, and spread the word!  Let's give some children a special smile this holiday season.

Nuk has been working with children who have cleft lips or a cleft palate and have designed a special line of products to help these children who have trouble using a standard bottle.

In case you didn't know, Operation Smile provides free surgeries to repair cleft lip, cleft palate, and other facial deformities.  Often children who are born with severe cleft conditions are unable to eat, speak, socialize, or even smile.  In some places these children are shunned or rejected.  More often their parents just can't afford the surgeries to give their child a normal life.

Through the help of medical volunteers, Operation Smile has been providing free surgeries for children around the world since 1982!

This is a super simple way to give back this holiday season and make a difference for children who really need it.

To learn more about Operation Smile, head over to their webpage.

Green So Easy Even A Toddler Can Do It ~ The Spirit of Giving

Teaching your toddler the spirit of giving is one of the greenest things you can teach. When you instill a love for helping others you are teaching your child organic love, as well as the power of change one person can have. By showing your child how much of a difference one person can make, and you will be raising a child who not only respects the world they live in, but the people they live in it with. This is the perfect age to start teaching them, because toddlers pay attention to EVERYTHING you do.

Your toddler may be too young to understand donating money, so teach them to make giving back a daily part of their lives.

Some of the simple things you can do to teach your child about giving back are:

• Help someone daily who is struggling. It can be as simple as carrying in the groceries, reaching for something, or holding a door.

• Watch your friend’s children so they can have a break.

• Pick up trash on your daily walks.

• Make dinner for a family when they are sick or overwhelmed or just because.

• Bake cookies for a nursing home.

• Donate your gently used clothes and shoes to goodwill. Explain why you are giving away the clothes, and who they will help

• Packing up old toys and bring them to a shelter or church where other children can enjoy them. Involve your child by helping them pack, and taking them with you when you drop them off.

• As you start teaching your toddler to save change, you can also start a separate piggy bank to use to buy toys for children who may not get toys for the holidays.

• Try adopting a child or family during the holidays. Involve your child by letting them pick out the clothes/toys. Talk to them about how it feels to get a present and why giving to others in need will make that child/family feel the same way.

• Buy canned food items and drop them at church or a food pantry on a pretty regular basis. Again, involve your child with this process so they can understand why you are doing it.

All of these things are pretty simple, and can really help to develop a love of giving back to those who need it most. Talk to your child as you do things. Let them know how much the smile or thank you meant to you. Before you know it, your child will be joining in and giving back to others on their own.

How do you teach your child the spirit of giving? Green So Easy – Even a Toddler Can Do It!

Daily Vegas ~ Winner Winner, and other important meanderings...

Wasn't I just whining about it being Monday?? This week has FLOWN by!! And creeped on all at the same time. Operation No Bouncer is going VERY well. But now Squishy's getting his I-teeth. Those Buggers are mean!! Last night he woke up SCREAMING at 5am and didn't go back to sleep until nearly 6:30am. Poor baby. I hate that stinking teething monster. I can't wait for him to be gone so I can have my sweet little happy Squish back!

TEETHING MONSTER!!

Have you read SuperBaby by Dr. Jenn Berman yet?? Well, Melissa over at The Life of a Sippy Cup Mom is going to get a chance to - because she is is the winner of the SuperBaby Giveaway!! Melissa has 48 hours to respond before I draw a new winner.

Seriously, this is one of the better parenting books I have had the chance to read, so if you see it, be sure to pick it up and give it a read.

(EDIT: I am soo sorry to any last minute enteries. I thought today was the 29th... Please forgive me closing the contest a few hours early. - Oh Sleep Deprivation Brain - you kill me!!)

We are going to be spending our weekend enjoying many Halloween Festivities. This costume sure has gotten it's $11 worth!! Yes, I bought it last year after Halloween at Pottery Barn. A total steal!

Check out what a difference a year makes!!

Finally, have you taken moment to Blog to Win a Snack Happened reusable bag by Itzy Ritzy! We made it so easy all you have to do is copy and paste the post on your blog! And just like that you are helping to raise awareness for world hunger relief. Not to mention you will have 5 entries just like that to win one of 20 Itzy Ritzy Snack Happened Special Edition World Hunger Relief Bags!!

Itzy Ritzy Snack Happened Bags ~ Giveaway to Raise Awareness for World Hunger Relief

On Sunday, Lolo at Crazy about My Baybah, and I told you about our amazing mommy night out at an Itzy Ritzy and Yum! Brands charity event to help raise money for World Hunger Relief. Now we are asking for your help to spread the word about this important cause!

Look how cute the Snack Happened Bags are!

Kelly Douglas creator of Itzy Ritzy gave us 10 World Hunger Relief branded Snack Happened bags to giveaway to our fabulous readers. These Snack Happened Bags are not only super cute, they are also reusable, washable, FDA approved and PBA Free. All important things for a momma. They are the perfect size (7" X 7") to hold snacks, sandwiches, fruit, and more, and are perfect for school lunches, car and plane trips, camping, travel, and whatever else you can think of. Snack Happened bag has been a huge hit with Lolo's teacher friends in the lunch room and my mama friends at playgroup.

Giveaway!

Itzy Ritzy has graciously offered to giveaway 1 Snack Happened snack bag to 20 lucky winners!! 10 readers of Crazy About My Baybah, and 10 readers of Family and Life in Las Vegas!!

Can't wait to win:

You can purchase a set of 2 World Hunger Relief branded Snack Happened bags for $20.85. Your purchase will help feed 40 children!!

Here is how to enter:

Here is how you can help us spread the word!! The Mandatory entry is to blog about how easy it is for one person to make a difference and help the World Hunger Relief using the paragraphs below. Then come back and comment with the link to your post. (5 entries - comment 5 separate times) (You do not have to post in bold, and you may use the Snack Happened picture in this post.)

Do you know how easy it is for one person to make a difference in the lives of many? There are approximately 1 billion hungry people around the world today. Malnutrition and hunger are the #1 risk to health worldwide. Greater than AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis combined!

Itzy Ritzy has teamed with Yum! Brands and joined in the fight against world hunger. Special Edition Snack Happened™ bags can be purchased at www.fromhungertohope.com with 100% of the profits going to the World Hunger Relief Organization. One dollar provides a meal to 4 hungry children at school.

In addition to the items available for sale on www.fromhungertohope.com you can donate directly to the cause. Did you know that $5 can feed 20 people, $10 feeds 40, and $20 feeds 80 people? Itzy Ritzy, Yum! Brands and the World Hunger Relief Organization are showing us how easy it is for one person to make a big difference.

This post is part of a giveaway to raise awareness for World Hunger Relief. Please visit Family and Life in Las Vegas and Crazy about my Baybah to learn how you can get involved.

Extra Entries:
Become a fan of Itzy Ritzy on Facebook. (1 entry)
Follow Itzy Ritzy on Twitter. (1 entry)
Become a fan of The World Hunger Relief on Facebook. (1 entry)
Follow The World Hunger Relief on Twitter. (1 entry)
Tweet "Blog to help raise awareness for World Hunger Relief. Do good and #win a @ItzyRitzy snack happened reusable bag http://tinyurl.com/2fnuwor RT" (1 entry)

Good luck!

This giveaway is open to US residents 18 and up, and will end on November 6, 2010 at 11:59 pm PST. Random.org will select the winners. We will contact you by email, and you will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is picked.

Disclosure: We received the product listed above to giveaway to help raise awareness for the World Hunger Relief. The items will be mailed out personally by Emily and Lolo.

Call to Action ~ Giveaway with Donation from Itzy Ritzy, Yum!, and the World Hunger Relief Organization.

Photo is from the World Hunger Relief's Facebook Page

Last Tuesday, Lolo from Crazy about My Baybah, and I were invited by Itzy Ritzy to a charity event at the Crystal Casino in City Center. There Itzy Ritzy had partnered with Yum! Brands World Hunger Relief to raise money for the United Nations World Food Program, and other hunger relief organizations. There was a celebrity Red Carpet event where stars like Joley Fisher, Ali Landry, Jen Bunny, Larry Birkhead, and Shar Jackson all came out to support this fabulous cause!

Photo's are from the World Hunger Relief's Facebook Page

It was a nice night of dancing, yummy cakes and treats, and a silent auction where we all donated to the 2010 World Hunger Relief campaign. It was a super fun night, but for Lolo and me it really resonated at the impact one person can have. If everyone donated just $10, each of us could feed 40 children! We spend $5 on coffee without blinking an eye, so what was $10?

Kelly Douglas - Creator of Itzy Ritzy
Photo is from the World Hunger Relief's Facebook Page

After the event we spoke to Kelly Douglas creator of Itzy Ritzy who agreed to let us have some of the specially designed “Snack Happened” reusable snack bags to giveaway to our fabulous readers.

You can purchase the specially designed snack happens reusable bags from www.fromhungertohope.com, where a percentage of your sale goes to WFP.

Thanks to the generosity of Itzy Ritzy we have 20 Snack Happened Bags to Giveaway to readers who help raise awareness you can enter the giveaway for a cause here!!

Look how cute the Snack Happened Bags are!

$1 feeds 4 hungry mouths, $5 feeds 20, $10 feeds 40. Talk about the impact just one person and a few dollars can truly have. Give what you can, these bags retail for $10 each.

Family and Life in Las Vegas and Crazy about My Baybah will be personally paying for the shipping of these bags to you. That is how much we believe in the WFP, and other hunger relief organizations. As mothers we all know the love a child can bring into your life. Won’t you help other mothers and fathers who struggle to make sure their children are fed? Donate Here.

There are more than 1 Billion Hungry People around the world today, and in the past 3 years World Hunger Relief has raised nearly $60 Million for the WFP and other hunger organizations creating over 250 Million Meals for hungry mouths.

Thank you for reading this. You can get involved by joining the World Hunger Relief on Facebook and Twitter. Itzy Ritzy can also be found on Twitter and Facebook. We know that each and everyone of you work hard to make your money to provide for your family. We do too. So any amount you choose to donate to such an amazing cause is truly amazing, and from the bottom of our hearts, we thank you.

If you can't donate - help us spread the word in a Giveaway for a Cause!

Lolo and I at the Event!

Photo is from the World Hunger Relief's Facebook Page

Thank you also to Itzy Ritzy, and Yum! Brands for an amazing mommies night out for a good cause!

Link Up:

Itzy Ritzy

Itzy Ritzy Facebook Page

Itzy Ritzy Twitter

World Hunger Relief

World Hunger Relief Facebook Page

World Hunger Relief Twitter

Yum! Brands

Where Were You When...

Where were you when…

September 11^th happened? A question most, if not all, of my generation and younger can answer in extreme detail. For our parents it was JFK Assassination, or the Moon Landing, or the Columbia Shuttle explosion. For us, it will be September 11^th.

Today marks the ninth anniversary of the attack on our land. And for many my age it marks the day we stopped taking our country and our freedom for granted. Whether that day was the one that made you stopped believing in our government’s choices and fought for change. Or the day that made you sign your papers to serve in the military. September 11^th was a day that our generation of kids began to understand something we had not yet experienced much in our lifetime: Life can change in the blink of an eye. And having the freedom to react how we choose to is part of the privilege of living in a country like America.

Here we are nine years later. It is hard to walk down the street and not run into someone whose life wasn’t changed that day. Maybe they lost a love one or maybe they have a family member serve overseas, but one thing is for sure; every one of them can answer where they were on September 11^th.

I will spend today thinking of all those that died that day. All the loved ones who have been lost to a war against terror since it began, all the birthdays and holidays that have been missed because they were off fighting a war, and all the families that stay behind and keep things running at home. And to those who will not get to celebrate another birthday or holiday. Today is not about supporting the choices our government has made, today is for remembering, and honoring those who died that day, and supporting those who have served everyday since.

If you get asked today where you were on September 11^th, and you begin to recall the details of that day and the weeks to followed, take a moment to remember the feeling that was left inside of each and every one of us that day. Take a moment to remember the fallen, and honor those who continue to serve our country. Take a minute to remember how it felt to realize that life can change in the blink of an eye. Don't forget what this day has meant to you and your life.

Daily Minnesota ~ Wordfilled Wednesday

I couldn't help but stop by and share this (Never) wordless Wednesday post. Yesterday I got to meet some mama's that I have 'known' through a mommy message board since I was pregnant. I had a blast, and even picked up this shirt for Squishy. We may be in MN but Daddy and Squishy are still Packer's fans!

I am so happy to be spending the first day of my last year as a 20-something with my family. The only way this could be any better is if my Hubs were here with us. A birthday hug from him would mean the world to me.

Squish has learned several new Baby-signs while being here in MN. He can now do thank you, eat, more, hat, shoe, all done, milk, train, and TOUCHDOWN!!

Is it time for the touchdown sign yet??

Mama, you forgot my cheese-head!

Let's go already, I'm ready to watch the game!

Also, I just wanted to share that today is the kick off for Blog For a Cause. I have joined in this group writing community designed to bring attention to causes near and dear to our hearts. Each month two causes will be chosen. You can chose to write about them and link up with all the other bloggers who do, or simple just read some wonderful posts about these events. To find out more, check out Nirvana Mama, our host for this meme. Look for my posts later this month.

A Post it Tuesday of a different kind.

I am taking a brief hiatus from my normal post-its to bring you a couple post its that recently became something I have a vested interest in. Over the past year I have been blessed to become friends with a wonderful and amazing mother. Her daughter was diagnosed with Prader-Willi Syndrome at a couple months of age.

If you are anything like me, you probably didn't even know such a thing existed. Please take a minute to read my post-its, check out the website, read her blog, and educate yourself. Knowledge is power, and awareness breeds action. Please bring more awareness to the most common known genetic cause of life-threatening obesity in children. Thank you.

Take a minute to check out my friends's blog as well as the PWS webpage.

http://pwsvegas.blogspot.com/

http://www.pwsausa.org/awareness/

Thanks you Desi for sharing your story with me, for being a friend, and for letting me get to know and love Mackenzie.

Every child is a blessing, and she is one for sure. I look forward to many fun playdates with Squish and Mackenzie in the future. (And hopefully a couple more fun mom nights out too!!)

Happy Tuesday!

Xoxxo,

Us

Days like today...

What a BEAUTIFUL day for such a wonderful event!! Although I woke up a little bleary eyed, having not gotten home until 1am then night before.

(WHAT? It was my first Girl's Night Out since Squish was born, AND it was a Sugarland concert - can you say FUN!!) But I digress...

What event could I possibly be talking about? Well, if all the fund-raising posts I have done, and the link above this entry aren't clues enough - it was the March of Dimes walk for Babies of course.

Our playgroup managed to get 10 of us together, and at last count we raised $894.00!!!

All of us Mommies and 1 Daddy!!

We even had wonderful sponsors who made our tee-shirts! Our fellow playgroup Mommy and her hubby own a diaper service here in town (That I use and LOVE LOVE LOVE).

They were kind enough to design our shirts for us, and make a generous donation to such a great cause! (www.happibunz.com)

All in all the 3 mile walk was spent chatting with other mommies (Squish took the time to snooze), and enjoy the outdoors.

We walked to raise awareness for our friend's daughter who has Prader-Willi. (check out her blog!) And also to help raise money for all the babies who need extra help and love.

Desi and her (sleeping beauty) daughter Mackenzie!

It seemed fitting today that we walked, as an amazing lady whose story I have been following was induced today. Her little boy may only live minutes, hours, or days. (Update: He lived for 12 beautiful hours, and was loved ever minute of it.)

The strength this woman, and other women like her have truly amaze, and inspire me. (http://www.embracingelijah.com). I continue to hold her and her family in my thoughts and prayers.

I am SO grateful to have found such a wonderful group of mommies, and a beautiful group of babies.

Days like today help to remind me how truly blessed I am, and how thankful I am to have everything I do.

Nothing like a little fresh air, friends, and fund-raising to start the day off right!

Squish after he just woke up! He is getting SO big!!

My friend Lolo and Me (and our super cute boys too!)

Finished!