Mom's Out Shopping

Burt's Bees Natural Skin Solutions

2011-11-13T15:00:00.003-05:00

I was recently invited as a BzzAgent to tryout a new line of products from Burt's Bees, called Natural Solutions Sensitive. I have pretty sensitive skin especially on my face, so I was eager to test these products and give my opinion.

After using them for about a month now, all I can say is WOW! I have been a loyal user of Olay for years and I never thought I would switch. But the facial cleanser and moisturizer from this line are so light and creamy and luxurious!

The cleanser goes on smoothly, smells wonderful and rinses easily and cleanly with no residue. The moisturizer is so light and absorbs quickly. My face feels soft and supple for HOURS afterward! I even tried going back to my old products to compare and I really prefer the scent, texture, and feeling of the Burt's Bees Natural Skin products over my old skincare routine.

So I think I have officially found new skincare products to use. I would recommend them to anyone with sensitive skin. They are made from 99% natural ingredients and are available at stores such as Target, Walmart, and drugstore chains.

Soda Stream Home Soda Maker

2011-09-30T15:09:00.005-04:00

I have been planning on buying this for my husband for Christmas and now I may get the opportunity to try one out as a BzzAgent! The Soda Stream home soda maker lets you turn plain tap water into sparkling water beverages or soda in under 30 seconds with no clean up, no batteries or electricity. Too good to be true??? I'd love to find out!!!

The maker itself comes in a variety of designs to fit any kitchen decor. There are 30 flavor syrups available including regular and diet flavors, sparkling water, energy drinks, and sparkling teas. The Soda Stream bottles are BPA free and can be used and reused for up to 2 years. Not only is the Soda Stream system a great value but it is healthier than traditional sodas. For example, regular Coke and Pepsi have 100 cal/serving while Soda Stream cola has just 34. And they use NO high fructose corn syrups. Inexpensive, convenient and good for the environment since there are no bottles and cans to recycle each week.

The Soda Stream is available at thousands of retail stores, including Sears, Macys, Kohls, Best Buy, Bed Bath & Beyond, Williams Sonoma, Crate & Barrel, JCPenney, and many more.

If I get a chance to try this out and our family likes it as much as I think we will, this will be THE gift to give this Christmas!

Lunch Bots

2011-09-26T13:36:00.002-04:00

Seeing how I pack 4 lunches each and every school/workday, I have begun a quest for a better lunch container! Haven't had much luck, when lo and behold, Bzz Agent offer the chance to try out Lunch Bots stainless steel containers. I am really hoping I get to try these out and review them. Even the lids are stainless, they are a nice size for a sandwich and side, and the prices are very reasonable (starting at just $14.99). I would love to get the Duo for each of the three kids (and the hubby LOL) and I am also curious about the Thermal as Evan often brings hot soup to school and it never seems to stay as hot as he'd like in the container we own now. If anyone presently uses these, please le me know what you think and if I am given the chance to try them, I will blog about it!

Camden is ONE!

2010-11-10T09:20:00.002-05:00

Hard to believe it has been a whole YEAR since we welcomed our sweet boy into our life! He is one crazy, happy little dude! He started walking a few weeks ago and is getting closer to running now. He loves to get into anything and EVERYTHING he is not supposed to touch and has a special fondness for electrical cords. You'll often find him carrying around a Wii remote or my old cell phone, he much prefers these over his own toys! This morning he woke up with his 4th tooth...they are all on the bottom...strange boy LOL. Here's a recent pic, I'll be posting more after his party on Sunday.

My "baby"

2010-09-22T20:09:00.003-04:00

It's official! My first baby is now a teenager!! Madi turned 13 yesterday, so I guess I am officially old LOL. We had her requested dinner (homemade mac & cheese and salad) and then cupcakes and ice cream. Not sure why I opted for cupcakes instead of a cake, guess I want to hold onto her childhood just a little longer . She had already gotten her big gift from us (an Ipod Touch) a few weeks ago, but we also gave her Season One of GLEE on DVD. She was so excited to watch the Season 2 premiere last night!! From the rest of the fam she got tons and tons of clothes, an iTunes gift card and money.

Madi at 13 is 5'5" tall and all legs. She is so damned smart and she lets you know it! Her creativity amazes me and I am blessed to be able to watch her (and ALL of my kids) grow up right before my eyes. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my girl, you'll always be my baby!

Ebates

2010-08-15T21:35:00.002-04:00

If anyone out there is not using Ebates, please consider it! If you shop online and click through their website, you automatically earn anywhere from 1-15% back on your purchases. Payments are made quarterly via mail by check or through PayPal. I just got another $15 deposited in my PayPal account. This week I bought a baby gate through Toys R Us and I have already earned another couple of dollars! They are a legit company and you earn cash back each and every time you shop online. Just go to the Ebates website, and start seeing how much you can earn!

Mickey...HERE WE COME!

2010-07-08T08:52:00.003-04:00

Look out Mickey Mouse, the Tibbetts family is headed your way! We are leaving tomorrow for an 8 day trip to DisneyWorld. We haven't been in 5 years, I think I may be more excited than the kids LOL. It seems like I've been in a blogging slump the past month, but I'm sure I'll have lots to post when we get back!

Just for fun, here's a recent pic of the Fabulous Mr. C....he is almost 8 months now and is army crawling all over the place, starting to pull up and cruise the couch, and is just an all around BUSY little man!

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

2010-05-18T11:12:00.002-04:00

My sweet baby Boo turns 11 today! She is in the middle of a growth spurt and is getting taller every day. Hannah is sweet, smart, and has a great sense of humor. Can't believe my baby girl is 11 already!!

PLEASE VOTE!

2010-05-17T13:59:00.002-04:00

Camden is entered in the 2010 Parents Magazine Cover Contest. You can vote once per day! The winner of this weeks contest goes on to the semi finals! Please help us out and VOTE EACH DAY!

http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/294264

We're Off!

2010-05-13T06:52:00.002-04:00

Anyone who knows me at all knows these 2 simple facts about me:

1) I do everything last minute
2) I can't pass up a good deal

With those 2 facts in mind, we decided last night that we are making a trip HERE tomorrow for a long weekend!

They are running a special where you pay for one night and stay the second night free. With that kind of discount, we were able to get a nice big suite to spread out in (with 4 kids, that's a necessity LOL).

The place looks really cool. The room is themed like a log cabin. There is one big indoor waterpark and 2 outdoor, hopefully the weather will cooperate!

Some new milestones!

2010-04-24T21:09:00.002-04:00

Camden is going a mile a minute these days! He is 5 1/2 months old and is so much fun! He loves to scoot around in his walker on the hardwood floors.

He is making this new face where he tucks his lips in and spits, we call it his "old man face" LOL

He is scooting forward a bit on his belly. He uses his legs to push off but his arms aren't quite as strong, so he sort of face plants. Here he is trying to inch toward the cat.

Last but certainly not least, he is sitting up a bit on his own! Only a minute or two at a time but he loves sitting and playing with his toys!

'

A few new pics

2010-04-08T20:19:00.002-04:00

I post tons of pics on Facebook but often forget to update this blog for all of you holdouts! Here are a few new ones of the fabulous Mr. C ... seriously the dude is always smiling!

WIN a camera on Epiphanie.com

2010-03-27T20:54:00.003-04:00

WOW, check out this contest on Epiphanie! You can win a Canon 5D Mark II camera or a $2500 Southwest Airlines gift card!! Man I'd love either one of those!!

1...2...3...4

2010-03-11T12:05:00.003-05:00

....You are not allowed to grow anymore! My sweet baby boy is now 4 months old!! He gets cuter everyday and we just love him to pieces!

Today was Camden's 4 month check up. He weighs 16 lbs 15 oz. (75th%ile), and is 27 inches long (95th+%ile). He had 3 shots and laughed through the first 2! Literally, he was cracking up at the nurse and didn't even notice she had done them! The 3rd one he cried for about 2 seconds and gave me a look like "What did you let her do that for?!?"

Camden is still an easy going, happy baby. He laughs and babbles all day long. He has rolled over both ways, back to tummy and tummy to back, but does not do it often. He loves to bounce in his Jumperoo and squeal loudly! His favorite time of day is bathtime, he starts waving his arms and legs in excitement as we head into the bathroom. He is starting a little stranger anxiety, not only with strangers but with anyone who isn't MAMA. If someone else is holding him, he will look at me and realize I am not the one holding him and then watch out, he starts wailing!

He gets a little rice cereal in his bottle for reflux but I may try some on a spoon to see what he thinks. I am holding off on fruits and veggies until 6 months and plan to make my own baby food. The perfect time of year for all those fresh veggies we'll be growing in the garden!

Here are a few pics of my monkey man at 4 months old!

Upward Basketball

2010-03-08T07:38:00.002-05:00

We had another great season of Upward basketball this year! Hannah and Evan were able to play, Madison was not as it only goes up to 6th grade and she is in 7th. But as you can see in one pic, she still participated; she and a friend got to man the buzzer! Here are a few pics from our last game this past Saturday.

Evan on defense:

Looking to pass:

Score!

Getting heated on the sidelines, the game was pretty intense and Evan got frustrated that the other team kept stealing the ball.

Consoled by Daddy :)

Refueling after a good game!

Madi mans the buzzer:

Camden chills with Daddy and chews on his hands:

He loves watching the games, I think he likes the action and excitement!

Time for Hannah's game!

Get the rebound

On the defense

Take the ball down

Score!

We'll miss these Saturday games, our whole family really enjoyed it! This was our 3rd year participating and the kids have gotten really good at it.

3 months!!

2010-02-11T19:04:00.003-05:00

I swear the older I get, the faster time goes by! Our sweet baby boy is 3 months old! How can that be? It seems just yesterday I was bringing him home from the hospital, yet it feels as if he has always been a part of our family. He is the perfect ending to our family story, the puzzle piece that makes us complete. Camden is by far the most easy going of the bunch, always smiling, laughing and "talking". He is starting to hold onto toys, suck his thumb, and sleep through the night (YES!)His blue eyes light up the room and he brings joy to us every day. The name "Camden" is Scottish for "the long and winding road". It was a long winding road to get him here; with tears, and doubts, and complications galore, but it was definately a trip worth taking.

A glimpse of spring!

2010-01-21T11:29:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was gorgeous, 65 degrees and sunny. We need more days like that, winter is so depressing! Even though the kids are not feeling fantastic, we managed to get in a game of basketball in the driveway. I figured the fresh air would do us good! Check out that Carolina blue sky behind the house, haven't seen that in awhile. I'm so ready for every day to be so warm! P.S. Madi is not in the pics because she wasn't home yet, the middle school bus comes a bit later.

Too Big

2010-01-05T12:27:00.004-05:00

These kids are getting too big! I can't believe Camden is 8 weeks old already!! Madison is 12 and is 5'3" tall, she doesn't even look like a kid anymore. Hannah is like a little Mom to Camden, she loves to hold and feed him. Evan just turned 8 on Sunday. He was my baby boy until not too long ago, so that hit me hard. I think I am just in denial that I am old enough to be their mom LOL. I'm trying really hard to slow down and enjoy each and every day because it truly does go by WAY too fast.

Camden's Birth Story

2009-11-17T10:21:00.003-05:00

I'll try to make a short story even shorter and keep it clean for the men who read my blog LOL...

At 9:30 pm on Monday night November 9th, the last of the kids was off to bed and that is usually when Chris and I go to bed as well (yes we are like old folks LOL, but we both get up EARLY remember!) I was having some contractions that I thought were just Braxton Hicks (had been having them for weeks). They didn't hurt at that point, but I did notice they were coming 3-5 minutes apart. I debated whether to stay up and time them or try to get some sleep and opted to go to bed, figuring they would subside.

Once I was in bed, they just kept getting stronger and closer together. I laid there timing them, not believing that I could possibly be in labor. But by 11:30 they were 2 minutes apart, lasting about a minute, and I had to breathe through them as they were quite painful. So I called my parents to come stay with the sleeping kids so we could head to the hospital to get checked out.

Luckily the hospital is very close (10 minutes) as I was very uncomfortable on the ride there. We checked in through emergency (after hours) at exactly midnight. About 10 minutes later, someone form Labor & Delivery came to get me. I think she could tell by the way I was acting that I was going to be admitted but sent me through triage anyway. Meanwhile, I am begging for my epidural LOL. The triage nurse checked me and said "I may not be able to give you your epidural" so I'm thinking I am not far enough along. Well, I was 7 cm dilated already. On one hand, I was glad all that pain was productive, but on the other, I knew the epidural may not happen and I was MAD. Hannah was an unmedicated delivery and I swore I'd never do THAT again!

They quickly got me from triage into a L & D room, it was maybe 12:45 at this point. They told me they would order the epi, but Chris says they were just humoring me LOL. From there, things went FAST. Camden's heart rate dropped from the 130s into the 90s and so they had me try some different positions to keep his heart rate up. This happened with Madi as well and even though all the doctors and nurses were so calm, I knew it meant possible emergency C-Section if he did not come out of the decels. I was scared at this point and didn't care about the pain, just wanted him out and safe. Meanwhile, out of nowhere, I had a tremendous urge to push. Doctor checked me again and I was complete. About 15 minutes and maybe 10 pushes later, Camden was born at 1:34 am on Tuesday, November 10th. The pushing part took longer than I expected but I had a nice break in between each contraction. His shoulders got stuck and that was the worst part, I tore up pretty badly and felt it since I didn't have any pain meds.

The thing I remember most about the labor (besides the PAIN) is just saying (yelling?) over and over, "This is NOT how I wanted it to go. I wanted an epidural, I wanted a pain free birth". Oh well, as soon as it was over, it did not matter how he got here, just that he was healthy and safe. We waited a long time for our precious boy and cannot imagine not having him in our lives. He is such a blessing!

He's Here!

2009-11-14T11:45:00.002-05:00

Camden Robert
Born November 10, 2009
1:34 am
8 lbs 6 oz
22" long

Labor was fast and furious, first contrax were at 9:30. Arrived at hospital at midnight. Born at 1:34 with no time for pain meds. Full birth story to follow :)

He's all boy

2009-11-06T07:17:00.002-05:00

Evan has been needing some extra attention lately, I think due to the fact that in just a few days he will no longer be the baby in the house. So Chris has been trying to do some fun things with him, just the guys. They have gone hiking, mountain biking, fishing, and camping a few times. Here is a cute pic from a few weekends ago when they went camping at Cane Creek and Evan caught some decent sized fish. The pic was taken with Chris' Blackberry so it is not the best LOL.

Trick or Treat!

2009-10-31T20:50:00.001-04:00

A few pics of the kids before they headed out tonight!

38 weeks

2009-10-30T14:10:00.002-04:00

Here are a few 38 week belly pics. Please excuse the ratty sweatpants LOL. Not much fits anymore!

Praying for Stellan

2009-10-29T07:19:00.004-04:00

Please pray for this sweet baby boy, if you are so inclined. It is his first birthday today and he is hospitalized yet again. May almighty God perform a miracle today and help him on the road to healing. He is a fighter but his little body has been through so much, it just breaks my heart :(

http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

Pumpkin Carving

2009-10-23T17:39:00.003-04:00

The kids couldn't wait any longer, although I told them it was too early to carve them. We'll see if they make it until Halloween without rotting. But they sure came out cute! Hannah made a cat face, Evan made a "scary face" and Madi made a heart (LOL she has her first crush and carved M + J into her pumpkin!) This was the first year they did it completely on their own, even Evan. The only thing I did was roast the seeds...YUM!