Well hello friends!  Have you heard that the producers of Project Mom Casting are interviewing mom bloggers for the chance to be on a reality show about the aforementioned awesome online chicks!  I kid you not.   Since I will SO be watching this show I thought it could only be that much better to be on such a wonderfully themed program.  This post is my audition.  There is no casting couch that I know of and being a faithful wife I would have to pass anyway so what follows is my by the books submission.  Wish me luck!

{By wishing me luck I really mean…} Feel free to tweet this to the masses, share it on facebook and tell those awesome producers on their facebook page that you would love to see my circus on the tube!  They want to see me rally my readers and fans so if you are a lurker and thought one day you might comment or like me on facebook – now would be a lovely time for you to do so.  That’s enough of my begging.  I must retain some dignity if I’m gonna be on T.V. and all! 

Yeah, right.

My Official Submission (Wouldn’t My Husband Love to Hear That) in 498 Words

This is what I look like.  That calm smile has a direct link to the bottle of wine behind me and the older children keeping my children busy while I drank it.  The man is the cutie I convinced to marry me.  And then give me 3 kids in 3 years.  Yep – It’s a circus around here.

In One Line:  I share my circus of exceptional chaos hoping we can come together, laughing or crying, on the most real journey I can think of:  Motherhood.

What is my story?    

I am Brittany and I am a Project Mom.  My whole life I have thought in terms of  big plans, extensive tasks and major undertakings.  Motherhood is my greatest challenge, my priceless gift and the most important project of my life.  I blog about all of it while I try to do it all.

My Grand Scheme is was to somehow find the perfect balance of being a mom, a wife, a friend, a blogger, a helper, a traveler and a DIY project nut.   I am comfortable sharing all of these misadventures with my readers and friends, and (of course) revealing that perfect balance is not possible and probably not as fun either.

I love to laugh and I hope you laugh with me.  That’s why I show you pictures of me sticking a flashlight and an ipod down my underpants in an effort to DIY turn my breech baby.  I also let my kids milk me. Wouldn’t that make for some kick ass reality T.V.? 

I know the value of sharing stories of pain and the courage to overcome obstacles with friends and I have found that my online friends provide a fabulous shoulder to cry on.  A terrible miscarriage brought me online and the friends I made literally kept me going.  I feel constantly embraced and strengthened by my online friendships.

I build things.  With power tools.  Then I show you how.  I love making things with my hands and am determined to keep my passion for DIY alive even with 3 tiny ones in the house.  How much more reality show perfect can I get with all this DIY wonder!  I finished Miles’ toddler bed the night before Violet was born.  Ah the power of a prego’s nesting instinct!

I have discovered the power social media has to make positive changes in our communities and I am proud to work with Huggies on the Every Little Bottom campaign and the Hebrew National Better Than a Picnic project.   My online voice is making a difference!

I am totally honest about the completely un-sexy parts of motherhood and the times when things are a little lackluster.  I showed you my day after baby belly.  I’m all about keepin’ it real around here! 

I find pure joy in the chaos and I post mad pictures of my kids and stories of our life.  This is about sharing my unique story. I am totally ready for a Project Mom reality.

Pick Our Mommy Please!

Sophia is almost 4 and likes to hang with the older crowd. She prefers the cool 5 and 6 year olds to kids her own age and thus is constantly wondering when she will lose her first tooth and meet the amazing tooth fairy. She knows exactly what to look for and daily feels her teeth to see if any are wiggly. This girl is ready to say goodbye to those babies and get some big girl toofers and more importantly, the tooth fairy prize.

She made a little video explaining the process and the aforementioned prize. Show this to your kids if they are wondering how this exciting process works.  The best part?  Our tooth fairy brings pennies!  I just love it – the tooth fairy is on a budget too!

Yes, I know that she will realize a penny does not buy much and at some point will ask for the big money or a Wii or something our tooth fairy cannot afford. I’m thinking of telling her that our tooth fairy has fallen on hard times and see how she takes the news.

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 I originally posted on this topic last summer.  I feel it is a subject that warrants a second look.

So far this year, 24 children died after being left in a hot car.  In 2009, 33 children were lost forever after being forgotten. They died from hyperthermia. I am sure there are hundreds of little ones who did not die, but could have.  I am sure there are thousands who have been left in the car for a moment.  This is not okay.  It does not take a long time for a car to heat up above 107 degrees.  And that temperature is lethal for humans.  More than 70% of these deaths were kids under 2 – many of whom were asleep and facing backwards as the AAP recommends.     They did not make any noise when the car was parked.   See this fact sheet for more information on hyperthermia deaths.

First, Some Background and Sensitivity Training…

The Washington Post called it “Fatal Distraction” in March 2009, when staff writer Gene Weingarten wrote about the difficulty in assessing the criminal nature of a child’s death by hyperthermia (or heatstroke) when the parent made a fatal mistake – he or she forgot their child or children in the car.  (Please see also the transcript of Gene’s live discussion after the huge response his article received.)   These are parents who deeply love their children.  They will be haunted for the rest of their lives by their mistake.  I am in tears again and I have read the article and many others so many times.  Gene admits that he had a moment in his past where his daughter made a noise in a parking lot and he remembered she was there.  He had forgotten.  He was overcome with nausea.  Thank God he did not get out of the car.  Thank God she made a noise.  He felt like he had to write this piece.  Sometimes it just takes the smallest thing to bring us back from our modern day distracted reality.

I hear this a lot:  “what kind of parent could do that?” I have read a number of articles over the last few years that made me realize it could be any of us.  Seriously.  Our brains are not perfect.  And the part of our brain that deals with memory and complex routines – the pre-frontal cortex – helps us to multitask and make finely tuned decisions but is also sensitive to stress and changes in a NORMAL routine.  Read the article for a much better description.  Basically, under stress the boobie part of your brain, the basal ganglia, takes over and you go on autopilot.  Unless something jogs your good brain – you could forget anything – even your child. I will not spend a long time on specific stories of heartbroken parents but I will post the list of people Gene interviewed  – the list of what kind of parent could do that.   It is terrifying and very sobering.  The following is taken from Gene’s article.

What kind of person forgets a baby?

The wealthy do, it turns out. And the poor, and the middle class. Parents of all ages and ethnicities do it. Mothers are just as likely to do it as fathers. It happens to the chronically absent-minded and to the fanatically organized, to the college-educated and to the marginally literate. In the last 10 years, it has happened to a dentist. A postal clerk. A social worker. A police officer. An accountant. A soldier. A paralegal. An electrician. A Protestant clergyman. A rabbinical student. A nurse. A construction worker. An assistant principal. It happened to a mental health counselor, a college professor and a pizza chef. It happened to a pediatrician. It happened to a rocket scientist….

The facts in each case differ a little, but always there is the terrible moment when the parent realizes what he or she has done, often through a phone call from a spouse or caregiver. This is followed by a frantic sprint to the car. What awaits there is the worst thing in the world.

See?  They are not all drunk or on drugs.  They are not “those” parents who you would never associate with.  They are people, just like you and me, who never thought they would do that.  Let’s keep any “better than you claws” in and focus on how to avoid this situation.  Please.

How Can We Prevent These Tragedies?  a.k.a. How to Jog Your Good Brain and Help Others

10 Ideas…not all mine but all good.  And there can be NO overkill here.  Overlap is great!

1.  Set an Alert on your computer, phone or Blackberry: From my own vault of experience while working with a baby in daycare – I set an alert on my computer to go off every 15 minutes from about 7 a.m. (I got to work around 7.15 to 7.30) to 9 a.m.  That way no matter when I got to work there was a message on my screen that said…

Did you drop Sophia off at daycare?  Are you sure she is not in the car?

I put mine in Microsoft outlook.  I am sure there are lots of online programs that can do it too.  This really helped me.  While I never really thought I had left her – I did call the daycare once or twice to make sure while running to my car.  This frantic run may happen with this method – the note sometimes makes you second guess yourself.  However, coupled with the other suggestions I think it is still a good idea.

2.  Place a sticker on your car: Your windshield, your dashboard, your driver side window – wherever you think – that asks the same question.  Where is your child?  Or says Kids Should not be Left In Cars.  Or maybe Don’t Forget Me! This is also a good reminder to count your kids before you leave.  WAY too many kids get run over every year because parents thought they were in the car or in the house.  You can get some stickers and magnets for your car from Forget Me Not.  Or you could make your own.  You scrapbookers could make some dynamite stickers I am sure.  Maybe they have your kids names on them.  Maybe a phrase you know you will notice.  Just something.  As long as you see it and remember.

3.  Place a sticker on the door/entrance of your workplace and your home. They have security stickers.  They have credit card stickers.   They have hours and rules posted.  Whatever – your workplace should be happy to oblige you!  This way if you miss it on your car you will be reminded again when you get to the door.   On your house – this is a simple one.  Parents leave kids in the car at home.   They also accidentally leave their kids at home when they leave in the car.  Since I assume you lock and unlock your doors or at least use the handle to open or close it – this should be a reminder either way to actually think about where your kids are.

4.  Place a large stuffed animal in the car seat when it is unoccupied. When you put your child in, put the animal in the front seat.  This is a visual reminder, says Jannette Fennell of Kids and Cars.  Then when you leave make it a habit to get your child out and replace the animal in the back.

5.  Put things you need for your activity in the back seat. Be it work, errands or other daily activities you have things you always take with you that you would usually have or need when you got to where you were going.   If you were supposed to drop your child off you would notice when you went to grab your purse in the back seat and saw your sleeping child.  And, unlike your child, who you would have thought you dropped off, you will miss your purse as soon as you go for your cup of coffee, to make a purchase, to put away your phone.  If you get in the habit you will always be checking your back seat for your valuables.

6.  Leave the Diaper Bag / Kid Supplies in the Front Seat.  This is similar to the above, but is another idea to really make sure everything is in the wrong place so that you WILL know if your child is in the car and you WILL NOT forget them if you go to pick up your purse and see a diaper bag and then reach in the back and see your child.

7.  Regularly Communicate with your Childcare Provider. This is a great idea anyway.  Keep your childcare provider, be it a nanny or a daycare or a home facility, aware of your plans.   Let them know what time you will be dropping off and ask them to contact you if they do not see your child at that time.  If you are good at communicating with them, they should do the same for you.  When you are looking for childcare, make sure this is something they will do.  I made sure that besides the sign in sheet at our daycare, they used an attendance chart in the classrooms and they did, in fact, ask when a child was not there.

8.  Get an alarm for your car seat. I have been thinking this for awhile but of course, like my other inventions, they already have one like it.  I will tell you about both.  What I actually think is that much like the seat belt beeper that goes off if someone is in a seat with no seat belt the auto manufacturers should put the same kind of device on each back seat station.  You should be able to “alarm” it when you install the car seat.  When you open your car door the car will say to you, “Don’t forget you have passengers in the back seat.”  I would be fine if it said, in a screaming voice – “Hey Lady – Baby on Board.  Get her out!”.  Just something to make sure I was with it.  Honda, Toyota, Dodge are you listening????  Volvo – come on you are all for safety!!!

Since this is not yet available on any cars that I know of you can use something like the Baby Alert Child Minder System. This retails for $69.95.  It is a pad that goes in the seat and an alarm that goes on your key chain.  If you walk more than 15 feet from the car while the child is in the seat.  The alarm will sound.  This will also make sure you do not run into gas stations or grocery stores, even in the winter, because whether it’s hot or not your child should not be alone in the car.  Many states have a ZERO seconds law that means no child may be left in car for any number of seconds.  Good stuff.   You could also use the Cars-N-Kids Car Seat Monitor.  This monitor also senses the weight of the child, but it plays a lullaby whenever the car stops, reminding you that you have a baby in the car.  This retails for $29.95.  Personally I like the alarm better but either tackle the main objective – remember your baby is in the car!

9.  Spread the Word.  The more people who know how this can happen and how fast it can happen and that it could, in reality, happen to them, the more people will take some of these simple steps to make sure it does not happen.  Maybe your local moms group could make stickers. Maybe you could hand some out at temple or church.  Maybe you could include them in the goodie bags for a party with a little note.  This is not rude.  This is not spoiling someone’s good time.  It is possibly saving a life – many lives in reality – from being destroyed.  Be open to talking about the hard times all parents have juggling their kids with their lives and their jobs, especially new parents who are adjusting to the changes and the lack of sleep and the car seats and the drop offs and all of the things that come at you the minute that baby comes out.   The more open we are, the more people will know, and the more they will think before they lock their car and walk away from their beautiful child.

10.  Look Around.  Peek in Parked Cars. You are not some Peeping Tom.  You are just casually walking by and glancing in back seats.  I have seen kids in cars outside a grocery store before.  Not a gas station (not that it matters) but a big grocery store.  It can take 20 minutes to “run in and out” of a huge store.  The mother walked out to her car as I was approaching a security guard to let him know.  It was near 90 degrees outside.  Had the doors not been locked I swear I would have opened them.  We have a zero second law here so I would have been fine doing that, or calling 911 or probably breaking a window.  People DO leave their kids.  They do not always remember, or they think they will be right back, or they don’t know how dangerous it really is.  If you notice a child and get that car open you may well save his or her life.  That is worth a few weird glances your way.  As a note, look in particular (or find a security guard to look) if you see or hear a car alarm going off but no one is around it.  Some cars have motion detectors that will go off when they sense movement within and were locked using the key fob.

Don’t they say it takes 28 days to form a habit?  Some things may seem silly or too simple but they are meant to insert a new basics routine in that dumb part of your brain that you will do even when you are the most tired the most stressed or the most out of your normal routine.  They are meant to train you to remember your child, and harsh as that sounds, it is a good reminder for all of us.

I hope that you find some of these suggestions useful for you or someone you know with small children.  Please remember to treat your vehicle as a dangerous object and not let children of any age near it to play or explore.  Older kids get locked in cars accidentally themselves.  Kids from toddlers on up can start cars and accidentally drive them.  And babies can be forgotten.

Please help SPREAD THE WORD on this topic.  You can use the share buttons below to send it by email or post it to your Facebook or other networking site.  You can Tweet it from the top of the post or from below.

If you have any other suggestions I will update this post with them and spread your words as well.

Thank you for listening, thank you for sharing, thank you for loving your children and for keeping them safe.

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While we are stuck in the shaft together and we say hello and you ask me what I do (people do that right?) I have anywhere from 1 floor and 30 seconds to a lot more floors but really not much more time to tell you about my blog, Mommy Words.   I don’t want to bore you and I want to hear about you too so even if I have 10 minutes – I am going to keep it short and sweet and hope you like me and my little “Elevator Pitch” and that you will remember me.  In truth, I hope I like you too and that we decide to get drinks and end up being besties - so remember that if we meet in said elevator.

Not that one would actually speak these lines word for word but…

Tagline (It’s Been in My Header Since the Beginning)

Mommy Words – It’s a Circus Around Here

Short Elevator Pitch:

I Chronicle the Chaos of Motherhood.

Longer Version (Because now we are really chatting!)

Mommy Words is a circus and I am the Ringmaster. I blog about Motherhood and so much more. I am a mother of 3 young kids who loves to play, throw parties, travel with my family and build things with wood and lots of power tools.  I share my life with complete honesty and a great deal of humour.  I write about memories both precious and painful, embarrass myself regularly and share tips and tutorials on everything from travel to parties to DIY projects to potty training.  I present to you the awesome and the awful moments of motherhood.  Join Me!

The Process

It was hard to come up with a pitch for a Mommy Blog.  Really hard.  It’s a pretty big niche to blog about motherhood – ya know? I like the idea of a circus because it fits my life and my blog perfectly.  It gives me ability to explore lots of different things on my blog.  I am more than just a crazed mom and I like it that way.  I love to share our family stories but I also like to build things and show people how to do it.  I love to throw elaborate parties and do almost all of the planning and preparation and decorations myself.  We take the kids everywhere and I like to share my travel tips and itineraries.  I really like sharing great products with my readers and giving thorough reviews so you know what you are getting.  See – it is a circus and it is chaos! 

It took a long time for me to craft a short pitch but when I found the word Chaos I knew it was perfect for me, my home and my blog!  Mothers know the word perfectly and I think it conveys that my blog will show the good and the bad and make them feel comfortable joining the party and getting to know me and my other readers.  It’s okay to be crazy and not perfect.

This is Just the First Day of Building a Better Blog!

Crafting the elevator pitch is the 1st task on ProBlogger’s 31 Days to Build a Better Blog.  I am so excited to be participating in the 31 day challenge with the girls from SITS!  More than 400 of us have signed up to take the challenge and communicate throughout the entire journey!  If you have not joined you can check it out by clicking on the badge below.

Feedback Please!

I would love to know what you think and hear your pitch!  These can be used in so many situations when you meet someone who asks about you blog and can be switched up a little to target a mom at the soccer game, a fellow blogger or a company who may be interested in sponsoring your site.  I am still working on how I would tweak my longer pitch for companies but I better get it straight before BlogHer!

By the way, if you are going to BlogHer please let me know in the comments!  I would love to meet you!

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Our kids’ bathtub is now officially full as sweet Baby V joined Sophia and Miles for her first big girl bath.  I would say it was a huge success.  Usually she creams for every minute of being in the water in that baby tub.  Lately I felt so bad I have just had Ross hand her to me in the shower.  This is actually very easy and a great time saver!  However, she was ready for the bath seat and the kids have been begging to get her in on the bath time fun so I acquiesced.   As you can see, while there were no tears – she looks a little nervous and unsure of this new adventure.  I repeat – NO TEARS – this is an improvement!  I call this success and can’t believe all my kids are now close to being able to play together!  Time is flying by!    First a bath – then Kindergarten – then college.  Cue Tears.

"Look Mom, No Tears!"

Violet is certainly not starving herself these days and is one chubby and happy little camper as soon as baths are over.  Just so you can see that I did not traumatize my baby, note her smiling.

"Can You Even Get the Towel Around My Belly?"

Stay tuned for her next exciting milestone.  I believe she is almost ready to sit up on her own.  Crazy, I know.  You just can’t wait! I love that being a mommy blogger I am actually cool with posting this stuff and thinking people might read it.  Everybody loves chubby babies right?

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We let our beautiful dog Madeline go to heaven last Monday.  I started this post then but I have been too emotional to finish it.  It was so unexpected. I did not get to say goodbye. She was almost 10 and we thought she had years left. We were wrong. You just never know. This is my goodbye to my first baby girl. 

Animal Hospital Card with Madeline's Paw Print

Just a week before she was still running around and running away.  She was still playful and barking and rolling around in the grass.  She loved to run at lightning speed out the door so unsuspecting visitors felt like they had to stay and try to find her.  Always looking for attention, my Maddie.  Then it got really, really hot and Maddie stopped running.  She had her physical and they said she was fine, just tired from the heat and a little older – but healthy as far as they could see.  She slowed down significantly in the days before July 4th and then, on Independence Day, she stopped moving.  She did not bark once at the fireworks she always hated with a passion.  She just laid on the kitchen floor and did not even try to get to her place on the couch or laying by my bed.  We brought water to her mouth and she barely drank.  We knew something was wrong, and we thought she had been bitten by a snake or had an infection.

The morning of July 5th Ross carried Maddie to the car because she could not walk.  I gave her a big kiss before I got on the road to watch my sister graduate from Marine Combat Training at Camp LeJeune.  Only 2 hours into the drive Ross called me with the shocking news that Maddie had cancer.  Cancer that filled her gall bladder and had spread to her lungs.  Cancer that caused something in her body to rupture and create massive internal bleeding.  Cancer that stopped her from walking, stopped her from barking and in the end, stopped me from saying goodbye.

The vet said that when the internal bleeding started the pain started and that while we could have opted for a $5000 surgery to try and stop the bleeding we would not be able to treat the cancer, as widespread as it was.  She recommended that we put Madeline to sleep.  I asked if they could wait until I returned the next day to say goodbye to my baby but she said that Maddie was in such pain that the delay would be inhumane.  Because the last thing in the world I wanted was for Madeline to be in pain, I agreed that Ross and Miles would say goodbye for me and for Sophia.

Ross took a last picture of Madeline on her stretcher after they said goodbye.  He said he cried when he kissed her. 

Our First Girl, Madeline

I could not help myself. I cried so much in the car that I had to pull over.  I told Sophia that Maddie had to go to heaven and we talked about it, and we cried together.  I am glad I had her with me.  It was hard, but she is a strong little girl and we hugged each other and talked about how happy Madeline would be in dog heaven.

Still, I was devastated.  This may sound silly, but I wanted to tell her how much I loved her and spend some time with her without the kids to tell her that even though I hadn’t paid as much attention to her since I had Sophia and Miles and Violet, that she was my first baby and that I loved her deeply.  I wanted to say thank you to her for being absolutely wonderful with all of the babies.  She never bit or scratched.  She never got angry with them.  She loved their hugs and kisses, even when they were rough.  She cuddled with all of us.  I wanted to say that I was sorry I got angry with her when she pooped all over the floor in the weeks before her death.  Had I known she was sick, things would have been so different.  I know that she knew I loved her.  I know that she had a wonderful and happy life with us.  I just wanted a little quiet time with her to say my goodbyes.

I did not know until she was gone what a huge part of my life she was and I will hold all of my memories close and remind myself that we never know how long we have with any animal or any friend or family member.  I hope that I will let her memory teach me to treat every day I have with my loved ones as a gift, because that is exactly what every day is.

So Goodbye Old Friend, and thank you for 10 wonderful years as your mommy.  We were so lucky to have you in our lives.

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We Van der Linden’s are Hardcore Netherlands Fans!

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I love the iPhone app Hipstamatic. It is an app that Hipstmatic says “brings back the look, feel, unpredictable beauty, and fun of plastic toy cameras from the past.” Basically it makes any old picture look pretty darn cool. Unfortunately, I don’t have an iPhone and even if I did, I love to take pictures with my real camera.

I thought there must be a way, without being a photoshop genius, to give my pictures this awesome vintage look.  It took a lot of digging but I found a great little FREE program to download and a few very easy steps to make any photo hip in any way you want!

Start by downloading Photoscape.  It’s a free photo editor that lets you do tons of things to your pictures!  I have just started playing with it but it is easy and fun!  I will be spending a ton of time with this little gem!

First, select your run of the mill photo.  I love this picture of Sophia on the beach and thought it would look great with a vintage twist!

Next, upload your photo into the Photoscape editor.

Below the photo you will see a bunch of buttons that allow you to change anything about the photo.

For this picture I took the following steps:

Filter – Film Effect – Cross Process High.  Cross Processing in the real world of photography is the procedure of deliberately processing photographic film in a chemical solution intended for a different type of film (from Wikipedia).

Filter – Film Effect – Portra High.  Portra is an effect that is meant to simulate the high quality Kodak film that is used for weddings and portraits to give great skin tones and a very fine grain.  I just liked how it looked!

Bright, Color – Colorize.  For this picture I chose a color value 20, saturation of 255 and saturation level of 41%.  The higher the level, the stronger the color.  This is where you will give your pictures a different tone of green or orange or whatever suits your fancy!

Filter – Vignetting.  Click on Vignetting and choose your shadow like edges.  There are a bunch to choose from and they are fun to play around with!

Backlight.  (+/- 100%)  This is what I chose.  It gives a really cool light to the photo.  Play around with this too.  You can see the changes as you make them so it is super easy to change your mind.

Finally, the real Hipstamtic cool factor comes from the frame.  This was what I could never find but in Photoscape there are a few that mimic that cool old look. I chose Cali 12 for this photo, which has a rough edge around the entire photo. 

I ended up with the fabulous and very hip photo of Sophia at the beach!

I went ahead and hipped up a photo of Miles and Violet as well because it is just so much fun! Here is the original adorable picture of my two cuddle bugs!

I chose a Portra Low setting here with colorization of 25/128/50% for the more orange tones and I love it! I also chose the slightly more rugged Cali 5 frame.

Now don’t you have a couple pics that could use a little more hip?  Have fun and please share your experience in the comments so that we can all create some very cool photos!

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Sophia announced with pride that she had cleaned her play kitchen. I was ecstatic as I have been trying to get her to really clean up for a very long time.  I wanted to see this immaculate masterpiece.  She stood in front of the doors and said “Look, All Clean Mom!”  Her words said one thing but her stance said another.

All Clean Mom!

 I asked if she could show me her kitchen and she told me I did not need to see the kitchen, just the floor in front of the doors.  I knew something was awry.  I asked how she cleaned the kitchen and she informed me with pride that it was “Just the way Daddy showed me”.  Houston, we have a problem.  Daddy has no idea how to pick up.  His mantra is out of sight, out of mind.  I give you Exhibit A.  No further exhibits are needed.

Daddy Showed Me How!

My husband showed her how to shove all her crap into whatever closet or bucket or niche was nearby and shut the doors.  He showed her how to hide the mess, not clean it up.  This is why he never knows where his stuff is.  I asked her why she did not clean her kitchen the way I do.   I was really curious.

A Clean Kitchen

She said cleaning that way is boring and takes too long.

Yeah babe – but my way actually puts things back where they belong so you don’t lose pieces or have things fly out of the closet when you open it.  My way is the mommy way and my way is the way we clean up around here.  Daddy is not so good at cleaning.  He fakes it.  This is like telling a lie.  You don’t want to tell a lie, do you?

Sophia said “No, but I like fun things and that is not very fun.”

Really?  Shocker.  Welcome to my world.  Wait until you have kids.  I am so going to say “I told you so.”

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I love to have beautiful things for my kids.  I actually get excited when a blanket or bib matches their outfits and looks chic and modern!  I sometimes wish I had such a stylish piece for me!  It is no surprise that I was ecstatic when Cindy from KIOKKO Baby Couture sent me a fabulous blanket, bib and 2 washcloths to pamper baby Violet.  I Love them!

KIOKKO Baby is also providing a giveaway for a $50 Giftcard and a 15% discount with free shipping for Mommy Words readers!  Just enter mommywords at checkout!

My Thoughts on Kiokko Baby Couture:

When the package arrived I was impressed.  It was beautifully wrapped with a lovely card and would make a perfect baby gift!

KIOKKO in the Box!

KIOKKO has so many gorgeous fabrics with the modern vintage style I adore.  I love the Red Lotus Wallflower blanket we received!  The fabric is a super soft lightweight cotton backed with a very chic plush minky in a pearly white.  It is perfect for the warmer months as it gives Violet a comfortable blankie without making her too hot. 

Violet Rocks the Red Lotus

Sophia calls it Violet’s picnic blanket and it is perfect to throw on the grass or on the carpet so Violet can be a part of our daily indoor picnic parties!

Sophia and Violet Relaxin'

I love that the blanket is larhe enough for Violet to have floor time but also easy to fold up and throw in my bag so I always have something to put her on that is cute and makes for great pictures and a comfy baby!

She Looks Good on the Red Lotus!

The bibs are perfect for me because I bear droolers and spit uppers who need bibs through toddlerhood to protect their clothes.  They are a wonderfully thick cotton on the front and backed with the same adorable plush minky for maximum comfort.   They provide full coverage of the baby’s chest and are not too loose or too tight in the neck.

Violet Rocks her Kiokko Bib

Sophia loved the bib pattern so much that she asked to model it for my computer work (i.e. the Blog).  Of course I agreed.  She is almost 4 and has not asked to put on a bib in almost 2 years.  She knows chic when she sees it!

Sophia's Modeling Debut in Kiokko!

Overall

I love Kiokko Bebe’s style and function and would recommend them for any stylish moms and babies!  These definitely get the Mommy Words Woo Hoo!  Cindy has bibs, blankets, burpcloths, washcloths, pacifier clips and nursing covers! If you want to place an order you can go to Kiokko Bebe Coutureand enter in the code mommywords for your 15% discount! 

I will be using this discount code to purchase some more bibs and I am loving the nursing covers she has!  They are gorgeous!  You could not find a more fashionable way to feed your little fashion plate!

Giveaway

One lucky Mommy Words reader will win a  $50 gift card to be used at Kiokko Bebe Couture!  How fabulous is that?  How do you win?  It’s easy!  

Required Entry:

Simply check out the Kiokko Bebe Couture site and let me know what you would pick if you won in the comments!  You can pick something else if you win! 

Extra Entries:  You must leave a separate comment for each extra entry to count and extra entries won’t count unless the required entry is done.  If you already follow / fan Mommy Words or Kiokko Bebe this counts – just let me know!

1.  Follow Mommy Words publicly by joining through Google Friend Connect and tell me you are. 

2.  Become my Facebook fan here and leave me your Facebook name.

3.  Become a Facebook fan of Kiokko Bebe here and leave me your Facebook name.

4.  Follow @mommywords on Twitter here and leave me your twitter name. 

5.  Follow Kiokko Bebe on Twitter here and leave me your twitter name.

6.  Purchase anything from Kiokko Bebe and get 5 extra entries!  Please leave a comment for each entry.

7.  Tweet about this giveaway 1 time each day and let me know you tweeted!  Please tweet – Win an fabulous $50 giftcard to the sophisticated and practical Kikko Bebe Couture @mommywords!  http://tiny.cc/9nrki Ends 7/11.

8.  Subscribe to Mommy Words via RSS reader or Email and tell me you are .  You can find the buttons at the top of the site.

9.  Click to vote for me at Top Mommy Blogs. Just click the cute banner on the right side bar and tell me you clicked. You can can click up to 3x for more entries.

10.  Post about this giveaway on your blog for 5 entries!  Just leave me the link in 5 comments!

Giveaway Rules and Disclaimer:

This giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian residents only. It begins on June 21, 2010 and will end on July 11, 2010 at 9 pm. One winner with a valid entry will be selected at random using random.org. The winner will be contacted via email if I have his or her email and must respond within 48 hours to claim. Otherwise, another eligible entry will be chosen. Good luck!

I was provided with the Kiokko Bebe blanket, bib and washcloths in order to facilitate my review.  I was not compensated for this review.  These are my own opinions and honest experience with this product.