Attention blogers! Want to join the Merry Little Christmas Cyber Monday giveaway event?

Life Unexpected: Adventures of a SAHM is teaming up with some great ladies to bring you our Merry Little Christmas review/giveaway event. The giveaways will take place one day only, Cyber Monday. It’s the biggest online shopping day of the year, but winning is so much more fun than buying! Want to join us? Here are the guidelines:

1.Reviews may be posted prior to the event but giveaways will only occur during the Cyber Monday event
2.Prizes must be worth a minimum of $25. Prize packs are acceptable.
3.Unless there are too many sign ups you will be allowed to link up more than one giveaway. As long as you meet the $25 requirement. Just remember quality over quantity.
4.You are responsible for finding your own sponsor

Think you’d be interested in joining or sponsoring a giveaway for our Merry Little Christmas event? Send me an email to willowsmommy21@gmail.com (a contact button is in the right sidebar at the top) letting me know. The more the merrier we’d love to get everyone’s Holiday shopping off to great start, and what better way than winning!

Wordless Wednesday All Smiles

Baby Heart Murmer. Cardiologist or no Cardiologist?

Yesterday was Ella and Madeline's well baby check up. They're now almost double their birth weight! Ella was 11lbs14oz & 24in long. Madeline was 11lbs7oz and 23.5in. Poor Ella is a mess. Her tear duct is still clogged and her toe has an ingrown nail that is infected, so she has her first antibiotic. They also said that if her eye doesn't clear up soon they will recommend corrective surgery between 6 and 9 months.

Then was Madeline's turn. They discovered a heart murmer. Her doctor called for a second opinion and she heard it too. Both said it sounds benign and they wouldn't stress over it. We'll just monitor her more closely at her well baby visits and if anything seems to change they'll recommend a Cardiologist. They did say that if wanted they would recommend one now but I really trust their opinion on it. This is the same peditricians office I went to from birth.

Of course when I told their daddy he freaked out and wants me to call for a recommendation now. Does anyone have any experience with heart murmers? Am I being too relaxed about this?

My Very First Wordless Wednesday - Babies in a Ball Pit

Fall is on it's way! Reviews and Giveaways!

Fall is absolutely without a doubt my favorite time of year. Pumpkins, apples, Halloween decorations, hay rides, festivals, and in Florida the heat index drops from 110 to 95, but at night it's nice and breezy. What is there not to love?! That isn't enough for you?

To celebrate my favorite season, I'm teaming up with some wonderful ladies and companies to bring you lots of great reviews and giveaways including Baby Bond nursing covers, Scentsy, 31 gifts, handmade Halloween decorations and more! Want to get in on the fun? Make sure you're following with Google Friends Connect and Twitter. (You can connect to both in the toolbar on the left) Want your shop to help sponsor The Great Fall Kickoff? Send me an email to willowsmommy21@gmail.com and we'll make it happen!

Oh to be two again

With every grey hair I find it's getting harder and harder to convince myself that I'm still young. I know,I know 25 is still young but it seems like the twins have aged me 5 years in the last 2 months.The years are starting to fly by and there's no way to make them stop.Today my nephew Keaton turned 2. Willow helped to make him star cupcakes and we spent the morning playing together with his new ballpit. It's funny how the older they get the harder it is to make them happy. Soon there will be requests for ipads and cars for presents but for now it just takes plastic, a whole bunch of air and 100 little balls.

Mother really is always right.

Willow is told at least 15 times a day that she can't pick up the babies. At least 20 times a day I find a baby in a different spot or she tries to carry them to me like a sack of potatoes. Last night I reached a new Mommy low. I told her if she picked up her sissy that she would puke on her.Two minutes later Willow is screaming "Ewww Sissy! Ewww Willow face!" She had tried to pick up Madeline and she spit up all over her face, shirt and arm.Of course I had no way of knowing she'd actually do it when I made my completely irrational threat, but I have a feeling Willow may not try picking her up for a few days.

Things My Kids Break - DVD player

It's that time again ladies and gentlemen, here we have another edition of "things my kids break". Seriously at the rate we're going this may become a daily feature...

Today was just one of those days. I feel like a broken record sometimes. "Willow forks don't go in the DVD player." "Willow we don't color our brand new $30 Gymboree shirt that your Auntie paid full price for with permanent markers" "Willow we don't need to pour the entire box of dishwashing detergent in the dishwasher." "Willow your sissy does not want to go all gone, please take the box off her head."

If you haven't figured it out yet, Willow is a bit of a handful. We're very sure that in addition to her speech delay she's also ADD or ADHD but she's too young for the testing. As a preschool teacher I had a class of 15 three year olds, some of which were diagnosed ADHD and Autistic and their behavior is down right angelic compared to hers. I love her to death but she's one of those kids who makes mommy feel like she needs a drink (or 10) each night. I really shouldn't be shocked by anything she does anymore, but I still am trying to figure out how she managed to get not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 DVDs stuck in the DVD player. I managed to pry them out but now the player won't open or close. Maybe she'll realize that mommy tells her not to touch it for a reason, when she can't watch The Wiggles tomorrow. Or maybe mommy will go crazy. I'm placing my bets on the later.

Casual Cutie Review and Promo

Anyone who knows me knows that I love hair accessories. My girls do not leave the house without a bow, headband or flower of some kind in their hair. We probably have 200 or more bows right now between the three of them. I buy matching ones at Gymboree, or make my own hair flowers, but my absolute favorite bows are the ones I find on Etsy. This is why I was so excited to review some of the products that Casual Cutie  has to offer.

Lauren sent us Ella and Madeline each a Petite Rosette headband in size 3-12m, one in lime green and one in hot pink. Willow received a purple Girly Monkey headband in size 12m-3y.  They arrived in a box and wrapped in tissue paper to avoid being damaged during shipping.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve received bows that have been smooched by the post office because the seller tried to ship in an envelope or polymailer, so this is a major plus in my book!

Ella and Madeline eagerly tried on their headbands (okay, so they didn’t have much of a choice, mommy put them on while they were sleeping) and were more than happy to model them for everyone.  If big bows aren’t your thing then these rosettes are a perfect match for you. They’re small and dainty but have enough off a pop to make sure that everyone knows your little baldy is in fact a girl. The petite rosettes measure about an inch across and have little pearls in the center.  The underside of the rosettes are lined to protect their delicate skin, the girls wore them for a few hours and there were no red marks or indentations on their skin like we’ve experienced with other elastic headbands. Ella and Madeline have heads that are on the smaller end of the charts (5^th percentile) and these headbands were a little loose on them, so they defiantly run true to size.

 Unfortunately, like most three year olds, Willow is going through a phase where she refuses to do anything that mommy asks, including wear her monkey headband so mommy could take pictures. She ran around for hours with it in but took it off whenever I got near her with a camera.  However my two year old nephew “The K-Man” was more than willing to give it a try and ham it up for a bit.  This headband features an embroidered felt monkey attached to a basic satin bow. The details are absolutely adorable; the monkey even has her own little purple bow with pearl accent!

Overall we were really pleased with our headbands from Casual Cutie and we will defiantly be placing an order in the near future! Want to get some Casual Cutie bows of your own? Well you’re in luck! Lauren has decided to offer a special promotion just for readers of Life Unexpected: Adventures of a SAHM! With any purchase of $25 or more prior to shipping,Casual Cutie will send you a hot pink Satin Rosette headband  which is a $7 value! Lauren even offers hats for both boys and girls so you're sure to find something for your little one.  All you have to do to claim your headband is leave a note to seller when you check out saying “I found you on Life Unexpected” This deal is only good through Sunday August 21^st. 

Other than the three headbands I received from Casual Cutie I did not receive any other compensation.All opinions are my own.

Blog Hopping week of 8/12

It's that time again! If you found me through a blog hop please leave a message so I can follow you back!

A 2 year olds idea of dinner

I love to bake and in our kitchen we have one cabinet dedicated to baking supplies. There are sprinkles in every color and shape imaginable. Willow loves to decorate all the cupcakes with "pretties". So I'm not sure why I'm shocked that she just brought me a big bowl of sprinkles with a spoon and told me it was my dinner. I'm sure Shes going to be up all night now. Never a dull moment here!

What do we do on rainy Florida days?

We play in the puddles of course!

Mommy loves free stuff - Okkatots Diaper Backpack

For some reason Daddy doesn't like to carry around our Vera Bradley baby bag. He says it's "too girly". I tried explaining that we have a house full of girls but that answer doesn't seem to work for him. That's why I entered to win an Okkatots diaper backpack as our Daddy Bag. The giveaway ends tonight so make sure to get your entries in. You can enter athttp://www.okkatots.com/

Things My Kids Break MAC eyeshadows

Why yes, those are mommy's MAC pigment powder eyeshadows all over the floor. Thanks Willow!

Blog Hopping week of 8/5

If you found me from a blog hop, take a moment to say hello, and follow with GFC. It may take a few days (Twins keep you busy) but I will follow back.
Thanks,
Jessica

That's not my name!

I have a feeling my poor girls are going to have a lifetime of correcting people when it comes to telling who is who. The pathology came back on the placenta today and they are now 100% sure that they are identical. Every day they look more and more alike. Sometimes I even have a hard time telling them apart. (Okay so most of the time it’s 3am feeding time when I mix them up, but it still makes you feel bad. )Shouldn’t I have some sort of twin mommy sense that allows me to always know who is who?

Which brings me to today’s fun twin story. My brother stopped by today and Ella was crying. Now Shawn likes to pretend that he doesn’t like the babies, doesn’t want to hold them, look at them etc. It’s not that he’s a mean guy or anything like that but he has to keep up his tough guy image. At 25 being a big old softy for babies isn’t “cool”. However he is the first one to come rushing in to their rescue if one of them is crying, he says the crying “annoys him” but we all know he feels bad. So Shawn comes in and scoops her up and the following conversation occurs:

Him: Hey Maddie don’t cry
Me: That’s Ella
Him: No It’s not, it’s Maddie
Me: Nope, it’s Ella, I know my kids
Him: Okay, so why do you call her Ella anyway
Me: That’s her name
Him: Wouldn’t Bella be a better nickname?
Me: What are you talking about?
Him: Well isn’t Bella the nickname for Isabella
Me: Yes, but her name is just Ella
Him: She’s just Ella? But Maddie is Madison right?

My brother has seriously spent the past two months thinking that my daughters are named Isabella and Madison, when their names are Ella and Madeline. So now when I feel bad for not being able to tell them apart at times I can take comfort in knowing that I may not always know who is who but atleast I know their names!

You can get things for free on the internet?!

Once upon a time I thought that no one could possibly get things for free from the internet. Surely all those giveaways, contests and make money from searching sites had to be a scam right? Then I reluctantly gave in and tried Swagbucks. I earned $200 in the first 6 months just from searching! I never did any of the surveys, special offers etc. That $200 paid for Willow’s Jumperoo and a lot of her Christmas presents, since then I’ve purchased everything from a new vacuum to diapers with my Amazon gift cards that I earned from Swagbucks.

So search sites were real, but I still couldn’t believe that those giveaways were legitimate. I thought they were a way to collect your info and sell it for marketing purposes. Until two weeks ago when I thought I’d give it a try. After all, I do need something to do when the twins wake up in the middle of the night to eat. Three feedings a night at a hour each gives me three hours to mess around on the internet. So I created a second email address (still worried about spam) and started entering away! What did I really have to loose? The answer is nothing, I actually won!

In the past week, I’ve won two giveaways from other bloggers. Thanks to One Scrappy Mom Willow now has a copy of Barney 1-2-3 on its way and I have 2 adorable reversible headbands from Saved By Grace Designs thanks to The Remodeled Life. The lesson ladies? Take a chance!

Want to win some things of your own? Make sure you’re following Life Unexpected with Google Friend Connect because We’ve been working with some great WAHMs to get some giveaways heading your way!