We are sick. Again. After Kelsie’s ER yesterday and the night, Mommy’s caught whatever it is as well. I will try to be around as much as I can but between my head throbbing and trying to keep Kelsie’s fever from climbing again, it’s a cuddle day for all of us. I’m arguing a trip to the doctor for myself but we’ll see.

I hope you all find some great Cyber Monday deals today. See you soon!

Is seeing your child hurting. Whether it be emotional or physical pain, you feel helpless as a parent. Today was definitely one of those days.

On Friday before Kelsie headed back to visit her Daddy, it was obvious she was going to be getting sick. Those little eyes were watering non-stop and she just did not feel good.

Fast forward to this morning. Her Dad called me to let me know that she was feeling like crap and to make sure I had medicine for her. Yup. All stocked, no worries. I asked about her behavior though with how he was talking. She had little appetite and wasn’t wanting to drink anything or eat. She hadn’t had a wet diaper since the middle of the night. GULP.

So I headed to get Kelsie and called Urgent Care. At that point, they said with the risk of dehydration I’d need to head to the ER. When I got Kelsie those little cheeks were RED and she was MISERABLE. She didn’t want to answer questions, she didn’t want music on, she wanted nothing to do with me. We took off for the ER.

Well, I’ve had my issues with the care provided here in town. I do not like this hospital but went because a doctor I trust told me too. We were in and out and told to hold out until 8pm to see if she would have a wet diaper. Prescribed some antibiotics and we headed home.

My mom came in the process of not knowing what was going to need done. When she saw Kelsie, we agreed we needed to get her better attention. While I knew what taking her elsewhere would mean, I refused to hesitate and wait. I couldn’t get her to sip juice, Pedialyte. NOTHING was going in.

When I got her to Story County Medical Center, she was on fire. A temp of 102.3 definitely explained that. After some discussion, I knew an IV was coming. How do you explain to a 2 year old?

She fought and fought but was a CHAMP and I was so proud of her getting her IV. Mommy probably cried more than her. Soon she was asleep on me as my Mom and I watched on. In that time, the fever broke and Kelsie awoke still sick, but back to the little girl questioning things and ready to go.

While there’s no way to put it other than it SUCKED to watch my baby girl get an IV, I was amazed at how quickly it helped her. Never second guess yourself when it comes to your children. If I would have went with the first doctor’s opinion, Kelsie would have sat in hell all day. Instead, she came home stuffed up and not feeling well but she was back eating and taking small sips of fluid. She was beyond pumped to color the Elmo pages her nurses gave her (THANK YOU TO YOU ALL) and stick her stickers everywhere to show me how much she was a trooper today.

The worst feeling is watching your child look at you hurting when you know what you are doing is for the best. You are your child’s advocate. You are the one that calls the shot and makes the decisions. If you don’t like what is said, SPEAK UP.

Kelsie put in perspective for me when she saw her little hands mark from the IV. “Kelsie got a boo boo” Yes baby, a boo boo that was worth it.

I keep seeing Christmas trees are put up and that means one thing-our Holidays are right around the corner! So maybe there’s some new contests you can check out and win just in time for Christmas!

Contests Happening Now

For The Love of Baby-Hoover Rewind Vacuum

For The Love of Baby-Frosty the Snowman Build-A-Bear Workshop

For The Love of Baby-Clorox Simple and Surprising Prize Packs-3 Winners

3 Kids and Us Holly and Hal Moose Holiday Build-A-Bear Workshop

Prissy Green-Sleep Number Plush Blanket

Blessings Abound- Sleep Halo Sack

Life Starring the Kids and Me- $50 GC PartyLite

Share your current giveaways with For The Love of Baby readers! Leave the PERMALINK (not just a link to your site)

I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.-Marilyn Monroe

I’ve never fooled anyone. I’ve let people fool themselves. They didn’t bother to find out who and what I was. Instead they would invent a character for me. I wouldn’t argue with them. They were obviously loving somebody I wasn’t.-Marilyn Monroe

To The World You Might Be One Person, But To One Person You Might Be The World.

No Bird Soars Too High if He Soars On His Own Wings.

Nobody will believe in you unless you BELIEVE in yourself.

No One can Make You feel Inferior Without Your Consent.

With the holidays here, and shopping galore, of course we are all on the lookout for great deals and Stride Rite is here to celebrate!

Stride Rite is celebrating Cyber Monday, this Monday the 30th with a Fan Celebration Day!

Stride Rite Facebook fans are invited to log on Monday, November 30th from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. EST for hourly giveaways with amazing prizes including gift cards and gift bags from Stride Rite Children?s Group brands including Saucony Kids, Sperry Top-Sider Kids, and more.

There will also be a fan-only coupon for Cyber Monday shopping on Stride Rite and a mystery prize valued at over $600 that fans can enter to win throughout the day!

To kick-off the Cyber Monday celebration, Global Influence is hosting a Twitter Pre-Party Sunday, November 29th from 9 to 10 p.m. EST with our community manager, Shannan Powell (@slpowell) at the healm!

For an hour tweeps will chat about Cyber Monday shopping tips and preparing for the holidays in general using the #srCyberMon hashtag.  There will be seven Stride Rite gift card winners and participants will be among the first to learn about the Fan Celebration Day on Facebook.  To learn more and RSVP, please check out: http://tinyurl.com/yfjucsj

I’m ready to win some cute and adorable shoes, are you?

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and those of you that were out shopping got plenty of fun and great deals this Black Friday.

The winner of the Things Remembered Giveaway is

Lance Pearson says:

subscribed via feedburner 2

Congrats! I am about to shoot you an e-mail.

As always, winners have 48 hours from the time contacted to claim prize.

Here are some great coupon codes and online deals worth checking out as you check those of your list!

Receive 15% Off at Silikids with code OHBABY now through 12/31/2009.

A letter from Santa delievered to your loved one for only $9.99! Sign up for Santa Claus Letters today.

Help Support RAINN. The Nonprofit Shopping Mall allows you to shop online at all of your favorite stores, while simultaneously supporting RAINN.  Each time you make a purchase at one of over 300 top retailers at http://shop.rainn.org/shop, a percentage of your sale will go directly to RAINN

Clorox has been a household name for years that has helped families with anything from keeping those clothes bright to getting rid of those nasty germs-we all know how important it is right now to keep that flu virus away!

As a loyal Clorox customer, I was very excited to hear about Clorox’s recent launch of the “Simple & Surprising” e-journal, a cool new site with weekly guest posts from a variety of bloggers. We all know real life can get hectic and sometimes it’s nice to have some “simplicity”.

Clorox launched Simple & Surprising, a weekly e-journal written by various guest bloggers.  It is all about real-life moments offering reality-checked simple tips and prizes to pat yourself on the back for all your hard work.  The first post features fall-themed crafts to bring the outdoors in and keep kids entertained indoors now that the weather has turned colder.

Go take a look around Simple & Surprising. While you are there check out their Tweet to Win Contest to win a $50 Wal-Mart Gift Card.

Chance To Win

Three For The Love of Baby! readers will win a “Simple and Surprising” Clorox Prize Pack of various cleaning products.

Enter To Win

Check out the Simple and Surprising Site. Come back here and tell me one of the ideas for entertaining kids you liked or how Clorox helps you.

Additional Entries-

Tweet about Clorox Simple & Surprising-Additional Unlimited Entries TWICE per day

How does @Clorox help you keep it simple? Enter to Win! http://bit.ly/7ROzmP #loveofbaby

This Contest will End December 1,2009 at 11:59 PM CST. Open to US Mailing addresses. Winners will have 48 hours from the time announced to claim prize.

As I sit at my mom’s waiting while the food is cooking, I wanted to take the chance to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you for coming by in this time and I hope to bring plenty of fun and exciting posts for you all! I am thankful for all of you and the great opportunities I have had and those to come!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Today is the official day to say goodbye to my Dad. It hasn’t full hit me yet. I’m mad. The world’s still moving but I feel numb.

So what if he wasn’t “around” when I was little? That doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t BE HERE on this Earth if it wasn’t for him. He had a good heart. HE TRIED. There were lots of barriers but he reached out and attempted to re-connect. The time was short but we got in some laughs. I figured out some of my “traits” that were definitely of his nature. I definitely figured out some of my musical tastes (How many 22 year olds listen to Lynard Skynard??)

While my Grandfather was my “DAD”, Kevin was still the person who created me. I wouldn’t have these two beautiful little girls if he hadn’t been here. So please, don’t tell me “It’s not like you knew him well.” We only had four years “together” but blood will always be thicker than water. And it hurts because we should have had many many more years. 22 year olds aren’t supposed to say goodbye to their parents.

These lyrics hit me for more reason than one.

[Verse 1:]
He drops his suitcase by the door
She knows her daddy won’t be back anymore
She drags her feet across the floor
Tryna hold back time to keep him holding on
And she says

[Pre Chorus:]
Daddy Daddy don’t leave
I’ll do anything to keep you
Right here with me
Can’t you see how much I need you

Daddy Daddy don’t leave
Mommy’s saying things she don’t mean
She don’t know what she’s talking about
Somebody hear me out

[Chorus:]
Father listen
Tell him that he’s got a home and he don’t have to go
Father save him
I would do anything in return
I’ll clean my room
Try hard in school
I’ll be good
I promise you
Father, Father
I pray to you

[Verse 2:]
Now she hasn’t slept in weeks
She don’t want to close her eyes cause she’s scared that he’ll leave
They tried just about everything
It’s getting harder now
For him to breathe
And she says

[Pre Chorus:]
Daddy Daddy don’t leave
I’ll do anything to keep you
Right here with me
Can’t you see how much I need you

Daddy Daddy don’t leave
The doctors are saying things they told me
They don’t know what they talking about
Somebody hear me out

[Chorus:]
Father (father) listen (listen)
Tell him that he’s got a home and he don’t have to go (don’t have to go)
Father (father) save him
I would do anything in return
I’ll clean my room
Try hard in school
I’ll be good
I promise you
Father, Father
I pray to you

[Hook:]
Please don’t let him go (don’t let him go)
I’m begging you so (I’m begging you so)
There open his eyes
There ain’t no more time
To tell him that I love him more
The many thing in the world
Is Daddy’s little girl

[Chorus:]
Father (father) listen (listen)
Tell him that he’s got a home and he don’t have to go (don’t have to go)
Father (father) save him
I would do anything in return
I’ll clean my room
Try hard in school
I’ll be good
I promise you
Father, Father

She was Daddy’s Little Girl
Mmmmm Oh

To find out more and support Alpha-1 Awareness, please support the Alpha-1 Association.

It is the shopping “frenzy” of the year with the Holidays knocking on our door. Here are some great shopping deals and knowledge for all as you plan your shopping. Here are some specials specific to Central Iowa Locations.

Black Friday Iowa Shopping

North Grand Mall Ames will open at 7am Friday morning. First 200 shoppers to Central court will receive a tote with goodies and coupons. 20 totes will include $20 Mall Gift Cards. J.C. Penney, Younkers, and other select stores will open at 4am.

Merle Hay Mall will open at 3 am with stores opening at 6am. Coffee, pastries and coupons will be handed out.

Valley West Mall will open at 3am with stores opening at 4am. Free breakfast from 3am to 4am in Food Court. A $5,000 Shopping Spree Giveaway will happen at 4am.

Jordan Creek will open at 12:01 am with free coffee.

Early Store Hours

Best Buy — 5 a.m. (online sale starts at 1 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day)
Burlington Coat Factory — 5 a.m.
Game Stop — 6 a.m.
Home Depot — 6 a.m.
J.C. Penney — 4 a.m.
JoAnn Fabrics — 6 a.m.
Kohls — 4 a.m.
Kmart — 6 a.m.
Lowe’s — 6 a.m.
Menard’s — 6 a.m.
Old Navy — 3 a.m.
Radio Shack — 5:30a.m.
Sears — 4 a.m.
Sports Authority — 5 a.m. (also open 9-3 Thanksgiving Day)
Staples — 6 a.m.
Target — 5 a.m.
Toys R Us — Midnight
Wal-Mart — sale starts 5 a.m. All area stores open 24 hours
Younkers — 4 a.m.

Get 15% Off at Shoes.com with Code:FALL Expires Nov 30th
2 Kute Kreations will be offering Free Shipping on SELECT Items

Brooke Van Gory Designs **Black Friday sale**Runs 11/23-11/30**
1/2 off any matching wet bag with any diaper bag purchase
Buy one get one 1/2 off any kids pants
Free pair of Green Gory pants with ANY purchase over 75$

Rocker Bye Baby is offering FREE SHIPPING on ALL items in the US Friday thru Monday as well as FREE Booger Bashers on all orders over $50

Do you know of some other great Black Friday Deals? Leave a comment!

As I travel to my mom’s house on Thursday, I am preparing to help cook Thanksgiving for my girls, mom, brothers, and Grandma. It’s always fun cooking throughout the holidays and thanks to Mom Central, Ocean Spray, and Heinz, I am bringing a new recipe to this holidays celebration. Have you seen the Ultimate Party Meatballs? This fun and simple recipe is sure to be a hit with my family for snacking as we wait for our Thanksgiving dinner to get done.

So how easy is it? Check out this simple recipe

Ultimate Party Meatballs

Ingredients

1-14 oz can Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce

1-12 oz bottle Heinz Chili Sauce

1 2 lb bag frozen, pre-cooked, cocktail size meatballs

Directions for Cooking

Combine sauces in a large saucepan.

Cook over medium-low heat, stirring until smooth.

Add Meatballs. Cover and cook 15 minutes or until meatballs or heated through, stirring occasionally.

Now depending on how many you are cooking for, this recipe makes about thirty meatballs. This is such an easy recipe that is sure to be a hit with all of your party guests no matter what the age!

Want some other great party planning recipes and entertaining ideas? Check out the Ultimate Party Meatballs site for any of your upcoming parties this holiday season.

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Heinz and Ocean Spray and received the ingredients necessary to facilitate my review. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

As some may have known from following my Twitter, my father has been fighting for a long time. This past week, he really had to start fighting and lost his battle this morning. I’m not really sure how to explain my “emotions” this morning but it is overwhelming.

My mom and grandparents raised me for most of my life (I was a foster child as well) so I never really knew my father. My first time actually talking to him was on my 18th birthday. I tried to reach out, not knowing what would come of it. He had alot of pain I think from not being around and I can only hope he knows that I do not hold any harsh feelings against him.

Dad, we might never had had the “Father daughter” moments that many had but that’s fine. Blood is thicker than water Daddy. We might not have had my 22 years together but I’m still glad we got those few moments. I’m not mad at you Dad. Please know that. I know you would have been here if you could. I know now that you are not hurting and I am so thankful that you don’t have to struggle now. Watch over me, Kelsie, and Aubrey.

I Love You Daddy.

It is amazing some of the things that you become excited about as a mother. One of the things I’ve discovered my excitement about-a good VACUUM. With two little girls under three, I’m sure you can imagine the crumbs and everything else that could possibly get onto my floors. Yeah, not a fun thing to see “Gunk” on your floors am I right?

Recently I had the chance to check out the Hoover T-Series Rewind Vacuum. I was excited to check out this vacuum after hearing about the HEPA Filter as well as rinsable filters. I am a big allergy sufferer and like knowing that things are getting picked up that hits more than the eye can see.

Our last vacuum, was just a simple one we purchased at Wal-Mart. Well, within a month I was on the search to buy new filters and it instantly had lost suction. When you vacuum and still see items on the floor? Not what I’d call a vacuum worth recommending.

The Hoover T-Series Rewind has had me in awe. I’ve been dying to find more things to vacuum. After vacuuming our living room, I had to cringe when I saw the dirt, and dust hiding in our carpet. My children were playing on this!?The Hoover T-Series offers WindTunnel Technology allowing embedded dirt to be grabbed. I can definitely believe that statement just from looking inside at what our vacuuming caught.

Other great functions of the Hoover T-Series Rewind include-

• Lightweight at 16.5 pounds
• 27 Foot Cord with “Rewind” No twisting to put cord back. Just tap the button on the side of vacuum and your cord will wrap itself
• 5 Position Carpet Height Adjustment to help clean a variety of areas throughout your house
• 8-Foot Stretch Hose-makes above-head cleaning and reaching easier
• Power Tools Include- Air-Powered Hand Tool, 12 inch extension wand, Crevice Tool, and Upholstery/Dusting Brush

At a retail price of $129.99, I would personally recommend this as a great and affordable investment. I have yet to be disappointed with our Hoover T-Series Rewind and have enjoyed showing family and friends some of the incredible features this vacuum offers.

Enter To Win

One For The Love of Baby! reader will win their very own Hoover T-Series Rewind Vacuum!

Mandatory Entry

Head over to the Hoover Website. Take a look around and come back and tell me another Hoover product you would love to get your hands on!

Additional Entries (Leave a comment for each)

• Become a fan of Hoover Vacuums on Facebook. 1 Additional Entry
• Become a fan of For The Love of Baby! on Facebook 1 Additional Entry
• Become an e-mail subscriber of For The Love of Baby! 2 Additional Entries
• Blog about this giveaway linking back to this blog post as well as Hoover. 5 additional entries
• Comment on any Non-giveaway blog post. Unlimited entries
• Tweet this giveaway using the following statement (Must have 50 followers or more for unlimited ONCE DAILY Entry)

Enter to win a Hoover T-Series Rewind Vacuum @MommyJenna http://bit.ly/5kzG8O #loveofbaby

Contest will end December 20th, 2009 at 11:59 PM CST. Open to US Mailing address only. Winner will have 48 hours from the time announced to claim prize.

I received a Hoover vacuum in order to provide a personal review of the product. All opinions are that of my own and express my own experience with such.