Crib Recall

As many parents in North America I am frightened, angry and upset by this Strokcraft recall, especially considering I have one of these cribs. My oldest son apparently slept in a death trap for the first year of his life, I'm not impressed! I understand that the company has a "repair kit" for the cribs but do they seriously expect parents to feel that their children are going to be safe in their beds?! I'm NOT going to risk it! This is my child's life and I'm not about to gamble with it. 
The CEO of the company, Jim Moore, said to CTV News "I know our product is safe." Seriously? Come on! Children have died and you are saying that your product is safe! When did you lose your soul?
My husband and I have decided to ditch the crib, do a little research into some other brands and hopefully we can come up with a solution. For now the baby can stay in his bassinet beside my bed with his angel care monitor on so I can know he is safe beside me!
What a frightening thing it is to be a parent as it is, who would have ever thought you would have to be frightened of your child's bed; how sad.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the children who have died and been injured.

So Little Space, So What Can You Do?

Personally I hate clutter! But it just seems like anything I want to do or enjoy doing comes with that clutter that I just hate and gives me a nervous twitch! When we are in the car making our excruciating journey down to my home town and back is just ridiculous! We seriously have next to no room to breathe let alone have something to entertain ourselves. Our house isn't huge either and I hate when things pile up in a coroner or on a table, especially books! Well I received some great news to help me with that little problem, e-books!
Weather you are like me and your lap top has become an additional body part, or you use a BlackBerry, iPhone etc... it is a much easier way to keep yourself entertained without the clutter or the additional weight to carry if you are on the go in the city or need extra space in your car!
Indigo has a great new thing called Shortcovers, it is an e-book service that provides you with a free way to find your favorite books online with the technology you already own and use on a day to day basis! Not only is there approximately 100,000 titles to choose from but there are also 1,500 free titles to choose from as well! So if you are looking for something new to read, something poetic or just something short and sweet this is surely the thing for you!  
So this great new offer Indigo has ends November 23rd and is for Canadians only! What is this offer? It is 33% off any one title when you sign up for Shortcovers e-books at chapters.indigo.ca! Such a great way to save space, reduce clutter and keep up with your love of reading!

Pre-Deployment Briefing

Last night my husband and I went to our first pre-deployment briefing together. The point of this briefing is to prepare the families of the troops for what is to come once tour begins. I was given information on who to contact if I need help or someone to talk to. Paper work to fill out for my family plan; so if something happens to me while my husband is away who will be responsible for my children until my husband can be contacted or sent home (depending on what has happened to me). Also, I was given information on programs for the children so that they can have fun days with other kids who have parents over seas and so that the parent who is home can have a few hours to do whatever, nap, clean, shop etc...
One of the booklets I was given explains the different stages of what a person is or may be feeling prior to tour and suggestions on who to deal with those feelings. It also gives a check list for legal issues we need to have done before such as will, power of attorney, power of guardian, life insurance etc... Other things we need to have in order are financial issues, health, home (maintenance), and the family support system.
Another part of the night was to listen to some members of the military speak about the upcoming tour but we only stayed for about 20 minutes of the presentation. Basically they were talking about what is available to the families and the responsibilities of each soldier to make sure his family is well informed about the services available.
Overall I think the military does a pretty good job at making sure the families have someone and somewhere to turn to when they need help and are just feeling discouraged. Many services are available to the adults and to the children to help them prepare for the long, worrying road ahead. It doesn't just end there though, not only do they have programs to help you prepare for when they leave, they have programs to help you while they are gone and even when they come home but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.
I think in my house right now there is a bit of a denial thing going on, we all know it is coming but we are pushing it out of our minds for the time being. I guess with the new baby we don't want to drop our spirits by talking about war. My husband brought home his gear for tour the other day, it bothered me to see it since it just made the whole thing a little more real.
On a positive note, this will all be over in a year! The count down is on : )
   
 

Green Works - By Clorox

I hope all my many friends and family who have received a sample of Green Works from me, provided by a company called Matchstick, have enjoyed using it as much as my household has!
I was very impressed while I was standing in line at the store the other day when a women complimented me on the smell of my laundry detergent; my jacket had just been washed two days prior using Green Works. I told her about the product and just so happened to have one of the sample packs in my purse that was sent to me and gave it to her to try for herself. I love when I don't need to wear perfume and can still get compliments!
For those of you who have tried the samples I've provided you with let me know what you think and please take a minute to complete the following survey, for every one completed a $2.00 donation will be made to Redwood, which will help families that are less fortunate. http://www.feedback.matchstick.ca/se.ashx?s=439B5E1D0F98116D. 
Thanks everyone and enjoy! : )

Lest We Forget

A day like today is a sad but proud day for me and other family and friends of our Canadian armed forces; today is Remembrance Day.
Today I feel saddened by the enormous loss our country has suffered due to war.
I am saddened that so many men and women died for our country and were never given the same opportunity to live like we have been given.
I am saddened that children have and will grow up never knowing their mothers or fathers.
I am saddened that war is still a very present aspect of our everyday lives.
Today I feel proud that I am part of a country who believes in freedom and will stand up against evil doers.
I feel proud that I am married to a Canadian soldier who will, without complaint, answer his country's call when they need him.
Today I feel proud thinking of all the men and women from past and present wars who were/are willing to give their lives or did give their lives to protect our future.
Today I am proud to be a Canadian!
RIP to our fallen, We will NEVER forget!
To all of our men and women in uniform, past and present, THANK YOU!

Change can be a good thing!

I was given an opportunity to try a product I had never used before, Green Works laundry detergent by Clorox. Personally one of the biggest factors for me with laundry detergent is the smell of it, so as soon as it arrived the first thing I did was open it up to see if I could tolerate the smell of it or not. I was extremely surprised at how fresh and clean the smell was! It isn't over powering and you can tell just from the smell of it how gentle Green Works really is. I love that it is environment friendly and actually works!
I first used the product on my clothes after giving birth to my second child and believe me after coming home from the hospital my clothes were desperate for a washing! Green Works lifted any stains I had on my clothes, cleaned and freshened them better than my old laundry detergent did. Since I was so impressed with how great of a job the product did on my clothes I decided to use it on my baby's clothes as well. Everyone knows that babies need soaps that are gentle on their delicate skin so why not use a soap that is made from natural plant based ingredients? You can really tell the strength of the product if it can clean a young child's clothes! The real benefit of using using Green Works on the baby's clothes is the fact that I don't need to do two separate loads of laundry. It is such a pain having to do a separate load of laundry using baby detergent  for 3 or 4 items and it cost more with water and so on! Now I don't have to worry about that and I can throw in my baby's sleepers, blankets or whatever with mine, that is convenience at its finest! 

Just in the nick of time!

So it finally happened two weeks ago, we had our baby boy! At about four a.m. my water broke and so we quickly packed the car and began our four hour drive to my dr. in my home town. Some people may think that is crazy but I needed to be where I felt comfortable. As we were driving my contractions began and started to become closer and closer which started to concern me since we still had another hour of driving to go. We stopped at a hospital that was about 45 minutes from where we were headed to see if we could continue the trip or not. I got the go ahead from the doctor at the hospital telling me that I was 3 cms dilated and that I would be ok to get to my doctor. By the time we pulled into the parking lot at my hospital I couldn't even walk due to the pain and how close my contractions had become. With in about two hours of arriving at the hospital it was time to start pushing and my little miracle was born!
I am so happy that the pregnancy is over with and my little boy is here. I can't believe how much he looks like his big brother! I pulled out some new born pictures of Liam the other day and compared them to Hayden and the resemblance is amazing!
It has been very nice to have my husband home with me for the past couple of weeks to help out with everything, I just hope that the army gives him next week off as well. I'll give my husband credit, he has been an amazing help to me I just wish he had boobs! Liam isn't interested in the baby, but isn't uninterested either. I think at this point he just thinks the baby is boring and would rather play with his friends or watch tv.
Overall things are going pretty well around our house with the exception of lack of sleep! With that being said I need to go and take a nap before I kick myself later for not sleeping with my little love bugs was. : )