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Things have been pretty hectic here not due to the holidays primarily but due to the fact that we actually would like to take the time to relax. The bulk of the giveaways and reviews are done and we are being careful about what we say “yes” to for future promotions. We need more time to spend with our little man.

Mom Central and Baby Einstein have partnered up this holiday season to encourage Moms to spend some quality time with their young children. They sent us an interactive package including the 10th anniversary special edition Baby Mozart™ DVD, the Baby Einstein Touch and Feel Baby Animals board book and the Lullaby Classics CD, a compilation of classical Baby Einstein soothing sounds, to ensure that the time we spend with boogie this holiday season is more engaging. Things have slowed down a bit so we were able to sit down, play with toys and watch the DVD together. We even had time to soak in the tub again until our fingers and toes looked like prunes! For the past two days according to Greg I’ve been “bored” because I’ve pushed Jayden in a stroller around the house. Hey, it was fun!

For ten years, Baby Einstein has been bringing babies and parents award-winning interactive products! In 2009, families can expect a new line of World Music products celebrating music and cultures from all 7 continents! Visit babyeinstein.com to celebrate ten years of discovery!

Special thanks to Mom Central and Baby Einstein for making this review possible!

This giveaway is part of our Three Gs For The Holidays event. Visit the announcement post to get involved in other fun giveaways, get shopping ideas from our Gift Guide, and learn how you can help children in need this holiday season!

Grammy Award winning signer and songwriter, Seal, released his sixth studio album last Tuesday. To help promote the big news, I was sent a review copy courtesy of One2One Network :-D. As soon as it arrived, I popped the CD into my PC and let it sink in.

I will admit that when I first listened to the album I thought to myself why in the heck would the man redo songs that were perfect as is? I played the album a few more times, this time in our stereo. Yes, I know I should have done that from the start, lol. After listening to Soul on the stereo, I was able to look at it differently. This album contains classic songs with Seal’s touch. Imagine being at a club and Seal’s a guest performer. He’s taking requests and the audiences shouts, A Change Is Gonna Come, I Can’t Stand The Rain, It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World, the list goes on. Imagine yourself in the club while Seal performs classics.

How would you like to win a copy of Seal’s CD, Soul, as well as an iPod retro mini speaker courtesy of One2One Network and Delight.com?

Delight.com is a unique boutique that stocks the perfect gift for everyone on your list. Delight features eco-friendly tote bags, gadgets for guys, kitchen gear that is smart and saves time, travel essentials, one-of-a-kind baby gifts, stocking stuffers for holiday gift shopping and unique jewelry and décor accessories, with most under $50. Subscribe to the Delight.com newsletter to get the inside scoop on newsletter only deals and tips!

How To Enter

There are a total of 5 ways you can enter this giveaway, and everyone is eligible! You can enter using as many methods listed below as you’d like. Each method of entry is worth 1 entry. Here is how you can enter:

1. Visit Delight.com and find one item that you’d love to receive as a holiday gift. In the comments let me know what that item is!

2. Write a post on your blog about this giveaway. You can write whatever you’d like or you can copy and paste the text provided by us below. Be sure to let us know in the comments that you’ve done this by leaving a direct link to your post.

3. Put our Three Gs For The Holidays button in your blog’s sidebar. Be sure to let us know in the comments that you’ve done this.

<a href="http://mommydaddyblog.com/2008/11/18/three-gs-for-the-holidays" title="Three Gs For The Holidays At Mommy Daddy Blog!" target="_blank"><img src="http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/sheeniebabie/mdbholidaygiftguidebutton.gif" border="0" alt="Three Gs For The Holidays At Mommy Daddy Blog!" title="Win Seals New CD, Soul + A Lego iPod Mini Speaker! *OVER* mommydaddyblog.com" /></a>

4. Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter. You can write whatever you’d like or you can copy and paste the text provided by us below. Be sure to let us know in the comments that you’ve done this by including a direct link to your tweet (how to link directly to a tweet).

5. Subscribe to receive e-mail updates so we can keep you updated on future happenings here at Mommy Daddy Blog. All you have to do is enter your e-mail address below and click Subscribe. Be sure to let us know that you’ve done this (or if you are already subscribed to receive e-mail updates from us) in the comments using the same e-mail address you subscribed with.

This giveaway, along with all other Three Gs For The Holidays giveaways, will end on December 8th 14th!

*The following contest is separate from this giveaway!*
You can win more lovelies by spreading the word about Seal’s new album!

1st place=$200 gift card to SpaFinder.com and Seal’s Soul CD
2nd place=$100 gift card to SpaFinder.com and Seal’s Soul CD (two winners!!)
3rd place=Seal’s Soul CD (40 winners!)

How to enter:

1. Embed the widget which can be found HERE on your blog or any social media site. You get one additional entry for each location the widget is placed.
2. All entrants must email the url of the location they put the widget to Arianne Sergerman at arianne.segerman[at]one2onenetwork.com to be entered.
3. Winners will be picked at random. You have until November 23rd at midnight for the One 2 One Network sponsored contest.

We’d like to help out those who are less fortunate this holiday season, so we’ll be donating some toys to Toys For Tots! But, since there’s only so much we can do, we encourage you to make a donation also. You can donate toys or cash to Toys For Tots, at your nearest Toys For Tots drop-off location. You can also donate a cash gift, online via credit/debit card by visiting the Toys For Tots Online Donation page, or by texting “TOY” to 90999 using your cell phone. With your help, there’s no limit to the amount of smiles we can put on childrens’ faces this year!

This post was written yesterday, but I fell asleep before I was done. So let’s pretend like today is yesterday, ok?

It’s hard to believe our little booger is 3 months old today. He’s getting so BIG! He’s 13.8lbs! Before I know it, he’ll be towering over me! Now let’s see…he’s got a pretty large appetite. He Nurses less than every 2 hours. He puts my boobs in a chokehold! He sleeps wild! He kicks and flings his arms everywhere! He so strong! He’s mastered grabbing. He’ll snatch anything that you put in his face. He enjoys tugging on my clothes. He finds amusement in staring at his hands. He is very vocal. He will babble infantspeak nonstop. When I’m on the phone, he HAS to be in on the entire conversation! He enjoys watching us tinker on our computers. Uh oh could he be a future blogger?! He demands attention. If he could do this, he would! He appreciates getting his diaper changed. There’s no stopping those little beefy legs once he hits the changing table! He’s got the teething munchies. He must chew on EVERYTHING, including my arms! His eczema has improved and his complexion is getting lighter. Overall he is doing great. I can’t get enough of squeezing his chunky thighs and kissing his button nose 9256785234 times a day!

Today was a fun day. I popped in the Disney CDs and recorded some videos of Jayden. Below are some clips with a few hilarious surprises! [edit]HE FARTS![/edit] The visual isn’t all that crisp, but I’m thankful that it only took 10 minutes to upload vs overnight! I’ve been trying some new things with our camera software, still looking for more software for $FREE.99.

The CD featured in this video is Disney Music Block Party. The songs played are Mickey Mouse Club March by Ralph’s World and The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room by Wayne Brady. As you can see, we couldn’t get enough of Tiki Room! Block Party is 1 of the five CD’s sent from Mom Central for us to review. The other titles are Imagination Movers: Juice Box Heroes, They Might Be Giants: Here Comes the 123s, Choo-Choo Soul, and Ralph’s World: The Rhyming Circus. My favorites were (I can’t speak for Jayden) Disney Music Block Party and They Might Be Giants: Here Comes the 123s. Disney Music Block Party features classic Disney songs sung by Playhouse Disney artists. I can definitely relate to this album as I grew up singing these songs.They Might Be Giants: Here Comes the 123s features songs that are ALL number themed with the exception of the bonus Playhouse Disney favorite tracks. I love the concept, who doesn’t love products that encourage learning? The other albums are great too. I’m just not familiar with the songs, as I don’t watch the shows. I’m PRETTY sure Jayden will help me out later on down the road! Each title except Imagination Movers: Juice Box Heroes either includes bonus music videos or lyrics. We really enjoyed reviewing the CD’s. They are a great addition to our family media collection. I encourage picking up a few of them here! I almost forgot about The Disney Music Block Party Live Tour! For tickets and showtimes, visit the Disney Music Block Party Tour!

Last Wednesday I had a chance to read the very first issue of Seeing The Everyday, a quarterly and advertisement free magazine that captures ordinary moments at home that are often overlooked. Such moments include grooming one another, helping with homework, or doing work out in the yard. Participating in these activities help develop strong relationships in families. Individuals who come from strong families take their experience into their community and future families. Highlighted through stories, artistic photography, and children’s artwork projects, Seeing The Everyday helps find poetry in the prosaic.

We find poetry in the prosaic by:
1. Playing with our little man together.
2. Doing chores around the house together.
3. Keeping each other company in the kitchen while preparing meals and snacks.
4. Eating at the dinner table.
5. Watching movies.
6. Taking random road trips.
7. Visiting the park and beach.
8. Playing video games. We’re still playing SNES and Playstation 1. Yes, we’re missing out on all the new stuff, but we’re too old to ask our parents for toys

Lately we haven’t been doing a few of them (5, 6, and 8 ) because we have been swamped taking care of Jayden (1st priority) and business. We’re trying to develop additional income streams. We’re also preparing to move. We just want so much for the family, but at the same time we need to remember to set aside time to be a family. Daddy doesn’t have to work tomorrow, so we will continue to pack boxes and try to at least do one of the things listed above that we haven’t done lately.

The first issue of Seeing The Everyday has got me hooked. I especially enjoyed the laughing section on page 78 and a story on page 8. In this particular story, Marlene Hinton reminisces on learning how to separate eggs while preparing angel food cake. She went through dozens of eggs trying to remove the yolks from the egg whites, never once did her mother take over or complain. She let her practice until she got it right. I’m sure many families will agree that some of the best moments are shared in the kitchen whether preparing a masterpiece or mastermess!

“It’s not about making a cake, dinner or any other number of important things we can spend our time doing. It is, however, about making a child. A unique, one-of-a-kind, significant, individual.” - Seeing The Everyday, Issue 1, Page 17

How does your family find poetry in the prosaic? By answering, you’ll be entered to win a quarterly subscription of Seeing The Everyday magazine and some popcorn goodies to enjoy with your family! 2 winners will receive a subscription of Seeing The Everyday magazine (4 magazines total) and a popcorn sample kit which includes 2 Orville Redenbacher popcorn samples and coupons all wrapped up in an Orville Redenbacher popcorn bowl! 4 additional winners will receive 2 popcorn samples with coupons! This giveaway will end on July 25th at 7PM CST! This giveaway is open to U.S residents only!