Well it’s a busy birthday weekend around here! Lilleigh turns one on Monday! She was born on Super Bowl last year. Smart girl because that means that for the rest of her life she gets TWO birthdays – Super Sunday and February 6th! That sounds like something I’d try to pull. She must have my love of birthdays!

Today is her party. Pics to come. Last night we went out to eat with my father-in-law, who drove up for the occasion. And our waitress surprised us all with a birthday dessert! Lil’s first sugar – whipped cream and doughnut!

Any big plans this weekend? How do you celebrate birthdays?

Don’t forget to enter these awesome giveaways….

• GoGreen Champ 2.0 cloth diaper! Ends 2/22. NEW!
• From Debtor to Better ebook! Ends 2/7. NEW!

And here are some HOT DEALS…

• $45 for One 16″x20″ Gallery-Wrapped Canvas Including Shipping and Handling from Canvas on Demand ($126.95 Value) NEW!
• Whole Foods organic naval oranges are 79 cents per pound! Friday only. NEW!

Enjoy these great freebies!

Freebies

• Breathe Right nasal strips
• Corner Bakery combo.
  
• Cottonelle toilet paper roll cover.
• Dentek flossers.
• Disney vitamin gummies.
• Emergen-C. Also available here.
• Emergen-C Kidz.
• Goodnites.
• Head & Shoulders.
• Johnson Ultra Sheen Supreme Flat Iron spray.
• Kashi bar or cereal.
• Kleenex Cool Touch.
• Kotex natural balance liners.
• L’Occitane shea hand butter.
• Lipton tea.
  
• Mack’s ear plugs.
• Meow Mix Pate.
• Nature’s Bounty Fish Oil.
• NeilMed netti pot.
• Neil Med sinus rinse bottle and two packets.
• NeilMed sinus rinse.
• Nozin hand sanitizer for your nose. NEW!
• Nutrish. Dog food by Rachel Ray.
• Playtex Sport.
• Purex. NEW!
• Quaker Oat Squares. NEW!
• Riddick’s natural dog treats.
• Sabazon.
• Saline Soothers.
• Shout color catcher.
• Simply Right baby formula.
• U by Kotex.
• Yogi tea.

Coupons

• Domino’s cinnastix.
• Purina ProPlan $5 coupon.
• Tiny Prints. $15 off $50.
• Wolfgang Puck cold brewed iced coffee. $1 off. *This could result in free coffee! Check your local store!

**And see what coupons are in your Sunday paper!

Coupon Sites - the coupon section was getting cluttered.

• Cell Fire allows you to load coupons onto your grocery store’s rewards card.
• Coupons.com.
• Mambo Sprouts. Organic coupons.
• Red Plum coupons.
• Target coupons.
• Walmart coupons.
• Whole Foods printables.

Free Magazines & eBooks

• American Baby here. Also available here.
• Baby Talk.
• Barron’s.
• Bridal Guide. One issue.
• Business Week.
• Forbes.
• Get Married. Get one free issue of this new wedding planning magazine.
• Martha Stewart Living.
• Parents. 7 months.
• Rouge.
• Wall Street Journal.

Rebates

• Feline Pine cat litter. Free with rebate.
• PetSmart Science Diet dog food. Full rebate! Thanks, Moms By Heart! Through 3/31/2012.

Okay so onto menu planning for the week…

Meals:

• Lentil soup and grilled cheese
• Spaghetti and meatballs {because it’s been on my menu board all month and hasn’t happened yet.}
• Half price fajitas for two date night {with a gift card} …This was meant to be an after-Lilleigh’s-in-bed-date-at-home, but it turned into a family date night out.
• Chicken pot pie with homemade crust
• Chicken tortilla soup, depending on the scenario below… I’m kinda hoping to skip this one this week!
• 1 or 2 meals out – Parents will be in town for Lilleigh’s birthday party.
• My husband’s specialty fajitas for Lilleigh’s birthday party! His fajitas are AMAZING.

Extras:

• Homemade chicken stock
• Homemade bread
• And I’m making a homemade cake for Lil’s party! Doesn’t this cake from Bakerella look awesome?! I’m hoping to do the cupcake version. And no food coloring. As my genius friend Kim suggested, use raspberries to get color naturally. {She’s a genius. She also tried this recipe with the raspberries and loved it!}

Isn’t it super cute?? Before we get carried away on the cute factor, I’ll tell you why I chose this diaper to review – 1. One-size pocket diapers are my choice cloth diapers. 2. The thought of a minky diaper made me {ALMOST} want one myself! What could be cozier on your bum? 3. The reviews on Jack Be Natural for this diaper were stellar! Eight out of 11 reviewers rated this diaper as 5-star. The remaining 3 people gave it 4 stars!

The GoGreen Champ 2.0 Pocket Diaper

Some of the features that set the GoGreen Champ apart:

• Fuzzy, leak-proof exterior OR Silky, leak-proof exterior {Fuzzy is pictured here.}
• Soft suedecloth lining
• Dual Gussets™
• Dual pocket openings {You don’t have to remove the dirty insert because it comes out in the wash!}
• Hip snaps {New!}
• Front pocket cover made from PUL to prevent wicking {New!}
• Back pocket opening cover {New!}
• Includes one snap-in insert made from 3 layers of Microfiber. The insert snaps in, staying attached to the diaper in wash, making this diaper an AI2.

To give you an idea of what some of these features look like, here’s the inside of this diaper:

As you can see, the insert is a good large size, which is great for absorbency. And notice the TWO pockets – front and back. Basically there is one snap on the insert that snaps into the back of the diaper. This snap holds the insert into place while your baby is wearing it. Then when the diaper is being washed, the water goes through both ends of the diaper via the two pockets, which inevitably pushes the insert out, while keeping it attached. Clean insert, clean diaper, less time sorting laundry and playing “find the insert”!

The other nice thing about the dual pocket is that double stuffing is a cinch! I have double stuffed this diaper when Lilleigh wears it at night, simply because this is our habit, as she tends to wet more when she sleeps. Twelve hours is a long time to go in a diaper! Still, I’m not sure if I necessarily need to double stuff this diaper.

Another feature of this diaper that I love is its double gussets. By “double gussets” I’m referring to what appears to be double elastic around the crotch area. {See picture above.} I have not had any issues with leaking in this diaper, which I do think can be attributed to this feature. The double gussets seem to provide extra protection against leaks!

Plus it retails for $15.95, which is a few dollars less than a few of the top brands in my current stash. And I love this diaper just as much, if not more! If I were redoing my stash, I’d swap out some of those other brands for several of these GoGreen Champs!

I hope I didn’t lose any of you! I remember feeling so lost when I was new to cloth diapering, so here’s some cloth diapering lingo used in this post demystified:

One-Size: This means the diaper can be used from birth to potty-training {in most cases}. In the case of this diaper, it fits 7 lbs to 40+ lbs! The 4 rows of snaps {1 additional than most} is said to give it a better fit for those itty bitty newborns!

Pocket: A pocket diaper is a diaper where you stuff the insert inside the diaper, into its “pocket,” and the diaper’s fabric, rather than the insert, sits against the baby’s skin. {The alternative would be an insert that sat on top of the diaper and snapped into place.}

AI1 versus AI2: This diaper is an AI2 because it has two pieces – an insert and the diaper. Though the two snap together to become one, they are technically two. A true AI1 does not come apart. I prefer two separate pieces, like this one, because they dry faster. And if I’m in a rush, I can allow the diaper to line dry {which is quick} while I toss the inserts in the dryer.

If you’re still lost, check out The Truth About Cloth Diapers.

Doesn’t baby girl just look super cute in this diaper?? And it’s soooo soft! I just want to pick her up and cuddle her! She’s too squirmy to allow such a thing though!

This diaper has quickly become a favorite around here! It’s totally the diaper I want to use first but wait to use until I know she’ll get to show it off!

Jack Be Natural

Ordering from Jack Be Natural was a breeze! You order online and receive free shipping – no minimum! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the “no minimum” shipping policy. There have been so many times when shopping online that I just need one small item that I forgot, but the store’s shipping cost makes it not worth buying at the moment. You don’t have to worry about that here. Plus I received my order within days! Super quick delivery. Their banner at the top of the page “Jack ships quick, Jack ships free” was true for me!

Jack Be Natural carries a variety of products – from cloth diapers and accessories to natural kid-friendly health products to bath products to toys and clothing. It’s a great one-stop baby shop!

Plus you get rewarded for shopping with them! For every $15 you spend, you get a $1 credit to their store. When you consider their one-stop shop features and free shipping, this is a steal! AND they also give a portion of their sales to charities, like St. Judes! I’m thinking it’s a great place to buy a friend’s baby gift, stock up on essentials for your little one, fill out your diaper stash, etc.

Finally, they have a Facebook page for their store AND a Facebook page “Jack ReStash” for cloth-diaper-loving-mommas to sell or swap used fluff {Our silly word for cloth diapers}. Though this page is not run by Jack Be Natural, they set it up to help moms sell their used cloth diapers, thus give their diapers new life!

And Jack Be Natural has offered to let one of you try to GoGreen Champ too! The winner will receive a GoGreen Champ of their choice. Open to US and Canadian residents only. This giveaway will end February 22nd at midnight. Winner must be 18 or older. I’ll email the winner once the giveaway is over, and they will have 48 hours to respond with their mailing information, after which time a new winner will be chosen. Good luck! *Use the Rafflecopter form below to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was given the GoGreen Champ depicted above in exchange for this review. This review is based upon my own opinions. Thanks, Jack Be Natural, for giving me the opportunity to review!

This is the BEST banana bread recipe I have tried! Most banana bread recipes I’ve tried end up dry {yuck!}, but this banana bread recipe is always moist. I think the secret is sour cream!

Ingredients:

• 1 stick melted butter {or coconut oil}
• 4 very ripe mashed bananas
• 2 c. flour {I almost always use wheat, though white will do.}
• 1 t. salt
• 2 t. vanilla {or almond extract}
• 1/2 c. sour cream
• 1-1/2 c. sucanat {Also key – Sucanat, unlike regular refined white sugar, has molasses still in it, which also enhances the flavor and moisture of this recipe. This originally called for plain sugar though, so do whatever floats your boat…}
• 2 eggs
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 1 t. nutmeg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Mix together melted butter and sucanat/ sugar.
3. Add bananas, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla/ almond extract. Beat well.
4. Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix.
5. Slowly add in sour cream and beat until well blended.
6. Optional: If you want to add in nuts, now is the time. Me? No, thank you. I skip this step.
7. Pour into greased pan(s) and bake at 350F for 35-45 minutes.

*If you truly use 4 bananas, then this recipe should be able to barely make one bundt pan. {Sometimes I use 2 or 3 if that’s all I have – not as good though.} But if you use any less, you’ll need to bake two loaves or a loaf and some muffins, depending on your pan size.

Bon appetit!

That said, in my family we always had a Valentines Day dinner. It wasn’t date night for the parents. Instead it was “date night” for the family. We had a special meal cooked, as we sat down for family dinner. It was special because we usually had a card or a small treat waiting for each of us at our spot. While I fully recognize {and encourage!} the importance of date nights, I loved spending this holiday with my family! Valentine’s Day wasn’t just a holiday I waited to look forward to later in life when I had that special someone. It was a holiday I shared with those I loved from an early age!

If you love Valentine’s Day as much as I do, I hope you’ll check out Tiny Prints Valentine Cards! Like I said, I totally loved getting Valentine’s Day cards when I was growing up — who doesn’t? It’s a great reminder that Valentine’s isn’t just for lovers! {Though it is for that too.} Not only does Tiny Prints have Valentine Greeting Cards {think significant others, parents, grandparents}, but they also have Valentine classroom cards for kids and Valentine’s Day party invitations! {Valentine’s party? Yes please!}

I think this might be my favorite classroom Valentine card…

I’m totally envisioning my little Smoochie on here. I need to get her a cupcake ASAP! Good thing her birthday is in a week. Play group friends, shut your eyes, you might be seeing this again!

Tiny Prints is one of my favorite companies when it comes to cute cards, invitations, and stationary! They tend to have the latest styles and super cute prints! Love their style? Be sure to follow their Pinterest boards to keep up with awesome products and project ideas! {No, their boards aren’t just an advertisement for themselves. They actually have awesome ideas on them! Check them out!}

MONEY SAVING TIP: Through tomorrow 1/31/12, get 20% off ANY order – or 25% off any order over $125. Just use the code tp25 at checkout. Be sure to follow Tiny Prints on Facebook and Twitter for additional savings!

What’s Valentine’s Day look like for you? And favorite traditions?

This is a sponsored post.

Like I said in my 2012 goals, I’m making more of an attempt to memorize Scripture! To make it easier for me to succeed, I’m trying to surround myself with easy opportunities to see and read verses each day. I created this key ring {really a binder ring, I guess} of verses using scrapbook paper cut into 3″ x 5″ pieces. Then I glued verses on them. When I was finished, I took them to Staples, along with my Christmas place mats, to be laminated. When I got home, I punched a hole centered on the edge of each card to put them easily on a ring. Now the verses all stay together and are easy to flip through as I sit with my daughter. And since they’re laminated, she can grab them and play with them – no big deal!

I can’t figure out how to save a Pages {or Word, for that matter} file as a PDF. If someone can help me with that, I’m glad to post the PDF for these verses! They’re NASB version. Otherwise, I’m glad to email them to anyone who would like them. Just comment with your email address, and I’ll send them your way!

UPDATE: My awesome friend Jenny showed me how to save as a PDF and good ole Google (actually Swagbucks — Do you use this to search online and earn Amazon gift cards? I do!) showed me how to upload it to WordPress. Woohoo! Here it is: Mom Bible verses

This weekend was no different. We were walking down the street with our wagon {Thank goodness for the wagon!} when we saw a children’s art easel in awesome condition and a set of drawers also in awesome condition! These two items were such awesome finds that I actually ran up and rang the door bell to make sure that they were actually “heavy trash” before taking them! Check it out.

PS Can you find Lilleigh in this picture? Oh just loaded in with the goodies! Ha!

Christmas is over, and I can’t bear the thought of throwing all of our pretty Christmas cards away. So I turned them into place mats yet again! This way we can look at our sweet friends’ faces all year long!

Here’s how: I made my place mat bases a little bigger by sticking two pieces of scrapbook paper together. Normally I think these pages are 10″ x 10″ {guess-timate}, so I made mine around 10″ x 14″. {I also used a couple of calendar pages from my 2011 calendar that I loved.} Then I collaged the photos on scrapbook paper, cutting out cute sayings, favorite photos, etc. and gluing them on with a glue stick.

Tip #1: They don’t need to stick super well, since they’ll be laminated down anyway.

Tip #2: This year I made these place mats one-sided, as last year the laminating machine had trouble laminating my thick double-sided place mats.

Still I didn’t want boring blank sides of my place mats. That wouldn’t be fun! So to fill the space, I wrote memory verses on the back to help us all (really, me!) memorize Scripture throughout the day. If you recall, this is one of my 2012 goals.

Then I took these babies to Staples, where they laminated them for just over $2 each. {I also used a sweet deal from Saveology to get these half price… no longer available, but I plan to post if I see it again!}

Here are some photos of our place mats’ fronts and backs!

I think they turned out great! It’s a fun way to remember loved ones throughout the year. With older kids, this could be a great way to remind them to pray for loved ones as well.

What do you do with your Christmas cards post-Christmas?

Don’t forget to enter these awesome giveaways….

250 die-cut business cards from UPrinting! Ends 1/31.

From Debtor to Better ebook! Ends 2/7.

Enjoy these great freebies!

Freebies

• Ark Naturals pet food. Email sales@arknaturals.com and include if you’d like a dog or cat food sample, along with your mailing address. NEW!
• Breathe Right nasal strips.
  
• Carefree body shape liners.
• Complete pet food. Email sample@brotherscomplete.com and include which kind you’d like to receive: Red Meat Protein, White Meat Protein, Fish Protein, Allergy Turkey, or Fish Protein Cat. Also include the word “SAMPLE” in email subject line or body. NEW!
  
• Corner Bakery combo.
  
• Corner Bakery‘s new panini thin. NEW!
• Cottonelle toilet paper roll cover.
• David Yurman fragrance.
• Dentek flossers.
• Disney vitamin gummies.
• Dove advanced care and repair.
• Dove damage therapy shampoo and conditioner.
• Ego tea.
• Emergen-C. Also available here.
• Emergen-C Kidz.
• Golf Pain Away. NEW!
• Goodnites. NEW!
• Head & Shoulders.
• HerbaShine. Full-size box.
• Invisible wipes glass cleaner.
• Jamba all natural energy drink. Only for certain states.
• John Frieda Full Repair.
• John Frieda Root Awakening.
• Johnson Ultra Sheen Supreme Flat Iron spray.
• Kashi bar or cereal.
• Kleenex Cool Touch.
• Kotex natural balance liners.
• L’Occitane shea hand butter.
• Lipton tea.
  
• Mack’s ear plugs.
• Meow Mix Pate.
• Nature’s Bounty Fish Oil.
• NeilMed netti pot. NEW!
• Neil Med sinus rinse bottle and two packets.
• NeilMed sinus rinse.
• Nutrish. Dog food by Rachel Ray.
• Playtex Sport.
• Poise.
• Proactive refining face mask.
• Riddick’s natural dog treats.
• Sabazon.
• Saline Soothers.
• Shout color catcher.
• Simply Right baby formula.
• Soooo Sweet sweetener.
• SunWarrior raw protein.
• U by Kotex.
• Udi’s Gluten Free.
• Wet.
• Yogi tea.

Coupons

• Domino’s cinnastix.
• Purina ProPlan $5 coupon.
• Tiny Prints. $15 off $50.
• Wolfgang Puck cold brewed iced coffee. $1 off. *This could result in free coffee! Check your local store!

**And see what coupons are in your Sunday paper!

Coupon Sites - the coupon section was getting cluttered.

• Cell Fire allows you to load coupons onto your grocery store’s rewards card.
• Coupons.com.
• Mambo Sprouts. Organic coupons.
• Red Plum coupons.
• Target coupons.
• Walmart coupons.
• Whole Foods printables.

Free Magazines & eBooks

• American Baby here. Also available here.
• Baby Talk.
• Barron’s.
• Bridal Guide. One issue.
• Business Week.
• Forbes.
• Get Married. Get one free issue of this new wedding planning magazine.
• Martha Stewart Living.
• Parents. 7 months.
• Rouge.
• Wall Street Journal.

Rebates

• Feline Pine cat litter. Free with rebate.
• PetSmart Science Diet dog food. Full rebate! Thanks, Moms By Heart! Through 3/31/2012.
• Progresso soup. Ends 1/31/12, so hurry!