Surprise Ride... Entertainment in a Box!

Tell me it isn't just my kids...

They wake up Christmas morning at some ridiculous hour to mountains of presents under the tree, and by noon they are already bored and asking what they are going to do all day...
That's right. My kids were already bored by lunch time with all of the new toys they had to have from Santa. Noon. I hadn't even finished my second cup of coffee before they were asking where we were going and what we were doing.

Luckily, a few weeks back, I saw an ad for Surprise Ride on Facebook and decided to try it out. (No, I did NOT receive anything for free from this company. I'm simply writing to tell you all about an awesome product I found!)

Surprise Ride was actually featured on Shark Tank (freaking love that show... And Mark Cuban!), but

I learned about it through the wonders of Facebook advertising. Surprise Ride is a monthly subscription box- something that seems to be all the rage right now. But this one is targeted toward your kiddos, and it includes multiple activities, games and reading materials based on a central theme that intrigue your littles!

The box we received was Polar Bear themed, which was perfect to please all three of my monkeys, ages 3, 4 and 7. Our particular box included a bracelet, game, two activities, info packet, snack and book, all themed around polar bears. My girls seriously loved it!

We started by eating our snack while reading the instructions and the handout with interesting facts about polar bears (did you know that polar bears can be up to 11 feet tall and weight between 700 to 1400 pounds?!). The snack was a freeze-dried ice cream sandwich... A true novelty! They gobbled this up while learning that polar bears actually have black skin but it appears white because it reflects visible light (who knew?). They also took turns playing the small plastic ring game that was included in the box.

After a tiny squabble over who got to wear the Surprise Ride bracelet (my girls fight over EVERYTHING), we dove into the first craft- creating a Polar Bear habitat! This was a slower activity, as it involved water beads, but we filled a bowl with water beads and water and set them aside to expand into a "polar bear habitat." (We've never done water beads before. We are all enthralled. We will be buying more of these STAT.)

Secondly, we created a polar bear coaster out of wood and pom poms. The pom poms were meant to simulate the soft pads on a polar bear's paws, and the girls had fun using glue and making a mess because why not? This craft also included a package of hot chocolate, which I made and consumed myself (shh... Don't tell my girls!).

Lastly, we started on the polar bear story that was included for us, entitled "Polar Bears Past Bedtime" (part of the Magic Tree House series), but we quickly discovered this book was geared toward slightly older kids and decided to check on our water beads, which were getting bigger and delighting my girls.

Overall, this box entertained us for about 45 minutes, which is an eternity where my 3 and 4 year olds are concerned. The activities were appropriate for all three of my girls, and I love that the box went beyond just crafts and included snacks, a small game and a book, as well.

I have tried other monthly subscription boxes with my girls, and I've been most impressed with this one. Today's offer is $5 off any box, and most boxes (there are so many fantastic-looking ones to choose from! China! Amelia Earhart! Smile!) cost $30. You can buy one box or sign up for a subscription. My Facebook offer was one box free, just pay shipping, which was $5.95. I love this deal. This box was well worth the $5.95 I paid. Truth be told, it's well worth significantly more than that. I'm usually the person who will try any offer that has a great intro deal and then cancel when the price goes up... But this is one I will probably keep.

Because it was awesome.

The end.

Mom's Best Friend: Shop Online, Pick Up In Store...

Yesterday was one of those days where I just couldn't get motivated to get off the couch.

And then I remembered my little two had a birthday party to attend. And we didn't have a gift.

One look at my kids and I knew we wouldn't make it out of any store without tears (probably mine) because there was some silly toy their lives weren't complete without.

So instead, I shopped online to pick up in store at Toys R Us.

Shopping online is all the rage these days. Major grocers are hopping on board- you can now order your groceries online from Walmart (see my guest blog post a few posts back), Albertson's and Kroger. I'm sure other grocery stores won't be far behind.

But did you know you can shop online with stores such as Toys R Us (or the Babies R Us on Arbrook if it's a toy they carry) and Target and pick up at customer service? With Toys R Us, pick up is ready within an hour if the item is in stock!

I love this for a number of reasons. Number one, I can browse and compare prices with no pressure. I don't need to wonder if I'm getting the best price- I can flip from Amazon to Toys R Us to Walmart with a click of a button. Secondly, I can use coupons and rebate apps! That's right- when I shop online, I use Ebates to collect cash back on all my purchases. When I shop online to pick up in store, I can still use Ebates to collect my cash back. I can also check RetailMeNot.com for any coupon codes that can be applied at checkout. Lastly, I don't need to wander the aisles of the toy store with multiple children who will ultimately throw a massive tantrum when I say no to any and all of the toys they beg for.

So today I selected the toy I wanted to give as a gift for our party and checked out on toysrus.com. I selected "in-store pick-up" and voila. I was done! Toys R Us emailed me an hour later saying my item was ready for pick up. I selected a bag and card from my stash and stuck them in the car to head to the store for in-store pick-up.

The downside? There is no curbside pick up. Yet. I did still have to drag my girls to the customer service counter to pick up the gift. But, we were able to avoid the rows and rows of shiny toys just begging my girls to take them home. We were in and out with minimal fussing, whining and begging in about 5 minutes.

I've done this multiple times with Target, as well. It really is a sanity-saver. Being able to shop in my pjs and pick up at my leisure takes my laziness to a whole new level.

What stores have you done in-store pick up at that I don't know about?!

Why Are You Still Pregnant?

“If you’re already 40 weeks, why don’t you just have your doctors induce you? That’s what I did.”

This is the sound advice from the woman behind me in the checkout line at Kroger, who seems utterly confused as to why I choose to carry my pregnancy past its fortieth week.

I mean, I don’t really want to still be pregnant. Really, I’d much rather be one of those women who busts into spontaneous labor around 38 weeks and produces a plump, screaming baby within hours of those first contractions starting. Really, that sounds dreamy.

But that’s not my body. I’m on my fourth pregnancy, and I’ve never delivered earlier than 39 weeks. And that delivery was via c-section that I was scared into having. I’m fairly certain that, had I waited to go into labor on my own, I would have carried my oldest to 42ish weeks.

It seems to be a misconception that pregnancy needs to or must end on or about the 40^th week. This number is not the be all end all of pregnancy. Believe me, I know. Forty weeks is just the average number of weeks at which most babies are born. It is just as safe and common to deliver at 38 or 39 weeks as it is to deliver at 41 or 42 weeks. Forty just seems to be the number of weeks at which doctors encourage patients to induce for a number of reasons… And at this point, most women are done with the pregnant thing anyway, so they are happy to oblige.

This is my favorite pregnancy meme EVER. 

Typically, Caucasians (like me) are statistically the most likely to soar past their due dates. In fact, there have been studies that show that babies of Germanic descent (both my husband and I have significant German lineage) are most likely to be born at 42 or even 43 weeks gestation. I read this early on in my fourth pregnancy. It brought tears. Serious, serious tears.

To be honest though, I feel no need to be induced into labor. Babies can’t hang out in there forever, and as long as my midwives feel that I’m healthy to keep going (i.e., blood pressure is stable, no significant swelling, baby’s heartbeat is where it needs to be), I see no reason to change Mother Nature’s course. After all, I get to choose baby’s name, going home from the hospital outfit, formula, first foods, preschool. Do I need to pick her birthday, too?

I carried my third daughter all the way to 42 weeks and 2 days. She was born the day before Halloween. I can remember walking into a Halloween party on the 28^th with my then 4-year-old daughter, and watching as every head turned to focus on me. “Why are you still here?” seemed to be the question of the hour.

That was Sunday night. Monday afternoon, contractions started. And Wednesday, at 12:01 a.m., I had my third beautiful baby girl. And my first successful vaginal birth after cesarean (my middle daughter was a failed induction and failed VBAC attempt at almost 41 weeks). Patience has never actually been my strong suit, but she was worth every uncomfortable second I had to wait for her. 

With this surrogacy, I long to let baby arrive on his own. As a woman who has been through two c sections, I’d strongly prefer avoiding another. Because I’ve had one successful VBA2C, I’m longing for a second. And I know that my best chance of another successful VBAC is to let labor begin on its own, without medical interventions such as Pitocin.  So… I wait. And wait. And wait. Trust me… This waiting part is not fun.

For the record- I have nothing against c sections. I know full well that, even if I wait to go into labor on my own, that I may end up with another. But as a woman who has been through both kinds of birth experiences, If I can produce the results I want (a vaginal delivery), this is what I prefer to do. Having been through both, I can tell you from experience that one birth isn’t less painful than the other. A vaginal birth is simply much easier to recover from on my end.

I think I’m one of the lucky few who does pregnancy well. Four pregnancies deep, I’ve never once thrown up or even had what most would qualify as morning sickness. Aside from gaining a few more pounds than I would like with each go round, I’ve never had any complications with pregnancy. I wanted three kids, we had three kids. I wanted to be a surrogate, sweet little dude took the first time around. These hips were clearly made for carrying babies. (Don’t ask my husband his opinion on me a pregnant person… I’m not sure he’d paint such a rosy picture…)

The hospital has already scheduled my induction for next Wednesday night, which is the eve of my 42^nd week of pregnancy. Please, please send magic baby dust my way… I want nothing more than this baby to arrive safe and sound this week so he can be whisked off into the arms of his waiting mama J

(Note: This is just my personal opinion regarding my own pregnancies. To all of my friends who chose to induce, for whatever reason, awesome! To all of my friends who had c sections, for whatever reason, cool! The birth experience is different for absolutely every woman but nonetheless magical, no matter how, why or when baby arrives!)