Live from my Porcelain Throne! #FlushForGood

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I’ve just got to dive right in here: this is a very multi-faceted post. Try to keep up! You see, this post is about toilets. But(t) it’s also about doing good and saving lives through American Standard’s Flush For Good ™ campaign, which is an effort Emily and I can really get behind. (Plus, we get to make potty jokes. See what I did there?) And lastly, this post is also a GIVEAWAY post! To get you excited about helping us spread the word about Flush For Good™, we are offering the chance to win a $200 gift card to Home Depot!! Are you interested now? It gets even better! Because this is such an important effort, I  was inspired to make a video for you, while sitting on the crapper, to give you the (poop) scoop on what Flush For Good ™ is all about and why it’s so very needed. So check this out:

All joking aside, the sanitation issue is an epidemic in developing countries. As you heard me say, around the world 3 children die every minute as a result of dirty water and poor sanitation. It’s sobering and humbling to think of all the comforts our children enjoy that also keep them healthy that all of us take for granted. There are many mothers around the world who are not so fortunate and bear unspeakable losses brought by unsanitary toileting and water supply contamination. So, how can we help from our corner of the world?

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Well, you guys are helping just by reading this post! The toilet geniuses (really, they are!!) at American Standard developed a sanitary toileting system that can be installed over the unsanitary latrine pits that most undeveloped communities use when nature calls. These pits are open and so insects get in and out, spreading disease. The sanitary pans designed by American Standard close off the pits while still allowing waste to go into it, so that waste and only waste goes in the pit and nothing comes back out. In honor of Mommin’ It Up, American Standard is donating TWENTY of these systems to communities in need around the world! And in honor of YOU, our readers, they are donating TWENTY MORE! That’s 40 communities who will now have access to sanitary toileting because you are reading this! That’s huge, you guys.

We can also help by spreading the word about Flush for Good™ to all of our friends and family! It is really, really, really, important to get the word out about this campaign. American Standard has made this very simple through their Facebook page. For every 100 likes or shares, American Standard will donate a sanitary pan system to a community in a developing country. If you’re in the market for a new toilet, you can also help by purchasing an American Standard Champion Toilet. This high-efficiency toilet uses only 1.28 gallons of water per flush instead of the usual 1.6, so it conserves water – which is great for our environment and your water bill. In addition, for every Champion Toilet purchased, American Standard will also donate a sanitary pan system to a community in a developing country (so you can save lives by buying a new john! Rock on!)

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Another way we can help? Taking a pledge to conserve water. Maybe you’ll pledge to remember to turn the water off while you’re brushing your teeth, or to only run your dishwasher when it’s full. Flush For Good’s Facebook page has all kinds of great pledge ideas, and again, if you pledge and share, you are doing your part to help bring a sanitary toilet pan system to a community in need.

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As you can see, American Standard makes it really easy to support the Flush For Good™ program, but in case you need a little incentive, they are also letting us give away a $200 Home Depot gift card!! WOOOHOOO!! (By the way, if you’re at a Home Depot anytime soon, make sure to stop and check out the high-efficiency Champion line of American Standard toilets!!) Here’s how to enter to win 200 big ones to Home Depot (three ways to enter!!):

1) Entry #1: Go to Flush for Good™ and take a pledge & share it! Then come back to this post and leave a comment telling us what your pledge is.

2) Optional 2nd entry: Tweet about this giveaway (you can copy & paste this): “Help save lives! Enter to win a $200 Home Depot gift card from @momminitup @jennyitup #FlushforGood @AMStandard” and leave a comment on this post with your tweet URL.

3)  Optional 3rd entry: Click to re-pin our pin of this post! Then come back here and leave a comment on this post with the URL of your pin.

ONE winner will be chosen at random on Monday October 7, 2013 at 6pm EST. GOOD LUCK, and have fun spreading the word about Flush For Good™! To see more about what wonders a sanitary toilet can do, please watch this short video about Flush For Good’s sanitary toileting pans on YouTube.

Thanks, American Standard for letting us be a part of #FlushForGood!

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Big boy steps

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Yesterday Bobby and I made a big decision for Jonah. We decided that in January, shortly after he turns 3, he will go to preschool. It’s a decision that I am all kinds of mixed up about. He is currently receiving developmental services through our county’s arm of Help Me Grow; however, they kick you out of that when you turn three. And they start the transition process to the local schools fairly early so everyone has plenty of time to get ready for the next step.

So, about three weeks ago, Jonah was evaluated by a team of professionals from our local school district, and yesterday we got their results. They agreed with us that he is speech-language delayed and that he qualifies for services. He could either get services once a week at home one-on-one or go into a classroom where he’d be taught by and Intervention Specialist and receive speech once a week from a Speech Language Pathologist. Because we are able to get him into the same school and the same classroom with the same teachers that Sophie had, we opted for school. Starting in January, just three weeks after he turns three, my baby will be going to preschool 4 mornings a week!

I really cannot believe it. Part of me feels very nervous about sending him out the door 4 days a week at such a young age. Honestly, if I would not have been able to get him in that classroom, I might have opted for the home intervention. But I LOVED Sophie’s teachers and I feel genuinely happy that Jonah will get to be with them. And also? Jonah needs some FRIENDS. Not many of my friends kept having babies when I did, and Jonah has not had a ton of opportunity to interact with peers. He really, really, really needs that social experience and I think it’s going to do wonders for his speech.

Now, I have 3 months to get him to be cooperative in a classroom setting. Yikes! That is what I’m most worried about. He has class for one hour at Help Me Grow, and he does not like to go with the flow. He likes to do what he wants to do, when he wants to do it. But, he’s only been in the classroom setting 4 times so far, and one hour a week makes it hard for him to adjust. Twelve hours a week of preschool I think he’ll catch on to much more quickly. I’m praying fer-vent-ly that he does!!

In addition to all this, he’s still seeing his private speech therapist once a week and he’s doing really well with her. And, he’s doing great at home. He’s really starting to let the 3-and-4-word phrases slip out a lot now. He has made some great progress, but he still has a long way to go.

Thus, preschool!

I’m usually the mom who’s thrilled to kick her kids out the door to school, but I think this is going to be hard on me. I’m not ready to let my baby go out that door yet! I think I’ll be crying for a few weeks and nervous for a few more.

In the mean time, I’m going to enjoy the moments I still have with him at home, and keep working with him on his speech. I sure am proud of my sweet little guy!

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What will become of us?

Newsflash: Jenny and I are getting OLD.

We used to talk about – well, it probably started with Strawberry Shortcake and gin rummy. Then we talked about grades and colleges, weddings and apartments, pregnancy tests and babies.

Now?

See for yourself.

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Just wait – we’ve got an AWESOME giveaway of Poise pads coming up next week!

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