Mommin' It Up!

March 29, 2011March 28, 2011

Cold Prevention Tips and a Giveaway from Vicks!

I’ve been telling you the past couple of months how much I LOVE Vicks VapoRub – it’s one of my favorite cold care products out there! It really does soothe me, and has since I was a child. I know my kiddos will grow up feeling relaxed and comforted whenever they smell that unmistakable Vicks smell, also. You can read my other tales of VapoRub reliefr here and here – but today I’m going to offer up some great cold prevention tips I got from the Vicks VapoRub Facebook page. Here are some practical ways to keep from getting colds or the dreaded flu:

Keeping hands moisturized helps keep our germs – I must say I had no idea about this one. But apparently when your hands are dry and cracked, it’s much easier for germs to get in those cracks and infect you! I am really guilty of not moisturizing my hands enough. Since I change about a zillion diapers a day, mine are always dry and cracked! I’m going to start doing better on this one right away!
Warm water alone doesn’t cut it. You gotta use soap. Yikers, apparently there are folks out there who think simply rinsing hands with warm or hot water will kill germs, but studies show warm water alone does virtually nothing to kill germs! You gotta use soap to kill those bad boys!
Hand sanitizing gel needs to dry all the way. When you use hand sanitizing gel, you’ve gotta rub your hands until they are thoroughly dry. Germs adhere much better to wetness, even if the wetness is “sanitized”.
Humidity helps fight cold viruses! I must admit I didn’t know this one, either! A humidifier can be your BFF during cold season! Keeping indoor humidity levels between 40-60% really helps slow the spread and growth of viruses! (and yes, Vicks DOES make humidifiers!)

Ok, so there are a few tips to keep from getting a cold! But if you or your kiddos do get one, I highly recommend Vicks VapoRub to soothe the irritating coughs that colds often bring. And if you’ve never tried it – now’s your chance! Once again this month I am giving away a Vicks “Cold care combo” – Vicks VapoRub, NyQuil, and DayQuil. Here’s how to enter:

1) Leave a comment on this post telling me what you do to prevent colds!

2) For an additional entry,”like” Vicks VapoRub’s Facebook page and leave me a separate comment here letting me know you did so.

One winner will be chosen at random on April 2nd, 2011. Winner will be notified by email. Good luck!

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I am being compensated for my role in the Vicks Blogger Brigade. All opinions on Vicks VapoRub and other Vicks products are mine alone.

March 28, 2011

Unencumbered

Saturday I had the best day. The likes of which has not been experienced for a long time. My very sweet husband told me on Thursday that I should take Saturday “off”. He said I should go do whatever I wanted and even gave me a little budget to enable me. I did not hesitate to say “YES!!!” and when Saturday morning came along, I got up and got ready. I got the baby good and fed and pumped out two bottles for him. I kissed the kids and the hubs goodbye and headed out about 9:15.

My first stop was Panera, where (let’s just say I also took this day off from dieting!) I consumed a chocolate pastry and two cups of coffee and read a chapter in the book we ladies are studying at house church, called Changes that Heal. We’re only two chapters in but so far I really recommend it. Especially if you are a person who is having any kind of relationship troubles.

Then, I zoomed over to Learning Express, a really cool toy store I have been wanting to get to for a long time. I hadn’t been there in forever. Pretty much everything they sell has an educational value. I picked up some fun things for the big kids. I stayed a long time. I could pretty much live there!

Next, I went next store to Marshall’s. I had a gift card from Christmas burning a hole in my pocket, and I went straight to the toy section and CLEANED UP! I got so much stuff for $50, it was ridiculous! I again just bought for the big kids. Since both of their birthdays are pretty close to Christmas, I like to get some treats to give out throughout the year for special treats once in awhile. I had a big smile on my face when I left, I got so many good deals!

It was about lunch time, and I had made plans to meet one of my favorite people, Cortney, for lunch at Ruby Tuesday’s. We had some yummy food and talked for 90 minutes kid-free!!!! Woo-hoo! It was awesome.

By this time it was close to 2 p.m. and I wanted to go see a movie at 3:55. But, my bewbs were about to explode so I ran home to feed my little guy and kiss the big kids. Then I jumped right back in the car and zoomed off again. I went to the mall and scoped out some Lands’ End clearance at Sears. I got Sophie a winter coat for the year after next for $14!! Woot! After that, it was time to head over to the theater to see The King’s Speech.

I’ve been wanting to see this movie for weeks and I’ve heard so many great things about it. I was a bit obsessed with the royals in junior high and early high school, so I knew all about the main characters but I had never heard this particular story.

It was riveting. And inspiring! And even though it was just me, a Coke, and a bag of Chewy SweetTarts (and a bunch of old people), I had the best time watching it.

After the movie, it was time to get back to reality. But I was ready, and I felt refreshed and cheerful. Also, my bewbs were REALLY wanting to see the baby at this point. I went straight from the movie to meet the fam at church (I love Saturday night church!). Of course, Jonah had just taken his second bottle right before church, so I was kinda outta luck on that front. But I survived.

After church we headed home where I capped my “day off” by going to bed at 9 p.m. It was wonderful! I am so thankful that I got to spend a day truly relaxing. Just free to run around town, totally unencumbered. And then I still got to come home to the best family a girl could ever want. It was a great day!!

March 27, 2011

Review: Carpet Cleaning by Dry Right

This one is for all you Dayton-area people!

So let me start by saying this – I love my house. I really do. But I seriously hate our carpet.

It’s super light – just-barely-off white – and I think it’s got to be original to the house, which means it’s a solid 16 years old. The previous owners had two kids. We have two kids.

Did I mention the carpet is almost white?

Yeah. It shows everything. A week ago, I was honestly embarrassed to have people come into the house because the carpet looked so bad! It had been a year since we’d had it cleaned and there were just spots everywhere.

Needless to say, when Dry Right contacted me to see if they could come show me what they were about, I was all over it.

Ironically enough, they had just been to my grandma’s house the day before, doing their other service – 24-hour water removal. Instead of pulling up her carpet, as she’s had done before, they brought in a huge fan and a giant water-sucking (that is the technical term) machine and after a few days, it was good as new. They’re a professional, certified crew, and I knew I was in good hands!

They came to clean the carpets while we were at work, and that day Andy got home before I did. As soon as he walked through the door, he called me – he was practically giddy. Andy is a bit (understatement of the year) type A, and generally he finds something that’s not exactly right, but not this time. He said it looked amazing, and he was right. I could hardly believe it when I got home!

Want to see for yourself?

Here are some “before” pictures:

Look closely at that last picture – see the scribbles? Sammy took a DRY ERASE marker to our carpet! What you see there is what was left after I used carpet cleaning solution on it… I thought it was going to be there forever.

Not so! It is gone. And so are the other nasty spots on our carpet.

Look at what a great job the guys at Dry Right did:

It seriously looks great now. I’m not even embarrassed to have people come into our house!

The nice people at Dry Right want YOU as a customer too, so they’re offering Mommin’ It Up readers a special deal – use coupon code MOMMINITUP and you can get any two areas cleaned for $44 or any SEVEN areas cleaned for $119. That is a great deal!! Call (937) 886-4489 or (937) 490-1138 to schedule a cleaning.

To learn more about Dry Right, visit their website and “like” them on Facebook. They’re giving away a two-room cleaning to one lucky Facebook fan on April 1st, so make sure to “like” them soon!