Surprise! Contest!

We did it!

Handy Man and I have spent years talking about getting away for a weekend. We made theoretical plans, talked about how the boys would do without us, imagined where we would eat, and how it might be nice to dress up. Well, this weekend we had a wedding on our calendar. The boybarians were left in the care of my in-laws and Handy Man and I had an adults-only weekend for the first time since 1999. Nineteen ninety-nine!

To celebrate our get-away weekend and the fact that my friend Christa is expanding an absolutely fabulous line of handmade jewelry at her etsy shop - Christa and I are having a contest here at Life With My 3 Boybarians. And what's the loot?! It is this fabulous piece that Christa calls Chocolate Drops.


Win this beauty!





Here is Christa's description:
"This chunky strand is full of deliciousness! Pretty pink "miracle beads" (they really do glow in certain lights!) with clusters of Smoky Quartz in between. Necklace is a to be worn long and lusciously. Diameter is a whopping 26 inches.

And to the winner, it will be wrapped in my special gift wrap all pretty-like!"


Want to enter? Here're the details:
* Simply leave a comment guessing where in the *World in the World* Handy Man and I are.
* You don't have to have the right answer. Your comment enters you in the running, winner will be determined at random.org.
* You have until Friday night at 11:59 pm CST to enter.
* One entry per IP.
* Winner will be contacted by Christa to arrange for shipping.

Here are your hints about our location:






**Update: Kathy guessed our location about 7 minutes after I posted it! She is still entry #1, but I've deleted her comment to let some of you guess for awhile!**

Happy Mother's Day

To all the mothers out there:
Hope this day is special. This is the toughest job with the lowest pay but greatest benefits. Hope you all have a day to enjoy yourselves and your family!

To my mother-in-law:
You could have warned me. Ha ha. Kidding. Mostly. ;) Thank you for raising the most loving husband and amazing daddy. I look at my own boys and wonder how you did it. Happy Mother's Day to the first woman in my hubby's life.

To my own mother:
Thanks for always being there when it counts, and even when it doesn't. Not only do I have the best mom, but the boys have an amazing Nanie. Happy Mother's Day to the #1 woman in my life. Wish you lived closer.

ps - Shhhhhh! Be the first to enter.... surprise BLOG MAKEOVER CONTEST over at my other blog, Graphically Designing!

Contest Time's Up!

And Random.org says:



Sooooo... #2 is The Nester over at The Nesting Place, who said, "I never win anything." Well, your luck changes today, sista'! You are the winner.

Please go easy on me. ;)

Here is The Nester's current blog:



Check back soon to see me unwrap my new Christmas toy and hear about Handy Man's April Fool's Day in December. Sneaky Devil, he is!

ps - I now know 'The Fiddle Piggy' by heart forward and backwards. Thanks, Nester!

What Does Your Blog Say About You?

You're hip. You've got style. You definitely aren't one of those fit-a-mold types, right?

So why does your blog feel so... generic?

There are thousands of articles out there about improving your blog space, keeping reader interest and engaging passers-by. I can't get into writing style here, but I can help with the aesthetics, at least a little.

You need a blog that reflects YOU.

The number one things that loses reader interest? Your same exact layout on a dozen other blogs. So break out! Customise! Improvise! Legalize! Errr... wait. Not that last one.

Announcing: LWM3B Header contest. Winner will receive his or her own customized, personal, hip header, courtesy of me - to the best of my meager design abilities.

"Uhhhhh, what's a header," you ask?

It's that little bar graphic across the top with your blog name. See mine up there? It's got a tidy little cappuccino, my title, and some nifty graphics. You can see some samples over at my other, new, fresh, little blog, Graphically Designing.

What will yours look like?

Rules:
* Only one entry per IP.
* All entries in by Friday at 11:59 pm CST. Winner announced Saturday.
* Winner will be chosen at random.

Enter now - just leave a comment. Wish me a Merry Christmas if you want. You can even comfort me with thoughts like, "Don't worry, Darcy, your hair will grow back." or "It's no big deal your boys are half-dressed, they'll grow out of it!"

ENTER NOW! Oh, and tell your friends. 'Tis the season to be generous, merry and bright.

The Fantastic Five

What a fun contest! It was fun to see all the weights and to try and guess how some of you reached the number you did. What a fun bunch you are!

Sooo... what did these 5 amazing children weigh at birth?



They weighed exactly 8 pounds 0 oz. - an even 8 pounds. Go ahead. Gasp.

My first born son weighed 8 lb 7 oz by himself - nearly 1/2 a pound more than all these 5 warriors together. So seeing those numbers should really make you FEEL something.

We live in America. Some of us live in Canada. I have a few regular readers from Italy and Australia. But the point is - we live in a time and in nations where birth weights like that should not be acceptable. 5 children should not be born weighing less than many singletons.

So... to continue the awareness. WHO is more at risk to have a preterm baby?

*if you were born prematurely yourself, you are 3x more likely to have a preemie.

*if you have given birth early before. One estimate says if you delivered early on 2 births, the guesstimate for your 3rd birth would be up near 100% chance of premature delivery.

*if your sister gave birth early, or you see a familial correlation with the women on your mom's side of the family. Studies are emerging that suggest there may be something in your genes that increase your risk.

*if you are African American, Caribbean or Black American, it is estimated that 1 in 6 black women give birth too soon. This discrepancy is not okay! In some parts of the country, 17% of Black Americans are having babies preterm. Studies are being done to find out if this is genetics or environmental.

*stress. if you have high stress levels (financial stress, hunger, long work hours, relationship stress, abusive relationships, etc) your chances go up.

*your age. Teen pregnancies and advanced maternal age (pregnancy over 36) are more likely to deliver early.

*if you are carrying twins or more, especially high-order multiples, very few triplets and up reach term.

* if you used reproductive assistance, or fertility help, your risk for delivering early is higher.

*if you are irresponsible with your pregnancy. Smoking, drinking, drug use, no prenatal care. This should be obvious, but in some parts of the country (Kentucky, for example) 1 in 4 pregnant women continue to smoke.

*unknown infection. There is a correlation between periodontal disease (see your dentist before you get pregnant!) and preterm birth. Also some bacterial infections can start spontaneous labor.

But the fact remains that in 1/2 of all preterm births, the mothers had NONE of those risk factors. Many people assume preemie moms are teens, moms of high-order multiples who took fertility drugs, smokers, living in poverty, etc. And while those are all factors, most women don't fit that profile.


So what were my risk factors? Why was Trouble born so soon?

I get asked this all the time. From the above list, my only risk factor is family relationships. My first cousin had a 26 weeker. My grandmother had a daughter "somewhere around her 7th month" who lived for a short while. Her cousin also lost a baby born early. It is possible that something on my X chromosome (from my mother's side) is messing with the gestational clock. It could be coincidence. My water broke. I was not in labor. I had no contractions. Babies cannot survive without amniotic fluid. And while the bag of water can sometimes repair itself and replenish when there is a leak, Trouble and I weren't so lucky. 52 hours after my water broke, Trouble was born via emergency c-section because my placenta started to abrupt. The only noise in the room was the hustle and bustle of the OB team, the neonate team and the anesthesia team. Trouble was born silent. He was too little to cry.

Those 5 children have beat some incredible odds. It's too late to turn back the clock on their births. So, as their parents, we can only work to try and prevent this from happening to another family.

To the parents of those fantastic five, who I am lucky enough to call friends - you are amazing souls. Thank you for letting me share your beautiful kids with the blogosphere. I am so proud of all those kids, and each of them makes my heart pitter-patter with great pride.

Congrats to Tammy at Evergreen Eclectic Academy. You nailed it with the guess of 8 pounds even. Shoot me an email to claim your bag.

Today is Prematurity Awareness Day

Tuesday, November 13 is National Prematurity Awareness Day. Buildings will be lit in pink & blue for babies, communities will hold Roll Calls and Light Stars. And here at LWM3B, it means CONTEST!

Look at these gorgeous children. So I am biased because that little one on the right is my little Trouble, but I adore these 5 amazing kids. Their stories are all different but they share one thing: premature birth.




Your task is to guess their combined birth weight. Simple enough, right?

Rules:
Closest wins.
Only one entry per IP.
All entries in by Wednesday November 14th at 11:59 pm.
In case of tie, time prevails - so pick an original weight. ;)
Family of the above pictured cuties don't count. They already know.
Winner will be announced Thursday.

Prize is a "brown bag" prize. What that means is that Trouble has helped Handy Man put together 3 prize bags. The contents of the bag(s) and the bags themselves vary between $20 and $80. Winner will choose Bag #1, Bag #2 or Bag #3.

Bags are themed: Metro Mama. Family Fun Night. Smart Cookie.

Enter now! And tell a friend, but enter first - you've got this one in the bag!

Handy Man's Box - The Reveal

Oh my, was that a lot of laughs. My tummy hurts! Sorry for the delay. It's taken me over 2 hours to figure out how to publish a movie so you all could see it. The movie was too big for Blogger's lame little movie feature.

In preparation for the event, Handy Man went digging into the depths of our closet and pulled out his oldest items of clothing. He dressed himself in a hat he bought from the Iowa State University bookstore in 1989, the ugliest shirt in the universe bought at Eddie Bauer at the Oak Brook Mall 1993 (I hid it once, to see if he missed it. I almost trashed it, but he found it hidden when we packed to move! Soooo close!) and those jeans. The acid washed, faded jeans - Eddie Bauer - purchased to match the above ugly shirt. I just hate that he still fits in the same jeans he wore 14 years ago. What a brat! And those fluorescent orange gloves? I have no explanation for the gloves.

So here it is, the inventory list:
Porsche 911 model car (Hmmmm, Handy Man loves Porsche 911s)
Trapper Keeper
Box of Checks
markers and pens (still work!)
double sided tape
Christmas replacement lights
Card from Mother
Woodworking and Architectural magazines (are you sensing something here???)
Ink Toner for a copy machine (????)
Architectural sketches (hmmm, I'm starting to get some suspicions, here...)
a lecture pointer (huh?)
an empty notebook
a telephone message book (no messages in there from ex-roommate's mother to be found!)
University Fitness Club pass
Floppy disks (I about busted a gut on this one!)
a cardboard dinosaur box (what the ????)
a car window ice scraper
a book entitled, "The Southwest Beauty" (Ha! it's about deserts, not girls!)
Drawing triangle (seriously, this is looking suspiciously Handy Man-ish!)
Pictures (strangely enough of 2 of Handy Man's sisters!)

So... after all this. The waiting... the suspense...

The box is *his* after all. Now aren't you glad we didn't just ship it to his female, ex-roommate's mother? Boy, that would have been embarrassing. I can see it now:

"But Handy Man, love of my life, all this stuff belongs to you. But I'm sosooooo glad you tracked me down after all these years..."

And the winner?!

We actually had a 5-way tie, with Mom2LegoManiacs, Christy, LisaWa, Heather and Jennefer each guessing 3 correct items. But since time prevails in the event of a tie... Congrats Mom2LegoManiacs! Shoot me an email. You get the Starbucks giftcard.

Geraldo's Got Nothin' on Handy Man

Do you remember when Geraldo, with his moustache and daytime TV dramatics, attempted to break open Al Capone's vault? Okay, I don't remember it; that was April 1986 and back then, I had pig tails and wore a red-white-and-blue plaid Catholic school uniform. The lore, however, of the fruitless 2-hour, live, prime-time tv show lives on.

Tune in this Saturday afternoon. Your votes have spoken! Handy Man's box will be opened. And I, with my 3 cameras, 2 digital camcorders, and a partridge in a pear tree, will be there so you don't miss a thing.

And this will be no Al Capone's Vault.



Ultimately, the words of my friend Karen resonated and she found the words I was looking for.

"I am a woman and I know women and she is sure to read into the fact that he has held onto this box for so many years."

You're right Karen. If I had a boy ex-roommate, with whom I was "totally in love" and I left him with the care of my mother's stuff (uhhhh... who does that anyway?! Is that a stunt like leaving something behind so he'll have to call?) and he called me a decade and a half later - I'd consider that totally loaded.

This is just screaming *CONTEST* to me! And so, I announce Life With My 3 Boybarian's second-ever contest.

So, rules:
You may enter once (yes, I can see your IP addresses!).
You may list up to, but not more than, 5 possible items.
Whoever has the most correct items wins.
In the event of a tie, earlier time prevails.
Contest closes Saturday morning at 10 am central standard time.
No, I won't ship the amazing, wonderful, fantastic prize to Guatalahara, Timbuktu or the Great Wall of China.

Winner goes home with a $10 Starbucks Giftcard. You can get 2 great drinks, on Handy Man (Shhhh! He's buying. Don't tell!). I really recommend the Pumpkin Spice latte' this time of year. Starbucks claims their sales climb by 11% during the time of year when this lil-bit-of-heaven-in-a-cup is offered.



And I believe I account for at least 10.5% of those increased sales.

Enter now! :)

I *heart* Free Stuff!

If you love free stuff as much as I do and you have an iPod or an iPhone, I have recently discovered a whole slew of fantastic FREE resources. iTunes has added a new section called iTunes U which allows Academic Institutions to post professors' lectures, guest lecturers, audio files, etc. And the University of South Florida has created a wonderful k12 resource section filled with audiobooks, audio-poems and audio-stories for kids ages 3 to 103!

To find it, simply:
- Open iTunes program
- Click to go to the iTunes Store
- Click on iTunes U on the left sidebar
- On the lower left sidebar is a list entitled, "Universities".
- Find and click University of South Fl[orida]
- Click on the icon of the little boy, "College of Education".
- In the center bar, find Lit2Go:Audio Files for k12
- It automatically opens the Spanish language resources. Click the grade above.

For example, in Gr3 you'll find files for Aesop's "Hercules and the Waggoner" and several poem from Robert Louis Stevenson, for example. In Gr4 you have many of Aesop's fables, several of Beatrix Potter as well as all of "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodges Burnett. Wow! The list is extensive. You will be able to download the files and save them. Even if you don't have an iPod you can save them to your computer and play them from your desktop.

And the learning isn't just for kids. You can listen to lecturers from Yale, Stanford, among others for your OWN listening pleasure. Yay for FREE!

And because my boybarians are so stinkin' cute I can't *not* post a pic!