Mix & Match Giveaway *CLOSED*

Now's your chance to win a Mix & Match set of your choice!! That's right, you choose what you want! ALL you have to do to enter is one or more of the below for one entry each. Please post each entry separately in a new post so it counts! The winner is chosen by random.org and will be announced on Saturday Aug. 14th.

Contest Ends Friday the 13th at midnight EST!!

1. Like our Facebook page

2. Post something on our facebook wall all share with your friends. You can do this by clicking "share" under your comment. Please make sure when you "share" to select "share with everyone" so we can see your post!

3. Visit bubelebaby.com and tell us what outfit you would love to have!

Don't forget to include your email so I can contact you if you win!

Progress

Summer break has been here for a couple weeks now and quite a few changes have happened!

First, Evan was re-evaluated and his speech has improved so much that he would not even be eligible for speech services! Now, we just have to keep working on it and working on the those behaviors that came along with the frustration! He is going to a summer program where the teachers are experienced in dealing with these issues and are focusing on getting him more involved in group activities. We have the option of continuing with a program like this for fall and our first reaction was to send him back to "regular preschool" but after seeing the attention he is getting, we are quickly changing our minds! How great would it be to get him completely caught up (and possibly even further along) by time he goes to kindergarten and look back at all this!!

Dylan is bored out of his mind this summer! He is not going into a summer program because we didn't like it last year so he is staying home. He entertains himself a lot and he loves our new sitter or "mommy's helper" that we just hired. Kristen started yesterday and she is so great with both the boys! Unfortunately, it was rainy and wet outside so they had to occupy themselves inside but she did a great job interacting with them! Being she is also a certified teacher helps =) She has lots of ideas to keep them busy and to get Evan eating!! She got him to eat his PB&J bite for bite with a granola bar yesterday while I was out running errands!

I might as well totally utilize this time with her and give her a list of things Dylan needs to work on for preparation for 1ST grade as well as a list of goals that Evan is working on at school!

I need help!

I am a DIY kind of gal so when it comes to running the businesses (yes, that is plural) and keeping up on housework and making time for the kids I figured I could manage it! Who the hell was I kidding! Working from home is great, or the idea of it is great. You think, well I can set my own hours and work when I want and spend whatever time I want with the kids. Then, you get busy and you start to justify, well at least I can take a break and go and see my kid anytime I want where if I worked out of the home, I would never see them.

Wrong! I would be such a better mother and have more chances at actual quality time with my kids if I did work outside the home! But this is not even an option for me due to the businesses growing, so I decided to take a step back and think....

1. what would make my life easier?
2. what would allow me to get the work I needed done in the time I needed it done?
3. what would keep my kids busy without turning on the TV more than we should this summer?

A super babysitter! Not just any babysitter, but one who will not just "watch the kids" but will keep them active this summer and one who will enjoy teaching my kids new things. Oh, and let's not forget someone who can occasionally watch them when mommy and daddy want to go out- ALONE! Yes, I am talking about dating my husband because not only are the kids being neglected, so is my marriage.

So, that's the answer to my prayers, but HOW do I find said babysitter when we live in a place where we don't know very many people and have virtually no family close by? I cam across a couple online websites that help find babysitters. At first I was a little leery about finding a sitter online but after browsing through the listings, I realized I could find someone with the qualifications I needed, interview, and do background checks.

The two sites I found were:

Sitters.com which attracted me first because it had no sign up fee and had a "pay as you go" option which allows you to pay for number of contacts (messages) you can send. It also has a money back guarantee.

I chose this one and bought the smallest amount of credits as possible and posted my job but no one responded so I contacted a ton with still no response. It looks like not a ton of people log into this site on a regular basis, so I doubt these girls are even checking their account!

So, this lead me to go back to another site: SitterCity.com that allows you to post a job for free and view candidates for free, but you can't access contact info until you pay a set up fee plus the monthly fee. So, I posted my job and had a ton of people apply! 3-4 looks very promising, so I budged and paid the sign up fee so I could contact the applicants I liked.

Keep your fingers crossed for my sanity!! Who knows, maybe I can also find someone to help with Bubele? ;)

Summer Styles are here!! Memorial Day Sale!

Finally, I have caught up on back orders and was able to do a photo shoot with a ton of local babies at a park nearby and I loved it!! It turned out great and was able to re-shoot a ton of my outfits which was much needed! The weather was beautiful and my photographer that I have been working with was awesome! It was really tough to organize all the different babies and outfits and pieces that I have available and I did not get them all, but I am really proud of myself for getting as many as I did!! I knew I was going to miss a few =)

Come by and see the summer stock (more to be up on the site soon) and enjoy 10% off your purchase and FREE shipping!! Use code: MEMDAY at checkout. Sale ends June 1st.

OH EVAN!!

This has become the new saying in the house because quite a few times a day Evan gets into something he shouldn't and even Dylan now says "OH EVAN!" Most of the time Dylan just laughs at him which as you can imagine doesn't help ;) Evan turns 3 next month and it is reminding me what a long way we have come. I've been really frustrated with myself lately for my lack of memory. I thought I was passed being pissed about what had happened in that labor room 3 years ago, but I guess I am not. It's causing more problems than I thought. Adam has to deal with the gaps of memory that sometimes does not make sense. I can sometimes remember the most random things that doesn't have any significance but can't remember an important date. I am terrible with recognizing people (even right after meeting them), can't remember names, and have to write everything down.

With all of these issues, I have to realize that I am lucky but damn it sometimes it doesn't feel that way when my 6 year old looks at me with confusion when I can't remember something he had told me. For all I know, he thinks I just don't care.

Evan continues to have some speech issues, but last week after going back to see the ENT, it was decided it was best to proceed with having ear tubes put in. This was after getting 2 ear infections within a 6 week period. They scheduled it really quickly and we had to go into surgery yesterday morning at 6:45 AM. I basically had to do what we did for the sedated ABR hearing test. I went into the room with him where we put the mask on him for gas while the anesthesiologist talked softly about taking a balloon ride and flying high in the sky which was totally appropriate since he is always talking about flying to the moon! He was out quickly, I gave him a kiss and it seemed like it took 10-15 mins and he was in recovery. Since the little bugger didn't sleep the night before, he was OUT! Daddy tickled his feet until he woke up. We had to make sure he was OK before we were discharged.

He was in a little discomfort, but we gave him some Tylenol and he has been in a pretty good mood since so it looks like everything went fine. PHEEEW! I am positive we made the right decision here.

He went back to preschool and recently had a Mother's Day brunch where he was supposed to hand me a potted flower and bring me to the table and serve me a Pb&J sandwich but as usual he did not want to participate and refused to be a part of the group. While all the parents stared on, I tried to calm him down and get him to sit at the table with me but kept screaming "NO TANKS!!" (This is because he would typically scream out "NO" so we are trying to replace that =) It was just too much for him (and me because I felt like I was going to cry if I had to sit there any longer with everyone's eyes on me) so off we went and he was happy again.

I felt a little pathetic walking out because I could not stop the flow of tears. I sucked it up quickly and decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and I should be grateful that he is at least talking more! We just have to kick these behaviors =)

Ebay Charity Auctions

I have been wanting to get involved in charity work for such a long time, and over the past couple years I have made a couple donations of clothing to be used at events, but I found Hope For God's Children which was started to help raise funds for families who have or are losing children. These funds help families with medical and funeral expenses- both being something a parent should never have to think about!

I wish I could do MUCH MUCH more for these families, but as I have been saying for awhile, my clothing and diapers are my capital so I will try and do what I can with what I have!

Currently the money being raised will go to Emily's family and the auctions I have up are:

Sage stripe tee

Blue dots tee

Bulk pack of Bubele Bums 6 AIO diapers (choose your own colors!)

If you are a designer interested in getting involved in raising funds, you can visit the Facebook Group

Thanks everyone and please share so we can get those bids up!!

Bubele Bums New AIO Cloth Diaper giveaway!

The new Bubele Bums AIO is in and while I have been criticized a little for changing designs so much, I do believe each change brings me closer to having the perfect diaper- Live and Learn!! =)

A little bit about these new diapers:

Trim fit
Less layers, more absorbent
More snaps to adjust just about every fit from newborn to potty training!

What you will win: Your choice of any color!



How to win:

1. Visit www.bubelebaby.com and leave a comment here letting me know what you love!

2. Follow this blog for another entry and leave another comment to let me know

3. Become a Facebook Bubele Fan: Bubele Fan Page and tell me about it so I give you another entry!

4. Twiiter about this contest and send me the link

5. tell your Facebook friends and send me the link

Contest Ends: March 12th at 12:00 AM

Good Luck!

Update on Evan's Hearing Test

OK, I was so nervous about this! The night before, Evan couldn't eat anything but he could have clear liquid up until 2 hours before going in for sedation. Since he slept in on the morning of, he was not able to have anything to drink and was screaming for "MILK!"

I thought we were going to the new Children's hospital in Syracuse but since they didn't move this unit yet, we went to the old Children's unit which wasn't bad at all. It was all geared for little ones with plenty of toys and cars to drive in the hallways- we were set!

Evan did get tired of riding the car and was started to get over tired and VERY cranky! The finally gave him a Tylenol mixture with some other drug to make him relax and sleep to start to prepare him to go into the OR where they would sedate him and connect the ABR machine thingy (I don't know the technical name LOL) to his head.

When we first leaned of this sedated test, I was thinking IV and him being scare out of his mind, but moms going through this too, let me tell you know- it's much worse in our crazy mama minds than it will be in reality!!

After they gave him the Tylenol mixture and he was feeling alittle loopy, we were told to keep him from walking so I played cars with him on the floor. When it was time to bring him in, I put on a gown and carried him in. He was scareimng for one of the trucks the the Dr. grabbed a truck and a bin of toys and I set him on the bed with the truck (while holding him up because he was tipsy)and I played with the truck with him and he was content. We then moved him up by the pillow while he was still playing and the Dr. help up some gentle gas (in infant mask) which looked just like the nebulizer so he continued playing until he got really sleepy so we laid him back on the pillow and I rubbed his hair until he feel asleep. He really thought he was just taking a nap!

It took more than an hour to complete the test and once they were done, they took him to recovery (still sleeping at this point) and the audiologist pulled us aside to tell us the connections between his brain and ears were fine but she did see some fluid in his right ear and it looked like those ear infections were making their way back! She suggested we go back to the pediatrician and see if they were on board with getting into see a ENT (ear-nose-throat) specialist.

So, I brought Evan back to the pediatrician and both doctors agreed to treat him for the ear infection he has again and to get him into the ENT ASAP! I am feeling good about this decision because if the fluid is not draining properly it could be causing his hearing to be muffled so at least we have a direction to travel now and see where it leaves us- hopefully we will have more good news soon! =)

Evan's Sedated Hearing Test

Tomorrow Is Evan's ABR (Auditory Brainstem Response Hearing Test).... and I could not sleep last night! It's not a major test and Adam thinks he will just be a little groggy to relax him and not be completely out. I am not sure why I am so nervous! Maybe it's the thought of possibly they won't let me be with him during testing (I'm little controlling) or maybe it's the actual results of the tests that will scare me.

If his hearing is OK, that means the delay is a DELAY... and if his hearing is not OK, then we may be looking at hearing devices, and depending on results could mean adjusting to a new therapy...

I just want to know NOW what I should be doing or could e doing to help him. It's extremely frustrating!

Here is the explanation of the exam from the Boston Children's Hospital:

What is an Auditory Brainstem Response Evaluation (ABR)?

An Auditory Brainstem Response Evaluation (ABR) is a type of test, usually performed for infants and young children, that evaluates how well sounds travel along the hearing nerve pathways from the ear to the brainstem. There are two main types of hearing loss:
Conductive hearing loss -- problems transmitting sound from the outer ear (where sound is collected) to the inner ear. This type of hearing loss can often reverse itself as children grow older.
Sensorineural hearing loss -- problems with the nerves connecting the inner ear to the brain. In the inner ear, tiny hairs on the cochlea act as a neural pathway, transmitting through the inner ear. Usually, problems with these hairs on the cochlea are responsible for sensorineural hearing loss. It is usually permanent and present at birth.
An ABR test, by evaluating the hearing nerve pathways, can identify cases of sensorineural hearing loss. It is a sleep EEG hearing test which shows the softest sounds your child's ears can detect at various pitches. The ABR compares changes in brain activity to the timing of repetitive sounds to determine whether the particular intensity of sound can be heard.

How is it performed?

There will be three or four small stickers on your child's head, connected to leads going into a computer. Sounds will be presented through an earphone to each ear separately while a computer analyzes the changes in the brain wave pattern in response to sounds.
Your child should be sleeping for the duration of the test. Young children under the age of six months are not usually sedated, and the test is performed while the infant is naturally sleeping, following a feeding. Children over the age of six months are usually sedated with chloral hydrate.

The test is not painful or uncomfortable in any way, but it is necessary for your child to be asleep in order to obtain clear recordings during the test.

You will be in the room with your child during the test, and the results will be explained immediately afterward.

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