I realize that Mother’s Day was three weeks ago now, but between vacation and the writer’s block, I can not, for the life of me, bring myself to blog.  For that, I apologize.  I haven’t done a Monday Mingle, a Post It Note Tuesday, OR a Wordless Wednesday, all of which I enjoy very much.  I hope that the illness that is causing my lack of writing goes away soon. 

Anyways, back to Mother’s Day…. I just wanted to brag a moment by showing you what my son made me in preschool.  I just love it!

While I’m not positive what it will grow into, it doesn’t matter.  This is my first real Mother’s Day present from my baby.  The preschool Konnor attends is big on arts & crafts.  For Christmas, they allowed the children to decorate a picture frame.  Using a simple hand print and a picture of each child, they created something like that of a scrapbook page.  I will always have Konnor’s hand, age 4, framed with his smiling face the day he made it.

That isn’t all that I got for Mother’s Day.  Well it is, but my daughter’s present won’t come for a few weeks yet.  So here is a preview of what I will be getting, when I do get it.  My mom, on my first Mother’s Day after I had Konnor, had his pictures taken in an Oregon Ducks (my favorite college football team) outfit.  I had absolutely no idea she had done it until it was done. 

She wasn’t able to get Ariana away to do the same this year, but she already has the outfit picked out.  So one day in the near future, Ariana and Gamma have a date to have her pictures taken.  Yeah, my mom pretty much rocks!

Overall, Mother’s Day was calm, peaceful, and spent with the people in my life that I love.  Thank you Mommy for being there always!  Big thank you to my little sis for making us breakfast.  And to everyone who wished me a Happy Mother’s Day – THANK YOU!!!

Ariana’s first tooth (bottom left center) poked through at the end of April, almost 11 months after she was born.  Two days of a cranky, crabby, feverish, sick baby reminded me how lucky I had it with Konnor.  You didn’t know that kid was getting teeth until he bit you with one of his new ones.  They didn’t bother him at all.  Ariana?  Total opposite.  Waiting for that tooth to break through was a nightmare. 

Most of her baby friends already have 3, 4, 5, even SIX teeth!  So Ariana’s ONE wasn’t too much to be excited about.  I mean, it was obviously a sign of her growing up, not being so much a baby anymore, and all things related to such a depressing subject.

Now, her top left tooth has broken through the gums.  This one I knew was coming.  I could see her little gums were swollen as early as a week before our vacation.  Both the top ones were coming in.  I just knew that she was going to be cranky, crabby, sick, while we were on vacation.  So I made sure that the orajel, teething tablets, and chew toys went with us.  Were close by at all times.

Yet, while we were away, she wasn’t fussy.  Nor was she crabby or sick like she was with the first tooth.  So I figured the two top teeth had moved back up and weren’t causing her any issues.

Tonight, I noticed it.  A week after returning from vacation, and there is the top left tooth.  Plain as day.  It broke through, and we didn’t even notice!

So, does that mean that teething is down hill from here?  Sheesh, I sure hope so!!!!

When 2010 started, I made a New Year’s Resolution (like most people) to be healthier by making better nutrition choices for myself (and my family) and making sure I exercise 4-5 times a week.

As with most New Year’s resolutions, I maybe kind of fell off the bandwagon a little bit.  (Or fell flat on my face into the mud)

Recently, I was able to try something that is not only nutritious but also very yummy!  I’m talking about Yoplait’s Greek Yogurt.  Out of the four flavors it comes in, (strawberry, honey vanilla, blueberry, and plain) I tried the strawberry and honey vanilla.  This yogurt is thicker than most yogurts, which is quite appealing to me.  Not only that, but the taste is something I am unable to explain.  My taste buds were doing a happy dance in my mouth!

How is something so yummy also so nutritious, you ask?

Well, Yoplait Greek Yogurt has 12g of protein (which is twice as much as other leading brands), which is nothing but a benefit, and it has ZERO fat.  In addition, Yoplait’s Greek Yogurt is currently the only leading brand of Greek yogurt to contain both Vitamin A & D in every cup.  Why does that matter?  Well, Vitamin D is what aides your body in the absorption of calcium, which means stronger bones.

A huge thanks to Yoplait and MyBlogSpark ; it was because of them that I received my very own prize pack full of goodies. Not only that, but one lucky reader of mine will win a Yoplait Greek “Nourish Your Inner Goddess” prize pack (pictured below). This includes two coupons for Yoplait Greek Yogurt*** (whichever flavor you like) as well as some spa-type items to help you relax.

Mandatory Entry:

Tell me which flavor you would like to try!

Extra Entries:

Additional entries (each are worth one extra entry, unless stated otherwise):

• Follow YoplaitYogurt on Twitter
• “Like” Yoplait on Facebook
• Follow theJAKAfiles on Twitter
• “Like” theJAKAfiles on Facebook
• Become a google friend follower (publicly)
• Grab my button and put it on your blog
• Subscribe via RSS
• Blog about this giveaway (3 extra entries)
• Tweet about this giveaway once per day (leave the link in a comment & make sure you use @theJAKAmommy in your tweet)

 ***Please note that these coupons are not valid in some states, including California, Idaho, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, and Tennessee.

Giveaway ends 5/31 @ 9pm PST 

Drum roll, please……………………..

First the winner of the Bake Me A Wish giveaway is… 

Something Ariana has been in need of for a while now is a new high chair. With her new-found independence, the need to feed herself has become overwhelming. She has to sit in a high chair to avoid a mess everywhere.

Saving Konnor’s high chair was a bad idea. Made solely from wood (oak i believe), with no means to keep him from falling out, I don’t know how my son managed to eat with no incident when he was little. I mean, yeah, we had the little seat belt wannabe thing, but the wood was finished, meaning slipping and sliding.

Moving on…..

Kolcraft has a nifty high chair out right now called the Recline ‘n Dine High Chair . With their adorable Sesame Street design, this is a perfect high chair for a little girl or a little boy.

There are two different trays. As you can see in the picture, you have your standard high chair tray. Underneath that, though, there is a “snack tray” which has different sections if you prefer to go that route.

The other thing I despised about our wooden high chair was the difficulty of cleaning it. To be honest, I am terrible at cleaning up right after a meal. Ariana gets a bath after dinner, and then I tend to forget to clean the high chair. Ew, right??? With the Recline ‘n Dine High Chair a mess is simple to clean up, even the next day (typically right before dinner).

We have a HUGE giveaway here. We have a prize pack of all three of the following items to giveaway to one lucky reader! Kolcraft has offered to give away one Recline ‘n Dine High Chair, one 1-2-3 Learn With Me Potty Chair, and one Elmo Tiny Steps 2-in-1 Walker.

Here are the details on how to win!!

Mandatory Entry:

Fill out this form.

Extra Entries:

Additional entries (each are worth one extra entry, unless stated otherwise):

• Follow Kolcraft on Twitter
• “Like” Kolcraft on Facebook
• Follow theJAKAfiles on Twitter
• “Like” theJAKAfiles on Facebook
• Become a google friend follower (publicly)
• Grab my button and put it on your blog
• Grab Ariana’s Birthday Celebration button & put it on your blog (2 extra entries)
• Subscribe via RSS
• Blog about this giveaway (3 extra entries)
• Tweet about this giveaway once per day (leave the link in a comment & make sure you use @theJAKAmommy in your tweet)
• Enter Kristin or Jackie’s giveaway for this Party Pack. (2 extra entries total)

This giveaway will end 5/29 at 8pm PST ***** this giveaway has been extended to 6/10