Yes, its finally time for my first Z's Favorite Things Giveaway!!!!
And what exactly am I giving away this month? A gorgeous black and white, machine-washable cotton, ZoloWear Ring sling!
This one, to be exact. And it will even come with a DVD on the many different ways you can carry your baby/toddler in it!
Here is Zeke and I at The Olive Garden with this ring sling when he was...say....3 weeks:
And here is Zeke and I in the same ring sling yesterday:
I LOVE baby-wearing, and so does Ezekiel. Like I've said many times, I don't know that either Zeke or I would have survived our first couple of weeks together (outside the womb) if it wasn't for my MANY carriers. I have 3 at the moment, 2 ring slings and one mei tai. Zeke just HAD to be held when he was born....ok sometimes he STILL just HAS to be held. But I also just HAVE to get things done sometimes. And with a carrier we both get what we want. He is held and I have 2 free hands.
Lets begin with the pluses to baby carrying in general. Like I said, two free hands! If you are a mother, you know how special (and rare) that is. Then there is the ease of traveling, Zeke was in his ring sling at the mall, at the grocery store, at parks while I walked, pretty much everywhere. I didnt have to lug a huge stroller around on every outing and I didnt have to fill my grocery cart with his carseat (or put my newborn in the germy seats they provide). Plus he was happy in there. He could sleep, nurse, poke his head out and have a look around, then nurse and sleep again.
A lot of doctors also recommend baby wearing. Dr Sears of
The Baby Book (My own personal Dr Spock) believes its one of the most important parts of attatchment parenting. And there is even a study that was done where one group of parents were asked to carry their babies three hours more than usual and the other group carried their babies the amount they normally would. After 12 weeks, the two groups had only a 1.7 hours difference in daily carrying, but the group of babies that were carried more cried 43% less than the other group. Impressive!
Now on to the pluses of ring slings in particular. They are probably the most well-known type of sling. (Other that maybe the commercial baby bjorn type carrier, which is actually a HUGE chiropractic no-no)
Like I said, I have two different kinds of slings. And I already have 2 other kinds that I have NEVER used lined up for future give-aways (and reviews), but I have definatly used the ring sling the most. I love how easy it was to learn to use, that it fits in my diaper bag when not in use, and that it will work all the way from newborn to toddler. I especially love the adjustability (as a rather tall person with a rather tall baby) and that it can be used in many different postions. Zeke, for example, HATED laying down in the sling, even as a newborn, so he alwasy was carried sitting up.
Well, now I KNOW you want that ring sling, or maybe you want to give it to someone as a gift! And you only have until March 10th before I draw the winner
out of a hat out of random.org.
So here is how you enter to win!
You get your first entry for leaving a comment on THIS post saying you want the sling.
And you can get more (bonus) entries for doing any of the following:
-Blog about this contest (of course linking to this post)
-Twitter about this contest (linky linky!)
- TWO entries if you are my follower (gotta show love to my peeps)
- And another TWO entries if you are a Twitter Follower
(please leave a comment for each bonus entry you earn and telling me why. IE if you are a follower leave 2 different comments saying "I follow you".)
7 total chances to win, because 7 is also one of Zeke's favorite things...or at least one of his mom's favorite numbers.
Good luck!
This is a favorite meal in this house. Especially with Zeke. You would be astounded to know how much pulled pork and spaghetti squash this child can eat:
He was going at it long after Josh and I had finished eating. In fact I had put away the leftovers, and cleaned all of the dishes, counters, and sink when we finally told him enough was enough and he had to stop!
Your first step is to put a pork (or if you prefer beef) roast in a crock pot or slow cooker along with an onion chopped into 1/4ths, plenty of salt, garlic, and about 1/4 cup vinegar. It can be pretty much any cut, and in fact I'd suggest a pretty cheap one because when you slow cook something for this long it really doesn't matter. Anyways keep it on "low" if you are using a slow cooker or at about 275* if your using a crock pot in the oven.
When you're done ( a good 6 hours later) its going to be fall apart tender. Just shred it with two forks.
You can stop right there and serve it as-is (this is the way Zeke eats his). Or if you'd like you can smother and mix it with your favorite barbecue sauce and slap it on a bun (Josh and I eat it twice, once each way). A great summer food. Or a wish-it-was-summer food. And Zeke thinks it goes awfully well with squash. ;)
