Friday, February 26, 2010

Thirty-one Eighteen Giveaway!!!

Head on over to my dear friend Kimberly's online store at Thirty-one Eighteen to check out her latest giveaway! And while you're there, check out her other super cute products! She's very talented, not only to create such neat and practical things, but to be able to do it with two children under two years old! Make sure and leave her a comment about her products and how you found her site, too!

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Swagbucks-Bonus!! and tips and tricks

For those of you who don't know what Swagbucks is, here is a quick (hopefully!) explanation! Swagbucks.com is a search engine site, much like google. When you sign up, you use their site to search the internet. They will randomly award you "swagbucks" as you do your internet searches. Then, you can trade in those swagbucks for prizes. I think that the best deal is to trade them in for $5 Amazon gift cards. You can get points in a few other ways too. Here are a few more tips to help increase how many you win:

1. Download the toolbar for your browser. Then you can type in your searches there.

2. Instead of typing your regularly visited websites into your browser, type them into the swagbucks search box. So, instead of typing the web address for this blog, you'd type something like "The Sink Family blogspot" into the swagbucks search, then click on the link from there. Sometimes it's a little harder to find your page by doing this, but try a different combination of words till you find one that works best. Then you will start to remember where it is on the search results page (for instance, it's the third link down on the results page).

3. Search for random things occasionally. I don't know if it's my imagination or not, but I feel like I end up winning more often with a new search than with one that I do regularly. It can be anything, really. Seriously. Sign up, then type in something like "pickles", and you just may win some swagbucks!

4. Swagbucks releases swag codes every once in a while. They "hide" codes somewhere on their website, then give you hints or clues as to where to find them. If you catch it in time and have the time to look for it, then you can enter it in for more swagbucks. It's a fun kind of thing to do, if you feel like it. It really only takes a few minutes, and I enjoy a good scavenger hunt/puzzle to figure out! You can check for codes by following swagbucks on Facebook, by checking their blog, and by looking at messages they release on the toolbar.

5. Follow Swagbucks on Twitter or Facebook. They tell you when a new swag code has been released, and other helpful information.

6. Have friends sign up by your referral. You get rewarded when they win swagbucks through searching also. You don't get rewarded when friends sign up under them (it's not a pyramid thing!), but you can get satisfaction from knowing they are winning from their friends too! (It's fun knowing every time I win swagbucks, the person who referred me is getting some too!)

Anyway, sorry to be pushing this so much (if it's annoying you), but I figure many of us these days could use a little extra help, and this seems like a cool way to get a little reward from something most of us do every day anyway: getting online. It's not enough to make a living off of, but hey, who wouldn't be able to use an extra $5 here and there? So I say, give it a try! I am actually sorry that I didn't check into it and sign up months ago, the first time I was referred. I would have already earned a few gift cards by now! Oh well, better late than never!

Leave a comment if you have any other tips or tricks, or questions!

A little more about Jackson

As always, a few things I forgot to add...

He can also sign "bath" and "again".
He says "shhhh", with his finger on his nose, whenever we tell him to be quiet or if he thinks Kathryn is sleeping (sees her door closed). It's super cute!
He's also doing really well with little chores around the house. He follows directions well (when he wants to!). In particular, he helps with cleaning up his toys/books, putting his dirty clothes in the hamper, putting things on the table at dinnertime (like the tub of butter), throwing things away (although we have to watch and make sure he doesn't also put other things in the trashcan!), and putting his shoes away. There's something so cute about seeing such a little one take part in the household!
We've also begun sitting him on the potty, usually just before bath time (when we're already in the bathroom and he's naked), just to practice. He will now point to the potty and grunt (his primary form of communication) to remind us, although he's not too thrilled with actually doing it (I think he's a little bit scared!).

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Jackson at 17 months

Jackson is 17 months old! One more month and he'll be a year-and-a-half old, can you believe?

These days he still enjoys getting into things, like his toy box... Also, he likes eating his toys... (yes, he swallowed the chunk he took out of this. I hope it's not too toxic. It was a while ago and he still seems ok...)
He loves his blankie and lovey! He will carry them around like Linus, and will lay down on them on the floor. They, combined with his paci, are like a baby drug!
So sweet...!
And again...
Being silly!
And again...!
Taking a break to read! This kid loves to read books, and will bring me books all the time! I love it because he will bring me a book then turn around and plop down on my lap for me to read it. He hardly ever sits through a whole book, but he likes the idea of it, at least. He's also gotten to where he'll look at books by himself, which is nice!
Some other random facts:

Signs: He is using his signs very well now, including (some of these are old) more, please, all done, eat, bath, thank you, nodding yes, shaking head no.
Spoken: He still doesn't talk a whole lot, but grunts and points all the time (apparently like his daddy used to do!). But, some of the words he does say are: daddy, no, whoa, wow, woof, moo (kinda), and LOTS of jabbering!
Activities: eating, reading books, dancing, "talking" on the phone, climbing on chairs, climbing on anything, getting into things he shouldn't, sitting on the potty (kinda scared), participating in some crafts (coloring, play-do) for short periods of time before trying to eat it, scavenging food off of the floor, and getting into anything and everything he knows he shouldn't (including turning the tv or dvd player on and off, turning on/off fans, climbing on the table, getting the phone and pushing the buttons, pulling things out of drawers, sneaking his sister's food and drink, pushing buttons on the computer, etc.).
Physically: he still only has 6 teeth and 1 molar, but is cutting his other 3 molars, so by the end of the month those should be in completely. They have broken through the gums, but aren't completely through yet. He can run, tries to jump (but can't quite get both feet of the floor!), spins in circles, puts his hands/head on the floor while standing to look backwards through his legs, sticks his tongue out all the time, screams at the top of his lungs (we are addressing this and hope to make progress in this area soon!!!), is recovering from a double ear infection, and still laughs all the time! He's got a great sense of humor!

Jackson, we love you, Buddy!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Swagbucks

So, I just signed up for swagbucks, after hearing a lot about it (especially recently). I went ahead and took the plunge, and am excited to see how it goes! Basically, you use the Swagbucks site to do your searches (instead of another site like google or yahoo), and you get points every time you search. There are also other ways to earn swagbucks too by finding and entering codes, shopping online, etc. So, here's my shameless plug. If you haven't already signed up for a swagbucks account, click on my link and sign up, using me as a referral. Then, you can do the same on your blog (or wherever), and start earning points too. Let's give it a try and see what happens! Here's the link:

http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/csink

In other news, I got a great idea for a fun blog series to do, so keep your eyes out for that soon!

Saturday, February 13, 2010

A few random pictures

A few nights ago I decided to try wearing Kathryn on my back in the Moby wrap. It was a little difficult to figure out, and she wasn't super comfortable, but I think with more practice we could get the back hold down. I like this picture of us, though! These pictures are a few weeks old. Johnny walked into the living room one evening, and this is what he found:

How sweet are they??

Thursday, February 11, 2010

A special sweater

When I was pregnant with Kathryn, I was so loved with several baby showers. A dear friend, Susan, gave Kathryn a very special sweater from Peru. It was obviously for her when she was bigger, but holding it up at that shower, before she was even born, I was sure it would be forever before she could wear it. Well, you guessed it, all too quickly it fits her perfectly, and I think she is quite cute in it! It's pretty clear she thinks she's something special in it as well!

She loves to hear the story about how we got it as a present when she was still a tiny little baby in my tummy. How sweet (and a little sad!) that she has grown up so fast!

And while we're on the subject (of Kathryn), I thought I'd mention a few fun things about her (just to remember). She is really into reading books right now, and will spend a lot of time just reading and reading to herself, or anyone who will listen. She also loves being read to, and is always asking us to read more books to her. She's also really into crafts, whether just coloring, to finger painting, to cutting and gluing, to playdough, etc. She's also really into playing mama. Her babies are very real to them, and she will change their clothes, change their diapers, feed them, rock them, put them down for naps (the same exact way we put her down!), and carry them around all the time. It's only on certain days, though. She'll go several days without paying them any attention, and then on random days her entire day is consumed with the baby. She also walks around with the phone to her ear, talking to people, just like a mama. I mean, like the mamas she sees on tv, or something like that. Not just like this mama. Surely not.... :) She's also really into watching CavMan on YouTube with Johnny. Yes, we have her brainwashed. Dancing is also a favorite pasttime of hers, especially dancing like a ballerina. So cute! Her singing is getting even better and better, too. She amazes me by how many songs she knows! She has been such a joy for us recently. We have so much fun together, and really love this age!

Giveaway

I just couldn't pass up this fantastic giveaway! Check out my friend Lydia's blog...she's giving away an Ergo carrier! I have always wanted one of these, so I really hope that:
-none of you reading this enters
-and I win!

hehe! Even though you won't enter, do enjoy perusing her blog, and check back here soon for updates (sorry I've been such a blog slacker!)!

Sunday, February 07, 2010

Quotable

After church last Sunday:
Kathryn: "Are we going to Bojangles, or are we going home?"

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Kathryn, about Jackson: "Mama, he's only screams...."

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Kathryn, singing at the top of her lungs: "Calcium!!!! I love callllllciummmmmmmm!!!!!!"

Monday, February 01, 2010

Snow Day job

Kathryn had an important job after it snowed.