This giveaway is now closed and the winner has been contacted. Congrats Jayme!

VTech has an amazing selection of toys so I was thrilled when I was recently contacted for a chance to check out the VTech Create-A-Story.  And I was not disappointed, I loved it!

The VTech Create-A-Story is an interactive toy designed for children ages 3-5.  It comes with one software cartridge and 2 “My Friends Tigger & Pooh” booklets.  One of the books is a Read-A-Story book which helps your child with her early reading skills while telling a story.  The other book is a Create-A-Story book which allows your child to create her very own story.  Hailey and I loved both of the books- Hailey had a blast and I was excited about how educational this product is.

Another great thing about the VTech Create-A-Story is that you can either hook it up to your TV or use it as a stand alone.  Your child can watch the story and play the educational games while using the TV.  Or if you have a road trip you’re taking you can bring it along in the car and play it that way.

My only complaint about the VTech Create-A-Story is that the battery compartment door does not screw shut.  While I understand that this toy was designed for children ages 3 and up, in my opinion any toy that is for a child under 5 years of age should have a battery door that screws shut.  That was easily remedied at my house by using duct-tape on the battery door to make sure that Hailey does not take the batteries out and put them in her mouth.

Overall, I love the VTech Create-A-Story and highly recommend it.  VTech has an amazing selection of toys and I’m sure there will be some VTech toys under many Christmas trees in a little over a month.  So, how would you like a chance to have the VTech Create-A-Story under your Christmas tree this year?

Here is what you need to do for a chance to win:

• Vote for me over at the Velveeta Casserole Challenge- I’m the one all the way on the right- Livin’ With Me and my Meat Lovers Pizza Casserole.
• Come back here and leave me a comment letting me know that you voted for me and tell me who you would like to win the VTech Create-A-Story for.
• You can vote every day. If you vote each day you can leave me a comment every time you vote for an extra chance to win.

Want some extra chances to win? Leave me an ADDITIONAL COMMENT FOR EACH of the following things letting me know what you did:

• Blog about this giveaway and then leave me a comment with the direct URL to your post.
• Stumble either this post or my blog.
• Subscribe to my RSS feed so you won’t miss out on any of the great giveaways I have going on over the next month. If you are already a subscriber leave me a comment to let me know.

This giveaway is open to US shipping addresses and will end on November 23rd at 11:59 pm EST. The winner will be randomly chosen on November 24th and notified by email. Please see all of my giveaway rules here.

I realize I’m a little bit late in posting Hailey’s Halloween pictures.  I’ve been busy posting my giveaways, so today is the first chance I’ve had.  Anyways- here are some pictures of our Halloween fun.

Hailey posing with her pumpkin that she painted a few weeks ago at a fall festival.

Now she is cleaning the pumpkin out so Rich could carve it for her.  Yes, he carved the same pumpkin that she painted.  It seemed silly to go out and buy another pumpkin.

Hailey looked at some various choices online and picked this face for her pumpkin.

On Halloween Rich talked all day to Hailey about how she was going to go trick-or-treating.  She had no idea what that meant, but she was excited about it.  After dinner she got ready to go.

Hailey dressed up as Tinkerbell.

Hailey was so excited that she could hardly hold still:

And then we were off to go trick-or-treating.  Hailey was so cute and said “Trick-or-treat” and “Thank You” at every house we went to.  We didn’t stay out too long and then we came home and passed out candy to the trick-or-treaters.  Hailey passed the candy out and loved it.  We get a lot of trick-or-treaters so everyone just sits outside their houses passing out the candy, which Hailey thought was just great.  Whenever there was a little break in the kids Hailey would yell out, “Come on kids!  Come get your candy!”

When it started getting late, Hailey did not want to come inside and cried and cried and yelled, “I WANT TO SEE THE KIDS!”  Every day since then Hailey has looked out our front window and said, “Where’s all the kids, Mommy?”  Apparently she thought this was a new thing we’d be doing every day.

A quick reminder before I go- please vote for me at Velveeta Casserole Challenge.  Thanks!!

One of the fun things about the age that Hailey is now is the funny and cute things that come out of her mouth.  Here are some of my favorites from this week:

After I had finished doing my hair Hailey said, “Mommy’s hair looks pretty. It looks like fireworks.”  I’m not sure sure that’s a compliment.

Just a random statement that Hailey said, “Mommy knows everything. She is smart.”  Let’s see what she thinks in about 10 years.

We were learning the letter E last week and I told Hailey that Ellie (her aunt) starts with E. Hailey said, “Ellie starts with E? Wow, that’s amazin.”

On Sunday when I told Hailey it was time to get ready for church she said, “I have to finish my business first.”  The business she was finishing ended up being a nice little surprise in her pull-up.

I noticed that Hailey had some food on her nose that wouldn’t wipe off, so I licked my finger and cleaned it off.  Hailey said,  “Don’t eat me nose Mommy.  That’s gucky.” (gucky=yucky)

Now before you go please visit Velveeta Casserole Challenge and vote for me.  You can vote one time each day and it will only take second.  Please, please, please vote for me!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Back when I was a teenager I worked in a day care center with toddlers.  I was a potty training expert.  I had parent after parent tell me that I was the one who potty trained their child.  Parents would report to me that their child didn’t have any interest in using the potty at home and it just wasn’t working.  I gave parents all sorts of tips that I used with their kids that worked in our efforts to work on potty training.  There are several 14 and 15 year old kids walking around today who should be thankful that I worked so hard on their potty training.

Now I have a toddler at home and she doesn’t have much interest in using the potty.  We’ve bribed with M&M’s, she has a special sticker chart in the bathroom, pretty princess pull-ups, etc.  But things just don’t seem to be progressing.  Or maybe I just thought it would happen faster than it is.

First off, it takes forever to get Hailey into the bathroom.  Every time we tell her it’s time to go use the potty she responds, “I already go potty.”  Which is likely since her pull-up is usually wet.  But it’s such a struggle to get her into the bathroom.  Once she is finally in the bathroom it takes forever to get her back out.  The whole process- using the potty, emptying her potty chair bowl into the big potty (even though her bowl is usually empty), washing her hands, etc.  It takes forever.  Especially the washing her hands part.  Oh my goodness, it could not possibly take her any longer.

And I would prefer not to mention this, but last night Hailey was emptying the bowl from her potty into the big potty.  She didn’t want to put the bowl back into her potty after she was done so I was trying to “help” her do it.  After a slight struggle– I don’t know exactly how it happened– but I got hit in the mouth with the bowl from the potty chair.  And this was one of the rare occasions when she had actually gone in the potty and even though she had already emptied it into the big potty- it was still very gross and also painful.  She knew I was upset with her and immediately said, “Don’t be mad Mommy.  Be pappy.”  (pappy = happy.)  And I responded by saying, “Well it’s kind of hard to be happy when someone hits you in the mouth with their potty chair.”  And I’m quite sure I heard Rich snickering in the other room.  I have no idea why because clearly it was not funny at all.

Fun times this potty training is turning out to be.

Anyways- for those moms who are done with stage of toddlerhood, what kinds of tricks worked for you when you were potty training your kids?  HELP!  And also, so that I feel a little better about the whole potty chair in the mouth incident- please tell me your potty training horror stories.

Hailey and I were given the chance to check out some merchandise from Bija Baby and we both loved their products.  Hailey received a couple of shirts that she has enjoyed wearing.

Here is Hailey modeling the Natural Princess shirt for you.

Hailey loves princesses so this shirt is a definite favorite.  This shirt is also a natural organic only made shirt and it is the softest shirt I have ever felt.  I would love to have one in my size to wear!

Bija Baby was started by Barbara Christensen and according to the Bija Baby site,

“Bija Baby is the fun creative line of apparel brought to you by Bija. Bija is the Sanskrit work for ’seed’. When we planted the seed for our company - we saw the future in the eyes of our baby. The Bija Baby line showcases our favorite designs. Fun designs, fun embellishments and always personalization for your creative child. And of course they are all designs our little one (and of course mom and dad) just adores.

Start them off right with these super cool t-shirts and hip bodysuit. We believe it is never too early to get the little one decked out in America’s favorite casual top - the t-shirt! Fun colors and the superb softness of ring spun combed cotton! Ring spun combed cotton will keep your little one super comfy wear after wear. Our lap tee and lap bodysuits are so super functional, and great looking, too. Rib lap-shoulder makes it easy to get your baby in and out without a fuss!”

So, how would you like to win a $50 gift certificate to Bija Baby?  It’ll be the perfect way to get started on your Christmas shopping!

Here’s what you need to do for a chance to win:

• Stop by Bija Baby and look around the site at the fun clothes.
• Come back here and leave me a comment letting me know what your favorite design is.

Want a second chance to win?

• Blog about this giveaway and then come back and leave me a SECOND comment with the URL to your post.

Can’t wait to see if you win?  Use this coupon code to save 20% off through December 31, 2008: Happy_Mom

This giveaway will end on October 27th at 11:59 pm EST. I’m extending the giveaway through October 31st at 11:59pm EST so it can be part of the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival.

This giveaway is now closed and the winner has been contacted.  Congrats to Jennai!