Thursday's the big day!

Welcome to the Mother's Day Blog Bash!
The giveaway gallery will be open by noon on Thursday, May 8th, but I thought some of you might like to get a head start reading the posts that have already been submitted and joining up with Mr. Linky while you're waiting on the giveaway gallery to open! For those of you who Stumble, Mixx, Digg and Sk*rt, please let others know about this blog bash. I hope this is just the first of many but the turnout here will determine how many I do in the future. (It's a lot of hard work!)

I can not say enough about the wonderful ladies who helped me with this event. The next blog bash is coming soon! If you would like to be a hostess or a "twitterer" for the next event, details are here.

the Hostesses...
Kara at Bringing Home Ava

Tara at Feels Like Home

Milk Goddess at Life and Times of a Mom Lacking Sleep

Kristinia at Kristinia Leanna

Heather at This Thing We Call Life

Kristin at An Ordinary Life

and the Twitterers: (If you're tweeting for me and not on this list, it's because I'm not adding any new names once I publish this post but I am accepting new Twitterers until noon (EST), Friday, May 9th! See the "sticky" at the top of this page for details.)

skimbaco
DaisyOlsen
DarlaF
shelnew19
MamaKaren
lilmomthatcould

________________________

The following moms submitted their What I Know Now posts early and have earned additional entries in each of the door prize drawings! Mom's highlighted in orange are also hosting their own giveaways during The Mother's Day Blog Bash. If you aren't on this list, be sure to get in early on the next blog bash, coming soon! Click here for more details! I have thoroughly enjoyed reading through these posts and hope that you will take some time this week to do the same. You will be blessed! If you want to share What I Know NOW about motherhood, use Mr. Linky, below!

Kara at Bringing Home Ava

Tara at Feels Like Home is giving away one free card design!

Milk Goddess at Life and Times of a Mom Lacking Sleep

Kristinia at Kristinia Leanna

Heather at This Thing We Call Life

Kristin at An Ordinary Life

Christie at Divine Calling

Sky Seery at Seeryus Mama

Lilith Silvermane at Crunchy Green Lovin' Mom

Stacey at All Because Two People Fell In Love

Sweetpea at Broad Horizons

Candace at Sometimes Can can

Kimberly at Oh My Baby is giving away a t-shirt from Girl Mogul!

Wendy at Girly Whirled

Andrea at The Laughs Will Go On

Erin at Connected 2 Christ

Sharon at My Life In Words

Diane at The Mommy Diaries

Bridget at Mama Belly

Deb at Fabulous Foods and Delicious Drinks

Colleen at Mommie Daze

Kristen at We are THAT Family

Stephanie at Figments of a Mom

Heather at Not a DIY Life

Joanna at Jo Jo's Place

Jeni at The Allen Family Circus

Amanda at A Stay at Home Mom's Point of View

Tanya at Mommy Goggles

Allison at Envyla

Gina at A Wrestling Addicted Mommy's Blog

Tara at Tara's View of the World

Just Sher at Everything Moms

Heather at A Daycare Life

Leslie at Leslie's Life

Brandy at My Life, My Blog

Nor_lou at Silly Mommy of 2 Silly Girls

Sarah at Mommyology

Sarah at Sassyfrazz

Crystal at Life at the Circus

Shannon at God Gave Me You

Janci at J Saga

Genny at MyCup2Yours

Andrea at Beautiful Craziness

Janel at Dandelion Dayz

Melisa at A Little Flower Garden

Kira at I'm the Mommy - That's Why

Heather at An Untraditional Home

Amber at Bringing Good Home

In addition to these, a few non-bloggers also got in on the early bird perks by posting their What I Know Now comments here and here.

Enter the Giveaway Gallery

(Open by noon 5.8.08!)


Don't miss the next big
blog bash...

Here's Mr. Linky, for those of you
who'd like to join the party! Share
with the rest of us what you know
now about motherhood, host
your own giveaway, or do whatever
you like to join in this Mother's Day
Celebration! Be creative! We're all
different. Just be sure to link back
here to the party. If you'd like to use
a banner, there is one here.

Two of Each © Melanie Taylor Dreamstime.com

Summer Colorful Flip Flops In the Grass © Fat*fa*tin Dreamstime.com

Works For Me Wednesday

So I decided to jump in and see what Works for Me Wednesday is all about since it seems that EVERYONE's doing it. :)

What works for me is making my own baby safe (borax FREE) laundry soap. I got concerned about the chemicals our daughter was being exposed to, even with the baby laundry detergents so I did a little research and started mixing my own and I LOVE IT! It also SAVES MONEY! Here's how, if you're interested. These instructions make 1 quart of liquid detergent but you can easily double (or quadruple) the recipe to make a lot at once.
Ingredients:
Kiss My Face Pure Olive Soap (You can buy it at Publix...$2.99 for an 8 oz bar)
Baking Soda
Water
Large container (I use a bucket) for mixing.
Container with pour spout for storing.

Directions:
1. Grate about 1/4 bar of soap with a hand-held cheese grater into bucket.
2. Add 4 cups of HOT water.
3. Add 1/4 cup of baking soda.
4. Stir until dissolved. (It will look disgusting, but it works wonderfully!)

For washing, I usually use 1/2 cup for normal loads and a whole cup for really soiled loads. During the rinse cycle, add 1/4 cup of distilled white vinegar in the place of fabric softener. It will not make your clothes smell like vinegar...rinses clean. I also separate the synthetics from the cottons for drying as this cuts down on static and I prefer not to use dryer sheets because of the chemicals.

Don't Miss Mommyfest '08

Welcome! If you've just arrived from the Mommyfest Blog Party, you're now at The Mother's Day Blog Bash! For those of you who linked here from Mommyfest, yes, you've arrived at yet, another blog party. This party has a completely separate Mr. Linky too so make sure you sign it before you leave.

While you're here, be sure to check out the Mother's Day Blog Bash Giveaway Gallery, featuring giveaways from:

Serena & Lily
Lucy Sykes
Hand Picked Pumpkin
Starlooks Boutique
Uniquely U
Pink Lemonade Bags
Truly Mom
Daily Home Planner
Cite' Fuzz
The Polka Dot Tot Shop
Georgia Grace Designs
Mamma Made Designs

and MANY MORE!!!

We're all suppose to introduce ourselves, so...

I'm "that lady from The Nest"...a "20-something" stay at home mom. I am married to the most wonderful man on earth and have a beautiful baby girl with the prettiest brown eyes I've ever seen. (Her daddy's are a close second!) I began blogging as a way to reach out to other moms by sharing the mind-blowing love of God, the ups and downs of motherhood, and a random assortment of tidbits that I personally find to be informative or just fun. I am starting a new feature called Coffee With..., to spotlight other mom bloggers like you and each week I showcase a new indie designer or boutique in the Sweet Shoppes feature. Thank you for dropping by. Please come again!

If you haven't already been, please don't miss the 5th Annual Mommyfest! Marie has done a wonderful job putting this event together and there is so much to see and do! There are contests, exhibitors and guest speakers for your enjoyment! Have fun! Thanks for stopping by!

May 5, 2008

Today's sweet shoppe...

Win a pair of Monkey-Toe
Ladybug Shoes like
Suri Cruise's (as seen on
Oprah) or a $30 gift
certificate from Skimbaco!

When Katja and Matt first met in an Irish pub in Frankfurt, Germany, they knew that their lives were forever changed. He is from Austin, Texas. She is a former runway model from Finland. Since that first "chance" meeting, the two have married and now have three children that they refer to as their own "little United Nations" since each of them were born in a different country. After living in three countries and seven states, the adventurous pair settled in Durango, Colorado where Matt is an emergency medical service helicopter pilot and Katja is a stay-at-home mom. Together, they founded Skimbaco, an upscale boutique. Katja's entrepreneurial spirit and creativity have given her an edge in launching this family owned and operated business. Skimbaco's most recent claim to fame was being mentioned on the Oprah show last week by actor, Tom Cruise, as he showed off Suri's favorite shoes - a pair of ladybug Mary Jane's that a friend recently purchased for her from Skimbaco (along with a package of goodies for Katie, the proud mom). Visit Skimbaco to learn more about Katja and perhaps do a little shopping for yourself!

Win a pair of Monkey-Toe
Ladybug Shoes like
Suri Cruise's (as seen on
Oprah) or a $30 gift
certificate from Skimbaco!

Just visit www.skimbaco.com,
and comment to this post on
your favorite Skimbaco
merchandise. One winner will be
chosen using Random.org. Drawing
to be held May 15th! Open to U.S.
residents only.

Two of Each © Melanie Taylor Dreamstime.com

Twitterers Needed!

I'm looking for some well-established Twitterers (you must have at least 50 people following you) to Twitter about the Mother's Day Blog Bash, May 8th - 16th!

You will get one additional entry in each of the giveaway drawings for each twitter and you may twitter about the contest once a day for five separate days during the event (limit of 5 additional entries in each giveaway).

You must sign up to be a Twitterer for this event no later than noon, EST on Friday, May 9th! This is to ensure that I am signed up to follow you on Twitter. Otherwise, you won't get credit!

If you would like to Twitter about this event, email notesfrommynest@gmail.com [subject: "I Twitter"] by noon, EST, Friday, May 9th!

Be sure to provide me with the info to follow you on Twitter so that you get the additional entries!