Our family grew by one last week on March 17, 2010. We are thrilled to welcome new baby brother Porter Bryson Elam into our family. The lucky little guy was born on Saint Patrick’s Day, so will always have a party to attend… in college I’m sure this will be stressful to us as parents!

Big sister Campbell (age 7) and brother Decker (age 5) have been wonderful in welcoming their new brother. I gave thehm plenty of warning that new babies are in a “slug” stage for several weeks before they become very interactive… however, they still enjoy holding his sleeping, floppy body for cuddles and we are already anticipating his first smile in a few weeks.
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Enter POM Wonderful’s Heart Art Contest through February 28th and get a chance to win a Flip Video, POM juice, and more! In celebrating American Heart Month POM is promoting healthy heart awareness through their art contest. Create a work of art using your favorite medium and promote healthy heart awareness and POM Wonderful juice. 
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I have now enjoyed my set of ID Me Labels for a couple of months and they are holding strong through several dishwasher loads and typical kid abuse. I recommend their personalized labels as a great option for keeping your easy-to-lose stuff a bit more secure. We chose to put simply our last name and phone number on our labels, and have stuck them on Thermoses, lunch boxes, cameras, iTouches, cell phones and more. 
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The Fabkins super cute cloth napkins for kids have gone organic! Their napkin sets are now 100% certified organic cotton and come in several fun, kid friendly embroidered designs so you can be sure to find one that fits the style of your kid.  To buy, purchase at one of these online shopping sites or check to see if they can be found locally at a retail store. 
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*** Get 15% off at Yubo when you use coupon code xobo15 at checkout!! ***

You gotta love a company with the slogan “play with your food”! If you are looking for a durable, creative lunchbox for kids, the new Yubo lunchbox is definitely worth consideration. Created with a sharp focus on design, the folks at Yubo produced a lunchbox that meets several great lunch box requirements in a cool way. As lunchbox packing parents themselves, the founders sought a lunch box that is “customizable, interactive, fun, flexible, functional, washable, ecological, colorful, beautiful, and of course, very cool and loaded with personality.”  The resulting Yubo is fun for kids while providing great features for grownups aiming to pack waste-free lunch boxes.
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Four days until Christmas and I’m sure stress levels are high out there! I hope that in the chaos that surrounds Christmas you are able to slow down during your day and enjoy the moment. When I feel overwhelmed I take a few deep breaths and realize how lucky I am to have my family, a roof over my head, and friends and loved ones both near and far. I also think about the Dr. Seuss book “Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?” to acknowledge there are always people less fortunate than ourselves and to appreciate our lives for being precious.
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***Use coupon code “xobobox” at PlanetBox to save 10% through Dec 31, 2009!!***

The new company PlanetBox recently sent me one of their lunch boxes to try out–it is now my top choice kids lunchbox to pack!  In the month that I have used it, I have been very happy with its ease of use, washability, and lack of lids to keep track of (with the exception of the 2 optional “dipper” containers that use lids…). Here are the highlights of PlanetBox features that I love:
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