What To Expect {GIVEAWAY!}

Mommy was offered the opportunity to work with a company she says she "lived by" while she was pregnant with us. Its called What to Expect and they are notorious for the book "What to Expect When Expecting".
Here's mommy to tell you more...

Before I even became pregnant, I had heard from a bunch of moms about the book they referred to as their "reference guide" to being pregnant. So of course when I found out we were expecting-- this book, "What to Expect When Expecting" was one of the first things I ran out and got. The book gives you details about you pregnancy from the very start and goes week by week so you know exactly what to expect! You can choose to read each section as you go or browse through it as a reference each week or even to look ahead.

Since my days of being pregnant--What to Expect published two additional books "What to Expect: the First Year" and "What to Expect: the Second Year". After browsing/reading through the copies I was sent, I found these books to be perfect guides for anyone with newborn to toddlers. I love that you can track milestones and be able to have an idea what goals you should be focusing on for your child at each age. Since we all have questions, its the perfect book to have on hand for those moments you just "aren't sure".
Beyond the books, What to Expect now also launched a website: http://www.whattoexpect.com/ This is gives you the opportunity to join groups and find information out about preconception through toddlers. Its a great way to join a community full of individuals (and families) that are similar to you and your stage in life. Joining is free and its very simple to do. Once you are a member, you can find local groups and/or stay with online groups-- its a huge wealth of knowledge at your finger tips!

You can also make your own profile pages that can be personalized and shared with friends and family (My WTE) or even follow your favorite (or find new) bloggers! Its all part of What to Expect's community.

What to Expect is giving away one of their books (winner's choice from below) to one lucky reader!

-What to Expect While Expecting
-What to Expect: the First Year
-What to Expect: the Second Year

To Enter-- sign up to become a member of What to Expect's site and leave a comment below telling me you did along with your email linked to the account. I'll email the winner when they are chosen!

extra entries (not mandatory):
-Follow The Riplet's Blog and comment below
-Like What to Expect on Facebook and comment below
-Follow What to Expect on Twitter and comment below
-Tweet about this giveaway (daily) and comment below

Giveaway is open for entries through December 30th at 11:59pm (EST).

GOOD LUCK!

I wasn't paid to write this post, these are my honest opinions and may vary from your own. I did however, receive the items mentioned above at no cost to me.

A Sneak Peek...

Mommy is taking over our blog(AGAIN!) for this PSA to all of our readers...

Thank you, Riplets for letting me use your blog. I just thought I'd give a teaser of what's to come a week from today during our MidSummer Blog Party!


I've already given you the list of the other blogs involved but now let's take a peek at what fun companies are working with us during the party:

$50 CSN Store GIVEAWAY!

Don't miss out on our giveaway from CSN Stores this week. Check out all they have to offer and enter to win yourself $50 to use at any of their stores!

CSN Stores have over 200 online stores where you can find everything from cookware to cribs to dining room sets!

Hop on over to our Riplet Reviews & Giveaways section to enter.

Come Join the Fun!

Here's a recap of the giveaways we've had so far for our Memorial Day Blog Party. Make sure you enter them all, you can win more then once.

Also don't forget to enter the giveaways being hosted by other blogs, too. Click here to see the list provided by McLinky.

Matilda Jane Clothing Giveaway

Opposite of Me

Lemon Drop Baby

LaLa Baby Boutique

Pink Chicken

The Vintage Pearl

AprilAccents

Laken & Lila

Don't miss tomorrow's party, we still have more new shops and giveaways!

Memorial Day Blog Party Weekend is Here!

Come join the fun this weekend on our Riplet Reviews & Giveaways section. We've already kicked of the weekend with giveaways from Matlida Jane Clothing and Sarah Pekkanen's book, "Opposite of Me"

Don't miss out on the other giveaways this weekend and link up your own to our McLinky!

You'll be hearing more from the Riplets as well this weekend, so stick around.

Matilda Jane Trunk Show!

After waiting for weeks, I can finally say the day is here for Matilda Jane's Trunk Show! If you missed our post earlier in the week, you can check it out again by clicking here. Matilda Jane has items for everyone from your daughter to yourself and even some items for boys now! Matilda Jane calls the boys stuff the "Mighty Acorns"

Check out this cute Camp ShirtOf course remember there are loads of cute outfits for the girls! I love this Besty Bubble Dress...

and the colors in the Ethel Shirt are so gorgeous!Don't miss out on this opportunity to order something from Matilda Jane. Their trunk shows and art fairs are when their items are available to order. If you see anything you like, have questions or would like to place an order you can contact Sara S. our Trunk Show Keeper directly via email at saras@matildajaneclothing.com Sara has also offered FREE SHIPPING to all of our orders. Just make sure to contact her today or tomorrow during trunk show and mention The Riplets to get the shipping for free.

Also...just a reminder tomorrow starts our Memorial Day Blog Party weekend! We have a long list of sponsors for the event along with other bloggers doing their own giveaways that will be linked up with our party right here (just look for Mr Linky to find those or to add your giveaway) starting Friday morning. Matilda Jane has a fun surprise to help us kick off the party, too so you don't want to miss it!

Here's a sneak peak at some of our sponsors:

Party with the Riplets!

Who's already got Memorial Day weekend plans? If you don't we'd love to have you come hang out with us. Since its a holiday weekend, mommy decided we needed to host a "Blog Party". Now what is a blog party you wonder? We asked the same thing. Mommy said its going to be a weekend filled with giveaways from some great sponsors. Not only will we be doing a bunch of giveaways, but we are asking that any other bloggers out there get a giveaway set up for the same weekend and join our party. On Friday, May 28th we will add "Mr Linky" to our site for all of you to link up your blog to ours. If you want to host the same party on your blog, feel free to grab our party button and add it to yours, too.

If you already plans for the holiday weekend, I hope you get great weather. If you don't just remember our party will happen RAIN or SHINE!

If anyone would like to be added as a sponsor to our Memorial Day Blog Party feel free to contact us at theriplets@gmail.com

Evy's Tree {GIVEAWAY!}

Don't miss out on a new giveaway. Its with Evy's Tree, which has some really cute stuff. I am planning on making mommy order me a Mini Brilla sweatshirt for plugging her today. hehehe

Click on our Riplet Reviews and Giveaways icon to enter!

On a side note... check out my new shoes, aren't they fabulous?!

Memere & Pepere Are Here!

We are just so excited. On Saturday, memere & pepere came to see us from Massachusetts. We were so happy to see them. I'm pretty sure I was the most anxious to see them, because I wanted to show off that I could walk. I mean, last time they were here I was not walking at all and Jordan and Addison were showing off.

Yesterday we went to the park with them for a late Easter egg hunt. It was great to find eggs and open them up again. I wonder if we can do this every weekend? I am the only one of the Riplets that can actually open an egg, so the other two really need to work on being nicer to me so I will open theirs for them.

Here are a few pictures of us at the park. We had such a nice day!

Also- don't miss out on another great blog party this week. Its at 5 Minutes for Mom and they are giving away so many great prizes! This party is called the "Ultimate Blog Party" and have things going on from April 9-16th. Mommy said if she was to pick her top five prizes to win, they would be for The Recessionista Shop, Cookie Lee Jewelry, a Hobo International Clutch, A year's worth of Itty-Bitty Bookworm curriculum, or these books from The Bookworm Blog. Don't miss out on the fun, go onto their site and sign up for a chance to win, too!

Happy Blogiversary!

This week at one of our favorite, most helpful blogs-Multiples and More is celebrating their 1st Blogiversary! Multiples and More is written by two amazing women who of course, have multiples. They started this very resourceful and fun website for parents of multiples a year ago in April. To celebrate they are throwing a week long party with contests, giveaways and the readers favorite posts of the year.

We decided that since The Riplets are also celebrating a year of blogging in April, that we should join in the fun and have another give away! Since we love all of Haley's items at Sweet Sugar Beet - we asked her if she could do another give away for us. Since she, too is a mom of twin boys, she said she'd love to help us out again and be part of the celebrations. The items at Sweet Sugar Beet are unique gifts for Mother's Day (*hint*hint*) or for a birthday gift and cost less then $20! Infact, most of her items are $12 and $15.


She has a few great new items that we LOVE including these great clutches:

The Ruffle Clutch in Brown Sway or
The Rossette Clutch in Cocoa Wallpaper

This time, we asked her a few questions so our readers could get to know her and her store better.

1. How did you come up with the name of your shop, Sweet Sugar Beet?
When I first thought about starting my own business I wanted to name it based on something that represented me. I grew up on a farm and every summer my brothers and I would work for my dad in the sugar beet fields. It taught us a lot about hard work and how to earn an extra dollar. I thought naming my business "The Sweet Sugar Beet" was a perfect fit! Not only does it represent my past but also my shop carries a lot of little "sweet" things in it!

2. How long have you been sewing/designing items?
For as long as I can remember I've always loved to create things. My mom taught me how to cross stitch when I was 5 years old; although I never really used a sewing machine until about 5 years ago! I really had an itch to learn how to use one and my husband surprised me with one on Easter! My first project was a pair of pajama pants.

3. What is your favorite item from your Shop right now?
My favorite item right now is the Ruffle Clutch. I was looking for a new way to add a little flair to some of my items and thought this added the perfect touch!

4. Since a lot of moms of multiples (MoMs) read our blog, what is one piece of advice you'd give them about having twins?
Hmmm, that's a tough one! My boys will be 1 year old in a week. I don't feel like I should be giving advice, but rather receiving it! One thing that I have realized is that I am better mom when I can find a little time for "me". Whether it's leaving the kids with a grandparent so I can run to the grocery store or just taking a nice shower (with no interruptions!). I find that when I return to the kids I am recharged and ready for what they are going to throw at me.

5. Do you shop on Etsy a lot? If so- what is one of your favorite stores?
I LOVE to shop on Etsy! I have a lot of great things that I've purchased. One of my favorite shops is Tinkerdot Designs. (http://www.etsy.com/shop/tinkerdotdesigns) We are in the process of moving into a new house and I absolutely cannot wait to have Jenni, the owner, design some items for my kids' rooms. I'm in love with the "Be You" canvas!

******************************************************************
Sweet Sugar Beet will give away this medium ruffle cosmetic bag to one lucky reader!

To enter you must go to Sweet Sugar Beet and pick out your favorite item from the store. Then come back to our blog and leave us a comment. There is a list below of what you can do for additional entries, please leave a separate comment for each entry.

For addition entries:
-Add Sweet Sugar Beet to your favorites on Etsy
-Become a follower of Sweet Sugar Beet's blog
-Become a fan of Sweet Sugar Beet on Facebook www.facebook.com/sweetsugarbeet
-Become a follower of The Riplets
-Grab The Riplets button (top right column) and put it on your website or blog and leave us your web address
-Grab Sweet Sugar Beet's button (at the top of our blog on the right) and leave us your web address

We will be taking entries until Friday, April 2nd at 5pm. The winner will be drawn and announced on Saturday, April 3rd. The winner will have until Monday, April 5th at 5pm to contact us to claim your prize. Good Luck!

Sweet Sugar Beet - Give Away!

We have a guest blogger today. Mommy asked if she could do a give away again. We told her fine as long as we get a cut of the deal. hehehe SO-- here she is:

I found this great shop called Sweet Sugar Beet on Etsy and I just LOVE it! I liked it so much that I contacted the owner-Haley Baur and asked her if she'd do a give away on our blog. She was really happy to do it and even more excited when she read our blog. She has twin boys that are 10 months old and a 2 year old daughter! So reading what The Riplets were up to, hit pretty close to home.

Haley started Sweet Sugar Beet in June 2008 as a hobby, but quickly turned it into a successful business. She has worked with many brides doing custom orders as gifts for their bridesmaids and gifts for bridal showers. I know first hand how wonderful she is at doing custom orders. I actually needed an eye glasses case and she not only made me one using the fabric I chose, but also had it made and shipped out within 48 hours of ordering it! I took this from Sweet Sugar Beets's website:


"All of the items are handmade by me using designer fabrics that are vibrant, fun and have a character that reflects my personality."

Haley has generously offered to give away 1 Design your own - Large Cosmetic Bag to a lucky reader. She is also giving all of our readers FREE SHIPPING when you place an order with her. Just enter our code: RIPLETS.

We will be taking entries until Friday, February 19th and the winner will be announced on Saturday, February 20th. Each person has up to 5 ways to enter each.

• Here's how: -Go to Sweet Sugar Beet's Etsy Shop and look around. Come back to our blog and tell us what your favorite item is.


• Grab Sweet Sugar Beet's button and put it on your blog -- leave a comment telling us you did that and the link to your page. The code for Sweet Sugar Beet's button is below her button on our blog (upper right-hand corner)


• Become a follower of The Riplets and leave a comment then you did or are already.


• Become a follower of Sweet Sugar Beet's blog and leave a comment here letting us know.


• Add Sweet Sugar Beet to your Favorites on Etsy

Our 1st Give-Away!

We are doing our 1st Give-Away and would love for all of our readers to join in on the fun with us! Our mommy partnered up with one of her friends, April of April Accents to do our give-away. So this post will be coming from mommy...

First of all, I wanted to say how happy I am to have April here doing a give-away for her newly opened boutique, April Accents. She is a friend of mine who also has her own blog AND has a son only 1 day older then the Riplets! So, we've been able to spend the past months keeping up with each other and comparing our kids through our blogs.

April's new boutique has some amazing, handmade hats and hair accessories for kids. I have already put in an order for Addison for a hat for her 1 Year pictures and I plan on ordering two more for the boys, once I figure out what colors I want them to be.



Here are a few questions I asked her about her product line and her new boutique.
1.April, I love your boutique and adore all your products. Tell us a little about yourself:
I am a 25 year old first time mom. My son is 10 months old and I have the priviledge of being a stay at home mom. My mother in law taught me how to crochet a few years back. I started off with a blanket that was quite crooked :) and then decided that a blanket was probably a bit ambitious for a first project. So I stuck with scarves until I my skill was more formed. Over the past few years, I have been enjoying making items and giving them away as gifts. Just recently, I have been encouraged to start selling my handmade products and so after much time and thought - I created April Accents.
2.What inspires you when you come up with a new design or product?
Currently, the products I sell are children's hats. I have always been obsessed with shoes for myself :), but when it came to my son - it was hats! I always put a hat on him when we left the house. Every store we went to - I needed to check if there was something new and creative. Then I thought to myself, why not just make a hat for him?

Each style I have on the site is named after the child that is modeling it. I love bright colors and using them to express personality in fun accessories for children. I just sit back with my yarn and hook and let my imagination and creativity work its magic.

3.I see your son, Jackson got his own hat named after him. Is that his favorite hat and does he keep them on his head? Mine are really good at pulling theirs off the second I put one on their head!
I named by first creation after my son, Jackson. His head has been my model for quite some time now. He is used to wearing hats due to mommy's obsession :).
I have found that if I place a hat with a long or wide brim on him such as a baseball cap, he doesn't tolerate it very well because his vision is obstructed. But with these crochet hats that stay snug on his head - after a few moments he completely forgets it's on his head.
When I put a new crochet hat on him, I make a big deal about how cute he looks in it - so the response I get is a huge goofy toothy grin.
4.Which item is your personal favorite and why?
I adore the Breanna style - the simple stitched cap with an accented flower. I just love to see little girls accessorize just like their mommies. There are so many color combinations to chose from, you can have one for every outfit!

5.I see that you will be eventually adding jewelry to your collection. Could you give the readers just a peak at some jewelry you've either been designing or some that you've made in the past? Just so we can all see what's to come?
Great idea! I frequently host give aways on my personal blog - Desires of the Heart. Here are two examples of the bracelets that I gave away. Items like these, and many more will soon be available for sale.



April Accents will be giving-away the Ella hat (12M-3T) to one lucky person.
Here is what it looks like:

Now to enter the give-away you need to go to April's boutique by either clicking on her button at the top of my blog or click here April Accents. Look through her store and then leave her a comment on which item is your favorite. That will be one entry. You can also FOLLOW my blog and leave me acomment on The Riplets blog saying you just became a "FOLLOWER". If you are already a FOLLOWER you can leave me a comment stating that you are already on my blog and that is your 2nd entry. Finally,a third way to enter is by grabbing an April Accent button and putting it on your blog. Leave April a comment letting her know you did that as well and your blog address. So there are up to three chances to win for each of you! You will have until this Friday at noon(Sept 4th) to enter. The drawing will be Friday afternoon and I will announce the winner here on my blog that evening. So don't forget to come and check back!

Are you still wanting more give-aways? Go to the End of Summer Blog Party at Multiples and More. They are having hourly give-aways all day Thursday and Friday this week. Also- check out Joanne's give-away on her blog, NY Gal in Steerland.
GOOD LUCK!