Today marks the one year anniversary of our move to unincorporated living. We are still happy to be here! I vividly remember the Sunday morning, from last April, when my husband spoke for the very first time to what we now know as our local church. In ministerial terms, he was candidating, an interview of sorts. The church had put us up for the night in a brand new, beautifully spacious hotel suite and the boys slept in late, presumably due to their splishing and splashing in the pool with daddy the night before.
My husband needed to arrive early that morning, catching a ride with one of the church elders. I knew it would be a slightly crazy morning, getting the boys ready and packing up the car all by myself. But I planned things out the night before and felt fairly confident. I'll just get one of those luggage cart thingies, load everything on it along with the boys, and make one solitary trip down to Elsa. In theory, it was a grand idea. However, there was a pack-n-play involved. And when pack-n-plays are involved, grand ideas can quickly turn into sweaty messes.
I knew that I needed to be at the church by the time the service started. Obviously. I mean, first impressions here, friends! (smile) But as I worked feverishly to get the last stubborn pack-n-play hinge to close, I saw my window of (on time!) opportunity quickly disappearing. I was a hot mess. The boys were running around the hotel room unpacking the bags that I had carefully packed up just a few hours before and I was near tears. I began picturing myself driving into the parking lot, late, with the pack-n-play thrown on top of the volvo wagon. I finally decided that we had to just leave. I smooshed the unsubmissive pack-n-play, with an angry heave, into the back of Elsa, strapped the boys into their seats, and headed for the church. I was late. I was so embarrassed and upset. What would these people think of me? I couldn't even manage to be on time for the very first time my husband was officially interviewing?
As it happened, one of the deacons pulled in right next to us. I was afraid to even look his direction. But he met me at my door, wished us a happy morning-- with no mention of why in the world are you late and why is there a very sad looking pack-n-play wadded up in your trunk?-- but instead said to me, "could I carry Jobie in for you?" His kindness literally meant the world to me in that moment.
But let me finish out this story in a most unexpected way-- with a giveaway of all things! A few months ago, I was given a Breeze Playard from 4Moms. And while there are many things to love about this modern playard, the one thing that I appreciate so incredibly much is that it opens and closes with one single push/pull. I know that you might not believe me, so watch the video. I am here to tell you that this playard is like magic. And today, I'm giving one away in partnership with 4Moms! I love this company and their products and if you know me at all then you know that I am not just saying that. (I can guarantee you'll be hearing more about them on this journal in the coming months-- minus the frustrated baby parefenalia stories!) Enter below to win your very own Breeze Playard from 4Moms.
Catch up with 4Moms over at their Facebook page for a full list of opportunities to win a Breeze Playard via their current blog tour! This giveaway will end at midnight on Sunday, June 22, 2014 and a winner will be selected and contacted on the following day. The giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only. Crossing my fingers for you! Happy entering!
After seeing how it took 3 people to open my friend's playyard this past Sunday, I am in love with how easy this is to open!
i love how easy it is to open and close! awesome!!
Easy setup and take down! Perfect for arriving to destination late with sleeping baby.
The ability to pack it up in seconds with one hand!
I love the ease of setting it up!
I love how open it is! I love being able to see the baby so well, and that they can see you! And the set up looks very simple. I like!
I've been trying so hard to find a nice (used) packnplay for our Alexa, but nothing has come up yet. What a gift this would be! I've borrowed one from a friend and the set up was not fun.... this looks so simple!
I have twins so the bigger size is what I love about and the simple set up!
My husband and I are expecting our first little baby at the end of September and the breeze would be perfect for us because when i go out on maternity leave my husband works 2nd shift so i will be home by myself most nights and I won't have that extra set of hands so setting up and tearing down the breeze will be really easy for me plus if we need to take it with us when we travel to visit family it's convenient too!
I'm currently pregnant with my first child (we're naming her Addison!) in early September, and found out she'll have to have surgery once she's born. I'd love this so we can keep her close to our bed for the first couple of months while she's healing from her surgery. It looks so easy to set up!
I really like how easy it seems to open and close. I never thought that would be something that matter to much until I had a baby and I move the play yard I have now 4 or 5 times a day.
Love the one handed open and close feature.
I think the best thing that I would love about the Breeze would be that it is so easy to carry that I could also have other items in my hands and not be overwhelmed.
I think I would love how easy the breeze is to set-up and take down!
I love how easy it is to move.
I like how easy it is to set up and take down!
Love that it's light and cute!
I'm expecting my first child in September, and the easy portability of the Breeze sounds like a dream!
I would love how easy it is to put up and take down. Struggle with my cosco one.
I love how easy it is to assemble/disassemble!
The easy open and close plus the waterproof sheets are what excites me about the breeze!
I love the ease and portability of the Breeze and would like to use it on family vacations and playtime in the yard.
I think the ease of use would be the best part of having a Breeze. Our 2nd child just arrived 11 days ago, so anything to make my life easier would be greatly appreciated!!
I would love how easy it is to set up/take down. Which would be so nice since we'd be moving it from room to room and when travelling!
wow---this looks amazing. i would love to have something so easy for baby boy at the beach!
I'd love how easy it is to set up so you can use it in different places without having to worry about not being able to put it back together.
I love how the Breeze is so simple to set up and take down! This would be great for this "Nana" to easily maneuver for my little grandchildren who I take care of during the work week.
I love how easy it is to set up. I'd love to have one of these for traveling! I have entered at every blog stop so far so I'm wishing and hoping to win one!
The breeze literally is "a breeze". It's a great product and 4moms is a great company!
Looks extremely easy to handle and take places.
I think I would love the ease of the fold and set up. Especially with my 5 month old who always wants to be carried.
The ease of putting up and putting away!
Oh my goodness! I can totally feel your pain. Dave and I hated those old pack n plays!!! You are a great storyteller. I was there in that hotel room with you! AAAAAGH!!!!!! Wish I could have been there to help :) :) I so seriously wished we lived down the street from you so we could babysit for you!!!
I think I would love most the ease of setting up and taking down. I think it's great that you can do things on your own without needing another set of hands!!
I love how easy it looks to use! I've taken down my fair share on behalf of my nieces and nephews... and, sheesh, they ain't easy!
Love it's ability to transform a stressful situation to a peaceful one! Both Mum & Bub's dream!
We love their products. I actually tried to open mine for the first time ( was not a 4Moms and had a huge fit LOL) it took over an hour just to figure it out and was still wrong.
The more I look into 4moms products the more I love them and when I put together my registry it will be very heavy on the 4moms products. What I love most about the play yard is how easy it is to put together and assemble. I have used the old fashion play yard and it is always such a frustrated experience.
I have a serious hatred for our current play yard, why are these things so difficult!? I would love a Breeze simply so I could go all Office Space on my current play yard. Thanks for doing this give away!
The ease of it! Having more than 1 young kid makes life a little crazy at times and I think I can speak for all moms when I say that anything that can make out lives easier is a huge BLESSING!! Thank you 4moms! You guys are AMAZING! I am praying to win on of these!
I love the look most now - but pretty sure I'd love the ease the most once baby is here.
Oooh I need this. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten so frustrated trying to put that darn pack n' play away!!
I love that it's sleek and easy to set up-- two things most play yards are NOT!
I would love how easy it would be to set up! Even one handed!
It would def have to be the simplicity of it!
After battling with my girly pack n play this weekend on vaca, this would be an awesome play yard for my son :-) love that it's easy to open!
I like that it's very compact and easy to open/close! Such a must when traveling. I have a 7m old baby girl that we like to travel with and take outside in our backyard-- putting her in a safe play yard to play with her toys and roam around would be great. Thanks for the opportunity!
I love the ease of the Breeze, but also the design!
Cindy B (on rc/fb) I really love how easy it is to set up and take down.
Love this!! Would be perfect for our little girl coming soon!
when you have a crying baby, you don't have to fuss with the playpan.
Love the ease of use. Too many playards are a hassle to open.
Looks extremely easy to handle!!
How much it would make life easier as a mommy of two LO's !!!
I love how easy it is to set up!
Expecting our first this October and would love to have something that is easy to use like the breeze playard.
We would love how easy it is to use and how portible it is.
I like the ease of set-up and the stylish design.
I despise our pack n play. Would love to win a breeze!!
I just cannot wrangle my PnP on my own- it's too beastly. This Breeze is well, a breeze! I would loooove to win for our upcoming summer travels!
Able to set up one handed!
That it opens and closes so easily!
Wish I could afford a Breeze!
How fortunate are you to own the Breeze! I would LOVE to partake in the 4moms club and try the Breeze with my baby! In a full house, the Breeze seems like a life saver for me!
Love the ease of this beauty!
I will love the ease with opening and closing it. The playard we have now is a pain.
How easy it is to set up! I tested it at the store and now I'm in love!
That it's a breeze to use!!!
It is so so practical and perfect for daily life with a baby! Could not be any easier to use!
I love the color and ease of use.
The one~handed, one~step open and close feature versus the multiple steps and frustration with the pack n plays!!
I love how you can open it with one hand. I always have my daughter in my arms.
What a great design. As my little guy gets more and more mobile, this will be a life saver!
Oh how easy would this be for moms on the go? I love the functionality of it.
It's so easy! And being a little bigger is a plus since I have line backers for toddlers!
it looks super easy to open and close! Yeah for the easy stuff.
Loving the sounds & looks of the Breeze as we are going to be traveling for the first time out of state with our little one. We are definitely looking for something easy to take with us on a plane that doesn't weigh 100 lbs & is easy to use.
I love how easy it is to setup and how lightweight!
Open and close! Can't believe how easy...as I shoot glares across the room at my finicky one.
It just looks so easy to set up and put away! I love the modern design and functionality of 4moms products!
I love how easy this folds up and the color!
That you can open and close with one hand!
One hand open! So easy!
We are expecting our second and would love to simplify our travel crib! We travel a lot and this causes a lot of headaches!
I like how easy it looks to open! and it looks pretty cool too!
I have looked at so many play-yard and what I absolutely love about Breeze it holds up to its name - its portable and above everything its a one step open and close! That is something I adore because one step process can be done by anyone- even ME!
I have 3 month old twins and I NEED simply awesome parafernalia!
The easiness! Seriously one hand!!!
The quick set up! I'm tired of fighting with our hand me down pack and play!
How east it is to set up and put down.
It would be perfect for my mother in law to open and close. She doesn't like the old style pack and plays feels like she's going to break them.
how light and easy it is to use!
I'd like the sleek and sime design.
I love how easy it is to open!
Love the design and easy use!
What Id love most about the breeze is its very fast and easy set up!
Love how easy it is to set up.
This looks great and would be so nice for trips to the grandparents!
I love the sheer genius of how easy it is to open and close. We have never owned any type of play yard due to the fact that it takes a posse of 3-4 adults to open one and it takes more to open and close the one my MIL has.
I love how easy it is to open and close!
We love our Mamaroo and would love a Breeze to go with it!
I would love a Breeze because of how easy it is to set up!
Love it because it's such a breeze to use!
Ohmygoodness, can you even imagine how awesome it would be to have a pack and play that was THAT easy to open and close - fingers crossed on this one!
I love that it folds up.
How easy it folds and unfolds.
How great it looks and how easy it is to set up!
I love how easy it is to set up and put away. I could move it from our upstairs to downstairs or have it packed and ready to go in the car in a matter of minutes!
Love how easy it is to use and the look!
I love how simple it looks to use & that makes me think easy for travel!
I love how it looks. No weird fabrics!
I'd love how easy it is to set up and take down even while holding a baby!
That'd it would be so easy to set up... My hands will be full... Full of good things! Hoping to snag one up!
The bassinet and just the overall easiness of the whole thing! It would get A LOT of use! Thanks for the opportunity!
so easy to set up and love the bassinet would really help with our baby coming in two months and our 18 month old using the crib. crossing my fingers!!!
Sounds so easy to use and set up.
I love this! It looks like it's a "breeze" to use!
It looks like it's easy to use.
Can be done with one hand, awesome design!
Having 5 children, with one being a newborn, I look for things that are going to make my life easier! I think the Breeze is one of the greatest products ever made, & the one handed setup can definitely make things easier.
I love that it can be set up with one hand! That leaves the other hand open for the baby and the toddler!
The one hand open/ fold!
It has to be the push down & pull up feature !
I love how it opens/closes in just one step, now that's awesome!
I love how easy it is to open and close and that my son likes to actually sleep in it. We got to use one for a weekend and we loved it!
The one I have currenly took 3 of us to figure out... something this easy is pretty dreamy!
It's a "breeze" to set up!! :) And the weight limit in the bassinet is AWESOME!!!!
It keep my baby in one area/place and its easy and light to set up.
I love that it only takes one hand to open!!
i love how easy to use it is. and it's light that i can take it a lot more places than other baby gear that is difficult to use.
I love how easy this looks to use. My sister and I recently spent about a half hour setting up her new Chicco pack n play. It took both of us and some serious effort to get it open and install the bassinet.
I think the fact that it is breezy and easy to use. I love 4moms products, I love the design.
I love how I can put it together even with baby in hand!
I think the easy set up - one ez step to open and close. What a "breeze" ;) . Seriously though.. who doesn't need easy as a new mom!
I love how easy it is to use. I don't like food that is hard to eat...so I wouldn't want baby gear that is hard to use/carry.
I love the open and close button!
I think I'd like the simplicity of it the most.