Free Noobie Baby Box

Noobie Baby Box!!!

So I received this baby box a few weeks ago that I ordered online. This was yet another FREE baby box.

Now this box I did have to pay for shipping, but it was only $6.95. This only covers the cost of shipping. Everything in the box was free.

All you have to do is click this link here: https://www.noobiebox.com/

You will then choose the link right underneath the Noobie logo that says "Free Pregnancy Box"

You'll then have to register on their site.

After you register it will prompt you to buy other boxes. Only do this if you want to. You are not obligated to purchase anything.

The first thing in my box was a gender-neutral terry sleeper. It wasn't some off-brand cheap one either. This one was from Carter's.

Next received saline nasal drops. Honestly I've never used these before and I'm not sure if I'll ever used them. But it's good to have things in my stash.

OH! Here's something for mommy! I'll test out how the belly oil works. I already have stretch marks on my tummy from past pregnancies so I'm not sure how much it will help. Doesn't hurt to try.

I also look forward to using this anti-blemish wash. I know that it's for your face, but I am going to use it on my chest. While my chest is no longer breaking out I do have scars now. Hopefully it clears them up.

Now, I plan to cloth diaper this go round, but will use disposable diapers when out and likely when baby goes to daycare. So, samples are ALWAYS welcome!

I've never heard of these types of wipes until I start looking up baby boxes, but it seems parents really like and prefer them. I'll definitely be trying these.

I received a sample size of aquaphor. This is probably something I'll keep in my diaper for on the go. Especially since these types of ointments aren't recommended when using cloth diapers.

I also received more breast pads and milk storage bags! Always a win!

I will back shortly with more free baby boxes that all moms can and should take advantage of!

BabyList Hello Baby Box

I received my first baby box!

Let me preface by saying that I had no clue about these during my past pregnancies. I wish I would have, but I'm going to make up for it this pregnancy. And it was totally free!!!

Before I go into what's in the box let me give you the steps to obtain your own BabyList Hello Baby Box. It's really easy!

• Go to the website: www.babylist.com
• Build your registry. You will need to add only 3 items to your registry from baby list's site and 3 more items from a separate site. It is very easy.
• Make sure that your mailing address is correct.
• You should get a notification via the website and your email almost immediately that you've completed all necessary steps and that your baby box will ship soon. Just that simple!

Now let's get to what's inside!!

I was greeted with a welcome card from BabyList giving me tips on what to add to my registry with them and how to navigate their site.

First up was a Pampers pouch. Inside was a sample newborn diaper, a sample pack of wipes, a sample pack of Dreft baby detergent, and a booklet of Pampers coupons.

Next up is a $50 Urban Sitter gift card. This is actually very helpful! about a year ago someone had shared this site with me and I scanned it briefly, but I'll definitely save this for a future much needed date night once baby is here.

This item was interesting. I didn't quite understand what it was at first. I knew that it was a feeding system, but I never had experience with this one in particular.

It's called the Kiinde Twist Direct-Pump Breast Milk Collection, Storage, and Feeding System Starter Pack. It's reminiscent of (yet not exactly like) the Playtex drop in liners which I used with all of my children.

It also included a coupon for a FREE pack of pouches like the one pictured above. So that's great. I plan to order them.

The baby box came with sample sizes of Cetaphil brand baby shampoo, baby wash, baby lotion, diaper rash cream. This pack of samples also included skin cleanser and lotion for mommy. Yay! Something for me!

I found this great as I plan to breastfeed. Included were samples of the Lansinoh breast pads as well as milk storage bags. I used these during all of my pregnancies and plan to use them this pregnancy as well. So I get to start my stash a little early!

Lastly was a stack of cards that I can pass out to people notifying them of where they can access my registry.

Please keep following! Since I've become aware of these baby boxes I've signed up for ALL of them! So stay tuned!

Last Time Mom Series: 10-11 Weeks

Yall. I'm not going to even pretend as if I've been extremely busy. Well, I've been busy, but not to the point where I couldn't blog for the past 2 weeks. I've just been TIRED! My GAWD!

But let's get started because a lot has happened!

As you all know I was planning to have an ultrasound done in my 10th week to accurately date my pregnancy and CHILE.....

Let's start at the beginning of that fiasco.

A friend of mine asked if she could borrow my car. I allowed her to because her children did not have bus service to school and since her car was down she couldn't take them to school. They had already missed a few days and she didn't want them to miss anymore if she could help it. She was planning to get her car fixed by Friday and my appointment was on Friday so it all seemed to be something that would work out. I knew that I didn't have anything planned for the majority of the week and planned to catch the bus. She promised to clean out my car and fill my gas tank so I said cool. By the way she was an old friend. I felt that I could trust her. She also told me that she could pick me up for work and pick me back up from work to drop me off at home. Cool. Let's do this then.

On the first day I got to work on time. She also picked up from work on time. Great!

On the second day she picked me up late. I was agitated, but I knew that I could just make up the time by staying a little later. Not what I wanted to do, but it was doable. That evening she picked me up. I told her that I needed to stop by WalMart to pick up a carpet cleaner because earlier that week my apartment flooded from all of the heavy rain. We went to Walmart, but not before she decided to pick up food from Kroger and drop her son off at her house. Again I was agitated. I wasn't planning on staying out that late to get what I needed to get done. I'm pregnant and tired! I ended up not getting home until about 8pm and didn't finish cleaning my carpets until about 10pm.

She's pissing me off, but you know what? Tomorrow is the LAST day she'll be using my car and I won't have to worry about any of this anymore.

So comes Friday. We already talked the nite before about when I'd be ready to go for work. So Friday morning I text her and told her that I'd be completely ready at 7:50am. No response. I'm thinking "Okay. Maybe she's busy getting herself together." It was about a half an hour before 7:50 anyway so I finished getting myself together. I came back to my phone and there was no message.

Oooookay! Wtf are you doing?

I text her again. "Hey I'm about ready."

No response again!

20 minutes before the start of my shift I had to request an Uber.

This bish really did not get up to pick me up for work in the car that I allowed her to BORROW?? Oh HELL naw!!

Me being my pregnant, emotional self I cried. I also swore to myself that I'd never allow her to borrow my car again and that I'm not talking to her ever again either.

Yall tell me why at 10am in the morning I got a call from her. I looked down at my phone like, "You thought!" And let it go to voicemail.

I then got a text like, "Girl I'm soooo sorry! I overslept! Text me back when you get a chance."

I didn't text her back until a few hours before it was time for me to leave. See, I had my appointment for my ultrasound that day so I was leaving early. When I finally spoke to her I reminded her that I had an ultrasound appointment and needed to be there ON TIME. She said cool and apologized for being late and said she'd be there to get me on time. She also said that she'll come up to the hospital with me and if she needed to get a ride back home because it's taking a really long time then she'd just do that so I'd have the car to take back home. I said okay

I got off of work and she was there. The least she could do, right?

When I got in the car she asked "What time is the appointment again?" I told her and said, "Yeah based on the time I have to be there and where we are now, I'll have enough time to get there on time and not have to rush." She goes, "Oh okay! Well we have enough time for me to go home then! And you can just go up there." At first I thought, "You claim you're my friend. Why wouldn't you just accompany me up there?" Then I thought, "You know what? She's pissed me off enough today. It might be best that she goes home first."

Yall tell me why she went this incredibly long way to get home?? Here I am getting pissed all over again.

Oh and let me add. She said to me when she picked me up from work, "Oh girl. I didn't even get a chance to clean out the car like I said I would." What??? You haven't even worked this week. You had nothing to do. Cleaning the inside of my car was the LEAST you could have done!

Anyway, when we got to her side of town she said, "I was gonna fill up your tank." I didn't have the time, but looking at my gas gauge it was at 1/4. So yeah... She needed to fill my tank. Oh, but she decided to only fill it to 3/4 when my tank was damn near full. Wait.... Then she chose to fill up a gas can which she had no clue how to open and had to go to people at the gas station to ask them to open it. Like are you serious?

I had about 15 minutes to get to my appointment. As we were getting ready to drive off some peddling fool walked up to our car trying to sell stolen bottles of perfume. she actually rolled down the window to allow him to speak. Wtf are you doing?

He asks if I was interested and I told him no and that I'm strapped for time and had somewhere to be. You know, hoping she'd get the hint too. Her ditzy dumb ass still conversed with him.

She finally drove off and it was the time of my appointment.

I was FUMING! And she got out of the car like things were cool.

Here I am fumbling to get my gps on my phone to tell me where to go. I was currently about 8 minutes out from the hospital. Highly pissed.

I made it to the hospital at about 4:40pm and tried to rush to where I was going. Sadly, I had no clue where I was going and spent 10 minutes trying to find it. Once I finally got there the whole section was close. I had to have been the last appointment for the day and I'm 20 minutes late. I was so hurt and upset. I cried on my way back to my car while cursing her and wanting her out of my life forever.

I was able to reschedule my appointment for the week after, but yall.... Tell me if that was messed up. Who treats someone like that who's done something for them? Just completely inconsiderate!

Since that time I've been ignoring all of her calls. I don't want to deal with her therefore I won't.
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Anyway I had my first prenatal appointment. My results came back that my iron was really low so I am now on iron pills. This may explain my lethargy. Don't get me wrong I am still tired, but it's not to the extent as before I began taking my iron pills.

My midwife also suggested that I have genetic counseling due to my daughter's Tourette Syndrome. I may have a genetic test done. I'm not sure yet. I know that with the testing that I was interested in it will also reveal the baby's gender. But again I'm not sure.

Everything else, though, came back just fine.

I did have my ultrasound done approximately a week after my first prenatal appointment.

As you can see no twins. *Wipes brow*

I measured 11 weeks and my new due date is October 2, 2018. Baby is doing just fine. They were just kicking and turning and doing all types of tricks. The tech was able to get a glimpse of their hands. Aww their little fingers were so defined. I knew the baby was sitting where I figured. I could always feel this odd bulge on my right side and sure enough baby was chilling right there.

Towards the end of my 11th week began my bouts of vomiting. It's nearly as bad as any other time ad I only do it once. It's not everyday either, but it creeps up on me. I actually feel relief once I've done it.

I haven't experienced any new symptoms. More acne on my chest though. It looks disgusting!

***********

I finally told my kids. My middle daughter is excited. My youngest was very surprised. My oldest daughter seemed very unimpressed. Go figure! This is the one who has BEGGED me for a baby brother.

That's about it for right now

Have You Been Impacted By The Equifax Breach?

In this day and age where most everything rests on your credit score it is imperative that you constantly monitor your credit. It weighs even heavier for single parents.

Equifax is currently under fire for it's data breach.

I want everyone to be as safe as possible.

Here are some really easy steps to see if you have been impacted by this breach. (Sidenote: Please don't come for my battery life! It's charging!)

First, you'll want to type in the website highlighted down below:

You'll come to a page that looks like this. Mind you I'm on the mobile site, so the layout may be a little different if you do this from your desktop.

You'll want to scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the link that reads "Potential Impact" as shown below.

Once you've clicked on "Potential Impact" you'll want to scroll to the bottom of the next page where you'll see a link titled "Check Potential Impact"

The next page will prompt you to enter your last name and the last 6 digits of your social security number.

The next page will reveal whether you've been impacted by the breach. In my case my personal information was compromised by the breach.

So why did I say "NO!" to enrolling?

Well, it's believed that it would opt you out of the class action lawsuit against Equifax. Whether this is true or not I personally do not trust the protection of someone who was just recently hacked. There are other methods of protecting your identity.

In the meantime keep your eyes and ears open about further developments regarding this matter.

Ya Girl Had To Do Something Nice For Herself

Read about my very first solo trip! Parts 1 and 2 listed below!

https://singlemomsolotravels.blogspot.com/2017/04/about-my-very-first-solo-trip.html

https://singlemomsolotravels.blogspot.com/2017/07/about-my-very-first-solo-trip-pt-2.html

Jordan Peele's "Get Out" Review

*****WARNING: I cuss....

2 Posts in one day!

Yall in for a treat!!!

Who went to see "Get Out" yesterday?

YALL!!!! That movie was A+! Let me get that out there first! That movie was amazing.

I don't know about anyone else, but I enjoy watching Key and Peele. They in fact do have a way of bringing racial issues to light in the funniest ways. Which is why I expected a funny, silly movie.

I also remember seeing the previews for the very first time and people like me saying "Yo what the fuck is this shit?" and "Black people selling out." You were wrong. You all were wrong! Hooomahgawd!

So my friend and I walked into the theater and marveling at the fact that the the audience was a bit more white than expected, but I mean let's keep it all the way real! White folks like to be entertained by funny black people.

The movie starts and they don't hold back AT ALL. Even in the first scene.

I hear the white audience members laughing, but I know damn well they weren't laughing for the same reasons us black folks were laughing.

This movie portrayed microagressions perfectly. The way Peele developed those characters was so on point that I could see people I knew in every single damn character which had me even more invested in the film.

By the end of the movie the white guy next to me was scoffing while the black audience members were hollering "Kill that mufucka!" And I'm chanting "Yasss! Reparations af!"

This was like a formal "Fuck your white privilege" and a cautionary tale that black women have been trying to stress to black men. A white woman may love you, but rest assured she loves her privilege more and will whatever to maintain it.

I don't want to post any spoilers because you NEED to see this movie. It was INTENSE!

It was so good that my friend and I vowed to go see it again. This will definitely make it to my home movie collection.

Harassed By An Uber Driver For Being A Single Mother

An update was in the works... (It's still coming and very exciting!) But I felt it necessary to share my not so good experiences with Uber.

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So this evening I decided to take a trip to the movies with a friend of mine because I needed a little time away with adults.

I caught an Uber to the theater to meet up with my friend all the while anticipating a bomb ass show.

So imagine my anger when a very light conversation turned into my driver shaming me.

It started with me apologizing for running a minute late out of the house. He didn't DESERVE an explanation, but I lightheartedly told him that my brother was a little behind in getting to my house to watch my kids. Innocent enough, right?

He goes and asks, "Are you a single mother?"

I answered.... "Ummm... yes?"

And it was all downhill from there. I spent an entire ride listening to him tell me how it's a woman's fault for deciding to have kids with someone who willingly up and leaves. Mind you he has no clue about my situation as I hadn't volunteered any in depth information about why I'm a single mother. He doesn't know if whether my kids father has died, if whether I'm a victim of rape, etc. He just doesn't know.

He goes on to tell me that I need to look in the mirror and figure out why he left because having kids is 90% a woman's choice. And he was very vulgar while saying this.

Could I have said something? Yep. I almost bit a hole thru my tongue though. Why? Because I don't know this "man" from shit. My protest could have got me missing. And going by his tone I felt forced to stay silent.

When I finally made it to the theater I was shaking mad. I'm sure my friend could see it. I spent the entire preview time trying to write up this report.

Luckily I enjoyed myself at the movies despite it all.

When I got in the car with my friend, I received a message from Uber saying that they are sorry for my experience and that they'll credit my $5 towards a trip. 5??? I want my entire trip fare back for having to endure such harassment.

How tf does Uber even think that was acceptable? I don't want a credit. I want my money back and that fool to be dealt with.

**Update** I wrote Uber back saying this: "A $5 credit is unacceptable. This is not the first time I've experienced inappropriate behavior from an Uber driver, but today is the first time I've reported. Today was the last straw and ruined what should have been a good time. Instead of enjoying myself I was busy trying to calm myself down from a confusing, hostile and hurtful experience and missing parts of the movie to try to recount my horrible experience. The very least you could do is refund me my entire trip. He also needs to be let go. He does not know me at all. And the fact that he felt comfortable enough to talk to me this way is a huge problem. There's no telling what other type vile and hurtful things he's said to other women passengers"

Uber's response? That they'll credit me an extra $10.

No! Still not good enough. I want accountability for your driver and for you all to refund me back my money because I plan to never use Uber again!

I listen to (as I'm sure other single mothers listen to) and read from people everyday how they are to blame for this and that.... How they are unlovable, damaged, etc. While I don't need not a one damn man to prove my worth or to have around just to say there's a physical presence of a male.... That experience sent me to a place that I've worked hard for years to get out of for so many reasons that ppl have no clue about.

Uber and this bitch ass nigga owe down

To those who are reading I'm open to listening to your stories. Uber must be held accountable.