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This week’s Featured Blog was Lucky #9 from last weeks hop:
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Thursday, March 31, 2011
Weekend Blog & Twitter Hop #5
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Monday, March 28, 2011
Guest Post by Kelli Stapleton of Birth Stories On Demand
Why You Should Write Your Birth Story
Write your birth story.
Please do yourself a big favor. Trust me on this, you can thank me later. Here is why you should write it:
1. You will forget the details.This is God’s way of ensuring the propagation of the species. It’s biological. We were designed to forget,so write your story.
2. You will forget the details continued: It is never too late towrite your story. Yes we forget details so write what you can remember. If your birth was 5 years ago or 50, sit down and write it. If your child is50 years old, you will still remember more than when that child is 60 years old. Right?! So write.
3. Posterity. Documenting family history is important. Just becausethis narrative involves your 'girl part's doesn’t make it less so.
4. Medical History. This information may be useful as you age. It will certainly be relevant when the child you wrote about becomes old enoughto reproduce. Yes, even if you had a son. His wife will be thankful toknow about your birth experience.
5. Petty revenge. This is your story to tell, sister. If you want tosend a zinger to your husband, mother-in-law, doctor, you have your chance.
6. Special moments with your child. Children love to hear stories.But they especially love stories where THEY are the star! They will beg you over and over to read them their story.
7. Did you know you have a super power? YOU DO! Making humans. Youwill only be able to use this super power for a limited time and in limited quanity. Write about it. There are many women out there who would selltheir soul for this super power.
So with those compelling reasons, I hope you will write your story. While you’re at it, talk to the other generations of women in your family.Encourage them to write their story. If necessary, make the sacrifice andwrite their story for them. It just takes a little bit of time. Also:
*Your story isn’t considered written until you PRINT it out. Can you say“catastrophic hard drive crash”?
*In ten years of collecting stories I’ve never had anyone say, “Writing mystory was a stupid waste of time, wish I had watched tv instead.”
*There are no English teachers lurking with red pens. Do not worry aboutspelling, grammar, or punctuation. Just write it. Honestly, no one karesif you spelle createvily.
*I love sharing ALL birth stories so if you have written it, I would love to have it.
*Every single birth story is phenomenal.
*Every single mother is phenomenal.Kelli Stapleton*Graduated from Kalamazoo College in 1995, where she then worked as ascientist/molecular biologist in both academia and industry. She gave up hershort term genetics projects to work exclusively on three long termprojects. They are her children McEwen, Isabelle, and Ainsley.In her free time, Kelli is the producer and host of the wildly popular'Birth Stories on Demand' internet radio show. She manages and maintains theBSOD website and social media sites. She is also the author of the 'BirthStories on Demand Presents:' series of books written to entertain and informwomen about childbirth. Kelli speaks nationally and internationally aboutbeing a birth junkie.Kelli is also aspiring to take over the planet.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Weekend Blog & Twitter Hop #4
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This week’s Featured Blog was Lucky #7 from last weeks hop:
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If you have a giveaway you are hosting feel free to link it up in my sidebar!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Knocked Up: The Collector's Edition Giveaway Winner
The winner of our March Madness Giveaway is LUCKY #27
She will receive Knocked Up the movie. It's even the 2 disc Collector's Edition!
She has 24 hrs to respond till another winner is selected.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Trying for Baby #2
The hubby and I have been having random conversations lately about us going ahead and trying for baby #2. The conversation normally starts after we see some cute little boy on tv or he says, " I can't wait to watch football or ESPN with my son". What's funny is every time we talk about having another baby we talk about having a cute little boy and just assume it would be a boy. Hopefully it will be because we have said two kids is all we would have so it would be nice to complete our family with having a little girl and boy. Plus, we already have a boy name picked out, which we will reveal once all this actually happens...
There were a few things that has caused us to hesitate having Baby #2:
Of course finances: which I think is everyone's 1st thought. We already have childcare we're paying for and can we really afford twice the cost.
My sanity: between working full time, getting my Masters in Marketing (which will be completed next month), cleaning house, doing our never ending laundry, tending to Riley these past 15 months have been a lot. My hubby helps out but he works late quite a bit of the time, so do I really want to add someone else to our mix?
The question of Is it too soon? We always wondered how far apart to space our kids. We always said we wanted another (expect when Riley was throwing a huge fit). I just know I want them to be close. I remember when I turned 16 feeling like my brother who was 12 at the time was too young to hang out with. Plus we were nervous because we didn't know if we wanted two in diapers at the same time.
Despite the hesitations mentioned above the answers really are YES we make it work!
Financially...I'm sure we will survive. Sometimes you have to sacrifice for your family so we may cut back on a few things, plus I should find out any day now whether I am getting a promotion at work..I'm about 90% sure I got it.
We no longer think it's too soon...if we started trying now then who knows seriously how long it will take us to get pregnant. I could take a month, 6, months, a year, or even more. Good news is when it finally does happen and our little one actually arrives Riley should be potty trained meaning we will still only have to buy diapers for one...
My Sanity... lets face it my grandmother had 5 kids and she's still going strong. If she can do it with 5 I can do it with 2. It's truly amazing to see how excited my hubby gets we talk about having another baby. He's such a good dad to Riley and I know together we can handle anything.
Now, with all that said we are officially stopping the birth control and we will just let things happen as they are suppose to. Baby if you read this, I can't wait to grow our family together!!
To Be Continued...
Friday, March 18, 2011
Weekend Blog & Twitter Hop #3
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Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Wordless Wednesday:Mmmm Spaghetti
One day she will get mad at me for showing this photo to her future husband....
She's just too darn cute...Mmmm Spaghetti
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
It's Time for Giveaway Madness (3/15-3/20)
Welcome to the March Madness Giveaway hop! Discover new products and enter giveaways to win these great items during this 5 day event!The event is open to comment and enter giveaway packages: March 15th - 20th!The giveaways on the Retail Therapy Lounge alone consists of 9 giveaways from sponsors totaling just under $1000 in value. But be sure to HOP (see list below) to each of the 75 participating blogs for even more great products and prizes!It is simple! Start by entering my "Retail Therapy" Giveaways listed below, then hop to the other blogs listed below to see great products and enter more giveaways! It is a week of March Madness and fun!
I Heart Maternity's Giveaway:
Hop to other giveaways on these great blogs:
Have a little fun this March and hop around blogs to win great prize packages! Entries are open MARCH 15th - MARCH 20th 2011 (Midnight). The following blogs have March Madness giveaways! Discover great products and enjoy!
Have a little fun this March and hop around blogs to win great prize packages! Entries are open MARCH 15th - MARCH 20th 2011 (Midnight). The following blogs have March Madness giveaways! Discover great products and enjoy!
1. Retail Therapy!
2. Free Stuff, Fun Sites, Contests, and More
3. Crunchy Green Mom
4. A Southerner, a Yankee and a Mixed Breed (or Two!)
5. Mommies Point of View
6. Oh My Heartsie
7. FunFritzFamily
8. Give it to me Tara!
9. Three Boys & an Old Lady
10. Snack Bar Reviews
11. Kostiuk Crew
12. Debbie Denny
13. Ourfamilyworld
14. RuReady4freebies
15. WingsToFly
16. Dirty Truth Reviews
17. My journey as a iPhone Mom Developer
18. Sharon davis
19. ABCD Diaries
20. More 4 Mom's Buck
21. You Wanna Know What I Think?...
22. Tupelo Deals
23. Tales From the Nursery
24. Home Grown Families
25. The Coupon Queen Bee
26. This Lil Piglet
27. Mama to 4 Blessings
28. Dnbuster's Place
29. Maxwell's Mommy
30. Adventures in Abbyland
31. Free & Frugal Mommy of ONe
32. Dutch Girls Favorite Things
33. Mom in Training
34. Have Kids Will Coupon
35. Tawna's weight loss journey
36. Tidbits From A Mom
37. Your World: Heathy and Natural
38. OurKidsMom
39. Unus Sed Leona
40. SusieQTpies Scraps of Life
41. Makobi Scribe
42. Hot Mom Tips
43. Juiciest Deals
44. Kelly's Lucky You
45. Gustosa Giveaways
46. CALLA Cosmetics
47. Married to a Geek
48. The Centsational Saver
49. Dawn's Daily Diggs
50. Urmarkgirl
51. Heavenly Savings
52. Pot of Gold Giveaways
53. sophie and momma
54. Giveaway Blogdom
55. Howard House Reviews and Giveaways
56. Have Kids Will Coupon
57. Shining2Save
58. icefairy's Treasure Chest
59. Curious Cora
60. Mom Always Finds Out
61. I Heart Maternity
62. Mommys Online Garage Sale
63. The Frugal Military Wife
64. Be Your Best Mom
65. Simply Shop and Save
66. Diary of a Stay at Home Mom
67. Twinpossible
68. Simply Stacie
69. Becca's Perspective
70. Ninth Street Notions
71. Jewelry4Change
72. Miracle Momas
73. Making Time For Mommy
74. Airplanes & Dragonflies
75. Coupons Make Cents Now
Our March Madness Giveaway- Ended 3/20
Winner will be announced later today!
Sticking with our Pregnancy and Maternity theme of the blog we are giving away a copy of one of my favorite movies, Knocked Up. If you already own a copy, you still want this one because it’s the 2-Disc Collector’s edition with tons of extras.
Please comment below about each entry.
Starts: NOW-------------------------------------Ends: March 20th 11:59 pm central time
To enter: You MUST Follow this blog
For Extra Entries:
-Follow I Heart Maternity on Facebook
-Follow I Heart Maternity on Twitter
-Tweet about this Giveaway including @Iheartmaternity
-Follow I Heart Maternity on Facebook
-Follow I Heart Maternity on Twitter
-Tweet about this Giveaway including @Iheartmaternity
-Blog about this Giveaway (comment with a link)
-Share with your friends on Facebook
-Grab my blog button and post it on your blog (comment with a link)
-Share with your friends on Facebook
-Grab my blog button and post it on your blog (comment with a link)
This giveaway is only valid for US residents.
The winner will be picked by random.org and notified March 21st via email
Thanks for your entries!
The winner will be picked by random.org and notified March 21st via email
Thanks for your entries!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Guest Post by Ashley Capps of Freckleberry Finds
One Mom's Quest to Conquer Her Fears of Cloth Diapering
If you would have told me 5 years ago that I would become a mom that actually washed her kids diapers, I would have thought you were absolutely nuts. Why wouldn’t I want to use regular ol’ disposables? Changing diapers was icky enough, right? You want me to actually launder my kids dipes? Get outta town.
But now, here we are. A little under 5 years after I learned I was pregnant with my first, and I am a full-fledged, cloth diapering, cloth wiping mommy. When I first learned about cloth diapering, I was really interested about the aspects of cloth and all that it entailed. Then I started venturing into forums and blogs that were filled with other moms, panicky about repelling, washing regimes, and stinky dipes. I got a little worried, and to be honest, I totally chickened out. I knew that cloth was so economical, but I was shell-shocked by the seemingly intricate and specific directions when it came to caring for cloth. So I used disposables for my first for the majority of her time in diapers. In the meantime, I had my second child, my son, and I quickly realized how darn expensive disposables for two really were. It felt like I was constantly going to the store to buy diapers, and that I was literally throwing my money away with each diaper change. It was time to reevaluate my cloth diaper hesitation. We took the plunge and bought 12 bumGenius 3.0s when my son was 5 months old. I was nervous, but I armed myself with advice from current cloth diapering moms, washing instructions, and some courage. A week went by, and we were all still alive. My diapers were doing their job, and I hadn’t had to go to the store to buy disposables at all! Why was I so scared?! What was the big fuss about? I was ecstatic! Sure, I had to wash fairly frequently since my oldest was still potty learning, but you know what? I was saving money. That, my friends, was music to my (and my hard-working husband’s) ears.
Now, I’m expecting my third child, and we will continue to cloth diaper. But now, I feel the same anxiety as before since I’ve never cloth diapered a newborn. It feels like I’ve been dropped off in a foreign country and I don’t speak a lick of the native language. My one-size diapers had been my tried and true love, and now I needed something different. But wait! I’d been down this road. I’d had the panicky feelings before, and when I finally just bit the bullet and did it, it worked out beautifully. So I went back to the moms that had cloth diapered their newborns, and asked what worked for them. I researched, read, and learned about all of the different types of cloth diapering, from prefolds and flats to covers and all-in-ones, I read it all. I decided to use 100% cotton prefolds and covers for this little munchkin that is due in May. I might even buy a few covers for my son, who is still in cloth. The road less traveled may be scary, but it’s by no means impossible. I was on the fence for over a year, and once we finally got over our initial fears, we fell in love. Each diapering system is different. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. After all, who doesn’t want to save money and the environment? Not to mention how stinkin’ cute your little one looks with those fluffy bums. So come on in. The water’s fine. Give it a shot--you won’t regret it!
Ashley Capps is the head blogger for Freckleberry Finds, as well as mother to Emma, 4, Micah, 2, and Maisy due in May 2011. She is a lover of many things---cloth diapers, parenting, raising young children, and being a wife. A firm believer in always learning, she is always game to try new things. Juggling her time between being an up-and-coming blog owner and being a full time mom is tough, but she wouldn’t have it any other way!
I'm Curious...
If you cloth diaper, what made you start? If you don't cloth diaper, what's your hesitation?
" When my daughter was born I never even considered cloth diapering. Growing up none of my family did it. Now that I have experienced the cost of disposables, I think I may try it once Baby #2 comes along for us."
- Teddy (I Heart Maternity)
Sunday, March 13, 2011
All Week Blog Hop
Please Join The Mommy Chronicles' 1st All Week Blog Hop. Danielle was nice enough to include I Heart Maternity as a co-host. This hop began out of a little frustration...
So after trying to search out a blog hop each and everyday I began to get so frustrated because I seemed to always be a day late. I created a blog hop that last's a week long. Now you don't have to miss out on the hop because you were a day late you have an entire week to hop around and check out all of the other blog on the hop.
**Note**
The Mommy Chronicles is always looking for a blog hop co-host if you are interested in being a weekly co-host feel free to reach out to her
The Guidelines for participating in the Weekly blog hop are as follows:
1. Please grab the blog hop button to spread the word.
2. Please follow the host and co-hosts: The Mommy Chronicles and The Adventures of My Family of 8 and I Heart Maternity via Google Friend Connect and/or Networked Blogs
3. Please do not link up your giveaways, blog hops, etc. (These will be deleted.)
4. Please link up you Blog, Twitter, Facebook Fan Page
Link up your blog, visit and follow the blogs that interest you and have fun! If you follow our blogs and leave a comment, we will always follow you back!
Now, letÃs get hoppinÃ!
You only need to add your link to one linky for it to show up on all participating blogs. The linkys will open every Sunday at 8:00pm PST and closes on Saturday at 11:59pm PST
Friday, March 11, 2011
Weekend Blog & Twitter Hop #2
I decided to start a blog hop of my own that will run on the weekends. I've connected with tons of mom bloggers and businesses through blog hops, so why not help others do the same. This blog hop will start every Friday and run throughout the weekend.
-You MUST Follow the Host (Me) which I think is only fair
-Leave Me a Comment so I know to Follow New Followers Back
-I will choose a blog from those that enter to be a featured blogger via Random.org
-Have FUN meeting others.
This week’s Featured Blog was Lucky # 27 from last weeks hop:
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get the InLinkz code
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Wordless Wedneday-Riley Watching Blue's Clues
Riley's favorite character on tv is Blue. She's loves watching it from her daddy's chair.
I love this photo, at almost 15 months she's getting so tall.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Guest Post by Laurence Girard (Pre-Med Student at Harvard)
Nutrition Tips for a Healthy Pregnancy
Nutrition is one of the most important components of a healthy pregnancy, yet many women don’t realize how crucial it is. Use these tips and you’ll decrease your risk of having a baby with health problems.
Avoid High-Mercury Seafood
Seafood is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids that can help your baby’s brain develop, but some types of seafood contain dangerously high levels of mercury. Pregnant women should avoid eating swordfish, shark, king mackerel and swordfish entirely. Some women prefer to avoid seafood all together. If you’re in the mood for seafood, stick to wild salmon because it’s low in mercury.
Avoid Raw Fish
Pregnant women should avoid eating raw fish (especially clams and oysters) at all costs to avoid consuming harmful viruses and bacteria.
Avoid Unpasteurized Milk
Pregnant women should avoid anything that contains unpasteurized milk because they can cause food-borne illness. Types of foods made with unpasteurized milk include brie cheese, feta cheese, camembert, blue cheese and Mexican style cheese. In addition, pregnant women should avoid unpasteurized juice.
Take Folic Acid
The CDC suggests taking 400 milligrams of folic acid each day before getting pregnant and for the first three months of pregnancy to reduce the risk of spinal defects
Avoid Raw Eggs
Raw eggs sometimes contain bacteria called salmonella that is dangerous for pregnant women. Pregnant women should avoid eating foods with partially cooked or raw eggs like eggnog. Eggs should be cooked until the yolks are firm and white.
Wash Your Fruits & Vegetables
Pregnant women should always wash fruits and vegetables before eating them. In addition, women should avoid raw sprouts like radish, clover and alfalfa because they can contain bacteria.
Avoid Alcohol
Pregnant women should avoid drinking alcohol entirely because it increases the risk of having a stillbirth or miscarriage. Women who drink alcohol have an increased risk of having a child with fetal alcohol syndrome. Fetal alcohol syndrome can lead to mental retardation, abnormal heart structure, behavior problems, infant death and poor growth.
Avoid Too Much Caffeine
Pregnant women should avoid drinking caffeine in excess because it can travel through the placenta and affect the heart rate of babies. Less than 200 milligrams a day is considered safe, but it’s even healthier to stay away from caffeine entirely. Pregnant women should avoid tea because it’s another source of caffeine.
Drink More Fluids
The CDC suggests that pregnant women drink between 6 and 8 glasses of water a day to help their body keep up with increases in their blood volume.
Laurence Girard is a pre-med student at the Harvard University Extension School and a former semi-professional soccer player. He writes about the nutrition crisis in America on his blog at http://www.nutritionsithesolution.com.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Weekend Blog Hop #1
I decided to start a blog hop of my own that will run on the weekends. I've connected with tons of mom bloggers and businesses through blog hops, so why not help others do the same.
This blog hop will start every Friday and run throughout the weekend
Rules:
-You must Follow the Host (Me) which I think is only fair
-Leave Me a Comment so I know to Follow You Back
-Family Friendly Blogs ONLY -I reserve the right to remove any blogs I feel are inappropriate
-I will choose a blog from those that enter to be a featured blogger via Random.org
-Have FUN meeting others.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
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