Check 'em out!
Here's some of the girls...
M and me...
Z and A...
M's shots...
The whole fam....
And last but not least... my favorite and our Christmas card picture:
That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by.
{Becky}
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Family Pictures 2011
We had my friend Amanda Williams of Manda L Photography do family pictures for us this year. They turned out really great!!!!
Check 'em out!
Here's some of the girls...
M and me...
Z and A...
M's shots...
The whole fam....
And last but not least... my favorite and our Christmas card picture:
That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by.
{Becky}
Check 'em out!
Here's some of the girls...
M and me...
Z and A...
M's shots...
The whole fam....
And last but not least... my favorite and our Christmas card picture:
That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by.
{Becky}
Friday, November 25, 2011
8 Moms website
Check out this website!!! I started using 8moms when one of the blogs I follow was promoting the site. They were promoting because at that time you got an $8 credit just for signing up and a one year subscription to Fitness magazine was $7. I got a full year's subscription for free! They have great deals... right now their Black Friday deal is $5 off one of the featured deals with the code: 8MOMS25. Check out some of the deals:
The Green Garmento - $15
Shoe Stickers - $9.00
Personalized Platters - $37.00
North American Bear Co Doll & Outfits - $32.00
Plus many more!!!!
If you're interested in joining the site, please do it through this link so that I can get credit for you.
That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by.
{Becky}
Monday, November 14, 2011
Reebok Class Action Suit
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Reebok Settlement for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
What do you wear when you work out? Do you have some of the new style "fitness" shoes? The ones that claim to help you shape your body while you walk? Do you own any Reebok EasyTone products? If so, you need to read this post.
Apparently, Reebok mis-marketed these products and there is currently a class action suit and if you own any of these products, you may be eligible to be part of the settlement. Products must have been purchased between December 5, 2008 and October 12, 2011 to be eligible to receive part of the settlement monies.
Here is the pertinent information:
Following is a list of the eligible shoes: Easy Tone, RunTone, JumpTone, EasyTone Flip, TrainTone, and Simply Tone. And here is the eligible apparel: EasyTone Capri, EasyTone Shorts, EasyTone Sleeveless Shirt, EasyTone Pants, EasyTone Long Bra Top and EasyTone Short Sleep Top.
Click the link below for information regarding the settlement:
Or call 1-888-398-5389 for more information regarding this Class Action Suit.
Eligible shoes and apparel must have been purchased between December 5, 2008 and October 12, 2011. Reebok denies any wrongdoing and the courts did not decide which side was right, but the two parties did decide to settle out of court. If you purchased any of the eligible items you may be eligible to receive payment from this Class Action Suit.
That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by.
{Becky}
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Prematurity Awareness Month
I've really been slacking lately, new job and everything, but today's post is near and dear to my heart. November is prematurity awareness month.
Did you know that 1 in 8 babies in America are born prematurely and that the worldwide number is somewhere around 13 million a year? Prematurity is a very serious problem that can cause any number of problems and also cost society upwards of $26 billion per year. This year marks the first year that a worldwide prematurity awareness day will be observed. Although November is awareness month, November 17th is the day that the world will specifically focus on prematurity awareness. Babies are considered premature if they are born at any time before 37 weeks gestation.
This subject is dear to my heart because on January 30, 2011, I delivered a sweet baby girl at 33 weeks and 4 days. To date, there is still no specific reason why she came early, and thankfully, God blessed us and thus far we have not had any severe issues aside from a bout with RSV when she was 5 weeks old. The biggest problem we ran into was the fact that I did not have time to make it back to the hospital to have M. She came in a matter 30 minutes after the contractions started again on the floor in my bathroom. The "delivering physician" was a public safety officer from our township who is an EMT. He even gets credit on M's birth certificate.
Here are the first two pictures ever taken of M and one from two weeks ago, just before she turned 9 months old.
M with Officer Rick Gillespie, minutes after she was born.
M in her bed at the hospital, a couple of hours after she was born.
M on October 27, 2011, 3 days before her 9 month "birthday".
Spread the word about the dangers of premature birth! The more people that know, the more babies that can be saved.
That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by.
{Becky}
Did you know that 1 in 8 babies in America are born prematurely and that the worldwide number is somewhere around 13 million a year? Prematurity is a very serious problem that can cause any number of problems and also cost society upwards of $26 billion per year. This year marks the first year that a worldwide prematurity awareness day will be observed. Although November is awareness month, November 17th is the day that the world will specifically focus on prematurity awareness. Babies are considered premature if they are born at any time before 37 weeks gestation.
This subject is dear to my heart because on January 30, 2011, I delivered a sweet baby girl at 33 weeks and 4 days. To date, there is still no specific reason why she came early, and thankfully, God blessed us and thus far we have not had any severe issues aside from a bout with RSV when she was 5 weeks old. The biggest problem we ran into was the fact that I did not have time to make it back to the hospital to have M. She came in a matter 30 minutes after the contractions started again on the floor in my bathroom. The "delivering physician" was a public safety officer from our township who is an EMT. He even gets credit on M's birth certificate.
Here are the first two pictures ever taken of M and one from two weeks ago, just before she turned 9 months old.
Spread the word about the dangers of premature birth! The more people that know, the more babies that can be saved.
That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by.
{Becky}
Friday, October 28, 2011
5QF - 10/28/11
1. Do you prefer cotton, silk, or flannel sheets?
I prefer cotton, the higher the thread count the better. I like soft sheets... flannel is great, but since we started heating with wood flannel way too warm.
2. What time zone are you in?
Eastern
3. What is your favorite part of the holiday season?
The food and family time.
4. What is your favorite "wintry" drink? (It doesn't have to be an "alcoholic" drink!)
Peppermint Hot Chocolate
5. In your opinion, what is the worst job in the world?
Being cooped up in an office all day with no windows... doesn't matter what the job is, but if there are no windows it's awful!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
This week has been interesting to say the least.
I'm working 3 days a week now and I have three more clients that I will be needing to add to my list in the next week, provided I can get in touch with two of them to schedule appointments. The three new clients brings my grand total up to 12 clients. 1 of which is a twice a week client, which makes my face to face time 13 hours, and then I have to add some time for paperwork to those hours as well as supervision time too... that brings my total hours per week to somewhere between 15 and 18. Not too bad considering that this paycheck I brought home in 26 hours (2 weeks) close to what I was bringing home per paycheck in two weeks for 40 hours a week. The only problem I have with that is not having any way to cover benefits... I am really enjoying the new job, but it's also frustrating because I don't get paid for no shows or cancellations and and I've had several of those this week. Z is getting frustrated too because even though I only work 3 days a week, this week I could have worked 2 and taken care of all of my appointments. Not to mention it's not paying as much as he would like. I have to keep reminding him that my bosses are really happy with my work and it's just a step into getting in full time... which would have benefits, pay for doing the paperwork as well as mileage and expenses for certain things.
A is getting picked back up for physical therapy with the Intermediate School District here. They are also sending her to the University of Michigan to be assessed for possible work with a pediatric orthopedist. Thankfully her Physical Therapist with the ISD is AMAZING and she took care of requesting the referral from our pediatrician... because so far getting a referral from him has been like pulling teeth. So much so that we are planning to switch the girls over to our family doctor in May when we can change their health insurance to the plan that our (mine and Z's) accepts. I got a call today and the doctor was sending the referral information over to UofM this afternoon. We have to complete an IFSP (individualized family service plan) in a couple of weeks and then we will be starting physical therapy and play groups at the ISD. A loves going to "school" so I'm looking forward to getting going again. I'm just hoping that we can actually get the help we need outside of the ISD this time around.
M is going to be nine months old on Sunday. I can't believe how quickly time has flown by. She is crawling all over now and even taking some steps if we hold her hands. It is absolutely AMAZING to me that she is doing so well and I have a hard time believing that she really was 6 1/2 weeks early. She is on time or ahead of schedule with all of her milestones and that is for her actual age... in fact, they've stopped using preemie standards for her altogether. I weighed her this past Sunday and she was 20 1/2 pounds!! She's officially out of the infant carrier and in a big girl car seat. It's really hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that my baby isn't really a baby anymore. I packed up all of the 6-9 month clothes to hand down to a friend of the family and I've had to pull out the 12 month clothes for her to wear now! Thankfully it looks like she's going to be wearing the sizes that A wore at the right seasons so we won't have to buy a ton of new clothes. Not to mention the MOPS moms that are willing to hand down clothes too.
Here are recent pictures of the girls:
A - 2 1/4 years old (28 months)
M - 9 months on Sunday
And of course, the classic bathtub photo
That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by.
{Becky}
I'm working 3 days a week now and I have three more clients that I will be needing to add to my list in the next week, provided I can get in touch with two of them to schedule appointments. The three new clients brings my grand total up to 12 clients. 1 of which is a twice a week client, which makes my face to face time 13 hours, and then I have to add some time for paperwork to those hours as well as supervision time too... that brings my total hours per week to somewhere between 15 and 18. Not too bad considering that this paycheck I brought home in 26 hours (2 weeks) close to what I was bringing home per paycheck in two weeks for 40 hours a week. The only problem I have with that is not having any way to cover benefits... I am really enjoying the new job, but it's also frustrating because I don't get paid for no shows or cancellations and and I've had several of those this week. Z is getting frustrated too because even though I only work 3 days a week, this week I could have worked 2 and taken care of all of my appointments. Not to mention it's not paying as much as he would like. I have to keep reminding him that my bosses are really happy with my work and it's just a step into getting in full time... which would have benefits, pay for doing the paperwork as well as mileage and expenses for certain things.
A is getting picked back up for physical therapy with the Intermediate School District here. They are also sending her to the University of Michigan to be assessed for possible work with a pediatric orthopedist. Thankfully her Physical Therapist with the ISD is AMAZING and she took care of requesting the referral from our pediatrician... because so far getting a referral from him has been like pulling teeth. So much so that we are planning to switch the girls over to our family doctor in May when we can change their health insurance to the plan that our (mine and Z's) accepts. I got a call today and the doctor was sending the referral information over to UofM this afternoon. We have to complete an IFSP (individualized family service plan) in a couple of weeks and then we will be starting physical therapy and play groups at the ISD. A loves going to "school" so I'm looking forward to getting going again. I'm just hoping that we can actually get the help we need outside of the ISD this time around.
M is going to be nine months old on Sunday. I can't believe how quickly time has flown by. She is crawling all over now and even taking some steps if we hold her hands. It is absolutely AMAZING to me that she is doing so well and I have a hard time believing that she really was 6 1/2 weeks early. She is on time or ahead of schedule with all of her milestones and that is for her actual age... in fact, they've stopped using preemie standards for her altogether. I weighed her this past Sunday and she was 20 1/2 pounds!! She's officially out of the infant carrier and in a big girl car seat. It's really hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that my baby isn't really a baby anymore. I packed up all of the 6-9 month clothes to hand down to a friend of the family and I've had to pull out the 12 month clothes for her to wear now! Thankfully it looks like she's going to be wearing the sizes that A wore at the right seasons so we won't have to buy a ton of new clothes. Not to mention the MOPS moms that are willing to hand down clothes too.
Here are recent pictures of the girls:
A - 2 1/4 years old (28 months)
That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by.
{Becky}
Sunday, October 16, 2011
3 in 30 Challenge - October Week 2 update
Here's the update for this week:
1. Lose 5 pounds - I found out last week that I have non-contagious mono. While I was at the doctor's office, they obviously weighed me. I was up a pound and a half. Needless to say, that was discouraging. I really wish our house was put back together enough for me to be exercising again. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening anytime soon, so I'm not sure how I'm gonna accomplish this goal especially since it looks like I now have 6 1/2 pounds to lose in 2 weeks. Gotta give myself a D for this one.
2. Organize my house and keep it organized and clean - Haven't been able to get started on this yet because Z is still working on the baseboards in the bedrooms, which means that I can't move things back in to our rooms. Until that's done, I can't really get moving on this goal. I'm not grading myself on this one since the fact that I can't do this one is not my fault at the moment. I will be carrying this goal over until I can actually accomplish it completely.
3. Plan and schedule Christmas pictures for late October or early November - The date is scheduled, as well as the location, now I just have to figure out what everyone is wearing. I'm giving myself an A for this one.
Overall, I'd say that I'm averaging a C. Not great, but at least passing.
Interested in participating in the 3 in 30 Challenge? Click the button below to check it out.
That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by.
{Becky}
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Thankful Thursdays: The I Might Have Mono Edition
It's Thursday morning, and I forgot to get this post up last night. Ok, let me be a little more honest. I didn't just forget, I'm so exhausted, I'm forgetting other things that are more important, like calling my pediatrician about A's feet... She needs another evaluation, because she's starting to fall behind again.
I've been so incredibly tired for a couple of weeks. And when I say tired, I mean abnormally tired and it doesn't matter how much sleep I get, it's not any better. I seem to be better when I'm not at home, and even do better at home on days when I have at least a couple of hours out of the house, but it's not good in general. That's why I made an appointment with my doctor on Tuesday morning.
He did a "physical exam" poked around a little and sure enough, based on my symptoms and the places that were tender on my body, made a preliminary diagnosis of Acute Mono. Let me be clear... this disease gets a bad reputation because it's typically spread by kissing, but you can get it simply by having someone who has it cough or sneeze near you without covering their mouths or even from a shopping cart handle at the grocery store. I have absolutely NO idea where I picked it up, but the doctor said it is running rampant through our county right now and given the stuff that I'm trying to do these days, be a mom, a wife, volunteer at church, and also have a part time job, he's not surprised that I was susceptible to it.
Despite being sick, there are always things to be thankful for, so here's my list:
- I have a job, it's part time, but it's going well and I'm enjoying it and right now I'm really only working 3 days a week.
- M is a crawling machine these days.
- A is getting closer to being ready to be potty trained.
- Z is slowly but surely making progress on getting our house put back together.
- Z has an opportunity to work with some former co-workers on an opportunity that looks like it will be huge!
- My new niece is home and doing very well after getting the fluid on the lungs taken care of.
I'm sure there is more, there always is, but this is my list for this week. What are you thankful for this week? Grab a button and link up! See what others are thankful for!
That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by.
{Becky}
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Saturday, October 8, 2011
3 in 30 Challenge - October Week 1
Here's this week's update:
1. Lose 5 pounds - I haven't weighed myself yet, but I have been watching my portion sizes and staying away from soda, which I'm sure is helping. Now, I just need to stop drinking caffeine completely.
2. Organize my house and keep it organized and clean - Haven't been able to get started on this yet because Z is still working on the baseboards in the bedrooms, which means that I can't move things back in to our rooms. Until that's done, I can't really get moving on this goal.
3. Plan and schedule Christmas pictures for late October or early November - I haven't started on this one other than trying to think about what everyone will wear and a couple of places where we could do them.
That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by.
{Becky}
October... and 8 months of M
I'm having a hard time believing that it's October already. That means that my baby, M, is eight months old.
I started a Bible in 90 Days challenge back in July, that ends today... I'm not going to finish in 90 days, but I'm hoping to be able to finish by the end of October... I'm shooting for 100 maybe 110 days... I'm just excited that I made it as far as I did in the 90 days. I'm going to try it again in six months or so and hope for a better outcome.
M is eight months old now!!!! She is sitting up on her own, once she's put in the sitting position. She can move from sitting to her tummy without face-planting. She's crawling now. She has two teeth and two more coming through. She weighs 19 pounds and is wearing 9-12 month clothes! She's eating solid food now - 1 jar of meat, 1 jar of veggies and 1 jar of fruit for lunch and the same for dinner. She's even drinking from a straw cup - courtesy of her big sister. She's sleeping 10-12 hours every night and it would be more if we had the curtains in the girls' room hung. I've heard her say Mommy - granted it's only when she's angry and crying because I'm not moving fast enough, but hey, it's something, and she FINALLY started liking taking baths with her big sister. She loves her big sister and it's more than obvious that some of the reason she's doing so early is because she's determined to keep up with A. Thankfully for the most part A loves her too! The only thing we're running into right now is that A is going through a very possessive stage right now and she does NOT want M to use anything that is hers... whether she's too big/old for it or not.... it's humorous, but it's going to get old really quickly too!
This is the most recent picture I have of M right now... I just started a new job and have slacked a bit on the picture taking...
That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by.
{Becky}
I started a Bible in 90 Days challenge back in July, that ends today... I'm not going to finish in 90 days, but I'm hoping to be able to finish by the end of October... I'm shooting for 100 maybe 110 days... I'm just excited that I made it as far as I did in the 90 days. I'm going to try it again in six months or so and hope for a better outcome.
M is eight months old now!!!! She is sitting up on her own, once she's put in the sitting position. She can move from sitting to her tummy without face-planting. She's crawling now. She has two teeth and two more coming through. She weighs 19 pounds and is wearing 9-12 month clothes! She's eating solid food now - 1 jar of meat, 1 jar of veggies and 1 jar of fruit for lunch and the same for dinner. She's even drinking from a straw cup - courtesy of her big sister. She's sleeping 10-12 hours every night and it would be more if we had the curtains in the girls' room hung. I've heard her say Mommy - granted it's only when she's angry and crying because I'm not moving fast enough, but hey, it's something, and she FINALLY started liking taking baths with her big sister. She loves her big sister and it's more than obvious that some of the reason she's doing so early is because she's determined to keep up with A. Thankfully for the most part A loves her too! The only thing we're running into right now is that A is going through a very possessive stage right now and she does NOT want M to use anything that is hers... whether she's too big/old for it or not.... it's humorous, but it's going to get old really quickly too!
This is the most recent picture I have of M right now... I just started a new job and have slacked a bit on the picture taking...
That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by.
{Becky}
Friday, September 30, 2011
Thankful Thursdays on Friday
It's that time of the week again...oops I missed yesterday morning... I really should start paying better attention. Sorry about that.
So here's what I'm thankful for this week.
- M finally cut her first two front teeth... she appears to be working on the top two, but she's a happy baby again.
- I finished my first week with clients this week and so far am loving it.
- I have 3 days next week almost completely full with clients!!
- I'm motivated to work on housework again instead of just sitting on my rear end.
- I'm feeling better about myself and who I am and am supposed to be again!
- Things with Z have been AMAZING this week!
- I get to start working on organizing my house next week! That means I get to start exercising again!
That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by...
Grab a button...
and link up!
and link up!
{Becky}
3 in 30 Challenge - September Week 4 & October Goals
Here's the update for this week:
Goal 1: stop biting my fingernails. Success!!!!
Goal 2: Lose 10 pounds. Not so great. I feel tons better now that I'm watching my portion sizes and keeping track of my calories, I know I've lost some weight, but I'm not sure how much.
Goal 3: Get my house organized. Not so much. I've been keeping up with things like the laundry and dishes on a daily basis, but getting rooms organized has to wait until the baseboards are back up in the bedrooms and hallway the middle of next week for me to make any significant progress on organization.
Since I didn't have a lot of success with goals 2 & 3, I'm rolling them over into October's goals with some minor adjustments. I'm changing goal 2 to 5 pounds from 10 - much more manageable. Goal 3 is basically the same but I'm going to focus on one room a week until it's finished while keeping the previous rooms clean and organized.
My third goal for October is to have Christmas Family pictures planned and scheduled so that I can get Christmas cards mailed ready and mailed out shortly after Thanksgiving. Planned means that all of our outfits are decided on and that we have a location to do the shoot.
October Goals:
1. Lose 5 pounds
2. Organize my house and keep it organized and clean
3. Plan and schedule Christmas pictures for late October or early November
What are your goals for October? Are they achievable? How are you planning to accomplish them? Why not check out the 3 in 30 Challenge.
That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by.
{Becky}
Week one of the New Job
So it's been one week since I really started doing actual work in my new job. I started seeing clients on Monday. I had 4 appointments this week, but then had some training and trying to get appointments scheduled with other clients. I have two new clients opening next week, which will bring my total appointments (that are mine and not training) next week to 7, I'm meeting with one client twice a week. That is unless one of the other three return my calls and schedule an appointment with me.
So far, I've been blessed, my clients have been willing to work and "excited" to get started. I'm slightly terrified about one of the new clients next week because of the situation I'm walking into, but it might not be as bad as the referral made it out to be. I guess we'll see. I love teaching the Parenting Wisely class already and I'm learning things from it too. Don't get me wrong there are definitely times when A needs a swat on her bottom, but in the process of teaching my clients new strategies for discipline, I'm learning them myself and finding that some of them work quite well with A. Now if I could just get Z to buy into it and use them as well.
Ironically, going back to work, even if it's only for 3 days a week, has been really good for my relationship with Z. I feel better about myself. Don't misunderstand, being a stay-at-home-mom has been incredible and I wouldn't change my time at home for the world, but there were times when I felt like I was losing myself in taking care of my family and not doing anything for myself. Work may be work, but it's doing what I love and what God's called me to do, and that is fulfilling. Feeling better about myself has brought some of the girl I was when Z and I were dating back to life and apparently he's enjoying that as much as I am.
I'm finding I have more energy on the days when I go to work, even if it's only for a few hours and I'm more able to focus on housework and the girls than I was while I was staying home exclusively. I know that kind of sounds like an oxymoron, but I don't think I was really cut out to be a mom who only stays at home. It is quickly becoming apparent that I do much better at home when I have some extended time away from home.
Has anyone else found this to be true?
Now I simply have to remember that I need to do things for myself in addition to taking care of my family and house and working with clients. I'm not sure what those things will be, but I know all about self-care and the necessity of taking care of oneself to avoid burn out. Anyone have some suggestions?
That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by.
{Becky}
So far, I've been blessed, my clients have been willing to work and "excited" to get started. I'm slightly terrified about one of the new clients next week because of the situation I'm walking into, but it might not be as bad as the referral made it out to be. I guess we'll see. I love teaching the Parenting Wisely class already and I'm learning things from it too. Don't get me wrong there are definitely times when A needs a swat on her bottom, but in the process of teaching my clients new strategies for discipline, I'm learning them myself and finding that some of them work quite well with A. Now if I could just get Z to buy into it and use them as well.
Ironically, going back to work, even if it's only for 3 days a week, has been really good for my relationship with Z. I feel better about myself. Don't misunderstand, being a stay-at-home-mom has been incredible and I wouldn't change my time at home for the world, but there were times when I felt like I was losing myself in taking care of my family and not doing anything for myself. Work may be work, but it's doing what I love and what God's called me to do, and that is fulfilling. Feeling better about myself has brought some of the girl I was when Z and I were dating back to life and apparently he's enjoying that as much as I am.
I'm finding I have more energy on the days when I go to work, even if it's only for a few hours and I'm more able to focus on housework and the girls than I was while I was staying home exclusively. I know that kind of sounds like an oxymoron, but I don't think I was really cut out to be a mom who only stays at home. It is quickly becoming apparent that I do much better at home when I have some extended time away from home.
Has anyone else found this to be true?
Now I simply have to remember that I need to do things for myself in addition to taking care of my family and house and working with clients. I'm not sure what those things will be, but I know all about self-care and the necessity of taking care of oneself to avoid burn out. Anyone have some suggestions?
That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by.
{Becky}
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
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