Mom Blogs

A few weeks ago, I asked if anyone had any good pregnancy or motherly blogs. I didn’t get any responses, and that’s ok, but I thought I’d share the few blogs I found and possible future topics that I can blog about.

Obviously, everyone knows someone personally that has a blog about their baby and their experiences, and that’s great. I have one friend (Ashley) that writes to her daughter. It’s very sweet, but I’m going to focus on the more public ones…

A Cup of Jo has Motherhood Mondays. I usually read A Cup of Jo because she’s a New Yorker and how cool is that?! but I can’t relate to her because I’m a frumpy Texan. But I really like her Monday posts.

Here are some other blogs I’ve found:

http://www.beso.com/joanna-goddard-editor-home

http://marvelouskiddo.blogspot.com/

http://www.maternity-clothes-blog.com/

http://laceywilcox.com/

http://simplemom.net/

http://www.newlyweds-blog.com/

I think we were short on money before the baby (I’m  not going to tell you how much we have in our back account right now, but let’s just say Thursday and Friday (both of our paydays) cannot get here quick enough), but after the baby will be a new low. So I turn to MyLitter.com and MoneySavingMom.com and their friends.

http://www.totallytarget.com/

http://mojosavings.com/

http://hip2save.com/

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43553157/ns/today-style/t/steals-deals-purses-bras-hair-products-more/

They inform me of the latest deals, help prepare shopping lists, and organize coupons. Susan has a good attitude about couponing and such; she sees it as a challenge so she really enjoys it. Also, it helps me if I think about it like “if I save $50 here then that means I can spend $50 here!”

The ones I already “follow” that are relevant are:

http://www.oneshetwoshe.com/

http://treyandlucy.blogspot.com/

http://www.fortheloveofblogtherapy.com/

My list of future topics I’d like to write about or at least refer you to another link:

-          How to manage time, routines

-          How to manage visitors & volunteers

-          Registry tips

-          Cloth vs. disposable diapers

-          Nursing

-          Baby food

-          Photography

-          “My Favorite Things”

-          The advice I took from Babyproofing Your Marriage

The Past Two Weeks in Pictures

Me (30 weeks) & Robin (22 weeks?)

We went to The Aquarium for dinner

not flattering at all

The one picture I tried to take during craft day

Ryan, Jay's brother

Ryan & Emily

As the bride walks down the aisle

Matt & Jay escort their cousin, Amanda, down the aisle

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, this isn't the entire two weeks. There isn't a picture of the continuous electricity outages, Maggie's ulcer on her cornea, the blister behind her ear, and Jay's recent anxiety attacks.

Update: Struggling with the “More Monster”

I wanted to update y'all on my struggle with the "More Monster."

Here are the comments I received on Facebook:
Diane: Were you in the singing class Wednesday night? Brent actually talked about this some. Contentment with godliness is great gain. My advice, a thanksgiving book - each day write down 5 things you are thankful for. It makes you appreciate what you have more and not be so interested in what you don't have.
Katie: Craigslist. I know most of the stuff is used, but you can find really good deals on there. Also, I think you'll find once the baby comes that you don't "need" the things you think you do. My advice would be to get the things you need for sure (place for the baby to sleep) and save up money. Then you will know once the baby comes what you really need. I know I got a lot of things I thought I needed with my first baby and then never used it. Hope that helps! And you've got a lot of people to help you out. :) 
Kimberly: I'm totally speaking from experience here...I do NOT recommend racking up a credit card bill for all of the things, now. It will feel good now, but will make you feel worse, in the end. I think Katie's right, certain things you think you need but really don't know until baby gets here...some babies have different temperaments. After having six babies, I have found that some of them have loved their baby swing, others hated it, the same for the bouncy seat. I have never really found that a changing table is a must, either. Had one with one but I found that I ended up using it as catch all more than anything and just did diaper changes on the couch or bed. As far as a coffee table goes, well, I totally understand what you are saying about that but you know, for YEARS we didn't even have one and then finally got one with our furniture suite and after next baby came along, we moved it out of the room. I personally just saw that it gave the baby more room to crawl around, unobstructed, and reduced the amount of head bumps.:-) But, I understand, this is your first baby, and it is SO exciting to shop for baby. I WILL second your idea on the rocking recliner, though, LOVED mine, til we had to get rid of it when we ran out of room.:-) 
Brittany: I agree with Katie you will be surprised at the things you don't need after having Ethan. My must haves were: pack and play, monitor (just the $20, not the fancy video one), rocker/glider in the nursery and papasan baby swing. Braden HATED the bouncer, pacifiers, bottles, etc... You also may find it surprisingly difficult to rock a baby in a recliner (I did). My feet would never reach the ground to actually rock and his face would be alarmingly squished into the back cushion...maybe that's just me though. Don't stockpile too much on diapers, the babies randomly and rapidly change sizes and you'll be left with too many/not enough of sizes. Stockpile coupons and gift cards :-)!
After this long rant, my main advice is to cherish EVERY moment (goes my WAY to fast), hold your baby as much as you want and TRY to relax and enjoy (I still struggle with the last one). You will be surprised how quickly your priorities snap into place when you hold your baby for the first time!
Ashley: Garage sales! I used to never 'like' garage sales and we find things all the time! And, like they said above - you will not need everything they have in the stores! We have hardly bought anything for Leah except diapers, wipes, food. Everything else came from my sisters. It has saved us so much money. You may not have a lot of people to hand down stuff to you, but if you have any close friends or relatives, ask if they have anything they want to get rid off for free or a cheap price!
Krista: We had a glass table, and Johnny did great with it. It met it's demise when we moved and it rolled off the truck and broke. You'll be amazed at how little children actually need! It's mainly the parents that want it. I'm a firm believer in being a good Steward I the money God has greatly blessed us with. If Jay and I don't have the cash for something, we don't buy it... Ever! Oh, and the only thing we ever bought was a bunk bed for our kids, everything was given to us at a shower or a hand me down.

So the conclusion I've come to: I won't worry about the glass coffee table until Ethan starts to walk. I will place the glider in the living room for the first two months because Ethan will sleep in our room at first anyway so I won't need it in the nursery. And, of course, the thanksgiving book was a great idea!

Thanks for the advice!

Struggling with the “More Monster”

Remember my friend that visited me last week, Robin? And remember she’s moving to Iowa? Well, they’re moving there and temporarily staying with her best friend Katy. I obviously don’t know Katy that well other than what I know from Robin and the few times we’ve spent time together, but she wrote a very interesting post the other day about the More Monster.

Her goal is to be content with what she has. I think it’s a great and noble outlook. And I may be a little jealous because there are still a lot of things I want, especially before the baby comes. Many of the things that I want or need are for the house and baby. For instance, we have a glass coffee table we are eventually going to have to replace once Ethan starts to pull up. I know that we’re going to have to buy a dresser and nightstand for the nursery. Granted, I did pick out pretty cheap furniture, but that’s still $200+. Plus there are other stores that I didn’t register at, like IKEA, that I want stuff from that will come out of my pocket.  I really want a recliner for the living room to rock Ethan. We have a glider on our registry for the nursery, but I know there will be many times when I’m going to want to be in the living room watching TV when trying to get him to sleep. We have an old recliner for free I got from my friend, Tara (see the one comment on the Swiffer post and that’s her!), when we graduated from college. There is no telling what is growing in that recliner. I remember one time when Emmitt was a puppy, I was eating cereal in the chair and he came running and jumped in my lap spilling milk everywhere! And technically, it’s Emmitt’s chair. It’s where he goes to look out the window and growl at the neighbors. (Can you tell I’m really trying to justify a new recliner?!) I know I’ll need to invest in nursing bras and tanks pretty soon. This weekend we’re buying Jay a suit. Actually, 3. K&G has a sale, buy one get two free! Also, I’m currently working on a stockpile of things for us (make up, toilet paper, etc) and the baby (diapers, wipes, etc) and organizational tools to help with the stockpiles.

I’m sure there are other things that I’m forgetting that are on my “things to get before the baby” list, but the point of the story is that I only have 2 months to get all of these things. We both know our main priority should be saving, not racking up a large credit card bill to pay off slowly in the future. If I’m able to stay home with Ethan, then I know for a fact we won’t be able to get these things. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all about free things or items on sale. For instance, I found a great coffee table that’s on sale at Kirkland’s this weekend for $75! It’s perfect, just what I’ve been wanting. But I have less money in my bank account right now that what that table costs. So now I’m in a pickle. Do I buy everything I want and need now and then worry about paying off credit cards later? Or do I just pay for what I can when I can and if I don’t get everything, just suck it up? ….Ugh! Yes, I know that’s the right answer!

Grail or Fail: Swiffer SweeperVac

I’m going to copy the cutie patootie from Blushing Basics. She does beauty products, but I’m going to do cleaning products.

Our house is a mess. With both of us working full time and hour commutes one way, it’s hard to clean the mess our two 50+ lbs. Boxers create on our tile floors. And whenever I have the baby, whether I get to stay home or have to go back to work, I’m going to need a lot of help cleaning. So I try new cleaning products and appliances all the time.

 

The one brand that I’ve learned isn’t as great as I'd hope is Swiffer. I have the original Swiffer sweeper that worked great for my college apartment bathroom to pick up my long hair, but our house has too much dirt for it to even make a dent. I still use the WetJet mop because it’s easier than a mop and bucket, but I’m not sure exactly how well it cleans the floor. Nevertheless, I decided a few months back to purchase the Swiffer SweeperVac.

The first time I used it, I was pleasantly surprised. But the second time, I swept after using it and realized it didn’t get everything. So I put it up and was only going to use it for small messes.

Then the opportunity arose over the weekend. I dropped my entire thing of loose powder on the bathroom floor. Oh yeah, it was a new canister(?). I turn to my handy dandy sweeper vac. I turn it on, and it dies within 25 seconds. I plugged it in, went to dinner, came back to finish cleaning up the mess. I turned it on, and it dies within 7 seconds. But the few seconds I was able to use it, it picked up diddly squat! It just pushed it around.

What do I do now? Pick it up by hand?! I have a full size vacuum I could use… but I don’t really feel like it. Ah! My hand-held Dirt Devil Scorpion! It has never let me down. Within 30 seconds, the entire mess is cleaned up. I even vacuumed around the baseboards for an extra kick.

And that’s when I realized, old school works. Dirt Devil, broom & dust pan, mop & bucket.

I really want to try the new Scotch Fur Fighter. Stay tuned!

Domestication Weekend

Jay and I had a great weekend with Robin and Ben. Robin is a friend from high school. She, 22 weeks pregnant, and her husband are moving to Iowa in a week so I don’t know the next time I’ll see her. Plus, iIt’s awesome that Jay and Ben get along so well, made me feel so much more relaxed.

We’ve never had guests at our house, other than my parents, so I was nervous. I barely cook dinner, I’ve never cooked breakfast before, I don’t clean very well (tomorrow’s post), etc. BUT I was able to clean a little bit before they came. But Saturday morning, I woke up at 7:30 and started cooking breakfast: pancakes from scratch, scrambled eggs, and microwaveable bacon (I don’t like to fry), and coffee. Then we went shopping and bought baby gifts. On Sunday morning, I woke up at 7 to bake blueberry muffins in my new maternity nightgown which Jay says I should be standing out in our front yard with a baby on my hip. But in my defense, my pajama pants don’t fit anymore! And it came with a robe I can wear in the hospital! Oh, I helped with the 3 year old bible class and after lunch went to a baby shower. Of course, I had to spend most of my evening cleaning the kitchen from all of the cooking. But it was worth it because it was tasty and gave me confidence. I'm one tiny step closer to being as good as my mom!

And now I’m blogging while watching How I Met Your Mother reruns because I can’t find the remote to watch Sleepless in Seattle that I ordered on Netflix.

Now I’m going to write tomorrow’s post.

I challenge you!

At church, Brian (our preacher intern), has challenged us to read the entire New Testament in a month. It started yesterday, so I'm already behind, but I'll catch up, I promise!

Here's the calendar if you want to read along!

Have fun!