Supermommy!...or not.

Stop SOPA and PIPA

2012-01-19T10:04:00.002-06:00

In case you haven't heard, there are two new bills that Congress is trying to pass that will change the internet as we know it. Facebook, Etsy, Twitter, small businesses that sell via the internet...these are all at risk of being blocked and/or censored.

These pictures, taken from here, explain the change better than I can.

Make your voice heard!! You can sign several petitions online to stop SOPA and PIPA from going through. Here's one and here's another. If you know of anymore, please let me know via comments or you can email me at annaliesbabyboutique@yahoo.com

As a certified Lord of the Rings geek, I just had to throw this out there.

How I Got Hubby a Wii for only $20...

2012-01-11T14:06:00.000-06:00

Hubby has hinted a few times that he would like a Wii. Seeing how he works pretty much nonstop at his full-time job AND The Farm, I didn't really think it was worth spending that much money on something he'd only be able to use a few times a month.

And then, last March, I stumbled on a search and earn site called Swagbucks.
After researching it to make sure it wasn't a scam, I signed up. And quickly earned enough points to exchange for a $5 amazon gift card. Hmmmm....turns out one can buy almost anything on Amazon and the gift cards never expire. I did some more research and found a few more sites to sign up for. Before I knew it, I was a member of 7 earning websites. Several of them, I'd signed up for earlier, but hadn't really realized their potential.

So what to save up for with all those Amazon gift cards? A Wii, of course! I couldn't justify spending all that money on something that would hardly be used, but if it was free or nearly free...

By December 2011, I was just $20 short of buying the Wii. Since Hubby's birthday is in early January, I decided to buy it early enough that it would arrive in time for his birthday. Essentially, I paid $20 out of pocket for a brand-new Wii. Not bad. And, if I hadn't used some of my amazon gift cards to buy a $22 book on Amazon, the Wii would've been completely free.

Here's a rundown of how I earned the money for the Wii:

Swagbucks: A search and earn site which also rewards its users for other activities such as watching Swagbucks TV (earn points for watching short videos. Turn it on while you're doing something else on the computer and just hit next every few minutes) , completing special offers (I NEVER do the ones that require a membership or charge money to do, thus keeping the site free), filling out the daily poll, and clicking through the NOSO offers (both found on the left hand bar on the swagbucks site). Install the Swagbucks toolbar and you automatically receive a swagbuck every day you log onto the internet. The toolbar also makes it easier to do a quick search which can earn you more swagbucks. Here's a link to a website that can give you more information on earning swagbucks. Since March, 2011, I've earned $115 in Amazon gift cards. Follow this link to join.

Superpoints: This one is super easy and one of my favorite sites. All you do is click on the Superpoints button everyday (fast and easy to do while you're on the computer working on something else) and it randomly awards points. You can also sign up for the emails they send out everyday with points. From each email, I've earned anywhere from 1 to 75 points. There are also special offers and videos you can complete to earn extra points. Once again, skip the offers that require you to buy something (unless it's something you were already going to buy) and the site will remain free. Since mid-2011, I've earned $30 on Superpoints. You can only join this site through invitation. Since the invite links expire after 7 days, just shoot me an email at annaliesbabyboutique@yahoo.com and I'll send you a fresh invite.

MyPoints: One of the most profitable earning sites I've used. Use their search engine at least 31 times a month to earn an easy 75 points (bonus points for installing their toolbar!). Sign up for their email list and they will send you emails that you click through to earn points (the best way to earn points here). You can also shop at many different websites through MyPoints and earn tons more points. There are videos you can watch and surveys to fill out. You get 10 points if you don't qualify for the survey, 50 if you do. You can also fill out one- question questionaires and special offers on the "Easy Points" tab on the website. Technically, in 2011, I didn't earn any money on MyPoints. However, I was just a few points shy of a $25 gift card to Amazon when 2011 ended and that was since signing up in October. Invites are by email only so send me an email at annaliesbabyboutique@yahoo.com and I'll send you an invite.

Listia: Ok, so this isn't actually an earning website. It's an auction site that uses credits instead of money. You earn credits by auctioning off stuff you don't want anymore on the site and by watching for "Share On Facebook" banners. I then use my credits to buy Amazon gift cards. I didn't start buying Amazon gift cards on Listia until late in 2011, using my credits to buy clothes for my kids instead, but I did manage to buy $19 worth of Amazon gift cards once I decided to put my credits toward buying the Wii. You can sign up with this link.

Instant Cash Sweepstakes: This one isn't exactly a cash cow, but I did earn $9.62 since late 2011. You fill out 3-question surveys several times a day to earn a few cents, tickets, and coins. The actual money you earn will be deposited directly into your Paypal account when you are ready to cash out. The tickets are automatically entered into a daily sweepstakes for $50 (still waiting to win this!). The coins can be saved until you're ready to enter then into the $2 drawing that takes place every 4 hours. I did win this one once. You can sign up with this link.

Paid Viewpoint: This is an offshoot website of Instant Cash Sweepstakes, but it pays more. You are sent an email every time there's a short survey ready for you to fill out and you earn money every time you complete a survey (the good news is that you're prequalified for the survey when you receive the email). I didn't sign up for this site until November, but earned $12.71 which can be directly deposited into my Paypal account as soon as I reach $15.00 in earnings. You can sign up with this link.

Ebates: This is a paid to shop site. You log onto Ebates, find the website you are planning to shop on and click through from the Ebates site. You then earn anywhere from 1-12.5% cash back on your purchases. Ebates periodically sends you a check or deposits your earnings in your Paypal account. In 2011, I earned $51.73 just from shopping through their website for online purchases I was going to make anyways. Definitely an easy way to earn money. You can sign up with this link.

Have fun earning! I'd love to see updates on how you're doing on these sites if you decide to sign up for any of them. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at annaliesbabyboutique@yahoo.com

2012 Goals

2011-12-31T14:30:00.000-06:00

When I was younger I always made New Year's Resolutions and pretty much never kept them past the first week in January. So, I gave up making New Year's Resolutions a few years ago.

One of my best friends sent me an email about a week ago with a list of her goals for the new year. I thought that was a good idea. A goal seems more achievable than a New Year's Resolution which we all know don't usually make it very long anyways.

Here are my goals for 2012:

1. Be consistent about doing my devotions and spending time with God everyday.

2. Exercise at least a few days a week.

3. Add new products to my boutique using the new patterns I purchased. I will also continue to grow my boutique and hopefully will show a profit by the end of this year.

4. Blog at least once a week and continue to do reviews and giveaways to attract new followers.

5. Organize my craft supplies and inventory so it's not such a crazy mess. This means clearancing certain products that haven't sold very well.

6. Save up for a new camera to replace mine since it's slowly dying.

7. Spend time at least 4 mornings a week doing Montessori-style preschool with Princess.

8. Potty train Little Man. *Gulp*

9. Do something special with the kids this summer (The zoo, maybe?)

10. Stay on top of bills and paperwork...for once.

Are you making any resolutions or goals this year?

How I Messed Up Christmas & Why I'm Glad I Did

2011-12-29T10:59:00.002-06:00

Typical girl, Princess was excited to receive clothes as gifts.

We have 11 nieces and nephews to buy for at Christmas. In the craziness of making and buying all those gifts, I thought I had gone overboard on my kids' Christmas gifts. I was feeling a little guilty about buying my kids so many gifts until Christmas day. We let the kids look in their stockings before church at 10 am, but we didn't open gifts until that evening, after naps.

More clothes!

That evening, we sat on the floor by the Christmas tree and listened as Hubby read the Christmas story from Luke 2. When that was done, I dug the kids' gifts out from under the tree (we hadn't celebrated Christmas with either side of the family yet so there were lots of presents under the tree yet) and passed them out. There were four small packages for each child. Hubby looked at the rather meager offerings and asked with a frown on his face, "Is that all you got them?" I rummaged around under the tree again, but came up emptyhanded. "I guess so." I said, puzzled, as I was still sure I'd gone overboard on gifts.

Little Man really got into it, as you can see by his excited expression.

The kids eagerly tore into their presents. Actually, Princess tore into hers. Little Man poked a hole in one of his, realized that there was something in there that played music, and sat there pressing the button through the hole over and over until I "helped" him finish opening his gifts.

Finally got a smile!

When all was said and done, they had each received two shirts (one from Baby Bug Boutique and one from Little Towheads), one book from Barefoot Books, and one small toy.

We gave Little Man this toy cell phone. Less than $10 at Target since it was on sale.

Princess received this toy microphone. Also on sale at Target and I think I paid under $10 for it.

At first, I felt bad. Weren't we supposed to give our kids a ton of new toys to unwrap at Christmas? Clothes and books were just supposed to be "extra" gifts, right?

But then I saw how thrilled Princess and Little Man were with their new toys. And I remembered last Christmas when they each got 5 or 6 toys to unwrap and how they didn't really play with any of them very much. It's been four days since Christmas, and they're both still carrying around their toys and playing with them all day. Neither child has said anything about how stingy Hubby and I (ok, just me since I do all the shopping) were with their gifts this year.

A realization struck me. I don't have to give my kids so many toys that they don't know what to play with just because so many other parents do. And besides, we have a lot of relatives which means a lot of other gifts for the kidlets.

So yes, I messed up Christmas because I didn't buy my kids as many gifts as I had planned. And it was the best mistake ever.

Little Man

2011-12-28T13:23:00.000-06:00

When Princess was a baby, I thought she was difficult. Several things contributed to this belief. One being that it was such a huge "culture shock" if you will, to go from life being all about me and Hubby to being all about this tiny screaming baby. Another was because Princess had problems breastfeeding. Another was the traumatic labor and delivery that took almost two months and a lot of pain pills to fully recover from. The biggest was the post partum depression that I didn't even recognize as such until someone pointed it out to me later.

I survived and when Princess was two years old, she was blessed with a baby brother.

And he made her look like a perfectly angelic baby.

He was born screaming, which most babies are, but his was a different scream. It was an angry scream that even took the doctor by surprise. Especially when he didn't stop. When I tried breastfeeding him, he almost turned blue from screaming so hard. The experienced lactation consultant who came to help me figure out how to feed this baby boy was amazed at how violently opposed to nursing he was. Extremely frustrated, she finally left my hospital room with a parting, "I don't know what to tell you, but good luck."

The first night in the hospital after Little Man was born, Hubby and I sent him to the nursery so we could get some much needed sleep. The next morning, I awoke to the sound of a baby screaming so hard that I'm surprised the poor thing was still conscious. As I came out of my groggy state, I recognized the scream (not cry) and nudged Hubby. "That's our baby. You better go get him."
Hubby looked at me in disbelief. "That has to be another baby in a room close to ours. We wouldn't be able to hear ours so well since he's in the nursery."
Nonetheless, I sent Hubby down to the nursery to bring back Little Man and sure enough, I was right.

At this point, I thought about asking the hospital what their return policy was for babies. I refrained.

When we brought Little Man home, things didn't exactly improve. It took almost a month to figure out that the only way to get him to sleep was to swaddle him so tightly that he couldn't move a muscle, throw a light blanket over his eyes, give him a pacifier, and bounce on an exercise ball until he finally stopped fighting and screaming and fell asleep an hour and a half later. Due to the amount of sleep new babies need, I spent most of my day bouncing relentlessly. His only redemption was that starting at 5 weeks old, after I'd gotten him to fall asleep at night, he would then stay asleep in his crib all night. I really looked forward to bedtime.

The breastfeeding situation didn't improve either. Because he refused to nurse (still screaming the whole time) my milk supply decreased. When he was 3 1/2 months old, a nasty bout of mastitis put an end to breastfeeding and I reluctantly decided to bottlefeed. I was pretty bummed about it at first, but as you can see by the pictures, it was obvious that Little Man wasn't getting enough to eat from nursing and, once that stressful issue was over, things got a little bit better.

Little Man at 3 months old when he was still breastfeeding. Scrawny little thing, but he still had those kissable, squishable cheeks!

Little Man at 4 months old a few weeks after we switched to bottles.

Around 4 months old, Little Man finally fell asleep in the infant swing. I had swaddled him, given him his pacifier, covered his face with a blanket and bounced him for almost three hours and he was still screaming. Finally, I put him in the swing (still swaddled), turned it on, and went outside to get some air before I lost it. When I came back inside 10 minutes later, he was sleeping. I was so happy, I cried and I might have also kissed the swing. Maybe. After that, I was able to swaddle Little Man, give him a pacifier, and put him in the swing to fall asleep. I got several lectures from well-meaning friends about how I was teaching him to be dependent on the swing for sleep. I didn't care. If I had to special order a swing that would still fit him in kindergarten, I didn't care. He was sleeping.

Between 4 and 5 months old, Little Man slowly started to improve. By 6 months old, he was the easiest baby ever and a joy to have around. It was like he'd has a complete personality change and I was finally able to enjoy being his mommy.

If you are struggling with a colicky baby, have hope. It will end eventually.

One of Those Days

2011-12-13T09:40:00.003-06:00

You know it's going to be a bad day when you go to the silverware drawer to get a spoon to stir your hot chai latte with and the drawer is empty. So you go to the dishwasher and dig through the (thankfully) clean silverware caddy and still no spoon. When you give up on real silverware and open the closet to find a plastic spoon, the whole shelf full of paper plates, styrofoam cups, plastic silverware, and assorted loose napkins falls on your head.

Yup. It's one of those days.

Christmas Traditions

2011-12-09T11:29:00.001-06:00

We mistook Princess for the Christmas tree and started decorating her instead.

We decorated for Christmas this week. A little later than usual, but I've been so busy that Christmas decorating had to be put off. Don't even ask about Christmas baking or wrapping presents.

I told Princess to put her arm around her brother. Notice how she isn't quite touching Little Man.

The kiddos' Christmas outfits made by Moi. They can be purchased here. Photography by DianeH Photography

I've always been a big one for tradition. One of my favorite Christmas traditions growing up was our family Christmas reading party. Yup. We had reading parties year round and loved it. Everyone would pick out a book (at Christmas time, we picked a Christmas book), grab some snacks and find a cozy spot in the living room to read. My kids are a little young for that yet, but I give each of them a Christmas book as a gift each Christmas just as my mom did.

Here are a few of my favorite Christmas books from when I was a child. When I moved out, my mom gave me the books I'd received over the years at Christmas to start a collection for my own children.

Here's another very special book. I received this when I was 6 years old from the ambulance crew in our town after they saved my life when I stopped breathing due to a severe asthma attack.

The captain of the ambulance crew wrote a special note in the front of the book.

My mom liked us to learn about other cultures as well so one year, this is the book I received for Christmas. It's another of my favorites.

These are some of my favorite Christmas books to read now that I'm an adult. If you haven't read anything by Karen Kingsbury, RUN to the nearest library or Christian bookstore and get one of her books NOW. You won't regret it.

Our landlady/friend gave Princess this book for Christmas a few years ago. Lisa Tawn Bergren is such a wonderful author and has a whole series like this for kids.

I keep all the Christmas books in a box under the Christmas tree along with several Nativities for the kids to play with during the Christmas season.

I found this plush finger puppet Nativity set at the Christian Book Store for half price after Christmas a few years ago. The figures fold up inside the barn and the barn itself plays Silent Night. Very cute and the kids LOVE playing with it.

I keep the other Nativity set (a miniature one like what I played with as a child) in a music box tin.

In addition to giving each of the kids a Christmas book each year, I also give them a Christmas ornament that reflects back on the past year. For instance, Princess has received a "Baby's First Christmas" ornament, a "Big Sister" ornament, and a ballerina ornament. Little Man is only on his second Christmas so last year he got a "Baby's First Christmas" ornament and this year he's receiving a guitar shaped ornament because he loves guitars so much.

What are some Christmas traditions you have with your family?

Stranger Danger?

2011-11-30T12:42:00.001-06:00

About six months ago, my previously outgoing daughter hit a new phase called "shyness". I soon perceived that it was something she was doing for attention and it was working. Then I realized how rude her behavior really was. I expect my children to respect others and use good manners. That means acknowledging when someone is speaking to you, looking them in the eye, and replying. Not fake-screaming and running behind Mommy to hide. And of course, every time she did this, the person trying to speak to her (often someone we know well) would laugh and ask her if she was shy. Yup. Thanks for giving my impressionable child a label to live up to. So, using the same tactic my mom had used on my little sister when she was young, I used every opportunity to assure Princess that she wasn't really shy and that she was just pretending. Pretending is okay sometimes, but you still need to be polite and use good manners when someone is talking to you. When someone would label her as shy in front of her, I'd pull (wrestle!) her out in front of me and tell them that she most definitely was not shy. After about a month, she was "cured" of her affliction.

Warning: I'm about to go off on a small tangent that really has nothing to do with this story, but is oh-so-helpful to know.

Kids will become whatever you tell them they are. People told Princess that she was shy so she became shy until I told her that she was not shy at which point she turned into an outgoing child. I've also noticed that when I tell Princess that she's such a good big sister and great helper, she tries even harder to be so. So, if you want your child to be obedient, tell them how good they are. If you want your child to be disobedient and disrepectful, tell him or her how naughty they are.

Okay....back to the issue at hand.

I was so proud of Princess's progress until I realized that I've created a new problem. She will now go up to a complete stranger and start telling them all about her life, our family life, where we live, what we drive, etc. Thankfully, she doesn't have our social security numbers memorized yet.

I told her that it wasn't safe to talk to strangers. Her response?
"That's okay, Mommy. First I'll tell them my name and then I'll ask them their name. Than they won't be a stranger and I can talk to them!"

I don't want her to be afraid to talk to people, including people she doesn't know very well, but she obviously needs to learn the line between too much and not enough. How do I teach her that without turning her back into a shy child who won't even look at a close friend, let alone talk to them? How do I teach her to look for me for guidance on who she can open up to and who just needs a simple hello or thank you?

Advice please!!!

Jewel of the Lion Fudge Review & Discount

2011-11-15T12:43:00.001-06:00

Back in July, I was browsing Etsy for chai flavored products. I'm kind of addicted to chai. Ok, really addicted. Anyways, I stumbled on this shop that sells chai fudge. Chai and fudge. Wow. Now that's a genius combination. I started browsing the shop and almost died when I saw the selection of fudge that Julie, the shop owner, had available. I agonized over the selection for quite a while before choosing these six flavors for a sampler pack of fudge: Bacon Maple, Banana Cream, Chai Tea, Root Beer Float, Caramel Popcorn, and Cotton Candy.

Cotton Candy Fudge

I (reluctantly) let my family sample the different flavors. Hubby, ever stoic, said the fudge was good. Everyone else swooned. The flavors were unbelievably real. My favorite was the caramel popcorn. I actually had cravings for popcorn after trying the fudge.

Caramel popcorn fudge

The customer service at Jewel of the Lion is superb as well. The fudge arrived in the mail very quickly and the vacuum sealed pieces were generous. In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have ordered fudge in July as I had to refrigerate it and wait for it to harden back up before I could open the packages.

Red Velvet Cheesecake Fudge

Julie doesn't limit her shop to just fudge (just fudge, ha!) She also makes cookies, breads, scones, muffins, and chocolate dipped items including bacon. (Do you think I could get away with having that for breakfast?)

Rootbeer Float Fudge

Here are the flavors currently for sale at Jewel of the Lion. Add this shop to your favorites on Etsy and keep on eye on it as new flavors are always popping up!

BANANA CREAM PIE
BANANA SPLIT
BOMB POP Ice Cream - Blue Raspberry & Cherry Goodness
BUBBLEGUM
BUTTERED POPCORN
CARAMEL
CHAI TEA
CANDY CORN
CARAMEL POPCORN
CARROT CAKE
CHEESECAKE With Graham Cracker Crust
Cherry CHEESECAKE With Graham Cracker Crust
Cherry Cordial with Belgian MILK or DARK Chocolate
Chocolate Covered Cherry CHEESECAKE With Oreo Cookie Crust
COKE FLOAT
COTTON CANDY
CREME BRULEE
CREME DE MENTHE
CREME SODA
DARK Chocolate CHIPOTLE
DR. PEPPER
DRUMSTICK with Sugar Cone Crust, Chocolate Lining, & Peanut Topping
FRUIT PUNCH
GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE
GOOD 'N PLENTY - Black Liquorice & Vanilla Goodness
GRASSHOPPER PIE w/Oreo Crust
GREEN TEA
Holiday EGGNOG
Jamocha Almond FUDGE with Waffle Cone Crust
JUST Chocolate
KEY LIME PIE w/Graham Cracker Crust
LEMON DROP MARTINI
LEMON MERINGUE PIE with Nilla Wafer Crust & Handmade Meringue Cookie
MAI TAI
Milk Chocolate Maple BACON
MILK CHOCOLATE ORANGE
MUDSLIDE PIE w/Oreo Crumbles, Caramel Drizzles & Belgian Milk Chocolate
NEOPOLITAN
NUTTER BUTTER PIE w/Nutter Butter Cookie Crust & Peanut Butter Fudge
ORANGE CREAMSICLE
PEACHES & CREAM
PEANUT BUTTER
PEANUT BUTTER & JELLY
PEANUT BUTTER CUP
PEANUT Butter Swirl
PECAN Pie with Graham Cracker Crust & Pure Vermont Maple Syrup
Peppermint Chips
PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN Cake
PINA COLADA
PISTACHIO ICE CREAM
PUMPKIN
PUMPKIN PATCH - Dark Chocolate & Bourbon Vanilla with Candy Pumpkin
RED LICORICE
RED VELVET CAKE
ROCKY ROAD
ROOTBEER FLOAT
S'MORES PIE w/Graham Cracker Crust
SOUR APPLE
STRAWBERRY CHAMPAGNE
Strawberry CHEESECAKE With Graham Cracker Crust
TEQUILA SUNRISE
TOFFEE CHIPS
WATERMELON
White Chocolate BLACKBERRY Swirl
White Chocolate BUTTERSCOTCH Swirl
White Chocolate RASPBERRY Swirl

Good grief. I think I just gained 5 pounds.

Julie was kind enough to offer my readers a coupon code for 10% off of etsy orders. Just use the code "FEATURE10" at checkout.

Watermelon Fudge

What flavor(s) would you love to try?

Winner of the $10 Baby Bug Boutique Gift Certificate

2011-11-15T09:39:00.001-06:00

Thank you to all who entered the giveaway for the $10 gift certificate for Baby Bug Boutique!
Using random.org, I drew a winner and that winner is.......
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Alison Reinhart!

Congratulations, Alison! I will be emailing you shortly with details.

Priceless Treasure

2011-11-09T12:35:00.000-06:00

Imagine that one day, God reaches down from heaven and gives you a treasure. Not just any little old treasure, but a treasure that will make you richer than the richest man in the world. A treasure that is so great that its value is unfathomable. This treasure will drastically change your life.

What would your reaction be? Would you try to give it back? Would you ask God to take it back because you're not ready for the responsibility of being the steward of this treasure? Would you tell Him that it's too heavy for you to carry and you don't really want it because it will become a burden?

Or would you happily accept this priceless treasure with joy in your heart, knowing that, if God gives it to you, He will also help you care for it?

Psalm 127:3-5 "Behold, children are a gift from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate."

I've spoken to a lot of people who don't want more than one or two children. I understand that God gives some people a desire for a small family and others a desire for a larger family, but the reasons given for wanting a small family are often selfish reasons. One of the reasons I hear most is financial strain. They say they can't afford more kids. Not a single person I've heard use this reason is anywhere near poverty. If they have another child, it will not mean rationing food and worrying about becoming homeless. What it does mean is no new electronic toys this year. It means shopping at thrift stores instead of department stores for clothes and toys. It means driving a used vehicle instead of a new one or not trading up your vehicle for a newer model. But would you rather have a worldly "blessing" or a God-given one?

It saddens me when I see a parent being asked whether they plan to have more children and answering with an incredulous laugh. They eye their children from across the room and reply that the ones they have are more than enough. Hopefully, their children don't ever hear them respond in that way. How do you think it makes the child feel to hear that their parents see them as so much work, so much trouble, that they don't want any more kids like them?

I'm not saying that everyone should have a large family. Obviously, God has a different plan for each family. What I'm saying is that we need to stop using selfish excuses to turn down blessings from God. Children are not a burden. They are a precious gift.

Baby Bug Boutique-Review and Giveaway

2011-11-07T16:23:00.002-06:00

Shortly after I discovered the world of Facebook boutiques, I stumbled on Baby Bug Boutique. Since then, I've placed orders several times (and been thrilled with the results!) and have become friends with the owner, Jessica.

Jessica is so sweet and easy to work with. She goes above and beyond to ensure the customers' satisfaction and is always coming up with new innovative products to make moms' lives easier.

Jessica first started sewing when she was pregnant with her second child. Due to a high-risk pregnancy, she had lost her job so she was looking for a hobby to keep her busy. Money was tight and so, when she saw something she wanted for her children in the store, but couldn't afford it, she was able to design the pattern to make it at home. She also began to make baby things as gifts for friends and family. From there, her business blossomed. She did her first craft show when her son was just 2 weeks old with her dad's help. Several people there told her that her items were much better and more unique that what they were able to find in a store. She started a binder with ideas for new products and likes to put her own twist on what she makes. She now has three children who keep her busy and inspire her to create new things.

Jessica sells ready-made items and does custom orders. She also stays busy with local craft shows. You can visit her Facebook page or browse her ecrater store to see what she has to offer. She also added an embroidery machine to her shop recently and can customize just about any product.

Here are some of the products you can find at Baby Bug Boutique:

Animal Loveys. I gave my son a sock monkey animal lovey for his birthday and both Little Man and Princess love playing with it!

Car Seat Canopies. Great for protecting your little one!

Trash Stash Bags for your car. You could also use these to store toys, kleenex, diapers, etc. in your car so they're not all over the floor.

Crayon Totes. Perfect for in the car, at restaurants, etc. Store crayons and paper in the tote and your child can carry it him/herself with the fun handle.

Crinkle Clip On Lovey. Babies just love the crinkly sounds, soft minky backing, and colorful ribbon tags. Slide a toy link through one of the ribbon loops and clip it onto a stroller or carseat so it doesn't get lost.

First Aid To Go Pouch. These have a clear vinyl front so you can see what you have at a glance. No diaper bag or purse should be without one of these!

I Spy bags. Each bag has an assortment of tiny objects for children to find and comes with a laminated list of what is inside, and a loop that the list is attached to on a key ring.

Nap mat. These have a soft pillow with a blanket on top. Perfect for kindergarten, sleepovers, etc.

Prayer Pillows. These have a pocket on the front that a New Testament can slide into. You can also write prayer requests down on paper and store them in the pocket.

Reusable Snack Bags. I use ours almost every day for Princess's allergy-free snacks, Hubby's lunchpail snacks, and snack for church and outings.

Tidy Tote Bag. These have a waterproof vinyl lining and are great for stashing wet or dirty diapers, bibs, and clothing while you're out.

Baby Bug Boutique is not just for babies! She also carries a full line of vendor and direct sales products!

Other products not pictured: Crib bedding, Mama Cloths (reusable menstrual pads), diaper and tote bags, reusable baby wipes, shopping cart covers, ribbon loveys, birth record blankets and pillows, Cushy Tushy Cases (to carry diapers and wipes), nursing covers, tooth fairy pillows, crayon rolls, diaper wreaths, coupon holders, applique and embroidered shirts and onesies, burp cloths, hot and cold packs, quilts and blankets, chalk mats, baby or toddler silverware holders, pacifier clips, Ipad or Macbook covers, photo quilts, reusable breast pads (for breastfeeding mothers), business card holders, baby slings, gift baskets, coupon carriers, changing pads, cloth diapers, nursing pillow covers, washcloths, and pillowcases

You can enter to win a $10 gift certificate to Baby Bug Boutique!
To enter the giveaway, go here .
For one entry apiece (up to 5 total):

Like the Baby Bug Boutique Facebook page
Become a follower of the Baby Bug Boutique blog
Leave a comment on this blog telling us about your favorite Baby Bug Boutique product.
Become a follower of this blog
Like the Supermommy!...Or Not page on Facebook.

A winner will be selected via random.org on Monday, November 14th at 8:30 pm central time and will be announced on the blog. The winner will be emailed and will have 2 weeks to claim their prize.

Random Romanticisms

2011-11-04T23:00:00.001-05:00

Hubby and I celebrated our 5th anniversary back in September. Actually, we didn't really celebrate, it just kind of slipped by with a quick exchange of cards. Hubby was busy helping someone move so he didn't have time to do anything else. Since then, he's been too busy harvesting to stop so I'm still waiting for him to slow down so I can kidnap him for a real date. Seriously, our last date was on our 4th wedding anniversary and before that....I can't even remember when the time before that was.

Lucky for Hubby, I'm not a terribly romantic person. Oh sure, I cry over chick flicks and at weddings. I love romance, but the big gestures are not what get me (although I most certainly wouldn't turn them down!) It's the little things that turn me to mush.

Like several weeks ago when Hubby, on his own accord, swept and mopped the kitchen floor. For the first time ever. He mopped so hard that he broke my mop. And I did not care, because it was the. most. romantic. thing. ever.

Or when he takes the garbage up to the dumpster so I don't have to do it. Seeing him do that turns my knees weak.

One of the most romantic things he does is be a dad to our two beautiful children. Watching a big manly man take care of a tiny baby or roughhouse on the floor with his energetic children...*Blissful sigh*

We dated for four years before he popped the question. I knew he wasn't terribly romantic even back then, but I was okay with it. He did make a point to try to call me every night, but with his busy schedule at work and The Farm, our dates were usually limited to him taking me to church and church activities. I knew that his route on his way home from work everyday took him by the library so, more than once, I would sit on the library steps just hoping to get a glimpse of him as he drove by, his mind too focused what needed to be done at the farm that evening to notice me. Pathetic? Probably. But just seeing him brightened my day.

And then, one night he asked if he could come over to my apartment with a movie to celebrate my birthday. My birthday wasn't for another month, but, as it falls right in the middle of the spring planting season, he said he wanted to celebrate while he still could take the time to. Red heart shaped flags planted themselves in my mind as I nonchalantly agreed. I had suspicions about what he was planning, but I didn't let myself think about it too much in case I was wrong. That night, he showed up at my door with a small gift bag and a copy of "Sweet Home Alabama" I put the gift bag on the table to open later and noted how heavy it was. Too heavy for a ring. My heart sank a little, but I was still determined to enjoy this time spent alone with him. We had made plans to go out for supper, but the only nice-ish restaurant in town was packed so we picked up to-go meals at the bowling alley and returned to my apartment to watch the dvd. Halfway through the movie, he paused it and asked if I'd like to open my gift now. Why not? I reached into the bag and pulled out......a rock. No, not that kind of rock. A real rock, from the driveway. Ooooookay. My mind was going in a million different directions as he laughed and told me that it was only there to throw me off. I can clearly remember how I felt when I pulled out a small black velvet jewelry box and opened it, half expecting another necklace. It wasn't. He looked nervous as he asked, "Will you? Will you marry me?" And there was absolutely no question in my mind as to the answer.

By the way...we finished the movie after that, but I had to re-watch it later because I pretty much missed the last half due to extreme excitement and calling everyone I knew (and some people I didn't) to tell them the good news. This is one of my favorite movies now.

Mexican Meatloaf

2011-11-03T12:26:00.002-05:00

I found a recipe for Mexican Meatloaf in one of my cookbooks and decided to modify it a bit for our family. Hubby took one bite last night and informed me that the recipe is a keeper!

Here's the recipe!
*Note-I don't measure when I'm cooking so all measurements are estimates. Feel free to add more or less of an ingredient if desired.
**This recipe makes 2 bread pan sized meatloafs (meatloaves?). Eat one for supper and freeze the other one for another meal!

Ingredients:
2 pounds of hamburger, thawed
1 envelope of taco seasoning
1/2 cup of taco sauce
1 can of corn
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 cups of cheddar cheese, divided
2 eggs, beaten (or you can be lazy/smart like me and beat them as you're adding them to the meatloaf mixture.)
3/4 cups bread crumbs (start with a little less and gradually add more until the meat is the right consistency)

Combine the hamburger, taco seasoning, taco sauce, corn, tomatoes, eggs, and 1 1/2 cups of cheese in a bowl. When mixed well, add the bread crumbs until the mixture is the right consistency. Divide in half and shape each half into loaf form in an ungreased bread pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until center is no longer pink (Don't you just hate it when recipes tell you to do that? How am I supposed to know if the center is pink unless I dig the middle out?) Sprinkle the reserved 1/2 cup of cheese on top and bake just until melted. Watch it closely or you'll end up with browned crispy cheese on top like I did. Serve with sour cream and lettuce if desired.

A Few Moments of Peace

2011-11-02T13:25:00.001-05:00

As I finish pouring milk for the kids' supper, I realize it's been over 8 hours since I last visited a bathroom. Noting their content expressions as they munch on their food, I decide that now would be a good time to make a trip.

I close the bathroom door. I don't lock it. That would just be silly, right?

I haven't stepped one foot away from the door when there's a little knock.

Princess: "Mommy! Mommy!"

Me: *Sigh* "What do you need?"

Princess: "I need you!!"

Me: "Right now?!?!"

Princess: " Yes, I need to tell you something."

Me: *Realizes that she's not going anywhere until I hear her out* "What do you need to tell me?"

Princess: *Thoughtful silence* "Ummmmmmmmmmmmm....."

Me: "Can it wait until I'm at least out of the bathroom?"

Princess: *Horrified as if she thinks I plan on spending the rest of the week hiding in the bathroom. It's a nice thought, actually* "No! I need to tell you now!"

Me: *Reluctantly* "Okay, what is it then?"

Princess: "Ummmmmmmmm.....ummmmmmmmmm.......ummmmmmmmmmm....did you know that if your head falls off, it will hurt?!?"

Me: *Slightly sarcastic tone which goes right over Princess's head* "No, really?"

Princess: *Lets herself into the bathroom so I can hear the gruesome facts a little better. Thankfully, by this time, I'm heading to the sink to wash my hands, eliminating all those awkward questions* "And did you know that it will bounce on the floor?!?!?"

Me: "Yup. I did. Now go finish your supper."

Sigh. So much for a few moments of peace.

Fun Stuff From Pinterest

2011-11-01T16:56:00.003-05:00

Here's some fun stuff I've found on Pinterest lately.


Candy Cane Blossoms. I will definitely be making these cute cookies this year.

Autographed picture from a Disney character. if you write a letter to a character at Disney (Walt Disney World Communications P.O. Box 10040 Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-0040), they will send you an autographed photo back. Gotta try this with Annakate-she would go nuts!

If you've seen my control journal, then you know I love the versatility of page protectors and dry erase markers. Print off your own preschool activity sheets and put them in a binder. Wipe clean and use again and again!

Letter Box. Cut letters off of food boxes before you throw away and store in a travel wipes case. If the letters get lost or ruined, not problem! Just cut some more.

Fondant made from marshmallows. I love using fondant for decorating cakes and cookies, but it's so expensive plus it's hard to find the right colors. Now I can make my own fondant at home!

Quiet time boxes. Find some quiet toys and activities (read: nothing with blaring music or annoying lights) and divide into 5 boxes. When it's time for your too-old-for-naps child to rest, give them a box to take in their room. Keeps them entertained and quiet!

I'd love to see some fun things you've found on Pinterest lately! Post a link to the pin in the comments section below.

31 Days-Days 30 & 31

2011-10-31T17:03:00.002-05:00

Last day already! This month has gone by way too quickly.

After a full month of using my control journal, my house is not perfect, but it's better. So much better.

"Before" picture of computer desk aka home office

"After" picture of computer desk aka home office. Still needs work, but it's getting there!

"Before" picture of the end of the hallway between the two bedrooms

"After" picture of the end of the hallway. The vacuum is no longer just a decoration as I use it every Monday when I do my daily checklist. Do you see the little hand in the bottom right hand corner of the picture? Little Man was following me around when I took the pictures.

"Before" picture of the kids' room. *Shudder*

"After" picture of the kids' room. *Blissful sigh*

"Before" picture of the kitchen counter

"After" picture of the kitchen counter. All the kids' craft and activity stuff is stored in the corner next to the fridge.

The bathroom. I need to learn photoshop so I can add some "sparkles" to show how clean and shiny it is.

The master bedroom (haha). Little Man ran past me just as I took the picture. You can tell what side of the bed is mine...I'm always cold and Hubby is always hot. So I have exactly 6 layers on my side while Hubby has only 3. And he's usually still too hot while I'm shivering.

The great expanse of living room floor. Is that Little Man again? Sneaky little boy...

My "Hot Spot", the coffee table. I plan on buying a basket to put the newpapers, mail, etc. in to make it look a little neater. I didn't get a before picture of this, but imagine the whole table covered in papers, toys, books, junk, etc.

You wouldn't think that having a clean house would change your life, but it's most definitely changed mine.

Thanks to the Flylady system, I can walk across the living room floor without feeling like I'm running an obstacle course. I can get up in the middle of the night to comfort a crying child without worrying about stepping on anything or turning on lights to make sure the floor is clear. I can get my house looking pretty much spotless in less than 20 minutes. I can have visitors over at little to no notice and be completely relaxed and comfortable rather than embarrassed. I can spend more time playing with my kids because A: there's room to spread out and actually play now and B: I'm not spending so much time stressing over the mess and trying futilely to clean it. I can look forward to Hubby coming home from work so much more now because I don't feel guilty that he's coming home to a mess. I can sit down and read a book without feeling like I should be cleaning something because it's already done. I don't freak out over messes that the kids make because, instead of just making a disaster even worse, now it's just one mess that can be quickly cleaned up. My stress level has gone way down and I don't yell at the kids over little things like I used to do. I don't start arguments with Hubby like before because I'm so much happier now.

How has cleaning your house changed your life?

31 Days-Day 29

2011-10-29T18:51:00.000-05:00

I had a craft show today from 9-3. My younger sister, came with me to help me carry (read: carry everything for me while I sit around and look pretty) all the boxes in and out of the venue so I wouldn't hurt my back worse than it is already.

Little Sis came home with me to spend the night and help out since I've got so much to do tonight. When we walked in, I apologized for the mess. She gave me a funny look and said, "What mess?" Hehe. That's why I apologized. To make her notice how clean it was. It worked.

I made Kiddie Trail Mix yesterday. It was really complicated and took me hours to perfect. Actually, it took me, like, 30 seconds to dump everything in a container and shake it up.
First I threw some cheerios in an air tight container. I didn't measure because, well, I just don't do that unless it's absolutely necessary. Then I added dried pineapple, colored marshmallows, and chocolate chips. I plan to add raisins and sunflower seeds when I get around to buying them. Because Princess can't have regular chocolate chips (allergies to gluten, dairy, eggs, and nuts, remember?) I made her a separate batch in a different container with her special dairy-free, gluten-free chocolate chips.
The kids love the stuff especially since it's got pretty colors and chocolate in it.

Are you looking forward to your day off from cleaning tomorrow? A day off from cleaning doesn't mean that you just drop stuff on the floor and walk away. Picking up after yourself should become a habit that you automatically do. A day off means that you skip the daily routines and take it easy.
Have fun!

31 Days-Days 27 & 28

2011-10-28T21:32:00.000-05:00

I finished my weekly zone, the bathroom, yesterday (Thursday, whoop, whoop!). So nice to have that done.

Today, I worked on laundry. I didn't get it all done though so I'll have to finish it tomorrow evening when I get done with my craft show. I've noticed that doing laundry really makes my back start hurting again. I'm guessing it has something to do with carrying heavy baskets up and down a flight of stairs, making a second trip upstairs to drag a screaming child back down to our half of the house (they really like going upstairs to see our landlady and her dog. She gives them skittles) and leaning repeatedly into the washer and dryer to remove clothing. Not sure what to do about this though. It's not like anyone is volunteering to do my laundry for me...are they? *Hint, hint*

My mom posted this cartoon on my dad's facebook wall today. My dad is a banjo player and proud of it and we like to pick on him. Lovingly, of course. Okay, we actually get kind of mean sometimes.

This made me laugh.

Little Man loves playing with my pins when I'm pinning my sewing projects. Today, he dumped them all out on the floor and oh-so-carefully picked them up and put them back in the little plastic box. Then he dumped them back out. He spent a good half hour playing with my pins. And he never once poked himself. He did, however, poke his sister a few times. Let's just say that that didn't go over well.

A month ago, I could never have posted a picture like this because this floor would've been strewn with toys. I see the kids' toy broom laying in front of the fireplace, but that's it. Makes me so warm and fuzzy to see the carpet.

I made stuffed crust pizza and pizza breadsticks for supper on Thursday. Yummmmmm. My secret? String cheese.

For the pizza, make your pizza crust like normal and then cut string cheese sticks into thirds. Arrange the string cheese around the outer edge of the crust.

You can put your string cheese closer together than this. I was running out so I had to stretch mine out so it would go all the way around the pizza.

Next, fold the crust over the string cheese and pinch closed.

All tucked in and ready for toppings!

Make the pizza the way you normally do and enjoy!

I forgot to get a picture of the cheesy breadsticks, but you basically use the same technique as you did with the pizza. Use refrigerated crescent roll dough and pinch two triangles together to form a rectangle. Put a whole piece of string cheese in the center and roll the dough around the cheese. Pinch the edges closed. Brush with butter and sprinkle with garlic salt before baking. So easy and completely calorie and fat free! Or so I keep telling myself.

31 Days-Day 26

2011-10-26T22:28:00.000-05:00

Guess what?!?! I finally checked every single thing off my Morning Routine list!

I erased all my neat little checkmarks and then realized that I hadn't taken a picture. As uploading a new picture takes 2 cameras, a photo-editing software, and 11 minutes to complete, I decided to skip it and just use the picture I took at the beginning of the month. Lazy...or smart?

At the beginning of the month, I told you that I wasn't checking "Do sit-ups/10 min. of exercise" off the list because I had just hurt my back. After procrastinating for a while even though my back was feeling much better, I finally decided to just bite the bullet and exercise. And it wasn't as bad as I thought it was. Plus, I got to see a completely checked off list with no gaps this morning. What a great feeling. I'm hoping to give myself a flatter stomach by my birthday next May. Ha! We'll see how that goes.

My list for Wednesday includes cleaning out the refrigerator. I gotta be honest with you...I almost didn't do it. I saw it on my list and thought to myself, "Self, you don't really want to clean out the fridge. Just skip it til next week."
But then I slapped myself in the face a few times, got in my face like a drill sergeant, and chewed myself out, "Self, just do it! Get in there and clean that fridge out!"

Never one to disobey a direct order from the higher-ups, I cleaned out the fridge. It took me less than 4 minutes. I had to throw out three things that, if left in there another week, would've been much more...unpleasant to dispose of.
What I'm saying here is that if you find yourself thinking about procrastinating or trying to talk yourself out of doing something, just do it anyways. You will feel so much better afterwards and it probably won't be half as bad as you thought it would be.

31 Days-Day 25

2011-10-25T18:22:00.002-05:00

Today has been a pretty good day. On Tuesdays, I spend 30 minutes in the weekly zone (the bathroom) and in that 30 minutes, I got everything done on my list for the bathroom except for going through the cabinets. It makes me feel so happy to see all those little check marks next to my list. *blissful sigh*

The house was pretty clean, but then while Princess was playing with her "rice pan" she spilled rice all over the kitchen floor. I have yet to sweep it up, but I have plans to do that during the kids' supper.

In case you were wondering, a rice pan is a pan filled with rice to play in. I use a cake pan about half full of rice and some measuring cups, funnels, and miscellaneous toys to play with in it. When I was growing up, we had a "beach pan" filled with white sand that my mom brought back to Minnesota from when our family lived in Florida for a few years. We had such a blast playing with that when we were little. My mother-in-law has something similar for the grandkids to play with at her house. She filled an under-the-bed plastic container with feed corn (farmers, remember?) and little tractors and shovels. The kids absolutely love playing in it and since it's a bigger container, several of them can play at once.

This is an example of a rice play box. I put mine on top of a cookie sheet when Princess plays with it to make clean up easy.


Right now, our rice box is plain and boring. As soon as I remember to buy some more food coloring, I'm going to be dying our rice! Here's some easy instructions for dying your own.

I ordered this closet organizer from the Lakeside Collection catalogue to set up next to my sewing machine. I really need a place to hang clothes when I get done making them plus this rack has lots of shelf space for my overflowing fabric collection. It came in the mail today so my trusty screwdriver and I assembled it ourselves. Yay for extra storage space!

31 Days-Days 23 & 24

2011-10-24T20:29:00.001-05:00

I thought about blogging yesterday and then I made a deliberate decision not to. Sundays are a family day for us so I usually don't even turn on the computer. And I feel that I deserve just one lazy day a week.

After being gone all day Thursday, getting ready for the craft show on Friday, and then being gone most of Saturday and Sunday, my house was a mess. It never ceases to amaze me how the house mysteriously makes a mess of itself while you're not home.

I flew through my morning routine today and then started the Monday routine which for me is spending an hour "blessing" my home. Even with my house messier than usual, it still only took me the allotted hour. And that was with two adorable munchkins following behind me to undo things as I did them.

Little Man sneaked into the bathroom while I was cleaning the tub and stuck his hand in the steaming hot water coming from the faucet. I didn't realize he was in there next to me until I heard him whimper. I turned to find him shaking his wet hand in the air and staring at it in shock. Thankfully, he didn't get burned or scalded, it was just hotter than he was used to.

Another thing on my list today was to make the weekly menu plan and do the grocery shopping. The grocery shopping was interesting, thanks to Princess's big mouth. There were several Amish ladies shopping with their young children and Princess had lots of questions. Lots of awkward questions asked loudly, within earshot of the Amish. Not quite sure why she was so curious today as she's seen lots of Amish around town, and when we set up a booth at the local farmer's market, she made friends with the Amish at the booths across from us. I tried to field her questions as best I could while being respectful of the Amish culture.

Just when I thought we were done with questions, a large man passed us. Just as he was next to our cart, sweet Princess, ever observant, loudly asked, "Mommy, why does that man have such a big tummy?"

I almost crawled beneath our cart at that point.

You know what's really cute? She asked me that same question this morning as I was emptying the dishwasher. Thank you, my dear child, for pointing out that the baby tummy hasn't been disappearing as quickly as I would've liked. At least this time, she asked me this at home. Last time, that question came up, it was at the dinner table at my in-laws when there was a sudden lull in the conversation.

Tomorrow's task is to spend 30 minutes in the weekly zone which is the bathroom. What's your zone this week?

31 Days-Day 22

2011-10-22T21:53:00.000-05:00

So according to my control journal (that nifty 3 ring binder book with all the lists that we put together at the beginning of the month), Saturday is the day to clean out the van and my purse. I did clean out my purse, but the van...not so much. I had a craft show today (and one last Saturday, and another one next Saturday) so the back of my van is full of my boutique stuff. But I did pick up the garbage and toys that had accumulated in the van over the last week. So I guess it is clean, just not empty. I didn't get a chance to finish my list of chores for my weekly zone, but I got most of it done and, although tomorrow starts another week, I do plan on doing a few more things on the list for the living room.

Technically, starting tomorrow, my weekly zone is the bathroom. This one will be pretty easy which is good because I have about 8 tutus, 14 pairs of ruffle pants, 10 ruffle skirts, a skort, 6 applique shirts, 2 dresses, and 2 pairs of bloomers to make next week. And, crazy as I am, I'm looking forward to all that sewing because I seriously love doing it. I just wish I had more time in the day. I know other work-at-home moms stay up late every night to work after the kids go to bed, but that's really not my thing. First of all, I kinda like spending time with Hubby. Shhhhhh, don't tell anyone, but I, like, have a major crush on him. Secondly, I need sleep. And lots of it. If I don't get at least 7 hours a night, I crash and burn. And it's not pretty.

The reason the bathroom will be an easy room to deep clean is because I deep cleaned it last month when I actually started using my control journal. Yes, I know. I cheated. I should've started the same time everyone else did, but I had no idea I was going to be doing the 31 Day blog challenge until...34 minutes before I published my first post. So no Before and After pictures of the bathroom (like you'd want to see them anyways, right?), but I will post some pictures of my clean shiny bathroom next week anyways so you can see what yours will look like when you're done.

31 Days-Day 21

2011-10-21T22:45:00.001-05:00

Can you believe how close we are to the end of the 31 days already? Only 10 days left!

Today, I'm going to share some cleaning and organization tips I use.

The cardinal rule of a clean house: Pick up after yourself. And if you have to, pick up after family members too. I do expect Princess to clean up after herself most of the time, but Little Man is still figuring this stuff out and Hubby, well...I've pretty much given up on that idea, so I do clean up after "the boys"

If you have little girls, put a shoe bag over their bedroom door and use it to store and organize their hair accessories.

On that same thought, just go ahead and buy an over-the-door shoe bag for each door in your house. Keep shampoo, soap, etc. in the one in the bathroom. Organize belts, scarves, and accessories in the bedroom shoe bag. Hang one up in the pantry to store snacks, spices, etc. Put an extra door in your craft room just so you can hang several in there as they're the perfect way to organize ribbons and other crafting supplies.
Go here to see other uses for over-the-door shoe bags.

Keep a dry erase/corkboard on your refrigerator to write down what you're out of while you're still thinking of it. Or, if you don't want to have to transfer the list over to a piece of paper that you can take with you to the store, type up a list of what you usually keep in the pantry with some blank spaces for other things. Then just print it off and keep a fresh list on your refrigerator so you can check things on the list as you see the need. Below is an example.

That's it for today! Keep up the good work :)

31 Days-Days 19 & 20

2011-10-20T20:31:00.000-05:00

My Brain
Definition: Something that weighs my head down so it doesn't float away like a helium balloon. Not to be mistaken for a useful tool for thinking and remembering things.
Synonyms: Useless, counterproductive, ineffective.
Antonyms: Helpful, cogitating device, useful in any situation.

Ever feel like you're a broken record? I forgot to blog yesterday. Yup. Realized it while I was falling asleep in my nice warm bed last night. I thought about getting up and blogging quick before midnight. But I didn't. Moving on...

I dutifully did my morning routine and the Wednesday routine yesterday. I also did some work on my zone which is the living room. One of my friends was over visiting, and I put her to work helping me swap out the kids' toys and books for the ones I had put away. It was like Christmas at my house when the kids got up from their naps. The little dears dumped everything out on the floor. And here's the fun part. It's all still there. I did not clean today. At all. I had a doctor's appointment this morning in a town an hour and a half away from here, and if I'm going to be in The Big City with all them fancy stores and such, I'm going to get my monthly stockpile shopping done. We live in a very small town (pop: 1426) that is 45 minutes away from the closest superstore so about once a month, I spend all day in The City stocking up on junk...I mean stuff we need and can't buy where we live.

My mom and Princess came with me today. Little Man, in true boy fashion, hates shopping with a passion so I generally leave him behind with one of my sisters. We found some good stuff today.

Dairy Free-Gluten Free chocolate chips for Princess! My little chocolate lover about died when she saw these. We found them at a Food Coop.

Guitar shaped cake pan for Little Man's birthday. I didn't buy it today, but am so thrilled that I know where to get one now! Guess what the theme for his second birthday is going to be? I have almost all the details planned out and his birthday isn't until May. Have I mentioned I tend to be a little OCDish at times?

Zebra print sugar sheets for decorating cakes! How cool is this?!?! I had no idea how I was going to make Princess's birthday cake (Not until January. I know, I know...) for her zebra themed birthday party. This will make it so easy.

Eric Carle shirt for $9 at Target! I'm a sucker for anything Eric Carle so I had to get this shirt for Little Man!

Also at Target, a hot pink Cat in the Hat shirt with zebra accents!! Princess's favorite color, her favorite print (zebra), and one of her favorite books, all rolled into one adorable shirt.

White chocolate candy corn M&Ms. Have you tried these? I mean, really. Have you?!?! They are yummy! And very sweet, so don't eat too many at once. Totally wish I'd have gotten more than one bag since the next time I get to Walmart, they won't have these anymore. FYI, if you want to be my favoritest reader of all time, you can email me for my address so you can send me a few dozen bags. Just sayin'

31 Days-Days 17 & 18

2011-10-18T21:22:00.002-05:00

Hmmm, I seem to have missed another day. This blogging for 31 days straight thing is harder than I thought it would be. But I'm still truckin' along and I'm going to make it to October 31st, even if I miss a day here or there.

I feel a little guilty because my house was a little messy today and yesterday. I'm supposed to be helping everyone else conquer their messes and get their houses clean this month, and here I am setting a bad example.

Let's spin this a little though. *Climbs up onto a soapbox and gets all inspirational-ish* I'm here to say that even if you slip off the wagon a little or fall off completely and get run over by said wagon, you can get back on! Don't lose heart and don't beat yourself up. Lasso that wagon and reel it back so you can climb back on.

Okay, enough with the western cliches.

But seriously, though. If you slip up, it's fine. I slipped up quite a bit, but this evening, after about 30 minutes of catch-up cleaning, things are looking pretty good around here too. Actually, what prompted me to do a quick clean of the house was the loss of a spool of white thread which I kinda need to finish my sewing projects. I got things cleaned up, but I still didn't find it so I'm thinking that an angel faced cherub may have misappropriated it to some random place where I'll find it in several months while doing some deep cleaning.

My plan for tomorrow is to change out the kids' toys and books with the ones in storage in their bedroom closet and clean the sliding glass door in the living room (my zone this week!). To be honest, I haven't cleaned the sliding glass door since...well...ever. There are fingerprints and smudges on there from when Princess first crawled over to bang on the glass with her drooly little fingers. She's now almost four. Up until now, I've put it off by telling myself that it's a "memory door" with all of its little fingerprints and nose smudges. Pathetic, I know.

What's your plan for tomorrow?

31 Days-Day 16

2011-10-16T19:54:00.001-05:00

See this cute little innocent face?

That cute little innocent face is a master of torture.

This dear child didn't sleep well last night. To really make things interesting, he didn't keep me up all night either though. Oh no. From midnight to 4 am, he woke up crying every half hour or so...right after I'd fallen back into a good sleep. It's one thing to just stay up for several hours at night to comfort a crying child. It's another thing completely when said child is considerate enough to wait until you've fallen, exhausted, into bed and just started dreaming again before kicking off another round of nighttime unhappiness. We were not happy campers last night. No matter what I did, he would not stay asleep. You'd think I would've gotten smart after the first 5 or so times and would've just stayed awake. But I was pathetically optimistic that this would be the time he'd stay asleep until morning. I checked everything possible and the kid did not appear to be sick or injured which kinda irritated me because if you're gonna keep Mama up all night, you better have a good reason to do so. Because Mama likes her sleep.

I need to pause here to give Hubby props. He got up almost half the time with Little Man and was awake as much as I was last night. And he wasn't half as cranky as I was this morning.

Around 4 am, Little Man finally passed out for the rest of the night and I was able to get a few hours of sleep before getting up for church in the morning.

Here comes the kicker. During church, I noticed that Little Man's right ear was crusty and draining fluid. That's right. I got served a heaping plate of Mommy Guilt. The poor baby had had an ear infection during the night. He's done this about six other times and each time, the only indication that anything was wrong was that he cried a lot during the night. The next day, I'd arrive at the overdue diagnosis that he had had an ear infection the night before when I realized that his ear was draining. I'm thinking I need to bring this up at his next well-baby check up. Bad mommy that I am, I don't see the need to spend $35 to bring him in to the doctor after his ear infection is better.

Changing gears...

What is your zone this week? Mine is the living room/hallway. I didn't quite get everything crossed off my list for my zone last week, which was the kitchen, but that doesn't bother me. I'll just start with that stuff next time.

31 Days-Days 14 & 15

2011-10-15T19:24:00.001-05:00

Whoops, I missed another day! I promise not to make this a habit.

Yesterday (Day 14) I was super busy getting ready for my first craft show/expo for the season. I've changed my display and inventory enough that I had to revamp the whole thing. I didn't get as much inventory ready for the show as I was hoping, but I had enough especially since I knew this one would be a slow one. It was. I had one sale today for less than the cost of the table. But I kinda had to be there, my sister-in-law and I were the ones putting on the event. Woulda looked bad if I hadn't shown up. But even though it was pretty slow, it was good warmup for the next 5 shows since now I know what does and doesn't work with my new display.

Wasn't I supposed to be talking about cleaning my house? Oh yeah. Sorry, I got sidetracked. This is the first time that's ever happened, by the way. I think.

So yeah. Not much cleaning happening at my house the last few days. I've done the morning routine and a few other things and that's been enough to keep my house acceptable. Next week isn't looking so hot either as I have about 8 orders that need to ship by Tuesday. On Wednesday, a very good friend of mine who I don't get to see very much is coming over (and I'm not freaking out about the state of my house because it's not that bad!), Thursday, I'll be at a dr appointment and then doing the monthly stockpile shopping. Friday, I'll be getting ready for another craft show.

By the way, I am totally addicted to Pinterest. Just a little over a week, and I have close to 400 pins. *hangs head in shame*

What have you accomplished in the last few days? What was your weekly zone this past week? If you've fallen behind in anything, don't worry! Just keep trying to accomplish your morning and bedtime routines, daily work, and weekly zone work every day. If you don't get it today, there's always tomorrow. As the great Flylady says," Don't try to catch up, just jump in where you are."

31 Days-Day 13

2011-10-13T18:37:00.000-05:00

Happy Thursday, everyone!

Another good side effect of keeping my house clean...last night, I offered to babysit for a friend. I didn't even think twice, even though she would be dropping off her little girl the next morning. There were a few miscellaneous things that needed to be done to get the living room and kitchen before she came, but it was no big deal because I knew it would take me literally 5 minutes to get it up to par during my morning routine. So this morning, when she dropped her daughter off, I was relaxed and ready for company.

I feel I should either wax eloquent or humorous, but to be honest, I'm just not feeling it tonight. It's been a good day with a lot of sewing accomplished and Little Man being exceedingly adorable. I found my Swedish wedding crown last night. It was crammed into a corner of my closet beneath some clothes that Princess had pulled off the hangers. Despite being somewhat crumpled and torn in a few places where Princess had ripped it off the display pillow, it was still in good shape. It was such a relief to find it.

31 Days-Days 11 & 12

2011-10-12T15:10:00.001-05:00

I feel bad that I missed a day, but my computer needed a overhaul so I could use the MyMemories scrapbooking software on it. Remember, I'm doing a review on the software and will be doing a giveaway for a free download of the software for one of my lucky readers! I also just got an email about more freebies from MyMemories (I'm so in love with this company!!) for my readers!! I can't wait to show everything to you guys!

Yesterday was an off day (didn't I just have one of those?). My dear old dad was at my house all day trying to figure out how to make my picky Ubuntu computer work with the scrapbooking software and finally ended up installing Windows. Which means I'll be able to do SO much more on my computer. Ubuntu is fine, but seriously I'm not a computer geeknerd and basic is better for me. Besides most stuff you want to download doesn't work on Ubuntu. So I'm happy about getting to use Windows.

So, I didn't get a whole lot done yesterday besides my morning routine. I did work on sewing quite a bit so it's not like I sat around and ate bon-bons all day. Although that was a really tempting idea. I always want to eat chocolate when my darling children do something that's...not so darling. Sweet little Princess cracked open the display box and ripped my Swedish wedding crown off the display pillow. And, then she "misplaced" it. I have looked everywhere and can't find it. Which is highly concerning as it is very delicate and was hand tatted by my very special aunt for my wedding. I shudder to think of what will happen to it if it falls into the hands of, say, Little Man.

You can't see the crown very well in this picture, but it's what's holding my veil up.

Today has been quite a bit more productive. My darling little sister came over to help me out today as she so often does. The kids adore her, she helps clean my house, and she works for free. Actually, she does eat a lot of my food, especially if chocolate is in the ingredients, but it's still cheaper than hiring someone. She helped me cross quite a few things off the list for the weekly zone, which is the kitchen. My kitchen's looking pretty hot! I even cleaned out the fridge today.

Me (cheerfully): It's too bad these drawers in the fridge don't come out so I could clean underneath them. I mean, that area could really use a good cleaning.

Little Sis (doubtfully): Are you sure they don't come out?

Me: (still cheerfully): Nope! They don't come out! See?

The drawer falls out of the fridge onto the floor.

Me: (downfallen): I need another rag.

Check it out! Nothing's moving or growing anything!

31 Days-Day 10

2011-10-10T21:44:00.003-05:00

Wasn't it just Monday a week ago? That came around again pretty quickly, if you ask me.

This morning, I planned out my menu for the week.

Monday: honey barbecued polish sausage with au gratin potatoes (from a box,
     of course!)
Tuesday: tacos
Wednesday: Sloppy joe casserole
     I don't have an actual recipe for this, but here's how I make it: Grease a
     baking dish and cover bottom with a few inches of frozen shredded hash
     brown potatoes. Cover hash browns with a layer of sloppy joe
     meat (hamburger or shredded meat with sloppy joe sauce), diced
     pickles and then another layer of hash browns. Bake until...done. If
     it's blackened, you probably overcooked it. If the potatoes are still frozen,
   leave it in a bit longer. Sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese on top and
     bake for a few more minutes until cheese is melted.
Thursday: Stuffed coated chicken with honey mustard potato slices
Friday: Eat supper at The Farm with in-laws
Saturday: I have a craft show that afternoon so I haven't planned anything
     out yet. We'll probably order from the local bowling alley or eat pizza.
Sunday: Eat at The Farm with in-laws

What's your menu for this week?

31 Days-Day 9

2011-10-09T17:44:00.000-05:00

It's Sunday which means it's a day to relax and spend time with your family. I don't even open my control journal on Sundays, and I do the absolute bare minimum of cleaning or straightening up. Hey, pretty much every job gives you days off, right?

Fun Fact: If you leave a bottle of lotion in front of the bathroom space heater, the bottle will melt. And the lotion will be burning hot. Don't ask me how I know this.

Here's some pictures of outfits I made for my kids this week. Both outfits can be purchased in my Etsy shop.

Reading a book together

My handsome little dude

Hamming it up for the camera

And...someone's done with pictures.

31 Days-Day 8

2011-10-08T20:50:00.000-05:00

I'm done with the kids' room!!
Here's the "before" picture:

And here's the "after" pictures!

Just look at all that carpet!!

Princess's dresses on the top rung (we both have a slight addiction to dresses as you can tell by the 20 or so dresses hanging in her closet) and Little Man's dress shirts, suit jackets, and vests hanging beneath on a closet rung extender.

Isn't it great?!?!

Let's see some before and/or after pictures from some of you!! You can post them on my blog's Facebook page or email them to annaliesbabyboutique@yahoo.com

I'm not looking forward to next week...the weekly zone is the kitchen. Not one of my favorite places to deep clean as I generally run across something that's growing something else. But, *deep breath* if I stick to what I've been doing, it will never get like that again.

31 Days-Day 7

2011-10-07T23:02:00.002-05:00

I'm running a little late today. In my time zone, it's 10:43 pm as I write this. I'm aware that some of you may be in October 8th already. However, I think that as long as it's October 7th somewhere in the world, this still counts as Day 7.

We've had a horrible, terrible, no-good, really bad day. As in, not a good day.

Morning was great. I did my morning routine before we left for town at 8:45 for Little Man's weight check at the doctor. (He's gained over a pound in the last month, yay!) As soon as that was done, we headed to the school for our ECFE class which was fun. Then we came home. I should've known better than to do that.

I laid the kidlets down for naps and sat down to finish cutting and pinning fabric for orders. Everything was quiet, and I was quite pleased with how easily the kids went to sleep today. Then, I smelled something overly sweet. And heard a tiny sound coming from down the hallway. I dropped the box of pins on the table and ran, sensing that something was amiss. Popping my head into the kids' room to check on Princess, I was met with a terrible sight. Everything from my nightstand was open and spread around the carpeted floor. Having severe excema, I have a lot of prescription lotions and creams for my poor dry hands plus regular lotion, vaseline, etc. that I keep on my nightstand. And it was all over the place. About $50 worth of product spread on the plush baby blue carpet. Princess was nowhere to be seen, so I left the scene of the crime and headed across the hallway to my room where Little Man was supposed to be sleeping peacefully in the pack n' play. He wasn't. He was happily playing with 4 open bottles of perfume which were of course, empty by now. Princess was emptying the rest of the drawers in my nightstand of books, papers, and keepsakes. Many of them were also covered in lotion of some sort.

I couldn't breathe. The mess was unbelievable. My perfume bottles that were a keepsake of my Great Grandmother were emptied. Both children smelled sickeningly good.

Have I mentioned that I have a severe allergy to chemicals of any sort, including perfume?

I cleaned the mess and both children up, opened all the windows to air the house out, and made it very clear to Princess that this was not okay and that Daddy would have to deal with her when he got home from work as I was too angry with her to do it myself.

As of right now, my lungs and throat don't feel quite right. I'm freaking out about going to bed as I know all too well from experience that that is when most of my life-threatening severe asthma attacks occur.

My house isn't terribly clean right now. But thanks to the steady work I've been putting into it, it isn't terribly messy either. Today was an off day, and tomorrow is a brand new one with another chance to get things right.

By the way, I signed up for Pinterest. I don't know why I did it as I've heard it's addicting. And it is. You can follow me at HannahWingert to see what I'm wasting...I mean spending my time doing.

31 Days-Day 6

2011-10-06T17:46:00.002-05:00

When I do the "quick clean" of the living room every morning as part of my morning routine, Princess is required to help. Yesterday, I hit on a way to make it fun for her though. She loves pushing her shopping cart around the house and filling it up with junk...I mean precious things. Everytime I found something that had a home in a different part of the house while cleaning the living room, I gave it to her to put in her cart and sent her off to "deliver" it. She loved it!


It was right after breakfast when we did this, thus the pajamas. However, there are days when she's still wearing pjs after lunch. And sometimes before supper. But seriously, you should be focusing on the floor. I mean, I have a floor!! Just two weeks ago, I still thought my living room was carpeted with an unique "toy carpet".

Today, I put on my climbing gear, packed some beef jerky and tackled Mount Everest in the kids' room. It took me over an hour, but every piece of clothing that was on their floor is put away, whether it be in a closet, drawer, or storage box.

This is what I have left to do in their room this week:
"Vacuum"
"Wash window and mirrors"
"Change sheets" I did Princess's sheets on Tuesday when I discovered the instant powdered pudding mix under and on her bed so I just have Little Man's crib sheet to do.
"Dust baseboards and door frame"
"Clean cobwebs"

If your house is a mess and you have a hard time keeping it clean, did you know that you just might be a perfectionist? It sounds crazy, I know. Doesn't a perfectionist have a, well, perfect house? Nope. My dear mother is a perfectionist, and she lovingly passed the gene on to me. And we both have the same problems with housekeeping.

For example, when my kitchen was a mess, as it was 98% of the time before I started Flylady, I would look at it and give up. I didn't have enough time to dedicate to getting it spotless so I wouldn't do anything at all. Basically, if I couldn't clean it perfectly, I wouldn't do it. Using the Flylady system has taught me a motto that I mutter under my breath while cleaning every day. Somedays when I'm tackling an especially big mess, I growl more than mutter.

"It doesn't have to be perfect,

it just has to be better."

I'd love to hear if you have any mottoes or mantras when it comes to housekeeping. Also, I haven't figured out how to customize my comments forms so I can actually reply to each comment, but I wanted to let you all know that I have been reading and loving each and every one of your comments. Thank you all for your encouragement and keep up the good work!

31 Days-Day 5

2011-10-05T14:03:00.000-05:00

Princess went to the farm with Hubby last night to spend some time with her daddy. Things took longer than he anticipated though, and so he asked his mom to bring Princess home for bed. He called to tell me to expect them in a few minutes. A few weeks ago, I would've gone into a frenzied panic, shoving dirty dishes helter skelter in the dishwasher, throwing the stuff covering the living room floor, couch, and coffee table into laundry baskets to hide in my bedroom, and hyperventilating. Not this time. I continued to calmly make supper (I told you we eat late!), and when Princess came waltzing into the house with Grandma, I was all smiles and hugs. No, my house wasn't perfectly clean, but it was pretty doggone good, if I do say so myself. Rather than wanting to disappear in embarrassment at the mess and trying to rush my mother-in-law out the door, I enjoyed a conversation with her, inside my house.

This is why I'm using the Flylady system to get my house clean.

I didn't get a chance to do much extra cleaning yesterday afternoon like I'd planned because of some extra work that came up with the boutique. After perusing my calendar, I don't think I'll be doing a lot of extra cleaning for another week at least. I have a ton of orders to finish and ship out, and then my fall craft show schedule starts a week from Saturday. I have 3 craft shows in a row, 1 week off, 2 more, 1 week off, and 1 more. Which means I'm going to need to get my inventory back up. Anyone want to come help sew taggie blankets and glue flowers? :)

I decided to change Wednesday and Thursday's lists around. I don't know why I thought it was a good idea to pay bills on Wednesdays when pay day is on Thursdays. For some reason, people get a little touchy when you send a bill stub back with no money. So on Wednesdays, I'll do my 27 (or 5-10) Fling Boogie, sweep the kitchen floor, and clean out the fridge. On Thursdays, I'll work on laundry and pay bills.

I have some really exciting news for all my readers!!! I was contacted by MyMemories which is a digital scrapbooking software company about doing a review and giveaway for the software on my blog! I'm so psyched to be trying out the software! I love the look of scrapbooking, but I never get around to dragging all of my scrapbooking supplies out of the closet to actually work on it. I'll be setting a date for the review and giveaway tomorrow so watch for it :)

31 Days-Day 4

2011-10-04T13:16:00.002-05:00

I'd love to see your before and after pictures during this 31 day process of cleaning your home! Come on over to my facebook page and share them :)

The task for today was to spend 30 minutes in the weekly zone. I know I spent more than 1/2 hour in the kidlets' room, but it looks so much better. I sat down in the doorway with a garbage bag on one side of me and an empty box on the other and just bulldozed my way quickly through the whole room. Every time I came to something that went in a different room of the house, I tossed it in the empty box. I even emptied the box when I was done and put everything away in its proper place. I know how I "work" and if I hadn't done it right away, it would probably be sitting there two months from now still waiting to be done.

The kids' floor is cleaned up except for the veritable mountain of clothes waiting to be either put away in drawers or packed up to be passed on to the next child who needs it. My sister insists (the nerve!) on sending the clothes that her little boy outgrows straight home with me, and I've been throwing the random boxes and bags into the kids' room without organizing any of it. Oops. My youngest nephew is only 11 days older than Little Man, but he's in 2T while Little Man is in that awkward, nothing fits stage between 12 and 18 months.

Yes, I know. It's bad. But you should see how great the rest of the room looks! I'll post "after" pictures when we move onto the next weekly zone.

While cleaning the toys and books out from underneath Princess's bed, I found an open package of chocolate flavored instant pudding. Let me tell you, that stuff is NOT fun to clean up. When I went into the kitchen to get a wet washcloth for the sticky stuff, I found Princess and Little Man sitting on the kitchen floor with nothing on but their skivvies. Princess was in the process of removing her brother's poopy diaper. I shudder to think what would have happened had I waited a few more minutes to go into the kitchen. Disaster averted, I impressed upon Princess the importance of how ONLY mommies and daddies can change dirty diapers (and in our house, it's ONLY mommies who do that).

I'm sure this has something to do with living in a basement and the kids' room having only one small window with a view of under the upstairs deck, but mold tends to flourish in the kids' room. We've cleaned mold off the wall beneath the window several times and as of right now, it hasn't grown back. Yet their room stills smells musty and moldy. I've checked every nook and cranny and I can't find anything in there that's moldy. This is especially concerning as Princess has an allergy to mold that makes her asthma and overall health significantly worse. She spent her first year and a half constantly sick with colds until we found the mold growing on the wall and cleaned it off. She's not sick now, but her asthma has been really bad the last few months. I'm also worried about Little Man being exposed to mold as it can make even a healthy person sick. Anyone have any tips or had to deal with something like this before?

31 Days-Day 3

2011-10-03T14:24:00.002-05:00

It's Monday today!! In case you didn't know that already.

How many of you did your morning and Monday routines today?

I finished my morning routine by 8:30 am. I have to confess that I don't do everything on the list though. Two of the tasks near the bottom of the list ("Do sit-ups/10 min. exercise" and "Quick clean of kids' room") go unchecked every day. About 2 weeks ago, I pinched a disc in my back, and lifting kids and doing housework has slowed the healing process considerably. I figured that vigorous exercise probably wouldn't help things move in the right direction so I've been holding off on that until next week. That, and I have a tendency to be lazy. So please don't tell me how exercise will make my back feel so much better because I'm obliviously happy in my ignorance.

I'm also skipping the quick clean of the kids' room until next week. With the condition their room is in right now, a quick clean is a preposterous idea. After this week though, I'll have deep cleaned it, and it'll be ready to go.

I forgot to tell you yesterday...I don't do any zone cleaning on Mondays because I spend an hour "blessing" my home. I'd hate to overdo it on the cleaning because of all the dangers involved (dishpan hands, housewife's knees, etc). If you already did some zone cleaning in Zone 1, give yourself a pat on the back because you're ahead of the game.

By 9:30 this morning, all my cleaning was done for the day except for my bedtime routine. Pretty cool, huh?

I added another page to my control journal today. I write out a list of miscellaneous things I need to do every day because if I don't, then I forget to do them. Except that I usually lose the piece of paper the list is written on. So I put a blank piece of paper in a page protector and added it to my journal between the morning and bedtime routines. Then I can just write my to-do list in dry erase marker on the page and erase each thing as I do it. If I don't get to something today, it'll be on the list for tomorrow.

Look at that! I can cross "Blog" off my list in a few minutes! Just to clarify a few things...I buy packages of bacon when it's on sale and then cook a bunch at one time and freeze it so I have ready-to-go bacon bits anytime I want to add them to something. And "Tuna" is the name of my cat. I did not take a can of tuna fish to the vet's office.

Today was also the day to plan out my menu for the rest of the week. I take our schedule into consideration when I plan this. For instance, on Wednesday evenings, we go to a Bible study and prayer meeting at church so I pick something easy to make that day. On Fridays, we eat supper with Hubby's parents, and his brother and his family. Sundays, we eat dinner after church at Hubby's parents' place again and have leftovers for supper. Yes, I know. My mother-in-law cooks meals for us twice a week...minimum. I have it "made in the shade".

Here's my meal plan for the week:
Monday-grilled cabbage, potatoes, and lemon chicken with lemon cheesecake for dessert
Tuesday-stuffing coated chicken with honey mustard potatoes
Wednesday-Homemade stuffed crust pizza with cheesy breadsticks
Thursday-O' Brien kielbasa skillet
Friday-Eating at in-laws
Saturday-Bacon chicken alfredo
Sunday-Eating at in-laws

I might switch a few meals around to different days, but it helps tremendously to have a plan. I can hit the grocery store up once on Monday, and we don't have to eat frozen pizza four times a week because I didn't start thinking of what to make for supper until everyone's tummies were rumbling.

This is the cookbook I'm picking recipes out of this month. I went through the cookbook and marked all the recipes I want to try. I choose a few each week to try, and then I decide whether to keep the recipe or nix it. When I've gotten through the whole cookbook, I'll save the recipes I like in a three-ring binder and get rid of the cookbook. I have a cupboard full of cookbooks so by doing this, I'm also decluttering.

What are you planning for meals this week? Let me know in the comments and if you have a blog post about it, post a link to it as well. I'd love to see what you've got planned!

31 Days-Day 2

2011-10-02T17:22:00.002-05:00

Normally, Sunday would be my day off from any cleaning other than what is absolutely necessary. But today, we're going to get a "control journal" set up so we can jump right into cleaning effectively on Monday. Actually, I've had mine set up for about 2 weeks now so I still get the day off while the rest of you have to work. Muhahahahahahaha!!!

Sorry. The evil laugh just takes over sometimes.

This is where I went wrong when I started doing Flylady the first time 3 years ago. I tried to wing it and didn't have any lists going. Obviously, I should have known better as I am a very list-oriented person. I write things on lists that I've already accomplished just so I can cross them off. I write lists of what lists I need to make. I briefly considered "List" as a name for my firstborn.

The following pictures are pages from my control journal. To make your own journal, you'll need a 3 ring binder, a dry erase marker (to check things off as you do them), and the "shiny" (not matte finish) page protectors. If you don't have those things on hand, you can improvise with a computer document, hand written lists, dry erase board, etc. until you can get them. If you click on the pictures to enlarge them, you'll get a better look at what the pages say.

Before you get started, I have 2 disclaimers for you.
Disclaimer #1: This is my journal. It works for me, my family, and my schedule. If you copy it word for word, it probably won't work for you. Play around with it (as you can see I've done by the crossed off lines here and there) and come up with a plan that will work for you. I do most of my cleaning in the morning so I can work on my boutique stuff in the afternoon, but go with whatever works best for you.
Disclaimer #2: I don't own a printer right now and, as I have a love-hate relationship with all printers, I'm okay with that. However, that means that you have to put up with my messy handwriting and pages. Let me know if you need anything translated.

The first page in my book is my version of the Flylady commandments. And yes, I only have 6 on my list. Number 2 (Don't allow yourself to be sidetracked by the computer) is kind of a biggie for me. (Ironic, I know) Number 6 (Stop being a martyr and start being a servant) means that you need to stop whining about how your family never helps out and makes a bigger mess and just do it yourself. Before you know it, they'll be pitching in as they follow your example. And yes, I know from experience that this does work. The word "servant" is not meant to have a bad connotation. Think of it as having a servant's heart that joyfully cares for others. After taking this picture, I added commandment #7 to the list: "Be flexible!"

I use page dividers between each section of my control journal.


This is my morning routine. The first thing on the list is the hardest to check off somedays. Because of Hubby's work and farm schedule, we don't eat supper until 9:30-10:00 most nights so late nights are the norm. We both get up at 6:30 in the morning so he can get to work. Six lines up from the bottom, it says "Pick up Hot Spots". Hot Spots are areas in your home that collect daily clutter. Mine is my living room coffee table and kitchen table. Before I started this, you usually couldn't see either table top, but now they're usually pretty empty. This may look like a long list, but it takes me less than half an hour to finish the whole thing most days. The first week will take the longest with the daily routines because you're not just maintaining, you're cleaning and decluttering.

Note that I crossed off several things on the bedtime routine. Evenings are busy at my house. At 6 pm, I feed the kidlets, then I play with them and have them in bed by 8:30 at the latest. As soon as they're in bed, I get supper going for Hubby and me. Hubby gets home around 9 pm and showers while supper is finishing, or if supper is ready, we eat first (which is always a fun meal when he's just done hog chores). We spend some time together on the couch discussing our day, watching tv, and just unwinding. Then it's off to bed. So the bedtime routine had to be pared down a bit.

I have a different checklist for each day of the week. Don't be scared...this is the longest one by far. This is the day, I do a surface cleaning of the whole house in one hour. Or, in Flylady, terms, a "home blessing hour". Don't think of it as cleaning your home, think of it as blessing your home and its inhabitants. When you do this list tomorrow, don't worry about getting things perfect, just make them better. Set the timer for 10 minutes for each task and stop when the timer goes off. No pressure!!! For example, when you vacuum, don't worry about picking things up off the floor first and getting every corner. Just push that vacuum through each room, hitting the high traffic areas and pushing toys out of the way with it. This really works for me because Princess is terrified I'll actually vacuum her toys up and rushes to put them away when she sees me with the vacuum cleaner. With the help of our weekly zones (more about those later), each of the daily lists will soon be a piece of cake. Don't forget, you can tailor each of these lists to fit your schedule and family the best.


On Tuesday, you'll set the timer for 30 minutes and spend that time working on the weekly zone. Yes, I know you're still wondering what a "zone" is. Keep your britches on, we're getting to that.

On Wednesday, toss anything in the fridge that looks questionable (or during this first week, waves at you when you open the door). If you're feeling ambitious, go ahead and wipe down the shelves and drawers too, but if you're not, that's fine. You'll get to that later this month.

Flylady suggests doing a load of laundry (wash, dry, fold, and put away) each day to keep it under control. I share a washing machine with our landlady, and it's upstairs in her part of the house so a load a day just doesn't work for me. If you would rather do a load a day than focus on laundry for 1-2 days a week, go for it. Then, you can either pick another task for this day or just take it easy! The 27 Fling Boogie is a decluttering technique. Grab two bags, one for trash and one for donations, and set the timer for 10 minutes. Than run through the house grabbing 27 items to either throw away or donate. The time limit prevents you from sitting there rethinking your decision over every item. Just toss and go for the next one. If you have a lot of clutter, I'd suggest starting out with the 27 Fling Boogie 2-4 times a week to clear things out faster. Because I'm a relentless tosser, I can never find 27 things to get rid of so I do my own version of this called "5-10 Fling Boogie" Doesn't sound as cool, but whatever.

With a husband who gets very dirty at work and the farm and two kids who not only get their own clothes filthy, but like to include my outfit in the snot-saliva-messy fingers and faces fun, we have about 8-12 loads of laundry a week. It takes me a full two days to accomplish it. Like I said though, if you decide to do one load a day versus two days of laundry drudgery, go for it.

If we had a yard that we had to take care of ourselves, I'd work on that on Saturdays. But our wonderful landlady does all the yard work so I just take a few minutes to clean out the van, my purse and the diaper bag.

Here're those "zones" I was talking about earlier. These will really help your home sparkle and shine by the end of this month. Next month, even if things still look clean, do the stuff on the lists anyways. Remember, our goal is to prevent dirt, not clean it. Okay, so write down all the rooms/areas of your house. Include a porch or entryway if you have one. My list was easy because I only have 5 rooms plus a small hallway. One of the benefits of having a small house, I guess. Now group the rooms of your house into five categories, no more, no less. You'll see why in a minute.

This is a sample of a monthly calendar (and a lovely sample of my computer writing skills which are apparently right up there with my pen and paper handwriting skills). You'll notice that although there are 4 weeks in a month, there are 5 rows of weeks in a month. Every month is like this. Now decide which of your zones will take the most work and time to clean (kitchen and living room usually take more time than other rooms in your house) and put those zones in the middle of the month to ensure that you can spend an entire week on them.

Next, make a list of each zone. Zone 1 for me is the kids room and where I'll be working this coming week. You saw the picture of their room I posted yesterday....if it's Friday and you haven't heard from me all week, please call the authorities to look for me in there. List the different tasks that it will take to make the room sparkle. As you can see, I got a little carried away with numbering. This month will be the hardest because you're starting from scratch, but next month, you'll breeze through everything. I wrote "change sheets" on the bedroom zones, but I do wash the bedsheets more than once a month. In case you were wondering. Every day during this week, you can pick a few things to do off this list and check them off with your dry-erase marker. When you break it down to small tasks, deep cleaning a room really isn't that big of a deal. Since I started doing this 1 1/2 weeks ago, most days, I spend less than an hour total cleaning my house.

Zone 2 is the kitchen. This is where you would wipe down the refrigerator shelves and drawers if you didn't do it on Wednesday.

Zone 3 is the living room and hallway for me. The living room is decent sized although not terribly' big and it functions as the play "room", computer "room", sewing "room", and tv "room so it's pretty packed. I finally bit the bullet, fought off the mommy guilt that I was depriving my children of toys and packed half their toys away in a closet in their room. When I'm working on Zone 3, I rotate the toys so they have "new" toys to play with each month.

You'll noticed that I crossed a few things off this list. I already sweep and mop the bathroom floor on Monday when I'm doing my "home blessing hour" so I didn't think I really needed to hit that again. I also crossed off "sort through cabinets and drawers" because I have a habit of having a mini organizing spree every time I open a drawer or cabinet. Last week, when I did this list for the first time, I spent all day cleaning my shower curtain. I washed it in the washing machine twice, trying to get the soap scum off and ended up hand washing every inch of the....*count to 10, breathe deeply*... lovely thing. If your shower curtain is covered in soap scum as mine was, please save yourself the trouble and throw it away. Seriously, Walmart sells (brand-new, sparkling clean) shower curtains for under $10. And if you start off this month with a clean shower curtain, it will never get that bad again.


Zone 5 for me is the master bedroom. That makes it sound so...nice and grown-up. It's not. It's decorated with bright blue carpet (perfect for showing every speck of lint), bright blue sponged baseball bat shapes? all over the wall, and a brightly colored sports themed border encircling the room on the center of the walls. Don't forget, we rent, not own. But I can fool myself into believing it's a serene haven at the end of the day by calling it The Master Bedroom.

This is the longest blog post with the most pictures, I've ever written. I'm feeling a bit faint. I think I'll go lie down for a bit. See you tomorrow.

31 Days to a Clean House

2011-10-01T15:01:00.002-05:00

I stumbled on this fun blog with the challenge to blog for 31 days straight about the same topic. Because my big thing at this moment is getting my house under control, here's my topic.

This is scary.

I've never blogged 31 days in a row. Or 7 days in a row. I think 2 or 3 days in a row is my record right now. But I'm going to try this because I love a challenge, and what else do I have to do with my time? You know, besides running an busy boutique from my home and computer, caring for two young children, taking care of dear Hubby, etc.

I recently picked up Flylady again. I had just started using the Flylady system to clean and maintain my house when I had Princess three years ago. It's taken me that long to even think about getting back on the horse and in that time, the horse, I mean, house has been in desperate need of some attention. Which I have neglected to give it. And it shows.

Using the Flylady system, I'm on track to get my house ship-shape within a month.

Let's start off with some lovely "before" pictures. Before you scroll down to look at these pictures, I have to warn you. They may scare you or disgust you. I'm a little nervous about putting myself so far "out there", but here goes nothing. Let me remind you that I am not responsible for any therapy you may need after looking at these pictures.
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One more thing before you look at these pictures...my house is considerably cleaner right now than it has been for a long time due to company coming over. Just thought you might want to know that.

Kitchen counter

End of the hallway between the two bedrooms (note the poor neglected vacuum cleaner)


Princess and Little Man's room complete with Princess reading a book on the floor and wondering why in the world I'm taking a picture of her room.

Computer area. If you look closely, you will see a can of Pledge languishing on the top shelf of the computer desk next to the lamp.

So there you have it. By the end of this month, my house should be clean and I should be able to keep it clean. And if you join in and do what I'm doing, your house will be clean too :)

Let's have some fun! Feel free to comment with your own progress and ideas!

Here are links to each day of the 31 Day Challenge as I write them.
31 Days-Day 2
31 Days-Day 3
31 Days-Day 4
31 Days-Day 5
31 Days-Day 6
31 Days-Day 7
31 Days-Day 8
31 Days-Day 9
31 Days-Day 10
31 Days-Days 11 & 12
31 Days-Day 13
31 Days-Days 14 & 15
31 Days-Day 16
31 Days-Days 17 & 18
31 Days-Days 19 & 20
31 Days-Day 21
31 Days-Day 22
31 Days-Days 23 & 24
31 Days-Day 25
31 Days-Day 26
31 Days-Days 27 & 28
31 Days-Day 29
31 Days-Days 30 & 31

It's So Hard

2011-10-01T14:12:00.001-05:00

I often hear people talking about how hard life can be with 1, 2, or 3 little ones. Parents who have more than that are often looked upon as crazy, and a lot of people think they must be miserable.

Right now, I only have two children. I have always dreamed of having at least six kids, but Hubby is satisfied with two. Which means that although sometimes my heart aches for more little ones, I'm committed to our marriage and to Hubby's happiness more than anything. Personally, I believe that children are a blessing from God, and who am I to turn down a blessing straight from our Heavenly Father? But God has also commanded me to obey my husband so I'm content with the two precious little ones I have. (This subject is worthy of its own blog post which will be making an appearance someday) If God wants us to have more children, He'll make it happen, and if He doesn't, than I'm okay with that.

What I'm saying is that I know how hard life is with two little ones. But I have also been given a taste of what life is like with four children. When I babysit during the school year, I have my own two kids, plus a sweet little boy just a little younger than Princess and a beautiful little girl about two years older than Princess. Which comes down to caring for a 5 year old, two 3 year olds, and a 1 year old (although the line-up will change when I go back to babysitting in January due to my friend giving birth to a baby boy about a month ago and the 5 year old being in school full time). And believe it or not, it's easier than just having my two kidlets. Yes, it takes me a little longer to dish out food for 4 versus two, and there is more bickering, but overall, it's easier. I especially enjoyed having the other two kids over to my house some afternoons this past year (I generally babysit at the other kids' house four mornings a week otherwise). The 5 year old and 3 year olds (to an extent) were able to help carry things when we were running errands, all four entertained each other while I worked on sewing things for my boutique, and the 5 year old was especially helpful with the younger ones.

Look at it this way. Right now, I do pretty much ALL of the housework and care for Princess and Little Man. But Princess is over 3 1/2 years old now and is able to start helping me more. She helps put things away when I do laundry, she is able to clean up her toys by herself, she reads to Little Man when I need to get something else done, she is pretty much self-sufficient in the bathroom, and is able to get dressed by herself. As she continues to grow and mature, I add more little chores to her list and by the time she's in grade school, she'll be able to help with a lot more housework. This goes for Little Man as well. He's just 17 months old, but I'm teaching him to clean up toys which is a good start for him. Unfortunately, I thought it would be a good idea to teach him how to throw things in the garbage for me as well, but that has backfired as now I have to dig through the garbage each night to rescue toys, socks, remote controls, etc. Whoops.

When I see someone with a lot of kids, I don't feel sorry for them as many people do. I'm actually a little jealous. Because they probably have it easier than I do with my two children.

Here are some other good blog posts to read about this subject:
Bits and Pieces
One More Soul

"Fan of the Week" Winner!

2011-10-01T09:12:00.001-05:00

I recently added a new app to my boutique Facebook page called "Fan of the Week". The app keeps track of how much people are participating on the page (participating means leaving comments, liking wall posts, etc) and each week, it picks the fan who engaged the most over the past 7 days and announces that person on my wall.

I posted a note on my Facebook page with all the "Fans of the Week" and every 3 months, I will use random.org to select a name from the list to win a prize. As I just started using this one month ago, I decided to make the first one really easy by choosing a winner the first month :)
The fans of the week this period are:
Sept. 8th-Gloria Bailey
Sept. 15th-Audrey Wenzel
Sept. 22nd-Karen Buckley
Sept. 29th-Sharalyn Anderson

Using random.org, I selected a winner and her name is......

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Audrey Wenzel!!

Audrey, please email me at annaliesbabyboutique@yahoo.com so we can talk about what you won :)

As for everyone else, keep on staying active on the page for a chance to win too!

Liar Liar, Pants on Fire

2011-09-29T11:46:00.002-05:00

Princess has forgotten how to tell the truth. She's started lying about pretty much everything even though she gets in trouble for lying every. single. time. Today, she came out of her room and stood innocently in the middle of the living room for a few minutes waiting to be noticed. When I turned around to see what she wanted, she smiled a chocolatey smile and said, "I didn't eat any chocolate, Mommy." Jumping into judge and jury mode, I pointed out that she had chocolate all over her face and made the assumption that she had, indeed, eaten chocolate in some form. A punishment was administered, and I asked her if she had eaten chocolate.
"No, and I didn't get any on my hand either."
Realizing that she'd been holding her right hand behind her back this whole time, I pulled it in front of her to find that it was covered in chocolate as well. Another punishment for lying to me again and I asked her once more if she had eaten any chocolate.
"No, and I didn't put it under my bed either."
A quick search under her bed revealed the chocolatey goodness of which she had been partaking.
The same query was posed to her again, only to get the same results. This lovely scenario continued for another half an hour before the truth which I was already completely aware of reluctantly came out of her mouth. For the 14th time this week, we went over the basics of telling the truth and lying, and I emphasized once again how she would get in so much less trouble if she would just tell me the truth the first time. Having grown up with a brother who was a compulsive liar (he has since kicked the habit quite satisfactorily, or so he says), I'm disinclined to see Princess head down the same path.

And don't even get me started on Little Man's screaming tantrums. If he doesn't get his way, he lets out scream after scream which earns his a time-out in the pack and play. They aren't the nice screams that just puncture your ear drums though. They're the kind of ear-piercing, hawk-about-to-descend-on-its-prey, make-you-want-to-cover-your-ears-and-scream-too type of screams. I'd say Little Man's right on track developmentally. I've only gotten 3 1/2 years of parenthood under my belt, but from my experience, brand-new toddlers are the hardest to handle. And with Little Man's massive temper, I'd say we're in for a long bumpy ride.

Vaccinations

2011-09-23T15:26:00.003-05:00

I recently read a post on another blog about a possible link between SIDS and vaccinations. If you're looking, you won't find it there anymore because due to the strong response, Kelly, the author of the blog, removed it. It amazes me that people find it acceptable to be so ugly and hurtful on the internet, especially towards someone who is already hurting (Kelly and her husband lost their 4 month old baby girl to SIDS this past February). If you wouldn't say the words to someone face to face, than do not type them on the computer either. The person who will read your words is a real person with feelings too.

But I digress. That's a whole other blog post right there.

Back in 1998, a Dr. Andrew Wakefield published a paper on a study he conducted about a possible link between childhood vaccinations and autism. However, not only did he only use 12 test subjects (not nearly enough to get proper test results), he is also suspected of misrepresenting or altering the medical histories of the 12 subjects. He has since had his medical license revoked.

This study sparked panic in many parents who immediately rethought their decision to vaccinate their children. In 2007, actress Jenny McCarthy brought the study to everyone's attention. Her son was diagnosed with autism and she blamed the vaccines he had received. Because of her celebrity status, she was able to push this idea very successfully.

So are vaccinations really all that important?

In the 1920s, over 10,000 people a year died from diptheria, a disease that a simple vaccine can prevent. It was the leading cause of death of toddlers in the 19th century. Since the vaccine for diptheria was created, that number has dipped to only a few cases a year.

Measles is another disease that has been eradicated from America by a vaccine (although it is steadily making a comeback due to lower rates of vaccination). Before the measles vaccine was available, most children contracted measles before they turned 15. Approximately 450 people died each year from it.

Since 2007, there have been over 80,000 instances of diseases that were once believed to be eradicated in this country due to vaccinations. There have been over 700 deaths. Diseases such as measles, mumps, pertussis, etc. are making a comeback. Because of some parents' decisions not to vaccinate their children, other children who are to young or weak to have received the vaccinations, or who have not gotten the booster shots yet, are also at risk.

So why is autism so much more prevalent today than it was even 30 years ago? I don't believe it is. Doctors nowadays watch for signs of autism starting at a very early age, and parents are much more aware of the disorder as well. What is now diagnosed as autism would have been diagnosed as a different disorder completely at one time. We have also come to realize that the spectrum of autism is very large. Many people who are diagnosed with autism, would have once been thought of as "retarded" or "different." We now know that these people are on the autism spectrum and should be treated accordingly.

I invite you to comment with your opinion. Just remember that this is MY blog and I expect a certain level of civility and respect for others here.

Self-Esteem Vs. Self-Respect

2011-09-17T20:32:00.000-05:00

It seems like every parenting magazine or child-rearing book has at least one article or chapter devoted to nurturing self-esteem in your children. Apparently, children are very delicate creatures who are prone to thinking little of themselves and it's up to us, as their parents, to build up their self-esteem.

Give me a break.

Children are born with more self-esteem than they can use in a lifetime. Their whole universe revolves around them. Which is good at first since their survival as infants depends on it. When they get to be toddlers however, that self-esteem starts to get in the way of good behavior as they scream and throw tantrums, regardless of the well-being or sanity of those around them, in an attempt to get what they want when they want. They are not concerned with those around them; #1 still comes first. It's our job as parents, to mold those little egos into considerate, compassionate people. We have to teach them NOT to put #1 first. Self-esteem is not self-like, it is self-absorption.

Self-respect is completely different. I know many children who have high self-esteem, but they don't respect themselves. Self-esteem has to do with your thought process (I'm the best, I can do anything, etc.) while self-respect has to do with your actions (I respect myself enough to not get in a bad relationship, to keep out of trouble, etc.)

This is how I'm teaching my children to have self-respect versus self-esteem:

Don't praise them excessively for every little thing they do. The experts on self-esteem agree that if your child has put effort into something, you need to praise that effort and not correct them, for by doing so, you will crush their spirits. Really? Do you think their boss is going to feel the same way when they grow up? In the real world, your child will be expected to do things correctly, will not be praised every time they do, and will have to accept constructive (or sometimes not constructive) criticism gracefully. If they don't, they're not going to get very far and will be pretty unhappy with life. Here's an example: Every time Johnny colors a picture, makes something in the sandbox, learns a new skill, etc, his mother praises him repeatedly and doesn't point out any imperfections. Johnny is not stupid, he knows that not everything he does is perfect. After a while of being praised for everything including the not-so-great stuff, he will begin to doubt himself. His mother tells him how wonderful he is no matter what he does, but she tells him that even when he doesn't do a wonderful job. He begins to wonder if he can trust his mother's opinion and doubt that he really is doing such a great job after all. But he can't let her down, and he's been told that he's the best, the most talented, the greatest at everything he does so he applies this to whatever venture he tries. But no matter what he does, there will always be that nagging doubt in the back of his mind, "Am I really so good at this?" Children often become what we tell them they are, and so he will want to believe that he is. When someone comes along who is better than him or when he fails at something, it will crush his spirit, the same spirit his mother so valiantly tried to build up. He will try to compensate for his failures by bragging about himself and generally, his mother is more than willing to help out in that aspect. Pretty soon his friends don't like being around him because he simply HAS to be better at everything than them. Johnny's mother will also begin to lose friends because every time they get together, she has to top everything the other parents can say about their own children. You do have to let children know that you believe in them and that you know they can do a great job, but you also have to let them get used to the idea that sometimes things just won't work out, and that there will be someone who is better than them. For instance, Princess likes to help me fold laundry. If I follow the advice of experts, I would praise her efforts and not correct them. But I want her to be able to handle criticism. When she folds a shirt in a way that will wrinkle excessively and hands it to me, I tell her that we will have to try it a different way. I gently help her unfold and refold it. When we're done, she always looks proud of herself and will usually thank me for showing her how to do it. When we're done folding laundry, I give her a big hug and tell her thank you for being such a good helper and learner.

I don't wait on my kids hand and foot. I've seen many mothers do this and every time, the children come out self-centered and believing that they deserve to be waited on. Okay, now what happens if they marry someone whose mother also waited on them hand and foot? Unless one or both of the partners change their outlook, the marriage will be unhappy and will more than likely end up in divorce. Our first priority should not be ourselves, it needs to be others. When you have a society where #1 comes first, you have a lot of suffering and unhappiness since everyone is so focused on themselves that they don't stop to help others. Jesus gave us the perfect example of having a servant's heart in John 13:4-9. He and His disciples had just walked a long distance on dusty roads and, since they wore sandals, their feet were dirty. It was the servants' or slaves' job at the time to wash the feet of guests at a home, but Jesus Himself knelt before His disciples to wash their feet before attending to his own needs. To be honest, I'm pretty self-centered. But I recently read a book called "Created to Be His Helpmeet" by Debi Pearl and since then, I've been striving to put my husband's needs and wants before my own. And not only does this obviously make him happier, but it makes me happier as well. When we teach our children to wait on others instead of being waited on themselves, they will be happier too.

And the biggest one...Respect yourself. Children most often learn by example and not by word. If you lie to the store clerk, your children will lie to you. If you badtalk people behind their back, you can be sure your children will be critical of others as well. If you respect yourself enough to make good decisions and take care of yourself, they will do the same for themselves. This will equip them to be able to withstand peer pressure, stand up for their rights, and make healthy choices.

Obviously, not all the advice on self-esteem is bad. Things such as loving them unconditionally, giving them your full-attention when they're talking to you, and encouraging them are crucial to a child growing up to be a happy and stable adult. However, the emphasis needs to be on self-respect, not self-esteem.

Help, I've Fallen and I can't Get Up

2011-09-17T10:46:00.001-05:00

I woke up a few days ago with a slight twinge in my lower back. Attributing it to sleeping wrong, I ignored it and went on my merry way. The next day, it hurt a little worse. "Good grief, I gotta learn to turn over when I sleep" was my thought. The next day, I reached under the kitchen table and the twinge turned into a LOT more. I whined and winced my way through supper that night. It hurt to sit, stand, lay, move, lift my arms, move my feet,...you get the picture. Got up the next morning and things had not improved at all. In fact, it had gone the other direction. I called my mommy to complain and beg her to let my little sister come take of care of me...I mean the kids so I could rest. Before my sister arrived to save the day, I helped Little Man out of his high chair. BAD IDEA. As I was hanging onto the kitchen chair, with tears streaming down my face, trying to keep from landing on the floor, Princess, with sympathy in her eyes, said to me, "It's okay if you fall on the floor, Mommy. I'll scoot you over to the door."

How thoughtful. I think her plan was to dump me outside and leave me to die while she and her brother partied it up in the house.

I sucked it up and called the chiropractor. Thankfully, they could squeeze me in the same morning. After some x-rays, he informed me that I didn't pull a muscle like I'd assumed. I have a pinched disc. He cracked my back in several places and sent me home to rest and ice it.

I'm more upset about the inconvenience of this then anything. I'm also SO thankful that all I have is a pinched disc versus whatever it is that my dad has wrong with his back. When his back goes out, it leaves the country. The pain (I would imagine) is comparable with childbirth, which, if you've ever given birth naturally (which I have), you know it HURTS.

Counting my blessings during this little trial! I'm thankful it's not worse. Thankful I was able to get into the chiropractor right away for some relief. Thankful that I have such a caring family who is willing to help me at the drop of a bucket. Thankful that they're not sick of me and my health issues yet :) Thankful that I have enough boutique orders that taking a few days off to let my back recuperate is going to make me VERY busy next week. Thankful that it's my back and not my asthma (I really like breathing).

Getting Married

2011-09-12T09:24:00.001-05:00

After 2 very serious posts, I think it's time for me to lighten the mood around here a little.
Here's the conversation between me and Princess this morning:

Princess: *Hands me her empty cereal bowl* "I'm going to get married now, Mommy."

Me: "Okay, have fun!"

Princess: "Okay, bye!"

Me: *Spots a mess of dollhouse furniture scattered on the floor* "Hold on, kiddo. Before you can get married, you have to pick up your toys."

Princess: *Sighs* "Yes, Ma'am"

A few minutes pass...

Princess: "I'm all done! Can I get married now?!?"

Me: *Checks to be sure she's telling the truth* "Looks good! Okay, you can get married now."

Princess: "Yay! Thank you so much, Mommy!" Bye!" *Puts on her tulle covered tiara and pink sequin dress-up shoes and disappears into her room*

I never thought I'd be giving my 3 year old daughter permission to get married on the condition that she clean up her toys first.

Remembering

2011-09-11T07:16:00.003-05:00

Today marks the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001. On that day, I was a junior in high school attending a one room Christian high school with 11 students in the whole student body. At 10 am, everyone but my brother, who had too many demerits to get a break, was outside for morning break. As I stood watching the other kids play football, an open cab tractor drove by with the radio blaring something about multiple plane crashes. Knowing that our teacher sometimes had the radio on during break, I rushed back inside to see if I could get more details. The radio was on, but I'd missed most of the news so I broke the rules to ask my brother what he'd heard since he was inside. He told me everything he knew and I stayed inside the rest of break to listen to the radio. At 10:30, everyone else came inside and the teacher switched off the radio. She quieted everyone down and said she had an announcement. Then she proceeded to briefly and unemotionally tell what had and was happening before instructing everyone to get back to work. Her response floored me, but she probably didn't feel a whole lot of patriotism as she was from Japan. She was a US citizen, but her heart was still in her home country.

We rode home from school that day in silence, straining to hear every word on the radio bulletins. At home, our mom had the tv turned on, which she NEVER did ordinarily, watching the news. A friend had called her up and told her to turn it on, otherwise she'd have probably heard the news when we came home from school.

The rest of the day was a blur. The tv remained on most of the afternoon and evening. I was completely stunned at the great tragedy that had unfolded.

The events that happened that day are seared into my memory. Even today, I have a hard time looking at any photos of that day. As I was watching my kids play yesterday, I thought about how strange it feels that they weren't here then, that they will never quite realize the horror I felt that day, and that, for them, September 11, 2001, will just be a date in a history book. And then I realized that there is a whole generation growing up right now who were born after September 11, 2001. And it is our job to make sure that that date is not forgotten by them and to help them understand the significance and the tragedy of that day.

Where were you when 10 years ago today?

Some (Controversial) Thoughts

2011-09-10T16:33:00.002-05:00

SIDS scares the tarnation out of me. Before Princess and Little Man were born, I researched SIDS and took precautions to help prevent it. I kept each one in a cradle by my bedside until they were a few months old, I ran the fan in their room to keep the air moving, encouraged pacifier use, breastfed, laid them on their backs to sleep, I did use bumpers in their cribs, but I pushed them down between the mattress and the crib slats so they were only sticking up about an inch-just enough to keep the pacifier from disappearing from the crib during the night. But yet, I knew that despite everything I was doing, SIDS could still happen. The fact that I couldn't 100% prevent it, was what scared me so much.

Obviously, as Princess and Little Man are 3 years and 16 months respectively, SIDS isn't a concern for us anymore. However, over the last year or so, I've come to know, personally and through connections, MANY families who have been affected by SIDS. And this observation disturbs me the most...at least 75% of the infants I know of who passed away from SIDS were at daycare at the time. Many of the mothers of these babies have since made a decision to be a stay-at-home mom if and when they have more children.

This makes me wonder...was this a coincidence that so many died at daycare or is there a reason for it? Most of the info I've read on SIDS, makes it very clear that you MUST keep your daycare provider informed of the guidelines for SIDS prevention because many of them have older children and aren't aware that the guidelines have changed. A while back, I read this article in Parenting magazine:

This paragraph really jumped out at me:
"Preliminary research also suggests that babies who begin daycare before 4 months of age, like Jake Haberzettl, may be at increased risk as well. In the most recent AAP analysis, about 20 percent of all SIDS deaths occurred while the baby was in the care of someone other than a parent. One third of the infants died during the first week of childcare, and half those deaths occurred on the very first day. "It may be that starting a new routine interrupts the baby's sleep cycle, so that when he finally does fall asleep, he sleeps too deeply," says Dr. Moon. It may also be that some providers don't recognize the risks of tummy sleeping. The danger? Babies who are accustomed to sleeping on their backs are 18 times more likely to die from SIDS when put down to sleep on their stomachs. That's why it's important for parents to emphasize safe-sleeping practices with their providers, and try to use only a licensed facility."

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking daycares. I have family members who own, work or have worked at a daycare. I babysit several wonderful children four mornings a week during the school year.

I know that this is a very controversial subject, and I respect others' opinions and understand that everyone's circumstances are different. Personally though, I feel that children and especially babies should be with their mothers. The fact that so many of the precious little ones who died of SIDS were at daycare at the time, reinforces that for me.

I'm not trying to make anyone mad or step on anyone's toes, I'm just letting you know how I personally feel. What are your thoughts?

For more information on SIDS, click here.

Baby Season

2011-09-09T10:54:00.000-05:00

After 2 boys, my sister had a baby girl yesterday. She's a sweet little (I use that term loosely) thing with a head of dark hair and pinchable cheeks who weighed 10 pounds, 4 ounces at birth. Ouch. My sister had a 3 hour labor with no time for drugs so the whole thing was natural. Double ouch.

Princess with her newest cousin

We're very excited about the birth of little Abigail or Abby as she'll be called. Princess had the decency not to say "I told you so" over Abby being an Abigail instead of a Gabriel. She kept telling us that it was going to be a "girl baby" and, we kept telling her it could very well be a boy, but she was positive and wouldn't be swayed. By the end of my sister's pregnancy, when asked what the baby would be, Princess would say begrudgingly, "It could be a girl baby *sigh* or it could be a boy baby." and then she would brighten up and finish with, "But it's a girl baby!!" Kudos to you, Princess. She now has a 100% track record with predicting genders (that would be 5 out of 5). I'm thinking I might start charging people to find out what they are expecting. Hey, the kid might as well earn her keep around here.

My brother and his wife are also expecting a baby in November. Yeah, I know. When we have babies in my family, we have them in batches. First were the three oldest kidlets, Princess and her two cousins who are about 6 months apart from oldest to youngest. Next came the 3 younger cousins who are less than a month apart from oldest to youngest. And now my sister and sister-in-law are having babies close together. I opted out of this stretch of baby production. Hubby says we're out of the game completely, but I can just picture God leaning out of Heaven with a chuckle saying, " How about I bless them with a set of triplets to show 'em who's in charge here."

To be honest, I was sitting on pins and needles until my sister actually delivered her baby yesterday. The first two times she announced a new addition, I followed with an announcement of my own. Both times, I told everyone I was NOT pregnant and then found out a few days later that I had unwittingly told a lie. So this time, when my sister started glowing and throwing up, everyone looked at me expectantly (no pun intended). Like "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" or the contemporary version of this fable, "The Girl Who Cried Because She Was Hormonal and Pregnant, But Didn't Know It Yet" they naturally didn't believe me when I denied any upcoming offspring. After this happening twice, I thought for sure, my sister's pregnancies were contagious and, no matter how hard I tried to prevent it, I was sure to follow her footsteps again. But here we are...baby Abby is practicing her newfound stretching skills, and I'm (as far as I know!) not in the baby-making business at the moment.

One of My Favorite Meals

2011-08-30T12:09:00.000-05:00

I've always been a fan of breakfast for supper (or dinner, or whatever you call it) Working at two different bed and breakfasts over a period of 10 years and being a cook at the second, I've had many opportunities to try out new breakfast foods. Here's one of my favorite breakfast-for-supper meals. The omelet is a recipe from the first B&B I worked at and the potatoes are a recipe I made almost every morning at the second B&B.

First, cut up into chunks one red potato for each person who will be dining with you for this fine gourmet meal. Put the potatoes into a pot and cover with water; bring to a boil. While the potatoes are boiling, brown sausage or bacon in a frying pan.

When the meat is done, move it to a covered plate in the microwave or oven to keep warm. Do not drain or rinse the frying pan. When potatoes are soft, but before they're mushy (because otherwise, you end up with fried mashed potatoes, which albeit is kinda' good, it isn't what we're going for here), drain the water off and dump the potatoes in the same frying pan you used to fry the meat. Add a few tablespoons of oil and liberally season. My favorite seasoning on potatoes is Canadian Steak Seasoning which I buy at Sam's Club. You could also use any variety of spices such as garlic, onion, seasoning salt, etc. Just season those babies with whatever strikes your fancy.

Fry the potatoes on medium to high heat, occasionally scraping the bottom of the pan and turning the potatoes with a metal spatula. Don't do this too often as it makes the potatoes fall apart and not brown as well.

Now it's time to start working on the omelets. This recipe will make 6-8 omelets depending on how much filling you put in each one. I usually make 4 and throw the extra filling in with the potatoes.

Mix 1 block of cream cheese with a 12-15 oz tub of ricotta cheese. Or if you're like me and realize after the store has closed, that the tub of ricotta cheese in your fridge is actually leftover watermelon from a week ago, you can go upstairs to your neighbor, borrow a cup of cottage cheese, and mash it with a fork until it's almost the same consistency as ricotta cheese. You may need to microwave the mixture so it combines well. Add some spices. I use parsley, basil, onion, and garlic powder.

In a separate bowl, whisk 2-3 eggs for each omelet you plan on making. Pour enough egg mixture into a well-greased frying pan (preferably non-stick!) to cover the bottom well. If you make it too thin, it won't fold without tearing. As it cooks, tilt the pan to ensure that the eggs cook evenly. When the eggs are done, spoon some of the ricotta/cream cheese mixture down the center of the omelet. We're cheese addicts at my house so I tend to go overboard here.

Using a spatula, loosen the edges of the omelet and carefully fold each side over to the center. If you mess up and it tears, don't worry. I know from experience that it will still taste just as good.

Let the omelet sit for 3-5 minutes to heat the filling completely. When it's done, use your spatula to slide the omelet out of the pan right onto a plate. Dish up the potatoes and sausage (or bacon) and enjoy!

A is for Apple, B is for Brainiac

2011-08-23T10:16:00.001-05:00

Dearest Hubby recently informed me that, now that Little Man is 15 months old, I should be actively teaching him to talk. To which I delicately snorted (and perhaps guffawed raucously) at and asked him what exactly he thought I was doing all day, every day.

Do you want to know how I teach my kids to talk? Not by strapping them into the high chair or booster seat and forcing them to do flashcards for 2.5 hours a day or by investing in the latest Rosetta Stone series. I talk to them. Constantly. I tell them what we're doing, what we will be doing, point out shapes, colors, numbers, tell them what the name of different things are, etc. I would imagine that most mothers employ this time-tested method. Sometimes, I have to tell myself to back off a little and let the poor child absorb the 84 facts I've just crammed into his little brain in the last 6 minutes. Sometimes, I find myself talking to an empty cart at the grocery store.

Look at these pretty marshmallows! There's pink, and green, and.....oh shoot. I left the kids with my sister today." *Notes funny looks from fellow shoppers and exits quickly*

Let's face it. Young children learn the best by watching their parents, exploring the world around them, and just being kids. A child learns something from everything they do, whether it be eating sand from the sandbox ("This just doesn't taste as good as I thought it would. It has an interesting texture, but the flavor isn't quite right. Why is Mommy running over here with a panicked look on her face?") to playing with blocks and cooking utensils (preferably not knives). Which is why I believe in giving my kids educational or role playing toys to explore. I'm not a big fan of the push-a-button-and-the-toy-plays-for-you toys, which is why I became a consultant for Discovery Toys.

While I've been typing up this blog post, Little Man has learned that if he digs in the garbage can and smears the remainder of a can of tomato paste all over himself, the garbage can, and the kitchen floor, Mommy will throw oyster crackers on the floor (hey, it's recently vacuumed!) to distract him so she can get a little work done.

Fast. Easy. Delicioso.

2011-08-22T17:07:00.001-05:00

I made one of my favorite snacks today and thought I'd share it with you. I'm not one to spend a lot of time in the kitchen unless I'm trying to figure out what sounds good as a snack right now. I tend to feel ill when I see a recipe with a long list of ingredients and have to fight the urge to throw up if some of those ingredients have weird names that I've never heard of. The following recipe has made it to my hall-of-fame cookbook so you know it's about as easy as recipes come.

Ingredients:
1 cup of vegetable or olive oil (Yeah, I know...your arteries are shivering just thinking about that much oil. That's why I usually substitute for olive oil. It makes me feel like I'm being healthy)
2 packets of powdered ranch (the original recipe called for 1. I happen to really like ranch dressing)
1 tablespoon of dill (same rule from the ranch applies here)
2 packages of oyster crackers.

Mix all ingredients together and let sit for 1 hour. Enjoy!

It's a Losing Battle

2011-08-19T10:57:00.001-05:00

I gotta be honest with you. My absolute least favorite job when it comes to parenting is feeding my kids. I downright hate it. And yet, 4 times a day, I subject myself to this stick-my-head-in-a-blender type of chore. Somedays, I only do it to avoid being turned in for child abuse. Seriously, there are some meals where I think there's actually MORE food on the kids' plates when they're done "eating" then when they started.

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that both my kids had issues with breastfeeding. With the help of a nipple shield and some supplementing with formula, we stuck it out for a full year with Princess. Little Man only lasted about 3 months before a series of problems (including, but not limited to: constant screaming-mostly from him, a bad case of mastitis, a lack of weight gain, and a 2 1/2 year old big sister who quickly figured out that Mommy was tied down to a chair 90% of the time and couldn't stop her from dumping out every bottle of shampoo in the bathroom). If only that were the end of my kids' eating issues. *insert wistful sigh here*

At the tender age of 2 1/2, Princess was diagnosed with allergies to wheat, dairy, eggs, and peanuts and promptly put on a strict diet. She doesn't have the carry-an-epipen-with-you-at-all-costs type of allergies. Her allergies cause her asthma to act up considerably. This created quite the dilemma. What do you feed a kid who can't eat anything? FYI, specialty allergy-free foods are EXPENSIVE.

Little Man ate like a pro until he turned one. Then everything went to you-know-where in a handbasket. I decided to make a list of all the foods Little Man will currently acccept as edible the other day. It took me all of two minutes. Here's the long list:
Pizza (the only form of bread, cheese, or tomatoes he will deign to look upon)
Chicken nuggets
Chicken breast (sometimes)
Fish sticks
French fries
Strawberries
Blueberries (now and then)
Grapes
Veggie straws
Veggie crackers
French toast sticks
Ice cream
Skittles
Hot dogs
Potatoes (when the stars are aligned)
Baked beans

It's not that I don't offer (or try to force feed) him other foods such as green beans and hamburger. He just flat-out refuses to eat them. The kid has only gained 2 pounds, 6 ounces in the last 6 months which is cause for concern from his pediatrician. He dropped from a healthy 43% for weight on the growth charts to a skinny 5% in less than a year. At his last checkup, the doctor ordered blood tests to find out why he is not gaining weight (I got to help hold my screaming baby on a table while 2 nurses filled 3 vials with his blood. Yay.) Everything came back normal except for the test for allergens. Whoopie. Another child with food allergies.

So here's my dilemma. At this point, I have one child who CAN'T eat anything and I have another who WON'T eat anything. Mealtimes at my house have turned into a battle zone which the kids invariably win, leaving poor mommy laying dazed on the kitchen floor covered in "icky" veggies. This daily war has me tempted to ask the pediatrician to put an IV in each of the kids so they can skip the whole torturous experience of a meal.

Anyways, it's almost lunchtime at my house. Time to suit up for battle.

WAHM-Part 3

2011-08-15T14:36:00.003-05:00

The children's boutique world can be pretty competitive. I've found a few other boutique owners who were willing to share tips on how they built their business, and I greatly appreciated their time and help. It can be hard when you're just starting out. When I opened my boutique, I thought, "This won't be too hard, you just make stuff and sell it." Wrong. There is SO much more to running your own business than just the products.

Where to sell/ market:

Facebook
I started out selling on a fan page on Facebook. I've seen some pages that have a zillion random photo albums which can really confuse people. This will deter customers from browsing, which is not what you want. Treat the photo albums like a catalog. Put each type of product in an album and make sure to go through the albums periodically to "clean them up."
I recommend going to "edit page" and working your way down the list on the left hand side. Fill in as much information as you can. Be sure to choose a username (ex: www.facebook.com/annaliesbabyboutique) once you've hit at least 25 fans on your page to make it easier to direct people to your page.
Keep your eyes open for giveaways that you can enter one of your products in. Generally speaking, people will have to like your fan page to enter to win so it's a good way to get your numbers and traffic up on your page.
The good thing about using Facebook is that it's easy to network. The bad thing is that people can't search for the type of products you sell on Facebook. They basically have to stumble on your page. However, it is definitely a good marketing tool and a great way to interact with your customers. There are a multitude of free promotional pages on Facebook that you can utilize to get your name out. Here's some of the ones I use. Make sure you read each page's rules before advertising. Some of these pages also have websites you can register on.
USA Proud Shoutouts
The Craft Show
Trendy Links
The WAHM Hub
marketmommies
Handmade Show and Tell
Made in the USA-A Boutique Collection
Top Mom Shoppes
WAHM Pages
Hot Mama Network
Mama Made USA-Products made by WAHM's
Mommy Link-Promote Your Page
The Mom Shoppe

Ecrater
Facebook rules state that you can't actually sell on Facebook, but can direct customers to an outside site to purchase from which is why I also started a site on ecrater. Ecrater is free, and anyone can sell whatever they like on the site. It's easy to set up and use. The only downside to it is that not many people have heard of it, so your traffic may not be very high.

Twitter
Set up a twitter account for your business and link it to your facebook fan page so your activity on your page will be sent out as tweets.

Etsy
Most people have heard of Etsy which means that there's a lot of traffic on the site. Everything you need to know about making your shop on Etsy successful can be found here.

Blog
Start a blog to help advertise your business. I use blogger.com for mine. This is also essential if you plan to have any giveaways on your Facebook page as there are some strict rules about giveaways and promotions on Facebook. If you're caught breaking the rules, Facebook will close your page down. NOT a good thing to have to rebuild from the ground up! Here's a link to the current Facebook rules.

How to Sell/Market:

Pictures

Use models whenever you can. There are a ton of boutique modeling sites on Facebook that connect boutiques with models.
If you can't get a model, invest in a good mannequin.
Take pictures using natural light-NO fluorescent!
Take pictures against a plain white background or a natural setting. Outdoors is the best, but you can also create a "photo studio" indoors with a white sheet and natural lighting.
Use a photo editing software such as picnik.com to edit pictures and add watermarks.
Show as much detail as you can. Get closeups and faraway shots. Try all different angles. If you haven't already, invest in a decent digital camera so you can take a ton of shots and then choose the best ones.

Choose your products

Be unique, think outside the box. If you make the same thing as everyone else does, what's going to bring the customers to you versus someone else?
Find what you're good at and specialize in it. I tested a lot of products before realizing that my niche is boutique style children's clothing and accessories. Don't spread yourself too thin, some people told me that they were overwhelmed with all the selection I had at first. Also, the more variety of products you have, the more stock you're going to have to have on hand which means more money up front and overall.
Brand yourself. Get business cards, address labels, etc. At Vistaprint, you can get business cards, t-shirts, address labels, bags, banners, car magnets etc. for the price of shipping as long as you watch for their specials. Get labels or hang tags for your products so people will know where they bought them from and come back for more. Labels also make merchandise look more professional.

Marketing and Advertising

Find your target market (my target market is moms with kids ages NB-8 years)
Set your pricing to reflect your target market. Don't underprice as people will undervalue your work and won't buy from you. Don't overprice as obviously this will also deter customers. Do a google search on the type of product you're trying to price to see what others are charging for it. My rule of thumb is to not be the lowest or the highest priced. Don't forget to take into account the cost of your materials and time.
Always keep business cards in your purse to hand out to people. When I go out, I sometimes put my kids in clothing I've made and then when people compliment their outfits, I hand them a business card (or to up the cute factor, have your kids hand them out :) Hand out business cards everywhere you go, put several in packages you're shipping, if you do craft shows, hand them out to everyone who stops by your table.
Advertise at daycares, homeschool coops, mom forums (on many of them, you can add a "signature" which will automatically be added with your post. Use your website as your signature), review blogs, parenting groups, facebook, twitter, etsy teams, etc.

Packaging

Be sure your packaging looks professional. Wrap your products neatly in tissue paper, add a handwritten note to thank the customer for their order, etc. People remember the little details.

Keeping Records

Save all of your receipts for supplies, keep track of mileage to the post office, stores, etc. Ask your tax preparer for advice on what you can and can't write off as a business expense on your taxes.
Keep records of your orders in the order they're received so you don't forget anything. This will also serve as a record of your income. I use googledocs so I can access the records from any computer and don't have to worry about files getting deleted on my computer.

If you have any questions, you can email me at annaliesbabyboutique@yahoo.com.

Winners of the Giveaway!

2011-08-08T16:00:00.001-05:00

Using random.org, I drew the winners of the prizes in my 1 Year Anniversary Giveaway at Annalie's Baby Boutique
All the winners have been notified through email and given the contact info for claiming their prize.

Here's a list of the winners:
Sharon Lang Smith- $5 Gift Certificate from Lilac Joy Designs
Carla DeMarco-$10 off order from The Ruffled Edge
Brenda Taylor Laznovsky-Football Hat from Brookota Designs
Samantha Gormam-Two Snack Bags from Baby Bug Boutique
Tami Vollenweider-3T Halloween Dress from Michelle's Handmade Boutique     Paula Brown-Flower Clip from Tutu Cute by Jill
Tracy Jason Chris-Morroccan Nights bandana dress from Sweetie Marie Designs
Natasha Bjugan-Mini photo session from Grape Soda Photography
Mandy Hatch Agnello-My Little Pony headband and flower from Annalie's Baby Boutique
Nicole May Cogger-Floral canvas tote bag from Annalie's Baby Boutique
Diana Bradford Hatch-Kids Playing Style 2 T-shirt dress from Annalie's Baby Boutique
Jessica Slone-$10 Gift Certificate from Annalie's Baby Boutique
Lottie Essig-Floral Style 2 T-shirt dress from Annalie's Baby Boutique
Dawn Smisek-Fairies canvas tote bag from Annalie's Baby Boutique
Elizabeth Quezada-Pumpkin Hat from Nanna's Threads

Congratulations to all the winners and a big thanks to everyone else who entered! I would especially like to thank my wonderful sponsors who provided some of the prizes!

Why Didn't Someone Think of This Sooner?!?

2011-08-02T08:53:00.000-05:00

While shopping at Wal-mart yesterday, I saw these diapers:

Like most kids, mine have, at times, rebelled against laying down to get a diaper changed and I have had to change diapers while the child was standing up. WHY DIDN'T ANYONE THINK OF THESE DIAPERS EARLIER?!?!? What a great idea for the wriggly little one who can't be bothered with laying down for a few minutes to get his or her diaper changed!

What is a product you wish someone would invent to make a mom's job a little easier?

1 Year Anniversary Giveaway!

2011-07-31T15:38:00.000-05:00

As of August 1st, my boutique will have been open for a whole year!! It amazes me to see how much it's grown and changed since I first opened up.

It may be my boutique's 1st birthday, but I'm celebrating by giving gifts to my wonderful fans and customers! I also have some generous sponsors who have donated some of their products to the celebration. Be sure to check them out!
Tutu Cute by Jill
Baby Bug Boutique
BrooKota Designs
Grape Soda Photography
Lilac Joy Designs
Michelle's Handmade Boutique
The Ruffled Edge
Sweetie Marie Designs
Nanna's Threads

It would have made sense to open the giveaway on August 1st, and that was my original plan. However, I forgot to take into account the fact that I will be gone all day August 1st so won't be able to open the giveaway. Therefore....I've decided to open it a day early! Click here to visit the album. To enter to win each item, all you have to do is click on the googledocs form under each photo, fill it out, and be sure to like both pages (Annalie's Baby Boutique and the sponsor's page) Winners will be selected using random.org on Monday, August 8th at 2 pm and notified through email. They will also be posted on my blog.

Good luck everyone!

WAHM-Part 2

2011-07-28T14:20:00.000-05:00

In July of 2010, I realized that I could start my own page on Facebook and use it as a platform for selling things I made. I shared my excitement with my older sister, and talked her into starting this business venture with me. It was agreed that we would each pay for half the supplies, get half the profits, and do half the work. She had an old sewing machine that a relative had given to her, and so we set it up and got to work trying to figure out how to run it. She had never touched a sewing machine before, and I hadn't used one since I made a wrap skirt for myself while staying with my grandma during high school. We soon realized that the sewing machine was too old and didn't work properly anymore (thus the relative no longer wanting it). Not to be deterred, we decided that we'd just sew everything by hand until we could afford a new sewing machine. The first thing I made was a pillowcase dress for Princess. It took me 2 straight days of handstitching, but it turned out pretty cute. I made a kerchief to match and we were in business.

I opened our Facebook page in the beginning of August, 2010 and we dubbed it Annalie's Baby Boutique. We came up with the name by combining our names together (Hannah + Leah = Annalie) and by playing around with my daughter's name a little. Thanks to some friends who spread the word about our new venture, the page was soon gaining fans rapidly. The most exciting moment came when I was scrolling through the list of fans and realized we had our first fan who was not an acquaintance or a relative!

We dove into the boutique head first, making shopping trips to JoAnn Fabrics and cutting out fabric like two scissor crazed maniacs. We started out making pillowcase dresses, baby washcloths, burp cloths, snuggle taggies, and a few other miscellaneous products. Before we knew it, the orders were rolling in...to the tune of approximately less than 1 a week. Hey, it was a start!

We knew that handstitching all our products wasn't exactly time efficient so I asked around and ended up borrowing my mother-in-law's sewing machine. It was around 50 years old, very heavy, and the bobbin winder didn't work. I used it for several weeks, teaching myself to thread the machine by watching videos on youtube.com. And then, I moved it from the kitchen table to a small area I'd created behind the couch in the living room to be my sewing "room". And somehow, the wiring went out during the short 4 yard move. It was time to go shopping for my own sewing machine. I ended up buying a Babylock Natalie edition...a $400.00 machine that was on sale for $200. I love it and it was worth every penny of the 50% off price.

My sister soon dropped out of the business. She still helped me out with cutting fabric or watching my kids when I needed to get a lot of work done, but by October, it was MY boutique. The profit was all mine and *gulp* the expenses were all mine. I continued to add new products to the boutique and began branching out on the internet. I opened a shop on ecrater.com because the price was right (ecrater is completely free :). I knew several other boutique owners who used it and they seemed to be doing pretty well. I started a Twitter account and linked it up to my Facebook page. I started advertising on Facebook pages that specialize in helping small boutiques out (look for a complete list in WAHM-Part 3). I ordered free business cards and other business merchandise at Vistaprint.com. I signed up for craft shows and expos. I worked hard at promoting my boutique and it was worth it. I found out that you can't just sit there and expect people to find you, you have to go out and find them.

At some point, my products began changing. As I tried out different ideas, I soon came to realize what I enjoyed making the most. My boutique evolved from selling baby items to boutique style clothing for girls AND boys. Most boutiques only sell girl clothing, but since I have a little boy too, I felt I needed to include boys in the picture.

In January, I started my own website... and found out how much work that is. I also realized that, while having your own website is a good thing, you're really on your own there. On Ecrater and Facebook, I was one of many sellers and so people were more likely to stumble on my shop. At this point, my website badly needs a makeover, but I just don't have 87 free hours to make it happen.

Since I started my boutique, people had been suggesting that I start a shop on Etsy. I checked it out and was intimidated by the impressive photography and the professional feel to the shops already on Etsy. I definitely wasn't at that level yet and didn't feel as if I could compete on Etsy. Finally, in April, 2011, I bit the bullet and I went for it. And I'm so glad I did. It's been a great way to get more people to stop by my boutique, and I'm at a level professionally that it works well for me.

So here I am today...my business is growing slowly but surely and I'm loving every minute of it (most of the time). I was planning to put all my tips and advice in this post, but apparently I'm too longwinded, lol. Look for all that WAHM-Part 3 which will be posted sometime in the next few days.

WAHM-Part 1

2011-07-26T08:38:00.000-05:00

Oh, did I say a while back that I was going to be sure to post at least once a week from now on? And it's been 21 days since I last darkened the door of my blog? Oops. Well, here I am.

I'm a WAHM mom. Sort of. I also babysit outside the home, but I take my kidlets with me so I'm not giving up any time with them.

I used to work part-time at a B&B and the library, but I was miserable dropping my precious little girl off at my sister's house everyday instead of being with her myself. My sister would send me text and picture messages throughout the day to tell/show me what Princess was up to, but it wasn't the same. I was getting more and more depressed about working outside the home because I've always felt that my place was at home caring for my children and husband. Sounds 50's, I know, but that's what I wanted. For those of you who think that staying at home to be a wife and mother mean you're not accomplishing anything with your life...I happen to believe that raising future functioning mature responsible adults is a HUGE deal. And a LOT of work. I have hobbies, but at this season of my life, my family is my life and I wouldn't want it any other way. Someday when the kidlets are grown and moved out *sob* I'll be able to focus on those hobbies more and cultivate new ones.

Oooookay. Back on track here. One day I went to talk to my Pastor's wife because I was so depressed about my job situation.
I said, "If God really loves me and wants what's best for me, why isn't He enabling me to stay home with the baby that HE blessed me with?!?"
She said, "Maybe God is trying to teach you to be content no matter what."
I said, *Gulp* "Wow."
Because it had just hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm one of those pessimistic, the world hates me, my life kinda stinks people. I'm never quite happy with what I have and being thankful is something I really need to work on. I went home, did some serious time on my knees and came up realizing that she was right. And somehow, admitting my lack of thankfulness to God and asking forgiveness changed my outlook. I still wasn't crazy about the job situation and my boss wasn't any nicer, but it didn't bother me like before. Less than two weeks later, I got a call from someone I knew from an ECFE class I took Princess to. She was looking for someone to babysit her two children in her home and was willing to pay enough that I would be able to quit my job at the B&B. I told her I'd talk to Hubby about it and let her know. When I hung up the phone, I started crying because I couldn't believe how quickly God had provided for me when I changed my attitude. Hubby was all for the change and so, I called her back and said "YES!"

I've always been crafty (in more ways than one, my siblings would say). When I was little, I designed and made clothes for my dolls and once, for my little sister. Since my mom doesn't like sewing or crafts, I was self-taught (aka used the wrong techniques, end product didn't turn out well, etc.) But it was a start and that desire to create things never left me. After Princess was born, I found myself drooling over custom made baby things that you couldn't buy at wal-mart and thinking, "I could make this." But I wanted to do more than just make a few things for my own baby, I wanted to make enough to sell! I wanted to make unique baby items that other mommies could enjoy and use too. But I didn't have a sewing machine and I had no idea how I could market my products. Then, one day, everything changed. I clicked on a sidebar ad on Facebook for Listia. While browsing the auctions there, I came across a taggie blanket made with adorable blue and brown guitar print flannel. I fell in love with it and...lost the auction. Which led me to follow the link to the seller's website to see if I could buy one directly from her. I was surprised to be directed to her Facebook page and was really surprised when I realized that one could actually operate an online store of sorts on Facebook (disclaimer: Facebook rules state that an individual or business cannot actually sell products on Facebook due to liability issues, but can post products and direct potential customers to a website to purchase.)

I'm going to stop now before this post gets too long. Check back for WAHM-Part 2 to hear the rest of my story and to get tips on how to start your own WAHM business!

New Experiences

2011-07-05T13:13:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend, we went to Chicago to help Hubby's younger sister move. The actual moving part only took several hours, but since we were all there, we made a vacation out of it.

My favorite part was shopping at the outlet mall right across the road from our hotel. Got some good deals on a few outfits for the kidlets plus I found some t-shirts to make some more dresses and hoodie shirts out of. I'm completely addicted to making upcycled clothes right now (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.173977972661135.39962.102347329824200). Here's a picture of the dress I made on Thursday:

Princess and Little Man had a ton of fun playing with their cousins. They also enjoyed their first trip to Chuck E. Cheese. Much to Hubby's chagrin, Princess had no interest in playing games to win tickets. All she wanted to do was ride the different rides. Don't worry, Hubby appropriated some of her tokens and won enough tickets for her to pick out two very cheap tacky toys from the "store."


Princess's favorite ride was the carousel. To her right is Little Man who also enjoyed riding.

Little Man loved dancing to the music at Chuck E. Cheese (why didn't I bring the video camera?!?!) and was fascinated by the racing games. He spent a good 1/2 hour sitting at a game with a steering wheel and probably annoying the other kids who wanted a turn on it. No tokens needed, he was thrilled to be sitting there "driving." When I tried taking him somewhere else, he threw a tantrum worthy of the hall of fame and toddled right back over to the game.

The kids are both taking naps. I have a t-shirt and some fabric that's just begging to be turned into an adorable little dress. See you all later.

Not Going to Say Goodbye

2011-06-29T22:50:00.002-05:00

I realized tonight that I haven't update my "goodbye" letters since before I got married. I really need to do that.

Next to one of my children dying, my biggest fear is that I will die without the chance to say goodbye to my loved ones. As we're good Scandinavian/Germans, we don't really express our feelings towards each other so a lot of good things are left unsaid. Thus the "goodbye" letters. When I was in my early teens, I wrote a personal note to each special person in my life and stashed them away where they would be found in case of my untimely demise. I also included a general letter as to what kind of funeral arrangements I wanted. I updated the letters when I was engaged, but haven't done anything with them since.

You may find it morbid that I have planned for my funeral and death, but it's practicality for me. Here's why:

1 year old: diagnosed with asthma.
6 years old: stopped breathing completely, was flown via Mayo One helicopter to ICU, was intubated and put in a medically induced coma for 5 days, and was in the hospital for a week. Because I was so young, I blocked the whole episode up until I woke up in the hospital out of my memory so I only know what my parents have told me. BTW, if you've heard rumors that people in comas can still hear what's going on around them, it's TRUE. On the advice of my doctors, my parents bought and played a lullaby tape for me while I was in the coma to soothe me. When I woke up, I had the whole tape memorized and I knew what my parents and doctors had been saying while in my room.
10 years old: almost stopped breathing, flown via Mayo One helicopter to ICU (where I met a nurse who remembered me from when I was 6!), stayed in hospital for a few days. Because I was old enough to remember this attack, I started having serious panic attacks every time I saw an ambulance or ran into any other "trigger" that reminded me of the asthma attack. Still have some issues with this, but since having my kids, I've learned to handle it much better.
13 years old: went into anaphylactic shock at a friend's house after exposure to nail polish remover (which is when we found out that I'm severely allergic to chemicals of any kind), was flown via Mayo One helicopter to the hospital, stayed in hospital for a few days.
15 years old: don't remember many details, but was hospitalized for a few days due to serious asthma attack.
At this point, I started having so many ambulance rides to the ER and hospital that I'm not sure when they all happened. Some of the attacks were severe, others were mild.

Between all that was a lot of time spent just sitting (not laying because that makes it harder to breathe) in bed or on a chair taking a lot of nebtreatments and prednisone. When I was in my teens, I was finally diagnosed with Sudden Onset Asphyxic Asthma.

Anyways, the point of this is that I've always been very aware that life is fragile and can end at any time. To be honest, when I was young, I didn't think I would live past the age of 18. But here I am, alive and kicking and annoying as many people as I can. Hehe. I'm not easy to get rid of. And now that I have two very precious reasons to live, I'm not going anywhere if I can help it. But if I can't help it, I want to make sure they have some record of how much I love them and want to be here for them.

Don't take a moment of life for granted.

Growing Up

2011-06-28T21:08:00.000-05:00

While shopping today, Princess did/said two notable things.

The first happened while eating lunch at Culvers. Right after we sat down, a soldier in uniform chose to eat his meal at a table near ours. Princess was awed by the uniform and couldn't stop staring. I told her that he was a soldier and that he helped take care of us all and keep us safe. She wanted to go over right then and there and ask him a question. "Will you help take care of us after lunch too?" She also wanted to say thank you to him. I wish I would've let her go, but I was so focused on getting the kids to eat so we could hurry and finish our shopping that I told her she could talk to him when we passed him on our way out. I should've remembered one thing: that a man eating by himself takes less than half as much time to complete his meal as a very distractable toddler and preschooler. Princess saw him leaving just as he headed out the door and was very upset that she hadn't gotten a chance to talk to him. But by then, it was too late. I had missed the chance to finish teaching my daughter a very important lesson about the value of our military men and women. She got half the lesson, but I think it would've meant so much more to her if she'd had the opportunity to talk to the soldier.

The second thing happened at Walmart while I was perusing my favorite section of the store, the baby department. I was gushing over a pair of tiny adorable pink overalls hanging from the clearance rack. Princess reached over from her seat in the cart to put her hand on my shoulder, looked me in the eye, and with as much sincerity as a three year old can muster, said, "I'm sorry, Mommy. I'm not a baby anymore"
Please don't remind me. As much as I love seeing my little ones grow, I miss the babies they used to be. Little Man started walking on Father's Day and, while crawling is still faster and therefore the preferred method of movement, he seems so much more grown up to me now. He is turning into a little boy right before my eyes.

Just a Phase

2011-06-23T15:53:00.000-05:00

One of the most important things to remember about parenthood is EVERYTHING is just a phase. The good stuff, the bad stuff, the stuff that makes you want to scream and beat your head on a wall...it's all just a phase and it will pass.

Princess has hit a new phase that she's been in for almost a month now. A V------ERY LONG MONTH. Her new behavior consists of:

Not taking "no" for an answer. She can argue until she's blue in the face (and she does, at least 5 times a day!), but I don't change my answer. This has not stopped her from arguing with me, repeatedly asking the same question, or just going ahead and doing it anyways even though there are consequences for those actions.
Being openly defiant. If I tell her not to do something, she looks at me and deliberately does it anyways. If I tell her to do something, she walks away or throws a fit.
Stealing food from the kitchen. And by food, I mean mostly candy or food she's allergic to. Both of which are bad for her.

Yesterday, everything hit the fan. I was having issues with a customer that ended up taking most of the afternoon to resolve even though I needed to be working on other orders. Hubby was upset with me for...I'm not even sure what he was mad about, but his mood dragged me down all day. Little Man was going for a record for loudest, highest, most ear-piercing screech of all time. My new camera STILL hadn't come in the mail and I needed it for some new orders. And Princess was at an all-time record for bad behavior. I honestly don't think she obeyed me once yesterday. She was her usual huggable self (which is probably a self-preservation technique with the way she's been acting lately), but she was horribly disobedient.

At one point, I was so upset about the issue with the customer who just. wouldn't. let. it go. that I asked Princess for a hug. She cuddled for as long as I needed it then went back to being disobedient. By suppertime, everything had built up and I was thinking (and possibly muttering under my breath) some words that should not have been coming out of my mouth or entering my head. Princess got ahold of a dry-erase marker and scribbled on the tablecloth. Just about everything inside and out of our house has scribbles on it because this kid WILL NOT stop coloring on everything she can reach. I completely lost it. I said some horrible things to my 3 year old who said some horrible things back. I threw a tantrum. I yelled. I hyperventilated. I finally walked away and got control of myself. And then Princess spilled her full glass of milk. Okay, breathe, count to 10, get a towel and clean it up. Give her some more milk with her supper and move on. As soon as I set her cup down, she knocked it over again. And it was not an accident. Smoke was coming out of my ears and sirens were going off. Princess looked up at me with concern on her little face and very sweetly asked, "Mommy, do you need another hug?"
YES! I most definitely needed another hug! And some chocolate. And possibly a brochure for obedience school (do they accept three-year-old humans?)

God, give me patience and wisdom with this child you have blessed me with. And help me to remember, no matter what, that she is indeed a blessing.

And Today's Mantra Is...

2011-06-16T10:16:00.000-05:00

Allow me to set the scene:
Enter house with toys and laundry strewn everywhere. In the background, one child is removing dvds from the shelf and throwing them on the floor. The other child is on the floor kicking and screaming loud enough for people to hear her across the state line (which although is not that far away, is far enough away that this decibel level of tantrum throwing is highly unacceptable)

In the foreground a frazzled mother clutches a can of Dr. Pepper and repeats to herself: "I love my children, I love my children, I love my children, I love my children, I love my children, I love my..."

The child on the floor takes the tantrum up a notch, causing the windows to shatter while the child throwing dvds on the floor moves on to emptying the kitchen cupboards.

Mother: *sighs* "I need chocolate."

End scene

Ab Workout

2011-06-15T18:33:00.000-05:00

The baby is 13 months old, and I think it's time for me to come to grips with the fact that the baby belly isn't going anywhere without a lot of help from me. By the time Princess was this age, I was able to wear fitted shirts without any problems. Granted the stretch marks had marred the appearance of my less than perfect abs, but at this point I would kill to have that stomach back.

It's time for me to get back on the ab workout. I have a good workout routine that I did faithfully for about a week last winter, but methinks it may take longer than that to get back in shape. Finding the time though...

I'm happy with my weight and I got back to my pre-pregnancy weight easily, but Little Man did a number on my stomach. After some research, it appears that baby #2 does this to a lot of women. So all you mothers-of-one who are a little smug about how your stomach "sprang" back into shape post-pregnancy, I dare you to get pregnant again. Because, yes, I too was a tad smug over my appearance after giving birth to Princess. Little Man has completely stripped me of all smugness, however.

Speaking of Little Man, he has recently started screeching. Repeatedly, loudly, annoyingly. It's one of those behaviors that make me want to, well, not like him very much. I have tried several different methods of teaching him not to screech, but nothing has been successful thus far. Any suggestions would be VERY welcome. If you don't have any suggestions, please feel free to send me a pair of earplugs.

Unsolicited Advice: Even if you have hangups over your body image, don't make comments about the way you look in your daughter's presence. Even young children can pick up on those attitudes and end up having issues of their own.

Motherhood Is Messy

2011-06-09T16:25:00.002-05:00

Motherhood is very messy at times. Between the drool, spit-up, vomit, poop, food spills, mucus, blood, etc. it's a disgusting job at times.

So far, in the almost 3 1/2 years I've been "employed" by my kidlets, I've caught puke in my bare hands, picked poop off the bathroom floor, scrubbed smeared poop off a cream colored carpet, wiped runny little noses literally thousands of times, stepped in pee puddles with my bare feet, located Princess by following the trail of drool she left behind, mopped up gallons of spilled milk, washed blood out of hair and off foreheads and little knees, and much more. But what happened this morning topped all the disgusting things I've done and seen as a mother so far. To be honest, I'm not sure it can be topped. Feel free to prove me wrong with your own tale of woe. Just to warn you, this post is not for the faint of heart or stomach. You may want to locate an ice cream pail and stash it under your computer chair if you have a tendency to feel nauseous.

Our toilet is hard to flush. Not for an adult or older child, but 3 year old Princess has a hard time pushing down the handle to flush it. She's supposed to close the lid and shut the bathroom door so Little Man doesn't get in the bathroom to, you know, play in the handy little pool of water that's at just the right level for him. She's forgotten numerous times and so numerous times, I've dragged Little Man away from the toilet just before he goes for a dip. He's managed to get his hands in there a few times, but nothing too serious. Until today.

This morning, Princess was in the bathroom washing her hands after using the toilet and I was in the living room with Little Man. Then I heard suspicious splashing sounds and realized that Little Man was gone. I found him standing next to the toilet in the bathroom and my worst fears were confirmed. He was EATING the poop out of the toilet. That's right. EATING POOP. He had it all over his hands and had dropped some on his feet too. Gagging, I cleaned him up and began trying to clean his mouth out. He's getting 4 new teeth in and wasn't too keen on me swiping the inside of his mouth with a wet rag so I had to fight him. After cleaning him up, I carried him into the kitchen to give him something to wash it down with. I had to carry him at arm's length because his breath was absolutely putrid. He drank half a sippy cup of juice, but his breath still smelled terrible. Mortified that my child had eaten something so nasty and I hadn't noticed until too late, I called the pediatrician who assured me that unless Princess were sick, Little Man should be okay, but told me to call Poison Control just in case. At this point of my mothering career, I have Poison Control on speed dial. They basically reiterated what the doctor had said, but told me to keep an eye out for fever, diarrhea, etc.

As one of my friends said, "Talk about a blackmail story!" This cute little anecdote is going in Little Man's baby book.

Unsolicited Advice: Ummmmm....don't let your kids eat poop.

Revamping the Boutique

2011-06-06T16:15:00.005-05:00

I've decided that I'm sick of working for about a dollar an hour. I started my boutique for four reasons...
1. To be able to stay home with my children.
2. Because I LOVE creating functional and adorable things for children.
3. So that people like me who don't have much money can still afford boutique style for their children.
4. To make enough money to be able to afford things. Things like clothing for my kids, medications for me and my daughter, etc. Not to be able to buy fun stuff, but for the basics.

I have to revamp Annalie's Baby Boutique. The first two reasons are not why I'm revamping my boutique. It's the third and fourth reasons. I started out marketing my products to my target audience, who are the people in the third reason. Unfortunately, it turns out that you can't make any money trying to sell things to people who also don't have much money. I deeply appreciate every one of my customers and my Facebook fans. You've all given me the inspiration and energy to keep going even when I've felt like giving up. I would not be where I am at today without you.

I priced my products so low that I'm barely making any money and when I figured my supplies AND my time into the equation, I realized that I am making about a dollar an hour. I just can't support my family on that amount. Also, my time is valuable as it is time I could be spending with my children. I cannot justify giving up large chunks of time with Princess and Little Man for a few dollars.

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be going through my products one by one and determining how much the supplies cost along with the time it takes me to make it. This is not something I just decided to do on a whim. I've been spending a LOT of time and prayer going over all my options and making this decision. Not all of my prices will change. Some things only take me a short time to make so those prices will stay the same or even go down. Other prices will be going up. I sincerely apologize if this upsets anyone, but it's what I have to do or I will have to close down. I will continue to have special deals and giveaways periodically as well as rewarding my returning customers with Loyalty Bucks. I will also hopefully be adding some new innovative products.

Thank you so much to all my wonderful fans and customers, and I look forward to a great future for Annalie's Baby Boutique.

Desperation Vent

2011-06-05T15:23:00.004-05:00

I'm going nuts. I honestly don't know how much longer I can handle how claustrophobic I feel in my house. I'm absolutely DESPERATE for a room or at least a space I can work in. I love my work and I love having my boutique, but I feel like I can't work because there's NO SPACE. Boutique supplies and inventory are stored in every room of my house-in the living room, in my room, in the kids' room, in the kitchen. I have all my supplies spread out because there's no where to keep them together and it makes it SO hard to get anything done. To fill an order, I have to dig through boxes to find the right supplies. If I could get enough space to organize, I could get so much more work done. I've been dropping very UN-subtle hints around Hubby that we just don't fit in our small two bedroom apartment anymore.

Because the kiddos keep each other awake, Little Man sleeps in a pack-n-play in our room until both kids have fallen asleep, at which point I move him to the crib in the kids' room. He also naps in our room which means that when I have orders to work on during naptime, I have to drag all my supplies out before he goes down for a nap so I can work. I do actually have a sewing area...the tiny space behind our couch. I pulled the couch out from the wall in the living room so I would have a place to put my sewing machine. However, I feel trapped back there and I have to practically climb over to my sewing machine because there's so little room back there with my sewing supplies.

I love our house. I love the location, the big beautiful wraparound porch, the big yard that I don't have to mow because our landlady does it. But it needs just one more room. Two would be perfect, but I could live with just one. If I had one more room, I could move all my supplies into one location so they're not too spread out for me to work efficiently. If I had two more rooms, I could have a room for my work and Little Man and Princess wouldn't have to share a room anymore. But I could live with just one extra room. I can't live so crowded. I know there are people who do it, but I feel like I'm suffocating.

Anyways, I know this blog post got a little personal, but this is the way I feel and I'm just so frustrated. I have even contemplated shutting down my boutique, but I would miss it too much. Hubby isn't taking me seriously when I say I can't. handle. this. anymore so he just laughs it off when I start looking at real estate ads. I wish he understood what a big deal this is for me.

A New Cape for the Princess

2011-05-23T19:08:00.009-05:00

At a garage sale last weekend, I picked up a burgundy velvet cape for Princess's dress-up box. It was adult size, but I figured I could fix that :)
(Please ignore the mess in the background, it was a sewing day, not a cleaning day, lol)

First thing I did was measure Princess from the shoulders to about the ankles where I wanted the cape to fall. After doing this, I measured the cape from the shoulders down and cut off the excess.

With the extra fabric I had from the bottom, I decided to make a hood. I used one of my hooded sweaters to make a paper pattern.

Next, I cut out the hood pieces and pinned them together, facing each other. Then I folded over the bottom edge of the actual cape and pinned this in place as well. I zigzagged the edges of the hood together and zigzagged the bottom of the cape. By the way, stretchy velvet material is kinda tricky to work with so my stitching didn't turn out perfect, but it was good enough for a dress-up cape.

When the hood pieces were sewn together, I folded over the front edges of the hood and zigzagged that just like I'd done to the bottom of the cape. It turned out with a lettuce edge which actually looked kinda cute.

Now all I had to do was attach the hood to the cape. The cape had a slightly padded stand-up collar on it. To make things easier, I folded the collar down and simply zigzagged the hood onto the same seam that the original maker of the cape had created when they'd attached the collar to the cape.

Done! It took me about 15 minutes to whip this up By this time, Princess had gone outside to play so I chased her down to try on her new dress-up cape. She's thrilled with the latest addition to her dress-up box and loves that it makes her feel like a real princess.

Giving Away Money

2011-05-19T19:01:00.007-05:00

I'm going to ask you for help with some stuff...I might just beg and plead. We'll see.

I'm earning money on two different websites. One is Swagbucks (earn points by using their search engine, doing tasks, surveys, special offers, finding codes, watching short videos, etc). I signed up for this site at the beginning of March. So far, I've earned $60 in Amazon Gift Cards. I tell ya, being able to get something for FREE is such a good feeling.

The other site I use is an invitation-only website called Superpoints (earn points by watching a short video every day, completing special offers, and, my personal favorite, clicking on the "Superlucky" button to randomly win points). I signed up for Superpoints on Sunday and I already have 118 points that I can redeem for prizes or Amazon gift cards. Word to the wise, always go for the Amazon gift cards-you can literally buy anything on Amazon.

I know people who have never paid for diapers simply by using one or more of this type of website. Other people save up all year (amazon gift cards NEVER expire) and use the money they earn to buy Christmas gifts. Both sites I use are completely free as long as you stay away from the special offers where you have to sign up to buy something to earn points. I've never spent a cent on either of these websites.

Here's where I grovel a bit. To up my earnings, I need people to sign up for one or both of these sites with my referral links. Personally, I don't see why more people don't do stuff like this. I mean, IT'S FREE MONEY!!!! But I digress.

Here's my referral link to Swagbucks. Anyone and everyone can use this link.

http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/annaliesboutique

Here're a few referral links to Superpoints. If you click on a link and it's expired or used already, please comment on this post or email me at annaliesbabyboutique@yahoo.com and I would be more than happy to dig up another link for you to sign up with. Also, in order for me to actually get any benefits from you signing up, you have to upgrade to the Basic membership. Which means just filling in basic profile info and verifying your email address. Supereasy.
UPDATED 8-16-11

Allergies

2011-05-10T16:00:00.002-05:00

Princess had an appointment with her allergy specialist yesterday and he told us that since she is doing so well, we can start feeding her again! Well, we've been feeding her, but when you have to cut wheat, dairy, peanuts, and eggs out of a diet, that doesn't leave many options. She can only have her "allergy" foods several times a week so I plan to stick to her food plan at home and let her have "treats" when we're out somewhere. I celebrated Louise's semi-release from her nearly year-long strict diet by buying her a M&M cookie. She took it from me and just stared at it with huge eyes for a minute before asking, "Mommy, can I eat this?" When I told her that she could, she could barely contain her excitement.

It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to cut wheat, eggs, peanuts, and dairy out of Princess's diet, but at times, it was heartbreaking. Like when I asked her what she wanted for her birthday meal and all she wanted was a sandwich. Or when I would sit down to eat something that was off-limits for Princess and she'd ask, "Mommy, can I just smell it, please?" Then she's smell my food and say, "Mmmmm, that's good!" I'm just glad we went through this while she's still young because it wasn't as much of an adjustment for her versus what it would be for an older child or adult.

Unsolicited Advice: Many people think that when a person has food allergies, that they will have an instant reaction to that food such as itching, hives, asphyxiation, etc. However, many times, food allergies cause other symptoms like wetting the bed, behavior issues, asthma, etc.

Annoyances

2011-05-07T09:32:00.002-05:00

Things that annoy me:

Bugs. They come in my house, they scare the living daylights out of me if they look weird enough or have 8 legs or more. I just don't like 'em

People who assume that just because we live in a small town, we don't know what's going on in that great big ole' world out there. Seriously, we have a television. And multiple radios.

People who don't keep their houses clean. Okay, actually my house is a disaster 95% of the time. I'm mostly just annoyed with myself because I'm sick of it being a mess.

My outside cat. Dumb thing won't quit climbing window screens.

Spilt milk. I know, I know, don't cry over spilt milk. I don't cry over it, I just get vaguely annoyed that I have to clean up spilt milk AGAIN.

Laundry GREATLY annoys me. It's neverending. Right now I have 4 loads partially folded on my living room floor, 1 NOT folded load on the bright orange crushed-velvet chair (I dig retro furnishings, okay?), and 6 or 7 loads that need to be washed, dried, folded, and put away. Help.

Whining. GET. OVER. IT. My beautiful 3 year old is aware that whining gets her absolutely nowhere with me and doesn't use it much ("I can't understand you because all I hear is a whiny voice."), my 12 month old is the king of whine. Which he is learning gets him nowhere as well.

Emptying the garbage can. Don't know why, I just hate this household chore and am looking forward to the day I can pass this job onto my dear children.

The lack of space in my house. A small 2 bedroom basement apartment is just not big enough for 2 adults, 2 kids, all their toys, and 2 home based businesses.

Name Changes

2011-05-03T18:25:00.004-05:00

I've decided to change my kids' names. Not in real life, just here on the blog. The names I picked for them here has caused some confusion among my real-life friends. So to eliminate the confusion as to why they have the names Louise and Nathan, they shall hereby be known as "Princess" and "Little Man" from this point forward. Someday if I get ambitious, I'll go back and change their names in the previous posts to avoid confusing new followers to the blog, but frankly, I don't have time right now.

I think it's pretty obvious why I selected the names "Princess" and "Little Man." Loui...I mean Princess is under the impression that she is in fact a Princess and in all actuality she is, indeed, God's little princess.
Little Man is thusly named because he is my "little man." He got his first haircut last week (*sob) and looks like a little boy. He has never seemed like a baby to me, just a miniature adult who used to cry a lot, uses a diaper, and doesn't know how to feed himself.

Unsolicited Advice: Can't think of any today and the kids are whiny because it's suppertime so...behave yourself!

Changes

2011-05-02T13:02:00.005-05:00

I've made some changes at Annalie's Baby Boutique! Here they are:

1. I will do a weekly deal which will be different every week. Each deal will run from Monday until Sunday.

2. I will be doing flash giveaways and special deals at least once a month if not more. This is where I randomly post a giveaway or special deal as my status or on my blog and you have a certain amount of time to enter the giveaway or special deal using the link I will provide before I pick a winner through random.org

3. Starting May 1st, every purchase made will earn you Loyalty Bucks. You get 1 Loyalty Buck for each $10 spent (does not include shipping costs) and when you get 5 Loyalty Bucks, you can exchange them for a $5 credit or keep saving up. If you have small orders (under $10), I will keep track of them as well and apply them towards your next Loyalty Buck. I will be keeping track of all these in a spreadsheet so you, as the customer, will not have the responsibility of remembering and tracking your Loyalty Bucks.

There's also been a big change at my house...Nathan is a year old!!! Okay, he's not officially a year old for a few more days, but we celebrated with a party last Saturday. Hard to believe he's that old already since this past year went by so fast. He's chattering a lot, but not saying any real words, can do sign language for "all done", "more", and "milk" when he wants to, doesn't walk yet, but stands without hanging onto anything for up to two minutes, got his first haircut last week, and is transitioning to the sippy cup quite well.

Here's a few pictures of his party:

The sock monkey lovey is from Baby Bug Boutique

The sock monkey hat is from Nanna's Threads. I made the overalls along with a matching jumper dress for Louise to wear.

Lasts

2011-04-25T09:40:00.003-05:00

Have you ever looked back and thought, "I wish I'd know that would be the last time I (fill in the blank)." I've found that there are a lot of moments like that when you have kids. We carefully mark firsts in the baby book, but lasts are rarely recorded because most of the time we're not aware that it's the last time until much later.

Here are some of my kids' lasts that I wish I known about. Some were welcomed, some were sad:

If I'd known that it would be the last time you cuddled up on my chest with your tiny butt up in the air, I wouldn't have been in such a hurry to lay you down in your crib so I could do housework.

If I'd know that it would be the last time I'd change your diaper before you finally potty-trained, I'd have felt a sad twinge (I'm one of those weird people who actually doesn't mind changing diapers) for that one-on-one time that we wouldn't have anymore.

If I'd known it would be the last time I'd have to stock up on formula, I'd have jumped for joy because that stuff is EXPENSIVE!

If I'd known it would be the last time I'd breastfeed you, I'd have savored every second instead of wishing it would be over soon (both my kids were awful at breastfeeding).

If I'd known it would be the last time you'd fall asleep on my lap, I'd have stayed in that chair all night with you.

If I'd known it would be the last time you'd wake up in the middle of the night to eat, I'd have tried to stay awake a little bit longer to enjoy that quiet time together.

If I'd known it would be the last time you would eat a jar of baby food before you refused to eat anything but table food, I wouldn't have stocked up so much!

If I'd known it would be the last time I would have to pump, I would have bought a sledge hammer and smashed the breast pump because I hated every second of pumping!

If I'd known it would be the last time I fed you a bottle, I'd have enjoyed that "I'm in seventh heaven" look babies get when they're sucking on a bottle or pacifier instead of thinking of all the dirty laundry that needed to be washed.

It's so bittersweet when kids move onto the next step of their lives. I'm thankful that I get to watch them grow up and to help them along the way, but I wish they could stay small a little longer. Basically, what I'm saying is, take the time to enjoy every minute you can with your children. They will only be this age once and before you know it, they'll be grown up and you'll wish they could run through the house making a mess again. Personally, my focus at this point in my life is not ME, it's my precious children. I've given up many things for my kids and I don't regret any of it. My biggest regret is that I wasn't able to work at home and sooner so I could've spent more time with Louise when she was a baby. It wasn't until she was over a year and a half old that my wonderful friend was able to make my dream of staying with Louise instead of shipping her off to the babysitter's while I worked come true by offering me a job of babysitting her kids. When my kids are much older, I will probably work outside the home again (unless I'm able to make my boutique successful enough to bring in a steady income!), but for now, I'm willing to take the pay cut so I can enjoy priceless moments with Louise and Nathan.

Unsolicited Advice: No advice today! Instead, please leave a comment telling me a "last" that you wish you'd know about.

New Stuff and a Resolution

2011-04-21T21:21:00.002-05:00

I've resolved that I WILL post once a week from now on. I get so busy, I forget about the joys of blogging and the next thing you know, it's been over a month since I last graced this blog with my presence.

What's going on right now....

I got the CUTEST leg warmers in the mail the other day. Added them all to my store and I'm stalking my wholesaler because there's rumors she will be adding soccer leg warmers and lace leggings to her website soon.

I made both of my kids Easter outfits plus outfits for Nathan's sock monkey themed 1st birthday party which is coming up a lot faster than I expected. For Easter, Louise got a triple ruffle dress, matching ruffle socks, and a flower clip that says "Happy Easter" in the center. Nathan got a bowtie and vest that coordinate with Louise's dress. I'm crazy about the matchy-matchy look for my kiddos. For Nathan's party, I designed patterns for a new dress style complete with pockets and an elasticized back for ease of fit and a pair of overalls, also with pockets and a "1" on the front. They both turned out really cute. I'd love to show you pics of all these new outfits I've made. However, we recently attended a niece's birthday party and left the camera there. I'd run over and pick it up from my sister-in-law, but she and her family live 6 hours away from us so it'll have to wait until we see them next. I see your tears of disappointment, but don't worry. They're planning to visit within the next 2 weeks so I promise pictures at that time.

Like I said, Nathan's 1st birthday party is sock monkey themed. I ordered a sock monkey cake topper from TwoSugarBabies on Etsy for his cake, a sock monkey hat from Nanna's Threads (I also bought him this adorable bear hat about 6 months ago), and a sock monkey lovey from Baby Bug Boutique.
Other than that, I haven't had any thoughts as to decorations. I'm thinking red and brown plates, cups, napkins, etc. and placing Louise's sock monkey strategically for a decoration. Any other ideas? If I have time (and enough supplies) I might make a felt pendant banner and applique a letter of Nathan's name on each pendant using my sock monkey fabric I have leftover from his overalls.

Unsolicited Advice: When planning a themed event (or any event, or just because), check out Etsy.com for handmade creations to fit whatever theme you are going for. Also, there are a TON of people who have "shops" on Facebook and are willing to create a custom item for you. To get started on finding these shops, check out Made in the USA-A Boutique Collection.

Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall

2011-03-14T19:24:00.003-05:00

This has not been a good day. I got ready for work, woke the kids up and we headed out the door to my babysitting job. A little after 9, I was starting to clean up some toys in the living room when I heard a series of thuds and realized that Nathan was no longer in the living room with us. I heard him start to scream, and I ran to the door that opened to the basement stairs, praying that he hadn't fallen all the way down. I found Nathan on the landing, and was relieved to see that he had only fallen down three stairs. I scooped him up just as he squirmed his way to the edge of the landing and was about to fall down the rest of the stairs. Picking him up, I gave him a once over to check for injuries and, lo and behold, there was blood on his forehead dripping down his cheek. Still calm, I took him over to the sink and started to dab away the blood from what I assumed was a pretty decent scrape or scratch. I'd only dabbed away a little when I saw, to my horror, a deep 1 inch long gaping gash on his little forehead. At that point, I pretty much lost it. Scrapes, cuts, bruises....I can handle those. Gaping head wounds...not so much. Crying and completely freaking out, I called 911 first. I was shaking so much, it took me three tries to unlock my phone keypad before I could dial (which strangely enough, is a recurring nightmare of mine....I have to dial 911, but have problems working the phone) Once I had a 911 operator on the phone, I had another problem. I was holding Nathan who was screaming and I didn't know the address of the house I was at (I'm only there 4 days a week, how am I supposed to know the address?!? Lol) I found the address on some mail on the counter, but neither the operator nor I could hear each other over Nathan's screams. I finally managed to yell the address loud enough for him to hear and hung up. I laid Nathan on the floor and went to get a phone book so I could call the lady I babysit for to tell her what had happened. After she got me to calm down enough to actually speak English, she called her father-in-law so he could come over and take over babysitting for me. My phone was going dead, but I threatened it severely and managed to make two more calls. One to my parent's house, thoroughly scaring my younger sister and dad since I was too hysterical to make much sense, and one more call to Hubby at work. He arrived just as we were walking out to the ambulance. He dropped Louise off with his mom before following us up to the ER. Because Nathan had a head wound, I had to keep him still and awake during the 30 minute ride to the ER. Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep a baby who is past due for their morning nap awake while being held by mommy during an ambulance ride while not moving him around? He cried some on the way up there, but only because he was irritated that we wouldn't let him fall asleep.

While waiting for the doctor to examine Nathan and stitch him up, Nathan was his normal self. He was smiling, playing, and walking (with Mommy's help) all over the exam room...only difference was that he had a gaping bloody gash on his head. Kind of killed the cute baby look. When, after 20 minutes of a numbing solution, the doctor came in to stitch up Nathan's gash, I excused myself to the waiting room. Hubby got the honor of holding our screaming son down on the table while the doctor and nurses fixed him up. I will deal with illnesses, scrapes, bruises, and breathing issues (e.g. Louise), but when it comes to that, I'm out. I would've been crying harder than Nathan and no help at all. As it was, I was a mess sitting out in the waiting room. When they were done giving him 8 stitches to close the gash, a nurse came to get me and I ran back to see my baby boy. Apparently, 10 month olds can hold a grudge because he wanted nothing to do with his daddy and wouldn't even look at him for a while.

Anyways, that's my day. The whole ordeal was much harder on me than it was on Nathan, who was a little trooper the entire time. Don't forget, this is the kid who doesn't even flinch when he gets shots and is constantly whacking his skull on something. He's just a tough little boy.

Unsolicted Advice: When you have a crawling or walking baby, ALWAYS make sure doors to stairs are CLOSED. Lesson learned here.

I've Been Busy, How About You?

2011-03-11T18:48:00.004-06:00

Yes, I know I've been slacking on the "blog front" lately. Here's a look at what I've been doing with my time....

I've been getting quite a few orders for my boutique so I've been working on making and shipping those out. I also have decided to change my boutique up a little bit. I eliminated several products such as burp cloths, washcloths, and carseat strap covers. I created a clearance album on my Facebook page that can be found here with all the products I will no longer be carrying. Check it out as things are going fast! I want to take my boutique in a slightly different direction by specializing in boutique style clothing for babies and children. I feel as if there are SO many boutiques out there that sell tutus and hair accessories and, although I plan to continue carrying those items because they are my top sellers, I want my boutique to my unique and different from every other boutique out there.

That leads me to another thing I've been working on. I'm making my kids Easter outfits this year. Louise will wear a ruffled dress and Nathaniel will wear a coordinating bowtie and vest. As Louise is gone this weekend visiting cousins with her grandma, I plan to devote my time to sewing. I drafted a pattern for her dress yesterday and am really excited to start cutting out the fabric (which is super cute, by the way!). Nathan stayed home, but he's the easiest baby ever and naps twice a day so I think I can handle this. :) Now if I could just get Hubby to go away for the weekend too.....

I was interviewed by our local newspaper a while back and the article ran a few weeks ago. Click here to read the article.

Oh yes, one more thing. Because apparently working part-time babysitting and almost full-time with my boutique isn't quite enough for me, I signed up to be an independent sales rep for Discovery Toys. I grew up playing with Discovery Toys and they were always my favorite toys to play with. They're great quality, educational, and creative. So I figured, why not start selling them? You can either order online at my website, www.discoverytoyslink.com/hannahwingert or you can book a party to earn free products for yourself. For people who are not from this area or would rather not have a home party, I will be offering catalog parties as well (I send you a bunch of catalogs and hostess info. You pass the catalogs out to your friends and send me their orders).

Nathan is officially a creepy crawlie! He learned how to crawl on his 9 month birthday and hasn't stopped moving since. Louise was thrilled with the latest development for about 8 minutes before she realized that it meant she could no longer keep him away from her toys. About 2 weeks after learning how to crawl, Nathan learned how to pull himself up on furniture which meant another level of babyproofing. I still have the exersaucer out for those times when I really need to work on the floor and he won't stop tackling me, but he complains the whole time he's in it because he's figured out why I put him in there.

Unsolicited Advice: When babyproofing for a crawling or walking baby, get down to their level to see everything they see.

Winners of the 850 and 1000 Fan Contest!

2011-02-15T17:03:00.002-06:00

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest at Annalie's Baby Boutique! I used random.org to select two winners of the 31 who entered and the winners are.........

Leanne Mclenaghan
and
Jeremy Keim

Congratulations! You have each won a $15 gift certificate to Annalie's Baby Boutique. If you would each contact me at annaliesbabyboutique@yahoo.com, I will send you a code that can be used on my website (www.annaliesbabyboutique.com) or you can use them on Facebook by giving me the code when you place your order.

Tuesday Blog Hop

2011-02-15T15:21:00.001-06:00

Trying out my first Tuesday Blog Hop....