A Big Announcement

See these two great big cheesy grins?

They're grinning because they've been keeping a secret from you.

Actually, to tell the truth, I've been keeping the secret.  They just found out about it a few days ago, which is why they're smiling so big.

See that little guy in the doll stroller?  He's going to be a big brother.

Princess is determined that it's going to be a baby sister because according to her, "girl babies are better."  Little Man really doesn't get what's going on yet, but I think he'll catch on eventually.  Probably around the same time the baby gets here.

Speaking of which, I'm due September 16th.  In our extended families, we have 5 birthdays and 3 anniversaries in September, most of which are right around my due date.  Should be interesting to see if this baby picks one of those days for his or her birthday or prefers his or her very own birthday.

I have been feeling...awful.  Very tired, very nauseous (Morning sickness is a myth!  Call it what it is: All-day sickness!), very cranky, very happy, very scared, very everything.  I've had to cut down on the numbers of orders I take for the boutique because I barely have the energy to take care of the kids, let alone do anything extra.  Besides, every time I move around, I get more nauseous.

My 10 week checkup was a few days ago and, although the doctor thought it would be too early, she still found the baby's heartbeat within only a few seconds!  Exciting stuff!

Confessions

Random confessions:

1. Sometimes I re-read my old blog posts.  Because I'm that self-absorbed.

2. When I tell Princess that she can get up from her rest time in 5 minutes, what I really mean is that she can get up when I'm done watching the episode of House on Netflix.

3. I cheat at Candyland so it'll be done faster.  Sometimes I win, sometimes I let Princess win, but either way, I'm just trying to get it over with.

4. Rather than spend a whole 48 seconds cutting grapes in half for Little Man, I give Princess twice as many as she should have and tell her to bite half off and give the other half to her brother.

5. I sometimes use the kids' dirty socks they leave laying around the living room to do a quick dusting of the coffee table.

6. When I'm too tired/lazy to make two separate meals for supper (with Princess's food allergies, it's pretty rare when she can actually eat the same thing the rest of us do), I let Princess have a bowl of cereal instead.

7. Sometimes I leave the clean towels in the laundry basket for a while, hoping they'll be used up before I have to fold them and put them away.

8. I believe in letting kids handle disagreements with each other themselves instead of stepping in to referee every time.  But sometimes, I just tell myself that to make myself feel better about sitting on the couch trying to ignore the yelling.

9. I don't floss.  I haven't been to a dentist since I was a teenager.  I would rather have my teeth pulled out than do either of those things.  And, I have never had a cavity in my life.

10. I encourage Little Man to play with dolls when Hubby isn't around.  I figure that the worst that could happen is that he will grow up to be a sensitive guy who will know how to take care of his own kids.

What are some of your confessions?

Chocolate? Yes, please!

My biggest fan, aka, my mom has been not-so-subtly hinting that she'd like to see another blog post, specifically about Princess turning four.  I promise that that post is coming soon, but I have another one I need to write first.  Sorry, Mama :)

Do you like chocolate?  Strangely enough, I actually know a few people who don't.  I'm still trying to determine what's wrong with them.

Me...I LOVE chocolate.  Like, really love it.  So when my sweet friend at Baby Bug Boutique announced that she was now an Independent Chocolatier (the title alone makes me want to sign up too!) for Dove Chocolate Discoveries, a chocolate home party company (you know, like Tupperware) created by Dove chocolate, I just had to book a party.  Especially after she sent me a catalog to drool over, I mean, pore over and a sample of the Chocolate Chai.  

Dove Chocolate Discoveries

I wasn't sure about the chocolate chai tea at first.  Chai tea is something else I love as much as chocolate, but I was a little unnerved about putting the two flavors together.  What if it was too much of a good thing?  What if the two flavors competed with each other and I ended up not really tasting much of either?  What if I loved it so much that I ended up going into debt buying it?  So many concerns...

That last concern turned out to be a very real one.  The stuff was to. die. for.  And for those who just want to stick with regular chai tea, Dove Chocolate Discoveries sells that too.

And now, to torture you a little, I present you with just a few of the mouth watering creations from Dove Chocolate Discoveries.  

Choco-Caramel Crunch

Salted Caramels

Now you can put chocolate on anything!

 You can check out the online catalog for many more delicious choices.  Online ordering is not available yet, but you can email your order to Jessica at babybugsboutique@yahoo.com to place your e-mail order or call 540-287-0143.  If you're really nice, you'll let her know I sent you so she can apply it to my book party that is currently open until February 15th.  Yes, shameless plug, I know.  I wish I felt bad about it, but I really don't.  Because I want to order lots of chocolate from her, but I'll go broke if I do so I need some hostess credit.  Feel free to book your own party as well so you can earn free chocolate too! 

If you donate $1, $5, or $10 to Make a Wish Foundation through Dove Chocolate Discoveries, they will send you a certificate in the same amount to be used towards a future purchase.  Awesome!

Stop SOPA and PIPA

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...

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 use a few times a month.

Wii Console with Mario Kart Wii Bundle - Black

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 go ahead and buy it so 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 earlier in the year, 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.

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.


Edited on 6-1-12!
Bing Rewards:  This is the Bing search engine which I already use a lot, but with rewards!  Every two searches gets you a point and they can add up pretty quickly.  There are also tasks almost every day that show up in the little click down menu on the right side of the screen under your name.  Just click on the tasks and get credited the points.  I signed up for this one in May, 2012 and have earned over $10 in Amazon gift cards already.  You can sign up with this link. 

Edited on 12-31-12!

Recyclebank: This site has lots of "green" living tips.  Make a pledge everyday to do something to go more green and earn 5 points.  You can also earn points by completing special actions, reading online articles, and more.  The site is completely free as long as you don't do any of the special actions that require you to buy something (which I don't!).  You can earn gift cards to various stores, magazine subscriptions, and a lot of other fun things on this site.  I became a member in October and have already earned 3 free magazine subscriptions, a $5 Amazon gift card, and am halfway to earning a $10 Walmart gift card.  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 sites that have worked for you, let me know!  If you have any questions, feel free to email me at annaliesbabyboutique@yahoo.com 

2012 Goals

 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

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

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 had 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

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

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?