Domestic Randomness

Blast from the Past 36 - 5 People I Love

2013-05-19T23:59:00.000-04:00

This series consists of notes that I wrote on facebook in the past. Enjoy reading my thoughts during my college years. Please comment but please be nice! Also please feel free to check out my other Blast from the Past Posts.

From August 2007

DO NOT READ THE WHOLE BULLETIN!!! JUST QUICKLY COPY AND PASTE.... DON'T SPOIL IT.

Name 5 people you can think of right off the top of your head. Don't read the questions underneath until you write the names of all 5people. This is a lot funnier if you actually randomly list the names first.. No cheating!!!

1. [Mr. Random]
2. [Sister who recently got married]
3. [youngest sister]
4. [brother]
5. [friend who is female]

DON'T LOOK AHEAD UNLESS YOU FILLED UP THE TOP!

How did you meet 3?
it was a very interesting introduction, when I first met her she prolly wasn't wearing anything, and she was prolly screaming her head off (she is my sister, I met her when she was born :)

What would you do if 1 and 2 were going out?
umm, run away screaming, cry my eyes out, and then wonder who snatched both of their bodies (what would you do if your boyfriend started dating your sister?)

How long have you known number 2?
18 years

A fact about 4!
he sleeps in my house every night

Who is 2 going out with?
nobody

What does 5 do for a living?
umm, I don't think that she has a job, do you have a job [friend]?

Where does 5 live ?
near the airport

Is number 1 your best friend?
yes

Do you miss number 2 ?
no, I see her every day

Would you ever go out with number 1 ?
eww, no, that is beyond gross. eww, I might get cooties haha :)

What would you do if 3 and 4 were going out?
umm, that would be incredibly weird because my brother and sister would be dating, so umm, I am not going to think about that :)

Ever gone somewhere with number 5?
went to CFO w/ her :)

What would you do if 1 and 5 were going out?
umm, cry, why is this survey constantly trying match my boyfriend up w/ other people?

What do you think of number 3?
she is an amazing girl, she has handled the transition into teenagership very well and I look forward to watching her grow and mature into a wonderful woman

Ever slept over in the same house with any of the 5?
yup, I have actually slept in the same house as all of them at some point I have shared a room with [Sister], [Sister], and [Friend], and actually I think [Brother] also at some point, and I have slept under the same roof as [Mr. Random] several times :)

Are you secretly in love with number 4?
umm, I love him, he is my brother, but no, I am not in love with him

Repost as:
Can You Name 5

Blast from the Past 35 - 2 Friends

2013-05-12T08:00:00.000-04:00

This series consists of notes that I wrote on facebook in the past. Enjoy reading my thoughts during my college years. Please comment but please be nice! Also please feel free to check out my other Blast from the Past Posts.

From July 2007

Girls- look at your first 2 boys listed on your top friends.
guys- look at your first 2 girls listed on your top friends.

rules:
-don't change them!
-enter their names in order
-be honest

-repost this so your friends can do it too

Top 2::
1. [Mr. Random]
2. [a cousin]

1] are you older than number 1?
no

2] have you ever kissed EITHER OF THEM?
yes

3] how did you meet number 1?
it's a long story, go read my notes :)

4] if you were crying would 2 cheer you up?
hmm, prolly, or at leat attempt to

5] where is number 1 right now?
at his home, sleeping

6] who did you talk to last?
1

7] Have u danced with either of them?
yes

8] who is most awkward to be around?
hmm, neither

9] are you taller than number 2?
no

10] who is most likely to repost this?
1

11] are either of them family?
yes

12] Do you trust them?
yes

13] is number 2 a best friend?
hmm, no, not really

14] would they be there through thick and thin?
which one? yes, prolly

15] if you could go back to change something , what would it be?
something about what?

16] whose car is more cool?
umm, I have not seen 2's vehicle, so I can not compare them

17] who do you see the most?
1

18] who knows the most about you?
1

19] who makes fun of you the most?
1, although 2 gets his share of teasing in when we are around each other

20] would you break the law for them?
depends on the law

21] if they were fighting who's side would you take?
hmm, if they were fighting I would prolly stand back in shock

repost " MY TOP 2 BOYS " - if you're a girl.

repost " MY TOP 2 GIRLS " - if you're a guy

Calling all Bloggers and Writers!

2013-05-09T13:50:00.001-04:00

Hi All!

As you should know by now, Mr. Random and I are expecting our second Little Man at the end of August. I would love to take some time off of blogging for a little while after he arrives. A sort of maternity leave from blogging. I imagine it will take a little while to settle into our new normal.

So I am looking for bloggers and writers who would be interested in writing a guest post for my blog. I know it is a little early to be posting this (the guest posts won't go up until the end of August or later) but I wanted to give people plenty of time to write a post and get it to me.

So if you would be willing to help me out this way please email me at domesticrandomness@hotmail.com to let me know. I won't need the post right away, but it would be nice to know how many posts I can expect. I will send out a reminder email in a couple months.

Thank you so much for being willing to help me out!

Blast from the Past 34 - I am transfering colleges

2013-05-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

I am transfering colleges

Hey everyone!
I just wanted to make an official announcement to whoever actually reads these things that I am going to be transfering colleges. I decided not to attend [the college I was going to] next fall mainly because I can not afford it and I really don't want to take out any more loans. and because I have decided to major in Early Childhood Education and [that college] does not offer that major. For a while I was trying to decide between [a local college in my home town] and Sullivan University in Louisville, Kentucky. Well I have finally made a decision and I will, if everything goes according to plan, be attending Sullivan University this fall starting at the end of September. It is not absolutely for certain, I still have to apply, and visit, and make sure that finances will work (preliminary research says that they should), but I am pretty certain that it will all fall into place, and if it doesn't then I will know that God is closing that door. Sullivan has an awesome Early Childhood Education program, and I am really excited about the possibility of attending there. So anyways, yup, that is what I have to say. [first college] people, I will miss you, but hopefully I will still be able to visit a few times because my sister will be attending [first college] this fall, so maybe I will see some of you again, If not I hope you all have a great year and God blesses you throughout your life. Everyone else, I will be back about 5 times a year (I will be gone 1.5 years at least, including during the summer) and I hope to see you guys then!

Diaper Wars Review 7: Huggies Little Movers

2013-05-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

Positives

Softness
These diapers are very soft. Huggies is really good about making their diapers soft and snuggly. They are flexible and move well.

Rewards Program
These are a Huggies product so they fall under the Huggies reward program. Here is the info on the program.
Huggies does have a rewards program.You earn points by entering codes from diapers and wipes, and other Huggies products, and inviting friends (by the way send me your email address if you want an invitation, you get 10 points for signing up through an invitation). Apparently you can also get points for reading articles and writing reviews but I'm not sure how that works because I haven't done it. As far as the rewards go you can get shutterfly products like photo books and photo prints, magazine subscriptions, and things for your children.

Deals
Huggies offers coupons on their diapers pretty regularly. I have seen coupons for little movers many times, and often if you pair these coupons with cvs sales you can get these diapers for the same or less than the cheaper brands.
If you order your diapers through Amazon make sure that you check www.amazon.com/coupons before you order because they have coupons you can use on Amazon orders for several diaper brands including Huggies Little Movers.

Fit
These diapers are extremely stretchy. Both the back and around the legs stretch well (while still being soft) so they fit very well and comfortably.

Neutral

Absorbancy
These diapers are about average absorbancy. They didn't have any major leaks. They held up as well as many of the other brands.

Blowout Rate
I didn't have a chance to test this, because he didn't have any poops that could have been blowouts.

Wetness Indicator
There is no wetness indicator, but that is fine because at this age you can generally tell if the diaper is wet.

Negatives

Price
Prices are for previous brands are for size 1 diapers for equal comparison, however Little Movers only comes in sizes 3 and above so these prices are for size 3 diapers
Walmart - Box of 186 diapers for $47.17 = $0.25/diaper
Amazon - Box of 72 diapers for $18.78 (with subscribe and save, free shipping) = $0.26/diaper
Target - Box of 186 diapers for $47.19 = $0.25/diaper

*Prices reflect the price at the time I checked, they will vary. I am not responsible for difference between these prices and current prices.

Conclusion
These diapers are very good diapers. If you can find them on a good sale with a coupon they are worth getting. I personally wouldn't pay full price for these diapers, because it isn't worth it. But they are definitely worth buying on sale (there are some brands that I will not buy even when on sale). Overall a good diaper.

Breastfeeding? You'll Need a Nursing Pillow - Sponsored by Mombo

2013-04-30T00:04:00.001-04:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Comfort and Harmony for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

When I was pregnant with Little Man 1 I knew that I wanted to breastfeed him. I knew that this was best for him and had some good benefits for me. What I didn't know was how hard it would be. Since I already told you how hard it was I won't go into that again, but I will tell you that the proper tools can help (not to make it easy, but to make it easier). One of those tools is a nursing pillow.

Nursing Pillows are great because they help support your baby while you are breastfeeding. Trust me, you will want one for feeding. It will save your back a ton of strain. I know because there were times when I had to nurse without a pillow and it was really hard on my back. Even if you are bottle feeding it is nice to have a pillow to support your baby so you don't always have to use your own strength to hold up the baby.

One such pillow that you can use is the mombo nursing pillow. Mombo pillows are a good shape, you can wrap the arms around your sides leaving plenty of pillow in front of you to help hold the baby. It also has an interesting feature in that the two sides are different firmness levels. One side is firm and the other side is soft. The firm side is for when you are feeding. It is great to have a fairly firm pillow for nursing because with a soft pillow the baby just sinks into it and it doesn't provide the support you need. The soft side is for when the baby is lounging on the floor (and it is probably pretty comfy on your legs when nursing too). Another unique feature is that the pillow can vibrate. I would not use the vibrating feature while you are feeding your baby (unless you want them to go to sleep) because it is super hard to keep a baby awake while you are feeding them (especially a newborn) and you don't want to make it any harder on yourself. But it may help keep your baby happy on the floor. I know that a lot of babies hate tummy time, maybe a comfy vibrating pillow would help them to enjoy it more?

You can find Mombo nursing pillows at Toys R Us and Babies R Us. They have several really cute options. Here are my two favorites. Don't those taggies look like fun?

You can also follow Mombo on facebook (Comfort & Harmony on Facebook) and twitter (Comfort & Harmony on Twitter).

So what do you think? What is your favorite pillow design?

Blast from the Past 33 - [Mr. Random] and I!!

2013-04-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

[Mr. Random] and I!!

Ok, so I have had some demand for a note about how [Mr. Random] and I got together so here it is :) And I know that some of you do not even know how we met, so I will start form there.

We first met when I was in 8th grade. I was home schooled for 1 year in 8th grade and I joined a home school group. And [Mr. Random] was in the home school group, and we both happened to take a courtship class that was offered, and that is how we first met in a courtship class :) And I found out this year that we both had crushes on each other then :) Well after that year I went back to public school and we lost connection. But a few months ago [Mr. Random] found me on facebook, through a friend, which is amazing because at the time we only had 1 common friend (thanks [random friend]!). And anyways we started talking, which lead to hanging out, and we were thinking about dating (or at least I was). But God told us that we were going to fast, so we slowed down and became completely just friends. Then about a week and a half ago our feelings started changing, and this week we realized that we both wanted a relationship. So he called me last night and asked me out (our first official date is Friday!). I have to admit that he surprised me, I mean I knew it was coming, but for some reason I didn’t expect it last night :) So anyways, then this morning he called my dad and asked his permission to date me, and my dad said yes. So now we are officially dating, and I am so happy I am practically bouncing off walls :) Oh and if you want to see pics of us I added a new album with them.
So that is our story :)

April GIveaway - Printable Party Kit from Labarradulce

2013-04-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

Our April Giveaway is sponsored by Labarradulce. The prize is $20 worth DIY Party kit printable with custom banner text. The winner can choose between an Owl design, a Soccer party in any color or a Mexican fiesta (You can see the 3 options in the pictures above). This giveaway is open worldwide.

Here is a little info about Labarradulce:

I sell on Etsy DIY party printables kit, Custom printables and graphic design. If you are looking for a custom special design I can design it and offer you very affordable prices.
I work on my own online bussines as a baker, graphic and industrial designer, I also sell party supplies and event planning. since 2004.
As a designer I`m always looking for new design inspirations online and in my sorroundings, looking for ways to fix things or improve them.
I love the mayan traditional textiles and get a lot of color pallettes from them and in Guatemala just by looking out the window you see a lot of diferent colors, the entire Pantone pallete :P
You can have many seasons in one day in the morning there is a clear blue sky, a little Rain at noon and in the afternoon some orange and purple colored clouds!

I run some FB pages, a giveaway blog, my websites, etc.

www.pinterest.com/labarradulce
www.sieteinvitaciones.com
www.facebook.com/deTODOparatusfiestas
www.sieteinvitaciones.blogspot.com
www.twitter.com/labarradulce
www.justwwgiveaways.blogspot.com

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Linked Up To:
Shopper Strategy, Sweep Tight Blog Giveaways, Sweep Tight Rafflecopter Giveaways, The Steady Hand, Family Focus Blog, Home Jobs by Mom, Deal Seeking Mom, Enter Online Sweeps, Mommy Jenna, Gracious Giveaways and Reviews, Look What Mom Found & Dad too,

A Coffee Themed Bridal Shower (and free supplies list printable!)

2013-04-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

Wow, I can't believe that it has taken me so long to post this. But here it is, detailed info about the bridal shower I threw for my sister. We did a coffee bridal shower because my sister loves all things coffee related. This is kinda an overview of the bridal shower, you can find out details of a lot of things by clicking on the links. The shower turned out great! My sister and her husband loved it. All the guests seemed to have a good time too. You can see more of my inspiration in my bridal shower pinterest board.

We held my sister's shower on a June Sunday afternoon at 2:00. We held the shower at my mom's church which had a great room with couches and an attached kitchen that was perfect for this.

For the food we had:

Fruit Tray - Store bought by co-host

Veggie Tray - Store bought by co-host

Wrap Sandwiches - Store bought by co-host

Cheesecake Bites

Nutella Brownie Bites

Biscotti Bites - store bought

Chocolate Chip Cookies - used store bought dough

Mini Fruit Pizza

Coffee w/ sugar, creamer - store bought (I got several little packets of coffee from Target for less than $1 each, so we could try a couple different kinds)

Ice Tea - Store bought by co-host

Lemonade - Store bought by co-host

Flavored Water

Coffee Punch

Hot Chocolate w/ marshmallows - store bought

Tea w/ sugar, creamer - store bought

We had way too much food. I didn't realize until afterward just how much food we had and how I spent a little too much. I think if I were to do it again I would make less items. Very little of the actual coffee was drunk because the coffee punch was such a big hit. So I probably would have served just one, maybe two types of coffee instead of the five types we had available. I probably would have made fewer desserts as well. But the food was very good and well enjoyed by all. And the coffee punch was a super big hit!

The Games I planned:

Wedding Things/Apples to Apples

The Story of the Bride and Groom - prizes for bride’s favorite, most true, least true, funniest

How Well Do You Know the Bride and Groom

What is in Your Purse

Wedding Bingo

You can find details about the games and free printables here.

Decorations/Extras

Favors: Merci Chocolates (found at Target on clearance)

Prizes: Mini Ground Coffee Packets, Chocolate, Candles, etc.

Balloon Chandelier (we didn't have time to actually do this, but it is so cute, we did get the balloons blown up but they ended up just sitting on the floor)

Towel Cake

Tablecloths (dollar store)

I used purple and brown because purple was the main wedding color.

Schedule

2:00-2:10 Arrival - Purse Game

2:10 Introduce Ourselves, Name, How you know the bride or groom, What you like best about the bride

2:10-2:30 Food

2:30-2:45 Know Bride and Groom Game

2:45-3:00 The Story of the Bride and Groom

3:00-3:30 Open Gifts/Wedding Bingo

3:30-4:00 Wedding Things

I also made a Coffee Themed Present.

I also made a supplies list for the party, I thought that I would give it to all of you so you wouldn't have to recreate what I have worked on :) Print the Supplies List

Blast from the Past 32 - online quizes :)

2013-04-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

online quizes :)

Your Element Is Air

You dislike conflict, and you've been able to rise above the angst of the world.
And when things don't go your way, you know they'll blow over quickly.

Easygoing, you tend to find joy from the simple things in life.
You roll with the punches, and as a result, your life is light and cheerful.

You find it easy to adapt to most situations, and you're an open person.
With you, what you see is what you get... and people love that!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your Career Personality: Original, Devoted, and Service Oriented

Your Ideal Careers:

Art director
Book editor
College professor
Composer
Film director
Graphic designer
Novelist
Stage actor
Psychiatrist
Writer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You've Experienced 32% of Life

You have the life experience of someone in their early 20s.
You've seen some of what life has to offer - but you have a long ways to go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WHAT MOVIE ARE YOU ?? (4 GIRLS)

Kate and Leopold
Your romantic, and funny. Your a little bit of every time period, making yourself interesting, who said you were limited just to the 21st century??
Take The Quiz Now! Quizzes by myYearbook.com

How to write a wedding toast

2013-04-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

Writing a toast for a wedding is hard.

Originally I wasn't going to be giving a toast for my sister's wedding. She had my other sister and I as co-maids of honor and she had wanted our other sister to give the toast. I wasn't offended (I was a little relieved not to have to write one :). But her husband (who had two best men) wanted both his best men to give a toast (or maybe they both wanted to give one, I don't remember) so she asked me to give one as well. Since there were going to be 4 toasts I knew I should keep it short. But other than that I didn't really have any idea of how to write a toast.

So I did what I normally do. I researched. I found some tips here, here, here, and here. (You can find those and a few other Maid of Honor tips Matron/Maid of Honor pinterest board). All of those have great advice for how to write a toast. I won't repeat everything that they said, I will simply share how I wrote my toast.

At least one of the posts said that I could use a quote, so I set about finding a quote that I liked. Though there were many many quotes about love, weddings, marriage and such, there were very few that I liked or that fit with anything that I might say about my sister, her husband, or their relationship.

But when I found this quote an inspiration struck! The quote was by Mignon McLaughlin who said "A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, and always with the same person." (I think I found it here).

The inspiration that I had was to share the reasons that I loved my sister. And then after thinking about that for a while I realized that it would be even more meaningful if I included reasons why several people loved her. So I questioned several of our family and her friends and asked what they loved about her.

Here is the toast that I came up with (edited to take out names of course :)

Hi, my name is [me], I am [bride]’s sister. I am so honored to be here today standing up to support [bride] and [groom] as they start their new life as a married couple!

Mignon McLaughlin said "A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, and always with the same person."

[groom], I know that you have found many reasons to love [bride] and I know that you will find many more to fall in love with over the years. I just wanted to share some of the reasons that we love [bride]

There is just so much to love about [bride]. She is so much fun, it is rarely boring with her. She is loyal, she is a friend for life. She is up for anything. She is great to talk to.

These are just a few reasons that I love [bride], but I am not the only one who loves her. I took a small poll of some of [bride]’s close friends and family and these were the reasons that they gave.

[Aunt] said her adventurous spirit and beautiful smile

[Mom] said her diligence and sensitivity in her work.

[Her friend] said when someone in her life is interested in something she doesn’t care for; she makes an effort to like it, or at least to understand what makes it likeable

[Aunt] said she couldn’t give just one reason ... [bride] is beautiful in so many ways!

[Her friend] said No matter the miles between you, you still know your friendship is rock solid. And on top of that it's effortless

[Cousin] said our mutual obsession of coffee makes me smile

[Aunt] said her optimistic love for life and people!

[Her friend] said [bride] is one of those people who is always up for just about anything, and you know you will have a lot of fun!

[Sister] said I love that I can talk to her about anything and she will listen

These are just a few reasons that we who have known [bride] love her, there are many many more. I hope you spend the rest of your lives finding reasons to love each other, and that you fall in love with each other as many times as you can!

Let’s drink to [groom] and [bride]!

I personally loved my toast, my sister loved it too, and it was well received by all. I took it printed out to read because I knew that there was no way I could remember all of that without having it written in front of me.

What about you? Have you ever written a wedding toast? How did you plan yours out?

Blast from the Past 31 - funny name slogans, read this it's hilarious

2013-04-14T08:00:00.001-04:00

funny name slogans, read this it's hilarious

ok, you guys have to try this, it is hilarious,
go to this website:
www.thesurrealist.co.uk/slogan.cgi
and put in your name and click sloganize

[Randie is not my real name, since i don't share my real name on here I picked a name that is a nickname for randomly fascinated]

I got some hilarious ones :)

You need a Randie
It takes a tough man to make a tender Randie
8 out of 10 Owners who Expressed a Preference said Their Cats Preferred Randie
Pure Randie
See the Face You Love Light Up With Randie
Got a Randie? You're in Luck
Think Randie
Strong and Beautiful, Just Like Randie
Randie wanted
Get the Door - It's Randie
What Would You Do For A Randie
You've Got Questions. We've Got Randie
A Randie Is Forever
There Ain't No Party Like A Randie Party
Smart. Beautiful. Randie
You're in Good Hands with Randie
Does She or Doesn't She? Only Her Randie Knows for Sure
Nothing Works Better Than a Randie
Wouldn't You Like To Be A Randie Too?
Behold the Power of Randie
I'd Like to Buy the World a Randie
Maybe She's Born With It, Maybe It's Randie

and my personal favorite:
Obey Your Randie

Pregnancy Update - 20 weeks - Little Man 2

2013-04-12T16:58:00.002-04:00

My very first pregnancy update! I wish that I had started this earlier, but better late than never :)

Here is my bump this week. Yes, I am huge, I feel like I look like I am already 5 or 6 month pregnant. No, I am not having twins (we have had 3 ultrasounds, we are sure). I am just on my second pregnancy and it happens :). I probably could have started taking pictures at 8-12 weeks, but I held off because I wasn't sure I wanted the photographic evidence plus Mr Random and I are really bad at consistently getting photographs. Oh and by the way, the reason for my showing so much so early is not because I have been eating too much. My weight gain has been reasonable so far (way better than last time) so I am pretty sure this time it is mostly baby. I am actually pretty proud of myself because I have gained less already than I did the entire first trimester last time.

The nausea is finally starting to go away, I think. I had nausea way worse this time. Last time the nausea only lasted 12 weeks. This time it has hung on tenaciously. I had a random spurt of nausea just last week. And I don't expect the food aversions to go away, although who knows, this whole pregnancy has been completely different, maybe that will be different too.

We had a doctor appointment this week. Because it was the 20 week appointment we had the fun anatomy scan ultrasound. We found out we are having another boy! I am a little nervous about this because boys are still somewhat a mystery to me. I absolutely love Little Man, but he is still little, he doesn't seem too boy like yet. I don't get the interest in cars and vehicles, and bugs (no bugs, please, no bugs) and destruction. Mr Random had a brother and I have heard stories about destruction in their house including holes in walls. I had one brother and two sisters, trust me there were no holes in our walls, and wrestling was fairly tame. But I am excited for Little Man to have the opportunity to have a brother. I hope that they will be as close as my sisters and I (we fought a lot but loved even more). And as much as I love Little Man I wouldn't mind having another one of him :)

We also found out the placenta has moved! I was diagnosed with placenta previa at 10 weeks after having a little spotting. We have been praying ever since that it would move. For those who haven't heard about placenta previa it is when the placenta is covering the cervix. This is dangerous because many things can cause the placenta to be disturbed and bleed, and if you bleed too much it can cause harm to the baby, including possibly a miscarriage. Because of that I was put on total pelvic rest and modified bed rest with conditions including no heavy lifting, no fun stuff, and at the 16 week appointment we were told no shopping/ walking around an entire store. But now that the placenta has moved all of the restrictions have been lifted and we don't have to worry about that danger any more. Right now the placenta is still low lying and if it doesn't move we would have to have a c-section, but I am still early in the pregnancy so the chances that it won't move are very low.

They also drew some blood to check my thyroid levels (I have hypothyroidism so they are keeping an eye on it) and I have to say I was not super impressed with the lab tech. I have always hated having needles of any form put in me (except the epidural needle, that one I was very happy about) so I don't blame her for that. But after I got home I noticed that there was a huge painful lump right above where she had drawn the blood. Why would there be a lump? She didn't put anything in, she took something out. It continued to be painful all night, and the next day it turned into a very dark bruise, which is still painful, just less so. I don't understand why that happened from a blood draw, it wasn't where the needle went in, or even where she pulled the blood from, I can see the line where the needle was and I saw which direction it went in. Anyways that was a little annoying, but on the whole the appointment was very good!

My hips are starting to hurt again. With Little Man I was carrying so low that by the end of the pregnancy I could barely walk. It was like my hips were grinding together, very painful. I can feel it coming on again, and I am trying to ward it off, but there was only so much I could do when I wasn't allowed to exercise. I am hoping to do some more now that the restrictions are lifted, and we will see if it helps.

I have also started to feel the baby move, that is always fun. He has had hiccups twice this week. Little Man had hiccups a lot so I knew what it felt like (repeated, rhythmic kicking in the same spot) but one of the times of hiccups was really weird. He must have been right against my side because I could feel the little shudder after each hiccup.

So all in all a pretty good week!

What about you? Are any of you pregnant? If so how is your week going? If not, have you been pregnant, or has your wife been pregnant? Did you deal with any of this?

Ultimate Blog Party 2013!

2013-04-07T14:13:00.000-04:00

It's that time again! That's right, its the Ultimate Blog Party. The Ultimate Blog Party is hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom. And I am loving this year's party picture!

And to all the visitors from the Ultimate Blog Party, welcome, feel free to look around!

About Me

I am Randomly Fascinated. I chose that name because when thinking about a possible blog I knew that I would never be able to choose just one topic to talk about. I am fascinated wide variety of subjects and I tend to randomly jump from one to another. I think that I originally started this blog as an outlet to get some adult interaction while staying home with my Little Man.

I am married to the most wonderful man ever (if you don't believe me read about how he browns meat for me)! I have one Little Man who is 16 months old and we are expecting our second child in August. We find out Tuesday (hopefully) whether it will be Little Man 2 or Little Lady!

I get fascinated by random things like which diaper brand is best. I love to cook. I love to try new recipes and I am totally comfortable adapting recipes to my taste (Mr. Random is not a picky eater so I am allowed to adapt to my tastes, which are significantly pickier). I also love to find new ways to save/make money. I love to make crafts and art. I enjoy being creative and making things with my hands. My favorite artistic medium is ceramics and my dream is to one day own a kiln so I can make ceramics again. I love pinterest. I tend to spend more time pinning than repinning because I also love combing blogs. I also have a lot of other random thoughts that I post about.

I am not hosting a giveaway on here this year because I am sponsoring a prize on the Ultimate Blog Party.

3 months of Super Sponsor Ad Space (1 winner) (Anyone Can Enter)
Provided by: Domestic Randomness
Follow here: @RandomFascinate or Visit Our Fan Page: Domestic Randomness
Prize Value: $40.00

You can find it on the prize page (You have to enter through their entry form). There are lots of other prizes and socializing opportunities available!

And make sure you come back April 26- May 10 to enter the awesome giveaway that will be running then!

Blast from the Past 27 - Lonliness, a poem of longing

2013-04-07T08:00:00.000-04:00

Loneliness, a poem of longing

Loneliness

I go here and there
Everywhere
Always alone

I have no boyfriend
There are plenty of guys
like fish in the sea
but I haven’t been asked
and I don’t date
not freshman year
It is my fault
That I am alone
But that doesn’t stop the loneliness

I miss my family
I don’t see them anymore
not very often
I am here
getting a good education
That is my choice
It is my fault
That I am alone
But that doesn’t stop the loneliness

I miss my friends
I don’t see them much anymore
I am too busy with classes
I am already behind with homework
and they want me to hang out with them
I don’t get anything done
I stay up late doing homework
I don’t have time for them
It is my fault
That I am alone
But that doesn’t stop the loneliness

Friday Fascinations 12 - Everything Linky Party - Friday Fascinations 10 Features

2013-04-05T23:40:00.000-04:00

Friday Fascinations 10 Features

For those who are featured get yourself a button!

Most Viewed Link
Jewelry Making Journal linked up Best Friend Jewelry Shrinkies Tutorial.

Favorite Recipe Post
Snack Cups and Smiles linked up Grilled Mozzarella with Marinara Sauce.

Favorite Parenting Post
As Jules is going linked up Getting off My Butt again.

Favorite Kid Post
What Happens at Grandma's linked up Grandma's Pizza Company.

On to the Linky Party!

This party is going to be up for 4 weeks. It is still taking too much of my time, and as of right now I don't see a whole lot of interest. I will reevaluate at the end of that time and see where Friday Fascinations is going. In the meantime, link them up!

This week we are going to do an everything linky party. You can link up anything that you have been working on, thinking about, writing about, whatever. Literally any post of yours that you would like to share with my readers link it up!

Oh and if you have a linky party that you would like me to visit please link it up in the Link Up Your Party Here tab above. I love visiting parties and when I have time I go to that tab and visit all the parties that are open at that time.

The rules:

You may link up anything that you have been working on - crafts, recipes, random musings, etc. And you may link up as many posts as you like.
Please follow me in some way. There are several options in the right side bar.
Link up directly to the post, not your home page.
By linking up you are giving me permission to feature your post including but not limited to pictures and quotes from your post, and also to feature your post in our various social media outlets.
This is a family friendly, Christ following blog. I reserve the right to remove a link to any content that I find offensive or not compatible with this blog, with or without notice.
Please add a back link or my button to your blog or post somewhere.
Please check out some of the other links and leave some love in some way (comment, pin, follow, etc.)
The links are inserted in random order so if you don't see your link it may have entered somewhere in the middle. Please check to be sure that it is not already inserted before you link it up again.

Oh and I'd love it if you would take a button!

Big Announcement!

2013-04-04T08:00:00.000-04:00

I have a wonderful announcement for you! And Little Man is going to help me make this announcement. If you can't guess from the pictures I will explain it at the bottom :)

If you didn't get it, yes we are expecting again! Right now I am 19.5 weeks along. We are super excited and can't wait to meet this little one!

I couldn't wait to make Little Man his first Big Brother Shirt. I made it the same way I made the Dude Family Shirts. If you want your own you can find in on my Etsy Shop! I wanted to use this to announce the pregnancy to our families, but since we found out on Christmas day, and wanted to tell the families a few days later (and I would have had to tell my aunt in order to use her machine to make the sticker stencils) it wasn't practical. So we simply made an announcement to each family.

When we found out we were expecting Little Man we announced it to our families buy buying them a baby related picture frame and putting a note in it saying Picture to come in December 2011. My sister was studying abroad in Spain so we sent her a baby card to announce it.

How did you announce to your family that you were expecting?

March Sponsor Post - The Thriftiness Miss

2013-04-03T16:12:00.000-04:00

Today I get to tell you about a super awesome blog. Here is the information about her blog:

Hello there! My name is Jessie and I blog over at The Thriftiness Miss.

As you can assume from the name, I love to do things the thrifty way. It's kind of turned into a passion on mine since I started blogging. At The Thriftiness Miss you'll find lots of crafts, DIY projects, recipes, refashions and re-purposes, kid's stuff, and some sewing all rolled into my little corner of web. Let's Connected! I'd love to have you stop by and say hello sometime. I truly enjoy meeting and getting to know all of the wonderful people out there! Thanks so much for having me Randie!

Some of her super great posts include:

$16 No Candy Easter Basket - I ran into this problem this year, I wanted to make an easter basket for Little Man but didn't want to use any candy. The Thriftiness Miss has some great ideas (including a super cute homemade alphabet soup)!

DIY Batman Cape and Mask - She made these super cute cape and mask out of a t-shirt, with no sewing. They look easy and super fun! I also love the idea of making multiples for the dress up box, great for boys!

DIY Common Cold Relief - The poor thrifty family had to stay home nursing colds on Easter :(. On the up side she posted some great ideas for fighting colds!

Graduation Money Tree - Graduation Season is coming up. Looking for a creative way to give a money gift? This money tree is super cute!

Toddler Play Date - I wish we had one of these bounce houses near me, that looks like a lot of fun! (Although Little Man is scared of slides and new situations, he would probably like bouncing once he got used to it :). What a great thrifty toddler play date!

8 Easter Tradition Ideas - It is too late for this year, but there are some fun traditions in there for next year!

A Week of Freezer Meals - I have been trying to get more freezer cooking in and she has some great ideas. I especially love the smoothies! I never thought to individually package them like that.

Aren't they great, she has plenty more so go check it out!

Blast from the Past 29 - How to ask a guy to prom

2013-03-31T08:00:00.000-04:00

How to ask a guy to prom

How to ask a guy to Prom

To ask a guy to Prom is not an easy thing.
It is much different than what you guys do.
It is not as easy as you might think.

Overcome the desire to be accepted, that’s the first thing,
because society still looks down on girls who do.
To ask a guy to Prom is not an easy thing.

Then pick a guy, he must be interesting enough to bring,
but for her dad, he’ll be innocent as the morning dew.
It is not as easy as you might think.

Find a time when his friends are not nearing
because you do not want to cause hullabaloo.
Asking a guy to Prom is not an easy thing.

Set up a talk with dad, for him, it’s like preparing for a hanging,
because Dad must know the guy before he bids them adieu.
It is not as easy as you might think.

Seeing all the trouble that asking would bring,
is it any wonder that we leave the asking to you?
To ask a guy to prom is not an easy thing.
It is not as easy as you might think.

Friday Fascinations 9 Features

2013-03-25T11:55:00.000-04:00

March Super Value Sponsors:

Snack Cups and Smiles is a family centered blog that is about her life revolving around her grandson. She shares their daily lives and silly stories, recipes, photography and more. They love to spread happiness and share a smile.

eMeals is the revolutionary way to free up your brain, your budget and your family time. eMeals takes the dinner menu and meal planning stress off your plate...as easy as 1-2-3!

March Super Sponsor:

Winning for Christmas offers all sorts of giveaway for you to enter. Maybe you can win yourself (or someone you love :) something for Christmas!

Friday Fascinations 9 Features

I realized that I haven't posted features from Friday Fascinations 9 or 10, if I try to do them both at once it will be too long. So I will post FF9 Features here, and FF10 features with Friday Fascinations 12. Enjoy all these great posts! In the meantime if you have anything to link up, please feel free to link it up at Friday Fascinations 11.

For those who are featured get yourself a button!

Favorite Food Related Post

One Creative Mommy linked up I {Heart} You Pancakes - Easy Valentines Day Pancake Tutorial. I know it's not Valentines time any more but this is a great tutorial on how to make shaped pancakes!

Favorite Blog Related Post

Designed Decor linked up How to Make Your Own Blog Planner and Free Blog Printables. Great resource for us bloggers!

Favorite Random Post

Bekah's Bits linked up A Pinteresting January. This is a cool collection of her adventures exploring pins. A fun read :)

Favorite Children Related Post

We Made That linked up an Indoor Snowball Toss Game. I am totally done with winter, but it seems to be hanging on, so if you are still stuck inside here is a good game for you. Or maybe you can tweak it to be for spring, flower toss anyone?

Toddlers Through Preschool linked up Black and White Week. She offers all sorts of ideas to incllude Black and White in your play centers.

Favorite Inspirational Post

31 Cups linked up Opening That Can of Worms. She shares how she ignored a prompting from God and feels guilty about it. She prays that God will give her another chance to do as he asked. I pray that you will get that opportunity too!

Well go on over and check them out!

Blast from the Past 28 - limerick

2013-03-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

limerick

There once was a girl named Mandie
Who loved a bear called pandy
They played all the days
Outside in the rays
And oh how they loved cotton candy

Let's Talk - A fun little Mommy Quiz

2013-03-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

March Super Value Sponsors:

Practically Functional is a blog about simple practical ways to turn your house into a home! It contains a little bit of everything from from fun crafts and cleaning tips to DIY projects, organization ideas, quick and easy recipes, gardening advice, and more!

Addicted to Recipes was inspired by a friend who was looking for a local food blogger, she put her 2012 resolution into action. The resolution was to prepare for her family one new recipe each week, and with the opportunity to blog, she decided to document my adventures trying these new recipes.

Let's Talk - A fun Little Mommy Quiz

I found this mommy quiz and thought it looked like too much fun so I thought that I would share it with you guys (along with my answers of course :) I would love to hear your answers to any or all of the questions!

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? We didn't have a specific plan, but we were very happy.

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yes

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? Excitement!

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? Not even remotely

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 23

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? I had a feeling that that month was different, then tried to calculate dates (I am horrible at keeping track) and became pretty sure, then went in for a pregnancy test and knew for sure

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Mr Random

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Yes

9. DUE DATE? December 4

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? Yes, but it wasn’t too horrible

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Fruit, fruit, and more fruit (little man still loves fruit). Also had to stop stocking pickles because I was having trouble keeping myself to just 3 pickles, and when I wasn’t eating the pickles I was daydreaming about eating the pickles. Other than that it was just small random blips, something would be mentioned on tv and it would sound good, most of the time if we didn’t have it, or it would have been too much work to get I just lived without.

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? Boy

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? I did originally wish for it, and I do still hope for a girl someday, but little man is the sweetest, most wonderful child I could ever imagine and I would not trade him for anything in the world.

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? Way too many, sorry that's all you get :)

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Yup, three of them, one with Mr. Random’s side of the family, one at church, one with my side of the family.

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I knew for all three

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? I had gestational hypertension (high blood pressure in pregnancy, I heard it so many times that I learned the dr words :), and they tested me twice for preeclampsia. The first time I didn’t have it. The second time we never found out because my water broke the night that they were doing the test. I also had horrible pain in my hips that I couldn’t sleep directly on my side or walk very far (which unfortunately did not go away completely after giving birth). I also was sick or had an infection almost constantly. Pregnancy is super fun (not :) but totally worth it.

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? An awesome local hospital

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? A little under 12 from when my water broke to when little man was born. Labor itself from when I was induced was closer to 9 or 10 hours I think.

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Mr Random

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Mr Random, my mom, a couple nurses, and the dr.

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? Natural

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? I had an epidural, it kinda started wearing off towards the end though

25. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 7 lbs 15 oz

26. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN? November 18

27. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Sorry, all you get to know is Little Man

28. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? 16 mo

Blast from the Past 30 - A fishy princess

2013-03-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

A fishy princess, probably not my best poem, any sugestions?

A Fishy Princess

A fish out water
She wanted to be
She couldn’t stand
To be under the sea
But once she got out
It wasn’t so great

She couldn’t speak
With the man of her dreams
‘Cause the witch stole her voice
So she finds other ways
To say what she means

To know that he loves her
Is all that she needed
For now and forever
If only he knew

But what if she could talk?
What would she say?
Would she blurt out “I love you”?
That might freak him out.

So she’d still have to find
another way
to make him love her
to make him stay.

Friday Fascinations 11 - Everything Linky Party - Party Time! Linky Party Features

2013-03-15T08:00:00.000-04:00

Hi all! I was hoping to post these features earlier in the week, but I have been too busy keeping up with the giveaways, and totally forgot about this, also an unfortunate side affect of the busyness is that I forgot to post the Friday Fascinations party last week so there was a week with no linky party available. So sorry to anyone who came looking for the party. I hope that you were not disappointed when you found 15 giveaways instead :). There are still several giveaways running right now so take some time to look around and see if you want to enter! The last giveaway will end the 23rd, so unless you are visiting on the 24th there is at least one giveaway running right now! (I am not going to link to all of them right here because there are too many. Just go to the homepage and below this post you will find 15 giveaway posts). There were many other great posts linked up to Party Time! be sure to go and look around.

For those who are featured get yourself a button!

Party Time! Linky Party Features

Most Visited Posts

The Tao of Poop linked up Table Manners of Lesser Primates. I think the name was probably what caught attention :) She writes about rules she wishes she could give to restaurant employees for helping families who are eating out with toddlers.

What Happens at Grandma's linked up More Snakes! More Festival! She is doing a snake festival with her grandkids and this post talks about snake breadsticks (in the picture) and snake paintings.

Favorite Money Saving Post

Your Modern Family linked up How to Become a Stay at Home Mom on One Income. She has lots of great tips that work not only for those wanting to transition to one income but also for anyone who wants to save money.

Favorite Blog Related Post

Family Home and Life linked up Celebrating What I've Learned. In honor of her 2 year blogiversary she offers several tips for blogging that she has found useful in the past couple years.

Favorite Cleaning Post

Krysta Steen linked up Cleaning Tips to Make Your Life Easier. There are some great tips in there that I've never heard of!

Favorite Children's Post

Life With Moore Babies linked up Fake Snow (from Diapers). This looks super fun, and pretty easy, we have tons of diapers :) She even shows how to "melt" the fake snow, super fun!

Favorite Recipe Post

Prudent Pantry linked up Making Almond Milk is Easy. She shows us how to make almond milk, and it does look pretty easy! Almond milk is expensive, so if you know anyone who drinks almond milk regularly you may want to pass this on.

On to the Linky Party!

This week we are going to do an everything linky party. You can link up anything that you have been working on, thinking about, writing about, whatever. Literally any post of yours that you would like to share with my readers link it up!

Oh and if you have a linky party that you would like me to visit please link it up in the Link Up Your Party Here tab above. I love visiting parties and when I have time I go to that tab and visit all the parties that are open at that time.

The rules:

You may link up anything that you have been working on - crafts, recipes, random musings, etc. And you may link up as many posts as you like.
Please follow me in some way. There are several options in the right side bar.
Link up directly to the post, not your home page.
By linking up you are giving me permission to feature your post including but not limited to pictures and quotes from your post, and also to feature your post in our various social media outlets.
This is a family friendly, Christ following blog. I reserve the right to remove a link to any content that I find offensive or not compatible with this blog, with or without notice.
Please add a back link or my button to your blog or post somewhere.
Please check out some of the other links and leave some love in some way (comment, pin, follow, etc.)
The links are inserted in random order so if you don't see your link it may have entered somewhere in the middle. Please check to be sure that it is not already inserted before you link it up again.

Oh and I'd love it if you would take a button!

Party Time! 15th Giveaway - 4 8x10 or 4 8x12 prints from Ana Pontes Photography

2013-03-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

Our 15th giveaway is 4 8x10 or 4 8x12 prints from Ana Pontes Photography.

Ana is providing me 4 prints to review. My husband and I went through all of Ana's pictures and let me tell you it was tough to pick just 4. She has so many beautiful pictures it took us a long time to narrow it down.

Packaging
Ana packages her photos very well. It came in a package sturdied (is that a word?) by cardboard so that the pictures wouldn't bend. The package was also very cute (well the outside package was just brown paper but there was other packaging inside of it) She wrapped the pictures in purple tittue paper and then again in purple crinkly paper with a ribbon and a business card as a tag. That would make it very easy to gift it to someone. Here is a picture of the packaging:

Pictures
The pictures are beautiful. We picked out 4 that would go together so we could hang them together if we wanted. We have our house decorated in a beach house style so we picked 4 of her beach pictures and they match our house well! Here are some pictures of our pictures:

Mr. Random's Review
I asked Mr. Random how he would review the photographs and here is what he said: The pictures were crisp, clear and exactly what we ordered. The paper was good quality photo paper, not cheap. The shipping time was reasonable given that they were shipped from another country and had to go through customs. The packaging was good, a good presentation. They arrived safely here which is impressive given that they were coming from another country. I am looking forward to finding a place and putting them up!

Even Little Man likes them, it was tough to keep his hands off them long enough to take pictures :)

Conclusion
Beautiful pictures, great presentation! I would definitely recommend buying pictures from Ana!

Here is a little information that Ana provided:

Color is my main inspiration. My favorite themes are Vintage inspired, Nature and Floral, Beach and Coastal Art, Still Life and Abstract Photography.

I sell also large size prints, calendars, postcard and notecard sets and printable files.

I'd love it if you'd take a button!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Linked Up To:
Shopper Strategy, Sweep Tight Blog Giveaways, Sweep Tight Rafflecopter Giveaways, The Steady Hand, Family Focus Blog, Home Jobs by Mom, Coupon Geek, Deal Seeking Mom, Enter Online Sweeps, Mommy Jenna, Gracious Giveaways and Reviews, Look What Mom Found & Dad too, Miki's Hope,