This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Parent’s Choice Overnight Baby Diapers.

Over the past few months as my son has neared age 3, we have had more and more problems with him wetting the bed. And not just the bed, but his PJ’s too! My poor little guy wakes up almost every morning soaked and crying for mommy to come change him!

We decided that the use of some overnight diapers were a must and tried the Parent’s Choice overnight baby diapers from Walmart. We were very happy with the results and how they fit my son. He no longer woke up wet in the morning and the diapers seemed to hold a lot!

We also loved that my son was comfortable in them, as he autistic and very picky as to what touches his skin. The diapers are hypoallergenic and have vitamin E and aloe which makes them soft and great for the skin! As you can see below my son was thrilled to be in his overnight diaper and you can see what they look like inside and outside!

Overnight baby diapers are a really great idea as your child grows older and Parent’s Choice offers diapers in sizes 3-6 to help with that! The cool thing about these diapers is that they don’t have to be for just overnight, but also for long trips where longer protection is needed. If you are a family that travels a lot these would be a perfect choice for you!

Worried about the price of having to buy more diapers? No worries, because Parent’s Choice is all about value! As a low-income military family I was surprised at how well these diapers worked and how many I could get for the price. I would definitely be able to get these diapers for my son on a regular basis and not have to worry about breaking the budget, which makes me a very happy mom!

What about YOU? Why is night time protection for your little ones important? Would you be willing to try Parent’s Choice overnight baby diapers?

Night time protection for babies is an important consideration for parents as their little one grows. Ordinary diapers may not have enough absorbent capacity to handle multiple voids over long periods of time with older babies. When wet mornings become the norm, parents start looking for more protection to guard against overnight leaks.

Parent’s Choice Overnight Baby Diapers are super absorbent for overnight and long-trip protection. This is an overnight diaper at prices that everyone can afford!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Parent’s Choice Overnight Baby Diapers.

8 weeks, 3 days

Well I have finally reached the second trimester! I am 14 weeks today and I am very happy to leave the first trimester behind!

The first trimester began with a trip to the ER which I told you about in the previous post: I’m Pregnant. I was having shortness of breath, chest pain and dizziness, which led to me finding out I was pregnant. I also found out that the shortness of breath is pretty normal for the beginning of pregnant and that it’s called: Physiologic Dyspnea of Pregnancy. That lasted a few weeks and was pretty annoying, but it thankfully went away and hasn’t returned!

Soon after the morning sickness started… Or should I say “all day sickness?” I am pretty sure the name needs to be officially changed to “pregnancy sickness” since most people are sick all day and not just in the morning. I am not really sure how long I was sick for, but I was definitely more sick this pregnancy than the last one.

I was so sick this one morning, that after getting sick I looked in the mirror and was shocked to find that my face looked like I had been beaten up. Apparently, I had popped all the blood vessels in my face and neck from getting sick so hard. After freaking out and calling my doctor, I found out it is normal and is called Petechia. Thankfully, it didn’t happen again after that one time and after that it was just the horrible nausea that kept plaguing me all day long.

Needless to say, I am thankful the first trimester is finally over. I am feeling much better and so glad to be past all that sickness!

12 weeks, 4 days

We have been asked what gender we want this time around and since we already have a little boy, we both want a little girl. My husband is a little nervous about having a little girl, and in his words: “What will I do with a little girl?” But I am praying and praying and praying that I get my little girl as we are done having children after this. I am just dying to have a little girl to dress in cute pink dresses and bows! Of course I will love the baby no matter what, but a little girl would just be the topping on the cake!

We do already have names picked out, which will be revealed after we find out the gender. And speaking of gender we are going to be having a gender reveal party! I am so excited and have been saving tons of ideas on my Pinterest board already! We are not sure we can wait until the party to find out so we are debating just having the party for family and friends and us already knowing or us not knowing. Have any of you ever done it that way? We should be finding out the gender toward the end of June or beginning of July and depending on when family can come the party will be soon after!

Sadly, I have not heard the baby’s heartbeat yet, as the first appointment was a ultrasound and the second appointment did not go as planned. When I went in there a few weeks ago, the nurse could not find the baby’s heartbeat. She assured me it was normal and told me the doctor would come in and try. Well the doctor couldn’t find it either and by this time, my heart is in my throat. They were still assuring me everything was fine, but they wanted to do an ultrasound to make sure.

I was happy to get a second ultrasound so soon, but even more happy to see the heartbeat and be assured everything was normal and the baby was doing great! Never had a problem with that in my first pregnancy, so it definitely made me nervous. It’s been quite a ride this first trimester and will be interesting to see what the second trimester brings!

Photo by: facebook.com/KaylasSimplePhotography

Have you ever experienced words said to you that just crushed you from the inside out? Maybe it was said by a family member or maybe a friend. For me, it was from someone I thought was a friend. When you hear words that are so disheartening, so mean, and so hurtful, it can be hard to forget about them and move on.

There are times where I still can hear the words said to me. They sometimes play over and over in my head and it’s then that I realize that I while I may not be able to forget the things that were said to me, I have to stop dwelling on them and remember that I am loved by God and am valuable to Him no matter what!

So what can we do to move past words that crush? Here are a few ideas!

1. Pray for the person who said the hurtful words to you.
It can be very very hard to pray for someone who has hurt you badly. But giving up that bitterness and finally saying a prayer for them is the key to moving past that hurt. It took me a long time to want to pray for the person who hurt me. I didn’t feel like they deserved it. But God worked in my heart and now if their words come to mind or if I see them, then I try to pray for them before their hurtful words come to mind or before I think hurtful things about them.

2. Realize that you can forgive that person, but that doesn’t mean you still have to have a relationship with them.
Forgiveness doesn’t mean that you have to let that person keep hurting you. It doesn’t mean you are being hateful or unforgiving if you decide to step back from a hurtful relationship. It’s actually good because it means you realize that having that person in your life is not healthy and that it is not a healthy relationship.

3. Don’t dwell on what was said, dwell on what God’s Word says instead.
It’s easy for hurtful and crushing words to play over and over in our heads. Especially as women, since we can be emotional at times. At times I have to physically stop myself from dwelling or thinking about these words said to me in the past. I have to remember that these words are not true words, that God’s Word tells me otherwise. At times like these, it’s a great idea to take out God’s Word and read about His promises to us. He does not view us in the way that other people may, He loves us no matter what. Dwell less on the hurtful words of others and more on the Words God says!

How about YOU? What do you do to get past words that crush?

So we meet again. You would think I would be prepared for you after the 6th deployment. Our family has only had 7 months together since we were reunited from the last time you were here. You really caught us off guard this time! Over the last 14 years you have walked in and out of my life, leaving me with heartache and pain. You have also taught me a lot about myself in the process. You really tested my strength. I didn’t realize how strong I was until that was the only choice I had left.

This deployment has been the toughest yet. Our children are older now, and they now know the heartache that you cause. You have tested the relationships in our family. Yeah, you may have gotten the best of us at times.  However, we are stronger than you thought. You have shown us how important communication really is when we are apart. Our children know what it is to appreciate the little things in life.  Most of all, we know that as a family we can get through anything together.

I know God chooses the strongest of us to become Military families. I also know there are lessons God wants to teach us along the way. Through all the heartache and tears you have caused us, there is one thing you will never take  ”Our Faith”. I want to thank you Deployment for everything you have taught my family. Somehow you have been a blessing in disguise.

Sincerely,

Tara

My name is Tara. My husband has been in the Navy for 15 years. We have 3 beautiful children. Our family has endured 7 deployments. We welcomed our Sailor home a couple weeks ago after 8 long months. We are so happy and blessed to have our family together again!

 

 

 

 

 

*If you are interested in being a part of this series please see instructions here: Dear Deployment Blog Feature or email me at singingthroughtherain(at)gmail.com. Thanks!*

This small New Testament is the perfect little Bible for the military wife! It includes:

• “Special devotions by Jocelyn Green: 60 devotions focus on a specific passage with relevance to life as a military spouse.”

• “Home front heroes: 30 devotional stories illustrate key biblical principles by the lives of heroes on the American home front.”

• “Hymns: lyrics to hymns of faith provide words of encouragement, truth, valor, and comfort.”

• “Basic training: 10 study features guide deeper into God’s word.”

Description:

“When your husband serves in the military, you’re required to sacrifice as well, adding a level of strain to everyday life that most people can’t understand. Frequent moves, unpredictable schedules, extended deployments, reintegration—and, in some cases, caregiving—all make a military spouse like you hungry for the stability and peace found in God’s Word.

This special New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs is designed to address your unique needs, hopes, fears, struggles, and insecurities. And since no one can speak to you as you journey through this unique situation like someone who has gone through it, this New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs includes 90 special devotions written by military wives and edited by Jocelyn Green, a former military wife who actively ministers to women in your situation. Let her words of help and hope, alongside God’s Word, encourage you as you serve our country in your own way.”

My Review:
I don’t usually prefer the NIV version, but  I think this is the perfect little Bible to read through during a deployment or even during other times too! I was really impressed with how much they were able to fit into this little book. It’s perfect because you have devotionals and the Word all in one book! It would be easy to take on the go or to share with someone else. This Bible is the perfect encouragement to help through a deployment or tough time, and I am excited to take the time to read through this during our next deployment!

Buy 1 Give 1 Free!
With every purchase of the NIV Military Wives’ New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs, you will receive an additional copy to share with a friend for free!

To get your free copy:

• Visit www.churchsource.com and create an account
• Add 2 copies of NIV Military Wives’ New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs (9780310421078) to your cart
• Enter promo code BD5W11 at checkout

Offer Valid: 5/1/2013 through 5/31/2013

Giveaway:

I would love for one of my readers to win one of these Bibles! See details below and enter to win! Giveaway ends May 20th, and winner will be contacted by email.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

• “I don’t want to leave my kids.”
• “I can’t find a babysitter.”
• “Our marriage is fine.”
• “We don’t have enough money.”
• “My husband things date nights are cheesy.”

While these are valid reasons, I still feel there are so many ways around them. A “date night” does not have to be super fancy – it can be as simple as sitting on the couch or even laying in bed talking or discussing things with your spouse! While I know there are other reasons that it may be hard to date your spouse – ie: deployment, work schedules, etc. I feel there are still plenty of ways around the other reasons I listed above!

• “I don’t want to leave my kids.” - You don’t have to! You can have a date night right at home! One night a week or even one night a month put the kids to be bed early. This is YOUR time, and an early bedtime once and awhile won’t hurt!
• “I can’t find a babysitter.” – There are plenty of ways to find a new sitter. My suggestion is to start asking around for recommendations. Then interview a few and have them come to the house and play with the kids while you are there so you can get to know them and see how they do with the kids. Work your way up to trusting someone new! And if you still can’t find someone, you can put the kids to bed early and do something together at home.
• “Our marriage is fine.” - I don’t know of any marriage that can’t use a little spice! Giving a little time to your marriage every once and while shows that you care about it and you want it to grow!
• “We don’t have enough money.” – This is a tough one we have had to deal with on occasion as well. But spending a lot of money is not a must for date night. A date night can be as simple as sitting down for coffee, or walking through a bookstore together. And if you still don’t have money for that then stay home and do a date night at home!
• “My husband things date nights are cheesy.” - I hear this one a lot, but really it doesn’t have to be that way. Find something that your husband wants to do. If he doesn’t like the name “date night” then call it something else, like  “You and Me Time.” You both may have to compromise a little, but that’s ok that’s what marriage is all about – a little give and take!

What is a “Date Night”?
To me a date night is doing something together (not sitting in front of the tv) that brings you closer together. Whether it’s doing an activity together, talking together, or just being together, a date night should make you feel closer to your spouse in some way (emotionally or physically) when it’s over.

Some of you may wonder why I say no tv. I say no tv because although watching tv together is fun, I don’t think that doing that brings you closer together. For my husband and I we watch tv together on the couch almost every night. For us it’s nothing special or out of the ordinary it’s just life. So for me, watching tv together doesn’t bring me closer to him, but doing something different with him would.

Here are all kinds of ideas to help you with YOUR date night so you never have another reason NOT to date your spouse!

Date Night Ideas:

• Date Night Tips
• Date Night Jar
• Date Night Gift
• The Bookstore Date
• Date Night in a Bag
• Can of Dates
• A Few Favorite Things
• Romantic Dinner at Home
• 30 Ideas for a Date Night at Home
• 101 Things to do With Your Spouse
• 5 Summer Dates
• Let’s Get Lost
• Two Minutes in Heaven
• Couple’s Cafe
• How to Date Your Spouse
• The 15 Minute Date
• 40 Free Date Ideas
• 52 Date Nights
• A Cheap Date Night
• The Spouse Sleepover Date
• Top 50 Date Ideas of All Time
• Beyond Movie Night: 10 at Home Date Night Ideas
• Two Player Games to Play With Your Spouse
• 32 Stay at Home Date Ideas
• 148 Romantic Date Ideas
• 70 Cheap or Free Date Ideas
• Write Your Story Date
• 100 Ways to Date Your Spouse

Websites with Date Ideas:

• Love Actually: Romance on a Budget
• The Dating Divas: Strengthening Marriage One Date at a Time
• Never a Dull Date: Answering: What Should We Do Tonight?
• Nifty Date Ideas: Creative Things to do on a Date
• Datevitation.com: Have Fun Together

Date Night Questions:

• 5o Questions to Ask Your Spouse on a Date Night
• 100 Date Night Questions
• 30 Fun Date Night Questions

Looking to PIN some of these “date” ideas? See my board full of date night ideas here:  DATE NIGHT IDEAS

For 20 weeks you have made our home your home. This is the first time you have visited us in my soldier’s almost 7 years of service… so we have been expecting you.  Our last three and a half years started with a wedding, then two dogs, two baby boys, two years of flight school, and now you have taken over . You have brought our fast-paced marriage to a slow steady and given us time to think. Time to think about our relationships. Our relationship with each other, our relationship with our children, our relationship with friends, and most importantly our relationship with God.

You make it really REALLY tough to relate to civilians, but bring the ties between our Army family much stronger. You have weakened bonds with old friends but strengthened new ones. You make our society seem petty and frivolous considering the struggles our soldiers face each day.

You remind me EVERY single day how lucky we are. I think of my fellow military spouses who have lost a loved one. In fact, I think of them daily, sometimes hourly. I think of children growing up without their father or mother because of the evil that we are fighting against. I pray for them every second that I get.

You make me very proud of my husband. He is doing everything he has ever wanted to do- flying Apache Helicopters and serving our country. My sons have a father that is not only their everything, but a true hero as well. The superheroes most kids watch on TV and read about… is their Dad and my husband. But under that cape he is still their goofy Dad that makes up off the wall nicknames and wants nothing more than to tackle and tickle them to no end.

You have pushed me to do things like running a household alone, taking on two wild little boys by myself, brought me to a wonderful new church, advancing in my hobbies of running-Photography-crafting, and even running my first marathon in less than 4 hours! You have made me pretty fast actually. Considering we are only 4 months into a 12 month deployment… I can’t WAIT to see what else you have in store.

The darkness is always hiding since you have been here. Lurking right behind each days’ clouds. If we let any bit of that darkness in, the floodgates open and torrential downpour takes over. It can rain for days or even weeks if we let it, so I’ve learned how important it is to let the sunshine overpower that darkness. The brightness of the sun will ALWAYS prevail.

So thank you deployment for strengthening our family and our faith. I may not like you at all, but I do appreciate you.

Love,

B.

My Name is Brittany Trumbull. My husband is in the Arizona Army National Guard and is an Apache Helicopter pilot. We met as cheerleaders in college at Northern Arizona University, have been married 4 years, and have two boys ages 2.5 and 1. We are 8 months into his 12 month deployment to Afghanistan.

*If you are interested in being a part of this series please see instructions here: Dear Deployment Blog Feature or email me at singingthroughtherain(at)gmail.com. Thanks!*

At the beginning of this month Adam’s ABA therapist worked on combining two words with Adam. His favorite color is “blue” and his favorite word is “car.” She was able to get him to say “blue car”. But to my surprise it didn’t just stop there. Soon Adam was pointing out every blue car he saw on the road while we were traveling. “Blue car!” he would point. “Car, car, car, car” he would count.

And it didn’t stop there! Now as we pass the blue cars he adds a third word: “bye-bye blue car”. Let me tell you that the words “blue car” are some of the sweetest words in the world, and some I will never tire of hearing!

Adam says “Blue Car” (It’s at the end of the video.)

What is a milestone your child has reached that you are proud of?

I recently found out about a beautiful wedding site called SimplyBridal! They sell custom-made weddings dresses and also veils and jewelry and strive to do this at reasonable prices.

Here’s a little bit about the company:

“SimplyBridal started off with the simple idea of creating beautiful weddings at reasonable prices. Beginning with wedding dresses, we’ve since added more products and strive to provide outstanding quality without the inconvenience and costs of traditional bridal boutiques and retailers. Our products are always things that we would want our family members and friends to buy, wear, and love.” – SimplyBridal

SimplyBridal has shops in over 20 different states where you can go to browse and shop! You can also find them on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Review:

I received a beautiful necklace from SimplyBridal to review and to giveaway and I am happy to share a little bit about that today! The necklace I received is a silver-plated two strand lariat with two white shell pearls (pictured to the left). The pearls are large and absolutely beautiful!

The necklace is 18 inches and is not adjustable. It sits beautifully and I thought that the strands would move a lot since there is nothing holding them together inside the silver-plated circle, but it stays put. The silver-plated circle looks a little darker in the picture, but is the same color as the rest of the necklace.

I really loved this piece of jewelry and I think it would be perfect with a lot of different outfits, not just a wedding gown! A bridesmaid could wear this piece with her gown or you could even use it to dress up an outfit for church or another dressy occasion. I think that’s one of the best things about their jewelry is that you can make it work for any occasion!

See the matching earrings!

Giveaway:

Looking to win this beautiful piece from SimplyBridal? See below for details! Winner will be contacted by email and giveaway will end on April 29th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

People say there is not much you can do on your Facebook page unless you pay for sponsored content, but I have to disagree. There are plenty of things you can do to make the best use of your Facebook page and here are a few!

Making the Most of Your Facebook Page

1. Page Category: Make sure the category for your page is correct. I see a lot of pages listed under different headings instead of “personal blog” or “business”. You can change what category it falls under in your settings and this helps people find you better.

2. Your Link: Most people who have Facebook pages also have a link/website that they want people to go to. A lot of times that link is not listed in the main description on your page. It is in the about section which means people have to click around to find it. Make sure it’s on the main page in the description under your timeline photo. It’s easy to find and more people are likely to click it!

3. Posting & Traffic: One thing I tend to notice with pages is that owners tend to not post enough. I have heard from people that they don’t want to “annoy” people, but there really is a proper amount to post that is still under the “annoying” zone! People “like” your page because they want something from you. Either they “like” it to get updates, or to get more info, or to find out more about you. No matter what their reason, they are waiting to hear from YOU!

Posting a lot brings a rise in your page traffic, gets you seen more, and gets people commenting more. I suggest posting at least 5 times a day, but probably no more than 8. Make sure your posts are not close together, but separated by at least an hour or two so people are not getting a news feed full of updates from you. I usually try to spread my posts out every 1-2 hours on my page.

Now I know some of you are thinking, “But wait! I don’t have time for all that!” I know… no one does! That’s why you can use the handy-dandy scheduling feature to schedule ahead your posts for your page. Sometimes I schedule a whole day’s worth, other times just 1 or 2 posts. You can click on the little “clock” symbol and schedule your posts for any day and hour that you want. Pretty amazing!

4. Best Times to Post: I have had my Facebook page for awhile now and have found that the best times to post are between 9am-6pm Monday-Fridays. It’s funny because I also found an infographic on Pinterest that confirmed this!

 5. What to Post: Now that I have told you how often to post and when to post, now you are wondering what content to post, right? Make sure to post a variety of content on your Facebook page. A good variety includes:  pictures, links, statuses, etc.

Different types of content will draw in more people. Ask questions to get people commenting, post links and pictures, and just talk about your thoughts for the day. You can include quotes that you like, personal stuff from your day, or anything having to do with the main topics that you blog about! For example: If you blog about coupons, then you could post different links to coupons and sales items. If you blog about military life then you could post any other links of interest that have to do with military life.

6. Advertising: I know I said in the beginning that you can make the most of your page without advertising, but I did want to touch on this because it can be helpful! There are several different ways to advertise with your Facebook page and I have found that advertising the actual page to get more “likes” has been the most helpful. You can also pay for sponsored posts meaning paying for more people to see a particular status or post, but I haven’t found much use for that unless it was a really important post that I wanted a ton of people to see. I think in this area it’s really going to be up to the page owner. Play around and see what works for you!

7. Logging In: Did you know that you can log in as your Facebook page and “like” other pages and comment on them? You get your own personal news feed just for the pages you have liked and it makes it so easy to keep up with other bloggers and businesses! I suggest logging in as your Facebook page and “like” other pages and comment on them and their statuses often. This gets your page seen and helps create a relationship with other people, businesses, and bloggers. I try to like the businesses and bloggers I follow and work with.

8. Inviting Friends: Have you invited every possible friend on your personal Facebook to “like” your blog’s page?At the top of your page there is a place to click that says, “build audience” click on that and click, “invite friends”. Make sure every single person has been invited! I also like to post a link to my page as a “reminder” on my personal Facebook every so often. This reminds friends that I have a Facebook page and I have gotten get some new “likes” from that too.

9. How to Get More “Likes”: If you are looking to get more fans on your page, I would try participating in more link-ups for Facebook pages. There are link-ups on other Facebook pages where you can tag your page and there also some awesome ones on other blogs where you can link up you Facebook page and get tons of new “likes”! A lot of blogs also give others the opportunity of co-hosting these link-ups and that usually will get you a lot more fans. So take advantage of these when you can! The Naptime Review is a great blog that does link-ups! Also,if you do giveaways on your blog you can make it a requirement for people to “like” your Facebook page for an entry. That is another awesome way to get more Facebook fans.

10. Page Apps: Have you ever noticed the little apps that some Facebook pages have? I have a feed of my recent posts, my Pinterest boards, a welcome page and more! Having these little apps can make your page more interesting and help drive your fans toward your other social media profiles. You can also get the squares “colored in” so that you can write what the app is and you can match the colors to your pages’ color scheme.

• Remember:  The more you keep up with you Facebook page, the more people who are going to see it. The more people who see it, the more “likes” and shares you will get.

What about YOU? What are some ways you make the most of your Facebook page?