That Molly Girl

Paying the Bills

2012-02-23T10:44:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone,
As you've read recently I'm really trying to push to monetize my blog. Sometimes that's with really fun giveaways or button swaps. Other times it's by writing sponsored posts and reviews. This is one of those times.
I'm actually trying a new service that I discovered called "blogadvertisingstore."
I'm just now getting acquainted with the website (which is really cute), and I hope it's legit. It basically allows you to submit your blog and then once approved you can write sponsored posts. Any how, i just thought I'd take the opportunity to let you in on this, and I'll keep you updated on how well it's going. I've been getting a lot of questions about making money blogging, and even though I've only made $5.00 with AdSense, I'll definitely be making a post dedicati

Thankful Thursday #2

2012-02-23T08:55:00.001-05:00

Happy Thursday everyone! Our week is almost over!
Here's what I'm thankful for today:

Alden reaches up and says "mama"
She's feeling a little better
a house that we are provided to live in
the ability to stay home
wonderful friends who call me when they need something
my mom being on winter break this week so we can go out to lunch
staying pretty organized this week
getting to go hang out with my mom friends and all of our kids yesterday
a church that recognizes the importance of an accurate Bible
humidifiers and nasal aspirators

What are YOU thankful for?

Link up and tell me.

Sponsors Wanted

2012-02-22T20:07:00.001-05:00

Hello blogosphere!
I am seeking sponsors for my blog.
Ad Space
I'm selling ad space on my side bar for $25 for 6 months. I'm still relatively new to blogging, but in January alone I received nearly 5,000 page views. I have a growing following and would love to write reviews and offer giveaways. I would love the opportunity to enrich my blog with better design and offer more giveaways and reviews.
Button Swap
I am also in the process of designing a button for my blog and a button swap space on my side bar.

If you are interested in sponsoring my blog or swapping buttons, let me know with a comment down below or send me an e-mail at thatmollygirl@gmail.com .
Thanks!

Fat Tuesday

2012-02-21T11:41:00.002-05:00

...isn't that the truth? Fat Tuesday is a day of celebration before the start of the 40 days leading up to Easter, or Lent. Typically, lent is viewed by Christians as a time to prepare ourselves for Easter, this can be done in many ways, but the most common practice during Lent is fasting. Historically, this meant fasting from food, although in today's society, it can be fasting from anything that is a distraction and is bad for us in order to prepare ourselves for the death and resurrection of Christ.
I've never really participated in the practice of Lent. Not because I haven't wanted to, but because I think it's become the New Year's Resolution of the Christian world. Something to give up to better yourself. For example, some people give up sugar. But that's not the point. The point is not to better yourself. It's to prepare your heart. And really, what can we give up to prepare ourselves for the crucifixion of our
Savior? During the original 40 days before Easter, Christ was preparing HIS heart to die and take on the sins of the ENTIRE world. Think about how often you lie, or cheat, or become envious. You potentially sin thousands of times a day and Christ bore that sin. Not just for your one day, not even just for you. But for all of the sin, of every person, of their entire life, or all of existence. How is it even conceivable that we are able to prepare our hearts for that?
It's not some time to give up sugar so you can lose weight over the next 40 days. I have nothing against giving up sugar if your are doing it for the right reasons. Give up something that has a stronghold in your life is what it's about. Historically, they gave up food. Food sustains us, food gives us energy, food gives us life. But we fast to give up that source of life and prepare our hearts for the ultimate source of life. To truly prepare for Easter, we have to search our hearts for what has the biggest stronghold in our life, our idols, if you will. We have to give it up and place that reliance on God. God was also preparing His awesome and amazing heart of give up His son. For this time, he had to let what he hated most invade his son and kill him. A brutal, horrible, death.
In some religions, that's enough. That's enough to believe because there is a martyr involved. My God, how wonderful it is that that's not even the end of the story.
In preparation for Easter, in observance of Lent, I've been trying to search my soul for what has a stronghold on my life. What is keeping me from being consumed by Christ? Is it my temper? My emotions? My laziness? What could I possibly give up that would prepare me for what God gave up? Who knows.
I've gotten slightly off track in this post, but I think I've been enlightened.That's what usually happens when I blog anyhow.
Tonight in ~~observance~~ celebration of Fat Tuesday, we are eating pancakes.
Maybe this year I will give up "not" doing things. I'm giving up not praying and not meditating in an effort to allow God to consume me.
What are you giving up and how are you preparing your heart for Christ?

Exercise in the morning!

2012-02-18T14:45:00.001-05:00

This morning I asked Rial what he wanted to do all day. Originally, his response was, "Play video games," but after reading my blog from last night, he decided we would go walk some trails at Chickamauga Battlefield. Here's how we did:

The time is really long, but we had the baby with us so we had to stop and play with flowers and feed her a couple of times. 30 minute mile, no way! I could finish a marathon in a day! (/sarcasm) Also, as you can see, I've figured out how to take a screen cap on my phone, so I'll be able to publish the summary of my walks/runs daily. If you've never tried it before, Endomondo is great. I used the free version for a while, but upgraded to Pro when the Android Market was having $.10 app deals; I really enjoy it.

On a side note, thanks to the two followers I gained over night, and thanks to Beverly for the shout out this morning! I'mm be passing on the honor soon! Also, I'm planning on opening my log up for sponsors soon. If you do this already, or have a button swap option, please leave me a comment down below or shoot me an e-mail at thatmollygirl@gmail.com if you're interested in sponsoring this blog!

It's time.

2012-02-17T21:53:00.001-05:00

I've been overweight for a while now.
In February 2009 I weighted 160lbs. Looking back on that weight, I can't believe I thought I was fat. I had a SLAMMIN' body. I was curvy and I was gorgeous. Just look:

Also, if you don't believe me:

Total hottie, I know, right?

Well, since then, I've gained nearly 100lbs. This is me now:

It was actually really hard just finding a picture of myself because I hate to have my picture taken these days. While I'm no less beautiful, I'm much more uncomfortable. I get winded easily, it takes me about 5 minutes to get up from the ground, and with a nearly mobile baby, that just won't work.

Alden's learning to crawl, and so should I.

I also remember what I used to do to get that body. I ran at least 3 miles a day, did p90x, AND lifted weights. In my defense, I did live across the street from the rec center and now I have to drive 20 minutes to get to a gym. But really, that's no excuse, I live next to a park now, I should be able to run daily. I have a jogging stroller and Alden is getting a little better about length of time between meals. I have no excuse.

It's time for Alden to start crawling and it's time for me to start crawling towards my goal. I need to act like an adult and do what I need to to lose the weight and be healthy for my family. It also wouldn't hurt to be the uber hottie I was when my husband and I started dating.

I've been following "reasons to be fit" on tumblr and I like and agree with many of the reasons:

to be able to go that extra mile
to be able to feel like I stuck to something
to remind myself that my body is a precious gift; ie, the temple of the Lord!
cause it's always been inside of me
because it's time for necessary changes in my life

The list could go on and on, but the point is this: it's time to make the changes in my life required to lose weight. Even if it's just to walk up and down the stairs to my basement 50 times a day. So I need some help. I'm going to try to blog daily with my fitness log. I'm going to just try bolstering my activity level and then work on my eating habits. I eat fairly well, I just live a sedentary lifestyle. I need my followers to remind and encourage me. My love language is "words of encouragement" and I need them more than anything for this.

So please, friends, follow my blog, comment as much as you can, and help support me in my effort to reach my weight-loss goal.

High Five for Friday: ME Edition

2012-02-17T21:18:00.001-05:00

This High Five is all about me!

1. I'm one heck of a mommy. I love my baby and I know what she needs. I get stressed out sometimes, but I sure do love me some Alden.
2. I have really pretty eyes. They are blue. Just so you know.

3. I have a great smile. I think this is my husbands favorite part about me. This is a really old picture, but I think it's a great one:

4. I've struggled with my weight for a while now. I haven't taken the step yet to really try and lose it, but I have a feeling it's coming soon.

5. I'm passionate and loving and I'm struggling to find my joy and share it with the world. I'll get there.

Flashback Friday #1

2012-02-17T02:00:00.000-05:00

I also decided to add a "Flashback Friday" series where I will post really old (or as old as I have on facebook) photos of myself or my life and maybe tell you what I remember about what was happening when they were taken.

This photo was taken on the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. It was taken in 2005 when our band went to NYC to play at the Statue. I was in 11th grade and played the clarinet. This was an amazing trip!

Thankful Thursday #1

2012-02-16T14:11:00.002-05:00

I decided to start yet another weekly blog post. So here it is: Thankful Thursdays. I just think it's important to remember all of the things we are thankful for. Rachel of at Frugal & Simple mentioned that she liked to keep a notebook of all of the things she thanks God for daily. It's a good reminder of all of the things in our life that we take for granted. Here are a several things I am thankful for this week:

living so close to Rial and I's parents
the ability to wash 2 loads of clothes and 1 load of diapers daily
a husband who works to provide so I can stay home
computers
hulu on the Wii
heat
Mr. Coffee Tea Maker
when I have bad dreams a husband to hold me
tons of books for alden to read
shoes on my feet

Thank you God for all of these things!

Hurry!

2012-02-14T17:53:00.000-05:00

I guess I felt bad about being born seventeen days late. Ever since I've been in a hurry. I walked early, talked early, and potty trained early (at 15-months). I made district board the year it was an option in 4-H. I made district band and state honor band as soon as I was able. I met the man I decided to marry when I was 17. I graduated with a B.A. in psychology and a minor in anthropology in 3 years. I got engaged at 21, married at 22, pregnant at 23, and became a mother at 24. I was on course to obtain a Master's degree by the time most people graduate with their Bachelor's. I'm incredibly OCD and have to be at the theater before the previews start. If something starts at 6:00pm, I must be there by 5:45pm.
Why?
When I left my job last year to be a full-time mother, I knew I had made the right choice. While I have an incredible God-given knack for loving on children with Autism, I have known since I was young that I was put on this Earth to be a mother.
Recently, I've been questioning everything. Why? Because I've always been in such a hurry. I have to rush to get the the next thing. Why can't I just be still?
This past week, I've had to just meditate on God's word and figure out what I need to do. The Bible says, "Figure out what pleases the Lord, and then do it!" (Ephesians 5:10)
But what would please the Lord?
I've had so much pressure lately to get a job, make money, and provide. Then I remember--that's not my job.
Titus 2 says, "and so train the young women to love their husbands and children,to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled."
Here's the thing, though. It doesn't matter what I'm doing as long as I'm doing it for the Lord. "Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not men." (Colossians 3:23) I shouldn't feel pressure from family or friends to get a job right now. I'm not working for men any longer, I'm working for God.
These two verses came to me today while pondering my future:
"You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand." (James 5:8)
"And don't be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God's place for you. Live and obey and love and believe, right there." (1 Corinthians 7:17)
Yes, God may want me to interact and do therapy with children with autism at some point. But God has put me in this house with this man for a reason. I'm 24-years-old. I need to be still and establish my heart. We want multiple children and I don't want to miss a moment in raising them. I want to raise them up in the ways of the Lord and I want to help establish their hearts before I send them out into the world. I have so many years ahead of me to make an impact on the children of the world, but I also need to make sure I set the Godly example for my children.
I'll be around 30-years-old when my kids start school, I'll have plenty of time then to pursue a career. Some women want to establish their career FIRST and then establish a family, but for me, I think that's the wrong order. I need to establish my heart first, and for me, that is my family.
So now I will just be still. I won't try and hurry the future. I won't worry about being on time or early, I will be on God's time now.

Memories Mondays: 9/11/2007

2012-02-13T12:00:00.003-05:00

I thought I'd start a new series. I was going to do "Flashback Fridays," but I wanted to go ahead and start today, and I might leave Flashback Fridays for photos. Anyhow, when I was younger I used to write. All the time. I wrote in composition notebooks and I have about 10 of them hiding around our house. I thought it would be slightly humorous to dig them out and use them for Memories Mondays. Each Monday, I'll randomly select a journal entry to share with the universe. Oh Lord, here we go:

September 11, 2007
Rial said I would know when I was ready. So this is my attempt of getting to the point of knowing who I am in order to know when I'm ready. Intermittent with poetry this is my path to self-discovery. This is me, figuring out who me is. This is to find a better, more mature me. This is my attempt to prepare myself for what lies ahead. I must prepare myself for the greatest commitment of my life. So, who am I? I have attempted to discover this in the past. All in vain, I suppose. But this time I will succeed. I can do it. My future is in my hands now. So this is my new notebook. It's who I want to be, and how I plan to get there. I will be better. I will be ready. So yeah.
Au'jourd'hui, c'est mardi, le onze septembre, deux mille, sept. It's the day of my change. So first I guess I will decide who I plan to be when I get engaged. I know I want to be further along in college, so I will need to take even more hours next semester. I only had about 27 credit hours last year. So I guess I'm still technically a freshman. This semester I am taking 16 hours. That makes 43. I need to take 17 hours at least next semester to break even to be a junior next year. But then I also want to take college courses over the summer. I really don't want to be overly stressed, but I NEED to overload myself with classes and studying. So I need to cut back on video games. I want to graduate early. I may need to get a load for summer courses. I will definitely need a car by then. Next semester I will take part 2 of every class. I am going to take French 1002, the second history, and a few psychology classes. I will look these up over lunch. I need to call the lab and let them know I will just come after my last class. I will go between class and council. I think that will work better. Oh well, I wish this class would end so I could go home and plan. I'm so inpatient. I don't need to be. Once my life is the way I want it, I will stop planning. I really am inpatient. But I just want things so badly right now. Maybe when I go home I should also study. But Oh well. I really need good grades this semester. Exactly 2 months until this one's over. So that is good. So yeah. At least French will end before the rest of my classes. So I will have more time to work. I have no clue what time it is right now. I forgot my cell phone at home. I definitely need to go get it. My hair is getting longer again. I need to get highlights. It's so blah! I mean it's blonde but it's all the same color. No fun at all. So my mom is going to do it this weekend. Yay. It's going to be a full weekend. Mom will come to pick me up on Friday and I'm going to spend Saturday with her.

Pinterest Party

2012-02-13T11:42:00.001-05:00

This weekend I had the girls from my small group over for a party. Not sure ANY party, a pinterest party. It was definitely a learning experience. This was out first ever attempt at a Pinterest party, and overall, it was fairly successful. We learned several things, such as:

always practice your "pin" before buying all the stuff and making it in front of people; ie, my attempt at making baby food jar candles.
Next time we will only do one or two crafts, and select one person to "host the party," one or two people to provide snacks, and one or two to select and buy supplies for the craft.
Overall, just a little more experienced.

Even though we weren't as organized as I think we will be next time, we had a really great time.

Here's what we accomplished:

This is the baby food jar candle I attempted to make. It didn't work very well. However, my amazingly brilliant husband figured out it was because I was ~~stupid~~ not considering the fact we had the ceiling fan on. He proved my craft was worthy...after everyone left.

Basically, you pour wax crystals in baby food jars, insert a wick and you're done!

Meanwhile, I decided to make hearts out of old book pages. I found the idea somewhere online.

Terah brought letters for each of us to decorate with twine and yarn. This was a super cute idea, but it took a little while to make. Mine was easy because my last name starts with and "s" so it didn't take as long to wrap.

Becky zested about 50 oranges and lemons in order to make an awesome citrus salt scrub. I haven't tried mine yet, but I'm sure it's amazing.

Jenny made roses for Valentines out of old book pages. They were really pretty and fairly easy to make.

Nicole made Valentine's themed rice crispy cupcakes. Quite yummy.

Finally, I did my own craft using canvas, paint, and my daughter. I hope to do one of these every 6 months as a keepsake.

Overall, we had a really great time getting together, making things, and socializing. If you'd like to check out all of the crafts we made, you can view our Pinboard, here.

Follow Friday: Random

2012-02-10T15:46:00.002-05:00

1. Last weekend I got a brand new set of make up brushes from Costco. Yes, Costco, and they are amazing. It was $19.99 for 10 brushes and a bag for them.

2. My daughter turned 6-months-old this week! To celebrate, we played outside and I took abajillion pictures of her.

3. Enjoyed meeting Maranda and Jake at Rockbridge on Thursday night.
4. I'm getting over a cold and it SUCKS. I haven't felt like doing anything and almost threw up after taking some nyquil this morning. Turns out, it expired last year. Not sure why this is even a high five item, just thought I'd mention it.
5. Super excited about my Pinterest Party this weekend with the amazing girls from my small group. I will DEFINITELY blog about it Monday.

Playing Outside

2012-02-09T14:10:00.000-05:00

Alden and I just got in from playing outside and I thought I'd post some photos of my big girl!

This flower smells so good!

But it doesn't taste so good.

This is seriously my baby, not some model I found in a magazine.

High five, Sandy!

That sun!

Alden at 6-Months

2012-02-09T10:49:00.000-05:00

It's that time again! Alden is 6-months-old. Here are her stats:
Height: 28" (>97%)
Weight: 16lbs 5oz (50%)

EAT

Alden is now adjusted to three meals with food and a couple bottles throughout the day. She has a fruit and sometimes a grain for breakfast, half a jar of meat (usually chicken or turkey), half a jar of fruit and half a jar of vegetables at lunch, the rest of the jar of fruit for a snack around 2pm or 3pm, and a jar of meat, the rest of the vegetables and sometimes a grain for dinner around 5pm.
She has tried: sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, squash, green beans, apples, pears, peaches, rice, oatmeal, chicken, turkey, mango, and bananas.
She LOVES mango.
She's tried a couple bites of real chicken and a few bites of a roll. She usually gets a look on her face like, "I can't believe you guys eat this!"
We're still working on teeth, but no luck yet.

SLEEP

Alden takes several naps every day now, and it's much more consistent.
She wakes up at 5:30am, eats, and then goes back to sleep until 8:30am or so. She'll nap around 11:30am, again at 2:30pm-ish, and then a short nap around dinner sometimes.
She is asleep by 7pm, but still wakes up around 10:00pm. We are trying to get rid of this wake up time, and we've eliminated the middle-of-the-night wakeups.
She sleeps on her stomach.
She has to have her lovey bear and humidifier.

POOP

Yes, I included this category again.
Still cloth-diapering.

PLAY

Alden sits up for really long periods of time.
She can shake, bang, and hit objects together.
She stays on her hands and knees rocking for long periods of time and has finally picked up a hand and scooted her knee forward in attempt to make forward progress.
She's VERY interested in ~~eating~~ playing with the cats and the dogs. Good gracious, Sandy is a good cat.
She says, "mmm" or "mama" to indicate that she wants food. I'm guessing it's because when I feed her I say, "mmmm" a lot. However, the other day she raised her hands and said, "mama."
She loves to watch me clap and raise my hands and say, "wooo!" She raised her hands once.

Chilling with Daddy

MISCELLANEOUS (from the Creative Curriculum checklist, because I'm a nerd)

Alden reaches for, touches, and holds objects purposefully
She shows interest in the speech of others by turning her head toward people who are talking and she recognizes familiar voices.
She vocalizes and gestures to communicate. She mainly says, "mmm" to eat and raises her hands now to be picked up. We are working to teach her to sign "more."
She's babbling and stringing together consonant sounds like, "ba-ba," "ma-ma," "da-da," and occasionally, "ga-ga."
She's beginning to engage in back-and-forth exchanges. When talking to her, if you stop she'll look at you, smile, and squeal. She loves, "Where's Alden."
She pays attention to sights and sounds.
She is beginning to repeat actions to obtain similar results. For example she's starting to shake rattles, hit things on her high chair tray or floor, press buttons intentionally on her exersaucer, and dump baskets over.
She uses her senses to explore her environment. She love touching our animals and exploring faces and fabrics with her hands.
She uses adult support to calm herself.
She responds to changes in an adult's tone of voice and expression.
She indicates needs and wants, and participates as adult attends to needs.
She has a strong attachment to me.
She reacts to others' emotions.
She's beginning to move to explore her immediate environment.
She balances while exploring immediate environment.
She reaches, grasps, and releases objects.

Whew, there's a snapshot of Alden at 6-months. I'm only going to include the miscellaneous category every 6-months because that won't change as much.

Wow! I cannot believe it's been 6 months already!I can still remember just being so pregnant and wanting to have my baby and she's already getting so big. Today I picked up some supplies to work on a project I want to do with her every 6 months for Rial and I to have something really cool and to give it as a super neat gift to the grandparents. I will update you as soon as it's complete! Until next time!

My God's Not Dead

2012-02-07T14:00:00.001-05:00

My AMAZING husband created a playlist on Spotify that has become my go-to playlist for everything I do!
I love to dance and sing and worship the creator of the universe through His love language: music!
My daughter especially enjoys it--she loves to hear me sing to her and seeing me smile just brings her joy, which only elevates my mood.
Earlier today, I was playing on the floor with my daughter and she grabbed my shirt and stood up. The child is 6-months-old! I was astonished at how well she was keeping her balance, but every few seconds she would get a little wobbly and throw her hands around my neck to catch her balance. Each time I would just wrap my arms around her, hug her, and just feel a little bit of her unbridled joy at this new-found trick.
As this was going on, "Forever Reign" began to play.

"Oh, I'm running to your arms, I'm running to your arms. The riches of your love will always be enough. And nothing compares to your embrace, light of the world, forever reign!"

We serve a God that will always catch us when we lose our balance. Every time He will just throw open His arms and squeeze us until we are so filled with joy we just giggle.
Since having Alden, I have become closer to God than I could have ever imagine. Rial calls me a Christmas parent (He's an Easter parent). Now that I have Alden it's so wondrous that God sent his son to earth as a BABY. Mary went through the same labor and delivery process. She nursed the living God. She raised him as an infant and taught Him to walk. Wow.
I described Rial as an Easter parent because he thinks the same way about Easter as I do about Christmas. God sent his son as a baby, but he sent his son to die. Christmas is what makes me Christianity so real for me. Easter is what makes it so real for Rial.
I am filled with wonder, awestruck wonder at the mention of your name! I'm filled with awe as every day I delve deeper and deeper into God's word, only to discover that this book written SO LONG ago, inspired by God, but written by men is as relevant as it was when it was written. I look around and I see God and I don't even know any more how someone could open their eyes each morning and not see God. My faith was nothing compared to when I started to see a little group of cells in my uterus become an actual human being. And that little human being learned to make noise, to sit up, and is now learning to crawl and stand.
My God's not dead, he's surely alive and he's living in the inside ROARING like a lion!

You all must watch this:

2012-02-04T22:28:00.001-05:00

This is what my daughter does when I'm not home.

High Five for Friday: Family Edition

2012-02-03T16:00:00.002-05:00

I decided my High Five for Fridays should be themed, and today's theme is family.
1. I have an amazing husband who means the world to me. We met when I was in middle school, started dated when I was in 11th grade (2005), and got married in 2010. He has been my rock and has kept me sane. I am so thankful he put up with me and I'm so amazed and how far he has come and how much of a great Godly man he has become. He truly leads our family. Also, he's not too bad on the eyes.

2. I have the most awesome daughter anyone could ask for. She will be 6-months-old this upcoming Thursday and never stops amazing me at how she just soaks things in. People say she looks just like me and it's really cool to have a daughter that looks like me. Luckily she's tall and skinny like her daddy (with his appetite, too). She's so smart and beautiful and is developing such a sense of humor.

3. My mother is the most amazing woman in the world. She left a job she really enjoyed south of Atlanta to move here to be with us. Now all of the grandparents are in the same location! She is a great helper, babysitter and confidant and I am so blessed to have her as my mother!

I love this picture. As we were taking it a big wave got mom all wet.

4. I'm so lucky to have known my in-laws for so long. They are an awesome example of a great marriage and have three great boys to show for it. It's WONDERFUL to have them right next door, always willing to watch Alden and help us out.

5. Not only am I lucky enough to have my mom and my in-laws next door, but my father is also in the same city. Even though I don't see him as much as I'd like, it's nice having my whole family so close together. I'm sure he will only add to Alden's silliness as she grows!

That's my high five this week! Enjoy your weekend!

Blogs I Follow

2012-02-01T14:30:00.000-05:00

Hello World!
A good friend asked on Facebook about blog recommendations. I realized I follow SO MANY BLOGS. But I definitely wanted to highlight those I follow on a regular basis. If you know of a blog that matched closely the interests I have, leave a comment, I'd love to follow.
Parenting

Faith

Food

Crafting

Life

Fitness

These are my favorites, what are yours?

Saturdays With Alden

2012-01-28T20:32:00.002-05:00

High Five For Friday: Joy Edition

2012-01-27T12:54:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Lauren for inspiring me to do a High Five for Friday. This week, my high five is focusing on JOY!
1. This week my book came in for our Mom's group study on JOY!

I just completed chapter one for next Wednesday and I'm already pretty excited.

2. Our church finished the third part of our JOY series. I had a friend come with me and she is not only coming back, but she's bringing a friend. There are no words for the amount of joy I have getting to live life with someone who is experiencing Christ in a new way.

3. I was able to give my husband JOY by getting all of the dishes caught up. Now I am trying to catch up on laundry and get out of my funk that's been weighing me down.

4. My daughter has started babbling. When I picked her up from the baby sitter on Wednesday at church I could hear her all the way down the hall saying, "Blah blah blah blah!" She has also somewhat learned what a kiss is and will smile when I give her one. She is now ticklish and will let out the most JOYFUL squeal when you toss her on the couch and tickle her.

5. God has placed in my heart a desire to grow closer to him and not let other affect my JOY. I am feeling alive and I want others to feel God's love through me!

High five, everyone!

A Good Wife: Part 3

2012-01-24T10:28:00.002-05:00

She's up before dawn, preparing breakfast for her family and organizing her day.

Proverbs 31:15

First of all, I apologize that it has been so long since I've posted. A lot has happened, I suppose. My husband finally was offered a full-time job (albeit temporary). I've also been somewhat depressed and so I haven't felt much like posting, but I have to remember that it is when I neglect God and neglect reading His word that I become depressed because I step outside His circle of blessing.

So today I wanted to discuss one aspect of being a good wife that some times I do really well with and many times I still struggle. A good wife wakes up early and organizes her household. It's particularly coincidental that today I woke up around 7:30am and could not go back to sleep. I thought to myself, "Surely this is God telling me to get up and get going." And so I did.

I woke up, showered, got dressed, and started catching up on all the chores I've been neglecting since I've been an emotional roller coaster.

I have been using FlyLady for several years, but only recently have I been taking full advantage of Cozi, an online family organizer. I kept telling myself, "No, I've got Google, why would I need anything else." And then I tried it. To-Do lists, calendars, shopping lists, meal planning, synchronization from the FlyLady routines. It's truly amazing.

I suppose since this post is about organizing your family, I'll let you in on one of my routines. Keep in mind that every routine relies on the other. I won't list my whole day's worth of routines, but I might in another post if you want it. I'll just use my morning routine since I'm talking about waking up early and organizing the day.

Morning

Spin Class/Workout
Shower/fix hair/make-up&moisturize
Brush my teeth
Get completely dressed (including shoes!)
Empty the dishwasher
Drink a glass of water
Make formula & prep bottles
Swish toilets and wipe counters
Put regular laundry in washer and stuff and put away clean diapers
Check the calendar and read my Bible verse cards

The combination of FlyLady and Cozi is truly amazing. FlyLady breaks your homes up into zones, focusing on a different zone weekly and having daily zone missions, all of which are sync'd to your Cozi family calendar.

Usually, I like to sleep in and wake up with Alden, but this morning was nice. I was able to get her bath ready and prepare all of her bottles and food for the day without the urgent need once she woke up and was screaming at me. Now that Rial has a job, I think it will be much easier for me to stay on a consistent schedule. Before, he was coming and going and ~~getting in my way~~, throwing me off schedule. I also never knew when he would be home and which meals he would want. Now I can start dinner at 5pm, and it should be ready before he gets home. He's gone in the mornings, so that helps me not get distracted. Don't let that sound like I don't love having him here, but if your husband showed up at your job, you'd get distracted, too.

So, anyway, this post has been a little less Biblical and a little more practical. And I love that. I love that being organized IS Biblical.

Saturdays With Alden

2012-01-21T23:25:00.002-05:00

Hi, everyone!
I just uploaded my weekly "Saturdays With Alden" video. Check it out!

Make sure you click that like button and subscribe for weekly cute updates!

Congratulations, Toni!

2012-01-19T13:09:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to my friend Toni over at Carrigan's Joy! She delivered her son, Jacob, yesterday evening! Everyone go show her some love!

Review: gDiaper Cloth Diapering System

2012-01-17T15:47:00.000-05:00

Overview

According to their website, gDiapers are “adorable diaper covers with environmentally-friendly inserts.” GDiapers come in four sizes (five if you include newborn). The size ranges are as follows: Newborn, 6-10lbs, Small, 8-14lbs, Medium, 13-28lbs, Large, 26-36lbs, and the newest size, X-Large, which fits babies 34lbs and up.
GDiapers are comprised of 3 parts: the Little gPant (the colorful diaper cover), the Waterproof liner,or "pouch," and the insert. You can use either the biodegradable insert or the gCloth, which is made of a layer of microfleece with a cotton/hemp inside.

PricingOne diaper (gPants, liner, and cloth) will cost $17.99. You can buy 6 cloth inserts for $29.99. Additionally, you can purchase extra pouches (snap-in liners) for $19.99.

I recommend buying about 6-8 gPants, 6 extra snap-in liners, and a minimum of 18 gCloths if this is your only diapering system and you want to do laundry every other day. Remember, because these diapers are sized, and not one-size-fits-all, you will need to stock up in every size.
Per size, the total cost of using gdiapers is about $217 for the MINIMUM to diaper. This seems kind of expensive for a basic cloth diapering system, and when you factor in that you have to buy this multiple times, it could get pricey.
The nice part is the snap-in-liners and gCloths are the same size between mediums and large, but you still have to buy new gPants. If you’re diapering longer it’s even more expensive, and if you’re diapering multiples you’ll need even more.
I don’t use them, but for your information, the biodegradable inserts are $14.99 for 32, or you can buy a case of 4 packs of 32 for $52. Initially, I purchased a pack of inserts for overnight use.

Pros

Cute, stylish, can be customized by embroidering, adding patches, or other accents
Don’t really need pants in the summer time
No need for a diaper cover
Velcro on the back is useful for little hands
Velcro is easy to use, especially with a squirming baby
When wet you can just change the cloth; when dirty just the liner

Cons

Lot involved with washing: you have to separate the liner from the gPant, wash, and then separate for drying (more to come on washing in a future post)
Come in 3 sizes- you’d think its a good thing until you’ve tried a one-size-fits-all
Doesn’t come in white, so you either have to match or have to cover it.
You have to use different cloths, or at least I did, to prevent leaking
The microfiber gCloth gets clogged easily and actualy becomes repellent when you have to use a diaper cream or if you ever use dryer sheets or detergent. This even caused me to stop using the gDiapers for a while
I've noticed slight fading of the gPant and curling of the velcro, even with line-drying

Overall
This was my first cloth diapering system. We had a full stock of smalls, but experienced frequent leaking. Once we moved to medium, the leaking was fixed for a couple of weeks, but the leaking started again, we tried all sorts of things, like stripping the diapers, but the cloths weren’t even absorbing anything, they had started to repel even water.

I still love the bold, bright colors, but I wish it came in white. There’s a new taupe option, but my husband and I just like the simplicity of white.

Because they are sized and not a one-size adjustable diaper, you have to basically stock three sets of diapers, even more if you have a large baby and a late potty-trainer. In addition, you only use the smalls for a couple months, if that, because they grow out of them so quickly.

I’m really happy I tried some other diapers, because I started using the bumgenius natural cotton pre-fold in the gDiapers and I haven’t had any leaks since. I’m attributing that to the repellant nature of the synthetic gCloth material. It's definitely allowed me to start using my g's again. I just don't use the gCloths.

Now, I really like that gDiaper offers the option to use biedegradable inserts. It’s good for the planet, but not so good for your wallet. It’s $14.99 for 32 inserts and you could just as easily get disposable for half the price. So, if you’re using gDiapers to save the planet that’s one thing, but we were doing it to save money.

Just a final note, diapering aside, I love the gDiaper company. Customer service is fantastic, they really value their customers and let you post photos of your “gBaby” to their facebook wall. They also show pictures of having their kids at headquarters and really seem to value family. You can even be a part of the gMum/gDad program and receive promotional material and coupons to pass out to other moms.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my review of gDiapers, make sure you watch my video on how to use and wash your g’s!