Through Clouded Glass

Guilt-Free Breastfeeding: Advice From A Mom Of Five

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 11:30:00 +0000

I partnered with/received compensation from Babywise.Life to write this post. Even though this post is sponsored, all opinions are my own.

First I should probably clarify for new readers that I'm a mom of four on the outside and one in the oven, who I plan on nursing despite my difficult beginnings with breastfeeding!

I was never an obsessive breastfeeding advocate before I had a baby, but before Wyatt was born I knew I wanted to try to breastfeed him for a year. I was pregnant with him seven years ago, and maybe this is the case with new mothers now as well, but I felt like the pressure to breastfeed was at the highest it had ever been. There were plenty of studies about the benefits of breastfeeding, and I heard them all. I felt that if I was really going to do the best for my baby, I had to try to make it to a year. That’s what good new mothers did.

Wyatt was born at 37 weeks after an induction from pre-eclampsia, and all the nurses were surprised about how quickly he caught on to nursing. They expected small babies to have a tougher time, but we didn’t seem to have any problems. I left the hospital proud of my baby, and proud of myself that everything had gone so smoothly.

That didn’t last long.

About a week after I brought him home from the hospital, we started having problems. And by problems, I mean that I would cry out in pain every time he latched. I couldn’t figure out what went wrong! I talked to my doctor and lactation consultants, I read online great articles about breastfeeding trouble-shooting and about what a proper latch looks like. But every time he went to eat, I ended up with tears streaming down my cheeks.

On top of that, I developed mastitis, which took a little time to be properly diagnosed. I remember a few days being laid out on the couch with a fever and a hard knot in my chest, knowing I needed to nurse more often to try to get it out, but crying when I thought about it because I knew it was going to hurt so badly.

All this lasted about a month, and I started to almost resent when Wyatt would get hungry and want to eat. Even though it wasn’t great for our relationship, I’d suck it up anyway, and scream in pain, and cry a little. Finally someone told me something that I will never forget (even though I forget who exactly told me this amidst this painful newborn phase).

Someone told me that your bond with your baby is more important than whether you breastfeed or not.

That little bit of advice meant so much to me - because someone had finally given me permission to let breastfeeding go if I needed to. Someone had finally acknowledged that there are more important things in motherhood than whether I breastfed or not.

That advice helped me to take my doctor’s advice when she suggested I stop nursing on the affected side and just pump until there was some improvement. That advice gave me permission to not breastfeed because I felt I had to, but only if I wanted to.

It was the most freeing thing I could have heard at that time in my motherhood journey, because it made me realize that breastfeeding is not what makes a person a good mother. The love and care you have for your baby, and the bond that forms with or without breastfeeding, is what makes you a good mother.

I did end up finally healing and I nursed Wyatt until six months old. Even with future troubles with my supply and nursing a baby with a food sensitivity (Gwen), nursing has been a such a sweet time with all my babies. But it’s been sweeter yet knowing I breastfed my babies because I wanted to, and not because I was obligated to. I am most proud today not of how long (or not long) I breastfed, but that it was a guilt-free journey.

So if I were to give advice to a brand-new mom today about breastfeeding, it would be that: Breastfeed because you want to, not because you have to. Know that if everything doesn’t go as planned, you can fight through it and still have a successful breastfeeding story - or you can decide to let it go for the sake of reducing the stress on your bond, and that is a good choice too. Your bond with your baby is not dependent on how successful you are at breastfeeding. Loving your baby, and caring for their needs as best you can, until someday they don’t need you anymore - that’s what makes you a good mother. Regardless of how this part of your motherhood story goes, it’s only one brief part, and not anywhere close to the most important.

Patriotic Gender Reveal Party!

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Tue, 18 Jul 2017 11:30:00 +0000

Since we found out the gender of Baby #5 on July 3rd, I knew I wanted to do a patriotic-themed gender reveal party this time around! Kind of a late 4th Of July celebration/gender reveal.

It's pretty easy to do patriotic food too - I made some swirly patriotic fudge, and a s'more dip in the colors of an American flag. Throw some American-inspired Hershey kisses and red, white and blue flowers in there, and there you go!

We served hamburgers to our guests, and asked everyone to bring a side to share - and there was plenty to eat!

We had our friends and family wear a pin with their guess. I basically just cut up some decorations from Hobby Lobby and hot glued them onto pins - red hearts for a girl, blue hearts for a boy.

Everyone expects some sort of gender reveal party games at our parties, so I came up with a couple...

Game #1 - Guess how many pieces of candy are in the jar. There were slightly more red M&M's for those who thought they would be talented candy guessers. There were 311 pieces of candy, with $5 Starbucks gift card for the winner!

Game #2 - Our Baby Name Game involved learning the names of everyone in the room, and then coming up with a baby name (opposite of each person's gender) that starts with the same letter. There may have been ulterior motives to this game, since we don't have a girl name pick out yet. I got a couple ideas from everyone's sheets! For participating, guests were entered into a drawing for another $5 Starbucks gift card (the promise of a prize just makes any little game so much more appealing).

I won't show all the pictures of our friends and family here, but we had a great party! It was fun to visit with everyone and enjoy all the wonderful food that everyone brought! And of course, our family dressed up in all our patriotic attire.

Finally, for the actual reveal we did a little contest too. I made pudding/whipped cream pies for a "pie" eating contest...

In each pie was a paper with the combination to open this box:

I put a pink glow stick on the inside! We had originally planned this party in the evening because we wanted to announce Baby's gender with a sparkler...but our county was put under a fire ban right before our party, so I resorted to a glow stick instead. It worked out pretty well! Everyone was extremely competitive and fought over the box, but in the end, my sister got to open it!

Baby #5 is a sweet baby GIRL, and we are so excited!

Also, for those of you who entered your guess on Baby's Gender...the poll ended up being almost dead even for boy vs. girl guesses! Thank you to everyone who participated, I had so much fun reading through all the guesses. And the winner of the drawing from those who guessed correctly was...my blog friend Alex, from Inspiration Clothesline! I'll shoot you an email soon Alex so I can send you your prize!

It's A GIRL! 22 Weeks (Baby #5)

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 11:30:00 +0000

In case you missed it on Monday, now you know - Baby #5 is a GIRL! We are excited to have another little lady in our family!

We found out on Monday the 3rd, and then spent the next day celebrating 4th Of July. I never got to write a post about that, so I thought, "Why not include it in this update?" Little Girl's first fourth of July in the womb, and we announced the gender with a sparkler, so it seems appropriate!

Baby's First 4th (On The Inside)

We went to a fireworks show with my family on the 3rd after we found out the gender at dinner. I coached the kids not to say ANYTHING about the baby, and they actually did really well! They didn't let the secret out at all before our party, and I was pretty proud of them. It's nice to know you can count on your kids not to say something when you don't want them to.

On the actual 4th we were invited to dinner with some friends, and they bought a bunch of fireworks to do in their culdesac - it was nice, because the fire ban was on by then so we couldn't do any sparklers or fireworks at our house! At both fireworks show and the smaller fireworks with our friends, the kids were so into it. They cheered every firework and jumped around and were generally just really excited. Clyde loved the "little fireworks" (sparklers). We left for the drive home right as a lot of fireworks shows were starting, and we got to watch three different shows from the car as we drove through town, with the kids cheering in the backseat! It was so fun. I have my eye on a good show for next year now, since we were able to scope out four different shows this year.

The only child not as into the fireworks was Clarice - she cried when it got too loud and wanted to be held every time a firework went off. Poor sweetie. She is generally fearless, so it surprised me a little, but I can't lie, I didn't hate the extra snuggles!

Alright, enough about Baby Five's first 4th of July, and back to the update!

How I'm Feeling

I have been feeling pretty good for the last couple weeks, but for some reason right around when we found out the gender my back started hurting! I have been having such an easy pregnancy as far as back pain goes so far, so I can't complain too much, but my sciatic nerve pain is getting to me. If I sit for too long on a soft surface, it's hard to get up without my lower back hurting. I'm not sure what shifted in the last couple weeks to cause this, but something did. I need an adjustment.

I have also been eating too much lately, and I got on the scale the other day, which was rather alarming. I haven't been feeling good about the way I'm gaining weight, and decided it was probably time I started to be a little more regimented about working out during pregnancy. Derek's gym let me try them out the other day, and I had so much fun riding on the stationary bike, and I felt energized afterward, so we're going to add me to the gym and my plan is to go at least 3 times a week. I think it will be a great stress-reliever for me and also hopefully keep the weight gain to a reasonable level! Or as I told Derek, at least if the weight continues to come on quick, I'll at least feel healthier.

Ready For A Girl?

Then obviously the big news is finding out we are expecting a sweet baby GIRL! I am excited to know another piece of the puzzle of who this little one will be, and I find myself trying to figure out her personality now that I know it's a she. I think she seems like a pretty relaxed baby so far. She doesn't kick too hard, and I feel like there are some good sleep patterns developing because she only kicks during certain times of the day. She is also in the proper position already, head down and facing my back, which I am happy about!

Look at her cute little pixie chin!

I will say, for some reason we were not really as prepared in a practical sense for a girl. You'd think I would have been mentally preparing for either either gender, but I actually was trying to not get set on one or the other at all, so this practical unreadiness is totally by coincidence. We just had more stuff ready to go if it was a boy, and until this point I didn't want to make plans for a girl, lest I get attached to the idea of a girl and it wasn't a girl. Does that make sense? So here is the status:

-I had a whole bag of boy hand-me-downs, but I cleaned out a bunch of our girl clothes before we found out I was pregnant, so this baby definitely needs her wardrobe filled in.

-We had a boy name ready to go (leftover from when we were expecting the other boys), but we have absolutely no girl name at all. Not even an idea.

-For some reason I had a vision in my head for a boy nursery, but I couldn't figure out where to take a girl's nursery!

At first I was letting all this stress me out a little bit, but then again, all this extra preparation and planning will actually be pretty fun. I spent this last week shopping for girl nursery items, and I'm really excited about the direction it's going! We started looking at girl names, and I am reviewing my previous baby-naming system. And as for clothes...the budget is a little stressful, but how can shopping for baby girl clothes not be fun?

So here is to the next few weeks of fresh plans for this little girl!! And if you think of any baby girl names that go with my other kids' names, send them my way!

Stay tuned for photos of our patriotic gender reveal party coming next week!

Dress: Would you believe I got this at Sam's Club?
Earrings: Charming Charlie

Baby #5 Is A...

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Mon, 10 Jul 2017 11:30:00 +0000

I feel that I have to ramble a minute, because if I don't the answer to Baby #5's gender will just be right there in your blog reading feed - and where is the fun in that? Just give me a minute to play "I know something you don't know" a minute longer.

It's...

a...

GIRL!!

We have officially broken our boy/girl pattern, and the girls won the tiebreaker!

We found out last Monday! We always have the ultrasound tech put the answer in an envelope for us to open at dinner, so after we got to see our sweet baby up close we headed to a fun themed Mexican restaurant (with caves and cliff-divers and dinner shows and everything - it's a fun place.).

On the way over I showed the kids all the pictures of the baby's face, and they were so interested. Clyde especially asked to see the pictures over and over again after we found out the gender, and he kept giggling and saying, "She's so cute!" He's pretty smitten for a child that claimed to have wanted another brother - it's pretty adorable!

We took a risk and opened the envelope with the kids at dinner, and they were all excited! It was fun to see their reactions, and I'm glad we decided to tell them before everyone else. They did a great job of keeping the secret until our official announcement!

Now to just pick a girl name!

Sweetbriar Cottage Review

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Fri, 07 Jul 2017 11:30:00 +0000

2.5/5 stars.

Whenever I see a new Denise Hunter book up for review, I have to snag it because I always enjoy how her books are quick, easy reads. She has a way of sucking me into the story, and even when I think I can't take the drama anymore, I somehow can't help myself from turning the pages!

In this Sweetbriar Cottage, Noah and Josephine thought they got a divorce 18 months ago - only to realize that a paperwork glitch resulted in them still be married. Through the book we find out more about how their relationship started, how it ended, and glimpses into Josephine's troubled past.

I have to say, this wasn't my favorite book by Hunter. The main character's past was pretty dark, involving r.ape, and subsequent promiscuity, all that she hid from her husband while they were married. I thought Hunter handled it all in a tactful way, but it was more than I was expecting and the subsequent problems in Josephine and Noah's marriage got all psychological, more so than in her other books. Hunter also has had a tendency in all her books to focus on the physical attraction between her characters too much for me, and it seemed especially pronounced in this book - I'm assuming because of the sexual sin in the character's past, and remembrances of previous intimacy in her marriage to Noah. Like I said, it all ended up being too much.

Also, we find out a lot about Josephine and her past, but hardly anything about Noah's. He didn't seem to have as much of a backstory, and I wish he had.

My final complaint about this book is that the salvation message was really weak. Josephine asked Jesus "into her heart" as a child, but obviously turned away from Him. She has a renewal of "faith" in this book, and "the cross" is briefly mentioned, but it is never clear what she is being saved from. She is plagued by the guilt of her past sins in this book, but her sin is never called sin (neither is Noah's, as he acknowledges his lust several times) and it's never clarified that that's why Jesus died in the first place - to cleanse us of our sin when we repent and put our trust in Him. He didn't die for us so we could feel less guilty about our sin, He died so He could take our sins away from us and give us His righteousness. This wasn't communicated well at all, and that troubled me. The message seemed to be about Jesus's "unconditional love" for us, but didn't address sin and repentance really at all - and that's pretty much crucial to salvation. So I was disappointed in that.

All that said, I did shoot through this book. Like I said, she always keeps me turning the pages to find out what happens. But this book wasn't my favorite.

Note: I received a digital copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

My Summer Makeup Favorites

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Thu, 06 Jul 2017 11:30:00 +0000

It's summertime, and for some reason in the summer I always feel the need to change up my makeup.

I'm a makeup kind of girl, and I love to try new products and colors - it's one way I express my creativity I guess, through my makeup (and my clothes), and summer always seems the perfect time to switch things up. Maybe it's because the heavier foundations start to feel a little too heavy (and melt off in the heat). Maybe it's because I have this weird idea that each season deserves it's own colors (in clothes and makeup). Whatever the reason, I started off this summer with buying a few new makeup products to try...and I lucked out because all of them are working out just as I hoped they would!

(Some affiliate links below!)

I thought it would be fun to share with you my summer makeup favorites, so here are the products I'm loving (and why).

1. Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch Sunscreen.

Whether it's the summer or the winter, I've learned the hard way that your skin can still be damaged under makeup that supposedly has SPF. This sunscreen is a staple of makeup routine, whatever the season. I like this one in particular because it's not as oily as normal sunscreens, so it doesn't feel like I'm greasing up my face and then slathering makeup on top of it. It really is "dry-touch".

2. Maybelline Falsies Push Up Angel Mascara.

Is it just me, or does that name make it seem like I bought this mascara at Victoria Secret? Ignore the name, because this really is a nice mascara. I put on my mascara before anything else. I usually go with my Loreal Cat Eyes mascara, but I decided to try this one and I'm glad I did! It has a super-skinny mascara brush, and a formula that doesn't go on too thick all at once, so I feel like it stretches out my lashes while still looking natural. If I have to try a new mascara, I always look for one with a skinny brush, and I've been happy with this one!

3. Loreal Skin Beautifier BB Cream in Fair.

I am not one of those people that can go without some sort of foundation or concealer - I have a bit of melasma from two pregnancies ago (that's how I learned the hard way to wear a sunscreen under my makeup, even in the winter). However, I hate putting on a thick foundation in the summer - it just feels like summer is a good time to go more natural and let my skin breathe. Enter this BB cream, which is amazing. It covers surprisingly well for being so lightweight! And the bonus is that the "fair" shade actually works for me - I have very pale skin and usually have a hard time find makeup in my shade, but this one blends with my skin tone.

4. Physicians Formula Mineral Correcting Powder in Translucent.

I always wear a powder over my concealer or foundation or BB cream, because without it I get black mascara smudges under my eyes. The oil in those products makes even my waterproof mascara smudge unless I dry it out with some powder. I just tried this stuff for the first time this year, and I love it. It not only smooths and sets my BB cream, but it does seem to act like a "corrector" too, and fades my melasma spots even more. With the BB cream and this powder, I really feel like you can't see my skin's sun damage at all.

5. Urban Decay Naked Illuminated in Luminous.

I also always use some sort of highlighter/shimmer powder. It brightens up my makeup and draws attention to my eyes somehow - you wouldn't think a thing like a highlighter would make such a difference since it adds no color and is not very noticeable, but I'm telling you, it makes all the difference. I've tried many, but this is my current favorite.

6. Ulta Eye Shadows (Colors pictured here: Luxury, Whatevs, Roaring 20's, Frozen, Peekaboo).

In the winter I like to play with my eyeshadow colors, but in the summer I like something more subtle and natural looking. I'm not sure why I included Luxury (the purple shade) in the picture, because I've mostly been using the other shades in the summer. I usually do Whatevs or Peekaboo on my lid (the yellowish neutral shade and the pinkish shade), Roaring 20's or Peekaboo in my crease (taupe shade and pink shade), and Frozen right under my brow (the white shade).

7. Tarte Blush in Warmhearted (not pictured).

If I'm going out in the evening or just want to look a little more put-together, I'll swipe on some of this blush, which came included with a Tarte eyeshadow palette that I use in the winter. My advice with blush is to not be afraid to go with the shades that look ridiculously bright in the packaging, because they are usually very flattering when you put them on with a light hand. I like my bright colored blushes better than my more neutral shades, personally.

Are you a makeup kind of girl like me? What are your summer makeup favorites?

Jane Of Austin Review

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Fri, 30 Jun 2017 16:20:00 +0000

(Affiliate link below.)

As you probably saw on my list of books I brought on vacation, I have dipped my toes back into Jane Austen novels again this summer. I have also read other books that I enjoyed by Hillary Manton Lodge, so when I saw that she had written a modern retelling of Sense And Sensibility, it was just meant to be!

In Jane Of Austin, Jane and her sisters lose all their respectability when their father is accused of a financial crime - since they can no longer work in the financial world, they decide to open a tea parlor. However, when their landlord dies they are kicked out of their tea shop's rental space, and decide to start over again in Austin.

First, I'll say that whenever I see that a novel has been published by a Christian publishing company, I expect some sort of Christian element to it, even if it's slight. However, this book really had zero spiritual references at all, and I wouldn't consider it a Christian book. So going forward with this review, I'm approaching it as a secular novel.

Content: The only objections I had to the content were some sexual implications. One of the characters speculates on whether a couple of the main characters may have moved in together (they didn't). One of the characters suggestively says that Jane should "come back to his place" (she doesn't). And there is a lot of making out.

These things would have bothered me more if I had been thinking this was supposed to be a Christian book, but like I said, I figured out pretty quickly that it wasn't. However, considering it is coming from a Christian publisher, I think it's just a good example of why we shouldn't necessarily trust "Christian books" to never present questionable morals.

Characters: The story is told from the perspective of the "Maryanne" and "Colonel Branden" characters in this book, which I was excited about when I began reading. Their love story is my favorite one in Sense And Sensibility, and I was excited to see how the book would play out from this perspective. However, I have to say, Jane ("Maryanne") just really wasn't working for me. I liked her character well enough, but she just seemed too Type A to be really "Maryanne-ish" to me. My picture of Maryanne is that she is this free-spirited, creative type; and while Jane was creative, she was like snooty-type-A creative. Lodge tried to make her passionate and emotional, but I felt like those emotions didn't seem to fit as well on the character of Jane because I saw her as more logical/Type A. It just didn't jive with my vision of who Maryanne was. That's just my personal opinion, others will probably disagree with me here!

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed the way Lodge managed to incorporate all the elements of the story of Sense And Sensibility into this book! She did a really good job, and I found myself remembering different parts of the original story as I read.

I thought the tea shop aspect of it was particularly fun, and Lodge includes a lot of recipes for some of the foods mentioned in the book. She did this in her other books too, and just from the writing it is obvious the author knows what she is talking about culinarily. I just loved the extra coziness all the recipes add to Lodge's novels, and her food descriptions made me hungry.

If you'd like to read a Jane Austen retelling, this one was a fun, clean one, and I'd recommend it overall!

Note: I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for a review. This is my honest opinion.

All The "Summer" Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Thu, 29 Jun 2017 12:30:00 +0000

Somehow June is almost over, and it still doesn't quite feel like summer around here. The weather has been so weird. It's barely rained at all, so everything is looking dry and brown - but it hasn't been the typical summer-warm either. It's like the rain is just hovering in the air, but can't get it together enough to actually do something. I bought a kiddie pool for the kids, but it hasn't felt consistently hot enough to break it out yet.

The point is, June went by in a flurry and I still feel like I'm waiting for summer to really get started. We did do some fun things though.

My Birthday

Those of you who follow me on Instagram probably saw my birthday celebration day posts, so this may not be news. Derek took us all on a hike/picnic, and then we dropped the kids off with my mom so Derek and I could go to a movie. I'll be honest, I wasn't sure if I wanted to waste my birthday date on a movie, because I haven't seen one I really liked in about two years. Everything (that's not based on a true story) is either too depressing, too politically motivated, or the character and plot development is seriously lacking. Hollywood needs to get it's act together.

But we saw Guardians Of The Galaxy 2, and aside from a few crude jokes, Derek and I really liked it! It is rare to see a movie we actually enjoyed these days, and I was so happy it happened on my birthday date.

On my actual birthday, Derek brought home cheesecake, the whole family lit candles and sang me "Happy Birthday", and then I got my present - a Kindle Paperwhite! I was very excited about this, because it's nearly impossible to read a Kindle book on my iPad out in the sun. Now I can read ebooks while the kids play in the kiddie pool (if the weather ever heats up enough to use the kiddie pool)!

Father's Day

For Father's Day we went to church, and then came home and had a campfire. I bought Derek a couple books and a new game called Ticket To Ride. We played it with our friends the other day, and it's a really fun one! I lost, because I didn't have the strategy part down yet, but I have high hopes for next time.

Parks And Books

Aside from that, we've had a lot of park days with friends this month, to the point where I have given up getting a five-day week in with our summer homeschooling schedule. If we can get 2-3 days in per week I'm pretty happy, and we'll pick up the pace in the fall. I wanted to try to get ahead before the baby comes, but on the other hand, it is summer, and I think we should enjoy the weather and everyone's scheduling freedom while we can.

I've also been trying to catch up on some reading in June, and I'm currently on a Jane Austen spinoff kick. I started Persuasion and I am really enjoying it, and I've read Jane Of Austin, and Austenland. Full reviews on Goodreads, but it's been fun so far! I'm feeling the itch to switch genres again though, and I think I'm going to read a middle-grade novel next, in between all the non-fiction books I have to finish.

That's all that's new around here, until Monday when we find out baby's gender! Then I'll have to get busy putting together our gender reveal party plans (we have a fire ban on now, which may mess up our party a bit...I'm hoping it'll rain so they'll lift it again). If you haven't filled out this form with your guess yet, please do, because someone who guesses right will win a little prize from me!

Now to just get the next four days to go by faster...

The Separatists Review (Not Recommended)

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Thu, 29 Jun 2017 00:20:00 +0000

I finished this book in one afternoon, not because I was enjoying it, but because I knew if I put it down I would probably not want to pick it up again.

The plot line of this book was interesting enough, and I thought the political thriller aspect of it was written well enough. Erica is a news anchor, who investigates separatist movements around the country for a news special. Little does she know that one of them is gaining a lot of political traction and is a much bigger threat than it initially seems.

Like I said, the political thriller part of the plot was interesting enough, but a few things ruined this book for me.

Unnecessary Political Jabs

Within the first couple chapters there are disparaging remarks about at least three different political opinions, all of which are held by the "right-wing". Erica is the "good" guy in the story, and her political opinions are no secret in this book as she expresses her more liberal viewpoints. The "bad guys" in the book come from the Republican Party or "right-wing".

I thought this was poorly done. I've read Wiehl's novels in the past, and they never got politically partisan in this way. This novel could have been written without all the political statements, and it would have been much better.

The Fact That It Was Published By A Christian Publisher

There was absolutely no faith element to this story at all, which surprises me since it's coming from Thomas Nelson. In addition there was some content I was surprised at in a book coming from a Christian publisher, such as minor cuss words, infidelity presented as no big deal, talk of women faking orga.sms, references to po.rno.graphic TV shows, etc. I was actually really disappointed that Thomas Nelson published this, and I don't appreciate the trend of publishing secular books under a Christian publishing company.

The Main Character

I just really disliked the main character. She drove me nuts to be honest. Half the book was about the political plot, but the other half was about Erica's personal problems, and I honestly just wanted to slap her. She was so self-centered and narcissistic. She was stuck up, expressing disdain for small towns and the people in them. She didn't seem to think much of her husband and his career, and was so insensitive about the fact that she was in a better position in her career than he was. She seemed cold-hearted, snapping pictures of a corpse she found in a bathroom so she could investigate for her story. She was an awful mother, thinking her daughter was out to get her or ruin her career. She obliviously thinks her daughter is jealous of her, when anyone could see that her daughter just wants her mom to be with her more. She even tells her daughter in the end that she will never be the mother her daughter wants her to be because she gets annoyed at the demands of motherhood and loves her career (nice, huh?). She was hypocritical, despising the villain's ambition and quest for power when she herself seems willing to sacrifice all the things in her life that really matter on the altar of her own ambition.

Bottom line, she was stuck in her own little narcissistic bubble, and really had no redemption or epiphany at the end. I might have liked the book better if the main character had been even a little likable to me, but she just wasn't.

I thought it was unfortunate to publish this particular book at a time when the media's approval ratings are at such a low in the country. People don't trust the media these days, and this character certainly didn't do anything to counter that trend.

I definitely cannot recommend this book, and I'll also be hesitant to pick up another book by Lis Wiehl after the unnecessary partisan spin this book presented. I was disappointed in it.

Note: I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for a review. This is my honest opinion.

Gender Predictions? 20 Weeks (Baby #5)

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Tue, 27 Jun 2017 11:30:00 +0000

I have long been bitter that my doctor does the anatomy scan ultrasound so late.

Okay, maybe "bitter" is too strong a word, but almost everyone I know gets the anatomy scan done at 18 weeks, and here I am, having to wait until 20-22 weeks. It's annoying. But we've reached 20 weeks, and our anatomy ultrasound is next Monday! I am getting so impatient and excited to see my sweet baby again.

Overall, I've been feeling really great since hitting the second trimester, so there is not much new to report. I am relieved that this pregnancy has been easier than my last one. When I was pregnant with Clarice I had so much back pain every day, and part of me wondered if it was all a part of getting older - but this pregnancy has changed my mind. I'm not old, Clarice was just sitting in a really weird position (and thankfully so far it seems that this baby is not).

I continue to feel little kicks every day, and I even felt one on the outside a week or so ago! Derek hasn't been able to feel baby yet, and I'm still pretty sure baby is feet-down because all the kicks are way down low. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks when I'm sure Baby will be getting bigger and the kicks will become prominent enough for Derek to feel them too.

I've also weirdly started to get Braxton-Hicks contractions already, which seems really early to me (but I also can't remember exactly when I had them with previous babies). It freaked me out the first couple times, but now I get at least a couple every day, so I guess my uterus is just toning up!

The 3rd is the big day, when we get a closer look at our sweet baby and hopefully find out the gender! I've gotten so many questions about whether I have a feeling one way or the other, and nothing has really changed since 10 weeks. I really don't have an idea on the gender, nothing concrete anyway. I guess I might tend to think one way, and Derek seems to tend to think the other...we'll see which one of our intuitions is right! Here are the stats (via my Old Wives' Tale Gender Prediction Quiz which we used for Gwen's gender reveal party), in case any of you wants to venture a guess:

1. Cravings? Not really anything, but I think in general I tend to lean more salty/sour. Sour Patch Watermelon candies are really hitting the spot lately.

2. Aversions? None, I have been SO HUNGRY the last couple weeks! It's getting to be a problem on the scale.

3. Heartrate high or low? Last check it was 150-something (I'm clearly keeping such great track of the details this pregnancy, right?)

4. Nausea? More than last time, but not more than any of my other kids.

5. Can people tell if you are pregnant from the back? I don't think so, not yet, which is giving me great comfort in light of the aforementioned scale problems.

6. More Clumsy? I don't think so? No more than my normal level of clumsiness.

7. Carrying high or low? I'll let you all decide! Here is the comparison pic with all five babies at 20 weeks, in order.

Basically Clyde still wins for being my skinniest pregnancy, and this baby still wins for looking about a month ahead of where we actually are!

If you are inclined to take a guess at Baby #5's gender, go ahead and fill out the form below...because one of the people who guesses right may just receive a little surprise from me! I did this a couple pregnancies ago, and it was just a lot of fun, so I'm doing it again.

Guess away, and after we announce the gender (probably on the 10th, after our party), I'll pick a winner!

Shirt: Forever21

Vest: Maurices

Pants: Target

Shoes: JustFab

Earrings: Walmart

Headband: Charming Charlie

Under A Summer Sky Review

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 11:00:00 +0000

(Affiliate link below.)

I read the first book in this series a few years ago, and though the ending was rushed, I really enjoyed it. I decided to pick up Under A Summer Sky by Melody Calrson for a light, summer read.

Nicole heads to her mother's friend's house to run her gallery for the summer, and get's caught in between two sons who are vying for her attention. She goes through mishaps in running the gallery and in figuring out how her relationship with one of the sons can move forward - because doesn't he have a girlfriend?

First I have to say that I would NOT call this a Christian book. Aside from a couple of the characters shooting up a prayer before meals a couple times, there were no faith references at all. So don't expect much in that department. I would have loved this as a clean, romantic read, but it just irks me when it's presented as a Christian book when it really isn't.

There were many references in this book to the "ghosts" in Savannah, which irked me after a while. One of the characters briefly wonders if her love interest is living with someone - once again, not really representing how important following and obeying Christ should be in the lives of those who I am assuming were supposed to be following Him. But I'm only assuming that because this was presented as a "Christian" book. But it's not.

That said, for what it was, I really did enjoy this book! The story was sweet, the different plot lines were all interesting. I really liked the characters, and how it all played out. The atmosphere of Savannah was described beautifully and made me want to visit. Though the ending came quickly, I didn't feel like it was as abrupt as the previous book I've read by this author. I did feel that a couple of the storylines could have been wrapped up better though, and in that sense it still felt rushed. I always feel like this author's books could use another 50-100 pages.

Still, if you want a quick, light read, this book was fun, and overall I'd recommend it!

Note: I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Homeschooling With Toddlers Underfoot - What We Actually Do

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Wed, 21 Jun 2017 11:30:00 +0000

Last fall, after years of mentally planning, we started homeschooling Wyatt for Kindergarten. I've had a lot of interest, not only in blogland but from my real-life friends, on all the workings of our homeschool, and a frequently question is: "What you do with the baby and toddler happy while you're working with Wyatt on his school?"

My first thought on that question is that if you have a younger child that's not that much younger, you probably don't have to do anything. The only thing I'd suggest buying extra workbooks for them if they decide to participate. That is what we are doing with Gwen, who was three years old when we started the school year. She often wants to follow along and do her own schoolwork, so I help her with the activities she's interested in - and if she's not interested, she can go and play or do whatever else she wants. I believe in letting kids be kids before the school years, free from unnecessary obligations, so I really don't put any pressure on her.

The youngest two are another story. Clyde was two years old, and Clarice was one last fall, and they do require more attention. Since I was asked so often about how I was going to handle schoolwork with the little two running around, I thought I should probably have some sort of plan. After I attended the homeschool conference and got all my curriculum choices together, I went on a mission to find activities for the younger kids while I was working with the older two.

I came up with a few activities via Pinterest, and I was really excited about giving them a try (activities listed below). I also pulled aside a few of their educational toys and put them in a special box. I figured I could pull all these things out whenever we started on schoolwork, and keep them occupied with their special "school toys".

These are the activities I found:

1. Nuts And Bolts Matching Activity. Buy nuts and bolts of different sizes from the hardware store, and paint the outside of the coordinating hardware the same color.

2. Clothespins and Paint Swatches. I picked up some paint cards from Home Depot - two of each color. The idea is to cut up one of the paint cards and glue a piece onto the back of a clothespin. Then the kids can pin the clothespin onto the matching color on the cards.

3. Felt Activity Books. A lot of people make their own, but I just buy the $3 ready-made version at Target.

4. Lacing Cards. Lacing shoelaces through colorful character cardboard cutouts (how's that for alliteration?). I'm sure you've seen these.

I have a few more ideas in this blog I made for this post a while back too:

All these activités are great for color matching and fine motor skills, and I patted myself on the back for being so prepared.

But here's my little secret.

We haven't used a single one of these activities.

Do you know what Clyde (and even Clarice) like best? A notebook and a pencil.

When I am working on writing or number practice with the big kids, Clyde likes to feel like he is doing the same sort of thing. He wants to do "school" too. He doesn't want to be left out, or relegated to a separate activity - he wants to be part of the action.

So I sit him down with his "school" notebook and a fat pencil, and he scribbles in it until we are done.

I think in the midst of all those inquiries about how to keep the little kids happy while we did our schoolwork, I forgot three things.

1. My kids like to do things together as much as possible. Clyde and Clarice both want to feel like "big kids". They are always so proud of themselves when they accomplish something that they've only seen their brother and sister do up to that point. It was silly of me to think I needed to entertain them separately from what everyone else is doing.

2. All my kids have always been independent players. Most of the time while we are working on reading or anything else, the little kids just go off and play by themselves. I've never been one of those mothers who structures her preschoolers' schedule. We don't do a lot of organized projects or educational projects. I just let them play, because that is my preschool philosophy - and my kids are great at independent play. This is a big advantage in homeschooling, and I should appreciate it. Some moms might need to plan a lot of activities to keep their younger children entertained - but I don't! My kids have always entertained themselves. I should just enjoy that!

3. Each round of work in kindergarten takes 15-20 minutes, and we take breaks in between. Fifteen minutes is not a big enough amount of time to have to fill it up with baby and toddler activities. Homeschool kindergarten is not a whole-day endeavor, like public or private school counterparts, because a lot of kindergarten actives are regular life activities. Kids have free play time. They color and paint. They eat snacks. They take a nap or "quiet time". None of which actually feels like school. The part that does feel more school-like is the bookwork, and that's the part that literally takes 15 minutes. It's really not intimidating at all, and I was making it way too complicated.

So this summer, when I'm planning for next year, I'm going to try to remember what happened this last year and restrain myself from buying a lot of fancy extras for our homeschool - because it is likely that they will go unused. I'd much rather take the kids outside and let them get dirty (or wet and cold) in the winter than spend all my time and money planning activities for them. I'd much rather do "school" all together as much as possible and continue to encourage those sibling relationships. I'd much rather just keep the whole thing simple and easy on myself, instead of overcomplicating things and adding more work to my plate. I'd rather be not-Pinterest-worthy and happy, than Pinterest-worthy and stressed.

But I will probably keep my box of extras handy...just in case the littles are being extra needy one day and I need a backup plan! I went to all that work, after all.

If you are a homeschool mom, especially if you have young children in the house, I'd love to hear your thoughts! How do you make homeschooling work with babies and toddlers underfoot?

12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You Review (Highly Recommend)

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Mon, 19 Jun 2017 11:30:00 +0000

I picked up the 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You audiobook, because like many of you, I feel like I often check my phone too much. I thought this book would give me a good little kick to break some bad habits, but I got so much more than I was expecting!

This book goes over different ways smartphones, and technology in general, has changed us not only individually but as a culture. The author incorporates different statistics and studies, and then takes a deeper look at the spiritual impact of our phone choices. He doesn't tell you what you need to do with your own smartphone habits, he just neutrally gets you thinking.

There were two specific things in this book that really stuck with me. First, the author wrote that checking your phone or texting while driving (disclaimer: which I obviously try NOT to do unless changing my music - which maybe I should be careful about too) is a disregard for your neighbor - the neighbor who is in the car whizzing past you. You are not caring for your neighbor as you should, and as Scripture calls us to do, when you flippantly put them at risk like that. I had honestly never even thought about the whole don't-text-while-driving thing like that and thought he made some really good points.

The other item that I remembered with this book, and that will honestly change some of how I handle social media is that we so often trade eternal reward for a few temporal "likes" on social media. The example he used was those posts on Instagram with a picture of your Bible as you finish up your devotional time. Any heavenly reward we may have received from spending time with our Savior is instantly traded for pats on the back by other people on Instagram. This is supported by Matthew 6:1

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven."

How sad is that? And once again, I never thought about it before, but I have been guilty too of trading eternal rewards for "likes" - guilty of caring more about men's applause than pleasing God. Now whenever I see those Bible posts, or those "humble brag" posts, I cringe a little more than I used to. Since listening to that chapter of this book, I've been trying to refrain from trading eternal rewards like that myself. It's a bad trade.

There were so many other excellent points in this book, I'll honestly probably listen to it again. I even thought about buying the print version so I could highlight some of the pieces that I like.

If you are like me and feel that little itch for an eternal perspective on your smartphone use, definitely check this book out! It's given me a lot to think about and has already motivated me to change some of my habits, and I highly recommend it.

Note: I received the audio of this book for free from christianaudio in exchange for a review. This is my honest opinion.

Maternity Fashion: My New Favorite Park Day Dress

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 11:30:00 +0000

(Note: I received the maternity dress I am wearing here for free from PinkBlush in exchange for this feature post.)

For this pregnancy (and my pregnancy with Clarice), I've received several comments to the effect of "Poor you! Is it hard being pregnant through the summer?"

To which my answer is: no. I actually enjoy being pregnant in the summer better than in the winter, and the major reason is cute maternity dresses!

When you are pregnant in the winter, you still have to dress winter-appropriately, which means lots of layers on top of my belly. I hate that. Summer pregnancies mean lighter fabrics, and comfortable, flown maternity dresses - and that's a huge plus in my book!

We took a quick trip to the park the other day, and I broke out my new favorite maternity dress from Pink Blush. This dress is seriously the most comfortable dress I own. The fabric is so soft, it doesn't restrict me at all while covering everything comfortably - which makes it the perfect park-day dress, because I can run after the kids and move around so easily in it!

I dressed it up a little with the white leather vest for church, but I abandoned the vest pretty quickly at the park - I actually like the look of the dress even better without it. The best part is that I think this particular dress is roomy and comfortable enough to last me through the rest of this pregnancy, and I'll be able to wear it post-baby too!

Where is your favorite place to buy maternity dresses?

Have you ever tried PinkBlush maternity clothes? And what do you think, aren't dresses the best part of being pregnant in the summer? (Unless you're not a dress kind of girl, in which case the "poor you!" might actually be applicable!)

Tips For Visiting Antelope Canyon With Babies And Toddlers

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 11:30:00 +0000

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, we went to Arizona for vacation this year, and one of the places we knew we wanted to visit was Antelope Canyon! This is a slot canyon through the sandstone that was formed by flash floods. It is absolutely gorgeous and was certainly a highlight of our trip!

Flash floods can still run through the canyon, so you are not allowed to go into Antelope Canyon without a guide. Complicating matters, we also had four young kids (still in carseats) to take with us! Overall though, it ended up being very doable and really interesting for the kids as well as us!

We decided to do a morning tour, around 8:00 AM, which we were told was a quieter time in the canyon. Many people like to go around "prime time", which is the middle of the day when light beams start shining through the rocks to the canyon floor. However, even though we went at a slower time of day, it was still very busy! There were people all around us through the whole tour, but the tour companies know to space their groups a tiny bit so you are still able to get some photos without other people in them.

Some recommendations for visiting Antelope Canyon with young children:

Do the Upper Canyon.

If you want to do Antelope Canyon with kids, be aware that Lower Antelope Canyon requires navigating some pretty steep stairs. Our kids are a little young for that still, so we ended up doing a tour of Upper Antelope Canyon, which you just walk straight into. It was an easy, short walk, and was totally manageable even for our three year old.

Book a tour ahead of time.

We arrived in Page thinking we could book a tour on the same day we wanted to go (I had read that online), but many of the tour companies were booked two or three days out! I would recommend picking a company ahead of time to visit the canyon.

Make sure your tour company accepts young kids.

I had done some research before we left and picked a company, only to find out when we arrived that they would not accept children under six years old on the tour because of an insurance issue. Thankfully not every company was restricted this way, and we were able to find another one! Call ahead of time to ensure that they can accommodate car seats if that information is not clear online.

Realize that you will have to bring your own carseats.

You are not allowed to drive your own vehicle out to the canyon, you must ride in your tour guide's vehicle. Make sure your tour company knows that you have children in car seats ahead of time, and arrive early to make sure there is time to get them installed in the vehicle.

Don't be late!

It's easy to run behind schedule when you have multiple young kids, but there are hundreds of people touring the canyon every day, and many tour companies coordinating their tour groups. If you are late for the tour, you will be out of luck, because they don't leave a second later than they are supposed to!

If you have a baby carrier, make sure any buckles are tucked under a coat or blanket.

They didn't let me bring my carrier in for Clarice because the buckles may scratch the wall and I didn't have anything to cover them with. Thankfully the walk was only about a quarter mile for Upper Antelope Canyon, and it's an easy walk, so this wasn't a problem for us.

Bring cash.

Just to give you an idea of the cost, we paid for three people, 2 adults and one child (the other three kids were free with our specific tour company), and it ended up costing us about $180, plus a tip. You also must bring cash, because many of the tour companies do not take credit cards.

Realize it's a quick tour.

I was expecting the walk to be a bit slower, with more space and time to take some pictures of my family in the canyon. It was not like that. There were people everywhere, the tour guide was pointing out all the shapes in the rocks, and the walk in and out of the canyon itself was pretty quick! We still got some great pictures, but just realize it's busy and distracting in there. If you want more time to set up photos and such, I'd say the photography tours might be a better bet.

I did some research online about taking kids into Upper Antelope Canyon before we left, and I have to say, it had me a little freaked out about attempting it with kids! But it ended up not being a big deal at all. We took four kids under seven years old, and it ended up being an easy and fun outing! Definitely check it out if you are in the Lake Powell area!

Any other questions for me about our experience?

I'll answer to the best of my ability!

Growth Spurt! 18 Weeks (Baby #5)

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Tue, 13 Jun 2017 11:30:00 +0000

I read somewhere that babies start to go through a growth spurt around 18 weeks, and I believe it - I've been feeling it this last week! I don't think you can tell from the outside yet, but some of my symptoms make me think there is definitely some growing happening.

I'm suddenly tired again (but thankfully not nearly as tired as in the first trimester), and I have had a couple days last week when I felt nauseous. I have never felt nauseous in the second trimester before, so I wondered at first if it was a stomach bug, but I dismissed that idea when it happened twice on separate days in one week. Weirdly, I think I might have figured out that I feel worse when I drink milk - do people develop food sensitivities while pregnant? This has never happened to me before! I am crossing my fingers that it's not the milk because I love my dairy, but I have cut it out for a few days and will have a bowl of cereal tomorrow to test it out. Whatever is going on with that, Baby is making his/her presence known!

Baby is still moving daily now, but the movements are pretty soft and down low. Movements down low in my belly make me worry that baby is breech (Clarice was and I always felt her kicks lower), but if this baby is breech, he/she is comfortably breech. I haven't had any backaches at all this pregnancy, which is unusual for me and so nice! Overall, this Baby has been very gentle with the pregnancy aches/pains/symptoms, and that has been a blessing. I thought it might be harder being pregnant this time since I'm getting ever older, but this pregnancy has been easier than some of my others! Now I'm just hoping for some stronger kicks from Baby in the next few weeks, because it's so fun to feel them from the outside.

Sitting here typing this post, I feel like I've almost felt a couple Braxton Hicks! They started around the middle of my pregnancy with Clarice as well, but I was kind of surprised to feel them anyway. It's a good thing because my uterus is toning up for labor, but that still seems so far off (even though it's not that far off, actually - five months will fly by)!

Gender reveal party plans are in full swing now (we find out on July 3rd!), and we're going to have the party the weekend after the 4th of July. So obviously we'll go with a 4th of July/Americana theme! The 4th is in the middle of the week this year, so I think it'll work out just fine. I'm going to be on the hunt for sparklers, because where we are they always sell out way before the 4th - and when I say we sell out, I mean every place I check in my state is out of sparklers and fireworks after a certain date. If I can't find any, Baby and I will be taking a little trip across the state line!

This week is also my birthday week, so we celebrated last weekend. I always like being pregnant on my birthday! It's just fun to celebrate with another little one along for the ride, and I feel blessed.

I know I promised a belly comparison picture this week, but I changed my mind and I'm going to save it for next week - along with all my symptoms, etc, and maybe even a little gift card for someone who guesses the gender right! Stay tuned!

(Note: Affiliate links below.)

Swing dress: Jane.com

Kimono: Forever21

Dress Extender: Sweet Charity Clothing Co.

Sunglasses: Jane.com

Pineapple Necklace: Christopher & Banks

Glory In The Ordinary Audiobook (Highly Recommend)

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Fri, 09 Jun 2017 11:30:00 +0000

On somewhat of a whim I decided to grab the audiobook of Glory In The Ordinary recently. The subtitle caught my eye, "Why Your Work In The Home Matters To God". As someone who has struggled with my identity, especially after I quit working as a hygienist, I thought this book sounded helpful.

This book was so refreshing to me, because I find so much of Christian non-fiction that is directed toward women to be...fluffy. This book was not fluffy! It was packed full of Scripture references to support her points, and focused on the biblical view of work. The author writes to stay-at-home-moms and working moms, because both groups are also working at home.

As a mom, I could relate to so much of this book. I struggled for a while to find my "purpose", my meaning in working at home, because so much of the work it is mundane. Kriessig writes about how our work in the home brings order out of chaos and loves and ministers to those God has given us, and that brings Him glory. She emphasizes how work in the home is not only valuable to God, but this very work is preparing us for the work God will have for us in eternity.

The narrator of this book did an excellent job, I thought. Her voice inflections differentiated the sections well, and she made it easy to follow along with what the author was saying in audio format.

I got so much out of this book, and I wish I had come across it a couple years ago when I was really struggling in this area! However, even now when I have settled in and feel more content with my work at home, I found this book so challenging and encouraging. I think it will be a re-listen for me! I highly recommend it to all wives and mothers - no matter your stage or time constraints or style of homemaking, I think you'll be encouraged too!

Note: I received a copy of this audiobook for free from christianaudio, in exchange for this review. This is my honest opinion.

5 Gifts A New Mom Will Thank You For Later

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 12:30:00 +0000

(First note: This is my belly at 34 weeks with Clyde. I'm bigger this time, but not that big yet, haha!)

(Also: I partnered with/received compensation from Babywise.Life to write this post. Although this post is sponsored, all opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links, which means I will make a percentage of any products purchased after clicking on the links.)

Even though I am expecting a baby myself, I have to say, I am pretty excited about a few baby showers in my future - for my friends! I know a few girls who are having babies this summer and fall, and all the imminent baby shower excitement got me thinking about my first baby shower. When I was expecting Wyatt I spent a ton of time searching and making lists of things I needed, and I had a strategy of only registering for my must-have items. Overall that strategy served me well because after my shower there was very little left for me to buy! But I also have to admit that some of my most useful gifts were things that were not on my must-have list - in fact, some of them I didn’t even think I needed at all. Sometimes other people really do know what you need better than you do. I’m not sure I ever specifically thanked my family and friends who deviated from the list for giving me something I never knew I needed, but trust me, there was a lot of gratitude in my heart towards those who gave me the items below!

I’m focusing on gifts for brand-new, first time moms in this post, because I have a completely different list for second (or third or fourth) time moms. Maybe that will be another post soon!

Poncho-Style Nursing Cover

As an expecting mom I knew I needed a nursing cover, but I honestly didn’t give much thought to the style of it. Thankfully my aunt thought outside the box and made me a poncho-style nursing cover (similar to this one). This was so creative of her, because this was way back when (ahem, 7 years ago), before the poncho-style ones were popular - and it was a lifesaver. It was so freeing to have something that covered my front and my back, and it made every shirt I had “nursing friendly”.

Nursing Pillow

I didn’t even think about a nursing pillow until my sister-in-law brought me one in the hospital right after I had my baby. If I’m completely honest, I thought they were a little silly before I actually used one - but as soon as I got that pillow, I was a convert. I quickly realized how much easier it was to use a nursing pillow than to prop up several different pillows to support my arms while nursing - and bonus, they are also great for propping baby up during tummy time exercise too! I like the donut-shaped pillows like this one.

Baby Bathtub

Weirdly, I never thought about this item either until my mom gave me one. I think in the back of my mind I just thought I could wash my baby in the kitchen sink. Maybe that seems really naive, but maybe one of you budget-conscious expecting mamas has considered the sink option too - just trust me, ask for the baby bathtub. Baths are stressful enough with newborns without trying to figure out how to prop them up while you wash their wispy hair!

Car Mirror

This one is technically cheating, because I didn’t receive a car mirror as a gift - not the way home from the hospital we stopped to buy one. I realized on that first car ride that when I was sitting in the front, with the rear-facing car seat in the back, I couldn’t see my tiny baby at all! We found a mirror attach to the backseat, so I could peek back there and see the reflection of my little bundle. This brought immense comfort to my paranoid new-mom self. I got one like this car mirror because it was so big!

Books

It never even occurred to me to ask for books, for myself or the baby, but a couple friends were thinking ahead for me. One friend gave me an adorable and thoughtful children’s book that I treasure to this day, and one friend gave me the Babywise book, which you already know I found so helpful. Now, when I attend a first-time baby shower, I try to stick a couple encouraging, informative, or cute books in the bag with the rest of my gift, because I know how much the books I received meant to me.

Mamas - what gifts did you get that you used or appreciated more than you thought you would?

(Also check out this post on Babywise.life for more ideas for new baby items you may not have thought of!)

Working So We Can Relax

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Wed, 07 Jun 2017 11:30:00 +0000

I realized last night that I have been slacking on doing my Tuesday old-fashioned posts since getting back from vacation! So this is my quick attempt to jump back on the wagon. Here's what I've been up to since we got back:

Homeschooling

Since I have a baby coming right in the middle of the fall semester of school, I decided to try to get a head start on first grade. If I waited to start until September this year (which is my preference), I would barely have two months to get into a good rhythm with school before everything will be thrown out the window. I'd much rather get the bulk of our work done early and have more wiggle room to figure out what I'm doing again after delivery. So we've been working on a couple of our subjects so that we have a lighter load after Baby #5 arrives! We're continuing with our reading program, and my goal for the summer is to get a good amount of science work in. I'll write more about our curriculum choices for first grade soon, but we're doing Apologia Zoology 1 for science, and it involves birds and insects...which are obviously more prevalent in the summer, so it only made sense to get started on it.

(The kids doing an air pressure experiment, so show how air pressure helps birds fly. They sucked water out of the straw by blowing air across the top of the straw in the water!)

Buying Appliances

We had a little money left over from our house renovation from last year (someday I'll actually get around to doing another house tour, but I feel like those of you who have been around a while have incidentally already seen most of it). We could save the money, but...our dishwasher is rotting (yes, I'm serious, rotting), and our microwave is making a weird noise, and and the shelf broke in the fridge and the lightbulb went out. The lightbulb was the last straw. Derek makes fun of me for this, because we could obviously change the lightbulb - but it went out two months ago, and am I still rummaging around in the dark for the pickles? Yes, I am. Plus, it's nicer if all the appliance match in color anyway, right? As I type this the kitchen is in shambles behind me, and I'm waiting for the delivery guy to arrive (they already tried to cancel on us, and Derek told them they had to come today because he didn't go into work so he could be here...so hopefully they actually show up).

Planting Flowers (And Other Outside Beautifying)

I finally got flowers for all my pots, Derek finally (mostly) finished building the new section of our porch, and we set up our little outdoor oasis! It really is nice out there now. Our porch was so skinny before that we couldn't even walk around our deck furniture. Now we actually have a functional outdoor space, and I foresee many happy evenings out there with hummingbirds whizzing around our heads (we're still working on recruiting the hummingbirds - I'll keep you posted). I also dug all the rotting pinecones out from underneath the kid's swing set and filled the sandbox with actual sand, which was a pleasant change.

This week...more working on school, and then a busy weekend coming up with a girl's night and my birthday celebration!

What have you been up to, friends? How have you kicked off the summer?

Little Kicks - 16 Weeks (Baby #5)

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Fri, 02 Jun 2017 13:16:00 +0000

I'm 16 weeks pregnant! I remember feeling 16 weeks was a big deal in past pregnancies, and it feels that way this time too. We are well into the second trimester, baby is growing big enough to start to feel movement, and we could technically find out the gender now! We won't until the 20 week scan, but it's still exciting that we could.

I think my energy is mostly back - yay! - and I really have no pregnancy symptoms right now except some round ligament pain (it starts earlier and earlier). I'm starting to think ahead to sewing this baby's quilt. I sew a quilt for each of my babies before they are born, and I need to start the search for a pattern and color scheme.

I have been feeling baby kicks almost every day since the start of our vacation. It's the best part of pregnancy! In my memory I almost forgot about these delicate little movements at the beginning - I remember the big kicks at the end, but these little nudge-movements are so precious. Every time I feel a kick I think about how it's a little hand or foot probably kicking as hard as Baby can, and yet it feels like a light flick to me. It's just cute and sweet to think about my little baby making those kicks!

Of course, Baby is not that little anymore. Baby is about the size of a large avocado now, plus legs, and apparently (according to my baby websites), a growth spurt is coming this month!

Also, some website needs to create baby/mom weekly updates that are NOT geared toward the first baby. One of the sites suggested a babymoon to get away with "just the two of you" one more time, and it hasn't been just the two of us in a long time! In fact, I was just thinking about how this time around I've had less time to contemplate being pregnant - now that Wyatt is getting ready for first grade, and we're homeschooling, I've been in planning mode for the school year. I kind of miss having more time to focus and plan for Baby. That's why I'm especially appreciating the baby movements this time, because it's a nice little reminder of my fifth little one throughout the day! I never am all alone right now with this baby in my belly, and I love it.

(One without my kimono so you can see my belly in all it's glory. I still feel like the bump is larger than the others at 16 weeks, but I'll do another comparison soon!)

I'll talk more about our gender reveal plans in my next update, so stay tuned!

We're Back! Arizona Vacation 2017

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Wed, 31 May 2017 11:30:00 +0000

We are officially back from vacation, and we had such a great time! I am warning you all now though, this is a picture-heavy post. I apologize for the length of time it will probably take to load. Believe it or not, I took a lot of effort to cut the pictures down to 2-3 from each activity we did, but we still had a lot!

Kids, if you are reading this in the future, you were all at every place we went, I promise. And I took pictures of all of you. I just didn't have enough space!

Onward...

The first couple days of vacation are usually a road trip. We take road trip vacations because we find they are much easier with four young kids than flying (not to mention more affordable). These are usually sucked into a black hole when it comes to pictures, but we tried our best this time to slow down and stop a couple times throughout the drive - it broke up the days in the car for the kids and for us! So we stopped at parks, points of interest, and restaurants.

Note: if you are ever in Durango, you HAVE to get a coffee at Durango Joe's! Derek and I have a tradition of trying a local coffee place on every morning of our vacation, and this may have been the best coffee I've ever head. Ever.

On Mother's Day I woke to some footprint/handprint art form the kids (carefully crafted by my sweet husband), and a drawing book I've been wanting! We also visited Mesa Verde. Unfortunately a lot of the dwellings were closed until summer, but we walked up to check out Spruce Tree House with the kids.

We finally arrived at Page, Arizona! We ended dup staying at Lake Powell Resort, and we were really happy with the stay there! Unfortunately I did not book our tour to Antelope Canyon and we weren't able to get in until a day later than we planned (whoops), and so we spent a full day just having out at the resort - swimming, walking around with views of the lake, and we took a boat tour!

And of course, I broke out my tripod for a family picture. When you are on vacation there is usually no lack of people who are willing to take a picture for you, but I'm usually much happier if I just find a pretty spot and set up the tripod! Once I have a good shot for our annual family vacation photo I feel like I can relax!

Also worthy of note: Poor Clyde got sick during these two days of our trip with a mysterious fever. We had to keep the poor child drugged up on Tylenol so he could enjoy the trip! I felt so bad for him,but weirdly once the medicine kicked in he didn't act or seem sick at all. I'm still not sure what he had. Also, I broke out in eczema on this trip in several different spots. I've never had eczema in my life! We always seem to get some weird illness when we go to Arizona.

We spent some time in Antelope Canyon, and I honestly got enough pictures there to fill up two full posts. I'll just show you a few, because we could be here all day waiting for those pictures to load.

A little info about Antelope Canyon - you are not allowed to go there without a tour guide. Some tourists died there many years ago because they were caught in a flash flood (which is how the canyon is formed), so now you are only allowed in with a guide. The company I originally wanted to go with could no longer accept children on the tour because of their insurance, so I frantically searched for another company with an opening that would also allow children, and thankfully I found one.

(I'm thinking about writing a separate post on how we did Antelope Canyon with kids, so let me know if you have any specific questions.)

The Canyon was absolutely gorgeous, and I'll share more soon. But wow. It was definitely a bucket list item.

Next we headed down to Flagstaff for a couple days. I was excited to check out the Rock Slide park down there, and we would have if the weather was like the previous week (80's). The whole time we were there it didn't get warmer than 60 degrees though! it figures we would go on vacation on the coldest week in May. It was still warmer than home though (there were several inches of snow while we were gone).

Since our Rock Slide park plans were foiled, we checked out the Grand Canyon. It was very windy that day, so we just walked around for a little bit and then saw the Imax documentary about the canyon at the National Geographic Visitor Center. We also went to Meteor Crater (a well-preserved meteor crater outside Flagstaff)! We also ate free pie at Village Inn and ordered Chinese food to our hotel. The food in Flagstaff was a highlight.

(This is an actual space rock, in case you didn't know. I made the kids wash their hands after touching it since it contain uranium and who-knows-what-else.)

(On the crater age.)

(Swimming at a rec center, which the kids loved!)

(The Railroad Cafe, a Route 66 restaurant with huge portions of really good food!)

After a few days in Flagstaff we headed to my grandparent's summer cabin, and we spent a couple nights with them. They were so sweet to feed us really well, the kids loved playing with all the toys my grandma had, and Derek and I got to play a bunch of games with my grandparents! We love games and never get to play them with other people uninterrupted, so this was a really nice way to end vacation. We also went on a gorgeous hike (the weather was nicer there than Flagstaff), but I think I'm going to share those pictures next week.

We finally headed home after that, and it turned out to be a fun and relaxing trip!

Where are you all going on vacation this summer?

Memorial Day Is Not About The Barbecues

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Mon, 29 May 2017 12:00:00 +0000

Today is Memorial Day, and if you are like our family, you are probably going to a barbecue or using the extra day off to full advantage in some other way. And I truly hope you have a wonderful, fun-filled day, but at the same time, I hope you take a minute to think about Memorial Day a little more deeply too. Because the thing is...Memorial Day is not about barbecues.

Memorial Day is a day to remember and show gratitude to those who have died in defense of our country. It's a day to remember the fallen, those who have died. I think we overlook this a lot, because Memorial Day has largely become a party holiday, the kick-off to summer, etc. But we have this day off, because we live in this country that is free. And we live in freedom in this country because men have died to protect it. Most of us will never be called upon to sacrifice in that way, and the reason we won't is because others have already sacrificed for us. These men and women gave everything they had for people they would never meet, out of love, and duty, and honor, for God and country and freedom. And the only reason we can go to parties and pools today in freedom is because of them.

We took a trip to our military cemetery with the kids the other week, to visit the graves of my grandfather and great-great-grandfather. And we looked around at all those graves, many of men who died while fighting for our country, and I explained to my kids that many soldiers have died to make us free. I'm so glad we did it, because while we celebrate in some ways today, this is a solemn day. I don't want my kids to grow up thinking it's just about barbecues.

Full thoughts on Tommy Nelson today...and I hope you take a little time today to thank God for our freedom in America, and for those who have died to keep it for us.

How I Listen To Audiobooks For Free (Or Cheap)

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Wed, 24 May 2017 11:30:00 +0000

Sometime last year I became aware of the vast array of audiobooks that are available these days - and I also became aware of how much more "reading" I could sneak in through audiobooks! Who says you can't read and drive at the same time?

I listen to audiobooks while I drive places, while I fold laundry, while I cook dinner, and while I clean out closets (the current project). I've listened to them while doing yard work. I've even listened to them before I go to sleep when all the lights are out. On top of all that, there are a lot of books I know I would never even get around to reading that I've been able to cross off my list because of the wonder of audiobooks. I'm a big fan!

So for those of you who might be interested in giving audiobooks a try, I wanted to share how I've obtained quite a few books to listen to for free (or very inexpensively). Here are all my secrets. You are welcome.

Overdrive

If you have not heard of Overdrive pull out your phone right now and sign up! It's an app that works through your public library, so you do need a library card. Once you are all signed up, you have access to an unbelievable array of ebooks and audiobooks! I really got started through this app, and it's so nice because if you come across an audiobook that just isn't doing it for you, you've invested no money and there are many more waiting for you to try.

Audiobooks.com

I signed up for Audiobooks.com because I saw a book I wanted to listen to on there, and realized that Audiobooks.com gives you a free audiobook credit for signing up! Shortly after signing up, I also got an email with an offer for another free credit for leaving an iTunes review. That's two free audiobooks! It is a monthly subscription membership, but you can cancel anytime, so I just cancelled before I got charged for another book credit.

Audiobooks.com also has a fantastic selection of free audiobooks that you can download and listen to through the app. These include a lot of classics! Some are Librivox recordings that have been compiled into an audiobook format through the app, which is the most convenient way I have found to access Librivox audiobooks. Some of the free books I am most excited about (for myself and for the kids) are Under The Lilacs by Louisa May Alcott, The Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame, Chronicles Of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery (never read this one), Dr. Doolitte, Little Bear, The Bobbsey Twins books, and more!

Audible

Most people think of the monthly membership fee with Audible, but in case you weren't aware, you can download the Audible app and use it without creating a monthly membership. And why would you do this? Download the app now and go to the "Channels" tab. Look at the top and choose "Featured". Scroll down a bit and you should see a banner for free audiobooks to stream for Amazon Prime members! I'm listening to Pride and Prejudice right now, under "Celebrity Voices, Classic Stories". They have a selection of 20+ free, high-quality audiobooks that you can stream right now.

You can also sign-up for a membership trial for two free books, and if you don't decide to keep it, you can cancel anytime (even before you are charged the first time). I haven't used the two-free-books deal yet, because I'm waiting until I finish more of the audiobooks I already have, but rest assured, I will be taking advantage of that in the future!

ChristianAudio

ChristianAudio is another audiobooks service much like the two listed above, and they also offer a free book for signing up for a membership (haven't taken advantage of this yet either, but I will eventually). However, ChristianAudio is great because they actually offer a free audiobook each month, just for entering your email. No other strings attached! They also have a reviewer program that you can sign up for to receive free audiobooks - this is open to you even if you aren't a blogger!

Amazon Whispersync

This is the option where you have to pay, but at a deeply discounted price. Amazon often offers Whispersync audiobooks as a package deal with their Kindle books - this is neat because you can switch between the ebook and audiobook anytime, and Whispersync will save your place. If you are interested in a book, check the Kindle version on Amazon, and then look underneath the price. If Whispersync is available, there will be a checkbox to "add Whispersync audio for $______." These deals are often great for audiobooks, especially if the Kindle book also happens to be on sale. The best deal I've gotten was probably the Anne Of Green Gables audiobook and Kindle book combo for $2. Read the ebook in the Kindle app, and be sure to download the Audible app to listen to the audio - all of your Whispersync audiobooks will show up under your Amazon account in the app!

(Affiliate link below.)

And to finish this off, I wanted to answer a common question:

"Isn't it hard to listen to audiobooks with kids running around? I wouldn't be able to focus."

While I understand why you might think that, I don't have a problem with this for two reasons.

First, I don't expect to be able to sit with my eyes closed and focus on every word of my audiobook (which is the only way I would hear every word of my audiobook). You can enjoy an audiobook without being 100% focused on it, and you might just have to realize that even if you miss a sentence here and there, you are will still hear and understand and enjoy 95% of what's going on. The question is, is it okay if you lose 5% of non-critical words through listening to the audio version as a mom of young kids, with all the distractions that entails? I say it's okay. It's okay with me. It's the tradeoff for getting more books in through taking advantage of audiobooks. And if the thought of missing a few sentences really bothers you, try picking a book you aren't as invested in from among some of the free options I listed here! Sometimes I'll choose to listen to books I've already read, or books I feel a little more casual about, to ensure I don't feel like missing that 5% robbed me of something.

Second, earbuds. A lot of audiobooks, even Christian ones, aren't necessarily appropriate for young kids, so most of the time I listen through my earbuds. This also helps me to be able to still hear my book when I'm cooking dinner and the kids are running through the house driving fire trucks on the wood floors (very noisy). I really want to get some sort of wireless earbuds (like these maybe? I can't afford Airpods, so these look like an acceptable alternative), because that will make my audiobook-listening even more accessible and convenient! I'm thinking these would be great for situations like working out and listening without wires connecting me to my phone, or sneaking my earbuds in while waiting for a doctor's appointment. This will open up even more audiobook listening opportunities!

So there you go, all my audiobooks tips and secrets!

Do you listen to audiobooks? What has been your favorite audiobook?

The only other word of caution is that a narrator can really make or break an audiobook, so I'd be interested to hear if anyone has a favorite!

Triple Berry Ice Cream Topping Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Mon, 22 May 2017 11:30:00 +0000

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and ProYo, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #ProYoHighProteinIceCream http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

Lately, I have been on the hunt for a dessert that will hit the spot for my picky pregnancy tastebuds.

As most of you know, the first trimester has left me exhausted during most days over the last couple months. Combine pregnancy fatigue with four energetic kids, and I am really valuing a little quiet during nap time lately. I've been avoiding the to-do list, keeping my laptop closed, and taking that time to refresh during the day. It's really helped me to recoup and be ready to handle the pre-dinner chaos! I either take a nap, or I settle on the couch with a book or the remote...and ideally I want some sweet treat that I can enjoy every now and then all by my lonesome!

During some of my pregnancies I craved anything sweet, and it didn't even matter what it was. But this time around heavy, overly fatty desserts just sound gross. But at the same time, my sweet tooth is demanding to be satisfied! It's a real conundrum.

However, I recently discovered ProYo Low Fat High Protein Ice Cream! This is a type of ice cream that uses less fat and a high protein content in it's formulation, so I had to give it a try.

I picked up a few different flavors at King Soopers, and I wanted some sort fruit sauce to top it with that would also be less sweet than traditional ice cream toppings...so I came up with this triple-berry ice cream topping recipe to enjoy with my ProYo Low Fat High Protein Ice Cream! I'm really happy with how the sauce, and my dessert, turned out - I didn't douse the fruit in sugar, so the berries kept that slightly tart taste, which is perfect on top of sweet ice cream.

Triple Berry Ice Cream Topping

1 1/2 c. of blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries (frozen)

2 tbsp. sugar

1/4 c. cranberry juice

1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat, until fruit is thawed and sugar is melted.

2. Mash berries up until desired chunkiness is reached for your sauce.

3. Increase to medium heat and let mixture reach a rolling boil. Boil for five minutes.

4. Remove from heat and pour into glass container. Refrigerate until cool, and serve over your favorite ice cream!

The topping should keep for one week in the refrigerator, and this recipe produces about 3/4 c. of topping. I would double the recipe if you intend to share with guests (hint: ProYo Low Fat High Protein Ice Cream is also soy-free and gluten-free, which is really useful to keep in mind when I'm entertaining since some of my friends have food sensitivities).

I tried this triple-berry topping over the Vanilla Bean flavor, and I thought the flavors mixed together well (I also think it would be good on top of the Coconut flavor)! ProYo Low Fat High Protein Ice Cream uses a sugar and xylitol blend, so despite having a lower sugar content, it tastes just as sweet and delicious as normal ice cream. I thought this made the tart berry topping a perfect counter. The next flavor I'm going to try...Dark Chocolate Toffee! Yum.

If you'd like to try ProYo Low Fat High Protein Ice Cream, ProYo has a great coupon right now for buy one 14 oz. container, get one free - available now through 7/7, while supplies last! ProYo High Protein Low Fat Ice Creams are available nationwide at Kroger and other Banner stores. You can find a store that carries it by using this store locator!

What is your favorite ice cream topping?

Maybe I'll get some ideas for another homemade topping recipe in the future!

Hooray For The Second Trimester! - 14 Weeks (Baby #5)

noreply@blogger.com (Callie) — Thu, 18 May 2017 11:30:00 +0000

We have officially reached the second trimester by all measures! This is my fifth baby, and I'm still confused about when the second trimester officially starts, but I know that 14 weeks is the latest.

So far, the second trimester is looking good! I have been feeling so much better this last week. I still fall into bed at night, but I'm not exhausted all through the day like I have been up to this point. I'm very happy to be feeling better before we leave on vacation, because I so wanted to be able to enjoy everything without being overly tired. I've had no real cravings or aversions lately (aside from stomach aches if I eat too much spicy food), no aches and pains, less exhaustion. I'm feeling good!

Baby is the size of a large lemon this week, plus legs! That's huge! It's amazing how fast babies grow in utero. According to my internet sources, baby is also starting to grow hair, and practicing lots of different facial expressions (and the thought of that is almost too cute for words).

I am almost certain that I've felt the baby. At 12.5 weeks, I felt a tiny little nudge in my stomach, similar to how it would feel if I slowly and lightly pressed my finger for a second on my skin (only from the inside). I wasn't having any other sort of digestive discomfort, and it was in approximately the right spot, so I suspected it might have been baby! Then I proceeded to get worried when I didn't feel it again, but at the 14 weeks mark I felt the same sort of nudge in the same spot. I'm pretty sure it's baby, and by the next update I'll probably be able to report with more certainty! I can't wait to start feeling more tiny kicks. It's my absolute favorite part of being pregnant.

And one more blessing...I mentioned a couple posts ago that I gave away my Belly Band before I found out I was pregnant, and have been missing it. I normally use it all through pregnancy to utilize my regular pants as long as possible. Well, my sweet blog friend Angi (who is having her baby in the next couple months) offered to send me hers! It didn't work for her, and she wanted to bless me with it. Thank you Angi, you were so kind to think of me, and I really am so happy to have a Belly Band again!

That's all there is to report at the moment. I have another checkup next week, so I'll let you know heart rate again at that point...and then the appointment after that is when I hope to find out this tie breaker's gender! And since I've been asked several times already, yes, I plan on doing another gender reveal party. I have intentions of keeping this one low-key, but, well...we'll just see how it turns out! I tend to go a little overboard with party planning. If you want to catch up on all our previous gender reveal parties, check them out below.

First Gender Reveal Party (Classic) - Get ready to travel back in time, because this one is vintage from 2010 when I was pregnant with Wyatt.

BBQ Gender Reveal Party - Also pretty classic, and lots of fun finding out we were having our first girl!

Ugly Sweater/Christmas Gender Reveal Party - We took full advantage of the season for Clyde's gender reveal!

Ice Cream Social Gender Reveal Party - Clarice's party didn't quite go according to plan, but it turned out alright!

Outfit Details:

Shirt: Forever21

Skirt: Maurices

Earrings: Walmart

Necklace: (#affliatelink) Jane.com

Shoes: (#referral) JustFab