♥ Mommy Miscellaneous ♥

College Move Out Time! (Aren't we excited?)

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 00:12:00 +0000

I was so excited when I was accepted into art school on a full scholarship, I felt like I was actually going to be somewhere that I would finally fit in! What I didn't consider was moving the TONS of things that I felt I needed for college. We rented a Nissan Quest Minivan that my uncle drove down to Philadelphia and my mom drove our Buick Century with even more stuff packed into it and headed to Philadelphia to move me into my dorm room. It was a real pain. I never realized how small a college dorm elevator is and how hard and tiring it is to bring up all of my "necessities" to my room. I remember wishing that I had someone to help me with the moving -- besides my mother and uncle who kept complaining that I brought too much with me. (Ok, maybe I did bring too much with me...)

Campus Bellhops is a new company that does just that for you! They assist with moving in and out of your dorms.I honestly wish I had a service that would have assisted me with the moving process! If you decide to use Campus Bellhops for you or your child's college moving experience, please use the referral code: mommymisc1 to receive 10% off your move!!

Important benefits/facts:

Campus Bellhops is a student-run moving company on 50+ college campuses across America.
They cover move-ins and move-outs for dorms, houses, apartments and storage facilities.
Standard dorm moves are under $100.
All Bellhops/movers are University students and the client receives an email prior to the move that includes the bios of their two assigned Bellhops.
The company was started by two entrepreneurs at Auburn University who grew their business to cover 50+ campuses and employ 2,500+ students.

Fun Statistics:

60% of college students live in a traditional on-campus dorm as their first college residence
Top (heavy!) items that the majority of college kids pack include TVs, Microwave Ovens, Dishes, Storage Bins and Mini Fridges.
56% of college kids pack between 11-15 boxes for a move.
54% of moms compared the college moving experience with unpleasant activities such as a root canal, sitting in traffic or visiting the DMV.
40% of moms said the most unpleasant aspect of moving was carrying heavy items up multiple flights of stairs.
51% of moms said moving their child in/out of a college residence was a physically grueling experience.
59% of moms wish they could have spent more quality time with their college student, instead of loading and unloading boxes.

Follow Campus Bellhops on:

Site: https://campusbellhops.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CampusBellhops
Twitter: https://twitter.com/campusbellhops
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/campusbellhops/
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/campusbellhops

Trying to tame frizzy hair?

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 20:31:00 +0000

I'm going to be honest with you: I don't know how this is going to work... However I had been looking or a type of curl that won't frizz and wont be too tightly curled so I fired up google and went to town searching. After reading a lot of information and watching a lot of YouTube videos I finally found a video about a variation to the old fashion pin curls, these were pin waves. Which basically is the same as pin curls just only at the bottom of your hair and a lot looser.

I talked to my mom about it, since I remember her telling me that my grandmother used to do pin curls in her hair and after she sang it's praises and told me how good they were, I decided to try it. So here I sit, with my hair curled, held to my scalp with bobby pins, with an aluminum foil looking head cap on (that's supposed to keep in body heat), drying my hair with hot air every so often...

I have another two hours until this (probably) dries and I can take the pins out...let's hope this works.

We love Mom Talk Radio!

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 18:06:00 +0000

I absolutely love talking about my kids and what I know from being a parent, so today I participated in the Mom Talk Radio Roundtable discussion! I absolutely love being a part of the roundtable and have been a part of it many times before. Check out the Mom Talk Radio website for when the segment of Children and Technology is posted to hear my input!

I actually have a great blog ready to post about this same exact topic -- stay tuned for that later on!

A big thanks to Mom Talk Radio for having me on! Hopefully I can be a part of their roundtable again soon!

Nutrisystem Nation: Double Chocolate Muffin Breakfast Review

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 04:55:00 +0000

I love muffins and breakfast items that aren't quite healthy. I'm usually grabbing one at the local 7-11 or convenience store while I'm running out to work or to drop my daughter at school or just because I want an unhealthy snack... Well, Nutrisystem offers the Double Chocolate Muffin as one of their breakfast items! I was a little hesitant to try this because I know some of the diet muffins usually taste dry but this one is not even close to dry! It tastes just like a regular chocolate chip muffin you'd get at your local grocery store's bakery. This chocolate muffin has chunks of chocolate chips right inside the muffin - the taste is incredible! I love to nuke this in the microwave and add a small amount of butter (or butter spray!) for added taste and melty deliciousness!

This breakfast is definitely one of the BEST they offer!

Family Circle and Ikea Life Improvement Seminar

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 06:00:00 +0000

It's now spring and with all our spring cleaning we also want to spruce up our home to make it look more inviting for the summer months. I don't know about you but to me spring is a complete renewal of everything! Out with the old, in with the brand new, colorful and energetic! So how exactly should we do that? With accessories? With brand new furniture? A lot of factors go into what we should actually do with our homes but Family Circle and Ikea want to help you! Check out the Ikea Life Improvement Store Seminar with celebrity dad and designer Stephen Saint-Onge in New Jersey this coming weekend!

Where & When?

Ikea Garden State Plaza Paramus

100 Ikea Drive, Paramus NJ

Saturday, April 20th at 1:00 PM

Where & When?

Ikea Elizabeth

1000 Ikea Drive, Elizabeth, NJ

Sunday, April 21st at 1:00 PM

Event attendees will receive FREE gift giveaways!

DISCLAIMER: This post was sponsored by the Family Circle & Ikea event. I was compensated for this post but all my opinions and feelings are my own.

The Power of Mother's Intuition: A Preemie Story.

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 14:00:00 +0000

I found this post in my drafts and realized that I never completed it. I thought it was definitely something important to post, so I am now completing this. :)

I was inspired to write this post by reading one of Theta Mom's posts on mother's intuition.

I had been in early labor for two weeks with my oldest daughter. I honestly had absolutely no idea that I was in early labor. I felt occasional contractions, some painful and some just tightening, but that was it. Of course it was uncomfortable, but anything after 30 weeks should be uncomfortable -- or so I thought.

35 weeks I went into the ER because I had a suspicion that I was leaking fluid. They hooked me up to the machine that monitors contractions, did a paper test to see if I was leaking fluid and did an internal to monitor any cervical changes. The next thing I remember hearing, "I hope you're ready to have this baby tonight, because you're being induced."

Turns out, I had been leaking fluid for a few days, I had a very high fever and my blood pressure was through the roof... I was borderline pre-eclampsic until that night, they then diagnosed me with full blown pre eclampsia. They were petrified that I would seize because of how high my blood pressure was so they immediately rushed me up to labor and delivery.

Since I tested positive for Strep B, I was hooked up to an amoxicillin IV and also hooked up to Pitocin to induce my labor and Magnesium Sulfate for the pre-eclampsia. I was just a hot mess when I was in labor. I ended up having a high fever, couldn't hold anything down including the Tylenol they gave me, the epidural made everything below the hip completely numb to the point where I felt like I was paralyzed... I'll save the entire birth story for another day!

After a 14 hour labor, my daughter was born. Since she was born at 35 weeks, they considered her premature. Even though she was 8lbs 7oz, she had complications as any preemie would. Her sucking reflex was non existent. She wasn’t able to suck on a bottle to drink at all. So they had to insert a gastro tube to get any formula down to her AT ALL. I couldn't see my daughter at all the first day, aside from when they quickly let me hold her after she was born, because I was supposed to be in bed for 24 hours after being on the Magnesium Sulfate and my daughter had to be in the NICU. From everything I heard, she was perfectly fine the first day and a half until I saw her.

They wheeled me down in a wheelchair a day and a half after I had her so I could see her in her little isolette. To make a long story short, every day she did take a little more formula by bottle, although her sucking reflex was not developed. Unfortunately, what she did take down came right back up. They tried many different formulas, did many different tests and spoke of doing surgery; the word surgery petrified me, as she was just a few days old and my little baby.

I was a mess. Every day I had to leave the hospital I cried uncontrollably, I would cry myself to sleep, I would pray and would beg the NICU doctor (Ironically named Dr. Stork) to please let her come home. I even went as far as to threaten to sign her out AMA (Against Medical Advice) because I wanted my baby home with me. Obviously I didn't -- but only because they told me that my insurance wouldn't pay for any of her treatment if I signed her out AMA...

One day as I was talking to my friends on the JustMommies Oct 05 DDC (Due Date Club) I found out something that the doctors hadn't even brought up at that time -- there was a formula that they had not tried that was specifically for babies with digestive issues and reflux; Similac Alimentum. I went to the store, purchased special Dr. Brown bottles, the Similac Alimentum and brought it to the NICU with me. I told the nurse, Carol, that I wanted to try this and backed it up with research I had printed off. She agreed to let me do whatever I had to do. Guess what? Within 4 days it was working and Alayna had been gaining weight consistently. After a month and two weeks in the NICU, my baby was coming home and I was ecstatic.

I owe a lot to that nurse, she was there to comfort me when I had nervous breakdowns, she explained as much as she could in such a soothing way, she made sure that Alayna was taken care of every minute of every day and she allowed me to try what I felt was right, as a mother.

It just goes to show that sometimes mother does know best, even when the medical professionals overlook something so easy. Sure, she was on acid reflux medication until she was 2 years old and she still has trouble drinking or eating anything acidic, but she's the most beautiful and healthy little 7 year old any mother could ever ask for. She's my best friend and I wouldn't change it for anything. I'm glad I listened to myself before agreeing to anymore tests or any surgeries for my baby.

All because I started blogging

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 15:35:00 +0000

I've been blogging here for 4 years. This blog started out as a blog for my jewelry shop in 2008 until I realized that I missed blogging about my kids and my life. I missed networking with moms, sharing life experiences, making friends and writing. Once I realized what I was missing in my life, I decided on turning this into a blog about me and my family; I'm so glad I did.

Over the past 4 years I have met some great people, had the chance to work with some great companies and I had the chance to grow. Looking back at posts from 2009, I realized just how much I've grown over the past few years.

Four years ago I was 24 years old, struggling to make ends meet for my kids by taking on seasonal retail jobs, I was not comfortable in my own skin and wanted to embellish to make myself sound "cooler" than I was. Even though it didn't seem like it, I was still suffering from post partum depression...and a bad case of it. I hated myself and my life, I was grasping for straws to find anything that would make me happy. I spent money because, well, retail therapy... I was slightly irresponsible and didn't pay attention to finances. I took advantage of the fact that I lived with my mom and lived in the house for free and was just generally an unhappy person; even though I didn't let it show.

Since then I've learned the real value of money and how important it is to budget and make sure that you don't frivoulsly spend money. Hell, I still love to shop and retail therapy still helps me feel better, but I don't spend nearly as much as I used to. I've become a better mother and started disciplining my girls instead of letting them have free reign of everything, I feel they respect me more because of that. I still have lingering depression but it's not half as bad as it was 4 years ago. I've learned to love myself and learned that if I wanted something different about myself, I had to go do it myself. I have the power to change my own life and my own future and I am definitely taking control of it now. I learned, over the past four years, that I am a pretty damn cool person. I've learned that if someone doesn't like me for who I am, screw them. I'm not going to pretend to be something I'm not for anyone.

Of course, my blog isn't as successful as I want it to be, but that will come with more time and dedication to making it into something spectacular. My blog has also gotten me into the job field I am in today; Marketing Manager/SEO Consultant. Due to the fact that I needed to learn more about promotion, keywords, social media, etc... I've learned so much and have done extensive research into being successful at it all. I'm sure I still have plenty to learn, but I know enough to impress companies and get them the results that they want. I may not have my "dream SEO/Social Media" job as of yet but I know there is earning potential, I feel that the more I work and the more I learn, the more opportunity I will have to be successful...I just have to keep working towards my dreams.

I owe my new found maturity, self confidence and partial success to my blog and all my readers. It's been a great four years sharing here and I'm hoping for many more to come.

How has your blog changed you?

Insanity Gone Viral

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 18:53:00 +0000

I actually saw this photo on Facebook last night and thought it was a joke... That was until I saw this actual article on Yahoo, then I just wished it was a joke. Who, in their right mind, would leave their child in the car while shopping? It doesn't matter if it's for two minutes, twenty minutes or two hours; you are a parent. Your child is YOUR responsibility, not an inconvenience to you.

For those of you who do not know, this happened in New Zealand. The Yahoo article states:

A photograph taken in New Zealand is causing quite an uproar around the world. The photo at the center of the controversy is of an infant asleep in a car seat locked alone inside a car. A note, seemingly written from the baby's perspective, is attached to the chest and reads, "my mums in doing the shopping, call her if I need anything." There is a phone number written at the end.

This child has to be a few days to a week old, sleeping peacefully in her car seat. All her mother had to do was snap the carrier out of the base and place the carrier on the front of the shopping cart. I mean, on average a newborn baby sleeps 16-18 hours out of the day, I doubt this little one was going to interrupt her mother's shopping.

Another part of the article states:

The couple also noted that the baby did look well taken care of and that they know how difficult it can be to get an infant to go to sleep.

I'm sure the baby was well taken care of however it seems like the mother feels the child is an inconvenience to her when she is going out. It is the mother's responsibility to make sure the child is always well taken care of and that means not leaving her sleeping newborn in an unattended car. Who knows what could have happened? Someone could have stolen the car, kidnapped this baby, etc... The worst part about the above quoted statement is that it seems this couple condones what the mother did by stating that they understand how difficult it is to get a newborn to sleep. I actually couldn't believe what I was reading when I was reading it.

In my honest opinion, the New Zealand police should have at least charged the mother with child endangerment. I can't believe they aren't charging her at all since a formal complaint was never filed. It sickens me to know that this mother might continue to leave her child in the car while she's shopping, especially in this uncertain and dangerous world we live in.

Ok, Ok, maybe I've threatened to leave my kids in the car a few times, especially when we're going to Toys R Us, but I never do! (Even though the temptation is so strong sometimes.)

What do you think about this article?

My 28th Birthday!

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 23:53:00 +0000

Last Sunday, March 17th, was my 28th birthday. My kids made me this beautiful green cake with green icing, chocolate chips and pretzels. Didn't they do a great job? Budding little bakers they are...

Yep, I was born on St. Patrick's Day but I'm not Irish at all. I'm actually Polish and Italian. Being adopted, I don't know the exact time I was born but I've been told that I was born at 11:58 PM on March 17th, so basically, I was almost born on March 18th. Every single year on my birthday I feel such gratitude towards my birth mother because she chose to place me for adoption and give me a better life. She made the extremely selfless decision that not many women have the strength to make.

I've known my biological family for 10 years and every single year my birth mother would send me a birthday card and a birthday Facebook message but unfortunately she passed away this past year. I did get a little emotional when I realized that I wasn't going to hear from her this year. She and I weren't close, she didn't get close to many people...but it was always a comfort to know that she cared enough to remember my birthday. It always made me feel like I wasn't forgotten for those 18 years that I didn't know her.

My birthday was actually great. We celebrated twice; one with my girls and one with my friends. I actually had a great birthday even though we didn't do anything too much. This was the first year, though, that I got to spend my birthday with one of my sisters, and that meant A LOT to me. I had a great time!

My girls actually decorated the house in all St. Patrick's day green for my party at home and my mom made my traditional birthday dinner; corned beef and cabbage. :)

I had a great 28th birthday!

Where the hell have I been?

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 19:55:00 +0000

Long time no post, how is everyone? I know, I know; as an SEO professional I should really update my own blog more... Apparently, I don't practice what I preach, right? Actually, I've been so busy telling others that they should update their blogs more often and neglected my own blog -- ironic, right?

So much has happened since I posted a month ago...

I actually left my job at the larger corporation I was working at and got a job helping a local window and door company as a marketing manager/SEO consultant/analyst. Honestly, I have a lot of jobs there. I do internet marketing, SEO consulting/analyzing, I help get them clients by calling various residents of our town, as well as maintaining their blog/social networks and developing their blog. I'm not 100% sure what my official title is, but I love it. I love the small office feel (5 people) and the family-like atmosphere. I also see that they need a lot of help and I'm completely up to the challenge. The best part is that it is in Bayonne so I don't have to spend $100 a week on gas and tolls.

I'm actually in a relationship now as well and enjoying every minute of it. I'm not going to say too much because I don't want to jinx it, but I'm very happy...I actually couldn't be any happier right now. :)

Other than that, I've been working on my own clients for my Virtual Assistant and SEO/Social Media Consulting business as well. I've been working on getting as many leads/potential clients as possible so I can start building up my savings account. I'm really working hard and doing all I can for myself and my family. I'm also still working at H&R Block at night... Busy busy bee, right? My exhaustion level can vouch for that one.

I've also still been doing Nutrisystem, more posts will be made about that next week! I'm vowing to update this blog at least bi-daily from now on.

Talk soon!

NS Nation - 10lbs down with Nutrisystem!

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 18:09:00 +0000

I've been meaning to write this post a lot sooner but we have had so much going on in the past few weeks. The worst was having to attend a funeral for a 7 year old child -- no one should ever have to go through that experience. It's hard enough when the funeral is for an adult, but when you see your own daughter so upset about having to attend a child's funeral it makes it even worse. It was the most emotional funeral I have ever been to, it was just terrible. On top of that we have had our fair share of being sick around the house, Alayna was sick for the longest and she was just absolutely miserable. Though, through it all I actually feel like Nutrisystem helped me from emotionally overeating, which is what I usually do during hard times.

Nutrisystem has been helping me for almost an entire month now and on the plan itself I lost 10 lbs. (And 10 lbs prior to that doing this on my own.) Let's take a look at the two ways I had been losing weight since January. From January to February I did it completely on my own and from February to March (almost) I've been on Nutrisystem.

Cost & Preparation: Nutrisystem is actually fairly low in price, if you really think about how much you actually spend on healthy food each month. Consider buying produce (which is almost never on sale), meats, cereals, etc... From Jan-Feb when I did this on my own I spent a total of $489 on healthy food. That's quite a bit. On top of that, I had to take the time (between my two jobs) to actually figure out what to make and prepare the foods that I purchased. Many times that actually made me late for my second job and absolutely exhausted. With Nutrisystem EVERYTHING is prepacakged for you. The only thought process you have to use is to pick what foods you want to eat that day. It's practically effortless. All of the foods are quick to prepare (45 seconds to 2 minutes at the max) and you have a quick and easy breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert at your fingertips.

Taste: I was on Nutrisystem once before in 2007 and the food wasn't bad at all, however I did feel like I had to doctor it up to make it taste a little better. I'm actually very pleasantly surprised now (with their new programs & formulas) with the food. It's absolutely delicious and needs little (or no) doctoring up at all. The frozen foods on the program need no doctoring up at all -- they're amazing. My favorite lunch foods are:

The frozen flatbreads
Chicken Soup
Mexican Tortilla Soup

And my favorite dinners are:

Chicken Pot Pie
Risotto
Frozen Pizza

I do have photos & reviews to post about these foods, this will start this coming week. I have much more detailed reviews to write about this program but due to everything that went on in the past month I haven't had the chance to post them. They will be scheduled and posted this week, so keep your eyes peeled or subscribe to our RSS feed, twitter, facebook, etc... to keep up to date with my journey.

So far I'm 21 lbs down and going strong. :)

iPhone Homescreen Addicts Anonymous

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 14:11:00 +0000

So, I'm sort of addicted to the way my iPhone 5's homescreen looks and I'm constantly changing it to see what works better for me. I use my phone for two functions; 1. Personal and 2. Business -- I don't really play games on my phone and hardly use it as an actual phone. It's more a text communication device, actually. So I do need it to serve the functions that it needs to.

Currently I'm using this adorable bird background with a very plain main homescreen. The main homescreen is blank, as to showcase my wallpaper, with two icons on the bottom -- Launch Center Pro and Dashboard Pro. Let's get to why I chose what I chose and what I'm trying to accomplish.

Second Screen:

I'm currently trying to cut down on apps by seeing what apps I use on a daily, weekly, monthly basis and what apps I don't use at all. It's hard to choose those on first glance because I love my apps and hate to part with any of them. So I uncategorized most of my apps and placed them in color coordinating folders on the top of the second screen. Why? Because they're all there when I do need something and at the end of my month trial I can weed through the apps I do use and delete those that I do not use.

The second row are apps that I do use quite a bit.

Yahoo Messenger - I use both for communication with co-workers/clients as well as friends and family. I'm usually invisible on Yahoo, but I'm almost always on anyway. I prefer Yahoo over AIM for some reason, I could never really get into AIM.

Dialvetica - I'm actually playing around with the idea of getting this off the homepage. The only people I really call are my mom, my grandmother, 2 friends and toll free numbers for cable, AT&T, etc... I don't use it too often that I need it right on my homepage -- but that might change. Who knows.

Messages - This has to be on here as I text almost all the time. I've tried it in a folder, on another page, etc... but I can't stand not being able to see when and if I have a message. My sounds are off 80% of the time so it's so convenient to know when I have messages visually.

Yahoo Mail - I used Sparrow for such a long time but I currently only use my Yahoo e-mail account with Sparrow and decided that I didn't like that Sparrow still doesn't have push notifications. I decided, for now, to put Sparrow into a folder and use Yahoo Mail until I either 1. Get tired of it or 2. Sparrow incorporates push notifications. :) I like the app for now, the interface is great and it gets the job done.

Third row, I use these apps too, but not every single minute of every day.

SongPop - I'm a SongPop addict! If you want to play me, go ahead! RKrissy is my user name and I'm pretty damn good at the game too. :) This has to be on my homepage because I use it quite a few times a day. It seems like whenever I get a notification that someone played, I have to play as soon as I can. :)

MyFitnessPal - This is the best app for dieting. Yes, I'm on Nutrisystem and yes I do have the Nutrisystem app but for some reason this app really suits me and my needs better. I can easily scan the foods I eat to keep track of how many calories I'm consuming, I can change my caloric/carb/fat/etc... goals to suit my diet plan and I can easily add exercises to log as well! I just love this app. I've used it for years (when I'm on a diet) and it just keeps getting better and better.

QuickCal - Ok, so I had a post all set on another Calendar app I found that I was using but I found this the other day and love it even more. It's so easy to quickly add an event to your calendar without having to search for the right month, day, year, etc... All you do is enter your information into the bar at the top and it adds it for you. Such as "H&R Block at 5pm on Friday February 15th, 2013." Just that quick phrase (you can even use your voice to input the event) will get you all set up without having to manually input everything. I absolutely love this Calendar, it saves a lot of time and the interface/look is great too!

Evernote - I've had Evernote downloaded for about a year now but just recently got into it's greatness in December. I knew the basic idea of it but never knew just how powerful it was. I now use this for everything -- notes, my writing, blog ideas, blog drafts, planning a trip/party/event, things I want to purchase, quick reminders, etc... This app is so amazing and powerful. I actually couldn't live without it now.

Third Screen:

The third screen is apps that I use quite a bit but don't need immediate access to at all times. These would be apps that I use once a day or even once a week but don't mind scrolling over a page to find.

Calculator - I use this mostly when I go to dinner with friends to split a check or at work (H&R Block) when I need to calculate the cash drawer at the end of the day. I do use this app quite a bit but it's not urgent that I get to it A.S.A.P.

Instagram - Honestly, I used to use this a lot more than I do now. It used to be my primary camera when now I use it when I want to make something look pretty. I think it's partnership with Facebook and the fact that it makes it a little more difficult to post on Twitter really turned me off a bit...I still use it, but not every single day. I'm still a big lover of Instagram though.

Settings - I'm going to say this -- I wish Apple would incorporate a "utilities" dock onto the top/bottom of this phone like Android offers. Why? I'd like to be able to turn Bluetooth or WiFi off much easier than I currently can and wish I had quicker access to the screen brightness. However, until they decide to incorporate something like that, I have to have quick access to settings to change these options.

Optimum - We have Optimum Cable/Online in our area and since my kids always steal my remotes, I need to be able to access the Optimum app to use as my remote occasionally. I originally had this app in the blue folder yesterday but as I was fumbling around in my room to find my remote, I realized that I needed this app at close hand so I don't have to get even more frustrated looking for the app when I need a remote.

Clear - I use Clear as a quick tasks app while I do have another tasks app for more in depth tasks. This is basically for things I want to download or things I need to pick up, add to a more in depth list in the future, etc... I love the interface of this app, the colors and the ease of use. I just wish I knew how to get the "banner" in the corner with the amount of tasks that I have left. That, at least, makes me want to click on it more often!

Rise - Amazing, simple and beautiful alarm clock. I love it. There's not much else to say other than that! I don't like the fact that I can't set multiple alarms to turn on/off on certain days but I use the stock "clock" app for that anyway. This is mainly just to wake me up in the morning for work, allow me to change the time quickly and easily and to see how many more hours I have to sleep.

Solar - Love, Love, Love, Love, Love this weather app. I use this for a quick glance at what's going on outside what's going to happen in the near future and just to look at pretty colors when I'm bored. (I'm not kidding...I really am that easily distracted.)

Reeder - I'm frequently reading my RSS feed during the day and while I really want to keep this on the front homescreen, I know it would distract me too much. If I kept it on the front homescreen I would constantly be reading my RSS feed and not doing anything else. I wish they would incorporate push notifications too, though. It would be so much easier if it would notify me the second a blog is posted so I don't have to have 200+ posts to read all at once.

More apps will be added to this page as I realize what apps I use the most. This is just the beginnings of what I know I need on there. :)

Last Page:

More folders! These are basically for apps that didn't fit into the color coordinated folders, apps I really don't use too much or apps that are in Dashboard/Launch Center. I have my stock apps, apps I'm testing, some stores that I shop at that have apps, music and entertainment apps, my diet/exercise apps and some social networks that I need to make more use of but currently don't. I'll probably be moving more apps into here in the future but right now this is about it.

I got rid of Newsstand and a few other stock apps that I never use with a simple hack I found by Googling, so I don't have to worry too much about those but there are some stock apps that I do use, so they're staying in a folder all the way back here.

I would love to have just one or two pages but I'm too much of an app-addict for that. I'm constantly searching and downloading new apps that may make my life, work and business easier. We'll see what makes the cut and what doesn't when the end of the month comes! (Mid-March!)

I know a lot of people are going to be asking me the same question I have been hearing for weeks now, "What's Launch Center Pro and Dashboard Pro?" Simple answer! They are an extension of your Springboard.

Launch Center Pro is an amazing app that adds 15 more apps "shortcuts" to your Springboard. I currently have the following on my LCP Springboard for quick access:

Stock "Phone" App
TweetBot (LOVE this Twitter app)
Google Chrome (Best browser EVER!)
Camera+
Evernote
Facebook
Contacts
"Music" Folder (Containing some music apps that I use often.)
"Favorite Apps" Folder (May get rid of this one.)
DayOne
Clear
Pocket (Best "read it later" App)
Rise
Dark Sky (My favorite Weather app)
Reeder

I know there are some duplicates like Evernote, Clear and Reeder -- I have to figure out what to put in place of those on LCP. I'll figure that out once I find out what apps I use a lot and what I don't...this is just a basis of how I want to organize my phone when I learn that information.

Dashboard Pro is a similar app but has "tiles" that looks like the Windows phones. I currently have many different shortcuts to contacts to easily text or call, I have a shortcut to my text messages, shortcut to Pandora (Which I listen to at work), Weather tile, Notes tile, Flashlight tile and Settings tile. I'll have to screencap this and LCP one day to show how exactly it works but for now these deserve a space on my dock since they're vital apps. :)

How do you organize your phone?

I'm officially a Nutrisystem Nation Blogger!

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 18:27:00 +0000

I know I've been sort of mentioning this for the past few posts but it's official now -- I'm finally a Nutrisystem Nation blogger! I'm extremely excited to have Nutrisystem as one of our sponsors for the next few months. Hopefully with the help of the new way of eating (not diet!) I will be able to lose a considerable amount of weight to motivate and share with everyone here. :) I'm going to be making my Wednesday Weigh-In posts into a Wednesday Weigh-In as well as a review of some Nutrisystem foods! Can't wait to get started!

Want to lose weight and get healthy on Nutrisystem? Join today by calling 1-888-853-4689 or by visiting http://www.nutrisystem.com/nsblog

One Step Closer...

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 15:29:00 +0000

As some of you know in July I started attending college again. Well, not actually attending...going to school via online but it's still college either way you look at it! I've had a hard few months of working on a few introductory courses and in December started my first actual course, Introduction to Business. Believe it or not, this course was actually very difficult! I learned about the types of businesses, corporations, how a business runs, types of accounting, insurance/savings and a lot of other basic fundamentals of business. Well, yesterday I took my final exam for my Introduction to Business course and got an 88! I have an A- average, so far, for my entire course at this point. Hopefully I can keep my average up in the A's!

Why am I so excited about this? I was never good in school. Talking to my mom last night, she said I probably just wasn't motivated when I was in school, which is completely true. I never wanted to be in school and hated my school experience. (Bullying, mostly.) This time, I'm completely motivated, working everyday on some schoolwork and really pushing myself above and beyond to study, pass tests and ultimately, to get my Bachelors degree -- finally. :) I want to be a good role model for my girls and I want them to know that even though I'm a single mom and work two jobs to support them, I am able to graduate and get my degree too. I just want to be that strong person that they can look up to in the future. (When they don't hate me!)

My next course is World Civilizations...that's going to be even more difficult (and probably boring) but I know I can conquer it just as I did my Intro to Business. I have faith in myself this time around.

Weigh In Wednesday - Self Discipline, A Gym and #NSNation

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 16:34:00 +0000

I'm actually writing this Weigh-In Wednesday post on Tuesday night. Oops. :) I'm going to be so busy tomorrow with working two jobs and being a mom, I won't have time to write this post!

As of today I am down 2 more pounds. That's a total of 12 lbs lost and I am not complaining. I did have one small cheat dinner this past week when I went out with a friend, so I'm definitely not complaining about losing anything! I'm actually surprised I lost 2 lbs with a cheat dinner. Happy day!

Contradicting my last post about exercising, I joined a gym. I'm currently going to Planet Fitness and trying to go every other day for 30-45 minutes. I actually love going and I am so surprised. Everyone is so friendly and helpful there, they are cheap and have free personal training sessions, it's never too busy and their hours are 24 hours during the week -- very convenient! I'm just starting out and haven't been to a gym in quite a few years so I'm re-learning everything but I am sure I'll get myself into a normal pattern/routine eventually. I'm proud of myself and extremely determined this time.

I finally signed with Nutrisystem Nation so they will be sponsoring me & my weight loss journey starting in February! My food is ordered and now I just await it's arrival and the start of that plan! Hopefully I will have the same or even better results & love the idea of having to be accountable to myself, my readers and Nutrisystem.

I can't wait.

Need to Figure out Exercise Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:23:00 +0000

I'm already exhausted working two jobs, going to school and trying to have a social life. Although having two jobs keeps me more on track with my diet, because I don't have time for snacking, it's just so tiring. However I know I need to find some sort of exercise plan to do.

For 5 years I've had a membership to the Planet Fitness around the corner from my house and only went the first year for about 4 months. Yeah, I've been wasting $10 a month for that long. I mean, I have the membership, why don't I go? I can't figure out when. I work my day job from 8am-4pm and either work my second job from 5pm-9pm, go out with friends for a few hours, spend time with my kids or just completely pass out from working so many hours. When in the world can I fit in time to go to the gym?

I was considering getting a smaller treadmill but they are so expensive. The cheapest one I found was from Walmart and was $250, which isn't a bad price... but where would I put it. Back in 2007 I made a horribly impulsive purchase on QVC of a $600 elliptical. I fell for the, "This elliptical folds up and fits right against a wall without anyone noticing it!" lie. Well, maybe it wasn't a lie, but I didn't think to realize they probably meant in a normal sized home it would fit against a wall. Not a city-like two family home where the rooms are a little larger than shoe boxes. Well, this elliptical sat in our living room for nearly a year before we finally found someone to buy it from us. I used it a few times but it was HUGE! It was such an eyesore in our living room.

Planet Fitness is a 24/7 gym but I can't bring myself to go before bed, I feel I'll be too hyped up to sleep. Getting up earlier in the morning sounds even more exhausting, I'm not a morning person! Along with the membership I also have Wii Fit, Dance Dance Revolution and EA Sports for the Wii, I could possibly do that but then my kids want to play with it and I end up having to give in to them. It's so damn difficult to figure out how to exercise with my schedule. I'll probably end up going back to Planet Fitness, once I can find the time to fit it in, but I just had to write this all down -- it was driving me crazy! I really wish I had a friend who could go to PF with me, it would definitely motivate me more.

What do you do for exercise?

The Older You Get, The Tougher it is to Lose Weight...

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:46:00 +0000

...by then your body and your fat have become very good friends.

I actually found that quote online quite a while ago and I remember laughing hysterically about it. However, it is true. Even though I feel ancient sometimes I'm really not old, I'm 27 (and 3/4) years old but feel like I've been dieting all my life.

My diet started on January 2nd and I feel like the weight is taking a while to come off this time. It's a little frustrating for me but I also have to realize that losing weight slower is the healthier way to do it. I've lost almost 10lbs at this point and can't complain too much if I really think about it. That's 10lbs in about 3 weeks, which seems like a healthy rate of weight loss for someone just starting out. I just feel frustrated because I really want to be thin and feel like it's never going to happen.

What am I doing for a diet? Well, I tried low carb about a year ago and while that worked great for me, I felt hungry all of the time. I'm currently following a low calorie plan by eating Lean Cuisine, Smart Ones and Weight Watchers means while also making my own food. I'm trying to currently stay under 1200 calories a day, which is working for me. I considered doing Nutrisystem but dismissed it as it was too expensive for me. Thankfully, Nutrisystem contacted me and asked if I wanted to review their system at the end of February, so that is coming up and I'm very excited to start writing about being a Nutrisystem Blogger! Keep looking out for my Nutrisystem posts because I'm completely excited to promote such a great plan and a great company!

I'm going to be weighing in weekly on Wednesdays and posting my feelings, thoughts and progress on here. I'm actually very excited and feel like I'm going to have to be accountable to each and every reader of my blog. (Let me think that, please! lol)

So, why exactly am I losing weight? I'm losing weight for myself and for my kids. I don't want to not run around outsite with them because I can't breathe, I don't want to be ashamed of going to the beach or waterpark with them because I hate putting on a bathing suit, I don't want to be called the "fat mom" anymore. I'm also doing it for my own health; I was diagnosed with diabetes a few months ago and was told that if I ate the right way I might actually be able to control my diabetes without medication. I also am trying to control my gallbladder and gallstone issues too. After a horrible attack that put me in the ER overnight over the summer I realized that eating everything like I had been at that time was causing me to be uncomfortable and sick. I just want to be healthy and not have to have surgery! (I also may be losing weight to impress someone as well...but that's between you and me. lol)

Good luck to everyone else who is trying to lose weight and get in shape! You can do it!

My Current iPhone Homescreen - Version #1

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 15:09:00 +0000

Phones are an important part of our life in this day and age because they basically store our lives and businesses. That's why I think it's important to share & find new apps that may improve our productivity, organization or lives. Every so often I am going to write about new apps that I love or share my current iPhone home screen. Why am I going to do that? Because I love apps and download quite a few to test out.

Above is my current iPhone home screen -- I'm OCD about this screen. I want to make sure that everything on my home screen I need or use and definitely want it to look organized and neat. Why do I have only three rows of apps when my iPhone holds 5 rows? Basically because I want it to look clean and streamlined. I only want what I use every single day on my home screen and that's what's there.

Sparrow Mail - I never liked the look or feel of iPhone's native mail app so I went searching for a new app. Sparrow may cost $2.99 but it's an amazing app for mail. You can add multiple e-mail accounts and it looks clean and is extremely easy to organize your mail. I'm actually obsessed with this app right now.

Chrome - I'm a loyal Chrome user on my PC & Mac so it's only fair that I use Chrome on my iPhone & iPad as well! I absolutely love how fast chrome loads versus Safari and love how bookmarks & recently viewed pages stay on the home screen of the app as well. It's great!

Camera + - I use my phone as a camera multiple times a day, it's one of my favorite things to do with my phone. Camera + actually takes than the native app and I love the zoom & grid features.

Google - Anyone who knows me knows that Google is one of my favorite things. I am constantly Googling random facts or things I need to know about. Instead of constantly opening Google up in my browser, it's only fair that I have the app for easy access.

TD Bank - Easy access to my checking and savings account & account balance.

Week Cal - I just like this app better than the native Calendar app. I think it has a better interface and easily switches between work, personal and other calendars I may have. It just has a more clean interface to the app and calendar.

Pocket - Pocket is one of those apps that I can't live without. I can easily send websites and blogs directly to Pocket to read later on. It's similar to Instapaper and was formerly called Read it Later. This is an app I definitely recommend to everyone.

Reeder - BEST RSS reader. I love it! (I don't love the way my unread count continuously goes up though! LOL I subscribe to too many blogs!) It's feature heavy and allows you to mark all read/unread, keep favorites and edit your subscriptions right from the app.

AnyList - I have to be honest, I use other "list" apps too but AnyList is one that I can't seem to part with. I'm not 100% in love with it but I don't hate it either. I love the fact that the "banner" tells you how many tasks you still have to get done. It's helpful because the annoying number of undone tasks continuously has me looking at it to see what I can get done to make that number go down or away. lol

Evernote - I just recently fell in love with Evernote but seem to use it quite a bit. I use it in conjunction with Pocket and Reeder. If there's something I want to save to use later I will use Evernote to index it so it is easier to pull back up later. This app is so feature packed and has so many advantages...

SongPop - Love Love Love this game. Enough said.

Dialvetica - Has definitely replaced my native "phone" app. Firstly, I don't use my phone too much for actual calls and talking so I don't need to constantly use the "phone/contacts". However when I do need to make a call Dialvetica knows who I call the most and lists them first with all of their contact information. This way it is extremely easy and quick for me to pull up one of those contacts to call, e-mail or text.

TweetBot - I used to use the regular Twitter app just until a few days ago. I'm currently testing this app out because I wanted a change of pace. I'll probably know within a week or so if this app is a keeper for Twitter...I use it quite a bit so I need something that I actually like!

The other pages have:

2nd Page:

IM+ for cross platform instant messaging.
AT&T Navigator for GPS -- I love this app even though it costs me monthly.
Calculator because I'm # challenged.
Farenheit since I always want to know the temp and love how it shows it in a flag on the front of the icon.
App Store just because I'm such an app addict.
Optimum is my cable provider and I love that I can watch TV from the app, manage my DVR and use my phone as a remote via WiFi.
Capture as a video recording program.
Settings since I use settings quite a bit.

The third page has all of my folders which I name with verbs instead of other titles. I use titles such as "work", "photograph", "listen", "watch", "shop", "organize", etc... I feel it makes me more productive for some reason! I also have a folder for apps that I am currently testing and a folder for the native iPhone apps that I barely ever use. :)

I love that my phone is organized, it makes me feel like I have at least one thing under control in my life.

How do you organize your phone? What are some of your favorite apps?

Santa was good to my girls this year.

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 01:41:00 +0000

When I left my house to go to see Les Mis last night it was snowing like crazy. As much as I hate snow I was extremely excited since it was Christmas Eve. There's just something about snow on Christmas Eve/Christmas that makes it really feel like the Holidays. I was hoping the snow would stick a little, enough for us to have a white Christmas but by the time I got out of the movie theater the snow had turned into rain.

The girls were sleeping on the couch when I got home so I carried them each to my bed. Alayna was perfectly fine and still asleep when I put her in her bed but Olivia was scolding hot. I had a feeling that she had a pretty high fever so I put her in bed and got a thermometer. Turns out I was right, she had a 102 temperature and refused to take Tylenol for me until I dissolved the meltaway on a spoon for her. She went back to sleep and woke up again 10 minutes later crying that she didn't feel good... That went on for about 2 hours. Finally at 5:30 AM she was asleep soundly, her fever seemed to be down a little bit and I was able to make sure that Santa put the presents under the tree.

Olivia and Alayna woke up about an hour later and shook me awake to open presents. Keep in mind, I only had an hours worth of sleep and was falling asleep while the presents were being opened. However I stayed awake enough to take a few pictures of my girls opening presents.

They made out like little bandits! They got a Fisher Price Serving Surprises Table, pretend food, Alayna got a guitar & Olivia got a keyboard, Journey Girl dolls, Play Doh, games, craft sets, dollhouse furniture and so many more goodies that we can't wait to play with together! After opening presents Olivia asked if she could go back to bed and not play with her toys until later; that's when I really knew she was sick. She usually wants to rip open everything and play with it right then and there.

After presents we prepared for my uncle and grandma to come, just our usual small family get together, for dinner. We had a great Christmas despite Olivia being sick. I still have no idea where we are going to stick all of these new toys but we now have an excuse to put together the second bookcase that we've had in a box for about 4 months! :) I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve to everyone!

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 23:22:00 +0000

'twas the night before Christmas and all through our house,

Cookies were baking the scent was so grand,

Kiddies all dressed in their PJs by the tree,

Ready for later that night & Santa Claus to land.

Merry Christmas to all our readers! Dinner is done, the alarm for the cookies just sounded, we are off to put the cookies and carrots on a plate with a nice glass of milk for Santa and Reindeer! My little elves will be off to bed soon, anxious for Santa's arrival tonight! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas Eve with their families!

From our family to yours. :)

Pre-Christmas Adventures with our Family!

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 17:11:00 +0000

Due to my new job (that I have been at for almost 3 months now!) and my mom, kids and I being sick, we were pretty late on doing everything Christmas this year. I didn't get to do my Black Friday haul but still got my shopping done by budgeting $100 every week for my kids, family and friends presents. I think I did pretty well with what I had and have no complaints at all. Our tree (shown above!) was put up the weekend after Thanksgiving but we did not get around to decorating the tree or the house until just two weeks ago. We went a little overboard this year getting decorations done...I mean putting a Christmas toilet seat topper on the toilet and a Christmas rug in the bathroom.

Next came Olivia's 5th Birthday & Party on Dec. 21, 2012. I couldn't believe my little princess turned 5, it was so hard to accept that she was another year older because she is my little baby! (And she will ALWAYS be!) We had her party at Michaels Arts & Crafts with just a few of her friends from Pre-School. The party went over extremely well, even though we only had 3 other girls aside from my two! Olivia had so much fun and couldn't stop talking about her big girl party! We all made foam Gingerbread Houses in honor of Christmas, which was right around the corner! I also took some time out of my morning to make Snowman cupcakes for her party, which turned out adorable!

We didn't get to see Santa until yesterday, the day before Christmas Eve and boy was there a line. We waited for about an hour and 45 minutes to see Santa at the mall, but that hour and 45 minutes was so worth it when my girls got up to see him! They told him what they wanted for Christmas and Olivia got to tell Santa that her birthday had been just a few days before. She was super excited when Santa said, "Happy Birthday!" to her. The picture came out great and I also snapped one really quickly on my phone as well!

After meeting Santa we ran over to mail our letters at Macys. This was especially important to Alayna since every letter that's "mailed" is a donation to the Make A Wish foundation. Alayna has a best friend that has been in the hospital in Philadelphia for almost an entire year. He needs a heart and kidney transplant and so far has had no luck, but he is part of the Make A Wish foundation and that cause has become very dear to my 7 year old's heart because of her best friend.

So today I got a bit of last minute wrapping in when the kids were still asleep and I am in between doing some cooking for tomorrow and getting ready to bake cookies for Santa. Tonight I'm going to be seeing Les Miserables with one of my friends at the movies so I want to make sure I get everything done with my girls and get them into bed before I leave! Santa will be here before we know it and I'm sure he'll leave lots of presents for my girls -- they've been good this year. (We won't talk about the times they weren't!)

Merry Christmas Eve to all of you!

Mommy Gone Crazy -- Where's my sanity?

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 20:04:00 +0000

This is my day after I leave work today.

I usually work until 4pm with my day job and get home by 4:30pm, I work about 30-35 minutes away from where I live. Today I have absolutely no free time at all today, not even after 11:30 when I finally get home from finishing shopping.

A few weeks ago I found out that I have a leak in my air valve on my front passenger side tire and it keeps losing air. I finally just put electrical tape around the air valve, it did help, but when it rains it looses it's sticky and it starts losing air more rapidly again. The only time I can get to the dealer is on Saturdays and they have no time until after Christmas to see me. Finally, I called Firestone and asked if they can do anything for me. Thankfully they said that they can replace the air valve for me instead of the whole sensor -- but my air pressure light will still be on my dashboard. Who cares about the damn light, I just don't want to have to constantly fill my damn tire with air every other day! I set up an appointment at 4:40pm for that, directly after I get home.

Yesterday my oldest, Alayna, woke up with a fever, horrible cough and very scratchy throat. I figured it was just a 24 hour thing and gave her Tylenol while she stayed home from school. Optimism is definitely my thing because I thought she would be better this morning. WRONG! She still had a fever this morning and felt even worse so I kept her home again and made a doctors appointment for her at 5:15 today. Now I have to run home from Firestone after that is done, get Alayna, my mom and Olivia and go to the doctors office. Why do I have to bring them all with me? I have a job interview at 5:45 with H&R Block.

For the past 7 years I have worked seasonally at H&R Block as a receptionist and this year will probably be no different. Yes, I do have a day job but unfortunately I need a second job to help catch up on the bills we were late on when I was unemployed. I figure that this seasonal job (jan-april) will help with paying those bills down so we are current on all of our bills. Right now we don't have too much leeway with money after paying bills and I wish we had some extra. So basically I have to leave my mom and the girls at the pediatrician's office while I run to the interview and then pick them back up.

After that (bored yet?) I have to finish Christmas shopping, I'm going out with one of my friends for a few hours of sanity tonight and then come home and make:

18 Christmas bags for Alayna's class
22 Christmas bags for Olivia's class
22 Birthday/Christmas cupcakes for Olivia's birthday tomorrow. (Class)
15 Birthday/Minnie Mouse cupcakes for Olivia's birthday party tomorrow night
15 Goody bags for Olivia's birthday party tomorrow night

I also have to prep her Birthday activity for her party since we are having a bunch of 4-5 year old making foam gingerbread houses at the party. I'm going to be up until probably 3 am doing all of this and I don't know how I'm going to do it. Nobody better bother me tomorrow, I'm sleeping for as long as I can before I have to do a million more things....

My Experience with Being an Adoptee.

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 13:45:00 +0000

Twenty-Seven years ago I was adopted at just a month and 2 days old. My mom has always told me the story of how she got the phone call from Pat, her case worker, and how I was brought home on a very rainy April 19, 1985. I have been asked so many questions in my lifetime about being an adopee, from those who are curious about the whole situation. Because of that, I thought that I would address them here for anyone who is also curious.

"Can I ask an adoptee questions?"

It depends on the person and how open they are about being adopted. I always welcome questions from others and never felt shame about being adopted. I actually feel incredibly special because I had two mothers who loved me enough to give me a great life that I may not have otherwise had. I love to educate others on what it's like to be an adoptee.

Different Types of Adoptions

It seems as though some people don't know there are different types of adoptions. My adoption was a closed adoption, meaning that my parents had absolutely no contact with my biological parents and didn't even know who they were. All my mom knew was the very vague and small amount of information she received from the adoption agency. She also receive some "Non Identifying Information" which is a small document with basic health and general information about my biological family.

There are also open adoptions which became more of the norm in the 1990's. This means that the adoptive and biological parents know each other and are allowed to share information about the child. They are even able to get together with the child a few times per year, based on the legal agreement with the adoptive family. I think this is a great option since the adoptees get to know about their biological family, why they were adopted and have access to all of their health information.

"Do you know your real parents?"

My "real parents" are the parents that adopted me. Giving birth to a child makes you a mother and a father, yes, but not a "mom" and a "dad". The love, nurturing and caring though the years makes real parents. That is something that birth parents cannot do no matter how much they love their biological child.

"Do you ever want to meet your biological parents?"

I met my biological mom and siblings back in 2003. The adoption agency who placed me assisted in the search but I also hired a private investigator who specialized in adoption reunions to find another adopted sister.

All my life I had dreamed about how my reunion would be and when it finally happened, it was nothing like what I imagined. I felt very let down and actually did regret the reunion for a few months. I felt like the imagining was better than the actual outcome. My biological mom was very quiet and never said that she loved or missed me, which is what I wanted her to say. Now, almost 10 years later, I am thankful for the opportunity I had to meet her. My biological mother and grandmother passed away in May and June of this past year and even though I never got a chance to know them too well and ask questions that I still had, I am grateful for the times I had with them. I will always admire my biological mother for having the strength to give me a better life.

"Do you ever wish your biological parents would have kept you?"

While I do wonder what it would have been like to stay in that family, no. I don't wish they would have kept me at all actually. Meeting them and hearing how tough their lives were made me feel more thankful for what I actually had growing up. I am thankful to my (adoptive) mother for giving me everything that my biological family wouldn't have been able to give me.

"Why were you given up for adoption when other siblings weren't?"

Believe it or not I have been asked this quite a few times. I have a 32 year old brother and a 30 year old sister that my biological mom kept. My other sister is 29 and I am 27. My biological mother placed me and my older 29 year old sister. Why? Thankfully when I found out I had siblings I also found my non identifying information that explained to me what happened. My birth parents were unmarried and my birthmom decided to try to parent the two older siblings. When my sister and I were born, unfortunately, she didn't have the means to take care of all of us. She decided to give my sister and I a better life. The one thing I have never been clarified on is why they separated my older sister and I. Both my mom and her mom said they signed papers saying that they are willing to accept other siblings from the same birthmom but my sister's mother never got a call about me. That's the one question I have that has gone unanswered for years.

What's with the Elf on the Shelf craziness?

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 14:26:00 +0000

My 7 year old came home from school one afternoon and asked me if I could buy an “Elf on the Shelf” elf. I was actually surprised she even knew what it was since she is one of the most selectively deaf children on the face of the planet – but anyhow… I thought about it for a few minutes, knowing how much parents rave about the tradition, but dismissed it. Why? I can barely remember to grab my laptop bag when I’m off to work in the morning. There are days I completely forget about activities and constantly have to use a “reminders” app on my phone to remind myself of anything. How was I going to remember to move a little elf around every single day? My dismissal wasn't due to lack of creativity – I could definitely think of creative places to put the elf, I just didn't have the time…or the memory. (I suffer from a very bad case of CRS – Can’t remember shit.)

Long story short, I felt like a horrible mother for not wanting to start this tradition. Especially since we had an elf for our decor (somewhere) that looked almost exactly like Elf on the Shelf that we used to have up when I was a child. (Saving me $30…) I felt like maybe I was the only mother in the entire modern world who did not have an Elf on the Shelf tradition to carry on with my children every year. Well, yesterday I got an e-mail about a blog by a mom named Jen from the blog “People I Want to Punch in the Throat” and I was rolling on the floor hysterically laughing. Though she has an Elf on the Shelf, this mom suffers from CRS as well and makes me feel so much better about my reasons not to have one at this point.

Next year I may break down and use our elf or buy a new Elf on the Shelf for my girls. Unfortunately, it’s too late to start it now, but it might be fun. Maybe I’ll make a New Year’s Resolution to actually exercise my brain, even though it would be hard! (I’ve been forgetful all my life and becoming a mommy just made it worse.) It would be a cute tradition to start with my girls that they could carry on when they get older and maybe this little damn elf WILL keep my kids in check. (Lord knows they need it!) I love to jump on those damn bandwagons, why not the Elf on the Shelf one as well!

Do you and your family have an Elf on the Shelf? Do you get super creative or slack off and forget to move him?

What do you think about getting a child a computer?

noreply@blogger.com (Krissy) — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 19:09:00 +0000

My oldest daughter just turned 7 in October and for over two years she has been heavily into computers. At age 5 she asked me to show her how to use the computer to play games and I obliged. After all, this is the age of technology and I feel the more kids understand it the better off they are.

For the past two years she has had 30 minutes a day after school to use my computer and play the games she wants to play, which I have absolutely no problem with. However, this year she asked me if Santa could bring her a laptop just for herself. After thinking about it and deciding that I could splurge on a small Netbook for my daughter, I set off to look for the perfect laptop for a 7 year old that will last, be easy for her to use and something that can grow with her.

I am on various discussion boards aimed at moms and asked around to see if anyone knew of laptops that would be perfect for my little girl. I got some great ideas but also a lot of people who told me, basically, that I am spoiling her and handing everything to her on a silver platter. Then I also got the parents who decided upon themselves, without knowing me, that I’m not watching what my daughter is doing on the computer and I have to be careful. First of all, I may be 27 years old but I know how to parent thank-you-very-much. I am 100% aware of what my daughter does on the computer and implement the correct parental controls so she does not see things she shouldn’t see. I feel very confident that my daughter knows what is right and what is wrong but I also watch what she is doing when she is on the computer.

Kids in our school district began using computers in Pre-School and it continues all the way up to 8th grade. Both of my daughters have computer classes to learn the important skills that will be needed in the future. Computer skills are absolutely vital these days because of the wealth of information that they can learn from websites. I grew up learning how to use a computer and now have a day job working all day on a computer, I know the importance of learning the skills and using the computer. I am a very technologically savvy mom and want my kids to do the same. I’m not trying to spoil them, I want them to learn to be independent, gain computer skills and be able to look something up when they have a question. I believe it is important for them to learn problem solving skills via the internet and I will always push that. Of course, I will also always monitor them to make sure that they are making the correct decisions online and will take appropriate action if any of my rules are broken.

What do you think about getting a 7 or 8 year old a laptop?