Ask Momma Wednesday #7

I find it hard to believe that the last time I posted was for LAST week's Ask Momma Wednesday...but ok, here goes!

My question is also about money (see Nomie's post). Health insurance - When I had our son, I was working full time and had my own insurance, which had fantastic coverage. We didn't pay a dime for the actual care or delivery. Once that business closed, and I became self employed, i went on my husband's insurance. Right from the get-go, it was WAY more expensive and covered less! Now we're thinking of #2, and the rates have gone up once again, leaving us with a tough decision. I can't get insurance elsewhere, I've looked & searched & tried. So, we've decided to go for a high deductible plan for the birthing year because the overall costs will be less...but my question is how to save for the upfront costs? We have enough trouble month to month getting by as it is, I don't know how do deal with this new loop.

What ways do you cut back on expenses or save on current ones?

Ask Momma Wednesday #6

It's that time of the week again! Welcome to all of you who are checking out my blog!

Here's the button link: (please go check Nomie's page for details)



And here's my question: How much juice do/did you allow your toddler to drink?

I try to limit it, especially after this summer's scare of lead in many popular juices (organic & non organic). Being as my boy's fave wasn't on the list, I ended up getting some again at some point and we're back in the rotation of having juice each day. I don't give it to him straight, he has it watered down, and he definitely tends to drink more when there's even the slightest flavor in his cup. At his 18 month appt in june, we saw a different doctor, who wrote juice up as a "stupid thing parents give their kids to fatten them up", which is not at all my point, but it made me feel awful! What do you parents of toddlers do with juice, and if your kids are older, what did you do when they were little?

Thanks as always!

One Lovely Blog award

I received the One Lovely Blog award from Life of this SAHM Thank you Tracy!



On to the rules for accepting this award...


1. Accept the award. Post it on your blog with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2. Pay it forward to 15 other bloggers that you have newly discovered.

3. Contact those blog owners and let them know they've been chosen.

So, onward!

1. Nomies 3 Monsters

2. Only the Curious

3. Bird in a Tree Creations

4. Forever and Yesterday

5. humboldt cherry

6. Mommy Katie

7. Randomness of a Cloth Diaper Addict

8. Simply Bug

9. Mommy Made Green

10. Lolly Jane Boutique

11. Eclectic Effervescence

12. This Beach Town Family

13. Traci66

14. Sueberry Lane

15. Take it From Me

Ask Momma Wednesday #5

Please go check out Nomie's 3 Monsters for the details of this hop!

Ok, so here is my third week of this hop - and I'm honestly having trouble finding a question! But here we go:

We're trying for number two now - and while I'm extremely excited and ready to be pregnant again (not yet, just looking toward the future), I'm also nervous about how to handle a toddler while going through the possible sickness I went through with him. Just as a bit of background, I was sick for 24 weeks, as in the all day/all night kind of sick. My middle of the night bathroom trips were double duty pee/puke.

Now that I've got your attention, for those of you who have 2 kids or more, and experienced any kind of sickness though pregnancy, how did you deal with the subsequent pregnancies while caring for a little one???

Reiki giveaway!

Well! Now that I've reached & surpassed the 25 followers I asked for earlier this summer, it's time to start the Reiki giveaway!

What is Reiki? You can check my earlier post here to see a little bit. As I have noted on that post, even if you aren't near me you can still enter, as Reiki works regardless of time & space. If you live in the Catskill mountain region and are willing/able to travel to Woodstock, the winner will receive a free one hour Reiki session with me at Woodstock Integrative Health. If you are not able to come to Woodstock, the winner will receive 4 fifteen minute distance sessions, scheduled between us ahead of time. Winner must be 18 or older and will be chosen at random.

To enter: just follow me and leave a comment below that you do follow - be sure to leave your email if it's not easy to find in your blogger account.

Extra entries? (1 entry per comment)

~ spread the word! tell your friends via facebook, blog, etc. and leave the link in a comment.

~ send a friend directly & have them say you sent them in a comment.

~ comment on another post in this blog.

~ grab my button & place it on your blog. leave the link in a comment. :)


This giveaway will run until September 25th at 11:59pm.

Thanks!!!

Greenish Me Mama

Frustrated at the fact I needed to use mama cloth this month, I quickly realized I didn't even have enough to get through the first few days without washing laundry every day as I have in the past. So, I sat down and created a couple of patterns and voila! I'm so happy with what I've made! Definitely going to get these up on etsy, though I know there is an abundance of mama cloth out there already. Can't help it!

Joining in on some blog hops!

Head on over to Graphic Design by Tara & check out her Weekend Blog Hop! Have fun & good night!

:)

Just adding another [few] links here -

New button!

Thanks to Tara from Graphic Design by Tara, I've got a new button to show & share. I've got to give her a plug, too, because she was great! So easy to work with and completed the job very quickly (as in today). Furthermore, I really had no idea what I was doing & she managed to get it right. So, thanks Tara!

Welcome Wednesday

Now participating in:

Ask Momma Wednesdays

It's Wednesday again & time for a blog hop! This hop is hosted by three lovely ladies now! Please go to all of their blogs and check out what they have to say. Remember to follow them, too! Also - you can check the rules (please!) at nomie's blog by following the button below.



Nomies 3 Monsters
Traci66
Perfectly Imperfect


As for me, For those of you who stay home or work part time, how often do you get your kids together with friends?

When T was smaller, it was a lot easier to find time to gather with buddies and enjoy time to play, but now that he's nearing two, and NEEDS more of that, I just can't seem to get myself together to find many play dates! I feel like my life has gotten so hectic and when there is spare time, he needs a nap. Some weeks seem to be better than others, and we can get together with buds a couple of times during that week. Other times, he's stuck with me!

(adding this part a little later - thought I'd mention that I teach most mornings & evenings, so we're often left with little awake time in the middle of the day.)

What do you do to ensure your little ones get good friend time in?

Cloth Diaper Awareness

This post is part of Cloth Diapering Bloggers’ and Dirty Diaper Laundry’s Cloth Diaper Carnival VIII: Cloth Diaper Awareness. Please visit the other bloggers participating by following the links at the end of this post.




What to do to expand cloth diapering awareness? For a while, I didn't do much in this area at all. While I have been CDing my son since he was a week old, I didn't think to push it or even talk about it with other mamas. As I left the diaper service we started out with, and began washing my own stash, I felt my love for cloth begin to grow. Then the questions started around me: Is it hard to keep up with? Doesn't the pail stink something terrible? Wow, those diapers are different, what are they? and I felt myself wanting to talk about cloth more & more.

Fast forward 19 months...a friend admitted to me she wanted to CD her second child, who was due shortly after that, but didn't think she could afford the start up costs. She hadn't used cloth with her first because her family rents a small apartment without a washer & dryer, and it was enough to tote their clothing to the laundromat each week. Soon, they will be moving into a small house - laundry equipped. Right before her daughter was born, she put out the question of whether anyone had ever made their own diapers, and was it worth the work?

That was all I needed to hear to get myself behind my own sewing machine. I've been wanting to make my own diapers for a while, but needed the real incentive. After all, my boy has quite a stash already! This put me on a mission, which I found to be extremely fun & satisfying!!! Then I started posing my creations on facebook & had a bunch of recognition, and a few people asking me for specifics as well as some telling me that somewhere along the lines of T's life, I had already convinced them to use cloth should they ever have a child. All of that said - I think we should be doing nothing short of putting up billboards advertising the savings of cloth! There are so many advantages to cloth, I see no reason not to use them. Well, the only one I do see is if you HAVE to use a laundromat. I had several issues with my diapers after washing them in a shared machine a few times. Those icky detergents & fabric softeners just don't rinse out of machines they way they should!

Another idea I briefly looked into was to host cloth diaper parties. I received some info on the matter, but couldn't afford those start-up costs at this point in our lives, so it's been put to the side for the time being. Maybe I'll get something of my own together like that someday in the not too distant future.

I am really interested to see what others have to say on this matter, and I hope you do too! Please check out the other links at the bottom of this post, and feel free to post any comments below!

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From scratch

I've read it and heard it in so many places, but to watch my boy time & time again enjoy something so much as a home grown fruit or veggie, well, it just makes me giggle with delight! It started with our strawberries - he wouldn't touch them earlier this year, made a face at the sight of one. But the moment he saw me pick one from the vine and put it in my own mouth, he turned from no way to every day. Each morning those glorious last weeks of May, we would go outside & he would ask for "oash"- which vaguely translates to strawberry, of course. Now, as soon as he sees anything remotely close to a berry in the store or at home he exclaims, "shhhrabewy!"

Now that we're nearing autumn, there's a different crop. He's grown accustomed to picking tomatoes and cucumbers. While he's still not fond of raw tomatoes, he loves to hold them and tell me all about them. Cucumbers, on the other hand, are another of his delights. This afternoon we picked one and he immediately took it from my hands and walked for the next hour munching on it. Dinner is served.

Ask Momma Wednesdays

Hi everyone! This is my first Ask Momma Wednesday - I'm glad to join up in this hop.

This hop is hosted by nomies3monsters & here are her playing rules:

I do have a few simple requests:

1. Follow me, your hostess and #2 spot!!

(Just let us know you follow us so we can answer your question and follow you back!)

2. Please only link up the post on where you have the questions and/or comments (that you have posted within the week: Wednesday-Wednesday) you’d like other Mommas to answer/comment.
3. NO giveaway links! There are plenty of giveaway links out there. If you need help finding some great ones, just ask and I'll help ya out!

4. No spam please. These will be removed.

5. It would be wonderful if you are linking up this week if you could add this button to your sidebar or in a post to help spread the word! :) The more people that join, the more fun it will be!

6. When you follow someone, please answer the questions or comment on the post they have linked up. In other words, a relevant comment(s) :o) But also let them know you follow them!

7. Please keep the sites and posts PG-13. I know I have kids that like to hover sometimes and well, they just don't need to see that kind of stuff! (If you don't know what I'm talking about, no worries!)

This hop is not meant to break anyone down! The rule your momma taught you:
“If you don’t have anything nice/helpful to say, don’t say it at all”
applies here.

This is a new list every Wednesday, so please remember to come back and link up!

Spread the word and help other Mommas out!

MOST IMPORTANT:

Have fun!!

As for today - WAHM's - How do you manage to do your work with little ones around?

I'm new to the work at home scene - and while I've attempted to do bits & pieces of this in the past, I've never truly succeeded because of the nature of life with a kid - and I only have one! So, it's sewing at naptime & bedtime for me. Does anyone else have a suggestion for helping keep my son happy while I'm at the machine - even if it's just for an hour?

Follow me & let me know so I can go answer your question! Thanks and happy blogging!!!