Clomid Debate: He Says/ She Says

Headband and dress $21 Sumos Sweet Stuff

He says/ she says this week submitted by Tara. Not me, don't worry!

She Says: "We've been trying a year, we should try Clomid."

He Says: "I don't want twins."

What say ye?

Thinking aloud

Have you ever had something come to you and you can't get it out of your head? Something you've really wanted to do? A goal you've had? In the past I guess graduating college, starting my career and having a baby were some of these things, but between all of that, there's been something else lingering in the back of my mind.

It started with a dream. I have very vivid dreams every single night. Most of the time I remember them. I've though of keeping a dream journal but haven't seen the point as when I wake up and tell my husband, mom--or whoever will listen about the dream I had, I usually end up feeling stupid about it, and wonder where the heck my slumber thoughts are coming from. The funny thing is they make so much sense to me when I'm in them, but when I wake up an explain it, I sound like a lunatic.

Well a few years ago I had a weird dream and told several people about it. I thought if I could build upon it, it could even make a good book. I sat down and wrote a few pages then gave up and started on new things. This blog being one of them.

But this dream and book idea has been in the back of my mind for years now. I've always thought it would be so neat to write a book someday. If only I had something good to write about. A good idea. I've thought of somehow transforming my blog into a book but I know so many people who do that--Or try to do that, and I honestly don't know why anyone would want to pay to read my blog in book form. Besides, right now I'm more interested in fiction.

I don't think I'm a great writer. I write for my job but it's so different than fictional writing and so more conversational and elementary. I don't have the skills to write something that could be published someday, but I still think trying (to write, not get published) would be fun to do.

Before having my daughter I dabbled with the idea of applying to graduate school for creative writing. My company has excellent benefits and would even pay for it. Now isn't the time to start a graduate degree, but I did find a creative literature class as a local community college and am considering signing up in the near future. I think it would be such a fun way to explore this passion that's been burning inside me for a while. Even if nothing big ever comes from it, I love to learn and I think the casual no-pressure experience of a class for fun could be good for me, and a good escape from my wife/mom duties. Some nice alone time.
I don't know.--I don't know if this is something I'll really do. I'm just thinking aloud.

"We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better." -J.K. Rowling

What I'm Making Monday: Food (Can you freakin' believe it?)

If I had to choose my punishment and my two options were either getting punched in the stomach or cooking for a week, I'd get it over with and take the hit.--Because the pain wouldn't last as long.

Cooking is a form of domestic torture for me, but I've challenged myself to take it like a woman and just do it.

Last year a company called E-Mealz approached me about trying their program out. You sign up and get a three-month subscription for menus to the grocery store of your choice, and you get a PDF each week with a grocery list of items, plus a corresponding menu that goes with it, and directions on how to cook it. All on two pages. Each week groceries for my family cost about $41 or less. Mind you these are dinner menus (entree and side), not including breakfast and lunch, but since it was just the two of us, I figured we'd have leftovers and that it was a good deal.

I got a free month subscription and printed out the menus (I really wish they emailed these things cause it's hard for me to remember each week) but never used them to shop and cook with. I lost the menus and forgot about the website.

... Until about a month ago when I was realizing Lil' J wants to eat EVERYTHING I eat, and it's probably not the best to be giving her my french fries and frozen burritos. I was desperate, and tired of cooking spaghetti. My time is up. I need to cook and I need to learn NOW.

I searched through my emails and reunited myself with the website. I paid the $15 for a 3-month subscription and printed out the menus for the current week and the previous week.

I looked them over to see what I'd be making and shopping for the next day. None of the meals on the menu were things I had made before (or heard of). GULP.

The next day we packed up the baby and headed to the grocery store. I gave my husband a portion of the list to shop for and promised to do the rest. Now the nice thing about the way the shopping list is set up is that it breaks it down by area of the store: Produce, Meat, Dairy, etc. So I'm not walking back and forth across the store getting another item from the area I just left. It also says the price of each individual item so if all else failed I could look at prices before the item name to find a match. If only they had what isle number each item was in, then I'd be SET!

Anyway, sadly, even though it's near-fool proof, it till was still a little difficult for me.

"Yellow squash" I read from the list. I walked around and around and around the produce section looking for it but I couldn't find it anywhere! I actually didn't even know what it looked like. Luckily, I had my iPhone (thank goodness for Google images), and a store clerk who were able to rescue me and direct me to this foreign food.

"Nutmeg," I read a ways down the list later. I had never heard of this before and had to phone a friend aka "twitter" to figure out what it was and where it should be. After the swallowing the sticker shock for a simple spice ($6, are you kidding me?!) I was about done with my first week of shopping.

The first dinner I made was four cheese pasta. Except I made it with three cheeses because we didn't have the staple "Parmesan" cheese that was left off the shopping list. I noted to myself to check out what the staple items were next time because unless it was bananas, cereal, or Cheetos, we probably didn't have it.

I wasn't expecting to like this dinner because it had spinach in it and I don't like spinach, but I really couldn't taste it. My husband liked it too and even ate the leftovers the next day! Lil' J of course liked it as well. Here she is eating that sneaky squash.

 A few nights later I tried making another menu item--Some kind of hashbrown casserole. It had mushrooms in it, which my husband doesn't like so I only put it on my half. I LOVED this!
Neither item took very long for me to make, and on days where I forget to pop something in the slow cooker, these meals were easy to do last minute, plus I had already bought the grocery items for them.

I just went shopping for another week of groceries and now our freezer is full of meat, and things I haven't made yet but I've promised to cook at least three or four nights this week. My husband has offered to help too. We are both learning together so hopefully there will be a few things he likes to make and a few things I like to make.

My plan is to circle/star the menu items we really like during our three month subscription, and save those in our recipe box, then X the ones we don't like. But for now, we're open to trying anything.

Creating a shopping list and looking for groceries I've never had to buy before has been a bit scary but it's getting a little easier each week. I wanted to share this for my first What I'm Making Monday: COOKING ADDITION! Hopefully there will be many more in the future.


If you want to give E-Mealz a try check it out! My readers can get 10% off by using the code "BMM" at checkout. Everyone who comments on this post before Tuesday the 5th will be entered to win a free 3 month subscription. Also, check out their blog: MakeTimeForFamily.org for more tips. Winner will be announced on my facebook page.

I'm on a craft kick tihs week so be ready for What I'm Makin Next Monday, and link up if you make something you'd like to share! I'd love to see it!

365 Love Letters Week 12

My daughter is (half) asleep in my arms as I type this one handed. I get a little lonely at night sometimes when I finish editing these photos. I stare at picture after picture of my daughter and get strangely excited for her 1 am feeding so I can see her squishy cheeks in person again, and kiss them.  She wouldn't let me put her back down so here I am, finishing this post one handed. But I can't get mad cause her smile in these photos are so sweet.

Another week of letters. I'm having more fun with these each day. Advice gets hard sometimes but something usually comes to me by the end of the day. Big thanks to Rachael for suggesting Day 84's advice! I love that quote. I'm am saving your other suggestions to give to Lil' J as I continue these.

Anne Geddes' people sent her new book to my job. I saw it up for grabs and snatched it up. It's inspired me to try to get more creative with my photos. I hope to have one funky/cute/creative photo to add to the mix next week.

My favorite photo this week is Day 81.I loved her expression, her cute hat, and the bright sky. The love letter is a bit cliche but oh so true!

Thanks again for letting me share these with you! As a thank you, everyone who comments on this post before April 11th will be entered to win an Easter onesie from Tutus by Gayle. There's a photo example at the end of this post!

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Thanks for reading! Everyone who comments on this post before 4/10 will be entered to win a custom Easter onseies from Tutus by Gayle, between newborn and size 18-months. Use code "BABYMAKINGMAMA" to get free shipping. Friend her on facebook or twitter for an extra entry. Winner will be announced randomly drawn and announced on my facebook page.

Not paying for your kid's college doesn't equal debt

This post brought to you by Ashworth College. All opinions are 100% mine.

My friends at school were talking about their college funds. When they asked me how much I had in my savings account. Money wasn’t such a personal thing back then. Or at least we didn’t know it was. So when I got home I asked my parents how much was in my college savings account.

My mom chuckled. I was confused.

“Well?” I pushed.

“Nothing,” she told me.

“NOTHING?” I was shocked. My parents who had been drilling education and the need to go to college in me since I could talk had nothing saved for me? “How am I going to go to college then?” My eye began to water as I felt my dreams washing away.

“You’ll take out loans,” she told me so matter-of-factly.

Loans?

I let that word simmer in my mind for a while.

Years later I was in line waiting to go on stages for the Miss Teen Georgia Pageant (betcha didn’t know I was a pageant girl). I listened as they announced the reigning queen, and shared her achievements. That’s when I heard something that changed my life. The man over the microphone said she had applied and won enough scholarships to pay for her entire college degree, and books.

By this time I new scholarships existed, but I didn’t realized the extent that they helped. I worked hard to get good grades so I could go to college, and I had a fantastic GPA, but not the 4.0 I thought many academic scholarships wanted. I also didn’t realize how many independent scholarships were available.

You may remember my he says/she says from a few weeks ago discussing paying for our children’s college education. He says we should help our kids out and I say they can do it themselves.

Not paying for college doesn’t mean you expect your kids to take out tons and tons of loans and be in debt the rest of their lives. There are so many options. The GI bill, there are schools like Ashworth College , which are less expensive (by 50%) than other accredited online schools, grants and scholarships. It is possible to graduate without debt.

After hearing that announcement in that pageant I was determined to do that same. My senior year of high school I applied for scholarship after scholarship. A $500 scholarship here, a $1000 scholarship there. The good things was after writing a few scholarship essays I was able to recycle most of them for other awards I’d apply for.

Sadly, I didn’t win any. So I had to take out loans to pay for my books and living expenses that my grants didn’t pay for.

That next year I got married, and we were poor enough to get grants to pay for our school, and my husband’s athletic scholarship paid for our housing. We also worked part time, and full time in the summer to make ends meet.

I wrote for my college newspaper, and met others who had applied for and won journalism scholarships. By then I had started to realize the more specific the scholarship, the better.

We transferred schools where was husband wasn’t able to play collegiate sports. I created a resume and cover letter like I would for a job, and started applying for awards specific to my studies. I also visited my Universities’ multicultural office to inquire about other scholarships I could apply for. Based on my financial need and grades, I was able to obtain a full scholarship as long as I kept a 3.0 GPA, did service, and other requirements to stay in good standing.

I wasn’t satisfied yet. I was still working a couple of jobs to pay for our living expenses, and if I traveled for internships (which I planned to) I’d need money for that. I asked my professors and counselors if they knew of journalism scholarships I could apply for, and I worked with an adviser to perfect an application for an award I didn’t even know the amount of.

A month or so later the Dean of my college called me in to sit down and discuss the scholarship I had won--for $20,000. My mouth dropped. I was shaking when I called to tell my husband I had won an award that would more than pay for both of our college education.

That spring I went to a journalism convention as a volunteer and met scholarship winners who also were at the event for free. I picked up an application and tried to decide which to apply for. They ranged from $2,000 to $10,000 and I decided to go big or go home. Imagine my shock when I won again.

By then I had lost my need-based scholarship, but obviously I didn’t need it anymore. My last year I applied and won one more scholarship from a local television station, which helped pay for my internships and pay off the original loans we accrued.

I still worked through college to gain work experience (which also helped me to get the scholarships). I worked hard, and it paid off. I didn’t depend on my parents to pay for my schooling, and I didn’t need to take out loans and rack up mounds of debt.

I’m a strong believer in scholarships. So many companies and organizations offer scholarships to students. So many go unclaimed, and so many people don’t know how to find them. You don't have to skip out on saving for retirement to pay for your children's schooling. And they don't have to take out a mortgage to pay for loans. It doesn't matter what race you are, if you don't have a perfect GPA, or if you don't come from an affluent background. There are scholarships out there for everyone. I'd encourage those who are worried about saving for their student's schooling to work with their kids to find these, and improve their resume so they can win some of these awards that are out there.

That's what I plan to do with my daughter. And if we happen to save some money to help, well she's not going to know about it. Because I want her to work her butt off to earn the scholarship in my name. And if things go as I hope and she doesn't need it? Well, it would be a nice graduation present.

Plus, traditional Universities aren't for everyone. Ashworth College is 100% online, affordable, accredited and a great choice for obtaining a quality education They're now enrolling students using their Post 9/11 GI Bill education benefits. Military personnel and their families can now receive up to $13,500 for 36 months of education benefits. With Ashworth College offering tuition that is 50% less than the average accredited online school, benefits can go even further and leave extra for a spouse or dependent!

New Camera Lens: He Says She Says

Carter's Flower Bubble Sunsuit c/o Grandma- Thank you! :D Curly Hair Clippies from Walmart

He says: “Why do you need a camera lens that costs more than our TV?”

She says: “Why do you need fancy golf clubs that cost more than my lens?”

Plus, golf clubs can't capture moments like these!

What say ye?

Timing

Do I wish I had waited longer to have my daughter?

What would it be like had I not had my her when I did? Would I be in grad school? Working another job? Creating a better nest egg for my future children? Sometimes I don't even feel like I'm worthy enough to be her mom. Like it was selfish of me to leap so soon.

On the other hand, I don't even hear the pitter patter of my first child's feet along our floors, and sometimes I find myself already longing for more.

Very Baby Leggings c/o Agoo get 70% off by using code "cleanup70"

Moments after my daughter was placed into my arms my mother asked me if I was ready to do it all over again. Would you believe that I said yes? Maybe I wasn't physically ready, but I've wanted more since I realized how awesome just one was. Instantly my life was filled with purpose. It was like I was seeing the world with a whole new set of eyes. Everything was different, enhanced, and better.

The downside of this joy is timing. When you plan to have a child, you don't know when you'll be blessed with one. Right away? Years away? Months away? I had a feeling it would take a very long time but I was wrong. And now I feel like I've started a domino effect. Having one child starts a sequence of events if you want your children close together.

When are you having another?

When is it normal to ask that question? I know my sincere response "whenever" is anything but normal for most people with infants, but I don't know how to answer.

I didn't wait until everything was perfect and in line with the first but shouldn't I at least do that with the second?

It's as though my blog has come full circle with debating the when and how to operating the baby making machine switch. But I plan to do something different this time around.--Not plan.

I enjoyed our pre-parent time as much as I could but so much of the last bit of it was spent asking myself over and over and over when we'd begin the next part of our journey. I was looking towards the future and the present was passing me by. I won't do that to my daughter.

My maternity leave was the only time in my life I'd have with one child. One newborn to glue my butt on the couch with and pig out while watching TLC. That experience passed by in the blink of an eye and now I miss it.

I won't look back on these days and regret wondering about a number two. I'm going to spoil my daughter with light and love like no other. Because this is her time to shine, to have my full love and attention. Her time to be my one and only.

Before I know it today will be last year, and so I'm focusing on the present.

New look

Like my new digs? The new and improved Design Girl, aka Danielle Moss Graphic Design & Photography freshened it up for me. Figures the one time I dress my daughter in a plain onesie ends up being the one I love and using as my header. Something about her sweet innocence and genuine smile gets me though.

If you're looking to freshen up your blog you can get $10 off your deposit for a new design from her. Just tell her I sent you! Everyone who comments on this post before next Tuesday the 5th will be entered to win a free pre-made design of your choice. Leave a second comment with which pre-made you'd choose, or if you are/become a follower of her blog for an extra entry. You can also check out her cute personal blog while you're at it! Good luck!

365 Love Letters Week 11

I love her more and more every day and can't wait to share these with her. I already am in a way, but someday I hope she can look back and appreciate these words of wisdom and photos I've captured for her.

I appear in two photos this week and realized a little late that we're posing almost the exact same way. Self-portraits suck the creative juice out of me. I'll try harder next time.

I love my daughter's eyes and captured the best photo of one of my favorite expressions of hers. Wide-eyed. She reminds me so much of her dad with that look. Everyone always comments on her "big eyes" which is the first thing I noticed about her dad when I met him.

I'm starting to get myself into trouble not editing them all the night they were taken, a couple of these I may have jumbled up the order, but they're all this weeks photos. My favorite is probably Day 77 (or 74).

Thanks for letting me share these with you. And thanks for your suggestions of advice for her! I've put them on my list and I'll for sure be using them. Keep 'em coming!

If SHE can wear skinny jeans...

I was never a fan of skinny jeans. They just looked so tight and restricting. I've always been one to enjoy a pair of boot legs, or flairs. Lately the more I see them on people (mostly the women) the more I wish I could wear them.

They look so skinny.

I saw some skinny jeans (or jeggings, whichever you want to call them) for babies for $3 at Walmart and bought them in every color her size.

Walmart Jeggings: $3.50; Hair Bow c/o Mother Goose Collections

Even with her thunder thighs she looks so adorable in them. They're--dare I say--Flattering?

My eight month old has inspired me once again. I'm making a mini goal to get a pair for myself. My first pair of skinny jeans. I've never even tried them on! I've been too scared. But now I want to find the perfect pair. Preferably some that don't expose my pudgy postpartum stomach, give me a muffin top or a flat booty, and that don't cost $100. 

Express

Express is usually my go-to place for jeans so I guess I'll start there. Though I'll probably cry because the last time I bought clothes there I was at least two sizes smaller.

If anything, even if I don't look it, maybe they'll at least make me FEEL skinny. Even if they are size... Well, we won't go there.

Baby shower gift ideas

1. Sugar Sweet Baby Wrap: $40-$70

2. Rear view Carseat Mirror: $18

3. First Years Crib CD Player (or similar boom box for music): $40

4. Book of Bedtime Stories: $10-$20

5. Prenatal/ Postnatal Massage: $45-60

6. Hooded Towel(s): $10-$20

7.  Leapfrog Scout Dog: $19

8. Bumbo seat: $40

9. Gift Card: $ Your Choice (but remember Babies R Us has a bigger markup)

10. ?

A friend of mine asked for baby shower gift ideas for her best friend, so I whipped up a list of a few of my favorite things I got or bought soon after having Lil' J. All of these things I love so much. The Scout toy is for when they get a little older but they grow so fast and before you know it they're laughing at these things. The next thing I plan to buy here is this, because she LOVES them when we go other places.

I left off clothing stores because I think clothing is so personal and dependent on style. Since I'm getting emails asking about where I shop for Lil' J quite a bit, I'm going to be captioning the places I get Lil' J's clothes from under her photos with links from now on, so if you're wondering it'll be there.

I left #10 open because I was curious what you thought. What's an item you love?

Natural Family Planning: He Says, She Says

Look at Me Leggings c/o Agoo

*Angelically* She says: "If it’s meant to happen it’ll happen anyway."

He says: "If that’s the case it’ll happen despite multiple methods of birth control."

What say ye?

What was I thinking?

I hadn't seen Elizabeth in what felt like ages. We both had babies now. And they needed to meet.

We met for lunch a few weeks ago and made up for lost time. I brought her her baby shower gift I had bought forever ago--a baby wrap--And we caught up over tacos.

Our conversation spanned from postnatal yoga, to careers, husbands, and of course our babies. When it was time to go we promised each other we wouldn't go this long without meeting up again, and tentatively planned play dates for the near future. So when I got a text from her about getting together for anti-gravity yoga I knew it just had to involve babies. To be sure, I texted her.

"Let's do it. Sounds awesome, what is it?"

She texted me back saying it's yoga in sling-like hammock things. In my head I read "wraps" and "sling" and was like "woah, yoga with babies, score!"

She signed us up for a month of free classes every Monday at 6:30.

"PM right?" I asked her.

No. AM. Yikes!

When I got home to search for anti-gravity yoga and find out exactly what I had signed myself up for my jaw hit the floor. This is what we were going to do...

There are no babies in this picture. ADULTS in sling-like hammock things. OH!

Normally I don't like to do things on my day off without my daughter but I thought this experience would be good for me to have a bit of alone leisure time, and get a real workout. Plus it would be early and she wouldn't be awake yet.

The night before our class I slept in my yoga clothes and pre-programed my GPS to take me straight there in the morning. The less thinking I'd have to do when my alarm went off at that crazy hour, the better. I had worked until 11 that night, and watched an amazing episode of Big Love, so I was going to sleep late. And I knew I'd be hurting in the morning.

When my alarm went off I texted my friend to make sure she was still going. I didn't want to show up with four complete strangers if she decided to sleep in. She told me she was still game, so I slipped my shoes on and headed out the door.

When I got there the scene was as scary as I imagined. Silk cloth hanging from the ceiling in a small room with hard floors. There were six small hammocks. One for the instructor and one for each of the students.

We introduced ourselves. Four of the five of us were either my friend or a friend of my friend. I was glad she had recruited others to go in case I decided to bail out early, faking an injury.

Our instructor told us if we were pregnant, had high or low blood pressure, we shouldn't do the upside down exercises until we got a doctor's note. None of us were pregnant--or knew it, so we were all in the clear.

"Grab your sheet by the end and swing it back and forth," our instructor told us all. We watched as she wrapped her hands around the end of the sheet and jumped in. Then we each took turns doing it ourselves.

The first few poses involved wrapping the sheet around us and sitting or laying comfortably in the hammock. "This is nice!" I thought to myself. What a relaxing way to spend my morning. We went through the motions of getting used to moving the fabric, and it sliding beneath us, how to grasp it in our arms to move and stretch certain ways.

"Now grab your fabric and place it behind you at your hips," she said. Cool, I had that. "Now trust the fabric, you're going to flip over like this." I watched as she did a Lady Gaga move and once again my jaw dropped. I couldn't hold in my laughter. She wants me to do what? This is me we're talking about. The one who broke the floor during an attempt at chair dancing. I knew if I were to try this my face would wind up in pieces.

I watched as everyone else did it first. They looked graceful and natural. I thought for a moment. Did I really want to attempt this? Why did I sign that waiver saying I wouldn't sue if I died? I contemplated excuses, a bathroom break... Announcing indeed I am pregnant... then I thought how easy it is in postnatal yoga to sit out an exercise because "Oh, baby's gotta eat!"

All of this went through my head in a matter of seconds, when I decided I'd just do it. I closed my eyes, grabbed onto the fabric for dear life and flipped over.

Hanging upside down wasn't comfortable. Our instructor told us to breath and gave us all sorts of directions of things to do with our legs and hands but all I could think of was how my head was sure to explode at any moment... What if blood starts coming out of my ears?... Crap, I've gotta fart... My daughter is so weird for enjoying hanging upside down. And kids like to hang from the monkey bars? Why do they do it?

"Yea yea yea, breath, extend, blah blah blah, can I sit up yet?" I couldn't be the only one so uncomfortable hanging upside down.

After that I knew I could handle any part of this workout. But would you believe it got harder?

We did push ups with our legs extended--feet swinging (not intentionally) in the hammock with our arms on the ground. I realized I don't have any upper body strength when my arms gave way and I face planted into the cement floor. I couldn't help but laugh. I was falling apart. I wanted to say that I had just had a baby eight months ago--The reason for my inadequacy--but my friend had had her baby months after me and she was doing just fine.

I survived the rest of the class by the skin of my teeth. But really, I was just the comedic relief. I couldn't hold my laughter in as I watched everyone balance perfectly on one leg from my wobbly and stumbly point of view.

The woman next to me kept laughing at me too as I nearly grabbed her a few times to break my fall.

When it was finally over we laid straight back in our hammocks for a restoration pose--My favorite part of yoga. I thought to myself if I'd ever come back.

I didn't go a second time today. I'm far too sleep deprived this week, but I'm still registered for next week. Now that I'm mentally prepared for what's coming I may be able to try it again and not be such a whimp. Lawd knows I need some kind of workout to get fit again, and by golly I'm gonna do it. Even if that means impersonating Lady Gaga every now and then.

Here's an example of what we did. I did everything in this video minus a pose or two. NO LIE!

If you're brave enough (or stupid enough--I'm not sure which I am yet) to try it you can look here to see if there's a place near you that offers it! All I can say is good luck!

365 Love Letters Week 10

My iPhone photos are long gone. The good news is my photos are getting better. I've been getting a lot of questions about how I edit these. I use Photoshop, but you can add text to photos using many tools like Paint, or an online program called Picnik. The pro version is about $25 a year I believe. I use the free version when I'm not using photoshop.

This week I got back to the vision I had for these. A mixture of photos of my daughter and other random things I take photos of during the day. I'm trying not to get too cliche with my advice and give it all from the heart, and incorporating things from the day versus being general Day 69 is a good example of what I mean.

I also started creating a Blurb book to print these all in at the end of the year. It's going to be a pricey project but I think it'll be so worth it to have a hard-back version for me her. I may even see if there's a place I can get one of those 365 desk calendars printed with these on it to have next year. We'll see!

If you have any ideas of advice or photos for Lil' J, please share! I'll totally link you if I adapt your idea!

My favorite one this week was Day 71. My husband cooperated and let me take a photo of our hands for my photo today (he was tricked into the last photo). In a world that defines so many people by how they look or seem on the outside, I think that advice is pretty important.

I may go back to posting these on my facebook page daily this week. It gives me something fun to look forward to before bed. But it also keeps me up late, so we'll see.

Even going to the bathroom is hard

Why do moms always say how hard it is for them to go to the bathroom by themselves? Or take a shower? Seriously, is it that hard to leave your baby outside the bathroom door while you do your business? Yes, yes it is. Not only I can attest to this, so can my poor husband who watches her during the day. Showers and most bathroom breaks are reserved for when I get home and he can pass her on to me. I think this concept is something you can't quite get a grasp of until you're in the situation.

I used to be able to spend my bathroom breaks relaxing. Read a book, play angry birds, whatever. Now each time I take a potty break I'm trying to be faster than the last because just as I'm sitting down it's--STOP, DON'T PUT THAT IN YOUR MOUTH! Or, "It's ok, mommy's coming back" because she can't last 10 seconds without seeing my face.

This love letter earlier this week seemed so fitting because I don't know how many times I've gone to the bathroom only to find myself stranded with no TP. It sucks. And the worst part about it is knowing if only I had noticed the empty roll five seconds earlier I could have grabbed some from the closet.

It's easily resolved when my husband is home. I holler down to him to bring me a new roll. But when he's not home I've got some big decisions to make.

This debilitating circumstance is even worse since having a little one. I'm either racing the clock to relieve myself before she notices I'm gone, or trying to squat and play defense so she doesn't get into something she's not supposed to. It's not fun. And I can't tell you how many times I've resorted to using sheets from the paper towel roll we have sitting in our bathroom. Ouch. But it's better than nothing. Sorta. Why do we have paper towels in the bathroom but but we can't seem to replace the TP roll? Not a clue. I'd blame it on my hubby but I'm just as guilty.

I wonder if I had more toilet paper in my house this wouldn't happen. Right now White Cloud is selling their TP with 50% more, plus you can get $1 off  with this coupon so it averages out to dirt cheap.

I'm joining the White Cloud Roll-Volution because when you've gotta go, you need all the toilet paper you can get. Do any of these TP disasters look familiar? I've fallen victim to all of them, but if they should really add a fifth photo that looks like this...

Because sadly, toilet paper even gets eaten in my house.

Will I ever be able to use the bathroom in peace again? How soon? Five years? Ten years? To those without kids, enjoy your peaceful time on the throne while it lasts.

You can take a quiz to find out which suspect you live with on White Cloud's Roll-Volution page, where they're giving away $25 Walmart gift cards each day. Fan them on facebook and like them on Twitter for more fun and future giveaways too.

*I'm a White Cloud Blogger and am compensated for my time preparing this post. All opinions expressed are my own.

Abandoning the Shopping Cart: He Says She Says

(He sent me this photo from his phone while they were out, which is why she has no bow, and doesn't match.)

She returns with the baby after grabbing an item off their grocery list, and watches him push the cart toward the cereal isle. He parks the cart at the end of the aisle while he walks down to browse cereal.

She says: “Why do you just leave the cart there? Someone could take it.”

He says: “Why would someone want to take all of our stuff and buy it?”

What say you?

PS: I know the photo is misleading but he doesn't leave the cart with her IN IT (I hope). But when we're together he'll ditch it while I'm holding her, which drives me NUTS!

Let me introduce you to my cute camera bag and her friends

I've gotten some questions about what I use to take photos with and thought I'd share some of my tools. I'm not even close to a professional, in fact, my camera is the very basic DSLR, and less expensive than a lot of the cameras many moms are buying these days. I am attempting to focus much of my efforts on figuring out how to use my camera, different lenses, and how to edit my photos.

I recently bought a new lens for my camera and needed an upgrade for my camera bag. I wanted something cute and different. A lot of bloggers are reviewing a popular designer brand but her bags are $200 and up for not much padding and protection. Instead of trying to review one of those and get it for free I went ahead and bought a bag a friend introduced me to called Cheeky Lime. It's half the price of the popular designer bag but with more than twice the padding. Not to mention it's more my style. It even came with a cute camera charm.

A good camera bag is worth spending the money on, you want something that will protect your equipment. This bag has adjustable compartments and has no problem holding all of my gear: My camera, 2 light scoops, my macro lenses, prime lens, kit lens and Tamron lens. Plus my manual, wireless remotes/receiver, wallet, keys, and extra diapers (I only took my camera bag out to the kite festival this weekend and it fit all I needed).
 
This was my old camera bag. Sturdy, efficient. But I wanted something bigger and cuter.

So what do I use? My camera is a Canon Rebel XS. It's a basic DSLR, but I don't need a big fancy one with tons of settings that takes super huge photos for billboards because I'm not printing images that big. I also think my photos come out pretty well using the manual settings and doing any sharpening (if needed) in Photoshop.

The second lens I got after my kit lens was my 50mm prime lens. Its good for portraits and I used that lens 90% of the time before getting my Tamron lens. I love it because it takes great portraits of my daughter, but the prime means its a fixed focal length--Or doesn't zoom, so I have to back up a lot to get more of her in the frame. I have the 1.8 f-stop which is great for low-light situations and creating a blurry look in the background (or bokeh).

I decided to skip getting another prime lens for now and go for another zoom so I could get more of a wide angle if need be, but also take nice portraits, so I got a Tamron 28-75mm, with a 2.8 f-stop, so it still works great in low light, and creates great bokeh.It's also nice because with Lil' J moving so much now I can adjust zoom based on where she goes versus having to move each time. It also can focus with her being right up on my lens, which my 50mm can't do. But it still has the great focal length for portraits. I love it!

I don't have an external flash I use with my camera, I use Lightscoops indoors though, which bounces my camera's flash off my white walls and ceilings to give my photos a more natural look when the sun has gone down or there's low light.

My macro lenses make it so I can take extra close-up pictures with my Tamron lens. Think insects, flowers, small detail, etc. It's good quality for my type of photos. My macro shots with these lenses aren't going in magazines or anything but  they look great for my hobby use.

I have a .45 wide angle lens adapter for my 50mm, in case I want to use my prime, but get a full room photo for example, it creates a slight fisheye effect.

I use UV protectors and polarizers for each of my lenses. The polarizers to take the glare out of water and the skies bluer, and the UV protectors to protect the lenses from smudges and scratches. I also use lens hoods, which sorta do the same thing, I'll probably drop the filters soon.

I have a tripod and wireless remote/receiver to take self-portraits with Lil' J, like the first photo in this post. That's probably one of my favorite pieces of camera equipment. No more running back and forth.

I wanted to get a cute camera strap to match. So I got the Harper strap cover courtesy of Whitney from Little Miss Threads that matches my bag. It has a lens cap pouch to hold my cap while I'm shooting. Helpful since I've lost a few of them. The draw-string pouches that hold some of my camera equipment, I made to match. These aren't mandatory, but if my camera is ever in a line up for a group shot, I'll be able to pick mine out.  Her straps are affordable and unique. You can use the code BMM311 to get 15% off right now too!

And that pretty much sums up what's in my bag. The other half of my photography hobby is here on my laptop, as I do a lot of editing in photoshop to make a good photo great. I'm not a pro at that either but I'm having fun learning. I don't think I'll be getting any more lenses any time soon. Maybe in a few years I'll get another lens that will be good for sports or something (for some reason I envision Lil' J playing soccer), but for now, I think I'm good.

What's your favorite piece of camera equipment?

Everyone who comments on this post before March 15th 11:59pm will be entered to win a camera strap cover from Little Miss Threads. If you "like" Little Miss Threads on facebook, and tell her I sent you, you get an extra entry, just leave a 2nd comment. Good luck!