our family grace

06 July 2014

Mommy Moments Blog Hop!

Welcome to Mommy Moments! Last week we had some great new link ups! Let's keep it up by sharing and promoting Mommy Moments and the wonderful community we have here! I have enjoyed getting to know all the new mamas linking up and sharing their lives with us! I can't wait to hear more from you all again this week!

Motherhood has its seriousness and frustration as well as its laughs. That's why we are here. Life is much easier when traveled with companions! So mamas, let's join together in the spirit of motherhood and share our moments together. We want to hear the happy, sad, tough, terrible, hilarious moments that make being a mother the best job in the world!

The top viewed link this week belongs to Saved By Grace and her post The Most Important Thing. Wow, what a powerful reminder of what is truly important in our short lives. Thank you Laurie, for sharing!

How often are we distracted by piles of junk accumulating in our life, while neglecting the riches found without fail in our Bible? Why do we worry about our “stuff” instead of storing treasures in Heaven, where we can enjoy them forever? (Luke 12:16-34; Matthew 6:19-21)

The Life Of Faith

The Not Quite Military Wife

Beautiful Family Affairs,

Like A Morning Cup Of Coffee

Kristin from Sounds Of My Pitter-Patter

Now, link up your post!

Post can include anything related to mommy-hood, children, homemaking, pregnancy etc. If you aren't a mom yet, feel free to link up your preparation for motherhood, your journey as you try to conceive, or even a post that would be encouraging to the other moms in the party!

Then, explore some of the other posts in the link-up and say hello to some new blog friends!

Please, pretty please, we'd love it if you would tweet or share the link up on Facebook so we can all make even more friends!

We would also love it if you could add the Mommy Moments button to your post or blog so everyone knows where you are linking up! If you are not able to copy/paste the code on your page, please e-mail one of us and we would be happy to send you the code!

<div align="center"><a href="http://the-life-of-faith.blogspot.com//search/label/mommymoments" title="The Life Of Faith"><img src="http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/k537/faithkonrath/cfa5ba11752f4e898055d03d33cf24e0.jpg" alt="The Life Of Faith" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

P.S. We will be having a new guest host every week! Want to be a guest host of the Mommy Moments Blog Hop? Send Faith a message at farmprincess14{at}gmail{dot}com. We would love to have you!

Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

An InLinkz Link-up

03 July 2014

A New Bump-date!

I am currently (almost) 32 weeks. I think now I've reached the "whale" stage, and I still have 8 weeks (+) to go! I'm living in maternity clothes, gym shorts, and the hubs's t-shirts. It's summer in the south, so you do what you gotta do.

Last week, I pulled a muscle in my abdomen. I don't know how. Probably rolling over at night. How sad is that?! Oh the joys of pregnancy. It made life pretty difficult for a while. Everything hurt. And it soon became little guy's favorite kicking spot. My midwife checked it out and informed me that his feet were all in the muscle. And what made it better was that was the side that I carry Bug on. Picking her up and holding her became another act after that. But luckily it has healed and I am back to full (as full as pregnant women get) mobility.

This pregnancy is flying by! It's hard to believe my due date is next month! When did that happen?! Of course, I'm taking bets on whether this guy will be early or late. I'm thinking he'll be late like his big sister, which will make him a September baby. I think my mom is hoping he'll come on her birthday (September 3rd). I personally am just ready to meet him!

It comes in waves that we're having a little boy. I think our family is so conditioned to little girls, that we won't know what to do with a little boy! I know these are normal feelings of anxiety, but it still hits every once-in-a-while. We've got almost everything. I just have to go pick up our swing and some more clothes from some friends of ours, and then we'll have everything. But as far getting everything ready here...that's another story. Bug's room is still a mess and nowhere near set up for her brother to come. She's also still in her crib. We've decided to skip the toddler bed and go straight to the twin bed. Right now we're on the lookout for an inexpensive twin mattress. Hopefully, switching her to a twin bed will go better than switching her to the toddler bed did.

Anyway, enough rambling from me. Don't forget about the two awesome giveaways that I'm hosting/co-hosting! You can check them out here and here.

01 July 2014

A New Adventure and a Giveaway!

As I shared a while ago, God has given my a great opportunity with Norwex while the hubs goes to school. I am amazed at how He has continued to provide for us during this time. I am also amazed at the perseverance that my husband has displayed in all of this! He's doing such a great job at school and still taking care of us! I just hope the little that I am doing helps him out as well.

One thing I love about this new adventure with Norwex, is the new way that I have been introduced to cleaning. No more harsh chemicals! Instead, I clean with just water! That's it. Nothing more. All I need is a Norwex Enviro Cloth and water, and then I can go to town with cleaning.

Not only that, but cleaning now takes half the time! It's amazing how quickly it goes, even with a toddler in tow! And right now, I'm all about getting things done quickly. This whole third trimester energy loss doesn't allow for things that take a long while. Oh yeah, did I mention I'm in my third trimester? Only 9 weeks to go until due date for little guy! Here's a sneak peak at my 30 week bump, it makes a good seat for Bug:

So, with another little one on the way, I was looking for a way to simplify things while reducing the harmful chemicals that come with cleaning supplies. It's amazing how God places things in your lap, and Norwex pretty much fell into mine.

My three favorite products for the home can be found in our Household Package: the Enviro Cloth, the Dust Mitt, and Window Cloth (which you can enter to win at the bottom of this post). Together, these three make the dream cleaning team. By using these three products, you save so much money by not having to buy all those cleaning supplies and can replace most of your cleaning supplies!

The Enviro Cloth is used wet to clean everything! And I mean everything. It is generally referred to as our "all around" cloth because it is just that. It can be used in every room and replaces all those nasty chemicals. I personally have a few of these cloths and they each have a room they belong to. Also, these cloths come in four different colors so that you can match the colors you already have in your home (red/pink, green, yellow, and blue).

The Dust Mitt is my saving grace for dusting. I hate dusting. I really, really do. It's beyond frustrating for me to dust. I don't know why, I love a dust free home, but boy does it bother me. This mitt is used for dry dusting and picks up all the dust it touches! It can also be used wet to clean those pesky blinds!

The Window Cloth is used to dry polish and shine windows, mirrors, stainless steel appliances, so on and so forth. Paired with the Enviro Cloth, these two eliminate window cleaners and the wasteful use of paper towels!

There are tons more amazing products on the website! Check out my website www.alliwoody.norwex.biz and if you have any questions feel free to contact me {at} beautifulfamilyaffairs{at}gmail{dot}com. And remember to enter to win your very own Norwex Window Cloth!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

30 June 2014

Mommy Moments Blog Hop!

Welcome to Mommy Moments! Last week we almost doubled in size with over 100 links! Let's keep it up by sharing and promoting the link up! I have enjoyed getting to know all the new mamas linking up and sharing their lives with us! I can't wait to hear more from you all again this week!

Motherhood has its seriousness and frustration as well as its laughs. That's why we are here. Life is much easier when traveled with companions! So mamas, let's join together in the spirit of motherhood and share our moments together. We want to hear the happy, sad, tough, terrible, hilarious moments that make being a mother the best job in the world!

In case you missed it, last week we had the 100th Mommy Moments Link Up! Woohoo! To celebrate, we are giving away $100 Paypal cash, $10 Starbucks Gift Card and a headband from Pearberry Pie. The giveaway is open for another week just so YOU can enter! Click on the link or photo below to be taken to the giveaway post!

GIVEAWAY POST

The top viewed link this week belongs to A Lavender Life and her post Confessions of A Second Time Mom. I laughed when I read this post because I know when the time comes for us to have our second that I will be the same way! I am actually looking forward to not being as over-protective and paranoid about things. Thanks for the great post Carolyn!

The Life Of Faith

The Not Quite Military Wife

Beautiful Family Affairs,

Like A Morning Cup Of Coffee

Alycia from Crazily Normal

Now, link up your post!

Then, explore some of the other posts in the link-up and say hello to some new blog friends!

Please, pretty please, we'd love it if you would tweet or share the link up on Facebook so we can all make even more friends!

<div align="center"><a href="http://the-life-of-faith.blogspot.com//search/label/mommymoments" title="The Life Of Faith"><img src="http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/k537/faithkonrath/cfa5ba11752f4e898055d03d33cf24e0.jpg" alt="The Life Of Faith" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

P.S. We will be having a new guest host every week! Want to be a guest host of the Mommy Moments Blog Hop? Send Faith a message at farmprincess14{at}gmail{dot}com. We would love to have you!

Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

An InLinkz Link-up

26 June 2014

Nightly Routines

I'm so sad that this is our last One Year and Beyond Link-up...but fingers crossed and we could do round two!

real life iPhone photo of Bug during naptime. yes, her nursery is a mess. it is what it is.

Today's toddler battle is all about bedtime. Bug's bedtime has changed over the past few months. We've gone from having a late bedtime, to an early bedtime, and then to a bedtime right in the middle. Why do we switch so much? To try and find what fits for Bug.

I originally wanted her bedtime to be around 7:30. But she didn't appreciate that, and I found that she would be up more throughout the night and she didn't have a restful night of sleep. It ended up being rougher on both of us, because I would be the one that was up and soothing her.

Then her bedtime seemed to center around 9:00. That was not going to fly for this mama. I had stuff to do and I needed to get some sleep too. So we battled with the 9:00 o'clock bedtime for a while.

Finally, we settled on an 8:00 o'clock bedtime. This seemed to sit well with both Bug and me. We start our bedtime routine at 7:00 and start off with a sink bath. She loves her sink baths and I let her play for as long as she would like, normally around 15-20 minutes. After that, we get our pajamas on and grab a blankie and paci. Then, we turn off all the lights and cuddle on the couch. At this time she brings me book after book to read or stuffed animal after stuffed animal to cuddle with. It's generally a quiet time that we just share together. When 8:00 o'clock comes around, I tell her it's time to go to bed and off she goes to her room. This is a new thing, but by her going to her room on her own, it shows me that she really is ready for bed and helps with the transition. Once we're in her room, we'll either rock and pray or I'll sway with her and pray. Then it's time for goodnight kisses and I lay her down in her crib and ask her to "dream big for Mommy." I think that's her favorite part because she always smiles, nods enthusiastically, and giggles.

Bedtime really is such a sweet and special time. I personally love putting my little girl to bed, and I hope she wants me to tuck her in for as long as possible!

Now, we're trying to transition to her from her crib. Originally, we were going to go with a toddler bed and that seemed to be working out well. Then she got sick for a month and reverted back to her crib. Now whenever I attempt to put her in the toddler bed she freaks out. So we're thinking about switching game plans and moving her straight to a twin bed...I imagine our bedtime routine will change when we make that transition. Also, it'll change once little guy gets here. But, I'm hoping and the plan is to still set aside time for Bug and I to enjoy bedtime, just the two of us.

Like A Morning Cup of Coffee The Not Quite Military Wife

From Here To Eternity Words About Waverly

Pardon My French Beautiful Family Affairs

My Delicious Adventure The Life Of Faith

Running From The Law The Olive Tree

May 8: Taming the Temper Tantrums

May 15: Weaning from Breastfeeding or From Formula to Cow’s Milk

May 22: Dealing with Mommy Guilt

May 29: When People Share Their Opinions and How to Lovingly Handle it

June 5: Traveling with your Toddler

June 12: How to get your toddler to eat their veggies…or their food at all

June 19: How to make time to blog in the busyness of motherhood

June 26: Bedtime Battles (nap or bedtime)

An InLinkz Link-up

24 June 2014

Can We Go Back?

We spent the past week at the beach. Though I do enjoy being home, I am ready to go back. Here is a sneak peak at what we were up to.

Wandering around the huge oaks and Spanish moss.

The open fields were a dream come true for this little girl. She just loved to run and play.

She's not a ham or anything...

My little Bug enjoying her time at the beach.

This may be my favorite picture of my little Bug.

No babies were harmed in the taking of this picture...

Also, don't forget about this awesome Mommy Moments giveaway!

22 June 2014

Mommy Moments Blog Hop and $100 Giveaway!

Happy 100th Mommy Moments Link Up & GIVEAWAY!

In addition to winning the $10 Starbucks card and $100 Paypal cash, the winner also gets their pick of a Pearberry Pie headband pictured below!

Looking back over the best couple of years, I had no idea how this link up would change my life. I was just a clueless pregnant woman excited about becoming a mama! Turns out, this link up is where I have met some of my best friends and been so encouraged each week as a mama!

Because each of you are what make this link up possible every week, we want to celebrate YOU with a giveaway! Enter to win below and then link up your post for the week!

Thanks to all these wonderful ladies pictured below for their contribution to this fun giveaway!

This Marine Wife//A Cowboy's Life// Madly Wish//Foxy Domestic Side//The Life Of Faith// The Not Quite Military Wife//Beautiful Family Affairs//Just A Touch Of Crazy//The Everyday Momma//This Little Light Of Mine//The Peanut's Gang//Eat, Pray, Read, Love//Sounds Of My Pitter-Patter//Crazily Normal

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Motherhood has its seriousness and frustration as well as its laughs. That's why we are here. Life is much easier when traveled with companions! So mamas, let's join together in the spirit of motherhood and share our moments together. We want to hear the happy, sad, tough, terrible, hilarious moments that make being a mother the best job in the world!

The top viewed link this week belongs to Sweet Country Roots and her post Back To An Old Fashioned Way Of Thinking! I loved this post and the heart behind it. Even though we can't really go back in time, it's so important to instill some of the values from the past even in our current culture. Thanks for the great post Brittany!

An InLinkz Link-up