Did you ?

…notice the new look?!?!?

What do you think?

Personally, I’m in LOVE with it. You see I’ve wanted a layout like this FOUR-EV-ER!! The picture header, oh the header. You see those are a few of my favorite pictures, but I couldn’t get the one of our family edited right.

I’ve done a lot of my own blog work in the past. Changing headers, creating backgrounds, changing the layout, but nothing like this. Nothing like a total makeover. When I stripped my blog down I begged and pleaded for someone to just take care of it. Take care of it, so I could focus on taking care of myself.

I wanted a fresh start.

Enter a friend I met through blogging. A friend who amazingly enough lives just 30 minutes from me. A friend who has two sweet little kiddos, one of which shares MacKenzie’s name. A friend who has been through a lot in the past year. I wish I could've helped more, but thankfully that doesn’t bother her. She’s great like that. Even though I couldn’t help her, she swooped in to help me!

Meet Jenny

Did I mention that she’s super sweet…okay so I didn’t but you guessed it, right?!?

Any who Jenny swooped in and offered to change things up around here for me! Jenny & her husband Greg have started a new business creating and installing Flash Headers. (you know like what’s up there at the top of my blog)

Jenny & Greg Designs

 Jenny was great. She took what I gave her…which believe me wasn’t much, because I didn’t know what I wanted…and turned it into beautiful, creative and awesome! I love the new look!!! Jenny sent me previews, and would change whatever I needed. Even after changing my mind a few times she still changed it up! Jenny is so great to work with.  Go on, now. . . I said go. . .Really go!!! ******************************************************And if you’re all still sitting around here, I suppose you’re all wondering how my appointment went on Monday. I’m sorry I haven’t posted sooner, but I decided yesterday to go get groceries, and it was a last minute decision.  

The appointment went well. The ultra sound showed nothing abnormal, and no little bean either. The doctor isn’t sure what was going on but decided it would be best for me to go on Provera (a hormone pill) for about 10 days. We’re hoping that will work. If it doesn’t he is talking of putting me on birth control.

 

Now, not that I have a problem with birth control because I’ve been on it before. But Joel and I are getting more in tune with our Faith, and had decided before we got pg that we would be using Natural Family Planning as our birth control from now on. It is a decision we should’ve made after we had Kaitlynn, but with everything that happened we just wanted to get through that all without having to worry.

So please say a little prayer that this works. If it doesn’t I will be looking into a Natural Family Planning physician and see if he has any suggestions. I love my doctor, but I don’t want to be forced to go on Birth Control and that’s where he was headed. Right now our Faith is more important.

My thought bubble

I’m just going to pop it. Today was a long day. Yesterday was a long day. And to think it’s Sunday and tomorrow is Monday. Honestly I cannot believe tomorrow is Monday.

Today, well that wasn’t supposed to be much of anything. Just a bridal fair to attend with my step-sister who is getting married in July. I’m her personal attendant/wedding planner (self appointed title. I want to make her day as easy as possible). On my way home last night I even stopped at the store and bought cinnamon rolls and chocolate milk for a big/family breakfast this morning.

When I woke up to the phone ringing at 7:15 am, I should’ve just known the day wasn’t going go as planned. Joel had been out since around 6am and so I figured it was him but I wasn’t expecting my dad. What came out of his mouth next made me want to go back to sleep and quit dreaming. He informed me that Joel needed me to call our veterinarian. If you’ve been reading my blog long, you know we have cattle. Seems one of my dad’s first calf heifers (first time mama) had a massive calf and there was nothing Joel could do to get it out. Fast forward an hour later and we’re preparing the cow for a c-section.

Fast forward another  2 hours and we’re on our way home and just about 20 miles from home. What happened next? Yup, you guessed it ladies and gents. We blew a flipping tire on the trailer….and did we have a spare/jack/everything you need to change a tire? Nope. (well technically we had a tire but it wasn’t a good one) The guys left in such a hurry trying to save mama and baby that we didn’t throw the jack and good tire in the truck.

It has been a long day to say the least! I was more than ready to just relax, but remember we had the bridal fair. Thankfully all went as planned there!

But tomorrow will be another long day. It’s been 7 weeks 2 days since our (my) miscarriage. I’m still bleeding. (sorry if TMI) This sucks! I’m done. Really. If you follow me on twitter, you would know that 3 weeks ago I went in to the doctor for depression/anxiety attacks and talked about it with him then. We did an ultrasound that day and everything looked okay. He figured it would be over then. Well um, nope. So I go back tomorrow for another ultrasound and appointment with the doc. Say a little prayer that all goes well, and we can figure out what’s wrong?!?! Cause if I’m not low on iron it would surprise me!

Good night…….from my little though bubble

Favorite Fluff Fridays – Smarti Pants - CLOSED

Cloth Diapers are great not only great for the environment, but they are great on your pocketbook as well, which is why made the switch! Another reason we love cloth diapers?? They're WAY too cute to just pass up! But I know what you're thinking, yucky poopy diapers, and washing them, just not for me.

I was the same way. I loved my diapers but really didn't like the whole washing process. You see we use mainly One Size Pocket Diapers at our house, and taking the inserts out sometimes is a chore. A rather yucky chore if you ask me or maybe you should ask Jessica, the brain behind Smarti Pants. Not only is she smart, but she's sweet as well!

Smarti Pants diapers are the first diapers with a Patented "Smart Sleeve." What makes this so special versus other diaper you may ask? Well remember my least favorite task when it comes to cloth diapering, (taking out those inserts)? The patented "Smart Sleeve" makes that chore no more! All you do after taking the diaper off your baby is throw it in your wet bag and walk away, the insert comes out in the wash!

So you've thought about cloth diapering but can't take the big leap because of financial reasons, LOOK INTO THIS DIAPER!!!! This is the cheapest One Size diaper on the market! Right now they are currently selling on the Smarti Pants website for $14.95 with insert, or for an even sweeter deal go for the 3 pack with 3 inserts for $39.95! Awesome! I'm sure you're thinking well if they're that cheap then they're cheaply made. Not the case! These diapers are just as durable as many of my more expensive diapers, and have the same high quality features I love! Give them a try hands down, you won't waste your money.

Do you have a heavy wetter? Or need an overnight diaper? Kaitlynn has started recently being a heavy wetter over nights, and so we’ve been reaching for the Smarti Pants diaper because it’s so easy to stuff with the extra insert! Yes the diaper only comes with one insert, but you can buy a 10 pack of inserts for $19.95. Not a bad deal at all!!! Heck even if I didn’t own Smarti Pants I’d buy them just to have extra microfiber inserts for all my other diapers!!!

Smarti Pants diapers are GREAT on Kaitlynn because of the adjustable snaps. You can't really tell it in this picture, but they also overlap on one side in case your little one is teeny tiny like Kaitlynn. We've had issues with snap diapers not fitting right because you can't overlap the snaps, but I'm loving the snaps on this diaper for the overlap feature. Overall I'm giving this diaper a 10! We love it and go to it as soon as it's clean! These are also the diapers that I put on Kaitlynn when I KNOW DH will be home, or she hasn’t had a poo all day long. I know they will be super easy to deal with when she poos and DH doesn’t have to mess with it!!

Want to win one?? Jessica has been awesome and has offered up a Smarti Pants Diaper in your choice of color!

Mandatory Entry: Go to Smarti Pants website and let me know what color you would choose. This entry needs to be done before all other entries or they will be voided.

Extra Entries: You must leave a comment for every extra entry

Follow the Blog

Follow me on twitter @amongthemess

Follow Smarti Pants on Twitter @thesmartipants

Tweet about this giveaway : Be sure to include @amongthemess @thesmartipants and the link back

Comment on any other blog post (up to 10 entries)

Tell me your favorite diaper color or print

Contest Ends February 11, 2010 10am CST

*Disclaimer* I was provided a Smarti Pants Diaper as compensation for this review

And the winner is: Fuzzi Bunz Diaper

The winner of this weeks Favorite Fluff Friday featuring Fuzzi Bunz diapers is:

Which was a comment by Andrea, go check out her cute kiddos!!!

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On another note…..does anyone know how to easily number comments?? If you do, and have a link to show me how please leave it in the comments. If I use YOUR way to number them, I will give you 10 extra entries to the any Favorite Fluff Friday post of your choice.

Entertaining Life

Sometimes life gets ahead of you, and other times you get ahead of life. I have days when I feel like I’m doing them both. This post is going to be quite random because my mind is all over the place. See I can’t even wrap my mind around what’s going on through it long enough to type a sentence that makes grammatical sense. So here just goes my thought bubble.

The medicine the doctor prescribed me for my depressing/anxiety attacks sits in my medicine cabinet. I haven’t taken it in about a week. I was feeling so good, and the medicine was making me feel all jittery, one day I forgot to take them. By the time I realized it I figured I’d take it at supper time. Of course I forgot later as well. Seems like it’s gone on like that since last week. The sucky thing? I needed them, and still do. The reason I was in a cleaning mood and getting things accomplished? The pills. My house hasn’t been quite as clean since I quit taking them. I just need to start them again, but not sure how/when/why. I know this is due to the depression as well. Maybe today.

My grandma is in the nursing home. My dad’s mom, my grandma who lives less than a mile from here. The one who I grew up with. She’s not doing well. She’s been in the nursing home since the day before we found out about loosing the baby. It was only supposed to be temporary. She got sick, and they sent her home from the hospital before they should’ve. She wasn’t strong enough to get around her house. So grandpa and I took her in to the hospital again trying to get her re-admitted. The instead put her in the nursing home, short term. She was supposed to be home by now. She was supposed to be home before Christmas. Another thing, we haven't told her about the miscarriage yet. We were afraid at first that it would set her progress back and then she wouldn't get to come home. Now I want to tell her. I know I shouldn't tell her when she is frail, but I need her to know. I need her to hold my baby, our baby, her great grand baby, the one she was so excited about. What would you do?

She quit breathing this morning. When grandpa admitted her, he signed a DNR. They had her in the lift when this happened so they went to lay her back in bed. She started breathing. THANK GOD. But she hasn’t been eating well, and there was a mass on her liver which they drained on Friday. Things just don’t look good. Please if you’re the praying type say a little prayer that God helps her find peace in the life she chooses to live from now on out.

****UPDATED**** As of 2:16 (while I was writing this post) my dad called to inform me they were going to admit her to the hospital. She is now refusing to eat, take medications, and isn’t doing too well. The kids and I are going to go see her after Dahrran gets home from school. These are a few pictures of her and Kaitlynn back from August. The last time we went out to get Grapes & Cookies. They always have grapes and cookies for the kids, and usually grandpa brings them to us. This day we went out there. Grandma usually has her wig on but we sometimes catch her without it. I think Kaitlynn looks JUST like grandma in every way. She has her hands, personality facial features you name it!

Favorite Fluff Fridays – Fuzzi Bunz Review/Giveaway - Closed

Welcome to a new Meme done by yours truly. I love using Cloth Diapers and have been Cloth Diapering for over a year now. Through the last year I’ve come up with tons of diapers that I absolutely LOVE and other’s I’m not so hip about. Every mom who starts Cloth Diapering wants to know what the best products are out there, so we see out other mom’s who have been through it to help us find our way!

Enter Favorite Fluff Fridays! I will be reviewing & suggesting some of my favorite Fluff products!! Here we go! :)

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A while back when I went on my search for Snap Diapers instead of Aplix I came across Fuzzi Bunz. Don’t get me wrong it’s not like I’d never heard of them. When I first heard of them I thought to myself, Snaps??!? really? Why would I want to try to snap diapers onto an already squiggly, wiggly, baby.

When Kaitlynn figured out how to get her Aplix diapers undone & they started to show wear I decided it was time for snaps. First let me tell you, Snaps are SOOO much easier than you think they might be. Even with a squiggly baby you can get them done!

I contacted Fuzzi Bunz to see if they would be interested in having me do a review. Fuzzi Bunz was nice enough to send me 4 Perfect Size Diaper (1 size Medium & 3 Petite size) and 2 One Size Diaper. When the package arrived, I was pleasantly surprised at how soft they were on the inside. I also noticed they had a VERY large pocket opening for the insert. However they do not have snaps for the insert to be used smaller, but do come with a Newborn insert (on the one size). Not to mention the fact that they have SOO many colors to choose from as well as a few cute prints!

Fuzzi Bunz is new though to the One Size Diaper system. For years they have had their Perfect Size Diaper(sized diapers), but recently came out with the one size. Their One Size diaper is unique in the fact that there are no rise snaps. Instead there is elastic on the inside with buttons to size (think kids jeans with the elastic waist you can cinch up.) At first I thought that would be a problem. After trial and error I was able to find the fitting that fit the best for Kaitlynn. Would I recommend them to mom’s who have more than one child in diapers? Probably not. If you just like to grab a diaper and then size it, this is not the way to go. But if you have different diapers for each child then GO FOR IT!!!

The Perfect Size diapers are a sized diaper that you can buy in many different sizes as your child grows out of them. At first I didn’t think this would be a “smart” way to go about Cloth Diapering, but after receiving these diapers I might actually try it. We received one diaper in the Medium Size about 6 months ago when Kaitlynn was barely 20 pounds. She now only weighs about 25 pounds, but can still wear this diaper 6 months later people!!

We also received three of the petite diapers as well. When I told them about Kaitlynn’s measurements and fear of her being so tall/super skinny they recommended the Petite’s. I’m not exactly fond of these diapers just because they don’t fit Kaitlynn well. I think they would be better for an older child who weighs slightly more, and may be too tall for the Perfect Size Diapers.

Overall I LOVE these diapers!!! The Perfect Size diaper surprised me at how well they fit, and how long they'll last in just one size! I also liked the One size diaper for just having one baby. They have no snaps down the front, and so they make for a fluffier cuter picture taking diaper!

Want to get your hands on one?? Fuzzi Bunz has graciously offered up one Perfect Size Diaper to one lucky reader!!!

Mandatory Entry (must be done before any extras) : Go to Fuzzi Bunz website and let me know what size diaper and color you would choose. Also tell me what your favorite feature of the diaper is!

Extra Entries: (1 entry unless noted, please comment for each entry)

*Follow my blog
*Follow me on twitter @amongthemess
*Follow Fuzzi Bunz on twitter @fuzzibunz
*Tweet about this giveaway, come back here & give the link (twice per day)
*Tell me your favorite Cloth Diaper Tip (up to 5 entries)
*Do the Hookie Pookie with your kids (2 entries) (and I will know if you did this :P)
*Suggest me your favorite diapers(with links) to Review on Favorite Fluff Fridays (up to 10 entries)
*Comment on any other post on the blog (be sure to leave a comment here telling me where)

Give away ends Wednesday February 3rd at 8pm Central time, with winner announced Thursday February 4th.

Disclaimer : I was provided Fuzzi Bunz cloth diapers to use as part of this review.

Fluff Talk Thursdays

I’m a little late on this one, and I see she’s already found a solution to her question, but I just wanted to Jump in!

Topic is: "How I Store My Cloth Diapers"

When Dahrran was a baby we got a “hand-me-down” changing table from family. It was nice, and I’m not going to complain but we NEVER used it. Ever. I’m the type of person who just grabs a diaper & wipes, and plops down on the floor/couch/where ever. Of course we’ve always kept the changing table, and used it to store our diaper accessories and what not. I think I maybe used it 10 times will all 3 of my kids, plus the occasional baby we watched here and there over the years.

The changing table sat in my living room, taking up space and was ALWAYS full of crap, and looked horrid. When we started cloth diapering the changing table was still sitting in my Living Room, but I was mainly using a Sterilite 3 drawer Tote to store our diapers. One day when I was in a HUGE cleaning spree I decided I was done with the changing table and we put it in storage. 
 
We now use the Tote to store the diapers. Top Drawer has all of our clean diapers in it. Second drawer has all of the newborn inserts that came with my Bum Genius 3.0 diapers, and a few extra inserts for my Smarti Pants diapers (I know I really should branch out and get some new inserts/prefolds!) as well as a few diaper liners, extra wet bags and such. Bottom drawer has my reusable shopping bags, hats, gloves, dog leashes, and any other things I think should just be shoved in there!!

I used to have a trash can with pail liner, but have found that my travel (was used at daycare this summer/fall) wet bag worked better at keeping smells at bay. Believe me Kaitlynn’s diapers can be wretched smelling and I was having a hard time keeping the smells away. Since I don’t have any place to hang it, it usually sits on top of the Tote. We also have the green basket which holds Bum Genius odor remover spray (which works wonders, but I think it ate away the liner of my pail liner), Cloth Diaper safe rash ointment, & diaper liners (which I hardly use anymore). Oh, and those disposables on the top of the tote??? Yup those are for grandpa’s house! I got tired of my diapers getting ruined or left there without me realizing it.

So there you go! Our Cloth Diaper storage in a jiffy! We love Cloth Diapers and can’t get enough!! I just wish I’d found them when Dahrran was a baby instead of Kaitlynn!!

Come on back tomorrow for a new featured event!!!! I’m super excited!