Decisions Decisions

Any mom out there can testify to this: balance is KEY when it comes to your family. If the balance between family, work, activities, etc. is out of balance, everything in your family's life becomes chaotic. This is how I've been feeling lately, and I like to have balance, especially because I'm just a little bit of a perfectionist. I realize that there are certain things in life that I can't control, no matter how much I may want to, and sometimes you just have to let certain things go.

This week I made a difficult decision to withdraw from one of my master's degree classes. It was just too much to go to school for my master's full-time, while taking care of my family, and going through a difficult pregnancy. So, I cut back on classes, freeing up a bit of my time to get back to focusing more on my family. And they LOVE it! I do, too. IzzyBug LOVES having a little more mommy time, and my hubby likes that he can actually have some of my attention now!

I learned the hard way (like I sometimes have to do) that sometimes you have to learn when to say no to something that isn't the best for your family. I'm still working towards my master's, but at a bit slower of a pace. Because when the balance of everything got out of whack, everyone was suffering. So, I'm glad to say, I'm feeling a bit less stressed, and looking forward to blogging more, especially with all the fun stuff I have coming up!

Fun Ideas for Christmas Cards!

It's never too early to start thinking about Christmas cards! Heck, when I was a little kid, I can remember there being summertime Christmas card photo shoots, all courtesy of my holiday-obsessed mother. Now that I'm a mom, I totally get into the fun of planning our yearly photo cards. That's why I am so excited to share a few of my ideas for some fun photo card ideas, which can be made into a reality at PurpleTrail, a fabulous online spot where you can design many different personalized holiday cards! You can also make invitations, announcements, and pretty much anything your creative little heart could ever desire!

I just wanted to give you all some ideas for your holiday photo cards this year. I think sometimes we can get stuck doing the same ol' thing for our cards, and this is unfortunate, because lots of times, a lot of the people we send holiday cards to don't always get to see our families often. That's why it's a good idea to do something fun that really showcases what your family has been up to all year. That way it's way more fun for you to plan and for the people receiving your holiday cards, because they get something that's truly you!

My top 5 ideas for fun and creative personalized holiday photo cards are:
1. Just say no to the matching outfit perfectly posed photo. Be who you are, and if that means showing some silly personalities, do it!
2. Don't do the cliche Christmas tree background, unless you find a way to make it fun and creative.
3. Showcase a favorite family activity, something you all enjoy doing together. If your family loves to ski, do a favorite photo from your ski vacation. Loved your summer vacation to the beach? Use a photo where your family is basking in the warm sun, a nice thought especially during the cold winter months that are coming up!
4. Experiment with different photo touches, black and white images are often the best at really showing your family at its best!
5. Just have fun with it! Don't do anything too posed or serious, and personalize your photo cards in any way you can, be it through a personalized message or a fun graphics to your cards! The possibilities really are endless! Check out the design center to really get your creative juices flowing!

Disclaimer: This post was written as part of PurpleTrail's blog giveaway contest, making me eligible to win a giftcode. Contest details can be found by clicking here.

I love baby kicks!

I've been feeling little flutters and tiny movements for a couple weeks now, as of yesterday, I started feeling the big kicks! It totally brought me back to when I was pregnant with Izzy. I love feeling the kicks, it really reminds me of why I'm so sick, and that it's completely worth it!

On a side note, I'm working on getting some reviews and giveaways ready to post. Do you guys want to see more baby stuff, more toddler stuff, or more home stuff? Maybe a mix of all of that, and more? I do my best to bring you all reviews and giveaways that I feel are relevant to your own lives, so if you have ideas of things you want to see more or less of, please let me know! Who knows... I may just have to count suggestions as extra bonus entries for giveaways!

2 days in a row!!!

Yay! I'm posting 2 days in a row, which is a start back onto the path of regular blogging! So, I've got a couple questions for you guys, if anyone is still even out there after I disappeared for so long! Have any of you guys ever used the WonderWash portable washing machine? I ordered one from Amazon.com with some accumulated swagbucks, and it's due to arrive in the next week or so. The biggest reason I ordered it was so that I have a way to wash things between trips to the laundromat. I also thought that depending on how good it works, maybe we can cloth diaper the new baby, and wash the diapers with it. Maybe that's wishful thinking, but I'd really LOVE to cloth diaper this baby, which I know is only possible if I have a realistic way of washing them. Any thoughts? I'm completely open to suggestions!

Since we last talked...

Wow, do we have some catching up to do or what!? I can't believe it's already October... and that I've been away from this blog for way too long! I've missed interacting with everybody, and especially missed my little mommy-getaway that is this blog! Not only do I have LOTS of reviews and giveaways to post, I have lots of news to post as well!

Since the last time I updated, my pregnancy has progressed quite a lot! I'm now officially 20 weeks pregnant... half way there!!! We also found out what our little babybug is... it's a girl!!! We are so excited that IzzyBug will be getting a baby sister come February! I'll have to post pics of the ultrasound and all my fun little stories about Izzy in another post later, but for now, I had to make the announcement because I'm SO excited!

Also, I finally got my picc line out of my arm! After 6 weeks of clawing at my arm I was ready to have it taken out. As it turns out, I'm extremly allergic to every medical tape that exists, and since it had to be taped into place, there was no way of getting around the itching, burning, and scratching. I still need the fluids, so I'll most likely just have to have twice weekly fluids through IVs. Oh well, at least the weather is cooling down, which has made me feel a little better! And at the end of the day, no matter how hard pregnancy is, we all know it's worth it! I'm sure I'll forget all of this when I get to see our sweet baby girl's little face!

Anyway, I'm sooooo sorry I've been so scarce the last month and a half, and I PROMISE I won't let it get that bad ever again! I felt so loved when some of you emailed me asking if everything was okay on the homefront. I didn't know if anyone noticed I was gone, but some of you did, and it gave me some encouragement to get back to the blog, no matter how busy life gets! I'm still chugging along with grad school, but between papers and reading, I will definitely be posting more often!

Hope you guys all have a great week! Talk to you soon!!!