Monthly Archives: September 2012

At Hospital With Post Tonsillectomy Hemorrhaging

Health, Personal

This has been a trial for me and my family. It all started with a tonsillectomy at 38 years old, two weeks ago. I was aware that the chance of a bleed out was 2-4% for two weeks after surgery. 13 days after surgery at 11pm I started bleeding. A lot. Was taken to hospital by ambulance where my surgeon performed emergency surgery for hemorrhaging. All details about the hemorrhaging and emergency surgery are on my Facebook page.

Please keep me in your thought as as you can read from my Facebook posts I am very scared. I lost 1/5 of my blood during the hemorrhaging and am weak and my heart is racing still. I’ve been on IV fluids since surgery. I am most worried about Madelyn and Sebastian. They don’t know what to think of it all.

I posted a more info about my day to day recovery then during the hemorrhaging (asking for prayers) on my Facebook wall for those of you who want more details on what’s going on.

Might be a little graphic so be careful. my Facebook page.

20120926-063036.jpg

Sweet Fairy Princess Halloween Costume from Chasing Fireflies

Holiday, Playtime, , ,

My daughter loves to dress up.  If I told her we had to leave the house for a month and that she could take just one thing to play with, she would pick her favorite dress up costume.  Every month, when the Chasing Fireflies catalog comes in the mail, Madelyn sits down with Post-It notes and marks every page that has something on it that she wants.  By the time she’s reached the end of the catalog, she’s usually used a couple dozen Post-It notes.

Last week, Madelyn got to pick out a Halloween costume from the Chasing Fireflies catalog.  This was not an easy task, let me tell you.  We looked at this catalog during dinner, before homework, after homework, and in-between.  Finally, after about 6 hours of looking at the catalog she decided on the Sweet Fairy Princess costume.

Chasing Fireflies Sweet Fairy Princess costume
Chasing Fireflies Sweet Fairy Princess costume

This week, her Sweet Fairy Princess Halloween costume was delivered, and she would wear it 24/7 if I let her.  She loves it! She feels like a fairy-tale princess, she said.  I have been stuck in bed for the last week and a half due to surgery so my husband helped her put on her costume for the first time.  As he was helping her, he felt the need to remind Madelyn that just because she was going to look like a fairy princess, doesn’t mean she can act like a princess.  She looked confused by that statement.  Like she was thinking “whatever do you mean Daddy? I am a princess”.

The picture in the catalog doesn’t do the Sweet Fairy Princess costume justice.  I wasn’t expecting nearly the amount of detail as this costume has and as you can see in the photographs above.  The fabrics are perfectly delicate yet high quality and sturdy.  Madelyn is a sweet girl, which is why she chose the Sweet Fairy Princess costume I suppose.  This costume truly makes her personality shine.  Maybe wearing a princess costume is the key to making her act like a princess 24/7?  Hm.. I might have to try that.

Chasing Fireflies Halloween costumes make sure that your child is immersed in the character they are dressed up as.

Every snippet, thread, and ounce of their costumes encourages kids to be the character they are dressed up as whether they are a vampire, a princess, or a pirate.

Sweet Fairy Princess halloween costume
Sweet Fairy Princess halloween costume

Costume description from Chasing Fireflies website:

In a vast fairy-tale kingdom, there lived the kindest, sweetest princess of all. She wore a breathtaking pink satin gown with brocade accents, sparkly tulle and dramatic back bow. Adorned with faux pearl jewelry and rhinestone-encrusted accessories, she appeared at royal outings in the most beautiful faux fur-trimmed velour cape a girl could ever dream up. Shown with petticoat. Polyester-nylon. Imported.

We ordered the silver star shoes and wand to go with Madelyn’s costume.  Other accessories available for this costume are:

  • royal tiara
  • silver pearl necklace & earrings set
  • silver star wand
  • petticoat
  • silver star shoes
  • pink princess cape

Get your kids in the Halloween spirit with halloween pj’s and other fun Halloween items from Chasing Fireflies.

Chasing Fireflies offers parents a great selection of costumes too.   If you are a matchy matchy type of family, you will find a costume for everyone in the Chasing Fireflies catalog or on their website.  They also sell all the accessories you could possibly need for the costumes.  Shoes, wands, tiaras.. everything!  Halloween will be here before you know it so hurry and order soon!

More Chasing Fireflies

 

Disclosure: This review was made possible by Mom Spark Media. I received the above costumes for the sole purpose of this review. Thoughts are my own.

5 Fabulous To-Do and Goal Tracking Applications

Blogger Resources, Business, Organization, , , ,

remember the milk applicationDuring a fast-paced day, it is easy to forget the countless items on a growing mental to do list much less looming life goals that still cause sleepless nights. Therefore, task manager websites with mobile applications serve as both personal assistants and motivational life coaches. Think of the following sites as anxious applicants vying for the chance to become your favorite organization guru!

 

42goals.com
42Goals sets itself apart via the icons that you can utilize to plot your accomplishments. The icons serve as a visual record of your progress through smaller goals that lead to a bigger objective. Switch between goal tracking on the site via your Mac or PC, over to their mobile web version at your convenience.
Cost: Free, with upgrades from $5-$30 monthly.

Toodledo.com
There is a reason Toodledo landed on Apple’s list of Top Paid Apps last year. Users love the sleek interface that seamlessly syncs from Windows and OS X to any smartphone or iOS device without hassles. This to-do app is a lifesaver for parents with active kids as it serves to remind them of their family’s daily agenda.
Cost: Free, with Pro and Pro Plus annual memberships ranging from $14.95 and $29.95 respectively.

43things.com
Ideal for sharing the overarching goals in your life, 43Things connects your goals to a network of other people’s goals. Do you want to lose weight? Have you had a life-long desire to conquer Mt. Everest? This site’s uncluttered format links you to other like-minded folks. It is available on RSS feed and the iPhone.
Cost: Free.

Rememberthemilk.com
This straightforward daily reminder site provides cross browser capabilities. Sync from web to iPhone, smartphone, or Android supported device. Bloggers can manage blog posts or meetings and will benefit from the myriad of options for sharing lists and appointments across platforms. Parents can also send reminder lists about groceries, upcoming PTA meetings, etc., via email or text.
Cost: Free, with Pro membership for $25 annually.

Producteev.com
A little competition goes a long way with Producteev. Perfect for business teams, Producteev provides incentives for completing tasks. You can prioritize tasks in order of importance and award badges for different levels of completion. It is ideal for business owners trying to get and keep their teams motivated. Use Producteev on PC, Mac or mobile devices.
Cost: Free for a two-member team, $20 per month for larger teams.

 

Do you have a favorite to-do or goal tracking app?  Share in the comments below!

New Book ‘Why Have Kids?’ + #WhyHaveKids Twitter Party Thursday September 13th 7-8pm CT

Books, Twitter Parties, , ,

20120912-173927.jpg


WHY HAVE KIDS?
A New Mom Explores the Truth About Parenting and Happiness by Jessica Valenti

Why have kids? Is this a question you’ve asked yourself time and time again? To many parents, this seems like a senseless, no-brainer question, but it’s a legitimate one at that. Parents as well as childless adults have been asking this question for thousands of years. Author and feminist Jessica Valenti discusses the truth about parenting and happiness in her provocitive new book.

WHY HAVE KIDS Twitter Party!

Join #WhyHaveKids 9/13 8-9pm/ET for a Twitter party on the new WHY HAVE KIDS? book! Win prizes, too! RSVP: http://bit.ly/RET1KF

TOPIC – Why Have Kids? with Jessica Valenti

TIME – Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 8-9 PM Eastern (7-8 PM Central, 6-7 PM Mountain, 5-6 PM Pacific)

HASHTAG – #WhyHaveKids

CUSTOM TWEETGRID – http://bit.ly/QbEwMB

PANELISTS – @MomSpark, @MomSparkMedia, @JessicaValenti, @mommyltloriley, @momwithadotcom, @thefrugalette and @OMGhada (follow everyone before party!)

Follow @JessicaValenti on Twitter!

One of the most high-profile young feminists in America, Jessica Valenti takes on the controversial—but necessary—question: Why Have Kids?

If the statistics confirm that parenting is making Americans unhappy, then Valenti’s question is poised to spark an essential and honest conversation about modern parenthood. Through on-the-ground reporting, new scientific studies, and her own burgeoning motherhood, Valenti offers an in-depth exposé of the world of having (and not having) children. She moves beyond the black and white “mommy wars” over natural parenting, discipline, and work-life balance to explore a more nuanced reality: one filled with ambivalence, joy, guilt, and exhaustion.

“This is a book about how the American ideal of parenting doesn’t match the reality of our lives, and how that incompatibility is hurting parents and children,” says Valenti. “The truth about parenting is that the reality of our lives needs to be enough. Seeking out an ideal that most of us can never reach is making us, and our kids, miserable.” The pursuit of perfection in pregnancy and parenting is giving American mothers a guilt complex and taking the joy out of parenthood. Valenti reveals the disconnect between parents’ hopes and the day-to-day reality of raising children and argues that while debating whether or not to breastfeed means we care about parenting, we really should really focus on raising our childrenas a community exercise. Forming communities of action rather than communities of judgment will help mothers and parents support each other.

Why Have Kids? tackles the tough questions that many parents and potential parents should be challenged to address. Brutally honest and refreshingly insightful, Valenti articulates the problem with modern parenting and offers solutions to social and political issues that can bring joy back to parenting.

A provocative and intimate exploration of modern parenthood by “a gutsy young third wave feminist” – The New York Times

“Timely… [Valenti] states early on that her book is meant to anger people and incite discussions… she wades deeply into the moral and logistical problems facing mothers, with interviews, research and her own anecdotal experiences.” – Kirkus Reviews

“In a culture that glamorizes motherhood, Jessica Valenti daringly articulates the hard work and the personal decisions that are an essential part of parenting. This book is a must read for new parents.”
– Gayle Lemmon, New York Times bestselling author of The Dressmaker of Khair Khana

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jessica Valenti is the author of three previous books, including The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women. She is also the founder of Feministing.com, which the Columbia Journalism Review called “head and shoulders above almost any writing on women’s issues in mainstream media.” Jessica – called one of the top 100 inspiring women in the world by the Guardian – speaks at universities and organizations in the U.S. and abroad about feminism, activism, and media. She lives with her family in Boston, but remains a New Yorker at heart.

Visit JessicaValenti.com to learn more about the author and her book WHY HAVE KIDS.

Disclosure: This review was made possible by Mom Spark Media. Thoughts are my own. I received a copy of Why Have Kids? and compensation nfor my time investment and work on this campaign.

5 Products To Organize Your Child’s Closet

Organization, , , ,

I am having surgery next week and I swear I am going through a ‘nesting phase’ just like I did when I was pregnant with both of my kids.  I am cleaning and organizing like no one’s business.   If you don’t already know what the pregnancy nesting phase is, you can learn more about the nesting phase of pregnancy, here.  I’m scrubbing baseboards, cleaning the grout in the bathrooms, painting scuff marks on the walls, and more!

I am trying to get the kids closets organized before my surgery because besides my husband being in charge of getting the kids dressed for school in the morning, my mother and sister will be here to help with the kids in which case they will most likely be exposed to the chaos that is my kid’s closet’s and I’d prefer to know that their closets are clean and organized.
When not cleaning today, I have been looking at closet organizational products at The Organized Parent and below are a few that I love!

You can get 15% off these products and anything else at The Organized Parent by using promo code: OP069!

Closet Dividers Set by O.R.E. Originals

Closet Dividers Set by O.R.E. Originals

Cost: $5.99 – $11.99 for a pack of 5

What is if for?Seperateing clothes by size or by season, or you can even use them to seperate clothes to giveaway from clothes to keep.
A fun, award-winning way to keep your child’s closet organized by age range, clothing type, or day of the week. Set of 5.

Joey & Jane Days of the Week Organizer by Kangaroom

Joey & Jane Days of the Week Organizer by Kangaroom

Cost: $20.95

What is if for?

Help your kids get ready faster in the morning. These unique hanging shelves hang from any size closet rod and have five separate compartments for outfits for every day of the school week, after school activities and sports uniforms. They also have elastic side pockets for shoes, socks, underwear and accessories. Pre-printed days of the week labels, activity labels, and blank activity labels are included so each unit can be customized to fit your needs.

John Classic Filebox 6 Hanging Files by Bigso Box of Sweden

closet box for organizing children's art work

Cost: $25.95

What is if for?

You know, all the art and class work your child brings home for the first few years of her schooling career?  You keep it all!  I interviewed Lisa Loeb and asked her how she chooses which of her daughter’s art pieces to keep and she said that she keeps the pieces that are most original.  So, sort through your child’s school and art work after school every day and keep those that you feel your child will enjoy seeing the most when she’s older, slide them into this box and get them out years later.  You and your child will share smiles and laughs when you look back at her Kindergarten art work.

 

10-Shelf Hanging Bamboo Organizer by Honey Can Do

10-Shelf Hanging Bamboo Organizer by Honey Can Do

Cost: $27.95

What is if for?

Organize your child’s shoes!

This organizer has 10 reinforced shelves for great capacity and hangs easily from your child’s closet rod using two steel hooks.

This hanging organizer can also be used for small bags and accessories.

Large Laundry Bag by Buckhead Betties

Large Laundry Bag by Buckhead Betties

Cost: $12.59 – sale!

What is it for?

Children’s clothes are shorter than average.  So why do we use a traditional laundry basket that takes up so much floor space on the floor of our kids closets?  I’d rather have room for my daughter’s toy organizer, stuffed animals, etc than just one laundry basket.  Even large loads of laundry can fit in this bag. This durable cotton canvas tote protects your delicates from the elements with a coated interior.

 

 

This is not a sponsored post.  I just love The Organized Parent and want to share some of their great closet organizing products with you!