Tyne Boden Necklaces review

Recently, I had a chance to win a necklace from Tyne Boden Necklaces. Since Tyne was getting geared up for the 4th of July she was offering her American Saturday Night Necklace. It was a super cute silver linked necklace with a blue ribbon and red, white, and blue stars hanging off of it. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of me wearing it since I'm still in the hospital but here is a picture of the necklace...


When I got the necklace, I was super excited and C loved the little stars hanging off of it. I am also a big fan of Tyne's other necklaces she made one recently called The Stone and the Green World that was just beautiful.


You can order a necklace that she has already made with her order form or you can custom order necklaces from her.

Want to win a necklace from Tyne?? Today is the last day of her Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams July giveaway where she is giving away not one but two awesome necklaces! Make sure to check her out and enter her giveaway...you won't be disappointed!

Disclosure: I won this necklace from a giveaway and did a review of it. I was not compensated in any way.

Proud to be a Theta Mom

Heather at Theta Mom is celebrating her one year "blogoversary." Woohoo! Part of her celebration has been to ask her readers to submit posts telling what makes them Theta Moms. If you haven't been over to Theta Mom you must go there immediately. Heather writes genuinely about what it is to be a mom, what other moms don't tell you before your children are born, and other fun topics. Check out her Mission describing what it is to be a Theta Mom and you'll see you fit right in!

I've been thinking about this post for a few days and during this time some things have changed dramatically in my life as a mom so, it should be interesting to see what I come up with...

My son C, now 18 months, wasn't exactly planned. I always knew I wanted to be a mom and have two kids but, the timing of his conception wasn't quite what we were expecting. I had a tough pregnancy working up until I went into the hospital at 29 weeks. But, I was happy to be welcoming him into the world. When at 29 weeks and 5 days I had to deliver via emergency C-section due to Pre-eclampsia, I wasn't worried about my own health, I was worried about this precious new life that was coming too soon.

I did worry a little about the fact that we didn't have any baby clothes, the nursery wasn't set up, we weren't baby proofed at home. But, more than anything I was worried about being the mom I would need to be to guide this fragile life into the world and get him through his extended stay in the NICU.

The thing about being a mom of a preemie is that no one really talks about it. Mothers don't want to scare new mothers about the ins and outs of what happens in there. I didn't want to tell some of my friends that were expecting because I didn't want them to freak out. But, during C's time and mine in the NICU I found my true calling as a mother. I found that you will do whatever it takes to make sure your child is happy and healthy, whether it is sitting round the clock holding his hand through the window of an isolette or pumping milk every three hours for 6 weeks because you want him to have the best nutrition available even though he can't breast feed.

I spent every day for 47 days with C and no one will tell you how hard that is. No mother ever wants to see her child hurt or suffering whether they are 5 days, 5 years, or 35 years. But, I know that this experience is what shaped me for my role as a mother. At 18 months, C is thriving you wouldn't be able to tell that he was born so early. He looks just like his father and has a laugh that will make you grin.

I am currently pregnant with Baby Girl and this past week at 33 weeks started showing signs of Pre-eclampsia again. I have now been on bed rest for 5 days in the hospital and we are waiting to see how things go but, it's looking like Baby Girl will be coming early as well. This time around I'm not as nervous. I've been through this. I know I can do it and I know that I have what it takes to be the mom I need to be. This time my worries are on my husband and C. I think C has it under control to take care of his dad :-)

Being a Theta Mom, a proud mother, for me is knowing that I have what it takes even if it is a different road than all of the others, knowing that I will do anything for my children, including laying on my side for days on end. It's being willing to share with other mothers the hard parts of being a mom and not putting a sunny face and telling them it's so easy when in fact, it is the hardest job out there. And above everything, loving your role as a mother and embracing it with everything you have.

Happy Blogoversary Theta Mom and thanks to all you other Theta moms out there!!

Bed Rest Day 3... Things They Don't Tell You

Here it is, day 3 in the hospital. So far, I've been pretty optimistic. I can make it through the next 3 weeks on bed rest either in or out of the hospital...today I discovered it gets harder to be optimistic as the days drag on.

Thankfully, hubby brought the laptop yesterday which helps pass a few hours at a time. He also came by again today with C for a few hours and that helped a lot. The downside...they came to take my blood pressure while the family was here and it had sky rocketed. It has since gone down slightly which is good.

So, the things your doctor doesn't tell you about when you might have to go on bed rest...

1. Obviously, it sucks

2. Even though your bed goes up and down you are supposed to stay flat. You can only sit up to eat.

3. Because you aren't moving, your bowels won't move... yup, no poop

4. TV gets old after while, even if you don't usually have access to cable.

5. Doing nothing makes you tired but, it's hard to sleep.

6. Every day on bed rest keeps your baby out of the NICU three extra days... a nurse told me this today, I don't know if it's actually true.

As I think of more, I'll add them. So far, it's looking like I'm going to be enjoying and extended stay here at Presby Dallas. We should find out more on Monday. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!

It's Been a Rough Day

Okay fabulous readers, I'm taking a time-out from deals and house stuff. For the past two days I have been chilling in my very own roof/parking garage view room of the hospital. At 33 weeks, my blood pressure has started to inch up into Pre-eclampsia territory.

The good news... I'm 4 weeks more pregnant this time than with C. Which means if delivery happens early, less time in the NICU. To read more about C's story go here.

The bad news... I'm being monitored until at least Monday, and may be here for 3.5 more weeks until I hit 37 and can deliver or, I can go home Monday for 3.5 weeks of bed rest at home.

The other bad news... The Illinois job fell through, we're not moving, we're taking the house off the market.

It's safe to say, it has been a rough few days for my family. We're holding together and hubby is being a champ staying with C. Uncle J is pretty awesome too, watching C yesterday for 7 hours and changing his first diaper!

So, I've now joined the ranks of the bed resting mommas. I have limited access to the internet but, I'll try to come up with some fun posts on how to survive bed rest!

Diapers.com is Awesome!

With all of the crazy stuff that is going on around here, I've become a big fan of shopping online. Usually, I'll run out to Target or my local Albertson's with my coupons and pick up the 9,000 diapers I need. But, right now we just have so much to do and my pregnant body doesn't really like loading and unloading a toddler in 100 degree weather.

I had heard of Diapers.com before and was sort of skeptical because I'm one of those people that waits until you're using the last diaper out of your diaper bag before you go to the store. I thought I probably wouldn't get my diapers in my time of need! But, if you order before 6 pm about 2 days before you are about to run out of diapers you will be good to go. The diapers ship quickly and you don't have to worry about leaving the house.

I was so excited when I ordered my diapers because I was a first time customer, I got $10 off of my order as well as the coupons for $3 off Huggies that Diapers.com supplied. I also received free shipping because my order was just over $49. It was awesome! On top of that, I went through Ebates.com (which you should also check out) and I received 1% cash back on my purchase. You can get 1-4% cash back from Ebates.com when you shop Diapers.com. One other thing, you can also mail them your manufacturers coupons and they will credit them to you account! How cool is that??

I was so happy with my purchase that I am about to order a few more things for Baby Girl from them during their huge June sale. When you sign up for an account with them you can also get credit for referring other shoppers. Your friends can also save $10 on their first order and they can get $5 towards their second order! And you get credit too! This is definitely something worth checking out. If you're interested in visiting Diapers.com click on the button from my side bar and if you purchase something you can enter my referral code for you $10 off...HAAR6944 is my code, it's also on my button. You can join the referring fun by checking out their Refer-a-Friend Program. Have fun checking out all of their great gear, toys, and fun things for mom!

Disclaimer: I did not receive anything from Diapers.com for this post. I'm just sharing my enthusiasm for a great company!

Getting the House Ready

I've been struggling for post ideas lately with everything that is going on but, I thought this would be a good one. When selling your house, obviously appearance is the most important thing to the potential buyer... is it in good condition? is it clean? is there enough space? There are plenty of ways to stage your house without breaking the bank. Why spend an exorbitant amount of money on a house you're not going to live in?

So, the cheapest and easiest thing for you to do is to clean. Clean every nook and cranny you can. You want your house sparkling. Remember what it looked like when you moved in, before babies, dogs, in-laws?? That's what you want it to look like. Along with cleaning comes de-cluttering. Remove all of those baby pictures from the fridge, the five extra tv trays from the living room, all the extra toys that aren't being played with. This will make your home look more spacious and less cluttered. Hubby and I are planning a garage sale for next weekend to get rid of all of our extra clutter... really, I don't want to move that little statue that we've been holding on to for the last 3 moves again!

After you get the extra clutter out and you've cleaned like you've never cleaned before... you can look at changing your furniture around. Instead of going out and buying new furniture, you can stage your furniture differently. We moved one of our sofas into our back family room and moved a sitting chair into our front living room. This opened up a lot of space up front and gave the back a more homey feeling.

So, the first three tips...Clean, De-clutter, and work with the furniture you already have. This should cost you only the cost of your cleaning products and you may make some money if you have a garage sale. If you don't want to do that, you can call your local charity to come pick up your clutter as well. We have taken a lot of our stuff to Goodwill over the years.

Next time...DIY repairs, what really needs to be done, looking for an agent.

The Never Ending To-Do List

Usually, I don't blog so much about my personal life just about fun ways to save money. Lately, though, I haven't been able to blog much because there is just so much going on. Currently I am 31 weeks pregnant with Baby Girl and chasing after 18 month old C who is a handful and a half. My husband is a high school band director and musician which means more hours than a regular teacher (especially since we are in Texas) and gigs on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Now, for most families that would be enough. Not ours...

Recently, I blogged about ways to save money while traveling. We were traveling for a job interview in Illinois for my husband. This wasn't just any job interview it was for the Air Force. The Band of the Mid-West to be exact. Many people don't know that the military has jobs for musicians. There are military bands stationed all over the world and the enlisted men/women don't do anything but play in these bands and get PAID. For someone that would rather play their instrument than do anything else and be able to make a decent living, this job is a dream.

About 5 years ago, right around the time we got married, hubby went through this whole process and it fell through right at the end. This time, hubby has been offered a job, signed the papers, and now is going the process of physicals and tests to make sure he can join up. Then BASIC TRAINING. The Air Force people have been awesome about scheduling basic training around the birth of our daughter. Since she is due at the beginning of August, they are willing to let him delay until the beginning of September. Basic training lasts for 60 days and then we would move to Illinois.

What this all means is...I'm FREAKING OUT. We have so much to do, like sell our house and all the fun things that come with it, find new housing in a state that I've been in twice, find a place for me to stay for 60 days with a toddler and a newborn, pack, have a BABY... the list goes on and on.

The pros of this job though, are numerous. I fully support my husband in his decision to take it should everything go through like it is supposed to. I just have these momentary freak outs that kind of throw me for a loop. So, I will continue posting my ways to save money and maybe so often an update on the whole moving to another state, joining the military family, and having a baby all at the same time.

Today on the to-do list... dusting