Only 63 Days Til Christmas!

Can you believe it? As of today, there are only 63 days left until Christmas.
I have been working hard to get things in order around here since we are anticipating having a baby right around the same time.
AAlexH!
I know, we are C-R-A-Z-Y!!!
One thing that I really like to make sure is done prior to Thanksgiving is place my order for our Christmas Cards that we mail out to our family and friends.

I like to start looking at holiday card designs as soon as websites start advertising that their new designs are available and then I have to find the perfect card to go with the perfect picture or pictures of the kids.

This year, I’ve been ‘window’ shopping for cards at Tiny Prints and have found a few designs that I really love.

These are my top 3 choices

I love to choose cards with multiple picture spaces so everyone gets their own little spot to display their personality.

Now that I have it narrowed down to 3 cards, I have to find the best pictures to go with them….this is not an easy task. Plus, I have to decide if I should include an ultrasound picture of Baby Ellie on the card as well or do I wait for her to make her greeting card debut next Christmas??

Decisions, decisions.
What is a mom to do?

Tell me, what helps you decide which holiday card your family sends out??

Disclaimer: I wrote this blog post while participating in the Tiny Prints holiday blogging program. I received compensation for my participation. All opinions are 100% mine.

**These are not my children, not our names and not my photos. All images are used with permission from Tiny Prints. If you are interested in these particular cards, you can find them HERE, HERE and HERE.**

I'm Knocked Up

Breech Baby Breech Baby……

Anne Younger Leave a comment

I had my Baby Ellie check up today.
I am currently in my 29th week of pregnancy.
That means that today I got to drink the dreaded Glu-Cola and have my blood drawn to check for gestational diabetes.
I have done this for every pregnancy and have always dreaded drinking that crap but understand that it is a necessary precaution. I’m hopeful that everything will check out fine as it did with each pregnancy before.

I also had an ultrasound today as well.
First thing out of the tech’s mouth…..
she’s still breech.

See, here are her adorable little feet sitting nice and low where they can kick me so hard I think her foot is going to pop right out of my lady bits!

Aren’t they cute?!
Needless to say, I am not a fan of the breech position and the location of her feet and am PRAYING she flips SOON!!!!!
The thought of her staying breech and my having to undergo a c-section is terrifying me!!
Yeah, I’m not a fan of being sliced open.

Other than that, she seems to be doing pretty good in the ol’ womb.
She tends to be a little camera shy and it doesn’t make it any easier to see her since the placenta seems to be obstructing our view of her.
Oh and she prefers to keep her little face turned towards my spine making it more difficult to catch a glimpse, but we were able to get a quick peek before she ran to hide.

Her chubby little cheek in this one just melts my heart!!

Of course as we are getting closer to the finish line we are all getting pretty excited around here.
I am hoping to start doing some shopping soon since we will need to purchase everything all over again.
Yep, a crib, stroller, swing…you name it….we need it.
Oh—except we don’t need a pack and play since a great friend of ours had one she never used and sent it home with us!

I have picked up a few little girly outfits here and there including a little black tutu and leggings that I cannot wait to see her in!

We are now to the point when we get to start going to the doctor every two weeks now which is also exciting.
In the meantime I am just praying that she gets herself out of the breech position or at least stops kicking so hard down there and that she will let me get some sleep….she tends to be a night owl!

Next appointment is November 4th so watch for an update then!!

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Bloom Maternity Review & Giveaway – Ends 11/1/11

Anne Younger

Dressing your pregnant body throughout different seasons is no easy task I assure you. I am currently expecting baby #4 and with each pregnancy comes the need to dress my new sized body each season. For the most part, this pregnancy is falling right into the same seasons as my last however this one I am further along than I was during my previous pregnancy, and I’m definitely A LOT bigger than I was the last time around which makes it even more difficult to find cute fall maternity clothing.

Needless to say I was extremely pleased to find that Bloom Maternity not only offers cute maternity clothing for every season but they offer it in PLUS SIZES as well!!
I just received the Tiger Hoodie by Annee Matthew in Expresso from Bloom Maternity and I am LOVING it! (Yeah, that’s not me in the picture only because I would have to take a shower, do my makeup and then find someone to snap a picture of me, not to mention put a bra on—but I will tell you it looks WAY cuter on me with my ginormous baby bump!)

Bloom Maternity carries a large variety of clothing on their site not to mention all kinds of other great baby related items like diaper bags, nursing products, gifts, carriers and more!! No matter what your size, you deserve to look and feel beautiful while your body is in Bloom — and beyond. Bloom Maternity has clothing ranging in sizes from Small – 3X.

Bloom Maternity has graciously offered up some awesome discount opportunities for the readers of The Megalomaniac Mommy using the following codes:
10% $50-$74 dollars code: MM10
20% $75-$99 code: MM20
30% $100+ code: MM30
**These codes are good for clothing only and excludes diaper bags, Phil & Teds, and the Naturepedic line.**

In addition to these AWESOME discounts, Bloom Maternity is also giving one lucky reader of The Megalomaniac Mommy a $25 gift certificate!!

Here’s how to enter!

MANDATORY 1st ENTRY:

Tell me what you hate most about shopping while pregnant.

For additional entries:
1. Follow me on Twitter for 1 entry. Leave a comment with your Twitter ID.
2.Tweet about this giveaway then leave me a comment with the link to your tweet. This is SUPER easy, just use the Twitter icon located at the top of this post.
3. Subscribe to my newsletter and leave a comment with your email address for 2 entries.
4. Subscribe to The Megalomaniac Mommy via a reader for 2 entries.
5. Follow me on Google Friend Connect (at the bottom of this page) for 2 entries.
6. Like The Megalomaniac Mommy on Facebook for 2 entries.7. Follow The Megalomaniac Mommy on Networked Blogs (at the bottom of this page) for 2 entries.
8. Grab my button and add it to your page and leave me the URL for your page for 3 entries.

9. Like Bloom Maternity on Facebook for 1 entry.
10. Follow Bloom Maternity on Twitter for 1 entry.
11. Subscribe to the Bloom Maternity Blogfor 1 entry.

12. Vote for The Megalomaniac Mommy on Picket Fence Blogs for 1 additional entry by clicking on the logo below.

This giveaway will begin on October 17th 2011 and end on November 1st 2011 at 12 NOON CST and is open to US Residents Only. Winner will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to respond and claim prize. For more information on giveaways hosted by The Megalomaniac Mommy, please read the Policies page.

Disclaimer: I received this item for review free of charge from Bloom Maternity in exchange for my complete and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Organized Sports

Anne Younger Leave a comment

As parents, the Alex and I have always encouraged our children to get involved in sports. We’ve done dance, cheer leading, karate, tae kwon do, soccer, baseball, football both flag and tackle, swim, wrestling, basketball, gymnastics, tumbling, and track.

Throughout all of these experiences, we’ve had our ups and downs.
The kids have been on teams with kids they disliked but found a way to make it work.
They have been on teams were they had very positive experiences.
They’ve had coaches that they have loved and adored.
They’ve been on teams were they just plain old had fun.

I encourage my kids to participate in these activities as a way to make friends outside of school and to just have fun and be a kid.
In my eyes, that is the point in children’s sports.
It should be about the fun of learning and playing the game.
Not.About.The.Winning.

Winning should not be an important part of a child’s sports experience until they reach the Varsity level in high school where playoffs and state titles have actual meaning. If it were a tryout only tournament team where they only try to get the best players, which would obviously not be the normal school sports, then they can worry about winning all they want. But when it is a sport through school (under varsity only) or through a park and rec, as in recreational…RECREATIONAL should tell this to you right away, winning should NOT be a factor. Yea the kids will keep track but the COACHES have a responsibility to the kids to teach them the fundamentals of the game and to get them ALL experience so they may enjoy the game and become better players. This is especially true when you assured all of the parents in the first meeting that YOU WOULD DO THIS VERY THING!!!! You said winning didn’t matter, you were there to teach the kids. Then the season starts and all of that goes out the window. I know my kids aren’t the fastest or the strongest but they love these sports, both to watch and to play. When the coaches are unfair and make the game about winning and only let some of the backups in during the final minutes, innings or what have you, of garbage time, it hinders their enjoyment and discourages them from further participation.

Another issue that the Alex and I have a problem with is coaches favoring their own children on their team. Yes, I understand that it is your child. Yes, I understand that you volunteered for this position. What irks me the most is that when you volunteered for this position you knew that your responsibility was NOT only to your child but to ALL of the children on the team. Each child deserves the opportunity to learn the different aspects and positions of a sport and all should be given the same opportunity to play.

Oh, and lets not forget the coaches who yell.
And not only do they yell, they swear….in front of the kids.
I’m sorry but as a coach, you should be someone that the children look up too and set a good example.

So, have at it.
What are your experiences with your children and organized sports?

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The One Car Family

Anne Younger Leave a comment

This week, we became a one car family.
When we first made the decision to sell our sedan it was because we wanted to pickup another minivan that could fit the entire family if need be.
Not to mention, we just didn’t see the point of sticking any more money into it when for the most part, it just sat in the driveway collecting dust.
We were just looking to get something used but reliable.
As time went on, we decided we would sell the car and put the money from it in savings for the time being and try out the one car situation for awhile.
For us, this should be an easy task.
With me being at home all day and the Alex working third shift, our family minivan is only gone during the night when the rest of us are sleeping and is home during the day while he sleeps and I need it.
And sure an emergency situation arise, we are fortunate enough to have a lot of family and friends nearby that would be available in this type of situation.
So, on Thursday, we sold the car.
And now it’s the 5 of us (soon to be six) and the minivan we purchased back in May.
We’ve padded the savings account with some extra cash should we need to make any repairs to our current vehicle in addition to picking up a few other items we have been putting off for quite some time…..we might even splurge and FINALLY get a snow blower!!