Shutterfly Christmas Cards

So for all of you not doing out Dolcetto Designs Christmas Card Fundraiser, over at Malot's Hope, here is another review of Christmas Cards. Please bear with me as a do a little "blog whoring" in order to get free Christmas Cards for our family. 50 or so dollars(about what we will save from getting 5x7 fold over cards for FREE!) will be making its way to our adoption fund from this!

So back to Shutterfly. We use them all of the time, they often have great print deals, and we stock up, and will use them for already designed 4x6 prints (Such as those from Dolcetto Designs :)). Of course they have the traditional "flat" photo cards, but they are also getting "fancier" every year. They also have Christmas Card Birth Announcements, perfect for those of you who want to combine announcing your newest addition with your Christmas Card!

Interested? Head on over to Shutterfly and check them out further, for a limited time all cards will be 20% off!

Have a blog and want to do a little "whoring" of your own? Here's the link to get in on the deal. ;)

Malot's Hope

Our heart is Africa, and our kids. So kids and Africa, pretty much sums it up. It is only fitting that we would adopt.

And the time is now :)

I don't want to be redundant, so just go check out our new adoption blog. This one will still be here for family updates, recipes(look for more of these as I am back GF/CF/ and Sugar free), and the like. But check out Malot's Hope for info about our process and how our fundraising is going, as well as ways you can help. Oh an check out our Malot's Hope Independent Shaklee Shop while you are at it, proceeds benefit Malot's Hope/ Adoption fund!

I dare say the sun is coming out!

Heaven Stands

There have been some pretty powerful songs speaking to me recently. (Ah, you've caught me, I've been listening to the dreaded "bloop bloop" station!) The one from the title is one. Such an amazing song(It's actually called Your Hands...). It's one of those songs that had it been popular 3 months ago I would not have been ready to accept it as truth. Most likely I would have laughed and changed the station, thinking some snyd cynical remark. You tube, itunes, do whatever you do to check out songs because I'm done talking about it, but it is definitely worth your time!

The piece De resistance (I am sure I butchered that...whoops!) of music selections is Yet, by Switchfoot. Now I'm not a huge Switchfoot fan, I like their "mild" stuff, but it gets a little loud and bangy, and headachy quite frequently. Currently it is the only CD in our car, so for lack of other options I have been listening. The end of this song is so perfect for where I am.

If it doesn't break your heart it isn't love.

If it doesn't break your heart it's not enough.

'Cause when you're breaking down, with your insides looking out,

It's when you find out what your hearts made of.

But You haven't lost me yet.

Seriously, how great is that? I often think why me, why us, blah blah blah, let's throw a pity party. I'm not immune. My heart has been broke. I have new respect for so many walks of life. I have learned so very much about life, love, and healing. I have gone from what was a circumstance driven faith(not that I realized, nor would have fessed up to that fact), to one that, while shaky at times, is rooted and unwavering. We have had dreams, goals, and vision ripped from our view. This is not where we pictured ourselves.

He hasn't lost us yet. And it wasn't much after I had that realization (while driving in an unbelievable stinky RAV- 4 toting 22 chickens to their death) that I started to dream again. See the new button, I'm sure we can all guess where this is going.

He hasn't lost me yet.

Busy like a bee!

As some of you who know me "IRL" know we are about to have the hammer come down on our ability to leave the house. Basically we aren't. Ever. (Okay a slight exaggeration, certain outside only activities will still continue to be "okay"). Pup is having some immunity issues, and that combined with his brain injury leaves us with a laundry list of "not pretty" . As in, if he catches one "it won't be pretty". Anyways, lots is changing in our house gearing up for our winter of lock down. We are redoing our upstairs. I have been scraping paint (worst job EVER!) in hopes of revamping all of our furniture. Fish just got a "big girl bed" in hopes of finally giving pup the crib, and a "gym" will soon be installed in their room. (swings, ropes, trampoline... you get the idea :))

But I may just be most excited about the young college lady I am meeting tomorrow. We are hiring a part-time nanny! This means I(without children, or with only one) will be able to leave the house! Wohooo!

New ride

Where have you been all of my life double jogging stroller. Seriously, I'm in love. Pushes and steers like a dream, and even has a built in "bubble" for Noah! (all joking aside, it does have a pretty sweet zip out rain/wind shield) We have had lots of adventures with it so far, but out first was the zoo! We headed out, just the kids and I, while daddy was working. It was, well a zoo! So busy, but being the first really nice cool weekend (not to mention a holiday weekend) what was I to expect!

The little man on the way out, so tired!

The sign of a successful trip!

I love my new stroller mom!


"Let's count them mommy- Uno, doz, twez, catcho, sinko..."
Thank you Dora, for teaching my child Spanish :)

So this just made the cut because the lighting was AMAZING on the flamingos! I realize most don't get as jazzed about lighting as I, but it looked so cool!

D-TaP, shmee-tap

There is huge controversy over vaccines. Big, friendship ending, up in arms controversy. This is not the place for that. This is a place for a story about our little Fish, and her first vaccine in nearly two years.

We stopped vaccinating our little Fish (after previously doing a delay schedule which was our pediatrician's recommendation) around 6 months old. This was the time we were trialing her on food, and she was a mess with allergies. I think back to what life was like in the Clorox wipe filled days, and I can hardly fathom it! We stopped in hope of letting her little tummy heal itself(vaccines, as well as allergies, are drains on the immune system), and had all intention of starting back up once she was "out of the woods".

So she went for her good old 2 year well check, brave as can be, and got her "poke". Not a big deal right, every other kid does it too. The big deal came after. The past two weeks we have watched our little Fish have slow changes in front of our eyes. Less interacting with friends, more sensory seeking, and the thing that made me take notice, hour or more long tantrums on almost a daily basis. I don't care what you say, that is not normal!

I feel like both camps of the vaccine debate can agree on one thing, there is some part of the population that cannot get rid of the junk in vaccines. They harbor it somehow and it sends them into a funk. (I know I am sooooo scientific!) Quite frankly I don't care why, in our house we are more worried with "how to fix it".

So that is what we did(or tried...) today. Off to see good old Dr. Cheryl, both kids in tow, to get the girl and the boy straightened out(she was *hopefully* straitening out seizure triggers for him). It gets a little "black magic" from there, but we should know in 24-48 hours if we have our "old" Fishy back. I sure hope so, because the current one has been breaking my heart!

Pup the Kitchen Elf