For the past few weeks (minus the few days I was in New York visiting my grandmother with the kids), I have been up until 2-3am working on items, orders, prepping, answering e-mails and anything in between. This has become my usual "working" hours from about 8p until 2a or so.
I manage to actualyl get a great deal done during these hours (when I am not sitting here blogging), but it is definitely something that has taken a toll on me a little here and there. Luckily the kiddos will sleep until about 830a or sometimes even as late a 9am, this will be changing soon as well, since my oldest will start Pre-K this year and she will ride the bus to school. So I will have to make sure I get her up and on the bus each morning. I am very excited for her and I think she is more excited than anyone else.
But during these late nights I have been listening to Life FM and all their programs and music and let me tell you something...I have never been so in love with a radio station. Not only do they have some of the best Praise and Worship music, they have terrific podcasts and programs that are featured. When I was working and up at the crack of dawn, I'd listen to their early morning programs and I can remember several times crying going to work because I felt like the program was hand-selected by God for me to listen to that morning.
I often reflect late at night on the events of the day, the past week, where I want my life, my family, my business to go...what are God's plans for me and sometimes I don't have an answer for any of it and I really start feeling alone and let down over these thoughts and then my ears tune into the song playing on Life FM and I get a reminder that I am not alone...I may not know the answers, the reasons or the direction, but God has that steering wheel and He isn't letting go.
I love that the station is listener supported, no commercials and what breaks between the music is programs, scripture reading, podcasts or even news. One of my favorite things to listen too (and it is on right now) is Unschackled.
It has definitely been a life changing experience the past year listening to Life FM and I have gain new insights into my personal relationship with God, The Bible and the scriptures inside, even perspectives on how to raise my children, manage finances and how to help my family heal from the wounds we've inflicted upon each other. It is wonderful to have such a great radio station near us.
Thank you Life FM for all that you do! May God continue to bless the radio station, its staff and those whose lives you touch every day!
The Kidds
Baby-Bug Boutique
The annual Barefoot Books Summer Sale started a couple weeks ago, and ends August 15th, 2011.
There are over 50 titles at 60% off for all ages. They are some really awesome books! You can also use the following code AMBTWY and receive an additional 20% off your order (sale and regular price items).
FREE shipping on order over $60.00 (that is an everyday special, no coupon code needed).
You can order through our website at http://Jessica-Kidd.barefootbooks.com, or by E-mail at babybugsboutique@yahoo.com. This is a great chance to stock up on books for school book projects, birthday and Christmas presents and any other special event you might need a gift for.
We recently signed up to use Square Up ~ they best part about it, we can now take your credit card purchases without having to use paypal.
We can actually process your card through the app on my Android phone. This is very exciting because not everyone like the whole "pay online" concept, but it also opens a new window of opportunity for us with our events and shows.
In the next few days we will receive a card reader that attaches to the phone so we can swipe your card right then and there too. I will be looking into purchasing an imprinter as well, just in case we don't have signal or can't access the internet at the place we are at, so we can still accept your credit card payments that way too.
For the time being though ~ we will only be accepting credit card payments for orders of $20.00 or more due to the fees associated with it. Otherwise we end up losing more money then what it is worth when it comes to the smaller items. I hope everyone can understand the reasoning with that.
We look forward to this new endeavor and hope is opens lots of opportunities for as well!
The Kidds
Baby-Bug Boutique
WINNER is ANGIE (she chose the sock money travel silverware holder)!
We are going to be doing our first giveaway here on our blog!
Here is the first giveaway item: Travel Silverware Holder
Winner (selected by random.org) will get to choose the Travel Silverware Holder of their choice from the following picture (the safari animals is the only one not available)!
Our travel silverware holders are designed to be carried in your diaper bag or tote bag to make dining-out or eating on the go easier for not only the child, but us parents as well. Not all restaurants cater to children by offering silverware in which they can use, so here is the solution. No more ziploc bags needed, our travel silverware holders are also machine wash and dry so should there still be food on them, you can wash it away! They will hold a toddler silverware set or even 4 baby spoons. Perfect for any age child!
How to enter the giveaway:
Comment to this blog posting with your e-mail address so we may contact you and which of our products is your favorite and why.
Giveaway will close at 3pm on Friday July 11th, 2011.
Winner will be posted that night and will be contacted by e-mail (provided when entering the giveaway) by the next afternoon.
I am very pro-breastfeeding, cloth-diapering, baby-wearing, go as green as possible, fresh vegetables kind of mother. If we had a washer and dryer at home, we'd be cloth diapering and reusable baby wipes like no tomorrow with 3 still in diapers.
But I did nurse my youngest two children until I absolutely was not able to ~ surgeries after my youngest was born and with my son, he was well under-developed because I wasn't eating enough and my milk just stopped because I lost a ton of weight really fast (about 50lbs in two months) and he was barely 11 lbs at 4 months old when he was born at 8lbs 7oz...anyway...
Came across this project in Pittsburgh today and just had to share it because while nursing my youngest daughter out in public we did run into issues where someone got upset over it (even though I was completely covered and so was she) and we ended up having to leave where we were because of it. The job I was working at the time was also very disconcerned over pumping issues (as far as location and time allowed) and I wish this was up and running so that it would have helped out a co-worker of mine who definitely had more issues with pumping while at work than I did.
Here is the link to The Milk Truck's project website and a little information, but basically when you are out in public and are requested to leave or go nurse in the bathroom because someone is upset over you breastfeeding your child in public, you can call The Milk Truck and they will come to where you are (assuming right now in the Pittsburgh and surrounding areas right now) in their truck and allow you to nurse in their sanctuary...best part about it is...look at the truck!
Now tell me that isn't going to cause a disturbance! I and IN LOVE with that truck ~ so much for the breastfeeding mother causing a scene, now you have this truck with a boob on top of it in front of your business...great! I hope that there become more of these trucks in every state!
The link a couple paragraphs above is where you can donate to help support the project ~ they need to raise $10,000 to get it started by July 27th, 2011. Even if you can only donate $20 that is that much closer to helping them reach their goal...send it to your family and friends who are nursing, nursed their children when they were little, or even one who wanted to but couldn't for one reason or another, everyone should see this!!!
Have a terrific night!
The Kidds
Baby-Bug Boutique
We had a birthday celebration for me this weekend ~ turning the big 25 years old...thank you for car insurance dropping due to an age. So we traveled down to Richmond, Virginia (well Glenn Allen technically) to not only eat some great food at The Cheesecake Factory, taste some great dessert, but to spend time as a family and do a little shopping at Short Pump Towne Center too.
My favorite part about the Cheesecake Factory ~ Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake!! It is about the best thing ever in the world that I have tasted! It even looks good!
I was very impressed with Short Pump Towne Center ~ not only do they have a family restroom that has a little toilet in their for potty training and small children, they have a special room for nursing mothers as well (it even has a nice glider with gliding ottoman too!). If I was still nursing it would've been perfect to stop in and use, kept very clean as well and also has a baby changing table in there too!
The Cheesecake Factory at Short Pump Towne Center (well just in front of it) was overwhelmingly friendly ~ Brian had a cough from his pneumonia and a server that wasn't even ours brought him a glass of water as soon as we were sitting down. The server we had was very attentive and even made sure the kids had their food before ours came out so they wouldn't be restless (we forgot to ask him to do that ~ so that was even better). Our food came out nice and hot and he even made sure my meal was cooked right before I ate anything and had them cook it a little longer and then brought it back out. He brought boxes to our table for the kids' food realizing they weren't eating very much and made sure we had boxes as needed and even packaged it for us. He was absolutely awesome. Look forward to being able to return there again ~ the food was decently priced for the quality and portion size as well. The restaurant itself was gorgeous and kept very clean too!
Overall it was a great brithday celebration with my family, which is what I wanted. Thank you to The Cheesecake Factory for making it such a memorable event!
The Kidds
Baby-Bug Boutique
