Choices, Choices, Choices....

Recently I was faced with the option to return to my professional career, after being a stay at home since our son was born. For me it was not about returning to WORK because STAY AT HOME MOMS WORK 24/7! We work all day and night caring for our children and staying at home IS a full-time job, for which many moms do not get enough kudos or credit. It the most exhausting, challenging, and simply INCREDIBLE job I HAVE EVER LOVED!! Before I had J.B. I actually thought I would be bored (WHAT WAS I THINKING?? LOL LOL), but being at home with him has made me so very happy, watching him grow and change everyday is AMAZING and there is never a dull moment. I love the quality time I have been able to enjoy with him and I know that it's precious time I will NEVER get back, so I literally cherish every giggle, smile, and milestone met. So when the opportunity to return to my professional career came about I was completely overwhelmed and just riddled with guilt and then I began to actually feel awful because I was considering it and looking forward to the possibility of going back. I could not sleep or think straight and it became an emotional journey! After much prayer, consideration, and wisdom from a great friend who told me, "Christina, you have to give yourself permission to return to your profession, and not beat yourself up about doing something you love, IT IS OKAY TO HAVE BOTH!" For some reason that resonated with me and I realized that I can still be a fabulous mommy to our sweet J.B. who I LOVE with all my heart and return to my professional career which I LOVE AS WELL. It is perfectly fine if I want to do both, and the real person who needs to be okay with it is ME AND ONLY ME! As long as I am okay with it then I do not need to seek the opinions of others, because each mom's decision is strictly their own. I cannot help that some may judge me and I am okay with that because I know that GOD himself is in control of our lives and that our son will be well taken care of and LOVED when I am away from home. I do wonder though if I can ACTUALLY and realistically DO IT ALL? This question is still is in the back of my mind... but when I am flooded with that heavy and loaded question I remember that I have the support of my SAVIOR, my sweet husband, both sets of parents, and our church family and that is ALL I NEED! Is it REALLY possible for moms to have IT ALL? And that my friends is a question ONLY YOU CAN ANSWER FOR YOURSELF! ( For me personally it is YES and it does not make me any less of a GREAT MOMMY to want it all!)

Parenthood Top 10

As we all know parenthood changes us and changes what we do and even how we do it. Right now J.B. is watching EVERYTHING WE DO! To the point that we are so very concise of what we say and do because he is absorbing it like a tiny sponge. Many people say after you have a baby nothing is the same... well of course it is not and why would one expect it to be the same? You now have this tiny person who loves you and is solely dependent on you, parenthood I believe makes you better as a person and stronger as a couple. It allows you to become more patient, you capacity to love is so much deeper, and you become the master of multi-tasking. Below I have listed my top ten, just a few ways our lives have changed and YES these are TRUE as far as our family is concerned, so if you are a parent or becoming a parent.... READ THESE and enjoy every moment with your little one!!

PAMBLANCO PARENTHOOD TOP 10:

10. Loading the dishwasher is now a daily game of Tetris.
9. You will forgo just about anything if it means you can sleep longer.
8. Your bathroom is no longer filled with romantic candles and soaps, it is now overtaken with tiny bath toys and baby soaps.
7. You are willing to do anything to get your baby to smile, including making up silly songs and dancing around the house.
6. You are so exhausted you wash your hair with shaving cream instead of soap (TRUE STORY).
5. Going out means loading up the car which is now at least a 10 minute thing.
4. You have a "back-up" diaper bag for everything including for your back-up.
3. Your purse now contains an "emergency" pacifier in it.
2. You stop wearing a watch, because the baby makes your schedule now.
1. Suddenly NOTHING is more important than holding your baby, including at all hours of the night
(which is THE BEST TIME because times just feels like it stands still for just an instant :).

BABY FOOD FUN

Since being at home I have decided to take on what I thought would be the challenge of making homemade baby food for our infant son. I thought it would be a tedious task and a lot of work to provide a natural choice instead of buying jarred baby food but it was much easier and way more cost effective than I ever thought. For my birthday, I received a baby food maker which made the process a lot easier and faster, but at the same time moms can use their blender or food processor as well to do the same thing. I first go to a local fresh produce market where fruits and veggies are locally grown, next wash all produce, for some food like veggies they must be steamed or boiled first, then I just blend and add water. I freeze almost everything then defrost as our son needs it. The above picture shows squash and bananas, a week supply of each (he eats one serving two times a day) and the cost for two weeks worth of baby food was only $1.57! AMAZING! That's almost the cost of just a few jars of baby food which would definitely not last two weeks! The savings and the fact that it is ALL NATURAL is worth the time put into, which is MINOR! To make two weeks worth of food, it took me about 15 minutes and that was only because I needed to boil the squash, the bananas took about two minutes! WELL WORTH DOING IT! I actually have LOVED making his food and it feels good to know that I am providing a healthy option for our son. So al moms out there... PLEASE TRY IT, your baby will LOVE IT!

HAPPY VERY FIRST FATHER'S DAY JASON!

HAPPY FIRST FATHER'S DAY MY LOVEY! This post is dedicated to the most WONDERFUL man in my life... my sweet husband JASON. After five long years of praying to become parents God blessed us with our sweet sweet son J.B. It has been such an incredible learning experience for us both as parents and you my love are an absolutely INCREDIBLE, WONDERFUL, MAGNIFICENT, SUPER,AMAZING  DADDY!!!! Sometimes I just watch you with J.B. and pray and thank God for the breathtaking blessing of our family. You do so many amazing daddy things with him like make him laugh, get him to give you a gummy smile, rock him, feed him, change him, and play with him (I love how you can get him to have hard belly laughs when you rub your beard on his neck! LOL LOL) You are the most gentle and loving father and husband and you are so GREAT at taking care of our family and we know that you LOVE us so much every single day with all your heart! Thank you for being our spiritual leader and for encouraging me a a wife and mommy. YOU ARE AMAZING!!! WE LOVE YOU LOVE!! Christina and J.B.

BPA FREEDOM...

So with having a baby comes worries.... worries about EVERYTHING!! And now that our son has started putting everything in his mouth, I did some reading about BPA. After doing some reading I have rid our house of anything that is not BPA free. To some this may definitely seem extreme but to me this is something that we personal feel is important to our families health. Now we are taking steps to reduce our use of items with BPA such as using glass to heat things up in, not using plastic cups, and I am making sure everything we buy for our little one is BPA free if it is a plastic item. Now, there are going to be times when I cannot be 100% sure that every single thing is BPA free but I can lessen what comes in our home and what goes into our sons mouth.

Formula 101

After making dozens of bottles a day and dealing with our son's acid reflux I decided to use a blender to help make it easier, like batch cooking but this milk batch only last about 24 hours. Myself like many moms wander through the formula aisle dreading the cost of formula that we all know only last about 2-3 days but we are ALWAYS willing to buy it so our babies are well nourished. After meeting a complete stranger in the formula aisle who asked me how many bottles I got out of a canister of formula I said.. "I don't really know but the canister says 15?"Because it is so expensive this conversation prompted me to do a little experiment to see if I really am getting my monies worth. So I kept track of how many bottles I made with a tally mark on the lid to help me see the difference. I found that when using the blender I can get an extra bottle or even two out of a canister or jumbo canister. Now that does NOT sound like that much of a difference but when you are spending $25.00 every two-three days or so one extra bottle can make a difference!
* This is just a tip for moms and it is NOT to endorse any certain brand of formula.

Why NOT save money?

 So this post is being generated after couponing yesterday and saving an AMAZING $101.01 in grocery savings for a two week grocery trip. This trip included a case of diapers and the largest container of powdered baby formula you can buy. Couponing was introduced to me by two co-workers and my grandmother. Over the past few years, each month like clock work my grandmother would send me coupons she clipped for me in the mail, I would use a few here and there but really saw NO difference in my total grocery bill, so I would pass my unused coupons onto my co-workers, both of whom have shopped and paid pennies for items from everything to cosmetics to laundry detergent.... which to me is INCREDIBLE! ****It is important to say in advance that each consumer and couponer should be responsible by knowing a stores coupon policy and I DO NOT CONDONE clearing store shelves! I DO NOT EXTREME COUPON, but I do coupon to save money for our family and every little bit of savings to a family means being able to pay down debt, pay another bill, take a vacation, or even go to out to dinner each week. I am of course just an amateur but I absolutely have learned from the best!!! I do not have a binder (Although I may consider one one day) I just use a three envelope system where grocery coupons are in one, retail and restaurants in another, and J.B. (BABY) coupons are in another. This system keeps me from digging around in my purse to collect my coupons and just keeps me organized. As I shop I pull out each coupon as I need it and pile them up for checkout to make check out faster, and not to anger the people behind me in the checkout line. So one may ask... HOW DO YOU DO IT? Well, the extreme couponers have a MUCH BETTER and more refined system, but for me I do what works for me so here are my tips.

Couponing tips:
1. DO YOU DOUBLE?....Many stores in our area do not double coupons, so that option is out for me.
2. CONSIDER YOUR SOURCES... I clip coupons both on the internet and in Sunday's paper, which I LOVE the paper.
3. PLAN PLAN AHEAD.... Take the time to plan out your trip, before I shop I plan out what to buy according to my coupons. Now I just don't buy what I have coupons for but couponing has opened our family up to trying new products, foods, and brands.
4. DON'T SKIP on the FRESH... Vegetables,cheese,meats, and fruits because you don't have a coupon. These items are essential for your families everyday nutrition and I ALWAYS include these at every trip and as part of EVERY MEAL. You CAN make healthy meals by couponing and not just eat boxed and frozen dinners.
5. MAKE A MENU.. I planned out the past two weeks for this recent trip and I am currently cooking for 4-5 adults each week and I always have enough :) .
6. FREE FLIERS... Pick up stores weekly fliers these may only have a few coupons but are worth it!!! I got $3.00 off diapers this week because that type of a coupon was in the flier, these are rare, so always look!
7. BABY CLUBS... Join every grocery stores baby clubs, one club I joined provided soft tip spoons, baby food, and shampoo for FREE on this trip. Many of these clubs have buy one get one frees, and I donate my extra baby items to a local women's shelter in my town... again I am NOT clearing the shelves!
8. DIAPERS, DIAPERS, DIAPERS... Join diaper websites, on these websites you punch in diaper codes and earn points towards photos, invitations, and more diapers. You are already buying diapers regularly why not get some rewards on all that money you are spending?
9. KNOW AND ASK... Ask about each stores coupon policy, you do NOT want to figure it out when its tie to pay your bill.Some stores will take a manufacturer coupons, in-store coupons, as well as a competitor coupons at the same time for one product. For example, diapers were on sale this week, one case for $19.99.. so I had a computer coupon for $3.00 off, an in-store coupon for $3.00 off, and then a manufacture coupon for $2.00 off, and then an in-store coupon for a free 184 count of wipes when I bought the case, so I got an entire case of diapers AND WIPES for 11.99- that's a big savings!
10. INVEST TO SAVE.. Invest in printer ink... many couponing websites have a ton of coupons that have to be printed in order to use them, so make sure you have plenty of printer ink.
11. COMPARISON SHOP, it may mean going to another store or making another trip but its worth it. For me I will ONLY do these if it means picking up multiple items.
12. DRUGSTORES TAKE COUPONS??...  Most chain drugstores TAKE coupons so comparison shop and use your coupons there, they also offer in-store coupons so use them as well.

13. REWARD CARDS... Sign up for all store rewards cards they save you money or accumulate points for rewards later, they are awesome!
****14. HAVE FUN!!! Couponing allows you to be creative and try new things so have fun with it, start small if you want by saving a few dollars here and there if you need to, just do what works for YOU and YOUR family.

Smiles and Babbles..

I love watching our son sleep, he is so quiet, peaceful, and even smiles while he sleeps. Now most would say this is gas but I totally disagree! I think this is part of his heart and spirit and is part of who he will become in the days and years ahead. I constantly wonder what on earth he is dreaming about... is it a hug and kiss from me and his dad, a warm bottle, a warm bath and pj's? I personally would like to believe he is dreaming big, wonderful, and magnificent dreams and that he never frowns. I hope that whatever he is dreaming about,which obviously makes him happy, comes true for him. J.B. is so amazing and at times takes my breathe away with all the new things he is doing. Most recently he is quite the conversationalist, he babbles up a storm all day long. Going through the store he just babbles as loud as he can trying to get everyone's attention. I am so happy that he seems to be so social and loves people, at times this overwhelms him but mostly he loves to just watch what others are doing. His babbling reminds me of a tiny scientist on the brink of some life changing discovery... his VERY first word! WE are so eager to hear what it will be, no matter what it is I know we will be proud! WE LOVE YOU J.B., talk and laugh (belly laughs are the BEST!) lots and always remember to dream BIG!!

Moving to the BIG BOY BED!!

Well, last night we moved J.B. from his bassinet to his crib (A.K.A- The BIG BOY BED!) he did pretty well with it... I on the other hand I did not. This is because I was up exactly six, yes count them 6 times to get him settled (10pm, 12am, 2:04am,3:17am,3:47am,5:43 am- and yes I actually managed to remember this while getting ZERO SLEEP!)In "my wisdom (we will use that term loosely here LOL)" I thought it would be best to sleep on the floor right by the crib because I was so worried about him. He of course slept great all sweet and snuggled in his bed sucking his pacifier while I laid awake most of the night making sure he was okay, watching his little chest go up and down and even on occasion hearing him snore! God reminded me this morning that as I lay awake wasting precious time and sleep worrying about our sweet sweet son, HE is busy watching over J.B. As a parent I am finding it harder and harder to let go as J.B. grows, I want to keep him close to me like a kangaroo keeps her Joey close by (I actually refer to J.B. as "my Joey (baby kangaroo) on occasion). This is difficult especially when I know situations are completely out of my own direct control. Whether I am awake or asleep GOD ALONE is watching over our son and I need to worry LESS and have MORE faith! Well, as we all know, especially you worriers out there that is much easier said than done, I guess I feel if I worry the situation then may actually be in my direct control... WRONG!!!! GOD ALONE is in control, he even says this to us in his word, Psalm 4:8 (NIV) " I lay down and sleep in peace for you ALONE, O Lord make me dwell in safety (this is even on a wall in our home as a reminder of God's protection)." We love our son so very much and know that God will be his protector as we lay our heads down to sleep each night.

**** We DO NOT use ANY of the crib bumpers, decorative coverings on the bassinet, or blankets shown in the above pictures, they have been removed for his safety.

I am right here sweet son...

This morning it dawned on me how upset our little man gets when he cannot see me, although I am in the same room. Each time he fusses I say " I am right here son, mommy is right here and will never leave you." Well, truth be told this not entirely true, one day I will be leaving him at school for the first time,dropping him off to college, or watching him drive away in his first car, and even watching him get married! All things I want for him so VERY much but letting go is sooooo very hard even at his current age, I mean I had a total meltdown recently when I left him in the church nursery for the very first time so the thought of him not needing me so much one day saddens me. Truth be told he will leave me too one day and grow up and have a life of his own and will not need me quite as much as he needs me now. To me that is sad but it is the reality. It is amazing how much LOVE for your child changes who you are, the decisions you make, and how you even think on a daily basis. LOVE for J.B. is like LOVE I have never felt before in my life and all I want to do is ensure he is safe like when he was in my stomach. When he was in my stomach my body protected him while he grew inside of me, now that he is outside of me I want him to always be safe and ensure he has Jesus in his heart, is happy, is always healthy, make sure he never feels pain, and never has to deal with a broken heart but as you know many of those things are completely out of my own control. As a mom you want the very best for your child but like a close friend said to me recently "you raise them to be independent." It is our job as his parents to serve as Godly role models and make sure he is equipped to handle what this world throws at him.As much as we want to protect him, we realize as parents that God will help us to help him with whatever happens in his life and that our trust is in GOD ALONE! We love you J.B. so much, God created you and gave us you and we know you will do AMAZING and MAGNIFICENT THINGS!

My First Mother's Day Ever!!!

Yesterday was my VERY FIRST MOTHER'S DAY, a day I feel like I waited forever for. First I want to say how grateful I am to have my mom here with me to share this day with. She has taught me so much about being a great mom and just loves our family and her new grandson so very much! THANKS MOM YOU ARE AMAZING! Mothers day started off with my sweet husband and son bringing me breakfast in bed, Jason made a video montage of pictures from J.B.'s birth and pictures of just us, as well as a beautiful letter that made me cry! Next we left for church where it was J.B.'s Baby Dedication service, with the entire church present, both sets of grandparents, Jason's sister, and J.B.'s Godfather Brian present we committed to raising him in a Christian home and raising him with our Christian values. It was an emotionally charged day for me and I felt so very blessed to finally celebrate this day and dedicate our son to the Lord on the same day. It was UNFORGETTABLE!!!! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE BEING A MOMMY! I feel like this is what I was always meant to do and I take each day one at a time and count each and every blessing.... the greatest of which is our son J.B. Thank you to my husband for making ALL my dreams come true.. I LOVE YOU LOVE!!!

Tiny Feet... BIG Changes

Well, J.B is now three and a half months old and the past few months have felt like a whirlwind. Breastfeeding, a tremendous lack of sleep, a hormonal roller coaster, and realizing that our tiny son is the now our event planner on a day basis-LOL LOL.My life as a mom is completely different than what is was before I became a mom. My priorities have completely shifted and my focus is totally J.B and taking care of my husband! J.B. is utterly and simply amazing, and has changed our lives in so many small and grand ways. He wakes up everyday with a smile for you, when you tickle his tummy he laughs, and just today I videoed him rolling to his side and holding his bottle. These milestones may not mean much on an average day to the average person but to a mom they are EVERYTHING!!!! I am now working as a full time mom at home, which if you have ever asked ANY mom what it's like they probably respond by saying it is hard work! I wont lie... some days are hard but most days are AWESOME!!! I am completely grateful for our blessing and am seeing how much I have changed is even life changing to me as well. My sweet husband told me the other day I am more relaxed! Go figure, if you know me you know that that in itself is a feat! J.B has totally transformed the way I love, nurture, and protect. I LOVE HIM SOOOOOOOO very much that words cannot even properly express the sheer LOVE AND JOY he brings to OUR FAMILY.

PRAISE GOD FOR OUR TINY MIRACLE!!!!

Exactly 10 days after my last post on May of 2011 we found out we were expecting!! Due to our inability to conceive we decided not to share the news until I was about 5 months along. Due to extreme morning sickness and some other tiny bumps in the road I did not update this blog until now thanks to my good friend and faithful reader of our blog Erica who encouraged me to update (Thanks Erica!!). Fining out we were expecting was sheer surprise and excitement and telling Jason was an amazing thing, especially since the day I found out he was in Tennessee at a Worship Writing Conference with some friends and I had to wait almost 7 hours for him to get home to tell him in person, after all this kind of news had to be delivered in person!! His joy was SO evident when he found out we would have a child as he walked through the front door that evening. After months and months of doctors appointments, preparing the room, and learning and reading about babies and parenthood Judah finally arrived (he was a week late but came in God's perfect timing!!)! I have said that since I was actually pregnant 10 months instead of 9 months that I would always remind him of that as he got older- LOL LOL !! Being home has been a transition time for our family, we are going on very little sleep but getting our little man on a routine and being fueled and filled up daily by God and his ABSOLUTE LOVE that we see each and every day we set eyes on our tiny little miracle. Judah is the most beautiful child in the world and we are excited about his future and pray that whatever he does and whoever he becomes he seeks the wisdom of GOD each and everyday. Our journey for a family is far from over, so I will be updating this blog with stories of parenthood which I will continue to post over the next few months. I now have the privilege to be a stay at home mom and am looking forward to spending this time bonding and loving on our son as we watch him grow up. Thank you to all of you faithful readers who have encouraged us at this stage of our journey!!! Love, Jason, Christina, and Baby Judah