A Family of Five... Surprise! ~www.TheBloggingMom.com~

I was looking through some photos and came across this one. When I checked the date on the photo, I noticed it was taken exactly one year ago today. Man, how time flies! By my calculations, I must have been about 3 1/2 months pregnant at the time. Today I have a beautiful baby boy I couldn't imagine life without (in addition to my other two beautiful children). I can't believe he is one week short of 6 months.

Six months ago, this was me and the happy hubby welcoming Baby Hudson:

I was so absolutely happy when this little guy was born. The good Lord blessed us with the sweetest happiest baby. Or should I say that [nearing 40] he surprised us with the sweetest happiest baby. Needless to say, since his arrival the Phillips' family household has been filled with joy.

Life has changed indeed. I am a stay at home mom a second time around, which is an adjustment in itself. Having to make the decision to stay at home or continue to work was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. I suppose because it was so unexpected. I had moved more to the middle school/high school thinking mode versus the diaper changing mode. Keeping in mind that my other children are 13 and 11. It had been a long time since I changed diapers. I must add though that big brother and sister adore their little brother, and the big sister will even change a few of those diapers.

I left a wonderful teaching job at a terrific school working with the most fantastic people, but wouldn't trade this opportunity for anything. I am a firm believer that Madison and Gibson benefited from my decision to stay home with them for the first few years of their lives, as Hudson will benefit too. After all, he gets his mommy ALL day long!!

Believe it or not (most people don't know this about me), I even wrote a book about staying at home when I did it the first time around. Even though I never sent it off to publishers, I do hold an official copyright on the book and it can be found at the Library of Congress. It is titled Building a Home by Staying at Home ~ Reflections from Stay at Home Moms. Basically it is about the sacrifices and hardships of staying at home (whether it be for a year or long term), but it also focuses on how the benefits outweigh all of those. Maybe I will share more about that at a later date. I should pull that out of the basement and edit and add to it this second time around.

Here is my little "Huddie Boy" as he nears 6 months...

Pizza at home means Coffee for Mama~www.thebloggingmom.com~

It's Pizza night at our house, and the good thing is... everyone LOVES it. I like it because it is easy! My pocketbook likes it because it is cheap!! I used to buy the Pillsbury pizza crust, but now I mix it myself using the Kroger pizza dough packages. Let's just say that it now cost about 1/3 the price, which means I feed the family of four for about $7. What does that mean for me??? I can get me a Starbucks Vanilla Latte and not feel guilty... HA!

Baby Clothes and Goodwill ~ www.thebloggingmom.com

Thirteen years ago when my two older kids were just babies, I started to shop Goodwill for their baby clothing. At the time I felt like I was a minority, but I have to say, I had some of the best dressed little ones around, and I paid next to nothing for their clothing. The thing about baby clothing, dresses, and holiday clothing is that the kids tend to outgrow them before they ruin them. Therefore, bargain shoppers like me reap the benefits. Just as an FYI, I always double check a few things before I buy... zippers, snaps, and stains.

One of my favorite finds for Madison when she was a toddler was when I came across about ten outfits by the brand Chocolate Soup. They make absolutely adorable and unique clothing like these dresses:

Needless to say, I bought every one!! PLUS, I think I only paid $1 for each one.

As the kids grew a bit older and finding stain-free clothing became a bit harder, I switched my shopping gears and went more for the regular high-end retail chains.

Now here I am thirteen years later with a five month old bouncing baby boy and I am back to my old habits of looking for baby bargains. I see it as a challenge and find it quite fun. Even being the picky shopper I am, I can find most of my baby clothing at the four-five Goodwill stores in my area. This is not to say that I don't ever buy new clothing. There is always going to be that adorable outfit that I have to swipe up from the mall or some other specialty store.

Here are some of my most recent Christmas finds for Hudson.

I am sorry to say though that the prices have risen to $1.60 an outfit. HA HA... not so bad, ah?

Right now he has a closet full of clothing for fall and winter. The brands include Gymboree, Baby Gap, Old Navy, Carters, The Children's Place, Kelly's Kids, and more. Did I mention that sometimes I find brand new clothing with the tags still attached?

I read a recent article about Goodwill that stated Goodwill Industries is opening stores in higher socio-economic areas. I am finding this to be true in my area. According to the Goodwill stats, in 2010 alone their sales have increased by 10% and they have done over 15 million dollars in sales.

Looks like I might not be the minority for long!

Sleep Late or Shower? ~Mom Blog~

Saturday...gotta love Saturday!! You know, the day when you get to hopefully sleep in- catch a few extra Zzzzzz, feel refreshed, and take on the day.

Well, up until 5 months ago Saturday was pretty much a guaranteed day to do just that. But, thanks to my bouncing baby blessing I have to make 'new mom' decisions again.

They tend to go something like this.... "Do I get out of bed before the baby awakens and shower?" or "Do I sleep late and hope to somehow work a shower in?"

Choice one offers less sleep but hot water can work wonders for circulation - puts pep in your step. Choice two guarantees the desperately needed few extra minutes of snooze time, but I will feel like crap when I am awakened abruptly by a crying hungry baby. Plus, I will have to sport a cap if I dare venture out of the house.

Today went something like this....

My lovely husband got up before me, fed the baby a yummy bottle of pumped breast milk (probably why I need the extra sleep... the body is a factory), and let me sleep in a few extra minutes. As I awaken, hubby leaves to take son #1 to batting practice before his baseball game.... where does that leave me? It bought me a tad more shut-eye, but it left me looking like a frazzled mess that somehow has to get a shower before I head to the game myself.

Answer: Out comes the portable baby swing with its flashing lights, music, and mommy as the entertainment. Yep, prop baby in the swing, position him in front of the shower and lather up.









Should I take it personally that he laughed the whole time?

Starting a Blog- The beginnings of "What will she say"

Sooo, today is the day. I am hesitantly attempting to start a blog... a place where I can share my thoughts or VENT my frustrations. You know... blogging about husband, kids, work, home life...life in general. Sort of sounds like a diary of sorts to me. I guess 'diary' sounds too personal though, and instead of having that little lock that dangled from the diary (with the key I probably lost), these thoughts will be pick locked and pod casted out to the entire world. Quite amazing actually!! I once heard Dr. Laura say that she thought blogs were for the attention craving sort of people... people that thought what they had to say was worthy enough for the world to want to tune into. Well Dr. Laura... guess we will see.

Why a blog? Ultimately it comes down to ME.. loving to write and maybe even looking for something to do when the baby is sleeping. I love anything related to web design or the Internet in general, so it just seems like a natural thing to start. Yes, I make my Wal-Mart trips, canvas the mall too, but something a tad more productive might be beneficial.... something to get the brain pumping. Hence, starting a blog. Cleaning, laundry, and all the other daily chores will take a backseat for some portion of the week in order to chill out and let the fingers do the walking. (I always knew typing all those graduate school papers would come in handy... I became a typing maniac!)

Well, there goes blog #1 .... that wasn't so hard!

Okay, I am hoping this cartoon doesn't represent me in a few weeks. :-)