Wordless Wednesday - Blizard

Pictures from the two feet of snow we got on Tuesday.

Baby K'Tan: Review & Discount

So for next few weeks I will be highlighting nursing and baby products that have made my life easier as the mother of a 1 1/2 year old and new born. Today's review is the baby carrier Baby K'tan.

With the birth of my son Mathew I have really been looking into baby carriers as I wanted to be able to have him close while chasing around my 15 month old daughter. Now if you know Samantha you know that I need something simple but secure. Samantha is always climbing, running, and generally causing small hurricanes where ever she goes so if I am going to have Mathew strapped to me it better hold up. When Samantha was little I bought a Moby Wrap because it seemed to be the most secure carrier for my wiggly girl. It quickly became my favorite carrier as it was the most comfortable carrier that I had tried. I wore Samantha in it everywhere. The only thing that I did really like was all the wrapping that you had to do before getting the baby in. So with Mathew's birth I decided that I would look for something that had the same amount of comfort but easier to put on. That is when I came across the Baby K'tan.

The Baby K'tan holds the baby very much the same way the the wrap does but it has two loops to put on in stead of all the wrapping.

What makes the Baby K'tan different from other carriers?

• Easy to use and put on; NO WRAPPING (see instructions)
• Unique figure 8 design and sliding lumbar band (patent pending) offers greater support for back and shoulders
• Over 8 positions from preemie to preschool (42 lbs.)

My take on the Baby K'tan


The Baby K'tan took awhile for me to get use to even though it is really easy to use but that is just me because I always take awhile to get use to a new carrier. The first time that I wore it was when Mathew was only a few days old and I wore him in the cradle position and I walk quite a ways with him. The Baby K'tan lived up to my expectations of being like my wrap and being comfortable. It also worked great as a carrier for very little babies. Mathew was 7lbs 4oz, so pretty small and I know that there are carriers that you have to wait till they get to a certain weight. This will also work for older babies though I have not yet tried it with my daughter but that is good to know as its nice to have a carrier that works for younger and older babies.

The only negative think I do have to say is that I am not sure I felt that it is as secure as my wrap. Not that I felt like Mathew was going to fall out or anything its just that the Baby K'tan does not wrap around you the same and so I felt like I didn't have as much carrying him as I like. I really like to have lots of support for Mathew and myself. So I still have to say that the wrap is still my favorite for that reason.

Altogether I love the Baby K'tan and I will be using it a lot when I need a back up for my wrap.

Connect

You can connect with Baby K'tan on Facebook and Twitter

Discount for my readers

Now through December 25th you can get a 10% discount on the Baby K'tan using the coupon code CSAHM

Marriage Monday: Releasing Your Husband

Today's Marriage Monday tip comes from Proverbs 31 Ministries.

The Just Right Present
by Melanie Chitwood

Remember as a child how you hoped for that one special Christmas present? Maybe after opening some great presents, but not the just-right one, you felt a little tug on your heart as you wondered if you were going to get that present.

Me too. Just as it seemed all the presents had been opened, my parents brought out one final box. I grabbed it with eagerness. The lavish wrapping and the sounds I heard while shaking the box confirmed this had to be the one. I ripped off the paper, dug into the box, and pulled out…a very nice sweater, not the ju st-right Christmas gift. I smiled and said thank you, but could barely hide my disappointment.

I've noticed how my expectations of my husband can often be like my expectations over the just-right Christmas present. I think that's true for a lot of us. Just like we admired the beautiful holiday wrapping, we admire our husband's handsome exterior. We've checked him out enough to be sure that he'll be the one to make us happy. Certainly he's the just-right husband! When the gift of our husband turns out to be not just-right, not just what we expected, we can barely hide our disappointment. We turn to unhelpful coping mechanisms to deal with our disappointment.

We might try to control and manipulate our husband to become the just-right gift we hoped for. Maybe we become critical and judgmental. Or maybe we just give up, withdraw, and settle for an empty marriage. Worse yet, perhaps we grow convinced we married the wrong person.

These ways of coping will not give us th e marriage God longs for us to have, a marriage of intimacy, partnership and closeness like no other. In fact, they do just the opposite. Bitterness, frustration and anger take root in our heart. Consequently, instead of feeling united and close to our husband, we experience distance and disconnection.

So what's a girl to do when she's feeling like she got the not-just-right husband? How can she handle expectations and disappointments in marriage?

We lay them down. We open our hands and release our husband from the tight grip of our expectations. We pray with honesty, "Lord, I am feeling disappointed by my husband. Help me handle this in a way that will be best for our marriage and in way that will please You."

As we seek the Lord with an open heart, He'll show us when to talk to our husband about a disappointing situation, or when to be quiet. He'll mold our heart, so we can pour out His love and acceptance to our husband.

Now, if you're like me, sometimes you think, But wait a minute! My husband really does need to change…he should be more attentive, he should help out more, he should have remembered my birthday. I don't want to live with these disappointments!

Maybe our husband should change, and maybe he will. I can promise you, however, that the Holy Spirit can do a greater work of transformation in our husband than we ever could as his wife.

This Christmas give your husband the gift of releasing him from your expectations. Give yourself the gift of a contented heart in your marriage. And give God thanks for your husband … His just-right Christmas present to you.

This was something that I was tempted to say that I did not need to do as I have always felt that I did not deserve my husband but as I was reflecting on this email I realized that there are times when I am frustrated with him that I wish he was different. So this is something that I am going to work on!

Do you need to release your husband?

November 9th I received yet another email from Proverbs 31 Ministries that I was excited about that I had to share with my readers because its exactly what I have been learning to do especially with the birth of my son!

Communing Over Chaos by Whitney Capps

"Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." John 15:4 (NIV)

I am out-going and chatty. I like to make fun of myself. I love to laugh. I enjoy being with people – until I don't. You see, at heart I am an introvert. At some point I can sense my energy waning. I begin to crave quiet, silence and solitude.

This is why I cherish quiet time with the Lord. I love the stillness of sitting and reading the Word or a book that turns my heart toward Jesus. My husband knows that one way to fill my love tank is to give me an evening of going out to dinner alone: just me, Jesus and a good book. (All you extroverts just cringed at the thought of eating alone didn't you?) Don't get me wrong, I adore my family, but I need mental white space.

However, with three kids under age four, quiet time with the Lord is an endangered species. I don't often get to go the bathroom by myself. If the water closet isn't a quiet place, you can imagine the chaos that follows me to my prayer closet.

For a few months after our youngest was born I lived in a spiritual desert. My soul was parched. I was desperate for quiet time with Jesus and prayed earnestly for God to help me find time to be alone with Him. Faithfully, He always provided, but often my tired and flesh-wrapped spirit dozed off in prayer or got distracted by other things.

I couldn't consistently make it work. After several months of mostly failed attempts, I cried out to God, "I don't know how to be alone with You!"

"Daughter, you don't have to be alone with Me. Just be with Me. Remain in Me, and I will remain in you."

Rather than give up on being with Jesus because it's not like it used to be, my Savior is asking me to abide with Him all day. God has ordained this season of my life and He knows even better than I do how much my children demand of me. In the clamor of the sword fights and confusion in the playroom, He is my hiding place.

I am learning to seize each moment, and see it as an opportunity to fellowship with Jesus. While my kids recite "God is great; God is good," I have a chat with Jesus. When I feel alienated from girlfriends, I read a magazine article. P31 Woman and Today's Christian Woman magazines are spiritual lifeboats for me in this season. While my kids do art at the kitchen table, I read a psalm or two. Whenever possible I try to have praise music playing in our house. Sometimes singing those lyrics is the closest my heart may come to meaningful prayer time all day.

Please hear me. I am not suggesting that these brief moments should replace consistent, focused times of prayer and Bible study. Those habits are hallmarks of Christian discipleship and growth. I am learning, however, to rethink my ideas on fellowship with Jesus. In this season of my life it's not so much the quantity of quiet reflection as it is the steady communing over chaos. But hey, at least we are together!
 
Can you see why I was so excited to get this email?!?! I have shared with you in the past my struggles in this area and now I don't feel bad for what I was doing and am doing now!! I can rest in the fact that as a mother of two under two I am not always going to get to sit down for a structured quite time!


Does this help you as a mom trying to balance time with Lord and your family?

Wordless Wednesday - My Little Man

We are all in love with the new addition to our family! 

This last one is my favorite one of them all :)