HURRY! Free 8 load sample of Method Laundry Detergent!!

Hurry and request your mini bottle of Method laundry detergent. You'll get 8 loads worth of detergent! Head on over to Method's Facebook page and request one today!! This one probably won't last too long! I just got mine!!

*Free method® laundry detergent 8-load bottle samples are limited so please sign up quickly. Limit one sample per household. Must be 18 years of age and older or age of legal majority in your state at the time of registration. Offer limited to the United States and Canada and expires 2/1/2013 or while supplies last. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I decided to take a little time away from blogging due to how busy things got right before Christmas. I went non stop the week before Christmas getting everything ready for the big day, and getting prepared for our trip back to Ohio to visit with my family, not to mention all 3 of our kids had awful colds just in time for Christmas day, LOL!! I'll post a little about our trip to Ohio later in the week.

DYI project: "home is where the heart is" map

Over the next few days, I'll be posting some DYI projects I've worked on over the past few months. I couldn't post them due to the fact they were all Christmas gifts for family members, LOL!!

This "home is where the heart is" map was the perfect gift for my sister in law, Stephanie. She grew up in a suburb of Chicago, my brother in law grew up here in Connecticut, and now they live in a suburb of Washington, DC. So, I wanted her to have a reminder of all three of their hometowns.

I'm totally happy with how this one turned out!!

Gingerbread House Fun 2012

Sunday evening the kids and I went over to my in-law's house to make gingerbread houses with my sister in laws. This has become an annual tradition for Leah to decorate them with her aunties and I joined in on the fun this year. It was so much fun minus my house temporarily collapsing and having to rebuild it, LOL!

"Gingerbread has an incredibly long history as a foodstuff, and we know it has been shaped into Christmas tree ornaments since at least the Victorian era. As for gingerbread houses, they became popular after the Brothers Grimm published Hansel and Gretel, though it's unclear whether the edible edifices got their start as a literary invention. In parts of Europe in the 17th century, only professional gingerbread makers were allowed to bake the stuff year-round. That restriction was lifted during Christmas and Easter, which may explain the Christmas-gingerbread connection." via About.com

"When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses."

 ~Joyce Brothers

The Bzzzzzzzz about Post Alphabits Cereal

So, what's all the Bzzzzz about Post Alphabits cereal? I remember my mom buying it for me when I was a child and when the opportunity from BzzAgent came for me to have my own children sample it, I jumped at the chance! 

My kids got a huge kick out of seeing that their cereal was in the shapes of the alphabet! Aiden especially loves eating dry cereal as a snack so he's grabbing handfuls of it and chowing down! 

If you're interested in signing up with BzzAgent, give it a try! But first, you'll first want to get signed up with MyPoints, that way you can earn credit for the surveys you'll take through BzzAgent. So, sign up first MyPoints then BzzAgent. 

Free subscription: American Baby Magazine

Hurry and request your free subscription to American Baby Magazine. I LOVE getting free magazine subscriptions! All of the magazines I recieve in the mail, I've gotten for free during offers like this one!! 

Book review: A Special Mother is Born

A little over one year ago, my friend Leticia Velaquez, a fellow mother who was also blessed with a child that has Down syndrome, Christina, published a book called, A Special Mother is Born. The book features "thirty three stories from Catholics whose children have disabilities including Down syndrome, autism, deafness, blindness, and trisomy 18 share the blessings God brought to their families' lives through their child. Contributors include former Senator Rick Santorum, Barbara Curtis, Lisa 'Jelly Mom' Barker, Mary Kellet, Kate Basi, and Dr. Gerard Nadal. Foreword by Mother Mary Agnes Donovan, SV, Superior of the Sisters of Life, with an afterword by Father Frank Pavone, head of Priests for Life."

I ordered it as soon as it was fresh off the press last year. I've been so bad about trying to get caught up with reading all the books I've purchased over the past year. I typically have 2-4 different books I'm be in the process of reading at any given time. But one month ago, I decided it was time to finally finish reading Leticia's book. 

I am so PROUD to call her my friend. Leticia is such an amazing Pro-life crusader and advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves. In addition to being the author of this book, she is also the co-founder of KIDS (Keep Infants with Down Syndrome), she's had her work published in numerous Catholic publications, and Leticia also has a few different blogs Cause of Our Joy, Causa Nostrae Laetitae, and Catholic Media Review. You can also visit A Special Mother is Born's website.

Each of the authors in a A Special Mother is Born helps to give light for anyone wanting to understand what us mothers of children that have special needs go through and also how we use our faith to help us going especially in a time of need. 

With each stories I read, the fellow mothers of these beautiful children, shows an extremely, profound deep love in each of the mothers' stories and how God helps them each in their own way. I find myself on a daily basis calling to God to help guide me as a mother especially when it comes to Joey and his needs. 

A Special Mother is Born has recently has recently been approved by the Catholic Writers Guild. 

I highly suggest A Special Mother is Born for any new mother or one who has received a prenatal diagnosis of any diagnosis or even any family member who might need a deeper understanding of what we, as parents might be going through raising a child with a disability. 

Leticia and I in 2008 with Joey and Christina