A Simple Comparison

This "professional" photograph was taken at Picture Me Studio located in Walmart.

The employee taking the photo (I refuse to call her a photographer) was rude and was on the verge of losing her patience with my toddler, Hayden. She kept shaking a horrid, noisy metal box in the baby Deanna's face to get her attention, and though it did get her attention, Deanna is not likely to smile for such noise.

The camera was located on a bar and was limited in movement by the limitations of the bar; however, the employee did not move the camera. The children are situated on a dangerously high table. My hand is underneath the rug, holding onto Deanna's clothes to keep her from moving too much; however Hayden is completely free and sitting dangerously close to the edge. The children are not posed well; there is a big gap in between the children. The centering of the subjects in the photo is off. There are no props used in the photo, though there were a limited supply located in the studio.

Six poses were shot for me to select from and the next pose was slightly better; however, I was not informed that I would not be able to select the pose if I wanted to purchase the least expensive $7 package (plus tax and additional child sitting fee) and would instead be stuck with the first pose shot, no matter how poor that photo was. The photo color quality is poor, dull and faded looking.

I felt obligated to purchase a package, though I should have refused to buy any portraits and just paid the sitting fee. I purchased the least expensive package (unable to select which pose I wanted) that included one 8 x 10, two 5 x 7, four 3.5 x 5, 8 wallets, and 16 portrait petites for $7.99 plus $5.00 additional child sitting fee and tax.

This professional photograph was taken at Portrait Innovations.

The photographer taking the photo was patient with the children and worked well with Hayden, who thought we were there to run around and play. She talked to Deanna with a warm and welcoming voice.

The camera is hand held and can go wherever the photographer holds it. The children were posed on the floor with no danger of falling. Props were used without my suggestion, though my opinion of usage was asked.

The photographer took numerous shots, close to 100, of my children using two different backgrounds with props. When the time come to select what photos I wanted to purchase, the photographer helped me select by showing a few photos at a time and asking me which I liked best. There was no one "perfect" photo, but that was not expected by me knowing my children. The color quality of this photo is clear, crisp, no faded out colors.

I purchased the least expensive package of one pose of my selection. The package included one 10 x 13, Two 8 x 10, Four 5 x 7, Four 3 x 5, 32 wallets, and six cards for $9.95 plus tax. No sitting fee.

In the end I spent less money for more, better quality photos and a happier experience at Portrait Innovations. There is no question who will be taking portraits for me next time.

Lesson's Learned?

Last night when Daddy was preparing to give Baby D a bath, he asked Hayden to pick up his Tinker Toys, which were spread out across the living room floor. When Hayden ignored the request, Daddy told him that if he hadn't picked up his Tinker Toys by the end of Baby D's bath, then they would have to go to the garbage.

At the end of Baby D's bath the Tinker Toys remained on the floor untouched. Daddy went into the kitchen to get a garbage bag for the Tinker Toys. However, Hayden made no effort to change the course of events about to unfold. Actually, he decided to help Daddy put the Tinker Toys in the garbage bag and even went as far as walking out to the waste bin to throw the bag away with never a second thought.

Photo by me

Of course Daddy rescued the toys from the garbage and they now have a home above the washer and dryer. Hayden hasn't even asked about them.

We've Survived the First 2 Months

Happy 2 months, Baby D. The big day was yesterday! There has been challenges, but we made it through. I'll have to blog about the adjustments sometime in the near future.

Announcement created by me using Photoshop
Photo by Christy H Photography

Today was your 2 month wellness exam with our pediatrician. We learned that you have gained 2 lbs since birth! Today you are 10 lbs, 2 oz and 21 inches in height. You are growing so fast, too fast!

Photo collage by me

My children, slow down, don't rush. There is no need to hurry to grow up! You both are well loved!

Silly Boy

Photo by Me

Monday:
I'm letting Hayden enjoy some play time out on the back patio when he comes walking in with a charcoal biscuit in each hand, "Messy, Mommy, messy."

Later:
I asked H what he wanted for dinner, he replied, "fruit snacks."

Tuesday:
Hayden says he is "all done" with breakfast. So I look over and notice cereal on the floor. "Did you throw cereal on the floor?" I ask. "No" he replies. "Then why is there cereal on the floor?" And he replies, "Oooookay."

Later:
When waking Hayden from an already too long nap, said in an I-don't-want-to-wake-up voice, "Go again!"

Welcome to the World Little One

I started neglecting my blog about 9 months ago.

This time coincides with the discovery that I was pregnant with my second child... and, unfortunately, the start of extreme nausea that I never experienced to such a degree while pregnant with my son. At this time, it took all that I had to work my required minimum of 10 hours a week and I didn't want to do much more on the computer beyond that... so this blog was neglected.

Fast forward to March 20 - the first day of Spring. I had intended to spend this day with my son, as it was his second birthday. However, it was clear rather early in the morning that someone else had another idea and just before noon we welcomed our daughter to the world.

Photo by Me

Welcome to the world Baby Girl and happy 2nd birthday Big Boy!

Notable Websites Series - Netflix

I believe that it is reasonable to spend some money on entertainment, even when you don’t have much money to spend. Much like the line from the Shining, “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.” I love movies; therefore, I love Netflix.


Netflix is an online DVD rental service. Plans start at $4.99 per month for one DVD at-a-time, 2 movies per month; shipping is included. In addition, the plans include time to watch movies instantly on your PC, and there are no late fees or due dates.

We selected the $13.99 per month plan for 2 movies at-a-time, unlimited movies per month, and we get our moneys worth! We typically watch both movies the same day we receive them and return them the next day, averaging between 8 – 10 movies a month; that’s $1.40 - $1.75 per movie. A great source for fairly cheap entertainment.

Dear Son…

There are some things I would like to discuss with you.

1) When you are finished eating you do not need to throw what remains onto the floor, even if you don’t like it. I promise to notice when you are finished eating. If I ask you why you threw your food on the floor, “Uh-oh” is not an appropriate response.

Photo by Me

2) The garage is not your play area; please do not attempt to play out there. If I ask you what you are doing in the garage, “Dada” is not an appropriate response, especially when your Dad is at work.

3) Please do not shut off my computer. I realize I am on my computer a lot; but please understand that I work from home. The alternate option is that I work out of home and you go to daycare.

4) I do not require your assistance cleaning the litter box. I am aware when it is full and I will get to it soon enough. Don’t worry; I will be sure to assign the chore to you as soon as I feel you are able to handle the responsibility.

5) Please stay out of the kitchen utensil drawer. There are many things in there that could potentially harm you. Today you dumped out the silverware organization tray. I realize it could use to be washed, but the silverware that it contained was clean before being dumped on the floor and each piece individually tested in your mouth.

Photo by Me

6) When your Dad asks you questions such as, “what do you think you are doing” or “who said you could play with that” or any similar question, “Mama” is not an appropriate response. Most likely, I did not give you permission to do whatever it is you are doing.

7) I am tired of putting your room back together each night before your bed time. I do not know what is appealing to you to move as much of your furniture as you can to the middle of the room, but it does not belong there. I can imagine it is as exhausting to you to move it there as it is for me to move it back.

Photo by Me

8) Please do not bite me, it hurts, and “Bite” is not an appropriate response when I ask you to stop biting. In addition, pulling my hair is also not allowed and laughing after you do so is not an appropriate response.

9) Please do not fill your mouth with your drink from your sippy cup and then spit it on the floor. This is a very messy activity and each additional time I have to clean the floor is time that we could have spent playing. In addition, when you have made a mess on the floor, please be more selective on what you use to clean it up. Clean clothes from your drawer or the couch pillows are not cleaning rags.

10) The hall closet is not your play area. There is not enough storage in our home and currently the three bottom shelves in the closet are empty. I would be very pleased if I could please have these back for storage use.

My son, I love you very much and I am sure that we can resolve these issues.

Notable Websites Series – Flickr

After the birth of my son, I discovered a passion for photography. I could easily snap a minimum of 300 photos a month of my son. I initially archived my photos onto a CD, but started thinking that if something should ever happen to my house, such as a fire, they could all be gone. I already had an account on Flickr, where I am part of a private online photography group consisting of a bunch of moms with cameras, and decided that was where I would archive my photos. I had to upgrade to a paid unlimited account since I took more photographs in a month then the free account allowed me to upload, but for the peace of mind of knowing I will always have my photographs the cost seemed worth it.


Flickr (part of the Yahoo! company) is a great site for photo management, hosting, and sharing and has recently included the ability to upload short videos. The free account gives users the ability to upload 100MB each month. You select your comfort zone for sharing your photos and have the option to make the photos private, friends and/or family, or public. The majority of my photos are set to friends/family, though I do have some, mostly landscape-type photos that are public.

One of the features I like most about Flickr is the photo hosting ability. Many of the other photo hosting sites provides you a code for your photo as uploaded. On Flickr, you have the option to select the size of the photo you want to host. This is particularly useful when hosting photos for use on message boards. On Flickr, you can upload the photo in its original size and then select between thumbnail, square, small, medium, large, and original for the photo url; depending on the size of the original photo. Very cool!

Notable Websites Series – Snopes.com

Everyone with email has received those forwarded messages. You know the ones, they warn you that thieves are stalking parking lots with plots to get you, they warn you about products that you may use everyday that could kill you, they claim that Bill Gates wants to share his wealth with you, and so much more. Yep, you know the ones. Admit it, how many times have your read these emails, took them as fact, and forwarded them to everyone in your mailbox. What if there was a way to check the validity of these emails, a site to refer to that looks into these messages in Mythbusters-style. Well guess what, there is!

This brings me to Snopes.com a site dedicated to urban legends, a term that (on Snopes.com) embraces common fallacies, misinformation, old wives’ tells, strange news stories, rumors, celebrity gossip, and similar items. I recommend this site, not only to check the validity of your forwarded email, but also for pure entertainment.


You would not believe how I first discovered this site. I received a forwarded message in my email, I can no longer remember the message it included, only that it claimed it was true as seen on Snopes.com (with a link.) The funny thing was, when you clicked the link to Snopes.com, the page clearly identified the email as being false. HA! I guess who ever started the email figured that if they referenced Snopes.com the recipient would take the email as fact without checking the link. (This brings up "the chicken or the egg" type question - which came first, the false email, or the Snopes.com page that identified the email as being false.... hmmm?)

So next time before you hit the forward button, check Snopes.com first. You may potentially save yourself some embarrassment.

Murphy is Camping in My Spare Bedroom

In The Total Money Makeover, Dave Ramsey states in regards to the emergency fund, “This beginning emergency fund will keep life’s little Murphies from turning into new debt while you work off the old debt. If a real emergency happens, you can handle it with your emergency fund.” If you are asking, “who is Murphy?” this is from Murphy’s Law: if anything can go wrong, it will.

I was snoozing ever so soundly when DJ walked into the bedroom, “Someone broke into the truck, where is the camera.” I immediately sat up in bed, “What? In our neighborhood?” We live in a quiet neighborhood filled with many elderly retired people. I tell DJ where to find the camera and dress myself so that I can go outside to see the damage. Damn, it was not some cruel joke to get me out of bed (not that DJ ever does that.)

Photo by DJ

As you can see they did a lot of damage to the passenger’s side door. There were finger prints visible at the top of the door above the window and a foot/shoe print below the window. This makes it appear that they grabbed the door at the top and physically pulled it down using leverage with at least one foot on the door.

While a police man was here taking prints, a neighbor walked by and asked if the truck had been broken into. She then stated that her neighbor across the street from her had their vehicle stolen overnight. This gives the impression that whoever broke into our truck had the intension of taking the whole thing, and for some reason gave up and moved on to easier prey.

The truck is currently at the shop waiting for a new door to come in. The damage is covered by our insurance, everything over our $500 deductible, that is. If we had an emergency fund, this would not be such a big deal. An example of why you want an emergency fund.

Notable Websites Series – WAHM.com

After six weeks of maternity leave following the birth of my son, I started doing some work from home with my then employer. It was agreed upon that I could telecommute for 3 months before returning to the office. This agreement “spoiled” me and as the date of my return neared closer and closer I knew that I would not be able to find the strength to leave my son and return to the office. I also knew that there was no way that we could afford for me to be a stay at home mom, I had to find work.

While searching for legitimate work that I could do from home I came across WAHM.com, the online magazine for work at home moms. I have to admit, I have a love/hate relationship with WAHM.com. I love this site because it has a wealth of information for anyone wanting to work at home (WAH) and it is on this site that I found my current job. I hate this site because it tests my patience with slow downloading or refusing to load at all. I have recently learned that WAHM.com has been sold. The site is not expected to change other than moving the site to “bigger, faster servers”, so hopefully there will be improvements to the site soon. However, even with the current slow server, I continue to visit the site frequently and would recommend it to anyone interested in WAH.


My favorite feature on this site is the message board. This is where people get together and discuss all things WAH. You can find information about potential WAH jobs, identified scams and how to avoid them. One comment regarding the message board, if you leave a message, only hit the “submit” button once – even if it takes forever for the submit to occur. If you hit submit more than once your message will be posted an equal number of times in the thread.

One final note on WAHM.com, you will notice “Ads by Google” posted all over this site. The “Ads by Google” are from Google’s AdSense. If you are not familiar with AdSense, an optional feature here on Blogger, AdSense is a “pay-per-click” program that scans the content of your page and then places ads relevant to the content. The site owner is then paid for each click of an ad (no, I do not know how much it pays.) Sounds great, right? Well, this is actually a potential problem on WAHM.com. Because WAHM.com contains content focused on WAH the AdSense ads on the site are related to WAH and unfortunately, many are scams. I once saw someone ask why a site that is focused on legitimate WAH would have ad links to scams. The answer is simple, the owner is not able to select or refuse an ad, but since the ads generate revenue for the free-to-use site, the ads remain. The thing to remember for WAH, you NEVER EVER have to pay for a job. If they want money from you, it is a scam.

The Thermostat Wars

In our quest to be debt free, we are trying to cut back anyway possible. Sometimes even the smallest thing that only saves pennies at a time can really add up in the long run. According to the Department of Energy: “Households that lower their thermostats by 1 degree Fahrenheit (1° F) during the current winter heating season may realize average savings of $15 to $40 or more” and this is based off of data from 1997; I bet those figures are higher, now. I also think it is safe to assume that this can be applied to cooling in the summer season.

Some months ago we replaced our faulty manual thermostat with a programmable digital one. It is designed so that we program temperatures into it and it will provide either heat or air depending on which way the actual temperature moves. The thermostat will turn on the system when the actual temperature is 2 degrees above or below the setting; so if the setting is 78 degrees, when the actual temperature reaches 80 the AC turns on and when the actual temperature drops to 76 the heat turns on. Now the big question came, to what temperature do we set it at? This is a huge debate in our home; if I am comfortable, DJ is roasting; if DJ is comfortable, I am freezing!

What is a comfortable temperature, anyway? Have you ever noticed that in the winter you are comfortable at higher temperatures, but in the summer those same temperatures feel too hot? We initially set the thermostat to 78 in the day and 76 at night. This was in the spring and I quickly discovered that 78 left me feeling cold. After talking with DJ and discussing the potential cost savings, we adjusted the thermostat to 80 by day and 78 at night.

Spring quickly became summer and our comfort zone altered accordingly. DJ found his sleep disrupted and changed the thermostat to 75 at night, leaving the day temperature at 80. This made me curious and after a quick Google query I found a page that stated that at 78 degrees sleep is disrupted. This means that DJ has a viable argument and so this has remained our current temperature settings for some time.

Of course, now summer is here in full force and I am finding the once comfortable 80 degrees is too hot, though still freeze my butt off at night. The thermostat wars are never ending.

Notable Websites Series – Simple Mom

I thought that I would start on a website review mini series. I will write one post per my favorite websites. These are websites that I frequent or have found useful and may be of use to you.

The first website I want to review is Simple Mom. This is a blog that is on its own domain. The blog is updated with a new post frequently. The author of Simple Mom is known in the blogosphere as Toblerone. In her words, the blog “is a cross between a mom blog and a productivity blog.”


It is the Simple Mom site that first introduced me to Dave Ramsey and his Total Money Makeover. However, this site is not solely dedicated to finance. The focus of the blog “is for the mom who needs that extra nudge of motivation to manage her home in a productive and balanced way.” Topics to look forward to on Simple Mom include: managing the household, budgeting and family finances, healthy cooking, quality entertainment, organizing, sewing, gardening, and living greener.

Binky – All Gone!

It was his ultimate soother. It was always there when he was in distress. It was his entertainment during boredom. It was his bedtime companion. It had a name; he called it “B”.

Photo by Me

Our pediatrician said, “No more pacifiers after 12 months”. That sounded reasonable to me, until his one-year birthday arrived. How can I take away this one item that he loves so much? Perhaps it was me that did not want to let go of this symbol of infancy. So I let him keep his binky, but only at naptime and bedtime. It was not difficult to keep it away from him unless he saw it, “B, b!” he would say while pointing at it.

Weeks fly by and I continued to hear the pediatricians words nagging at me, “No more pacifiers after 12 months”, so I stopped allowing him to have it at naptime. Still not much trouble, since his nap is immediately following lunch and he frequently starts to nod off while still in his highchair.

Again, the weeks fly by and his 15 month appointment dawns closer and closer. I know the pediatrician will ask, “Is he still taking a pacifier?” I am an honest person, and I would have to tell the truth if asked, so, no more binky.

The first night was not as bad as I thought it would be. As he sat on his daddy’s lap with his sippy cup of milk, he demanded, “B!” But there was no binky and he finally fell asleep. The next night, instead of demanding for his binky he quietly asked, “B?” But there still was no binky and he again fell asleep.

Nights turned into weeks, and it now appears that his “B” has been forgotten. My baby is now a little boy.

Peek

My son's favorite game is "Peek-a-boo". He could play it for hours. He has enjoyed the game since before he had any control over his body and could play along. Oh, how the game has evolved as he has grown!

Photo by me

This last week, he has progressed from hiding in a blanket to using his hands to cover his face. He usually does not cover his eyes, I assume he wants to see your reaction. Instead he will cover his ears or mouth much in the "hear no evil, see no evil" kind of way. In addition to this new hand action, he has started to say, "peek" in the sweetest, tiniest little voice that makes my heart melt. My baby is growing up.

Meal Planning

I would like to start meal planning. I know that if I plan meals and write out a grocery list according to those planned meals, we would likely save some money and answer the nightly question, "what's for dinner?"

Photo by secret.genius

Grocery shopping may also be more of a pleasure if I have a list and know what to buy before I go into the store. It’s not that grocery shopping is an uncomfortable experience, but it often goes something like this:

DJ: "Do we have chicken?"
Me: "Yep, we have plenty. Do we need mayo?"
DJ: "I can’t remember, we better get some."
Of course, when we come home we discover that we have plenty of mayo.

I have an idea of what to do, but I don’t know where to start. Do you do meal planning? Do you know of a great blog about meal planning that I should read? Have you posted a blog about meal planning? How about any useful (free) sites on the topic?

I look forward to your comments…

A Quest for What?

So as you can see, I selected “One Mom’s Quest” as the title for this blog. I selected this title because I feel that I am always on a quest for something in my life and therefore, felt that the title would be relevant throughout the life of this blog.

I welcome you on my journey as I follow the paths of my many quests in life. Here are some of my “quests” you have to look forward to in upcoming posts:

1) This is my ultimate quest – and the one that I will blog about most often; the quest to become debt free and my struggles along the way. I have done a little background reading and will attempt to use Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps to complete this quest. I will go into more detail as I post along the way, but for now if you want to read more I recommend this site: http://simplemom.net/dave-ramseys-baby-steps/

2) To raise a fine young man and be the best mom that I can be. In other words, when the desire strikes me I will write about the everyday goings on in my life as a parent. The joys, the heartache, and the lack of sleep… you get the idea.

3) To complete the miscellaneous little “to dos” that I never get done. These are things that I want to do, but do not make time for: scanning all of my photos to upload to my off-site digital storage location, working on Hayden’s baby book, start meal planning, and so forth – there are many more, I’m sure. The idea is if maybe I “write” about it, I will be motivated to actually do it.

There is a preview of what you have to look forward to. Thank you, dear reader, for taking the time to take the journey with me!