before. during. after.

Happy Memorial day to you! 

As crazy as it sounds...this has been the best holiday ever.  Do you want to know why?  It's not because of what we did or where we went.  It was because this Memorial day was the FIRST holiday EVER for us as a couple where working retail was not part of our lives.  It feels SO great knowing that Doug has off EVERY weekend.  He get a ton of paid holidays that he HAS to take...no more begging for time off and being denied.  He gets a WEEK off for the 4th of July!  We are so thrilled to be leaving the world of retail faaaaaar behind us.  Though I will say, it should be a law somewhere that everyone has to work in retail and be a waiter/waitress at some point of their young lives.  You learn a lot about how to treat people in both worlds.

So, we didn't do much but for the first time ever we got to do all American holiday things ON the actual holiday.    

We had a cookout and I made Moses a hedgehog watermelon.

We went swimming at a local lake and the boys and I made the news!

And I knocked this project OUT!  I found this gem at Goodwill for $30.  It was ugly.  But I knew there was a good shell in there.  It is solid wood and HEAVY.   

Here she is cleaned, shined and with new handles.  We lived with her like this until spray painting season began here in Virginia.

Here she is in her undies! 3 cans of Valspar primer.

And here she is all dressed up!  3 cans of "Exotic Sea" by Valspar.  The knobs are from Lowes.

 Once the paint was dry, I gave all the edges a good sanding!

Look at all the pretty character...

I love it.  She sure will bring some nice color to our new rental...which is painted fully in builder beige. :)

I love Goodwill! :)

first and last day of school!

 Here's Moses on the first day of school this year!

And here he is on the last.  Sadly, I did not make it through the goodbyes to his teachers without crying.  They are just too good to part ways with easily and we will miss them dearly. 

And even though Hoho isn't really in school he did go to childcare for Bible study, so here he is at the beginning and end of that. :)

I can't even handle how fast time is going and how fast my boys are growing. 

Moses is in kindergarten next year.  Kindergarten.  Ugh.

I need to go stress eat.  Time is an unfair player. 

Happy Birthday Little Bit Funky!!!

Today marks the FIVE year anniversary of my sweet little business Little Bit Funky!
I am SO proud of how far it and I have come over the last five years...all that I have learned and shared and grown!
I can still remember the day that Doug came home from work and I told him "I think I'm gonna make cards and sell them in an online shop".  I had no idea that that decision would turn into a real live business where I can earn just as much as I could with my COLLEGE DEGREE!  Crazy!

In fact, I truly believe that Little Bit Funky is part of the reason that God moved us to Charlottesville.

There aren't many days that I am not completely enamored with what I get to do for a living, all will taking care of my little monkeys.  I am blessed and grateful for it all.  I am especially grateful for each and every one of you who have supported me over the last five years...so many of you have become dear friends to me and I am forever thankful for your support!

So let's celebrate!!!    

As you can see from above and if you have peeked into the shop lately, I've been inspired to start making all sorts of cute pouches and iPad sleeves (Kindle sleeves coming soon!).  I'll also be making some sunglasses cases and who knows what else. 

To celebrate my five year anniversary I'll send ONE of you a happy, happy birthday package from me!  Who knows what I will find to put in there but it will at least contain an iPad or Kindle case, a pouch and a sunglasses case! 

To enter this giveaway leave me a comment telling me how long you have been a Little Bit Funky fan and/or how you found me! :) I'll choose a winner next week!

Have a great Friday!

Breaking Breastfeeding rules! {a Huggies sponsored post}

This post may raise a few eyebrows...only because I will be going against what tons of people and books will tell you in regard to how to "properly" breastfeed your child. The rules I broke are things that I think cause a lot of women to fail or struggle with breastfeeding because they are presented as 100% truth when, in fact, they MAY be good suggestions at best for some. You can't take what ANYONE says about breastfeeding to be the gospel. That's one set of rules that YOU get to make for yourself.

The first rule I broke was "Do not give your baby a pacifier until breastfeeding is well established." Now, while neither of my boys took to a pacifier long-term, they both had one for the first couple of weeks from day one, within HOURS of birth. It was either BE the pacifier or GIVE them one. Doing this definitely helped us through the first few sleepy weeks. Giving them a pacifier allowed me a break and satisfied the babies' need to suck. They both went on to be great nursers.

The next rule that I found completely annoying was "If you are breastfeeding right, it shouldn't hurt." WRONG. Just wrong. Granted, I was still learning with my first one, but by the second one I was a pro. Guess what? It still hurt for a couple of weeks with the second one. It WILL hurt until your body adjusts to what you are doing. Both WHERE your baby directly feeds from (trying to keep this PG, folks) and your uterus will hurt like heck for a couple of weeks. Saying that breastfeeding won't hurt unless you are doing it wrong is as dumb as saying new shoes should never hurt you. I've worn flip-flops my whole life, and every year when I break them out for the first time they hurt my feet. Does that mean I'm wearing them wrong?

Another rule I threw out the window? "Keep the baby on a strict schedule of feedings." I nursed on demand for both boys. NO WAY I would have ever woken up a sleeping baby, especially at night. It wasn't until they were both over 2 1/2 that I would even wake them up from a nap to ensure they would go to sleep easily at night. It made sense to nurse them when they were hungry, as their little bodies were getting on their own natural schedules, which was OUR schedule as a family.

My point here is to take anyone's advice on how to breastfeed "properly" as just a suggestion. YOU have to decide how to make it work for you. One thing I WILL say and BEG of you: if you DO choose to breastfeed, or at least try to do so, commit to it for at least a month. I have heard so many people say that they tried for two weeks but then quit because it was too hard. Well, guess when it starts to get easier? Day 15. After two weeks it becomes more and more easy to do. Your body has had time to adjust; if it has been hurting, it will fade away after two weeks; milk production will start to regulate; and overall, it (generally) gets so much easier. Just take it one day at a time.

How about you? Did you break any breastfeeding rules?

Be sure to check out all of my previous "baby posts" by clicking HERE.
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Find more posts from bloggers sharing their experiences of motherhood on the Huggies page on BlogHer.com.

last minute treats!

Moses has two little days of school left.  Don't even get me started on how many tears I have shed over having to say goodbye to his wonderful teachers. 

Next year he will be in Kindergarten in a public school...so this may be the last time I can get away with sending treats to school with him. 

I thought it would be fun to make these cute little treat bags for his little friends using the free printable from Anything But Perfect!  They were too cute not to share...I filled the bags with gummy bears but you could go a much healthier route! :)

Enjoy!

spoken by Aaron.

We were just in Joanns. 
Aaron goes right on up to an elderly woman, full of impish spunk, and says "Hey, baby!".
I think he meant it.
I died in a little puddle on the floor because it was clear that she heard and understood what he said.