Nature Made Prenatal Vitamins + DHA Review and Giveaway - Win a 9 month supply!

At my doctor's recommendation, I started taking prenatal vitamins months before we started trying for a baby. We were using a generic cheapo brand, but then I found out I was supposed to be getting something called DHA in there too. Oops. I really thought all prenatal vitamins were created equal. So not true. I was so excited when I was offered a chance to review Nature Made Prenatal Vitamins with DHA. I received a 9 month supply to review, and get to give away a 9 month supply to one of my awesome readers.

I am so happy with the vitamins. I only have to take one pill a day, and get everything I need for the baby's health. Nature Made Prenatal + DHA are the only over the counter prenatal vitamins with DHA that come in a single daily softgel. The softgels are easy to swallow, and they haven't affected my morning sickness at all. Best of all, my doctor approves of them so I didn't have to pay for expensive prescription prenatal vitamins. Yay!

Here's the info on DHA:

DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid which plays an important role in brain development, especially during the critical period of fetal development and infancy. Pregnant mothers transfer DHA directly to the fetus to support rapid brain and retina development. Some studies show DHA supplementation during pregnancy increases intelligence, cognition, and visual performance in infants and young children. Recommended DHA dose is 200-300 mg/day.

Buy It: Online at the Walgreens or Drugstore websites.

Find coupons here!

Win a 9 month supply! This giveaway is worth approximately $144. A 30 day supply costs $15.99 at Walgreens, and you will receive 9 months worth. If you are pregnant, nursing, thinking about babies, or trying to become pregnant, or know someone who is, enter to win!

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This giveaway will end Sunday, November 7th at 11:59 pm.

Someone will win, and it might as well be you.

Enter now!

Adventures in Baby Growing - The First Weeks

I'm pregnant, and I couldn't be happier. We were trying for 3 months, and are so thrilled that it didn't take very long. We're having a baby in May or early June! During my pregnancy, I'll be blogging about my adventures in baby growing. Join the adventure!

These first weeks have been crazy and difficult. I can't believe how quickly my body started acting differently. Almost immediately my stomach rebelled against me, and continues to stage a rebellion. I haven't been throwing up, but am nauseous ALL DAY LONG. The whole "morning sickness" description is a total misnomer. After 5 or 6 weeks of nausea, I finally had my first doctor's appointment and was given a prescription for Zofran. It has been a miracle drug. I feel like I have my life back for the most part.

My other major symptom has been tiredness. I feel like I'm in a waking coma. At the same time, I have trouble sleeping. What the what?! It makes no sense at all. I won a $70 giftcard from CSN from Candace Rose. She has another CSN giveaway running right now, so go enter! Anyway, I used the giftcard to buy a super awesome Snoozer Body Pillow that was $71.99 with free shipping. I got it in the mail last week and it is helping me sleep more comfortably. I love free stuff!

People keep asking if I've had any cravings yet, and I don't really think I have. My sister-in-law is convinced that if I crave sweet, it is a girl, if salty, a boy. Who knows? If a craving comes along, maybe we'll start the guessing.

These first weeks have been exciting, keeping our secret from the world and slowly telling family and friends before announcing it last week. I love that as each weeks passes, my baby is growing and is more secure in my womb. I feel more pregnant as each week passes. It feels a little like an alien has taken over my body, but at least it is a cute little alien.

What were your early pregnancy symptoms? How did you deal with them?

Come back next week for an awesome giveaway - a 9 month supply of Nature Made Prenatal vitamins with DHA (worth $144)!

Frugal Friday - Pregnancy Tips Part I

This whole pregnancy thing is so new to me, and I have been getting tons of great advice from friends, online friends, and total strangers. I'm a member of the Frugal Living community on Blog Frog, so asked those fun folks for their best frugal pregnancy tips to share with y'all. They came up with some great stuff! I'll share all of the tips with you over the next few weeks.

Frugal Pregnancy tips:

"Borrow.

Have a friend who was just pregnant? Talk to them about maternity clothes. Maybe they'll let you borrow some shirts.

You don't have to have every cool thing they make for babies. I'd splurge on a cradle swing even before a crib.

Talk to friends and neighbors who are all done having kids - esp if they just had their last kid. They're dying to get rid of their old stuff. Check for safety issues.

Make sure your car seat is less than 3 yrs old.

Don't pay any medical bill that hasn't been through your insurance. I overpaid the doctor's office because they insisted on a certain amount that *they* expected. It took a WHOLE YEAR to get my refund check."

- from Heart Baby Home

"This may sound silly to you but I just had a baby and this my personal experience. With my first, I craved taco bell like no tomorrow. And I ate it all the time. And whatever else I craved. With the baby I just had I craved pizza all the time. Instead of ordering out for it, we did homemade pizza and almost always had some in the fridge. When I was hungry but didn't know what I wanted I would eat cereal. I had a ton in my stockpile and after awhile that's what I craved. Those two things helped me save money on my cravings while pregnant!"

- from Fabulessly Frugal

"Always try the cheaper brands first. My babies all did fine with the off brand diapers and I saved nearly $10 on a big box (buy the big box) each time. This is the same for wipes, food, bottles, etc.

Breastfeeding isn't for everyone, but if you can, it's the way to go. There are so many benefits for mom and baby, but it is a big money saver. Formula is about $22 a box and will probably get you through a week. Do that for a year and then move into sippy cups when baby can have cow's milk.

Also, get items that grow with the baby: a crib that turns into a twin bed, a car seat that grows with baby,

And, don't buy what the baby doesn't absolutely need. Unless the baby really needs it, don't introduce the pacifier, or the bottle, etc. Once you buy one of those, you will buy 40!

Our baby started eating the same things we were eating as soon as he could have solid foods. A $6 mini food processor makes your meal edible for the baby. Since we get vegetables from the garden and meat from the farm, we know the baby isn't getting overly-processed foods either."

- from Keeping Up with the Joneses

"These are all great ideas. "Don't buy what you don't need"...I agree. I never had a changing table and I never missed out. I know several of my friends that said that was a useless item. If you feel you must have one buy one that grows with them like Kimberly said. In this case get a dresser with a changing pad on top.

I would not forget about thrift stores and yard sales too. You can find really awesome clothes for you and your baby all up until they are about 3-4 years old. Most people have too much stuff for their baby that is never used or maybe used only once and that includes clothes, and bedding."

- from Saving Your Green

"And all you need is sleepers and onesies for the first few months. Nothing fancy, nothing expensive.

Somewhere for them to sleep, if even a pack&play next to your bed or cradle/basinet/baby moses basket for first couple of months too."

- from 3 Boys and Adoption ?!?

I would love to hear all of your Frugal Pregnancy tips as well. Share them with me in the comment section!

Adventures in Baby Growing - Finding Out!

We have been trying for a baby for three months now, and this time around I was sure we were pregnant. Jed asked me to wait until I was 3 days late to test. We took the test that night, and it was a bit inconclusive. It was the kind with the plus and minus signs, but the cross bar on the plus sign was VERY light. I didn't know what to think. The test instructions stated that even a faint cross bar was a positive, but we just weren't totally sure. We prayed that night for our future child, as we had been praying for three months.

The next day I drove to Walgreen's and bought the digital test, the one that reads - pregnant or not pregnant. I figured I couldn't screw that up, right? I took the test while Jed was still at work (I work from home a lot) because I couldn't wait. It said with certainty - PREGNANT! I immediately called and texted Jed, telling him to call me asap but that everything was ok. I'm sure he knew immediately that we were pregnant. He called me after school and was so excited.

That night he took me out to dinner at Tillman's Roadhouse, a cool restaurant in the Bishop Arts District. It is fancier than our normal fare, and felt like a real celebration. I'll feature it in a post later. The coolest thing about finding out we are having a baby is that we both have a total feeling of peace about it.

How did you celebrate finding out for your first pregnancy?

Or, if you are trying... How do you plan to celebrate?

We're having a baby!

We could not be more excited to share our good news! I'm pregnant! Our first baby is due at the end of May. This pregnancy has been a huge part of my disappearance from the blog lately. I have been so tired and the nausea has been out of control. That is all on top of losing Jed's mom, my huge fundraising banquet, and moving. Yikes. Things are still a little crazy, but hopefully I will be around a little more now that I have nausea meds. :) I'll have lots more posts about the pregnancy, so I hope you don't mind. I have baby on the brain lately. Is it weird that I think the blob on the sonogram is really cute? Because I definitely do think it is the cutest baby blob I've ever seen. The whole sonogram thing was weird, but totally worth it. After seeing my baby and hearing the heartbeat, I definitely feel like a mama.

Frugal Friday - Rent vs. Buy

Is it better to rent or buy right now?

$190,000 3 bed, 2 bath, 1580 sq feet

This one is in a great neighborhood, with a great elementary school, but a TOTAL fixer upper.

3 bed, 2 bath, 1085 sq. feet $189,000

This one is in our current neighborhood and is pretty much the norm. Dallas is just soooo expensive, it is out of control. We looked at one house that was 890 sq. feet for $179,000. That is pure craziness.

The American dream tells us that we should own a house. Before we found our new rent house, we debated whether or not this was the right choice for us. Would it be better for us to continue to rent for now, or buy a house? We've looked at houses, looked at our options, and decided that for now, it is better for us to rent.

We want to save up a 20% down payment, so that we don't have to pay P.M.I., and because that's what Dave Ramsey recommends. Well actually he recommends paying cash for a house, but that is unfortunately unrealistic for us. If you can't do that, Dave recommends paying 20% and doing a 15 year fixed rate mortgage, and then pay it off early. The interest you pay on a 30 year mortgage is seriously out of control. I'm excited that we are taking it slow and waiting for the right time, but I'm impatient. I want to have my own house and decorate it to my taste! Other factors for us include:

We don't know how long we want to live here. Don't get me wrong, we like it here, we just don't know what the Lord has for us long term.

We don't want to use our emergency fund for a down payment.

Dallas real estate prices haven't really gone down at all, and are still really crazy high (in my opinion).

Rent vs. Buy Calculator

Want to find out if you should rent or buy?

The calculator above is pretty useful.

For discussion: Do you rent or own?

If you own, what made you take the plunge?

Is there anything you wish you had done differently?

A Fall Display and a Little Venting

Two weeks ago I set up a simple fall display on my front porch. I love a fall display. I love pumpkins and hay bales and fall in general. I thought my display was cute, and it brought me joy. Jed took me to buy pumpkins on our first date 3 years ago, so they remind of that joyful occasion.

My crazy landlady saw my display and became enraged. She made me remove the hay bale, stating that it would destroy her porch. It wasn't wet or anything, and I just don't understand. We removed it, but this was one of the last straws that is forcing us to move. Our lease expired last month, and although we love our house and hate moving, our landlady is just not worth it. She comes over to our house without warning and hangs out in the front yard for hours, completely ignoring us. We have a drawer full of passive/aggressive letters that she has written to us over the past year. We literally live in fear of her. She has made me cry more times than I can count. We are done. I only wish I could warn future renters about her. We found a great house to rent in our neighborhood that is bigger and only $25 more. I can't wait to show you pictures and move in!

I will be setting up a new fall display and carving some pumpkins at our new house!

Would you put up with a crazy landlord to avoid moving and stay in a nice house?

Velvet Roses for Fall Hair - Part 3

I think I saved the best for last. I love this big teal velvet rose! I think it looks so awesome in my hair, and is one of my favorite fall colors. I've made several in this size, and I'll have them up on Etsy by the end of the week.
Here's the coolest thing about this large size rose: you can wear it as a hair clip, or as a brooch. I've added a pin on the back that can easily be attached to a sweater or t-shirt, or even a necklace. Yay!


I'm not sure why this looks like a mug shot. At least it is a mug shot with festive hair.
So, here are the three sizes and three colors. I've made one of each for myself, and will start making some for Etsy pronto. I can of course make any of the colors in any size.

Opinion poll: Which size would you wear the most?

I need feedback for my crafting. Thanks!

I'm linking to some great parties. Check them out on my sidebar, and visit them to see all the other great craft projects.

Velvet Roses for Fall Hair - Part 2

On Monday I showed you the small purple rose hair clip that I created. Today I'm showing off a medium red velvet rose that I'm in love with. I love the way the deep red looks on my hair, and I think this clip will look great with by many black dresses.

I can wear it on top of a ponytail...

...or pull my hair back with it.

I used vintage red velvet and rolled it into a rose shape to create a medium sized flower that completely conceals the alligator hair clip attached to it.
I haven't quite figured out how to wear it tucked behind my ear. I'll keep working on it, don't worry.

I'll show off the teal design later on this week, and keep your eyes open for these to show up in my Etsy shop.

Teal, deep red, and purple are three of my favorite fall colors to wear.

What is your favorite color to wear this fall?

I'm linking to some great parties. Check out my sidebar to see them, and check out all the other great projects that are linked to each one.

Velvet Roses for Fall Hair - Part 1

After a crafting hiatus forced upon me by my real job, I'm back to making things. This week I'm making velvet rose hair clips for fall. I'm making them in 3 different colors and sizes. The first is the small purple rose. The purple is such a deep color that it was really difficult to get it to show up well in my brown hair. I love it though. I've already worn it a couple of times.

The velvet was trickier to work with than felt, because the rough edges don't look so great. I had to double each strip over to create thick "petals" and hide the rough edges.
The rose is backed with a simple alligator clip that holds pretty well in my thin, fine hair.
Here are all three colors and sizes. I'll be showing off the other two later on this week. I'd love to hear your opinions about which color and size you like best. Hopefully I'll be posting some of them on Etsy later on.
Stay tuned to see the medium red and large teal designs later this week.

Check out the parties I link to on my right sidebar. There are so many great crafts shared at each one, you don't want to miss out.

What I'm doing this weekend...

I can't wait to do a little shopping!

What are you doing this weekend?