Hello!

so im guessing a few visitors will be stopping by from Holly's blog today so i thought in case any of you were new, that i would take a moment to introduce myself. Hi. Im stephanie. Im the sporadic blogger that runs buttons&bows here. im always writing a post in my head but it rarely gets let out. im trying to get better at that. i almost always fall asleep before finishing it. ill thank my two toddlers for that. the blog is named after them - my son Ian (buttons) and my daughter Rylin (bows). I live in northern illinois, im a stay at home mom to my crazy two and i am also a beachbody coach - which means that i get to help people reach their health and fitness goals by offering them support, accountability, and the tools needed to help them lose weight, get fit, or tone up! i help them because someone (my coach) helped me reach my goals and i want to pass it on!

thats probably why you are here today, because of the challenge Holly posted about. i run beachbody challenge groups. they are online accountability groups that people join. i have a goal of how many people i would like to help this year, that is why i am running the promotion that was mentioned on holly's blog. if you think you are interested in joining a challenge group, please email me at stephsmith7@live.com - i would love to chat with you more about your goals and how you can achieve them!

you probably saw this picture on holly's blog as well. that is me. the one on the left is last june, when i weighed over 150 lbs, was wearing size 9/10 jeans, and had a huge baby belly left from my 2 pregnancies in 2 years. i was frumpy, uncomfortable, and unhappy. i had no energy and no drive. i was stuck

that is me again on the right. i took this picture in march but i actually started looking like that back around november. i was down to size small or 5/6 jeans and 126 lbs. my huge baby belly was gone though there is still a little left for me to work on. but you can bet i wouldnt have a problem rocking a two piece bathing suit now! i lost around 25 lbs in just about 3-4 months time and it was the holiday season! and kept it off!

this picture was after a 5 day inferno i did using turbofire back in november. im currently on the 2nd month of insanity and its an ab burner! so thankfully my abs are looking better and better each day. some fitness people would say that i still have a long ways to go, and they would be right. there will always be something to work on. but for a mom of two, im pretty happy with my results. im not trying to look like a fitness model, i just want to be the healthiest and fittest me that i can be. if i have a little baby pooch left over, i am okay with that!

id love to share more with you about the beachbody line of products and how you can get the results you are looking for. please email me, id love to chat with you!

thanks for stopping by and i hope you stick around! you can find me on bloglovin, instagram, twitter, or facebook. or my facebook fitness page. please leave your blog in the comments so i can visit you back! 

My difficult is not that difficult. part 1.

the past couple days since ive been in effingham have been a whirlwind. there is never enough time to get everything done that i want to. never enough time to see the people i want to see. we got there wednesday night without any major hiccups except that the air in my car wasnt working so it was pretty warm all the way  down. thankfully a rain shower cooled the temp off to the high 70's so with the fan blowing in the car, the kiddos didnt melt. 

happy and you know it with aunt cici - best aunt ever!

thursday was full of visiting family and trying to keep the kids on a somewhat normal schedule. we visited my mom at work and spent several hours at justins parents house. friday i dropped my car off to get worked on. they were to rotate the tires, fix the air, give it an overall check to make sure everything was in working order. my sister, being the fabulous aunt she is, took Ian to see a "tow-mater" truck that someone had put together. im pretty sure it was the highlight of his day. i had lunch with a friend, stopped by another friends house, got the kids down for a nap, went to pick up my car, visited my grandpa, got the kids dinner, headed home for baths. 

rylin boogie'n saturday night

saturday was my grandma and uncle's interment. we were having a family lunch beforehand and i had to schedule rylins 18 month pictures for later that evening since it was the only time we would be in town for awhile. so it was going to be a busy day. justin got into town about 7am and his awesome friend DJ picked him up and they headed to our old house to de-mold the attic (found mold during inspection - yup thats how life has been lately). Thankfully DJ is certified in mold remediation or it would have cost us several thousand dollars instead of a couple hundred. i cant thank DJ enough. or his wife Jenna for giving him up for an entire Saturday. I know how precious those weekends are when your husband works 50+ hours a week. so Justin had to miss the interment. rylin got a nap in the car while i went back to effingham from mason (about 30 mins) to pick him up and ian stayed with the cousins (and grandparents) at grandmas house. the air conditioner had stopped working in our old house, so DJs brother Daniel came over and fixed it for us. Hes an HVAC technician. seriously, those Orsborn boys saved our butts this weekend. I cant thank you guys enough. Justin has the best friends in the world. Thats probably why theyve been his friends since high school and theyve all stuck together. We made it back to my grandmas with about 10 minutes to spare before our friend Lydia showed up to take pictures. Rylin was great but no-nap Ian was a handful. Hopefully we got one good family shot. then we trotted the kids over to a family friends birthday party where they ate chicken and boogied on the dance floor while we chatted with some old friends. Justin had barely eaten all day so we headed to culvers for some food and those boogers were still awake 30 minutes later and Ian says "i want ice cream" as soon as we pull up to the drive thru. Ice cream at 10pm? sure why not? 

sneak peek of rylins 18 mo pics - could she be any sweeter? 

Sunday we had breakfast with my family, got everything packed up, and went to lunch at justins parents and spent a few hours with them before we had to get in the car to head to st.louis to go to phil and molly's house. we were meeting their new precious girl hazel and ian had a shriners appt the next day. Everyone was  exhausted by this point, everyone needed a nap. Justin had barely slept in 3 days but we made it to STL. the car had started making a funny sound on the way down, like maybe the tire was going flat. We got out and checked it and it was fine so we continued on our way and figured we'd look at it more when we got there. We enjoyed our evening with Phil and Molly and Molly's sister and her son. And of course snuggling little miss hazel. It was nice to just catch up with friends even if the time is always too short! Ian and Rylin were both so obsessed with Hazel. Ian had to give her kisses and tell her goodnight before he went to bed. Rylin mainly wanted to steal her blankie but other than trying to drop a motorcycle on her, she was sweet to Miss Hazel too.

ian jammin on his new drum set! 

it was a whirlwind weekend but full of good memories. were always tired after a trip like that and i always question my sanity at trying to pack so many things into one trip, but its usually just how it has to be. 

part 2 tomorrow

just a random tuesday

today was one of those days where several times i wished i could just crawl back into bed. i considered it many times. almost got the ipad and movies out for the kids to watch in my bed so i could just decompress, collect my thoughts, and come up with a new action plan. nothing major happened, just one of those days when small thing after small thing piled on top of each other until i felt like i was going to lose my mind.

i woke up with a headache, never a great way to start the day. rylin is on a strict bland diet right now to help her tummy heal after a stomach bug last week. my girl likes to eat. and she does not like being restricted to bananas, toast, applesauce, mashed potatoes and no milk. unless shes allowed to eat only bananas. im pretty sure she would have eaten the entire bunch for breakfast had i let her. so every meal is a tantrum right now. but im really tired of puke in the middle of the night, so we are sticking to the dang diet.

rylin came to snuggle me when i was trying to collect myself on the couch. "mamma? tishes? ugs?"
oh yes, thank you baby. aside from the tantrums, she is about as sweet as they come.

and the tantrums, oh the tantrums. tell that girl no for any reason, and you will have the highest pitch scream directed towards you. try to make her physically do something? oh no! she will lay flat out on the floor and stay there. she laid on the sidewalk today for a solid 5 when i told her it was time to walk. girl is stubborn. i do not remember it being this bad with ian but i might just be blocking it for my own sanity.

and ian has been toilet training for a little more than a week now. he just up and decided one day it was time to use the potty and we happily went with it. hes had a few small accidents most days but overall he has done very well. (side note: parents - download the daniel tiger potty song for your kid. we sing it everyday. thats what got ian started) we can even leave the house and be accident free. but today while i was vacuuming the kids room,  he and rylin decided to empty my makeup bag out all over the bathroom floor. and when i went in to clean it up, the entire rug and floor was wet and so was he. so he had an accident while in the bathroom, standing right next to the potty. irked me to no end. on top of that, justin laid him down for nap two days in a row and forgot to put a pull up on. so yesterday he peed our bed and today he peed his. for whatever reason, we own umpteen sets of queen sized sheets and only one set of king size for our bed. so all of us are sheet less because i didnt get the laundry done today. rylin had already used up all her sheets with the puking, so i put ians extra sheets on her bed. apparently we need to own more sheets.

swinging takes all the cares away. and wins mommy some fun points.

and lately that boy has been into everything. if it is something he is not supposed to be doing, you can bet he will be doing it. he is mr. destructo right now. he can destroy the living room in 5 minutes flat with the small amount of toys we have upstairs. tell him not to go into his room, not to wake rylin and the next time you arent looking, that is exactly what he will be doing. tell him to sit down, he will stand up. warn him to not do something and he will do it as quickly as he can even though he knows he is disobeying. tell him not to step in the street and stay on the sidewalk and next thing you know he will be in the street. and he has been repeating everything. ask him why he did something and he just parrots the question back. i dont know how many times a day i try to reword the same sentence just to get an actual answer. im pretty sure he is doing it on purpose because he used to answer these questions before. and he has started talking back! wait. did my two year old just turn into a teenager? oy he is gonna make me lose my mind.

and ive been annoyed with some people ive been talking with who apparently have dropped off the face of the earth because after several emails between us, they just stop replying. im going to be more careful about not doing this to other people because it is quickly becoming a pet peeve.

the river was so pretty. couldnt stay in the grass long because of the massive amounts of mosquitoes tho!
we are in for a rough summer with them with all the flooding weve had.

and it was 90 today and apparently the air in my car has decided to stop working. i know. i know. all of these are first world problems of not even epic proportions and im being kinda bratty.

i tried to salvage the day and make up for the lost hours this week by taking the kids to the park down by the river and taking our dinner with us. and we had a very good, fun time. we sat and ate and watched the cyclists go by, watched some ducks with their babies, threw sticks and bread in the river, and walked down the path. we finished it off by enjoying some swing time. we made it through with only one small tantrum after we had to get off the swings and the aforementioned laying on the sidewalk. and then this went and happened.

i swear i dont hate dogs. just rude dog owners that can only say "stop that" when their dog is attacking my kid.
drop the fishing pole dude and pick up your dog! 

apparently im just a little bit pissy today. i probably should have just gone back to bed. hopefully i didnt make any new enemies. on a good note, the kids went to bed happy, tired, and hopefully without too many memories of mommy raising her voice. i really tried to rein it in. rylin snuggled me this afternoon with "tishes and ugs" and ian came out of his bed for a few minutes of late night cuddling while also trying to sneak away to stay up later. stinker. i think we managed to salvage the day.

and now im off to sleep in my sheetless bed. we will wake up tomorrow and hope that it goes better.and thank the Lord for forgiveness and new mercies everyday.  im taking the kids to effingham by myself so that means i have 4.5+ hours in the car with both kiddos. ive done it a million times so we will survive tomorrow as well.

on mothers & mothers day

I had a wonderful mother's day round here. We were up early, got to early church (only 5 minutes late, yes!) and the kiddos drew me some cards. My gift was a day all to myself on Saturday so I got up, went to early yoga, tried to work a little at starbucks and then went and got a pedicure. My feet are so happy! Ive only had about 5 pedicures my whole life so they are definitely a treat. And I put justin in charge of all food Sunday which means we ate out for every meal but breakfast. my husband is actually a great cook but if you give him the option, he will choose to eat out as much as possible. 

But if Im being honest, something was very off this Mother's Day. I couldnt quite help but be a little sad. And the sadness that surrounded me had nothing to do with me. I am blessed to be the mommy to two wonderful babies. I love them dearly and they bring so much joy and happiness to my life. They are funny and cute and smart and also awnry as heck. And i cant imagine my life without them. Actually i can, and its scary. Its not something i want to imagine for long. 

Yesterday's sadness was brought on by lots of things. I have 3 friends who are suffering from infertility right now. One of the couples lost two babies early in their marriage and they havent been able to get pregnant since. They are trying to adopt as well. Two other friends have similiar medical conditions and both have been trying for years. All three women I know and love dearly and i cant imagine three women who would make better moms. All day long, my friends kept popping into my heads and once again i would say another prayer for them. i pray this is the last mothers day that they have empty arms.

I grieve for them because i know yesterday was probably one of the hardest holidays they have to go through. And partly i ached for them because i remember the ache of empty arms on mothers day. I remember the mothers day 4 years ago that my sister in law called to tell us they were pregnant. And while I was happy for them, I couldnt help but bawl for many hours that day. Thankfully, by the next mothers day, I had a sweet little bean (ian reed) baking in my belly. That was before we knew there were problems and all was still perfectly joyful and rosy. The next mothers day, we had made it through all the scary and again I was baking a little cupcake (rylin grace) and so happy to have gotten pregnant by surprise! no planning, no calculating, no temperatures and tests. just a great surprise on a random morning.

And yesterday was hard because i know my mom was hurting. This is her first mothers day without her mom.  If grandma were still here, we would have all gotten together, had a cookout and enjoyed each others company.  There would have been way too much good food, lots of craziness and laughter and lots of love. While we can still have all of those things, our family will never be the same without grandma. And Mother's Day will probably never be the same again for my mom. And that sucks for her. And also it sucks knowing that one day, that will be me grieving my first mothers day without my mom. I pray that i am very old and gray by the time that comes around. 

And partly i was sad because I am missing my family in southern illinois. This is the time of year that everyone starts having cookouts and get togethers and everyone goes camping. and my little family will not be a part of it since we have moved away. Of course we are always welcome, but we cant drive to effingham every weekend for every get together. 

And then on top of that, I know some mommas who are grieving a much greater loss. The loss of a child. For some moms, this is the first Mother's Day without one of their kids. Or like another friend, maybe mothers day happened to fall on the same day as her daughters third birthday. What should have been an extra special day just brought extra pain this year. Sadly, she never got to celebrate any birthdays here on earth with her daughter except her actual day of birth. And yet, she has many daughters here to celebrate with. What a hard mixture of joy and sorry yesterday must have brought her. Or how about the family member who lost her newborn baby girl decades ago but the ache is still there. Does a mother every get over that loss? I really dont think so.

And then there are the moms who are just grieved for their children. Their children are still here but perhaps they have walked away from the family, have walked away from God, or have made such poor life decisions that it has cost them dearly. There is the mom whose son suffers from severe mental illness and she never knows if he will do something drastic. There is the mom whose daughter has made serious life choices that will follow her the rest of her life. there is the family getting a divorce. or a child, no matter the age, that has an deadly illness.

as moms, we carry so much of our children with us. and once you are a mom, you see the world through a different lens. you see a world that is full of wondor, excitement, and the opportunity to discover new things (like through the eyes of a toddler), but you also see a world that has the capacity to seriously hurt, damage, or even take your child away. you want to protect them, but you want to let them experience life as well. you want to keep them from making bad choices but you have to let them learn from their mistakes. you wish you could just keep them under your protective wing for always but little by little you have to let them fly a little farther away each day.

being a mom is the hardest job ive ever done. and every day i wish i was doing it better. and everyday i ask the good Lord to forgive me for my failures that day and to give me the strength to try again tomorrow, to do better tomorrow.

it is the hardest job in the world. but i have to say it is also the best.

to ian and rylin: thank you for all of the sweet joy you bring into my life. thank you for the sticky kisses, the big squeeze hugs, the jelly covered fingers getting my shirt dirty. thank you for the endless messes, the tantrums, the talking back & screaming, the sheer awnryness that you both bring to our daily lives. thank you for the hundreds of times ive had to sweep the mess off the kitchen floor, the million loads of laundry and the thousands of diaper changes. thank you for the countless sweet snuggles, cute grins and giggle, and the sweet moments of reading books, saying prayers and rocking you to sleep. you are my joy in this world and i am so lucky to be your momma. thank you Lord for trusting me with these precious gifts.

to my mom: thank you for everything. i never knew how much you did and sacrificed until i became a mom. i took you for granted, sassed and talked back way to much. gave you too much grief. ive been ungrateful, selfish, stubborn, and downright rude to you way too many times before. and as i get older, i appreciate you so much more each day. thank you for all of the love, the sacrifices, the tough love, and the shoulder to cry on when i needed it. thank you for being a wonderful mimi to my children. they love you so much.

to my mother in law, kim: thank you for being a wonderful second mom to me. and thank you for raising such a wonderful son. i know you are always there for me and will love me no matter how strange my introversion is, and how different i am from your own daughters. you are such a wonderful mentor and guide. and you are the best nana my kids could ask for. they love you so much.


i didnt take a single picture on my phone on mothers day, so pics will have to wait until i upload them from my camera.

 

the week i fell of the wagon

Gonna be honest.... i fell off the clean eating wagon this week. Its been cold here and all I want to eat is food that will make me warm. Meatloaf, cheddar broccoli soup, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese - the real stuff not kraft. Ive been wanting total "comfort" food which is kind of an oxymoron because it is defintely not comforting to my stomach an hour after eating it. Then it just feels like a lead weight in my stomach that I wish I hadnt put there. (notice: i did not eat all of the stuff above. thats just what i wanted)

This week has probably been my worst week in terms of clean eating yet. I had two iced frappes from Mcdonalds on days i was feeling sluggish. That was a mistake. Since I no longer drink coffee or soda regularly, my body has adjusted to the lack of caffiene. Large Frappes = me feeling like im on crack and my heart is about to explode. Then came the sugar and caffiene crash. Im not sure why i choose to do this two days in a row. apparently i want to punish myself. Two other days I had migraines, which come with upset stomachs for me, so that just makes me want to put anything into my stomach that will just make.it.stop. I ate alot of toast with butter this week. Probably half of a loaf. can we say carb overload! At least it was whole grain right?  

Today we had what I like to call the perfect storm of bad food choices happen. It was lunchtime, the kids were hungry NOW, I needed to go to the grocery store because we didnt even have bread (i ate all of it remember), and I was cold and wanted warm food that was ready to go in my belly. So we decided to do what we rarely do and take the kids out for lunch. And then I let my husband pick. Not a good idea. (sorry honey, you know its true). So we ate the buffet at Pizza Hut. One, because my husband and I both love pizza and we have not had it in months. Two, the kids will eat pizza like champs because they never get it either. and three, because Pizza Hut is one of those places where you can take your kids, they can behave like hellions, and no one will care. Thankfully our two were very well behaved today. probably because they were so hungry and starved since there was no food in the house, they decided they better take the chance and eat. im kidding. they ate pankcakes, yogurt and multigrain cherrios for breakfast. i do not starve my kids, please done call dcfs.

And as we are driving home and I can already feel the lead growing in my stomach, I make sure to stop by the store so this does not happen again for dinner. And then I proceed to feel like death the rest of the afternoon because my body just does not handle processed food well anymore. I have retrained it. It likes whole, healthy, real, fresh food. It does not like processed crap. Which is what we ate. Even if it was delicious processed crap going down. i may or may not have eaten some chocolate cake batter too. 

So I made my Shakeology for my dinner and already felt better. Here is to starting over tomorrow and thankfulness for the occasional reminder about why we eat healthy 90% of the time. Because we like to feel healthy. And you can only feel as good as the things you put in your body. 

If you eat crap, you will feel like crap.

If you eat good healthy food, you will feel good and healthy too!

I still managed to exercise every day but one day this week, even though ive been having to modify insanity because ive got a bum knee that just doesnt want to cooperate. if i go all out two days in a row, then it is killing me by the end of the 2nd day. but if i alternate and go all out and then modify or do yoga or walk in between insanity workouts, then it seems to do much better. even yesterday which is "cardio recovery" day with Insanity, it was killing me. im certain drinking my shakeology and working out is all that has saved me from gaining 5 lbs this week.

All this to say, is if you have a goal in mind and you fall off the healthy eating/working out wagon for a couple days or a week or whatever, you dont have to give up on your goal. we all fall off at some point. just pick yourself up, dust off your cross trainers and your blender and head to the store for some fresh fruits and veggies. make yourself a shake, press play and get back to killin it!

I plan on starting with 10 am yoga tomorrow and a nice healthy shake!

If you are having trouble finding motivation or need help getting back on the healthy bandwagon, please email me at stephsmith7 at live dot com. - we can work on it together!

Find me here!
Instagram - Twitter - Facebook - Beachbody

WIWW

in my failed shopping excurisions lately i have found what i think is going to be my summer wardrobe. maxis and tanks. both of these are from target, super comfy, and they wash ans wear well. i know this outfit is boring in fashion standards but its what i like to wear. i plan on finding more tanks, some cute strappy sandals and a few pretty necklaces to dress things up. i have a jean jacket to throw over it when its a chilly night - perfect summer outfit! 

tank $13 - target - xs - (maternity section) yup i shop maternity even when im not pregnant. 

skirt -xs - $18 - target - jrs section

Stitch Fix Review May 2013

So the past few weeks I have taken a few hours once a week to try to go shopping and find some clothes. It has been incredibly unsuccessful. I feel like everything is really ugly right now. High low hems, everything lace, crazy prints and florals, everything is blousy and fits weird. Im picky, but usually I can find something. I was in the mall for over 2 hours Saturday, went to 5 different stores and found one dress I slightly liked but it was an extra small and I needed a small. boo. even maurices, my go-to, had nothing i liked.

So I though I would try Stitchfix. Stitchfix is a subscription box that sends you a box with 5 items in it that they personally select for you based on the style profile that you fill out. You can schedule it to be monthly or just whenever you want. You can ask for specific items you are looking for. Its a pretty creative idea.

I made a youtube video review of what I got but I am putting the pictures on here. Alot of people do reviews by trying the items on and then editing the video together. I dont know how to do that. So watch the video for the largest part of the review. It has more info than this post does.

Here are the items I received. (unedited photos. im happy i just got a post done, yippee!) and i take my pictures in the kids' room. it has a full length mirror and the best light... these arent fancy yall

item #1 - blech - um no. horrible horrible horrible made my hips look huge, was really big in the bust and just generally ugly. this might be the ugliest thing ive ever seen. seems harsh but i really hate it. i would never even pick this up in a store.

item #2 - not awful, but not keeping it. fits weird  $68 if i saw this in a store i would possibly try it and maybe purchase if around $20-$30. the back was a sheer beigy color

item #3 - not as bad as i thought it would be but no. wierd hi/low hem $58

i would have never picked this up in the store but i might try something like it now. so thats a win. if both sides had been long, i would have possibly liked it better. but i have a long torso and short legs and this cuts me off in all the wrong places. i really do love the way the back of this looks. maybe i can just walk backwards everywhere?

item #4 - maxi skirt. it was so huge i didnt even bother trying to style it. it went way above my belly button. and $88? no thank you. i would pay probably $20 max for this in store.

item #5 - the one and only thing i might keep. i think i could possibly get alot of wear out of it, but it fits a little strange around the hips, where it has pockets. ill be thinking on that one. $58

so overall my thoughts on stitch fix are the following:

1. its expensive. i set my prices as the cheapest and my cheapest item was $58. most expensive was the maxi skirt at $88 

2. alot of things fit poorly/were generally unflattering

3. my items were too trendy IMO. i like classic pieces (which i stated several times in my profile)

4. Stitchfix is probably for you if you spend more on clothes, like trendier pieces, or are willing to step out of the box and take a risk. Im really none of those things.

5. Will i try it again? Possibly in the future. I told them I needed a dress and they did attempt and sent me two so I think if Im looking for something specific then I might try it again. If Im looking for things that Im willing to spend more money on, then I would definitely consider them again. however for day to day wear that my children will probably somehow ruin, its too pricey for me.

6. it was REALLY nice to have everything shipped to me, shown how to style it, and i never had to leave my house. i was able to do this during naptime. and since they give you a bag with a prepaid label to send it back in, i dont even have to make a trip to the post office! WIN there! 

so really the biggest roadblock for me is the price of items. if i could find something similiar that wasnt as pricey (kept things no higher than $50), it would definitely be something i would utilize often!

If you think this might be something that you would like, head over to StitchFix and sign up! They are in beta so its a waiting list, but it didnt take long for me to get an invite. A friend said it took a few 'fixes' before she felt they really got her style so maybe its worth another shot!

If youve tried StitchFix, how did your fix go? 

$25 gift cards up for grabs!

Leave me a comment that you shared on your blog/Instagram/Facebook/twitter to be entered into drawing!

Insanity challenge pack sale ends today!

May Challengers Wanted!

I have a few more spots left in my May Challenge groups for anyone that's looking to get fit before summer! You can start seeing changes in as little as 21 days so you have plenty of time to get bikini ready! 

I was strangely surprised by these photos. I guess I hadn't really seen how far Id come. I think sometimes we all see what we still want to work on instead of seeing that changes we've already made!

Id love to help you reach your health and fitness goals, please email me at stephsmith7 at live dot com or find me on Facebook or Instagram!

Instagram - mrs_smith77

Facebook 

update on the house situation

i wanted to wait and write this post until all the details were under wraps. we got an offer on our house the tuesday before we left for delaware. then we spent all week countering back and forth until by friday or saturday we had a mutually agreeable deal. then we started hitting some snafus that took awhile to get worked out. its been a process. 

this is the old picture of the front of our house. the bushes are no longer there.
and the shutters are white

because we used a relocation company through F*d*x to move, they are handling the entire real estate portion of our move, including the appraisals, listing, closing, agreements, xyz. so we have to follow their rules. which isnt a big deal until the people who want to buy your house have to also sell their house so its a "contingency" agreement. for anyone who hasnt bought or sold a house, a contingency agreement just means that the buyers have 72 hours to sell their house in the event that someone else were to give us an offer on our house. 

well our relocation company doesnt allow contingency offers. but the people are getting married in about a month and want to have as much settled as possible before hand so they want to rent from us until their house sells. okay thats cool with us, but that creates a whole new slew of issues. we arent landlords. we dont even reside in the same town. do they do their inspection now? what if something breaks in the time they are renting. are we responsible for it? what if after a few months in the house they change their mind because they dont like this or that. (any homeowner knows that sometimes there are things that you didnt see that really start to bug you). what if their house doesnt sell for months? (our relocation package has a time limit). 

and they want the house off the market. ooh no can do.

currently

we finally reached an agreement that will work for us. they get to start renting in may and the house "unofficially" goes off the market. basically meaning the sign is being pulled from the yard and it has a "pending" notice on the mls listing. but if their house doesnt sell in 3 months time, it goes back on the market and they have to let it be shown because then we will have 3 more months of prime selling season to actually get it sold. 

we met with the people, they are really nice and are a blended family and all their kids were so excited to be a family! so prayers that it all goes well! now instead of praying for our house to sell, we will be praying for their house to sell!  our realtor knows both of the families and he prayed with all of us after we signed the agreement. they totally feel this house is the one God intended for them and we are so happy a family will be moving in that will love ti like we did.

and.... it will be nice to not have to pay two mortgages :) 

on a side note... ian hasnt lived there full time since october and hasnt been there since january but when we walked in he went into every single room and told us "dis is mommys room, dis is ryrys room, dis is ians room, dis is cicis room, dis is da titchen, dees are windows..." 

it was a little sad. this was our first home. this is where we brought our first two babies home. lots of memories. and i really miss that yard! we didnt utilize it enough while we lived there.

April Beachbody Promotions

i know that april is almost over. saying that im behind is the understatement of the month. wow this month has flown by with all of our traveling. it always takes me a week to recuperate and get back into my routine after an extended time away from my own house. the piles of laundry and luggage overwhelm me.

so even though im late to the game,  i still wanted to let you in on the deals so you dont miss out on them. leave a comment or email me for more details! i still have a few spots left in my may challenge groups, so get in now while you can! swimsuit season is only a month away! 

save $90 on the insanity challenge pack! this is actually $25 cheaper than i bought it for last month! and this is the program that has my thighs no longer touching... success! 

The Slim in 6 challenge pack has been permently reduced! This is a great low impact workout that will still have you feeling the burn and will get you great results in a short time frame! 

Hip Hop Abs is still on sale for $20! This is a fun workout that will come with a free bonus dvd! Shaun T is my favorite instructor. He keeps it real! 

Delaware, Dwarfism, and Doctors

Whew! So alot has happened since my last post which i know was way too long ago. things have been crazy

 busy in our lives. the blog is the first thing to go by the wayside when life speeds up so thats why sometimes i dont post for a long while. while i think blogging is great - my kids, husband, family, house, finances, ie. real life deserve my attention first and foremost. sorry internets, its just the way it goes.

so last week we took our big trip to delaware! we flew into Philly, drove to Wilmington and stayed at the Ronald McDonald House by the A.I. Dupont/Nemours Hospital for Children. you may be wondering why we flew half way across the nation to see a dr when we live close to Chicago and St Louis, both of which have great childrens hospitals. and the answer to that is: IAN! 

the ronald mcdonald house. amazing ministry they have.  the rooms were comfy and the play area was a huge hit with ian

ian has an extremely rare type of dwarfism called Diastrophic Dysplasia. on top of that, his mutation is even more rare. its only the 2nd confirmed case. on top of that, Ian has an extremely mild case which means he is a question mark wrapped in a enigma covered by a riddle. he kind of stumps everyone. none of our current drs knows exactly what to do with him and we were tired of playing the guessing game with our sons care and health. we were looking for solid answers, which is what we got!

this hospital is awesome. huge playground outside, very family friendly and everyone is extremely nice! 

the AI Dupont hospital in Wilmington, Delaware is one of 3 hospitals in the nation that has experts that actually know how to treat kids with ian's condition. the other two are Johns Hopkins and Cedars Sinai. And Dupont has Dr. William McKenzie, who happens to be highly recommended by others with ian's condition.  so we got an appointment to see him and were blessed by God that everything else fell into place.

So here is what Dr McKenzie said about our Ian! 

1. His feet look great! we most likely wont see much more correction on his feet than what we already have, so we should not do anything invasive because it most likely wont work. there is a tendon transfer surgery that Dr. Dobbs has mentioned that Dr. McK said he would not be opposed to but that its about 50/50 it would help. he left that decision to us and we will visit it when needed. he said to continue with the care we are getting but to also remember that DD kids do not respond to clubfeet correction the way that "normal" clubfeet kids do, so to use our best judgement on what we think will help ian the most. 

"where go ian?"

2. stop using daytime AFO's. they are not helping him and are most likely hindering him. we were so glad to hear that because we pretty much hate his daytime AFO's! theyve never fit right, they are clunky and burdensome on ian as he walks, and we never felt like they helped much. Dr. Mck said they tend to only use walking AFO's if the child cannot stand or walk on his own. 

3. Ian has a beautiful straight spine! his minor scoliosis has resolved itself! He does have some kyphosis and lordosis (swayback) in his neck and pelvic regions, respectively, which is totally normal for his condition and should improve with age. he does have a few vertebrae near c3,4,5 that are a little off alignment wise but he also said these would resolve themselves as he ages and grows stronger. he needs to have a yearly

 spinal xray just to keep a watch on them.

4. he definitely does not have middle joints in his fingers so we are so glad we did not pursue aggresive physical therapy on those little fingers! dont let unexperienced drs try to talk you into this!  

5. ian is awesome! which we already knew of course! he confirmed that ian is incredibly mild and that we are incredibly lucky (we say blessed) in that he does not have many issues. 

6. get a sleep study done for his snoring. 

if any of you are questioning the path your child's drs are taking you on, please go see Dr. McKenzie if you can! they have the ronald mcdonald house nearby and Dupont has a program that can get you 2 free airline tickets through southwest. it is worth it to actually know than to try and guess! you are your child's biggest advocate so make sure they are getting the best care they can! 

unfortunately we did not get to meet any other DD kids, but I did get to meet miss addie. as we were leaving our appointment, they were coming in for theirs so we chatted for a bit. ian was too busy looking at a train, so we didnt get a picture of the two of them together but im so glad i got to meet sweet addie and her parents chelley and dave. seriously nice people! 

ian and his new friend showing off their toys from the treasure chest!

we did talk with this little cutie and her parents for a good long while along with a few other POLP. its nice to talk to other parents whose kids go through the same things ian does! 

ian was not a fan of ronald. he steered clear of him