November 29, 2013

Black Friday Lilla Rose Deals!!

Don't miss this fabulous Lilla Rose black Friday sale going on now through midnight on Saturday! Details and a picture of a new holiday flexi are below. I'm also offering a buy 3 products get 1 free (up to a $16 value) through me. Just email me after your purchase! Please comment or email me with any questions or if you need help! Use the link here to place an order.

 
Tyra

November 27, 2013

A Day of Thanks

The kids and I have been studying various things about Thanksgiving the past couple of days and today we read the first proclamation given by George Washington after the House of Representatives requested that he declare a public day of thanksgiving and prayer. Here was his response a few days later in October of 1789. 

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor-- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.
Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war--for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted--for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.
 And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions-- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually--to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us--and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Go: Washington

What a blessing to read about what a strong foundation this country was established on! But at the same time saddening to think how far we've come. We also read that the Pilgrims dug seven times more graves than they built huts......but still chose to set aside a day to be grateful and praise God. How discontent and ungrateful I so often am in comparison! While going over some of these things the verses in Colossians came to mind that say...."all things were created by Him, and for Him; and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist." What a reminder of why we should be thankful to Him, not just tomorrow but every day....because without Him we have nothing and are nothing anyway! Just the thought of Him loving us enough to give us Jesus should cause us to praise Him. And I know most of us have WAY more to blessings in our lives than that! I'll leave you with just one more verse of scripture that's been on my heart a lot recently that sums up how I want to feel tomorrow perfectly: Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. I looked it up and one of the meanings of selah can be to pause for praise or worship. That's what I want most for our family on Thanksgiving, is to take time to stop and acknowledge everything God has done for us! I hope you and your family will be doing that as well.

                                                   Blessings,
                                 Tyra

November 25, 2013

December Flexi is Here! {Lilla Rose}

Just had to share a picture of this gorgeous flexi clip!! They released it early so you can purchase for the holidays and it is already selling out fast! This would look great with so many outfits, whether in your hair or on a scarf. Let me know if you have questions and be sure to click the icon on the right to visit my website!

 
Wouldn't this make a great Christmas gift?! :-)
 
Tyra

November 20, 2013

No Complaining?

I saw this 10 day challenge on facebook yesterday and was very intrigued by the idea. Mostly because I recognized it as something I SO need to do! Health issues, extended family problems, and just every day circumstances sometimes pile up and I tend to find myself being negative over everything. Not exactly following the verse in the Bible about being thankful no matter what. Anyway, after reading about it and deciding to try it I promptly became involved in the stress of dealing with 3 out of 4 kiddos having a nasty viral bug and kind of forgot about the challenge. (oops!) So I can't honestly say that last night was totally complaint free. But I'm determined to do better (and today has been pretty good so far I think) and am praying that God will use this to help me see what a bad habit I've gotten into in this area. I'd love to have you join me! No matter what life may be throwing at us these days I KNOW that we all have so much to be grateful for. Here's a verse I found a few weeks ago that's really been sticking with me: "Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah." Psalm 68:19 The BIGGEST blessing in my life is that God saved me, not to mention that He has given me so many added benefits since then. So there is ALWAYS something for me to be grateful for. I'm hoping this challenge will help me stop complaining about the not so great things in life long enough to remember that!

So what do you say, can we do 10 days of no complaining? I think we can with God's help!

                                
                                Tyra 



                                     

November 7, 2013

New Lilla Rose Items!

Just wanted to share the announcement of some new items from Lilla Rose today! They are also offering 10% these items for one day only plus free shipping on orders over $30 until Saturday. If you've been thinking about placing an order or getting some Christmas gifts for anyone then this is the perfect time! (I'm kind of loving the new pearl headband myself) Here's a graphic with the new items and some info about the sale. Be sure to click the Lilla Rose button on the right of the blog to go shopping and message me with any questions! Enjoy.



                                Tyra

November 1, 2013

Some Must Have Baby Items {at our house anyway}

I see a lot of blog posts about things you need (or don't) when having a baby. Some of them are good and useful, but somewhat based on the assumption that your baby will be the eat, sleep, change, basically non-fussy type of child. If in fact you find yourself with one who is slightly more challenging to care for than that, then this post is for you! (by the way, I really don't like the phrase "is he/she a "good" baby?".....while some  babies definitely require more care than others for various reasons that in no way makes them "bad". Just sayin'.) Ok, so moving on, here in no apparent order are some items or tricks that we've found extremely helpful when dealing with all 4 of our kiddos. Oh, and for the record, our first one cried way more than he slept. Literally. And our other 3 haven't been too far behind that so let's just say we have lots of experience with fussiness around here. ;-)

Skipping over the rather obvious necessities like diapers, wipes, and clothing.....this is some of our favorite go-to stuff when getting ready for another little one:

Exercise ball: nope, this isn't to get mom back in shape after the birth (although it kind of has that added benefit) but it IS perfect for bouncing a crying baby to sleep. Or just bouncing period if they need soothing like all of ours did. Trust me, you will quickly become a pro at it if the need arises! (as a side note, when our first was born we didn't know of this little trick and used a straight back wooden chair to bump back in forth in for soothing. Yes, you did read that right. Our carpet had permanent indentions afterwards. You do what you gotta do, you know?)

White noise: this can be water running from a faucet, the vacuum cleaner, a blow-dryer, a noise machine, OR best of all this great website/app that we found with child #3. I kid you not, y'all, this really works not only to help the babies calm down but also to drown out other noise as well so if they ever do eventually go to sleep then they won't get woke right back up. I've spent many days bouncing and listening to this as loud as it would go. Yes, it can get a little annoying after awhile but it is way better than a screaming baby. Trust me.

Probiotics: this is something we didn't know about with our first 2 but that has been great for the last ones. Our babies are born with huge stomach/digestion issues (which is probably where a lot of the crying comes from) so giving them these help to soothe that. Here's the brand we like best which has even been proven in a medical study to help with colic. You can find it online or at several pharmacies and health food stores as well.

Pacifier: I know there are different opinions on this and that's fine! Everybody has to do what works for them or decide what their own preference is. For us, we love pacis around here! Our babies with all their health issues/pain just need some extra soothing and pacis seem to help them so much. There are all different kinds and it may take a little while to figure out which one works best for each baby so don't give up if they don't seem to like a particular one at first!

Those are my top favs for things to do with fussy babies, but here's a few more things we also used with some or all of them that helped with reflux/stomach/allergy issues: colic calm gripe water,  chiropractor adjustments, homeopathics, essential oils, propping a contour pillow sideways on a regular one....the baby lays in the contour and can't roll over and is at an angle to help them not choke as bad too! Genius, huh?

That's about all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure there are more things we tried but after a year or more you tend to forget stuff from lack of sleep. haha Hope this helps someone else who may find themselves at a loss for what to do with an overly fussy baby. The hardest thing can be feeling like no one really understands so let me just assure you that you are not alone! On top of all of this my babies also all eventually ended up on special formula, they all had tons of allergies and reflux, there was more than one day that I cried right along with them because I didn't know what else to do, and it just took time, patience, flexibility and lots of help to make it through it. So hang in there! You can do this. 

If there's anything you would add that worked for you please feel free to do so in the comments! Or if you are going through the sick and crying baby phase at the moment and just need to vent then by all means do so. We will totally get it and not judge at all. I promise. :-)



                                        Tyra

(linked up over here at My Joy-Filled Life and here at A Wise Woman Builds Her Home)