Back to reality, and oh so sad:(

I am part of a birth board. I joined it sometime during my 10 weeks on bed rest when I was pregnant with my daughter, she is almost four now. This is an amazing group of woman and we all have April 2007 babies. We have bonded together and even when babycenter switch formats and changed our birth board, we all migrated together over to another site and have been there together ever since. we have a sisterhood of around 200 mothers and I feel very close to many of the moms on the board. I have met many of them in real life and absolutely adore them.

While I was gone in Florida, tragedy struck our board. A fellow mom who also has a post 2007 baby, lost her baby girl to SIDS. I found out when I got back in town and was completely blindsided and devastated. Knowing this mom, Shannon, it just hits so close to home. She is the nicest and most loving mother. She is a great friend, one of those people who can lighten even the most darkest moment for others.Yet here I am, helpless and unable to offer her anything but online support and love from a far.

I am comforted by the fact this wonderful group of woman banned together and raised over $1800 to help pay for funeral expenses, they are sending care packages to Josh (the April 2007 baby big boy) for as long as they can manage it, and there were even a handful of the group that flew and drove to Oregon to be with Shannon tonight for the viewing and tomorrow for the funeral.

I feel lucky. Blessed to be part of such an amazing group of woman, I know they all care so deeply about one another (and me). Proud to know that Shannon is feeling the love during the terrible time. This group of woman is so amazing and they know how to come together when ever anyone is in need and Shannon deserves nothing less right now.

My anxiety has been out of control since I heard the news, and I can't help but wonder how things like this can happen to someone so wonderful. I have faith that the Lord has plans and that baby Reese is resting peacefully in his arms, but still when things like this happen to people I know...I feel heartbroken for their loss and have such a hard time recovering. I feel it so deeply and have a hard time sleeping.

I wish I could be with Shannon right now and give her a hug.

Baby Reese was an Angel on earth, and now she is an Angel in heaven.

Please continue to pray for Shannon, AJ, and sweet little Josh as they begin to move on. Pray for comfort and healing.

Reese Holland Becker

We are back from Walt Disney World

We had an amazing time in Florida. It was a dream vacation and I was just so happy to be able to spend such quality time with my family.

We ate, we went on rides, we met characters, we ate some more, and we relaxed. Most of all we laughed together and enjoyed one another. This was a priceless time for us. It was filled with memories we will never forget and we have the 859 photos to prove it.

Now it is back to the grind, back to getting organized, back to time management and penny pinching. Why am I so overwhelmed?

Heading to Walt Disney World!

Well it is official, the family and I are heading to our first big vacation TONIGHT! We are going to spend 8 glorious, (I hope), days at Walt Disney World. I can not wait to come back and give you my reviews of all of the restaurants and resorts. Wish us safe travels!
This of course means that I will miss week 2 of the challenge and will have to catch up later. It also means that I will not be blogging while we are away, hubby says I have to leave the computer at home;/ He wants me to relax and just enjoy being together. I couldn't say no to that!
Have great week everyone!

Making Progress, and it feels so good!

I have been hard at work with my " household management" binder. I don't know why I never thought of this before. Having all of my lists and notes and calenders in ONE easy place. DUH! Thankfully, I stumbled across A Bowl Full of Lemons and joined the weekly challenge. I completed the challenge yesterday and can not wait to share the results with you!
                              

The tabs the relate to my nest are:

Calendar

To do

Meal Planning

Blogging

Cleaning

and Family Info

I found a ton of free printables online and from various blog suggestions! One blog that I found particularly helpful was Tips from a mom of 3. She has several lists of free printables and links to other blogs that you can follow, not to mention that her blog is just fabulous in general.

Here are the specific printables that I used:

-For my weekly family and household management schedule and my household management checklist (of tasks) I used  these printables from Everything Mom. This site is a great resource for any Dis- organized dud like me!

-For my week at a glance calender, I was a big copy cat and used the same one that was shown on the challenge at A Bowl Full of Lemons. She got her free printable here at Mommy Tracked.

- For My cleaning checklist, I found a simple one at Simplemom.net, she has some really great "home management hacks" and printables to keep you organized in all aspects of life!

- Organizedhome.com is where I was able to pick up some great meal planning printables as well as freezer and pantry inventory sheets. There are a ton of helpful downloads listed here .

I am still working on finding some more printables, but for now I feel like I am definitely headed in the right direction!