This is my fourth week to participate in #ASKAWAYFriday. For those who don’t know what #ASKAWAYFriday is, you exchange a set of 10 questions for another blogger to answer. Below are 10 questions that Carissa asked me and I hope that you enjoy my answers.
This week I paired up with Carissa at The Green Eyed Lady Blog. She is married and has a beautiful daughter. She has been blogging since 2008 and started her blog to share her passion for fashion and since she got married she has added her family into her blog. If you need fashion, help you should give Carissa, she is awesome and has lots of fashion tips on her blog.
- What advice would you give a newer mom?
As a mom of three, I have learned over the years to take things as they come and cherish every moment especially during the newborn phase. Babies change rapidly during the first year so even those sleepless nights seem endless try to cherish the moment they won’t last forever. It is a phase in your life and your baby will eventually outgrow it. One day you will miss snuggling with your baby because as they get bigger get more independent and don’t always want to snuggle anymore.
- If you had a couple hours a day to yourself (no kids or hubby) how would you spend it?
I would love to go to the spa so that I could get pampered but knowing me I would either spend it catching up on the blog or sleep. I might also sneak out to grab a few things left on the Christmas list. I need to get some stuff for stocking stuffers for the kids. I have a few things for my daughter but need to get my boys some more stuff.
- It’s your turn to plan a “date night” what do you plan for you and your husband?
I would take him out to his favorite restaurant, Olive Garden and catch a movie. *Hint Hint, lets do this one night.* It is a simple date but I love spending time with my husband without the kids even if it is only for a couple of hours. I would love to go on an overnight trip but that takes a bit more creative planning with three kids and two dogs.
- What are your favorite things about blogging?
I love knowing that I am helping other families with real life situations. I got laid off a year ago due to medical issues and I started blogging full time to keep my mind focused on something positive so that I wouldn’t get depressed with my own issues. I love the flexibility that blogging has given me since I am unable to work a full time job. I really enjoy helping others and I am passionate about the things that I share on my blog.
- What are your favorite Christmas traditions with your family?
I enjoy spending time with my family. Each year we always go to church, sometimes even the midnight services, together as a family. Every year we always get together with all of our families, it gets harder each year as the extended family continues to grow. Last year I started the Elf on the Shelf and I have to admit that I haven’t been motivated to come up with ideas this year. In fact, our elf has been stuck in the Christmas tree for several days and hasn’t moved.
- What is the biggest challenge with having a child with special needs?
My daughter has done very well with her cochlear implants, in fact, last summer she got a second cochlear implant. She was having a hard time hearing when there was a bunch of background noise going on. It has been a while since I have updated the status of her hearing out of her second implant, she is still training her auditory nerve and is still adjusting to it. On her last visit to the audiologist, she was still hearing crackling noises and wasn’t able to hear spoken words yet. This is fairly typical because her auditory nerve wasn’t stimulated for 16 years. She has amazed me with her overall ability to talk and hear with her cochlear implant. She does have some minor speech issues and trouble hearing when there is lots of back ground noise.
- What do you like to do for fun? With your family, and by yourself?
We enjoy going to the movies, bowling, shopping, hanging out at the house watching movies, playing video games, and so much more. I personally enjoy blogging, crocheting, chatting with friends on Twitter or Facebook, and I miss playing soccer. I had to give up playing soccer a few years ago when my back issues got bad enough to warrant a trip to the dr. I hurt my back in a car accident many years ago and never fully healed. Then in 2009, I re-injured myself doing some yard work (pulling grass up to plant flowers). I am unable to do some of the things that I once enjoyed and have had to find new things that I enjoy doing so that I don’t become depressed. I enjoy blogging, connecting with others, reading books, playing Candy Crush, and several other games on my phone.
- How did you come up with the concept of your blog?
Uplifting Families was an a result of a website expansion. I had a small niche site which would have limited the topics that I could blog about so I decided to expand to several main topics to give me a broad range of topics. I added a section called blogs from mom, which is a section on my blog that gives me the flexibility to share other topics on my blog that don’t fit in my three main categories: pregnancy, breastfeeding, and parenting. We spent several days brainstorming before finally deciding on the name Uplifting Families. Uplifting Families is a little over a year old and my breastfeeding section is two years old.
- What are three of your favorite blogs to read?
Voiceboks – It is full of useful information for parents. Voiceboks also has a community for bloggers to unite and share content. I found this site in my Twitter stream when I first started blogging and found an amazing group of people who have supported me and my blog. I have also written a few blog posts for this site as well.
Sharon’s Mom Madhouse – Sharon is a mother of six kids and life is always interesting in her house. Her kids love to hide barbie dolls in the freezer, hide all of the kitchen spoons, and so much more. Parenting isn’t easy and Sharon does a great job at making me laugh at all of her families mishaps. You won’t be disappointed if you visit her blog.
The Krazy Coupon Lady and Couponaholic.net – I started using coupons to save our family money on food and necessities. I use these sites to help me figure out who has the best deals and how I can get items for free or cheap. I am getting better at saving money on our grocery bill and have a small stock pile of necessities. It can be a pain to drive to different stores to pick up the items; however, I try to combine multiple stores into one trip or when I am running other errands so that I am not wasting gas money to get the savings.
- I read on your blog about “Christian Parenting” what kind of activities do you do with your children in from a Christian Parenting point of view?
We take the kids to church every Sunday and try to make sure they are involved so that they are learning about Jesus. As a mom, we also monitor what our kids watch on television. We are fairly strict when it comes to the kids because we want to be able to monitor what they are doing. I try to raise my kids to know the difference between right and wrong and try to model the behavior that I expect from them.
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Don’t forget to visit Carissa at The Green Eyed Lady blog to see the questions that I asked her. I hope that you have enjoyed my answers and learned some new things about me.
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Once you’ve check out my answers be sure to go by Penny at The Real Housewife of Caroline County to check out the LinkUp and all the awesome Bloggers who are also telling a bit about themselves today 10 questions at a time.
If you are interested in joining for the the next #AskAwayFriday, feel free to contact Penny or any of the other Bloggers already involved. I promise, you will get to meet and know some awesome Bloggers each week!
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