Friendship Friday: Week 5

Yay!!! Its my favorite time of the week!!!

Time to make new friends!!!

SO if this is your first time joining my blog hop...

Welcome!!!

This blog hop has no rules... you do not have to follow anyone...(not even me)

I encourage people to follow blog they genuinely love!!!

This is a great way to find blog you had no idea were out there!

I have found some incredible blog and some incredible people I have so much in common with through this blog hope... I hope all of you find the same.

As of last week i started a new tradition... I'm going to feature 2 blog that I LOVE and recommend...(feel free to check them out)

So if you want to play... Add your name to my list, visit some great blogs, grab one of my super cute buttons and have a great Friendship Friday!

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And my 2 feature blogs are....

(drum roll please...)

Two military wives...

These women go through things I cannot imagine being without my husband knowing he is in danger everyday ...

Take a minute to at least thank a milspouse today!!!

I appreciate what your husbands do for my family!

So

THANK YOU

Great News... I have reached 100 Fans on Facebook in 1 week! So thank you to all of you ...
That 22 Yr Old Housewife

Promote Your Page Too

Also do not forget to check out my giveaway!

Wordless/ Wish List Wednesday

I couldn't decide which theme to do this Wednesday so I'm doing two :0)

Here is My wordless Wednesday: Lets the Monsoon Season Begin!!!

And now for my Wish List Wednesday:

1. New boobs!!!

After two kids and 10 months of recent Breastfeeding it seems they are non existent these days!

2. A tropical Vacation.

(this one will do)

3. The new Lexus LX570

I love that it has a 3rd row seat!

4. The sit and stand stroller

I want one so bad ... they are super cool and i see them everywhere!

5. A Pandora Bracelet

We got one for my mom for Mother's day and they are so adorable!

They sell 100s of charms for all occasions that you can add to your bracelet over time!

I hope all of you have a wonderful Wednesday! Dont forget about my give aways. They are listed on my Give Away page on my link bar or click on the button above this post to enter my Mother Goose Collection's Children's Boutique Give Away!

Sweet Little Give Away!

I'm so excited to announce my next Sweet Little Give Away.

Mother Goose Collections is a BEAUTIFUL Children's boutique that I have become completely obsessed with. The wish list I have for items I want for my daughter is getting bigger then she is long! Visit her on Etsy, Facebook, and of course Mother Goose Collections {dot} com !

Interested in winning?

Well I have great news... Mother Goose Collections has so graciously decided that not just one of you... but three of you will win this sweet little give away!

So enough stalling... here is how to win...

Mandatory Entries:

1. Must be a follower of That 22 Yr Old Housewife and visit one of the Mother Goose Collection's web sites and tell me what is on your wish list!(1 post)

2. Post about this Give away on your blog! (2 Post)

Additional Entries:

1. Become a follower of Mother Goose Collection on Facebook. (1 additional post)

2. Become a follower of That 22 Yr Old Housewife On Facebook. (2nd additional post!)

Thats four possible entries to win!!!

Now I bet you are wondering what you are going to win... huh?

1st Place winner wins one of the following three items: A Mother Goose Collection TuTu Set, One the the signature Boy short sets, or one of her adorable bags!!!

2nd Place winner will win a $15.00 gift certificate.

3rd Place winner will win a $10.00 gift certificate.

The Give Away will run until August 26th... My 23 birthday and what better way to celebrate then to give gifts!!! So have fun, spread the word, and good luck to all of the contestants!!!

A big Thank you to Mother Goose Collections for making this all possible!

Wow What a Weekend!!!!

This last week my step father's dad passed away so my mom and him flew out to Florida to spend time with the family. Because it was such short notice and they were forced to leave right away I offered to keep my little brother and sister until they came back. Well my little sister is eleven and my little brother is four, (yes he is six months younger than my son, he was the surprise for my mom when she was celebrating
the rest of us finally being able to take care of ourselves!!!) and lets just say those two plus my two is... well... hectic. I have had the kids for three days (with two days to go) and I have had soda dumped on my living room floor, red crayon colored on my white carpet, had to up my once a day vacuuming schedule to a three times a day vacuuming schedule, loaded the dishwasher and unloaded more than I thought possible, given fifteen baths (none of those were mine), lost the bottom floor to the back seat of my car, found more food on the dining room floor than I remember serving on the plates, and found four scorpions in my living room (that had nothing to do with the kids but still happened and was pretty scary!). I also was able to experience a frightening glimpse into my future, having a pre-teenage girl in my home. I had no idea an eleven year old had so much to talk about on the phone and wasn't completely happy with my son singing "Your love is my drug ... all I hear you say is blah blah blah." Needless to say I am E-X-H-A-U-S-T-E-D. I am glad my mom and her husband got to spend some alone time, even though it wasn't in the best of situations and I have always said I want at least four kids... but this weekend was enough to scare me straight! I have found that adding food coloring to their pancakes in the morning, putting the juice boxes on the lowest shelf in the fridge, putting a temporary DVD player and TV in the kids room, taking away the crayons and proofing the rooms before you leave them unsupervised helps keep things a little more manageable! I hope everyone had a less hectic weekend!

I am excited to announce that I have reached over 400 followers! I am in shock... I never imagined that this blog would turn into anything. I am so blessed to have met all of you and hope all of my readers have found something from my blog they can relate to or take with them. I have some very exciting things coming up that i cannot wait to share with all of my amazing readers...
1. I am now going to have my own domain... www.twentysomethinghousewife.com (lets face it I cant pull of the 22 year old housewife forever ha ha)
2. Monday I will be opening up a new and exciting give away from mothergoosecollections.com (If you have little ones ... you will want to enter this give away).
3. I am now taking requests for advertising for the month of August (spots are filling quickly so if you have a business, etsy page, or want to promote a cause or event, and you want to advertise let me know)
4. I am now on Facebook! I have started a blog fan page that I update all day everyday, so you can keep up with my hectic and blessed life in between posts!
5. My page is finally coming around! I have received tons of great feedback on all the work I have done my blog. So thank you so much for all of your support and suggestions.

I hope every one made some great new friends, found some inspiring blogs, and had a great Friendship Friday! Enjoy the rest of your weekend and stop by Monday to check out the give away!

Friendly Friday: Week 4

This week I am doing things a little differently.

I was approached and asked if i would start featuring blogs on Friendship Fridays to help blogs get their names out and all i had to say to this was HECK YES I WILL!!! There are some amazing blogs out there that have not been discovered and so im going to help them get their name out! I am featuring 2 blogs today and I ask that you check them out and give them a follow if you like what you see.

I also would like to say one small thing before i set you up with the link list...

HRH Mommy (one of my featured bloggers)wrote an amazing post today about FOLLOWERS vs. READERS talking about how so many people follow for number purposes and hardly ever look at the content of each blog. This brought to my attention how so many other blog hops require you to follow certain people, have certain rules etc. Im not going to do that ... my blog hop has never had any rules... i have 2 wonderful blogs i love and am merely suggesting for you to check them out. Feel free to add your name to the list... and follow as many people or as little as you would like. I also have a super cute button i would love for you to share if you so choose!

Thank you to all those who participate in Friendship Friday and make it a success.

I also have a few announcements:

That 22 Yr Old Housewife is now on Facebook!!! Now you check out what we are up to in between posts!!!

I also have a new give away rolling out next week and i am SUPER excited!!! Ill give you a little sneak peak Mother Goose Collections... Details are coming soon!!!

Here are my 2 Feature Friendship Friday Blogs:

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My little one eyed bandit

Well today we had a rough day...
At the beginning of the summer i took my son to his 5 yr well child appointment. He was perfectly healthy except in one area... His vision. The year before he failed the eye exam, however the Doctor didn't seem concerned. He said its common for kids at age 4 to fail the test due to a couple of reasons, 1. they cant focus and 2. they aren't a 100% with shapes, letters etc. But this year when he failed the test with the exact same results it sent up red flags. The doctor then referred us to an optometrist to have it looked into a little more closely.
The results were bad... I knew this but didn't expect it to be this bad.
His vision in his left eye is 20/400 (legally Blind).
They then prescribed him glasses hoping it would help strengthen his eye. They said at this age there is always a chance for correction. They just needed to train the eye to be stronger. He has had is glasses for 2 months now and has finally gotten used to them. I hoped at todays follow up there would be progress and good news.
I was wrong.
They said his vision even with the glasses is the same. How? because he not only looks over his glasses, but because his eye has never know a clear image. So it is having trouble processing images through the glasses. This means the images are still blurry for him. So today they told him he would now have to wear an eye patch, all day/everyday for at least 2 months.
The first sobbing words out of his mouth were, "I cant look like penguin!!! I'm batman!!! Mom penguin wears an eye patch and he is a bad guy weirdo... now im going to look like a bad guy weirdo!"
It has been a very hard day for him, every person has asked him what happened and he starts crying every time. Poor Guy. So any eye patch crafts or activities you might have would help. Lets hope the next appointment goes better. This is going to be a painful and hard process for him. He already can't see and has started complaining of headaches.

On another note... My blog is finally coming together! I made all of the suggested changes, and added a few extra goodies. I also would like to announce that we are now on Facebook. So if you want to know what we are doing in between posts... check us out.

Lauren Ashley Hull likes

That 22 Yr Old Housewife

Create your Like Badge

I am still taking suggestions and comments about the re-organization of my blog. Im also looking for give aways, and people interested in advertising on That 22 Yr Old Housewife. So spread the word.

Also I will (as always) Have the Friendship Friday Blog hop link list up and running Thursday by 10:00Pm. Feel free to grab a Button before then, its now located in the buttons section on my link bar! (yes i have a link bar!!!)

Thank you to all of my new followers, readers and friends for your participation and suggestions. I always welcome them &hearts.

Not so wordless Wednesday: Best Friends

Last week I received a shocking picture message from my mom. She had shaved her head.
Now before you think wow shes crazy or images of Britney Spears start flashing in your mind let me explain why.



About a month ago her life long best Friend was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. This friend lives over an hour away and has kids who are all grown and out of the house. My mother who in my mind is one of the strongest women i know... selflessly volunteered to drive her to chemo and sit with her through any and all doctors appointments. It wasn't until my mom received a call from her friend crying. She had began to lose her hair. This is a common effect of chemotherapy, but one of the most dreaded and i think harder to deal with once it actually happens. My mom called me telling my sister and I about the conversation. When talking to my sister she was given one piece of valuable advice... "Mom, you only get one chance to impact someones life, Take it!" The next morning on her way to chemotherapy she saw a salon and impulsively pulled in. Despite the looks of confusion and judgmental stares she sat in the chair and removed her hair.

When she arrived at the chemotherapy appointment she describes her friends reaction as instant surprise followed by a whirlwind of emotions and disbelief. Her friends family said that she had shaved her hair herself and had tried to cover it with an old scarf, she cried all night and hadn't taken the scarf off, not even to go to bed. When my mom and her had a moment alone she finally removed the scarf crying she asked my mom for help to retie it correctly. It was at this moment my mom knew she had done the right thing. She had given her friend one ounce of comfort through this horrible situation.


It has been a difficult adjustment for the family as well as my mom. She has had days ending in tears. She has experienced some cruel behavior that has baffled us all. One women actually asked her if she was some sort of religion and when she replied no the women laughed hysterically at her and walked away without any further explanation from my mom. When she is not dealing with staring, new found "compassion" because they think she is the one who is sick, or judgmental comments from those who are not understanding she is dealing with little frustrations like learning how to tie a scarf.



This has if nothing else impacted the family by making us rethink how we look at others, how we judge without knowing or understanding what the circumstances are and reconsidering exactly what we can do or give to people. I have a 4 yr old brother that after a few days of getting used to it and asking repeatedly every morning "Did your hair come back yet mommy?" he asked her "Mom, is your hair all you can give her to make her feel better?"

This has been one tragic circumstance turned into one amazing life long lesson for our entire family. I thank God everyday for such a strong mother. She continues to amaze us with her strength everyday and this is in fact one of her greatest achievements and testaments of her faith in God. Let us all rethink our judgments and reconsider what we can do for someone else.

"you only get one chance to impact someones life, Take it!"





We are also hosting a give away for the motivated mommy over atGUM so check it out!!!

Happy Wednesday!

Housewife Boot Camp: Week 3

Well this last week accomplished almost everything on my list ... except for my office yet again!!! (im really avoiding that lol)


And this is how i figured out the constant disaster in my living room now that Maddi is crawling! She isn't a 100% ok with this fix... she hangs off of it and screams until someone either goes in there with her or takes her out ... so im not sure if you can really call this a solution ha ha!

So here we are again ... To-Do Tuesday list number 3:
1. Mop all of the floors
2. Laundry (as always: if i didn't put it on here i wouldn't have an excuse to do it)
3. Fix my blog... my blog needs a ton of work after my recent reader/follower survey... and it seems i have quite a bit of work to do.
4. Get some baby food made and in the freezer... (we are running low)
5. Take Bryce shopping for school supplies/ clothes. (*tear*)

I cant wait to hear how all of you did ... and see some nice inspiring pictures!!!



SO you know the routine... grab a button add yourself to the list and lets get some stuff around the house done!!!


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Have a wonderful Tuesday!

A few announcements!

1. This weekend I asked a question and invited in criticism, advice, and asked for tips from all of you bloggers out there and i got some amazing feedback!
So as of now... my blog is going to be under construction and going to be getting the much needed organization it seems I'm in need of!

2. Since i am re-organizing my blog and making some changes... i would love some suggestions for some blog savvy people to help me get this blog in tip top shape!!!


3. I am officially starting to plan my daughter's first birthday party and all of the incredible fun stuff that goes along with this event. (Invites, big girl pictures, party planning, and wardrobe selection. This is breaking my heart... i cannot believe she is 10 months old and well on her way to a year.

4. One of the many wonderful tips and suggestions i got this weekend suggested that on my Friendship Friday Blog hop, I should feature another blog and help other blogs get their name out there!!! So next Friday i will be featuring a fellow blogger (Im not saying who...) and will be taking suggestions for other future feature bloggers!

Still taking suggestions on blog tips/ Give aways/ etc.

Thank you

Question for all of you bloggers out there!

Well first i want to welcome all of my new followers and friends from yesterdays Friendship Friday!!! Im so happy to have you and want to say thank you to everyone who participated and made it yet another successful Friday here at That 22 yr old Housewife!

I am pretty new to blogging started just about 4 months ago and never expected this blog to grow as much as it has... on that note i want to get some advice ... opinions and tips from you fellow bloggers out there.

1. Now that my blog is growing i want to know how you other bloggers got your names out there to host reviews and give aways?

2. I want to know how you get started on hosting ads and doing PR for people.

3. Do any of you use the ad-sense option? Is it worth it?

4. Is there anything on my blog you as readers/ followers would like to see? Can i add anything for you? Im looking to re organize and re-prioritize!

5. If i were to add additional pages to my blog, what would you like to see?

I appreciate anyone who replies with comments, tips, and/ or advice.
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend

Friendship Friday: Week 3

Its that time again!!! Add yourself to the list and grab the button! Last week was super successful with close to a 100 participants!!! Lets make it successful again!!! Spread the word!!!





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If you participated last week and im still not following you... leave a comment so i can meet you!!!

Have a wonderful Friday!!!

XOXOX

What is a Neglectful Parent?

This post is going to be brutally honest.

Yesterday i woke up to police on my door step and all up and down my street. The officer said a women was driving to work and saw something weird on a dirt road near my house. So she pulled over. It was a little boy who was between the ages of 1 and 2. He was found with a large pit bull and the neighbors had said we were the only family they knew of children that young. When i told them he wasn't mine and that i wasn't sure where he lived, they then asked if they could have a diaper and possibly a snack or juice since they weren't sure how long he had been lost or when he had eaten last. Then later that day a local story broke about a mom who had "forgot" her 2 yr old toddler in the car for 2-3 hours and the little girl died. (if you aren't familiar with New Mexico... July and August temperatures peak at around 108 degrees during the day. (here is the video)



If you haven't followed my blog from the start there is something you don't know about my family... and that is that my son was abused by a man i was engaged too I write more about that Here and in the process of me trying to find out the truth from all of the lies ... the state of New Mexico District attorney thought it was necessary to charge me with 1 felony count of child abuse/neglect. The reason: for not seeing the signs of abuse, for not knowing what kind of person he was, and for "putting my son in danger". Now this was difficult... because there are so many back and forth arguments on this topic. But it breaks my heart when my kids are my life and always have been to have this awful charge haunting me ... when there are mothers out there who are truly neglectful. I feel for some of these kids whose parent some how slip through the cracks of the legal system, and for the babies who belong to parents who are truly neglectful. The court spent 3 years and ton of money on prosecuting me. They had no evidence and everything was hear say, however in court they made me feel like a criminal, projecting this image of me watching this man hurt my baby, like i encouraged it and let it happen, when really i was unaware of the situation being that is covered up by lie after lie. It seems that the three years, loads of money and time wasted on me ... the courts could have been focusing on one of the many other child abuse cases that have gone on in the Albuquerque area in the last 3 years.

I hope that we can all take a minute and pray for these babies out there... the ones the courts will miss and as result they will have a tragic ending.

I also want to make it clear... i am not making light of my sons situation... it was awful and tragic and we have been through a lot... but my point of this post is to vent about the children who unfortunately slip through the legal system and end up paying the price. ANd to bring up the controversial question of what is a "neglectful" parent...

Wordless Wednesday: Daddy's Girl

And the winner is....

Well i am pleased to announce the winner for my Give Away ...THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED!!!! so i wrote down names and assigned them with a number in the order they entered and had my son draw a name out of his hat!!! And the winner is Gina from Namaste by Day She is a little over 32 weeks pregnant! Congrats to her!! SO stop over and check out her blog and congratulate her!!!

I also forgot to put my list of "TO-Dos" on my Housewife Boot Camp post lol I am not sure how i forgot that but i did... So here it is
1. Clean my office (Attempt number 2 lol)
2. Clean out my kids toy bin... and donate some toys
3. MY weekly huge pile of laundry
4. Get my living room under control and in order... now that maddi is crawling i cannot seem to keep thing under control
5. organize my linen closet!!!

Whew wish me luck!!!

Housewife Bootcamp: Week 2

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Oy Vey what a week it has been!!! I am happy to report i did get quite a few things accomplished but embarrassed to admit i did not get everything on my list done at all... Every time i walked into my office/craft room/ guest room/ junk room... i cringed and walked the other way... so here are some of my after pictures... and as you can see from them... i enlisted in a little help ;0)





So Here we go with week 2!!! Id love to see all of your progress... hear about your progress... get some tips... (on removing stains from kids clothes lol) SOOO you know the routine...if you have stuff to do this week and have stuff to get done add yourself to the linky list, grab a button... List 5 to do things (if you participated last week... tell us about your progress) and don't forget to show some support and encouragement to the others out there!



And i will be drawing for my Give Away this evening so today is the last day to enter!!!!!!