Best and Worst Pregnancy and Newborn Advice

Oh yea, I can't see Asa's head because my belly is so large!

Today I thought it would be fun and enlightening to share the best and worst advice we've received, whether it be while trying to conceive, waiting on our little bean or in those first few months of a new baby. Please feel free to just leave a comment, or even better, post about your own experiences on your blog and leave a comment letting us know, so we can visit your blog.

The worst trying to conceive advice I ever received was to just relax and let it happen. More than once someone told me to not try because trying would just stress me out and keep me from getting pregnant. Hello people! Do you know how biology works?

If you don't know how to get pregnant...well, I have some posts over there on the left, filed under trying to conceive that should help you. Basically, you have lots of sex, right? But even more important than lots, is the timing of the sex. If it takes you more than a few months of well timed sex to get pregnant you may have deeper issues that should be checked out...and it's not stress that's keeping you from getting pregnant.

I can't say I've gotten any bad pregnancy advice...most of the people I know get advice from me. I'm full of it...hey, GOOD advice, that is.

Now I have heard quite a bit of bad parenting advice specifically concerning those first few months. Allow me to share.

Don't hold the baby so much. You've got to put that baby down sometimes. Holding the baby so much will just spoil her/him.

Okay, who actually believes that? Well, if you ever met Asa you might. Then again, maybe he would be even more clingy if I didn't hold him all the time. The truth is you CANNOT hold a baby too much. You cannot show your baby too much love. You don't HAVE to put the baby down. And believe me, I don't. My babies hardly get laid down the first few months. They are constantly being held. I LOVE to hold them, so it works for me. If it doesn't work for you, there is NOTHING wrong with putting them down. But if you WANT to hold them, by all means, hold them. And tell that idiot at Walmart to shut it.

You have to teach the baby to sleep on it's own. Lay the baby down awake and let it learn to fall asleep on its own. Let the baby cry itself to sleep...because crying is good for the baby or it's the only way it will ever learn to go to sleep or this is the most convenient thing or babies have to learn...this could be a long list.

I realize everyone parents differently. If you use these sleep training techniques I'm not dogging you out, much. I'm just saying that if you think that is the ONLY way to train your child to sleep through the night, it's not. If it's the way YOU want to teach your child to sleep through the night, well that's something else entirely. Do as you will.

With full disclosure I will say that babies who are held to sleep and co slept with, versus being laid in a crib to cry, do generally take longer to learn to fall asleep on their own and sleep through the night. But I don't want to sleep by myself either. I like sleeping with my husband in bed beside me, so why wouldn't my child, who was recently sleeping INSIDE of me, want to sleep beside me for a while. They will eventually learn to fall asleep and stay asleep on their own.

Personally, I love rocking, nursing and holding my babies to sleep. I love waking up to their little warm bodies at night, knowing they are safe and secure beside me. My goal is not to get my child to sleep through the night at two months. My goal is to raise that baby (during this newborn time) to know that all their needs will immediately be met and that they are loved and secure. Heaven forbid I be bed ridden and no one come to take care of me because I need to learn on my own to lay quietly and be good.

But hey, that's just me. You go ahead and do that. I ain't judging you, much. No seriously. Everyone parents differently and there is no right and wrong....just my way or your way....and my way is right and your way is wrong.

You know I'm kidding right? I support however you choose to parent, even if it's wrong...I mean different.

So what about you? Other than my sage advice today, what's some bad advice you've been given? Please share on your blog.

And really, you aren't wrong...I'm just teasing you. Mostly.

Giveaway Winner announced and New Giveaway

The winner of the Canned with Love giveaway:

Comment number 22

Emily G Be sure to check out her son painting a pumpkin. TOO CUTE!

Please contact Amber at Mom's Place if you would like her to make you one of these cans, or just to check out her prices. Amber, if you get a chance leave us a comment about what you make and what you charge.


This weeks giveaway is:

Beautifuly Created by Mary.

She has donated these BEAUTIFUL burp rags. These are so colorful. Don't they look soft and thick as well. These patterns would also make great diapers or mama cloths or washcloths. Hint, hint Mary. Be sure to visit her Etsy store to see what else she has available....seeing her super cute shoes makes me want to have a girl.

To enter all you have to do is comment. Every comment this week (until next Friday) will get you one entry. Spread the word.

If you have a baby/pregnancy/TTC giveaway on your blog, please leave a comment telling us, so we can enter.

Also, if you have something gently used that you will not be needing, use it for a giveaway. I recently had a giveaway for a rebozo that I had tried on and didn't like. Someone else is getting great usage out of it.

Writer's Workshop--Sleep, Shmeep

So I mentioned that when we did Writer's Workshop during baby month that I would do a little tweaking. I didn't get permission from Kat to do that, but she's really nice and pretty and skinny (flattery never hurts) and I don't think she'll mind. To read the original prompts and to link up be sure to visit Mama's Losin' It.

The Prompts:

1.) Describe something, pregnancy related, that your husband has done that you are proud of.

My husband caught both my babies. Asa had the cord around his neck, and Jeff with complete control, unwound the cord. I never even knew the cord was around Asa's neck, Jeff worked so quickly and efficiently. (A cord around the baby's neck is not an emergency but is just a variation of normal...that does NOT mean people don't freak out though.) Then both times, handed me my baby and let me declare the gender, even though with Asa he already knew he had a boy.

2.) Tell me your most humorous birth experience.

I have to say that there isn't a whole lot of funny business going on when I'm giving birth. However, Jeff did tell me something that makes us all laugh. With Asa I was induced because of pre-eclampsia. The nurse was in the room when my water broke but I didn't say anything. For me, when my water breaks it's a matter of minutes before I feel the urge to push. I told Jeff as soon as she was gone. Sure enough, just a minute or two later I started feeling a slight pushing urge. Tiny, practice pushes. Before long, I was pushing and out POPPED Asa and a tidal wave of water. Jeff said if his mouth would have been open it would have been filled with amniotic fluid. As it was, he had to jump back from being soaked.

3.) 10 reasons why your pregnancy is keeping you up at night.

4.) Describe an experience from a previous birth that you wish you could shake from your memory.

Being in the hospital. SHUDDER.

5.) Write a love letter to your unborn (or not conceived) baby.

Isn't this sweet?

I love you, baby. Don't give me pre-eclampisa again. Come home soon. Bye.

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10 reasons why your pregnancy is keeping you up at night.

1. I'm as fat as a hippopotamus.


2. The hip I lay on starts to hurt after about an hour of sleeping, so I have to turn to the other side.

3. Turning to the other side, when your as fast as a hippo, is not as easy as one may think. It takes a lot of time and energy to make it around.


4. I have to reposition my body pillow when I turn over. I have to stretch and pull the blanket to cover myself and Asa up, along with the body pillow.

(photo from Furniture Fashion)

5. Most nights I'm sweating and don't need the blanket at all and am too hot to sleep.



6. I have round ligament pains if I don't put my belly on the pillow while I sleep. But if I do put my belly on the pillow, it takes twice as long to get situated.

7. Restless leg.

(photo from Time)

8. Heartburn. OH MY GOODNESS.

9. Thirst.


10. And the TOP reason I don't get enough sleep every night:

I have to pee!



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Now it's your turn. Join us for Writer's Workshop. Link up with Mama Kat and get some visitors. But be sure to comment here so we all know to visit you too. And don't forget, every comment you leave this week earns you one entry into the giveaway.

Join me in discussing: How to document EVERYTHING

These pregnancy and newborn days go by so quickly. The next thing you know they are positively GONE. And you wonder how and where it went.

If you are anything like me though, everything is documented. So today I want to discuss all the ways I document our babies.

First, as you all know, I take a picture once a month, in the same spot. With Millicent I tried to take a picture in the same outfit, but that got old rather quickly. Many people do every week or every other week. IT MATTERS that you take these pictures. One day, no matter how bad you look, even you will want to remember these days. (And believe me, I look terrible. But I LOVE to go back and look at my baby belly.)

I talked about keeping a journal in my trying to conceive posts.

I just use a Walmart spiral bound notebook. But certainly you could get fancy with this if you desired.

I started writing about my TTC journey the moment we began trying. I was able to learn my body better. Then whenever I thought I might be pregnant (or more like hoped and prayed) I could go back through and read entries from other times I felt that way. So, yea, I pretty much realized what a freak I was about TTC...but I do love getting pregnant and having babies.

Once I got pregnant, I started writing down everything. My thoughts, my feelings, what my body was doing. I do keep a journal here but I don't share my intimate thoughts online. I often find myself talking about how I've prayed for this baby's relationship with his brother or how I'd like the labor to go.

Once the baby comes I continue using the journal as a way to document the baby's day to day history. Whenever it does something new or funny or exciting, I write it down. I've continued with that. Now whenever one of the little ones does something funny everyone tells me to write it down.

I don't know when or how I'll give these journals to my children but I do anticipate them some day being theirs.

It is NEVER too late to start keeping a record of your pregnancy. No matter how far into it you are.

Just to give you a boost, here are some questions you can ask yourself in your journal:

List some mothers I admire and how they affect me.

Have I always wanted this many children?

What is your greatest fear? Strength?

What is your biggest help?

The next way I document this baby is to do a video journal.

I have a tape I use just for recording the journal. Every month, on the day I conceived, I have someone ask me a list of questions. They record me and my changing body first, then we get to the interview part.

Some questions that are asked each month:

What is your favorite food this month?

What are you wearing this month?

What do you think the gender is?

Have you been nesting?

What's the best and worst thing about being pregnant right now?

This may seem redundant, given that I'm also keeping a journal. But it's not! Everyone LOVES watching the pregnancy video.

Along with my interview, family members get interviewed too. The funniest one we have is of Ashlea (my oldest) asking Kati when she thinks the new baby will come (Millicent). Ashlea tells Kati what the due date is (Jan 28) and Kati says she thinks the baby is going to come tomorrow (Nov). Ashlea tells her that if the baby came that early it wouldn't be good. But that the due date is in January. So Kati says my birthday (Aug). They go round and round like that until Ashlea gives up. It is HILARIOUS.

We also record parts of the labor and how we are feeling during labor and how others are feeling. It's a beautiful record of the entire pregnancy for everyone to see. It usually includes everyone in our family and whoever happens to be around the day of the birth.

Once the baby comes I keep a baby book.

I LOVE baby books and actually keep them up. I still write in Millicent's about her holidays and birthdays and school days. I am a keeper of the histories though and I realize it doesn't come easy for everyone. If you have older kids this is actually something you could let them help you with.

The picture shows my favorite page of the baby book. Each month there is a page asking about the new things the baby is doing, their weight and length and it has a place for a picture. Millicent's baby book did not have this section but since Asa's did I am currently looking for that feature in a book for the new baby.

There are some things I could do without in these baby books, like the vaccinations page. Does anyone really fill those out? Or the pages of going to the doctor.

I would love if they had a page about co-sleeping instead of sleeping through the night and breast milk names instead of when they hold the bottle. But I'm not holding my breath for a book like that.

The other thing I do is make a calendar.

Overkill? NOT AT ALL. This calendar actually records every little thing the baby does. From sleeping for more than two hours to grabbing a toy to making that first attempt to crawl. I include weights and lengths and when they go up a size in clothes. It's really easy to quickly jot down any old thing. I may not have time to sit for a journal entry (I mean, hello! I have five kids.) But I will have time to write something on the calendar.

The top of the calendar page is for pictures from the month.

If you turn the page, there is space for comments and more pictures. For instance, if you write about how the baby tried grabbing for something, there may be a story you want to tell about how it was Grandma's necklace with his picture on it. Just include whatever you want.

I usually try to make this within a few weeks of the baby being born but this could easily be made while pregnant. If you are interested in the template, let me know. I only have it in blue and pink though.

Here is the cover.

That was a lot. Are you still with me?

How many of these do you do now? Are there any you would like to start doing? Do you have any additional ways of documenting this time in your life? And while you are at it, do you know where I can find the PERFECT baby book?

Maybe you think this is just too much. Tell me. Or maybe you do nothing. Tell us why.

Week One Giveaway--Canned with love

Our giveaway today is from Amber at Mom's Place. She has donated this AWESOME can filled with goodies.

Inside each can is:

a notebook that matches the can
two pens
a bib
four door knob covers
52 outlet covers
12 cupboard latches
and all the hardware to install them

FYI, if you have a boy, nothing will stop him.

Now Amber did tell me she could do girl, boy or gender neutral, so if you win and you have a preference we can just let her know.

And if these cans look like something you would like to buy for yourself or as (a fantastic) baby shower gift, contact Amber. I know she'll give you a great deal on this.

To enter this weeks giveaway all you have to do is comment on any post. Every comment earns you an entry.

Pregnancy update...30ish weeks

I cannot believe there are only ten weeks left, or eight weeks, or twelve. However many it is, it's not much. And pretty soon I'm going to have a baby to hold.

I am pretty sure I'm having a girl and not twins like I had hoped. I'm feeling just one baby pretty regularly now. This baby is still a lot and doesn't move around too much. Which is why I think it's a girl. She/he/it doesn't like to be poked either. Do you know what I mean? At night when it starts moving around, I like to press on it and poke it and stuff. It's fun for me. It's how I interact. But that will make this baby stop moving. If you put your hand anywhere near that kid, it stops. This baby sounds like it's going to be different from the others, who only want to be touched and held and wiggled all the time.

I'm getting heartburn every night, just about. So I figure if it's going to wake me up every night anyway, I may as well make the best of it. Fried jalapenos, all the way.

Okay so I can't bend over any more. Can someone please get that bulletin to my family? Thank you.

Speaking of not bending over...wiping has become complicated. How do humungo fat people wipe?

Have I told you how gross my face is? I'm like a 15 year old boy. I am covered in pimples all over my face AND neck. Pregnancy is good to me.

While we are at it..have I told you I have restless leg and a backache. Do any of you have restless leg? Yes, it's real. Yes, I have it. It's like this. You are laying in bed, almost asleep. You get this feeling that something is crawling INSIDE your leg. You HAVE to move your leg to get rid of the feeling. Sometimes my leg will just jump on it's own, but usually I am the one wiggling it. I haven't noticed it anytime other than when I want to be asleep. I know some people get it 'when they are relaxing at night in front of the TV, and I have before during pregnancy. But this time has been nap time and bedtime only. I wake up with it...so maybe it's waking me up. The back doesn't bother me often. Usually a trip to the chiropractor clears that right up. Thankfully I'm not use to back pain in pregnancy. I think I waited to long to start going.

Ready for something the pregnancy books don't tell? Certain body parts get darker. If you are squeamish, stop reading this paragraph. I get the nipples getting darker. My once, pink/peach colored nipples are almost purple/black now. They are a target for the baby...I get it. But the OTHER area that turns purple/black? Why is that? So the doctor can find it better? If the doctor doesn't know which part the baby is coming out of, don't pay the dude. (I'm not. I'm having my baby at home.)

I seem to be nesting. I can't do it all though, so what I usually do is sit on the floor and assign tasks to the children. They LOVE helping this way. They are basically my legs. We work this way for hours until I can't go on anymore. Then my back hurts for the rest of the day and I'm exhausted. I keep forgetting how hard pregnancy is and that I'm suppose to take it easy.

No cravings! What is wrong with me? I've always had cravings. I love cravings. None.

Still loving pregnancy. My favorite part is knowing there is a human being inside of me and getting to know it. Did you hear that? THERE IS A HUMAN BEING INSIDE OF ME. Have you ever thought about that? I mean it? So weird. A HUMAN BEING. WOW!

If you are pregnant, trying to conceive or have a new baby update, be sure to update your blog and leave a comment letting us know. Everyone can visit you.

Interview With: Two moms who were only children

Today is the beginning of our baby month. I'm launching it today with some interviews. Later today, or possibly tomorrow, I'll put up the first giveaway. To be entered in this weeks giveaway just comment. Every comment this week is one entry. I'll draw on Saturday.

If you have a giveaway on your blog that is baby/pregnancy/TTC related we'll do a big one on Friday for everyone to visit all the blogs and enter. Be thinking of something you can giveaway. New or gently used. We all love baby stuff!

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This is a picture of Lenora's family.

Lenora is a friend of mine who grew up as an only child.

Lenora, what was the hardest part of being an only child?

I had my mom's FULL attention. It was not like I had siblings who got in trouble over stuff, it was just me. So I felt like anything I did wrong was blown out of proportion and made into this big, huge thing. I felt stifled and watched and smothered. And it was as if she wanted me to be a carbon copy of her and as if she had to make up for me being an only,, with STUFF. I felt more like a duty than anything else. I also as an only, did not have an older sibling to help me with something, or a younger sibling to keep me young (if that makes sense).

What was the best part?

I had the farm cats, my dog, the horse that my grandfather had bought for me, two acres to run all over, ducks and chickens and nature to play with, so I learned to use my imagination and to be on my own and not feel like I needed someone with me to entertain me all the time. I got to read all I wanted. I probably did get to have violin and piano and guitar and voice lessons and a couple other things because I was an only child, and there was not any other child that would have wanted all that too. I'm not sure if I would have had ALL those music lessons on all those different instruments if I'd had siblings.

What made you decide to not just have one child?

I wasn't even sure if I COULD have children. But the Lord sent me a dream of three kids, two girls and one boy, and here I have been blessed with them! I wanted, and would still love, to have more children, but if I do they will be children of my heart and not of my body because due to health issues I can not have any more children. And I always felt like children were a blessing and that if the Lord wanted to give me more than one child, then that was His decision on how many we had.

How many children would you have had if it were totally up to you and nothing else?

How many??? Oh goodness...At least six!

What do you think you missed out on as an only?

Not having to learn early on in life to share with a sibling, not having a sibling to play with, to do things together with, to learn together. To even get in trouble together. Not having that ready-made best friend to fight with or do things with.

If you had cousins, did being an only make you feel closer to your cousins?

I was unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you looked at it) unable to get together with any cousins as my family was spread out between Michigan, Indiana, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, and there was just my grandparents, my mom and myself here in Texas. So I never got the chance to find out if friendships and relationships with cousins would be stronger.

Do you think your friends became like siblings to you, filling that space, since you didn't have any?

I tended to have only one or two really, REALLY good friends in elementary and junior high, then in high school I formed friendships with my two best friends, Susan who is a lot like a sister to me, and Sean who was later to become my wonderful dear husband. I lost track of most, if not all, of the other friends I had, only to find a few online on facebook just recently. For me, I think as an only, I didn't feel I NEEDED a lot of friends because for the most part I was comfortable just being by myself, on my own.

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Here are Chantelle's boys.

My friend Chantelle was also an only child. I did almost the same interview with her.

What was the hardest part of being an only child?

The hardest part was being so alone. We lived in the country, so being an only child left me without friends or any socialization as well. I always have to sort of laugh when people think kids need public school for socialization (and my kids go to public school), but public school definitely didn't provide me with good socialization! The total opposite! Without siblings, I had no way to really learn how to talk to anyone. I knew how to talk to adults but that was it. I felt very afraid most of the time. When I tried to talk to other children, that rarely ever went well. I didn't understand about being teased and for the most part, everyone that ever DID tease me were for real trying to be mean, not the nice kind of teasing. But I’m not sure I could have ever told the difference anyway since I didn’t have siblings.

What was the best part?

I was very interested in adult type of things and I was really good at sitting still and reading, and I fully appreciated my grandparents and adults. I learned to work hard and loved it and I still enjoy working hard to do this day. My powers of concentration, things of that nature developed really, really well. Plus I am totally content as a 44 year old adult to just be alone for hours and hours and I’m fine with that and enjoy it. I can find things to do by myself and just be totally happy all the time. I can picture myself alone when my kids are full grown and very happy. As an adult I know how to find the right social situations, but I'’ve noticed I prefer a lot of alone time now (which surprised me). I think the best part also, was that I was very open to listening to God. There was nothing to distract me. When I was 12, I decided to try and have a relationship with God. I think my “aloneness” facilitated that and helped me to focus and concentrate. The process went very well, even though the first several days when I took my notebook and went to listen for God and find Him, nothing happened, but very soon it did! I think being an only child made me a serious thinker.

What made you decide to not just have one child?

This is kind of funny. My husband and I had always planned to have several children. Initially we talked about lots and lots, when we were first married. Very large families. My husband always said he wanted at least three or four. I always said I knew I wanted at least two, as I was not going to have an only child! We waited so long to have our first (just how it happened to work out) that my husband had almost decided that maybe we wouldn’t have any. (But he still wanted one.) I think all of that was so much responsibility to him (having the first one) that he felt that it was enough responsibility AND we had good and close friends, so it wasn’t like that our child was really growing up alone or anything. We spent a lot of time with him with kids his age. Then our life changed and we didn’t have those good and close friends (before I had our second child). Now my two kids mainly play alone with each other, even though they are seven years apart (one is five and the other is turning 12 in a month of this writing). They are soooo glad for each other. My oldest told me/us, when we told him he was going to have a new baby brother or sister, that he had always wanted a sibling and that he was so glad and relieved that he was going to have one! I had never even known he felt this way. He’s been the best big brother I can imagine all along to his little brother. It’s been amazing!

How many children would you have had if it were totally up to you and nothing else?

As many as God provided. However, I didn’t come around to that way of thinking until about 2003 or later. My husband and I married in 1987. God slowly changed my heart to feel this way. So I was close to 40 before God fully changed my heart to feel that way. Again this had to do with my parents. They very much pressed me to ONLY have one child. I still don’t really know why. It was very hard telling them I was pregnant with my second (my husband literally pushed me into their door. It felt like I was being drug into their house to do it.) It didn’t go well. My mom seemed more concerned than happy for me. But, once the child was here, both of my parents have been soooooo glad we had him! He’s brought us all so much closer (my second child) and I firmly believe he needed to happen! I’m so glad God provided him and the ways he came about. I feel like my relationship with my parents is much healthier now, and that I would never be so swayed by their influences again ever in the future. I don’t know why it took me to getting so much older (and so many different other things) to get to this place!!!!

A few years ago I realized that being an only child has problems “later in life” too. Like, you are the one solely responsible for caring for elderly parents! And, just in general, you are the sole ANYTHING to your parents. It's not been that big of a deal in my life, my parents are very proud of me and all, but I think it made it hard for me to ever do anything that might counter what they would “like”. I just got my ears pierced this year because I thought my mom (and maybe dad too) would disapprove. (We had discussed it a few times over the years recently. Neither my mom nor either of my grandma’s ever had pierced ears....and none of those people had any female siblings at all.) My mom may have disapproved but she loves looking at my earrings and all now! I don’t feel like she did end up disapproving. But I didn’t tell her I did it. I just let her discover them one day (and not even on purpose as I was afraid to tell, but once she saw them I told.)

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Do we have any other only siblings reading today? If so, I think it would be neat if you would answer these questions on your blog, or in the comments, and tell us some things we may not realize about only children. Can't wait to hear from you.

Writer's workshop--We don't celebrate Halloween

Choose a prompt, post it on your blog, and go to Mama Kat's to sign Mr. Linky. Be sure to sign up with the actual post URL and not just your basic blog URL (click on the title of your post for that URL). For good comment karma try to comment on the three blogs above your name!!

The Prompts:

1.) Show your spooky side.

Okay, you are going to laugh at me and make fun of me. I do NOT like scary things. I don't watch scary movies and I don't read scary books. That's why it took me so long to read the Twilight books...I thought they were going to be scary. (Speaking of Twilight. Have you seen the preview for New Moon? HOLY CROW! It looks amazing!!! I haven't seen the first one, but my very good friend loaned it to me...the same good friend who saved me a lifetime of misery...or a few weeks while I waited for the library to get it in...by loaning me the fourth book.)

So I don't have a spooky side and I don't like to feel scared.

2.) Show and Tell using your favorite Halloween home decor.

So you want Show and Tell at Michelle's house. Too bad.

For one, Jeff has my camera.

For two, I don't have any Fall or Halloween decor. Catch me at Christmas.

3.) Write a poem to your child as their Halloween character (for example I may write a poem to "Pongo"...the 101 Dalmatian Laina is going to be for Halloween)

Oh how I love writing poems...which is good because I'm fantastic at it. Sarcasm, people.

You looked so cute all dressed up
How did you ever agree?
All in pink, with mittens and slippers
And yet you are two, not three.

You never let me get you dressed
For church, or the library, or a meal
But you let her dress you in pink
I don't understand? What's the deal?

My little boy is a ballerina
Your accomplice is your sis
You came so happily to show me
You were in such bliss

No picture included...I took one but it was with my camera and is almost impossible to see.

4.) Post a vlog of yourself playing a Halloween prank on a family member or friend.

Pranks are awesome. Unfortunately I don't have any.

5.) Describe a favorite Halloween costume or moment you wish you had on video.

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Describe a favorite Halloween costume or moment you wish you had on video.

Our family doesn't celebrate Halloween. We used to. But somewhere along the way we started not liking it. Lots of reasons.

First, the Lord convicted us. Our convictions are not necessarily right for your family. Nor do we judge others who aren't convicted our way. If you aren't convicted in the same way we are than it's fine for you to carry on. However, for us to not follow our convictions is a sin, FOR US.

Second, we felt like the spirit of the night was rather evil. Certainly it came from pagan origins but I'm not sure that is what got us. I mean, so did Christmas and we are celebrating it.

No, I think it had more to do with costumes, and haunted houses, and mean people doing mean things. I mean, some of those costumes are really scary. Some of the DECORATIONS are. My three year old gets scared just driving by some.

Next, it just didn't fit into our health(ier) lifestyle to go door to door for candy. Did we covet candy that much? That just seems counter to what we are teaching our children.

Lastly, no one missed it and our littlest ones don't even know it's a holiday. Is it even a real holiday?

AND bonus...we save money on not having to buy costumes or candy for others. (Though we do buy some for ourselves usually. And I always buy costumes on clearance, afterwards, for the dress up closet. Did you know they mark everything down 75%?)

Please feel free to comment or question or disagree. You won't change our conviction obviously, as God is the one who set this in our hearts. But I'm always open to other opinions and love learning why people do the things they do. So please, discuss away.