Come Hear Julie Manning Speak on Community!

Happy Saturday Mamas! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. Our next MOPS meeting will be this Monday, January 27. Julie Manning will be speaking to us about community. I know we all need community so I hope everyone can make it to hear what Julie has to say.

Julie Manning is the wife to her beloved husband, John, and the mother to Noah and Hunter. She graduated from Texas A&M University in 1999 with a degree in Finance. After working in the business world for several years, she found herself increasingly discontent with a longing to be passionate about the work she was doing. So in January of 2002, Julie took a risk and pursued Nursing school. She worked in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit as an RN at Children's Medical Center of Dallas and eventually received her Masters in Nursing from the University of Texas at Austin in 2009. Julie believes that it is not by accident that she fell in love with Cardiology. Though Julie did not foresee that she would one day live a life affected daily by heart disease, she now shares her story with her patients and patient families as a nurse practitioner at Children's Cardiology Associates of Austin.  Julie is also blessed to serve as a national spokesperson for the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women movement. Julie and her husband serve faithfully at their church, Austin Stone, and value every moment they spend together as a family. 

Reminders:

-If you haven't paid your dues this semester please do so or talk to your DGL.

-If you own a small business and want it featured in our MOPS Shop on our blog, send us an email to roundrockmops@yahoo.com.

Have a great weekend! See ya on Monday!

Favorite Things List

I hope everyone enjoyed our Favorite Things night. I sure did. Thanks, Camilla, for emceeing the evening. Shellie has compiled a list of all of the favorite things that were shared that night. If you have any questions about any of the products let us know in the comments and we will try to answer them or connect you with the person who shared the information. Enjoy!

Advice:

For you: get outside and take a breather

Cherish your husband, focus on marriage, make it a prioirty 

Applications/gadgets to make life easier:

KidLee (keep track of what kiddos do)

Awesome Note by BRID 

Good Budget (Dave Ramsey type envelope system to keep track)

Kazoo Headphones for kids (volume control)

Blogs:

http://www.handsfreemama.com

ww.themurphysix.blogspot.com

Baby & Child related:

Tummy Calm tummycalm.com 

Amber teething necklace

Gripe Water by Baby Bliss 

Piddle pads – inserts for carseats

Good Nites Mats (disposable mats for children still potty training at nite, place on top of sheet & remove if an accident) very easy 

*Walmart has them the cheapest 

Honest Company diapers, wipes, baby, and household products. http://honest.com

Cosmetics/Beauty: 

Olive Oil (use on face or body)

Coconut Oil (use everywhere) *Call Mary Magee if you have a yeast infection she has a tip)

Mary Kay Tinted Moisturizer 

                 mascara

                 eye gel (put in frig for a morning refresher) 

Rodan + Fields Micro Exfoliator (skin cell turn over, reduce scarring, stretch marks) 

                   skin care line for skin types https/randf.com/

Coffee Beans to reduce cellulite- make your coffee fresh first thing in the morning or at night, take coffee grounds rub on places that need improvement for about 10 mins and then rinse.   If you are buying a cellulite cream look for caffeine or copper as the ingredient to reduce the appearance. 

Baby Oil -rub on bottom at night & morning for soft feet then file away dead skin 

Essie Nail Polish

Health: 

Juice plus vitamins for you or kids

AdvoCare spark instead of coffee will not make you jittery & can have while pregnant advocare.com

Cleanse Cocktail 1/3 water heat in microwave 30 seconds, shot of tabasco & lemon then drink it! will clear kidneys & liver 

Home: 

Henri Bendel Vanilla Bean Candle (little pricey but last a long time)

Scentsy https://orders.scentsy.us/Scentsy/Home

Jewelry: 

Out Reach Uganda outreachuganda.org 

Noonday www.noondaycollection.com 

Kitchen: 

Dish Drying Mat by H-E-B less than $5.00 bucks

Pampered Chef- garlic roller 

Furi Ozitech Diamond Finger Knife Sharper -Amazon $12.00 bucks 

Houdini Bottle Wine Opener

Laundry:

Shout Color Catcher it really works!

Laundry baskets for each family member and wash that basket it by itself then they can fold and put away. makes separating a lot easier! 

Marriage Related: 

The FIve love Languages 

The Husband Project by Kathi Lipp you read & do simple things for him & he is not aware you are reading the  book)

Love Dare 40 day challenge 

Marriage Retreat www.austinme.org 

Journals to write personal letters to one another then read to each other

Meals: 

Emeals subscribe to website and receive weekly menus and shopping lists ($58 a year best deal) having specials right now at their website

Pioneer Woman 

Once a Month Cooking Books: Dinners in the Freezer by Martinez, Howell & Garcia & Once a Month Cooking Revised Edition by Mimi Wilson & Mary Beth Lagerborg 

onceamonthmeals.com

  

Moms:

Lily Pads (silicon gel pads for nursing)  

Pathways Magazine pathwaystofamilywellness.org  (4 times a year)

For moms & baby

Ergo Baby Carrier (best to carry baby & protects your back!) ergo baby.com 

*can find on craigslist cheaper

My breast friend nursing pillow 

Books:

A Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal” (book/workbook) by Renee Trudea

One Thousand Gifts” (book) by Ann Voskamp

Simplicity Parenting Book Kim John Payne

Office/Organization: 

Papermate Flair (multi color)  pens will not bleed

Family Christian Organizer (yearly) by Ann Knapp (Amazon.com to buy)

Sewing/quilting:

http://www.mominizer.com provides a way for you to take all your favorite t-shirts and turn it into a quilt/blanket 

Spiritual/devotional:

Jesus Story Book Bible 

Little Visits at BedTime by Mary Manz Simon

Sticky Situations by Betsy Schmidt

Sweets/Treats:

Keurig Raspberry Chocolate Truffle

Tips: 

cuticle clippers for cutting nails for kids

drink half and half coffee even while nursing and it is just enough! 

cloth diaper covers to be used for regular everyday disposable diapers and it manages blow outs & accidents 

Books for Children:

ages 0-1

What do you say?

How do you feel?

Who do you love?

What do you do?

Mandy Stanley

No No Yes Yes

Big Little

Leslie Patricelli

Dear Zoo

Rod Campbell

I like it when...

Mary Murphy

ages 1-3

Pajama Time

Blue Hat, Green Hat

But not the Hippopotamus

Sandra Boynton

One Hungry Monster

Susan Heyboer O'Keefe

I love you, stinky face

Lisa McCourt

Imagination Song

Joe Raposo

I don't want to live on the moon

Jeff Moss

Good Night, Gorilla

Peggy Rathmann

Big Red Barn

Goodnight Moon

Margaret Wise Brown

Squirrel is Hungry

Duck is dirty

Dog is thirsty

Cat is sleepy

Satoshi Kitamura

We're going on a bear hunt

Michael Rosen

The best mouse cookie  

The series related to If you give a mouse a cookie

Laura Numeroff 

Miss Mary Mack

Mary Ann Hoberman

Chicka Chicka ABC

Bill Martin Jr & John Archambault

Dr. Seuss books

Hop on Pop

Go Dog Go

There's a Wocket in my pocket

The shape of me and other stuff

ages 3 1/2 and up

Richard Scarry's What do people do all day?

Richard Scarry's Cars and trucks and things that go

the series of books from Pete the Cat I love my white shoes

James Dean & Eric Litwin

The Doghouse

Is Everybody ready for fun?

lots by this author  Jan Thomas

The Gruffalo

Julia Donaldson

Safety Notes from Donna Looper

Happy Thursday Mamas! I hope everyone is staying warm. Crazy we were playing at the park in shorts and t-shirts on Monday and are freezing today. Guess that's Texas for ya!

Donna Looper spoke to us about safety on December 9. She addressed car seat safety but ran out of time before she made it to toy safety. She has so kindly sent us her presentation. So for those of you who were trying to take notes but your hand started cramping, no worries, it's all here. She also answered a couple of questions that she was asked but did not have time to answer.

Safety Presentation

1. Where is the best location for a car seat...especially for a newborn?  

Rear seat in the center is best because it puts your baby furthest from the crash.  However, rear facing seats take up a lot of room which can make the center position difficult in a smaller car.  Put the seat behind the passenger seat...which means you will likely have to pull it all the way forward.  If you put the seat behind you (the driver), then you might have to pull your seat forward too far, making it unsafe for you.

2. Is it ok for the harness to be twisted?

No.  The straps should all be flat.  Sometimes you have to re-thread the harness to get everything straight.  Sometimes it is just the "buckle" that gets twisted - fold the harness above or below the buckle and pull the buckle over the fold...this will typically put the buckle back in the right direction.  

Hope this helps keep your precious babies safe!

Favorite Things

Hey Mamas! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas break with their families. Our next meeting is tomorrow, January 13. Since we met last we have a few MOPS babies born. Congrats to all the new mamas. Can't wait to see all the babies.

I'm so excited about our meeting tomorrow. It sounds super fun. Camilla Garrett is going to be running our first "Favorite Things" night and we are ALL going to be involved! As Camilla describes it, "The night is a little like Oprah's Favorite Things meets show-and-tell." Here is how it will work. Think of one of your own favorite things. It can be a book, a beauty product, a baby or child item, a website, a food item, a place, a kitchen gadget...the options are endless. Basically, it can be anything you have found that makes your life as a mom easier, more productive, happier, etc. If it is a tangible item, bring it along and show it to the group during your turn. If it is something like a website or a place, just be ready to share the name. We will have someone taking notes and, after our meeting, we will put the list into categories and share it on the blog for all of us to see. This is meant to be a fun, casual night of sharing; no pressure!

The Scattered Sisters (aka the green table) will be providing us with a baked potato bar so come hungry! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone for fun and fellowship, and learning all about your favorite things.

Recap of 11/11 and Polar Express Night

Hey Mamas, Hope everyone is staying warm today. My apologies for not posting the recap of our last meeting yet. It's been a little crazier than normal around here. Bear with me as this post will be a little longer than normal but will include info about our Polar Express Night coming up this Monday.

Thank you Shellie Carriker, AGAIN, for taking notes and compiling a summary of last week's topic. Here is the summary from Susie Roger's talk last week:

Susie Rogers spoke on Monsters-in-law or Mentors-in-law. She started with: Begin with the End. She challenged us to begin again if the relationship is not we had hoped it to be God has a plan and HE knows the beginning and the end Change Your Perspective: God calls us to choose a different perspective what us our focus on or what is it lacking?  Our perspective can affect us during this time Love is an ACTION your attitude leads to behavior which leads to change for yourself & perspective choose to LOVE even when you don’t feel like it. Susie asked us some hard questions but ones we should all consider. 

How many of us have perfect husbands? friends? mothers? fathers? brothers? sisters? We need realize the answer is no & stop thinking our mother-in-laws need to be as well. We need to acknowledge God is LOVE! He is powerful enough to change life’s so why not a relationship?

1. Do you want to change your perspective?
2. Do you want to LOVE her?
3. Am I thinking about the end game?
4. If things go well do we assume all the credit?
 5. Do we long for a do over?

We need realize we can not change our husbands, friends, sisters, brothers etc…so we can not change her! However, there are things we can do!
*We can pray over her & the relationship
* We can live a life that leads by LOVE(the verb which requires action)
* Words have power(never underestimate the power of words so choose them carefully)
*Build Blessings by the way we treat her
*God has brought her to us & we need to have a grateful heart
*Give her lots of grace
*Encourage her If you are in a tough situation just remember “hurt people, hurt people.”

She (MIL) also did not plan for the relationship to go this direction nor did she dream it this way. No mother-in-law wants this transition to go bad. When the wedding & honeymoon is over the in-laws have a hard time handing that relationship over. Regardless of age of parents they still want respect & honor. Deut 5:16 “Honor your father and mother, as the Lord your God commanded you. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you. Eph 6:2 Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise: Analyze your guilt, True Guilt will convict you through prayer. Maybe you are in an unhealthy relationship. Ask God for forgiveness if any is needed. False guilt plays in your head “I have not been all they want me to be.” You are are about pleasing them instead of God. Susie had a wise counselor give us 3 important standards to live by when dealing with in-laws

1. be sure to keep lines of communication open with your husband
2. allow him to talk to mother in law(or father)
3. have zero ultimatums

 The best part of the night was when Susie shared these wise words: Someday we too will be mother-in-laws Our children area watching us You can choose Godly responses We are young! There is time! Remember SHE raised our husbands so have a grateful heart, she did so something right or you would not be where you are today!

 Book to consider: The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman Thank you, again, Shellie for the summary.

 Our next MOPS meeting is this Monday, November 25. Our theme is "Polar Express Night." WEAR YOUR PAJAMAS!!! Seriously, come dressed in your pj's. How exciting is that?!? Our speaker for the evening will be Jennifer Unnasch. Here talk is titled "A Christmas in Focus." Her is a little about Jennifer:

 Jennifer is wife to Aaron for 13 years, a stay at home, homeschool mom to 3 amazing boys (if she must say so herself) who are 12, 9, and 4. She loves to be outside, and if it were possible, she would go on a daytrip every day of the year. She has a passion for "intentional parenting" and believes we need to make the most of teachable moments with our kids. She has worked or volunteered in ministry with preschoolers for 11 years now. Most importantly, she loves Christ and gratefully accepts His grace daily!

 I'm excited to hear what Jennifer has to say and super excited I get to listen in my pj's. Hope to see everyone there! Have a great weekend.

(Sorry about all the typos. When the post was originally published the format messed up causing several mess ups in spacing and punctuation. I tried to fix it but I'm sure I missed some.)