What's on my screen? - Day 23

In keeping with my deal hunting prowess lately I was able to score a great deal on my first Julep box. Only $3.99 after S&H with the code FREEBOX. You can use that code to get your first box free too and if you use my referral link then you will help me earn a free 2nd box ;-) http://www.julep.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/663109/

February Treat Yo' Self

I know for most of the country, February is still the middle of winter. But for us, the temperature is starting to warm up and a sense of spring is in the air. I'm not sure what it is lately, but I have really been into some bold oranges and soft blush colors. I've even been considering trying some red henna dye in my hair. So here are few things that have made me want to swoon this month.

What's on my screen? - Day 22

Notice the temperature in the top left corner of my screen. We've hit the 90's in February, baby!

How to Score a Free Breast Pump

That's right, I'm sharing my tip for getting a FREE double electric breast pump. I've known about this possibility for a while but wanted to hold off sharing until I experienced it first hand for myself. A couple months ago, I found this blog post from Hellobee talking about free pumps through your insurance.
This lead me to check with our plan about coverage and sure enough, any pump valued up to $200 was free if purchased from an in-network DME. But I would not be able to receive it until after Minion's birth so I put it on the back burner as something to look into more in the last few weeks.

5 Minute Car Makeup Routine

For the last 2-1/2 years, I routinely do my makeup in the car. Now I am no makeup application expert and tend to prefer a more natural look, but my crazy skin issues mean I can't just go without makeup like I could in my teen years. Since I cherish my sleep in the morning, I have worked to finally hone my getting ready time to as quick as possible. Since Luke and I go most places together, this means I can do my makeup while he drives.

What's on my screen? - Day 21

Getting so excited for the Veronica Mars movie! Here's a sneak peak of EW's Valentine's Day cover that I got to see as a kickstarter supporter :-)

Our Summer 2013 Travel Scrapbook

I've mentioned giving up on giving you guys a complete breakdown of our world travels from the Summer of 2013. But back in November, I was able to finally finish our travel scrapbook. I shared some of my debates about how to approach this project and ended up doing a Project Life style scrapbook inspired by this baby book. In the end, it cost me about $80 since I was impatient and printed all the photos at home (ordering prints from Arts Cow would have been much cheaper and is what I will be doing for Minion's book) and took about 2 weeks to put together. I am in love with the results though!

What's on my screen? - Day 20

So today was going good and productive when all of a sudden at 1pm, my phone just loses connectivity to the T-Mobile network. I couldn't make our receive calls, couldn't text, nothing. I could connect to Wi-Fi and do everything else, just nothing network related. 4 hours later and 2 support chats later, we had tried everything including master resetting my phone which meant I lost all my customizations. My only options left as I was informed was to wait a week to get a new phone or go into a store for a replacement SIM card. Well halfway down the road, I suddenly get service back. But when I turn and and get close to our house it's gone again. Another hour support chat offered no further help. I was pretty sure it was a T-Mobile network issue and not my phone. Well my parents happened to drive by the tower right by our house later and sure enough there was a police officer parked under it. Turns out it had a power outage and they were waiting for the electricians to come out and fix it. Apparently the customer support people couldn't inform of that before making me wipe my phone so I've had to spend hours reconfiguring it to how I like :-(

Raising my Blood Count with Iron Rich Green Smoothies

At my 24-week blood test, my blood count (HGB) was lower than they would like to see at a 10.8. So the goal is for me to get that much higher for my 36-week draw. My midwives really recommended me upping my iron intake naturally and gave me a list of iron rich foods. Looking at the list, the easiest way I could think of getting my daily dose of iron was to make green smoothies.
I have tried green smoothies in the past and they are definitely an acquired taste and texture, but for Minion's sake I knew I need to suck it up.

What's on my screen? - Day 19

I've been stalking the extremecouponing hashtag on Instagram constantly looking for good deals :-)

Interviewing Potential Pediatricians

Once I had my list of potential pediatricians, I started calling each one and asking the following questions:
Is Dr. (Name) accepting new patients? I am currently pregnant and I am looking for a pediatrician for my baby. Does the doctor accept prenatal interviews? Do you charge for these appointments?

The Pediatrician Search

On Monday, I shared why finding the right pediatrician is so important to us. Today I want to share how I went about finding him or her.

While asking friends about their pediatrician recommendations is a great option and one I did use, not all people are looking for the same thing in a doctor. I'm the kind of person that wants a doctor who is very knowledgeable, a true expert in their field, but one who talks to me about everything and doesn't assume I'm too dumb to understand. This can be a challenge since most doctors either are just playing a guessing game and want to rush as many people in and out of appointments as possible or they are very condescending. So I knew the searching and interview process would be an arduous one.

What's on my screen? - Day 18

I did take a day 17 photo, just didn't post it. But today I was stalking my Amazon account to see if my pre-order of Cress had shipped yet. I'm happy to report it has :-)

Finding a Pediatrician

Every child needs a pediatrician. Because even if your child is perfectly healthy, routine checkups are vital. Plus you never know when a bug or infection might strike and having a great support system is crucial.
For us as Jehovah's Witnesses, finding a pediatrician we are very comfortable with is even more important. So over the next few days, I will be sharing with you our process for finding a pediatrician for Minion.