Aflac Supplemental Maternity Insurance

If you're planning to have a baby in the next 2 1/2 years and can afford an extra $100 a month keep reading...

Aflac has amazing supplemental maternity insurance (no, I do not work for them) and they're stopping the program in 12 days because they simply do not make money on it. Here's the down low...

You pay $100/month - can't have a baby within 10 months of signing up and as long as you have a baby within 2 1/2 years you'll break even.

After having a baby you get a hold of your insurance agent, get him some paperwork (itemized bills and such) and for a 3 night stay in the hospital you will have a check written to you for $3,300.

Then you cancel the policy (that's why they don't make money on it). So, just to give you an idea of what this could do for you here are a couple of scenarios...

Little Miss was 3 1/2 weeks early, had to go to the NICU & have an MRI when she was born, but everything else was normal - after regular insurance coverage we owed $900. If we'd had this Aflac plan then that would have been covered and the remaining $2,400 would have gone into savings, a CD, debt, whatever we wanted it to be.

After having a C-section one of my friends is still in debt around $4,000 - this would have made that debt only $700.

Another friend had a lot of pregnancy problems, extra doctors visits, etc - luckily she had the Aflac supplemental insurance and broke even.

So...call Aflac and see an agent before Feb 12th if you're planning on having a baby soon-ish. And please, pass on the good word!

Woot!

If you've never shopped woot.com - it's time! And more importantly kids.woot.com. Both sites offer a deal a day at a discounted price.

Once in awhile they have what they call a woot-off - where they just keep listing deals one right after the other. Shipping is always a flat $5 - even for a huge TV. Both sites are having woot-offs today - so head on over to check it out!

I've bought a few items from each site & although the shipping is sometimes slow - the item still comes at a great price! Can't beat that!

About Me

My name is Barbara and I am a stay-at-home mom of a beautiful and sassy 4 year old girl (Little Miss), and one handsome super happy 1 year old boy (Mr Man). I love being a mom. It is the hardest and most rewarding job I've ever had.

I have a Bachelors Degree in Family and Human Development, along with an avid desire to learn as much as I can to ensure a happy, healthy family as I raise my children. I am also a Certified Infant Massage Instructor.

I want to share what I have learned and what I will learn in the future on this site - so hopefully it can help you too!

Besides being a mom, I love...

• sewing
• cooking/baking
• photography
• singing
• traveling
• reading
• painting
• running
• and anything health/nutrition related

I hope you find something useful on this site!! If you have any questions, comments, or would like to be a guest blogger - please feel free to email me at barb.themomblog (at) gmail (dot) com - but really, the best way to get ahold of me is via facebook.

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Barb

Product Reviews

Bebe Sounds Portable Color Video and Sound Monitor

Aquadoodle Travel N' Doodle

Kelty Kids Hiking Backpack Kid Carrier with Rainhood

Sleep Chronicles: The Finale

This picture is my Little Miss sleeping with her teddy bear on her head...oh how I love that little munchkin! She does the funniest things in her sleep. This is it, the last installment of sleep chronicles, hopefully. And get excited all you tired moms, it's a good one.
After my last post (dec 4th) - it was only another 3-4 days and we were laying her in bed, tucking her in, and walking out of the room. Then one night Ry just decided to shut the door and see what happened. Nothing. She laid there quietly and went to sleep. AWESOME!!

So that was the routine, easy - loving it! Sometimes she'd be asleep within 3-5 min, other nights she'd talk for awhile. Some nights she would get up and decide to tuck her dolly in over and over again. On those nights we'd wait a few minutes, go in and remind her it was time to sleep, not time to play and gently tuck her back in, usually only one reminder and she would lay still.

She even did great over the holidays staying at her Grandma & Grandpa's house - which we thought might mess things up. No problem.

Then about a week ago the unexpected - she had a bad dream and was scared to be in her room alone. It only took about 3-4 days and we had her trained again. The first night - tucking her in repeatedly, lots of cuddles, sitting by the door so she wasn't alone & by the 4th night leaving with the door shut again. No problem. We're flexible and willing to work through those things with her. I have no doubt we'll have to re-train her every so often, but the end result is so worth it.

I love my good sleeper girl!! Plus our "spy-camera" monitor really helps!! With her door shut we can see what she's doing - if she's playing and needs to be tucked in again, etc. We found it on woot.com for less than half of the original cost. Totally worth it. I love you spy camera.

To read the whole story...

Sleep Chronicles: and So It Begins

Book Reviews

Sleep Chronicles: Day 4 Through Week 3

Day 4 thru about day 10 Little Miss decided being in her crib alone was awesome playtime...she still went to sleep, just after a lot of rearranging of her bedding, tucking in her bear, laying back down, getting up and tucking him in again & plenty of talking.

Ry & I did not interact with her once we were sitting on the floor and kept eyes closed, pretending to be (and sometimes actually) falling asleep. This was just a phase, she has needed a few "ssshhh, time for sleep" reminders, but mostly she does pretty good. No tears, just playing. But I'd take the playing over the crying any day!

After about day 10 till now we've kind of plateaued at the following...She falls asleep, usually around 15 min, on a bad night when she's not tired enough, more like an hour (but that's our fault).

Oh, and we've been sitting all the way across the room, right by her closed door. Then once she's asleep, we open the door and exit, closing it behind us. (side note: we did not move across the room gradually like planned, we just did it one night & she was fine with it, so we never went back)

Yesterday I decided we needed to move past this plateau and get to our end goal - laying her down and leaving the room completely. So, for her nap today, everything was as usual but I left the door open and sat in the doorway, didn't faze her at all.

So tonight we did the same, but this time I sat even farther out of the room, but she could still see me. After a few minutes I heard her breathing deepen, so I took a leap of faith and quietly scooted into the hall, totally out of view.

I stayed there quietly waiting & listening before I pulled the door shut. But no, not asleep. She noticed I was gone and started with "Mommy, blankie?!", but she wasn't crying, so I just listened.

I couldn't see her, but I'm pretty sure at one point she was on her feet stretching to see out the door. Then when she got quiet again I made my way to our room across the hall & waited till she was totally asleep to pull the door shut.

Our little munchkin successfully put herself to sleep in an empty room tonight!!! Miracle of miracles. Granted I kind of sneaked out, but still - progress!

Read what happens next...

Sleep Chronicles: The Finale

Or start at the beginning...

Sleep Chronicles: and So It Begins