about us


*insert obligatory apology for lack of postage here* (I have 3 kids, two and a half and under, I am chronically dis-organized with my time)

OK so you know how January is all about resolutions and February is all about forgetting about them? Well thats why Jason and I didn’t set a resolution, just goals/lifestyle change. We both felt like we needed to focus on getting healthy, and a (wonderful) consequence (is there really such a thing as a good consequence?) is losing weight. Our focus is more on getting healthy because that keeps us motivated when we don’t see much of a scale budge. So here is our change.

We are definitely more “strict” during the week and pretty much not at all on the weekends. We are humans, we really enjoy eating and we enjoy eating unhealthy foods. So if we don’t allow ourselves “looseness” we are setting ourselves up for failure. This part of our change is from the “no S diet”

We also read through the book eat right 4 your type. The theory is that different blood types respond to foods differently. Jason is type O (carnivor – He was happy to hear he should eat steaks) I am type A (a vegetarian). Yeah, that’s what I thought too. Obviously to save my cooking sanity and our budget we adapted the theory. But here are the biggest changes:

We eat a TON of more veggies (Frozen is cheaper than fresh and WAY better than canned. Walmart has great stir fry mixes for a good price, we easy go through a bag or more per meal)

We don’t eat white flour. Well, our kids will eat “normal” bread but our grains are now consist of Spelt, Brown rice, Quinoa and Ezekial Bread. These grains are low gluten or gluten free, lower in carbs, the carbs are complex and they are high in protein.

I have stopped eating meat while at home and am getting used to Tofu. I am really loving things like Hummus and lentils for protein. For snacks we have ditched the chips and cookies, and replaced with dried fruit (cranberries are especially good) and mixed nuts.

Emphasis more on making the calories count (as in being good for our bodies) than counting our calories (did you know you can lose weight by eating 1500 calories of twinkies only a day). Though we do that some too.

So what kind of progress are we seeing?

We have both lost a few pounds (Jason around 14 and myself about 8 ) and for I one feel a TON better. I feel like I have more energy, and my body just works better eating this way. Yeah we still go out for wings occasionally (human remember) but we don’t eat as many and we balance out our other meals better. So, who knows what we will look like in a year or two, but thats why this is a life change and our focus is on getting healthy, not just getting skinny. Though we sure wouldn’t complain about that!

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So here is how our not so Little Kalea is doing she is now 16 mos old already!!!! She totally lights up this house with her smile!

She is such a little mom, very concerned that everyone has everything they need. She constantly bringing us our phones, iPods, shoes, Michael his blankets. She loves to push her baby dolls around in her stroller.

She makes the most adorable cheese grin!

Learning how to talk! Mommy and Daddy (she is a HUGE fan of daddy!) And the sweetest “Hi”. Lets see, night night, bath, bye bye, thank you, puppy, Alex, Michael (My-My) More and Milk are also very common things to hear. She knows she needs to say Please but can’t so she just looks at you and smiles real big for please.

Kalea loves to chase and play with Jasper. She gets soooooo excited when she throws the ball for fetch with him.

She is wearing 18 and 24mo clothes (Alex is still in 24 m -2T) size 5 shoes.

She is really getting into reading which I love!

Also quite the helper she has started “helping” me with the dishes.

Getting her to sleep is sooooo awesome, we rock for a few minutes then she points to her bed and says “night night”.

And she gives the sweetest kisses!

And the fun stuff – her updated pictures =)

Flying with daddy

CHEESE!

 

 

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Since my last post oh about 10 mos ago, there have been a few *minor* changes to this Ham Fam. And by minor I mean we bought a home (so there are fun renovations that have taken place) Let me tell you moving with two little ones is an adventure all itself! We are so thankful for all the help our family gave us! We made the decision for me to be a stay- at-home mom. I am sooooooo excited about being able to be home with my kiddos full time. So we are pinching our pennies even closer (Look for more money saving tips to come) =) But of course the biggest and best change has been the addition of a precious new member of the family.

In January we found out we were expecting number 3! Many may look at us like we are crazy, but we are so excited about and loving how close are kids are. My due date was September 19.  This was especially exciting because my sister-in-law was also due with their third in September, just a few days before me on September 10.  We decided (and by decided I mean I twisted Jason’s arm) to be surprised with the gender of this baby. Alex and Kalea are still young, and the seasons wouldn’t be that different so we really already had everything we needed already. No need to know =)

My pregnancy was really easy. because of that I had a feeling we were having another boy. Alex and a few others were pretty certain baby was a girl. But it went by really quickly. Until the end. Both of my other pregnancies I went early. So pretty much everyone (myself definitely included) figured I would go early again. We were thinking that my sister-in-law and I would end up going about the same time. We were ready by 35 weeks just in case. Then we waited… and waited… and waited…

37weeks came and went (I was happy about that) 38weeks comes and goes still trying to be patient…. Once I got well past 38w it was getting very mentally hard. I was showing very few signs of going into labor and 39 weeks passed by as well. Now I could have chosen to induce anytime after 39w. But, this time I was DETERMINED to have a natural labor. It is something I really really wanted with both of my others, but I gave in and ended up regretting it later.  I was definitely not ok with electively inducing unless there was a medical reason. I know that induction would decrease my chances of going through labor without pain relief and I have a few other reasons why I know that isn’t the right choice for me.

So 39 weeks passed, 40 weeks passed. *Sigh* God was definitely teaching me patience!  At 40w +3 days I went to my regular OB appointment and also a routine Non Stress Test for being passed due. Something wasn’t quite right. My doctor was very calm and reassuring and made it sound totally normal that he wanted me to head over to the hospital for a bio physical. Maybe it is normal, but we hadn’t talked about that test before so I assumed it was something that showed up on the NST. He asked if I wanted to be induced, and I told him unless there was something wrong with me or the baby  I wanted to let the baby come on his/her own. (this was about 10) After the bio-physical the nurse came and said that everything “looked great” but they heard an irregular heartbeat. It was probably nothing to worry about but that my doctor was on the phone with a specialist to make sure.

Jason and I started talking seriously about the idea of inducing. Long story short after we talked to the doctor we decided that today would be the birthday. Baby had developed a heart arrhythmia since 39w. It usually corrects after baby is born, so it didn’t really make sense to prolong the pregnancy. Baby looked great otherwise.

Now, I did NOT want to be induced. I knew that it was the right decision, I didn’t regret the decision, but it is still not what I wanted. Not how I had envisioned my perfect natural labor going. As I was getting ready in the room I sat back and cried. Man what a control freak I am. I felt like my dreams of a natural delivery were flying out the window. They started the pitocin at 12 noon. The contractions were practically laughable. I figured they would start hurting almost right away, but um… yeah totally not. I sent Jason home to grab our bags (we hadn’t been prepared for that day) and to get some lunch. The Doctor gave the go ahead for me to have a little bite to eat before labor got going. I was SOOOOOO thankful for that because I was STARVING!

After 2 hours of pit, I hadn’t progressed at all. I wasn’t surprised b/c the contractions still didnt hurt. We decided to break my water. I was hesitant at first because I didn’t want that to not work and then have to have a c-section. But the doctor was confident that that wouldn’t be a problem for me. Well, yeah the contractions waaaaaay picked up after that. It wasn’t too long before I got my iPod out and started listening to my  HypnoBirthing visualizations. it was so calming for me. Between the contractions it really helped to calm and focus me. My nurse was AWESOME. She let me get out of bed. I needed to stay on the monitors, but I could sit next to the bed, after that didn’t help anymore I leaned on the bed standing, when that stopped working she helped me get on the bed  and find positions that helped to relieve some of the pain. I was NOT flat on my back until pushing after the contractions picked up! Jason was soooo awesome and encouraging. He knew how much I wanted a med free labor/delivery and he was wonderful. I had back labor, so he rubbed my back during the contractions and gave me ice chips between, I definitely could not have done it without him! The rest of labor went really quick! only 3 hours of painful labor!

When it was time to push I couldn’t stop. the problem, my doctor was in a c-section and couldn’t leave! They started calling for him, then any doctor on the floor, then any OB in the area, Jason said they were about to call for anyone who had seen an episode of Scrubs 😛 My Nurse finally looked at me and said “OK This won’t be my first delivery, if I tell you to stop you HAVE to stop because that means that the cord is wrapped.” She was so serious! Just as I was ready to really push my doctor comes FLYING into the room, he literally made it JUST in time. I am so so glad too.

Our precious baby was born with the cord wrapped around his (yes HIS I was right! and so excited!!!) neck 4 times. Yes 4!  Jason said he was very blue when born, I was glad I didn’t see that. They had to give him oxygen at first. It was scary but otherwise he was PERFECT and HUGE (for me) 9 lb 2oz and 20″ long! I had some fairly serious bleeding from delivering such big baby so quickly, but otherwise everything was great!

And so here is the newest addition to our famliy:

Michael Zachary Hamsher (Gift of God, God has Remembered) His names meaning really fit him! Looking back so much could have gone wrong, but God was in total control and gave us this sweet gift!

Sorry this was so long I promise they wont all be so long! =)

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Instead of giving you a blow-by-blow of what the little scrunchy faced cutie has been doing, I’ll just let you know what he is doing now.

Basics-

He is about 20 lbs and 27″ tall. (As of his last well baby check). He is still just a “little guy” on the 10th percentile in height/weight but right on track proportionally.  That’s OK we just get more use out of his clothes 🙂

He is wearing a wide variety of sizes. 12-18mo shirts. 12mo jackets. 9 mo pants (even still fits into a pair of 6-9mo pants!) and size 2 shoes (though he is quickly needing size 3)

He has 2 bottom teeth, and his eye teeth on top oddly enough look like they will be the next ones to come through.

Food –

He nursed up through 9 mos. It made me sad when he was done, but being pregnant really kills the supply 🙁 I am just happy I made it through cold and flu season!

He is now getting 4 bottles a day. And we are working on replacing the bottles with sippy cups. He does pretty well… sometimes. He has good days and days where he gets so proud of himself he forgets to swallow before he smiles so out spills all the formula!

Drinking like a big boy!

He eats “big people food” now. He likes cheese, cucumbers, zuchini, MEAT and pretty much anything he can pick up with his hands. Especially rice puffs. LOVES them. I am thankful he is not a picky eater!

Activities-

He has been pulling himself up and walking along things for about a month now. He CAN walk on his own, but won’t if he is thinking about it or if you draw attention to it. But he does motor pretty quick crawling!

Walking!

He likes to play ball. He will roll/toss the ball back and forth with you. Or will toss it across the room and go fetch it himself 🙂

He is “helpful” if he has picked something up and you want it, if you ask him to give it to you, USUALLY he will.

He loves to sweep. He will play with the broom and loves to follow me around while I vacuum.

"sweeping"

He likes to play with Jasper, and Jasper’s toys (they play “fetch”) and Jasper’s food. Poor Jasper only gets to eat when Alex is napping or not at home, otherwise we would spend all day moving Alex away from the dog food.

Tackling Jasper

Communication:

He waves “Hi” and Bye-bye. Even without prompting 🙂

He says “Da-da”. If Jason leaves the room it is not uncommon for Alex to bellow out da-DA??!!! and point to wherever Jason left from.

He points and says “DA” when he wants to know what something is.

He says “uff uff” for animal noises, usually dogs and frogs. We are working on differentiating between the animals 😉

Other:

He goes to sleep on his own now, usually with no fussing at night (still working on the naps). This is awesome for mommy!!!

He is such a daddy’s boy. Its really cute, he loves to hear Jason play guitar, and would choose Jason over me most days of the week I think 😛

Chilling with Daddy

Alex loves to "play guitar" with daddy!

~ HambergerMama

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Has she fallen off the face of the earth???? Is Alex such a handful she merely doesn’t have time??? Perhaps she has aged substantially and is experiencing Alzheimer’s causing her to forget about us?

Nope. Honestly, I am just lazy…. really really lazy…. This will be an attempt at a catch up post. A TON has happened in the last year. So this will be really just the highlights. I have a bunch of pictures that I could use to catch you up on, but that would swamp everything. So here is just a little of the last year-

July/Aug

– Went on a LOVELY vacation to the beach with the Ham’s. (Pics are on my Facebook) Alex had his first taste of the pool, and the ocean.

Aug

-We moved again 🙂 Not far this time, we actually were able to work on it all summer, and then when we got back from vaca moved into the apartment just up the road a little ways from both sets of parents.

– We also moved Church (locations) Jason and I are still attending NewPointe, but have now gone to the Millersburg Campus. Jason plays electric guitar on the worship team and I volunteer back with the little kiddos in the Reign Forrest.

September

– Celebrated our 2 year anniversary! We have packed a lot in those years, I am not sure if I should say I can’t believe it is 2 years already, or I can’t believe it has been only 2 years 😛

– We also took another wonderful beach vacation with the Berger’s. It was fun to see Janelle and Kenny for a few days, and of course any time at the beach is pretty much amazing.

October-

SURPRISE- we found out we are expecting Hamberger #2! It was a bit of a surprise, but we are super duper excited about it. (Yes, what lil #2 is is also a surprise!)

November/December

– Full of many holiday get-togethers. It was so much fun to celebrate these first holiday’s with Alexander 🙂

– Welcomed a new lil hambaby -Lucas- into the family. He shares a birthday with Jason 🙂 It has been pretty neat to see Alex figure out how to interact with him, perhaps a preview into what is in his future. Though at this point he would still rather play with the “big cousins” Keldan and Allie.

January

– Happy New Year! We celebrated at New Grounds, Alex came along for the festivities, he made it till about 8:30 😛

– I had a total blond driving moment (those are the worst!) and totaled my beloved Focus. Once again we were shown how God really does work everything together for the best. We ended up getting enough back from the car to cash off our credit card and pay for a mini-van (which we are well on the way to needing :-P)

Feb/March

– LOTS of SNOW.  Have some pretty sweet pics of my awesome hubby shoveling. Alex is not a big fan of snow, even if it is safely in a container in the kitchen.

– Said goodbye to Double G. What an awesome legacy he left through his family.

April

– Easter! It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed celebrating the Resurrection!

– Mommy and Daddy went to another cold Indians game to celebrate my birthday 🙂 It was chilly, but a GREAT game and they actually won, plus we had all you can eat food so pretty much an amazing b-day present from my awesome hubs.

That pretty much catches you up on the overall picture of our life since I’ve been “gone”. Look for a few more specific updates to come.

~ HambergerMama

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One week ago today we got the wonderful, frightening, amazing, scary, awesome, exciting news that we were going to be expecting a baby! My husband and I are self proclaimed nerds, so of course one of the first things that we wanted to do was set up a budget. There are a lot of costs involved in having a baby, and raising a child. In the first year alone the average cost of raising a baby is $10,000. Talk about sticker shock! Not that a precious little one isn’t worth ten times that much, but there is also reality as to how much a budget will stretch. So me being a big bargain hunter, and my husband being a major budgeter/number cruncher, we started looking for some ways to go about parenting in a cheaper way. (Hence the name of the blog)

Our goal is to give our child the best care possible, without paying the highest price possible. I make it a personal goal to spend substantially less than the average person for just about everything (you are talking to someone who got 4 skirts and a top for $25.00). We know that we aren’t the only ones who are on a tight budget, so we thought we would share our journey with you. We will share our tips on how to save money and get great quality. We hope that you will find this blog helpful, as we travel through this amazing journey called parenting!

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