The Holidays Are Coming!

With Halloween over, we have bigger holidays to look forward to. I'm super excited about Christmas. Our daughter was less than a month old last year on Christmas, so she really didn't get anything out of it. But this year, she's at least old enough to understand the concept of new toys to play with!

Sad thing is... Our tree is still up. Yes, you read that right. We really don't have room in our small town home for a full size tree, so we got one of those small trees about 3 feet high, decorated it with lights and small ornaments and then put it on an end table. It's been there ever since. I tried putting it away a few weeks after Christmas. Hailey was still a new born at the time, so I had little time to fuss with things like that. Once I gave in and tried to put it away, I realized I would never get it back in its box the way it came and soon gave up the battle! I guess at least this means less work for this year! (Hey, at least we took down the actual Christmas lights in the window!)

I'm gearing up for the holidays in my store. I'm super excited about it. I already ordered a Christmas shirt I designed for Hailey. I plan on ordering me one as well (or maybe the Definitely Naughty one instead). You check check those out here: Definitely Nice and Definitely Naughty. I love them.. I just haven't decided which one I want!


We're getting Hailey's birthday pictures done in a few weeks, and her Christmas pictures as well. I plan on designing some custom Christmas cards to send out to the family. That way, everyone can get a precious keepsake in the form of a card and everyone can have an updated picture of Hailey. I simply cannot afford to purchase that many pictures and gifts for such a large family! So, this will kill two birds with one stone. If you like this idea, message me at KimisKustoms@yahoo.com and I will be more than happy to design some holiday cards for you - whatever you'd like. I know how tight money gets around the holidays trying to cater to everyone!

What are you doing for the holidays this year? Leave a comment!

Labels: advertising, babies, cafe press, cafepress, christmas, clothes, family, gifts, Hailey, Kimi, marketing, money, parenting, pictures, stores

So Much Going On!

I'm so excited that the price changer on CafePress is fixed! I'm on a roll with new designs and hopefully I can manage a bunch more before the holiday rush!

This next design, I think I'm gonna buy for my daughter Hailey in the form of a Toddler Tee. It reads My Mommy Says I'm Messy. I Say I'm Artistic! It comes in five different colors - pink, blue, green, purple and orange. I can of course add more if you'd like it in a different color. It's super cute and features a messy splat in the background.





I have seen this joke time and time again and just had to have a shirt for it. I wanted it to encompass all military because I believe all military is equally important (and should be equally loved and supported). The shirt reads I Love Messing With Government Property. Proud Military Supporter. It features text in both light green and light grey. It makes a great shirt for anyone in your family, no matter what military branch you support!






With my husband going through the Medical Board process, I will soon no longer be an Army wife. It's bittersweet really. But, once an Army wife - ALWAYS an Army wife, as they say. So, I made this shirt! I'll probably make different versions of it later, but for now this design feature bright pink (almost neon) text with the Army star symbol in the corner. It's both vibrant and fresh! Check out the Retired Army Wife shirt and gifts!

Labels: advertising, army, cafe press, cafepress, clothes, family, funny, gifts, kids, military, parenting, shopping, stores

The Most Important Blog I've Ever Written

So Joe and I hadn't really discussed his surgery much up until tonight. The word "surgery" scares the shit out of me, but deep down I figured it was no big deal. I mean.. it's just an ankle, right? Basically, all I knew is that they were going in his ankle, shortening some ligaments and some other medical stuff that I don't understand. But apparently, it's much bigger than that.. and that's the reason I'm still up at it's 3am.

Joe informed me tonight that they are putting him under. That terrifies me. I was under the impression that he'd get a local anesthetic.. maybe some laughing gas or something. I had no idea they would completely knock him out and put him under, or that he would have his leg open for three hours.

And then it occurred to me that today may have been my last full day with my husband. Sometimes, people don't wake up from that shit. I don't know how common it is or isn't.. and frankly, I don't care. A .01% chance is high enough for me and really threw a lot into perspective. For the past three nights, I've been yelling at Joe to stop snoring.. when I may never hear that snoring again. And maybe we should have spent today doing something special. We didn't.. and I can never get today back. That made me realize that I should treat every day as if it's special.. because it may be the last one we ever get.

So then Joe starts talking about how he doesn't have a living will - which made it all the more real to me that this is really going to happen and it's serious enough that he really should have a living will written out and that something could very well go very wrong. He wouldn't have even made mention of needing one if he didn't think it might be necessary.

And then I thought of Hailey, and watching her play with her daddy and how much I love watching them play and hearing her squeals of laughter.. and how Monday night may be my last chance to ever hear that again. And she loves her daddy SO much and I know he loves her - even if he sometimes has a hard time showing it.

I feel like I have a knife in my heart and someone is just twisting, stabbing and wrenching it repeatedly. I feel sick.. and dinner is in the toilet. I don't know what to think or do. I've never experienced this sort of thing before and will have no time to cope or prepare before Tuesday. I mean, I wish I'd known all of this sooner, although I doubt that would have done any good. How does one prepare for this sort of thing!?

I have no idea how I'm going to make it through Tuesday. I keep playing scenarios through my head and just bawling my eyes out. My mind is racing. I just don't know how I'm supposed to get through a day in a hospital with a near 10 month old and knowing that they are going to put my husband into a sleep he may never wake up from. I'd apologize for being dramatic.. but this is serious shit.

Great.. and now he's mad at me for being upset. Of course I'm upset! Why wouldn't I be upset!? I've never been SO worried about anything in my entire life. I'm afraid of having to wake up without him. I'm afraid of being 22 years old and having to bury my 26 year old husband. OF COURSE I'M FUCKING UPSET!!! Why in the world would I not be? He told me "don't worry about me". Uhh, too late!

And Hailey is having a bad night I guess. She's up for the fourth time. This isn't like her at all. She's so crabby tonight. I let her dance in her bed a while when she got upset. She wore herself out and went back to sleep. But now she's up again and crying. *sigh* I'm sure it could be worse... but I wish she hadn't picked tonight and I wish Joe had told me all of this shit sooner - although I don't know what difference it would have made.

Usually my blogs make me feel better. Not tonight. I'm gonna try to go sleep, although I doubt that's gonna happen. :(

Labels: ankle, ankle surgery, army, dads, family, fathers, Hailey, Joe, kids, Kimi, life, marriage, military, parenting, surgery

Prepping for Surgery

I haven't blogged in a few days. My mind seems to be swimming lately and my ADHD is driving me insane. I try so hard to control it, but I'm having a horrible time concentrating on anything. Stress plays a major factor... and with my husband's ankle surgery coming up, I have plenty of that!

I don't even know what time the surgery is for. That's the Army for ya...give you a place and date, but no time! We won't know until tomorrow - which means getting a babysitter is completely out of the question. I have no idea how well Hailey will handle the hospital. I just don't feel right dropping Joe off and telling him to call me when they are ready to send him home. :( But at the same time, I can't spend the whole day at the hospital with her. That's not going to go well at all and will just make the whole situation more stressful.

I think Joe will come home Thursday at the latest. I'm not 100% sure. I just know that he's supposed to stay at least overnight. I'm gonna miss him SO much. Geez.. we've only really been apart for a couple of weeks total - and that was when we first started dating.

We have a lot to do, but Joe is pretty into sleeping and lounging around. I can understand that.. because he must be nervous. Hell..I'm nervous and I'm not getting my ankle cut into. I wanna get downstairs more living friendly. Joe will be sleeping on the pull out bed/couch for a while and I have no idea how in the world we're getting him upstairs to shower. He'll need to shower at least once a dang week or I may need to evict his stinky self. lol

I'll be doing a lot of driving and bill paying myself. Scary. I never pay our bills. Joe always does it. But there is no way he can go out and do those things in a cast. I'm not even sure how long he'll have the cast...but he'll have leave from work for six weeks so he can heal and learn how to walk again.

I was hoping we could borrow some money from someone and simply pay all of the bills way ahead of time so it would be covered, but I guess that isn't going to happen. At least most of them can be paid online.. which helps a bit.

Anyways.. please keep our family in your thoughts on Tuesday. This is the first of what will probably be many surgeries for my husband!

Labels: ankle, ankle surgery, army, blogging, dads, family, fathers, life, military, money

What Makes a Parent

I'm member to so many parenting groups on MySpace (not to mention, I moderate six of them). But one that I'm most active of is a group called "Young Parents" - which is basically what it sounds like. The ladies in there are as young as 15 and as old as 30 (the 30 year olds are either there to be bitches and judge, or they were once a young parent as well). The group has a few trolls - people who use fake profiles simply to come in and stir trouble, but for the most part is a rather productive group.

We've had our share of stupid people in the group. I have been a member for two years now and I've certainly seen my share. But what came up last night, takes the cake for me.

There is a 19 year old girl in the group (we'll call her Bri) who has no children, has never had children, and will not be having any children in the near to distant future. She works in a day care, and actually believes that working in a day care makes her qualified to give advice to people about kids. She's made this claim before, and the mod asked her to leave the group a whole year ago (she didn't ban her..in case she ever did have children).

But last night, things got "worse" if you will. Bri actually suggested that she is raising the children she watches at work a few hours per day. You're joking..right? Let's examine her first thought...

"I have to say that there are some jobs out there that are harder than taking care of a child. I'm not saying taking care of a child isn't hard, it is. I care for alot of children everyday. The nice thing about not working outside of your home, is you get to work in the comfort of your own home. There are children annoying me all day. LOTS of children. If I am alone w/o help, I can't pee whenever I need to. You can at home though..."

First off, there is NO harder job in this world than raising a child. There just isn't. Not only is physically demanding, but it's mentally and emotionally demanding as well. We are shaping people...REAL PEOPLE. We are teaching right from wrong and literally raising the future of this world. There is no harder job, and there is no job more important either. Being a parent is the most fulfilling job I have ever known and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

We don't get to just pee whenever we need to. Either someone is trying to stick their little fingers under the door to wave at us, tries to go in the bathroom with us to "help" or they sit outside the door screaming while you just take 2 minutes to yourself to do your business. Before you are a parent, you don't even realize how precious alone time in the bathroom - even for a couple of minutes, really is.

So then, this girl starts ragging on stay at home mothers as well, basically suggesting that we have it the easiest of all. Oh, how very little she knows.

"I am sure I could handle being a stay at home mom and I still wouldn't call it a harder job than someone else's. It depends on the job. Yeah, it's a hard job, but once you get the hang of it, it gets easier and you adjust."

Oh really? I don't recall it getting any easier. Being at home all day with our children means not paying someone else to take them for even a couple of hours each day. We have them ALL day, which means very little time for ourselves. Don't get me wrong..I adore being a SAHM, but it doesn't just get easier. It gets harder, because the children grow up and the job is always changing. It's not like working at McDonald's where every day in the same and you simply get used to the routine. No..children make every day completely different from the last!

The next issue will make you laugh. A woman told her that raising children is a lot different than taking care of children like day care workers do and her response was just hilarious.

"We do raise these children. We teach them everything. We teach them how to walk, talk, use the potty, etc. It's more than just taking care of a child. This isn't babysitting for a couple of hours where you sit on a couch and throw some toys on the living room floor until the parent(s) come home."

Well, I don't know what kind of babysitting she's been doing, but I sure as hell never sat on the couch and simply threw the kids a few toys, waiting for the kid's parents to come home. That part of her comment makes me wonder what she really thinks of being a parent, and if that's what she thinks we really do all day.

As for "raising" the kids in day care. Um..I don't think so! You are NOT raising those children!!! That's what they have parents for! You are simply paid to watch over them, change them, feed them and keep them safe while their parents are out earning money to be able to support their faimilies. Watching a kid a few hours each day is not raising them. Oh boo hoo, you had to change a diaper or clean up spilled juice. That is not parenting!

Here is what it means to be a parent (Thanks to Lindsay for a few of these).

You know more about medicine than most doctors.

You discover your parents were right, damn it.

You find yourself doing and saying things your parents did and said to you despite your childhood vows to the contrary.

8:30pm seems like an ungodly hour but 5am does not.

There is a three letter word that beats sex: bed.

You can hold a conversation, monitor 360 degrees around you, eat, hold a baby and think it all normal.

You can spot another parent without speaking or even knowing them.

The idea of a good night is no phone calls, all errands done and everyone in bed before 8pm.

You miss hangovers.

The sight of vomit/blood/poo/pish/drool and any other bodily fluids have no impact on you whatsoever.

You can video, take a photo with a separate camera, sing happy birthday and blow out the candles at the same time.

You can patronize your single and childless friends with "just wait until you have kids"

You realize what non-returnable really means.

Adult interaction consists of reading emails...including spam.

The thought of watching kids sing old songs out of tune for an hour fills you with excitement and pride.

Juggling looks easy.

You can actually be not two but three places at once.

You can hand out advice like this.

You can watch your kids make and do all the same stupid things you did.

You can listen to your kids going through the same with their kids as you went through with them...and laugh about it.

You can sing the theme songs and know the characters of 72 different kids shows and movies.

Your TV is permanently set on the cartoon channel.

When you have to drive 30 minutes to go get a teddy bear you forgot because your 3 year old WILL NOT sleep without it at 2 am, then you are a mom.

When you HAVE to buy an extra ice cream because Billy (the imaginary friend) needs one too.... and you do it because it's just easier, then you are a mom.

When you are playing "ariplane" and laughing because your precious little child is laughing too and all of a sudden you have a mouth full of baby vomit without warning, then you are a mom.

When you are up until 1 am with a sick baby and you finally get them to sleep... 10 minutes later you go in to check and the diaper has exploded 5 different shades of brown and green shit ALL over the place... Now you are washing sheets until 3 am because they won't sleep without their favorite blankie, then you are a mom.

When you just finished mopping the kitchen floor and your lovely child drops the gallon of grape juice and watches it spread like wildfire under the table, fridge and stove... then says "Ohhh pretty purple!", then you're a mom.

When you wake up to giggling in the kitchen to find your child has 18 eggs cracked all over the table, chairs and floor (don't worry, one is on the plate) and the eggs are mixed with chocolate syrup... you're little chef looks at you proudly and says "Mommy I made breakfast for you" and you just smile, then you are a mom.

When your kid puts the cat in the toilet because they need to wash the marker off before you find out, and now you are kissing kitty scratch boo boo's covered in toilet water JUST to stop the crying, then you are a mom.

Until then... you are NOT a parent. And you have no idea what being a parent is.

And this is one of my favorite little stories about C.A.A.D.D.

C.A.A.D.D.

Recently, I was diagnosed with C. A. A. D. D. - Child Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. This is how it manifests:

I decide to do the laundry. As I start toward the
basement, I notice that there are cheerios all over
the floor and my car keys are in the cereal bowl.

I decide to pick up the cheerios before I do the
laundry. I lay my car keys down on the counter, put
the cheerios in the trash can under the counter,
and notice that the trash can is full. So, I decide to
take out the trash.

But then I think, since I'm going to be near the
mailbox when I take out the trash I may as well pay
the bills first. I take my checkbook off the
table, and see that there is only one check left, my extra
checks are in my desk in the office/playroom, so I
go to my desk where I find a sippy cup full of
juice. I'm going to look for my checks, but first I
decide I should put the sippy cup in the
refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the sippy cup a
vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye --
they need to be watered. I set the sippy cup on the
counter, and I discover baby wipes that I've been
searching for all morning. I decide I better put
them back in the bathroom, but first I'm going to
water the flowers.

I set the wipes back down, fill a container with
water and suddenly I spot the TV remote, one of the
kids left it on the kitchen table. I realize that
after school when they go to watch TV, I will be
looking for the remote as they fight over who lost
it, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen
table, so I decide to put it back in the den where
it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.
I splash some water on the flowers, but most of it
spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back
down, get some paper towels and wipe up the spill.
Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I
was planning to do.
At the end of the day: the laundry isn't washed,
the bills aren't paid, there is a warm cup of juice
sitting on the counter, the flowers aren't watered,
there is still only one check in my checkbook, I
can't find the remote, I can't find the wipes, and
I don't remember what I did with the car keys.
Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done
today, I'm really baffled because I know I was
busy all day long, and I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try
to get some help for it, but first I'll check my
myspace.

Labels: adult, babies, dads, family, fathers, funny, kids, life, matenity, parenting, pregnancy, womanhood, women

Christmas Is Coming!

Can you believe that there are less than 100 days until Christmas!? Geez. This year will mark my daughter's real "first". I mean.. she was SO little last year (she was less than a month old). I doubt she'll get really, really into it, but I'm sure once all of her gifts are open, she'll have a blast!

We're supposed to go up to Connecticut for Christmas to spend it with my husband's family. We couldn't last year - Hailey was so small and Joe was working a weird schedule that couldn't allow for more time off from work (especially after taking 3 weeks paternity leave for the birth of Hailey). We spent it with my parents instead.

Unfortunately, this will be the first time anyone in Joe's family actually gets to see Hailey (aside from Joe's mom, dad and step dad). She'll already be over a year old by then. That makes me sad. Joe's family deserves to get to see her, but it's just impossible to get up there any sooner (although Joe joked about going up there while he's on compensation leave from his ankle surgery.. but I really don't think that's a good idea lol).

I'm really looking forward to going tho. I could use the vacation. I know, I know.. I don't really work - at least not outside of the home. But it's nice to get out and go out of town and have fun for a little while. Plus, I'm totally excited to see SNOW! Oh boy.. do I ever miss snow! And I can't wait to toss Hailey in it and watch her make baby snow angels!

We have so much to buy before our trip there - mostly winter clothes for Hailey and for myself. But we also are wanting to buy one of those storage bin things for the top of our car. I'm sure Hailey will get lots of gifts being the baby of the family (actually..she's the last Tewksbury [as of now anyways lol] so she's definitely the baby!). I know we'll probably stay at least a week, so that's a lot of clothes for the three of us to pack, plus Hailey's toys, bathroom essentials, pack n' play and the like. We have a Subaru Impreza - the hatchback version, and I just don't know how we're going to fit it all! So we definitely need one of those storage bin thingies!

I have no idea what to get her for Christmas. I know she'll get lots of toys from Joe's family... and that's a pretty darn big family. lol So, I know I can't go too overboard because she's already going to end up with enough to play with. lol As silly as it sounds, I'm definitely buying her a few shirts from my own store that I have made up for her. Clothes make a good gift anyways! lol I know I'm getting her the Definitely Nice shirt from my store. I LOVE it and might get myself the Definitely Naughty one to "match". I think that would be so cute!

Speaking of Christmas...

I had intended to write a sort of Family Christmas Letter and send it along with a Christmas card. I suppose we still could for family we may not see this year. But, I know the majority of Joe's family will be around come Christmas so it seems almost redundant since I really could just sit and talk to them. I'm still going to give cards of course. I'd love to buy everyone something, but I don't think I could afford it. :( Bleh.. Maybe I'll just write the letter and everyone can read it anyways, so I don't have to tell the same year long story 100 times! HaHa!

Well, get your lists ready folks. Christmas is coming up FAST! Living on a pretty strict budget, it's something I need to think about and plan for now while I still can!

Labels: cafe press, cafepress, christmas, clothes, family, holidays, kids, money, shirts, shopping, winter

Why Men Make Terrible Mothers

Deep down, my husband is a loving, caring Father who would do anything for his wife and daughter. But on a day to day basis, he's seriously lacking in the parenting department. Now, I'm not speaking for all men, because I realize there are some wonderful single fathers out there. But my husband has absolutely no common sense when it comes to our child.

My pregnancy was spent with the normal belly hugs, tummy rubs and excitement of becoming parents. My husband constantly told me how excited he was for the arrival of our daughter, and told stories of everything he would do with her - from playing in the park, to watching Sunday morning cartoons together. But something happened when my daughter came into this world... My husband suddenly lost all common sense and clearly has no idea what parenting is about.

Fast forward to today. Today was supposed to be a day for me, and Joe was going to watch our daughter Hailey all day until he had to go to work this afternoon. This included everything - from diaper changes to feeding and playing with her. Little did I know that in the 9 1/2 months our daughter has been in this world, that my husband had paid no attention and hasn't the first clue when it comes to providing for her...not even for just a day. That scares me of course. I mean, I'd like to know that if I croaked tomorrow, my husband could keep our child alive. I honestly don't see that happening.

Here is how the conversation went today when it was time for Hailey's breakfast:

Joe: So um, where's her food?
(I hand him some apple sauce for her to have with some cereal for breakfast)
Joe: Oh, She eats THAT?
Me: No Joseph.. I've been eating it for her.
Joe: Well doesn't she eat formula for like a few more months?
Me: Yes, but not as entire meals any more...and hasn't for a couple of months now.
Joe: So like, do I put it in a bowl...or.....
Me: Good Lord.. just give it to me!

Don't get me wrong, I WANT him to learn! That's why instead of making Hailey wait longer for breakfast, I took and prepared her meal (with him watching) and went to go feed her. He was supposed to pay attention and watch..but of course did not.

I wager that bath time tonight is going to be quite interesting. I'd like to give my husband more credit, but I feel that I will have to stand close by to watch to make sure he doesn't accidentally drown the poor kid.

Labels: babies, dads, family, fathers, funny, Hailey, Joe, kids, life, parenting, pregnancy, rest and relaxation, womanhood, women

I'm Turning 22.

My birthday is coming up and I'm hitting the big ol' 22. Just five more days and we're there It's funny.. because when I was eleven years old, 22 seemed so ancient! And here I am, double that age now.

My birthday is throwing a lot into perspective for me. Staying at home with a child, running my CafePress store and being married, aren't exactly things I expected to be doing right now. Don't get me wrong..I LOVE my life. This just isn't what I saw myself doing.

I had plans. They are very different from my plans now..but I did have some. I imagine if life hadn't lead me down a new path four years ago, I'd still be in college working towards law school. Yikes. I shudder to even think of that. Law school is FAR from any plans or ideas I have for my life. Why in the world did I ever want to go to law school!?

What are the new plans? Well, I'm following a 5 year goal (it's more of a set of goals to accomplish in the coming years..not really a plan lol). Well, actually it's a 4 year plan since my husband and I came up with it a year ago. A lot of the plans hang in the balance. I have goals...I just have to wait for them. That's what makes being a military spouse so frustrating! The hurry up and wait is annoying. I want out of Georgia. I want my husband out of the military - two things that WILL happen.....it's just going to take a lot of time, surgeries, paper work, patience (something I have less and less of these days) and what have you in order to get there. I don't know if it'll happen in three months from now, or a year from now!

1. I want to go back to school. I don't even really need a degree. I don't care about that right now. I think that's why I wasn't very successful with college the first time. It was boring and I dreaded going. If I'm going to spend a fortune on education, I want to spend time learning what I want to learn. Right now, that's graphic and website design. Everything I know, I learned by tinkering around for the past 3 years. No one taught me any of that. If I can learn all that I know by trial and error the past few years, just imagine what I can learn in a class!

2. I want my own home - something that's probably at least a year away. I know I have to wait until my husband is out of the Army. That's a given. I know that we will immediately move up to Connecticut where he's from. We'll probably stay with some of his family for a little while until we're settled back into the state and he gets a job. I don't think we're going to bother with renting again. We've been renting our current town home for a year and a half...and it has definitely taught me the ups and downs of renting vs owning (owning coming out very much on top too).

3. We want more children. Actually, we tried to conceive for a little while, but some some physical issues weren't allowing for it (and still aren't). I'm not sure if we should even try for a while. I feel like this is a bad time..although really, is there a good one? I don't know when Joe's med board will be complete or when we'll be moving. Will I be pregnant then? Will I be waddling around 8 or 9 months along? lol What will Hailey think? If I were pregnant tomorrow, she'd be about 19 months old. Would she be ready then to take on the role of big sister? Would I be ready to take on the role of mommy to toddler AND baby? lol

All of these.... and I'm about to turn 22. lol Like I said.. not even close to the plan I thought I'd be following right now. Four years ago, I would have been content to just not be living under my parent's roof! haha I imagined I'd be living in my own apartment with a room mate or something right now. Well, I guess I kind of am..except I'm married to one of my room mates and the other one drools a lot.

I wonder what's to come for our family in the coming years. I wonder what my goals will be when I hit 25. Yikes!...25!? lol

Labels: babies, birthday, family, goals, Hailey, Joe, kids, Kimi, life

Best CafePress Shop?

Do you like our designs, but maybe can't afford to buy anything and support us? Are you looking for a way to help out, and don't know how? That's GREAT, and I have the solution(s) for you!

Here is a list of possible ways to help promote Kimi's Kustoms:

1. Post a link to our website (http://www.kimiskustoms.com) or our store (http://www.cafepress.com/kimiskustoms) on your personal website. You can use Squidoo, LiveJournal, Blogger, MySpace, your own website and more! *Note that when using MySpace, you must use http://www.kimiskustoms.com and you do so at your own risk. Please read the MySpace Terms of Use for more details on advertising.*

2. You can simply post a banner with our store URL on it! You can create your own, or you can use our newest banner. *Please do not hot link! Save it to your computer and host it yourself so that everyone can enjoy the use of the banner!


3. Purchase a Kimi's Kustoms Bumper Sticker for your car!

4. Blog about us! You can include us in any of your blogs. You can even link your favorite designs / products to show off to your friends!

5. Email your family and friends about us!

6. Vote for us Every Day at the following sites:





TopSiteList


Free TopSite

7. Check out our Affiliates page in order to learn how to make money supporting our store!

Labels: advertising, affiliates, bumper sticker, cafe press, cafepress, clothes, commission junction, family, marketing, money, rewards, shopping, squidoo

Squidoo.com

I've been a hardcore blogger for about three years now. I love writing everything down, but cannot stand actually writing! My blogs are all mushed together about different subjects in my life. I usually write about me, my daughter, my husband or my store..so they are all pretty personalized, instead of the whole blog sticking to one subject (What can I say? I'm a diverse person!)

It didn't take long being a CafePress shopkeeper to find out about Squidoo Lenses. It's sort of like a blog, but each topic is called a Lens. In each Lens, you generally talk about one thing (although I suppose you could treat it like a blog if you really wanted to). On top of discussing a subject or telling a story, you can use different modules / widgets to sell items from places like CafePress, EBay, Amazon, etc. And the best part? You can get PAID doing this! How awesome is that!?

I wish I had more time to devote to them. I have a few at the moment and will be writing many more of them. My most popular Squidoo Lens right now is the one I wrote about getting my nipples pierced. Yes, you read that right! You can check that one out here if you are interested Squidoo Lens: Nipple Piercings. Don't open with little eyes around (especially little eyes that can read).

Interested in making a Lens of your own? Great! You can sign up here: Join Squidoo! I promise it's worth your time, and it's fun!

If you would like to check out all of our Lenses, you can go here: Kimi's Kustoms Squidoo Lenses. If you sign up and check these out, please be sure to leave us some comments on your favorite Lenses, and throw us some rating stars! We hope you come to love Squidoo as much as we do!

Labels: advertising, cafe press, cafepress, family, marketing, money, shopping, squidoo, stores

Can You Stand It?

I love my daughter dearly, but she's driving me nuts with her standing! LOL The past two days, she's gotten a lot more into the pulling up to stand thing. The problem is, she doesn't know how to sit back down! Of course, I've tried to show her how, but she just gets mad. She's stubborn...like me. She doesn't want anyone to show her how to do it..but she gets upset if she's been standing too long and can't get back down.

I thought I was going to be smart. I moved the toy she kept using to pull herself up with, thinking she would stop doing it. I'm not trying to discourage her from pulling up onto things, but wish she'd at least use something she can't really get hurt on. But apparently, moving the toy didn't help. Instead, she simply used the wall. I don't think I could pull myself up palming the wall with my hands..so I don't know how she did it.

Kids do some amazing things... like the time I went downstairs to get Hailey's clothes from the dryer, only to come back to her crawled onto the bottom shelf of her changing table. Not a clue how she did it.. but it sure was funny. Note the devilish grin on her face. That's not the typical, sweet, angelic Hailey smile... lol

Labels: babies, family, funny, Hailey, pictures

Christmas Cards!

Wow.. can you believe we're gearing up for Christmas already!? Well, I have to start now, or other stores are going to leave me in the dust this holiday season! As of today, there are only 108 days until Christmas! Yikes!

I've slowly been adding Christmas cards to the store. You can find them here in the Winter Cards Section. We don't just have Christmas - we have Hanukkah and even some more general winter cards as well! Here are some of my favorites!

Labels: cafe press, cafepress, christmas, family, gifts, holidays, shopping, stores, Uncategorized, winter

Ankle Surgery

My husband had an appointment today (yes, on his 26th birthday) to talk to his doctor about his ankle. He's been having problems with it for years now.

His last MRI showed an 11x10x5 MM chunk missing in his ankle. The tissue is gone and the bone is simply rubbing up against each other every time he moves it. One of the bones is also pulling something else in his foot when he takes a step (sorry, I'm not a doctor and don't know the proper terminology for that lol). His doctor said "There are only 3 reasons why a person would need this surgery...and you have them all". <- Fabulous.

On Monday, Joe has to make an appointment for the actual surgery. The doctor said that it would be "sometime in the next month". After the surgery is done, he will have 21-36 days for recovery - it depends on how much they give him. He now has a 3 month profile, forbidding him from doing anything in PT that requires walking (which is funny, since walking was pretty much the only thing he had left that he was allowed to do).

It scares me that my husband is 26 years old and already beginning to undergo surgeries. He has a lot of physical issues - a lot of which are simply genetic and others are from wear and tear being in the Army for six years. But what's going to happen when he's 30? 40? 50!? :(

Labels: ankle surgery, birthday, family

An Introduction

I suppose since this is my first post, it's only fitting to give a nice introduction.

My name is Kimberly Tewksbury, but I prefer to be called Kimi. I'm 21 years old (although, I've got a birthday coming up on September 14th). I currently live in the Fort Gordon area of Georgia. Yes, I'm an Army wife and exceptionally proud.

I grew up in a small area just outside of New Orleans - more specifically, St. Bernard Parish. No, I didn't escape "the flood" and fortunately, no, I didn't lose any family in "the flood". I've lived in four states so far: Louisiana, Colorado, South Carolina and Georgia. I'm hoping to make it a fifth state in 2008 (Connecticut).

I've been married for about a year and a half to Joe, a man who has been my hero in so many different ways. We got married sort of on a whim. We hadn't picked an exact date, planned on getting married and picked up the marriage license - and ended up married that same day by a Justice of the Peace.

Joe is 25 (although, he too has a birthday coming up on September 7th). He's been in the Army for just under 6 years (October marks his 6th and hopefully final year in the military). He grew up in Orange, CT. He's spent time living in Connecticut, Arizona, Texas, a 14 month tour of Iraq and Georgia since he was sent "home" injured in 2005.

Together, Joe and I have a darling baby girl named Hailey Renee. She was actually conceived on our honeymoon (if you can call it that). She was born on November 29, 2006 - 11 days overdue! She was quite the stubborn little girl (still is some days). She's currently crawling, pulling herself to stand (and trying desperately to take some first steps). She babbles up a storm, but doesn't really have any words yet - just some mega cute noises.

I'm a work at home mom. My husband and I decided long ago that we would much rather me be home raising our children instead of sending our children to baby sitters and day cares (not that there is anything wrong with those). We would end up spending the majority of another pay check on gas and paying for those things anyways..so I may as well be at home.

But living on one income can be tough sometimes. We do alright, but could use the extra "umph". So, I started Kimi's Kustoms - a CafePress store geared towards clothing for everyone in the family. It's going rather well considering I just opened the store June 30, 2007. You'll probably see updates on the store in this blog, some of my favorite designs, products, etc from my store (and others too!).

Our lives are a bit up in the air at the moment, so the extra income will be a big help down the road. My husband is currently going through the med board process. I'm hoping that's all over by next summer (one can hope and dream).

Joe and I are World of Warcraft players...him more so than I! We run a guild together on the Zangarmarsh server called Divine Illusion. I tend to let Joe handle doing all of that. He tends to have more time to play than I do since I'm usually the one tending to our daughter.

Well, I suppose that's about it. Stay tuned for more blogs!

Labels: cafepress, family, Hailey, introduction, Joe, Kimi, world of warcraft