NOT TOO SHABBY!

WOW! I just did a google search for our site using the 5 main keywords and guess what?!?!?!? http://www.BeautifulBabyBirthAnnouncements.com / Traditions From The Heart could be found anywhere from page 1 to page 3!!!! That means, out of over 1,000,000 people who do stuff similar to me, if you search for birth announcements, photo birth announcements and so forth, you will find us anwhere from #1 to #30! Like I said, NOT TOO SHABBY! Can you believe that?!? I can't either. We have been at this for 3 years now, and it is so fulfilling! I love what I do and hope I bring joy to all of those I work and design with and for! I just cannot tell you how thrilling this is! SEO, Search Engine Optimization is one strange thing! I have now spent 18 months trying to learn it. I do not think anyone really knows anything about it except for the google excecutives themselves. But this little peon who, started out only knowing how to purchase something online has developed quite a thing here! And has loved doing it! :) Thank you all for sharing that journey with me! Who knows what the next 3 years will hold. I cannot wait to see!

I am thinking about starting something new on the site! Tell me what you think! I am thinking about offering designs that you can buy and pop your own photo in the template and type your own message using your own photo editing software at a much lower price. It will just include the downloaded template, but you can then have your photos printed wherever you want, and buy or make your own envelopes. What do you think? Is this something you think you might be interested in? Give me feedback below. It might be something kind of neat! This will be PERFECT for those occasions that you just want 1 - 5 cards for a small party, or event. I will have the first one up next week for Mother's Day. These will be perfect for Grandma's or even for yourself. I am thinking they will sell for $5 but you can reuse them anytime and as often as you like! So, go ahead, tell me what you think! :)

Also, don't forget, free stationery to every 25th person to follow the blog!! AND the 15th order every week from the site is FREE! No matter what size your order or what product you order, FREE! So keep those orders coming! :)

CLICK HERE FOR THIS WEEK'S SPECIALS!

Hope your day is great!

ON A LIGHTER NOTE!

Ok, so yesterday was a culmination of a very bad month! Today has begun a NEW month! I forgot to mention yesterday that the twins turned 4 on Easter Sunday!!! HOW COULD I FORGET?!?!? Oh yeah, it's because we did much of nothing for them poor things because everybody was so very sick! We have yet to celebrate with family therefore, eve though we gave them their gifts, they did not get their requested cakes yet and do not feel we have celebrated properly! LOL Aren't 4 year olds funny? Thy now proceed to ask me every day when are we going to get our Pooh Bear with a Balloon and our Ariel cakes? LOL Your guess is as good a mine. :) We were suppose to have the entire family over for an Easter lunch and egg hunt! That did not happen! I will let you know when it does! :)

Today is now laundry day! Have you ever been in a house where 5 people live and the laundry has not been officially done in a week? WELL, try 3 weeks!!!!!!!!!!! LOL I think I am down to about 4 loads left, not counting the ones in the washer and dryer, they are considered done since they are no longer on the floor! LOL I am cracking myself up today! Miss Suzy is coming today, she will help immensely. She is the only reason I have not disappeared in the midst of the last month into a deep, dark, black hole! But she is sick with allergies now, so we will have to cut her some slack. :) Even with her at 50% she accomplishes more than I can in a full day! She is my home's, lifesaver! :)

Anyway, don't forget to follow and don't forget the specials this week. I think they end on Friday!

Have a great day!

Don't forget the discounts this week!

Well, it has been 3 weeks now since I started getting sick. During that time my mom was hospitalized with spinal meningitis, (viral thank goodness!), My son got pneumonia, youngest daughter got an ear and eye infection, I got an upper respiratory infection that added a sinus infection, my brother got back from Afghanistan and a good friend went home to be with Jesus!! I still do not have my voice completely and I am actually wondering if it will ever come back! ALL of this was ALLERGIES GONE COMPLETELY AWRY!!!!!!!! How can that be?!?!? As mentioned in a previous post, SPRING: It's a LOVE/Hate thing! I so look forward to it every year and so fall prey to it every tear as well!

The meningitis thing was a HUGE education lesson for us all! They said there were 2 causes for it. The first was a sinus infection that went undiagnosed and treated and high stress in my mom's life led to the infection settling in her spine. Then a couple of days later, the Dr. saw her take her glasses off and rub her eyes! This is not uncommon for her at all. He said to never do that again! If you must rub your eyes, use a tissue or sterilize your hands before touching your eyes! The fluid in your eyes is the easiest way for infection to go straight to the spine! WOW! How does one go their whole life without hearing this stuff?!?!?! it is not until near death that you finally learn things. CRAZY! She is still not back at work, it could be yet another week! I know she is going stir crazy! She LOVES to be on the go, go, go all the time! I just keep reminding her, that is how she ended up in the hospital in the first place! She is now immune to one strain of viral-spinal meningitis! Did you know there are 7 strains? We did not either! LOL She had strain 6 and will never get that one again! I am not so sure how reassuring that really is! Anyway, tidbits of info as usual!

How does a young widow tell 3 small boys "Daddy is not coming home" how does she explain that he is no longer in pain and he is in Heaven with our precious heavenly Father, rocking our 2 babies that are already up there? How does she recover? How do you start life again and where do you start it?!?!?!?! These are all questions I have pondered over the last56 hours or so since the passing of our friend and neighbor on Friday afternoon. Mark had suffered from a cancerous brain tumor since November, just before Thanksgiving and the week before Christmas there was no sign of it at all! We were all convinced he was cured! They enjoyed a great Christmas and then in January he began having siezures! Come to find out the tumor was back and growing faster than ever! They tried an alternative therepy but to no avail! They finally had to just make his passing as comfortable as possible. HOW and WHY? Are what constintently come to mind. This got me thinking even more, what would I miss the most about husband if God decided to take him home tomorrow? Besides the obvious, what? One of the many things that crossed my mind, was she can no loger go run errands after the kids go down at night. I rarely do this as I am not a night person, but on those rare occasions that it has been a dreadful day and I just need to get away, that is the time I do it! What would you miss that you never thought about? Besides the obvious, my best friend, security, proud to be his wife, comfort, stability, a babysitter...What is something that comes to your mind as a 30something who is suppose to live well beyond the end of time! We are not suppose to go so young! I may add more to this later, but for now, I am leaving it at this.

NEW DISCOUNTS from Traditions From The Heart

Stationery by BeautifulBabyBirthAnnouncements.com

Baby Shower Invitations by BeautifulBabyBirthAnnouncements.com

Square invitations by BeautifulBabyBirthAnnouncements.com

Birthday Invitations by BeautifulBabyBirthAnnouncements.com

It's Good Friday!

This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24
This truly is a day for rejoicing in my home! We have been to many Dr's this week and have many infections running around our home, but with lots of antibiotics everyone is on the mend! And I only lost an hour of sleep last night. And we did not have to go to school, so more sleep was recovered! :) I am truly rejoicing in this day!

Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and delight in his salvation. Psalm 35:9
But even more so this day CELEBRATES the saddest yet most wonderful event of all time! It was this day about 2,000 years ago that my Lord and Savior took the burden of my sins to the cross. It is because of this that and His resurrection that I do not need to fear dying and what may come of that. It is because of that I have forgiveness. It is because of that I have been redeemed. Thank you Lord for paying that sacrifice for me. For thinking I was important enough to be saved by you. Help me to not be fearful in spreading that message to people beyond my reach. Help me to teach my children what is right and what is wrong. Help me to lead them right to you so that they to can have redemption and a strong love and desire for you! my soul truly does delight in YOUR salvation!

Traditions From The Heart Easter Egg Hunt

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If you can spot the newest item, and post the link here, you will get an extra 10% off your order!
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MY BROTHER MAY BE HOME TODAY!

My brother has been serving our country in Afghanistan for about 14 months. He has been on his way home for nearly a week, but has hit every obstacle along the way. He was hunkered down for days awaiting a lull in the bombing, he made it out and was awaiting a plane when he was informed that some of his paperwork had not arrived. He then had to go back to get the discharge paperwork that they forgot to give him. Supposedly he will enter the states today. We are keeping our fingers crossed and as my sister-in-law put it, we are down on bended knee praying today! Feel free to join in. :) To top it off, it is my Sister-in-law's birthday! Who could ask for a better birthday present?!?!? Happy Birthday Kim! Hopefully she will not have to settle for that! :)

How does a family recover from being apart for so long? How does a daddy go back to being in charge of a 10 year old who has not had a daddy for the last year of her life? How does he start right back into work so as not to miss a paycheck? All questions that I am sure will be answered over the coming months. It is beyond my comprehension. I cannot handle my husband being gone a 3 days, let alone, a week, month, year! Praise be to our service men and women and their families who strive to keep our country and our freedoms such. Thank you to all of you, from all of us who take you for granted!

On the home front, my mom was taken to the hospital Sunday, and after 24 hours of massive tests and questions, she was finally diagnosed with spinal meningitis!! If we had not had her taken to the hospital when we did, I truly believe we would be planning her funeral right now. She went to urgent care Saturday morning and they checked her white blood count, said it was fine and ruled out the flu, they sent her home and told her to come back the next morning! They went back, there was an hour wait so they ran home to tend to my little sister and get her situated with someone else. They were back in 45 minutes and they had already called my moms name. Therefore they were going to have to wait again. SERIOUSLY?!?!?!? This is in AMERICA! WITH INSURANCE!?!?!?!? My mom was so delirious at this point she just demanded to go home. I called about an hour later and she was completely incoherent and even more delirious! I told my dad to call 911 so that an ambulance would take her and she would get taken care of right away, vs waiting in the waiting room for hours. Sure enough, they checked her right in and began work on her immediately. To think what would have happened had we not been proactive!!! They are saying she had a sinus infection that she just did not have time to deal with, and was under much stress at work, (SHE IS A MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH TEACHER AND IT IS TAKS SEASON!!!!) Therefore, her immune system plummeted to the point that the infection settled in her spine. Guess what?!?!?!? It is TAKS week and the teacher is not there and does not even know when she will be alowed to return! Is it really worth it to crash the good teachers?!?!? I mean afterall, if the kids are not ready yesterday, will they really be today? And when it is a test of tricks and trades, is it really a test of the mind or who is craftier than the other? Very strange. I think I may have to homeschool on the years of the TAKS test here in Texas. It is not worth the stress! :)

I think that about sums things up here for today. Give me you input on how great and awesome our soldiers and their families are! (NO WAR OR PRESIDENT BASHING OF ANY SORT PLEASE THISE A FAMILY SITE!) Show them we care right here! Give me your input on teaching to the test rather than teaching the knowledge base needed for passing tests! Also, give me your input on teachers and educators on all levels and the pressure that these test put upon them. Hmmmm, a whole lot to think about today, isn't there?

~ SPRING! It's a LOVE/HATE Thing ~

Well, quite honestly this is my favorite time of year! I LOVE Spring, flowers are blooming, trees are budding, the dogwoods make it look like it has snowed the perfect dusting of snow all the while, it is so warm that you feel kissed by the sun with every step you take and the grass is finally turning green again! (Yes, in Texas, it just dies and turns brown.) All you want to do is be outside and enjoy this wonderful world that God created. Anyway, all of that said, the HATE side is, ALLERGIES!!!! They make it such that you cannot be outside! My poor son had an asthma attack yesterday, that was allergy induced. I have lost my voice (To my dear husband's dismay! LOL) and I sound like a seal barking out orders that nobody can really understand! The hacking cough that resounds throughout the house sounds like a chorus of snickering people talking about you behind your back. All the while all of the beauty that is taking place outside is watched from behind closed windows and doors so as not to allow any of that dreaded pollen, mold and whatever else is brewing out there, indoors! You have to run the AC just to clean the air indoors so that everyone can get back to normal some how, some day.

Another thing I ADORE about spring is, it is my twins birthday! I still do not know where the last 4 years have gone! That 8 month long pregnancy lasted much longer than these last 4 years! This year, their birthday falls on EASTER!!! How does that happen and how do you honestly celebrate with a Princess cake and a Mater cake on such a blessed and glorious day?!?!?!? :) The Mater is still up for debate though, it could very well be Spider Man, Super Man or even an Airplane for that matter. We will know for sure 2 days before the big day, when mommy sits down with him and says, seriously, what kind of birthday do you want, and whatever is named that day will be what it will be. :) Hmm, what am I going to do if he says something so impossible that there is no way to pull it off? Even for such an imaginative mommy such as I! It is though, so very special that their birthday is when it is, because you never know in the grand scheme of things when it will be in comparison to Easter. It is a surprise every year! :) We did the classic Easter egg hunt 2 years ago. 800 Easter Eggs, taking 2 weeks to fill! AND IT SNOWED!!!!!!!!!! Did I mention that we live in TEXAS?!?!?!? It never snows here! But it did that year. So we opted for the indoor Easter Egg Hunt. 45 seconds later the kids were wondering what to do next! It was so funny! And the mommy was so ill prepared for this day! Really, quite humorous!

Kinda makes you think though, is it better to be prepared for all circumstances, or to take life in stride and let it hit you as it comes. Ebb and Flow, so to speak. What is your take on this? Personally, I like to be fully prepared for whatever comes my way and if I am not, I run as fast as I possibly can. Ask any of my friends, my pantry is nearly always stocked for 3 months out! If you ever need ANYTHING, come shop my pantry, freezer or fridge for that matter! My mother on the other hand can actually go to the store 4 times while preparing one meal. DRIVES ME CRAZY! But my kids can have more fun with her than anyone else in the world! When she visits, you would literally think a hurricane blew through my home. (It normally looks as though a tornado did, but hurricane force winds are much broader than tornado. Are you getting the picture?) But every move she takes, is all about the kids and what ever is left in the wake of the winds is left behind as quickly as she blew through! They know that they have her wrapped around her little finger. They know that when she comes there is nothing more important in her world at that moment than them!!!! So, if it is confrontational on nearly any level I will run! Yes, there are some things I will take head on, but often those are the things that I know prior to, that I can and will conquer. Other times, I like to hide and act as though they do not exist. Whether it is an imagined situation, or actual confrontation it really does not matter.
So, think about it. Are you a planner or an ebb and flow kind of person? I think I am a little of both. Some things are so planned out that I am prepared for anything, but that does help one to be a little more ebb and flow because you can change gears at anytime.
Thanks for lending an ear! I am finally enjoying the blog thing. :)
Hope your day is great.
T-T-F-N, Ta-Ta-For-Now,
Monica :)

What the heck is Twitter really all about?

I am baffled! I am even more baffled because I actually got fussed at by a "long-time twitterer" for my "hot pursuit" of followers! :) Pretty funny really! I was researching this phenom called twitter, of which I had been a member of for nearly a year under a name that had nothing to do with the company. NOTHING HAPPENED DURING THAT ENTIRE YEAR!!!!!! LOL So, in an effort to JOIN the crowd, I started one with TFTH, short of course for Traditions From The Heart. I began researching even more and joined a group on Facebook, and on that group found a list that said share your twitter, and we can follow each other! Interestingly enough, I followed everyone on the list and I do not think it asks people to follow you, it just notifies that person that somebody new is following them. As a result of my "follow," I received this response from one of the people from that twitter list on facebook:

"sorry I stay away from those who are into gathering followers by the 1000s esp. as their first posts - I'm pickier -"

WHAT THE HECK!?!?!?!? I got fussed at from some chick who had her info on a resource site, who had 1,500+ followers of her own?!?!?!?! I was floored!!! Actually, I was laughing so hard I was nearly crying! Somebody, taking twitter so darn serious! LOL More than that, you are not notified when somebody "twits," so unless you stay on the page all the time and never go anywhere else, you are never going to know what 140 character tidbit of info, that your fellow twitterers are willing to share anyway! Once again, VERY CONFUSED! LOL

So I replied to this so-called fellow marketer, via her original posting of facebook, because I had far more than 140 characters to share with her, with this response:


"1000's!!!!!!!!! That is kind of funny since you have over 1,000 followers yourself. I actually have another twitter account not related to my business that I have had for over a year. I really do not get the twitter thing anyway, but all the buzz lately says twitter, twitter, twitter!!!!!!!! SO, I was on FB this morning on the shoestring marketing page and YOU were there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW! Your pic and all! It said, list your twitter so I did, and I added you from there. It was not like I hunted you down or anything like that, you gave your info to share with others who are in the same boat as you, well maybe as you were at one time. Don't belittle me for using a resource that you put out there. I have 21 followers and have no desire to even reach 1000!!!!!!!!!!!! I was just "twittering" like the rest of the freakin' world today! Good grief some people and their hypocritical attitudes. If you do not want anyone to contact you, you should remove yourself from resource pages!
Hope your day is great and have fun being picky!!!!TFTH from Twitter"

Seriously, I can understand if I posted in great big letters on her BLOG, CHECK OUT TRADITIONS FROM THE HEART HERE > http://www.BEAUTIFULBABYBIRTHANNOUNCEMENTS.COM but all I did was follow her and I got reprimanded.

Oh well, life is what it is, Ain't it Great to be Human?
Hope your day is great!
In the words of T-I-Double G- ER,
TTFN - Ta-Ta-For-Now!

What is Traditions From The Heart and Why?

Traditions From the Heart is exactly as it sounds. Everything is heartfelt and has everything to do with the family. I am antique at heart. I love old wood stuff and the clean crisp lines of mission design. You know, the furniture that is so heavy you cannot move it once you have picked the spot in the room to put it, but it looks beautiful with florals, swirls or straight lines, and old quilt or a brand new custom made fluffy feather comforter. This makes me smile. I also LOVE ORDER and adore those who can pull it off. :) In other words I spend everyday, trying to reach the goal of having some sort of order and organization in my life. If I do not have a list I will never get anything accomplished, but with a list, I know I can conquer the world! :) It is those days that I forget the list that NOTHING GETS ACCOMPLISHED! Please, tell me you can relate! :)

3 years ago, I started a company called Traditions From The Heart. I love graphic design, and all things that come with it. I had twins the year before and had been a teacher before starting a family with our first daughter in 02. I have always loved pictures, and scrap booking. Graphic design just let's me take those two loves to a whole new level! You will find that the design process is the part I LOVE the most! I love to receive the pictures and see what the card turns into. The transformation is beguiling and exhilarating all at the same time. You can visit the site at http://www.BeautifulBabyBirthAnnouncements.com Feedback is always appreciated and more than that tell your friends about us. Everything is custom, so look at the site as suggestions. Often times, once I receive your photos, and the design takes on a whole new look. My second favorite part is my customers. :) I feel like I know each of them personally. It is a fun process, designing your personal cards and stationery, so join the fun and see where it leads you! :)

I turned 37 last year and my hormones have been crazy for about 2 years! I am finally in good hands and getting everything straightened out! It is a good feeling. Even more than that, it is great feeling good for the first time in a long time. :) If you can relate, once again, feel free to share!! LOL As a result of feeling better, I do plan on being more organized and even more creative than in the past! :) Can you imagine?!?!? Even more creative than I have been? How can that be?!?!? :) Well, when the brain clears a whole new world seems to open up! :) Be on the lookout for new additions in the invitation section and the wedding line. :) Totally exciting stuff to come. Follow my blog and get your friends to as well and I promise I will update often! :)

Also, follow us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/people/Monica-Edwards/1337739493 for the latest in TFTH trends! :) Be the first to know about specials!

Also, a FREE set of CUSTOM STATIONERY to the 25th subscriber to the blog! :) Invite your friends and spread the word! :)
Looking forward to getting to know each of you personally!
Monica :)