Introducing a new Mom Blogger for A.B. Baby Boutique

I am proud to introduce you to our newest Mom Blogger Jessica Peterson and her beautiful family! She will be blogging about her experiences as a new Mom, sharing stories, trials and funny blurbs. Feel free to comment and share, laugh, cry, understand & relate as she shares bits and blurbs of everyday life as a Mom! Read her first post below:

Hello my name is Jessica. I am 32 years old and 7 weeks ago I finally got the dream job that I spent 9 months dreaming about. I am finally a M-O-M! So far I have made it through jaundice, formula troubles, projectile vomiting, constipation and now I find myself having to choose how to vaccinate my son. With autism being talked about more and more these days and the speculation of vaccinations possibly playing a part in it, I decided I owed it to my baby to do some research on my own. I have chosen to use an alternative vaccination schedule which will only allow him to receive 1 shot that contains aluminum at a time. Aluminum seems to be what some doctors are concerned about infants getting too much of at one given time. He will still receive all of the vaccinations that are recommended but will have them split up to where he will have to get them once a month instead of every few months. That part of it I do not like but I do feel that we are doing the best we can as parents on our part to hopefully prevent Autism. There has to be something we are doing different that wasn't done when I was growing up because it seems like autism is everywhere. Maybe I have it all wrong. Maybe it is in what we are eating now with all of the added hormones, but either way, with a healthy diet and the alternative vaccination schedule I can do my part in preventing this from happening to my son.

Gotta Have these knobs!

When I saw these fabulous hand painted wooden knobs by Mickie Calascione of La Rysch Designs, I had to know more! They are gorgeous! Each knob (there are dozens to choose from) is 1.5" in diameter and is coated with 3 layers of non-toxic clear acrylic. They are ready to install with hardware included. Why not spruce up the bedroom with these works of art for a perfect finishing touch! I asked Mickie to tell me more about herself and how she began creating these fabulous little paintings on wooden knobs!

Here is her uplifting story:


"As a former elementary school teacher, kids, color and fun have always played an important role in my life, and of course, getting a little messy along the way. After the birth of our 4th child, teaching was not an option any more. Our 4 yr old at that time(now 8 and healthy as a horse), suffered from chronic croup , constant asthma attacks, scary visits to the emergency room in the middle of the night, treatments under my desk at school, and "my" calling more subs than I care to imagine; so we said, "enough already". I was finally "just a mom". A role I had wanted to play for a long time. I won’t say that it was easy, financially it was hard, but worth every penny we didn’t have any more. God has blessed us 4 times with the most perfectly, wonderful children anyone could wish for, and no amount of "Gold" in the world could replace the riches that we already have in them.
Since then, four years have passed; our children are older, happy and healthy; our 2 dogs have turned into 3dogs plus 2 cats; and our pennies are still pennies, but now I have more time to "do something with that art thing", my husband, whom I love dearly, likes to say. My dream has became reality, "La Rysch Designs" is here to stay . Born out of the love of my family, and named after my children (Ryan, Lauren, Shelby, and Cheryl). My business allows me to be a mom and wife first, and do what I love to do daily- create, enjoy life, and dream a little.
I believe that if anyone has a dream out there, no matter how big or small, believe in it and it will become reality. So many of us wait for the perfect time, save for the right amount of money, wait to have children, etc, and then the "perfect" time has already come and gone. If "we" had waited for any of the above, than our perfectly, wonderful children would still be waiting up there on their stars, La Rysch designs would still be a dream, and no one would be able to have any of these cute, little, whimsical creations of mine! "

~Mickie Calascione

What an inspiration! Thank you Mickie for sharing your talents and wonderful story with us! If you are a boutique or store owner and would like more information on how you can add these fine knobs to your inventory, please contact Mickie directly at: laryschdesigns@hotmail.com