I’m Andrea- high school science and math teacher, owner of an educational consulting business, Ph.D. candidate, foster mom to 14 kids, wife to Ian (often referred to as my Dizzle), and best of all, mommy to three AMAZING children, Grae (11.15.11), RJ (3.8.07, formally adopted in October 2014), and Gia (4.1.14).
Dizzle is a busy guy. He recently got his elementary education teaching certification, runs a business, and still makes time to take care of all of us- me, our three “forever” children, our current foster children, four dogs, a cat, a turtle, and a salt water aquarium. Am I a lucky girl, or what? 😉
Ian and I met when I was just 21, and it was love at first sight. We haven’t spent more than a night or two apart since. We also got dogs numbers 1 (Paris- North American Dingo) and 2 (Nova- Siberian Husky). At 23, we moved into our first house and here come dogs 3 (Demi- Chihuahua X) and 4 (Mac- Cavalier King Charles Spaniel). At 24, we moved to Atlanta together. At 25, we bought our first house and with it came dog number 5 (Deacon- Siberian Husky #2), and 9 foster children (not all at the same time of course ;)). We got married in September and it was, by far, the most magical experience of our lives. Less than 14 months later, our first baby was born! Graeson Royce arrived at 10:29 pm, 11-15-11, 8 pounds, 6 ounces and 29.5 inches long. Ian jokes that Grae couldn’t have been born at a more convenient time, as he thought I was going to bring home another pet every six months until we had a baby of our own! We have a crazy life, full of new adventures everyday- lets just say we like to live life on the edge- but in our eyes, it couldn’t be more perfect.
This blog was started originally as a diary for our first born son, Grae. We started journaling the day we saw (or didn’t see) the extremely faint pink plus sign on the pregnancy test. It has become more than just for the baby though, we have decided to share the entire experience with our family and friends, so that no matter where they are, they can feel close to the baby during this indescribable time in our lives.
If you are reading this, we would very much appreciate hearing from you and we welcome any advice for semi-first time parents, not to mention jockeying for position on the baby’s favorite people list… start your engines. 🙂
The Mielke Way 
Andrea and Ian,
Michelle and I are so happy for you both. Being parents is awesome and opening up your home to Foster Care Children is Outstanding!! We both can’t think of any other people that our boys could call, “Aunt Andrea, or Uncle Ian!!” Lucas is smiling next to me Andrea as I am typing this and wants me to tell you that HE LOVES AND MISSES YOU!! IAN ,(super dad) keep it up brother, wish I could tell ya it gets easier…….. LOL!! Love and Miss you Guys!!
The Straasburg’s
Love your blog! And, your wedding pictures are beautiful! 😉
Thank you so much (and thank you for taking the time to read it! :))
Hi
We have written a children’s fairy story based on the five human values of love, peace, truth, non-violence and right conduct. While these messages are weaved into the story it is also a wonderful fairy story that children love.It tells the story of Lucinda, who receives a fantastic painting from her grandmother which is really a portal into this marvellous Fairyland where she meets all sorts of wonderful characters such as talking animals, fairies and amazing people who live in there. It is the first in a series of five books. Based on feedback we are receiving from people who have bought the book adults are loving it too. It is illustrated beautifully by NJ artist Karen Goldsmith and the pictures are captivating. We would love if you would consider including it in your blog.
you can get an idea of the book by visiting: http://www.lucindainlovefilledfairyland.com
Thank you for your time
Love Love Love
Hello,
I cannot review items based solely on photos, brochures, or websites. I only will endorse products that I have personal experience with. This is essential to providing an honest opinion of each product. Therefore, a sample MUST be provided.
If you are still interested, you may contact me at drealee03[at]yahoo[dot]com to further discuss.
Regards,
Andrea
I just put together a private group of mama bloggers on FB. It is a place for us to cross promote with a specific target audience- families. Some of us will do craft and others food, etc! There are not any mandatory actions but a little love goes a long way. We hope to share, tweet, vote, stumble and click on our blogs to help our ratings and grow together in the new year! I hope you join us and I look forward to your input and invites as well!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/140871422694223/
You will need to visit the link with your private FB page and request membership in the right hand corner.
Clancy Cash Harrison MS, RD, LDN
http://www.healthybabybeans.com
or
FB: Healthy Lifestyle, Strong Family
Hi Andrea,
I like your Blog. I and my 4 year old daughter have developed an Iphone/Ipod/Ipad app for kids called Kids ABC Trace. Would you consider reviewing the app on your blog? Here is the video of the app in action: http://www.kobeenglish.com/KidsApps.htm
I love teaching kids and I love developing tools for teaching kids. I no longer teach actively for a living but here I am in action at my privately owned school in Japan: http://foxeikaiwa.com/nihongoindexkids.htm (we now live in Rhode Island)
I think there is a revolution going on in technology that can assist kids in learning things that were not possible previously. I want my daughter to be part of this revolution and I want to work with my daughter through this revolution and help to influence the shape and direction of how kids use technology to learn. Don’t worry, I am not one of those crazies that believes kids should sit down with an Ipad for hours and hours. But, I realise that most kids do sit in front of screens most of the day and I would like to influence the content that they view and interact with!
Would you consider reviewing our app on your blog?
Hi Dave,
I am not able to review items based solely on photos, videos, and/or websites. A sample must be provided. This is essential to providing an honest opinion of each product.
I’m interested in your app, and would love to bring it to the attention of the school that I work for, as we have a brand new class set of iPads in the kindergarten and Pre-K classes.
If you provide a free download of your app on a class set (20) of iPads I would be happy to review the app, and if we find it to be a great learning tool, I would be please to promote this among the Atlanta education community.
Contact me at drealee03[at]yahoo[dot]com if you would like to discuss this further.
Regards,
Andrea
Hi there!!
My name is Douglas Hosking and we, SemiColon Productions, just released a video called “What Teachers Make” online. It’s a defense of teachers and what they do for our children and we think it could really make some noise with your readers. Please let us know if you’re interested in posting it on your blog! Here’s a link to the video:
I hope you like it. More importantly, I hope your readers like it!
Thanks,
Douglas
Finally! A blog where the family is as crazy as mine! We have 7 kids, 4 dogs, 2 cats, some turtles, a few frogs, some fish and a bird!! We are in the middle of adopting 4 of the kids through CPS, while I am trying to finish my teaching degree. My hubby takes care of all of us doing auto restoration. And every single day we look for humor, but we tend to find chaos instead! 🙂
Hello,
I work for Online Ultrasound School.com , a website connecting prospective ultrasound and radiology technician students to accredited degree programs across the United States. We also strive to make our website a valuable resource for anyone seeking information about pregnancy and parenting. To that end, through our own research, evaluating factors such as peer recommendations, web presence, and content quality, we’re developing a list of useful websites for expectant mothers entitled Top 100 Web Resources for Expectant Mothers.
We are pleased to inform you that we have nominated Themielkeway for inclusion on our list!
Should you be featured on the final list, we’ll provide you with a badge to display on your website and to promote your inclusion on your social media accounts.
Once the list is published, we’ll be reaching out to other parenting bloggers and pregnancy websites to ensure maximum recognition for your site.
Additionally, if you wish to nominate another parenting blog or website that you feel is worthy of a spot on our list, please let us know. We’re still in the review and nomination stage.
Best,
Lauren