Wordless Wednesday

It's always fun when I go with Mommy to the beauty shop!

Post It Tuesday

A Little Chuckle

Last night while I was getting Alexis ready for bed, I noticed some boogies way up in her nose. Now, for those of you that know me, you are aware that I am a little OCD about getting boogers out and wiping snot noses. It's a pet peeve of mine. So, don't be offended if I'm around your children and I attack them with a tissue!

Anyway, I was digging around with a tissue and this stubborn booger just wouldn't come out. I even tried picking it out, still no luck. Well, I was bound and determined that booger was coming out. I asked Alexis if it would be okay if I used the thing on her that we used to get Isabel's boogers out. She said okay. I got the trusty nose bulb syringe out and attacked that booger. After about 2 or 3 tries the stinker still wouldn't come out. I gave it one last go and finally got a hold of it.

I wasn't sure how Alexis would respond because sometimes she doesn't like it when I'm picking at her and doing stuff like that. I thought she might freak out on me. She didn't..... She started laughing hysterically and said it tickled and to do it again! I gladly did and I won the battle with the nasty boogers last night!

My Movie Monday: Premier!

Good Morning!

My bloggy friend Chrissy has started her very own meme. (Still have no idea what meme means, just have seen it used, so I hope I'm using it right!)

I will be participating by uploading some videos I have and just because I want to support my bloggy friend! But, I must warn you, the quality of my videos is HORRIBLE. I take them on my cell phone and I have it set on the highest quality which only allows me to record for like 27 seconds. I know, I know, I really need an upgrade on the old cell phone. I'm eligible for an upgrade on May 1st, so I've already got my eye on which phone I want and I'm sure the video quality will be better on it.

So here is my first video! You really can't see much, but turn the volume up and what you hear will be guaranteed to make you smile!

Sunday Night Down Time

It was another crazy, busy weekend like usual for us.

Saturday, we all slept in until about 10 or so. I went and tanned after breakfast. Came home, got cleaned up and started getting things together to go to St. Louis.

My good friend Monica is getting married on April 9th and last night was her Bachelorette Party. The girls and I headed up to Mom's house about 1:30 or so. I had a few things I wanted to do before the festivities began.

I mentioned Friday that we are stressing about money. I had a few things that needed to be bought now, so I raided our change jar and cashed in some coins and got a little wiggle room with our money this week.

Mom and I went to JCPenney's and I found the cutest Easter dress for Alexis. Isabel is going to wear one of Alexis' old dresses and I already have shoes for both of them, but I still needed a dress for Alexis. I had found one at Penny's in Rolla, but they didn't have it in her size. I found the one I needed at South County. It was 50% off and then they were giving another 15% off at the register, plus I had another coupon for 15% off. I ended up getting the dress for 80% off the original price. I was pretty happy about that! It's so pretty, it has the same colors that Isabel's dress has. They are going to look so cute together. Can't wait to get some pictures next weekend.

I left at 7:30 to get over to Monica's house to catch the party bus. There were about 25 girls on the bus and it was lots of fun! I think I was the only one not consuming adult beverages, but I enjoyed myself for the short time I was there. They took us to River City Casino and we hung out there for a bit and then they took me back to my car so I could go back to Isabel. She wasn't doing so well without me.

The 3 weeks that I worked in December, Isabel did great with the bottle, but since I've been off work, I've not really worried about giving her bottles. I just kind of thought she'd pick it up just fine. Apparently I thought wrong. Mom said she cried almost the entire time I was gone and refused to take a bottle. So, the next month is going to be me figuring out how to get her to take breast milk when I go back to work. I asked for advice on MckMama's blogfrog community, so we'll see what kind of suggestions I get on what to try. Please feel free to leave me any advice you may have, I would appreciate it.

I left Mom and Dad's around 11:30 and headed home. We slept in again this morning until about 10. We got around and went down to some friend's house for a fish fry get together. We had a great afternoon down there. When we left there we headed over the Ross' Aunt Susie and Uncle Jimmy's house.

We visited with them for a couple hours. I'm not sure who had more fun, Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Susie, or Alexis and Isabel. They have 2 sons and 1 grandson, so I think they really enjoyed our little girls!

Came home, did supper, got baths, got the girls to bed and now Ross is watching some TV and I'm getting some computer time in.

Good weekend!

55555

5 questions with 5 answers each. I saw this on Murdock's Mama and Jenna's Jargon and I'm going to do it too, just cause it looks fun!

Question 1: Where were you 5 years ago?
* I was planning my wedding!
* I was still in my early 20's! (23 almost 24)
* I flew in an airplane for the first time to Mexico for our honeymoon!
* I was the Photo Lab Manager at Sam's Club.
* I was 50lbs. lighter than I am right now.

Question 2: What is/was on your to do list today?
* Go tanning
* Pack up for a day trip to St. Louis
* Go to Babies-R-Us and get Isabel some new pacifiers
* Hang out with my parents
* Go to Monica's Bachelorette Party!!

Question 3: What 5 snacks do you enjoy?
* Anything cheese, cheese slice, cheese stick, cheese cube
* Peanut butter on a spoon
* Yogurt
* Cheddar Chex Mix
* Bananas

Question 4: Name 5 places you have lived.
* Park Hills, MO
* Ste. Genevieve, MO
* Farmington, MO
* St. Louis, MO
* Steelville, MO

Question 5: What 5 things would you do if you were a billionaire?
* Buy fantastic things (homes, cars, etc.) for my parents and siblings and my spouses side too!
* Invest and save a whole bunch so my children, granchildren and great grandchildren could have an inheritance from me.
* Give a lot to charities.
* Build our dream home! (Our bedroom suite would almost be as big as our whole house is now!)
* Buy some ocean front property for a vacation spot!
As you can tell, I dream big sometimes! I really have no idea what I would do with a billion dollars, but I'd sure have fun!

Now, apparently you are supposed to tag 5 others to do this little quiz, so here's my 5:

Nel @ Wife & Mommy
Jaimee @ Busy Momma
Joyce @ Joyce Kay's Wild and Crazy Life
Christine @ A dAy In ThE LiFe Of A PrOuD MoMmY & WiFe
Kelley @ Mammalog 

Shameless Plugging

Hi Ladies!

I'm going to do a little shameless plugging for 2-Sweet Boutique. I just love her stuff! Here's the link to her Facebook. And here is the link to her blog.

It's an online shop of purses, wallets, diaper bags, and cool stuff like that. Some of you may remember when I got my purse.

She also makes kids stuff too. Here is where I got some personalized pillows for the girls.

Check out her stuff, I'm sure you'll love it!

Longest Day Ever

I know most people love Friday's, but today feels like the longest day ever. I don't get it either. I got up at 7:30 to nurse Isabel and she went back down right away, I decided to stay up and blog for a bit. Everyone was still asleep at 9, so I decided to lay back down. The next thing I knew it was 10:45 and Ross was getting up with Isabel. We all slept in this morning and it was awesome.

I tanned first thing this morning, came home, showered, then ate lunch. We were having some angel food cake with strawberries and cool whip when Ross' grandparents called and said they were going to stop by.

Ross left for work at 3:15. I paid some bills this afternoon and went to the bank and gas station and stopped by Ross' work for his first break. Now, we're back home and it feels like I've been going all day and it should be later than 6:15.

I've felt really draggy the last few days and I'm not sure why....

Ross and I are both stressing about money these days....

Debt sucks, we're trying to get out of it, but it seems like we just can't get ahead no matter how hard we try. The minute we free up some money every month, one of our bills decides it's going up. Here lately it's been a real challenge to make ends meet. Unfortunately it won't get any better when I go back to work, because I'll be making the same as I am on leave, or even a little less because we'll be paying sitters again.

I'm trying to be creative in the kitchen to make our groceries last as long as possible. I'm cooking more than I have in years. We have a lot of meat in the freezer, so that is a huge blessing!

I'm attempting to learn how to get the most out of coupons, not doing so well with that one. I can never seem to remember to give them to the cashier. The other day at Country Mart I actually used a coupon I had printed off of coupons.com and they wouldn't accept it, what a crock...

Sorry I don't have anything more uplifting to blog about, it's just a blah day.

Friday Follow

Good Morning! I'm going to participate in Friday Follow again this week.


Just wanted to let you all know that I will not be following any review/giveaway blogs.

5QF 3/26/10

It's Friday! Time for 5 questions with Mama M. Here we go!
 
1. Did you pass your driver's test on the first try?
I did......but thanks to my Dad I had to take the written part twice. I was one unhappy teenager and my driver's license picture is lifelong proof of it too!


I got my permit when I was 15½ just like all other teenagers did, but when I turned 16, my parents suggested I just renew my permit since I wouldn't be able to drive alone anyway. I was okay with that at the time. The only place I went was to work and both of my parents worked where I did, so it's all good. 16½ comes and I renew again.....finally I'm 17 and you can't renew anymore, you have to get a license now. So, Dad takes me, but my permit had already expired so that meant I had to take my written test again.

You can almost see the smoke coming out of my ears in that picture. But, fortunately, I was good at test taking so it really wasn't a big deal, just the point that I'd been asking my Dad to take me for awhile and he kept putting it off and that's why I had to take the written again.


2. What is your most embarrassing moment?
Warning: This story contains some embarrassing bodily functions.


Ross and I had been dating for a while and I still had not tooted in front of him. He headed down the hall one night to do some laundry and I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth. Well there I was bent over at the sink just scrubbing away, and thinking he was still down the hall, I decided to relieve myself of some gas pressure.

Since I still hadn't done that in front of him, there was for sure some pressure that night! And boy, oh boy *ahem* it was a dandy! Forgive me if I get a little graphic with it, but it's key to understanding how hysterical the story really is.

You know how it is when you're all alone and you hike your leg like the guys do and just let 'er rip? Well, that's what I did, because I knew I was alone and there was no chance he would hear me. It was looooooonnnnnnnnngggg and LOUD and just a wee bit stinky too!

And who happened to walk by just at that moment? Yep, the one and only, my true love! At first I think he was a little in shock and then he got the giggles. I was mortified! I had never been so embarrassed in my whole life. Once I got over being super embarrassed, I started to see the humor in it too. I'm pretty sure we laughed uncontrollably for about 15 minutes that night! And we still get a chuckle out of it to this day and that happened 9 years ago.


3. What TV show would you like to be on- Oprah, Biggest Loser, or What Not to Wear?
Probably Biggest Loser. I like Oprah I suppose, but why would I ever be on her show? I am fat though, so I'd qualify for Biggest Loser. I probably should be on What Not To Wear, but I could care less about fashion, as long as it's comfy! 


4. Would you ever get plastic surgery and what kind?
I've tossed around the idea of getting a boob reduction once I'm done being a milking machine, just to give them a little perkiness again. I don't really want to change their size. I'd just like for them to be present on my upper body instead of hanging out with my navel!


I'd consider having a little lypo done around the tummy area too. Just to get rid of all that stretched out mess of a belly that I've got. I don't think there are any number of exercises or sit-ups that could get rid of that flabbiness.


5. What are your favorite jeans to wear?
Jeans that fit and are comfortable...right now that would be my Old Navy jeans. Back in my skinny days it would have been my Ralph Lauren jeans. I'll never forget the day that my boss at the salon was outside taking a smoke break when I got to work and he told me that I had a sexy little wiggle when I was coming across the parking lot. It was totally not gross in any way because he was older, married and totally meant it as a compliment. It brightened my day that's for sure. Who doesn't like being told they look good?! I was wearing my Ralph Lauren's that day. I still have that same pair of jeans as my goal to get back into when I drop all this weight. Maybe someday....

Wordless Wednesday

Okay, maybe just one word...

Peek-a-boo!

Post It Note Tuesday

It's another Post It Note day, and today I have a variety of feeling and emotions to post about. Some cancel out the others, but that's the kind of day I'm having...

Picture Post!

The girls were just completely sacked out one afternoon for nap time in my bed and I couldn't help but take a picture. They are so sweet when they sleep, almost as sweet as when they are awake!

Isabel is such a happy baby and her sweet smile brings me so much joy. Earlier tonight I attended a visitation for a lady that I'd never met, but I know a lot of her family and I took Isabel with me, hoping that it wouldn't be weird that I had a baby with me at a funeral home. Her little sweet face brought some joy to the family that I was giving condolences to, and they seemed to appreciate a smile on a sad day for them.

Alexis just loves to make Isabel smile and laugh and she is so good at it. It amazes me every day how strong their sister bond is already at this young age. Saturday night when we went to Rolla, we left Alexis with her grandparents. Every time that Isabel looked over at the empty seat where Alexis sits, she fussed. I know that she was looking for Alexis and missing her.

My girls really love them some Sesame Street! Ross and I have been really surprised at how much Isabel watches the TV, but then we realized that we never put it on kids TV when Alexis was this young, so she never showed any interest in TV. But, man, Isabel hears Elmo and she will about break her neck to get to where she can see it! Forget trying to feed her if Alexis is watching Sesame Street because it isn't going to happen. We are trying to really limit TV time because of how much Isabel tunes into it. I'm pretty sure TV isn't good for someone so little, or big for that matter...


Hope you enjoyed some new pictures of my girls!

Isabel had her 6 month check up today and she is growing so fast. She now weighs 17lbs. 4oz. and is 27 inches long. For those of you that "know" us, according to Alexis' baby book, she weighed 17lbs. 4oz. at her 6 month check up at well, how scary is that? And she was 27 1/8 inches long. We'll see how they stack up when we go back for the 9 month check up!

Weekend Review & Not Me! Monday

Good Morning! It's Monday again and this week I'm joining MckMama for a little Not Me! confessional. Make sure you check out her blog to see what she has Not been doing this week!



It was Not Me! who was up until 2am Saturday morning and then up for a feeding at 4:30 and then up when the alarm went off at 6:10am. All so I could go to Walmart and be there when they opened at 7am to get my copy of "New Moon" on DVD! Not Me! I would never be so foolish and silly and do something so juvenile like that! It was Not Me! who was unwilling to wait until later that night when we actually went shopping at Walmart, to get the DVD, I couldn't take the chance that they would be out! By the way, they were no where near running out when we were shopping at 7pm that evening! Oh well, just another crazy thing I can say I've done now!

Friday morning I got a message from my Pampered Chef consultant letting me know that she had to cancel my show. I was also going to be having a luncheon for the women in my Redburn family. Ashley is the PC consultant and also my cousin, so she was going to be at both events. (Her Grandma went to be with Jesus Friday afternoon/evening) I decided to go ahead and cancel the luncheon as well as the PC party. So that left me with a much different game plan for my Saturday, so it was Not Me! who stopped the housework on Friday and just kind of let things go. It had been a busy week and I was tired. By Saturday morning, there was a huge pile of dishes in the kitchen, some folded up laundry in the living room, toys scattered throughout the whole house, etc.

You already heard how I started my Saturday morning with getting "New Moon"! When I got back home, I showered and headed over to my neighbors house. She was having an open house for her Scentsy products. I absolutely love the plug in warmer and scents that I got from her!

When I got back to the house at 11, Ross informed me that my good friend Amy was going to be there at noon! Therefore, it was Not Me! who turned into the Tazmanian devil on crack to get my messy house looking like something decent. It had been several years since Amy had been to the house and I know that she would have understood the mess, being my best friend and all, but I don't like any one to see my house a mess if I can keep from it. Fortunately, Ross had misunderstood what time she would be there and I get everything back in order, vacuumed, dishes done and looking all pretty before she got there.

We had a wonderful visit. Her and I were best friends when I lived in Farmington from the time we were 19 - 21, but then I moved to St. Louis and we kind of drifted apart. We reconnected back in 2007 and it's been so nice to do stuff with her again. I just wish we didn't live so far from one another. It's just a little over an hour between houses, so that limits what we get to do together. We enjoy the time we do get to see each other though. She has a adorable 6 year old step daughter and her little baby girl is 2 weeks older than Isabel. Katelyn and Alexis had a great time playing, while Amy and I had a great time talking while we played with Callie and Isabel!

After Amy and the girls left, we got ready and headed down to Ronnie and Tena's house for a baby shower for their daughter Margarett . She is having a baby girl in April, so I went through and picked out several outfits from Alexis' stash for her. I can't use them for Isabel anyway. We had a great time visiting down there. We left Alexis down there with Bill and Carol and Ross, Isabel and I headed to Rolla to get some shopping done.

It was Not Me! and Ross who had a blizzard from Dairy Queen before we even ate supper! We splurged and spent just a tiny bit of our tax return money at Walmart. We got this super cool Wii remote so we could have a second one.

Obviously, it's for me and Alexis to use!

We got back from Rolla around 10 and Meredith brought Alexis home to us. Ross took care of her bath and getting her to bed.

Soooo, it was Not Me! who just had to watch "New Moon" at midnight after I'd been awake since 7am after only getting about 4 hours sleep. I did manage to stay awake for most of it though. I started dozing around 2am, near the end of the movie, but it was worth it!

It was a crazy busy Saturday, but it was a good one. Sunday was much more laid back. In fact, it was Not Me! who neglected my mountain of laundry so I could play Wii for several hours with Ross and Alexis! It was also Not Me! who had a nice 2 hour nap with Alexis Sunday afternoon. And that pretty much wraps up my weekend!

The Strong Willed Child

If you've been a reader for very long, you know that my darling, eldest daughter is extremely stubborn and strong willed. Sometimes it really gets me down when her behavior is bad.

Tonight is one of those times...

Right now, she is pushing every limit on everything and it is so frustrating. Today was one of those days that it didn't matter how many times she got into trouble, how many time outs she got, or even how many spankings she got, she just kept on and kept on. Wearing me down until my nerves feel like they are raw and exposed for the whole world to see. I feel like I could either just go outside and scream at the top of my lungs until my voice gives out, or just break down and cry until there are no tears left.

I want her to be obedient and I have the hardest time understanding why she won't be.

Am I not praying over her enough?

Am I not being consistent with disciplining her?

Why does it feel like I am making no headway at all?

She doesn't seem to understand the concept of "stop" and "no". For whatever reason, she feels the need to continue when I've said stop multiple times until I force-ably stop her from doing whatever it is, or until I get to the point that I tell her if she doesn't stop, she's going to get a spanking.

She tries to reason with me when I'm telling her that she can't do something. Or if I tell her to go and put something away that she shouldn't have or just whatever, she'll respond and say, "I will in a few minutes." or, "But, Mom, I NEED to be doing this, it's okay."

Tonight has been one of those times when I would have gladly shipped her off somewhere just so I could have a break, but at the same point, that would have defeated the purpose. That would have been like rewarding her for bad behavior. So, I stuck it out and I'm hoping that tomorrow will be better and I'll see an improvement in her behavior soon.

Tomorrow is a new day, lets hope Alexis wakes up with a new attitude! I hate having to constantly get onto her, but I know that if I don't get a handle on this now, it will only get worse over time.

Thanks for letting me vent...

Not Fat Friday 3/19/10

I finally have a loss to report. Not a big one, but a loss at least. 1.2 pounds down! It's going to take me a long time at this rate, but at least I'm losing.

My treadclimber did get moved to a more accessible location this week, so I should be able to get into a good exercise routine. Hopefully that will help me to take some more pounds off!

Have a great weekend!

Five Question Friday 3/19/10

 

1. Have you ever had a celeb sighting?

No, can't say that I have. Don't think I'm missing much though...

2. What temperature do you keep your house?

Well, right now it's 80° in here and I'm about to burn up!!

Normally in the winter time, with the wood furnace going it's a toasty 74-76°. If no wood fire and we're using the gas furnace I usually keep it set somewhere between 67-70°. 

In the summer, I'm content with 73­°, unless I'm doing some mad cleaning and then I like it a bit cooler. Ross thinks he would like to try setting it at 75° this summer......I think he's off his rocker....we'll see who wins that battle. He tried that with me last summer and I took one look at him and told him I didn't care how high the electric bill got, we weren't setting it at 75° because I was pregnant and I worked in a big, metal, heat attracting, non-air conditioned warehouse. Besides our electric bill is not high in the summer time. I think our highest one was $120.00. I won last summer, but I think I'm going to lose this year. He has me talked into keeping it set at 74° this year....like I said, we'll see....

3. Do you notice dust at other peoples homes?

I guess if it's really obvious, but I would never say anything unless it was my Mom's house and then I'd probably just dust for her.

4. What's the worst job you ever had?

You know, I never disliked any of my jobs. The one I have right now isn't my favorite, but that's only because I'm not the forklift driving type. I went from working in customer service for 9 years, to driving a forklift around a warehouse moving pallets.

I really liked all my customer service jobs and not to toot my own horn or anything, I think I was pretty good at it. I'm a people person, so I like to work with people. My pallets don't really talk to me like I think they should! I try talking to them, but it's usually a pretty one sided conversation!

5. What is your most sentimental possession?

That's kind of toughy....It's a toss up between my wedding pictures and the girls baby books and pictures. If there was a fire, I'd be trying to get both things out of the house after we were all safe.

There you have it, that's 5QF for this week! Hope you enjoyed, look forward to seeing your answers. And make sure you link back to Mama M. over at My Little Life, love her stuff!

Have a wonderful weekend!

I'm having a Pampered Chef party tomorrow and then it's New Moon watching time Saturday night! I'm making Ross go to our little Walmart in the next town over to get it for me when they open at 7am. And then we're sending the girls too Ross' parents and my sister-in-law is coming over to watch with us Saturday night!
*Pampered Chef party was canceled.* Please keep Ashley and her family in your prayers.

It's Calling To Me

Days like today, when the sun is shining so brightly, make me dream about this place:

This is where we are going to spend 7 glorious nights and days in June when we travel to Destin, Florida.

When we aren't laying on the white, sandy beaches I'm sure this is where we'll be:

And after our day has been filled with beach and pool fun, this is where we'll gather to prepare some delicious treats to eat:

And when it's time to lay our weary heads down to rest, this is one of our choices:

And when all the fun and games leave me wanting a nap, this is where you will find me!

Can't wait for June 5th!

Wordless Wednesday

Lollipop!

A few weeks ago my Dad and Mom were here and Dad was helping Ross do some work on the house. Dad started singing the lollipop song to Alexis. A few days later she saw this commercial on TV....


Now she gets all excited and jumps up and down every time she sees it and says, "Oh lollipop song is on Mommy!" And she insists on rewinding it and watching it multiple times before we can move on. If we are watching on of our recorded shows and fast forwarding through the commercials and she catches a glimpse of it, she makes us stop so she can watch it.

I decided to search for the full length song on YouTube and I like this one the best. It's the same guys singing that did the Dell commercial. I like it better than the original version with The Chordettes. This is one of those songs that just makes you smile! =)

Post It Note Tuesday

 

I decided it was time I tried out these cute little post it notes I've seen in blogosphere and it was rather fun, stay tuned for more Post It Note Tuesday's sponsored by Supah Mommy!

Memory Monday

One of my favorite pictures of Alexis as a newborn. May 5, 2007

Mid Weekend Update/New Blog Layout

For the first time in months, it feels like our life is getting back to normal. We no longer have all this pressure hanging over us to finish our remodel project. We are done with all the major work and now just have the "little" things to finish up.

We started Saturday morning off with some pancakes for breakfast...yummy! Then I headed to my favorite escape, the tanning bed. (Check out yesterdays post for how I feel about that.)

I spent some much enjoyed time on my computer catching up on the blogging world that I had missed while my computer was out for repairs.

For those of you coming to my blog today, this will be the first time you see my new blog design! It's being installed right now as I'm typing this post. Thank you Chrissy for letting me know about Bloggy Blog Designz giveaway, which I entered and won! And many thanks to Bloggy Blog Designz for creating such a wonderful layout for me. I love it!

Back to yesterdays events. Mid-afternoon, we dropped the girls off at Ross' parents house and he and I headed to the local bowling alley, which just re-opened, and we bowled two games. The first game Ross whooped my booty! He scored 139 and I have a whopping 51! Second game was a little closer, Ross with a 116 and me with an 82. Makes me really appreciate Wii bowling a lot more, I do so much better at it. But, you can't beat the fun of real bowling. It's something I've always loved doing, but Ross has never liked it until now. For some reason he thinks it's lots of fun. We've gone the last two weekends in a row and he would like to go back at least once a month. Lets just hope I can maybe one day break 100 on my score!

We ordered some pizza to go from the bowling alley and headed back to Bill & Carol's house to eat with them and pick up the girls. We ending up staying for awhile and playing cards. Ross' family are big game/card players. The only card game I really like to play is Spades, so that's what we were playing. We play with partners and one partner always goes nil and the other bids and catches all the tricks. You're allowed to pass two cards between partners.

For the 9 years that I've been around Ross' family, I've always been partnered with his dad and Ross plays with his mom. Well last night when we started dealing cards, I was sitting where Ross sits and he where I normally sit, so we just stayed that way and played boys against girls. Carol and I whooped some boy booty! We won 3 out of 4 games of Spades. I can't remember that last time I had so much fun playing cards!

When we got home, it was bath time for the girls. I put them both in the tub together and when I get Isabel out, Ross comes in and takes over to finish Alexis' bath. Isabel nursed and went down for the night and then we did stories with Alexis and she went down as well. Ross and I had some much needed down time. We watched part of Twilight. I'm getting all geared up for New Moon next weekend!

Today, Ross has been doing a bunch of things around the house as far as decorating and hanging things on the wall. We got the girls quilt racks put together and hung with the quilts that my Grandma made for them. They look so good! Our house is really starting to come together. I keep promising pictures and once again, I'll have them up soon. We just have a few more things to get settled and then I can take pictures of the finished result!

Right now we're watching The Music Man. I haven't seen it in years, so that where I'm headed now. Hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend and I hope you like my new blog layout too! Leave me some comment love and let me know if you like it!

A Love Letter

Dear Tanning Bed,

Oh how I've missed you.

I've decided to rekindle our relationship this past week and I'm so glad I did.

There is something so therapeutic about laying in your hard, plastic bed while those bulbs warm me down to my soul and give my skin the nice brown glow that I love so much. 

I don't know why, but when I'm with you, my whole attitude changes. Even my husband notices and I think he's a tad jealous.

You make me feel sexy and confident. I walk with a bit more spring in my step when I'm with you.

You give me the illusion that my fat doesn't look quite as disgusting tan as it does when it's white. I like my naked reflection in the mirror so much more when I'm with you.

My hair and makeup magically look better when I'm with you.

I will admit though, I will be leaving you as soon as the temperatures rise outside. The sun is better at giving me that glow that I love. Plus, I get the added bonus of Vitamin D that you cannot provide. But don't worry, I'll return to you when the summer sun fades away and winter returns next year.

For now, you and I are going to be pretty tight!

Love,

Jessica

Vintage Pearl

I absolutely love their stuff over at Vintage Pearl! This is the website and here is their blog. I'm posting today to enter a giveaway! Go check out their super cool stuff!

Not Fat Friday 3/12/10

The last 2 weeks have been so busy, I haven't even been trying to watch what I eat. I didn't count points at all and I had lots of bad food. Somehow I managed to not gain any weight at all!

Back to getting serious about it taking some more poundage off this week. Wish me the best!

5QF 3/12/10

It's Friday again! Which means it's 5 Questions with Mama M. Hope you all have a great Friday and an even better weekend!


1. How much time do you spend on the computer a day?
Way more than I need to. I don't even want to think about the hours that I can waste just sitting here, reading blogs, playing with my blog, playing on Facebook, reading emails, browsing through my favorite shopping places. As you can see, it's a lot.

I'm really trying to get better with my computer time, because it's not fair to my family when I'm glued to this screen. I'm trying to do most of my computer time during naps or after the girls are in bed. Unfortunately that means I stay up late and don't get lots of sleep. Something will have to change when I go back to work...


2. Will you pay for your children's college or raise them to pay for their own way?
Good question.

I've always been of the mindset that I would raise them to pay their own way. That's how my parents would have done it if I had chosen to go to college. On the other hand, my husband's parents paid for his and his sisters education and most of their expenses while in college as well.

This is something Ross and I have talked about from time to time. We haven't settled on what course of action we'll take for our children. I'm thinking it may end up being a combination of both. We'll encourage them to get scholarships and help them with some of the expenses. But, I'm a firm believer in working hard for what you want and then you have more respect for it and feel more ownership over it instead of just having it handed to you.


3. Have you ever been in a car accident?
Yes.

Thank you Jesus, we were not hurt, just very shook up. Here is my post about it.

I'm still a little gun shy every time we're in the car and it's raining.


4. What is your favorite book?
Oh wow........I don't think I can even begin to answer this question.

There are just too many.


Here are just a few:

All 4 of the Twilight Saga Books.
Any book by Karen Kingsbury
The Secret of the Rose Series by Michael Phillips


5. Do you make your bed everyday?
I didn't used to, but now that Alexis is old enough to start helping do those kinds of things I do. I want my kids to make their beds everyday, so I'm trying to lead by example.

Jumping On The Friday Follow Ban Wagon

I'm going to join in on a Friday Follow and look for other cool blogs to read! Click on these links to join in and get all the scoop! Happy Friday ya'll!

My Girls

Isabel is now 6 months old! She is growing so incredibly fast. In the last month she has made huge leaps developmentally.

On February 14th, she rolled from back to belly for the first time and hasn't stopped since. She rolled from belly to back awhile back, but didn't really seemed all that interested in moving much. Not the case now! She's goes everywhere she can roll, scoot, or drag herself.

She is trying so hard to crawl. She gets herself up on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth, she just can't figure out how to put it all together and get moving.

She can now sit unsupported for quite a few minutes before she tumbles over. And she's really trying to get herself into a sitting position as well.

She thinks Alexis is hysterical. Check out this video I posted on Facebook.

She has started to do the fake cough thing, so cute!

We have started some solid foods. I tried rice cereal a few times, last night I put a little applesauce with it and she did better that time. This afternoon, I mushed up a few banana slices and she went crazy for those! I put some of those pictures on Facebook too.

She is nursing well still, as long as her gums aren't sore. She's quite social while she nurses too. She like to stop and smile at me, or make little gurgling and razzing noises at me and then she chomps right back on! This really is such a fun age for so many reasons. I really like it when they start to interact more when they are nursing. Sometimes she holds tight to one of my fingers, or she pats my breast, or scratches my side (ouchie when her nails need trimmed). She likes to touch my nose and I usually have a piece of hair that won't stay tucked behind my ear and she like to play with it too.

For a few weeks she wasn't sleeping through the night anymore, but now she's has the past three nights in a row, so I think it was a rough patch of teething and growing. No teeth yet, but some days she acts like they really bother her a lot.

Alexis just adores Isabel and it warms my heart every morning when Alexis comes rolling out of bed all sleepy eyed and the first thing she does is say, "Well, good morning Isabel!" And she hugs and kisses on her. Isabel seems to return the affection just as much.

We still haven't made any progress with potty training, I've stopped trying to make her, because she obviously isn't ready yet. I'm going to watch and wait for some signs when she will be ready. I was really tired of cleaning up pee all the time.

Some days, Alexis is our polite, sweet obedient daughter. Other days, she is our rude, unruly and disobedient daughter.

Being polite seems to be a real struggle for her sometimes. One day it's please and thank you all day long and the next day she'd rather go without than say please.

Sometimes I think that I expect too much. I have to remind myself that she's not yet 3.

She really seems to struggle with understanding the word NO. I can tell her no and to stop what she's doing and she just continues on like I was speaking in a foreign language. She will do things that she know she shouldn't do and things that she knows she'll get a spanking for. The other day, she had done something and I asked her why she had done it. She said, "Because I just did." I then asked her what was going to happen because she had done it and she replied, "You're going to spank me now." So, I know she understands when I tell her something and what will happen if she disobeys.

Enough of the non fun stuff about parenting a 3 year old and on to the lighter subjects.

I still get so tickled with some of the things that she'll say that sound so grown up. We have a few words that she's said that we tell her it's not nice to say that and it's not a good word for her to say. One day I was telling her something and I said, "Trust me". So now, she'll go around saying, "Trust me Mommy" and then she'll ask if that's a nice word to say?

I was going to say a lot more about Alexis, but right now she's hanging on my back wanting me to fix her some ramen noodles, so I'm going to hop off here for tonight. I'll be back tomorrow.

A Jumble Of Junk In My Head

I had an unwanted blogging break. Ross took our computer to a friend of his at work on Wednesday last week and I didn't get it back until Tuesday night.

Now that I have it back, I'm not sure where to start. My brain feels.........can't even come up with a word.

I just know that I want to write, but I'm having a heck of time getting it out. And I'm not talking about writing anything profound or inspiring, just the normal, everyday stuff I enjoy writing about.

I guess I'll start by saying how much I really, really like having Internet and a computer. I felt completely disconnected from the outside world while the computer was gone. I was even so pitiful that I didn't know the weather forecast at all because I couldn't come and look it up online. I still have a TV, but I couldn't tell you that last time I checked the weather by watching the news or going to The Weather Channel. Pitiful isn't it?

One thing I did notice while I was on my Internet hiatus, no one really talks to you on Facebook unless you are active and taking part in the things they say. Or if you say something interesting in your own status. I was posting a few statuses thanks to texting, but I wasn't getting a lot of feedback and no one was really "talking" to me. I guess if I wasn't on Facebook people would just assume I dropped off the face of the planet and not even bother contacting me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not say I'm super Sally and I connect with all the 300+ people I'm friends with, but I was a little surprised at the lack of notifications I had when I did get back online. Thank you Nel and Chrissy and Shelley for not forgetting me while I was gone!
*After re-thinking this whole topic, I'm not really sure where I was going or what point I was trying to make with this statement, so just forget it. Chalk it up to me being goofy!*
 
I wasn't any better at keeping things together just because I didn't have my computer time. I found other things to distract me from doing my housework. I guess that's just how I am for now.

"Hi. My name is Jessica. I avoid housework these days." "Hello Jessica."

But, I do have new motivation that I think will help me stay on track. Our carpet is a lot lighter in color than our old stuff was, so dirt will be more visible. I don't like obvious dirt, if I can't see it glaring at me in the face, it doesn't tend to bother me. Thank goodness Ross always lowers the lid when he's done using the toilet, I'm a little ashamed of what it looks like under there sometimes. But, the obvious, stand out dirt, I take care of. And with new carpet, I can't stand the thought of letting dirt get ground down into it, so I'm sure I'll be vacuuming about every 3rd day from now on, at least in the traffic area, maybe not my usual, move everything that I can pick up and vacuum under it style.

I think that's about all of the random, rambling stuff in my head. I was going to keep going, but I'm once again going to end this one and start a new one with my next topic. And forget about keeping them to post on later days, I'm going to bombard you with blog posts tonight, I've got to catch up somehow.

Back To Normal...Whatever That Means

Our life is somewhat returning to normal...if there is such a thing.

It's been high excitement and busyness around here the past few weeks.

As you all know, we got the carpet laid upstairs on February 22nd. We spent that week getting our things moved upstairs and getting settled up there. We also started the process of moving things around downstairs and making the preparations for carpet to be laid down here on March 8th.

This past weekend (March 6th & 7th) was crazy busy getting all the last minute things done before Monday morning. Here's a rundown of a few things we Ross did!

• Moved the computer desk into the girls old room and starting setting up our new office.
• I began moving a lot of my books from the bookshelves in our old bedroom onto the shelves in the office.
• Making piles in the living room of all the rest of the books that had to be emptied off of the shelves so we Ross could paint our old room/new play room for the girls/guest bedroom.
• Going through all the massive piles in the living room and deciding where their permanent home needed to be. If it was going to be in the playroom/guest room, it got piled into the office until after the carpet was laid. The office didn't get carpet, we're eventually going to put hardwood floor in here.
• Ross laid some bamboo wood flooring at the front door so we wouldn't ruin our new carpet tracking in and out the front door.

Those are just the things that come to mind off the top of my head, plus trying to stay afloat with the laundry, dishes and other housework. We also squeezed in some more time with Ross' Uncle Vance. Saturday evening we went bowling and had pizza. And Sunday evening we went down to Ross' parents for some popcorn and cards.

During all the craziness, Ross took our computer to a buddy of his from work to have him clean it up for us and remove any junk it may have collected. It's 4 years old now, so it's about to become obsolete I'm afraid. I think we'll upgrade to a laptop when we do need a new computer and get rid of this big ole desk and get something much smaller that takes up less space.

Back to house stuff. We had to get everything up off of the floor that could be easily lifted and then the carpet installers were going to move the furniture out, rip up the old carpet, lay the new and move the furniture back in......or so we thought.

Monday morning comes, we're ready. The installers arrive and are surprised to see furniture and carpet. They weren't expecting to have to do that because apparently that cost an extra $234 over what we had already paid to have the install done. When we purchased our carpeting, Ross made sure that they knew our upstairs was empty because it was new construction, but our downstairs had furniture and old carpet to be ripped out. They said, "Oh, that's fine." Something got lost in translation....bummer.

The installers were nice enough to help us move the little bit of furniture that we had out and rip up the old carpet, simply because they didn't want to come back another day, because we were not about to pay to have them do it.

That process took no time at all and soon they were on a roll getting the new carpet laid out. It was a gorgeous day out, so we all just hung out on the front porch and Isabel played in the pack-n-play and Alexis ran around being crazy. Everything seemed to be going smoothly. The installers got one of the seams glued and then had to wait for it to dry, so they left to take a break. When they got back, we ran into Subway for some lunch. By the time we got back they were almost finished. They helped Ross move the big, heavy entertainment center back in and then he and I did the rest ourselves.{It was only living room furniture because the other room was already completely empty from being painted and the we had the office so crammed full of stuff you couldn't even get into the room.}

We're checking things out and being all super excited about how great it feels to have new carpet and be "done" with our monster of a project that took almost a year to complete. I haven't decided if we are being to critical or if the installer did a bad job. We started finding things we didn't like. In the kitchen doorway, it looks like he cut the carpet just a smidgen shorter than he should have and you can see a little blank stop under those little transition strips when you go from carpet to some other floor type. The carpet in the closet of the playroom doesn't even look like it was stretched at all. It's real loose and bubbly in places.

Those things probably aren't that big of a deal really, but then I found something else that ticked me off. They put a hole in our wall, patched it very poorly, and didn't even bother telling us about it. It really doesn't bother me that it happened, our house is old and the drywall in the living room isn't the best, but they really should have told us about it happening. It reminded me of the time when my brothers broke something on the wall and were desperately trying to glue it and blow drying the glue before mom got home, trying to fix it so they wouldn't get into trouble. It was just very unprofessional in my opinion.

So, while we are very happy that we have new carpet, we are unhappy with the service we received. Someone from Lowe's will be out on Monday to look everything over and decide what needs to be done.

Moving on....

It feels so nice to have come so far with our house. I finally have a living room again! There is tons of floor space for Isabel to roll/drag/crawl around in. And there is only one small basket of toys out there. The rest are in the playroom.

I love it that I can tell Alexis to go play and make a big mess and I don't have to pick it up 15 times a day just to be able to walk across my living room! We are working on getting her to understand that she needs to leave the toys in the playroom, because we made it just especially for her and Isabel to play in.

It's felt so nice to have this complete feeling about the project that I've kind of slacked off the past few days and not done much, but it's felt so nice. I know Ross is so relieved that it's finally "done" (still have those little odds and ends things to finish up), he was getting so burnt out on doing it.

My head is such a jumble of things right now, I'm having a hard time organizing my thoughts and getting them out on the keyboard, so I'm going to end this post and start another one about different stuff that's been going on.

PS. I didn't proof read this, so I apologize if there are any huge mistakes in it. Thanks to Firefox I know my spellings okay!

Eclipse

Sooo excited!

Wordless Wednesday

5QF...Late Again

1. What's your guilty pleasure?

Oh boy, I have so many, it's hard to know where to start. Right now, I guess my favorite thing I let myself indulge in is a big spoonful of peanut butter.

I also have a fondness for Reese's Peanut Butter cups, Twix bars, and of course the M&M's too! 

2. What is your favorite TV series?

This used to be an easy answer, but now I'm undecided. Last year, it was hands down, One Tree Hill, but this season Lucas and Peyton aren't on there. I still watch it, but it's not the same.

I would have to say NCIS, and I really like NCIS: Los Angeles too.

I really like Greek on ABC Family and of the three CSI's I think my favorite is NY! 

I really, really like Friday Night Lights too. 

Oh and I can't forget American Idol!! It's a must see every Tuesday and Wednesday night, well right now, it's on Thursday night too! Ross is so glad he works evening and I'm home right now, because he never has to watch it with me. 

3. Can you speak any foreign languages?

Negative

4. How many pairs of shoes do you own?

Ummm, I've got 4 pairs of tennis shoes, 2 for work, 1 for good and 1 slip on pair. I have 2 pairs of boots. 1 pair of black shoes, 1 pair of brown shoes, 1 pair of brown slip-ons, and about 8 pairs of flip flops.

5. What's your favorite kind of M&M's...peanut, almond, straight up regular, etc.?

Most days, it just the regular old M&M's, but if I'm feeling like salty and sweat, it the peanut ones. I'm not a fan of any of the other kinds.

We're still at my in-laws, so I decided to squeeze this in. I can't believe how much I've missed blogging the last few days that I haven't had my computer. Hopefully things will be back to normal soon! 

Hi

Yes, I'm still alive, just without a computer again for a few days. I miss all of you and your posts!

We're right in the middle of finishing up the house, so it's probably a good thing I haven't had a computer. Carpet for the downstairs is coming Monday.

I'm hoping I have my computer back on Tuesday, I'll see you all then. I'm looking forward to catching up on all of your blogs next week.

We went bowling tonight and had pizza at my in-laws so I had a few minutes to hop on here and say hello. Now, we're headed home to get back to work.

Wordless Wednesday