Bead Jewelry Giveaway!

While networking in the Mommy Blog websites, I met a wonderful Stay at Home Mom, Tina, who has her own Bead Jewelry business. She has 4 children and a adoring husband, all of whom she is in charge of making sure the household runs smoothly.

Last year after a successful beading class, she began making jewelry for herself and daughter, but the requests began pouring in from family and friends. Her jewelry is beautiful and she has be gracious enough to give away one of her pieces.

Please visit her website www.tolivelaughbead.blogspot.com to check out her pieces!!!

The piece she will be giving away to one lucky person is a beaded cross, black in color, Faith bead in the center, comes on ribbon, cord, or metal choker. Choice of the winner!

Enter with Raffle copter and a winner will be chosen on February 8^th! GOOD LUCK!!

Stationery Card

Tickled Pink Peppermint Valentine's Card

Click here to browse our modern graduation invitations.

View the entire collection of cards.

Valentines Giveaway

I've teamed up with The Frugal Fairy and other great blogs bring you The Frugal Fairy's Valentine's Day Giveaway!

The Giveaway runs from 1/31 - 2/6. Single and Daily Entries.

US Only. Great Prizes, 1 winner!

Sponsored by:

Folky Art Studio -

Les Creations de Florence -

Sarah Allen's Lia Sophia -

To enter, simply use the Rafflecopter Form below.

If the widget isn’t showing, please refresh your browser or click “Read More” to enter.

Couponing

So I have been couponing for about 4 months now. I am not really good at it, sometimes we get a super deal, most of the time we don't. I have the binder, a place at the desk for everything, but not a lot of time to really get into it. I see these people get these awesome deals weekly, some that as soon as they get their paper and sales ads are on the road to get whatever product for a couple pennies. I sit here thinking, 'how in the world are they doing it?' How do they find the time to match everything up and go?



After working 40 hours, having the girls in the evenings, and trying to spend some quality time with my husband, who has time to be online all evening checking for coupons and match ups. Well one thing is for sure, I would like to find the time. I would like to save more. As a family of 4 now, we are going to be going through certains items faster the older the girls get.



I'm hoping it will come in due time. Hailey is only 3 months, still getting up at night, I am still exhausted most of the day then getting up with her. Ava is going to bed later and waking up early still. There really is no "ME" time to work on this. But I am still working at it. I still clip. I still organize in my binder. I don't even DO the grocery shopping. Kenny does. So I clip, organize, and hand off to him. Sometimes he uses them, sometimes he doesn't.

Any websites or tips for couponing are always appreciated as I am still learning. I am on a few websites and I see what others are doing. Maybe one day I will be really good at it. But I think with 2 little ones, life will always be just a little busy where when it comes right down to it, I will choose sleep over couponing!

Almost in the Top 200

So since really starting this whole new way of blogging and trying to get more followers, even opening a twitter account. My husband is still making fun of me for it. I have been connecting with moms on TopMommyBlogs.com. It has been fun to read others stories, get receipes, see how others deal with the same thing my family is going through, making friends, and seeing funny pictures of little ones. As everyone has been voting, I am in the mid 200's. Never thought that I would even crack the top 300 when I first started. I wasnt doing it for the votes, I wanted to connect with other moms, start the giveaways, and just have fun doing what I love, writing. So here we sit, maybe one day well be down in the top 200. That would be fun.

Counting

Ava has started counting. She will be talking to you and start counting. It's so darn cute. Kenny and I just look at each other. She is doing great in the learning department. She is figuring out colors, ABCs, and counting of course. She can now count to 12/13 by herself and I try to chime in as fast as I can to coach her along to at least 20. Sometimes she will repeat, sometimes I get a devilish smile and "Noooo Mommy."

So Ava will call my name "Mooooommmy" or "Daaaaadddy" then say 3,4,5,6 right afterwards. She will be talking on her phone to whomever and start "7,8,9,10". To just listen to her is amazing to me. This little girl who at one day and time couldnt even hold her head up on her own is growing so fast, putting complete sentences together, expressing her opinions, and mouthy as ever.

Now she is counting. I just love watching her develop.

Hold On..

I hear myself saying this phrase more than once during the day. Over and over I am telling Ava to 'hold on' or 'hang on a minute' or 'give me a minute'. Clingy doesnt even describe the phase we are dealing with right now. For almost 2 weeks now, I can not even go to the bathroom without her either by my side or banging on the door. She has always went through these moments, mommy must do everything, no one can do anything for her but me. Yes its flattering, she only wants ME to change her clothes, give her a bath, and help her with whatever she needs, but on the other hand there are 2 parents in this house. She hasnt let her daddy help with much. In fact, even when she begs to go with him to the store and they come back, he is NOT allowed to get her out of her carseat. I must go out in the cold, wind, or rain and get her out or we have to deal with a major meltdown.

You might be thinking, SPOILED right?! Well yes a little but we are also picking our battles. Ava is a very strong willed and stubborn 2 year old. She has a strong blood line of it. She tells you what she thinks. So for the moment, Mommy is doing everything, Daddy tries to help as much as possible.

This time I believe the clingy is a little stronger, maybe its because Hailey is around, maybe its because of my work schedule, or maybe its just her being her. Whatever it is, for 2 weeks now I have been carrying her around, holding her, doing her baths, and everything else. It isn't bad when Kenny is home, he can help with Hailey or at least help with Ava crying while I am trying to do something. She hasnt been too awful when he isnt home, but I am consistantly asking her to 'hold on a minute' or 'hang on' so that I can feed, change, or hold Hailey for 2 seconds while she needs something.

Most nights she has been sitting on my lap with Hailey, or right beside me. I havent discouraged it any since I know one day she will not be like this at all. She will only cling on me when she wants something or is sick. Now I am taking it all in, as exhausting as it all is and reminding myself everyday that she will only be 2 once and then she wont. One day she will leave me to be on her own and I might get a phone call. So I am just going to keep repeating to her to 'hold on' so that I can have a minute then come back and put her on my lap as I have been.

Please vote!!

Valentines Giveaway!!

I've teamed up with The Frugal Fairy and other great blogs bring you The Frugal Fairy's Valentine's Day Giveaway! 

The Giveaway runs from 1/31 - 2/6. Single and Daily Entries.

US Only. Great Prizes, 1 winner! 

Prizes include: PayPal amount TBD

Blog Hopping...

I Bought Myself a Book...

This past week I bought myself a book, a grown up book. A book without pictures or ryhming words. A book without lessons on being nice, how do to something, to say please and thank you. This book was a huge recommendation on Pinterest.com. I read up on the reviews and decided that yes I can buy myself a book and darn it I WILL read it. It worked out great because I had just enough Amazon points that the book only cost a few dollars. So a present for me at a low cost.

So I have had the book 'Fall of Giants: Book One of the Century Trilogy' for 4 days now. I opened it once, read through the long list of characters and closed it. I have yet to open it again. This book is over 1000 pages, I am excited to read it. But to find the time is the trick.

I carried it to work with me one day, thought I would read it on my lunch break. Wasnt that a joke in the making? I usually eat through my lunch at my desk especially on busy days. So I carried the heavy 2.5 lb book to work and back home without even taking it out of my bag. Right now its in my nightstand. There's where it will stay until I get to read it.

Tonight I did read a few books with Ava. I got to ryhme with her, count, and sing the ABC's. There will come a time I guess that she won't enjoy reading with me and then I will read my own books. I just hope that at that time that 'Fall of Giants' isnt still unread in my nightstand waiting on me.

Who has time for Post Partum?!?!

The other evening, when I was sick and thinking how as a mom I don't have time to be sick and that it needed to leave my body very quickly, I also began thinking, where is this post partum stuff that should have happened. Granted yes I am 3 months post partum and maybe it has passed. After I had Ava, I wasn't depressed I would say, I was just lonely, Kenny was very busy and not home a lot while I tried to figure out the stuff called parenting. I got lucky, I had my crying and fits and after about a month it was done.

During my pregnancy with Hailey, I cried all the time, way more than I ever did any time before that. I am not a crier, things don't make me sad, and I am more aggressive. However during those 9 months, I would cry at a commercial that wasn't even sad! So I thought, 'okay I have been a cry baby for 9 months, post partum is going to suck because I will have 2 people to take care on top of recovery.'

Life has been so busy that I just realized this week, that I haven't really had a bad post partum moment. Not that I am asking for it to show up and turn me into a crazy lady or a weeping woman but just surprised. I thought for sure as strong as my hormones have been that I would be worse this time than last. I am very thankful that I haven't. Kenny hasn't been as busy as he was with Ava, yet he still has his schedule and isn't home when he isn't home. I have had my moments, but they have been more 'I am going to lose my mind if I don't get 10 minutes to myself' instead of crying and feeling overwhelmed. I am chalking it up to being busy. Life with 2 and working full time I don't have time to be sad. Sad over nothing. I don't sit up at night after they have gone to bed, I am sleeping too. I don't have a break in the day to ponder this or that, thinking too much can cause a lot of issues. I have been lucky. Some women have a really bad time with post partum, some need medication, and some need time by themselves.

My time to myself, my bath, yes I can take a bath again! My time! My 20 minutes in the tub, at that time, I go through a to-do list, what I didn't do that should have been done; things I would like to do, and listen to the noises outside of the bathroom. Sometimes there is just the TV, sometimes Ava is screaming at the door for me to come out, sometimes Ava is laughing, running through the house being chased by her daddy, Hailey can now be heard cooing or crying. It's amazing how calming just sitting in the tub can be sometimes.

I don't know what I would have done if my post partum would have been worse, just a few crying spells, mainly when both girls were upset and I was just exhausted. Now we are in a good spot. I know the post partum phase can last a while after delivery, it can affect you at any time, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that my time is over and my hormones are shifting back.

Hormones are weird, I wish husbands could just have one week of the ups and downs and they would never want them back. I felt out of control sometimes while pregnant, angry for no reason, or snapping at someone for a something that they didn't even mean to be put into that context, and like I said, crying for absolutely no reason at all other that the feeling was there and it made me feel better.

I hope life continues to balance itself out and my hormones adjust as challenges come my way. Life can get pretty crazy and unpredictable at times but I hope to keep it under control (or at least try to).

3 Months Old!

Hailey is 3 months old! Where has the time gone? Who knows? These 3 months have flown by. She is doing great. She is gaining weight, growing taller by the minute, and so alert. She can now hold her head up and look around the room, always searching for Ava, I believe. She smiles back at you. She sticks out her tongue. She has giggled but not really laughed but I think she is almost there. She is rolling over onto her side. She grabs for toys. She will take your finger and stick in her mouth to be chewed. I believe she is teething, her bottom gums are white and bumpy, she just drools and chews on her fingers all day. She is getting into a pattern, eating about every 3-4 hours, taking a nap or two in the morning before a long 3 hour nap in the afternoon, a nap in the evening, then bedtime.

She is so aware of everything going on. She loves her big sister. Ava got her first real smile at someone. Ava gets a lot of smiles when they are around each other. Ava is still doing well with her, she has been a little rough but we keep reminding her how small Hailey is. Now that Hailey can hold her head up and wants to sit up, Ava tries to get her to 'play' however we have to explain that Hailey just isn't 'big' enough yet. Hailey loves her play mat, staring into the mirror looking at that other baby. She is usually a very happy, pleasant baby. She is cooing, trying to talk. Vicky, their babysitter, has told me more than once that she is sure Hailey is going to be mouthy just like Ava.

At her last appointment she was 11 lbs, 12 oz, 23 ½ inches long. I am sure she has grown some since then. She had a little set back with her feeding this past weekend, she had a little touch of a stomach bug, but was up to 6 oz a feeding, we are slowly getting back to that, she is still at 4 oz and it satisfies her for the time being. She is such a joy.

I always said that I couldn't remember my life before Ava because she brought so much into my life, well now with 2 little girls in my life, I don't know how we ever managed with just one. It is so busy, so much fun, so frustrating, so entertaining, and happy. It's like it was always meant to be the four of us, together.

Laundry Fairy!

So there are all these people that make the life of a kid great and magical: Santa, Easter Bunny, and the Toothfairy; but what about a magical helper for MOMs. I want a laundry fairy! This week has been hard on our family; the stomach bug hit 3 out of 4 of us. And guess who got to take care of everyone while they were sick while taking care of her own sick butt. You guessed it! Good ole MOM. While I was down and out, also working full time, and home most of the week on my own while Kenny was working, the laundry just piled up sky high. Hailey's laundry is even in a separate hamper to be washed in dreft so her clothes aren't even in the pile I am referring to. Laundry is one of my worse chores. It seems like it is endless. As soon as I get the hamper empty on Saturday afternoon, Kenny will take a shower and there are clothes back in it in no time. Starting the icky cycle all over again.

So for now I am wishing for the laundry fairy to appear: Please wash, dry, fold, and put away accordingly!

I also dont get SICK days

So a horrible thing has made its way into our home. A nasty stomach bug that has been going around. Yesterday it hit me, I started late morning just not feeling well. By the afternoon I felt like I could get sick, but couldnt make myself. Last night was horrible, belly cramps, hot flashes, sweats, aches in my joints, just felt bad. On top of not feeling well, Ava has decided this past weekend she was going to be super clingy. Daddy couldnt do anything for her, mommy had to do everything including "Hold me please". So while I felt like crap, here I am holding her, when wishing she wouldn't want to be held so maybe she wont get this bug. Thankfully Hailey was in a good mood and went to bed right on schedule, no fighting, no screaming, Kenny laid her down and she simply went to sleep. After Ava's bath, which I did while still feeling like I could puke at any moment, she settled down and we got ready for bed. I went to sleep early while Kenny stayed up with her.

Around 11, I woke up in a sweat, with a lump in my throat, figured might as well do it. So I went and made myself get sick. I did sleep ok after that, still hot, still not feeling well. About the only thing running through my mind was that I hadnt felt this sick since my morning sickness with Hailey and since she is my last one, I dont want to feel like that ever again!

This morning I felt a little better but still having hot flashes and sick to the stomach. What a wonderful way to feel when you have 2 kids to take care of. I hate to say it but I am glad it was their scheduled day at the sitters, I hate being home when they arent but I need a little time to rest. And Ava was super excited to be going, after 4 days at home, I couldnt tell her that she wasnt going to play with 'the kids'. So I will get them this afternoon, let her play and socialize a little bit. Hoping I feel better by then, the pepto is near, been taking shots of it, so that I can take care of them and not drag my feet. So even though I am lucky to get a little break, its no sick day at all, at least I could take a day from work and not be sick there. Which I am sure everyone is happy about anyways, no one wants you there when you are sick and to spread those germs.

So now just counting down until I feel better and praying the girls dont get it.

Pampered Myself

Yesterday, my personal hairstylist, my sister Jess, cut and colored my hair for me. Don't you feel like a new person after some pampering to yourself? Tell me how you like to pamper yourself!

Thought I would share the new do, it's not really all that new, I basically get the same style (or some version of it) but got some caramel highlights to boost.





And I love the fact that it will be easy to keep up while taking care of the kiddos....

"Good Job Mommy!"

So for the past month or so we have been unofficially potty training. Ava has been in her pull ups and diapers sometimes. She goes potty basically when she feels like it. I really dont want to push her right now then her push against me. She does really well when she wants to. She'll come and tell me she has to go.

Lately, she hasn't been going as much. She just wants to wear the pull ups. NO DIAPERS. But there is that occassion that when I go, she will join me. Yesterday I said, "Let me up, I gotta go pee." She let me up then followed me yelling "I pee too, I pee too.". So I helped her pee then got her redressed. (the girl goes down to no clothes everytime she goes).

She told me it was my turn. When we were all finished and washing our hands Ava looked at me, patted my head and said "Good Job Mommy!" I got a kiss for going to the potty like a big girl.

Gotta love her!

Pinterest.com

My New Addition....seriously!!! I have been a member for a couple months but that was at the end of my exhausting pregnancy, taking care of an overhyper 2 year old then I delivered. I didnt know how to find the time with recovery, newborn, and Ava. So now here I am with a 12 week old that has a pretty steady schedule, is sleeping pretty well at night (FINALLY), and still my hyper 2 year old, but I am finding time to browse.

I love it. I have found lots of projects, lots of different food, and now am trying to find time to when I can put this all into play here at the house. I cannot wait until the warm weather returns and some of the projects can begin. I love that there are so many crafts and projects that I can do with Ava.

Also I am working on a few different projects for this year and I think this site is really going to help with the creative people on there. I cannot wait to begin planning the girls birthday party so that I can use some of the ideas I have come acrossed already.

If you haven't checked it out, I highly recommend it. I am SO NOT a DIY person but I think this site might help me begin. I want to thank my cousin, Jess, for the invite.

2 Month Check Up

Hailey was 2 months old about 2 weeks ago, but her appointment was this past Tuesday. Everything is going great. The doctor was happy with her eating and growth. He said she sounded good when listening to her lungs. She was cooing and starring at him, so he knew that she has developed as she should be. She is growing so fast.

Her weight is 11 lbs 12 oz, she is 23 ½ inches long, and her head is 15 ½. She is my little chunky monkey. That's what I call her anyways. She has gotten through all her just getting out of the womb grips and is starting to settle down. She isn't as fussy anymore and is staying awake more during the day.



In comparison at this age Ava was only 9 lbs 4 oz and 22 inches long and her head was 15. I know that having a second one, I was more prepared and actually knew what I am doing and the doctor said we are doing a great job. We have corrected her gas issues with a new bottle, gotten her on a somewhat steady schedule, and she is beginning to recognize her name and definitely knows voices because she will turn her head right around to see whoever is talking.

I Want VIIIICKKKIIIIEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

Ava has been going to a private sitter for over 2 years. For these two years, I have dropped her off and picked her up with almost no issues. When the weather is nice, she will get distracted and walk off or what to continue to play. That is all easy compared to what I dealt with today. Hailey had her 2 month check up, when I picked her up, Vickie said that Ava told her she wanted to stay with Ms. Vick, so I didnt even tell her I was there. I just got Hailey and out the door we went.

After the appointment, I ran to target really quick then went back to Vickie's to pick Ava up. She had been there most of the day but was the first to leave. I dont know if that made a difference or if she was just having way too much fun. Either way, when I put her in her carseat, the meltdown began. She screamed and cried "I want to play", "I want go back", "I want go Vick's" "I go NO home", over and over again. She finally cried herself to sleep.

An hour later, she woke up from her nap and immediately began crying again. "I want go Vick's!!!!" So another half hour of crying and she finally calmed down, asking for 'fries'. Luckily we had a bag of french fries in the freezer, so fries and nuggets it was for dinner.

Now she is happy, loving on Hailey, telling her she loves her and playing like usual. I'm grateful that we found another child care provider that loves her and she loves going to. She is really looking forward to Thursday and going back to play with the boys.

He Held My Hand

Last night, Kenny and I got to enjoy a rare thing: we enjoyed dinner without having to help feed little ones, sharing our food off of our plate, or switching Ava from one side of the booth to the other. It has been over a year since Kenny and I had dinner without a kid, without pregnancy making me sick and tired, and on a Friday night. My baby sister Ashley and her boyfriend graciously agreed to come babysit so that we could go out for a little bit.

So we went to Outback, we had giftcard and were told it would be a hour wait just to be seated. Kenny said "forget that" and we walked out. We didnt want my sister and her boyfriend to be here until midnight just because Outback was crowded.

So we went to Piccadilly Brew & Pub and enjoyed the evening. Even though we talked about the girls a lot, they are our life, we had some adult conversation. It was nice. We ate dinner, talked, and connected.

The best part of all this is when walking to there and back, he grabbed my hand and we walked. For anyone with children, you know hand holding goes away when you have diaper bags, carseat carriers, and little ones that hands need to be held. It warmed my heart.



Usually when we are out, we are so busy with the girls that we are lucky if we even walk with each other, he'll go away to get what we are at the store for or I will have the cart and walk ahead to keep the girls entertained.

Insert Sad face :(

So my husband has been home with me and the girls for just about 3 weeks. Can you say SPOILED?!?! I have had help when both are upset, help with housework, someone to talk to once the girls are asleep, time to enjoy a bath, and time to do some 'ME' stuff. This blog and my email have actually grown with him being home and giving me some time to just hang out. The girls have absolutely loved having him home but next week sadly he will return back to work.

I probably won't know what to do with myself. How will I go back to doing everything on my own while he is working?  Maybe I will enjoy it, but I don't think so. His schedule is so awful sometimes and seems like he is always at work when we have a bad night or I am just so exhausted and all I want to do is go to bed.

We will get back into the rhythm. We always do when he has a break off but its hard to get back into the swing of things. I only hope that since Hailey is almost 12 weeks that the balance between the two girls will be a little better when I am on my own. Sometimes I wish I worked part time so that I could be home more especially when he is working. After working a full 8 then picking up the girls, getting home, making dinner, and then downtime before bed, it seems like the whole evening is just rushed and flies by.

I think he knows how much we love him being home and how much he will be missed. Ava is finally old enough to express how she feels when he isn't home and lets him know she misses him. Hailey won't be long behind her. So we are going to enjoy the last few days before he gets back on his schedule and we are both working and exhausted all the time.

A Different Bottle, A Different Baby

Two weeks ago, we switched Hailey from the Playtex drop in liner bottles to Similacs new 'no air no gas issues' bottle. I can honestly say the switch was a great one. I began using the Playtex drop in because they worked so well with Ava. She had no gas issues and was always a happy baby. So when I got pregnant with Hailey, I decided we would use them again. But within weeks, Hailey was always having gas pains and screamed in the evenings for hours on in. The gas issues were horrible.
So my evenings after working all day were jam packed with a screaming newborn and a toddler wanting some attention too. I felt so bad because I couldn't really give Ava the attention I wanted to because Hailey would be screaming.

Similac sent an email out letting their fans know of a new advanced bottle they had developed. I wanted to switch then but they are expensive bottles and you could only get them online. So I would be paying for the bottle, shipping, and still may not work. So I held off, hoping that her screaming was just part of this 'witching hour' that everything I had read had diagnosed it as. Kenny went to Wal-Mart for groceries one day and called saying that the tubs of formula we buy had a free bottle on them and he got one. I was super excited. All I wanted to do was enjoy the evening with Hailey and Ava. I knew it wouldn't be scream free, someone was going to be upset at some point, but to have an evening with them that wasn't consumed with screaming.


So after a week of using this one bottle we went back to Wal-Mart and bought a few more of the formula tubs to get the bottle for free. Can you say AMAZED at how different my child's attitude is now? Hailey does still have her moments and I believe now teething is becoming an issue HOWEVER there are no more 2 hours of screaming in pain, and I can't fix it. Now she smiles and coos, she watches cartoons with Ava.  I highly recommend this bottle for any mom dealing with gas issues with her little one. I would also still recommend the Playtex bottle liners, they really helped Ava. And now that we are using the new bottles, I have boxes of the liners available for anyone who is using them.

Giveaways and Reviews

Just an update, January did not happen the way I wanted it to. I should have known better with my birthday, Christmas, then New Years to follow. Life was too busy for me to get all my ducks in a row. I have been researching, making contacts, and working on maybe beginning this venture in February. Also, Hailey will be another month older and may give me a little more of a chance to work on things more in the evenings. But anyone that has a small business or knows of anyone with a small business that would like to donate an item for a giveaway can email me. If you have a business or product you would like me and/or my family to try out, that is also a possibility. Just something to think about.

Its that year 2012..they say the world will end

OKAY OKAY...Just something random I was discussing today, thought I would share....so the Mayan Calendar is written to state that the world will end on December 21st 2012. Some believe this, some are preparing, some don't care, and some argue about it. Me, well, all I gotta say is if the world is going to end, then the ONLY good thing about this year is that it will be on my 29th birthday.

That being said, when my sister brings it up, my reaction is "well at least I never have to worry about hitting 30".

2012 Changes

So a few things will be changing in 2012. Our routine will be different. Our schedule will be a little off. I thought earlier today I should write the things I would like to see change, maybe this will hold me accountable. Maybe it wont. Maybe this time in 2013, I will be thinking that I was crazy for even thinking I could do some of things that I write on here, but hey lets give it a shot.

1. My schedule at work is changing due to the change of babysitters. Instead of getting there between 730 and 800, I will now arrive between 830 and 900. Since I will be leaving the house a full hour later, I want to continue getting up at 530 as usual and getting myself ready.
              a. I want to clean up some of the clutter off the floor
              b. I want to start laundry so I can finish in the evening (tired of spending my entire weekend doing laundry instead of playing with the girls)
              c. I want to straighten up the kitchen, maybe even get the dishwasher running
              d. I want to take another glance of myself before walking out the door (so many mornings we are rushing)
              e. I want to eat breakfast instead of leaving the house hungry
              f. I want to sit on the couch with my girls and watch cartoons

2. Working 40 hours a week doesnt leave a lot of time, but I would like to visit more with my friends and give Ava some playdates. She will be home with Kenny a little more and I think playdates will help the transition of being only with Hailey (11 weeks old) alot. Everyone is busy, but I think I can make time to see my little girl happy playing with her friends. She needs to be social.

3. Girl time: I need to make time for ME and my friends. Its really hard to do anything and I hate leaving the girls sometimes but I need to make a habit of maybe once every 6 months going out with a friend or two and getting out of the house. Work is not a fun time out of the house. This one will probably be hard to do but it may happen.

4. Couponing and Saving-I got into couponing a little bit before Hailey was born and completely quit after she was born. I continued to clip just not shop. So I need to make a better habit of shopping to save and not just buying whatever. I want to make a big effort to stock up when the sale is good so maybe that item wont have to cut into the budget next time. I have my binder all cleaned out and ready for the new year. I need to watch the sales, work on checking the websites to help me, and try to get as many match ups as I can.

5. Potty Training-Ava has tried potty training, but we havent become anywhere near serious about it yet. She'll be 2 1/2 here soon then 3 in September, this spring, I want to work on that hard with her and see where we get. She does well when she wants to but when she is stubborn and decides she isnt going to, she refuses. So far I am not pushing the issues, she's still young, but I know she can do it, she has done it, and soon enough I hope its a done deal.

6. Patience-(enough said right?)

7. I want to continue working on my training at work and getting better at my job. It can only help my chances in the future and the more I know, the more I can help someone else. Gotta take my time and make sure I am covering all my bases and helping the mariners out the best I can.

8. Housework-we are pretty good at keeping the kitchen clean, however the rest of the house lacks. If I can keep up with #1 then maybe I will have more time on the weekends to tackle the big areas I always put off. Its just going to get harder with 2 little ones, eventually Hailey will be rolling, crawling, then running through the house with Ava. But it needs to get done.

These are just a few things on my mind right now. I would really like to stick to them. We shall see. I would love to not get lazy in the mornings and sleep in when I am given the opportunity. Even if the girls adjust to the new schedule and begin sleeping longer, I would love to get up and get the easy things done in the middle of the week. The weekends should be for relaxing, family, and friends, not laundry, cleaning, laundry, organizing, laundry, and more laundry.

New Years Day

Well first of all I want to say how different our New Years celebrations are now from when we began dating in 2004. Now we dont even try to make it to midnight. One thing that hasnt changed though is we celebrate the New Year with our friends. I first met Jamie and Katy on New Years 2004-2005, it was Kenny and I's first New Years together. Jamie and Kenny worked together at Southern States and they had invited us over.

I didnt know anyone there, a house full of people, but Katy made me feel welcomed and we became friends. Now 7 years later here we sat at their house, except now we are married to the men that we were just dating and we have kids running around. She had to work on New Years Day, so we arranged to have dinner at their house and let the kids (men included) play for a while.

It may sound boring to some, but to us it was a good time. The kids watched cartoons and played. Katy and I got the opportunity to catch up with each other and the guys got to hang out in the basement away from the women. It was a nice evening. We were home by 10, asleep by 1030 and wake for New Years day by 6am.

My youngest, Hailey was up at 5:45 moving around, about ready to yell for a bottle, when I took her out to the living room so she wouldnt wake up Kenny or Ava. We watched some sportscenter and Hailey ate her breakfast (formula, yuck, just the smell). Ava wasnt too long after us, asking for chocolate milk and cartoons. So our day began.

Kenny's family has a reunion every year on New Years Day. Its a hit or miss event for us. We had originally decided we werent going to attend. Kenny was working and I didnt want to try to go and keep up with 2 by myself. It would just be easier to stay home. However, Kenny was able to get off, so we decided to go. Its always a nice time, good food, and lots of company. Ava had a ball, she and her cousins ran around and screamed and played the whole time.

After the reunion, Ava's cousin said she wasnt ready to quit playing with Ava. We laughed and invited them over. We were having a great time catching up and the kids wanted to play. So that evening we had a great time with our cousins, extended the family reunion to our living room and watched football while the girls played.

I can say that in a previous post I had said that for this year of 2012 I wanted to become closer to friends and enjoy their company. I was really happy to see that on the first day of the year we were doing that. There is nothing like taking time out, stopping the grown up responsibilities, and just hanging out. We dont get to do that anymore. I hope that we continue doing it and growing closer with our family and friends.