Overdue

I realize it has been two weeks since my last post. My how time has flown. There has been so much going on around our house that I didn't realize how much time had gotten away from me. So here are a few updates of our little household.

Dogs
What do you feed two pregnant dogs who refuse to eat?

Answer: Anything they will.

But in all seriousness, I contacted a couple of breeders to ask this same question, and of course have been all over the web researching. Everyone seems to recommend adding chicken and rice to their normal diet. I am now cooking chicken breasts and rice cooked in chicken broth in bulk.

I tried adding canned food. I tried changing their food. The canned food worked for a couple of days, but both dogs turned their noses up at any type of dry dog food. Adding the chicken and rice seems to make them remember they are hungry, and so they end up eating dry food as well.

As for whether or not they are both pregnant, only time will tell. I took them to the vet a week ago and he said they were both exhibiting outward pregnancy symptoms, but would not say they were pregnant because apparently dogs have false pregnancies where they will experience every pregnancy symptom in the book including lactating, swelling bellies, and labor, but then there will be no pups. So he said all he could do was tell me to come back in 3 weeks and he would do x-rays. I think I will pass on that though. I will just wait to see who has pups and how many, since I know their respective estimated due dates.


Baby Bean
Our little family headed up to see my parents for the 4th of July weekend. We took an extra day off work to make it an even longer weekend. While there we spent some time with all of my siblings, which is a feat considering none of us live in the same states right now, and watched an awesome firework show put on and sponsored by my own little brother.

Before heading home, a few of us went to see the newly renovated zoo.

Baby Bean loved the carousel, as always. She rode a seal.
I love this picture because she still looks so much like a baby.

All of the grandkids posed for a picture on this super friendly bronze lion.

All of the dinosaurs around the zoo were pretty awesome.
They were animated and growled.

Baby Bean checking out some monkeys.

Baby Bean and her cousin sharing a double stroller.

And last, but not least, Baby Bean and her new pool. God help me, for I will and do spoil this child. I cannot help myself. The smiles these things puts on her face is worth all the money in the world to me.

A side note: this pool has 13 different sections that needed to be blown up. Each palm tree had two. It took me over an hour to blow it up with an air compressor.


The Project
A few months ago I was watching a cartoon with Baby Bean that gave me the most fantastic idea to create a quilt that I would then sew charms onto for some of the big events in her life. When I got a bonus at work a couple months ago, I used it to start buying supplies such as silver letter beads to spell out her name; numbers for her birthday; charms of a mom, dad, a little girl, and two dogs to signify her family; and so on. The idea is also to buy charms from everywhere we go on vacation or any fun places we go. When we went to Cancun in May, I bought her a dolphin and seashell charms.

It took me a couple of weeks, and an experienced eye can tell it has been a while since I've touched a sewing machine, but tonight I finally finished the quilt!

Baby Bean showing off her new quilt. She LOVES it.

The Family Square.
Dad, Baby Bean, Mom, Maggie, and Sadie.
I left room to add to the square later, if our family is added to.

TTC
I'm still on break from this game. I'm still doing acupuncture. I'm not doing anymore fertility treatments. I haven't been charting for the last two months and don't think I will until after our puppies have all been sold and are gone.

I've been exercising, but am going to start doing even more this week because one of my BFF's and I decided that instead of going out for lunch every day, we are going to brown bag it and hit our office gym. Brown bagging instantly means I eat better.

I also just had the most normal cycle I have had for the first time since last August, which gives me some hope that things are getting back on track. I have decided that if I'm not pregnant by the end of the year I am going to request a laparoscopy just to make sure there is no scar tissue preventing anything and to make sure everything else looks good. Until then though, I'm going to stay pretty zen about all of it. I don't miss stressing about every little thing in my cycle, so I am glad to have a reason to not really keep track of it (i.e., pregnant dogs/impending puppies).

That's pretty much it for now. I am way behind on my blog reading again, but will hopefully have some time to catch up a bit this week.

All of Her Latest Firsts

Even though my daughter has already been on this planet outside of "the package" for over two years, she has experienced a lot of firsts these past few weeks. It is so much fun to look and her and think about how she has never done these things before. I remember when she was first born, I was so excited about the fact that everything was new to her. That I would get to teach her about everything and watch her experience it all for the first time.

Baby Bean has been on planes many times already, but our trip to Cancun a couple of weeks ago was her first vacation. It was also her first time going outside of the U.S. Her first time on a beach. Her first time seeing the ocean and playing in it. Her first time building a sand castle, or even playing in the sand. I loved that vacation even more because so much of it was brand spanking new to her.

Then last weekend I got the bug to go buy her a tricycle. Her first bike. She loves the thing, and I love watching her figure out how to push the pedals. Even more, I loved watching my husband, her daddy, teach her how to ride it.

As if that wasn't enough firsts, I decided one night over the weekend that it was time to paint her toe nails. Within minutes she had pretty toe nails the same color as mama's. Every day since then whenever I change her diaper or get her dressed for the day, she asks if her pretty toe nails are still there. Yes, baby, they are, and they are so pretty.

Monday was also her first day in her new Montessori school. For those of you who don't know what that is, Montessori is a different method of teaching children. Everything they learn is hands on instead of out of a book. Instead of seeing 1+1=2 in a book, they have something like blocks, and they can see and feel that one block + one block = two blocks. The children learn quicker and easier and test higher than when taught through traditional means.

Every day her daycare sends home a sheet that tells us what she learned that day, as well as what she ate, what time her diaper was changed, etc. My favorite part of reading through what she learned yesterday was, "I learned Mandarin Chinese." That's right, my daughter is being taught Chinese! Not only that, she is being taught Spanish as well. She also has time devoted to music classes where she learns from a teacher who was trained at Juliard. She will leave that school being tri-lingual.

I know this all sounds hoity-toity, but anyone who knew me when I was pregnant and ever asked, "What do you want most for your baby?" knows that my answer was always, "I want her to be smarter than me." And I'm no dummy. After leaving this school, my daughter will be smarter than me. I can't tell you how much I love this daycare and how it will help her all throughout her life.

The best comment I have had so far was when I went to pick her up after her first day. Her teacher asked if my daughter had transferred from another Montessori school. When I replied that she had been going to traditional daycare, the teacher was surprised. She said my daughter was so well-behaved and learned new things very quickly. She went on to give me examples. I was beaming on the inside. I told the teacher that was why we changed schools, because we wanted to give our daughter every advantage when it came to learning. Her dad and I are so happy and excited about her potential in the new school. In fact, when I picked her up today, her teacher told me Baby Bean was using the potty regularly, and she wants to start full on potty training her in a few weeks, once Baby Bean is settled in the new environment a little more.

As I have said before, I am so happy with my life right now and the way everything is going. I know I am so blessed, and I don't take any of it for granted.

My most favorite moment this week: tonight when I was snuggled up next to Baby Bean in her toddler bed she looked at me and said, "Mom, you're my best friend." Oh.My.Gosh! I melted. Puddle of mom on the bed, melted. I could not possibly love my child more.

Gallivanting

Hello friends! I am happy to say I am back! And believe you me, I have much to tell. However, I won't do it all in one post (or even two). I will tell you soon why I had to take a break away from the blog for a bit for reasons other than that I have been gallivanting the American continent. First on business, then on pleasure.

Remember how last month I said I was going to take the month off cycling, and then decided to cycle at the last minute? Well I couldn't tell you this then, but now that the vacation is behind us I can tell you the reason for doing a medicated cycle was not for a shot at conception, but rather my feeble attempt at getting AF out of the way before my little family of three went on our first ever family vacation to wonderful Cancun Mexico. (I kind of won and lost on the cycle battle. AF didn't show, but more on that later.)

I realized as I was putting the slide show below together that I am a modern version of the annoying person who invites all of their friends over to watch slides of their vacations, but the difference is, if you don't want to see adorable pictures of my daughter swimming with Ramon the Dolphin or sweetly posing on ancient Mayan ruins, you don't have to. (It will only suck away 4 minutes of your life if you choose to watch.) I knew the grandparents, my siblings, and some of my IRL friends wanted to see these pictures though, so here they are. Enjoy, and I'll write again very soon. Promise!

HaPpY HaLlOwEeN!

I decided that instead of creating a post that was a mile long full of spooktacular Halloween photos, I would do another slide show, but before we get to that, I have a few things to say.

First off, I was Alice in Wonderland for Halloween this year. My costume was inspired by my bestest friend, who made her costume, and dressed as The Queen of Hearts. She spent 3.5 weeks making her costume, and because she is oober talented, you would be amazed at how much more incredible it looks in person. In fact, we went to Wally World the other night and she went in costume. I can't remember how many people asked to take pictures with her, but it was close to a dozen. Together we won best team costume at work, my BFF won best overall costume, and my desk won best decoration. Harrah!

I would also like it to be noted that my hair is actually quite long in real life. In looking through our family photo session, the shortest of my layers was all you could see, making it look merely shoulder length. No friends, it is almost down to my waist! I have been growing it out since Baby Bean was 4 months old when I chopped it off because it was falling out post-pregnancy.

Baby Bean had a BLAST trick-or-treating. She got her first go at my work Halloween party where she proved that tiny hands can grab quite a bit. Every desk we stopped by she would grab a handful of candy (provided for free from HR), put it in her bucket, and then grab another handful of candy. I think she grabbed four handfuls from the HR office and then at least two from every other desk after that. It was hilarious to see her carry, or rather drag, her overbriming basket down the aisles of cubes. Everyone got a kick out of her and thought she was so pretty, they didn't care how much candy she took. They just loved looking at her.

Saturday morning we went to a Fall Festival hosted by our daycare. There Baby Bean got to experience her first bounce house. She seemed to like it okay, but she had a hard time staying upright. She also seemed to like the playgrounds better than anything else going on. She did get to do a bit of trick-or-treating there, and she also got to pick a free pumpkin, which she loved.

I have also found another reason to love Texas. I don't know about where you all are from, but here they have trick-or-treating just about everywhere. Tonight we visited our local outdoor mall where they hosted a major event. About half of the stores participating in handing out candy to the trick-or-treaters. BB had a blast, as did her mom and dad.

We plan on taking BB trick-or-treating around our neighborhood for a bit on actual Halloween night, but that is only because Hubs wants to take the dogs out and show of their rider costumes. He said I spent the money on them, we're going to show them off. We certainly don't need anymore candy in our house. That much I can promise you. I think my daughter got more candy this year than I did as a kid. Heaven help my thighs... and my husbands beer belly.

On that note, I leave you with the highlights from this year's Halloween!

First Family Photos

Sorry friends, if you missed this post, I had to take the pictures down. It was a short-time deal. If my husband knew I had them up, he'd probably be mad. I didn't see the harm in sharing for a few days though.

Stay tuned for the Halloween post!

I am so excited to share this with all of you. A couple weekends ago we went and had our first professional family photos taken. As you can see by the slide show below, they turned out great!

I've got a really fun post up my sleeve, but it will have to wait for another day or so. It is going to take some work on the back end, and then it will be up for your viewing pleasure. Until then, feast your eyes on my wonderfully beautiful little family. :)

Randomness

FALL
Finally! Fall is falling in Texas! Today is the first day this fall that is under 85 degrees. The average the last couple weeks has been around 88-95. If you ask me, that is NOT fall weather, but two days ago a wonderful fall rain storm blew in from the north, and right now it is a perfect, beautiful 70 degrees complete with breeze.

My house is currently getting a much needed airing. All of the windows are open and breezes are blowing all of the inside air out, and some of the outside air in. It's GLORIOUS!

BABY BEAN
Yesterday I was washing all of the windows in our kitchen and family room area, while Chi.cken Run was playing in the background. Baby Bean was contentedly playing in the family room, every now and then turning to watch the movie.

While I was washing, I heard a very strange sound that sounded like a sheet of tin being bent back and forth (you know, with that "wooshing" sound). I thought it was odd and kept turning to look at the movie because it was the only place the sound could be coming from (or so I thought), but not only did I not remember that sound in the movie, it also didn't fit the scene. I did this a few times over the next 5 minutes or so.

Finally I looked over in BB's direction to find her drawing an art picture all over the couch cushions.

Oh yeah, look at the guilty look on that face! I couldn't resist getting a picture of her with her artwork all over the furniture.

Luckily, it all came up pretty easily with a little elbow grease. Sadly, our couches look cleaner now than they do after I hit them with a steam cleaner.

BANDWAGON
I have been avoiding getting sucked into a phenomenon that started a few years ago. I refused. I balked. I said, "Never!" I have had many, many friends telling me I needed to, and I always told them, "NO WAY!"

I had been budged a little last year when one of my BFFs was trying to convince me to jump on the bandwagon. She had told me she was going to get it for me for Christmas, but she didn't, and I didn't push it. I wasn't going to go buy it on my own, so I was able to resist a little longer. Then, S.I.F blogged about it. The more I read her post the more I was opening to the idea. By the time I finished reading her post, I had resolved to go buy it.

Want to know what it was?

Look to the right.

Dab-nabbit! That's right. I'm reading Twi.light.

I bought it yesterday after we went to dinner near a B&N. We were right there, so I figured I might as well go buy the book. I wouldn't tell Hubs what I wanted until we found it because I knew he was going to tease the daylights out of me.

I wasn't disappointed.

I got teased.

He told me to be sure to tell him whether I am on team Edward or team Jacob so he knows what t-shirt to buy me for Christmas.

Thanks babe.

OTHER READS
As you can see from the picture above, I am also reading The Happ.iest Toddl.er on the Blo.ck. I have to say, it was worth the purchase and read. We haven't had a melt down since I read the book, and it is amazing. I highly recommend it.

TWW
As of today, we are officially in another TWW. Ovulation came early again this month. I think I got my positive OPK last night, as my LH surge dropped off steadily throughout the day today. I say "think" because none of the tests seemed to be as dark as the control line.

Hubs reassured me today when I told him I might have had an annovulatory cycle by telling me that I could have had a bad batch of tests, especially where I bought the 20 pack, and it says something along the lines of "remove a test and reseal the package as quickly as possible." I think there might have been a night where I didn't properly reseal the package.

Looking at the tests above, I'd have to say it looks like CD16 is my best bet, and I think I felt an egg release today in a rather painful moment where I had a shooting pain in my right ovary that took my breath away, so despite not having an "as dark as line" I'm pretty sure I ovulated.

As promised, I haven't done anything to conceive short of using OPKs and BDing. I also haven't been stressing. We do our thing and either it works or it doesn't. If it doesn't, oh well. We'll try again next month. No stress. Not a big deal.

If it does work, well then I'll be giddy as a school girl and happy as a blue jay.

NAP TIME
Where I'm headed right now to enjoy this cool, fall breeze.

Fun-do

Lately one of my best friends has been having a hard time being generally discontented with life. (This is the same best friend who takes Baby Bean's pictures.) She's been quite down, which has been hard for me to see. I always want everyone in my life to be happy, so I feel like it is my duty to help them achieve happiness when I can, especially for someone I care so much about.

Last week my husband and I watched a TV show that named their top 10 places to eat cheese-filled meals, one of which was a fancy fondue restaurant in New York. A light bulb went on over my head as I thought about the unused fondue pot Hubs and I had been given for our wedding. I needed to have a fondue party with my friend! The next day I sent my friend an email, asking her if she was game to come have a fun-filled fondue party. She was completely excited at the idea. For the next few hours we talked about what kind of fondue we would make and what we would dip in it. We couldn't wait.

Saturday finally came around, and just after 4:00 my red-headed BFF graced my doorstep. We packed Baby Bean in the car and went to the store to buy cheese, veggies, fruit, and chocolate. Once home, the cheese melting began. Sadly, we were unable to find one cheese the recipe called for, so we substituted, and we are pretty sure the flavor was no where near what it should have been. It was all right, but it wasn't great. Next time we'll try a different recipe before substituting cheese.

While we waited for the first course of cheese-covered steak, shrimp, crab, pretzels, toasted bread, and celery to settle, we went to visit my best friend who just got back from doing IVF in Turkey. The cycle didn't take. We had invited her to the party, but she opted out. She needed her time to grieve, so we took her flowers and gourmet popcorn (her favorite) and visited with her for a bit. She is doing remarkably well and bouncing back from her disappointment quickly, just as I thought she would. She is gearing up to go back and try again at Christmas time. One thing she kept saying over and over was, "It's the Lord's plan. There has to be a reason." It really sucks knowing that someone I care about in real life so much is going through this.

After we had our chat, Red and I headed home for THE BEST part of the evening. Chocolate fondue with fresh bananas, strawberries, grapes, and apples. Oh.My.Gosh! It was sooooo good! We made it with He.rshey's chocolate, and it was to die for. We both pigged out as we watched the broadway version of Victor/Victoria with Ju.lie An.drews. Between the two of us, we cleaned up almost ALL of the fondue.

During the last part of the evening, I just kept thinking that this is the friendship I always wanted and never had until I met this wonderful woman. It took us 29 years to cross each other's paths, but you'd never know we've only been friends for a couple of years, as opposed to our whole lives. I didn't want the night to end. I have never had such a good girl friendship before. There is never a hint of envy or jealousy between us. We are always so happy for each other when the other is happy, we are sad when the other is sad, we cheer each other on, we boost each other up, we're here for each other no matter what. I've never had that in a girl friend before I moved here, and now I have it in three wonderful women. How blessed am I? I guess God is making up for the first 29 years of my life where I didn't have that.

All I can say is I am so grateful for these three spectacular, wonderful women and the blessing they are in my life. They fill me with such joy, and I love them all so very much. I appreciate the fulfilling relationships I have with each of them. I am blessed for sure.

Rockin' Weekend

This past weekend was a busy and event-filled one. As I have said previously, we are finally starting on our backyard landscaping project. Part of the reason we bought this house was because the backyard is a completely blank slate that we could do whatever we wanted with. All we currently have back there is two crepe myrtles, a cork screw willow, a shed, and a stupid looking covered deck that we plan on taking out.


Our lot is rather large, which is yet another reason we bought this house. It is great for two high energy border collies, high energy kids, and perhaps a swimming pool one day. Yes, it really is that big. Actually, its bigger. I wasn't in the corner of the lot. Can you see the potential here?

We spent most of the day Saturday looking for the type of stone we want to use for our patio pavers and fish pond surround. (We're going to do that again this Saturday too, as Hubs has to look at every rock yard in the metroplex before he will be happy.) The day was rounded out with dinner at a new Tex Mex restaurant and a trip to Lo.wes to buy planters. While we were there, we ended up on the side of the store that sells playgrounds. Now as I have said, Hubs is NOT an impulse buyer. At all. But the second he saw this toddler swing, he wanted it.


Is that not one of the cutest things ever? I mean, look at the smile on this kid's face!



We seriously couldn't wait to put the swing in the tree and put Baby Bean in it. To make the weekend even better our "hick" pool, as Hubs calls it, arrived on Saturday. I wasted no time filling it up on Sunday morning, and within 45 minutes, we were all in it.


That totally is not the best picture of me or the baby, but this picture was taken after a long day outside where sweat poured down my face like rain. Yes, it is one of those inflatable ring pools, but we just don't give a rat's batoot. Its a pool that we can climb into and cool off on a hot, Texas summer day. I am still so excited about having it, it borders on pathetic. lol

It was a fantastic weekend. Our favorite part was obviously the pool, very closely followed with Baby Bean in her swing. Mom and dad, this one's for you!

It Wasn't So Bad

My first day back to work was actually about a million times better than I could have imagined. I loved being welcomed back and hearing everyone say how much they missed me. Of course the latter is because we are literally days away from a major product launch and my not being around the last four weeks kind of made things a little more hectic for people. Luckily I have awesome coworkers who were able to step up and fill my shoes while I was out.

I enjoyed being back amongst my friends, and oddly, I really enjoyed being back to work and being needed. I was planning on only doing a half day and going home after lunch, but there were a couple of fireballs dropped on my desk that needed to be done by the end of the day, so I didn't leave until around 3:30. Even when I did leave it was because one of my coworkers felt bad that I was still there and told me I could get him his stuff on Monday. I was so incredibly thankful because I was in a lot of discomfort.

One other thing I relished on Friday was a meeting I was in where I realized this is the year I am really going to earn my stripes with this company. We are launching a huge project around our manuals that is going to involve a lot of work and man hours from people all over the company, and I will be the hub of it. I am excited to tackle this project and make it huge. I plan on taking something that is already massive and turning it into something mammoth, and I know I can do it. It will be a long time before I have free time on my hands again. This project is going to take months of me working full time, and when its done, another major launch will be on my door step. This is what I have been waiting for.

I am totally okay with life getting back to the same old, same old now. I am actually really pleased and excited with it because in addition to work, Hubs is starting to move on landscaping our backyard. We went to a rock yard today and picked out the stone we want to use for the flagstone patios we're going to put in and use for the surround on our fish pond. Then tonight we went and got some planters that we are going to use to plant herbs and vegetables in around the yard. While a garden would be nice, above ground planters work better for keeping animals out and fit into our scheme better.

How is life right now? It is better than great, its fantastic!

Sometimes Boring Is Good

The other day I was kind of lamenting that I will be going back to work on Friday and the fact that life will resume its normal daily routine. Its not that I don't want to go back to work so much as it is that I am not looking forward to stepping back into the mundane daily bump and grind. Not only that, but we have nothing exciting on the horizon. We can't start trying for another baby until September or October (I know I said August, but we need to be smart about things and give my body time to heal; even September/October is pushing it). We don't have a vacation planned. Its summer, and not just summer, but summer in Texas, which is brutal. In short, life is going back to the same old, same old. Boring.

It kind of started to get me down and I didn't like that. I racked my brain trying to think of something to look forward to and be excited about. I did this for days and kept coming up with nothing. Yeah, we get to TTC later this year, but that is months away, and honestly, there has to be something better to look forward to. I'm kind of tired of this whole TTC crap right now anyway because there isn't a dang thing we can do about it that isn't completely stupid. I would really like to put it on the back burner until we're ready to be back in the game.

For a few days I sort of moped around the house. Yeah we're getting ready to finally start landscaping our back yard after living here for over two years. That's exciting and fun, but that project is going to move at a glacial pace. It isn't instant gratification by any means. Between right now and the moment that project is complete will be what feels like eons. In other words, there has to be something better.

Then one day it just hit me, maybe it is okay for life to be boring sometimes. It seems to me that during those times is when some of the best memories are made. Just because it is boring in terms of momentous events, it doesn't mean that the moments I am given are boring. I will still have my family and we will still have good times together. Even work isn't so bad as long as I have friends, and I have lots of them. Maybe the secret is to learn to find all of the moments in the moments, rather than hold my breath for the momentous. I don't know, its just a thought.

Life really is good, even if each moment of it isn't filled with the most spectacular or dramatic things life has to offer. Sometimes the lack of drama is just what the doctor ordered, and I'm pretty sure I already filled that prescription. Maybe its time to just sit back on the front porch in a handmade wooden rocking chair, fanning myself in the hot Texas summer heat as I watch the sun go down and sing a heart felt round of "Summer Time." Its time to kick back, relax, and let the boring times roll.

A Rarity

For the first time in two years, I went to the optometrist to have my eyes checked to see if my conact prescription has changed. I hadn't been since a few days before I found out I was pregnant with Baby Bean back in 2008. The funny thing about that appointment was the last place I had my eyes checked was so gungy I thought that if I was feeling sick the next day it was because I picked up a bug from there. The next day I went home from work with dizzy spells and a spearmint taste in my mouth... it was my set of pregnancy symptoms.

So this time when I made the appointment to the eye dr (I didn't go back to the same place as last time), I half chuckled to myself and said I hoped I didn't find out I was pregnant again after this checkup, mostly because pregnancies when IUDs are in place don't usually work out.

Just in case you thought I was going to say I'm pregnant, I'm not.

I did get a very pleasant surprise, however. I knew my prescription had changed because my vision hasn't been as sharp the last few months. What I didn't expect to hear is that my eyesight actually got better! My doctor checked it twice before she told me. I asked her if she was sure, so she checked it a third time. Yep, my eyesight got better! She wouldn't let me order my contacts that night just in case I did notice a deficit with the lower strength lenses, but on my drive home that night I knew she had me in the correct prescription.

Apparently it is pretty rare that people's eyes get better, especially at my age. It is nice to be a positive rarity for once. :)

Things I Love

I just wanted to take a moment to show and tell all of my family and friends the things that I love in this life. Let's start out with:

My daughter and the moments we share...

ALL of them

"Baby in a towel, uh-oh, I know, its really seriouuuuus."

These are the words I sing to her after her bath.

If you can look at this picture and not laugh,
then you are not very easily amused... at all.
I feel bad for you. :p

My husband and his loathing of having his picture taken

Check out the dirty look!
Nice one babe!

My crazy dogs

"Please excuse our red eyes. We're not really evil."

A good hair cut

This is the one I got this very day.

The girl gave me EXACTLY what I wanted.

I love her.

A good pair of super cute shoes that don't kill my feet, get me tons of compliments, were on sale, and were super cheap

Ol.ay's Reg.enerist facial scrub and moisturizer. Infertility aged my face 5 years, this product has taken it all back off and not only made my skin feel and look completely awesome, but it has erased some of the wrinkles left over from my treatment days.

There are many other things in this world that I love, but today, these items in particular struck a chord in my heart. They all made my day today, and I am happy to share them.

Cleaning Up Christmas

Friday morning Hubs and I decided to go out for breakfast. We hit our local I.hop where I was treated to pecan pie pancakes, and Baby Bean got another pancake all to herself. Hubs got a couple of gift cards to Lo.wes for Christmas, and he had already decided he wanted to use them to buy outside Christmas decorations for next year, but he wanted to do it after the first of the year when everything went on deep discount.

I had told him back at the end of November that next year I wanted to decorate the outside of our house. Baby Bean would be old enough to appreciate it, and I thought it would be fun. We decided not to do it this year because finances were tight, and the baby wouldn't notice or care anyway. Surprisingly, Hubs was on board. Not only that, but he took my idea up a notch. I just wanted to string lights in the trees, throw some in the bushes, and maybe buy a lawn deer or three. He wouldn't have it. He said if we were going to do it, we were going to do it right! That means we will have lights hanging from our roof. I am all for it... as long as I'M not the one on the ladder!

I can't wait to see those lights up there though. ;)

So, after breakfast we went to Lo.wes, but they had already been almost completely cleaned out of all of their Christmas stuff. (I did, however, manage to find those Christmas candles that go in your window on sale for 75% off. I've wanted those for years now, but wouldn't justify spending the money on them until today when they cost just $1.12 each!) They told us to try Wal.mart instead, so we did. The pickings were slim, but we made out like bandits. We bought a ton if icicle lights, two sparkly crystal lawn angels, a few other decorations for inside the house, three garlands, four boxes of marshmallow chocolate covered santas, and a foot spa with paraffin hand treatment. All of it was discounted 75%. (My favorites are the foot spa [$7.50! Hello! I've been wanting one for years] and marshmallow santas.)

Shortly after arriving home, all of it was packed into my last empty Christmas bin (green bin with red lid), and shoved out in the garage not to be seen again until next November. I do want to mention, I also cleaned up at Tar.get earlier this week. I bought six gorgeous Christmas stockings at 60% off. Why six? Because I plan on growing our little family and want all of them to match. I don't care if we never use all six, but it is nice to have them. The dogs will get stockings for at least the next few Christmases now.

As for all of our existing Christmas items, they were packed away first thing this week.

I really enjoy hitting the after Christmas sales. Sure you can't use the stuff until next year, but it is awesome to save so much money. Not only that, but we have brand new stuff to use next year and don't have to spend a fortune trying to build up our Christmas stock all at once.

Now I leave you with a couple of pictures from this year's Christmas. Remember how I said we had chocolate coming out our ears? Take a look at this:


There is a box of chocolate cut off from the picture on the left, and I forgot to include the huge can of Pir.oulines. Seriously, take a second to look at each item in this picture, then feel free to let your jaw drop. My plan is to either take it to work and share it, or eat it over the next 11 months.

And just so you don't think the dogs got left out, check out their stash!



I foresee lots and lots of walks in our futures!

First Christmas Recap

I am finally ready to present you with our Christmas recap!

Since we were unable to make it to Hubs' grandpa's for Thanksgiving, we decided to make the 9 hour trek for Christmas. His grandpa had been diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, so we wanted to make sure we spent what might be his last Christmas with him and all of Hubs' family. (We found out tonight that his chemo was successful and he has been declared cancer free!)

Because we weren't going to be here on Christmas day, I decided to give Baby Bean her rocking horse early. I knew we wouldn't be home until late the Sunday following Christmas, and I really wanted Hubs to carry her downstairs in the morning to see her horsey sitting under the tree with a bow around his neck, so she got her horse the Sunday before. Hence the early Christmas pictures.

Wednesday night at around 11:30 p.m. the car was loaded, the baby was asleep, and we were ready to go. Off we went on the arduous 9 hour drive. Hubs loaded up on Am.p and I stayed awake with him as long as I could. We rolled into town around 8:30 the next morning. Hubs' aunts and faux uncle were already there and waiting for us. We spent Christmas Eve with Baby Bean getting to know all of her daddy's family, hanging out, watching the baby, and eating goodies.

On Christmas morning we all got up and went to a nice breakfast. By the time we all got back home, Baby Bean was past her nap time and cranky, so I laid her down for a nap while the rest of us dug into our presents. Hubs' aunts and grandpa were very generous toward us this year and spoiled all of us immensely. But they really went all out for the baby. Of course, so did I. :D That afternoon we all enjoyed a wonderful Christmas dinner at the country club.


The kid got so many Christmas presents it was awesome. She doesn't quite know what to do with herself since we got home. She goes from new toy to new toy to new toy all day long. My favorites were the sock monkey she got from her grandpa and the Texas Te.ch horse from her aunts. She got scads of new clothes, which is awesome because now I don't need to buy her anymore for a while.


Christmas day with Hubs' family was more than I could ask for. I am glad that since we couldn't be with my family, at least we could be with his. We all had a great time, and Baby Bean was the center of attention the whole time. The child is so loved.

Saturday came too soon. Hubs' aunts and uncle went back home, and we were back in the car for a 6 hour drive for an overnight stop over to visit some of his friends. Can I just say that I don't mind traveling with a baby at all, but that I really hate how much is messes up her schedule? I don't mind all of the baby gear that fills up my car completely, or the extra time it takes to do everything. I just hate that her feeding and napping schedules go out the window.

Sunday afternoon we were back in the car for the last 4.5 hour leg of our trip home. Sunday night we happily and gratefully parked in our own driveway and unloaded the car. Next up was Part III of our Christmas. We hadn't taken very many of our presents to his grandpa's house, so we still had a ton left waiting for us at home. However, Baby Bean was DONE with all of the traveling and unwrapping of gifts. She pretty much cried through most of our present unwrapping and just wanted to go to bed.

The best Christmas present I had this year was the joy of finally being a mother and having a baby girl to adorn with gifts. At one point I thought to myself that this is what life is all about. Having and being a family. It was such a perfect holiday and we feel like such a perfect little family. I thank God every day for his blessings in my life.

Finally, because I know the grandparents, aunts, and uncles will love it, here is a little recap of our Christmas this year. Enjoy!

Marevlous Monday

Today was one of the best days ever! I slept in an extra hour and a half before getting my tired butt out of bed to go greet my grinning baby. As I put her on her changing table I told her, "Today is the first day of our stay-cation together! Its just you and me for the next two weeks." She smiled and clapped her hands.

After I got her fed and both of us ready for the day, we hopped in the car to begin the first of our two weeks. As we were pulling out of the driveway I declared, "Let the fun begin!" First we headed to Tar.get to return some jeans I had bought that both Hubs and I hated after I tried them on at home. It was then I realized I could do my grocery shopping there and not have to make a trip to the grocery store as well. We wandered around the store looking at everything, and trying to find mittens for Baby Bean. I guess retailers not only think babies don't need mittens, but they also don't need winter coats because there were none to be found any where we looked today. I did, however, buy her some of those baby shoes that are supposed to be hard to get off for babies, the Ro.bies knock offs. I also bought her a bunch of crunchies and YoBa.by yogurt.

We took our new loot home to drop off all of the cold items, and then headed back out. First up we went to her pediatrician to drop of paperwork that needs to be signed by her doctor for daycare. Then we went to Kh.ols to see if we could find some jeans that fit just right. I have been back into my prepregnancy clothes for some time, but only had one pair of jeans that fit. I had a baggy pair that were driving me insane to wear because they not only made me look fatter, but they wouldn't stay up, on top of them being too short. I found three new pair of jeans that I LOVE (they even have a hidden panel to hold back the post baby belly), a new hat, and two pair of fuzzy aloe socks. I literally danced every time I tried on a new pair of jeans that not only fit, but that looked fantastic. It made Baby Bean smile, clap, and dance too.

After that, we went and washed my car at a self-service car wash. It was 64 degrees here today people! I am from the Northwest where it was like 30 degrees today, so 64 means shorts and tanks to me. We then grabbed lunch and went home where Baby Bean snuggled in for a nap. After said nap, she ate lunch and I tucked her into her stroller, threw a leash on the dogs, and we went for a walk. It was a BEAUTIFUL day outside. It doesn't really snow here so it still smells like fall outside. The weirdest thing to me is the trees that are green all year round.

The rest of our day was spent just chilling at home. "I won't say she was cranky, but I think one of us was cranky, and it wasn't me." Either the poor thing is getting sick again (she's had a cough), or she's teething, or both. I think it is more due to the latter, as she gnawed the wrapping paper off one of the presents tonight.

I am really excited and looking forward to day 2 of our stay-cation. We're going to a Christmas party in the morning with my teammates, and then we're going to lunch with Daddy. We were going to go to a Christmas attraction, but I think we'll postpone that for Wednesday.

From warm, sunny, gorgeous Texas, this is Chelle, and I'm out.

P.S. Did you notice I am down to 1.5 months left until my IUD removal?!

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

While the post is supposed to be "Wordless Wednesday," I just couldn't help but say that when I pulled these pictures off the camera, they absolutely made my heart swell. I am so deeply in love with this child! I couldn't stop smiling as I looked at that sweet little face. I thank God for her every day. Thank Him so much for the wonderful, incredible gift that he has given me. She is by far the best thing her daddy ever gave me too. I love this little girl more than the air I breathe.

PHEW!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, homes in Texas for some reason have ZERO storage space. At least where I am located. I am not the only person with this complaint around here. Storage is at a serious commodity. The closets in my house are pretty much worthless. You shove a roll of toilet paper in there and the thing is full. The one exception is the closet in the master bedroom, which for some reason is probably half the size of the smaller bedrooms in our house. As a result, almost everything that needs to be stored in this house got shoved in there. Want to see the horror? Here you go.



Yes friends, that closet is stacked from side to side, floor to ceiling.

Can I just say it was driving me INSANE?!?! On top of which, I need that space. So a couple of weeks ago, I did the unthinkable... I started to clean the stupid thing out to determine what could go into the attic, unprotected from the temperature and humidity fluctuations, such as books or old papers, and what needed to be protected, such as clothes.


I then bought stock in these babies. Because in addition to my closet being full, Baby Bean's was overflowing as well with her old clothes and blankets that wouldn't fit in mine. I think I spent about $100+ on SBs. I was serious!

Then began the cleaning. Oh the cleaning!


This pile doesn't look big in the picture, but let me tell you, it took up an entire large block SB. It was all of my maternity clothes. I certainly won't need them for a bit and they were taking up way too much precious space.

This pile was jaw dropping. Those are all of the blankets and pillows I pulled out of there. This isn't even including the boxes of books and files. It was one of those projects that when you're half way into it, you wonder why the hell you got yourself into it.

I did the majority of the cleaning in one weekend. Then over the next few weeks, I gathered everything in our front room that I wanted put up in one of our underutilized attics. Today I got sick of it all. I was tired of the boxes sitting in my front room waiting to be put in their new home, and I was tired of the fact that I still had some closet left to clean out yet. Without even meaning to, I finished the thing off today.

Here is the finished project.

Can you believe it used to look like this?!


Hubs and I couldn't believe I actually created some of this:


Do you see that lovely carpet?!

As for the goods, this is an example of what happened to them during the process.

Before

During

After

And finally, in their new home!


Oh yes, folks, I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief. I can't tell you how many times today I have walked into the closet just to believe my eyes. Or how many times I climbed up the attic ladder just to see how cool it was I was using that space.

Then guess what I did next? I cleaned out Baby Bean's closet! Not only did I clean it, I organized it, and then I cleaned and organized her room and her changing table. I feel so proud of myself. :D

Up next, Christmas decorating!

Ta Da!

And now, the moment the grandparents have been waiting for....

Drum roll please!

Baby Bean crawling!

You Must Crawl Before You Walk

People always say that we have to crawl before we can walk. Hubs likes to tell people that he never crawled and went straight to walking. There are days where I wonder if my daughter will follow in his footsteps.

She is really close to crawling right now. For the most part she manages to scoot herself around to wherever she needs to go. I think she just lacks the self-assurance needed to keep herself up on all fours and move forward, especially on the slippery hardwood floors. She gets up on her hands and knees just fine, but I think is scared to actually crawl because she has fallen forward on her face too many times. Tonight was the first time she actually managed to crawl more than three paces. She crawled from one side of her room to the other. I was standing on one side of her room going through an old trunk of mine, discovering some long lost Wi.nnie the Poo.h friends, when Baby Bean managed to pull herself up to a standing position for the first time ever, using her changing table. Right on cue, praise, love, hugs, and kisses ensued for this new accomplishment.

One thing she loves to do is walk. She will grab hold of our fingers when offered, and proceed to walk us around the house, much to the chagrin of my already achy back. Lately when I lay on the floor to play with her, she comes over and uses me to pull herself up to standing. How can a mother resist that? Of course I then hold out my fingers, and we walk around the house. The last time I bought socks, I tried to get as many pair as I could with the little rubber skids on them, since most of our floors are hardwood.

If you promise not to tell Hubs I did this, here is a little video that I was able to capture of him walking our darling little girl around the family room. I had wanted so badly to catch one of these moments with him and her, but he loathes being on camera, so I'm surprised he didn't mind this night. I am so glad I got it. I will cherish it always.

In response to a comment that made me laugh, I need to clarify that it was almost bed time when this was taken and Baby Bean was getting cranky. I posted this video because capturing it was a one-time deal. Usually it makes Baby Bean squeal with delight when we walk her around.

Her First Favorite

My darling little Baby Bean officially has her first favorite toy. When I bought it I didn't think she would really ever play with it. It is a little doggie toy that when you press its belly, it barks twice. Making it bark always makes Baby Bean smile. For months it hung on or was close by her play gym. Then one night I rotated some of the toys out of her crib and put the little dog in with her. Ever since then, she has been hooked on that toy. When I put her into bed at night, I squeeze its tummy two times and let it bark. She reaches up for him with her free hand, while sucking on the thumb of the other.



One night last week, about half an hour after I had put her to bed, she started crying and then full out screaming. I went up to make sure she wasn't caught in her crib, which she wasn't. Within a second, I figured out her dog must have fallen out of the crib. I turned the light on to see tears streaming down her face, and the dog absent from the bed. After looking around, I found him, and placed him back in her hands. She took him, rolled over on her side, began sucking her thumb again, and went back to sleep.

This morning, she woke up around 7:00 (she usually sleeps until 9:00) and sat in bed making a cry that was between a cry and moan. This went on for a while before Hubs went into see what was wrong. When he got into the room, she was sitting up in her crib, crying because her dog was on the floor. Hubs picked it up, made it bark, and handed it to her. He said she grabbed it, laid down, and went back to sleep.

When I got up and started making breakfast, Hubs related the details to me. I told him I had wondered if that was what was going on because of what happened last week. He told me that I should go get another one of those dogs, if not two, as backups just in case this one gets lost. This afternoon I got on the internet and ordered two more.

Right now, my darling baby girl is sound asleep, doggie in her hands.