Naturally Caffeinated Family

A Little Update

2011-12-06T21:30:00.001-05:00

Hi fam and friends! Woowee, it has been too long! I really hope y'all are doing great. Thank you so much for all of your texts, tweets, emails and messages checking in on me! It means so much to me!

Here is our little update:

1. We moved! Yes this is move #9 (we think :)). Eep :) We sold our house and will be closing on our new one very soon! (long story, whoo!) Any prayers you'd like to send for sanity are greatly appreciated. ;) As requested, here is the new place :) Interior pics to come, we can't paint and do finishing touches until we close (you know that is very hard for us ;))!

source from listing

2. Things have been a bit stressful the past few months but Hubby and I are trying to keep our eyes UP, where they belong, and we are completely trusting God. He is GOOD. More on this fact to come. :)

3. The boys are their sweet silly selves! Very silly and very sweet! Loving to laugh, sing, play, chat up a storm, and more as sweet-usual. :)

4. HM is walking!! With her silly smiley giggly mischievous self. :) Full on walking. Across rooms walking. Send chocolate and hugs and how to parent teenagers advice, because they're all almost teenagers already!!

5. Hubby has sent me to the spa a couple times for a couple treatments in the past couple weeks. He is won-der-ful. As usual! :) This morning I dropped BabyBoy off at preschool, went for my massage/scrub/wrap and Hubby kept Little and HM until after I picked BabyBoy up in the afternoon. As I tweeted this morning, I am so thankful for such a sweet, understanding, and very thoughtful Hubby. I am beyond blessed.

That's our goofy fam and latest! Any big news or anything at all from you that I missed?? Hugs!!

P.S. Please email me for our new address for your Christmas/Holiday card list!! And if your address has changed too! :)

Day Trip Adventure: Charlottesville!

2011-10-18T00:50:00.000-04:00

On Saturday we took a day trip adventure to Charlottesville. It is such a cute town. We had so much fun with our little fam. We are so blessed! It felt SO good to just get out of town even for just a day. Whoo, it felt good. :)

These little people are so much fun, can be tiring ;), but we have so much fun together, and just watching them together.. They are so silly and sweet.

Here are some of the things we got to do! {In mostly (and many :)) pics ;)}

Merry-go-round - the boys went on a merry go round while I fed Littlest.

Smiles - there were some steps that begged to have some pics taken on them

{silly boy}

Fun running and photo opps - there was a cute brick square that the boys had fun running around a little bit and the brick was too cute not to take some pics :)

{we get lost in these sweet puppy eyes, all. the. time :)}

{he lives up to the meaning of one of his middle names: laughter, he loves to laugh and make others laugh!}

Lunch - we got to have lunch at Revolutionary Soup! They have all fresh, local, ingredients, mmm! Homemade tomato bisque and sandwiches, mmm!

Special treat! - BabyBoy had spotted a popcorn shop, so after lunch we headed over for a treat :)

{BabyBoy sharing :)}

{Little sharing :-)}

{just chatting}

Hugs! Mmmm, I love these hugs :) There is always time for hugs ;)

The drive home - one of the boys' current goals in life is to make each other and their baby sister laugh! :) It is hilarious, goofy, and so sweet.

{my makeup and hair were done, but Littlest looked so cute in her white fluffy bear ear jacket and hood :) (I fed her while we had to get gas :))}

It was such a wonderful getaway for a day. I was just so thankful the whole time we were just walking around and each little activity together. I try to do it a lot and often, but there was something about this day, especially, I felt like I was thanking God all day for blessing us the way He has.

Erin Condren Giveaway Winner!

2011-10-17T21:07:00.000-04:00

Thank you SO much to everyone who entered! And a big big thank you to Erin Condren for such a fun and fantastic giveaway!!

Our winner, chosen by Random.org, is.............

Elizabeth said...

I would love to use the money for a planner. I already like her on FB, but will leave a comment for sure. Thanks for the giveaway.

Congratulations Elizabeth!! Please email me at naturallycaffeinatedfamily{at}gmail{dot}com to confirm your email address and receive your $25 Erin Condren gift code!! :)

Hope y'all had a great weekend and are having a great start to the week! We had an fun packed weekend. We took a day trip to a fun little town (so many fun pics to come!), had a showing on Saturday and Sunday, I played at church on Sunday, and we had a yummy and wonderful sushi dinner date with some fabulous friends, who are moving soon (boo ;)). Have a great night! Hugs!

Silly girl in a stroller

2011-10-13T15:12:00.001-04:00

We took a day trip adventure to a fun little town last month and took the littles to a children's museum. They had fun exploring (more pics to come :)) and Littlest had fun being silly in the stroller. :)

We love all of her different facial expressions! Here are just a few of them ;)

{Just chillin' with the fam}

{Kickin' up both legs :)}

Sweet silly baby girl!! :)

We cannot get enough of her big blue eyes! We're wondering if they're going to stay blue! We're thinking the boys had changed from blue to brown by this time. When did your littles' or little ones you know, eyes change?

ETA: Giveaway is closed

Don't forget to enter my Erin Condren giveaway!!! It ENDS TODAY! And don't forget to enter the other fantastic ladies' Erin Condren giveaways right now too! You have 4 blogs you enter to win! Check 'em all out!:

Here at NCF! At Jenna's Journey, Life in the Green House, and I Love You More Than Carrots!! Good luck!!! :)

New Do!

2011-10-11T09:44:00.003-04:00

I got a new do! Eep!

As I tweeted the other day, my hair has been confused. It hasn't really had a style for a lil' time now and has just been, ehhh. :)

Can I get a, "I hear ya!" for the unfun process that is finding a new hair stylist?? I think I have found one now, this is my second cut by her, and I just have to wait it out to fix the previous 4 cuts! ;) The previous cuts, they cut too many layers, too choppy, just not right. :)

I've been wanting a change and have been thinking about taking a chance on a little soft side swept bangs. Many of you know, when I blogged about a long while ago :), that I have a cowlick, with a mind of it's own. I had some round brush bangs when I was young, and I won't make that mistake again. ;-) I've wanted to try a lil' side swept bang before but never fully went for it. Now, I went for it!

{Side note: I am (NOT a fashionista, but) loving stripes this fall, and loving navy blue, and navy and white. :)}

Keep in mind this is styled there, I still need to play with, straighten, curl, floof, train my new found bangs to fight against the tyrant that is my cowlick! ;)

Now, the bangs are a little shorter than I originally anticipated. I'm going to take my vitamins and hope they grow fast so I can get them exactly where I want them. :) I've been pinning them back for the most part, until I got some hair spray a friend recommended, in an attempt to begin the training process. :)

Here are me my little people that night! This is not my most flattering pic (at all ;)) but oh how I love these littles and the amazing man behind the camera!

And now you know almost everything there is to know about my hair and hair cuts over the past two years :)... If you have any new bangs advice, advice away! :)

Don't forget to enter my Erin Condren giveaway!!! Aaand there are a few other fantastic ladies having Erin Condren giveaways right now too! You have 4 blogs you enter to win! Check 'em all out!:

Here at NCF! At Jenna's Journey, Life in the Green House, and I Love You More Than Carrots!!

Aaaaand Erin Condren is going to be on One Kings Lane today! Click here to get an invite and sign up!

Have fun and good luck!!!

Erin Condren Giveaway!!!

2011-10-10T08:51:00.002-04:00

Are you excited yet?? I am so excited to host this giveaway! Have you been to the Erin Condren website to check out all of her adorable goodies?

So, I was late to the bangwagon, as I usually am. ;) Actually, most of the time I don't hop on bandwagons or if I do it's years later and "it" could be completely "out" but I was still eventually excited about it! ;-) Enter my first pair of Uggs last year (in gray). hehe. Whatever you say about them, they are comfy! They were a present from Hubby, I had no idea he was getting them! Comfy! :)

But I could not resist the EC Life Planner. I had just been telling Hubby how I needed a new planner in my life so I wasn't just using my phone. I am a hard copy girl, I love writing things down, I am a list maker, I love the feel of a smooth writing pen in my hand while I write it all down. ;)

I have to brag about Erin Condren really quick. Her customer service was awesome, they were so responsive in emails and phone calls. All of her products are so customizable! If you see something on her site you can change colors to fit YOU.

I have been loving turquoise and inspired by Littlest I have been loving the soft sweet color combo of turquoise with hints of white, pink, and throw in some yellow for fun. I love the boys in all of those colors too! You know I like boys in pink too. :)

{the colors are even prettier in person!}

And I am SO enjoying color-coding each member of our family and our family as a whole! :-)

What I love about the EC Life Planner:

* She starts the calendar the month you receive it and it goes through December 2012!

* It has the full month and then a wonderful set up of the weeks, divided into morning, afternoon, and night. Love that!

* Has a plastic zippered pouch for any goodies you want to keep easily accessible.

* Has a little pocket too so you can stuff anything fun in their you want at your fingertips too.

* It is so colorful and cute throughout. I love the tabs, of course ;)

* Has note sections, to do and goal lists throughout the whole planner.

Now you have a chance to win $25 to purchase anything your little organizational fun heart desires!!!

I would love to get the address labels and some personalized stationery! She has adorable holiday cards. I love the Top 10 one, it is so cute! So many cute products!

How to Win:

1. Leave a comment below, post "Naturally Caffeinated Family sent me!" on Erin Condren's Facebook page, and like her on facebook (if you haven't already :))!

To get two Extra Entries!: Leave an additional comment for each that you complete!

2. Tweet about this giveaway, mention @_NCF_ and a link to this post!

3. Subscribe to the Erin Condren Newsletter (at the upper left of her website!)

Giveaway will end on Thursday night October 13th at 11:59pm EST!! Good luck!!!

ETA: Make sure your entries are complete so they count!! :)

A Mini Dream

2011-10-07T08:54:00.001-04:00

Most of you know I used to be a high school orchestra director, played weddings and any events (even proposals, so fun!) with my string quartet (for almost 8 years!), have played at many churches on the worship team or orchestras, played in other orchestras/chamber ensembles, and taught private lessons, just to name a bit of musical involvement.

Each of the babies have had their own experiences with music so far, with BabyBoy leading the pack at being in utero, hearing and being inside the music with the orchestras I taught and conducted. There is nothing like standing on a podium and creating and being surrounded and inside the music with an orchestra. I have been known to sit in the car for a couple extra minutes, crank up a tune (classical or other), close my eyes, and just feel enveloped by the music.

BabyBoy started off playing his little piano, 1/8 size violin, then an old family guitar, now Little is playing the little violin, and HM is starting off on the lil' piano. And everyone singing too (and Hubby has a wonderful voice). :)

To say I love these pictures is an understatement.

{We are listening to tracks on the computer, last month, and the babies are rehearsing with me to play at church on Sunday.}

BabyBoy lives music. I live music. We all love music.

BabyBoy has been talking for quite some time now about being a worship leader at church. :) He pretends all the time with his guitar, "mic" stand, and microphone (just like in the pics). He sings about God and he sings to God. He has a little heart of worship.

My two mini dreams are: 1. For the babies to continue love music and praise God with all their hearts, and maybe even play in an orchestra one day. 2. That one day I'll have an orchestra or few to teach, conduct, and make music with again. Or start playing/performing a lot more often and more seriously again. Not right now, but someday.

And get excited friends, next week I will be hosting an Erin Condren Giveaway!!!!!!!!

*the dark pics, the lights had just gone out because of a storm that night :)

NapTime Project: Coupon Binder Edition

2011-10-04T20:01:00.003-04:00

I am in re-organization mode.

I feel like I am getting settled after Littlest was born. You may say, wasn't she born 8 months ago? Yep, but she is our third sweet little and though everything is going really well, there are just a lot of adjustments, energy that has been recovering, aaaand we've been in house on the market/getting ready to get it on the market mode for almost 2 1/2 months now.

I just got my new planner (more on that later!), I've been re-organizing things all over the house and it is time to get back to saving some money on the grocery front. I use coupons for as much shopping as I can but I need to do better with groceries and really need to start meal planning! Eep! :)

This is the grand coupon organizer that I used to use... :)

{As you can see the labels kept falling out of it all the time}

Here is the new and improved Coupon Binder that I made yesterday!!

I used my Silhouette to cut the letters and glued them on scrapbook paper that I cut to fit the binder.

Tip: You can cut a piece of cardboard (can be thin cardboard) and glue it to the thin border piece to help push it into the side seam.

I used 8 tabs (Baby Items, Baking, Cleaning Supplies, Dairy, Dry/Boxed/Canned Goods, Freezer, Personal Care, Store/Restaurant - and printed on both sides :)). I may change them if I need to adjust or add more but for now this is what I have. :)

Then used business card plastic sleeves to put the coupons in. It is SO easy to see all of the coupons you have and not forget what you have because they get lost if you're flipping through a pile of them and flip through more than one at a time.

At the end for Store/Restaurant Coupons that might be a little bit bigger, I used regular ol' plastic sleeves. I also slipped in the P&G Saver/Smart Source/etc. and other local coupon magazines until I get a chance to clip them so they don't get lost and everything is in one place.

My biggest thing is to go online before I shop anywhere and see if there are any printable or online coupons (and will start again for grocery coupons too). But I think this will also help us save moneys and stay organized with grocery shopping! I look forward to bringing our new binder to the store with me/us! :)

And before anyone says (or thinks ;)) it, everything was pretty inexpensive or things we already had so it won't take many redeemed coupons to recover the money saving coupon book costs! ;-)

Do you coupon at all? Do you any organization or other tips?

Our new baby monitor! (with a vlog featuring it's features :))

2011-10-02T23:18:00.007-04:00

Look what came a few weeks ago!

I was so excited to finally place the order and get this in the mail. And it isn't just a Baby monitor as the product states, it also functions as a wonderful Toddler monitor as well. Oh it's so sweet to see them sleep (and keep them in line at times :)) too! And the babies, when you think they're sleeping but they're just cruising around, playing, and just chillin' in their crib, that is great to see and be aware of too!

I would also like to thank Just Kids Store for a great deal, fantastic customer service (quick email response and a kind, helpful, efficient phone experience). They already had the lowest price around (I searched, and searched, and searched) and then received an additional discount! You know how I feel about great deals. I get *very* excited. ;-) And it was at our house before I could say, where's our package?! :)

I really wanted a video monitor when BabyBoy was born but it was too expensive with other things that we had to spend on, even after all of the wonderful gifts we were given by fam and friends. So when we found out we were pregnant with Little, it was the one thing I said I *really* wanted. A sale plus a coupon later we were the proud owners of the Summer Infant Flat Screen Video Monitor.

The main reason we began searching for a new monitor system is because we wanted/needed more cameras. We wanted one camera on each of the littles (while they are in different rooms/before the room sharing begins! :)) and one for our basement so the boys can play with their trains or toys downstairs together without us running down every couple minutes to make sure they're ok. We were happy with the Summer Infant Flat Screen Video Monitor; though one camera was more fuzzy than the other, kept meaning to call about it but just haven't yet.

After researching and reading review after review, we decided on the Summer Infant BabyTouch Monitor System.

We couldn't believe what it could do. Scan, pan, zoom, and talk back! We'd never heard of such baby camera technology. With up to four cameras!

So here is what we think:

The Good

*We LOVE that you can scan (automatically view from one camera to the next), pan (move around the room), and talk back (it's great, so many times to use this feature, with all three littles in their different stages). The boys especially love the pan and talk back feature too. :)

*Can see nice and clearly in daylight.

*Works well/can see clearly at a closer distance to the littles' bed/crib.

* Very portable and monitor when not on base has it's own kickstand. Can turn the screen on or off and/or just have sound or sound off, many possibilities.

The Not So Good

* It unfortunately, at night, is pretty grainy/not very clear from a distance/across a room. It is difficult to see the difference between the little one, the pillow, and the bed. You can see where they are again when you see big movements, like them rolling over or moving/re-positioning a lil' arm. But the closer you are the clearer it is.

* The zoom isn't that impressive, it can be grainy, especially at night.

* I would love if you didn't have to go through so many "touches" on the touch screen to switch between cameras, etc., but that might be a little nit picky.

* I would like it to have a bigger screen. (I know that affects portability but for us we like and wouldn't mind a bigger screen)

A vlog (video-blog) demonstrating (most of) it's features :)

1. This is the first and only take :)

2. I forgot to show the kickstand on the back which is great when you take it off the charger.

3. The cute, less than 1 minute, video of the boys below show more of how it can pan :)

4. I am a goof. I am well aware ;-).

Here are some pics in day and night: (one set taken with my phone, the pics are much less grainy in person)

{Littlest was supposed to be sleeping ;) she hadn't fallen asleep yet, how cute is she?? :)}

A little video: this is the first time I got it out of the package, set it up in the basement, and I just took a video of the boys because they were SO excited about how it worked!! :)

{we always say, "I love you so much!" you can't hear because the camera is moving, but Little says, "Mucccchhh too, Mama!" :-)}

Would we recommend it to fam and friends?

Yes! We love it! It is so nice to have the ability to have up to four cameras. The fact that you can scan around the room is wonderful. It really is clear the closer the camera is to your littles' bed/crib. When the boys are playing in the basement (between two rooms), we can look in the monitor and if they are on the other side of the room, we can just touch the screen of the monitor and pan on over to them. And then they laugh sometimes (especially Little :)) because they can see that we moved the monitor to see them. :) Lots of features, portable, great system! And we would definitely order from JustKidsStore again too!

Aaaaaand!!

You have to check out JustKidsStore.com. They really have great deals, free shipping, no tax! You can also follow them on twitter, @JustKidsStore, for info about all of their sales, specials, and more. Annnnnd go like them on Facebook and be automatically entered for some upcoming giveaways!! And tell them NCF sent you! :)

Do you have a video monitor? Do you love it?

*Though this was a sponsored post, every excited and honest thought in it is completely my own, I'm just blessed they wanted to sponsor my review. Thank you!

The Great Road Trip of 2011 - Destination #2 - Charleston, SC

2011-09-29T21:07:00.009-04:00

Oh fam and friends, I have SO much to blog! I got sick on Monday morning, Hubby ended up taking me to Urgent Care Tuesday night because I was feeling so badly, so weak, I ended up getting IV fluids, they did blood work, turned out to be a yucky case of the stomach flu. I am definitely starting feeling better today. Thank you for all of you twitter and small group friends who prayed for me!

Alrighty! Onto the second leg of our trip (from July :))! If you missed the first one click - Destination #1: Emerald Isle, NC.

Hubby had business in Charleston and then we got some play time too! Here it is in (mostly ;)) pics!

We adventured at the Aquarium again this time.

{watching the dive show!}

{Little kept standing with his little hands on his back, hehe :-)}

We had some hang out time and dinner at the hotel

Then Erin and I met up halfway between us (in the middle of almost nowhere ;)) for dinner! We closed down the Japanese steakhouse, kept chatting outside, and still had more to catch up on! :) Both of us keep making fun of ourselves in our dinner pic but love the memory, she looks beautiful, and always have so much fun together! :)

I tried to get cleaned up, but my hair, oh my, ma hair, I just didn't have time to do anything with it, I'm still trying to "fix" the haircut, but I love a fun ruffle shirt (blue/white striped) :)

Can't wait to see you again soon for more catching up and laughs!!

Next destination is Atlanta, Georgia!

It's Scarf and Boots Time!

2011-09-22T11:43:00.006-04:00

So the first official day of Fall isn't until Friday the 23rd, but it has definitely been fall weather that I like to refer to as pre-fall (and by, as I like to refer to as, is as of the other day :)).

And one of my favorite things about fall, and cool, crisp, cozy, comfort foody, weather, is fall clothes.

I love scarves. This is my current collection from over the years, cheapies, gifts, oldies. :)

You can wear them no matter who ya are. It was one of the items I could still wear while pregnant, while losing baby weight. They can change up an outfit. They are warm, cozy, and cute. You could wear practically the same outfit 3-5 times in the same week, switch up the scarf, and it becomes a new outfit! Ok, maybe not for most people, but it's pretty close for me sometimes ;-). I need help.

So because of this "pre-fall" weather, I have broken trump... errr... scarves, (we need to play some cards, cards anyone?) I have begun my scarf wearing.

{new cardi, Target, less than $10!}

{just don't look at my hair, it's confused, more on that another time :)}

And boot time! I love boots, I don't really own many, but I'd love to. :) That is my one big wardrobe goal for this fall/winter. A pair of cute riding boots.

Call me cheesy and unfashionable (I call myself unfashionable ;)) but I like the classic, jeans, long sleeve t, cardigan, scarf, cute boot, look. I never said I was fashion forward. I've never worn riding boots because I didn't think I was fashionable enough to pull it off. I also need to get a pair of skinny jeans (my 1st and only pair was when I was pregs with HM! hah). But I want to try it this year. :)

Am I too old for the jeans, long sleeve t, cardi, scarf, riding boots, look??

If the answer to that question is no... can you help me find a cute pair of riding boots for a good deal? I am authorized (within our budget :)) and ready to purchase! ;) I have not had the time to do a full research assault on brown riding boots. :) There is a pair I wish I would have purchased last year but just couldn't pull the trigger.

Help! Thank you!! Is it fally weather by you?

We are NOT normal.

2011-09-19T22:08:00.002-04:00

We are not a "normal" married couple.

Ok, many may say we're not "normal" in other areas either! ;) But that's a different conversation for a different day ;).

We never talk negatively about each other in public. And really try not even to joke negatively about the other, either. One can put on a pretty, I'm not affected by that joke, face, but inside it is really hurtful. There are things we can talk about with close friends but we love each other too much to say anything yucky (can you tell we have little ones? ;)) about one another.
We don't talk about how "hot" other people are. I know most people mean it in a jestful way, but if not careful, one of us could feel undermined and/or not good enough and those feelings if continued can really cause a rift that just isn't healthy in a loving special relationship.
We don't have lunch/dinner/coffee "dates" or ride in cars with members of the opposite sex. Only in rare circumstances in which we consult each other on. But really try not to.
We love each other's interests and have taught each so much about different things we love. And have grown closer through those times and more knowledgeable about other things.
We go upstairs at the same time at night after winding down/chatting and watching our shows or movie together. On rare occasion we don't, but we try to. (ETA: I'm usually the one saying, can we stay down a few more minutes? ;))
We attempt not to watch a lot of rated R movies.
We talk as much as we can, all the time. We used to get made fun of, by my mom and sister, all the time about how much we talked when we weren't together. But it is a wonderful thing to know so much about each others days, jobs, happenings, fill each other in on things we've heard from friends if we're apart. We also don't like looking like we're on different pages, tell people different things, like we don't speak to each other.
We are open about everything. If one of us feels a certain way about something, we share, we talk. We need to be on the same page about everything. Finances, how we want to spend, raising the littles, what type of house to live in, where to live, what we want our family and lives to look like, etc. We can even nicely tell each other if we think the way one of us is acting in a certain area might need to be "tweeked." :)
We try to remember in "discussions" that the other is a "good-willed" person and there is a deeper reason to just raising voices about a certain subject.
My hubby loves me to the ends of the earth and shows me in many different ways. And I attempt to show/tell him often how much I respect and am impressed with him. (he is quite amazing.)
We try to take care of disagreements in a timely manner. We try not to let things fester. We apologize. (Hubby does a better job, I am still working on that :))
We are honest with other. And he tells me if my dress makes me look... wide(r) ;) I want the truth, I can handle the truth! ;)
My Hubby has the final say on all decisions. He is the head of our household. I respectfully (most of the time :)) give my opinion, we can seek advice from those wiser than we, and then trust him and God in the decisions. I think this also makes us feel closer. Trust and faith binds. If something bad happens because of a decision, repeat the process, and try again. Don't demean the Hubby, he is your good-willed partner in life.

These are just things that we have found are great for our marriage. I'm not saying anyone is bad or wrong if they do things differently. We just have tug on our hearts and a passion for marriages. And love to see strong, healthy, life long marriages.

We have received some great advice over the years and before we got married, and these are some of the big things that we love about our marriage. We just see, far, far too often, things that make us sad about so many marriages in the world and couples not treating each other well. We want to be built on the Word of God and show that through our marriage and life. We are by no means perfect (I hate to even use that word). I pick, and say things at times I shouldn't but I am aware and trying to cut those down to a minimum. :) But we are striving to have a marriage that glorifies God. Because it is because of Him, that everything is so wonderful, not perfect, but wonderful. We can attest to that.

{9-16-11 Eight years, 3 months, 1 week, 1 day, and counting}

Whether it sounds silly or not, our marriage motto, as I've blogged before, is: Newlyweds Forever! And we intend to keep it that way. :) And we pray that we can demonstrate to our littles how a husband and a wife are to love and respect each other and live life *together* and not just as two people with a signed marriage document. All Glory, in everything, belongs to God.

Hebrews 13:4-7

Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

I'm almost there!

2011-09-15T23:18:00.008-04:00

May of 2010 we were flooded with smiles, laughs, and excitement over finding out we were pregs with our #3 little.

Little was 9 months old and I had just gotten back down to my pre pregnancy weight. Oh what these sweet little miracles do to a mama's body! I am not complaining, I am so thankful for my sags, flubs, and flab. ;) (I admit that I have been very self conscious about it at times but my sweet Hubby, and I loved Kodi's post about the subject too, help me keep my priorities/thoughts in the right place)

It took me about 5 months to get back down after BabyBoy (I had gained about 60 pounds, eep! partly due to polyhydramios bc of a complication BabyBoy had, healed by surgery the morning after he was born, praise God!) and then 9 months after Little (after gaining 55 pounds ;)). Not going to lie, I was afraid that time to get back down would infinitely grow after Littlest.

I gonna say it. I'm going to tell you. I told some of you already! I gained 65 pounds with Littlest. Eep! I know! :) And only 10 of that came off in the hospital. That's it!

I just gain a lot with each pregnancy. Annnd I love food. ;) When I don't feel well, I crave fried food and sweets. Couple that with being flat on my back, in bed or on the couch, sick for 2-2 1/2 months, and you know what happens. And I am still convinced that being on my back so sick for over 2 months, slowed my metabolism down. Convinced!

BUT....

I am happy and just a tad proud to say that I, at 7 months post non-medicated delivery of a 9lb 14 oz super sweet happy *baby #3!*, only have 5 more pounds to lose!!! It may not sound like a big deal to some, but for me, it is.

It took a good long while for me to feel like any of it was coming off. But I tried/am trying to be consistent and patient. Sounds easy, right? hah ;)

I took a very dangerous leap, a couple weeks ago, and tried on several of my pre-preggy jeans and they fit! Still feeling risky, I tried on a few dresses too, that I didn't even know if I would ever be able to wear again, and they fit! (I had taken this leap a little too soon, several weeks back, it was not a good outcome ;)) They could still fit even better, but it at least doesn't look like I'm 5 months pregnant anymore.

{Lunch date the Saturday before last :) My hair had a better poof earlier and it was no longer by the time this pic was taken! :)}

{the dress and heels! I wore for our dinner date :) It just feels good to put on a dress and some heels, right?}

Now, I need to get back to Shredding so I can lose the last 5 and get toned up! Nothing still "looks" the same (ETA: and not that I don't wear a suck-the-tummy-in tank top, from Target ;), any chance I can :)) but I feel like I'm getting closer now. I've been watching my portions, food (we normally eat pretty healthy but I'd been watching even more closely), and a lil' less on the sweets. And I am so much more active with the three littles. Though you know that I will not deny myself sweets or yummy foods that I love, because I don't want to overdue it because I haven't had it. KnowhatImean?

It's been a lot more difficult since we've been on the market because I haven't been cooking as much (because everything makes a mess! ;)) but I need to get back to it and finish this off. I have a big goal/prize once I get back down and toned!!

A Quick Update (and the giveaway winner :))

2011-09-15T11:28:00.003-04:00

Hi friends and fam! Wooowee, things have been a liiittle busy and my mind is all over the place!

I've been saying for a bit now I really want to get a hard copy planner again and not just use my phone. I've always been a writer-things-downer and it does help to have something to touch and feel and physically write in to keep my mind focused, especially with all of the things we have going on, start of fall, new things beginning, woo! :) I'm hoping to get one very soon!

Here are some things I would need to fill in right away:

MOPs meetings! I am going to be a DGL (Designated Group Leader) for MOPs (Mothers of Preschoolers) this year (we start back this Friday!). I even stepped out of my comfort zone and invited a random mommy I started talking to at the store yesterday morning. :)

BabyBoy has started preschool of course, pictures are next Wednesday, can't forget that! :)

I am playing (violin) on the worship team at church this weekend again! (With rehearsal on Thursday night.) First time since HM was born. Pray for me! I can't believe it. I love playing. I loved playing in my different orchestras, chamber ensembles, with my string quartet (for almost 10 years!) and I love being able to worship God and hopefully bless people in the process. Praying for God to bless my playing :)

The Giveaway Winner: Thanks for all of you who played along in the just for fun chocolatey giveaway! Congratulations toooooooo*.......

tamiv said...

Who doesn't love Chocolate! YUMMY!

Congratulations again and once I receive your address, I'll send your new chocolate lovers book to you!!

And if you missed: My Current Obsession, check it out and I'd love for you to weigh in on the question at the bottom of the post! You can come over and share!!! I'll make coffee with some yummy flavored natural creamer too. :) The NCF Coffee Shop! :)

*winner chosen by random.org

A Little Obsessed - Cake Plate Edition

2011-09-12T14:45:00.006-04:00

Y'all know I love food. I have a super sweet tooth (I've tried to stop it but it always returns with a vengeance ;)).

Annnd I have a strong affection for cake plates. :) I don't know why, but I do. Maybe it is that it combines my love of sweets (and food) with a pretty decorative accessory.

I also love a domed cake plate.

The only problem is the only one that I have, has had my wedding bouquet and one bridemaid's bouquet in it (for 8 years! :)). The flowers dried themselves (without the real drying method) and they've been there, as a decoration in our dining room, ever since, and I don't want to take them out because they would get crushed before I could do anything else with them and would have to get thrown out. And it's just sweet to still have them :).

Whoa, sorry for the tangent, loved our wedding and memories of. Such a wonderful, fun, special day.

So I finally bought another cake plate with a dome ($10 from Walmart) a few months ago and I have been (slightly) obsessed with having it filled with yumminess at all times! :)

Here are some of the things I have stocked my new cake plate with (and adorned it with a happy polka dot bow):

1. Granola bars -I sub almonds for the walnuts. (I have made these at least 3 times in the last couple months) ETA: I add a lot more cinnamon :) I also cut down the sugar and we can't even tell the difference! They're also yummy with craisins instead of raisins :)

2. Sugar Cookies - First time practice making and decorating with royal icing (for HM's 1st birthday, not going to be tulips but that is the cookie cutter I had handy :))

3. Of course for the boys' birthday sweets buffet (in addition to the cake cake)

4. Monkey Bread - it was my *first* time making it. I kept trying to hold off because I was afraid (I knew the facts :)) that I would eat most of it myself but I couldn't hold out anymore. It was so yummy :)

5. A quick cake - for our small group kicking off (a few weeks belated :)) new study a few months ago

6. Homemade blueberry muffins - made special for Hubby :)

7. Homemade (semi-sweet) chocolate chip cookies - Made (many diff weeks) special for our small group and more for Hubby and us, eep! :) I did give some of the last batch to a friend whose hubby is currently out on assignment :)

8. Boston Cream Pie (w/ homemade dark chocolate frosting) disguised as a big donut :) - Made special for our small group

9. Scones - made special for BabyBoy for his first day of preschool (couldn't make my usual fuuuuull breakfast w/ being on the market), one of his faves :) I make these a lot!

{this is not my best pic of them, it's a little dark, they are really cooked to golden brown and more puffed like a yummy scone than they appear! :)}

The wonderful thing, and huge problem all at the same time, is that you have deliciousness on the counter that you can just walk by and take a nibble any time you feel it necessary (which you know with me, is quite often ;)).

So I have 9 items that I have baked on this list... What should #10 be??

BabyBoy's 1st Day of Preschool

2011-09-08T09:44:00.001-04:00

Our baby boy, our first born, and sweet little "big," buggy, bugster, buddy, lovey, bud, sweet love, bug, lovebug, went to his first day of preschool yesterday. How does 4 years just flash before your eyes?

How handsome is he?? Handsome sounds too old. How cute is he??

He is so proud to have a backpack and lunch bag.

He is so sweet to encourage his little bro to come along on this ride.

He is so excited about this new adventure.

We love that he is going to a wonderful program that happens to be at our church. He already talks all the time about how God is with him, that You live in his heart, that You heal his boo boos and help us all feel better when we are sick, he loves to talk about things that make You happy, and sing praise songs to and about You... they are inspired.

He doesn't even know what this is the beginning of.

God, we pray that you keep this precious miracle in your hands, always, that you guide Hubby and I and give us wisdom in raising him, to be a strong warrior for You. We pray that he can be a blessing to others and be a light to the world in Your name. We pray that he will stay strong in your truths and help others to see them as well. Thank you for giving him to us to raise up on this earth. We do not take this gift lightly. In your Holy name.

Joshua 1: 7-9

“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

The Great Road Trip of 2011 - Destination #1 - Emerald Isle, NC

2011-09-06T12:02:00.006-04:00

Our first stop on the Great Road Trip of 2011 was the annual beach with Hubby's family.

The boys had so much fun getting to spend almost a week playing with their big cousins and fam. So did we. :)

The Beach

{the boys were so brave and loved going in with Hubby, me, Aunt Karen, and their cousins in the waves! they had so much fun!}

Family time. Late night game nights with cousins. Dinners together. Beach games - lots of cornhole. Card games - lots of rook. Putt putt competition night.

{Hubby (left) and his little bro}

{Lots of cornhole - SO fun and so addicting}

{Puzzle competition - guys against girls - girls won! ;) - great idea Uncle Jimmy!}

{lots of time with the fam}

{an extra birthday celebration (Little's actual bday was while we were there) so I had to make cupcakes :)}

{silly girl! :) this was her little athletic look what I can do pose ;)}

Love adventuring with our little fam

Next stop: Charleston, South Carolina!

And don't forget to enter my just for fun chocolate giveaway!!!

Hugs!!

Hello and Thank You Giveaway

2011-08-30T09:04:00.006-04:00

Hi y'all! It has been too long. It has been too long since I've updated and too long since I've been able to visit you and keep up with your blogs. I am sorry! Hugs?? We got back from our Great Roadtrip of 2011, which I still have so much to blog about!! So. much.! to. blog.! ... about.

Our house is now on the market. Six days, six showings. (Including one last night from a repeat!) On the market with three, sweet, energetic, mobile, fun little ones. :) You can feel free to send me virtual hugs, condolences, and chocolate! (dark chocolate... because it is healthy you know) ;)

And I have just needed the time and mainly energy to spend on the family that God has so graciously blessed me with. Oh I love them.

I just worry about y'all. That you'll take my absence on your blogs personally. 'Tis nothing personal at all. It's not you. It's me. ;) And new followers and those who've commented too, thank you so much. I look forward to coming to "see" you!

So while I am getting another post ready, here is a giveaway! I have been meaning to do this just for fun giveaway since before Littlest was born, I am not kidding. So I am doing it now to say thank you. I really appreciate your blog and twitter friendships.

So here is the giveaway gift of chocolate prize! You could keep it and make one chocolate recipe every day for the next 100 days! ;), or use it for a gift, or a coffee table book to make your house guests drool, the possibilities are endless.

To Enter:

Just leave a comment saying that you still love me, I mean, just leave a comment because I love YOU. And if you feel so inclined, you can tell the people what your favorite kind or form of chocolate is. Just for fun. :) And if you don't want to enter to win, for some un-chocolate loving reason, but you still want to leave some love, feel free to just say hello. I love hellos. :)

This chocolate loving thank you giveaway will close on September 8th at midnight EST.

Hugs!!

This Present Darkness...

2011-08-11T23:15:00.004-04:00

This is the first time since BabyBoy's pregnancy and birth, 4 years ago, that Hubby and I have felt directly under attack. Our thoughts, hijacked. Made to play games with us. Made to lose our focus to worry and stress.

And then, with the news of complications during BabyBoy's pregs and birth, I don't even think we were feeling directly attacked, mainly just, why. Until we let it all go to Him.

It was starting to get me down. I felt like I could just cry thinking about all of the possibilities that I/we had to consider, attempt to figure out, and *do*. From worry, the unknown, the energy it took to work it out ourselves. (We always trust God, but so often we still try to control.) Random thoughts and worries of bad things that could happen to the ones I love, deeply.

This past week, as I was dwelling on the weight of decisions, circumstances, my long to do list before we could do anything else to "fix it," or had one of those sad thoughts, I felt a nudge. I stopped, was quiet, and felt it again. I remembered, vaguely, someone's words about how certain thoughts, bad, sad thoughts of things that *could* happen, don't have to happen. The devil and his demons are planting those thoughts to distract us. I felt that nudge from God that those thoughts were not from Him.

How do I know these little nudges, like those from a wet little puppy nose telling you she want some lovin', because I could not have come out of those thoughts on my own (and I am a type A control freak, so if I am admitting that, God is at work ;-)). He nudged me enough to remind me of the words from His scriptures...

John 14:12-14 - Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, & they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Pray them away, in Jesus' name. Each time I have had "those" thoughts recently, felt His nudge, stiff-armed the thoughts immediately, and prayed in His HOLY name, I instantly felt better. Instantly.

Hubby and I had the most incredible conversation last night. Let me preface this by saying we are truly best friends. Cheesy you may say, but 'tis the truth. We talk about everything. We fill each other in on everything. (unless prompted by confidentiality of an accountability partner) Our constant attempt is to stay on the same page. We believe it also makes a marriage strong. Firmly, believe. (Newlyweds Forever! Our motto. It is even engraved on the watch I gave Hubby for our 8 year anni this June) Back to the good part. God led us to a beautiful, intimate, conversation.

I told Hubby I have been feeling attacked lately, in my thoughts. After listening to me with an intent and sympathetic face, he told me he has felt under attack too.

It was a little surreal. And it was God that led us to that conversation.

We have both been stressed about some circumstances lately and this past week has been the strongest for both of us.

He proceeded to tell me that each time he has thoughts about every scenario regarding this situation (besides it being on his mind pretty constantly for months now), he has also felt his thoughts hijacked. Feelings of, while still *trusting* God, worry, thoughts of doubt, not wanting to give up control, because he couldn't give the biggest things on his mind, protecting his family. Even though God is the ultimate protector. It is hard for men to give it all to Him sometimes too, especially when it has to do with the safety of their family. He continued that each time has has felt these thoughts taking over, he has gone through each area, one by one, and prayed, in Jesus' name, for those thoughts to leave immediately.

Exactly, almost word for word how I have been praying. Chills. Woo. God is working.

Ephesians 6:12 - For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

We had the most amazing discussion. Encouraging each other in His name, His truths, love, and protection. We prayed for each other, our family, protection over all of us and our hearts, for His angels to fight the battles around our house, family, and each other. Just like Frank Peretti illustrates through the words of his books This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness.

My tears kept lightening as we were praying. It was a very exhilarating and freeing moment. We know that we do not have to fight battles ourselves. And what a wonderful thing, because boy it is exhausting trying to do it. We've tried. (with our type A selves ;))

Though we still feel some pressure with the situation, we know that whichever choice we choose, God will be with us. We've always known that, but we were brought back down to that place again.

And in the words of my profound, discerning hubby, the devil doesn't have to take everything away, but distract us just enough to take our focus away from living for Him, seeing someone who needs help, an opportunity to serve. So true.

Our goal is to make every decision with God in mind. Our lives are His and we want Him to put us where He wants us. We trust. We know we can't do it on our own. That doesn't make us weak... actually, it does, and we're ok with that, we know that we are weak without Him. He is the creator of the universe. Whoa, humbling. We know that because of many reasons. If you want to know, I will be happy to share them with you.

We feel in control of our thoughts and the situation again, by giving up control. To Him. Freeing. Comforting. Peaceful.

I have been praying a lot for Hubby and for wisdom for us to do what He wants. We said we'd pray separately and come back to together with our thoughts and leadings. But praying together again is just what God ordered for us last night. He knows. I am so thankful for such an amazing husband. He is such a wonderful leader. Of our home, our marriage, our family, work and all. I am so proud to be his wifey.

We would still appreciate any prayers you would send up for us, while we are praying for wisdom from Him, for discernment on what we should do. Our decision lies in whether or not to put our house on the market soon and move. It will not be a cross country move but is still a big decision for *many* reasons. Ultimately, we want to do God's work. Clear eyes, full hearts... ;)

Joshua 1: 7-9 - Our family verses

{little blurry but Beach, July 2011}

Newlyweds Forever! Strong, in God, together.

We're Home!

2011-08-04T15:21:00.003-04:00

We did it! We went on our family roadtrip adventure across the US of A!

For 3 1/2 weeks. Over 5,000 miles (you read that right! ;) We had to get an oil change before we left AZ ;)). We stayed and visited fam and friends in 9 states and Hubby had business trips in two. Our longest driving day was 15.75 hours! Our #1 destination was to visit my Aunt, Dad (he had just visited here :)), and fam in Arizona. And we were so blessed that we did it, were able to do it, and I can tell you that our close little fam of 5 really bonded even more throughout our trip!

We got home Tuesday around 1:30pm and as I tweeted today, we still have not brought our suitcases in from the car, haha! So, when the boys and I ran a couple errands today :) (while Littlest napped and Hubby worked from home), I donned a tennis skirt and old shirt from my closet, ha! It is really comfy!! And was clean ;). And so excited it is non-maternity and fits ok again, although it does have an elastic waist ;-)...

These three little people did such a great job. There was a little fussing here or there. Times I was 'bout to lose my patience. Times we were all ready to get out of the car. But everyone really did a fantastic job; in the car, sleeping at each location, better than I anticipated, and they are good (strong-willed :)) babies.

And these sweet little people reached a new height of friendship. The boys have always been great with HM but there was a new spark by the end of the trip and is now. One of BabyBoy's new loves is making his baby sister laugh. And oh my it puts the biggest smile on our faces too. He played with her and made her laugh and smile SO much in the car. And Little too! If Littlest started fussing, BabyBoy would say, "It's ok, HM, it's ok," and Little would look over to her and chime, "K, k, Ma-may, k, k, Ma-may." Beyond sweetness.

This is how they sit, all three across the 2nd row of our Pilot (you can spot Littlest in her mirror on the left :)).

And we love it.

I hope y'all are doing great! I have so much to blog and so much to catch up on with you! "See" you and "talk" to you soon!! :)

Smiles at the Beach - A Family Beach Pic (or two :))

2011-07-17T23:37:00.001-04:00

I cannot even express how much I love and love living life with these people :)

We got two out of three littles smiling, one out of three looking at the camera, three out of three loving life.

We love BabyBoy's little hand in his little pocket, so him. So funny :). And Little's big ol' cheese smile where you can't see his big beautiful eyes, he's smiling so big ;). And Littlest's big turquoise flower, white dress, and sweet cheeks, ahh, melting. And the boys in pink and their cute plaid or seersucker shorts and the girls in white and turquoise. I love it :)

{Emerald Isle, NC - July 2011}

And one more because I/we can't completely choose between these two pics ;) There are things I-we like and don't about each pic! Which one is more frameable??

Oh boy, we are blessed beyond belief. God is sovereign. God is good. We thank Him all. the. time. for our imperfectly perfect life!

My First Vlog: Packing Tips for a (Long ;)) Trip With Littles and My Love for Plastic Storage Bags

2011-07-11T04:01:00.005-04:00

Ok fam and friends this is my very first vlog (video-blog). And I am ner-vous to post it. :) Read below first, so I can go hide behind something while you watch my goofball self in this video.....

Before you watch!

1. I am wearing my comfy packing clothes (I am keepin'. it. real. well my hair is washed, I don't smell, and I have a liiiittle makeup on, but other than that, I'm keepin' it real in mah yoga pants (and a random shirt I found in my closet today). :))

2. I did not mean for it to be so long, but it is the first and only shot original, non-edited, complete silly me video.

3. You can make fun of me, but only to my face/comment/form of written communication to me. ;-)

4. You may do all of these "tips" already, so if you do, disregard the entire video. ;)

Things I forgot to say because I was so nervous!
1. We are traveling with three littles: ages 4 (boy. just turned 4, going on 8), almost 2 (boy. his birthday is tomorrow but don't age him by saying he's two already! ;)), and 5 months (girl. she's so old already! ;))

2. The reason I put all of the boys' clothes in individual storage bags is to keep them nice and neat, no piles of t-shirts, piles of shorts, having to sort through making sure you have what you want, and maybe things might scoot around and then mixing 4t and 2t clothes all. up. This way everything stays contained, and super quick to throw on outfits!

3. I also added some things, bags of each of their socks, tooth brushes/paste. And in the Extra Suitcase added bags of extra shampoo and conditioner to refill little bottles in our bath bag. (Annnd my mom had gotten the baggies on sale for 20/$1.00!)

4. I made little backpacks for each of the boys for the car ride too. They have a few cars/trucks, books, coloring book, crayons in a clear zip-pouch, books, stickers, a notebook to color in, and little binoculars, so far. :)

5. I'm still nervous, so I have no idea what else I'm forgetting....

Ok, you may now watch....

I'm sure y'all have some great packing for trips with little ones tips! Please feel free to share yours!

The Great NCF Roadtrip of 2011

2011-07-08T00:23:00.008-04:00

It is official. It is happening. We're doin' it. We are adventuring. And we are excited! :)

We will be traveling around and across the US of A for almost 4 weeks! It will hereby be known as The Great NCF Roadtrip of 2011. Not, and not limited to, "NCF is Cray-zay," "What is NCF Thinking," or "Hahahahahaha."

With our three littles. Two boys - 4 and 2 years old (the day we arrive at our first destination) and baby girl - 5 months old. They'll do great! We're going to stick with that. ;) Oh sweet babies, I'm just praying they sleep well while we are road tripping it up.

I blogged about the potential trip here. It has changed a bit, our route out is different because we're going through Birmingham now! and it changed our route to go through Dallas!

Here is the adventure out!

1. Vacay to Emerald Isle, NC with Hubby's family - 5.5 hr drive
2. Business trip to Charleston, SC - 5 hr drive
3. Business trip to Birmingham (Huntsville), AL - 7 hr drive
4. Dallas - 9 hr 15 min drive
5. Visiting fam in a suburb outside of Phoenix, AZ - 15 hr 15 min drive

We are also going to get to see a bunch of friends along the way! So far it's: Lyndsey and ALM on the way to AL! Staying with Vitafamiliae in Birmingham and seeing Amy and Trina while we're there. Now Dallas is on the map, well our map ;), it's been so crazy here, I haven't talked with any Dallasonians yet. And Lulu and Miss E in AZ!

Here is the adventure back!

1. Suburbia, AZ to Oklahoma City or Tulsa - 14 hr drive

2. Little Rock, AR? - 5 hr drive

3. Nashville, TN - 5 hr drive

4. Home - 9 hr 15 min drive

I am so excited about seeing some wonderful Oklahoma girls and Heather in TN too! If I've missed anyone, let me know!

There may still be a couple little tweaks to the trip but that is the gist! :)

So here are some questions for YOU!

1. Any recs on where to stay in Dallas?

2. Or a great place in Oklahoma City or maybe Tulsa?

3. What music should we download for the trip so I don't have six songs on repeat the entire trip!! ;-) I can do it (wrote a bit about it a long time ago :)), but Hubby, I can burn him out on a good tune quick ;-).

4. Any recs or tips for our trip? I have a lot to post about what and how I've packed so far. As always love to hear any ideas! :)

The Boys' Birthday Party: The Boys, Guests, and Fun

2011-07-07T10:07:00.003-04:00

Here is part 1, The Boys' Birthday Party: Theme, Cake, Decorations, Food, and Dets, just in case you missed it! :) (and the explanation about the cardboard box car extravaganza below!)

On to the par-tay :) We ended up having almost 40 guests and we had so many friends out of town or had some big family events. It's so hard with summer birthdays to have everyone in town, so I think we'll do the party earlier next year, even if it's a couple weeks before their birthdays. :) But we had SO much fun and it was such wonderful time with all of the wonderful family and friends who came!

Our sweet miracle love birthday boys! Oh my *goodness* we love and thank God *everyday* for these baby boys!!!

The birthday boys with some of their fam and friends :)

Grandma/Mom-mo!! Oh we love Mom-mo!!! (hehe that's Little's way of calling her Grandma :))

Poppop (my dad) in the middle balloon pic was in town for the party! We were all so excited he was able to celebrate in person with us.

We just gave the boys the Cars movie that morning that they got to watch while we all finished setting up :) it was their first time seeing it. And then Hubby had the great idea to have it on for when their little guests arrived so they would have something fun to watch and hang until we started eating and playing.

Littlest woke up from her nap and got to play :)

Time to eat!

Time for (most of :)) the littles to decorate their cardboard box cars!

Race time! The kids just raced and raced and raced, it was so much fun to watch. Hubby instructed them on how to run the race, someone would ready set go them, they ran their little selves fast, then would line back up again and wait for someone to on your marks get set go them again, it was so cute!

{the first race! :)}

Some of the spectators :) and my Dad was wonderful and videotaped some fun footage!

Bubbles! We bought this bubble machine at Wegmans and it is the best bubble machine ever :)

Cake time!

Me and ma big little boys! :)

As a lot of the guests left, the little ones hopped in their little cars and walked to their cars to go home, it was SO cute! :) We had so much fun watching the boys at their birthday party and we were so thankful for and had so much fun with everyone who came to celebrate with us!

The Boys' Birthday Party: Theme, Cake, Decorations, Food, and Dets

2011-07-05T14:41:00.003-04:00

I have had so much fun planning for the boys' birthday party. I don't know if I will admit how loooong I have been planning/making everything ;) but I love that each year we/they will be able to look back at pictures and see what they were into at that time each year.

Theme:

Cars! A Car Party! Not the movie but just the fun of driving cars around, parking them, lining them up, again and again, having them "help people." They love anything that rolls... cars, trucks, trains, big ones, little ones, fancy ones, and just plain ole' solid color ones, that use just use every bit of imagination to make fun. :)

Here are the invitations and I made the return labels with the little cars on them to match. :)

I ended up making them shirts too :)

The Cake:

I have been so excited (and a little nervous) to make their special cake for their birthday each year. I love the tradition and hope they do too! (Here are the ones from the last year and the previous two years.)

I am so happy with the how it turned out. I love the grass around the roads, the puffy cloud and trees, and do the names look like they're written like clouds too? That was my goal ;). I made the little cars on it out of fondant, wheels and all!

The Decorations:

I love love love all of the fun colors together. Light blue, yellow, orange, red, and light green. I just think they are great for a little one's party and they are such happy colors. :) I made pom poms for the dining room, kitchen and family room, the cupcake toppers, their happy birthday banner (I love the yellow polka dot ribbon :)), silverware wrappers, and the orange and green polka dot pompom trim runners (I made for their birthday last year). And Hubby's wonderful brother made the car images for me to decorate with! Thank you again Uncle J!

We made roads out of black cardstock and painted on the dotted lines! (Thank you for your great ideas to implement the design and for your help with so much of them Lauren (and Hubby, Dad, and Andrew!)

The Food Table, Cupcake n' Candy Bar, and Drink Station:

Watermelon car my *amazing* mom made!!! She even made a lemon steering wheel too! :)

Cupcake 'n Candy Bar

H'ordeuvres Table in the Kitchen

Drink Station

Favors:

I made the stickers to go on the favor bags. And each bag had a big bottle of bubbles, a little container of playdough, sidewalk chalk, a bouncy ball, and a little pull back car.

The Activities:

I took boxes that held printer paper (my mom collected them all for us from work! they didn't mind :)) and turned them into cardboard box cars! I spray painted up and made two special ones for the birthday boys and one for each little guest to get to decorate themselves for some races in the front yard and to take home with them. Hubby was awesome and put a coat of primer on each one so the little ones could see all of their designs much better. And to reinforce the boxes and look like bumpers, I used soft duct tape! :) Thank you to Lauren and my Dad for helping with some of them too!

I cut out yellow headlights, red rear lights, license plates for their names, made wheels, and had crayons and stickers all ready for them to decorate with.

And then we had a fantastic bubble machine that the kids had such a fun time with.

{The birthday boys the next morning before opening presents :)}

It was such a fun day! Next post, the birthday boys, guests, and races in their cardboard box cars. :)

Surprise 8 Year Anniversary Weekend: Day 2

2011-06-10T13:20:00.001-04:00

If you missed Day 1, click here! :)

We leisurely woke up to a quiet room, with nothing to tend to, except for my hair ;), missing the babies but also glad to have this special time together, and at a blissful 9am, breakfast in bed arrived! Hubby is go-oood! He booked us in a bed and breakfast and knew this time we wouldn't want to eat with other guests or have to go downstairs and chat it up with everyone while getting our, anniversary focus on our time together, breakfast on. It was so relaxing and yummy. :)

The beautiful B&B (and outfits of the day :))

Theeeennnn, it was off to a vineyard and winery! It was such a fun day! We did wine tasting, a tour, strolled around, and had an amazing four course lunch prepared by several big chefs that flew in just to cook for this event. Hubby knows I love food. Especially yummy food. ;-) He had called ahead about a food restriction we had on the menu and they said, no problem at all, others had restrictions too, the chefs will prepare something else comparable and yummy (so nice!). When we got there, we realized that we couldn't have anything on the menu, haha, but they were so great and nice, and prepared the most delicious food!!!

It was a relaxing, refreshing, special special weekend.

8 years married. 12 years as a couple. Newlyweds Forever!

Surprise 8 Year Anniversary Weekend: Day 1

2011-06-06T22:26:00.000-04:00

June 8th will be our 8 year wedding anniversary. 8 years! We remember our wedding like it was yesterday. It was an amazing day and night! We had so much fun. We were on the dance floor all night. I would love to do it all over again! We've been talking about a potential vow renewal and partay for our 10 or 15 year, probably more likely 15, we'll see! :)

My Hubby planned the most thoughtful and fun surprise anniversary weekend for us. He did so good! He even packed trip snacks, coolers of fruit and drinks, and even chilled a bottle of wine along the way if we had to time crack it open at our hotel that night. I found out he planned it months ago, had my mom lined up to stay with the babies - all of them! And she did great. She always does great with them, but this was her first overnight with all three, and she did so good. We love her SO much!

We had so many goodbye hugs and kisses with the babies my mom said it was as if we were going to Europe. ;) We love our little people!

Saturday

1. We walked around a little market downtown. 2. We walked around all of the downtown shops. 3. Hubby had our lunch spot already picked out, one of THE places to eat called Revolutionary Soup. They make all of their soups homemade and they use as many local ingredients as possible. It was so yummy! 4. After walking the shops a little more we went to a must do dessert spot that Hubby had already scoped out called Splendoras Gelato Cafe. They make their own gelato everyday and from local ingredients.

I love that Hubby had everything planned out. He even scheduled some time in for me to pump. ;) And by planned it all out, I mean he PA-LAnned it. :) He even researched which shops were highly rated must sees. We didn't make it to all of them, but we had a great time walking around.

{THE itinerary - of which I was not privy to see at the time ;)}

Next, he revealed it was time for a couples massage! Ahhh, it was so much fun! It has been so long since we've done a couples massage and we just had so much fun together. We brought our clothes to change into for dinner and a movie (X-Men Origins). :)

Our couples massage room.

Then we headed to our dinner spot. Hubby had reservations at one of THE dinner spots, L'etoile. They also use local ingredients and are set in a old house with a lot of character. Hubby got the duck and I got the beef tenderloin, oh my goodness it was delicious. And we got the creme brulee for dessert which was a'ight. :)

At a point during dinner he said he had something to read to me, which immediately brought my mind back to the night he proposed (fabulous night!), he had written me a poem. He used to write for me a lot, and the tears formed immediately ;).

It reads:

My Love, My Queen

Beauty that rivals the rising sun,

Always up for adventuring fun,

Fully supportive of all I do,

These are but some of the reasons I love you.

A soft kiss in the morn and before bed,

Sometimes on your lips and others you forehead,

Your skin is soft and your lips divine,

I'm so thankful that you are mine.

As we embark on adventures yet in store,

Together we will stand as we have before,

We'll love our children and on the the Lord lean,

And you will forever be my love, my queen.

Annd, I'm all teary just typing it. :)

Love

Day 2 next!

Boys' Birthday Sneak Peak and Ideas

2011-06-03T09:04:00.001-04:00

This year it's all about cars! The boys just love playing with their cars and trucks, driving them around, lining them up next to each other, behind each other, parking them, cute boys. :) Somehow BabyBoy has picked up some of my OCD and will not only perfectly line them up next or behind each other but also by color. ;-) hehe. It is so funny (and sometimes scary) what they pick up from us at such young ages! :)

Here is a peak of their invitation :) My mom, Hubby, and I were saying that it looks like they're just popping out of the card welcoming everyone to come have some party fun! :)

Activities:

I'm going to make cardboard box cars for the kids to race around some little cones that I got. One will be a BabyBoy car and one a Little car with their names on the back and new ages on the sides. :)

We're thinking about having a cardboard box car ready for each little one who comes to color, decorate with stickers, car accessories - that I'll have already cut out, and their names, to take home with them, if I can pull that off.

I was thinking maybe pin the something (driver? :)) on the car game, but not sure... leaning towards no... I think we'll have plenty to do with the race and making their own cars, eating, and caking (ie eating lots of cake ;)) of course!

Decorations: Colors of the party: Orange, Light Blue, Yellow, Light Green, Red

Pom Poms

Toy cars

Trying to figure out how to make a tablecloth with a road on it to have cars and trucks driving on it around the food, etc., and maybe some standing little street signs.

I got a few other odds and ends I'll see if will fit in :)

Cupcake toppers and favor tags

Name banners

If I can get my act together a slideshow to play on the tv and some framed pics of the boys with a car cut out on frame :)

I'm going to make the cake, we'll have lots of food, my Mom is going to make her watermelon fruit bowl in the shape of a car this time!, I have party color candy, party color polka dot ribbon but contemplating dots vs. no dots, 2 bins in party colors for drinks, drink dispenser and pitchers for punch and water (with ribbon to decorate them with of course ;)), party favor bag with goodies...

I'm open to any other ideas or inspiration for a cute car party! :)

Potential (HUGE) NCF Roadtrip

2011-05-25T09:08:00.002-04:00

Some may call us crazy. Some have tried to keep a straight face when we've told them about it. Some have laughed a, "Good luck with that," laugh. ;)

We call it: ADVENTURE!

Hubby and I have always LOVED finding little or big adventures to go on together (I'll have to post some sometime :)). And we want to continue with fun adventures with our littles too!

Hubby has business trips every few months or so and the babies and I have been able to tag along with him, a few hours away to the beach or eight hours away to Charleston, South Carolina!

With a family beach trip with Hubby's family, a couple business trips, and hope to visit my Aunt, Dad (who is actually coming to visit next month), and family and let them see the babies and meet Littlest, we may have one long trip! My Aunt and fam mean so much to us. We usually save up and fly out a couple/few times a year. And one of those times is usually when the babies turn 3 months old. We keep debating flying versus driving with three littles... :)...

This is the potential plan... ;)

1. Vacay to Emerald Isle, NC - 5 1/2 hours - probably 1 week stay

2. Business trip to Charleston, SC - 5 hours - approx. 3 days

3. Business trip to Huntsville, AL - 8 hours - approx. 3 days

4. Visiting family in a suburb just outside of Phoenix, AZ - 24 hours - - 3 to 4 days drive & 1 to 1 /2 weeks stay

ahhhh! :) So we'd be going through Atlanta, Little Rock AR, Oklahoma City OK, the tip of Texas, Albu"coi"que and have talked with several Oklahoma friends so far about visiting :)

And here is the trip back home... - 33 hours ;) - 3 to 4 days drive

We figure we'll stop a couple times to visit friends on the way there and/or a couple on the way back. On the way back our route will be a little different and looks like we'll be going by Nashville TN. :)

Total trip = ~4 weeks

We drove the route back when I was 30 weeks pregnant (ETA: with Little and BabyBoy almost 2 yrs old :)) and we moved back to the east coast, and we zigzagged to visit friends along the way!

We have been talking about this for months and really want to make it work because family is so important to us and it would be an adventure. :)

I've told a couple friends how the babies, when they were younger, always slept pretty well on travel, but now that they've gotten a little older and more aware, I'm afraid they won't sleep as well and they'd be little maniacs when we visit friends along the way ;). (you know they are normally very sweet and well behaved overall :) and they do, do a good job :))

We'll still have to figure out accommodations, besides the business trips (paid for! :)), along the way, if anyone has suggestions of good towns or places to stay, eat, or things to do, when we stop, we would love it!

4 Months Old!

2011-05-23T14:48:00.001-04:00

Look who is 4 months old! I cannot believe it!

Littlest turned 4 months (17 weeks!) on May 15th. I stand by something I tweeted that day, that I really want to keep going by weeks until she is... 30 years old, so I don't age her... or myself. ;) She sounds so much older when we use months. :)

She is so big, so sweet, and has the most kissable and nibble-able cheeks! See??

Littlest, HM, Na-Na, Sweet Love, Baby Girl, The Na, My Love, Lovebug, and more ;)...

You are such a laid back sweet girl

You have such a fun playful personality

You love Eskimo kisses and talking :)

You love going for walks

You love to smile and laugh

You are rockin' tummy time, love talking and playing (grabbing, shaking, and bringing them to your mouth) with your toys on your mat, and have mastered rolling from your back to your tummy! You even get your little knees underneath you and scoot forward. :)

You love chewing and sucking on your fingers and I sure hope it's just because you're still discovering them and getting better and better at using them and not because you're teething as some people have asked! :)

We love all of your fun and sweet expressions

We love you more than words.

So much love and big cuddle hugs,

Mommy

Weight: around 15 lbs

Height: TBD this week :)

Diaper Size: 2 ready to go to 3s when we finish out the 2s we have left :)

Clothes: 3-6 and 6-9 months some 6-12

Sleeping: 12 hours at night (you're finally back to your good sleeping ways :)) We just stopped swaddling you last week because you were rolling so much!

Love and Hugs

2011-05-15T23:36:00.002-04:00

Hi Fam and Friends! I hope y'all are doing so well!

I have come to say that I am sorry. Life has been a liiiittle busy and my energy and time has been soaking up this fantastic fam of mine. (and some resting for mama ;))

I appreciate every single one of you who reads our 'lil life as an NCF (caveated: some artificial caffeine for mama required ;)) and I love and am SO thankful for every comment you leave! True statement!

I feel so badly that I have not been able to keep up with y'all for a little while now. I wanted to let you know that I haven't been reading or commenting solely because there are not 33 1/2 hours in a day, NOT because of anything personal at all.

{Mother's Day (self-timer!) oh I love ALL of their smiles! :)}

We have been getting into a great routine, and then have been pushed out of it with different activities and adventures, getting back to it again, working through times of extra discipline and testing, great sleeping gone awry, working to get it back, going to MOPs, Hubby's softball games (so glad he's getting to play again), tagging along with Hubby on a business trip (to the beach :)), events, playdates/groups, Hubby leading and us hosting small group each week, silly stresses that drain. energy. fast., trying to stave off my insecurity of feelings of rejection in real life and blog/twitterland (silly but real :)), wonderful and tiring non-stop days, striving/attempting to keep the house (how do we use so many dishes and so much laundry? ;))... and more (including the fact that I have been losing my mind - oh boy, blog post to come!). :)

Thank you for sticking with me even though I have not been able to reciprocate lately. I'm coming to you soon! And if you see a comment from me on someone's blog and not on yours yet, it just means I haven't gotten to you yet.

Lots of love and hugs!

Mommy Fears. Overprotective or Highly Cautious?

2011-05-09T21:40:00.001-04:00

I admit it is a liiiittle long but this is a very honest post about being a mommy (and daddy) and always wanting our babies (3 1/2, 1 1/2, and 14 weeks old) to be safe. Understanding that God is in control while also wanting to protect these sweet lil' littles ourselves. And I feel like this is a subject that people don't really talk about.

Little Preface

There is a fine line, to me/us, of protecting our babies and trusting God. We have said this before about making big decisions too. There is a fine line of using logic to plan and trusting God with the outcome. There needs to be both, but where is the line drawn?

Hubby and I are both, admittedly, control freaks. We're not sure how we got this way. :) Maybe because we had to partially take care of ourselves, in different ways, starting from a young age. I started working in high school, paid my way (racked up some loans ;) and my fab Mom helped when she could) through college, bought my 1st couple cars ('83 Nissan Sentra followed by a '91 Ford Probe... silver... pop up lights... some kick... loved that car ;)), insurance, etc. Hubby taught himself *a lot.* He is an amazing Hubby and Daddy, and has taught himself how to do home projects (plumbing, lighting, some carpentry, and more), finances/budgeting/being fiscally conservative, dealings with real estate and so much more.

My Mom also made the point the other night that one reason she thinks it is, is because I don't want to make a mistake. True true as well. I don't like to make mistakes. I don't like to fail at things, especially in front of other people. :) Not saying it doesn't happen, but I hate it when it does. :)

I have always been a bit of a worrier, some times less than others (something I've been working on for years), but mommyhood has amplified the worrying and crazy thoughts that go through my head (Hubby too) in an effort to want and make sure that the babies are always safe.

Concerns* for the littles

Climbing. Spotting them when they climb, especially early on. A foot or a hand could slip.

(Especially being boys?) Being unaware of their surroundings/edges when playing.

Playgrounds (there may be an entire post on this at some point!)... all of the openings. Being pushed off the playground or other kids running by, and in an effort not to get pushed or run over they step back and not realize there is an opening.

Riding bikes or running down hills/driveway and running/turning too quickly and falling/getting hurt.

Sleeping in a bed in another place. Worried they could fall out of bed and bonk on a side table (although we've been known to rearrange hotel rooms ;)) or if in another house (beach house, etc) they could open the door to their room, and we wouldn't hear it (or see in video monitor), and get hurt in the house/fall down stairs or make it out of the house and get very hurt.

People carrying the babies or holding them on decks or by ledges. So many think that because they are a certain age or think they are certain age that they'll never try to dive or get down and what if they're not holding tight enough. I am sweating just thinking about it.

Going to school and learning or hearing bad language/concepts that we'll have to reteach each time. (we work so hard to instill good manners/obedience/etc. they're not perfect but we try to work from their hearts)

Standing up and slipping and bonking in the bathtub.

Making sure that when we/I get them out of the car to go in a store, I always have a hand on them. So many people let their little ones walk and walk far away from them, and what if that one time, they decide to run after something (even if usually well behaved) or you are dependent on other drivers to be safe (yikes).

Strangers. They are such sweet social little bugs. (ETA: not that they're ever very far from us ;))

Bleachers. Sharp edges, potential to fall back/off.

Coffee tables. We don't have any since we had BabyBoy but playing/visiting at someone else's house, falling and hitting the corner in a bad place (eye, head...). (Ottomans work great!)

Partial Conclusion

I know it is terrible to think about these things. But they are all thoughts that have made their way through my (and Hubby's) head. And there maaaaay be more ;). I know a lot of times it is the devil poking a tender spot but they are also very real worries. I never want our babies to get hurt. We all get little bonks, I'm talking about more than a little bonk or situation.

I have recently thought about most of the worries and, especially for BabyBoy (3 1/2), most of the everyday circumstance worries he really wouldn't get that hurt.

And then I think, our babies are God's babies to us on loan to do His work and spread His word. Shouldn't we then fully trust Him all the time that He has our babies' safety in His hands. But on the other hand, as flesh, I (we) want to be in complete control, to take precautions and make sure they are safe, that they don't get hurt, or get their little hearts broken. (control freak much?) There should be a healthy ;) balance of both. I fall a little more on the unhealthy than Hubby but he is very close to my location on the protective train :).

Does any of this sound at all familiar to you or completely crazy?

*My (our) aim is to never show them or display the worry but to give them confidence in everything they attempt and do (within reason ;-)). And they are such good boys but all littles have the potential to be unpredictable and they can all have times of disobedience.

New Family Pic: Blessed

2011-04-19T15:03:00.004-04:00

With little people smiling at the same time!, in the same picture!, and, completely bias, looking mighty cute ;-) Look at those smiles! :) And can you believe we got it with the self timer?

{BabyBoy 3 1/2, Little 1 1/2, and Littlest 12 weeks old :)}

Blessed beyond measure. Praying, almost daily, for wisdom in raising our little people in God's word to be His servants. Striving to focus on the right things. Aiming to be thankful and content everyday. Understanding we can't do it on our own - we have seen His work with our own eyes - and all glory belongs to Him.

Seeking to live out our family verse: Joshua 1: 7-9:

“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Birthday Weekend Surprises

2011-04-12T14:38:00.005-04:00

Over the weekend, on Sunday April 10th, I took a big step into the 30s. I turned 31! Normally, the number doesn't really bother me, tis but a number ;), but this year... I feel old. :-)

Maybe because I have been married for almost 8, amazing, years. Or have three, sweet growing so fast, babies. Or am in completely terrible shape right now (and have a ton of baby weight to lose ;)) and I feel... slow. ;)

Hubby made it a super special birthday, he was so thoughtful with everything he had planned! My mom was out of town and he didn't trust anyone else to watch all the babies yet (good boy ;)) so he planned the day with a little bit of everything.

It really turned into a birthday weekend. :) Friday night after the babies were in bed, Hubby went out and got some sushi for us while we relaxed and watched some shows. :)

Saturday was a day full of surprises! Surprise #1: he got all of the babies all dressed up to take me out for breakfast. All the boys had on their cute pink shirts (the littles were pink checked and Hubby's striped, I love boys and men in pink!) and HM had a sweet smocked pink dress. :)

{since it is near impossible to get both littles with their big smiles in the same pic... here is Little's big smile (hehe)...

...and BabyBoy's happy smile while Little's smile was getting a lil tired, haha}

Surprise #2: he handed me keys to his car, had the GPS set, and sent me to a cute little downtown near us to go to a spa! :) He had everything paid and just sent me with some money for tips. I had a facial and a massage, it was SO nice! My back has been hurting like crazy and my face definitely needed some love and attention. :)

Afterwards, I walked around a cute little shop called Monkees and got a fun blue polka dot scarf for the spring.

Hubby had it all planned out, because Surprise #3: when I got home it was during the littles naptime (he had already fed them lunch and put them to bed), and he had the table set for two, candles, flowers, and a huge spread of Chinese take out for lunch. SO sweet! It was time to feed Littlest and after she ate she sat in her bouncer and hung out with us while we ate. :)

Surprise #4: After the babies got up from their naps, they all took me out for ice cream. It was the first time we had all been out for ice cream in such a long time. It was so yummy and so much fun. :)

{I chose a Peanut Butter Craziness - don't remember the name ;) - dark chocolate, R's peanut butter cups, R's pieces, with peanut butter swirls. Whoa. I shared too! :)}

Then on Sunday! My mom came over (yay!!), went to church with us, we had to stay a little bit longer to recruit a couple more couples for our small group. Hubby and I got to go for a lunch date to a new little sushi place! SO good! We came home, I fed HM, then we went out for a MickeyDs ice cream cone ;), and then we went to play a little tennis. It felt so good to hit around again! It has been so long.

{We got three dishes and split them all :) I was so excited about the sushi and food, I forgot to get a pic of us ;)}

It was a fantastic birthday! Hubby spoiled me and I love how thoughtful he was.

And these cute little people sang Happy Birthday to me the whole weekend! Well, Little just smiled while BabyBoy sang :-)

Kitchen Before and After

2011-04-04T09:39:00.002-04:00

Really this is the Before and "Just About" After :) Finally! ;) I kept not sharing because it still isn't completely completed, but it's time. :)

It still needs new lighting over the kitchen table, maybe one above the sink and/or desk area, and we're contemplating 2 pendants above the island (if it won't look too busy with the overhead lighting) and curtains.

We moved into our new house almost 2 years ago now. We've enjoyed buying semi fixer uppers (no structural damage) because we've gotten great deals, while knowing we can make the profitable upgrades for better deals than if we paid for the house already upgraded. We - especially me ;) - are deeeeal shoppers, I drive myself crazy, *crazy* I tell you, trying to find the best deals, deep breath... The houses really just need a lot of updating, new carpet, kitchen countertops, appliances, paint (de-wallpapering, yikes), and a lot of love.

Over the course of a year and a half, this is what we've done... and we (err, mostly Hubby ;)) did almost all of it ourselves to save *a lot* of money. Hubby is won-der-ful and has taught himself (I am such a proud wife!) how to do everything - lighting, plumbing, and so much more ;). He installed the overhead lighting, appliances, floor, faucet, we painted the cabinets and he installed hardware to the cabinets (having to redrill every single new hinge and drill for all the new hardware).

Before

{pic from the listing}

{first before pic from when we moved in, there was no fridge when we moved in, so that was our first purchase :)}

After

I had originally gotten this fabric (last year) for the curtains or at least the one over the window... but not sure if it's too modern or too... something. :) Can you have one color over the half window and the fairly plain color (like the ivory in this fabric) for sliding glass door?

And not sure if it's too much orange in the house. ;) The kitchen is open to the family room (orange rug) pictured below and walks into the dining room (orange walls)... or could this be considered tying the rooms together? :)

I'm also looking for new flour jars for the countertop. I'd love pretty glass jars with a cute handle, but with big mouths, so I can level a one cup measuring cup without getting a little flour on the counter. :) Any other decorations you think that would look nice??

What we did:

*Replaced countertops (got free deep, two tub sink) - found good cheap company, got least expensive granite (but it's granite :))

*Replaced faucet

*Replaced (over the course of time) all appliances - Lowes price matches, so I went online and found the cheapest prices I could find, and a great guy at our Lowes did it for us every time... they normally only price match brick and mortar stores, not online retailers, but I told him we'd be buying a lot from them and he was awesome.

*Overhead lighting - Hubby installed

*Painted, hung (coffee :)) wall art, painted cabinets, attached hardware for cabinets

*Floor - we chose a vinyl that looks like ceramic tile so it's nice and soft for the babies and was really cheap, pretty easy to install ourselves (mostly Hubby ;)), and super easy maintenance. It was a good choice for our fam for now.

A lot of times you can find a 10% coupon at Lowes or Home Depot, they take each other's coupons or sometimes they'll have special deals to buy a gift card and you get additional money put on it for free. Keep your eyes out for sales on the items you need and you can even ask the employees if they know when the next lighting, flooring, etc. sale will be if they're not on sale when you first look. :)

Fooood, Glorious, Foood

2011-03-31T10:09:00.004-04:00

Y'all know, I love food. I love sweets, and I love food. I'll thank my family for that ;). It's been a while since I've posted what I've cooked recently. Partially because I hadn't been cooking as much outside quick and/or inventive dishes (loaded baked potatoes, breakfast meals, a poppyseed chicken I froze before HM arrived, etc.)... if at all for a lil while ;) - we were SO blessed after Littlest was born, we received over a month of meals from friends and MOPs! - so it is time. :) None of these are extraordinary dishes but they are yummy and comfort and did I mention yummy? :)

1. Panko and Parmesan Tilapia with Roasted Brussel Sprouts (yummy :), baked with the leftover topping from the tilapia), and leftover Mashed Potatoes.

I used less than a tsp of mayo on each filet but I'm sure it would be good with all of it too. :)

2. Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Brown Rice

I can't find the recipe I used (tweeked) and another one (I tweeked :)) for the sauce... It was really fast and easy though. I think I just boiled the chicken, cooked up some onion and garlic in a lil oil, added the chicken, diced water chestnuts, and sauce -mixed soy sauce, lemon juice, and a little sugar. I'd make a different sauce next time, but it was quick and worked. It was a big hit.

3. Artichoke Chicken (modified) with Rice (I ran out of brown rice) and Roasted Broccoli (tossed with olive oil and sprinkled with garlic salt and a bit of parmesan to compliment the parm in the chicken ;)).

I decreased the mayo to about a 1/2 cup and used the rest light sour cream. Last time I added spinach too and it was yummy. It turned out a little more "browned" this time (had to make sure the chicken was done :) and I even cut the chicken breasts in half because they were so big), but was really good. Another big hit.

4. Chicken Pot Pie with homemade crust. ETA: and a Pumpkin Pie with homemade crust.

SO good! We all gobbled it up so quickly and downed the leftovers. It did not last long. I've made this before and it is so good. And I always add potatoes. Love potatoes. Not my best looking crust, I need to work on how I "finish" it, but it was yummy! :)

5. S'more Pops. So fun! Indoor s'mores :) ETA: I made for small group this week :)

I use semi-sweet chocolate chips. I like to melt them over a double boiler, just boil some water in a pot and set a (heat safe) bowl over it and mix until it melts (you'll need a pot holder, it gets hhhhot). I did it in the microwave last time and didn't like that way the chocolate turned out. You have more control over the double boiler. Crush graham crackers (before you melt the chocolate). And off you go!

Happy cooking! Have you cooked any delicious new or tried and true recipes lately?

A Precious Moment: The Littles

2011-03-29T13:18:00.002-04:00

This morning, as I was about to tweet that I keep getting teary eyed because of how sweet the boys are with Littlest, there was a precious moment that needed the camera ;).

They are always sweet to her. Always is a strong word, but it's true. I sometimes have to remind Little to be completely gentle, though he is really doing great and I have had to say, "Little, no rolling cars on HM..." he was being very gentle and was showing her the cars too :).

I understand that she isn't taking their toys yet ;), but one day we went to hospital, brought her home (it was *that* easy, hahah, mama's laughing at that more than anyone ;-), it was an amazing day!), and she was part of our family in a real way. And the boys have been so good with her every since.

This morning was another moment of sweetness.

After I fed HM and she was sitting in my lap, BabyBoy kept saying, in his cute little 3 1/2 yr old voice, "Hiii, HM" and smiling at her to try to get her smile. Little kept saying HM's name, in his sweet little 1 1/2 year old voice, and pointing at her. They do this a lot but this morning BabyBoy asked to hold her (it's been a little while since he's asked). And then, usually being the one to ask, Little wanted to hold her too. :)

Enough words, here is a precious moment with the babies. Melt this mama's heart and pass me a tissue. :)

It is hard not to get teary seeing all the babies loving on each other. It is so special to see them appreciate each other and have such a strong bond together. What a blessing beyond measure! They'll still be this sweet and lovin' on each other and us when they're teenagers right? :-)

It's closing!... What to buy??

2011-03-27T21:14:00.006-04:00

Our beloved Borders in the super fab shopping center 5 minutes away from our house is closing. Closing! They have/had the best coupons... maybe one reason they're closing*.

I love to read. Though I have fallen of the reading train recently. And call me a dork but I love to read non-fiction, biographies of interesting folk, based on real life books, or classics (ones that I may or may not have read in high school [I enjoyed school {dork :)}, but I didn't like being forced to read every book. ;) I still did well with cliff notes and such when I didn't read the entire book but I digress]), but this past year I was also referred by nuuumerous blog and twitter friends to get on the chick lit train. So I thought it would be a good idea to go back and forth from a heavier read to a light fun read.

Hubby maintains that his ideal bedtime is 8:30pm, haha, but our ideal is to watch some of our shows together after the babies are in bed and then go upstairs and read before we go to sleep. Alas, that hasn't happened as much for a little while. I'm trying to get away from my current night-owl-ness (I go back and forth every now and then) where I'm awake but too tired to concentrate and remember what I'm reading. You know where you read one sentence 15 times and still don't know what it said? Just me? ;)

Here are just a few (or so) of the books I've read recently... ok make that in the past almost year (I've been a lil tired ;))...

{The Little Lady Agency, The Grapes of Wrath, Something Borrowed, Love and Respect (w our small group), The Help, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress (currently reading)}

What are some GREAT books that you've read recently or all time faves that I should try to buy from the going 0ut 0f business Borders for 5o+ percent 0ff to read... soon :)??

*There is talk that Barnes and N0ble will be taking it's place which is great but still sad because I could get such great deals at Borders.

Keeping Busy

2011-03-24T11:43:00.001-04:00

Hi fam and friends! I've been keeping pretty busy over here, I hope y'all have been doing great! Here are some things we've been up to...

1. The babies and I have been going to MOPs every 1st and 3rd Friday from 9:30-11:30am. I love that BabyBoy and Little get to play in their classes with great workers and other littles. And HM and I get to hang out with other mommies, maybe learn something new, munch on some food, and have some laughs.

Side note that makes me laugh: Every time I go anywhere with all of the babies, especially on the way home, I keep looking in the backseat to make sure that I have everybody! haha. And that they're all buckled in tight. :) I'll have to post about the logistics of how I go out by myself with all of them now; who I get out first, how we all get from the car to our destination, etc.. :) I've gotten in a groove and have even taken all of them, by myself!, to Chick Fil A to eat with a friend and her littles. :) And they all did great :) We had some fruit spillage on the floor, I ate after everybody else was fed, and was sweating for a bit like I ran a marathon, but I would do it again. :)

{Yep, they're all there! My view from the driver's seat :)}

2. We have small group at our house every Monday night. Hubby does a fantastic job leading it. He is always so well prepared, he really puts his heart into it, and I can truly tell. We have a fabulous small group and we've all learned so much so far. We kicked off our 4th new study this past week, so I made a quick cake! :) and coffee ;)

3. I started a playgroup with girls from church and our neighborhood! Every 2nd and 4th Monday :) I have to say, I am proud of myself ;) We've had two playgroups already, the third is coming up on Monday. It's been such a wonderful time to get to know some other fantastic mommies and littles and all get to play together. Everybody has littles around all of the babies' ages and it has been such a blessing so far!

Here are just some of the mommies and littles. Most have stayed to eat lunch together before heading home for naptimes. And all of those boys are so well behaved during lunch, it is so cute and wonderful to see! :)

4. We've gone to a bounce house place (I can't say the name since it's just local :)) several times. A friend invited us and a bunch of other mommies and their littles and once with an old playgroup. They have big blow up slides and obstacle courses, bounce houses and toys for the younger littles to play with too. Hubby has been able to go with us twice since he didn't have morning meetings those days. They always have a great time.

5. And taking care of the house and these three little people every day. :) We're settled in a great routine, which is flexible around activities. It doesn't mean there aren't frustrations or tough days but the routine is wonderful. I'll have to post a schedule of how our days run soon too. :)

I feel terrible that I haven't responded to comments or emails very quickly or at all yet! I'll start to answer or think about it or am not on my computer to retrieve info or something pulls me away and then I get busy or tired and forget. I'm sorry! I'm working on getting it into the routine so I can keep up with y'all and get back to your questions because I appreciate them and you so much! :)

I can get pretty tired sometimes but I am in love x4 (Hubby included)! And SO blessed!

2 Months Old

2011-03-16T11:20:00.003-04:00

Our sweet little love is 2 months old :) She really is so sweet! :) Here are a some pics from a few days old until now!

Few Days

1 Week

2 Weeks

3 Weeks

4 Weeks

5 Weeks

6 Weeks

7 Weeks

8 Weeks

Littlest Statistics from birth until 2 months!

She's on a 8 o'clock - 3 hour schedule during the day (so she eats at 8, 11, 2, 5, 8, etc.) and she wakes up once in 12 hours during the night. Three nights she's gone 9 or just over 9 hours and then another 3 or 4 after that. :) Her "bedtime" was 11pm - when I would start letting her go as long as she could. Then I was so tired and she was so sleepy at her 11pm feeding (almost like a dream feeding), so after feeding she'd wake up at the same time if I let her go from 8pm. So I started letting her go from 8pm and she went from a 4 hour first block to a 7 or 9+ hour first block. So instead of backing the bedtime from 11pm back, she's been doing great stretching that first block from 8pm. (and the doc said that was great, they normally stretch the first block anyway)

She started tracking objects during the first week, started smiling a lot at 4 weeks, moving around her crib (in her little swaddled self) at 5 weeks, lots of cooing, responding, and mimicking when we say, "HM can you say awwww... or ohhhhhh," she even did it for me, and smiles, at the dr yesterday and the dr saw and said it was great and recorded it in her file :), started a few cute little laughs around 5 or 6 weeks. She's wearing 3-6 month clothing and size 2 diapers.

2 Month Well Check (yesterday): 13 lbs 6 oz, 23 inches long :)

I (we) can't get over her!! She is amazing. She is our sweet littlest love! :)

The Ceremony and Finale for Littlest's Naming

2011-03-14T14:28:00.003-04:00

If you missed the first two posts click Part 1 - Fam pics and Background or Part 2 - Decorations :)

For the ceremony, my Mom walked Littlest into the room (a sweet honor), the Rabbi (who was recommended to us ETA: and did both of the boys bris, which were wonderful) told a couple stories and how it ties in to the Bible, said some prayers for and over HM and us, gave her name, her Hebrew name and the meanings, Hubby gave a little speech about where they were from and what they meant to us, and then we all dug into the celebratory meal, hung out, and then cut into the cake. I honestly forget everything the Rabbi said, I wanted to record it and with so much else going on, completely forgot. He has such a strong accent and he is such a funny character. Here are some pics from the little ceremony. :)

During the ceremony we had my Mom hand Littlest to each of the grandparents and great grandparents to hold and give a little kiss.

Guests! Friends and fam who were so sweet to come and celebrate this special day with us!!

And we set up the laptop in a good spot and Skyped my Dad and Aunt in from Arizona! It was so special to us that they got to be a part of it too! :)

My Mom (aka Grandma or Mamo, hehe) with the babies :) She is a beyond amazing Mom to Hubby and I, and Grandma to the babies!! We appreciate her so much, she is so special to us!!! (and she's fun and hilarious :) we all have so many ongoing jokes together and always have so much fun) We love you Mom!!

She was a mighty sleepy girl after her big day :)

Happy fam :) Really, both boys have been so sweet to her from day. one. (Little is still working on being gentle all the time :) but they both ask to hold her and they talk to her and are excited when she's up and awake :) now, they have their own toy tiffs but they LOVE being bros and are really become buddies, it is so sweet!!)

{excuse my goofy way happy smile, I am really happy ;), and my double chin (not so happy about that ;-)}

Seriously, we thank God everyday for His abundant blessings!! Though we may not always think things are "perfect" (if there is such a thing besides our Lord and Savior) or we may worry or wish something would change or be different, I am not being cheesy at all, but though everything is not perfect and we are not perfect, our life is "peeerfect!" To God be ALL the glory.

Decorations for Littlest's Naming and Party

2011-03-08T13:44:00.004-05:00

I had so much fun decorating for HM's naming ceremony! The theme was pink and white (and bows :)). :) Sweet baby girl.

A couple weeks before the party, I started going a little (or a lot ;)) crazy because I was making all of the decorations and the cake and felt everything wasn't coming together yet. But my sweet dear friends Erin and Nina saved my sanity and gave me so many amazing and beautiful suggestions! Thank you so much girls!! And my Mom helped decorate and do SOOO much that day (and the day before!)! She is more than awesome!

We got to Skype my Dad and Aunt in from Arizona for the ceremony (SOO special!!) but they wanted to see all of the decorations since they only got to see a few!

So here are, lots of pics, little words ;-)

The Family Room

{friends and fam were so sweet and brought gifts, they were so thoughtful}

I got a bunch of pictures printed and decorated with them, one of the girls' many wonderful ideas!

Littlest's banner {the lighting wasn't the best for these pics, oops}

Kitchen Table - Hors d'oeuvres

{I love the tulips! :)}

The Dining Room - The food and some desserts - Fried chicken, turkey meatballs, coleslaw, potato salad, bread, macaroni and cheese

{my serving dishes got moved around and then other pieces were added but I thought it still looked pretty :)}

My Mom made the a-dorable watermelon carriage!! She always does such a great job on those!

{see the bottles strung around with the bow? my Mom's cute idea!}

The Kitchen - Cake and drinks (and hor d'oeuvre table in previous pics :))

{if you look close you can see three little bottles strung with the bow :)}

The Cake

The cake did not come out at all like what I had in my head but I still had fun making it. :)

Most importantly it was such a special day and we all had a wonderful time!

Naming and Party for Littlest :)

2011-03-02T16:42:00.004-05:00

A couple weeks ago we had a Simchat Bat/Hebrew naming ceremony/partay for Littlest! Simchat Bat literally means, the joy of daughter, it is a fun and exciting day to celebrate with family and friends and also when she gets her Hebrew name*. More on the ceremony and all the dets in another post! :)

Names are so important to us. I love talking names and baby names and hearing the stories and meanings behind them. I think they are so special! We always aim to name our littles after family. If we don't use a first or middle name, we either try to find a beautiful name with the same meaning, or use the first letter of a name, something to honor family that we love and who mean so much to us. I get quite sentimental about it! :) There are such fun, wonderful stories about each namesake, some strong men and women of God, and of these amazing women of the Bible too!

Our baby girl!! We are in love, can't say it any other way. :) We are so blessed by her sweet little self, she is so sweet and laid back, and just a happy little love!

{she was so sleepy when I was able to take her pic :)}

{little socks my Mom got her that matched the top of her dress perfectly :)}

Proud Daddy! Who admitted how much fun it is to have a little one in pink ;-) He still wants to take shooting classes and get a shotgun ;), but he's wrapped around her tiny little finger. :) He knew he would be! :-) Even before she was born he was telling her about how he would take her on dates (for special time and to show her how she should be treated :) when she starts dating at 19 ;)). And that makes me an even more proud wifey.

Nothing short of a super proud mama :) I am obnoxiously proud of all of our littles, I know! ;-)

Sweet little chat with Daddy :) Doesn't she look so comfy? :)

Look at that little face and those cheeks!!! :)

Ahh, I can't get over these little people!!!

Sneaky peak of the banner :)

Next post I'll show you all of the decorations and goodies! :)

*If you're a new reader, I am a Jewish believer, meaning I was born and raised Jewish with the belief (as Christians) that Jesus is the Messiah. :) We go to church and still celebrate all the Jewish holidays (with Jesus incorporated in them) [and Christian holidays (I started celebrating with Hubby after we started dating)]. :)

Simple joy - in pics :)

2011-02-25T15:46:00.001-05:00

I love when the babies (BabyBoy is 3 1/2 years and Little is 18 months old :) I wonder how long I will call them babies, I see no end in sight so far ;)) ask to hold Littlest! Oh the sweetness!!!

I also can't get enough of seeing Hubby with the babies. He is the best Daddy!! Oh, more sweetness! He gets so excited when he gets Littlest to smile, coo, or even have a big little laugh, he almost squeals and calls me over to see! So sweet, I love it!

Reading time! (one of the littles' Bibles)

Me and my girl :-)

and my Little :)

and my BabyBoy and Little :) watching a little show together :) (with Mommy sans any trace of makeup and crazy hair ;))

We try to either read the Bible, do a little devotional at the end of dinner (great time, you have a captive audience ;)) or before bedtime :) they've been really loving our reading time before nightnight too.

{Little smiles his big cheesy smile whenever he sees a camera go up or you say, Smile! :)}

We are in love again, again, again, and again!!! :)

It's only been...

2011-02-22T21:50:00.010-05:00

*I've been sitting on this post for weeks. It first started out, it's only been 2 weeks, then it's only been three weeks, now it's been 5 weeks, but I'm leaving it at 4 ;).

I was just going to let it sit but I love y'all and want to be honest and open with you. There are reasons I haven't blogged about more deep feelings more often, for fear that a couple people that read my lil' ole blog would take things I say, twist them to be very negative, and spread it around to make it sound like I'm doing terribly or am unhappy. But I hope that won't be the case. :)

4 weeks... Last week it was: It's only been 3 weeks! The week before it was it's only been 2 weeks, since I pushed out our little big Littlest!! :)

I'm talking about what's going on between my body/recovery vs. my mind/state of mind vs. reality. I want to/should be/need to be doing __ but it's only been __ week(s).

Honestly...

My recovery:
Has been the best yet. Despite our sweet lil' (BIG ;)) love approaching 10 lbs (I still can't believe it!! :)), my recovery has gone very well. I was a sloooow walker for the first couple weeks, avoiding stairs as much as possible to reduce bleeding. I'm still bleeding some (not so much fun) and more the past couple weeks when I started doing a lot more, but overall I'm feeling really good. Some days more tired than others or little pain, but good. I had a lot of post delivery pain/contractions, for the first couple weeks, they say is so much worse with the third baby and after... they were right ;). I'm getting more energy back which is helping the next section below ;)

My state of mind:

I had my first big outing at a week and a half. I talked Hubby into a fam trip to Hobby Lobby :-). I had to walk slow and I couldn't last too long, but we were out and about! So, in my mind, I wanted/want to have the energy to do everything for the babies and Hubby that they need, reading, learning, playing, playgroups, storytime, playdates, etc., and that just hasn't been possible, despite a good recovery. Being tired, still recovering, and bending over a lot/chasing babies if needed/getting three babies in and out of the car/etc etc etc. would be a little tough. And I have felt guilty. Very guilty. Like I am letting them down, not giving them what they need.

In addition to feeling like I have failed being superwoman mommy, I've felt isolated (besides getting to hang with my Hubby) because I hadn't been feeling well enough to go out (except to go into one store at a time), and too tired to get all dressed and groomed to have people over.

And then I feel insecure because of blogging and twitter. My biggest insecurity is fear of rejection. Feeling like people don't like me. I'd been doing well with fighting off those feelings, as they come and go, but lately, not so much. And blogging and twitter sometimes amplifies those feelings. Silly or not - it's, mostly, wonderful to see everybody chatting on twitter but sometimes it's tough, hard on the ego, makes me feel unliked, seeing others get responses you hoped for after similar situations/tweets, seeing others' comment on friends' blogs but not yours (err mine ;)) (and I understand many reasons why :)). I told you I was being honest. :) And I've had my feelings hurt by several old friends again. I want everyone to like me. That is why I have taken a little more of a twitter and blog break for the past few weeks. I really don't want to focus my energy on being insecure about rejection. In addition to all of that, I want to run and exercise to lose all of this extra weight. (really I want for it to just fall off or just run it off in a matter of minutes ;)) Not complaining, just saying. :)

Reality:

After talking with Hubby and my Mom, I was reminded that these kind of times/situations are momentary. Especially for the little ones. They are... little. And resilient. And they're so little, they won't even remember this time. Especially when everything is back to normal. I felt like this when I was pregnant with Little, I felt bad for being so sick... and tired ;) to do the things with BabyBoy that I wanted to do. And this time too. Some days are a little bit tougher than others, especially the days that involve more toy tiffs, tantrums, or naps that were just too short. :)

But the past two weeks, I've started to get more energy back, and even though I still have those feelings of insecurity, I'm feeling a lot better. I'm trying to keep on with friends even if I feel insecure, instead of falling back and being silent (hasn't happened as well the past few weeks but I'm getting back to it :)). I've been working on starting a playgroup (first one is next week!). Started back to MOPs a few weeks ago. We had a wonderful naming and party for Littlest this weekend (I can't wait to share pics and all about it!). My Hubby is wonderful. I've been doing more at home with the littles again. And despite the toy tiffs, tantrums, and short naps, the littles try their best make each other laugh, ask for each other to play, chase each other around the house laughing, sing and/or play instruments together, and they just smile. Cheesy cute smiles. And it is good ;). It is life. Those feelings will happen. Those days will happen. But God is good. Very good. And He has blessed me with more than I deserve.

Psalm 62:5-8 Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from Him. Truly He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; He is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.

{please disregard my double chin and goofy happy face in this pic, just look at the cute babies and Hubby ;)}

I'll explain this pic in the next post :) Blessed. Way blessed. :) Hugs fam and friends! And thank you for reading :)

*With all of that said, I'm still a lil' ;) tired and have post-preggy mommy nursing brain, so this post may or not make any sense ;)

Some Pics from Littlest's Newborn Photoshoot :)

2011-02-07T12:54:00.001-05:00

My dear friend Tracy came over last weekend to take newborn pics of HM (aka Littlest, aka Cheeks McGee ;))! HM was two weeks old. :) Tracy captured so many sweet, cute, and fun moments. It was not only so much fun seeing her, but she is SO sweet, and she did such a great job with all of the littles! She also snapped some fam pics and a few of BabyBoy and Little after we got them up from their naps. And she even brought us dinner! Thank you so much Tracy!!

I can't stop looking at these pics of our sweet baby girl and her sweet lil chunky cheeks! If you wonder how you can love more than one baby, you can stop wondering! ;) Each little one is such a little individual and a *perfect* part of the family. I am getting all teary because I am so thankful for HM and each of the littles, and my Hubby.

Ok, picture time! :) I hope you enjoy these pics and they bring a smile to your face today like they have for me! :)

Mommy Cards

2011-01-31T13:59:00.003-05:00

A business card for Mommys! Stay-at-home or working!

Have you ever been out and about, at MOPS (or similar mommy group), church, a music or gym class, or a playgroup and wanted to exchange information with another mommy or friend, then go on a mini adventure to search for a pen and paper in your purse, set down everything you're carrying, except for a cute potentially squirmy little one, and write down all of your information?! Well hang on a precious moment, friends!

What if you had a Mommy Card?! [Can you tell I love this idea? ;-) (it's not new and it's not mine but I love it :))]

Now you can just whip out your cute Mommy Card with all of your details on it, including the names of your little ones (and Hubby - it's always nice to know the name of the fam, it's so easy to forget before you start hanging out as families), phone number, email, address...

It makes it easy to set up playdates and exchange information without the hassle of excavating a piece of paper and a writing implement in the "trying to scale it down but can't" purse that was once obsessive compulsively organized but has become a complete disaster ;)!

This is the one I ordered last week :) - my first Mommy Card! I looks so much cuter without all of the white cover ups ;-) You can add any information, organize or word it however you'd like. I got mine through Vistaprint where you can get 250 cards for "free" and just have to pay shipping and handling.

Have you gotten Mommy Cards or cute business cards before? Where have you ordered from?

*I was not paid or compensated to write this, I am just very excited about it!

BabyBoy Singing - Oh Holy Night and Solfege Scale

2011-01-26T16:05:00.004-05:00

We interrupt sweet chunky cheek baby pics to bring you BabyBoy (ETA [1/31]): 3 1/2 yrs old) singing! :)

He loves to sing! We are a music loving house! He makes up his own tunes and words to songs (just like Daddy, so funny! :)). He sings and play the piano, his little violin, the guitar, and while dancing. Love it! I'll have to post him beat-boxing and dancing too :) I've been meaning to post him singing for forever but here are a couple from Christmas Day!

Oh Holy Night - always a fave in our family :) and if you listen carefully, you can hear Little singing too! ahh love it :) He usually sings it even more on but this was the sweet version I got that day :) I have a video of BB singing it last year (with no help) too that I'll have to find on another computer! :)

The Solfege Scale - he normally sings it a little faster and straight up and down but this time it appeared he was going for a little more dramatic effect. :)

What we've been up to the past five days :)

2011-01-20T19:45:00.002-05:00

Hellooooo!! Thank you for all of the Littlest love you've been sending! I wish I could give each of you a big hug :)

We ended up only staying at the hospital Saturday night and came home on Sunday evening! We said as long as she was healthy and I was doing ok, we'd save a bunch of money (new insurance, yuck) and go home and be with the whole fam. :) (and it earned me a little shopping moneys since we saved so much, hehe)

What have we been up to? Enjoying our sweet HM! She is so sweet, and content, and alert (when she's awake ;)), we are SO excited and blessed to add her to our family!!

At the hospital

Getting to take our HM home!!!

Enjoying all of her sweetness at home

Going to her first doctor appointment :)

In four days she was back up to 9lbs 13oz, just about her birth weight! :) She's 97th percentile for height and over 97th percentile for weight. She knew she'd need to be a good size to keep up with her brothers! :)

Meeting her two big brothers!!!!! {her onesie says Little Sister, ahh :)}

They have been SO good with her! The first time BabyBoy came in our room and saw her he looked a little scared, not knowing what to think, seeming to process that this was Littlest, from Mommy's belly :) and ever since, he comes over to say hi HM so sweetly and give her soft kisses on the head, oh SO sweet! and Little looks at her and excitedly says, baba! babee! (baby:)). He's very gentle overall, still working on his soft touch, haha, but he also gives her sweet little kisses on the head!

I cannot get over this picture!! It is SO difficult to get everybody to laugh or smile at the same exact time in the same pic - some BabyBoy had a huge laughing smile and others Little had his huge cheesy smile - but we think this one is pretty great!! :)

Not much I can say after that ;-).

My Mom is here this week and I don't know what we would do without her! She is beyond amazing. She's been taking care of the boys, cooking, doing the dishes and laundry, grocery shopping, and helping with HM; we haven't had to ask anything, she just takes initiative to do it all! Annnd, it has allowed us to have alone time with each of the boys too, which we really think has made the transition for them so far so much easier.

Hubby (and my Mom) is taking such good care of me and all the littles! He brings HM to me when she needs to eat (throughout the night too), changes her diaper in between feeding (to help her stay awake enough to eat ;)), plays with her of course. I know I've said it before, but I (and the littles) are be-yond blessed! And I have admit... I have not changed one diaper so far!

Lots of love and big hugs fam and friends!!!

She's Here!!!!!!!!

2011-01-15T20:13:00.002-05:00

Hi Family and Friends!!!

We are SO excited to finally announce the arrival of our newest edition!!!!!!!!

Littlest made her grand entrance today, January 15, 2011 at 2:06 pm weighing in at 9 lbs 14 oz (yes, you read that right!! :)) and 21.5 inches in length! Mommy went completely non-medicated and everybody is doing great!!!

We can't wait for her to meet everybody!! :)

Lots of love and hugs from the whole Naturally Caffeinated Fam (all five of us!)!!!!!

Look at her little chunky self!!! She is so sweet and we are head over heels in love (again!)!!!!!!

I cannot tell you all how thankful I (and Hubby :)) am for you! Your tweets and texts and love and prayers are beyond amazing! I cannot wait to tell you about the incredible, God planned, night and day that we had! His hand was ALL over it, and we know that your prayers were heard! Thank you for being a part of such a special and amazing day in our lives! We are so happy and excited to share it with you!! Xoxoxo!!

Little's Nursery - the Before to Littlest's Nursery :) - and Littlest Update

2011-01-14T21:09:00.005-05:00

Little's Nursery! We used the same bedding and furniture that we did with BabyBoy. We decided on a sports theme because Hubby is an all american great sports player. :) I kind of settled on the bedding, I didn't love the color combo, but it was a great deal (and I had never heard of custom bedding :)) and we liked it because it had all of the sports that we like including tennis (Hubby took me out to teach me how to play tennis for our first date! :) he's a great player!). :) I wished I would have put more up on the walls but we all have unforgettable memories with the boys in their nursery :).

{I got the letters crazy clearanced at PBKids and then used fabric glue to attach the ribbon (that I already had) :)}

{the bedding came with a valance for the window that I didn't want to use, so I ended up using it as a runner on the dresser :)}

{We used so many receiving blankets, lots of spit ups ;), I rolled them to go in the basket, could fit a lot and easy to see you wanted to grab :)}

Littlest Update! We were able to get an appointment yesterday* with one of our favorite doctors to see what was up and get her opinion. It was a great appointment and the latest is..... I am 3 cm dilated, 75% effaced, soft, she is -1 station, and our dr stripped my membranes again. She was so surprised we hadn't had the baby already!

We are still praying for tonight (another one of our favorite docs is in the hospital until 7am) or this weekend (even though the doctor who's on this weekend we are not that fond). But we did end up setting up a induction date. I didn't want to be induced for several reasons, but baby girl is just getting bigger and bigger and I would love to be able to have her naturally. Our doctor yesterday was able to move it up (they previously said couldn't be until next wed) so our induction date is this Monday the 17th (with our doctor who delivered both the boys).

The waiting has been getting tougher and tougher! It has been two weeks that Hubby and I have been thinking, today is probably going to be the day! So he's been canceling meetings and staying even closer to home (he works from home most of the time in between all of his meetings) this whole time (which I have loved ;)). We've been keeping the house extra clean for our friends who'll be coming to watch the boys; we keep it pretty clean all the time but people are coming to stay! And we never would have thought we'd go past 40 weeks! BUT we trust that God's timing is perfect.

I just can't wait to hold her in my arms (Hubby too!), and smell her sweet head, hold her skin to skin, see (and just gaze at) her sweet face, and her little self, bring her home, and have her home, with all of us, together.

*We got a call after scheduling the appointment for yesterday saying that we had to cancel and have an appointment next Tuesday because our insurance wouldn't cover the appointment since we were in on Monday, the appointments had to be a week apart. Several minutes later she ended up calling back and saying that since I had called and spoken with a doctor the day before (I was worried about Littlest, worried enough to call...) that we could still come in and insurance would cover it. Littlest is great but is just another instance that God is in control. We were able to have that appointment yesterday that we wouldn't have been able to have unless I made that call the day before. God is in control!

Baby Bump: 40 Weeks!! and Littlest Update

2011-01-12T20:59:00.006-05:00

Today we are officially 40 weeks along. 40 weeks! Littlest is just chillin'! Chillin'! She has had a lower heart rate for a girl (old wives' tale) so she is must just be laid back and relaxed, active!, but chill*. :)

Hubby said she's probably doing her hair (we saw it during her 28 week sono!) and getting her little self ready for her big debut and didn't realize she's late, haha!

Baby Bump: 39 1/2 Weeks

{not the best pic and you can't see the cute purple shoes with a little ruffle ;) but tis the memories :)}

Baby Bump: 40 Weeks - This pic was taken last night when we were putting the littles down for nightnight. BabyBoy wanted to see if he could feel Littlest move and then Little ran over to see "baba" too! It was so sweet. I'm getting teary just thinking about it. And BabyBoy said, maybe this is her foot! I'm telling you, BabyBoy has been talking about Littlest even more lately, saying hi, giving her hugs and kisses, saying things would be cute for her, cue the Mommy tears and smiles.

{I normally don't show belly belly pics but I love when they do this :) and tis blurry bc it was taken with Hubby's phone :)}

Cake! - Then I got to thinking (and craving ;)), maybe I should make her a cake and tempt her to come out and see us! So, yesterday, I did! :) I make it super quick so I didn't have time to do a whole nice fun fondant decorated cake and I only had orange, but I went with it :-) Yellow cake with real buttercream frosting! oh yeah! :)

You know you're close when:

1. You walk up the stairs and your legs bonk your belly with every step.

2. You go out to eat with your Hubby and your belly touches the booth when you sit in it.

3. You fly on an airplane and the tray table touches your belly when not in the upright and locked position.

4. The full on waddle, heave ho off of couches, can barely cross your legs, appreciation there is no hidden camera watching you try to roll over in bed at night** ;-).

5. The amount of your (maternity!) closet that fits diminishes almost every day to about 3-5 pieces. ;)

6. You cry during at least one tv show during Hubby tv hang out time every night. :)

We are praying she is completely healthy, no complications, and a little side for me..that she isn't too big for me to birth (non-medicated is still my goal again :))! I've never gone this long before, eep! Though we know, be anxious for nothing (Phil 4:6), Hubby and I have been getting a liiiil anxious because we really thought she'd be hanging with us for a week or two already :) God is in control, God is in control! ;) We seriously are trusting God, we are just so ready to meet our baby girl :) And I can't wait to see everybody in bed like this soon! :)

{this pic was taken in the dark, they were all cuddling together before nightnight, and then got goofy when I came in ;) ah I love it!}

I know I keep saying it, but it's true!... Thank you so much for your prayers, support, love, tweets, texts, gmail chats, and thoughts! You all help, along with my incredible husband, to keep me sane through little (or seem big) worries, and I appreciate it so much! Xoxoxoxoxo!!!

*I started getting worried the past couple days because I wasn't feeling her move as much, as strong, and it was just... different. I know she's getting bigger and dropping which will do that, but it still felt different. I worried what if the cord is wrapped around her neck and I'm not going into labor because my body's trying to protect her and things like that! So Hubby and I decided to go ahead and call the doctor. I did start to feel her a little more, still less and weaker, so we're not going to go in for a non-stress test, just going to keep waiting for our sweet girl.

**I still try to sleep on my left side as much as possible but have to turn sometimes :)

Family Room Makeover (and Littlest Update)

2011-01-10T16:26:00.007-05:00

As most of you know, we've been in the process of making over our family room for quite some time now :) Woowee it takes time! Our room was just confused. :) The layout was driving us crazy and we loved hearing all of your suggestions. We are pretty excited with the way it turned out!

ETA: Remember this is the first before and after from when we first moved in!!

We started by getting new furniture, we'd been looking for SO long and were so excited to find such a great deal. :)

Soooo, here is how it looks now! We still have some more little things to do, the decor on the mantel and on the new side tables (love :)) and maybe the wall art needs to be a little different but this was a good start. :)

What we did:

1. Removed the railing in between the family room and kitchen.

2. Built new mantel and put tv up (conclusion was this was the best spot for the tv, left the room the most open)

3. Rearranged furniture and decor.

4. New side tables (CSNStores.com), bigger lamps for side tables (crazy good deal at Hobby Lobby), new rug (great deal from CSNStores.com). We LOVED hearing your votes for the rug. It turned out that Hubby and I chose the one that the least of you chose, oops! :) The reason for our decision was: 1. This was the largest size of all of them and we needed a big one, and 2. We felt like this one was more a more classic design that would "go" better with the rest of the decor of the room and house. :)

5. Hubby replaced ceiling fan.

{the back left (and right) corner is pretty underutilized right now, lots of empty space... maybe a ladder shelf or something would look good if we moved the side table to the other side of the loveseat but then we wouldn't need the tall lamp, I don't know! :)}

New mantel!

{we designed it and just had the mantel itself a little larger so we could set the tv (and screw it down) on the mantel instead of mounting it (very expensive to do, especially into brick, and not as permanent)}

Reading corner by the fireplace :)

Hidden toy corner - we live and play in this room :)

We got some white wire cover/holders from Best Buy and Hubby rigged up the wires so they would be the most hidden they can be! :) You just cut them the length you need, stick them on the wall where you want them and then you can even paint them any color you want.

You know I am no designer so if you ever have suggestions, I always love to hear what you think! :)

Littlest Update

We had our almost 40 week appointment this morning. We are now 2 centimeters dilated and about 75% effaced, Littlest is at -2 station, and I'm pretty soft now. But especially since this is my third delivery, everything could happen pretty fast. There are some more details too but I don't want to anyone to be afraid of TMI ;) but I have no problem talking about it, after having a baby there is no such thing as TMI ;) and with fab friends who haven't had a baby yet but want to know, there's no TMI either ;-). And there are tons of things that you can do to help your body get ready for delivery, let me know if you want to hear about them :).

So here is the crazy updated prayer request :) : It is supposed to snow tomorrow! AND we think she could come tomorrow too (based on our discussion/happenings at today's appt)! There are a bunch of reasons tomorrow morning would be great, including the doctor in the hospital who delivered BabyBoy and Little will be there, and we would be able to make our drive up to the hospital before the snow begins and we won't have to worry about having to make the drive after there is inches of snow on the ground (other drivers, conditions, etc. eep!!). And of course for the health of Littlest!

Thank you thank you thank you! We can't wait to introduce you to her!!!! :) And I will be tweeting as many updates as I can ;) throughout labor and post delivery! :)

Lots of hugs and love, thank you for all of your love, prayers, and support you given us already!!! :)

39 Weeks!, Lil Update, and A Nursery Sneaky Peak

2011-01-06T15:09:00.001-05:00

Oh my goodness, friends and fam, how are you?? I've missed you all and getting caught up on your fun, cute, selves. I've been a liiiittle tired or not feeling 100%, BabyBoy was sick for a couple days, Little has had four molars that decided to all arrive in his little mouth at the same time, getting more things done before Littlest comes, and I've just needed to spend my energy and time with my fam. :)

On Wednesday the 5th we hit 39 weeks along with Littlest! We thought she might come earlier but she seems to be pretty comfy in there. :) On Tuesday I was 1 centimeter dilated and 75% effaced, not as progressed as I thought I might be, so we'll see!

Baby Bump: 37 1/2 Weeks

Baby Bump: 38 1/2 Weeks

I can't wait to show you the before pics of (Little's) nursery and the completed pics of Littlest's nursery. But here is a little sneaky peak... We put up chair rail and painted pink and ivory stripes on top, our first time with both of those projects! :)

{sorry for the quality, taken with my phone, better pics to come soon! :)}

We are so excited for baby girl to make her little big arrival, any day now!!! And I can't wait to see her little self with all my boys! She already has Daddy wrapped around her little finger. :)

and BabyBoy still comes over, unprompted, gives my belly a kiss and a hug and says, Hi Littlest :), and if we ask Little where the baby is, he comes over and tries to pull my shirt up to see my belly :) When we go to the store BabyBoy picks things up and says this would be great for Littlest ;).

I hope y'all had a great New Year's! I have so much to blog about - our kitchen before and after, family room before and after, fun pics of the babies, fun projects for Littlest's nursery, and so much more! Thank you so much for sticking with me even though I've been MIA! I appreciate all of you and you new followers/commenters too, I look forward to coming to see you soon! :)

Prayer Request: If you have a moment to toss up a prayer for us/me, we/I would appreciate it so much. :) The hospital where we are delivering is about 45 minutes away, NO traffic or hold ups. We are praying for no snow or wintery weather or crazy traffic when it's time. :) (I delivered Little less than an hour after we got the hospital - labored at home and an hour and a half in the car to 8 centimeters!). My goal is to deliver non-medicated again, enough said ;-). We're praying for the the right doctor to deliver us. We're probably not going to get the dr that delivered BabyBoy *and* Little, and there are some things that she knows about what my body does during delivery. And prayer that the boys do great while we're in the hospital, we are so blessed to have Hubby's former boss and his wife to watch the babies (and some great friends to take them right away if needed before they arrive). It's supposed to flurry/snow an inch or so tomorrow! I will not even describe how people drive when they see one snow flake fall from the sky ;-) Eep! :) But since she didn't come today, we're aiming for Saturday now ;-)

Our Holiday Card 2010 - Winter Wishes!! ;-)

2010-12-30T14:23:00.000-05:00

Winter Wishes friends and fam!! ;-) Ok, I feel like I need to explain our card! There was some twitter chatter about people wanting to say Merry Christmas not Happy Holidays, but wait... Winter Wishes!! haha

Let me explain!

We have wonderful family that doesn't celebrate Christmas, so we always go for the Happy Holidays card.

But this year, I had a hard time choosing the layout because of the pics I wanted to use (long story :)). So this layout... from "Winter Wishes!!" was the layout for us this year. I searched far and wide for a Happy Holidays version with this layout annnnnnd, I loved that this card had a "back" to it. So at least we were able to say a little something back there. I meant to add Many Blessings or something else too! But it was uber late and I was in the get it ordered phase, so I forgot :)

So now let us say to each other... "Winter Wishes!" "Winter Wishes!" to you and you and you. hahah.

and Happy New Year!! We're low key hanging out with friends, playing games, snacking on yummy treats I'm sure, and my Mom is SO incredibly sweet that she is staying over with the boys and Hubby and I are going to stay in a hotel for a little getaway!! And we'll be up near our hospital and hoping Littlest comes on Friday!!! :)

Happy New Year friends and fam!! I wish you so many blessings and an incredible 2011! Xoxoxo

What are we going to call Littlest?? :)

2010-12-22T15:40:00.002-05:00

What To Do When It Snows

2010-12-20T14:00:00.001-05:00

Stay cozy, cook, bake, eat, and relax with the fam!

I have to say, when it starts snowing, I get excited about the excuse to "have" to stay in, and cook and bake cozy comfort food :) and Hubby can't go anywhere for meetings ;-)

First up on this snow day was: A big pot of Chili! It's a recipe I grew up making with my Mom, it never comes out the same :) You just add until it looks and tastes good. And the longer it goes on the stove, the better all of the spices and flavors blend, and the better it tastes.

And cornbread from scratch! I use this recipe from allrecipes.com.

Then for dinner I made Artichoke and Tomato Pasta (and I added chicken) by Pioneer Woman. Oh my goodness, it was so yummy, and a big hit with all of the boys! I've made it a few times before, but this was the best it's turned out :)

And for dessert, chocolate chip cookies made with limited edition dark chocolate and mint morsels! I just use the recipe on the back of the semi sweet morsels bag :) Yummy!

{not the best pic, but yummy :) the second batch was a little less done, Hubby likes them a little crispier and I like them softer :)}

And of course get everybody all bundled up in lots of layers to play in the snow. Little is wearing BabyBoy's big coat from last year :) and BabyBoy got a hand me down coat.

Next time, I'm making a Chicken Pot Pie! What comfort foods do you love to make in the winter? And I love all of the ways to reinvent chili for leftovers! Chili mac, as a dip with chips... how else do you reinvent chili??

Giveaway Winner!

2010-12-17T11:14:00.001-05:00

Random.org chose #17... The winner of the $65 gift certificate to CSNStores.com giveaway is...

Melissa G.

Congratulations!!! Please e-mail me at naturallycaffeinatedfamily {at} gmail {dot} com to receive your prize!

Baby Bump: 35 Weeks! and Confessions of a Big Bump

2010-12-14T15:43:00.004-05:00

Thank you so much for your comments on my last post, I love hearing from you and appreciate it so much!!! And don't forget to enter my giveaway, it ends tomorrow!! :)

Baby Bump: 35 Weeks!

We were 35 weeks last Wednesday! Baby girl has been rockin' a wonderful heartbeat around the low 140s; she is just chillaxin' in her big hot tub :)

And now... Confessions of a Big Belly...

1. I can barely cross my legs anymore to sit like a lady. I have to shimmy around in my seat and throw my leg up to barely cross it ;) so ladylike :)

2. In the rare instance lately that I wear socks (with my tennies), I have to put them on like an old man, crossing my ankle up on my other leg. I look so dainty.

3. Bending to reach something is a (hard to come by) privilege at this point, not a right. ;-)

4. Littlest is such an active little girl (I think she's trying to keep up with her big brothers already :)), if my arm or something is resting near my belly, she'll kick or stretch, and move the object, with great force sometimes too! It makes me laugh. :)

5. If you thought I had little food-will-power before, forget it now. I hungry, I eat. And my sweet tooth is out of control. Like they will soon not be around anymore. (This could be an indicator in my massive weight gain... oops) I'll do better after she makes her grand little entrance! :)

Both boys came over at different points while Hubby was taking pics of me and Littlest and wanted to give her a kiss or a hug! It was so sweet! :)

I wonder if Littlest will get in on the wrestling matches too :) Notice Little's new big cheese smile, hahaha, love their smiles :)

I am so thankful and beyond blessed. I haven't been feeling very well lately, lil yucky, pretty tired, hellllllooo reflux, alive and well gag reflex, but I have felt better yesterday and today, and couldn't ask for anything different, annnd she will be here so soon!! We cannot WAIT to meet her and introduce her to the fam!!!

ETA: I ordered her crib bedding today!!! I can't wait to get her room all done up!! I'll show you which one after her room is complete!! :)

We made it! and Littlest's Nursery... Help!

2010-12-09T22:14:00.013-05:00

We're home from our trip to Arizona!

Annnd as I tweeted after we landed last night, I didn't have a baby on the plane!!! :) I am so eager to have our next appointment, which I just got moved up to tomorrow (Friday) to see what the latest is! I was "a finger" dilated and 50% effaced a week and a half ago before we left for Arizona and I definitely had my share of contractions while we were out there and today. :) We were so glad to see my family. And we can't wait for them to come visit after Littlest is born, hint hint hint ;-)

ETA: Annnnd I had such a fun bloggy meetup! More to come! :)

Ok, now Littlest's nursery!! I first posted an idea for Littlest's nursery here. I am so thankful for all of your comments on it! I'm second guessing myself now (welcome to my head ;-)). And to be honest, blogging/twittering makes me nervous and feel like if I don't pick the right one, I'll be looked at like I don't have style and y'all won't like me. (hellooo insecurities, I've told you I have 'em ;))

So my goal is: fun, sweet, girly, and classic.

1. 2.

3. 4.

5. 6.

For 7 and 8, I would want to combine them. - Essentially 7 with pink ruffle on the bumper and inside bummer either all pink minky or more like 8, and either pink or ivory sheet, and a gathered bedskirt.

7. 8.

Or pink bedding with splashes of color accents on the wall and in accessories...

Ready, set, help!! :) I* really need to order her sweet bedding aaaaasap :) I would love to hear from you!!! What do you think? Or have you seen anything that fits my criteria?? And you know I like honesty girls. I appreciate it! You know when you've been looking at something for a long time, everything starts looking the same or funny! I need outside opinions :)

*I say "I" in all of this, having already talked, shown, discussed all options with Hubby, we've both made our top choices (which are the same :)), and I've made him look at tons of things so he knows everything that's out there, hahah, but he has ok'd all my options and is leaving the final decision for her room up to me :). and I want to love it because we'll be in there a lot ;)

Giveaway and Review!! (and recipe :))

2010-12-07T12:24:00.001-05:00

I've had the fabulous opportunity to do another review and giveaway with CSNStores.com!!

They seriously are so wonderful to work with! I know I've said it before but they have stores for everything! You want a stool, a ping pong table, a toy, furniture, cookware, they have a store for it all. They are easy to navigate and have sales, promos, and free shipping on tons of items. That's where we just got our new family room rug (for a great deal)! Pics to come when the room is a little more complete! :)

I was so excited to review more Le Creuset!! I've been wanting a great sized stock pot to make soups and other yummy fally, wintery foods in, so I was so excited to choose the Le Creuset 6-Quart Stock Pot in Kiwi, a condiment ladle and cooling pads in Kiwi, to go with it! (I'd love to get the one size larger stock pot at some point too, I make huuuge pots of chili ;-)).

And what was the first thing I made?? Baked Potato Soup that my friend Whitney posted about (I've made it before and it is yuuuummy)!!

My Review

The Le Creuset stock pot is great. When I cooked the turkey bacon, there is so little fat in it, that it left some burn marks on the bottom of the pot, I was so afraid they wouldn't come out, but they did! It cooks and cleans so easily. The ladle seems like it could be a little sturdier, and I would probably get the bigger hot pads too (I was just looking at cost) but I really enjoy using all of the products and like how they handle! And CSN is great. I love that they don't charge tax, tell you how quickly your items will ship before you buy, and everything is packaged really well.

Your Chance To Win! Giveaway Time!

You have the chance to win a $65 gift certificate to CSNStores.com!! To use on anything you want!!

All you have to do is leave a comment telling me what you might use your free moneys on! Giveaway ends next week on Wednesday December 15th at 10 pm EST!! Good luck! :)

Recipe :)

Paula Dean's Baked Potato Soup
Ingredients:
8 slices Naturally Hickory Smoked Bacon (I used turkey bacon :))
1 onion, diced
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
5 potatoes, baked, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes (oops I didn't use this either)
2 cups half & half (I used one whole milk and one half and half, my attempt at saving a few cals, hah)
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup sour cream
Salt & pepper to taste

Steps:
In a Dutch oven cook bacon until crisp; remove and crumble, reserve drippings. Cook onion in bacon drippings until tender; stir in flour and cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add chicken broth; cook, stirring constantly until thickened and bubbly. Put in the diced potatoes, parsley, bacon and half & half; cook for 10 minutes. Stir in cheese and sour cream.

*CSNStores.com provided me with a $65 gift certificate to their sites for my review and is providing the giveaway prize as well. My opinions are completely my own.

Baby Bump: 32 Weeks!! and Confessions of a 32 Wk Preggy

2010-11-23T12:54:00.002-05:00

We were 32 weeks last Wednesday!! Time is flying! Baby girl is so active, she is flipping and kicking and jumping around almost all the time, there is quite a show to see :) I'm feeling good, pretty tired, but beyond blessed. :)

And now... Confessions of a 32 Week Preggy

1. I have been craving sweets again like crazy. I was *this close* to having a Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard for dinner the other night! :)

2. For a couple weeks I was waking up every couple days around 2/2:30 am and would munch on some super yummy Ghirardelli or Godiva chocolates* or Cheez Its ;) All are gone now, so we don't have to worry about that anymore, oops :)

3. It is hard to feel sexy when you have to heave ho yourself off a couch orrrr any sitting apparatus. ;)

4. I kept pulling a muscle in my gluteous very maximus almost every day. I am not in as good of shape this time, eeks :) (it has been better this past week ;))

5. Sometimes I have to ask Hubby to take my boots (and skinny jeans) off, while lying down on my side. It's a pretty sight.

6. I have a slight (or not so slight ;)) waddle. Sometimes I try to compensate for it, really, looking goofier than just the waddle alone. Picture an, attempted, sexy walk, with a waddle.

7. Bending over: completely overrated. I think I can, and then, nope, the belly is in the way. ;) Even more now that she's dropped a little. :) I have actually pulled a muscle in my tummy from trying to bend over to reach something when I thought I could. ahh :)

8. I've been feeling a little of the 1st trimester again! Smells and foods are making me nauseous, there has been dry heaving due to teeth brushing or even (daintily of course ;)) blowing my nose in the morning! But the one thing that always sounds good?? Sweets! :)

And just because, the big brothers! Oh sweet loves!! :)

Love and hugs!! and Happy Thanksgiving!! Update below on me and our trip to Arizona after Thanksgiving!!! Yay and yikes! :)

Update on our appointment last week! Since I'd been having some pretty intense Braxton Hicks contractions a couple days before our appointment, the doctor decided to "check" me and see if there was anything going on... annnnnd announced I was "a finger" dilated and 50% effaced! Ahhh! :) For those who don't know, we're traveling (after confirming w/ our doctors) to Arizona to visit my family and be there to support them after finding out some news about some health things going on with one of our dear family. We'll be flying back when I'm 35 weeks. Eeks! First, because of the findings, the doc we were seeing said, don't go, I almost cried right there, but 1st priority is what's best for baby girl! Then he said, I think everything should be ok, and by the end of the appointment he said, I think it will be fine. If he really felt like I shouldn't go he would have said for sure don't go. We do have insurance for our flights and as long as I feel good this week and take it easy while we're out there, we're still going to go. And I will not, I repeat will not, have baby girl on the plane! Do not even joke!! ;-) It's just been a little tough because we've been debating going since before *and* after we booked the tickets, but we want to be there for my family (and since Hubby has his meetings in CA, we always try to make our trip to AZ coincide because his ticket/etc. is paid for). We would appreciate any prayers you can throw out that I don't progress any more now or while we're out of town, and everything goes so smoothly! Thank you!! :-)

and in case you missed it: Ideas for Littlest's Nursery! :)