yes, i'm a goober....

But I am so freakin' excited right now!! I just bought my 'Twilight' movie ticket for the opening night at 12:01 baby!!! Now I will celebrate by posting all 6, yes 6, tv trailers for your (or my!) viewing pleasure!!!













FYI - Some of them start off the same, but there are different scenes in them!!
3 weeks left YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

sure mccain is not the next bush....

Sense the sarcasm in the post title!!!

yes we can....

new twilight trailer....

Omigod!! I'm so excited that I think I'm gonna pee my pants!!!

audreyisms....

#1 - Audrey is now showing her Obama pride by giving fist bumps. These are just as important (or even moreso) than high fives to my little Audgie from the block! If she does something that she's proud of she'll yell, "I did it!" and then she comes up to you with her tiny fist in front of her and says, "Me dab!" (interpretation = "give me a dab"). Needless to say, daddy is proud!

#2 - I think Audrey has been watching a little too much 'Cinderella' (is twice a day everyday too much?!) because now she has taken to calling me "mudder" (or mother to those of us who can speak properly). For those of you who are not lucky enough to watch 'Cinderella' on a regular basis (sense the sarcasm folks!), Cinderella refers to her evil step mother as, well, step mother. So randomly now Audrey will come up to me and ask, "You okay mudder?". I've even been called mudder-mama before. Oh well, as long as she doesn't start adding step in there too, I guess I'll live...

pronunciation by audrey....

1. munch - the meal between breakfast and dinner.

2. kurkey - a commonly used deli meat; also the official bird of Thanksgiving.

3. nilk - the white liquid that comes from a cow.

4. Ebef - her middle name, Elizabeth.

5. bafroom - the big white porcelain thing you fill with water and get clean in.

mercy....

ooh, can't wait!!

Less than two months left!!

bad ass....

now i lay me down to sleep...

Just recently we've started saying night time (and nap time) prayers with Audrey when we put her down. The night time ones are becoming quite special as Bryan and I stand outside Audrey's crib, fold our hands and bow our heads while Audrey lays in her crib with her little hands folded as well. Bryan then recites a prayer that his mom used to say with him when he was little. Now when I go to put Audrey down for naps she asks for me to pray, so I do my best to pray like daddy. Anyways, I don't know where this post came from, but I just wanted to let you in on one of our most special times of the day.

oh the funny things they do and say!!

So as anyone who is or has been the parent of a toddler knows full well, life is never boring with the little ones around! And I swear they are comedic without even trying. Here are a couple of "haha" stories courtesy of Audrey.

On Saturday Bryan was watching Audrey while I was at a women's meeting at church. I guess that they were hanging out in our room. Bryan was laying on the bed reading and Audrey was playing on the floor in front of our mirrored closet. Bryan looks over and sees that Audrey has taken her shirt off and is attempting to put on one of my bras that she found. Sorry Sweet Pea, it's going to take MANY more years until you can fill that bad boy out!

And, on Sunday morning Audrey witnessed her first spider killing courtesy of Uncle Andy. We were hanging out in the church nursery during Sunday School and Audrey was sitting on the steps of the little toddler slide that they have in there, well Sara and I look over at the same time and see a big brown spider right next to Audrey's feet (Audrey at this point was oblivious). Sara bravely reaches in and lifts Audrey to safety (during this time Audrey noticed the spider and since we were freaking out, I think she got a bit scared). Uncle Andy came to the rescue and stomped on that bad spider and found a paper towel and got rid of it. Well, this morning (two days later) I was getting Audrey dressed in her room when she spots the teeniest spider ever run across the floor (isn't it interesting how kids always spot the smallest things?!) and as soon as I put her shoes on her she runs to where the spider was, lifts up her foot and says, "I touch it's back mommy?!". I burst out laughing and in the moment that Audrey was distracted the spider got away.

Potty Training

Well, my baby is growing up. She's 2 years old now, well actually 26 1/2 months to be exact. And we've started the oh so fun endeavor of potty training. This is extremely bittersweet for me. While it will be awesome to not have to change Audrey's diapers anymore, I can feel Audrey's "babyness" (yes, I know that's not a real word) slipping away. Once the potty training is done the only sign of her being a baby that will be left is her crib (and I do not plan on changing that until a new baby needs it or she starts climbing out of it, whichever comes first).

Onto the fun tales of potty training. Audrey first went in the potty a little over a month ago. I've been thinking about starting her training process for a LONG time and I've been struggling with when the right time/age would be. (As any parent knows, it's hard to not compare your child with others that are the same age, so when you see a kid that is doing something, like using the potty, before your child it's hard not to feel like you're failing in some way.) After getting over my own pride and just deciding to take my cues from the princess herself, I asked her if she wanted to try and the first time out she peed and pooped in the potty!! As a side note, I've had her potty chair in the bathroom for like 6 months now (at least) and she has known what it is and has even sat on it (clothed) for that whole time.

She has now gone potty 28 times (according to her star chart)!! We're slowly, but surely working our way to big girl panties. I've just got to remember not to get ahead of myself or push Audrey too hard. She has gotten to the point where she will ask me to use the potty sometimes. I still ask her sometimes if she wants to use the potty and there are times when she wants to and times when she doesn't. Something I also have to remember is that what works for one child might not work for another. My sister in law just recently went through potty training with her son and one thing that worked for them was putting the potty in the living room for him to use at his convenience. Well, Audrey peed in the potty within 2 minutes the first time I did that, but later that same day when we tried again I was greeted with a big "log" right NEXT to the potty on my rug!! So I ended that for awhile. We tried again yesterday and she did pee at first in the potty, but I'm just not confident enough to let her rum around in the nude yet!!

Something that's been working for us is her star chart. I have it pinned to the bathroom wall at her eye level. This chart came with her potty book, it has four rows of ten spaces each for stars, at the end of each row there's a spot for a teddy bear sticker (all of the stickers came with the chart). Every time she uses the potty (at home or elsewhere) she gets a start on the chart and one for her shirt. Each time she gets a teddy bear sticker we also go to the dollar store for a "surprise"! Right now she has 28 stars on her chart. After we are through with this chart I'm going to make one of my own, but I might change it up a bit. Also, right now she is still 100% in diapers. After she's done with this chart I'm going to start introducing the pull ups (she actually already knows what they are and is fascinated with them). To start out with she will get to wear a pull up anytime she uses the potty, but if she wets or messes herself she'll just wear a diaper. We'll see if that works. Yesterday I decided to try her in panties at home and that lasted all of five minutes! She had just used he potty and I put her panties on and within minutes she came to me semi-freaking out because she had wet herself. It wasn't even that much, but she definitely was not used to the sensation that wet panties have! My goal at this point is to hopefully have her daytime trained by October. If that happens then GREAT, if not then I'll know she just wasn't ready. As long as she's trained by the time the next one comes I'll be ecstatic!!

Anyways, I guess that's about it for now. If you actually read through this, BLESS YOU!!

Silly Audrey!!!

Yesterday Audrey and I just stayed home most of the day. She had lots of fun destroying, I mean playing, in the living room and watching some tv. I was on the computer and I turned around and saw this:



She was just COMPLETELY enthralled in her cartoons while her 'Mrs. Potato Head' glasses were stuck on her face. I sat there for a minute watching her and laughing to myself when I thought to get the camera and take a picture. I literally had to get in the cabinet to get the camera case out, take the camera out of the case, put the battery (which was charging) back into the camera, take the lens off and turn the camera on before I could get to her. And she was STILL in the same exact position!! Silly girl!!

Here's a close up:

My Couponing Start

I am so super super proud of my self right now. I'm actually quite amused that I'm so happy (as in smiling from ear to ear happy) about my first real couponing trip. A few months back I started clipping coupons. I've used a few of them here and there, but hadn't really gotten into it like I had wanted/hoped to. I have quite a few coupons that I've divided into categories using small photo albums. Unfortunately I've had to throw a lot of them away due to procrastination (on my part) and expiration (on the coupons part). Until today I'd also only bought 2 or 3 newspapers to clip from. So, basically, I haven't jumped on the whole coupon horse fully.

This is something that I'm going to make a point of getting good at over the summer. I've seen pictures on couponing websites of people's "stockpiles" and honestly I'm in complete awe over them. And these aren't stockpiles that cost a fortune either. These people are serious couponers and get incredibly great deals on the items that they are buying. I would absolutely love to be able to help myself and my family with learning the ins and outs of couponing and actually putting them into practice!! And trust me, this is no easy task. It sounds easy enough, clip a few coupons and save some money. But this is not the case. What I'm talking about is researching, saving coupons, finding store deals and combining them with coupons. It's harder than it sounds. But after tonight I've realized that it is so fulfilling in the end!! And I also want to add that for some hardcore couponers out there I actually spent too much on my stuff!! That's how good they are!

Anyways, let's get to my first couponing expedition. On my way home from church today I decided to go ahead and get the Sunday paper and clip the coupons out of it (this is something that I haven't done in at least 6 weeks or so). So I did that and started off by looking through the weekly store ads. The one that caught my the most was the Walgreens ad. They have a lot of great specials all of the time. I found the Walgreens specials/coupons that interested me the most and jotted them down. On top off the specials there was a '$3 off of a $10 purchase' coupon in there good only at the Walgreens by my house since they just moved into a new building!! Jackpot! Anyways here is how my trip breaks down:

~2 Sunlight Dish Soap (reg. $1.79 each) - B1G1F coupon - total $1.79
~6 Jello packets (reg. $.89 each or 5/$4) - $.39 each coupon limit 6 - total $2.34
~2 Lady Speed Stick Deodorants (reg. $2.99 each) - $.99 each coupon limit 3 PLUS $.75 off 2 coupon - total $1.23
~2 Morton Salt (reg. $.89 each) - 2/$1 coupon - total $1
~4 cans Butterball Chicken Broth (on sale for $.99 each) - 4/$2 coupon - total $2
~6 packs 2 sheet Hallmark Gift Wrap (reg. $.69 each or 2/$1) - 3/$1 coupon - total $2
~$3 off of a $10 purchase coupon

My total savings with all of my specials and coupons was $12.78!!
I paid (out of pocket) a total of $7.43 for all of that stuff!!!

Here's a picture of all of my loot!!



YAY! GO ME! Do you see why I'm so happy right now?! I think I did pretty darn good for my first couponing trip!! May this be the first of many to come!

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Next President!!

Gotta love some Barack!!

My Little Amel DeMarcos

Last week my little princess turned two years old. I can't believe that this past year came and went so quick. We had her birthday party last Saturday (I'll be posting a blog about that soon), and let me tell you, that girl made out in the gift department!! She got 4 dvds, books, a potty cake (basically a diaper cake that's geared toward potty training), a pile of clothes, a swimsuit, a hat, a cover up, sunglasses, lots of toys, and 5 (yes 5) pairs of shoes. This girl is SOOO spoiled, er I mean blessed. Here's a pic of all of her shoes:

We got her the pink Converse (I've been eying them for quite awhile). And you can't tell in the picture, but the Disney Princess sandals light up when she walks, and the peep toed shoes with the pink bows are actually wedges (yes wedges for a two year old) and they are super cute!! I swear my daughter is the next Amel DeMarcos!! This child LOVES her some shoes. She is constantly putting on different pairs of shoes just to wear around the house, even when she's only wearing pajamas! At Christmas we were at my parents and everyone took off their shoes and put them inside the front door, what did Audrey do for half an hour? If you guessed put on, walked around in and then took off EVERY pair of shoes, then you hit the nail on the head. My current count of her shoes is at least 13 pair (and these are just the ones that fit her, not the oodles of pairs that she's already grown out of!). Lord help her Daddy as she ages and wants to pay more than $10 for a pair of shoes!!!

Shepherd's Pie

Today I made a Shepherd's Pie for myself and Audrey (Bryan won't eat this!). I've actually never eaten a Shepherd's Pie before, but it looked really simple and yummy. I know that there are a LOT of variations of Shepherd's Pie out there. Some people don't use any meat, some use tomato sauce, etc. So I just made up a version that sounded the best to me. Now, unfortunately when I cook I don't use a lot of exact measurements. I tend to eyeball and decrease and increase ingredients as it looks appealing to me, but you'll get the general idea here.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown some ground beef (about two nice sized patties worth) with a bit of chopped onion and season as you prefer (I used garlic powder, salt and black pepper).



Make a large batch of mashed potatoes (or use leftovers if you have them).

Drain ground beef and mix with one bag of frozen mixed veggies.



Pour beef and veggie mixture evenly into a greased casserole dish (I just use stick butter to grease the dish).

Layer mashed potatoes on top of the beef/veggie mixture.

Sprinkle a thick layer of shredded cheese (I used Colby Jack) on top of potatoes.



Pour approximately a 1/2 cup of milk over the cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 35-40 minutes (cheese will start to brown).



Serve and Enjoy!!

Unfortunately, I didn't serve it up very prettily, so I don't have a picture with all of the layers, but you get the idea!!

Chicken Pot Pie

On Friday, I FINALLY made my first ever chicken pot pie! I was so nervous making it, the fear that it would come out and taste horrendous was probably what kept me from making it for so long. The recipe (click on link to go to the recipe) I used is one that my sister in law D came up with. I've only had her pot pie once (at a family dinner back in September), but I remember that it was AWESOME! About a month later she put the recipe up on her blog, so I've been toying with the idea of making it for the last, ummmm, 3plus months. Let me tell you that it was super easy to make and it came out so, so, so yummy!! No more frozen pot pies for me! I did stray from one part of the recipe a bit, instead of using 3/4 cup Monterrey Jack cheese in it, I used a little less than 1/2 cup of Colby Jack (I didn't have the right kind of cheese and I figured that Colby Jack has a bit of a bolder flavor so I used less of it). And let me tell you also, this recipe makes a LOT of pot pie. It's just myself and my 22 month old daughter eating it (hubby is a way picky eater and said that it looked gross), so we've been eating it all weekend and as of right now, I still have enough for about two helpings. Oh, and it tastes yummy reheated (I just stick a slice in the microwave for about a minute and a half).

And as a 'by the way', the picture above is not mine, it's my sister in law's. I was taking pictures as I made it and completely forgot to take one of the finished product!!

Thanks for the recipe D!!!

'Friends' Clip Friday

A Productive Morning

This morning has been going pretty darn well so far! Audrey woke up earlier than I wanted her too. At about 7:30am I finally went in to get her out of bed. In actuality it worked out well because I need to start getting up earlier. I find that I'm much more productive in the morning than I am later in the day and into the evening. So this morning I've had computer time; gotten Audrey and myself breakfast; unloaded the dishwasher (I put my handwashed dishes in there to dry); washed the breakfast dishes; made the bed; washed, dried and put away a load of laundry; done my swish & swipe in the bathroom; organized three cabinets in the kitchen; cleaned up Audrey's room (although it's probably a wreck again); wiped down the counter in the kitchen (along with a handful of other things and not in any particular order). So far, I'm feeling VERY good today! Later on I have to go donate plasma, but besides that I plan to be at home utilizing my time here, that way, later in the day, I can spend my time relaxing with my family!!

Things I Love Thursdays...

A tall glass of sweet iced tea! Aaahhh! I can taste it now. I grew up in a family of of iced tea drinkers, although most of them favor the unsweetened version (blech!), so I don't know why I'm so obsessed with sweet tea. I actually don't drink it all that often because of the calories. Right now, being on the not so lovely diet, I'm restricting myself to drinks with no calories, so I've been substituting the sugar with sweetener, which tastes okay, but it is definitely NOT the same. Also, I'm not too into flavored teas. I like Snapple's Peach Tea and Sweet Leaf's Rasberry Tea, but that's about it. And I do not put lemon in my tea, I just have it in the picture because it makes the glass prettier!!

The Natural Cleaning Switchover

Yesterday I took my first step in switching over my cleaning supplies to natural products. Clorox has a new line of natural cleaners called 'Green Works', so I bought the all purpose cleaner. I used it for this first time this morning in my daily bathroom cleaning and the first thing I noticed is the lack of fumes. It has a very light lemony scent to it, nothing harsh at all, which I'm already loving. Now I can clean my bathroom without feeling like I'm filling my lungs up with toxic fumes!! YAY!

As I said in my previous post on this matter, I'm planning on slowly phasing out all of my "normal" toxic cleaners in favor of more environmental and people friendly ones. This is not something I plan to do over night as I still have some pretty full bottles of cleaners in my cabinet, but I hope that within the next several months I will not have those yucky things around anymore!!

I LOVE Anthropologie!!! - Part Deaux

This post has a few of the kids items that I think are adorable!

Like this oh-so-cute dollhouse! I don't know what it looks like opened up, but I bet it's uber cute!


This little strawberry hat would be adorable on any baby girl.

And what about this darling dress?! Don't you think Audrey would be cute as a bug in it?!

I LOVE Anthropologie!!! - Part Uno

This is my absolute FAVORITE store EVER!! Come to think of it, I've never actually set foot into the store, so I guess it's my favorite catalog/website! They have it all: clothing, accessories, dishes, furniture, bedding, etc. It all seems very vintage and kitschy inspired, which is right down my alley. I was just browsing the website and I kept finding myself saying, "I would love to have that!", over and over again. So, why not do a series of posts on some of my favorite things?! Sounds like a blast to me!!

I guess I'll start in the kitchen, as that's the first section I go to on the website, each and every time!


I love anything that is a butter yellow color. It's honestly just a very milky and delicious color to me. Could I interest you in a glass of freshly squeezed o.j. served out of this pitcher? With pulp, of course.


And if you're going to serve fresh squeezed juices, you definitely need this icy blue juicer, right?!


Here's another gorgeous butter yellow piece. A colander. If I was draining pasta in this baby, I would be smiling!!

And how great are these glasses?! Fun and educational at the same time!! ;D

And how about this oh-so-cute sugar bowl? A little bird perched atop a grapefruit, in my opinion it's very tweet!! *Did you get my little play on words there?! It's a bird, so it's tweet, and since it's a sugar bowl, it's sweet! Sorry it's late and I'm tired, so the cheese factor is very high right now. I can't be responsible for the words that I type.*

Oh, how I would love a cold glass of iced tea served in this goblet on a hot, Texas day!!


And everyone should have some well placed honey bears in there kitchen, so why not have these salt & pepper cuties?! Fun for the whole family!

Okay, so I have other pictures that I wanted to show you in the "kitchen" category, but if I put them ALL up, you'd be here for quite awhile. So, just go now and check out the Anthropologie site for yourself and if you see something that I might like (which is practically anything) don't feel guilty about buying a little something for me!!

Oh yes, and I have to give kudos where kudos are deserved, thank you to my WONDERFUL sister in law, D, for turning me on to the magic that is Anthropologie!!

A New Goal...

After hearing a lot about the topic and reading articles about the topic, such as this one. I'm really serious about phasing out my normal household cleaners in favor of the natural stuff. Really, there is no reason to not be able to make this transition. There are SO many all natural products on the market now and they really aren't much (if at all) more expensive than the "normal" products. Maybe it's because I have a toddler and we are planning on expanding our family in the not to distant future, but the effects that these harmful cleaners (now there's any oxymoron) can have on babies, toddlers and unborn children is not worth the couple of dollars that I might save. So, over the next couple of months I'm planning on completely phasing out the harmful stuff in favor of having the natural stuff around. Now does anyone have any good, natural cleaners that they love to use?

'Friends' Clip Friday

Things I Love Thursdays...

These new Nabisco 100 Calorie Oreo Candy Bites are awesome!!!
They taste just like the real thing (actually I think they're better), and it's just 100 calories per pack. And you get a nice handful in each pack. Perfect for those sweet cravings, yet completely figure friendly. They have been tested in my house by myself, my daughter and my husband. Everyone loves them (hubby says they're better than regular Oreos too)!
I can't wait to try the 'Chips Ahoy' ones next week.

Pink Cupcakes

How cute are these? I'm thinking of making them for Audrey's birthday party in April. So girly!!!

Works For Me Wednesday

This is actually my first Works For Me Wednesday post. Hopefully it's decent!!

What works for me is using empty wipee boxes as storage boxes. Having a 21 month old we go through LOTS of wipees and I haven't been one of those economic people who just buy the refills. I actually buy the tubs of wipes. I started saving them, being the packrat that I am, knowing that I would eventually have a use for them. And then it struck me as I was weeding through my two "craft" drawers. I could use these boxes to organize all of my craft stuff. They work great! I now have an armoire half full of wipe boxes. And they have moved over to cabinet storage for pens, markers, chargers, coupons, etc. and now even to storing some of my daughter's smaller toys.

I use the Huggies brand of wipes for two reasons.
1. I like the actual wipe the best. They are thicker than other brands.
2. The boxes come in many pretty colors and the sticker on the front of the box is actually stuck on the plastic wrapping around the box. So when I take off the plastic to open the box there are no stickers to peel off, perfect for writing the contents of the box on the front with permanent marker.

Organization 101 - 10 Easy Ways To Get Organized

1. Hang up your keys. (Preferably by the door.)
   
   
2. Find a place for your purse, coat, gloves and other frequently used items and always keep them there.
   
   
3. Make your bed each day as soon as you crawl out of it.
   
   
4. Get dressed. Even if you are a stay at home mom or a mom who works from home, get dressed. Clothes really do make the man or woman. You'll be just as productive as you are dressed which means if you are dressed for sleep (pajamas, sweats or a robe) then you will get about as much work done as you would when you are sleeping. That may be stretching it, but you get my point.
   
   
5. Wash the dishes and wipe the counters after each meal. No matter how large or small the meal or how tired and in a hurry you are, do the dishes. Even if you are hurried or late in the morning you wouldn't dream of leaving the house half dressed. Make leaving your kitchen clean as important a priority as getting dressed for work. This may seem impossible at first but once you are on top of things it should only take five or ten minutes to clean your kitchen.
   
   
6. Get rid of trash. About 50% of what unorganized people have in their homes is trash or stuff they will never use again. Stop wasting time taking care of it, moving it or stepping over it. As you walk through the house, pick up garbage and toss it.
   
   
7. Control your laundry. Don't let it control you. Follow these simple steps to help keep your laundry from taking over your home and you.
   
   
1. Place a hamper or basket for dirty clothes in each bedroom and/or bath. Make sure that everyone's dirty clothes are put in the hamper before bed and in the morning.
   
   
2. The laundry isn't done until it is put away. Get out of the mind set that if it is washed and dried it is done. Folding and putting it away is equally as important.
   
   Some of us think that if we get the laundry washed and dried that's all we need to do and it's okay for the family to just pull stuff out of a pile. That makes as much sense as cooking a meal and expecting everyone to stand at the stove and take turns scooping the food out of the pan and eating it one spoonful at a time. You wouldn't dream of doing that. Yes the food is cooked, but the meal is not complete until the table is set and the food is put on plates. Do the same for your laundry. Put it away.
3. 
   
8. Pick up continually. This may seem like a pain to do at first but if you stick with it, it will become a habit. I didn't realize how much of a habit it had become for me until I was visiting my daughter's the other day (Hey! That's me! ;-) -Tawra). As I was walking into the kitchen, I picked up empty glasses and odds and ends on my way. Then when I walked from the kitchen to the bedroom I picked up toys as I went in there. It wasn't even my house but I had seen something out of place and out of habit picked it up.
   
   Every sock or glass that you walk past is a spore waiting to flourish into a vortex of debris. Catch it while it is small!
   
   
9. Read and dispose of newspapers and magazines. There are usually two reasons people have stacks of newspapers and magazines piled around:
   
   
   1. They want to save an article in it. If that is the case then cut the article out as you are reading the magazine and file it. Trust me, you not only won't cut that article out at a later time, but you probably won't remember what or where it is.
      
      
   2. They don't have time to read them. If you aren't going to read them the why are you subscribing to them? Stop your subscriptions. This doesn't have to be an all or nothing thing. If you can't keep up with the daily newspaper then just get the Sunday paper. Most people usually have more leisure time Sunday to read it. Pick out one or two of your favorite magazines and stop subscribing to the rest.
   
   
   
10. With any item, if it is broken or you don't use it anymore get rid of it. That includes clothes, toys, furniture, decorations, dishes and exercise equipment ;-). If it's not important enough to fix right now, you don't need it!

Article from : Living On A Dime

Organization 101

I've been thinking about the whole organizational topic for awhile now. I am definitely NO WHERE NEAR as organized as I'd like to be. Or for that matter, need to be. I often find myself getting overwhelmed when I start to think about routines, schedules, weeding through junk, cleaning, etc. Not necessarily because I can't do these things, I know that I can (and I can be pretty darn good at it, if I may say so), but the overwhelming feeling comes from not knowing where to start. Or from seeing a starting point, but also seeing the mountain that needs to be climbed after that initial starting point.

I know that I need to do something about becoming more organized in my life. When I do follow some sort of routine, or when my house is cleaner I just feel better. Both about myself (that I'm actually doing it) and I feel less stressed. Now I know that some people might read this and say, why on earth would a homemaker get stressed? Don't you stay home all day, everyday? And to you I would say that trying to keep a household running in tip top shape can be stressful at times. And add to that the fact that I do have a part-time job, plus we are down to one vehicle at the moment. Anyways, enough with that rabbit trail. Another thought that kind of freaks me out, is that now that Audrey is approaching 2 years old we're talking more and more about starting to expand our family, and the thought of having to do all that I do (without the organization) while having a toddler and an infant scares the living daylights out of me!!

I didn't want to do this as a "New Year's Resolution", because I feel like that would be setting myself up for a quick failure. I never seem to thrive when it comes to making resolutions at the beginning of a year. Also, I know that one of my other problems is my 'all or nothing' mentality(I suffer from this in several areas of my life). I think a lot about what the end product should be and I try to do that from day one, thus setting myself up to completely burn out and get totally unmotivated for awhile until the memory of my failure has been erased from my brain.

So, I'm going to come up with a plan to slowly, but surely get myself organized. I figure since I'm on a roll with my whole new eating plan, I might as well put some of that determination into another area of my life. One of the first ways that I am going to do this is by following Crystal from Biblical Womanhood's lead. In December she did a series for a couple of weeks called Making Your Home a Haven. Now she is keeping up with this by doing a Making Your Home a Haven post every Monday. So starting next Monday I'm going to join in on the fun!!

I'm also going to sit down (tonight or tomorrow) and think long and hard about what I would like to accomplish in this arena. And then actually plan out the steps that I need to take to fulfill this desire. Wish me luck and look for more posts on this topic coming soon.

No Soda - An Update

So, I'd thought I'd give an update on my "no soda drinking" excursion to my faithful readers (Bryan, D and Mom, that's you!).
Since December 20th the only regular soda that I've had was one small glass of Sprite at a friend's graduation party a few weekends back. Besides that it's been tea sweetened with artificial sweetener, diet coke (and only a few of these) and water.
I'm very happy that I've actually started to nip this habit in the bud. It's something that I've really struggled with since my early teen years. I'm a soda-holic!!
I've definitely noticed a major difference in my stomach size since I quit drinking regular sodas and limited consumption of diet sodas. All the carbonation was making me, well, bloated. And that is just no fun!

I'll update again, probably next month, and let you know how the trek is going.
Peace!

Long List of To-Do's....

Today is going to be a LONG of cleaning for me. This week was my first back to work since the holiday break, so Audrey and I have been thrown off kilter. Yesterday Audrey was SO fussy and wouldn't nap, and then she was fussy again last night. She also had a small bout of throw up. So, needless to say mommy has been off with keeping up with the house. So, since we're home all day today (and since I have a BUSY weekend ahead of me), today I'm playing catch up. Audrey actually hasn't even been out of bed today. She was awake playing in her crib for awhile this morning, but then she fell back asleep and is still asleep at 11:14am!! Poor baby, this is SO not like her, so I know she's in need of the extra rest.

What I've Done:
1. Laundry-
~I've completed several loads, now I have one load to fold, one load in the dryer and one load in the washer.
2. Unloaded dishwasher, reloaded and turned on.
3. Rinsed the left over dishes (to be loaded after current load is done).
4. Cleaned Audrey's highchair & tray.
5. Cleaned up main bathroom-
~picked up dirty clothes
~put toiletries back in proper spots
~toilet
~mirror
~sink and counter top
~emptied trash
6. Master bedroom-
~made bed
~emptied trashcan
~put dirty clothes in hamper
~put things back in proper spots
7. Audrey's room-
~changed sheet on changing pad
~changed sheet in crib
~put bedding into wash
~picked up toys and clothes
~emptied trash
8.Swept house.
9.Took out some trash.
10. Cleaned the kitchen counters.
11. Picked up miscellaneous stuff in the living room, dining room and kitchen.
And other little things here and there...

'Friends' Clip Friday

Things I Love Thursdays...

Okay, so I'm going to go back and forth between "Thankful Thursdays" and "Things I Love Thursdays".

I love catalogs! And it is really hard for me to get rid of them once they are in my possession. I could look through the same catalog 50 different times. I honestly think that Bryan thinks I'm crazy when I sit down on the couch to look through the latest 'Oriental Trading Co.' catalog. But what else can I say besides, I LOVE CATALOGS!!! Maybe I'm living vicariously through the catalogs. The other day I got a Pottery Barn Kids catalog in the mail and I was having such a blast looking through it, of course wanting to buy so much of it for Audrey. But I know that I can't afford PBK, so why do I do it to myself? Well, one can dream, right?! Here are some of the catalogs that I receive normally:
~Pottery Barn
~Pottery Barn Kids
~Crate and Barrel
~Ikea
~Anthropologie
~Room and Board
~Oriental Trading Co.

The Story of Stuff...

Check out this video. It's about 20 minutes long, but well worth watching.

'Friends' Clip Friday

Thankful Thursdays

I'm going to start (and hopefully keep up with) a new weekly post. I think we all need to take time a remember how much we have and how great life is!! So often I find myself griping about things or making it seem like life is so bad, but it isn't!! Life is wonderful!! Sure I've had my fair share of downers, but I have also been so, extremely blessed!! So here we go...



I thank God SOOOOO much for my wonderful husband and my beautiful daughter. These two make life worth living!! No one else in this world brings me as much joy as Bryan and Audrey. I love them more than life itself!!

So I'm Finally Doing It!!

I'm actually breaking my soda addiction. Tomorrow marks two weeks with NO sodas!! Well, except for one sip I took of Bryan's when I was choking. I have struggled with this "addiction" for a VERY long time now. And when I drink any sort of beverage I don't sip, I gulp. I'm a VERY thirsty person!! So I always order large drinks if they're available. And I could easily go through 2-3 cans/glasses of soda during a meal. VERY bad, I know. But I decided to kick this nasty habit! I don't want to be ensnared by it for the rest of my life. And I don't want Audrey to pick this up from me as she gets older either. One of my focuses this year (not resolution!) is to make small changes in my eating habits. I don't want to get into the habit of denying myself of having certain foods or drinks (Lord knows, if I deny myself I ended up giving in later with a vengeance), but I want to be healthier. For myself and my family. I know that one of the MAJOR side effects of changing my eating habits is weight loss (YAY!) which is good for me and my husband and even my daughter (in certain ways), but I want to be able to encourage my daughter (and any future children) to have a healthy lifestyle as they get older. I don't want them to have the same "issues" with food that I have. I want them to love food and enjoy it, but not obsess about it. I don't want them to have to struggle with their weight for years on end like I have. I want to instill in my daughter a healthy self esteem and I think, no, I KNOW, that starts with mommy having one. The old "Practice What You Preach" thing. I know that my insecurities are going to eventually rub off on her and I don't want that to happen.
So here's to healthier living in 2008!!!

Kinda Puts Things In Perspective....

Look at this article about weekly food expenditures in families around the world.

What category would you fall into???