I'm back

I got a yucky tummy bug on Tuesday and I'm getting better but I'm not 100% yet. I had dh take Logan to tumbling tonight so I could hang at home. I'm supposed to be cleaning but then who will watch Bella? ;) Heaven forbid I stick her in a playpen!

So here are just a few catch-ups from this week. We got to see the space shuttle Discovery go up on Sunday night. Beautiful launch! We didn't actually go over to the Cape but we were able to see it just fine from way over here. We're a good 3 hour drive from the Cape on the other coast so it's really neat to know we can still see it! Unfortunately my SLR camera had an issue (easily fixed) but I wasn't able to take photos with it at the moment so I had to run and grab my little P&S so that means quality isn't the greatest, especially at night with the long zoom.

Smoke trail



That star looking thing is the boosters falling back to earth. Remember, we're clear across the state!


St Patty's Day was Tuesday and Logan had to make a leprechaun trap for school. I'm not an engineering major (or minor!) so this was the best I could do. The one dh made for Ian last minute was far better. It had a fake floor and trap door!




That morning they visited our house first. Thet left a box of Lucky Charms cereal and turned the milk green. They also left some green beaded necklaces for the boys to wear. His class loved when they came back from lunch and they had been visited by those little green men. They left footprints, peed green in the class bathroom and left some candy.

Other than that our week has been pretty much the same old, same old. I'm still trying to pick a date for Bella's birthday. More than likely it will the the 1st weekend of April. No competing with her uncle's 40th birthday that way. I've gotten most of the stuff I needed and her birthday dress came in the mail today! It's so cute! I can't believe she's almost one already. It seems like I just had her. Time goes by way too quickly!

Salmonella?

Is there a recall on the horizon? Or am I just the only one who happened to get sick? The only thing different I ate yesterday was some organic spinach from Costco in my sandwich. Yesterday my tummy was feeling a bit icky but today- WHAM- I got hit. My tummy hurts, I'm exhausted and I get cold easily (no fever). I took a nap and I still feel tired. Noone in the house seems to be affected. I'm scared to even eat the rest of the fresh spinach in there or serve it. I did rinse if off before eating it btw. So now I sit here popping Immodium, sipping on water/grape juice and eating crackers in the hopes that this goes away soon so I can function and take care of my kids. Ugh. I doubt I'll be taking Logan to tumbling so I think another nap will be in order later.

I got an award!

My dear friend Mandie gave me this award today. She's one of the sweetest people I know and is always ready to help you out. I love reading her blog, not only to see her 2 beautiful kids but to get tips and bargains too! I wish she lived closer!

The rules of this award are simple:

1. Write 10 honest (and hopefully interesting) things about yourself.
2. Pass this award onto 7 bloggers who you find brilliant in content and design.

In total random order...

1) I talk a good game but never do anything. I always say I want to try do some craft and I'll buy the materials and never do it. I have ribbon and hair clips in my room as I type just waiting to be made into bows for Bella.

2) I'm not an organized person. Never have been. My desk is a disaster and how I find anything is a miracle.

3) No secret here, but I love Disney. I love Disney movies, Disney characters and especially the Disney parks. I could go every. single. weekend if allowed. Just move me into the castle right now!

4) I'm a TV addict. If not for my DVR I wouldn't know what to do. My bedroom is my hiding spot. I love to lay in bed and chill out.

5) I lost over 70 lbs 2 years ago via Weight Watchers. I've since gained back a little over thirty due to pregnancy and not eating right. I'm trying to get back on track though!

6) I love to listen to loud bass music- the kind that makes your trunk thump. Usually it's hip hop, rap or r&b. I do NOT like country music although there are a couple of crossover singers I like.

7) I'm already getting grey silver hairs at the ripe age of 34 ... ahem 29. Yes, I cover those suckers up!

8) If given the money I would totally do plastic surgery. Lipo, LASIK, boob lift and who knows what else.

9) I want a 4th child but I know I will probably never have him/her due to space constrictions and lack of money. Maybe if the economy ever turns around and dh gets more money we can look into it again. We'd need to add onto our house though and we don't have that kind of moola laying around.

10) My husband and I only dated for a few months (2-3?) before getting engaged and we were married one year from our engagement date. We'll be married 10 years in May. :)

So now I have to pick 7 other people. I'm going to follow Mandie's trend though and just pick one. I like this person's blog as she has such a sense of humor and I just love to see what she'll write next. She's also a great friend in real life. This award goes now to my friend Julie.

Monkeying around at the zoo

I had been trying to decide for a few days what I should do with the kids today. Dh was going to Daytona for the day for some car stereo show thingy so we would be on our own. After much thought and a last minute decision this morning I decided to surprise the kids with a trip to the zoo. It turned out to be a beautiful day for it. Eighty degrees and sunny with a light breeze. Our passes expired last year and I guess today was a good day to get new ones as we got 2 ride wristbands free today so the boys got to ride anything they wanted all day.

Our first ride was the carousel. While it wasn't Bella's first ride on a carousel (we've done Disney but I wore her) it was her first ride on an actual horse and she really wasn't sure about it. I don't think she felt safe even though my arms were around her. She whined the entire time but never cried. She looked so cute though on her white horse. Just like a little princess. :)


I felt for this poor mama. I know how she feels.


My boys love roller coasters!! I had no idea this was even there. It took the place of a car ride that they used to ride.


The meerkats are always so adorable. They were up close today and almost seemed to pose for the camera. Say *Insects*. (instead of cheese, get it? ;))


This picture just fits their personalities so well.


I bribed Logan into riding the camel with Ian. Ian really wanted to go. What did I bribe him with? Fruit Pearls. They were yummy!



They were itching to play in the water by this time. Bella fell asleep once we sat down so she didn't go in to play.


My wild boy


Sleeping beauty


They've changed this since I was there last too. Now it's a very shallow pool. Just a few inches deep.


Look who woke up!


Oh and for my local friends, there are new restaurants!
This one is at the Safari Lodge at the beginning of Africa near the meerkats.


This one is across from the zebras/giraffes. It's a sit down/table service restaurant.

Foto Friday

Can you believe this baby will be a year old in less than two weeks?!



Silly Sniffy Face

Testing again...

Trying to resize my new siggie.

Trying something new

One of my goals for this year was to cut back on my soda consumption. I was drinking 2 a day, sometimes 3. I did okay for a bit and then went back to my habit. After reading a thread on one of my boards about the side effects of artificial sweeteners (headaches, joint aches, cravings) I'm going to quit eating/drinking them. Maybe I'll indulge once in a while but I'm going to really try not to buy any diet drinks and I'm not going to use Splenda anymore in my tea.

I started today. I'm out of soda anyway so it's not like I could just grab one. One of the things people say about A.S. is that it makes you crave food, particularly sweet foods. I guess the premise is that your body knows your eating a sweet but it's not getting the calories from that sweet so you crave those calories. I could have that wrong but I think that was the idea.

So without my Diet Pepsi today I drank water and I made up a simple syrup and made up some iced tea. Usually between breakfast (2 eggs and milk) and lunch I have a snack. Nothing today. After lunch I always want a sweet. Nothing today. I was full! (Had a whole wheat pita with a Boca, tzatziki and lettuce plus some sunchips). I'm always hungry between lunch and dinner. Nothing today! I don't have a craving at all. Like I said, this may be all in my head but hey if it works than I'm healthier than I was yesterday. Hopefully I can stick with it.

Party Planning part 2

I am slowly getting there. The balloons, adult favors and goody bags are all ordered and have been shipped. The dress will be finished this weekend and shipped.

Now I just need to get the balloons so I can buy the right color plates to match and find stuff to fill the goody bags with. All I have right now are pink Hershey kisses and Krazy Straws. I wanted cupcake themed stuff but I'm having a tough time with that. Oriental Trading has some cute stuff but shipping is crazy.

I think I've decided on cake flavors and if I can pull it all off in the next few weeks, all cakes/cupcakes will be homemade. We'll see how much I can accomplish with one clingy 11mo old and a 3 yr old who always wants my attention plus school pickups/drop offs and tumbling classes and a dh who is only home 1 day a week lately. Wish me luck!

More party stuff to come...

Leprechaun trap

St Patty's day is almost upon us and we have been given the task of building a leprechaun trap for school. Tonight Logan and I went shopping for supplies. We ended up with a green cauldron, green felt, shamrock confetti and stickers, gold coin confetti, a green mug (smaller than a shot glass), green *Easter* grass and an assorted bag of pipe cleaners. Here's our thinking. We're going to decorate the cauldron with the stickers, use the handle to make the rainbow, and cut the felt to just fit the top of the cauldron. We'll lure the leprechaun in with the *beer* mug (Logan read the sign and told me we weren't allowed to drink beer LOL) and the gold coins. When he steps on the felt to get to the coins, he'll fall into the grass inside the cauldron and be caught! I'll post pics once it's done.

St Patty's day is also a day of mischief. In past years the leprechauns have left Lucky Charms cereal (the only time of year they get to eat it), small green toys/snacks/misc, green milk and footprints behind. I'm sure this year they'll get into even more mischief!

The vote is a 3 way tie!!

**Update- Dh really liked dress #2 so I was outvoted again. That's okay. It really was one of my first picks and I only nixed it bc she has a similar dress already. I can't wait to see it!


#2, 3 & 5 are all tied with 10 votes. You guys are not making this easy! I think I may have picked a winner though. I'm not thrilled with the stitching job done on #5 nor do I care for the jeweled buttons and if I'm going to pay that much for a dress, it better be done well soooo I think I've decided on...drum roll please....


Dress # 3

Here's my reasoning. I really like #2 but she already owns a brown dress with pink polka dots. It would be like owning the same dress minus the applique. #3 is just the opposite PLUS I've found an good deal on balloons and they are pink and brown so everything would coordinate nicely. You can see the balloons here although this not where I'm buying them. There will be one large cupcake balloon (1st pic) and 2 of the round cupcake (2nd pic) plus 9 pink/brown/white latex balloons and ribbon included. (I'll post about the new site in a few)

I'm still second guessing myself here so please feel free to chime in!!

Nastiness

Cigarette smoke must be one of the foulest smelling things on earth. I loathe cigarette smoke. I avoid it at all costs which sometimes means I don't go to some people's homes- or at least not very often but other times it's just unavoidable or there will be hurt feelings. People aren't even smoking around us while we're there. The stench is embedded in the house though since they smoke inside the rest of the time. I praised the day that smoking was banned in restaurants!

We were at one of those houses today for a birthday (family) and the minute you walk in the door the smell hits you like a ton of bricks. You really don't want to sit on the furniture but you might as well since your clothes will reak of smoke anyway when you leave. I hate bringing the diaper bag or my purse in. We got home tonight and as soon as I walked in the door I was changing clothes. I had to bathe Bella and get her to bed before I could hit the shower. My hair reaked, my clothes reaked. It was disgusting. My main issue though is I have this weird nasal thing where the smoke scent will stay in my nose for hours or days. It feels like someone is just blowing smoke at my face. My breath catches sometimes and I get headaches from it. My nose burns like the day I was in the house even though we haven't been around smoke for a long time. It's really strange and very annoying! Here I sit smelling smoke and there's none around me. Nasty!

Party Planning Mode

***Update: Dh has nixed outfits #6 & 7 so vote for one of the first 5.


It's in full force now! Bella's 1st birthday is coming up quick! I'm having a Cupcake theme with plenty of pink of course. ;) I bought a giant Wilton 3D cupcake pan today and also the miniature version (which is still rather big) for her smash cake. I'm thinking of making the cake from scratch. We'll see about that!

I'm going to get cupcake balloons with coordinating regular balloons, a 1st birthday cupcake dress and I'm planning on decorating her highchair as well. Not sure the specifics on that since I don't sew though. I really want to cover her seat cover in pink but it doesn't look easy. Maybe a pink towel is just the way to go. I also think I'll make a pink tutu to dress her highchair up. I'll just go with plain colored plates/cups/etc more than likely. It's cheaper that way. Although these are really cute!!

Here are a few of the dresses I'm looking at for her (in no particular order) and of course she'll have a coordinating cupcake bow/clip for her hair. I'll have to find one of those after I pick a dress! Go vote for one or more of the dresses over <----there!

Dress #1
Dress #2
Dress #3 (much like #2- same seller)
Dress #4
Dress #5 (Has now been sold out BUT she's going to see if she has enough fabric for another)
Dress #6
Dress #7 (to be worn with a tutu of my making)

I've already bought her 1st gift from us. It's this adorable tea set from Fisher Price. Having a girl is going to get expensive! LOL There's so much I want to buy for her- tea sets and doll carriages, doll houses (not Barbie, a *real* one) and lots of cute felt foods. Baby dolls and accessories and of course all the dress up clothes eventually. Come on lotto! ;)

New Glasses

Here they are finally. I hate pictures of myself.

Mark & Olly

Have you seen this show yet? It's actually very interesting. I watched last season as well. These two guys go off into some of the most remote places on earth and live with different tribes of people. They become immersed in the culture and ultimately become adopted family.

I was watching last week's episode today and was taken by the babywearing I saw in the show. I'm fascinated by other cultures and love to see how they care for their babies. Since I was watching on TV, I grabbed my trusty camera and took some shots of the TV (hence any graininess and the stretching of the people). From what I can tell, they appear to wear their children in a pouch of sorts as I don't see any kind of knots. I must say, I'd think they'd be much more comfortable if they spread that fabric over their shoulder instead of bunching it at the neck.

Here's one mother wearing two of her children. One in front and the other behind her with the pouch over her head. I can't imagine that being comfortable!


Mark & Olly were given an infant wooly monkey to care for after the villager's killed the parents for food. Here Mark is tying a jacket or shirt around Olly's neck as sort of a sling.

Where'd the weekend go?

It seems to have flown by! You already know what I did on Saturday. I woke up so sore this morning. My arms mainly my biceps are sore and my obliques? (the sides of my torso) are sore. It hurts to laugh! LOL Saturday night though my BIL called and said he was bringing over ice cream for the boys (and us of course!) and he and his GF (and hopefully fiancée one day!!) came over and hung out for a while. We played on the Wii Fit and the Xbox for a while before they left. The boys love their uncles!

Today was spent doing laundry and then my MIL came by with a birthday gift for me. I got a GC to Target, Burt's Bees hand kit, Turbie Twist towels and some more Burt's Bees body wash and lotion. There were a few other odds and ends in there too. I have the Turbie Twist in my hair now. I love it so far. I always wrap my hair in a towel and this is easier and more lightweight, plus it's not falling off my head! BIL and GF came by for a short time too to see his mom and that was it for my day. I did do a bit of grocery shopping too. I spend too much time at the grocery store. We go thru stuff so fast it seems!

The leaves from Saturday never got bagged as it was raining this morning. It was also quite windy so some of my leaves have been blown back all over the yard. Joy, joy. I'm betting it won't get done for at least 2 more weeks either. Dh will be working again on Saturday (he's trying to make some extra moola) and Sunday he's supposed to head over to St Pete to help a family member with her computer. I'm betting there will be a bday party on Sunday as well for our niece too. Not enough hours in a day or days in a week, I swear! I still have to prepare and plan for Bella's 1st birthday. There are so many people in our families plus all our friends and I have no idea where to put them all. I guess that's a post for another time though.

Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Blushing Buttercream Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Aren't these adorable? I'd love to have portraits done with Bella wearing one! Go check it out and enter to win one for the little girl in your life.

Temporary Insanity

I don't know what got into me this morning. Dh went to work today and was gone all day. I thought about going to the zoo and decided against it for monetary reasons. I thought about the park but didn't get moving fast enough so I just decided out of the blue to let the kids play out back while I RAKED. Yes. I raked the backyard. Noone can be as shocked as I am. I loathe raking. I was made to rake the yard when I was a teen and I told dh I never wanted to do it again. Same goes for mowing the yard- hence the reason we pay someone else to do it!

Now we have a pretty good size backyard and there are 3 oak trees back there so there were quite a few leaves. At first I thought I'd do half and let him do half. Then I got 2/3 done and I said I can keep going. Then my blister broke (even though I was wearing gloves) and I suffered thru it with a bandaid. And I finished the whole damn thing. Phew. I even wore Bella on my back for a good hour to hour and a half of it and she slept back there. It was a beautiful day with a light breeze so even though it was warm and I was sweating a bit it didn't feel so bad. The last hour or so she spent in her exersaucer in the shade though. It felt nice to get her off my back and cool off a bit.

I don't think our yard has ever been raked. The leaves towards the neighbor's house (and their tree!) were the thickest. We're also on a downslope from them so everytime I'd rake near the fence more leaves from their side would fall thru. I'm just hoping we can get some grass to grow back there now or something! I did leave dh some work though. He gets the fun job of bagging all the piles and there's about 30 of them. I think his lil' bro may come help out tomorrow morning. We'll see! I'm just proud of myself that I did it. I was ready to give up a few times. It seemed so daunting at the time. Just don't ask or expect me to do often in the future!

Funny picture

I totally had one of these when I was a kid!! I forgot about it until I saw this picture. I'll let you decide what it resembles. ;)

Yet another

Bella was quite upset yesterday. She's been scratching at her ears and face and turning her head from food when in her highchair so I knew something was up. I went to nurse her before bed and she tried before turning her head and crying. I'd try again and she'd bite me before pulling off again. She isn't a biter usually and certainly isn't a fussy eater. I got up and gave her some teething tablets and then decided some Motrin was in order. She was just not herself. I gave it a few minutes to kick in and tried to nurse her yet again and this time she was okay. Poor baby was just in pain. I flipped her upside down this afternoon and she opened her mouth to laugh/smile and lo and behold- there was a new tooth! That makes #5. She'll have a mouth full before I know it!

Don't ask!

Why do husbands do this? Dh calls me to let me know he's at Sams Club with one of his bosses (we won't go into the fact that I need to go grocery shopping and he's not here to take over). So he proceeds to ask if I need anything from Sams. Umm we haven't had a membership there in probably a year or more. What would I need? I ask if they are carrying organic milk. "I don't think so." Do they carry unsweetened applesauce? "I don't know." Well why the hell are you asking me if I need anything if you aren't going to go look?! It sounded like they were already checking out. Grrr