Fun stuff from Today:

A couple of fun things from today:

1. I found a popcorn maker for $10 (Thanks again to a site like craigslist) . Super excited since we make popcorn all the time and the microwave kind is pretty expensive and has a lot of preservatives and stuff in it. With a 1/3 cup of kernels it made 2 quarts of popcorn which is a lot believe it or not.

2. Sam and Todd chowing down on popcorn and watching Scooby Doo together. The were having such a good time I had to take a couple of pictures.


3. Sam being silly playing with the winter hats and scarfs. He's such a ham. I love it when he's silly.



4. Getting to cuddle with my little man. He actually lets me do this from time to time and I absolutely love it.

Things that currently make me happy:

Since the last couple of days have been rough I figured today I would focus on some things that make me happy to help me get through the rough patches of Sam's misbehavior. So here are a few things that currently make me happy:

Sophia she turned 8 weeks old on Monday and she is amazing. Here she is in her 3 way entertainer (yesterday) and then again today taking a little nap with one of her toys. I love this kid!! :)

This face even when he makes me so incredibly mad and frustrated. He still makes me laugh and he continues to amaze me each day with his new antics. :)



My hand held wet/dry vacuum. LOL I know this is a dorky thing to be excited about but it means that I don't have to drag out the huge vacuum to clean under the table every time Sam eats or makes a mess around the house. Best part it was free. I had enough bank points to get it for free.My new juicer. So awesome I got it for only $5 and can't wait to use it. It's still brand new in box even though the box looks 20 years old. lol. I can't wait to make my own juice soon.

Fresh veggies. My neighbors have gardens and have been very generous with their veggies. I love that and hope to plant my own garden next year. But in the meantime we'll enjoy some summer squash, tomatoes, green beans, and okra.

My Dad Fred. He's come over twice in the last week to help me with something dealing with the kids. He's a busy guy but it means so much that he makes time to help secure things to the wall so Sam can't hurt himself and to fix the crib that Sophia sleeps in. (There was a recall on the crib and they sent out new parts to be put on so he put the parts on and now the crib is safer than ever). Here's a picture of my dad putting up a black out shade in the kids room with Sam right there beside him to help.

I've been able to maintain my Pampered Chef business. I've not done a whole lot with it since Sophia's arrival, but I am still a consultant and working at it when I can and that makes me happy. Plus I've got people coming over this weekend to learn more about it and tell them why Pampered Chef is such an awesome business.

A new doorbell. Again another dorky thing to be excited about but since my landlord fixed it no one is going to get a jolt when they ring the doorbell. :)

I get to start watching the most precious 3 year old little girl starting next Thursday. I think I must be slightly insane for doing it but I think it's going to be fun and it'll give us a little extra money and Sam a friend to play with (and maybe he'll stop being so moody lol). The little girl I'm going to watch is a lot cuter than this girl but I don't have a picture of her and don't know if her parents would like her picture being put up on the internet (I had a put a picture here since I had one for every other point on here.)

Craigslist. I was able to find my sister a new dining room table for a great deal, my other sister a coffee table, and list my friends yard sale (and it brought lots of people to it too). I love finding a great bargain and being able to get things that I wouldn't normally spend full price on like baby clothes.My amazing husband who works so hard to take care of us. I know it's not easy for him to be gone so much and to work doubles all the time, but he does it so I can stay home with the kiddos. I have the best husband ever, even when I get snippy with him. :) Here he is at home and still working from the computer.

Oh My!

What a day!! It started out pleasant enough. I let Todd sleep in since he was so tired and I took care of the kiddos. Sam had oatmeal and he ate it all and he was happy so I was happy. :) Sophia ate and then napped some and things were going good. Sam and I played and were having a good time and then we had lunch. Sam did good with his meal and then started getting really fussy. I figured it was because it was his nap time and he was worn out from all the playing we had done. I put him down in his bed which he then proceed to scream. I shut his bedroom door and took Sophia out to the living room with me.

After a couple of minutes I hear a loud scream and a huge crash. I went in his bedroom to find that Sophia's dresser was on top of Sam. Yep...he had pulled out the drawers and climbed on top of it. It of course fell and he got trapped underneath of it. He's fine just some nasty bruises on his arms and legs, but otherwise fine. I of course freaked out and called my dad Fred to come and secure the dresser as soon as he had time. He came a couple of hours later and the now the dresser is secure and wont move. I'm so thankful that Sam was okay and that my dad was able to come and secure the dresser for me so it wouldn't fall again.

So after all the drama of the dresser Sam proceed to be a big ol'pain in the butt. Don't get me wrong I love my kid, but today he was being a real monster. I had enough and needed to get out so I packed up the kids and we met up with Todd to eat half price pizzas at Saul Good after his shift ended. Sam of course was still acting like a monster throwing things. The worst of it was him deliberately knocking his cup of water all over me and the floor. It was a rough time out. Sophia of course was wonderful and hardly cried at all.

After eating we went to go and pick up a purchase that I found on craigslist (a brand new juicer for only $5!) we of course got a bit off track and wound up driving farther than we anticipated. I didn't actually mind the ride since I'm not out as much as I use to be. We finally picked up the juicer and headed back to pick up the van (we left it at Saul Good so we could all go together for the drive to get the juicer). As we headed back Sophia started getting really upset. It had been almost 3 hours since she had eaten. So we stopped off at a park so I could feed her and let Sam run around. Poor girl finally ate and then proceed to get sick all over herself and her car seat.

On the way home Todd said he was going to stop and get gas in the van since it was really really low. So I headed home in my car only to get a call a few minutes later that he had run out of gas and was on the side of the road. This of course was funny to me since I had already had such an eventful day of stress and frustration. We got the gas and we made it home without further incident.

Whew...I'm so glad that this day is almost over as I really don't think I could handle any more excitement. Oh course now that I've said that there's no telling what's likely to happen now. So here's to hoping tomorrow is a whole lot less eventful and a little more peaceful.

Pretty Girl

On my birthday I decided to put Sophia into one of her cute little dresses. She looked cute and was enjoying all the attention because I got some pretty big smiles out of her. Here she is:

Silly Girl

This is what I found the other day when I came to check on Sophia during her nap. She had wiggled out of her blanket and her pants and was giggling. Silly girl.

Happy Birthday To Me!!

I found this balloon on my mailbox on the morning of my birthday (the 17th) from my neighbor Jen. Thanks Jen!

Okay so anyone that knows me knows that my birthdays are not usually the best for me. I have horrible memories of birthday celebrations gone wrong with my family (the police showing up because my parents were fighting or for a hundred other reasons), but since I've been with Todd he has always tried to make my birthdays special and he's done a pretty good job of it. This year was no exception though it wasn't a big thing I still had a good day.

We went to lunch at chipotole and then had dinner at my family (not the same family that I grew up with that had the police come over all the time for) house where Todd made one of my favorite dishes that he cooks (Caribbean jerk chicken with fruit over rice) and we hung out with family and our neighbor Mark (his family is already gone on vacation so we invited him to come too since he's practically like family since we see him and his family so much :) ) My mom made an awesome Red Velvet cake for me (which is my favorite) and I got some fun gifts --Scene It Disney edition, the new Artemis Fowl book, and the last Bourne movie. I had a really great time and I can say that this birthday wasn't a bust. Thanks everyone for making me feel so loved.

Terrible Two

Oh my we have definitely hit the terrible 2's. Sam is a complete and total monster with full blown temper tantrums and all. It is incredibly frustrating as discipling him in any form seems to make everything worse. Ignoring it doesn't work either so I'm at a loss at what to do when he intentionally sets out to destroy the house by doing things he shouldn't be doing and hitting people for no reason when he gets upset. I love him and yet I am so incredibly frustrated by him at the same time. If any of my readers have any ideas I'd love to hear them.

In the meantime here are a few pictures that I took in the last week that remind me of why I love him so much.

6 weeks

I can't believe that it has been 6 weeks since my beautiful little girl arrived. Just for comparison here are some before and after pictures.

Here are my before and after pictures. The first one is the day that I went into the hospital to have Sophia and then today. Now I'm not physically where I would like to be yet so I still have a little pooch of a tummy.
Here are Sophia's before and afters. They are of Sophia in the same outfit she left the hospital in and then today. She's already such a big girl it's amazing.

3 Things

Because my friend Missy tagged me here it is:

3 Joys:
* my kiddos (even when Sam is being a monster and keeps throwing things at me)
* Todd
*Sleep

3 Fears:
*that I'll be a horrible mom and my kids will hate me
* that the people who I care about will never really understand how much they mean to me
*not living up to my full potential

3 Goals:
*Find time to do things for myself (like getting a haircut)
*Have a date night with my husband at least twice a month (I can wish right?)
*Figure out a way to start saving some money for the future instead of worrying about things are going to get paid each month

3 Current Obsessions/Collections:
*keeping my house from looking like a bomb went off (I guess that's pretty unrealistic though with 2 small kids)
*Blogging
*Bills! Ick!! (what an awful obsession huh?)

3 Random Surprises about Me:
* I hardly leave the house since Sophia was born (I feel like a hermit and am ready for a change)
* I love cooking but Todd does more of it than I do
* I hate working out (seriously I hate it and wont do it by myself)

I'm suppose to tag people, but I'm not going to. Whoever wants to do this will do it. :)

Turtle Power

Our friend and neighbor Jen gave us a plastic turtle sandbox. Since we don't have sand we decided to use it as a little splash pool. Yesterday it was nice enough to be outside so we filled up the turtle with water and let Sam splash around for a bit. He enjoyed it so much that he got angry when it was time to come in. Enjoy the pictures:

In case you are wondering...yes we did put sunscreen on him. Here's the proof. He's got my skin tone so if we didn't I'm sure he would burn quickly.

Sam really wanted Daddy in there with him which was really funny since that turtle is not that big.