Don't Find Yourself, Create Yourself

One of my favorite quotes is "Life isn't about finding yourself, it's about creating yourself"
I saw this picture on facebook and just had to share it!

Child's Prayer

 my little angel :)

So, yesterday I was not having the best of days. I was just extra tired and as the day went on getting more tired and more cranky.  I was feeling like J was driving me crazy, although she wasn't too out of the ordinary, it was just me in a bad mood and having no patience. I decided we better make a trip to the gym so I could get a little break and burn off some negative energy and hopefully pump in some endorphins. As she began whining about her shoes without even trying to find them, because they were basically right in front of her, I was about to lose it.  I stopped, took a deep breath trying to keep it together when I remembered a tip from the book Mom Has Fun that was given to my husband by a work associate who is friends with the author.  I still haven't finished the book, but one of the main things the woman does in her family is have a time out and calling a team meeting when things start going awry. I let out that deep breath, got down to J's level and just said "I really need you to help me out.  Mommy is really tired and feeling really cranky.  I'm so cranky it's making me want to yell and scream, but I don't want to yell and scream, so could you please be a special helper and make sure that you and Bronson don't whine and are good listeners?"  She lit up and was excited to be my helper.  Then, we proceeded to get ready and out the door.  As we were walking to the car, J, excited to be my helper in my time of need, said to me "Mommy, Jesus can help you!  He can be in your heart and make you feel better if you want!"  As we got into the car I thought it was sweet what she was saying, but I still felt in a crummy mood.  As we drove to the gym, she told me again, "Mommy, I know He can help you feel better if you want"...so I said "well, maybe you could pray for me"...and J doesn't actually pray very often, I encourage it but don't make her do it.  However, she does like to listen to me pray and occasionally chime in something so I found it so sweet and precious when she said "Dear Heavnwy Father, Thank you Jesus knows us and can be in our hearts, Jesus Name Amen".  I'll tell you it was hard to still feel sour after hearing that simple, sweet prayer coming from the back seat.  With that, and a really good workout, I did feel much better and refreshed and on the way home, I told Jordan "Thank you for praying for me, it really did help me to feel better".  She was really happy to help out. :P

The other 2 notable times she's said a cute prayer was

"Dear Heavnwy father, please bless Bronson that he can be my best friend"...sweet...then the next day she asked if I could go to the doctor and they could put him back in my tummy...lol

"Dear Heavenwy Father, please BLESS Jacob and Tyson.....and.....please BLESS Jacob and Tyson....and................please Bless Jacob and Tyson....and....bless Jacob and Tyson...in Jesus name, Amen."
(her best friends who are brothers)

Yay for Bloggy Awards!

 

I just received this award from Sunshine and Lollipops, thank you Angie!

The rules of the Stylish Blogger Award are:
Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.  
Share seven things about yourself.
Award seven recently discovered new blogs.
Contact these bloggers and let them know they've received the award. 

So here is my 7 things  about me!

• I love potatoes, especially in the form of French Fries or Kettle Chips and I can't live without chocolate and I love going to the gym to justify my chocolate and potato habits...well...alright, I also enjoy the actual working out part too...especially group classes like Body Flow and Power Yoga.
• I cut my hair REALLY short in 8th grade and someone called me "Shim" and another time at the 7 eleven, the cashier asked me "What's with you boys wearing nail polish these days?"  My response was an embarrassed "Um, I don't know".  Other people just assumed I was a lesbian since my hair was short.
• I also made a ridiculous work out video when I was about 14-15 that was freaking awesome...lol...maybe I'll get my parents to upload it to the computer so I can embarrass myself with it!
• I used to compose a lot of music but haven't done any in a while, no time with babies!  Pre-baby days I would spend hours a day at the piano, i loved to improvise
• I absolutely love dancing with or for my kids...but you won't catch me dance like that in public! yikes!
• In one month I'll celebrate the 10 year anniversary of my first date with my husband.
• I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism in highschool and Hashimoto's almost 2 years ago.  I turn into a zombie if I don't take my prescription, literally a zombie.  Sometimes I even start to get zombie like even when I take my medication anyways...and get really bad joint pain and a lot of other crappy symptoms...but if you're going to have an autoimmune disease, it's one of the better ones to have!!! 

The 7 blogs I am giving this award to are ...(new blogs I've recently found)

 Krista @ Heavenly Savings

 Ashley @ Eisy Morgan

Becca @ Blue Cricket Designs

Alysha @ Supermom

Jessica @ Sweet Treats by Jessica

KC @ One plus One = Four

Aubrie @ A Mama B's

Right now I'm listening to Float On by Modest Mouse  

                           

Giveaway Winner and Day 4 of AEDM

And the winner to my custom portrait giveaway is comment number 12 made by Crystal Escobar from Wanna Be Balanced.   CONGRATULATIONS!!! 

So...as for AEDM (art every day month), It's been slow starting because of that darn organizational guru who had to get me all inspired to do major cleaning/organization around here.  Yesterday I set some unrealistic goals for myself...I was going to clean out and reorganize my walk in closet, get the rest of the room perfect, then have lunch with the kids, then during nap I was going to either paint a trypdict that I've been planning on doing forever to go above my bed...or make the stroller seat cover, then have dinner/play with the kids, go to the gym real quick, come home, after putting the kids to bed, I would do all the ironing and when my husband arrived home from his road trip, everything would be absolutely perfect.  Well....um...WHAT was I thinking?  It went more like this...

I took everything out of the closet, my room looked like a hurricane had gone through with piles of everything everywhere...sorted through things, decided what to keep, what to pack away and what to get rid of, folded everything up, reorganized and made it more fall/winter oriented.  I was only half way through the pile by lunch time.  Then I put the baby down for a nap (in my room) so went and sat on the couch to eat a snack while I waited for him to get into a deeper sleep before starting back up...but I guess I blinked and didn't open my eyes until about 2 hours later when the kids started waking up from naps.  No regrets!  Anyways....I struggled to finish getting the closet put away and besides doing some dishes...nothing else on my list got done...I didn't even get to go online the whole day!!!  lol.  But if you could see my closet now, you would consider it a work of art! ha!  The art of homemaking right?  Am I stretching the rules a bit too much here on this one? 
I'm going to blame my baby boy on my slow progress, he's just so darn cute I had to keep stopping and playing with him and smothering him in kisses as he played around my feet all morning cooing at me!

Okay, well I'm off to get some "art" done today, I'll be back!

Congrats again Crystal, I can't wait to get started on your portrait!

100 Followers Giveaway!

I just noticed today that I have 100 followers!  Exciting!  And what better excuse to celebrate and have a GIVEAWAY!  My Giveaway is for custom 8x10 fine art portrait using a picture of your choice! 

To Enter this giveaway, just leave a comment!

For additional entries  (leave a separate comment for each)
Follow on GFC  1 bonus entry
Follow on Facebook Networks Blogs  1 bonus giveaway
Vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs  1 bonus entry each time (you can vote everyday)
Blog about this giveaway    3 bonus entries
Twitter this giveaway   1 bonus entry
Put my button on your blog  3 bonus entries  (and let me know where I can find it in your comment)
Post/link to this giveaway on Facebook  1 bonus entry

The winner will be selected next friday, Nov 5!  I will contact the winner and you can email a photograph of the what you would like turned into an artistic portrait.

GOOD LUCK!

 

Fun Finds!

Okay I wasn't even going to post today, or be online because I have a bunch of stuff to do and relatives in town but I guess I just couldn't stay away!  I was checking out Verity at The Light Garden and just adore her work!  She makes prints and wallpaper...here are some examples!

Awesome right?


And then you all know how it is...you just look at one blog and then wind up on more!,,,,Here is the other blog I came across while broswing The Light Garden....

diy project: brenna’s paper capiz shell chandelier

 See the tutorial HERE

anyways...gotta run but had to share these gems!!!

Like my Blog Playlist?

If the music hasn't automatically started on my blog playlist, scroll down to the bottom of my blog and it will start playing right away.  The reason I mention this is...well, do you like the first song?  It's an awesome indie artist named Tyrone Wells.  My senior year in college I was on my way to Art History when I heard some good sounding music coming from the CUB (student union building).  This guy was performing in the cafeteria doing a really awesome cover of "Lightning Crashes" by Live, on of my all time favorite songs growing up!  I remember being in 6th and 7th grade, hanging out with friends in my room listening to this song on repeat!
He had such a great voice and was so nice to listen to, I decided to skip my class and watch the rest of his show.  I bought Snapshot and Hold On from him when he was done and have been a fan ever since.
So the reason I am bloggin about him now is because I was listening to some of his new music on project playlist and my husband was like "Who is that?" and I was like "Tyrone!" and anyways, I ended up going to his website to buy his new cd if he had one available and saw he is on a crosscountry TOUR!  YAY!
I immediately bought tickets for the show here where I live!  They were under $10 a pop too!  YOU ALL need to check out his tour schedule and buy tickets for a show in your area if he's coming your way! Trust me...you'll love it! He has a great voice, is appropraite for all ages, sings great LIVE because that's when I first heard him....and you will be hooked! Visit his tour schedule on his website NOW Tyrone Wells Website.

TIME FOR DATE NIGHT OR GIRLS NIGHT OUT! (although most shows are all ages if you want to bring the young'ins)

  Download his album here!




























And if you haven't used project playlist for your blog before, learn more about how to use project playlist here!

Skywatch Friday - Washington State Beach

I came across this on another blog and got excited because I've been wanting to show off some of my pictures from vacation this summer.  This is a sunset from the beach house my parents rented out for the whole family in Moclips, Washington.  I love photography and taking pictures, I dream about someday shooting with a Canon 5D or the like, getting a lot better and doing it professionally.  :)  If you click the pics they will open larger in a new window for better viewing :)  However, even these pics do the sunset no justice!

Be sure to click here to head over to SkyWatch Friday and see skies from all over the world!

Be Grateful

A Thankful Heart by MORGAN WEISTLING

I was just reading an article on Prevention Magazine's website about healthy life lessons to teach your children and the last one, number 13 really stood out to me, it's about being grateful.

"If the days of your preschooler parroting back "thank-you" are long over, consider resurrecting the practice.

Research suggests that grateful people have more energy and optimism, are less bothered by life's hassles, are more resilient in the face of stress, have better health, and suffer less depression than the rest of us, says psychologist Joan Borysenko, PhD. "People who practice gratitude—and yes, it is something one can learn and improve—are also more compassionate, more likely to help others, less materialistic, and more satisfied with life."

If you have young kids, giving thanks together before bedtime or around the dinner table can help develop a healthy and loving attitude toward life. For older kids, let them learn from your habits: Make thanking others an everyday practice for you, and they’ll follow suit. Tell people what a good job they do, how kind they are, or how fabulous they look—as long as it's absolutely true."

-13 Healthy Life Lessons to Teach Your Kids By the editors of Prevention.com

Isn't it crazy how much control we really have over how we choose to look at life and how that has such an impact on how life affects us? Creating an attitude of gratitude might take practice, but it seems like a rather simple thing to do most of the time. I've heard people in the past preach about the impact having a gratitude journal can be in your life. Even if you tend to look at things negatively and have a difficult time seeing the positives and being grateful, if you can think of at least ONE thing to be grateful for, that's a start...and it can even be something small like, it's a nice day out today...or junior had a long nap today....or jr didn't have a tantrum today...I'm alive....
If we can instill this attitude of gratitude into our children, think of what a gift that is to them just based on the statement made above. For more ideas on how to raise grateful children, check out this article I wrote a while back on the subject.

How to Raise Grateful Kids

My Hooter Hiders and Suspenders

Nursing Cover (tutorial here)

I have barely been able to get on the computer since the baby was born 3 weeks ago, I've been too busy with kids, company, taking lots of pictures and sleeping. Anyways, things have been going great and we just adore this little guy so much! I can't believe we've only had him for 3 weeks while at the same time I can't believe he's already 3 weeks old!



My mom has been staying with us for the past 8 days which has been awesome! My hubby had to do some traveling for work and I was SO glad to not be totally on my own yet with the 2 kiddos! Plus, living so far from my family it's just really nice to get to have some girl time with my own mommy. She been helping me get everything done....including LOADS AND LOADS od laundry! But one fun thing she helped me get done during her stay was make Hooter Hiders aka Nursing Covers. I really wanted to make one before I had the baby but didn't get around to doing it. So we ran to the Hobby Lobby around the corner and found some really pretty fabrics and made 2 nursing covers for about $6.00 each at most! If you want to buy a nursing cover at a maternity store or target, they run close to $35 each. We found a good tutorial at Tada Creations and my mom did most the work on these while I took care of the baby...I did some of the ironing and cutting but she did all the sewing this time around! Anyways, I LOVE them! They were easy too! I'm so happy with how they turned out, the only thing that could be better is...well...make sure you don't accidentally buy upholstry thread like I did...we went ahead and used it and it's not a HUGE deal...but they would have turned out better with regular thread.


So I'm thinking I might start wearing some suspenders! I've been wearing a lot of gym shorts and yoga pants as I'm at that inbetween stage of not fitting my maternity clothes but not fitting my pre-pregnancy clothes either...so it seems a lot of times when I'm holding the baby, my 3 year old will try to climb up me and end up pulling my pants down. Not that big of a deal when we're just hanging out in the house by ourselves...however...yesterday I took her out to the swimming pool just outside our front door for a bit. As we were walking back up to our door to go home, my 50-60ish year old neighbor (a man) walked out with his little dog...JJ used to love dogs but apparently now she is terrified because she started screaming and trying to climb up my legs but instead....was pulling my shorts down. I was holding onto the front of my shorts the best I could but she was going nuts...I couldn't pick her up and the shorts completely came down halfway....At least my underwear stayed up! When I told my husband later...he joked "No fair, now Bill has seen you more naked than I have in weeks!" lol. (he exagerates).

Anyways, so I'm thinking until I can fit into some normal jeans...I might have to start wearing some suspenders or tying a rope around the top of everything (not really) before I leave my apartment...because I don't want people seeing my butt/underwear everytime JJ sees a little dog walk by or decides she wants me to hold her too while I'm already carrying the baby.

Baby Bronson

Well, Bronson is 11 days old today! ALREADY! He was born on Good Friday and He weighed 7 lbs 11 oz, 20 inches long.
We are just totally in love with him! It was love at first sight!


I had my weekly checkup on Wednesday and my Dr. was like "wow his head is really low! I wouldn't be surprised if you were back in here tonight or tomorrow!"
That night, I did start having contractions, about 30 minutes apart...then a few that were 15 but nothing consistent. They kept me up all night and I thought he was going to be an April Fool's baby, but when I got up in the morning...all the contractions stopped and I only had a few throughout the rest of the day. That night (Thursday) right when we were going to bed, the contractions started again, same as the night before...randomly every 15-30 minutes...nothing consistent and typically you don't go to the hospital until you are having contracts every 5 minutes for an hour. My Dr said I should come in when I got to 7 minutes for an hour based on his positioning, she said he would probably come quick. I had a contraction at 12 minutes...then 8 minutes, then 5,4, and 3 and they were so painful I was already wishing for an epidural! Tyler started calling Brett, our friend who lives across the street who was "on call" to come stay with JJ if we went into labor. We called him about 9 times in a row and he didn't answer and I started panicking because I knew we had to go to the hospital NOW and my friend Codi who I was also an emergency contact doesn't live that close to us. Tyler kept it together though. He grabbed everything, threw it in the car, banged on our neighbors door (an older couple) and asked them to keep an eye on JJ till our friend could pick her up. We went up to the car and before I got in, Tyler started putting down some towels just in case my water broke and suddenly I was like "oh...there it goes!". By the time we got in the car, I was having contractions non stop, like no break in between...it was the worst car ride of my life! Tyler was trying to drive fast to make sure we made it to the hospital while at the same time trying to take it easy over bumps are curves!
The car ride conversation consisted of me saying "If I don't get an epidural when we get there I'm going to murder somebody!!!" While Tyler was on the phone calling my friend to come watch JJ for us so our neighbors didn't have to watch her more than 20 minutes.

When we got to the hospital, Tyler asked me "Where do we go?"
me- "They said D for Delivery!"
Tyler- "where's that?"
me "Just follow the signs!!!"

(D in on the opposite side of the hospital from the emergency entrance FYI)

So we pulled into the D parking lot and immediately parked the car...the hospital entrance was down some stairs so we started heading down the stairs...me in agony and barely able to make it as I exclaimed "I deserve an Olympic medal if I make it to the bottom!" We go down the first flight of stairs and realized there was ANOTHER flight of stairs, and also that we could have driven all the way down and parked in front of the door. Tyler offered to run and get the car to drive me the rest of the way but I was just cried "no I can't do that..I can't get in that car again! We have to keep going!"

We made it to the bottom and when we got to the door...all the lights were dark and all the doors were LOCKED! Tyler was banging on the doors and trying to pull them open...I was bent over holding onto my knees (pants and legs all wet from the water breaking) trying not to fall over and crying out "WHY!!!!! WHY is it LOCKED!!! They said D for Delivery!" Tyler just took off sprinting, he ran to the next building down and started banging on some doors and a security person happened to be walking by. He was like "My wife is going to have our baby on the sidewalk!" so they came sprinting back...in the meantime, I was waiting there crying out the same thing to nobody "They said D for Delivery!!!!" meanwhile envisioning myself lying down and giving birth on the cement. When Tyler and the security guy arrived, he opened the door, grabbed a wheel chair and they got me up to labor and delivery.

As soon as we go in there, they gave me the gown to change into...I went into the bathroom and just started vomiting because the pain was so awful. Tyler was holding onto me so I wouldn't fall over. Then they got me to the bed and were trying to get a Dr. in the room ASAP...I wanted an epidural and all the nurses kept talking about was "oh, guess what? She has a little girl named Jordan who just turned 3!" Every person who walked in the room...the same thing over and over...I was getting so annoyed hearing them repeating the same thing over and over finally after hearing it for what seemed the 10th time I was like "STOP TALKING ABOUT HER!!!" they seemed a little surprised...but you know...when you are lying on a bed in agony and people are just asking questions and talking about irrelevant things...it's pretty easy to get annoyed. Then Tyler said to me "Just go to a happy place." I think I might have given him a look of death and said "Don't EVER say something that stupid again!"

It was all happening VERY fast. The nurse then informed me "honey, you're not going to like this, try to stay calm...but there isn't time for an epidural, you are going to have this baby within 5 minutes" I'm sure I looked completely terrified because I was. All I could say was "but I'm not prepared for this!" I had no intention of doing a natural birth so I didn't go over any special techniques or anything...I was SCARED! I was already in so much pain! That's something you need to mentally prepare yourself for. I couldn't imagine any more pain than I was already in.

The nurses kept telling me not to push because they were still trying to get a doctor in the room. But it was futile, I couldn't help it, the baby was coming out whether anyone else was ready or not! As an on call doctor walked in, he started asking some questions and was quickly cut off as the nurses were basically like -no talking, get the heck in there and catch the baby!

In no time, our little boy was born...healthy and hungry! As far as how I handled the actual birth...I'll just say this...Tyler says if they ever make an Exorcist 5, I could be the star. Thank goodness it was quick!

When it's all said and done...we now have this beautiful amazing little newborn son and it was totally worth it without a doubt. Even though babies are born every day, all over the world since the beginning of mankind...it's still a miracle every single time.


oh..and Brett had his phone right next to him the whole time but it never rang! It was meant to be...if we would have gotten a hold of him...we would have waited for him to get up and come over...I really think I might have not made it to the delivery room if things went as planned! So I think it was a God thing that his phone messed up! Knocking on our neighbors door and leaving ASAP saved us! Otherwise he might have been born on the sidewalk outside the locked Labor and Delivery entrance.

March eHow Earnings

Wow, I just noticed my eHow earnings for March....you know...the residual earnings I make off of articles I've already written and posted and forgotten about until I see a payment in my paypal account? Anyways...I don't know what happened in march, I wasn't very active on the site and am not aware of any of my articles being featured (could have been the case) but to my surprise, my earnings were up over $100 than usual for the month! WOW! Exciting! That's a pretty huge jump for me! I hope April turns out to be as profitable!

If you haven't read about how I create this easy income from home, you must look into it now! Check out my Work from Home (Page at the top of this blog) to read about it...along with other great ways to make money from home. Anyone can do it and it's free!


UPDATE (4/8/2010): Just after posting this, I found out that eHow is having some major changes, and is switching over to having all content written by writers through Demand Studios (the parent company). I was transferred over and will be writing from the platform from now on...so if you do what to write for eHow also, rather than just signing up for a free account and writing whatever, you can still do it, but you would need to apply to by a writer through Demand Studios and get approved. I don' t know the exact process, I haven't had time to look into any of it yet though. But just thought I'd let ya'll know!

Giveaways Galore!

April Showers is doing an entire month of giveaways! How awesome is that!?!? Giveaways are so fun, did you see that I actually won a giveway this past week? So fun and exciting! Okay so all you have to do is just post about April Showers' Giveaway Month to gain entry to EVERY SINGLE giveaway! How easy is that? Oh but you have to post by March 31st, 11:59 pm so hop right on that one and add it to your blog post for today or make a second blog post! Just click on the button below to go to her site!

Heirloom Bloomer Giveaway

Carrie from This Momma Makes Stuff (one of my favorites) is also giving away both pairs of heirloom bloomers that were featured on Ucreate last week. To enter her giveaway, simply go HERE and post a comment following her instructions.

On-The-Go Inflatable Potty Seat Review And Giveaway!

Enter to win this product in either Solid Blue, Solid Pink, Blue with a smiley face, and Pink with a smiley face by clicking HERE.

Use Your Marbles GIVEAWAY!

Good Decisions = Positive Rewards! Just Use Your Marbles!

A reward system to encourage your child's good behavior! Read the review at Mommy Moments and enter to win!

Also....there is still time to join the Mommy Moments McLinky Party! It ends Wednesday night!

Birthday Girl! 3 already!

I can't believe my little sweatpea is 3 years old already! Boy has the time flown by!

I was really feeling like I could go into labor any minute since Friday night...before her party! During her party I was having contractions and kept thinking "what if my water breaks here at the park!" but didn't happen. Today I was really hoping I wouldn't go into labor...I mean, their birthdays will be close together, but who wants to have your younger siblings birthday on the EXACT same day as yours? Well, only 40 minutes left of the day and I think we're in the clear!

Don't forget to link up your mommy moments, the party is open till wednesday!

She LOVED her new Green Toys Tea Pot Set and played with it for over an hour tonight. She also loved the Strawberry shortcake with reversible frosting and strawberries I made for her, with a wooden cake stand (I'll post the pics of these later this week). She played with that up until we realized it was already 9 PM and had to pry her away and get her to bed! The evening went by so fast!

She had such a wonderful birthday this year combined with her party with her adorable little friends over the weekend and tonight she visited with Grandparents on Skype while opening presents and...got to eat more blue cupcakes! (I was really excited to make a cool cake or cute cupcakes...but ran out of energy and just got some from the Walmart bakery...sometimes you just gotta do what's easy!)

PS- Sorry if my posts become increasingly disjointed, random, or don't seem to flow right...the closer I get to having this baby, the less ability I have to focus on anything! If I didn't already have some ADD, I definitely have it now! lol
see MoMmY BRaIn

My Mommy Moments McLinky Party

This McLinky Party is a followup to my recent "Mommy Brain" post. In the spirit of sharing, bonding and being able to laugh not in ridicule, but because you can relate...blog about your best/worst (however you see it) "mommy moments" and link up here! Then be sure to click on and read each other's "mommy moments" and comment! I'm keeping this party open till the end of the month.

I'm REALLY looking forward to some good stories/confessions!!!

1. Enter the link to your specific "Mommy Moments" post, not your blog homepage.

2. Please include a link back to me in your post or you can just post my button somewhere on your post.

3. Please visit the other party participants and leave them a comment.

4. Please put your link in the comments section as well, just in case.

As I mentioned in my previous post, one thing I did on more than one occasion due to mommy brain was leave the house with my arms full with everything I needed, but after walking halfway down the sidewalk to my car, realized I had no shoes on! I also have put the milk in the pantry once!

The worst Mommy Brain moment that I felt SO guilty about and never wanted to tell anyone was the time I forgot to buckle my daughter in her car seat when she was a baby. I had a snap n go stroller (which is awesome I would recommend those to anyone just don't make this mistake!) and went to meet up with some friends who wanted to see the baby. With a snap N go, the car seat just sits right into the stroller. While visiting with my friends, they had unbuckled her to hold her, then set her back in the car seat and put her blanket back on her. Later when we left, I just took the car seat out of the stroller and snapped it into it's base in the car. When I got home and brought her into the house, I took the blanket off her and I realized that I never re-buckled her into the car seat! I felt SO awful and extremely thankful that nothing bad had happened on the way home!!!

And my worst Mommy Moment was when I had a staff meeting at the art school I worked for to share the summer art camp curriculum I had developed with the other teachers. I brought my daughter with me because everyone wanted to see her. I tried nursing her before we left but she wouldn't eat. We were about halfway to the studio when she just started screaming hysterically in the car so I pulled over at this secluded park and tried nursing her in the car. That seemed to be doing the trick, she was ready to eat now! As she was nursing, I felt something warm between my legs....I picked her up and realized she had just had diarrhea/poop water that went strait out the back of her diaper and all over my lap, spilling between my legs and pooling on my seat. I was wearing off-white pants, and sure enough I look at her and she's pretty much clean..it just literally all poured out the back of her diaper onto me. I had a change of clothes for her in the diaper bag...but not for ME! So I had to turn around and go home to change. We lived in an apartment complex with horrible parking so I had to walk all the way from my car to the apartment looking like I was the one with diarrhea as it was all between my legs and down my back side from the poop water pool she had made on my seat. I had left thinking I would be early to the staff meeting and ended up being like a hour late! It was a poopy situation to say the least!

Winner!

Wahoo! Well I just got a fun surprise in my email! I found out that I won this giveaway over at One Small Change! I am the winner of these cute reusable produce bags made by Stephanie over at Gypsy Forest! Thank you to both Hip Mountain Mama for hosting the giveaway and Stephanie for providing her adorable reusable produce bags! I can't wait to see them in person and put them to use! I'm just so excited I just won a giveaway....yay!

Today...I'm feeling grateful for a few things that I just wanted to share. The day started off with a small thing...all week I've been pretty much an insomniac and unable to sleep and last night, I slept through the entire night! So I was VERY grateful for that! AND along with my insomnia this week, i've been so tired every morning and amazingly, my daughter must be having a growth spurt or something because every day this week, she didn't make a peep until at least 10:30 am so I could catch up on sleep in the morning that I couldn't get during the night!

But I'm also just very grateful for my husband. He is so supportive and willing to jump in at anytime to help me out. He does so much around here and I really can't complain about having a lazy husband who doesn't help me. He's hands on with our daughter when he gets home from work, he enjoys making dinner so I don't always have to worry about what to make, while I'm putting our daughter to bed, I'll often come out of her room to find he's cleaned up dinner and picked up the living room, he never hesitates to pull out the vacuum if he notices it needs to be done...and he can always make me smile even when I'm in the worst mood (which has been often lately!). He truly is my best friend and I'm just so grateful for all that he does for out family.

I'm also super grateful to have a sister. My sister and I now live VERY far apart and we don't talk on the phone everyday, but she is just the best! AND she just got a plane ticket to visit me this JUNE! She got it last night and I am just so super duper excited!

My AMAZING Sister

I'm feeling very lucky today!

Putting Ourselves Out There...

I just watched the video above from Wanna be Balanced Mom (super cute video by the way). I loved her post that included this video, it spoke to me very personally. I know exactly what it's like....way too well, to not do things or pursue things we want to do because of fear of what others will think. Singing is a major one of those things for me! I used to write songs all the time, and still work on them when I manage to sit my butt down at the piano...but I've always been WAY too afraid to ever share them with anybody. I get so embarrassed, worrying what other people will think, that I can't even bring myself to share the things I've done or created (minus my simple crafts on this blog! lol! That's easier, it's not IN PERSON! lol). Anyways, my own husband has only heard one song of mine, I did get the courage to sing a song I wrote for him back when we were dating and about to go off to different colleges. I made him sit where I couldn't see him, so I felt like no one was there...and I still was shaking so bad...and that was a one time deal. lol.

I was really inspired by Crystal's courage here. It really hit home and I hope I can be more brave like her and not let my fear of what others may think hold me back from fulling doing the things I enjoy, or from trying new things and just do a better job of putting myself out there. I mean, this may sound rediculous, but I've been too nervous to host a playdate at my home for my playgroup because I'm always worried what people will think about our apartment since most other families live in a house. Crystal's message just helped me realize how much I do this without realizing what I'm really doing, how I'm limiting myself, and helped me realize I need to KNOCK IT OFF! :)

Being a mom has made me more aware of this issue as well. I don't want my daughter to limit herself from doing what she loves and sharing it with others, or fulfilling a dream because she is worried about what others may think, from fear of failure or rejection. I want her to live life and give it her best shot! If I'm not willing to put myself out there, how will she learn to do it? I can encourage her as much as I want, but I do believe we teach more by example than anything else.

Thanks Crystal, for being an example for me!!!

Just a little something to think about....

Beautiful Blog Award

So exciting! I received a Beautiful Blog Award from a new blogger friend the other day and was SUPER surprised and flattered! I was like...wait....someone actually found my blog and liked it that isn't a relative or personal friend?!?! WAHOO!

I received this award from Stacey over at Boy, Oh, Boy, Oh Boy! whom has a really fun blog that I've just am getting familiar with and having fun looking around and exploring. I was really surprised to see that she made homemade perogies in one of her posts! My husband and I LOVE perogies and he is always trying to perfect his recipe and technique...but it seems like no one else even knows what perogies are! (They are SO missing out!) Anyways, she has some great ideas on her blog and I can't wait to spend more time over there. Thank you Stacey! You made my day!

Now, onto the rules

1.Thank the link to the person that gave you the award

2.Pass this award on to 7 bloggers you've recently discovered and whom you think are fantastic

3.Contact said Blogs to let them know they've won

4.State 7 Things about yourself!

So, here are a few of my most recently, favorite blogs:

1. Can I pass it back to someone who already got it? I'd love to award to to Stacey!
2. Mia Joie
3. MaryJanes and Galoshes
4. Made By Bronwyn
5. Raised in Cotton
6. Melonbelly
7. Wanna be a Balanced Mom
8. The Mommy Files

These are all SUPER fantastic blogs I have recently found and fell in love with!

Oh yeah, and 7 things about myself:

1. I'm 34 weeks pregnant and feel like I'm going to POP! And I can't wait to get back to the GYM!
2. Although I grew up in Canada, I LOVE the almost snow free winters in the south!
3. I LOVE french fries
4. I LOVE Chocolate...a real chocoholic here!
5. I love the color teal/aqua/turquoise
6. I've been able to create a residual income from home for a little over 2 years now...without any investments! HERE's how!
7. I Love attempting to recreate things that I fall in love with but can't afford!

Cupcakes and a Blog Award!

Yummy....delicious vanilla cupcakes with chocolate ganache frosting! mmmmmmmm

My FIRST EVER BLOG AWARD! YIPEEE!!!

My good friend Tori just awarded me with my first ever blog award! Thank You! She and I go way back and even though we now rarely see each other, blogging is one of the great ways we stay in touch and keep informed on each other's lives. She is one of the funnest and cutest gals I know! She blogs about her new life as a military wife!

To accept this award I must list 10 things that make me happy and then pass this award along to 10 fabulous blogs!

10 Things That Make Me Happy:

My Family

The Beach/Shore....Here we are at the shore in CT!


Chocolate!!!
I'm an official chocoholic, it always makes me happy!


The Color Teal
(Tori, it's not just your color!!!)


Roaming Craft and Fabric Stores-
getting inspired and getting supplies for...
Making Stuff...
nothing better than finishing a fun project and feeling productive


Facebook, Skype and Cellphones -
helps me keep in touch with my great family and friends!


eHow & Paypal...
Love getting to see those residual earnings deposited each month!
(Hey that's my user pic in that image!)
You can see my articles HERE.

Kettle Chips or French Fries
I know it's horrible, but I LOVE potato chips and the crunchier the better! I also am addicted to French Fries. Healthy...I know!


My Camera...
I just love pretending to be a photographer!


Hot Tubs
I can't use em now, but I LOVE hot tubs! I told me husband that when we get a house, it's an essential item!

NOW...Let's see that yummy Cupcake Again!

Don't those cupcakes look delish? I made these Vanilla Cupcakes (inspired by Smashed Peas and Carrots -click for recipe) and was taking a break before I make a Chocolate Ganache frosting when I read Tori's post! So here are some yummy cupcakes to celebrate this fun award with! (or we can call it what it really is....a raging pregnancy craving)...

I'm now passing this award onto these fabulous blogs:

Trista @ Dancing With Diabetes
Krystal's Kouture
Jenn
Maria @ myWAHM Blog
Smashed Peas and Carrots
Smart Cents Mom
Melonbelly
This Mama Makes Stuff
Inspiring Creations
Heather @ Free Crochet Patterns Weekly
Pam @ Bibbidi Bobbidi Beautiful!