A little Christmas Survey

Since I have been so nonexistant lately, when I saw this on Melanie's blog, I figured this was an easy enough thing for me to post!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper...I could spend hours wrapping presents!
2. Real tree or Artificial? At the moment artificial. I love real trees though!
3. When do you put up the tree? Umm...usually the weekend after Thanksgiving. I'm sad to say I haven't had time to put mine up yet!!! :0(
4. When do you take the tree down? Usually right after New Year's
5. Do you like eggnog? Not fond of egg nog
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Nothing really stands out. I think I also have a lot of memories that I look back on!
7. Hardest person to buy for? Moms
8. Easiest person to buy for? Little Man
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail them...after I finish making them!
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I don't know if it was the worst, but it was funny. My parents had stuff set aside they were going to sell for in a garage sale. My dad went out in the garage, picked out a few things, and wrapped them up to give to me for Christmas. We still laugh about it now!
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Not really movie....but Rudolph, Frosty and such. We made it tradition to watch these every year growing up!
13 When do you start shopping for Christmas? This year I think we started in late September...and I've even picked up a few things for next year!
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes I have...I'm terrible!
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Well...when my grandma was here, I loved her dinner on Christmas Eve. What I wouldn't give for her homemade pierogies!!!
16. Lights on the tree? Much to my hubbies dismay, we have white lights on our Christmas tree.
17. Favorite Christmas song? Silent Night...no specific artist. And any fun, upbeat music I can sing to.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Since most of our family is locak, stay home.
19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen, but do you recall the most famous reindeer of all....Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer....
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Actually, neither....but closer to a star
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? We always opened one present each on Christmas Eve and the rest were done in the morning
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Getting away from the true meaning of Christmas and feeling the need to spend soooo much money
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Since we started dating my hubby has bought me an Eeyore ornament from The Disney Store. This year, for the first time, they didn't make one. I don't know what I'm going to do!!!
24. Favorite thing for Christmas dinner? We always have ham and the trimmings.
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? My family to be healthy and happy
26. Who is most likely to respond to this? Hmmmm....
27. Who is least likely to respond: Hmmmm....

Hope you enjoy...and have a Merry Christmas!

I think it's time to get back into this again...

I know, it has been far too long since I posted here. Well, I'm going to try again! I'm going to start off small.





Maybe I'm starting him a little young?!?! I only spent $10 on this little vacuum, but it's great that little man actually uses it! Now if only I could get him to do the dishes!

Yes...I'm a slacker!

It has been well over a month since I've posted. I'm not going to make any excuses...it's just life! We're currently getting over a second bout of "the plague" in my house. The first time we were all hit, the second time only my hubby and me! I'm hoping little man doesn't decide to get sick this weekend!
Just wanted to let you know I'm still here...and I'll hopefully be back with some new posts shortly!

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

On Saturday we took a road trip. We went to see a house being built by Extreme Makeover Home Edition. We had heard they were going to be in the town because my hubby's cousin lives on the same street they were building it. We figured we would take a ride because when would we ever have the chance to see this again.

I had been following the story on the Internet. They actually tore the house down on Wednesday and by the time we got there on Saturday, they were finishing the siding, gutters, landscaping, etc. I'm not sure how far they were on the interior, but they had put out a call for anyone who knew how to drywall and install hardwood floors. Darn it, I don't know how to do either.

There were a lot of people there...between volunteers and spectators there were hundreds. There were some kids selling water and hot dogs. There were tables of t-shirts that were being bought up. What an amazing thing to watch though. I wish we had gone on Sunday. That's when you would really get the opportunity to see everyone from the show. We did get to see Ed Sanders (he's in the pinkish-red colored shirt in a couple pictures). I'm not sure when the episode aired, but he is the one that cut his hand when he was working on a project for the show. He was in the front yard and turned to get the crowd to cheer on all those working. It was truly amazing to see how much all these people got done in a few short days!











Little man did pretty well all day. Right before we left, he started to have a meltdown. He had only napped in the car for less than an hour. We were really hoping he would take a little nap in his stroller, but he wanted no part of it. Five minutes after we got in the car, he was out...of course! Since we drive right past her house, we were going to stop and see my sister on the way home. Unfortunately we got detoured due to a parade and were past her house by the time we got back on our original route.

All in all it was a good trip. We're actually hoping to take another trip next weekend. We'll see though!

New things to play in

It's been a while. Summer has flown by and Fall is almost here. Fall is actually my favorite season, so I'm ok with that!

A couple weeks ago little man found something new to play with...er in. I have actually commented to some people about how good little man is about closing door, drawers, cupboards, etc. Well...I spoke too soon.







These pictures...notice the wet hair? I would love to say he got in the sink, tub, etc. No...my son stuck his hands in the toilet and "washed" his hair. Two minutes with my back turned was all it took! He immediately had a bath run and he was "disinfected" from that nasty water.

I think now we are going to have to keep the bathroom door shut for fear of what can come next!

Shhhhh........

Shhhhh....quiet....do you hear that? No? Just listen for a couple more seconds! Still nothing? That's because it's quiet. I actually have the day off without little man or hubby! It's very strange though because I'm constantly listening for little man to start crying to say he is awake from his nap. Is that strange? My mind has become so tuned in to him, even when he's not home I'm listening for him!

I've been keeping busy today. I'm cleaning a little. I haven't been doing it continuously, and I'm taking breaks because I want to. I actually made myself breakfast and lunch and didn't have anyone else standing there asking for some even though they already ate there own. I'm picking up rooms and they are staying clean for longer than ten minutes. Was this what it was like before little man came along?

Before little man was born, I probably would have taken a day off and just layed on the couch watching tv and doing nothing. Today I'm just savoring the quiet.

In all honesty though, I can't wait for him to get home. My hubby works tonight, so I'm hoping to take a walk to the park with little man. Before he left to go to day care, he was sitting on the couch being all cuddly...I love these cuddling sessions because they are not coming as often any more! Is there any way I can stop him from growing up?

Well...3 hours left in my day off...what else can I do today?

(On a side note....Operation no binky is going o.k. I relented the other night after a half hour of screaming...I know...I'm bad. Yesterday he didn't have the pacifier all day, and he even slept without is last night. I hate to do this to him, but after we visited the dentist a few months ago, I knew I would have to face this sooner than later! We'll see what tonight brings!)

Crying due to Operation No Binky

I'm sitting at my computer listening to little man scream and cry. I feel horrible because I can't go in and give him what he wants...the binky!!! This is about the millionth time I have attempted this. It always seems to get sabotaged.

I started again on Friday. Saturday morning my hubby got little man up and brought him out with a binky in his mouth. I was devastated. I thought my one day of hard work was gone. Then I had to go to work. My hubby was home with little man all day...even nap time. He relented and gave little man the pacifier for nap time.

Then I put little man to bed without the pacifier, and he slept through the night. Yay!!! He didn't have it for his afternoon nap! Yay again!!!

Now it's bed time and he's probably been crying for about 10 minutes now!!! I figure if we can get through a couple more nights, we should be good. Now if everyone gets on the same page as me, it'll be perfect!!!

Trying to Post

I've started a couple posts in the past couple weeks, and I just didn't feel like finishing them. Why? I don't know. I'm tired. Little man is getting to be a pro at the tantrum throwing. My hubby has been working two jobs, so that leaves me home alone alot. That should give me plenty of time to do this...but when I have this time, I often don't feel like doing anything. How sad.

Last week we finally got our washer and dryer hooked up. Actually, it just started with the water lines and drain being put in my mother's kitchen. Then we had electric run and the vent put on the enclosed back porch for the dryer. When we moved, we put them both down in the basement because that was where the hookups were. Unfortunately, it wasn't ready for us to put everything in, so we waited...a little too long in my opinion...but it's done now so I can't complain. So we had hubby's two brothers come over on Sunday and help get them up from the basement...what fun!

No more trips to the laundromat!!! Yay!!! I've been doing laundry every night since it got hooked up. How great is that? I know, it's really sad that I'm getting excited about doing laundry?!?!

Not too much is going on. Little man is still sleeping through the night off and on. Last night being one of the off nights, I wound up sleeping with him on this floor so he would go to sleep. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he sleeps through the whole night tonight! I guess we've been pretty lucky though with his sleep patterns!

I went for a walk tonight. I really need to start exercising because I need to get rid of this baby weight...19 months later!!!!!! I hate how I look, how I feel. I think I'm going to start with a 5 pound goal and work from there. I actually would love to get down 30...but that seems so unattainable right now! So, I guess I'll start with little baby steps!!! Maybe if I start blogging about that, it will help keep me accountable!!!

Well, I'm off to get another load out of the dryer...don't be jealous!

Laundry Day

Sunday is always laundry day in our house. This is the day we go to the laundromat. While I don't mind going (because we are all done in 2 hours!), I can't wait to have our washer and dryer hooked up. We have been in our house almost a year...I think it's long overdue! We have hookups in the basement, but the drain from the laundry tub to the ground wasn't connected. I don't know how anyone ever did laundry down there...if they ever did! We got an estimate to put the washer in the kitchen downstairs and the dryer on the back porch. So my hubby is going to call this week to see when the plumber can come do it. This solution will work as long as my mom is renting downstairs...after that...we'll have to figure something else out. I just can't wait to throw a load of laundry in whenever I want to!!! How silly is that???

Early Morning Quiet and a Busy Day

I'm up bright and early. I usually am on the weekends. There is something about sitting in the quiet house before anyone else is up. I know the rest of the day is going to be spent taking care of little man. So I enjoy this hour or so of time to myself. My hubby is still sleeping too. We have a busy day ahead of us. I want to head to the local farmer's market, my mother wants to go to a dollar store, and we have a party to go to later this afternoon. Fun! I guess that's what summer is all about though!
Speaking of summer, just this past week I finally got little man's pool out so he could play in it! He's been using the one at the babysitter's house but not at home. He really enjoyed it. Toward the end though, he liked throwing the water onto the lawn more than anything else...at least the lawn got watered a bit! Enjoy the pictures!







The other day I brought out a movie for the first time to see if little man would watch it. I put in Elmo in Grouchland, and he actually would watch it off and on. Well last night he was really cute. He loves to go over to our dvd's and pulls them off the shelf. He always manages to have a huge pile on the floor before I can get to him. Yesterday he kept walking over to the shelves, and I kept steering him away. Finally last night he got over there before I could get him. He pulled some dvds off the shelf and then started walking over to me. Wouldn't you know he had the Elmo in Grouchland dvd. So cute. I didn't think he would know what one it was...but he loves Elmo. So I put it in and we snuggled together and watched it. How I savor days like that because I know the time is going to come that he won't want that!

Visiting Baby Girl

Last Saturday after little man got his haircut, we took a little day trip to visit my sister, her husband, and baby girl. We had just seen them a few weeks before when they moved, but we didn't get to visit amongst all the chaos. It's amazing how big baby girl is getting.


I still get nervous when little man gets around baby girl. The picture looks all sweet...but about two seconds after I took this picture, he tried to hit her! UGH! We're trying really hard to teach him about "nice touches!" Hopefully he'll get it soon!








Baby girl wasn't sure what to think in her exersaucer. I just kept taking pictures though hoping that I would get a good one...she is so cute!

In a few weeks we're going to go visit again...hopefully I'll get more pictures then!

Operation No Binky

I started "Operation No Binky" almost a month ago. The first two weeks went really well with the only time little man got his pacifier was when he found one that I hadn't. Then we got hit with a really bad week. It was the week my brother and his family came to visit and I was off from work. Little man's schedule was totally off with him getting to bed some nights around 11 pm - his typical bedtime is somewhere between 8-9 pm. That made for some very cranky nights...and days!!! So to survive them, I pulled out the reinforcements...the hidden binkys!!! I didn't think I would have to since we had been without it so long, but I did. So today...I'm starting all over again!!! My fingers (toes, arms, legs, etc.) are crossed that we are more successful this time around. We have already made it through nap time without the binky...the next challenge will be bed time!!! We'll see what happens!

The video

Here the short video of little man's haircut...enjoy!

Yet another first

Yesterday we went through another first with little man...His first haircut. His hair wasn't incredible long (as you'll see in the first three pictures), but it was just getting to an unmanageable stage. He has some curls in his hair, so once he slept on it, forget about it. I had been putting it off for a few weeks now, but finally decided it was time to take the plunge!

Just a few pictures to show what his hair looked like before -






He got to sit in an airplane while she cut his hair...he loved it!




The first few cuts...I didn't know how he would react, but he did really well. I think it helped that she had Elmo playing on the counter in front of him.






And the end result. I was so afraid he was going to look like such a big boy. He does...a little bit!! I really like his new haircut, and I'm glad we did it. I hope next time goes as well as this one!

Happy Birthday to me!

glitter-graphics.com
Yesterday I turned 34. 34 years old...where have all the years gone?

When I was a kid, I couldn't wait to grow up. How exciting grown up life seemed. I wouldn't have to live with my parents, I would have my own place, I would have a job, etc. How many adults looked at me and said to enjoy my childhood, it would be gone before I knew it? And it was.

I don't know if I would want to go back and relive everything. What I want more than anything is the naivete (however you spell it). I want to have carefree days of spending time with friends. I want my most tiring job to be babysitting the kids up the street. I want to take bike rides with my brother. I want to play Barbies with my sister. We used to have so much fun. We created so many activities...not even using any the toys my parents had bought us. Our imaginations led us.

I guess I can't really say my adult life isn't great. I'm reliving all those innocent days of my childhood through my son. On the 4th little man watched his first fireworks display. He sat so still in my lap taking it all in. At the conclusion, he clapped. Did he really understand why? Probably not, but I absolutely loved sharing that first with him.

No Sleep

I don't know where my good sleeper has gone. Every other night for probably the past two to three weeks, little man has been up and down all night. I don't know what to do, especially since I have to go back to work this week. Thank goodness tonight is the night he should sleep...hopefully. Now that I've written about it, i have a feeling it's going to go the opposite.
We're also dealing with a lot of whining. As I type this, he is sitting on the floor beside me reaching up for me to pick him up. Don't get me wrong, I love that he wants/needs me, but can't a girl spend some time doing something else? I know...what else did I expect when I had little man? :0) Thing is 99% of the time when I pick him up, he just wants to get back down! What's up with that?
Well, I better go tend to his needs!

Happy 4th of July

Graphics and Myspace Layouts at pYzam.com

It is officially 12:00, but I hope everyone had a happy 4th! Tonight we spent at my brother-in-law's house. It was alot of family and friends, eating and having a good time. At 9:30 we watched the fireworks on their front lawn from a nearby park. It was little man's first time to see fireworks (it's sad, I can't even remember what we did last year!). I have no idea why, but it made me kind of sappy and emotional. All these firsts we go through with our kids that we'll never have back. He actually really enjoyed the fireworks. He even clapped after the "big finale." You never know what type of reaction you are going to get from them!

Other than that, my brother and his family drove to the city the airport is as they are leaving to fly home at 6:15 tomorrow morning. It was nice to visit with them, and I hope they can come visit again soon. I actually think it would be great to go visit them since we haven't been out there in three years. I just don't know how little man would handle a plane ride! We'll see though.

Visiting with family has been fun. My vacation ends Sunday, and it's back to work on Monday. Sometimes I really wish I didn't have to work. Maybe someday!

A Family Visit

This week I'm off from work. It's a long-needed break. Hubby is working though, but little man is home with me. My brother and his family are visiting from the west coast until Friday night. It's been almost 9 months since my brother was here, his wife was here for my dad's funeral in 2006, and my niece hasn't been here since my sister's wedding in 2004. I think this visit was very welcome to be able to see everyone. It seems in our hectic lives, that we don't get to visit with family as much as we used to. Just this past weekend, my sister moved an hour away from our hometime, so I'm hoping that we'll get to see her and her family more often! Everyone is going in different directions that we rarely have an opportunity to all meet up and spend time together. Tonight we are all going out to dinner to celebrate my brother and sister-in-laws third anniversary. It's going to be great to have all the generations together, all as a family.

Operation No Binky, day 2

Well, last night went well. Little man made it through the whole night!! Yay!!! When he got up this morning, he came in the living room and found a binky on the floor. He only kept it for a couple minutes and went on playing. He's now down for his first nap without the binky. Keeping my fingers crossed that this transition turns out to be easier than I thought it would be. Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself by writing about it here! I'm off to search the house for the remaining binkies!

Bye Bye Binky!

Tonight I'm trying something new. I have a feeling I might regret it but right now everything seems fine. When I put little man to bed tonight, I didn't have a pacifier with me. I said to myself "do I, or don't I?" One part of me thinks this is crazy, why do I want to take away little man's "security blanket"? The other part of me says why not? We had to take little man to the dentist a couple months ago because he fell and chipped his front tooth. On the way over there I forewarned hubby that the dentist was not going to be happy to see little man with a pacifier at 15 months...and I was right. The dentist went on to tell us that kids should be done with them by the time they are 18 months, preferably sooner. I wonder if he ever had to live through a child screaming for a binky when you tried to put them down to sleep? At this moment little man is quiet, but I know that could change at any moment. I just know that the sooner we try to wean him off the binky, the easier it will be for him (and us!!!). Besides...who wants to see a five year old walk into kindergarten with his binky still in his mouth. :0)

My blooms and a sunset

Just a few pictures that I took last week. The flowers are growing in the front flower bed at my house. Being our first spring/summer here, it's been interesting to see what comes up! We still have a few months of this too. Then we have the beautiful sunset we had the other day. Hubby and I took a walk just so I could take these pictures. Then, of course, I added a picture of little man. Unfortunately, that's how most of his pictures turn out these days. Little man + the camera flash = squinty eyed pictures. Anyone know how I can stop this??

Complaining

Last Friday I went to my company picnic. While we were there they gave us these bracelets:



If you click on the picture, you can hopefully see that the bracelet says "A Complaint Free World.Org" You can go here to see what it's all about. Basically they told us that people are wearing these bracelets to become more aware of how much they complain or gossip...about anything! You start off with the bracelet on one of your wrists. If throughout the day you find yourself complaining or gossiping, you switch it to the other wrist and start all over. The goal of this is to try to go 21 days without complaining or gossiping. Why 21 days you ask? Well, they say that is how long it takes the average person to break a habit. 21 days...piece of cake! Yeah...I tried...it didn't last two long. Whether you have the bracelet or not, try it. See how many days in a row you can go without complaining or gossiping...it's not as easy as it seems!

My Daddy

It's been just over a year and a half since I lost my dad. With Fathers Day coming up, it just reminds me of him even more. I was going to look for cards for my hubby from me and little man, and my first thought was of what type of card I would get for my dad, only he's not here. Then I was walking through the store, and I saw many different presents I would have bought for him, only he's not here. He is never far from my thoughts. He was a great dad, the kind every kid wishes he had. Yes, he could be strict, but looking back he had reason. He could be embarrassing, but what teenager didn't feel this way at some point? He could be funny, and he made us all laugh. My dad loved to be on the go. He was our transportation for many years. When friend's parents didn't feel like driving us somewhere, we knew all we had to do is ask my dad and he would say yes. If we were a little low on money, and one of his kids wanted something, he would sacrifice so we could get it. He was a very unselfish man. He never wanted for much. He was a very simple man. Most days he would be wearing his cuffed jeans, a t-shirt and his sneakers. But when he dressed up, you never saw a more handsome man. One of my memories that I have as a little girl is the smell of my dad's cologne. It was never the expensive stuff for my dad...it was all about the Old Spice. And to this day when I smell it, I automatically think of him! Now that I have little man, I think of how much he would have loved to spend time with him. He actually joked with me over the years that if I ever had children, he would have to take them from me to take care of and I could come visit them on weekends! I alway knew he thought I would be more than capable of taking care of them, he was just excited by the prospect of grandchildren! And looking at little man, sometimes I think he looks alot like my dad...and that's good! I never knew how much I would miss him...but I miss him so much. So for everyone who has their daddy to celebrate this holiday with, go see your dad, call him, whatever, just tell him you love him and you're glad he is your dad!! I think, even though he's no longer here, my dad always knew how much he meant to me!

An Award

I got my first award from Melanie at Livin' with Me. It was created by Crystal at Memoirs of a Mommy Blog to honor the donor that saved her son Noah's life:

“The rules of this award are: SHARE THE LOVE!!! Share this award with all those blogs out there that you love. All the people who make you smile. All those that make you laugh. All those that make your day. All those that leave uplifting comments on your blog. **All I ask, is that you include a link to this post with the award and ask your recipient to do the same**
As you may have recently seen on my side bar, I have finally created a custom blog award!! I have wanted to do this for a long time but never came up with something that “fit”. I didn’t want just anything. It had to be something that meant something to me. And what could mean more than Sharing the Love by giving you pieces of my heart??
So I created this award in Honor Of The Donor That Saved Noah’s Life. I share this award with those of you whose love and friendship have enriched my life and made my world a better place.
I hope by passing this award around the blogging world we can all help raise awareness of the need for Organ Donation.”

Melanie is an old friend, and I'm honored that she thought of me for this award. As a mom of a child with CHD who has had open-heart surgery, I can't imagine what it would be like for him to have to go through a heart transplant also. What a brave mom Crystal is, and a beautiful little boy Noah is. Thanks Melanie!

Hard Work

I am oh so very exhausted tonight. It's late, I should be in bed...but I'm posting on my blog. Makes a ton of sense, doesn't it? Hubby and I spent all day working in the yard and doing little projects. Fun!!! A little while ago, hubby cleared the flower bed on the side of the house. It was overgrown with all sorts of trees, flowers, etc. I had no idea what I wanted to do with it. Well, we took a trip to Home Depot and I picked out a couple of shrubs and a spruce tree to plant there. What a project that turned out to be. We ended up taking another trip a little later to pick up a few more things. A friend had given me one hanging basket for the porch...so for balance, I had to buy another. I also planted flowers in the window boxes and in the flower bed with the holly bush. It was tough work, and I'm sure I'll feel it all day tomorrow at work!! There is still alot to do...what fun it is to own our own house!!! I'll update with more pictures once everything starts to grow!!!