Future Featured Bloggers on G.U.M

Well if you didn't already know... I contribute to a mommy blog called Growing Up Mommies (or G.U.M for short) and we are looking to get to know some inspiring mommies, learn some new parenting tricks, and well just get to know some of you out there in the blogging world!!!! If you or someone you know would like to be a guest blogger or promote your blog on this super fun blog... stroll on over and sign up!!!! We are so excited to get to know some of you!!!!
So what are you waiting for????? Click Here and sign up!!!!





Also Dont forget about my Baby Bottle BornFree Give-Away!!!!

Happy Wednesday!!!

BornFree Give away!!

In our house we are big fans of the BornFree Products! So i am happy to announce that i am now doing a Giveaway to get one lucky follower started with a 2 Pack of 9 oz plastic bottles with size 1 nipples and the BornFree Twister Bottle Cleaner Brush Set! Hopefully your family will love them as much as we do!!!
There are 3 easy steps to win this great give away! (&&& i will announce the winner in two weeks!)
1. Be a follower of this blog! (obviously)
2. Follow my mommy blog G.U.M
3. Mention this give away on your blog!




Good Luck!!!!!

Have a fantastic Tuesday!!!

WHAAAA- LAAAAAA!!!!!!!

Well if you read my post this morning then you know it was a rough night and Maddi was up all night teething! Well because she didn't sleep very well (or at all) Last night... She of course slept all day! I took this opportunity even though i was exhausted myself... and cleaned the whole house... finished some projects i had been putting off, the laundry that has been screaming my name and growing almost bigger then my children, and of course the recent but much anticipated disaster... THE KIDS BATHROOM!!!! Hallelujah!!!! SO without further hesitation... here is the finished project ... (minus the pictures I'm going to hang on the walls... I'm not super woman!!!) lol











OR am I???? lol Just kidding! Have a wonderful evening!

A visit from the not so pleasant Tooth Fairy!

Well last night was rough! Maddi slept a total of about 2 hrs (as did Nick and I)...

I tried:
♥Rocking Her
♥Nursing Her
♥Rubbing her back
♥Motrin

But nothing helped her... she just cried and cried like i have never seen her cry before!

It wasnt until her and i sat on the balcony watching the sun come up and her finally dozing off that i saw a little white tooth peeking out! Its so cute! At that point i put aside all of my exhaustion, frustration, and stress and couldnt help but smile.
I also had a few tears at that moment... i just cannot believe how big she is getting... In one week she has managed to crawl at lightning speed, walk along the furniture, eat some of my poparie (which is no longer allowed in the house), break quite a few household objects and get a new tooth! Makes me so sad... maybe its time for a new baby?!?!?! ha ha... NO... just kidding. But this does mean its time for us to go shopping.. we need some starbucks, teething remedies and a baby gate corral!

&&& Lets just say that in 7 years when she loses this tooth and we get a visit from the tooth fairy... she is not getting her hands on this tooth! Im not sure she knows just how hard we worked on this little guy!!!

The picture above was taken just a few minutes ago... of my sweet girl FINALLY getting some rest!

Hope everyone is have a wonderful Monday Morning and takes a second to smile at their growing babies!

O Hello, have we met?

Well if not... I'd like to meet you! If you havent noticed i have a Guestbook widget down below... I would love to see where you are from and who you are and at the very least i would love for you to introduce yourself! Have a Happy Weekend!

Friday with a few big F's!!!

Well today is Friday and while all of the lucky working people out there are celebrating the end of their working week... I am doing no such thing! (Since i never get to leave my job and go home)... but enough complaining ha ha this Friday has come with a few big F's.

1. Fever- MY daughter was up all night with a fever and even though its not high enough to worry about its been difficult to say the least. I am hoping this is that start (and near finish) of her cutting her first tooth!

2. Forgetfulness- It seems my 5 yr old has forgetten how to clean his room, listen, the rules, and how to be polite this week!

3. Frenzy- this is the current state my house is in... and i have lost the motivation to clean it and get it together!

4. Fantasy- my day dreaming of a night out alone with my honey ... minus the paint, glue, spit up, and crying!

Happy Friday!

What Exactly Have i gotten myself into????

Well i have recently decided that my 3 major projects this summer are going to be to decorate both kids rooms and their bathroom. I started with their bathroom. I chose a super cute whale theme from target and decided i was going to paint the large wall with thick oasis blue and thin brown stripes... well this is much harder then it sounds... i have made myself frustrated this morning by trying to get my taping straight!!!! I gave up... i text my honey and said when you get i need to tape the kids bathroom wall... THANKS!!! But anywho here are some pics of this ongoing project! I hope to have final pics up next week sometime.


~The Wall~


~The Paint~


~The Theme~


~The Mess~


~& The only thing ive accomplished for the day~



Anyone have any advice to make this taping straight lines easier?????

Wishful Wednesday

SO one day my mom came home with a mini van and i laughed at her ... i vowed i would never drive one... EVER!!!!! Now that i have two kids and plan on having at least two more.... i want a "Swagger Wagon"!!!! They have so many awesome features...

My honey rolls his eyes when i say i want one and he says..."no way no mini van ... how about a third row seat SUV?" But with this cool Music video ... maybe i can convince him!!!!! lol

A Happy Father's Day

One night a father overheard his son pray: Dear God, Make me the kind of man my Daddy is. Later that night, the Father prayed, Dear God, Make me the kind of man my son wants me to be.
I find this quote fascinating... Having two children from two very different types of fathers... it makes me wonder why it is that fathers can be so different. My son worships his father, this father that he rarely sees, a father who contributes to his life in no way, a father who has never grown up. My daughter lights up when her father comes into the room, a father who spends every available minute with her, a father who makes an effort to be there for every first, from first time rolling over, to the first time she ate solid foods and makes the effort to read to her every night and wake up with her every morning and contributes to her life in every way. Why is it that as children we have a way of seeing our fathers (good or bad) as these super heroes. In my son's case... at what point does the novelty wear off, and when they do realize this? How is it that i am going to explain why i didn't protect him from this person? And in my daughters case, will she ever realize how lucky she is? How lucky that she will always have her father's shoulder to cry on? She will have her father present at every big event, from the first day of pre-school to her high school graduation, to her wedding. How is that i explain to the two of them why it is that their father's are so different?

Because i have so many questions about fathers and the explanation for the different behaviors of fathers i would encourage any and all advice and or personal experience stories!

On a lighter note i would like to wish every involved and sincere father out there a very Happy Father's Day! You are so appreciated even if its not said enough, you are helping our children understand the importance of family in a society where families and marriages fail as often as they succeed, You are teaching our children they can rely on someone and you make them want to carry on the same important values to their children. so THANK YOU!

♥♥♥Memories From Nicks 1st Father's Day!♥♥♥

Flasback Friday: 22 Yrs Ago

This is me... 22 years ago.
I think it looks like my son in a dress. Its crazy how alike we look!

O and yes the dress... my grandmother loved having grand-daughters. She dressed us in the girliest dresses and we always had bows and shoes to match.

When I had my daughter i swore i wasnt going to dress her up in pink and bows... and well now she always has bows to match, dresses, and matching shoes.

Hope everyone has a wonderful FRIDAY!!!!!

Thankful Thursday!

I don't think its done quite enough!But sometimes when you are forced to sit down and think about the many blessings we have in life we become more grateful the things we have and stop thinking about the things we want or don't have.

Here are a few things I am grateful for:
1. A wonderful family
2. My beautiful children: even if some days i would like to pull my hair out.
3. The fact that i am blessed enough to stay home with my kids everyday: again even though some days i would like to pull my hair out.
4. My mom: she used to drive me crazy when i was younger and now i want to be around her all the time and she is truly my hero.
5. The fact that we are lucky enough to spend holidays together: Sunday we will be spending the afternoon with my father, my honey's father, his grandparents, and great grandparents and my grandparents.
6. To have a relatively stress free life: It is wonderful to not have to think about how i will feed my children, where we will sleep and what we will wear to stay warm on a daily basis. These little things we take for granite.
7. Amazing friends: I have been lucky enough to have the same group of friends (with of course adding a few on the way) since second grade. We have survived school, are graduating from college, having babies, and getting married together.
8. Lastly, the freedom to believe in the religion i choose. I am so grateful i am allowed to give praise to my lord Jesus Christ and thank him for giving me ever lasting life, and not have to worry about getting in trouble for this?

I hope all of you have a few things to be grateful for.

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Wordless Wednesday: Big Brother and Little Admirer

I have never seen love like the love that is Between these two angels. She Wants to do EVERYTHING he wants to do ... and he is always happy to show her the ropes!

The Freedom to blog HOWEVER, WHENEVER, and say WHATEVER!

Now I am pretty new to blogging (started in Feb, of this year) and I have become quickly addicted. It think its the appeal to say what you want, vent, write, and read up on other people with similar situations. I love it. But one of the many things I love the most is the freedom to write whenever, however, and say whatever I want. The problem with this (as with anything you put on the Internet these days) is it opens you up for rude, impolite cynical people to read in on your life (and up until today) make anonymous comments about your blog. Now when I first started my blog I allowed these comments. I allowed them because I thought to myself, "well you are putting it out on the web for people to read so you may as well let people say what they would like to say! Well that wasn't until I have recently gotten some rude and never ending anonymous comments on my blog. Criticizing how i say things, how I title my blogs, and how grammatically and politically correct I am. So this is my message to the "anonymous blog commenters" (not sure if that last sentence is grammatically correct enough for you, my personal blog editor) but... I think it is completely inappropriate that people feel the need to criticize other peoples thoughts and writings. The beauty of blogging is that we have the freedom to say whatever however we want, if you have some comments about blogs you are reading that are rude or cynical please keep them you yourself. If you read something you done like ... there is a small red X at the top right hand corner of your screen. Please feel free to use it. :0) There is no need to constantly criticize peoples thoughts, writings, pictures, ideas, or opinions.

On a lighter note I would love to Thank all of my followers, and readers who provide thoughtful comments, and comments worth reading and thinking about. I appreciate all of the non cynical and actually constructive criticism comments that actually help.

I hope everyone out there blogs and comments with kindness. You never know who you are offending. And again if someone is writing about something you don't agree with, or pronouncing something you think is wrong... I encourage you to ignore it and carry on to the next blog!

Have a great week all!

Calling a Truths!

Well im sure if you read my last post ... you understand that my BF and i had a rough last weekend! Well after days of not talking and sleeping in seperate rooms, eating alone etc. We decided to call a truths... and get out of the house for a much needed vacation. So we packed up and went to the lake. It was a great time and extrememly relaxing for the most part. It was my daughter's first time at the lake and i think she enjoyed it. I appreciate all of the advice and responses to my marriage post. It has helped me to see all different opinions and view points!

What i learned this week is that i absolutely need to work on my stubborn personality. The fact that i will argue until im blue in the face in order to avoid admitting i am wrong. I also need to pick and choose my battles... (not to be confused with being taken advantage of)...but biting my toungue at times and just making an honest effort at making my honey happy.

There are a lot of thing about him i do not like or agree with... HOWEVER... this is the person i have chosen to be with ... so for the sake of our relationship and my daughters sanity... i need to try and live with these "annoyances" and work on mine as well.

Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit each other. Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then. ~Katherine Hepburn

As much as i agree with this on a regular basis ... there wouldnt be anyone there on a regular basis to make me laugh. This is the most important thing.

Happy Monday everyone!!!

To have and to hold? In this day in age?

Now if you have followed my blog from day 1... you know i have had quite a few bumps in the road when it comes to relationships. I came close to marrying the last man i was with ... i thought i loved him very much. Few problems were present in our relationship, we never fought, never argued, and when we did it was over in minutes and solved with laughter... It wasn't until i found out he was secretly abusing my son just months before I planned to walk down the isle. He was lying to my face and i trusted him with my sweet little boy who was just 2 years old. (To know more about this i write about it Here.

Needless to say this was the closet i came to saying those very words... "to have and to hold."

I now get the third degree on when i will be marrying my current boyfriend; Who, Lets face it ... in most peoples eyes is pretty perfect. His perfection on paper is much to make any parents or soon to be parent in laws weak in the knees... At the mere age of 25 has succeeded academically, founded a successful fraternity for his university, graduated with presidential honors and is now set for life career wise.
They also assume we are not married yet because of him. I get these questions on a regular basis..."why hasn't he asked you?" "When will he be ready?" "you guys have a beautiful daughter, house, family etc. soooo WHEN WHEN WHEN???" These are the most infuriating... because it is probably more me then him who is not ready... I have developed this anti-marriage attitude and well lets face it ... a down right phobia of the "to have and to hold discussion." Blame it on my experience, or blame it on the fact that i went through 2 divorces with my mother and watched her get hurt on right after the other... i have developed this natural instinct to put my "I Do" Guard up. I am now at the age where my friends are all marrying... and now divorcing as well... I watch these girls cry when they say their vows ... and within months, they are crying signing divorce papers... and I'm wondering why it is in this day and age people put their hearts through this? Why is it that we say these little yet such heart breaking and powerful words?

This weekend... my boyfriend and I had one of the biggest and heart breaking weekends full of fighting we have ever had. Hurtful things were said that cant be taken back, and now we are numb to each other... saying short answers to questions, sleeping in different areas of the house and pretty much avoiding each other.

He is from one of the only families i know where there is no divorce... they are all still together ... but in my mind have stuck through situations i would never put up with. But maybe this is the problem... because they know the other will never leave they treat each other in ways i could never imagine treating anyone... let alone someone i have promise "to have and to hold"...

SO is this day and age... which type of "spouse" is wrong? The ones who give up and do not give in? or the others who give in and never give up?