That 22 yr old Housewife

Mommas on a mission: To Get Healthy!

2011-01-03T08:19:00.001-07:00

As I started meeting other bloggers and reading their stories, I saw that many Momma's like me, struggle with finding a balance between motherhood and staying healthy, so I decided to start my healthy living blog, Lets Move It Mommas. I struggled with weight most of my life and know that a support system is key when trying to lose weight or make a healthy change, so I hope this blog acts as that support my readers need! I share healthy recipes, exercise tips and much more...
even tips on helping children lead healthy lifestyles too!
With 2011 approaching, we all tend to look for a resolution to keep us motivated, the problem is that most of us set ourselves up for failure by making our goals outrageous. Maybe start small, tell yourself you will take a walk as a family at least three days a week. Or make small changes to dinner each evening...using whole grains or smaller portions. Most importantly, find exercise that works for YOU. Something you like may be totally different than what your family/friends enjoy doing, or maybe all of the people around you do not exercise at all? Exercising is contagious and if people around you see your changes and results, they'll want to jump on board! If you're ready for some big changes when it comes to health and fitness, try setting a goal of running a marathon, triathlon, or 5K! If running isn't for you, try the local health clubs, they are usually running GREAT deals this time of year! As always, I am here for my readers and will do my best to give you some tools for success along the way!

Brought to you by Marissa Lets Move it Momma's

Friendship Friday and it's much awaited return

2010-12-16T18:15:00.003-07:00

Its back by popular demand....
FRIENDSHIP FRIDAY

There are no rules...
Have fun
Make some friends...
Link up and take a button if you wish :)
& if you happen to like my blog...
Become a follower! Leave me a comment if you are new and I will check out your blog :)

Thankful Thursday....

2010-12-16T15:30:00.000-07:00

Enough Said ♥

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Some re-direction and new plans!

2010-12-15T07:49:00.003-07:00

Well the past couple of months have been chaotic and hectic!
I have taken on quite few endeavors which has left me little time for my blog :(

SO I have taken some time to decide what to do with it.
My blog has opened doors for me to so many great opportunities. I have since been picked up by a national womens magazine to become a regular columnist Galtime.com
Been asked to be apart of a few different Parenting web sites and Magazines to give Parenting advice and share stories.
I have started a very small but growing photography Business that has become such a blessing to me! Lauren Ashley Images
I have been contacted recently about being sponsored by some major companies to host very large give aways for my readers and followers.

But as you can see all of this takes up quite a bit of time especially on top of my first and most important job.... My stay at home mom job :)

SO I am looking for some re-direction...
1. I am looking for 1 regular guest blogger. This person would blog once a week on my blog sharing parenting tips, advice stories specific to parenting and children).
2. I am looking for tips from you other bloggers whose blogs have become successful as well and asking how you handle it!
3. I am looking for some ideas.. and advice from my readers... what do you want to see happen to this blog?

I look forward to hearing from all of you!

Please email me :)
ohscraap@gmail.com

Certified Organizer

2010-11-18T08:15:00.005-07:00

Thats right I have recently decided to re-organize my kitchen cabinets...
The way they were organized before just wasn't making sense... Im sure many of you knowhow it is to hate how your cabinets are organized... well I hired a certified organizer to help me with my problem and she has been hard at work all morning...
Here is a glimpse at what she has accomplished thus far...

In all seriousness though it does get hard when this is all she wants to do all day!
So here is my solution... (or at least trial run) I emptied all of the breakable/ and non baby safe stuff out of this cabinet... and loaded it with stuff she loves to play with and wont beak... along with a few surprises... like juice and snacks, and a tupperware with candies in it to make noise!

Lets hope this helps so my kitchen can stay in the order I leave it!!!!

Let also hope her organizing skills get better so when shes older her room doesnt look like this lol

Have a great Thursday

If its not one thing... then there has to be another...

2010-11-17T15:39:00.003-07:00

Well as all of you read last week.. my sweet girl was sick...

She was placed on a Nebulizer and had a double ear infection.

Just as she seemed to being doing better this week... BAM... CHICKEN POX strikes

She woke u from her morning nap this morning with red pimple like bumps all down her back... sweet girl...

She cant catch a break!

Whats Hot during this cold season...

2010-11-10T07:56:00.009-07:00

As the weather turns cold and the holidays roll in from around the corner... here are a few of my favorite things this winter for you or as a gift for someone else!

1. As my love for photography grows... I sometimes find it hard to lug around all of the equipment and keep it safe and clean at the same time. It wasn't until I found these bags on Etsy that I fell in love. The store is called Gypsy Rose and she makes all sizes of bags to carry all sizes and varieties of equipment designed specifically to keep your electronics and camera equipment safe and sound.
If you are a professional photographer check out "The Ultimate" and "The Boss" bags, if you are a mom who takes her camera everywhere check out the "Mini" or the Small Hobo bags (complete with sippy cup pockets and slots for your wallets keys ect.) You can pick and choose your fabrics and design the bag that is right for you! This product is on my Christmas list!

2. Sitting by a fire and reading a good book is one of my favorite things to do during the winter. (when the rare opportunity arises that I might have time for this lol) May I suggest the new George Bush book Decision Points?! Now whether you are a fan of George Bush or not I think this book is going to be interesting. He had a front row seat to some of our country's most historical events and I am excited to read about what it may or may not have been like to have to make the decisions for over 300 million people during some of the most catastrophic events in United States History! Politics not your thing? Pick up any book and enjoy the quiet time!

3. Start a family tradition! Many do not know that the classic book The Polar Express comes to life in many cities across the country. I myself have never been but cant wait to try it out! Children and their parents dress up in their PJs and hop on board the Polar Express where the story comes to life!! How cool is this???
Check out the schedules and participating cities Here! Don't see your city on the schedule? Google it in your city ... some local organizations sometimes create a similar experience.

4. Support an up and coming business this Christmas... Many out there are putting themselves out there and starting some a business. I love these little boutique shops for things for my kiddos. I love that their items are alway handmade and unique. I know my kids are the only one wearing that item since it was made specially for them! Most are great items and are super cheap!!!So instead of going to Gap, Old Navy or Gymboree for gifts this year... give them a unique gift that you know only they will have! Here are some of my favorites for the kids:
Bebe Designs
Mother Goose Collections
Tammy's Funky Flowers
(I know I have mentioned these shops before but they are my favs after all)

5. Get crafty!!! Money is tight these days... so grab the kids and put them to work! lol I'm kidding... well only a little bit... This year give handmade gifts. Parents.com has some great craft ideas... so make some decorations this year or make some gifts, either way you get to spend some quality time with the kids and get everyone in your home in the holiday mood! grandparents love handmade gifts by the way and homemade decorations are always adorable and great memories and conversation pieces ;0)

6. Throw a cookie party! Our family has started (or brought back) a family tradition. An annual cookie party! How it works... Everyone brings an assigned ingredient and their fav recipe. There are lots of women baking... kids decorating and everyone eating and enjoying the time together! Last year we had literally hundreds of cookies... everyone took some home... and brought canisters and baggies and handed them out as gifts to the neighbors, teachers, co workers etc.

7. Laugh!!! JibJab.com always has hilarious videos online... so make one about you and your family and send it around and spread some holiday laughter!!!!

8. Give a little. There are many out there who will spend the holidays alone, cold, or hungry. So find a local food pantry organization of a local giving tree and give a little something. Its important to look at how great we have it especially around the holidays and teach our kids to always lend a helping hand. Let them pick out the gift or donate the food. They will always remember it!

No matter how you choose to spend your holidays or winter season i hope its a great one for you and your family. Here is to a great holiday season and a great winter!

Its that time of year....

2010-11-09T09:02:00.004-07:00

Yep its that time of year... and no i'm not talking about turkey, Christmas shopping, baking and carols, I'm talking about the unfortunate time of the year when all of the flus, colds and other sicknesses start circling around. It is official they have hit our house. It seems they have hit my 13 month old so bad she can hardly catch a break! She picked up a cold this week along with a double ear infection on top of eczima and cutting 3 new top teeth! Needless to say we are pulling a whole lot of all nighters over here. She was weezing pretty bad yesterday so we went to the pediatrician's office and they put her on a nebulizer (which she hates).

My poor angel has to be on it for 30 minutes every 4 hours! She has been in great spirits despite all of these awful circumstances. She has been playing and talking and running around like a mad women! With all of this going on it looks like my week is going to look a little something like this:

6am Nebulizer and Meds
630 Pack lunches
645 Get big brother out the door and on the bus
7 breakfast for Maddie
730 Clean up after breakfast
800 Give Maddie a bath
930 Maddie morning nap
10am Nebulizer and meds
Luandry, dishes etc. while she sleeps
12 Maddie lunch
1230 clean up after lunch
2 Maddie afternoon nap
230 nebulizer and meds
230pm get big brother from bus
3 homework, snack, clean up
4 start dinner
5 dinner
6 clean up after dinner
630-730 baths bed nebulizer meds
11pm nebulizer meds
3am nebulizer meds

Repeat

hmm some things im missing from there... my shower? lol

Anyways I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday everyone!!!! Stay warm and healthy!!!

Easy Cheesy Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

2010-11-04T10:54:00.005-06:00

Now I typically never do recipe posts, but... given that it was just green chile season here in New Mexico... we have a ton of it on hand and green chile chicken enchiladas are one of our favorite green chile dishes... Now because my kiddos aren't huge green chile fans... I'm including the recipe for their version as well....

What You will need:

Approx. 15-20 Corn tortillas

1 Can of cream of mushroom soup

1 Can or Cream of chicken soup

1/4 Cup of milk

1lb of Chicken Breasts

Chopped Green chile (however much your family wants...the more you add... the hotter it will be)

1/4 Cup chopped onions (optional)

Shredded Cheddar cheese (Amount up to you as well)

Garlic Salt and pepper to taste

What to do:

(I've included handy pictures to help you along the way ;0))

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees

2. Boil the chicken breasts until cook through and set aside to cool.

3. Rip up the corn tortillas and layer the bottom of the both pans (adult and children's pans).

4. Shred chicken and put a layer of chicken on top of the tortillas.

5. Combine cream of chicken, Cream of mushroom, garlic salt and pepper to taste, and milk in a large mixing bowl.(you may need to add more milk if you run low on the mixture for both casseroles.)

(do not add chile yet.)

5. Pour a thin layer of the mixture over the chicken in the children's pan.

6. Add chopped green chile to the remaining mixture.

Mix well.

7. Pour a thin layer of the green chile mixture over the shredded chicken and tortilla layers in the adult pan.

(If you wish to add onions add a thin layer of diced onions after the mixture.)

8. Cover both pans with a layer of shredded cheese.

9. Bake the children's dish uncovered for approx. 15-20 min or until cheese is golden brown.

10. Add an additional layer of corn tortillas on the adult's dish and follow with a layer of shredded chicken, remaining mixture, onions and cheese.

11. Bake adult dish covered for approx. 45 min. or until mixture is bubbling and cheese is golden brown.

12. Let cool for about 15 minutes to help with cutting. If casserole has not firmed enough to cut through let stand for a bit longer.

Some people like to top their piece with lettuce tomato and sour cream...

I hope you enjoy!!!!

Some exciting news....

2010-11-03T15:28:00.003-06:00

I was recently approached by a national web site GalTime and was asked to consider being an Ambassador for their web site representing the city of Albuquerque and contributing a regular article on their website. I would also get the opportunity to attend local events and visit local businesses and interview local business owners, artists and other interesting people! I am super excited and feel very blessed that they found me. I also feel very honored they found me through my blog and thought it was good enough for me to represent them and contribute regularly to their amazing website. GalTime is a great web site for women of all ages and mothers and anyone else. They have great experts that write in on a regular basis about everyday topics. I am so very excited and cannot wait to start my project as a serious writer!!! EEEEEEK wish me luck!

Good Bye October... Hello November

2010-11-02T07:29:00.005-06:00

WOW! What a month. October was very very busy for us, we had many school events, family come into town, a family trip, and of course the kids favorite holiday Halloween. Here are the 5 things I am going to miss about October and the top 5 reasons why I am looking forward to November.

1. Our family trip. We took a great trip to Lubbock TX to take the kids to see their first college football game. We had a blast and the kids really enjoyed all of the hype and saw that there are other crazy Tech fans out there other then us :) I am hoping we can make this an annual tradition!

2. We were lucky enough to have 5 generations of family stay with us. Thats right 5! My great Grandma, my grandma, my father, me and my sister, and then my kids. It is such a blessing to get the opportunity to have these memories for my babies. My great grandma is one of my favorite memories and is still in great health. I walked into my son's room and smiled at the sight of her sitting on the floor playing hot wheels and Legos with him.

3. The many mile stones my daughter had this month. In one month she turned one, cut a new tooth (with many more on the way), started learning commands like Clap hands, Arms up, and shaking her head No. She also learned how to say "Arms up", "Bubbles", "Hi Daddy" and sign "More" and rub her tummy when her food is Yummy and last but not least Walk!!!! She is so smart and beautiful and all of these milestones happened so fast and I cannot believe how big she is getting!

4. The kids and all the things they love about Halloween. I love seeing their faces as they pick out their costumes, carve their pumpkins and of course head out to Trick-or-Treat. My daughter had a great Halloween, she followed her brother from house to house and had a blast walking behind him.

5. The beautiful changing leaves of New Mexico and the beautiful Fall season we have here. In New Mexico we have the most beautiful fall season I have ever seen. (I havent been many other places during the fall) but I do believe we have to have one one he most beautiful fall seasons out there. In October our Hot weather drops down to a manageable 60-70 degrees. We all break out our light sweaters, boots and head outside. We have the beautiful leaves that change to the most vibrant yellows and oranges, we have the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, we have a number of Wine Festivals and other great festivities outside. It is my favorite time of the year and I love when it comes and am sad when it goes every year.

Hello November...I cant wait for...

1. All of the vacation time my honey gets in November! They always get some much needed time off this month and I cant wait to have him home more.

2. Turkey Day!!!! Who isn't excited about Thanksgiving? I love this holiday...and I cant wait to eat with the family and eat way way too much!

3. Shopping... more specifically Black Friday... Most people hide away on this crazy day but I am one of those crazy women who gear up, get my list, get my adds and am out the door by 5am ready to push shove and get a toaster for $10.00!!! lol I love the excitement and the overall excuse to get out and go shopping.

4. Fall/ Winter clothes. I am so excited to break out the boots, jeans, scarves, long sleeves and sweaters. The fall season is my favorite fashion season of the year.

5. Peppermint Lattes from Starbucks. I love the pumpkin spice latte that comes every September, and the same is true with the peppermint late that comes every November. I cannot wait to swing by and pick up my first one of the season.

What are you going to miss?

What are you looking forward too?

I hope every had a wonderful Halloween and every one has a wonderful month of November!

Sorry Ive been MIA... but how about a give away ... or 2????

2010-10-21T07:24:00.005-06:00

I have been lucky enough to have my grandma and great grandma in town this week... so I haven't had much time to blog, so I apologize!!!

Today I have 2 give aways.... thats right 2!!!!

GIVE AWAY #1
The first one is one of these adorable Snack Sax, I was given a set to try out for my self and let me just say how handy these are. You can keep cheerios, cookies, animal crackers or whatever in them and they can be washed and reused!

GIVE AWAY #2

The purse place is a very clever etsy shop that sells this adorable idea for kids.
An I Spy bag.The I spy bag is a cute little bag that is filled with treasures and has a list of treasures that are inside the bag for the kiddos to find. We recently went on a road trip to Lubbock Texas and brought the kids of course. It was quite the drive and it some how felt like it was a 10hr drive even though it was only about 5 1/2- 6 hr drive, but... I brought the I spy bag along and my kids loved it. My oldest is 5 and in kindergarten and learning to read and he sat in the car and read through the list of treasures to find in the bag sounding them out and then finding them. It kept him busy quiet and well learning! My youngest is 1 yr and she loves just to feel it and look at it. This is a very clever idea and I would love to give one away to one of you!

To purchase your own I spy bag you visit the purse place HERE!

So to win... you can enter up to three entries for each item... yes its possible to win both. (make a separate comment for each entry for each item.)

Entry 1: Must be a follower of this blog.
Entry 2: Be a follower of that 22 yr old housewife on Facebook.
Entry 3: Make a comment telling me which item you would like to win!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!!! (and I will be doing Friendship Friday again tonight!!! yay!!!!)

Ive Been Tagged...

2010-10-12T16:05:00.006-06:00

I usually never get a chance to play in the linking up games.... but Kristin at Kuppy Kakes by Kristin Tagged me in her game today and so I have decided I am going to play today....

SOOOOO I am supposed to answer Kristins 8 questions... then pick 8 people to tag and then give them 8 questions to answer.... so here it goes...

1.) If you could choose to be any kind of food, which would it be, and why?

hmmmm....

A Jello mold... random? yes but hear me out... its always colorful (like me) and yet gross enough that people dont really eat it... (because who wants to be eaten? not me)

2.) What is the best memory you have from elementary school?

My 5th grade graduation camping trip. My sweet mom and teacher were both 7-8 months pregnant and yet took my 5th grade class on a camping trip to congratulate us for finishing and going one to middle school. The trip was less then boring with 2 pregnant women and a bunch of crazy 5th graders... One night we spent 7 hours in the emergency room because one of the boys cracked his head open trying to climb into a tree and scare the girls... we ended the night with a class 3 am breakfast and the waffle house because our chaperons were hungry.

3.) What is your most favorite holiday tradition?

My mom gives us Pajamas for every holiday... Valentines day, birthdays, Halloween, and then on Christmas eve... I now like to do the same for my kids.

4.) What would be your dream location to live (money not a problem)?

Anywhere abroad. I would love to live in London or Australia I think.

5.) Have you ever been stung by a jellyfish? If so, where were you?

Actually ys I have in Corpus Cristi Texas

6.) What is your favorite color?

Black actually... I love black cars, clothes jewelery etc. I just think its so flattering and chic! ( no i'm not gothic lol)

7.) If you could choose to marry any celebrity, who would it be?

Ryan Reynolds

Enough Said :0)

8.) What is your absolute favorite song? EVER.

Probably The cupid Shuffle ... I have to dance every time I hear it... and I used to have it on my Myspace/ Ringtone? Ring back tone etc.

Ok my 8 (ok how about 5) people are....

And my questions for you bloggers are:

Why do you blog?
What is your favorite blog out there? Why?
What is your favorite season and why?
If you were to pick one actress that is most like you (looks wise) who would it be?
Cats or dogs? Why?
What is your all time favorite TV show?
If you could recommend one place to vacation where would it be?
&&& Finally, How was it that you became a follower of this blog?

I hope everyone has a wonderful day/week... tomorrow I will be hosting my first October Giveaway!!!!

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

2010-10-11T16:34:00.006-06:00

One of my favorite things about living in Albuquerque NM is that every year in October we have one HUGE event... an event so big that people come from all over the world to participate and see it in person and being a local and having lived here my whole life I can tell you first hand that it never gets old. I look forward to it every year.... and was so very excited to take my daughter to her first ever balloon fiesta!!! So here are some pictures... I hope you enjoy!

My sweet angel's 1st birthday party!

2010-10-05T07:38:00.004-06:00

I have received a ton of messages and emails asking how my daughter's 1st birthday party turned out... SOOOOO I thought id take a break today from the guest marriage posts and share some pics from her birthday party!

The Birthday Banner I made

"Duck Feed" for toddlers (goldfish)

The center Piece- Large fish bowl wish live fish and floating ducks

The Party Favors

The invites

The food

The cooler filled with juice boxes

The Cake

And the (must delayed) winners are....

2010-10-04T15:00:00.002-06:00

I am so sorry...

I have been super distracted lately and haven't been on to announce the winner of the Tammy's Funky Flowers Give Away

1st place winner is: Leann with Magical Memories

2nd Place: Alia with Yellow Ribbon Diaries

3rd Place: Brynn with Wicked Sweet Tea

So go ahead and get in touch With Tammy Via Facebook or email and let her know what place winner you are and she will take over from there!

Congrats!

Guest Post: Dean and Dominique

2010-10-01T13:44:00.003-06:00

Reading Lauren's blog post about "Relationship Rehab" was like reading a chapter out of my own life's book, "An autobiography of Dominique and her Relationship Experiences"...and I'm guessing that a lot of you out there feel the same way. It was like a flashback to the early parts of my marriage. But despite all the tears and heartache, I don't regret that difficult time in my life, because I came out ahead, with a valuable lesson learned. After four years of marriage, I have finally learned what "love" means.

I'm not talking about the "in love" feeling: fluttery, tingly, almost sick to your stomach when you don't see that special someone or talk to them... that euphoric high that you get after being around that Mr. or Ms. Perfect for a while and you start to think that they might be "the one". No. I'm talking about something totally different. The "thing" that most fairy tales conveniently leave out in their "happily-ever-after" version of marriage and commitment.

Back when I was single, I loved to be "in love". Nothing was better. It was an emotional high to feel special and to know that someone amazing thought I was pretty amazing too. But at some point, "in love" led to marriage. And marriage led to a major reality check.

I remember thinking at one point, "What the heck?! Marriage is supposed to be this amazing thing where you connect with someone on one of the highest levels possible! My husband is supposed to "get" me better than anyone else! What are we doing wrong?" I was horrified to discover that the "tingly" feelings were gone. I no longer waited by the phone for his texts or calls. The euphoric high that I had been riding had degenerated to a dull buzz that was remarkably similar to a migraine, and it felt like we spent more time fighting about the mundane details of our life than we did enjoying each others' company.

It wasn't until we were sitting in a Marriage Enrichment class two years into our marriage, talking things out that I learned something huge. We weren't "in love" with each other anymore. My initial reaction was depression. Well, great. I was clearly bound for divorce, because the one person I was SUPPOSED to STAY "in love" with wasn't "in love" with me, and I wasn't "in love" with him either. But as the weekend continued, I learned something huge. We still loved each other. And no, not the love you feel for your parents, siblings, friends, or children. A different kind of love. Something that I had never thought existed before, because I had never been in a relationship that had persevered after the "in love" feeling had gone away.

This love was the kind of love that I can honestly say has only existed for my husband. It was the kind of love that stemmed from the knowledge that the man I had married was an amazing father who was completely dedicated to myself and our child. It came from the knowledge that I couldn't think of a single person that was more honest, and.. in reality, that created the most profound sense of trust I had ever known. The list of traits that I loved about my husband went on in my head. But all I could think was, "How is it possible that this amazing man sits in front of me and yet I don't feel "in love" with him?"

And then it hit me. Because marriage is not about being "in love". Yea- we all get married because we are "in love", and we are told by the media, movies we watch, even some of our family and friends that when you fall "in love" that it is the proverbial sign that you have found "the one". But in reality, marriage is fundamentally about "love". And the truth about "love" is that it is a completely different feeling than that of being "in love", and most importantly, it is a choice. One that I had been unconsciously making every day for the two years I had been married up to that moment.

When my husband and I were fighting about chores, I still loved him. I may not have felt that tingly "in love" feeling, but it didn't affect my devotion or commitment to him. Despite the fact that we had been through two miscarriages that had completely rocked my world and left him feeling like I was emotionally shutting him out, we still loved each other, weaknesses, flaws and all. Despite a childbirth that left me so physically scarred that we weren't capable of being physically intimate for six months, we were as committed to each other as were were the day we got married. It was a huge awakening for me.

And now, four years into my marriage, I can honestly say that I have been in and out of the "in love" feeling with my husband several times. Honestly, it depends on how much time we have to be "romantic" with each other. I need things like flowers, love notes, bubble baths, and date nights to feel that "tingly" feeling. And let's face it- once you have kids a lot of that gets replaced with diapers, Dora, and midnight feedings. (Though luckily the last of those three isn't a permanent part of being a parent.) But I have always "loved" my husband. And we have, over four years, continued to work on our marriage by trying to make time for each other, talking through our squabbles, and spending some quality time on just us with no kids involved in the mix. Most importantly, we learned how the word "love" translated for each of us (after being taught about "the love languages"), and began to implement the action of "love" in a way that the other could understand and appreciate.

I think one of the wisest things I was ever told was at a pre-cana marriage encounter. The couple that had been married twenty years said, "In the span of your marriage you will experience phases of disillusionment combined with that euphoric "in love" feeling. It's like a roller-coaster ride, with rocky parts, and ups and downs. The important thing is to persevere and ride through your rough patches, while communicating with your spouse."

So, at this moment in my marriage, I look back at all the downs in my husband's and my four years together, and thank God for every one. They've only solidified our relationship.

I make the choice to love my husband every single day, whether I'm cleaning throw up off of my favorite shirt or celebrating my anniversary over a glass of champagne in a bubble bath.

And most importantly- I thank God for helping me discover the difference between being "in love" and simply "loving". Because the truth about "love" is that it's one of the deepest and most fulfilling things I have ever felt, experienced, and given. I love you, Dean.

Relationship Rehab

2010-09-28T07:16:00.017-06:00

Well its been no secret that my week has been rough,(which is why I need to apologize for being M.I.A lately) with the recent murder of a dear friend and with my honey and I recently deciding to separate, the family has been stuck between a rock and a hard place to put things lightly. We were separated for a while when we finally had time to clear our heads and talk. It was one of the greatest nights of my life. We literally just sat and talked until 3 in the morning about everything. It reminded me of when we first started dating and we couldn't stand to get off the phone with each other and once we did we started texting until all hours of the morning. We shared secrets we had never told each other and we found out things about each other we never had any idea about. We developed this new respect for each other and for what we had been each been through in the past. We agreed that this recent decision to be apart and separated was our all time low as were the reasons why we had decided to be apart. From there we decided this is it... we are either going to do this or not and we decided to come up with a game plan.. or Relationship Rehab. We decided we were going to do so many thing to hold each other accountable for showing respect and love to each other, we talked about how there had been so many boundaries crossed in the past few weeks and even months that we can never take back however there may be some changes we can make so our kids do not learn that this is how relationships are. We decided to make quite a few changes. Our Relationship Treatment Plan if you will: 1 we decided we are going to take a preparation marriage class... no we are not engaged but it couldn't hurt. If someone has some
ideas that we may be able to put into place now ... then maybe when the day comes where we actually decide to get married we will already have a system in place. 2 We decided to schedule a specific time every day where we focus on just us... not the kids... not blogs... not Facebook (two of my main addictions that have seemed to come in between us many times in the duration of our relationship). We decided we were going turn off the T.V. and cell phones and just spend 1 hour at least with no distractions talking about our day or reading together or playing Su Doku (something we used to do when we were dating every night together). 3 He has been recently enjoying a few self help books and even though in the past he has never been a reader, he seems to be really enjoying these so we decided we are going to read one together... we have been recommended The Five Love Languages and are very excited to start reading it together. If nothing else this should help us to understand each other so much more and practice holding each other accountable, If we can hold each other accountable on something as simple as reminding each other to read the book... maybe we can hold each other accountable on other things. One of the books he is reading is Don't Sweat the Small stuff and it applies to both of us on so many levels ... letting little annoyances come in the way of our family and letting these little things drag us down all together by being short and nagging and constantly frustrated and on edge with each other. 4 He has decided there are some changes he has to make for himself and I admire that he has taken the steps without being asked to do so and I would like to do the same by turning off all of my distractions and addictions by 4:00 when he gets home and make my evenings about him and the family. 5 Living by the 10 commandments of Marriage (which I will post about at a later time.)

It is clear to both of us that we are very very different people however we are confident that the characteristics that make us so different are characteristics we would each love to have. I love how determined and motivated he is. I love that there is absolutely nothing he puts his mind too and doesn't accomplish. I love that he is so consistent and disciplined financially and in many other areas. He is absolutely the most incredible father I have ever met and he has such a huge heart and I love that! (and if none of those are enough just look how gorgeous he is *wink*) He loves how free spirited I am and how non judgmental I am. We are hoping by recognizing all of these issues, problems and obvious mistakes we can build a foundation for a strong marriage and home life for our children. We want them to never think it is ok to disrespect your partner or spouse and to understand exactly what it is like to live in a home with true love. This separation caused us to miss our 3 year anniversary and celebrate our daughters 1st birthday on rocky terms. Something we never thought would happen or would be the case 3 years ago or even 1 year ago.

I would like to share some pictures of the two of us over the last three years and say one thing to Nick.

Nick, I promise I will be in this for long run and will do any and everything it takes to make sure we have given it all we have. I am confident that we will make it through this and that this will only help us in the long run. I am confident that if we can make it through this... everything in the future will only seems easier and if nothing else will help us to remember our relationship rock bottom so we never hit it again. I love you, our family and the life we have together! Happy 3 year and I am excited to see what the next year brings. I want to be everything you need and want you to know no matter how hard it gets... I am here... until the end and I am in this for the long run. I am going to do my best to use these goals and this time to learn anything I can about you and us and use it and apply it to our future. You have always been everything I have ever wanted and this is still just as true today.

Love Lauren

On a more Random Note:

I am loving this song!

Not so wordless Wed. Rest In Peace Michael Checkley

2010-09-22T10:11:00.006-06:00

This week one of the many things that have seemed to go wrong... was a very good friend of mine was murdered. He was jumped and stabbed and there still has not been any suspects or any information. He was 24 yrs old and just graduated getting his real estate license and was ready to begin his new life and career. This man was one of the most caring non judgmental human beings I have ever known. Making sure all through high school to stay away from the labels and the drama and making sure to make friends with anyone he came in contact with. He had such an amazing personality lighting up the room with jokes, happiness and his natural outgoing personality. Today is his memorial at the murder site... where hundreds have committed to go and pay their respects and say their good byes. Watching all of the people I grew up with and many more post letters to Michael on his facebook and tagging him in many pictures that stay true to the personality I have always known makes me happy for him... happy that his place on this earth kept going long after high school where we as a group were inseparable, we grew up together learned from each other and created many many memories together that will never be forgotten. My only hope is that if we as a group of friends or a community learn nothing else from this ... we take one lesson from Michael ... and that is to set aside your judgments and problems with others... there is no drama in the world that should prevent you from being friends with any and everyone. We love and miss you Michael CheckleyMay you rest in peace.

Something to think about....

2010-09-20T15:33:00.002-06:00

Its not always easy to distinquish the good guys from the bad... Sinners can suprise you, and the same is true for saints. Why is it that we try to define people as GOOD or EVIL? Maybe it is because no one wants to accept that compassion and cruelty can live side by side in one heart, and that EVERYONE is capable of anything.

With all that has gone on this week ... I think this quote hits home on so many levels.

Have a wonderful Monday!

September Give Away #3: Tammy's Funky Flowers!

2010-09-18T17:10:00.003-06:00

Now I have had the honor of using these adorable hair products for my daughter. Now not only am I obsessed but all of my friends are as well. So here are some pictures...

What you can win:

1st gets a flower with bling and headband
2nd a flower with a regular stone
3rd gets a mini w/ regular stone

How do you win?
(leave a comment
1: Be a follower of That 22 Yr Old Housewife
2: Become a fan on facebook of That 22 Yr Old Housewife
3: Become a fan of Tammy's Funky Flowers on facebook
4. Be a follower of Tammy's Funky Flowers blog
5. Tell me what flower you would for you or your sweet angel.

Good Luck!!!!

Friendship Friday: Week 12 & Give Away Winner

2010-09-16T23:15:00.004-06:00

The Rattles Children's Cd Give Away Winner is:

Mrs. Seana Johnson and little Miss Preslie!!!

Enjoy Ladies!

Friendship Friday Week 12!

I hope everyone has a great friday and a wonderful weekend.

I have a had a rough week with a lot on my plate, this week has truly tested me as a mother, a partner, and made me re-think my life and future. I hope next week is better and I apologize for the lack of posts and updates this week... I have felt it more important at this time to focus on my family.

Lets try something new this week... Given my bad week I wonder how many out there could use some encouragement as well...Lets pick 2 people to follow and leave a nice/ genuine comment! I challenge you to make an impact in someones life... even if it's small :0)

Have a wonderful weekend all... I will also be announcing my 3rd give away for the month of sept. I know you will love it!!!! Stay tuned....

Guest Post: Anonymous comments

2010-09-15T21:45:00.001-06:00

Let's talk about...Anonymous comments...Dun, dun, dun!! Have you been lucky enough to receive any?? If so, you've been initiated...Welcome to the anonymous commenter club!! I've only received a couple, and they've either been nice, completely random, making no sense, leaving me laughing, or were intended to be mean. I ended up taking the rude comments as a compliment!! The woman informed me that the way I wear my hair makes me look older. Well, she didn't say it quite that kindly, but I seriously have more important things to care about than what someone thinks of my hair!! I did ask my husband if I look older when I wear my hair up, and he said I did. I have ALWAYS looked younger than I am, so it's really good if I look a little older, being a young mom of two kids!! She also nitpicked about the appearance of my blog which I ironically get the most compliments on!! I could understand if she at least had something constructive to say about the posts I've written on my blog; I 100% welcome and respect that!!

So...How do you respond when you get an anonymous comment?? I have seen some bloggers respond not so gracefully, and they end up looking like a fool (with their pants on the ground...sorry...I had to) because they've given they're commenter exactly what they wanted...recognition for their comment!! I'm not saying it's bad if you write a post responding to an anonymous commenter, but please do not ramble on about how mean their comment was and how awful they are and how hurt you are!! It was just a comment!! I'm not denying that they hurt, but the beauty of it is, they are just words, and you don't know who's leaving them!! Anonymous commenters have just as much right to leave a comment on your blog as you do to ignore/delete it. It's a 'blog eat blog world' out there!! If a commenter leaves a constructive comment about something you've written, don't immediately load your rifle to shoot back!!

I have seen where people respond to an anonymous commenter, telling them off to make themselves feel better, but the important thing to remember is, if you have a blog, chances are, you will get an anonymous comment, especially if you have a lot of readers!! Your blog speaks volumes when you get anonymous comments, and you respond gracefully or not at all!! Have you ever heard of killing them with kindness?? Nothing bothers an anonymous commenter more than knowing what they said had no impact when they were expecting a huge reaction!! One of the most graceful responses I have ever seen to an anonymous comment was from Heidi Foreste from As The Foreste Grows!! She has received several rude anonymous comments, but her responses to those people were admirable. She did not rant and rave; she stood firm, proud, and strong!!

The best way you can reduce unwanted comments is to moderate them yourselves. If you don't want them, minimize the chances of getting one!! Nothing is worse than waking up to a rude comment that's already been published!! Moderating your own comments makes you feel like you have more control over what people say. You feel less of a need to retaliate and defend yourself if no one else has seen the comments first. Sometimes the less you say in return is best; remember to be kinder than necessary because everyone is fighting some sort of battle. Try not to let meaningless comments become an unnecessary battle!! Keep blogging for fun; if you get an anonymous comment, try to think where the person is coming from before it destroys your day!! If they are commenting to be mean, let them live with that; if you've offended them with something you've written, take it to heart or ignore them!! It's really that simple!!

I thank Lauren so much for having me over at her blog today!! I enjoyed sharing this post that I'm sure many people can relate to!! I hope y'all get lots of really nice comments today, and I want to send a big thank you to those who always leave me such sweet comments!! :o)

Southern Refelections

Friendship Friday: Week 11 & Scentsy Winner!!!

2010-09-09T20:12:00.002-06:00

&& the winner is...

Erika from Posh Bebe

Congrats!!!

(email me at OhScraap@gmai.com)

Friendship Friday

Rules:

There are no rules...

Have fun and make new friends.

I would love to meet each and every one of you so if you are a follower of me and I am not yet a follower of you ... please leave a comment so I can return the favor... or at the very least say Hi!!! I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday!!!

Last day to enter my scentsy give away

2010-09-09T14:04:00.002-06:00

Last day to enter my Scentsy Giveaway!!!
Have you entered yet?
Click Here To enter!!!

I will see you all tonight for Friendship Friday woo hoo!!!!

Guest Post: Getting rid of the Binky

2010-09-08T19:38:00.004-06:00

I meant to post this wonderful post earlier this week and had an awful catastrophe. My computer got a virus and as wiped clean. SOOO now that I am able to get online... I finally get to post it! I read this post and fell in love with the idea and the creativity and thought put behind this idea. We all as mothers have probably had to go through the process of taking away our baby's best friend: The Pacifier! Here is one extremely creative and unique way to solve this problem... ENJOY!!!

Helping Preslie Get Rid of her Binky
By Seana and Keeping up with the Johnson's

Preslie got to pick out her balloons to send off her binkys, Daddy cleverly got one that said "I'm sorry you're leaving"!

Ready to let them fly away!

There they go....

Watching her binkys fly away while shielding her eyes from the sun

Bye Bye Binkys!

So Preslie is 2 years and 7 months....and yes she still took a pacifier at bedtime and during nap time. That girl LOVED her binky! When she turned 1 I took the binky away except for when she was in her crib. It was a super easy transition and I thought I would take it away all together when she was 18 months. I tried, she cried, and I just couldn't do it! She was so attached to it. Then I thought we would get rid of it when she was 2...well we started potty training right before she turned 2 and I didn't want her relating going potty with not getting her binky, so we waited. Then it was so close to Gavin being born that I didn't want to take it away and her somehow relate her new brother with not getting her binky....excuses, excuses! I decided that September 1st would be the day. She seems so much older than 2 1/2 and honestly it was starting to gross me out when she had her binky.

SO 10 days before Binky day, I started telling her what was going to happen..."We are going to say bye bye to your binkys in 10 days, so you can have it tonight but then in 10 days we are going to send them to the sky on balloons!!" She liked the thought of sending her binkys up on balloons. I wanted to make it fun for her. She got to go pick out which colors her balloons were and was very excited today when it was time to send the binkys away. I asked her why we were sending her binkys to the sky and she told me "Because I'm a big girl and I don't need them anymore and I wont be sad!" I told her she was right, she was a big girl, but it was okay to be a little sad to say bye bye.

We went outside and I told her she could have one last suck on her 2 binkys, she popped them in her mouth then popped them right back out and said "Okay I'm all done now!" And was excited to tie them to the balloons. I counted to 3 and she let her binkys fly away. She stood and watched them fly higher and higher and wasn't sad at all! We got inside and it was time for her nap...without the binky! She did just great, she made sure that she didn't have any more binkys in her basket where I kept them, we read a story, she tried to get me to stay by saying "Mommy wait, I know what we should do!" I asked her what and she said "We should make a cake!" Silly girl, I kissed her and shut her door. We did hear her on the monitor say that "she just wanted her binky all night long" but that was it and she was quiet, and fell right to sleep!

I'm so glad it went over so well, and so glad to have those things out of my house!!

*UPDATE* So it has been 6 nights of going to bed without the binky...and I must say I am so incredibly proud of my little girl! She has done amazing. She hasn't cried about them once, and hasn't gotten up in the middle of the night wanting them (which I thought she might do). We have had some pretty funny conversations about them though! She asks about them every night "Mommy, I really like my binkys, can I have them back?" and I told her"No baby, we can't get them back, they flew waaay up high into the sky" to which she replied "Mommy, I think we should get in a balloon and go find my binkys!" It made me crack up laughing and she laughed with me, I told her how silly she was and that was that. She has also told me that she thinks her binkys went to a house with 2 babies because they need them. She tells baby Gavin every day that "he can have his binkys now because he is just a little baby, but when he gets big we will tie his binkys to balloons and send them away too!!". Anyone that we see she is sure to tell them, "Guess what? I'm a big girl now cause I sent my binkys away!! (insert dramatic flail of the arm here)" Then she will say something about sending her binkys away, and end it with "my mommy is proud of me" and it couldn't be more true...I am so proud of my sweet girl. She is growing up so fast and has now gotten rid of her last bit of "baby", and I couldn't be more proud of her!

September Give Away # 2-The Rattles

2010-09-06T16:16:00.004-06:00

Sept. Give Away Number 2!

The Rattles

Children's CD

I tried this CD out for a few weeks... we listened to it in the car, while we cleaned the house etc. The music was fun and the kids loved it and the best part is it didn't make me to scream after the 3rd time of listening to it!

So...

Who else wants to give it a try?

Entry Number 1 Be a follower :0)
Entry Number 2 Become a fan on Facebook

Also do not forget about my Scentsy give away!!! Which ends on Friday of this week!!!!

I hope everyone had a Happy Labor Day!!!!

Friendship Friday: Week 10 Plus Scentsy Give Away

2010-09-02T22:58:00.003-06:00

Hello
Welcome to Friendship Friday
(My personal favorite day of the week)
This blog hop is super simple:

There are no rules
Feel free to follow as many people or as little as you like
Feel free to support this blog hop with the super cute Button I have provided below ;0)
Link up if you want to get your blog out there
HAVE FUN!!!

A few quick notes:
Check out my Scentsy Give Away going on this week.

And visit me on Facebook to check out whats going on with me in between posts :0)

Lauren Ashley Hull likes

That 22 Yr Old Housewife

Create your Like Badge

And now back to the part you are all here for...
Enjoy and TGIFF! (Thank Goodness its Friendship Friday!)

September Give Away Number 1: Scentsy Warmer!!!

2010-09-01T08:39:00.003-06:00

Thats right! I am newly addicted to these safe and yummy wick-less candles and I want you to have one!!!

So i am giving away the warmer above with 1 Scentsy Perfectly Pomegranate Scent Bar.

How can you win?

(please make a separate comment for each entry)

1 entry: Be a follower of Me, That 22 Yr Old Housewife
2 entry: Become a Fan of That 22 Yr Old Housewife on Facebook
3 entry: Become a Friend of Chelsea Sells Wickless Candles On Facebook
4 entry: Visit Scentsy and tell me your favorite warmer or product!!!

You can enter as many entries or as few as you want!!!

Good Luck!!!!

My upcoming Fall Favorites!!!

2010-08-31T07:49:00.010-06:00

Good Morning!

(Or depending on how long it takes me to write this post afternoon or good evening!!!)

Yesterday the pumpkin spice latte was available at Starbucks, the breeze outside is getting cooler by the day, and these are just a few of my favorite signs that the new season is just around the corner!

Here are a few of my favorite things I am recommending for you to try for fall...

(Along with a few give aways to get you ready for this fall season!)

1. The pumpkin Spice Latte(actually any of the pumpkin spice drinks at Starbucks they now have the Frap, Mocha and of course the latte). These drinks always put me in the mood for some fall cleaning, decorating and scarf shopping!

2. Tammy's Funky Flowers. Now when I first had my daughter I saw all of these women walking around with their babies with these huge flowers on their heads... and I thought to myself ... now thats just ridiculous. Who would do that? Well... ME ha ha I found Tammy's Funky Flowers through a recent blog hop and fell in love. She sent me one to try and not only did the flower she sent blow my expectations out of the water both my friends and I became obsessed. Everyone was asking to borrow Maddi's flower and even My honey loved how it looked on her. Everywhere we go people oooh and awww over my daughter and her pretty flower. So I am announcing this to be the new "IT" place to get your fall flowers.

3. Mother Goose Collections.(Children's Boutique) You are probably familiar with this since it was featured as my last give away. But since the give away I placed a rather large order from her for some cute fall clothes and I love them. My favorite part about Mother Goose Collection is she creates anything you want. I sent her a novel size email asking if she could make a number of things and together we created (well she created) the most amazing outfits, Here is my favorites of my huge order:

4. The Rattles: The Rattles Is a new children's Music Cd that I have recently discovered. I love it! Its adorable. It not the cheesy music that you normally get, its sort of is a mix between the Beatles and some classic oldies. My kids loved it Maddi danced and Bryce learned all the words... and I didnt want to shoot myself after listening to the Cd 3 times in a row!

5. Scentsy: I am new to Scentsy candles but now a believer. I didn't understand what the purpose was or why they were all the craze until I recently tried one. IT WAS AWESOME!!!! I love the ambiance it provides almost acting like a night light while of course making the room smell great! I also loved that the few times I felt the house and couldn't remember if I had turned it off or not... It was ok! I personally am super excited to try the new fall scents like the Carmel Spice!

SO now as you can probably guess.... Thats right.... I want you to win some of these items!!!! Every day starting tomorrow I will Post a new posting for some of the items in my fall favs list! SO keep your eyes peeled!!! Also I hope you share with me some of your Fall favorites, if it weren't for the Blogging world I wouldn't have found most of these these items!!! So please do share :0)

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Friendship Friday 9

2010-08-26T21:43:00.003-06:00

Friendship Friday

you know the rules... There are none!
Meet some friends and have a great time!

23 things I never thought Id be doing at 23!!!

2010-08-26T14:48:00.006-06:00

Well it's official... this 22 yr old housewife is officially 23 as of today!!! First, here are a few things I never thought I'd being doing at the young ripe age of 23 and yet couldn't be happier doing them :0) I also have some gifts to share with some of you ... Three winners for my Mother Goose Collections Give Away!!! Woo Hoo!!!

SO here it goes my 23 things I never thought I'd being doing at 23!

Give up my shoe collection and designer bags for diaper bags and rain boots.
Be super excited when Nickelodeon's Story Time or Disney On Ice comes in town and less excited when Rhianna, Britney Spears, or any other artist I used to love comes to concert.
Pick Disney World as my number 1 choice for vacation (with or without the kids)
Have more fun shopping at Gymboree and Baby Gap than t Express, BCBG or BEBE.
Planning parties with juice pouches - watermelon and strawberry lemonade as opposed to planning parties with strawberry margaritas and watermelon Jello shots.
Explain (lie) to my 5 year-old what Lady Gaga means when she talks about riding on a disco stick.
Be a blog-aholic. I always wondered who had time for this and why they would want to do it! lol Now i know ;0)
Sweep up cheerios 6 times a day (at least)
Have a 35 sq ft play yard set up in my living room.
Have a whale-themed bathroom in my house.
Have Up, Cars, Beauty and the beast on blu ray
Call my girlfriends not to talk about boys or clothes but to talk about what color my daughter's boogies were that day, and find out how their child's ear infection is going.
Walk around anywhere public with spit up down my back not knowing until my honey gets home and asks, "Hey whats that down your back?"
Exchanges my business clothes, pencil skirts, high heels and skinny jeans for yoga pants and tank tops. (These make chasing around a baby much easier.)
Ask myself when the last time I showered was... and have a tough time remembering. (But remember that I have given a "little" someone else 3 baths that day!)
Be able to change a diaper, while wrestling my 11 month old and help my son with his transformer.
Be completely out of the loop when it comes to the Bachelorette and Desperate housewives but know exactly whats up with Handy Mandy and Olivia
Find myself Humming the Handy Manny song throughout the day
Find Fruit snacks, gerber peach puffs, pacifiers, popcorn etc in my couch, bed, purse, car etc.
or also find some of these things in my shirt, bra and hair at the end of the day...
Know how to make "under the sea" mac and cheese with octopus hot dogs and gold fish
Have an amazing boyfriend that I know I cannot live without. He is my strength, my heart and completes my soul.
Have 2 amazing, beautiful children that I couldn't imagine my life without.

Today was a wonderful day! I was surprised by my honey taking the day off and taking us to the zoo. I also got a new tripod and (drum roll please) MY PANDORA BRACELET!!! woo hoo

And now for the big moment! The winner of my Sweet Little Give Away hosted by Mother Goose Collections Children's Boutique are:

1st Place winner is M&MS Mommy from "And for good Measure". She is the winner of one of the following three items: A Mother Goose Collection TuTu Set, One of the signature boy short sets, or one of her adorable bags!!!
2nd Place winner is Aly From "Alygatr's Everywhere". She is the winner of a $15.00 gift certificate.
3rd Place winner is Tammy from "Tammy's Funky Flowers" She is the winner of a $10.00 Gift Certificate.

Congrats to all of you and I hope all of you enjoy your day!!!

I will have Friendship Friday up tonight around midnight!

Wordless Wednesday: Born to Wear Diamonds

2010-08-25T08:27:00.001-06:00

Asking for some helping hands....

2010-08-24T19:47:00.004-06:00

I was approached by the most amazing company, Baby Pickel This is a company whose sole purpose is dedicated to helping out single mothers in need of help.
They have approached me and my blog and asked me to team up with them. One of the first things we will be doing together is a monthly Give away where you can nominate a single mother who has a success story, a single mom who deserves some recognition, a single mother you think should (could use) some attention. The winners will receive some special prizes donated by Baby Pickel and a few other local and national Businesses. I will be launching my first give away September 1st. But I am reaching out and shouting out to others out there who would like to team up with us to recognize some amazing women. If you can donate prizes or services and are interested in this monthly event please contact me. Even if you can only do it once... This is fine and will be greatly appreciated.

I was once a single mother and know how hard it is... Lets reach out and help these mothers know they are appreciated and give them the encouragement they may need!

I look forward to hearing from all of you gracious and kind helpers ;0)

Pet Peeve: Teen Mom on MTV

2010-08-23T18:27:00.002-06:00

I have to say after falling in love with the MTV reality show 16 and pregnant, I thought I would have the same feeling when they did the spin off Teen Mom. As a teen mom myself there was a lot of thing I could relate to with these girls. I had to work hard to graduate from high school, suffered with single mom hardships, and had to battle my way through situations that no mother should have to go through(let alone a teenager) I had to work very hard to keep my son healthy and happy. I experienced the stereotype and negative looks from people when they saw me with my son and saw how old I was, I never understood why people had to judge me by my age when they knew nothing about my mothering or the love I had for my child no matter how much help I had or didn't have; Until I watched Teen mom. This show is by far the most frustrating show on TV right now. I feel like MTV picked the worst Teen parents in the world (yes im sure the tactic in mind was to scare other teens from being in this situation. Understandable) However... These girls let their children run around around everywhere, they refuse to get an education (some of them) they cause so much drama with parents and family members acting completely immature especially in front of these sweet babies that have no idea whats going on, its ridiculous! This is why I as a teen mom got tons of evil looks and stares from the older generations. I am not saying we haven't had our trials and my errors ... but what mother hasn't. (we just dont do it all over national television and make ourselves look like bigger idiots by acting like spoiled brats, use our kids as pawns to get what we want, and teach our kids its ok to act like idiots!

Alright Im done complaining!!! lol

Lastly I wanted to tell everyone hat my give away ends Thursday!!!! SO GO SIGN UP!!!!!Children's Boutique Mother Goose Collections Sweet Little Give Away!

Friendship Friday: Week 8 Guest Post

2010-08-19T20:46:00.006-06:00

Strength Of A Mother
Kaitlyn F.
I didnt know I had it in me. I didnt know id ever be capable of really embracing motherhood to the extent that I have! My daughter. Amazing. Wonderful. Gives me Reason. Shes all consuming and forever embracing. I cannot express what motherhood has done for and to me. I cannot express how much Auburn has done for and to me. I cannot express the pain that I feel, GUILT, extreme guilt and sorrow. What have I given Her. I cannot begin to say how SORRY i am to my sweet girl. She deserved only the Best, im not the best. She should have a mother and a father, a home of her own with us, Safe, Peaceful, warm and United. What she gets, Broken parents, a broken home. The strength i feel for her on her behalf, is quite incredible. I have done the unthinkable, I walked away from an unhealthy and unsafe situation that Auburn was in. Before her I could do it, I could settle in and dig my feet in, and put up with it all. I could live life everyday trying to save someone else so that My dreams could happen. I could find my self worth in someone else needing me at their convenience and at the same time filling my head and heart with broken and empty promises. But Auburn. Sweet Auburn. She helped me see. She gave me my vision back, my ears, my heart, my head, my convictions-Ruminating Convictions. She gave me the courage. Auburn Rose. Shes my life savor. No matter the pain and sorrow i feel in my heart, my Internal conflicts and battles, my internal Pain, theres nothing more important to me than having the peace of Mind, Auburn Rose is safe, healthy, happy, in peace, in Unity. This is Our Home. This is Our Life. Shes my Own Chariot. Shes my Grace, Strength.

Welcome to Friendship Friday!!!

If you are new here are the rules...

1. There are no requirements for you to participate (the more the merrier)!

2. This Blog Hop is purely to make new friends and discover new blogs you may not have known were out there...

3. There really are no rules :0)

So grab a button if you want and add your name to the list and have fun!!!!

Please check me out on Facebook!!!

Lauren Ashley Hull likes

That 22 Yr Old Housewife

Create your Like Badge

And all of you mommas out there check out my Give Away There will be 3 winners... and as of right now there are very few entries!!! (That means you have a great chance to win!!!!

Is Natural completely "Unnatural" these days?

2010-08-17T21:15:00.010-06:00

My best friend in the whole world Alia has recently found out she is having her third baby! (I know I am super excited too!) We got to talking the other day about her birthing choices. She had her first two babies with the help of an epidural and was talking about the possibility of having this baby natural.

I have personally experienced both avenues and cant say that I have a preference. Both experiences were completely different and special in their own ways... I will say that if it weren't for Nick my natural birth would not have been possible. He was an amazing labor partner, birthing couch and overall a great "doula", he was kind, loving and patient. The only two things I would ever suggest to a women who wants to attempt a natural birth is labor in the tub, and have an amazing partner.

With not having been much help to her... I took it to my readers. I opened up a Facebook Discussion Board and got some amazing feedback on both avenues. Here is some of what I got back:

I had both of my girls with an epidural, but both were still very different experiences. With my first, Lexi, I was induced, so I got my meds before I experienced any true labor pains and the epidural worked so well that I couldn't even tell she was born. Amazing. With Madison, I went through hard active labor for about three hours at home before going to the hospital and during that time, all I could think about was the painful contraction that was happening or preparing for the one that was about to happen, NOTHING ELSE! Once we got to the hospital and received my epidural, I was able to relax, smile, and enjoy life again! lol I always hear no med moms say they don't want to be out of it while they have their baby, but it was not like that for me at all. I had complete presence of mind the entire time and after was all there. haha. I just think of it like this, if you knew you were about to go through any other painful procedure in life, you always take the meds! I don't know anyone who would get their wisdom teeth taken out with out meds, or try to pass a kindey stone without some pain killers. Having a child hurts, we know that, why go through that if you don't have to and it has no affect on your baby? -Bekka

I had both my babies with no meds and would do it again. If baby number three comes it will be no meds for me. I want to be up and moving untill it is time to push. Both times I labored standing up either swaying or walking. I just tried to relax when the contraction came and did not fight it. I did some practicing before the labors. I just put myself in a zone and don't talk to anyone and try to keep a clear mind. Walking through them helped me. -Jill

I got an epidural with both my kiddos. I must say "good for you" to all the mommies that have gone natural but it definitely is not for me! With my 1st I was in labor for 18 1/2 hours and got my epidural 12 hours into it. It was the perfect epidural, I LOVED giving birth and was able to enjoy each moment. With my 2nd (6 weeks ago) I was in early labor for 2 days! Then when I switched over to active labor it hit HARD and FAST. In the 12 hours I went without meds during my first labor, I never experienced pain like I did with my 2nd. As soon as I got admitted I was begging for my epidural, in fact I couldn't wait and asked for IV meds before the Epidural lady could get there! ( I would not reccomend this, it made me groggy between contractions but didn't do a darn thing to ease the pain!) Well I got my epidural and again it was perfect. 6 hours of labor this time and I was able to sleep since I hadn't slept n 2 days, then 2 1/2 pushes and he was out. I was laughing because I couldn't believe how fast it went, and just kept saying how cute my new lil man was! The atmosphere was so happy and light and I enjoyed every single second. If I was in SERIOUS pain from natural child birth I know I couldn't have enjoyed it as much as I did. Knowing that the epidural doesn't affect the baby make me very much PRO epidural :-) You don't get an award for going natural and God gave man wisdom to create the epidural so I am going to take full advantage! -Seana

I think every mom should get to hear "good for you" and "i have a lot of respect for you" REGARDLESS of if they had a natural, epidural, or C-section. I hate that it's looked at as this noble act when moms go all natural when the reality of it is, we are ALL noble and deserve praise for bringing a baby into this world. Notice how no one said to someone who had an epidural "GOOD FOR YOU!" I am reading all these birthing stories of women trying to JUSTIFY why they got an epidural... when in fact, they shouldn't even have to explain! It is still just as beautiful and wonderful a process as a natural delivery. Notice the women who did it "all natural" only typed a sentence or two and you can just hear it in their typing (yes, HEAR, lol) that they feel more proud than the rest. It tears me up inside when a woman gets an epidural and feels like she has failed somehow. I think society (mostly moms) need to be a little more supportive of one another of whatever route they choose. So as for me, I am PRO natural, PRO epidural, and PRO C-section -Kristin

So I am extending the question to you fellow mommies and birth partners, Is it completely Unnatural to go natural this day and age when drugs are so readily available?

I would like to take a second to agree with Kristin and congratulate and say "good for you" to every mother out there. Each and every birth story is miraculous and amazing in its own way.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

PS If you are a mommy reading this post ... I hope you will check out my current It ends this week and there are very few entries... (which means there is a good chance to win *wink *wink)

Tomorrow starts a whole new chapter in my life...

2010-08-16T15:16:00.000-06:00

From the beginning of my career as a mother it was just Bryce and I. We had been through the worst, created the best memories, and created a bond that is indescribable.

When he was born a whole new chapter of my life was created. The chapter of us being together no matter what, doing whatever we could to stay together and me making sure his life would only get better with each and every day. It wasn't until last year when I found out I was pregnant with my daughter that the love of my life Nick suggested I stay home with the kids. It has been amazing. I got to enroll Bryce in Pre-school last year and go to every field trip and come to every little event. I felt like I was able to be apart of Bryce's life in a whole new way.

Well Tomorrow starts yet another chapter. Tomorrow For the first time I will watch my sweet baby boy get onto a school bus and head of to a whole new chapter in his life! I think knowing it was coming this summer was somewhat misleading. I wasn't real until I took him to meet his teacher today and figure out all of the details of this school year that it became real. I think at the moment I was filling out the cafeteria paperwork and marking whether I would be making his lunch or he would be eating in the cafeteria is when I realized how big he has gotten.

In just five short years he has leaned to crawl, walk, talk, argue, communicate, write letters and spell some words, speak a little Spanish, and has developed an interest in politics.(He can tell you who is president, who was president, if they are democrat or republican, what the mascot is for each party, and how to pass a bill into congress.) It doesn't seem to me by looking at him that he is ready. But there he stood today in his classroom like a little man staying true to self and trying to draw some sort of attention to himself by telling his teacher right off the bat, "I am 5 and I have glasses!"

On my way home it dawned on me... This is now one of the most important chapters in my life... The chapter where I now need to guide him into a successful path, the chapter where I hopefully protect him from the things I can and help him learn from the mistakes I cannot protect him from. As I am sure most parents do at this point of their lives, I looked back into my 13 years of school and picked through all of the choices I made that I do not want him making, I sat there with anxiety building praying that God give me the time to be there for each and every moment of these ever so important years and that nothing happen where I would be unable to participate in his life. I prayed I would be able to help him succeed and help him stay the kind hearted person he is now. I prayed for his success and prayed for him to enjoy these years to the fullest and take full advantage of his youth and try and help him to not grow up too fast.

Here are some pictures of my little man:

Also I have started a little something new... I have started discussion boards on topics I would love to hear feedback on from my readers!!! From the different opinions and stories I will pick a few and create a blog post about the topic! SO Join me on Facebook and give me your opinions!!!! New discussion will be posted every Tuesday!!!

Lauren Ashley Hull likes

That 22 Yr Old Housewife

Create your Like Badge

Friendship Friday: Week 7 & and A little about Me :0)

2010-08-12T19:08:00.000-06:00

A little bit about me...

Lately I have been getting message and Facebook posts etc. of people asking a little about me and who I am so here is goes:

I used to be a purse collector ( now i carry a diaper bag and my designer bags sit pathetically at the top of my closet.)
I want 4 kids ( I know you all think I'm crazy)
My idol is Tori Spelling, I think she is a great multi-tasker, party planner, and of course a great mommy.
As I hinted above I LOVE LOVE LOVE to plan parties.
I actually love to do anything that requires me to use the creative side of my brain. (Which is pretty much all of it.)
I hate hate hate laundry
I love to vacuum! I think a little Vacuuming goes a long way ;0)
I love to cook! (Thank God my Honey will eat just about anything bless his heart lol because I can be like a mad scientist in the kitchen, explosions and deadly combinations and all)
I never leave home without My phone or camera. (and the kiddos of course)

Welcome to Friendship Friday!!!

If you are new here are the rules...

1. There are no requirements for you to participate (the more the merrier)!

2. This Blog Hop is purely to make new friends and discover new blogs you may not have known were out there...

3. There really are no rules :0)

So grab a button if you want and add your name to the list and have fun!!!!

Got Milk?

2010-08-10T11:17:00.000-06:00

Well I'm sad to say that a few weeks ago my sweet 10 month old baby girl has decided she is done nursing. When I first decided I was going to breastfeed I said I would do it for 6 months. Then the 6 month mark came and I said ok 1 more month... and so on ...until I had hoped I would do it until she because a year(or until she got teeth and bit me for the first time) but neither of those happened... she decided she was done on her own. It all started when her pediatrician said she needed to be drinking water twice a day... so I gave her water in a sippy cup... and as she got better and better at it her breastfeeding sessions became less and less frequent. It's now to the point where she will only take liquids from a sippy cup and I'm all dried up. I'm sad we didn't make it to the 10 month mark or longer for that matter... however... I am completely proud that her and I did such a great job and lasted as long as we did.
It was my honey who actually suggested we breastfeed from the beginning... having not breastfed my son I was completely ok with formula feeding... He suggested we take a breastfeeding class and at least out weigh the pros and cons. After the pros were obviously better. I decided I would at least try. I (as most expecting first time nursing moms do)had heard horror stories about how painful it was how hard it was and had little support from anyone but Nick. Well right from the second they handed her to me she latched on and never turned back. I never thought I would enjoy the experience as much as I did... The fact that she 100% completely needed and relied on me.(as exhausting as it was sometimes... and even though sometimes all I did was wish her dad could have gotten up with her.)It was an incredible feeling. I now know that when we have more children (yes when no if) I will be breastfeeding them as well. I also cannot thank my honey enough for providing me with the support that he did to help me succeed and experience such and amazing thing. My sweet girl's first birthday is coming up and everyday gets harder and harder to wake up and see the new things she is learning over night it seems.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

(Now we prefer to eat dirt... among other things lol)

Tapping into my creative side....

2010-08-09T10:29:00.000-06:00

My birthday is in a few weeks and for a slightly early gift I got a brand new camera... A Nikon DC3000 and I got to take it out this weekend and shoot my Best friends daughter as my first session. These pics are for her first birthday and to be honest ... im not sure if it is my sweet photography skills ;0), the super duper fancy camera, or this beautiful baby ...but all of those elements seemed to work in my favor because I am now being asked how much I charge and if I do weddings lol...

So let me know what you think!!!!

Friendship Friday: Week 6/ Flash Back Friday!!!

2010-08-05T15:30:00.000-06:00

Ok so here is my Flash Back Friday....

This is me and my sweet boy Right before his second Birthday... I love this picture it always makes me smile... he is sooo handsome...

Its that time again!!!!

My favorite time of the week...

Friendship Friday

So if you are new to this blog hop there are a few things you should know...

1. There are no rules...

I encourage this blog hop purely so you can connect with blog you may not know are out there... but do not require you to follow me or any other blog!

2. Feel free to add yourself to the list of you would like others to find your blog!

3. Grab a button! (if you would like)

4. Have fun!!!

I also feature 2 blogs i choose at random to be featured on my blog... 2 blogs that i have found myself reading on a regular basis, following, or down right loving these days!!! Soooo feel free to check them out as well!

My feature blogs for this week are...

Any daddy that takes the time to be an amazing dad and blog has my vote!

I am obsessed with the weekly pictures of Addison Elizabeth (i love her name too) and find myself always checking out whats new with little Addison.

Also don't forget to follow along on facebook ... Its updated all day everyday and keeps my readers in the loop in between my posts!!!

That 22 Yr Old Housewife

Promote Your Page Too

I hope everyone have a wonderful weekend! Im off to a family reunion so wont be back until Sunday ... so feel free to add yourself to the link list all weekend! Also if im not following you ... I would love to meet you ... so leave me a comment so i can check you out!!! Thanks again for playing and making this so fun and successful!!!

Happy Friday!!!

Wordless Wednesday: A shout out to all of you great dads out there!

2010-08-03T15:44:00.000-06:00

A little less serious then my last post!!! Im posting this today because i will not be able to tomorrow!!!!

Enjoy!

Kindergarten: Not what i remember!

2010-08-02T21:35:00.000-06:00

***This is a controversial topic, i am not trying to offend anyone; just voicing my concerns and opinions :0)***

If you have followed my blog for a while you know I have been back and forth on homeschooling or public schools. I decided that at least this year I am not prepared. I need more research and information before I can commit to such an important roll.
Today I took my son to test in for kindergarten, they start school officially in a few weeks and they take these test to see what classroom level they are in, what teacher is best for them, how much one on one time they are going to need etc. I had two major problems as I sat there in the school:
1. There were two lines for the kids to wait in to be tested, one was the Spanish speaking children and the other was the English speaking children. I have an issue with this because the line of the children who could not speak English was outrageously longer than the children who could speak English. I am not racist at all my family is actually Hispanic and bilingual; however it bothers me that some families do not take the time to make sure their children learn English. English is the primary language of this country and it is important for these children to be able to communicate with teachers and other students. It bothers me that my son will possibly be shorted on what he is learning so they can teach English (something in my opinion should be taught at home).
I understand that my opinion on this topic seems harsh and I am not trying to offend anyone.

The second thing that bothered me is when they handed me the school supply list. Now I know with the current economical state, New Mexico (among other states) has made budget cuts in the educational department totaling over $200 million( and don't even get me started on this topic!) but this should not mean that I have to pick up the tab for the schools short comings and purchase supplies that I know my 5 yr old is not going to be using. Looking past the fact that everything on the list will be shared among the class, I was asked to purchase items like dry erase markers, 3 containers of Clorox wipes, paper towels, 3 different boxes of 3 different sizes of ziplock bags, a clip board, hand soap, hand sanitizer, permanent markers, and 5 glue sticks along with a bottle of glue. All of these items were on top of the items I'm not complaining about like markers, water colors notebooks, crayons etc. I walked out of Wal Mart having spent $75.00!(I didn't even buy him anything Iron man, Spider man or holographic!) I am all for pitching in and helping the teachers out ... but to require that parents buy this much stuff that is going to be communal or not even used by the students at all is ridiculous! It is clear the only thing they left off my "required supply list" was the schools toilet paper!

I have to say this experience has definitely pushed me closer to getting my homeschooling act together for next year!

Happy Tuesday!

Planning my sweet girl's Birthday!

2010-08-01T20:51:00.000-06:00

My sweet baby girl will be one in less than 2 months. This means I am now in full party planning mode. Today we had her pictures taken in her 1st birthday outfit. She looked amazing. Here are some of the MANY pictures...

So far i have planned a Rubbery Ducky Pool party...(since her only favorite thing besides Gerber Peach Puffs is to be in water!) I picked light pink and yellow colors. I am making the invites myself... (with help from my cricut of course). For food I'm doing all thing Maddi loves: Watermelon, Goldfish, Cheerios in decorated baby food jars labeled "Duck Feed". For favors I'm going bubbles, bubble bath, a rubber duck and washcloth. For decorations I found a variety of fun rubber ducks like princess ones, pink ones with a number 1 on them, etc. These will be swimming in the pool.

I have some other great ideas but I don't want to give all of them away just yet... But I would love some other great ideas!!!

On a side note I would love to thank everyone who participated in Friendship Friday again this week... I had over 4200 Page views, got 63 more followers (which out me over 500!!!) and reached over 100 fans on facebook! Thank you so much to all of my readers! I would love to meet each and every one of you so please introduce yourself!!! I try to visit everyone at some point ... Also If you are interested in being featured on next Weeks Friendship Friday please let me know!

Friendship Friday: Week 5

2010-07-29T19:21:00.000-06:00

Yay!!! Its my favorite time of the week!!!

Time to make new friends!!!

SO if this is your first time joining my blog hop...

Welcome!!!

This blog hop has no rules... you do not have to follow anyone...(not even me)

I encourage people to follow blog they genuinely love!!!

This is a great way to find blog you had no idea were out there!

I have found some incredible blog and some incredible people I have so much in common with through this blog hope... I hope all of you find the same.

As of last week i started a new tradition... I'm going to feature 2 blog that I LOVE and recommend...(feel free to check them out)

So if you want to play... Add your name to my list, visit some great blogs, grab one of my super cute buttons and have a great Friendship Friday!

And my 2 feature blogs are....

(drum roll please...)

Two military wives...

These women go through things I cannot imagine being without my husband knowing he is in danger everyday ...

Take a minute to at least thank a milspouse today!!!

I appreciate what your husbands do for my family!

THANK YOU

Great News... I have reached 100 Fans on Facebook in 1 week! So thank you to all of you ...
That 22 Yr Old Housewife

Promote Your Page Too

Also do not forget to check out my giveaway!

Wordless/ Wish List Wednesday

2010-07-27T23:53:00.000-06:00

I couldn't decide which theme to do this Wednesday so I'm doing two :0)

Here is My wordless Wednesday: Lets the Monsoon Season Begin!!!

And now for my Wish List Wednesday:

1. New boobs!!!

After two kids and 10 months of recent Breastfeeding it seems they are non existent these days!

2. A tropical Vacation.

(this one will do)

3. The new Lexus LX570

I love that it has a 3rd row seat!

4. The sit and stand stroller

I want one so bad ... they are super cool and i see them everywhere!

5. A Pandora Bracelet

We got one for my mom for Mother's day and they are so adorable!

They sell 100s of charms for all occasions that you can add to your bracelet over time!

I hope all of you have a wonderful Wednesday! Dont forget about my give aways. They are listed on my Give Away page on my link bar or click on the button above this post to enter my Mother Goose Collection's Children's Boutique Give Away!

Sweet Little Give Away!

2010-07-25T20:56:00.000-06:00

I'm so excited to announce my next Sweet Little Give Away.

Mother Goose Collections is a BEAUTIFUL Children's boutique that I have become completely obsessed with. The wish list I have for items I want for my daughter is getting bigger then she is long! Visit her on Etsy, Facebook, and of course Mother Goose Collections {dot} com !

Interested in winning?

Well I have great news... Mother Goose Collections has so graciously decided that not just one of you... but three of you will win this sweet little give away!

So enough stalling... here is how to win...

Mandatory Entries:

1. Must be a follower of That 22 Yr Old Housewife and visit one of the Mother Goose Collection's web sites and tell me what is on your wish list!(1 post)

2. Post about this Give away on your blog! (2 Post)

Additional Entries:

1. Become a follower of Mother Goose Collection on Facebook. (1 additional post)

2. Become a follower of That 22 Yr Old Housewife On Facebook. (2nd additional post!)

Thats four possible entries to win!!!

Now I bet you are wondering what you are going to win... huh?

1st Place winner wins one of the following three items: A Mother Goose Collection TuTu Set, One the the signature Boy short sets, or one of her adorable bags!!!

2nd Place winner will win a $15.00 gift certificate.

3rd Place winner will win a $10.00 gift certificate.

The Give Away will run until August 26th... My 23 birthday and what better way to celebrate then to give gifts!!! So have fun, spread the word, and good luck to all of the contestants!!!

A big Thank you to Mother Goose Collections for making this all possible!

Wow What a Weekend!!!!

2010-07-24T19:53:00.000-06:00

This last week my step father's dad passed away so my mom and him flew out to Florida to spend time with the family. Because it was such short notice and they were forced to leave right away I offered to keep my little brother and sister until they came back. Well my little sister is eleven and my little brother is four, (yes he is six months younger than my son, he was the surprise for my mom when she was celebrating
the rest of us finally being able to take care of ourselves!!!) and lets just say those two plus my two is... well... hectic. I have had the kids for three days (with two days to go) and I have had soda dumped on my living room floor, red crayon colored on my white carpet, had to up my once a day vacuuming schedule to a three times a day vacuuming schedule, loaded the dishwasher and unloaded more than I thought possible, given fifteen baths (none of those were mine), lost the bottom floor to the back seat of my car, found more food on the dining room floor than I remember serving on the plates, and found four scorpions in my living room (that had nothing to do with the kids but still happened and was pretty scary!). I also was able to experience a frightening glimpse into my future, having a pre-teenage girl in my home. I had no idea an eleven year old had so much to talk about on the phone and wasn't completely happy with my son singing "Your love is my drug ... all I hear you say is blah blah blah." Needless to say I am E-X-H-A-U-S-T-E-D. I am glad my mom and her husband got to spend some alone time, even though it wasn't in the best of situations and I have always said I want at least four kids... but this weekend was enough to scare me straight! I have found that adding food coloring to their pancakes in the morning, putting the juice boxes on the lowest shelf in the fridge, putting a temporary DVD player and TV in the kids room, taking away the crayons and proofing the rooms before you leave them unsupervised helps keep things a little more manageable! I hope everyone had a less hectic weekend!

I am excited to announce that I have reached over 400 followers! I am in shock... I never imagined that this blog would turn into anything. I am so blessed to have met all of you and hope all of my readers have found something from my blog they can relate to or take with them. I have some very exciting things coming up that i cannot wait to share with all of my amazing readers...
1. I am now going to have my own domain... www.twentysomethinghousewife.com (lets face it I cant pull of the 22 year old housewife forever ha ha)
2. Monday I will be opening up a new and exciting give away from mothergoosecollections.com (If you have little ones ... you will want to enter this give away).
3. I am now taking requests for advertising for the month of August (spots are filling quickly so if you have a business, etsy page, or want to promote a cause or event, and you want to advertise let me know)
4. I am now on Facebook! I have started a blog fan page that I update all day everyday, so you can keep up with my hectic and blessed life in between posts!
5. My page is finally coming around! I have received tons of great feedback on all the work I have done my blog. So thank you so much for all of your support and suggestions.

I hope every one made some great new friends, found some inspiring blogs, and had a great Friendship Friday! Enjoy the rest of your weekend and stop by Monday to check out the give away!

Friendly Friday: Week 4

2010-07-22T19:24:00.001-06:00

This week I am doing things a little differently.

I was approached and asked if i would start featuring blogs on Friendship Fridays to help blogs get their names out and all i had to say to this was HECK YES I WILL!!! There are some amazing blogs out there that have not been discovered and so im going to help them get their name out! I am featuring 2 blogs today and I ask that you check them out and give them a follow if you like what you see.

I also would like to say one small thing before i set you up with the link list...

HRH Mommy (one of my featured bloggers)wrote an amazing post today about FOLLOWERS vs. READERS talking about how so many people follow for number purposes and hardly ever look at the content of each blog. This brought to my attention how so many other blog hops require you to follow certain people, have certain rules etc. Im not going to do that ... my blog hop has never had any rules... i have 2 wonderful blogs i love and am merely suggesting for you to check them out. Feel free to add your name to the list... and follow as many people or as little as you would like. I also have a super cute button i would love for you to share if you so choose!

Thank you to all those who participate in Friendship Friday and make it a success.

I also have a few announcements:

That 22 Yr Old Housewife is now on Facebook!!! Now you check out what we are up to in between posts!!!

I also have a new give away rolling out next week and i am SUPER excited!!! Ill give you a little sneak peak Mother Goose Collections... Details are coming soon!!!

Here are my 2 Feature Friendship Friday Blogs:

My little one eyed bandit

2010-07-21T22:08:00.000-06:00

Well today we had a rough day...
At the beginning of the summer i took my son to his 5 yr well child appointment. He was perfectly healthy except in one area... His vision. The year before he failed the eye exam, however the Doctor didn't seem concerned. He said its common for kids at age 4 to fail the test due to a couple of reasons, 1. they cant focus and 2. they aren't a 100% with shapes, letters etc. But this year when he failed the test with the exact same results it sent up red flags. The doctor then referred us to an optometrist to have it looked into a little more closely.
The results were bad... I knew this but didn't expect it to be this bad.
His vision in his left eye is 20/400 (legally Blind).
They then prescribed him glasses hoping it would help strengthen his eye. They said at this age there is always a chance for correction. They just needed to train the eye to be stronger. He has had is glasses for 2 months now and has finally gotten used to them. I hoped at todays follow up there would be progress and good news.
I was wrong.
They said his vision even with the glasses is the same. How? because he not only looks over his glasses, but because his eye has never know a clear image. So it is having trouble processing images through the glasses. This means the images are still blurry for him. So today they told him he would now have to wear an eye patch, all day/everyday for at least 2 months.
The first sobbing words out of his mouth were, "I cant look like penguin!!! I'm batman!!! Mom penguin wears an eye patch and he is a bad guy weirdo... now im going to look like a bad guy weirdo!"
It has been a very hard day for him, every person has asked him what happened and he starts crying every time. Poor Guy. So any eye patch crafts or activities you might have would help. Lets hope the next appointment goes better. This is going to be a painful and hard process for him. He already can't see and has started complaining of headaches.

On another note... My blog is finally coming together! I made all of the suggested changes, and added a few extra goodies. I also would like to announce that we are now on Facebook. So if you want to know what we are doing in between posts... check us out.

Lauren Ashley Hull likes

That 22 Yr Old Housewife

Create your Like Badge

I am still taking suggestions and comments about the re-organization of my blog. Im also looking for give aways, and people interested in advertising on That 22 Yr Old Housewife. So spread the word.

Also I will (as always) Have the Friendship Friday Blog hop link list up and running Thursday by 10:00Pm. Feel free to grab a Button before then, its now located in the buttons section on my link bar! (yes i have a link bar!!!)

Thank you to all of my new followers, readers and friends for your participation and suggestions. I always welcome them &hearts.

Not so wordless Wednesday: Best Friends

2010-07-21T00:05:00.000-06:00

Last week I received a shocking picture message from my mom. She had shaved her head.
Now before you think wow shes crazy or images of Britney Spears start flashing in your mind let me explain why.

About a month ago her life long best Friend was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. This friend lives over an hour away and has kids who are all grown and out of the house. My mother who in my mind is one of the strongest women i know... selflessly volunteered to drive her to chemo and sit with her through any and all doctors appointments. It wasn't until my mom received a call from her friend crying. She had began to lose her hair. This is a common effect of chemotherapy, but one of the most dreaded and i think harder to deal with once it actually happens. My mom called me telling my sister and I about the conversation. When talking to my sister she was given one piece of valuable advice... "Mom, you only get one chance to impact someones life, Take it!" The next morning on her way to chemotherapy she saw a salon and impulsively pulled in. Despite the looks of confusion and judgmental stares she sat in the chair and removed her hair.

When she arrived at the chemotherapy appointment she describes her friends reaction as instant surprise followed by a whirlwind of emotions and disbelief. Her friends family said that she had shaved her hair herself and had tried to cover it with an old scarf, she cried all night and hadn't taken the scarf off, not even to go to bed. When my mom and her had a moment alone she finally removed the scarf crying she asked my mom for help to retie it correctly. It was at this moment my mom knew she had done the right thing. She had given her friend one ounce of comfort through this horrible situation.

It has been a difficult adjustment for the family as well as my mom. She has had days ending in tears. She has experienced some cruel behavior that has baffled us all. One women actually asked her if she was some sort of religion and when she replied no the women laughed hysterically at her and walked away without any further explanation from my mom. When she is not dealing with staring, new found "compassion" because they think she is the one who is sick, or judgmental comments from those who are not understanding she is dealing with little frustrations like learning how to tie a scarf.

This has if nothing else impacted the family by making us rethink how we look at others, how we judge without knowing or understanding what the circumstances are and reconsidering exactly what we can do or give to people. I have a 4 yr old brother that after a few days of getting used to it and asking repeatedly every morning "Did your hair come back yet mommy?" he asked her "Mom, is your hair all you can give her to make her feel better?"

This has been one tragic circumstance turned into one amazing life long lesson for our entire family. I thank God everyday for such a strong mother. She continues to amaze us with her strength everyday and this is in fact one of her greatest achievements and testaments of her faith in God. Let us all rethink our judgments and reconsider what we can do for someone else.

"you only get one chance to impact someones life, Take it!"

We are also hosting a give away for the motivated mommy over atGUM so check it out!!!

Happy Wednesday!

Housewife Boot Camp: Week 3

2010-07-20T08:05:00.000-06:00

Well this last week accomplished almost everything on my list ... except for my office yet again!!! (im really avoiding that lol)

And this is how i figured out the constant disaster in my living room now that Maddi is crawling! She isn't a 100% ok with this fix... she hangs off of it and screams until someone either goes in there with her or takes her out ... so im not sure if you can really call this a solution ha ha!

So here we are again ... To-Do Tuesday list number 3:
1. Mop all of the floors
2. Laundry (as always: if i didn't put it on here i wouldn't have an excuse to do it)
3. Fix my blog... my blog needs a ton of work after my recent reader/follower survey... and it seems i have quite a bit of work to do.
4. Get some baby food made and in the freezer... (we are running low)
5. Take Bryce shopping for school supplies/ clothes. (*tear*)

I cant wait to hear how all of you did ... and see some nice inspiring pictures!!!

SO you know the routine... grab a button add yourself to the list and lets get some stuff around the house done!!!

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

A few announcements!

2010-07-18T21:38:00.000-06:00

1. This weekend I asked a question and invited in criticism, advice, and asked for tips from all of you bloggers out there and i got some amazing feedback!
So as of now... my blog is going to be under construction and going to be getting the much needed organization it seems I'm in need of!

2. Since i am re-organizing my blog and making some changes... i would love some suggestions for some blog savvy people to help me get this blog in tip top shape!!!

3. I am officially starting to plan my daughter's first birthday party and all of the incredible fun stuff that goes along with this event. (Invites, big girl pictures, party planning, and wardrobe selection. This is breaking my heart... i cannot believe she is 10 months old and well on her way to a year.

4. One of the many wonderful tips and suggestions i got this weekend suggested that on my Friendship Friday Blog hop, I should feature another blog and help other blogs get their name out there!!! So next Friday i will be featuring a fellow blogger (Im not saying who...) and will be taking suggestions for other future feature bloggers!

Still taking suggestions on blog tips/ Give aways/ etc.

Thank you

Question for all of you bloggers out there!

2010-07-17T07:52:00.000-06:00

Well first i want to welcome all of my new followers and friends from yesterdays Friendship Friday!!! Im so happy to have you and want to say thank you to everyone who participated and made it yet another successful Friday here at That 22 yr old Housewife!

I am pretty new to blogging started just about 4 months ago and never expected this blog to grow as much as it has... on that note i want to get some advice ... opinions and tips from you fellow bloggers out there.

1. Now that my blog is growing i want to know how you other bloggers got your names out there to host reviews and give aways?

2. I want to know how you get started on hosting ads and doing PR for people.

3. Do any of you use the ad-sense option? Is it worth it?

4. Is there anything on my blog you as readers/ followers would like to see? Can i add anything for you? Im looking to re organize and re-prioritize!

5. If i were to add additional pages to my blog, what would you like to see?

I appreciate anyone who replies with comments, tips, and/ or advice.
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend

Friendship Friday: Week 3

2010-07-15T21:41:00.000-06:00

Its that time again!!! Add yourself to the list and grab the button! Last week was super successful with close to a 100 participants!!! Lets make it successful again!!! Spread the word!!!

If you participated last week and im still not following you... leave a comment so i can meet you!!!

Have a wonderful Friday!!!

XOXOX

What is a Neglectful Parent?

2010-07-15T09:00:00.000-06:00

This post is going to be brutally honest.

Yesterday i woke up to police on my door step and all up and down my street. The officer said a women was driving to work and saw something weird on a dirt road near my house. So she pulled over. It was a little boy who was between the ages of 1 and 2. He was found with a large pit bull and the neighbors had said we were the only family they knew of children that young. When i told them he wasn't mine and that i wasn't sure where he lived, they then asked if they could have a diaper and possibly a snack or juice since they weren't sure how long he had been lost or when he had eaten last. Then later that day a local story broke about a mom who had "forgot" her 2 yr old toddler in the car for 2-3 hours and the little girl died. (if you aren't familiar with New Mexico... July and August temperatures peak at around 108 degrees during the day. (here is the video)

If you haven't followed my blog from the start there is something you don't know about my family... and that is that my son was abused by a man i was engaged too I write more about that Here and in the process of me trying to find out the truth from all of the lies ... the state of New Mexico District attorney thought it was necessary to charge me with 1 felony count of child abuse/neglect. The reason: for not seeing the signs of abuse, for not knowing what kind of person he was, and for "putting my son in danger". Now this was difficult... because there are so many back and forth arguments on this topic. But it breaks my heart when my kids are my life and always have been to have this awful charge haunting me ... when there are mothers out there who are truly neglectful. I feel for some of these kids whose parent some how slip through the cracks of the legal system, and for the babies who belong to parents who are truly neglectful. The court spent 3 years and ton of money on prosecuting me. They had no evidence and everything was hear say, however in court they made me feel like a criminal, projecting this image of me watching this man hurt my baby, like i encouraged it and let it happen, when really i was unaware of the situation being that is covered up by lie after lie. It seems that the three years, loads of money and time wasted on me ... the courts could have been focusing on one of the many other child abuse cases that have gone on in the Albuquerque area in the last 3 years.

I hope that we can all take a minute and pray for these babies out there... the ones the courts will miss and as result they will have a tragic ending.

I also want to make it clear... i am not making light of my sons situation... it was awful and tragic and we have been through a lot... but my point of this post is to vent about the children who unfortunately slip through the legal system and end up paying the price. ANd to bring up the controversial question of what is a "neglectful" parent...

Wordless Wednesday: Daddy's Girl

2010-07-14T10:09:00.000-06:00

And the winner is....

2010-07-13T22:02:00.001-06:00

Well i am pleased to announce the winner for my Give Away ...THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED!!!! so i wrote down names and assigned them with a number in the order they entered and had my son draw a name out of his hat!!! And the winner is Gina from Namaste by Day She is a little over 32 weeks pregnant! Congrats to her!! SO stop over and check out her blog and congratulate her!!!

I also forgot to put my list of "TO-Dos" on my Housewife Boot Camp post lol I am not sure how i forgot that but i did... So here it is
1. Clean my office (Attempt number 2 lol)
2. Clean out my kids toy bin... and donate some toys
3. MY weekly huge pile of laundry
4. Get my living room under control and in order... now that maddi is crawling i cannot seem to keep thing under control
5. organize my linen closet!!!

Whew wish me luck!!!

Housewife Bootcamp: Week 2

2010-07-13T08:57:00.001-06:00

Oy Vey what a week it has been!!! I am happy to report i did get quite a few things accomplished but embarrassed to admit i did not get everything on my list done at all... Every time i walked into my office/craft room/ guest room/ junk room... i cringed and walked the other way... so here are some of my after pictures... and as you can see from them... i enlisted in a little help ;0)

So Here we go with week 2!!! Id love to see all of your progress... hear about your progress... get some tips... (on removing stains from kids clothes lol) SOOO you know the routine...if you have stuff to do this week and have stuff to get done add yourself to the linky list, grab a button... List 5 to do things (if you participated last week... tell us about your progress) and don't forget to show some support and encouragement to the others out there!

And i will be drawing for my Give Away this evening so today is the last day to enter!!!!!!

Prayers needed: Mass Shooting

2010-07-12T15:43:00.000-06:00

This morning in Albuquerque (where we live) We had an unfortunate mass murder at a local business. Here is the video... Please pray for these families, employees, and the children of the gunman.

This hearts my heart it is crazy what actions people take to i guess prove a point... although im not exactly sure what point you are proving or what the motive in this situation might be. I could never imagine hurting other people, strangers and victims due to my own personal problems.

Since this video was released they have found 4 more dead and 3 more injured. There were reports of a second gunman but nothing has since been released.

Prayers for your families to be safe!

2 Day warning on my Give Away!!!!!

2010-07-11T17:28:00.000-06:00

Attention expecting parents, parents of babies, or friends of someone you know who fits the first two descriptions... There are only two days left to enter my BornFree Baby Bottle Give Away And i have very few entries...

SO do yourself a favor and go check it out or spread the word ... or for heavens sake ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!!!!!

Not sure what BornFree is? Check out their website HERE!!!!

Good luck hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!!!

While Momma is away the family will play!

2010-07-10T11:20:00.000-06:00

SO as a stay at home mom of two young children it is very very rare i get to go out without kids... well last night i got to go see the Beauty and the beast musical (which might i add was the most amazing musical i have seen thus far!!!)without the honey or the kiddos. I was very excited... so being the good mom that i am(not to toot my own horn or anything...) but being the good mom that i am i made sure dinner was ready and the house was clean before i left... gave the kids a bath early and made sure everyone had napped and was in a good mood! Well i didn't get in until midnight and everyone was fast asleep (as they should be) and went straight to bed... this morning when i got up i awoke to ... well... how should i describe it... maybe there are no words... so ill just show you ....

Couldnt throw away last nights snacks???

Notice that we own a dishwasher... (which i made sure was empty by the way ... so all they would have to do was put the dishes in there!!! and notice i left the detergant out on the counter so they could start it!!!!!)
This just ... there are no words.... lol

Apparently ... my breakfast table is now a dirty clothes hamper...

I mean really boys ... is this necessary? and if it is... and yes you had fun... shouldn't you take a few minutes after all the fun and at the end of the night to pick up????? I do!!!! lol I guess they had fun though!!!!

And if you get the chance to see the Beauty and the Beast musical i highly highly recommend it!!! It was amazing and breath taking and so much more than i expected!!!!

O and one last note a big big big thank you to all who participated in my Friendhip Friday blog hop!!! EVen with all of the technical difficulties it was extremely successful and i hope to see everyone and many others next friday!!!

Friendship Friday: Week 2!!

2010-07-08T21:21:00.000-06:00

Well its that time again!!! Friendship Friday!!! You know what that means... grab a button (to spread the word) and add your name to the list!!! Lets see if we can beat the number of participants we had last week!!! I'm so excited i have met some of my favorite new blogs this way and some amazing people!!! So please spread the word so we can meet some new people!!!!

Sorry for the technical difficulties... Mr. Linky's web site went down... so i had to find a new web host!!!! SOOOOO SORRY!

I went in and added everyone who posted their link this morning and who had trouble adding their link! If i missed you i appologize please feel free to add yourself again and leave me a comment so i can follow you back! again i appologize for the technical difficulties

Have fun fellow Bloggers!!!

Jon and Lindsay and their inspiring adoption journey!!!

2010-07-08T09:10:00.000-06:00

Today we are doing a Get to know a mommy blog post over at G.U.M
(as well as a giveaway) But we are excited to introduce Lindsay a mommy on a journey to adopt from Ethiopia. Her husband Jon and her are trying to raise the money to make their dream a reality and bring home their little girl... read about their journey and show some support!

Also don't forget to join the Friendship Friday Blog Hop Party tomorrow... Add yourself to my linky list (which will be up by midnight)
and grab a button!!!! Its a great opportunity to meet new friends and find some great new blogs!!!! It was a great success last Friday so thank you all who played along!!!

Have a fantastic Thursday everyone!!!

(NOT SO) Wordless Wednesday: Golf lessons!

2010-07-07T17:20:00.000-06:00

Yesterday Bryce started golf lessons with our city's "little chippers" Golf Team! He already golfs every Tuesday with his Grandpa and got a professional set of golf clubs for his 5th birthday ... so he was really nervous and excited to show off his skills at his first practice! SO we packed up our dinner and the whole family went to cheer him on! Here are some pictures (just a few of the 100's i took at the short 45 min practice! ha ha)

HOUSEWIFE BOOTCAMP!

2010-07-06T00:10:00.000-06:00

DUE TO READER DEMAND: HOUSEWIFE BOOTCAMP IS IN EFFECT!!!!

This is week 1 for Housewife bootcamp. This is how it works. Every Tuesday if you have stuff you need to get done (projects, chores, errands, blog work, basically anything you have been putting off) then grab a button and add your self to my Link List. Then post your 5 things you WILL accomplish this week!
Then: You can mention 5 people from the list on your post to give them encouragement... or just visit them and load up their To-Do List with encouraging comments or tips on how to do it better!!! (everyone loves a good comment) Then every Tuesday we will post what did/~~didn't~~ get accomplished and list our next 5things!!!

Here are mine:
(warning pictures are awful!!!! lol)
1. Organize/ clean out My office (this should count as all five by the looks of this picture... but ill count it as one!!!!)

2. Do our vacation laundry (it always seems we bring back way too much dirty laundry)

3. Clean out/ Organize my fridge

4. Clean out my son's closet- donate toys/ clothes

5. Clean up my blog... i feel like i need some major organization here!

I have found that when i start something... if i post it on here first i always have people who ask me about my progress and about the finishing product and that i feel bad for letting you guys down... so i am going to take advantage of this whole blog community... and use you guys to get some stuff done and hopefully cut down my procrastinate!!!! I hope others can take advantage of this support system as well... and pass the word along so others can use it as well!! This is a great way to meet new people, help people out and give them some encouragement!!! (which is a little something we could all use!)

SO have fun!!! Here is our first Linky List... Lets hope it get full of names of other procrastinators (so i know I'm not the only one who is avoiding my laundry room!!!)

(come on sign up I'm sure there's something you need to accomplish this week)

Lastly, Make sure not to forget about my Give Away

A shout out to all of my new followers!!! THANK YOU!!!

2010-07-05T20:18:00.000-06:00

Well i have so many things to talk about tonight ... but i want to start off by saying thanks!!! Thank you to all of the new followers i accumulated over the weekend... (I was out of town and had no Internet so haven't been able to follow all of you quite yet ... but i hope to be caught up by tomorrow!) I hope everyone had fun finding new blogs and meeting new people!!! Thanks to everyone who made Friendship Friday a success!!!

ON the same happy note i hope everyone out there had an amazing holiday weekend!!! I know i did!! I spent the weekend with all of my family in Pagosa Springs, CO. (that's where we are from) and had an amazing time!!!

Also a big thank you to two very special ladies Jessica & Danielle Who both gave me awards this weekend!!!! They are so sweet!!!

Now on to a less exciting thing... well... actually i think its exciting and hope for it to be a success... Tomorrow I'm going to start my Housewife Bootcamp! I received some great feedback on this topic and have made a button (which you can find on my sidebar along with my Friendship Friday button!)
SO here's how this works!!! Every Tuesday we are going to post our "Housewife To-Do Tuesday" List listing five things we need to get done and add yourself to my Mr. Linky's List... then we will list at least five readers who we want to send out some encouragement too (you can see who is participating on my Mr.Liny's list and follow and load up their To-Do list with encouragement all week!!!) Then on the following Tuesday we will post our accomplishments along with out next To-Dos!!!! Sound good? I hope to get some stuff done and help others do the same!!! I know i always look forward to sharing with my followers my accomplishments... and i know it helps me to want to get stuff done when i have others waiting to check up on my status!!! I cant wait to post my list and check in on everyone's lists!!!!

♥ Here are some pics from my holiday weekend!!!! ♥

See everyone Bright and early for Housewife To-DO Tuesday (man i love the sound of that lol)

Friendship Friday!!!!

2010-07-01T22:13:00.000-06:00

Well i have been seeing this game go around and i have decided i want in!!! I followed the trail for tag along Tuesday (which is the same thing I'm assuming) and i found some awesome blogs!!! SOOOO I think ill participate in Friendship Friday, Friendly Friday, Friday Follow me, Blog Hop Friday... etc! lol

So grab a button and add your name to the list (so i can "meet" you) and have fun meeting some new people and coming across some great blogs!!!!

Also don't forget a couple of things:

1. To give your opinion on my HouseWife Bootcamp

2. My BornFree Baby Bottle Give Away!!!

Happy Friday and have a safe and happy 4th of July!!!

HOUSEWIFE BOOTCAMP????? hmmmm

2010-07-01T15:35:00.000-06:00

I feel sometimes like my life is so hectic and exhausting yet i look around my house and wonder what it is exactly i did that made me sooo exhausted... At the end of the week all of the things i said i was going to do at the beginning of the week never seem to be accomplished... It wasn't until i started the makeover project in the kids bathroom that i actually finished a project i had started... and i think i know why... YOU!!! yes all of my followers and readers had such great feedback and criticism and inspired me to finish a project...
so i did...
so i wouldn't disappoint you... Then i thought wow... i could totally take advantage of this... i could post at the beginning of the week 5 things i want to get accomplished... and my readers could hold me accountable... and ill bet they have stuff they need to get done that i could do the same ... and it could be this great big support system!!! (I know genius right?!?!?!?)
SO I'm calling out to my readers/ followers/ supporters/ stalkers/ and other procrastinators... would any of you participate in this weekly challenge? (what if i made a super cool button to put on your post/blog???? sounds tempting huh?!?!) Could any of you benefit from it? DO any of you already do something like this???

I look forward to your feedback!!!! Much Love xoxoxox,

Future Featured Bloggers on G.U.M

2010-06-30T15:18:00.000-06:00

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!!

2010-06-29T08:19:00.000-06:00

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!!!!!!!

2010-06-28T15:55:00.000-06:00

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!

2010-06-28T07:02:00.000-06:00

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?

2010-06-25T13:27:00.000-06:00

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!!!

2010-06-25T10:19:00.000-06:00

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????

2010-06-24T11:02:00.000-06:00

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

2010-06-23T15:42:00.000-06:00

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

2010-06-21T11:17:00.000-06:00

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

2010-06-18T11:53:00.000-06:00

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!

2010-06-17T18:44:00.000-06:00

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

2010-06-16T17:48:00.000-06:00

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!

2010-06-14T09:49:00.000-06:00

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!

2010-06-07T12:05:00.000-06:00

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?

2010-06-01T16:38:00.000-06:00

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?