Monday Updates on Tuesday

I obviously didn't get this posted yesterday, but better late than never, right?

Lawson chillin in the swing....and yes, it is a pink swing, but he doesn't mind.  He is secure in his manhood!

Lawson's first week came and went and we all made it just fine!  Jason went back to work on Thursday after coming home early Monday-Wednesday and even though I thought I was going to lose my mind, I didn't.  Overall we are all doing just fine.  Here are a few more updates from our family.
Isabelle's surgery is scheduled for a week from Tuesday.  I am both happy and not so happy.  I will be glad when the dark circles she has had under her eyes for more than a year are gone.  I will be happy when she can sleep through the night without waking up and eats like a regular child.  Mostly, I will be happy when it is all over.  I am not looking forward to the actual day of surgery.

As predicted, my precious Molly girl is having the most difficulty adjusting to little brother.  She is very sweet to her brother and hasn't done any crazy business like hit him or try to pick him up or anything, but she is having some problems in the obeying department.  I know that it is just a phase, but I am ready for it to be over!

Lawson had another check up today and is doing great.  He is having some difficulty gaining weight which is not super awesome.  We go back on Friday for another weight check at which point they pretty much said he HAS to be back at his birth weight.  I don't know what exactly will happen if he isn't, but I know it won't be good.  So from today until Friday, I am going a little overboard on the feedings to try and make sure the little guy gains some oz's. 
I have officially started weight watchers.  Don't be too jealous.  Seriously though, it isn't quite as bad as I thought it would be.  The hard part for me will be figuring out how many points all the recipes I make add up to.  And it won't really be hard, just time consuming.  Wish me luck.  I won't be sharing my weight on this here blog, but I will tell you that I want to lose 28 lbs and I will keep you up to date on how many pounds I lose each week.

We aren't doing too terrible for the first week of being home.  I have overdone it a bit, but am trying to be more careful in what I do.  It is hard to take it easy with two toddlers at home!  And yes, I am tired and yes, my house is a mess, but overall those things will get better with time.  Well, maybe not the house.  I can say with complete honesty that it isn't as hard as I thought it would be.  Not to say that it is easy, but I was pretty worried that I would be going absolutely nuts at this point and I'm not......I'm only slightly nuts!!!!  

Embracing my Babies

I can hardly believe there is a picture of me that I am willing to post on the WORLD WIDE web.  These days I avoid the camera like the plague.  I actually feel sorry for Lawson because we took about 90% less photos this hospital stay than we did for Isabelle or Molly.  I refuse to document the fact that I look the way I do right now.  In fact, I am starting Weight Watchers on Monday to try and get the situation under control!

Anyway, back to embracing........

This is the first pic of Molly holding Lawson.  She kept saying, "hold it, hold it" over and over.  She wasn't too keen on having to sit on my lap and wanted instead to pick Lawson up and hold him by herself.  I think she figures he is just like one of her baby dolls.

Molly also likes to help burp him and kiss his head.  Belle likes to look at his "pretty black hair" and also give him kisses.  They are going to make some great big sisters. 

Do you embrace?  You should!  I should do it more!  Check out Emily's site to see what it is all about.

Rookie Mom

You would think that the fact that I have a three year old and a 22 month old would mean that I would feel like a pro when it comes to taking care of a new baby.  WRONG.  I think I might actually feel the exact same as when I brought Isabelle home from the hospital.

Take for example, diapering a baby.  This should be easy, right?  And yet diapering Lawson is kicking my ass.  (sorry for the cursing, I am tired)  Let me start out by saying I blame it all on the fact that he is a boy, and that right now we are in the "care for the cut weenie" phase.  You are supposed to put vasoline on the wenis (penis, wiener, weenie, pee-pee, whatever you want to call it) so that it won't stick to the diaper.  How much vasoline?  Good question.  The tablespoon amount I am using may be a bit excessive.  Which brings me to my next point.....I think the vasoline is causing the pee to be diverted straight out of the absorbent diaper on to Lawson and the surrounding clothes and blankets.  He wakes up soaked 90% of the time.   And I am pointing it down!  It is coming out the side.  I am currently losing my mind over diaper changes.

Next is gas.  I must have forgotten how gassy babies can be and how painful it is.  Lawson is a gas factory and in turn is a crying factory.  He seems to be in constant pain and seems to always be farting.  I know that this doesn't last forever, but for the life of me can't remember at what point it will.  Is it two weeks?  four?  six?  Somebody tell me when this kid will be able to fart without wanting to die.

Lastly, the thing that seems to be totally escaping me at this current moment is how in the world I got my girls on a schedule.  I am a big believer in the sleep, eat, play thing.  I think I have read babywise a dozen times.  And yet, here I am, totally clueless as to how to get this kid on a schedule.  Lawson is clearly a different baby.  So far not really into doing what I tell him to do.  Like sleep, or stop crying.  Don't think that is going to stop me!  It will likely significantly slow me down, but eventually this house will be a calm and predictable, routine oriented place.

So anyway, all that to say that I pretty much feel like a first time mom.  Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated.  Have a great day!

Lawson

Lawson James arrived on Thursday morning.  He weighed 6lb 14oz and was 19 inches long.  

We are home now and at some point I will write down the whole story.  Luckily, it won't be as long of a story as I had to tell with Molly!  For now, we are trying to get into some sort of routine.  Turns out, getting three kids into a new routine is somewhat challenging.  Especially when mom is sleep deprived!

The girls have not stopped saying that they love their brother.  They also have given and continue to give him lots of kisses.  I am sure the love fest will end soon, but it is pretty sweet right now.

Here is one of his first pictures. 

We think he is pretty amazing. 

Hope you have a great Monday and Tuesday!

I Do It

By this time, little baby Lawson has arrived.  However, since I am fairly certain I won't have energy to blog about it, I have prepared this gem for you instead!

Isabelle has been pretty independent for awhile now, doing things like feeding herself, brushing her own teeth, putting on her shoes and socks, etc.  All things a three year old should be doing.  However, Molly has been more content to let mom and dad do things for her.  Until now.  Now, she wants to do EVERYTHING herself.  Which is fine, and makes me happy considering I will be taking care of a new baby, but the learning curve that is taking place is driving me nuts.  Take meal times for instance.  Molly refuses all help and is determined not only to do it herself, but to teach herself, rather than let her dad or I help her learn.  The end result is one messy kid, one messy table and a very messy floor.  Here is a pic yesterday after mac and cheese.  Yes, my kids eat mac and cheese.  Too bad I didn't get a pic today after cocoa puffs.  Yes, they eat those too.

hope you can see the massive amount of cheese on her face...trust me, the floor and table look about the same and you should know she did not use utensils even though they were provided

Every time she insists on doing something herself it is preceded by a very loud, "I DO IT" yell.  It is awesome.   She has also started insisting on putting on her own pants which is beyond frustrating because she can NOT do it.  Every single time both of her legs end up in one leg hole.  Then she stands up and of course she falls over.  Do you think falling over convinces her to let me help?  Nope.  It would be funny if it wasn't so frustrating.

Isabelle has been putting on her own clothes for awhile, but her newest thing is to pick out her clothes on her own.  In her closet (so you know) I have organized all her clothes into nice little matching outfits to make it easy for whoever to help her get dressed.  Isabelle refuses to take notice of my system.  She gets her stool from the bathroom and picks out a shirt and pants and hardly ever do they match.  Here is yesterday's outfit.

she was told she had to wear long sleeves, and instead chose short (of course) and while this isn't the worst color combination, it most certainly does not match

I am so thankful for the fact that Isabelle and Molly are so independent and are anxious to learn new things and do more and more on their own.  I am pretty sure that I will appreciate it more once I am home with a new baby.   I am also glad that in the mean time I get to take some pretty hysterical photos of them trying to do everything on their own!

Have a great weekend and hopefully I will have some Lawson photos up on Monday!

Isabelle

It is official.  Isabelle had her ENT appt on Monday, and just as we suspected, her adenoids need to come out. 

It is a weird feeling when someone tells you that your three year old needs surgery.  I had expected to feel freaked out and crazy and worried and such....but I didn't.  I actually felt sort of relieved.  Glad to have an answer for all of the 'things' that we deal with.  Like the snoring, and the constant waking up in the night, and the dry lips, and the refusal to eat just about anything that is put in front of her, and the whining all. the. time. 
Not that I am looking forward to surgery, because I am not.  But, I am seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.  I am sad that Isabelle has had to deal with all of that for so long.  Especially the sleep issue, because kids really need their sleep.  I am confident that she will do just fine.  I am confident that the surgery will go great and that there won't be any complications.  I also wish there was another way to deal with it besides surgery.

We won't be having her tonsils removed.  They are big, just not so huge they need to come out right away.  And from what the doctor said the recovery is way worse when you remove the tonsils vs. just the adenoids.  SO, considering I will have a newborn on my hands, I figure a shorter recovery time is better.  We are waiting until after the baby is born (obviously) and things settle down a bit before we schedule the surgery, just not too long.  I would love to hear from anyone who has been through this before. 

Hope you have a great Wednesday.  Tomorrow I shall be in the hospital bright and early welcoming Lawson to the world!  I will post pics at some point.

I'm Gonna Eat Your Nose.....

Please tell me you've played this game.  It's fun and kids get a kick out of it, right? 

My kids have taken it to a whole new level.  A new irritating level.  Here's how we roll in our house.
Belle or Molly will start by "eating" the other's nose (or eye, or knee or whatever).  Then that child will begin to cry hysterically and scream and holler that they need their nose back.  At which point the one who has "eaten" the nose will refuse to give back said nose.  If it is Isabelle who has Molly's nose, she will go one step further and say that the nose is stuck in her teeth and she can't give it back.  This makes Molly crazy. 

totally random pic from our cookie party we had last night!

On and on it goes with screaming and crying and carrying on until I have to intervene and tell them to, "Give your sister her nose back."  It is a major ordeal.  I honestly can't believe I have to raise my voice at my kids over an imaginary game.

Last week Molly "ate" Isabelle's knees.  Isabelle was convinced she could not walk until Molly gave them back.  Molly, of course, would not give them back.  Until I told her she would have to go to her room if she didn't.  And yes, I have explained to them that it is an imaginary game, that they do in fact, still have their nose.  They don't care.  It is crazy.

another random cookie party photo

In all my wildest dreams I never though that this would be what I would be dealing with as a parent.  Disciplining my kids for an fake game.  It is great!

Do your kiddos do anything weird like mine?  Are Belle and Molly just crazy?

Friday Five

In case you have missed it, I have less than a week before baby Lawson arrives.  Assuming his name stays Lawson.  Which I am 99% sure that it will, but we have been known to change our mind on the whole name our baby thing.  So if you have any negative comments about the name Lawson, keep them to yourself.  It is a family name and we like it. 

Anyway.....in a week my life will be totally changing and things will be a little crazy and to say I am nervous is an understatement.  I know how I am after having a baby and it isn't pretty.  For about two weeks I am the most emotional, most crying lady on the planet.  Okay, maybe more like three weeks.  Throw in some sleep deprivation and things get ugly quickly.  So, fair warning, after this baby is here this blog may have a slightly different feel for a few weeks.  Feel free to comment and tell me it is all my hormones.  Or not.  I may start crying.

Back to Friday.  Today I thought it would be good to stick to what I know.  Just a regular Friday post.  With some totally random tidbits of information.  Hope I haven't already shared these random things....if I have, well, read them again.

1.  Isabelle has been referring to the baby as baby Jack for quite some time.  We initially thought that would be our name.  Then it showed up as the 13th most popular name and I changed my mind.   Both of my girls got super common names and I didn't want to make the mistake again.  Now that we say baby Lawson, she gets quite a kick out of arguing with me.  She knows it is Lawson, but thinks it is hysterical to call him Jack.   However, Molly has been on my side.  Until this morning when out of nowhere she called the baby Jack and when I corrected her she started cracking up and said, "No. Baby Jack."  Hopefully this kid doesn't get too confused by his sisters calling him Jack. 

2.  The sleeping in the same room thing is not going as great as I hoped it would.  Molly does NOT like to sleep in a room with other people.  So every nap time and every bedtime we have to put Molly to sleep first, and then after she is asleep, put Isabelle down.  That works for now, but eventually we will need to have them just go to sleep.  When we try to put them down at the same time we are up for hours trying to get them to sleep until we give up and put Belle in our bed until Molly falls asleep.  Mornings aren't any better.  If one wakes up, the other one gets woken up.  Today someone woke up at 4:30 am, so both girls were in our room at 4:30 am.  OUCH.  Luckily, J got Molly back to sleep and Belle stayed in bed with us and went back to sleep.

3.  Tonight is date night with the hubs.  I am pretty excited.  Even if we are just going to dinner.  J wants to do something else like a movie or something, but the thought of sitting in a movie theater for two hours is not currently my idea of fun.  Maybe we will rent a movie.  Seen anything good?  Oh and in case you are wondering, we are going to my fav restaurant, Red Rock Canyon Grill.  I might eat everything on the menu.  (another clue as to why I am so HUGE this pregnancy)

4.  I have been like a crazy lady these past few weeks preparing for having a newborn in the house.  For some reason I feel like I won't go into labor until I have everything ready.  (btw, I was hoping to go into labor early, but doesn't look like it will happen)  Then I realized the car seat is still in the attic.  So I have been begging Jason to get it down and put it in the van...so that I can just have this baby already.  Jason has not done it.  He is so busy at work (and at home, really) that he is actually praying against my wishes to have this kid early.  NOT NICE.  And yes, I do realize that my thinking is not rational.....but nonetheless, I thought it was worth a try.

5.  Monday is Isabelle appt with an ENT to check out her adenoids.  Her pediatrician thinks she may have enlarged adenoids.  If so, surgery is a possibility to remove them.  Most of me prays and hopes that after we go they say that she is fine and doesn't need surgery (because that FREAKS me out).  However, a small, very small part of me hopes that they find something that can explain all the symptoms she has.  Coming home with them saying she is fine means that they don't know why she snores louder than any human on the face of the planet and never breathes through her nose and has lips so cracked they bleed, and doesn't eat even when she is fixed her favorite dinner....and on and on.  I guess what I am saying is, I hope they find the cause, and that the solution IS NOT surgery.  I'll keep you posted. 

Hope you have a great weekend.  For those of you that pray, say a little prayer for me.  You know, that maybe I can go into labor today, that this time around the birth will be drama free, all that good stuff! 

This pregnancy

I don't really want this post to come across as one long complaint list, but I do want to document all the ways that this time around has been different than being preggers with the girls.  Sadly most of the differences have been negative.....but, maybe the actual birth experience will be better!  And since I love a list, here goes!

1.  Morning sickness.  Holy cow.  I really didn't know how lucky I was with Isabelle and Molly.  For the first four months or so I couldn't keep anything down.  The last month it has been back, but not near as bad.  I feel horrible for women who have morning sickness their entire pregnancy.  For me, that is what convinced me I was having a boy.
2.  Weight gain.  Perhaps it was my refusal to look at a scale during these last nine months....perhaps it was after lunch dessert.....whatever the case, I am confident I have gained more weight (though who knows how much more) this time around.  I am a whale.

3.  Tiredness.  Okay, pregnant women get tired.  That is just a fact.  However, I don't think that having a one year old and a three year old is helping me out any in the energy department.  I feel so much more tired during this pregnancy than I did with either Belle or Molly.

4.  Fear of being a horrible mother.  With Isabelle, we were totally excited to be parents.   With Molly we felt like we could for sure handle two kids.  This time I find myself wondering who is going to take care of all these kids!  Seriously, I know it will all work out and that it is just like before where we will have an adjustment period and then everything will settle down into a routine, but I am still a little freaked out.  I really want to make sure that all of my kids feel loved and feel like they still get some individual mom and dad time.  It will take effort, but I am sure we can manage.  Lots of people have three kids.

5.  Excitement to have a boy!  We did not find out what we were having the first two times.  This time, I caved and had to know.  It has been a totally different experience to know what I am having and be able to plan a little more.  In case you didn't know, I am a mega planner, so being able to control a little more has been nice.  I have all my boy clothes washed and ready (thanks to all of the people who contributed to my boy clothes!!!), and have bought lots of boy colored accessories....like hats, pacis, blankets, etc.  The only thing that has been hard is the name...which I think we finally have a first name narrowed down, now we have to come up with a middle name.

6.   How fast the last nine months went by.  Pregnancy went by sooooo slowly with the girls.  Not this time.  I really don't know where the last nine months went.

So there it is, my list of differences.  I feel like I really haven't mentioned this pregnancy much at all on my blog, so maybe this makes up for it???  Do you have three?  What were the differences for you?  I would love to know!

The New Room-Part 1

I think I have mentioned before that the girls are going to have to share a room since we are adding a baby brother to the mix.  There is so much to say and pictures to show on this topic, I have decided to break it up into a few different posts.  Today, the beds and the color choices!

The idea for the beds actually came from my friend Jessica who had shown them on her blog.  When I saw them, I knew that I wanted something similar.  However, I thought we would just buy them!  Here is a picture of the beds from potterybarn.

From pottery barn these beds start at about $1800 (of course not including shipping!).

Jessica had found the plans to build them on a website (ana-white.com) and after seeing the price on pottery barn, it seemed like building them was the way to go.  Here is the pic from Ana's website.

Jason was pretty confident he could build them and so during his Thanksgiving break, he and his dad got started.  I am not going to say that it was as easy as some of the people on Ana's blog have said it is, because well, I don't think it was.  That could be mostly due to the fact that Jason is somewhat of a perfectionist, or it could be that the people building them did not have children or other obligations to take care of and so they could work uninterrupted.  Needless to say, it took us a little longer than the blog said it would!

Our color scheme (before I show you the beds) was based a little off of pinterest.......

and a little off of the girls pink kitchen.  Either way, I was loving the pink and aqua.  I also wanted something that would work with the rainbow bedding I had already picked out and purchased.

So....here (before total room assembly) are a couple of pics of the new beds in the new room.

obviously both girls now have mattresses with the rainbow bedding!

I realize that it is hard to tell that the walls are aqua in these iphone photos.  I hope that once we are totally done with the room and take better pics, it will show up more aqua.

I think the girls like their new beds.  We haven't got the room organized like I would like it yet, but we have been a little busy!!  We are looking for some baskets to go in the little cubby holes and we are trying to figure out exactly what to put up on the corner unit since for now all the girls want to do is climb on it!  We also need some decorations for the walls, which I am working on. 

I am very happy with the beds and thankful for the hard work my hubs and his dad put into them.  We spent significantly less than what we would have buying them from potterybarn (like less than 1/2), and they are pink, which I love!

Here are the links for the corner unit and the beds on ana-white.com.

beds
corner unit

The girls are having a little difficulty adjusting to sleeping in the same room, but that is another post for another day.  Jason is now working on another diy project, a dresser.  We found a dresser for the girls on craigslist, but the paint had to be stripped off and then it had to be sanded, and finally we are painting it pink also.  I will post pics when I have them!

My Goals for Twenty Twelve

Call them what you want...goals, resolutions, aspirations, whatever. It all means the same. And frankly it is important to have them. I have stated this statistic before but it is worth repeating....

80% of all Americans have no goals, 16% do have goals, 4% have goals and write them down, 1% have goals, write them down, and read them on a regular basis. That 1% will make nine times more income in their lifetime than the other 99%.

Clearly it is important to set goals. And despite my failure to accomplish even one of my goals from last year, I still think it is important to set them for this year. After all, even though I did not technically save more money last year, I did start using cloth diapers, began making my own laundry detergent and got rid of cable tv. No, I did not learn to sew, but I did start learning to crochet. Also, I didn't manage to lose weight, but instead decided to add a third baby to our house. So I wouldn't call the year a total loss.

So here goes...my goals for Twenty Twelve.

1. Don't get pregnant. Seriously. I don't want to get pregnant this year. However, I want to take some time to clear up some things. Are we done? Umm....I don't know. (also for the record...it takes two people to conceive a baby....I am not doing this on my own people...let me know if you want Jason's email address) But I am so confused by why so many people take such an interest in how many kids we are planning to have. We are prayerfully considering how many kids to have. And I guess, if you think we should be done, or if you think we should have 20 more, you should start praying that the LORD Himself would speak to us, because that is who we are listening to. Regardless, I am saying right now that unless we hear directly from the LORD that we are to get pregnant this year, my goal is to avoid it.

2. Lose weight. This baby will be here on or before January 19th and it is my personal goal to lose a significant amount of weight after he gets here. I am in a wedding on March 24th, so it would be nice to lose quite a bit before then. In order to help this goal along, I am pretty sure I am joining Weight Watchers online. I need some motivation and some accountability and hopefully that will help.

3. Commit to daily quiet time. Whether that means I am reading my Bible, listening to a sermon CD, reading a Christian book (that contains scripture) or spending time in prayer, I must make this a priority in 2012. I am pretty good about prayer, but the rest is falling behind. In order to make this happen I have pulled out my Bible in a Year and have found some good Christian books I want to read. Also, I have some podcasts downloaded for my listening pleasure.

4. Be more purposeful and present with the girls. Specifically, I would like to have some time each day devoted to working with Isabelle and Molly on educational material. Not rocket science or anything, but just spending time specifically working on learning something new. I don't know how I am going to find a lot of one on one time with them, but I am making it a priority.

5. Establish and stick to a blog schedule. I want to post three times a week, and I don't want to be rushing to get them done. This means writing when I have time and not on the day I want to post. There is a wonderful tool that lets me write and then schedule my blogs. I need to be doing this more. I figure that is a good start to gaining new readers. Also, I want to be a better blogger by reading and commenting on more blogs....so if you know of a really good blog I should be reading, let me know!

6. Continue to cook new and different meals. I don't think I am going to stay as committed to two new things a week, so maybe just one. After all...I will have three kids. However, cooking healthy and cooking a variety of foods is something that is important to me, so I want to continue to do this, even if it is hard to find the time.

7. Get a clear plan for my Mary Kay business. Kind of a lame goal, I know. Since there really is no goal other than 'think of a goal.' However, this past year, despite having a resolution to double my sales, I didn't really have a plan. That is important for accomplishing goals, yaknow. So this year, I want to take some serious time to think and plan and figure out what I want to accomplish and how I am going to do it and WHEN I am going to do it...but I don't really want to get started until after this baby gets here.

So there they are, my goals for 2012. I am pretty sure I could think of about 100 more things I actually want to achieve during the next year, but these are the ones I am writing down. Hopefully around this time next year I will actually be able to say I accomplished some of these things! What are your goals for the new year?

Pinterest Projects

I have been a little addicted to pinterest lately.  At first, I must admit, I thought pinterest was a giant waste of time.  And I really thought that people who spent time on the pinterest website were people who liked to waste lots of time on the internet.  Now, I am one of those people.  No, I don't spend a ton of time browsing and pinning, but I have added the app to my itouch and I have found myself spending more time than I probably should looking at diy projects and kids bedroom ideas.

Here are a few recent pinterest ideas and recipes I have tackled.  And in case you are curious, I am linking the original site, not pinterest.

First, the felt Christmas tree.

this is the one I made, btw, not the cute one on her website

A great idea for kids as they can decorate and un-decorate the tree as many times as they like.  My girls loved it and did play with it a lot, however, they also found a lot of enjoyment at prying out the thumbtacks on the wall and leaving them on the floor, which was not so much fun for mom.  In case you are wondering how the ornaments stick to the tree...felt sticks to felt.

Next, a recipe.

Chicken and Rice bake with corn and black beans. 

This was a pretty big hit at our house.  Not because it is some gourmet meal, but rather because everyone, including Isabelle, ate it.  Isabelle even said she liked it which is nothing short of amazing.

Also, a craft. 

I thought it would be fun for the girls to make Jason a Christmas present, so when I saw these ornaments I thought they would be perfect.  Well.....Molly's not so much.  She would not just press her hand down and leave it.  Every single time she grabbed the dough and made a giant hole in the middle.  Belle was much better about pressing her hand down and leaving it.  As a side note, I am pretty sure I used too much water resulting in an ornament that would never set up despite being in the oven twice as long as it called for at twice the heat.  Eventually it did set up, but it got a little burnt on the edges due to my impatience.  I think Jason still appreciated the effort and Belle had fun giving him something she made herself.

Lastly, for today, a dessert.

Cake batter bark. 

Major fail.  I don't really know if it was the recipe's fault or my fault.  First, I did follow the recipe exactly.  I melted my dark chocolate and stuck it in the freezer for 20 minutes.  I melted my white chocolate and added the cake batter.  I tasted it and nothing.  No hint of cake batter....so I added more and tasted again.  Still nothing.  Added more, and nothing.  After more than doubling what the recipe called for, I gave up and just spread it out on the dark.  Then I tried to add my sprinkles.  However, my white chocolate set up so fast (I am assuming because my dark chocolate was still cold) that my sprinkles would not stick.  I decided I didn't really need sprinkles so I didn't get too upset right then.  However, after it was all set up and I tried to break it apart, the white and dark chocolate did not stick together.  Plus it had no flavor of cake batter.  SO....no one ate it and it went in the trash.  Sad day.  If you attempt this recipe, or have successfully made it, I would love to hear where I went wrong.

So there they are, four of my recent pinterest projects.  I would love to hear if you have made any recipes or done any diy projects you saw there.  There are several more recipes I will be trying out as well as painting the girls room based on a room I saw.  I will keep you updated!

Goals from 2011: An Update

I like to look back and examine my progress on the goals I set at the beginning of the previous year before making any resolutions for the following year.  If you remember last year when I did this, I was able to say that for the most part, I accomplished what I set out to accomplish.  I felt so good......and then there was 2011.

2011 was not my best year for achieving my goals!  This is not to say that I didn't do anything memorable or worthwhile in 2011, I just didn't do the things I originally set out to do. 

Here were my goals for 2011.

1.  Eat less and exercise more.  Well....I could make plenty of excuses, but the truth of the matter is, I got pregnant and abandoned any sort of eating or exercising plan I had in mind.  Luckily, I was pretty much back at my pre-baby weight before I got preggers again, so I will just find myself in the position of making this a goal for 2012.

2.  Tell more people about Jesus and commit to daily quiet time.  This goal also did not turn out exactly the way I had planned.  Besides talking to my children about Jesus (which I don't discount in the least), I don't know that I talked to anyone about their relationship with Jesus Christ.  I hope that my life and how I conduct myself on a daily basis is an example to other people, but I don't know.  Obviously this is something for me to work on.  I also was unable to manage to get in quiet time everyday.  I do feel that I spent more time reading my Bible and listening to teaching messages than ever before, but still not where I need to be.  Also a goal for 2012.

3.  Learn to sew.  Nope, didn't even touch a sewing machine.  I am in the process of learning to crochet....does that count?

4.  Double my Mary Kay sales.  This one is hard to swallow.  I so thought I would be able to make it happen.  Frankly, I needed it to happen from an income standpoint.  In my defense, I was horribly sick for about four months and once you lose momentum, it is hard to get going again...HOWEVER, lots of MK ladies have made it work in much tougher circumstances.  The fact of the matter is I had other priorities above MK.  I made choices to not put my business first and not work as much as I needed to and it was reflected in my sales.  Not sure what 2012 holds for me and Mary Kay.

5.  Be a better family member.  Let me start by saying that I am not sure how I ever expected to measure this goal.  I wanted to be a better wife, mom, daughter, etc.  Only the people in my family can tell you whether or not that happened.  Either way, I have a long way to go.  I am constantly working on gaining control of my mouth and once that happens I think this goal may be a little easier to accomplish. 

6.  Increase my blog traffic.  Nope.  And I am okay with that.  Kinda like my MK, if you don't work at it, you won't see results.  Well, my blog took last place this year.  During the time where I was not feeling like crap, I was attempting to be more present with my girls.  Blogging just didn't rank high on my list.

7.  Save more money.  2011 brought us some major challenges to the budget.  We made some changes to our deductions in order to have more money coming in on the paycheck and were able to use that extra money where it was needed.  Plus Jason was blessed with a raise...so we are seeing more money coming in than we did in 2010, but as you know, the cost of living has been increasing.   Also added to our budget was a car payment.  After realizing we were preggers with #3, it became apparent that we needed a bigger vehicle!  So any savings we might have been able to do has been replaced with a car note and bigger insurance payments.  Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining.  We are so blessed.  We have times where money is tight and we have times where we are not sure exactly where we will get the money for something we need, but God always comes through.  And we are learning more and more and more everyday that when the source we think is going to provide the extra income fails, God is not surprised and is still able to make a way where we see no way at all.

So there you have it.  A year full of un-accomplished goals.  Like I mentioned at the beginning, I am not too terribly disappointed.  I did get a lot done this past year...just wasn't on my list to start with.  This year I am being slightly more purposeful in setting goals for the new year in hopes to actually get some of them crossed off! 

Look for my Goals for 2012 post this week!

Christmas has come and gone...

And we managed to survive! 

I am kidding...mostly.  Seriously, we had a wonderful Christmas "season" this year.  I already let you in on our first Christmas celebration with Debi, and now here is a recap of our other celebrations.

Christmas Eve:  Jason and I spent the day completing our shopping, wrapping presents and hanging with the girls.  After they went to bed we began the mad dash to assemble the bike and the cozy coupe car we bought for Molly.  In all of my wisdom I thought the cozy coupe would be a piece of cake to put together whereas the bike would be more difficult.  WRONG.  Needless to say, Jason put them both together while I watched.  After they were both done and it was 11:30 pm, Jason realized the bike tires were flat.  So, at 11:30 pm he drove to Quik Trip to fill up the tires with air.  That is one dedicated dad.

Christmas Morning.  The girls slept till about 7am.  When Isabelle woke up she immediately saw the bike and car so we pretty much had no choice but to dig in.  The girls opened presents in record time.  This year we started a four gift tradition at our house.  Something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read.  Not our idea...something I saw on another blog actually.  It mostly worked out, except for the fact that Isabelle needs NOTHING to wear, so we did another want/need gift.  Next year I will be more prepared. 

After gifts we enjoyed pancakes and then the craziness began.  Sure enough, despite the fact that I thought the bike would be like the best present ever....the girls spent the morning fighting over the new red car.  I am tempted to never buy different presents again.  They may find themselves opening the exact same presents next year.  Perhaps that is what you have to do when they are so close in age, who knows?  Is that what mom's of twins do?  I have no idea.

After the girls woke up from their naps we headed to my mom's house to eat dinner with my family.  Jason made PW's brisket and it was amazing.  Like for real.  It was soooo good.  We opened presents with my mom and then spent time hanging out.  It was a great day.

The 26th.  We spend the day after Christmas celebrating with my Dad.  I don't think that we have ever finished all of our celebrating by the 26th, but this year we did.  During the day we mostly sat around and chatted and then that night we made a huge mexican dinner and opened presents.  Again, the girls got different things and again spent a lot of time fighting over the toys.  My dad and stepmom got Molly a baby stroller for her baby doll and let's just say that this mom got a little tired of the fighting, so the next day her sister got yet another present.  Now they both can push around their dolls and I can concentrate on keeping them from fighting over other presents.

We had such a great Christmas.  Seems hard to believe that next year we will be celebrating with three kiddos.

Also, I realize that today is in fact New Year's Day.  I will be posting an update on my goals from this year and a post on my goals for the upcoming year sometime this week!