Attention Wal-Mart Shoppers:
Please be advised that there will be a mother and her four month old son shopping in our store this morning. As you see her half-sprinting through the aisles with a crazed look in her eyes, please step aside so she can get through the aisles. She is simply trying to compile all the items on her grocery list into her shopping basket in a timely manner.
Once she reaches the food section you will begin to hear loud crying and screaming coming from the green car seat she has perched in her shopping cart. Although the mother may look like she has everything under control, upon closer inspection one would notice the veins throbbing in her neck and the sweaty palms. Sympathetic looks and pleasant smiles will make her feel slightly better. Rude glares and mouths hanging open will only make her feel worse. (She really is trying to hurry.)
Please avoid the urge to approach the mother and inform her that the baby is hungry. He is not. He simply does not like grocery shopping. Also avoid the urge to peer into the little boys car seat and ooohh and ahhh at him. You are not helping and you are slowing the mother down. This is especially pertinent to people with bad breath and smell of cigarettes.
To the cashier who will be ringing up the mothers groceries; do not make idle chit chat. Keep your head down and scan as fast as you possibly can. Pretend that ringing up groceries is an Olympic sport. The mother, baby, and all Wal-Mart patrons within a hundred foot radius will appreciate you the faster you work.
Last but not least, do not reprimand the mother for not returning her shopping cart to the cart corral. She knows the quicker she gets home and takes the baby out of the car seat, the happier he will be. She will resume the courteous cart returning chore when her son is older.
Thank you!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Nothing Tastes As Good As Skinny Feels!
As most of my fellow readers know, last year I began dieting with two goals in mind. Either to reach a certain weight or to be able to fit back into a certain pair of jeans I own. Well, today for the heck of it, I decided to try on those jeans. Greg was watching me from our bed as I pulled them out of the closet. As soon as I pulled them over my hips, his eyes got big and he said, "Whoa! They went past your ass!" Last time I tried to put them on they wouldn't even go that far!! The final kicker was to see if I could get them buttoned. And....I could!!! I'm not sure who is more excited! Me or Greg! Did I mention they were his favorite jeans?
You may be wondering how a woman who just had a baby four months ago is able to fit back into jeans that she was dieting to get into prior to conception. Well, let me just tell you how I did it!
1. I'm breastfeeding.
2. As crazy as this sounds, I swear while I was pregnant my stomach shrank. I was so sick during my pregnancy that keeping food down was impossible. Therefore, I didn't eat as big of portions since I knew I'd be throwing it right up. Basically, life pre-baby I could eat as much as Greg. I'm not kidding. Life post baby, I honestly just can't eat that much!
3. I take Parker out for a walk at least five days a week!
4. We are no longer traveling and I no longer live in a fifth wheel. Living in such a confined space was just not healthy for Greg or myself. It's amazing how much of a workout living in a normal house provides a person! I'm constantly going up and down stairs and just staying busy in general trying to keep a semi-tidy house!
To celebrate, I think I'm going to buy a new pair of jeans!
Friday, August 13, 2010
4 months old!
My sweet little boy is 4 months old today! I cannot believe how fast time is flying. In case you don't remember, one of my 2010 goals is to get my pictures all organized and labeled. I can't say that I've accomplished this goal (yet), but I have been pretty good about printing all the pictures since Parker has been born! Yesterday I finally took the time to finish labeling all of the pictures I had of Parker and I put them in a cute newborn album his Aunt Jennifer sent him. Looking back at the pictures I took just a few months ago was amazing! I cannot believe how much he has changed in such a short amount of time. I thought he was an adorable, cute, handsome baby when he was born, but now I think he's even cuter!!! I seriously think he could be the next Gerber baby! (Then again, I'm sure every mom thinks that about her infant!)
As usual, Parker had a busy third month of life! He met his Aunt Sheila, Uncle Andy, and cousins James and Magdalene. He sat in his high chair for the first time, which we have discovered he loves! I now place him in it every night so he can "eat dinner" with us! He is lasting longer in his Bumbo chair! He does awesome at holding his head up and everyone tells us so!! He began laughing! And, he is trying VERY HARD to roll over. Also, his hair is continuing to grow! No matter what I do it sticks up on the side and half the time it's sticking up on the top too! I'm beginning to wonder if 4 months is going to be the month I'll start breaking out hair products on him! (Maybe I'll ask the doctor if that's OK first. I'm sure he'll think I'm crazy!) I can't give a height and weight update because his 4 month appointment is on Monday. Believe me that drives me crazy because I've had him weighed and measured the 13th of every month since he's been born. I'm trying to tell the control freak in me that a few extra days are not that bad and I can be patient. However, I can tell he's already growing out of his size 2 diapers! This past month he began taking naps in his crib. I made the mistake of constantly putting him in his swing after I nursed him and that seemed to be where he napped the best. I figured I needed to nip this in the bud, so to speak, so it's been a constant challenge these past few weeks for me to find a way to get him to like his crib. I started putting him in the crib when he was asleep, only for him to wake up 5 minutes later screaming his head off. I finally figured out the trick! I have to swaddle him like he's going to sleep (go figure), I have to play a lullabye that continuously plays, and I have to ROCK HIM while he is still wide awake. I put that in caps because I felt like such a dork afterwards! Of course a baby would want to be rocked to sleep! DUH!
So there you have it! I'm excited to see what his fourth month has in store! In the meantime, enjoy these pictures!
I'm officially 4 months old!
***check back for more pics. blogger is being stupid.***
As usual, Parker had a busy third month of life! He met his Aunt Sheila, Uncle Andy, and cousins James and Magdalene. He sat in his high chair for the first time, which we have discovered he loves! I now place him in it every night so he can "eat dinner" with us! He is lasting longer in his Bumbo chair! He does awesome at holding his head up and everyone tells us so!! He began laughing! And, he is trying VERY HARD to roll over. Also, his hair is continuing to grow! No matter what I do it sticks up on the side and half the time it's sticking up on the top too! I'm beginning to wonder if 4 months is going to be the month I'll start breaking out hair products on him! (Maybe I'll ask the doctor if that's OK first. I'm sure he'll think I'm crazy!) I can't give a height and weight update because his 4 month appointment is on Monday. Believe me that drives me crazy because I've had him weighed and measured the 13th of every month since he's been born. I'm trying to tell the control freak in me that a few extra days are not that bad and I can be patient. However, I can tell he's already growing out of his size 2 diapers! This past month he began taking naps in his crib. I made the mistake of constantly putting him in his swing after I nursed him and that seemed to be where he napped the best. I figured I needed to nip this in the bud, so to speak, so it's been a constant challenge these past few weeks for me to find a way to get him to like his crib. I started putting him in the crib when he was asleep, only for him to wake up 5 minutes later screaming his head off. I finally figured out the trick! I have to swaddle him like he's going to sleep (go figure), I have to play a lullabye that continuously plays, and I have to ROCK HIM while he is still wide awake. I put that in caps because I felt like such a dork afterwards! Of course a baby would want to be rocked to sleep! DUH!
So there you have it! I'm excited to see what his fourth month has in store! In the meantime, enjoy these pictures!
I'm officially 4 months old!
***check back for more pics. blogger is being stupid.***
Monday, August 9, 2010
Gifts From Another Country
My sister and her family recently moved to China. As much as it sucks for her to live half way across the world from me, there is one small perk. When she visits, she brings me cool things! They recently came to the States for a quick visit and she brought along some pretty awesome gifts! Now, help me out. I know there is a word for gifts that people buy their friends when they go on vacation. But for the life of me I can't think of what it is. So, I'm just going to refer to these as, "Gifts From Another Country".
First and foremost, she brought me...FOOD! Check out all these goodies! We love the Pocky and what's funny is the Asian section at my local Wal-Mart carries these! I may have to start including them on my grocery list. Also, something I found very odd, but very yummy, were their Ritz crackers. They actually take two crackers and sandwich them with chocolate or lemon cream! Unbelievable!
The other gift she brought over is something that I can't believe hasn't become a trend here in the U.S.A. I'm not sure what they are called, so I'll use the pictures below to demonstrate!
Those little socks basically made my "sexy" shoes into "super sexy" shoes! Now I just need an excuse to get dolled up and try them out for real!!!
P.S. I finally realized what that word was that I couldn't remember. But just for fun, do you know what it was? I'll give you a hint: it starts with an "S"!
First and foremost, she brought me...FOOD! Check out all these goodies! We love the Pocky and what's funny is the Asian section at my local Wal-Mart carries these! I may have to start including them on my grocery list. Also, something I found very odd, but very yummy, were their Ritz crackers. They actually take two crackers and sandwich them with chocolate or lemon cream! Unbelievable!
The other gift she brought over is something that I can't believe hasn't become a trend here in the U.S.A. I'm not sure what they are called, so I'll use the pictures below to demonstrate!
Those little socks basically made my "sexy" shoes into "super sexy" shoes! Now I just need an excuse to get dolled up and try them out for real!!!
P.S. I finally realized what that word was that I couldn't remember. But just for fun, do you know what it was? I'll give you a hint: it starts with an "S"!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Our downstairs bathroom
Since my husband and I are no strangers to fixing up a house or two, I've noticed we always tend to fall into a pattern when it comes to remodeling. And that's that we work hard-core on a house for a few months, and then we get burned out. Sometimes we "burn out" due to lack of funds and we just have to wait to get caught back up. That was the case this time. However, since we sold our fifth wheel, we feel that we can now start working on the house again. But, that doesn't mean we get real motivated to do the work. However, just like our burn out pattern, there is also one sure-fire way to get us motivated on fixing up a house again. What is it, you may ask? Having company! We've known for a few weeks now that my sister and her family would be visiting us this month, so that gave us a goal to get our downstairs bathroom remodeled! We finished just in the nick of time considering our guests will be arriving tomorrow!!! (Also, my parents are driving up to see them as well, so we will once again have a house full!) Now, keep in mind we still haven't remodeled our upstairs bathroom, which happens to be the bathroom that is attached to the master bedroom. I am a little jealous that my family members will be using the "nice" bathroom while Greg and I will be using the "crap" bathroom. But hey, we figured they would enjoy it. Plus, there was literally a hole in the downstairs shower which meant it needed to be fixed before we remodeled our upstairs bathroom anyway so we'd have a place to shower while the other one is being fixed. Sheesh!
This is what the bathroom used to look like:
And this is what it looks like now!
Do you want to know what our inspiration was for the color scheme? The shower pan! Greg didn't want to have to install a new shower pan when the one that was in place was in good shape. However, it had blue flecks in it. I figured, why not work with it! And thus, the blue/gray tiled shower was born! Luckily the shower door was in good shape as well, so even though it's gold trimmed, we figured we'd cut cost by re-using it. We had originally bought some marble tile to re-do the vanity top with, but decided there would be too much tile going on. So, we decided to use the same tile that we used in the shower, and I'm so glad that we did!!!
Next, we painted the vanity and the medicine cabinet white. Also, Greg did some "modernizing" to the medicine cabinet. Everyone who has seen it can't believe it's the same one! It's amazing what some paint, new hardware, and new trim will do to a piece of furniture!
I figured the best color for the walls that would go well with the tile was a gray color. Typically I like a warmer color palette, and since the grays and whites really gave the bathroom a "sterile" feel, I decided some pops of color were in order. Originally I wanted hot pink, but figured Greg would kill me. I think red was a good happy-medium! I already had two of the black towels and one black rug. I bought another black rug and towel at Wal-Mart and the three red hand towels at Wal-Mart as well. The flowers came from a Hobby Lobby run I did while we were in Oklahoma. Those happen to be my favorite flowers (antherium) and were used in our wedding! OH, I'm forgetting one of the most important things! Ever since we purchased this house, I kept picturing a decorative ladder to hang towels on for that bathroom, since there is so much wasted space in there. Low and behold, I found one at a garage sale for $5. All it needed was a coat of white paint! Also, do you like my curtain tie-backs? They are actually pony tail holders! Yes, sometimes I can think outside the box!
There you have it! I think next on our agenda may be flooring for our dining room and kitchen. Which means, who's coming to visit? We may need some motivation!
This is what the bathroom used to look like:
And this is what it looks like now!
Do you want to know what our inspiration was for the color scheme? The shower pan! Greg didn't want to have to install a new shower pan when the one that was in place was in good shape. However, it had blue flecks in it. I figured, why not work with it! And thus, the blue/gray tiled shower was born! Luckily the shower door was in good shape as well, so even though it's gold trimmed, we figured we'd cut cost by re-using it. We had originally bought some marble tile to re-do the vanity top with, but decided there would be too much tile going on. So, we decided to use the same tile that we used in the shower, and I'm so glad that we did!!!
Next, we painted the vanity and the medicine cabinet white. Also, Greg did some "modernizing" to the medicine cabinet. Everyone who has seen it can't believe it's the same one! It's amazing what some paint, new hardware, and new trim will do to a piece of furniture!
I figured the best color for the walls that would go well with the tile was a gray color. Typically I like a warmer color palette, and since the grays and whites really gave the bathroom a "sterile" feel, I decided some pops of color were in order. Originally I wanted hot pink, but figured Greg would kill me. I think red was a good happy-medium! I already had two of the black towels and one black rug. I bought another black rug and towel at Wal-Mart and the three red hand towels at Wal-Mart as well. The flowers came from a Hobby Lobby run I did while we were in Oklahoma. Those happen to be my favorite flowers (antherium) and were used in our wedding! OH, I'm forgetting one of the most important things! Ever since we purchased this house, I kept picturing a decorative ladder to hang towels on for that bathroom, since there is so much wasted space in there. Low and behold, I found one at a garage sale for $5. All it needed was a coat of white paint! Also, do you like my curtain tie-backs? They are actually pony tail holders! Yes, sometimes I can think outside the box!
There you have it! I think next on our agenda may be flooring for our dining room and kitchen. Which means, who's coming to visit? We may need some motivation!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Showing Off!
A few weeks ago we made a journey to the Sooner State so Greg and I could show off our most prized possession to our family. (That would be Mr. Parker in case you didn't know). He did as good as you can expect from a 10 week old baby during our traveling (although Greg would probably say otherwise!) He got to meet a lot of family! As in, two great grandmothers, a grandma and grandpa, three Aunts and Uncle, and lots of cousins!!! I had a great time showing him off to everyone but of course there was never enough time for me to meet up with all of my friends...which is why I didn't even tell many people that we were going to be in Oklahoma. There's always next time!
The last part of our trip was spent at Lake Texoma. Greg actually planned a huge fishing trip for a bunch of our friends. We had friends from Oklahoma, Texas, Tennesse, and even some of our friends from here in Colorado that met us at the lake. I spent most of my time with Parker, but from what I hear everyone had a great time. It will be fun to take Parker to the lake this time next year; I can't wait! Luckily I had two of my really good friends come down to my father in laws house so they could meet Parker and so that I could visit with them. My friend Misty just purchased a professional camera and so we had an all day photo session. I was eccstatic that she was willing to do that and I had to show off a few of my favorite shots of me and my little man! Enjoy!!!
The last part of our trip was spent at Lake Texoma. Greg actually planned a huge fishing trip for a bunch of our friends. We had friends from Oklahoma, Texas, Tennesse, and even some of our friends from here in Colorado that met us at the lake. I spent most of my time with Parker, but from what I hear everyone had a great time. It will be fun to take Parker to the lake this time next year; I can't wait! Luckily I had two of my really good friends come down to my father in laws house so they could meet Parker and so that I could visit with them. My friend Misty just purchased a professional camera and so we had an all day photo session. I was eccstatic that she was willing to do that and I had to show off a few of my favorite shots of me and my little man! Enjoy!!!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
A Great Week
Last week was a great week for us! It all kicked off on Friday of Memorial Day weekend. That morning I officially signed the title of our fifth wheel over to the new owner and mailed off the cashiers check to pay off our loan! Woo-Hoo! It was beginning to be such a financial burden to us, so I'm not even sad to see it go. Our traveling days are officially a thing of the past. Although, Greg is convinced we will someday own a toy hauler, since he and Parker will need something to haul their four wheelers and motorcycles all over the place! Greg sure is going to be disappointed if Parker takes after his Momma and isn't as adventurous as he is!
Friday afternoon my brother and his family arrived at our house. Parker finally got to meet an aunt, uncle, and some of his cousins! We had a pretty laid back weekend with our company. Lots of walks through the neighborhood and just hanging out.
Our company headed back home on Monday with the exception of my sweet eleven year old niece, Braylee. She stayed the week with us. I was worried when she asked us a few months ago if she could stay with us that she might get bored. That feeling escalated once I actually had Parker and learned how time-consuming breast feeding is. However, on Tuesday I learned that Braylee had never seen any of the Harry Potter movies. Luckily a friend of mine happened to own all six movies and she was generous enough to let me borrow them. The rest of our week consisted of a Harry Potter marathon! Although, I think by the time we were on the sixth movie, Braylee was a little tired of watching wizards and witches! I also introduced Braylee to a game that I was recently introduced too: chickenfoot! It's played with dominoes and oh so fun! Anytime Parker was sleeping we would sneak down to the basement to play as many rounds as we could. I love playing games; Greg, not so much. So it was nice to finally be able to use the domino set I recently purchased!
We have a cherry tree in our back yard that is producing the most delicious cherries! Needless to say, Bray did her fair share of cherry picking while she was here, too! One day I thought it would be fun to have a little beauty session, so we slathered masks on our faces, painted our toe nails, and gave our hands a much needed sugar scrub! Above all, Braylee was great with Parker! She would talk to him, read him books, and even volunteer to change poopy diapers! She was quite the little helper as far as house works goes, too! She was great at washing dishes and loading the dishwasher, and she even cleaned the downstairs bathroom twice without me asking her to do so! I know when I was eleven years old I would have never thought to do that! David and Karen are definitely raising her right!
On Sunday we all loaded up in the truck and went to Denver to deliver her to my brother. Since we no longer have to budget for a trailer payment each month, we are now able to get back on the ball with remodeling our house!!! And since this house has two rooms that we've never had before (a formal dining room and a second living room) that also means we have some furniture shopping to do! One item on our list was a china cabinet. Not because I'm fancy enough to actually own china, but I do have a small crystal collection that I'm quite proud of! Greg scoured Craigslist since he knew we would be in the Denver area and while we were up there we made our first successful Craigslist purchase! A china cabinet for $100. With a little paint and new hardware it'll be perfect! I'll try to be sure to take before and after pics and post them on here!
Like I said, we had a great week!
P.S. This is one way that an eleven year old entertains an eight week old! Too funny! Can you say overstimulation?
Friday afternoon my brother and his family arrived at our house. Parker finally got to meet an aunt, uncle, and some of his cousins! We had a pretty laid back weekend with our company. Lots of walks through the neighborhood and just hanging out.
Our company headed back home on Monday with the exception of my sweet eleven year old niece, Braylee. She stayed the week with us. I was worried when she asked us a few months ago if she could stay with us that she might get bored. That feeling escalated once I actually had Parker and learned how time-consuming breast feeding is. However, on Tuesday I learned that Braylee had never seen any of the Harry Potter movies. Luckily a friend of mine happened to own all six movies and she was generous enough to let me borrow them. The rest of our week consisted of a Harry Potter marathon! Although, I think by the time we were on the sixth movie, Braylee was a little tired of watching wizards and witches! I also introduced Braylee to a game that I was recently introduced too: chickenfoot! It's played with dominoes and oh so fun! Anytime Parker was sleeping we would sneak down to the basement to play as many rounds as we could. I love playing games; Greg, not so much. So it was nice to finally be able to use the domino set I recently purchased!
We have a cherry tree in our back yard that is producing the most delicious cherries! Needless to say, Bray did her fair share of cherry picking while she was here, too! One day I thought it would be fun to have a little beauty session, so we slathered masks on our faces, painted our toe nails, and gave our hands a much needed sugar scrub! Above all, Braylee was great with Parker! She would talk to him, read him books, and even volunteer to change poopy diapers! She was quite the little helper as far as house works goes, too! She was great at washing dishes and loading the dishwasher, and she even cleaned the downstairs bathroom twice without me asking her to do so! I know when I was eleven years old I would have never thought to do that! David and Karen are definitely raising her right!
On Sunday we all loaded up in the truck and went to Denver to deliver her to my brother. Since we no longer have to budget for a trailer payment each month, we are now able to get back on the ball with remodeling our house!!! And since this house has two rooms that we've never had before (a formal dining room and a second living room) that also means we have some furniture shopping to do! One item on our list was a china cabinet. Not because I'm fancy enough to actually own china, but I do have a small crystal collection that I'm quite proud of! Greg scoured Craigslist since he knew we would be in the Denver area and while we were up there we made our first successful Craigslist purchase! A china cabinet for $100. With a little paint and new hardware it'll be perfect! I'll try to be sure to take before and after pics and post them on here!
Like I said, we had a great week!
P.S. This is one way that an eleven year old entertains an eight week old! Too funny! Can you say overstimulation?
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