The computer continues to fail me...

Wow, didn't realize what a lengthy post I made yesterday! I'm really glad to be back to blogging. I love it. It's an outlet for me. I wish I had more time to post lots of fun things, like favorite recipes and whatnot. There is just always something to do around here. My kids have been SO hyper lately...I don't know whats up. I REALLY wish I could get Lily to go for a nap when Noah does, but I have never had luck getting her to takes naps and I don't think I ever will. I wish she would because the two of them wear me out. Maybe I should start trying to hit up Monkey Joes with them once a week. Would that help? They both want to jump around and wrestle and play, might as well do it where they won't get bruises. I have to check and see how much Monkey Joes is because we haven't been there in awhile and i'm sure their prices have gone up. I might also consider putting Noah in a twice a week or 3 times a week preschool type setting. Lily goes to Wynnbrook Christian Preschool and we just love it there. They are awesome. I know they have "baby" classes and every time i've dropped in it seems like the babies have a lot of stimulation and fun. I really might consider that because it would be really nice to have some time for myself during the week. I've been a completely stay at home mom for over 4 years now and I'm a little burnt out. I want to go back to school and do other things that are adults only!

Tonight I am going to get an external card reader. I have given up hope that my computer will just start working right again. I have lots of pictures I need to upload and i'm tired of waiting to do it! Tomorrow is officially Friday, YES!! Lots of stuff to do this weekend and hopefully it all goes well. :)

"Thou Shall Not Give Into Temptation"......uh oh

Pretty sure my memory card reader slot is broken. I stick my memory card in there, the little light turns green, but NOTHING happens. I've repeated this process at least 20 times already. I have so many new pics to post and AHHHHHHH!!!! What do I do? Dumb computer. I hate that the shelf life on these things is so short. Doesn't it always seem like computers start to break down before their 5 year mark? Either that or I just have the worst luck. Our laptop died last summer. And boy, is it dead. Dead, dead, deadski. Our computer is officially 5 years old. And my SD card reader is broken. Boo.

We installed our new dining room floor last weekend. Did I mention that already? I love it. I really, really love it. My kids have been giving it hell all week and its held up like a champ. Not a single nick anywhere on it. I can't WAIT to do the living room. We now have most of the materials and are just waiting for some leeway in Joey's schedule so we can do it. I figure it's going to take at least 3 days. A day and a half to two days to actually install it, and another day to let it acclimate and then nail down the trim. If anyone is in the market for laminate hardwood, I highly recommend DuPont.

Now if I can just get the husband to install our new storm door. It's pretty much just looming over us in the living room. Still wrapped in its cardboard. The majority of our tax money has gone to fixing up our house, which was long overdue. Our carpets were bad. I mean, BAD. It was so gross pulling up the dining room carpet. I can't imagine what the living room carpet is going to be like. Eww. The rest of our money goes in to savings. We really want to try for Disney World next year. Lily has been begging us to see "the castle". There's just so much to be done this year (my surgery, Joey's training in Missouri, etc.) that there really is no time for a vacation this year. I will be very happy if we can even make it down to the beach before the end of August with everything we have going on. I'm sure a little beach getaway can be squeezed in there somewhere.....right?

Since I hadn't bought myself anything in who knows how long and I was WAY overdue for a new one, I splurged and bought myself a new purse. It took me DAYS to settle on one, I must have looked at 6 different types of purse websites. I ended up with a brand, spankin' new Melie Bianco. I love Melie Bianco. I drool over half of her stuff, if not more. But she's a little pricey. And with two kids and a house and bills and everyday life, I just don't really have it in me to splurge on something for myself. My splurging always goes to my kids. My kids have newer clothes than I do. My kids get haircuts every month. My kids have new shoes every few months because their feet grow like little weeds. My kids have Britax carseats, Combi strollers and boutique hairbows. Well, Lily has hairbows. I'm sure my husband would protest them on Noah. Haha. Anyway, the point i'm making is that my jeans are 4 years old, I have split ends, and I wanted a new purse. So I bought myself one! It arrived in the mail in Monday and WOW...I love it. I love it so much. Best of all, I got free shipping and 20% off the original price. Even with all of those discounts, I STILL paid $72.50. Crazy, right? But I absolutely love it and I won't need a new one for a long, long time. I will post a pic of it in all its glory as soon as I can figure out whats wrong with my stupid card reader slot. Dumb computer.

I was pretty happy with that purchase. And THEN I had to go and one up myself. Boy, did I..

This is the part where I hide my face in shame.

I have always maintained that although designer clothes are great quality and are very nice looking, buying them for a child is pure nonsense. A child is going to grow. The clothes will not fit for very long. Why spend $100 on a designer item for someone who hits a growth spurt every 6 months. Not to mention this person could not even PRONOUNCE designer names, much less spell them. Labels are all about the parents, right? The kid has no clue and doesn't care. Well...I still believe that. So why I did what I did makes no sense. But, there I was. Trolling around the Nordstrom website. I love Nordstrom. I really do. We don't have one here, which is why a couple of times a month I go hang out on the site and dream of all the gorgeous stuff I can't afford to buy. The softest cashmere sweaters. The most beautiful sateen toddler dresses. Pairs of jeans that are two hundred dollars plus tax, but feel butter soft and hug every curve the right way. I truly love clothes and Nordstrom, to me, is like chocolate to a chocoholic. Whenever I go back to Texas to visit my family, I stop by Nordies and stroll around for an hour or two. My best friend and I have lunch at the Bistro and then we window shop. It's a ritual. But I digress. Cause the real point here is that I buckled and became one of those ridiculous moms who bought their child a designer clothing item at an insane price. Damn you, Nordstrom. I happened by their website last week and hit the mother of all sales. It so happened they were advertising Children's clothes at up to half off. And that is when I fell in love with a pair of True Religion jeans.

I. Love. True. Religion.

Back in my skinny days, I would try on TR's like crazy. I could never afford them because ,unfortunately, back in my skinny days I was a high schooler. They had just come out back then, so they were new to the jeans scene. But wow did I love them. They carried them at maybe 2 places in my city and both places were boutiques. The jeans were crazy expensive and oh so desirable. For a girl with a not so small butt and hips, True Religion jeans were like the answer to my prayers. But yeah, my mother would never buy them for me. I guess I can't blame her. And after high school, life started to move very quickly and I never did get to own a pair of these coveted jeans while I was small enough to fit into them.

So...I stumble across a pair of TR's for children. 50% off. Which made them $86 dollars. I'm just staring at them like "This is nuts. Lily doesn't need these. They are JUST jeans". I added them to my "cart". Checked the cart. Noticed that Nordstrom had taken another $16 off. Jeans are now $70 dollars. Shipping is discounted to 5 dollars. So what do I do? I buy them. And as it turns out, I bought the LAST PAIR. In a size 5. Because that was the only size that was left. My daughter is blessed with her fathers genetics. And a tiny waist. She can actually still wear her 3t jeans from last year. And she does. Soooo.....yeah, yeah I know. No excuse. I am ridiculous. And now I am in a possession of a pair of True Religion designer jeans that originally retailed for $172 plus tax. Jeans that can only fit a child. Wow.

They are too big on her. She needs a belt and the bottoms to be cuffed a little. But gosh I love them. And I am hoping that she will be able to wear them for the next couple of years so I get my moneys worth. When the time comes that she can't fit them anymore, I hope I will have luck on Ebay reselling them. Used True Religions seem to make a pretty penny on there. And they are the classic "Joey" Rainbows so they are even more coveted.

Of course I let my husband know about all of this BEFORE I actually did it. And since I guess he knows my burning desire for a pair of True Religions, he actually okayed this purchase.

I am embarrased to admit that I bought a pair of designer jeans for a 4 year old because it really is a silly thing to do. And it's a big wake up call to me that I need to lose all of this extra weight so that I can stop living out my fashion dreams vicariously through my daughter. I made sure not to let onto her that these jeans cost more than any of her other jeans combined. I don't want her to think that we are what we wear. I always try to teach her that we take care of our things no matter HOW MUCH they cost. So i'm ashamed I succumbed to my retail temptation. After my surgery is over, I am vowing to change. I need to become a healthier person. My diet is ruining my health. I know that part of the reason I have this hernia is my own doing. And if I want to go nuts and buy a ridiculously expensive pair of jeans, I should at least buy them for myself. For my birthday. Or at a very, very special occasion.

::sigh:: I need a nap.


Hopefully picture post later on today. Dumb computer.

So..

There's been so much going on lately. I don't really know where to start. Or if I even should...

It's a grey, cold day. My teeth are killing me. I have a headache. Still, I think today will be a lot better than yesterday. I hate how things are always going so, SO well. And then it all comes crashing down. It seems like that is always happening to me.

Here's to hoping everyone elses week is going better than mine!

Picture Post

Pictures have been long overdue on here. I'll post a couple from Noah's 1st Year picture session (courtesy of the lovely Shannon Whittington) and then the rest are all mine from the past week or so. Enjoy!







We are going tomorrow to check out the rest of the pictures in her studio. Doesn't my boy look so grown up? ::sigh::





Behind the house on our snow day




Bubba loved the snow



Our little snowman. What a pain to make, lol.




Lily & Daddy having a mini snowball fight




One of my favorite settings on the camera is Macro mode. I'm still learning how to use it.


The next few pictures are from this past Saturday night. The Chick Fil A on Bradley Park hosted this thing called Princess Night. It was realllllly cute and we were so glad to take Lily. She had a great time and I think it's awesome that the people of Chick Fil A went all out to give these little girls a night to remember.



Lily and Tinkerbell



Lily & Cinderella








Even Bubba managed to have a good time. He got a red balloon and spent almost the entire time just gazing at it.





They had manicures, pink ice cream, the lemonade was dyed pink, and so much more. They actually even had us seated at cloth and ribbon covered tables and had staff wait on us. It was too cute!



At the end of the night, nearly everyone had went outside for a carriage ride. I should really have taken a pic at the beginning of the event, the store was PACKED!






They had carriage rides out back. All in all, it was a great night.

Boo to you, Mr. Flu

So the past few days i've been suffering from what can only be the flu. I didn't really think so at first, but well....I am now on day 3 1/2 of this and i've only gotten slightly better. And by "slightly" I mean that I am no longer running ridiculously high fevers. Last night I actually slept the entire night, only waking at 6 when DH kissed me before he left for work. The nights before that were HELL. How can you sleep when you are constantly going back and forth between shivering and sweating? It's been terrible. Lucky for me, my kids don't seem a bit touched by the Flu bug at all...if this is even what it is. My mom says it could just be a very bad cold and it could be, but if it is then holy cow...what kind of cold is this?! I haven't been this knocked down by a virus in years. Probably since high school.

But I do love ginger ale and i've had my fair share the past 3 days. I don't normally like Campbells chicken soup at all, but the one that comes in that little can you drink out of is actually decent. My husband has been a DOLL through this entire thing, he's been shuttling Lily back and forth to school, keeping me medicated, running to the store for every little odd and end that will make me feel better, and making sure our kids are fed and not completely destroying the house while i've been off of Mommy Duty. God bless him. I have a nice stock of Theraflu, Nyquil, Sudafed, Pepto Bismol, Tylenol and Advil, hot tea, chicken soup, bottled water, and ginger ale. All I can say is thank GOD for modern medicine. I would not have survived the earlier eras.

Besides the past few sick days, nearly every other day around here has been productive. We picked out our floors over the long 4 day weekend and I am so happy with them. DH has a good friend at work who is also a carpenter, so he is lending us his tools and expertise on the job. Of course Joey and I have never done any sort of flooring before, so we will need all the help we can get. I really love the laminate we picked and I can't wait to see it all laid out. I am also surprised that Home Depot had better prices than Lowes. We painted our living room on Sunday and it looks great. I thought it was going to be much harder than it actually was with the cathedral ceilings that we have, but it really wasn't. Our light brown couches look GREAT against the sage green of the living room walls. Then will come the lovely new floors! Ahhh.....bliss. :)

Valentines Day came and went, and overall it was a nice day. We ordered the heart shaped pizza from Papa Johns so we could see what that was all about. I'd never had their thin crust pizza before, but it's really good. And the cute heart shape was an extra. I'm a sucker for pizza, period. We had exchanged gifts a little early, out of sheer greed. I got what I have been coveting since I realized how crappy my old Kodak was----a new camera. The Canon G11, to be exact. I love it. Love, love, love it. It's got so many features that a novice like me has no idea what to do with, but thats what I love most about it. The fact that there is so much to learn and then utilize. I got DH a new Ipod Nano. His last one was stolen and he has been using my old pink one, poor guy. So I got a new blue one for him and he loves it. It's really nice. My current Ipod is the touch screen model from like 2008, and even THAT seems outdated now. I kind of hate how that happens. The new Ipods have video cameras and built in radios, little speakers inside, etc. It's insane. He absolutely loves it, so it was a good gift idea. We got Lily a card, some new books (she'd been wanting new princess readers) and $5 to put into her piggy bank. She was pleased as punch. We gave Noey a balloon and a board book. Noey is ALL about balloons these days. He is almost obsessed with them. It's funny to watch, until the balloon inevitably pops. Then its a crisis.

My wisdom teeth have been hurting me so much lately and I think if I don't buckle down and get them out soon, I will be very sorry. Something bad is bound to happen. My jaw just ACHES constantly, its terrible. I guess I'll go price that soon, probably next week since this week I am surely a germy mess. Wish me luck.

Coconut Dum Dum

I didn't even KNOW they made Dum Dums in a coconut flavor! Found one in the leftover halloween candy stash, and wow is it good! I'm not even that big a fan of coconut, but this is yummy. *slurp* Hahaha!

This week has been great. Really, really great. Everything has gone so right and this is actually the best week i've had in a while. Tax refund should be coming next week, that will be nice! We're going to work on fixing up the house a little, although the laminate flooring project will have to wait until late this summer or early fall. I have a lot of things coming up and just can't concentrate too much on other things. My surgery is tentatively scheduled for March 9th. That could change, of course. We are submitting all of the paperwork to Tricare on the 16th and if i'm approved (which should be a no brainer since i've already been "pre" approved) then I will be having my surgery shortly after. Wow. Joey asked me yesterday if I'm scared at all. I probably should be, but i'm not. I am just so happy that my hernia is going to be fixed and my abdomen is going to be completely revised and fixed as well. I may even have a flat stomach, which would be a nice extra. I'm not even worried about how much pain I will be in, because honestly.....after going through everything I went through with the wound vac and all the abdominal surgeries I have had to correct the MRSA issue, I don't think it would be possible to feel any more pain than i've already felt. 3 months of wound changes (which was EXCRUCIATING) has prepared me for any other pain I could ever feel again in my life. Surgery pain is small potatoes to me. So, no, i'm not scared at all. I feel refreshed. And excited. Tricare is finally going to do something right, and I will get the care I should have gotten to begin with. ALL of my doctors this time are civilian and I have even done reference research on them. I am just really very happy about all of this. I have gone through all of my clearances with all of the specialists I've had to see (psych, etc.) and I am good to go. So paperwork submission is soon. SOOOOON! :)

My kids and I are suffering from colds this week and I am also on my period, which blows. Yet I am still in a great mood. So things are good in my world. I hope everyone else is having a great week as well! Superbowl is Sunday! I could careless about that, but who doesn't love chicken wings and pizza? Haha!

Perfection

After the craziness of the past two weeks, we FINALLY were able to get Noah's First Birthday portraits done. This was our third reschedule date (illness, Haiti, etc.) and we made it! Yay! Not only that, but Thank You God for making our session so smooth and fuss free.

We went with a new photographer I found after researching on the internet last Fall and I just adore this woman. Not only is she so sweet and helpful, but she is WONDERFUL with children and she did an amazing job with my Noah and his pictures. Our session was about 2 1/2 hours long, plenty of time for snacks, play time and getting tons of great shots. Noah loved the studio, it was so open and spacious and he quickly got comfortable in the new surroundings. He walked around (a little wobbly in his new shoes) and played and just had a ball. He had 3 outfit changes, 4 or 5 different background changes, and he was a champ through it all. Overall, it was an absolutely perfect experience. If you know me, you KNOW how nervous I get about these things. Something always seems to go wrong and its hard wrangling a baby and a preschooler while making sure the best pictures get taken. DH was able to accompany us, and I Thank God for that as well. Of course he is always super helpful, great daddies usually are! :)

I think part of the reason I am so incredibly pleased with how everything went today, is because it was in such stark contrast to the kids photo session this past Decemeber. At the Picture Me studio in Walmart. (cue the scary music) Although I wish I could erase that horrific experience from my mind forever, it is a good and solid reminder why I will *NEVER* go back to a generic portrait studio again. That one time was ENOUGH for me. It is SO WORTH IT to hire a real and dedicated photographer, someone who loves their work and takes great pride in it. I fully support the beautiful art of photography, and I so greatly appreciate a photographer who loves their craft and utilizes their talents.

Today was great. I hope the rest of this week keeps up! We are still waiting on word for Joey's flight to Haiti. He is still on 2 hour recall and once that happens, he leaves less than 96 hours from that. At least, that's what we are being told! I know that he will do great things over there, and I am proud of him. We will miss him so much, but I really feel in my heart that he won't be there very long. I hope I am right, but God has planned it out as he sees fit and I trust in Him.

I hope everyone else has had a great Monday, usually they are pretty hectic and tiring. For now, I am in a state of bliss. :)

P.S. For anyone in the Columbus (Georgia) area who stumbles across this blog, the lovely photographer we met with today is named Shannon Whittington. I highly recommend her to anyone looking to have nice pictures taken, she is a true gem!