Friday, November 30, 2007

Garage floors



I know I'm always talking about the million things I would love to do to our home. I've talked about getting our garage organized, once that's all done, another nice thing to do would be the garage floors. The floor in our garage now isn't in bad shape, but it is older.

I really like the snap together tiles for the garage. They are easy to install and look great. I love the pattern in the picture above, although I'd probably pick different colors.

I'm back!

We had a great holiday. My mom and grandma were here for a few days at Thanksgiving and we had a really nice visit. They left Tuesday, and then I got hit with the stomach bug from hell. Besides the stomach problems, my fever was 104. That pretty much sucked. Jeff had to come home from work to watch the kids Wednesday afternoon because I was so sick. Then my awesome friend Kathy took the kids for most the day Thursday so I could get some rest and recover. Other than being a little tired still I'm back to normal, and I'm finally back to blogging. :-)

Here's my card...

Most bloggers make connections and meet other bloggers online. We visit websites, comment on other people's blogs, and make friends who become readers, all while online. But what if you want to spread the word about your blog, to a different group of people? People you meet out in the world. Well I just found a cool way to share info about your blog. Ooprint.com is offering 100 FREE business cards ( you just pay the shipping). I spent the last half hour playing around on their website. There are some cool business cards made specifically for bloggers. You can put in your info and personalize everything before you buy it, so you know exactly what you're getting. The website was very simple to use, and it was easy to put in all of my info. The business cards really are free, you only pay shipping, I just ordered some for myself, I'll post an update once they arrive.

Monday, November 26, 2007

MIA

Yes, I know I've been missing the last few days. We've have family in town and I haven't had time to read emails, let alone blog. But I promise I'll be back posting again( and reading all your blogs) in the next day or two.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Wordless Wednesday #5






These are the Christmas card pictures from last year. She's grown up a lot in a year...




Success!

I survived grocery shopping with a 3 week old and a 2 year old. I'm a little surprised that it didn't go worse but it was pretty good, espescially considering tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Anthony started crying at the end, so I got him out of his seat and held him. The checker told some other employee that he better help me out. LOL

And today I didn't get any lectures about putting a hat on the baby!

Monday, November 19, 2007

Freeze It Gel

I have a friend* who has back and knee problems. He used to play baseball in his younger days (now he just watches baseball on TV), and over the course of years of playing baseball, his knees have really started to bother him. Because he also has a pretty physical job, his knees still cause him a lot of pain. They get inflamed and are pretty achey. I feel bad for him. He's tried a lot of different medicines and nothing gives him much relief for very long. He spends a lot of time on the weekends resting, instead of helping his wife with things that need to be done around the house. He has a new baby too.

I recently came across a product that I think might help him out. It's called Freeze It Gel.

Freeze It can be used for old sports injuries like my friend* has, or for other afflictions like arthritis pain, pain from exercising and everyday aches and pains. I think it would probably feel great right now on my back, ever since I had Anthony I've had a backache. The same thing happened after Amelia, and it slowly went away. I bet if I used Freeze It Gel, I would be in less pain more quickly.

This stuff can be used up to four times a day, and it comes in a 3 oz roll on, or a 4 ounce tube of cream. I think the cream would be best so you can see how much has been used, and where it has been applied. Freeze It can be found in almost any drug store.





*This is of course not my husband, since my husband doesn't like it when I blog about him. This is a totally different guy in his 30's who likes baseball. Got it?



Three more days!

...until my Mom gets here! no one in our families has made it out to see Anthony yet, so this will be his real introduction to the family.

Amelia is excited, every time she talks to my mom on the phone, she asks, "you're coming to see me Grandma?" Grandma says yes. Then she will ask "you flying on the plane? be careful, there's rocks." (She thinks Mom is flying on a water plane, and will have to climb on the rocks to get off the plane. I don't know where she gets this stuff...) Then she asks"Grandma Dancing fly too?" My grandma Nancy is also coming, but Amelia calls her Grandma Dancing. I can't wait to see them! :-)

Home and Bedroom Furniture


I think I've mentioned at least a few times, that Jeff and I bought a new bed when I was pregnant. I love our new bed. It's so comfy, I feel like I could curl up and sleep in it for a week. The only downside to our wonderful new bed is it's bigger than our old bed - we upgraded from queen to king size- so we don't have a headboard. We got a cheap frame that came with the new mattress but it's not the same as real furniture.

We have talked about buying a new bedroom set for a while anyway, and I think now is the time. I am in love with the Fashion Bed Groups at Home and Bedroom Furniture.

They have some beautiful bedroom sets, and I can easily find a set that we'll love and that will last us forever. The prices are great and the furniture is beautiful, what more could you want?

I really like some of the Hillsdale Furniture. The bed pictured above is made by Hillsdale. I think it would look great in our bedroom. There is a great selection of just Headboards which is probably what I need. I'd love all new furniture, but realistically we could get by with just a headboard. So, if you're in the market for a new bed or a whole new bedroom, go visit Home and Bedroom furniture, you will not be disapointed!



Today's accomplishments

Three loads of laundry
Picked up the house
Ran errands
"Worked" for an hour
Cleaned out the van
Fed Anthony 37 times
Made my grocery list
Printed out Grandma's intinerary
Played babies with Amelia
Rearranged the furniture in the living room

Is it time for a nap yet? I'm tired! Seriously though, can you tell I'm feeling better? I'm starting to get back into the groove of things since having the baby. At least my baby boy has slept well the last two nights so I am not totally exhausted. Well he does well the first 6 hours or so, he generally goes 2.5-3 hours between feedings, then from 3 or 4AM onwards he wants to nurse constantly. It's driving me a little bit crazy.

World Travels



Now that Anthony has arrived, and I am starting to feel human again, I can start planning things again. One thing I'd love to plan would be a trip around Europe. Now realistically that won't happen for many years, but that's okay, I can still plan right?

In London, I'd love to go see Big Ben, and the palace where the queen lives. I'm sure there are many wonderful London Hotels to stay in while I'm there.

After leaving London, I'd head for a Paris Hotel. A nice romantic little spot, preferably with no kids to be found. I love my kids but everyone needs a break once in a while. While in Paris I'd visit the Louvre and of course the Eiffel Tower.

There are two other spots I'd visit while on a tour of Europe. Berlin and Barcelona are both places I've had an interest in seeing. If you're traveling and need a spot to stay for the night, visit Berlin Hotels and Barcelona Hotels for a great deal on a great place to stay.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

I got nothing...

I'm supposed to be blogging everyday, I have nothing exciting to talk about today.

Let's see. We were going to go to Disneyland today, but got as far as the parking garage. It was a mess so we left and went to the mall. I got some pants that fit me and are comfortable. Funny thing is they are the size I normally wear. I guess since they aren't jeans they are just more comfortable. I also got a few shirts, two of which are in a size smaller than I was wearing when I got pregnant. That's weird but I'll take it! In 3 more weeks I can start exercising again.

The house is starting to get back to normal, since having Anthony, it's still kinda cluttered though. If only the cleaning fairy could come between now and Thursday (which is when My mom and Grandma arrive. Eeep.)

Let's see what else is exciting around here? I decluttered a bunch of clothes this weekend. I even parted with my wedding dress. I am never gonna wear it again, and I swear it was taking up half the closet. And I don't want to pay $200 to have it cleaned and a couple hundred more to have it preserved, so why not donate it to someone else who can use it? That's what I keep telling myself anyway. :-)

I am starting to figure out Amelia's crazy behaviour a little bit. She goes completely over the edge when she is tired or hungry. Or when we have unfair expectations of her. Like today, Jeff thought she would be fine going to the mall with no stroller. At nap time. She is not taking naps much anymore, but still needs some down time in the afternoon. We ended up taking Anthony out of his stroller, I had him in the dressing room with me, and Jeff put Amelia in the stroller to calm down, she was being such a crazy girl in the store. by then we had already been wandering around for quite a while, and she was just done. At least putting her in the stroller helped her calm down a bit.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Frustrated

I am really frustrated with clothes. I only gained 15 pounds with this pregnancy, and have already lost more than that. But things seems to have shifted. My maternity pants are way too big, they didn't fit right when I was pregnant, I can't get them to stay up at all now. Yesterday I got out the bin of my regular pants that were in the garage, and while I can get most of my jeans on and buttoned, they are so uncomfortable! Because I had a c section, my incision is still pretty sore, and I just can't wear the jeans yet. Someone suggested I try wearing dresses, well I don't really have any dresses. I wear jeans every day. I did find one pair of regular capris that don't hurt, but I can't wear them every day!

So since I can't wear my jeans, and the maternity stuff doesn't fit either, I have been wearing yoga pants or pajama pants every day. I'm sick of pajamas! It's been 3 weeks. I know I was able to get into my jeans by 6 weeks after I had Amelia, but I don't want to wait 3 more weeks to be able to wear normal pants.

Maybe I'll just go buy a couple pairs of regular pants, they'd probably be a little more comfortable on my incision than jeans...

Seriously though, what do most women do after they have a baby? Just wear pajamas for 6 months after??

The spirit of the season...

It's that time of year where people often want to give something back. Whether it's part of a family tradition of giving, or if it's just something you want to do this year, USAFundraising.com has a plethora of ways to help raise money for a good cause. Whether you want to raise money for a school, an animal shelter, or breast cancer, USAFundraising.com has great ways to get started. They even have information on online fundraising and sports fundraisers.

The website is well put together, easy to use, and has a great amount of information. If you need to raise money for any cause, USAFundraising.com is a great resource.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

I have become...

that mom. The slightly frazzled looking woman, wearing sweatpants, a maternity top and flip flops, who is wandering around Target with two kids just randomly throwing krap in the cart. We arrived with no list, and left with what we needed ($7.00 worth of breast pads since aparently, the girls have made enough milk for 8 babies, not one, and ever time my kid cries, or I move at all, the milk starts leaking)and $90 worth of other stuff that we didn't need. A lot of it was stuff that will be useful, a tablecloth, some playdough and other craft stuff for Amelia to be occupied while I'm feeding her brother. I also got a few christmas gifts for Amelia. But still. I really just shouldn't go to target.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

It's hard!

I'm tired.

But it's not the new baby that's exhausting me. It's his big sister. She is just being a crazy girl and it's making it really hard for Mommy. The first few days home were okay, yesterday was horrible, and today has been so so. She gets in this mood where she goes from thing to thing, each hting progressively more destructive or crazy than the last. I can hardly get one disaster cleaned up before she starts again. I was feeding Anthony yesterday, and halway through his feeding, ( so maybe 7 minutes I was sitting down not paying attention to her) and she had gone in her room, pooped and smeared it all over. Her bed, her rocking chair, some toys... She was trying to change her self and had gotten the poop all over, so then she was trying to clean it up. Her hands feet and hair were also coated. In 7 minutes. Poor ANthony is never going to get a whole feeding in. LOL

Part of the problem is we still have a lot of junk in our house. We struggle with getting rid of things. SO we end up with piles of stuff, and Amelia loves to get into those piles. It's hard because a lot of the time it's not my stuff so I can't just throw it out. And jeff's trying to get our storage unit cleaned out so more stuff keeps coming home. I'm all for throwing everything in the unit it a dumpster, minus a few big things, but apparently you're supposed to look at the stuff before you toss it. LOL I'm really glad he's working on getting the storage cleaned out, but in the process, the extra piles and boxes are even harder for me to deal with. Not sure where I'm going with this, I guess I'm just venting a little.

All of that being said, I'm doing pretty good. I have a great baby, a hubby who works his butt off to take care of us, and a 2 year old who can be a total sweetheart when she wants to!

Christmas cards.

Do you love making Holiday Cards to share with friends and family? I sure do! Ever since Jeff and I were first married, we have made Christmas cards every year. I also usually make birth announcements online as well. I was looking for a place to make our Christmas cards this year, and came across vistaprint.com. I have used them before to make business cards, so I know they have good products. The website is so simple to use! You can make your own Christmas cards, use their templates, or just insert a picture into a premade card. It's quick and easy, which is what I need right now. And the price is great too, 10 cards for 7.99.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Weightwatchers...

I joined weightwatchers again yesterday. It was something I did after I had Amelia and it worked so well for me. When I'm nursing, I am starving all the time, so WW really helps me be aware. I am more aware of how much I am eating, I remember to eat at regular intervals (which helps with being starving all the time.) And it helps me get in all of my water and fruit and veggies servings. It will take a little time to get used to logging in everything I eat again, but thats okay. It's good for me to keep track of this stuff.

The Mist

Ever since I was little, I have been a reader. I was that kid who had a book everywhere I went. When I was eleven or twelve, I discovered Stephen King, and his scary stories. I don't recall the first Stephen King book I read, but once I started, I couldn't stop. My Aunt Carol read his books as well, and I think my mom did too, so I always had a source for new books, even if they were ones the library didn't carry.

My favorite Stephen King story though was probably The Langoliers. It is one of four novellas published in the book Four Past Midnight. It was also made into a miniseries at some point, probably another reason I liked the story, it's always cool to see the book made into a movie.

The basic gist of The Langoliers is a group of people are on a plane leaving LAX. Some of the passengers fall asleep. Once they awaken, they find that everyone who was awake has disappeared. The find themselves in a different world, having traveled through a rift in time. As the story progresses they must find a way back to their present time, before the old dying world they are in is consumed by the langoliers.

It's been years since I had much time to read. I do watch movies though, so I'm really excited about the upcoming release of The Mist by Stephen King in theaters. I remember reading this story, and I think it will be a great movie!

Go to the website link above, and you can watch movie trailers and get info about the movie. I can't wait to go to the theater and be scared again by a Stephen King story. If you get a chance to watch this movie, come back and let me know what you think!



So much to say

I have so many things I want to post about today, and I'm not sure what to write about first. I started weight watchers again. Anthony is 2.5 weeks old! I'm finally feeling human again after this surgery. Amelia is going crazy being cooped up in the house. I am totally wanting to just take off and drive somewhere. Maybe I'm feeling a little cooped up too?

Oh well Amelia just very sweetly asked for a snack, so I guess I'll go feed the kids and come back and write some more posts.

Dentemp OS



When I was a kid we very rarely went to the dentist. I think I was 7 or 8 the first time I went. We didn't have dental insurance, so we went as often as my Mom could afford to take us, which probably wasn't very often. We also almost always had well water, so we never had the benefit of having fluoride in our water. Because of this I've always had problems with my teeth. It seems like as soon as I get one thing corrected or filled or capped, some other problem pops up.

When I was pregnant with Amelia, I had a tooth that lost the filling. It hurt! Every time I ate something I was in pain. And because I was pregnant, it took a while to find a dentist who would do much for me. I just found a product that could have really helped me out when I was in pain from my missing filling. Dentemp OS is a 60 minute temporary solution to losing a filling or crown. Dentemp OS was developed by a dentist. It's easy to use, there is not mixing, just remove the product from the vial it comes in and you're ready to use it. It can be used to temporarily replace a filling or cement a crown until you can get to a dentist. Even better, you can eat just 30 minutes after using it, and it's FDA Approved.

It looks like this is a great product. So the next time you need a temporary dental repair go check out Dentemp OS. It might save you a lot of discomfort.

Thursday, November 08, 2007

I love my husband

Jeff spent the last two weeks home with us, so he could take care of me and Amelia and the baby. The first few days were rough, I was still in pain, we were all a little sleep deprived, and he's used to getting some time away from the house every day. But once we got into a good routine and such, it went really well. He cooked, he cleaned up, he did laundry, he changed all the diapers and he took pretty darn good care of me. I know some other people who have husbands that wouldn't cook dinner if their lives depended on it, and they also don't know where the washer is in their house. I'm gonna miss having him here once he's back at work! I think Amelia will too. She's liked having a buddy home to play with all day. And she and Jeff have been going out to do errands here and there, and she loves going places just her and Daddy.

Christmas!



Look what Amelia is getting for Christmas!

Thanks to my friend Lori, I found out about a great deal on this desk/easel. It's regularly priced 39.99. But it was on sale for 24.99. Then if I tried out google checkout, I got $10 off. So I got it for 14.99. AND I got free shipping too. I'm sure my little artist is going to love it. I hadn't planned to buy her anything like this, but I just couldn't beat the price. She was already going to get a new set of crayons and markers and other craft stuff so this will go with it perfectly. Thanks again Lori!! :-)

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

All I want for Christmas...



I love to bake. With the holiday's getting closer, I'm sure I will be baking a lot more. One thing I love to make is sugar cookies, with butter cream frosting. The frosting recipe is one that came from someone in my family and it's always a favorite. Besides tasting great, my little baker loves to help me decorate the cookies. I remember making cookies with my mom when I was little, and I love that I'm creating the same memory for Amelia.

The only negative about my frosting recipe is it takes a lot of mixing with the hand mixer. I usually mix it for at least 20 minutes. My arm is so tired by the time I'm done.

Something that would really help make this recipe a little easier, is the Hamilton Beach® Mixer. The eclectrics™ All-Metal Stand Mixer has 12 settings and a 4.5 qt stainless steel locking bowl with handle. It's also quieter than it's leading competitor(a major plus when you have babies napping while you are baking!)

Maybe I'll get lucky this year and Santa will bring me a new Eclectrics® Mixer for Christmas. I especially like the apple green one. And if Santa were to buy me one of the Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixers in the month of November, it comes with free shipping!

Oh and here's the recipe for Grandma's butter cream frosting.

Ingredients
1 egg white
3/4 cup milk
1 1/4 cup white sugar
1 cup soft butter,
1 teaspoon vanilla extract



DIRECTIONS
Heat the milk on the stove top until it boils, then let cool to room temperature.
In a bowl beat the egg white until it's stiff. Add the sugar butter and vanilla. Mix until it's all well blended. Add the cooled milk, and mix on high for another 15-20 minutes. Store in the refrigerator.








Awww

I am amazed at how the mind of a two year old works. Amelia is having a little bit of a rough time lately, Daddy has been home for 2 weeks, Mommy is tired and can't lift anything over 15 pounds, and there is this little baby who is getting all the attention, and we keep telling her to stop touching him.

Luckily so far, she is in love with her brother. She will run out of her room yelling "where's my baby Amphony?" If he cries she will try and comfort him. If he isn't in the bassinet she will go around the house looking for him. She will sit and watch me feed him and ask all sorts of questions. She is a great big sister.

Today I saw what a little girl she has turned into though. She loves to sit at my computer and watch videos. Jeff came into the computer to check on her, and found her sitting with the newborn pictures from the hospital. She had ripped them. One tear, but it had gone through a few pictures. Jeff got angry and sent her out of our room. She got really upset when I sent her to her room. A few minutes later, I had her come talk to me. She was so upset. I asked her why she ripped the pictures. She told me it was her baby Anthony. Then she said "Mama it was stuck. Baby Amphony was stuck. I like a picture."

She was trying to get her own picture of her brother. She has a little photo album that she carries around with her, and she is always finding more pictures for me to put in her album. I guess she just wanted one of her little brother.

Modernlend.com

There are many people in Southern California who cannot afford to buy a house. Over the last years, the housing market has gone crazy, and left homeownership out of reach for many Californians.

However the recent downturn in the market, has had one positive affect, for many of us, homeownership is once again a possibility. It seems to be a buyers market again. I keep an eye on the Multiple Listings Service and have seen many more houses on the market for a long time. I am also seeing a lot of houses with their prices reduced. We're hoping in the next year or two that things will come down even more and we can buy our perfect home.

When we do go to buy a home, we'll probably be using a loan that Jeff can get because he was in the military. So far that's the best option for us. However, before we buy anything we'll do a lot more research on loans. If you're looking for a home loan,(or if you're a broker looking for clients) you might go see modernlend.com. Modernlend's website acts as a middleman on your behalf, they will send you leads for loans. Their fee is a $20 charge per lead. If you're looking for mortgage leads Modernlend.com is a good place to start.