Bucket List Update

I thought I would stop in with a quick update on my Mini Bucket List. We started this on Monday and hit the ground running.

We got up nice and early Monday and went to our local metro park for our walk. It was going to be in the 90s so we wanted to make sure we got there early. It was HOT even at 9 am, and super humid. We walked about 3 miles, played at the swing set and headed home. Walk every morning? CHECK

Monday we also went on our date without Eliza. It wasn't a date night, it was more like a mid-afternoon date, but hey we went! We went and saw the movie What To Expect When You're Expecting. The reviews weren't too great but I was hoping for a good laugh. WARNING!! SPOILER ALERT!! If you do not want to know what happens in that movie DO NOT KEEP READING!

Starting off there is a movie preview for a new Disney movie called 'The Odd Life of Timothy Green!' Here is a little background on it and the trailer. It is HEARTBREAKING for someone dealing with infertility. I was already bawling when watching that...I had no clue what was to come.

Starting the movie it is very funny. There are a lot of funny parts, I definitely think you need to be parents to get all of the humor. I am not going to review the whole movie, tell you what it is all about, but a few things were a little too deep for me right now. One woman is dealing with not being able to get pregnant for 2 years. This is a big fear of mine thanks to good old Ashermans, so of course I started to cry. Then one of the women has a miscarriage, great more tears. I thought this was a funny movie, why such sad parts? Another woman is adopting a child. Her and her husband get into a little tiff and she says something along the lines of you don't know how it feels to be the one that is damaged, the one that makes it where we can't have kids. HOLY SWEET BALLS I was hysterical. At one point Mark even asked if I wanted to leave. This was the last thing I needed to be seeing right now. Toward the very end of the movie one of the women has to have a c-section, after the baby is born she starts hemorrhaging and her husband is rushed out of the room while they deal with her. She ends up being OK, but seriously? Come on! The movie is very funny and maybe if I were at a different part of my life it wouldn't have made me so sad, but gosh I was down after that! I understand they were trying to make it real life situations following along with the book, but it sure was never advertised as heavy.

OK you can read again! Heading home I was a bit down, not what I wanted to feel, but then that little smile was waiting for us on the front porch. As we pulled into the driveway, and I honked the horn, she stood up and started to dance. It made all the sadness disappear!!

We had a tough night Monday night. Eliza was up from 1-430 crying. We aren't sure why, we changed her-gave her milk-read to her-rocked her-daddy even went in, but no such luck. She finally fell asleep and was OUT. I had to wake her at 1015 so we could go to swim class. I had such a heavy heart for her, the first words out of her mouth when she woke up was "sar-sar"(sorry), she felt bad for keeping me up all night! No morning walk since she was up so late so we went after nap time.

I will make sure to let you know how the rest of the week goes. I know we won't be able to swim this week, the temps are really dropping, but I will find something fun to do instead!

Are you keeping up on your bucket list?

Tutorial Tuesday-Summer Activities

Another Tuesday has come upon us and I still haven't finished any projects. We have been so busy with "life" I haven't had much time to craft. Here are some super cute tutorials for fun summer activities.

Wall Pop Art

Discovery Bottle

Paint Bag Design

Water Bottle Sprinkler

We are going to be doing all of these this summer! I hope she loves them as much as I know I will

Mini Bucket List

Last week one of my favorite bloggers posted her mini bucket list. Something to do in one week. Something easy to do without getting discouraged. Kelle helps me remember what is important with being a mom. Enjoying the little moments(the small things) and ignoring the negative.

I decided I wanted to do my own bucket list for this week. Here is my weeks 10

1. Bake cookies with Eliza. Let her do all of the steps without caring how much ends up on the floor.
2. Get dressed in nice clothes everyday. You always feel better when you look put together.
3. Take Eliza for a walk every morning. When we get home if she says "gan"(again), we will go again. 
4. Take a family picture. My camera has a timer, why don't we use it?
5. Paint the stairway banister(this might be a BIG stretch)
6. Take Eliza to the neighborhood pool at least twice. Maybe go crazy and even try and ride the bike there!
7. Date night with Mark, without Eliza :(
8. Lunch at the beach with Eliza
9. Go through my closet and donate clothes I have not worn in a year
10. Send a friend a card, in the mail, who doesn't love mail?? 

These might not be crazy things for a bucket list. No skydiving or rock climbing, but these are things I want to do to enjoy my days even more.

I would love for you to share your bucket list with me. I will check in at the end of the week to see if I held up on this!

To find new things, take the path you took yesterday.

John Burroughs

Proud Mommy

At gymnastics Eliza does stretching to the Itsy Bitsy Spider song. She likes to sing it at home as well. Tuesday she asked me video tape her(seriously) doing it. Here is her shy version of Itsy Bitsy Spider.

WIWW-Eliza Addition

Last week I did WIWW and decided to do it again for Eliza. It definitely made me think twice about all of her outfits this week!! She is now rebelling against standing in the same spot for her photo...kids!

Yoke Dress-Smockadot Kids

Tshirt-Carters Jumper-Born to be Sassy

Set-Smockadot Kids

Top-Gymboree Pants-The Children's Place

Top-Old Navy bathing suit Skirt-The Children's Place

Sunsuit-Old Navy

99 Things

Ashley posted this list and I thought I would join in. Looks like I have a lot of things to do!

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii


5. Watched a meteor shower


6. Given more than you can afford to charity


7. Been to Disneyland
 (hopefully Disneyworld counts!)

8. Climbed a mountain


9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo


11. Bungee jumped


12. Visited Paris


13. Watched a lightning storm


14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning


17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty


18. Grown your own vegetables


19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France


  20. Slept on an overnight train


21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked(in 7th grade on my way home from school. Luckily someone I knew pulled over...and scolded me the whole way home)

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort


25. Held a lamb


26. Gone skinny dipping


27. Run a Marathon


28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice


  29. Seen a total eclipse


30. Watched a sunrise or sunset


  31. Hit a home run


32. Been on a cruise


  33. Seen Niagara Falls in person


34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors


35. Seen an Amish community


36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person


  39. Gone rock climbing 


40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt


  43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant


44. Visited Africa


45. Walked on a beach by moonlight


46. Been transported in an ambulance


47. Had your portrait painted
(not painted but drawn

48. Gone deep sea fishing

 
 49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person


  50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling


  52. Kissed in the rain


  53. Played in the mud


54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

 
 56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business


58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen


61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies


62. Gone whale watching


63. Got flowers for no reason


64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma


65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy


  70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt


73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades


75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person


80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican


  82. Bought a brand new car


83. Walked in Jerusalem


84. Had your picture in the newspaper

  85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve

86. Visited the White House

  87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating


88. Had chickenpox


  89. Saved someone’s life


90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Got a tattoo

94. Had a baby


95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit


98. Owned a cell phone


99. Been stung by a bee

Weekend Recap

Another weekend comes to an end, they just go so fast. I feel like Mark gets cheated out of time with Eliza, I feel guilty. I try to let him get as much time in with her as possible, this fall when FOOTBALL starts he will get lots and lots of alone time with her!

On Thursday Eliza and I went over to a friend's house to watch her little guy for a few hours. They had a lot of fun playing together, Eliza was a great helper!

Don't worry, he isn't laying flat, just the angle of the camera

Thursday Mark received some GREAT news! His company created a new position for him to take on. A few months ago Mark came upon a product he felt very passionately about and knew it would help his company tremendously. He researched, and put together a great presentation to show the company on Wednesday. They were so impressed with him, and the product, they agreed to launch the product and have Mark run it. He started the new position today! Eliza and I are SO proud of him. He is such a hard worker and a brilliant man, I am so proud to call him my husband and Eliza's father.

So on Friday once he was done working we went out to dinner to celebrate. We went to a Mexican restaurant in a town near by. It is a cute little place and has a boardwalk that runs along the water and down into the town. We walked the boardwalk and were attacked by bugs to go get some ice cream. We wandered around town and then headed home. It was the perfect little family night.

Saturday we got up and went shopping. Mark needs summer clothes about as bad as I do. He was stuck in the 21 year old phase of cargo shorts and graphic t-shirts. He got some VERY nice shorts and polos and some new Sperrys. He looks super cute, I wish I would have taken a picture. After shopping for way too long we came home and laid Eliza down. We laid out in the sun for about 30 minutes(gotta get some sun before we burn in Myrtle Beach) but then I started to melt so we came in and napped...the best nap we have had in months hands down.

She was so tired she fell asleep when I was changing her

Eliza woke up after about 2 hours so we headed back out to shop for me. I found a couple of cute dresses at Kohls. Here is one of them

 We also took Eliza to the pet store. I love the chain of these stores, they allow you to play with the animals in little rooms even if you have no plans to buy them. They don't push you at all, they straight out ask if you are there just to play. Eliza LOVED on this teacup poodle like she was meant to be ours. Luckily she didn't have a fit we told her to say goodbye, she just kissed her and walked away.

She has also been perfecting her cat chasing skills. She FINALLY caught the cat. I don't know if the cat just finally gave up knowing it was inevitable or if she got sneaky.

Sunday we decided to skip church. Eliza has had a bit of a runny nose from teething. Even though we know it is nothing contagious, we didn't want the other parents in nursery to worry. I know how frustrated I get when someone brings a sick child around Eliza. Instead we headed to the park early. It was supposed to be close to 90 so we wanted to get there before it was too warm. We had a great time walking and playing on the swings and slides. She also enjoyed running back and forth across the picnic table giving us hugs, she is the best! We got home just in time for her to nap. Mark ran errands and I watched dvr shows cleaned up. When she woke up we headed outside to play and do yard work. It got a little warm so we didn't stay out too long but she was forced played in her pool and chased Mark around the yard. After that we just hung out and played inside.

Running to give hugs

It was a great family weekend. I hope we have many many more of those!

Here It Comes To Rear Its Ugly Head!!

The big J...jealousy.

I hate the feeling that it gives me. This pit in my stomach, the lump in my throat, the hard pounding of my heart. Why do I have to be jealous of pregnant women?

It is crazy the things that can set it off. Today I was watching 16 and pregnant and got jealous, seriously. In no way would I ever want to be in the shoes of those young children, but I just want to scream THAT ISN'T FAIR!!! Here are these kids that didn't necessarily want to get pregnant, and boom here's a kid for ya. What about me? What about the thousands of couples/men/women who struggle with infertility?

I want to know that if I feel like trying to have baby #2 I could. I could just get pregnant like these people I see. That isn't the case though. We have to plan, have surgery, recover, chart, test, try again and so on. But here is Suzzie Joe on Facebook announcing "oops baby #3 is on the way" when she complains about baby 1 and 2 all day long.  I don't think I would trade to be in these people's shoes, but man I just want this part of my life to be "normal".

Maybe it's the hormones...I started the rest of my hormones the other day and it has thrown me for a loop. I have been crying at movies again, crying over how fast Eliza is growing, and getting irritated easier. The good news, I am sure most "fertile" women would disagree, my period came yesterday. It seems as though the scar tissue on my cervix has not reformed and it is open. Yah!!! maybe?? I mean what woman is really excited over a period? At least it is a step in the right direction.

My DR would like to perform the surgery soon but we are going to wait. I think I will consult with her when we get back from our vacation in June. I want to put off being pregnant until early next year. As much as I would love to be pregnant now, we are thinking of taking Eliza to Disney for her birthday in December and I want to make sure I can enjoy all of it.

This is what I love about blogging, I feel so much better now. I know there are people out there in blog world who get it. Women struggling with infertility, or maybe even Ashermans. I know we all feel this way at some point, and I don't think there is anything wrong with it!

36 weeks pregnant with Ellie Boo

WIWW-Eliza Addition

All around the blog world today, there are women brave enough to post photos of what they wore over the past week. I vicariously live through their photos and wonder what it would be like to have a sense of style. If I were to do a post about what I wore you would see jeans, gray shirts, and pajamas repeated day after day. This past week I have lived in jean stretch capris I found at Old Navy, thank you Heather for suggesting to shop there.

I decided since my wardrobe is so boring, and many people ask me where Eliza shops, I will do What I Wore Wednesday for Eliza.

Dress-no tag sorry Headband-Gymboree

Dress-Childrens Place Glasses-Old Navy Shoes-Payless

Set-No tag sorry

Romper-Gymboree

Set-Smocked by Stelly Belly

Top and Shorts-Gymboree

I started this idea late in the week, but I will try to do the pictures in the same spot every time. On day 2 Eliza learned that when the camera and Goldfish came out she was getting her picture taken. She runs to this spot, poses and says CHEEEEESE. She is the best!

Weekend Recap

I know I know...I have been MIA. Every time I went to write, something came up. Lets start from last week!

Thursday Eliza and I went to lunch with a friend from high school. She has a great little boy who is 6 months old. We enjoyed chatting and watching the kids interact. At one point she ran to the car and I stayed with the kiddos in their high chairs. HOLY MOLY. I don't know how people have kids that close together! The kids were wonderful, but both needed my attention the whole time.

I purchased Eliza a bike seat for Mark's bike. It took FAR TOO LONG for me to put it on, but I finally did it. When we go on family rides Mark takes Eliza, while he is at work I just hop on his bike and ride her around. She LOVES it. She said again again when we come back home. We also ride it down to the neighborhood playground, it is perfect.

Friday I had my follow up DR appt. It went as I expected, she says I need the surgery to be able to get pregnant. She explained how it would go and so on. She did say that the best time to get pregnant is right after surgery. Since we do not want to get pregnant just yet we agreed I will put off the surgery for a while. We have a lot of things planned this year that I want to do with Eliza and not have to be limited from being pregnant. I should start my period soon. I am nervous...what if I don't? What if that first procedure didn't do anything...or heaven forbid, made things worse.

When Mark was finished working on Friday, we took Eliza to a park downtown. This was the first place she ever went on a swing, what a difference! From there we decided to stop for ice cream. We have a Dairy Queen in town but it is a nightmare on the weekend so we decided to try a new place. It is a train car converted to an ice cream shop in a parking lot. It was so good, Ashbys!, and half the price of Dairy Queen. This will be our new spot!

Saturday morning we got up early, way too early, to take Eliza to swim class. A few weeks ago her class was canceled so we had to make one up. I decided to do the makeup on Saturday so Mark could come, and Mimi and Gigi joined us too. She did wonderful, like always, and it was great having them there to watch her.

When we made it home Eliza went to bed and Mark and Gani(Gigi) had a surprise for her. They took off, rented a trailer, and went to pick this up!!

 She We have the best family, Gigi and Mimi stayed for hours, in the rain, putting it up for her. Unfortunately, it rained all day Saturday so she wasn't able to enjoy it. We stayed in the rest of the night and just enjoyed ourselves.

Sunday we headed to church first thing. Eliza was so cute when she went to nursery. She walked in and headed over to her friends and in her sweet little voice said "Hi", I melted. I gave her a kiss and then she tried to kiss her friends. When we kiss at home she gives kisses to both of us, she didn't realize we don't kiss other people. I laughed. When we came to pick her up she surprised me with this little gift, she is so sweet.

We came home and napped :) Played on the swing set-for way too long, then headed for a late lunch. We wandered around town and headed into the local Starbucks. We ended up having a horrible experience with the customer service. I don't want to relive it but it was heartbreaking how rude they were to my husband. I have contacted the corporate team and I am trying to get in contact with the location manager.

We made it back home in time for another nap then more time on the swing set...I have a feeling this is how our days will be spent: 

It is now noon on Monday, Eliza is sleeping while I relax. I can't wait to go out and swing when she wakes up!

How was your weekend?? Have a good one everyone! 

I will leave you with this proud moment of the week

Wordless Wednesday

Pick your battles, right? Apparently the shoe needed to come with us to the post office and grocery store...yep she brought them in with her too.

VaCaTiOn!!

I am so excited for an upcoming vacation we have planned! We are heading down to Myrtle Beach to meet up with my best friend and her family as they come up from Florida! We have been friends since high-school and since then it seems like we go through life's steps together. We got married 2 months apart and had our little ones 5 months apart. I am very excited to see her! We got together this summer for a few hours, but other then that is has been almost 3 years!

I have Eliza's outfits all ready. Most of them are smocked bubbles or sun-suits, a few more casual outfits too.

I am absolutely lost at what to wear myself. I am embarrassed to say I have not bought myself summer clothes since before I was pregnant. I desperately need clothes but I have no sense of style. If I find a shirt I like and it fits, I tend to buy every color that they have and move on. I would love to dress "girly". I would love to know what shoes to wear with dresses or skirts. I also would like to do it on a budget. I can go to a website and see the outfit all put together, but when I see the price tag I about pass out.

I would love your input on a great place for clothes! I want to be fashionable and girly, but be able to chase Eliza around and not give the world a show!

Leave a comment and let me know where you would tell me to shop!

Cinco De Mayo

I hope everyone enjoyed Cinco De Mayo yesterday, we had a wonderful day. Eliza made a late night request on Friday to go to the Zoo so we planned it for the beautiful weather we had coming on Saturday.

The ride down was pretty rough, she didn't sleep well Friday night and we were hoping she would sleep the hour and a half down there...no such luck. I drive everywhere we go(when I got pregnant I got car sickness and it has never gone away. The only way to combat it is if I drive, it kills Mark) so Mark was left to deal with Eliza. After quite a few fits, and lots of construction traffic, we decided to switch spots and I would deal with her. The medicine the DR has me on post surgery has made me really calm and relaxed, I LOVE IT.

We finally made it to the zoo to realize we had forgot shoes for Eliza. Luckily we found a rouge pair of sandals in the car. Unfortunately it was only 60* so her toes were a bit chilly, she didn't complain. We also didn't realize quite a few of the exhibits were closed for construction-no hippos, lions, and a few other animals for us. The rest of the time was spent enjoying the animals and each other. You know how the zoo goes...walking in circles, getting run over by out of control children, being stuck behind the people who practically crawl instead of walk, but the rest was amazing. Here are the pictures!

On our way home we tried to avoid the traffic by taking back roads, OH MY WORD it took forever!! Thankfully Eliza slept most of the way home so it was a nice quiet ride. We knew once she got home though she would be ready to party, and we would be ready to pass out. Luckily we made it home and she was willing to TRY to sleep. We ran to our bed to nap, Mark fell asleep instantly but unfortunately I was wide awake. I finally fell asleep and she was up 10 minutes later. After some back and forth we decided to go to dinner and a park.

Dinner did not go well. I wanted to sit on the covered patio, YES Mark suggested not but we did anyway. The sun was gone when we sat down but after a few minutes it was out in all its glory. The sun was right on us and Eliza was melting. Half way through dinner Mark took her for a walk and she calmed down. We quickly wrapped up dinner and took the rest home.

We wandered down to the park where she played on the play structure and the swings. We then adventured into the woods.

I sent these pictures to my sister who then asked where we were. I told her the park we were at and she was bummed. They had asked us to join them for dinner at the new Mexican restaurant "downtown". Downtown to me means downtown Detroit, I didn't have an interest in dealing with all of that commotion so we declined. Well, I misunderstood and she meant downtown....the town they live in. Oops. We were just there having dinner and at the park. Luckily they were on their way walking up to town, and we were walking out of town so we met in the middle! They got to see Eliza for a bit which she always loves. She told them all about the sticks she saw at the park, and even gave them raspberries(on their cheeks)! We had decided to walk to get ice cream while they went to have dinner. When we showed up at the ice cream shop the line was LONG so we decided to skip it....Eliza was not happy.

We said our good-byes to Mimi and Gigi and headed home. We stopped at the grocery store and picked up ice cream(half the price of going to the ice cream shop) and then put Eliza to bed. We checked out Hangover2 from Redbox and just hung out on the couch.

I had a great day with my family and can't wait to have a great day at Church. Enjoy your Sunday-Funday!!