Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Humpday Humor

I hope you are having a good week, I needed these to laugh with all the sickness going on lately! I love Pinterest!!











Sunday, August 26, 2012

10 Simple Things

Being a stay at home mom isn't easy, no one said it was. There are days with little to no adult interaction, and when your children are really young, barely any real conversations. There are days when I wonder if it would be easier for me if I worked, I then remember why I do this, for her.

I have tried many times to help improve my mental state around the house...cleaning one room completely, a long shower, redecorating. Unfortunately we can't always do these everyday, but there are a few things you can do everyday.

I found an article on Pinterest from Apartment Therapy telling you 10 things you can do everyday to help with your mental state at home. I am going to try this out this week, lets hope it lifts my spirits!

"Our homes are an extension of who we are: what we do within the walls of our abodes shapes our mood, affects our productivity, and influences our outlook on life. Scientific studies have shown that we can have an impact on our happiness by adjusting the tiny little habits and routines that constitute our daily lives — we are, in fact, in control of our outlook on life.


It's amazing how a few tweaks to our daily habits can become a catalyst for meaningful, positive change. Here are a few simple things you can do every day to feel happier at home.


1. Make your bed. In a popular post last month, I explained the many benefits of daily bed-making. Gretchen Rubin, New York Times best-selling author of The Happiness Project, explains that this three minute task is one of the simplest habits you can adopt to positively impact your happiness.

2. Bring every room back to "ready." I learned this trick from Marilyn Paul's clever book, It's Hard to Make a Difference When You Can't Find Your Keys. It's a known fact: Clutter causes stress; order creates a haven from it. This mood-boosting routine is simple: Take about three minutes to bring each room back to "ready" before you depart it. (Unless you have a toddler, or a partner who likes to simulate earthquakes, three minutes should be sufficient.)

3. Display sentimental items around your home. One reason that experiences (and memories of those experiences) make us happier than material things is due to the entire cycle of enjoyment that experiences provide: planning the experience, looking forward to the experience, enjoying the experience, and then remembering the experience. Make your home a gallery of positive memories.

4. Start a one-line-a-day gratitude journal. Before bed, simply jot down one happy memory from that day. (If you have kids, you can ask them, "What was the best part of today?") Reflection is an important part of happiness, and pausing to reflect on a positive event from each day cultivates gratitude. (An added bonus: Later, when your memory is defunct, you will already have all of your meaningful adventures recorded!) If you have trouble getting started with journaling, consider buying a book to guide you. Simple Abundance, by Sarah Ban Breathnach, is a great one.

5. If you can't get out of it, get into it. This tip comes from The Happiness Project. I love the message: The dishes are not going to clean themselves, so you will do it, and you will like it! (Unless, of course, you can outsource this job, in which case I say: Nice work!) Otherwise, get into doing the dishes. Feel the soothing warm water on your hands. Enjoy the tickle of the tiny bubbles. Crank your favorite album at an unusually loud volume, do a couple fist-pumps while shouting "Can I get a hell yeah for the dishes? Hell! Yeah!" and pretend you love it.

6. Before you get up each morning, set an intent for the day. In The Art of Happiness, the Dali Lama says ""Every day, think as you wake up: today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it." Wow. What a wise man. I tend to wake up with a strong visceral reaction that says, "Attention human beings: Be afraid of me before coffee. Be very afraid!" Setting a daily intent makes a huge difference. Your daily intent could be something like "be productive" or "enjoy today's delicious moments" or it could be something more specific like "say thank you to my loved ones today." But it should not be another "to do" item on your list.

7. Do small favors for your housemates, expecting nothing in return (not even a thank you!). (That's right, I said it: nothing!) Mow the lawn for your husband, but don't expect him to pat you on the back. Make the bed for your wife, but don't try to get bonus points for it. Take the trash out for your roommate, just because. The ability to cultivate strong, healthy relationships is one of the biggest contributors to health and happiness, but when you start to keep score, the benefit is lost. (No! It's YOUR turn to clean up the dog poop!) It's a well-known fact: When you do good, you feel good.

8. Call at least one friend or family member a day. You can do this while you clean, while you make the bed, or while you walk the dog. Texts and emails do not count! Make an actual phone call to a loved one, just to chat and catch up. We humans are social beings and studies show that even when we don't feel like it, even if we are naturally introverted, socializing with our loved ones makes us feel better.

9. Spend money on things that cultivate experiences at home. Save money for a new grill for parties or a new DVD for family movie night — something that will encourage you to have people over and entertain. Plan a summer barbeque, invite your closest friends, kick back and relax. (And don't forget to print out the pictures to remember the good times.)

10. Spend a few minutes each day connecting with something greater than yourself. Whatever your spiritual beliefs — or non-beliefs — may be, studies show that connecting to a high power is correlated with happiness. Just stepping back to realize that we are part of an enormous universe can put some perspective on your annoyance with the those-are-definitely-not-mine-and-they-are-abso-fricking-lutely-repulsive socks under the coffee table. Before bed, spend just a few minutes contemplating something larger than yourself. Take a walk in nature. Write in a journal. Create a sacred space in your home. (Or if spirituality is really not your thing, create a home spa: light some candles, soak in a hot bath, delve into a good book… are you feeling better yet?)"

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Oh Sleep

A full nights sleep, HALLELUJAH! This is the first time in a week Eliza slept all night. I know she needed it, and I sure did too.

We had a tough day on naps yesterday. People wanted to see the house from 11-12, Eliza naps from 11-2 each day. When I agreed for them to come I knew it was her nap time, but I knew I needed people to look at the house.

We left at 11 and drove around for an hour. She was so sad and really wanted to go to bed, I wish I could get her to sleep in the car. We drove to the new neighborhood, what we usually do, and it was a little bittersweet. I saw about 3 or 4 basements being dug and foundation being poured, I was really hoping we were going to be that far along by now.

When we got back at 12 the family was still there. I asked the neighbor if they had been there the whole time she said Yes. This is great for selling the house, not so much for a sleepy baby. I ended up driving in circles in the neighborhood until 1230 when they finally left.

When we got in the house Eliza was ready to party, she felt nap time was no longer needed....I disagreed. She decided not to nap, which was not fun at first, but then my sister came over and that definitely helped. She was able to wear her out and by 5 Eliza was napping. She woke up when Mark came home and we had dinner and went for a walk.

We haven't heard anything from the people who looked at the house. I am hoping if they spent an hour and a half here it was because they were interested. It turns out, they are friends with my neighbors next door. She came and told me that they told her they really liked it. Hopefully this is a good sign.


Eliza has been in a much better mood these past few days. Her favorite thing, like always, is to play with Z!!
She kept telling him "ride" she wanted a piggy back ride



I also found the issue with my tire...ugh


Friday, August 24, 2012

The Ball Is Rolling

...maybe I need it to slow down just a bit?

I know I know, all I have complained about is the fact that no one wants to see our house, and then in 24 hours we get requests for 5 showings. WHOA. I am not complaining AT ALL, it just didn't come at the best time. The house was a disaster from having a sick kiddo.

Wednesday we decided we are going to do an open house on Saturday for everyone to come see, hopefully not just looky-lus but people who really are interested. Then Wednesday night we got a call for a showing Thursday night, sure no problem. My Uncle was coming over Thursday morning to fix a leaky drain(seriously it has to start the week Eliza is sick) so it would work out good. Then while I was painting and fixing things up, the calls started coming in. One for Friday, one for Sunday, one for Monday. Then at 351 someone called...they wanted to come at 4!! Shut up, you want to come in 10 minutes??? I understand, I am the minority with the fact that I stay home with E all day. I know most people have to work and so no one is home during the day, but 10 minutes??

I told them they needed to at least give me until 430 so I could get out, they agreed. I ran around like a MAD MAN trying to clean everything. Of course, Eliza and I had just taken showers so I had to get us both ready too. Right at 430 I got to the car and loaded E and Z in. I noticed the realtor pulling up, waved and hopped in. DING DING DING, a light going off on my dashboard..."tire pressure low, level at 10" SERIOUSLY?? My tired pressure is supposed to be 32 on my car, and it is 10??? I will say, it is slightly my fault. My tire pressure has been wonky the past few days, but with E sick I haven't had time to take it in. I had to set up my tire pump and wait 5 minutes for it to fill. Luckily the realtor was very understanding, and his clients weren't even there yet.

Mark Eliza Z and I went to the park and had dinner(it was quite the site) while we waited for the showing to be done. There were 2 back to back so we didn't get home until 730. I am pleased to say they both really liked the house and put them on their "maybe" list. That might not be SOLD but hey, that is better then the 3 showings that said no!

So here I sit, getting ready to pack up for the showing today, hopefully this will be the one...if not maybe the one on Sunday or Monday.

Eliza is starting to feel better. We have stopped they Tylenol and Motrin and just letting her fight it off. The blisters are still popping up, but they don't seem to bother her too much. She is HUNGRY. For not eating for a few days she is trying to catch up. On Wednesday she sat in her highchair for an hour and a half eating an entire can of Spaghetti-os(all she asked for while she was sick, so weird) and 4 sippy cups of water. She ate them all with her hand instead of a spoon, and was a complete disaster afterwards but I was just thankful she ate!!

Here are two videos of her from yesterday. The first one is her saying Uncle Mike. She calls my sister Mimi and her husband Gigi and I guess Uncle Mike is now Ike Ike...she has a thing for rhyming names I guess.

Eliza and I were sitting outside and she asked if she could take the dog for a walk. She was so proud of herself. She kept saying "Walk Z!!"

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Wordless Wednesday-This Stinks

Dear HF&M, and the mom who brought her daughter to class sick, you stink!!!!!!!!


Monday, August 20, 2012

Sleepless Nights

My night was spent getting up and down again, mostly because her pacifier(yep, I gave it back) kept falling out of her crib.

My day has been spent running(literally) up the stairs every time I hear the first whimper. Rocking in the rocking chair I spent so many nights in when she was a baby, and begging her to eat, drink and take her medicine.

Having a sick child just might be the worst thing in the world. I don't care about the sleep, I can't sleep knowing she is sick anyway. I don't care that I have spent another day in my pajamas. I don't care about the pile of dishes, the half eaten meals, or spilled milk that is all over the house. All I want is for her to feel better.

Trying to reason with a 19month old baby isn't easy, reasoning with a sick one is impossible.

She hates the taste of the medicine so she starts to gag and choke. It then comes back out and I have no clue how much she actually swallowed.

I think the most pitiful moment was when she woke up this morning. She heard the dog downstairs and thought that it was Mark. She went running into our room and said "Hi" to his side of the bed, but he was at work. She thought he was hiding under the blankets so she picked them up and said "Peek-A-Boo". She then realized he wasn't there and started to cry, I felt terrible.

If there is any silver lining on these terrible storm clouds, it came yesterday. I laid Eliza down to sleep and kissed her and said goodnight like I always do. As I shut the door I said "love you" she rolled over and looked at me and said "love you". That was the first time she said that to me. My heart burst...fireworks and explosions type of burst.

I love you Prinny! I hope you feel better soon, we have so many fun things to do.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Sick Little Duck-Weekend Update

We have a sick little duck here today. To say I am exhausted is the biggest understatement. I think I got a total of 2.5 hours of sleep last night...not in a row. Eliza was up all night BURNING up and crying. Mark had to make a run to the store at midnight because we were out of tylenol. She is still not feeling well, not sleeping well, and just pitiful. Poor thing even fell asleep on the potty. I never want to wish her sick, but I am eating up how cuddly she is.

Unfortunately, we are going to miss the Circus we planned to go to. It really made me realize how God has everything planned. We were going to go Friday but then found out there was a Sunday show, so instead of Mark rushing home from work we changed plans. Friday I called the township offices of the town that was holding the Circus to check they still had tickets, they did. I drove all the way there to buy them in advance and save some money. When I got there they realized they didn't have them anymore. I was beyond frustrated but all I could do was head home. God clearly had a plan, he knew we wouldn't be able to go today because of E being sick, so he didn't want us to waste the money on the presale tickets. Thanks big guy!

So today is a lazy day. I made a trip to Target this morning to get Eliza a few supplies and just take a break from the tears. They are starting to pull out their fall kids clothes. Oh my word, they are cute! Between Target, The Childrens Place(they mismarked the cutest shirts, SCORE), Gymboree and my Facebook buying, she is set for fall and winter...now if only I could stop buying the cute stuff! I will have to do What I Wore Wednesday with her again soon!

Shirt and pants from The Childrens Place


Yesterday, before she got sick, we had a great day. She woke up early and I went to get her. Once she is up and moving she likes to go say hi to Mark while he is still sleeping. She climbed up into the bed and he said "Good Morning" like he always does, in the sweetest little voice she said "morning", we both melted. Her vocabulary is growing daily, she repeats everything you say. We headed to the Melon Festival near buy and looked at all the tents of stuff. Nothing too exciting but nice to get out of the house. Eliza even got her face painted for the first time, not bad for free and a wiggly worm!


 I have decided to make Eliza Oscar the Grouch for Halloween. I have finished her costume and it is ADORABLE, if I do say so myself!

Eliza has a new obsession, her backpack. I bought it a few weeks ago to take things to and from the nursery at Church. The day I got it, not a fan....at all. Then on Tuesday she found it in her closet and they are now inseparable.


I ordered Eliza some squeaker shoes too, they came in the mail the other day and she loves stomping around the house in them, she says there are ducks in her shoes. Gosh she kills me!

No news on the house, I am pretty bummed. The house across the street sold, ugh! It was a completely different house and price point so I understand, but still frustrating. We only have a few more weeks left on our deposit for the land. If we don't have an offer on our house by then we are going to have to give it up. I will be heartbroken, but I'll try to understand he has something better planned for us.

Well, I am off to try to sneak in a nap before Eliza wakes back up. Hope you all had a good weekend!


Thursday, August 16, 2012

Opinions Needed

I am trying to get an early jump on Eliza's Halloween costume. I want her to be Elmo, Cookie Monster, or Oscar. She loves all 3 of them. My thoughts...Elmo and Cookie are very popular at Halloween with little kids, we all know I like her to be different. Will Oscar be recognizable enough though? Here is a picture of the 3 I am choosing between, let me know which one you like most.


Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Monday, August 6, 2012

OCD Overload

To say I have OCD is an understatement. I might not have the clinical definition, I don't do the same thing over and over, but I obsess over things until they are taken care of.

As you can imagine having to deal with this while trying to sell your house and build a new one is extremely stressful.

All day long I sit and check my phone and emails to see if someone wants to see the house. I check if new houses are on the market to compete with, and I check what feedback has been left by buyers regarding what they thought of our house. It is not a fun way to live.

I have daily pitty parties over the fact that it hasn't sold and there has been limited interest. I wish I was able to just give it to God like I tell myself over and over but I really struggle some days.

Today my mom came over to see Eliza and help me clean the house. I cried with her over the stress I feel and it helped. I don't like feeling out of control, this is the most control I have ever given up I think.

I will continue to pray and try my best to give it to God.

Mark is going to call our realtor on Wednesday if we don't have more interest before then and see what he says. We are on a tight time frame since we only have so much time with our deposit on the new lot. Hopefully things start moving before then and all this worrying is for nothing!

As I fill my time, I have found a lot of things on Pinterest that I would love in the house, here are a few of my favorites right now.

Love the colors!




Won't have room for lockers, still a great way to store stuff




Would love this under the stairs



Curtains for the bay window in the kitchen

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Pretty Please?

One of my favorite Facebook pages, Lil Light O' Mine, is hosting a contest and Eliza and I entered. The contest is to encourage moms to be in more of the pictures they take of their kids. I submitted a photo of Eliza and I from the 4th of July Parade we had here in town. Her face is priceless, it was as soon as she saw the horses coming down the road. We are in the "Moments to Freeze" category.

Unfortunately, Eliza and I are currently in last place!!(I know, I can't believe it either). So if you have a moment, could you follow this photo(just click on the picture) and "like" it for me?

Lil Light O' Mine is a great company that empowers mothers and children. I love their Christian values and how they reassure me I am not failing. One of my FAVORITE things about them are their scripture cards! I mentioned them in March, I put them in Eliza's Easter basket. We read a new scripture card each day, trying to remind her the core meaning of being a good person.

Thanks for helping us out, I will be sure to share the info on the prize if we end up winning. If we don't, I am still happy that I got to jump in this photo with my little bug

Thursday, August 2, 2012

RUDE!!

I am so frustrated right now! Yesterday we got a call regarding a buyer wanting to see the house, great! They gave us an appointment time and we agreed to be out of the house.

This morning Eliza and I went to go watch the Lions practice. When we arrived Eliza got sick in the car and started off our morning on a sour note. Once we made it home I rushed her to bed so I could clean and prepare. The tile guy came and worked like a mad man to get it ready and clean for the showing.

I had to wake Eliza up from her nap to load up the car with her and Zander and be out of the house.

We went and took a trip to the potential new house(the builder cut the grass so we could see the land better). We hung out and ran around and then drove back to the house. I drove by and no one was there, perfect.

I came in the house and no one had been here!!!! How RUDE. What a waste of my time and money. I called our agent who contacted the buying agent. They found a house yesterday and didn't need to see anymore houses. Common courtesy, call and cancel your other appointments.

It is taking everything in me to not call the agent and tell her how rude that was.

We have another showing tomorrow, I might just wait at the house until they show up so I don't waste my time again!

On a better note, here is Eliza and Zander playing on the lot in the new neighborhood.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Unrealistic Expectations

Well, our house has been listed for a day, and not a single call. Most people wouldn't be surprised about that but I think I had unrealistic expectations. Everyone told me "be prepared, your house will sell the first day", well not even close.

I know most houses don't sell in a day, I know it will take time and probably some headaches. The positive is, today is another day and another opportunity for people to come look at the house.

Please say a prayer for us that things will move along quickly so we can get in the new house before Christmas.

On a better note, the worker is here working on the fireplace. I am bummed that I was not able to do it myself, but I am so happy it is being finished!

Have a blessed day!