Sleeping Beauty

Not me. Not Leila. My hubby...



The sweetest thing EVER happened this morning and my heart totally melted all over the floor. Hubby was sound asleep. Leila and I were up. Leila went into our room and climbed up on the bed. I watched her crawl over to her sleeping daddy (out like a light, sprawled out in the middle of the bed on his back), sit and stare at him for a few seconds, and then she pulled her binky out of her mouth, leaned over and planted a big fat kiss right on his lips. I died inside from the cuteness factor. Sleepy Beauty (aka Daddy & Hubby) opened his eyes with a big smile on his face. Who wouldn't want to be woken up like that?

Just thought I'd document that moment so we never forget.





Now it is on to the weekend! Hopefully we will have some nice weather to enjoy. My goal for the weekend is to start sewing my quilt. Wish me luck.

Wise Words Wednesday: Boy or Girl?

"A baby is something you carry inside you for nine months, in your arms for three years and in your heart till the day you die." - Mary Mason

I had a doc appointment today and guess what? We scheduled the gender ultrasound for May 25th! YIPPEE! Yes, I am one of those peeps who just has to know what variety is brewing inside me. Even though with Leila I didn't really believe I was having a girl until she came out. I am skeptical of ultrasounds. BUT, I love to "know" at the same time. Andy and I haven't even started thinking about names and probably won't until we find out the sex. I just can't wait to be able to tell Leila "you're having a little brother" or "you're having a little sister." And honestly? I don't have the slightest care which we end up with.

Other than that, baby's heart beat sounds good and strong and I am gaining some good weight (right on track to surpass my weight gain with Leila). Can't wait to see my little munchkin in 4 weeks!

The original munchkin having a little pre-bedtime snacky.


And, if you were at all wondering what the first pic is of, it's my growing belly!

What's inside my bag...

One of my fave momma bloggers, Mandy at Harper's Happenings, blogged about what's inside her diaper bag today. It made me think 2 things...1) that's a fun post idea & 2) boy do I sure need to clean my purse out. Soooooooooo, I decided to hop on the bandwagon and make a short (and not so sweet) post about what's inside MY bag.

I'm not going to sugar coat this. I am going to show you the inside of my purse exactly as it fell on the table after I dumped it out. WARNING: it is not pretty. BUT, this may make you feel better about yourself and your purse situation. Looking at my life as an outsider, I may appear to have it all together, but hidden underneath I am a mess.

Check it out for yourself.

Pre-dump...


The goods...


So what was inside my bag?

• Wallet from Urban Outfitters (it's kinda like this one)
• iPhone
• Keys
• Clinique make-up: concealer, gloss, & lipstick (Almost Lipstick in Black Honey - my fave!)
• $50 Nordstrom Gift Card (can you even believe I still have this from Xmas???)
• Diaper
• Pill case (empty)
• Folding comb
• Butterscotch candy
• Random pens & coins
• Ginger candy chews (great for morning sickness)
• Taco Time gift card
• Floss
• Lipsmackers vanilla chapstick
• Various crumpled up receipts and notes
• Mint gum
• Toy vending machine container
• Hand sanitizer
• Check book
• Various crumbs and stale pretzel sticks

I got rid of about half of this crap and re-organized my situation into a brand new purse I had bought a couple of months ago (& was thinking about returning, but I only spent like $15 on it).

I feel so much better now!


This whole process of dumping my purse out and going through it and putting it in a new bag maybe took me like 7 minutes. So why did I wait so long? Who knows. BUT, I'm learning to just "get er done!" Stop procrastinating and do something. Baby steps for me.

I encourage you all to take a peek inside your bag and get organized! I'm serious, it makes you feel like a whole new woman.

:-)

Easter is even more fun with a toddler!

We had the BEST Easter weekend ever! With clear blue skies and a temp of 60 degrees, we couldn't have asked for better egg hunting weather.







Leila fully embraced the Easter egg hunt. She looked under bushes and up in trees and she ran towards any bright colored speckle she saw from a distance. And, I lived every moment vicariously through her and loved every second of it.









We spent the weekend in our hometown with the parentals. Andy's parents on Saturday and mine on Sunday. On Saturday we had an egg hunt with Leila's cousins on Daddy's side followed by dinner and lots of play time with Easter basket goodies.







With so many distractions all around her, we couldn't get Leila to eat anything decent on Saturday. So, this is what she had for lunch:





If you don't know, that is Nutella. You know, that chocolatey hazelnut spread. So, at least she got some protein in there.

Unrelated to this post, but guess what? I am officially in the 2nd trimester of my pregnancy now! I think I will start blogging weekly updates and belly shots pretty soon here. I've definitely got a bump going on and I'm starting to feel much better. Still lazy, but I think that's just me and not the baby now. :-) Hopefully I can hop back on the dream-doing train pretty soon here. I gotta get some stuff done before October!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend!

Good, no GREAT, Friday!

This has been a crazy and very loooooonnnnnnggg week, so I am extra grateful that Friday is here! And not just any Friday, Good Friday! With Easter only a couple days away and sunny, warm weather on the agenda for this weekend, I cannot wait for the festivities ahead! I have visions of my pretty little toddler frolicking through green grass in her bright Easter dress with basket in hand, searching out colorful eggs. Last year Leila just sat there and looked cute, so I can't wait to see her excitement when she gets to participate in the fun this year!

However, with this being Good Friday there is a lot more than just silly Easter traditions on my mind. It's easy to get caught up in the hype and the fun of the holiday, but it is so important to remember what it is all about. I heart you Jesus!

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

John 3:16,17

Wishing everyone a most happy and joyous Easter weekend! Here are some pics from our sunny evening outside...

Peace!


Isn't this a great action shot?


My girl could spend all day collecting sticks and rocks...

Wise Words Wednesday: Skunked

"Ask yourself this question:
'Will this matter a year from now?'" - Richard Carlson, writing in Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

I had a rough day yesterday. My head hurt and I was tired. By the time 9:30pm rolled around I was dying to get into bed. So, I got myself ready and asked Andy to let Billy outside one last time. He said that he didn't want to, that he had just let him out an hour before. I whined and said, "Fine, I'll do it!" Every one (even doggies) deserve the chance to pee one last time before hitting the sack! So I let him out back and went to brush my teeth. Next thing I knew, Andy was yelling at me that Billy had escaped the back yard (under our fence for the 50th time) and that he was chasing a skunk. I think you know how this ends.

Basically, my long day turned even longer and I ended up in bed closer to 11pm than my 10pm goal. Our cute little chihuahua has now been nicknamed "Skunk Dog" and our entire house reeks. We've bathed him twice and will try a crazy peroxide/baking soda/dish soap solution tonight. Poor little Billy who usually sleeps with us every night was locked in the guest room last night. Not that that helped much. Do you know what it's like to try to sleep with the stench of skunk overpowering your house? It's not fun. And I am VERY tired today.

Wanna know the point of me telling you this? It's not for you to feel sorry for me. It's not even me complaining. The point is that sh*t happens. This is just a teeny tiny glitch in every day life. It is nothing compared to losing a loved one. Or battling cancer at such a young age. Will I even think about this a year from now? I highly doubt it. Even with skunkiness overpowering all of my senses as I tried to fall asleep last night, all I could think about was how lucky I am. How if this is the extent of my problems I have it made pretty dang good. I layed there and I prayed for my best friend & her hubby and those who are going through real issues and battles. And I never felt sorry for myself once.

Oh, and I've learned to never argue with my hubby about letting the dog out. I guess he has a sixth sense about these things or something...

Is it bad that a 3 mile walk ruins me?

Actually it was 3.107 miles, okay?



Yesterday morning I participated in the Race for the Cure 5k walk in my home town. I've done it for the past 5 years and love, love, love the organization (Susan G. Komen for the Cure) and what they stand for. You see, I lost my Grammy and one of my childhood BFF's Momma to breast cancer. And I just love to support a good cause!

My beautiful friend, Ciara, pre-race.


On the move!


Anyway, back to 3 miles ruining me. I'm 13 weeks pregnant and I am out of shape. Sure, I look fine (even though I weigh as much as I did when I was 20+ weeks preggo with Leila), but I don't excercise. And I hate this about myself! Yes I have "Take a Fitness Class" in my list of Dreams To Do, but getting preggo put a damper on this. They say you shouldn't start excercising too much after you get pregnant if you weren't already doing it beforehand. It's something I should have started a long time ago. Poo on me. Now, I don't think I'm completely worthless. I do go on walks and I do chase after a busy toddler in the evenings and on the weekends. I felt great during and right after the Race yesterday. And then it hit me.

About 2 hours after I got home from the Race I felt like I could nap for days. I pretty much was worthless for the rest of the day. Eating a lot and lounging around. I went to bed at like 8:30 last night and slept great. Today I feel like crapola. Headache and can barely keep my eyes open. Maybe this is just baby having his/her way with me, or maybe a measley 3 mile walk really takes me days to recover from.

A single pink balloon to represent a life lost to breast cancer.


The rest of our weekend? We (I mean hubster) did yardwork, went to birthday parties, played with the super loud new alarm on our car (see last post), and took Leila Jade to Sears for some fun Springtime pics! She was friggin adorable in them! I wish I could show you, but we're cheap and didn't buy the CD, just a few prints. Oh, and I did go to the fabric store and buy the finishing touch for my little quilt! Now I just have to make myself start sewing.... hmmmmmmm...

Happy Monday! (trying to be positive here)

Random Shiznit

Sometimes a random post is appropriate right? Like on a lazy Friday night when you're sitting by the fire your hubby built as rain pours down outside and you can't really get your thoughts straight...



...I think Friday is my favorite day of the week. Yes it sucks having to work, but I love the anticipation of the weekend. Everyone just seems happier and excited for 2 days of freedom ahead. Now Sundays are not my favorite.

...Our ghetto car got broken into (again) on Wednesday night. At 7:45am I was already running late for work, getting Leila strapped in our "fancy" car when Andy noticed our 1996 Acura Integra (my 1st car I got at age 16/17) had been broken into for the 2nd time in the past 2 months. They took the CD player (good for them - I think I paid $75 bucks for it back in 2001) and attempted to steal our ride. A random key was broken off in the ignition. Since the car was parked behind our 1 car garage which held the mom-mobile and we couldn't move the car because of the stupid jackasses who stuck a random key in the ignition, Andy and I went into panic mode figuring out how we would get to work. Long story short, we paid a locksmith $85 to take literally 2 seconds to pop the key out and we were on our merry way. I made it to work exactly an hour late. No biggie.

...Girls night makes me very happy. When my good friend Sheena lived in town we would have girls night every week at her house. Good food, good company, good gossip. Since she has moved away, we all see less and less of each other. Last night I hosted girls night at my place. Pizza and angel food cake and lots of kiddos and good times. Check out these little munchkins kickin it together:



...I have a busy weekend ahead. Two kiddo b-day parties, getting an alarm installed in our ghetto ride, and walking the Race for the Cure on Sunday morning. I also hope to throw a trip to the fabric store in there to get the missing link for my quilt. I have not given up hope on getting it done. :-)

...I never have been a fan of Spring. The mushy ground, the wetness, the chill in the air. BUT, I think I love Spring now. I love the anticipation for summer right around the corner. I love that we have our own home now and that there are our very own tulips popping up in our yard. I love that it isn't dark when I pick up Leila at daycare and we still have plenty of time to run around outside.



...My daughter is funny. Her new thing? Lining things up. Like these chairs for instance:



Happy Weekending All!

Wise Words Wednesday: Feeding the Beast

“I love you like a fat kid loves cake.” - 50 Cent

First off, I love the above quote. It reminds me of my hubby. He always says this to me and it makes me smile. :-)

Now on to the above pic. It is of my child's dinner tonight. The usual: mac n cheese, a fruit, and a veggie (usually mixed with cheese). The mac gets devoured along with the fruit. If I'm lucky she will try a bite of the veggies. Now, I have nothing against the above dinner. But, what do you do if this is pretty much all you can depend on for your child to eat? I'm not complaining about Leila being a picky eater. She is a touch "sensitive" I guess, but I have heard of some real picky eaters out there. However, I just wish she would friggin try other things! The main staples in her diet are cheese, any fruit, yogurt, cheese, bread, green beans & broccoli (if I'm lucky), cheese, and peanut butter. She LOVES cheese. She doesn't like meat. Occasionally she will take a bite of a chicken nugget, but that's it.

Sometimes I just feel like a lame mom for always whipping out the box of good ole Kraft (or, lately we have switched to the spendy organic stuff). It's just that I KNOW she will eat it. If I try to give her what we're eating, she usually just fusses and says "all done" until I get her out of the high chair. The next baby will eat everything, right? :-)

Anyone have any tips, tricks, ideas to get her to expand her palate?

Mommy Blogs

I heart mommy blogs. If I let myself I could probably lose a full day of my life getting sucked into others lives through their blogs. I think this has to do with my love of psychology and how people think and act. I am just facinated with people. My fave thing to do is just people watch. I love airports for this reason. And maybe this explains why I am such a reality TV junkie. Okay, I'm off on a tangent...

Anyhooooooooo, I just joined the rankings of Top Mommy Blogs - one of my fave places to go to find new reads. So, I'm putting a little linky in my sidebar and I'm hoping if you read this you will vote for me!

I know I may be slacking in certain dream-doing areas of my life (*cough* quilt *cough*), but I really am so proud of myself for getting this blog started and keeping up with posting regularly. I have never been one to stick with anything I try for very long, so I'm impressed! And I feel like I have fallen in love with this world of putting your thoughts out there for anyone to read. I'm hooked. And I plan on keeping up with it for the long haul! I still have lots of dreams to do and I'm sure my list will continue to warp and grow with the addition of our new family member in October. Change is on the horizon! And change is always exciting!!!

To all you mommy bloggers out there... keep doing what you're doing! And thank you so much for providing me with free entertainment and insight on a daily basis.

Fighting the Ultimate Battle

I know I've been MIA for a few days, but with good reason. I've had a tough week. My best-friend-since-first-grade's husband was diagnosed with stage IV cancer this past week. Their life has been completely turned upside down. They were in the process of buying their first house and getting excited for Mike to start PA school this fall with a $42,000 scholarship. They have since backed out of the house and put all plans on hold while they prepare to move across the state to see a specialist. Mike starts chemo tomorrow.

I had a really tough 48 hours after Jessica called me in tears from the hospital to deliver the news. My heart just ached so much for her. Not as much for Mike because I know he is such a strong, positive, optimistic person who will fight with all of his might to kick this cancer's ass, but I was sooooo worried for her because I know how much he is her life. They are soul mates. They've been married since age 21 and completely inseparable ever since. I seriously can't imagine her life without him. But then, on Thursday night in the midst of a serious case of the dumps, something hit me. I just got overcame with the most positive feeling about the whole situation. He is going to dominate this! They are going to be together forever! Ever since that night I really have felt so optimistic about their situation. And I know they will make it through.

Today we were going to go visit them before they head off for the intense treatment ahead. But, little Miss Leila of course has a cold and Andy and I aren't in tip-top shape either. So we don't want to risk exposing Mike to anything. Our thoughts and prayers are with them non-stop and they don't need us to see them to know that.

Soooooo, other than all that we have had a peaceful and relaxing weekend full of sunshine and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.



She hit her head - can't you just hear her saying "ouch!"?






Life is so precious. Each and every moment should be cherished and nothing should be taken for granted. All that matters is family and the people you love in life. Career, money, hobbies, good food - they all add to our lives, but they don't define them. Love is all that matters.

Wise Words Wednesday: Easter Outfit

'Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!"' - Robin Williams

And with Spring, comes Easter! A holiday with deeper meaning than most and a fun reason to buy cute clothes for the kiddos! Today I ventured off to Target on my lunch break and completed Leila's Easter outfit. We had bought the dress at Macy's a while back, so I just got the flowery headband, white sweater, and pink sandals. Soooooooooo cute and totally Miss Leila Jade! I tried to get a pic of my adorable offspring modeling the headband for you, but she would have nothing to do with it (she was a crank this evening). Hopefully she'll actually wear it when the time comes!

Happy Hump Day! It's all downhill coasting from here. :-)

The Art of Dream Doing & Slacking (all at once!)

I'm growing a baby. My body is working hard tackling a key dream on my "Dreams To Do" list. But because of this I have lost all motivation to tackle any other dreams. I wake up, shove something down my throat to hold the nausea at bay, get myself and my daughter ready for the day, drop her at daycare, head to work, work 9 hours, pick her up, fix dinner, bath time, Leila bed time, and then I am spent. At that point all I can think about (actually, all I've been thinking about all day) is crawling in bed and sleeping. Now do you understand why that quilt still consists of fabric that hasn't been sewn together? Why I still have a lengthy list of things to do with no progress? Why I'm lacking motivation? And to top it all off? I vomited for the first time tonight. I jinxed myself. I have been telling everyone (including myself) that this pregnancy has been so much easier than with Leila. And it has! But, maybe that is all about to change.

God give me the strength to fly into the second trimester and become myself again. I pray for my energy and excitement for life to return. And I know it will. It is only a matter of time.

But ya know what? I wouldn't trade this for anything. Maybe I'm slacking in other dream doing areas, but I'm living out my greatest dreams of all every day through Leila and the little peanut inside me.

Over the river and through the woods...

... to Grandmother's house we go! So, let me start by saying that I am super duper bummed that we forgot to bring our camera this weekend, otherwise I would have tons of great pics to share with you! This past weekend we packed up and headed out on the 1+ hour drive (yes, we actually crossed a river and drove through the woods) to my parents house to hang out with their doggy. The parentals are off visiting my bro in Colorado and Luna, their Australian Shepherd/Border Collie, is getting really old and she gets lonely when they are gone. My other bro is taking care of her (he lives very close to my parents), but we thought it would be fun to bring our Billy and take the dogs on some walks in the woods. You see, I grew up out in the middle of NO WHERE on 160 beautiful acres of mountains, trees, and ponds. Leila had a blast hiking up muddy dirt roads and I so wish I could show you what she looked like covered in mud! She was in heaven. That girl loves the great outdoors and would probably live outside if I let her.

Besides our little adventure into the wilderness, we just chillaxed at home. Funny stuff... on Sunday Andy was off running errands for an hour or so and I was SOOOOOOO tired (thanks to the little growing fetus, sucking the life out of me). I decided to lay in bed for a while and just let Leila play around me. As I drifted in and out of sleep (ok, maybe this was a bad mom move) I was surprised by how much my daughter can entertain herself. At one point I opened my eyes to find her in nothing but her diaper with two of her dads very mismatched socks on, pulled up to her thighs! Again, if I weren't being such a lazy ass I would have a great pic to share with you. Another time I awoke (seriously I was probably only asleep for maybe 5 minutes) to silence. Struck with panic I ran downstairs to find her sitting in the bathtub with all of the magnets off our fridge. I stayed awake after that - I swear. She really is such a good girl to let mommy rest like that!

Ok, here are the only pics I have to share with you from our adventurous weekend (sorry, nothing special)...





Our lawn turned green this week! Yay!


Remember the tulip from this post? Check her out now!

Something about April 1st just makes me happy...

I guess I just love a good April Fools Day! Ok, maybe I don't love when I am the victim of said fooling, but I sure do love doing the fooling and watching others do it! Today I was lucky. Nobody pulled ANY pranks on me. My co-worker and I however did do a funny one to another co-worker. And she won't know about it until Monday! We took several items from her desk (i.e. lamp, calculator, stuffed animal, business cards, lotion) and took polaroid pics (via iPhone app) of the items, printed them out, marked each with a letter (part of the "code" for her to decipher and find her things), laminated them, and put them on her desk in the exact place where the item was. She will be so confused when she comes in Monday! Ha! Maybe that is silly and stupid and immature, but we had so much fun doing it. There's nothing like planning a good prank on a Friday afternoon.

Another much more impressive prank I pulled today involved my boss. I walked into the office, shut the door behind me, and told him I needed to talk to him. He immediately looked concerned. I handed him a letter and told him that I hated to do this, but I had to get it over with before the weekend. He proceeded to tell me I better not be quitting and that I was giving him a heart attack. Here's what the letter said...

Dear --------,

I just want to start by saying that it has been a pleasure working here. I wouldn’t trade my experience at ---- for anything. I really appreciate everything you have done for me and the opportunities I have been given. But, I have bigger plans in my future. And, I have some big news to share. I’m pregnant. And I plan to keep working here.

Thanks.

Respectfully yours,

Ariel

If you are confused in any way by this, let me explain. YES, I am pregnant. Almost 11 weeks. I apologize if you are one of my friends reading this who I haven't personally told yet. It's always hard keeping a pregnancy a secret and I hate doing it, but I also have the typical early pregnancy paranoia. More on my pregnancy thus far to come.

Anyway, my boss man read the first couple of sentences and dropped the letter and started panicking, thinking that I was really leaving. I told him to read the rest and he finally calmed down and said congrats and that I totally ruined his day. Not because of the pregnancy, just because of the scare! It was classic and soooooo funny! I then emailed the letter out to all of my co-workers who got a kick out of it and congratulated me on the big news. So, today was a very good day! Now I can let the belly hang out! (yes, I already need new pants)

Now to finish this post with some evening bath time pics!