December coming to a close & a Christmas in quick review...

I woke up this morning and noticed that the Holiday excitement was just about over. The trash bags full of Christmas wrapping, torn boxes, tags and tissue wait by the door to be picked up, the empty space under the tree where the wrapped gifts once were now make way for the sporadic falling of tree needles and the family and I settling back into our normal routine. It seems as though Christmas was already so long ago. And yet, I feel a sense of completion. I feel that for the first time in many, many Christmas's, I was able to finish my never ending list of things to do and buy. I can only hope that next year is just as successful!

Isabella was extremely happy. And why wouldn't she be? She's the proud owner of a Nintendo Wii, Rock Band 2, Barbies, clothes, and several games and movies. Her "best presents?" Well that would be the Pixos/Chixos set she received. I truly have never seen her more happy than when she opened these on X-Mas morning.

AJ was a little less enthralled by the whole thing, but was quite content in playing with the paper and bows. I didn't get the matching slippers to my bathrobe as most had predicted (the bathrobe fiasco from last Christmas is infamous to all family and friends). I was actually overwhelmingly surprised at my husband's sweet gesture to get me a bag from Coach. Such a sweetie he is! That, along with my much coveted waffle iron (yes I asked for a waffle iron) and some very cool movies including a much wanted Zombie movie, made me a very happy girl!

Rick got his GPS (as he wanted) and some men's toiletries, candy, gift cards and lots of clothes. My dad even got what he really wanted. He got his portable DVD player, gift cards and a few other things from my brother and sister. Dinner was prime rib, red-skin mashed potatoes, salad, fresh rolls and vegetables. For dessert...a HUGE Red Velvet Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. Yum!!

As I said before, I'm surprised at how quickly it came and went. I'm seriously going to blink and before I know it, AJ will be turning a year old. I think that's why it boggles my mind so much. Last year at this time I was just about 10 weeks pregnant. It's amazing what happens in a years time.

Quick and Easy Hair Barrettes: Supplies and Instructions

These barrettes are adorable, super easy to make and very inexpensive! What's great about them is that you can tailor make these to match practically anything! Any mood, any outfit, or even match a special occasion or Holiday! The barrettes on the left are made with premade ribbon flowers and the ones on the right are made with loose scrapbooking flowers and brads.

Supply List:

You'll need a package of Hair Barrettes. They come in different sizes and quantities so decide how many you want to make. I picked these ones up at A.C. Moore. These are 2 inch Nicole Craft Barrettes. These came in a package of 5 and were $.99.

If you are going to make the ones with flowers, you will need a few brads. Below are just a few examples of different brads. There are star, flower, circle and square shaped brads.

You'll need to pick up some accent flowers. The Medlow Fabric Flowers were purchased at JoAnn Fabrics for about $1.00 a package. They have holes already in the center to make it easier to put the brads in.

The Offray fabric accents (packages up front) were all bought at A.C. Moore for $.99 each.

Next, you'll need ribbon! I recommend one-sided satin ribbon. It should be 3/8 inch ribbon. This is where you can have a lot of fun. There are so many different types of ribbon to choose from and different patterns and colors. I picked up the Offray ribbon at JoAnn Fabrics for $1.99 a spool. You'll need to cut lengths of ribbon about 2 1/4 inches for each barrette.

You'll also need scissors, glue (clear or tacky, it's up to you), hot glue gun (you don't have to use one if you don't have one)
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Okay, after cutting your ribbon into 2 1/4 inch lengths, you'll want to seal the ends to prevent fraying. I use a lighter to do this. Make sure to not hold the flame on the ribbon for too long as you could ignite your ribbon. Just a quick exposure will do the job.

After sealing the ribbon, run a line of glue on the wrong side of the ribbon. Place the barrette on ribbon and center. Flip the barrette around and allow the glue to dry.

While waiting for the glue to dry, choose your flowers and/or decor. You can either hot glue these flowers onto the barrette or use regular craft glue. Place a drop of glue on the ribbon flowers and place on the barrette.

With the loose flowers, just pick out the ones you want to use, layer them until you have the look you want and use any type of brad you want that will compliment the flower.

Place the brad through the center of the flower and fold down the prongs.

Either hot glue gun or fabric glue your flowers onto the ribbon covered barrettes and voila! Beautiful barrettes, perfect for that special little girl in your life, or give them as a gift. I'm planning on surprising my daughter with these so I may end up making more as a little weekend project with her!

As I mentioned about being inexpensive, the barrettes were $.99, the fabric flowers were $1.00, the brads I already had, the ribbon was $1.99 and the ribbon flowers were $.99. The total cost was less than $5.00 and I made two sets of barrettes and still have enough materials to make more (just need more barrettes!)

Enjoy & Happy Crafting~

Project 2: Quick and Easy Barrettes

I made a quick pit stop to A.C. Moore on my way home from work tonight and picked up a couple of things. I had a spur of the moment craft idea to create hair clips/barrettes that I could put in Isabella's hair. That and I had a 40% coupon burning a hole in my pocket! :-)

Of course, I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for, so I grabbed something that I thought might work, picked up a few other odds and ends and headed for home. I set to work, after putting the baby down to sleep and to be honest, I think these came out adorable and they were really inexpensive! I'm going to add a separate blog post with instructions and supply list. Happy crafting!!

My newest creation: The Purple Tutu

I am so in love with making tutus!! I have definitely latched on to a new crafting bug!! Not only have I begun making tutus, but I'm branching off into jewelry, hair accessories and lots of crocheting! I'm hoping to finish my first blanket in the next day or so. I only have so many hours in a day!! But for now, here are a couple of pictures of my finished purple tutu. I'm definitely going to have to post instructions for anyone that wants to make one of their own:

Crochet Mania Blog - Learning how to Crochet

http://crochet-mania.blogspot.com/2009/05/lightweight-crochet-beanie-skull-cap.html

I have been experimenting over the last few days on how to crochet (I used to crochet YEARS ago but have since forgotten) and have come across a few videos on You Tube that have great tutorials and also have blogs. I've included one that I think some may find interesting in case they are looking for some easy instructions on how to start. Enjoy!!

New Beginnings

So this past weekend was a big one for the family. My sister FINALLY took me up on my offer to go and spend the day on Saturday, so my father, Bella & AJ, my sister and my nephew all piled into the truck for some shopping and some lunch.

It was a bittersweet shopping trip. Following AJ's doctor's appt on Friday (in which the poor thing ended up getting shots), the doctor gave the okay for us to start cereal and introducing baby food and for us to get him an exersaucer!! Woo-Hoo!! So this particular shopping trip lead us to Babies R' Us (do I EVER go anywhere else??) in search of these items. My initial steps into this "holy mecca" of all things baby always brings me to a point of hesitation, irritation and sometimes even hyperventilating. When I go shopping, 9 times out of 10, I know what I need and know where it is in the store. This eliminates, at least for me, any needless wandering around. UNLESS it's something that I"m not really looking for, trying to get ideas on certain things or just trying to kill time. HOWEVER, I am always painfully aware of others around me and don't like to get in anyone's way. So why oh why do people feel the incesent need to get in mine!!! (I know, I know...beacause it's always ALL ABOUT ME!)

Anywho, I grabbed a cart and headed straight for the section where the exersaucers are and after perusing the small selection, I felt defeated and resigned myself to the fact that I would not be buying one that day. But, as luck would have it, I glanced to my left as I was leaving the aisle and there it was. The adorable (read: affordable) Evenflo Exersaucer that I had seen online and the even better part, it was on sale for $10.00 less!!! With a quick swoop, I grabbed the second to last box and placed it in the safety of my shopping cart. After picking up my other odds and ends, I headed for the checkout. Total damage: $143.00. Ouch. And that was after using almost $20.00 in coupons! Gotta love those formula checks and diaper coupons.

After loading up the car, a short trip to AC Moore and picking up the rest of the family, we headed for lunch at the Olive Garden. Always a tasty meal, OG didn't disappoint. After a bit a more shopping, we headed home. My sister and I were extremely excited to get the exersaucer set up and we set to work. After 10 minutes, we were done. We gently put AJ into the exersaucer to see what would happen. He was cautious about it at first, but immediately loved it. It was adorable!! He was so excited and couldn't get enough of it. It was there, right there that I realized that he was getting big and it was happening so fast.

Up Next: AJ's first foray into Baby Food!

Success! I made my first Tutu!!!

And here it is! The fruits of my crafting labor! I absolutely love it and although it isn't "finished" yet, I am hoping to complete the embellishment work by this weekend. I'm going to add some basic instructions and supplies and anyone who wants a tutu can make one! This particular one is light pink/dark pink and fits my 6yr old daughter perfectly.

Let the weekend begin

And here it is, Friday night and my beloved spouse is with his mistress. Now before anyone begins freaking out, his mistress happens to be the shiny PS3 that resides in our living room. So I'm sitting up here, thinking about things to do for tomorrow. Last weekend I took Isabella and my nephew, Aiden, to the movies. It was a BEAUTIFUL day and I tried to stay out all day because Indian Summer days are few and far between, especially this late in the season. Tomorrow, the forecast calls for rain, so I figure that some well chosen craft and sewing projects are in order. I love project days. It gives me the chance to see how creative Isabella really is and it is a blast to spend time with her, doing things we both enjoy!

I hope to post some pics of the sewing I plan on doing. I've got an idea for an easy, DIY dress for girls and even a baby blanket. We'll see what the day brings and how successful we are!

Change in Formula = SUCCESS!!

I keep thinking back to when Bella was a baby. Seems like a lifetime ago. So much has changed over these last six years. When Rick and I had Bella, we didn't have a lot of money. I wasn't making much and although I was paid for my Maternity Leave, it still didn't make up for the fact that having a baby was EXPENSIVE!!! I was lucky to have scored formula from the hospital that got us through the first two weeks and I was also breastfeeding. For me personally, I had a feeling that I was going to have difficulties even before she was born. We stuck through breast feeding/pumping and formula supplementing until she was six weeks old. Then she was having colic issues and we had to switch her to formula. It was a mess and boy was it EXPENSIVE!! At the time, the only real "generic" formula was Good Start (which I can't even really call generic since it is a brand name all on its own). We ended up on Enfamil Lacto-Free before moving on to Enfamil's Prosobee formula. Six years later, she is an amazing six year old who is bright, lively, charming and extremely intelligent. Not that I want to start a formula/breastfeeding debate, but I like to think that the choice in formula helped to shape her.

Fast forward to now. Things have changed drastically. I'm now working and making almost double what I was when Bella was born and although we didn't save anything from when Bella was born, we were lucky enough to be able to afford things that we needed. AJ has been primarily formula fed since he was 4 weeks old when he REFUSED to have anything more to do with breastfeeding. Not one to force my child, I gave in and started formula feeding. At almost 4 months old, AJ is thriving, giggling and is attempting to sit up (but not without help). I was able to also put him on Enfamil Premium Lipil. He hasn't had any issues, did not show any signs of colic or anything so everything is rosy. However I was noticing how expensive Formula still is. In fact, it had gone up in price since we last bought any. I had been researching powdered formulas (AJ switches between liquid and powder) and after lots of reading and speaking to other moms, I decided to get a can of the Target Brand, UP & UP formula and see if AJ took to it.

Well, it was a success. He has no issues with it and hasn't had in issue over the last three days. While we are still relatively new at this brand, I'm hoping that it will stick. The cost alone is worth it. We can get two cans of Up & Up for the price of one can of powder Enfamil. However we will still continue to get the RTF cans of Enfamil since they really do work for us when time is an issue.

Success!!! We almost have a baby that STTN!! (sleeps through the night...in case anyone needs to know!)

I miss my kids. I figured I needed to start with that. I noticed the other day that when I got home from work, I was exhausted and it was difficult to keep my eyes open as my daughter tried to tell me about her day. What kind of mother am I that even a simple 5 minute conversation with my 6 year old was difficult?? The working kind of mother I guess. That's the easy way out. I realized then and there that I NEEDED more sleep. I vowed that I'd need to get AJ on some sort of structured schedule for sleeping. He was at a point where he was waking up at least once or twice a night. And unfortunately, Rick sleeps right through it, so there was no help from him.

Friday night was a good start. We have settled on an every other day bath time for AJ, right before his "dinner" bottle. Friday night's routine went like this: He had a bath around 7:45pm, complete with a mini baby massage. I used warm water and mixed in a couple of capfuls of Johnson & Johnson's Bedtime Bath along with his regular baby soap and cleaned him up. He seemed so relaxed, so I knew he was enjoying it. I took him out, wrapped him up in his baby towel and took him to get dressed. I dried him off, tickled his tummy a bit and then put on a fresh diaper, his PJ's and then brushed his hair. I cuddled with him in bed as Rick prepared and brought up a bottle. I feed AJ and within minutes, he had consumed 3 of the 5 ozs and was fast asleep. He was asleep by about 8:15pm and slept until about 1:15am Saturday. It was amazing! He slept straight through 5 hours. He got up around 1:15am and had a diaper change, a few ozs and was back to sleep in about 15 minutes (1:30am). He slept through again until 5:30am. It was AMAZING! While 5:30 is really early for me (since I didn't go to bed until 10:30am) Rick took care of him while I went back to sleep. The extra 2 hours did me well because I was up and rearing to go at 7:30am. It made for a great day!

We had such a success that we followed a modified routine (minus the bath) on Saturday, which worked out well. We did another bath routine yesterday (Sunday night) with even greater success. This time, he took a shower with Daddy while I prepped everything and the poor thing was starting to nod off in the shower! He was out by 8:30am and slept until well past 2:30am. He was up for little bit, had about 2 ozs and was out until 5:45am this morning. Not bad! He's down to only 1/2 a bottle during the night. I'm hoping that as he heads into this next growth spurt that he will eat a little more before bed and then we can eliminate that 2am feeding. Here's to hoping for continued success!

Disney World - 76 days and counting

I was FINALLY able to make all of our Dining Reservations and we were able to get ALL of the restaurants we wanted. Come January, we'll be dining at Garden Grill, Liberty Tree Tavern, 1900 Park Fare, Chef Mickey's, Yak & Yeti, Tutto Italia Ristorante and 50's Prime Time. I'm a little sad that my father doesn't want to go back to Le Cellier, but he feels that the restaurant is overhyped and the service/food is only okay, not great like others have raved about.

With 76 days to go, we have our deposit put down plus another payment for this week and we are starting to look at airfare. I'm hoping to score a deal on the airfare, so I'm going to price them out separately. The problem is, I have to CONTINUOUSLY check the airlines to see when the prices drop. I think it's safe to say that I won't be going for less than $79.00 each way. Which is still pretty good. Anything less than $200 r/t is a great deal.

Also to figure out is how to prepare for our formula needs while we are down there. With 7 days to think about, our options are limited. I can check a second bag and have fly down with our formula, diaper, food and snack needs; I can order them from a local supermarket and have them delivered or I can purchase everything here in MA and ship everything down to our resort the Friday before we leave. Granted the last option is more or less lunacy since the probability is good that the package could get delayed and trying to ship it overnight could very well cost us $100.00.

Decisions, decisions!

Halloween and it's Aftermath

Well, October is FINALLY over and with it, goes the costumes, candy and decorations for what proved to be a great Halloween season. We had the Children's Party at work on October 29th and that was a huge success. Lots of candy and decorations and even a clown for entertainment.

I had that Friday off and Halloween was on Saturday. The kids and I (with my dad in tow) went to Babies R Us for some supplies. I've gotten accustomed to knowing exactly how much formula (powdered and/or liquid) to buy without breaking the bank. The one thing I can suggest to all parents is to look for coupons and trade what you don't use!!! Just because I don't use Huggies diapers or Good Start Formula, doesn't mean that someone else can't use the coupons/checks and save money! I'm all about trading. Like on Saturday, I used a few coupons that I had traded for with a fellow mom and was able to save about $10.00 in formula, wipes and diapers. It may not seem like much, but in this economy, every penny counts.

Sunday was another odd day, with Daylight Savings ending and everything. AJ was kind and let us have the extra hour of sleep before we all got up and enjoyed a late breakfast. Now that October is over, we can look forward to my birthday, Thanksgiving and then Christmas. Before you know it, it will be time for us to board a plane to Disney! Which reminds me...I better get to booking our flights!

My thoughts on Baby Einstein

I read an interesting article via a recent Bump.com post regarding Baby Einstein products and Disney's decision to begin compensating parents and other individuals who bought the products and didn't see an increase in their child's intelligence. Now I will openly admit that I have NEVER so much as glanced at a Baby Einstein product, much less pull out my hard earned money to buy something so I don't know much about the "claims" that are/were made by Disney (who now owns the Baby Einstein brand) regarding what the benefits are for watching or playing with the toys, DVDs, etc.

However, as a parent I don't much go by the insistence of others when it comes to them "telling" me how much smarter my child will become if they watch that particular DVD or read a particular book/story or play with a particular toy. I would like to think that the only thing that is happening is that consumers are, not necessarily brainwashed, but are led to believe that these products are extremely beneficial to their children and so they part with their hard earned money in the hopes that they themselves will in fact have an "Einstein" on their hands.

I'm not sure if I entirely believe that the Baby Einstein brand purposely made false claims as to how effective the products were, but again I've never really looked at those items before so I can't be completely objective about it. I know that personally, I wouldn't think that a DVD or a particular toy would increase my daughter or son's IQ. The bottom line is that we, as parents, only want what's in the best interest of our children. It's a shame that some companies prey on that desire to make a fast buck.

Saturday night

Today was a weird day of sorts. Didn't really do anything but then went out for about two hours and then came home. I'll explain.

Friday was a half day at work for me. Isabella went to school and my dad was with Anthony. About an hour before I left work for the day, I get a call that Isabella has a fever. Seriously? Could anything else possibly happen? My dad picked her up and then swung back to pick me up. We had lunch, did a little bit of shopping and then headed home so I could get ready. For what you ask? The Show Choir Reunion. For anyone that doesn't know what Show Choir is, think Glee.

Rick hadn't gotten home from work yet so Emile was going to pick me up. I decided against jeans, and instead wore a dress and heels. We both were nervous so we decided that if things got hairy, we'd leave. We went inside, got our name tags and headed in. It was like an immediate high school reunion! I saw lots of fellow members from my year and we launched right into conversation. We caught up regarding spouses, children, etc. It wasn't a stretch for any of us since we are all Facebook friends. We had a great night and by the end of it, they had us on the dance floor, trying in vain to remember the songs and music that we performed back in the day. It was extremely humorous!!

I got home after 11pm and the kids (who were with my father) were all tucked in for the night. Rick didn't get home until 3am. Poor thing! He slept in until the kids woke him up. I kept up with Anthony and while he only woke up once to eat, he was very vocal and wanted to play, so I kept him entertained so that Rick could continue sleeping, undisturbed. It's been raining on and off here. Didn't really inspire us to do much. I was supposed to go and help a friend paint his house, but Bella woke up with a fever, so that kept us in for most of the day. We did, however go to her school's Halloween party. Extremely chaotic for my liking, but she desperately wanted to go, so we obliged. Now at 10:30, she is all tucked in and passed out. I'm hoping to get to my friend Mark's house tomorrow to help with the painting. We'll see how that goes!

Wednesday - Week is half over

And so here we are...Wednesday is drawing to a close. Glee was fantastic! The more I watch the show, the more into it I get. LOL!

As the latter part of the week is a mere hour and a half away, I am truly looking forward to this coming weekend. While I really only have to get through Thursday (and not like I don't have an abundance of things to keep me busy at work), Friday is going to be a worldwind. I'm working until 12:30pm, going to an eye appt for my contacts, going to get my hair washed and straightened and then getting ready for the Show Choir Reunion. I have mixed feelings about this reunion. Part of me is really excited, but another part of me is a bit anxious about seeing people that I have seen, much less spoken to in the last 14 years. I mean, sure some of us are friends via Facebook, but truth be told...High School was a very unfriendly place the last few months that I was there. I guess we'll see what happens. It's not like I won't be able to leave if things start getting tense or heated.

Now, back to the kids. Anthony hit the three month mark last Friday and I finally got my monthly milestone stickers from pickysticky.com. I was apprehensive about ordering them, but they looked so cute in other photos I had seen that I had to get them! Yesterday, I also bought Anthony a Bumbo seat (in a really cute shade of blue) and I ordered a Moby wrap (which also came in yesterday)! Phew.

First, the Bumbo seat. I was lucky enough to be able to hit the Toys R' Us right up the highway from my work. I had logged onto to TRU the night before to verify that they had them. Lucky me, they did! I kept my fingers crossed that they would have the color that I wanted. I have been going back and forth about getting the Bumbo for weeks now and everytime I went to a Babies R' Us, I could never find a color other than green. So, armed with my coupons, I went off in search of the seat. I got it and in the color I wanted!!! On top of that, I saved $6.00!! Going back to work, I just kept thinking about getting home and having Anthony "play" with his new seat.

I got home and tried the Moby wrap. I didn't do to bad with it, but it will definitely take some more practice to get it right. He did LOVE the Bumbo seat and was so cute sitting up looking around! I think it is encouraging him to sit up more, even when not in it.

Isabella is doing well. I want to get her something special this weekend. I think that while she's excited that AJ is getting stuff that she also got as a baby, I can't help but think that she is a little bit jealous. I want to surprise her, so we'll see how that goes. Maybe a new game or a gift card to Build a Bear. Hmmm...decisions, decisions.

Doing it all myself???

I have to wonder if maintaining a relationship is what I want to keep doing?? I mean right now, I feel like I'm doing all the work. I wake up, get the kids ready, make sure Isabella has everything for school, send her off to the bus or drop her off, make sure the baby is dressed, leave him with my dad, go to work for 8+ hours, get home, do the kids laundry, do my own laundry, make sure permission slips are signed, homework is done, make sure appointments are scheduled, feed the kids dinner, bathe the kids, get them ready for bed and finally put them down. Now every day isn't the same but the vast majority of it does not chance. With every day that goes by, there are new challenges to face, new adventures that we are dealing with and to be frank, I feel like I'm doing this alone with the kids.

If it isn't the actual help, then it's the financial aspect. I sink every paycheck into clothes for the kids, food for the kids, bills for the house and my father's medication. What does he do with his money? Hell if I know. I think my biggest problem as of late is his ability to prioritize. He knew on Friday that Isabella had a dentist appointment scheduled for today. I asked him to please provide me with $50.00 so that I can put in the other half and pay for her visit today. Saturday came and went...and I was duped again into putting a $55.00 purchase on my card (oh I'll just give you the money later)...with no money for the appointment. Sunday, he woke up and jumped right into playing his video games. No spending time with his daughter. or with his infant son. He took some time to drop off his oldest son and to pick up lunch, but again neglected to pay back the $55.00 that was spent on Saturday or give me the $50.00 for his daughter's appointment. Instead, he went on to spend 12 hours (that's right, I said 12 HOURS) playing his video games. So this morning, he's rushing around getting ready to work, complaining that he is late when I asked him about the money. Of course at this point, he's annoyed. I told him that I need it when he gets home and he left in a huff.

Am I wrong for acting like this should be a partnership and we both need to be pitching in? This is ridiculous that any kind of talk, whether it be financial or not, turns into a pissing contest. I shouldn't have to pull teeth to get him to help me. I shouldn't be doing this by myself! In talking to my father, he feels that I'm getting used and to be honest, I feel the same way. I'm already doing this all by myself...if it continues to be like this, I'd rather be by myself as well. In a way, it feels like he wants all the perks of being a father and husband, but none of the responsibilities.

Being sick really sucks

Well, the week is close to over (only one more full work day and few hours left today) and the weekend is beckoning. I am MISERABLE!!! Well, not as miserable as I was. This week has thrown me for a loop. Monday was Columbus Day and Rick took the day off to spend time with Isabella. I, on the other hand, had to work...all day long. Rick took the truck and had to drop me off/pick me up. While I went to work, they enjoyed the day together and even went to Plaster Fun Time!!

Tuesday was a different story. Isabella woke up with a horrible cold and ended up having to stay home from school. My dad took care of both her and the baby while Rick and I went to work. She look so much better when we got home and she was excited about going back to school the next day. As Rick and I settled in to go to bed, I noticed that my throat felt a little sore. I tried to shrug it off, but the more I thought of it, the more I felt like the worst was yet to come.

Wednesday morning...OMG what a horrible morning. Rick and I both felt like crap and while I said good-bye to Bella as she headed off to school, I couldn't help but think of how fast I could get to work, do what I needed to do and come home. I had resigned myself to come home around 1:30pm but when all was said and done, I didn't head out of work until after 2:30. So much for relaxing for the rest of the day. Rick got home late that evening and picked up essentials (tissues, cough medicine, sinus medication, etc.). By the time I went to bed, I felt better, but still not able to breathe out of both nostrils...

Which leads us to today...Thursday. I woke up really groggy and had that sick taste in my mouth...EWWWW!!! I went right to the bathroom and brushed my teeth...twice. I decided a nice hot shower was in order and BOY did it feel great! I headed to work, determined to last the whole day...so far so good. I actually feel better and haven't taken anything since this morning. I'm hoping that the worst is now over since having a 3 month old and six year old does not leave a lot of time for self pampering! Hopefully tonight will be relaxing and uneventful and who knows, maybe my daughter will have surprised me and cleaned her room for a change???!!!

Isabella and Anthony the Turkey...Gobble Gobble!

Monday Already??

Will the person that took my weekend, kindly return it to me???

I can't believe that the work week has begun again. It's Columbus Day today. Isabella is off from school and Rick took the day off to spend time with the kids. Me? I am at work. I was finally able to find/buy Anthony's costume this weekend! He makes the cutest little turkey. Weekend went by quickly, but I had fun anyway.

Saturday started with the aftermath of Rick having to work late on Friday night. He was exhausted. While he slept, I took the kids and my dad to Framingham/Natick to do some shopping. I did a lot of damage at Babies R' Us (where I found and bought AJ's costume)...about $160.00 worth of damage! I went and met my dad at the mall and we had a great lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. I had my first taste of Red Velvet Cake and it was DELICIOUS! I walked around the mall a bit with Bella before stopping in at Coach (sadly not for me) to buy a gift for my sister's birthday. After several hours of walking and shopping, we headed for home.

Saturday night, I took Isabella to my sister's for a sleep over with her cousin, Aiden. He has bunk beds and Isabella was so excited to be there! I spend a few hours over her house before saying good bye and heading home. That night, it was eerily quiet with Isabella not there!

Sunday was a quiet start. Rick and I got dressed and headed out (leaving AJ at home with my dad) to help my sister and pick up our daughter. We went to the Halloween superstore (didn't find anything) and after a few hours, we headed home. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and catching up on laundry, dishes, playing with the kids, etc. I also managed to get AJ into his Halloween costume and get a few pictures!!!

Relaxing silence

It's hard to believe that at this hour, my little one is down for the night, Isabella is already tucked in bed and I'm sitting here, writing this. I'm enjoying this mini break before heading off to bed myself. I've been looking at costumes again for AJ and I think I found one that I really like. It's a spider costume and no, not like spider. An actual baby spider. It's really cute. Hopefully I get pics up soon!

For now, I will continue to play on the web until I can't keep my eyes open. Tomorrow I have several things to do. Hopefully AJ will cooperate and sleep most of the night!

The weekend is upon us...Now what?

Well another work week is drawing to a close and I can't believe that the first full week of October is already behind us. It's funny, I had been looking forward to last weekend so much that it seemed to FLY by! (Rick and I took Isabella to see Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3D).

This weekend, we don't have much planned. I need to do my bi-weekly pilgrimage to Babies R' Us for formula, diapers, diaper pail refills, etc. I am hoping to find a Halloween Costume for my little one. I'd like to have pictures of the kids done at Picture People next week. If I have time (not like my schedule is jam packed with things to do or anything) I'll hit Lowe's and/or Home Depot to look at carpet for the bedrooms. My youngest is almost 3 months old and we are STILL not finished with the kids' bedroom. Being out on Maternity Leave and only getting partial pay really strapped us. Yet another reason I'm glad to be back at work!

I'm trying to come up with fun things to do with Bella. I don't like her getting bored and I know the thought of cleaning her room all weekend is not going to drum up excitement...at least not on her part. The prospect of seeing her floor would definitely brighten my day though! I think we'll do Taco Night on Saturday. I LOVE having taco night.

I got the chance to really talk to the hubs about money and vacation, etc. I think it finally sunk in that he needs to prioritize better. It's a good thing too, because I felt like I was doing all of the parenting and shouldering all the responsibility myself. While I understand that he has a lot on his mind with his oldest son (from a previous relationship), he needs to understand that he does have a family that needs some of his attention as well. I definitely think he is stating to "get it." He's excited for the vacation in January...Only another 100 days to go people. Disney is in our sights.

On another note, Thanksgiving in next month (along with my birthday!) and I'm excited about this as well. Last year, I hadn't yet found out I was pregnant and I was acting a bit looney tunes during those few days off. My poor family! I'm really looking forward to the food and spending time with family this year.

And so my 3rd week back from Maternity Leave draws to a close and I am looking forward to going home and seeing my kids. I miss them terribly while at work, but I think that's a good thing. I really appreciate all the time that I get with them when I finally do get to see them. While we don't have anything exciting planned yet for the next two days, I think I like it better when we fly by the seat of our pants!

Change of Disney Plans

So I finally got around to changing the family vacation plans. We are finally set to leave on January 19th, 2010 for a full week of fun at Disney. Woo Hoo! I have been waiting to go back since November of 08. Incidentally, that was about a week before I found out I was pregnant with AJ. I can't believe it's been almost a year!

We are leaving Boston via Logan at about 7am and flying into MCO and we should be at Disney well before noon. I think I'm going to swear Rick and my father to secrecy. I won't let Bella know where we are going until we head to the airport that morning. I feel bad that we weren't able to spend her 6th birthday in Disney, but what better way to make up for it then by surprising her!? It's still another three months away, but I can't WAIT!!!

Attempting a new hobby this weekend

I've decided to take a break from sewing, card making, frame making and scrapbooking. I have developed a fascination with crochet work & knitting. I am going to see what I can create on my own before delving into "how-to" videos on the net and books at Jo-Ann Fabrics and AC Moore. I'm loving the crochet hats and scarves I see everywhere and would LOVE to make them for Bella and Anthony. Who knows? Maybe at some point, I'll be able to crochet/knit a sweater or cardigan for my baby. Then again, I may suck and never want to look at a crochet hook or knitting needle every again!

This also gives me another excuse to go to AC Moore, Michael's and Jo-Ann's this weekend...I'm sure the hubby with LOVE that!!

October & the hunt for Bella's Halloween Costume

And so it began. A few weeks before school started (when the evil Retail Empire decided it was fine time to start rolling out the Halloween candy and what not), Isabella had begun thinking about her costume. She decided against being Cinderella again this year (of course she would...she had worn the costume that I had bought in May of 2008 at the Bibbibidi Bobbidi Boutique in WDW at LEAST 1/2 a dozen times...I think she figured that it more than made up for the $60+ that I paid for it!!!) and so the search began.

We had looked at several different websites, several different stores and came up with a few ideas, but in the end she decided that she would stick with being a Disney princess. However this time, she did not want the beautiful gown that Belle wore. She didn't like the Princess Jasmine costume, nor did she want to wear the Sleeping Beauty dress. No way. Why go with that, when she can dress as a mermaid. That's right! She wants to dress up as Ariel from the Little Mermaid. In coming to this decision, it was decided that a trip to the Disney Store was necessary in order to closer inspect my 6 year old's decision.

Now normally I try not to criticize her choices and I always like for her to express herself and be able to choose things for herself, but I would be lying if I said that I liked this costume. I find nothing "Ariel" about this bright purple and green tube dress with matching shoes. In fact, the ONLY thing that I liked about this costume (aside from the matching shoes and that's only because they light up) is the price tag. That's right people, I said it. Now normally, this dress is close to $50, but because we're getting closer to Halloween, I was able to get it for under $30...however then you factor in the cost of the shoes and the wand and I ended up paying just slightly under the original cost of the costume itself. Still not a bad deal!

So, upon our return home from the costume shopping trip on Saturday, I had her try on the costume (which she did in the store, but OVER her clothing as they don't have fitting rooms in said Disney Store), and it was then that I noticed that the costume is EXTREMELY impractical. Not only is it made of a stretchy, scratchy, metallic looking fabric, but it looks difficult to walk in from the tulle "fin" skirt at the bottom near the feet/ankles. If Isabella doesn't complain about the fact that she can barely walk because of slim the lower part of the costume is, then she'll be complaining about the fact that she's stepping on the tulle bottom! Oy vay!

I asked her several times if it was what she wanted, however I was careful so not to make her feel like I was second guessing her decision. She said she liked her costume and that was that. She went to bed and all was well. But that was short lived.

Sunday morning was quiet and we were heading out to see Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3d when Bella made a startling decision. She wanted a different costume. What??? So after the double feature, we went back to the mall (Ariel costume in hand) to look for an exchange. We looked at the different princess costumes, debated over shoes, accessories, toyed with the idea of going as Tinkerbell or one of the other fairies before she came to a decision. She wanted to stick with the Ariel costume. I can't say that I wasn't disappointed or even a bit annoyed at having wasted over 35 minutes looking at the same costumes we had gone through the day before, but she had made up her mind and that was that. I did make it clear to her that going forward, there would be no more changing of minds. She had her costume and that was what she was wearing. She smiled and told me that she happy with her choice.

Honestly, I'm glad she's happy with her choice. The important thing is that it was her choice. While I may still make the majority of decisions for her (clothing, shoes, after school programs, etc), I like that I give her the ability to make her own from time to time. I may not love the costume, but I love her. If the costume makes her happy, then I will smile and take pictures and not say a word...I'll just make sure to scrapbook the photos and be sure to show them to her many many years from now...like when HER daughter picks out a strange costume!

And now the search is on for Anthony's costume. This should be relatively easy so long as I find one that I like. I guess I should be thankful that he doesn't speak yet and won't be disagreeing with me!!!

Wow, I fail at this!

I really fail at this blog writing stuff! I started it and can't keep up! Thus is the life of mom, LOL!

So I finally did it!

I've finally decided to create my own blog. Not sure what will come of doing this, but I figure it will give me an outlet for my thoughts and also for the daily happenings in my life and that of my kids.

As of today, August 1st, I've been on Maternity Leave for two weeks. So far, the summer has been uneventful, but I'm grateful to spend time with my 5yr old daughter, Isabella and 2 week old son, Anthony. I'm excited that two weeks have gone by, but I'm also sad at the fact that I only have another 6 weeks with my precious little boy. It seems that time just goes by so fast. To me, there is no truer statement. Just yesterday I was spending time with both Anthony and Isabella and I couldn't help but feel a little sad at the fact that my little princess is not so little anymore. She's almost 6 years old!!! I have a 1st grader on my hands! Before I know it, Anthony will be sitting up and then crawling and walking...Whoa, I'm getting WAY to ahead of myself!

I actually had a chance today to sit down and talk to my husband about our tentative vacation plans. We were supposed to go on vacation at the end of August, but with Anthony's arrival, that is no longer the case. We have decided that December seems like a better alternative and how fun will it be for us to spend the week before Christmas in Disney World! Isabella is certainly excited, although a bit saddened since we won't be celebrating her birthday down there as we've been doing the last two years. Now I need only to find an appropriate resort and purchase tickets. Fun, fun!!