Back to school and pregnancy updates

I'm pretty sure everyone else's kids have already made it back to school, but today was our first day of school. My oldest is in 4th grade, my middle is in 1st. The first grade teacher is the one that my older daughter had, and we adore her. 

Yeah, I know Ava only has on one sock. She refuses to wear her right sock and will always immediately take it off. Weird, right? 

Yesterday we hit 35 weeks pregnant. I'm at 17 lbs gained and still all belly. We are still trying for a VBAC, which means that I have to go into labor naturally (they won't induce if you're trying for a VBAC since there is more chance for uterine rupture). So we picked up from evening primrose oil and raspberry leaf tea capsules. Neither will cause labor, it just strengthens and tones your uterus, which will hopefully help us with the VBAC. 

Our next appt is on (I think) September 5th. Alli is definitely the most active of all my babies and moves around constantly. The room switcheroo is taking FOREVER. Partly due to my pregnancy slowing me down, and partly because there is just no freaking room in this house to store anything. It's funny, a year or so ago, hubby and I said we'd be in this house for a few years, and now we're saying that in two years or so, it'll be time to look. We'd definitely look in our current neighborhood though, we love it here. 

So that's what's been going on in my world. What's new with you? 

If You Really Knew Me...

I saw this fun post over at Sometimes Sweet, and thought I would play along! Seemed like a good way to share a bit about myself in a fun way. 


If you really knew me....


You'd know that I think a cold Cherry Coke in a frosted mug, with a bunch of marischino cherries and a bendy straw is one of the best things ever. 


You'd know that I am constantly buying and shopping for big statement necklaces and super long dangly earrings, but then I never wear them. 


You'd know that I'm hopelessly addicted to sea salt and vinegar chips. Absolute favorite brand is Miss Vickie's, but Lays come in a close second. 


You'd know that my dream dog is a harlequin great dane. I will own one someday, probably when all the kids are out of the house. Until then, we're happy with our two small rescue dogs. 


You'd know that I'd do anything to help an animal. Saturday morning, I was woken up at 3am by what I thought was one of the kids crying. I get up, check on them, and nope, they're all asleep. Go back to bed, hear it again. Check on the girls again. After having a heart attack since I'm now imagining ghosts and crying baby demons, I open the back door, and see a black cat sitting there howling. I go outside, fed him a can of tuna, and sent him on his way and went back to bed. When I woke up at 7am, he was sitting on the front porch, and ran inside to hubby's office. I just left him in there, he wasn't bothering anything. When hubby woke up, we made a "Found Cat" note and taped it on the mailbox. Not 5 minutes later, a crying lady was knocking at my door, asking if we found a black cat. I invited her in, she saw the cat and hugged him. She said he got out the night before and she's been terrified that he'd be run over (black cat at night) or hurt (just was declawed). He was a gift from her husband as she recovers from brain surgery. I'm not a cat person, but he obviously needed a friend. 


You'd know that the scariest thing in the world to me a locust. Give me an ax murderer any day, just don't show me a locust. 


You'd know that I would never, ever belittle or speak negatively about my husband. I never understand why people do that to their spouses, especially on facebook. 


You'd know that my favorite exercise activity is kick boxing. I think it's awesome. Makes me feel like a total bad-ass, and what chick isn't sexy when they're sweating and wearing boxing gloves? 


You'd know that I am not an organized person. At all. Which drives my OCD husband insane. I'm always losing things, or misplacing them. In fact, we just had to drop $25 on a new pool pass since I lost ours. I lost it last year too but was able to find it after hours of searching. 


You'd know I'm blind as a bat. My eyesight is something like 400/20 (or 20/400? Whatever the near sighted one is). For you contact wearers, my left eye is -8.5, my right is -9. I'd love to get some cute rectangle eyeglasses, but they're so thick that I can't. 


You'd know that when I get super anxious about something, my neck and chest breaks out in big, red patches. So embarrassing! 


You'd know that during the fall and winter, 99% of the time you'll catch me wearing knee high boots. 


You'd know that I'm a morning person. Even before having a baby who wakes up at 6:30ish, I RARELY sleep past 6:30. I can never understand how people sleep until noon. I just feel like I'm wasting my entire day. 


You'd know that I'm slightly neurotic about how I sleep. Not so much blanket wise, but I sleep with 4 pillows that have to be just right for me to be able to sleep. I hate hate hate sheet washing day, because it jacks up my perfect pillow placement. 


You'd know that I'm a lightweight when it comes to drinking. One drink and I'm toasty and feeling gggooooooddd. I'm not a beer drinking gal, more into the expensive fruity girly drinks like bahama mama or pina colada. Which is good that I only order one. 


You'd know that I'm way too good at holding a grudge. I try not to be, cause who wants to live like that. But hubby will tell you that I'm the first one to write someone off if I feel they've "wronged" me. Sad but true, but I'm working on it. 


You'd know that I am hopelessly, head over heels, smitten kitten obsessed with my husband. Like, think about how much I love him and it'll make me cry kind of love. I've had my share of bad relationships, which just makes me appreciate him all that much more. Not only did he accept my two kids as his own, he's the best daddy I could have asked for for my kids. Plus, he's hot :) 


You'd know that being a mom was never a dream of mine. I was never the kid who played with dolls, planned my kids names, etc. But here I am, pregnant with number 4, and as much as I want to strangle them at times, I wouldn't trade them for the world. 


You'd know that I'm weird about feet. I can't stand feet, they gross me out! I can't even paint my kid's toes, so hubby does it. Ugh! So gross. And why do people post pics of their feet on facebook? Seriously, it makes me sick to think about it. 


So that's all I can think of. If you play along, leave me a link, I'd love to read it!

Birthday girl, a day late. 29, version 4

So, your favorite blogger had a birthday yesterday. I turned 32 29, version 4. It didn't go exactly as planned, but I think as a mom, you learn to roll with the punches. 


My middle daughter has been vomiting for the past couple of days, and hasn't even been able to keep down water. Since we're a one car family, and I'm pregnant, my husband's boss let him work from home so he could help with Jasmin and take her to the dr. She had her appt at yesterday at 2:55, and they prescribed her Zofran, and so far, she's been able to keep down water and Gatorade. This morning, we're trying dry toast and keeping our fingers crossed.  So yay!


My birthday dinner is always spent at Red Lobster (love that place!) but since Jasmin is sick, we'll just go sometime next week, no biggie. Instead, Jake "cooked" last night, and picked up some food after he dropped off Jasmin at home. He brought home a sub for me from Firehouse Subs (love that you get a free sub on your birthday!). He just showed them my driver's license and told them I was at home with a sick kid (you're supposed to go in yourself). And he brought home my favorite dessert, cheesecake! And yes, my husband plays along with my "I'm turing 29 AGAIN" game. 

Hubby did a great job picking out my gifts. Wanna see what he bought?

Anyone who knows me, knows that those just scream "Jen!". I love them. Good thing it's still hot outside right now, because there is no way that jacket is fitting over this belly. :) He bought me a large, which I'm so glad he did, cause there is no way that a medium would fit, it's pretty snug. 


So fingers crossed that Jasmin feels better. She's been quarantined to her room and having "watch movies and sleep all day" days, and I'm pretty much chasing her around with Lysol anytime she leaves the room and touches anything. :)

I survived the busiest weekend EVER

So, I had the busiest weekend I've had in a long time. And I can now say that I survived. Barely. I still feel like I need 14 more hours of sleep. 

Started it off with hubby bringing home some gorgeous flowers! Day lillies and gerbera daisies are my favorite flowers. And this kind of lily is the exact one we had as our wedding flower. 

Then Arielle had a softball game. They won 7-6. I was worried there for a second, but they won in the end (thankfully due to an error by the other team). 

On Saturday, Jake coached his last game for Jasmin's team, her season is over for the year. I love seeing him coach, it's important to him to be involved with the girls. He coached Arielle's team last year. He then dropped me off at a baby sprinkle on the way home, and picked me up when it was done.

Arielle and Jasmin got their flower girl dresses in. My mom still needs to tailor them, but they're going to be so pretty!

Arielle had her birthday slumber party on Saturday night. I can't believe she's about to be nine. 

Our craft was making ruffle fabric sandals. Kept them entertained for half an hour, which works for me. I went to bed at 10, hubby came to bed at midnight after telling them it was lights out and time to settle down. I got woken up at 1am (since no kid knows how to turn a door handle and just slams it shut) and I couldn't fall back to sleep until almost 4am. Ugh. 

  

I woke up at 6:30, and found that apparently "Light out" means turn a movie back on and then fall asleep to it at full blast. Ding dongs. 

  

Then I went to my mom's house to work on pillow orders and pick up Ava and the dogs, and we went to Burger King for lunch. 

Then after a nap, we took Jasmin to get a hair cut. She asked us for one on Saturday, and said she wanted to donate her hair to Locks of Love. My baby had 11 inches cut off. She looks so grown up!

Then we went to Target so the girls could spend their birthday/allowance money. Followed by dinner at Panda Express, since I was in no mood to cook.










I'm not going to lie, I haven't been this tired in a long time, but it was such an awesome weekend. Plus, both Arielle and Jasmin were able to feel Alli kicking, so they were super excited about that. 

I'm off to work on pillow orders, happy Monday!

20 weeks pregnant updates

So, yesterday we had our 20 week OB appt. I'm measuring right at twenty weeks, so is baby girl. And baby girl is officially a baby girl :) As many of you know, I had Ava by emergency c-section due to her birth defects, and am really wanting to try a VBAC this time. I had a horrible time healing from my c-section, took me forever before I was able to stand up straight, I had swelling so bad in my legs and feet that my toes couldn't touch the ground. Plus, I felt so removed from the birth with a c-section. You're laying on the table, unable to see or feel anything. NO thank you. 

We had Ava at 35 weeks, and she was 7 lbs 8 oz. They said she would have been a ten pound baby if we went full term. So I asked our dr if she induces if the baby is getting to be too big. She said that since we're going for a VBAC, that it's better to go into labor naturally instead of being induced. But, if the baby is too large and it looks like I'll end up having to have a c-section anyway, then we have to decide if we want to induce (which she won't do until 39 weeks anyway so the lungs can fully mature). It's a lot to think about. I had Arielle 9 days early, and Jasmin 4 days early, so she said that this one might come early too.

So, I've been seeing these questionnaires on other blogs, and thought it'd be fun to participate. 

How far along are you? 20 weeks 3 days

Total weight gain/loss? 7 lbs gained

Maternity clothes? Nope, still wearing my normal clothes. But I'm in my loose capris that have a bit of stretch to them. Still in normal shirts, but some of my tank tops are getting short so my belly is poking out at the bottom. I just wear a tee-shirt extender under it. 

Stretch marks? Nothing new, thank goodness. I did get quite a few when I was pregnant with my oldest. The little jaggedy ones on my belly, and the huge thick ones on my hips that look like a tiger clawed me. I didn't get any more with my second daughter, and with my third daughter, I didn't get any more, but the ends of the ones on my hips turned red. 

Sleep? I'm pretty much back to normal. Going to bed around 9:30, dragging myself out of bed around 6. Getting up once during the night to use the restroom. 

Best moment this past week? Finally picking the darn name! Her name is going to be Alli. As simple as the name is, it took us forever to get to it. Jake liked Emily, I liked Lexi. Then he turned Lexi into Alexis. I didn't like Alexis, but I like Alexa. He suggested Alli, and while we both liked it, neither of us could agree on the usual names that Alli is short for (Allison, Alice, Alexandra, etc). So Alli by itself it is!

Movement? I feel her all the time. Usually at night when I'm trying to go to sleep. I think we have a night owl on our hands. Jake feels her almost every night, and my mom even got to feel her once. My oldest is dying to feel her, but Alli is most active after the older girls are in bed. The doctor had a hard time getting a look at her, since she was moving around so much.


Food cravings? Nothing weird. If I get something in my head, I can't get it out of my head until I have it. Like, if I see a commercial for Wendy's, then it'll be in my head until I have it, even if it's days later. 


Gender? a girl!


Belly button? Still an innie, but getting flatter. Mine never pops out, just flattens out completely. 


Milestones? Halfway there!

20 Questions for the Hubby

I saw this over at my friend Megan's blog, and thought I'd play along. I know, hubby and I aren't Newlyweds, but who cares. We'll just pretend.


1. She's sitting in front of the TV. What's on the screen?

Law & Order SVU, although lately it's been Cold Case. 

me: Yup! I love me some SVU, but I've seen every single episode. Then I somehow ran across an episode of Cold Case, and remembered how much I love this show

2. You're out to eat. What kind of dressing does she get on her salad?

Ceasar. 

me: Yup! Love me some Caesar salad. 

3. What’s one food she doesn't like? 
Shrimp and Zucchini. You put them together and you can see her twitch.  

me: yup! It's a texture thing. Shrimp always tastes like it's not cooked, or it's gristle or fat I shouldn't be eating. Zucchini is too slimy, no matter how it's cooked. Ewwwwww. 

4. You go out to eat and have a drink, what does she order? 
Something fruity

me: Yup! My favorite drinks are a Bahama Mama or a Pina Colada. 

5. What shirt size does she have? 
Whatever size fits in that brand. She's tiny though, she can pull off a small in any brand.

me: Kinda true. I usually go with a medium, I don't like my shirts to be too skin tight. 

6. What shoe size does she have? 
6.5-7

me: Yup! I go with a 7 if it's closed toed or boots I wear with socks. Usually a 6.5 or 7 for open toes and sandals. 

7. What’s her favorite type of sandwich?
Some sort of Italian style.

me: It really just depends. If I'm at Subway, I get the Spicy Italian (pepperoni and genoa salami). If I'm at Which Wich, I get the french dip. At Charley's, I get the buffalo chicken. Just depends on my mood and where I'm at. 

8. What would she eat everyday if she could? 
Crab Legs or Snowballs

me: yup! Crab legs with a bit of lemon juice. And Snoballs are my weakness when it comes to snacks. 

9. What is her favorite cereal? 
Basic 4

me: Yes! I love Basic 4. But they don't sell it at Walmart, so I have to go to a grocery store to get it. I heart it, but hate that it's such a small box for like $5. It's one of the few things that I won't share with my kids. 

10. What would she never wear? 
She can rock it all. 

me: this is a weird question. Socks with sandals I guess. Or leggings as pants. Any of the normal fashion no-nos. 

11. What is her favorite sports team? 
Forrest Griffin (he's big enough to count as a team)

me: LOL! I love UFC. Well, not the whole thing but certain fighters. And Forrest is my favorite. I even named one of my crested geckos after him. 

14. What is something she does that you wish she wouldn’t do? 
Have the undying need to fill every flat surface in the house. :)

me: True. He's always teasing me about that. Hush, Jake! It's not my fault that you're all OCD about clutter. 

15. What is her heritage? 
Korean and Cracker

me: I'm not sure how PC that is, but yes. 

16. You bake her a cake, what kind of cake? 
I dunno, but she better eat it, I made it!

me: I eat any kind of cake. But I heart carrot cake. And red velvet. And birthday cake. 

17. Did she play sports in high school?
Softball

me: yup! I miss playing. Might want to check out a team when I'm done being pregnant. 

18. What could she spend hours doing? 
Reading, online shopping, Cold Case marathon…..all at once.

me: yes, Jake always says he's amazed at my ability to multi-task. I think that comes with the territory of being a momma. 

19. What is the unique talent that she has? 
Well that's an inappropriate question to ask.

me: Ha! Nerd. 

20. What is her type of coffee? 
The Cherry Coke flavored kind :)

Me: I don't drink coffee at all. I love the smell, but not the taste.  

Wow, I was really impressed with his answers! How would your husband do? I'm curious how I'd do on a questionnaire about him. Hmmmmm.

 

My birthday wishlist

So, your favorite blogger will turn 32 29ish in exactly three months from today. There are a few finds from Etsy that are on my birthday wish list. I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to hang onto my money for things like food and kids stuff, or I would have already bought every single one of these things. 

 One thing I want is this sign. I'd get it in these colors exactly and put it in the girls bathroom. Handmade? Handpainted (not vinyl)? Score. My children seem to think that "Go wash your hands" means "Go run some water on them for .42 seconds, ignore the soap, and then shake the water off of your hands all over the mirror." I don't know if this sign would help them remember how to wash their hands, but it's so awesome I don't think I'd care anymore. So this sign would save me the stress of yelling at them. Score.

WordWhipped "Wash Your Hands sign"  $60 plus shipping

I am DYING to get this stencil. (How do you become one of those lucky blogs that get to do reviews on this kind of stuff?)  I want to use it in my older girls room. When the baby comes, the two older ones are going to have to share a room again. The oldest isn't excited to share a room again, and I'm trying to make sure it's super cool for them. Arielle already has a blue wall in her room, I'd use this stencil with white paint. So pretty! Think I could just serve mac and cheese for the next two weeks, and spend my grocery money on this instead? 

Royal Design Studio stencil "Rockin' Roses" $69 plus shipping

I keep browsing through Etsy, looking for things for the girls room, ways to personalize it even though it'll be a shared space. How awesome would these be above their beds? We're planning on doing bunk beds, and I'd love to have each of their names above their bed. Imagine these, with "Arielle" and "Jasmin" in bright yellow? Gorgeous! 

DeckyDecor "Custom wood name sign" $50 plus shipping

Now, it's obvious I have a love for wood signs (perhaps I need to add "scroll saw" to my Christmas wish list, but then you'd have to read a post about me cutting off my thumb or something). And you know that your favorite blogger lives in Texas, right? My husband (from St Louis) always teases me for saying "y'all". So how perfect would this sign be? We plan on extending the back patio in the fall, so I'm starting to keep an eye out for things to decorate it. I think this sign in barnwood red would be perfect. Throw in his "Sweet Tea" sign, and my back porch would be perfect. Think he'd take me on as his honorary granddaughter and make me one for my birthday? A girl can always dream, right? :)

SlippinSouthern "Hey y'all" sign $50 plus shipping

I am in love with these candle holders. Just pop in a tealight (which is included in the price). I think they'd go perfectly on my dining room table. Imagine a group of them, tied with some raffia, on a distressed wooden tray? Perfection. I could also see these at a rustic wedding. I love that the birch is cut from fallen trees, so you're not hurting the environment.

My Garden Gate "10 birch bark candle holders" $35 plus shipping.

I know you've seen those fabulous alphabet walls that are everywhere. I adore them, and would LOVE to have one in the new baby's room. I have a couple of girlfriends who have put one together for their kids, and their main complaint was being able to find all of the letters. It took one of them 6 months to find all of the letters. If you want to save the hassle, something like this would be a great option. The letters range in size from 6 to 12 inches. How cool would it be to order one of these for a baby shower? Or, if you've having a Baby Sprinkle and aren't having guests bring gifts, maybe ask all of them to chip in $10 instead and split the cost. You could have a table with scrapbook paper, craft paint, mod podge and other embellishments, and have each guest decorate one or two. What a great way to remember your baby shower! I think my favorite letter is the button O. And the J. Cause, everyone who's name starts with a J is awesome.

GalleryWoodLetters $85 plus shipping

 
 So if I was rich, or my kids and husband didn't expect me to feed them, these are the things that would be on their way to me, because I would have already bought them. 

What's on your birthday wish list this year? 

11 Things You Didn't Know You Wanted To Know About Me But Now You Do.

Lesley at Fabulously Flawed tagged me in a little Q&A and I thought, " Hey. Why not? I'm only watching the River for the 4th time since I'm goofing off on Facebook and not really following the show. So I keep having to restart it. Eventually I'll figure out what's going on.

1.  How did you decide to start blogging?

Lover actually encouraged me to blog. I've always been a crafter, and he said "Hey, you make interesting crap. People might like to read about your awesomeness in a blog format." Okay, he didn't say that exactly, but close enough. 

2.  What would be your dream job?

Something with animals. I always thought it'd be cool to be a dolphin trainer. Don't I look like a natural?

3.  What is your favorite movie or book?

I think Wicked by Gregory Maguire is such a phenomenal book. I've read a few others of his that I enjoyed too. I didn't care for the rest of the Wizard of Oz books (Son of the Witch and I know there are two more) but the other ones are good. There is one about the stepsister of Cinderella that was good. 

Favorite movies? Shawshank Redemption of course. And the Color Purple. And Pan's Labyrinth. And The Labyrinth. All epically awesome. 

4.  Favorite food?

Really depends on the day. Usually Cherry Coke and Sea Salt and Vinegar Lays, but now they make me gag. This pregnancy is so weird! Normal favorites would be cheesecake. Or pecan pie. Or a good BLT with mayo.

5.  If you had an entire afternoon free, who would you want to spend it?

Something with Lover. Doesn't matter if we're out, or just chilling at the house. I know I'll have a good time. But it'd have to be before 7pm, which is my bedtime these days.

6.  What is the most significant goal you have achieved to date?

Crap, I don't know. I haven't killed my children, which is saying a lot considering that all they do lately is bicker. 

7. What is your dream vacation?

I want to go on one of those wildlife safaris in Australia. Think a kangaroo would want to come home and live with me?

8.  When you go to weddings, do you dance or sit like a bump?

Dude, I dance my butt off. I don't care if I'm the only one on the dance floor. Life is too short to worry about who's watching you live it. 

9.  If you were going to volunteer for an organization, what would it be?

There is a wildlife rescue called In-Sync Exotics about half an hour from here that I've always wanted to volunteer at, but due to time, I just can't. They rescue wild cats from bad locations/bad owners and rehab them and give them a forever home. I took Lover there on a tour for our one year anniversary, and the love that the owners have for these animals is just amazing.

10.  Favorite celebrity or sports star?

The only sport I follow is UFC. And my favorites in that sport are Forest Griffin, and it used to be Georges St Pierre, but he's been so lax lately (plus he's injured) and he isn't finishing fights. Yes, he's winning, but he doesn't finish them (if you are a UFC fan you know what I mean). 

Fave celebrity? One would be Ryan Reynolds. Not because he's good looking, but because he's a world class actor who's super talented in portraying diverse characters..... yeah, who believed that load of crap? It's because he's hot. 

My other "favorite" actor? Favorite meaning super non-secret celebrity boyfriend?

Despite my husband not understanding my crush on Jake Gyllenhaal, I think he's gorgeous. But I guess I'd have to say my favorite actors, acting wise, are Tom Hanks, Tim Robbins or Morgan Freeman. I'd watch them do an infomercial in hemorrhoid cream.

11.  What is your best go-to recipe when you have company coming?

I do chicken fajitas. They're super simple, everyone makes their own plate so it's super low key, and nearly impossible to mess up. 

Now the silly rules:

**You must post the rules.

** Answer the 11 questions that the tagger posted for you & then create 11 questions to ask the people you've tagged. (Crap, just read this part. I totally jacked Lesley's questions)

** Tag 11 people and link them in your post.

**Let them know you have tagged them.

Eleven? Crap. Eleven means three, plus whoever wants to do it, right?

1. It's Sew Stinkin' Cute

2. Miss Madison's Charmed Life

3. Whimsy Ma Blog

4. YOU

Hi there, 2012!

Happy New Year, dear reader! I hope you had a great time, ringing in the new year. Lover and I rang in the new year at home, which we haven't done in a long time. We've never been big partiers, we've always just gone to a friends house. But this year, we had no plans and no need for a baby sitter. I think that makes us officially "grown ups". 

We spent our day starting on the bedroom makeover. Yes, the bedroom makeover I talked about in my Home Goals for 2011 got started on the last stinkin' day of the year. I won this cutting edge stencil from Bella Before & After's Sponsor giveaway a few months ago. But we all know how expensive paint is, so it got put on the back burner. That is, until my father in law got me a super awesome gift card to Home Depot for Christmas. Thanks Steve! 

It's not an ugly beige color like the picture is showing, it's a really pretty light gray, and I did the background color in pure white. So pretty! But please excuse the crappy cell phone pic. The camera is in the bedroom. And since Lover spent all freaking day helping me paint, the least I can do is let him sleep in a bit. I would have loved to gotten it all finished yesterday, but it didn't happen. Our ceilings are 12 feet tall, which seems a hell of a lot taller when you're up on the ladder.


So, what are your resolutions for this coming year? Besides the obvious "eat healthy and exercise, blah blah blah" that is on everyone's list (yours truly included). 


Mine is to be more organized. I'm starting that out with a chores list. I'll admit, I'm not the best at being domestic. I know, I know. As your favorite blogger, I'm supposed to be super crafty with a perfectly clean, organized house. But I'm missing the "organized" gene. Which I'm sure, makes my OCD husband want to punch me in the head most days. Lover will ask me when the last time is that I changed the girls sheets, and I'll admit, there has been a time (or four) that I've been like "Uhhhhhh....". Well, that's gross. 


So I need to write it all down. Besides doing house stuff on the first of every month (touch up painting, since our builder's flat paint shows EVERY fingerprint and scuff) and Magic Eraser on all the doors, I need a list to keep me on track. 

Here is my rough draft, but I'm sure I'll tweak it a bit. I figure a two week rotation will be good. Enough to cover all the chores, but not too repetitive.

I didn't want to write down every single detail, but bathroom would be toilets, tubs, mirrors, etc. Arielle and Jasmin "clean" their own rooms, but I would do trash clean up (I swear, one day you will see Arielle on Hoarders, that child keeps EVERYTHING). 

And I want to be a better blogger. My Highs and Lows posts are hit or miss, and half of the time, I forget the highs and lows of my week, so on Monday mornings, I'm racking my brain and searching my Facebook profile to get a recap on my week. So I want to start writing stuff down as it happens, and being a more regular blogger. And I want to get better at commenting on other blogs. Comments make my freaking day, so I can spend 14 second to write a comment on other blogs I read. 

My last resolution is to find more time for friends. My girlfriends and I always say that we need to get together more. But with kids, husbands, and other life stuff, it rarely happens. So I want to change that. Get togethers at my house, nothing fancy. But none of us are the "go out and party and get trashed" types. Our girls nights are "Nights in with wine". So I'm hosting my first party at the end of this month. The theme (yes, there's a theme!) is "80's". And yes, you must come dress in your favorite 80's attire. It'll be totally, like, tubular. 


So what are your resolutions?

My One Year Bloggerversary!

So, I started my blog one year ago today. My first post was mindless dribble about goals in 2011 or something, and my first follower was my friend Megan, who blogs at Miss Madison's Charmed Life. I'm not supposed to tell you that we've been friends for 15 years, cause that makes us sound old or whatever.

In that year, I've gained 804 more followers, "met" a ton of awesome bloggers online and even one in person (Hi Julie!), posted 210 posts, and had 135,139 page views in that year. 


My 5 most popular posts are...

My paint chip wall art...

My Crate & Barrel "Layla" knock off pillow...

 My Ballard Inspired spool...

My Restoration Hardware french animal art knock off...

And my frame necklace display...

Which tells me that apparently you guys like when I do crafts, and I do a ton of knock offs. 


My goals for this year are to be a better blogger (i.e. post more regularly, keep up with my Highs and Lows posts, post more comments, etc). Ya know, and do that whole "eat healthy/exercise" thang.


Thanks for following!!! You're a rock star. 

Famous on Etsy? Sure, why not?

So, for those of you who actually read my blog (thank you!), you may have noticed that I've fallen off the face of Blogland. I had a few posts planned this week, and I still need to pick the winner of Lesley's giveaway, but I've been chained to my house and, well, Hobby Lobby and Joann's. 

On Thursday night, I got a notification that I was tagged in a FB status. I checked it out, and my friend Emily said...

Ummm, what? I don't follow Etsy on FB, so I had no idea. Clicking the link just took ya to my etsy shop, so Lover pulled up their FB page and twitter feed. 

Ummm, holy crap. That's me! Craziness, huh? And they posted the same thing on their FB. Did I mention that their twitter feed has 1.5 MILLION followers, and they have 573,000 followers on FB? 

So I'm totally stoked at this point. Seriously, teared up, felt like a rock star, the whole bit. I mean, people get so excited when their stuff makes it to the front page of Etsy, right? This was HUGE. 


And then the orders started rolling in. It honestly got to where I was afraid to check my email, since the orders were racking up faster than I could fathom. And while it doesn't look too overwhelming (yeah right), two of those orders were for 3 pillows, a handful of them were for 2 pillows, and one order was for 5 pillows. So, like 30 pillows. No joke.

Looks cool right? Anyone would be thrilled to have so many orders. But of course, I wasn't expecting a rush, so I didn't have much in stock as far as pillow forms and fabric. Of course, right?  Did I mention that it normally takes me 4-5 days to make and ship these? And 10 of the orders came with a note with "Would love to have this in time for Christmas!". 

So Thursday morning, I got up early, dropped Ava off at my mom's, and hit up Hobby Lobby. Which was completely out of the fabric that I use. Went to another, they were out too. Went to a 3rd one, they had 2 yards in stock. Finally hit up Joann's, and they had a huge bolt of it. Score! But they charge double what Hobby Lobby charges for it (Boo!). 

Basically, after all the running around, I didn't get home until noon. And then just started working on pillows. I finally had to tell hubby that I needed him to come home and help. He got home at 4:30, and we worked on these until 1:30 AM. I got 10 pillows ready to pack up (I worked on the "in time for Christmas please!" orders first). Those shipped yesterday, yay! My mom came over and helped me with a bunch of stuff, like sewing and stuffing them. She's actually on her way over right now, and we'll work on these all morning until I send hubby to the post office right before they close at noon. 


So I'm so thankful for these orders. I won't be tacky and say how much I profited, but even after having to buy the supplies and shipping, it was a very welcome (and needed, with Christmas and still trying to get our head above water due to all of Ava's surgeries) addition to our bank account. 


I'll be cranking these bad boys out all weekend, I want to get them all finished by Monday and ready to ship. 


If you need me, I'll be stuck in my house. :) You're welcome to come over and help. I have cookies.

Christmas survey? Sure, why not!

I found this over at my girl LP's blog, A Crafty Southern Chick, and decided to play along!

1. egg nog or hot chocolate? I'm not a fan of egg nog, what the heck is in it? Hot chocolate if I had to pick one. But I can't even really enjoy it, because with each sip, all I can think about is the calories I'm drinking. So if I have to have it, I want it obnoxious. Whipped cream, marshmallows, chocolate syrup drizzled on top, with a peppermint stick to stir it all up with.

2. does santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrapped, always. Lover and I even have wrapping paper and special Santa tags that we use, and Lover always writes on the tags with a different handwriting. When I was a kid, I realized that Santa used the same paper as my parents, and had my dad's handwriting.

3. colored lights on tree/house or white? White. We don't do lights on the house, but I might string some along the walkways next year, since the girls keep begging. When hubby was growing up, one of his neighbors got hurt while putting lights on his house, so now I refuse to let Jake wander around up on the roof. And white lights on the tree. We have an all blue and silver theme on our tree, and our tree came pre-light with white lights. So pretty!

4. do you hang mistletoe? Nope. Do people do that anymore?

5. when do you put your decorations up? The day after Thanksgiving.

6. what is your favorite holiday dish? Stuffing. I love me some carbs!

7. favorite holiday memory as a child? The one that comes to mind first is this one. I had a toy poodle growing up named Sparkle, and I would always make sure to get him a present and wrap it up. One year he found his present under the tree, and would always lay down by it with his paw on it. Smart dog.

8. when and how did you learn the truth about santa? See question 2 above. I think I was about 6 or 7. Thanks Dad.

9. do you open a gift on christmas eve? My girls do. It's always new pajamas that they get to wear to bed that night. We got Ava the cutest penguin footie pajamas this year.

10. how do you decorate your christmas tree? We have a really tall tree, I think 8 feet? But I have hubby fold down the top few branches, cause when you put the star on there, there is a huge gap from all the decorations and the star. White lights, blue and silver ornaments, but none of the ornaments are lower than 3 feet. The joys of living with a toddler.

11. snow! love it or dread it? Dread it. I live in Texas, when we get an inch of snow, schools close, people spaz out, they throw sand all over the highways. I used to be stationed in Japan, and we would get over 300 inches of snow in the winter. Seriously, you'd have to go out and figure out which snow mound was your car, and then unbury it. And they wouldn't cancel work, they'd just do a 2 hour delay so you'd have time to dig out your car.

12. can you ice skate? Yes, I'm not super at it or anything though. I'm happy to remain upright.

13. do you remember your favorite gift? I would have to say my iPod. It's definitely my most used gift.

14. what's the most important thing about the holidays for you? My family, and making sure my kids have a great time.

15. what is your favorite holiday dessert? pecan pie! But apparently I say it wrong. I always call it "pee-can" instead of "pee-con". Even my Korean mother says "Oh my gosh, aren't you American? You're saying it wrong!"

16. what is your favorite holiday tradition? I love the ones that we do with the girls. Opening their new pajamas on Christmas Eve, making a big breakfast on Christmas morning. I love seeing things through their eyes.

17. what tops your tree? a glittery silver snowflake thing.

18. which do you prefer: giving or receiving? giving. I love finding that perfect gift for someone, something they wouldn't buy for themselves.

19. candy canes: yuck or yum? Eh. Those rainbow ones if I'm having them.

20. favorite christmas show? A Christmas Story. Love love love it. There is a house in our neighborhood that decorates their whole yard with that theme. Even has the kid in the yard with his tongue stuck to the post, the leg lamp in the window, it's awesome.

21. saddest christmas song? I'll Be Home for Christmas. Being away from loved ones would be so hard.

22. what is your favorite christmas song? Carol of the Bells by Trans Siberian Orchestra. Holy. Crap. I want to see them in concert.