A New Year...A New Look!

Happy New Year! Over the weekend, we remembered our favorite (and not-so favorite) memories of 2011, and brought in the New Year ~ 2012. We stayed home on New Years Eve, watched Dick Clark for a few minutes and then went to bed. Then the next day celebrated Christmas with Patrick's mom and family. It was nice to see everyone...it had been almost 2 years since we saw all of his aunts, uncles, cousins and grandma. {Not the best picture of us below, but its the most recent one we have}

In 2011, our family had many highlights to remember...our beautiful daughter, Destin Paisley turned 2 years old. Patrick went on his first vacation (by himself) to Colorado, where he skied the weekend away. Our (very furry) twin "babies" turned 4 years old. Our many, many trips to the Zoo (we definitely put our "Friends of the Zoo" membership to good use!). Our summer playdates with friends. Our first family vacation to Colorado, to visit Grandpa Todd and Grandma Julie. Our baby girl, Arwen Kinsley turned 1 year old. My plunge to finally get Lasik Eye Surgery (something I have wanted for the past 10 years!). And many more memories I don't ever want to forget.

Now as we bring in the year 2012, we have so much to look forward to...and I hope that I will be able to just keep up. The whole point of this blog was to share my thoughts, experiences and of course keep track of the daily adventures of my life. And although they aren't exciting, they are mine - and that's what keeps me going. My life as a mommy and a wife.

So since it is a New Year, I thought I would change up the look of my blog a little bit. Its still a little bit in-progress, as the header (located at the top) looks a little blurry for some reason. I will have to work on that later this week. And maybe this post will encourage me to get a "new look" for myself as well. What do you think? {I am finding it really hard to believe that I have over 100 followers, since no one ever comments or shares their thoughts. Maybe I need to work on that for this year...see my media goals below!}

I have had such a hard time finding the right motivation to lose weight, eat healthy and really value myself as a person. I find myself wearing makeup only a couple times a month, and becoming more of a hermit. I really hope that this new year allows me to open up a little bit more, explore more about myself, and encourage me to interact more with the world. Maybe that can be one of my resolutions?

Does anyone keep track of resolutions any more? Maybe if you write them down, you are more pressured/challenged to finish them. Well, here a few of mine: 1) Eat healthy & lose some weight; 2) Get out of debt (slowly but surely we will find a way); 3) Be a more patient and understanding person (with the girls, Patrick and everyone in my life). I think sometimes I take life too seriously, which is why I can be some what of a %#!*@. But then again, maybe everyone is.

Also, I know that many may think its boring...but I do like to share/keep track of my weekly mail calls. So I may just include a snip-it at the end of a weekly post, for the sake of my job at Frugal Fabulous Finds. I really enjoy working with that blog, and hope to continue to do so during this year as well. Most of our Christmas, birthdays and parties were success because of career as the Product Review and Giveaway Specialist. I am so excited to get the mail everyday, and I love being able to share new products/companies with my friends and family, and of course my readers.

What came in the mail this week?"How We Love Our Kids" (BR via Blogging for Books at FFF), MotoGP 10/11 PS3 game (payment for a blog post via FFF via IMS), 2 packages from SAMHSA.gov (a large box of kid activities & 2 big Books about healthy living), Necklace I ordered (back in October via Accessories Direct ~ a freebie I received via SaveMore Daily), Foldable/recyclable grocery bag from National Consumer Panel (freebie), AND Carefree samples and coupons from SheSpeaks.

Media GoalsMy (Social) media goals for this year are to get more fans on FB, more followers on Twitter, and more comments/interactions for my so-called followers via Google Friend Connect. I would also like to challenge myself to comment more on the blogs I follow. I know that I don't always share what I am thinking with others, and I need to do that more.

I am also going to challenge myself to write more on the blog. Last year, I only posted about an average of 4 posts/month. I would like to at least double that if possible. I may even get a few blog prompts via BloggyMoms. They have 366 challenge going on right now, which I may take participate in.

If you have a blog, and would like me to check it out - please share it in a comment below! I would love to read about your life, as a mommy, dad, grandma, teacher, whatever...

Professional GoalsI hope that this year I will be able to finally take my place in an educational setting. I have had lots of pep talks from family (mostly, my dad) and friends. And I know that my Bachelors and Masters in Education need to put to good use someday/year...and this might be the year. I would really like to find a job that I love as a teacher, whether that be online, in a classroom, or in some other format...I know that it would be good for me as a teacher, a mom, and a person to have those goals in place/practice.

Family GoalsFor many reasons, my family (on both sides) has become strained. We no longer communicate. I would really like to talk with my family (cousins, aunts, grandparents) more often. I miss them, and wonder sometimes if they do too. I also would like to challenge myself to work on the Family Tree more. I started a personal site via Shutterfly all about family history (for both Patrick and I) and would really like to find some answers. Maybe someone out there can help me figure out a way to find things out (without having to pay a lot of money - which we don't have!).

Until next time, I hope you have a wonderful week. I am off to my 3 Month Lasik checkup tomorrow and library story time with the girls...

Its a new year!

Its a new year...which means new projects. And we didn't waste anytime getting started on our newest one...making the basement a new playroom for the girls & turning it into a guest room too.

We are about 1/3 of the way done of making this a finished project (the other 2/3 is putting the bed down there & organization). We started New Years weekend, and decided to start this project right after Christmas - when we looked in our third bedroom (the old playroom) which was so overfilled with toys that you couldn't even walk in the room. With that said, the girls DO NOT need any more new toys/clothes/books for awhile. Destin's 2nd birthday is approaching fast (less than a month away almost)...and I am hoping people would consider getting her money for her savings or maybe a membership to the Zoo or something :) We can dream, right?

Well anyway, all but a handful of her toys are currently downstairs in the basement. We moved our Tv from our bedroom downstairs too, on a swivel Tv stand hanging on the wall...then Pat decided he missed our Tv in our room (I missed it too) and bought a new one for downstairs and moved our Tv back upstairs. So currently, we have have of the basement filled with toys galore, a couch (which was given to us by my wonderful bro n' law & his wife), and the entertainment center (which is for sale - I need to post a pic of it on here, FB & Craigslist). This week, we plan to move our old King size bed downstairs, and that will be the "guest room" part of the newly designed basement. Hopefully we will get it all organized, decorated and such in the next month or so..but until then I am still cleaning upstairs daily.

The only bad part about the new toy room being downstairs, is that I can't be upstairs when the girls aren't. Maybe if they were older, but for now, I have to be with them both, watching/playing/interacting/teaching & having fun seeing my girls grow. But for those of you that do not know already, I like to multitask...I do the dishes/laundry/floors/bathrooms/email/blogging/facebook/play with the girls/breastfeed and lots more all day long. So I am going to move some toys upstairs, so I can continue to get things done while they play upstairs for a little bit each day.

So now that all of the toys are downstairs, Destin officially has a new bedroom to call her own (which was the old playroom). It still has her 9 cube book shelf with drawers (filled with leftover toys), and her toddler size bed. She still is not willing to go to sleep on her own, nor does she take naps, or sleeps in her bed longer than a few hours. She slept all night (meaning she stayed in there on her own until the morning) in her bed for the first time last week...she hasn't done this in a very long time. I just wish that some miracle would happen, and she would go to bed on her own, sleep in her own bed every night/all night...maybe someday she will again!

Arwen is still an amazing sleeper - she goes to sleep on her own, and stays asleep all night - every single night! We are so lucky! At about this age, Destin stopped sleeping through the night...so I just hope & pray that Arwen will keep up her amazing sleeping skills :) Pretty soon, we will be starting her on cereal - I can't wait! This means, we need to find a booster seat for Destin & Arwen will have the old highchair (we still have to put it back together).

My task today (and last week) was to clean out all the closets, organize them, donate stuff, put stuff where it belongs, etc. I did my closet & worked on Destin's last week. Today, I plan to work on Arwen's closet & figure out what she needs as far as clothes go. She is just growing so fast...at 5 mos old, she is now growing out of 3-6 mos and is starting to wear her 6 mos clothing. Which means, 6-9 mos/6-12 mos will soon be approaching. I also switched from size 1-2 diapers, to size 2 diapers...since we have been having lots of blowouts (almost everyday!), which means lots of extra laundry for me and trying to get stains out of clothing. Yuck!

In other news...I am loving my Nook Color (a gift from Patrick). I hope that when I have more time, I can post where to get free ebooks, apps & more! Patrick & I play on it every night with the crossword puzzles, and I have read online that you can get apps for it too :)

New Years weekend...was also when we celebrated Christmas with Tammie (Patrick's mom). We had a very large brunch meal...bagels, donuts, eggs, hashbrowns, biscuits & gravy, muffins, and more! Gma Tammie & Papi Mick loved their new photo book that I made them from Shutterfly :) I am so thankful for getting 4 of those for free this year...I didn't have to may shipping either! Woo hoo! Destin got a really cute baby bed/sink/high chair (an all in one) toy with a new babydoll...she loves it! She has played with it almost everyday, and loves to feed her babies and put them to bed, then pretends to wash her hands :) Arwen got some new outfits...that will look so cute on her. They are size 6-9 months, which is the perfect next step when it comes to clothes for her.

That night...New Years Day...we went out to eat dinner with Pat's brother, Daniel, Heather & Braxton & Gma Tammie & Papi at Zarda's BBQ in Blue Springs. The same place that we had cater our wedding...it was very yummy! Then we went back to their house and played the new "Dance 2 game" on Wii. I loved playing with Heather :) I can't wait to buy this game & play at home! It is definitely a workout, but lots of fun! I hope that over the next few weeks I can play the Wii more often...its been almost a good year that I haven't played. We moved it downstairs, and to my dismay, I found out that Pat sold most of our games as credit at Game Stop. I knew he was selling them, I just didn't realize we only had 4 left! Wow! So, maybe after we save up some money, we can go get some more games to play.

I already mentioned my New Years resolutions in another post...so that is taken care of!

Milestones i am looking forward to...Destin sleeping in her own bed! Arwen crawling/talking/walking...and more!

As of right now...it is snowing, snowing...almost 6 inches here - I have been telling Pat, I wish it would snow so I could take Destin outside to play. We don't have a sled, but from the looks of it outside - we need to get one :) We talked about turning Duke into a sled dog for Destin :) Last year, Destin was too little to play outside. So hopefully today or tomorrow we can enjoy this beautiful white wonderland outside!

I started writing this post on Jan 2nd..so this is just me getting caught up on saved posts for my blog :P Now I feel a little better...on to writing updates for organizing, dieting, cleaning, my babies growing up & more! Take care!

Happy New Years 2011

Happy New Years 2011!

Due to the holiday, Patrick was able to get off work a little earlier on Thursday...so that afternoon/evening we made a trip out to Kansas City, KS. The weather was perfect (in the upper 60s) so we didn't need to worry about bundling up the girls. We went shopping at Cabellas to get some boots (which they didn't have the ones he wanted - of course!). Then to Nebraska Furn Mart, where we bought a bed (a very much overdo purchase...and a very good deal to be delivered in a couple weeks). We are thinking about putting our old bed in the basement..which we will be turning into a guest room/play room for the girls over the next couple weeks.

Then we went to Dave & Busters, ate dinner, played games...Destin loved it! She got to play lots of games, with both of us, and Arwen loved all the flashing lights. If you have never been there, I suggest it to any age...you lose your money fast on you credit card with money on it...but we ordered dinner with two $10 game cards which was plenty for us.

Afterwards, we went window shopping and stopped at a few places...looked at the very large Christmas tree (I will try to post a pic here later on)...and then went home. Destin fell asleep on the way there, so she did not go to bed until late (she did this the day before too).

Friday, Pat got up early and went to the dealership to fix the weatherstripping on the Jeep. Then my mom came over for us to get new phone upgrades with Verizon Wireless. I got the new Droid Global...a really neat phone with lots of apps and fancy features - I am still trying to figure it out...

On the way out the door (which we there for over an hour - during which Destin was running all over the place being a little monkey!) she jumped off the curb, and I pulled her up by her arm - when her left elbow popped out of place. I had no idea she had done so, until we got into the car and she started saying she had a 'boo boo' and started to cry. We were driving to go eat somewhere (at the new Lee's Summit area), and when we got there and parked, we realized she couldn't move her left arm. And we both knew...she did it again! Yes, again!

In March (on the 17th - St. Patrick's Day), Daddy lifted her up by her arm and it happened then. We rushed her to Children's Mercy (not sure which one), and waited in their ER area for children, for over an hour only to find out that she had popped her left elbow out of place - I was so upset that we had to wait for so long, with no one else there - and it only took a few min for the Dr to pop her elbow back in place. They said it was called Nurse Maid's Elbow, and it would more than likely happen again...well almost a year later it did!

We called her Dr, to find out they closed at 11 AM on New Years Eve day...Pat wanted to take her back to Children's Mercy...but we decided St. Luke's East would be better. When we got there, it seemed like we waited forever..and I know it seems that way b/c she was crying, and we had my mom, Arwen and a whole lobby full of sick/hurt people in the ER. We finally were able to get her back to a room (other than the waiting room) after about 30 minutes. We waited in there forever (almost 30 minutes) until the Dr came in and popped it back into place. He even showed us how we could fix it the next time it would/may happen. Within seconds, we were able to see that she could move her arm/elbow again with no pain. It was so horrible to see my baby girl in so much pain - and to have to wait and hold my screaming/yelling fury that was inside of me to share with the entire hospital on staff. I know Patrick was having the same urge!!! Thank goodness it wasn't anything worse, and thank goodness we didn't have to wait more than a total of an hour for the entire arrival/departure from the hospital.

Afterwards we went to Burger King, to eat and "play". But decided eating was the only option, since there were so many big/sick children playing too. We have only let Destin play at one indoor play place and that was at the small clean Chic Fil A (sp??) and she loved it. There weren't very many kids, no one was sick, etc. So we were going to go to Target, but my mom wanted to head home to grocery shop..and Destin fell asleep on the way home. So we let her sleep and I ran to the extremely crowded store by myself with Arwen to get muffin mix and alum foil.

We decided to stay home the rest of the evening, and just watch TV, eat Taco Bell, and prepare for the so-called New Years. I am still finding it hard to believe that it is New Years - and right now it is 2011 in the early hours. I had all this on my mind, so I thought I would get on here now to share via my blog. Arwen went to sleep at about 9 p.m. And Destin was wide awake for several hours this evening, after her power nap this afternoon...she was literally running around on our bed, in the room, playing, jumping and being crazy until 11 pm last night.

We decided to try to get her to sleep then we would celebrate...but we woke up at 12:20 AM and realized we missed it. Pat says we are getting to old, but I say we are just getting too tired...we said Happy New Year and he went back to sleep. Hopefully, I will get my New Years kiss in a few hours when we wake up and head to his brother's house for our last Christmas celebration (with Pat's mom).

So....what a crazy New Years Eve day it was for us...I am glad we were able to stay home, play and relax for the evening after our day at the phone store, then our trip to the hospital...and our spirited night at home. I love how all the fireworks, pan banging is going on outside...but I am sorry that I missed Dick Clark with his annual show..maybe someone can fill me in and let me know how it went. I hope you all have/had an amazing New Year!

May you all be healthy, loved, and happy in the new 2011 year!

Take care,
Melissa