A real hero...

I came across this story on facebook.  I verified it's true.  Thank God for people like this man.  It makes me so happy there are people like him fighting for the right....  Here is the story.

BELOW IS THE REAL WINNER OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE!
John Gebhardt's wife, Mindy, said that this little girl's entire family was executed. The insurgents intended to execute the little girl also, and shot her in the head...but they failed to kill her. She was cared for in John's hospital and is healing up, but continues to cry and moan. The nurses said John is the only one who seems to calm her down, so John has spent the last four nights holding her while they both slept in that chair. The girl is coming along with her healing. He is a real Star of the war, and represents what America is trying to do.This, my friends, is worth sharing. Go for it!! You'll never see things like this in the news. Please keep this going. Nothing will happen if you don't, but the Canadian and American public needs to see pictures like this and needs to realize that what we're doing over there is making a difference.. Even if it is just one little girl at a time. James Gates U. S. Navy


Giveaways:

So I'd LOVE to win Jake a pair of Eleven shoes. He's just starting to get close to walking and I think it's SO important to have good shoes.  Eleven shoes are stylish and adorable! Seeryus Mama is having a giveaway. Check it out.

The law of positivity?

I've had a rough past few months.  My best friend has been going through an incredibly rough time and it finally seeped into my life.  You can't save someone that doesn't want to save themselves no matter how much you try.  Long story short,  I decided to part ways with her this weekend :(  It was one of the hardest things I've had to do in a long time but, I felt I had no choice.  She's in a bad place and she doesn't see the destruction she carries with her.

Ive been so down lately.  Going back to work has been hard, I'm not doing my job I was doing before I got pregnant (not by choice). I've been assigned somewhere else and it's SO not fufilling. I worked hard to get my career.  Hopefully once the summer is over I'll be able to get back to it but the uncertainty is stressing me out.  I let that bleed into my home life too much.  I come home miserable and stressed out and my poor Hubs has taken the brunt of it.  Anyone who is married knows it's not all sunshine and rainbows.  Add two kids 2 and 1 years and it's just work after work after work.  It's easy to get overwhelmed.

I had a visit from an old high school friend last night to cheer me up and it made all my stress just go away for a night. Trust me, with the funk I've been in that's no small feat.  It made me realize that you have to surround yourself with the right people.   As much as it breaks my heart to say good bye to my friend I can only hope one day she is able to find what she needs to get back on track and maybe one day we will talk, but until then I have to remove myself.

I know I'm being general here and partly because I don't want it to be about her but more about positivity and moving forward.  It's so easy to slip into darkness and sometimes you dont even realize you're there til someone turns on the light.   I'm going to try to pay it forward and hopefully I can help someone else see there is positive things and help them look forward too.

J's 1st Birthday!!!

Well as promised I have lots of photos to share.  Poor J was so sick, both kids have a nasty cold that is just hanging on forever.  He slept through some of his party and was miserable for parts of the rest.  Got some good photos though...I really need to fix the ISO on my camera grrrr....

E helping to make the cupcakes the night before the party....

The leaf thing didn't work like I had pictured. The icing was WAY too soft. I made butter cream from scratch :D  They look pretty good though, kind of like grass or a bush. 

The finished product with my toppers from Kanga Crafts on Etsy  love how it looks!

Goodie bags for the kids.  I may have gotten carried away with the candy. I've been known to have a sweet tooth :D.  Tags from Kanga Crafts for that fantastic personal touch!

The birthday boys chair.  With his highchair photo banner.  Photos from the first year. I'm going to keep this as a keepsake.  double duty!  I may even use it again next year with a new one and keep adding to it.  Also from Kanga Crafts

A

.A closer pic.

The customized photo banner. It says Jake is one, there is a letter on each photo.  Also from Kanga Crafts .

Poor guy was so sick.  He wasn't even interested in the cupcake.  He's taking forever to get accustomed to solids anyhow.  You can tell how miserable he was....a big difference from his sister on her first...

Thanks for looking :D

Working Girl... Not that kind but you know

Work work work!  This is my second week back and boy is it tiring!  That sounds like a bad stand up joke :D  My Mom is watching the kids. Thank goodness for her.  They get to stay home and she comes here.  We are SO blessed.  She's a real trooper watching my 2yr old and 1yr old and my niece who's 18 months.  Id rather work!  Not much else going on.  I'm throwing a birthday party for J on Sunday. I have so many great ideas.  Here is the cupcakes Im going to make...minus the animals.

I have toppers from Kanga Crafts on Etsy that I'm so excited to use.  I also ordered a photo banner and highchair banner.  I'm excited!

I'll definitely post pictures next week.  I think I'm down to one post per week.  but I'll make sure there are lots of pics :D

Giveaways:

*So many great giveaways.  Piece of Me blog is giving away a pair of See Kai Run shoes for kids.  They are such well made shoes and that is so SUPER important.  I bought cheap shoes for E last summer and the poor kid had blisters so bad. I learned how important good shoes are for that and for their growing/developing feet. 

* Mom's best bets blog is giving away a jar of Perricone MD's cold plasma cream.  I would LOVE to get my hands on this stuff. I have recently become obsessed with my pores and now I've come to notice all my wrinkles.  I feel so old lol.  That and the bags under my eyes all the time.  This stuff looks like it would really help.

*  Moms best bets is also giving away a Fisher price kids digital camera!  Finally E could have her own and leave mine alone.  The fingerprints are driving me nuts lol.  This blog has tons of great giveaways and is quickly becoming a fave.

Happy Easter...

Happy belated Easter.  We had a packed weekend.  Visited the Hubbs family on Friday, a local Easter party at a 'museum-ish place' on Saturday then my parents on Sunday.  It was great.  I love that E is getting into it now. She was \SO excited, hunting for eggs at the ILs.  Also my BFF took a bunch of pictures and they're beautiful!  Here are some...

 SCARY Bunny!  But she was ok and actually wanted to go back a second time just to see the bunny.  It was pretty adorable.


So I'm back to work tomorrow...I'm not nervous but I feel like I'm headed to prison.  Extreme I know but, it was easier last time because I was pregnant and my days were numbered. Now it's going to be for 30+ years!  Life as I know it is going to change forever. Send me good vibes. I'm going to miss my babies.

No wonder they call it a JOB

So I head back to work on April 6th. I'm happy to go because heck this motherhood thing is HARD but I'm also sad that this is the last time I'll be able to spend this much time with my babies.  Heck when they'll even BE babies.  We're not having anymore so I guess it's kind of like the END of a time in our lives.  Sad :( 

Speaking of Babies J went from crawl position to sit for the first time! I was so proud. I can't wait til he's moving around and then walking. 

I did a fun little exercise with E on my Mommies board. I asked her a bunch of questions and typed exactly what she answered. It's cute and gives a real insight into her personality.  I should mention that each question I asked was repeated back by her. She is BIG on repeating and it was challenging to get an answer. 

1. What's your name? "A baby!" She's pushing her baby stroller and looking at me like I should know the answer to that question.
2. What's your favorite color? First attempt-"No." She just repeats the question back. Yep this is my kid
3. How old are you? "Blue" stuck on the last question.
4. What color is your hand? Hand? Not answering that one either
5. What's your favorite toy? "Hand!" Apparently she's still on the last question lol
6. What does a monkey say? Ooooo oooo ahhh ahhh ahhh, she does an impressive monkey, my typing doesn't do it justice.
7. What color is Elmo? Blue (by the way everything is blue or yellow)
8. What do you like to eat for dinner? "Cooookie?" Can't blame her for trying.

I love this part of having kids.  They are such a joy and a challenge all at once. But we'll never do this again and the moments where she calls me Mommy or runs to meet me at the door make EVERYTHING and more worth while!

Oh I didn't see you there...

It's been a while. I've been super un motivated.  And really TIRED....and no I'm not pregnant :D   I'm back to struggling to get myself up and do much more than get dressed (which normally happens around 4pm).  Thank God the Hubbs is home from work.  I swear this place would be a fricken mess.  Anyhow,  Just thought I'd check in.

Things are good with the kids. I can't believe what a little sponge Emma is.  She says the funniest things, she'll repeat anything which can be good or bad.  Jake is dancing to songs now and starting to make sounds that sound like he may be saying Mama or Dada.  Boys and girls are so different.

The In laws came back from Florida last week so we had them over on Saturday.  We put together E's bike she got from them for Christmas and headed out to give it a go.  It was WAAAAY too cold and we ended up just heading back.  Of course they'll never do what you want them to because you want them to. She wouldn't even sit on the seat. But at home she gave it a go.  It's an adorable barbie bike. I LOVED my bike when I was a kid I hope she will too.

Giveaways:

*  J. Leigh Designz is having a See Kai Run Giveaway.  I LOVE the See Kair Run shoes!  Shoes are SOOO important and it breaks my heart seeing blisters or painful feet on a toddler. None of that with SKR.  These are the ones I'd love to win for Jake above.  Perfect for the summer.

Yo Gabba Gabba iiiiiis aawwwesome!

So E and I met up with some friends we haven't seen in FOREVER (since they moved 5hrs north) to go to the Yo Gabba Gabba Live concert.  SOOOO much fun.  I think at the start I was more excited that she was but as soon as she figured out what was going on she got right into it dancing and singing.  Poor thing hadn't been feeling well earlier but seemed fine after and we had a great time.  The girls had a blast.  My friend said it was the best day of her daughters life so far lol. That's pretty good!

 Thanks so much to TS Giveaways for the giveaway!  We had a blast and some great memories just E and I I'll always have.  Here's a few photos.

I've been pretty busy with the concert and stuff  so I haven't entered anything new but you'll be the first to know about. 

Have you seen my workout mojo?

So for the past 7-9 weeks I've been working out 5 days a week no exception.  This past week I worked out three days :(  I do have a bit of an excuse.  On Wednesday I dropped a stroller on my pinky toe.  I'm pretty sure I broke it.  Just laying in bed hurt.  Not exactly great for being physical.  Then on Friday the Hubbs got snipped.  So I have been running pretty ragged doing everything for the house and with both kids since then and trying to keep up with my Etsy shop.

So here I sit on Monday, the day I said I would for sure get back to it, trying work up to it.  It doesn't help when in the last two days I've lost two lbs. Water, maybe. But who cares??

I need some motivation!  What gets you up and going? 

Giveaways:

* A latte in the morning is giving away the ever elusive Flirty Apron.  So cute!  Sexy and feminine, sounds like a win win to me!  Ends on Wednesday March 17th worldwide.

The age old struggle to get kids to eat vegetables.

One of the things I don't do so well with my daughter (my son eats babyfood he's easy) is getting her to eat her veggies.  Fruit she'll eat NO problem.  She will eat an entire pint of blue berries or strawberries AFTER dinner.

So online I read a neat tip to put out veggies as dinner is being made.  So I bought some broccoli and tzatziki and it was a hit!  We shared/ mostly she ate half a head (is that what it's called?) of broccoli.  But do you think she'd touch her pita pizza? nope.  How did that manage to back fire?  She ate some breadsticks and cheese and strawberries so not bad in the end.  Tomorrow we try carrots.

I'm determined to serve more veggies even if I have to hide them.  Even better if I don't!  Any tips?  I'm open to suggestions. I put lots of chunky veggies in chili and she'll eat it. I'm going to try meatloaf...

Heck I even got some mmmm yummy! out of her!

Also I wanted to give a super big thank you to TS Giveaways!  Thanks so much for commenting on my post and letting me know that you were having  a Yo Gabba Gabba giveaway. I won! And now I get to take my daughter and her friend to the show....we're very excited and super grateful for the opportunity to win.  Visit her blog for lots of great giveaways and blogging.    

Wordless wednesday

So lately what's been keeping me busy is Etsy so I figured a photo of one of my new bows might be appropriate.
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Mixed emotions

I only learned of Layla a short time ago.  She was one of the strongest two year olds I think this world has ever known.  I was touched by her and her families strength and she taught me to enjoy the little things and hug my babies tighter.  I look at every smile on my daughters face differently and every hug, kiss, cuddle is a treasure, Layla gave me this gift and for her and her family for sharing her story I am grateful.

I know that she is a beautiful angel in heaven now.  So much for a little one to suffer and so tragic a life cut short.  I am so glad that she isn't suffering anymore and I send my thoughts, prayers and love to her family, friends and the hundreds of thousands of us who came to love her.  Rest in peace sweet girl.

Layla Grace's story

I came across this family's story in my blog contest entering. I've read her story before, Layla has neuroblastoma and has only a short time left.  At first my thoughts are how would I cope? How does this family keep it together in the face of such tragedy.  But the absolute heart breaker is that poor little Layla is allergic to morphine and all of its cousins.  So she has to take anti morphine medications to take pain killers.  She is suffering. Her family doesn't want to say goodbye but agonizes watching her suffer.  It BREAKS my heart.  I sobbed for them and for Layla.

Layla Grayce boutique is donating $1 for every fan that joins their FB group.  Please join, it's such a small thing and every little bit helps http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/laylagrayce?ref=nf.   You can follow the family's blog http://laylagrace.org/  and/or follow on twitter http://twitter.com/laylagrace.


Giveaways:

*Fun and Funky Mommy is giving away a Dyson Breast Cancer vacuum.  You even get to choose a cannister OR an upright!  Ends March 20th and it's open to Canada and the USA.

A pleseant suprise AND a fantastic giveaways

So I usually dye my own hair with box dye.  It's always a suprise how it comes out. If you dye your hair blonde on your own you know what I mean.  I've tried so many times so many types/shades of blonde that I can hardly remember which one worked how and why.  I've tried ash, golden and beige.  I always have a problem with too much yellow but with ash it always goes too grey.  WELL for some reason I thought the last time I dyed it I used ultra light ash blonde.  Anyhow long story, despite my best efforts I ended up with yellow/orange roots.   I never used to have dark roots til after I gave birth to my daughter, that's another story.  Anyhow, So I decided to use a toner.  I've used toner before no problem.  Here's my second bit of poor judgement.  They didnt have my normal shade of toner so I decided the ashier one looked almost the same so it should be good enough right?  WRONG.  So my roots, still yellowy and the bottom of my hair grey/GREEN!  Yes green.  And the Hubbs could see it so you know it's bad.  So after crying, fighting the urge to reach for the scissors and some internet research I decided to go with a golden/red blonde ot counteract the green.  My wonderful husband ran to get it for me to save me donning a baseball hat and running to the store.  I decided to use copper blonde and well now my hair is strawberry blonde. I don't hate it and it's SO much better than green lol.  What do you think?

 
            Before                                   After

Giveaway:

*I have never been so lucky as to own a Dyson vacuum.  We bought a bissell and while it does a good job with suction...it's like they completely neglected all thought for design.  When I vacuum the vacuum cleaner attacks me.  It topples over landing with a loud crash and has even damaged my wood floors!!  Not to mention I WILL NOT vacuum with kids around.  This beautiful Dyson Animal vacuum upright has the 'dyson ball' which allows for maximum maneuverablity.  And it won't try to kill me, definitely a plus!  It's also designed for animal hair which anyone with a pet knows can be mind bogglingly hard to get off a chair or pillow.

Organic Girl and Today's Diva are giving one of these beautiful Vacuums away.  Visit and put your entry in! Open to US and Canada.  Good luck!

  *  TS (time surge) Giveaways was thoughtful enough to let me know she had a Yo Gabba Gabba giveaway!!  Yes!  I am beyond excited to be able to enter to take my daughter and her BFF to see their favourite characters Live!  YGG is on the tv as I type right now.  And a trip on the Go train, it will be a blast.  If you don't want to try your luck tickets are available from ticket master.  But you can't win if you don't play!   Head over and throw your own entry in...Ends on March 10th. Good luck!

FINALLY- A product that does what it says it will....

Why is that so surprising?  Nowadays it seems like you have to spend a stupid amount of money looking for the product that actually does what it claims, assuming it exists!  The web is fantastic for that. At least you can get a bit of a clue from reviews and what not but still...trial and error.  

I have been on a mission for the past two months or so to get rid of my black heads!  It's like one day I realized how bad they were on my nose and they have been mocking me since then.  I tried a professional facial, that did zip.  I bought expensive Vichy cleanser and moisturizer, also did zip.  I bought glycolic acid cleanser, you guessed it, zip.  I tried scrubs, made my nose smoother but, nothing for black heads.  I even did my own at home spa facial.  Steam, two masks, scrub, biore strip more steam and ZIP.  I can't even squeeze them out.  I bought that fancy little black head tool.

I wanted to try the new Neutrogena numbered cleansers. I did the online 'quiz' and although I couldn't find them in the store, the cleanser it suggested was benzoyl peroxide.  So I got the clean and clear benzoyl cleanser.  Nice.  Feels cool after kind of minty fresh on your face.  But, for black heads, zip. 

SOOOOO on to the winner.  I read some online reviews about the clean and clear black head eraser.

 

I debated trying the neutrogena wave and but I thought since my problem is mostly my nose this might be a better size.  So I bought it. It comes with the battery and some cleansing pads.  The pads have salisycylic  acid.  Which I was skeptical about, I've tried it many many times.  Anyhow to the meat.... the first time I used it. I thought it felt like it wasn't doing anything.  It tickled my nose but it wasn't super uncomfortable.  I looked in the mirror and believe it or not I thought I saw a difference mid use!  Wow.  Could it be?  I used my glycolic toner and actually saw a little colour on the pad.  What??  ok so I'm impressed but still blackheads.  But after one use a difference? Not bad.  Next night.  Again a difference even less blackheads.  

I have never been black head free EVER.  I have only used it twice now but I'm actually excited to see if I can get rid of them almost all together.  I wish I'd taken a before and after to show you.  But if you're in the market for a reasonably priced option try the benzoyl peroxide and this little gadget and maybe you'll have the same results.  I feel like I should be getting something free for this lol.  But really I'm just so happy something actually works.  Kind of sad that's unusual now a days.

Let me know if you try it and it works for you.

Back to work -- for realsies

So it's been a  LONG time since I've been at work not pregnant.  Since March of 2007 to be exact.  I'm feeling a bit intimidated at what to expect.  Things move so fast I feel like I'm going to be brand new all over again. Not to mention people, probably all new faces..ugh.  I hate being new. 

I am looking forward to going back in the sense that I get some me time.  I need work for a break!  Speaking of...I need to bath J. 

One of my newest fave photos.   My Hubbs and my girl being silly....

Sunday Special giveaway post

Giveaway:

Just because I know how much my daughter and her bestest bud would love to go to this show I can't help but blog on a Sunday!  It's the last day to enter this giveaway on Toronto Teacher Mommy but you have until midnight to win {4} tickets to Yo Gabba Gabba Live!  Fingers crossed!!!

Live preformance of the exorcist....tickets available!

Now starring E as the possessed lol. Well that's not really fair of course it's not her fault, the poor baby is sick.  She made a mess of her crib and the wall and herself.  How does a body that little have so much puke in it?  Poor thing. I gave her a bath, cleaned the walls and the crib, threw laundry in, got her all cleaned up and laid down in our bed with her, gave her some juice AND puke!  In our bed now.  More laundry and another bath and she slept the night, thank goodness, she really needed it.  Phew lol, I have to laugh.  So now all I day I do laundry and pray J doesn't get it.  I took gravol cause I was feeling icky too but I think maybe I can just handle it a bit better and fight the feeling of puking.

She seems to be acting fine today.  So I hope other than the runs (TMI I know) she's over it.  And today all day laundry, not to mention the stains from what she ate, I may end up having to scrap some of it :(.  Lets hope oxyclean comes to the rescue again.

Karma came to my rescue.  I am the LUCKY winner of the Zooper stroller from Two of a Kind's blog  She really does have some fantastic prizes including a bouncer and Boon products... and you know I'll be back to try my luck :D  I really needed this today.  Thank you so much! 

Also I know I haven't been updating my weight loss journey but I have been keeping up with it.  Calorie counting and working out five days a week and I'm proud to announce that I feel great, I have more muscle and tone AND I'm down 8.5 lbs.  With the muscle I've gained I'd estimate it's closer to 10 actual pounds!  I plateaued for a while but it seems to be starting again.  Sweet!

 

I'm not so good with the self portraits.  This was pre puke fest :D

Giveaways:

* Feisty Frugal and Fabulous is giving away {4} tickets to see Yo Gabba Gabba Live in Toronto!!  I'm not sure who likes YGG more, J or E.  Either way they'd be thrilled and I would be ecstatic to be able to take them.  If you haven't seen the show it's suprisingly re watchable unlike most of those kids shows that make you want to claw your eyeballs out after seeing it the 3rd time.  The songs aren't super cheesy and they have guest stars like Jack Black and Mya.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Any Bachelor Fans?

I've been a 'fan' of the show for a while.  I don't love it but it's a guilty pleasure.  Is it just me, or are they not even trying to cover up how set up it is?  I can suspend reality enough for a show, that's not the problem. I can pretend to believe that the Bachelor can't make up his mind til the last second and that he is genuinely in love with both women and has to make a heart wrenching decision, even though he most likely has a good idea very early on who he's going to choose.   I can believe that all these women are there for love and not just their fifteen minutes of fame.  Heck I even belived the latest Ali story on the Bachelor until last night on the 'final rose' the women tell all..........  Could they have made it more obvious she is going to be the next Bachelorette?
Lets look at the facts....

* The Bachelor/ Bachelorette shows  ALWAYS choose their next 'dater' from the previous season.  They get big ratings from it and it strings viewers from season to season. Very clever. I'm not faulting them it's just a point in my theory.

* The audience must love this person aka they must be scorned, rejected in some way. 

* I very much doubt that Ali knew the entire time how much time she had off yet had no idea until the last second when they called her to come back.  She would have known it was approaching. 

* When she she spontaneously decides in the rose ceremony she must talk to Chris/the host she very OBVIOUSLY mouths (likely to a producer)  Now? with a head nod no less.  Ok that alone isn't evidence. They have to make it look fluid, no problem.

* Then when she goes up to talk to Jake she has a half smile on her face virtually the whole time.  We know she's not nervous on camera so what's the deal??

* The phone call back to Jake to come back  is maybe the thing that tipped me off.  She is CLEARLY in a hotel room.  She's not at home in San Fransisco pining for him.  They obviously planned the phone call before she left and therefore planned the rejection.   Bringing Ali to the woman rejected category. Just in case anyone though well she chose to leave...

I think most likely Jake knew he wasn't choosing her and so the producers told Ali they wanted her to be the next bachelorette and set it up for people to love her.  She's cute anyhow, I think she was pretty popular. In my opinion they went overboard. They could have left her to the final two and just done it like they always do.  I think ironically they wanted it to look like it wasn't the same old formula.

Am I right??  

The wonderful 'gift' of being a woman

The 'gift'? Who said this???  A MAN?  Seriously I get the whole miracle of life thing and I appreciate pregnancy and birth for the incredible things they are but, having to go through this cycle every month, UGH.

I'm trying to lose weight, I've been exercising, at a challenging level, five days a week, counting calories and drinking enough water.  And still since beginning six weeks ago, according to the scale this morning,  I've lost a total of 5.5lbs :O  WHAT?  This is not worth the work I've been doing seriously!  I am beyond frustrated.

I suspected my monthy 'gift' insert eye roll, might have something to do with this.  Not just the normal PMS stuff but now ovulation bloating? I've been doing some reading about the female cycle, weight loss and water retention.  It's a joke!  Virtually two weeks out of four we're carrying excess water that our body doesn't need because of hormones.  I never used to be like this.  As much as I adore my kids I hate what pregnancy did to my body.  I'm still 18 lbs above where I was when I got pregnant despite my best efforts I'm having a hell of a time losing it.  Not to mention the sagging mommy pouch I have now.  I highly doubt even when I do get to my pre pregnancy weight I'll even look the same as I did. Add to the list saggier breasts, receded gums and forever sensitive teeth, darker roots (believe it or not) skin tags I could go on....

Today I am not celebrating being a woman.  I am tired of it!  I just want to curl up and feel sorry for myself.

Here's my photo of the day...(not me but exactly how I feel)

That about sums it up.

Giveaways:

* While we're on the topic of annoying!  What is up with razor burn and ingrown hairs?  I have all but given up on shaving my unmentionables.  UNTIL I read about Prince Reigns shave gel.  It softens and straightens hairs so you never have in growns again.   Hallelujah!  Heck it has Gisele Bunchen and Oprah singing it's praises.  Who am I to argue?  I ordered two bottles!  It's not much more than shelling out for Nair and way less trouble.  In the mean time.... Cool Canucks is giving away a bottle, head over and throw your name into the hat. 

ALMOST wordless wednesday

 

My new Etsy shop banner Thanks Landa of Kanga Crafts

Giveaways:

* Sweeps 4 bloggers is giving away a pair of Hi Tec Men's V-Lite Eiger Quick Zip Boots (ARV $100 US).  Super stylish, I know my hubby would love to have these.  He's always wearing the bottom right out of his.  Poor guy.

*  ALSO Sweeps 4 bloggers is giving away a pair of Women's Hi Tec V-Lite Snowflake Chukka Boots (ARV $110 US).  Beautiful boots.  I have been drooling over them since I saw them.  You can just tell they are quality boots by looking and SUPER comfy.

* A Mom's balancing act blog is giving away a Flirty Apron of the winners choice!  I think I'd choose the sassy red.  For someone who doesn't like cooking at all I think these aprons would actually make cooking fun!

Finally caught J's Cold

Why is it when you're almost at the end of a baby's cold and you think you're out of the water all of the sudden the scratchy throat creeps in and ruins your day.   That's how I woke up today.  Great.  I hope this moves fast or I can manage to miss it with food and sleep.  Always two major factors for me, if either are missing I'm screwed.

Yesterday was 'family day'.  I swear those holidays where everything is closed so your family can be together are the worst.  That sounds awful but you try spending the day inside with a restless two year old who wont sleep and a teething infant.  NOT fun.  I wish the weather had been snowy and not too cold or warm enough to play outside.  Instead we spent the day entertaining her in 20 minute intervals (that's as long as her attention span lasts most of the time).  Back to normal today she's at daycare this morning and slept well. Now if we can only get J to sleep and not wake up 5 times a night crying for his soother or from teething pain.  I love my kids but I will be sooooo happy not to wake up during the night anymore.

J is starting to lift his belly off the ground and rock himself back and forth. I can't wait til he crawls. I think he'll be more happy when he's mobile and the place is baby proofed anyhow.   He's going to be more of a climber than his sister I think.   Here's a photo of him practicing on his hands and knees.

 

Giveaways:

Apparently I had been neglecting Born 2 Impress's blog.  I missed a bunch of great giveaways...

* Giveaway for a personalized stamp from Stamp Out...they're really cute and with the amount of mail I'm sending out nowadays it would really be handy. 

* Another giveaway from Born 2 Impress for a Plasma Car.  I think E would have a blast on this when the snow melts.  We'd probably bring it to Nana and Grandad's where she could ride on the street with MUCH less traffic than home. 

*ALSO they are giving away a Remington wet2dry straightener.  I've been dying to try one of these. I swear it would save me so much time and when I go back to work those extra 15 minutes will be like gold!

Monday-Family day

A day off...around here same old. With the Hubbs being off work and me being on Mat leave I barely can tell when the weekends are.  No where to go and E was going stir crazy.  She wouldn't nap and probably had at least four or five time outs some back to back. UGH...

Well here are some soccer photos I promised.

I love her little uniform.  She seemed to get into it near the end. Ironically she just wanted to run around and it was mostly  structured.

GIVEAWAYS:

*  Cool Canucks is giving away a beautiful CityX3 Swivel Single Stroller  from Tike Tech.  It's a gorgeous stroller.  I'd love to win and be able to get rid of that old Graco behemoth. 

Techincally Saturday?

E has socatots soccer tomorrow for the first time.  I am SO thrilled! I think she's going to love it and for a kid with that much energy it's perfect for her.  Sometimes we play a game where we just count 1-2-3 GO and she runs back and forth from the living room to the dining room.  May as well give her a ball and a net lol.  It's going to be adorable and I will be sure to post pics. 

Wordless Wednesday

Aaaalmost...got backward sliding down to a science.

Why did God make food taste so good?

Ok so I've done pretty well I guess so far with the working out and weight loss. I've averaged about a pound a week give or take since I know I've gained some muscle.  But dang if it doesn't seem to take foreeeeeever.  Ok I have no patience, I was feeling kinda blah about it today but as I think about it, I've been able to do it with some exercise and really not missing out on much of the food I enjoy with some creative calorie placement. So I'm done whining about it and back on the treadmill tomorrow.

J isn't feeling well, seems he's got a cold.  He woke up coughing on Friday night and it sounded like croup.  I hate that sound, yet another thing to worry about.  A humidifier seemed to help but we went to the doc today since it didn't seem to be getting better.  Just a virus, no ear infection (which is what I worry about) and just a little chunky lung.  That I can deal with. 


No photo today.  I'll stop slacking and do one tomorrow.

Super --- Bowl Sunday- Single 'football' Moms unite

Super bowl Sunday is one of the days the Hubbs gets to go no questions with his friends for the day and I take care of the kids.  So today with J being sick and E her usually squirmy energetic self. I brave the day.  I hate football lol.  But to be fair he doesn't make football a priority ever.

Giveaway:

*I don't usually blog on weekends but I had to for this amazing giveaway!  Northern Mama is giving away (following taken from the website) Dyson is offering one Northern Mama reader a Breast Cancer Awareness Dyson DC23 motorhead pink canister model vacuum {$649.99}!Dyson DC23 Motorhead pink is a canister vacuum with Root Cyclone™ technology + core separator and a motorized brush bar to remove dirt and pet hair from carpets.  WOW  this would be just so handy in our house.  Dragging the vacuum up and down the  stairs is killing my back and our vacuum has become dangerous since it is so top heavy it topples over at the drop of a hat. With two young kids around no thank you.  Wish me luck!

Friday--- No such thing as a weekend these days

I remember when Friday used to mean something. When I was a student mostly.  Other than that it was just that Fridays mattered for other people and that's when stuff was happening.  Being a Mom on mat leave weekends might mean some extra help but other than that it's really just more work.  Time to get all of the out of the house errands done like groceries and the trek to Costco.  Packing all the kids up and a humungo diaper bag.  And with E being a drama queen all the time we mostly just split up to run the errands.

Today is flying by.  I have been entering the flirty apron giveaway on Tara's view of the world blog all day.  She must hate me but hey, she said unlimited.  I want that apron! lol.

So the Hubbs says today is my week end for weight loss.  I usually do mondays but I guess this is the time we bought the scale last week so it's probably the most accurate.  Anyhow down 2.5lbs Yes!  Could it be because my Aunt Flo is visiting maybe, but I'm holding out hope that I'm still bloated and it will go down even more.  A girl can dream right?

Anyhow for my photo of the day:

 

E and her cousin L.  Adorable when E isn't pushing her out of the way.  I'm sure L will get her back soon enough!

Have a good weekend! I hear E is awake from her nap. Perfect timing.

Giveaways:

*Snafood (cute title) blog is giving away a flirty apron, open worldwide til Feb 23.  My favourites are the black and red sassy aprons.  I can't decide!

*Nate Hines is giving away a flip ultra HD.  I'd love to win this for my Dad.  Click on this link to enter  WIN a FLIP Ultra HD !!

 

* Sweeps 4 Bloggers is giving THREE (3) winners a $96 hair care kit.  You have to visit the website.  They have a progressive straightening treatment that is so ingenious I don't know why everyone doesn't have it.  If you have annoying wavy hair like me you know why this is so remarkable.  Ends Feb 13th.  US and Can

Thursday already?

Wow this week is flying.  My love hate relationship with the scale continues.  I'm back to weighing myself everyday only because this scale shows down to the .2 lbs so I can see it going down faster than on most other scales.  It's good thing. I think I'm set to finish out the week down 2lbs.  Now that I have my calories sorted and working out figured.

The week is flying. We've been busy.  The Hubbs is going to be going back to work soon so we're focused on finishing a few chores.  We're getting some new windows and a front door and painting the basement FINALLY I'm really happy about it.  So busy but good.

Yesterday I cleaned main floor including windows and mopping.  I did the 30 day shred and burned approx 160 calories and trust me it is challenging. I can't even do all the weight moves, mind you I'm using heavier weights but it's hard!  Mopping and cleaning moderately for an hour (which I did at least) is 274 calories!  Walking briskly on the treadmill for 20 mins is 100 calories.  Why waste your time walking when you could clean? A win win. Why is this a secret?  I actually have run out of things to mop lol.  And my floor looks great.

Photo of the day

My little sleepy boy...

 

Giveaways:

* Feisty Frugal and Fabulous is giving away a 7-8mm Freshwater pearl stud earrings AND a 7-8mm Freshwater pearl bracelet set! (total value $86 USD )    From Pearl Paradise.com

* Feisty Frugal and Fabulous is also giving away a pair of  Aiko Bootcut Mid Rise Jeans, by Silver. Great quality jeans. I used to love wearing silver jeans when I was younger. I think it's about time I tried them again!

Busy day

Today was a good paced day. It feels good to get things accomplished how I'd hoped and not feel rushed and barely get done.  Seems like things were busy but followed the schedule.

Battle of the bulge...
so weekly results are weight lost 4lbs.  That makes the weight to lose 11.5lbs.  But it seems to be picking up speed. I got my calories figured out with livestrong.com and I have a really good idea where things are at.  My body fat went down 1% woo hoo!  I am only .5% from being in the 'healthy' category.  I think gettting under 151 (which is the lowest I've been since being pregnant) and getting below or at the healthy weight mark is going to mean A LOT.  I'm actually feeling pretty good today.  I did the shred and 20 mins of walking.  Seeing my calories actually makes me want to exercise.  You get to eat more and then it seems worth it.  Otherwise I'd be eating so little it would really suck.  That's the only part that sucks as your weight gets lower your calories drop.  Boooo.

So I had my workout, and we had someone come by for an estimate on some of our windows...wow $$$$  and then I had some bows to make from Etsy orders in my bow shop Cushy Tushy Designs.  

Today's photo.  Compliments of E, photo essay of a two year old. These photos are within a minute span.  I can never get her to stay still so I take them quick and weed them out later.

Mommy says... E smile....

E:  No!  Me:  Here unzip your hoodie a bit.  E:  No Mommy don't touch.

 

Me:  E come over here by the window so I can take a better picture.  E: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  *insert total melt down here*

Me:  Nap time!

An all to familiar exchange with a two year old, lol.   I wouldn't change it for a thing. I love her personality even when she drives me up a wall some days.  As a matter of fact at one point today I said....You are TOO much like me!  Not that I'm not wonderful ;) I just can't deal with myself.  That's why I married my opposite lol.   I think I'm lucky ;)

Giveaways:

I am super stoked to be the lucky winner of the purse at penny pinching Mama.  I'm in a pretty good mood to say the least.  :D