Thanks to you...

I am now playing with my brand new Nikon camera!!! Matt and I went out and bought it today, and I must say - it was your comments, e-mails and phone calls telling us how much you love your Nikon that made the decision for us :) Thank you! I'm so excited to start using it!

Meal Planning

I love meal planning - plain and simple. It saves so much time and money in the long run by looking at your week on Sunday mornings, along with the sale fliers and a mental list of what you already have in your cupboards and planning out what you will eat for the week. It can be time consuming, but honestly - it's so worth it. It saves you from having to search through your cupboards on a Monday night when you're exhausted and don't feel like having to think about what to make for dinner. I keep my list of meals for the week right next to the calender on the fridge so I know what frozen meat I need to take out the night before, etc. I can't even emphasize how much time and money this saves!

I think I will start sharing our meals, because I love getting meal ideas from other people, so maybe someone else will get ideas from here :) BTW - if you ever want to know a recipe to something, just ask and I can post it in the comments section.

Sunday - Chicken cheese steaks with a salad

Monday - Grilled cheese and soup

Tuesday - Cheese ravioli and garlic bread

Wednesday - Frozen pizza with a salad

Thursday - Tacos and rice

Friday - Cheeseburgers, french fries and baked beans

Love this idea!

I found this idea on a crafting blog. They used wooden slates and painted them, but since I am not crafty at ALL, I decided to print them out on scrap booking paper and laminate them. I made newborn - 3 months, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 12 months. I am seriously in love with this idea - when I am trying to get out the door or quickly hang laundry back up in the closet, this will really come in handy so I'm not grabbing the wrong sized clothing.

V-Day project

I forget where I found this idea, but I'm sure we've all done it at some point - I know I did when I was a kid. You cut out two small hearts from a cereal box and one bigger heart.

The painting was her favorite part, although every time I tried to take a picture of her, she told me "No" and lowered her head. Hmmm....I think she's finally getting sick of mommy taking so many pictures.

Then glue the "arms" on once the paint has dried

Add eyes

And the smile, of course!

Potty Training 101

This week we started Potty Training '09. I finally got around to reading Diaper Free Before 3 - I was in the middle of it for about a month or so, before finishing it up last week. I found a free potty chart on-line and decided on 3 colored stickers - green for you know what, pink for you also know what, and yellow for trying.

How we are starting out is asking her 3-4 times a day if she would like to try to use the potty. Normally she says yes and we get some books or a puzzle, her sippy cup and head into the bathroom. No matter what, she will get a sticker and she LOVES this!

On Monday - morning one of day one, I asked her if she had to use the potty and she said yes. We went in and she sat right down and went potty then said all done!! She was so excited and we made a huge deal out of it. I know it was beginners luck, but that's ok - it was a great way to start the week!

TFT: Extra Money

Matt and I have been going back and forth about getting a Nikon 60. We are leaning towards buying one before Emma gets here, so that we have learned how to use it before she's born. I know it's a lot of money to spend on a camera, but I hated the camera I had when Acadia was born and have no good pictures of her in the hospital because the pictures all came out blurry. So, in the long run, having a really good camera seems totally worth the investment.

We've been talking about how to spend our money - camera, a new sink for the bathroom, a new tub, etc. and it has made me think (for about the hundredth time) how nice it would be to have more money. Who doesn't want more money?? I'm not talking filthy rich or anything, but it would be nice to be able to make big purchases (ie. the camera and tub) without stressing about it and over analyzing whether we need this more than we need something else.

So, TFT is: What would you buy if someone gave you $500?

Decisions, decisions

After going back and forth as to what we should do for Acadia's second birthday party - have a big party like we did last year, have a small party, have no party and take her to Boston on her birthday for some fun at the children's museums - we have finally decided on a small party. Who knew that a decision on whether or not to have a birthday party would take so long to decide!

And after going over a bunch of themes, we've finally decided on an Elmo theme. I had so many cool ideas, but when it comes down to it - the girl loves Elmo. So we'll be doing what millions of Americans have done for their child's first, second or third birthdays and have Elmo as a theme. Not original, but I hope she'll love it.

Now, off to ask Uncle Jimmy if he'll wear the Elmo suit I rented for her birthday - cross your fingers! LOL! J/K...

Wordless Wednesday: Wii Fit

The introduction of V-Day

We have started decorating for Valentine's Day around here. I bought some window clings the other day and had no idea they would be such a hit with Acadia :)

I remember Monday

I remember...your newborn clothing...

I spent the entire day today cleaning out your new bedroom and washing clothing for Emma to put into your old bedroom. I washed two huge bins of 0-6 girl clothing and I was hit with memory after memory.

I found the hat you wore home from the hospital.
I found the outfit you were baptized in.
I found the dress you were wearing when we caught your first smile on camera.
I found the dress you first wore to church.
I found the first pair of shoes you ever wore.
I found the Boston Red Sox socks that Jillian, Syd, Becky and Bob gave to you.
I found many dresses - each and every one bringing back specific memories - parties, picnics, birthdays.

It was hard to believe that you ever fit into these clothes. And even harder to believe that in a matter of a few short months, your little sister will be wearing them.

And I thought today, as I have each and every day since you were born, how very quickly the time is flying by...

Rocking out to reggae

The other night I made Acadia dinner and before I served it to her, she decided to rock out to Bob Marley. I love it when she's so happy with her dance moves that she starts laughing. Then she yelled at our poor dog Mercedes because Mercedes was getting too close to HER mommy.

Painting with fruit

We did this project over the course of a couple days. I chose a kiwi, orange and apple and their related colors - green, orange and red. Acadia loved painting with the fruit! I would cut the fruit in half, paint with one half then serve the other half as a snack when she was done painting.

Our projects for the month of January:

Themes for February will be Valentine's Day and numbers

Sesame Street Live, Part 2

So I showed you the bad yesterday and today I'll show you the good. Acadia loved, loved, loved the show. It was a little longer than I thought it would be and by the end of it the kids were pretty tired, but she danced and clapped through pretty much the entire show. We loved seeing her so happy!







She watched about 5 minutes of the show like this.....crazy kid...

Sesame Street Live, Part 1

We took Acadia to Sesame Street Live Wednesday morning and she loved it!! We were sweating in the beginning, because she was awful at first - kicking, screaming, throwing tantrums - the works, while we were waiting for the show. At first it wasn't too big of a deal, but then I started looking around at all the other kids (we went with a bunch of girls from my playgroup) in the audience and noticed they were sitting quietly on their parent's laps just waiting for the show. And me? I had the devil in my lap. After a bit, people started to look at us and I told Matt that I get these looks a lot lately. They say, Thank GOD that's not my child. Or Aren't those parent's going to do something to calm that kid down? We resorted to bribing, begging, threats - everything we could think of, but in the end, she didn't calm down until a few minutes into the show.

After the first 15 minutes of trying everything we could, I did what any crazy, out of control mother would do - I started video taping and laughing hysterically. The woman in the row in front of me started laughing and I told her I was taping her for revenge when she's older. At the end of the day, you can do two things - laugh or cry. I've done my fair share of crying lately because of the way she's been behaving so the only thing left to do is laugh!

I was close.....very close.....

TFT: Breast is NOT best!

I love, love, love this article. Tuesday evening I had some women from my play group over for a mom's nights out. We discussed everything from tantrums to learning to crawl to the exhaustion level when your baby is a newborn to breastfeeding. It's very sad to me how many women feel judged in their decisions involving raising a child. To work or not to work? To breastfeed or not to? And if you breastfeed, it seems that people have to comment if you do it for too long or not long enough.

If you have kids, are pregnant or thinking of having children, please read this article. It's so true - what works for some moms may not work for others and no one should ever feel judged. We are all doing what we think is best for our children, and at the end of the day, that's the only thing that matters.

Wordless Wednesday: Sissy's Burton Hat

Making progress

Last night, for the first time, Acadia went up to her potty and said to Matti, "Potty?" He asked her if she had to go potty and she nodded. He got her ready and the second she sat down she started going pee!

Side note: Never in a million years did I think I would be sharing a story with you about my daughter's pee pee. Shit. Show's how exciting my life is! LOL!!!

What are YOU looking at??

Don't you ever read under your tables? No? Well...you should start!

It's true!

I passed my gestational diabetes test on Friday. They told me I passed on Friday, but they also send my labs to the hospital and the confirmed this afternoon that I passed :) I had planned on failing and going on the GD diet like I did with Acadia, but I actually passed!

This means that I have a pretty good chance of going into labor on my own, which will be kind of exciting. I had an amazing experience with my induction last time, but it would be kind of exciting to go into labor on my own because I've never experienced that.

I remember Monday

I remember...falling in love with Matti - part two...

Once I was done crying, I went to bed. My whole world had changed with the words I had just said to Matti. Our relationship had changed. Everything. Had. Changed. Have you ever woken up when something bad has happened and hope and pray that what you had experienced was just a dream and not your life? I felt that way for quite a while. Matti and I had a talk and we both said it wouldn't change our relationship, but how can it not? How could we look at each other the same?

That summer, we continued to hang out. We went to dinners, we went on car rides, we went on picnics, downtown with our friends, had late night talks. All the while, my poor friends and family (who didn't know him well) sat back, frustrated and confused as to why I would keep spending time with him. In their opinion, he was sending me mixed signals - we were as close as two people could be, yet I had put my heart out on the line and he had rejected me.

I would spend my days making it through work or school - whichever I had going on that day - and would rush to get home so I could spend time with Matti. It crushed me to be so close to him, yet I also couldn't stay away.

Finally, in October, we decided to go camping in Acadia National Park. My friends and family were shocked that I would go with him for a couple of reasons. One - anyone in the Northeast knows that October in Maine is cold. Very cold. Especially at night. Two - need I remind you what happened on my twenty-first birthday??

It took us about 9 hours by car to get to Acadia. We talked the entire time. We talked about our hopes and dreams, told funny stories about our childhood, played our little game that we had been playing over the past year - "tell me one thing I don't know about you", we laughed. It felt good. It was also bittersweet. I remember thinking that I wanted to talk to him like this for the rest of my life. That I could never tire of hearing him. He made me want to be better than I was. To be smarter. To be stronger. To be kinder.

We spent that first day setting up our site and talking by the campfire. We drank beers and stared at the sky. It got colder and we bundled up. Finally we crawled into our tent and snuggled up in our sleeping bags. We continued to whisper to each other, as to not wake up any other campers. Finally, after a 9 hour car ride and an evening spent around the campfire talking the entire time, we were silent. I remember laying my head on his chest with my hand on his stomach. We laid there like that for a while. Then, as though we both had the same thought, we just looked at each other. There was a moment where I don't think that either of us knew what was going to happen next. Slowly, we leaned in and kissed each other. And everything - every memory, every tear shed, every joke, every conversation, every car ride, every story told to each other, every picnic, every late night spent talking - went into that kiss.

To this day, that was one of the most memorable and happy moments of my life. I never wanted to let go of him that night, and still don't. As with every couple who has been together for a while, we have our ups and downs. We argue just like everyone else. But... At the end of the day, we are each other's best friends and have been that way for over ten years. I couldn't imagine my life without him...

"If I could reach up and hold a star for every time you've made me smile, the entire evening sky would be in the palm of my hand."

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com