New Years

New Years/ New Years Eve has a whole new meaning as of 2 years ago. Because at 7:35am on Decemeber 31, 2009 this little miracle decided to bless us with her presence...

Tomorrow my beautiful little baby turns 2. I cant even express into words how this little person has changed my life. Its more than I could ever express into words. She is an amazing, special, magical little human being. A perfect daughter, sister, and friend. I owe her so much, which is why everyday I try to be the best mother I can possibly be for her. Because she deserves the world and more. And I will do my best as her mother to give her that.

You are loved to the moon and back, and then some. I hope your second birthday is all your little hearts desired! Tomorrow, NYE morning, we will be having a special celebration for you with your closest loved ones. We will celebrate your joyous 2 years of life over your favorite meal- Breakfast! At IHop : )

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY MISS M!

 

Still Grieving

I'm having on of those days...filled with all the nasty ugly painful feelings about my infertility. It started at the hospital this morning. (remeber I have the flu? Well after 5 days of a fever over 100, this morning it was 103.1) my Dr ordered me to go to the hospital for labs, etc.

So this morning I went and checked in. Ironically enough, it was exactly 2 years ago today I walked into that very same hospital to give birth to my baby M. It was very surreal. This particular hospital plays a lullaby throughout the whole hospital everytime a baby born. It's very touching, but I couldn't help but think that I want another baby. I want that lullaby played for me :( it hit me like a ton of bricks every time it played..

I'll never have that again. Ever. ;( it's so hard.

Then there have been the normal numerous pregnancy announcements lately. Those are always so hard on me, but more so now :(

Bottom line is I'm still grieving. And who knows how long this process will take. L has been a great distraction, but I'm not so sure hiding from the issues is going to help. Maybe I need counseling... Or just more time. I don't know.

Wordless Wednesday {Must Have}

It's Funny How Things Work Out Sometimes

Kay's 2 front teeth have been loose for a couple months now. I was praying and praying that she would lose them before Christmas just so she could sing this...

And as you can see, it happened! It made me SO happy! And she looks so darn cute without them. A few days before Christmas Eve, the girls were rough housing and L knocked out one of them. Then on Christmas Eve morning, at 4 am no less (never a dull moment around here!) Kay lost the other one!

We had a fabulous Christmas, very blessed! But Christmas morning I very suddenly got ill and have the flu :( Christmas updates to come...

Merry Christmas

From our family to yours <3! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with those you love.

{Our 2011 Christmas card}

Favorite Things: Kiss Nail Sticks!

I'm sure you've seen or heard about these things by now. They are basically stickers for your nails! They are actually called Nail Dress, but I call them Nail Sticks! : ) I wasn't that interested in them until I was sitting in a Dr's office one day last week and I complimented the nurse on her beautiful jewled nails. She said "Thanks, but you know they are just those stick on sticker nail things you can get at the drug strore and they last about a week".

After that I HAD to try them! I've been trying to be more budget on the wallet friendly, so these last few months I have been doing my own nails and toes. And well you know my nails be lookin raggity!

I ran down to Walgreen's later that day and stocked up! They had so many to chose from. Solids, jeweled, animal prints, and all different designs. I couldn't decide which ones were cuter, and which ones I wanted so I bought 4 boxes (wait, is that counter productive to me being frugal?)

Anyways, the next day I was feeling up to the challenge. Everyone (and the box) said EASY, ONLY TAKES MINUTES FOR PERFECT NAILS, but you know how that is. Suuuuuurre. So when M was down for her nap, and the big girls were at school I was ready to roll. I chose the pretty Lacey design because we were going to to see The Nutcracker Ballet that night.

And I am being 100% honest when I say ANYONE CAN DO THIS! And it was really SO EASY!! It took about 10 minutes to put all of them on, the directions are short and simple, done! Really, anyone can do this! It is fool proof! And you can have beautiful LACE nails in 10 min. for only 8 dollars!!

I was sold! The next challenge was to see how long they actually lasted. The box says up to 10 days, but I know better. So here they are after 4 days.....keep in mind I am really rough on my hands. Lots of dishes, washing hands constantly, wiping asses, you get the idea...

Then I was wondering how do you get them off? Well that was super easy too! You just start peeling them up from the bottom and they pretty much come off in one piece.

Bottom line, even though they only lasted 4 days (for me), it is still one of my new favorite things. A beautiful 8 dollar manicure for the weekend?? Hellz yeah!

So I peeled off the old, and put on a new pair this week! Just in time for Christmas...

 I also painted my toenails yesterday and added some to my toes. Not perfect, but pretty awesome huh?!

So if you've been wondering about these like I had, GO FOR IT! You wont regret it! (Pretty designed) Pinky promise ;)

Wordless Wednesday

{Fierce Momma}

A Season For Caring and a Time For Sharing

Kay is such an amazing little girl. Back in the summer she thought of this grand idea to have a charity lemonade stand. She wanted to donate the proceeds to the Phoenix Children's Hospital. She tought of this all on her own. Keep in mind this was in the middle of the blistering summer way before Christmas too, so I told her that sometime in the fall we could do that. I have no idea what prompted her to do this. Maybe its because we drive right past the Children's hospital all the time on the way to grandmas house? Almost every time we drive by, I tell her about it. How sad it is to think that the big huge hospital is filled with sick children who are away from their families, etc. I think she may have just realized how lucky she is....

Fast forward to fall. We planned to do a multi family garage sale with some friends who live down the street. They also have girls, ages 8 and 3. Kay is good friend with the older girl and thought she might want to do the charity lemonade sale with her. We decided it would be best to have the girls set up AT the garage sale because we would already have the crowds coming in. Her mom and I planned a play date a few weeks in advance so the girls could make and decorate a sign for their lemonade table. And this is what they came up with:

The garage sale was not as successful as we planned (the weather), but they did managed to raise $12.50 that dreary day!! But the girls did an amazing (and crazy!) job of trying to get people to donate, while also having a blast together.

A few weeks had gone by, and I asked my friend (the little girls mom) if she could contact them and find out how and when we could bring the kids down to donate the money that they raised. Well turns out the best way to do that is to go on their website where they have wish lists that the kids posts, and take the girls and the money shopping for the kids! Perfect!

But this Sunday morning, Kay thought that wasn't enough. All the girls even took money out of their allowance, but it still left them with under 20 dollars.

So Kay had another bright idea to help raise more money. Again, all on her own she thought of all this.

The grand idea? Go door to door to our neighbors with signs that her and L had made, along with a money box to see if any of them would contribute to the Phoenix Children's Hospital Present Fund and if you did donate, you got to receive one of the signs/pictures that Kay and L had made. Pretty clever I must say!

At first, although cute, I thought this was kinda crazy. On a sunday morning 3 wild kids and a crazy lady knocking on my door?! But then I realized these are our neighbor's, so they know us ad know that we aren't some crazy weird pan handlers.

And well it was a huge success! Turns out people ARE good. Better than good, amazing. A few people dropped 20's in there, and everyone gave at least $5.00!

So the girls came home with $68.00 just from the people on our street. Combine that with the $12.50 they already have, and they now have $80.50 for the kids!!!!!!!!!!!!

This makes me such a proud momma!!! All of this makes me realize, that even though my kids are spoiled rotten, that they still have good hearts, and are becoming caring, giving, thoughtful little human beings. What more could a mother ask for? And how good my little Kay Kay really is. And L ....well she is learning. Yes she did say "now give us some money" when people would answer the door, but we're working on her...and she is learning. She's on my watch now ; )

Stay tuned for the ending of this story...when we all go to The Phoenix Children's Hospital to help brighten some little peoples Holidays.

This is My Life Right Now

And although total chaos, I wouldn't have it any other way <3

The ABC's of Me

I know I've done this before, but its been a few years, and I am sure some of my new followers would like to know more about me. So here goes, the ABC's of me!

A. Age: 29, err I mean 26 1/2!

B. Bed size: King. And that's not big enough.

C. Chore that you hate: Bathrooms. That's why I leave that to the cleaning ladies ;) One that I actually do? Dishes, and thank god for the dishwasher! It helps when you hate dishes.

D. Dogs: None. 2 cats, Lucy and Sweetie Pie.

E. Essential start to your day: The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf  whole bean Brazilian roast coffee (I grind fresh everyday) with french vanilla creamer. I'm kinda of a coffee snob.

F. Favorite color: Pink of course : )

G. Gold or Silver: Both!

H. Height: 5'1

I. Instruments you play: None. I am the least musical person. I cant hold a tune to save my life, nor can I (or have any desire for that matter) to play instruments.

J. Job title: HR, Bookkeeper, AR/AP, Marketing, Boss Lady, a little of everything...

K. Kids: K and M, and now my foster daughter (who is also my cousin) L!

L. Live: Phoenix

M. Mother’s name: Kristin

N. Nicknames: Growing up it was mouth. Now its Mom!

O. Overnight hospital stays: Only when I had my kids.

P. Pet peeves: People who talk on the phone at restaurants, people with bad etiquette, people with bad manners, miserable & inconsiderate people, and people who refuse to help themselves.

Q. Quote from a movie: “Say hello to my little friend”  Scarface..haha!

R. Right or left handed: Right

S. Siblings: I have 1 brother (1/2 brother, same mom. 8 years younger than me) and 2 much older sisters (1/2 sisters, same dad. One is 11 years older and the other 13 years older. My dad's kids from his previous marriage before my mom). No full blooded sibs. And since me and my brother (who was raised with me) are 8 years apart and it two TOTALLY different places in our lives, we are not that close. I mean, he's 21, err I mean 18, for gods sake. I'm hoping once he grows up and has some kids of his own, our relationship will blossom. Looking forward to that day actually. I always felt like an only child.

T. Teenage crush: NKONB! I had a Jordan pillow case, and used to kiss him every night  ;)

U. Underwear: Yes, please. VS Pink Thongs are my fav.

V. Vegetable you hate: None. I LOVE all veggies!

W. What makes you run late: My children, so cliche but its true. That and myself...or lack of time management on certain days.

X. X-Rays you’ve had: Back, teeth, and knee.

Y. Yummy food that you make: I love to cook, but I'd say my homemade bolognese!

Z. Zoo animal: Zebras and Monkeys.