Jaxon's Tattoo Theme 1st Birthday Party!

It's Birthday party day!  If you know me....you know I love parties and entertaining.  I especially love being a mommy and having parties for our Little's.  Jaxon's First Birthday had to be perfect.  I worked really hard to make every detail special.  Lily did too.  She made his birthday cupcake....."All by mine self." According to Lily :) 

 I purchased a long sleeve black tshirt from Walmart for $3 and cut out letters onto scrap fabric that I have.  I wanted him to be able to wear it all year long and have it as a keepsake so I stayed away from happy birthday.  One was perfect.  I ironed on the letters using fusible webbing.  I bought a yard a while ago for around $5 at the craft store and I am still using it.  It goes a log way.  You can also sew the letters after you iron them on, but I wasn't very good at using my machine yet.  Next I made a birthday hat.  I used the pattern from here.  So easy and quick to do.  I wanted the party to have a tattoo theme, so I purchased kids tattoo sleeves from the $1 store.  I cut the sleeve and used it to cover the party hat, and a large elastic hair band (5/$1) and voila.....tattooed party hat!  I am absolutely in love with it. 

 We try to buy our kids one special thing for their birthday.  Jax's special thing this year was a tool bench that we purchased from Amazon.com for about $35.  I was so excited to receive it, when Brad finally put it together it was so tiny.  I was disappointed because of how small it was, but Jaxon seems to love it. 

 I made the invitations on my computer using publisher and a tattooed font that I downloaded from dafont.com.  The invitations were so cute.

 I also made gift bags for all of the kids who were Jaxon's party guests.  We kept the party very small.  I just wanted family and Desire's kids.  Inside each bag was a juice box, Cracker JAX (get it?), a twirly straw, and candy.  I decorated the outside of the bag using scrapbook paper and I printed extra invitations to cut out and use for the bags so they would match.  Each bag cost me $2 to make! 

 Here is my sweet 1 year old showing off his shirt and birthday hat. 

 Here are the cupcakes that we made.....ahem....Lily made :)  I made each of them special by printing toppers for each of the cupcakes and hot gluing them onto a toothpick.  Cost:  Free!  My mom found these adorable 1st birthday plates and napkins on sale, so she picked them up months ago.  She is always thinking ahead.  One of the many things I love about her.   

 Me-maw also bought noise makers.  Lily and Me-maw had a great time playing with them! 

 Jaxon was so sleepy, that he didn't even make it to the cake or presents part of the party.  So instead everyone got Jax snuggles. 

 Jax received so many adorable little gifts including books, outfits, stuffed animals, cars, puzzles, and so much more.  When he woke up he was very excited, but still wasn't himself.  Later that night he developed a large welt on his face.  I was sure he had been bit by a spider so I thought nothing of it. 

The next morning when he woke up he looked like this!!!!!  So I immediately called the doctor, cried, and had a panic attack.  They told me to watch it and if it got worse to call back and make an appointment.  I gave him Tylenol since they were seeming to bother him.  They would go away.....and come back in different spots.  I had no idea what was causing the welts.  I washed everything, checked for spiders, cleaned everything, checked food for possible allergies, but nothing was different.  After talking to the doctor, I realized that it was most likely an allergic reaction.  SO he was on a strict food diet until we figured out what it was.  After process of elimination, we discovered the laundry detergent that we always buy from Costco changed their ingredients.  Same bucket, same label, but different ingredients.  The only reason why i even figured this out was because I kept past buckets for car washing.  So I changed my detergent to hypo allergenic baby wash and they went away.  I have used the detergent since he was a newborn so it was so weird that he was suddenly allergic to it.  So I slowly reintroduced  it back into our laundry since I have a huge bucket.  So now I only use 1/2 the amount I was using and he is doing great.  I'm thinking it was because it was very concentrated and I was just using too much.  Either way. 

 

My sweet baby boy feels much better and is welt free after a week of panicking.

Happy 1st Birthday Jaxon Hawk.

I can't believe our baby boy is one today.  I feel like he was born just yesterday.  Everything is still so fresh in my mind. (If you want to read Jaxon's birth story click here).  How hard it was to be on strict bed rest laying on my back (click here), not being allowed to sit up while my husband worked night shift, having to humble myself to have other people give us help.  I'll never forget when I found out I was pregnant with him (click here).  I was terrified.  I had no idea how on earth I was going to be able to take care of two babies, when I barely had the hang of one.  But somehow.....everything just worked.  Now I feel like he has always been here and my life wouldn't be the same without his sweet smile.  I love everything about having a little boy.  I will never forget the first time I saw him.  How I was completely in love with him and was so overwhelmed with pure happiness. 

On a day where I should be overjoyed about my baby hitting his first birthday, I am honestly really sad about it.  It went by so fast.  I feel so guilty for having to work and feeling like I missed so much.  Though its bittersweet, I do love watching him grow and change every single day.  In just 3 months his face changed so much.   

 He is getting so big.  He says Mama and Dada.  He crawls so fast and gets into everything.  He walks along side furniture, but isn't ready to fully commit to walking.  Honestly I am in no hurry to see him walk.  That means he is no longer my baby....it also means I will be chasing him around and never stop moving.  He roars like a lion.  He loves bath time.  He crawls around with his favorite little bear.  He gives the sweetest baby kisses.  He drinks sooooooo much milk and eats and eats and eats.  He is all boy!   

At 5 weeks old, my best friend Desire started watching both of our babies along with 4 of her own while i went to work.  It amazes me everyday, how she can do it all.  She loves my kids just as much as I do and I could not have survived this past year without her.   

 I am so over the moon happy to have our little boy in our lives making our family complete and full of love. Our family of 5 makes me smile everyday and I adore being a busy mom of 3.

Jax's party is this weekend and I can't wait to celebrate with our family and watch Jax dive into his cake. 



Happy Fathers Day My Love

Brad,

 These two little girls.....

and this sweet little boy think you are the bestest daddy in the whole wide world....and I think you are pretty fantastic too.

Thank you for letting me snuggle in your bed and watch a billion episodes of Sesame street.  .

Playing tea party with me. 

Teaching me boy things like watching sports. 

and loving us with all of your heart. 

Thank you for being the leader of our family. 

We love you all the way to everywhere and back Daddy. 

Happy Fathers Day.

Love Laney, Lily, and Jaxon.  

Happy Mothers Day to me

Happy Mothers Day to me. I did it! I have successfully survived the first two years. It seemed like just yesterday that I met Brad...you can read about it here

Became a step mommy...you can read about it here....our family of 3

My first mothers day (the day I brought Lily home from the hospital) you can read about it here....our family of 4

And now my first mothers day with my sweet baby boy....our family of 5!  We are on a tight budget this year, so no gifts allowed. All I wanted was to spend time with my family.   

 Our family has grown so much.  I have grown so much.  I have learned so much about myself over the past couple of years.  I have decided what kind of wife I want to be, what kind of mom that I will be......what kind of person I will be.  We could not have made it without the love and support from our family and friends.  Bed rest, childcare, working full time, late night phone calls of girlfriends advice, long distance friendships that keep me grounded and remind me that I'm not alone, play dates, birthday parties, snow, bad flu, family dinners, no money, surgery, cancer scare, changing jobs, night shift.....we've had it all.  The crazy thing is, I wouldn't have changed a single thing.  Without all of those things happening I wouldn't be who I am today. 

I have become closer to my mom.  After having kids I realized how much my mom sacrificed to be the mom that she was.  How much my mom really loved my sister and I. How lucky I am to have a wonderful mom who loves being a grandma.    Always caring for me when I was sick, volunteering at my school and all of my friends said that my mom was the coolest, making our Halloween costumes...I could really go on forever.  Here's more about my mom and I here. 

I have become closer to my mother in law.  Without her help in watching our kids while we were at work for the first year, we would not have made it.  We couldn't afford childcare for a newborn, but I had to work.  She gave everything up to stay at home and watch our kids and her grand babies and I am forever grateful. 

I wouldn't have reconnected with Desire, who watches our kids while we are at work now and has become one of my close friends who I trust more than anything.  Her family has become my family and I love everything about them.  I especially love that she loves our family.  She loves my kids.  And they love her right back.  Dropping them off to go to work is so sad, but I couldn't be happier cause I know that they are with her. 

I wouldn't have connected with my friend Nicole who lives on the other side of the county....she makes me feel normal and that working full time and staying up all night while trying to keep a clean house, kids that are dressed, care about yourself, care for your husband....is manageable. Her emails have motivated me throughout the year and I am so thankful for her friendship. 

I wouldn't have been so involved in our church.  Other people's kindness and prayers while I was on bed rest and not being able to spend any quality time with my husband while he worked on night shift. 

So.....now I'm a mom of 3 and its getting better and better.  We have each other, our family, and friends, good jobs, and a beautiful place we call home.  We may be broke, but we are pretty happy.  Sounds perfect to me.  Here's to another year!

Sunny Days.....Lily is 2 Today

Today is my Sweet Lily Girl's 2nd birthday. I have no idea how the time went by so fast, but she has completely changed my life and I love everything about her. I remember the first time I saw her. She looked at me with these big beautiful eyes. We finally got to bring her home from the hospital on Mother's day, my very first mothers day. I had no idea what was in store for me and I what I would learn about babies, being a mom, taking care of someone 24/7, and learning more about myself. If you want to read more about the day she was born click here. I never knew how much love I would be overwhelmed with the minute she was born. Okay Okay.....enough of that or I'll start crying again. 

Today we are celebrating Lily's 2nd Birthday.  If you know my Lily, she loves her Elmo.  She won't watch any other cartoons except Sesame Street and Elmo goes everywhere with her.  The only way I can get Elmo away from her is to give Elmo a bath (in the washing machine) he gets soooo gross.  So I couldn't have picked a better theme for Lily's birthday party. 

I have recently became a member of pinterest.....wow thats an amazing site.  I found a ton of blog links and ideas to make Lily's party perfect.  I want to be that mom.  That mom that does really special things.  My mom was that kind of mom.  All of my friends growing up would tell me how cool my mom was.  She would bring cupcakes to my class, dress up for halloween and show up to my class, she would make birthdays and holidays so special and decorate, she would make our halloween costumes.  I wanna be that kind of mom.           

Lily's 2nd Birthday Party invitation that I made on my computer in microsoft publisher. 

My favorite part of the invitation is.... This party is brought to you by the letter L and the number 2. I had 40 printed at our local print shop (2 per page on 80 to 100lb. paper, no cuts meaning they don't cut it out for you, our print shop charges per print cut so I cut them myself to save money. Grand total cost for invitations......$4 Total.)   

Lily is telling me that she wants to go outside and is pouting, so its not the best picture of her, but its the best picture I have of the dress I made for her.

I found this dress on Etsy and thought.....I can totally make that.  I have never made a piece of clothing so I thought that it would be special that the first piece I ever made was for her. I wanted to make the dress, but more Sesame Streer.....more colorful.  So I cam across this print and fell in love.  I purchased 1 yard of fabric and I had a ton left over to make a penant flag and some to cover her birthday hat with.  My girlfriend Tiffany graciously let me use her sewing machine and showed me the ways of sewing.  It was so much fun.  I found the pattern for Lily's dress here.  I found the fabric on sale and I only needed a yard so Lily's dress including ribbon cost me......around $12. 

Lily girl wearing her birthday hat on the swing. 

I thought for sure Lily would be pulling off the hat the entire party, but she did the opposite, she wanted to wear it all day.  It was so cute.  I found a pattern to make a birthday hat here.  I used thicker cardstock paper to cut out the hat and then I just covered it with leftover fabric from her dress.  I had a hairband from the dollar store that I used for the elastic to keep it on her head.  So simple to make and so cute.  Total Cost:  left over fabric from the dress, old hairband and a cereal box.....free :)  

Desert Table with Thank You gift bags for Lily's friends.

On the desert table I had sugar cookies that were cut outs of the letter L and the number 2 (thanks to the Morgan girls helping me make cupcakes and cookies) and a personal cake for Lily to dig into.  My mom made it just for her with M&M's all over it since she loves choc-ate....as she calls it. (We are saving it for her birthday party that we are having with just the five of us, with Laney on skype tonight).

 

My mom and I also made Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Big Bird cupcakes to make it extra special.  I found a tutorial on how to make them here.  I learned a couple things....Use fondont on the eyeballs.  I didn't and mine kept melting.  So lesson learned.  I also didn't have any fruit rollups to use in big birds mouth so instead I painted it with food coloring.         

A little closer

Up close.  They are not even close to what the picture looked like in the tutorial, but I tried and I think they are pretty darn cute for my first try at character cupcakes.  I will get better!

Here's the food table decorated with giftbags for Lily's friends.  I wanted health snacks so we had fruit  and veggies.  We also had hot dogs, chips, and ham & cheese rolls that my friend Desire brought.  All toddler friendly foods.  

Thanks to Laura Nagal and Brooke Morgan and Olivia Morgan for helping me make the giftbags. 

  Here are the thank you gift bags that I made for Lily's friends.  In each bag there was a sesame street coloring book, crayons with a thank you note inside, sesame street stickers, and a box of goldfish crackers from Dorothy, Elmos's best friend.  I used construction paper to create the faces on the bags.  I bought all of the supplies for the gift bags at the dollar store.  Most of the supplies were in multipacks saving even more money.  Each bag cost me about $2 to make.   

 

Bubble with Big Bird Station.  I bought these cool wands from the dollar store and a giant bottle of bubbles.  I added a fun label to the bottle that said, "Sunny Days sweeping the clouds away."  Just a fun little touch.  Total cost $3

My Lily girl playing with bubbles.  The kids loved it!

Jaxon had to be dressed up for his sister's birthday party too. 

  I made the cutest little tie onesie shirt for Jaxon.  I found the tutorial here.  It was so easy and it was so adorable to have the kids in Elmo outfits.

Lily checking out all of her gifts. 

Our church playground is so nice, it was the perfect place to throw a kids birthday party.  Since we are a member there we can use the space for free! 

The birthday girl with her daddy. 

My favorite picture of the day eating rawberries and gok gogs as Lily would call it. (strawberries and hot dogs).

   Happy 2nd Birthday to my sweet girl.  You are my everything.  I am so happy to be your mommy and to watch you grow.  Thank you for teaching me so much.  I love you all the way to everywhere and back. 

Lump

There's a reason I haven't written in a long while. I am going through a rough time with a health scare. Right after I had Lily, a lump developed underneath my arm in my armpit which I thought was a plugged duct or swollen lymph gland. I didn't think much of it, just assumed it wasn't a big deal. Over the next several weeks I tried a few things, like hot compresses, lymphatic massages, aiming hot-hot-hot shower head at it while massaging. . but it didn't go away. When my milk came in a lump developed under my arm. When my milk was in the lump under my arm was huge. I would compare it to the size of a tennis ball. Not only was it painful, but it was also very embarrassing. After I stopped nursing Lily, the swelling went down and I thought that it was happening because I was engorged for breastfeeding. When I became pregnant with Jaxon it came back right away, but this time it was painful. Painful to even put on deodorant. I thought, enough is enough, lets go to the doctor and get this looked at. The doctor told me that your breast muscle actually goes up to your shoulder and the tissue sometimes has pockets in them where the milk goes into or that it may be a fibrous tissue. She told me that after I had Jaxon, we could do some more research and go from there. So I dealt with the pain and never wore a tank top out of embarrassment with this giant lump under my arm.

Now that I am finished breast feeding Jaxon, I went to the doctor again. This time she did an examination of my breast and the lump under my arm. She wasn't comfortable with the pain that I was having so she wanted me to go see a specialist. When I saw the doctor she told me that this is a fairly common thing with breast feeding mothers.....I have NEVER heard of anyone having this. But when it happens to others it is more common to happen on both sides. My doctor ordered some blood work and scheduled surgery to remove the lump. My surgery was actually scheduled yesterday, but I had to cancel due to work, childcare, scheduling.....life. How can I possibly fit in anything else? I thought that it might be better if we could schedule in June. That would give me time to get everything in order so that I could have time off work, recover, help with the kids, etc. I called to reschedule and they told me that they received my blood work and were uncomfortable with the abnormal cells and they want to remove the lump right away. So now we are in the process of trying to get me a surgery date as soon as possible. They will be removing the lymph nodes in my underarm and the top part of my breast near my shoulders. Once they remove the lump they will test it to make sure that it isn't cancerous.

To be completely honest with you.....I'm scared, but not really for the reasons I should be scared. Ive never had surgery before or been under anesthesia. I'm not worried about me.....I'm worried about how I'm going to be able to lift my baby to feed him a bottle. How am I going to be able to drive if I can't use my arm? What about work? How am I going to keep the house clean and make dinner for my husband? I'm being ridiculous, but believe it or not those are the thoughts entering my head, I'm more worried about everything else that is happening. I know everything will work out and God has a plan for me that I just need to have faith in that.

Terrified

Last night someone tried to break into our home and I was more scared than I have ever been in my life. I had just finished feeding Jaxon his midnight bottle. I heard some noises in the backyard, but I thought nothing of it since we live out in a wooded area thinking it may have been a deer. Brad had just left work since he works the night shift. I laid Jaxon in his crib, checked on Lily and went out into the living room to turn off the lights and grab the house phone. When I got to the hallway, I heard someone trying to open the sliding glass door. They were slamming the door trying to get it open. We have wooden dowels in all of our doors and windows and all of our doors were locked. I think they saw Brad leave and thought there was no one home. I immediately called 911. I have never called them before. I never needed to. I tried to be calm and quiet giving the dispatcher as much information as I could. I hid in the hallway next to the kids bedrooms like a coward. I had no idea what to do. Nothing like this has ever happened to us before. This kind of thing only happens to "other" people or things I see on TV. I was naive. My first thought was my kids. What if he got in? I was so scared to move that I didn't even think to grab something to protect myself. What would I grab? All I wanted to grab were my kids. As I was on the phone with dispatch, I heard them trying to get into the small windows in our living room, but they were unsuccessful. Then he went to the side sliding glass door and tried to enter through that door. The sensor light turned on and the locks/stick in the door prevented the person from getting any further. When the sheriffs arrived they searched the perimeter of the house. The only thing they found was rocks that were moved from the neighbors back yard so they could get into our yard. They even did a heat scan of the area and found only animals. The police walked through my home checking all windows and doors so that I felt safe. I am very grateful that the police department arrived so quickly. The 911 dispatcher made me feel calm and walked me through the whole thing, they even told me when the police arrived and when it was safe to answer the door. They even patrolled the area all night and stayed in my drive way for a while so that I felt protected.

This isn't the town I grew up in? Whats happened? Our church was robbed.....twice!!! Convenient stores being held up at gun point, break ins, gas getting syphoned out of cars, heroin, meth......are you kidding me?

So now here is where I tell you to lock up. The sheriffs told me the most common break in that they are seeing in Oak Harbor is through the garage door. They use a crow bar to pry the top of the garage open just enough to pull your red cord emergency handle to get the door open. He suggested that the cord be secured up along the track so that it couldn't be pulled. Make sure all of your doors and windows are locked with dowels in them so that if the lock breaks they still can't get in. Lock your cars at night. Get sensor lights. We have two on our home and now we'll be buying a few more. If you hear someone outside turn on your lights, they may freak out and leave. I was so frightened, I didn't even think to turn on the lights. I hid. Not the smartest idea, but I seriously had NO idea what to do, I was to scared. We'll also be replacing the back sliding glass door. Its an old door and they pryed it open enough to hit the stick in the track. We'll also be getting an alarm system for our home and something to protect ourselves. I have NEVER been a gun person fearing that I would be the person to accidental shoot myself.....yes I admitted that. Or that they would get the gun away from me. I will take classes so that I'm not scared anymore.....and then they'll be scared of me.

To the person who tried to break into our home. I am going to pray for you. I don't know why life has been so hard for you that you felt the need to break into peoples homes. Why would you steal from others? Would you like that to happen to you? To your family? You are very lucky that my husband wasn't home. He wouldn't have hid in the hallway like I did and he would not have waited for the police to arrive like I did. He is a big man and he will do anything to protect our home and our family. DO NOT come back to our home! This time I won't be a coward. This time I'll be prepared. Don't even think about going to other peoples homes. I'm not going to judge you, that's not my job to judge you. Only God can do that.

{8}

Today my sweet and beautiful step daughter turns 8 years old. I became her step mommy when she was 5. I was terrified. What if she didn't like me? Will I be a good step mom? What am I suppose to do? I didn't know anything about being a mom and when I married Brad, I didn't just gain a husband, I gained a beautiful daughter. Even though she lives 1800 miles away, she makes me feel like I'm right next to her. Telling me about her day, introducing me to her newest animal (first, middle, and last name Tesch of coarse), reading stories on the phone to her brother and sister, tells me she loves me and tells me she's glad that I'm her step mommy.

My husband flies to Kansas every couple months to visit her and she comes here to visit us. Right now he's in Kansas celebrating her birthday with Laney's Mom's side of the family. I wish I could be there to celebrate with them, but I absolutely can't wait to see her big beautiful smile in just a few weeks.

To celebrate her turning 8, I'd like to share 8 things that I love about her.

1. She is so smart, one of the smartest in her class. She is also the tallest :)

2. She has such a personality and sense of humor. Her jokes are so funny.

3. She is so beautiful inside and out. She is a perfect mixture of her mom and dad. Its so funny to me that her and Brad make the exact same faces. I'm so in love with both of their little faces.

4. I love it when she blows me kisses over the phone, especially the doggy kisses that get my face all wet through the phone.

5. I love what a wonderful big sister she is. She chose Lily's name and she shares her middle name Anne with her. She reads stories to them and tells her how much she loves them.

6. I love her ideas. She is so creative.

7. I love her artwork. She has decorated 1/2 of our house with her master pieces.

8. I love how she taught me to be a step mommy.

Laney Bug....I can't begin to tell you how much you changed my world. How much I love being in your life and being your step mom. It is such an astonishing privilege to be a part of your life.

I didn't have the privilege of making her into the strong, smart young lady that she turned out to be today, but I hope that I can be. Annie and Brad did an amazing job of being parents to her and friends with each other. I am grateful to be included and to follow in the grace of watching her grow and seeing the path along the way with their daughter.

Happy Birthday Sweet girl. I love you all the way to everywhere and back.

Romance All Year Long

Valentine's Day is a reminder to your significant other how much you love them.....shouldn't you be doing that all year long? Brad and I try hard to do little things throughout the year to add spark to our marriage. Sometimes its an adorable text message, a little note, stopping by each others workplace, being considerate to each other, listening. Brad's work schedule makes it hard for us to have any quality time together. And every time we try to go on a date, we can never think of anything to do, we don't really have the money to spend on it, and we don't have a sitter lined up. So we end up staying home or just going out to dinner locally. Keeping romance in a relationship is very important. Especially since having our kids, its hard to find time to be romantic. So I gave my sweetie romance all year long.

I created a basket. This basket holds 12 envelopes. Each labeled with a month of the year. And each envelope contains a pre-planned, (mostly) pre-paid date just for us. All 12 dates are different. Several, actually nearly all of the dates are things we have never done before. The plan is to open the envelope together at the beginning of the month, look at the calendar and decide on a date. So right from the beginning of the month, we'll have a fun date on the calendar to look forward to. In each envelope I included date details, directions, parking information, menu, babysitter information....you get the idea.

Here are the 12 dates that I have planned for us: Since January has already passed, we'll have a when we feel like it envelope.

FEBRUARY Its a surprise...I have a very special date planned on the 25th, so this one is still a mystery to him.

MARCH Snowboarding at Mount Baker. I found a special price that includes an 1.5 lesson, equipment rental, and beginners lift ticket (the first 3 lifts) for $49. A lift ticket alone is typically $50, so this is an awesome deal.

APRIL Norpoint Gun Range in Arlington. We'll spend some fun time together shooting targets, hopefully have some hand on lessons from my sweetie, and lunch afterwards.

MAY Drive in Movie Date at the Blue Fox to see Fast & the Furious 6. We loooove these movies so I thought it would be fun to go to a drive in movie, just like our second date. It's local and the movie starts at around 7PM and is typically a double feature for $6.50 per person. Cheap date right?

JUNE Cooking Class demonstration style by the amazing owner and chef at Il Granio Italian Restaurant. Our friends Wil and Marcy will be joining us for a double date. So we'll all learn how to cook an amazing meal together and then eat it afterwards and visit with friends. Romantic :

JULY Lunch at the Space Needle. I have NEVER been to the Space Needle....and I have lived her for over 15 years. Its time to go! Dinner is so expensive, but after doing some research I learned that the lunch menu and dinner menu are pretty similar, but lunch is half the price. If you eat lunch at the space needle, parking is free, and going to the observation deck is free.

AUGUST A family date to Snoqualamie Falls. Together we'll take the kids for a hike and a picnic. Visiting the falls is free, picnic tables are free, and parking is free. I'll pack us a special picnic lunch before we leave.

SEPTEMBER Vegas Baby! Brad and I want to get away. So for 3 days and 2 nights we want to go somewhere affordable and hot where we can relax. Tickets from Bellingham to Vegas are really affordable, there are a lot of really nice hotels, spas, swimming pools, shopping, and tattoo parlors......you know we'd stop by one of these. This trip is not paid for yet, but I plan on saving money throughout the year so that we can go.

OCTOBER Guys need man dates and girls need girl time. So this month Brad can have fun doing something with his boys.....going golfing, concert, whatever. I want to go to the spa for a relaxing facial....I have coupons that I have been holding onto for a while giving me a facial for $50 that I am dying to use. Sounds like an awesome time with my mom :) or a pedicure.

NOVEMBER Shopping in November is pretty awesome....especially since Black Friday deals are really good.

DECEMBER So much to do in December that a date really isn't needed.....Christmas Village, pictures with Santa, baking cookies together as a family, tree farm, so many things to do this month, sooooo excited to celebrate this Christmas with Laney, Lily, and Jaxon. Family time. Watching each other as parents. Falling more in love with each other everyday.

Valentine's Day may be different this year. Having a lot less money to spend, less time to spend with each other, more babies to take care of.....but I'm so in love with this life of ours. And that's what its all about.

Nikki in the New Year

2012 is going to be amazing. I've decided.

I didn't want to make any New Years Resolutions, but I do want to make some healthy changes in my life. Working full time, being a mom of 2 babies, taking care of my husband, cleaning the house, organizing, making dinner, couponing, working out, spending time with family and friends, volunteering at our church, and then having some much needed mommy time is not easy. So I've decided to break it down. Here we go! (It's a long one....)

WORKING FULL TIME

I will do my best this year to excel at my job. As of January, I am now starting a new job with the Tribe as the Tribal Media Relations Coordinator and I also help our executive assistant with her daily tasks if I'm needed since her work has tripled. She is getting closer to retiring so this is a job that I may be able to step into. I've been helping her for the past three years, but now its officially a part of my job.

MOM

My most favorite thing about my life right now. I love being a mom. Everything about it. I will try not to get frustrated. Chasing a toddler around the house, making messes, learning how to do things, baby spit up right after I got dressed....stuff like that. Its just a season and I'm going to miss it someday. So I am going to make the best of it and not get so frustrated.

I also want to focus this year on spending more time with my step daughter Laney. She lives in Kansas so I can't see her all the time, but I love facetiming with her on our phone, sending her care packages for holidays, going to visit (I had to cancel my last trip to see her since I went on bed rest, I was devastated.) She is growing up so fast and I want to be the best step mom that I can be.

TAKING CARE OF MY HUSBAND

The past two years have been hard on us. Being pregnant, having a new born, switching his schedule to early morning shift, being on bed rest......there hasn't been a lot of time to focus on us. Currently I get home from work at about 5:30pm, I make dinner and we eat, then Brad goes off to bed since he has to get up for work at 1:00am to go to work. So we aren't able to spend a lot of time together. If he isn't working he needs to catch some zzzzzz. This year I will make it a priority, to spend more time together. Have more family time. Go on dates. I fall madly in love with him every day we're together, but marriage takes work and I intend on being the best wife to him that I can be.

CLEANING THE HOUSE

Most people hate cleaning, not me. It makes me feel good. I love when people come over and the house isn't a mess and I'm not embarrassed. I love how when I need to find something I can actually find it because I clean up at the end of every day. Imagine if you only cleaned your house once a week. You would spend your entire weekend on it. So instead I do a little everyday. I have actually made a cleaning checklist that I use during the week and on the weekends. Click here to view my list. Click the arrow at the bottom right hand side of the box to download. You'll be amazed what you can do by making a list, crossing items off really helps me feel accomplished and organized. Enjoy cleaning! Do me a favor. If you download the cleaning checklist I made, please refer back to my page and comment below :) Thanks so much!

Please keep in mind, I do not complete every task, everyday. I look to see if it needs to be done. I strive to complete the daily list, but I don't always have time to do so. Sometimes I even finish Monday's chores on Tuesday. This list is tailored to my home. It's really just a guide to help you, if you want it. Since I have been spending a lot of time doing laundry on the weekends, I sort the laundry throughout the week. Lets say the baby clothes basket gets full, I do a load that night. That way I don't have a ton to do! Its worked much better for me. I also try to put clothes away right after I fold them. If I don't they just sit there and I never get to it.

ORGANIZING

Organizing makes my everyday life so much easier. I'm starting a challenge this year. My girlfriend Christy told me I'm rubbing off on her and she is doing the same, so she has decided to join me in this challenge. Here is a yearly challenge that will get my whole home done in a year. I think I'll tweek it to fit my needs, but the basic idea behind it, is just what I'm going for. I did a similar challenge last year from one of my favorite organizing blogs, a bowl full of lemons. It's a 21 day challenge, that took me a few months to work on. Here's a few projects I did successfully last year:

Linen closet

Spices

Kitchen Drawer and Brad's Hats

MAKING DINNER

Getting home at 5:30pm after working a long day makes it very difficult to make a yummy dinner. I am tired, I want to spend time with the kids before the go to bed....but I don't want to eat crap. I want to be able to sit down at our dinner table as a family like my parents did with us when were growing up. I loved it. So Christy is joining me in this challenge too. Friend support is the best! Here's what we are going to do. Have a meal marathon. Spend maybe a day a month and make a ton of meals. It's hard to make a lot of meals, but it is easy to make a double batch of something.....same mess you make, you just double the ingredients. So lets say I make a lasagna. I make one for my freezer, and make one for her freezer. Two meals for two families and we both get to try new things, so we aren't eating the same food every week. Great idea right? I plan on prepping things and freezing them so that I can pull them out the night before....such as chili to throw in the crock pot, enchiladas, stuff like that. So the awesome part about this is spending time cooking with a friend, making homemade meals in advance saving me time every night, and eating new food since we both make dishes. Imagine if you had a night where you had a few friends over and each person made a double batch to give to keep ojne and give one to someone else. Girls night that is productive. I love it! I'd also like to have a meal plan done for the entire month, but I don't know how to do that yet.....hmmmmm.

COUPONING

Last year I decided I would try my hand at couponing to save my family money on groceries. I had no idea that I would save so much money! I also love having things in my stockpile when I run out. Rather than running to the store every time I run out of something all I have to do is head out to my garage. If I ran to the store the BBQ sauce would probably cost me $4....I purchased them on sale with coupons and bought enough for an entire year. 12 bottles cost me $1.20....pretty amazing right. Couponing does require a lot of organization and a lot of time clipping coupons, researching deals, going to the store to get the deals. So I have decided to only go grocery shopping once a month. Get everything I need once. If I run out of my basics such as milk, fresh produce, eggs, I can just run to the store for those items or if I notice any really great sales that I can't pass up. So I'll try my hardest to spend 2 hours Friday afternoon during the kids naps to clip and organize coupons that came in the paper that week. I get 6 papers and clip all coupons that apply to products I use or would like to try. I look at the krazy coupon lady website daily on facebook. She posts every deal as a new facebook post and I check facebook pretty frequently throughout my day. If I see something really good, I make a note of it.

WORKING OUT

My biggest struggle right now is finding time to workout. I wake up at 6am with Jax to feed him, then Lily gets up and I need to feed her, get the kids and myself ready for work, drop off to Desire's house, then head to work. I tried working out on my lunch break, but then I was all smelly and sticky for the rest of my work day. I also didn't have a lot of time once I got changed into my gym clothes....besides....when am I going to eat lunch? When I get off work I need to make dinner and spend the only time I have with Brad right now before he heads to bed. Once he goes to bed, I clean up, give the kids a bath and get into pjs, laundry.....the list goes on. Because the kids are in bed and Brad needs to sleep because he leaves for work in a few short hours, I can't leave to go to the gym. So I've created my own routine at home in my living room! I'm calling it the Hot Mom's Program. My friend Desire and my friend Amy who lives in Ohio, is doing the same long distance. No matter how hard it is to make time, we promise to do 1/2 hour to an hour of exercise everyday. If you don't move, you don't lose. I also found it gave me a lot more energy to finish up my nightly tasks before bed. We check in on each other and give each other a hard time if we didn't work out. Motivate each other. And it also gives us some friend time! I love that.

FAMILY AND FRIEND TIME

I want to have more fun with my family this year. Going places, doing fun things together. I love spending time with them so they make this one pretty easy.

Since I've had Lily, I have struggled with making time for my friends. I love spending time with friends, but I am at a point in my life where I don't have a lot of time. If I do, I spend it with my husband and our kids, and at home. By incorporating friends into the tasks above, I am having friend time even if we can't always "hang out." Its not a lot, but its the best that I can do right now. Even just a phone call to see how a friend is doing. My girlfriend Janielle and I both are busy with work, kids, husbands, and home....but we manage to chat and catch up. I love that about her.

VOLUNTEERING AT OUR CHURCH GRACE COMMUNITY

I love being part of our church. Grace Community is a wonderful church and I do love how it has brought me closer to my faith. Our church has a Helping Hands program that help the homeless and low income families in Oak Harbor that I plan on couponing for throughout the year. (Seeeeeeee...combining two things, couponing and volunteering=same amount of time) Getting items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo....items like that.

While I was on bed rest, Brad and I were so blessed to have help from so many people who didn't even know us from our church. They came to my house and had play dates with Lily, made meals, cleaned, sat down and chat with me, did errands for me, helped with childcare. I couldn't believe that people were so generous with their time to help our family when we needed it the most. I made new friends, spent time with old friends, laughed, cried and felt super blessed. Making meals for others who are sick, just had a baby, etc. or cleaning help is how I can help someone else. Pay it forward, make someones day.

MOMMY TIME

I promise to do something for myself once a month. Go get a pedicure, buy a new outfit, get my hair cut, go to the spa, watch a movie, spend some time with my girl friends, go to a class at the gym, take a long shower. Sounds easy enough, but making time for me comes last on my list when it should be way further up on the list.

Okay 2012.....I'm ready for you.