Bridal Shower ideas!

So, my brother is getting married to a wonderful girl named Jenn. They are going to be coming back to good ol' Illinois mid february and my mom, sister and I are going to host a bridal shower for Jenn. So here's my question: what have been some of the most fun things you've done at a bridal shower?

I'm very excited about using my cricut to make decorations. We're doing brown, pink and cream colors and I don't really have a "theme" or anything yet but if you have any fun cute unique ideas for a bridal shower let me know!

Prayer Request Friday

Okay so I'm going to do something different. Every friday I'm going to share a few prayer requests with you all and ask that you comment anything you'd like me to be praying for you about. If you don't want to write it or anything just hit like and I'll just pray for you in general. Prayer is a powerful thing and I'd like to support you all through prayer! So, here are a few of my requests:

My grandpa found out he has stage three cancer- there are tumors on his skull. He is also in early stages of kidney failure- he's not yet on dialysis and they're hoping they can improve his function by increasing his fluid intake to three quarts a day.

My dad had a tennis ball sized lump appear on his elbow and they drained 2 vials of fluid from it. They are worried the infection from it will travel to his hip that he had resurfaced a few years back.


My job. I'm hoping for a renewed passion. Sometimes I really feel it but other times all I want to do is be at home with my daughter. There's a serious inner battle going on in me about this but I know I need to be following God's call with my career but it's not been easy to do lately.

My husband for us to work together and deepening our relationship around God. We let our lives get so distracted by everything and it's a struggle to stay focused with all the changes we've experienced.


Praises:
-Lucy held and played with a rattle all by herself tonight! She's progressing wonderfully!
see!:

-Tyler's work has been steady and his first year of owning his own business has been extremely successful! It's truly a blessing!

So there you have it! Let me know how I can be praying for you! Hope you have a blessed day!

10 Secrets to a Happy Marriage

So lately I've been reading Karen Kingsbury's Firstborn Series. These ones:

I'm a big fan of her writing. And the most recent book I've been reading (Forever) shares 10 secrets to a happy marriage and I thought I'd share them with you...They are really good:
1. God has you here to serve one another. Love acted out is serving.
2. Women need respect and nurturing. Love your wife so she knows you'd lay your life down for her. Continue to date her and admire her. Share a hobby- find something you can do to have fun together.
3. Laugh often.
4. Be patient. Love crumbles quickly under the weight of unmet expectations.
5. Spend more time trying to fix yourself than your spouse.
6. Keep short accounts. The Bible says, "Do not let the sun go down while you are angry." Make it a habit to forgive.
7. Determine up front that divorce is not an option.
8. Learn about love languages. Not all people who love or recieve it the same way. You want a back rub and your spouse wants a clean kitchen. The love languages are fairly simple: acts of service, time, physical touch, gifts, and words of affirmation. Learn them. Love is better received when it's in the language that person speaks.
9. Words of affirmation are a love language for all men.
10. Men are born to be leaders. He cannot lead unless she gives him the confidence to do so. If you love your husband, build him up. Confident men do not seek love outside the home.

How many times have I myself forgotten some of these? After reading this I decided to put them into action. Last night I went home and told Tyler how proud of him that I am and that I love him and that I apperciate everything he does for Lucy and I. When was the last time I'd done that? I honestly can't remember telling him how proud of him I am lately. I tell other people how proud of him I am but I forget he needs to hear it too.
I am so very grateful that we both agree that divorce is never an option. How easy would it be when we have arguments to just let one of them open a door that can't be shut?
I forget sometimes to speak to Tyler in his love language, I give him what I want and he gives me what he wants when we need to provide what the other wants. It's my goal to make him laugh (like I did with my Six Month Plan Post, he got a kick out of my "subtle hints!"), to serve him, to make him feel loved and respected.
It can be so easy to forget to do the little things that make someone feel loved. Especially when you have kids and your whole world shifts to focus on them.
If you are looking for some good books check out Karen Kingsbury. She's a fantastic author! And remember to tell your spouse how much you mean to them in their love language, it'll be much better understood and accepted if you do!

Sharing a Smile

Yesterday, my daughter held and cuddled and fell asleep with a stuffed animal for the first time and it was adorable. Here are some pictures to document the occasion:

Hope it made you smile today!

The Six Month Plan

Okay February marks my half birthday and this year, I will be 25. Gosh does that sound weird to say. So, I've learned with Tyler that I need to campaign for what I'd really like months in advance, it's a science really.
So starting around my half birthday I try to subtlety hint towards something I would like and then get gradually more obvious as it gets closer. My goal this year:

More details here.
 It's beautiful isn't it? Well Four years ago, Tyler bought me my current camera, I loved it dearly however in the last few months it's been having problems with the picture clarity and with the flash, you have to smack it just right to get the flash to work and by then you usually end up missing the picture you wanted. It's rather irritating really.
So get ready for it Tyler, I'm turning a quarter of a century old so I'm begging for this beautiful camera. I will be shameless in my attempts to talk you into this beauty. (And just remember being the youngest in my family I learned how to cry on demand so I might even well up a few tears on this camera's behalf!) Just think of how beautifully perfect all those pictures of Lucy will be on this thing! I've got six months of shameless tactics ahead so beware I will be trying my darnedest to talk you into getting me this thing! With any luck in a little over six months I'll be posting pictures taken by a beautiful camera similar to this on! 

Fortune Cookies and good Deals!

We had a blast Saturday. We went out to St. Louis Mills mall and just did some shopping and fun spending the day together. Tyler had gift certificates he'd been itching to use for Cabela's so we gave in and headed to St. Louis for the day. We went to Cabela's, ate at Panda Express, laughed at our fortune cookies, walked around the mall and found some great deals for Lucy! I hate the thought of buy things full priced especially when she's going to grow out of all her clothes so fast. So we checked out The Children's Place and here's what we found:

(sorry the picture is turned to the side...I was too lazy to upload it to my computer and then switch it around...it came to you directly from my camera) The three t-shirts were $1.99 and the tank top was $.99. I figure she'll be growing so fast I wouldn't mind paying that little for these tops plus they are pretty cute!

 Now these one's I won't lie, I paid full price- the one on the left is from Children's Place ($19.99) and the one on the right is from Babie's r Us ($12.99). One will be for her baptism(left) and one for Easter (right). They were cute and pretty much perfect for the occasions so I decided paying full price was worth it.

And my final purchases for Lucy of the day: a light sweater/jacket for spring $4.99, adorable pants $4.99, Orange top $4.99, and Winter jacket for next year- $7.99. I figure what are the odds that she actually wears a winter coat for too long without growing out of it quickly? I'd much rather pay less then 10 for a coat then more than 30!
Plus, I won't lie Old Navy was having a sale and I found myself two tops for $3 each! They had 50% off all their clearance items and I fell in love with the shirts I got! And while I ran to the restroom Tyler was checking out at Old Navy he got me a new travel coffee mug! It's super cute and I loved that he surprised me with it! It was really sweet and it's the little things like that that make me feel special! I sure love him!
So that was my Saturday! It was nice and relaxing! Now I'm just looking forward to tomorrow when I get to spend the day at home with my baby girl!

My Baby's growing up... how about another?

My daughter is growing up... :(
I need to start going through her clothes... After Tyler gave Lucy a bath last he put on a 0-3 month sleeper sack and it barely went past her knees... she's not chubby so clothes aren't really tight around but length wise she's getting too tall! It makes me sad thinking that she is growing so fast! I just boxed up her newborn sized clothes and now the 0-3 are well on their way to being put in storage tubs too...sigh.
Am I the only one who wishes that kids came with remotes so you could use the pause button on their lives so they could stay little for just a little longer?

I have a hard time thinking she's grown up so much. I swear she hasn't changed at all then when I look at hospital pictures I'm amazed...my baby's growing up...
So, just because I can here's a few pictures of my adorable daughter:

She was mad at me for putting her hat on- it was -1 out this morning
so she was going to wear it no matter how much she screamed!

She didn't mind it once it was on it was just a matter of getting it put on that she didn't like!

Lately, Tyler has been talking lately about when we should start considering having another one. I won't lie, some days I have baby fever and then other days I think about going through labor all over again and I'm pretty much completely freaked out by the thought. Don't get me wrong it wasn't horribly traumatic or anything but  the pain of labor and recovery are still too fresh in my mind sometimes to even want to consider it. We have however agreed to more seriously consider late summer/early fall depending on our health insurance and if we're covered on maternity then or not. I don't want to be an older mom, I want a chance to enjoy my kids and spend time with them and have the energy to keep up with them. Plus we don't want them to be super far apart in age. My hope is however to be well on our way with Lucy being potty trained by the time the next one makes his/her appearance.
So, here's my question for all you moms...Does the fear/anxiety over labor go away after awhile? Does the thought of it get easier? How is labor the second time around?
On the bright side I am looking forward to decorating another room and picking out names!  I'm pretty sure we have narrowed it down to Hunter David or LeAnn Marie...I'm not sold on the spelling of LeAnn though I've looked at several different spelling options and I'm leaning toward it being my favorite though.
I hope you all enjoy your weekend and I will see you back on Monday morning!

My dream projects

So, every year, Tyler and I have been doing projects around the house- both minor and major ones. The first year we lived here we painted every room, installed new toilets, shower doors, put up a couple new ceiling fans/lights in two of the bedrooms. The second year we built a deck out our back door, fenced in the back yard for the dogs, installed a new back door and new french doors off our room out to the patio and completely redid the landscaping all around the house. Last year we replaced all the linoleum flooring with tile and got rid of the claw foot tub and installed a wonderful jacuzzi tub and replaced the carpet in the basement along with painting two of the bathrooms and one hallway. We also decorated/painted Lucy's room and replaced all the lights in the kitchen, dining room, and hallways (they were reallllllly outdated and sad looking).

This year Tyler and I have been talking about the projects we'd like to tackle next and well since we had Lucy we're going to be holding off for a bit which I'm kinda sad about. I love taking on these projects! So for today since I don't get to do any of them this year (well, unless I can talk Tyler into some of them!) I thought I'd share our dreams with you all!

My kitchen: our kitchen has very depressing green laminate counter tops that have scratch marks and dings all over them not to mention the grease stains. (I've come to realize the people who lived here before us didn't exactly take care of things...) Our hope is to get something much more durable along with a new sink. My biggest dream for the kitchen is a new stove/oven. The one that is in the house when we bought it has two burners on one side and a grill top on the other...we attempted to use the "indoor grill" once but it smoked up the house like crazy and kept making the smoke detectors go off plus it was a huuuuuuge mess to deal with. (Seriously don't get one! Grills belong outside!) Plus I would seriously love to cook more then two things at a time sometimes. And to top it off I'm about 89.78% sure that the people who lived here before us never cleaned it and that's why it will never ever look clean no matter what I attempt to clean it with...

that's my someday dream stove!

Our next hope is to turn our wood burning fire place into a gas log fire place. I love the wood burning one but the smoke drives my allergies crazy...I will miss being able to make smores mid winter over an actual fire though. We also would love to replace the green tile that is around the fire place it's broken and cracked in several spots. We would also really like to make it a stone front fireplace like you would find in a cabin. Our house has a rustic feel to it, if you came here you'd know what I mean. And we like the cabin feel. (plus we don't intend to ever move. We love our house, it's the perfect size for a family of 4 or 5.)

my someday dream fireplace!

Well Lucy's waking up from her nap (I'm snowed in today! who knew grown-ups could get snow days too! I think God read my blog yesterday and thought I could use it!) Back to reality, I'll see you again someday dream world when I can talk Tyler into making you reality!

Sigh...

It's one of those days....
that makes me wish I was a millionare and could be a stay at home mom...
where I'm frustrated and angry...
where you wish you could record what everyone says and replay it for them so they could realize how stupid, judgmental and biased they are...
that makes me wish when I prayed for patience that it would just happen not that I would be given a million opportunities to learn it...
that makes me wish I could just be at home with Lucy cuddled up on the couch avoiding the world...
that makes me grateful that God can overcome it all...

Ugh... I hate long weekends...the moment you go back to work it feels like everything crashes and burns and leaves you feeling like a pile of mush that keeps getting stomped on. No matter how many bad days I have, I know God has a plan and a reason for it all...sigh...

Murderer!

Did that get your attention? I thought so! Well, I have a confession to make...I am the single worst person to ever be given real plants. I kill them, not intentionally...but it always ends up a sad dehydrated death for them... I'm not kidding, I always forget to take care of my plants, inside and outside, give me stuff that requires no attention because if it needs to be cared for, odds are I will end up killing it because of neglect. :(

Now on to confession number 2: if it doesn't bark, meow, or cry I shouldn't be allowed to take care of it either. When searching my house for the perfect unused vase I found our old fish bowl. Why do you ask would I have a perfectly good fish bowl with no fish? That's right, you guessed it...because I'm a murderer. Well maybe not when it comes to fish, I blame that on the fact that we got our fish from Walmart and they have a sad tendency to die regardless of who owns them.

So why am I telling you this? Because it involves my latest project!
Our DVD stand has been the home of what may qualify as the worlds saddest fern...observe:

How there are still parts of it that are green I will never know considering how very dead the rest of it was...
So today's goal was to make my sad fern disappear and put something in place that would be well, impossible for me to kill!
When looking around the house for some different options I found some fake flowers, my old fish bowl/vase, and some rocks from a small fountain that my dogs had destroyed at one time. I kept the rocks because I thought I could use them for something someday...Here's what I came up with:

 So I had the tissue paper in case the rocks didn't work out like I planned but it did so luckily I didn't have to use it! Here's a picture of my trusty assistant- she really has an eye for interior design, haha!

 So anyway, I  arranged the flowers, and filled the vase with rocks, pretty easy, I know. Then I added a picture frame I was given for christmas and kept my "hope angel" that a friend gave me and ta da!:

Nothing super special but I've really been discovering how much I hate dusting so I'm trying to minimize how much stuff I have to dust and dust around. I'm pretty happy with it, I'm slowly, bit by bit changing up the decorations around the house...It's really kinda sad how so much has been the same the entire time we've lived here! It's nice to have a new feel to it!

My next project I'm getting pretty excited about was inspired by Adrien's recent do-it-yourself projects!
I've been looking at growth charts so we can keep tabs on Lucy's height as she grows and the ones I have found that I like have been insanely over priced so now I'm on the hunt for some super cute girly fabric that I can jazz up and make into an adorable growth chart! And I'd like to get it started before she's standing otherwise I'm the worst procrastinator and she'd be 5 by the time I get it done!

These are a few if my favorite things!

When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad...is that song stuck in your head now? It's been stuck in mine so I thought I'd share it with you! (at least I didn't start with the song that never ends, right?...shoot now that one's stuck in my head!)

Okay moving on from the annoying songs I've been cleaning around the house and working on various projects today and I thought I'd share a few of my favorite things!

#1- My Dyson Vacuum- expensive? oh yes, but oh so worth it. Tyler and I were actually given this by my in-laws as a joint gift for our birthdays last year since we got new carpeting in our house. We have the dyson animal ball.

I love this thing, it picks up dog hair and leaves my rugs/carpet looking amazing! We have three dogs so pet hair control around this house is a must and this vacuum works wonders! I've never used a vacuum that works so well in my life! If you ever get a chance to really splurge for a new vacuum get a dyson. And since they apparently never lose suction we shouldn't ever really need to get another vacuum so it's def. worth every penny!

#2 The Shark Steam Mop- All our upstairs floors are laminate wood flooring and our bathrooms are tile. I used to use the swifer wetjet but it never seemed to get the job done. This puppy is awesome, it steam cleans your floors without having to use chemicals and because it steams it sanitizes all at the same time! And instead of having to wait for your floors to dry in a matter of seconds they are dry! The pads are re-washable so you don't have to buy anything for it, just fill it with water, plug it in and in a few seconds your steam cleaning your floors! Serious, this thing is awesome and it makes your floors so shiny!

Plus, I won't lie, I use this on my walls too by our back door we let our dogs in and out and there's usually mud or something they've tracked in that gets splattered all around and it works super easy- instead of scrubbing with products that could discolor your paint this thing steams it all right off!

#3 Space Bags- Okay I won't lie I wasn't a believer that these things would ever work but wow! I stuffed a very fluffy over-sized comforter into one of these and now it happily sits on the self annnnnd I have room for other stuff on there without it all falling off or making you worry there will be an avalanche when you open the closet door!  

I'm seriously in awe of these things- they would be a pain to deal with daily but when you're wanting to store away extra bedding/blankets or your sweaters during summer to make room in your closet they are so totally worth it!

#4- Cricut Expression- Okay I love to scrapbook and do little craft projects and this thing is awesome! Tyler got it for me for christmas and I love it! It's great for jazzing up blank cards, scrapbooking, and making projects around the house or making decorations for parties/events!

It has seriously got to be one of the most fun things I've ever owned! I love it! Plus, it's super cute- I have the one pictured above and it's even more cute in person! (I realize how crazy that sounds but I'm serious!)

#5- Netflix- Tyler and I are movie junkies. We spend most of our free time relaxing on the couch watching TV or movies. We just finished watching seven seasons of 24. We have the cheapest plan possible and are able to watch it on our TV through our Wii. It's awesome- much cheaper then going out to the movies or renting them.

So there you have it a few of my favorite things! Hope you're all having a happy Monday!

Confession Friday Bandwagon...

I suppose I'll jump on the confession Friday bandwagon... here you go!

I confess I'm an introvert. Seriously. Every time I've taken a Myers Briggs Personality test I've never given more then 3 extroverted answers. I promise, I'm not stuck up, I'm not overly shy, I'm not antisocial, I just like to be alone or talk one-on-one. Why is that such a bad thing? I'm not a fan of being in large groups, I feel like people get lost in the crowd and there are too many distractions.

I confess I wish I was more crafty/inventive. I have good intentions/ideas but my follow through isn't always great. I wish I had more time to tackle projects that are on my "maybe they will get done someday list..."

I confess I love to bake. I'm not a huge fan of cooking all the time but I loooooove to bake! I probably should more often to keep Tyler from buying little debbie snacks when we grocery shop...

I confess that I love fall, like winter, adore spring, and despise summer. I love to wear cute sweaters, jeans, boots, jackets, etc. I hate wearing shorts and tank tops. I hate being too warm...you can only take off so many clothes when you get hot but man can you add the layers and blankets when it's cold!

I confess I have been craving chicken strips and chocolate (not together of course!) every day this week. Weird, I know.

I confess I did confession friday because I couldn't think of anything else to write today. haha!

Well, there you have it, my confessions for today! Happy Weekend!

T-Shirts, Hoodies, and Jeans, Oh-my!

I've been realizing more and more since I've gone back to work a few things about my wardrobe (I lived in sweats when I was on maternity leave)... I look like a college student! Working with teenagers I own so many church t-shirts/hoodies that they've taken over my wardrobe much like I essentially owned mostly college apparel, now I pretty much have my sunday morning church clothes and literally my church clothes- tshirts, etc. Now this goes back to my earlier post Lies! Lies! Lies!... I felt like once I became a mom things would change-things like my wardrobe...I'm realizing more and more as I've gone back to work that since I'm only 5'2(I haven't really grown since I was in jr. high) plus the fact that I wear jeans and hoodies/tshirts a lot I end up "blending in" with my students... 
Bit by bit it is my goal to re-vamp my wardrobe from student to mom...now, I don't want to start wearing mom jeans or anything old lady like but I'd like to look my age and not have people wonder if I'm a teenage mother!
Granted, it doesn't help that most of my clothes I still can't wear- i.e. mainly my pants...but still, I'm not 16 anymore! I'm not in college anymore and unless I'm at youth group or a youth group event or being lazy around the house I don't want to wear my t-shirts/hoodies!
I have high hopes for cardigans to layer with cami's, sweaters, adorable tops that have personality, jeans that fit, cute shoes that don't have the word tennis in front of them...
Hey, I might not be able to grow but maybe wearing clothes that set me slightly apart from my jr/sr high students would help, right? Oh what it means to grow up...or well in my case grow old!
I'm hoping this weekend to use my christmas gift cards to make a bit of a difference! We'll see! My goals: find jeans that fit, a cute pair of warm boots that don't look like uggs and that don't have heals (I'm clumsy and snow+heals just is a disaster waiting to happen for me!), a white/cream colored cardigan.
Wish me luck! Someday I'd like to look more young mom then teen mom!

You are beautiful...

All too often I forget that being me is enough. I look at the lives of others and see everything I'm not or that I think I should be. I forget that I am the person God created and that in and of itself is enough.
I heard this quote on the radio this morning:
Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else. - Judy Garland
Gosh I love listening to WIBI. I always feel much happier and I don't have to worry about changing the station of some disgusting song comes on the radio. I even listen to them while I'm at work. (www.wibi.org- it's a christian radio station that's fantastic!) They always end up having some quote or verse that makes me think and today's did a lot...
Lately I've been thinking about the world that my daughter will be growing up in. Honestly, I'm afraid for her. I hate to think of how the world will make her feel about herself someday. I hate knowing that right now if she could understand what I say half the time she would hear me expressing my current unhappiness about myself. (My extra pregnancy weight has been making me feel pretty crappy about myself these days...) I hate thinking that my poor self esteem could affect her. I want to be a role model that she can look up to. One that finds strength and confidence in God not in the mirror or clothing size. I want to be a role model that shows my daughter what it means to be healthy, loving, respectful, caring, fun and godly.
As I think about everything I have been feeling lately I want to make it my goal to every day be the mother she deserves. Not her friend, but her mother. I want to make the tough decisions that might not always be easy but that show her what is best. I want her to know she is beautiful as God's creation. I want her to find her value in her relationship with God, not in a boyfriend or social standing.
Every day when I pick up Lucy out of her crib in the morning I tell her, "Good morning little girl! You are beautiful!" I want her to know that she is perfect just as God created her and that she doesn't have to try and be anything other then herself. I want her to know she doesn't need to try and be something she's not because she thinks a boy or a friend group would like her better if she were different.
Every time I hear this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXSkd8apbWM I think of my beautiful daughter. I think of all the teenage girls that I work with that struggle with life and have been searching for love in all the wrong places, the girls who have been searching for their identity in the wrong places.
I want my daughter to have a relationship with her father that will show her what love is. I want my daughter to see my relationship with my husband and know what she deserves in marriage.
I hope and pray every day that as her parents we can instill in her what it means to find her value in God and to have a growing relationship with him. I don't want her to doubt who she is or what kind of love she deserves. I don't want her to have any doubt of how loved and cared for she is.

Recipes Needed!

Okay, Tyler and I are trying to become better about how we spend our money. One thing we have agreed to do is cut back on how much we go out to eat...I won't lie we often get lazy and talk each other into going out...plus we haven't gotten groceries in several weeks so our pantry is pretty well empty...When I do cook I feel like I make the same things all the time. So here's my question for you...what are some of your favorite recipes? Send me a link, type them out in the comments section, whatever works easiest for you!
My goal is to plan a menu then go to the store and get the items we need...Tyler and I are in a terrible habit of getting what looks easiest and quickest to cook. I want this to change. I'd like to make things from scratch or almost from scratch that is!
So, please, comment and let me know what some of your favorite recipes are!

Lucy's 2 Month Birthday!

I can't believe it...my baby is already growing up so fast it's hard to believe. Sometimes I desperately wish she came with a remote so I could use a pause button on her life, I truly wish I could keep her little for a bit longer... I dread knowing that one day the world will start to scrap away at her innocence...

So, I can't lie, when I looked outside this morning I sighed and thanked God for such a beautiful gift to Lucy on her 2 month birthday...Here's what it looked like:

outside our front door

Yes, I know it's not really just for her but it was beautiful and perfect...not to mention it keeps snowing on important times in her life- first thanksgiving- snow, first christmas- snow, 2 month birthday- snow. I don't know how many of you watched Gilmore Girls but Lorali has a thing with snow and it's super special to her, I hope Lucy grows up feeling that way about snow... I love how beautiful, perfect and innocent snow makes the world look.
And I feel terrible for her but, they only do shots on Friday's at our health department so our poor girl will have to get her first set of shots today... I hope the snow makes up for it and she doesn't hold it against us!

She has been such a blessing in our lives, I couldn't imagine life without her anymore. Here are some of my favorite things about her/memories...
-When she wants something- food, to be put in the car after she's in her car seat, etc.- she starts crying the moment you put a bib on her or open the car door she makes a giggling sound like she's thinking "haha I made you do what I wanted!" It's adorable and makes me laugh.
-She burps/farts during the most awkward moments- the first time we took her to church she burped when the pastor was sharing prayer requests...it was super quiet and her burp was super loud!
-Her eyes get blue-er everyday. When she looks at me with those bright eyes like I'm her whole world I'm flooded with a feeling I can't even describe...
-Her facial expressions, she is so very expressive I wish with all my heart I could read her mind to know what she's thinking when she makes certain faces.

Those are just a few...I'm so very grateful for her. She has been such a blessing in our lives and even on her fussiest of days, I wouldn't trade her for anything in the world.

on her 2 month birthday!

all ready for daycare

Happy Birthday Lucy! 
I love you!

LIES! LIES! LIES!

Well my intentions to clean the closet yesterday and test out my space bags failed miserably...Ugh, none of my plans have been working out the way I intend lately.

Now, you're probably wondering what my title is all about...bear with me while I rant a little will you?
When you're in 1st grade you see the 5th graders and think they look so big, they're so grown up, etc. Then once you get there you realize they weren't that different, they really weren't that grown up, and really they weren't much taller then you...the same thing happens when you're in sixth grade and you see the 8th graders and the same thing when you're a freshmen and you look at the seniors....really, they never had it all together, they were never really that much bigger or different then you...really it was all in your head.

All my life it always seemed like mother's had it all together (well most of them anyway)... For some reason I had some idea that when women became mothers something magically happened and they just had it all together...I thought they were so much more grown up, that they had it all together, they were taller (I'm 5'2 so everyone always seems like they're taller!), that everything would just fall into place...Nope, not true, just like I picture the older kids as wiser, bigger, having it all together it's a lie! Things just get more complicated and you have to become better at balancing life...and let me tell you, it's a lot harder then it looks...Someday, maybe I'll have it all together...pfft, no I probably won't but, that's okay...because even if I don't have it all together at least I know together with my family I've got it all....(cliche? probably but it's true!)

Mantle Redecorating!

There always seems to be a post Christmas blah-ness about our house. All the decorations are gone and it just seems empty. I was pretty proud of my mantle decorations this year so it just seemed even more depressing once I took down all the Christmas decorations. Not to mention it has been decorated exactly the same since we've lived in this house which is 3 years now. It was in need of a change. Here's how it looked after I took down most of the Christmas decorations and how it's typically been decorated:

Post-Christmas Mantle

This is what it has looked like since we've lived in the house...I was ready to change it up!

Okay, so I left the geese- these were a wedding decoration tradition my mom has for her children, I can't quite remember the significance but anyway, they stay on the mantle and so does the silver "LOVE" sign. Everything else went! (Our unity candle and wedding pictures got moved to our china cabinet) During Christmas our Nativity scene is displayed on the mantle along with the stockings and this year my new addition was these hurricane lamps that have poinsettias painted on them.

So here's what I had to work with:

here's a closer look at the hurricane lamps and a few of my new items.

Ribbon- 33cents a yard for each (I got two yards of each so I would have some extra to play around with. My origional intent was to use the ribbon to cover the poinsetta's on the hurricane lamps but it wasn't going to work so onto plan B...
I layered the ribbons around the candles to give them a more personal feel.
Then, I used some white tulle and white tissue paper to line a vase, (I cheated) and got a $5 flower bouquet and arranged them together in a vase.
I then gathered up my willow tree figurines that Tyler had given me for my birthday and arranged it all around the white Christmas lights (I loved how they looked at night with my Christmas decorations so I decided to keep them) and here's the finished product:
 

The completed mantle

my $5 floral center piece

our "family side"

our "wedding side"

my favorite willow tree figurines

So there you have it! My redecorated mantle that cost me:
$2.22 for all the ribbon, $5 for the flowers, and $5 for the white candles
Total Transformation: $12.22
I liked that it is simple and not overly cluttered and it cost me less then $13!
Tomorrow is another Lunch break scramble! I'll be testing out my Space Bags...We'll see if they really work!

Christmas and New Years

Okay, So as I promised I'm finally going to catch you all up on our Christmas and New Years...
Monday the 20th Tyler, Lucy and I celebrated Christmas together just as our little family since our actually christmas eve and christmas day were supposed to be so hectic. Lucy was adorable and slept through pretty much all of it. (We're lucky we did it early since she ended up in the hospital the very next day.) The pictures from this christmas are on my video camera at home- my camera has been acting very flaky lately and wasn't working very well but here's a couple ones that I do have:

Santa's Gifts

The tree and presents

Lucy sat in her swing while we opened and showed her her presents!

For Christmas we got Lucy a Jumperoo, infant seat, some clothes and some small toys. She was pretty excited let me tell you!

The next two days we were in the hospital....
Christmas Eve once we got home from the hospital my parents, brother and his girlfriend came by to visit. Caleb, my brother had not seen Lucy yet- here's a picture of their meeting:

 She was a big fan of Uncle Caleb!
After they left we loaded up the car and dropped off all our stuff at Tyler's parents where we were spending the night. Then we went to his Uncle Tim's for the Metzger family Christmas. We ate dinner then headed out to church for the candle light christmas eve service. Here's Lucy in her car seat all ready to go to church:

 

she was pretty tired!

After the christmas eve service we drove back to Tim's and opened presents and Lucy got to hang out with her cousin Brody who is a few months older then her. Here's some pictures of the family craziness:

our family

Lucy and cousin Brody- for some reason this picture wouldn't rotate

everyone all packed into the family room

Then Christmas day- we started the day off at Tyler's parents since we stayed there. Here's Lucy with her gifts from her grandparents, aunt and uncle:

Lucy with her presents from Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Jamie- she was dressed up as our best gift!

Next we went to my grandparents for the Torrence family Christmas we opened presents, ate lots of food and then headed back for the Montgomery Family Christmas. We had a "dirty santa" gift exchange which was pretty funny- where everyone brings a $5 gift and we draw numbers and then you pick a gift, open it and the next person can pick someones gift or open a different one...Tyler and I ended up with the gifts we bought since we liked them! It worked out nicely for us!
The next day after church my parents, brother, his girlfriend, and grandparents came to our house for dinner. We did the Larson family christmas. Lucy got her gifts from my parents and slept through it all again!
All in all it was a pretty great Christmas, I loved celebrating Lucy's first Christmas and am excited to see how she will be next year when she'll have a better idea of what's going on!

New Years:
It was the day of broken plans! We made plans to go with Tyler's parents, his Uncle Tim's family- that was the only part that happened as planned! We went to effingham a bit early to do some shopping and EVERYWHERE except Walmart was closed so we bummed around walmart until our dinner reservations. We showed up at 7:25 for our 7:30 reservation to find out they had given our table away...cue the 30min wait. We finally got dinner and then headed to the bowling alley- which is tradition...we all walked in and were told that they were completely reserved until 12:30 in the morning. So we decided to go back to Vandalia, rent a movie and watch it at Tim's. We got the movie and tried to start watching it and apparently it was super scratched and wouldn't play worth a darn so we watched Grown-Up's which someone had gotten for christmas- super funny by the way! Then finally around 1:30 we got home and went to bed...we're pretty pathetic when it comes to staying up late these days! And if you're curious about how Lucy did staying up late: once we got to Tim's she ate and then sacked out for the rest of the night!

sleepy baby!

So anyway, there's our Christmas and New Years celebrations! Hope you all had a wonderfully blessed Christmas and are enjoying the new year!