A Fresh Start...

Okay, I'm back...kind of... My parents recently moved 16 hours away so I decided to give blogging another shot to keep better in touch with them however I think I needed a new start so if you'd like to follow me bounce on over there and follow along!
here it is! Hope you enjoy hearing about the beginning of our christmas season!
http://thelittlestblessing.blogspot.com/

Our big news!

Sorry I have been AWOL. Life here has been a bit hectic and we are trying out some new daily schedules and all that fun stuff so I've been a bit busy!

So what's been going on in the last month you ask?!
Well, our big news is that we found out that baby #2 is a girl! We are due to welcome Leanne Marie around February 19! We are very excited!

So we are in full swing of operation big girl room for Lucy. We don't have furniture for her yet but we have been scoping out prices and trying to figure out what we like.

Our big debate as of right now is: to paint or not to paint. Seriously- which really is centered around the question of do we want 3 kids possibly all girls?
We haven't decided yet and probably won't after Leanne arrives. But we have three bedrooms and if we paint a girly color then have a boy there's more painting... I figure we can always paint later depending on all the answers to our questions!

Reality hit me Sunday, my little munchkin will be two in less than a month now! Hello party planning/freak out mode! I'm currently wanting to do an outside cowgirl themed party but the way it's cooled off I'm not sure if it would be too cool or not in early November!

Reality also decided to pull a double whammy on me and remind me that my little girl will soon need some preschool prepping. (debate is still out on if we will send her to pre-k...)
So all you pre-preschool moms what are you doing/have you done to prep your littles?
I've got some fun things in mind but I'd love your creative suggestions!!

And I will leave you with a picture of my 20 week bump! I'll be back with fun moments from our trip to the pumpkin patch soon!

Question of the day and other random thoughts...

Question of the day: how soon is it okay to bring out cute fall stuff? I'm itching to bust out those beautiful red, orange and yellow hues!

It's September now, so it's cool right? Or am I supposed to wait for the it's officially fall?

Ps I need to remind Tyler to bring me home a 4x4 post so I can make this in all of its fall adorableness.
Thank you pinterest!

Source is here:http://youcraftmeup.blogspot.com/2011/09/making-your-own-pumpkins.html?m=1

Christmas in August?!

Okay it's confession time!
I have been bitten by the fall/winter bug! I am so ready for all the fun stuff, carving pumpkins, keeping the windows open, eating Carmel apples, Lucy's 2nd birthday, thanksgiving, allllll things Christmas!, and of course february will bring with it the arrival of baby #2!!
I'm so excited to experience the holidays with little ones all over again, I feel like it brings the mystery and joy back that you can begin missing as you get older.
I'm planning to order Elf on the shelf and begin expanding our Christmas traditions with an activity advent calendar, as well as a fun fall bucket list!
Yesterday I got caught up looking through Lucy's first birthday pictures and I started getting so excited to plan her 2nd birthday! I'm hoping to have perfectly beautiful fall weather so we can have a fun campfire to go with the cowgirl theme I've been dreaming of!
Don't these fall/winter things have you going summer stir crazy?!?

Alone Time... What's that?!

Ah. I have almost forgotten what alone time feels like! Sad, I know! But anyway Tyler is out hanging up deer stands and Lucy is at nana's so I'm taking a short break. I've been going through my closets and trying to get things picked up as well as revisiting the abyss...progress is being made!!

Anyway. I'm going through my closets because after I had Lucy it took me a long time to get back in shape. I hadnt really realized how big I was and had gotten. When in college I weighed between 135-145 depending on the year. After Lucy I was almost 155. I did biggest loser with some girls I used to work with at lost 23 lbs and an now down to 128 being 14weeks pregnant. So, I have a lot if clothes that just don't fit...not to mention my body shape changed completely and none of my old pants fit at all. I can't even wear my old maternity clothes. They are huge! Which is both exciting and depressing at the same time!
So far I've boxed up my too big maternity pants to set aside for as I get bigger and maybe I will wear then maybe not.
I have also gone through and gathered up 2-3 garbage bags of stuff I just don't wear now. That I've grown to small for(even when pregnant!) I'm going to be donating them soon.

My other goals for today are to conquer cleaning out my craft stuff and moving over the book shelf to the under the stairs closet. Where in going to have our library of sorts. (my nerds side wants to put a sign on the door declaring it the department of mysteries... Yes I love me some harry potter!)
I also want to paint that door with chalk board paint but alas that has to wait since I'm preggers unless I can rope my best friend into doing it... Which is very possible!

Anyway I better get back to organizing and cleaning and sorting! The best friend is visiting this week and shes going to need a bed to sleep in, haha!

Did you do any fun projects this weekend?!

Mommy successes!

Eureka! Apparently the best way to get Lucy to stop wanting a pacifier is to tell her that we left them in Hawaii where we went on vacation. One entire day so far of no paci!!! That includes one nap and one entire night of sleep!
And look! My wild haired child is still happy!
(and ornery but, that's normal!!)

Organizing Shame

Ugh. I love having things organized however the actual process of organizing is the annoying part.
Ok now, here comes my confession time... Since I quit my job I had basically brought everything home and shoved it in our spare bedroom... Well that spare room will soon be used for welcoming home baby #2...
So for mothers day I begged Tyler instead of getting me a gift to put in new beautiful shelving in my laundry area so I could have a place to store crafts... Well he did but I never got my craft stuff up there yet... (thank you morning sickness and 1st trimester exhaustion for this delay!) So my current craft room/book storage room is in desperate need of an overhaul...or well actually just a mass exodus of all the stuff would be great... And to top it off since we are having company next week I need the room back from the abyss that it is becoming...
Hello project week...
So to further add to my embarrassment...uh... I mean motivation here is a picture of the soon to be nursery/current abyss...

So yeah if you don't see an update anytime soon you can blame it on the fact that I've been sucked into the abyss...

Take 3 or 4 I'm not sure but, I'm here again!

Clearly it's been awhile since I have posted. Boy has life been changing a lot around here again. We are now expecting baby #2! And along with that has been some SERIOUS morning sickness. I've been exhausted and super sick. It is tough keeping up with everything when you feel like poo. My poor house is showing it too. Toys, laundry, dishes...it's all just out there waiting to be cleaned and picked up...
Dear morning sickness please give me a break soon!

Anyway I'm 13 weeks along and really wondering if we are expecting a boy. This pregnancy is so different from my first one it's overwhelming a bit! I have no clue what to expect, haha!

Lucy is getting huge and it's exciting and scary. I'm loving my big girl but missing my snugly baby. Such a weird mix of emotions! We are soon going to start potty training and getting rid of the beloved pacifier. Dear Lord, help us through those rough nights!

I'm going to start watching another little one soon baby M is 9 months and I will be watching him 3 days a week! Toddler B is 2 and loves playing with Lucy every day! I feel blessed to get to be in their lives but boy they are tiny little hurricanes of destruction every day, haha! Clean play and repeat. That's my life these days. I will however soon begin the process of getting my in home daycare license , which I'm very excited about! Yay for rediscovering your path in life! There are days I miss being a youth pastor but I would never trade it for having a chance to be in my kids lives more! I'm blessed!!

So there's my life for now. Why am I back to blogging? 1. Because I need something to help me stay focused on the world aside from toddlers! 2. I need a better schedule and minor accountability. I feel like I go through the motions every day and I need some stability to keep focused. 3. I need to feel like I have people to talk to besides babies and toddlers! (love them but, they aren't great conversationalists sometimes, haha!)

So come on moms talk to me! What are your potty training tips? How do you balance adult life with toddler/baby life? Any good devotionals you are reading? I'm starting to work through Liz Curtis Higgs "Bad Girls of the Bible." hoping it's as good as it looked! Now I'm off to tackle vacation laundry and pick up piles of scattered toys!

Kitchen!

Here's Lucy's finished kitchen! I'm pretty pumped about it (and secretly hoping she loves it!) thanks to my wonderful husband for helping install the sink (aka:bowl) and faucet! I'm proud to say I sewed the curtain myself!
Now here's a before reminder followed by the lovely after! (I know, I'm slightly biased!)

Kitchen- part 1!

Oh it's been a busy busy week! My house has been heaving one huge sigh of relief as I have finally finished some of my long overdue projects/deep cleaning. Seriously the garbage guys are going to think we are purging. Goodbye magazines we never read!(and all that other junk that's been piling up...seriously I threw away about five boxes from old cell phones, cameras, and other fun techie stuff we have gone through. Not that I wanted to keep them in the first place but I just forgot I stashed them and then never looked there for about three years....I know it's pathetic!)

Aside from some pretty hefty cleaning I have just been enjoying staying home with Lucy. I have do much relief to be able to be part of her life and enjoy these moments with her. I feel so lucky and blessed for this opportunity! It's amazing what I can accomplish while that girl naps!

Anyway, I'm super pumped because Tyler got step one of Lucy's play kitchen finished! Yes! The "sink" aka: metal bowl and $10 cheapo Walmart faucet have now been installed! Yes! This means the painting and sewing can officially begin!
My current dilemma is now should
I paint it all white and just use pops of color with accessories or should I infuse more character into it? Honestly I'm leaning toward going all white with some light distressing. And since I'm trying to keep this project super cheap cost wise I'm wanting to use paint I already have...
Which I have: Russian white which is a creamy white/barely tan color (main wall color in my house), burgundy (from my living room if you look at past fire place pics I have posted), and a grayish brown color that I used in my bathroom and a hallway.
So here's what I have so far if you have thoughts or suggestions about paint I would love the input!

My First Full Week

Well in a couple of days I will have reached the mark of having been a stay-at-home-mom for one week! My house may not look any cleaner but, my desk, pantry, end tables and all the hidden storage spots are heaving a sigh of relief. Seriously, you might not see a difference but, boy the garbage man sure will, haha!
I start opening my doors next week to take care of a couple other kids so I'm trying to get all the nitty gritty stuff done this week...all while Lucy naps of course!

I can't even begin to say how grateful I already am to be able to have this time with my daughter. My level of stress has dropped astronomically and my general sense if relief is just wonderful. I love spending mornings snuggling and watching cartoons, playing, hearing her giggle echo throughout the house!
I wake up feeling relieved that I don't have to worry about missing more time with her...
My house might not look perfect but there's always going to be something baking in our home and memories being made. And, to me...that's much more important than dusting.
I will say though it has been a major test of my discipline. I could easily nap or read all afternoon but I want to keep up on things and not get overwhelmed at my messy house.
Now, to make up a weekly cleaning schedule to get a good routine going and make a menu board/binder so I can start keeping track of our favorite recipes!
So far, I am loving full time wife-mommyhood! (I think Lucy is loving it too!)
Here's a pic of Lucy and I on mothers day playing on the slide at my in-laws!

Please and Thank You!

Hi. My name is Stefanie and I am the mother of a very stubborn 18 month old girl. She REFUSES to do anything other than scream when she wants something. Oh the girl can talk and does she just prefers to scream. Please oh please fellow patents have you experienced this if so, how did you get it to change?!

Your favorite toddler things!

Since I will soon be able to stay home with Lucy I have been building a list of all the fun random things I want to do with her. I want her childhood to be filled with everything from lazy rainy days to she's-had-so-much-fun-she-can't-stay-awake days!

So here is my question for you... What are some of your favorite toddler(ish) activities that you suggest we try out?

After all I want her to grow up knowing summers are fun, for adventures and for growing her imagination!

Book Review- 'Have a New Husband by Friday' by Kevin Leman- Part 1

Did you know amazon.com gives away free books? Well they do and sometimes they are really good ones!

Anyway, I was looking around one day at their free books and this one was offered so I figured hey, why not even if it sucks maybe I can learn something!

I've so far read about half of it and there is a few major points that I have had to remind myself of that I really appreciated being reminded of...
The first is what I wanted to share today... "here's the catch- your husband won't do his part until you do."

Okay, I know this concept won't be appreciated by everyone but, this is what it had been reminding me...
I can't expect anything from my husband if I'm not willing to give also. It's that vicious cycle that if I don't respect him he won't respect/love me.
I can keep us stuck in a vicious cycle or I can just step up and honor him.
Don't get me wrong I try very hard to respect/love him and we work very well together but as every couple does we do have some moments...
Since i will be a stay at home mom soon I know that I need to work even harder to show him my respect and appreciation. He will be the main bread winner and I need to express my appreciation for the money he brings home, the house we share, the time we spend together. I want him to know that I don't take for granted how hard he works to provide for our family.
I may not always like/agree with my husband but I know he deserves to be respected and appreciated and instead of being upset about something I will intentionally begin looking for more ways to praise him...after all I want him to know that I am and always will be his biggest cheerleader and supporter!
I am so very grateful for the gift that he is in my life. God had truly blessed me with my husband and I hope and pray that I daily I have the courage to treat my husband as the gift he is.
Anyway that's part one of the review! Have you read this book if so what did you think?

Reese's - A New Family Favorite!

I have a confession to make... My family has a serious sweet tooth. I can't find everything to come up with a dinner on the fly out of my pantry but boy I definitely always have plenty of things to make at least 10 different desserts... Clearly I have my priorities straight at the grocery store, haha!
Anyway I have recently discovered this recipe (thanks to pinterest!) and it was a hit! So, I thought I would pass along the goodness!

These are the directions (straight from the source!):

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (Only Better)

1 1/2 cups Graham Cracker crumbs (I buy the store bought crushed but you can always crush your own grahm crackers).
3 1/4 cups Powdered Sugar
1 1/2 cups Peanut Butter
1 cups salted Butter, melted
1 bag (12 oz) Chocolate Chips, semi sweet
1-2 tablespoons of butter

1. Combine the graham cracker crumbs and the powdered sugar.
2. Add the peanut butter and the melted butter and mix well.
3. Pour the mixture into a 9X13 pan and stick it in the freezer for 20 minutes.
4. While the peanut butter mixture is cooling, you can microwave or use a double boiler to melt your chocolate chips and 1-2 tablespoons of butter. I personally just throw the chips and butter in a microwaveable glass bowl and microwave 30 seconds on high, stir and repeat until they are melted. Works perfectly every time.
5. Pour the chocolate over the peanut butter mixture and spread evenly. Put the bars in the fridge and when the chocolate is set take out and cut yourself a little piece, and then get ready to take a short jaunt to heaven!!

Go here for the official recipe, pictures and all!:
http://heatovento350.blogspot.com/2011/01/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-only-better.html?m=1

I am telling you they are wonderful!

What are some of your favorite easy go to desserts? I would love to try them out add and new options to our recipe book!

Ps. I didn't cut them up like this we usually just dig them right out if the pan, haha!

Motherhood Fears

Okay, I am about unleash my inner fears...bear with me because let's be honest public speaking is at the top of my list quickly followed by parenting.

Yes, I said it I am afraid of completely screwing up my children. And as much as I have dreamed of being able to be a stay at home mom it terrifies me. Is that weird? Yes? Okay, let me explain...

I have no excuses. I can't blame the sitter, they crazy kids she is around or anyone else. It's all on me and the crazy genetics my husband I shared with her.

If she is rude, demanding and obnoxious I have no one to blame besides myself for her attitude/behavior! Yes, I totally realize that she is only 18 months old but still that just scares me. Irrational? Quite possibly...

I am afraid I will not be patient or I will be too strict. Seriously who cares if she makes a mess of the house if she's happy and safe? Well, I do because I am obnoxious like that sometimes.

I want to be a fun creative laid back mom that fully present in the life if my daughter. I don't want to be distant or ignore her. I want her to grow up feeling loved and cared for. I want her to have millions of fun memories to look back on. And as scary as it might be to be a mom, I am grateful to have the chance to be the one that shares those moments with her...

I mean seriously who wouldn't want to remember her dirty socks and ornery smile from when she gets caught playing in the dirt?! Who wouldn't want to see her discover and proudly point out her belly button?! As scared as I am I am grateful to have this little girl call me momma... It is one of my life's greatest blessings from God!

A New Beginning!

Well, last Thursday I turned in my resignation from the church. This was an extremely difficult decision but one I feel very excited about! I will no longer be missing out on the life if my daughter and husband! It truly is a blessing to be able to stay home with Lucy. I have been making lists like a crazy person of things I can't wait to do with her this summer! Our first experiment was homemade finger paints! She had a blast! (thank you pinterest for the directions!)

Here is a sneak peek of an upcoming project I am working on: I am making a kitchen for Lucy it's starting off looking like this: and will hopefully end up pretty cute!

My last day at my job will be May 9 so I might be a little spastic on posting until after that but, I am excited to have a way to document our lives through this blog! Hopefully I will get to make some fun changes and updates to this ol' blog soon! I am excited to show you pictures and to begin documenting our new home life! I hope you enjoy going on this journey with us as we figure out life!