Christmas Recap

I'm a little behind on the ol Christmas recap! Since Christmas fell on a tuesday this year, that means I got saturday, sunday, monday, tuesday, and wednesday off! HOLLA!!! I enjoyed every second of that!  and now with new years....I'm off saturday, sunday, monday, tuesday! HOLLA again! Gotta love those days off, I don't get many of em! whiney whine whine...I know, I know. Seriously, I work at home, it's not that bad, lol.

On Christmas eve, we stayed home during the day, and then went to my parents for dinner....then church, where my friend Kim and her family met us this year! That was so nice to have them there....who knows maybe they will make that a tradition of going with us?!?! maybe?

My boys and me on Christmas eve at probably 11:45 am, still in our pajamas! We didn't get dressed till it was time to go to my parents at 4pm! It was great! Watching Home Alone of course! :)

My boys at my parents house on Christmas Eve

Look out!



Cole got a police car from my parents on his first Christmas, so of course Drew got one too!



The only thing Cole really asked for was a batcave! He wasn't kidding, because he looooves this thing!

Daddy and Cole putting reindeer food on the lawn!



Santa also brought a bike! Santa did good, He loves his bike too! His "dirtbike" as he says!

Baby's First Christmas pajamas!!



And Drew, just loves Christmas! lol. This kids claps non stop!

 Our Christmas day is always hectic. We open presents bright and early at our house, and then travel an hour and a half to my grandma's. Open presents, then go to my aunts for lunch/dinner. We had planned on spending the night at my parents lake house, but it was calling for a bad snow storm, so we ended up coming home. Thank goodness we did, because the next day was a blizzard!! Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!!

Not Such a Big Deal!

Well yesterday was the day. Drew got tubes in his ears! We went to the ENT two months ago, and he said Drew was a perfect candidate, but at that time was asymtomatic. He wasn't infected, had perfect hearing in both ears, and no fluid in either ear. But, he said if he has another infection, fax the paperwork in and we'll get going on the tubes. Well.....Drew had not 1, not 2, but 3 more infections after we saw the ENT! I kept putting it off because I was worried about the anesthesia, and just the simple fact that you're performing surgery on my baby!

But a little less than 2 weeks ago the pediatrician gave him 2 antibiotic shots, (because oral no longer work for him)......and 5 days later the infection still hadn't cleared up and he had to go on an oral antibiotic. The pediatrician then said, he's too little to be on so many antibiotics, and if this keeps up it could eventually cause organ damage! ENOUGH SAID. I called the ENT back that day, and faxed the paperwork the next morning. Within 4 days Drew was getting tubes!

Wow, I'm not sure why I put it off so long! It was so simple! Drew was laughing and playing in the recovery room, and you'd never know he had anything done! He's been absolutely fine since! The ENT did say that he had fluid behind both eardrums (2 months ago he didn't have) so he had gotten considerably worse, and I'm confident we did what was best for him! I was worried over nothing, I think. He did wonderful, and I'm relieved it's over! Now let's hope it works for him!!

Here is my little man chugging some pedialyte! Worst part of the whole thing was that he wasn't allowed to eat past 3:30 am and his surgery wasn't until 10:30 am  AND they were running late so he didn't go back till almost 11! He was a little trooper!! We even got a Doctor hat for Cole as a souvenir ! Which he wore the entire evening last night!

This is Doctor Cole making cupcakes last night! He looks so cute in that hat, cracks me up! Just realized this will be the last post until after Christmas and I never did get to post a pic of our decor! well, just add that to the list of things I didn't get done this holiday season!! :) I still have all the wrapping to do. Plan on locking myself in the bedroom tonight and getting it all done. HOPING to get it all done! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Holiday Linkup

Yikes, I know I'm a day late with the linkup....but better late than never, right?

Questions:

What's your favorite holiday movie? I like the Hallmark movies, and the lifetime movies! In fact, my Mom and I have actually bought many of them, so that we are sure to see them all, every year! ONE of my favorites is called "Secret Santa" it has Jenny Garth in it. Check it out!

Do you have any special traditions? We go to church every Christmas Eve (not just at Christmas, lol) and Every Christmas morning....my aunt, my 2 cousins, their families, my parents, and my family always have breakfast at my grandparents house, and then open gifts with them. (After we've done our Santa stuff at home)
What's your favorite ornament or decoration?Both of my boys "baby's first christmas" ornaments, and a big bulb with my name on it. It's huge. My grandpa got it for me when I was little. He passed away in July, so this is our first christmas without him....this bulb is extra special to me this year!
Best gift you've ever received?My parents give us a nice chunk of cash each Christmas so that's always nice.....but my hubs always gets me good gifts, I don't have a favorite...he always gets good stuff

Worst gift you've ever received? Popcorn, lol

Favorite winter accessory? Boots, Boots, and MORE BOOTS!

Real tree or fake? Fake, I've never had a real one because I'm allergic to them! Sad huh! Now my boys are allergic to them too!

When and how did you find out that Santa was not real? How sad is this?! I think was in 4th grade! I feel like I was a little late in the game, lol. For some reason we spent the night at my aunts house, to wake up on Christmas morning with my cousins......and my two cousins and I watched my aunt take my cousins new bike down the stairs. That was it, lol(She obviously didn't know we were watching!)

Keep The Change Ya Filthy Animal

Well here we are December 19, I'm STILL not completely done shopping, I have nothing wrapped, I'm having my little daycare party, and to top it off I'm off tomorrow  because Drew is getting tubes in his ears! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! Yep, tubes in his ears 5 days before Christmas. The ENT assures me that Drew will fine by evening tomorrow, and that it will not effect his first Christmas....but I still think we're a bit nuts! He needs them like, last month......so I'm happy he's getting in so quick! We just found out yesterday, that this is going down TOMORROW! I'm already an anxiety ridden mama.....so I might as well just start the nervous breakdown now!

He's not allowed to eat anything past 3:30 am and his surgery isn't until 10:30am! Yeah, that's going to be a rockin good time! I'm going to be a mess tomorrow, I have a feeling. But, I just keep telling myself it has to be done. He will feel better, and hey, maybe he'll start sleeping all night?!? That would be awesome.

Ok, back to my Christmas dilemma(s):
I feel like true meaning of Christmas gets lost. We all KNOW it does. We try to incorporate the true meaning to Cole, whenever we can. Like, each night we read a book called "God Gave us Christmas" It's on his level, and I think he understands. He attends preschool in our church, and he does know that Christmas is Jesus' birthday, and that is why we celebrate. So I guess we're doing ok with trying to educate our 3.5 yr old about the meaning of Christmas. But, sometimes I feel we don't do enough.

I get so stressed over not being done shopping, hoping that one last package I ordered for my mom comes on time....it says delivery date dec 26, and I even paid rush shipping!, worried about getting everything wrapped, everything made food wise since we travel bright and early christmas morning and won't be returning home until the next day.....with all this, I tend to forget to enjoy the season, and remember the reason for the season.

With Drew's surgery tomorrow my goal has now become.....to be happy, and rejoice in just how blessed I am. All the stuff will get wrapped, I'll get it all packed, I'll get the food made. It may not all be as perfect as I wanted, but it will get done. The important thing on my mind is my little man and his ears tomorrow! After that goes well, we can focus on the rest......until then.....not worried about it. All the other stuff seems so trivial right now. When yesterday it was all I could think about. I know my little mans tubes in his ears, is a piece of cake but for me.....that's still one of my babies, and it's a big deal!

One last note: Cole has become obsessed with Home Alone. Yesterday he went to the bathroom but had been in there longer than usual. I checked on him and found my two santa handtowels in the sink, soaking wet, under the running faucet. When I asked what he was doing, Cole replies "I'm playing Home Alone, Mom" AWESOME! UGH. You know in Home Alone, the wet bandits.....when they put dish rags in the drains, and turn the faucet on before they leave? Yep that's what he was doing. :(  gotta hand it to him though, that was pretty perceptive.

So today, we moved on to Home Alone 2: Did you know Kevin says "I'm up here ya horses ass" Well he does, and guess who picked right up on that! Ho Hum. I'm kinda figuring out, that Home Alone probably isn't the best movie for a 3.5 year old!

Vicious Cycle!

I've been trying to look up new healthy recipes. You know, dinners I can eat and not feel horrible after. Yeah, that would be nice. I struggle at dinner....and lately I've been struggling all day. I often feel like once I start the day off eating crap, I might as well eat crap ALL. DAY. LONG. Bad idea! Let me tell you what that boils down to.....your sweat pants fitting tight, and feeling winded after just going up the steps! NOT COOL.

I'm pretty sick and tired of feeling this way. So change it right? I think I've been down this road sooooooooo many times. Drew turned 9 months old yesterday, and I look worse now than I did right when he was born! Again, NOT COOL. My neighbor down the street went on nutrisystem and has lost 4o pounds in 2 months. Sounds awesome right? Well, 1. It's so expensive! $229 for one month! I can't swing that AND still grocery shop for the hubs and kids. 2. I don't trust myself after I stop eating their food. I may be crazy....but I KNOW I can't hold back with certain things and I just don't think that diet would teach me anything? Anyone had any success with it? I think the moral of the story is.....you have to change your life. Change your choices, eat healthier, burn more calories than you take in. Yeah, so I know WHAT to do, I just have to actually DO IT!. 

You hit a point, where you are just so sick of the same old crap. That's me. I'm tired of people seeing me fail, I'm tired of failing myself. I know I would feel better, look better, and have tons more energy, if I would just make the change! 

Everyday about this time my eyelids get soooo heavy, and I just want to sleep! Part of that is because my youngest son still doesn't sleep all night, so we haven't slept a full night in 9 months....but the other part is that I fill my body with crap on a daily basis....and let's face it, crap makes you lazy, sluggish, tired. So I do this to myself! WHY??? I know the problem, why do I not have enough initiative to fix it?!?! This frustrates me so much. At night when I go to bed, and feel horrible about what I ate all day....I think...."I hate this" tomorrow is the day! I'm going to stop this! Truth is, it's a vicious cycle. I need to lose weight so I'm depressed....I eat because I'm depressed and want to lose weight....I get depressed that my house is so dirty, yet I have no energy to clean it...because I eat crap, and I'm too tired at the end of the day because I'm depressed?? That about sums it up! lol.   

This is so hard for me. I've always loved clothes, hair, makeup. I'm from the country....but I like my girly girl stuff mixed in there! So for me not to be able to wear what I love, and look the way I used to....really gets me. I feel like I lost "me" somewhere about 60 pounds ago. I am tired of going places and feeling so self conscious all the time. Looking at others wondering "is that how I look" and I'm ashamed to say it but I often feel a sense of relief if I see someone in the same room who is bigger than me! Tired of looking at others and seeing their success. Tired of wanting a quick fix.

So, now that I've gotten through such a happy post today....I think I'll go pin some skinny recipes!

Polar Express

Polar Express! Today, I'm just showing you a few Polar Express pics! We had a great time, and Drew did wonderful! (I was worried) However, when we got home that night, he was breathing heavy, and running a fever. Back to the Dr. yesterday and ear infection still isn't clearing up. Hubs faxed in the paperwork to have his tubes put in, as early as next week! :(  I'm not the least bit excited, but we've gotta do it!

Anyway.....All Aboard the Polar Express!!

My little Santa babies! Sitting on my parents laps.

               We had a bottle disaster with Drew's santa pajama top...so onesie it is! My sweet boys!

                                         Both boys getting their tickets punched by the conductor!

                                                            Arriving at the North Pole!

                                                                      Cole and Santa

                                                                  Drew and Santa

                                                         Drew's favorite part of the ride!

And the hubs and I....he actually smiled a little!!

We all had a good time!!

Santa Picture Fail Linkup!

After going through these pictures today, I'm not sure if Santa is the reason for the fail, or Moms awesome photography! wow. Some of these are pretty rough! Let it be known that the ONLY professional picture we have of Cole with Santa, was his first Christmas. He HATES Santa. We have santa pics from every year but just not all from the mall. We will do the mall thing this year though, since it's Drew's first Christmas!

Christmas 2009: Cole's First Christmas

                                    See what I mean? Wow awesome job with the camera Mom!

                                             I had to add my little Santa baby in! So sweet!

Christmas 2010:

Another great photo moment for Mom. This was at my hubs work Christmas party....He was working that day, thats why he's wearing his uniform lol...and if you look closely, Cole is climbing him! Did I mention he's not a Santa fan?

Christmas 2011:

                                            

                     Come on Cole, take a picture with Mommy on the Polar Express!.....FAIL! and holy dark hair! Yikes!

            Wouldn't go to Santa, Santa had to come with him....while sitting on Grammy's lap!

Christmas 2012: We don't have our Santa pics yet....bad mom....but here is a santa hat disaster from Drew....I hope this isn't a little preview of our Santa pics!

Polar Express pics coming tomorrow!

I got nothin'

Last night Mickey's Christmas was on.....Cole and I watched, kind of. He's not real into Mickey Mouse, never has been. Odd? But, we had it on....and watched most of it...but the best part, drinking hot chocolate with my little man! He drank it with a straw....and his was more like "luke-warm chocolate" Which is probably why he wasn't a big fan! :)

Tomorrow we board the Polar Express for the second time. We went last year as well. Cole loves that movie even though I think it's absolutely the weirdest movie EVER! Drew is going with us, which should be interesting since he wants to be down all the time now. We'll see how that goes!

I have yet to post pics of our Christmas decor! I think about it in the evenings but then I always think my house isn't clean enough in the background for the pictures! lol. We'll get there....maybe.

On another note: I had my VERY FIRST email with a question in it! I was so excited, lol. It was a makeup question. I'm flattered because I basically do nothing to myself during the week, what I do is very simple. So I'm going to run with that question, and do a WHOLE POST, lol....why? because I'm so excited that someone asked! haha.

Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday!

Home Hair Salon

So after our family pictures were taken about 2 weeks ago....I didn't like the way my hair looked under those lights. It was looking red. When it's really dark brown. (We color it that way.....my natural hair color is actually close to black). Anywho.....I used to highlight my hair completely blonde for YEARS. But, my hair is VERY grey. I'm talking every 3 weeks I have a skunk strip where I part my hair and my hairline, and temples are a grey mess! I've had it since I was 17, bad genes I guess.

I have a lot of hair, so to color the roots, and then highlight...we're talking over $100 every 3 weeks! I can't afford that! So a year ago, I started coloring my hair at home. Costs me $6 for hair color and developer at Sally's! Can't beat it! And, another little unknown fact....my hubs colors it for me!! ssshhh!! one more little secret, he has cut it for me for the last 7 years also! Bet the guys at the Fire Department would love that! lol.

So after seeing those pictures a few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to go blonde...again. It gives me a little face lift, and it covers grey a little longer. So I bought a highlight kit to try at home. I was scared! I don't like the word "bleach" especially when doing my hair myselfl,...but we did it! I've had it done enough times to know what I'm doing, I was just worried about the outcome....bleaching dark hair to blonde can go bad quick! But, we did pretty well I think. And by we, I mean my hubs! yep that's right, he highlighted it too!! LOL.  I'm sure he's going to love that I just posted this!! :)

We pulled it through a cap, because we are not skilled enough to foil it! Then my friend who is a hair dresser told me I should put a plastic bag on it while it sets, to hold in moisture....walmart bag was all I had! LoL I look awesome right?

The before and after.....keep in mind the pic on the left was edited with instagram....and I actually had my makeup done, and I was smiling lol. The pic on the right was just to show the color, and ended up looking more like a mug shot! The hubs didn't do too bad!

Christmas Photo Dump!

Today, I FINALLY got our Christmas cards made! I will have them in my possession in an hour!! I usually have them in the mail by Dec. 1! I'm slacking this year! It took 2 nights of trying to get cute photos, with Drew screaming....and turns out....I still didn't really get anything good with the ones I took! But, the card looks cute....and that's all that matters! Here are some of the pics I used.

Pretty rough, except for my cheesin Santa Cole! But, I used them anyway! What's a Christmas card without a crying baby anyway, right?

Here are a few pics from the studio we had taken last weekend

I swear, Drew does smile! You put the camera in front of the kid and he freezes!! Cole has been Mr. Photogenic from the beginning! Drew doesn't dig picture time! We'll get there......maybe! ;)

Not a whole lot going on with this post today, just a bunch of my favorite subject in the whole world.....my babies!!

Happy Thursday!! It's ALMOST FRIDAY!!! Woot Woot!

Pay It Forward

I only have 12 followers.....all of which I'm thrilled to have! But, I am a dork and look at the page views I receive each day. Even though there are only 12 of you following, there are many more reading. So if I can inspire even 1 person to help, than I consider that a success.

You've heard of "big ballers" These are the girls I refer to as the "big bloggers" when talking about one of their posts to the hubs. You can visit their blogs to view stories of people who are in need this holiday season. If you choose a story that you would like to help with, you can follow the directions on their blog....on how to help.

Mama Laughlin  , Holly ,  Aly

All these ladies have different stories on their blog, so make sure you check them all out. I'll be trying to figure out who I'm going to help today! Some of the stories break my heart, and I can barely make it through reading them! But, as I finished my Christmas shopping for my boys yesterday, I can't help but think about those, who really need some help. I could benefit from taking a step back EVERYDAY and thinking about those who need some extra help. This is a great thing these girls are doing! No, I don't know these ladies personally...but I feel like I do! I read their blogs everyday, this is legit....it's not a scam. I have emailed, commented, facebook'd, instagram, and probably some of other form of communication with all three of them many times. They are real people, I promise! :)

So if you are able, please help!!

Christmas in Full Swing!

I just finished both my boys Christmas shopping!! I feel a slight bit of relief. It was ALL done online. I never have the chance to go shopping without the kiddos with me, which makes Santa's job tough! I can breathe easy about that now.....but there is still the other 18 people we buy for! ugh. lol It's a crazy amount. But with 6 nieces and nephews, grandparents, parents.....it adds up! and that's not even including anything for my daycare kids yet!  It's going to look like a loading dock on my front porch soon!


I did most for my boys on amazon (except 3 things) and since we are prime members....I paid $0 for shipping and my order was $300! I'm pretty excited about that!

I still have a long way to go with the shopping stuff, but at least now if my kids are with me when I'm out...it's not a big deal because they are DONE! did I mention that I am DONE shopping for my boys? :)


This weekend we had family pictures done. My plan was to (like I always do) have our cards made right then and there at the studio, with the pics we just had taken. The studio we go to, prints your pics within 15 min and off you go with your pictures. It's awesome. But this year, I could not stand the way I looked in any of our family pics....so I didn't get ANY of them. The ones of my boys were cute and I got lots of those....but, I wanted a family pic on our card, and since I didn't get any of them......no card. So sometime this week, we need to take some pics of us in front of the tree, so that I can get the cards made...and sent out.

Do you do Elf on the Shelf? This is our first year. Cole named the elf, Richard. Which cracks me up! Richard is Cole's middle name (named after my dad). I can't help myself from laughing each time Cole is on the hunt for "wichard" as he says. So funny. He's really digging this elf stuff! But, we must have an elf that lives on the wild side.....because "wichard" moves multiple times a day! I think Daddy enjoys the little guy a little bit too ;)

Drew is getting into the Christmas spirit as well. He can't seem to leave the Christmas tree alone! I take him away from it, and he goes right back! He seems to have found a favorite branch! Same one every time! Although it's super cute to see his little fingers go for the tree, I've had enough buddy. Leave it alone! :) Probably no chance of that happening right? Oh well, it's cute!

Hoping to get some good pics of our decor tonight. Love seeing all the tree pics! I'm a sucker for white lights, and I swore as a child I would have colored lights as an adult! My Mom always had white lights, and I wanted colored so bad! Well, look at me now. Every light on the outside of my house is white too! I had good intentions, lol. :)

Oh What A Night! - and not in a good way!

What a hot mess of a night! My hubs was on shift (24 hours)....I went shopping with a friend. To one store, I was gone an hour and a half TOPS. My Mom watched the kiddos for me. I got home at 7:15, and at 7:10 my mom sent me a text that said "both kids are sleeping. Cole just fell asleep, and Drew has been out for an hour, sorry" So you can imagine how my night went.

I couldn't sleep for some reason. Part of it probably in anticipation of my kiddos waking up....but they did pretty well. Drew woke up at 2am, ate and was back down by 2:30. I thought I was in the clear....still couldn't sleep..but the kids were doing well!

That is until 4am! Cole woke up and wanted a snack, and juice! I knew we were in trouble! He was wide awake. We watched 101 Dalmatians cartoon, and some Lilo and Stitch! Thank goodness for Disney Jr! By 4:20am Drew was up too! While holding Drew on my chest in an attempt to get him back to sleep, he spit up! All  over my chest which then rolled down my neck, and into my hair! Yummy! So off to the shower I go at 4:45am! It's now 9:00am and both are STILL awake!

My first kiddo for daycare arrived at 6:30am. I've been up since midnight! It's going to be a LONG day!

You can bet that my hubs has no sympathy for me! He got off his 24 hour shift at 7am, gets home at 7:30, changes uniforms and heads to another dept by 8:15am. I'm pretty sure he's not feeling sorry for me :)

 I'm just going to apologize now for my love of ecards. I find them pretty funny, and to be quite honest...I need something to fill up this post for today! A few of these stuck out this morning!! I totally posted my no sleep drama all night long on facebook. Yep, I'm one of  those people!

I just couldn't help it. This is pretty much how I feel about everyone I see today! I need a nap!!

And lastly, my disclaimer about my undying love for obnoxious ecards! Some of them I loooove but the language is horrible on them, and I just can't bring myself to post them. Gotta keep it clean! lol.

Ok, go on about your day.....I know your day is better now that you've read my post about absolutely nothing!  Now go pin some ecards! You know you think they're hilarious too! ;)

Celebrity Sightings Linkup

I'm really digging at the bottom of the barrel for this one! AND even better, I have no proof! But, here goes nothing.... At a Kenny Chesney concert about 9 years ago....after the show my friends and I met a guy named Nick...he was about the same age as us and played the violin aka the fiddle (to us country folk)  in Kenny Chesney's band. He liked us, and we liked him....so we actually hung out with him for a while! He was close to our age....we were 19-20. That summer we saw Kenny Chesney, 2 more times! lol. And yes....we found Nick each time! Did I mention he was pretty easy on the eyes as well?!? I'm sure you already picked up on that!

What's making this little story even better is that this is really not a celebrity! LoL. It's not like I was hanging out with Kenny Chesney. But hey, I'm trying here.


I met Ty Pennington from Extreme Home Makeover....and back in the day, Trading Spaces. It was short and sweet, just a little autograph session, and an intro. Nothing special, but he was cool. It was at a Home and Garden Expo. Pretty exciting stuff!! I actually do have a picture of this one.......somewhere : /

With me being from Ohio, we're NASCAR fans.....Well I was a bigger fan about 10 years ago, than I am now. But, I got Jeff Gordon's autograph who was then the love of my life. It was at a race in Bristol Tennessee. Do autographs count, as meeting? Well That's all I have to go with!


I would really love to have these awesome celeb stories...but I got nothin. And with celeb sightings this bad.....you know I'm not making this stuff up! LoL.

A Little Holiday Stress

I'm feeling it, it's coming.....slowly but surely! Holiday Stress!! I realized this morning that I have 10 gifts to buy before next saturday! Yikes! That's for 2 Christmas parties. Plus, just like our neighborhood does the "you've been boo'd" thing....now we're doing "you've been jingled" and guess who is starting it? Yep, this girl. Well unless someone beats me to it! Which at this point, is quite possible. Our outside lights aren't completely done yet, the inside of the house is still missing a few things....and Christmas shopping? Yeah, I haven't even started! We have over 20 people that we buy for "immediate family" and that isn't including each other, or our 2 children! It's quite a process. I'm not even going overboard either! This is just our nieces, nephews, parents, grandparents, and 2 cousins that are with us on Christmas morning! Crazy huh. Through all of this....I try my absolute hardest to not let the stress take away the true meaning of Christmas, and to keep sight of the reason for the season.

Do you do the Elf on the Shelf thing with your kiddos? We haven't until this year....but we are starting it TONIGHT! Cole will get a kick out of it! :)

We also have family pictures on saturday. We are wearing black and red. Original huh? Everyone has something to wear except me! I am wearing red. How is it possible that I have no red, it's one of my favorite colors? I'm confused. There was a time that probably 85% of my closet was red! And so....this adds to my stress! I want some of the stuff I pin to just magically show up in my closet....so when I need things.....poof there they are....accessorized with shoes, jewelry, handbags....the whole 9 yards! That would be amazing.

Yep, that would be perfect. If only it were this easy right? Ho hum.

I plan on staying home all evening tonight, and making a dent in the good ole "to-do list". Let's hope I have this much energy by the time I actually get to come out of the dungeon daycare!