TGIF

Here we are at Friday!! Woo Hoo! Like most people I LOVE the weekends! Last weekend I spent an entire day without turning the television on, limited internet, blackberry (BB)...not as good. I am making a conscious effort to spend less time watching mindless shows (which I do love), cruising the internet to check up on all of my sites, and I truly need to step away from my phone. I spend a TON of time hopping on the internet via BB which defeats previous commitment to less internet! Though I must admit I spend the majority of my phone time texting and BB messaging. Do you have a blackberry…do you not love BB messenger?!?! On one hand I love how connected I am with my family and friends…on the other hand I probably miss out on quite a bit of the little things in my every day life with Karly and Chris. I really want to make an effort to be less attached to my technology. With that being said…I am going to try my best to make Saturday or Sunday days to spend working on things that need to be done around the house, spend quality time with Karly and Chris, and doing things that I feel replenish me. I did this last weekend and it was really wonderful!

With that said, this weekend’s plan; Saturday Chris works…my day is fairly full of “to-do’s” already so the no TV should be pretty simple! Stormi and I are shopping for her baby shower stuff and hopefully finalizing the last few things for that, I am hoping to pick up a desk I found on Craigslist to redo. Found THIS great inspiration!!! I also have a few other craft projects that I am hoping to tackle this weekend. Sunday we will all be home so hopefully we can find something to do all together!

Hope your weekend is great!

Cookies & Chores

Another weekend in our house, productive and relaxing all wrapped into one! We ran some errands Saturday most importantly picked up Girl Scout Cookies! YAY for cookies….insert sarcasm! I despise selling, organizing, and distributing Girl Scout cookies! I swore after last time I wouldn’t do it again….here I am again. I will say we scaled way back which made life much easier! Not to mention Chris and Karly did all of the work! Snapped a few pictures of them putting together orders.

Chris worked Sunday which is typically chore and get ready for the week day. I will say doing laundry all week has made a world of difference. I used to hate Sundays and now they are actually enjoyable again! My dryer was taking forever to dry so I thought it must be time to clean the lint out of the outside thingy. Ours has a screen so no little mice can climb through and chew through the lint filter and set up camp in our house...yes this did happen. ANYWAYS...I go outside and there are dead plants in the way of the lint filter and I have been thinking I need to cut everything back anyways so I get the shears and get gangster on the back yard. I of course drag Karly into helping and the dogs were more than grateful to spend a few hours in the sun playing with the chopped down sticks! It took me about 2 hours, but everything is chopped back and the sticks were even drug off! Not too shabby! I made a little oops and cut the line that is the electric fence...ok, so a big oops. Good thing my dear husband is handy and fixed it right up! Other than being super sore that night and the next day all was a success!

Penny is so proud of her big stick! She pranced around forever with it!

Penny "attacking" the water

Old Buddy boy...not sure why this picture is hell bent on rotating!

Tax Rant

Well, my title is pretty self explanatory. I will start by saying that I do know it could be worse…we could have gotten less of a return than we did and we could have ended up owing money…but I still need to vent because honestly neither of those seem fair either!

It drives me absolutely crazy the way America works sometimes!! Chris and I work very hard for what we have and what we want. Ok, well my job is very easy but I still get up and spend 40 hours a week of my life here. Chris takes any overtime hours he can get. We went to file our taxes Saturday and we got less than last year! We made more money and get less back. The tax lady actually told us if we would have worked all year (remember it took us 2+ months to find jobs) that we may have ended up owing. She said to have a baby or buy a house this year. I think that is such bullshit! We are average Americans busting ass to bring everything together and you are telling me that next year we may have to pay unless we have a baby or buy a home!?! What if I weren’t pregnant. So, apparently in the world we live in, in order to not owe taxes you need to make very little money all year or get on welfare.

I am not saying I deserve more than the next guy, or that people on welfare don't deserve anything BUUUUTTTT....you surely shouldn't get more back than you paid in! I wouldn't expect more back than what I paid but neither should someone else just because they fall in a lower tax bracket! To me this says be a lazy ass, milk the system and will give you a few grand more than you even paid out of your checks all year! The lady filing our taxes told us earlier that week she did someone who paid LESS than 100 dollars all year and they got over $4000 back! How does this work and how is it fair?!?! I mean reallly you are already getting a hand out all year long from Uncle Sam and now you are getting my hard earned money too? I would rather pay it all in and nobody get money back. It's a slap in the face really.

I know there are plenty more people that pay plenty more than we do but GGGRRRR!!!!!

Edited: 02/24/09 8am

Let me clarify before I get a million emails about welfare and the need. I am NOT saying there is no need for welfare or that living on it is kosher and wonderful. What I am trying to say is that no one, poorest of the poor, middle class, or wealthiest of the wealthy should get more back on a tax return than they put in! IT ISN'T NOR HAS IT EVER BEEN THEIR MONEY!

Random Wednesday

Hello and Happy Hump day to everyone! Hope all is well in your world! I actually feel like crap today but hey I guess it's all part of it! I saw THIS today and decided it HAS to be one of my next projects :) I absolutely adore it! There are further directions on the fiskars website if you are interested.

I thought this picture was just too adorable not too share. It's my new favorite of my lovies!

Are they not the cutest?!?!

Took this self portrait this am :) I am getting soooo big! I am a few days shy of 24 weeks, so I still have quite a ways to go! I can't believe how different I am carrying Sawyer. He sits so high and out there! I can actually still button my regular pants because my belly starts above them!

PS If you haven't heard yet his name is Sawyer Jack

I won!

As some of you know I follow a few blogs...probably a few more than would be considered normal. I just love the recipes, ideas, and inspirations I find! In turn it gives me inspiration to create and make my own world more beautiful, organized and full of fun things and tasty foods! I recently entered, which was simply posting a comment, on a blog I follow, Priscilla's Baking Adventures. Let me just warn you...this girl, I should say lovely young lady is 17! She is beyond impressive. Swing by her blog and check her out! Here is what I won!

Super cute personalized note cards! I am very impressed not only with the quality, but they were here in days! Gotta love a free present especially one that arrives so quickly! If you want to check out more cards from The Note House, click here or here.

Sunday Shopping

The next day we got up, had some breakfast and headed to the Louisiana Boardwalk for some shopping! Found some good stuff and enjoyed a day with the family and some beautiful weather! It was so nice out! We each got a few things and Chris bought Sawyer a few outfits that look like something Chris himself would wear! Too adorable! Karly got fake glasses and some other articles that look straight out of a 1990's MC Hammer video! I would have rather died when I was a kid than wear glasses! She is such a funky little kid! Not much else to say, but plenty of pictures...ENJOY!!!!

All worn out!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day we headed to Shreveport, Louisiana for the night. Some friends of ours invited Chris was to a concert so decided we could make a little family weekend of it!

I woke up to lovely flowers, chocolates and a card while he was at work. Karly and I got everything ready to go and we hit the road at 3. When we got there we realized why we couldn't find a hotel room anywhere...Mardi Gras. Sure Mardi Gras is in New Orleans but apparently the entire state has mini Mardis Gras celebrations all month..who knew?!?! Anyways...our hotel was ghetto...ok, super ghetto. It was only one night and we survived! The concert was Saturday so we pretty much got there and the boys were off! Me, Stormi and 3 kids in a strange town...I would have killed for a glass of wine! We tried to find anywhere with less than an hour wait for dinner which proved impossible and we hit up Chick-fil-a. I will say they prettied the place up for the holiday...fresh flowers and festive colored tablecloths. Not much more romantic than V-day dinner at Chick-fil-a! After dinner we took the kids as promised to Chuck E. Cheese (remember the need for that glass of wine...it's all sinking in now isn't it). I hadn't been there since what I believe was my 7th birthday party! I know crazy! 20 years later and it was pretty much the same! The kids had a good time at least!

Karly at V-day dinner

Karly & Kassie playing air hockey

Ski Ball Princess

Our Tooth Fairy is a flake!

Karly was out playing on the swing set Tuesday when she bolted inside tooth in hand hollering about how she lost her tooth! She loves losing tooth...kid sees dollar signs! As always she writes the tooth fairy a letter to please leave the tooth (because her crazy mom likes to keep them). She also included a P.S. asking for an extra 120 bucks to buy a Nintendo DS...apparently the Wii just isn't enough for her. She slipped it all into a ziplock and under the pillow it went.

The next morning I am in the shower and she comes in...here is her conversation, imagine it in her voice and it's even better :)

MOM!!! The tooth fairy never came! Well, I think she came but I think my dog ate her! I felt Penny jump up fast, spin around, and laid back down. I really think she ate the tooth fairy!

I reassure Karly that the tooth fairy encounters many, many dogs and I am 100% sure that Penny didn't eat the tooth fairy. She is quite disturbed not fully believing me but goes about her day. Chris tells Karly maybe the tooth fairy is feeling the bad economy and going through a rough spot...gotta love my husband.

Last night the tooth was placed ever so sweetly on the kitchen table in hopes of the fairy avoiding her impending doom in Penny's jaws...and she came! She didn't leave the $120 though!

and the typical Karly posing picture just for good measure!

Sewing Project #2

This weekend’s project was baby shoes! They turned out quite adorable!!! Sew a little button on the front and they would be perfect! Well, not quite perfect…but pretty close! I learned how important it is to stitch straight or at least the same distance from the edge. These were so fun to make! I can’t wait to try a variety of different ones!

I also had a second project this weekend that turned out OH SO FABULOUS! I want to make a few more before the unveiling! Pictures and blog to come later this week!

Belly

I was officially 22 weeks pregnant Saturday. Just over halfway there! I am really feeling pregnant! Between feeling Sawyer move, maternity pants and my scale flying upwards much quicker and higher this month it’s hard to forget! Aside from this pinched nerve and some basic achy back and heavy belly I feel great! I love feeling good and I love feeling him so active in there! If all 9 months of pregnancy were like this I would have a dozen babies! I was taking pictures of my most recent project and thought I would attempt to snap a belly shot…well, I am too big to take a side profile by myself so you get to see what I see every time I look down! Yes, I can still see my shoes!

Hypnosis for Childbirth?

You are definitely going to have to sit down, grab a beverage, and open your mind for this post. I can already feel it is going to be lengthy! I do ask that you remember what your momma taught you..."if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all".

I have been doing a lot of thinking, and a lot of research and have found something that I think is pretty great! Something that I am now willing to share with you.

For some unknown reason, the second that pregnancy test proved positive I was terrified. Not terrified of having a second child, second mouth to feed, more responsibility, but terrified to give birth. When I think back to Karly's delivery I feel like it was awful. Truly looking at it and picking it apart it really wasn't AWFUL. I had your "typical" hospital delivery. I was induced, had pitocin, epidural, episiotomy, and vacuum assistance. My life nor Karly's was ever in danger and clearly we both survived it just fine. I feel I was induced too early, and it seemed like one medication was given after the other to stop the side effects from the first one. I guess I can't say my experience was awful, what I can say is that it wasn't for me. I do not want another one like it. "Normal" or not...I guess I am abnormal.

When I mentioned my previous delivery to my current doctor he was like, "and?...sounds pretty normal to me." Are you kidding? How and why should that be considered normal? What did women do before they had all of these wonderful, yet problem causing interventions? I just about begged him to promise he would just do a c-section. I didn't want to deal with labor ever, ever again. He wouldn't agree and looking back that is a good thing. I now find myself 22 weeks pregnant and a completely different person in this arena. I no longer would be the person begging to not have to do anything to get my baby here...I am now quite the opposite. If I could at this point I would switch to a midwife and have my baby in a birth center. The more research and reading I do the more confident I feel. As women, our bodies were truly designed to be able to do this! It's the decades of fear and the traumatic stories that have ruined it for us. I have immersed myself in anything and everything I can find that supports and encourages a natural and positive birth experience.

It all started with Hypnobabies. Self hypnosis for childbirth?!? I can honestly say I not only believe in this program, but find it life changing. It is a six week home study course on self hypnosis and childbirth. You literally retrain your mind to view pregnancy, labor, and birth as a wonderful and amazing experience. They have a completely different vocabulary to erase the negative, we don't call it pain, we call it pressure. They aren't contractions, they are pressure waves. This program has an online support group where people share their stories, questions, and concerns; the two women that essentially started and run the program are on throughout the day to answer questions and provide support. I have never heard such positive women. No one complains about their discomforts and how they can't wait until it is over. They immerse themselves in every moment with their growing baby and appreciate their changing bodies. How wonderful if all pregnant people were this way! What a great gift to pass on to our daughters!

Truly when you think of it, what did women do for the decades and decades before pregnancy was treated as an illness? They had their babies at home with a midwife, or local woman acting as such. Most countries other than America still birth at home, or in birth centers attended by midwifes and doulas. Yet America, has some of the highest rates of maternal and infant mortality rates in the world; not to mention by far the highest c-section rates.

Animals birth in much the same way as women used to. They find somewhere that they are comfortable and safe. If an animal is threatened or scared, labor will literally stop. Sounds like a lot of women that get to the hospital and progress stops?!?! If cows and horses can do it, so can we.

Do I think I can do this? Why not? If I keep my mind in control and let my body progress as it should I have nothing to fear. Will I accomplish a drug free birth? Who knows? I hope so, but am realistic to the fact that I may change my mind in the moment. My plan is to try to labor at home as long as possible. I am more comfortable in my own home than strapped to a hospital bed and a dozen machines. I will plan, prepare, and practice as much as I can and I will let it go. The one thing I do know is that I am no longer terrified. I actually have found so much peace.

If you want to learn more about this click on any of the links/words below and it will link you to some great websites that will hopefully help you to realize why I think this is such a great program.

Hypnobabies

Hypnobabies Blog (lots of great birth stories and links)

Enjoy Birth

Empowering birth stories

Pregnancy, Birth and Babies

Also, check out this movie; whether you like Ricki Lake or not this movie is a must see especially for anyone pregnant! The statistics they show are really eye opening. Ricki Lake shows a few couples having amazing home births and actually even shares her own! Naked and laboring.., kudos to her!

The Business of Being Born

Well, if you are still reading...thanks! If you have any questions or want to know anything further please, please feel free to ask...even if you think I am a hippie. Please do not share your traumatizing birth stories with me though...Positive Polly over here :)

Clutch

One week (almost), countless seam rippings, finger pokings and a few hair pullings later…I did it! I made my first “purse”. So, it’s really more of a clutch, far too small for me to ever actually use, but I made it all by myself! I sewed the damn thing together upside down and then when I got it the right way I sewed it together! As in the opening part together!

That green side should be able to be stuffed down into the flower side to create the lining...kind of hard when you sew it together :) I also decided I don't like that little wristlet strap. Next time no strap.

(sorry for the lame quality BB pics!) While this wouldn't work for my every day, it is a decent size and could carry the daily junk and then some, just not my daily junk. It would be the perfect size for a few diapers and wipe holder!

THE FINISHED PRODUCT
(not sure why it's rotating the pic...tried a millon different things and it really wants to be sideways I guess!)

Next project...after I make something for my little princess at her request of course...a cute one for Sawyer's diapers! Oh yes, and I just got stuff to attempt baby shoes as well!! Super cute!

MVD and Layette choices?

So, I should be working…but I am not. I had to run to Motor Vehicle today for new tags…yuck and then stopped to say hi to my dear hubby and grabbed some lunch. First, I would like to rub in how much cheaper registration is here! I just paid $53.80 for a year! In AZ, mine was just shy of 400 bucks a year!!! Just a little different huh??!?

Anyways, I am for sure registering at Babies R Us, its huge and fun so why not! I have been looking online there and other places for bedding. Any of these jump out at you? Feel free to send me a link to any favorites you have seen somewhere! We are going with brown and blue theme thus far.

Max

Mad About Plaid

CoCaLo Bali

Giggles - totally not blue, but thought it was cute :)

There are a few cute shops here I am going to check out too...let my know if you have found something adorable...link me up!

Rolled Tacos and Waffles?!?!

Sounds delish to me!! No, seriously I ate Eggo’s and taquitos for dinner! What is this baby doing to me?!?! I have always prided myself on my healthy eating habits…not much fast or processed foods, minimal treats, lots of fruits and veggies. What do I crave now?!?! Frozen pizza and cupcakes, pickles and tator tots, corn dogs and mac n cheese the list goes on and on! I swear I am growing a college freshman! The thought of fruits and veggies essentially repulses me! I want something with zero nutrition, preferably in a paper bag from a drive thru window!

With Karly I ate so well and really didn’t crave anything weird…mexican food, which is typical for me pregnant or not. I loved ketchup and strawberry ice cream when I was pregnant with her, neither of which I ever cared for. I haven’t touched strawberry ice cream since having her…yuck! Ketchup…I still LOVE!

Nope, now I am gestating Colonel Sanders himself…or maybe Little Debbie?!?! Ican't believe I am not fat as a house already! Here is a picture from this weekend. Sorry it kind of sucks, hard to take a self portrait. I need to get Kar or Chris to snap a few!


21 weeks...disregard my dirty mirror...Sunday is bathroom cleaning day and unfortunately this was taken Saturday :)