{DaY 12 cHaLLenGe}

Something I don't leave the house without. 

Here is what I always have in hand when I leave the house.....

My purse, cell phone, and water bottle!  I sometimes laugh at how we all got through life back in the day before cell phones....especially while driving!  If I ever forget my phone at home, I almost have a panic attack thinking that something bad is going to happen and I will not have my phone to call for help!  Again, how did we manage before cell phones?!?!  And if I DO leave my phone at home, I will totally go out of my way to go back home to get it....just in case.  I am a "bored caller".....meaning that I usually call someone in the car if I am bored.  This is usually my mom or Jeremiah that I call.  Driving makes me very tired...especially in the middle of the day when the sun is beating down on me and my car is nice and toasty....it makes me want to take a nap.  I usually call my mom or Jeremiah at this time also...just to keep me awake.  This happens quite often to me....anyone else?!?!  Or am I the only person that almost falls asleep behind the wheel?!

I also don't leave the house without my water bottle.  I fill a water bottle up like this many times throughout the day.  I drink a lot of water.  Not so much that I love the water, but I drink the water to be able to eat the ice.  I have an ice eating addiction!  :)

I also of course don't ever leave the house without my 2 little monkeys!  I sometimes joke and ask one of them if they will babysit the other and watch over the house while I leave.  They think this is so funny and always tell me that they are not old enough and all the bad things that might happen while I am gone!  It is funny!

This picture is from a long time ago....almost 2 years now!  But I don't have many pics of my kids in their car seats anymore and this is the cutest picture ever...I love that they are holding hands!  There's not a whole lot of this going on in the car these days....if they are touching, it is usually a hit!  So I am glad that I have proof that 2 years ago...they really loved each other (even if only for a split second)!!  :)

So that's what I take with me every time I leave the house!!  :)

{DaY 11 cHaLLenGe}

A TV show I'm currently addicted to. 

It would be easier for me to say the TV shows that I am NOT addicted to!  TV is my addiction....I probably watch WAY too much of it!  When the kids go to bed every night, I love to plop myself down on the couch, in my jammies, with a blankie and waste away a couple of hours of my life on TV shows!

Here are a few of my favorites that you can usually find on the TIVO at our house.  I record shows and don't watch any commercials....love that you can watch an hour long show in less than 40 minutes!  It usually takes me forever to get to all these shows and I sometimes don't watch them until 3 months after they aired!  I am mostly a fan of the reality TV and Jeremiah likes the funny sitcoms.....so I guess that is why we watch so much of it all!

1.  The View
2.  Oprah
3.  Rachel Ray
4.  Dr. Oz
5.  American Idol
6.  The Bachelor
7.  Survivor
8.  Supernanny
9.  The Office
10.  Modern Family
11.  Big Bang Theory
12.  Biggest Loser

Oh my that list is long.  Maybe I should cut out some of those shows?!?!  Eeeek!!

{DaY 10 cHaLLenGe}

A photograph of the town I live in. 

How do you get a photograph of the town you live in?  I guess the town I live in is either too big or too small or not interesting enough to have cool pictures of it!  But here is a picture of our house......

....only for 1 more month though because we are moving....just down the street.

This is a pretty good picture of my town.  Most people know Corona as the spot on the 91 freeway where there is MAJOR traffic all day any day!  Yep, this is right by our house.  Luckily, we have FasTrak (those 2 left lanes that are actually moving) and don't have to sit in that traffic on the right lanes very often.  And if you are living in So Cal and don't have to sit in traffic very often, you are doing pretty good)!  And luckily our exit is right as we exit the FasTrak lanes.  Unfortunately, our exit is the first Corona exit and many people use it as a "side freeway".  It's quite annoying and rather loud since cars drive behind our house starting at 4 am and ending at 10 pm every day!

And this is as close as we get to the beautiful mountain views we had in Utah.  We do have some nice views of the mountains here...they are just farther away....and you can only see them on a less smoggy day!  Today though, the mountains looked AMAZING!!  There was SO MUCH snow!!  We were really hoping to wake up to snow on the grass this morning (which NEVER happens around here) since the snow level was supposed to get down to 500 feet!  No such luck....the weather man lied again....it was cold, but sunny....and if there is ever any chance of snow around here, you can count on that not happening if the sun is out!

{DaY 9 cHaLLenGe}

A photo of the item I last purchased.  

Isn't this a cute chair??  I saw it in the Pier 1 ad at the beginning of the month and have been dying to buy it!  I wanted to wait til the very last day of the sale to get it....so I went in to buy it today!  Only one problem....when I saw it in person, I didn't like it anymore!!  :(  In fact, I hated it!  It was so ugly in person!  I was so excited about it....thought it was SUPER cute (in the ad)....I loved all the colors and I was going to use it as the "focal point" for my decorating in my family room!

But....I wasn't impressed!  So instead I fell in love with this.....

Unlike the first chair, this one looks MUCH better in person than it does in the picture!  It's SUPER CUTE!

However, it will be an absolute miracle if I still own this chair tomorrow.....I'm having some MAJOR buyer's remorse setting in!!  I HATE to spend big chunks of money like this.  If I would've just spent $200 at Costco, I would be fine.....but to spend $200 on something that is just for me, now that is a different story!  And it actually makes me sick to my stomach!  So we will see if I can get over it by tomorrow....if not, back to Pier 1 I go!!

{DaY 8 cHaLLenGe}

A photo and description of what's in my makeup bag.  

I decided to switch today's challenge with tomorrow's challenge since I haven't really bought anything lately (other than groceries) and I am planning on making a super fun purchase tomorrow, so I will post what I buy then!

This is the first day that I've thought "BORING" about these challenges....who really cares what is in my makeup bag??!?!

So here are the contents.....

Bare Minerals powders and blush
Mac eye shadow (4 colors....and I use all 4 colors every day)
Lancome under eye concealer
Mac liquid eye liner
Lancome Oscillating Mascara (THE BEST)
Lancome eyebrow pencil
Eyelash curler
Tweezers
Brushes

That's my make-up bag....pretty simple.  I also put chapstick on ALL THE TIME!!  I have a chapstick everywhere I go...I can't stand dry lips.  I hate lipstick, but when I want to add some color to my lips, I use a Mac lip gloss.

That's it!  Pretty boring, I know!  But check back tomorrow to see the fun item I am planning on buying (after Friday payday)!!  :)

{aYdeN}

My "challenge" blogs have been keeping me busy and there hasn't been much about my kids or what we have been doing, but I wanted to post a little about Ayden.  That kid is so darn cute!  He has the world's best personality ever!  I can't wait to see him all grown up and see the man that he turns into!  I know he will be a great one!  :)

Anyway, he is my little buddy and totally helps me to keep everyone in order in this house.  For example, if Zoe does something wrong, he lets me know right away!  And when she is supposed to be in timeout, he watches her VERY closely and lets me know when she even scoots a little bit out of timeout!  Well, he also plays "Mr. Cop" when it comes to Jeremiah too.  Tonight we were sitting down to dinner.  I asked Jeremiah what he had for lunch today.  He told me he had frozen burritos at work.  Right away Ayden said, "BUSTED......how many dollars did you spend on your tacos"???  LOL!!  It was so hilarious and Jeremiah and I started laughing.  He thought Jeremiah went out to lunch and spent money....and he has obviously heard me "BUST" Jeremiah in the past regarding this topic!  Thanks, little buddy, for being my other set of eyes to make sure everyone is doing what they are supposed to be doing!

{DaY 7 cHaLLenGe}

A favorite recipe

This is an easy one for me!  I love to cook, but I especially LOVE to bake!!  Baking is one of my hobbies and I am constantly looking for an excuse to make something sweet.  But baking around here can be kind of dangerous.  I am married to a weirdo that doesn't really like sweets (I know, I cannot relate at all)!!  So when I make a dessert or some type of sweets, Jeremiah doesn't ever help me eat it.  And I try to keep that stuff away from the kids.....so guess who takes care of the sweet eating in this house?!?!  Yours truely!!  :)  It's a miracle that I am not 400 lbs!

This is one of my favorite recipes!  I have been baking these cookies since I was probably in high school!  I got the recipe off of an "Imperial Margarine" box and have tweeked it to my own liking!  They are THE BEST cookies you will come across!!  Whenever I make them, people always comment how good they are and I have given the recipe to MANY friends that have wanted to make them.  Funny thing is....almost everyone I give them to comes back to me and says "they don't taste like yours"!!  HA!  Not sure what it is, but I guess I have a magic touch of some sort!  :)

Here is the recipe, go ahead....make them tonight, but good luck.....and if they aren't that good, just know that they would probably be better if I just made a batch for you!!  :)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

1 c. butter

1 c. sugar

1 c. brown sugar

1 1/2 c. flour

3 c. oatmeal

2 eggs

1 t. vanilla

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

12 oz. package of chocoalte chips

12 oz. package of peanut butter chips

I just mix all the ingredients in my KitchenAid mixer!  Viola!!  Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes!!

ENJOY!!!!

{DaY 6 cHaLLenGe}

15 facts about me. 

1.  I am sadly a very negative person.  I hate this about myself....I wish I wasn't.  I tend to look at the negative side of things.....the glass is usually half empty.  I hate to get my hopes up to only be disappointed, so I think that if I am negative and think the worst, then I will never be disappointed!  Sad way to live, huh??  HAHA!!  :)

2.  I am a MAJOR home body.  I think I have always been a little bit like this, but I feel like the older I get, the more and more I just enjoy being HOME!  I would much rather be home than go away for a weekend.  And when I am out, all I can think about is getting back home.  I just like my home....I like to be cozy in my cozy home!

3.  I love a cozy home.  My favorite time of day is when the sun goes down.  I love to turn on lamps in my house.  I have a ton of lamps.  They feel so much "homier" to me than ceiling lights.  I love to have a fireplace going also.  And I usually have my jammies on the second I know I am not going back out of the house again for the rest of the day....sometimes this is as early as 5 pm!

4.  I am turning into a MAJOR sensitive softy as I get older!  I totally remember being a kid and my mom could cry at something as silly as a commercial!  I laughed my head off at her and made fun of her til I was blue in the face!  She always told me that I will understand when I am a mom!  Sad to say that I now understand!!  HAHA!!  I seriously cry ALL the time at things like this.  I almost can't watch an episode of certain shows without crying.  For example, the "makeover" episode that they do on The Biggest Loser show, the "letters from home" episode on Survivor, Oprah's "Favorite Things" episode (the one where I was most hysterically crying was when she said, "EVERYBODY GETS A CAR" about a hundred times).....pretty much any show that is halfway sentimental or that I can halfway relate to, I will cry!!  It's kinda funny!  Jeremiah often walks into the room when I am watching a show like this and just laughs....he is used to it by now and just expects it.

5.  I have to have my back scratched every single night before I go to bed.  This started way back when I was probably Zoe's age!!  My mom used to scratch my back every night before bed with her lovely, long fingernails.  I loved that!  She tells me now that she used that as her strategy to get me to talk to her every night about my day!  It worked.....as long as I talked, she kept scratching!!  So I talked and talked!!  I think I let my mom scratch my back all through high school even!!  LOL!!  And now that I am married, my sweet hubby has taken over the job!  He is the best and scratches my back every night.  His nails aren't as long as my moms, but he gets the job done!

6.  I hate going to the movies.  It is almost torture for me to go to the movies.  It seems like a couple times a year that there is a movie coming out that I want to see bad enough that I get excited about it, but otherwise, I hate going to the movies and we just don't go!  I also don't like watching movies at home that we rent.  I would much rather watch TV.  Not sure what it is....I have a hard time sitting in a movie theater for a 2 hour movie....I can't relax and think about all the things I should be doing instead!

7.  My favorite household chore is doing laundry.  I LOVE to do laundry!  I always have and still do!  I love the smell of fresh, clean clothes.  I love stocking closets and drawers up with fresh, clean clothes to choose from.  

8.  I only have 4 cousins TOTAL!  Isn't that sad?  I often feel sorry for myself because of this!  LOL!!  Between my mom and my dad's families (counting all of their siblings), there are 7 kids....and of those 7 kids, there are only 6 kids between them all....which leaves me with 4 cousins and me and my brother.  Sadly, 2 of those cousins I hardly even know and was never close to.  The other 2 are the best and we grew up very close to each other!  I am always jealous of BIG HUGE families where people have like 50 cousins!!  I think that must be so much fun to get together with that many cousins!

9.  I played basketball in high school and got a scholarship to play in college.  I started playing in 5th grade.  People are usually surprised now when I tell them I was a basketball player.....not sure why....I guess I don't look like one anymore.  Sadly, if I tried to play today, I would probably SUCK!!  I am a huge sports fan tho and loved having a sport to play as I went through high school and college.  I feel like it kept me out of trouble and I want my kids to be involved in sports for the same reason!  :)

10.  I only had 1 job my entire high school career.  My parents always told me that as long as I was playing sports, I did not have to work....because that WAS my job!  I was pretty lucky!  But I remember getting one job in high school working at Lampost Pizza during the summer....I pretty much only got the job because my friends worked there....it was lame....working is overrated!!  :)  Just kidding....but I guess I was pretty spoiled!

11.  I am a huge creature of habit.  I think this is the OCD in me that comes out.  I do certain routines the exact same way every time I do them.  I have the same exact thing for breakfast EVERY SINGLE morning!!  As soon as I wake up in the morning, I do the same things in the same order from showering, washing my hair, putting on my make-up, getting dressed, etc.  When I get something that I like, I usually obsess over it until I can't stand it anymore.  This is true with restaurants that I like to go to.  We usually go and go and go until I get sick of them and can't go anymore!  Interestingly, although I am a creature of habit, I LOVE and EMBRACE change.  I like big changes.  It is fun and keeps things interesting!

12.  Jeremiah and I only dated for 5 weeks before we got engaged.  We first met in September when my family was invited to dinner at his families house (our dads work together and knew each other for YEARS before we met).  We went on our first date at the end of September or early October.  I was less than impressed with some of the things Jeremiah said on our date (such as that he was lazy and who knows if he was going to finish college or not....you just don't say those things to a girl that is looking for a potential hubby)!  He called me lots and lots, but we always played phone tag for a few months.  I think he was finally giving up on me when on New Years Eve (I remember this like it was yesterday), I decided I couldn't spend my life without him.  Now the tables were turned and I started calling him and he was the one playing hard to get and avoiding me.  It didn't take me long to convince him though that we should go out again.  We started hanging out in mid January and hung out almost every day.....we really had our whole future planned after about 2 or 3 weeks!!  :)  And after 5 weeks, on February 23rd (tomorrow's date....9 years ago), he popped the question!!  I was thrilled of course!  :)  My parents freaked out....his parents freaked out....everyone was surprised since we had hardly been dating!  I remember talking to some friends that I didn't talk to very regularly and saying, "I met a guy.....and we are getting married"!!  HAHA!!  So funny!!  And here we are....almost 9 years later!!  :)

13.  Speaking of marriage, I have an arranged marriage!!  I mentioned that my dad and Jeremiah's dad had worked together for years before we met.  Well, my dad was getting sick of supporting me, so he told Jeremiah's dad that they should introduce me to his oldest son (there were 3 boys).  We met....didn't like each other (LOL)!!  Then I met his mom and she said, "Oh no no....he is ALL wrong for you....you need to meet my 2nd son, Jeremiah"!  So we met and the rest is history!!  So we like to joke that we have an arranged marriage.  That's good though cuz they say that arranged marriages have a good success rate!!  :)

14.  I often go to bed at night thinking about what a bad mom I was that day or what I could've done differently to be better.  This always makes me sad.  I want to be the best mom!!  Maybe it is all in my head because Jeremiah tells me I am a good mom....but still....I am always striving to be better!!

15.  I am a MAJOR planner....I like to have a plan for EVERYTHING!  I like to plan things out in advance time.  My mind is usually 10 steps ahead of my body.  I am constantly thinking about what I am going to do next.  I am a list maker....I make lots of lists and love to scratch things off of them.  It makes me feel like I have accomplished something.  Sometimes when I make lists, I write things on it that I have already completed....just so I have something to scratch off!

FINALLY.....15 facts about me!!  That was hard!!  Thank goodness for an easier post tomorrow....I love talking recipes!  :) 

{DaY 5 cHaLLenGe}

Something that stresses me out. 

Oh this is gonna be an easy one.  I tend to stress out very easily if you ask the people that know me well.  I asked Jeremiah tonight "what stresses me out?"  He said "EVERYTHING"!!  LOL!!  I think there are 2 things that stress me out the most.

1.  Not being in control.  I hate not having control of things.  It's not that I am a controlling person and like to control the people around me, but I can't stand it when I have no control over things that happen to me.  I hate when things are up in the air.  I hate when I don't know what is going to happen or what the outcome of something is going to be.  I hate when I am put in situations where I have to just go with the flow cuz I am not a "go with the flow" type of person.  I hate spontaneity because usually when things are spontaneous, I have not planned and controlled them.  So it really freaks me out when I have to just throw my hands up in the air and say, "there is NOTHING I can do....it is out of my hands"!!  I have had some major tests in my life where I have had to do that and it is NEVER easy.  If I could only control everything I would be much happier!  :)

2.  Another stress I have is that something will happen to someone in my family.  This is mostly stressful when I am away from my kids.....especially for long periods of time.....which is why I struggle enjoying myself whenever I have had the chance to go away for the weekend (which I did twice this past year for a funeral and a wedding).  And I stress most when Jeremiah and the kids are somewhere together without me.  I have this huge fear that something will happen to all of them while we are not all together.  My imagination runs wild and I always think the worst.  I often ask myself, if this is such a huge stress to me now, what am I going to do when I have teenagers that have drivers licenses and want to go out with friends every weekend.  Or when I have to send my kids off to college.  Oh boy....I better start preparing for all that now because I have a feeling I will be a wreck by then!  :)

Now that I am all stressed after thinking so deeply about these things, I better go find something to relax me!  :)

{DaY 4 cHaLLenGe}

A photo of myself two years ago.

Pretty much think I look the same back then as I do now!!  I love this fun, playful picture of me with my babies and Ayden throwing leaves on top of my head!  It's interesting to think of my life at the time this picture was taken.....we were still living in Utah and oh how I remember thinking life was so hard with a 6 month old and a 27 month old.....and it was!  But it was a different hard back then.....I was changing diapers on 2 kids, was dealing with a toddler and a mobile crawler, struggled to understand what 1 child needed since she wasn't talking yet, was sleep deprived with a 6 month old that still thought waking up in the middle of the night was ok and a 27 month old that thought the day started at 5 am, had 2 picky eaters, 1 child that had absolutely started life in the "terrible 2's", and we dealt with all of this on our own hundreds of miles away from family! 

It's funny how some of my "hard times" now are very similar (yet in a slightly different way) to my "hard times" back then.  I am no longer changing diapers for 2, but I am dealing with skid marks in the undies of kids that poop and don't wipe their bums good enough, which also results in poop smeared on the toilet seat.....oh how fun it is to clean that up...and oh how easy it was when I could at least control their poop in a disposable diaper!  We are now dealing with 1 toddler and 1 big kid that are VERY mobile and want to run from me when we are out in public....they won't ride in grocery carts or strollers...oh how easy it was when I could strap them both into a stroller and not worry about losing them.  I now have 2 VERY talkative (and VERY loud) kids and even still struggle sometimes to understand 1 in particular as she tries to communicate through the tantrums she throws so often.  I'm still sleep deprived because that same 6 month old that woke up in the night back then has regressed and STILL doesn't know how to sleep through the night!  At least now we only have 1 picky eater instead of 2, only 1 child that is stuck in the "terrible 2's".....but BEST of  all we are close to family that we can occassionally dump the kids off to to give us a recharge!!

Ok, this was just supposed to be a picture of me two years ago....funny how that picture says so many things to me!  I guess I have learned that raising kids is a hard job....but at least it is a rewarding job filled with lots of love!  

{DaY 3 cHaLLenGe}

My favorite photograph of my best friend. 

Double chins and all.....thanks to a 3 foot tall person taking our picture.....

The #1 answer for this post would've been a picture of Jeremiah.....because yes, husband's are our best friends and he is mine!  I will have another post about him soon, but for this post, I want to talk about another best friend!  I remember one of our friends in high school said her mom was her best friend.  We all laughed at her and said "haha....your mom is your best friend....that's funny....how lame"!  Now I realize she was just smarter than me back then.  Not that I wish my mom was my best friend in high school (remember....she hated me back then, so we couldn't be best friends....hehe), but I am proud to say now that my mom IS my BEST friend!  

I may be biased, but I really think I have THE GREATEST MOM around!  Anyone that has met her, loves her.  People are always telling me that....it makes me smile.  She is happy all the time.  She is genuine.  She is the world's best listener.....which might be why I call her at least 3 times a day.  We really talk ALL the time....even if I have nothing to say or nothing to talk about, I call her.  She gives the best advice....I am constantly asking her for advice or for help.  She is SO unselfish and just GIVES, GIVES, GIVES all the time without ever expecting anything in return!  She is so supportive and always has and I know always will back up and support everything I do.  She has so many great qualities that I admire and love!  She is the best mom.....she is the best mother-in-law (I love that Jeremiah really loves her and gets along with her so well).....she is the best Grammy (my kids absolutely adore her)....and she is the best wife (my dad is a lucky guy and I love seeing that the two of them are in so much love after more than 40 years of marriage)!

I know there was a time in my life when I hated the idea of turning out like my mom.  But now that I am all grown up and a mom myself, I love to see her coming out in me.  The older I get, the more and more I become like her.  I often find myself hoping and praying that I will be the mom to my kids that she was to me.  I hope that all her good qualities and talents will rub off on me!  I hope when I am her age, I am just like her!  Thanks Mom....for being the best....and for being MY FRIEND!!  I love you!!!  :)

{DaY 2 cHaLLenGe}

20 of my favorite things 

1.  My family.

2.  Bath & Body Works hand sanitizer (I am obsessed and make my kids use it at least 5 times a day)!

3.  Blogs (doing my own and reading others).

4.  Golden Spoon frozen yogurt (every time I go, I ask for a sample....doesn't matter if I have had that kind 100 times, I still need to sample SOMETHING....then I get 3 kinds in 1 cup and top it with almonds......Mmmm)!

5.  Thrifty Ice Cream (ya know, Rite Aid??......it is THE BEST!!  My current fave flavors are Black Cherry and Chocolate Malted Crunch)!

6.  My job away from home (can't beat working 1 day a week and loving what you do) and my job as a "stay at home mom" (so grateful I don't have to leave my kids every single day)!

7.  Eating out (one of my favorite things to do....I would much rather go out to dinner than to see a movie...eating out is such a treat to me).

8.  Baking (I think of all kinds of excuses to bake....when I am stressed, when I am worried, when I am happy).

9.  Lancome vibrating mascara (when you've been asked if you are wearing fake eyelashes, it must mean you have good mascara).
10. Blankets (I am obsessed and have been known to buy one whether I need it or not....just needs to be soft and cozy).

11. My robe (wear it every night to keep me warm).

12. Sweets (#4 and #5 weren't enough....I needed to add sweets as it's own category because I am a MAJOR sugaraholic....every meal needs a "closer").

13. TV shows (I am obsessed with many and love to watch them at night when the kids go to bed).

14. Paint on walls (I hate white walls and think colorful paint can transform an entire room)!

15. Mac make-up (all I use....my make-up bag is filled with it).

16. See's candy (Mmmm....Almond Buds....try them, they are Heaven in your mouth)!!

17. A clean house (this is one of my obsessions....when the house is clean, I am happy....sometimes I can go a little overboard in this department, but oh well....nothing better than a picked up and clean house)!!

18. Exercising (usually hate the act of doing it, but hate the effects of NOT doing it even worse)!

19. Getting surprises in the mail (cards, letters, invitations, magazines, packages, whatever.....)!

20. Scrapbooking (wish I had more time to do it)! 

{DaY 1 cHaLLenGe}

A photo of myself and a description of how my day was.

A photo of me.....AND my family (from this past summer) because photos of me alone just don't exist.....

My day started out great.....due to the fact that I didn't get out of bed until 9:00 AM!!!!  I am kind of embarrassed to admit that because I am so not the "sleeping in" type of Mom!  In fact, I cannot remember the last time I was still in bed at 9 am.....had to be about 5 years ago prior to my life as a Mommy! 

I really needed it tho....Zoe was up about 20 times last night (it may have been more like 12 or 14, but it felt like 20)!  So I was exhausted from such an interrupted night of sleep.  Sleeping in felt great....and I love that my kids are big enough to go downstairs and turn on the TV to entertain themselves without me even knowing....even if they do come in to see me every 25 minutes when one show ends and before another begins.  And even if Ayden ate a few brownies that were left in the pan from last night's dessert. 

I realized at about 10 am that I had a sicky girl on my hands.  I realized this when she laid down on my bedroom floor with her blanket and fell asleep!!  That NEVER happens....but explains why she was up all night.  I felt her warm head and took her temp....102!  Not surprised since Ayden had a high fever this past Sunday to Tuesday!  Here we go.....sicky kid Round 2!  Without fail, when one of my kids gets sick, the other is sick with 2 to 3 days!

Hurried and got ready to get out the door in time to get Ayden to his speech class at 11:30 am (Zoe was mad at me for waking her up and putting her in the car), lunch from the McDonald's drive thru at 12:15 pm (lied to the kids and told them McDonald's ran out of toys today since I was too cheap and wanted to get a $2.99 mini meal for them instead of a $4.99 happy meal) and dropped him off at school at 12:30 pm. 

Took advantage of the sicky girl being SUPER tired and sat on the computer from 1 pm to 3 pm while she napped this afternoon while I was busy blogging and making a new blog header.....these are things that make me TRUELY happy and feel refreshed!

Realized at 3 pm when I got off the computer how badly I just wasted my afternoon while Ayden was at school when I looked at the laundry basket that needs to be folded, the other laundry baskets that have folded clothes that need to be put away, the breakfast dishes that are still on the table that need to be loaded into the dishwasher, the to-do list that I made yesterday that still has 7 things on it that I didn't get done then, the floor that needs mopping, the bathrooms that need cleaning, the dinner that needs to be made, beds that still need to be made.......oh my this list is TOO long!  I now realize that sleeping in until 9 am may not really be worth it after all...I just end up paying for it later in the day!!

At 3:05, after thinking about all those things I DIDN'T get done, I realize I am happy I was able to blog a little and do something just for me! :)  Those things can wait....I will get to them before my head hits the pillow tonight.....but for now, I just need to be a Mom and hold my little Zoe that isn't feeling well and just wants to snuggle before we have to get in the car again to pick up Ayden at school!  Ahhh.....moments like these make me just as happy as my blogging makes me!  :) 

The rest of the day was a pretty typical day....picked Ayden up at school, waited for Daddy to get home from work, had leftovers for dinner (because of my lack of planning and wasting the afternoon away on blogging....hehe....good thing I have a hubby that is not too picky when it comes to dinnertimwe), begged, pleaded, and bribed kids to eat their dinners (what's new), accomplished all the "to-do" things around the house that I had hoped to do earlier in the day, kids were in bed by 7:30 pm (both kids went to bed with fevers and a dose of Tylenol).......and plopped myself in front of the TV for a nice, quiet evening of catching up on favorite shows while some tasty cookies baked away in the oven!  What a great end to a semi-productive day! :)

{30 dAy cHaLLenGe}

I saw this idea on a friend's blog....a 30 day challenge to blog about something specific every day.  I really like the idea of doing this, but I have debated back and forth about whether or not to actually do it.  I am not the type of person that likes to go around talking about myself all day long, so the idea of having to talk about myself every day for 30 days is kind of overwhelming!  :)  But since I consider my blog my journal, I thought what the heck....just go for it!  I think it will be fun in 5, 10, 30, 50 years to look back and see who I was and what I was doing in 2011.....besides "just being a Mom"!  I looked back through my past few blog posts and realized that I haven't been in a picture in almost 2 months on my blog!  And that is really fine by me....because let's be honest, I am really not that interesting.  But I would still like to remember me as a 32 year old! :)  It will be worth it for that....to see that I actually DID in fact exist as a human being with likes, dislikes, interests, bad habits, pet peeves, favorite things, and dreams......instead of just being a bum wiper, a tear drier, a referee, a therapist, a cook, a maid, a taxi driver, a teacher, a doctor, a hugger and a kisser.  It is me.....in addition to being Ayden and Zoe's Mommy.....or Jeremiah's wifey.....I AM LINDSAY!!!!  And welcome to 30 days "all about me"!!  :)  I realize that most people probably won't care about anything I write here in the next 30 days, so don't feel bad if you ignore my blog for 30 days....just glad that I will be able to remember myself when I am a cute old lady! :)

Here are the topics:

1.  A photo of myself and a description of how my day was.

2.  20 of my favorite things.

3.  My favorite photograph of my best friend.

4.  A photo of myself two years ago.

5.  Something that stresses me out .

6.  15 facts about me.

7.  A favorite recipe

8.  A photo of the item I last purchased.

9.  A photo and description of what's in my makeup bag.

10. A photograph of the town I live in.

11. A TV show I'm currently addicted to.

12. Something I don't leave the house without.

13. My biggest trial and my biggest accomplishment.

14. A photo of something that makes me happy.

15. Something I crave a lot.

16. What's in my purse?

17. A photo of something that means a lot to me.

18. A photo of somewhere I've been to.

19. A picture of me last year and now and how have I changed since then?

20. My worst habit.

21. 5 of my biggest pet peeves

22. My celebrity crush.

23. Something I could never get tired of doing.

24. My favorite book.

25. A list of my whole day.

26. A photo that makes me angry/sad.

27. My dream house.

28. Why do I blog?

29. Something I look forward to.

30. A photograph of myself today and three good things that have happened in the past 30 days.

{TheRapY}

On Saturday night we went down to San Diego to go see the comedian, Brian Regan, perform with my brother and sister-in-law. Jeremiah and I had never been to see a comedian together. I am not really a fan of comedians because I can't stand hearing the "F-bomb" dropped every 5 seconds! But Brian Regan is a totally "clean" comic.....in fact, so clean that my nephews, Cooper and Carter (ages 8 and 10) went with us. I thought they would be the only kids there, but there were actually quite a few! And they are big fans themselves so their Mom & Dad surprised them with tickets to join us!

Brian Regan did NOT disappoint!! He is seriously SO FUNNY!! I was laughing so hard that my face hurt after 2 hours! And I was totally exhausted when the show was over....I didn't realize that laughing hysterically was such a good workout!! I also didn't realize how therapuetic it is to laugh. It's funny how quickly 2 hours of laughing made me forget about things that are bugging me or things on my to-do list. I didn't have time to think about that....I was too busy laughing!! It was such a fun fun night and I can't wait to go see him again! I have decided that 2 hours of laughing in a night is good therapy and am now considering going to see a comedian at least once a month! :)

{Be MinE}

Yesterday was Ayden's preschool Valentine's Party!  He was lucky enough to get two parties....one on Thursday and one on Friday since there are some kids in his class that come on Monday, Wednesday & Friday and some other kids that are only there on Tuesday & Thursday.  The kids like him that are there all week lucked out and got two parties!  I signed up to be a helper at both parties because Zoe LOVES to be in Ayden's classroom! 

Being in Ayden's classroom is another time that I realize what a great big brother Ayden is.  He is so very protective of her and will do whatever he needs to do to make sure Zoe is TOTALLY taken care of while she is there!  He shows her all the "cool" things in the classroom, makes sure she has a seat RIGHT NEXT to him whether it be at the table or on the carpet during "circle time" and makes sure that everyone knows who she is and likes her.  It is cute.  And Zoe ADORES the attention from him.  She flocks right under his little wing when we get in that classroom and she doesn't stray very far from his sight.  The girls in the class love Zoe too....they love to treat her like a little baby and act like she is their little sister!

Here they are passing out their Valentine's to each of the other kid's bags that were on the table.  Ayden was so excited to share his Valentine's with his friends....and really excited about all the candy and treats he got in his bag....especially the piece of chocolate that said "Be Mine" on the wrapper from his little "girlfriend" Kayla!!  Poor kid really likes that girl.....thinks he is going to marry her in fact, but he's concerned why she doesn't ever really want to sit by him!!  Oh how he will learn soon enough all about this!!  For now, I love hearing about his crush!!  :)

Zoe CANNOT WAIT until it is her turn to be in school!  She is SO READY!!  This day, she was totally acting like she was in the class.....saying, "Ms. Linda can I please have a cookie", "Ms. Linda can I have some sprinkles", "Ms Linda me and Aydee like cookies".....yada yada yada!!!  :)

And I always think it's amusing to see her in the class with the other kids.  She really does fit RIGHT in with them.....

Ayden's class.....and Ms. Linda....

Lots of sugar consumed this day, but hey, that is what Valentine's Day is all about, right??  I sure hope that I get some of my favorite chocolates from my Valentine this year (hint hint Jeremiah......some "Almond Buds" from See's would suffice in case you are reading this)!!

Oh and this was funny.....when I dropped Ayden off, he noticed the two pictures on the board of the Presidents.  He asked Ms. Linda who they were and she said they were going to learn about them today.  She told him they were two of our Presidents of the United States....the 1st and teh 16th.  He said, "Well I think we need to learn about the first Prophet, Adam"!!  I think he gets Prophet and Presidents mixed up!!  :)  And then he busted out in the ENTIRE "Follow the Prophet" song from Church!  He is a total character and loves to be the center of attention!

When I picked him up from school that day, he told me all about the Presidents and what he learned about them.  He said, "This is Abraham Lincoln and ORANGE Washington"!!!!  Ms. Linda and I cracked up for a while about that one!!  Gotta love our good old 1st President, Mr. "Orange" Washington!!  :)

{We LoVe BooKs}

I have been signed up for a couple months to get emails from Groupon.....but just this week we bought our first one.  $10 for $20 worth of books at Barnes & Noble.....can't beat that!  I bought two and we have been planning a trip to the bookstore all week.  So today we went and the kids had a BLAST looking at all their favorite books.  My kids are so into books....and I love that (it must be the teacher in me)!!  I told them at the beginning that they could each pick 1 book.  This is what we ended up with (because I know it will be fun in 10 years to look back on what my kids were reading at this age).....

Zoe:

Dora: A Day at the Beach

Dora Loves Boots

Dora: When I Grow Up

Count With Dora

Dora Goes For a Ride

(can you see a theme here?!?!?)

Ayden:

Megamind

Froggy's First Kiss

Magic Tree House #1 - Dinosaurs Before Dark

Lindsay:

Positive Discipline

(Can you tell what is on my mind lately?!?!?  Wish me luck!!!)

After using our $40 of Groupon coupons, we got all that for only $8 out of pocket today!  I love having new books in the house!!!  Thank you Groupon....and thank you Barnes and Noble for entertaining my kids for a good hour and a half today!  Happy Reading!!  :)

{brOthEr aNd sisTeR}

I love it more than anything when Ayden and Zoe get along....when they can play together for more than 10 minutes without one of them crying....or screaming....or hitting.....or running to me to tattle that the other one did one of the above!  I really love that.  Seeing them play nicely together makes me smile.  I sometimes feel guilty that they won't have any other siblings.  I know how it is to be a sister that grows up with only 1 other sibling....a brother.  Oh how I wish we could have a sister for Zoe and a brother for Ayden.  But I am at least glad that they are so close in age....something that my brother and I were not.  Five years apart is a long time.  Five years apart pretty much means that you are never into the same things.  Five years apart pretty much means that you hate each other and fight all the time.  It wasn't until my brother was away at college that we really became good "friends"!  I love having an older brother....so I know that Zoe is lucky to have that....and even more lucky that they can be so close in age.  Because my brother and I never did things like this.......

Zoe has been having some MAJOR trouble sleeping through the night.  I am often up multiple times a night.  Just 2 nights ago, it was 6 times to be exact.....can you say EXHAUSTING!?!?!?  I seriously feel like I have a newborn again.....a newborn that talks back and doesn't take 5 naps a day!  Anyway, I decided to go to Target and let Zoe pick out a bunch of toys and treats that she wanted.  And then to torture her, we put them all in a basket and I told her that she can only pick one out of the basket after she sleeps all night.  Those nights are few and far between.....but last night was one of them.  She stayed in her bed all night and was able to pick a treat in the morning.  She picked out the pack of princess nail polish.  Before I knew it, she and Ayden had a paper towel, the nail polish remover, Zoe was up on the table, and Ayden was ready to go to work on her manicure and pedicure (you can tell he has witnessed how to do this many many times from his Grammy painting Zoe's nails)!!

I love this picture of her chubby little feet and his chubby little hands.....

This was really sweet.  I thought it was the cutest thing.  I know Jeremiah would've freaked if he saw Ayden touching nail polish....but I think it's cute!  At least for now....when he is only 4 years old.  Hopefully he won't still be doing this when he is 10 years old!  :)  But for now....it is sweet that he is such a cute big brother to Zoe.  She adores him when he does things like this.  And as soon as he was done painting the nails, they both went out in the backyard and sat on the grass in the sun waiting for her nails to dry.  They then came in and Zoe went to get her Ariel princess dress on (since the nail polish was Ariel) and came downstairs.  Ayden said to her, "You look very pretty Zoe"!  And she said "Thanks Aydee"! 

I hope they will always be this close.  I know they will sometimes wish that they had another sister or another brother....but I hope for the most part they will grow up to be the best of friends and will like it just the way they have it!!

{hoPe I'm nOt raiSinG aNy coWboYs hEre}

Why is it embarrassing to admit that I listen to country music?  I am not sure?!?!  Maybe because of the flack that I get from Jeremiah about it.  He says I tricked him.  When we first met and got married, I listened to KROQ most of the time.  That's the kind of music he likes....and I did too.  But now I prefer country....I guess I did a switcheroo on him and he likes to make fun of me (even tho he knows a lot of country songs now himself)!  It is kind of embarrassing to admit that I listen to country tho.  When I am driving in my car and listening to a favorite song rather loud, if we pull up to a stop light and the car next to me has their windows down and our windows are down, I will turn my music down.  HA!  I guess I just think there is something not appealing about rocking out to country music!!

Anyway, my poor kids obviously listen to country music 90% of the time that we listen to music.....mostly by default!  But they like it too....mostly because they don't know much different since they are with me most of the time.  They have a few favorite songs that they like to listen to on Jeremiah's phone, but for the most part, they hear country.  Ayden quickly picks up on the songs that he hears over and over!  A few months ago, his favorite was Lady Antebellum's "I Need You Know".....he surprisingly knew almost all the words and would bust out singing it everywhere we went.....in the car, in the grocery store, at church and at school!!!  His newest favorite is "Voices" and he sings that ALL the time now!  It's funny to hear him saying words that he has no idea what they mean! 

Zoe is also a country fan....she can often be heard singing quietly in the back seat along with the radio.  Her favorites are "Taywer Switch" and "Lady Antebella"!!  Whenever a girl is on the radio, she always says "Is this Taylor Switch mommy??"  It's funny! 

But having said all that, I really hope that I am not raising any cowboys or cowgirls here!  I am not a fan of the cowboy thing....so hopefully I am not influencing them TOO much right now!  I know they are still young and there is plenty of time for them to develop their own music interests (and I am sure I will not be happy with most of them a few years from now).....so for now I will just let them enjoy country music.  And we will continue to have our "dance parties" to country music!  :) 

I don't know though.....Zoe sure makes a cute cowgirl when she's rockin' her cowgirl boots......just sayin'......

{"tHat'S sO niCe oF yOu!!!"}

This morning I went to the doc for a check-up.  I had to take the kids with me cuz I had no other options.  The nurse took us into the room.....the kids got settled on the floor with the DVD player that I geniusly remembered to bring (thank goodness)....the nurse started asking me questions as she typed away on her computer.  She asked, "So you have had 2 pregnancies, correct?"  (She obviously said this since I had 2 kids with me).  I said, "No I have had 1 pregnancy......" and before I could continue on to tell her they were adopted, she said, "Oh ok, so they are twins??"  I was then able to tell her "No, they are not twins....I had 1 pregnancy that ended in a miscarriage....these two are adopted....."!  And then these words came out of her mouth......

"OH, THAT'S SO NICE OF YOU!!!!"

I was kind of surprised a little bit.  In the past 4 years, we have had many opportunities to tell people that Ayden and Zoe are adopted.....I have watched people squirm and act uncomfortable because they don't know what to say, I have seen people get embarrassed by something silly they just said, I have had people act like they "feel sorry" for me that I "HAD TO" adopt.....I thought I had seen/heard it all!  But when she said "that was nice" of us to adopt the kids, I was kind of surprised and it got me thinking. 

How funny that she looked at our adoption as "something nice" of us to do for the kids.....like they are lucky because we "saved" them from something horrible!  When instead, I look at the adoptions as us being the lucky ones!  In my mind, it would be more appropriate if she had said those same words to a birthmom that just told her she placed her baby for adoption.  That was my first initial thought when I was caught off guard by her comment.....and since then, I have been thinking about it all day long!

Tonight I was organizing my closet.  I have been organizing making a mess of my whole house lately and trying to get things organized for our upcoming downsize!  We have a giant walk in closet and we have had WAY TOO MUCH "stuff" cluttering up the shelves.  I have been taking everything out and tonight when I came across the last few things, I found this......

A white heart shaped box......

I have never shared anything about this white heart shaped box with anyone other than my family.  This box was given to us from a grief counselor when I was in the hospital having a D&E after we found out we had a miscarriage almost 6 years ago.  Inside the box, I have things like the positive pregnancy test that I got when we found out our IVF worked, my hospital wrist band from the D&E, and then some other memoriabilia things that were given to us by the hospital.  I am grateful to have the things we have. 

I have looked in this box quite a few times in the past 6 years.....but something about looking in there tonight had a big impact on me.  I think it must be all the thinking I have done today after the nurse's comment about how "nice" it was for us to adopt.  All of a sudden, all the memories of the day we found out we would probably not have kids on our own without IVF came back to me....and then the day that we found out that I was pregnant.....and then the day we found out that I was no longer pregnant.  Oh just thinking about my life at that time brings back some sad, sad memories!  But now that I look back on that, I am literally SO GRATEFUL that I had to be a part of that emotional roller coaster......I never thought at the time that I would say that, but it shaped me.  That whole experience has made me who I am today....it has made me a better person, but most imporantly, it has made me a better Mom!  When I have those hard days when my kids are driving me crazy (and there are been many lately), I secretly think in my head how badly I wanted all this and how hard it was to get them here and how lucky I am to have them.  That usually makes me feel better....even if just for a moment. 

I do not regret anything that has happened to us.....I do not picture my life being any other way!  I often get excited when someone new finds out the kids are adopted because I love to share our story.  I really wouldn't want it any other way.  I want two adopted kids.....I don't wish that I would've carried them myself for 9 months....I don't wish that our birthmoms were not a part of our lives....I don't wish that our kids came to us easier than they did!  I love our story and I love the trials we have been through to get us where we are now.  For me, it doesn't get any better than kissing these two adorable faces every single night.....

{BoB}

Yesterday, the kids had to experience their first pet dying.  This little guy, Bob, joined our family almost 2 years ago when Jeremiah and Ayden caught him near a pond down by the golf course.  They carried him home in an empty raisin box.  As you can see....he was tiny at the time.

He grew to be almost the size of a baseball.  On Thursday night, Jeremiah looked in his cage and noticed he was dead!!  Oops!!  We were sad cuz we knew that Ayden would be sad....he loved Bob!  He cried and said we needed to get another pet.  A fish???  A lizard??  Ahhhh......NO THANK YOU and NO THANK YOU!!!  I think it should be illegal (ok, maybe not illegal, but forbidden) to have pets if you have kids!  :)  I have enough to take care of with the 2 monkeys in my house....I don't need to worry about feeding and taking care of another one!!  :)  

Ayden wanted to put Bob in the hole himself and then cover him up....

We had a funeral for Bob in the backyard last night.  Ayden wanted to bury him in our backyard.  So Jeremiah put him in 2 raisin boxes (since he came into our lives in a raisin box) and dug a hole under our orange tree.  Ayden and Zoe built a little rock tombstone for him and we all went around saying something nice about Bob!  :) 

Grammy Con was here and sang some song during the funeral.....HAHA!

Ayden and Zoe have been out in the backyard a couple times already today just to say "hi" to Bob!!  I hope we don't have to bury many pets in our lifetime.....that is no fun!  :(

{sTrOng WiLleD}

strong-willed

[strawng-wild, strong-]

–adjective

1. having a powerful will; resolute.

2. stubborn; obstinate.

3. firmly or stubbornly adhering to one's purpose, opinion, etc.; not yielding to argument, persuasion, or entreaty.

4. characterized by inflexible persistence or an unyielding attitude; inflexibly persisted in or carried out: obstinate advocacy of high tariffs.

5. not easily controlled or overcome: the obstinate growth of weeds.

 

STRONG WILLED.......AKA......ZOE GRACE

 

 

I noticed that her name was missing from the dictionary definition of "strong willed"!  That's weird....maybe I need to check a more updated dictionary since her name could have only been entered in within the past 2 years of her life!  :)

 

I wish I could blame it on the terrible two's, but I don't think this little attitude is going anywhere anytime soon!  I've heard a lot about dealing with a child like this from my mom.....I might be the child that was just like this.  And since I've been an adult, I might have heard my mom admit she "hated" me as a child.  Good thing I never knew that growing up!  :)  And now she just laughs at me when she sees me getting frustrating or trying to deal with the attutidue that Zoe gives me.....ALREADY!!!  My mom always prayed that I would have a child that was JUST LIKE ME!!  How rude of her!!  But I could see myself doing the same thing to Zoe after dealing with her for 18 years or so!  It's a good thing she is cute.  And a good thing we have so much fun together....when she is having one of her "happy, I can cooperate" moments!  And it's a good thing we can all kind of look at her and have a sense of humor about it all!  Just this week, she said 2 things that really cracked us up!

 

We were "dog sitting" for Jeremiah's parents again this week.  Zoe put a leash on Puppi and was taking her for a walk....around the house.  All of a sudden she came up to me and said, "Ugh.....Puppi can be so difficult sometimes!!!"

 

Hmmmm......has she heard me use the word "difficult" lately to describe a certain someone?!?!?

 

Zoe has the FUNNIEST laugh lately....she totally sounds like Fran Drescher!!  I tell her that all the time!  The other night, we were driving in the car and Zoe laughed.  I said, "Zoe, tell Daddy what Mommy said you sound like when you laugh."  She sat there and thought....and thought.....then she said "irritating???"

 

Ok, I promise that I do not tell my child that she is difficult and irritating!!!  LOL!!  No idea where she gets these things from....but maybe I do need to watch what I say a little closer!!

 

Funny girl!!  We love our little spit fire girl that keeps us on our toes!!  :)