Dec 29, 2016

Resolutions for 2017

As most people do, I spend the last couple of weeks of the year thinking about what I want to work on in the  new year. I've nailed down what I think is a pretty awesome list and I can't wait to see what I can get done!

I want to look at my 2016 goals and see how I did. I honestly did not revisit this list enough throughout the year and I'm hoping that is something I can improve on in 2017.
1. Take more pictures - I don't think my picture taking increased from the year before at all. I did however get all of the pictures off of my phone every few months so there's that!
2. Give up pop - I did really well for the first few months. It unfortunately picked back up after I got pregnant. What a horrible time to start drinking pop again lol.
3. Take care of myself - I was a little better at self care this year than the last 2. I realized a couple of months ago that even though showering at night is more convenient, showering in the morning makes my hair look better. As shallow as it is, when my hair looks good I feel great. I didn't have as many late nights and I had some success at keeping my skin moisturized too. I would say this resolution was accomplished even though this pregnancy hasn't been the portrait of health that I would have liked.
4. Move my body - Great first half of the year, but a pretty bad second half. I blame pregnancy and restrictions. I can't wait to start working out again!
5. Stay organized - There is room to improve on this. I had a feeling when I got pregnant and had to stop taking my Adderall that my organization would fall apart. I don't feel like a complete hot mess, but its not pretty over here haha.
6. Quit biting my nails - I have quit! As long as my nails are painted most of the time then I'm not tempted. I honestly can't remember the last time I did it.

Now for 2017...
1. Decorate all room in the house - I'm going to do this room by room. The mudroom should be done next week and then I'll start with Charlee's room for obvious reasons. We've decided to stay put and not move, so I want to make it pretty!
2. Run in 2 5K's - Running was the most efficient workout after Tucker was born and I'm sure it will be the same with 2 kids. I was able to leave work and get a quick run in before picking him up most days, so I'm hoping I can do the same. To save my back, I'm going to pick PiYo back up at some point. Probably before I start running again.
3. Get wills done - I am embarrassed to say that I do not have one done. As a mother and a business owner, this needs to get done pretty quickly.
4. Consistent contributions to our kids' education fund(s) - Right now there is just one fund until we are sure we are done having children. I put money in periodically and there is quite a bit in there considering I've maxed out my retirement fund for the year, Danny's is done, my car is paid off and we pay extra on our house. I'm hoping to do a better job this year.
5. Have friends over for dinner once a month - I'm keeping this one for later in the year, like July through December since the first part will be spent preparing for and adjusting to 2 kids.
6. More quality time with Danny - It's not secret that life with 2 kids will be stressful, but I want to make sure our marriage gets attention too. More attention that just sitting in the same room and listening to the same TV show. Regular date nights, at home or out, need to be a priority.
7. Do 1 craft of DIY project per month - This one kind of goes with #1. I have a few décor projects in mind and I have some ideas for Christmas gifts for next year.

The list is pretty random, but I can't wait to get started on some of it!

Dec 28, 2016

Christmas 2016

Christmas is a bit more relaxed for us than Thanksgiving. Christmas gets spread out over a week or so. Thanksgiving happens in a matter of 2 days. On Christmas Eve, we had Christmas with Danny's extra family and my family.

I skipped Christmas Eve with the extra family so I wouldn't get anyone else sick. I still didn't feel great and my appetite wasn't back, but I'm not sure I was contagious. Plus there are 9 other kids there, 3 of which are sick all the time. I didn't want to take any chances. I missed the following things:
1. Tucker calling everyone a "pest"
2. He grabbed one of Danny's brother's beards and looked him in the eyes and said "you're pissing me off"

Honestly, I wouldn't have been very effective during those moments. Number 1 would have irritated me and Number 2 would have made me laugh so hard I would have to leave the house. I don't handle children cursing appropriately. It's not my fault because as soon as I showed my mom and brother the text from Danny they both laughed too.

Another reason I wanted to skip the first party was so I could feel better for Christmas with my mom, brother and his wife. I was able to eat dinner which was nice. That was my first try at eating something other than toast so I was nervous. After dinner it was time for presents. We were all spoiled, especially Tucker. He tore through his presents in record speed (further proving that he is my child) then went back through to look at them. He got a really cool Marshall dog that moves and talks, skates, a Paw Patrol scooter and some clothes. He asked for the skates, but wasn't really a fan once he had them on.
 


After dinner and presents it was time to go home and get ready for Santa! We put food out for the reindeer then opened our family pajamas. I seriously love this tradition! They don't match exactly, but they are well coordinated!



Christmas morning was wonderful. Danny's new fire chief offered to work for him that morning to give him some extra time at home. His shift normally starts at 7am, but that morning he didn't have to be there until 10am. We opened presents and stockings from Santa. Tucker's favorite Santa gift was a puppy carrier with 2 puppies inside. Mommy's favorite gift was new diamond earrings :)

 

After presents, I started our monkey bread and about burnt the house down. We also showed Tucker his present from us, which was a ride-on tractor. It didn't take him long to get it figured out and he rode it every chance he got Christmas Day!


My mom stopped by to see us and Tucker's presents before she headed home. It worked out well that she did so I could get ready, deal with my sister-in-law catching my stomach bug, and we could get a family pj picture. 


Next was Christmas at Danny's dads. I ate way too much. Like so much I didn't eat again until the next morning. We ate at 1:30 haha. After presents there, we hung out for a bit then headed home so we could load up again and go see Danny at work, where he and Tucker played with Tucker's new remote control fire truck. 


As soon as we got home, it was back to the garage for more tractor riding. We literally didn't go in the house, just straight to the garage. 


Christmas was exhausting but so much fun once I felt better! I can't wait to experience the madness next year with a  4 year old and 9 month old! That will be something!

Dec 27, 2016

28 weeks!

Third. Trimester.

Now that Christmas is over, Charlee prepping has commenced. Her room already looks better because the holiday is over. It was Christmas Central up in there between presents, wrapping paper, and décor. That just means I need to find another solution for next year.

Onto the bumpdate.


 Baby size: Chinese cabbage. Seriously, where does this app come up with these comparisons?
Any symptoms?  Heartburn. My hips had shooting pains in them yesterday. All the emotions. Round ligament pain.
Favorite part this week? Mama got to open some presents for Charlee
Least favorite part this week? Having the stomach flu AGAIN!
Boy or Girl? GIRL!
Names? Charlee Danielle










Friday morning shortly after breakfast I started feeling a little nauseous. No big deal. I just ate breakfast, had my progesterone shot about 14 hours prior, and it's just par for the course at this point that I feel like I'm going to throw up. I still scheduled a lunch date for my mom with Tucker and me since I wasn't working that day and didn't want to be cooped up in the house all day. Plus if it was just nausea I could eat through it and I would feel better. Buffalo Wild Wings was probably not the brightest choice, but if I can't eat B-dub's then we have a real issue. Well, we had an issue. I texted Danny's sister (Danny was at work until 5ish) to see if I could bring Tucker over when we got back into town until I either felt better or Danny got home. Thankfully she said yes because about 7 minutes I dropped him off, my 2nd round of the stomach flu this month began. I was miserable until about 5:30 the next day. It literally took me hours again to determine if I was sick or just nauseous.

The good news is it was short lived, but I am back to being just nauseous. I'll take it.

As for Charlee prepping... the first order of business is to get a few projects around the house done.
1. Some DIY photo ledges that I talked about last April. I've had the materials since early 2016. Danny is taking them to work on Friday so that he can cut the boards down and I can start staining soon.
2. Get the mudroom into a high functioning state. We hung the coat rack yesterday and I'll be on the hunt for command center materials this week.
3. Finish moving Tucker's décor to his new room. I took his curtains down the other day, but he has a picture and some tractors left in his old room. I decided we need shelves for his room to display his tractors. Danny decided I won't be happy until we have a house made of shelves.

Once those 3 things are done, which I'm hoping will be over this stretch of days off for Danny or the next stretch, it's time to get Charlee's room done. Which includes refinishing a dresser. That is still in my brother's barn. And I only have a vague idea of what I want to do. It's fine. If she's like her brother she will arrive in less than 2 months, but its fine.

Tomorrow I will recap our 4 Christmases we had over the weekend.

Dec 21, 2016

Weekend Recap + 27 weeks!

The last few days at work have been pretty busy playing catch up. The phones have been quiet, so I've been taking advantage of getting caught up on things I've been letting slide.

Friday was a really relaxed night. Tucker fell asleep on the way home from my mother-in-laws (its a 4 minute drive) and was snoring. I got him in the house, put a pull up on him and he slept until 5:30 Saturday morning. I got 5 free hours to myself that night. It was strange. I talked my brother into picking up Chinese for me too. I was thisclose to calling my newly licensed 16 year old nephew. Desperation is what you call that.

Saturday was of course an early day. We made cookies and a Christmas tree out of a paper plate. Again, I am certain I chose correctly when I didn't go into the education field.


Danny got home and we left soon after to drop Tucker off at my mom's so they could have a sleepover and we could finish our shopping for the boy. Target. Was. Packed! Seriously, parking lot was full all the way to the back. By some miracle we got a spot right in the first row. Danny only glared at a few people during our short trip so I call it a win. After a yummy (and fat) dinner at Chili's we headed home. I made my nephews' Christmas gifts. They are 16 and 13 so money is the most wanted gift. I don't like to just give them cash though. Last year I did money mazes that I found on Amazon. This year I did money trees and I love how they turned out. 


I started a new tradition this year after a cousin shared a picture of my dad on Facebook. This time of year he would tip big for pizza delivery guys. Like order 1 or 2 pizzas, give them a $100 bill and tell them to keep the change. A bartender in town commented on the picture and said she didn't see him often but when she did it was always around Christmas and he would do what I just explained. I had no idea this was something he did throughout town. And I love it. That was my dad. He was very quiet when he did things like that. I've decided that every Christmas season, I am going to do the same thing and it was the Chili's waitress's lucky night. It felt really good.

I was up early on Sunday despite the human alarm clock being gone. I watched Gilmore Girls, wrapped some presents, ate 1st breakfast, and wrapped more presents. Danny and I went to breakfast before he headed down to get the child. Once they were home we lounged, made our desserts, and headed to Danny's mom's for Christmas with her. Tucker was a grouch so Danny's grandpa started messing with him. It's so nice to watch the 2 of them interact. Danny's grandpa just turned 92 in October so every holiday with him is extra special. 


Now for the bumpdate!






Baby size: cauliflower
Any symptoms?  Heartburn after every single meal. I don't care what it is. Sore back. Tired. Nausea was back but is giving me a break so that's wonderful!
Favorite part this week? I can SEE her kicking and moving. Same as last week but still just as awesome!
Least favorite part this week? I've been kind of emotional.
Boy or Girl? GIRL!
Names? Charlee Danielle. Or Chuck as Tucker likes to call her.







It's been a pretty calm week pregnancy wise. I have an appointment with my OB in an hour. I could tell she was on the verge of talking to me about my weight gain last appointment, but since it was the day before Thanksgiving I think she held off. I have a feeling I'll get lectured today. And I deserve it. I have been eating very badly and have not been exercising the way I had planned on. This pregnancy has been much more difficult emotions wise than with Tucker, so I've been focused more on that. Having a toddler that wakes up at least once per night and a dog that does the same but at a different time has also led to broken sleep, so the energy needed to function and exercise just isn't there. I will say the lack of exercise and eating right has me pretty motivated to get it together once Charlee is here and we get our bearings. I am planning on cleaning my eating up a bit after the holidays, whether I get told too or not.

Now, I am off to my appointment then to a lunch Christmas party with the agency I sell insurance for but don't own.

Dec 15, 2016

My Christmas Wish List

Like I do  most years, I struggled to come up with a Christmas list. I usually try to keep a running list of things I want in my phone, but then the ADD kicks in and I forget it's there or forget to put things on it as they pop into my head. This year was no different with pregnancy brain. So, it is kind of random. Practical, but random.

1. New Skecher GOwalks. I fell in LOVE with these shoes when I bought them last summer for our trip to Alaska. They were perfect for that and they are perfect to wear running errands. I like to get a neutral color that I can pair with almost any outfit. I leave the fun patterns and colors to Toms!

 
2. Vest. I took a note from Tucker's list this year and asked for one too. I get really hot really easily, even when not pregnant, so a vest would probably be a good thing for me to have.
 
3. New diaper bag. The inside of the bag we had with Tucker ripped, so I'm using that as an excuse for a newer, cuter one. Not too cute of course since Danny will be carrying it too. I found this one that he gave his approval on.


 
4. Gift cards to Michaels and Hobby Lobby. My office just had some work done to it and currently looks like this.
 
I've been in that office for 6 years and the most I've done to "make it mine" is insert a few new picture frames and instead of having my senior picture hanging up, I have a picture of Tucker hanging. Since it is waiting to be put back together, I am going to take advantage and add some Erin touches too it.  The gift cards will be used to decorate my office and my house.
 
5. A new water bottle - Danny broke the plastic tab that makes it easy to remove the lid off from my current one. I can make do with it still, but I just needed something to put on my list for his mom since she doesn't like to give just gift cards or money.
 
6. PJ's and slippers - I didn't actually put these on the list, but I picked out a set of pj's and a pair of slippers and handed them to Danny's mom when we were in Michigan.
 
7. I asked my mom to fill in the rest of what she normally spends with a  gift card to Dick's so I can purchase new shoes once Charlee is here and my feet aren't as fat. I've had my current shoes for 2 years so it is time to replace them.
 
8. Diamond earrings from Danny. Last year I decided for Christmas I am just going to start telling him the type of gift I would like and let him work out the details of it. I wear a minimal amount of jewelry every day and my small ears can only handle stud earrings or very lightweight dangly (this must actually be a word since there isn't a red squiggly line) ones. They are also becoming more sensitive in my old age of 27 and cheap ones make them itch. Time for the wife to get some nice ones.
 
I never give Danny's dad and stepmom a list. I welcome the gift card they give me with open arms. With that I plan to buy a Keurig for the camper. And maybe some Hunter boots in either black or navy blue.
 
 
Now that I've compiled a list of everything I've asked for, the most wanted item this year is shoes. I should probably work on getting the pairs I do own off of my closet floor.

Dec 13, 2016

Weekend Recap + 26 Weeks

Two posts in one due to a random stomach bug invading my body on Sunday. I. Felt. Horrible! All day long. And felt bad yesterday until about bedtime.

This weekend was pretty busy. Friday night we had our nieces' and nephew's Christmas program. Tucker fell asleep in the middle of it and peed on my lap a little bit, so we left early. Poor kid was that tired and bored. After every song he asked if they were going to sing more haha. I'm very interested to see how he handles his own Christmas programs starting next year. He slept through leaving, getting in the truck, getting out of the truck, and getting a pull-up put on him. With a  brief wake up that snuggles from Daddy fixed, he slept until 6:15 the next morning. Danny prepped his chili for our party and I relaxed since I knew Saturday would be rough on my pregnant self.

Saturday was our busy day. We headed out pretty early to finish up Egg Nog Extravaganza shopping. We were going to hit up Hobby Lobby and the grocery store, but I decided to give Meijer a shot and see if I could get both stops done in one. I was successful and thankful I went there since I found this beautiful skirt.

It was a little snug but still a perfect piece of clothing for our annual Christmas party. I'll be wearing it again next year.


Tucker and I went to my great aunt's to visit with family and eat. And since it is the month that Tucker opens presents every week, he got his birthday present from my aunt and uncle. Their children are grown and they don't have any grandchildren in the near future (well, planned ones anyways) so they LOVE when they get the opportunity to shop for Tucker. And since they have 2 girls, my uncle jumps at the chance to play with "boy" toys.
 

We left the gathering and Tucker left to go to a basketball game and his mamaw's with the babysitter and his cousins. Then it was party time! This sign was also purchased at Meijer and perfect for our party.


It never got rowdy, which is how I like it haha. I ate way too much and stayed up way too late. I also made too much food. But, a group that showed up went to dinner before so I blame them.

Aren't our matching ties cute?

Sunday was my sick day. I was on the couch, in bed, or in the recliner, with the exception of when I had to pee and get sick, from 7am-8pm. It wasn't until 4pm that I determined I was sick sick and not just pregnancy sick. Its hard to tell these days.


Now for the bumpdate: 26 freaking weeks. Unbelievable. If she is like her brother, I have 10 weeks left. 10 WEEKS! And her room looks like this.
 




Baby size: hothouse cucumber... now what that is, I have no idea.
Any symptoms?  Nausea is here again. Heartburn is here. My whole body is sore all the time. I get out of breath easily.
Favorite part this week? I can SEE her kicking and moving.
Least favorite part this week? Being sick
Boy or Girl? GIRL!
Names? Charlee Danielle. Or Chuck as Tucker likes to call her.









As I've mentioned I was sick with a  stomach bug on Sunday and yesterday. I was able to keep water down the entire time, but never able to eat. With pregnancy nausea I can usually force myself to eat because lack of food is either the cause or it will help. That wasn't happening on Sunday. In the time I was awake I had a dinner roll, an apple, a bagel, and 5 bites of pasta. That's not much for me who eats like 5 meals a day. Yesterday I was able to eat more, but it was mostly bread or pasta still. Today I was able to eat an egg sandwich and drink some coffee, so I am on the upswing. Charlee has been moving around like normal the entire time since I started getting sick on Sunday so I've known she was okay and never got worried about her.

Not much else is happening right now. Just trying to get through this week since I have a class tomorrow and meetings the next 2 days. Our first Christmas celebration is on Sunday. I still have one more 2 more gifts to put together and wrapping to do. It'll be fine.

Dec 7, 2016

Tucker's 3rd Birthday

It's been 3 days since he turned a whole year older and I am still in disbelief that he is 3 years old. For his 3rd birthday, Tucker wanted a Paw Patrol birthday. I randomly asked him what he wanted one day in September and he said that which was pretty predictable of him at the time. The next month I asked him again just to be sure and he said he wanted a Shopkins birthday. His cousin was obsessed with these things and he wants to be just like her, so Tucker loves them too. I decided to just do both things. It was Paw Patrol heavy, but there were Shopkins balloons and cupcake picks. Both of which I made since Shopkins decorations are impossible to find in a store.

Originally we were going to do a nacho bar. Tucker loves nachos and so do I so it sounded good. After the Thanksgiving marathon I decided that sounded pretty overwhelming and scrapped it. I just did chips, 2 kinds of dip (spinach artichoke and cheese dip) and a veggie tray. I made the cakes because I'm cheap and that box cake trick on Pinterest is golden. I'll probably stick to my day job, but I am getting better!


Tucker's big birthday present was a bounce house. A friend was selling theirs on Facebook a few months ago and we couldn't pass it up. I mean, I was going too because I didn't think Danny would think it was necessary but then he called me asking if we should/could buy it haha. We bought it and hid it at Danny's dads. Tucker couldn't believe it when he walked in the garage and saw it. It's kind of like a gift for us too since I was able to blow it up Monday night and walk on the treadmill while he bounced.

The other favorite gift was a Paw Patrol trike from my mom. He got tons of other great gifts.  I told a friend of mine that he put a purple whistle on his Christmas list. She found a purple whistle for him along with a shirt that says "my aunt said I could." Sweet of her, right?
 



Tucker had a pretty great birthday overall. Time is flying by and I can't believe he is old enough to start preschool next year. I love him being little but I'm also excited about him getting older. We have real conversations, he can help me cook and bake, and he's able to do tasks for us like letting the dog outside and take his dishes to the sink. He seems like such a big kid now and it is very bittersweet.
Oh, and he sneezed on the cakes right after this picture was taken.

Dec 6, 2016

25 Weeks

Well this last week flew by! I swear I'm going to blink and December will be over.





Baby size: rutabaga
Any symptoms?  nausea is back more often than not. sore back, sore boobs, sore everything. heartburn. pregnancy brain has been awesome.
Favorite part this week? The kicks and movements are getting stronger by the day. We decided on her name!
Least favorite part this week? the nausea being back
Boy or Girl? GIRL!
Names? And her name is.... Charlee Danielle.












Deciding on her name was most certainly the highlight of the week. In the beginning of November we started out with a list of 4 names: Lexi, Aubrey, Charlee, and Hadley. Hadley quickly got removed because it just didn't feel like it fit. Its a beautiful name, just not for us. Danny never loved Aubrey like I did, but I kept testing it and saying it for another week or so. We both finally decided it was really just down to Lexi and Charlee since the night we made the list. We were STUCK and loved them both equally. We realized there wasn't any real rush other than we wanted to start calling her by her name and not just baby or whatever name we were testing that day. We tested Charlee for a week or two then moved onto Lexi. I used Lexi in one sentence and the look on Danny's face said Charlee was her name haha. I've loved it ever since Danny suggested it because it surprised me. I've always been a fan of it but never mentioned it because it didn't seem like the kind of name he would like. I felt very strongly about using the name Daniel or Danielle from basically the moment we had Tucker's name picked out. It's too convenient that my husband and dad share the same first name and using that name now is even more special since my dad isn't here. Our families love it and more importantly, we love it.

Tucker is also calling her Chuck sometimes. How he knows that Chuck is short for Charles/Charlie is beyond me, but he randomly called her Chuck. Danny's mom thinks its from Charlie Brown but I've never watched a Charlie Brown with him so maybe she has.

Danny gave me my first shot last week. For someone that's been wanting to stick a needle in me for the last 5 years he sure was nervous! He did a pretty good job and I'll let him keep doing it. I'm starting to experience some of the side effects of Makena. Mostly just itching and swelling in my right butt cheek. The left has been alright throughout so I'll be getting the next couple on that side.

Finally, I ordered the cutest little cow outfit for her about a month ago and it arrived yesterday. I loooove it and Tucker was pretty excited about it too!

Dec 5, 2016

Weekend Recap

This weekend was quite busy. This next one will be too, but both are super fun!

Friday night our little fam hit up the Christmas parade in town.

We met a friend and her little boy to watch with them. This is a parade that Danny is used to driving in, so it was interesting being on the sidewalk and not in an ambulance or fire truck, but also pretty nice too! Danny had to leave about halfway through to go work overtime at his new department. I say new like he hasn't been working there for 5 months. After the parade, Tucker and I went over to our friends' house so the boys could play together and the mamas could eat pizza and talk to adults. It was lovely. We left way past our bedtimes, which was 8:45 so we went home and went straight to bed.

Saturday was insane! Its best if I bullet list our day:
- Breakfast with Santa: We ate pancakes, played foosball, colored a Christmas tree (sort of) and sat on the big guy's lap. Tucker actually did this! I was so shocked since he wouldn't let go of my hand until he got right in front of him. He even told Santa that he wanted a puppy carrier. I about cried and can't wait to get the picture back!
- Party shopping: we got drinks and paper goods at the dollar store in town for Tucker's birthday party
- Work for a few: Tucker had them laughing the whole time. We talked insurance for about 5 minutes over the whole 30 that they were here while the rest of the time was spent at Tucker's restaurant.
- Grocery store: food for the party and the week. But only after mama used naptime to her advantage and picked up a snickerdoodle hot chocolate from Starbucks. Go get one now and thank me later.
- Home to unload groceries, clean up the garage, bake one of Tucker's cakes, clean up the garage some more, make green bean casserole, and get ready for a Christmas party.
- Danny's fire department Christmas party: This was our first party with the new department and it was a lot of fun. Totally different than what we were used too (about 3x more people and the old party used to include the police department). The other cool part was Santa. The old party had a Santa and Mrs. Claus, but this department has a firefighter Santa! I absolutely loved this. His gear even said "NPFD" and it made me love it even more!


My firefighter was given a 10 Year pin for 10 years in the fire service. 


He makes me so proud! And I love that I've been part of 9 of the 10 years.

We played some bingo. I even won a round and the prize was a carbon monoxide detector. Raise your hand if you're surprised that this is a prize at a fire department party...yeah, me neither.Tucker made himself right at home and helped call out numbers for Bingo. 


After a few hours of fun and meeting all of Danny's new coworkers we headed home. Tucker didn't fight going to bed at all which was nice. I stayed up party prepping, moving Pooch(the Elf) and wrapping presents. I was too tired to even watch TV when I got done and if you've been around this blog for any time at all then you know I was tired!

Sunday was our big boy's 3rd birthday! We have a 3 year old and I am in such disbelief. I'll recap his birthday and party on Wednesday!