Great giveaway from Monogram Me

Check out this giveaway...very cute magnetic board. Check out her other adorable products! They'll make great Christmas presents (even for yourself!!) :)

This one is pretty awesome....

I'm not sure I should share with you, because I want to win this one!! But here is another fabulous giveaway! Such adorable things from this website, but these personalized Christmas ornaments are the cutest! :) Go HERE to see this great giveaway!!

And I should also apologize for not posting anything for months except giveaways...it's just been busy...school starting, family stuff, etc etc. I will try to be better. I have lots of photos of the kids to share, but our computer died, and although we are back up and running, it is on a borrowed hard drive with minimal space...once we get our new hard drive installed, I will post something fun.

Hope everyone is well!

Monogram Me Giveaway!

Check out this really cute giveaway!!! Go HERE to enter!

Another FABULOUS giveaway...Vera Bradley!

This is an awesome giveaway! Go check it out! And hurry...it's ends tomorrow, July 20th!

Good luck!

MckLinky

There’s a great new “linky” service available and I wanted to let you know about it. It’s called MckLinky – www.mcklinky.com. After realizing the need for a new, reliable linky capability, Brent Riggs and MckMama got together to create a free, easy to use linky service for all their blog friends.


MckLinky is a free link list feature that allows you to do include lists of other blog links like MckMama does on Not Me! Monday. You can use MckLinky any time you want your blog readers to leave a list of links on your blog. It’s simple, reliable, free...and loads of MckFun!

Another excellent giveaway!

My Blonde Reality is having a $100 gas card giveaway! Go on over and make a comment to enter! Good luck!

Very Cute Giveaway!!

Preppy Paper Girl is having a giveaway! Go check it out here! And don't forget to wish her a Happy Birthday! :)

Protein...

My older child is a very picky eater. It seems the older she gets, the less types of food she eats. She would eat fruit and "snacks" all day long. So for lunch today, she was given chicken, carrots, and applesauce. The first to go was the applesauce. Next came one or two carrots. Finally she took one bite of chicken and exclaimed, "I'm done!"

So I said to her, "Did you know that your muscles need protein? Chicken is protein, and it's really good for your muscles."

She looked at me with quite a puzzled look on her face, but didn't ask any questions. I stepped out of the room, in which I then heard this:

"Don't worry protein. Don't ever ever worry. I am going to give you to my muscles." Then she came running into the room I was in and exclaimed that she gave the protein to her muscles and she could already feel her muscles getting big and strong. :)

Now if I can convince her how important vegetables are!

Day by day...

Oh, I haven't posted in almost a month! Things are just status quo around here. P turned in his National Boards portfolio. His next step is to take an exam in June. I am trying to wrap up my Natural Family Planning internship. I hopefully will take my practitioner exam in the middle of May. We are working hard, and hopefully will have an uneventful summer. :)

The children are doing very well. AR is like a grown up. She talks to you all the time. She is into the asking questions phase. Driving to the grocery store the other day (which is less than 3 miles from our house), she must have asked me over 100 questions. It is very cute. J is still being stubborn about walking. He prefers to crawl, as he is amazingly fast. Sometimes he is crawling so fast, he messes up his sequence and ends up face down on the floor. He pauses like he is taking a rest break, and then up and off again. We have been really working on his speech. About 2 weeks ago, all he was saying was da-da, ya-ya, ra-ra, ba-ba. And nothing had any meaning. We think he has da-da and ma-ma down now, and the next thing we are working on is pa-pa. He says "pa". I'm not sure he is associating it with his grandfathers.

We had a wonderful Easter, and I will post pics soon. We spent 2 days on Kiawah with my family from New Jersey. It was amazing! We ate lunch at The Sanctuary. Oh boy...It was definitely nothing like I had ever seen before. My cousins had an Easter Egg hunt. AR loved it. So I will post all that soon.

Well, it's early Sunday morning, and I'm off to get breakfast going and then onto mass. I'm thinking about putting AR in the nursery. She went in there for a little bit during Easter Mass, but we were sitting outside on the plaza, close to the nursery so I could check on her a couple of times. I'm such a hovering parent! How am I ever going to drop her off at preschool in the fall, and then LEAVE? :( I get teary eyed just thinking about it.

Fridays during Lent

So my husband is working super hard on getting his National Boards stuff together. It's due Tuesday. He's been working on it every free minute he's had. He came home from work and sat at the computer for about an hour. He looks up and says to me, "I have to get out of the house. Let's go get AR a new bicycle helmet." Now this was not on my top priorty of things to do on a Friday afternoon, but I agreed.

We packed up the kids, got in the car, and drove over to Dick's sporting goods. We purchased a pretty pink helmet with white flowers on it. It's supposed to be for 5-14 years old (very adjustable), and since my almost 3 year old is as big as a 5 year old, it should last her 2 or 3 years. :)

Afterwards, my husband and I realized it was almost 7:30! I'm not really sure we were thinking clearly before we left for Dick's. We discussed dinner options. We settled on Captain D's since it's Friday and it's Lent. No meat for us, as we are both Catholic. We pulled into the parking lot and it was pretty full, but how long could it take? It's Captain D's...it's FAST food. We walked in, and there were only 3 people ahead of us. I waited in line while my husband got a booth. I placed our order. We were ticket 998. OK. Great. I went and sat down. I hear the loudspeaker turn on, "Order 968. 968."

WHAT? 968? My brain is trying to wrap itself around that...it's thinking: Quick math...998 - 968...THIRTY ORDERS???? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

No, no kidding. 30 orders. I look around and realize that almost all the people sitting don't have food. There are people standing in the aisles, waiting for their take-out. Geesh. What did we get ourselves into?

35 minutes later, "998? 998."

Never ever ever again will I ever THINK about going to Captain D's on a Friday night during lent.

Wordless Wednesday

Hi/Lo Thursday

This post is part of "Hi/Lo Thursday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check out their blog to read everyone else's "Hi/Lo" posts and get your link on their site.

Lows:

1. I feel like I am losing the battle on discipline in our house, with our almost 3 year old daughter. Our strategies just seem to anger her so much that she loses control. She seems to be having more and more tantrums, and I really don't know what to do about it.

2. I wanted to get my dining room pained before we have company this weekend, but I just ran out of time.


Highs:

1. Today is my baby's 1st birthday! I can't believe it. He has grown so much over the past year. Happy birthday baby J!

2. We are having a party on Sunday for J. Family and friends are coming for an italian feast, and I'm sure it will be alot of fun.

Happy 1st Birthday Sweet Baby J!

One year ago today, I gave birth to the cutest, sweetest little guy in the world. He has brought more smiles to my face than I could have ever imagined.

J - you are a very strong, determined little boy, who loves his big sister to pieces, and brings so much joy into our house. You are mischievous...you puposefully call me dada, and when I say mama, you burst into laughter like you just told the funniest joke. You are very emotional (just like mommy), and very sensitive (just like mommy). You are growing so fast. Right now you say dada, baba, yaya, rara, gaga. We aren't sure what those mean, except dada of course. We are starting to think yaya is your name for your sister. You are crawling like a champ, and you can stand independently. You can walk if you are holding onto your walker, or our hands, but you prefer to crawl. I think it's because it's quicker for you right now. You are eating like a champ. You are completely off baby food and formula, eating what we eat (and enough for a grown up), and drinking soy milk and juice. Whole milk seems to upset your stomach. You weight about 25 lbs. I am not sure how tall you are right now. We have your check up in a few weeks. You are very curious, and you still love to put things in your mouth.

I love you beyond words. Your daddy loves you beyond words. Our family wouldn't be complete without you. Happy Birthday baby boy!

Hi/Lo Thursday

This post is part of "Hi/Lo Thursday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check out their blog to read everyone else's "Hi/Lo" posts and for a chance to win $100.

It's been a pretty long week in the W family.

Lows:

1. Being very frustrated and in a bad mood directing it toward my family. There is nothing I can pinpoint, but it makes me sad.

2. My daughter is afraid of thunderstorms, which happened last night, and she ended up sleeping with us all night. Did not get a good night's sleep.

Highs:

1. My son is turning one next week! Very exciting!

2. I have had 2 weeks off of work!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Valentine's Day

In honor of valentine's day, I thought I would share the story of how my husband (P) and I (A) met. :) It's quite cute (at least I think so!)

In August of 2002, I was working as a physical therapist, living with my parents. I was 31 years old and only had a small handful of serious relationships. I was living at home because in 1999, I decided to go back to graduate school for physical therapy, and I was trying to do it as affordable as possible. I graduated in May 2002, took my boards in July 2002, and began work right afterwards.

One day, my mom came home from church and said "There's a new youth minister at church. He's very tall and handsome!" (Can you see the *hint hint* in there, staring you in the face?)

"Oh, really? That's nice," I said.

And that was it. I didn't really think about it. I had recently decided that I was giving my personal life back to God, and I was going to stop hoping, praying, caring, wondering, trying so hard, in the relationship department.

A few months passed and it was December 2002. I was at church, and after the mass, I was walking out. In front of me was a fairly large group of high school kids, talking with a very tall and handsome man. He was standing right in front of me, and I was a little in awe. My heart rate went up, my breathing increased a little, and I was sweating. At the time I didn't know why, but there I was standing behind my future husband. Wow.

I went home and could not stop thinking about him. He was so cute and he was Catholic and he liked kids (high school kids at least). He attended my church, he was tall and handsome. So I did something I would not normally do. I called him. :) I asked him if I could volunteer with the high school youth group. OK, I know. It's horrible. It's terrible! How could I volunteer only in the hope of getting to know this person? Well, honestly, I really did want to volunteer. He was a bonus. Since 1994, I had usually volunteered at church in some capacity. Once I was in PT school, and afterwards, I just didn't have the time to commit to anything. But I was ready again to do that. Of course knowing that this very cute person was the leader of the youth group made my decision much easier.

I waited to call until early evening, thinking I would just leave a message. Well, he actually answered the phone. I was a little surprised, and taken aback. But maybe this was good. If he was at work in the evening, then he wasn't out to dinner, like with a girlfriend. Our first conversation, from my point of view, was wonderful. He was so easy to talk to, and he asked interesting questions. It was refreshing. He told me youth group had wrapped up for the holidays already, but that I could come to their first meeting in January.

So January came, and I went to the first meeting. I walked right up to him and introduced myself. We shook hands. I melted. I'm sure I was blushing and sweating. I was very nervous - about meeting him and the youth group. I could tell that everyone knew each other and felt comfortable with each other. I felt like the "new kid". P made me feel very welcome. So I went back week after week. I always hung around until everyone else had left just so I could get a few minutes alone with him. He was such an interesting person. He had such a kind and generous heart. I really had never met anyone like him before.

So sometime in February, right before Valentine's Day, he asked me after youth group if I wanted to go get something to eat. My heart skipped a beat. I was on cloud 9. This is it! I thought. He is asking me out. I answered breathless, "Of course!" So we went to Applebee's. We drove separately, and as I was getting out of the car, he was on the phone. I heard him ask about tickets. I thought, "Oh! He's trying to find us tickets to something. He's going to ask me out for Valentine's Day!" After he was done on the phone, we went inside and got a table. He then proceeded to tell me about his phone call. He was trying to get tickets to The Have Nots. That was cool. I love comedy. He then said he met someone recently and was taking her to the show...FOR VALENTINE'S DAY! The disappointment must have been so visible on my face. I tried to smile and seem interested, but all I could think of was how embarrassed I felt inside, and how could I get out of Applebee's the quickest.

Well, we did end up staying at Applebee's for FOUR hours. We had a great time, great conversation. I didn't really understand how things could seem so great, but he was going out on a date with another girl! All I could think of was, "Here we go again. I like someone who justs wants to be my friend." That's how it always was. When we left Applebee's that night, I just asked God to help me be a good friend to him since that's what P wanted...friendship. And I asked God to help me not get wrapped up in P. P and I started doing something after youth group each week, and we started talking on the phone. We started trying to learn how to play the guitar, and I taught him how to develop black and white photography. I even went out with P and the girl he was seeing. It was a bunch of people going out for P's roommate's birthday. Normally I wouldn't subject myself to that. Who wanted to see the guy you get weak in the knees for with his girlfriend? But I decided that maybe I was supposed to meet someone through P. Maybe that was why everything had happened the way it did so far.

Well, I met the girl. Of course I liked her. She was great. She was Catholic, and nice and cute and bubbly. It made it that much harder for me, but I just tried to trust God's plan, instead of trying to force something to happen.

Well, a little while after that night, P called me. He sounded kind of down, and when I asked him what was wrong, he said that sometimes he wished things worked out the way he wanted. Things didn't go well with the girl. I felt bad, but inside my heart skipped another beat. By now, we had become pretty good friends. We talked on the phone, went to eat together, hung out a little bit. Of course my feelings had only grown, even though he was seeing someone else.

Finally, the kids at youth group started asking questions and saying things to me about me liking P. I decided that I needed to talk to him about it, because I was afraid they were saying things to him too. When I told him what the kids were saying, he looked me in the eyes and said "Well, what do you think about that?" I really didn't know what he was asking me, and after some discussion, he asked me about us dating. Not just going on a date...but DATING! Again, heartbeat skipping. We talked a little more and decided to go on our "first date". We went to Locklear's in Mt. Pleasant. It was very nice. The food was outstanding. We shared a bottle of wine. When we got back to my car (I met him at his place because he lived close to Locklear's...I lived 30 minutes away. And yes, he did want to pick me up. I insisted I drive to Mt. Pleasant), it was misty rainy. We were saying our goodbyes, and I was looking down at the ground because I really didn't know what to do. Do I hug him? Do we kiss on the cheek? I didn't know. We had already hung out so much and I think we were hugging goodbye at that point. We were standing underneath an old tall tree. He touched my chin and lifted up my head and we kissed for the first time. And I knew. I knew we would fall in love. I knew we would get married. I knew we would have a family. I had already fallen in love with him while we were friends.

And now 6 years later (from our dinner at Applebee's), I am still head over heels in love with this man. This man is patient, kind, caring, sensitive, loving. He is an amazing father to our children. He is the love of my life. I'm the luckiest girl in the world.

P - Happy Valentine's Day. I love you - forever.

Hi/Lo Thursday

This post is part of "Hi/Lo Thursday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check out their blog to read everyone else's "Hi/Lo" posts and for a chance to win $100.

I L-O-V-E this idea...the hi/lo part (although $100 isn't too shabby!). We do this at our high school youth group. It's the first thing we do after our opening prayer. We sit around in a circle and everyone has to say a "pow-wow". We do the pow (lo) first, because we always want to end on a positive (wow/hi) note. :) The teenagers really get to know each other week after week and it helps everyone relax and open up to the group! So here it goes...

My Lows:

1. I got very frustrated one day with AR because we are potty training, and on this particular day she was having many many accidents, without even trying to go to get to the potty in time. Prior to this, she was down to maybe 1 accident a day.

2. Our roof had something on it that was called a metal roof vent (something like that). Well, a piece came loose, and if it rained, we could get some serious leaks. The roofer said they don't even use those anymore, and the entire metal strips across the peaks of our roof had to be torn off and replaced with a different kind of vent (shingles over a plastic vent). It was definitely an unexpected expense.

My Highs:

1. J is learning how to give kisses on the lips. He is so cute when he leans in with his slobbery lips wide open and plants one on you. You need a towel. :)

2. I am so thankful that we caught the roof problem in time, BEFORE a heavy rain. That would have been much much worse (and more expensive).


OK...your turn. Go to the website listed above and post your high/low Thursday! Have fun!

Just call me Pharmacist A.

J has had a horrible diaper rash, one we have not been able to get rid of. The doctor saw it in late December. He has been on Nystatin, Diflucam, zinc oxide, etc. It was really getting raw, so I took him in. We saw a new doctor today, who advised us to put a "special" cream on it, called diaper goo. I was game, as I really want this to heal.

So off I go to the compounding pharmacy, because it has to be made up. It is equal parts zinc oxide, nystatin, and a topical antibiotic. The pharmacist ever so kindly tells me that insurance won't pay for this and it would be $60.00. $60.00 to mix up some creams? Come on. Well, needless to say, I did NOT purchase said diaper goo.

I got home and called the doctor. After speaking with the nurse and explaining to her that I thought it was crazy to spend $60.00 on cream (and I have nystatin, zinc oxide, and neosporin at home anyway), she informed that I could just mix them all up in a baby food jar and use that.

ARE.YOU.SERIOUS?

Why did you send me to the pharmacy to buy $60.00 cream, when I could just mix it at home?

I'm just saying.

Long time, no blog...

Wow...it's almost mid-February. I don't think I've posted anything since Thanksgiving time! How time is flying by. It's going so fast. J will be ONE at the end of February. I can not believe it. He is turning into quite the big guy...he is standing on his own, he is cruising on all the furniture, and he is still sleeping through the night like a champ! We are currently transitioning to milk (unfortunately, he seems to still have trouble with cow's milk, so we are going to try soy milk for a few months, then try cow's milk again). And once we get him off formula for good, we will say goodbye to bottles! Hooray! I hand wash my bottles, but feel ok with putting the sippie cups through the dishwasher. :) So lots of great things happening for him!

AR is doing very well also. We (well, P) decided it was time to potty train. We had a pretty rough week last week, but so far this week things are going well. She is having minimal accidents. She is definitely feeling the sensation of needing to go to the pottie BEFORE she actually has to go, and she goes from 3-5 hours in between potty visits. We haven't ventured out much. The times we have, I bring the potty seat with us. The thought of her having to sit on some of the toilets I've seen gives me the heeby-jeebies. *yuck*

AR got into the pre-school of our choice. I couldn't be a prouder mama...like she was 'accepted' out of 100's of children. Except that it's semi-random. She has been on a waiting list for over a year. The current families in the school and the church families (not our church) had first choice. Then the families who are on the list have the next opportunity. You had to mail in your application on a certain date (you could NOT drop it off at the school) and it was a first come first serve. So her fate was in the hands of the United States Postal Service. I went over the post office closest to the school, and got there when they opened. I asked could the application be put in the carrier's delivery pile to be delivered that same day. Fortunately, they must encounter this year after year, and many people were doing the same thing as me. :) Somehow we got a spot. I am so thankful and grateful. AR is already talking about going to school (she doesn't start until August!). We have a long 6 months! :)

Here are a few pictures. We hope you are having a lovely week!

The W's

J looking so much like P as a baby. Those are his Christmas pajamas.

AR on Christmas morning trying to catch butterflies. This net was NOT one of her presents from Santa. This was just lying around my parents' garage. Go figure. :) By the way, is that not all PW or what?

J about to get into something. Overalls and a white turtleneck...so cute!

J and AR playing around. He LOVES to crawl over you.

J fell asleep in his high chair. Look at his pink cheeks...he was sick. :(

I know this is blurry, but it's so darn cute!

AR doing a Bono impression (in her Dora sunglasses)