A small list of the simple things that have made today so awesome:

- Getting a new vacuum filter [with Febreeze of course!] so now its back to smelling good when I vacuum.
- Not planning to buy wine but coming across a giant bottle of red moscato- YUM! [It goes pretty quick so its a must-have when I see it.]
-Kids that actually slept at naptime.
-Hearing more laughing/playing than crying/fighting.
-Trying out a new recipe that quickly turned into a family favorite:

Chicken breast stuffed with cream cheese, bacon, green onions, cheese, garlic and flat leaf parsley. With roasted red potatoes and broccoli.

I looove cream cheese, the amount I put on a bagle is ridiculous. So when I saw this recipe I had to try it, plus I live with a bunch of bacon freaks. It is so, soooo good. Aiden's first bite he said, "Mmm this chicken is delish!" Then later he said that Daddy was going to like the chicken. He was right! Everybody loved it, I wish I'd made more. Every week I have at least one new recipe on our dinner menu thanks to Pinterest!

Now everybody's off to bed and I get to enjoy the quiet and my clean house. Too bad my show's not new tonight. Boo. But I have New Girl and a bunch of other crap on the dvr. :)

Stenciling fun!

I got this idea for shorts from Pinterest, bleach the bottom then stencil on a design.

I love them!

[I wish I would've put the bird in the middle of the pocket, boo.]

And yesterday I did a shirt I saw in a magazine for Rian:

So cute!

Its so easy, hopefully I can find more stuff to do.

Hair.

My pattern is always the same: say I'm going to grow it out, get tired of it, chop it off and regret it.

I'm at the "tired of it" point right now and resisting the urge to chop it because I know I'll hate it. I want looooong hair really, really, really bad! Waiting for it is getting hard though.

I hardly even "do" my hair anymore. The most effort I put into it is either braiding or bunning it, piling it on top of my head or putting mousse in it while its wet. I'm over it!

But I will. not. cut. it... at least I hope I can fight the urge. :\

The little things.

This morning Steven came home from work with my guilty pleasure... my favorite since I was a little girl.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip from Mostly Muffins. Mmm!

I haven't had one since the day after Rian was born. The place is clear on the other side of town from his work, so sweet of him to think of me. <3

Check, check, check!

I've done a few things over the last few days that've made me feel super accomplished.

- Saturday I finally went through all of Rian's clothes. I have every single thing she's ever worn [except stuff that we borrowed and returned.] With Aiden's clothes, I've taken stuff here and there to Goodwill that I could part with, but I've never done that to Rian's clothes. [I did go through them once before when Jillian's baby was born, but she never picked the box up.] Anyway, I made another box for Jill and a box for Goodwill. The itty bitty stuff is the hardest to get rid of, I still have a majority of it. I was able to clear two boxes of her clothes out of our closet and declutter the top shelf of her closet that was overflowing with clothes. Ahhh, I felt soo much better!

- I also went through the cabinets in my bathroom and got rid of a whooole bunch of junk. It looks so much better instead of a big, unorganized mess.

- Before Rian's room was her room, it was our spare room where the second dvr connection was set up. So since then it hasn't been used. For the longest time, I was so against having a tv in our room, I don't know why, I just thought it was pointless. But I finally gave in. It might sound lazy, but its nice to watch a few minutes til I feel myself falling asleep. I usually do this with reading, but I don't always have a book around. So on Sunday, Steven's dad came over and after lots of messing with wires and climbing in the attic, we now can watch tv in our room- yay! [I had nothing to do with this, but its still a check off my list!]

- Last night, after wanting to do it for 3 1/2 years, I finally shampooed the living room carpet. It still has some stains, of course, and its still a little darker in the entrance areas from so much dirt being tracked in, but it looks a lot better. It was so gross before! I wish I would've done a before and after picture so I could really see the results. I shampooed the crap out of it, I used the entire bottle of cleaner. Seeing all that black water being dumped out was so disgusting, it made me not want to stop! I'll never, ever, ever understand how people can wear shoes on their carpet. GAG. A few months back, I tried being not as obsessed about it, but after last night- hell no! The sign's going back up on the front door and people are taking off their nasty shoes. I'm sure I sound crazy, but it just grosses me out soo much. Seriously, I can't even handle it.

- For the first time ever, almost all of my shoes are in the closet instead of under the bed! And I threw out a bunch of crap that was under there too, I almost tossed out my camera in the process- oops.

[The crib rail I hung my hats and junk on the other day is now in the closet holding heels, a much better use.]

My to-do list is never ending, the next things on it are getting shelves up in Aiden's room, that way a bunch of stuff from his closet can go on them and then we can declutter in there. I organized it a few months ago but its back to a disaster since I took all the Christmas stuff down. And also, Steven's been collecting pallets from work to build a little holder deal in the bathroom [and make whatever else Pinterest comes up with :)] to get rid of counter clutter like this:

Also tonight I'm going to clean the furniture. I just did it 4 weeks ago and nobody would ever be able to tell. It gets gross so fast with the kids and their milk and snotty noses and blah blah blah. [Steven doesn't help either, he spills stuff all the time, I'm a mother of three I tell you!]

It feels SO good getting things checked off my list!

Kid randoms.

- A few weeks ago, Aiden didn't want to finish his lunch and kept asking for chips. I told him to finish his yogurt and he said, "I can't, my tummy hurts." Me: "Okay, then you can't have any chips." He replies, "The chips will make it feel better!"

- Wednesday when the kids got dropped off, Lee said he didn't change Rian so she was probably soaked. We went straight in for baths, she always undresses herself and takes off her diaper. After I washed her, I was picking up her clothes and realized her diaper was dry. I said, "Rian your diaper's dry! Want to pee on the potty?" And she said, "No. I peed in the tub." Haha punk! She's so ready, just too stubborn. Everybody talks about how easy girls are, Aiden was a breeeeeeze and I have a feeling Rian's going to be very hard in comparison. She has less than 2 months til she's the age Aiden was when I started, he got peeing down perfectly in just a few hours and pooping in about a week. We'll see!

- If we ask her for a kiss or hug and she says no [which is usually how it goes], all we have to do is ask Aiden for one and she grabs us and says, "NO! I give you kiss!" Works like a charm, everytime.

- This morning we were having girl talk and I said something about Daddy taking Mommy on a hot date, Aiden chimes in, "No a cold date!"

...

I've used this mug holder as a bracelet holder since I was 18. I spray painted it earlier, got rid of the wood-look. [I swear, my gold spray paint is never ending. I've used it on a crazy amount of things and it still feels like there's so much in it.] I used to keep some of my hats piled up on top of it, but it was annoying moving them to get bracelets because they always knocked a bunch off. So while I was putting everything back on, I thought I needed to find a new place for my hats. We have way more stuff than our room can hold. So the closet was a no-go. Then... I had a lightbulb moment!

Ta da!

Aiden's crib rail has been behind our door, in this very spot, for well over a year. [I sometimes use it as a babygate because the kids think our room's a playground.] I wanted to hang everything using clothes pins but they can't stand straight up on all the other rails so its kind of hard to get the hats off. Things like this are a big deal when you have a small room and not a lot of space to work with.

Oh yeah and yesterday was National Popcorn Day:

So of course we had to make some! Twice, actually. :)

January 18th

I remember a lot of stuff, sometimes its pretty annoying. But most times, like today, I like it.

Four years ago today was the first time we saw the little miracle growing in my belly. A breathtaking sight to see.

January 18ths over the years.

And here that little bean is today, driving me sooo crazy but making me so unbelievably happy at the same time.

Be better.

I'm not one for New Year's Resolutions, never have been. But this year [and every year after this] I want to just be better, in general. There's always room for improvement.

For starters, I recently got rid of a few people that were nothing but drama and negativity, I don't have the time or patience to deal with it anymore. "I'm getting older and I'm knowing better."

Since I already decluttered my life of the unneccessaries, next I need to do that to my home. I'm a pack rat, big time! I need to find the strength to get rid of some of the kids' clothes, yes, its that hard for me. Clothes are over taking our house!

I want to read more books, watch less tv. Spend more time outside. Eat better and get my motivation back to working out, which in turn will make me feel better. I want to be a better wife, mom, daughter, sister and friend. I want to stop dwelling on petty stuff. I want to stop worrying about the future and just be in the now. I want to smile more. Think more positive, be more positive.

I just want to be better, as a whole, for me and the three most important people in my life.

So while my head feels like its about to explode, my nose has been dripping nonstop and is soo red and sore from being wiped, I feel 100% happy in this moment... with those two crazy pieces of me running around screaming and my handsome husband getting ready for another routine day where he works so hard to provide for us.

L.O.V.E. L.I.F.E.

Shoe obsession continued.

This weekend's been rough, Aiden's been nonstop whining and crying. He was at it all day yesterday til Rian went to bed [they're such different people when they're seperated] and it started right back up the second he woke up this morning. UGH. We're on our third cold, seriously cold upon cold upon cold, without time to recoop in between, so I'm hoping that's a part of the problem. Maybe he's just not feeling like himself.

To reward myself for putting up with it, I bought a pair of shoes this morning. :) They were only $15! I've been drooling over this picture on Pinterest for weeks:

This is what I found:

Not a color I'd typically go for, I'd prefer black, but I couldn't pass them up! I know I would've regretted it if I didn't get them.

The color's growing on me but I'm still wondering if I should look into trying to dye them... we'll see. They're so pretty and I never get to wear heels anymore, I'm totally breaking my "No shoes in the house" rule today!



* Does anyone know if its normal for feet to shrink as you get older? I used to be a 7 but lately have been buying 6 1/2. They only had these in 7 and are a bit too big. Weird!

January 13.

When Rian was a newborn, I took a picture of us on this day and for whatever reason, I loved it. She looks so funny but so cute. Last year I remembered the date of the picture so I took another one of us. So of course, I had to do it today too!

[she refused to take a normal picture, silly girl.]

She had her two year well-check this morning. She did sooo awesome. Since Aiden's two year, he's been a little wary of the doctor but not her! Afterwards we went to Target for a few things.

[29 3/4lbs, 35 1/2in.]

She officially weighs more than Aiden and is only an inch and a half shorter than he was when he turned three. My big girl!

I put contact paper up inside the cabinets that are open- less wood showing. I think it gives it more of a shelf look since its the same paper I have beween the cabinets and counters. It brightens it up so much. Little things that make huge differences! I love contact paper, its soo easy to use and peels right off.

Wednesday, you're my best friend!

[the other day I tried getting a nice picture of us and instead I got stuck in the middle of a brawl]



I love that I get to stay home with the kids but oh man, sometimes they drive me crazy. Lately Aiden doesn't listen to anything, at all. And Rian's little Miss Drama. This morning she threw a fit because I wiped her nose with toilet paper instead of a tissue. Seriously. I so look forward to Wednesdays, a few hours of peace and quiet. Alone time is soo treasured when you're a stay-at-home parent. They didn't get picked up last week because Grandpa was out of town meeting baby Jake so I'm especially looking forward to it today. I have absolutely no plans but to sit in the backyard and read. :)

I'm also excited about tonight: 'Whitney' and 'Are You There, Chelsea?' Hoping to laugh my ass off with a yummy glass of wine!

Busy weekend and lack of sleep.

Life feels a little back to normal today. The kids sleep schedules have been crazy since Friday.

That day Rian didn't nap at all and Aiden took a short one, my Mom and Rae came over so I could go to the movies with Jeanette. We saw New Year's Eve and have 3 more movie dates set because we saw so many good previews! We came back here and ended up having a bottle of wine each [as planned!] so when Steven got off work, he picked up  Geoff and we all hung out til pretty late.  So the kids went to bed late that night. Such a fun day/night though.

Saturday night was Steven's work Christmas party. I don't know why the last few years they've been doing it in January. I didn't go to the last two because Rian was brand new then last year I was working. I thought she would be a little grump but they were both very well behaved and neither of them fell asleep on the way home. They were awake til almost 1am. Eek!

We didn't wake up til around 10 on Sunday so I had them skip naps and the same thing happened Monday morning, again they skipped naps. So today we're finally back to normal. Except for these colds that are kicking our butts. Its going on two weeks and they're not getting any better, which is causing them to not sleep well at night. Ready for it to be over with!

And here's what I worked on last night/this morning: putting the spices into jars and made a little chalkboard menu/shopping list/whatever. Obviously I can't paint on the actual cabinet so I did it on a thick piece of cardboard. I don't like how it feels writing on chalkboard so I did it as quick as I could- ew! I wrote too big and couldn't fit all our dinner meals on it. Oh well. And I burnt the crap out of my palm with the hot glue gun- it hurts so bad, I'm surprised I didn't cry.

Our room.

In the last few weeks I've made a few small [and very cheap] changes/additions to our room, that's made it look so much better.

New white bedding. Saved a little money by going with a cover instead of a new comforter. I'd like to add more accent pillows too, Steven gets so annoyed by my love for lots of pillows. Above the window I hung up pictures with clothes pins.

For the longest time this wall had nothing on it but our wedding picture. Slowly adding stuff. For Christmas, I made our parents wall hangings of the kids' handprints out of salt dough, I made some for us too. [You'd think that I was torturing Rian that day, she hated touching that dough!]

I did this in like two seconds this morning. The one I saw on Pinterest was actually embroidered on fabric, but I opted for a Sharpie and scrapbook paper instead. I couldn't find any paper that looked like tree bark so I got one called "Barn wall" or something. I had Steven write it so it looked like he did the carving. :) The frame was black, I was annoyed at first that the spray paint wasn't spraying right, but I like how it turned out.

Wine bottle bracelet holder. I giggled to myself thinking about how many wine bottles there are around my house used as decor. Wine-o! I can't wait to get the pegboard up for my necklaces and earrings.

And much more to come! There's still a whole wall with absolutely nothing on it.

Kitchen/Pinterst... of course!

I wrote a post last week about the kitchen but unpublished it a few minutes later. It used to be my least favorite room in the house [because I painted it yellow and there was nothing much in here] but its looking more and more different every day. It excites me! I want to love every part of the place I live. Thanks to Pinterest, the ideas just keep flowing in!

Last night I started converting stuff to jars. Omg. I love it! Not only does it look awesome, they also take up way less space than ugly boxes and bags. I want to do all the spices next, I just need to find smaller jars... Steven's going to love that one! :)

I fell in love with the idea of hanging copper pots and pans but they're soo hard to find. Our regulars used to hang over the island when we first moved in but one of them kept falling so I took them down. Last week I rehung them with different hooks and decided to go for copper molds since they're so much easier to find.

I got two molds last week and on Monday found a picture on Pinterest that sent me out for more [I found 3.] The bunt pan's a bit off, I hung them all on nails that were already there. [Also in the background, something I really liked thanks to Pinterest, round wood cutting boards with handles.] It probably looks a little silly in here with some cabinet doors off and some on, I'd like them all off but I don't know if that'll happen.

I put place settings on the table just for kicks. My mother-in-law gave me these pretty wooden placemats for Christmas, love them! Steven's supposed to be finding a new home for that tv- if not, off to Goodwill it goes. My heart's set on having a wooden picnic table- bench on one side, chairs on the other, but for now I like this look.

Here are the shelves we hung last week.

I'm loving the way everything's turning out. There's still a million things I'd like to do, like hang the pretty chandelier I found... that probably won't happen til we own our own house [whenever that is.] Oh well, at least its not an area I despise anymore. :)

Some other things that Pinterest got me obsessed with and I did:

-all white bedding for our room

-curtains over the washer and dryer to hide the clutter of junk.

Naptime for kids = breaktime for Momma!

Aiden's hair's gotten pretty long but I didn't want it to be cut because its always way too short. His first three haircuts he went to the barber shop- he did so well the first two times but cried the third, since then Steven's been cutting it. This morning he took him outside and trimmed it, but not as short as he usually does. He looked soo handsome when I saw him! It reminded me so much of how he looked after his first haircut had grown out for a couple of months.

[Excuse my rattiness, Rian was only a few days old!]

The biggest different is the back, it was so much longer than the front- he had a little rat tail going on.

While Steven was cutting his hair, I was taking a picture of my pretty girl. She wore a sweater dress my Mom got her on Sunday, it took a lot of convincing but she finally put it on. She wanted to wear it again today but I tried to get her into a different dress, she kept saying no til I told her it was from Titi and Uncle Geoff. She smiled and said, "I like Uncle Geoff!" then agreed to it.

love love.

A rare moment, Rian doesn't watch too much tv. I thought they looked cute.

Such an easy life!

I was cleaning up lunch's mess and yelled for them to get their blankets and get in their beds. I walked back to Aiden's room to this:

They wanted to sleep together. Yeah right! Naps would never happen then.

I'm so, SOO excited that Parenthood's back on tonight. Its probably sad how excited I am. It was a long month without it!

Happy New Year!

Ours was chill but super fun. We'd been promising the kids all week we'd have a camp out in the living room. We haven't been up at midnight since the year I was pregnant with Aiden when we were going to sleep right at 12. This is the second year in a row we've all had colds.

I made them a tent and put twinkle lights on it to look like stars. Then we watched Cars 2.

[The tent lasted less than an hour. We didn't have a thick enough rope so it came crashing down, boo.]

I bought a cheesy little pack of stuff- hats, horns, confetti poppers and some streamers that I hung from the ceiling fan. I blew up some balloons too.

After Cars 2, we watched Pixar Short Films- those are funny! Rian asked to go to bed around 9:30 and right after that, Steven fell asleep.

Aiden and I played Candyland. :)

Then we watched the Good Luck Charlie Christmas movie. [lots of movies!]

It got done just a few minutes before midnight, Steven woke up just in time for the countdown.

My party buddy.

We danced for a few minutes then crashed out.

Happy New Year!

We went over to my parents' house yesterday for our traditional New Year's dinner- gyoza and sushi. YUUUM!

We cheated this year and my Mom bought the sushi instead. Its such a time consuming meal to make.