it has been a while..

Seriously, it's been a while since I blogged.. Honestly, I check here often enough, think about things I want to write about, but if I am down here in front of the computer, I am usually holding the baby and typing one handed - - which, if you have not had the pleasure of doing in a while. is not fun..

a lot has happened..
1. big DD is now 6.. totally an emotional day for me.. I love her more today than the day she was born.. I love the big girl she is becoming and want to keep her my baby girl forever all in the same breathe... can I just have the best of both worlds... Kindergarten is slow going for her.. they are boring her a little, but that is good for her too... her friend birthday party is next weekend.. so I am in the middle of full blown house cleaning..
2. baby DD will be 3 months on tuesday.. she is laughing, giggling, and working on rolling over.. so stinkin' cute ... she is eating 5 ounces at time and is in size 2 diapers.. the gas drops in every bottle work wonders and the reflux meds help.. her 2 month photos are precious, if you want a link to them.. email me personally, DH is the over cautious type.. if I know you, you have probably already been sent a link.. so I don't need to bother you..
3. September 15 I celebrate 13 years of knowing my husband.. having met him online.. it's amazing to me that we have been married 7 1/2 years.. 8 in February.
4. we cleaned up the basement some this weekend.. 3 bags of trash and 4 boxes of empties. I was so excited to see DH getting rid of junk too..
5. to date, I have scrapbooked about 11 pages.. I have to complete 35 before I can order from oritental trading.. OHHH.. I just can not wait..
6. dh job is going well.. I am still struggling with the inconsistancies of him working so far from home.. it's a challenge, and i know that he does not mean to be a jerk.. .but sometimes.. I just have to wonder..
7. my scrapbooking has introduced me to a new group of women IN my local area.. we are planning to get together and scrap once a month.. it was nice to meet with new people and just have a girls night...
8. blogging, while I have been lax about it, I do think about it...
9. I am cooking up so many tasty new recipes.. and planning on even more for the near future.. I plan to make better use of my crock pot too..

A while back I posted that I would comment about 10 things I am grateful for on sundays.. I want to try & do that again.. being sunday, here goes..
I am grateful for:
1. my family -- all healthy and growing well
2. my hobby -- brought me to new people with new ideas
3. my friends -- it's good to know that they think of me and value my talents and still need me
4. my home -- while it seems to be a giant mess, it's mine.. and makes me feel good when I am there..
5. my husband's job -- while it stinks, he makes enough for me to stay home with my daughters and pay for the things we need... it stinks, but I am grateful..
6. my husband -- he really is an amazing person whom I might not always understand, I always love..
7. my sister - for helping me with my daugher's party next weekend
8. winkflash -- for having a great and easy program that allows me to upload and print my photos more often.
9. indian summer - we having it here in Rhode Island.. that one last glimpse at summer before fall sets in.. it's always a nice feeling.
10. a great sale at the children's place -- I managed to get the rest of the clothes and black shoes for my older daugher at a great price.. I so love good sales..

anyways, I am off to play and clean..
if I knew better I would be cleaning up the kitchen.. but I don't.. it's time to play..

:) Monique

color me happy...

Oh could have just kissed the mail man.. he brought me my winkflash picture order.. (he brought the Target bill too, so I contained myself)
OHHHH.. color me happy.. I ordered 201 pictures, 17 5X7 prints and 1 8 X 10... I am giddy with the excitement of getting to scrapbook these photos.. all of them are from 2008 and they are great quality and ohhh..
color me happy is all I can say..

Hell, I know no better today.. I am going to go droll over my newly received treasures..
:) Monique

cleaning up..

bet you thought I meant the house.. NOPE.. I am going to finish my purge and sort of my scrapbooking stuff... getting messy, can't find anything and buying more.. I am placing one big order for supplies with the money from his bonus check and then I am going to try & go to the end of the year without shopping... I bet I can do it.. until then, sorting, organizing, donating and generally cleaning house..
I AM working on the house too.. it's getting cooler and that inspires me to get rid of the dust and such before the fall comes...

I am off clean.. and I don't think I know anything better than that to do today...
Besides the baby will be up from her morning nap soon anyways..
:) Monique

a 20 minute job..

It's monday, my cleaning day, I was able to clean both the girls rooms, their laundry is washed & folded, and I even cleaned out big dd drawers of things that she doesn't like or don't fit.. this week, we will attack the closet.. well, when she came home from Kindergarten, we had lunch and she painted a project, those sun catcher things.. so excited she was.. while she painted, the baby had a bottle, when she was done, I put her in the swing for a nap... and offered to let the big one finally help me clean the bathroom.. she gets so disappointed when she sees it is already done, she likes to help me wash the walls, (basically, just a water spray bottle and paper towel) but it's a little bit more being done in the room and she gets paid 50 cents for helping and we hang out..
this job usually takes 20 minutes, I zoom through and just get it all done.. nothing serious either, it's a small bathroom so it never takes that long, plus, I do it weekly, so it's really just maintenance..

it took 45 minutes today.. I was so wishing she wasn't helping me, I had puddles, a broken candle holder and other things.. but the baby was sleeping and we did something together.. she was THRILLED ... so I guess it was all worth it.. Inventing chores for her to do independently is HARD -- but we will just keep trying.. -- so chalk one up for good mommy points and cross cleaning the bathroom off the weekly list.. 2 good deeds done..

If I knew better, I would be cleaning off the kitchen table, but I think they might actually BOTH be sleeping in the living room now, so I might just join them.. :)

Happy Monday too!
:) Monique

2 days until I get to scrapbook with my friends...both in the am & at night.. *COLOR ME HAPPY*

FaceBook..

so, DH has been bugging me for a while to join Facebook.. Last night, I finally sucked it up and did it and while it will be cool to interface with my existing family & friends on the internet (have I ever mentioned that DH and I first met on line -- long story.. another day)..
anyways, I might have found a few of my friends from my internet days... too funny.. way too funny.. people move, change numbers, forget to stay in touch, but I guess the internet still allows us all to do that... crazy how the world turns.

if I knew better, I would finish up a couple of scrapbook pages and go to bed to help this cold I am getting.. we'll see who wins..

:) Monique

ps. the photo pile won yesterday.. made a cute page.. just need to work on details & journaling..

good things CAN come from cleaning..

So my sisters keep reminding me that since I don't work, cleaning my house & taking care of the kids is my job.. yeah.. bite me.. but honestly, they are right.. so in an effort to be more productive, I am cleaning the basement out.. time to pitch stuff and get rid of things.. buckets of baby clothes are flying out, as are the things I can't or don't need.. plus toys, and all sorts of other things.. God bless the big sisters -- anyone who is willing to pick up my charitable donations right at my house is a good thing.. I have a few bags of stuff for dd old pre-k.. a box of scrapping treats for someone else, and right now, 3 big bags of things for big sisters.. and I just started. DD might cry if she saw what was going, but that is the joy of kindergarten .. things come and go in secret.. don't be thinking evil of me.. it's not her favorite things, rather things she hasn't seen or touched since we moved in here 2 years ago.. safe to assume she forgot them, and since they are in good shape.. I am giving them to someone who might like them.. making more space in my house.. ROCK ON!

while I was working on the laundry room, just moving things like boots and such that I plan to save for the baby.. honestly, winter boots worn 5 times can be handed down.. they are simple character free, so it works for me. anyways, moving things around, I found a pair of long lost sandals.. they must have been from last year and just buried.. seeing as my last pair just died and I can't replace them without buying real birkinstocks, I am thilled.. my feet are in them now and I am singing their praises.. COLOR ME HAPPY!

I am off for another 10 minutes while the baby sleeps.. her tylenol is working good today.. her shots really got to her and made for a rough night.. Good time management I say..

If I knew better, I would clean for a little longer, but OHHH, is that pile of photos on my scrap desk calling my name.. I will let you know who wins..
:) Monique

I am getting worse..

I truly am getting worse and worse about posting here..
but honestly, if I make it to the computer during the day, I am usually holding the baby and it's a HUGE pain to type one handed and when I finally make it on the computer at night, I have about an hour or so and I try to get my scrapping time in. Last night I got 2 layouts in the baby's book done.. so.. there is obviously alot to catch up.

1. The big news is that the baby is 2 months old -- time is flying and she is growing. Offiicially she weighs 12 lbs and is about 22 1/2 inches tall.. her reflux is bad.. poor thing suffers quite a bit from it.. they have adjusted the medication once again and hopefullly things will improve.. the next issue is gas problems for her.. but dr. wants to solve one problem at time.. I agree. she is taking 4 oz at a feeding and is comfortably wearing a 3 - 6 month footy pj and still wears 3 month clothes.. poor thing is so long.. and the dr. told me today that we need to start getting her into her crib... man that stinks.. means actually getting out of bed now for bottles.. YUCK..

2. big girl is in kindergarten and really liking it. she still gets a little nervous about the bus every morning, but she is really doing okay. her attitude need some adjusting.. all the freedoms of kindergarten have brought about some independence testing in her behavior & attitude.. all normal I am assuming. we are still working on trying new foods.. someday, she will have dessert again. that is the rule, no dessert if you don't try something new. I just keep putting those fruits & veggies on her plate.... just keep on trying... she is reading so well too, sounding out words, it's great. her current favorite is Biscuit the puppy books.. she is anxiously awaiting the release of the new Barbie movie too.. making plans for the big birthday too.. hard to believe she is going to be 6!! where do the years go.. just yesterday she was the one tormenting me with her desires not to nap.. now, she doesn't need them anymore.. *SIGH*

3. Me, I am doing well. I did gain back 2 lbs.. according to dr. scales .. darn all those ice cream runs.. Officially I have lost, 34 ;bs since I found out I was pregnant. BUT, I am walking twice a day, once in the am after her bus drop off and once in the afternoon with both girls. MUST work on doing it.. also, trying to drink my water.. totally been slacking on that.. my goal would be to lose 5 lbs more by the 4 month visit, which is when i see my dr. again. fingers crossed.

4. Dh job is doing well. he really likes the work, doesn't even mind the commute, just hates the 5:30 wake up. but that should start to improve when the baby starts sleeping better.. and man alive does it feel good to have money to pay bills and even get some back into savings. all the employment issues are not yet resolved, but it's okay.. it will take time. we are even going to see some unemployment money soon.. plus his bonus.. light at the end of the tunnel.


plus, my house is cleaner, less cluttered thanks to the monthly donations to big sisters and it's all working out. we are making plans for improvements, one thing at a time.. right now I am working on the yard & painting a bench & my shed.. FUN HUH?

scrapping as always, doing better than I though too, managed to do like 18 pages last month and have 2 done for this month.. feels good to be working on current stuff and not stressing.. my other new goal is to go with the flow more.. which is TOTALLY not an easy thing for me.

a work is progress is truly what I am... and maybe by my birthday this year, I might have just a little bit more figured out than I did last year.. good thing I still have time.

okay.. I am off..
if I knew better I would go fold a load of laundry while the baby is napping, but I think the big one could use some rocking chair time instead...
:) Monique