Jeweler

Does anyone have a trustworthy Jeweler? Ours died... seriously, I feel like such an adult saying that sentence. But even seriouser (yes its a word) my wedding ring looks like it has been run over by a train and it needs a good day at the spa :o) So whoever you use and trust do you mind passing on the info to me?

We're Goin' to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo, How About You, You, You

Our men leading us through the Zoo

Do you know that song? Does anyone remember Raffi who sings kid songs? He sang that.... anyway on the the story!
Last night as I lay in bed I decided I would call my mom first thing in the morning and see if she needed help with preparing for the Walk For Life. However when I got up this morning and it was already sunny and a beautiful 65 deg. outside I contemplated not calling her for fear that she would need me to do work in the office all afternoon and I would miss out on this wonderful day. But I decided no, I love my hard working mother and I would do whatever she needed me to do even if it meant spending the day indoors! So I called her and made an offer that no woman could refuse. However she said that she didn't think she needed anything! I couldn't believe it so I said "are you sure?" She said nope, in fact she and dad were taking the day off and taking Kris and the kids to the ZOO!! Well you can imagine my disappointment that I was not invited to tag along! Here I was, favorite angel child, mentally slaving away out of the goodness of my heart in her office all day while she played at the zoo! Well don't worry as any third born favorite angel child would do I threw a fit :o) She loves me :o) Of course she extended an invitation to Annie and and to tag along!
So we spent a GLORIOUS day at the Zoo even though when we got there we were quite scared because traffic was SO backed up and there was NO PARKING! By 10:00 am the Zoo parking was FULL! YIKES we thought there might be people everywhere, but there really wasn't it seemed like any old day at the Zoo we just had to search for a parking spot on the street. I think that the animals were really enjoying the nice weather as well because they were very playful and put on a good show!

Annie and Anella didn't last too long before they zonked, they were'nt as impressed with the Zoo as we were.

Buster and Pawpaw watchin the animals together

The Elephant came over to say hello

Nellie was quite warm and all that beatiful dark hair just plastered to her head!

Kris and Dora at the Polar Bear exibit. There was just too much to look at for Dora to pay attention.

The beautiful Peackock was showing off

Ever wonder what it looks like from behind? :o)

Crazy Kris and Dory holding and petting the Boa Constrictor! Yikes JP and I would have nothing to do with this!

Getting Ready For Summer

Do you remember the feeling of a life jacket all bunched up around your chin and the strap cutting up your thighs as it worked its way into all the wrong places as you swam? Well the tradition lives on. Joe is very excited about taking Annie Girl on 2 different lake trips this summer and he has spent his hard earned Dicks gift cards on making sure she is ready for the water! So far she doesn't seem to mind wearing it.

The good things about today

I am stealing this post idea from my friend Caroline. When I read her blog I had just wandered around the first floor of my home picking up random things lying around and wondering why the house is always so messy! So I crashed in the living room and I was sitting on the floor with the laptop in front of me while juggling a wiggly whiny sick baby and thinking I am sooo tired. However her post was encouraging and made me think instead of being tired and cranky I should be grateful for my tiredness for all that I got accomplished today even with my husband home all day.

1. After feeding Annie at 7:30 I layed her in bed to play and I went back to bed with my warm snuggly husband. After playing for about 45 min quietly she fell asleep! It was too cute and it gave me more wonderful time in bed after being up for 2+ hours in the night.

2. Annie then slept until 11 which normally would mean that I couldn't go to the gym however because my husband was home I was able to go and have a wonderful workout!

3. Joe and I got to have lunch together which is one of my favorite things.

4. I did all of the laundry, the dishes, some paperwork that has needed to be done for weeks now while my sick little girl took a nice long nap.

5. I went to the grocery store and managed to remember everything that was on the list that I left on the coffee table at home!

6. Joe and I searched for a good fajita recipe online and came up with the following recipe which was a new favorite. It makes enough fajita seasoning for about 3 batches of fajitas.

3 T Cornstarch
2 T Chili powder
1T Salt
1 T Paprika
1 T Sugar
2 1/2 tsp crushed chicken bouillon cube ( I used a packet of ramen noodle seasoning because my chicken bouillon was old and wouldn't crush)
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (I added a little more for my husband who likes spicy)
1/2 tsp Cumin

Mix together in a small airtight container& store in a cool dry space. This is the equivalent of 3 packets of store bought fajita seasoning. Use 3 Tbsp for a batch of chicken fajitas.

Heat 2 T oil in a pan cook chicken on med-high for 5 min, add 3 Tbsp seasoning, 1/3 C water green red or yellow peppers and onions and cook until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are to your liking. Serve with tortillas, salsa, sour cream, avocado & cheese! YUM!

7. I am thankful for our new roommate Kelly! It is a lot of fun having her here. I miss living with her, its kind of like old times back at Mom and Dads except I get to make the rules :o) Last night we painted our toenails and watched a movie!

Why am I doing this?

Annie "helping" me with the new shower curtain liner

It has been about a month since I have been letting Annie "cry it out" at night. I started because I was out of town for 2 days and she was up every 3 hours in the night. So at every experienced mothers and my pediatricians advice I decided to stop feeding her during the night. She will get the idea after about 3 nights they claimed! Her normal routine was only getting up once between 3 & 5 and she wouldn't really wake up enough to be awake for long so I would feed her for 10 min and she was right back in her bed asleep for the rest of the night! No problem, I would rather be up for 10 min in the middle of the night to feed her than up at 6am for the day when she is back to sleep again by 7:30!
So for the first week she woke up around 3:30, cry for 10 min I would go in put her pacifier in and she would fall asleep! Then she started sleeping longer, until 5:30 by then it has been 8 hours and I am proud of her for sleeping through the night but I didn't really want to start my day at 5:30. So it was back to having her cry it out. She has sleped through the night a few times here and there but nothing has been consistant. I can't figure out what to do. And it seems that she has gotten worse! She is awake longer in the night crying! Now I am up for 2 hours instead of 10 min feeding her. Why????????? I am ready to forget it and go back to feeding her when she wakes up. A good friend of mine who has big kids says "do you want to be up at 3 am making PB&J for a 2 year old?" Not really! I would love for her to sleep through the night, but she isn't!
Everything seems like it could be a factor and it makes me second guess myself, she goes to bed later, earlier, she is sick, she took a long nap the list goes on... I try to be consistant but it is hard.

I feel like I am doing something wrong and 2 in the morning is not the time to be figuring it out! Can't I hire a woman who has already done this before to come and be my sanity in the middle of the night? Jayne... Susan.... MOM??? No takers huh?

Watch out messy house here she comes

Being gone for 2 weeks takes its toll on a girls house. Mine was especially messy when I got home and so I did what any sane woman would do. I made a list on friday night of everything that needed to get done and left it for monday :o) I enjoy cleaning a messy house and I like having my week semi planned out. So this morning I was ready to tackle the list.
Home care seems to be a regular blog topic among my group of friends, so I thought I would add my thoughts on the matter.
I enjoy marking things off of a list, this list is also beneficial to my husband because when I leave it lying on the table he can see that I do indeed have a plan of action and PLENTY to do this week. My problem is choosing a task and sticking to it. You always have to pick up the clutter before you can clean underneath it. There lies my problem, when I go to put something away, I notice other things that need to be put away. ie, sweater from the couch to the closet = oh I should rearrange the closet so that it can fit. Wrapping paper to the attic = oh I should organize the storage area. Dirty bottle to the sink = I should load the dishwasher. Put Annies new outfit away = she has outgrown her 3 month stuff, I should put them in a storage container. Now its 3:00 and I have only picked up 3 things and the house is still a mess! I SWEAR i did nothing but clean all day long! Why does my house look like this? Oh the frustrations!
So there, I am a VERY organized person, and my recommendation is make a list... just try to keep to the chore at hand :o)

On a very exciting side note, my husband came home and made this video clip of Annie Girl crawling! She does this little flop/scoot/slide repeat thing until she is 3 feet from where she started. (please dont judge me for enticing her with paper, she is on a paper kick right now)

Uninspired

I am feeling very low on creativity right now. I have to be inspired to blog and I just haven't been thinking in blog titles lately :o) So instead I think I will just catch you all up on what has been going on and that way maybe I will feel free to blog whatever I please after that is out of the way.

1. The trip to Indiana last wednesday - friday with Kris and the kids was WAYYYY fun! We had the best time staying with "Big Uncle Joe" and visiting with the Aunts and Grandparents. My Grandpa broke his back when he passed out from low blood pressure about a month ago and he is slowly healing from that as well as trying to figure out what is going on with his heart. It was good to spend time with him and give him a change of pace for his day. He enjoyed seeing the kids and they love playing at his house with his tractors.

And I climbed to the top of the grain bin and stood up! I nearly wet myself, I couldn't look up!
We spent the afternoon at my grandmas house watching Dora and JP play and cuddling with babies. Granny still has that touch!


Annie girl with Granny Great

2. Kellys 21st birthday party on Saturday the 28th was a huge success. We had so much fun preparing for it (Kara did all the work) and I was so proud of everyone for dressing up! The house looked amazing with all the decorations.


3. Joe, Annie and I went with our friends Andrew and Tiffany to Peoria Ill Sunday-Thursday. Tiff's parents have a house on Spoon Lake and we enjoyed 5 days of doing absolutely nothing! It was freezing cold (there was 2 inches of snow sunday) and we bundled up and enjoyed the pretty lake view, watched movies, played games and ate way too much. Plus my dear friend Tiffany announced that she is pregnant (who isn't these days?) with her first so we spent the week talking babies, pregnancy, parenting and everything in between! Annie started scooting around on the floor while we were gone. It was kind of odd because you couldn't actually see her moving, but suddenly you would realize that she was 3 feet away from where she was before and she never rolled.


4. Last but no least... Annie Girl has decided to crawl! I couldn't believe my eyes!! I just sat there with my mouth hanging open, my whole body was tingling like it was the most riveting thing I have ever seen! Sadly no pictures yet.