7/365

Guess who came to visit for a little while today?

That's right! DiAnna-Jo! :)

As of now I'm going to be copyrighting my pictures. I spend too much time creating pictures to have them stolen. So excuse the purple bar above her head ;)

She is doing really well. She's 3 1/2 months old now already! and is really good at holding her head up. Madyn is still super in awe of his baby cousin. I tried taking a picture of them together but the lighting wasn't quite right so that's my goal for next time!

Anyways. Hope you all had a great friday! Tomorrow night I'm going to a party with a friend. Should be fun, it's the first time I'm going out without Brandon/Madyn in like a year!

6/365

Today we set out on an adventure. Me, Madyn & My cousin Brandi. Our adventure? To find places to do hers and her future hubby's engagement pictures (YAY!). The day yielded many photo opportunities and I took full advantage of every single one too. Which caused for quite the dilemma when trying to decide which ONE picture to use for today. In the end you'll see that I chose a picture that summed up today.

We enjoyed walking around downtown phoenix, and I really got to see how beautiful that area is. Architectural and cultural. I once lived on that side of town, but when I did it wasn't as "grown up" as it is now. I loved looking at all the buildings and just feeling the buzz of the people walking around town.

It was beautiful.

This little guy decided to hop in the water and enjoy a quick bath. He wasn't affected by me trying to snap the perfect shot either. It was really cool! :)

If you want to see more of the shots from today please check out my facebook! :)

5/365

I'm getting used to wearing my glasses again. It's definitely been weird, but I'm really enjoying being able to see the world clearly without having to squint. I spent about an hour trying to take pictures of things that had meaning but in the end it was a simple closeup picture of me with my glasses. Enjoy!

4/365

Woot Woot, getting #4 out of the way early in the day!
My little man decided he was going to be a super hero today, and wanted to wear a cape. We had so much fun playing outside and enjoying our beautiful weather today.
Here's Madyn's sweet little smile as my 4th picture of the year.

Oh how I love this smile of his. He truely melts my heart in his own super hero way!

Have a good day all.

3/365

So yes its almost midnight and I'm rushing to post this picture so I don't fall behind!

Here is pic 3 out of 365:

Its Me, without my glasses. Which happened to come in today. Look for more pics with my glasses!!! :)

2/365

I didn't really make any New Years Resolutions this year, but I do want to try to cook more, and with this I think I'll achieve my goal. :)

If I use a recipe I'll make sure to post here which one I tried. I love this cookbook and can't WAIT to crack into it!

Tried to do it last year but failed! (1/365)

Now that is a new year I'm going to try again with this project!

Last year I tried to do the "365" project but got all mixed up when we went to Ryan's wedding and then at Memorial day. So this year I'm going to give it another try. So this blog will now become my "365" blog! :D

Here is day one!

So the coloring is really weird, and yeah I kinda airbrushed my skin because i was REALLY red and no makeup, but its me and my baby. Today.

I'm really looking forward to this new year and all that it has in store. Hope everyone had a safe New Years and look forward to seeing you guys around!

Christmas and other random thoughts. . .

So this year has been a roller coaster that's for sure, but the end is definitely the topper. Christmas was AMAZING with Brandon & Madyn. He was so excited for every present, and loves that Santa ate his cookies and drank his milk. It was so amazing seeing his reaction to his presents. He loved every part of it and lasted through all of our different stops we had to do except the last one.

My neice, DiAnna-Jo ended up in the hospital on Christmas day this year. She would NOT stop screaming and was in pain, so my sister and her future mother in law and the babies dad all went to the hospital and they admitted her (DiAnna-Jo). The dr's brought in a GI specialist today and they did an upper GI test and found out she has acid reflux, and is now on a special formula that is basically amino acids. The valve on her stomach doesn't close all the way, which is why she spits up a lot! I went to see her today and she looked so much better then she's looked since she was born. She's starting to really use her hands, and really focused on them. She goes cross eyed when looking at them. Such a little sweetheart. I love her so much and she's only 3 months old tomorrow! It's CRAZY! lol

So, Madyn got a bike for Christmas!! He went and rode it today for the first time. From what I heard he only fell once, but he didn't cry! I wasn't able to see him ride it unfortunately since I went to be with my neice today, but daddy took video of it and if I can figure out how to get it on the computer i'll try and post it!

Madyn is getting so big, and I can hardly believe in about 8 months I'll have a kindergartener. Seems like just yesterday I was walking up to this GIANT blue door myself covered in teddy bear stickers with other kids names on it as well as my own starting this adventure. I am so nervous for this adventure to start, and find myself being a little selfish with him. He's such a sweetheart and definitely a momma's boy & I not-so-secretly hope that doesn't ever change.

Anyways, I am looking forward to the new year, lots of new things happening this year! Hope everyone out there had a wonderful holiday season, even if you didn't celebrate Christmas, I hope you guys enjoyed all the family time and all of the memories that were made were good ones :)

Get ready for a lot of updates! :)

So its been 2 months since I've updated my readers. Lets just say things have been beyond crazy and exciting all at the same time.

September 12, we attended my fiance's youngest cousin's birthday!

This scrapbook design created with Smilebox

September 22nd My sister, her fiance and I all went to the park and I took her last maternity pictures before my beautiful neice was born. Here's the pictures

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On September 27, while at her doctors office getting checked out her water broke so she was sent to the hospital to have her baby at 8 am. DiAnna-Jo Nicole Steinbauer was born at 5:06 PM weighing 6 lbs 4 oz and was 18.5 in long. She was so beautiful instantly. It was so amazing to watch the birth. My sister did an AMAZING job. Didn't cry once during the entire labor process, nor did she yell or scream. She received an epidural at 8 cm dialated and shortly after having the epi she was ready to push. In just a few short pushes DiAnna-Jo came into this world. Brittany was in the hospital for another 3 weeks with complications after the birth of DiAnna. She went home 4 short days of a month. I'm proud of her and she is my hero.

This digital scrapbook generated with Smilebox

After DiAnna got here things were busy, with all of the family helping bradley out to watch DiAnna so he could work and sleep. I loved the times when DiAnna-Jo would come to visit and took many opportunities to photograph her.


October brought halloween fun!

A free digital scrapbooking design by Smilebox

And now we're into november. Look for more updates soon! :)

September 10, 2010

Took Madyn outside for some play time & Captured quite a few cute pictures!
Enjoy :)

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Cardinals Training Camp

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Grand Canyon 2010

This free digital scrapbook created with Smilebox

Madyn February-July of 2010

This scrapbook made with Smilebox

July 2010

So I'm a couple months behind, but I want to make sure this gets posted.

July was quite an exciting month. At the beginning, Brandon, Madyn and I celebrated 4th of July right from home. The fireworks pictures are ones that I took off the TV.

The next day we got up pretty early and went up north to go to Brandon's grandma's cabin. We took his sisters quad up there and all rode around. It was so much fun. I spent 90% of the day on a quad. It was the first time I had ever ridden one, let a lone drive it. We had lunch up there, and then headed back down town at around 5, making it back home safe and sound at around 8.

July 6th, 2010, was Madyn's 4th birthday! I couldn't believe it when I woke up that morning, but my son was 4!! He's such a joy, and so amazing! I had planned on going to breakfast and he got a free rooty tooty jr from IHOP, only he didn't like this plan. Instead, he woke up and was cranky about almost everything. I finally got him to calm down, and then we got into my mom's van and she had tried really hard to hide part of his present..(a yellow smiley face balloon) behind the back seat, but the little stinker saw it and got all upset once again!! So the rest of the ride to Ihop was loud! He unfortunately is still a temper tantrum throwing little boy.

Once we actually got to Ihop and the balloon was placed in those little hands all was right with the world again. We got in, waited to be seated and listened to madyn talk nonstop. Its so much fun hearing all about what is in his brain. We were seated shortly after and all chaos ensued once again. Madyn did NOT want to sit still, and only wanted to see what else his grams had brought for him. So after calming him down once again, we gave him the present. He started tearing tissue after tissue out of the bag, to reveal at the bottom a toy story sticker book, an eric carle board game, and a new toy story jump rope! He was so happy! ...So happy that he didn't want to eat any of the breakfast that was picked out for him. We finished breakfast and headed home. We needed some rest to refuel, from the morning we had just had.

That afternoon when Brandon got home we opened the gift I picked out for him. A package of action figures, a yo-yo, some temporary tattoos, and a stuffed caterpillar. He loved all of them! Then we headed to dinner, which was Madyn's choice. We went to Grimaldi's, a really nice pizza restaurant! It was my first time there and it was so yummy! Madyn agreed! After that we headed to every little boys favorite place....Toys R Us! Madyn got to pick out some new toys! It was so fun to see him picking out what he wanted. Then we went home for the day.

I think overall Madyn had a very good birthday, and I hope he enjoyed himself. :)

Twas a good day!

So today didn't go quite as planned, but nonetheless it was a good day. Madyn and I got to see my mom and my sister today. We hung around the apartment, and enjoyed a two hour nap, and then went swimming. We both love the pool so this was nice. I couldn't imagine being in arizona without a pool or sprinkler/water hose near by!

Brandon's getting sick, and I feel bad because I can't help him much except to keep Madyn busy so he is able to rest. Hopefully it will go away soon though! I hate when he's sick. :(

Tomorrow I am hanging out with my friend Heaven and her little girl (possibly her husband too but not sure!). I'm going to be taking 1st birthday pictures of her. I am super excited for this opportunity! I love being able to do this for my friends. Photography is my main hobby.

Saturday and sunday I may or may not work, who knows. Even if I'm scheduled I could get called off, or get called in early. Its so funny how it works, but I love my job. Monday we're going up north to see Brandons grandma, and enjoy some time with family up there. Madyn may get to ride a quad for the first time, who konws though. It will be an excellent time to take pictures! On Tuesday is Madyn's 4th birthday, so again...More pictures!!! Keep your eyes pealed for picture blogs coming up! This next week will be fun for sure!

Hope that all my readers/family/friends have a great and safe independence day weekend! Those in Arizona, stay cool!!!! :)

Half way through the year already?

Wow, I can't believe tomorrow is June 30th already! This year is flying by me. In a matter of a week I will have a 4 year old. It doesn't seem real to me, but time is a passing and I can't do anything about it.

I had my application appointment with the headstart for Madyn last week or the week before, and have decided that I am just going to "homeschool" him this year to get him ready for Kindergarden next year. I think this will be better then sending him to an actual school this year, because I am his mom and I have succeeded in teaching him what he already knows now, and because we can do it at our own pace and not worry about him getting behind. He is a really smart boy and I know that we'll have fun doing this together.

Also, Brandon has planned a camping trip next month and I'm super excited! I haven't been camping in ages. We're going to go to the Grand Canyon!! Madyn and I have never been there, and the last time Brandon went was a while ago, so it will be a great vacation for all of us!! I'll have lots of fun and interesting pictures to share when we get back I'm sure!

This weekend Brandon spruced up our master bathroom and I'm in love with it! He completely surprised me when I came home from work on saturday. It was nice. He put some shelves up, but I'm not quite sure what to put on them. I wanted to put candles, but since our wall slopes out the shelves aren't secure enough to hold candles on them. If you have any suggestions let me know!

So yes. I love my bathroom now!!

My Dream House

While I'm up late tonight I am watching HGTV and dreaming up my perfect house. I absolutely love HGTV and am counting the days until I am picking out wall colors, and planning bedroom themes for our house, and while I'm not sure when that will be, I'll just keep dreaming. So without further explanation here's what my dream house would consist of:

In the kitchen there would be cabinets like this:

It would have an island similar to this:

however the countertops would have blackgalaxy granite tops instead:

I would have the walls painted this color:

In the living room there would be giant windows similar to these. If it was one giant window from floor to ceiling it would be even more perfect. The floors would be wooden to make it completely perfect.

The paint in the living room would be a nice happy shade of yellow, not to bright and not baby yellow.

In the living room we would have lots of bright accents around the room. I'm thinking bright orange gerber daisies, Yellow couch cushions, and other complimentary colors/accents around the room.

There would be at least two bedrooms, but hopefully 3. We would have 2 bathrooms. One in the master suite, and a guest bathroom. I would love to decorate the guest bathroom in something very simple, but clean.

The color of this wall is what I think would look good in a guest bathroom, with white accents:

White towels, tissue boxes in blue, and other bathroom accessories would complete the clean look.

In the master bedroom, I want a lot of space. I am a big fan of vaulted ceilings:

and of course the more natural light that is let in the room, the better!

As for the rest of the house, thats another day.

I think I'm gonna have a great summer!

Today I finally took Madyn to the pool for the first time since it started being steadily 90 degrees plus! It was SO much fun. We spent about an hour and a half there. Even though I thoroughly applied sunscreen I still managed to burn on my shoulders and possibly my face. Oh well. I can tell you it won't be the last! I love the water. Its probably the only part about summer that I look forward to right now.

After swimming we ate lunch and got ready for our consultation appointment with a pediatric surgeon. We spent one and half hours in the waiting room and then got back into a room where 5 minutes later we were done. I'm now waiting for my insurance to "approve" the surgery and then we'll schedule a date to have the hernia removed. I'm so glad that this isn't hurting Madyn at all.

All in all today was amazing! The weather was hot, but we still managed to stay cool. As I plan on doing a lot this summer!

Tomorrow I have an application appointment with a headstart to see if I qualify. I want to get Madyn started with some kind of education this year. If I qualify but the school is too far from home, we have decided I will just essentially home school! Which is kind of exciting to me! I do think I would do well teaching him what he needs to know before Kindergarten next fall (YIKES!), considering I'm his mom and he knows me! However, we'll have to see what tomorrow holds!

Hope everyone had a great tuesday! We're halfway through the week!

Today was a good day!

Today was such a good day for us. Brandon went up north to work on his grandma's cabin and I went to work. Luckily Brandon's mom was able to watch my munchkin. I had really really awesome customers, who were more than happy with the pictures I took, and my service, which is always SO good to hear! It makes the whole job worth it, because I know that I'm creating pictures that will last a lifetime! I got to see an old friend from high school that I haven't seen in like 5 years! She is now married and has a BEAUTIFUL little girl. I'm really looking forward to seeing little Catelynn grow up! Chrystenn your daughter is adorable!

I'm about to fix dinner for the little and me. Its just us until tomorrow. I'll be at work when my fiance gets home. I am really looking forward to cuddling with Madyn before bed tonight. He's sooo sweet. I love times when its just us.

Hope everyone had a wonderful day! :)

TGITSF :)

I have been waiting for today forever it seems. The day when my favorite movie (part 3!!) came out! I also love that it happened today, on a friday. So not only is today friday, its Toy Story Premier date! Woohoo! Thank goodness its toy story friday. hahah. Okay so I totally made that up, but I am definitely thankful that today is friday. Yes tomorrow brandon will be out of town and I'll be working, but at least its the weekend!

This week was nice. I got to see my mom/sister twice this week. Monday Brittany had an ultrasound & I got to go to that, which was SO awesome. It was short, but it was awesome. and then wednesday they came over to just hang out. I love my family so much!

Also, I got to see a friend yesterday that I haven't seen in ages!! I hope that she had fun because I know madyn & I did.

I've been trying to take more pictures of Madyn lately, but as usual he doesn't like being in front of the camera, but instead begs to be the one to take the pictures.

The weather lately has been HOT, which isn't unusual for Arizona in June, but the "oficial Monsoon season" is in full swing and we have no rain. Odd huh?

I am going to be an AUNT!

I'm not sure why but I haven't mentioned that I am going to be an aunt! My sister is pregnant and is due October 11, 2010! She is having a little girl and her name will be DiAnna (pronounced Deanna) Nicole S*********. We are very excited. We've known she was pregnant since she was 6 weeks pregnant. I just haven't posted anything about this.

She is registered at Walmart, babiesrus, Target & Baby depot inside burlington coat factory. I went with her to register at target & Baby depot. It was a lot of fun and we were able to visit and enjoy each others company.

Today I went with her to the first ultrasound since she found out she was pregnant. She is 23 weeks along. DiAnna had been pretty still through the first part of the ultrasound when the technician was doing the measurements but when myself & our mom came in the room she started wiggling around and it was so much fun to see her. Unfortunately she didn't get any pictures printed because it was inside the hospital but it was just SO amazing to see my neice!

I am SO excited for october!

Memorial Day 2010

Memorial Day
2010

May 31, 2010 was a fun day. Although it didn't happen as I had planned it, my boy and I still had a blast.

We had planned for us to go to my aunts house in the morning, and then leave at 11:45 and go to my MIL's house for the afternoon, and eat there at about 2.

What happened was as soon as I was about to leave the house with Madyn, my mom calls me and lets me know that my aunt wasn't going to be ready for company until noon. So with a quick revision in plans we headed to fry's and picked up some whipped cream and a small chocolate milk for Madyn. We now had an extra 2 hours to kill until we headed to Debbie's house, so we sat down and watched an episode of farscape.

At around 11:30 we loaded up and went over to my Mil's house to have some lunch and relax. The food was good, we had grilled hamburgers and madyn ate a whole (hot dog bun and all)! After eating Madyn & I went to my aunts house where everyone was already about to finish eating. It was nice to see my aunt/cousins, because I don't see them that much. While we were there we enjoyed lots of swimming, socializing and soaking up some rays with the music playing in the background. We didn't leave there until almost 6 monday.

All in all it was a wonderful memorial day! Thank you again to all the MANY past men & women who have fought for our country. Also a thank you to my cousin & the other many men & women who are fighting currently across the world for us!

<3

PS. HAVE YOU TRIED SWAGBUCKS YET? ;)

http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/Mandaraye89

june 1st already?!

so today is june 1 2010 which means we're halfway through this year!! It also means that my darling little boy is a month and 5 days away from being FOUR!!! I am anticipating this age, and hoping that it will bring about a whole new attitude change for him. Also, I'm hoping he'll stop wearing pullups at night. He reverted after we got back from california in december and I wasn't too happy. I spent 8 months last year working with madyn to be completely dry at night and now he's back to needing pullups :( gr.

Anyways, I'm still doing swagbucks! Wishing id get more referrals so that I can earn points faster! I have a goal to use my points for my neice and baby things aren't cheap which means I need lots more points.

(450 points=$5 amazon gift card!) :)

I've got Swagger

So a week ago I stumbled upon Swagbucks and before I knew it, I was addicted!!!!!! I can visit it from my phone so I can do searches 24/7 basically (whenever I get the chance!).

What is Swagbucks?

Swagbucks are points that you earn from doing basic searches on their website. Every so often you'll be awarded points for your searches. For 450 points you earn a $5 amazon gift card. You are able to stack these gift cards, which means you can buy things for free!

I already have 1717 points which is enough for almost 4 $5 amazon gift cards. However I'm saving my points to get $50 amazon gift card (5,900!)

Its really easy!

If you want to join click this link: http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/Mandaraye89

Good luck to all!

I promise its not a scam! I would NOT be doing this if it were! :)

OHH… Madyn…

Okay so when I hear pots and pans being shuffled around while I am in the bathroom and its just Madyn and I in the apartment I automatically know something is going on. When I came out of the bathroom yesterday I was greeted by Madyn who had a yellow “meatball” in his hand…This yellow “meatball” looked suspiciously like the yolk to one of our Easter eggs that we had left in the refrigerator. I took the “yellow meatball” from my sons hand and I walked cautiously into the kitchen to find this:

 

Yep…My brilliant 3 year old had definitely gotten into the Easter eggs and was trying to make scrambled eggs. I was fuming mad at him because I was going to take pictures of our pretty Easter Eggs for another blog post but when I asked him what he was trying to do with the eggs he sweetly replied “I was trying to make scrambled eggs.” How could I possibly be mad at him for that? My little guy already has a strong desire to cook in the kitchen! I can’t deny him that learning experience!

So yes that little event pretty much made my day.

Being a Mom!

No one told me when I was pregnant just how much I would love my boy. No one told me how much he would steal my heart on a daily basis, and nobody told me that no matter what he did during the day, at the end of the night he would still want to cuddle up with me before going to bed!

At age 3 (and a half!) Madyn is my pride & Joy. He’s my everything. He’s in love with running, and jumping and climbing onto anything that seems “sturdy” enough to support him! He loves to eat BBQ chips, Pop tarts, Lucky Charms, PB & J sandwiches, Chicken Nuggets, Popcorn, Broccoli, Strawberries & Bananas! And sometimes if we have all of the above listed he’ll beg me to eat at least 95% of what I listed …In one day! He’s definitely got the appetite of a man already!

Madyn loves toy story (Buzz is his favorite!) He loves Paper airplanes & coloring. If I had to sum him up in one word it would be “Energetic!”

 

My Life has changed dramatically in the past few years since I became a mom! I’ve become quite opinionated on diapers, pacifiers, potty training and other mom related issues. I’ve stayed up later than other women my age, and I’ve also been up way earlier than most girls my age too.

 

I had Madyn the summer before my senior year, which  made going to school really hard for me. I did not have my own car so I walked my infant to a baby sitter who lived near my high school and did 3 online classes a day after my one on campus class (which was marching band!). Since I put top priority to Madyn, my grades dropped dramatically in my online classes and I dropped out of my high school to take care of him. In 2007, the year after I had Madyn I started school at an online campus. It took me 2 years to complete the classes I needed to do to graduate, but when I completed them, I received my high school diploma. The road was far from easy, but I definitely would not take anything back.

 

When my 21st birthday came around this year unlike most 21 year olds I was not able to do the “power hour” with my honey because of the fact that I had to think about Madyn first. Instead we enjoyed a day of bowling and being together as a family for my 21st birthday. It definitely made my 21st birthday more special because I was able to share it with my  son!

 

I’m not really sure what inspired me to write all of this, but I do know that if I could reach out to one young girl about how being a young mom has impacted my life, then I am happy. Honestly the only way to 100% prevent pregnancy is to use protection (birth control/condoms/abstinence!) until you and your significant other are ready for a baby. 

 

I’m also not sure if all of this made sense, or if its just my ramblings but this came from my heart!

 

This little boy is my whole world.

He's just not that into you....

Friday as we were getting ready to leave and run our errands for the day this movie came on (He's just not that into you) and at about 10 minutes into the movie we realized we had to leave! So...we recorded it and saved it for another day. Which happened to be last night! After we put Madyn in bed we put this movie on. I loved it. Yes, it was pretty much just like any other chick flick but I loved it. I was also really enjoying having my honey watch it with me!

Today however is off to a very rough start. Madyn's being a pain. I've already had to take two of his toys away which is not making him happy at all, but I want him to know that it is NOT okay to throw toys, or  punch your mother! He currently is screaming like he was beaten (which sucks because we live in an apartment with neighbors really nearby to our apartment) and I had the windows open until he started this tantrum.

I'm starting to think that age 3 is worse than age 2, because at least age 2 they didn't know how to talk quite as much and they are still taking possibly 2 naps a day. I am seriously counting down the days until he is 4! Hopefully things will go well and I'll be able to get him into a headstart *(preschool)* in the fall so I can get a day job during the week!

Anyways. Things have calmed down now so I'm going to go enjoy playing a game with him...or we may just go outside and play. I love arizona right now!

Hey it’s okay…

I stole this idea from another fellow blogger who stole the idea from Glamour  Magazine!

to not read the articles about “what your baby should be doing” because you know that your child is NOT following the trend and does things their own way and probably always will!

to want to cook a full meal every day of the week

to not cook every day of the week, even though you have the desire to do so.

to love nick jr simply because it keeps your toddler entertained …And its educational too!

to take 50 pictures of your son in one day!

to sleep when there’s nothing else to do!

to want a baby girl…just so you can buy the most lacey, frilly, girly things ever!

to change your twitter/facebook/myspace status whenever you’re doing something different!

---------------------------

Today has been a very nice relaxing day. Madyn took a nice two hour nap again today which will definitely be nice for when his daddy gets home! Hopefully there won’t be any crankies around here tonight!

We went and played golf outside for about an hour, and we ran and jumped and climbed on trees. I hope that he always enjoys playing outside!

Nothing really new happened so far today, but I just wanted to make sure I updated you guys!

<3

He loves golfing…Just like his daddy!

So Exhausting

This month has been full of fun, but tiring events. The most recent one being the wedding of Brandon’s cousin this past weekend. We had so much fun and I really enjoyed being able to attend it. Madyn behaved pretty well, we made it through the ceremony without him yelling out or making a scene so woohoo for that one! The ceremony was beautiful and so was the reception! I wish them many years of happiness!

Congrats Ryan & Sarah!!

 

 

Us at the reception. I loved seeing Brandon in a tux and Madyn in his suit. He is getting SO big :(.

Brandon’s mom made Madyn’s suit!!! :D

Anyways that’s a little of what’s been going on here. Next month shouldn’t be TOO busy so hopefully I'll be able to update more frequently!

<3

Hey, It's Okay Tuesday!!!

I'm stealing this idea from a fellow blogger who got the idea from Glamour magazine!!! They have a section called "Hey, It's okay" and they list a bunch of things to be okay about. I will try to start doing this every tuesday!

Hey it's Okay...

to not want to get out of bed until 8 am, so that you don't forget to take the birth control!

to stay in your jammies until 3 pm or later, if you have nowhere to be!

to rearrange the furnature frequently!

to hog the blankets in bed at night!

to not want to get rid of the baby clothes because you may have another baby down the line that could wear them. (because those clothes are too expensive!)

to be blogging when you should be doing the dishes, the laundry or cleaning the bathroom! :/

Clarification

Sorry it has been a while since my last post. I thought that I would update now since I have time!

I have two blogs currently. This one & my project 365 at wordpress.com, So that is why it's been difficult for me to keep up this blog. I do want to try and update it a lot more frequently!

Some new things that have been going on are as follows:

-Madyn can recognize the letters A, B, C & D (both the capital and lowercase), He hasn't started writing them yet! How do you teach your 3 year old to write? All he wants to do is scribble still. I take about an hour a day and work with him on his alphabet and numbers.

-Madyn also knows what the word "Apple" looks like.

-I still am only working weekends, but the business has been super slow so unfortunately I'm not getting many hours. :/

I'm sure there is a lot more things that have gone on in my life but I can't think straight with mr man in the background. :P

Anyways check out my project 365!! http://www.msraye89.wordpress.com/ and leave me comments so I know what to work on!!!

<3 <3

Success in the kitchen!

So my goal this month was to start cooking a LOT more and when we went grocery shopping I bought things that I'd be able to cook! This week was the week I started working towards completing that goal. Starting tuesday morning I cooked pigs in a blanket, tuesday night I cooked biscuits & gravy. Wednesday night I cooked Chicken Tenders, Green Beans & Fettucini alfredo, and then tonight I cooked something simple, Potatoes stroganoff(hamburger helper) & corn.

I am SO proud of myself. To some this must be no great accomplishment, but to me, it is. My fiance is normally the one who cooks so to be able to provide him with a home cooked meal every night when he gets home is something I treasure. It's fun because I don't tell him what I'm fixing him for dinner that night, he gets home and it's either done or nearly finished, and he doesn't have to do anything!

Lately

Since I am home mon-friday by myself with Madyn, I have all day long to eat whatever I want to and whenever I want. I feel like I am gaining weight, but I don't have an accurate scale, and I have no way of exercising until after my fiance gets home which is late. Right now when he gets home its dark outside, and there's no way that I will walk by myself to the front of the apartment complex to do any exercising. Basically I'm in a predicament. I want badly to lose weight. I want to be down to about 125-120ish. . . I'm a lil heavier then that though.

Brandon likes to poke my tummy whenever I'm sitting down, and even though he's trying to be playful. . . It still hurts me inside. I have worked really hard to try and keep my weight down after having Madyn 3 years ago, and I don't want that to change.

What can I do to lose weight? I don't over indulge in "bad" foods, I'm only drinking diet sodas. I've also started drinking a lot more milk lately too.

Basically if you have any suggestions. . . I'm all ears!!!!*or eyes* :P

(: READ ME :)

One of the ladies I "follow" on here is doing a giveaway. To read about it, and see what she's giving away, Click this link: http://splendidmissm.blogspot.com/2010/01/valentine-felt-heart-garland.html

It's a valentines felt garland. Each heart is stitched together by a sewing machine. It makes a great decoration!

Larger than life!

Yes, I am talking about the backstreet boys song "Larger than life!" I'm listening to Pandora radio right now and it came on!

It instantly brought back high school memories. I remember one morning before our band/colorguard competition we (the guard--9 of us!) all got into my friends SUV and BLASTED backstreet boys "larger than life" and drove to QT (quicktrip) to get energy drinks!! It was so much fun!!!

And right now I'm talking to one of my friends that I met freshmen year of high school. It just hit me how much I miss my freshmen year of high school at times.

High school shaped my life mostly. It was in high school that I experienced heart break, and it was in high school when I first started learning to drive. A lot of stuff happened in high school and changed my view on some things. I am glad that I experienced everything that I did in high school.

I was almost a senior when I had my beautiful baby boy. My "Rei" of sunshine. Given the chance to go back I would decline.

Happy New Year!

It's 2010! I've got a new blog on wordpress that I'm doing a 365 project on! Each day I am posting a picture that I have taken that day. If you'd like to follow me there my link is:

http://www.msraye89.wordpress.com/

Our Christmas was wonderful, and my new years was amazing. I enjoyed 2 strawberry margaritas and a glass of champagne. Madyn crashed early and it was just adults playing video games until midnight. At midnight we celebrated with a glass of champagne and some noise makers and lil firecracker things in the back yard.

I think this year will truely be an amazing year!! :)

Summary of my 2009

My year started off great!
In January I turned 20 & celebrated it with my family/friends. Brandon took me Ice Skating which I really enjoyed & wished I could do it a lot better.
In March I got my license. . . I was wearing a lucky charms shirt that said "feeling lucky?" on it. . . Kind of Ironic in my eyes.
In May I graduated high school & got my high school diploma! Yay me!
One of the girls I worked with at my first job & my closest friend had her baby girl May 3rd. Little Miss Mia Ana. She's a bundle of joy and I can't believe how big she's getting!!!
In June we went up north to see Grandma's cabin. It rained while we were up there.. . We camped in Brandon's truck tent. It was fun.
When July 6, rolled around Madyn turned 3 years old!!! We had two separate parties this year. One at Brandon's mom's house & One at his gigi's house. He was really good.
After he turned 3 I really started focusing on getting him potty trained.. . This continued to be my primary focus.
In August my friend from high school had her first baby. Mr Andrew Jared! Even though I have yet to see him, from the pictures he's a cuuuuute lil boy!
When September rolled around Madyn & I were living with Brandon again. It felt so nice to be back in bed beside him every night again. There's NO way we'll go back to living apart.
In October we took Madyn Trick or Treating in his little batman costume. . . I swear he was the cutest lil guy out there!!! SO polite and he walked about a mile & a half so he did really good!!!
November was thanksgiving with the families. My cousin Josh was back from Iraq. It was SO good to see him!!!!
December. . . Well this month we took our trip to california. I am hoping Madyn will remember this trip, but even if he doesn't remember we took a lot of pictures and I'm scrapbooking the pictures, so at least he'll be able to look back on them.

In 2010:
Things I hope for Madyn
--begin the foundation for reading by himself,
--get ready for preschool & kindergarten


For Me:
--Lose at least 5 lbs at the most 10.
--I don't want to argue with Brandon.
--Scrapbook More & take more pictures
--take madyn out of the apartment for at least 1 hour
--buy a car
--Save for a house
--GET A FULL TIME JOB

(: HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY :)

The End.

We're back from our trip, Christmas is over, and all of our Christmas decorations are already put away!!!
This year has been absolutely amazing. At times tough, but 98% of this year was breathtaking.

My biggest proudest moment is the fact that I was able to completely potty train Madyn. He even is 100% potty trained at night. He does have the occaisonal accident if he's given liquids too late, or too much liquid that his body doesn't use! However, he does know to get up and use the bathroom and can do it by himself  even!!!

This year Madyn turned three years old!! He's the oldest out of all my friends babies, and I enjoy this fact at times, because of this I am able to offer advice if needed. I also don't have to bring my whole life with me when I go out anymore. Just a cup, and some snacks are all I generally need to bring anywhere!! Woo-Hoo!!!

August was great because Madyn & I moved back in with Brandon. (Yay!!!) It's SO much nicer to be with him all the time :)

Our trip was AMAZING. We had beautiful weather the whole time we were in california. . . The last day got warm (78 degrees F), but we still enjoyed it. Madyn was really well behaved for the most part. We took between 1500-2000 pictures, not all of them were GOOD pictures so we have to sort through them. . . I'm working on getting a scrapbook together of the pictures. Last night I went to my Aunts and we made 6 layouts total for my scrapbook. 4 vacation themed layouts and 2 Christmas Themed layouts. :)

Anywho's that's all that's new & great. . . I hope that you and your family all had a great Christmas or good holidays if you don't celebrate Christmas :)

<3

Twas the night before Christmas---Mom style

Someone posted this on a board that I am a part of and I couldn't get through it without a tear on my face, so I thought I'd share it here for all you moms out there....

'Twas The Night Before Christmas



Mom Style






Twas the night before Christmas,


when all thru the abode


Only one creature was stirring,


and she was cleaning the commode.


The children were finally sleeping,


all snug in their beds,


while visions of N-64 & Barbie,


flipped through their heads.


The dad was snoring in front of the TV,


with a half-constructed bicycle propped on his knee.


So only the mom heard the reindeer hooves clatter,


which made her sigh, "Now what is the matter?"


With toilet bowl brush still clutched in her hand,


She descended the stairs, & saw the old man.


He was covered with ashes & soot, which fell with a


shrug, "Oh great," muttered the mom, "Now I have to clean the rug."


"Ho Ho Ho!" cried Santa, "I'm glad you're awake."


"Your gift was especially difficult to make."


"Thanks, Santa, but all I want is time alone."


"Exactly!" he chuckled, "So, I've made you a clone."


"A clone?" she muttered, "What good is that?"


"Run along, Santa, I've no time for chit chat."


Then out walked the clone - The mother's twin,


Same hair, same eyes, same double chin.


"She'll cook, she'll dust, she'll mop every mess.


You'll relax, take it easy, watch The Young & The Restless."


"Fantastic!" the mom cheered. "My dream has come true!"


"I'll shop, I'll read, I'll sleep a night through!"


From the room above, the youngest did fret.


"Mommy?! Come quickly, I'm scared & I'm wet."


The clone replied, "I'm coming, sweetheart."


"Hey," the mom smiled, "She sure knows her part."


The clone changed the small one & hummed her tune,


as she bundled the child in a blanket cocoon.


"You're the best mommy ever. I really love you."


The clone smiled & sighed, "And I love you, too."


The mom frowned & said, "Sorry, Santa, no deal."


That's my child's LOVE she is trying to steal."


Smiling wisely Santa said, "To me it is clear,


Only one loving mother is needed here."


The mom kissed her child & tucked her in bed.


"Thank You, Santa, for clearing my head.


I sometimes forget, it won't be very long,


when they'll be too old for my cradle & song."


The clock on the mantle began to chime.


Santa whispered to the clone, "It works every time."


With the clone by his side Santa said "Goodnight.


Merry Christmas, dear Mom, You will be all right."


Sometimes we need reminding of what life is all about. Especially at times during the Holiday season, when all we seem to do is clean and bake and shop and and and and and and and....You get the picture, I'm sure. So stop for a moment and hug that little one so special, whether he/she is 2 months or 22 years, or even older than that.


For they are the Gift that God gave us in life...and what a gift to be treasured, far above any other!


May the real meaning of Thanksgiving and Christmas be with you all this year.

The week before our grand vacation!

WOO-HOO

Last week before vacation!!!!!

The end.

Oh, the holidays you can't beat home SWEET home.

So, we put up our Christmas lights & other decorations on Thanksgiving! I'll take some pictures and edit this post to include them :)

I did not go black friday shopping, however I worked at 9 AM on black friday!!! It wasn't as crazy as we thought it would be. Half of our appointments didn't show up which royally sucked, but we'll recover.

Also, I am now only working weekends. Things just weren't working out with my babysitter, and it was costing us way too much to send me to work so now I get to stay at home during the week! Woo-hoo!!!

My birthday is in 45 days!!! :) I am SUPER excited & antsy to see who I will be celebrating it with besides my mom & Brandon. . . I can't believe I will be 21!!!

2010 is coming up SO quickly, and with 2010 I will have a big bad 4 year old midway through, and hopefully we'll be looking to buy our first house together! So next year is going to bring big things!!!! :)

As for now, I'd like to make it through the rest of the year without catching any major colds!!! :)

Ah the holidays. . .

I love the holidays that are coming up. I love being with my family and everything, but I wish that the holidays would come without all the colds, and allergies that get stirred up when the weather changes. Poor Madyn has been having a runny nose for a while now, and a small cough that gets bigger when he gets really worked up. I'm not that worried about that because I know he had RSV when he was an infant, and they did say that when he was 6 months old he had asthma, but I haven't had them check since he was 6 months old if he still has it or not. I am working on scheduling an appointment for Madyn.

Work has been picking up! Woo-hoo!!!! I enjoy work, I love my co-workers!!! I also enjoy the fact that the pictures I take will be passed out to peoples friends/family's and co-workers! :)

We're gearing up for our trip to california next month!!! I'm super super excited! We'll be gone for 6 days and we'll be going to Sea world, San Diego Zoo, Universal Studios, Disneyland/CA adventures! woohoo! :)

Our new apartment is amazing. I love that it is just brandon, Me & Madyn. It's comfy, and fits us almost perfectly. Only complaint is loud neighbors! but oh well. lol

I'm trying to start Madyn's scrapbook, but am not quite sure if I should include a page of my maternity pictures and THEN start with his newborn pictures, so on and so forth? hm.

All in all, we're doing well currently!

A challenge :0)

Everyone has things they blog about. Everyone has things they don’t blog about. Challenge me out of my comfort zone by telling me something I don’t blog about, but you’d like to hear about, and I’ll write a post about it. Ask for anything: latest movie watched, last book read, political leanings, thoughts on something, favorite type of underwear, explain an interest, whatever. Repost in your own journal so that we can all learn more about each other.

Sneezy & energy

I feel like Madyn and I are two of snow whites dwarfs..I’m sneezy & He’s energy. Even though he’s still a bit sick, he’s got a bunch of energy. I on the otherhand am sneezing what seems like every 10 minutes, but have no other symptoms of a cold.

This week is the last week until we get to move out!!! I’m SO ready for this move.

 

I finally was able to get two good pictures of madyn!! Here they are!

 

Anywho’s I need to get back to cleaning/packing. Have a good day!!!

Pregnancy and Infant loss rememberance day!!!

~Today's pregnancy & infant loss rememberance day and I wanted to send lots of *hugs* out to those families who have delt with a loss. ~

Other than that, I haven't blogged in a while. I haven't really been that motivated since I don't have people that comment my blogs. Comments let me know that I have readers out there, and that i'm not really talking to myself.

We've been packing our stuff, move in day is on the 24th. Brandon's already got a load ready to go and the living room is surrounded by boxes. I know I've said this before, but... I can't wait to move.

Not much else has happened since my last blog so i have nothing else to update on.

MMMM

The best part of halloween & fall time!!!!!

Dream much?

This is my dream from last night from my memory this morning:

it started out with me walking around a building and being handed a missing child flyer. On the flyer it had a reward that the family was offering for the return of the child, and it had a description of the person who was last seen with him. I took a very good hard look at this picture, and kept walking. When I got off the elevator I walked forward and saw a male that resemebled that guy on the flyer. I started to get out my cell phone and he ran off remarkably fast. I kept talking to the 911 operator and tried to stay in his line of sight, but was also trying to not be heard by him. this wasnt hard for me. After I got off the phone for some reason I myself tried to catch this man. I tried all kinds of random things that I don't remember at all now except for I tried to throw a net over him and he blew it up into little fireworks and escaped. I kept trying all kinds of things and it wouldn't work. Finally I decided that maybe if I just talked to him it would work. So I walked up to him with nothing in my hands at all, and began discussing things with him. Somehow I ended up catching him admitting to taking that missing child and I caught it in my son's toy microphone that appeared out of nowhere. I took that microphone to the police and they convicted him of kidnapping. I felt good about helping convict a criminal and then woke up.

Why did I dream that? It still makes me feel weird thinking about it.

Fantastic Friday

FRIDAY.

PAYDAY.

WORK TODAY.

TOMORROW:

WORK?

HAIR CUTS

FAMILY TIME.

~Have a good day~

Well THAT didn't last long.

WE'RE MOVING AGAIN.

This time we're moving into an apartment, and it will only be Brandon, me and Madyn. I'm excited!!! We're looking into a couple different apartment complexes. One of which I used to live in with my family when they were under other management. Brandon is calling them today and we'll find out what everyone has to offer.

I'm really wanting to start school in January so I hope that I'll be able to do that. Even if I'm just taking one class, I want to get started on my degree!!!! I actually miss being in a classroom setting. It's been a few years.. Since junior year of HS. I'm really looking forward to being able to do that for myself.

I'm also looking forward to getting things settled so that I can eventually buy a car! I hope to have one before the end of next year. I was SUPPOSED to get one this year with my tax refund but was unable to do that. I did however get my license finally this year so I'm at least half way there. Getting the license was something I needed badly, and now it doesn't expire until I'm in my 50's. So I have plenty of time to get a car.

I will miss this house though. I love it. It's a gorgeous layout, and maybe one day we'll own a house with a similar layout. who knows...

So That's what is up with me and us.