I'm Thankful for Jessy!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful 11 year old sister Jessy!! She is visiting me until tomorrow & I am so lucky to get to have her her over her birthday! We have had so much fun & today has been even better than all the other days!

First thing this morning - Birthday girl!

She caught me while I was doing my hair!
Crazy lady.

We woke up bright & early so we could go get some McDonald's breakfast. [I'm pretty sure McDonald's is her favorite place to eat! -and mine, who am I kidding?] We were a little irritated when we got there because they didn't have either of the things we wanted on their menu. Freaking Micky D's! We were able to find something we both liked though!

Connor is wondering why we are going out in the
cold so dang early in the morning!

I have had a surprise planned for Jessy for about a week and a half, but she has had no idea what it is! She usually demands to know surprises, so I was pretty proud of myself for being able to keep this one from her!!!

I surprised her with an appointment at a nail salon to get her very first pedicure! Turning 11 & getting a pedicure. Not too shabby =) She was completely surprised & loved every second of it! She kept asking things like, "what's this part?" and "why are they putting that scrub on?". She had no idea what a pedicure even consisted of before today!

Needless to say, she is hooked! This might have to be a yearly birthday tradition! Pedicures with the big sis!

After our pedicures, Reese & Connor met us over at good ol' DQ for some lunch & a Blizzard! She told me the reason she wanted to go there was because, "I like their fries, I like their food, & I like their ice cream." You really can't argue with that!

After lunch we went over to the Dollar Store and had a lot of fun roaming the aisles. Jessy picked out 5 things she wanted & I picked out a hat for her...

I am making her wear it everywhere we go!!

The rest of the afternoon we are going to lounge on the couch, play some Dance Central 3, watch chick flix, & just hang out! Tonight I am making her favorite food for dinner: Steak & green peppers! [Reese isn't going to complain about steaks! Am I right, Justins?!]

We have to take Jessy home tomorrow & I am pretty bummed out. We have had so much fun this past week & I can't wait for her to come back again!

Happy Birthday to one of my amazing sisters!!! I love her so much & I am so thankful for her & all she does for me. She makes me so happy!

Me Again

Welp, I have decided that I am going to get back to the old Steph, the woman who felt like the world was at her fingertips & like nothing could get her down!

I want that back. I want to be fierce, strong, saucy, & amazing! Even if I am the only one who I thinks I am all of those things, at least I will feel them again!

Most of all though, I just want to be happy! I want to wake up every morning, with a smile on my face, & feel in control of my life! I am going to make it happen.

I have started working out everyday...Ok, I am going to start today! Even if I don't lose weight & get my pre-baby body back, at least I will get some endorphins pumping through my veins & feel better. I just want to be healthy! Also, I am going to start eating healthier! No more Dr. Pepper with every meal! [Don't get me wrong, I can't say goodbye to my dear friend for good, I am just going to cut back.] Less fried foods, more veggies! Endorphins & healthy-ness running through my body!

I've decided to whiten my teeth too. Oh yeah, I went & spent a bajillion dollars on some white strips & I am going to do them everyday! Not once a month, not once a week, but everyday until I do the whole pack! I spent the money, I want the whiter teeth!

I may or may not hit the tanning beds just a FEW times as well. Don't lecture me on how bad it is for me & blah blah blah! I know. I know it's not amazing for me, BUT I do know that it makes me feel better about myself. It makes me feel pretty & like I have less flaws in my skin! So, tanning a few times! Maybe. It's on my list of things I may do. Because I wouldn't mind looking like her again...

White teeth, tan skin, & skinny! Ahh. Yes please! I like me now, I like the person I am. I LOVE being a momma!!! I do miss doing the little things to lift me up though. I spend every waking [and sleeping, to be honest] moment thinking about Connor & how to be a top notch momma to him, because that is the most important thing to me, but I have been doing it for 5 months now & I am kinda getting the hang of it! I think I am getting the hang of it enough to take a little bit of time to do the things that make me feel like me again!

So, here's hoping I am not just a bunch of talk & that I can get healthy, happy, & beautiful again! Let's take care of me to enable me to be the best momma on the planet!

Distractions!

My little sister Jessy is visiting me for a week! It has been so much fun! I have loved every second & she still gets to be here for 4 more days =)

I am greatly slacking on all of my regurlar...."duties" though! All weekend I sat around watching tv/movies/playing Dance Central 3 [funnest game, ever.]

I have been missing blogging and I have a bunch of cleaning need like to get done every day [I even made a list to help me], but I have not been doing it.

Well, today I buckled down & did days Mon, Tues, & Thurs so that I could just hang out with her & enjoy all of our time!

It was great & I feel super productive! [Not to mention, my house looks amazing!!]

Now I am ready to hang out, watch movies, dance, do make-overs, & just play with my baby sister!! Time to slow down & enjoy life.



P.S. Jessy made her own blog today - you should check it out here!

Life Sometimes.

Sometimes life is harder than other times. Life is good. Life is great. But...sometimes, for whatever reason, life can be harder.

I have come to find that in those times there is one thing that is always helpful - and that is spending time with/talking to my loving sisters.

I am so lucky & was blessed with two beautiful younger sisters. They mean the world to me & they help me more than they will ever know.

Sami is 18 & so strong. She is such an example to me, without even knowing it. She is beautiful, strong, Christ-like, loving, & the list goes on and on. I could write a post about her all day, everyday.

Something that I really admire about her is her kindness. That is something I don't really have. I can be kind, but I have to really think about it & try. Sami is kind always. She always thinks of others, puts them first, & empathizes with them. When I am having a bad day, she is someone who can always lift me up. I am so lucky to have her.

Jessy is going to be 11 in one week. [Maybe I should wait & write a post about her then...] She is sooo amazing. She is a shining star in many ways - she is smart, happy, smiley & strong.

She can always make me laugh. She is so attentive to other people's needs. She is always wanting and willing to help others feel better. I need her in my life.

Recently my brother got married & I got another sister, Whitney. I love her so much. We have been friends for a few years, but have always felt like a sister.

She is such a great listener. I can call her when I need to talk & she will listen to anything & everything I have to say. I love to listen to her wonderful laugh & look at her smile. She doesn't know how much just being in her life & getting random texts from her saves my life & makes my day.

[I don't have any current pictures of the two of us.]

Two years ago Reese's brother married Brittany & brought another sister into my life. We had some rough patches at first [probably because we are both sooo sarcastic] & it took us a little bit to realize that we could be there for each other.

I honestly do not know what I would do without her. When life is hard I always think to call her, but I talk myself out of it because we haven't been sisters for very long. Then when things get a little harder I do call her & she always is there for me. She always knows exactly what to say & she empowers me. She lets me vent, complain, & get to a good place. She calls me on my crap & would let me call her out on hers.

[I don't have any current pictures of the two of us.]

Sometimes life is harder than other times. Whenever I have a bad day, I just need to remember that I have 4 amazing, wonderful, kind, beautiful sisters who love me & would do anything for me. I would do anything for them & hope they will lean on me when life gets hard for them.

It's Inevitable

It's always so daunting to file your taxes, isn't it? I always dread it, which is kind of funny because we pay someone to do it for us! It's not even a big, hard task for me. It's really just gathering all of our crap paperwork & sitting across from a tax person. Come on Steph, it's not that bad!

I've never been one to procrastinate doing my taxes. No way, no how - not when there's a chance I will be getting some money! I like to go in the first day we can. [Reese has a bunch of stocks & shinanigans, so it usually takes a while until we get everything.]

This year we could have gone in January 18th. We got everything in the mail super fast! Woohoo, bring on the money! Every year I am a little nervous, thinking maybe, just maybe we won't get a return & we'll owe the government more money! Yikes. Scary thought. Every year my nerves are put at ease when we find out the government shall be paying us! This year I had no nerves! We had a baby in 2012! There is no way we'll be paying anything extra.

So, the 18th comes around & I tell Reese I am ready to go file our taxes! This is going to be a fabulous year! We can't go, he tells me. He's waiting for one more piece of paperwork for his 401k. Blerg! I want my money now. I told Reese I was pretty darn sure that we didn't have to do anything with his 401k until we get the funds, but he insisted we wait.

So we waited.

We waited almost a full month! Last night he gets an email from the company telling him his "Taxable Amount is $0". Fantastic.

We waited for nothing. [I'm not one to say 'told you so', but....]

So we went in today! Hooray! 20 minutes sitting across from some lady & now we are days away  from getting a hunka chunka moolah.

We are really good about saving our tax return. We always have been. We  don't go out & buy big fun things. We put it away. My momma always tells me she's proud of how smart we are with our money. [I love making my momma proud.]

Reese likes to take a portion of it and invest it. We have done this for the last 2 years & we have seen great returns [even though those returns are taxable...eesh]. I let him decide where we invest & how much, because honestly - I don't care. Maybe this year I will care, I'll tell him I want to have the same amount we invest to go shopping. Stephy could really use a new pair of sunglasses...

If I am good with my money 99% of the time I deserve to splurge on something once in a while, right?!

Staying Glamorous Despite The...

Being a momma is the best! I love it every second of every day. I get to sit & snuggle with my cute little guy while ignoring all the housework! Granted, I change a lot of diapers everyday [today I have changed 11 & counting]. Diapers really aren't all that bad. It's a good trade off if you ask me; diapers for this...

I'll take a poopy diaper everyday if it comes along with this cute face & snuggle time.

Although, being a dad might be a little less glamorous. Reese & I have a little routine down. I feed Connor & Reese burps him. It started when Connor was first born & I didn't have the hang of doing everything alone yet, & it just stuck.

Connor has never been one to spit up. In his lifetime he has probably spit 5 times total. [We feel quite lucky about that!] Of those 5 times, Reese has been holding him....every time.

Once, Connor spit up so much that it went into Reese's pajama pants pocket. We were home & lounging so it wasn't that bad [says the person with no puke in her pocket...], it cleaned up relatively easily.

Recently Connor has started to plan his puking for when Reese is just about to go back to work after a lunch break. See, Connor & I get lonely and we really miss Reese while he is at work, so Connor came up with this brilliant plan - puke on Papa & then he'll have to stay and play with me & momma! [Too bad the plan doesn't work & Reese just changes his clothes!]

So I guess the moral of the story is...Being a papa is quite a bit messier than being a momma, even with all those poopy diapers.

does that make me a cat?...

Disasterous

I live in a smallish town, so when I go out I don't expect a "big city" treatment. I expect to have a good time, but not exceptional service. It just isn't expected or required by really anyone in town, so it isn't given.

Tonight Hubs, baby & I went out to dinner with some friends. [Really good friends that we love very much!] I won't say where we went, because as I mentioned previously it is a small town & you don't want to really bad mouth anywhere or anyone. Though, we only have 5 or so acceptable restaurants so if you live here you can probably guess where we went!

Aside from the great company & conversation, our evening was horrendously bad. I need to grab my thesaurus to help me think of some words to describe how awful the service, food, & timing was. Alas, I am lazy so I shan't.

Oh, the absolute best part of this horrific evening is that the food is extremely overpriced. I am talking, double the amount of Hubs & I going to PF Chang's China Bistro [which is my all time favorite, but a little spendy]. I don't mind spending money on a good meal, but I do mind spending money on an awful meal.

Night [almost] ruined. If we didn't have great friends we wanted to spend time with we would have just stayed home, made some chicken & watched Austin Powers. Hmm, that sounds like a good Sunday evening plan...At least we have good friends that we can laugh about it with.



P.S. I never said I'd have anything of worth to write about, I just said I'd be back to writing!

Zombie No More

Ahh, it feels good to be back among the living again. It's funny how I consider sitting at a computer, alone, typing to ambiguity back among the living! Regardless, I am back.

Last night, after getting back on the wagon [again], I went through & read some of my old posts. Such a fun stroll down memory lane; it was like a time warp.  My life is exponentially different than it was last time I wrote.

For instance I am not working anymore, instead I am back to being a "housewife". Although, I guess I could be called a "stay-at-home-mom" now, because I am! I love it. There really aren't words to describe the elation my Little Guy brings to me!

I cook a lot. I used to make dinner 4 or 5 nights a week. The other nights we'd have a frozen something or other or go out to eat. Not anymore. I cook lunch & dinner 7 days a week! What the what? Me & the hubs are trying to be super healthy, so I am a cooking maniac. Really, it's a problem! I guess it keeps me nice & occupied though!

Mostly, I am pretty lazy. All. The. Time. I watch a lot of Netflix. Ok, maybe not a lot....but ya know, a couple hours a day. Is that a lot?...[Don't judge me!]

I am productive though, too. I clean! Well, I try to. Mostly I want to just sit on the couch/bed & snuggle my little Connor. So recently, I decided to make myself a cleaning schedule to help me get everything done.

I like lists. They help me feel productive. Well, they help me be productive! When I have a list of stuff in front of me that I need to get done & that I can check off, it really helps me be oober productive! Although, I made this list on Thursday...and it didn't make sense to start at the end so I have decided to wait until Monday comes around to get started =) Don't get me wrong, my house isn't a disaster zone, it just needs the regular upkeep.

Anyway, this has been a hodgepodge mess of jibberish. Maybe someday soon I will gather my thoughts & have a more normal post. Lesbihonest though, I'm not all that normal, so my posts never will be!

S.O.S.