Boy's Clothes

Before I was a mom to Eli I would hear people talk about how the ratio of baby boy's clothes compared to baby girl's clothes was bad bad bad.

I didn't really pay much attention to it because:
A. I didn't have a baby
B. I wasn't planning on having a baby soon

And also, because when I looked around in stores it seemed like there was plenty of boy clothes. People need to stop their complaining is what I thought.

I'm sure you are well aware of where this story is headed. It's not that there aren't boy's clothes out there, that's that for some reason, all the designers of baby boys clothes got together and decided that no article of boy's clothing shall remain without some sort of text, design, or innuendo towards a sport game or phrase.

I just don't get it. Why can girls have regular plain clothes and boys can have a very cute striped shirt, but it is gratified with unnecessary words?

That's not to be said that I don't like any clothes with writing on them or that there aren't cute boy's clothes. You just have to search harder.

Some of my favorite outfits of Eli's have come from Gap, Old Navy, Gymboree and TJ Maxx.

Two of my very favorite outfits of Eli's have come from She She Made. When we found out we were having a boy I instantly knew I would want cute NY Giants outfit. Luke is a HUGE (obsessed) NY Giants fan and while I wanted Eli to have traditional sports gear I also wanted him to have nice-looking sports gear.

I had an idea in mind and I emailed Ashley at She She Made and she put together something right away. She sent me a picture of it before she sent it and it really was JUST like I had pictured in my mind. I love it so much and even better Luke loves it and wants Eli to wear it every game day but it's still a little big so he has to wait a little bit longer.

I also got this little outfit from She She Made because I'm a sucker for anything with Eli's name on it.

(Eli has his knees bent in this picture, the outfit does fit him and does not cause him to look like a hobbit)

If you have a boy where do you get his clothes? I'm really not a picky girl just want some plain, cute outfits!

And if you are looking for some outfits try the places I named above!

Eli is 6 months!

Eli is 6 months - half a year old!!!

What in the world?? Where is time going??

Is it possible for every month to be my favorite? I always think "OH! THIS is my favorite month" and then the very next month proves me wrong"
Eli you were between size 2 and 3 diapers this month. Really you should fully be in a size 3 but I've been trying to use the rest of the 2's.

You can wear some 3-6 months clothes and also 6-9 months. I have some 6-12 month clothes I'm ready for you to wear but they are still too big.
You are 17.9 lbs and inches long. You had your 6 month appointment this month and got your 6 month shots.

You are just the happiest, happiest baby ever. I even asked the dr if it was ok that you hardly ever cry and only laugh and giggle and smile. He assured me that we were just very lucky to get such a good baby.

You are a scooting machine! You still won't sit up on your own but you will scoot all the way across the floor on your belly and elbows.
You are such a talker. You love to talk to your dad and me and we love to listen to you. In the morning you have start blabbering VERY loudly while we get you ready for the day. It makes us laugh a lot.

You suck your thumb, but usually only if you are sleepy.

When you go to sleep you like to have something to hang onto. Whether it be a little blanket, burp cloth or a pacifier (while you suck your thumb) you want something to hang onto.

You are very content to play in the floor, or in your exersaucer. But when you are done YOU ARE DONE and you want picked up immediately.

You have started having separation anxiety from mom. Not a lot, and not when you are dropped off at your babysitter's house 3 days a week (thank goodness) but sometimes if I leave the and you are alone you will fuss until I come back. You also do this if other people are holding you and I walk out you semi-cry/fuss for mom.

You are a good little sleeper. You take good naps during the day and you sleep great at night.

You usually go to bed around 7:30 or 8:00 and wake up around 7:00.You love to eat. You take a 6 oz bottle 4 times a day and have solid food 3 times a day. You act indiferent about all food. You don't overly like or dislike anything.

When you get really worked up when crying you say "mamamamamama" it has no correlation to me whatsoever but I still like the sounds of it! :-)

Everything you get your hands on goes straight to your mouth. We have to really watch you.

These past 6 months have flown by! You have brought so much joy and love to our lives, we are so thankful for what you have brought to our family!

Date Night

Whoa. When I last posted on September 12th I had intentions of posting the next day and then the next and then the next.

But obviously that didn't happen.

Life just got busy - nothing out of the ordinary and the blog took a back seat. Which I HATE it when it when that happens. But it did. Time to pick up and move on.

I don't even really have an update of what we have been up to. Because we haven't really been up to much except trying to keep the house clean and laundry done only to get behind the SECOND it's all completed.

I still need to do Eil's 6 month post. I took the pictures I just need to type everything up.

Friday night Luke and I ordered Mexican food for our usual "Friday night date-in". We had to wait about an hour for our food so we of course decided to go to Target and walk around to kill the time. Well I decided to do this and Luke had no choice.

While we were there I saw this cute orange vest and thought it looked just like the vest that Michael J Fox wears in Back to the Future (one of my all time favorite movies) so I put it on Eli and made Luke take a picture.

Luke thought it was embarrassing that we went into Target, put clothes on our baby, took pics, hung back up the clothes and then left. I thought he needed to get over it. I will do anything for a cute pic of my baby. My sweet Marty McFly baby.

Saturday Luke and I went on an actual date night. Like out to eat and then to a movie. It was a lot of fun. We saw Lion King because it is another one of my all time favorite movies (maybe I should do a post of my all time favorite movies since I have so many). It was just as magical in theater 3d as I thought it would be.

To be honest going on these "dates" is kind of hard for me. I feel SO bad leaving Eli. I'm already away from him for 20 hours a week while I'm at work so is it really necessary to leave him for 3-5 more hours on the weekend? Luke and I were NEVER big date people before Eli came. We never went on dates while dating and very rarely went on them after we got married. Our first date in 2003 was at 10:00 in the McDonalds drive through while Luke played me music such as The Beatles and Bob Dylan to see if I could recognize the songs. Clearly the charmer he was.

But this year we not only had the addition of a new child (which changes E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G) but we also had job changes, money changes, responsibility changes, and more. It has been a lot do deal with and changes that could either cause discord in our marriage or bring us closer together.

Throughout all the changes I can see how important taking time away for just the two of us is. Saturday during our dinner on our date I asked Luke why it was so important for us to go on dates. It may seem like a weird question but we are 100% honest with each other and I can ask him anything. I know it's important, but like I said it's hard for me to leave Eli so I wanted to hear what his reasoning for our dates were. He explained to me why he felt like it was so important for us to get away just the two of us. And I understood his reasons completely. It was good just to ask and hear his explanation and then I understood it better.

Our goal is one date night a month. Which isn't too much time away from Eli and is an awesome investment in our marriage. Plus I don't want my life to completely revolve around my children and be known as the "crazy mom". Time away from my kid(s) alone is JUST FINE. Say it again. Just fine. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I didn't really mean to get on a tangent about date nights but it's just kinda what came out. Call it the Cirlce of Life if you will.

That was me just trying to pull this post together because it has been so random. I plan to return to my normal blogging schedule. Hakuna Matata.

Sunday Seven on Monday

I had originally intended to write this post on Sunday - considering it is "Sunday Seven" but yesterday's post was heavy on my heart and I needed to type it out. The comments were so sweet and I appreciate them all.

I'm excited to do this post because I found something that has helped me get a bit more organized and maybe it can help you.

I have found that some weeks I am at the top of my game and I'm feeling good. All the laundry is done and put away, the house is completely clean, not only are dinners planned for the week but their ingredients are grouped together ready to be grabbed at a moments notice.

When I'm in the middle of one of those "on" weeks I can't imagine life any other way, and feel like I'm pretty much the most amazing woman on the earth. There is nothing better than feeling organized and on top of your game.

Then I have weeks like this one. If you could see my house you would see three loads of laundry on my sofa waiting to be folded, a living room full of blankets and toys, a kitchen that desperately needs some TLC, a bedroom floor with piles of sorted clothes waiting to be thrown in the washer and an empty menu waiting to be filled with meals for this week.

I definitely do not feel like the most amazing woman on earth during weeks like this one.

My home organization notebook has helped me leaps and bounds in certain areas. It honestly has. Which thrills me because it had the potential to be one of those things that I made, got all excited about, blogged about like it would revolutionize my life, and then tucked it away never to look at it again.

But I have used many of its features and feel more organized in my life. But, as always, there are still areas in my life I need to become more organized in.

Well, last week I visited my friend Allison's blog and she wrote a post about the Sunday Seven.

Basically, it is taking important areas of your life, and setting short term goals to accomplish in that week.

This is perfect for me because I'm a "small picture" kind of gal. If I have a HUGE task in front of me, it is hard for me to do it, my mind starts to wander, I lose focus and all of a sudden I'm off in left field not even remembering what my original task was.

This usually happens when I begin to clean my closet.

So last week I challenged myself to write out my Sunday Seven and stick to them for the week. I found a pretty notecard in my desk, used my favorite pen, inked down my Sunday seven and then posted them on desk where I would see them everyday

My Sunday Seven last week along with how I did in each area:

1. Faith - Goal: Spend at least 15 minutes in "quiet time" with God everyday. I achieved this 5 out of the 7 days. Honestly it should be something that I do everyday, but it has been put on the back burner lately. I am working on it.

2. Family - Goal: Two nights unplugged from the computer and phone. Lately I've realized (or I've been told by Luke) that I spend a lot of time on my phone and computer doing things that aren't that important. I am happy to say that I did have 2 nights where I used the phone and computer a lot less.

3. Relationships - Goal: Send 5 handwritten notes to friends and or family. This is a big fat fail. And I'm so mad. I was most excited about this one but then never did it And I have no excuse. I could have found time to do this if I really wanted to do it. I need to make it a goal again.

4. Work - Goal: Complete my to do list at my office job and organize all my home party supplies for my Scentsy job. Check and Check. Yay!

5. Health and Wellness - Goal: Five times this week either jog, walk or do the shred. Realistically I would LOVE to jog every single day. But now that I have Eli it is so hard to find time to do it. I guess I could wake up at 5:30 and do it before Luke leaves for work, but right now that is not appealing, so I have to do what I can, even if its putting Eli in his stroller and walking around the neighborhood. I really need to get me one of those fancy schmancy jogging strollers. Anyways, I did 4 out of 5 on this one. Pretty good.

6. Finances - Goal: No frivolous purchases (i.e. clothes, shoes, scarves, jewelry, non-necessities) I completed this with flying colors. Woo hoo!

7. Downtime - Goal: READ I LOVE to read but find that I never do it because I fall into bed completely exhausted at the end of the day. I did not do this once this week. :-( Hoping to do it next week.

So those seven were my Sunday Seven. I am LOVING this and I'm excited about achieving my goals for next week. I hope I get a little better at it each week.

If you need to become a bit more organized in your life and your feeling a bit discouraged (like I was) try this! I think I'm going to update my Sunday Seven on here every Sunday at least for a little bit to keep myself accountable.

What would your seven weekly goals be?

Love.

Every morning when Eli wakes up either Luke or I will go and get him and then bring him back to our bed.

Call this "forming a bad habit" all you want, but I LOVE this time. Those few moments in the morning are so special. And if I've learned anything these past six months it is that time FLIES by and I want to cherish every minute of this baby. Whether I'm doing what the books say is right or not.

This morning Eli woke up a bit later than usual so when I brought him to our bed Luke was already up and about to head out the door for church.

I settled into my normal Sunday routine of feeding Eli in bed while watching some gloriously lame movie on TV. You never know what movie you will find on Sunday mornings, but I always end up watching it, no matter what movie it is.

As I turned on the TV this morning to watch my movie I was quickly reminded that it was in fact September 11th. Somewhere between drifting off to sleep, and being woken up abruptly by a crying baby, the date had slipped my mind. But it all came flooding back in an instant. Ten years ago today our nation was changed.

I sat in bed with Eli, watching the news coverage and remembering everything about that day. And because I'm human, my mind started to think about myself, and what I was doing that day and how much my own life had changed these past ten years.

Ten years ago I was a senior in high school watching the news coverage unfold on TV. I remember sitting in speech class watching the towers fall. To be honest, I didn't understand everything. I knew to be scared, and I knew that thousands of families lives were changed forever, and I knew that pure evil was behind this, but as a senior in high school the true extent of it all didn't really get to me.

Fast forward to present day. I'm now a 27, watching the events unfold once again. But this time I'm sitting in bed, with my six month old baby. Today it hit me in a way it never has before.

ABC rebroadcast scenes from their Good Morning America from that September morning and I watched the scenes all over again. I have seen these images dozens of times, but today it was different. There next to me was my sleeping baby. A precious, innocent child that is going to grow up in this world.

I sat there, with my hand over my mouth watching the images as if it was my first time to see them. I looked over at my sleeping baby and immediately wondered what kind of world would he grow up in? In that moment it was easy to let fear, questions and uneasiness flood my heart.

No matter how hard I try, I cannot shield him from hurt, I cannot protect him from pain.

Many times after we first brought Eli home from the hospital, as I would gently kiss his cheeks and rub his head and watch his sleeping body gently move up and down with his every breath I would look at Luke and say "I only want him to know love, I don't want him to know ANYTHING BUT love"

I was completely serious, as any mother would be, but every time I would say it, Luke would laugh a bit and tell me, just like I already knew, it was impossible for Eli to only know love. He lives in a fallen world.

My desire is for Eli to only know love, but unfortunately he will see much outside the realm of love, and there is nothing I can do about it.

The only thing I can do, along with Luke, is teach Eli the love of Christ. Teach him HOW to love others. Teach him what it is like to show love in the face of unkindness, unfairness, disappointment and hurt.

This world can be scary, and there are many questions and many things that are out of our control, but we know Who we put our hope in. We can't always protect Eli, but we can direct him to the greatest Protector.

So as I sit here ten years later watching the shocking images unfold once again, I am changed. I do not want to sit and fear the world that we live in. I do not want to question the future.

Instead I will use the time I have to lead my son to the Truth I know, and teach him the Love we have been shown, and pray that he continues to spread that love in our world, no matter what it may be like.

Accent Vlog

Last week my friend Katie asked me if I was going to do the accent vlog.

I said "no". But I did go on to say "which means I will probably do one next week".

So here we are. Time for my accent vlog.



Some notes:

1. I'm not sure why, at the beginning, I say that "Eli is home with me." As opposed to most nights when he is out clubbing? I got tongue tied and nervous cause the camera was on and that was the sentence that came out. It makes no sense.

2. Sometimes I do this sing songy voice when speaking like I did when I said Eli and profusely at the end. I'm sure this drives those close to me crazy.

3. I never know where I'm supposed to look when doing a vlog - hence the crazy eyes.

4. I mumble.

5. I do realize it is Crayon and now Crown. Bad habits are hard to break.

6. My baby is cute.

My Life in Binders

This is a recap to the disaster that is known as my vlog.

I mean seriously. WHY was the sound SO off? And WHY do I keep talking about it?

Mysteries of life.

In my vlog I think I mentioned that I have a serious obsession with binders.

I said *think* because I refuse to watch it again.

But this blog post is about some of my binders that help me in my life.

I am a binder girl. Here is a pic of some of my binders I put together while at my old job:

Like I said, I love me some binders.

I don't only make binders for work but I also have several binders that I incorporate into daily life.

I have a recipe binder that I wrote about here.

I also have a prayer journal that I use. I think I've written about it before but I can't find that post.

This is great and serves multiple purposes. You can use it to take to church or your bible study and take notes in, and then you have your notes right with you to review when you sit down for your devotional time with God.

I don't use my prayer journal as much as I once did, as I've been doing more concentrated bible studies that come with homework that I use during my devotional time, but I come back to this journal from time to time.

My tabs are:

Praise

Confession

Journal

Requests

Luke

I think they are all pretty self explanatory. I just move through each tab. First praising God and thanking him, the second tab is a confession of sins, third is journal where I spend time talking to God (I'm a writer, obviously, and it helps me sometimes to write my prayers out) and lastly requests to bring before the Lord. I also added a Luke tab. I did this after I read "Power of a Praying Wife" which I think every wife should read. Ladies, we really should be praying for our men!!

Also, as promised here are the links to the printables I used for my home organization binder:

Monthly Calendar

Weekly Chore Calendar

Meal Planner

Pantry Inventory

Shopping List

Sheets I use for Prayer

So those are my binders! As always let me know if you have any questions about anything!!

Also, there is still time to enter the Scentsy giveaway over at Blue Eyed Bride.

Labor Day Weekend

Ahhh. Aren't three day weekends so nice? I love when they don't fly by and actually feel like three long days which is how this weekend felt. It was wonderful!

Friday night we went to eat with some friends. We went to a burger restaurant so naturally I got chicken tacos. I don't know WHY I do this but I always get opposite of what you should get at a restaurant. For example, if you go to a breakfast place you should get breakfast food, not a steak. So if I go to a burger place I should get a burger not tacos! This is similar to my Seasonal Food internal battle.

Eli went with us and we had so much fun with him. I'm so glad that he is such a good baby and easy to take with us. I'm sure as he gets more active it will get more difficult but right now he is so easy!

Saturday was kind of a "nothing" day but I love those days. We all woke up with Eli around 7 and then all fell back to sleep with Eli for his morning nap around 8:30. It's weird to me that he naps so soon after waking up but he always falls asleep at that time like clockwork! We played with Eli during the day. Here he is laughing at his dad. He looooooves his daddio.
Saturday night Luke went to a football game with his parents and I stayed home with Eli. I enjoy a football game here in there but I wanted to just stay home with Eli on Saturday. We had a fun night. He ate his dinner and sucked his thumb in between each feeding which created a giant mess. But he's so cute, I don't even care.
Sunday my parents came for a couple of hours to visit us. AKA see Eli.

Monday I got my hair trimmed and colored. I usually go dark around this time of the year. I knew I wanted to go dark with my hair but I didn't want it all one color. I wanted a couple of different tones.

I took this picture from Pinterest to show my hair stylist (I told you, I'm obsessed)

Source: google.com via Megan on Pinterest

And this is how it turned out, I love it. (my spacing is off. love/hate blogger)

Monday night we gave Eli peas for the first time. He didn't even bat an eye. He didn't make a face or act like it was any different than what he has been eating. The boy just likes food. Plain and simple.
So that was our Labor Day weekend.

Also, I've received several emails and tweets from people who are interested in trying Scentsy. Well today is your lucky day! Head over Blue Eyed Bride's blog, she is hosting a Scentsy giveaway for me and one winner will receive a full size warmer and a scent bar of their choice. So be sure and enter the giveaway!

Bring on Fall!

I am ready for Fall.

There I said it. I got it it out. I feel free.

You see, when we are in the middle of winter and I'm so cold that I can't think straight I promise myself that when summer comes I won't complain about the heat. No matter how hot it is.

And then we had 50, yes FIFTY (I needed to type out the actual word to be able to capitalize it for more dramatical purposes) (yes I'm pretty sure I just used the word dramatical in the wrong context but I like it. Just go with it) (I actually thought I made up the word dramatical until I googled it and found out it is indeed a word. I'm smarter (or not as smart?) than I thought) (I feel like I need to start over with my sentence this got entirely too long).

We had FIFTY days of 100+ degree heat. I think that gives me an excuse to moan and groan just a bit.

But I managed to keep the complaining to a minimum. Only on days when it was over 100 did I let myself complain.

So 50+ straight days of complaining isn't too bad, right?

Anyways, all of that to say I'M OVER THE HEAT AND READY FOR FALL.

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day. Somewhere in the 70's, sunny, just the perfect amount of wind. PERFECT. So I let my mind go there, I let it dive into the Fall-ish time because hopefully, it's just around the corner.

And then, because I like to do things that I proclaim I hate, I started a "Fall" Pinterest board. Yes I once said I hated Pinterest, yes I'm now addicted. I bet you saw that coming.

In my defense I was home alone on a Saturday night, with nothing on TV and a computer in my lap. It was all downhill from there.

Here are some Fall things I pinned.

Scarves!!! I wear scarves with everything in the Fall/Winter. Probably a little too much. And I love all these colors!! I need a scarf for every single color of the rainbow!

Source: google.com via Megan on Pinterest

Yummy munchies!! I love that these are halloween/fall colored! I would love to make a big batch of this and take to everyone up at work. So fun!

Source: munchkinmunchies.com via Megan on Pinterest

I love love love these pumpkins and really want to try and do them this year. Going to a pumpkin patch in the Fall is one of my favorite things to do and now I have a child to take!!!! I'm going to take him and sit him on the pumpkins and take millions of pictures while he is awkwardly posed on a pile of pumpkins. I'm so excited!

Source: brownpaper--packages.com via Megan on Pinterest

And how cute (and huge, sorry about that) are these printables for Fall?? Maybe it would be good if I replaced the CHRISTMAS printables that are still hanging in my dining room. I'm so classy I know.

Source: lilluna.com via Megan on Pinterest

Source: craftily-ever-after.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest

I want to make this. I think I can I think I can I think I can. Maybe if I keep repeating that I will actually do it. I think this would be so cute hanging on my front door.

Source: thenshemade.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest

And these witches hats? ADORABLE. Not to mention yummy. Weight watchers WHO?

Source: barbschram.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest

Again, say it with me, I think I can I think I can I think I can.

Source: adiamondinthestuff.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest

And I can't wait to warm these yummy Fall scents in my warmer.

Source: megantree.scentsy.us via Megan on Pinterest

Source: megantree.scentsy.us via Megan on Pinterest

Also, not pictured above but things I'm EQUALLY looking forward to are:

Boots, carmel apples, football games (here and there, lets not go overboard people, one a month is plenty) and pumpkin spice lattes.

Although, I have to admit, every year I think I'm so excited for Fall and ready to drink a pumpkin spice latte and then I drink one and remember I absolutely hate the nasty thing, its just the *thought* of the said latte that gets me all giddy.

But for traditions sake I will drink one this Fall and remember how I hate it so.

Are you ready for Fall??

Some favorite blogs

Today on Kelly's Show Us Your Life we are linking up our favorite blogs.

I have been blogging since 2007 and I have A LOT of favorite blogs. I have favorite food blogs, favorite decorating blogs, favorite friend blogs, favorite blogs of people I don't know and I'm too scared to comment cause I think they are so cool, favorite blogs that get on my nerves yet I still continue to read and so on and so on.

Today I decided to share a couple of my favorite blogs. This is BY NO MEANS all of my favorite blogs. I have way too many to name but these are a select few that I wanted to share today.

The first is a person that I have talked about before because I enjoy her blog so much.

Big Mama
People, if you aren't reading this blog you need to start ASAP. She is so, so, so funny. She has this way of taking a normal, everyday story and making it the funniest thing you have ever read. And somehow she manages to post every single day, which I guess is easy to do if you are able to take stories about PAINT DRYING and make it hilarious. (she didn't really write about paint drying but I bet she could and it would be funny). If I could be like any writer out there (in the blog world) it would be Big Mama, fo sho.

Blue Eyed Bride
I don't remember when I first started reading Erin's blog or how I even found it but I know that I have been reading her blog for awhile. She is someone who is in the same stage of life that I'm in, we've both been married for 3 years and have entered the world of mommyhood. I look forward to reading her posts everyday. Erin has this natural and smooth way of being able to blog about serious issues and then the next day move to something fun and lighthearted. This is because she is truly authentic and is just herself in every post. Throughout our years in blogging we have developed a friendship, so I can tell you who she is on her blog is who she really is. So sweet and FUN! You are probably already reading her blog, but if you aren't you need to start now!

The Stanley Clan

I recently linked Becca's blog asking you all to pray for her son Caden who was born with a heart defect. Thank you for praying and please continue to pray. He has made great progress and God has definitely done some miracles, but they still need our prayers. Becca's blog is one of my very favorite blogs to read because it isn't just fluffy, light reading. I leave her blog feeling challenged to grow every single time. Lately God has been working in my life about letting go of material things, finding complete and total contentment in Him alone. Becca and her husband live this out and are one of the best examples for the heart of Christ that I have ever seen. I am always reading her blog posts aloud to Luke because they live the kind of life that we only strive to live. I encourage you to check out her blog and read through all her posts!

Sunny Side Up
I found Erin's blog about a year and a half ago and it was one of those that hooked me instantly. Sometimes that just happens - some blogs just hook you and you start reading every single day. Erin has 3 kiddos and lives in California with her husband. She talks about going to the beach and Disney Land like I talk about going to Target. She is one of the most organized people I have ever seen in my entire life. Her blog posts range from posts on organization, stories about her family, and she started fashion posts lately. One of my very favorite posts of hers is a letter she wrote to herself before she had her youngest child. I absolutely love it. I've talked about this before but I don't feel like moms are always completely hoenst but those first few weeks after having a baby so I love to see authentic posts like this. Check her out!

I also thought I would link my top 10 referring blogs (meaning more people come to my blog from these blogs than any others) because I LOVE all these blogs and would also consider them my favorite blogs (amongst others):

1. Kelly's Korner
2. In This Wonderful Life
3. The Glamorous Life of a Housewife
4. Jimmy Choos and Tennis Shoes
5. Jenna's Journey
6. Blue Eyed Bride
7. First Comes Love
8. The Francis Family
9. Classy and Fabulous
10. Fruit Basket

I hope I was able to introduce you to a new blog (or several) today!

A Day in Our Life

Before I begin talking about a day in our life (I know you are on the edge of your seat, but you will have to wait one moment) I need to take care of some issues.

1. Thank you for your kind words about my vlog, notebook, and the nastiness that is my hair.

2. BLESS YOU if you made it through that train wreck. I tried to watch my video again (because somebody said I had an accent and I wanted to see if I could hear it) and I had to stop it because I was so MORTIFIED. The sound was so off it was frightening. So I apologize to all those who suffered through my weird movements with sound coming 3 seconds behind. 3 seconds doesn't seem like a lot. BUT IT IS.

3. I'm going to try and upload the video again to get the sound situation resolved. I don't care if it never gets watched again after I add the new one. I need to do it for myself.

Ahem. On with the program.

Last week my friend Katie did a post about a day in her life and I loved it and decided to do the same.

The only thing that makes it difficult is our days are all so different since I only work part of the week. So this will be what it is like on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. Wednesday afternoons and Thursday, Friday all day are completely different. I will probably recap those sometime soon.

Our day begins around 6:00 when Eli wakes up. Sometimes he will sleep until 7:00 but usually its 6:00. I go get him, change his diaper and then put him in our bed while I try and wake up. I love those moments in the morning before the hustle and bustle of the day.

Shortly after I bring Eli to our bed to hang out, Luke gets up and gets ready. Then I drag myself out of bed and get ready. While I'm getting ready Eli hangs out in his exersaucer right outside my bathroom door. He is SO happy in the mornings and rarely gets sick of his exersaucer, although there are times when he has a melt. down. This morning he was happy:
No matter what time I wake up, I usually find myself running around like a crazy woman and always end up leaving the house later than I plan. It's like I enter some sort of space time continuum where time speeds up. It is annoying.

I also give ELi a bottle sometime between waking up and getting dressed usually around 7:00. Finally, sometime around 7:30 a miracle occurs and both Eli and I are ready to go.
And then we enter another space time continuum and the time it takes to get out of my bedroom and to my car takes a good FOREVER.

Eventually I get Eli in his carseat buckled up and then all of my belongings gathered up and ready to go and we head out the door and head to his babysitter's house.

I drop him off and then speed off to work, trying to take short cuts even though none of them are short. I like to pretend that they are.

I get to work and run up to my office and then stroll in all calm, cool and collective like I'm all relaxed.

I turn on my computer, get my coffee and I'm ready to go for the day.
Work is always fun and I really enjoy my time there. My daily duties vary, sometimes I have meetings sometimes I don't.

Sometime between 4:00 and 5:00 (depending on if I took a lunch or not) I skedaddle on out to my car and hurry on to pick up Eli. Most of the time I hurry because I'm running late (typical).

I pick up Eli, and get his recap of the day from his babysitter. Most of the time he had a great day and was very cheerful and energetic. Love that baby.

When we get home I usually already have dinner ready to go. On the 2 days that I work till 5:00 I like to have dinner prepared ahead of time. Either in the crockpot or a casserole in the fridge that can easily be thrown in to the oven.

I give Eli a bath and get him all cozy and ready for the night. He loves his bath time!

After bath time we play with Eli and just hang out for awhile. A lot of times Luke and I will eat during this time and Eli will just watch us.

Then it's time for Eli to eat! Right now he is only eating cereal but we are moving to veggies soon. We haven't bought our high chair yet because I'm a procrastinator, so he sits in his bumbo for now which works for us (and I NEVER leave him unattended in it).

Eli ready to eat. "c'mon mom give me some of that food""mmmm this is what I'm talking about"

After Eli eats we play for a bit more and then take him in his room, read him his bedtime story, put his sleep sack on him and put him in bed. He usually falls asleep pretty quickly, but some nights are harder than others. Tonight was a mix between easy and hard. But not too bad.

After Eli goes to bed Luke and I usually watch TV together. Here lately he has been working on lots of teacher stuff so I use that time to blog or work on Scentsy stuff or clean up around the house. Here we are tonight hanging out in the living room. This is what we look like at the end of a long day (rough) and of course we are always snuggled up together like that (NOT).
We usually get in bed around 11:00 or 11:30 or sometimes midnight We are night owls. (although I must say, since Luke has started teaching he goes to sleep earlier and earlier).

Then we wake up around 6:00 and start the day over.

This is our life right now (on Monday and Tuesdays) and I love it!