And The Winner Is....

Thanks for all of your input yesterday regarding the outfits and thanks for dealing with my dyslexia.  Wow, rights and lefts should not be this hard Cass..... 
Anyways, woke up today feeling good, I have my head on.  And yes, I have checked, double checked and checked again and my shoes are the same today.  Geesh...

So without further ado, I now present to you, Ms. Stella and her outfit for her VERY FIRST "school" pictures!!  Yes, you will notice that is not the shirt I had picked out yesterday.  It's actually a boys onesies  and the headband is from there too.  I didn't know Wal-Mart sold these, BUT they do!  Score!!  Of course once we walked through the doors at DYC everyone oooohed and ahhhhed, over her.  And Stella just HAMMED it up of course.  lol.  I have no idea where she gets this from....

And here is little miss trying to crawl (Trina, I think she looks like Kayla in this picture)!!

She is so close!  We bribe her with anything and everything but the further we push it away the more and more she looks at us thinking "psssh, I didn't want it that bad anyways."  Oh well, we will keep trying.

Today starts all of the chaos which leads up until Sunday, WOW!  School pictures today, then tonight Stella is hanging out with Nana and Aunt Lacie while Josh and I go to the Lady A concert at the Fox with The Luke's.  So excited!!  Oh and I have a tasty new recipe in the crockpot right now and if it turns out great I will share it with you all!!  Tomorrow we have birthdays and anniversaries to celebrate and also setting up for the big anniversary bash for Saturday night.  Sunday Gma and Gpa are renewing their vows (so excited) and a bunch more family stuff.  I LOVE Steibel family stuff!! I will have TONS to post about so stay tuned!!

P. S.  Someone just told me I look like Mary Tyler Moore today, not sure how to take that......

Picture Perfect

Tomorrow at school (daycare) Stella has School Pictures!  YAY!  So exciting, but so stressful for this Mommy.  It's a fall back drop so they suggest neutral colors.  Ahhh, what should she wear?!?!  So last night I had a big cleaning out her closet night and here are four choices I came up with for pictures. 

I need your help!! 

Top right is a sweatshirt dress from Old Navy.  Maybe a little too much with a fall background?!?!

Top left is a cute little Circo brown and pink dress with a brown cardigan.

Bottom right is a navy blue and dark pink shirt dress from Old Navy.

Bottom left is a khaki jumper from Gap with a white long sleeved onesies.

Which one should she wear?!!?

Just When I Thought....

Just when I thought everything was taking a turn for the worst....

(all these things happened within 3 days of each other)

$183 speeding ticket,

30,000 miles on my car,

running a 5k in the rain with an out of shape dog, and

getting my Verizon bill, Home Depot bill, AND Discover Card bill in the mail on the same day!!

Then I noticed my luck changing.....

I went to buy a tanning package at the local tanning place in town, and you could draw out of a treasure chest for a chance to get anywhere from 10 - 50% off your package.  What did I draw (thanks to the Steibel luck)?!?!  That's right, 50% off!!  Sweet!!  So for $19 I cashed in on 10 tans!

Then I put on a pair of jeans I usually wear with sweatshirts, because, well everyone has those kind of jeans, and they fit perfect.  YAY!

Then this happened.....

Yep, that would be one BLACK and one BROWN high heel AND yes, one shoes is WAY pointier than the other.  PTL they are the same height or else I would REALLY look funny.

Ha!  And in case you were wondering if this is the first time this has ever happened, no, it's not.  It has happened once before at work.  I have almost been here four years though, so two times in four years isn't too bad I don't think.  Good thing I work with so many great people that everyone gets a good laugh out of it!!

**Now, how many of you looked down at your shoes after you read this?!!?  Hehe. Caught you!**

Cloud Nine

Dude, wait, check this out!!
I thought I finished the 5k in 44 minutes, no no no no no, WAY off!! 
This Momma finished in 35:05!!  STOKED!!!!!!!
See for yourself - http://www.runningstartsports.com/

My little sister finished in 31:48!  Way to go Lac!!!

Seriously, I am on like CLOUD FREAKING NINE right now. 

But then I looked at the age of the girl who finished 1st, ha, of course she is my age, and she finished in 22:07.  WOWZA!  Thanks for bursting my bubble.
But I bet she doesn't have a 8 month old or a high maintenance dog!!
Hey, I had to boost my confidence back up somehow.  lol.

Signing up for another 5k tonight, it's on Sunday October 10th in Red Bud for the Muskets! 

You should too!!

http://www.redbudmuskets.com/

Good luck!!

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

Today my car officially rolled over 30,000 miles.  OK to some of you this is nothing, but this is CrAzY to me!  We bought our Escape on September 21, 2009, with 50 miles on it.  Brand spanking new!  Sweettt.

However in just ONE YEAR and ONE WEEK we put 30,000 miles on it. 

O.M.G.

Doesn't help that I drive 42 miles one way to work each day and we take my Escape everywhere. 

I googled the average number of miles you put on your car in a year and it's 12,000 - 15,000.

 Psh, we DOUBLED that. 

I need a job in IL.

And some other not so exciting news.... 

I started really "driving" in St. Louis when I moved to attend Hickey, so back in 2005.  I quickly learned that MO drivers are crazy (yes, Katie, it's not IL drivers).  I also learned to utilize a not so pretty finger and my favorite car part, the horn.  I got the hang of not using my blinker because I swear the second you slap MO plates on your car the blinker quits working, and driving like a bat outa hell.  I got by with it for quite some time, five years to be exact.  And then........

i.got.caught.

  Yep, this Momma got her very first speeding ticket.  OUCH! 

Ok fine, I know you wana know all of the juicy details. 

Got clocked going 78.

In a 60.

  Uh, yes, 18 over the speed limit. 

But I SWORE the speed limit was 65, so that ONLY would have been 13 over.  I even told the cop that I thought it was 65, he quickly advised me that it's only 65 in IL.  Well that's why I live there!!

Alright, alright, the price tag you ask??

 $133!!  GULP! 

How much extra for court supervision so it doesn't go on my record?? 

$50 more. 

Brings the grand total to $183!!

*passes out*

I need a job in IL.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Friday night we helped the Luke's paint at their new house in Waterloo!!  Their house is so big and so great!  We are so happy for them!  Believe it or not we painted 3 rooms (master bedroom, master bathroom, and hall bathroom) in 4 hours WITH two babies!  We rock. 

Saturday we attended a friend's wedding where we found this beauty walking around......
Oh yes, that would be a hoodie and shorts, cut off shorts to be exact.  At a wedding, yes, she got the award for Best Dressed!  I mean really?!?!  Oh and yes, that is camo that the groomsmen is wearing.  Only in Southern IL.






Sunday I had the 5k and well, you all know how that went, ha.  Then Josh went to do manly deer hunting things and Stella and I went to Target.  I saved $30 with all of my coupons!!  Sweet!!!!

Then we met up with Kim and Landon to pick out some more stuff for their new house at Wal-Mart.

Stella and Landon hammed it up in the tractor trailer of a cart that Wal-Mart has. 

Seriously, have you seen these things?!!??  I think they need reverse lights, their huge!! 

But anything for our babies!!

We also got out Stella's fall jacket this weekend, happy fall baby!!

And I am happy to report that I have made $70 off of my Cassie's List sales!  Move over Craig!

5k The Hard Way.....

Sunday morning came with quite the headache....not a good way to start off the day.
I got a little drunkie at the wedding on Saturday night.  Ok, really drunkie.... Don't remember the ride home, and woke up on the couch at 4 a.m. still wearing the clothes I wore to the wedding and not really quite sure how I got there, WHOOPS!  I thought maybe some Country Kitchen breakfast would do the trick and help out my "situation."  So we headed there with Aunt Lacie to re-pay her for watching Stel the night before.  We finished up there about 9:30.  I decided I was going to take Abbie with us since it was for the Humane Society and when I picked up the packets on Friday they said they had 80 dogs signed up.  Abbie would just LOVE it.  So I filled up a big old thing of water, took some Excedrin, strapped on my shoes, got Abbie ready and headed to Columbia.  I was feeling a little bit better.....
11:00 came before you know it and we were standing at the starting line.  I just kept telling myself, you don't have to be first, you just have to finish, and finished without puking.  Ha!  So off we went!  Abbie was doing great.  Part of the course was through town and part of it was out of town.  We ran all of the way to the first mile marker before we (ok, Abbie) needed a break.  She is seriously OUTA shape.  I was literally running ahead of her and she was dragging behind.  Yes, quite the site.  At one point I was even carrying her and trying to run.  GREAT!  And even better, it started to rain.  And for those of you who know Abbie, she HATES getting wet.  OMG, when we go on walks around town she will walk AROUND puddles, because heaven forbid we get our paws wet.  Seriously, is this even right??!!?  So once the rain started, we were doomed.  She was OVER running.
The results haven't been posted yet, but I believe we FINALLY finished in 44 minutes, so that's around a 15 minute mile I guess.  But I'm not sure.  Needless to say, if I didn't have the dog (and probably wasn't hungover) I could have knocked 10 minutes off of my time. 
Oh well....it was quite the experience for my first 5k that I won't ever forget!

Here is Abbie on the way to the 5k!  Happy happy doggie.  The whole way home, she laid down.  lol.  When we got home, she headed straight for her favorite spot on the couch and didn't move much the rest of the day.  This morning she laid in bed all morning.  Ha, I would say she is pretty worn out.  I guess it makes me feel good that I am in better shape than the dog.  lol.

Car Seat Fun

Friday night we headed to BRU for the big car seat purchase.  I had my coupons all line up, I knew which one I wanted and I was ready to get Stella a brand spanken new car seat! 
But of course, it can't be that easy......
We walked in and headed straight to the car seats.  The one we previously told you all we were getting was sitting nice and pretty saying "buy me, buy me."  The sales associate walked over and asked if we need any help.  I said yes, we would like this car seat, but can you get it down so we can see how Stella fits in it and see how easy it is to install in the car.  He of course said sure, but you do know that this one is only rear facing and forward facing, it does not go to a booster seat, later on that would be an addition purchase.  Wait, WHAT?!  Of course this won't work out easy peasy like we planned.  So before he even got the car seat down I said, well can you show me the ones that do all three. He pointed them out and then said, what he would recommend because of the ratings, and all that jazz.

He recommended this baby:

Evenflo Symphony 65 Convertible Car Seat - $199.99

Of course, $40 more than the one we had picked out and budgeted for.  So we tried it out, Stella fit great in it.  It was easy to install and had so many great features.  We were sold!!  All in all, we still saved a ton of money.

Car seat $199.99, 20% off coupon (-39.99), $5 rewards card coupon, $49.10 on a gift card = $105.90

plus tax (10.73) = $116.63

**$83.36 in savings!!** 

And thanks to DR, we paid for this baby in CASH.  Ahhhh, I love you DR.

Just Dance

Gonna be ok, da da doo doo-mmm, just dance, spin that record babe...

Ok ok, get Lady Gaga out of our heads!

Some GREAT news was just released, Just Dance 2 is on it's way!

Can I get an AMEN?!?! 

If you have a Wii, you need to get Just Dance, it's so much fun!  And quite the workout. 

Some people (cough Lacie cough) have an obsession with this game and they are pretty much impossible to beat.

Yes, that would be her getting the Winner's Crown at the first official Just Dance Off.

Some of our favorite's from Just Dance are:

"It's Mashed Potato Time" by Dee Dee Sharp (really, Danielle's favorite)

"Ring My Bell" by Anita Ward (stinks in your head so easily)

"Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor (I think Danielle & Lacie can do this in their sleep)

"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper

"Cotton Eye Joe" by Rednex (Kacie's favorite)

"Hot N Cold" by Katy Perry (I catch myself doing these moves every time I hear this song)

"Who Let the Dogs Out" by Baha Men

But check out the list of songs for Just Dance 2:

Avril Lavigne – "Girlfriend" (good one!)
Bangles – "Walk Like An Egyptian" (really, I bet I can guess the moves to this song)
Beastie Boys – "Body Movin' (Fatboy Slim Remix)"
Benny Benassi presents "The Biz" – "Satisfaction"
Blondie – "Call Me"
Bollywood – "Katti Kalandal"
Boney M. – "Rasputin"
Charleston – "Mugsy Baloney"
Cher – "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)"
Digitalism – "Idealistic"
Donna Summer– "Hot Stuff" (hahaha, this should be interesting)
Elvis Presley – "Viva Las Vegas"
Fatboy Slim – "Rockafeller Skank"
Franz Ferdinand – "Take Me Out"
Harry Belafonte – "Jump In The Line"
Ike & Tina Turner – "Proud Mary"
James Brown– "I Got You (I Feel Good)" (woohoo!)
Jamiroquai – "Cosmic Girl"
Junior Senior – "Move Your Feet"
Justice – "D.A.N.C.E."
Ke$ha – "TiKToK" (good choice!!)
Mardi Gras – "Iko Iko"
Marine Band – "Sway (Quien Sera)"
MIKA – "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)"
Outkast – "Hey Ya!" (this should be quite the workout)
Quincy Jones & His Orchestra – "Soul Bossa Nova"
Reggaeton – "Baby Girl"
Rihanna – "S.O.S." (love Rihanna!!)
Snap! – "The Power"
Sorcerer – "Dagomba"
Studio Allstars – "Jump"
Studio Musicians – "Crazy In Love"
Studio Musicians – "Jungle Boogie"
Supergrass – "Alright"
The Frighteners – "Monster Mash" (YES!!!)
The Hit Crew – "Holiday"
The Hit Crew – "Toxic"
The Jackson 5 – "I Want You Back"
The Pussycat Dolls – "When I Grow Up"
The Rolling Stones – "Sympathy For The Devil (Fatboy Slim Remix)"
The Ting Tings – "That's Not My Name"
The Weather Girls – "It's Raining Men" (FAVORITE SONG!!)
Vampire Weekend – "A-Punk"

Wham! – "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" 

Now go get your dancing shoes on!

Sneak Peak

Here's a little sneak peak into Stella's Halloween Costume......

And again, I SWEAR she has clothes, lol.

Top Ten Baby Items

Every Mommy out there can easily name a few things off the top of her head that she swore by for her babies.  I'm sure some of them are probably the same for a lot of us.  My cousin just did a recent post about her top ten items for her twin girls, for me I think the number one thing if I had twins would be a second set of hands, but that's why we have the babies and not men, because we can literally, do it all!  So without further ado, here are my top ten baby items.  Don't be surprised if you see at least one of these items as a gift from me at a baby shower.

1.  Dr. Brown's Bottles Can I get an AMEN?!?!  Wow, these babies are great.  A little pricey, but well worth it.  We got lucky and Stella didn't have any problems with eating, but I did have a friend who had quite the gassy little baby and someone told her to switch to the Dr. Brown's Bottles and she said it was like she was given a different baby.  Well, worth the money for any new Mommy out there!!  However, you might be cursing me when you are washing all 467 parts every night.  That is the only downside, but if you are cool with putting them in the little dishwasher basket, then go for it, I am just not a fan of that so I hand wash them every night.  Yes, I may be crazy.  lol.

2.  Boppy Ahh, whomever thought of stuffing a toilet seat shaped cushion was a genius!  It's perfect for when baby is really little, she/he fits right in and makes you feel safe walking out of the room to go pee.  I hear it helps too for breast feeding, but that wasn't a path I decided to test out, so I'm no help there.

3.  Nasal Aspirator (also know as the the blue nose sucker thing) Just sweet talk the nurse at the hospital for a few, I still use the ones from the hospital today.  I have never used the ones we got in a couple "first aid" kits.  The blue ones from the hospital are the BEST!!

4.  Boogie Wipes How do you make a tissue dance?  Bahaha, ok, ok.  Maybe it's because my kid goes to a daycare and comes home with a runny nose every other week, but these things are great on her little nose.  And smell AMAZING!  They are soft like a tissue so her nose doesn't get raw from us wiping it and stick the blue nose sucker thing up her nose all of the time.  A little pricey, but every once in awhile you can find a couple for them, so snag them up!  Your child's nose will love you for it.

5.  Baby Gas-X I think all babies are going to have some sort of gas, regardless of formula/bottles/etc.  For about the first 3 months Stella was born we would put a little bit of this in her nighttime bottle and she would sleep so well.  Or anytime she was really fussy and we thought maybe she had a belly ache, we would give her a little dose of this stuff and in a short while she was a much happier (and stinkier) baby.

6.  Pampers Diapers Everyone has their brand that they swear by, for us, it's Pampers.  In the beginning we tried Huggies but seemed to always have leaks.  We even had a few Luvs, but the trash bag feel of them weirded me out.  We had a few that we couldn't return, so we sent them to daycare because we knew they would be used up fast, but noticed at least twice a week Stella would have a change of clothes because she leaked through her diaper.  So from then on out all we have purchased is Pampers.  We are now in Cruisers, and this Momma was sad when I couldn't buy the ever so "Blankie Soft Swaddlers."  But the Cruisers are working great, the Pampers Points you can earn are also great and you can always find coupons for Pampers!!

7.  Johnson's Baby Products No Baby Magic for this Momma.  Man oh man, all of the Johnson Baby products smell soooooo good.  We LOVE them!  Especially the Bedtime Lotion, omg, I would love to use that on myself.  lol.  I love the Head to Toe Baby Wash, Bubble Bath and Wash, Body Lotion, Bedtime Bath, Bedtime Lotion, Baby Oil, all great products that we use all of the time and again, can always find coupons for!!

8.  Formula Dispensers This product was invented by a Mom, without a doubt.  So handy!  Just twist and pour, I can literally make a bottle with one hand.  Even when I throw this in the diaper bag, I never notice formula going from one location to another, I have complete trust in this product and love it!

9.  Bumbo Perfect for when baby is learning how to sit up.  We have even taken it into a few restaurants and put it in the booth between us and sat Stella in it so she is more level with the table and we don't have to hold her.  You can even get a tray to attach to the bumbo so you can use it like a high chair for feeding.  Just hope your baby doesn't have super chubby legs because they might not fit.

10.  Back Seat Mirror You will literally catch yourself using this mirror 3252389 times a day.  It's perfect so you can see what baby is doing while riding in the car.  And baby likes it too because he/she can see himself, or maybe it's just my child and she is conceited.  lol.  Either way, it's a must have for me!

So there you have it, my top ten list.  Now, I am not Daid Letterman, but I tried to add some humor.

What are a few things that would make your top ten list?!!?

Anniversary Day

So just what did we all do for our anniversary??!?

Well, we woke up that morning to our cute little baby.

Hahaha, yes this is cute.  I promise she is not screaming, she is laughing, and loving her 3 favorite toys, the paper towel roll, an envelope and the lid to her baby food jar.  Yes, she has expensive taste in toys.

Then we got this baby out of the bottom of the freezer.

Two layers of foil and five layers of saran later, we found this.

Looks pretty good if you ask me.  So of course we had to try it!

It seriously was AWESOME!  Didn't taste freezer burnt or anything.  The icing was good, the filling was good and the cake was GREAT!  We each had a HUGE piece (if you can't tell).

Then we opened our cards and gifts to each other. 

We were sent so many cards for our anniversary, which made us feel great, thanks guys!!

I got Josh tickets to an SIU-C football game, and Josh got me this:

Oh yea, that's right.  A brand spank new WHITE watch!!  I LURVE it. 

Just call me Leigh Anne Tuohy (from the Blind Side).

Then we were headed off to breakfast at St. John's and then to church.

Here is our cute little family on our anniversary.  Crazy how much can change in a year.

Then we hung out at home the rest of the day and watched football and enjoyed our time with each other!

Thanks again to everyone who sent cards, texts, and FB posts, we love you all!!

One Year Anniversary

Wow, I can't believe it's been one year already.  So much can happen in a year.  It's been quite a ride, and we have both learned so much along the way.  Here's to many more!!

What I Owe My Mother

I saw this the other day in an e-mail and thought some of these were pretty funny, some were very true, some I'm sure are going to happen to me, and some I can still hear my Mom saying, especially her most famous "'I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.' 

For all of you old and new Moms out there I'm sure you can relate to a few of these.

My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE.
'If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning.

My mother taught me RELIGION .
'You better pray that this will come out of the carpet.'

My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL
'If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!'

My mother taught me LOGIC .
'Because I said so, that's why.'

My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
'Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident.'

My mother taught me IRONY.
'Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about.'

My mother taught me about WEATHER ..
'This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it.'

My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY
'If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!'

My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE .
'I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.'

My mother taught me about BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION.
'Stop acting like your father!'

My mother taught me about ENVY.
'There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do.'

My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
'Just wait until we get home.'

My mother taught me about RECEIVING .
'You are going to get it when you get home!'

My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.
'If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way.'
My mother taught me HUMOUR .
'When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me..'

My mother taught me GENETICS.
'You're just like your father.'

My mother taught me about my ROOTS.
'Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?'

My mother taught me WISDOM.
'When you get to be my age, you'll understand.'

My mother taught me about JUSTICE
'One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you.'

What are some of your favorite lines from your parents?!?!

How Big Is Stella??! So Big!!

Look who has a big girl carseat?!!?!

I don't know about you but I think "little Josh" loves her new carseat! 

Man oh man does she look like her Daddy.

Thanks to our cousins with "good taste", we scored this carseat for $50!!  They used it for their little girl in their second vehicle until they recently upgraded.  It's in perfect condition!!  You would never be able to tell that it's been used before.  This is for Josh's car and next weekend we are going to BRU to get a brand new one for my car.  Because of course, I have a coupon!  We have decided on this one.

A couple people recommended it and it has great reviews. 

So let me break this down for you, this baby is $159.99, I have the ever so famous 20% BRU coupon, which saves us $31.99, so we are at $128, and we have a gift card which still has $49.10 on it, which puts us at $78.90 plus tax.  So we are looking at spending about $85 for this carseat, and we got a second one for $50, which means we will get both REALLY GREAT carseats for $135!!  Woohoo!

Also, Ms. Stella has been acting kind of "fishy" lately, and now I know why.  hehe.

She has been busy at DYC making these cute little things.  Now I have some new artwork for my office.  YAY! 

We just might need to work on broadening her name category.  Seems she has named every fish 'Stella.'

And I finally, got a picture of her teefers!  YAY! 

Even though there is a crazy amount of drool everywhere, here they are:

lol

Decisions, Decisions

Ok, first off, I know these first two things are probably the LEAST of my day to day worries, but they are things on my mind right now.
First off, last night my FAVORITE (ok, one of my favorite) shows came back on. 

  

Parenthood

I'm not sure if I love it because they are such a tight family who gets together all of the time and they remind me of the Steibel family, or if it's how crazy they are and I can relate so much to them, or if it is that they always know the best way to wrap up each episode, and I pretty much cry every time.  Regardless, I still have an issue, it' on at the same time as another favorite....

Teen Mom

Ok, yes I know I'm NOT a Teen Mom, but I can relate to these girls so much with being "young" and a Mommy.  Or maybe I just love how ridiculous Gary and Amber's fights are, or how Catelyn and Tyler ge the joys of dealing with Butch, or how ditsy Farrah is or how I am in LOVE with Bentley and Maci!  lol.  Either way, it's SUCH a tough decision on which one to watch. 

By time I get to a commercial on one show and flip to the next I only catch about 3 minutes before another commercial.  Ugh, frustrating.  Ok, I KNOW my solution would just be to get DVR, but I am NOT going to do that.  I am not that addicted to TV nor do I want to let myself be.  I know there are re-runs, but I want to watch it when it's new.  (Ok, so really this "dilemma" is pitiful, but I'm sure I'm not the only one with this frustration.)

Second thing, Sunday is my one year anniversary.  I have no idea what to get the hubs.  The traditional 1st anniversary gift is paper.  PAPER!  What in the world do you get?!!?  I know, I am thinking the SAME thing. 

So I turned to my trusty friend google and this is what she suggested (yes, to me google is a she).

• Photos, Book, Puzzles, Stationary, Tickets, Paintings, Coupons, Love Letters, Posters or Calendars

The modern 1st anniversary gift is a clock.  Woohoo, even better.  Considering we have a wall clock in our living room the size of a small car, and yet we are STILL always late, this gift really shouldn't even be considered.

Any ideas from you lovely people out there?!?!

And last but not least, Stella's 1st birthday (VERY important).  I am stoked to start planning it, but have you ever googled "girl 1st birthday ideas?!!?"  Good God, there are 468243702837468 results.  Geesh.  I want to try my hand at making a few things but Lordy, I am just blown away by all of the ideas.  She really isn't "in love" with anything right now, so I don't even have that to go off of.  Maybe in a month or two she will, but I'm not counting on it.  And I am NOT, I repeat AM NOT, having a Princess themed party.  Here are a few ideas:

Cupcake Theme?!!? 

Looks pretty, simple and cute.

 

Diva Theme?!?! 

No, not my baby, she isn't a diva.  lol.

Pink and Zebra Striped?!!?

Now we are talking!!

I (ok we, yeah that means you Danielle and Lacie) could totally do this. 

And I LURVE the tutus!!

Ooooo, I'm excited.

Gotta, go, I have a lot more googling to do!! 

Happy Baby

Who doesn't love a happy, smiling, nakie baby?!  I think Stella knows what the camera is now.  If it's taking a picture with my cell phone or with my camera she totally cheeses it up.  lol.  Too funny. 

Love you Monkey!

Stella kept doing a lot of far reaching last night so we put her on the hardwood floors thinking that made she was trying to crawl.  Nope, not at all.  Well, at least not after Mom got her camera out and tried to snap a picture.

We just wanted to sit and ham it up for the camera.

And one more just because she is so darn cute.  lol.  Oh and yes, I PROMISE Stella wears and has clothes.  It was just hot last night and she is warm blooded like her Daddy so off the clothes went.

Weekend Wrap-Up

It's that time again for the weekend wrap-up. First thank you to those few brave souls who made their confessions lol, and thanks Mom for the kind words!!
We were on the go so much this weekend.  Whew, wore me out!
Ok, well we didn't go anywhere Friday, at least I don't think we did, I can't remember.  I swept and mopped the floors and no joke, just yesterday I was looking at them thinking, what the world, I just cleaned these.  Oh the joys of a dog and hard wood floors.  If anyone has any good hardwood floor cleaning suggestions, PLEASE let me know!
Saturday we were up bright an early (7:30 a.m.), thanks baby.  We made some breakfast and enjoyed some family time then Stella and I were on the road to Advance, Missouri to visit with the Limbaughs.  Stella did great on the ride (hour and a half one way) there and back!  I have the best little traveler (knock on wood)!!

I love visiting with Kristen.  Even though we don't get to see each other that much, the second we meet up, it's like we spend every day together.  We have a great friendship!  I loved our friendship even more this weekend when she cleaned out her clothes and gave me some clothes (swwweeeeeeett)!! 

Stella and Tyson had a good time playing with each other, at least I think they did......

Even though Stella is older, (ok only 2 days) he does so much more!!  He is such a big boy going from back to front and front to back, from laying down to sitting up, AND he is just about ready to crawl!  YAY Tyson! 

Hopefully the couple hours we spent together got Stella thinking, "hey, maybe I should do that too."  But if not, it's ok Leo the Late Bloomer, we will sit and wait for you to bloom as patiently as we can. 

We did start a new thing though, it's called, let's unpack my diaper bag!  Yay!

We had to be back in town by 6:00, but of course, we were late, because well, I'm always late.  But we had to get everything ready because, deep breath, Stella was having her first over night trip with Grandma and Grandpa Walter.  I thought ALL DAY about it.  It was just breaking my heart to know that she wouldn't be there in the morning when I woke up.  Ugh, it's so hard!!!  But I had a come to Jesus and I told myself I can do this.  So we drooped her off around 7:00 p.m. and we went to have dinner with some friends.  I needed a nice cold Coors Light RIGHT AWAY to deal with this.  We went out and had a good time with good friends, but she was on my mind all night long!  The next morning I woke up at 8:00 a.m. and was ready to go and get her!  We were there by nine and she was so happy to see us.  Nothing is better than when you walk in the room and your baby's face looks at you and smiles!  Melted my heart.  Only took me 7 months 9 days.....
We headed home to attend a Discovery Toys party.  Stella got to play with a cute little baby there and we ordered some new toys.  Then off to the Catholic School for some bingo and chicken and dumplings.  We didn't have any luck at bingo though.  Josh took Stella home (since she's not18 yet and can't legally play) and he was supposed to meet me at 3:30 so we could go to Waterloo for our class and Stella could hang out with Jessi, Kevin and Ali.  Well, Stella had other plans, we had two blows out in the top and bottom drawer.  Poopies and yack everywhere.  So needless to say we were stressed out and didn't go.  Oh well, the joys of babies!!  
Hope everyone else had a good weekend!!  We have so much going on the next three weekends so we will be busy!  Stayed tuned. 
P.S. 10 followers, I'm stoked!!  Thanks guys!!

I Confess, I'm a Mess

Oh yes, we all have those crazy little hidden secrets that we are sometimes afraid to confess or talk about because well, sometimes they are just flat out embarrassing.
I told you about this cute little blog the other day, and her most recent post is hilarious!  She is a stay at home Mommy to an adorable little girl with another little bundle of joy (another girl) due in just  few weeks.  God bless her, she is going to be busy!!  Her new post is all about confessions.  Yes, we all have them.  However, I have never dropped my iPhone in the toilet (because Lordy if I was lucky enough to have one I would probably have it taped to my hand o carry it on a silver platter), but I'm sure my days of my daughter wearing my bra as a scarf are right around the corner.

So I thought I would humor you all this morning with a couple of my confessions.

• I confess that I let my Abbie lick Stella right smack dab on the face. Yes, lips and all, but only a few times, just because I love to hear the way it makes Stel giggle!!
• I confess that I hate her binkey and I want to get rid of it so bad, but when 16 other people tell me to keep it until she is one it makes me feel like I'm a bad parent for wanting to take it away.
• I confess that I can't watch/read/listen to a single person talk about having a baby or giving birth without tearing up.
• I confess that I spend WAY to much time reading blogs and I could probably get a LOT more done if I could just pull myself away.
• I confess that I never ever wear "drawers," if you know what I mean.
• I confess that I don't shower every day.  Not because I'm lazy, but because I just don't care and I don't think I stink.  I mean, can you tell that I don't?!!?  Didn't think so.
• I confess that I am completely clueless about this whole parenting thing.  I mean seriously.  Google and I have become BFFs.
• I confess that even though I signed up for that 5k two days ago, I haven't ran yet.  Bahaha.  Hope there's a trophy for last place!

Ok, that's enough for today.  Anyone else want to confess?!!?  Come on, it will be fun!!  Leave it in a comment!

Have a good weekend!!  Don't forget CASH Bingo at the Catholic School on Sunday!!  SWEET!!  It starts at 1:30 and there will be Chicken and Dumplings served starting at 11:30.  Ahhh, I love my life!

Randomness

First off, dinner last night, oh my gawd, amazing.  I love you crockpot.  Like for real.  Here, see for yourself:

Like freaking Taco Bell in my kitchen: melted velveeta, refried beans, lettuce, shredded chicken from the crockpot, topped with sour cream, and sauce.  Yum yum in my tum tum.  Seriously, try it, so worth it!

Next thing, signed up for my first 5k!  What the?!?!  Ha, I know I know.  I just finished bootcamp and well, after 7 weeks and missing 2 days, I didn't lose any weight.  Well, I lost few pounds here and there, but then in the end ended up as the same weight I started with.  I just told myself muscle weighs more than fat right.  Baha, sure.  Oh well, it was nice to get away for an hour twice a week and work out.  Even though I may not have lost weight, I feel like my clothes fit differently and that's all that matters to me.  Anyways, so because of the bootcamp I feel in shape so I thought, heck I can do a 5k, it's only 3.1 miles anyways.  So here it is!  The Humane Society of Monroe County is putting it on on Sunday, August 26th.  I can even bring Abbie if I want.  Ha, right, Abbie would be too interested in all the people to even care about running.  But wait, then again I could use her as a reason to have to stop, ooooo, might be reconsidering bringing her.  : )  I think the humane society is such a good organization and I'm excited to come out and support them.  Maybe when Stella gets a little older we will volunteer out there and help walks the pets or something, as much as she LOVES Abbie I'm sure she would enjoy that and I want to teach her the importance of volunteering.  If you are interested, here is the link.  There is even a 1 mile fun run/walk for those of you who don't want to do the 5k.  So I have my 5k training guide printed out, now I just need to get running.  Only 18 days until the race.  Wowza!

Well, if that all goes good, Lacie and I are thinking about signing up for the Go! St. Louis 10k.  Again, what the?!!?  Crazy woman on the lose.  But seriously, I could only imagine how amazing if feels to say, I have completed a 10k.  Ahhh, I'm sure it's so impowering!!  I mean I excited for the runners when I see them on TV.  lol.  But wait, that's in a month and 9 days!  YIKES!  6.1 miles, can I really do this?!?!  I truly believe I can.  I can get in the zone and set my mind to it and yes, I can do it!  Here is the link for this if you are interested.  The run is Halloween themed so they encourage you to dress up.  I have a FAB idea for Halloween, but mums the world, but you just might see me out there dressed up in my costume.  Bahaha, what a site.  I'm sure my sister would be nice and embarrassed.  But hey, what are sisters for right?!!? 

Hey you never know, we might even sign up for the half marathon in April, wow, ok that would be amazing!  Then I could get one of those cool 13.1 stickers for my car.  Oh yeah!  Ok ok Cassie, back to reality, let's get the 5k under your belt first.

So most of you know Josh and I are taking a Dave Ramsey class on Sundays.  It truly is an eye opener every single week.  Dave's motto is "live like no one else, so later you can live like no one else."  So true.  And he says, if your friends are making fun of your ways, then you are right on track!  So what if I can't take a vacation every year, when I can scream I am DEBT FREE in possibly 5 years, my ass will be taking a PAID FOR trip to Hawaii for two weeks.  A FB friend has a cute little blog and she wrote about the envelope system Dave strives for you to do.  Check it out!  She really explains it well.  We currently have our 4 envelopes (Giving, Entertainment, Restaurants, Groceries).  We put a certain amount each week into the envelopes and when nothing left in there, welp, we don't buy it or go out.  We have only been doing this for about 3 weeks but I feel like I have saved so much money, and you truly do!  I think it would be AMAZING to be 25 years old and ONLY have a house payment!!  That is my goal.  Right now I am working on 6k in 6 months, but after that I am busting my but on $20,000 in school loans and my car payment.  I can and WILL do this!  Maybe I should cut out a picture of Hawaii and tape it to my wallet so every time I go to it for money or the for ugly credit card I will think STOP, Hawaii will be so much nicer than those shoes!  :)

And now just a little vent session.  Stella's daycare is great.  I am really happy there and I know Stella is too.  Every morning I pack 3 bottles in her bag, she usually has one before we leave the house so she is full when she gets to daycare.  Ok, great.  So yesterday I come in around 4:55 to pick her up.  I look in her cubby and she has two clean bottles in there.  I turned around to the lady in the room and said, "Stella only had one bottle today?"  She grabbed her paper and said, "Yeah looks like it."  So I grab the paper to find out her last bottle/feeding was at 12:35!!!!!  It took all the strength in me not to go off!!  You mean to tell me my baby has gone 4 and a half hours without ANYTHING TO EAT?!?!  So I just politely packed up everything and headed home.  Good thing we only have like a 3 minute drive home.  Once we walked in the door I put Stella in her high chair and got out a jar of food.  She downed a jar of baby food in no time AND took a bottle.  Needless to say when Dad got home he was like WHAT!!  So Dad, being Dad, called up the daycare and wanted some answers.  And I agree, I mean if you made a bottle and she just didn't want to take it, ok fine, totally understand, but that wasn't even noted anywhere!!  They really had no answer for us besides that they have a few new people there and there was a new girl in her room today.  I-DO-NOT-CARE!  I don't pay $155 a week for you to NOT feed my child.  Geesh.  Sorry, just had to get that off my chest.  Needless to say this morning when I got to daycare the owner apologized.  I'm sure Stella is going to get the royal treatment today and fed like a king.  lol. 

Dear Crockpot,

You might just be the greatest invention ever.  I love that I can depend on you to have dinner ready when I get home.  You are like a plug in housewife.  Now if I could just get you to do floors....

But anyways, I tried out a new recipe this morning (thanks to Kacie Jones).  Take four boneless chicken breast, completely frozen.  Yep, like straight out of the bag in the freezer into the crockpot.  Then take one cup of salsa and one package of the taco seasoning.  Don't follow the directions on the taco seasoning packet.  Just open it up, pour it into the salsa a mix it together.  Then pour it on top of the chicken and turn your crockpot on low.  Well, if you are going to be gone all day, turn it on low, if you are making it around noonish, put it on high for about four or five hours.  Anyways, by time you get home it should be easy to shred.  Get out some taco shells and enjoy some chicken tacos!!  Add some cheese and a few other favorite taco toppings and wala, enjoy!

Any other quick, easy and delicious crockpot recipes out there any of you bloggers are willing to pass on, please share!!

ZBB

I don't think I have come across a single Zac Brown Band song that I don't like.  Well, ok, maybe I skip over Chicken Fried when it's on the radio because it was over played entirely too much, but this has to be my ultimate favorite song right now.  And it doesn't help that the love of my life AJ does this as a duet.  Anything with Alan Jackson just makes me happy.
If you haven't heard their new song "As She's Walking Away" (look in the top right corner to play the song when you go to their page) you totally should.  I LURVE IT!

Just makes me think of people we have let walk out of our lives without telling them how we really feel; in a good way of course, I mean there are those few people we would really like to tell how we feel, but that's for a different post.  lol.  Just kidding.  Enjoy it!

Weekend Wrap Up

Just a few more Labor Day weekend pictures.

Kim and I enjoyed a "Mommy's Night Out' on Friday.  Margs, wine, and beer do not mix.  You think we would know this by now, but no.  Who cares, we still had a blast!

Stella played in her exersaucer for a swear an hour.  She was so happy and being quite the model.

Stella knows how much I love my light blue Cardinal's hat and she decided she wanted to see if she could pull it off too.  I think she can!  Maybe we should get matching ones?!?!  Ha, just kidding.

We enjoyed the last Grizzly Game of the season on Sunday with some of Josh's friends.  You could purchase a roll of toilet paper for $1 and TP the stadium after the game was over.  It was hilarious.  We had a great time!

 Hope everyone else had a great Labor Day weekend!!

There's a First Time For Everything

This Labor Day weekend we sure had a lot of first for Ms. Stella.
It started off with Saturday morning.  Usually Stella and I enjoy CMT until at least noon.  She plays and I clean house while Dad is usually out hunting, but not this Saturday.  Mommy decided it was time for some cartoons to be brought into Stella's life.  So we turned on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  For all your Mommy's out there you now have the "Hot Dog Hot Dog Hot Diggity Dog" song in your head, I know it.  Even though it was only the first time I watched that show I had that song in my head all day long.

Stella LOVED Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!!  All I heard throughout the house were screeches and laughter while she just starred at the TV.  So stinkin' cute!

We also tried out the cart at the store like a big girl.  This was a sigh of relief for this momma because I hate hate hate lugging that big old pumpkin seat in the store.  Stella LOVED the seat.  Well, for like 10 minutes, then we wanted out, then we wanted back in and on and on.  Whew, it was quite the learning experience but I'm glad I know we can ditch the car seat in the store for now!!

And of course we were hamming it up for a photo opt like always.

We also practiced our first cheerleading moves with Aunt Lacie.  However, I think if she has height like her Dad then she is made for some basketball.  Now if we can only get Dad to put up a basketball hoop so we can start practicing.  But Aunt Lacie was loving it and so was Stella.  She was so happy.

Stella was even helping by holding her leg up.

And last first, but not the first last (wait, does that even make sense) we had one of those cookie things.  Ya, can't remember the name.  Regardless Stella LOVED it.  Mommy got a little freaked out when she took off a huge chunk but they literally were like melting in her mouth and she swallowed them without any problems! 

We tried the puffs but Stella wasn't too sure about them.  We will keep trying.

The creation of life.....

Saw this on another blog that I follow and I had to share:

The creation of a new little life never, ever gets old.

In Case You Were Wondering.....

• My debt situation - ALMOST paid off one credit card this month!  I only have $100 left on it.  I thought about paying it all off, but it is a holiday weekend and I didn't want to cut myself short.  Once that is paid off, only 2 more to go.  I WILL get this all paid off by Stella's 1st birthday.
• My baby's ears - still not pierced.  My Dad (Grandpa) said DO NOT DO THAT TO HER.  Ugh, I know I know, I'm the parent, but it's still a tough decision.  We will see, maybe for her birthday.......
• My followers - I have SEVEN, seven followers!!  I am stoked!!  Oh, the little things in life.
• My blog - I went for the fall theme.  I like changing it up a bit here and there, and well, I was pretty bored at work yesterday so this is what I did.  Hey, I "looked" like I was working hard......
• My front porch - yeah still no landscaping done.
• My husband - no I didn't hit him with a frying pan like the picture I posted, but I DID get a power washed front porch. :) 

Happy Wife, Happy Life

I Heart Spray Paint

Ok, ok, so I am nowhere near being the next Design Star nor does this blog ever have potential to become the DIY blog of the year, but every now and then I do get crafty (if you even consider this crafty).

I found this little guy the other day while going through our storage room:

Caauuuttee - yes I know be jealous.

And then I found this little guy:

And I immediately thought they need to meet and be friends. 

So they did:

I truly think they are a good couple.

Tada!  Now just need some ribbon to hang it in he hallway.  Lurve it!

Again, like I said, not the craftiest project, but that picture frame before wouldn't be caught dead on a single one of my walls, and now I can't wait to proudly display it.