Baby Gizmo Awesome Giveaway

Enter, enter now!! :) and when you win, give it to me ;)

http://www.babygizmo.com/giveaways.php

Love Shutterfly, Love my Ladybug :)

Stationery card

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Mom pants...

I worried the other day when I looked in the mirror at the outfit I had chosen and immediately thought I was on my way to help out in a classroom. I was heading to a book sale, so I went with it...making sure to bless my husband with some self deprecating humor on my way out.

Fast forward a week, I'm in the dressing room at Target. I try on pants, they're comfy, I think they look good...and I'm sure no one will even know that they are little higher waisted than I at normally wear because I generally wear shirts that cover the waist. I was feeling pretty good about my Target find when I see the "Fit Chart" on the wall 1-6 with pictures and descriptions.

If you want to know what they are all go here. The pants in my hand were Fit1 - which was clearly the dreaded "mom pants" UGGHHH!!! They weren't even a 3! How did this happen!?!

I bought them.

My Guilty Pleasure

In the past few months I have discovered a new and 'exciting' obsession with the world of FREE SAMPLES! I absolutely LOVE free samples. I just enter my name and address and BAM - 4 to 6 weeks later I get something in the mail! Even if I don't like the product, it's always exciting to go the mailbox and see a package of any size. And because I never remember anything I've requested, it's always a surprise. So to recap why I love free samples:

1 - FREE (I'm dutch, what dutch person doesn't like free??)

2 - It's FUN MAIL in your mailbox instead of just bills and credit card offers.

3 - It's always a SURPRISE :)

Ok...now I have to admit that free samples have also become a double edged sword in my life. I love to get them but I hate to have them. Some things I do actually use. But other things, such as a men's depends, sit in a drawer full of stuff I'll probably never use. It's a big messy drawer -and I hate messes - but I'm dutch so I feel too guilty to just throw stuff out.

And yes, my husband thinks I'm crazy too. :)

kitchen therapy

Who would have ever thought that those two words would go together in my world?? NOT ME!! But I've been finding great joy and inspiration in my kitchen...and as said, therapy. I have this creative itch that I can never quite scratch. I blame my childhood OCD playing with Barbies, legos, play dough or anything really. Let me explain - everything had to be set up JUST right before I could enjoy playing with them. So now, if whichever craft I want to try is not organized and set up perfectly, I don't want to do it. And that takes time! I remember many times spending what seemed like hours setting up all my barbie stuff...and by the time is was perfect I was so sick of them I didn't want to play anymore. And so it goes with my scrapbooks, paintings, jewelry, etc etc etc.

So what makes the kitchen different?? Well, the kitchen does have to be perfectly clean before I'll start cooking and/or baking. I was like that as a kid too when baking cookies. But I usually keep the kitchen fairly clean so it's not big deal. Ok - so now that I've gotten this far I don't know how the kitchen has been therapy to me?!

So ANYWAYS - all I know is that I have tried more new things in one week than I have in a year in the kitchen. And everything has turned out!! It's such a sense of accomplishment and so much fun (for now anyways). On the list - homemade whole wheat bread, waikiki meatballs, hummus, pita chips, some pork dish, and dustin made a treat from Guyana and vietnamese coffee....it's been a lot of fun :)

Claire has loved watching mommy and daddy in the kitchen too. Tonight she enjoyed family sing/dance party in the kitchen too :) Love my family!! We are blessed :)

My little talker :)

Someone woke up from her morning nap all sorts of happy and hungry!

Moose and me...

So my dear friend Kate used to share her frustrations with me about her dogs. I understood. After all, she has a dalmation, a bull terrier, and to kids - umm, no thanks! That's a lot of work!! To be fair, she also felt bad that she was't able to five the dogs the love and attention she once did. Maybe a love/hate relationship?? That being said, I just knew that I could NEVER feel that way about my dear pup Moose. He was my best friend and compan

ion during some lonely days in Vegas...not to mention that he's too stinkin' cute and only 7 pounds! Leaving him on the mainland for 3 months when we moved to Hawaii was heartbreaking :( So why now do I feel less than 100% love for my Moose?? What changed? I find myself asking - is it me or is it the dog?

Well a lot changes when you have a baby, I mean A LOT! I never cared for cleaning up after him, but now I really despise using what little energy I have left after Claire on Moos

e.

For example...

• Muddy paws running around my house (the owner thought it would be awesome to carpet the entire place with creamy white carpet) This requires cleaning the carpet and the dog. And a dog bath means a dog blow out b/c he gets really matted if I don't blow dry his hair. This is all VERY time consuming!!
• I love LOVE love to vacuum...but I absolutely HATE when my freshly vacuumed floor is littered with such things as stuffing from a moose dog toy, crumbs for moose dog food, or sticks and leaves and other nature things that hitched a ride on Moose during our walks.
• Dirty paws that I don't realize are dirty but they are and he sits on my nice new duvet and licks at his paws...dirt and dog drool combine to make muddy mess on my bed and carpets...red dirt. Did you know that they use this dirt to stain shirts?? Check it out at http://www.dirtshirt.com/
  
  

So I bitch and moan and complain and shoot him the dirtiest of dirty looks. And I wonder why my dog is suddenly acting up and being such a pain in my butt. In my head I've turned Moose into a villain. I've convinced myself that Moose is trying to make

everything my life difficult.

But if I'm really honest with myself and everyone else Moose is no different than he's ever been - he hasn't really changed at all.

But in my defense - he is a stubborn little shit! And Moose is too smart for my own good. Tell me Moose, why is running with me so hard that you have to sit and rest in the shade? I seriously had to let King Moose ride on the stroller so that I could finish my run. (see picture below) Why is it so difficult to run/walk on the same side of the walkway as me so that we aren't tripping everyone else with your leash? Why do you think it's ok to take off running down the beach the opposite direction in which we are walking? I know you are capable of behaving - I see it when we're out running and walking with Daddy (with the exception of the beach).

Point of this post? I'm venting. I love my dog, I promise. He is just driving me absolutely CRAZY and I never thought that I would feel so much disdain for Moose. Just trying to come back to this place with him...

So Moose - if you're listening - Mommy always loves you, she just doesn't like you sometimes ;)