PINTREST CHALLENGE!

So what is it going to be????

I'm going to try to do something fun with it in addition to the sharpe writing... maybe get K to color on it with sharpes and trace the kids hands and then give it to the grandparents! I'll let you know how it goes!

SO what is up for voting on this next week???

1.

DIY: chalkboard paint on party glasses....that's how they do it! Much easier than painting and you don't get brush lines; use a name cards

2.

Didn't know you could iron fabric onto the wall? Just as easy as vinyl apparently! Peels right off....

3.

Miracle grout cleaner: 1/4 cup bleach + 3/4 cup baking soda - gotta try this!

4.

only two ingredients. Looks too fun not to try.

5.

This could work totally on any kids table!

SOOO get your vote on and as soon as I've finished our plates I'll give you the review and pics!!!

update me to have motivation!~

Thirty BY Thirty
1. Loose weight: Currently (6 weeks post pardum) I'm 178. That's only 6lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight, not too bad. Too bad my pre-baby weight was bad and unhealthy. My ultimate goal weight is 140... that means i have to lose 38lbs!!! Whoa, that's nothing to laugh at. Could I get there by the time I'm 30? Probably... but lets be realistic, so I'm setting my goal at 20lbs. If I lose more by then, GREAT, but that's my first goal. yeah i'm sucking right now... while i think i MIGHT have lost some inches, the scale is NOT budging... need to get serious.. and you know what... WW SUCKS... the meetings are not helpful to me at all... I need in your face guilt not OH it's okay, we'll do better this next week... AS IF!

2. Down size clothes to fit the space I have. Currently I have clothes EVERYWHERE! Part of it is the curse of trying to fit back into my clothes again. Part of it is different sizes. Part of it is different seasons. And who am I kidding... I'm a product of the "I MIGHT wear it again one day"... yeah. I want to reduce everything to hit into my closet/drawers and one 30 gallon container. THAT'S IT!  Well i haven't worked on this recently... I WILL though... I have time.
3. Church, we need a church BAD. We need one that fits us as a whole family. That fits all of our needs. That makes us all feel at home. We need a church.

4. Visit a city I've never been to. Like a REAL trip, not a we're going to Sesame Place and I've never been there so that counts, because it doesn't. I've been to PA but I've never been to Philadelphia. That would count. I've been to Nashville, TN but I never really visited it (did a mission project there) and got to SEE it. That would count. Nada yet
5. Have Kinsley Potty trained. Hopefully this will happen WAY before I'm 30 but it's a goal none the less. She's doing REALLY well but still has a lot of accidents and a LOT of poop accidents. I mean the kids will poop at school 95% of the time... at home, 1%. I don't know what to do about that one...

6. Have Kinsley off her passy. DONE GONE! WHOO HOO!

7. Consistently work out 4-5 days a week. yeah I've been sleeping at lunch instead of working out. I shut my door, set my phone alarm and nap for my lunch... my kids hate me at night so it's my only solution so I don't hate them during the day.
8. Go on at least one date a month with Chris. We REALLY need to make sure we take us time and often we get caught up in the kids or friends, this needs to end. yea, do dates count if you bring other people? lol
9. Have a girls night once a month. Whether it's dinner or a drink or a movie. It needs to happen! And Chris should get a guys night too once a month.slacker

10. Stay on top of my cleaning... i guess organization should be part of this goal. Motivation should be? I don't know what the exact problem is but I'm tired of always being behind and dreading someone stopping by my house unexpectedly.

11. Have a new consultant under me in thirty-one (so then i'll have two!).I have a potential!!! maybe by my goal date it will happen!

12. Have TWO of my thirty-one parties reach over 1000k in sales. Well I'm about to close a catalog party that is reaching over $700! Still not there but still pretty awesome! That's over $175 IN MY POCKET!

13. Still be breastfeeding Parker (I want to make it a year like it did with K).

14. Have my bedroom painted and look like it has style!

15. Have the basement framed.

16. Be able to run 5 miles. well i ran 3.1! So over halfway there!!! But i haven't run in a while now... see #7

17. Sew curtains for the den.

18. Finish Parker's baby blanket.

19. Have started Parker's Christmas Stocking. Started!!!

20. Sew ruffles for lights in dinning room.

21. Sew the ruffle pants i've bought fabric for for Kinsley. I sewed one pair! I want to do more but at least I did that AND a dress for her!

22. Sew Pillows for Dinning Bench.

23. Deep clean and treat couches.

24. Shampoo carpets

25. Do 10 projects off of Pinterest. I have TONS of things on there I want to cook, make, try and I need to  start Cross them off the list rather than thinking "One day I'll do it"
1. Cleaned my Jewelry with a cleaning solution on there
2. Cleaned my stove top with another cleaning solution from there
3. Made a BLT pasta salad reciepe from there
4. Cleaned my dyson following the directions from a post on there
5. Made a coloring case from a DVD case for K
6. Made a crockpot ck recipe
7. used an idea on there for collecting grease
8. made a crack potato recipe
9. labled a medicine bottle from a idea on there
10. made a lemon cake from there!

26. Get rid of 30 things, baby items don't count. I need to PURGE and clothes don't count either since that's another goal. If Chris and I want to finish our basement we seriously need to make room down there, so PURGE! DONE! But I want to get rid of MORE MORE MORE!
27. Complete THREE 5ks. (or larger) BAM one down!

28. Go 30 days without buying a single frivolous thing. Target is a down fall. Randomness is a down fall. I need to go 30 days without buying something that I feel the need to justify.yea i suck

29. Get 3 pedicures with Kinsley. She and I need that bonding time and she enjoys getting her toes painted. We don't need to go every month by any means (I mean I might but she doesn't) but these outings will be special for her. Well I've painted HER toes but I haven't taken her to get them done yet... But i haven't gotten mine done either soo....

30. Have a kick butt party for my 30th!

How much should a kid eat?

This is up there with should we breast or bottle feed. I'm telling you, it's a hot topic around the water cooler.

So I breastfeed, but Parker does get bottles... of my milk that pump at work. That's it, no formula. For those of you who are formula women (no judging, i actually dream that i become one) breastmilk changings over time to meet your babies nutricinal needs. It gets thicker and fuller of the good stuff that makes yummy baby rolls! So while formula babies need more formula to meet those needs, breastfed babies do not. Kinsley never went above a 4oz bottle at daycare... she didn't need to. She was content. Parker is different. Maybe it's the boy in him?

So my pediatrician said Parker needs to be eating every 4 hours. I really don't remember if/when K did that and I didn't blog about it (AH the important stuff I missed, but look back to read about swinging boobs and it's there!) so I have no previous kid for comparision. I am pretty sure she had one nursing session in the middle of the night until she was close to 9 months... I KNOW she didn't go past that by much since she rejected the boob at 9.5 months and i was NOT going to start making bottles then. So back to what I was saying... eating every 4 hours. Now, do I want him to eat in the middle of the night... I would like to say No I don't, but in actuality I'm okay with it, as long as it's just once. SOOO that would mean that he would eat when he wakes up, 2 bottles during the day, when i pick him up, a little top off before bed, and once in the middle of the night. So we'll call it 5 1/2 feedings (since the top off isn't a full feeding). Now it's hard to gage but he should be eating around 24-32 oz a day... that's a BIG range. Lets just call it 28-30. So if we're shooting for 30ish that means he gets 6oz bottles... but what if i want him to sleep through the night... I have to up the bottles right? But what if that doesn't work, now i've upped his bottles AND he's eating at night AND my supply will not keep up AND am i over feeding him?!?!? AND AND AND

So what are your thoughts on feeding your kid? My co-worker (who breast feeds and formula feeds, yet didn't know that Breastmilk changes in consistancy) thinks it's weird that I'm making him wait for 4 hours... yet he has adjusted... I feel like she over feeds her son... I mean the kids eats A LOT, often and BIG bottles.

So who's right? Obviously the Momma of each child is right (so politicially correct aren't i???) but what do you do?

No YOU do it!

PINTREST CHALLENGE! 

I've got kid updates coming, promise, just need to find my camera cord... so until then I had an idea!

Are you as addicted to Pintrest as I am? Don't know what Pintrest is... look it up! Amazing and addicting. Here's the problem. You have a MILLION sweet ideas and tips that you save and never do... I mean it almost makes you feel like a failure. You'll be on there pinning (yes it's a verb now) and thinking "this will be sweet!"  "This will make me look awesome!" "This will make my life easier" or "I wonder if this is all it seems"... so I'm going to be your Guinea pig! YEA ME! Every week I'm going to do one thing off of Pintrest. It can be from my boards or yours. I'll do a step by step demo, etc and then review it for you. I'll include pic and/or video, depending on which applies.

So I'll start you off with a few ideas to vote on for this first week, and feel free to recommend ideas for future weeks!

1.

World's most effective and cheapest acne spot treatment: one un-coated aspirin tablet + 4 drops of water. Mash up using your finger and apply to problem spots. Wait a few minutes and rinse off. Works wonders at reducing redness and swelling and speeding the recovery of painful zits and pimples. Can also be used on entire face as a mask to reduce pore size and prevent acne.

Who still looks like they are going through puberty? HOLLA! Always trying out new products to fix this? Let me try for you!

2.

THIS REALLY WORKS AND LAUNDRY IS SUPER SOFT!!! Soak a hand towel in fabric softener. Squeeze out any remaining drops from the towel. Hang it over a chair (or outside on a clothes line) to dry. My house smelled super clean for the three days while this towel was drying completely. Yes, it took three days! You must make sure it dries completely! After the towel dries you just throw it in your dryer along with clothes and use it as a dryer sheet for 40-50 loads before soaking again.

Okay I get it might make your house smell great, but a dryer sheet? REALLY??

3.

no sew refitting big tshirts

As I lose weight I'm slowly starting to look like a bag lady or potential shop lifter since my shirts (and pants) are looking quite huge on me... think this could work AND look good on someone who isn't a size 2?

4.

1. Buy cheap plates 2. Write things with a Sharpie 3. Bake for 30 mins in the 150 oven and it's permanent! Awesome idea!

This could open the possibilities of great Christmas gift ideas if it really works!!

5.

I love this idea, I might try to class it up some with maybe just a B or the full name... but could be a ANOTHER great Christmas gift idea!

So let me know which would interest you, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. AND leave me a comment or link if there's something you want me to consider for next week. Voting will end on Wednesday the 27th, on which I will then put up new items for you to vote on. I will do the project that week and I will write up a review of how it went on Tuesday. So every Tuesday you'll get a pinterest review and every Wednesday you can begin voting on a new one!

***ALSO, I will do household things, kid activities, cooking, etc. Whatever y'all prefer. I will have to think about my budget (unless I get a super cool/awesome/loaded sponsor), but I'm very open to anything!

What's up hookers!

Hey lovelies! OMG I ate WAY too much this weekend... Apparently whenever there's a "holiday" on the schedule that means I get to over eat in a REALLY bad way. OYE! I even gained a pound. IN A WEEKEND.

It all started on Friday. I didn't have my lunch with me at work so I needed to go and get some. Well my coworkers decided that since I was going out with them that we should go to my favorite place, Fuddruckers. OMG. So I was all "I can do this, I can be good" then we get there and I'm all "OMG GIVE ME A BURGER AND FRIES AND LOAD IT WITH MAYO AND HONEY MUSTARD AND I MUST LICK MY FINGERS"... see where I'm going with this. Then on the way home I'm all "It's Friday, I don't want to cook, I'll let the hubs worry about it"... enter Five Guys (you know because I love burgers and he thought he was doing me a favor since I had mentioned I hadn't been there in a while). AND there is NO healthy option at Five Guys so I'm not even going to pretend that I was going to be good at any point.

It's now Saturday and we took Kinsley to her first ever movie IN a theatre... So I HAD to eat an ENTIRE BOX of milk duds. (Are you feeling sick yet? Wait!) Afterwards we met up with Chris's brother and his girlfriend and went to Friday's for lunch. You can TOTALLY go healthy at TGI Fridays... I mean I didn't, but YOU CAN! I ate a Jack Daniels Chicken sandwich... yes it comes with bacon, yes I ate it with french fries. Then we went to watch airplanes land (don't ask me but kids LOVE IT!) and so I needed a snowball. When we got home I made dinner... ground beef, cream of chicken soup, provolone cheese all wrapped in crescent rolls. Top it off with a Margarita... yummm (oh and a piece of german chocolate cake... OMG head.hitting.desk)

And now that it's actually fathers day, we TOTALLY have to eat again! And by eat I mean pump fat into my veins with an IV. We had a shrimp pasta salad with a mayo base, a decent size NY Strip, green beans (yea for SOMETHING healthy), corn, and MORE deserts and MORE MORE MORE Margaritas. Why yes I'm ready to throw up now at my own gluttony. GEZZZ.

I don't think I can even look at myself in the eye, that weekend was SO GROSS! I know we all have times like this, but Damn girl, it's like this is the norm for me. Not.OKay!

on the up swing... I think writing this out just gave me the motivation to start my Insanity workout at lunch!

God I love her!

So i'll be the first to tell you that K gets her brains from her Daddy... but these next shots... ALL ME

See this tiny unassuming human looking cute and preppy as can be???

Here's the real girl under that mask!

Don't know why it turned... but here I asked her to take a picture for Grandma or Sasha or Pop Pop (can't remember which) and so she struck a pose. THEN the best part is when she wanted to SEE the picture and informed me "That's So Cute!"

Oh Lord help us all!

Caption this...

I love talking for my kids... you know voicing what they are really wanting to say (especially the one who can't talk yet, bless his sweet QUITE  heart!)! So here's a few thoughts on these gems from this morning... do you have any "captions" to add?

This I call Chucky's Girlfriend

Or What your toddler is really thinking when you're not looking.

Happens to be what happens when you ask a two year old to say cheese...

This is "Eat my cheeks"

This is "How you doin?"

So what's you're caption for my kids? GO!

OKAY I'LL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT!~

So sleep deprivation is a very real form of torture. They use it in war and kids use it in the nursery. It's true. Children are born programed to break the strongest of men. I still think if we would force the Taliban to take care of their own children for a few days (rather than making their wives do it) then they would surrender immediately.

Parker has decided that he's going to go all "Give me your state secrets" on me. I've come to the conclusion that he is either 1. going through a growth spurt, 2. has an ear infection or something, 3. REALLY wants us to start the cry it out method.

My sweet little man used to wake up once a nice to eat. Now he wakes up 3+ times and after he's done he's not happy unless I'm holding him, if I try to lay him back in his crib I am rewarded with fussiness, then cries, then screams. YEA!!

He's also not napping well. He MIGHT nap for 45mins at a time and getting him to nap is a nightmare too... didn't use to be this way.

Today I was late for work because I was busy selling him on the black market trying to get an extra hour of sleep in, since I only got 5 last night. That didn't happen. Kinsley fussed, then the guilt of not getting up and rushing to work set in, AND I let Parker munch on my boob in hopes that he would stay quite. Add it all together and that means no sleep for me.

Kinsley has also been a REAL JOY lately... in case you can't tell by the font, that statement is dripping in sarcasm. She's decided to be a real peach and fuss and whine about everything she can possibly think of. We even threaten to take away her stars from her star chart and she doesn't care. Timeout? Doesn't care. No Mickey? Doesn't care. I'll give you a cupcake! Wrong color... you get the trend.

LUCKILY, Parker has his 4 month check up tomorrow and so I will see if Kinsley can be checked over too (PLEASE be something drugs can fix! Drugs are your friend!). If both kids are healthy and just pissy then this Mommy is about to lay down a whole lot of tough love, so they better watch out. Kinsley will go into her room EVERY.TIME. she gets whinny and fussy (because people 24/7 of a kid fussing, even when you're showering her with attention and CUPCAKES is NOT okay)... and P-man? He will begin the cry it out method.

I'm hoping my kids are just "off" and not being little shit heads difficult. We'll know more tomorrow... until then pray for me because I feel myself slipping.

Remember when Kinsley was around 4 or 5 months old and I hit my depression wall... yeah that's creeping on me right now. I feel it coming on. I'm fighting it but each time that little boy cries and each hour of sleep I keep missing and then ice that cake with toddler meltdowns... I'm slipping. Pray.

disturbing boobs

It's disturbing to me how little I think about my boobs as boobs and how much i think of them as a food source.

I'm more concerned about them being full of milk then I am about them looking good in my clothes. I will walk around the house with one (or both) hanging out because I'm in the middle of feeding Parker and he needed a diaper change or K needed something. So I pop Parker off the boob, leave it hanging out and then pop Parker right back one. My lack of modesty is not lost on me... there have been MANY moments where I'm standing at the pack-n-play, that is RIGHT in sight of the front door, changing Parker's diaper with one enormous National Geographic milk machine hanging out and thinking "Man if Chris got home RIGHT now i would flash the neighborhood...". OR I've thought, while brushing my teeth this morning with one boob out and baby on the hip, "why didn't I put that sucker away, Parker's done eating"... answer: It just didn't occur to me! Honestly people!

I'm lucky (and by me I mean YOU) that i haven't walked out of the house with girls hanging out. Or just whipped it out without thinking in front of the world. It's terrible.

I am so programed into my boobs as food that I can't even remember if they became boobs again after Kinsley was done with them.

Well since this is the last kid that will grace this buffet hopefully that means that one day I will see them as mine and as leverage with my husband, not just a milk shake.

Lets get some therapy...

So growing up I developed a laundry list of insecurities thanks to a less than stellar experience in middle and high school. But no matter how many times I was made fun of i could always lean on the fact that I was skinny and looked pretty. No matter how much I hated myself I liked my body.

Now I don 't even have that.

Enter photo... Most normal people would look at this photo and think, Wow she's at Nats park! What a pretty day. I think... OMG I look huge, my legs are embarrassingly large and why did i think that top looked cute?!?!

Is this a normal reaction? Perhaps, but is it healthy? No!

I used to not have to work for my body. I could eat what I wanted and not workout and stay a size 2.. now not so much (I know whoa is me!). Now I'm like every other woman and I can eat right and workout and I still look like the above. I get it, grow up Erin and put in the time like the rest of the world... but here's where my whining enters. I've lost the one thing I could fall back on when I'm feeling insecure so now i'm always insecure so I turn to food and then repeat the terrible cycle.

WHY do fat girls turn to food for comfort? I mean I know I turned to it when I was skinny but now I REALLY look to it... especially if I make it myself. I guess I think now if people are talking about my delicious food they aren't looking at my rolling waist.

I get the comments that I just had a baby, but honestly I looked like this pre-baby.

I'm just tired of hating myself. I'm tired of pretending that I have it all together when I'm really drowning in failure. The failure that I can't lose weight, that i can't keep my house picked up, that i can't stay up to date on laundry, that i never have any energy, that I'm not the wife that I want to be for my husband.

I want to like myself enough to actually fix what I don't like and not keep sabotaging myself.  Thanks for the vent!

Oh she's special that one...

So this morning it was all I could do to drag myself out of bed and get into the shower, then I actually mustered up enough energy to blow dry my hair (I just got it done and I'm not over the novelty of having pretty hair)! So I'm feeling pretty good with myself and decided I'm going to be an awesome fun Mom (this is a decision you have to make daily when you're running on fumes).

See my daughter LOVES (understatement of the century) Pink Donuts. That is donuts with pink icing or pink sprinkles on them. She seriously would sell her brother on the black market for one. So this morning I'm like "I'm going to make her day!" and wake her up with some cuddles and then whisper "Do you want to go and get a pink donut to eat at school today for breakfast?", because I'm nothing if not a provider of only the most nutritious meals for my children. Do you know what this kid did? She looked up at me and said "Yeah, we'll get a pink donut AND a cupcake"... WTF?!?! Ummm NO we will get you a yummy pink donut, but no cupcake today.

Enter meltdown. She is pissed because she is only going to get a pink donut and no cupcake. UM wasn't an option to begin with... Do you not realize child that you weren't even going to get the damn donut but I'm SO awesome of a Mom that I'm going to give that you??? HELLS to the No, the kid wants both.

So you know what I do? I get her ONLY a pink donut and she's ONLY getting it because I need a damn coffee from Starbucks or else she wouldn't get that the ungrateful child that she is.

She was pretty damn cute eating it though this morning!~