What would a Wednesday be without SWW!?

So what if I enjoy snow? We do live in Iowa! What I can't stand people who complain about it. It's Iowa for goodness sake!

So what if I laughed at someone who was complaining about driving to work tomorrow? They live in DES MOINES and work IN Des Moines! I told her that until she has taken an icy trip down I-80 past Mitchellville, she has nothing to complain about.

So what if I cracked open a can of Mt. Dew at 7:45 this morning? I stayed up until 10 to watch The Voice. Apparently I can't "hang" like I used to :)

So what if I let my child just eat cheese for dinner last night? She threw everything else on the floor.

So what if I will miss my dear friend Sabrina's SWW post today? Her poor babies had surgery this morning so that is MUCH more important than our Wednesday blog dates :)

So what if I did a happy dance this morning after I accidentally flew past a trooper @ 78 mph and didn't get pulled over? Whoopsie!

I'm ready for today to be over so I can enjoy a snow day tomorrow with little miss h <3

Weekend with The Carson Family

This weekend was extremely uneventful, and it was wonderful! The last few weekends Matt has been busy so it's mostly been just me and Halle hanging out at home. We liked having daddy home with us :)
Matt took the day off on Friday to get some errands done and then pick up Halle early from daycare.
This is what I found when I got home...

He said that she cried when he put her in her crib for a nap and as soon as they got back downstairs, this happened. Baby girl loves Daddy <3
Halle was scheduled to have her 12 month appointment that afternoon and get her 12 month shots. Womp Womp. Here is Halle waiting for Dr. J to come in :)

Seriously, too much cuteness!

After some consideration, we decided to get her the flu shot. Apparently I should have researched this earlier because for first time kids the flu shot is done in 2 parts. She got half of it now, and we go back in a month for the other half.....so she isn't fully protected until January. Mom fail. She ended up getting a total of 4 shots on Friday - 2 in each leg. Talk about miserable. I was so glad Matt was there with me. She was grumpy all weekend, can't blame her!
Saturday morning we got up early and went to the mall to finish our Christmas shopping. We got there at 9 and left at 11. It was AWESOME! No one was there yet! Clearly it was too much excitement for Halle...

Saturday night was r.o.u.g.h. Halle woke up at 1:30 AM and screamed everytime I tried to put her back in bed. So, mommy and halle went to the couch. She slept great, and I cleared out the DVR. She was up for the day at 5:30. I had major flashbacks to her first few days at home when she didn't sleep at all!!!
We stayed home from church on Sunday and napped.
Sunday night we had a bit of a run in with the cops. Our neighbors have weekly band practice....it's been going on for the last year. Generally it's just a waste of our time to call in a noise complaint because they aren't going to stop. Although there was that time that the woman of the house called me a bitch when I went to their door to ask them to quiet down, but that's a story for a different day.....
They started last night around 5 PM, ok no biggie. It's usually just more annoying than anything. By 630 they were still going strong. I went to Halle's room to put on her jammies and could hear the stupid lyrics, or lack thereof! (Anyone seen Ace Ventura Pet Detective? Imagine the scene where Ace goes to the concert at a club to meet some guy in the basement. All head banging and screaming into the mic....)ANYWAY, Matt was texting our neighbor across the street about it. Around the time I decided I had enough they said they had called the police to come make them stop. Thanks for saving me from being called names again :)
By the time they got there it had been going on for 2.5 hours and I wanted to bang my head against the wall. Matt went out to talk to the cop just to say thanks for coming out etc. Apparently the limit is like 60 decibles (or whatever) and they were at 59. Fan-freaking-tastic.

I hope that someday I can look back on this blog post when we are living in a mansion in the country and laugh about that one time we were all up in arms about disturbing neighbors :) Until that day comes I just wish for their basement to flood and their equipment to get ruined  i'll just grin and bear it!

So WHAT!

So what if all my blog posts are weekly "so what Wednesdays?"

So what if I'm wearing the same pants today that I wore yesterday. Black pants are versatile like that.

So what if I am an old woman and actually enjoy going to bed at 8:15 every night?

So what if I called STAR 102.5 10 times in a row on my way to work this morning because I wanted to play "lets make a deal". I wasn't caller 10, in case anyone was wondering.

S0 what if I come to work and successfully manage to waste the first hour of the morning everyday without even realizing it? Whoopsie.


That's all for my so what's today :) Halle shared her cold with Matt and I so I'm feeling pretty miserable...blah

Oh darling don't you ever grow up, just stay this little...

Happy FIRST birthday to our sweet baby girl! Miss Halle you were such an easy baby! You decided to arrive on your due date and were delivered in 30 minutes, flat. You stole our hearts the second you came out!

I was SO mad at your daddy for having that ugly beard on his face! You were scheduled to be born on Monday the 12th so your daddy promised me that he would shave his face first thing Saturday morning. And then my water broke just before midnight on Friday night. We had been out to dinner with friends and I was miiiiiiiiiiiserable. I thought because I had cleaned the house top to bottom! Little did I know that I was in labor! I woke up your daddy and said "I think my water broke, but I'm not sure!" You know what he said to me? "You woke me up like I'M supposed to know!?"

Everyone was so excited to meet you! Aunt Julie and Grandma Robin couldn't contain their excitement <3

Your daddy went home and couldn't sleep the first night after you were born. We were so nervous to take you home! How on earth are we going to do this, we thought?! Your first few nights were so rough and your daddy and I sat in your room at 2 AM and said to each other "what have we done!?!" You calmed down after those first few long nights and have been the easiest baby since.

I love you to the moon and back sweet girl!
You have grown into the sweetest little thing and are becoming quite the mommy's girl :) You love to have me sit on the floor and play with you. I love it when you crawl over to me and wrap your arms around my neck. Sweetest thing <3

SWW!!!!!

I am so thankful for my dear friend Sabrina for making this image for us to use!!!

So what if I just walked into work and instead of doing work I decide to blog? The fine people of Texas with their s*$& sandwiches they serve me day after day can wait :)

So what If I was BEYOND excited for Halle's toys to be delivered yesterday, and then almost cried when UPS failed me. "Not delivered due to external factors. New delivery date 12/5" UPS can just be glad that my daughter isn't old enough to know any better....
I know, I'm such a toughie :)


So what if I have until Friday to write a good year end review/make a 2013 development plan and haven't started yet? No biggie, if it isn't well thought out I won't get much of a raise. Who needs a raise anyway? Money grows on trees in my back yard.

Speaking of trees, the husband and I are currently in disagreement over our evergreen tree in the back yard. He wants to cut it down, I don't. Who will win? I'm guessing the person with the chainsaw.  which isn't me.

So what If I still laugh at this picture everytime I look at it? Baby girl was not in the mood for the 21 questions that Santa was asking her. "Have you been good this year? What do you want for Christmas? Are you leaving cookies for Santa? What about Rudolph?"

Love&Logic

A friend of mine at work has been talking a LOT lately about how their 4 year old daughter is an absolute nightmare lately. As in, huge attitude problems. What it boils down to is that she runs their house.
They had her at the doctor yesterday for some ear problems and as soon as they called her to come back she thew the biggest fit. (including kicking the wall and screaming loud enough for people in the street to hear) Their doctor asked if parenting has become a nightmare lately. Their response? "You have no idea!"

The doctor recommended a parenting book that can change the way you think. She said she had read it and has recommended it to many people! As we were talking about it this morning I decided to buy it on amazon . There is a whole series on this.

I started reading it over my lunch and found out that it's never too early to start! Just thought I would share if anyone is interested :)

Celebrity Sightings!!!

If you haven't read Holly's blog yet, check her out! She is so funny! I'm linking up today to talk about celebrity sightings!

So my story isn't really that exciting. I seem to have a small obsession with one of our local weather guys. Ed Wilson. I just love the guy. One day right before Christmas I was at Costco with my mom and as we were walking out I see Ed Wilson sitting at one of the tables with his son eating a hot dog. I was so star struck that the only thing I could manage to say to my mom was "It's ED WILSON! I can't believe I saw him out IN THE WILD with the rest of the commom people!"

Or how about the time that my brother in law was staying at the same hotel as Justin Bieber, hung out in the lounge with him at the same time (different tables) and didn't realize that it was Justin until after he left the next morning! This wouldn't be such a big deal, but his 10 year old daughter is OBSESSED with the Biebs. She even has a tooth brush that plays Bieber songs. #dadfail.

I can't wait to read everyone else's link up!!!!

Happy Thursday!

so WHAT wednesday!

It's Wednesday again, so I thought i'd do another round of SWW!!!

So what if I spent $25 on invitations for Halle's first birthday party? They were adorable! I found this adorable website from a fellow blogger, Kristen! Her blog can be found here!

So what if I have the phone number and address to the San Antonio impound lot memorized? Thanks to my job and the fine people of Texas :)

So what I had an energy drink and a cup of coffee this morning? I was tired!

So what if I'm not looking forward to *PART* of the Christmas holiday? If you had to sit through a Thanksgiving dinner where grandma barfed on the floor after swallowing some water wrong and then follow that up with an hour of listening to someone play Call of Duty on a 60 inch tv with surround sound....and you wouldn't be excited for the holiday festivities there either.....

So what if my give a darn is busted today?

So What Wednesday!!!!

It's Wednesday and I feel like making a list of random thoughts and call them "so what". I'm sure at one point someone did a link up for this, but for the life of me I can't figure out how to work that nor can I find the person's blog that I saw this on....

So what If I had a dream last night that I was pregnant...I took a pregnancy test and the results said "very pregnant". Strange.

So what If I ate an entire box of Little Debbie christmas tree cakes this week.

So what if I made it to work in 30 minutes, flat. Normally a 45 minute commute. I'm chalking it up to the fact that no one is working today and there was no traffic on 235.

So what if I'm making a frozen lasagna for Thanksgiving day lunch for my husband and daughter. (Mom...please pretend you didn't just read that ;))

I'm looking forward to getting of work a little early today. Also excited for Thanksgiving Eve service at church tonight!

Turkey Trot Link Up!

I couldn't get the fancy smancy button box thing to work, so I just left it out....

I've never, ever linked up before....so this is my first!!! Holly inspired me :) you can find her blog here

1. What do you look forward to more: the food, football or parades?  PARADE! I'm kind of Un-American and don't like turkey. *GASP!*

2. What is your favorite non-traditional Thanksgiving Day dish?   Cake Balls. My mama knows the key to my heart <3

3. After dinner, is it football or a nap?   Neither. Playing a never ending game of Phase 10 where an adorable niece of mine has been known to acccidently exclaim "STEVE!!!!!!! YOU HAVE TO DISCHARGE!!!!"   eh, she meant "discard" but it was hilarious and she will never live it down.

4. Do you watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? Yes!

5. Where do you go to celebrate and eat your big meal? Who is there (family, friends)? Depends on the year...last year we ended up at a restaurant at a table with a mother in law and a grandma that don't speak to each other. This year is so jam packed with plans that I'm looking forward to staying home on Thanksgiving day with my husband and baby and eating frozen lasagna.

6. What is your favorite turkey day dessert?  Again, cake balls. Pumpkin pie is gross.

Thursday Ramblings

Today is one of those days where I can barely handle my job. Yes, I am thankful for my salary, but the people of Texas are about to be the death of me. The people around me are on my last nerve. A text to my mom yesterday said something to the effect of wanting to tip someone over when they lean back in their chair...       I didn't do it, but I really, really wanted to.....

*deep breath*

I think a trip to Target over my lunch sounds like a terrific idea! Who doesn't love a new cardigan?  Good lord, I've turned into my mother.....

Unrelated side note....my daughter is back to refusing to eat. If I fed her cheese and blueberries for every meal she would be a happy camper. Suggestions on what to feed her??

The last and final Twilight movie comes out tonight. I can't wait to see it!!! I'm probably going to end up going to end up taking myself to see it alone. Who wants to watch Halle?!

I ordered Halle's birthday invites this week from a fellow blogging friend. If I knew how to do fancy links I totally would. But her site is www.littlelawsprints.com.


All sorts of random thoughts today :)

Halloweenie

My least favorite holiday of the year!!!! Since I did buy Halle an halloween costume (cutest ever!) we took her out last night to a few stops.

Stop #1 - Newton Village where the MIL works. They were hosting trick or treaters from 6-7 so we purposely got there at 5:45 to avoid the rush. Afterall, we weren't there for candy we were just there to see Matt's mom. You would have thought the world was ending when we walked in! Two different blue hairs told us to go wait outside because it doesn't start until 6. I wanted to say "thanks, but we are with the band" but I didn't figure they would understand my humor. So I simply stated we are with Vickie and all was well in the world.
This is where I captured this picture of my little lover. Seriously too much cuteness!

Stop #2 - My dad's house. Julie and Rory were there with Dylan and Drew. Halle wanted to dig her hands in the candy and my dad tried giving her a blow pop. She was TICKED when I took it away. Wish I would have got a picture because her face was priceless. When we left Superman stood next to the driveway and motioned us out. Only Drew :)

Stop #3 - Matt's Grandma Carson's apartment. It's one of those where you have to buzz her apartment and be let in. So we buzzed up, no answer. Oh yes, there was a lady that was sitting right inside the door just looking at us. Um, ya want to let us in?!?! She shook her head at me. FiNAllY some other people left so we snuck in. The lady says "Sorry! Couldn't let ya in! But here, have some crackers." Thanks, Leila.

We trotted up to third floor and whatta know, no grandma! We went back down, asked someone else if they knew where she was and she took us to the card playing room. Bingo!

We met some sweet ladies that play cards with grandma. At this point I had sweat running down my back and was ready to exit stage left. Said our goodbyes, avoided the lady with (what looked like) peanut butter cookies and left.

Stop #4 - Matt's Grandma Firkins apartment. Much more pleasant stop since it wasn't 85 degrees there :) She gave us some peanut butter cups and we went on our way.

Stop #5, last and final stop - Hannah's house! Halle got to pet hayden the weiner dog, but when he started growling at Matt we left. Best part of the night was when we got in the car after leaving there and Matt says to me "What was Hannah wearing? One of those Lu Lu's??"  You mean a Tu-Tu, hunnie?

He has a thing or two to learn about girls :)

All in all it was a good (busy) night, but we made it home by bedtime :)

I am in love with these zebra print jammies.

Forget it FRIDAY!!!!!!!

By the time I get to Friday, I'd usually like to forget most of my work week :)

This week i'd like to forget....

....that Halle was/is a little sickly and was gracious enough to sneeze in my face and share her sickly love with mama. Oh, and daddy has some of it too. Thank goodness for the weekend to recover.

....that my work days were one big shit sandwich. 'nuff said.

....that it's not a pay week for me, waaaaaahhhhh.

....that a week from Sunday I leave for Ohio and will be gone from Halle and Matt for 6 days. Super sad about that one.

This week I **Don't** want to forget....

....that even though Halle wasn't feeling well, she let me snuggle her for more than .2347 seconds at a time :)


HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Because I haven't done this in forever!

I haven't made a birthday list since I was probably 10 years old...and since my birthday (25 and I know my grandma will remind me that I am now a quarter of a century old) is right around the corner I thought it would be fun to dream about what I should buy myself :)

First on my list is some new makeup - I want to try Bare Minerals foundation and blush

Next stop - UGGS! Love these slippers.

And because I obviously have expensive taste, I'd also like this $50 sweatshirt.

Hey,  a girl can dream right? In all reality I'll probably end up paying my car tags and call it a day.

Little Monster

My sweet Halle has turned NAUGHTY! good golly this girl is going to end up with stitches before she turns one.

We obviously don't have a good way to block off these two steps into our living room. We tried buliding an obstacle course and the little booger plowed through it. This was the best we could do. How many times has she fallen from this second step you ask? 3. And she cries as she is standing here because she is so mad that she can't climb the stairs. Such a booger. Love that kid. But with a face like this, what's not to love?

Because I don't ever want to forget....

Wow, I should really keep up on this blog more!!!! Because I know that all of my 7 followers are clinging to my every word, HA!

ANYWAY, the reason for this post is my little miss Halle. She turned 10 months last week and has been absolutely adorable. Matt and I have had so much fun with her!!!! Her personality is really starting to develop.
She wants to be best friends with stupid puss Mya. It's adorable. She finds it HILARIOUS if the cat is behind us in the hallway before we walk down the stairs. She squeals and giggles and clings to my neck like the cat is going to pounce at any given moment. This might be one of those "you had to be there" moments, but it really is too darn cute and makes us laugh a lot.
On nights when Matt works late (such as last night) Halle and I hang out and play and play and play. To much fun. When Matt gets home all I have to say is "Halle, Daddy's here!" and she crawls as fast as she can to the kitchen to get him. Again, adorable!
Also? She thinks it's funny to do what she isn't supposed to do. Example - climbing the few stairs in our living room. We tell her no so she slowly starts the climb and when we go to get her off she giggles so hard!

While most of this stuff is probably only funny or cute to us, I wanted to write it down somewhere. I don't ever want to forget this stage in her life.

And if we are being completely honest here....baby fever hit me yesterday while I was at work and catching up on all of the blogs that I follow. I need to snap out of that because baby #2 isn't in our plans yet! We'll see how many people read this and ask me about that ;)

A Child of God

I thought I would re post this because it is so true. I follow the Momastry blog and this is were I found the statement below.

If I am humble but lack confidence, it is because I haven’t accepted that there is a divine spark inside of me. If I am humble but not confident, it’s because I don’t believe in the miracle that I was made by God for a purpose all my own, and so I am worthy of the space that I occupy on this Earth. And that as a Child of God, no one deserves more respect, joy, or peace than I. As a child of God, I have the right to speak, to feel, to think, and to believe what I believe. Those dreams in my heart, those ideas in my head, they are real and they have a divine origin and so they are worth exploring. Just because I am a child of God. And thankfully, there is nothing I can add to that title to make it more impressive. There is also nothing I can do to lose that title. I am confident not because I am pretty or smart or athletic or talented or kind. Those things change and can be given and taken. I am confident simply because I am a child of God.

Something that really stuck out at me is : As a child of God, I have the right to speak, to feel, to think, and to believe what I believe.

I have realized that I need to stop apologizing for things that aren't my fault. I can't continue to apologize for other people's lack of respect, and mean things that others say. I have a right to speak my mind too, and I am done hiding behind my fear of confrontation. If others can speak their mind about me and blatantly disrespect me to my face, then I have a right to stand up and say "hey! this isn't right! and I won't stand for it" I have a right to believe that I am a good person with a heart that is in the right place.

"The light at the end is worth the pain" - Boyce Avenue

Today, I feel like I have been beaten to death with drama. I don't even know where to begin with it, and probably shouldn't air it all out. Basically what it boils down to is that a few people think that I am a mean, snotty person that dileberately hurts people. I am being expected to let past things go and just move on with forgiveness....but I feel like I am really going to struggle. How can I keep saying sorry for things that I don't feel like are my fault or shouldn't have to apologize for? These people don't thing they have done anything wrong and I sincerely disagree.

Last night at bible study we briefly talked about how God brings people into your life for a specific purpose. I am having a REALLY hard time seeing the reason for certian people being placed into my life. I am wondering, was I put into THEIR life for a reason? This must be the case, but I don't think it's fair that i'm suffering from hurt because of things that they do. How do I put these issues in the hands of God and let him take over? To say that my anxiety is through the roof from this is an understatement.

I'm struggling here, and looking for the right answers on what to do...

James

Just some food for thought here....

James 4:1-3
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

How true this seems to be......

Things that need to be said...

While I should be working, I decided to do a quick blog before getting started for the day. (side note here....Panera Bread has the BEST breakfast sandwiches. I'm currently eating a ham, egg, & cheese on a jalapeno & cheddar bagle. YUM! Also drinking a mt. dew with it. Completely unhealthy, and I don't even care!) This post will probably be a lot of randoms...

I rejoined facebook, just made some necessary changes, as in blocking a few someone's. I am so unbelieveably tired of drama in my life. I can't emphasize that enough. I decided to take yesterday off work and went shopping with my sister in Williamsburg. It was FANTASTIC! Not only to spend the day with my sister, but it wasn't busy at all! We were lazy and drove from store to store, but when there are parking spaces right up front, who wouldn't? I got a ton of summer stuff for Miss H! I bought myself an $8 sweatshirt from the Gap. Woo! Funny, I would rather spend every last dime on her than get stuff that I need. (Ahem, pants to wear to work!) Oh well! At least she will be cute!

When we got back to town I picked up Halle from the sitter and went to Julie's hair appt with her. Got to see my lover, Nicole :) I had bible study last night, and I must say that I am so glad that I get to share a table with Sabrina! I was a little confused at times :) Our bible study is on the book of James and I read a few things that really hit home for me this week! I'll quote some below.

When I got home, Matt was sleeping in his recliner with Halle asleep on his chest. SO sweet! She doesn't like to snuggle like that anymore, so it was nice to see that she wanted to snuggle her daddy <3

I don't understand how hard it is for some people to be kind? I'm not saying be best friends with everyone, but a simple "please, thank you, and have a nice day" really go a long way.

It's now 9:08 am, I've been at work since 7:30. All I have accomplished is eating Panera, a phone call with my sister, and this blog. Maybe I should make some actual work related calls?

Have a good day, all!

CRIB

We have been working on a crib transition with little miss h.....
She goes to sleep in it just fine..I lay her down when she is sleepy and she is asleep within minutes with no fussing. BUT she wakes up around 2 and wants out. She doesn't want fed, but if I bring her back to our room and put her in her little bed in there, she goes back to sleep (pretty) quickly. I am hoping that in time she will go back to sleeping through the night like she did before. In the meantime, i'm a tired mama!
I am open to suggestions on how to handle this situation. I hate the thought of letting her cry it out, but I am afraid if I keep getting her she will get used to that.....

*sigh*

Not being hard on myself at all...just would like to get this sleeping thing down again. Love that little girl <3

I'm back!!!!

Wow, I haven't posted in too long!!! Mostly because my computer at home is JUNK and takes literally an hour to post a blog because it is so slow. I need a new one. Yes, need! Not high on my priority list these days though :)
I'm now back to work after having 12 weeks off. Man, that 4:45 alarm is rough! Especially when Halle wakes up to eat at 4...which leaves about 20 min before my alarm. I am missing her terribly while I am at work :( While it is nice to eat my lunch uninterrupted and have adult conversations all day, I still miss the dickins out of her! I swear this morning she looked at me when I put her in her carseat as if to say "Mom, what the heck are we doing, please stay home with me!" OK, probably not. But she looked sad to have to leave me. OK she probably wasn't sad, but I sure was! I've been calling once a day to check on her. The sitter says she is a happy girl when she isn't napping :) She smiles at all the kids and is eating like a champ! I love that she is is good hands, but I feel like someone else is raising my daughter. I need to stop thinking this way, but it's hard not to when she spends SO MUCH time away from  me. I found myself thinking of what I could sell to be able to afford to stay at home. I had to snap out of that, I was thinking like a crazy person!
A girl on my rideshare van (who had her second baby in October) said that she had to start telling herself that when she is at work that is "mommy time". She said that has helped. I just need to learn to change my way of thinking. *sigh* It will get easier with time :)