Xander's (super late) 3 year pics

Here is just a sample of the pictures we had taken for Xander's late 3 year pictures.  Actually, we didn't even have 2 year pictures taken of him because that is when we moved to Colorado and it kinda slipped through the cracks.  Oops!  Mom fail right there.

Anyway, the person who took them is my best friend's older sister.  She hasn't been doing pictures that long but she is awesome!  I can't wait to see the rest of them!

They were taken in downtown Lincoln, Nebraska in the Haymarket.  I thought that would be an awesome place for some pictures and as you can see, they did turn out great!

I'm Still Here

So I've really gotten out of this whole 'blogging' thing recently.  It feels like everything else has come first. 

I have so much going on that when I even think about writing, something else comes up.

Here I sit, the day after Easter with a sick kiddo.  He has pink eye and some form of cold I think.  I am planning on taking him to the doctor and working from home later.  It's good to be able to work from home, but bad timing for Xander to be sick because I have an audit coming up in two weeks and have so much to do!  I don't think we are going to be completely ready even if I work a million hours before then.

Anyway, I have so many things I want to do with my 'free' time but I really won't have much for the next 3-4 weeks due to work.  After that, I am finally taking some time off.  I want to take a week off of work to just sleep in, do work around the house and just do things I want to do which includes shopping for lots of household stuff like paint, decorations and some outdoor decor items too.  I never have to really browse and I want to look at stores during the week when it's not such a zoo so I have time and things aren't so rushed.  I feel like my project list is about a mile long.  While not all of the things on the list are must do items, many of them are things I really want to do sooner than later and have been on my list for a while.

I know I have said this before, but now we have lived in our house for over a year and I feel like it is not really even close to what I want it to look like.  Granted, everything I want to do or change takes money and even if I had the time, it's not like we may have had the money for all of it, but I know I could have done a lot of things by now if I had more time to plan.  I'm just ready for a break. 

In other life news, this is totally TMI, but Xander is mostly potty trained now (he was pretty slow to learn) but the funny part is, he has the number 2 down better than the number 1 and that usually comes later!  Either way, he is close and I am proud of his progress.  We changed daycares a few weeks ago and I think the old daycare was part of the reason he wasn't doing so well.  Hard to explain, but he has been doing much better at the new place.

Otherwise, life is just busy!  I had posted previously about the project life kits I had gotten but I haven't barely touched them and I haven't printed a single picture for the year yet (yikes - I am over three months behind), but I feel like it wouldn't take long to catch up, which is part of why I want some time off so bad.  I want to be able to catch up on scrapbooks along with all of my house projects.

I plan to write more in the near future, but we will see.

Saturday Randoms

I have some ridiculously random things going on in my head this morning, so I will get them all out.

- It is noon already.  Where did the morning go and why haven't I gotten anything done yet?

- Feeling a little poor recently, so it's a good thing I just got that promotion at work - the extra money will make a huge difference in our finances.  Without giving it all away, let's just say it was something like a 40% raise.  Granted, it is a lot more responsibility, but most of it is stuff I was doing already so I am ok with that.

- I ordered the iPhone 4s yesterday!!!  I am so excited since I've never had an iPhone and we were able to stay with Sprint for me to get one.  Our coverage with them is decent and the data plan price is unbeatable by far by any other carrier.  We get a bargain on our plan in my opinion.

- I'm excited to watch my football team play tonight, but hoping they don't lose.  I think they will win but not sure how the game will turn out.  Go Huskers!

- Our house says it is 61 degrees in here and I love it!  It is super cold outside and we had our first official snow of the season this morning!  It only snowed for a few minutes, but it reminded me that my favorite time of year is just around the bend - Christmas!!!  I am such a sucker for Christmas and I love cold/cooler weather.

- On the same note as above, I am so excited for Christmas this year because I think it will be the first year that Xander really gets what is going on, plus, I have been buying him Thomas the Train take and play sets here and there as I find them on great sales are we are going to do something I've always thought would be so fun.  We are going to set up all of his train stuff by the Christmas tree on Christmas morning so when Xander wakes up, he will see it when he comes downstairs.  So excited for this!!!!!!!

- Though I got my promotion at work this week, we are still short a person in our department so we are swamped.  To say I have been working a lot is a gross understatement.  Speaking of, I will be doing a ton of stuff from home this weekend.  I don't mind too much, but am ready to have my weekends back to myself!

- Thinking about the holidays coming up, I'm trying to figure out a good way to budget and am starting to think of gift ideas.  I have several things for Xander as I already said, but am trying to think of ideas for others and also a list for myself (as family members always ask).  I can't believe it's a little over 2 months until Christmas!  The last 4 months of my life have gone so fast.

- Todd and I continue to have the conversation about whether or not we see ourselves having more kids.  Right now we are just very content with things as they are.  We keep saying we have a while to decide, which we do.

- I joined Pinterest, did a bunch of stuff on there and then have dropped off.  I love the idea but wish I had more time for fun stuff like this.  I will get back on there again soon and do more boards I am sure, but am prioritizing right now and that's not high on the list.  Super fun though!

- My husband brought me home a full size sample of an Escada fragrance that is not even out yet the other night.  That is one huge perk about his job that I love.  They have Sephora inside his store and everytime the Sephora rep comes, he gets samples (usually full size - so awesome) that he gets to bring home to me.  If you were to look at all of my makeup, you would either think I am rich or that I spend way too much on makeup because I have received some awesome stuff for free.  What a fun perk!

- I'm not sure why, but I am already in a mood to paint some rooms in my house.  Literally ever square inch of our walls is the same color.  I wonder when the previous owners were selling the house if they thought it would just be easier to paint the house one color.  I find it a little boring even though it is a pleasant light tan color.  I need some changes! 

- Heading back home next weekend to see some family and see my newest nephew, Judah!  Very excited.  Then, two weeks after that, my in laws are coming to visit.  We are going to go to Ikea, go to the mountains, see the Broncos play the Lions here in Denver (my first pro game!) and then they will stay through Halloween to see Xander dressed up and help us out with him.  Speaking of, we still need to get him a costume!

- I have been really into reading again and I am loving it.  We have a library membership and have already borrowed a few books.  Did I mention where we lived before that we didn't have free access to a library?  Made me so mad, but now we can go to one for free and I love it!

- That's all I got.  Happy weekend everyone!

Random Tuesday Thoughts

- I don't do random Tuesday thoughts very often but actually got my post on the right day this time!

- I posted before that my boss quit a few weeks ago and life has been crazy ever since then.  I work in a three person department and we are losing one temporarily so there will be a lot of extra work in the next few months.  I have been working extra hours and taking work home with me almost everyday and I don't see that changing anytime soon.  I am excited for the potential promotion that may come from this but also nervous about the major responsibility that comes with it also.

- We went to Ikea last night and I found the cutest bunk bed that I want to buy for my son!  It is kind of expensive but it's super cute and I would love to get it for him.  He is 33 months and at this point is still in his crib!  The reason we haven't converted his crib to a bed is because he doesn't try to climb out of his crib yet and we know if we switch him to a bed before it's necessary, we will have mega bedtime struggles with getting him to stay in bed.  I know we will still have those issues once we do switch him over but we are delaying that fight as long as we can.

- On the subject of my son, he is absolutely obsessed with trains these days!  Thomas in particular but he likes almost any train.  We bought him an inexpensive train and track set from Ikea last night.  That was his first train set as he has some small trains, but no tracks or any other pieces.  For his birthday/Christmas, we are going to get him some more train stuff since he will be 3 and I know he would love to have more.  I am going to try to get him some cool stuff without spending a fortune.  We will see how that goes.

- I always have good intentions of wanting to work out, eat super well and be healthier, but now that I have been so busy, it has been even harder than before.  I want to work out so bad but feel like I literally have three hours or less a day in free time.  I get up way earlier that before right now so there is no way I will do a workout in the morning.  Most days I am not getting home before 6 and because I have been getting up so early, I am trying to go to bed by 9 or a little after most nights.  That leaves three hours or less to have dinner, do any chores around the house that are needed, give my son a bath, get him dinner, get him ready for bed and spend time with him reading or playing.  Oh and not to mention getting any work done that I bring home.  I am really not trying to make excuses at this point but they are basically built in right now. 

- I don't like to think too much about the money part of a promotion or a job because I don't want to get my sights fixed on it too much in case it doesn't work out.  But if I stop and think about this promotion that I am going for and the raise that would come along with it, I can't help but think about it and how it would affect my family.   A raise is always nice and in some ways, I already have plans for things we need to/want to do with extra money.  Again, trying not to get ahead of myself but it's hard to not think about it even a little bit.

- Pictures!  I can't even tell you how many thousands of pictures we have on our computer that I have never ordered.  I literally haven't printed one picture from probably the last year or more.  I always make excuses and never seem to find the time, but memories are important to me and I want to get some albums together soon if it kills me!  The problem is, I have some vacation time I can use up, but we are going to use some of those days for a trip back to Nebraska this fall so I won't be at home where I could do anything with pictures if I wanted.  The other days I have I want to save for the holidays to spend time with my son and do Christmas shopping, baking and other fun holiday things.  No time for pictures once again.  I guess I need to make it a priority on weekends to get it done.

- My diabetes management has been going much better now that it was a few months ago.  I am being a lot more careful about my medicine and testing my blood sugar and am excited to see how my next doctor's appointment goes.  I also am excited to get an insulin pump soon, but it will have to wait a little longer right now.

- Hoping this week goes well and I don't stress too much or get sick.  I was sure I was getting sick last week due to the stress I am under at work but so far so good.  I am excited for Labor day as it will be my first day off in a while and I will really need it by then with the way things have been going.

A mama dilemma

My life is a constant dilemma.  What is the best way to spend my time, my money, my life??

I always think, should I let the house work go to crap and spend all of my extra time with my kiddo?  That is a constant thought in my mind as a working mom.  I hate working.  I completely admit it.  I love the paycheck and not feeling like we are drowning every single month but I hate being away from my kid so much.  I hate it with a passion.  I feel guilty and wonder if he would be a much better kid if I was always home with him.  I feel like I could stay on top of discipline better if I was with him everyday.  I also realize at this age, it is good for him to interact with other kids to learn to share and play nicely. 

I especially struggle with this dilemma right now as we moved into our new house a month ago and we still have a lot or piles of stuff sitting around and I want to work on them so bad but I feel like when I do, I am ignoring my son.  I try to get as much stuff done during his naps as possible but they seem to go so fast and he is up before I know it every time! 

It's ok though.  Life is never perfect and I know despite my wanting it to be, our house will never be perfect either.  I can learn to accept that, even when it is hard.  I won't say this house is my 'dream house' but it is a lot closer to it than our last house and I had such high expectations for it.  So far it has almost lived up to my expectations but I need to let go of the 'ideal'  in my mind about what I want my house to be.  For one thing, it would take a whole lot more money for this house to be ideal and that is something we don't have and may not for a while.

Anyway, for now I will just do my best everyday to get stuff done and slowly get our house into order.  It may take a few more months for it to be fully organized as I continue to spend most of my extra time with the kiddo.  He's worth it!

The joys and challenges of parenting

Saturday night was the biggest power struggle I have had with my 27 month old to date.

Xander didn't want to put on his pajamas, he didn't want to take a bath and he wanted to wear his new Toy Story shoes to bed that I had bought him yesterday (hey, they light up - I get it).  I won't say sorry for this next part because I fully believe in it and I realize some people don't, but I ended up spanking him a few times before he would calm down as he was screaming and carrying on for a long time.  I kept telling him no and he wouldn't listen.

I realize some parents would give in and just let their kid wear shoes to bed but it's about more than just that for me.  It's about my child listening when I tell him something and understanding he can't always have what he wants when he wants it.  Some parents would say it's not worth the fight but I have to disagree.  I do agree there are some small things not worth worrying about but I think things should be done in a normal way most of the time (not wearing shoes to bed) and I don't need to accommodate my son just to avoid a fight. 

I don't know, maybe I should have just given in but I felt like I should stick to my guns last night.  Also, once you say no, you need to enforce it otherwise the kid will learn you are inconsistent and will challenge you even more.

I know I am not a perfect parent but I sure am trying my best.  It blows my mind how few parents out there seem to have no common sense in raising their kids.  There are so many rude or oblivious kids out there and I actually feel sorry for the kids because they are being short changed in being shaped into a responsible adult.  I just can't let my kid turn into a crazy, bratty kid.  I want nothing more than for him to live a normal life with values and morals and learn hard work and determination. 

I know everyone has their thoughts on how a kid should be raised but I feel like society as a whole is going down hill at least in the manners department so I want to do everything I can to prevent that.  We are already teaching 'please' and 'thank you'.  It seems to be a lost art.

I know the struggles are worth it as he is overall a very good little boy.  He has very few tantrums and is happy most of the time.  He is pretty calm too - not a really high strung kid.  I feel lucky he is so easy most of the time.

That is all.  Some people may disagree but that is ok.