Garage Sale Galore

In less than 1.5 hours our HUGE garage sale will begin. While I am kind of sad about selling all of Lauren's baby things, the cash we could bring in puts a big smile on my face. The amount of stuff we have from clothes to toys to baby neccessities is overwhelming. I hope some new mom to be can make a killing and come away with a lot of wonderful stuff for a fraction of the cost.

Hey, in this economy you gotta!

Rain, Rain Go Away

So it was raining yesterday when I picked Lauren up from daycare. I got her all strapped in her carseat and we were ready to go. I turned around to make sure she was all ready to go and she belted out:

"Rain, rain go away. Mother, mother, mother's day!"

WHAT?? LOL! I guess she made up her own version of the song. Think it will catch on and be a hit? Maybe she should trademark it now.

Gosh, I love the things 2-3 yr olds say!

Nickelname

Another Lauren story I don't want to forget. We were driving home the other day and Lauren asked me to spell her "nickelname." I was confused as to what she wanted. She said, "My name is Lauren, L-A-U-R-E-N." Finally I figured out she wanted me to spell her NICKname. Jas and I have called her numerous names since she was born, but LEW (lou) has been the one to stick. LEW are her initials. So now she goes around spelling her "nickelname."

This morning I was getting her up for daycare and she was still tired. So she looks at her clock (which reads 6:30) and she says, "I sleep till my clock says 8, 9 and 0." Always negotiating!

Finally, she loves her Sketcher clog type shoes her aunt got her for her bday last year. They are pretty funky...you can put different "pegs" on them. Like cupcakes, lollipops, flowers, etc. Anyway, my darling daughter has been wearing them to bed every night for the past week. She actually falls asleep with them on. She woke up about 5am crying...I went in and she told me she needed her shoe back on. I put it back on and she was sound asleep again. WEIRD!

My Little Friend

So I have been debating and researching little cameras. I have wanted something small and simple to keep in my purse since my Nikon D40 is rather big. After much pondering, I ordered this cute, orange Canon PowerShot! I am so excited to get it!

Resolution: 10.0 Megapixel
Light Sensitivity: ISO 100, ISO 800, ISO 400, ISO 200, ISO 80, ISO 1600, ISO 3200, ISO auto
Shooting Modes: Frame movie mode
Special Effects: Black & White, Sepia, Vivid
Max Shutter Speed: 1/1500 sec
Min Shutter Speed: 15 sec
Exposure Metering: Evaluative, center-weighted, spot
Exposure Modes: Program, automatic
White Balance: Custom, automatic, presets
White Balance Presets: Fluorescent, cloudy, tungsten light, daylight
Still Image Format: JPEG
Video Capture: AVI - 640 x 480 - 30 fps ¦ AVI - 320 x 240 - 30 fps
Continuous Shooting Speed: 1.4 frames per second
Digital Zoom: 4 x
Optical Zoom: 3 x
Type: Zoom lens - 6.2 mm - 18.6 mm - f/2.8-4.9
Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera: 35 - 105mm
Min Focus Range: 11.8 in
Macro Focus Range: 3-50cm
Lens Aperture: F/2.8-4.9
Type: LCD display - TFT active matrix - 2.5" - color
Supported Flash Memory: MultiMediaCard, SD Memory Card, SDHC Memory Card, MultiMediaCardplus
Flash Modes: Fill-in mode, slow synchro, auto mode, flash OFF mode, red-eye reduction
Effective Flash Range: 1 ft - 14 ft
Self Timer Delay: 10 sec, 2 sec
Additional Features:
Direct print, USB 2.0 compatibility, built-in speaker, RGB primary color filter, digital noise reduction, DPOF support, digital image rotation, camera orientation detection, PictBridge support, histogram display, AE lock, FE lock, resizing an image, Face Detection AF/AE/FE/WB, Face Detection Self-timer, i-Contrast (Intelligent Contrast Correction) system, in-camera red-eye fix, Exif Print support, Motion Detection Technology
Supported Battery Details: 1 x Li-ion rechargeable battery ( included )
Connector Type: 1 x USB ¦ 1 x composite video/audio output
Cables Included: USB cable ¦ A/V cable
Included Accessories: Wrist strap
Software: Drivers & Utilities, Canon PhotoStitch, Canon ZoomBrowser EX, Canon ImageBrowser
Width: 3.5 in
Height: 2.2 in
Depth: 0.9 in
Weight: 4.2 oz

Back At It

Hope everyone had a great long weekend. Ours was busy, but nice. I got a lot done.

Saturday morning it was rainy, so we decided to go to Borders and let Lauren pick out a couple new books with a gift card she had gotten for Christmas. We had a great time and she found some great new books. On the way home, it was close to noon, so we decided to stop at Bratfest and pick up a bunch of brats to take back to my mom's for lunch. We helped set the new world record! They were so good. The rest of the afternoon we spent relaxing...watched Happy Feet and took a nap.

Sunday, the in-laws picked up Lauren about 11:30 to go to the park and a picnic lunch. Jas and I spent the day cleaning up outside. I pulled weeds and planted flowers. Jason repainted the trimwork and was going to mow the lawn. The transmission belt broke, so the mowing was put on hold.

Monday, Lauren went to the in-laws early to spend the day. I spent the day gathering all our garage sale items and setting them up at the warehouse. We have sooo much stuff! I hope we have a very successful sale this weekend.

Memorial Weekend

Wow! Already Memorial Day weekend. I remember thinking how far away it seemed after the New Year (that LONG period without any holidays off from work) and here it is already! The official start to summer. Looks like the weather here will be decent overall, which is good cause I have lots to do.

Saturday: Hoping to maybe check out Brat Fest or take a trip to the zoo.


Willow Island at the Alliant Energy CenterMemorial Day WeekendMay 22 thru May 25, 2009. ... Rain or Shine!
• Help us sell 200,000 brats for a new World Record
• Take Your Brat to Work Day on Willow Island: Friday, May 22nd from 6-9 a.m.
• Two entertainment stages
• More than 50 musical acts playing over 80 hours of FREE music featuring some of the best local musicians. For the full lineup of music, visit bratfest.com
• Exciting Kids’ Rides
• Last year Brat Fest raised over $100,000 for local non-profits.
• More than 95 local charities and groups will benefit from this year’s Brat Fest.
• Free parking
• 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. (Friday – Sunday); 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Memorial Day• Visit www.bratfest.com

Sunday: My in-laws are picking Lauren up in the morning for an outing at the park and then lunch. I am hoping to get some yardwork done while she is away.

Monday: This day is dedicated to our annual garage sale. The sale will be May 29, 30 and 31. We will spend all day getting things set up and boy do we have a lot to sell!! I plan to take numerous pictures of this event. Again, Lauren is hanging out with my in-laws and her cousins.


I also made a decision to purchase a small camera to keep in my purse for outings and such. I love my Nikon D40, but it is rather large to lug around sometimes. I am currently bidding on a Canon Powershot in a cute baby blue color. That way I can document more of the outings we go on as a family. Hope I win!!

Miles logged since 3.13.09: 66.31

Left, Right, Left

Some things I wanted to make sure I don't forget as time passes.

* Lauren knows her left and right and I taught her. What an amazing feeling it is as a mom to watch your child learn something that you taught them.

* Hearing her sing songs is the best sound...next to her giggling.

* When she wakes up in the morning and comes stumbling out of her room into the bright light and says in a sleepy voice, "Morning mommy, boy I missed you."

* Her daycare teacher had a baby a few weeks ago and we had gotten her some diapers as a gift. Well she sent us a thank you card and Lauren got it at daycare. She prodeeded to tell me that it was an invitation to a big party. LOL!

* She told me last night while I was making dinner..."Daddy is my favorite. And you are my favorite too, mommy."

* How much she loves to take baths. The child would sit in the tub ALL DAY if we let her.

* This is gross, but she always has to look at her poop after she goes on the potty...to make sure it is brown. Are we sure she is not a boy??

* " I do it awwll by myself."

* The things she knows just shock and amaze me. How can a 2 yr old know the entire alphabet, count to 100 (sort of), know numerous words in Spanish and say phrases that even adults hardly use??

* How when we sing Happy Birthday to anyone you cry. What is it with that song?

* When she talks about the big, scary monsters. She comes up with the most ridiculous things sometimes...such an awesome imagination.

* When she cooks us dinner and snacks in her play kitchen. She loves to have picnics together.

* How she loves to smile with her eyes closed when I am trying to take her picture. Frustrating, but incredibly cute.

I just realized that Lauren started daycare a year ago this week. Wow...my baby is really growing up.

Positive Outlook

My friend who's wedding I have been helping plan and am a bridesmaid in sent me this email:


I think I told you how Darren's Dad had kidney issues and might need a transplant? Well he's there and needs one. His parents and youngest brother Tommy went to Madison hospital yesterday to be tested to see if he'd be a match for donating a kidney to his Dad. They'll know back in a week and then his brother would have another round of tests to make sure he's ok physically everywhere before proceeding and then they'd get it scheduled hopefully within a month. They'll both be laid up for a couple months at least his Dad will be afterwards. So we're just hoping Tommy is a match and they can move forward. We couldn't help discuss last night the possibility if he's not a match then Kevin and Darren would have to go get tested and well the timing with the wedding it's just not looking so good so is kind of scary. I'm sure it will all work out if Tommy is a match and they get it scheduled soon. If not, I don't want to even think of what that could mean. I feel so guilty about even thinking about the wedding but I can't help it. So we're trying to be positive!!


I am praying that everything works out for them. I hope his brother is a match and they can get his dad better fast and breathe a little easier.

Wild Weekend

Friday night was rather uneventful. Lauren went to bed about 7:15 and to our amazement STAYED IN HER BED! This was the first time since we put her in her big girl bed...14 days! So she earned herself another star and was one more away from her reward (we would take her out for ice cream)

She was having a beach picnic with Dora and her frogs.

Saturday we had nice weather....a little one the windy side. I ran some errands in the morning while Jas took Lauren for a nice long wagon ride through the neighborhood. Later in the day (after no nap) we took her to the park so she could play and swing. My parents stopped over that evening and took her out for dinner. Nighttime came and she was asleep within 10 minutes. She earned her 5th star!!! And boy was she proud!

Does she look like an Ethel or a Myrtle?

I realized looking at this picture..I dressed Lauren like a nurse last week.

Sunday...a busy day of fun. In the morning we headed over to my friend's house in Stoughton to walk around the Sytendee Mai (sp?) She has a daughter the same age as Lauren. So we put the girls in the wagon and walked downtown and spent a few hours watching people and sampling a few tasty treats (cheese curds, corn, etc.)

Lauren and I headed home about noon and I got her some lunch. Again no nap for her, so I took her to my brother's house to play on their Rainbow Playsystem. We spent a couple hours there and then picked up daddy and headed to a local diner for some ice cream. Lauren was sooo excited and she picked Chocolate Chip for her flavor.

Fast forward to nighttime...she was beat! I was too! Do you think we had a 3rd night in a row of staying in bed and going right to sleep??

NO! The gate had to be put up and she took about 1.5 hours to settle down and sleep. Apparently getting her prize caused her to revert back. Who knew? LOL!

Aye, Aye Captain

So I am sporting a sailor look today and I kind of like it. The top is light, airy and fun. Got the hair pulled back into a ponytail with this great white headband. The red shoes and bag pop nicely too!

Top - Old Navy

Sailor Pants - Old Navy

Red Bag - Thrifted

Red Peep Toes (Jessica Simpson) - Macys

Bracelets - Forever 21

White Headband - Forever 21

Flirty Professional

I have not posted an outfit in a while. It was laziness on my part. Anyway, today is a rather professional look...the ruffles on the top add a flirty vibe!

Top - Forever 21
Pencil Skirt - Target
Sunglasses - Forever 21
Bag - Target
Bangles - Forever 21
Peep Toes - Aerosoles

Body Pump

So about 8 years ago, I found a new craze at my gym called BODYPUMP. I signed up for the classes and WOW! They kicked my butt, but I loved it. I really noticed a difference in the first couple weeks.

What is BODYPUMP you ask?

BODYPUMP™ is the original barbell class that strengthens your entire body. This 60-minute workout challenges all your major muscle groups by using the best weight-room exercises like squats, presses, lifts and curls. Great music, awesome instructors and your choice of weight inspire you to get the results you came for – and fast!

It is addictive. Well, my gym went out of business about 2 years later. I never did find a new gym or look for BODYPUMP classes elsewhere. I missed it....it was the best strength training I had ever done. I started looking online to see if they sold the tapes at all. No luck...you could sign up to become an instructor and that is how you could get the materials.

After some searching I found a man who had all of the workouts...video and music tracks. I was sooo thrilled. I ordered 4 of them from him and now I can do this workout in the privacy of my own home. I got my weights from Walmart...woohoo! All in all, I spent less than $150 for all the materials, props and such to have my own private strength training regime! Well worth it in my opinion. Now, let the sculpting begin!

Back On Track

I got my butt out of bed at 4:30am and got on the treadmill today. It has been about 3 weeks since I was working out religously (since all of us were sick with the flu and colds and such)

It felt so good to get back at it. Hope I can keep dropping these lbs. 110 days till the wedding...how is it coming up so fast?

Miles logged since 3.13.09: 54.76

My Weekend

Spending time with my favorite people!

Chasin' bubbles

The loves of my life

Flower for mommy

Snack time!

Mommy's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the fantastic mommies out there. I hope you all do something special to celebrate a day the recognizes all the hard work you do each and every day.

Birthday Themes

It just dawned on me today that Lauren will be 3 in about 3 months. Where has the time gone?? I am a planner and so I usually start thinking of ideas, etc well before the actual event. I guess due to all the wedding stuff and the big garage sale, time has crept up on me. I want to do something fun this year. I think she will finally really GET IT this year. She is always asking me how long till her birthday and whose birthday comes next?

Her one year birthday theme was pink/brown stripes/polka dots and monkeys

Last year we did ice cream as the theme.

As bad as this may sound, since it is for my child and all, I really do not want to do a Dora, Backyardigans, Barbie, etc type theme. I know those will probably be unavoidable soon. We also plan to have a small party again as in years past. Just family. I am thinking maybe her 4th or 5th birthday we will start inviting a few of her friends.

So, where does this leave me?? Totally in the air!! Her birthday falls on a Tuesday, so the actual party will be the weekend before. Jas and I will probably take her to Chuck E Cheese or something on her actual birthday. So creative juices flowing....let's go!

Garden Theme
Fairytale Theme
Luau Theme
Beach Theme
ABC Theme ( she is obsessed with saying the alphabet and counting)

Other ideas my creative friends?? Off to pick Martha's brain!

Perfect Match

So this past weekend, the family and I were at Target and I wanted to see if they actually had that wonderful ottoman at the store. They never seem to have the things I find online in the store, so I was skeptical. Well, lo and behold they had not one, but two at the store. I quickly snatched them up.

I got them home and got Lauren's big girl bedding and guess what?? PERFECT MATCH! I love it! I am so excited to get her big girl room done.

Supernanny

Still plugging away with the Supernanny technique. We just completed night 5 of "Convert Lauren to Big Girl Bed". This is the toughest mission so far. Last night was long again, but I think a few strides were made. She did stay in bed for longer periods of time...like 5-10 minutes a few times.

Being it is still so light out at 7:30 and she only had fabric shade on her window, a lot of light still comes in. I ordered some black out curtains this weekend and Fed Ex is delivering them today! We'll see if this helps at all. CROSSING MY FINGERS, TOES, AND EYES!!

A friend of mine told me yesterday, "Enjoy this time when she is just sneaking out of bed. In 13 years she will be trying to sneak out of the house." Thanks a lot Zack!

Big Girl Bed Drama

So, last Friday (May 1) we decided to turn Lauren's crib into her toddler (big girl) bed. She had been doing so well with the potty lately and we promised her. After the conversion, she was elated. She kept going into her room just to lay in her big bed. She read in bed and talked to her animals in bed. It was really quite sweet.

Fast forward to bedtime. My brother, SIL and niece had stopped over to visit and didn't leave till nearly 8:30. Way past Lauren's normal bedtime, so we started our usual routine: jammies, brush teeth, read books, water and night night time. She sat in her bed while I read her 3 books. After I was done, I asked her what she had to do in her big girl bed when I turned the lights out. "Stay in bed and go to sleep." She knew what was expected of her. Hmmm....maybe this will go more smoothly than I thought.

WRONG!!

Lauren proceeded to get out of bed and run out into the hall numerous times. I kept putting her back in bed each time. After about 10 minutes of this we put a gate up at her door. Well for the next hour and 20 minutes, she ransacked her room (looked at books, took shoes out and tried them on, played with her stuffed animals, etc.) Finally....silence. By 10pm she was out. Once she is asleep, you cannot wake her. Ok. An hour and half. Not that bad, we will see what night 2 brings.

Saturday, Lauren woke up about 7:30. In good spirits. Told me she was naughty for not staying in her bed last night. Nap did not happen, so I just wished for quiet time in her room. She was fairly quiet, but busy. So no real rest there. So with no nap, we were sure she would pass out quickly. Just before 7pm we did our routine and lights out by 7. Again, she kept getting out of bed and coming out into the hall. Jas and I took 15 minute intervals and just kept putting her back without any talking (Supernanny anyone?) This went on for an hour before she fell asleep. The final time I put her in bed she says, "Oh mommy, I so tired." You think goofy child!?!?!?

Sunday...another busy day and no nap. Routine as usual and lights out just after 7. Same old crap! This time for 1 hour and 40 minutes before she succommed to the sandman. UGH!

What will tonight be like? Anyone have any advice or tips that worked for you? We will continue with this Supernanny approach and pray it works soon.

I guess if this is the worst/hardest thing we deal with, I will consider ourselves very lucky.

A Brainstorm

Since Lauren is growing up so fast and will be moving to a big girl bed soon, I am starting to think about her "big girl room" I have the bedding already and pratty much decided to paint the room a green with a thick black stripe. I am hoping the colors will work for quite a while. Anyway, my dilemma is that I would love to put 2 ottomans at the foot of her bed. I love the one below, but does it clash with the bedding?

The bedding

The furniture I love

This is suppose to be black

A nice, fun green

Give Thrift A Chance

While running some errands for work, I had a little time to kill and decided to check out Plato's Closet. With the economy in a recession, who can afford to shop at Banana, JCrew and such?? The selection was overwhemling...could have easily spent hours in there perusing all the goodies. I only had about 30 minutes, so I made the most of it. I wanted to check out the shoes, accessories and jeans. Since losing weight and dropping a size in pants, I figure this is a good way to get a few "new" pairs to get me by till I drop again (wink, wink).

While I didn't find any shoes (I swear the cute shoes are for tiny feet), I did find an awesome brown braided belt, 2 great statment necklaces, a yellow hobo bag and 3, yes I said 3, pairs of Gap jeans!! And how much did all these wonderful goodies cost me? Guess? A whopping $40!! Less than the price of once pair of jeans from Gap. Yes folks, thrifting is the new black.

So get out there and get your thrift on!

Fired Up Friday

Happy Friday to all! Happy May Day as well. How can it be May already? We have a weekend full of errands, mowing the jungle that is our lawn and celebrating my MIL's birthday.

Today's outfit is nothing special. I am wearing my new fire engine red shoes for the first time...the perfect peep toe that I had been looking for.


White Ruffle Top - Forever 21
Black Boyfriend Cardigan - Old Navy
Denim Pencil Skirt - Old Navy
Red Peep Toe Shoe (Jessica Simpson Line) - Macy's
Ring - Forever 21