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Friday, May 29, 2009

Win a bounce house!

Win this Little Sprout 3-in-1 Bouncer!



Go here to enter.

Landsend $100 gift card giveaway

I entered a giveaway for a Landsend gift card in the amount of $100. Chic Shopper Chick is offering this giveaway and you can enter here.

Good luck!

Lilitah: Wrap Up in the Divine

Busy Mom, a mom blog, has great giveaways too! Enter the newest giveaway for a Lilitah Symbols Blanket (ARV $75). A pink microplush blanket, great for baby showers and gifts. This giveaway ends June 1st and there are many ways to enter. Be sure to check out the other fabulous giveaways on Busy Momincluding a $50 Visa Gift card and a Keurig Platinum Brewer!

Enter here for you chance to win!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Teeth

Being six years old is very exciting. You are a first grader, you get to stay up later than your baby brother, and your teeth start falling out.....at least they are suppose to fall out!

Emma came downstairs the other night a 9 o'clock telling us that her teeth hurt. My first thought was "yah right." You see, Emma has an excuse every night. She hates sleeping...in her own words "it takes too long to sleep." She comes downstairs several times a night with a new excuse so that she can delay the inevitable. So when she told me that her mouth hurt her I immediately thought it was just an excuse.
Phil checked out her teeth by pushing on them in the dim lit kitchen and they weren't budging. He kissed her goodnight, told her she was fine and sent her on her way.
1/2 hour later she is back downstairs. "My mouth REALLY hurts." Phil called her into the living room this time and actually looked at her mouth under the light. Much to our surprise there were two HUGE new teeth in her mouth. Except they are not where they are supposed to be. Instead of pushing out little baby teeth the decided to take a detour and pop out behind the baby teeth. They are much bigger then her baby teeth. The two teeth are as wide as 4 of her baby teeth. So I assume she doesn't have much room.
I called the dentist and made an appointment for a cleaning and check up on Monday. It's been a long time since she has been to the dentist as we have no dental insurance. I know that's bad, but what can I say?
They told me that he may just leave them there and tell her to eat crunchy foods or he may pull them out. I have a feeling it will be the latter option. Her teeth are not the least bit loose and I can't see them just falling out on their own.
This is the problem though. Getting my child, this child, to sit through a tooth pulling. And not one tooth...several teeth. She is deathly afraid of anything like this. The last time she had to get shots I practically had to sit on her to keep her still enough to receive them. Thank God that was 2 years ago and she hasn't needed a shot since!
Needless to say, I am nervous about how this will go.

The receptionist said he may just pull them that day and I am really hoping he just does that.
1. Because if she knows she has to go back to get them pulled she will be full of anxiety and worry until that day.
2. Phil will be with me on Monday and he is physically stronger then me. He should be able to control her a little better than I can.

We will see what happens. I know it will all work out in the end..but like I said..the waiting is the worst part!

What a way to loose your first teeth.

It makes me kind of sad as well. She really isn't a baby anymore. She is a little girl who will have gaps in her mouth! It's exciting to see her grow up, but at the same time I wish I could go back in time and cherish that a little more.

I remember before she had teeth, a man coming up to me in the grocery store saying she had a cute "gummy smile". He said to remember and enjoy it because before I knew it she would be all grown up.
And he was right. The teeth filled in and are now falling out! It does go by so fast. But I have learned to enjoy the second one a little more (2nd child that is) I am more relaxed and enjoy today rather then dwell on the past. And I have to do that with Emma too, because before I know it all the new teeth will be in and she will be graduating high school!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Back to Blogville

Hello Blog friends...it's been a while. With summer here and Phil home more often it's harder to get a minute to get on here and blog.

I have a confession of sorts for you. A few posts back I was saying how our marriage has been hitting some bumps lately. Honestly what marriage doesn't? There have been a lot of changes around here lately and a lot of adjusting needed to be done on everyone's part. Anyway...so here is my blame in all of this.

I seemed to have jumped on the selfish train. I got so consumed with what I was missing that I lost focus of what was important. I became very self absorbed and it all hit me with one little sign.
And I mean a literal sign. I had been praying about the whole situation for a long time. God had showed me that I needed a major attitude adjustment.

I was in Target with my kids picking out a gift for my hubby's grandma, when I came upon this sign....It says "Love is patient, love is kind." 1 Corinthians 13:4 It hit me like a ton of bricks. I knew I had to get it. God spoke loud and clear saying that I haven't been patient or kind for that matter in a long time. Basically, "Andi, here's your sign." So I bought it to hang up in my kitchen as a reminder to try to be more patient and kind to everyone.



The next day I went to take my husband to the airport to return his rental car. I was listening to James McDonald preach on the Family Life Network and he was talking about marriages and how we are self absorbed and we need to remember 1 Cor. 13:4...Love is patient, love is kind."
Wow, what a reinforcement! No doubts now God was indeed speaking to me But God being God and knowing everything decided he should slap me in the face one more time.
Later that week I got the P31 magazine in the mail. There was an article in there about 8 seconds. How sometimes in marriage things become normal. Little thing don't make us excited anymore, if we do them at all...you know the holding of hands, the kissing, hugging, going out etc. She was struggling in her marriage and God spoke to her and said kiss him for 8 seconds. You know, not a peck that us married people often grow accustom to...a good long 8 second kiss. The first time she did it, and it seemed like forever...but caught her hubby by surprise. She continued to initiate these kisses now and then and it really brought excitement back...and changed her whole attitude towards him. Then the scripture she used to back it all up...1 Cor. 13:4 "Love is patient, love is kind."

So I have received my sign both literally and figuratively. I am working on being more patient and more kind. I am working on being slow to anger...and let me tell you patience and tempers are hard ones for us to control. I still goof up, but I am trying. So far, it's made a big difference. I needed to take my own advice that I give to my daughter almost daily "Treat others, how you want to be treated." I am pray everyday, sometimes several times for help in not loosing it...and most of the time I succeed.

But hey, I am a work in progress. I love my husband dearly and I appreciate everything he does for us. There may be bumps in the road, but there is no one else I would rather take this ride with.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Bathing suits

Why is it, that you can't find a NORMAL, MODEST, NOT GRANNY looking bathing suit?

Here's the deal. I have had 2 children. 2 children that were delivered by c-section. Children that I love very much, but lets be honest...the completely destroy a body while they are housed there for 9 months. I have stretch marks on my thighs which normally would be fine, except for swim suit season. I can't wear normal underwear like bottoms or a one piece for that matter since my stretch marks are there screaming LOOK AT ME!

Solution...the boy short. I love the boy short, cute no hiney hanging out, not a stretch mark to be seen. The problem....all the cute boy shorts come with a bra like swim top. Which would be fine...if I didn't have 15 extra pounds on my frame, and if I hadn't had c-sections. I still have that muffin top that hangs over the c-section scar.

Solution....tankini. Except all tankini's come with underwear like bottoms...which I cannot wear....SEE ABOVE!!! So what's a girl to do?

If I do find something cute, it's not in my size, or it's one boring old color BLACK! Unless of course I opt for the granny like one piece with the oh so wonderful skirt attached. I AM ONLY 28 PEOPLE! How come I can't find a cute suit?

And the kicker is that I LOVE to swim! I would swim everyday if we had a pool, but we don't. And if we did it wouldn't matter if my stretch marks were glowing for the world to see...cause nobody would SEE. But we have to swim in public places and I have yet to find a bathing suit that covers the pudge, and the stretch marks.

It's so much easier being a man....a pair of shorts and your good to go. Fat, skinny doesn't matter.

Well good news is that I still have time...oh wait no I don't. Bathing suits will no longer be sold after the month of May because all the winter clothing will be out! :(

Friday, May 1, 2009

I am selfish

I have come to the realization that I am VERY selfish. I have always been a giving person (material wise) so I never thought I was a a selfish person. But news to me, I am!

See, here's the deal. I am already moping around about Mother's Day. I know I will not be getting anything for Mother's Day....from my husband that is. I have only gotten one Mother's Day gift from him and it was the year I gave birth to my daughter. She is 6 now! I know, I know...perhaps I am jumping the gun, but honestly my husband is not the romantic type. I didn't get anything for Valentines Day this year.....as with many years gone by. He said he thought about it getting me something but he didn't have the time. Which being a woman, I have a hard time believing but he apologized and it's over with. Or is it? Because here I am a week before Mother's Day sad because I know he will not buy me anything....afterall...I am not HIS mother.

To be completely honest though, I really resent that. Not to toot my own horn, but I have a memory like an elephant for birthdays, anniversary's, holidays etc. I remember everything! I purchase my husband Father's Day gifts and I want the same for me. And that bothers me. Shouldn't the little gifts from my daughter be enough? (you know, the ones they make in school) I should be satisfied with what I get. But I guess I want someone to dote all over me shower me with gifts, and tell me how great I am. But that isn't what it's about...any of it.

Our relationship has not been the greatest lately. It could all be stress, being married for almost 10 yrs the normal lows of a marriage. And I see myself wanting him to do this and that for me and saying "well he doesn't do this so why should I do that for him?" It's selfishness! None of this is really about me. That is the one thing I have learned about marriage ---it's not about me and I am failing miserably. It's hard to not be on the pity pot in times like these. I can easily see how marriage fail. It's very easy to loose sight of the big picture. It's easy to get wrapped up in myself. The truth is marriage is hard. It takes a lot of work. It's takes a lot of self examination and change and that sure is a hard thing to do. It takes daily forgiveness and falling to your knees and asking God to help you through this because you can't do it and want to give up. I love my husband, we will get through this dry time. It's just time to stop being selfish.

And my son just dumped my coffee mug all over the carpet. UGH! I will update more later.

This is how my son spent his morning!



He woke up this morning and stripped down and started picking! haha! I had to color in some faux shorts for him because I know there are some pervy people out there. He was in his "birthday suit" though. Notice the shoes....got to have shoes on!