Why I don't do rebates....

I went on and on about that amazing deal on the Just For Men haircolor. You know the one you could literally make $10 for buying at CVS. Well I was getting ready to send in my mail-in rebate and realized the dang proof of purchase got thrown away somehow. BOOOOOOO!!!! Totally sucks. I still technically earned $2 for buying it, but that extra 8 bucks would have been nice. I knew there was a reason I steered clear of those blasted things. Something always seems to happen. What? What's that you say? It wouldn't have happened had I been more organized and put it in safe place, like an envelope marked "rebates"? No, no, no....it's the rebate's fault. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I did look at my receipt today and noticed that I've saved over $800 at CVS since January. Is that cool or what?

23 Weeks

Hmm. It doesn't look so big in the picture, but I swear I feel enormous!

"Look me Mama! Look me!"

Kids notice everything. The bra may be upside down, and hopefully the girls aren't that droopy, but yeah, kids notice everything. Aren't those jammies cute though? They're fleece and extremely warm (good for certain stubborn girls who refuse to wear blankets, even though her room is frigid at night).

Cleaning is hard

Ok this is why a lot of parents of babies/toddlers don't like to clean. You might be able to tell that my sofa, tables, mirrors, and windows are sparkling clean because I dusted them. If you look in my bathroom you'll see there isn't a smidge of soap scum in sight. All of the dishes in the kitchen have been washed, and the counters wiped clean. There's even BBQ pork in the slow cooker, BUT THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS IN THE MEANTIME! While you're busy cleaning one part of the house, the contents of the rest of the house are emptied out onto the floor. Images of "the man rolling the boulder up the hill, only to have it fall back down again" are coming to mind. Well now I'm too tired to do any more cleaning. I'll have to tackle the rest of this in my daily mad dash before Devin gets home.

Jill's Amazing-ness

Check out this wonderful piece of writing my friend Jill did for her friend's wedding: WOW! I stole this straight from her blog. I just thought it was so beautiful that my friends and family needed to see it as much as her readers.

two good friends were married this weekend and asked me to write/read something for their big day. i was more than excited at the opportunity but more than nervous because they didn’t want to hear it until the actual actual cermony. yikes! (see text below)

all went more than well and it was one of the most memorable celebrations of life and love. congratulations, ryan and kelly. much love to you both.

My love for you is not enough;
It is not perfect, it fails you and it hurts you.
Sometimes it gets angry and does things it shouldn’t.
It curses and cries; it questions and it fights.
My love has limits and conditions.
It sees more imperfections than beauty, it tells more lies than truths.
My love is selfish and self serving; it is impatient and sometimes unkind.
My love for you is not enough to sustain the vow I’m here to make.

So today, I choose not only to love you with my love,
Today, I also choose His.

I choose to love you with a love from Christ that is pure and perfect; a love which gives without conditions and surrenders without expectations.
I choose to love you with His sustaining love when the emotions of today have passed and the harsh reality of our imperfections has returned.
I choose to love you with His sacrificial love by putting your needs ahead of my own, your desires before mine, and your dreams above my dreams.
In selflessness and submission, through the known and uncertain, I choose to love you with the unfailing love of our Father.
I make this choice not once or even twice. But as He continues to pursue me, I choose to pursue you in love each day and each hour and each moment for the rest of our lives.

As Christ laid down His life in love for us, I choose to lay down my life in love for you.
On my own, I will fail; my love for you is not enough.
So today, I choose not only to love you with my love,
Today, I also choose His

Already?

This is what I got from babycenter in my inbox:

"Your 2-year old: Normal? Or Gifted?"

Some parents would immediately dive in to find out, just positive that their tiny tot is genuinely gifted and anxious to craft him/her into the little genius they were born to be. Not me. I am so not going there. I mean, COME ON! Can't we just let kids be kids? Addison probably watches a little too much TV (she knows all the Backyardigans by name, and Devin and I were having a conversation about which character lives in which house; we even rewound it to make sure....seriously) but she's an all around entertaining, imaginative, and happy little toddler. Why mess with that at such a young age?

Besides, what parent DOESN'T think their kid is gifted at this age? Geez you'd think Addison had won a nobel prize the way we carry on about her saying "bless you" when we sneeze. I could just see a parent taking that quiz and finding out his/her kid is "just normal" and being depressed about it for a week.

Anyway, excuse the tangent.... just another one of my many soapboxes. It's a good thing I have this blog. Devin thanks you, my faithful readers! Otherwise he'd have to listen to all this...

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Tonight was the annual Koehler Pumpkin Carving party (Em's parents). It was our 4th one and we always have a great time. I always get excited about it every year, so Koehlers, you have to continue the tradition...forever! It was fun this year because Addison got into the whole pumpkin carving thing. Devin and I started out trying to do Jesus (yeah we're extra holy like that) but he was too hard and the shading got all messed up. So we settled on Barney (on the other side of the pumpkin...ha!). That made Addison extra happy because Barney is right up there with Jesus for her. Actually he may be higher on the list, but that seems pretty normal...for now. I'll be worried in a few years if that still hasn't changed. Anyway, we forgot our camera (as usual) but I'm sure someone else will put them up on facebook, so I'll let you simmer in anticipation for our Barney pumpkin.

Night night!

FOR MY BROTHER

Stay tuned in January for my frequent posts about American Idol, my all-time favorite show (next to LOST). I was a David Cook fan, but I thought that cute lil Mormon David Archuleta was pretty great too. Plus I just love this song! Eric thinks it sounds like CCM (Christian Contemporary Music) and thus mocks me endlessly for liking it. Well I'm down with the Philips, Craig and Dean (and so is Amanda by the way) and who doesn't like cute little adorable Bebo (ahem..Amanda..slight obsession in college)? So even if this song is beyond cheese I don't care. It's great and it makes me happy. Plus I'm used to being mocked for my musical selections. The way I look at it is I could listen to music that makes me happy or I could listen to music to be a pretentious music fan and awe everyone with my excellent taste. Do you know any pretentious Barry Manilow fans? Nope. Just silly old ladies, my mom, Leigh Ayn, and me. So Eric, this one's for you! Enjoy!

It wouldn't let me embed the video, so go here

Picky Eater

Addison goes through phases with her eating. Sometimes she'll try almost anything and say "I like this!" Other times she won't eat anything but peanut butter and jelly, spaghettios and mac & cheese. We're going through a picky phase right now. It frustrates me. Whenever I get down about my daughter consuming all this crappy food, I try to think about Rachel's husband, Brandon, and my brother, Eric. They both loath vegetables, but turned out to be healthy, robust, good looking guys. Phew!

Maybe next week she'll be more cooperative. Let's hope so.

UPDATE!

Addison ate some roasted carrots that I made with my chicken. She gobbled them up! Hallelujah! A vegetable!

Ouch!

At my first doctor's appointment I asked my midwife (yes I'm planning on having my baby in a barn. Devin is going to boil up some hot water and that's probably all we'll need. Maybe a knife of something) if it was ok for me to continue lifting weights and how strenuous. She told me it was fine, but that I probably shouldn't do squats and nothing laying on my back. Well I checked out this babyfit website and it had preggos doing squats with those big balls so I thought..."well if this website says it's ok, it must be!" So here I am at the gym, a couple of days ago, ball up against the mirror wall, doin' my squats thinking how great and fit I was being. "Hey trainer! Look at me! Yeah I'm hardcore like that!" Well yesterday I could hardly walk, and today it still hurts just as bad. The midwife was right. I pulled something; something that doesn't normally get pulled and it HURTS! Ouch! I didn't have any issues until I lifted one of the girls out of their carseats and then it really hurt. It still hurts and I feel like a major idiot. She even gave me a pretty good reason for not doing squats: those ligaments are stretching out as the baby is growing so you don't want to risk tearing anything. Makes pretty good sense right? Too bad in my effort to be "turbo pregnant woman" I ignored that sensible advice.

If you've read my previous post, you might be asking "Marie how can you be turbo pregnant woman if you consumed an entire bag of candy corn in one sitting?"

Good question! It's because I have issues with moderation. My personality is "all or nothing." I can't just go for a light walk; I have to do major hardcore exercise! If I haven't eaten very well, instead of trying to make better choices I usually just say "screw it" and give up. I know this type of thinking doesn't work for life, and it's certainly not the way I want to raise my kids to think.

Anyway, I think I learned my lesson. In both regards. Owwwwwwwww!

Side note for those of you who have yet to understand the sarcastic nature of my writing: I am not having the baby in a barn. Or my house. I'm going to the hospital.

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Announcement for non-facebookers ie: family members/friends that read this blog but don't leave any comments (yeah, you know who you are):

GAP friends and family is going to be Nov. 13-16 this year. That means 25% off at Gap, Babygap, Gapkids, Banana Republic, Old Navy and the outlets w/ 5% going to charity (not sure which one yet..I think I get to pick again. Last time I chose the Global Aids Fund.) Email me at littleredriley@gmail.com w/ your email address if you want a coupon!

GO AWAY YOU DUMB RAIN

Ok before we had kids I loved the rain. It meant a little laziness was in order. That isn't working so much for me today! I need to get outside to the park to let these little monsters (cute monsters) run free!

Maybe we'll just go to the mall....

Anyway, do any of you watch the Biggest Loser? I am hooked on this show, but I'm awfully suspicious of it too. Last night I was wondering if they were making up the weight loss numbers (8 pounds in one week? Seriously?) and pretending to lose more. Like, you know, acting! "OH WOW! 8 POUNDS!" when really they lost 1 or 2. I know they really are losing that weight, but it just seems so unbelievable. Plus where does all the skin go? Shouldn't they have lots of extra skin hanging off at the end? Does it tighten up because they're working out and lifting weights as well as dieting? Amanda, I saw that you had a FuzziBunz expert check out your blog. Well I need a Biggest Loser expert to answer these questions!
Where were the product placements last night? No Jenni-O turkey product placement, or Ziplock steam bag "OH WOW WHAT AN EASY WAY TO MAKE DINNER", or even a 100 calorie pack comment like "THESE ARE SO FILLING AND SO DELICIOUS"...yeah right...I could eat 5 of those and still not feel full. I really do love the show. It's always fun to see how amazing they look at the end and how much happier, healthier everyone is.

Speaking of dieting, can I confess right here, right now that the other day I ate almost a whole bag of Candy Corn? Is that gross or what? I was watching tv and not really paying attention, just shoveling it in and next thing you know there were only a few measly pieces left. It wasn't one of those huge bags, but I still wouldn't recommend this idea to any of you. It makes your stomach really upset! And yeah, it was the free candy I got at CVS, so I guess at least I did my binging for free. Ewwww....it still makes me gag just thinking about it.

One more thing for this post: Addison has started saying "Oh my gosh!" Heh.

Hmmm...

This is what Addison wanted to wear to the gym today. Hmm... I'm not sure about this one! Oh what the heck!

 

For Brandi (and everyone else too)

Proud

Devin's new hobby is running. In college I called Devin "sport-a-day" because he could decide to do something and be really good at it right away. Let's be honest: athletic guys=HOT! Therefore Devin=EXTRA SPICY HOT! But I digress....

Anyway Devin ran his first race today (5k) downtown in the Power and Light district. I wanted to see him run through the finish line. The race started at 7:30, so I had limited time to drag my overtired butt out of bed, get Addison out of bed, force feed Gus his overpriced medicine, make breakfast, and get downtown to park and stuff. Unfortunately my alarm clock never went off, so I woke up at 6:45.

I still managed to get all of that stuff done (except for the pill thing because my cat refused to eat it), park, and see Devin run across the line cheering for him! HURRAY!

He ran it in 21 minutes! GOOD JOB YOU SEXY RUNNER!

(I wish I had a picture to post, but grabbing the camera didn't make it into this morning's agenda).

He just informed me that in my haste I left Addison's wet diaper on his pillow, leaving a wet spot. Oops.

If I blog it, it will happen

That's the way it works right?

Have you guys taken those meyers briggs personality tests? Well if you have, you'll know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, you should. It's fascinating!

Well my letters are ENFP (but pretty close to ESFP) Let's focus on the P:

There are two types of people in this world: J's and P's. J stands for judging. These people like order and organization and planning. They also like working to a schedule. J's are also better at making decisions. The J may feel a sense of urgency about making decisions, but once the decision is made, they generally feel better. Want a good example of a J? Check out Edi's blog! I love you Edi!

Then there are the P's like yours truly. We're pretty much the opposite of all that. We like to have our "options open" and generally dislike deadlines or schedules. Most P's also hate making decisions and tend to struggle with a decision even after it's made.

The problem is it's really hard to be a mom when you're a P. I guess in some ways it's good because I'm generally a pretty flexible person. I love to do things with friends during the day, even if it interferes with naptime, but my distaste for all things scheduled also makes it hard because I think I tend to waste a lot of time during the day. Plus Addison and Celia both do a lot better with some routines during the day. So I need to make a change to some of my nasty habits as of late:

-Staying up till 1:30 am and then sleeping in till 8, just before Kyle (Celia's dad) knocks on the door and answering the door like a zombie
-trying to do my quiet time with Barney/Backyardigans in the background. Putting off planning meals (because even though it works, I still hate doing it), waiting too long to go to the gym, the store, etc because I'd rather sit on the couch and drink coffee and hope the things will get done on their own.

Here's my new plan (and I have to stick to it because it's really not that hard). I'm putting it on the blog because that way I have some accountability.

Go to bed at a decent time (10:30 would be the best)
Wake up before 7 am. so I can drink my coffee, eat something and do my bible study without screaming and interruptions. I should also get dressed so that Kyle no longer has to see me in my pj's (Gym clothes are slightly better) when he drops Celia off around 8.
Feed Addison breakfast when Celia comes.
Immediately take girls over to the gym (if it's a gym day)
Use the rest of the morning to work on laundry, errands, hanging out with friends, feeding girls lunch, etc. I also won't be such a zombie because I've had a little more sleep.

Again, some of you might not think that this is that regimented. Well it is to me. I hate having time constraints. I just want to do what I want to do when I want to do it. The problem is that's really selfish thinking because it's not all about me anymore.

Thanks for letting me post this really boring entry! Tomorrow is a new day....

Princess Tina

For the past few days Addison has been calling her doll "Princess Tina" and I had no idea where she got that name from. She doesn't know anyone named Tina! Again today she was dancing around in a tutu saying "I'm Princess Tina! I'm Princess Tina!" Then I realized she was trying to say ballerina! I don't think I'll ever forget this one (but I blogged about it just in case I do)!

The trip to the vet went pretty well. Gus cried the whole time in the car and Addison was comforting him by saying "It's ok Gussy, it's ok..."Celia thought his extra meowing was funny and so she meowed every time he did. The girls did ok in the vet's office. Luckily they were verrrrry patient (docs, techs) with my toddlers that were doing snow angels on the floor and touching. every. single. thing. Gus is going to be alright. He just has to go back on this ridiculously expensive food (prescription Science Diet) and they told me he needs to lose a few pounds (I've been trying, but he eats all of Roxy's food too!) because he weighs 19 lbs. I could have sworn he had lost a couple of pounds. Guess I was wrong! I went to a new vet in Mission (Dearborn clinic) this time. They were awesome! They were also in love with Gus (he is very lovable).

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Lately I've been getting these horrible cramps in my calves at night. I'll be sleeping just fine and this horrible spasm will creep up my leg and it hurts like you wouldn't believe. I remember this happening with my last pregnancy and it sucked just as bad. Anyone know what to do about that? My legs are still sore from it happening again early this morning. I'm sure I just need to drink more water, but water is so gross. Blagh.

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I planted some tulip and hyacinth bulbs with my neighbor yesterday (I live in a townhouse). Hopefully they'll come up in the spring. I am very proud of myself because I managed to accomplish this task without calling Heather Berry, Amanda or Master Gardener hotline! Yes! I am making great strides....

Sunday Update

I had a great time reuniting with two old friends, Brandi and Melanie. We knew each other at K-State and have lots of fun memories together. Melanie and I met many years ago in Carmen's bible study and she introduced me to Brandi soon after that. When Devin and I had to live apart for a semester a few years ago, Brandi would come over every Tuesday and watch American Idol with me and keep me company. The three of us went out to Zona Rosa and had Bo Lings and talked and talked and talked. Good times. I'm always extra homesick for K-State days during the fall and today was no exception. I met some great people at K-State and wish I could see them more often. Too bad toddlers=timesuckers (it's ok...they're worth it)!

Unfortunately I came home from my social extravaganza to see that my cat, Gus, is having some...issues. He's like a 60 year old man suffering from an enlarged prostate. He's been using his litterbox constantly and peeing little drops of bloody urine on the carpet too. Poor guy. I guess I'll have to take him to the vet tomorrow, which will be OH SO MUCH FUN with Addison and Celia, my pregnant self and a 17 lb. cat (although I do think he's lost a few pounds). That may have been a little too much information for you, but it falls under the "it's my blog and I can write about whatever I want" category. Just in case you haven't heard, I am a cat lady. I think dogs are ok, but I turn into an emotional pile of mush anytime I see a cat. Just so you know...

Lately I've been feeling slightly self conscious about how much I talk about Dave Ramsey. We've been on his plan for two years now and I honestly haven't shut up about it. Well lately I've been wondering if I need to tone down it down a little. You know, not bring it up quite so much. After giving it some thought, I don't think I can do that. The truth is, going to his Financial Peace class changed my whole life. Since it's our two year Dave Ramsey anniversary, here's a little recap: Devin and I did some STUPID stuff with our money in college/right after college. We bought a lot of stuff we couldn't afford, didn't save anything, accrued a ridiculous amount of debt, kept transferring balances around, etc. We also fought constantly about how we were going to handle it. Our first year here in KC brings back not so good memories because of the constant weight/stress/guilt I was carrying on my shoulders. After we started that class and took a good hard look at the numbers (scary) we realized we were spending more than we were making just on basic bills. Plus we realized we had somehow accrued over $60K in debt..umm..yikes? And no, that was not including the house. The great thing about taking that class together is we bonded together as a team for probably the first time in our marriage. In fact, we got a fortune cookie that month that said "teamwork makes the dream work" and laughed at how vomit-inducingly corny that statement was. We stuck it on the fridge as a joke (we're slightly sarcastic) but it was sort of true. Instead of fighting about how to handle money, we work together on it and celebrate together when we make progress. We started our budget and cash envelopes, and started verrrry slooowly on our debt snowball. Eventually it picked up. My nannying job helped, Devin got a slight raise, tax returns went to the debt instead of to stupid purchases, and now we're down to over half of it paid off. It hasn't been easy. In fact, it's been really, really, really hard at times, but it's totally worth it.

Anyway, that's my little rant. I am warning you though: if you go through his class you will likely turn into a little freak like me!

Grocery Jealousy

Why do women constantly play the comparison game? You'd think we'd be there, routing each other on like scripture says to do, but no...we compare and get jealous when other people do better. At least I realized this last night while watching The Coupon Mom show Oprah how to bargain shop at the grocery store. I realized I have a pretty bitter, nasty attitude sometimes (a lot). Here I am watching this amazing woman who has put herself out there to help other people get great deals and getting super jealous at how well she does at the grocery store. I started getting jealous of the coupons she had ("how come I don't have a coupon for Orowheat bread or carrots?") and how she had a Kroger to go to (I really do miss Dillons tremendously) and I felt intense jealousy when I saw how her grocery bill went down so much at the checkout because I do pretty well at the store, but never that great. It's so interesting how the sin in our lives just transfers itself. A couple of years ago, I'd be jealous of my friends' new plasma TVs or brand new house, but now I could care less about that stuff. Instead of the bad feelings going away like they should, they transferred to jealousy over other people who are better at bargaining than me, or who spend less on groceries than I do. Why? It makes me feel like a failure. It's so silly because we all live different lives and have to make different choices. My aunt told me awhile back that there's always gonna be some Dave Ramsey-ite more intense than me and to just do the best I can. Well it's true. I heard a guy call in once who bragged that he didn't have any lights on in his house so he could save money. Dave Ramsey told him he was stupid. I wouldn't be blogging about it, but I bet all of you feel the same way sometimes (especially since most of us are into the whole couponing thing). The only way to get rid of the jealousy (even for someone I've NEVER EVEN MET) is to let God have access to all your crap; the crap that is buried deep down inside and rears its ugly head from time to time. Ok that was a really gross analogy, but you get my point... You have to be honest that those feelings do exist and that they're wrong. And then you have to give it all over to God and let him work in you. It's a process...

Anyway, my fellow amazing CVSers and grocery geniuses, keep bragging about your awesome deals. Don't be ashamed at how well you are taking care of your families. I promise to be happy for you and encourage you, even if there are weeks where you're way better at it than me. :)

Barney

Back in March, I went to Eureka Springs, AR with my mom, Aunt Shel and Mariah. One of the antique stores we went in had this little plastic Barney doll. The guy was selling it for $3. My mom bought it for Addison. I teased her, saying there's no way she should have paid that much for it and that Addison would forget all about it right away. WRONG! She carries this little thing around everywhere and talks to it. She even sleeps with it sometimes. Guess it was a $3 well worth spending.

















This picture nicely displays the "bang trim" Addison gave herself the other day.

Fall Flowers

One of my favorite things about this year was re-discovering my childhood love of gardening. It's been a love/hate relationship (love flowers/ hate slugs, love planting/hate watering) but I could spend hours outside doing this stuff and not get sick of it. Sometimes I wish I had majored in landscape architecture or horticulture instead of my dumb education major, but it's ok. Never too late! This has been a good hobby to help break me of my perfection problem. You can't be a perfectionist and be a gardener. It just doesn't work. I haven't tried veggies yet, but am planning on it next year. I just know I'm going to get really upset about all the bugs....

Anyway, some of the flowers look really pretty in this awesome fall weather. Some of the hostas don't look so pretty in this awesome fall weather, so don't judge me too harshly. I'm a novice afterall....

I planted these purple mums back in the spring and got really upset when they all died and never came back. I was so happy when they bloomed this week!



This lily is pretty cool because it's one that Devin's dad bought me at the grocery store back in March. I decided it might be fun to try to plant it. The original plant died off, but all of these little offshoots popped up and now it's blooming.


This is our front yard. My border (left side)was already there when we moved in a few years ago; just needed to add some more plants. Our neighbors side (right) looked BAD, so Devin and I fixed it up for her. It's pretty fun to go plant shopping with other people's money! She just gave me a big bag of spring bulbs a few days ago, so I'm really excited to stick some tulips and daffodils in there. As you can see, the hostas have seen better days. I found out that grubs have been munching on them all summer. Organic, shmorganic...I HATE BUGS!



And last but not least, this is my adopted cat Squatter. He came to live on our deck a year ago, and never left. Now he's mine! I put a little kennel out there w/ blankets, but I'm trying to get Devin to build him a little house. It's not going so well (Devin doesn't have the same sense of urgency for cold cats as his pregnant, overly-emotional wife).

When Pumpkins Drink

This is what Devin sent me in the mail. I think it could work for the annual Koehler Pumpkin Carving, so I had better get out to the pumpkin patch and begin sharpening my knives!




















Kind of a blah day around here. This kind of weather makes me want to do nothing but watch tv and drink hot beverages with the word "pumpkin: or "cider" in them. I can still do that now, but it will mean my house will get destroyed by "exploring toddlers" and nothing will get done. Then again, that happens anyway:





Oh well. It'll get picked up...eventually. I'm a proud member of the "frenzied cleaning right before hubby gets home" club.

Fear not

I'm still here, my blogging friends and stalkers. My computer is still not in working order (I wish I could just buy a new one, but somehow I just don't think Dave Ramsey would approve) but I'm at my parents' house, trying to download this program my computer genius friend recommended to try to salvage my photos before I wipe out everything and start from scratch. I'm thankful that I had my xanga (www.xanga.com/owatacutie) for so long because many pictures were saved there (and on good 'ol facebook) but I would still be pretty sad if I couldn't get them off my computer. Keeping my fingers crossed....

So I just can't figure out what to name my kid. Devin has suggested Joel, but that won't work because I have a pseudo-ex boyfriend named Joel and that just seems weird. I don't want to visualize this person whenever I think of my kid. Creepy! That's a bummer too, because Joel's a cute name for a boy. I thought it would be sort of cute and symbolic to name my son Dawson because it's such a cute name and not that over used, but Devin won't even consider it (even though I told him no one watches Dawson's Creek anymore so no one would even know the REAL meaning, except for people who know me too well). I also think Jack is a very cute name (LOST). Unfortunately many of my favorite names are ones that the Rues and Lathrops have stolen for their PETS. Girls are just as difficult. One of my friends has a baby named Edyn and I think that's so cute, but is it bad taste to literally steal a name? That's what I'd be doing. I don't see this person more than a few times a month, but still...it seems slightly messed up. Ainsley has been another favorite for a long time (West Wing). ARGH... I need some help. Give me some ideas.