HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY BABY BOY!!!

I can't believe you're 2!!! This is the hardest birthday, just as it was for your sister...it seems like you are less and less like a baby and more and more like a big boy. :o(

I'm so proud of you, I love you spunky little attitude, I love your mischievousness, I admire your love of books and I admire your analytical little mind! You are so different from anything I've experienced before and you amaze me every day. Your sister is my creative, artsy drama queen princess with a brain to go with it and I adore her for that! You are my book loving, analytical little thinker that loves to always ham it up. You bring such joy to my life my little boy.... I thank God for you every day!

Love you "Poo-Poo"!!!




We had a GREAT day today so far! We started off this morning (after sleeping in until 8:30!!!!) with some of your favorite...Eggs in a Basket! I served them with two of your favorites, strawberry yogurt and bananas...yummy! Then we hung out at home for a bit, played some TeeBall outside while I made you a double layered peanut butter & chocolate filled cookie cake! My little cookie monster loves his cookies so what better cake than 2 GIANT cookies stuffed and topped with chocolate frosting?!?!?!? We brought that on over to our weekly Ladies Bible Talk session and after eating lunch over there at Ms. Jen's house(that lunch rocked Jen!), we had your cake with our friends and then came home to nap. Mommy is pooped and I have lots of planning to do this week for your Saturday Party so tonight is Pizza! I changed my menu plan for today because I'm tired. :o)

We will spend tonight just lovin' on you my sweet angel and I'm sure we will be continuing to read your new book (Thanks Sabrina!) over and over and OVER again. :o)


You already have a love for baseball...Daddy is so proud!!!HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Your Friendly Local Avon Lady!

Yep, that's right... I am officially an Avon Representative!! I buy it enough, I thought maybe I may as well sell it and make a little extra money for the family. I have always LOVED Avon, it's affordable and easy to buy. What woman doesn't like to buy beauty products and who doesn't love catalog shopping! LOL

So, for all my friends and relatives that do not live locally, you can still order through my Avon website and have your order shipped for free! Just go to my website!

I SWEAR by their Foot Works line, it's just as good as Bath and Bodyworks but HALF THE PRICE! The cracked heel cream...THE BEST! It's on sale too in Catalog 9 which I need orders no later than Sunday night 4/27th to get in on that great deal!

Oh and don't get me started on my FAVORITES . . . glimmersticks eye liners, Big Eye Pencils (better than using any other eyeshadows for sure!) and the Glazewear gloss...oh how I love the clear Glazewear gloss with Pink Persuasion Chunky Lip Liner Pencil....nothing better! (Victoria's Secret quality for sure!)

Here's to my new Journey!!!

I'm officially a CVS'R!

Okay, today marks the day . . . . I've become an official "CVS'r"! LOL

No, really..... I think I have it down. I've made a couple of mistakes that could have saved me about $10-$12 but that's okay, I learned from them. :o) I've learned to buy coupons off of Ebay, print them online, cut EVERY coupon out of the Sunday paper and that's about as deep into the "coupon collecting" I'm getting right now, just don't have time to do more that.

I don't really spend much time reading blogs that are pretty much journals, I have them in my reader and if it catches my eye, I click on it, otherwise the little time I have for "blog reading" goes directly to sites like moneysavingmom and thecentsiblesawyer and blogs linked to them. By doing that I have slowly become more educated in CVS and the ways to not only SAVE money but to MAKE money too. And being a stay at home mom who is no longer responsible for the family finances (Thank God!) I have to find ways to cut corners, save our family money and get a little extra to treat myself to the nice little make-up extras, moisturizers, bath and beauty stuff...you know "girly things"! And I am successfully on my way...YAY!!!!

I've kept every receipt since I started CVSing on April 6th and this is my monthly total since I don't forsee myself going back this week. :o)

So with stacking Manufacturer Coupons from 3 different sources (online,newspaper,ebay), CVS printable coupons ($3off15, $5off$15,$3off$20) (thanks for the jump start Heather!), LOTS of Extra Care Bucks (ecbs)...this is what it looks like number wise...

I've spent a total of $29.78 Out of Pocket (could have been about $15-$18 but I screwed up at the beginning!)

April Merchandise Purchased:
11 Packs Huggies
20 Bottles of Softsoap
17 Boxes of Alavert
20 Boxes of Colgate
20 My Buddies Bars for kids
5 Febreeze Noticeable Plug ins
3 Bottles of Windex
2 Bottles of Shout

Total approx. $438.12 retail price.

And NOW I'm left with $84 in Extra Care Bucks to use next month! YIPEE!!!!

Now it's taken work, organizing (I have all coupons in a box with dividers, 4 separate cvs cards, organized receipts, ecb's, printable coupons, etc.) and quiet time to make one-two trips a week, can't do more because of gas and really just make 1 "CVS Trip" the other one or more would be driving by one on my way to do something else and having my CVS Binder & Box ALWAYS in the car with me just in case... and I may have spent about $30 out of pocket but now I'm up all this product AND I have actually made $54 dollars! Thanks CVS! I know it looks like a ton of crap, but it's ALL stuff I use. I DO NOT advocate wiping out the store in one trip, nor do I get it JUST BECAUSE IT'S FREE, since some people need those items but when it comes to meds, soap, or daily necessities, I'm on it! :o)

So take some time ladies, sit down, read and then jump in to earn your first set of ECBs, that's all it takes. My first investment was some diapers which I would have needed to buy anyway and it generated my first $14 in ECBS, I haven't spent anything since! Maybe a dollar or two here and there but that's only because I was still learning how to do it. IT IS WORTH IT!

SO JUMP ON BOARD! :o)

Tomorrow!!! Thank You God!

After a couple agonizing hours on the phone between this CSR and that CSR, I was finally able to get an appointment with the dentist TOMORROW!! Oh, no more pain after today, THANK GOD! After getting upset with my conversation with one lady from the insurance company, I hung up before going off on her after about 45 minutes of transferring back and forth telling me "Sorry,we can't do anything for you until your effective date of 5/1st!, took a breath and decided to call back hoping for another rep. Low and Behold, my angel "Mel", a very sweet man helped me out. He didn't even make me wait on the phone too long, called me back to do this and that and wa-lah! Taken care of....the receptionist at the original dental office I chose had nothing for me until next Monday, but found me an appt. about 25-30 minutes away tomorrow at 8am - - - I took it, OF COURSE!

I'm not even going to think about the cost, and all that stress, I'm just relieved to see an end in sight to my pain. YAY! :o)

Feeling Disappointed...

This past month has been a month full of anticipation and excitment. The weeks have been long and a little tough at times. We have had a TON to do in relation to church stuff, community events, birthday parties, spring cleaning, and all the other things that are the responsibility of a woman and her home. I've pushed through each week, made a really great new friend that I've been walking with for the past three weeks now (we are starting to jog this week!! YAY!) and she's a really great woman, I can tell we are going to be great friends, well all that said it's been easy to get through those weeks knowing what it was working up to...this weekend and next weekend. Well, guess what?!?!?! I have an abscess, so the dentist told me last Wednesday and need a root canal and crown ($1875 without insurance!!) and I had not had a good nights rest half of last week because of it. He gave me pain meds until my penicillin kicked in but today I am STILL in agony so I'm thinking my nerve is probably exposed and it's not the abscess. I can't do anything until insurance kicks in May 1st so I am FRUSTRATED!!!! This tooth caused me to miss an AWESOME consignment sale in Round Rock that I was supposed to go to with my girlfriends to get church stuff for the kids next weekend, AND I MISSED RELAY FOR LIFE!!!! I HATE missing events, especially one that I was SO EXCITED about. I feel like I let everyone down, EVERYONE was there sending their thoughts, prayers and good wishes my way and I was SO SAD, cried for half of the night! And Christopher had 103 fever all Saturday and yesterday so not only did I miss TBALL on Tuesday and Thursday but Saturday tooo!! AND I missed my niece's birthday party to just add to it!

WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT!!! What an attack, really. That's how I'm looking at it. We have been working so hard towards such an important goal. I have an amazing husband who just worked a 12 day, 150+work week who played Mr.Mom each of the two nights after work running to games in Georgetown and Round Rock, rushing to Saturday's game all the way our by Lakeline Mom and Being the Snack Mom (Dad) AND running home to change Adrianna to rush right back out to the park for Bella's Bday Party, AND rushing home to run back out an hour later to setup for Relay for Life in my place.....oh and of course he stayed from 7pm to 7am...he's usually the last man standing, never gives up or backs out when he commits to something (I love that about him even though it can be frustrating at times,LOL).

So, how does Gina, the control freak, feel about totally LOSING control all week and now having 2 sick kids on top of it....MISERABLE!!!! Totally Miserable!!! Our first service is next Sunday and I NEED to be 100% for that, I'm going to be one of the first faces people see as they come in... I NEED TO FEEL WELL!!! I'm praying for some physical healing, for me and my family. The other families on our team are all dealing with sick kids too....wow Satan sure knows the areas to attack you in, I'm really starting to see it and HATE it!

Things have been going so well, I will not sit back and give up...no way. When all my friends around me that I didn't have a year ago, heard I was suffering this tooth agony ( I swear I'm not being dramatic, I'm SUFFERING BAD!), I had one person offering me some natural remedies, another one help with the kids, another offering dinner, pain medicine, people calling ME to check in on me, it feels so wonderful to truly feel loved. This is why I have given my life to this, this is why I chose to be a Christian. I don't always feel comfortable using the language but that is what I am. I am living my life the way Jesus would want me to, and when I am out of line in my thoughts or my actions, I instantly am aware and try to adjust myself accordingly. I've never been like that before. What I feel, is what I say and there is no apologizing for it, even if I"m wrong, because I have to feel right, don't I??? No, not anymore.

I've always had my issues with Christians just from my past experiences with them. Then I came across a couple who showed me what it truly means to be a Christian and through their actions and watching them live out their lives, I knew it was genuine. Then as our group grew I was able to see different levels of where people are at in their walk, where they come from and have been able to understand and even influence them in some ways which has been wonderful. Even when I was tested again not long ago by a friend who has been a Christian forever and I was deeply hurt by her, I have found peace through prayer and can finally forgive and pray for her and her family. God brought another Christian woman into my life through our Preview Party and she lives right down the road from me!!!!! She is my exercise partner, my neighbor, and my friend. We have a small group of moms in my subdivision who will be all journeying to kindergarten together with our children and I feel so lucky to have them right by my side.

All of these women, you know who you are, all of these men that my husband now can call "friends", and all of these amazing children that I have in my life is BECAUSE of the choices I made over a year ago...it changed my life. I have an incredible support system, and not ALL of them label themselves "Christians" but just AMAZING and giving women and families that I absolutely adore and am so grateful for....this is why you need to reach out and give..... think outside of yourself and it will all come right back at you in time.

It takes time to build these types of friendships. You must plant the seed first, take action, then nurture and feed it....the end result is something beautiful, something that makes me proud to be me. I can look at the seeds I've planted this past year and a half and almost all of them took, some grew faster than others, some sadly died off, but my personal garden of friendships is in full bloom and as I sit here thinking about them all my heart is full of joy.

My Fav

This is one of the ones I FINALLY chose of Adrianna along with the sepia tone closeup (I have one just like that from Christopher's 1st bday hanging in my entry way so this will match PERFECTLY!) I am also doing a Yankees 3 pic collage for his bedroom since that is totally going to be his theme. I also chose these two bro/sis shots ! It was SO hard to pic only 5, so I chose 8! :o) Of course...


The ones with the two of them are not the "typical fancy posed" pictures but are so natural and I ADORE them! Heather will release them to me today (removing her watermark) and then I can send them to print...I'M SO EXCITED!!! Just in time to frame Christopher's for his 2nd birthday party!!

Everyone's asking me about the outfits, esp. Adrianna's ....The Children's Place, my favorite!

I just got home from a meeting with my friend Sarah, who is also the chairperson for Hutto's Relay for Life this year and my head is spinning. Not only is it spinning over the RFL stuff, but also over the Round Rock Area Serving Center, missing the first Bible Study with Resonate EVER, taking in all of the new friendships that are forming all around me, going on week 3 of walking with my friend Jen who lives around the corner (we ARE going to kick it up to a 1min jog/2min walk next week for sure!) LOL, going through my "Spring Organizing" lists, CVSing, and Oh So Much More! HA! At times I feel OVERWHELMED, but I LOVE it! I thrive off of it, isn't it sick!? I was determined to do laundry today, I never really let my laundry pile up more than two loads, most of my close friends know that about me, and I definitely don't let it sit out in baskets to wrinkle (then I'd have to iron and everyone knows I DESPISE that!) But I put it off today to hang out with Ruth, that totally was more fruitful than washing, oxycleaning, fabric softening, hanging and folding a bunch of lousy clothes! :o) My friend Sabrina also stopped by to give me a hostess gift for her shower on Sunday, and Im LOVIN' IT!!! I had a GREAT day today!!!!!!

Chris and Adrianna went to TBall since Christopher just wasn't having it today (2yr molars I think) and it was a good opportunity for Adrianna and Daddy time. So I played outside with my little man and then folded 1 load of laundry with him, he's such a cute little helper already. Socks entertain him for at least 15 minutes while I get everything else hung and folded, worked out great! I quickly squirted some of that Clorox toilet bowl cleaner while I put away laundry then used some Clorox wipes to clean the counter tops in the bathrooms, flushed the toilet and wa-la my bathrooms seemed clean... I felt like I accomplished more cleaning in 45 minutes than I could have done all day and wow that was awesome!

I printed up all my Target coupons and my CVS scenarios, paid my bills (never a fun task) and now I can dedicate the rest of the week to the to-do's of RFL, a playdate and a birthday party, oh yeah along with TWO more Tball games, don't get me started on their ridiculous schedule!

I am in a moment of such "THANKFULLNESS" right now! My life is so different today than it was a year and a half ago. I have moments when I questions things, moments of weakness, moments of envy, moments of doubt, but those things are what makes me REAL. I am weak, no matter how strong I like to portray and reading 2 Corinthians for my Ladies Discussion Group made me realize, it's okay, the weakness is what makes us "real" and relatable. That was the ONE word that Paul repeated over and over again, boy did I need to hear that and be reassured of that as well. The things that are happening right now could make me cry with joy which is why I haven't blogged in detail about stuff, there really isn't a need to...I'm living it with those around me . . . life is full.

My FAVORITE

MY LITTLE MAN... I LOVE THIS PIC....

Go Yankees!

Our FUTURE YANKEE!!!!!



I will go on and on over Heather!!!! How AWESOME is she?!?!?!?!?!?

I'm on a Roll...

I might as well post our spring pics so far.... I have become HORRIBLE at emailing pics to everyone like I used to, so hey, just read my blog and here you go...
xo

A Sneak Peek...

Okay so Heather took over 200 pics and she sent over a couple late last night....just a taste of her magic!! I loved how she captured Adrianna's sweetness and shyness...oh I CAN'T WAIT for the Yankee Pics of Christopher....




These are their Spring Pics/Birthday Pics which is what I''m going to start doing now that I've already done Christopher's First Birthday last year and both of their birthdays are Feb & Apr so it's just easier to do them in between both bdays and get it done in one shot! :o) I went casual this year but had to add a few of her in a dress. Mom probably isn't going to be too happy, she loves and insists on the "Foo-Foo" stuff and don't get me wrong SO DO I, but I wanted to try something different this year, sorry Mom.

Heather, you did an AWESOME JOB!!! I will totally keep on blogstalking you waiting to see more! :o)
Thanks again girl!!!!!

Check out her amazing work at www.vanityphotography.blogspot.com!!!

What an UPSET!!!!!!!

DO NOT even get me STARTED on last night's American Idol!!! I am so ticked off!!!! I really don't want to blow off my steam through my blog because I don't want to insult anyone or their taste in music, BUT obviously "America" got it WRONG last night!!! Whatever, he'll make an album anyway so screw all those voters!!!!!!!! Yes, I do take the dumb show seriously and HATE to see an upset like last night. I really don't even want to watch the rest of the season... I'm so irritated! All my friends heard it last night during our ladies bow making night so I'll spare them anymore today.

Today was Adrianna and Christopher's photo shoot by my friend Heather, who is an AWESOME photographer and mommy of three who is just getting started. HURRY UP WITH MY PROOFS GIRL!!! :o) How convenient it was driving right down the road 5 minutes to her house to get the pics done! Too bad Adrianna was her shy self, as usual and Christopher was a maniac, LOL... I know I'm going to love the pics regardless!!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!! She just did Kylie's for her birthday and just LOOK how awesome they came out!!!!

Okay, gotta get ready for "Date Night"! yay!!!

Another GREAT Message!

I just added this to my Round Rock Area Serving Center Community on PlanetMe.com...it's SO GREAT!!

Now, THIS is advice worth sharing...

I was sitting on the couch with Chris and Beni tonight and they were chatting about music and mentioned this song and it just took me back to 1999!!! I LOVED THIS SONG WHEN IT CAME OUT!!! I was 23yrs old and what GREAT advice for a young, newly engaged woman entering her next phase of life. This is one I KNOW I'll share with my children one day.

Thanks to my husband and sister, my musical geniuses! I love that they share such a great passion for music together...warms my heart!