Broken bones, sickness, a blizzard and lots of activities..

I haven't posted in a while, so get ready..this one is long!

The past few months have been a whirlwind of activity. Helping Lisa get everything ready for her wedding pretty much consumed my life until the big day. After that, my life was getting ready to host Christmas eve as well as traveling to Indiana to celebrate with extended family. In between we had christmas ,new years, and birthday parties that we attended with neighbors and friends which were a lot of fun!

January was pretty low key. All of our winter activites started including all of my fitness classes, Jason's basketball league, Braden's martial arts class, and Aubrey's ballet class

Braden seemed a bit unsure of what we call his karate class( it's actually called Tang Soo Do- pronounced ' Tong- Su')..but now has grown to love it. His instructor is very strict, but fun. It helps with coordination, discipline and concentration. It's on Tuesdays and Thursdays which is perfect since he only has school M/W/F so it gives him something to look forward to. Braden is an on the go kind of kid and loves it when we have lots of activities planned

Last session Aubrey took a tumbling class that was down the hall from the little one's ballet classes. Every time we would leave tumbling she was plead with me to take ballet. The youngest age classes the park district have is 2 1/2-3 1/2..so..this session started at the beginning of january and Aubrey wasn't 30 months until Jan 31st. I got a nice lady at the park district office who let her join because she was 30 months within 2 weeks of when we would start the class.

Aubrey LOVES ballet. It is her first class without me and I was worried how she would do, and she had no problems at all. She loves everything about it. She struggles a little bit with the listening to the teacher at times and following all the directions. But overall she did really well for her 1st time and she will get it all by the end.

January 31st was a day of broken bones in this house..not all that serious,but painful.. That morning I somehow stubbed my toe on one of our step stools just the right way and managed to break my 4th toe on my right foot. Nothing that can be done, but EXCESSIVELY painful to walk on. Had to take a break from working out, it got nice and purple, swollen, and just overall gross. Don't worry, I didn't take a picture. Then that evening Jason called me around 8:30pm ( the time he was supposed to be playing basketball) and asks me " Can they do anything at the ER for a broken nose?". During his basketball game his nose got abused and ended up gushing with blood for a long time. It didn't stop bleeding until about 10pm that night. He did end up going to the ER, but it was crazy busy. So, they gave him the option of waiting for an x-ray or he could just follow up with an ENT, so he followed up with the ENT that friday. Yep, sure enough broken. If he wanted to get it fixed he would have had to do it this week, however since he is traveling this week, he can't. So next time you see Jason, you can see that one side of his nose is now smaller than the other.. good thing he's a guy and really could care less.

The blizzard. It was a bit scary the night before the huge snowfall hit. It was So windy and the thundersnow freaked me out. We were sitting in the family room watching tv when the lightning struck. I have never experienced thundersnow, didn't like it one bit. Of course the next 2 days of school were canceled and Jason even got a day off out of it, which was great! By the afternoon everything was clear around here and buisness's all opened back up again. The kids had a fun time playing in all the snow. I think overall we got about 18 inches??Not sure on that one.

Currently, Braden, Aubrey, and I are all trying to get rid of a cold that just won't go away. Lots of mucous with this one. Last saturday Aubrey came down with a 104.3 temp. I wasn't sure what it was until she started throwing up..Even with motrin her fever only came down to 102.7. We were a bit concerned. After some time we were convinced that it was the stomach flu and thankful that Braden had a bunch of stuff planned on saturday, so we could kind of quarantine Aubrey. I of course was on bucket and take care of the sick kid duty and Jason was in charge of taking Braden the various places he had to be. I was SO glad that this happened while Jason was in town. In the past, the kids always seem to get REALLY sick when he's traveling, which starts this week. So we were glad I had the help that I wouldn't have normally had. Thinking back I realized that Aubrey has never had the stomach flu, so I guess she was about due. By sunday her fever was already down to 99.8. And she started eatting normally yesterday. Hopefully we will get all of our sickness out of the way in the next month so that we will all be healthy at Disneyworld. We decided to go during spring break this year to hopefully avoid serious sickness as well as experience warmer weather. Usually when we go at the end of Feb. it's only warm 3 days at the most and one if not both kids are usually sick with something more serious than a cold. The only down side, a lot busier. So we will see how this goes this year

My 1st sale!

I can't believe it! We got home from preschool this morning, I put my phone down on the counter, and right after that it was ringing..I open my email from etsy and it says "congratulations on your sale"

I was excited, shocked, surprised,gitty..and all sorts of other things all at the same time. Here I was just thinking this morning of what I would do if no one bought anything after a few months..would I close up shop? would I make and list different items?? I wasn't sure.

The funniest thing about it is that it was the sign that I liked the LEAST and I didn't think it would sell at all..BUT I think it's because it's my Mickey Mouse themed sign..I'm thinking my next one's I make are going to be Disney themes since that is so popular.

It is for a little boy's 2nd birthday and it is being shipping tomorrow morning to California.

All day I was constantly rushing to get it done and get the approval of my neighbor before I shipped it..

So here's what I ended up with..

It was based off of the one I had already made, but I obviously had to change it a bit..

So hopefully I continue to make these sales. I LOVE doing this and hopefully people love what I make :)

My new venture

So..over the past few years I've been making highchair signs for my kids for their 1st birthdays to coordinate with the theme of their birthday party. Last year, my friend was asking me where I had gotten the sign I made for Aubrey's birthday because she wanted one for her daughter..Once I told her I made them, she immediately said " you should sell those on etsy".

My response was " really??do you really think people would pay money for these??"

I've asked a handful of people their opinion, those that are crafty and those that are not. The overwhelming response was " YES! Do it!"..

I had made a few signs a few months ago and did nothing with them. The summer was just too busy and I still was very doubtful that people would even buy these.

Today, I finally took the plunge. I already had an etsy account, but now I am not only a buyer but also a seller. I spent most of the day trying to navigate etsy and figure out how I wanted to word everything. It's not perfect, but it is what it is. I listed the items I had already made and most of my shop will consist of custom orders since that's kinda the point.:)

I do enjoy making these and I hope I can make some money off of them..that would be nice..if it flops, I'm out a little bit of money and a little bit of time, nothing too terrible.

The name of my shop is " One of a Kind Birthday Design", but since I was already listed as an etsy buyer my shop comes up as megalin0 which is my username.

I'm primarily doing highchair and birthday signs right now, if it is popular then I will expand to showers (bridal and baby) and bachelorette parties. Jason said from a buisness plan, it's better to do just 1 thing first and expand later. So, that's my plan.

Now I sit here and wait to see if anyone is interested in what I have to offer. From what I've heard it usually takes 3-4 months for your shop to really take off.

here are a few examples of what I posted ( you get both a highchair sign and coordinating door hanger)

Wish me luck!!!

The month of August

It is the last day of August and I couldn't be more excited...while I had a great time all month, it was honestly one of the busiest months we've had all year. I haven't been home 1 weekend in August and am looking forward to relaxing at home this weekend for the 1st time since Aubrey's birthday ( july 31st)..

The 1st weekend in August started on thursday and we came home sunday..we went to my grandparents house to take the kids to Indiana Beach on friday and a family reunion on saturday. The kids had a blast at indiana beach! Braden got to ride the 'big boy' rollercoaster. He had to be 44 inches tall to ride, and with shoes on he was just about there..so they fudged a little and let him ride (with Jason of course). He got to ride the big log flume ride ( loved it) as well as all the little kid rides. Aubrey stuck to the little one rides and to my surprise loved it all..when we were at Disneyworld she wasn't a huge fan of rides at that point,but she was also quite a bit younger and we discovered soon after that she was fighting a virus.

Saturday we had the family reunion in wabash. The kids enjoyed exploring the property and playing with their cousins.

Braden with his cousin Gaby

We came home sunday and I spent that week preparing for the big week long trip to the east side of Michigan. This trip was just the kids and I and was filled with play dates, shopping, playing outside and going to the beach.

We ended this trip spending the day in Colon, MI with our friends Jenny, Jason, Macey, Kelsey, and Taylie..We had a great time playing all day and after baths and pjs were put on, I loaded the kids in the car and headed home. I thought that maybe the kids would get so tired they would all asleep in the car....not so much.They both were very good in the car, but didn't sleep at all. We got home around 9:45pm and the kids were in bed by 10. Needless to say I was exhausted..but no rest for me :)

The next week I spent putting finishing touches on the decorations and last minute wrapping for Lisa's bridal shower/bachelorette weekend. Pretty much every evening after Jason came home I was out the door to either go shopping or various appointments to prepare for the weekend.

Friday morning Braden had his preschool orientation and after that I finished up packing up the car and was off to Saugatuck.

Friday evening a few of us girls rearranged furniture, put up the decorations,and prepared food to get ready for the shower the next morning. Saturday was the big day. Lisa's bridal shower, dune rides, wine tasting, bachelorette party and bar hopping was a lot of fun! I hope it was everything Lisa had wanted. I had a great time and again..exhausted.

I think this was a good end to the summer and I am looking forward to fall. I have had enough of 95 degree days with a ton of humidity. I am looking foward to cooler days where I can put the kids in jeans and we can play outside without sweating to death. I know I am in the minority, but I get sick of the hot weather. Braden is excited to be back in school and I am enjoying only having 1 child to rangle in the morning. I am overall looking forward to a not nearly as busy September!

Kings, Queens, and Bowling

For the past few weeks Braden has been VERY into dressing up. Since most of our stuff is all princess stuff (Jason did not approve of Braden wearing that), I had to go out and find a king costume for him to dress up in. For about 3 days straight all day, this was what he wore.

Aubrey also enjoys dressing up, although doesn't keep it on as long as Braden. Her main obsession is shoes. She has loved shoes since she has been able to walk, but Braden insists that she be a queen when he is dressed up in his king costume. So he is constantly putting a tiara on her head. She doesn't mind, but it doesn't stay on for long.

All last week Braden had been begging us to take him bowling. He had never been and I'm not sure where he got the idea that he really needed to go bowling. So we decided that sunday would be the day. As soon as we walked inside Braden was practically in tears he was so happy. I have never seen him so excited about anything. They both had fun, although Aubrey got bored about 1/2 way through and decided just to walk around, dance to the music, and people watch. Braden can't wait to go back and has been asking everyday " Mom, i want to go bowling with dad"

Braden and Jason were very excited because Braden got both a strike and a spare :)

Jason and I have been busy getting ready for the Annual Millcreek garage sale. There are over 260 houses in our neighborhood participating this year, so hopefully we will get a good crowd. The weather is supposed to be clear for Thursday and Saturday,but right now they are predicting storms and wind friday, not good for the sale. But, i know last year we made most of our money on thursday, so we are hoping that is again the case.

18 Months!

Aubrey turned 18 months at the end of January, although our pediatrician is so backed up with well visits that she didn't have her appointment until Wednesday. Aubrey is usually not a big fan of the dr, although I think she's gotten used to it since we've been so often this winter. She was surprisingly very good, didn't cry at all..she got 1 shot and whined after it went in,but then was fine. Such a champ!

Her stats:

Weight: 26.4 lbs (50-75 percentile)

Height: 34 inches (90-95th percentile)

Head circum.: 47.5 (75th percentile)

Aubrey is really starting to stretch out and I was truely surprised at how tall she is..(I'm not sure why)

Developmentally she's doing everything she's supposed to and is very advanced in terms of her speech for her age. At a year and a half kids are supposed to be saying minimally 7 words. Aubrey's is closer to 30+. She also puts some words together and started saying phrases. Some consistent things she says is " thank you" or " I want____( daddy, snack,mommy..you get the idea)". This morning we were watching my friends daughter, her name is Sadie. Aubrey came over to Sadie and said " Hi baby sayd"..can't quite say sadie,but it's pretty close.

Aubrey is still my little girly girl. Still a huge fan of shoes, clothes, dressing up,baby dolls,barbies and LOVES shopping with just her and mommy..but that we don't get to do very often. She also loves trucks, balls, and wrestling with her big brother..I guess having a big brother prevents you from being over the top girly :).Aubrey is very strong willed and independent. She will throw a fit if there is something that she thinks she can do herself,but you try to do for her..very stubborn. She absolutely adores Braden and immitates every thing he does, which is sometimes NOT a good thing. She really is a very stereotypical girl. Loves books and dolls, and not very good at jumping or running. Definitiely will not be the athlete in the house..haha

It's such a relief having a child that is right on track with everything and knowing that I just don't have to worry.

Our big girl.

1st Place!

Aubrey's picture was in a' best of 2009' contest that our photographer started on facebook and won 1st prize!!! I am so thankful to all of our facebook friends and friends of friends who voted for her!!! This means we get $200 worth of free pictures at our next photoshoot. When Kathy emailed me to ask my permission to post Aubrey's picture I felt honored that she even wanted to use her picture. But then I started to realize we would have a real chance at winning. So I emailed people and posted the contest numerous times on my profile. My sister, my friend Jen, and Jason all posted and emailed people as well. I probably annoyed some people, but the time when we were so close to beating who was in 2nd and then 1st just got my adrenaline going and I couldn't give up! As my friend Jen said " You're so close, you have to go for the gold" hahaha...I about fell on the floor when I had seen that we won and felt so happy that all my nagging wasn't for nothing :). So the top picture is the winner and the bottom is just a cute picture of Braden :) We have so many great pictures that Kathy took I wanted to post them all..but the blogger wouldn't let me:)