Emeals!

I'm not going to even try to give an excuse as to why I haven't posted for almost 2.5 years...because in truth, it's just been pure laziness!

But here I am, and maybe this time I will follow through.

Wow, so much has happened in the span of time I've been gone that I'm not even sure how to update w/o spending weeks writing, what would end up being, a novel.

So, I will just start with today.

I've considered turning this blog into a food log because I've really become a gourmet chef over here since having children, and trying to find an easy way to save money.  Yeah, okay, sooo, not too much truth about being a gourmet chef, but I don't hear too many complaints from my fellow customers (i.e. my husband and kids...and sometimes the dog who gets scraps), so I must be doing something right, ya think?

At the beginning of the year, Rob and I were reevaluating how often we were eating out, and when we really looked, it was A LOT. It was just way too much, and it was just SO unnecessary.  I did cook every week, maybe 3-4 times, but the rest of the time it was take out or a restaurant. Not just for dinner either, this included out to lunch, for both of us, a few times a week...and it got very expensive!  I believe dinner out mainly became a habit because with Rob's job being so demanding at times, eating out guaranteed we were ALL sitting down together to have dinner.  Not the kids and me eat at one time, and then Rob eating an hour or two later when he finally makes it home after a long day.  So while it became a way for us to spend time together, it just had to stop.  It wasn't healthy physically, or mentally because it really is true that the more junk you eat, the more you want it, but I digress.

So, back to January.  Rob happened to come across a Groupon for the meal planning website, Emeals, and I'll tell you friends, it has changed our eating habits dramatically.  I highly recommend it to anyone I can get to listen!

It really has been a life and money saver, but more importantly, we are eating healthier and our kids are really getting a much larger variety of foods to try.  By using this website, we are able to create a weekly meal plan that provides the recipes, ingredients list, shopping list/staples, and the total price for all the things you will need.  You are also able to choose a store close to you, depending on which plan you have chosen!  

We started in the beginning of January, and we are still going strong going into Month 4 of meal planning!  On occasion, I stop and I ask myself why I never researched for a site like this before, but deep down I know a big part is because I don't like change very much, and by starting something like this, I knew we had to change the way we (I) looked at food.

Today, I am so so glad Rob accidentally stumbled upon this site.  It's amazing how such a small thing, can really change the way you live each day! 

Tune in for some of my favorite recipes...so far!

Where has the time gone?

Wow, it's been almost a year since my last entry. I was so inspired, for about a day (lol), last year to get back to writing here, but alas, life got in the way...as it does most of the time.

I can't believe it's 2011.

I blinked and bye bye 2010. I believe that the year flew by for me because Robert was born January 5, 2010. With him being born at the very beginning of the year, my sole focus for the first few months of 2010 was a) loving and getting to know my little guy b) adjusting to two children c) SLEEPING!

By the time I had those three things down, 2010 was almost over!

With that said, it was such a wonderful year and I feel so blessed to have my two beautiful children. It's amazing how your heart just grows so much bigger with each child.

Here are my sweet babies!!!

Two month check-up and the dreaded shots...

Good afternoon!

So, Robert had his two month check-up yesterday. He is now 13 lbs. and 23-3/4" long! He's in the 75th percentile for both. Mama's big boy! His doctor said he is growing perfectly. Which of course I knew already, but it's good to know he's healthy and we're doing things right.

Unfortunately he had to get his 2 month shots and I hated it. Rob was there for his appointment, so I left the room while he got his shots. I get extremely anxious about them, and just didn't think I'd handle it very well. Rob said he calmed down right after he got them. Such a good boy!

So far today, he doesn't seem to be affected by the shots. No fever yet and other than being a little more tired than usual, he's his happy, chunky self. My sweet little guy.



I took the kids to The Watermelon Patch this morning...and no, it's not an actual patch full of watermelons. hehe It's a children's play place and Elizabeth LOVES it!

http://thewmpatch.com/

Kids are down for a nap at the moment and I'm REALLY enjoying my free time...and it's oh so quiet. Ahhhh....

Well, off to relax for a bit.

Have a great weekend!

I'm baaack...and feeling inspired!

Wow, almost an entire year has gone by since my last post. And in this time, I have been pregnant for 9 wonderful (okay, that's an exaggeration) months and we are now the proud parents of a baby boy...he's 9 weeks old and he is so perfect! He really is the best baby.



Our angelbug, Elizabeth, will be 3 next month and I am just in awe of what a wonderfully smart and gorgeous little girl she is becoming. Yes, she definitely acts 100% like a 2, soon to be, 3 y/o. She has her moments, many moments, but I do my best to cherish even the most trying days because I find that even enjoying the tough times, there is always a lesson to be learned and something positive always presents itself.



It is SO incredibly awesome being the mother of two beautiful children. It is better than I ever could have dreamed, and I've done a lot of dreaming of what my children would be like and how motherhood would shape me into the person I always knew I wanted to be.

Life is good. No. Life is great! I am beyond blessed.

Two Year Check-Up

Elizabeth had her 24 month check-up today.

She did wonderfully and actually had fun. In her words, "I had fun at the doctor." So there you have it.

Thankfully, she did not get any shots today and WILL NOT have to get anymore until she is 4. Momma is VERY happy about that.

The doctor is very pleased with her vocabulary, how she is growing, and she even said, "She's perfect." We of course already know this, but having someone, other than myself or DH acknowledge what we already knew, made us feel justified in our thinking. hehe Kidding!

Her stats:

Weight - 27.2 lbs.
Height - 34 inches

She is 50% for both. She's a perfectly normal size.

So it seems our little munchkin is taking after her momma in her growth. I do hope she does gain an inch or more than I, but if she's my height, she'll at least be in the "norm".

Overall, it was a pleasant experience and we feel extremely blessed to have a smart, healthy child.

Thank you Lord!

Here she is on the way home after leaving the doctor's office.

Turning Two, At The Zoo

What a beautiful day to celebrate the birth of my child.

The weather was gorgeous...77, sunny with a cool breeze. We could not have asked for better weather and better company. Most of our family was there, with an exception of a few, who were missed.

The Zoo was busier than normal because of Easter. There were fun festivities for the kids - face painting, petting area with rabbits and ducklings, games, inflatable bouncers. The only downside to the extra fun stuff was we, the birthday party, got placed inside a building, rather than have it outside as we normally would. The building we were in goes by the name of "Creepy Crawlies". So yeah, you can only imagine how "excited" momma was to have her beautiful daughter's party in a room full of bugs. Much less a room that smelled like animal poop, mixed with a little bit of fish smell. It stunk...to say the least. But yet, the party continued on and we made the best of the "crappy" room.

As plates and cups were being set out, we all mingled and everyone caught up on the past year. A few of the people at the party had not seen each other since Elizabeth's birthday party, last year.

It was finally time to sing to the Birthday girl, and I made the wise decision to hold her because she always tears up when a ton of people sing. I think it's too loud. She kind of shied away, but had a little smile on her face the entire time we were singing to her. She blew out out the candles and then Tina (my SIL) cut the cake and and I passed it out. Everyone raved about how delicious it was...and it really was. Thank you Jay's Bakery for adding 5 lbs. to my derriere.

After we got done eating, and visiting, we decided to skip opening the presents because the smell in the room was getting increasingly worse. So at that point, everyone made their way outside. Some, such as my grandparents, did not want to ride the train, so we departed from a few of the birthday guests and made our way to the train. Elizabeth was gleaming when she saw it pulling up. She could not wait to take a ride.

The train ride was all it could be and more for the birthday girl. She did so well and was just in awe of all the wildlife running free. Especially the Zebra's. She had been talking about seeing the Zebra's for weeks and her chance had finally arrived. She pointed and smiled and laughed...and I was doing the same thing, but mostly directed towards Elizabeth because watching her excitement, made me so incredibly happy. At one point on the train ride, we were able to get off and go see the Hippo's and Gorilla's.

The train ride had to come to an end and we were now excited to walk around the Zoo, and see the rest of the animals. But before we did that, we had to get a picture with the Easter bunny. Elizabeth would have it no other way. She didn't give us much of a choice because as soon as she saw the Easter bunny, she bolted towards him and he scooped her up. Thankfully there was no one waiting in line at that time. She did not want to leave his lap and asked him a few times if he would like to go see the "aMinals" with her. It was precious.

After picture time, we finally began the journey. She was just so amazed at the monkeys and tigers. She watched them and would say repeatedly, "They're so cute!". It took a little over an hour to see everything, but we finally made it through and although we were happy to be done, Liz was not ready to leave. So, we decided to take her to the slide area and let her play some more. We found some family members and chatted with them while Liz played with her cousins/friends. After a half hour or so, we finally said our goodbye's, thanked everyone for coming, and headed out.

The Birthday girl was exhausted. She fell asleep not 3 min. after getting in the car.

It was a perfect day and I am extremely pleased at the way things turned out. We could not have asked for a better birthday for Elizabeth and she deserves every bit of it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGEL!

Momma loves you!

The Watermelon Patch

Today was supposed to be a family fun day full of parks, ducks, swings and slides, but unfortunately our guests were unable to make their way over to Mobilly due to bad timing, so rather than pout about our misfortune, Liz and I went to her favorite place in the world...at least for today, The Watermelon Patch.

She met a lovely young boy, Matthew. Well, in actuality this was their second meeting, but to her, it was just like the first time.

They followed each other around like they've been best friends their entire 2 years on this Earth. He more so tagged along (I think he has a little crush) while Liz did her thing, glancing behind her shoulder every so often to make sure he was still there. Hey, isn't that the way it's supposed to be? =0P

We stayed for a little over an hour, and I really enjoyed watching Liz interact with the other children. Especially Matthew. I have a feeling this is the beginning of lovely friendship.

Inspiration, Thanks To Kim

When I first began my blog, oh so long ago...last week (hehe), I wasn't really sure what I would write about, much less how I would form the correct words to express my feelings in the moment.

I guess once I began typing, the words just flowed and I felt a sense of peace and almost accomplishment in that I had started something new, something for myself.

A nice lady to whom I would consider a friend, wrote me a sweet e-mail today. She complimented my writing skills and told me how she enjoyed reading what I have to say here. It really inspired me. More than she will know.

I have always lacked confidence in many things, but mostly in academics. In my ability to push myself and really set forth and go beyond my comfort zone. I'm smart...or at least I would consider myself smart....worldly smart. But I have always stopped...right before it got really hard. Not sure why, considering I have a mother who always pushes past her limit, and she keeps going and always succeeds. I had a great example. Why do I always stop?

There is really no other purpose to this post than to acknowledge a kind lady who gave me words of encouragement in something I have always had such self doubt about.

Tata!

Shout Out to Lauren P.!

You rock!

I love what you did with my Blog page.

Thank you so much for doing that for me. It's all pretty now!

Yay!!!

Elizabeth, My Little Boo, Who Is Almost Two

My sweet little angel is going to be two next Sunday and I'm having such bittersweet emotions about it.

I'm so happy to see her growing, learning, becoming her own little person. But I also wish sometimes that I could stop time and she would stay just the way she is. Innocent, kind, excited about life.

This is how I see her...and probably always will.



She's my baby, no matter how old she is.

I love her more than life and I honestly don't know why God gave me such a beautiful gift, but I thank him every day for her.

I love you angelbug!