It's True

It's true. Despite what you may think I still love this little boy! He's just so dang cute!

H - E- Double Hockey Sticks

{I hope you all didn't mind my lovely advertisement post last week. I got 50 free Christmas cards out of it. If you click on the link at the bottom and write a beautiful post of your own, you can too. Yay for free Christmas cards. Since I had no idea how we were going to pay for them this was just perfect.}

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H - E - double hockey sticks... that is what today has felt like. As far as Monday's go today was definitely a Monday; not a great way to start off the week. By 2pm I wanted to crawl back in bed and start the whole day over. Why was today a 'terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day?' Here's why...

* My workout this morning about killed me. Seriously. I was only halfway though and was already gasping for breath and every muscle in my body felt like it was on fire. Yuck.
* After my workout I heard Rose and Reuben getting in their car outside (Rose and Reuben are the older couple we are renting from). We needed some ice melt a few times this past week and so I went out to see if they could get some. They were actually on their way to get some - yay! As I was walking in the door Rose asked me if I would shovel the driveway (we shovel the driveway, rake the leaves, mow the lawn as part of our rent). It snowed a lot yesterday and we shoveled. Then last night it snowed too... as in like almost nothing. A very, very light dusting on the driveway. Not what I wanted to do, but okay. I was just about to put Cayden down for a nap and hop in the shower, but figured I could quickly shovel the driveway. I put on my jacket and left Cayden inside to play.
* While shoveling I looked up to see Cayden walking down the driveway. Yep, you guessed it; Cayden has figured out how to open doors. Oh joy. I picked him up and told him to stay inside and play while I finished.
* About five minutes later I was done. I put the shovel up and went to open the door. It didn't open. I tried again only to realize that my son had locked me outside. Seriously? Of course I hadn't brought my keys out with me because who honestly takes their keys with them when they go to shovel the driveway. Luckily I had my phone on me and was able to call Chad to come unlock the door. (Any other day I could have just had Rose and Reuben let me in, but remember, they were out buying ice melt.)
* I waited/froze outside for about 25 minutes waiting for Chad to come home. Meanwhile Cayden is inside screaming and turning the door knob trying his best to open the door (he could lock it, but apparently couldn't unlock it). During this time he was also able to make a HUGE mess.
* After rescuing my son and putting him down for a nap I was finally able to shower and start the laundry. Because I started the laundry so much later than I normally do I was doing it clear up until dinner. Fun, fun, fun.

I thought this was the end of the horror, but sadly I was wrong...

* While feeding Cayden lunch he started grunting. No biggie. Except that I quickly realized that this was very juicy sounding poo. I pulled him out of the highchair as fast as I could in an attempt to prevent a blowout... no such luck. I had a poo covered child.
* I cleaned Cayden and got him dressed and then started rinsing his clothes. (I suppose this is the silver lining... because I had started the laundry so much later I had a load that hadn't been started yet. I was able to throw the poo clothes in after rinsing and spraying them. Yay!) As I was cleaning out Cayden's lovely poo clothes I heard a crash and the sound of something shattering. I ran from the kitchen to find Cayden standing over a pile of broken ornaments with an empty box in his hands. At this point I was about to lose it. I took Cayden to his room and left him in his crib for about 20 minutes while I calmed down.

That's why my day has been the day from H - E - double hockey sticks. I am so glad that Cayden is in bed right now. And I'm so glad that tomorrow is a brand new day. Here's hoping that it's better than today was.

'Tis the Season

This morning as Chad was getting ready for church (I'm a sicko and Chad has to teach so Cayden stayed home with me) he picked out a Christmas tie to wear. I told him that he was crazy! The stores might start putting up Christmas things the day after Halloween, but I refuse to. I am a believer in the "day after Thanksgiving" as far as Christmas is concerned. But I have to admit, the snow that we got last night had me really wanting to listen to Christmas music; I wanted to cheat, but I didn't.

Anyway, I've been debating back and forth the past few weeks over whether or not to do Christmas cards this year. I've never done it in the past - when Chad and I were first married I figured we were too boring to send out a Christmas card. We didn't have any cute kids to look at and everyone already knew what we looked like. So I never did. Last Christmas was the first year where I even thought about sending out cards, but we didn't have any cute family photos (aside from a few we took at the hospital when Cayden was born, no way in heck I was going to use those... I looked so... lovely) and it just kinda slipped my mind. This year I have no excuse as we had adorable family pictures taken in October, see how amazing they are!

There you have it. I have come to the conclusion that I have to do Christmas cards. I've decided to go with Shutterfly this year. They have the cutest everything... photo books, Christmas cards... really anything related to photos.

I'm loving this one (click here) and this one (click here) even though it is really traditional. I also really love this one (click here)... it's different. And finally, this one (click here). It is so unique and something I normally wouldn't think of.

As you can see, I'm having a difficult time deciding, so let me know what you think!

Check out their cute Christmas cards:
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards,
adorable calendars (a possible Christmas gift?):
http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars,
and birth announcements:
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/baby-cards-stationery/birth-announcements?c=60461&lid=cards&lpos=bm_hp.

(I totally regretted not sending out any birth announcements when Cayden was born, so I've decided that whenever we have another baby I'm totally going to do it!)

Take a moment and check out Shutterfly. Maybe you'll find some great Christmas cards or presents!

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Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… sign up!
http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Helping Daddy

This week we raked up what was left of the leaves (well, except for the few that are left on two stubborn trees). Cayden had a blast helping his daddy, though I'm not sure you can really call it helping. :) Next year should be even more fun!

Raking the leaves with his broom. Weird kid didn't want to use an actual rake.

Playing in the leaves.

Cheese mom!

Whabam!

All this = $0.00 (aka TOTALLY FREE!)

Because I rock. Whabam! :)

Grateful

Our budget this month has been tighter than usual thanks to a lovely car repair at the end of October. So today as I was walking out of Walmart with a shopping cart full of groceries I was thinking to myself how frustrated I was; frustrated that the budget is even tighter than usual, frustrated that I couldn't buy some of the things that I wanted to at the store, frustrated and tired of living on a student budget. I got to the car and opted to put Cayden in before the groceries as it was lightly snowing and cold and Cayden has a cough that I didn't want to antagonize. As I was doing so I kept an eye on my cart full of groceries to make sure someone didn't take off with it.

I glanced up at one point to see a man walking very slowly up the aisle of cars. He looked a little out of place and was visibly upset. I smiled at him and went back to putting Cayden in the car. When I looked up next I was startled to see the man standing a few feet away from me. He told me that he wanted to get some food for his boys and asked if I had anything on me I could give him. A few thoughts went though my mind...

...I normally don't feel bad for people asking for money as I think there is something else they could be doing to get the money/help they need. But I felt bad for this guy and wanted to help him.

...I never carry any cash on me! How on earth am I supposed to help him when I don't have anything to give?

I had to tell the man that I didn't have any amount of cash on me and that I was so sorry. I felt horrible and helpless as he walked away. After loading the groceries into my car I climbed into the drivers seat, locked the doors, and started bawling. Not just a few tears, but all out crying. I felt so bad for the man. What he said really tugged at my heart. I wished so badly that I had something to give him or even a less strict budget where I could have gone and bought him a few things. I didn't think of it at the time, but I could have offered him a loaf of bread or an apple or some crackers. That might have helped a little.

As I was thinking about how bad I felt for the man and his situation I was reminded of how truly blessed I am. I have a house to come home to with plenty of warm water and heat. I have a wonderful family - a husband who works so hard and loves his family and a sweet little boy who brings so much joy to my life. I have a car to get me places. I have the ability to buy food for my family; while it isn't always the grandest, we never go hungry.

Whether or not the man actually was trying to get food for his boys or not doesn't matter. It reminded me that even though our budget is tight and I sometimes wonder where the money is going to come from, we are always provided for. I have no room to complain that I couldn't buy all the things I wanted because I have all the things that I need. Things could certainly be much worse. I'm grateful. So grateful.

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Sometimes Heavenly Father needs to drop a brick on our head to get us to pay attention and realize that things aren't as bad as we think. Apparently today was my day. :)

Family Pictures

Last month (over the course of 2-3 days) Chad's cousin Emmalie took our family pictures. The first day it was pouring rain and we had to reschedule - though we still got some really cute pictures. Anyway, Emmalie did an amazing job and I am in love with the pictures! Check her out on Facebook... SnapShots By-Emmalie ...I would totally recommend her. Thanks Emmalie for doing such a great job!

Here are just a few of my many, many favorites. :)

P.S. I'm really sorry this post is SO long. These are just a few of my favorites. Seriously. :)

P.P.S. Is my son really picking his nose and eating a booger? Gross. Thank you Emmalie for capturing this moment.

Time Capsule

Way back in the year 2000 when I was 14 years old and in Young Women's we had this really fun activity where we made time capsules that we were to open during the year 2010 on our birthday. While visiting my family this summer I re-discovered this time capsule and brought it home with me so that I could open it on my upcoming birthday.

I'm not gonna lie. Some of the contents made me laugh so hard and some were really sweet. Though the one thing that stuck out the most to me was that I was totally a 14 year old girl when I made the time capsule. :) Enjoy!

My time capsule.
* Painted yellow which was and still is my favorite color.
* Has tons of pictures of things I liked such as... makeup, animal slippers, diamond rings, and Elmo?

The contents.
* A "What Does It Cost?" sheet. Apparently I need to travel back in time each time I want to fill up my car as gas was only $1.21/gallon.
* Ticket stubs from plays/sporting events I went to.
* Pictures of Nicki and I. By the way Nicki... we look so young!
* A Young Women's pamphlet with the values and theme. (Both of which have changed since then.)
* A questionnaire that I filled out. This seriously had me rolling as I read it! Why? One example... My favorite birthday was when I turned 14 because I could go to Stake dances. LOL!
* Letters from both of my parents and Nicki.
* A mission statement from yours truly about the type of person I hoped I would be in ten years.
* Laura's rose.
* My handkerchief and recommend from the Palmyra Temple dedication.

I Feel So...

OLD!

My birthday was this past Thursday and I turned 25. I've never really cared how old I was, but for some reason 25 feels really old to me. I mean, I'm only five years away from 30 (which everyone says is over the hill) and according to my brother my life is 1/3 of the way over. Now I understand why year after year my mother continued to turn 29. ;) Though I'm really not that old, turning 25 still seems really weird.

Anyway, Thursday was a pretty regular day... laundry, Cayden was somewhat of a pill, Chad was gone most of the day with work... but we did manage to make it a little special.

Chad came home with these pretty flowers. I really, really like getting flowers.

He also brought home Nicholas Sparks' brand new book (I've only read two of his books and loved them, I've decided that I'm going to have to check out the rest from the library), a heavenly caramel apple from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (they are seriously divine, and they can't be THAT bad, I mean most of it is apple...), and marshmallow creme (which he claims is from Cayden even though Cayden didn't help pick it out).

All in all the day was pretty great. I got a little spoiled with some surprises and was able to spend some time with two of my favorite people, Chad and Cayden. Love my little family!