WHAT THE????

So i'm a little upset. Has anyone been grocery shopping lately? Let me tell you my story. I'm a little obsessed with knowing how much money i'm going to spend at the grocery store before I spend it. So, a while back, I made lists. I made lists from old receipts of what everything costs that I usually buy at Walmart or Costco. So, going through my list the other night..I knew that I would spend roughly 50.00-60.00 at Walmart and probably close to that at Costco. Off we went to the store yesterday morning. As I was adding things in my head, I could NOT believe how expensive stuff had gotten. Instead of spending what I had planned with my carefully drawn out list, I ended up spending almost twice that! TWICE THAT! Are you KIDDING ME??? Then we took our little treck over to Costco, and SAME THING! I ended up having to put much wanted veggies BACK because I was way over my spending limit for the day! UGH! Anyone else super frustrated about this insane increase in grocery prices??

Pancakes Anyone??

A friend of mine inspired me to be more creative with pancakes! So, this morning, I made Hailey some special pancakes and she thought it was pretty neat. My favorite, was her name, but she was more interested in the Mickey Mouse pancake. She pretty much devoured them and thought it was pretty cool to have 'Hailey Sized' pancakes! I wonder what we'll come up with next! :-)

Lil' Cook

I remember seeing pictures and hearing stories about how young we were (my brothers and I) when my mom started having us help in the kitchen. I appreciate the things we learned because now I have become someone who loves to cook and bake. I love coming up with new creations and recipes to try. Well, Now it's my turn to take what i've learned and pass it on to my own Lil' Cook. Hailey's absolute favorite thing to do is to 'help'. That includes helping me put my make-up on most days, however, the most fun she has is to help me cook in the kitchen. So, today, I decided that no matter how big the mess was, I was going to let her make muffins... almost by herself. I was so proud. Aside from pouring things into the measuring cup and cracking the egg, she did it all. She would take the measuring cups once they were full and pour them into the bowl along with everything else. Then she took her spoonful of batter and would drop it into each muffin tin. What a big girl she is. Then, when all was said and done, she even cleaned up by putting the brown sugar back in the cupboard and all the dirty dishes into the sink. Then we anxiously watched as the muffins cooked in the oven. After cooling, she and I enjoyed a blissful taste of blueberry muffins. Such a big girl.

ABC's of Me!

A- Attached or Single – Attached 4 years and counting!
B- Best Friend - Nate, we've been through a lot together good and bad!
C- Cake or Pie – Hmmm...I like both. Chocolate cake with sweetened condensed milk and caramel poored over it, or chocolate banana pie! yum!
D- Day of Choice - Any day where the sun is shining and I can take Hailey for a walk and have a BBQ!
E- Essential Item – definitely chapstick and my phone.
F- Favorite Color – My favorite color changes often, but I would have to say at the moment, yellow.
G- Gummi Worms or Bears – definitely bears. If they happen to be covered in chocolate, even better.
H- Hometown – um...not really sure what to say here. But currently most of my family live in Vegas.
I- Indulgences – shopping for Hailey and the occasional chocolate molten from Chili's
J- January or July – July much more fun in the sun!
K- Kids – Hailey Rain and baby girl fetus!
L- Life is incomplete without – Family and chocolate chip cookies!
M- Marriage Date – March 13, 2004
N- Number of siblings- 4 brothers
O- Oranges or Apples – Apples if they are sliced. I hate biting into them.
P- Phobias or fears - Fear of being in a fight and something tragic happening before things are resolved..fear of losing someone in my immediate family.
Q- Quote – "Big gulps.... well, see ya later!"
R- Reason to Smile – Just the thought of Nate makes me smile & Haileys funny faces!
S- Season - Spring/Summer-its a toss up
T- Tags – Jessie & Carmen
U- Unknown fact about me – I sing and dance to the radio in my car.. mostly to make Hailey laugh!
W- Worst Habit – PICKING! Nate hate's that I pick at my face.
X- X-ray or Ultrasound- definitely ultrasound.. there's nothing like the feeling you get seeing a little unborn baby on camera!
Y- Your favorite food – Mexican and Italian... and my mom's homemade food. I miss it!
Z- Zodiac - Aries

A mother's nightmare...

I know there are many things that can qualify for a mother's worst nightmare. One of them happened to me yesterday. Hailey and I were at the store and lately, she has been finding ways to wiggle herself out of the buckles in shopping carts. Soon after she does that, she lunges toward me grabbing my neck while the shopping cart goes flying away from us. I have been trying everything from sinching the buckle to giving her a distraction while buckled and yet, she still manages to wiggle so quickly that I don't have time to react before she is grabbing onto my neck for dear life. I'm not sure we should have been calling her 'Monkey' from day one, because I really think she is turning into one. Well, yesterday while at the store, I turned around for two seconds, thinking she was securely tied to the shopping cart and the next thing I knew, there was a LOUD thump and my sweet baby girl laying face down on the hard floor. She immediately began screaming and I grabbed her so fast thinking the worst... broken neck, concussion, skull fracture, etc. After carefully observing her for a few hours, we realized she would be fine. I felt HORRIBLE and pretty much was a mess all night. I apologize to those who had to be around me last night, as I was not myself. I called my mom in a panic needing to be reassured that I'm not a horrible mother for not being aware that my daughter was doing a 'peter pan' out of a shopping cart. Mothers are great in reminding us that it's only the beginning of many booboo's that are to come! As for all you mothers out there that this has happened to, or that are scared of it happening, I feel your pain.

I did it!!!!!!

I'm extremely excited because along with trying to be healthier and make things from scratch, I attempted a homemade pizza. Thanks to my friend Marci, who posted pics of her pizza's on her blog, it got me excited to attempt to make my own. To my surprise, it turned out really well. Nate came home for lunch and he was pleasantly surprised that it tasted as good as it did. So I made a few more that are now frozen in my freezer and awaiting that near day in the future when we can eat them! If anyone has any great ideas for toppings and kinds of pizza, let me know!

Happy Easter!!!

I love Easter for many reasons. I love that it usually means Spring is either here or right around the corner. Who doesn't love spring time? I love the colors of all the flowers, green grass, leaves on the trees. It's almost as if life comes back to the earth. This is so symbolic to me with the resurrection of Christ. What a beautiful world we live in and how blessed I feel to live the life that I do. Today and this past week have been a time to take a reality check on my life. I am so grateful for so many things. A lot of which are extremely personal, but for the most part, I just can't believe how blessed I have been. I thank my Heavenly Father every day for many things, but sometimes take them for granted. I think this is a perfect time to reflect and be grateful for the many blessings we do have. I hope this Easter I can keep in mind the true meaning and continue to be grateful for my life.

I had to post this picture of Hailey because it's just so dang cute! I have more Easter pictures to share from Hailey's Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's house, however, it helps to have your USB cable to upload them, which currently, it's missing. :-) So, as soon as I find it, i'll post more pictures. Till then, I hope everyone has had a great Easter!

Back to the basics...Homemade!

I remember when I was little, my mom always made things from scratch. Occasionally, we would go out to eat, or order pizza, but I don't ever remember eating out as much as I do now. I want to change that, desperately. I don't want my children growing up on fast food and highly processed junk. SO, having said that, I have decided that we need to make a lifestyle change at our house! There is a really great book that helps you make base mixes in bulk so that you have them on hand to make all your own homemade foods. I can't wait to get started. My idea is to make meals a week or two in advance, then freeze them. That way, I don't spend two hours a day making dinner or lunch..and I REFUSE to get up super earlier than I have to so I can make breakfast. So, with all that in mind, I threw the idea out to my mom to see if she could help come up with even more time and money saving ideas for homemade food. Of course, the flood gates opened since she is the master at making things from scratch.

She was up visiting us this last weekend and we made a homemade batch of cinnamon rolls. SUPER easy! I was surprised. They turned out SO good, and the best part is, I have a whole role in the freezer of them just waiting to be cut and baked!

If anyone wants to jump on this homemade food bandwagon with me, please feel free! I'm trying to be better at trying new things and making my own stuff so that my kids can grow up healthy and Nate and I can be around to see that!

4 Years and Counting

So, I have to say, with today being our 4th Anniversary and all, that I have never been happier. Hard to believe with the pregnancy hormones and winter woes, but with my life, I have NEVER been happier. I owe all that to the one person who has given me the best of reasons to wake up every morning. Nate has been the best thing that has ever happened to my life. I can't imagine my world without him in it. He not only is such a great husband and friend, but he is the best Dad too our daughter, Hailey. She adores him! Every time she see's him after work or when she wakes up from a nap, the look on HER face makes me fall in love with him all over again. Nate has such a calming effect on me and everyone around him. I am more the high strung, stressed out type and he evens me out more than anyone i've ever known. He keeps me grounded. He keeps me sane! :-) It took us almost 4 years to say the 'I-do's' but it was worth it. He was definitely worth the wait and I wouldn't change a THING if I could about our relationship. Besides picking up dirty socks after basketball or softball games, THAT, I can do without! :-) With everything that he and I have been through in the 8 years that we have been together, I can honestly say, it's been the best 8 years of my life and he has made me so happy. He has taken care of me better than I ever imagined and best of all, he has loved me despite my many faults. And that, is something! I love him with all my heart and thank Heavenly Father every day for placing him in my life! I don't know what I would do without him.

I found this picture a few days ago of our Very first date. He left work early that day and later I found out, it was because he went to buy new clothes for our date!


our engagement photo 4 years later!


Wedding Day!


And now, we have a beautiful little girl and one on the way!



Sometimes, the best things in life, aren't things!

Binkies and Starburst Jelly Beans

I have to thank my friend Kristi for bringing me Starburst Jelly Beans. Without them, this week would be a little more frustrating! :-) Thanks Kris! My reason for saying this, is we have been slowly taking the Binkies away from Hailey. She has become obsessed with them. She has to have 3 in her hands at all times, with one in her mouth. She quickly switches them in and out, making sure to try all of them within seconds! It's quite entertaining that she has become so 'binkie savvy' however, we realize the time has come to get rid of them completely. So, our adventure has begun. She usually has a few binkies in her crib for bed time. That way, when she wakes up in the middle of the night, she finds one, puts it in and in seconds, is back to sleep. So, for now, the binkie is gone besides bed time. She has been doing pretty good. She gets irritated if I don't give her one.. especially in the car. But, she is pretty easily distracted with crackers and other things that she has been doing well. HAHA.. by well, I mean, the last two days! :-) So, once again, thanks to the great taste of Starburst Jelly Beans to give me a 'pick me up' if you will during those frustrating times in baby transitions! I highly recommend them!