Evelyn's 1st Official Halloween Costume

This little pumpkin pretty much makes my day! We were so excited to dress Evelyn up this year and be a part of the Halloween festivities.  I just love that hat! :)

Not sure yet how to carry the bucket.  But if this is the way she wants to carry it then that's what we will go with.

Daddy and his pumpkin.

Momma and her girl!

This is an action shot.  She was dancing away to some Mickey Mouse music.

This girl will dance to anything.  Really.  The washing machine, dishwasher, toilet flushing, daddy cooking eggs.....It's the best!

Our first stop for candy.....Papa and Gigi's!

That face!!!!

Another action shot.  She did so good going up to the houses.  Don't worry, we only went to like  four. We weren't going to be those parents that fill the whole bucket knowing that she really isn't going to eat any of it.  But I wish she would've at least grabbed some chocolate and not the suckers!  I'll teach her about the good stuff next year ;)

So proud of this little girl.  She impresses me every day with what she learns from us teaching her and what she just picks up on her own.  We are truly truly blessed!

Happy Monday!

-April

Clarissa is Back!

Have I mentioned yet how much I'm excited for this book to come out?  I'm not a super huge gigantic Melissa Joan Hart fan as in I don't know her birthday or all the names of her kids or where she is from but I have always liked her.

I always thought Clarissa was so cool but I knew as an elementary child I could never pull off her looks.  She wore some crazy stuff!!  I think Clarissa is a great role model to teach kids people that you don't have to run with the grain.  Be a little different and who cares who has something to say about it.  I hope I can instill this in Evelyn even though it was very hard for me to do as a kid.  Being painfully shy means you don't do ANYTHING that causes attention to be put on you.  I don't want that for her cause it's not an easy way to grow up.  I think I'll have to introduce her to Clarissa when the time is right :)

Have you caught an episode of Melissa and Joey yet? I am totally in love with that show.  It's back to the roots of good ol' TGIF television watching. It's on Netflix so check it out if you have some free time.  I promise you will be hooked.

This comes out tomorrow so get  your check cards ready!  I know I can't wait for my copy.

Happy Monday AND Happy Birthday to my husband who I'm still pretty in love with! It was 7 years ago today that we met for the first time at a Halloween party and we shook hands in the hallway.  So funny how I don't ever remember him being a stranger.  The Lord knew what he was doing when he put us together.  I don't think anyone else in the world would act goofy with me they way he does just to make me happy.  I love you Zach Rowell!

Now go get this book tomorrow!

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Pumpkin Patch

We did it! Finally made it out to the pumpkin patch.  It's just not fall until this visit has been made.  

Evelyn went last week with Papa and Gigi and had herself a good ol' time but I had to experience it with her as well.  We didn't go last year because she was just too little.  Barely three months old so we bought a little pumpkin from Wal*Mart and called it a day.

I can't believe how little she was.  I thought it was gonna take so long until she walked and now she is running all over the place.  This picture seems like so long ago!

Although we didn't stay more than 30 minutes today we had a good time letting her pick out a pumpkin .(okay, so she grabbed one up from the basket I made her pose in front of so she didn't know she was picking out a pumpkin.  Just go with it.)

Here is her visit to the pumpkin patch with Papa and Gigi.

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Pumpkin Patch Part 2

We also finally decided on what to dress Evy up as but you'll have to come back to the blog after Halloween to check it out :) I thought she might freak out in the Halloween store but she did very very good.  No crying, just a little bit of dancing to the Monster Mash.  Oh, and I also found my costume for an 80's party we are going to next weekend.  Stay tuned for that too.  Unless it's a total flop then all pictures will be burned.

-April

World's. Worst. Blogger.

Ugh! Where do I even begin with my apologies to the blogging world with giving myself the title of "a blogger"?  The only thing I can say is..... I'm sorry :-/  I have a whole list of excuses I can give you but I've probably given them before in some past post so I won't do it again.  It really just comes down to not being motivated to do it. The truth.  I have all these great topics and ideas that come to me while I'm getting comfortable in bed at night after going GOING going all day long since 4:45 AM but they obviously never make it to the computer.  And then when I finally do make a post it's a generic "here's what I've been up to lately" post.  Which there is nothing wrong with but when I feel like I do it every month it makes me feel like a boring blogger. Snooooze.

I feel like I'm being pulled in 100 different directions and I'm not following through on anything I start. (Except for laundry cause I need clean clothes for the week. And then I have to iron them and then I have to pick outfits for the week cause I don't have time to do it in the morning blah blah blah blah blah)  I need some tips or ideas from all you working mommas on how you make everything balance out.

When do you find it easiest to go grocery shopping?

How do you fit working out in your daily schedule without sacrificing sleep and feeling like you're abandoning your child when you want to work out as soon as you get home?

What kind of finance/paying bills system do you have in place?

  Nothing makes me madder than when I start pulling out all the receipts from the week to balance the checkbook and seeing which bills need to be paid.  It angers me because of the time it takes away from doing something for myself.  Yes, I know that sounds so selfish but I try to do my "chores" when Evy is napping on  Saturday and Sunday.  One of these days I would like to be able to do something for me that doesn't involve staying up late after Evy goes to bed or feeling guilty about it.  I know becoming a parent means giving up some of your freedom but I feel if I don't find the time to be a little selfish I might explode one day.  (No one wants to see that, right?)

Work? You wanna talk about work? Like my job that I receive a paycheck for?  I don't even know where to begin with that.  I took a new position in April and it has added a little pinch of stress in my daily routine.  Not complaining, just trying to figure out how to balance this new role along with everything else and not let that stress of work follow me home.  Kind of hard sometimes when I need to know what is going on 24/7 because I have staff 24/7.  So yes, I have already broken out my Christmas music at work because it makes me happy and soothes me.

I'm hoping with the holiday season coming up it will give me the extra boost I need to push out a few more "To Dos".  This time of year makes me soooo happy I'm sure with a few pumpkins on the front porch and a nice fall smelling candle in the house I will turn this stressful frown upside down.

Evelyn already has her scared face ready for Halloween!

Happy October everyone!

Bring on the sweater weather!!

-April

This little piggy ate everything.....

Why is it SO hard to stay on track with my eating healthy and exercising?!?!? And why is this pig so right? Ugh! 

Here's to another week of trying to do it right and see some results. 

Backstreet's 'Nsync's Back.....Alright!

Okay, so they are kind of both back but let's take a moment to talk about the big news of the day.

'Nsync is back..........hopefully.

Rumor has it that these boys are hitting the VMA stage for a reunion this Sunday night. If this is some ugly made up story I'm going to be seriously upset.  There is no need to joke around about something like that.  And dear husband, just so you know, if they go out on tour this wife of yours will be purchasing some tickets.  

And for those of you who are not keeping up with the Backstreet Boys, they have a new album out too.  And guess what?  Kevin has rejoined them!!!!

IT'S BOY BAND MANIA!!!!!!!!

And at 32 years of age I'm feeling 16.  So, if this story in fact is true and there happens to be a tour in the near future I'm gonna need some girls to act 16 with me.

Bye, Bye, Bye

-April

Maternity Leave.....for just a week

No, no.  No new baby over here.  I just had a week off of work and I really really didn't want to go back this week.  It reminded me of being at home last year with Evelyn on maternity leave and I may of had a little tiny tiny break down on Sunday night knowing I had to be without her the whole day. Sad :(

Evelyn and I had a few lunch dates and had a good time just hanging out with her and being with her every day.  Since we had all this quality time she definitely got attached to me.  I can't go to the other room without her having a little freak out.  I'll admit it, I kind of like it.  It's nice to hear her little voice saying "momma, momma, momma."  

I've started my "lose 15 pounds before Halloween" diet and so far I've felt pretty good about it.  My goal is to lose 5 pounds a month for the next 3 months.  I'm really trying my best to stay in my calories every day and I've been shaking my butt to some Rockin' Body dvd's.  If you like a good dance workout I highly recommend this one.  It's fun and before you know it your workout is over.  I haven't worked out as much as I've wanted to due to a week of battling headaches but they have been so much better the past couple of weeks so I've got to find my workout groove.  Curse you headaches!!!

If when I meet this goal I've got to find a Halloween costume to rock!  Not sure what I want to be but my brother is having an 80's themed party so I've got to start thinking of something.  One of the main reasons I really want to take this weight off is so I don't feel so guilty during the holidays when all the candy and cookies are surrounding me at work.  Maybe by putting this out there for the world to see it will keep me motivated.

For all you SBTB fans I keep hearing Mr. Tuttles words that he gave the class when they were given seed money to start their own businesses....

"Motivated, motivated, motivated, motivated."

(Ya gotta say it real fast!)

Speaking of food, Evelyn has been cleared (a month ago) to start eating regular food.  Please tell me other mommies out there have had a child that just does not want to eat anything besides baby food, Goldfish and puffs.  She might take a couple bites of something new but then she is shaking her head at me going "no, no, no, no."  Any tips would be greatly appreciated.  I think feeding has always been the biggest stress for me when it comes to having a baby.  Everything else has been pretty easy so far but what I'm gonna feed her sometimes keeps me up at night.

All tips and advice are accepted!!!

This was her face when she saw her daddy walk through the door.

These 3 make my day.

This face!!

Any healthy recipes are appreciated as well.

Have a good rest of the week!

-April