Is it Spring yet?

Well, I made it through another six weeks at school, and we're officially only 7 school days away from Spring Break.  (...but who's counting)  Work has been stressing me out a bit, so I'm really trying to work on my positivity! :)  The students this year are pretty sweet and behavior is definitely manageable, but the level of apathy is a little overwhelming.  Last week we had inservice, and the majority of the trainings had to do with motivation.  There was a lot of useful information and resources, so I'm looking into it!

 

As well as stressing caring about work, it never seems to slow down on the home front...which is totally okay.  I've just been amping up my level of caffeing intake!  One thing we've discovered in the past weeks is SAMS online shopping.  I LOVE it!  One thing I definitely despise is going to the grocery store.  We are either lugging two children around or one of us is going by ourselves.   I am also terrible at it.  I fill like I spend a fortune on a basket full of groceries and still don't have things we need.  I seriously need a personal (grocery) shopper who will make my list and do my shopping for me!  Anyway, SAMS now has an app that you can grocery shop with, and once the shopping cart is submitted and paid for, you can go to the store and pick it up....all ready and waiting for you.  Fabulous.  Saves us much time and energy!  So, instead of keeping an ongoing shopping list on our refrigerator, we just immediately go to the app and add things to our shopping cart.

 

On top of our grocery discovery, the last weeks have been pretty eventful.  After much deliberation and research, I decided it was time to cut my hair off.  I just don't have the time or energy to deal with it anymore!  I'm pretty pleased with the result, plus it was only $40 and I think I've found a new hair stylist!  whoo hoo!

The bad thing about haircuts is that they're a little addicting to me...kind of like tattoos!  Now that I've made the leap, it may be hard for me to stop!

 

Last weekend was a very busy one!  Friday, after work I went to a Pampered Chef Party and mentally bought a million things.  Unfortunately, the bank account wouldn't pay for my imaginary shopping list, so I bought a couple useful (cheaper) gadgets instead!  On Saturday, we had Nate's birthday party in Lewisville.  It was a beautiful day and full of fun.  He had his party at a Speed Zone place with go-carts, putt-putt, and bounce houses.  Grace had a blast with the bounce house, but that was pretty much all she was big enough to do!  We also got to see baby Cora and the aunts & uncles, so that's always fun! 

Plus...we got to pretend we were the HULK!

 

After Nate's party, we headed to Landon & Whitney's.  Mom and Dad were in town for the night, so we went over to grill and visit.  Grace had a good ole time.  They have a big jungle gym thing in their backyard that Grace loves.  She wore poor Loli out!  They also had some brand new kittens that Grace loved!  She kept saying, "Awww, the babies!"  *precious*  They were about the size of the palm of my hand.  Too bad they grow up to be cats.  ;)

Today is a super exciting day too...Landon & Whitney were supposed to find out the sex of their baby, but the little thing was enjoying having its legs crossed too much!  Oh, well--maybe next time!  BUT..everything is looking great and its got the cutest little alien head I've ever seen! :)

 

Clark had his 4 month appointment this week, and all went well!  He is now 25" (50th percentile) and 17.5 lbs. (90th percentile).  The appointment was at 3, so Mike had to take him--which I'm fine with since he had to get shots.  It was annoying because they had all the shots he needed but one, so we'll have to take him back this week to get another shot.  Poor baby.  He seems pretty unphased by them, though.  So, that's good.  At the doctor, he informed us that 4 months is the time where he should be able to sleep through the night and no longer NEEDS to get up and eat.  He had been doing much better with his sleep up until that point.  He was only getting up once a night to eat, so we decided it was time to phase the nightime feeding out.  The first couple nights, he woke up like usual around 2/3, and we were just going to let him cry for a bit.  He only cried for about 10-15 minutes and he was out.  There was one night where he cried for a little longer and seemed to be getting more upset, so I went in there and turned on his white noise and soothed him a little bit.  Worked like a charm.  After about 4 nights of him getting up, we have now had two nights in a row where he has slept all night!!  I give him his last bottle between 7:30-8 and put him to bed no problem, and the last two days I have gone in and woken him up at 6:30.  So awesome.  Hope he's not just toying with us!  Also, he has now officially turned over from his back to his tummy!  Milestone #1- yay!

 

 

 

 

 UPDATE

 

So, my identity theft problem has worked out quite nicely (so far). Almost three weeks ago, I mailed all my paper work into Conn's to start the process of investigating my fraudulent accounts.  I had to fill out a 6 page affidavit and mail it with a copy of my driver's license & social security card and a copy of the police report.  After getting it notarized...on top of that.  Well, I've been calling everyday just to confirm that it has been received and is being processed--and they finally called me back TODAY!  I spoke with a guy in the fraud department who said they received my paper work about two weeks ago and a filing was done on Feb. 20 to charge off the two fraudulent accounts.  whoo hoo!  He said at this point, I am completely clear of any money owed.  The only thing left to do is to wait for a confirmation letter in the mail (in 30-45 days), and after that I am going to check my credit to make sure there are no other accounts or charges from late payments!  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

 

While my credit was being tarnished by an unpaid $10,000 installment loan, Mike and I began our 9 week journey to "Financial Peace"!  Our church is offering a 9 week presentation of the Dave Ramsey program, and our first session was on Sunday.  We have been doing a version of the program for about two years now--cash envelopes and snowball debt payoff--, but it's good to get remotivated and reorganized with our budget.  We have a big (expensive) trip to Alaska planned for the summer, so we'll definitely need to work that into the budget!  Another reason I like actually doing the program is that we meet with a small group afterwards (that also includes a financial planner), and Mike and I are figuring out that we are actually in a really good position (debt wise) compared to a lot of other people.  Lowers the stress level a bit!

 

ON ANOTHER NOTE

 

I am SO sick of this cold-hot-cold-hot weather!  Everyone in my house is remaining sick--we cannot keep enough tissues!  Last weekend, however, was beautiful!  I always like it when it's nice outside because we like to take the dogs out and the kids can get some fresh air.  Grace likes to play in the field and play fetch with Daisy!

 

 

 

 

GRACE UPDATES

She really is becoming so hilarious.  The other day she was walking through the living room and stumped her toe.  She yelled, "Ouchie!  Mi roast beef!"   Also, she has some minor OCD with her blankets.  She has two blankets that she sleeps with and she is a littly psycho about them.  They have to be laid a certain way all the time, and when we cover her, we better use the correct side of the blanket or we are in for it!  We are still maintaining our love of The Little Mermaid, and it pretty much plays on repeat.  Her progress in gymnastics is going really well, also.  We have officially gotten to a point where she almost never has a breakdown and loves to learn new tricks.  She was being silly and playing hide and seek last week.  (Was pretty tough to find her!)

 

 

 

 

The kiddos still love bath time, and they are growing like weeds! <3 Poor Clark has a pink bathtub because we are too cheap to buy another one.  Oh well. #firstworldproblems

 

 

 

Seriously, what did we do before kids??  Have a great week!

 

 

 

 

I knew it was coming..

Deep down, I knew that this 2 kid thing was going to be an adjustment, but wow.  I officially have one month down, and the countdown to Spring Break begins!  It has been a challenge to figure out how to prioritize our time and get everything done that needs to be!  I think the hardest part has been the morning time, but we have worked out a system and so far it is working awesome!  On top of trying to work and get the kids taken care of, we are commiting to healthy lifestyles!  This sure is a lot to do in a 24 hour period.  To make it work, Mike works out in the morning at 6 while I get up and get ready.  The first couple days, Grace was in a hellacious mood!  She didn't want to wear anything we picked out and everything was a battle!  Mike suggested that we wake her up at 6 and let her watch some cartoons for a while.  What a genius thought. Unfortunately, neither Mike or I are morning people.  We both just need about 20 minutes before we want any contact with anyone.  Go figure, Grace is the same way!  If we just give her those 20 minutes to herself, she is a dream!

 

The goal everyday is to leave the house at 7:30 every morning, and so far so good!  I have to pack all the bags and put them in the cars the night before.  We also get our Ninja smoothies ready the night before as well as packing our breakfasts (turkey/venison sausage and a boiled egg) on Sunday.  Whatever makes the morning easier!!  The idea is to get my workouts in during the afternoon, after school, and then head to activities!  Swimming on Monday and Tuesday and gymnastics on Thursday.  whew..I'm tired just thinking about it!  At first, this worked pretty well, but now between mandatory tutorials after school and meetings, I'm running out of time in my evening.  After activities, we head home to cook dinner and do our 'chores'.  To ensure that everything gets done and our weekends aren't full of cleaning and laundry, we definitely abide by our 'chore' list everyday.  Fortunately, bed time has been great.  Clark has officially joined Grace with her 8pm bedtime, so that gives us a little adult time to ourselves.  The difference is..that with Grace we still had some energy to enjoy our adult time, but now I'm just ready for bed!  So, originally I felt that if I missed my workout earlier, then I could just go after the kids went to sleep, but that is proving to be VERY difficult.  Gonna have to figure something out!

 

January was a pretty uneventful month.  Our weekends were generally spent recovering and preparing for the work week!  Here's a little glimpse at my evenings:

 

Some new things...

Yesterday at swimming, Grace looked at my necklace and said 'octagon', which is exactly what it is!  Such a smarty pants!

She now knows all her colors, can sing the entire alphabet song, and can count to 10 with no problem.  She's very much in love with herself right now, and loves to tell us how pretty she is.  Might have to reel her in a little!  Her potty training has turned a corner and she goes in the potty all the time now--even tells us when she needs to go.  She still doesn't go #2, and she seems to have a complex about it.  She does it for the babysitter, but throws a huge screaming fit if we suggest she poo poo in the potty.  One step at a time, I guess.  She is currently obsessed with a sing-along CD and makes Mike listen to it everyday on their way to and from the babysitter.  He knows every word to every kid song ever written..pretty funny!  She still insists on being naked at all times, but when wearing clothes-she would wear pink all day everyday if she could!  Her swimming and 'nastics are both going very well too.  She can now swim 8 seconds underwater by herself and has no problem getting out of the pool unassisted.  At 'nastics, she can do a pedal jump (first step to a cartwheel) and is very close to scaling the monkey bars.  She might do 100 rolls a day!

 

Clarkie is doing just amazing...now!  January was a bit of struggle.  He has always been different from Grace in the fact that he goes to bed no problem. I can lay him down in his bed at 8 wide awake and not hear a peep from him.  The first month back to work, he was still in our room in the pack-n-play because I was breastfeeding.  He would usually wake up every 2-3 hours.  I know sometimes this is just normal for a 3 month old, but we definitely wanted to use all our options to see if we could improve this habit!  We started adding formula and rice cereal to his nighttime bottle, but that didn't do much difference.  Last weekend, we decided to move him to his crib and only do bottles (with added formula to breastmilk) that way we could make sure he was getting a nice full tummy!  Knock on wood, but it has been working wonders!  We give him a big bottle at 7:30 and lay him down to bed at 8. He sleeps until about 12-1, and we feed him again.  He then sleeps until I wake him up at 6:30.  MUCH better schedule. 

Also, he is seriously the happiest baby I have ever seen.  Every single time anyone talks to him or plays with him, he gives you a huge smile.  He has also started giggling and talking tons more!  So sweet.  Genuinely brightens my entire day if I've had a rough time with whiny teenagers!

 

 

Here's some fun videos!

As you can see, we are enjoying the Olympics!

 

 

Crazy Grace girl!

 

 

Here's some Clarky milestones-

3 month giggles!

 

Yelling at Daddy! 12 weeks.

So excited!

So, for my birthday last year, Mike got me laser hair removal and I have officially started that process!  Already amazing results..going to be such a nice thing not to worry about.  Also, we set up our flex card so I could get LASIK.  I have my exam/consultation set up for the Monday of Spring Break, and as long as everything looks okay- I can have my surgery that same Friday.  I am beyond excited.  I cannot tell you how much of my life has been wasted looking for my glasses and contact cases.  Ridiculous!

I'm also SERIOUSLY considering chopping off all of my hair.  Pregnancy totally jacked it up and it is driving me crazy! Here's an option I really like...

On an ending note, I think that since I'm turning the dirty thirty this year (along with a lot of my friends), we should plan a huge Vegas trip and go see Britney!!  Any takers??

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sunday is no longer a day of rest!

I can remember when we were in college, it went without saying that Sunday was better known as 'Same Spot Sunday.'  I would give detail on this day, but its name pretty much sums it up.  It was a relaxing day filled with little to no work that helped us mentally and physically get ready for the week.  Well..it's become official that this day no longer exists.  Mike and I were discussing earlier how we're almost ready for Monday to be here so we can take a break.  Today was FILLED from the moment we woke up.

We woke up and got ready for church.  Waking up and getting ready for church has been good preparation and insight into what we are about to face tomorrow.  Getting two kids ready is going to much different.  I warned Mike today that he better step up his game.  He's very lucky that he has a lot of flexibility with his job, and he goes into work whenever he gets there.  With that being said, the last 10 weeks he has been using Grace as his alarm clock.  Whenever she wakes up, that's when he wakes up....whether it's 6:30 or 8:30.  This gives me serious anxiety because he cannot do that anymore.  Hopefully, he gets up when his alarm goes off (better be set before 7!)

After church, we headed home.  After having 10 weeks off, I had a little prep work to do before going back to work!  I tried to go through my closet and organize the 'things that fit' category.  I have different levels of clothes that I'm working with.  I'm trying my best to do as much as I can the night before to make my mornings as smooth as possible.  Pretty sure nothing gives me more anxiety or puts me in a worse mood than a hectic morning.  I picked out a few outfits to wear for the week, plus laid out Grace and Clark's clothes for tomorrow!  After getting the clothes all sorted and planned, I took a little break and went and got my nails done!  The kids were napping, and it felt like the perfect opportunity...it needed to be done!

I also took apart, cleaned, and repacked my breast pump to take tomorrow.  (So excited to have something else to carry into work!)  I also packed both kid diaper bags and set out Clark's bottles to thaw for tomorrow!

Bam!

Mondays will be extra busy too because Grace has swimming at 5:15, so I made sure to pack that bag as well.  Fortunately I did all of the laundry on Friday or this day would've been ridiculous!

Starting tomorrow, we are getting our healthy on!!  We've been putting it off long enough!  Last night, it was almost like we were on death row and enjoying our final meals.  I inhaled a green chile cheeseburger from whataburger like nothing!  

I went grocery shopping yesterday, and this also gave me some alone time with me and my starbucks- almost felt like drinking alone in a bar--almost.  Today, Mike and I made our breakfast, lunch and dinner for the entire week.  For breakfast, we made venison sausage and a boiled egg.  We individualized it in ziplocs so we can just grab and go in the morning!

Plus, we got a Ninja for Christmas (Thanks Mom! Great gift!), so we'll pair that with a smoothie!  (also made ready to go- just have to add ice and blend!)  For lunch, we individualized salads to take for every day of the week, and we plan on eating that with leftovers from the night before.

Tonight for dinner (and tomorrow's leftovers), we made venison chili.  It was delicious!  

I've got tomorrow's dinner all ready to go in the crockpot (chicken stroganoff).   We've got our meals all planned, I've got my fitbit all registered, and I WILL fit in a workout between work and swim lessons tomorrow!  Then, we can come home and do it all over again!  Ah!

After all our prep work, we just spent the rest of the evening enjoying time hanging with the kids.  I feel like I'm leaving forever tomorrow...being a bit dramatic.  Clark has just reached the sweetest, cutest stage, and I'm definitely not ready to leave him with the babysitter tomorrow.  We sat down with Grace and told her she was going to have to be a big, helpful girl with Clark at the babysitter.  She was excited he would be going with her, and I have to say that I'm glad they're going together too.  Helps a lot!
It was a busy weekend, and it's going to be an even busier week, but that's life!  Back to reality and our crazy, wonderful chaos!

Hope you all have a great week, and hopefully it's not TOO long before I get back to you! muah! (A little late, but here's Clark's 2 month pic...growing like a weed!)

Tis the Season!

Without trying to sound too 'broken record'- Where did this last month go?  I can't believe Christmas, New Years, & (soon to be) maternity leave are all over!  People ask me everyday if I'm ready to get back to work, and -without even thinking- my answer is NO!  Don't get me wrong.  I miss my kiddos and terribly miss my co-workers, but I enjoy being home so much!  I feel like I always have plenty to do, and the house/chores are always taken care of.  Plus, I get to spend all my time with my little ones.  

December was so much fun.  We usually like to spend a large portion of our Christmas budget on creating memories instead of on so many presents.  We had full intentions of doing so, but "Icemageddon '14" kinda put a damper on our plans.  We made reservations to do the Polar Express in Grapevine.  Our elf, Balls, even brought us pajamas.  However, because of the ice storm, all rides got cancelled.  Sad day.  Being the brave family we are, we decided to venture out on an ice day to go see Santa at Bass Pro.  We all had a great brunch and were practically the only people brave enough to get out and see Santa.  It was awesome because we had the place all to ourselves.  No line to see Santa and as many carousel rides as we wanted!

The guy running the carousel looked like Santa, and every time they would go by him Grace would cringe!

She had a death grip on me.  Part of me wishes I would have just shoved her into his lap!  A right of passage for children!

baby cousins

looking at the feesh

carousel with Daddy

A definite advantage to being on maternity leave during December is all the time to Christmas shop and decorate.  We were also excited to introduce the 'Elf on the Shelf' to Grace.  We weren't sure if she would really understand what was going on, but she took to it very well.  Every morning when she woke up, the first words out of her mouth were, "Where's Balls??"  It was a lot of fun.  I also think my favorite part was using him to our advantage.  Every time she was misbehaving or throwing a fit, we could just tell her that Balls was watching, and he was going to tell Santa how she was acting.  Worked like a charm!  Just a few examples of where Balls showed up:

Our jammies for the train ride :(

On the 18th, Clark had his two month appointment.  It went really well!  He was 23.5 inches long (75%) and 13lb 9.5oz (90%).  Up until that point, he had still only breast fed, so I was pumped he was still growing so well.  Also, the doctor gave us a prescription for Prevacid to help with all the throwing up that he does.  It seems to be helping a little bit, but he still spits up a good amount every time he eats.   Poor guy also had to get three shots and take two doses of medicine.  We were lucky that he didn't ever get a fever or act irritable, BUT he did sleep the rest of the day.  Poor guy- that really sucks watching them get shots!  *Some pics of Clark at his appointment (pre-shots)!  Such a happy boy!

Mike and I were also pumped that we got to go out for the first time together- since Clark was born.  Spud and Victoria threw a 'White Trash Christmas' party, and it was fun seeing all of the good outfits!  My parents watched the kiddos while we partied it up--for a little while at least! Every little bit helps! :)

Like always, Christmas was great this year.  It was basically a week long celebration!  On Monday, we had Christmas with the Keprtas! (Mike's aunt and uncle)  They recently moved into their new, beautiful house, so it was fun to see it and visit with everyone-plus eat some chili and tamales!  Grace had a great time- she enjoys being the life of the party!

cousins

Our little elf.  I just love playing dress up!

Bolding cousins

baby Cora

On Christmas Eve, my parents came to Plano to celebrate.  We made sugar cookies and prepared for Santa to come.  Christmas morning was great.  I must've been a really good girl because I was beyond happy with all my gifts!  Mike got me some Lululemon and Crossfit workout gear and a Naked makeup pallet! He did good!  My parents got me a pretty bracelet, UGGS, and an ipad! What what!  and...Landon and Whitney got me a new Ironman athletic watch.  I'm one lucky girl!  Mike got a Cabelas jacked and some Under Armour/Crossfit work out gear.  (Can you guess what is on our resolution list?)
Grace, however, made out like a bandit!  I haven't ever seen a child get upset because she had too many presents too open, but that's what happened.  She didn't get anything very big- just a lot of small gifts to open.  Well, that backfired.  She was upset that she kept opening presents that she liked, but couldn't play with them because she had more presents to open.  So, needless to say, she was opening presents all day.  This was definitely the Christmas of princesses and Minnie Mouse!  

Santa's cookies: before

Santa's cookies: after

winding down on Christmas Eve

Santa came!

Daisy was the first one up, so she got her stocking first!

Clark was the next one up!

When we were still excited about opening presents!

Clark was very excited!

After having a nice, big breakfast- it was time to start cleaning up and getting ready for the Bolding Christmas that evening!

Christmas evening at the Boldings is always a big prime rib dinner- which I am excited for all year!  Best meal ever!  Again, we got awesome gifts!  Tom and Patsy got us a fingerprint safe for our house!  Awesome for us to keep the gun in--puts me very much at ease!  I also got a pedicure set, Michael Kors bracelet, a Fit bit, another Naked pallet, and a year subscription to Birchbox.  Mike got a North Face vest and I honestly couldn't tell you what else.  It's proven to be very difficult to do the present thing with two kids.  I can't remember what anybody got because I was busy helping Grace open her gifts and opening all of Clarks.  We made out much better than we ever deserved to, but are so grateful to have such wonderful holiday memories!

Jess and Clark

Grace giving Clark sugars!

All the Bolding grandkids!

Some other Chritmas video:  Grace enjoying herself!

Enjoying some of her new presents!

For New Years, we just spent the evening with Matt and Cecily.  With all the little babies in our life now, celebrations have definitely changed.  I still had a great time.  We Cecily made a great dinner, and we hung out and drank some champagne.  Tom & Patsy came over for a little while after dinner and ended up taking Grace home with them.  We played a little Skip Bo, did the countdown, and called it a night.  We still have babies waking up during the night people--partying just ain't worth it anymore!

New Year excitement: Grace feeding Cora!

Cecily invited me to do a spin class (Flywheel) on New Years day.  It kicked my butt pretty good!...but in a good way!  1 down, 364 to go!

2013 was an amazing year!  Our family grew and we are just in a great place in our lives!  Here's our year in a nutshell!

I'm sure 2014 will be just as good, and I have some resolutions to go with it!  Last year, my resolution was to get more involved in the community and give back.  I was happy that I managed to volunteer once a week/every week (until Clark was born) at City House in Plano tutoring the children for an hour.  Here are some resolutions for 2014:
1. Continue to volunteer at City House and get more involved with our church/ Life group
2. Get back in shape (compete in some mud races...or something similar)
3. Reflect and really work on important relationships in my life.  There are people in my life that truly care about my family and me, and I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can to improve those relationships and not waste time or energy with people who don't and just bring negativity.
4.  Reduce our debt!  We have a goal and hopefully we can avoid anymore major household emergencies to get us there!
5.  Slow down and really spend time with my kids.  I feel like there are a lot of times where I worry about the house being clean, all of the errands getting done, or other trivial things---and my kids just get a fraction of my attention.  I want to play and talk and laugh with them as much as possible!

I know this is kind of a long, broad list, but I figure if I have it in writing- it gives me some sort of responsibility to stay on top of my goals!  I saw this, and I thought it would be a good support reminder to get me through everyday!

Another reason I know 2014 is going to be a good year, is that I'm going to be an aunt- AGAIN.  But this time, it's on the Minatra side of the family!  I can't believe little Landon is going to be a daddy! That's just cray cray!  So excited to meet baby Tree in August!

Lord Be With Us!

Lucky for us, it seems Grace may officially be smack dab in the middle of terrible 2s.  She's lucky she's so cute!!  She is still such a sweet, polite little thing- BUT all girl and all DRAMA.  Don't get me wrong, she's not a bad kid by any means, but everything is a situation.  All of sudden, eating and naptime are the most dramatic things in the world.  I never thought I would see my child throwing her body on the ground and thrashing about, but I officially have now.  It's almost comical!  Luckily, she just has her dramatic moments, and the rest of the time is fun and awesome- but geez!  A recent example of her lovely behavior is when she decided to color her walls with a red crayon.  I was at the store, and when I got back all I found was Grace crying in her bed while Mike was moving all of her things into our bedroom. Apparently she had put ALL of her books in bed with her (and that is A LOT) as well as other toys in the room.  She was nice and sneaky about her dirty deed too.  Mike said she was so quiet in there that he thought she was sleeping.  UNTIL..he walked down the hall and saw a red crayon in the middle of the hallway.  Apparently, she had slid the crayon under the door--Mike thinks to hide the evidence.  This time, we were fortunate enough that she chose to draw with a dry erase crayon and it wiped right off with baby wipes!  What a stinker! Pray for me! :)

...and at least she loves helping clean!

Hope everybody had a great holiday and are ready to embrace this New Year!  Here are some other good pics and videos from the past month!

Outings with baby Cora!

Playtime with Daddy!