March, Are We There Yet?

Things change fast, decisions we thought we were good with can be changed at the drop of a hat.

Well one decision we thought we were good with was waiting till January to go the RE. That would get us through the holidays and we could start 2015 off with a bang.

Well after a lot more talking and figuring, March is when we are going to the RE. We have 2 pretty big farm payments to make in January and February. I'm not looking to put more financial strain on so Matt and I both decided that it would be best to get those out of the way and then we can focus on baby #2. Now of course all this is thrown out the window should we be blessed before that!

I know I say it almost every post I do but how is it seriously December 8th??? In less than a month I will have a two year old. Believe me the terrible two's have already hit. We have meltdowns over the silliest things. Now I realize, to her they aren't silly but having a meltdown because I won't let her have an oatmeal cream pie, Trix or chips before supper. Sometimes it is hard not to laugh because she looks so pathetic! If I do laugh I make sure I am turned away from her or I walk out of the room. Matt is horrible about not laughing.

Finally,

Christmas pictures this year! She was so much more into them and the photog's set was beautiful!

 I had to show this one, well because Reagan looks super cute and Matt, super creepy

 A much better family picture

Her dress, $20 from Zulily

Here Mama was what she was saying

 This face, complete hand caught in the cookie jar

Be still my heart because my baby isn't a baby anymore

 She loves to rock-n-ride and this fake snow was so slippery she was having a BLAST!

I never knew how much I loved your daddy, till I saw how much he loved you!

Picking pictures for the Christmas card was hard! But thanks to Pampers rewards we got Christmas cards super cheap from Shutterfly. I will share the final card once I get it!

How is it November 1st?

This post has had several title changes, because every time I think about writing it I realize the date has changed.

How can it possibly be November 1st already? How are we full steam ahead to the holidays? This just seems absolutely mind boggling.

What else is mind boggling is that I haven't blogged in so long. That is what harvest does to me. I have no time to sit down and write anything much less make my brain focus enough to put a post together. Well, harvest is still going on but I'm forcing myself to get this post done.

My No Spend September went fairly well. I had a few times I bought things that weren't an absolute necessity but for the most part I feel like I should make this an ever other month habit. Trying to keep finances in order is not a fun part of being an adult.

With that being said and Christmas literally knocking on our door, my goal is to not put anything on a credit card that I cannot turn around and pay off. I do not want a Christmas shopping hangover in the new year. Of course there will be more on Christmas later, because we have to get through the month of November.

Other exciting news, we are officially ttc for baby #2. For now just temping but come the first of the year if we have no luck we will head back down to Dr. S. Not wasting too much time messing around this time!

I realize this post is so scatter brained but I do have some other posts planned such as my working mom guilt, raising a daughter and such.

For now though I will leave you with some pictures of the cutest Elmo I've ever seen =)

No Spend September- GYSTS14

I really have no clue if this is a thing or not but I am making it!

I have an online shopping problem. Like big time.

Slow at work, hop on zulily.com or oldnavy.com. Sometimes even etsy.com. It just depends on my mood. However, this browsing does eventually lead to purchasing which isn't good on my wallet.

I have a goal of being debt free (student loans and credit cards) by 35. So therefore I have to keep myself from buying the non essentials.

Sure those yoga pants are nice but do I really need them?

Okay so here is the list of things I am allowed to buy:
-Groceries (Obvi)
-Diapers (Although potty training seems to be getting closer!)
-Gas for vehicles
-Emergency Situations (God willing there are none)
-Medicine

That is it. Nothing more nothing less.

Also if you read my other blog www.selfishmomma.blogspot.com you will see that I am Getting My Sh*t Together September. This is just an extension of that. Not only did I slack on working out and eating right I've slacked on my finances too which is not good.

So here is my plan. Putting it out there for the world to read.

1.5 Years

1.5 years ago we welcomed a healthy 8lb 9oz 20 inch long perfect baby girl into this year. A year and a half ago. When you say it  like that I feel like she has been here forever. Trying to remember a time when she wasn't here is hard.

Bad mom moment happened for her doctor appointment. I was at work busy getting stuff finished for a meeting the next day. Get a text from the sitter, did you forget about Reagan's doctor appointment? Look at the clock 3:56. Her appointment was at 4. Thankfully they were still able to get her in. Our pediatrician's office just hired a CNP and that is who we saw this time. She was awesome. Love her!

She weighed in at 28.4lbs and was 33.5 inches long. Her head circumfrance was 18.5. She is healthy and no issues. We are so lucky and blessed!

Here are a few sneak peaks of her 18 month session. They are amazing and I am going to have such a hard time picking them!

 The rest can be viewed at the photographers site www.photographybyluann.com then click on view proofs.

A Day in the Life...Weekday

I've seen a few of these around the blogosphere and they were interesting. Interesting in that how very different our lives our but still center around family and our little ones. So I decided to jump on board, here is my week day edition.

3:53am- First alarm goes off for me so I can get my butt to the gym. I usually snooze this one at least twice

4:15- Second alarm goes off. I snooze this one once

4:25- Finally roll myself out of bed and get dressed, take my pre-workouts and have my spark ready to go with me

4:45-4:50- Out the door headed to the gym

5:00-6:00- M/W is spin/lift
                  T/TH- Toning/Cardio
                  Friday- Freaky Friday- meaning whatever J is in the mood for. Sometimes a lot of cardio,                    sometimes a lot of lifting, maybe more spin.

6:15ish- home and headed to the shower. Matt and Reagan are usually still asleep. Heck even Zoe isn't up yet.

6:45- out of the shower and make-up is done. Attempt to wake the sleepyheads. Sometimes it works other times I have to go back a few times.

7:00- Finish getting ready, pack my lunch, lay out clothes for Reagan, get her cereal and milk ready, keep Matt moving (because he sometimes gets sucked into Thomas the Train with Reagan).

7:20-7:30- Out the door to drop Reagan off at the sitters and head to work.

8:00-4:30- Daily Grind

4:50- Pick Reagan up and head home.

5:00- Figure out what Matt is doing and how late he will be. This answer will depend on the season and how busy he is in the shop. During spring planting, he won't get in till sometimes after 8 or 9. In the winter he is done by 6. Depending on his answer, I will either begin to make supper for all of us or just Reagan and I. His answer will also determine if I get an extra gym sesh in on Monday and Wednesday.

7:30- Supper is over and done, dishes cleaned up, laundry started, maybe some minor cleaning or maybe we go outside and play. Either way about this time a bath happens and PJ's are put on.

8:00-9:00- Little miss usually goes to bed anywhere between these times. If she is extra tired it will be earlier. If she is full of it, a little later.

9:00-10:00- TV time/reading/catching up on social media while Matt usually falls asleep on the floor.

10:00-10:30- Head to bed to do it all over again

Mommy and Me Session

I believe I mentioned before that I had another mommy and me session a few weeks ago. (Here is the one from last year  These pictures mean so much to me because I'm the one behind the lens (I say lens like I'm so awesome photog when in reality it is usually my phone with an IG filter). Anyhooo, here are the 10 images that I chose.

Seriously, when did she get so big?

Mother's Day & Farming

**I've had this post here since Monday but it just wasn't sounding right to me. Well, better late than never I guess.**

Who ever decided mother's day needed to be in May obviously was not a farmers wife.Therefore, I knew we wouldn't be doing anything fun or exciting on mother's day unless it was raining. If it happened to be raining, every piece of equipment had to be in tip top shape or else the day would be spent in the shop.

The weather was gorgeous so I mentally prepared myself that after mass and breakfast with my family Matt was going to be busy. I was hopeful though that he would at least have a card for me.

Wrong

No card, nothing.

I'm not upset about not getting a gift. I'm not upset about not spending the day together. I'm upset at the lack of acknowledgement of the day.

So when he came in I was folding clothes and I lost it. Tears, blubbering and walking away.

I heard him leave but honestly didn't care where he went. I had laundry to finish before my mom came over for supper (since my dad had to work second shift and my brother wasn't going to be home I didn't want her sitting alone).

I was at the clothesline when he came back with one of those giant cards and a rose. He had that sheepish little boy look on his face and handed me the card. I should have taken a picture of it because  his note in there said thanks for always putting up with me and believing in me. we love you love Chase, Chunky, Zoe, Matt & Reagan.

Seriously

How do you stay mad at that? He also gave me a rose (because we have 1 kid) and $25 to Olive Garden that way when Reagan and I are shopping we can go out to dinner.

Ugh he frustrates me, ticks me off and then goes and does something like that.

I do think though that he understood my frustration as to why I was mad. He got it and he made up for it.

As much as he frustrates me, drives me insane I love him.

Easter Fun

First off how can it be Easter, how can we seriously be halfway through April?

Anywhoo- this was Reagan's second Easter. She obviously doesn't get Easter or any holiday for that matter but the older she gets the more fun the holidays will be.

We started the day at 7:30 mass since Matt wanted to get home and farm. He had wheat to top dress and ground to work. #farmlife (I've been all about hashtags lately). So we drove 2 vehicles to church because I had intentions of stopping and seeing my mom, aunt and uncle before their church and that way they could see Reagan in her dress. Also I needed to run to Wal-Mart because the Easter bunny hadn't been to our house yet. And since Matt was farming the Easter bunny wasn't going to come till we went to my parents. I won't lie, it was nice not to have to fight the crowds and get candy on sale.

First Easter egg hunt

The best picture we got

Admiring her eggs

15 Months and Still Feeling Sleepy....

Friday we had Reagan's 15 month appointment. I feel weird saying I have a 15 month old. It just feels weird, like there is no way she can be that old yet. I also feel weird answering people still in months when they ask how old she is. I just never know if I'm one of those people who always count in months until they are 2 or do I just say she is a year? #firsttimemomprobs

She weighs 25lbs and is 32 1/4 inches tall. I'm not sure of the percentiles but I know she jumped up in the height so much so that the doctor remeasured her because he didn't believe it. My little girl is so tall! She has had a cough and runny nose but I've been contributing it to the fact that she has had some back teeth coming in and poor girl probably inherited my allergies. We've been doing Zyrtec which helps but the doctor gave us something else to try and so far it has been working. I can tell she is feeling better as well. I just hate seeing her miserable!

Speaking of miserable, I thought we had turned the page on the whole not sleeping thing, yea not so. She did good all week and then Thursday night the screaming, crying, throwing herself out of the crib started again. As much as I hated to do it, I put her in our bed and we all slept. Saturday night she spent part of the night in our bed and part in hers and Sunday the same. I just wish I knew what triggers the sudden change in mood. I don't want her to rely on getting to sleep in our bed but at the same time, I need sleep so I'm just rolling with it. Ugh so frustrating!

Please ignore the fact that my husband doesn't have a shirt on, but this is how they were when I came home from working out this morning. While it isn't an ideal situation, I do love the cuddles.

Bedtime...or Lack Thereof

Reagan has always been an excellent sleeper. We have been spoiled. I mean she was sleeping through the night at 7 weeks. As she got older we established a pretty good night time routine. She would get her bath, read then head to bed around 7:00 or 7:30 (this also allowed Matt and I to watch Wheel of Fortune & Jeopardy, nerdy much?). It was great, she would take her lamby and sippy cup and walk back to bed. Easy peasy.

Until the time change...

Now we have a child who refuses to go to bed. We've extended bed time till 8. No biggie right. Well, even at that it is a fight to get her to go to bed. I mean it is a screaming, crying fit. She cries and screams so hard she actually breaks out into a sweat. I let her cry for a bit but I can't stand it when she cries so hard she starts coughing and such.

When she does finally fall asleep she sleeps all night and I have to wake her up in the morning. Before when she would go to bed earlier she would wake up around 6:30 or so. It is easier to get ready in the morning without her being up but I also kind of like our mornings of breakfast and watching Super Why and Thomas the Train.

I'm not sure how to get her back into the habit of going to bed without a fight. Any suggestions?

The Sickness

The flu hit our house big time this past weekend. Saturday night it started with Reagan. 3 or 4 baths that night and multiple sheet changes she finally quit and was able to sleep. She ran a slight fever of about 100. She had one more episode Sunday morning but it was all the pedialyte. Um by the way that stuff tastes just as bad as it smells!

Then Sunday I get a text that our sitter was sick. I knew it must be bad if she didn't want to take any of the kids. So that left me scrambling. Thank goodness my brother's fiancee didn't have to work.

Early Tuesday morning, Matt lost his cookies. According to him, he was dying. He texted me at work and told me to contact the funeral home, priest and cemetary. He also willed Reagan and I all his junk and I got the diesel truck and Reagan the green (lovingly referred around here as the green weenie).

Our sitter was still sick as well which left me to find another back up. Thankfully a family friend was able to watch her. My mom felt bad that she had committed to sub already or she would have watched her. Matt's mom had surgery a few weeks ago and she can't lift Reagan yet. I haven't had the need to ever line up a back up sitter but this week made me realize that I need too!

Today, I woke up with a horrible headache and just somewhat achy. I told myself that I wasn't going to get sick. So I came home and slept almost all day. I feel so much better. I don't have time to be sick (like who does?) but there is so much going on these next two weeks.

Sad part though, because of the sickness I have yet to meet Laura's new addition Ruby and my bff's addiction baby boy D. Ahh sickness you suck!!

Pondering Baby #2

I swear there must be something in the water these days. The amount of pregnancy announcements I've seen or heard or read about seem to multiply by the day. They aren't as hard to see like they used to be, but yet they still stir something within me.

When we found out we were pregnant with Reagan I was like YES, we finally made it to the club. The pregnant/mom club. Now as time has gone on ( time doesn't stop so we can catch up with everyone else? say whatttt?) people who were pregnant while I was pregnant or even after I was pregnant are expecting again. This is when my brain starts reeling. Should I try and get pregnant again? What if I can't get pregnant and it takes a long time? What if I never get pregnant again? What if it happens right away?

Then I stop, shake my head and tell myself to pull it together.

I'm not pregnant now because that's not where we are, we aren't ready for another baby. I'm on BCP for goodness sakes! Don't take that as I wouldn't be overjoyed if we were pregnant because I would be! But I just know the financial strain, emotional strain and every other strain that it would put on our family right now. I always wanted a big family, at least 4 kids. Matt says 6 but after having Reagan he has quickly changed his mind! I also said I didn't know who he was going to have 6 kids with but it wasn't going to be with me!   After the struggle, I don't know if that will happen and right now I'm choosing not to think about it.

I kind of feel like Scarlett O'Hara at the end of the book, "After all, tomorrow is another day."

A Birthday Party for a Farmgirl

I would like to start out saying that we don't really get wild and crazy about birthday's in my family. I mean we acknowledge them and give a gift or a card but we don't have parties and quite frankly we are still trying to go out to dinner as a family for my dad's birthday from December. Don't get me wrong, birthday's are important and should be celebrated but we just choose to do ours on a much smaller scale.

Except for the first birthday.

Now, I've stated before that I refuse to compare Reagan to other babies close to her age. I choose to do this because each child is different and I don't go by the books either. So when planning her first birthday I was not going to compare her's to other peoples that I had seen on facebook or pinterest. Some of the birthday parties that I had seen on pinterest were amazing, adorable, and picture perfect. I made the assumption that either those people were uber crafty, had way to much time on their hands, had tons of money or paid for someone to do it. I had none of those. So off to Hobby Lobby I went with some vague idea of things I wanted.

I knew we were doing a farm theme but that was about it. Thank goodness Hobby Lobby had some great items that went with the theme.

Her party was great, she loved all the attention! She crashed and crashed hard that night and it took her most of Sunday to recuperate.

Loved her cake!

Favor bags with cow pies and road apples (peanut clusters and oreo balls)

Obsessed with balloons!

We kept it super simple.

Seeing all of her monthly pictures lined up made me almost tear up.

My little family!

Uncle Matt and Aunt Kiki

Mom's face is priceless

Do not touch my cupcake

Just kidding, I can share.

I really get to eat this entire thing!!!

And down we go...

This is Reagan and J her sitter. She was so excited to see her that night!