Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Some Answers

Time to answer some more of your questions. I wish there were more questions to answer! Feel free to post more questions in this post, or even answer some of these questions for yourself. I encourage you to start your own Q@A post so I can learn more about YOU. I really enjoying answering all of the unique questions people come up with. Sometimes it challenges me to think deeper into certain topics and discover new things.

Ashley asked:

If Brooke & Molly would've been boys, what would their names have been?: Well, our number one boys name is Chase. Brooke would have been Chase, and Molly would have been Chase. We know that for sure. We have never really talked past that but recently I mentioned the name Cole to Dustin if for some reason we ended up with two boys [twins, we go crazy and have four kids...] and we both really like it.

What's your vice? Your gotta have, can't do a day without thang?: Diet Pepsi, hands down. I cannot remember the last time I went a day with out it. I am working on incorporating more water into my diet so that day may be coming soon!

Laura asked:

How far apart in age do you want Molly and future baby #3? IF there is a baby #3, he or she will become coming at the EARLIEST sometime after Molly's second birthday. And I am talking conception after Molly's second birthday.


How many kids total do you want? I have always wanted 3 but more recently we have been feeling very comfortable with just 2.

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Monday, August 30, 2010

Get to know ME!

Thanks to Jena I can now relive my high school survey days. Seriously, I used to do dozens of these a week even though they had all the same questions mixed up in different ways.

The FUN Questions:

- Jacob or Edward? Edward. I find book Jacob obnoxious.
- Taylor Swift or Miley Cyrus? Miley Cyrus. Girl has some awesome hair.
- Flip Flops or Sneaks? Flip flops, more because I am lazy
- Cook at home or go out? I cook about 5-6 nights a week. Eating out is expensive.
- How long can you stand your house being a mess before you clean it? 24 hours or less, with the exception of our bedroom.
- Warm weather or cold weather? COOL weather, specifically FALL
- Last minute or plan ahead? I love when we are prepared for a boring Friday/Saturday night and someone calls us up to go out last minute.
- If you were given a million dollars what would you do with the money FIRST? (Be honest!) :) My more serious answer would be to tithe 10%. After that, I would pay off our school loans. I am not evening kidding. I hate paying out hundreds of dollars to Sallie Mae each month, and hate even more the fact that I will be doing so until I am 30. THEN I would buy out the local Target.
- Once your nail polish starts to come off, do you continue to pick at it until its all off or do you get out the nail polish remover and take it off ASAP? Neither. I never pick my polish off but I am horrible at getting out the nail polish remover, so it just slowly chips away on it's own. I should add that my finger nails have polish on them maybe twice a year.
- What color do you wear the most? Black or Gray
- Craziest spur-of-the-moment thing you've done? Bungee jumping
- Would you shave your head for $50,000? I would consider it. How about $5,000? No. How about $500? NO.
- You're starring in a new movie, what is your character name and tell us a little bit about her. Scarlett. I have no real reason behind this name other than I LOVE it. I would want to be in a dramatic romance. A modern day Romeo & Juliet type of story. I guess I picture my character similar to myself as I am in real life, except thinner, tanner, and funnier.

The "Favorite" Questions:

- Favorite Music? Anything with a great beat. I mainly listen to music when I am walking so I need something to get me moving.
- Favorite thing to wear? Sweatpants.
- Favorite thing to do by yourself? Walk.
- Favorite thing to do with Dustin? Play video games/board games. We can be quite amusing when teamed up in these situations. I am going to cheat and say two, we also love watching movies in bed together.
- Favorite thing to do with the girls? Shop? 99% of my girl outings include taking one or both of the girls so I can't think of much.
- Favorite Sister-in-law on Dustin's side? Who? Oh yeah.... JENA of course. The super-awesome, graphic designing, booty shaking, blond bomb shell down the street.
- Favorite Holiday? Thanksgiving. FOOD.
- Favorite candy? Those sour patch watermelons. SO addicting.
- Favorite Movie? I have so many. I think I could watch The Notebook over and over again. Star Trek more recently. [are your "nerd" alarms going off?]. Harry Potter. I am sure you were expecting me to say Twilight but it is hard to enjoy the movies after reading the books.
- Favorite Book? Redeeming Love. Hands down.
- Favorite Color? Green

The Serious Questions:

- What easily frustrates you? Relationships. I don't know how to expand on this thought with out writing a novel. Maybe in another post...
- What are your pet peeves? Dirty kitchens, mouth noises, Dustin's socks all over the living room, people rolling through stop signs... the important things.
- If you could redo one thing in your life what would it be? My freshman year of college. I wouldn't exactly change it, it was just one of the best years of my life.
- Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Jumping up and down and screaming for joy because BOTH of my girls are gone for the day at school. Is that mean? Possibly student loan debt is gone. We are starting to take steps toward buying/building our dream home, stronger relationships with family and friends, new friendships have formed. I am thin, tan, and have had a boob lift......
- What is/are your biggest fear/s? Not getting to watch my girls grow up or my girls not having a mother growing up.
- If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? Italy. I want to see my ancestral roots!
- If you were stranded on a deserted island for 2 weeks and could only bring 3 personal items (no electronics) and 3 people, what 3 items and which 3 people would you bring? Items: Sunscreen, a 24 pack of Diet Pepsi, and the Harry Potter box set of books. Does that count as one item? People: Ryan Reynolds, Cam Gigandet, Zac Efron. What?!
- If you could fix one thing that you know you will never be able to fix, what would it be? My eyebrows, I can't make them grow back.
- Money aside, what would you do with your life? Where would you live? Would you work? If so, what would you want to do? I would want to have 4 children, preferably twin boys next so I could get it over with at once. I want to be healthy and happy, and I want my husband and children to be healthy and happy. I want to have strong relationships with friends and family. I want to be less anxious and more free spirited. I would probably stay just where we are. Indiana has grown on me a little and even though here are still some things about living here that bother me, they aren't important. I would like to work once all of our children are in school, preferably as a 4th grade teacher so I have summers and holidays off. If not I would sit home and scrapbook all day.

Any last comments?

I was way too excited to fill this survey out. What an awesome mixture of questions for me to answer. Thanks Jena! I think YOU should fill this out and send it back to me.

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McFatty Monday - Here We Go... AGAIN!

Can I get a do-over? I have be horrible the past few weeks with sticking to me work out/healthy eating regimen. I did manage to lose 2-3 pounds but it fluctuates so much I don't want to actually get excited. I stopped doing the 30DS because I just didn't feel completely healed from Molly's birth. I needed a few more weeks. Tomorrow, we go again. I am going to be getting up in the morning, working out, and eating a balanced breakfast. The girls have been sleeping in until 10am and so have I. In fact, I can't remember the last time I ate breakfast.


This weeks goals:

  1. Drink 4 glasses of water a day [starting small]
    2. Complete the 30DS Mon-Fri
    3. No eating after dinner

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Friday, August 27, 2010

Your Three Words

I want to participate in this every week but I always get wrapped up in other things. I was half way through folding my clothes when I decided that today is the day! [I get easily distracted during simple daily tasks] My friend Jenni over at Jenni From The Blog started this up over 2 years ago. You should check her blog out, she is pretty awesome.

My Smiley Girls



Don't forget to post question in my Q@A below!

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Thursday, August 26, 2010

Q&A

I have a new design! Do you like it? I spent the better part of last night [and the early hours of this morning] playing in Photoshop. I am sure a pro could have made the header in about 15 minutes but it took me a good hour to perfect it just the way I wanted it. I got the color idea from Molly's nursery. The walls are robin egg blue and the accent color is pink. It isn't something you normally see in a baby girl's room but we think it is just perfect.

On to the title of this post! I have been thinking about doing Q@A for awhile now. I mainly use this blog as a journal of sorts and love sharing a little bit of my life with friends, family, and new found internet friends. It can be easy to leave certain pieces of my life out either because it doesn't occur to me to include it, or I don't want it out there on the internet. Is there anything you are curious about? Any questions to ask me? Even fun ones would be great! I used to spend hours searching for surveys to complete in high school. You know, the ones that got sent around in email and on AIM. Those were the days...

ASK AWAY!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Chic Bowtique Give-a-way WINNER!

First I would like to thank everyone who entered. It means a lot that I actually have readers AND that my readers like my bows. I am hoping to work on more bows this weekend and I am in the process of bring a new product to the shop.

This is my first give-a-way so I am not really up to par on getting the Random Number Generator into the post. So this is what you get...


True Random Number Generator



9
Powered by RANDOM.ORG

I promise I put 27 in the Max, it just copied it to 100.


SO CONGRATS HEIDI....

Blogger
BloggerHeidi said...

I follow you, I love your blog!

August 20, 2010 9:39 AM

Please email me at chicbows@gmail.com so I can send you your bows!

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Monday, August 23, 2010

The Weekend

This past weekend was actually busy for a change. Normally we sit around the house and talk about how we are going to clean up, and then around 4pm we get off the couch and do some dishes. Exciting, huh? Well this time around there were plans written on the calendar! Saturday I attended a bridal shower thrown by my dear friend Aimee. We hadn't seen each other in quite some time so it was fun to get together and talk! Saturday night Dustin and I made an ever exciting trip to Sam's Club. No really, we love being there. We could shop for hours!'

Brooke stayed home to play with Daddy
Aimee and I

Molly came along as well


Sunday we headed down to a family friend's lake house for the day. We ate lunch out on the deck in the BEAUTIFUL weather and watched all the tubers and jet skiiers come by. After lunch we were able to head out on the boat. Dustin and I took Brooke on the tube and we went slow enough not to bounce around but fast enough to stay above the water. Brooke seemed to like it at first and then fell asleep on Dustin's lap. Yes, you read that correctly. She fell asleep out on the tube. Crazy girl. I wish I would have gotten to do some fun tubing but alas we were left behind at the house with the kiddos. Mothers are always an after thought. Did I mention that I spent my bow money on things for Brooke, instead of saving it for an exercise program I want.

We got this last minute at Sam's Club for $5!

Out on the tube


TWO THINGS:

1. McFatty Monday will return next week!
2. Remember to enter my bow give-a-way. It ends at 8pm EST tomorrow!

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Friday, August 20, 2010

Freebie Friday

And by FREE I mean that I am giving away a bow set to one of my lucky readers. I know there are not many of you but several of you do post on occasion and I would like to do something nice. I don't plan on becoming regular at give-a-ways, I would just like to give something back to my readers while I still have some bow inventory.

Now I know there are only 10 items listed in my shop. Shame on me! I recently sold a few sets and haven't had the chance to make some to replace them. But given my amount of followers, I have a feeling I'll be just fine. If this proves to be semi-successful and people are happy, I'll up my inventory and do more freebies!

How do you get involved in this give-a-way?
1. Become a follower of my blog. Already are? Just post that in the comment section.
2. Go to my Etsy shop -- Chic Bowtique -- and tell me which set is your favorite.
Feel free to browse the sold sets as well, I should be able to recreate them!

Remember to comment for EACH one, so you can have up to two entries. Give-a-way ends at 8:00pm EST on Tuesday, August 24th.

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Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Happy 22 Months Brooke!

Along with Molly turning 2 months, Brooke turned 22 months on Sunday! We like to think their birthdays are going to be easy to remember since they were both born on the 15th.



I can't even begin to describe all the ways that Brooke has changed over the last few months, even over the last few weeks! She is talking in sentences now and will repeat any word you ask her to say. Her new thing is asking "What's that?" to anything she doesn't know. She also has a great memory and will remember things that we did with her a week ago. She loves to drink "melk" and has to have a "waffool" every morning for breakfast. She absolutely LOVES her Daddy and couldn't care less about me once he gets home from work. Brooke can count to 10 [not always well] and knows the names of all the colors. She can also point out certain letters in the alphabet, her favorite being the letter "Q". She is FULL of personality and loves to dance and perform. If you put her in a room with a stage she will try and get up there and sing/dance/do whatever gets her attention.



And of course, she is a WONDERFUL big sister.



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Monday, August 16, 2010

Happy 2 Months Molly!



Yesterday Molly turned 2 months old. Wow! In one sense it feels like it has been much longer than 2 months since she was born, and in another I cannot believe how big she is getting already. I remember being 7 months pregnant and thinking that summer would never come. I thought I was going to be stuck in April forever! And here I am, beating the August heat and loving on a 2 month old.


Molly is changing drastically with each and every week that passes. She smiles a ton now and is starting to coo at us when we talk to her. She has more awake time during the day and loves to be place on her play mat or in her bobby bouncer. If the girl can find a moving ceiling fan she is content! Molly is doing much better with her reflux and has made great improvements in the spit up department. She still has her bad days but they are nothing compared to her first few weeks. I wish I had good news to report in the sleep department but it is a work in progress. Her first sleep stretch is from 9pm to 2am [which is good] but after that she is up every one to two hours and will only truly sleep if she is in bed with us. This too shall pass!

Happy 2nd Monthday our sweet Molly Moo!



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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Balance

Having two under two is all about balance. I find that on any given day I have at least 10 items on my to do list. Some are repeats while others are a daily errand or a weekly bathroom cleaning. I have a few rules when it comes to completing tasks...

1. The girls come first. If either Brooke or Molly need me for something whether it be food, comfort, or just reading a book, that comes first. The dishes and laundry can sit and wait patiently for me, but the girls will not. And trust me, 9 times out of 10 that I try to accomplish something around the house... one of them will call my name/cry endlessly until attended to.

2. Dishes come second. I don't consider myself a very organized/clean person [and by clean I mean constantly polishing the wood and washing windows, not hygiene wise]. One day I should post a picture of what our bedroom, master bathroom, and closet look like on a daily basis. I do however NEED a clean kitchen. I absolutely loathe going to bed with dishes in the sink and clutter on the island. It is the first thing I clean each day, it normally needs at least 3 cleanings per day, and it is the last thing I check before going to bed.

3. Eating comes before working out. Maybe it should be the other way around? I often find that if I want to squeeze a work out video into my day it has to be during lunch. Sometimes I can grab a quick bite afterward but lately it is one or the other. So I have chosen to make sure I get a decent lunch each day, mainly to keep up with my breast milk supply. Also, I tend to get cranky when I'm hungry.

4. I must shower daily. This probably seems like common sense to most of you but I can count plenty of shower-less days during my time as a mother. Now that I am working every day I consider it mandatory. I also find that showering is one of the keys to feeling like a normal human being each day.

That is all I have. The rest of the tasks are wild cards and every now and then I grab one from the deck and complete it as fast as I can. For the most part big cleaning projects are left for the weekends, which puts a damper on our social life, but I envision things staying this way until both girls are capable of playing together while I work.

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Monday, August 9, 2010

McFatty Monday - Jillian Michaels



I dislike Jillian Michaels. A LOT. Her vicious stare and her words telling me, "You need to push yourself harder. Don't come here and expect to slack off!" Sometimes instead of her voice I just hear hissing. I did the 30 Day Shred three days in a row and it felt great to exercise. I took Sunday off because, well, Jillian is not invited to my Sunday afternoons. I also took today off because I am feeling under the weather. I did however replace those work outs with 2 miles walk outside, so I still got some exercise.

Another change I have made is my eating habits. I am still not doing as well as I would like to do but I have almost completely curbed my before bed snacking, and I have replaced my hershey's chocolate bars with Weight Watchers ice cream bars!

I am also trying to figure out how to get one of those weight loss graphs to make this post look much more interesting than it is...

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Sunday, August 8, 2010

Something New

Do you notice something new on my blog?

<----------------------------------------------- How 'bout now? For a limited time I am bring back Chic Bowtique. I went to get something out of my craft cabinet earlier this week and was appalled at the amount of left over clips, ribbon, and hot glue sticks I have. I decided to use up the rest of my materials and fill up our shop once again. Hopefully this week it will be a nice and full with a large variety of bows at AWESOME prices. Also, if you haven't bailed out of this post yet, I plan on doing a bow giveaway this week. I really don't have that many followers/readers, which is good for those of you that DO follow/read. Less people to take away your chance at winning. It is the least I can do for promoting my own product.

So be on the look out!


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Friday, August 6, 2010

Blogging Back

First things first. I have been a bad blogger. I mean, can you blame me? I have two adorable little girls to spend my days with. Second, RIP to my laptop. I accidentally shut the power cord in the recliner and it split the wires. I don't want to waste money on a new power cord for an old laptop that is missing half the keys. (Thank you Brooke!) So I have spent the week getting familiar with Dustin's iMac and learning the ropes of a new operating system. I have to say, I like it. And last, to get to the point of this post...

I am not sure if "Blogging Back" is the right terminology for what I am trying to say but I like the way it sounds. I have been thinking about all of the blogs I follow/read and how I feel partially invested in them but have yet to show it. Despite how easy it is I never think to click on the comment section and leave a little hello, or an opinion on my post. My new goal is to comment on each post I read (as long as I have something more then "Um, hi" to say), comment back to readers who comment on my posts, and use other posts as inspiration for things I write here.

Sound good? I think so. And I encourage you to do the same!

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Monday, August 2, 2010

McFatty Monday - Good News, Bad News



Okay, bad news first right? I did not lose any weight. Not even an ounce. Good news? I did not gain any weight, which is a plus in my book! I remember with Brooke my post partum weight loss was stalled at certain points, and then at times I would lost 5 pounds in a week for no apparent reason. Unfortunately the 30DS has yet to happen in this house hold but I have been taking a 1.5-2 mile walk every day, which is at least some exercise. I got called back to work early and I need to go in on weekends and it is putting a damper on my routine but hopefully I'll get a new one going shortly.

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