Wedding!

My bestie got married and looked stunning.  I don't have an iphone or anything like it, so I am borrowing.  Doesn't she look FABULOUS?!?!!

I had a great time and it was hard to come home.  But its okay.  This weekend, FLOAT TRIP!  :)

Here we go!

Gosh I didn't even read my last post to know where I left off..so I'll just begin with what's been going on in our world as of late bullet point style:

• Sam is currently in "school" and loves it.  We truly struggled the first month we were there (May) but we've survived and enjoy it!
• She is a pain to wake up in the morning and I only give myself 15 minutes to wake her, change her and plop breakfast in front of her before I rush out the door.  Greg says that somedays she does well in the morning, and some days, not so much!  Glad I don't have to deal!
• We've got Geoffrey back.  He never really left, but we were able to get rid of him but at nap and bed time.  Then the babysitter happened, then the school and that's where we are...
• I love. love. love. my job.  I can't express it enough.  Just when I think things are going to come to a halt  I've added another hat and couldn't be happier!  Current thing on  my to do list: 1 year celebration. West End Endodontics is a year old and we are throwing a party for the referring docs to thank them!  WOOT!
• We are loving life and summer!  Lately we've been to:
• Grant's Farm to feed the goats and ride the carousel.  We also got {free} beer and Sam got a snocone.  Can't complain!
• We spent a weekend at Innsbrook with the Berger clan.  That was a good time.  Boats, fishing, tanning, golf carting, pool...ahhhh...
• Lots of family time!  My older sister  is back and in action and we got to spend a lot of May with her and she will be back for a weekend this month, so we are going to continue to eat up time with her then!
• I am so excited to see my grandparents this month too!  They live in Ohio and I miss them!  I can't wait for them to see Sam and see how much she's grown.
• I am headed to FL this weekend for my bestie's weekend!  I can't wait!  Its been a roller coaster of a ride for me, but I'm so pumped for her and can't wait to celebrate with her!  Please keep her day in your prayers, TS Emily is thinking about making her way to FL on her big day and we are hoping she stays out at sea!

Phew.  I'm tired.  Thats a bit in our life.  Sam is definitely two. Testing, loving, energetic, fun, silly, adorable and frustrating all rolled into a cute little curly redish blondish little girl!  

I think I just might...

...start blogging again!  I've got so many distractions during my day (i.e. work) I barely get time to get on Blogger and read all the blogs I follow, much less actually blog about them!  I'm sure I've got so much to tell!  Sam is growing up so fast and it makes me sad, but I'm loving every minute of age two; even when I'm about to pull my hair out!

I PROMISe to post more later, but right now, I'm gonna hang out with my curly haired, strong willed, movie loving, opinionated two year old.  You can find us cuddling on the couch watching Charlotte's Web on this above 100 degree day!

Peace, Love and PATIENCE!  :)

Update!

Its been a while since I've updated on Samantha!

Friday was the last day with the boys and I think it's going to be a little harder on her than she might think!

We have been working hard on shapes and colors with Samantha.  She knows yellow and blue with her colors.  If its not yellow, then everything is blue, but she also knows blue by itself.  When it comes to shapes we know star, heart and diamond (thank you twinkle twinkle for two of those!).  Funny that she knows some of the hardest shapes (according to what she would be tested on).  Personally, I think they are easier than trying to differentiate circle and oval and rectangle and square.  We'll get to those!

In other news, she starts the babysitter's on Tuesday and I sure hope these next two months go smoothly.  She can be a handful when she wants to be and I can only hope for her best behavior while I'm not around!
Sam has gotten pickier about food.  The things she loved, not so much anymore: eggs, oatmeal, cheese, crackers, graham crackers, bananas, oranges.  Sorta annoying but we'll work on it!  Guess its time to try new things.  Have no fear, chicken nuggets and fish sticks are still a favorite!

She does love her some salad though.  I think its pretty hilarious that the only two veggies she will eat are broccoli and salad.  Whatever works!  :)

Okay, guess that's all.  Nothing new other than that.  We are so ready for nicer weather in StL so that we can get OUTSIDE!

Have a fabulous week!  I'll try to update about my job sometime this week. :)

Shin Splints and other randoms

I have been running the last couple of days and that's all it took for my shin splints to come back.  This means I need to go out and find some athletic tape, tape them up really well, and hit the road again!  There is nothing like a little pain in the shins to bring back the nostalgia of gymnastics...

On a different/same note, a really good friend was going to run the 1/2 marathon this April and found out this week that she has a stress fracture in her foot.  She has to be in a boot for 4 weeks.  That basically is right up to the marathon.  So, I told her that I would run/walk it with her so that she could still do it but not alone.  She's Her boss already paid for it, so she doesn't want that money to go to waste.  So, I have to do a little running to keep up with her.  :)

I hope you all had a fabulous Friday!  I had the day off as the boys went to Louisville to visit family.  Greg left early this morning for Colorado so it's just me and my girl this weekend!  Today, a really good friend of mine came in from Chicago and we had lunch at the restaurant up the street and finished it off with Ted Drewes.  There's nothing like St. Louis frozen yogurt and warm sunshine to remind you that spring and summer days are right around the corner!  :)

Sam's new favorite thing is to walk around the block.  And in fact, just one block usually is not enough for her.  When we get close to home, she tells me "uh uh" and starts backing up.  The girl loves to be outside and loves her exercise.  She takes after her Momma!  :)

Grandma and Papa Levine are taking Sam tomorrow evening.  The SIL and I are headed out for some drinks and to enjoy some girl time.  I am really excited except I don't know how long I will last.  I am just not the "party girl" that my MIL labeled me so long ago.  Kids will do that to ya. :)

I toured that other pre school today.  I am so conflicted. One was a home turned into a daycare and I really like their philosophy.  The other was bigger, and definitely a school setting.  They have an elementary-12 school attached to it.  Both are REALLY close to home.  I have no idea which way to go.  I am so struggling with this!!!

Random post over.

Success!

Sam did beautifully yesterday!  I still had the boys yesterday, so productivity was at its minimum.  :)  Greg dropped her off and said she did really well.  He said that he was fine until he turned around to walk down the stairs and saw her quietly watching him go down.  I told him I would have lost it.  He just said that he had to remind himself that I knew the woman watching Sam and I knew she was in good hands.  He had to trust my choice!

Sam did well, though.  It wasn't until I rang the bell and the sitter announced that it was me that she started crying.  Go figure.  here's hoping that that ends!  But she was so good when we got in the car and so happy. I love that!  So here's to 1 1/2 weeks left with my little girl and then my world gets rocked!  My goal is to not shed a single tear when I go back to work.  We'll see if that happens...

Testing...testing...

Well, we are two weeks away from the start of my job and Sam is trying out the babysitter's today.  Well, more like the babysitter is trying out Sam!  She is a fellow SLMer and I was nervous that adding another toddler to her mix might be more stressful than she imagined.  So we are trying it out for a couple of days just to see!  Today will be a true test because Sam woke up at 5:30 (normal wake up is between 7 and 7:30).  She's super cranky and still has an awful cough.  I really want her well before she starts full time somewhere!

Here's to a good report when I go pick her up in a few hours!!!  :)

Working Out

I haven't worked out in a while and its really starting to affect me.  You know how when you are dormant for too long you get stir crazy?  Well, that's how I get about not working out for quite some time.  I feel icky and tired all the time and just not motivated.  I know I should get to the gym, but the idea of waking up at 4:45 to get out in the cold is not very motivating.  ;0)

I hope this weekend and next week encourage me to get out and at least run.

Greg would not be very happy with this post.  He feels that my gym membership keeps him from having his own.  Men.  :)

New Car

Not a new one. But a new one for us.  I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but the Pathfinder we got last year has just had a bad omen.  It wasn't meant for us.  It was a shady deal and on top of it so many things have happened (like the tree falling on it, and the ice that shattered the windshield last week) that it just doesn't seem meant to be.

So now we have to decide if we go for the same kind of car or go for something smaller that fits our needs.  We still want an SUV and this winter has proved that it is necessary (especially living in the city).  But, do we go for a Pathfinder and up our payments, or do we go for something smaller and keep the same amount on our loan?

I would like to go smaller, but Greg is all for the Pathfinder again.  I just don't know.  :(  Decisions, decisions.  All I know is that if I have a bad feeling about a car like I did for our current Pathfinder, I will speak up a little louder this time!  :/

J-O-B Say What?!

That's right.  A job has found me.  I have found a job!  WOO!  Its been a really long year, but I'm thankful that I have found one that I am so happy about!

I will be working for an endodontist and my title will be administrative assistant, but by his description I will be doing so much more!  He just opened his practice in July and currently only has one other employee who is his dental assistant.  She is currently doing all the things that I will be doing so I will get much of my training from her.  I can't wait for March 1 to roll around!

Now I need to find a daycare that I love.  This is going to be harder than I thought.  Well, that's not true.  I knew I would be picky.  I think what's going to happen is I am going to have to put her somewhere until she's two (just two short months) and then put her in somewhere I am comfortable.  I looked at somewhere on Friday and while I wasn't happy with the curriculum, I thought the teachers were okay.  I have a tour this week and one next, so I am not going to make any final decisions until then.  So, my hope is to put her in the place I looked at last Friday and then move her to another daycare.  My goal in all of this is not to get too stressed out.  I know that I want her to be in a center setting vs. a home setting because that would be the case when she turned 3 anyway.

But yes, that's the good news!  Come March 1st, I will no longer be a WAHM!  WOOT!

Saving Grace

I love love love LOVE my Mommy friends.  I don't know where I'd be without all of your love and support!  So glad I found you.  Not sure how many of you read it, but know you've truly blessed my life!  :)

Down and Out

Its kind of how I am feeling.  I had an interview (well two, actually, but same company) last week and it went really well.  I had pretty high hopes for the position.  I was told they would know by early this week, so when Monday and Tuesday passed, I began to get anxious.  They said that they would keep me posted, but you never know when employers say that.
I have two WONDERFUL friends who recommended me for the position and I felt really great about that.  I found out today that someone else was hired and that I was the next candidate in line.  She couldn't decide if she wanted to hire within (since she likes to say that's always an opportunity) or hire outside.  She went with within, and it totally bums me out.  This was THE job.  The job that would incorporate everything I loved with everything I wanted to grow into.
This is the first job that I truly prayed before, during and after.  I know that this was completely in God's hands, but its so disheartening all the same.  I just am not sure working out of the home is in the cards for me.
Ugh, I just hate starting over.

Anybody want to hire me?! ;0)

Art Hill Sledding

Was a bust.  Sam hated it.  She thought it was the worst thing ever.  Torture.  Like we were pulling different directions at her limbs.  We could not get one giggle out of her.  Her happiest moment?  Being at the top of the hill far far away from the edge!  Oh well.  She enjoyed walking around and she received a lot of "oh how cute"s and "she's so adorable"s.  And I just smiled, said thank you and in my head thought "of course she's cute!  Look at her!".  We took no pictures because we didn't want to ruin the good camera.  Plus, she wouldn't have been smiling anyway.  ;0)

Greg and I have decided that this activity is just going to take time.  She hated swinging until she was one.  Here's hoping by next year sledding will be the greatest thing on the face of this Earth!  :)

Snow Day!

A little snow day love!  

we fell a lot in the snow. Its hard to stay up when its up to your knees!

Brrrrr!  Its cooold!

WOO this is fun!

Leave it to the dog to sniff her rear when she can not do anything about it!

My adorably obnoxious puppy!  :)

We had a blast and I am now telling her as she is begging me to go out again (and again and again and again) that she's going to have to wait until Daddy gets home where we will be going sledding on Art Hill!  :)  

(source)

I can't jump back on

The bandwagon that is.  Its January 20th and I have YET to step into the gym this year.  I blame the cold weather and all the snow.  But those are just excuses, really.

And the candy that I got rid of?!  Or didn't I guess I should say...I am stuffing in my mouth.  Even the truffles from Harry and David that I truly don't care for are hitting my mouth.  Why?!  Because I can.  Because I know I'm not supposed to.  Because I may be a little bit in the winter woes.  Because I may be a little bored.

Don't get me wrong.  I love what I am doing.  I am even getting out of the house more with the kids than I did this summer and fall.  But, I am still a little bored.  I think its just the monotony of things.   It would probably happen with any job really.  The same thing day in and day out gets boring.  I eat when I'm bored.  Mainly candy.  Not a lot, just enough to take the edge off!  ;0)  Better than drinking I guess!

So I guess I should jump back ON the bandwagon and make it to the gym in the mornings. I will really, truly do my body some good!  Then, when I get bored and eat candy, I won't feel as bad!  :)

Blogs I love to read

So I may stink at blogging, and my blog really doesn't have a "purpose" other than to keep family and friends updated on our life.  But here are some blogs that I love to read and if I ever met these people in real life, I would be so excited!!!

You have to have to HAVE to read Jeannett.  This woman is HILARIOUS.  Along with being so funny that I am laughing so hard I am crying, she has such a great heart.  You have to read her story and why she started her blog in the first place.
Her blog is how I became interested in reading the others below.

I have said you need to read Jenny's blog before, and I mean it.  She's pretty awesome.  I love reading about Bella and what I have in store and also reading about her new bundle of joy, Summer.  You should also read Bella's story.  It made me cry.  Of course, Jenny is good at that!

Kelle Hampton is AMAZING.  Her words.  Her photography.  Just simply amazing.  You need to read Nella's story. So beautiful and another story that will bring tears to your eyes.  Joyful tears, of course!

You should really read Jess' blog too!  She and her husband, Joel, have gone through something that I would never wish on anyone.  I can't even imagine the pain, but God is good and they clung tight to Him in their time of need.  Read Cora's story here.

You should read Julie's blog.  The woman is funny.  She writes about randoms, and also writes about things near and dear to her heart.  Go on and read her story about Joy.  Oh, and have Kleenex near you for this one too!

I realize now that I sent you to a lot of blogs that will have you crying.  That wasn't my intention. My intention was for you to love reading these women's stories as much as I do.  My intention was for you to read about women making a difference every day.  My intention was also just to introduce you to a group of women who love their life and love to blog about it!  ENJOY ENJOY ENJOY!!!  :)

Update on Cliff

So I told you about Cliff in this post.  And his adoption fund raised over $9,000, which you can read here.

But here is the best part about Cliff.  He was taken off the waiting child page and can now be found on the My Family Found Me page.  This all means that Cliff is going to be adopted!  :)  YAY!

If you'd like to read more about it, go here.

Thanks if you donated or even if you just prayed.  Prayers have been answered.  :)

Update since Christmas

Life has finally returned to normal now that we are officially done with the holidays.  The kiddos and I are back to normalcy and have started to incorporate some learning in our day!

Learning time:
I, along with a friend or two, am working on colors with the kids.  We get together twice a week and do circle time as well as a little learning time.  We try to incorporate a little art activity as well.  When I am not with Jenn and Nevaeh and sometimes Caroline and Lucie, I am working with the kiddos on my own.  Its still a little hard since their words have not fully developed, but we are getting the hang of it!

Play Dates:
I have also found a core group of friends with kiddos around the same age and it has helped me stay sane.  We spent 4 out of the 5 days last week together!  Its been a total blast and now that the kids are older, I don't feel like I constantly have to chase after them to make sure they are behaving.  I only have to keep an eye (and an ear) out for them.

I think i am going to invest in a wagon.  if get a two seater, I can probably fit all three kiddos in it and then trips to the park can happen this spring and summer.

Job?
After my play date on Friday, I really started to struggle with my decision to go back to work.  No, I have not found a job.  no where close, but I just loved being able to hang out with the Mommas and let the kiddos play.  We had a blast and I am really starting to enjoy it.

Ugh, I never know what the best option is!  I am going to keep looking but love what I do in the mean time!  :)  I got offered a job on Thursday, but the money wasn't great and with the cost of child care, I would be making less than I do now, so I had to turn it down.  It made me said, but I took it as a sign that people ARE interested and it's just going to take time.

Cleaning:
Since Christmas, I have really started to slack on my cleaning responsibilities.  I always leave it until Friday and let me tell you, by Friday, the LAST thing I want to do is clean!  So, I made lists with the Task Manager tool with Google, and I split up my cleaning chores.  And on Friday?  I just have to clean up the kitchen after lunch and sweep!  :)

SMB:
Samantha must have been going through a growth spurt.  She was eating everything under the sun and about two helpings of each!  And it was never more than 20 minutes after being done with eating that she was hungry again!  I couldn't keep up with her or stay creative!  there were days that she had the same thing twice!!  Oh, well. She was happy, and that's all that matters!

She is cutting her two year molars on top now.  She already cut the bottom two.  She's gonna look kind of funny.  She has 6 teeth on the bottom, but still only her two front teeth on top.  She'll be missing some teeth in between her front two and her molars, but whatever, I guess.  :)  As long as she can eat!



Okay, I think that's the end of my random ramblings!  I am having a hard time coming up with things to blog about.  Sam is her usual pistol self and I am just trucking along and trying to keep up!  :)

Mouse!

There's a mouse in the house and a Momma who is not so excited about it!!!

We were putting Christmas decorations away last night and we have to move Finnegan's gigantic bag of dog food to do so. As I was coming up the basement stairs, I saw the little poop and knew instantly what it was.
Greg and I have been saying for, well, 2 years now that we have to put his food into a container because either ants or mice would get into it.  I have been looking at containers for, well, 2 years and the price for such things is OUTRAGEOUS!  I'd like a tall one so that it can go on our basement steps like his food already is.  There is no other good place to store it.
Sure I could put it in a regular tupperware bin and put it at the bottom of the stairs, but I am going to be completely honest when I say that I don't want to go up and down the stairs to do so.  Lazy?  Maybe.  But I don't care. :)

So, there is a mouse trap set up and a hopeful Momma hoping that Daddy is home when it snaps...because I am NOT going to be the one to get rid of it.  There are just some things that men are supposed to do.  This is one of them.

Hope you have a fantastic, mouse-free day!  :)

New Words

Samantha's vocabulary has really expanded in the last couple of weeks.  Its so fun to see her point to things and then just say the name of the object.  For example, we were at my grandparents' house in Ohio over the weekend and she pointed to the clock on the wall and said "clock".  Grandma and Grandpa Berger have a Grandfather and Grandmother clock at their house that she just adores.  She listens to one chime and then runs to the other one and listens to it.  Its just so funny.
She now says apple, pear, clock, and grandpa very clearly.  Grandma not so much but I am sure its going to come.
I know there are more words that she has, and I know that I haven't documented them all, but I'd say she has close to 15-20 words that are clear cut.  Then she probably has hundreds that she says that all sound the same to me!
I am really excited to watch her to continue to develop new words.

I don't know if I've ever said this, but 18 months to 3 years is TRULY my favorite age!  They are so curious and so intrigued to learn EVERYTHING!  :)

Christmas Recap

Its been a while since I last posted and its been a whirlwind of a week!

Christmas Eve we spent the evening at Greg's Aunt's house on his dad's side.  It was short lived when my dear daughter thought it was necessary to puke up the day's eatings.  I was totally bummed about this because I was really looking forward to Sam actually enjoying Christmas this year.  I was afraid that we were back at it in the sickies.

Well, Christmas morning she woke up sorta crabby but snapped out of it when we told her she could open her presents from Santa.  She received a magnadoodle, a grocery cart and some goodies from the dollar spot (that Santa sure knows how to shop!).

We then relaxed a little, drank coffee, ate date nut bread and got ready for the whirlwind of Christmas.  We headed over to my parents house where Samantha received a kitchen set, some extra accessories, a race track, a baseball bat and ball and some other toys I can't remember and some awesome clothes!
I received a new computer (YAY!) and some clothes and Greg received a  donation to his bike fund.
We ate a great lunch cooked by my mom, sister and her boyfriend, Jake.  Jennie also made some FABULOUS cinnamon rolls from scratch.  That girl sure can bake!

We then headed over to Greg's parents' house where we enjoyed dinner and MORE present opening.  After a day of enjoying wine and beer, we decided to crash at his parents house since we were to be there the following day for his Mom's side of the family celebration.

It was a fabulous weekend filled with lots of family!

We relaxed for a few days (with a quick visit with the Brandts) and then we headed to Columbus to celebrate with my Mom's side of the family.

I truly enjoy Christmas time, and continually try to remember the true meaning, but it sure takes a lot of energy and planning.

I am happy to report after about two weeks of being off schedule, we are slowly recovering and getting back on track.

Samantha desperately needs to recuperate as she has a rather stuffy nose and yucky cough.  I think this week is going to be filled with early bedtimes, snuggles, and good naps for her.

I plan on cleaning, taking down Christmas decorations, think of my visions of 2011(thanks for that post, Elizabeth), and enjoying my life right where I am.

I am excited for Friday when Jennie's boyfriend, Jake, comes over to cook us a Mexican themed dinner!  It was my present from him (we drew names) and I am so excited for it!  :)  I will post more when I can.  Oh and I plan on uploading pictures this week too to post!

Happy Monday, everyone!