Top 10 Tuesday

Its that time of the week again!!

In no particular order:

10.  Snow.  When will you get to St. Louis?!  I can't wait to introduce Sam to snow.  My guess is she won't like it!

9. The Holidays.  From Thanksgiving through New Years...I just LOVE this time of year!  Its a crazy busy time, but I can't complain!

8.  Allison.  She supplied the first of our very few Christmas presents under the tree.  They look BEAUTIFUL!  Can't wait to open them on Christmas day!

7.  Owen Louis Bartmess.  Cutest little boy I know.  I truly enjoyed taking care of him this past weekend so Mom and Dad could attempt to get back to normal!

6. My parents.  Without them, we wouldn't have been able to take care of Owen.  They went back to St. Louis with Sam and took WONDERFUL care of her while we were in Columbia.

5. My job.  Still so very thankful for it.  With a couple of days away from Samantha, I truly love the fact that I get to be home with her every day.

4.  Vacuuming.  I hate to do it, but once it is done, the house looks SOOO good!

3.  Finnegan.  He wears me out, but I love him.

2.  An empty bed.  Never thought I'd say this, but I look forward to tonight when I get the whole bed to myself (well, minus the fact that I will probably have to share with Finnegan for a while...).

1.  Christmas lights.  They always bring a smile to my face.  I LOVE them!  :)

Happy Tuesday everyone!!!

To My Daddy

I have to thank the internet for existing.  Without it, I don't think my parents would know what was going on in my life and everything that I was thinking at every waking moment.  Is this a good thing?  One would think to say, "no".  Who truly wants their parents to know everything about their life; especially since I am in my late 20's (Oh Dear GOD! I can't believe I just said that!), married, and have the cutest baby girl on the face of the Earth.  But the latter is EXACTLY why I am glad that my parents are so involved.  They are life savers.  They basically are our on call babysitters.  They want to know everything about Samantha.  They are amazing grandparents.  :)

With all of that said, Thank You Daddy for reading my blog and calling/emailing me when you have something to say about it.  Thank you also for keeping up with Facebook and commenting when you see appropriate.  Thanks for having the Berger clan over for dinner twice a month.  Thanks for loving me unconditional (Because we all KNOW that sometimes, that can be really hard to do!). And most of all, thanks for being YOU!

I LOVE YOU!!!!!

Top 10 Tuesday...

This is something I wanted to start this week, but with the babies being on different schedules yesterday, my need to run around the entire city and county of St. Louis in the evening and going to bed at 9, it just didn't happen!

I will attempt to do it every Tuesday, and its a list of my Top 10's for the week.  (Probably in no particular order, but just as they come to mind.)

So here it is, a day late:

10. Morning walks with Amy and Oliver.  Finnegan just loves it and it is a motivation for me to get my tushy out of bed and walk!

9. A clean house.  I don't think that's going to happen until after Christmas.  For some reason, the Christmas Tree seems to clutter our house this year.  Oh, that is probably all the baby stuff.  haha.

8. Burlington Coat Factory.  LIFE. SAVER.  Baby shoes for $6.99 that she will probably only wear once or twice (Christmas eve and Christmas!), and tights for $1.98.  WOO!

7. Big! Lots.  Granted, not always the best quality.  But, they had garland for the outside of our house for $5.  Can't beat that!

6. My husband.  It's been a rough few months for us, but we are making it through and he has picked up a Saturday job to make that happen.

5. Coffee.  Its always on my Top lists.  I can't help it.  I love it. Just black.  :)

4. Crackers.  Currently, its the one thing that I can hand to Samantha as I do whatever I need to do, and she is content.

3. Heat.  It would be SOOOO cold with out it.

2. Humidifiers.  It has worked WONDERS for Sam's cold.  Granted, she still has her cough, but she isn't waking up in the middle of the night anymore...

1. Friends.  A phone call to/from a friend can make my day SOO much better.  :)

There you have it.  In no particular order, my Top 10 Tuesday(Wednesday)

Lots of "Dears" today

Dear Children's Shoes,

You're too expensive.  My daughter will grow out of you by next month.  Please be cheaper.  Specifically, you.  I only want you for Christmas. Can I return you when we are through?

Love,
Katie

Dear Winter,

Welcome!  I thought I was looking forward to you.  I was wrong.  Please go away.  Unless you are going to bring buckets and buckets of snow.  Then you can stay.

Love,
Katie


Dear Ski Trip,

You can't come soon enough.

Love,
Katie

Dear Readers,

Thanks for putting up with my stupid posts.

Love,
Katie

Thoughtful Thursday

*Disclaimer: I haven't fully thought this blog through, so its just going to come out.  Enjoy, or don't.  Whatev!


I have been attending Catechism classes since September and they will continue until Easter Vigil where, if I decide that Catholicism is the right path for me, I will be Baptized (have yet to be) and Confirmed.  I have truly enjoyed these classes.  Peter and Paul are members of the church and are teaching the class.  (Don't worry, Dad, I've already made the joke about Peter, Paul and Mary.)  They are very knowledgeable men, the are strong Christians and know the Bible back and forth like no one I've ever known.  What I truly like about the class is that they encourage us to ask the questions that many do about Catholicism.  Crazy Catholic Questions, if you will!   (So if you ever have one, I shall ask it!)

Last night one of the girls asked "If God is a good God, then why does he give us free will?".  Great question! Paul had a very insightful answer.  To sum it up, he said that God does give us the choice.  Of COURSE He wants us to follow him and make the right choice, but when we put ourselves before Him, we are more than likely going to choose the path that seems to make it better for us.  When we truly put God in our hearts, and think about what He would want us to do, we are going to make the right choice because we are then Men (Women) after God's own heart.  One thing that Paul did say is that sometimes when we make the wrong choice it can later become beneficial and the right choice after all.  Its all in His plan.  Pretty awesome.

We also talked about the New Calendar Year.  So happy New Year as of November 30th.  :)  We are now in the month of Advent.  During this month I am challenging myself to remember the coming of Christ and prepare myself for his next coming.  Even during all the "hub bub" of Samantha's first Christmas (yay!) and the excitement of Family and Friends!  I truly want to remember what Christmas stands for.

What would have been...

I had this great post for today.  Rather thoughtful actually...What was going to be titled "Thoughtful Thursday".  But, alas, I'm too tired.  Up at 3:30 in the am with a sick baby has postponed this post.  So...until I can think straight!  :)

Happy December!!!

Wow!  I can't believe that its December already!  So much has happened in the past year and I am truly thankful for it all!  Especially our little bundle of joy!!!

Yesterday I went grocery shopping.  As much as I hate to plan out dinners and make a list, once I get into the store I am at ease.  Maybe its because its one of my only chances away from the babe.  I love her dearly, but Mommy needs some space!  Sometimes... :)

Aldi's is my favorite.  Growing up in West County, it wasn't really heard of to go there.  I think I went there when I would need lots of canned goods for fundraisers, but thats about it.  I never really appreciated it like I do now.  I swear, I bought a bulk of my grocery list there ( 6 dinners worth plus extras like Salmon, sweets for Greg, and breakfast and lunch stuff).  50 bucks.  Thats it!

I then ventured to Schnucks for alcohol (I should really go to Shop N Save) and the veggies Aldi's didn't have and a few other things and I spent $114.  WHAT?!  That was outrageous to me!  Granted now that Thanksgiving is over the GOOD alcohol sales have dwindled but still.  I was dumbfounded.

So here is my shout out to Aldi's.

You never disappoint.  Sure there are things I may never purchase from you, but I love you none the less.  Thanks for being cheap and for the most part, pretty good quality!!
(now if you would only sell the booze, my life would be complete!!!)