Five Question Friday!

Happy Friday everyone! Last Five Quesstion Friday for 2011, I can't believe this year is just about over..I say that every year but really time is just going by so fast, I don't like it..it needs to slow down!
Well, Happy New Year!!!!




1. What's the oldest piece of clothing in your closet? I have my mom's sweatshirt from high school, so it's like 25 yrs. old (as old as me!) It's in way good condition and I still wear it! :P


2. How many random blog readers have you met? I haven't met any blog readers..besides the ones that are friends and family.


3. Do you let your kids stay up till midnight on New Years Eve? (Or, if you don't have kiddos yet, did you get to stay up until midnight as a child?)
The joys of being a parent at 17 yrs old is that we've never gotten to go out and celebrate NYE with friends..I mean, we usually just invite friends over or we celebrate with our families, so it's nice...we totally let our kids stay up til midnight, I want to bring in the new year kissing my little ladies when the ball drops!!


4. What are the gas prices where you live? Ummm..I think they were $3.16m they flucuate so much during the day...it's annoying!


5. What is one resolution that you know you should do but are too afraid to try?
You know...I ain't doing a resoulution this year, I'm striving to be better every single day without needing a holiday to inforce anything! :P

Five Question Friday!

..Yikes! It's 10pm and I almost forgot this post again! Why do I do that!? Anyways, gotta make this one quick..as I'm taking advantage of JJ being home now...I finally get to take a shower today...ughh, Lordy! LOVE being a mom though!!! :D
Here's the questions:



1. What's the best Christmas present you've ever received? Ummm...well, I'm gonna say my 3 daughter's. It's funny because I found out December 12th that I was pregnant with my two oldest daughters...December 12th, 2003 & December 12th, 2007.
And I found out I was pregnant with my 3rd baby December 26th, 2010.
So..December is a pretty AMAZING month for us..and my girls are the best "things" ever...so they're my bestest ever Christmas present!!! :D


2. Worst/Funniest White Elephant gift ever received? Uhhhh, I don't think I've ever gotten such a gift, if I did I can't remember...


3. Is your Christmas tree plain and simple (white lights and matching ornaments) or is it wild and crazy (colored lights with lots of ornaments collected over the years)? It's pretty amped up and you can totally tell my girls decorated it this year, ha! It's pretty though...I have gold ribbon around it, matching ornaments, but then we all have our ornaments since birth so of course those are all just random and don't really match, but it's definitely a sentimental tree with a lot of history!!


4. "How" do you iron your clothes? The old fashioned iron/ironing board way, the shower, back in the dryer, etc.Usually I just throw stuff back in the dryer quick to get out the wrinkles, but if it's a really nice top or linen type pants I get out the ironing board and iron those things.


5. How much baking do you do for Christmas and what are your "must make" items? (I'm looking for recipes here, peeps...)I bake with my mom and we do a lot, more then we should! :P
Sugar cookies with frosting, homemade caramels, peanut butter blossoms, PB rice krispy balls are the must haves for us! Mmmmm...can't wait for Christmas goodies!!!

There you have it...I'm off to take a nice warm bath, sip some eculyptus tea, read my cosmo..then off to bed!!! Gnite.

Christmas decor

..Have I ever mentioned how much I love this time of year when it comes to decorating?! It's my absolute favorite! I wish I could keep my Christms decor up year round, ha!

I love making crafty things, or at least attempting. I invision all these ideas then I go to do some and fail. But my brain never stops thinking, I've always got a project that I'm working on or planning to start(when daddy is home to release me from my motherly duties!)

So, here are a couple things I've made this holiday season...



Snazzy wreath that was kind of time consuming and annoying! This took about 30 minutes to make...I bought a stick wreath in the clearance section from the Fall decor, 100ish Christmas ornaments, wooden letter, paint, ribbon, and LOTS of hot glue sticks!!
Basically all I did was glue these ornaments to fill the wreath, painted my wooden letter, and then hung it up with some ribbon! Waala!!






Handmade snowglobe, it seriously took me about 10 miuntes to make, if that!
Mason jars are my favorite thing, I love decorating with them and I could probably write a post with 101 different ideas to use with them! :P
Anyways, for this I just went outside and sniped some branches off our pine tree, I had some of the red berries from another project, the snow is kosher salt, and Piper broke a pearl necklace so I had no need for it anymore, so instead of just throwing it away...I wrapped it around the jar!

Five Question Friday!

..Happy Friday everyone! As most people look forward to Friday's, I don't!
JJ works overtime from 6am-10pm and I absolutely hate it, hate it that we don't get to spend it as a family, hate it that I don't get a break from the kids, and hate it that JJ is overworking himself. Ughhhh...the money is nice, especially around the holidays, but that's it...after Christmas I'm telling him to cut back and relax...I'll pinch pennies if we have to! :P

Alright, here are the questions:


1. What is your favorite Christmas cookie? Peanut Butter Blossoms...ahhhh, yummmmm!!!!! :D

2. What's your favorite holiday movie & why? I love me some Christmas movies...that's all we watch this time of year..speaking of, I'm watching one right now on Lifetime as I'm on here...:P
But, umm...my favorite one...would probably be "The Santa Claus"...you know, the one with Tim Allen! I just love that one for some reason..always watched it as a kid...it's a good family movie!

3. Is there a gift that you bought for your kids that you wish you hadn't after they opened it? Uhhhhhh, all those small little pieces...polly pockets, littlest petshop, Barbie accessories...I HATE all that stuff and will no longer buy it, especially now with the baby, I'm not risking the older girls leaving around all those little pieces for Maisy to get ahold of...:/


4. What is the messiest room in your house right at this moment? hahahaha, oh Lordy...I have to admit, the entire house has been neglected in the cleaning department...I've just been soooo busy with appointments, Christmas shopping, crafting, baking/cooking, being a mom, and simply just being lazy, ha!
But I would say the girls' bedroom is by far the messiest..they hate to clean, and JJ and I are done cleaning up after them...so you could imagine the toys and clutter in there!


5. What is the furthest you have driven for the holidays? Ummm...I don't think we've ever really drove further then 15 miles away...and that's what we do every Christmas Eve...we drive about 15 minutes out of town to granny's house and that's about it!
Our holidays are pretty stress free!



I hope you all enjoy your weekend!!! :D

Five Question Friday!

...So, I'm a little late on this one, it's Saturday and I TOTALLY spaced off yesterday to do this, errrr! How did that happen?! Busy mom of 3 maybe?! IDK..just guessing! :P

Alright, here's the questions:


1. What is your favorite Christmas decoration in your house? Ummmm, well I'm currently making a homemade wreath which could very well be my favorite, depending on how it turns out!! :P
I will post some pix of some of the things I've been crafting up this holiday season!


2. Do you finish your Christmas shopping early or are you a last minute type? We are usually always late shoppers, shopping well into Christmas Eve most years BUT this year we are all done, except one more person and then of course some more pressies for the girls...it kinda sux having to buy them pressies from us plus some from Santa, so we end up having to get them like 15 presents each! :/


3. When do you turn on your heat? We waited so long this year, it didn't get too cold in our house so we didn't turn it on til mid November!


4. Do you ever wish your blog was private? yes, ALL the time! I like to keep it personal for friends and family and then of course my loyal readers BUT sometimes it bothers me that I have nosey visitors! :P


5. Do you put your deodorant on before of after you put on your shirt? AFTER! My shirts are always a mess when I put deordorant on first, sheesh! :P


Well, I hope you all enjoy your weekend, we're in for a big snowstorm 2nite...I like these nights, stay in and cozy up with the fam! :D

Thanksgiving.

Hope everyone had a wonderful and yummy Thanksgiving!
We enjoyed ours with family this year, although it felt a little rushed with us having to leave early at the two place we went to to be able to get in line for our Black Friday shopping but we did get some amazing deals so it was worth it in a sense! :P

Just wanted to post some pix of my girls on Thanksigiving in their cute little turkey shirts I made for them...unfortunately I don't think I took a picture of all 3 of them together!

(Tay & Pipey)
(Auntie Tessa and Maisy)


(my grandma, Maisy, & I)

Five Question Friday!

...Happy Friday y'all!!

It's been so long since I've done Five Question Friday...I'm so excited to do so! :P
Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving, we most definitely did!

Alright, here's the questions:



1. Is there a special dish you prepare that you are famous for? Well, I hate to toot my own horn, but there's a few things, ha! I'm the cook in the family.
JJ tells me "you know you're getting old when you can cook us good meals!" I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult..LOL!
Anyways, the thing that people seem to like the most of mine is either my chili or goulash.


2. Are you (did you) go Black Friday shopping? We did go shopping last night/this morning....it was chaotic to say the least...we're not one of those crazy, dramatic shoppers, but there were such good deals out today that we just HAD to!
We made it through all the chaoas without any marks or bruises...which by the way, I just read our newspaper this morning and there was a shoot out last night in a neighboring town...people just get so competitive and crazy with this Black Friday stuff...it's insane!
But out of the 21 people we have to buy for this year, we're all done except 1 person...and it's not even Decemeber...we've NEVER EVER done this good for being prepared and ready for anything...such a good feeling of relief!!!
It's most definitely going to be our best Christmas...I'm sooooo excited this year!


3. What are your strangest holiday traditions? Hmmmm...I can't say that we have any strange traditions for the holidays..really, there's nothing!


4. Pecan or pumpkin pie? (She actually asked "Apple or pumpkin?" I just T-giving'ed it!)Uck, neither. I hate pumpkin anything...although I love pumpkin spice latte's and candles that's it. Pumpkin pie makes me gag..ewwwwwwwww!


5. When will you put up your Christmas tree? We always do it the weekend after Thanksgiving, so we'll put all our Christmas decor up on Sunday...yayyyy!
I've still got my Halloween stuff up....seriously slacking on that one! ha!

Well, there you have it...link up and do some Friday questions yourself!!!

..Family of 5.

...Wow, a lot has happened in the last few months! Just crazy exciting things!!!!
It's gonna take a couple posts to catch y'all up..so I'll start this one with our most exciting news....we welcomed our third baby girl in September!!!!

Maisy Monroe was born September 5th, 2011 @ 3:32pm. (Labor Day)
She was a big healthy girl weighing in at 8lbs. 10oz. and 21 1/2 inches long.
Dark hair and blue eyes...she's a beaut! ;)

Labor & delivery went pretty good, very fast...so fast I barely remember things, ha!
I labored for about 5 hours total..completely natural labor with no pain medication, I always wonder why I do that, but then afterwards I'm happy and proud that I was able to do so...pain medication or not, it's a lot of hard painful work for a woman to labor and birth a baby, so I'm not criticizing the need for pain relief, I just choose not to get it for my own personal beliefs and reasoning's.

She's been such a good and easy baby thus far...she's a FANTASTIC sleeper, I can't complain at all!! And only being 2 1/2 months old she's already on her own little schedule, I've never had a baby on a schedule this early, but I love it...it makes things sooooo much easier around here with 2 other kids to have to care for!

She's really developed quite the personality already...such a happy baby!!!
Her favorite things are finger chewing, boobies, watching her sissies, blankies, watching TV, listening to daddy sing, picture books, laying on mama, talking to her toys, and tummy time.

Maisy has brought sooooooo much love and joy to our family, she's been a great addition, we're all so in love with her! <3

baby update.

(I look crabby in this picture, which I am...JJ couldn't figure out my camera and then dropped it, so I was getting frustrated!)
...Hey all!
Yes, I'm still alive! And still very pregnant! 39 weeks now, baby is due just about any day now..that doesn't necessarily mean that she wants to make her debut though! I just would have thought with it being my 3rd baby, she'd be here by now! Well, I guess she's still putting on her final touches to look pretty and healthy for us, I don't want to interrupt that! :P

Although I had a VERY rough first 12 weeks with this pregnancy with hyperemesis and suffered majorly...ughhhh, I don't even want to look back on that. Anyways, besides that rough patch, this pregnancy has been wonderful...I know that may sound annoying to some of you, haha..because for most women pregnancy is complicated and ugly a lot of times..our body gets taken away from us, our hormones are whack, and we just don't feel like ourselves. I'll admit I've had those times but overall I have absolutely loved this pregnancy! I just feel great! During my pregnancies is when I'm my healthiest...mentally and physically! I've been so happy and just enjoying this time, although now I am becoming VERY impatient! Errrrrrrrrrr!

So, a little update on some stats...I started seeing my doctor weekly at 36 weeks, and then starting at 37 weeks is when she started checking my cervix for dilation and effacement and the baby's station. Well at 37 weeks I was almost 2cm dilated and 60% effaced...thought that was pretty darn good...so good that I thought I'd have a baby within that week..pssshhh, wishful thinking!
So, I go the next week, 38 weeks...she's got a student that's following her for a whole year, so that student has been in the room during my appointments which has never really been a big deal, until she stayed in the room while my doctor examined me....uhhhhh, I know she's training and she needs the experience...but my doctor never even asked if I felt comfortable with her present in the room..in which to be honest I did not....call me old fashioned or modest...but I don't like my lady parts showcased to an audience, ha! But whatever...I just brushed those feelings to the side and was ready to hear some good news about my progression....thinking I was gonna be about 3cm and almost completely effaced, no far from it! My doctor was in a rush, which it seems like she always is lately..I know she's the busiest and most "popular" doctor in our town, so she has a lot of other patients to see but I feel like I don't get enough information out of her...well, she said I'm 1cm and still pretty thick...seriously! So, the baby is heading back up out of my pelvic area now all of a sudden or what?! I don't know! I didn't ask about it, I was just depressed to hear that news! Booooooooooooo!

So...here I am at 39 weeks, trying EVERY natural remedy to get this baby girl OUT!
I mean, really trying a lot of a little of everything...hahaha, she just doesn't wanna budge...stubborn, like her daddy! That, and I guess she likes all the good food mama is feeding her in my belly! Oh, which by the way....my weight gain this pregnancy has been a total of 7 lbs. Yes, only 7 lbs! Which is so awesome! I'm very proud of that as well as my doctor! I've lost quite a bit of weight this pregnancy...mostly in the beginning. And as I mentioned above, my pregnancies are my healthiest times. I can tell my stomach as shrunk a great deal from being so sick in the beginning of my pregnancy, that I can barely eat half of my usual sized meals...plus, I'm not eating a whole lot of processed foods...our fridge is usually stocked with lots of fruits and veggies and foods that I actually have to cook, which sucks sometimes, but it's 10x healthier! :P

Hmmm...what else?! I think that's about it. I wish I would have stayed more updated on this blog about my pregnancy so family and friends could have followed along..but oh well! It's been kind of boring anyways, not a whole lot of excitement, just the usual. I won't make promises BUT I do plan to stay more updated with this once the baby comes, so I can keep everyone updated with her and her 2 sissies!

Also, I would REALLY appreciate it if y'all could send some labor dust this way! Seriously....if she doesn't come out this week...I'm putting my foot down and giving her an eviction notice! ha! What a stinker! But hopefully SOON I'll have an update with her arrival!!!!! Until then...

Five Question Friday!

...Wowza! I'm totally slacking again..I seem to go through spurts with keeping up on this blog....we've just been so busy and well, we've had some VERY exciting events happening around here! Which I have to post on that separately...just need to find the time to do so!
Anyways, I hope y'all have a good weekend!

Here are the questions:



1. What is your favorite summer time activity? Hmmm...us Minnesotan's look forward to our summer's after a very long and depressing winter...I love doing just about anything in the summer! From laying a blanket out in the yard reading a book, to going out on the boat! I've never really been a camping kind of girl but I'm really beginning to enjoy it!!! Sitting around the bonfire with family, snacking, participating in summer activities, and drinking a margarita or two..some of the best times!!!


2. Do you have one laundry soap you stick to, or do you buy whatever's on sale? Going cheap on laundry detergent is kind of disgusting to me...ya know, you want nice clean clothes and I feel a lot of the cheap brands are just some water with a lot of fragrance...I get Tide every time, I know it's gonna help get stains out and remove all the filth from our clothes!


3. What is your favorite dinner to make in the summer? Ha, well JJ does all the grilling because he doesn't do any cooking inside so I take advantage and buy lots of hotdog, hamburger, brats, and chicken during the summer months for him to grill! But I make all the summer salads and side dishes...I love making potato salad and I have to admit I make some of the best around...almost as good as my grandma's!



4. Do you have any talents? LOL, no not really...WELL, is being able to put your feet behind your head a talent?! LMAO! If so, then yes!


5. If you could instantly be an expert in something, what would it be? Why?
Hmmmm...toughy! Of all things in this world to be an expert in...I would probably have to say medicine/health, IDK...I enjoy reading medical books about vaccines, medications, illness, surgies, stuff of that sort...I know this sounds ridiculous but when someone in my family or even some of my friends are sick or having unusal symptoms, they know I'm kind of a guru when it comes to reading and researching health information so they'll call me for questions to see what I think BEFORE they even call their doctor...pahahaha, I know...it's silly...but I have to admit with going to nursing school and then just having kids of my own I've studied and read up on a lot! I would love to continue my education in nursing, however I've realized it's not for me..part of it is too sad for me to handle and I also wouldn't be able to do some of the icky aspects of it...so I'll just pretend I am one! :P

Well there you have it, Pipey just spilt RED juice on my carpet...so I guess that's my calling to get off of here! Ughhhhhh. Stanley Steamers here we come!!!!!! :/ hhahahaha!

Five Question Friday!

...Wow, I totally JUST realized it was Friday and headed right on over to Five Question Friday, because that's the highlight of my Friday's! ha, not really...but I do really enjoy doing these on Friday's!!!!
But oh my goodness...where did this week go?! I'm not really complaining because once June hits our summer officially begins and we have sooooooooo many exciting events this summer between all 4 of our birthdays, plus our new baby girl will be joining us this summer as well, our fair(which is the largest free fair in MN!), plus a couple vacations, my sister's graduation, I will start school again right after the baby...OMG...there's just so much...okay, enough with that and now onto the questions!
I hope you all enjoy your weekend!!!!



1. Do you and your spouse go to bed at the same time? Yeah, it's usually our time to talk and just be a couple! He gets home from work at 5pm, then it's spending time with the kids, making supper, playing a board game, outside, or watching a movie..we just don't get a whole lot of time together when the kids are awake and around...isn't that every parent though! So...regardless if I'm tired or not, I make sure I go to bed when he does! :P


2. A question for the ladies...What kind of facial hair do you like on your man? I like my guy scruffy looking but not like wild ape man type, just a little stubble! Not into a baby face guy...just isn't manly! :P


3. What's the worst vacation you've ever taken? Well, back in 11th grade I went on vacation with a good friend and her parents...we went to Branson, Missouri...it was sooooo boring, there was nothing to do for us, it was all old folks, and we had to go to these lame shows/events...I got so bored and homesick one night, I just cried myself to sleep...haha! I was even so mean to her about it, telling her this was the worst week of my life...I mean, it wasn't really...it was just that BORING!!!!!!


4. What's the first-ever blog you followed? HHmmmm...I have nooooooo idea! Maybe MckMama, yeah...probably hers!


5. Do you enjoy amusement parks? I do, mostly just to walk around, sit down and people watch...which I could do for hours!!!! After kids, my stomach has became so weak, I can't handle rides anymore...but I do enjoy bringing the kiddos!

24 weeks..baby update!

...I'm slacking again! But I thought I'd give a little baby bump status update for y'all...just because I'm already 24 weeks and I haven't even posted a belly picture on here...what the heck!
So....about the pregnancy thus far....things are going absolutely wonderful! Compared to how bad it was in the beginning with the hyperemesis...I feel amazing most days! Some days I don't even feel pregnant, if I didn't have this big ole' belly and feeling her kicks...it'd be hard to feel pregnant!

My last Dr. appt went well..the Dr. was pleased with how well I've been doing, mostly because I'm gaining the perfect amount of weight, my blood pressure was good, nothing unusual....it's just going smoothly, which makes me so proud because I thought this pregnancy was going to be difficult the entire thing!
But to be honest, this is the healthiest I've been in awhile! Seriously, during my pregnancies is when I'm my best...which is good, but I'm really hoping I can continue with being this healthy afterwards, it'd definitely help to lose the weight, which by the way..I technically haven't even gained a pound...it's confusing...but at my last appt. I was up 4 lbs total for this pregnancy...but just yesterday I was down those 4 lbs...I was totally freaked out and called the nurse, unfortunately my Dr. wasn't in yesterday but I did talk to an OB doctor and he told me as long as I'm taking my prenatals, eating well, and not limiting nutrients that it's actually normal for me to not gain a whole lot or even to lose a couple pounds...because I'm not a tiny girl to begin with! I mean, it's a good feeling knowing I won't have a lot of pregnancy weight to lose...however, I do have a lot of weight to shed from pre pregnancy! I was on medicine for my anxiety for the last 2 years...which made me gain a little over 30lbs..just outrageous! Well, I stopped taking my medicine the beginning of my pregnancy...I think that's why I'm losing weight! I won't complain tho! :P

Baby girl was measuring over 2 weeks ahead at my last appt so I know she's in there growing like crazy, my Dr said if I'm still measuring this far ahead at my next appt I will have to go in for an ultrasound to figure out if she's just a big baby or if there's something else going on! I just think she's a big girl! I was feeling full term at like 15 weeks, hahaha! And right now I feel like she's already a 10 pounder...she's definitely going to be my biggest, my other two were tiny little things at birth....so it will be interesting to see how this baby girls turns out!!

Hmmm...what else is there.....I'm just proud with how well I'm doing health wise, it makes me feel good knowing I'm taking care of this little baby inside me but I'm also doing good for myself!

My Dr. is gonna call me back today and the nurse said she may want me to come in and get weighed/monitored and I may have to do that throughout the pregnancy if I'm losing or not gaining...so, fingers crossed that won't have to happen!
I ate a HUGE breakfast today, hoping that added a pound or two! :P

Until next time....


**Here's my 23 week baby bump, which isn't showing a whole lot with this dress on tho!

Five Question Friday!

Happy Friday everyone! It's sooo cold out today, we're just vegging out. And thankfully daddy has the rest of the weekend off so we get to go out and do something fun! Yayyyy!
Hope you all enjoy your weekend! :o)
Questions:

1. Tube socks, calf socks, crew, ankle, none? I hate socks, I think they're ugly so I usually don't wear them unless when I leave the house and it's during winter...and in that case I wear crew socks, I think that's what they are?! IDK!

2.Was your childs (children's) name a mutual decision or was it a debate? If you don't have children, do you plan on giving your spouse a say, or do you have a name you MUST have, regardless if your other half likes it or not?!
haha, oh lordy! I was set on a name with our first and right before I had her EVERYONE decided they hated the name, ya know..in my family, it has to be that my mom and sisters all agree as well..pshhhhh! I was devastated and just gave up with the name thing..and my 8 year old sister at the time named my daughter, Taylor. ha!
I knew if I had another girl what I was going to name her before I was even pregnant and it didn't matter who liked it, not even JJ! ha, is that selfish and mean!? So...thankfully everyone loved and agreed on the name Piper! It was easy that time around! Now, this 3rd time, it was the biggest challenge of all! Well, JJ and I both absolutely hated each others names we had picked out for a boy, so it's a good thing she's a girl! My mom & I picked out her name during her 20 week ultrasound scan..it was so weird how we just were thinking the same name..one that is so unique as well...well I had it on my list of the 10 names I had for our girl and she so happened to mention that one!!! Bizarre!!! And most everyone likes it, except my sister who thinks it's horrible! She'll grow to like it, well because it is her niece! :O)

3.What is your favorite type of weather? It depends on my mood. Somedays I like a good thunderstorm and rainy day. But mostly, I like a 75 degree day with the sun shining and NO humidity...MN humidity is the worst, you can barely breath! Yuck.

4.If left to your own devices, what time would you wake up every day? Well of course I'd wake up when I've had enough sleep! 10am seems perfect! :o)

5.Have you bought your cemetery plots yet? oh gosh, hahaha...NO! Death is my worst fear and I don't intend to go shopping for my plot for quite some time, even though we are never guaranteed tomorrow..I'll go when I'm an old lady! ;)
We have too much other stuff to worry about and having to buy..that's totally at the bottom of my list!

Happy Mother's Day, mom!!

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. ~Tenneva Jordan


(My mom & two sisters. Sadly I don't have a recent picture of my mom & I..due to the fact that I'm always the one behind the camera.)



*I have learned a great deal from my mom over the years...through all the good times and the hardships we've endured together.

Having me at 17 years old, I can only imagine what my mom had to give up and sacrifice for me at such a young age. Having me while she was still in high school was tough but she knew she had to keep going to graduation, I was in her best interest for the future as well as her own. And thankfully she had supportive, loving, and successful parents to help lead her the way into parenthood.
Looking back at pictures of myself as a baby, I knew I was well loved and taken care of!

I watched my mom struggle as a single mom but somehow she always made it through and yet found the time and money to make sure I was fed, dressed to impressed, loved, and cared for! I know she had to give up so much for herself and I today I really appreciate that because I know how hard it is to be a single teen mom having to give up the luxuries in life that you once had!

My mom is the give your child tough love kind of mom. She wasn't always the lovey dovey type. More of the "wipe your knee off and get back on your bike" kind of mom!
But at certain and serious times she was the sweet and lovey dovey mom, when we needed it most!

My high school years were the hardest for her, I think! :P I wasn't the easiest teen around but yet I wasn't one of those troubled teens...I was just boy crazy and that got me into a lot of trouble, with sneaking out and partying. Hence what led to becoming pregnant at 17 years old myself, but hey..8 years later, 3 kids later...we're still as happy as ever and I'm truly proud to be high school sweethearts/teen parents! But that's beside the point...the point is, my mom NEVER gave up on me through my "tough" years...she grounded me, took my door off in my bedroom, took my cell phone away, those kinds of things..which I absolutely HATED her for it and would tell her she's the worst mom ever...but looking back, that has made me appreciate and love my mom even more! I don't think I'd be where I am today if she didn't give me all the tough love she did!

Now, to this present day...she is an amazing & young grandma to her two grand daughters and a wonderful mother to her 3 children...she has successfully raised 3 daughters herself as a single mother throughout these years and has bent over backwards for us when it came to having the latest fashions, paying & supporting us in our sporting events we were involved in, and pushing us to do our best in school & college. I'm so thankful she has pushed me to go to college and get a better education for my family.

She has taught me how to be the mom I am today and usually I would frown on having someone tell me how to raise my kids...but I know my mom has us in her best interest and I totally respect her ways in how to parent and look forward to many more years with her helping to raise, love, and be a grandma to her grand kids.

I love you mom, you have always been my role model and I'm so grateful to have someone in my life as supportive, loving, and as strict as you have been to me! :P
You have guided me far in life and I look forward to you pushing me even further!

Happy Mother's Day!!! xoxo.

Five Question Friday!

..What a beautiful day here, it's seriously just perfect! Although I already need a nap from all the shopping and garage sales we did this morning..I over did myself.
But we scored a lot of fun treasures! :P
Hope y'all get out and enjoy your weekend!!!!!

1. Have you ever had roommates? No, I never got to experience the whole college/dorm life..which I'm kinda grateful for...I wouldn't be able to have roommates, let alone in a 5x10 room..LOL..my sisters dorm her freshman year was the size of a closet pretty much...no lie...and it was her and 2 other people...I often questioned how she was able to survive in those living arrangements. Ughhhhh.
Plus, I tend to get annoyed with people easily so I wouldn't have lasted very long! ha!


2. How many names do you/your children have? (i.e. Prince Charming William Phillip Arthur Louis John Jacob Jingleheimer-Schmidt)Ummm...just their first, middle, and last name.
Taylor Jo Radsek
Piper Irene Radsek...and we aren't saying our 3rd baby girl just yet! :P


3. Did you watch the Royal Wedding? Of course! It was sooooo beautiful minus all the ridiculous hats! haha...some of those were just horrid. But I am soooooo jealous of Kate, she's so perfect and just natural...just like her mother in law...Princess Diana. :o)


4. What is the messiest room in your house? our bedroom! It's just cluttered with clothes! Depressing.


5. What is your ideal mothers day? A spa day would be amazing!!!!!
Waking up to breakfast in bed, reading home made cards from the girls...then getting ready for the day to go out and have a picnic or something would be sooooo nice!
Something just simple is all I want, just to spend it with my girlies!!!

Cleaning, organzing, and decluttering.

You say, 'If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.'
You make a mistake.
If you are not content with what you have,
you would not be satisfied if it were doubled.

Our house has been long overdue for some major cleaning, organizing, and re decorating. We are fastly outgrowing our house, with 4 people in this 2 bedroom it's really hard for it to always look nice...we just have soooo much junk!
And now with adding a 5th member, we are really getting into gear!

We got new living room furniture a couple weeks ago, which we needed sooooo bad, we had our other stuff for like 6 years and plus with two kids it really got worn out!
We had red furniture, which I loved at the time because not many people had it...but now it seems EVERY living room has it and I hate that, it's too trendy now!
So, my next favorite color for furniture...purple! I absolutely love it!!! It really motivated me to have nice furniture to get going on other projects that needed to be done! So...I started to re decorate a bit...I'm OBSESSED with buying junk, whether I need it or not...garage sales, or going to Target in throwing things in the cart I don't need! We had all this extra stuff just laying around because we had no room to hang it up or no room to put it on our book cases or shelves...but I took out some old stuff and brought out the new! I'm really starting to love our house again! Don't you ever just get sick of walking into the same house everyday, wanting change?!
I'm the type of person that likes to change up the decor often, I like to change my style!
For the longest time I liked the modern look but now I'm turning into liking the vintage/DIY look...a little bit rustic...IDK how to explain it, I think it's just kind of a little bit of everything, really!

After I got my house all prettied up the way I liked it, I got a lot of motivation/nesting to go through all the rooms and tossed soooooo much crap!
The girls bedroom is horrible! I HATE toys, well you know...the small crap, the Barbie accessories and all that! Ughhhhhh. We are CONSTANTLY going through their bedroom, throwing toys away but it all accumulates so fast, they're spoiled little girls...we usually don't buy them a whole lot of toys, it's their grandparents that do! :P
And now with their birthdays coming up this summer, I'm telling everyone NO toys!

I did our bedroom today and that's FULL of all of our clothes...it's horrible, I hate our bedroom...it's the worst room in the house, which it should be my favorite but it's far from it! Our girls constantly change their clothes throughout the day, playing dress up, and just getting tired of what they're wearing..I don't really know...a girl thing I suppose! So, we don't keep their clothes in their bedroom because I'm so sick of doing laundry and then not knowing what's clean or dirty because God forbid they put ONLY dirty clothes in their hampers..haha!
So...our bedroom is fully loaded with clothes...more then a normal person should have! If I get brave one day, I'll put up pictures! LOL.
I threw soooo many clothes away...yes, just threw them...I'm tired of storing stuff!
I just kept their good clothes to save for the next girl in line to wear them! Now with 3 girls we need to keep EVERYTHING, unfortunately I've learned the hard way by getting rid of everything in the past.

And our kitchen, well that was the most fun! haha! We just got a new fridge a couple days ago and a new dishwasher a couple months ago so our kitchen totally looks transformed, I love it! I just organized the cupboards and threw out expired food..there wasn't a whole lot to do in there!

I was outside for a bit today, doing some landscaping and setting out/filling up the bird houses and feeders, and raking our lawn which has so many dead patches from the girls play set and sandbox. Ughhhh, so now I need to figure out how to replant/seed some grass, shouldn't be too hard..right?! :P


Our next project...the garage. OMG. I'm not helping at all with that...it's too scary in there for me! I'll leave that to JJ! hahahaha! We have soooo much stuff out there I'm afraid to even open it! :/


***I'll update this post a little later, take pictures of our house and what not!
It's not 100% yet and I really don't feel like uploading pictures anyways! :P

Five Question Friday!

...Happy Friday everyone! It's so beautiful out today, I have all the windows open and the can feel the warmth of the sun beaming on me....love it! Oh, and we get our fancy new refrigerator delivered today..who knew getting new appliances would be such an exciting time?!


Questions:

1. If you could buy any car, money not an option, what would it be?I've always loved and envied Land Rovers...someday! ;)


2. What was your worst first date ever? hahaha....oh my gosh, it was so horrible and embarrassing I'm not even going to write about it..I think I was in 10th grade...ughhhh.


3. How old were you when you fell in love for the first time? ..I was in 7th grade, towards the end of the year...I met a guy at my church...he was 2 years older then me but I always caught him staring at me during service...and I honestly do not remember how we started dating...but we dated for 2 1/2 years...and he was my first love. But the love I have now for JJ is a different kind of love, I will never be able to love anyone else the way I love that man!!!! xoxo.


4. When was the last time you reconciled your checkbook? hahaha....never. We just don't do it. Bad, I know....not that we're made of money..but we just never really have to balance it out..we just know what we have in there..IDK.


5. If you were going to fashion a "Wanted" Ad for a best friend, how would you word it? Must be a mom yourself! I know I know...that sounds kind of harsh but it's really hard to relate to friends without kids lately..I love my friends that don't have kids but we're not as close. It would be nice to have a non judgmental friend that we can sit back together and just talk and be ourselves. Yada Yada Yada...a true friend is all I need, really! :o)

We're having a.......!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A mother's joy begins when new life is stirring inside... when a tiny heartbeat is heard for the very first time, and a playful kick reminds her that she is never alone.

..Expecting a baby GIRL!!!!!!!

Yes, our 3rd little diva! We are just over the moon with excitement...well, JJ not as much as me...he was REALLY hoping for a boy...but he's finally coming around now and comprehending that he's gonna soon have THREE girls!!!! hahaha! Poor guy! But like everyone tells us...we make some beautiful little girls..so it's gonna be fun to see what this little girl is gonna look like, what her personality is gonna be like..I'm just sooooo excited for her arrival!
I love the fact that we're going to have 3 girls..I myself have two sisters, so there's 3 of us...and I love the bond we have...when we get together, it's gossip, shopping, etc! Plus, I think of the Kardashians...LOL...like how fun! :P

We found out April 19th that we were having a girl, my mom & Piper came with me to the ultrasound. JJ was too nervous and Taylor had school, which she was bumming!
As soon as the doctor put the probe on my stomach, like seriously within 3 seconds I proudly proclaimed "it's a girl!" My mom was like "you don't know that!" And the doctor was like "wow, you're good!" he said he would agree with me but wasn't positive she was a girl, the baby never did really open her legs for us to get a full shot, so he put girl and then a question mark. But I know she's a girl...I've felt it since the very beginning of my pregnancy and well..the ultrasound really looked like it was showing a girl! It's possible it could be a boy and that he had his little peener weiner tucked in between his legs but I'm not so sure we'd mis diagnose a boy..hehehe, if ya know what I mean! Like father like son. ;)

So...let the shopping begin! HA. Well, it already has...I've been banned for a bit..I'm only allowed to buy the necessities and not the wants. UGHHHH, men!
Girls are just sooooo spendy, they need a lot of stuff...a lot of pretty stuff..the hair bows, tutus, mary janes, hats, cute little blankies...and the list goes on!
But thankfully I have an amazing friend who has offered to throw me a baby shower, so I'm excited and waiting for that..getting to celebrate another baby! :o)

Oh, and we're kinda keeping the name a surprise...I mean, if people ask we tell them...but we're just not announcing it until she arrives!

Hmmm...am I forgetting anything else about baby girl?! She was looking very good on the ultrasound...the doctor was really impressed with her heart...IDK why...he just kept looking at it, then I questioned him..asking if there was something actually wrong with it and he's like "oh no! I would tell you right away if I had suspicions of anything wrong, it just looks really good and healthy." And he would look at other things then catch the heart again..and just look at it...weird..but good, it makes me happy knowing she's a strong girl with a good healthy heart!
She was sucking her thumb....which was cute..but when you have a 2 1/2 year old who still is sucking her thumb, it makes it not so cute...and hoping this one isn't a extreme thumb sucker as well...it's cute and I love how they find comfort in it...but the orthodontist bill in 13 years is NOT gonna be cute! UGHHHHH.

I think that's about it...I intend to keep y'all updated with my pregnancy on this blog...I don't think I've even uploaded any belly shots or anything..I'm really slacking, I always take weekly pictures of my belly but haven't had the time to take one this week for my 21 week...maybe I'll make a post of that this weekend sometime!

Until then...xoxo baby M & mommy!

Five Question Friday!

...Happy Friday!
We don't have a weekend this week...as JJ is working 60 hours, 20 hours of overtime...OMG! Ughhhhh. I hate that but a good paycheck, so that's a postive!
And JJ's parents are taking both girls overnight on Saturday..so that should be relaxing for me..home alone! :o)
Alright, here are the questions:



1. What is your favorite sign of spring? Seeing the robins, I think that's the true sign right there! I also like the rain & thunderstorms..it's a sign that winter is over! Although here in Minnesota it's suppose to snow this weekend...only in Minnesota can you experience all four seasons in one week! Good Lord!


2. What was your best birthday ever? Hmmmm...I've had some good birthdays over the years but I'd have to say my 21st birthday was the best..from what I can remember! :P


3. What is your favorite dessert? CHOCOLATE!!! Anything chocolate...seriously! I really LOVE French silk pie tho!


4. What is the best excuse you've ever used to get out of a ticket? I've only been pulled over once for speeding...and my "excuse" was I was late to my sister's volleyball game and we were lost in a town...it was true..even tho the cop was a jerk, he let me off with a warning!


5. Do you wake up before your alarm, with your alarm, or after hitting snooze several times? Lately, I've been waking up BEFORE my alarm..every morning, I hate it!

Hope y'all have a great weekend!!!

Placenta encapsulation

..I've been doing a lot of online researching about childbirth and everything that comes with it! I've also watched a few documentaries on natural labor and doing a home birth.
I'm not interested in doing a home birth myself but I think it's an amazing thing, just not for me. However, I want everything to be as natural as possible, as I did with my last two deliveries...I do NOT want pain medication during labor..I want nothing. That is my goal this time around as well..I just don't believe whole hearted in pain management, it has A LOT of side effects that to me aren't worth risking. I am not by any means putting down women who do need an epidural or any other pain medication because it is a very painful process and not all of us tolerate pain the same way. Thankfully I have a high pain tolerance and was able to focus and get through both of my labor and deliveries natural. It takes a lot of will power and strength!

So, after reading things the natural way, I came across some info about placenta encapsulation.

What is placenta encapsulation? Placental encapsulation is the process of dehydrating the placenta, grinding it to a powder and encapsulating it into pills. It is for the woman to take in her postpartum recovery after childbirth.


What are the benefits?
*helps balance hormones
*enhances milk supply
*increases energy
*prevents baby blues and postpartum depression
*shortens post partum bleeding
*brings body back into balance
*increases iron levels
*assists uterus to return to size


It really makes sense to do this! You, as a woman are the one who made this special organ, the placenta. It's full of nutrients and hormones. So when you deliver the placenta which usually occurs about 5-30 minutes after you've delivered your baby...you begin to lose a lot of hormones, blood, and energy.
So by ingesting your placenta, that is completely natural and it's FULL of feel good hormones...you are greatly helping your post partum recovery in many ways! There's soooo many benefits.

I know a lot of people are grossed out by this but when it's put into capsules it's a lot easier to handle!

The Chinese swear by this in their traditional Chinese medicine. And I'm one who truly believes in TCM! I'm not going to get into detail about how healthy most Chinese people are...but they take their health very seriously and I really envy that!

I think all pregnant women and women who are planning to start a family should look into this, do your research...it may not be for you but at least you looked into it!

I found a lady in my area who specializes in this and the total cost is $200. She also does placenta prints and also dries the baby's umbilical cord to save for a keepsake for free. If you're interested in this they have directories online for specialists in your area. Check it out!!!!! :o)

Baby stuff.

..Time is just flying by! Today I am 19 weeks, next Tuesday we will find out if we're team blue or team pink!!! The suspense is just killing me! Some days I'm almost sick to my stomach because I'm sooooo excited and anxious to find out!!! And I honestly don't care what the gender is...I just want a healthy baby and want to know so I can start decorating, planning, and buying for this baby.
Which we have gotten a few things but only gender neutral things, obviously..


**The first thing I bought was a nursing cover, this was an exciting purchase!! I always wanted one when I was breastfeeding Piper but just never got around to getting one. I bought this online at Bebe au Lait. It's an awesome cover, I can't wait to use it...as you can maybe see in the picture it's got a terry cloth square which is also a pocket..so you can use it as a burp cloth, plus you can store breast pads or a pacifier..or maybe even a water bottle, as I know when I breastfeed I am constantly guzzling down water!


**These two outfits came from my grandma! She got them in Mexico, the yellow outfit is a little sweater with matching pants, gender neutral. I told her if I have a girl I would love to have her in a little Mexican dress, I wore them a lot as a baby/toddler...they're too cute! I think the dress might be her homecoming outfit...I'm not for sure yet but am thinking so! :P


**My grandma also bought this blanket down in Mexico, it's a yellow and white with designs on it, I think like the alphabet and numbers..gender neutral as well.

**My sister bought the baby a Gustavus hat from her college. Then the other two items are just from Walmart....a window sign for our SUV and then just a pack of plain white onesies.


So, these are our first baby items that we've bought and received. We have so much more to get but obviously need to wait until we know what we're having!
I mean, we don't need any baby furniture, toys, or equipment but we do need clothes, diapers, grooming kit, and a bunch of small other necessities.

One of my amazing friends has offered to throw me a babyshower, which is just so sweet of her! So, next week I will start my baby registry to prepare for that!
I can't wait to celebrate this baby with friends and family! :o)

Extreme Couponing!

...Did any of you watch TLC's Extreme Couponing tonight?! Well I did and I have to say I am just shocked and amazed at these people's savings!
I would have never thought that was possible to save 98% of your bill by using coupons, an extreme crazy amount of coupons! The amount of time these women, well and the one man it takes to go through the grocery store, scan the items first, then figure out what coupons you want to use, I mean...for some of these people it's a full time job just finding, sorting, and clipping coupons. That's pure determination!

I have to say though, the one lady..it was just her and her husband, ummm...I can't think of her name, was it Amanda!? IDK..anyways! I don't want to be entirely rude because I am impressed with her ability to save like she does...BUT seriously 150 candy bars?! I don't care if you got them for little or nothing...NO person needs that many candy bars...that's just disgusting! A lot of the food they got was junk, I didn't see a whole lot of healthy things..just because you're getting free products or products for very cheap, doesn't mean you should!
The other people had a good assortment and variety of foods that were used to make meals, which is awesome!

I love seeing how they have like 70 jugs of laundry detergent, 1,200 rolls of toilet paper, and all those other items that sux to run out of! I would love to be able to go out to my garage or downstairs in my basement and just pull something out of my own personal grocery store...I'm soooo jealous of these ladies talent!

I am sooooo inspired now to do the same, I know I'll never be that extreme BUT I do already have my coupons clipped out for this week at our local grocery store and I am soooo excited about it because just about every single coupon that was in our Sunday paper are items that we use all the time, so I have about 20 coupons to use! whooaaaaoooohhhh! :P It's a start...I'm soooo determined to start saving some money, as we are unfortunately and sadly such a wasteful family...it's not like we make millions of dollars a year...but we just don't keep track of things like we should!

ANYWAYS, I'm excited for this series and can't wait to watch it next week and the next 10 weeks! The tips are awesome, and I'd love to get more! :o)

This is a MUST watch show for everyone, especially families with children!!!!