Christmas Cards

Kind of hard to believe that I am already thinking about Christmas cards.  It seems like such an adult thing to do but now that I have two beautiful little girls I always just want to show them off.  They are certainly the apple of my eye.  Love Shutterfly, I have used them to get my prints for years.  Got a coupon for 10 free cards and what a deal.  They will probably be the only Christmas cards I purchase ... well ... since I don't have any extra money.  But they're cute and I'm excited to mail them out.

Check them out, cutest kids ever.  :)

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Stationery card

Holly Toile Monogram Christmas Card

Customize your Christmas cards this holiday at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Pride

Pride is said to be a sin but gosh darn it, my kids make me so proud.  

On Sunday, my oldest step-son, Austin, had a wrestling meet.  We missed his first match which was disappointing but we made it to his last.  I am PROUD to say that he won both.   I love standing next to people and listening to them comment about how good he is and how he will go far in wrestling.  I also love when we are leaving and talk to a random person who is bitching about how their son/grandson lost his match only to find out that they lost to Austin.  

Or this past summer, Logan, who is a fantastic fisherman, caught a very large salmon in Lake Michigan.  He is so patient and really knows the water.  He carried that fish down the pier, other fisherman stopping him to congratulate him on his catch (apparently no one else was having any luck).  I felt so PROUD of him.  He finally had his moment to shine and quite frankly, he doesn't get very many of them.

I have been told by Ashley's daycare providers that she is the best child that they have ever watched.  She is so calm and behaved and just really is an all round good kid.  As a baby she rarely cried (granted now she throws tantrums galore but then again she is a toddler), would play well with others, etc.  I love hearing people say that they wish all the kids were like Ashley.  I am PROUD to say that she is my daughter.

Elizabeth, after a crazy birth was just perfect.  7lbs, 7oz, 21.5 inches long she was the epitome of a Gerber baby.  I didn't get to see her right after I gave birth to her since she came out pooping (a big no no), the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck and she was blue.  It was nearly an hour before I got to see her, let alone hold her.  But you know, even though we didn't get that immediate skin to skin contact she nursed like a champ.  In fact, the lactation consultant said she wished that she could take Elizabeth around to all the other babies and show them how to nurse.  I'm PROUD of my champion nurser.

Needless to say, I think a little bit of pride is good.  I am so proud of my children and everything they do.  Whether they are 2 months old or 12 years old they are all great children.  Granted we have our rough spots but they are all amazing and I wouldn't change my life for the world.  

One, Two, Three, Five, Eight, Ten ...

I always marveled at how fast Ashley grew up and how many milestones she hit in her first two years of life but I didn't realize how many she would be hitting now that she is two.  Everyday she learns a new word and is starting to put sentences together.  "Pants On" "Baby Cwying" "Where Bunny?"  And probably my favorite "Thank You" said in a high pitched voice.  She's also started to count.  She has "1, 2, 3" down if you ask her to count but if you help her out she can get up to ten.  You can also ask how old she is and once again, in a high pitched voice, while lifting up two fingers she says "two".  She also likes to announce what she is doing.  "I Pooping, diaper pease", while pointing "mess" (her wonderful way of informing me that she just made a huge mess), "Watch monie (movie)" the list goes on.  And then there are the animals sounds Kitty "meeooow", Doggy, "arf arf arf", cow "mooooo" and my favorite Bear "roooar".

I know that if I ever need a smile or Ashley is just driving me bonkers all I have to do is listen to her talk or try and get her to say a new word.  She's growing up so fast and every once in a while I need to remember that each tantrum will pass, all the messes will soon be cleaned up, and my little girl will no longer be little.  I need cherish each and every moment that I have with her because before I know it she'll be grown and not my little girl anymore.

How to Clean Puke out of a Pillow Pet

Last night I had the joy of projectile vomit from my lovely two year old.  Was she sick, nope.  She was just throwing a tantrum.  Yup, whenever my daughter throws a full out fit, she throws up.  This is not just her gagging but run for cover vomiting.  And of course, her drink of choice is milk.  So I must say that I have since become a little bit of a connoisseur in removing puke from different items, the top two being my daughter's pillow pet and her bunny.

It really doesn't take much skill, rather a strong stomach.  You have to be gentle, those are special objects but you have to be rough, there's puke all over them and they are furry.  Plus, you have to get them clean enough without getting them soaked because God forbid she sleep without one of them for the night.  Did I mention I don't have a washer and dryer so this is all done by hand.

I have acquired many products to help in the cleaning endeavor.  My favorite is a long handled brush so there is a less of a chance that I actually touch anything plus I can hold the object further from my nose.  I also don't use any cleaners simply because even though it still smells, Ashley will still cuddle with the pillow pet and suck on the bunny's nose (yes, she really does).  Same reason I can't use soap.  But boy do I go to town on everything else.  Oh, I also bath the child because at this point she stinks.  I love her to death but I don't want her coming near me smelling like that (you just have to hope that the bunny doesn't come anywhere near you until it gets a bath in the washing machine).

Of course, once she throws up all is fine.  Why, she finally gets all the attention.  Until Elizabeth starts screaming and Ashley quickly lets me know that "baby cwying" and it all starts over.

Introduction

Upon graduating high school, if you would have told me that at the age of 24, I would be married, a mother of two, and an unemployed college graduate I would have laughed in your face.  No, I had plans for my life.  I was going to attend Grand Valley State University, major in accounting and graduate in four years.  I was then going to get married, get a job, start my masters, and then start to think about having children.  Funny how life never seems to go as planned.

I graduated from Eaton Rapids High School June of 2006 ready to conquer the world.  That summer I raised enough money to go to Costa Rica for a month on a mission’s trip.  It was the first time in my life that I had ever been away from my family.  It was the hardest month of my life but I am so happy that I did it because it changed me forever.  I met some fantastic people, experienced a whole new culture, grew closer to God, but most of all, I began to establish my independence.  I knew that I could start college with a bang.

August 2006, move into college, go to orientation, make one new friend, and decide that I hate my roommate.  My first semester of college went nothing like I had planned (maybe a sign of the future).  My roommate and I butted heads from the very beginning; clearly there was a flaw in how they matched individuals for rooming.  Needless to say, thank God my best friend from high school lived in the dorm complex right behind me because I quickly became friends with her roommate and I hung out with them much of first semester.  I will always remember our crazy adventures and Friday night pizza and hockey games.  Towards the end of the semester I had met another girl that lived a few rooms down from me that was having the same issue with her roommate so we all talked and I moved out and her roommate moved in and all was happy.  Second semester was a little more enjoyable.  I started making more friends and I was finally getting that whole college thing down.  That semester went fast and next thing I knew it was over and we were saying our goodbyes and planning our living arrangements for next year.  I was to live in a townhouse with three other girls.  My first place, but first I had to get through the summer.

Summer 2007 I would say is the defining moment of my life.  I was working two jobs, 80 hour weeks, 7 days a week.  The first half of the summer I literally worked two months in a row.  After that long and exhausting two months I went to Las Vegas with my family to celebrate my Grandma and Grandpa Robertson’s 50^th wedding anniversary, had a blast, and surprised my family (little miss perfect got a tattoo, eek). 

A week later I was asked out by my future husband who worked in the same building as I did at one of my jobs.  I didn’t even know that he was asking me out.  It was for the fourth of July and I just thought he was having a party and was inviting people from work.  I went to my second job and they confirmed it was a date.  I went into the date thinking that if anything flourished it would just be a summer fling.  He went into it thinking it was going to be a one night’s stand.  Boy was both of us wrong.  I did not sleep with him on our first date or our second and so on.  That just wasn’t who I was but I can say that I quickly fell in love with him and he quickly fell in love with me (or so he says).  The day I left for college was so hard for me; I didn’t think I would be leaving the man that I loved so dearly.  I had not planned on falling in love the summer of 2007. 

In September I got a job working as a night auditor for a hotel in Grand Rapids and that allowed me to go home and visit every other weekend.  Then in November, a mere four and half months after our first date, Dan Glaspie asked me to marry him.  I obviously said yes.  We continued with our long distance relationship until Dan lost his job and we moved in together March 2008.  I was always one to believe that a couple should not live together before marriage but boy I am glad we did.  It was a rocky first year but somehow we made it through.  I continued to go to school and work and Dan found a job that he truly enjoyed. Now, I was also one to believe that a couple should save themselves for marriage but in May 2009, right after I finished my junior year of college I found out I was pregnant.  Talk about a shock.  My life plans had definitely started to change.  I took a year off of school to work, get married, and raise my daughter. On November 13^th, 2009, Dan and I had a quick ceremony at the courthouse and then on January 4, 2010, two weeks past her due date, I had my beautiful little girl Ashley.  For six months everything seemed to be going well.  I had gotten promoted at work and had decided to finish up my last year of school and Dan transferred to another area at work where he was making more money.  And then life took yet another turn.  Dan ended up losing his job.

So now I am trying to figure out how to cover all of our bills on just my salary and it just wasn’t possible so we moved back to our hometown where Dan worked with his former neighbors on their farm and I went back to my high school job.  I, however, decided I had to finish school and chose to drive an hour and half to school at Grand Valley to finish.  I finished my first semester back of my senior year and decided to change my major to Finance.  Yup, that added another semester.  Then May of 2011, I found out I was pregnant with my second child.  Was I shocked, yes, surprised, no.  November 10^th, 2011, I gave birth to my beautiful second daughter, Elizabeth.  Did I mention that this was during my last semester of college?  Took a quick two weeks off and finished up school and I am proud to say that I graduated with my Bachelors of Business Administration in finance.  So where does that leave me now.  Well I quit my job a week before Elizabeth was due so I didn’t have a job.  I graduated school so I didn’t have school.  I guess I am now a stay at home mom … for now.  But who knew that at the age of 24 I would be an unemployed college graduate, married, with two kids (Oh, and two step-sons who are almost teenagers!!!). 

So how did I come up with the title “How to clean puke out of a pillow pet and other adventures of motherhood”.  Simple, my life is what it is because of my children and the stories they provide can make you cry, laugh, smile, think, you name it.  So, would I change my life?  Absolutely not!  For without my children I wouldn’t have these awesome life experiences.  Being a mom is just one of my many titles.  But boy does that title bring about many stories, the first, cleaning up puke for the 80 billionth time.  Enjoy!