And such...

I keep wondering why it has been so long in between blog posts this year.

I used to be so regular.

I constantly had funny or interesting tales or insights (at least I thought they were) that I couldn't wait to share with the world.

I loved sitting down and just writing away.

So I'm left wondering, what happened to all of that cleverness.

Then, I look around.

There are school books, papers and videos stacked everywhere it seems.

The dust is like an inch thick.

My husband washed the dishes and Lilla commented that she didn't ever remember seeing our sink so empty.

Anna just got potty trained. This week I say!! PARTY!! She still makes me go in the bathroom with her while she goes #2 though. That is oh so much fun and always at a convenient hour.

We have to get in as many Santa visits as humanely possible.

My husband just asked me today if I could make his whole team cookies and candy and other goodies for a Christmas thing on Friday.

Oh, and there is that whole party thing going on in just a week and a half to celebrate the big 3!! Uh, I might want to plan that.

I have a counselee that comes to see me every week. It still blows my mind that they let me do that. Seriously, me?

I have things like letter blends and spelling rules made into silly little songs plastered in my brain that take over.

I have to lay in bed with that soon to be 3 year old every night while we pet each others hair and sing praise and worship songs to each other.

I had a whole laundry basket of socks to try to match up today. It is shocking how many don't have a friend.

I have an upper respiratory infection too that required a Dr. visit today.

I have to teach a little person to read. This is much harder than it looks.

Oh, and my bathroom looks like Toys R' Us hit it.

I can't find the other ballet shoe.

Let's not even mention the car...

Huh, I wonder, why is it again I'm not blogging? :)

Say Click...take a pic!

As you may know from the, often, copious amounts of pictures I paste all over my blog, I'm a bit of a shutterbug. I love taking pictures. So much that Anna's clearest first word was, "Cheeeeeeese". I'm really not kidding. So, of course I want the perfect picture for all of my Christmas cards. I dress them up in matching clothes, try to pose them in an adorable way in front of the tree or fireplace and, this is what I get...

Because I'm just that good!

So, I figure if I'm going to have a not so good picture, I better have at least a cute Christmas card to go with it. I've been scouring the internet for deals and adorable cards. One of the places I always wind back up at is Shutterfly. I'm sure most of you are familiar with it because it's been around for awhile and it seems they are always running some kind of a deal on pictures, photo cards,

calendars,

photo books,

Christmas photo cards, Christmas cards...you name it when it comes to pictures and they most likely have it. Everytime I've ordered from them I've gotten photos back quick and easy and they look great. Not like the ones from Wal-Mart that usually cut off everyone's heads. Ugh!

Last year we got the grandparents photo mugs from Shutterfly and they had to be the biggest hit on Christmas. Everyone loved them!

And, through the end of Dec. 10, 2010, Shutterfly is running a promotion for bloggers that you can get 50 free photo cards if you do a post like this!! This is a great deal and I hope you all will take advantage of it! Go here to find out more and participate!

Here are a few of my faves:

Which do you like the best?

Blog Hop

Lately I've been wanting to find some new blogs to read, and I found this blog hopping/following party on a blog that follows mine, so I thought I'd play along.

Blogger envy

Do you ever get blogger envy? Seeing all the cool free stuff that the bigger named bloggers get. Being blown away by the amount of comments just a picture of their adorable little cherub gives them. Then listening to how they went on this trip or that trip absolutely free because some company just wants to reward them for being super mom of the year.

Well, I did. It started annoying me as I read twitter post after twitter post, blog after blog, and facebook status' which abounded with just how "lucky" they are to be who they are. Then hundreds of comments would flow about how wonderful they were and oh, if anyone deserved it they sure did. Seriously starting to gag me.

But, maybe I've changed a little bit today. As I think about how my days may be boring to some, I sleep in until 8:30 most days, until my oldest comes in and wakes me up. We then cuddle until we hear my youngest crying. I grab some milk (I'm starting to wean) with cereal and fruit for her and we play on the floor while she munches away. We then might go to a playdate or MOPS or storytime or the museum or the zoo. We can stay as long as we want, so we do. My little one takes a nap and my oldest and I do school or crafts or watch a movie together. Once little Anna wakes up, she snacks, we clean, we make dinner. My husband comes home and we all eat together, do baths, hang out and read. And then my husband and I play on our computers or talk or watch our favorite show. Some nights we have church events or dinner with friends, but usually the evenings are just to relax together. No extravagant trips, no major companies knocking on my door begging me to say their name, no free major appliances.

But...

My life has no deadlines. I don't feel like I need to spend hours every day, or even week, blogging or tweeting. I don't have so many emails I have to tell my "fans" I can't answer them, and then, I don't have to feel guilty about people thinking I think I'm too good for them. I don't have to justify my behavior to anyone, particularly people online whom I've never met. I don't have people insulting me online because they are jealous of me. I don't have to read 15 pages of comments everytime I post from people whose blogs I'll never in my life have a chance to visit. I don't have the media knocking on my door because I tweeted when my son fell in the pool, asking for prayers. I don't have people critiquing every word I say, just because I have a bajillion followers.

Yeah, I think I'm ok with being a once a week blogger, with an easy going life and spirit and with just a handful of followers, after all. It suits this small time blogger pretty well.

Babywearing Stash

Over at Adventures in Babywearing, Steph is asking everyone to show off their babywearing stash. I actually have a pouch sling, ring sling and two of these:
Both my husband and I prefer to carry her in the backpack. For my husband, he feels less dorky. For me, I have issues with backpain and one chubby little baby so this seems to distribute the weight much better! Anna absolutely loves being carried. She actually gets frustrated in the ring sling and pouch sling but in the backpack she is happy from the word go! It has been especially great when we are on trips, like San Francisco when we didn't even take a stroller. She is at eye level to everything and we can get in and out of places so much easier.

Do you love your slings too?

Banner help

Since a few of you have asked, I thought I'd give you the big old secret to my banner. Photoshop. Yup, it's just good old Photoshop. It allows you to choose pictures and put them in different ways, I then cropped it and had to put it in photobucket.com to make it smaller. There is probably a way to do it in Photoshop, in fact I'm sure there is, I just don't understand photoshop that well yet. Seriously complicated. My husband was so kind to buy me a book about it for Christmas I've just not taken the time to really sit down and read it yet. Probably any photo program like photoshop or Corel could do it. They are kind of expensive but if you like photography like I do it's worth it to get to play with your photos and make them kind of cool.

Have a great day all!

Let the peace of God Reign

In my last post I blogged about the Smith family who were facing the loss of their unborn child, Audrey. Yesterday she was born by c-section and they were able to spend two lovely hours with their daughter before she passed away. I am thankful for that this morning but my heart hurts for them, as it does with so many other blogger friends that I have met that have lost children. I honestly can not think of one thing more difficult in this life.

Through it all though they are trusting in God and in his blessed hope. Please join me in praying that the peace of God will continue to reign in their lives as the days ahead (burial, memorial service, recovery of body and soul) will surely prove to be challenging.

Let the peace of God reign,
Amy

Please pray

I just discovered this blog today and I hope you will join me in praying for Audrey's family this weekend and especially on Monday when she will be delivered. Please stop by Audrey's mom's blog and leave her some encouragement, she is about to go through a time in her life no mommy should have to go through.

She needs our love and prayers right now.

Thank you blog friends!

Sick and tired of being...well, sick and tired

So, I am posting from the hospital right now. Fortunately, not laid up in some hard little bed with rails like a trapped animal, but from the waiting room. Which, I might point out, is quite appropriately named in this case. I have been here for hours, and, there is no sign of movement anytime soon. Although, there are only a couple of more people in here with me. What seems to be the problem? Not a clue! I think they just like to see how long people wait before they decide all their problems really can be solved with a bottle of aspirin, some alcohol and a band-aid.

My personal problem is a cough, which, I believe has led to a sore throat. Which, has led to sore ears. Actually, I am beginning to believe it is post nasal drip that started the whole matter. I know, that might be a little bit of TMI, but it is the truth in technical terms. I've got some serious sinus issues going on and I think the grody stuff in the back of my throat may be the actual root of all evil. My husband has been trying to get me to go to the doctor for days but I have refused as I didn't want to bring the peanut in to the biggest germ fest in town. Now, they have me sitting here with a surgical mask and 10 month old magazines to pass the time. I'm not kidding, there is an US with Nicole Richie on the cover stating she's prego. Unless she is again, that is one OLD magazine!

Fortunately I brought along my rusty trusty old laptop and fortunately, they have internet access. Which, is amazing in itself since I live in small town USA. I have no idea how secure this internet, but fortunately I do absolutely no banking or business on here so there are no secrets out. Besides getting in to my blah blah blogging spot. OK, so if suddenly you all have spam from me that states YOU CAN HAVE AN ERECTION FOR LONGER THAN ANY PERSON EVER SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO, you know what happened. This, is why I have finally been able to make it over to visiting so many of your sites. Just thank the HC Hospital!

Now, my husband has a stomach flu and the peanut is the only non-sicky in the house. God love antibiotics for that! I just wish it would warm up so we could open the doors and get out the bugs! Unfortunately, it's like 3 degrees out there. It's supposed to get up in the 30's this week. Woo hoo, clearly, spring is on it's way. LOL

Oh, and here's your funny for the day. We were sitting down to dinner and Michael said to the peanut, "Do you want to come and sit over here?" Here answer? "No way!"

That's good stuff!

These are the crazy times...

Life has just seemed too busy for blogging lately. I keep forgetting to even go to my blogs so I apologize that I am not visiting. I actually can't even stay now, I am going to be late for church if I don't jump in the shower in the next minute or so. I just wanted to post this hilarious picture. I don't know why I find it so funny, it just makes me laugh. We went to the new Johnny Rocket's at the mall yesterday and the peanut had a blast just goofing off and watching the server's dancing to Stayin' Alive. Good times! Here are a few more of the pictures I took...

5 Minutes for Mom Virtual Shower

So, the girls over at 5 minutes for mom, are both having babies (actually Janice just did and Susan is about to) and so they are having a giveaway for the shower. They have all kinds of great gifts, you gotta go over and check it out for yourself.

So, to be part of the shower, there are questions you can answer, you know, like a fun shower game.

One of the questions is what is your favorite name for a boy and a girl. Clearly, my favorite name is the peanut's, and that is Lilla Michel. I don't usually talk about it on my blog, but it is so lovely, I wanted to mention it. In case you don't know, Lilla was a girl we worked with on our first mission trip to Hungary. It means beauty, innocence and purity. Michel is a derivitive of Michael, for my husband. If we are ever to have another girl, we might pick Alexandra and call her Zandi, after another girl in Hungary. I really like Anna and Ava too.

For a boy we talked about Nathaniel and call him Nate. That's cute and just sounds cool!

The other question I wanted to answer was my favorite baby book. I love just about anything by Sandra Boynton. If you are not familiar with her and have toddlers, you should be! Her books are so cute, and funny! I love to read them myself. They are plenty short enough and colorful enough and they are all board books so they hold up well. She also has some musical discs out that are great! Our favorite is probably Snuggle Puppy, it is adorable and the peanut loves to sing along when it says, "Oooo, I love you...mwah!" So cute!

So yeah, I'm back

OK, so I know I give everyone a headache with my back and forth and going to and fro, but I think I'm coming back to blogger. After being at wordpress for probably the past 6 months, I just feel a bit annoyed with it. They barely let you post any photos before you run out of space and have to buy more. That is my first big beef with it, then, I just feel like it's hard to use. I actually did buy some credits so I could edit my html and it is so not working. I don't have time to sit around figuring it all out, I can't for the life of me get a sidebar that looks right...I'm just annoyed. Blogger has issues but it's so much easier. And, my favorite part, since I'm a pictureaholic (don't judge me for making up words, Rachel Ray does it all the time! LOL), anyway, I like that I can post as many pictures as I want and never think about it. This is just the right format for me.

So, here we go again...

Thinking Blogger Award

So I have been tagged by NSpiredbyFaith for the Thinking Blogger award. The idea is to name 5 blogs that make you think and tell what it about the blogs that make you keep coming back. It's a little difficult because many of my good friends are over at MSN spaces, and unfortunately you can't leave messages for them unless you too have an MSN account. Kind of snobby huh? Hence, why I have two accounts now.

Anyway, I do have other friends too, and here they are:

Carrie is a recent convert from Spaces to wordpress. I've been reading her blog for quite some time and she is a lovely woman. She really seems to enjoy life and writes about her husband, her music students and all the wonderful crafts she is able to do. She also writes about her love for God, which makes hers, a blog after my own heart!

Tammy is also a recent convert to wordpress. Her blog, It's a Wonderful Life, talks about her life as a mother of 3, homeschooling and her relationship with God. She has a beautiful writing style that I think is developing more in her blog writing.

Suzanne is a mom I met at CafeMom. She is very intelligent and witty. She just had her 6th kid and doesn't post nearly as much as I'd like her to, but I sure can understand why!

Michelle over at Between Diapers and Dishes is such an amazing woman. She is a missionary to the deaf in Mexico and always has intersting anecdotes and fun facts.

Young Mommy at Sharpening Our Arrows is my final choice. She writes about the day to day life of a Christian mommy who is trying to lead a life pleasing to God. Lots of fun stories and she posts a lot, which I love!

If I didn't mention you, don't worry, I still like ya lots, it's just I only had 5 spots to fill! You're next on my list of course!

Happy Easter all!

Seasons Change

I think I am going through a season of not being all that interested in blogging anymore. I may have overdone it as I was totally in love and obsessed with it for a time. I find myself doing that with a lot of things. I become enthralled and passionate about them and then overtime burn out and quit. It was one of the reasons I wasn't sure if I should get married. I had done that with many boyfriends previous to my husband and I was concerned it would happen again. Fortunately, I will be married 3 years next week and there is no such sign of that happening!

Anyway, it makes for some pretty boring blogging lately, but, I don't feel alone. I feel like a lot of my blogging buddies are in the same place in their blogging lives. Maybe it will be for a season, maybe forever. I really love to write and it does give me such a creative outlet, so I am by no means stopping, I just feel a need to explain why my blog title fits so well right now...it's all just blah, blah, blah it seems. No real substance! Also, my blogwalking is few and far between and I think that may explain why I'm not visiting quite as much.

I also feel like the warmer weather has kept me away. I just want to be enjoying the fresh air, the outside and long walks. It has really been great in that way!

Lilla has enjoyed being outside, but she has been such a bear lately! She refuses to eat anything so I believe she is hungry all the time. Also, with the addition of all these teeth I really believe she is in pain. We are keeping the asthetaminaphine companies in business I tell ya! Hey, I know that was spelled way wrong and I'm okay with that! Anyway, her constant crying and fussing has worn me out and I feel like I have nothing left to give at the end of each day. I'm so tired all the time. I'm praying to God that He will give me the patience I need to not be frustrated with her. I love her so much and I don't want our relationship to be one where I'm constantly getting aggravated. I honestly don't know how parents with collicky babies do it! It would be so hard! Also, Michael is in Denver all this next week so life just got a little crazier. I am going to be pretty busy, I made sure of that, so I think the week will go pretty fast anyway!

Well anyway, I just thought I'd check in. I hope you all have a great week!