Day Thirty - A picture

The blogging challenge is already over. It is so hard to believe that today is the last day of November. Sigh.

There is no better way to end this challenge than to post this picture of Hannah. She is exactly 4.5 months old and is sitting unassisted. She is growing so fast.

Excuse the crappy cell phone picture, that is all I had at the time.

Days 27-29.

I've been a bad blogger. I will explain our terrible weekend (and the reason I did not blog) in my day 28 portion of this post.

Day 27 - Pets

Right now, we are pet-less. Up until about a month ago, we had a dog. Her name is Buffy and she is 9 years old. She was our baby for the first 3 years we were married, and the year after Cameron was born and NOT mobile. As soon as Cameron began to crawl, he started tormenting her. He had no idea that when he pulled her tail or her ears, it hurt her, so he didn't know any better. Buffy started to become more and more hostile and grumpy towards Cameron, so we found her a new home. We miss her a lot, and opening our Christmas tote full of decorations was hard this year. Right on top was Buffy's stocking, and in our ornament storage bin were Buffy's ornaments. Here is Buffy in better days.

  

Day 28 - Stress
Oh man did we have some stress this weekend. I don't know about all of you, but when I heard 4-day weekend with my husband, I was excited. We would be able to relax, do some Christmas shopping, eat some good food at 2 different Thanksgiving dinners, it sounded great. Until the day our furnace decided to stop working. And of course, the day it stopped working was one of the coldest days we've had so far this winter. Great, right? We load up the kids, head over to Josh's mom's on Thanksgiving day for dinner, and come home to a freezing cold house. At this point, Josh has been in contact with a family friend who knows what he's doing when it comes to electrical/heating/etc, so they are trying to figure out what to do. He says we need to buy a part at a supply store. Okay, no problem, but they aren't open on Thanksgiving. So we set up the pack&play and a bassinet in our bedroom and have a sleepover with the kids. It was okay for the first night. 

Friday morning rolls around, and I head to Toys R Us at 6:30 am to see what they have left over from the night before. I forgot how much I love Black Friday shopping. After I got what I wanted, I head to the supply store recommended by the professional and ask for the part we need. He doesn't have it. He sends me to another store that can't sell it to me since I am a homeowner. He sends me to another place who has the part and I go home to let Josh install it. He gets it in, and it doesn't work. The professional comes over and touches the furnace and it turns on. What the heck. They go about installing our new water softener (YAY!) and replacing the pipes that will give our water a little more pressure (YAY!). The furnace stays on this whole time. I leave with the kids around 1:30 to go to my grandma's house for Thanksgiving dinner there, and Josh stays home to help the professional. I get a call on my way home from my grandma's that the furnace had gone out again. Are you freaking kidding me? So we come home to a cold house, once again. Long story short, the professional did some looking around and found that we needed a different new part and ordered it. He had us buy a wall heater at Lowe's that has a gas connector that has worked for the past couple of nights and gotten our house back up to 68 degrees! When he replaces the part in the furnace, it won't have to run nearly as often with this wall heater, and we are looking at saving a whole lot of money on our heating bill. That man is a God send.


So that, my friends, is why I have not blogged in a few days. Lots and lots of stress revolving around one stupid furnace.


Day 29 - 3 Wishes
My first and foremost wish is that my kids are/will be happy. They deserve the absolute best in life, and I will do everything in my power to make sure they get it.

I hope Josh and I will stay happy together forever. How cliche right? But really, he is the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I hope I can continue to keep him happy in his life with me. 

And number 3 is going to be material. I wish we could get a new house. With all new everything and that nothing would ever break and everything would be peachy every single day.  

Day Twenty Six - Family Picture

Day Twenty Five - iPod shuffle.

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving! I don't know about you, but I am really looking forward to a yummy dinner (and we get to celebrate 2 days in a row!).

Now onto the post. I am supposed to put my iPod on shuffle and let you know the first 10 songs that show up. So here goes! (I hope this isn't embarrassing...)

1. Animal by Neon Trees
2. Break Your Heart by Taio Cruz (& Ludacris)
3. We R Who We R by Ke$ha
4. Mama's Song by Carrie Underwood
5. Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas
6. Hey There Delilah by The Plain White Ts
7. Love The Way You Lie by Eminem (& Rihanna)
8. Tom Sawyer by Rush
9. Don't You Wanna Stay by Jason Aldean & Kelly Clarkson
10. Nothin' On You - by B.o.B. & Bruno Mars

There you have it. It appears that I have an interesting taste in music.

Day Twenty Four - Something I have learned

I could go several directions with this blog post, but I am going the easy way out.

I have learned how to use Photoshop Lightroom, and use it somewhat well. If you have known me for awhile, you will notice that my old pictures (from 2009 and beyond) are awful. The lighting in this house combined with a point and shoot camera = bad pictures. Since we upgraded to our DSLR camera, I think my pictures have gotten a million times better. Let's see if I can find an example of a picture I edited (for the better) in PS Lightroom.

The top photo is straight out of the camera, with no editing whatsoever. The bottom was edited with PS Lightroom, and I think it looks worlds better. Please forgive my backdrop - the fleece blanket needs to be washed and stored someplace NOT folded. *mental note*

Day Twenty Three - My Favorite Vacation.

My favorite vacation was hands down our honeymoon in Orlando. It was nothing special, just a week in a warm town - much better than the snowy mess we left behind. We stayed at a time share that Josh's mom set up for us, went to Disney World 2 days out of the trip, and spent the rest of our days acting like complete tourists. It was the first real vacation I had been on as an adult (no parents!) and it was even more special because it was our honeymoon.

I would love to go into more detail about the things we did while we were there, but we are getting settled back in after being forced out of our house last night. The pilot light on our furnace was acting up and the heat wouldn't kick on. Josh ordered a part and now we are back in business.

(early) Christmas present!

I have been dreaming of having my very own eReader for awhile now. I had one in my hands, ready to buy a few months ago, but I just couldn't justify it. Until Saturday night.

After browsing at Best Buy for what seemed like forever, I found the Nook Color. I fell in love. I put it on my mental wish list and went on my way. After doing much research on it, Josh and I decided to go back and buy it.

Isn't it pretty? Josh found me the Harry Potter series on pdf files, so I am reading those now. Yes, Harry Potter. There seems to be a lot of hype surrounding these books, so I finally gave it. This is very reminscent of Twilight, which I also resisted for a long time. I am about 3/4 through the first Harry Potter book, and have 6 more to go. I am loving this Christmas gift.

And because every girl loves accessories, here is the cover I picked up for my beloved new Nook yesterday at Barnes & Noble.

You can't tell from the picture, but it is bright pink and pretty. Merry Christmas to me!

And before you go feeling sorry for Josh, he got himself a combined birthday/Christmas present over the weekend as well. Not as awesome as mine, but he loves it.

Santa was good to us this year. =)

Day Twenty Two - My Makeup Bag.

Well well well, this day finally came. Inside my makeup bag are the following items:

 

I love this foundation. Of course, I have it in the 3rd lightest shade. =)

Another product in one of the lightest shades, my concealer. It does an okay job..

Awesome powder.

A super cheap bronzer that I love. It makes my face WORLDS tanner with one little layer.

 The most expensive item in my makeup bag is my MAC blush. LOVE it!

This is the eyeshadow palette I use every time I put eyeshadow on. I have another one just like this with a black shadow that I use as well. I love a smoky eye!

The best eyeliner. I love that I don't have to sharpen it, and it is very affordable. I wear this in Very Black.

 I use this mascara in the shade for blue eyes.

 

Josh is not a fan of sticky lip stuff, so I keep it simple with my chapstick. I used to have a nice lipgloss, until Cameron decided he wanted to wear it too.

Day Twenty One - A Picture.

I am quite fond of being the person to take the pictures, not be in them, so there aren't really many pictures of me. Let's see what I can dig up...

This is a shot from the family photo shoot we did a couple months ago. Not too shabby!

Day Twenty - Nicknames.

I don't really have any nicknames. In high school, a lot of people called me 'A-Lo,' kind of like J-Lo because of my first initial and last name. My name is Alyssa, and there really isn't much to go on when trying to find a nickname. One of my teachers in 9th grade called me Allie, but that never really stuck. These days, the only names I hear are Alyssa and Mama. I think Mama is my favorite nickname yet. =)

Josh is usually called Joshie. Simple. Of course, he is daddy to Cameron, a name he loves hearing on a daily basis.

Cameron is called Buddy for the most part. I am trying to cut back on that since I am pretty sure he thinks his name is actually Buddy. He also answers to Cam, Dude and Cam shaft (that is what his uncle Jason calls him). He just recently started calling himself Cam, which sounds like damn, and it is so cute.

Hannah has been called Hannah Boo since the day she was born. Most of the time, we call her Boo Boo. Cameron calls her Nana.

My mom necklace.

In March, I ordered myself a mom necklace for my birthday. I really wanted something to wear that represented my kids (besides the Opal pendant necklace Josh got me, which is beautiful!), so I searched for awhile to find the necklace I liked the best. I came across a website that sells all kinds of personalized jewelry and fell in love with this necklace:

I ordered the same kind of design, but with Cameron's birth info on it. I put it on as soon as it came in the mail, and I was in love. I got all kinds of compliments on it and couldn't wait to add another pendant when Hannah was born. I have been waiting for awhile for the company to have a great sale, since I thought the $67 I paid for the first pendant and chain was kind of steep. I 'liked' the company on facebook, and saw that they were running a deal on the same necklace I bought 8 months ago. The necklace and pendant were on sale for $29 (from $69!), and since I didn't need the chain, it took $7 off my order. I found a coupon code and wound up paying $17 (shipped) for the Hannah pendant. The one I ordered with Hannah's information has hands instead of feet, and I am positive it is going to be just as adorable as the Cameron pendant.

It is Michigan bound as we speak (quick processing and shipping time!), and I am thrilled to have the Hannah pendant added to my mom necklace.

If you are interested in any personalized jewelry, you should check out www.julianandco.com. You won't be sorry!

Day Ninteen - Something I miss..

This is easy. I miss the days back in high school when I was skinny. Although, at the time, I thought I was fat. I am pretty sure that all throughout high school, I was a steady 155 pounds. I could eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, I drank Coke like it was water, and ate candy pretty regularly (hence my broken molar from that stupid caramel apple sucker). I got my exercise by going to gym class every day, and that was about it. It wasn't until my senior year in high school that my friends and I all joined the YMCA to work out because we wanted to. God, what I would give to use my current gym membership just because I wanted to.

This is me in the summer of 2005. I think I will use this picture as my motivation to stop being lazy with my diet and get myself to the gym 3 times a week again. I am halfway back to this weight and I refuse to give up!

Day Eighteen - Regrets

I hate to say that I have regrets. I wouldn't be the person that I am today if I didn't make mistakes in my life. There are a couple of things I wish I could redo, and we'll go with that.

When I moved to California after high school, I was going for one reason - a boy. I was stupid, thought I was in love with the greatest guy, blah blah. I made quite a few mistakes while I was there, and to this day, they haunt me. First of all, what kind of 18 year old girl just uproots her entire life and moves across the country for a guy? Especially a guy that she only knew for a few months. Throw in the fact that once I got to California, we still lived quite a ways apart. I didn't have a driver's license, let alone a car, so he always had to come to me. I still maintain to this day that the no driver's license was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Anyways, as if I hadn't done enough damage, it was pretty inevitable that going to college in CA was not an option for me. I had the money that I had earned by doing well on the MEAP testing in high school, but I only got $1,000 since I was going to school out of state (compared to the $2,500 kids that stayed in Michigan got). Well, I don't know if you know, but the cost of 1 class at a community college (if you were an out of state resident) was about a third of my scholarship money. I was taking 2 classes and bought books for both of them and spent all my money. After the one and only semester I attended was over, it was clear that I would not be going back, simply because I couldn't afford it. The part-time job I was working at a restaurant in the mall was not going to cover it.

Needless to say, I haven't been back to school since. That is the biggest mistake I have made in my life. I could have a degree right now, but instead, I don't. Getting back to school now is going to be a little bit challenging, seeing that I have to arrange my classes around a schedule that would work best for everyone. I don't want to have to rely on Josh's mom for childcare, but I don't really have any other options. At this point, it is more about figuring out what I want to do with my life, then going from there. I don't want to go to school for nothing, you know?

Wow, that got long. Like I said, I don't really regret any of those things, just wish I could do it all over again. Oh well, I guess it's true - life is what happens when you are busy making plans.

Hannah's 4 month stats.

Hannah had her 4-month well child exam this morning. She is growing like a weed! She now weighs 15 pounds, 6 ounces (75-90th percentile) and is 26 1/4" long (97th percentile). The doctor wants us to continue to only feed her formula until she doubles her birth weight. I am guessing they didn't remember that she was almost 10 pounds at birth. Either way, I'm sure we will get the green light at her 6-month appointment in January.

Here are the graphs to show you how Hannah is growing.

When Cameron was 4 months old, he weighed 15 pounds, 12 ounces and was 25 1/2" long.

Some pictures for comparison:

Day Seventeen - What I'm looking forward to.

Christmas Morning.

Last year with Cameron was pretty fun. Considering that on Christmas day 2008, he was 2 months old, last year at 1 year 2 months was a lot of fun. He showed a little interest in opening presents, but I think this year will be exciting. He opened one present at his birthday party, so I'm sure we can get him to open one on Christmas too.

I love Christmas. It involves a lot of traveling, but it also involves family. I love going to Josh's mom's for Christmas eve and eating pizza for dinner. Christmas morning is spent at my Grandma and Grandpa's house where we have a delicious brunch, and after we go home and spend the afternoon relaxing, we go to a local Chinese restaurant for dinner. That day is awesome.

Of course, it would be a lot better if my mom were here to celebrate with. We are in talks to be spending next Christmas together, so I am especially looking forward to that. =)

Day Sixteen - My Dream Home

I have been waiting very (im)patiently for this day to come. I have been thinking a lot lately what I would want my forever home to look like. I hope you have a lot of time to read this post as I'm sure it will be long.

Let's start out with location. We have decided that we would like to build a new house somewhere in Mattawan, Michigan. It is where Josh grew up, went to school and where his mom lives. It is a tiny little city with a smaller population than the city we live in now. Now that we got the location out of the way, how about the road we would live off of?

I love the colors of fall, so a road that looked like this, with few houses on it would be perfect. This picture is actually a photo from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, but Michigan looks like this in the fall too. =) We would have a decent sized driveway. Long enough to be away from the road, but not long enough that I would need to drive to get the mail everyday.

The style of the house would be a craftsman.

Craftsman Ranch

I can't believe I actually found a picture that shows exactly what I want. I love the look of a craftsman style home. I am a fan of the garage not being visible from the road, although it wouldn't be necessary. I would rather have a ranch style rather than a 2-story. It would be worlds easier to clean, first of all, and if my kids are up to no good when they are teenagers, I would be able to keep an eye (& ears) on them. The porch in my dreams is a tiny bit bigger, but something like in the picture would probably suffice.

Now let's talk about a floor plan. (Hey, this is a dream, right?)

Floor Plan

This looks awesome. We probably wouldn't necessarily need a 3-car garage or the coffee corner, whatever that is, but everything else looks awesome. Especially the huge walk in closet and garden tub. I like how big the bedrooms are and where everything is laid out. I love my kids, but I don't want their rooms right next to mine. I especially love the main level laundry room. Right now, the washer and dryer are in the (unfinished, cold, nasty) basement. One day.

The best thing about this dream house is going to be the bathroom. I have never had the luxury of a garden tub, and while we were on our honeymoon, we had one, and I had to refrain from using it. I knew it would be awful to enjoy time in it and have to use the tiny tub we have at home afterward. Does this bathroom look dreamy or what?

Master Bathroom

Josh and I have already decided that we will each have our own sink/vanity area in our next house. Getting ready in the tiny bathroom we have now is a challenge when we both have somewhere to be. I can't imagine being able to lay all my stuff out on a good amount of counter space and not have to fight over elbow room in front of the mirror. That reminds me. Speaking of getting ready, my dream house will have somewhere for me to sit and do my makeup. I will have a huge lighted mirror, with drawers for my makeup (instead of the tiny overflowing bag I have now), so nothing will get lost or broken.

Everything else in the house would be much less thought over. Of course, we would have huge flat screen TVs, mounted on the walls in an effort to save floor space. We would have a nice sized office with 2 separate computers so we didn't have to take turns. I would have a room to store all my craft stuff. We would have a fireplace with a gorgeous mantle for hanging stockings at Christmas time. Our kitchen would have a dishwasher (we don't have one now) and a separate area for dining (our tiny kitchen is home to our teeny dining table and chairs).

Last but not least, the backyard. We would have a playset for the kids to play on, a pool and a hot tub. We would also have a nice patio set for eating dinner outside on nice summer evenings. There would be a gazebo for lounging and reading books under.

Ugh, I should have never gone into so much detail.

Hannah is 4 months old.

I do not recall time flying by this fast when Cameron was a tiny baby. Hannah has somehow turned 4 months old today. 4 months. She is finally starting to grow some longer hair (I'm ready to make her some bows!), and has recently found her toes. She has been gnawing on her hands for a couple of weeks now and drools like a St. Bernard. We are really starting to believe that she will be getting a tooth any time now. The girl still hates tummy time, and if you are crazy enough to leave her on her belly, she will let you know how angry she is. We make the best of the couple of minutes she tolerates it, though, and hopefully soon she will learn to love it. She will be going in on Wednesday for her 4 month well baby visit, so I will update her growth then. For now, enjoy her 4 month pictures, and a look back over the past 4 months with Hannah.

 

Sigh. Before we know it, the girl will be 16, wearing tiny mini skirts, wanting to borrow the car and giving an attitude whenever possible. Lord, help us.