The daddy learning curve...

Kenney is such a great husband and a wonderful father to B & Makenna. He works really hard to provide for our family. But he sometimes struggles, how do I say this...to be a gentle daddy. Kenney comes from a military family, and when his dad was home, he always was riding Kenney about something he had done or hadn't done. I know Kenney doesn't mean to do this with Braydon, but it's what he's learned, it's what he knows. Everytime something happens that I wish he'd handled differently, I've been attempting to take a different approach.

Previously, I'd say something to Kenney, putting my two cents in, and in reality, undermining him in front of Braydon although that was not my intention. I know this is not right, and I cannot do that Kenney. If I don't respect Kenney in front of the kids, they will not respect him either. Here's my new approach: I pray. Crazy sounding, I know. A little naive, perhaps. But I know that I cannot change Kenney. Kenney cannot change what he doesn't see to be "wrong" (not that he's wrong, but we just disagree sometimes). The only one who can change him is God. I pray that God would open his eyes, soften his heart, help him to see.

Anyways, I captured a glimpse of "tender" Daddy the other day, and I wanted to share with you guys in blogland.

protect your hands!

Once again 5.11 "puts one in the 10 ring" with their new line of 5.11 Tactical Gloves. 5.11 delivers "more glove" for a price comparible to other name brand glove makers. You get more for your money with 5.11. 5.11 gloves provide TacticalTouch™ fingertips allowing maximum dexterity and precise fingertip feel. Order two 5.11 items and receive FREE shipping (using the word “tactical”) as well as a FREE hat! Who couldn’t use a good pair of tactical gloves ?? This is a sponsored post.

i Coupon....

**Update, yesterday I went to Food Lion and got $110 worth of groceries for 20 bucks! Yay for coupons!!**

I know you're shocked, aren't you?!? The reason I'm posting this is because I'm looking to find some people out there who might need some of the coupons I don't need (pet food, Nicorette, etc) and maybe you have some that you don't use that you'd be willing to share with me. Perhaps you purchase the sunday paper and just let the coupons go in the recycling or trash can. If that's you, I'd like to see if I could maybe send you some SASEs and you could forward them my way!

(I already have several internet coupon printing sites that I visit regularly, but they often limit the amount of times you can print a coupon.)

Thursday 13: I Love NY!

Thirteen things I love and miss about NY 1.) Wegmans. If you know what this is, you don't need me to explain this one. If you don't know what Wegmans is, I feel bad for you. Go google it. 2.) Pontillos pizza and wings. I just adore this pizza and wings. Did I tell you I've yet to find wings down here even remotely as good as the ones in NY! 3.) Lilacs growing in my back yard. Lilacs growing at all, actually. They don't have lilacs here. And in fact, I'll add the Lilac festival to this one too. I miss that too. 4.)Nick Tahoes, although I heard a rumor that they closed up?!? Please tell me I'm wrong. Their garbage plates rock. 5.) Canandaigua lake. I loved living on a lake, although I wish we had a boat to use while we lived there. It was so pretty, and I think I didn't realize how pretty it was til I moved here. 6.) Can you say "hannah's junction" or "the windmill"? 7.) Wegmans. Yeah, it's that good it deserves 2 slots! 8.) Apple farms and apple fritters. I've yet to find anything as good as an apple fritter from the apple farm. 9.) 5 & 20. I spent most of my time behind the wheel on this route to and from school, and in fact even ran out of gas in the middle of the night on this road. (whoops! never told you about that story mom & dad!) 10.) EastView Mall. I had my first "official" job working at a store at eastview mall, and it was close to my grandparent's house. 11.) Snow. I know, it sounds crazy. But I do love having a white christmas, (not so much a "White out" christmas or a blizzard christmas though) and I miss being able to go sledding and stuff. That would be so fun to be able to do that with Braydon. 12.) My family. I hate that I only get to see you when someone gets married, graduates, etc. I can't wait to spend time with you this summer!! 13.) My friends. I have a lot of you still up in NY, and I'm some times jealous that you guys still get together and do things on a regular basis.

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everything mom says...

before & after...(wordless wednesday)

Triples rock my world...

I'd like to tell you about my savings. I'm always so proud of them, and I love sharing how much I saved, especially during Harris Teeter's triple coupon weekends. There are 3 days, and you can triple 20 coupons up to 99 cents a piece. I went on Thursday, and saved some money, but altogether wasn't too thrilled with my savings. I went back yesterday and was thoroughly pleased with my total. So I spent 139.97 dollars in total and here's my list of what I got:

3 Wisk laundry detergent 26 loads per bottle
2 tweleve packs Pepsi cans
2 tweleve packs pink lemonade cans
1 tweleve pack sugar free lemonade cans
1 tweleve pack caff. free Pepsi cans
1 tweleve pack Sunkist cans
3 tweleve packs Brisk Iced Tea cans
2 PastaRoni packages
2 Betty Crocker warm Delights desserts
1 Betty Crocker brownie mix
4 Betty Crocker cans of frosting
1 Mrs Dash marinade
5 Powerade 32 oz. bottles
1 bag Snyders 10 oz. pretzel bites
1 Oscar Myer Deli fresh ham slices
3 twin pack lunchables jr.
1 box of Lucky Charms
2 boxes of simple harvest granola bars
2 bottles of Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 bottle of Crisco Olive Oil
4 packets of McCormick's grillmates
1 package of brown sugar
2 cans of cream of mushroom soup
4 paper plates packages (115 count)
1 Plastic Cups package
1 Large container Clorox Dissinfecting wipes
Apple & Eve organic juice boxes
Organic Beef stock
Organic Chicken stock
1.5 lb. beef roast
Bananas
2 Avocados
Organic Pepper
Baby carrots
1 loaf of HT wheat bread
1 tube of babyoragel
1 renuzit odor remover
1 Pearl scents
2 colgate toothbrushes
Dove solid deodorant
4 Cover Girl containers of nail polish
1 CoverGirl trublend pressed powder
2 Covergirl eye pencils
1 Covergirl lip pencil
CoverGirl blush
2 red box DVD rentals
4 oz. A&D diaper rash cream*
trial size Baby coppertone sunblock*
6 travel "butt paste"*
Johnson's Buddies bar soap*
Icee*
Soft Pretzel*

*Items marked with a star were "purchased" at Target. I put it in quotes because I didn't pay for them because of coupons!

To sum it up, I got $318.67 worth of groceries for $139.97! That's a total savings of $178.70!! WAHOOOO!!

On a side note, so far this year, we've paid off $2608.37 in debt! Not as much as I'd like, and certainly not as much as Elizabeth but hey, it's a start. The good news is we haven't taken on any new debt, so we hope to be debt free and in a house within 5 years.

God is so good!

I just wanted to send an update out..many of you may remember the couple who's wife has cystic fibrosis, and had to have a double lung transplant, but then they found out she was pregnant. The doctors told her to terminate the pregnancy for her own safety, but Nate & Tricia refused to because they believed that God would honor their choice to carry the baby. However, the doctors had to take the baby 4 months premature because Tricia took a turn for the worse. Gwyneth Rose was only 1 lb 4oz and only 12 inches long. Today she weighs 4 lbs 10 oz and is 16 inches long and is 18 weeks old!

Yesterday, Gwyneth was officially released from the hospital and is now with both her parents! Thank God for such blessings! But please also keep them in your prayers as they begin to transition to full time care of a preemie!

For more information about Nate, Tricia, Gwyneth and their daily struggles, you can visit his personal blog!

Thursday 13: 13 tell-tale signs I've "grown up"

Thirteen Things about Christy

Lately the talk about a high school reunion, coupled with all of the people I know from high school getting married and popping out babies left and right, has made me examine my life. And indeed, I've discovered I've "grown up". And here's how I know:

1.) I don't go the grocery store when I need one or two things. I wait until I have a decent list of things we're out of. A trip to the grocery store requires careful planning, comparing store sales, assembling my coupons to use, and of course scheduling around nap/feedings times of my children.

2.) When eating out, I prefer going to the local diner, as opposed to the chain restaurants like Chilis, applebees, etc. They give us a customer appreciation card, where you get a stamp every time you eat there and I think after 6 visits, you get $5 off your next meal!

3.) I no longer view the calendar by "semesters". It is now the almighty "NRMS school calendar" that I refer to.

4.) I look forward to the weekends not as time to rush out of the house and do things, but as valuable time where we get to spend as a family, preferably at our house!

5.) Staying up "late" is now watching the 11 o'clock news!

6.) The thought of McDonalds, Wendys, or other fast food place at 2 or 3 in the morning makes me want to puke. Gross.

7.) I know a lot more married people than I do unmarried people.

8.) I am now painfully aware of how uncomfortable watching and/or hearing profanity, sexual scenarios, and violence can be with little ones who may hear and/or see! I can see why people "filter" their TVs. Even commercials aren't safe.

9.) I find myself getting thoroughly upset at TV commercials during "family" television programs. Please tell me why does every commercial depict the father figure as a moron, incapable to do anything and totally unhip? This just plants seeds into the young minds that underminds their God-given authority as the head of the household. Ugh. It makes me sick. And also, the explicit, questionable content of some of the commercials make me sick.

10.) I enjoy routine, knowing what I'm going to do and when I'm going to do it. I still enjoy being spontaneous, as long as I can plan for it! =)

11.) Social events don't need to have alcohol. (It's a nice bonus, but not neccesary!)

12.) Whenever I get money, my first thought is "what debt can I pay off with this?" instead of "what I am going to buy with this?"

13.) I look forward to 7 PM: the hour where I watch wheel of fortune and jeopardy!

Hope you've enjoyed my tell tale signs I've grown up. If you've identified with these, than perhaps you're "grown up" too.


Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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WWWat: Chocolate!

Okay, so this week I had planned on making a chocolate eclair cake for my Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) meeting, and taking pictures of it and have it in plenty of time for me to post. Alas, my dear husband left the whipped topping out over night so I was unable to make it for MOPS. But, I realized today that my choices were limited, and so I decided to make one anyways...so here goes my entry, albeit late, as well as a recipe for a yummy dessert. (on a side note, I got this recipe from my friend Kara a long time ago, but misplaced it. I tried to remember it to the best of my abilities, and I'm sure I probably messed up, but hey it works...so I appologize if I butchered the recipe! I've also tweaked a few things just for fun!)

Chocolate eclair cake:

Combine 1 large box of vanilla instant pudding and 3 cups of milk. Wisk until mixture is mostly lump free. Fold in (1) 8 oz. container of whipped topping (I chose french vanilla!) until well mixed.

In a 9x13 pan, line graham crackers on the bottom.
Spread 1/2 of pudding mixture over graham crackers.
(Although this was not apart of the original recipe, I chose to add this step) Sprinkle chocolate chips over pudding mixture.
Lay graham crackers over the entire pudding/choco chips mixture.

Spread remaining pudding mixture on top of graham crackers.

add more choco chips on top if you'd like. On top of that, I'm pretty sure you're supposed to have another layer of graham crackers, but I ran out.
Place one can of chocolate frosting (remove the foil seal first!) in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, in order to be able to easily pour the frosting over the cake.
If you're trying to make this cake while wearing your 4.5 month old daughter and trying to take pictures of confections, this may happen to you as well...
(not only did I drizzle it on the table accidently, Makenna even got drizzled!)

Place in fridge overnight, or for atleast 4-5 hours.
ENJOY!!
Oh, and while your waiting for your cake while its in the fridge, go ahead and finish what's left! It's only wise not to be wasteful!! =)

HAPPY WWWAT! Go visit Rachel to see more participants!

and the winner is...

I know you guys (all 5 of you who participated...) are wondering who won my contest for confession corner, so without further ado...

Congrats to Rachel for her confession! I can ship it to you now, or you can wait til you're back in the good ol' USA!

I am going to run another Confession Corner starting Monday, May 19th, and the contest will end Wednesday at 11 PM EST. The topic of this coming confession will be a bad habit you have, whether it be smoking, collecting pokemon cards, buying lottery tickets, drinking too much pepsi, whatever your vice is, we all want to know!

Confession Corner...

*****Update*****

In order to give more people a chance to participate, I'm extending the deadline for enteries til Monday 11PM EST. I'll pick a winner on Tuesday morning!

Think back to when you were 8 or 9 years old. You know the “good ol’ days”, the days before boobs, PMS, and all of those great things that come along with being female. What did you want to do when you “grew up”? Maybe you wanted to be a flight attendant, a nurse in the emergency room or a teacher. Perhaps you dreamed about becoming an astronaut or if you were really gutsy you might have even set your sight on the oval office. I wanted to become an Olympic gymnast and follow in the footsteps of Nadia Comaneci, Mary Lou Retton, or Kim Zmeskal. Whatever your dream was, think about that for just a moment.

If you’re anything like me, in that one moment while you were reliving your childhood fantasy of how your life would become, it was rudely interrupted by a “MOOOOOMMMMMYYY!” yelled from the top of the stairs.

That’s my life. I’m a stay at home mommy to two wonderful children. My life is centered around changing diapers, doing dishes, folding laundry, and playing “freeze” tag. My clothes don’t fit any where near where the once did. I hate to admit that I still wear a few maternity tops. The ones that do fit either have all sorts of bodily fluids on them (from breast milk to spit up to I don’t even want to venture a guess!) or are out of season. (I often spend more time trying to find weather appropriate clothing that fits to go out of the house than I actually spend OUTSIDE of my house!)

I’m often discouraged about this new life I signed up for. I find myself losing my temper at the littlest thing my 4 year old son does. Or burst into tears because I used the last of the butter last night and didn’t have time to run to the store and I’m in the middle of cooking dinner that requires said butter. Or I crawl into my “hole” once the kids are in bed and don’t talk to my husband. These are things that I can’t stand that I do, and I know they are affecting my family. Many times I read my friends’ blogs in amazement and wonder how I’m the only one who can’t figure out this “mommy” life. Why does every one else have it together? Why can they plan menus, make their own gourmet meals, drive their kids to all of their activities on time, go to church, lose all of their “baby” weight, do clever art projects with their kids and still have time to write about it?

It is in these moments that I pause and remember that to think these other women have it all together is a lie straight from Satan. There is no one who is perfect, not one. Satan likes to make us feel that we’re inadequate, that we’re alone in our struggles. We may excel in one area but we’re totally lacking in others. Women often face these struggles alone because Satan makes us think every one else has it figured out.

Here is my challenge to you: Take a few moments to examine your life. What is it that you don’t feel adequate about? What do you feel like you’re the only who struggles with? I’m begging the other mommies out there to step up and admit that we’re not perfect. Who knows, your “confession” might just make another mommy’s day out there in blogland. Come join the "confession corner"! Post about it then come back here and use Mr. Linky. Go visit the other mommies, read their confessions and leave a little bit of encouragement. We all know we can use it!!

On Saturday morning, I will put all of the names in a hat who participated, and have Braydon pull out one lucky mommy who will receive a Rodan & Fields Perfect Pair set. Included in this set is Reverse Exfoliate: Microdermabrasion Paste, a combination of salt, sugar and vitamins C & E that gently exfoliate while reducing environmental damage, and Essentials Protect SPF 30, a lightweight, oil-free lotion that provides ultra protection from the sun’s harmful rays.

13 reasons to breastfeed!

This weeks edition of my "Thursday 13" is 13 reasons to breastfeed! This is not meant to make anyone feel bad, so if you could not/chose not to breastfeed, that's your choice. I only breastfed Braydon for 6 weeks, so I can say I have been on both sides of the fence!

These are 13 reasons why someone should consider breastfeeding. For more information on breastfeeding, you can visit Elizabeth who is a La Leche leader or visit La leche to find a group in your area!

1.) It's free. No extra cost involved!

2.) Breastfeeding helps mommy bond with her baby. All those extra hormones can create such a special relationship with the child!

3.) It's "green". There are no containers that will eventually end up in a landfill somewhere.

4.) It helps mommy: after birth, breastfeeding stimulates contractions to help your uterus shrink back down to it's normal size. Although these can be uncomfortable at first, at least you know it's helping you get your shape back!

5.) During natural disasters, there's no need to worry about how you are going to get food for your baby. It's right with you at any time, at any place. And no need to worry about contamination because you don't have to mix it with water.

6.) It's convienent: In the middle of the night, there is no waking up, having to mix and/or heat up a bottle. You can plop em on and they get to eat right away! Also, no need to worry about running out or running to the store in the middle of the night when you realize you have no more formula!

7.) It's portable! No need to worry about vacations or outings. Whereever you go, your child's food is always with you and ready at any given time!

8.) Your milk is exactly what your baby needs: your milk changes in order to meet your childs needs as they grow. How many formulas can say that?

9.) Breastmilk offers your child immunities that helps them avoid sicknesses such as ear infection, childhood lymphomas and diabetes.

10.) Breastfeeding can increase your child's IQ by up to 7 points.

11.) Breastfeeding lowers the risk of breast cancer for mom as well as for her daughter down the road.

12.) Breastmilk can help cure other ailments such as eye infections.

and finally....

13.) God gave women breasts for a reason....to feed our children! (sorry men! You get the left overs! hahaha!)

To read other Thursday 13ers, click here.

The Next Janie and Jack Models...

I love my family. We've got such generous and loving people in it on both sides. This post is for my Aunt Judi, Uncle Matt and cousins Josh & Lauren. They sent Makenna the cutest outfit from Janie and Jack. Some of you may remember a little while my neice Chloe modeled a similar adorable outfit. and to be honest, I think they should be Janie & Jack models, don't you think?!? (i'm not at all biased though!) Thanks Bauerlein family!

Tuesday Toot!

Okay, so this is my first "Tuesday Toot". It's where we as mommies can brag about something we've done in the past week, big or small. Don't think you've done anything worth noting? Did you manage to survive a grocery run with three children in tow? Or go to the bathroom without a child interupting?!? Did you get a shower in AND put makeup on before leaving the house? If you've managed to do any of these things or anything at all, you've got something to toot! So toot away! I'd love to see what you've done, and to see others, who've done something fantastic this past week, go check it out!

This past week our church held our annual ladies' evening of excellence and the theme was "for everything there is a season". People volunteer to be a hostess of a table and to decorate the tables. Basically the church provides the table, the chairs and a table cloth and you provide everything else. I knew that I wanted to do winter immediately, and was so proud that I did everything myself! I even managed to help another table for our bible fellowship group, the fall one (I did the place cards and helped come up with theme, and helped to decorate) and I also did the place cards for the breast cancer awareness table. (If you look at the bottom of the picture, you'll see the pink table with the pearls on it) I had a wonderful time, and was so glad my friend Elizabeth was able to come with me!

The speaker was Carol Kent, and she was just wonderful! Her story is just so powerful, and I was so encouraged after leaving there. I wish I could have had all of you out in blogland come with me. She was just incredible.

But anyways, here are some pictures of the tables.

My winter themed table

the fall table
breast cancer awareness table

B's party pics

Okay, I know that I've been super slack about posting lately. I've just been so busy and every down time I get, I want to sleep! But without further ado, here's so pictures of his birthday party and a few others I haven't posted yet! Makenna was more interested in the taste of her dress than a picture!
My awesome aunt Laura made swords out of balloons for all of the kids (and even some random kids from the park!)
Apparently, Makenna was not liking the idea of mommy doing other things than tending to her ever whimper!
Braydon, Peyton & Macy "sword fighting"
Peyton's dad decided to take them all on!! Zoe, Ella, & Abby watch as Braydon opens his cool presents!
Braydon's pirate cake
We had trick candles, and Braydon couldn't figure out why they kept lighting back up!! Kenney, Aprille & I got a good laugh out of it!
That darn pirate pinata that took forever to fill!
In order for the kids to get their goodie bags aka "buried treasure" they had to put on their eye patches and say "ARRRR!" for me and then got to pick it out of the "treasure chest"!

His party was a success, and I'm so thankful for my Aunt Laura & my cousin Aprille for their help! I was so glad that my mom was able to make it and looked pretty darn good if I do say so myself! On a side note, some of the pizza I bought from Sam's Club was burned, and so I e-mailed and complained, and they are refunding the money I paid for my pizzas! Go SAMS CLUB!!

walgreens warning...

Just an FYI...this week's flyer states that you can get "Register Rewards" kind of like CVS' extra care bucks. But what it DOES NOT state is that the rewards WILL NOT print if you use any sort of coupon during the transaction. And there is nothing that the manager can do. He told me they cannot override it and they've had MANY complaints. I've already called corporate office like 4times and left a message every time. It really bugs me when they do things like this. I mean, it would be different if it was stated some where, but I just missed it. But it is not written any where, and therefore is false advertising. It bugged me so much and I wanted to share. I will be visiting all my shopping boards to warn all of the shoppers out there, and asking them to help me bombard the corporate office with a bunch of complaints.

13 "c"s about Christy...

This week, they asked us to pick a letter and use it to describe us in 13 words. Since I love the letter C, here are thirteen "C" words that describe me...hmmm...here goes.

1.) Christian-I am a Christian first and foremost, and this changes everything about me!
2.) Clever, or atleast I'd like to think so!
3.) Creative-I love anything artsy, and in fact, I'm in the process of being creative but am taking a break to do this!
4.) complicated
5.) Compassionate-It is so hard for me to turn a blind eye to someone in need.
6.) Cleanliness-challenged-I struggle to keep my house organized and clean
7.) Coupon queen-I LOVE using coupons, and have officially organized my coupons into a 3 ring binder! YAY GO ME!
8.) Consumer Advocate-I will fight for people in regards to how they were treated, what they purchased, etc. I would love to be a trouble shooter like Diane Wilson on ABC 11!
9)Colorful
10.) Challenging-I'm always up for a good "fight"!!
11.) Crafty (although this goes with creative, I'm running out of words!)
12.) collector-I collect Willow tree angels
13.) Candid-You never know what might come out of my mouth!

Okay, so now you try it! Or go visit the other people who participated in T13!