January Goals

I have been meaning to post my January Goals since ... well... New Years, but I am just now getting around to them.  I did have them written down so I'm just making them official by posting them on here I guess.  I am hoping to do a recap at the end of the month to see how I did and hopefully continue to do the monthly goals throughout the rest of the year... (that might get a little tricky post baby #2 so we shall play that by ear ;) ) I want to keep these as practical and simple as I can in hopes of actually achieving these goals so look  for 10 or fewer goals per month. :) 

Shall we get started? 

-make bed daily 

-do BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) homework daily!

-use my DSLR more often

Spiritual Goals:

-do my "work" for the Lord and not for men (Colossians 3:23)

-trust in the Lord's timing... and when he tells me to wait, wait. (I mean ... Abraham waited 100 years for a son... I want that kind of faith!)

-be more patient with Raleigh Grace and K -- especially when I'm tired

-pray more and pray specifically: especially for my family

-do at least one monthly update on Raleigh Grace 

Best Buy Troubles: A Venting Session!

Less than a year ago, hubby purchased me a brand new computer from Best Buy.  Almost immediately I started having weird "quirky" problems- like some of the keys not typing when I striked them, etc.  I use my computer all the time so taking it in for the "geek squad" protection- that we purchased for a somewhat pretty penny was put on the back burner.  It wasn't until a few weeks before Christmas that the issues got so bad that I decided to finally take the computer in.  When I took it in they said they would "check it out" and give me a call back.  A day or two later I get a call saying that my hard drive was failing.  Um... what? On a brand new computer? I was a bit annoyed to say the least.  The geek squad people said that they would replace the hard drive for free since it was under the manufacturer warranty and asked me if I wanted them to "back it up" to which I agreed.  They then explained that it was going to cost about $100 dollars. Excuse me? I have already purchased the protection so why do I need to spend more money!? Anyways-- all this to say they "let me" buy an adapter and told me I could back it up on my own but all that could be backed up (by both them or me) was pictures and docs.... okay great, now I have to find the product codes, etc for Microsoft Office, and other programs that I had installed. After spending about $50 dollars vs the $100 they were offering I brought the "like new" laptop home with a brand new hard drive. 

I was excited to have the problems behind me and move on.  Not the case.  I am now more frustrated than ever-- all of the things that came on the computer were no longer there.  The Microsoft photo editing program that came on the computer is gone.  There is now nothing but paint (even to merely crop a photo).  The touch pad settings are gone-- I can no longer use the option to scroll on the touch pad- plus its so sensitive right now  that my hand is always touching it as I'm typing and I end up typing in the middle of another sentence I had started wherever the cursor was left (and the program I previously used to change these settings... I can't find them anywhere!)

Anyways- all of this to say, I am extremely frustrated with Best Buy. I am frustrated that they didn't truly "fix" my computer but made me more irritated than before.  There is nothing on my computer - no pictures, or anything so therefore I have avoided getting on it to blog or do anything else for that matter.  I'm off to begin backing up my pictures on my own and probably call Best Buy customer service demanding they do something to help me out.  

 

In other news, life is good :) I'll promise to blog about something worthwhile in the next day or so.  Is it too late to finally post my January Goals? I mean, I have them written down but just haven't blogged about them yet.  

Okay, off to work on this crazy computer and get it back to the way I "like" it. {sorry for the lack of pictures!}

Thanks for listening ha! 

Baby #2: 21 Weeks!

Woah, I hate that I have let so many weeks go by without documenting! I guess I've been a little busy these days with the Christmas and New Year holidays! :)
21 weeks means a couple of things-- a)I'm over half way there (I HOPE!! Raleigh Grace was 9 days late, let's pray this baby is a little more prompt?) b) I am 5 months, one week pregnant (woah!) c) I only have 4ish months left to go... holy molley!!! 

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December 29-January 4

Here is what we have been up to this week: (written 1/6)

Weight Gain:  I go for a Dr. appointment tomorrow but I think I'm still sitting at about 10 under
***update 1/7/13:  I had lost one pound since my last appointment so I am down right at 10 lbs.  The dr said my stomach was measuring "perfect" and as long as I wasn't skipping meals then my weight loss was fine.  :) Baby's heart rate was 160 and my bp was 120/60.  I got a great report that my pregnancy was "perfect"... why thank yah doc! ***

Maternity Clothes : My jeans both maternity and non still fall off of me... I def. have a bump now but I guess my fatty love handles that used to hold my jeans up aren't there as much as before.  My shirts and even t-shirts are def. getting tight on the tummy! I tend to be bundled up in my North Face when we go anywhere so its funny to actually show off my "bump"- even my family and friends can't believe my bump pics bc they don't get to see it in real life ;) 

Sleep: I've still been staying up way too late but sleeping amazingly! (All but one night two nights ago when I had horrible allergies)

Best Moment of this week: Today we celebrated K's 30th bday{!!!!} which was fun, then we went over to our friends house to watch the Redskins... sad about RGIII's injury and them ultimately losing but we had fun letting the kids play together and having some fun with friends.  

oh, and bringing in the New Year... totally non-eventful ha! minus one part... see next section ;) 

Movement:  So, what I thought was a kick at 18 weeks definitely was!! At 19 weeks there was a lot of movement and even more by this week! I love every bit of it! On New Years Day K felt the baby move for the 1st time!!!!!!! A fun moment for both of us!

Food cravings:  I really can't think of anything-- for New Years I realllly wanted some greens with vinegar (and the whole New Years meal for that matter) but I didn't finally get them until today.  Delish!  I seem to get full much quicker this week. 

Food Aversions: The same things I guess. 

What I miss: nothing :)

Symptoms: The baby has started kicking my bladder, yikes!  More "growing pains." A growing belly! and burping. still.  My headaches are GONE!! Feeling like I need to pee all the time. (I've been drinking way more h20 too- go me!) Getting full quicker.

(Totally not baby symptoms but the past 3 days this week I struggled with MAJOR head congestion/stopped up nose/sinus pressure -- which equalled horrible headaches. I was miserable and one night slept almost none.  Luckily, I am feeling a little better as of this am!)

Gender: We will share soon- I know I keep saying that... I'm actually starting to feel bad that we haven't shared yet.  Can I be honest here? I really want to take a cute  gender reveal picture and post it and I really haven't had the time and the weather has been rainy and cold. Not really picture taking weather.  If I can't get this done soon I promise I'll just reveal.  Thanks for being patient with me :) .... or of course I could keep it a SECRET until baby is born!?! That could be fun!!! heheh

What I'm looking forward to: Our schedule slowing down a bit... we have been sooo busy. My doc appointment tomorrow. and MAINLY: spring/{early}SUMMER. That is my number 1 craving right now-- warm weather and the BEACH.  I'm so ready! I'm ready to throw on a bikini (for the last time this year probably since I'll have a majorly flabby belly post May) and lay out!! Please be a short winter!

 Baby bump: 

Oh, and if you're curious... here is my 21 week post while I was pregnant with RG :) 

Raleigh Grace and Santa 2012!

This year our trip to see Santa Claus was so much more enjoyable than last year!  

This year, as soon as Raleigh Grace started seeing Santa around she started to wave at him and he really became her "friend"! We would see Santa in ad's in the paper and she would kiss him and wave to him and when we saw Santa statues in stores she would always wave, rub his beard and then want to hug him.  I was so anxious to see how she did with the "real life" Santa!  We didn't make a huge rush out of it this year so about a week before Christmas we finally got her all dressed up in her Sunday's best to go see him.  (I'll admit the week previous we were in Bass Pro and they had free pictures with Santa! I was so bummed that RG was wearing a pink plaid shirt and jeans and didn't want her to clash with him in the picture so we skipped that opportunity. ha! She did wave at him from afar but that was about all).  

This year we decided to go to a different mall thats a little (okay, a lot) fancier than where we went last year.  The company that was taking pictures was so much more professional and even let us "work" with Raleigh Grace to get the perfect picture.  Oh, did I mention we waited in line for less than 5 minutes? AND they had a TV in line with Santa cartoons on! How cute is that!?  As we were waiting in line, Raleigh Grace was sooo excited, she kept pointing and waving and Santa and kicking her legs and smiling.  Success- no tears this year!? As it was our "turn" I sat her in his lap and she just stared at him-- I was for sure she was going to pet his beard but she didn't.  She just kept looking at him- straight faced.  Not sad, not happy, just observant.  I pulled "bunny" out and played peek-a-boo with her until we got a PRECIOUS smile!  I loved the photographers- they probably took 10 or 12 picture (that can be viewed and saved online for free) and they even let us take our own pictures with our cameras! Score!  We had so much fun and ordered one 4x6 and 4 wallets for $25dollars.  What a steal :) 

Moral of the story- go to the nicer mall, and wait until almost the last minute to avoid lines :) 

Princess Raleigh Grace and Santa Claus 2012

my favorite! 

K's favorite

 and a fun comparison from last year! :) 

oh okay, and a few out-takes ;) 

Happy New Year, 2013!

I can't say that last night was very exciting for our little family of three.  We put Raleigh Grace to sleep around 10pm and then I did my best to keep the hubs awake (unsuccessfully).  He was adamant on wanting to stay awake so about a minute before the ball dropped I shook him awake so he could count down with me.  We kissed and went to bed.  Super exciting huh?  

This past year has been a good year as a family of three but I am looking forward to becoming a family of FOUR next year.  :)  The number 13 is my favorite number so this year is bound to be good, right?!

Here is a glimpse into our New Years Eve last year vs. this year: 

New Years Eve 2012: 

How we are bringing in the new year... Party in the bath tub!!! Believe it or not this is her excited face!! She loves when we have water squirter wars!!

  2011:

Bringing in the New Year at GGDaddy's house!

Her fancy outfit from Aunt Donna P!

"2012 My First New Years"

...and what exactly we were doing on this day in 2012? We had just driven to Orlando, Florida (yes, with a 2 month old!) for a family vacation with K's family at Walt Disney World!! Oh how I wish we could be back there right now! Instead I'm sitting on the couch with my hubby while RG naps, watching football.  I'll take that too! 

On the way to Cinderella's Castle at 6am to have breakfast with  ALL of the princesses...
Raleigh Grace was dressed up as Belle (the CUTEST Belle ever at that!), and her cousins were Aurora, Snow White and Rapunzel. 

The big girls in front of Cinderella's Castle

Princess Belle and Daddy

I hope you all have a wonderful day today, and happy 2013!!