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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

A Love Letter to Aubrey Hope


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Dear Doodle,

I write your little sis a letter every month but you don't even have one. That's not really fair is it? So here's my love letter to you, my gorgeous girl. Your sister is tough right now. She is very overwhelmed by the world and she shows us that she is by crying all of the time. I know that she will come around as she grows older but right now I am having a unbelievably hard time with it. What gets me through is you.

You are truly amazing and I am so lucky to have you as my child. The baby crying all the time doesn't seem to phase you, you just keep on going no matter what. You are full of smiles and laughter day in and day out. Lately you have been making your dad and me laugh so hard. Tonight I made you sing "Goodnight Olivia" for daddy and it was the best thing ever, you make up half the words but still sing with such confidence. You have also been getting a kick out of the fact that you can make us laugh so hard.

You are kind and love people which seems to be a rare quality these days. Please don't ever get discouraged when people aren't so kind to you. Just because one person ignores you when you say hello to them doesn't mean that you won't make the day of the next person you say hello to. We were at a birthday party this weekend and one of the dads came up to me and said how much he loved your personality. His own daughter was clung to his hip and you were just walking around, talking to everyone you encountered even though you had never met them in your life. It makes me so happy that other people see your inner joy and warmth too.

I love you so much. Thank you for making my long days more bearable with your dancing, laughing, tight hugs and sloppy kisses.

xoxo-
Mommy

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Tuesday, January 22, 2013

I Heart Date Nights (Giveaway)


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It's been quite awhile since my husband and I have had a date night. The last one was about a month before Finley was born. We went to Cheesecake Factory and then attempted to go shopping but intense braxton hicks contractions cut our date short. I'm excited to be able to go out again soon. I actually get pretty jealous when I see all the moms with babies younger than Finley out on dates on Instagram. Fin is still a little too rough around the edges to leave with anyone at the moment. She will be five months old next week so I'm hoping that her extreme fussiness is on it's way out because I could really use a night out with my husband.

That's where Datevitation comes in. Datevitation is the web's first online platform to create a custom love coupon book. Unlike the pre-packaged love coupon books on the market, you pick the dates and can customize the text to your liking. Once you are done customizing the text in your book, Datevitation will print it out and ship it to you in a ready-to-gift box. This is the absolute perfect gift for valentines day because it's totally a gift that keeps on giving. It also works great for me because my husband is one of those guys who buys himself everything he wants so there isn't much left for me to get him. Also if you're stuck in the house like I currently am there are lots of coupons that are things that you can do at home. There are even a ton of "naughty" coupons you can select from. I absolutely loved them but for blog friendly purposes I steered away but I'm tempted to go back and make a book that's for the hub's eyes only.

Some pages from my book:

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Here's some more about Datevitation:

-Datevitation's library contains over 200 date ideas ranging from skydiving to stargazing to steamy adult-only activities. We also have over 60 book cover options to suit any occasion.

-Although most people create books for their significant others, gender-neutral figures make it possible to make a book for anyone (they have male-male and female-female versions of every illustration in our library)

-Books start at just $20 so it makes for a thoughtful yet economical gift, and the perfect gift for Valentine's Day. You can use the code ‘MUSINGS’ for $5 off your purchase this month.


-Datevitation is a family business run by the husband-wife team of Alex and Olga Karpman. You can get to know them on the Datevitation blog, where they offer video guides to date ideas and romantic gestures. You can even watch Alex propose to Olga in a video they posted on Youtube as a Save The Date, and now has over 800,000 views (you can view the video here)!

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Wanna win one for your Valentine?

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Mightee Kids


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Aubrey is almost three. She is getting to the age where she is really starting to understand that there is more to the world then the perfect little one we try to create for her at home. She is also getting to the age where every little thing we do starts to shape the person she is going to become. It is so important to my husband and I that we mold her into a kind, compassionate and aware individual. That is where Mightee Kids come in.

Mightee Kids is company that helps educate kids in a fun and safe way about people and places around the world that may not be as fortunate. The way it works is that Mightee Kids sends a package to your child once a month, for three months or for four months. Each package has a cute tee and a kid friendly educational brochure explaining a new cause that the purchase of the package supports. Let me just say right now that the t-shirt is adorable and such a great quality, Aubrey asks to wear it again and again. (check out the video on the bottom of the post to learn more)

Each month Mightee Kids donates $5 from each subscription to a charity that supports children from around the world. This months charity is Smile Train. Smile Train helps children that are born with a cleft lip or palette to get surgery when they otherwise wouldn't be able to because of cost. Last year Smile Train provided a record breaking 125,000 surgeries.

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Right now Mightee Kids is giving away 5 of their cute little tees. Just click the picture below, like their facebook page and share the contest on your wall.

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Monday, January 14, 2013

Four Months


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Dear Finley,

This is more of a four and a half month letter because your mama barely has time to think these days. You are quite the challenge, my dear. We thought that you were getting out of your super fussy stage about a month ago. You were letting other people hold you, you were crying less and you were sleeping better. Then you got sick. Your sister brought home a nasty cold from preschool. I tried my best to keep hands washed and coughs away from you but I was unsuccessful. You got the virus full on and it even turned into a lovely ear infection. Since then we seem to be back to square one. Now you don't even really like anyone to look or talk to you besides a small handful of people or you will start crying. Also the only ones who are allowed to hold you are me, daddy and your granddad.

On a good note you are sleeping better. When you were sick and about a week or two afterwards you were sleeping horribly because you wanted to fall asleep in your swaddle but then have it magically disappear once you had fallen asleep. This had you waking up every hour and a half to two hours some nights. I got desperate and posted a cry for help on instagram. Thankfully Chelsea told me about Baby Merlin's Magic Sleep Suit. The first night was still rough but after that you started only waking up one to two times a night and going right back down. It has been glorious, I'm so happy that we found something that you like and makes you comfortable.

Although you are a toughy, I want to thank you for the big smiles that you give me every morning. They give me a little glimmer of hope that the day will be better than the one before. Some days are okay and some are bad, we don't have many good but the a smile at the start of the day helps more than you know. Please just stop crying so much, okay?

Lots of love,
Mama

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Likes: Evening dance parties, watching big sis on the swing, sleep suit and being lifted into the air

Dislikes: Rolling onto her belly, being put down and generally the hours of 3pm-7pm

Stats: Clothes- all over the place depending on brand and style, Size 2 diapers
Head- 15.75 inches (21%) Height- 24.75 inches (66%) Weight- 14.06 lbs (58%)

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Thursday, January 10, 2013

Twenty Thirteen


On New Years Day the weather was gorgeous so we decided to head to the beach
It was also Finley's first time there
We were hoping to catch the first sunset of the year but the clouds had other plans

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Cheeks McGee

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Who needs snow

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Sunday, January 6, 2013

Christmas Chaos


When I was little I remember my Mom being stressed out by the end of Christmas day. I never got it, for a little kid Christmas is awesome. You just get to sit back and enjoy all of your new toys and eat lots of delicious food and sweets that someone else prepared for you. This year I finally got what all the stress was about. With two little ones, Christmas was freaking bananas.

I'm not completely bah-humbug, I love the season. It's just those two days that get a little out of control. Let me break it down for you. Finley is still very unpredictable unless it's the evening and then you know she is going to be difficult. This makes having a nice Christmas Eve dinner with a bunch of family pretty impossible. The night started out like any other family get together, everyone wanting to hold Finley and Finley not having it. All the passing around makes her extra cranky and Joe and I ended up taking shifts holding her in the dark quiet back room while the other one ate. Aubrey was pretty good until my father in law dressed up as Santa and came out of the attic in the garage to surprise the kids. Girlfriend lost her shit and would let anyone put her down for the rest of the night.

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Christmas morning was good but Aubrey is at that stage where she just wants to play with every gift she opens instead of going on to the next. I guess that's a good thing because she really like everything she got but it makes for a long morning of opening presents. My parents and my brother came over for brunch and all was good until about one in the afternoon. All of the excitement from the morning and the night before proved to be taking a toll on Aubs when she starting talking complete gibberish. We laid her down for a nap but no nap would prepare her for a whole other round of gift opening and dinner that we were set to have that night at Joe's dad's house. Basically the whole evening Joe and I were swapping which kid to hold because Finley was being Finley and Aubrey was just spent. She has this weird thing where she hates every dog but ours and won't let you put her down if there is one around. Well, Joe's dad has a dog. A dog Aubrey knows but it didn't seem to matter that day, she would not let her feet touch the floor and my sister in law Heather had to pretty much open all of her presents for her. It's kind of funny though because now she thinks that all of the presents she got while she was there are from Aunt Heather.

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It's sad to say but I'm pretty happy Christmas is over this year. It was just too much for anyone to handle. Next year will be better, I'm sure of it.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

2012- Oh What a Year it Was


January

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It was a bit of a slow relaxed start to the year but we did make it to the beach for our first sunset of 2012.

February

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We continued to beach it and hang out with family.

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Aubrey and I went to lots of Wednesday night dinners with my parents while Joe played flag football with guys from work.

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We went to the Blues Fest and Joey and my mom when on the crazy trampolines.

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Aubs had her first ER trip

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I made a big announcement

March

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We celebrated Aubrey's second birthday with a trip to Disney World.

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Aubs and I played in the backyard with the hose... a lot.

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We found out that we were having another girl.

April

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Aubs started going to preschool on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.


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I took my first stab at vegetable gardening


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I began to chronicle my pregnancy week to week.

May

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We spent a lot of time on the boat & at the beach

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We grieved at the loss of a family member

June

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We remodeled our closet

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Aubs spent a ton of time in Nanny's backyard

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Tropical Storm Debby did some damage

July

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Aubrey fell in love swimming

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More backyard water fun

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Aubs first dance

August

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Learned to blow bubbles

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My belly grew to insane proportions

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Finley Kate made us a family of four

September

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We all had a bit of a hard time adjusting to the new babe

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The family met Fin

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Took some newborn pictures

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Finally semi-successfully potty trained

October

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Realized that we had a colicky baby on our hands

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Finley became an almost constant fixture to my body like she never left the womb

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Finley's first ER visit

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We celebrated cousin Lia's 6th birthday

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We went to the pumpkin festival

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Celebrated Halloween

November

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Had another Finley health scare

December

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Made a gingerbread house

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Met Santa

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Spent lots of time growing as a family


Happy New Year!
Thanks for sticking around during these crazy lack of blogging times
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