Real Estate

My mom is a local real estate agent and has just created a wonderful new website. You can click here to check out all the latest info. She wants the best for her clients and will do everything she can to ensure they get a great deal, whether they are buying or selling. If you are in need of a great realtor look no more. Her contact information is listed on the website so make sure to check it out :)

Lauri Clark Homes....

Wishes you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

The Stockings Were Hung...

Ok so our stockings aren't really hung just yet, but I'm so excited that they finally got here. I received a catalog from Personal Creations a while back and I just loved all their Christmas stuff. I decided to go all out and buy Maddy, my dog, and me personalized Christmas stockings. I had such a tough time choosing which ones to buy because there were so many cute ones. I asked my mom which ones she would pick and she picked the one I was contemplating getting so I knew they were the ones for us. I was disappointed because Manny's stocking was out of stock and apparently they didn't plan on getting anymore in. I found a similar one at Wal-Mart and was thrilled. Manny's doesn't really match mine and Maddy's but it's the only bone stocking I could find and I still love it. I posted pics on facebook and twitter so sorry for the repeat pics :)

This weekend is very busy around our household. Saturday we are having hardwood floors put in. It will look so pretty for Christmas and I simply cannot wait! We are also decorating the house, hopefully anyways, and getting our Christmas tree. Once everything is set up and back in place I will be sharing pics :)

P.S. I really didn't try to stay with a "M" name theme when Maddy was born lol...never thought about it until recently but I guess it just sorta ended up that way. I must have watched one too many 19 Kids and Counting shows lol. I guess I could say we're the three muskateers :) I love my lil family!

Random Emotions

Today has been a rough day for me. I am so thankful for long weekends, but they make going back to work so hard...especially this time of year. I found myself almost refusing to work, which just makes the rest of the week harder. I can't even begin to tell you how bad I want to be a stay at home mom. I know being a stay at home mommy is no easy job, but it's a job I've wanted even before I knew about Maddy. I don't think the desire to be a stay at home mom will ever die down any, but the need to talk about it will if I can just make it through this week lol. Maddy and I really did have an amazing weekend together and I just hate that it had to come to an end. She has started saying, "Yeah" instead of, "Huh" for uh-huh and her expressions are just too cute and often quite funny lol. I am having to write from my phone tonight and it doesn't let you add captions under the pics so these are just random pics of Maddy I have on my phone. There is nothing like having a child and I pray that God would someday (soon preferably) let me be a full time mom for my job. I have been specific in my prayers that I am not forced to stay home by losing my job, just as an FYI :) for now this is where God has me so I will pick myself up and carry on. I just needed to get my feelings out again so I could do so. I really am an emotional girl.

Zulily

As you all know I switched over to the iPhone 4S. I wasn't too sure about it in the beginning and really missed my amazing camera that my HTC Evo had. Since writing about the iPhone 4s I have really grown to love my phone. I've been watching Zulily sales for a while now, but never saw anything I just had to have for Maddy and didn't quite think the prices were that great. I have since downloaded the app on my phone and have found a few things I just love. I have a feeling having the app on my phone is going to get me in trouble but I will deal with that later lol. I will try to show some pics of what I've ordered so far:

I normally buy most of her clothes at JC Penny because they have so many sales I generally can buy a better wardrobe than most places. I also like shopping at The Children's Place and Old Navy but those are more expensive stores so I only buy a few things. I have found an Old Navy outlet store that I shop at for her as well as OshKosh and Carter's. There is a Children's Place outlet but the prices aren't much different. I am not the type of person to pay high dollar just for a cute outfit, so that's why I haven't bought more from Zulily. I only buy things that are just super cute and for a decent price because she grows out of clothes quite fast (although it is starting to slow down) and I know once she gets older she will want more higher dollar clothes so I better save my money while I can lol. I look up the brand online prior to purchasing from Zulily just to make sure I can't find a better deal and so far they have been the lowest. The last outfit picture on here I found runs around $50-60 and I got it for $22...I can handle that :) I know most people have heard about Zulily but if you haven't I would definitely encourage you to check it out. I look everyday but only buy here and there. 

Thanksgiving Weekend 2011

I'm not at all ready for my long weekend to end! My weekend started Wednesday at 12:52 p.m. I was able to get a very small workout in and then off to run some errands before I picked Maddy up from school. I decided to take advantage of any sales going on and headed to Toys R Us to pick up some more of Maddy's Christmas. I was surprised it wasn't more crowded than it was, but I was very thankful. I picked Maddy up early and we were headed to home to start our wonderful weekend. We listened to a local radio station that is playing nonstop Christmas music and it just made me so excited that the Christmas season is here once again. Thursday morning Maddy I thought was resting up for a very long day because at 8:41 she was still laying in bed...this child is up around 7 a.m. no matter what. When I went in to say good morning and happy thanksgiving I noticed she didn't look "normal." She didn't want anything to do with my happiness and just wanted to be left alone. I then heard her sinuses and realized she must have had a sore throat. I felt so bad for her. Once she got up and moved around a bit she acted like she felt some better, but still not great. I almost didn't go to Thanksgiving, but she wasn't running a fever and she wasn't acting like she was just miserable so we went ahead and went. We had lunch at my grandmother's at 1:00 p.m. Here are some pics from that:

By the end of the night she was plum exhausted. I had every intention of going to Wal-Mart to do some black Friday shopping at midnight, but I myself was plum exhausted and fell asleep. I woke up at 12:48 a.m. but I was so out of it there was no way I could have functioned. Friday we went shopping with my mom and step dad. Maddy loves riding in my step dad's truck and that is the one time she doesn't mind getting in her seat lol. We went to Lowe's and Sams and then back home. My mom is updating the house and has some goals to accomplish before Christmas. She had to rip wallpaper off my bathroom and the kitchen and is going to paint both plus the living and dining room. This coming Saturday she is having hardwood floors put in the living and dining room. It has turned out to be quite a task but it's very exciting. Friday night we loaded back up in the truck to go to Rock City to see all the Christmas lights. Last year Maddy just wanted to go go go and it was more than exhausting. This year I had planned on getting a backpack to wear that she could sit in, but it cost $100 and I just couldn't pay it right now. I remembered I had a backpack thing that she wears and I hold on to so I decided to give it a try. I have to say that I don't care what people think (I used to say I would never put my child in one prior to having one because it looks like they are a dog...I just didn't know lol) that thing was a lifesaver. Maddy is not one to hold hands...she is an "I do it myself" kind of person. This backpack allows her to feel free, but gives mommy peace of mind in knowing that she isn't just going to take off and something happen to her. It worked like a charm and whereas she still just wanted to go and not pay attention to the lights...it was nowhere near like last year. She would stop a little and look at some but she just wanted to walk more than anything. She did have some meltdowns, but it's a really long walk for a toddler. We were there almost 3 hours. Here are the pictures from the trip:

 We went with my aunt and uncle and their granddaughter Aria who is only 8 months younger than Maddy.

Oops, forgot to rotate them lol

You can tell Maddy has had enough...this is one of the spots she had a meltdown last year...I figured it must be the halfway point :)

I had to hurry and take this pic because we unknowingly cut in front of someone and they were quick to let us know. My mom apologized to the man but he just didn't care...it was kinda ridiculous

We made it all the way through and mommy was soooo happy it went much better than last year. I felt like we accomplished something lol

Maddy with her Nana and Pops in the gift shop

Here is Maddy having one of her moments...


Saturday me and Maddy worked. Maddy really enjoyed herself and played by herself some too which is a huge thing in itself because she has never played by herself. She would sit in the room I was in and play near me, of coarse checking out was going on as well. I had a lot of papers to shred and she enjoyed helping me, but didn't understand why she couldn't touch. Her Pops was busy painting the foyer and hall, her Nana was busy clearing out the office/her playroom to get ready to paint it today, and I was busy cleaning out my stuff in the office/playroom as well as going through other stuff around the house. Maddy did so well and understood that she couldn't touch the walls and was very careful. She ate lots of fruit and did lots of playing. Once she went to bed I started my room and stayed up till 2:00 a.m. trying to finish it. I didn't quite make it but oh well. Today I hope to get my room finished, Maddy's laundry done, as well as go to some stores to get a few items I need. I've also been busy shopping on Zulily, but will make that it's own post. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Maddy and I really enjoyed spending time together and I am so very thankful that she is in my life. I love being her mommy and am so thankful God her to me...she is truly a blessing and a gift. 

Excitement Post

Today has felt like Christmas all day today. I have just been so ecstatic today! As you can see I def have emotional highs and lows lol. After writing my post last night I was able to pray about my problems and then go to bed. I woke up feeling MUCH better. I wanted to be up at 6:00 this morning so I could be done with work at 10:52 but going to bed at 12:20 a.m. didn't allow me to do so. I woke up at normal time and got off work at 12:52. I was able to get a short workout in and then run some errands before getting Maddy. A local station (92.3) started to play Christmas songs all the time and that really just sent my mood beyond joyous. One thing I did is try to get as much of Maddy's Christmas as I could before all the traffic gets really bad and I accomplished that plus an extra. Toys R Us is running a sale where you buy $40 in Disney movies and you get a $10 gift card back. I bought four movies for $30. Of coarse I bought all Christmas movies too lol...Eloise at ChristmasTime, Prep & Landing, Santa Buddies, and The Legend of Santa Paws. I am really enjoying the holidays this year and I am thankful for that. From here on out me and Maddy will be doing festive activities and will be extremely busy. This weekend we are headed to Rock City to see all the Christmas lights. I was hoping to get a backpack to carry her in because it is quite a long walk for a 2 year old, but I'm not sure I want to spend $100 just to do so...especially not knowing if she will sit in it. Next weekend we are headed to our local train station and going on a Polar Express train ride that will serve hot chocolate and cookies and the kids will get to see Santa. The weekend after that we will be celebrating my youngest niece's 7th birthday. That is all the "planned" things I can think of but there will also be lots of baking and shopping and singing done as well. I hope you all have a very happy Thanksgiving and be careful not to eat too much lol

Oh My...

This week has not turned out like I thought it would. I didn't really have thoughts as to how it would be, but I didn't expect it to be as stressful and frustrating as it has turned out to be. I would say at least 99% of it is the devil trying to pull me down because I know God is up to something. One area I have been hit this week is finances...I mean I got hit hard! One would think...especially me...that that would be the area I'm most stressed. Surprisingly enough, I have a peace about the situation I am facing. It has caused other emotions but I know it's going to work out...worst case scenario I will pay for the rest of my life (not really but it feels like it lol) and I am pretty calm. I've been trying to write a post since Sunday because I've had a "aha" moment that just completely shocked me. I typed out at least three different posts but as I reread what I wrote I just decided to come back later and try to rewrite it. Today I am just so frustrated I almost don't care if my post isn't organized and doesn't make sense, I just have to write to try to turn this week around. I've been reading updates about a very sad situation because I felt drawn to one of the people involved. I decided to take some time and read from start to finish the updates and as I was coming to an end I finally saw that God was working on me...molding me. I'm a very transparent person and when I have these moments I tend to share all the fun details. For some reason I feel like I am supposed to be quiet about this one. I'm not sure why nor am I 100% positive I am supposed to be quiet but it's just that feeling I get...especially once I have been trying to write about it since Sunday. I honestly feel, however, that the events of this week is just the devil trying to steal my joy. He is working hard and I'm having to be real careful in one area but in other areas I just look at him and laugh. I'm hoping with my not having to work for two days I can enjoy Thanksgiving...well..as much as I can. Me and Maddy have a lot to be thankful for. I am so thankful that I get to be her mom...I love spending time with her. I know this post may or may not make sense but it's the best I could do for now. I may or may not write again before Thanksgiving, so just in case...Happy Thanksgiving from Maddy and me :)