Almost Christmas!

Well it's almost Christmas!! I am sooooo excited for Leilani's first Christmas where she will actually be involved in the opening of her presents! Her dad and I went in together on purchasing a play house for the back yard and I am just sure she's going to love it! If, that is, I can get some help getting it set up before Christmas morning LOL. I would have to say that the holiday hasn't been easy dealing with a divorce at the same time as going through the holiday but I think we have handled things pretty well and are doing just fine on our own! I have currently been thinking of my new year's resolutions. I want to be a better person, mother, girlfriend, friend, daughter that sometimes it's all very overwelming!! I have one more week to ponder and plan, Any ideas?

Weekly Menu

Monday: Frozen Pizza

Tuesday: Soup and Sandwiches

Wednesday: Hamburger Helper

Thursday: Nachos

Friday: Spaghetti and meat sauce

Saturday: Taco Bake

Sunday: Leftovers

WOW It's been awhile

Okay so it has definately been awhile since I've posted. Updates, updates......where to begin really?!? Well, no longer married and trying to do the single parent thing has been quite a learning experience so let's start there. My daughter's father decided when she was about 10 months old that he had made a mistake and growing up was not something he was ready to do yet. So, he moved out and moved in with a friend of his and he plays daddy 4 days a month. Meanwhile, I have been cooking, cleaning, teaching, learning, giving baths, dealing with everyday tantrums and starting to work on potty training!! I have to admit there are days where I just want to crawl back in bed and sleep until I can't sleep anymore but for the most part, I still love what I do everyday. I have decided that I need to be WAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY more organized though to make it on my own with all the things I need to get done in one day. So I am on the lookout for some online help for organizing my suddenly very busy and crazy life!! Any ideas????

To move or not

Well so far I have been at a crossroads with whether or not we should move to the Kansas side of the metro. I have on the pro-side of moving the fact that we would not be on a lake so that we don't have to worry about the kids being that close to the water. Also, the fact that we both work in Kansas and live in Missouri so we wouldn't have to pay double taxes anymore. Then there's the fact that we could find a newer, bigger house that could possibly need less work and might actually have a yard we can be outside and play in, which is always nice. However, on the con-side of moving there is the fact that 2 of the 3 school districts we are looking at moving to don't measure up to where we currently live. Then the big kicker is we would be closer to my husbands family and some of his friends that I'm not exactly thrilled about. Also, the hassle of selling our house, packing everything up, finding a place to live with 3 adults, a baby and 3 dogs in between houses and the stress of buying a new home.

I am leaning toward not moving on the basis that I think moving closer to my husband's family and some of his friends would end up causing marital problems for us plus at best we would be moving to an eqivalent school district. Although a new house would be nice and it's always fun to shop, I just don't think the "juice" in this case would be worth the squeeze.

Earth Week

For Earth Week this year I have decided that I am giving up paper towels. I can use old towels and shirts that I have cut up to be cleaning towels. Any extra towels I need I will probably try and purchase cheaply at the dollar store or possibly a thrift store. This is not only going to save the planet but will also save me money, so I get to kill two birds with one stone on this one!! Let me know if you have any other ideas!!

DEALS

So I have been doing the coupon thing for about 2 months now and I think I have a pretty good handle on how this works now. Here are the deals I am going after this week:
Target
GE Energy Smart Light bulbs – $2.99/ea
Use $1/1 here
PLUS
Use $2/1 Target coupon here
Final Price = FREE
Vaseline Sheer Infusion Lotion (look for pkgs w/1 oz samples attached) – $4.99-5.99/ea
Use $3.75/1 Vaseline Sheer Infusion 4/11/2010 RP Insert (exp 5/9/2010)
PLUS
Use $1/1 Target Printable Coupon (Vaseline Body Lotion) here
Final Price = $0.24-1.24/ea
Tide 2X Ultra Travel Size Detergent – $0.97/ea
Use $1/1 Tide, any 4/4/2010 P&G Insert (exp 4/30/2010)
Final Price = FREE

St. Ives Oatmeal & Shea Butter Body Wash, Hydrating Vitamin E Body Moisturizer, and Fresh Skin Invigorating Apricot Scrub (All Travel Size) – $0.97/ea
Use$1/1 St. Ives Body Product 3/21/2010 SS Insert (exp 4/30/2010)
Final Price = FREE

Snuggle Fabric Softener (liquid) – $3.99/ea
Use $3/1 Snuggle Fabric Softener 3/28/2010 RP Insert (exp 5/2/2010)
Final Price = $0.99/ea
Band-aids (select kids, others) – $1.77-1.82/ea
Use $1/1 Target Coupon here
PLUS
Use $0.50/1 Band-Aid Products 3/14/2010 RP Insert (exp 5/31/2010)
Final Price = $0.27-0.32/ea
Crest Kid’s Toothpaste (4.6 oz) – $1.67/ea
Use $1/1 Target Coupon here
PLUS
Use $0.75/1 Crest Toothpaste 3/7/2010 P&G Insert (exp 4/30/2010)
Final Price = FREE
Gillette Fusion Razor (1 ct) – $4.99/ea (will likely vary by store)
Use $4/1 Fusion Razor 4/4/2010 P&G Insert (exp 4/30/2010)
Final Price = $0.99/ea
Satin Care Shave Gel (travel size) – $0.97/ea
Use $0.55/1 Satin Care Product any 3/7/2010 P&G Insert (exp 4/30/2010)
Final Price = $0.42/ea
Band-aids (8-10 ct travel size, Hello Kitty & others) – $0.97/ea
Use $0.50/1 Band-Aid Products 3/14/2010 RP Insert (exp 5/31/2010)
Final Price = $0.47/ea
Reach Dental Floss (unsure of size – assuming travel) – $0.97-1.12/ea
Use$1/1 Reach Dental Floss or Flosser 10/18/2009 RP Insert (exp 6/30/2010)
Use $1/1 Reach Floss or Access Flosser 3/7/2010 RP Insert (exp 12/31/2010)
Final Price = FREE – $0.12/ea

Downer

So I was excited for the hubby and I to finally have some alone time and what happens? Oh, he invites his best friend over to watch the game! So after rushing around like a mad woman to clean the house before he got there, because I got a whole hour's notice I get to sit upstairs and play with our 6 month old by myself. Then his best friend leaves somewhat early and I think, "okay now we get some alone time" and nope he's asleep on the couch! Well next weekend is valentine's day and he had better get it right because it seems like this is a reoccuring nightmare I keep having.

Grandma wars

I really thought this wouldn't be a big problem for me but I guess it has turned out that the grandma's are going to be jealous of the time the other grandma gets. My hubby has made several comments that would lead me to believe that his mom made some comments about how she felt she didn't get enough baby time at our holiday gathering. And how my mom seemed to hog the baby. Now I'm not trying to get in a huge argument about this with anyone but grow up! Are you serious? How old are we anyway? I think I got into a similar argument about friends when I was in the second grade!

Awkward Moments

Well we had my brother-in-law's birthday party last night at my mother-in-law's house and it was the first time we had seen his fiance(the nanny) since she left Leilani in the swing for 5 hours in one day. It was definately uncomfortable at first and I would have to say when she asked if she could hold Leilani I really wanted to say no, but I managed to be nice and at the end I even hugged her goodbye. I don't know if I have all the sudden become more aware of other people's feelings because it is a mommy-gene that all mom's have or if it's just part of getting older but I can tell you that 2 years ago if that had happened we wouldn't have been able to be in the same room let alone would I have hugged her goodbye. I was pretty proud of myself for handling that moment as well as I did because I was pretty upset when I watched her to that to my baby on the nanny-cam!!

Baby fever already???

So last night we are getting ready to go to sleep and my husband asks me, "Not that I am saying I want to right this second or anything but, if I was ready in the next few months to start trying to have another baby would you be ready?" I about choked!! I even mentioned having another baby in a few years and he was always quick to say, "No, one is enough!" but now here he is when our daughter turns 6 months old on Friday and he's asking if I'm ready for another one??? He said that she is just getting so much more fun now that she's able to react to things and more interactive than she was when she was first born. I do want to have another baby at some point but I think that the next few months might be a little soon. I also guess I just am having a bit of an issue with it because I thought it would be more of an argument when I was ready for another baby, and now it seems I may have to slow him down!! LOL

Dash minerals

So my cousin and I are going to try our hand at owning our own business! We found a company called dash minerals that makes a product very similar to the popular mineral makeups out there but carries one less ingredient that is known to cause itching. We are going to be consultants. I've always enjoyed doing makeup and I've always been the one everyone comes to when they want their makeup done for a special night. I figure this is just the next step! I don't have a website yet but I am working on that next. Anyone interested in more information can email me at dashminerals@hotmail.com

Girls Night Out

I am soooooo excited for my girls night out tomorrow night!! I haven't gone out in now almost 6 months and it's just going to be me and the girls. No hubby, and no baby!! I think I will miss them while I am out but I am definatly not going to let that stop me from having the fun I desperatly deserve!! We are going to start off at a bar where we can just sit and chat and then head off to another bar that is more like an adult arcade which should be fun. My cousin, Angie is coming and she really wants to dance so we may have to hop to yet one more bar to squeeze some dancing in. I, however, will not be found on the dance floor. I haven't lost all the baby weight and I keep telling my cousin that nobody wants to see a fat girl jiggling on the dance floor. I will leave the dancing to her. I will definatly take pictures and post some later. For now because I hardly ever post any pics I am going to add one to this post of my adorable baby girl!!

Men suck!!

I am about to go postal on my hubby! I don't understand why men think they need to lie about the dumbest stuff! You know that I'm going to be mad at you for lying and that I will probably be mad at you for whatever the reason was that you thought you needed to lie in the first place so why then do you keep putting us through this same argument by coming up with lies?!? I am at the end of the rope here and not sure what to do. I love my husband but we keep having the same arguments over and over and nothing ever changes!

Finally, a breakthrough!

I finally feel like I've gotten somewhere with my hubby on the whole his mom wanting to watch our daughter once a week drama! I don't think he necessarily wants it to be this way but he said that he would agree to a compromise of her not watching her regularly as long as we called his mom first whenever we needed a sitter. To which, I promptly agreed knowing full well that I probably won't stick to that agreement but hey the way I see it he told me three times if things didn't work out and I didn't like his mom watching our daughter that I could take her somewhere else but each of those three times she was right back at his mother's house the next week. So if he can tell me little white lies to get his way then I should be able to do the same!