Preparing for BABY: part 4

Good Lord.

We are nesting big time around here.

And by "we" I mean Chadly.

Okay, not just Chad...I'm tying up loose ends as well...but my man has taken baby prep to a whole new level....

He is MAN NESTING!

This is a real thing! Who would have thought that someone was capable of topping my psycho we-need-to-get-this-laundry-done-NOW state of mind?? Who could have predicted that someone other than myself would come up with the idea to bleach our shower because of all the filth that has built up in the last few weeks months?? And you know what's awesome? I didn't even tell him yet that I would like if he could bust out the bleach bottle and get a-cleanin', he did it on his very own! 

Woohoooo for man nesting!

Okay, here are a few other things he has done completely voluntarily:

- Rented a Rug Doctor and cleaned the carpets of our ENTIRE apartment -

- As aforementioned, bleached our shower from top to bottom - 

- He HAD to clean out our car of all evidence of Christmas tomfoolery, namely humongous car tracks -

- The Christmas tree has been taken out and the living room is back to normal, albeit a very CLEAN normal, thanks to the now-spotless carpet - 

- Carter's toys have been properly batter-ied up and are running smoothly, so as not to run into this problems post-baby-coming-home -

- and AS WE SPEAK, he is rearranging all of our DVD's into another section of the living room, JUST BECAUSE! Ahh, to feel thoroughly organized in your own home! -

See! What an awesome man I have!

I don't think I would have thought about half of these things, even with my outrageously long baby TO-DO list!

Cheers to husbands who are efficient nesters!

And here are a few things I've been up to lately in the baby department:

 {I have stocked my other new bundle of joy: THE COACH BABY BAG CHAD GOT ME FOR CHRISTMAS!}

 {In case the baby is a girl, she NEEDS an over-the-top, precious precious precious beanie to wear home from the hospital!}

{My big boy's outfit for our hospital picture!}

And last, but certainly not least, can we just talk about how much MORE prep time it takes for BABY #2, versus BABY #1?? One would think it would be the exact opposite, but alas, IT IS NOT!

I feel like we've been running a marathon for a straight month! It's insane! The last few days have literally been nuts, and I thought we would have it all on lock by now! At least there's no better reason for feeling like your TO-DO list might eat you whole. 

Sheesh kapeesh!

Christmas festivities continued

...and to further chronicle our Christmas week before this baby pops out....

{!!!}

so YAY for Christmas Eve assembly {which nowadays requires a masters degree in nuclear engineering}, itchy church outfits {poor kid only last 5 minutes in the pew, anyway}, and Christmas china!

We had a fabulous few days, and are still preparing for baby, which seems to have taken over mine and Chad's collective thoughts. Who knew that between two people there can be so many items on their To-Do lists revolving around the same topic?? 

Sheesh kapeesh! 

Anyway, cheers to a happy holiday season!

Post-Christmas, Pre-Baby

**first of all, thank you so much for the sweet emails I have received regarding Babe #2!  I literally haven't been getting back to anyone lately because, well, ya know, I'm perpetually uncomfortable, and that fact never makes for a fun computer catch-up session, even if it would involve this little munchkin :)


But anyway.........

We are in a sweet spot right now....Carter's second birthday has past us by {tears}, Christmas Eve has come and gone with all the uncomfortableness which can be expected at such a late date in Babe #2's pregnancy life, and Christmas Day has ended quicker than a blink of an eye.

Chad is off for the rest of the year {Alleluia}, and Babe #1 is asleep in his crib. Life is quiet here today, and that's the way I like it right now. I've been so stuck on the let's-have-this-baby-now track that I sort of have not been enjoying all the festivities as much as I should, so I'm taking this time to do that now. 

{Well, sort of.....I'm bouncing on my ball as we speak.....COME ON, CONTRACTIONS!}

Anyway, the pictures from the last few days alone are upwards of 400, so here are a few of my favorites, starting with Carter's actual birthday {December 23rd} and going through just a few from Christmas Eve:

There are TONS more to come.
And no baby yet....like I said....I just thought I would repeat myself so you would send more labor vibes my way.....COME ON, BABY!

**also, if you were here for Small Business Tuesday, I'm taking a teensy break because this baby can come any day now and I can't exactly trust myself in the "flaunting yourself" portion of our linky parties...Don't worry though! Last week's ladies will be featured in the next few hours!

Pancake Breakfast: Carter's 2nd Birthday!

What more can I say other than my Little Man is not so little any more??

He's practically middle aged now, but no, he won't be buying a motorcycle and slicking back his hair in order to satisfy some sad midlife crisis, he will simply take up the words "MINE," "NO!," and, my favorite, "I LOVE YOU, MOMMY" more abundantly this year versus last year.

Ahh, to be two!

{Compliments of Grandpa Paplia...Thanks, Dad!!! Invitations are totally necessary, no matter what size the shin-dig!}

But anyway, this year we had a SUPER small party for my baby. 

The reason for the teensiness of the celebration was because when I started planning for it about three weeks ago, I did not want anything that would stress me out. I didn't want to worry about RSVP's, which one of our parents' wanted to host the partay because our dwelling can't exactly handle the largest guest list, buying food up the ying yang {for Carter's first birthday party, I think we bought a cow.....there was SO.MUCH.UNUSED.MEAT...but it was de.lish, so no complaints here!}, bottom line was this: 

I wanted to host at our own place, keep it within our immediate families, and just enjoy being ultra pregnant/celebrating Babe #1/not stressing out. 

{Not that throwing regular sized parties stresses me out, but you know what I mean.}

Anyway, Carter's pancake breakfast was truly a joy from beginning to end!

It all started the night before, at 8:30 pm, when Chad and I cracked down and got to prepping:

 {We made some cupcakes to compliment the Elmo cake made by Chad's brother!}

 {I wanted to get as much done PRE-morning-of-the-party as possible {which can be accomplished simply by working for four hours straight...easy, right....?}! Remember: the theme of the day was NO STRESS!}

 {Let me tell you, keeping Carter away from this little area in the morning was just insane. Insane, I tell you!}

 {A present from Grandpa Cisneros from Australia!}

 {.....and then the morning came! Chad picked up a few donut holes AND some new balloons because the ones I had gotten on Saturday had DEFLATED! For some odd reason, waking up to the twenty, mid-air level balloons perturbed me to no end. Hormones? I don't know, but what was I thinking getting helium balloons a full 24 hours before a party? Ridiculous.}

{For the mimosa drinkers in our crowd. AKA everyone except for me that day. Boo.} 

{Chad getting the bacon going before everyone go there!} 

{Okay. THIS is what Chad's brother made! Can you believe it??!! This was made by the hands of my brother-in-law! I'm still in shock of it's gloriousness. Still.} 

{Who says you have to be related to be family?? Here's one of my best pals in the world, Jenna! And look! She even got BABY JENNA a present, because she KNOWS the little one is a girl!}
{and not to be a downer, but my face has joined the pregnancy party....no need to be nice and lie to me!} 

{Sorry, Todd, for the awkwardness of this picture, but really quick, here's the guy who made the cake! GENIUS, I tell you, GENIUS! Anyway, here we are chowing down.} 

{Cousins!} 

{And then it was PRESENT TIME! Carter was sitting high and tall in his new CARS CHAIR from Grandpa C!} 

{And many toys later, from Mommy and Daddy, a Toy Story table!!!} 

{Next, it was on to cake! By the way, our cupcakes were totally unnecessary. Todd's cake totally owned.} 

{And here is just SOME of the aftermath.} 

{Here's my baby eating dinner on his Toy Story table, sitting in his Cars chair sporting his new Chargers gear. Lucky boy, lucky boy!}

So we had a glorious time, and have accumulated enough cars and airplanes AND trucks to fill any vacant spots still left in our little penthouse of joy. Now, tomorrow is Carter's actual birthday, so we will be spending the day eating cake at odd hours, pigging out on chips, and going to see Toy Story on Ice! It will be a blast!

So if I don't see y'all for quite a few days because Babe #2 decides to come early {please, please, please, please, please!} OR we are wrapped up in Christmas tomfoolery, have a SAFE and HAPPY Christmas Eve AND Christmas Day!
Wooohoooo!


And last, but certainly not least!
Today I'm guest posting over at One Artsy Mama about our Christmas tradition, so go check it out!!

and don't forget to go link up to show off your Small Business goodies!

Supernanny

A few weeks ago, while feeling balloonish, I took a seat on the ole' couch during nap time and started meandering through a few channels, and what did I find?

SUPERNANNY!

Of course, I've seen a few minutes of this show here and there before, but the family being featured on that day totally drew me in {two sets of twins, one 4-year-old pair and one 2-year-old pair....can you say stretched to the limits??}. Anyway, Carter woke up before I was able to finish the show, so I recorded the rest of the episode for later on that night.

Well, instead of just recording the remainder of that one episode, I accidentally recorded the entire season!

EVERY SINGLE NEW EPISODE!

and guess what?

I'm totally into it. 

It's so good! 

Jo knows, man, she just knows.

So now that I have 10+ Supernanny's recorded, only 4 of which I have actually viewed, I'm going to paraphrase what I've learned so far, because gosh darnit, it's the same in every household!

EVERY.SINGLE.ONE!

Okay, here goes:

{1}

If you don't maintain a schedule, your children transform into rabid animals.

Now don't kill me if you're not a "schedule" person, but holy moly! These kids! They're nuts when they don't know what to do with themselves! And here's the cool part: your schedule CAN include little NO-NO's like a good half an hour to forty-five minutes of TV time, or a full glass of juice, AS LONG AS IT'S IN THE SCHEDULE! 

{Thank goodness my sister was a schedule freak with her little one, therefore teaching us the importance of said discipline, because without a strict regimen, where would we be?? Probably pulling  permanent markers out of Carter's hand while he draws a self-portrait on one of our walls! That actually happened on an episode!}

{2}

If your husband is not on your same page, then take him out back and skin him alive.

Some of these husbands. Ridiculous! One husband couldn't even tell which one of his twins was "Bob," and which one was "Joe!" How can you not tell apart your own children??!! If Chad had to ask me which of his offspring was which, I think I would just stare at him blankly for a half an hour and then tell him that I will be at the spa while you get to know your own children! Holy moly! And some of them are so mean! It's like, HELLO, YOU FOOL! YOUR WIFE NEEDS SOME HELP, SO GET OFF YOUR SORRY REAR END AND DO THE DISHES WHILE SHE WRESTLES WITH YOUR THREE-YEAR-OLD! Cave men, most of them. Anyway, some of them have work situations that can't be helped, and that's a bummer, but in the mean time, they just need to buck up. Moral of the story: Daddy's need to embrace their daddy role! 

{Chad: We love you. That's all I need to say!}

{3}

YOU ARE THE BOSS!

Who said it was okay for a four-year-old to tell you what you're making for dinner?? I get the occasional, "Mommy, can we please have macaroni and cheese for dinner tonight?" but to be held hostage by your own biological creation??!! NO! Now I know these moms are just downright sick and tired of arguing, so they give in, but where's the firm voice?? Where's the, "No, we are not having candy for dinner tonight??" Where's the, "I slaved in this kitchen for the last two hours, so you WILL eat what I put in front of you??!" Holy moly! YOU ARE THE ADULT AND THEY ARE THE ONE WHO NEEDS TO BE LED! For heavens sakes!

{I'll admit, every once in awhile I'll go slack in the firm voice department, usually because I'm exhausted, but then I'll sit there and think to myself, "Did my toddler just dictate what we are doing here?" at which point I'll reevaluate the situation, but man! These poor moms on this show! Sheesh kapeesh!}

Whew!

Okay, that was sort of nuts.

Anyway, Supernanny has gotten under my skin, and I'm glad to say that she has!

{and can I just brag for a second?? Chad and I have been doing the "naughty spot" for the last few months. We are so cool and hip!}

{Jo would be proud of us!}

Okay, I'm done!


linking up here:

Small Business Tuesday!

It's time for some SMALL BUSINESS PROMOTION!

Yay for you, you savvy small business owner!

Okay, so here is what we were lucky enough to see last week!

So, Ashley from The Pink Ruffle made this Nordstroms bracelet, AND included the tutorial!

Hello! Go check it out!

I think my favorite picture for sure is the one where she pairs it with her super blingy watch....I die. 

Hey! We have another Ashlee, but his time she's from Capernaum Home!

Anyway, this Ashlee is offering 25% off everything in her store with the code XMAS25 until the end of the year! Out of what she featured, I think this red vintage blouse is what I would go with, but then there was that animal print scarf.....Hmmmm.

So, we love Little Vintage Me, and she totally hit the nail on the head when she talked about the ever challenging issue of balancing her home life with her BOOMING Etsy life. Not a bad problem to have, eh?? 

I love these sorts of posts....Simply Enchanted told why she started her Mary Kay business, and let me tell you, it was in.ter.est.ing! 

Sarah from Life on Walnut Street just launched her new calendars!! Oh my gosh, these things are pretty, AND there are Biblical Scriptures on every page! Hello?? Perfect for gifts! 

Ahh, Rustik Chic. I don't think I'll ever get sick of looking at your prettiness. Never. 

Anyway, here's another GENIUS design!

Okay, this one was totally cool, because almost EVERYONE has these things lying around their house! 

{And because I really need to just go and make this for myself....digging out pins from my plastic "box" doesn't exactly do anything for the safety of my fingers....}

Go check out this tutorial from Underground Vintage!

Ahh, I love SMALL BUSINESS TUESDAYS!

Okay, grab a button and link up!

rules, please:

{1}

just link up one post from your blog, not your entire blog

{it makes it hard to find your goodies if you do the whole thing}

and 

{2}

check out everyone else's small business genius!

{you will learn something, I know you will!}

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