A Small Step Forward....

Little J has moved into 9th place on the Top Ten Badge Board! Yay!!! To all of you who have donated thank you!!! I am so grateful for all of your support! I am so happy, that we are raising a little awareness for Angelman Syndrome and a little money for the Angelman Syndrome Foundation. In order for Little J to get the matching donation from Hanes, he needs to get to the top 6 badges. Right now, he is 24 donations away from taking over 6th place. Obviously that changes daily based on donations being made to the other charities. So keep spreading the word for Little J!!

In other news, Princess J is doing well! She had her 4 month checkup today. It seems like she's been here forever, yet only arrived yesterday....if that makes any sense! She is doing so well with her milestones! She's even accomplished a few things that are generally achieved around the 6 month mark. With everything that has gone on with Little J, I am so anxious at every doctor visit following Princess J's progress. I know she's fine, but just need that reassurance. She's on track to be a tall girl, right now her height is in the 85th percentile! Grow baby!!! Yay!! Her rash seems to be clearing up, she's been on the hypoalergenic formula for a week now and we are continuing it for another week. If all goes well, we'll be introducing her to a soy formula and then on to rice ceral! Wow! Solid food already! I just can't believe how fast she's growing and how much she changes everyday!

Hopefully I'll get to do a little scrapping in the next few days...or at least get a few new pictures of the kiddos. I'll definately be scrapping on Sunday! Can't wait to get together with my homies and just hang out for some good times!

Must Do Tomorrow!

I must get started on that bathroom! I have been avoiding it too long. That should be obvious, since that stupid bathroom has made an appearance on my blog 3 times now! Yikes! Here is my new updated To Do list!

Deep Clean Bathroom!
Finish organizing our bedroom
Clean out my closet!
Finish scraproom
Buy flowers to plant in front yard and on porch.
Watch DVR'd episode of King of Queens and ER!

Those are my top things to get done! I will feel so much better about actually scrapping if this stuff is complete.

These last few days have been so busy! Thursday a bunch of us headed over to La Fondue for a tame bachlorette party for Angel West. It was a lot of fun and the food was super yummy!! Friday as you know was all about taking care of these kiddos, setting up and changing some upcoming appointments, and doing the scrub down in our family/kitchen area. Saturday was a whirlwind trip to find something to wear to Angel's wedding and then heading off to the wedding sans kiddos. G stayed home with them!! Wahooo! Sunday, I way overslept, which is why there are a few things on my list to do, that I wanted to do today. Anyway, got the grocery shopping done, made cookies from scratch, and cooked up some dinner. Gave princess J a nice bath too. Love that clean baby smell!

Another Day of Survival!!

Day two of G back at work, and again I survived and accomplished a few of the things I wanted to...or at least got started on them. I even got the kiddos dressed and out of the house for a bit too!

On Krista's recomendation, I picked up a copy of Computer Tricks for Scrapbooking by Jessica Sprague. I've had Photo Shop Elements software forever, but under utilize it alot. I see all these amazing things that others are doing with their photos using this program, but I'm just using it to stitch layouts together and reduce the size of photos for emailing. What a waste of an expensive program. So in an effort to start not only using the stash of product I have laying around gathering dust and becoming outdated, I need to start using the tools and equipment I have as well. I'm hoping that this simple approach to using the program will get me started, and then maybe I can venture into even more usage. We'll see how that goes. I still have a sewing machine, a Bind-it-all and a Cricut to break in as well.

I ventured into the scraproom today, to start doing some organization. I still have a long way to go, but at least I made some progress. I've been drawing some sketches and writing down some ideas on titles and uses of product I just recently bought, and I really want to get it down on paper and into my albums.

Tomorrow, on our list of To Do's:

*Deep clean the Bathrooms!
*Straighten up our room
*Finish Laundry
*Clean up in Princess J's room
*Make sure we have everything for dinner
*Call and make a few appointments
*Little J's therapy appointment
*Go to mall and get something to wear to wedding this weekend
*Find something to wear to bachlorette party on Thursday.
*Set DVR to tape season finale of ER!!!! Oh my I almost forgot!!
*Organize my closet!
*Continue work in scraproom!
*Not to mention feeding the kids, keeping kids clean and playing
with kids!

Obviously all of this won't get done tomorrow, but at least I have a list and know what I want to work on! Let's see how day 3 goes!

At first I was afraid....

I was petrified! Today was G's first day back at work and I survived! Wahoo! I'm so happy, the morning went like clockwork! I was even more productive than I thought I would be. I know G was suprised when he came home for his break. I know he thought that the kids and I would still be in our jammies....at NOON! That was not the case. Everyone was dressed and presentable! Wahooo! So excited, that I even got the dishwasher emptied and reloaded, bottle washed and the bed made! All in time to sit down for my daily dose of the Young and the Restless! Didn't get much else done, besides feeding kids and changing diapers. Since Little J had a therapy appointment this afternoon, that kind of stopped all other productivity for the afternoon. Thank goodness that G was such a sweetheart and brought me my Venti peppermint mocha frappacino with a double add shot blended. I knew (and apparently he knew too) that I would need an infusion of caffeine! Alas, that was only day 1, we'll see if day two goes as well.

I've got some things on my "I want to get this done" list. The bathrooms are really in need of that deep cleaning. They are clean, but you know the cleaning where you really get into the nitty gritty. I'm hoping to get that done tomorrow. If I can get that deep cleaning done on one room at a time over the next couple of weeks, then I can get down to hiring a bi-weekly cleaning service. I've got to do this, because I just can't seem to keep up with the mopping, dusting and bathrooms. I really also want to get into my scraproom and really get organized. Ultimately I want to get some serious scrapping done. I'm feeling the mojo lately. Hopefully, I can get in there and organize before the mojo floats away.

Reality TV...where to start! I'm sad that the CHA CHA's did not win the Amazing Race, I'm sad that Yau did not win Survivor, I'm sad that Dancing with the Stars is almost over this season (rooting for Ian and Cheryl), I'm disappointed in this season of American Idol...really, there is no one left that I think I would buy an album from. Waiting anxiously for Big Brother to come back!

This past weekend, I got addicted to a few shows that I happened to catch in rerun mode. America's Next Top Model: Cycle 8, caught this on VH-1..now I have to watch the final show on Wednesday. Hopefully Jaslene will pull off the win. For some reason, Renee and Natasha both bug me. I also caught the reality show Tori & Dean Inn Love, I don't know why I couldn't tear myself away from the television. So, do I watch season 2 when it starts?

Just received an email today, the the 2nd season of Big Love on HBO starts on June 11th! Yay!!! I think I'm going to have to get season 1 on DVD now. I was starting to get worried, that it wasn't really going to come back and they were just going to leave you wondering what happend. If that was the case, I didn't see the point in buying the 1st season of DVD's, but now that I know season 2 is coming.....

Must Reinstate the Scrapbook Diet!

The stash is becoming overwhelming even to me...the happy collector! Finally today, I actually got a couple of layouts done and used some of the stash I've been collecting while not scrapping for awhile. I was so happy to break open some of the stamps, open some stickles, cut up some paper, open those flower packages and use some of that ink in those pens and get some completed layouts! I actually felt giddy after my first completion!! Sooooo, how am I going to do this diet. The easiest thing I can come up with is to give myself and allowance per layout completed. Now, those of you who know me, know that I could never go cold turkey.....at least not when it comes to scrap supplies. Tell me a baby is on the way, and I can give up my caffiene in a milisecond, but that won't work here. Soooooo, here is my point system in a nutshell. For every layout completed I'm putting $5 in my scrap-allowance. If I had to purchase a new item to complete the layout, then I only get $2.50. The only exceptions to this rule (meaning the allowance deduction does not occur) is cardstock and items purchase to complete a gift that will be given within 4 weeks. I can't blow my allowance by telling myself that I'm buying it to make a Christmas gift for someone!LOL I know myself well enough, that I would totally use that excuse. I must know the specific person and occasion, and it must be happening within 4 weeks of the purchase.

I'm so impressed with all the people I know purging their goods. Like Erin, so awesome that she took this cue from Ali in her AEzine. I'm just not ready to let go of the material goods yet. I must try and give myself a chance to use them! I bought this stuff with love and intention, and it somehow inspired me to think of an idea....or at least hand over some cash, so I should try and put it together. I can't let that time and money be a waste! Wish me luck!

Are you meeting your goals with using what you have on hand? How are you going to get creative, use that stash and not let it all go to waste? Share!!!