bring it on

so it seems that after 2 and a half years of lonely nights and days, family time missing one, hoping and praying... alex has passed the bar exam! i knew that the light at the end of our tunel was coming but it seems so much easier to breathe now.

ok world... bring it on!

i just owned pinterest!

since i was invited to join pinterest.. yes i had to be invited to join back in the day.. i have been crazy pinning and lazy doing none of it. until NOW! instead of starting with baby steps and making my pinning become a reality, i decided to go with the one pin that has been teasing for months. yep... i made SIXTEEN crockpot recipes and froze them. 2 weeks ago i did a trial period with 7 meals and after a week of amazing meals every. single. night. i decided it was time to marry this amazing idea. so i did it. i found 8 reciped, bought all of the ingredients, and spent almost 4 hours prepping.

4 hours might sound intimidating... BUT... its 4 hours, and 4 hours only. i spend a total of 2 minutes throwing everything into the crockpot in the morning and i am done. pretty awsome huh?

i found all of my recipes through pinterest... mamaandbabylove is my absolute fav!

you are going to need gallon ziplock bags to make this work. i also find that taking the meals out half an hour before i through it into the crockpot works the best.

the most important step is labelling your ziplock bags. i write the name of the recipe, anything i need to add to the bag, the cook time, and the date.

and then its time to start chopping... before i started...

after an hour&a half...

after 3 hours...

once everything is chopped, its time to fill the bags. i did a mini assembly line to fill the bags. and then i was done!! 16 dinners... in 4 hours! i stored the bags in my freezer by laying them flat.. it saves so much space.

proud of anything you accomplished thanks to pinterest?

what really matters

it is no secret that my family has been dealt a very difficult year. too much death, sickness, unemployment, exam failing, moving, etc. there are moments that i lose sight of things and focus all of my thoughts on all of the negative. i am constantly worrying about money, jobs, buying a house, and "getting our lives started'. what i forget is what i right infront of me.

there are people all over with health, money, homes, and so much more and yet they lack the one thing that i continue to take for granted. i have love. so much love. i am blessed enough to have a very loving and supportive family and family-law. and most importantly i have been beyond blessed with my best friend and husband and our amazing little girl. some days i just forget what really matters.

the bag lady

girlfriend over here wont go anywhere without a purse. she cannot even fathom leaving her bedroom to go to the living room without something hanging from her shoulder. if it has a strap, it will be haning on her. she has used purses, grocery bags, party bags, and even attempted my camera as a purse. she is definitely a girly girl and i wouldn't have it any other way. and yes, that is a poodle purse. and yes, she loves it.

vote for us?

sleep training for dumbies...

back when olivia was 11 months old i posted about how she began putting herself to sleep. it was great. we would place her in her crib and she was out like a light. yea... that was short lived! it lasted a few months and as quickly as it began it ended. my perfect little sleeper was on me like white on rice and refused to let go of my hair as i attempted to place her in her crib... she learned this technique from the first time i yelled in pain when the chunk of hair was yanked from my head... like i needed to loose anymore hair! after months of suffering (on both parts) i decided it was time for a change. i mean.. i work! full time! and a nap time was like gold. except that nap time consisted of me lying down in bed with her to get in an afternoon nap. and then there went my afternoon of laundry, cooking dinner, cleaning up, etc. so we did what all desperate parents do... we let her cry. it. out.

now let me start off by saying that for the last 19 MONTHS the hubs has been trying to convince me that this was the best thing to do. and for 19 MONTHS i told him he was nuts. there was no way in who-ville that i was going to let my perfect child cry for 5 minutes until she fell asleep. i thought it was torturous and evil. how dare any mother make her baby cry?!

well... i let my baby cry. she cried for a total of 7 minutes and then passed out. and the next day she cried for 6. and even though she went back to grandmas house today while mama went to work and the whole plan went to shit (she cried for a minute and then ended up sleeping on my moms lap) i plan on continuing with my efforts until this child sleeps on her own, in her crib, without bribery with cupcakes. i know that this issue with sleeping is my fault. i let her manipulate me with those curls, her tears, and those adorable rolls on her legs. but this mama will not be manipulated any more!

now the next time i put her in her crib to cry it out i think i will treat myself to a glass of wine and wait it out... im hoping next time will be 5 minutes and that we will continue to make our way towards instant sleeping... im crazy aren't i?

will you do us a favor a vote for us? i always think that i am going to give up on topbabyblogs but then i realize all the people i have found through them and come to the conclusion that im not ready to end my relationship with them yep. just click the link and then click on the owl to the left... thanks! xo