Good Deeds

When I was a little girl, my dad taught me all about good deeds. He taught me from an early age how important is it to make someone else smile, or help someone in need.

I'm sure my mom's family is going to attack me-- duh she taught me this stuff, I just remember this specific memory with my dad.

Anyway, he always told me that you're not really supposed to share your good deeds with others, brag about them, etc. Even the bible says that and personally, I'm not sure how I feel about that. You should be able to tell someone! It will make your heart feel full.

Anyway.

We made a pact to always call and tell each other our good deeds of the day. Always. No matter the time, day, no matter where the other person is-- we always can brag to each other our good deeds.

He'll say "I have a good deed for you!" One day he helped a family find their dog that was missing. One time around Christmas he helped a guy find his missing gift certificate. He's done a lot of good, but those are just random ones I happen to remember. :-)

I usually can't top him. The other day I bought a candy bar for the cashier at Target-- she was pregnant and looked like she needed a pick me up. ;) It pulled on my heart strings when she said she has to get as many shifts as she can before her baby boy arrives.

But no matter what the good deed is, we always feel we can brag to each other about it. Sometimes you have to tell someone...even if it is against the rules. Amiright?

Okay hope everyone is having an awesome weekend and had a great VD! Xoxo

2 Years Ago This Week (Throwback)

I found out I was pregnant! February 7th, actually. I will never forget that day. 

Nathan was at work and I just knew it. I walked to Target, bought the most expensive test they had (I wasn't going to waste money on reading lines, ain't nobody got time for that), and about passed out when I saw what it said. 

Nathan didn't believe me! Was I buying the positive tests on Craig's List or something? Actually, people do that so I shouldn't make fun. 

There was no "grand" way of telling him I was pregnant-- I just showed him the test when he got home from work. 

Can you see my bump? I had one immediately, ha ha. 

So thankful to God for our sweet, growing baby girl. Here she is today, two years later: 

I just can't believe how fast time flies. I know, everyone says that. 

A Peek Into (Last) Week

Another great week for the books in 2015. :-) I must say, though, we are so ready for it to warm up so we can do more things outside! We are getting super cooped up in this house. 

My husband has had 6 day work weeks the past few weeks. We are so looking forward to this weekend because he has a 3 day weekend. Score! 

Emma loves snacks! She gets bored of the same thing over and over (read: won't eat unless we change things up) so I decided to make her this little "trail mix". She loves it! I find myself munching on it too. 

Monday was actually "our" Tuesday, so we were dragging... Between toddler meltdowns and the cold weather, we had to escape out of our house! One night I let Emma have a special snack in her chair and she flipped when I said she couldn't eat the banana peel. Drama. Queen.

Homegirl loves hanging out at the front door and eating her snacks! 

We have entered into climbing territory and oh my gosh-- this girl is fearless! Caught her up on this ottoman, found her on her table, and this morning I caught her in the rocking chair...I find her everywhere! 

When I find her, she squeals and laughs. She knows she's not supposed to be where I find her! 

I sent this to Nathan the other day. Emma has destroyed my sunglasses. :( 2 1/2 years with the same pair is pretty good for me, though. 

My cousin had Emma in our family Christmas drawing and sent her this outfit. The shirt is just a little tiny. 

Last night I got super ambitious and made lasagna! Emma & I ate it up and sent it with Nathan to work today. Nothing like cornbread to go with lasagna, right? Ha. It was all we had. :-)

Okay! Dishes are piling up. Hope everyone had a great Monday! xO

Playground Play

The other day it got up to 55! We busted out of here like criminals. 

There's a little playground down the road so we headed there after we walked for a while, touched bugs, and knocked on mailboxes throughout the neighborhood.

Never mind that my kid's clothes aren't matching. I said we busted out of our house-- I wasn't kidding. We just ran outside. I'm pretty sure I didn't have shoes on. 

Love the muddy knees. My mom would be so proud. She headed straight for the wet mulch and loved every minute of it. 

We had such a fun day! These little outings make me so excited for spring. Until then, we'll stay cooped up in this house.

Sending Valentines

Emma & I have had so much fun making valentines this year! We even recruited Daddy to help the other day. :-)

We found those crayons (barely pictures above) at Target. I can't find a link for them but they are so easy for tiny hands to use. Emma only took a bite out of the black one..a win in my book! 

I know I posted a picture of the clean paint valentines-- I will have to do a post on those. I promise I will soon! 

Emma is totally sticker-obsessed right now. She loves them on her hands and feet and can stick them on the fridge. I have got to find some stickers on sale somewhere..any suggestions?

We also finished Nathan's little Valentine-- I can't wait for him to see it! And get this-- I spent $0 out of pocket for it. And it's not some ghetto gift (I promise). Well, a little ghetto but not totally. 

Even Little E helped wrap and put the stickers on, ha ha. 

We are going to do some more clean painting valentines this weekend. Really getting into the spirit here. :-)

Emma's Weekly Check List

Schedules (routines) are so important for toddlers! Well, kids in general. 

With Nathan's work schedule always changing (or so it seems), people always visiting, and the weather being so wacky, I knew it was even more important to instill a good solid routine in Emma's life. 

Toddlers have to know what to expect next. If they don't, they get angry, upset, or bored. 

After browsing Pinterest one day, I found this site. They have a fillable weekly checklist. I love it! 

I played around with it one day when Emma napped from 12:30-3:10. Unheard of.

E puts the stickers on after we finish a task. Any by "E puts the stickers on", I mean she rips the paper off the wall and I cry for 3 minutes.

She always has playtime with Nathan while I jog in the mornings. ;) She knows when I come in, that I take her upstairs and we get dressed and then have lunch. It's the same thing every day, which is so important!

Our days look something like this:

:: Wake up (6-7), E watches me wash my face while playing with my makeup brushes
:: Breakfast/downstairs play. Clean up from breakfast (7-9)
:: Play with Daddy so I can go jog/shower
:: Snack/basement play
:: Upstairs play/books
:: Lunch/wind down for a nap
:: NAPTIME :)
:: Wake up!
:: Snacks/living room/kitchen/play on the white fluffy rug
:: Help get dinner ready, dinner, clean up while watching TV
:: Wind down for bed
:: Bath or BEDTIME :)

I just wanted to write it down because I know many years from now I will miss these days!

A Peek Into Our Week

It's been a great week here. E & I went out more than usual (we actually left the house) and we had so much fun! We usually try to stay in when it's super cold. 

Oddly enough Emma loved going in & out of her car seat and we made multiple stops! I'm sure this stage will last 12 minutes. 

We did some clean painting one boring morning. The hearts turned out so cute-- we will have to do this again and I'll try to do a post on it. :)

One night I was in the bathroom washing my face and had Emma in our room. She always plays with the remote, so I didn't give it a second thought. When I walked out of the bathroom, this was on the screen. She was trying to upgrade our service! Ha ha. 

We've been going through milk like water. Bad analogy but you get the idea. We ran out to grab some milk and I let Emma run through the toy isle. OMG she was pushing every button known to man. 

At the mall the other night we walked through Build a Bear and guess what we found? Ahhh I'm so excited about this! We will have to take our giraffe-obsessed chick out for a fun date sometime soon.n

Not much else going on! We joined the local library so I'm looking forward to many trips there this spring. Hope everyone had a great week! xO