Being a young mom means we met a little early, but I get to love them longer.


Here are some links to helpful posts I have done in the past :)

Learn about car seat safety HERE!

Need breastfeeding advice? Click HERE for lots of helpful tips!

Lilypie Fourth Birthday tickers

Lilypie Second Birthday tickers

Lilypie Breastfeeding tickers

Sunday, April 29, 2012

My love affair with consignment sales.

I just can't stay away lol. My mom and I went to Kendal's Kloset consignment sale yesterday. It is literally a block from her house, and I saw that they were advertising 50% off that day, so we couldn't resist. I didn't know if we would find much with it being the 50% off day, but we did! I went intending to find Brentley some summer clothes because he doesn't have as many as I would like him to, but, of course, I found some extras as well.

Like this toy bin.


This photo book set. It has books for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year.

This Dora doll (it matches the Diego that Grace already has).

This dress for Grace.

And these shoes for Grace.

And I did find quite a few things for Brentley too. The jacket is a 24 months. He had one almost just like it when he was younger and I loved it. It was perfect for the warmer winters we have, so now he'll have one for this winter :) And the I'm #1 onesie is for his birthday! Then I found him three rompers that he can wear now.


I got all of this for $23!! I love consignment sales!

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Check out this amazing little girl... Avery can.

This blog is definitely worth checking out.... Avery Can .

This adorable little baby has a genetic disease that has no cure :( Her time on this earth will be cut short, but her amazing parents have created a bucket list for her. They want her to experience as many things as she can during her time on this earth. They more recognition she gets, the more things she will be able to achieve.

The blog is written by her parents, but it is written as if it was from the viewpoint of Avery. Very cute and whitty. Help this precious little baby achieve all she can!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Plans for the summer!

I get out of school May 7th, which seems like a long way away, but I only have tomorrow, Mon., Tues., and Wed. of next week, and then Mon. of the week after next left, so only five total days left! I've already got lots of fun things planned for my free summer.
For one, Grace and I are having our girls' day out on May 3rd. I know that I technically won't be out of school yet, but I'll only have one day left. I really cannot wait to spend some one on one time with my little girl!

We are also looking to put Grace in gymnastics. I have to call and find out more about it, but I would really like to, and I think she would be very good at it.

I will still be working my one day a week job over the summer, and I am planning on using this time to catch up Grace's baby book and to do Brentley's first year book. I have all the info to put in them, I just haven't put it all together.

I also want to do some fun things like planting a flower with Grace. I'm going to get her a pot and have her help me plant, then we'll take care of it together.
And our bubble day that I posted about on her before. I'm excited about that one.
I also bought some water balloons, so that we can have a water balloon fight!
And I would like to do a splatter paint activity as well.

As for big activities. We will be going to 1890's Day at the end of May for the parade and festival.
We are planning on taking a trip to the zoo, a trip to Coolidge park, and a trip to the Discovery museum at different times throughout the summer.

We are wanting to have a cookout and go back to our old neighborhood to watch the Lake Winnie fireworks on the 4th of July. You can see the fireworks perfectly from there!

And then, at the end of August will be Brentley's 1st birthday. I cannot believe he is almost 1!! He will be 8 months  tomorrow. My baby boy is growing up entirely too fast! I'm going to do a post about my plans for his party soon. I've got it pretty much planned out..

Ohh, and not this weekend, but next, I am doing a yard sale with my Nana. Hopefully I'll be able to sale a good bit of their old stuff, and put that money towards some summer fun :)

Monday, April 23, 2012

I'm so over it!

So, as I mentioned awhile back, I have a class with two of my friends, we'll call them A and B... well, I'm hesitant to even call A a friend now.

First, she made a better grade on the first test than I did. I went to the same high school as her and always made better grades, so I was sort of shocked. Then, she flat out confessed to me that she copied four out of five of my short answers! I was mad, but I let it go.

Lately, she's always forgetting her book, so she tells me I have to share. Yes, tells me. Last weekI opened the book, and she was like, "Did you do that highlighting?" I said yes, and she was like, "Ooooh, fancy aren't ya?" Basically making fun of me for reading the story and actually trying to study it.

Then, I finished my research paper for that class early because the teacher said he would review it. I posted on facebook that I was done will all my essays, and she commented on it asking if I had finished the research paper. I told her yeah, and that I was going to have him review it. To which she replies, "Oh, can I see it when he gives it back. I don't want to get a bad grade on this paper because he wasn't clear at all."
Excuse me?? That is the reason he gave all of us the opportunity to turn it in early, but instead of doing your own work, you are trying to use me, so that you can slack off?? I'm not giving it to her. The paper is due Monday. I won't get the reviewed copy back until Wednesday at the earliest. I am going to use it for myself.

I can handle all these things. Most of them seem like open mouth, insert foot situations, but today... today just takes the cake.

I have been having flu like body aches since yesterday. I wasn't feeling good when I got to class, and B offered me an Excederine (sp?). I told her I couldn't take it, and she asked me why. I told her that it was because I will pass it to Brentley. A very loudly goes, "He still takes the booby?!?" in a tone that resembled disgust. I told her yes, and she said, "When are you going to make him stop? Just whenever he wants? Is he going to be like 10?" For one thing, he is MY child. If I want to breastfeed him until he is 10-years-old, then who is she to judge MY parenting? And no, I am not planning on breastfeeding until he is 10. We will probably go until 2-years-old at the latest, if he doesn't wean himself before that. It just makes me mad that she was basically acting disgusted and making fun of me for doing what I always hoped I would be able to do. She doesn't have any children, so I don't understand where she gets off judging my parenting?? I am a firm believer that breast is best, and I am proud that I have been able to breastfeed Brentley for (almost) 8 months. I don't plan on stopping anytime soon. If I would have been able to go longer with Grace, then I definitely would have.

Am I over-reacting? I know that I would never do and say things like this to someone I considered a friend.

My first attempt...

Well, I did my first cake. Nothing fancy. I just wanted to try out fondant. It came out pretty well for my first attempt.





I've got to work on getting the cake more even. I think I'm going to use store bought fondant next time just because it's a time saver.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Room Showcase: The Kitchen :)

Well, this is our last room! It is finally complete!

The dining area.


Some of the wall decor.

Another wall decor.

Our art cabinet :)

One side of the kitchen (ignore the fruits and veggies lol).

The other side.

Tried to get a shot of the whole kitchen (also ignore the dishes, we've got to do them tonight).

Our first meal at the table :)

They both enjoyed it :)

Atopic dermatitis...

Otherwise known as eczema, is a long-term (chronic) skin disorder that involves scaly and itchy rashes.

Brentley had been having rough, scaly patches on his legs. I tried putting lotion on them, but it didn't seem to help, and instead of getting better, more and more kept popping up, so I made him a doctor's appointment, and he was diagnosed with eczema :( She prescribed him a cream for it that I can apply five times a day for one week at a time. I really hope this helps him.

I researched it when I got home, and even though it is considered chronic, most people outgrow it by adulthood. I really hope that Brentley does! Also, I was looking at some of the pictures, and Brentley's is not that bad compared to a lot of the pictures, so that is fortunate!

It is not contagious, so you can't catch it by touching him... even though it does almost appear that he has something like the chicken pox or poison ivy.

It can get bad to the point of oozing, blistering, bleeding, etc. At this point (knock on wood), Brentley's are just scaly, dry, and rough. Hopefully it will not get any worse than what it is now. I'm hoping the cream will clear it up, and maybe we won't see it again, but his doctor said not to get my hopes up because it usually doesn't go away that easy :(

The research I did also said that eczema is usually a precursor to allergies or asthma, and that is can be triggered by allergies or asthma. Hopefully not in Brentley's case!

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Room Showcase: Our Living Room :)

Finally got all the pictures up! I have a couple more that I need frames for, but it works for now lol.





(This picture is on the wall in the walkway between the living room and kitchen.)



We are hopefully getting our kitchen table today, then our place will be complete :)

Saturday, April 14, 2012

The Pregnancy Project.

*Just a warning: this will be long!*

I just got through watching a Lifetime movie called "The Pregnancy Project." If you have never seen it, it is definitely worth watching. It's based on a true story about a girl who does a social experiment for her senior project. She pretends to be pregnant to see how people will treat her. The only people who know the truth are her mom, boyfriend, and best friend. It is a very interesting story!

Watching that movie made me think back to when I was pregnant in high school. I'm not sure that I have ever talked about it much on here. This movie has inspired me to do a little series of my experiences as a pregnant teenager. The first post is going to be my experiences in school. Then, I'll do one about my mom, my dad, my extended family, my friends, strangers, etc.

It was a lot like the experience that the girl in the movie had, except that my experience was real. I didn't get to go home and take my belly off. I didn't get to ignore the comments and stares because the comments and stares were founded. I didn't get to ignore the stereotypes when they were shoved in my face because I was scared to death that I would end up truly falling into those stereotypes.

I was in the middle of my junior year of high school, just barely 17-years-old, and two weeks late on my period. Yes, two whole weeks. I was in denial. Chris finally convinced me to take a test, and sure enough, it was positive. This was in the beginning of March of '09. We told my mom that night, and soon, I was at my first appointment with the Ob/Gyn. I was already 10 weeks pregnant! 1/4th of the way through my pregnancy! I definitely fell into the stereotype of teen mothers not getting adequate pre-natal care up until that point :( But my bean was in there, and growing.

I went to school and told one person. Just one. I thought she was a good friend. I considered her to be one of my best friends. However, I suppose that my juicy bit of information was just too much for her to keep quiet. It was not long before people were asking me if I was pregnant. I wouldn't confirm or deny when people asked, but I know that just confirmed it. I, more or less, felt like it was none of their business, and did not feel the need to confirm their questions about MY private life. But, word spread like wildfire. I eventually confirmed it to most of my friends, and they of course did not hold it in either. At one point, one of my friends brought me a note that she found on the floor of one of her classrooms. It was a note specifically asking if I was pregnant! The other person replied that he/she didn't know, but that he/she had heard I was. I couldn't believe that people were that interested in whether or not I was pregnant!

By the end of the semester, pretty much everyone knew. I remember that we had a day where we could go outside, I don't remember what the day was for, but I remember a friend of mine and her friend, who also happened to be pregnant, coming up to talk to me. They both knew. I didn't tell them. They just knew, and my friend told me that another friend of ours was mad at me for not telling her. Then, a few minutes later, that friend walked up, and she was obviously mad. She bluntly asked, "When were you going to decide to tell me?" Yes, we were friends, but did she honestly have the right to be mad at me for not divulging MY business. It was my right to tell people when I wanted to, but no one else seemed to see it that way.

On the last day of school, one of my teachers stopped me as I was leaving her class and asked, "Don't you have something to tell me?" I knew what she was talking about, so I simply asked her who told her. She said she didn't remember, but it was someone in her second block. I knew who it was then because there were a select few who felt that it was their duty to the school body to make sure that EVERYONE knew I was pregnant, and one of those people were in her second block.
In talking with this teacher, this is where I experience my first negative verbal encounter. One of the first things that she said to me was, "I'm so disappointed in you. I taught you better than this." I will still never understand why she said this to me. Was it to shame me? Make me embarrassed? The deed was already done. There was no going back, so why did she feel the need to ensure that I knew she was disappointed?
I was so thankful that was the last day of school. I hate disappointing anyone, and up until that point, she had been one of my favorite teachers. I didn't even want to go back to school, but I knew I had to.

I didn't really talk to anyone over the summer. I just pretty much shut myself off, and just focused on myself. Then, it was time to go back to school. There was no denying I was pregnant by this time. I was 6 months pregnant, and I was very obviously showing, so if anyone didn't know by that point, then they did then. And you would think no one knew. EVERYONE stared at me. No, actually not at me, at my belly. I am pretty sure that a few people walked into walls, while other peoples' eye balls popped out of their heads lol.

And it wasn't just the stares... the questions were coming in from every angle. Who's the dad? Are you still with the dad? When are you due? Is it a boy or a girl? How much weight have you gained? How bad was your morning sickness? Who is your doctor? What did your parents do? Did you use protection? Did you get pregnant on purpose? Are you going to come back to school after you've had the baby? Oh, what a stressful day that was. Even if some of the questions weren't that invasive, there were just so many questions.

And it didn't end there. There were questions the entire time I was pregnant. I had girls tell me they were jealous that I was pregnant because they wanted a baby. Yes, multiple girls. I even had one guy tell me that he was jealous because he wanted a baby, and another guy tell me that he was mad at me because I was supposed to be having his baby!

I had one teacher that was terrified of me going into labor in her class. She was terrified of pregnancy and labor in general. She was always nice to me, but I could tell that she did not want me in her class. I wasn't able to take one of the courses I wanted to because you were not allowed to be in that class if you were pregnant. I still wish I would have been able to. Other teachers just discounted me. I could tell that they did not think I would do well in their classes because I was pregnant, and pregnant teens are not supposed to be smart.
I did have one teacher though, she was amazing. She was pregnant, and due the same month that I was. Rather than treating me like a newly discovered animal or a disease, she treated me like everyone else. We would even talk about our pregnancies. She went together with 3 other teachers, and they gave me a $40 gift card to Babies-R-Us. It was so touching. I literally cried when she gave it to me. Of course, I was a hormonal wreck anyway, but it was just such a kind gesture among all the negativity I was receiving.

The hallways were the worst. I had one girl stare at me like I was on fire, then as soon as I walked past her (I was literally 2 feet past her), she stopped one of my friends, and asked her if I was pregnant. Another time, a guy had his eyes glued on my belly, then he turned to his friend, and said, "Man, everyone in dis school getting pregnant!" And yes, he said it just like that. Another time, there were two people in front of me, and a girl who had a baby walked by. One of the people in front of me said, "Doesn't she have a baby?" The other person replied, "I don't know, there were like ten of them that popped at once."

There were even times where words like whore, slut, and trash came out of people's mouth. These were people who didn't know me at all, yet they felt the need to act like they did.

I am fortunate that I went to a school that tries to ensure that teen parents graduate. There were monthly meetings for pregnant teens and teen parents, a day care on campus, and schooling options such as homebound, graduating early, half-days, and online courses. I utilized the meetings, homebound (for six weeks), and half days (for my last semester).

Yet, even with a school that helps teen parents, there was no avoiding the judgment and ridicule that I was subject to. Yes, I know, I brought it on myself. I am in no way saying that being a pregnant teen should be praised and condoned. I would never advocate a teen getting pregnant on purpose now. I just simply wonder what happened to, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all? And what happened to minding your own business? How about, not judging people?  Should teens be getting pregnant? No, they shouldn't, but it does happen, and once it does, that girl is going to need all the support she can get to help her succeed in life! Please teach you children that no two people are alike, so judgments are always unfounded, harsh words are unneccesary, and not to be nosey. They are good character traits to have in general, yet so many people seem to be missing them in today's society.

If a teen gets pregnant, that does not make her a whore or unintelligent. She will not be a disease, and you will not catch being pregnant. Also, having a baby belly is not an open invitation to touch or to ask as many questions as you want.
She is still the same girl that she has always been, but nowshe is growing another life. There is no reason to treat her any differently than you would any other person.

Room Showcase: Our Bedroom :)

I finally completely finished out bedroom. It is a love theme. You'll have to excuse the bedspread. We need to get a new one that actually matches the room. Also, the thing in the corner of the room is a mirror. We are either going to mount it or get rid of it.








I've gotten a good bit of pictures up on the walls in the living room. I just have to finish that, then it will be done. And we still need our kitchen table, then our place will be completely set up!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Cake, anyone?

So, Brentley's first birthday is in a little over four months, and me being the huge party planner that I am, I have already starting planning it.
It's going to be in the same place that we had his baby shower, and we are going to do a first birthday theme. I picked that theme because you can only have a first birthday once (same reason I did it for Grace).
I think we are going to go with the "One-derful" theme that Party City has.

I decided that I wanted to have a cake made for Brentley to match his decorations, like we did for Grace's first birthday. I contacted a lady on my facebook. Her cakes are amazing (so much better than the one we had done for Grace. I wasn't thrilled with it). She does them out of her home, so I'm thinking... how much can they be? Well, turns out, they can be A LOT! Like $100+. Yeah, we don't have that kind of money just for a cake. So, I figured he'd just end up with a cake from Wal-mart or something.

Well, I was browsing Pinterest, and I found a recipe for homemade fondant, so of course, the wheels in my heads were spinning lol... I thought, I can make Brentley's cake! Yeah, so I have no idea if I really will be able to, but fondant actually seems pretty easy to make. It's just marshmallows, confectionate sugar, water, and food coloring. The real task will be getting it to look right on a cake.

I'm going to buy the ingredients sometime this week and give it a go just to see what I'm actually capable of. If it is anywhere near presentable, then I'll keep practicing up until Brentley's birthday, and I will make him a matching cake!

I really hope this works out lol. We'll see. If it does, then I'm going to make Grace's cake for her birthday as well.
Who knows, maybe I could get good enough to start a business like the lady on facebook did. She just made her first cake a few months ago, and people are literally fighting over getting her to make a cake. She is booked until July! I don't know that I would ever be that good, but I will be happy if I can just make some good looking cakes for my babies :)

Monday, April 9, 2012

Easter :)

Well, we did all of our Easter festivities yeasterday.
We gave the babies their baskets when they got up. Brentley didn't really pay much attention to it, but Grace really liked hers.

My mom and sister came over and we had chicken, potatoes, green beans, and macaroni and cheese.
Then Chris' mom, brother, and step-dad came, and we hid eggs for my sister and Grace. I told Chris' mom to bring Dylan some eggs if he wanted to hunt some, but she told me that he said he didn't want to. My mom brought her own eggs for my sister and I did the ones for Grace. Well, Dylan was going around grabbing the eggs and looking inside them. Chris said something to him, and he got all whiny. Then, he grabbed an egg, walked behind his step-dad, took the candy out, stuck it in his pocket, and through the egg back down. Ooooh I was MAD. I was going to let him have some candy once we got back inside. I didn't care about the candy. It's the fact that he STOLE the candy, and he knew he stole it. I just really can't stand this kid. He's eleven years old, and he's literally stealing candy from babies. He steals all the time, and never gets in trouble. He tried to steal Chris' mp3 player once. I told Chris, and Chris made him put the candy back, then Dylan started crying, so Chris' mom got onto Chris for making Dylan cry... not onto Dylan for stealing candy... I mean really?? I just don't get it. The kid gets away with everything. Sorry, I just really can't stand him.
Oh and while I'm ranting... Chris, my mom, and I went outside to hide the eggs. Brentley had a cup of water when I went out. I came back in, and Chris' mom had put coke in his cup and was feeding it to him. Again, I was MAD! I have never even given him juice, and here she is giving him coke?!? I told her I didn't want him having coke, and she didn't even say anything?!? I took the cup and poured it out. I cannot stand when she does crap like that!

They left after the girls found all their eggs, but my mom and sister stayed for awhile. We just chatted and cleaned up while the girls played and Brentley slept.

It was a pretty good day in all. Grace did really well with the egg hunt. She had a lot of fun! Brentley played with one egg for a little while lol.

My dad had my brother yesterday, so Grace, Brentley, and I are going to see him tonight.

I also saw this really neat idea that I would like to try... taking glow sticks and putting them inside eggs, then having a night time egg hunt. I think Grace would really like that. I wish I would have seen it before yesterday (I saw it on a friend's facebook) because I would have done it last night. I may get some glow sticks tonight while I'm out. We'll see. If we don't get to do it this year, I will do it next year for sure.










Sunday, April 8, 2012

Room Showcase: The Bathroom.

I know, it is taking me forever to post these. We have been completely unpacked for awhile now, but I have been slacking on putting the pictures up on the walls, so the rooms aren't complete. I did finish the bathroom though :)






It's a Paris theme, simply because I had a couple of Paris wall decorations that fit nicely in there. Our kitchen has Japanese wall decorations, so we joke that you can go all around the world in our place lol. We are done with the kitchen except for we still have to get our table. The living room is done except that I have to put up the pictures. No decorations in there... just pics of the family and kids :) And I have to put up the wall decorations in our bedroom. We are doing a love theme in there. I'm going to try to get a good bit of that done tomorrow.

I will also do an Easter post asap. I just did this one because it was a quick post.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Fun, fun :)

We took the babies to a local amusment park today, and they LOVED It! Grace has been before with Chris and his mom, but I had not gotten to go with them. It was so fun to watch how she enjoyed the rides. This child is a major DAREDEVIL. Nothing, I repeat, nothing scares her. I'm pretty sure she would have rode the roller coasters if she was tall enough.

We rode lots of stuff... the kiddie rides, the little roller coaster, the scrambler, the carousel, and more, but the part she liked most was the water play area and the playground lol. Give this girl a playground and she is content for hours lol.

Brentley could only ride the choo choo train and the carousel. He really liked the carousel. He sat in my lap in the chariot thing, but he kept, standing up on me, bouncing, and waving at the people behind us lol.



This is when we first got there.

Grace was eager to go in lol.

Boat ride.

Boat ride again.

Grace and me om the kidde roller coaster.

Brentley and me on the carousel.

Grace on the carousel.

Grace at the water play area.






Brentley at the water play area.


We had a really good time! Chris and I want to go there on our next date, so we can actually ride some stuff lol.