Saturday, December 24, 2011

from us to you...




merry christmas from us to you!

enjoy this wonderful time with family and friends!

and truly remember the reason for the season!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

white fur winter kids boots


i came across these and adore them! i believe i have seen similar boots in my size but not as cute! 
wish they came in my size...




our first trauma experience as parents...


well i can honestly say i reacted exactly how i pictured myself reacting to a minor trauma incident with our son. although i didn't panic or freak out the waterworks started before i ever left the house to head to the e.r.

here is how the story goes. mike and i were watching dancing with the stars. (please don't tell me who takes the mirror ball we haven't finished it yet!!) ethan loves the music. he was dancing, spinning around and having a great time as we laughed with him and cheered him on. all was perfect until he lost his balance and went face first into a beveled glass entertainment center. at first we sat there not really sure how bad it was. we waited to get ethan's reaction and see the damage when he turned around. this all seems like slow motion as i write it but all of this happened in split seconds.

he turned around blood starting to come out of a gash below his right eye and then the much delayed cry/scream. it was pretty bad. we discussed what to do and we really were not sure. i mean i am really not one to rush to the hospital but he is our first child, first experience, new parents and so many other things we were weighing and considering. i called my mom and dad and sent them a picture and they suggested going. it did seem to gape and it is on his face so off to the er we went. i prayed the entire way there and while we were there... oh wait... once he turned around to look at us that's actually when i started praying while tears filled my eyes.

he had stopped crying and was acting fine. we got to the er got checked in and ethan charmed all the doctors and nurses. it seemed like the decision for stitches, no stitches, sterile strips, and how many stitches took forever!! oh and i must mention i think the resident doctor almost passed out when i told her he is not up to date on his vaccines because we do not vaccinate. well me shocking her worked... within minutes the attending came in made the call that he needed stitches. insert waterworks from me here. i was okay when i thought the sterile strips were sufficient. but they already prepped us for what to expect with stitches so although i want whatever was best for him... i knew this was going to be heart wrenching and that it would be harder on me/us than him.

and it was...they were strapping him in the papoose and it started. i was kind of a mess and even looked to the ceiling as tears streamed uncontrollably down my face. mike had to leave the room for a minute to gain his composure. once he was strapped in and settled the assistant showed me where to reach ethan's hand and I never let go as he held it and at times squeezed it. they promised us the numbing agent was not allowing him to feel any pain just the pressure. he cried pretty hard but most seemed to be do to just complete exhaustion he was getting tired and antsy before they strapped him in. twenty minutes seemed like hours as he cried and made sure we were still by his side.

let me tell you how amazing these docs, nurses and suture team actually were. what they told us to expect actually happened to the "t". and as soon as they let him out of the papoose we held him and he was fine and stopped crying. prayers, lots of love, a juice box and an awesome staff made this first experience at akron children's er "trauma" area really good. i put his coat on kissed his hand got a smile and we were headed out the door. i thanked the main suture team member and apologized if we made her nervous. i was asking a lot of questions while she was doing the procedure when i thought he might have been in pain. they always were nice and made me feel at ease but i am sure i made her a nervous wreck and felt really bad about it (i was officially "that mom"). she reassured me we were fine and not hard to deal with at all. 

as we walked by the waiting room to leave i can jokingly say i thought... "god answers prayers"...we beat the rush the waiting area was starting to pick up. (wink) and I prayed for peace and comfort for all of those little ones too.

i am sure this may not compare to some things that may have happened to your loved ones or your kids but this is my first experience seeing our son this way and it was one of the hardest if not hardest thing I have ever had to go through. i looked at ethan and mike and said i hope four stitches are all we ever have to go through...

then i realized...oh wait we have a boy : )



ethan's gash
(insert my cry face here)

waiting and waiting and waiting


four stitches and a juice box later and we are somewhat content

Friday, November 18, 2011

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

p & g extravaganza






today's trip was super fun! and i am building up my stock pile for these products even more!
today's trip included 2- six pack large roll Bounty paper towels, 1-12 pack of charmin tp., 3 bottles mr. clean bathroom cleaner,  1 case of 360 count pampers wipes, 1 bottle tide, 1 bottle bounty, 1 bottle of downy unstoppables, 4 bottles of dawn dish soap,3 gillette fusion pro-glide razors (mikes fav), 3 bottles of gillette shave gel, 1 gillette gel deodorant and 3 gillette men's body wash.

all of this before any discounts, coupons eoffer, etc. was 158.21
with in store sales @ giant eagle, eoffers and coupons i paid 74.23 which is a savings of 53%
then i received 35.00 in onyo coupons which would actually bring my total spent to 39.23 making my actual savings 75%!!

this is so awesome to me and mike loves my trips like this i can't wait to share it with him!! i have him the most stocked with all if his guy hygiene stuff and he loves not having to worry about running to the store when hes out he goes to our upstairs stockpile closet!



Sunday, October 16, 2011

fun to twist when serving veggies and dip

we received a lot of compliments on this idea from ethan's party so i thought i would share the idea with all of you.
the veggies and dip were actually in their own personal serving cups. square cups of course (part of his theme) with orange and green veggies only ; )! but you could use whatever shaped cup you prefer. 
easiest way to add the dip is to use a cake decorator tip...depending on how small your cups are.
then add veggies...
then just put some extra veggies out on a tray in case people needed extra. It was a hit and so simple to do!






ethan turns 2

what a great day this was...out little man turns 2! everything turned out perfect and we had such an amazing time with some great family and awesome friends! mike, ethan and i are so thankful to everyone who absolutely blessed our family with their love and joy! 

really the day could have been a disaster...considering it had been scheduled for a year at an outdoor gazebo and playground. yikes!!! with a 40 something degree day, rain and wind that would have impressed dorothy we were thankful to be able to switch venues on such short notice. and what an awesome day it was! 

i am a huge fan of birthdays so as mike says its an "event" more than a birthday party...lol! and yes i would have to agree but boy is it fun to plan...well maybe accept the 30 minutes prior to start time when things get a lil stressful. but in the end it turned out perfect and i couldn't have asked for a better second birthday for ethan. 

as you can see the theme was bright orange and bright green with squares and 2's. nearly everything held the square theme and most of the food was coordinated with orange and green. all the decorations were made by my new favorite toy the cricut! hundreds of different sized squares and 2's laid about the tables and on balloon streamers. and to think i am doing the same thing this year that i started to do last year after his first birthday and that is plan. yikes...its called over planning i guess : ) but I am sure we will enjoy each and every birthday like the past two! 












Thursday, October 13, 2011

someone loves bubbles

ethan had his first bubble bath last evening and yes it went as expected...such a hit! he loves watching people blow bubbles, he loves saying the word bubble and loves watching the bubble guppies show on television so now we can add bubble baths to that list of bubbly things.. take a look at these priceless photos! (although i only posted a few of the 50 that i took...yes 50 plus video) they say it all. i love this little guy.










Monday, October 10, 2011

pinwheel cupcakes

these pinwheel cupcakes were made for a windy day party! but even a birthday would be super cute!

created by lishdish from the pantry in rak


Saturday, October 8, 2011

rain coats and other fall favs...

if you haven't seen the line of clothing for kids by Mud Pie...you need to check this out! i have selected a few of my favs for this saturday's edition of shoptastic saturday! i chose weather appropriate rain coats and halloween outfits that are super cute for this time of year! the coats all have matching boots and hats as well! but really the entire site has some super adorable and very original items!!

little sprout rain coat (above)
matching rain boots (below)


fireman rain coat

giraffe rain coat

giraffe rain hat

cat tunic and tight Set

pumpkin skirt set

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

it's raining polka dots...

well i am certain that all of the rain occurring over the past week or so lead me to today's edition of wild about shoe's wednesday...and by now you know i am a lover of polka dots. so here we go the cutest rain boots perfect for your little girl! these are pluie polka dot rain boots and i found them on the yellow turtle web page. multi-colored polka dots trimmed in pink...do they make them in my size? unfortunately no but i wish!!






Monday, September 26, 2011

the puzzle...





i saw this and thought this is so very true on so many levels...what are your thoughts?

a little girl wanted to know what the united states looked like. her dad tore a map of the usa out of a magazine and cut it into small pieces, then told her to go to her room and see if she could put it together. after a few minutes she returned with the map correctly fitted and taped together. the dad was surprised and asked how she had finished so quickly. she replied, "on the other side was a picture of jesus and when i put him back then our country just came together!"

smile