In a perfect world, all that would be so.  It isn’t a perfect world.  We are all going to be negative at some point in time.  We are all going to bring a little drama into our lives.  We are all going to act like a child again no matter how hard we try.  And this is going to happen because we are not perfect.  I would love to meet a perfect person and see how they do it.

One thing we can do is strive to be positive.  Try to see the up side to every situation.  Try not to let the negativity in our lives take over.  Try to spread the positive energy.  If you focus on all the bad around you and in life, you are going to be negative.  You need to focus on how to move forward.  How to get things to change.  Have goals in mind and stepping stones on how to get there.

How do you make a change?  It can all start with a smile.  One thing I strive to do daily is greet everyone I come in contact with.  If there is not time, I at least smile.  Smiling is the easiest way to spread positivity.  It takes the least amount of energy and can have the biggest rewards.  When I see that my smile makes another person smile it makes me feel better and my smile larger!

Being positive and seeing the positive is one of my goals for the new year.  I am going to try to cover all my goals for the new year in a future post.  This is just one of many.  And typing them out of writing them down hold you accountable!

What are things you do to spread the positive energy a little further?

When we make it out of the house with the kids dressed and no food on us, I consider it a job well done for the morning.  The hard part is keeping the motivation to keep moving.  I think we all struggle with how to make ends meet.  And that is something that is always going through my head.  How are we going to make it to the next point.  How are we going to pay for our kids to do more things.  How are we going to get out of the house and do something as a family?  How are we going to be able to take a family vacation?  Am I going to have the leave time this year to take some real time off?

If I manage to actually get something done in a day with all of my head, that is a miracle.  I am making steps to try to take the money worries away and meeting new people.  I am not saying this as a sales pitch.  I think we are all trying to find new ways to make ends meet.  We are trying to cut back on things that we don’t need.  And I am also trying to sell Scentsy as an Independent Scentsy Consultant to try to make ends meet.  And so far it is a lot of fun.  I think I am really going to be able to make an addition to our family income and that is a blessing.  I just wish I had started sooner!

And for the rest of the day I am going to try to push all of this out of my mind and be very productive.  What is everyone else up to today?

I am going to try to post at least a few times each week.  I still need to update my pictures for Wordless Wednesday.  As soon as I have two healthy kids and some computer time, I will.

So I now have an awake baby thanks to a very hyper little boy that just came home.  This little post took a lot longer than it should.  But…that is life with kids.  Always on the go, never a dull moment, and filled with love!

The mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Consistent with the vision of our founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family’s ability to pay.

Their mission means a lot to me.  The work they do is wonderful and needed.  It seems like so many things in life are based on who you are and how much you have.  With them, it doesn’t matter.  If their is a child in need, they are going to get the treatment they need.  I have always admired this about them.

I must admit, even before I had children, the work they do would make me cry.  I know it might be a bit over dramatic.  It is true though.  To have a whole hospital just for children is amazing to me.  Other hospitals have divisions dedicated to pediatrics.  Other hospitals have specialists.  Here, it is children 24/7.  They are the focus and they should be.

I know they do not cover all diseases.  They do cover catastrophic ones.  And these are the ones where there should be extra attention.  It is nice to know that there are options should your child ever fall into that category.  I hope my children never have the need for more attention like this.  It would break my heart.

I don’t think I will ever get over even the thought of a child being taken too soon.  It is hard for me to accept that they already served their purpose in life.  In my eyes, a child should live until they are old and gray and many years after their parents.  I don’t like to think about parents that have to let go too soon.  And this is why I picked this as one of my fundraisers.  I want to help give back in hopes that they will find a way to help all children to live long healthy lives.

If you would like to help raise money through my Scentsy fundraiser, click here.  And if you know of a child that is in the hospital, think about getting them Sasha the Bear Scentsy Cause Buddy.  I will be getting one for my son.  I let him pick which buddy he wanted and this was the one.  It warmed my heart.

You’ll make a child’s day when you give Sasha, Scentsy’s first Charitable Cause Scentsy Buddy, in support of the mission of Ronald McDonald House Charities® to improve the health and well-being of children all over the world. Scentsy will donate 100% of the net proceeds from the sale of this Buddy directly to the organization.

If you do not give by buying through my party, please give what you can directly to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  Even the smallest amount can go a long way if we all do what we can!

Be sure to subscribe, Google Friend Connect, follow on Networked Blogs, Facebook, and Twitter.  You never know when something fun might pop up and where I will be telling about it first.  And for the weekend, post your blog as a comment for others to follow!

And my new hobby.  I am now a Scentsy Independent Consultant.  I am a huge candle lover.  Since I had my first, I have been terrified to have flames of any kind in the house.  I have made candles for friends and family and that is where it ended.  I would smell them for a short while around the holidays and that was it.  I had been watching a company called Scentsy for some time.  My suite mate from college posted about them and I decided to try them.  Let us just say I feel for these products and this company.  I was finally able to enjoy candles again since there is no wick – NO FLAME!

As some of you have read, I let go of my cloth diaper business.  I wanted room in my house again.  I also wanted to be able to have time to talk to people about the things I love.  This is what I love about Scentsy, I am able to do just that!  I do still have my full time job.  Maybe one day I will be able to work from home.  It would be nice to be able to set my own hours and be at home more and have time to do other things around the house.  I can dream.

With Scentsy I would like to help others become consultants, host parties, and run fundraisers.  I am on a very supportive team.  I would love to bring you into the family if you would like to become a consultant.  If you just want to earn free products, host a party with me.  Hosts with a qualifying party will get a free plug in and bar of their choice.  Each month I will be running a Scentsy fundraiser.  I will post each month letting everyone know why I have picked the particular organization.  Click the fundraising tab above to learn more.  And of course I am more than happy to run a fundraiser for you.  Being able to give back is important to me.  I want to do my part.

And I also want to take this time to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

My grandparents with Sydney in the hospital.  They are known as Oma and Opa!

I have had an idea in my head for a while.  My current camera is nice, but it could be better.  We also have a digital video camera that is nice, but it could be better.  My grandparents can’t get around as well as they could at one time.  I know it pains them that they are not able to lead the active lives that they did at one time.  They feel like they are missing out on so much.  So I wanted to be able to make them DVDs with big events and video messages from us.  I would take the videos, get them on the computer, and then let my husband make the DVD happen!

I continued to think on this concept.  I wanted something that I could send them a little more often.  My grandmother is always saying how she loves pictures and that is all she wants.  So I figure, if we are going to get a good camera, we need to put it to use.  This made me think of picture books.  I want to make her a picture book each month.  I have started to take at least one picture a day of each of the kids.  At the end of each month I am going to load the pictures into Snapfish.  I will then add all the pictures to the book in order.  Each book will be labeled with the month and year.

I already sent them the first book.  It is made up of pictures from 2011.  Their next book will be December 2011.  It will not be the full month.  It will be from the 4th on.  So it is still pretty close.  When I told my grandmother about this, she told me I better get the new camera.  She also said I better make sure that the audio is good on the videos or she is going to have to get me an external mic.  She is so excited about this.

And from now on life will not go from these two pictures:

To this picture:

My grandparents will now get to see all the days in between.  It will still feel like the days fly by, but we will all have the pictures to look back on.  My only regret is that I didn’t do this sooner!  From now on, I am going to do my best to make sure I don’t miss a day.  I am also going to be able to have fun with my new camera.  And I hope to be able to produce some fun quality pictures of my family.  I might be asking for camera tips soon!

Is anyone up for the challenge in 2012?  We can all do at least a picture a day.  You do not need to load them daily.  You can do monthly or weekly too.  We can have monthly check ins to see all the wonderful changes.  I might have to make sure I cut Kenneth’s hair more often now too!

All I have to say is that this product is going to bring new life to your old and new cloth diapers.  You are going to love it and so will those in cloth.

Want to know more?  Follow my blog and keep your eyes open until next week for the big reveal!

I have been wanting to talk about this product forever.  I can’t wait to share!

This is the only hint you will get for now:)

All guesses are welcome?  Is there something that you think is needed and hasn’t shown up yet?  This might be it!

• SPAM – I have gotten tons of comments
• I have to start over again with followers
• SPAM – Lots of comments to old posts from forever ago
• I am still learning a how a few things work
• SPAM – Really…I don’t want to do any sexting with you…not even sure I have the term right
• No one real has commented over here yet
• SPAM – I know that a contest is not THAT exciting and informative that took place over a year ago!
• I have this wonderful blog and am just now picking things back up
• AND…did I tell you how much I despise SPAM posts that are done by a bot…not even a person!

So I am trying to get back on track.  At first I thought I was getting all kinds of extra attention.  There were all kinds of comments that needed to be moderated.  And then I realized, they were not even real people.  It was a crazy SPAM bot of some sort.  So if you made a real comment and I deleted it, I apologize.  I was on an angry delete craze.  I am to the point now where I want to play in paint shop or something.  I want to draw the pictures like the ones you see on the blogs Hyperbole and a Half and Parenting. Illustrated with Crappy Pictures.  And I just found out they have a Facebook page!!!  I guess I never truly got over the picture book phase of life!  Both of these crack me up.

I was going to talk about cameras and my grandma.  I could go on forever with that though.  I have a really cool idea and I can’t wait to talk about it.  First, I need to get a new camera.  The above blogs most likely have pictures better than my 5+ year old camera does.  I am trying to find a camera I will love.  Right now I am looking at Canon t3i and t2i.  I am leaning with the t2i.  Thoughts?

How is your Monday going?

When we were going for one, the process wasn’t scary.  We were excited about our first.  We were looking into everything that you do when you try to conceive.  Once I was pregnant, we were happy and scared all at the same time.  It was a freak out moment of…are we really fit to be parents?  Do we really know what we are doing?  No, but we are smart and can figure it out.  The freak out started all over again as soon as our son was born.  I think I started to calm down once he was about a year old to some degree…

Then when our son was almost two, we thought it was a good time to try for another.  We got pregnant right out from the gate.  So there was no build up.  We were so excited.  We were also a little worried too though.  We thought we would have more time before I actually would get pregnant.  So there was the initial freak out…how are we going to handle two kids?  How are we going to pay for daycare?  How are we going to balance this?  We figured it out though.  And now that she is one, I think I am calm again.

I am a bit crazy while pregnant.  I am a bit crazy all of the time.  So, more so while pregnant.  And everyone that knows me from a non pregnant state doesn’t believe me.  But I am a real crazy person while pregnant.  And my husband said that he couldn’t handle it a third time.  So I had come to terms with it.

My husband was going to get a vasectomy when our daughter was around 3 months old.  I wouldn’t let him do it.  And at that point in time we thought we might have a third.  My husband said he would give me more time to come to terms with it.  That we could think about it.  We had said we would think about it again when our daughter turned 4.  Well, my husband was looking through pictures of the kids when they were small.  And he told me he wanted another.

This news stirred things up for me.  I had gotten my head around it and come to terms with the fact that we would be done with two.  I spend the last week or so really thinking hard about it.  And the though of a third scared me.  I feel like I don’t give my kids enough attention as it is.  I can’t see bringing a third into the mix.  I would feel like I was depriving my children.  I then told my husband, the only way I could have a third is if we were in a situation where I could stay at home.  I wouldn’t feel like I have to stay at home.  I just want to.  I want to now.  I feel like I miss so much and it kills me.

I thought about it more though.  And I asked some wise women on a chat board I am a part of.  And hearing what they thought about their own kids really helped me to work through this again.  A lot of them had the same thoughts as I did about another.  They felt they had enough.  And then there was another person who really helped me hit it home.  I love to spoil my kids.  I don’t go over board.  But I don’t like to have to always hold back and wait for a deal.  I love them if I can find them.  But I also really want to be able to get what they need when they need it.  I also really like to be able to indulge in a new hobby once in a while!

So I asked myself if I feel like our family is complete.  I am still not sure I can say 100% yes to that.  So I asked myself, do I feel like something is missing from our family?  And honestly, I don’t feel like we are missing anything.  I am happy where we are right now.  I asked my husband the same thing.  He feels exactly the same way.

So a family of 4 (6 if you include our two chihuahuas) is enough for us.  And if something should happen before he has his vasectomy, we will freak out.  But, we will welcome the third child into our family and love them just the same.  And if everything goes as planned, we will continue on with our son and our daughter knowing that we are not missing a thing!

And just because you think you are done pumping at work…

DOESN’T MEAN YOUR BREAST ARE!

The cloth breast pad only had one small wet spot on it.  And it just wicked through to my shirt and went crazy.  I dislike disposable breast pads.  They are scratchy and they cost money.  I am going to have to make some PUL backed ones.  I have some, but they show through more than the ones in this picture.

I am just glad I have a co-worker point it out to me.  Not sure how long it had been there.  I had gotten lunch not too long before this.  Sigh…