The Busy Budgeting Mama

I was that crazy lady in Walmart today +Free Gifting Printable

2013-05-13T23:23:00.003-04:00

I was going to write this blog post...

about my crazy day.

About how I took a trip to walmart because we had NO diapers.. and NO Toilet Paper.

It was a must trip. So I loaded up all three kiddos by myself and headed there.

only to end up being a shoppers' attraction with both girls in the cart, micah strapped to me, racing through the aisles to the bathroom because

sophie was screaming in pain from her stomach hurting and dry heaving

(she is super sensitive and was gagging from her tummy hurting. insane. I know)

I thought she wasn't going to make it and throw up all over the walmart floor...

so we ran for one of those recycle box/trash can things. yup. classy.

when I thought she looked better and wasn't going to throw up,

we made our dash to the bathroom....alllllll while the

LONG line of people for returns stared on horrified.

LOVE hanging out in a public bathroom with 3 kids. it's super fun and not gross at all.

Plus loud automatic toilets are known to be LOVED by small babies.........not.

Poor thing though.. as soon as I got sophie to feel a little better we grabbed the toilet paper/diapers and she started sobbing again.. race to the bathroom!! AGAIN.

We finally ended up checking out. and if one more person told me I

had my hands full I was going to flip. flip or cry. one or the other. haha.

And what do you do when you have new toilet paper in the house....

Play with it of course!!

Later came across this and realized a certain toddler

was trying to cover her tracks..... ::cough:: sienna ::cough::

I was going to write this blog post about how some days

I feel like I'm running in circles..

Sophia came up to me wanting me to check out her hair

"I'm making it not crazy"..................

She thought it was my hair product that I put in my hair to smooth it out.

nope.

my face wash.

Oh and Micah was rocking a hand me down christmas outfit because it

was the first thing I saw that he fit in. grabbed it. he didn't leave the house like this..

I don't want to look tooooo crazy out in public.

But tonight, while snuggling with sienna before bed,

I started thinking how I don't want to post just about how hard my day was.

Of course I want moms to see that we all have hard days...

I want my readers to leave my blog relating to me..but also feeling uplifted!

I kept thinking about when someone dropped off this gift basket for us when we moved in..how I seriously wanted to cry I was so thankful for their kindness.

I feel a connection with you as my readers...

and I wish so badly we could all just do one big play date! ;)

That we could drop off meals for each other when we knew someone was having a hard day.

I kept thinking how important community is as moms.

It made me want to reach out more to my mom friends...

to not just think about my hard days, but to think about them and lift them up!

If you feel like me... and want to celebrate motherhood

and lift up your fellow mamas...

I just made up this printable for you to download and use when dropping

off something to show you care!

I asked on my blog's facebook page:

"If a fellow mama did something to show she cared,

by dropping something off,..what would you be SO HAPPY to receive?"

(click here to read the facebook status,

read what other mamas said and leave your choice!)

FREE "CELEBRATE MOTHERHOOD- LIFT UP YOUR

MOM FRIENDS" - PRINTABLE DOWNLOAD

I'm also offering, by request of a blog reader via facebook, the same design but
with my blog and 'celebrate motherhood' tiny at the bottom of each tag!
Would love for you to share our little community with other moms.
Maybe it'll be the connection that mom needs to feel a boost!
DOWNLOAD that version HERE

AND, since a lot of my readers say Mum instead of Mom..
I made up a british version as well. :)
Download the MUM Printable HERE.
and the MUM Printable with my Blog HERE.

Motherhood is hard...

and so very beautiful.

Sisters.

Please Pin, Tweet and Share the printable!

We all need to bless our fellow mamas more.

We know how some days are hard..and we aren't alone in

feeling 'happily' exhausted while taking care of our sweet babies.

So let's reach out and love on each other a little more!

I would seriously cry if someone dropped off a case of diet dr. pepper at my door.

That's all it would take! haha.

sophie update: she feels better! an hour after we got home she was back

to her normal self. must have been gas bubbles. poor little thing.

Black and White Gallery Wall up in Kitchen!

2013-05-11T19:43:00.001-04:00

In our new rental, we have a big wall behind the eating area of our kitchen...

and I knew right away I wanted to do a gallery wall with all my black and white frames!

I'll do a more detailed post sometime soon.

Right now I just put all the frames up on the wall and

I have some different prints to update them next.

Since taking the photo below, of the frames up on the wall,

I backed up and moved the bottom row all over a little to the right. haha.

The perfectionist in my has been tweaking them. ;)

The next morning we enjoyed eating breakfast while looking at our frames!

Excited to UPDATE the frames next! I'll be sharing what I put in them

and where the frames are all from. Super happy with how it's coming together.

Mommy Confessions

2013-05-08T23:24:00.000-04:00

If you want to feel better about your parenting skills...keep on reading.

I love being a mom.

LOVEEEE it.

It is one of the hardest but most rewarding things I've ever done in my life.

-- I have cried while getting dressed.

1. because everything had baby spit up on it

2. because I don't know what fits or what doesn't fit at this point.

3. because I look in the mirror some days and only see a tired mommy

and not the young fresh faced girl I feel like I used to be.

-- Sometimes I feel like I say....

no. stop. don't do that. time out. slow down. don't put that in your mouth. don't fight. get out of the cupboard. don't lick that. no your brother isn't a motorcycle. talk quieter. get out of the bathroom. don't pull her hair. go to sleep. put your clothes back on. go to bed please.......

WAY too many times a day.

It makes me want to go bonkers. seriously bonkers.

--I have felt overwhelmed.

--I have felt incapable

--I have felt like a failure

--I have felt like my brain was going to burst from the noise in this house.

--My laundry room has a mountain of dirty laundry.

--My bedroom has a mountain of clean laundry.

--at one point this week every single room had laundry in it.

--Many mornings I choose keeping the kids alive and the

house from burning down instead of showering.

--I have texted my husband,

while he is at work, that I was losing my mind.

the text sometimes starting with "blah sdhfjkhsjdkfdhjs"

this happens more often then I want to admit.

--Sometimes I don't have time to wash my hair for a couple days.

thank goodness for dry shampoo.

--I'm TIRED. a lot.

I always wanted to be a mom. since I was a little girl!

One thing no one ever told me...was how TIRED you will be as a parent.

Think cramming for finals times a million......haha.

But the crazy thing about "parenting exhaustion"...

is that it can suddenly be easy to handle in one sweet moment with your child.

a hug.. a giggle.. a reach for you.. it makes you forget how worn you feel...

and gives you the biggest feeling of peace.

Just knowing you are everything to that child. and this is what God is wanting from you.

THREE KIDS.

Sometimes it's easier to stay home... sometimes it's easier to take them out!

I just have to prepare myself mentally before I go.

I will be slower than I WANT to be.

I will probably think at one point I wish I didn't make this decision. haha.

BUT... I have gotten better at taking the whole gang out.

We once went to target. I didn't have my k'tan wrap... So I was carrying micah on my hip and the girls were in the cart. we got a lot of stares. and a lot of "you are brave!" "you have your hands full!" "do you need help?".... my reply was "oh they are being angels right now! this is a good trip." ;) which they were. I think silly straw bribery worked.

I have learned how to juggle them better.

Micah goes in the wrap. each girl gets a hand.

We have our system down, even though sometimes things get a little crazy and I'll be holding a melting down sienna while micah is in the wrap.

And that is when I get chuckles and stares from passerby's. soo fun!

Cure to any hard day... baby giggles.

You can't help but be happy when you hear them and see a jolly face.

I am learning to accept and not be so hard on myself.

But many days I wish that I could have been a better mommy...a better wife..

Sometimes I wish I trusted in God more.

Every day I pray for more patience.

I have the peace of knowing this is exactly where God wants me to be...

Now I just need to be realistic in my expectations that I set for myself.

I can do this. with HIS help. and maybe a case of diet dr pepper.

Winner of the $100 Visa Gift Card from SHOPPERK...

2013-05-08T10:02:00.001-04:00

and the winner of the $100 Visa Gift Card from SHOPPERK is...

Sarah L.

If you haven't checked out Shopperk yet you should!!

Here's my video post sharing what I thought of it!

Favorites- Fried Fresh Mozzarella and Chicken Parm

2013-05-07T22:02:00.000-04:00

These are two of my all time favorite "special" dinner recipes...

Fried Fresh Mozzarella and Chicken Parm!

Sometimes we make them together but plenty of times I'll make up the fried Mozzarella with some pasta and salad...or as an appetizer when friends come over.

The plate gets devoured.

Cheese.. fried.. c'mon. amazingness.

The Chicken Parm is such an easy meal to make when you have company coming over. You can have all the messy work done with it ready to go..

The chicken parm in the oven! kitchen clean... pasta boiling!

These recipes are low fat, low calories, low everything.........

just go with that. ;)

Once you make this one time you'll be able to cook

without even pulling up the recipe! super easy.

FRIED MOZZARELLA

(Better than store OR restaurant bought!)

Originally posted here when I discovered the recipe on recipezaar.com

I've changed it up to fit how we like it! Below is the recipe I use.

(not the prettiest photo below..but you get the idea! this wasn't a planned post. ;)

INGREDIENTS:

pack of fresh mozzarella (ball or log)..cut into pieces

2 eggs beaten

2 tablespoons water

3/4 cup panko italian bread crumbs

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoon dried oregano (I LOVE this spice. heavy handed with it)

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/3 cup flour

pinch or two of salt and pepper

olive oil (for frying)

DIRECTIONS:

--Pull out three bowls.

--In one bowl combine the water and egg.

--In your second bowl but the flour

--In the third, and final bowl, combine the bread crumbs and spices.

--Dip the piece of fresh mozzarella into the egg mixture, flour mixture, egg mixture and lastly in the bread mixture. Place on a plate.

--Repeat till all the cheese is coated.

--Cover the plate of breaded cheese with foil and put in freezer.

This helps the cheese to hold it's shape when fried.

--When you are ready pull out the cheese a little before frying.

--Heat up your saucepan..and then add olive oil.

--Make sure it's hot enough.. (test with a pinch of flour.)

--I put in enough oil to have them soaked but not swimming in it!

You'll get the hang of how much to put in.

--Place your cheese in the pan and brown both sides. make sure not to overcrowd the pan.

--Tongs make this whole frying process easier.

--SOMETIMES I place on paper towels to drain..but sometimes if the cheese is melting already I skip that or you'll have a big ol mess. I don't put in too much oil to begin with.

--EAT UP! You can dip in marinara or spaghetti sauce.

CHICKEN PARM

The ingredients are the same as the fried mozzarella... same idea..

You just need thin chicken breasts.. and maybe a little more

of the dry ingredients depending on how much chicken you are making up!

INGREDIENTS:

Same as Fried Mozzarella

+ Jar of Spaghetti Sauce

+Pasta of choice (sometimes we'll make just chicken parm with thin spaghetti)

+Thin sliced Mozzarella (You could use deli sliced...

shredded mozzarella.. or even the fresh ball/log sliced thin)

DIRECTIONS:

--Bread the chicken and brown in pan, the same way I explained the fried Mozzarella.

--put some of the spaghetti sauce in the bottom of your casserole pan

--Layer the chicken, sauce and cheese

--Cover with foil

--Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.. depending on how thin your chicken is!

(The chicken is browned but just needs to be cooked through. I always check occasionally)

--You can remove the foil near the end if you want it a little toasted!

--enjoy!

--Leftovers are great for chicken parm sandwiches!

little tip when covering recipes that are cheesy on top, with foil....

spray the foil with cooking spray before you cover!

GENIUSSSSSS. I know. Can't remember who

told me that trick but it's awesome.

(photo from when I last made lasagna roll ups)

If you are looking for a good dressing to go on salad...

This is our all time favorite in the house.

Enjoy!

Fun part of having a Blog: Announcing Giveaway Winners!

2013-05-06T23:14:00.000-04:00

This is one of the best parts of having a blog...

The Winners of the Giveaway... two $50 credit for Caroline G. Jewelry are.....

Valerie D. and Jessica W.!

I'll be e-mailing you tonight to make sure you know you won!

Congratulations girls Have fun shopping!

Having 2 and 4 yr old girls.

2013-05-05T23:01:00.000-04:00

The other day, as I watched my girls driving

around in their little jeep in the backyard...

I pictured them little again.

I'm so glad my girls have each other. They will be 3 and 5 in August.

The fighting over toys and "don't look at me!! mommmm she's looking at mee" moments

are worth the cute ways they play together and giggle.

They make each other pee their pants from laughing.... seriously.

we've had to do complete wardrobe changes.....

Sophie and Sienna share a room..

and even though there are ~~nights~~ many nights we

wish they would just goo tooooo beddd...

It's cute hearing them giggle and whisper.

When sienna first moved from the crib, to a big girl bed in sophie's room...

She kept waking up in the middle of the night and coming to our room.

Or sometimes she would just cry out from her bed for a minute.

One morning sophie told us sienna woke up but that she got her back to sleep by rubbing her back. Once sophie held sienna on the couch and got her to fall asleep...... Tonight at dinner sienna got down and moved her chair closer to sophie's. they are so cute together. They also know how to push each other's buttons.

sienna is a hair puller/leg pincher..and sophie is a pusher/stomp away-er.

we do plenty of time outs during the day because of sisterly love. ;)

GIRL TIME.. + daddy.

Daddy crashed the picnic I made the girls...

Seeing my girls growing up, makes me excited for

all the fun we have in store with our micah!

I love when babies are little and in the newborn stage...

but I reallyyy love the 6-12 month age!

He is coming to life.. giggly and jolly as ever

but moving and ready to rock and roll. a total snuggler.

Trying to savor every moment with my kids...

and have more patience in all the crazy moments...

because they are growing up SO FAST.

My Faith + Finding Mr. Right

2013-05-01T09:11:00.001-04:00

I love getting e-mails from my readers. So many of them start off with,
"this might be weird, because you don't know me, but I feel like I know you!..."
So, even though a part of me wasn't sure if I should share this post...
I felt like my readers might appreciate hearing this part of me too.
I feel like this is.. really personal. but it'll be good to share!
----------------------------------------

Growing up I was a good girl. no angel, but I barely got in trouble.
In all the home videos you see craziness going on and then me in the background either poking my finger into the birthday cake and eating it..or cuddling a baby doll like a little mama. I'm sure I gave my mom head aches..but she has told me that I was definitely easy.

In high school I went to multiple youth groups...I was really picky when it came to boys and only said yes to a handful of dates. Never having a serious boyfriend but having an amazing group of guy + girl friends. (I blog about shannon often, she was in that great group.) We would go on retreats and nights of worship.. along with doing the typical high school fun.
Here's a video from Christmas one year. Since losing my best friend shannon, this video has brought me so many tears. happy and sad ones. I was sooo lucky with my high school years.... blessed with a great group of friends that made it "normal" to be active in your faith and church.

Everyone has a cross in their life. I had hard things happen in my childhood that gave me the choice to either run from God or run TO Him. And luckily I had really holy people around me that helped me realize that He had a plan for me. and not to waist a single tear, to offer up any suffering you may have for others who might need a prayer.

I grew up around some very Holy Consecrated Women and Missionary of Charity Sisters (Mother Teresa's sisters).. they were beautiful, holy AND normal?! triple threat. they inspired me. I even spent a day with Mother Teresa when I was ten. She put her hands on my head and blessed me...pulling my dad down to her height with his tie and saying "you have a good family."(we still have that tie) at the time I really wanted to be a sister.. and looking straight into mother teresa's eyes, I told her, "I want to be a sister!" She laughed at me!!! and with a smile she held my hands in her soft wrinkled ones and told me, "Pray 3 hail mary's every day for your vocation".. I figured she knew what she was talking about. and took her advice to open up that conversation with God to discover HIS plan for me.

Through my parents, and these holy women's examples, I learned how to really pray.
I prayed those 3 hail mary's every night... at first for my vocation and then, once I discerned, for my future husband.. I started a deeper personal relationship with God...prayer was a real but simple conversation with Christ. I learned how to use my talents to tell people about Christ. I was VERY active in my faith. I ran retreats, fundraisers, went on missions, flew across the country and overseas to speak at events for young girls. Right after high school I did a year of volunteer work for the church. they send you where they need you. I ended up meeting/traveling/living with some incredible holy crazy girls who I'm still close with. We did mainly youth ministry at schools and parishes. one of the hardest but most rewarding years of my life. My prayer life was the best it had ever been and the sacrifices we made really helped us mature and go deep. plus we had a lot of fun adventures. We once had no money and needed food for a retreat we were running.. I went with another girl to a grocery store and asked the manager if he could make a donation.. he gave me a shopping cart and said fill it up. It was those kind of experiences during that year of service that I was able to see how God provides.

Then it was time for college.

I chose a VERY small Catholic college.

I immediately met my amazing roommate and a fun group of girls.

They were loud outgoing and we laughed...ALOT.

I love being around people. and having fun and being spontaneous and silly.

I found myself in the "party crowd"... (it was a small school......there was a defined group?)

I had so much fun with these people. But there were times I found myself getting into trouble...ALOT. and I was not respecting myself or others.

I wasn't focusing enough on studying and was going out too many nights.

There are certain friendships, that I made during that time,

that I'm still connected with and cherish.

But there were others where it felt completely superficial.
I didn't feel like myself and didn't like where I was going.
I decided I didn't want to party as much.
It was quickly becoming my identity at this small school.

One day, I was on the phone with my mom.
And I was talking to her about all of these things on my mind...
She suggested that.. when my friends go out to a party...
I should go to the gym on campus and shoot hoops.

So I did.

I'm horrible at basketball.

But I did it.. I would go and shoot hoops.

and one night....

My future husband was there...and that's where we had our first real conversation.

We had "met" earlier that week when I was in the gym talking with a mutual guy friend while watching an inturmural game. Ben walked over and said
(this is the truth. it's in the scrap book. it happened. even though ben denies it. ;)
"Hey girl, I see you all around campus.. I gotta know your name."

BAHHHHHH ::insert melting college girl here::

He was so cute and charming. I didn't even remember his name after he told me it because I was so in shock with how confident and sweet he was. and cute. did I mention cute?

So when I was in the gym that night, while my friends were at a party, we started talking.

He had on those breakaway basketball pants and was showing off his game ;)

We walked together to the campus library to check our e-mail/facebook.. (what else?) and then we were talking outside and I remember being in complete shock when, after saying goodnight, he didn't ask me for my number.. we just said bye and walked opposite ways.
I remember making that face like what??? haha.... Makes me laugh now looking back.

We eventually ended up exchanging numbers...and he took me on a date.
I was in my notre dame sweater and yoga pants. we went to eat n' park. classy.
He had his baseball hat to the side with stud earings in.

And he interviewed me on my family, how many kids I wanted etc. etc..

He jokes that he knew I was the one when I ordered a huge burger.

But in all honesty, we both knew very quickly...this was IT.

I had never felt that way about a guy before. It was more than the butterflies that did it.

He was sweet, kind, funny, but most of all.. a holy guy.
He was my first and last exclusive relationship!
We weren't a perfect couple..but we both had the desire to strive for holiness.
We prayed and went to church together. Ben had a passion for ministry and
He started doing part time youth ministry while we were still in college..
and, as the girlfriend/fiance, I was there a lot too! Doing ministry together was really fun.

THE PROPOSAL: "ben told me that we were having a dinner with our youth group kids and that everyone was dressing up..but when we got there...he got me into the church and I saw that it was all glowing with candles down the aisle to the altar..100 roses everywhere..candles all over the altar with the monstrance. it was so beautiful. he walked me down the aisle I was freaking out haha and at the end he said all this amazing stuff and then knelt down and said natalie catherine will you marry me?? and I said yesss and we hugged and kissed and some of the youth group kids who set up all the flowers and candles for him screamed from the cry room where they, and our priests, were hiding haha. then we knelt down infront of the tabernacle and said a prayer then everyone came out and we took photos and the priests stood over us and blessed us and my ring with holy water (which they gave us at the end) then ben and I took more roses to the statue of our lady and we prayed together and he gave me a couple gifts that he got while we were in medjugorje over christmas. then ben said we had dinner reservations so we left for the george town inn that looks out onto the skyline of pitt. we walked into the restaurant and there was his family and my family!!! all waiting for us to get there and celebrate. I was so suprised I cried haha. it was the most amazing night ever. and the festivities carried on all weekend. I am so thankful for the amazing man God put in my life. "

It's funny because I had texted my mom "false alarm" on
thinking it was proposal night...only to it really being the night..and her in town!
He tricked me good.
When he proposed, Ben told me how since he was younger he had been praying for his future wife. So even though we didn't know it..we were praying for each other!
We occasionally are asked to speak at high schools and retreats, and we always share that detail. how we felt God working in our lives through that unknown prayer from the other person!

I really feel like God put me right where I needed to be... in that gym.
I was there trying to be faithful to Him, and He blessed me with ben...
and we were able to start our life towards the path of where we are today.
It's amazing how God works in our lives!

We ended up getting engaged within 8 months. married 8 months after that.

Looking back it went FAST. like.. super speed fast. But we really stayed close to God during that time and prayed a lot as a couple and He led us. Every day we prayed those 3 hail mary's to our Lady asking to interceded for us and our engagement.. then we continued those prayers after we were married.. and to this day, we still include in our pray time every night, those 3 hail mary's for our children's vocation. We pray that they will know how amazing they are and that God has a plan for them in their life.

I'm so lucky to have a man who randomly asks "do you want to go have some prayer time?".... "do you want to go to novena tonight?"... "do you want to go to that talk on ___?"...

Having our faith helps us get through the tough times that come with family life.
We had children right away.. and we love it. I can't imagine not having sophie.. sienna.. micah... they are amazing and a blessing even when they drive us insane + to exhaustion. haha. There are days...we feel like crazy people. not gonna lie. This past sunday....was one of those days. we arrived to church, only the underneath part of the bottom part of my hair was straightened. (as far as I could get) ben's shirt was on INSIDE OUT... and sienna had dressed herself and we just "went with it".... BUT.. we made it to church. we were there and had that hour with God and got a bunch of blessings to help us through this week.

It's been incredible seeing how God has worked in my life.

Taking me where I'm at and helping me discover His plan for me.

Sophie asks me all the time right now...
"mom..what do you want to be when you grow up? You'll be a superhero"
and to tell you the truth, sometimes when I get through
a day with 3 kids under the age of 5.. I feel like one. ;)

I always had the desire to be a wife and mom.. that's what I "wanted to be when I grew up."
And I always had the passion to be creative and to connect with people.
I feel blessed with where I am in life right now. Who knows the crosses that might be ahead of us... but I know that I have a partner in my
husband who loves ALL of me and who wants to help get our family to heaven..
so with our faith and family as our rock.. I'm excited for our life.

ps. we were made for each other.

VLOG: Smart Grocery Shopping Made Easier + $100 Visa Giveaway from SHOPPERK

2013-04-30T16:01:00.001-04:00

I have to admit...I'm still perfecting the art of grocery shopping and meal planning.

And now with another baby in the mix, my time to spend on this task is limited.

I'm always getting bored with the meals I make and am wanting to find new recipes to try.

I usually end up looking through pinterest to see new recipes to try...

and then get distracted by DIY projects before I actually end up

adding those recipe's ingredients to my grocery list and checking for deals.

And don't even get me started on wanting to spend less at the grocery.

I know I'm not alone on that!

I couldn't resist this new company's proposal to be one of the first to have a look at their new App. SHOPPERK is all about making Smart Shopping Easier.

After using the Shopperk App I realized it makes finding recipes easier, with big yummy photos and search options... and offers big savings all in one place by showing you deals from stores in your area...on a bunch of items but also on the actual items on your grocery list from the recipes you chose! genius.

Here's a video I made to give you an idea of how it works!

ignore my dorkyness. Micah makes an appearance for about 3 seconds

before that teething wiggle worm wanted to go play.

I'm curious to see if you would use something like this!

If you are interested put your e-mail in and you'll be one of the first users.

$100 Visa Gift Card
GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
The giveaway will end May 7th.
A winner will be chosen via random.org and e-mailed!
Put your e-mail below as an entry! Good luck!

Mother's Day Gift Ideas- Something I ordered for my mama + Free Stuff and Discount Codes! (Caroline G. Giveaway!!)

2013-04-29T15:28:00.001-04:00

Mother's day is around the corner!

If you want to send me mail with chocolates(I could live off of take 5's)

you can e-mail me for my address.. ;)

I wanted to offer my readers some good deals to gift the special mothers in their life with!

A friend of mine Carrie, Owns an amazing shop called Caroline G.

Her jewelry designs have taken over the blog world.

(I'm wearing one of her pieces in my blog bio photo over there --->

I went to a blog conference this year and saw her stuff EVERYWHERE!

We had been talking about doing a giveaway for a while and

thought this was perfect timing!

She is offering TWO $50 Credits to shop all her jewelry!

She is ALSO offering a 50%OFF CODE
for ALL of her Jewelry!

CODE: busybudgetingmama50 (valid till 5/6/13)
----ENTER GIVEAWAY AT END OF POST-----

Amazing right?! 50 percent off........ Girls, she is hooking us up.

I think it's because she thought I was so sweet when we met at BLISSDOM.

I'm gonna go with that as the reason. ;)

I have a couple of her pieces and might be using the 50 percent off

myself to add to my jewelry collection.

They are classic pieces and well made. Love her statement necklaces.

I get compliments EVERY time I wear them. every single time.

people want to know where I got it. And that makes me fell nice since

I usually get ready quickly and with melt downs going on.........

I also wanted to share Cardstore.com is

offering free shipping right now.

I ordered cards from them for the

special mothers in my life.

Mother's day cards are $2.49 and

Use Code:CCF3425 for the free shipping!

(Their site says Offer is valid 4/25/13 - 5/6/13)

I designed this super easy and fast with kids running around at my feet.

LOVE how they turned out. You can have them ship directly from the site to your person...but I wanted to see them up close and in person so I clicked the option to have them stamped and addressed but sent to me first. The girls loved putting them in the mail box.

and I didn't have to search for stamps.

EASY process.. and I love their whole site's look... so cute!

Hope these give you ideas/motivation to bless your mamas!

And good luck to everyone entering the Caroline G. Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

FREE PRINTABLE- Movie Themed Teacher Gift Tag

2013-04-28T13:35:00.001-04:00

Most of my popular printables this time of year... are ones for teachers!

I sell a variety in my shop. But I thought it might be fun to offer a FREE one that I just created for a client. She planned a whole week to celebrate the teachers at their

school. It was a Hollywood Theme based off of one of the printables she saw in my shop already. LOVEDD IT! We need to celebrate our teachers more often.

I hope that this post inspires you to do the same at your school.

Even if it's just one of the days!

Here's the flyer we made up to put in all the teachers' boxes:

Here's my free teacher printable for you!

Please Go make your teachers feel special!

FREE MOVIE THEME TEACHER TAG PRINTABLE-

Winner of a PICTURE PEFECT YEAR

(Ten tags on your printable PDF)

Click the above link to download the full page pdf. Print, cut and attach to a gift.

You could do a movie theatre gift card or a bag of popcorn/candy!

I also offer a customized one...

"Thanks for a PICTURE PERFECT Year! Love, _____"

One of my top teacher themed sellers. I add your text.

I also have a (write in your own name) immediate download version of that one too.

Here are some more of the tags my

client is gifting to her teachers each day!

Pair these tags with STARBURSTS for a cute gift!

Immediate Download - $5

(Ten tags on your printable PDF)

I think a single soda or a cute 6 pack of mini sodas

would be perfect with this tag!

IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD- $5

(Ten tags on your printable PDF)

These would be cute attached to a container or bag of popcorn!

You could make it fancy with white chocolate or

go real crazy by gifting a variety of flavors! ;)

IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD - $5

(Ten tags on your printable PDF)

I did a fun post on yummy popcorn recipes while

I was doing party prep for my girls' Vintage Circus Birthday Party

I originally created all of these for teacher gifts...

but they would be perfect for a Movie themed party,

movie night with friends or an Oscars Party!

My Sister's new line with Target: BUMPED by BLANQI- My Postpartum Miracle Worker!

2013-04-27T00:52:00.000-04:00

This is it!!

The post I've been teasing you about for over a month!

Excited to finally share with you the new

BUMPED by BLANQI Line that my sister, Valerie,

and her best friend, Sabina, just launched exclusively at Target.com!

My sister and sabina are the founders of BLANQI and created a maternity support tank...

I loved my BLANQI..wore it all through my pregnancy with Micah.

Even documenting my growing bump in it each week.

But after I had him I always wished I had something similar to my BLANQI to help smooth me out and make me feel pretty! (I'm 5 months postpartum) I was not the only one!

Valerie and Sabina heard our plea and created not only a new maternity cami, but a Postpartum one..at a more affordable option to their original line. only $34.

It's for sale on Target.com. I'm wearing the Black Nursing Cami size S/M in these photos.
I also have the black M/L :) (Pants from Kohl's. Top from H&M. Shoes from Target)

Check out my video review below!

I decided to include the dorky outtakes. for your viewing pleasure. haha.

Visit Target.com to see their line!

So proud of my sister and Sabina.

BUMPED by BLANQI Postpartum Nursing Cami- Black or Ivory $34.99

BUMPED by BLANQI Maternity Support Cami - Black or Ivory $34.99

Couple key things about my BUMPED Cami:

1. It's a soft light material.. very breathable...tight enough to make you feel secure and slim..but not restricting. wicks away sweat.

2. The straps feel invisible! there are two thin soft straps on each side

and they don't dig into your shoulders at all... comfy.

that was one of the first things I noticed. so many times tanks that are made to smooth you out are too restricting especially in the straps and chest area. this one is under the bust for easy nursing so you don't even have to worry about being smooshed there.

3. It helps smooth me out as I work towards losing the baby weight. It is SO easy to give yourself a hard time about your body after you have a baby...having garments that help you feel good about yourself as you work towards your goal is important.

4. I found myself, even as I lost weight from nursing, still wearing baggy big clothes because of some bumps here or there.. but once I put my BUMPED cami

on I felt like I could wear those tighter fitting shirts again!

Like I said in the video, BLANQI asked me to find some great blogging mamas to try out the new line. I rounded up a great group of girls, both maternity and postpartum, and they will be sharing their video reviews every day for the next couple weeks! a couple a day! So you will be able to check out what they think about it..how they wear it.. AND enter their giveaways!

(A BUMPED by BLANQI Cami and Target Gift Card!)

Lots of baby bumps and postpartum mamas out there...so go check them out.

I'll be linking them up all week on The Busy Budgeting Mama Facebook Page.

Follow me on Instagram if you don't already to see a pop up giveaway...

win one for you and a friend!

Thank you val and sabina for

looking out for us postpartum mamas.

Veritas Designs Giveaway Winner

2013-04-26T09:15:00.000-04:00

The winner of the Giveaway

from Veritas Designs is....

Tamara M.

Congratulations and You'll be

getting an e-mail soon to arrange delivery!

Enjoy!

Thank you to everyone who entered!

And just because I know we all love free stuff.......

How does a $100 Visa Gift Card sound?! Stay tuned for that next week...

along with a fun Giveaway with Caroline G. on monday!! eek! so excited.

Her pieces have taken over the blog world. (I'm wearing one of hers in my bio photo.)

ANDDDD.. saturday I'm sharing about my sister's new line with target!

(BUMPED by BLANQI)

Video review and all the fun details tomorrow. :) stop on over!

Spice up your Snacking Ladies!

2013-04-26T09:04:00.000-04:00

I'm a nursing mama. I like to snack.

But sometimes our pantry is a little boring.

I can only eat goldfish and animal crackers for so long before I start turning into a toddler.

Sometimes I'll feel brave and see some interesting organic snacks and after pondering in the aisle while wrangling the kids for way too long a period of time.. I buy it..only to realize it tastes like crunchy cardboard. Which only leaves me wishing I could have tested it before I spent money on it. I remember when I was in high school, going to costco with my mom.. and "grocery shopping" but mainly having fun eating the samples and getting rasberry smoothies. Samples are the best!

So when I discovered Goodies Co...It was just what I was wanting!

Subscribers to the Goodies Co. Taster’s Box receive a
monthly box of 5-8 snacks for $7/month. (I can do $7!)

At Goodies, your opinion matters, and you get rewarded for it!

After you try your snacks, go back to the Goodies website and give a review of your box.

I'm excited for that step..It'll be like doing a fun little survey and getting points for it.

You can redeem the points for rewards and free Taster's Boxes!

*Goodies Co. currently only ships to the continental US.*

Typically, there is a waitlist to get an invitation, however Goodies Co. is

offering a code so you can skip the line and get right in.

Use Code BLOGVIP when requesting your invitation and you'll get your invite

and Taster's Box right away!

Once you enter the code into the promo page, you will receive 2 emails from Goodies. The first will state you are in line for your invitation, the next will instantly tell you your invitation has arrived. This shows you how you skipped the line!

My kids love getting mail.

Every time the mail comes they ask if something is in there for them..

and I admit that sometimes, we'll get those random coupon packets and instead of going right into the trash we tell them it's for them. haha. genius parenting. I know.

They are going to FLIP when a box full of SNACKS arrives..

seriously.. toddler world officially rocked.

Jump the waiting list and subscribe to a service that

makes it easy and affordable to try new snacks,

or even different flavors of old favorites.

I'm excited to spice up my snacking.

or sweetennnn it up?? yes please. ;)

Are you a snacker? Sweet or Salty?

I was a snacker and had cravings when I was pregnant..

but I think I'm MORE hungry for a snack throughout the day now that I'm nursing.

Any other nursing mamas relate?

I think chasing my kiddos around is part of that too ;)

Thanks to Goodies Co. for sponsoring today's discussion

One of the things I love most about Ben...

2013-04-25T16:32:00.000-04:00

One of the things I love most about my husband, Ben, is his passion for ministry.

Ever since I met him I have seen his desire to serve others and tell people about Christ.

Not only with words..but through his actions.

He has given his life to tell people about Christ's love for them.

He is a youth minister...and I think he has one of the most important jobs.

One of the greatest poverties is thinking you are not loved.

So many of our youth don't realize that they have a God that loves them...

that they are worthy of love.

He helps his teens form a relationship with God.. helps them to realize that prayer can be a simple conversation.. that they are capable of starting over to live for Him, taking it one day at a time.

You don't always see fruits from your ministry, but luckily we
have been able to see some amazing things happen over the years.
It's been challenging at times to be a ministry family..but mainly a blessing.

My husband comes from a family full of youth ministers.

His big brother started Dirty Vagabond Ministry.

Each year they run the Pittsburgh Marathon and fundraise for the ministry.

We are ten days away from the race!
Here's a video of Ben's brother bob and it talks about Dirty Vagabond Ministry.
Some of the stories of how this ministry has impacted the teens will blow you away.

Please consider donating to Dirty Vagabond Ministry.

Ben is running the half marathon for them and Like I said, you don't always see fruits from your ministry..but in moments like this, it is so inspiring and encouraging to see the community support you and join together.
I have an amazing readership... I have known this by the sweet comments I get each week...but especially when I wrote about grieving with shannon. You have blessed me in ways I never even thought.... by your prayers and support in e-mails....
by your donations to help shannon's children. I am seriously in awe of you guys.

Thank you for taking the time to watch the video.
It's important to my husband..and it's important to me!
One year we bought a bunch of baseball tickets for them so they could take the kids to a game. My husband always says if he wasn't a youth minister he would be a baseball player for the phillies ;) We have been able to see firsthand the amazing things happening through Dirty Vagabond. Please help their mission with these kids.
All of the money they fundraise goes directly to Dirty Vagabond.

DIY Faux Birch Cement Tube Dessert Stands (My Dessert Table DIY)

2013-04-25T10:21:00.000-04:00

This has to be one of my favorite DIY Projects I've done!

From start to finish it was so fun creating these Faux Birch Stands!

I made them out of Cement Tubes... and used them as stands for my dessert table!

I had seen similar items to purchase...but I wanted a grouping and my budget was slim to none..so it was the perfect opportunity to do it myself!

Here's how I MADE them..and at the end of the post see how I USED them!

FAUX BIRCH STANDS SUPPLIES:

Cement Tube (Home Improvement Store)

Wood Glue (Home Improvement Store)

Liquitex Acrylic Gesso Paint (Craft Store)

Brown Acrylic Paint (Craft Store)

Toilet Paper

3 Paper Plates

Cardboard box (I always have some somewhere...

but you can get free ones from your dollar tree!

ask and you shall receive.. most of the time. ;)

Tools:

Little Paint Brush

2 Little Foam Brushs

Box Cutter

Pencil. OR crayon if you have kids and hide all sharp things like me.

STEPS:

--First things first...gather supplies. set up a work space.

--Take your cement tube roll that you awkwardly carried through the home improvement store while pushing a stroller and directing children.

and Figure out the heights of stands you want..I knew I wanted 5 different stands...

so I marked the tube accordingly.

--Get your handy man husband to use his muscled and cut the cement tube (it's a sturdy cardboard?) using the box cutter. make sure no fingers are lost. because a trip to the ER will only delay the fun painting part that is coming up...

and the losing a finger thing. that would be painful too.

--Next you need to create the tops of your stands.

Place your cut cement tube piece onto a piece of cardboard (I used part of a cardboard box I had) and trace with a crayon/pencil whatever

(wow just noticed how nasty that crayon looks below...

nice smoosh of play dough on it. lovely. only the best props for my blog photos. ;)

ANYWAYS.... trace it... then I'm pretty sure I just used the wood glue to attach the lid to the tube. I can't remember! But if that doesn't stick enough use regular glue...hot glue...

just GLUE it.

REPEAT. create all your little stands and if arrange how you think you might use them.. you can always trim them down a bit with the box cutters to get the right heights!

This is one of my favorite parts...

Now you need to get a paper plate..and squirt a little bit of the Acrylic Gesso Paint...

tear up a few shreds of toilet paper.. mix together with your foam brush.

keep adding and mixing till you get the right consistency.

Pretty gross looking and feeling... smoosh it against the sides of the tubing...

You are trying to create knots and texture for your faux birch!

The sloppier the better usually. don't do each knot the same.

Your kids watching you might think you are crazy AND awesome.

Next take another paper plate and squirt some of the Acrylic Gesso.

Paint your stands..and know your brush strokes add to the texture of your faux birch...

so play with that a little when you brush! have fun and cover completely.

**If you want, you could use caulk to fill in the edges around the lid...

or push in more of the paint. I didn't mind the texture!**

Let the white dry.

Next squirt a little of the brown acrylic paint onto a paper plate.

Use the tip of your foam brush to swipe on little brown lines...

At first I was nervous I was going to wreck it completely....but then I started getting the hang of it and it came together! Just take a step back, occasionally, and see what you think! add more or stop and let dry.

I wasn't patient enough to wait for it to dry...

I just was very careful didn't touch the sides while I painted the top.

I used my paper plate with the brown paint on it..and squirted a little of the white acrylic gesso paint and mixed to get the right color.

Then painted the tops of my faux birch stands. Done!

I first created these to add levels to my Dessert Table at my Girls' Storybook Princess Party.

On the map of Once Upon A Time Land, which we sent out in the POP-UP INVITE, I showed a Cookie Forest..so of course We HAD to have the stands be trees!! My girls loved it.

and we all devoured the cookies. (which they loved seeing mounded up at easy access ;)

Then I pulled them out again to add some levels to

my dessert table at our Monster Bash!

It was the perfect touch to our spooky kid friendly Halloween Party.

Would love to see how you use your DIY Faux Birch Stands!

Share withe me on Facebook or

Tag me if you post photos on Instagram @thebusybudgetingmama

My Team.

2013-04-23T22:45:00.001-04:00

I am a pretty lucky mama.
I have a whole team of helpers with me at all times of the day.
They are my taste testers.. making sure whatever is on MY plate tastes good...
They're my trainers helping me get in shape...
(especially that 22+ pound chunk of cute baby.)
They are my beauty gurus that help me choose a lipstick by secretly sampling it on their face.

I get to go grocery shopping with a team up product samplers.

Sienna is known to use her teeth to rip into grocery items before I can stop her.

Sometimes she is like a puppy. no I take that back...

a lot of the times she is like a puppy.

They are my personal assistants..helping me choose home decor...

picking up things for me when I have a baby strapped to me and can't bend over...
(never mind they are the reasons WHY the things are on the aisle floor to begin with.)

Needless to say..EVEN with my fantastic team, I have my hands full!
Happily full.

But it makes me happy to see things like Visa's Prepaid Cards....
and their great videos showing you how to easily set them up.
Visa Prepaid cards can help control your budget, so you have one less thing to worry about while you’re out with your little ones! And with features like direct deposit and safe online shopping, you spend less time organizing your finances
and more time with the people who matter.
I'll take making life easier and convenient anytime.

I am blogging on behalf of Visa Prepaid and received compensation for my time from Visa for sharing my views in this post, but the views expressed here are solely mine, not Visa’s. Discover more at http://www.VisaPrepaid.com or view more Visa Prepaid videos at http://www.youtube.com/visaprepaid.

Girly-Girl Giveaway! Pink Chiffon Hair Accessory from Veritas Designs

2013-04-21T22:25:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine sent my girls some pretty headbands before Christmas.

I've gotten so many comments on them that I wanted to share them with my readers!

You can enter to win one of your own!

They are designed and created by my friend Geneva, of Veritas Designs.

She is a gorgeous mama and sells so many cute things on her Shop's Facebook Page!

She made this custom hair accessory for me and is now offering it to you!

It's a nice sturdy headband while still being soft behind their ears.

I love a big flower! It's soft from the chiffon material.

The sparkle in the middle is my favorite part. ;)

Enter to win for your own little girl, niece or granddaughter!
Share the link on facebook if you think one of your friends would want to grab one up!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

"I will melt all the popsicles if you don't go to bed."

2013-04-17T21:00:00.003-04:00

Today was one of those days.

comfy target tee. ae jeans. target flip flops.

air dried curly hair up in a pony with a headband.

Nap time wasn't happening as smoothly as I was ~~hoping~~ needing...

I threatened to melt all the popsicles if they didn't nap................

it was a long morning.. felt like mom of the year here.

stash that one away in your bag of mom threats.

You would think by now I would have learned to think twice before I make 'threats'...

They hold onto these things..and then use them against each other. Pretty sure tomorrow when sophie's mad at sienna she'll threaten to melt her popsicles. haha.

Not one of my finest moments.

Once before Christmas we made the mistake of "joking" that if they were naughty,

Santa gives reindeer poop instead of toys. (?)

For the next month we kept hearing it come up in conversation about this very serious issue of reindeer poop. scarred for life. it STILL comes up.. they are planning ahead.

The other day we forced spring to come by having a picnic at the park...
and it worked!

We've been enjoying the sunshine here in Pennsylvania.
I always miss atlanta during the winter here...
but as soon as it's spring I love PA again!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK - "Noo sienna... we don't play zombies."
THANK YOU boy cousins for that one........ ;) haha.

HEART MELTING MOMENTS-

I love sophie's doodles. I have to control myself from framing every single one.

Just every other will be fine. ;)

What I Wore - Top: Kohl's. Jeans: AE. Sandals: Target. Necklace: Molly Suzanne.
Love Molly of Stilettos and Diapers! You should stop by and say hi. and check out her shop!
This little anchor necklace is my go-to when I'm running out the door :) Simple and sweet.

LIFE:

Reminder: Next time do not tell girls about going to grandma's house in the summer, till the DAY BEFORE. I've been asked at least once an hour, since then, if it's time to go to grandmas... Sienna: "eyeee MISS gwandma...."

Pretty much a weekly occurrence ben and I will be hugging
then simultaneously fake snore and laugh at ourselves.
sleepy much?

Was at the park having a picnic with our crew.

Someone asked us "those all yours? you're done right?! ::wink::"

Dear sweet random grandpa, Yes they are all ours. and no.

Our life is crazy but it's our crazy. and it's nice. :)

FAVORITE PART OF MY DAY- after I put the girls down for their naps...
I snuggle with this guy and he usually falls asleep for a good chunk.
Sometimes I pull myself away to get stuff done...
but most of the time I decide everything can wait.
He's only gonna be this tiny and round for so long...

If you are on Facebook..hop over to my Facebook Page and join our conversations!
Love the chit chat we get going on over there...
especially loved hearing your comments on the "you're done right?" comment.

How to take Better iPhone Photos- My Favorite Apps

2013-04-14T00:20:00.000-04:00

My most frequently asked questions via Instagram are

1. "Where is your rug from?" and 2. "What App did you use on this photo??"

(ps. rug from rugsusa.com)

I love taking photos with my iPhone..it's an easy way to capture moments with my kids!

I also love editing photos.. but with how busy life is, I'm really loving some apps that make it quick and easy to make your photos the best they can be.

I'm sure plenty of people have their own favorite apps or photo tips..but here are mine!

Happy to share my phone-photo-taking-tips

AND what I do to my photos before posting to Instagram. :)

Phone Photo Taking Tips: (pretty much the same as regular camera tips)

--Like with your regular camera...the sun is your friend!

We end up all in my bed snuggling or playing a lot..and the lighting is always perfect in there.

Find a spot in your house that is bright and cheery and snap away!

--I snap multiple photos of the same shot. My kids move a lot.

-- STRETCH. You might feel awkward..but stretch that arm out to get you in the photo. You can always crop out an awkward arm. :)

--FOCUS. tap someone's face to focus on or wait for your phone to find the faces.

I'm not patient enough for that. ;) (tapping on the faces also helps with the lighting.. I usually tap the darkest area and let it adjust the light. if it's too bright, tap another area.

--Be Silly. Silly faces and silly voices get the best faces. So make a fool of yourself.

Yay! favorite app time!!

I use my phone's camera to take the pictures.

I then open in After Glow (Now called AfterLight and no longer free)

I love the Captain Filter. I always, brighten, sharpen

and then lower contrast a little to make it more natural.

Lately I've been opening my photos first in Snapseed and doing the drama effect..But not always.

I also use a great app called moreBeaute2 to add a glow. watch out how much you use or else it'll be too blurry! Just a touch does wonders and can make a photo extra dreamy.

I use PicFrame to collage all my photos..except I use AfterLight for the circle frame.

If you have any questions leave a comment! :)

These editing tools are great for food and home shots too!

Hope this was helpful and have fun!

If you do anything to your photos...brighten them in afterlight!

How I Hang groups of Frames- A Sanity Saver Tip

2013-04-11T19:19:00.002-04:00

I'm the type of person that can't live in a space long before I want to decorate!

I have a pretty big collection of white frames from our past house...

and I decided to do a grouping above our sofa's yesterday.

The basement is currently covered in boxes that need to be unpacked BUT!

I knew where my frames were..and where my wrapping paper was...

so it was go time!

(As asked on INSTAGRAM: All the frames except the one that holds 4, are from IKEA.

The Couch is from La-Z-Boy, Rug from RUGSUSA.com)

I usually start with laying out my design on the ground.. moving things around...

then I roll out the wrapping paper on the floor, place the frame on top, cut around it then tape to wall where I want it! I take a step back at the end and sometimes rearrange a bit.

It's not an exact science..but it is way more helpful than

just throwing them up and hoping for the best!

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out..

now I need to update some of the frames as soon as I find the printer..hmm......

Micah is usually a fan of home projects.

He was happily watching ben and I hang shelves in the kitchen the other day...

until he turned into a raptor and the decorating/organizing officially ended that day.

REALITY CHECK: If you stop by my house to borrow a cup of sugar...

this is how you will find me. GLAM. please excuse the jazz hands..?!

Most days it's either the house OR me that gets cute.

Sometimes you just can't do it all. ;)

**Obviously would much rather hang frames than go through clothes on floor.

We also hung up some frame ledges and frames above our tv.

this is directly across from our the sofa's from above.

(Need to update the frame on the far right.)

The middle frame has a sweet pre-engagement love letter from ben and

a photo strip of us from dating. :) A good reminder during our busy days.

If you want to see other things I framed..here's a post from our old house.

NURSERY WALL-WHAT I FRAMED

OLD HOUSE LITTLE iPHONE PHOTO TOUR

Thank goodness doctor sophie was able to do a quick in-home

check up for Micah while I got things settled around here.

I was told his heart rated sounded great.

I recently discovered my iPhone photo library was filled with this face.

Sienna pretty much has perfected the kissy face.

She also took the below photo of her brother...

a very authentic "don't even think about it" face to his sister. ;)

You can see more of our house photos as it comes along on my Instagram!

VLOG-Micah...Our comic relief.

2013-04-07T22:12:00.000-04:00

Some days can be exhausting...

but this little man keeps us laughing.

Almost 5 months.. his personality is bubbling out!
For more awesome cute baby photos and shots of our day to day life..
Follow Us on Instagram! I just posted me in what I normally look like if you were to knock on my door to borrow sugar. let me tell you... HOTTIE.

Squirrel.

Today we gave Micah his first cereal!

Hoping it will help him sleep through the night better.

The Big sisters were all excited to play with their real life baby doll......;)

I'm pretty much smitten with my gerber baby.

He is our entertainment most days.

So today Ben held down the fort while I caught my breath and took a target trip by myself.

Grabbed up the bumbo for Micah and double stuffed oreos for me.

However.... Micah pretty much got stuck.

He loved it! But it just wasn't going to work.

So..being stubborn... I decided to go back immediately to target, with my whole gang in tow to help make the return. It was fun and exciting.

Sienna was not happy we were returning the fun chair.

Micah is a beast. seriously.

I have a gym with me at all times.

Thank goodness for big sisters who love to push heavy babies.

We Moved! - Moving with Kids is FUN.

2013-04-05T21:33:00.001-04:00

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

..............................................................................................................

Yep. We moved!

This isn't news if you follow me via instagram or facebook or twitter...

BUT. for blog record...it is true.

We moved last week to a different area of Pittsburgh.

Ben took a new job and we found a new rental minutes away!

It was too ideal a place to pass up. The owners renovated it to sell and ended up wanting to rent it instead. Almost everything is new. It feels so nice and clean..which is all I wanted!

It's not a huge house..but it's just what we need.

great neighborhood and great area.

We have moved a few times before.. so you would think we would be experts. but no.

And having 3 kids under the age of 5 made it a bit tricky to get ANYTHING done.

So we are in survival mode.

(I feel like I say that exact sentence in almost every family update post.......)

COUPLE MOVING MUSTS: Cookie Cake, New Door Matt (Target $12.99)

and Professional Back Massages.

One of the best parts of our new house.. it has THREE Bedrooms!

So that means Micah gets his own room and is out of our closet! ::woohoo::

I'm kinda excited to decorate a boy room. Luckily our neighbor/landlords are amazing

and have read my blog so they are letting me decorate. :)

Micah is kinda pumped.

His own room...also means getting him to sleep through the

night in his crib officially commenced. So far... better than before.

Unpacking is going....slowly.

Everything is finding it's place.. just with a lot of.. um.. interruptions.

Below is a shot of my lap. Sometimes It's easier to stand...

My big girl sophie has been a big helper.

Holding Micah for me.. or playing nicely with her sister.

I feel like the girls are getting better at playing "nicely" together for longer chunks of time.

I'll hear them playing hide and go seek...or school. :)

Sienna has been a good girl too....

in a more active type of way.....haha.

She found one of her nice Easter dresses that I had packed up and forgot where.

Even found tights. (A day too late to wear on Easter... #momoftheyear)

But I admit, I'm impressed with her scavenging skills.

She has been an expert snuggler all week.

Occasionally getting her hair pulled or drooled on.

Just to keep our move exciting, everyone in our house decided to get sick and have a fever.

It was a one day thing and each child took a turn.. AWESOME.

We had dropped off cookies the day before to the neighbors on either side of us (store bought. best I could do.) The next day was officially the hardest with everything.

That night my landlord delivered the tupperware back...

but FILLED with a big chunk of chocolate cake from carlo's bakery!

(he was doing a 10,000 free cake event downtown)

I told her she was my angel! delivering cake to my door!

My plan is to deliver more cookies in tupperware to her house......haha.

It's officially baseball season.

So my philly boy husband and, by default, my son

will be like this till october.

(Finally found that missing drawer 2 days later.)

Moving with kids means
--unpacking breaks to play at the park...

--and unpacking breaks to snuggle.

First "real" meal in our house.. Beef Stew (Pioneer Woman)

and Caesar Salad. I love the Fresh Express Caesar Salad Kits right now.

I remember when dino nuggets were cool.

I raised the bar too high by doing "silly face" lunches.

Pinterest made me do it.

And one thing I can live off of during this move...

yogurt strawberries and granola. seriously could eat for every meal.

Micah's personality has really been bursting out this week.
I'm loving it. and a little jealous every time He takes a nap. ;)

We stay in pajamas a lot...Spending most of the day trying to unpack in between kid stuff.
I'm trying to be realistic in that we won't be unpacked within a couple weeks...
it's gonna take time.
All I want is to get things "settled." So wish me luck!
Gonna keep on juggling. :)
The only way this blog post happened was with micah in my lap...
and letting myself get interrupted to play pretend.
Sophie informed me that I was the witch.. micah was the dragon..
sienna was the horse(for the carriage)...and Sophie, the princess of course!
Not sure how I feel about our roles....... ;)

Can't wait to share more of our new place!

Walking back into Shannon's House- Step towards Healing

2013-04-02T22:39:00.002-04:00

I've been putting off this post for a month...

I recently was back home in atlanta and was able to visit my best friend, Shannon's, children.

Two years ago in June, My best friend was violently taken from us

through an act of domestic violence.

The estranged father of her children shot her during a custody exchange in a bank parking lot. the horrific details and what followed I don't wish to write out again.

I had seen the children before since the tragedy...

but this visit was the first one to her house.

The last time I walked through that door...was with shannon.

---I had photos to share of us from my phone.. but I was asked to remove them to protect the kids. I guess their father's parents are trying to get photos of them for him. The fact that I cannot even share them in my life right now makes me sooo angry.He continues to take from us. But I am trying to understand and will not post photos of them to protect them from him and be happy to have those memories and photos for myself.----

My stomach was turning in knots. so many emotions.

I was so excited to see their sweet faces and so scared to relive moments at her house.

As I walked in the door and was hugged by these two cuties and by shannon's dad and step mom.. I fought back the tears.. till the kids were away jumping on my brother.. and then I cried. and Karen told me it was ok to cry. I told her I didn't want every memory the kids had of me to be me crying. I wanted to be strong. but I needed that moment.

A hug.. and some words of wisdom from her and then I was quickly whisked away by emma to see her new room!

I didn't realize how hard it was going to be to make that trip until we were turning into her neighborhood... luckily I was going with my brother

(who was also best friends with shannon) and his wife mary.

They made me feel stronger.

These sweet beautiful children are so joyful. so full of life.

and good huggers. :) and will take pictures for cookies.

I felt like I was in a dream... I was standing in the family room holding micah smiling, watching the kids wrestle with david.. and as I looked up I saw the balcony.. and remembered walking up those steps with shannon. or her running up to grab something and then standing there looking down.

Her daughter was so excited to show me her new room

(that some very generous wonderful friends, and strangers, had made over for her.)

It used to be shannon's room.

The new space was freshly painted. It was so beautiful..with a huge cinderella carriage bed.. one of a kind art work.. beautiful details. She had photos of her mommy on the wall next to her bed. many of them from my wedding day. (she was a bridesmaid)

Pretty sure the last time I was in her room... We had been out toilet papering and shaving creaming our friend's car in the target parking lot (he was the target security guard. he caught us. I ended up hand cuffed to his car. haha.)

we ended the night at her house making cookies and singing and dancing in her room.

We laughed so hard that night.

Below we were in shannon's room... I'm wearing the scarf she made me.

one year for christmas she made all of us girls one. :)

My sophie talks about shannon a lot.

"mama you know your sister.. your friend..who is in heaven..

and is an angel now...I can't wait to go there too and be an angel!"

(she thinks she is my sister even though I've explained it many times.)

When Emma was holding micah...meeting him for the first time..

it made me think back to when I would come in town and Shannon and I

would get together and smile over our babies together.

(black and white photo was our last time together.. introducing our little babies.)

for shannon's sweet children,

your mama was amazing.

she was beautiful.

she was funny.

she loved to laugh and be silly.

she was creative. she always loved when my mom would

give her yarn from our basement that was always stocked with it.

she was spiritual. I remember staying up late talking about our faith our relationship with God..and about boys.. about respecting ourselves and wanting that guy that would treat us right.

she had a sweet tooth. I remember always getting arby's chocolate milk shakes (and curly fries) after XLT (adoration night at a local high school)

she liked to sing into hair brushes.

she was adventurous and we would always go to a rock climbing place and she would zoom up the mountain. usually attacking me at least once with the chalk for your hands.

she was kind.

she loved you.

she LOVED you.

and talked about you all the time.

every phone call revolved around you both and my girls.

about how you guys were growing so much.. how much or how little you slept..

how amazing you were........

I'll never forget your mama.

and I'll never let you either.

I love you both so much... and know that one day when you are older you will read this...

and I hope that I can bring her to life for you through these memories.

My Theme Song for Motherhood Today: 'I Will Survive'

2013-04-01T23:15:00.000-04:00

"At first I was afraid....I was petrified!"

Haha... this is the song stuck in my head all day.

I love being a mom but it is HARD.

and I never want my blog to be sugar coated and saying it's all snuggles and giggles.

Although it's a lot of that......

It's also a lot of poopy diaper explosions... temper tantrums....

time outs... picky eaters and sick babies.

BUT...luckily God gives us grace to get through those hard days....

and our 3 kids give us lots of sweet moments.

LOTS and LOTS.

QUOTE OF THE YEAR:

three is exhausting....but awesomely exhausting.

It was love at first sight.

(I've almost stepped on this baby doll numerous times and had a panic moment

I was about to step on micah even though I knew he wasn't on the floor.)

Micah gets his fair share of snuggles in our house.

The other day I had some mommy and sophie time.

She helped me clean and pack up our old house and she was loving being my "big helper."

she vacuumed..and held open the garbage bag for me...

She hugged my leg and said "mama this is so fun

I love you so much I could just hug you and kiss you!"

I melted.

micah is a cuddler.

Sometimes he doesn't want to nurse...

He'll just snuggle in with a smile.

Baby giggles make every day better.

He is my real-life cabbage patch doll.

One of the best parts of having a third baby is seeing my oldest, sophie, interact with him.

She is so interested in how he grows and what he is learning to do.

Some days we stay in our pajamas for a long long time.

moe's kisses.

now I'm hungry.

I feel blessed beyond what I ever imagined for my life.

I also have been so tired I was nauseous.

haha. that's motherhood I suppose. :)

Trying to soak up this time of our life... and to look past the hard moments/hours/days and see the beautiful gift that these three are in my life. I remember drawing my "family" when I was little. I always was so wanting to be a mommy. I wanted to know what they would look like!

and now when I look at their faces I feel like I've always known them.

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