Giveaway for Cynde's Mini's

      

Cynde's Mini's is a great place to find that perfect Christmas ornaments,  wedding cake toppers, Halloween decorations and more! She makes amazing personalized things. I love these types of ornaments, cause they can be personalized by each year. We have had one since we got married in 2004 and our family seems to keep growing. They are so cute and very well made.

Here are some of her ornaments that I love....

   

    

          

    

What Christmas mantle wouldn't look adorable with one of these?!

 

 Cynde made me an ornament very similar to the penguin one below. It is a gift, so I am not going to disclosed the family I chose to put on it, but you get the idea. It is simply adorable!

  

 Cynde is offering one of you a $25.00 gift certificate to her shop. All you have to do is go to her shop and tell me what you would get with the gift certificate. Then come back here and leave me a comment about what you liked best.

Want some extra entries?!

1 extra entry- Be a follower of my blog

2 extra entries- Become a follower of my blog

2 extra entries- Grab my button

3 extra entries- Blog about this giveaway and leave me a link to where

4 extra entries- Buy something from Cynde's Minis's and leave me a comment telling me what you bought.

(Make sure you leave a comment for each extra entry you get, otherwise they won't count)
*If you don't have a blog, you can still leave me a comment to win, just make sure to include a name and e-mail address.

The winner will be drawn on Saturday December 5th.

'Not Me' Monday!

          

 

Are you feeling guilty for leaving the windows open to catch a breeze when you know the air is on? Feel like a bag lady for wearing the same shirt for days on end? Get tricked by a fake news story and feel foolish? We'll don't! Not Me! Monday was born out of my desire to admit some of my imperfections and reveal a few moments I'd rather forget. You may find it therapeutic to join in and do the same thing!

Head over to Mckmama's blog to see why everyone else isn't perfect!

I did not hope this entire week would be cut short by the arrival of my 3rd precious offspring. I am so anxious to see what gender this precious little baby is, I can hardly stand it.

I am not being anal about keeping up on the cleaning, so that when I go into labor, I don't have a messy house. I could never leave my hubby and family with a dirty house, just because I went into labor. :)

I did not really enjoy my two day work week and 5 day long weekend. It did not fly by too fast, full of contractions and hopeful wishes of the baby coming. 

I am not still tired from shopping this weekend. I would never shop all weekend and only make a dent in our Christmas shopping. I do not still have the hardest people to shop for and want to try to get them done before the baby comes. Otherwise I have to trust my hubby to get the rest of the presents and trust that he has finally caught onto my good taste in shopping.

My hubby would never come to all my beckon calls this past week, and I would never be a tad bit more crabby than usual. Why would I have a reason to be crabby?! I did not enjoy every minute of him getting things for me and know that there will be major pay back after the baby is born. Thanks babe!

I do not have a wonderful giveaway coming up this afternoon from this awesome shop, that you don't want to miss. It will be a great giveaway for the Holidays, so it will end quickly on Dec. 5th. Make sure to check back by this afternoon. 

Have a great week!

Did you miss me?!

 

I have been so busy lately, and very uncomfortable with this 'basketball' in my belly, that I haven't sat down to blog or catch up on any blogs lately.

Here is the run down of what I've been up to.

Thanksgiving was a blast and very low key this year, we just had immediate family here to celebrate and we had a little time to lay low. {Much needed lately}We celebrated with my husbands family on Thanksgiving and we are celebrating with my family today, along with my dad's birthday, which somehow always seems to get mixed in with Thanksgiving. :) Sorry dad!

My awesome  hubby got on the computer at 5 am to get a black Friday to get me an awesome deal on a laptop...I will be the very proud owner of a laptop that I can do all my blogging on and also work on my business website stuff on. I have always been the one to get the hand me down laptops, but I finally get my own! Thanks babe!! I can't wait to set it up when it gets here.

My sister-in-law, my mother-in-law and I all went out shopping on black Friday. We were planning on going out at 5am, but decided against that, since I hate crowds and we really didn't need any of the door busters. We headed out at 7am to Kohl's, and I did pretty well. I got Chase a very styling snow suit set, brown and yellow, with brown plaid snow pants....not I just need to find matching hat and mittens. (anyone seen any around?)
I got some misc. toys for the kids at a great price and I got my mom's gift too, which I would have got one for myself, if I didn't have a belly the size of a basketball. (no mom, I am not going to write on here what I got you) :)
I got the kids their Christmas PJ's (we get them Christmas PJ's every year and they get to open them on Christmas Eve.) Abby got adorable snowman ones and Chase got Buzz Light-year ones. (I usually get Christmas themed ones, but this year I went with stuff they like.) Kohl's had horrible half hour long lines, to check out, so I took the easy way out, got myself a chain for my necklace that broke, just so I could check out at the jewelry counter and save myself 25 minutes.
Then we headed to Jimmy Johns, for an early lunch, cause shopping is tough work. :) (Thanks for lunch
Chris!)
We stopped by Famous Footwear, Target, Macy's and  a few more stores. We had a pretty successful shopping day and boy were my feet ready for a break around 1:30 pm when we got done.

Saturday we laid low and had a family day. I spent most of the day doing laundry (my favorite thing to do on a weekend) and cleaning bathrooms, cleaning our room and setting up the cradle, vacuuming, dusting and picking up the rest of the house. Sounds like a fun Saturday right?!
At night we headed to the Mall of America to meet the in-laws for some dinner, shopping and fun rides at the park at mall of America. The kids had two unlimited ride wrist bands, so they went on rides until they couldn't ride anymore. We walked around for about 3 or more hours and then the kids went on rides with daddy and papa, while I sat and people watched, so I didn't have to walk around anymore.

Today is Sunday, and I am still pregnant. Not quite sure how after all these contractions. The doctor said at my last appointment that I wouldn't last another two weeks and each day that goes by, I am not sure I am going to make it through that day. I have my next appointment on Wednesday and we will see how far I have progressed, I am in so much pain and sleep is unheard of, thou I do want the baby to keep growing, I am also ready to be done. We are going to China Inn (the restaurant that I ate spicy food at the day before I gave birth to Chase and Abby) on Thursday night, for a full meal of spicy food, so my guess is Friday for baby arrival date, anyone with any other guesses??

Off I go to eat dessert. Have a wonderful rest of your weekend...I'll be back tomorrow with a 'Not Me' Monday.

Happy Thanksgiving!

    

Happy Turkey Day!!

I hope you all have a wonderful, restful, thankful Thanksgiving!

A few things I am very thankful for....

- Two beautiful healthy kids and a 3rd on the way

- A loving supportive husband that loves me and tells me all the time

- A family and an extended family that is very supportive and loving

- A job that I love, where I can stay home with my kids

- A home to live in and and soon to be a new house for our family to make new memories in

- Great grandparents that love spending time with their grandchildren

- Awesome friends that could never be replaced

There are many more things, but I have to make a dessert for tonight and I have family to spend time with! :)

It's that time of the year...

  

Christmas shopping time!!

Remember that toy that you loved getting for Christmas!? The one that you didn't care about opening anymore presents and you just wanted to sit in a corner and play with for the rest of the day?!

I need a toy idea like that for my kids. I know little fun things to get them, but I need a toy that is 'kid tested and loved.'

Chase is 4 and Abby is 2....what toy did your kids, nephew, niece, cousin, or friends kid love at this age? Chase is very into being able to play with toys by himself and fun games, so we already got him a couple sets of 'big kid' Lego sets.

 He also loves Abby's magnetic dress up dolls, so we got him a boy version.

He also loves books, so we got him a Toy Story seek and find book.

I have yet to get anything for Abby. You'd think she'd be easy, which she is, but I really want to find the right toys to get them. I don't want them to be popular for a few days and then get put on the bookshelf to collect dust. (Don't get me wrong, I love dusting) :)

I will however be getting my Dora loving princess this house, that she has loved playing with at other people houses lately.

I got Abby a set of Polly Pocket dolls, that come with those rubber dresses and she is just now getting into them, and plays with them quite often. There is one problem, the rubber dresses are still a bit hard for her to get on the dolls by themselves, and she likes to change their outfits a lot. I end up changing the dolls most of the time that we are playing with them. I guess she will eventually be able to do it, but there are also a lot of small pieces. (With baby #3, that might be hard) All their shoes and accessories are very tiny pieces.

If I branch out on a limb and get her another set, I will probably be getting her this one.

A few weeks ago when we were at a friends house, this kept my kids busy for at least an hour. They definitely follow after me, they love to help clean. Do any of your kids have this 'My cleaning Trolley set with hand vacuum cleaner'?! It is a bit spendy $49.99, but I think both my kids would love it. (Not sure how sad this may be, but when I was a kid, I would have loved this!)

Well, I am off to continue my Christmas shopping with my best friend! {Two girls...old roomies, no kids...endless possibilities!} Time for some much needed girl time!

Have a great 'hump' day!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY!

   

Themed Picture Contest-'Priceless Moment'

   

 The winner of the

is......

{drum roll please}

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.

.

.

it was a very close race...

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Paige over at Mommy to Charli Girl
 

(What a great expression on her face)

Paige, please e-mail me, so I can get your gift out to you.

Thanks again to everyone for playing. I think there will have to be a monthly Themed Picture Contest.

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Any because I can't leave you hanging all morning without a picture, or two...

'Not Me' Monday!

          

 

Are you feeling guilty for leaving the windows open to catch a breeze when you know the air is on? Feel like a bag lady for wearing the same shirt for days on end? Get tricked by a fake news story and feel foolish? We'll don't! Not Me! Monday was born out of my desire to admit some of my imperfections and reveal a few moments I'd rather forget. You may find it therapeutic to join in and do the same thing!

Head over to MckMama's blog to see why everyone else isn't perfect!

I did not have Wednesday through Friday off of work, cause the little boy I watch was sick. I took the kids to the indoor play park on Thursday, to get some time to lay low, while they ran off some energy. I would never take them to McDonald's, just because it was in the mall, easy and convenient. I did not find Chase and Abigail's finishing touches to their Christmas outfits, while I was there. I am not super excited to get Christmas pictures taken by a friend you all might know...Erin over at It's All About Alex. I just have to try and wait for this baby to come, so baby #3 can be included in the Christmas pictures. 

 

I ended up going to the doctor's office late Thursday afternoon, cause I was having contractions and they wouldn't go away. I thought they might be Braxton Hicks, but they had already lasted for more than an hour and a half. I got to the doctor and there is no way they would look at me and say, "You are supposed to be at a different office." I would never come back with a remark like, "I remember very well that I asked for this office, cause it is right by my house." I never go to the other office. They got me in and did an exam, confirmed that I was having 'not fun' contractions and that I was dilated 2 cm. They told me to go home and see if they got worse. They ended up spacing out and I have been having them every so often since then, but nothing has changed. They said that I will probably go sometime in the next 2 weeks.I am not super happy about this news!

This weekend was not filled with fun family times that are fun traditions that I can't wait for every year. We did not have a huge cookie bake at our house on Friday night, with over 20 family members. We were not all 'wearing' flour, sugar sprinkles and  cookie dough, while singing Christmas songs in the kitchen. Somehow, most the cookies did not get left behind at our house and there is no way we have been eating them ever since.

We took the kids to the Macy's display this weekend and Abby was in love with the whole display. It was the same display as last year, but they changed a few things and added some new stuff. At the end, as a tradition, we got huge cookies, that we can never finish and there is no way Grandma bought both the kids their own huge beautifully frosted sugar cookie, for $4.25, that they both took one bite of and said they didn't like it.

 I would never be ecstatic about having a 2 day work week!

Happy FRIDAY!

    

I am off to a fun morning at court, trying to get back some of the money we lost with our renters from our townhouse. What a fun way to start your morning...huh? Then I'm coming home to make 2 big batches of sugar cookies for our annual cookie bake tonight at our house with family. Time to bake tons of cookies and hopefully not eat too many. :)

::

For those of you that asked (and that were following my tweets)...yes, I went to the doctor last night, because of contractions and didn't really get any new information. (thank goodness, I don't want the baby this early)

She said I am having contractions, they wouldn't stop them, because of my other early pregnancies and to just wait it out. Chances are they will lessen and then when it is 'time', they will come full force. I am dilated between 1 and 2 cm, but that doesn't really mean anything. Lets hope this baby stays put for about 14 more days, when I attempt to eat my spicy Chinese food. :)

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Don't forget to vote on your favorite picture from the Themed Picture Contest. There are some really great pictures!

My little man

       
Chase loves his aunts and uncles! He loves being around family and spending time with each one of them. Here are some pictures from Nick and Sara's wedding...Chase was in heaven being part of all the attention.