Best.Day.Ever

Seven years ago today was hands down the *best* day of my life.  Skip came home safely today.  There is no better feeling in the world than when I finally got to hold him after all those months.  The joy, elation, and relief I felt were just indescribable. 

I will never forget those feeling and I will continue to honor this day every year for the rest of our lives..

Fur Baby Friday

Today I'm linking up with Mrs. Monologues for Fur Baby Friday!!

My two sweet pups do not get enough facetime on here, so I'm pretty excited to do a post just for them!

First up is my rarely-seen {by the blog and by me honestly} pup Shiba.  She is a Shiba Inu {I know, real original on the name...what can I say, it suited her!}  Shiba Inus are a Japanese dog and are kind of like miniature Akita's.  She's only 14lbs full grown.

Shiba is seven years old.  Skip and I bought her back in April 2005 right after he got back from Iraq and just before we got married.  She was our first baby and we loved her so much {still do don't worry}

Shiba is pretty much the weirdest dog I've ever met though.  She's more like a cat.  We can leave a bowl of food out for her and she will just pick at it when she's hungry.  She hates taking walks {which made it fun at the condo when we had to walk her} and all she wants to do is hide.

Seriously, she spends most of her day upstairs in either the nursery or our room, hiding behind doors and in corners. 

She hates pretty much everyone and everything except my little sis and chips....those are her two favorite things ever.

 She really is like the weirdest dog ever, but I wouldn't trade her for anything else in the world!

 And sure she might be the world's worst watchdog, but when she snuggles up with me in bed?  Best thing ever. 

My second fur-baby.  None other than the one and only Mr. B!

Mr. B is an English bulldog we got when he was only 7 weeks old back in July 2008.  I was pregnant with Little M at the time.  He was soooo tiny!

This is the first picture we ever saw of him!  We got him from a breeder in Ohio so we didn't see him until we brought him home. 

Seriously, I could not believe he was that little.

Obviously we had to get a bulldog...Marine Corps mascot!

This was his first day home.  Look at him compared to Shiba!

I wasn't sure that adding another dog right before a baby was the best idea we'd ever had, but this little guy wormed his way into my heart immediately.

Mr. B is the most loving, lazy, stinky dog I have ever met.  He does get a little nudgy and likes to chew things.  But other than that he's awesome.  All he wants to do all day is find a little piece of sun and pass out for hours.

He's not that into exercise, but will take walks with Skip.  He just loves the girls and they love him right back.  I'm so happy they have a real tough and tumble dog to grow up with. 

Mr. B and Little M when she was a baby!

At 48lbs he's actually on the smaller size of bulldogs....which makes him believe he's a lapdog!  He's totally good natured and puts up with a lot from us.

The Giants didn't lose a game when he wore this shirt!

He is a pretty good watchdog and a total love all at the same time.  As tough as having two kids and two dogs is, I wouldn't trade this little love nugget for anything either!

Few Things for Sale

Okay I'm doing a last ditch effort to sell a few of the girls clothes.  Shipping will be added after the sale for what it cost.  I can accept money through paypal.  Email me at mommymandymusings@yaho.com or leave a comment if you want anything!

Carters newborn short-sleeve and 3 month long-sleeve $5

Carters newborn $3

Carters 3 months $4



Sold




Sold




Sold




Sold




Sold



Our Day of Love

I know a lot of you won't agree with me, but I LOVE Valentine's Day.  I always have and always will.  It's not because I need a day marked on the calender to remind me to love on my husband and family...trust me, I know how precious life is, I love on them every second possible.  But it's nice to have a day set aside to just focus on each other.  And I will take any excuse for a date night!

Skip and I actually went out to dinner the night before Valentine's Day....we didn't want to take my mom away from my dad on the actual day!  We went to a local steakhouse we'd never tried before.  I don't eat red meat, but the chicken was amazing...they also had the best onion rings I've ever had in my life! I like getting to try new places with Skip.  After dinner we stopped by our friends new house to check it out before heading home.  It was a much needed, long overdue night out with my man.

Dressed up for dinner!

How cute is my man...made a heart out of ribbon for my gift!

For the past few years, we have made Valentine's Day about Little M, and now Baby C too!  It's fun to get them a few treats, work on some crafts, and take her out for a special dinner.  The girls woke up that moring to some Valentine's Day door hangers and hearts and flower pieces all scattered between their bedrooms.  When they came downstairs we gave them a few trinkets I picked up at the Dollar Tree for them. 

We quickly had breakfast then had to get the girls dressed and ready to take Baby C to her 8 month doctor's appointment {my 18 lbs girl is totally healthy!} Afterwards it was home for lunch and naps.

For dinner we headed over to one of our local malls {and by one of, there are 3 in the same town...3} This is something we do pretty regularly with the girls.  If you have young kids that might not just sit quietly in restaurant, but you and the hubs want to go eat with them?  Go to the mall.  Seriously, will change your life.

First we took Little M to ride the merry-go-round.  She is obsessed with horses these days and so this is one of her most favorite things to do.  She made sure to ride Cindy, who is obvsiously the best horse ever {so says Little M}

After the merry-go-round we took the girls to the Disney store.  Little M loves everything about that place!  She just wants to run around and see and touch everything.  But she is also very good about not asking to buy things really, unless we tell her she is allowed to.  She looks at it more like a museum {which is perfect for us}  But since it was Valentine's Day she was able to pick out a little something for herself. 

It was just about dinnertime and so we headed up to the foodcourt.  That is why you need to go to the mall with your little family if you want to go out to eat.  It's cheap, eveyone can eat what they want, you can roll the stroller right up to the table, and it's always so noisy that fussy kids don't stick out.  It's seriously one of our favorite things to do.  I have even brought the two girls there myself for dinner before!  It may not have been the romantic evening most of you had planned, but it was fun and stress-free.

Happy meal time with her new Beauty and the Beast characters

Happy in her stroller!

By the time we got home it was bath and bedtime for the girls and then relaxing time for Skip and I.  With my two girls now, my heart is so full and I was so happy to get to shower them with love on Valentine's Day

I'm Back, Back, Back in the Blogging Groove

So I'm back now...I think.  Well at least partially.  I have to admit the break was nice, to get away, focus more on my family, etc.  I hated being one of those really vague people in my last post, not telling you what was going on.  Cause I don't like when people do stuff like that, because it's normally just for attention.  But a big issue weighing on my heart recently is not my story to tell, so I won't.  I apologize for being so vague.

But this time off from social media has been a refreshing break.  I was able to spend just a little more time with my little family, and really reflect on social media and how I fit into it.  It's really easy to get caught up in all the gossip and drama {who knew moms could be so much like middle school girls?}.  It's also easy to fall into a blogging trap of feeling like you have to post, how many followers do I have, what do my readers want me to write, etc.  But I started this blog to write for ME, to connect to other people {because let's face it, us SAHM's get a little lonely...hence my Twitter obsession these days} to share stories of my girls, projects around the house, recipes, etc.  And that's what I want to get back to. 

So I promise lots more blogging this week and a little more tweeting.  I have tons of stories to fill you in on, such as Valentine's Day with our girls, Little M's incessant 'we go to Mickey's house in March' and oh yeah my SEVEN MONTH OLD {who is 8 months old now} WHO STARTED CRAWLING.  I thought just two kids was exhausting, but two mobile kids?!?! Let's just say I'm pretty sure I don't need to work out again with all the running around I do!

My Memories Winner!

Hey guys, we have a winner for the My Memories Software giveaway!!  I wrote out everyone who entered based on all the ways they entered, numbered the list, then used random.org to pick the winner. 

So a *huge* congratulations to Lins!  I'll be emailing you about how to get your free software.  And thanks so much to all who entered!

My Memories Review and Giveaway!

I was so so soooo excited when My Memories contacted me about doing a review/giveaway.  I had seen reviews of their company on other blogs and was just dying to get a chance to work with them! 

So what is My Memories you're asking?  It is a website where you can buy digital scrapbooking software!  I know there are tons of you out there who love scrapbooking, and now you can do it online!  Once you've made the scrapbook, there are so many different ways to share it with your friends and family!  You can print it, make a movie, or even add it to your Ipod! 

Besides the scrapbooking software, My Memories also has wedding software {for invitations, thank-you notes, etc} and a photobook studio!

I was able to review the scrapbook software.  Of course I immediately started making one for my baby girls.  I was happy with how easy the process is, and how many options I had to change and tweak things around.  Check out my sweet girls

Now here's the best part for you.  My Memories has graciously offered to give one of my readers the My Memories Suite software {an $80!} for free!!

 Here's how you enter:
{Mandatory}
Go to My Memories and tell me which scrapbook design is your favorite!
Here are some ways to earn some extra entries into the contest.
1. Go to the My Memories Blog and become a follower. 
2. Like My Memories on Facebook

3. Follow My Memories on Twitter
4. Be a follower of my blog
5. Like my page on Facebook
6.  Follow me on Twitter

That is SEVEN total entries to win!!!  Good luck everyone!! Contest will run until February 18th at midnight EST. 

They have also offered a Share the Memories code that provides a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - $20 value! Just make sure to enter my discount code : STMMMS43255 when you place your order!

Disclaimer: I received the software for free in order to do my review.  All opinions are my own.

It's Not Just Morning Sickness...

Sorry to fool you with the title, but no I am not pregnant.  I never will be again in fact, and this post goes into detail as to why.  I'm going to be taking a little break from social media for a while, blogging included.  Maybe I'll be gone a week, maybe more.  But there is a lot going on over here right now, and I really need a break from all the Twitter drama.  I do have a giveaway I'll be posting later that will be running all week, so I will be staying on top of that.  Otherwise I'll see you all when I get back...

Last night when I was on Twitter, Diana linked on her latest blog post, "Done".  I immediately clicked over to check it out, and by the end I was sobbing.  For the first time I felt like all the emotions I felt while pregnant were so eloquently put into words by someone else. 

Growing up, I always thought I'd love being pregnant.  The belly, the attention, and sweet little kicks, I wanted it all.  But what I got was hyperemesis, a really severe case of morning sickness.  With Little M it lasted 20 weeks {which seems like nothing to me now} and with Baby C it lasted every single day of my pregnancy.  The only times I wasn't huddled around the toilet, literally unable to stop throwing up, was when I took the maximum amount of Zofran allowed...8mg 3x a day.  And even then the nausea never went away.  24/7 for 40 weeks I was nauseous.  The medicine gave me headaches, other stomach problems, and made me even more tired than pregnancy should.  Healthy foods?  Made my nausea worse, as did not eating a little something all day long.  So thankfully I was able to put on the weight my sweet babes needed to be healthy. 

I thought it was tough when I was still teaching while pregnant with Little M, but it was nothing compared to the pregnancy with Baby C.  Having another child to take care of made everything so much more difficult.  My pregnancy really took a toll on my family.  Skip didn't work much overtime because I couldn't deal with him being gone too much.  I needed him to watch Little M whenever he was home so I could rest.  He let me sleep in every single day he was home in the morning.  And when he had to leave for work at 6?  He's pack a lunch bag with milk for M, and breakfast for both of us, since it was too much for me to get out of bed without eating something first.  Poot Little M didn't have her mom really...I was a shell of my former self.  Thankfully she is so independant and would play alone, but all the other time together we would just watch TV.  It was all I could handle.

My mom and sisters came over to help out all the time too...cleaning my house, doing laundry, and taking turns watching Little M.  As much as I appreciated their help, it was so hard not to do it myself.

I cried every single day I was pregnant.  That is not an exaggeration....every single day.  I just wanted to crawl into a whole and not come out.  I cried going to bed since falling asleep is hard when you're nauseous.  I cried when I woke up in the morning because the sweet relief I hoped for was not there.  I constantly had to cancel plans and disappoint my friends because I was just too sick.  I could only shower every other day because it was too much to do every day.  I would have to lay down for about 45 minutes after every shower before I had the energy to get dressed.  As much as I tried, I could not think about anything other than my sickness.  And it wasn't just nausea...I was achy, my body hurt all the time.  It's like having the stomach flu all day every day for nine months.

So the day after I delivered Baby C, when the doctor came in to check on me, and she said that if I was thinking about another pregnancy in the future to know it would be worse and that my only next option would be the Zofran pump, I knew I was done.  I couldn't do this to myself again, or my family, or my future baby.  What if the Zofran didn't stop the throwing up?  What if I had to be hospitalized the whole time? What if I lost the baby by not gaining enough weight? What if something happened to me? Those were not risks Skip and I were willing to take.  So Baby C is definitely our last baby.

Am I okay with that?  Sometimes no.  I never wanted two kids.  I wanted three or maybe even four.  I'm mad at my body.  Yes, I was super lucky to get pregnant very quickly with both girls, but my body does not gestate them the way it is supposed to.  I so want to be one of those girls with a little sickness in the beginning and then coasts through the rest of pregnancy.  If we are only having two kids, I wanted it to be more of our decision, instead of feeling like it was out of our hands.  And other than Diana?  I haven't found anyone else that has suffered through this and come to the same conclusions as me.  That's why I was so happy to have read her blog last night.  I felt like it validated my feelings.  I'm not being selfish in that I just don't want to be sick again for 9 months.  Hyperemesis is life altering, and I cannot put my family through this again.

Everytime Baby C out grows an outfit or baby toy I shed a few tears, for the babies we will not have in he future {adoption is just not something Skip and I are called to} I know it will get easier as time goes on, but it is still a tough reality to live with that I cannot have all the children I want to.  But then I look over at my two beautiful girls and know that I am blessed more than I deserve.

Thursday Five

Today I'm linking up with Nicole over at Flip Flops and Combat Boots for her Thursday Five!

Today I'm going to talk about the five things that make me.....

Joyful

Giddy

Excited

Thankful

Jubilant

The fact that the Giants won the Super Bowl is still making me feel so joyful!  The parade and rally NY/NJ threw for them were just awesome!

I'm giddy about Skip's and my upcoming date on Monday {we're going out a day early for Valentine's Day} We haven't been on a date since the beginning of January and we are long over due!

I'm excited that we leave for Florida in just FIVE weeks today!!!! It will be so amazing to be away and in the warmth!

I'm thankful for my sweet little family.  We are all happy, healthy, and I couldn't ask for anything more. 

The fact that it's Thursday makes me jubilant....girls night with my bestie to watch Grey's tonight!!

What is making you extra happy this week??

eShakti Custom Clothes

Raise your hands if you've ever had to return something that you ordered online because it didn't fit correct.  Yeah that's what I though.  It's so tough because I love the convenience of ordering online {what you thought dragging two little girls to the mall to try on clothes endlessly was my kind of fun?!?!  hahaha}  But I hate that sometimes the exact size I wear, still doesn't fit me correctly.  But with the website I was recently introduced to, eShakti, that problem is no more. 

eShakti is seriously revolutionizing the way we, as women, order clothes online.  Their mission statement is: "We want to make you look and feel fabulous by providing uniquely classic styles in a wide variety of fabrics and color choices in sizes from 0-26W. Giving you the ability to tweak measurements for any item, ensures the best possible fit. We also offer options like changing a neckline, hemline or sleeve design for a truly customized garment, all for just $7.50. "

It is amazing, seriously.  When you go to order your item, you can choose a standard size {which lists the measurements for you, and you also input your height} or a custom size.  With the custom option, you put in your measurements for everything, and the piece will come tailor made to YOUR SIZE.  You also have the option of custom styling...such as the length of the piece...how you want the sleeves on the dress to look, etc.  And you would think with all of these specifications, the clothes would be really expensive.  But they're not!!  I have yet to find anything on there that is more than $100.

I was lucky enough to be able to review this dress. 

You can never have too many little black dresses right?  It shipped in a timely manner and I could not wait to try it on.  And believe me when I say it fit like a GLOVE.  It is perfect to, because with strapless dresses I am constantly pulling them up if it doesn't fit properly.  Not this one!  I'll be able to dance the night away without having it slip down at all.

So make sure to head over to eShakti and check out their vast array of stock and place your first order today!

Disclaimer: I did receive this dress for free in order to do this review.  I was not monetarily compensated at all.  All of these opinions are my own and I was not swayed in any way.