Happy 3rd Birthday, Aubree!

1. Her best feature is her smile. You will think about her smile for days after you see it.
2. Her hair does not knot unless it gets something stuck in it.
3. She is a good sharer, if asked nicely.
4. She loves to color (paper, skin, etc).
5. She loves Dora the Explorer.
6. She has such a good imagination. She has imaginary phone conversations every day, She will pretend that people she knows are over visiting. She also makes me pretend cookies.
7. She cuddles her baby doll when she sleeps.
8. She likes to play in the sandbox.
9. She doesn’t mind getting dirty, but wants to clean up promptly after playing in the dirt.
10. She says please and thank you without being told to do so.
11. Her favorite song is “ABCDEFG.”
12. She likes to shake her groove thing.
13. She’s hilarious and she knows it.
14. She is cautious.
15. She wants to do everything by herself.
16. She doesn’t like amusement park rides.
17. She still wants to put everything in her mouth.
18. She likes to brush my hair. She calls it “making me a puppy.”
19. She likes long French fries. She will sort through her pile of fries to eat the “big” ones first.
20. She purposely snorts when she laughs.
21. She likes to push me on the swing.
22. She learned how to snap. She is extremely proud of herself for this feat. It is the cutest thing ever.
23. She likes to sit on the counter and “help” me make dinner.
24. Ask her what her name is, she will say “aubalee.”
25. Caura is her best friend.
26. She is gentle with Saige and loves to make Saige smile.
27. She loves books. She loves to read them herself, or be read to. She especially loves big look and find books.
28. She loves to play (mess) in the sink.
29. She is not extremely social, but will generally attach to one person at each place we go. This person usually does not mind because Aubree will just cuddle with them the entire time.
30. It takes her a little time to warm up to people or activities when in a group.
31. She learns how to do things on her own, and always has. She learned how to drink from a sippy cup and a juice box just by watching Caura do it. She just recently learned how to ride a tricyle, and roll her tongue. All without anyone teaching her.
32. She loves doing movements to songs.
33. She likes to push the buttons on the microwave.
34. Her favorite color is purple.
35. She likes to put everyone else’s shoes on.
36. She likes to be told that she’s “silly.” And likes to tell others that they are “silly.”
37. She’s nuts about nuts, although she calls them all peanuts.
38. She really wants Caura to like peanuts. When Caura says, “no thank you,” when offered nuts, Aubree turns to me for reassurance and asks, “Peanuts are good, right?”
39. She wants to do everything Caura does.
40. She likes to sound out words. To her, every word starts with a “t.” “T-t-t-t-red, t-t-t-t-couch, t-t-t-t-baby.”
41. She likes to pray. She prays for people every night. She also prays for her baby dolls, stink bugs, and for swiper to stop swiping.
42. She lines up all her baby dolls on her pillows when she goes to sleep. Then they all have to be covered by the blanket. Then her favorite doll has to lay on top of her.
43. She has the cutest nakey dance ever.
44. She really gets her feelings hurt if someone other than Mommy or Daddy tries to discipline her.
45. She loves lip gloss.
46. She likes to wear her hair in a braid or a ponytail…for about 10 minutes.
47. She eats so much better if it’s off of my plate.
48. She is “strong-willed.”
49. She likes watching shows on Netflix.
50. She cleans up without being asked, but doesn’t clean up when she is asked.
51. She likes to show her “muscles,” and tell everyone she is “strong” or “big.”
52. She loves to play hide and seek. Her favorite spot to hide is wherever Caura is hiding.
53. She likes to put mousse in her hair.
54. She likes to eat bananas, but only “the white part” (meaning she wants it peeled before I give it to her).
55. She points with her middle finger.
56. She refers to everyone as “he.”
57. She holds up random fingers on her hand and asks me what it means (in sign language).
58. She can now steer her bike and the train at Nanny’s.
59. She can swim “all by herself” (with swimmies).
60. She doesn’t like to go in the pool if it’s too cold.
61. She likes to ask me what time it is.
62. When she gets out of the bath, she likes to see how big her wet footprint is on the bath mat.
63. She loves to snort like the characters on Peppa Pig.
64. She responds better to a whisper.
65. She treats bread as if it were just a plate. She just likes to take off or lick off whatever the bread is holding.
66. She likes to eat peanut butter with a spoon.
67. She likes to brush her own hair.
68. She likes to make Saige laugh.
69. She follows Caura.
70. She can be a bully to Caura.
71. She likes to eat oatmeal when it’s cold.
72. She likes to draw “faces.”
73. She likes to play that I’m her Baby.
74. She likes to answer the questions asked on the kids’ shows.
75. She likes when I spin her around, hold her upside down, etc.
76. She likes to spin on the tire swing.
77. She likes to give me Big kisses, tiny tiny kisses, loud kisses, quiet kisses, quick kisses, long kisses, and lots and lots of kisses.
78. Often when you tell her she looks beautiful, or she did something well, she will say, "I'm a suppah star!"
79. She loves to wear her flip flops.
80. She loves marshmallows.
81. She likes to strap herself into her carseat by herself. She calls it her “magic.”
82. After she brushes her teeth, she likes to show me how sparkly they are.
83. She sleeps with a warm blanket, even if it’s hot out.
84. In the bath, she puts bubbles on her face and says she looks like Santa.
85. She wants to read “Little Red Riding Hood” every night.
86. She likes to take pictures with my camera.
87. She loves her “baby,” a doll that will forever trump all others.
88. She says anything that she really likes is her favorite. (She has several favorite shows, foods, toys, etc.)
89. She likes to smell candles, lotions, lip gloss, etc.
90. You do not want to wake her up before she’s ready. You don’t wake “the dragon.”
91. She has very expressive eyes.
92. She has a great “cheese” face when asked to say “cheese.”
93. She loves feetie pajamas.
94. She doesn’t like to be called any nicknames.
95. She wants to put on my deodorant every day.
96. She says “Bye, Sweetie!” to Caura when she gets on the bus.
97. She likes to get water from the water cooler at Church.
98. She can be extremely meticulous, or “OCD” about things. For instance, she straightens things up in a row and puts things in a pattern
99. She likes to tell people that she loves that she wants to keep them.
100. She is a sweetie and a blessing, and her family loves her very much.

How to Save On Christmas Gifts

Who needs to save money while buying Christmas presents this year? (I mentally just saw hundreds of hands raised). There are so many ways to save at Christmastime that you should never have to pay full price. Here are several ways to save this year (warning, I’m giving you a lot of websites):

1. Use coupons. With today’s economy, stores need your business. They put out coupons and deals to get your business.

2. Sign up for the email and mailing lists at your favorite stores. They will email and/or mail you coupons and promotional information. Set up a separate email account so these type of emails don’t get mixed in with your personal emails.

3. If you shop on line, please please please use one of the rebate sites, such as ebates.com How does this work?
-You sign up.
-When you go to shop online, go to ebates.com first and type in the store you are planning to shop in.
-The website will list all coupon codes available for this store, as well as the percentage of cash back that you will receive after you finish your shopping. (For instance, if Old Navy is offering 5% cash back, and you spend $50 dollars, you will get $2.50 in cash back).
-You click on the store and a “ticket” pops up and automatically directs you to the store.
-Shop.
-Within a few days, you will receive your cash back in your ebates.com account.
-Ebates will then send you a check quarterly. This really works. I’ve been using this website for over a year. If you do decide to sign up with ebates.com, please use my referral link:
http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=uvvwrtYpsbmHyJHJg10WXA%3D%3D
When you make your first purchase, I will get $5 for referring you, and you will also get a $5 or $10 gift card.

4. Check out daily deal sites. These are sites such as Groupon.com and Livingsocial.com. They have daily deals where you can buy vouchers to stores, restaurants, and for services for about half the price you would normally pay. For instance, I recently bought a $20 voucher for Whole Foods Market for $10. Last year for Christmas I bought a $50 voucher for Coldwater Creek (my Mother-In-Law’s favorite store) for only $25. I got to buy her $50 worth of clothes and I only had to pay $25. It was great! There are so many of these type of sites, if you want a list of all the daily deals, go to Livingrichwithcoupons.com. Every day this website lists all the daily deal site deals available.

5. There is a website called Restaurant.com. This website allows you to buy a gift certificate for a restaurant. You choose your denomination. For instance, you can buy a $25 certificate for $10. This will be in the form of a printable page. My idea is to find the recipient’s favorite restaurant, and buy a gift certificate for $10. Then, when you give the gift, add in an extra $15 in cash for them to use at the restaurant. They then will have $40 to spend at the restaurant, but it only cost you $25. *Just so you know, this website often has sales making the $25 certificate as low as $2 to buy.

Now, go get a head start!

Mother's Have Three Arms

Mothers have long said that when they have a child, they should also get a third arm. However, Mothers don’t need to look ridiculous with a third arm sprouting out of a random part of their body. They already have three arms, it’s just that the third arm is not in the form of an actual arm. When their two arms are full, the Mother’s third arm comes in the form of…
…their toes, to pick things up off of the floor.
…their chin, to hold the bottle that is feeding their baby.
…their mouth, to open things.
…their child’s own arms, to hold on to their Mommy while she is using her real arms.
…bags/pockets/bra straps, to hold things
…armpits and elbows, to hold even more things (you know Mommy’s have to hold a lot of things)
…their breath, to blow the baby’s too long bangs out of her eyes
…their shoulder, to hold the phone to their ear when they are holding a child in one arm and fixing the ponytail of the other child with their other arm.
…their knee to hold up their child against the sink so she can wash her hands.

The funniest thing about this third arm, is that Mothers use them without even thinking of it, and without much difficulty. The rest of the world sees the Mother using their “third arm” and often will offer to help them because they look like they are having a difficult time. However, the very resourceful Mother will usually say, “No thanks, I’m fine.”

WAIT UNTIL THEY'RE IN HIGH SCHOOL

I have three little Girls. I’ve always known I was going to have Girls. I am completely happy with this. I get to play Barbies and dress up and sing Disney Princess songs all day long. I know America’s ideal is to have at least one boy and one girl, however, I do not in any way feel like I am missing out. I am completely happy and satisfied with my three beautiful, healthy, well-behaved, and fun girls. No, I don’t want to “go for the boy.” No, I was not “trying for a boy” when I was pregnant with Saige. I was trying for a baby, and I got a stinking cute one.

For some reason, when people find out I have Girls they feel the need to tell me, “Ha, just wait until they’re in high school.” Please stop telling me this. Every age so far has brought good and bad, and I’m sure we will get through the less desired parts of the teenage years, and we will find that the good will once again outweigh the bad.

I'd much rather you tell me something encouraging...or just tell me my Girls are cute.

Quick Tips

Here's a little list of random tips that I felt were important enough to share, but that weren't important enough to have an entire post written about each one.

1. When you bring a “wishing well” item to a bridal shower, don’t wrap it. If it’s special enough to wrap, give it with the regular gift. You don’t have to wrap a bottle of dish detergent. Also, don’t demand that the bride “open the wishing well” at the shower. Again, we don’t really need to see that she got a bottle of dish detergent.

2. Don’t throw out your rotting bananas. These are the bananas that make the best banana bread and banana cookies.

3. Use a lint roller to get off dust on your lamp shades.

4. If you don’t have a lint roller (for lamp shades OR clothes), roll a piece of tape around your fingers sticky side out, and use that.

5. Peroxide is pretty good at getting blood out of fabrics.

6. Before you put conditioner in your hair, squeeze out the excess water. It will make your conditioner work better because it will be less diluted.

7. Don’t ever wear white underwear under white skirts and white pants. Wear flesh colored underwear. Please.

HEAVEN IS A LITTLE BIT SWEETER ---- for Aunt Sandy

Heaven is a little bit sweeter
Now she can dance in jubilee
God tells her, “good and faithful servant”
He tells us “I will comfort thee.”

Heaven is a little bit sweeter
This world is a little less
Her kindness, her calmness, and her love
Among others, she was one of the best

Heaven is a little bit sweeter
Here, there is much to reminisce
We will never forget her, how could we?
She will be forever missed.

Heaven is a little bit sweeter
Her suffering has come to an end.
We’ll see you again one day... we love you
Dear Mother, Sister, Daughter, Aunt, and Friend.

Natural Birth...WHO DOES THAT???

On September 27th, 2006, at about 11:45 pm, my water broke. A few hours later, my contractions finally started. I got an epidural after my “hee hee whooing” made me hyperventilate. Caura was born at 11:04 am (on September 28th). I was a fan of the epidural.

On October 29th, 2008, I went to the hospital to be induced. I was given a dose of cervidil at about 9:45 am. The cervidil immediately put me into labor. I was moved to a delivery room and requested an epidural. My water broke. A very short time later, the baby was ready to come out. The epidural was at the door, but it was too late. After 8 minutes of pushing, Aubree was born at 1:43 pm. I became a fan of natural birth.

On April 8th, 2011, my baby’s heart rate was going all over the place. I was 4 centimeters dilated. My doctor sent me to the hospital for monitoring and then to have the baby. This time, I was better prepared to have a natural birth. I learned how to “hee hee whoo” without hyperventilating. I learned how to make my body relax during a contraction. I learned how to focus and be calm during the contractions. I learned not to fear the contractions, but instead welcomed them because I knew each contraction brought me closer to having my baby. My Midwife broke my water at 8:15 pm. Saige was born at 10:02 pm.

The 10 best things about a natural birth:
1. You don’t have to have an IV or a catheter.
2. During labor, you can get up, walk, and change positions.
3. Your baby will be born with wide open eyes. Everyone will comment on how she is “so alert.”
4. You can immediately get up and walk around after the baby is
delivered.
5. You don’t have to get a needle in your back, and you don’t have to
heal from that needle in your back.
6. You don’t have to wait hours until you can feel your legs again.
7. You are in control of pushing. You know when to push and for how
long. You won’t “over-push.”
8. Many times it makes the whole birthing process (especially the pushing) go quicker.
9. You will feel so incredibly empowered.
10. For some reason, you just heal quicker.

Are you thinking about having a natural birth? Have confidence. You CAN do it!


*Disclaimer: Natural birth is a personal decision. I in no way feel that I am better than anyone else because I had a natural birth. I understand that having a natural birth is not a possibility for everyone. I understand that I have had pretty easy and quick labor and deliveries without complications, which made it more possible to have a natural birth.

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