The Life of a Pig Tailed Drama Queen

One would think that with the title of this post and the photo that is being shown with it is enough and would describe my daughter perfectly. But no, this girl is so much more. She is spunky, sweet at times, sassy at others, funny always, a mini adult, shy, yet loud when she gets to know you and a cowgirl, but also a couch potato. She really is the all around girl.


She drives us crazy with her words some days, yets makes us laugh uncontrobably with her accent, personailty, and the looks on her face. If there has ever been a kid that is more like her (non-biological) Father it would be Charli Beth. She may not make sense to him often but they make me giggle as I see them speak to each other, because it is truly like a mirror relfecting off of one another.

She is as smart as a tack, yet homework makes both of heads spin. Her teacher just loves her to "pieces" and I am pretty sure that everyone who comes in contact with her does as well, especially her "little buddy" Bryar. CB is truly the best big sister that I could of ever dreamed of her being. She makes sure he is okay if he falls down, lets him pull her hair even though it is completely unneccassary, and gives him all of the love that she has experienced herself. I have prayed that the drama zone would stay clear from their relationship, although during snack time today she was screaming "MOM, HE IS YELLING AND HITTING ME TO EAT MY FOOD! HE CANNOT EAT MY FOOD. NO LIL BUD, NO NO NO!" Ahh.

Even though my dramatic girl may be full of it at home, she must be very good at school. Charli was picked to be the Student Leader of the Month. She was so excited and recieved a certificate, which of course made her feel even better about it and yes we had to have a dance party in the living room. But even though she is totally all girl, I love her to pieces and I could never imagine my Charli Beth to be any other way than the little drama queen that she is.

Bryar is 11 months already?!

Why does time have to fly by so fast when our babies are little? It seems like a blink of an eye and we are right back here on the 5th of every month blogging new milestones and weight goals. Can I please just hit pause for a while? I need my baby to stay a baby and my so called "big girl" to stay as spunky as she is. Baby Bryar will always be baby Bryar. I could care less if he is 16 and friends are picking on him, my baby is my baby.

Even though the month has flew by, we have accomplished many new milestones. Minus walking of course. It is quite funny that his doctor along with everyone else thought he would walk before he crawled or that he would skip crawling all together. The boy can run like no other, on all fours that is. He is a fast little fella! Even though he is not walking just yet, we are so close in the final steps leading up to walking; holding on to furniture while walking along.

He has picked up clapping and loves to clap at Charli's softball games. He awake from his naps just to sit up and clap with the crowd. He sure is a ham when people start noticing him too.

Waving "bye bye" has recently become a new trick that he loves to show off.
Not to mention that trips out to eat are becoming non-existent since B loves to scream like an exorcist until he gets a bite of whatever we are eating. He is only on similiac advance for bottles (as well as his love for water) and he takes 8 oz at a time.

He is still wearing most 9 month clothes and recently went to size 3 pampers. I do still rock him to sleep but typically he will fall asleep then wake up and cry for a while before i rock him again. It is defiantly a night time routine for us. Our major milestone of this month was that he started sleeping through the night! YES! You read that correctly! He may wake up every now and then but this is golden compared to where we were!!

We are actually attending a NICU reunion this Sunday. Our family is very excited to go back and thank all of the wonderful people that helped our family during the first weeks of Bryar's life.

Happy 11 months baby B! There is not a day that goes by that I do not thank God for blessing me with you and Charli Beth. I cannot wait to see you accomplish more milestones and even though it will be bittersweet I am excited to celebrate YOUR day a month from now. I love you :))

Party Decor Blog Sale

I have several party items for sale that vary from wedding shower items to girl birthday signs. They are super cheap and have been used but were gently removed if used. All banners can be moved around and/or spaced out to preference. I am using my phone so the photos will follow all descriptions and will be out of order (Thank you craptastic blogger app)

*"Mr & Mrs" Wedding banner $10 shipped (navy & yellow)

*"Photobooth" banner (navy & yellow) $ $10 shipped


*Princess 5th birthday collection:
1 Princess Banner
2 - Number 5 door hangers
6 - Number 5 toppers (they are larger than average toppers)
1 frog sign/hanger
(The pictures do a great job in showing the actual sizes)
$12 shipped

*Sweet Shoppe Party:
1 "How Sweet It Is To Have a Friend Like You.." Hanger
6 "Happy Birthday" decor
3 - Number 4 small decor sign

$4 shipped

*Yellow & White handmade rosette paper kissing balls! I have 8, and they are $10 a piece. I will not ship these items do to size and extreme costs of shipping prices.

If you live locally and want to contact me for prices that do not include shipping for any items please do so! We love parties around our household so I am sure that I will be adding more soon!

Email me at paigeleana@yahoo.com for any questions or interest!

Insta-dump : wordless Wednesday!

Coupon Binder

It is a must that I start this post out by saying that I am NOT an expert at coupons or organization! I saw this idea a few years ago on a few different blogs and I think it is a great idea! Since I am now staying home we are having to budget a little better and be more resourceful with things.

So I started cutting coupons like crazy and really I was not sure what to do with them. Throwing them in a baggie or kitchen drawer is clearly not an option for me due to space and more than likely I would loose the bag.

When I remembered this great organizer I went to Dollar General and purchased, business card holders and dividers. I have recycled an old binder that I used in college, for wedding organizing and again for Bryar's nursery ideas! This binder has really had it's money's worth used out of it!

On each divider I wrote the following labels:

Household Items
Essentials
Food
Misc.
Baby
For Others

Not all coupons will fit perfectly in the card holders (maybe baseball card holders work better?!) So I fold mine in half, but it is a must that you can see the expiration date and obviously the item. As I make my grocery list, it is now so easy to find the coupon. When heading to the grocery I do place them in a small bag. Then before checking out I go to a corner and make sure I have each item listed; if I do not use a coupon I brought I stick it in my diaper bag to place back into the binder. So simple!

I do not have my process completely perfect yet but hope to in the near future. Do you have any suggestions for me on using coupons? Or do you use another technique that works great?

I would love to hear from all of you that are budgeting queens!!

The Life You Planned.

"We must be willing to let go of the life we plan, to live the life God has planned for us."

Yesterday in Sunday school we spoke about how we react to a situation or day that spontaneously changes. We obviously are all different, some of us love to live in the moment and others live for schedules and check lists. So what if your schedule is ruined by someone canceling plans or the rain? Do you still think God for the blessing in disguise that it may hold or do you fall in the floor to kick and scream?

I must admit that I am an awful pessimist. I think of the worst situation and make even more horrible at times. I admit it, even though I hate it and I am pretty sure that everyone hates this about me. I wish and pray to change my worldly ways and "set my heart on things above."

I believe that at some moment throughout our week or day we get aggravated at what is occurring. But in all honesty, we do need to remember that no matter the situation (good or bad) God has this all planned for us. I should be thankful for even the smallest blessings and at the hardest times it is to pray we should pray even more.

7 years ago today

I was blessed to be given a second chance, a new beginning and I could not be anymore thankful than I am today. God had huge plans for my life, and I am so glad that he did.

I pray that I live up to be everything he graciously left me here to be.

Comparisons

I am not a fan of comparing my babies to others babies. But sadly, we are all guilty of it. I get really anxious sometimes seeing how behind Bryar may be but then I quickly remind myself how far he has come. I was the same way with Charli Beth since she was 6 weeks early as well.

But what I do love is comparing my two babies and how similar or different they are. I hear constantly of how much Bryar looks just like Curtis. Which is great. I love it! "Never marry a man that you would not want a son just like." Although, I also see a lot of Charli in Bryar, especially as he grows.

This is a photo of Charli around 12 months and Bryar yesterday!

What do you think? Do your kids look alike or do they all look like different family members?