month in review : april2012

Holy smokes! Tomorrow is May 1st. Serioulsy!? Where did the month of April go? This month has FLOWN by!!! Before I know it, it's going to be August & I'll be sending Ava off to kindergarten.....and I really don't even want to THINK about that right now!

This month hasn't really been TOO exciting. But it has been busy. And I think that's what made it go so fast. We spent a LOT of weekends with the Fitts & Adams families. The hubs & I were able to squeeze in a few "kid free" date nights. I made the big decision to start selling Scentsy. And Ava had her first tball practice. We had our Easter picnic at the park.....Auntie Molly even came to see us!!!

April. You were a fun month. But really, time needs to start slowing down just a bit. I hope May doesn't pass so quickly.....but is just as fun & exciting!

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photo a day{april29:circle}

today was a fairly lazy day. the kids played, the hubby did yard work, and i got the downstairs somewhat clean. this weekend was a little bit of a weird one.....but in a good way.

i'm sad the weekend is over.....it went by way too fast. but, i'm ready for the week to start because i miss my mom!! (yes i know. i'm a big girl...but i hate not getting to talk to her on a daily basis!)

photo a day{april28:1pm}

both kids napping. floors mopped. laundry done. dishes washing.

time to be lazy.

photo a day{april27:somewhere you went}

I would like to thank the wonderful Sandmeier family for keeping my lovelies so the hubs & I could have a double date night with the Fitts'. We had a BLAST! First, there was dinner at The Brickhouse. And then, we headed to Humphrey's to see Blackeyed Susan.....only the most awesome 80's cover band! The hubs works with their bassist/lead singer. It was an AMAZING night with some AMAZING friends.

dinner at the brick house. 

there was an awesome chevy chase look*a*like! 

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i don't know who was more entertaining.....this lady or the band......

one year.

April 27, 2011.

Started out as a completely normal day. Minus the threat of severe weather. 

As the day progressed, so did the weather. The kids & I spent the majority of the day bunkered down in the kitchen in our "safe spot".

I was okay until I got a phone call from my mom letting me know she made it home from work. I was glad she made it home......however she was locked out of her house. No power meant no garage door opener. And no house key. I had her spare. I was fine until I realized I had her key. My dad was in South Carolina. Colin was at boot camp so he had NO clue what was going on. I called the hubby at work and had him look at the weather to see if there was any kind of break in the storms. He said it looked somewhat clear, but didn't want me to leave the house. Instead, he wanted my mom to come to our house. I told him I was going to her since her house was a LOT safer than ours. So, I loaded up the kids and flew out to my moms. Seriously, I have never driven so fast in my life. 

Once we got to my moms, we brought candles & blankets downstairs into her basement for just in case. We decided to make some dinner......and then the hail started. I knew that was a bad thing. They always say that it hails before a tornado. We quickly finished what we were doing and went down into the basement. We could see the wind picking up out the back door. The hubs called to let me know that he made it home from work and that I needed to stay where I was. It wasn't long after that, that my cell phone died. And so did my moms. We had NO communication what so ever with anyone. Little did we know, less than three miles from my mom's house, a tornado touched down and completely took out a neighborhood. We didn't find that out until the next day.

I don't think anyone slept that night.

The next day we were able to really look at the damage. My mom & dad's pool was FULL of leaves, branches, chairs, and their American flag. Their USMC flag was still on the porch. The kids & I made our way home. Thank GOD everything at our house was still in tact. Minus the power. Nobody in northern Alabama had power. They were already saying on the radio that it would be at LEAST 5-7 days before power would be restored. 

The hubs told me to pack up clothes.....and pretty much everything was dirty!! We decided to leave. We didn't know where we were going......just that we weren't staying home with 2 kids (a 4yr old & a 3mo old) for a week with no power. As we were packing up, our neighbors were doing the same. We asked where they were planning on going & they had the same answer as us....."I don't know". So......we decided to make it a beach trip and head to Florida.

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So many people lost EVERYTHING in these storms. I am SO beyond thankful that my family & friends were all safe & spared from any devastation. My heart & prayers go out to all of those families who were affected by this storm (and the tornado outbreak earlier this year!). 

mom & dad's pool when i got to their house

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again.....

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their yard.

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again! can you spot the dogs!?

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the next day. this branch was impaled in the yard. apparently my dad had quite a time getting it out. he left it in there until colin got home from boot camp!

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furniture.

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what a mess.

photo a day{april26:black&white}

who knew the kitchen floor was the popular place to play today!!

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photo a day{april23-25}

april23{vegetable}

best thing about warm weather....grilling yummy kabob's for dinner!!

*and....no cleanup!!*

april24{something you're grateful for}

love my hubs.....more & more every day!

april25{looking down}

this cat ALWAYS looks so mad. i swear....she is nice when she wants to be!

i'm taking the plunge....

....and becoming an official Scentsy consultant! I am BEYOND excited about this new adventure! I am in LOVE with all things Scentsy & a bit obsessed.....so I figure it's the perfect "job" for me. Besides, it will still allow me to stay home with Gray when Ava goes back to school & still feel like I'm contributing financially to the family.

I meet with the consultant who did my party this past Friday on Thursday. I am SO ready to get the ball rolling with this!!!

Now....I'm off to re-mop my dining room floor AND re-bathe my son....he decided to dump a glass of milk EVERYWHERE. Lovely!

photo a day{april21-22}

april21{bottle}

john freida has never let me down! i have FINALLY found a hairspray that actually works AND doesn't break my wallet!!

april22{the last thing you bought}

okay. so technically i bought these on saturday night. i didn't go out shopping at all today....GASP! i know. it's amazing! but not quite as amazing as these yummy ice cream cones!!

photo a day{april20:something you drew}

i am in love with my chalkboard creation on the pantry/laundry room door!!!

photo a day{april19:orange}

gerber daisies are my most FAVORITE flowers of all time. so when i saw that publix actually had pretty, not fully bloomed gerbers.....i had to get them!

photo a day{april17-18}

april17{something you don't like}

i LOVE this girl with all my heart. and i would do ANYTHING for her. however, i do NOT like the fact that she's growing up so FAST!!! please time, slow down!!!

april18{hair}

today. grayson's hair totally matched the mood he was in. wild & crazy. i still haven't figured out what he managed to rub all in it either......

what do yo do.....

.....when your Mother in Law treats your terribly? Seriously. Ever since I had Ava....its like my Mother in Law finds someway to turn anything & everything I do or say into be being mean or me trying to keep Ava away from her. This is starting to cause some MAJOR friction between the hubby & I.

Here's a little background on the relationship (or lack there of) with my mother in law........

• After I had Ava, my mil said she would keep Ava two days a week to help is save a little bit of money on daycare. I guess it was around February when I went back to work. Everything was going great.....until she started showing up later and later in the afternoons with Ava. By April, she decided that she couldn't keep Ava anymore...I was "too demanding" with schedules and being on time. I'm sorry. I was raised by a Marine, so being on time was a must. She picked the worst time to drop the news on me - the hubs was in Israel for work & my parents were off on a "family cruise" with my grandparents (minus me...i got kicked off because i had ava!). Oh, and, she told me via email. Awesome.
• We went to a family reunion in Georgia with the in-laws. Ava was still fairly young. While on this trip, I was excluded from a picture of the hubs, his mom, and Ava because, according to my mil, it was "family only". She had her feelings hurt because I fed Ava her nightly cereal (she took it as me saying she didn't know how to feed her....when really, it was my one on one time with Ava since going back to work). Also, I purposely turned Ava away from the mil at dinner one night while we were in Ga so she couldn't see her (even though the sun was BLARING through the window right into Ava's eyes.....me turning her had NOTHING to do with that!!!)
• I was told by my mil that I stress her out so much that her breast cancer is going to come back. That's a very nice thing to say to your daughter in law. 
• My mil's mother didn't hesitate to jump in on the "let's hate vanessa" bandwagon & told my mom that I will NEVER be a part of their family. Again, total awesomeness. 
• We went out to dinner as a "family" after Christmas this year....I guess it was sometime in January. Not ONE person tried to have a conversation with the hubs & I....or our kids. It was the most awkward dinner I have ever been to in my entire life.

Now, all of a sudden, my mil has become VERY pushy with getting to see Ava. I totally understand that she wants a relationship with Ava, but it seems like she only wants that relationship when its convenient to her. And that's not fair to Ava. It makes me nervous that the mil is wanting to spend so much time with Ava.......only because I have a feeling that in about 2 or 3 weeks, the interest will be gone. It's happened before. Ava is at the age now where she gets used to routine. For example, she knows that EVERY Tuesday night after ballet & dinner, Emmy & her mom (our awesome neighbors!!!!) are going to come over to watch "Biggest Loser". She gets so excited! So I guess I'm worried that she's going to get used to the mil coming to pick her up once a week & then it's just going to stop. I have NO problem what so ever with Ava getting to spend time with her "Nana".  If anything, I want my kids to have a relationship with the husbands side of the family, but they never show interest in our kids unless it's convenient for them. And I HATE it! It makes me sad that Ava is closer with my brothers wife (even before they were married!) then she has ever been with anyone on the hubs side of the family. But, they're never around....so I guess it's to be expected.

My feelings have been SO hurt by my in-laws.....mostly my mil, her mom, and her sister. I have yet to receive an apology from any of them for all of the hateful things they have said to me. And yet, somehow, I'm the bad guy & I have to just forget about it & I have to fix these broken relationships. Thats just not me. Sorry, but I can't do it. And this is putting such a strain on my marriage. I don't know how much more I can handle. Right now, it feels like the hubs only cares about making his mom happy. And that really hurts.......

photo a day{april12-15}

april12{stairs}

grayson was ready for a nap. he sat at the stairs and waited for me.

he's getting too big!

april13{something you found}

grayson found his cool shades in the car.

you never know what will pop up in the carseats!!!

april14{how you feel today}

these kids make my heart happy!

*we had a lunch date earlier in the week & found these CUTE dresses for the girls at old navy for DIRT cheap! jenny & i decided that for our family date night we would let the girls wear them! AND then jenny had the bright idea to dress the boys in their batman shirts :) they thought it was hilarious!

next family date night.......we WILL have our husbands wearing the same outfits!!*

april15{sunset}

today was kind of weird weather. one minute it looked like it was going to rain....the next it was sunny. so. we had one of the laziest sunday's ever. the blinds stayed closed. we stayed in jammies. and we watched LOTS of tv. so....i have no photo to share.

the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

Yesterday was terrible. Horrible. In so many ways.

Okay. So maybe I'm exaggerating just a TAD. It wasn't really THAT bad or terrible or horrible. But it definitely wasn't a good day.

Here's how my day went :

*Ava got to spend the day with the mother in law. BUT! Before they left the house, Ava snuck a candy. And when I asked her about it.....she totally lied. Right to my face. Straight up said "No". If it was MY mom that came to take her out for the day.....she would have stayed home & not gone with Chick. However, I let her go with the MIL to avoid any drama (HA! that's impossible when it comes to my mil!).

*Grayson & I spent a good bit of the day with Chick....this was actually the best part of my day! We had lunch & got to do some shopping. I finally got my birthday present from Chick too!!! She got me some super cute shirts & money to spend on new summer shoes! (all of my flip flops/sandals are super stretched from being a cow when i was prego with grayson!)

*Went to my dentist appointment & found out it had been cancelled because I never returned a "confirmation call" that I never got! So, that needs to be rescheduled!! Blah!

*Came home to a nice little letter from work saying that my "PRN services will no longer be needed". Seriously!? I worked all of TWO DAYS since being hired back in SEPTEMBER! I was FURIOUS! I'm currently waiting on the head of HR to call me so we can have a talk. This seriously made my mood go downhill FAST! I still haven't told the hubs. I was so upset that I didn't really feel like talking about it! Hopefully after talking to HR, something will be sorted out!

*The MIL came home with Ava. And Ava finally told the hubs the TRUTH about eating a blue m&m before she left in the morning. I was LIVID! Not only that, but the MIL had taken her shopping and pretty much let her get whatever she wanted.......KNOWING that she had lied to me earlier in the day. So needless today, Ava got her brand spankin' new Lalaloopsy mermaid taken away AND whatever new Rapunzel doll that the MIL got her taken away.....whenever that comes in!

So. Here's to hoping that today is a good day! Fingers & toes are crossed..........tightly!

photo a day catch up....part two

april9{younger you}

i love this girl.

april10{cold}

we had a lunch/shopping/play date with some friends today.....and it was a little chillier out than normal. grayson wasn't too sure about the carousel after lunch!

april11{where you ate breakfast}

we had breakfast in the living room this morning. sorry for not having a picture. hopefully i get better with keeping up with this!!!!!

photo a day catch up....part one

april3{mail}

believe it or not...but we didn't get ANY mail!!! no junk mail....no bills....nothing! it was actually kind of nice!!!!

april4{someone who makes you happy}

today was the first day of kindergarten registration. i can't believe my baby girl is starting kindergarten in a few short months!!

april 5{tiny}

slacking. i had to work. so no photos today!

april6{lunch}

i had to work today......and left at lunch.....and then had to get the kids, go for a hair appointment, & run some errands. needless today....there was no lunch today!

april7{shadow}

such a busy body!

april8{inside your wallet}

kind of boring & not too exciting!!

....happy easter....

the easter bunny has already stopped at our house!! 

he (or she!!) left lots of goodies for ava & grayson! 

i can't wait to see their faces when they see their full baskets tomorrow morning!!

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grayson's basket of goodies from the easter bunny!

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ava's basket from the easter bunny!

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the hubby got to ride the carousel after dinner with the kids tonight.....i think it's safe to say he had just as much fun as they did!!!

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tomorrow we're spending the afternoon at the park with my parents for an easter picnic!

hope everyone has a very happy & blessed easter!!!