Why hello all of you! I hope as you read this post you are full of thankfulness, food and family love! Thanksgiving is such a GREAT time of the year =) Plus anytime that I get my husband home from work four days in a row---I'LL TAKE IT!! It is so nice to wake up together and have all day to do whatever we feel like! Lilly also loves having her 'Dada' home all day/everyday!
The past few weeks have been great in my life as a full time wife/mommy. I wish I had some phenomenal excuse for my lack of posts this past month, but in all honesty I have just been enjoying my time with Lilly at home and continuing to develop our daily routine together. Initially when I started staying home I figured we would find one routine and stick to it---but with Lilly it can change everyday! One day she takes 3 hour naps and loves reading books all day-quite the angel, Some days she is a hellion just destroying everything in our house and sticking anything in her mouth that she can. Days like that I prefer to get out of the house---go walking, go to store or library, whatever it may be that I can do to stimulate her in other ways (i.e strolling down every isle in Sam's Club) lol Lilly loves riding in a cart and looking around--as long as she's not tired. If she's tired and crabby it's not fun for anyone =) I have also learned that I am not a window shopper. Window shopping just makes me depressed because I want everything and can't have any of it! It's pure torture--just teasing myself. I don't know why women do it!!??
The library has quickly become one of our favorite places to go. They have story time with the kiddos multiple times a week where the 'teachers' read, sing and interact with them. I love this for multiple reasons but #1 is the interaction with other kiddos. I think it is very important to continue developing her social skills with other people than just her family. I also love the library because they have tons of sensory bottles, magnet boards, games, and toys she can play with! Not only has this given me a chance to see which toys Lilly prefers without having to buy them but it also is a great way for her to be able to play with other toys with out us having an apartment full of them! Living in an apartment we just don't have the room for a ton more toys---even like five more toys is too many at this point haha. I really can't wait until we have a house and more SPACE! The other thing I love about the toys and sensory bottles that they have at the library is that they have given me GREAT ideas on things I can make for Lil! Then of course Kyle's favorite reason I love the library---ITS FREE!! Can't beat somewhere you can take your kiddo for quite some time that gives her something else to do, a change of scenery and costs us nothing! =)
We are saving up for a downpayment on a house and the budget is nothing I can be messing with right now. Infact, one thing I intend on blogging more about is how we budget and ways we save money--I feel that's something all families can benefit from sharing! Any friends/family/readers that have fun, unique ways of how their families save money I would love to hear them! =) I would also love to hear any FREE fun things and places I can take Lilly during the cold winter months. I really enjoyed going on long walks with her, but now that it is colder, that is out of the question. I was thinking that I'm going to start going to the mall and walking with her---can I get in trouble for that? I feel bad just wanting to go walk around for an hour or so without buying anything but hey---this mama wants to get her steps in and get out of her apartment every now and then!
Anyways, to finish this post Thanksgiving 2015 was a major success! We had two different 'Friendsgivings' this year! One with our good friends: The Silva's and The Gangle's. It is always so good getting together with these two families because we all have children around the same age and we have all been friends for going on 6 years---before all of us were married to each other actually =) Anyways, I absolutely adore my monthly gatherings so I can get some quality girl time in with these two lovely ladies and their families:
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| (L-R) Mrs.Carrie Gangel, Mrs.Margo Silva and Myself <3 |
Our other friendsgiving was at Kyle's friend, Aaron's loft downtown Kansas City. This was our second year in a row attending this one and it was great! There are always new people there and there is always a focus on God which I absolutely adore! It is so refreshing to be surrounded by other Christians!
Thanksgiving morning we woke up and went to Kyle's parents. We had a fabulous breakfast of waffles and fruit and got to spend some quality time with 'papa' and 'mawmaw'! Lilly hasn't quite gotten saying 'grandma' down yet but it is close! We even got to spend some time with Great 'Mawmaw.' Great Grandma Edna is amazing! She has so much sass and attitude in her--she always makes me smile when she is around. This Thanksgiving she gave us a gift we will never forget---she gave us a gold chain with a single pearl on it that she wants us to pass down to Lilly when she gets older. It is beautiful!!! I was so touched because I adore family heirlooms and this was Lilly's first (besides the first ring Kyle gave me...I want to give that to her on her 13th birthday!) She also gave me this little dish (see below) to be my earring holder. Last time I went to her house I saw she had all of her earrings on it and they looked to organized and pretty; I informed her that all of my earrings were just in an old plastic bobby pin holder. Every time I wanted to wear earrings I had to dump them all out, sort them and put them back in. LOL I was so touched that she gifted me this and now it adds a little bit more femininity to our bathroom I didn't realize was missing! <3
After Kyle's parents house we went to my parents out in Higginsville. It was the first time since Kyle and I had been together that we spent almost the entire day with them and it was nice! We don't see them as much as I would like so it was great to just sit around for several hours and chit chat, eat and watch football. The other thing I really enjoy at my parents house is that the Sprint cell service out there is basically nonexistent which means no facebook/pinterest for me and no Clash of Clans for Kyle lol just good ol' fashion Thanksgiving day fun! Only downfall is that I forgot to take a lot of pictures. =( Oh well--memories live in our hearts and our minds, not in our phones anyways.
This week is push week for me and the cast of Raytown First Baptist's Christmas Pageant, which mean full dress rehearsal every night and Opening Night on Friday! =) I love feeling those performance butterflies every night and going through the whole process of fine tuning a performance, watching it all come together. What's even more awesome is going through it all in the name of God! He has done amazing things in my life and I am so honored to be able to help touch so many people this holiday season in his name. And let me tell you--there are some PIPES in this cast! So many good singers, dancers, performers and the orchestra is amazing! Last night was night #1 with the orchestra and a full run through and I got goosebumps several times!! =) This show is FREE folks and there are several performance times/days to choose from! Bring your family and enjoy a great production with an even better meaning behind it all! For ticket and time information click HERE! Well time to get dinner ready so I can eat before rehearsal! Have a great evening and even better week, everyone!!! Happy Monday!
