Monday, February 25, 2013

Weekend Recap

Friday was Haylee's 1st Daddy-Daughter dance at her school.

I thought it'd be like when I went to a dance at school, you go and get pictures, dance like 5 minutes and leave. To my surprise they stayed the entire time and Josh said they even danced the whole time (when they weren't getting pictures or eating cookies). I wish I was a fly on the wall because I can't imagine Josh dancing in public, that's just not something shy Josh does.
Haylee looked absolutely beautiful.
As I was curling her hair I looked in the mirror at her sweet little face thinking, "I am so blessed to have such beautiful girls."
And boy are we in trouble in about 10 years!

Saturday we took the girls to AZ Mills and ate at Rainforest Cafe. That is their favorite place to eat even though I think the food is strange and overpriced. We walked around before taking a spin on the carousel and calling it a night.

Yesterday we sold all the girls outside play stuff and then I ordered their new swing set. I am so excited for it to get here although Josh is not too excited to put it together. When it's all said and done I know they will love it!
Josh has been working on his business taxes this weekend and all I can say is I hate the government. We pay so much in taxes and get crap back yet other people barely pay crap throughout the year and get a huge return. Something isn't adding up. And I find it weird the taxes have changed so much or something because last year we got a nice return and our income hasn't changed too much. I don't get it. Whatever.

Tonight we are hitting the gym for the first time in about 3 months and I am so excited. I got the ok from my chiropractor as long as I stay away from a couple machines. I bought the cutest swimsuit this weekend for our cruise but unless I faithfully go to the gym the next 2 months, the suit won't look so cute! So here's to getting in shape for this Spring/Summer.

62 days till sailing!

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Cruise Planning

Cruise Booked- Check
Airfare- Check
Transportation Between Airport And Port- Check
Excursions- Check (just waiting on confirmation from Grand Cayman)

I have spent this week researching and booking excursions and it's getting me so excited for our cruise. I am crossing things off my "to-do list" and trying to find answers to all the questions I have about cruising. Who knew there was so much to it. I picked out our preferred dinner time, read about appropriate attire and looked over what the ship has to offer. I am so so so excited!
 
Our itinerary looks like this-
Sunday- Depart Miami Port at 4pm
Monday- Day at Sea
Tuesday- Cozumel
*We are swimming with the sea lions and snorkeling at Chankanaab National Park.
Wednesday- Belize
*We booked the ATV ride (through the muddy jungle) and Cave Tubing adventure.
Thursday- Roatan
*We are Ziplining through the Mayan Jungle and exploring the West Bay Beach. Possible renting Jet-Ski's there.
Friday- Grand Cayman
*This is the port I am looking most forward to. I booked the Stingray City and Island Tour which starts off with us swimming with Stingrays. Then we go to the Turtle Farm, Hell, Tortuga Rum Factory and 7 mile beach.

I've learned that you save a ton of money when you don't book your excursions through the cruise line. It was like double what we paid or more.

I am so thankful my Mom took the week off of work to stay with my girls. Now I just have to get all of their stuff ready and uniforms picked out for Haylee and lots of notes on how we roll. Good luck Mom!

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

V-Day

We had such a fun Valentine's Day. We were greeted by lots of love when we came downstairs.

We gave Haylee and Natalee books, balloons and candy.
Oh and cupcakes to share. How could I forget those? That's all Natalee talked about all day!
Josh gave me beautiful flowers and the yummiest cookie boutique.
I made him chocolate covered strawberries and took him out to dinner and a movie on Saturday (more to come).
We wrote messages on red heart balloons for Jackson and let them go for him.
And then we ate yummy heart pizza from Papa Murphy's.
Finally, Natalee got to eat her cupcake!
And so did Hannah and Haylee :)
Friday was Haylee's class party. Haylee picked out her flower Valentine's from Pinterest and they turned out super cute.
I was surprised at all the goodies she got. It use to be that you passed out a Valentine. Haylee came home with lots of suckers, candy, glow sticks etc. She had a blast!

On Saturday Josh and I went to our favorite restaurant, Outback. We had the usual, Teriyaki Sirloin and Wallaby Darned. It was so delicious! After dinner we went to see Side Effects. It was a good movie although Channing Tatum is killed in the beginning, total rip off!

I love my husband and my sweet little girls. I feel so blessed.


Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Ramblings

I haven't done a Ramblings post for awhile so here it goes-

Natalee is getting way too big. She's sleeping great in her big girl bed, dressing herself and has a very extensive vocabulary, it's crazy. My little baby is not a baby anymore. Waaaa!

Haylee is doing great in school. I can't believe the things she is learning in Kindergarten, not to mention all the tests she has on a weekly basis. Last week she had to recite her 4th quarter poem which she did perfect and she also had 4 additional tests. This week she has 4 too! Her poor little brain is working so hard.

I only have 3 chiropractor appointments left and I am nervous how my back is gonna feel when I'm done. I'm not even back to the pain/discomfort level I was before the "incident" I had last month that started all this. I really hope I don't have to live in pain everyday like I have been the past year. I have a couple of stretches to do each day and other than that I get an adjustment every week and a half to 2 weeks now.

Everytime I get on the floor to do my stretches the girls lay right next to me and do the same thing. Cutest thing ever.

Last week while playing in the backyard Natalee took her pants off and peed in the grass, standing up. You'd think she was a little boy or something. Speaking of boys, everyone and their Mom is pregnant right now and it seems like 95% of them are having boys. Almost makes me want to get in on the boy craze of 2013...or not. Besides the fact our insurance doesn't cover maternity I think I have my hands full with these crazy little girls.

The girls love the new Disney series, Sofia the First. They seriously watch it 10 times a day. Too bad there is only a new episode once a week. I'm pretty sure Natalee's 3rd birthday theme will be Princess Sofia. I can't wait to start planning, it's just about 2 months away!

Haylee is still wanting an Ariel party. She picked that theme last year and stuck with it all this time. That's an easy one. Only 4 months till she is 6!!!

Aside from watching Sofia the First, the girls like Doc McStuffins and Natalee is still obsessed with Hop. First it was Rio, now it's Hop. Haylee cracks me up because she is constantly DVR'ing her own shows and knows how to navigate all the recording on her own. She loves to watch her shows while Natalee is sleeping.

As I said above, Natalee is sleeping great in her bed but lately she has gotten a little too comfortable and likes to get out and mess around at nap time. One day she put her ginormous Minnie in her bed and then started crying because there wasn't room for her. Another time I found her reading books using her Thomas flash light. She seriously cracks me up. Sadly she has a cold or something else right now so her sleeping hasn't been all to great period the last 3 days. I hope she feels better soon because she is a whiny, crying mess these days.

Saturday Josh and I went on our first date night in 3 months. We ate a quick dinner at Rubio's so we could make it to an early show. We went to see Identity Thief which was pretty funny. I laughed out loud a few times, that girl just cracks me up.

Sunday we finally made it back to church. Since I hurt my back, sitting for long periods of time wasn't happening. But I did pretty good at the movies and made it through church so I am super happy. It was good to be back. The girls were really happy too. Now they keep saying they wanna go back to the gym. One thing at a time...

Sunday marked 4 months since Jackson went to Heaven. I love seeing the rainbow on the tile every morning, it's a sweet reminder of the Rainbow Bridge poem. I miss my sweet little boy so much. I have worn my Jackson necklace everyday since Brianne gave it to me, it's my source of comfort. Haylee has been talking about getting another dog lately and my heart just isn't ready for that. I did finally submit his pictures and description to Shelter Pups and I can't wait to see how it looks. At least I will have a stuffed replica to hug when I'm sad. I'm pretty much done with the memory book I made of Jackson. The last time I worked on it I was in tears so I haven't looked at it since. Seeing his pictures make me smile but then the sadness takes over as I'm reminded of his absence.

Sunday night we took the girls to Circus Vargas, a tent set up in the mall parking lot. I got discounted tickets ($13) through Living Social and this was the first time I've even heard about it. It was actual amazing, I was so surprised. There was awesome magic, the motorcyclist in the metal ball cage (Natalee was afraid of), a guy launched from a cannon, a really cool trampoline scene and so much more. The girls loved it and we all had a blast. At the end everyone from the show goes out in the lobby to take pictures. Haylee wanted her picture with the Cris Angel wannabe. He was actually really good.

Josh has been working late these days and some days it's enough to kill me. There are days where the girls play so good together and they both behave and I can help Haylee with her homework and get dinner going before Josh gets home. Then there are days like today where Natalee has been a wreck and it was 4pm and I hadn't showered, done Haylee's homework with her or even thought about dinner. But at the end of the day I am thankful for the craziness. I am thankful I have 2 beautiful, healthy girls and a husband who loves me so much.

Josh was in an accident last week and was rear ended on the freeway in his work truck. Thankfully he is fine but getting a call from him saying "I am gonna be late, I was in an accident" in the last thing I ever want to hear.

The jewelry business is doing fantastic. This has been the best month yet since I started. I will have our Maui trip funded in no time! And thank God since we are getting robbed on our tax refund :/

I am waiting for the go ahead from Josh (getting his vacation request approved) and I will be finalizing our cruise. We will be cruising the Western Caribbean the end of April for our 10 year Anniversary. We go to Cozumel, Belize, Isla Roatan (Honduras) and Grand Cayman. I never realized everything that goes into planning a cruise. We have to make sure we find airfare that gets us there early enough so we don't chance missing our departure, we need transportation to and from the airport and that's just the beginning. I'm really excited though and can't wait for our romantic cruise where we get to sleep next to each other in twin beds. :)

Thanks to refinancing our house and not having a February house payment our cruise is already paid for. I just hope we get enough on our tax return to cover all the "extras" like airfare and all the excursions. Our payment went down like $250 and we paid nothing for the refinance. Great deal!

I guess that's all the rambling for tonight. Whew!

Monday, February 4, 2013

Snow!!!

We finally made it to the snow this year!

We ended up going about 30 miles past Payson where we found a little pull off and spent the next 2 1/2 hours partying. This was part of Hannah's B-day surprise.
We played in the snow till the girls were freezing.
It was actually a beautiful day and really wasn't too cold. I didn't even wear my big jacket. The girls clothes were soaked so that is why they were so cold.
Then we took a lunch break which included eating pickles,
cupcakes
and dancing to the hokey pokey!
Then we had to go finish up our cute little snowman!
Natalee loved him so much she wanted to squeeze him.
Then Daddy karate chopped him!
So then it was time for some sledding fun. All 3 girls had a blast and their little giggles cracked me up.
After that Natalee decided to make her own snow cone because trying to eat it straight from the ground wasn't working too well.
It was a wonderful day spent with the family!
And these little cuties were so excited they finally got to play in the snow.
We sure love our sweet little girls. And we love making memories!