Thankful!

There is so much that I am thankful for this year and I can't help but feel so lucky for everything in my life.

• for my wonderful husband who provides for our family and who loves me and Kayla so much!
• for my healthy and beautiful daughter who makes me smile on a daily basis.
• for my mother who loves me and my own family unconditionally.
• for wonderful friends.
• for the job and steady income that I have.
• for Kayla's day care who takes care of her while we are at work.
• for my iPhone and iPad.
• for Starbucks and Coke. Ha!

Fun Checks

I can't even remember the last time I wrote a check. I haven't had a checkbook in years! Every place imaginable to mankind takes plastic or cash so why have a checkbook, right? Until recently, not having a checkbook was fine with me. But I guess not every place takes plastic. I go to the bank/ATM every Friday to pull money out for Kayla's day care (who does not accept plastic!!!). It got pretty old quick. Banks are awful on Fridays!

So I searched all over the internet to find the cheapest place to get checks made. I was not about to pay my bank a ridiculous amount of money for this. Thanks to Walmart Checks (who even knew they did this?!) I was able to order super cute preppy checks for less than $10. That's a steal in my opinion. Now paying for day care every Friday won't hurt as bad since I'll be writing on my pretty checkbook :)

Almost 4 nights into the week and still no take-out!

I am counting from Sunday here. I don't even want to know how much money we spend on eating out, take out and then add on my weekly grocery bill to that. It's a bit insane that I grocery shop almost every week and yet we still eat out! Madness, I tell you!

But I am trying to domesticate myself a bit more and feed my family a home-cooked meal every evening. Somewhere between giving birth to now - the cooking woman in me disappeared. I used to love cooking. I was all about it. I enjoyed the time spent in the kitchen. It gets a bit hectic from the hours of 5 and 630pm. Cooking a meal after work just seems too much some days. Kayla's been at day care all day and all we want to do is hang out and play.

This past Saturday my mom came to visit and I was able to grocery shop alone and cook dinner before J got home from work. In fact, food was done and waiting for him. I decided to make Pioneer Woman's spaghetti & meat balls. I just love her website and plan on getting her cookbook. Everyone loved the meal. I think the best compliment came from J - he said it tasted just like what you would get from a restaurant who makes their food from scratch. Kayla loved it, too and my mom even took some home with her. It was so good we had leftovers for dinner on Sunday.

I have already started looking into what I'm cooking for Thanksgiving and I even have a plan for the leftover turkey. It's just the 3 of us but I am off this year for the first time in 4 years! I am spending the day at home with Kayla - watch the parade on TV and louge and then cook a feast for our little family!

Christmas Cards

I remember getting so excited last year that I can finally send Christmas cards with our family's picture on it. But the combination of working full time and being a new mom to a 4 month old baby kinda took over my life. I couldn't keep up with an infant then but running around a toddler now is no joke. But I am determined! I looked early on for a photographer in our new town to make sure that I can schedule a session. Of course it took me till the beginning of October to actually book a session but at least we have/ had one.

I was so excited for this session and of course come the day of, J couldn't get off work early. Go figure! But we were able to reschedule for another day and my hopes for the perfect family Christmas card is still alive.

This past couple of weeks have been spent online looking for the perfect card. There are just way too many vendors and hundreds of designs out there that it's a bit hard to choose. Thanks to my Google Reader and blog-reading addiction I came across this awesome promotion by Shutterfly!

This helped me narrow down the search and who can really turn down free stuff right?! I have used Shutterfly numerous times for prints - it is super convenient because I don't have to go anywhere to pick up the prints and the quality is always good. Not only that but everything is delivered right to my front door. Shutterly also offers personalized mugs and photo wall art. I think this will make perfect presents to grandparents who can't get enough of their grandkids!

Now I have to decide which card to order.

15 months. one week late.

I am a week behind on this. Kayla turned 15 months last Monday. I came in to work that day then realized that it was my baby's 15th month birthday. It really bothers J that Kayla has a birthday every month. Haha! It's not like I go out and get her a present every month nor do I get her a cake. What scares me though is that I might be that mom who does the month age thing - 18 months instead of a year and a half - 24 months instead of two years old. That mom. I really hope not. I'm sure once she's a year and a half that the month thing will be done.

So what has Kayla been up to lately? She has her own language and is not really a fan of using her words. She likes to point at things that she wants. She attempts to say shoes all the time but it sound more like "shish". It's so adorable. She also tries to put on her shoes, too. I have a feeling that this girl is going to love shoes. She tries to jump when I say jump only her feet do not lift off the floor - she swings her arms and tried to jump though. She knows her body parts - head, eyes, nose, belly, and legs.

She eats really well. She loves the standard Cheerios and Goldfish. She loves cheese and pasta just like her daddy. She adores anything potatoes as long as they are fried. She loves broccoli! Loves!!! And she can't get enough of tuna salad. Two servings at school kind of can't get enough.

I think that she is going through a bit of separation anxiety. It doesn't matter if I'm dropping her off at day care or if I'm leaving for work and she's staying home with J. It's always filled with tears. I really hope that this passes soon. I want to be able to walk away from her feeling good that she'll be okay although I know that she eventually stops crying.

I'm afraid to even say it, but I think that we are seeing early signs of the dreaded terrible 2's. This little girl is very strong-willed and opinionated. She has outbursts when she doesn't get things her way. She would flail and fall on the floor in fits and in tears. Sometimes we just laugh 'cause it's a bit dramatic but there are days when she just can't let things go.

All in all, it's been a fun ride so far. Kayla keeps us on her toes. She brings us so much joy and gives us something to look forward to everyday. I can only imagine what the next 15 months will bring!

Rain boots

Now that I've moved to flood-central when it rains - I need these!

I hate you, rain!

It's raining. A lot. It hasn't stopped since late last night. It's getting out of hand. I didn't know I moved to Seattle. Ha!

It's been a very eventful month. I can't believe that it's been almost a month since our move. A lot has changed this past 30 days. J is still enjoying work. I received a job offer the day after we move. Kayla has started "school". I've been working for a week now.

Our little family is enjoying our new city. We have met some new people and are starting to get settled into our new norm. I'd like to think that Kayla likes her school. I know this whole daycare thing is very new to her - to all of us. The teachers tell me that she likes the kids. She rubs their heads and gives them kisses. She even gives her favorite teacher "sugar" before we leave for home. Drop-off is still a mess at times. She whines and cries but I know she stops right away. I call at least twice a day to check on her. She is very excited and happy when I come in the afternoons to pick her up but sometimes she cries 'cause I think she remembers that I left her.

All in all, everything is peachy. I'm looking forward for the rain to go away, a whole weekend at home with hubby & baby and finally getting a paycheck again.