Baby sitting!!

So.. Let me start by explaining.. HOW we ended up babysitting.. 

Shannon came down to help me pick out my wedding gown and also to try on some bridesmaids gowns.. we originally thought Chassidy (who is 3 and the flower girl in my wedding) was going to be with her daddy but that did not work out so she had to come along on the dress excursion.. which was no the less interesting.. The problem with dress shoppping with a 3 yr old is they just want to RUN everywhere and TOUCH everything which is not the best idea in bridal shops! 

But after the shopping it came time for Shannon to go home and Chassidy did not want to leave!! It was soo heartbreaking and pitiful that I asked Shannon if she would allow her to stay a few extra days especially since i don't get to see her that often anyway... She agreed and the baby sitting began! Starting with bath time.. So I'm a little inexperienced to say the least wit

h bath time.. especially now that Chass has gotten so much larger and capable i sometimes don't know what she can and can not do.. So as I was attempting to wash her hair (Which she hates) I tried to use clean water from the spicket not bubbly water from the bath but i forgot to check the temp of the water.. and it turned out that it was FREEZING and i didn't know until chassidy let out a loud cry.. and then as i continued to finish the hair washing we went from freezing to burning hot and back again and by the time i

 was finished she was done with the bath entirely!! Another lesson learned is anything and everything is entertaining for a child just be creative.. I gave her some stamps that i don't use a lot and some ink and she was very happy making "presents" for everyone.. And she really enjoyed gluing ribbon, and puff balls to paper.. she didn't like the crayons though.. guess they were too boring :) She also really likes my dog and cat toys.. 

Day 2 started very smooth we ate cereal and walked the doggies together and watched some tv..before we had to go on our 2nd dress shopping day since it was planned before i spontaneously decided to babysit I decided to continue with the plan.. but what i learned from day prior bring toys.. more toys and bribes! Chass loves candy.. not my choice for her but its her fav. so we use it to our advantage! Sit down and you can have 1 piece.. the works very well

 until she learned where the candy was and could go get it herself!! The other thing i learned is that you have to make your plans around the baby, their attention span and their need to release energy( mostly from all the bribes) so we would have to stop at one stop for us (dress store) one stop for her (chick fillet play ground or the park) this helped the day go by much smoother and joyful although we did still experience a few meltdowns!! 

 But i will say by the time zach got home i was soo ready for him to take over so i could have some big girl time!! I had to leave the house! I am not cut out for the stay home mom biz! But i will say after only 2 hours when i came back he was pooped! She is quite the energy bug.. I love having her visit but when I get to give her back to her mommy I will be glad to have my quiet house back!! 

Stuff comes in stuff must go out!

One thing I try to live by is DE CLUTTER! I have always been sorta a pack rat... I love things.. all kinds of things..collecting things.. new things.. antiques.. which makes for a bad problem when it comes down to a small one bedroom apartment!! So as new things come in I always try to get some old and un used things out. So with the holidays coming to a close...and alot of new things that came in so alot of OLD things must go out! So I spend yesterday evening cleaning out the clutter and I just don't know HOW in the WORLD we obtain so much stuff!! I went through and cleane the closets out of the stuff we don't use and used a site called wilmingtonyardsales.com to post all the decent items that someone else might want and it just so amazing to watch your trash become other peoples treasures! Works for me I declutter and make some extra spending cash in the process!!

Christmas Fun!!

Christmas this year was a muc

h needed improvement from last year.... Last y

ear Zach and I had a nice few days planned were we would go see him family on Christmas eve, take my mom to meet his family and announce our engagment.. We were so excited with our news that we had no doubts that everyone else would be just as excited as we were.. but we were meet with very different reactions.. But.. after the shock wore off and everyone grew to the idea and all is good.. but not only did our "announcement" not go as planned neither did our trip back to our apt! We had planned to travel back to Wilmington that evening so we could spend our Christmas day at our apt with my mom and grandmother but just as we headed out of the county my car brok

e down and we ended up on couches and chairs back at his parents home and begging for a ride back to Wilmington!! Despite this fiasco a Christmas I won't forget but not excactly how I imaged our "first" christmas togethor.. This year was a BIG improvement!!

Zach's Sister stopped by about a week before Christmas on the way to her inlaws and we got to spend an hour with her and her husband, and the baby Which we enjoyed since it is most likely the last time we will see her until May.. And considering this we had our families come to our apartment for Christmas.. which is quite odd considering we live in a small 1 bedroom apartment and both our families have larger homes.. but I had my apartment decorated so homely I was very impressed with the turn out.. Zach's mom, dad, and little sister got to come and experience my crazy grandma and some of my ( and my moms) cooking! It was definatly all I had hoped for.. lots of good food, good fun, and laughs.. with some tears... but good tears!This year knowing we were a little strapped for cash and lots of memories happening all around us with the new baby and two upcoming weddings I decided to make most of our Christmas gifts with one of my favorite crafts going to Zach's mom which was home made coaster made from pictures.. I had taken about 12 of the best pictures of the family as it grows and turned them into coasters.. which brung about a few tears.. that I have been told are good :) So I was very excited that my hard work and fun turned into something that She will be able to enjoy!
The one thing that I learned from this Christmas as everyone opened their gifts this year I noticed the most smiles and laughs from the gifts that I homemade versus the gifts that we had brought.. Despite the fact that many of the gifts we purchased were nice.. I think the thought that went into the gifts was what made the most out of this Christmas! I do believe that I will be home making my gifts in the future.. it is the best post exam stress relief!! (although this time next year I will be working full time)
I hope that everyone else had as wonderful of a Holiday as I did!! As each day goes by I look more and more foreward to the large family and I becoming apart of! I can't wait to see what lies ahead...

White Christmas??

All I ever wanted for Christmas was a white christmas.... And I had all hopes that this year might be the year.. we had a blistery cold 1st day of winter.. and now we are back to BEACH Weather.. With a high today of 74!! How in the world do you get into the wintery wonderland of Christmas spirit when you feel like you could be in a bikini at the beach!! I have my windows all covered with faux snow... white garland on the tree to look like snow.. snowy scenes set up in my apartment all in hopes that one day I may see that unfamiliar white stuff!! Hello Mother nature its December!!! 

Thank you Global Warming :(

The Dress Shopping

Was.. Disappointing.. So I am still in search of "The Dress" that doesn't exist! We drove all the way to Burlington to the bridal mart where they have lots of dresses for very good prices I tried on sooo many with no satisfying results.. So we Leave and go to Raliegh.. and I find this dress that I think is great.. But not for sure.. So we go to the next shop and try on another great dress so Now I have 2 great dresses and I need just ONE "the Dress" So I have decided to have a vote.. On the favorite dress... If you are intersted in participating and helping me make this important decision please email me so I can send the link to the pic. Since Zach can't see I can't make it public.. :(

6 months Until the Wedding

Today is officially 6 months count down which also means it is Zach and I's Engagement anniversary.. 1 year today :)

So now I feel like a TOTAL slacker because I have NOTHING planned for my wedding which is becomeing a very overwelming feeling.. and a almost hopeless task.. The more I ponder what else needs to be done I don't even know where to start.. Yesterday I took one of my bridesmaids to a new bridal shop in town and found the perfect shop to buy the dress.. but no where near deciding one a bridesmaids gown becasue I Don't even have my gown yet!! So thats a bummer.. Then theres the cake and since I live in a different town then my wedding is going to be in.. I can't find a baker! No one in the town we are getting married in has a website and the more I ask the more it seems there is no baker there!! Although, i know that just can't be! The only thing that I sorta know is the reception site and flowers... Seems that I still have no word back on the ceremony site, no sure word about a preacher, no baker, no dresses, no grooms attire, no engagement annoucements, no invitations, and my flowers are still very up in the air since I picked them out for an August wedding and I now have a June wedding.. I just feel so lost and confused.. I don't know that the wedding will ever come togethor..

Should have hired that wedding planner...