Inspiration Wednesday

Wow. It seems like I have been surrounded by yummy visual goodness this entire week (yes, I realize it's only Wednesday) and I just have to share some of my favorites!

• I think I heard the angels singing when I saw this! I'd love to do something similar for Ava's room.

• Calling all moms and Mimis! Have you seen this website?


• When I see this apron, it makes me want to whip up a yummy batch of brownies. I must have it! Check out the website here.


• I still think that I want to take this class. It's self-paced via an instant download and only costs $12. What a bargain!


• I love, love, love this necklace. You can buy the supplies and get the directions on how to make it from this website. The final cost is only $15...who can pass that up??? I love the idea of making some of my own jewelry so this website will definitely come in handy!!


• This photo makes me want to organize my scrap area. It's a total mess right now and not from scrapping. This is the "dumping" place. Don't know where to put something??? Oh, just "dump" it over in my scrap area!

Have you seen any great visual inspirtion lately?

Embracing My Life

Always

leave enough

room

in your

life

to do something

that makes you

happy,

satisfied

or even joyous.

-Paul Hawken

I love this quote! It reminds me that even though I enjoy spending time with my family, a little "me time" is also necessary to keep the balance. I think that a trip to the park with the boys on Saturday and some quality scrapping time and possible photo shoot of Ava on Sunday would definitely make me feel happy, satisfied and joyous!

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

6 Random Things

I've been tagged by Debra (my mom) at Georgia Rectors with a meme.

Here are the rules:

Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Write six random things about yourself.
Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
Let each person know that they were been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
Let the tagger know when your entry is up.


Okay, here it goes...

1. I simply can not function without a routine. I need to know where I'm supposed to be and what I'm supposed to be doing at all times. Without my routine, nothing will get done. I swear it's like my brain just shuts down.

2. Jason was the first and only guy I dated after moving back to Wisconsin in 2000. We met at my cousin's birthday party an entire month before I moved from Chicago. The day of my big move he called to ask me out and we were together only 4 months before he proposed. This year will be our 8th wedding anniversary!

3. I can pick up almost anything with my toes and I can roll my tongue but I can't wink.

4. I'm a list maker. I make lists for just about everything. I even have lists to manage my lists. I know...pathetic!

5. I would love, love, love to own a beach house. Maybe when we win the lottery....

6. If I could have plastic surgery on one part of my body, I'd choose my breasts. Nursing/pumping for three children has definitely taken it's toll on the girls. I just want them put back where they belong...is that too much to ask for???

Here's where I now have a problem. My mom tagged almost everyone I know who has a blog, so I'm only tagging my sister.

Kelly at Half Dozen

My 2009 Word

Do you remember this post from last year? All I can say is that I failed...big time. I did absolutely nothing to simplify my life in '08. In fact, a lot of things happened that only complicated it more!

1. Pregnancy (which turned out to be a totally awesome thing, but being pregnant isn't always easy)
2. Jameson's behavior/speech problems
3. Moving Jameson to Royal Learners (which also turned out to be a totally awesome thing, but the transition was killer)
4. Getting Ayden used to wearing glasses
5. Studying for and taking the CPP exam...sure am glad that's over!

There's so much more but I won't continue to bore you.

So when we rang in the new year, I thought I would give up on having a "word" for 2009. Why add more pressure to my life? But then I realized that even though I failed at simplifying my life, I wouldn't trade it for the world. And then I knew what my 2009 "word" just had to be....

Embrace

I'm going to embrace my life instead of trying to change it. Every person goes through struggles in life. When I think about what some of the people in this country are facing right now, I realize I need to embrace all of the positive things in my life.

1. My family - I love my husband and he loves me. He's a fantastic provider, husband, father and friend. I have three beautiful children who keep me entertained 24/7. They drive me nuts, they make me laugh and they can bring tears to my eyes with just one sweet hug and kiss.
2. My job - I'm employed by a wonderful organization and in these times of economic turmoil I am grateful for even receiving a paycheck.
3. My health - I have Lupus but fortunately it does not control my life and I know that it could be so much worse. My doctor loves to inform me that I'm one of the lucky ones.
4. My friends - I may not have a ton of friends but I believe in quality not quantity. The friends that I have are loyal, honest and devoted. If I ever truly needed anything, they would all be there for me...even the Wisconsinites.

I will continue to experience both ups and downs...that's just a part of life. In 2009 I want to embrace both the good and the bad. In the end, the challenges make me a better person and the joys make it all worthwhile. So if you see me complain too much this year, be sure to remind me of my '09 word!!

What about the rest of you? Did you have a "word" for 2008? Did you succeed, fail or end up somewhere in between? Has anyone chosen a word for 2009?

I miss her

Today is Ava's first day in the nursery at Royal Learners. I don't actually go back to work until tomorrow, but I thought it would be nice to have a "me" day. Now that she's actually gone, all I want to do is go get my baby. I miss her so much! I guess that it's better I'm doing this today instead of tomorrow though. Bawling my eyes out at work is much more embarrassing than bawling my eyes out at home.

So what am I going to do with all of my free time today (sniff, sniff, sniff)? I just took a uninterrupted shower. In 15 minutes I'm going to pump without one of my precious babies needing something from me. Then I'm heading down to Newnan. I have to stop off at Ulta, Old Navy and Kohls. I won't have to lug in a stroller/carseat combo or a diaper bag. I also won't be searching for the boys underneath one of the numerous clothing racks. I'll have lunch with my mom and then return home to pump again. I plan on spending the rest of my afternoon cleaning the house.

Who am I kidding? It took me almost an hour to type this post because I keep staring at the clock...is it time to pick up Ava yet???

All of these were taken last week...our baby girl was 7 weeks old on Friday!

Current Stuff

1. I've got 5 dogs in my house right now and 1 pile of crap. I have no idea who to yell at.
2. Jason is working out of town. 5 dogs + 3 kids - Jason = crazy house
3. I miss my parents. I can't wait until they get back from their cruise on Saturday!
4. I'm not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. At least Ava is coming with me.
5. I got rid of half of the toys in the boys' room yesterday. Their room no longer looks like a miniature Toys R Us.
6. I have to count out 100 peanut M&M's to celebrate Ayden's 100th day of school tomorrow. I swear that his teacher comes up with this stuff to make life more difficult for us parents.
7. I love finding people on Facebook. I just reunited with an old friend from elementary school tonight!
8. I still smell dog crap. There must be more somewhere in this house...
9. I hope my Lupus tests come back with good news and it's just my arthritis acting up right now.
10. Ava is still wearing newborn clothes. I can't wait until she's finally into her 0-3 months stuff!

The one who started it all

After Jason and I got married in 2001, we wanted to start a family right away. We tried to get pregnant for 2 years and ended up thinking that something may be wrong with one or both of us. Then the unexpected happened. My lupus had been in remission for 9 years and out of the blue I was in a full blown flare. My specialist advised us to not get pregnant during a flare but Jason and I were not concerned...we had been trying to get pregnant for some time now without success so there was no way I was going to turn up pregnant now. Ayden - 6 months
Ayden - 1 year

I went in for my routine "girlie exam" right after Christmas in 2003. Because I couldn't recall when my last period was (they were always a little on again-off again), they made me take a pregnancy test. I remember thinking it was such a waste of time and was actually annoyed at my doctor. Imagine my surprise when she walked in the door to tell me that I was pregnant! I almost fell off the exam table!! All through out my pregnancy, my Lupus continued to improve despite my specialist predicting worse case scenario. I never experienced morning sickness or any other typical pregnancy problems. If it weren't for my expanding belly, I would never have known that I was pregnant. Ayden - 2 years

Ayden - 3 years

On August 18th, 2004 I gave birth to Ayden Steven. He was beautiful and we were so excited to finally be parents. It was an easy delivery and Ayden proved to be a very easy baby. We have been through many stages with Ayden and with each one I'm convinced it's the end of the world. We were doomed to never make it through the biting stage and I would cry my eyes out at work because I was convinced that nothing could be worse. Surprisingly, we were on to a new stage about 1 month later and then that became the worse thing ever. When I look back at it all, he may go through the typical stages of childhood but they're short lived and easy to get through.

Ayden - 4 years

Right now Ayden is in the Pre-K program at Royal Learners and is doing fantastic. He participates in the karate, soccer and playball programs as well. He loves it...all of it! He loves to learn and I get so excited every night to hear about what they're working on. Ayden is our squishy little 4 year old. He's super sensitive and can easily get his feelings hurt simply by having mommy or daddy upset with him. I love that he still has his baby fat. I love that he lets me kiss him as much as I want. I love that he is such a chatter box. I love that his imagination seems to constantly be working at high speed. I love that he can be so loving and such a helpful brother. Ayden is a such a wonderful little boy and I enjoy being his mommy every day. Ayden - Thanksgiving 2008

Our Middle Child

I think since Jameson was born he just knew that he would someday be a middle child. At least that would explain most of his behavior issues. We were all very concerned about how Jameson would handle having another baby in the family. I had nightmares of him poking Ava in the eyes, dragging her across the floor by her legs, pushing her off the couch and hitting her in an attempt to gain access to my lap. Jason and I were both prepared for the worse. I like to remind everyone that since joining Ayden at Royal Learners, we have seen some major improvements in Jameson. He has been sleeping in his own bed for quite some time now without complaint. He is starting to show more remorse when he does something wrong...especially if it causes pain (hitting, kicking...etc.). We still struggle in the mornings with drop offs at school, but he quickly gets over being upset and snuggles up to Ms Heather all day.

This week is huge for us. We're starting the potty training process again. We had started potty training while at Marguerite's but it came to an abrupt halt when we moved to RL. Monday was horrible. He had temper tantrums every time he was put on the potty and he had accident after accident until he was out of clean clothes some time around noon. Heather and I were completely discouraged, but decided to keep up the fight. Amazingly, Jameson was accident free on Tuesday and wasn't bothered at all when Ms Heather took him to the potty every 20 minutes. Wednesday went even better because instead of being told to go potty, he voluntarily used the toilet when he had to go and again was accident free.

This morning Jameson surprised me yet again. I was trying to get the boys ready for school while baby Ava rested on the couch. After kicking her legs around for a good 10 minutes, she was bored and started to get fussy. I was getting Ayden's shoes on and looked over to find Jameson stroking Ava's tummy in a loving way and "talking" to her with a soft voice. I praised Jameson for being such a good brother and he simply turned around, gave me a beaming smile and went back to loving on his sister. Because of him, Ava calmed down and gave me the time I needed to finish up with Ayden. My heart just about burst with all the love and pride I felt at that moment.

Despite being a middle child, I think Jameson is handling himself very well. He's still a typical two year old with lots of attitude and spunk but I think that's what makes him so much fun. One minute he'll chastise me for helping him with his dinner and the next he's snuggled up on my lap while sucking his thumb. I still love to crawl into bed with him in the morning because he lets me wrap my arms around him and give as many kisses as I want. But when snuggle time is over, he's back to tearing up the house in typical Jameson style. We love him for his sweetness, his sassiness and his unpredictability. He keeps us on our toes and we're constantly wondering what he'll get into next.

We love you little man!

What we do all day

After waking up, Ava gets her diaper changed. She poops a lot! Ava loves to be swaddled. If she goes to bed without being swaddled, she just doesn't sleep very well.

After being swaddled, it's time for a yummy bottle. Ava drinks anywhere from 4-6 ounces. After every 2 ounces she'll spit her bottle out which is how we know that she's ready for a burp.

She's exhausted after her breakfast and is ready for nap #1. She'll sleep for about 3-4 hours and we'll repeat the process all over again.What do I do after putting Ava down in her crib? I pump! It became very painful to both pump and nurse Ava after she was released from the NICU. I was producing waaaay more than she was consuming so I kept getting clogged up. After many frustrating weeks of trying to do both, I decided to stick to pumping and bottle feeding. Below you see 12 ounces of breast milk that I pumped out this morning...I'm a total overproducer!So what do we do with all of the extra milk? We freeze it. Unfortunately, we're running out of space. This is one of the bins of the freezer inside the house. It's packed.

So is the top shelf.So is the freezer in the garage!It's a good thing that we also have a chest freezer. Jason just threw away everything last night and gave it a good cleaning with bleach water. Now I have plenty of room for more frozen breast milk.

How much have we stored up so far? We have over 200 bags of frozen breast milk with approximately 6 ounces in each bag. I'm starting to feel like a cow!

So now you know how we spend our day...eating, pooping, sleeping and pumping!

Baby Girl

Here's a layout that I did yesterday at Scrap Club. I didn't want to clutter up the front with a date, but the pictures are of Ava at 5 weeks.

I'm back...sort of

I'm working on getting back to some sort of routine. During the past three weeks, I have been consumed by out of town guests, the holidays, family illnesses and a brand new baby. To say that life has been hectic would be an understatement. Today is a brand new day in a brand new year though and I'm digging myself out of the fog.

I'll be back later with family updates, but I want to leave you with a picture of the boys that was taken at school with Santa. I love this picture! After I get some more recent pictures edited (hopefully today) I'll have a much larger post with all of the Payne family happenings.