Going Shopping & Steakhouse!

Not sure what we were going shopping for this day.. maybe groceries... maybe.. I dunno.. lol.. Anyway, Kevin grabbed the camera as were leaving and took a picture. Anyway, after we were done, we came back and all headed out to go to a local steakhouse not too far from our apartment.. we had never been there before and Jennifer wanted to take us out to eat to a new place, so that's what we did..

It was "big" night for me, b/c I ordered my first steak ever... haha.. I've had steak before.. not much, b/c I've always been weird about meat, but this was the first time I would ever order steak for myself at a restaurant.. silly, I know, but oh well.. Oh and this was the night I ordered my first legal drink! No, I'm not 21... I was actually 22 here, about to be 23 (in March), but I had been breastfeeding since I turned 21, so no legal drink until I was almost 23.. haha.. oh well. I ordered a steak and mudslide.. haha. :)

Anyway, here's the pictures.. we took a few pics at the steakhouse, but they're on Kevin's phone..

So cute!

New Car!

Yup! We bought a new car! Crossover, actually. We were going back and forth between the Ford Escape and the Ford Edge. The Escape was the more down-to-Earth one, where we'd be compromising if we got it. The Edge was what we had wanted for a long time and really loved, but could deal with something less luxurious.

After we went and saw the perks of both, and went over the numbers, we went ahead and went for what we've wanted for so long! We bought a metallic candy red 2010 Ford Edge. We absolutely love it!!! We still haven't taken any great pictures, but this is what we have so far. :) Oh and we bought it November 14th... (Yeah, this is how far behind I am in my postings... lol).

She loves it! (Excuse the crazy hair and messy clothes.. it was a long day at the dealership!)

Poor Leala was acting shy because our neighbor was taking the pictures.

Houses and Cars

Yes, we've been looking into buying a house... It might be a little bit before we can actually buy it, but of course we're still looking at what's out there. We have several picked out that we like, that vary depending on our financial status.

I, of course, love the middle price ranged one and the higher one too... We will just have to see. There is an open house for the middle one tomorrow which we'll be going to. We really like it and it has enough room that we could keep it for 10+ years.. The cheaper one would fit us for several years, but would feel tight a lot sooner. And of course the most expensive one would be great for a long time. I'd rather not be buying another house in 4-5 years... But we'll see how things go.

I'm really excited about it. We truly deserve this and I hope it all works out.

We're also looking into getting a Ford Edge. We just love them. We're also considering the Ford Escape, but we'll just have to wait and see on this one too.

Don't you just love waiting?

My new best friend.. Sam's..

I love it.. My husband is on his mom's account, and so today, we decided we'd try it out. We needed to get some groceries and a few other things, so we went to Sam's before going to Walmart. I love it. It was so great. We saved so much money. I love that I knew how much all of our normal products cost, so I was able to see how much we were saving while we went through Sam's and saw stuff.. It was really great. On just 4 bottles of Infant's Motrin (yes, we go through it quite fast), we saved $24! I am so over the top happy with this.

Leala's 7th tooth has broken through now. I can't believe she has that many teeth.. Honestly, it's very cute, but very scary too! hehe.. She's growing up so fast. :)

Long, Leala filled day.

So today has been a very long day.. Started out great. Leala had some extra sleep this morning. (Notice I said this morning, not last night. This morning, as in, after I already woke up and was getting ready). She woke up very happy, which made it easier to not be mad at her for being awful last night.

For several different reasons, this morning, Leala was given a bath in the sink. She has never actually sat in the sink and had a bath before. We used her bathtub in the sink when she was a newborn though. It was so cute to see her there. I even used the vegetable sprayer to wash her off. Very precious. I am so mad, but we didn't get any pictures of it. She was darling though. Anyway, we did our morning routine and then Leala and I went shopping. We stopped at a few places to get a few things done, and came home.

Leala was soo hyper when we got home. She acted so silly and energetic. I have no idea why. She didn't have any solids at that point in the day, and I hadn't ate anything out of the ordinary either, so nothing was tranferred through my milk. I don't know what was going on, but she was very very cute. I'm disappointed, but we didn't get any pictures of that either, as we were too caught up in playing with her. We have been horrible this week at taking pictures.. I need to take pictures of her tomorrow.. lol.

After playing real hard and eating, Leala took a nap, so I embraced the opportunity and took one with her. It was nice to be able to sleep for a bit, and that's probably why I don't feel as horrible right now, as I have been each night at this time.

Leala decided to bite me again tonight. Still not drawing any blood, which is good, but it might as well, you know? I'm not quite sure what is going on with her lately.

Anyway, it's about that time to start getting ready for bed. Hopefully Leala will sleep some for me. I really need it.

Sleep, Shopping, Skype

So.. there's still not much progress with the sleeping issue.. at all. I'm hoping tonight will be better (like I hope every night). Maybe this time, she'll be nice to me, and sleep until well into tomorrow morning. I doubt that, but one can wish, right? Honestly, I've gotten into such a routine of getting up, getting her, laying down a burp cloth on the bed, and breastfeeding her while laying down.. rolling over and going back to sleep. Most of the time, I barely even remember getting up and getting her.. haha.

***************************

My mom and I went shopping today. Oh man.. What an ordeal. First off, my mom was wonderful. She was supportive, patient, and understanding. I know for a fact, that if it was Kevin with me, we would have walked out of there 30 minutes after walking in. (He's a great husband, but when it comes to shopping, like most men, he just doesn't have an interest in it).

Anyway, this was my first time trying to find some actual clothes after having Leala. My mom wanted to get some stuff for Christmas, but wanted me to just find the stuff myself with her there, and her buy it, and tah-dah there's my Christmas! So yeah, that began the 5 hour shopping trip of finding 2 pairs of pants and 2 shirts (after trying on 5 billion of everything).

Let's just say that, even though I am below my pre-pregnancy weight (and have been since Leala was 2 months old), nothing, and I mean nothing, is in the same place anymore. My boobs are still huge compared to what they were before (a great perk of breastfeeding!). My stomach is still deflated, with tons of extra skin.. (the downsize of having two sacs to begin with, and then having a 9 lb 8 oz baby). My hips are wider and thighs are thicker. Not a pretty picture, in my book.

I know, I know.. It's nature and a breautiful thing. Anyone who has ever said that, has (1) never had kids or (2) is perfectly fine with elastic pants and baggy shirts. Obviously, I'm neither of those.

I understand that it takes time. It took 10 months to get that way (I posted a picture of my belly before.. I was huge!), so I know that it will take longer to not be that way. Everything takes longer going back to the way it was.

Anyway, long story short. I wasn't very happy with anything I tried on, but I kept trying and it finally paid off. We ended up leaving with what we came after, and I'm quite excited about getting my new clothes on Christmas!

***************************

One more tidbit before I fall into bed. My husband and I continue to send each other messages through skype, while we're on the computers.. Not that big of a deal, right? haha, well, we're in the same room! We're such dorks. We have even started to comment on each other's blogs. I guess that digital connection we learned to live on, while he was in the military, is just something we can't shake. :) I don't mind. I think it's cute.. even if we're geeks. (This reminds me, he posted several cute pictures of Leala the other day on his blog).

I guess that's about it. I'm really tired. I shopped until I dropped, but I haven't had the time to drop yet. (Leala did while we were shopping.. then she decided she wanted to "drop" in my arms, and refused to do so in the stroller..) Have a good night everyone!

Almost done Christmas Shopping...

*I added in a couple of pictures we took of Leala a couple of weeks ago, for your enjoyment!*

I am pretty sure, we are almost done with Christmas shopping! Yay! I always love to be able to say that. Don't get me wrong, I usually *love* Christmas shopping.. I love thinking about figuring out what each person would really like to get. Being able to get everyone something that they will really appreciate is always so rewarding.

This year we did go a bit cheaper than usual. But usually I go way over the top and do way too much.. lol.. then I get scolded by everyone, saying that I didn't have to do what I did, and that I "shouldn't have done that" and so on. Oh well. I think everyone will love what they got. I did use my shop quite a bit this year (as this is my first year to even be able to use it, since I only opened up in August). I got the stuff in the mail the other day, and I just absolutely love it all! I now know what I should have asked for for Christmas! Stuff from my shop! haha, seriously though! I love it all. The coasters are adorable, and I just love the pillows. The kids' shirts are great (I will definietly be making something for a shirt for Leala for her birthday).


Right now, I am just working on wrapping everything.. I think I have 8 more to wrap... And I will of course have to get together Leala's stocking.. and make sure that all of the stuff will actually fit in it! haha.. I couldn't have bought more things for her stocking than what would fit, right? Not me.. :)

I just love this part.. Now, for the most part, I can sit back and relax and know that it is all done. I need to get a gift card.. and do Christmas cards.. That's all. Not bad at all.. Once I get all the presents wrapped, I'll start working on the Christmas cards.



I also want to at least get one pose done of Leala for Christmas. I know it's cutting it really close to even be able to use the pictures for the Christmas cards, but I might not even do that.. I just want them for us.. Who knows? We'll see, I guess. For now, I will take a deep breath and actually feel a little at ease now.

How is everyone else's Christmas Shopping going? At what point in the holiday season can you sigh and take a deep breath?

Oh, what a day!

Going to Walmart.. Bad idea...
Going to Walmart on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.. Bad idea...
Going to Walmart on the Sunday before Thanksgiving without the hubby, but with the 9.5 month old.. Bad idea...
Going to Walmart on the Sunday before Thanksgiving without the hubby, but with the 9.5 month old, and having to cuss a lady out for almost hitting my child.. Not sure if it was a good or bad idea, but it felt good...

So yeah, I'm standing there in Walmart, with Leala sitting in the cart, while the cart is all the way up against the shelves. That way, I am out of the way. Yes, Leala can reach things, but she was playing with the cart cover and the little teether attached to the cart cover. So this ignorant "woman" (for lack of a better term - without cussing) gets upset b/c the lady on the other side of the aisle has her cart slanted and is half blocking the middle of the aisle. So instead of telling that lady to move her cart or hitting her cart, she hits MINE! My daughter's fingers were right there on the corner of my cart, and Leala moved them at the very last second because she got scared. The "woman" was huffing and puffing and slammed into our cart to get by.. Remind you, there was nowhere for my cart to go, since I had it right up to the shelves.. Just imagine if Leala didn't move her hand out of the way! Oh man, I covered Leala's ears, and went off on the ignorant "woman".

I was so pissed. I couldn't believe she had just done that, and then she said it wasn't a big deal, that my daughter didn't get hurt and I shouldn't be yelling at her. Are you kidding me? I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have said every word in the book, but I think I am very entitled to yell at you when you almost slammed my baby's fingers inbetween our carts, because you were mad at someone else and you are a heartless "woman". Oh man, I was sooo mad. So so very mad.

After that, I was just about ready to kill someone, but finished up my shopping as quickly as possible and went home..

Then I had my hubby come out with me and we went to Toys R Us to take a defective toy back and to buy Leala's last toy for Christmas. I love it, and I'm so glad we got it.

Tomorrow, we will be going to Hong Kong Market and then to Ross. After that, all we will have to get is a gift card, and then we will be done Christmas shopping! Yay!