Yesterday I officially became just like millions of other moms...I became the proud owner of a minivan! I said my goodbyes to my atomic orange Xterra SUV and took a very practical step further into mommyhood.
I have actually really wanted a minivan for about a year now because they are so roomy and would make for much more comfortable long car rides, which we seem to take more often then most people we know.
Until recently it was all just something I wanted, but it has now become a necessity. Sometime during my absence from the blogging world, I became pregnant with our 3rd child. At this point I am 16 weeks along with a due date of January 1st.
I am very excited about this new baby, but a little uneasy about a few minor details: How are we going to squeeze child #3 and all of his/her accessories into this very small house? How will I survive each day with 3 children in this very small house? How much will it suck for this child to have a birthday so close to Christmas?
I don't really worry or dwell too much on these things (I'm not a worrier) because it is what it is and I will deal with whatever situation I'm in when I'm in it, but I can't help but be concerned.
Anyway, back to the minivan: I am so excited to have a vehicle large enough to fit other people besides my husband and 2 boys. There will be no more taking 2 cars! My husband and I picked out a few vans we both liked and it was up to him to make the final decisions, haggle with the salesmen and deal with the financing. So when he came home yesterday afternoon with this van it was partially a surprise, since it wasn't even one of the vans we had looked at together. It was even nicer than I had expected with Leather seats!!! Here's a picture:
I came across an interesting article on abcnews.com about how Mommy Blogging can really pay off. The article estimates there are as many as 10,000 Mommy blogs on the internet and as many as 85 percent of them are getting paid.
As a mother of 2 young children I would love to get free stuff in the mail to test and blog about! I also find it really helpful to read other mom's reviews of products they have tried. With so many blogs out there that review baby/child products, you can get an opinion on just about anything.
I think getting free products that you have the freedom to write an honest review for is ideal. This benefits the blogger and the reader. What is becoming controversial are the bloggers who are getting paid to advertise certain products, whether they like them or not. The abcnews.com article quotes a mom who frequently reads mom blogs and depends on their advise for certain products:
"There was a particular carrier that one blogger recommended as being the best one," Schirmer says. "And lo and behold I recently found out that she had a paid relationship with that company and suddenly that makes a whole lot of sense."
This particular mom wanted honest advise from a fellow mom about a baby carrier only to find out the mom blogger was getting paid by the company to endorse it. This raises the question:
Should bloggers disclose who is paying them and whether they received products for free or bought them?
I'm not suggesting those mom bloggers who are getting paid are wrong at all. I think it's a great way to make money, especially if it allows moms the opportunity to stay home with their children. I just believe that these mom's who are getting paid should disclose their relationship with the companies that are paying them. This is simply the responsible and honest thing to do.
This is a 15 second teaser of the New Moon Trailer. The entire trailer will be shown for the first time Sunday night @ 9pm on the MTV movie awards. Ugh! seeing this trailer makes me want to see the movie so much more...too bad we have to wait until November!
I haven't blogged much lately do to some sort of feeling that nothing going on in my life lately is blog worthy. I know this isn't true, but I guess I just don't feel like using my brain to the extent that involves trying to find the right words to describe the normal unexciting events in our family's everyday lives. A better explanation is, I'm still here but my brain is on vacation. Since it has been a while, here's a quick rundown of what I could have blogged about but didn't:
Preschool ended for all three of us about 2 weeks ago. Robbie graduated from preschool with a cap and gown. Jack actually sang in the school program this time around (instead of yelling "hi Grandmommy" the whole time). I reluctantly wrapped up my first year of teaching my cute little class. Although I have 2 small children of my own, I found it amazing to see the growth and maturing that my 10 little one year olds (now 2) did from September through May. I loved teaching this class and I am really going to miss those little munchkins and my teaching assistant Ruthie. However, I will not miss getting 3 people ready 5 mornings a week and rushing out the door to get to school by 8:30 (or 9 on Tuesdays & Thursdays).
Robbie's first soccer season ended with a trophy, which made all the hassle completely worth it. This was my first sports experience as a mom so I learned a few valuable lessons: A. Don't sign up for soccer (or any other sport) that starts at 4:45 on Monday or Friday afternoons if it involves driving through a town that should be 15 minutes away but with horrible work traffic, becomes 30 minutes! B. Don't sign up for a sport that is at a time where I will most likely have to wake my sleeping children from their naps to get there. Seriously, I have no idea what I was thinking!
I signed Robbie up for swimming lessons next month...we'll see how that goes.
I signed myself up to teach "Summer Fun" 2 days a weeks at our preschool for the months of June and July. I originally thought I would take the summer off, but then I realized I might lose my mind if we don't have some planned activity at least 2 days a week. Since I'm teaching, the boys get to go free! Yay! This was perfect.
We got some life changing news recently that's thrown a few interesting obstacles our way...so life has gotten a bit more exciting lately. I'll write more about this later.
I have posted like 3 Sonic Commercial videos on my blog in the last few months and it seems that most of the traffic I get here is from people searching Google for these commercials.
So welcome fellow Sonic commercial lovers! Thanks for visiting my blog! I have been getting the videos from Youtube, but there are only so many (that I really like) to choose from and it doesn't seem like anyone has posted any new ones in months.
I have been searching for the newest ones but I can't find them anywhere. I will post them as soon as I do!
I dropped Robbie off at preschool this morning and headed to the playground for a play date with a little boy in mine and Jack's class, his little sister and their mom. We met about 9:30am, let the kids loose and just sat on a bench and talked, and talked, and talked. Before we both knew it, 2 and a half hours had passed and it was time for me to go pick Robbie up from school.
I can't even tell you how long it's been since I sat down and had a face to face conversation for that long with another woman! Not only did I get some adult conversation, but Jack wore himself out! He could hardly keep his eyes open during lunch and had no problem at all falling asleep for his nap.
There was an ulterior motive to our Play date though. Becca is very good at using coupons and saving A LOT of money on groceries so I asked her if she would tell me how she does it. She explained the whole thing to me and even though it sounds pretty complicated, I'm going to give it a try. I spend WAY too much on groceries each month so any little bit I can save will be a blessing. I'll keep you updated on my progress...
During snack time today at school the kids watched a Sesame Street DVD that got my assistant and I talking about all the famous people who have been on the show. She told me about a really funny episode with Ben Stiller that I had to share:
I mentioned in my last post that I haven't blogged much lately because I just haven't had anything to say that I felt was blog worthy - This is true, but there's also another reason......
I have been OBSESSED, at least for the last 2 weeks, with the Twilight books! I know I'm a little late in the game, but I'm going to blame that on my husband.
I didn't know anything about Twilight until the movie came out and all the hype began. I wanted to see the movie when it was out in theaters but my husband refused to see it with me, so there went that. Well about 2 weeks ago he surprised me (as he often does) one night with the movie! We watched it and my obsession began. I was out at the store the next day to buy the first 2 books. I finished them in a ridiculously short amount of time, then went out and bought the last 2 books. I finished the fourth book yesterday and I'm kind of sad, but relieved at the same time.
The books were so incredible that I wanted to do nothing else but read them! My life was literally on hold until last night. Needless to say, I was a bad mommy and wife for 2 weeks and I think my family is happy to have me back....and I'm happy to be back, just a little sad to not spend time with my vampire friends anymore!
I know I haven't blogged much lately. I've got bloggers block or something...I just can't seem to think of anything worthy of blogging about. I have been meaning to share some pictures from our weeks vacation to Florida, so here are the funniest three from our day at Magic Kingdom...oh and a really good family shot (I think) that a very nice stranger took for us at the end of our 14 hour day:
I know I said in my last post that I would write about our trip when I got home...It's taken a few days, but I'm back. We got back Saturday night after a boring ride in the pouring rain. I will share some pics in another post.
I have a GPS that my mom ordered for me because she knows how horrible I am with directions. I use it around town when I'm going somewhere new, since I have been known to get lost quite frequently. We really didn't need it on our trip home from Florida, but I like to turn it on anyway just to see what our estimated time of arrival will be. I really don't know why I do this to myself, since we never make it in the time it says. I usually spend the entire trip watching the ETA get later and later with each potty stop we make and the traffic jam we usually find ourselves sitting in. This usually makes me ansy, so I try not to look at it too often. Sometimes I think if we just go a little faster we could drop a minute or two from the time. That never happens. Does anyone else have this problem, or is it just me?
We spent this past week in Kissimmee Florida with some friends and had a blast! The boys got to spend 14 hours @ Magic Kingdom on Wednesday (their 1st visit) and loved it! I guess our busy days and late nights caught up with the boys, since yesterday Robbie woke up with a 102 degree fever and Jack has been very congested with a horrible cough.
Anyway, I just finished packing and we are heading home in the morning. It's a 6 hour trip back to Columbia, SC. My boys who never sleep in the car, will hopefully take a 6 hour nap (LOL!) since they aren't feeling well.
I'll post some pictures of our trip and an update on the boys tomorrow night after we get home (hopefully).
I am a 30 something wife and mother. I was raised in the North and living in the South, which usually makes for great conversation (or debate).
I am married to Roy, my best friend. We have 2 beautiful little boys, Robbie (4), Jack (2) and another baby on the way.
I grew up with just my mom and I (no males in the house). These days I share the house with 3 males, so I'm learning a lot about all types of trucks, cars and yucky boy bathroom habits!
I went to school to be a teacher, which I did until my first son was born. I now teach preschool part time where my boys attend.
Posts
