I Love to See the Temple

Today the Primary activity was to go take a tour of the temple grounds. We had a pretty good sized turn out of kids. Emmaline was incredibly excited to go, but being 3 years old, had a very short attention span. She kept leaving the group to tell me that, "I don't want to listen to the teacher because I don't like new teachers!" Lil just wanted to run around everywhere of course so AJ spent the time chasing her while I waddled around with the group. Afterwards we had a picnic. AJ laid out on the ground to relax which Emmaline thought was a fantastic idea, and followed suit. It was really cute to watch her lay back with her hands behind her head and look up at the sky.
By the time we got home, everyone was thoroughly exhausted so we ALL went down for naps!

For the record - it is impossible to get both children to sit still for pictures in front of the temple. What you see is the best I could do.

Rating: 5 Lollipops of course! (Who doesn't love to see the temple???)

Today's Shopping Trip

First a funny story about Emmaline. I took her with me and Lil stayed home with AJ. Yesterday Emmaline got two scrap pieces of paper and colored them to look like coupons. One side she colored everywhere, and the other side she made a bunch of squiggles like writing. Today she insisted on carrying them into every store we went to and was very insistant that she could NOT forget her coupons! They learn so young! :-)


I spent $38.08 + tax on all this today. Not bad considering there are 7 packages of diapers there which retail normally for about $75. I'd say it is a pretty successful day and more diapers is always a good thing!

7 packages of diapers (Pampers)
5 Tubs Wipes
5 bottles baby lotion
3 Glucose Monitors (sometimes you have to buy stuff you don't need to make other things cheap - trust me - it works. Also luckily I have a diabetic friend so she benefits too!)
3 boxes Band-Aids
2 tubs Benedryl Topical
1 bottle Calcium Chewables
1 bottle Ecotrin Aspirin
9 CoverGirl LipSlicks
3 CoverGirl Blush
6 boxes Cereal
2 gallons milk
1 bottle Olive Oil
2 cans salt
2 lbs. tomatoes
4 lbs. Peaches
_____________________
Full retail value: $397.98 and I paid just 12.5% of that!

Just one more way of looking at things - if you consider what I spent and the number of diapers - I spent $5.44/package for diapers. Which is about half price. And then the rest of that list I got for free. Anyway you look at it - it is cheap!

Rating: 3 Lollipops (I messed up a few transactions today - it actually should have been $10 cheaper but still a good deal just the same!)

Overheard

Last night, after the girls we tucked snuggly in their beds, I overheard this:
"Lil. LiiiilllLLLLL! Lil! LOOK AT ME! LILIANA LOOK AT ME!!! LIIIIIIIILLLLLL!!!! We are supposed to stay in our beds!!!! LIIIIILLLLLLL!!!!!"

teehee. At least one of them gets it.

Rating: 1 Pixie Dust and 1 Sour Patch Kid

Pregnancy Brain

AJ informed me that he found my delicious Spumoni Ice Cream in the refrigerator, hours after I had eaten it - straight out of the carton. oops.

Rating: No idea. (Apparently I have no brain left to figure it out...)

Kids that make their parents liars...

Well after two days of what turned out to be a raging fever of 103 (in the armpit!) - we decided to take Lil into the doctor. By the time we got into the appointment today she was fine! No fever, playing happily and acting perfectly well. It really annoys me when my kids make liars out of me at the doctor. :-P
Anyway, she got a full exam, her ears looked fine and her throat looked a *little* red. (For all I know the doctor just said that so I wouldn't have to feel like a complete dork). Anyway, she declared it "viral" and said that there was nothing she could do and it would go away on its own.
When we got home, Lil proceeded to eat a TON of dinner - which she hasn't done in days - and act like her regular old self. *sigh*
What a waste of a co-pay.

Rating: 3 Sour Patch Kids or 3 Pixie Dust (I can't decide if I'm annoyed that she was fine by the time we got there or if I'm happy she is feeling better!)

Flowers, Fever, and Feet

First thing this morning we went outside and planted the last of our flowers. We put pansies in around the mailbox and the tree in the front yard. Hopefully they do well! It was a real trick trying to plant stuff AND keep Liliana from running into the street.

Later in the day, Liliana started running a fever and is now very sleepy and cuddly with a low-grade whine. Not sure what is up with that so we'll just have to watch and see if it turns into anything worse. When Lil is willing to actually sit still and cuddle, you KNOW she doesn't feel well!


I also splurged today and purchased a PedEgg (As Seen on TV!!!). I have heard rave reviews about it from other people so I decided to give it a spin. Turns out it really does work great! Wearing flipflops does a number on my feet so I was very pleased with the results. The biggest trick was trying to REACH my feet. Give it another couple weeks I'll have to start making AJ give me pedicures. :-)



Rating: 3 Lollipops and 1 Sour Patch Kid

We're Expecting......birds!

We were very excited to discover this robin's nest in one of our trees today. The best part is that it is quite low so we should be able to watch the progress easily. Hopefully I'll be able to get some shots of the mama bird at some point. I looked it up - and the gestation period for a robin's egg is about 40 days. We are guessing that she just barely laid the eggs since there is no way they could have survived that hail storm so hopefully we'll see baby birds the end of June or beginning of July.

Rating: 3 Lollipops

The Weather

Today was bleak, overcast, and humid. Right after I got back from dropping off Emmaline at her playdate, it started to hail. First small, and then it got bigger and bigger - about the size of a golf ball eventually. We noted of course that we planted our tomatoes just last night! *sigh*
We realized something wasn't right when the hail lasted for so long, and then we noticed the hail was blowing in from one direction, but the clouds were moving in another direction. Then the tornado sirens went off! It made me very grateful for the food and water storage in our basement that is there in case of emergency!
Turns out 6 or 7 tornados hit total. The closest one was about 5-10 miles (reports seem to differ on where it touched) from where we live. The furthest about 40 miles away. Emmaline was pleased to announce after playdate today that they had a picnic in the basement!

Rating: 3 Fireballs

A post by Emmaline

(with typing assistance by Bethany)

I went with mommy to the doctor today. We heard the baby's heartbeat. It was super-duper fast! The doctor put green jelly on mommy's tummy. The doctor had a tape measure. She measured the baby. I brought my ponies Partycake and Bubblegum. Mommy had her check-up. The doctor said mommy was healthy.

Rating: 5 Pixie Dust (baby is doing great!)

By Request...

Here is my "stash". Though I personally prefer to call it my year's supply that I didn't actually have to pay for. :) (alright I paid for some of it!) If you wish to call me a crazy hoarder then please locate the red X in the upper right hand corner of this page and click on it. But when The Famine™ comes - you know which house to come to. I can't remember the prices of everything but I'll bold what I know I got for free.

Wipes and Diapers. I paid pennies for the wipes and got half of those diapers for free. Hey! I'm gonna have TWO in diapers soon!

This is the overall look of my set-up. The shelving is set up in my unfinished basement in a "U" shape. I had trouble getting a good shot so this is the best I could do. The following pictures will be of the inside and outside of the "U"

Marshmallows, M&Ms, Pasta, Bisquick, Oatmeal, Pasta Sauces, cake mixes, Breakfast bars, pretzels, fruit snacks, crackers.

Cereal, Instant Oatmeal, Rice/Pasta Roni, Hamburger Helper, Jam, Mustard, salad dressing, BBQ Sauce, Marinades, baby wipes (in the boxes), bathroom cleaners, air fresheners (I'll do the right hand side of this photo with the pictures of the outside of the "U"

bandaids, neosporin, vitamins, shaving cream, Shampoo, baby soaps, baby food, make-up, medicines, lotions, bodywash, nail clippers and files, bar soap, tampons, pads, hair dye.

This is the outside of the "U" and the backside of the shelf of the picture just above. These pics are hard to see but you have toothbrushes, toothpaste, baby soaps and shampoos, shampoo, baby food, lotions, box of razors, etc (most of this you can see better in the other picture)

Left hand shelves: Toilet paper, pork 'n beans, chilis, tuna, tub full of deodorant, tomato soup, canned tomatoes, progresso soup, laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, dish soap, Cleaning wipes, magic erasers, cleaners

Right hand shelves: Most of this you could see from the inside of the "U". But what you couldn't see: Second row of cereal on the top two shelves and then on the bottom shelves there are stacks of foil.

And that is pretty much it! I didn't bother to take pictures of my bulk rice, flour, sugar, dried beans, etc, cause that's boring.

I love FREE!

I got a bunch of pasta today that was free after coupon! I LOVE that!!! I dragged the entire family with me to 3 different grocery stores in order to do it. I got 40 boxes today, and have coupons for 21 more! This all cost me $0.00 at the store, but if you account for the cost of the coupons that I bought (Yes I bought coupons and it was totally worth it!) then it really comes out to about .13 cents a box - which is still really really cheap. Here is a picture so that you may fully admire it.

Rating: 4 Lollipops

Toddler Bed.....Success???

Do I dare call it this early? I think we have success with the toddler bed!

Liliana still gets out of bed a couple of times, but has successfully been sleeping in it every night. Last night AJ and I sighed at the cuteness of our two girls. Emmaline was asleep in her bed, laying on her back with her arms and legs all sprawled out and her mouth hanging open. A book next to her and Manny (her stuff Manatee) and Bear above her head. Liliana was curled up on her tummy cuddling her blankie and her bear. Both girls peacefully sleeping.

Now for our next trick - getting them to sleep past 6am.

Rating: 5 Pixie Dust

Jars, Escape Artists, Counters, and Pizza (that about sums it up!)

Saturday is one of Emmaline's favorite days of the week because "daddy puts on his stay-at-home pants (sweats)!!!"
Anyway, today we ran an errand. I scored some canning jars off of craigslist for $3/dozen. We got 7 dozen. It was a little old lady who was getting ready to move and downsize so she was clearing things out. The jars must have been in her basement for a long time because they were thick with dust! When we got home I took them to the backyard to hose them off before even putting them in the dishwasher.
Liliana today also demonstrated to us today that she knows how to open the front door as well as the rest of the doors in the house. *note to self - remember to use the deadbolt*. We were very lucky that a neighbor caught up with her pretty quickly! That's pretty much all I want to say about that....
AJ is still working on his cabinet project for the office and is almost done! The cabinets are all installed and now he is making a countertop out of some oak. He was able to put a couple coats of stain on it today so it is looking good! We had trouble getting an exact color match between the cabinets and the counter - so we opted to go for a mismatch on purpose. The oak is being stained a very dark walnut. We are *hoping* that the stark contrast will look good!
For dinner I made pizza. I found a recipe for pizza dough that didn't require rising. It turned out pretty good. It was denser than I prefer, but that is what you get when you don't let it rise first I guess.

Pizza Dough

INGREDIENTS
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 (.25 ounce) package or 2.5 tsp. active dry yeast
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

DIRECTIONS
Combine flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. Mix in oil and warm water. Spread out on a large pizza pan. Top as desired.
Bake at 375 degrees C (190 degrees C) for 20 to 25 minutes.

Rating: 3 Lollipops and 5 Sour Patch Kids

Toddler Bed Progress!

Lil slept in the toddler bed last night!

It took some effort but we did it. I got her all tucked in and she automatically threw a fit. I tried to leave the room but she was literally right on my heels and was able to open the door in one try. She has NO problem doing that now.
So I laid down with her just to help her relax. Once she had calmed down I sat next to the bed with my arms around her. Then eventually I moved my hands so I wasn't touching her at all but I was still sitting next to her. Then eventually I moved further and further away. I thought she was finally asleep so I got up to leave and she saw me and started to cry again. She tried to follow me and I could tell she exhausted. So I just picked her up and put her back in her bed and left. She got up again - so I put her back in her bed. We only went through that three times before she stayed put. She whimpered for about 5 minutes and then fell asleep.
Then in the middle of the night, Emmaline got up to go to the bathroom, so it woke up Lil (who was on the floor!!!). So we went through the process again. Only that time in only took a quarter of the time. So progress is being made!

Rating: 3 Pixie Dust (Good Job Lil!)

Toddler Bed Woes

So last night we decided that we would bite that bullet and put Liliana in the toddler bed. It needs to happen sooner rather than later so hopefully she is used to it before this baby comes! We talked extensively to Emmaline about how important it was that she stay in HER bed so that Liliana wouldn't be distracted from going to sleep. We tucked both girls in their beds. Liliana pleasantly laid down with her blankie and her bear. All was quiet. AJ and I anticipated to soon hear sound of giggles and laughter since that is to be expected when two girls share a room. We knew we'd have to deal with that! That isn't what happened though. About 5 minutes later we heard Liliana start screaming. We went to see what was the matter only to find Emmaline out of her bed and out of the ROOM! She *claimed* that she had to go potty - even though she had just went less than 10 minutes ago. Lo and behold, she was not able to produce a single drop of urine. In the meantime Liliana is in full meltdown because SHE wanted to go out of the room too! We finally resorted to putting Emmaline back in her bed, and Liliana back in her crib.

So today, for naptime, I decided it would be a good time for Liliana to practice sleeping in the toddler bed while Emmaline had her playdate. The moment I put her in the bed, she started to cry but I stuck with the routine, handed her blankie and bear and kissed her goodnight. A couple minutes after putting her down, I hear the doorhandle (we have the latch kind versus the knobs) shaking! "Thank goodness the door opens inward and she doesn't know how to open doors!" I say to AJ. After about 10 minutes I decided to go check on her since all was quiet - success!!! But when I get upstairs I discover the bedroom door open and Liliana is in MY bathroom unloaded everything she can find under the bathroom sink. NOT COOL. My baby is NOT allowed to learn to open doors! What is she? Some sort of Velociraptor?????
So this is where I get mean - I took her back to the toddler bed, locked her door (it can be popped back open with a hanger) and walked away. I can currently hear her moving around in there. Hopefully she makes it to her bed at some point and goes to sleep......

Rating: 4 Sour Patch Kids

The rising cost of rice.

The rising cost of rice is starting to trickle over into other products as well. We ran out of Emmaline's rice milk this morning so I went to the store only to discover it is up to $7.38/gallon!! Usually it is at $6/gallon. Luckily, we ordered a rice milk maker that we expect to arrive in a couple of weeks so that should definitely help the old grocery budget.
In good news though, I got a steal of a deal on Huggies so I stocked up on those. I was able to get them for the same price as generic which is fantastic! It is always nice to get something for cheap that your baby is just going to poop in anyway.

Rating: 1 Fireball

Strawberry Jam Success!

Today for lunch I made the girls Sunbutter and Strawberry Jam sandwiches. Emmaline ended up pulling the sandwich apart and licking all the jam off. It must have turned out pretty good!

To quote my dad: "Kids! It is Jell-Y not Jell-O!!!"

Rating: 5 Lollipops (first attempt at freezer jam turned out well!)

Praise to the Man?

So, yesterday was Mother's Day. Hopefully it wasn't too stressful for Bethany. I tried to do more than my fair share so she could have some relaxing time... though, I know she helped coral the kids a couple of times while I made dinner. It was for her benefit! ;-) Hmmmmm Lasagna....

The one problem I had with the day, though, was at Church (of all places!). Apparently the topic of choice was "Priesthood Restoration," which is fine. But the rest hymn was a little odd on Mother's Day: Hymn #27, Praise to the Man. Yes, "Praise to the Man" on Mother's Day. I don't think they thought that one all the way through.

They also didn't have the Primary kids sing to the moms, and this would have been Emmaline's first year of being able to go up and sing. Not that she would have stood still or anything, but it would have been great to watch her bound around the pulpit. But apparently that wasn't to be.
Silly people sometimes.

In other news, I can now also move the corner of my mouth. Improvement!

Rating: 2 Laffy Taffies (for just plain silliness)

Mother's Day

An excellent Mother's Day! I celebrated by gestating a new life!!! However, discussing cell generation is kind of dull so I'll tell you about the rest of my day.

This morning I got to sleep in until 8:30. I would have preferred to sleep even later but my bladder had other plans for me. AJ got me some beautiful daisies and tulips. At church they handed out king size Symphony bars to all the women. I confess that the baby needed to eat half of it during Relief Society. . . .

After church AJ installed my gift. It is a pull-out drawer to keep the trashcans in! VERY cool. We were both getting tired of keeping the trash in the pantry or on the counter since Lil likes to dig in it. I even took a picture for your enjoyment. LOOK! It's my GARBAGE!!!!

Then for dinner he made me a yummy homemade lasagna. I have been craving lasagna for over a month now so it really hit the spot. In a side note - AJ and I started dating right before my birthday and he made me lasagna for my birthday dinner that year too.

After dinner we made strawberry freezer jam. I've never done it before, and it was even easier than I've been told that it is! Sadly we didn't get enough pectin and don't have enough jars, and I still have about 8 lbs. of strawberries to go. I will have to continue this project another day.

Rating: 5 Lollipops (for a great Mother's Day!)

Pictures to follow....

We had a very busy day today! It started off at 2am with Lil crying. Oddly enough, I suspect it is because she didn't get a good nap on Friday. Anyway, I was so tired I just got her out of bed and stuck her inbetween AJ and I. She crawled all over us for about an hour before she finally fell asleep. It made for some very grumpy parents this morning. I didn't take pictures of that...

Then this morning I reorganized our storage area and filled up our water barrels for our water storage. I forgot to watch one and it overflowed - causing a fun mess to clean up. Luckily it was in the basement on the concrete and not somewhere it could have caused real damage! It was good to get the storage area reorganized. Pictures to follow....

Meanwhile, AJ went and canned some spaghetti noodles for us. The ward cannery specialist does a monthly canning session in her garage that we have started to take advantage of. So, we now are the proud owners of 2 cases of spaghetti.

After the canning, AJ and Emmaline went and picked up her new twin bed! We don't have pretty bedding for it yet - so pictures to follow later. Tonight she is using a sheet set that used to be AJ's from college, and a quilt that I had in college! We have her room all set up for Lil to move into as well, but we want Emmaline to get over the novelty of a new bed before we do that.

Then AJ started a new project. We are installing a bunch of cabinets in the office to make it more clean and tidy. Pictures of that will follow later as well when he gets them all done. Tonight as I write this, he is rewiring a few electrical outlets and has all the cabinets up and installed, but there is still some finish work to be done.

Also tonight I went to Walgreens just *one* more time. It was just such a great week, how could I NOT go??? I ended up making $11.56 in the form of a Walgreens gift card. I love being paid to shop! I took a picture of it but - well - haven't there been enough of my deal pictures this week???

Rating: 3 Lollipops, 3 Pixie Dust, 4 Sour Patch Kid, and 3 Fireballs. (a little bit of everything for a day that had everything!)

Lucky me!

AJ still is having trouble with his eye from the Bells Palsy. He said he needed a different eye patch so I kindly volunteered to run to Walgreens for him and pick one up. That's just the kind of sacrifice a loving wife makes for her dear dear husband. ;-)

Once I got there, I quickly blocked out the radio show I had heard on the way there that discussed how to know if you are "bargain obsessed". I decided to look around for a few deals that I got heads up on after going out on Monday - you know - since I was there ANYWAY getting the eyepatch. I ended up hitting the jackpot - Lucky Me!!! So I took myself to another Walgreens as well just in case I hit it big again - and I DID.

Here is what I got tonight for $0.00 (oh and a new eye patch for AJ which I *did* have to pay for!).





Rating: 4 Lollipops - (I didn't really *make* any money - but free is good too!)

I Dream of Jeannie

At least according to Bethany. The pain is slowly subsiding where the virus is attacking the nerve, and that's a good thing. I've started drooling, which is kinda fun. Makes for interesting meetings at the office - at least this way I have an excuse to have a look of stupor on my face.

The REALLY annoying thing, though, is the constant head bob I am doing. You see, I can't actually blink my left eye. At all. And so in an unconscious effort to do so, I bob my head forward when I want to blink. I guess the idea being that I'll use momentum to force my eyelid shut. Bethany says it makes me look like a genie. So far it's not worked... no 3 wishes have happened yet. But I'm not giving up hope!

Rating: 2 Fireballs (for neck pain from constant head tossing) and 2 Pixie Dust (for amusement factor for the family)

Swimming Lessons

Emmaline had her last swimming lesson today. She was in the Turtles class. Basically they focus on getting the kids into the water, blowing bubbles, floating with assistance, kicking while holding the side of the pool - that kind of thing. Emmaline has always loved the water so she has thoroughly enjoyed her class. For the last two months I've felt like a "soccer mom" driving her there once a week! I would love to put her in the next class, but we have an eventful summer coming up, so I think we'll try more lessons in September!

Rating: 4 Pixie Dust (Emmaline got an 80% on her swimming report card!)

What do you DO with all that stuff?

Someone asked me that today. What in the world will I do with so much dish detergent and toothpaste? She hasn't seen my basement yet... ;-P

Anyway - the question has a few answers so here it goes!

First off -if a product will MAKE you money then you should always buy it - no matter what. It's a very simple principle. The Crest Pro-Health toothpaste I actually made $20 for every 9 tubes that I bought. (enter long complicated explanation here). How could I NOT "buy" it? I could go home and throw it in the garbage and still come out ahead! But now that I HAVE all that toothpaste - what happens next?

1) We use it. Anyone who is LDS knows all about the importance of having a year supply of necessities - well that includes non-food items too in my opinion. So I definitely have my year supply of all manner of toiletries.

2) We donate it. We've had the opportunity to share our bounty with people in the church as well as giving it to shelters.

3) We plan to sell at a garage sale! Basic business sense - Buy low and sell high! If I spent .25 on a tube of toothpaste and then sell if for $1.00 - I make a .75 cent profit and the person buying it gets a great deal. Everyone wins!

Rating: 1 Lollipop (boring post but good information just the same)

I passed!

That's right - I passed my 3 hour glucose test! Good for me!

In other news, I am 30 weeks this week, and went in for a doctor's appointment today. She had trouble finding a good spot to hear the baby's heartbeat. Finally she found one, only to be greeted with a BIG kick - right on the little microphone thingie (don't remember what it is called!). It was hard enough we both saw my stomach move. Apparently baby didn't want to be bothered today.

Rating: 4 Pixie Dust

I'll stop buying it when they stop paying me...

As I mentioned before, there is a BIG promotion at Walgreens this week. BIG. I was able to buy all this for just $4.47 out of my own pocket!!!! And as it turns out there is a mail-in rebate for the Huggies. Buy 3 and get $5 back. So really I made .53 cents today (once I get that money back from Huggies). YAY!!!

37 Cascade
41 Crest Pro-Health
12 Magic Eraser
11 packages diapers

6 misc. Cover Girl Make-Up
2 Venus Razors
3 Hershey's Kissables
4 Pencils
12 packages Ramen

Rating: 5 Lollipops

Blessing Dress

This morning when I sent Emmaline out to grab the newspaper off the driveway, I discovered a box on the porch. Turned out to be the dress I ordered for the new baby's blessing! I must not have heard the UPS man knock yesterday. Anyway - this is it!

Rating: 5 Pixie Dust

Shopping on Sunday

Sometimes not shopping on Sunday really does feel like a sacrifice. Most of my life I've never really thought too much about it but ever since I started couponing, it actually feels like a struggle sometimes! For example, this week Walgreens is having a fantastic deal. I have it all outlined what I am going to buy and what coupons I am going to use. The problem you ask? Well the sale starts today - but I can't shop until tomorrow! This sale is so good that I worry when I go in tomorrow, that everything I wanted to buy (read that - get free!!!) will be gone because everyone else shops today! Walgreens is notorious for never having enough of anything in stock. I will just have to have faith that the Lord will bless me and leave a few tubes of toothpaste on the shelf for me.
In a bit of silver lining - AJ is planning on staying home from work tomorrow, so that means I will at least be able to go shopping alone since I plan on going to 5 different Walgreens!

Rating: 3 Lollipops (excited over a great deal but nervous that everyone else will get it before me!)

They called him Mr. Grim

In a sick and bizarre turn of events, I have been diagnosed with Bell's Palsy. Essentially, a virus has decided to attack a facial nerve, thus causing one half of my face to become limp as though I had had a stroke. When I blink, my left eye doesn't shut. When I close my eyes, my left eye won't actually close. When I smile, the left side of my mouth doesn't move. And I can't feel most of the left side of my face/neck. Made trying to eat a hamburger rather interesting. The doctor said it should go away in 2-3 months. Ummm... yay? We'll have to have Bethany take some goofy pictures - it looks rather amusing, though the pain that the virus is causing in the mastoid area of my head is rather excruciating.

Hope everyone else's Saturday is going better! ;-)

Rating: 5 fireballs

A small bit of irony

I realized after picking the name for my blog that a small piece of irony currently exists with the name of the blog and my current situation.

I got a phone call a couple days ago informing me that I had failed my 1-hour Glucose test. Perhaps I should lay of the sweets and the carbs! Anyway, tomorrow morning, bright and early, I shall starve myself and then go drown my sorrows in a syrupy thick beverage. Following that I will subject myself to blood draws every hour for 3 hours and try not to vomit while doing all of this.

Rating: 3 Fireballs

Once upon a time....

.....I started a blog. And then I stopped. And then I started it again. And then I stopped.

Well now I am starting fresh! Brand new name, brand new blog! The old one has closed up shop for good.

Why "The Good Ship Lollipop" for a title? No fantastically deep reason really. Ever since I found out I am expecting my third little girl, that Shirley Temple song has been running through my head. Keep in mind though - our lives aren't always Lollipops and Pixie Dust, half the time it is Fireballs and Sour Patch Kids too.

Rating: 5 Lollipops (due to happiness at starting my blog again)