tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73632558305813355962024-03-13T13:37:42.646-05:00 This Cluttered Life Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.comBlogger330125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-50092551867853698042015-06-01T12:40:00.000-05:002015-06-01T12:40:04.445-05:00Longest Game in Miller Park History<div style="text-align: justify;">
One great thing about living in Milwaukee is that it isn't a huge city but it still has many things that really big cities have, like major league baseball. Granted, this year it has been a hard year to be a Brewers fan as they have just been horrible. Horrible. Despite that, it's still fun to get out to the ballpark and see a game. A few weeks ago I was able to take Shannon to a night game and Sully was so disappointed that he couldn't come along. I promised him that he would get his chance and that chance came yesterday. Sully dressed in his team gear and spent the morning contemplating the odds of the Brewers winning.</div>
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Once at the stadium he was pretty excited and really enjoyed watching the game.<br />
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<br />Little did we know at the time that the game would end up being the longest in Miller Park history - 17 innings in all! Needless to say, by about the 14th inning there weren't many fans left.<br />
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We got to the see the sausages race twice and do a second 7th/14th inning stretch. We also got to see Martin Maldonado hit a walk-off home run to win the game and, best of all, we got to see Sully run the bases after the game. He was super careful to touch each base and was so proud of himself as he crossed home plate. I honestly don't think he could get any cuter. I am so happy I got to spend the day with him.</div>
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<br />Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-30183342774853451682015-05-28T07:43:00.004-05:002015-05-28T07:43:44.255-05:00Afternoon Off<div style="text-align: justify;">
I finally had an appointment to get my hair colored yesterday afternoon so I took that as an opportunity to treat myself to an afternoon off. The hair salon I go to is right in the heart of Milwaukee's Third Ward, a great downtown neighborhood made up mostly of lofts and condos, tons of restaurants, little shops, art galleries and home to the Milwaukee Public Market. So, I hit up the build your own pita place in the market and then headed back outside to enjoy my Mighty Goat pita, (spinach spread, goat cheese, red onions and tomato) a good book and some sunshine.</div>
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I fell in love with Margaret Atwood after reading the Handmaid's Tale and have in the years since read almost all of her books. Right now I'm reading Wilderness Tips which is a collection of short stories. </div>
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Unfortunately, even before I could finish my pita, rain clouds rolled in and so I had to head back inside. I choose to console myself with coffee and a tiramisu cup. </div>
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Although it was a wonderful treat, it's something I seriously need to start cutting back on. The treats, not the afternoons off. Since having Sean Patrick, I've lost all my baby weight and started gaining it all right back, except this time, without having a pregnancy to blame it on. If I don't get things under control real soon I won't be able to fit into any of my clothes when it's time to head back to the office! What's that saying, I'll start Monday?</div>
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<br />Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-71803512747124734132015-05-26T10:27:00.003-05:002015-05-26T10:30:36.126-05:00Long Weekends<div style="text-align: justify;">
It was nice to get an extra day off from work yesterday to celebrate Memorial Day. Quinn and I bought a flag on Sunday while running errands and she was so proud to display it in the yard yesterday.</div>
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Although the weather wasn't great, I did get the chance to at least get outside a little bit and smell the flowers. The lilac bushes I planted in the backyard are blooming. The smell of lilacs is my favorite part of spring. I just wish they bloomed a little longer.</div>
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Quinn and Maren slept over at grandma's house Saturday night and returned with some beautiful Lilies of the Valley for me.<br />
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Yesterday, Chris took the four older kids out to his parents' house while I stayed home with Sean Patrick and continued to work on my sorting clothes project. I managed to get through all of Shannon's clothes and packed away everything that he's outgrown. Every time I do this it makes me a little sad because the time is just passing too quickly. I've now gotten through Shannon's, Quinn's, Sully's and Maren's clothes but I still need to get Maren's summer clothes out of storage. There's just so much of it!</div>
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While working on sorting through Shannon's clothes I also did some laundry. After one load, I opened the dryer to this:<br />
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One of the kids had left a purple crayon in their pocket and it melted all over their school uniforms. I tried washing it all again after stain treating everything, adding spot remover boosting pods to the washer and picking the hottest water and longest soak and stain cycle possible and it barely made a dent in the stains. So, now I'm trying a long, long soak in the sink with oxi-clean.</div>
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I guess the bright side is that it's very near the end of the school year so even if I never get the stains out these aren't clothes they will be wearing over the summer. The downside is that I bought everything big so that they could hopefully get two years of of everything.<br />
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As the laundry soaked, Sean Patrick and I hung out and watched some movies before the rest of the family got home. It made for a relaxing afternoon.<br />
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This morning it's back to work. Chris is fishing this morning so I was on my own with the kids. I think I did a pretty good job of getting everyone up, dressed, fed and out the door on time for Quinn and Shannon to make it to school.<br />
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<br />Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-32367521363567406802015-05-24T15:01:00.004-05:002015-05-26T10:00:30.407-05:00This Busy Life<div style="text-align: justify;">
Right now I feel like my life is an amazing mix of so busy and yet so tranquil. It's hard not to feel peaceful when you're holding a sleeping baby.</div>
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Since I had Sean Patrick I have been working part-time from home and will continue to do so throughout my three month maternity leave. It's a nice combination of keeping me in the loop with my work but also having time to just be with Sean Patrick and the other kids. I have been making dinner almost every night and during the days I've been tackling some bigger projects that I just never seem to have the energy for when I'm working full-time. Right now I'm in the depths of sorting through all five kid's clothes, packing away what is too small and digging out the hand me downs that will fit the younger kids. The plan has always been to keep all the kid stuff until our last child grew out of it and then give whatever is still half-way decent away. Maren being our last little girl, I technically should be not packing her too small clothes away, but instead giving them away. However, I just can't seem to bring myself to do that just yet. Realistically and practically I know Sean Patrick is our last baby. We have neither the room nor finances for another baby. And, even if we did, there is no amount of money that can defeat age. And yet, I just can't seem to wrap my head around that just yet so I continue packing away little girl clothes.</div>
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Apart from work, the baby and organizational projects, we've been keeping busy with celebrations. We celebrated Chris' birthday by going to our favorite birthday celebration place, <a href="http://www.organpiperpizza.com/" target="_blank">Organ Piper Pizza</a>. The organ music show keeps the kids entertained so we can actually sit and eat a full dinner without anyone getting too antsy. This was also our first time taking all five kids out and it went amazingly well. Sean Patrick actually slept through all of it even though we sat right next to the room housing all the organs pipes.</div>
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Right after Chris' birthday was Shannon's first communion. He looked like such a little man in his shirt and tie. </div>
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Shannon was pretty excited to receive communion for the first time, although he ended up liking the wine better than the host. And, in the end, I think he liked his cake best of all.</div>
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The next weekend was Mother's Day. Chris and I enjoyed a wonderful breakfast that he made with the help of <a href="https://www.homechef.com/invite/ra9AtMnr5Lr" target="_blank">Home Chef</a>.<br />
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Frittata, bacon, frisee salad and English muffins with maple butter. It was so good and so easy to make! <a href="https://www.homechef.com/invite/ra9AtMnr5Lr" target="_blank">Home Chef</a> is a service that allows you to pick from around ten meals a week and they ship you the recipes along with enough ingredients to make two servings of each meal you've selected. Although the service mainly offers dinner selections, they do sometimes have breakfast options and each week they have a fruit/nut snack option as well as now offering smoothies. We've ordered a few times now and have really enjoyed all the meals we've received. It's a nice, convenient way to cook at home without having to track down new recipes and do all the grocery shopping yourself. A definite downside, however, is the packaging waste. Everything is shipped in an insulated box and then each meals ingredients are in separate bags and then often times single ingredients are in even more bags. There is no waste of ingredients however, unlike how I often times find myself throwing away ingredients I bought to use in just one dish.</div>
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If you haven't tried <a href="https://www.homechef.com/invite/ra9AtMnr5Lr" target="_blank">Home Chef</a> and would like to, I have six free boxes that I can gift so just leave a comment and if I have any left, I'll gift you a free box.<br />
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After Mother's Day came our first Brewer's game of the season which should be like celebrating the beginning of summer, but here in Wisconsin is often more of a reminder that summer is still a long way off. The Brewer's haven't been playing very well this year and the game I took Shannon to was no exception. They lost but we still had fun with our good friend Bob tagging along with us.</div>
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Finally, we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary this month. It's amazing how quickly ten years have gone by. We went back to the restaurant where we had our reception for an unforgettable four course meal. If you love French food and are ever in Milwaukee, you should make it a point to eat that the <a href="http://www.lakeparkbistro.com/" target="_blank">Lake Park Bistro</a>. Not only is the food amazing, but so is the view as it looks right over Lake Michigan (and also the exact spot where we had our wedding ceremony but that probably doesn't matter much to anyone but us.)</div>
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This was not our first time returning the Lake Park Bistro but it was our first time using <a href="https://www.uber.com/" target="_blank">Uber</a>. Knowing that we were going to enjoy a few cocktails in addition to a bottle of wine with dinner, we decided not to drive ourselves and opted instead for an <a href="https://www.uber.com/" target="_blank">Uber</a> ride. <a href="https://www.uber.com/" target="_blank">Uber</a> is relatively new in Milwaukee, a city where it's never been easy to get a taxi even if you're downtown. So, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy <a href="https://www.uber.com/" target="_blank">Uber</a> was to use. A few minutes before our babysitter was set to arrive, I logged into the <a href="https://www.uber.com/" target="_blank">Uber</a> app and requested a car. There's a map that shows you where available cars are that are near you and you receive an estimated wait time for a pick-up. I put in our destination and got a fare estimate which was definitely below what a taxi would cost us. Once I scheduled the pick-up I got a picture of the driver along with the information about the car that would be coming. It was all so easy. Both our ride there and back home were pleasant with very nice drivers. Our first ride even came with a surprise:</div>
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I don't see us using <a href="https://www.uber.com/" target="_blank">Uber</a> too often but definitely love that there is a cost-effective and convenient option for nights like last night where we know we'll be drinking or even if we're just going somewhere with limited parking and being dropped off and picked up would be easier than driving. If you've never used <a href="https://www.uber.com/" target="_blank">Uber</a> and want to give it a try and also get $20 off your first ride, you can use <a href="https://www.uber.com/invite/kellyb2821ue" target="_blank">this link</a>. </div>
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The Home Chef and Uber discount links are affiliate links. If you choose to use either, I will receive credits to my accounts with these services.Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-74308505921490246252015-04-22T15:28:00.001-05:002015-04-22T15:29:11.415-05:00And Sean Makes FiveCharles Sean Patrick was born April 15, 2015 at 4:54 pm. He weighed 8lbs 3oz and is 21 inches long.<br />
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He is perfect.<br />
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All the kids were excited to meet their new brother.<br />
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Shannon got to hold him and Maren keeps trying to feed him.<br />
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Most of time Sean Patrick is asleep........<br />
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But Maren really wants him to wake up..........<br />
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And finally he does. Such beautiful eyes.<br />
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But it's not long before he falls asleep again, right along with his dad.<br />
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<br />Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-42282456654415508902015-01-04T14:02:00.003-06:002015-01-04T14:03:56.671-06:00Catching Up to 2015I can hardly believe that Christmas and New Year's is past. There was no snow here for Christmas and although I dislike snow, something about not having a white Christmas makes it almost not quite seem like Christmas. Our holidays went pretty well. The kids were all happy with their gifts despite there being not too many of them, at least not from Santa/their parents. The grandparents are always a bit of another story. New Year's Eve was a bit of a bust, in part because I had a very bad headache, and in part because I am so tired these days that staying awake until 10:00pm is a challenge, much less midnight. Maybe next year!<br />
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So, it's 2015 and we're hoping for some really great things this year. Namely, the birth of our fifth child. I'm 23 weeks come Wednesday and can hardly believe that I'm close to only being about three months away from having this baby. It just doesn't seem like enough time. Not enough time to enjoy my last pregnancy, not enough time to get everything ready at home and not enough time to get everything done at work that I need to get done.<br />
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With time in mind, I need to really stick to planning out my days, weeks and months so that I can get things accomplished. I've been doing a pretty good job, but just not good enough. Big plans for 2015 requires big planning.<br />
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What are these plans? First and fore most I want to get our budget under control this year. It's a really big task that I am trying to stay motivated to keep up with. A few months back I signed up for You Need a Budget (YNAB) and have been using the program going on three months now. Keeping track of all of my spending has been a real eye-opening experience. There were some things I was way underestimating my monthly spending on, like groceries and kid's clothing, and things which I was overestimating, like gas. Something I already knew, but which has been reinforced, is that I spend too much money on unnecessary wants vs spending on needs. With the baby on the way, I feel a stronger need to get that under control. Less spending, more paying off debt and more saving.<br />
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Other plans, or really goals, are to stay better on top of things. It takes a lot of organization to keep track of six schedules so adding in a seventh will be a challenge. And, of course, the older the kids get the more scheduling there is to keep track of. I also want the house to be better organized which means getting rid of a lot of the clutter. That is something I manage to do in spurts but the spurts just never seem to last long enough to make a really big dent.<br />
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Combining the two, better budgeting and organization, means meal planning. I've been doing better with this the last few months, but still find myself switching up the plan a little too often. Either I'm just not in the mood for whatever I have planned, or I simply don't have the energy to cook something. I understand that flexibility is a key word for parents but I think I can still plan some flex nights while sticking to the plan more often than not.<br />
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More goals for not just the next year but life in general? Read more, play more, yell less, oh yea, and eat less. Sounds simple, right? We'll see.Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-87953353142900025852014-11-11T12:12:00.000-06:002014-11-11T12:12:07.344-06:00Halloween and Christmas Already???I remember the good old days. You know, before my kids had their own opinions on what they wanted to dress up as for Halloween. At this point, I basically have zero say in it. I'd love it if they would each dress up as a Super Why character, or each take a Star Wars character, or really just about any combination of four related things that hopefully don't involve Disney princesses. This year though, they each had an opinion. Well, not so much Maren, but once Quinn had picked out her Anna costume she insisted that her little sister be Elsa. So, okay, I gave in because honestly I'm just too worn out to try and talk them out of just about anything these days. What was that? You want popcorn for dinner? Sure, whatever.<br />
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Here they are - Ninja Shannon, Spiderman Sully, Anna Quinn and Elsa Maren<br />
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Trick-or-treating was Halloween night and it was windy and pretty cold. Needless to say, the kids didn't last too long. After just a few blocks they were ready to head home. The little kids went to bed while the older kids stayed up to help hand out candy. Unfortunately, not many kids came and I was left with multiple bags of candy, not to mention all the candy the kids had collected. Ugh.<br />
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Before Halloween even got here, I was hard at work working on Christmas. Even typing out that sentence feels strange to me. In past years I've always felt so far behind when it comes to Christmas so it's weird to be sitting here in early November and feel as though I've have it all under control. I'm just though that now that I've said it, it will soon all fall apart. I've bought the kids gifts and even have them wrapped AND I have our Christmas cards in hand. Normally I'm the one paying tons of extra money for overnight shipping just so I can send out the cards Christmas week.<br />
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I'm trying to go smaller this Christmas. Each child is getting about two gifts from us/Santa and I'm hoping that their grandparents will scale things back as well. We've really been emphasizing how much the kids love things like swimming and tennis lessons and themed summer camps in the hopes that those things become good gift options vs more stuffed animals or toys. <br />
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One of the favorite gifts I bought this year is for Shannon and only cost $0.99. <br />
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When I was in the fourth grade I read the book the Secret of the Seven Crows, loved it and have never forgotten it. Something reminded me of it a few weeks ago so I got on Amazon and found one for sale for a mere $0.99. It arrived the other day and before I wrap it up for Shannon, I'm re-reading it so that when he reads it we'll be able to talk about it. I'm just hoping he likes it as much as I did way back when. Passing down a love for reading and books has definitely been a priority of mine and I get a little giddy thinking about sharing all the books I've loved beyond just little kid books like Goodnight Moon and Swimmy.<br /><br />Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-65995350949141817802014-10-30T10:55:00.000-05:002014-10-30T10:56:00.311-05:00I'm a 29 Year-Old AgainIsn't it amazing how far science advances in just a few years? When I was pregnant with my first I believe I was offered the triple screen blood test to test for chromosome abnormalities. Then, with my second, third and fourth I had a nuchal translucency scan along with some blood work. I remember that with Maren, my fourth, I asked my doctor about skipping the NT scan and instead doing what was then one of the new blood tests which are nearly 100% accurate in finding the most common trisomies. He said that insurance companies were not yet covering those tests and so I opted for the NT scan instead.<br />
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This pregnancy is a bit unique in that although I am 43, the embryo I am pregnant with was created when I was 36. That still puts me into a higher risk category, but not as high as that of a 43 year-old. This time around, I was offered the MaterniT21 test and was encouraged to have that done rather than the nuchal scan. Unfortunately, the lab used for the test is not covered by my insurance and although the company offers a very reduced rate in those situations, I decided not to spend the money out of pocket and instead decided on having the "old fashioned" nuchal scan done. I figured that would allow me another look at the baby, an opportunity to have my cervix measured to help calm my fears about it shortening, and if the results came back that our odds being high of there being something wrong, I could always still have the MaterniT21 test done.<br />
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I had the scan done last Monday and, thankfully, everything looked really good. My doctor called me yesterday with the results of the accompanying blood work and that too came back good. He said I now fall into the same risk category of a 29 year-old. It sure feels good to be 29 again, if only for statistical results.Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-17952555294591169422014-10-24T12:55:00.000-05:002014-10-24T12:55:54.390-05:00Planning the Old School WayDespite my extreme exhaustion, or perhaps because of it, I actually feel like I am getting more done. Part of what has helped I believe is going back to using an old school, paper planner. Years ago I gave up my paper calendar in favor of having an online one. I found, however, that it just wasn't really for me. I'd write things on slips of paper meaning to add them to my electronic calendar later but then would forget, or, I just found adding things on my small phone cumbersome. So, before school started back up for the kids this year, I added their school and activity schedules into my Cozi calendar (which the husband can also view), but I also ordered a paper planner for myself.<br />
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I've really found myself being better about getting things done during the week and meal planning now that I have one place to write down weekly and daily tasks along with at least a dinner plan for each night. Even at work this has been helpful because I have been using it to map out times of the time to work on some of my bigger projects. It's like all those articles that tell you to schedule exercise because you'll be more likely to actually exercise (okay, bad example, that has never worked for me with regards to exercising.) Now that I'm writing everything down I find myself more likely to actually do those things.<br />
<span id="goog_1606769240"></span><span id="goog_1606769241"></span><br />Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-21957968183454661472014-10-07T19:17:00.000-05:002014-10-07T19:17:20.533-05:00Hello Old FriendI've been pretty lax in updating, possibly because I've been in bed, sleeping by around 8:30pm each night. To say that I am worn out is a huge understatement. Some really good things have been happening though. I've had two ultrasounds, both showing a little baby measuring a few days ahead and with a strong, beating heart. I've also been able to find the heart beat a few times using my doppler. At my first appointment with my OB I had a pap and hpv test which, thankfully, came back negative. I'm not even really certain I knew how worried I was about facing an abnormal result until I saw the good test results. I just need to not have a repeat of what happened after I had Maren. <div>
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One thing that was amazing me was my lack of morning sickness. Not that I haven't been feeling sick, but I wasn't actually getting sick. What? Given my levels of morning sickness in all but one of my previous pregnancies this has really just been shocking to me. I've been walking around thinking hey, maybe it's finally my turn to be one of the pregnant ladies who get to say "I never even threw up once." Yea, I should have known that was NEVER going to happen. Last night I was up in the middle of the night with Maren and after taking just a few sips of water I started to feel really sick to my stomach. It took until right before I was ready to leave for work before I had to make a run for the bathroom. Then, I managed to go the day at work without getting sick again but once home I found out just what a mistake it was to eat a pickle spear with my lunch. Yuck, yuck, yuck!</div>
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So, in the words of Neil Diamond, "Hello, my friend, hello." I would say it's nice having you back morning sickness but that's not 100% true. There is a certain familiarity and comfort in having similar pregnancies but yea, throwing up is no fun.</div>
Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-62490433404418790022014-09-05T13:19:00.000-05:002014-09-05T13:20:25.359-05:00Catching Up: Back to School EditionThis summer really has just flown by. I meant to do so much and post things like my first ripe tomato and how I chose to plant succulents this year instead of flowers, but I never seemed to get around to it.<br />
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I wanted to show off my little fishergirl Quinn with her big catch of the season.<br />
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But I just kept putting it off until it seemed almost too late to bother. But, last week a wave of nesting, along with the OMG school starts for everyone this week, sort of hit me and finally gave me the energy to do a bit more than just my day to day things. <br />
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Back to school is often portrayed as something moms are really excited about. The kids are out of their hair during the week and it comes across too that the mom will have less work to do than over the summer. Hmmmmm. It seems to work in the exact opposite way in our home. Summers are all about the kids just getting up whenever they want. Sure, they need to get to things like swimming lessons or tennis lessons, but those are never as early as school. They don't come home every night with 82 sheets of paper I need to read over plus 4 forms I need to fill out. I don't even really need to keep too close an eye on their activities because although I plan them, once planned I hand over the details to the husband who makes sure they get where they need to be. Ahhhh, summer really is like a mini-vacation for me even though I work full-time through it.<br />
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Shannon started school a week before Quinn and Sully so at least that helped me to sort of ease back into things. Who needs a lunch? When is your spelling test? Did you remember to put your library book in your bag? Which day is free-dress day? And on and on and on.<br />
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In an attempt to somewhat streamline things and help my own severe lack of memory, I hung a calendar on the fridge that instead of being monthly of everything that's going on for everyone, is just a set weekly calendar of what each kid has on each day. So, Shannon has gym on Mondays and Wednesdays and Quinn has gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and they both have library on Thursday, and Shannon has math tests on Thursday but spelling tests on Fridays, etc. and now I don't have to try and remember all that and instead can just glance at the calendar. I can also tell the kids to check it each morning to make sure they have their gym shoes on if necessary and that they've packed everything they need for that day. Right underneath that calendar is the school lunch menu which I have them mark at the start of the month each day they want to take the hot lunch. It's their job to check that and remind me if they need a lunch.<br />
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I also wanted to help them be a bit more independent at breakfast and snack time so I created a little quick breakfast/snack station.<br />
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There are trays of breakfast bars and easy to grab breakfast biscuits (which Quinn loves), along with a basket of applesauce in a pouch and another of small bags of pretzels and other snack crackers. Up on top of the bookcase is a cereal dispenser which the kids find fun to use but I find annoying because it creates a lot of cereal dust/powder.<br />
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Tuesday was the first day of K5 for Quinn and I actually managed to get a good picture of Shannon and Quinn together that morning.<br />
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For some reason it's easier for me to believe that Quinn is five than it is for me to wrap my head around Shannon turning eight in a few weeks.<br />
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Sully's school has a staggered start for the first week so he didn't have his first day until Thursday. He was pretty excited to show off his Geo shirt, along with his Team Umizoomi backpack. I can't wait for the day when Shannon and Quinn start to question why they have to wear a uniform and Sully doesn't. Sully was just so cute that I wanted to squeeze him and not let him go!<br />
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This week wasn't even a full week and yet I'm worn out. Tonight is a school meeting for the K5 class and then an ice-cream social which I know the kids will enjoy but honestly, I'd rather just go home and sleep.<br />
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<br />Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-17715154087799420052014-08-27T16:18:00.000-05:002014-08-27T16:18:34.503-05:00FET Success (Hopefully)Well, I won't actually call this cycle, our last cycle ever, a success until I'm holding a plump, healthy baby in my arms, but as of right now, this moment, I'm cautiously optimistic.<br />
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Our journey to here has been a long and winding road of medicated cycles, IUIs, IVF, pregnancies resulting from no intervention whatsoever, miscarriages, a DVT and a near cervical cancer diagnosis. There have been many smiles, laughs and yes, many worries and tears along the way.<br />
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After our IVF cycle in 2008, we had one embryo frozen. Over the years I've taken to calling it Frosty. Little frosty stayed frozen for a little over six years, in which time, I had four more pregnancies and two live births. Going into this cycle I had very mixed emotions. I knew this was our last chance and didn't want to get my hopes up too high for fear we wouldn't even make it to the transfer and I would be devastated. I also am nervous about what life with five kids will look like. My pregnancy at age 40, while working full-time and with three kids at home was hard and this time around I will be 43, working full-time with four kids at home. Our house is on the smaller side, the husband's car is definitely on the smaller side, our bank accounts are on the smaller side and just how does one find enough time for each of five kids along with their spouse? But, I think I we are up for the challenge. <br />
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So with that, here are the details. This cycle began on August 1st and I began taking 2mg of estrogen three times a day along with doing injections of 40mg of Lovenox every morning and evening. I had a lining check on the 11th, did a trigger shot of hcg on the 12th and also began injections of 2ml of progesterone in oil that same night. Our transfer was on the 18th and my first beta was today. At what is equal to 14dpo, my beta came back as 110. My next beta isn't for a full week which I'm sure will leave me wondering, but at the same time, I'm hopeful that it will keep me from obsession too much over numbers I know ultimately mean very little.<br />
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Making his internet debut, here's Frosty:<br />
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And no, we don't know that it's a boy, I'm just using the universal "he."<br />
Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-19931973582261718632014-08-13T16:48:00.000-05:002014-08-27T16:18:51.211-05:00Lucky Pennies?I found these the other day while on my way home from work. Are they lucky? I'll let you know in about two weeks.<br />
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<br />Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-41334062665359126492014-07-28T14:38:00.000-05:002014-07-28T14:38:03.654-05:00Team Umizoomi - Milli, Geo, Bot and You!Sully doesn't hide his love of Team Umizoomi. Everyday he wakes up and says he wants to watch "something" and that something is always an episode of Team Umizoomi. For Christmas he got a little stuffed Geo that he likes to carry around with him. He even calls himself "little Geo." So, for his third birthday we had a lightly themed Team Umizoomi party for him.<br />
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I got him a personalized third birthday Geo t-shirt and one of his aunts knit a special Geo hat just for him. To say he was excited would be an understatement.<br />
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One of his cousins baked and decorated cupcakes. They melted a bit in the heat but they were still delicious.<br />
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After a lunch of grilled brats, hamburgers and hot dogs, chips, homemade potato salad and fruit Sully got to blow out his birthday candle. And yes, I know it's pink but that's because it's the same candle we used when Quinn turned three. <br />
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He devoured his Geo cupcake and turned his mouth blue in the process.<br />
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Last, but certainly not least, we opened presents. Shannon and Quinn were more than happy to help.<br />
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After all the guests had gone home and things had been cleaned up I saw this:<br />
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Ahhhh, so cleaned off. By this morning it was already getting more cluttered. Maren and Sully didn't seem to mind though.<br />
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<br />Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-58828973215387736202014-07-25T14:35:00.000-05:002014-07-25T14:35:38.119-05:00My Dining Room TableWe have a very small kitchen in our house. So small that there isn't room for a table. The upside is that we have a beautiful dining room. Last year around this time I posted <a href="http://www.thisclutteredlife.com/2013/09/bringing-dinner-back.html" target="_blank">about bringing dinner back </a>and we have been eating at the dining room table ever since. Lately, we've even been eating breakfast around the table as a family. It is nice to come home and have a chance to catch up with the kids and also with the husband.<br />
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What isn't so nice, is sitting down to a messy, clutter filled table. My husband jokes that if there is a flat surface that I will find a way to fill it with clutter. And you know what? He's right. I'm a stacker by nature. Magazines, catalogs, bills, school papers, all end up in a big stack on my dining room table. Books to return to the library, art work the kids brought home from a zoo class, boat batteries in need of recharging, shoes that need to be taken to the repair shop, even science experiments that were tried with gram and pop, all make their way to my dining room table. It really is the center of our home.<br />
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Clearing it off is a never ending battle for me. It should be easy, either put the stuff where it goes or throw it away. But, it just never is that easy. My inner hoarder comes out and as I page through the magazines I think oh, I want that recipe, I need to look that up online and pin it (to my Pinterest board of things I will never actually get around to making.) Or, oh, that's the perfect sweater for Quinn this fall but I don't want to spend the money on it right now so I'll save this catalog to remind myself to go and look later to see if it's on sale. And on and on until I'm left with a stack about the same size as when I started.<br />
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So, my mission this fall is to try and really minimize how much ends up on the table, and even the surrounding surfaces as I have a tendency to clean off the dining room table by simply moving the stacks to other flat surfaces. Maren is getting old enough to not need the high-chair, so soon she'll be moving into the 6th chair which also happens to be the chair I stack most of the piles in front of. If keeping her ever wandering hands off my stuff isn't motivation, I don't know what is.<br />
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Here's a sampling of recent days:<br />
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Sad to say, this is the best of the bunch. Quinn's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0439845025/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0439845025&linkCode=as2&tag=thiclulif-20&linkId=GQ2FDBPMPPXYX7UV">Bob Books</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=thiclulif-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0439845025" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007OWPWG4/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B007OWPWG4&linkCode=as2&tag=thiclulif-20&linkId=R2ROBJMDHCIDTY64">Knot Genie</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=thiclulif-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B007OWPWG4" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
, the husband's battery charger and hat, a box to go back to Lands' End, Sully's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008X5QKLW/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B008X5QKLW&linkCode=as2&tag=thiclulif-20&linkId=ZW2CRJLGVX4EKOKD">box of eye patches</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=thiclulif-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B008X5QKLW" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
. And stacks of stuff.<br />
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The stack gets bigger, shoes appear, the diaper bag is waiting to be emptied of filled, I can't remember which and two glass jars are filled with some kind of lava lamp liquid because yea, that's not going to get broken and ruin the table, chairs and floor.<br />
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And the perhaps the worst but mainly because I had my purse there (on top of a stack of mail) so I could grab a pen with which to do the puzzles in the paper while I sipped my coffee and ran <a href="http://www.perk.com/perk/invite/3d5a9a13" target="_blank">PerkTV</a> ads on my iPad.<br />
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Tomorrow is Sully's birthday party so I need to make a lot of progress on this mission tonight.<br />
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<br />Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-75870857959141118082014-07-22T08:31:00.001-05:002014-07-22T12:04:18.965-05:00Back to School Bento DealI've been packing bento box style lunches for my kids for the last year. It makes my oldest smile to see a panda bear sandwich or little animal picks stuck in cheese squares or grapes. And, for Quinn, it helps her to eat a wider variety of food, albeit still not wide enough, but I'll take what I can get. So, I was excited to see a great <a href="https://www.plumdistrict.com/?ref=ue902ee5ae58" target="_blank">Plum District</a> deal pop up in my email this morning.<br />
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For the next 5 days you can grab a <a href="https://www.plumdistrict.com/?ref=ue902ee5ae58" target="_blank">Plum District</a> voucher for $8.00 which will give you $16.00 to spend at <a href="http://www.bentousa.com/" target="_blank">Bento USA</a>. Bento USA sells tons of really fun bento supplies including everything from lunch boxes, to sandwich cutters, to food picks. I sometimes get lost just browsing their site.<br />
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If you've never made a bento style lunch, it can be a little intimidating when you see all the super fancy things some people are doing. I stick to the more simple stuff as evidenced<a href="http://www.thisclutteredlife.com/2013/09/hello-kitty-meets-bento-lunch-and-more.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
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I've already bought my voucher. If you're interested in one you can click this <a href="http://www.plumdistrict.com/three_for_free/3305129b57/click" target="_blank">link</a> to get taken directly to the deal. Once you've bought a deal, you can refer your friends and if three friends buy a voucher you'll get yours for free!<br />
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(Note: The Plum District links are referral links. The link to Bento USA is all fun.) <br />
<br />Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-51163147659217629312014-07-19T15:18:00.000-05:002014-07-22T08:11:46.858-05:00FREE Turkey Dogs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I got a FREE package of Jennie-O Turkey dogs from Target today. Target sells them for $0.99 a pack and <a href="http://ibotta.com/r/kyjdka" target="_blank">Ibotta</a> has a $1.00 rebate right now. So, actually, I didn't just get them for free, I earned a penny by buying them!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If you're not familiar with <a href="http://ibotta.com/r/kyjdka" target="_blank">Ibotta</a>, it's an app which provides rebates on typical grocery items, movie tickets, clothing, baby and household items. While making my shopping list I review what rebates are available and if there are things I need I do the little tasks to "earn" the rebate. Sometimes you have to watch a super short video, or answer a question to be eligible for the rebate. It's always easy to do and super quick. Then, I shop and once home I set aside my <a href="http://ibotta.com/r/kyjdka" target="_blank">Ibotta</a> items. When you go to redeem, the app prompts you to scan the barcodes on your items to verify that they are the correct items and then you snap a picture of the receipt and viola! money back. The really great thing is that you can use manufacturer coupons at the store and then come home and still use <a href="http://ibotta.com/r/kyjdka" target="_blank">Ibotta</a>. Sometimes, all the stars align and there will be an offer on <a href="http://ibotta.com/r/kyjdka" target="_blank">Ibotta</a>, I'll have a manufacturer coupon, a Target coupon AND an offer on Target Cartwheel. I'm not a super couponer by any stretch of the imagination but I'm willing to do things that are rather easy to do to save a little money. Right now I have almost $25.00 in my account which I can either get as cash put into my Paypal account, or, use it to buy gift cards to places like Starbucks, Whole Foods or Regal Movie Theaters.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Other shopping apps I use are Checkout51 and <a href="http://shopmium.com/en/app" target="_blank">Shopmium</a>, both of which give rebates on grocery items by either submitting a picture of your receipt and sometimes also scanning barcodes.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Happy shopping!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">(The links in this post are referral links. If you'd like to sign up for Shopmium, use my referral code, MAKYYYWG, and get a free Lindt chocolate bar.)</span>Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-7111128115153702732014-07-15T12:22:00.000-05:002014-07-15T20:40:11.518-05:00How I Plan on Getting my Children's School Uniforms for FreeSchool uniforms. Some people love them, many hate them, but as a former Catholic school girl I have to admit they will always have a place in my heart. As someone who still struggles to put outfits together, they made my life easier when I was a kid and now that I'm a mom, they make my life easier by eliminating any morning battles about what my kids are going to wear to school. The husband was skeptical regarding how easy they could make our lives but he's come around as Maren runs away when she sees a dress she doesn't want to wear or Sully cries because he wants to wear his Superman shirt four days in a row and it's just so filthy it's unwearable. Not having a choice is sometimes the best choice when it comes to school fashions.<br />
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Shannon has been in school a few years now and over that time I've bought many different brands of polo shirts and pants. He must wear navy pants and then has a choice between white or a dark green polo. I've found that buying cheap leads to ripped knees and stained/ripped/yellowed shirts that just won't come clean. So, I've been buying more and more from <a href="https://www.landsend.com/" target="_blank">Lands' End</a>. First, they are a Wisconsin based company so it's always nice to support a more local business. Second, their uniform pants have reinforced knees, and for the younger boys, have a hook closure instead of a button which is a big deal when little ones are still learning not only dressing and un-dressing themselves but the art of making it to the bathroom in time. Third, in the older kids sizes, you can order the pants hemmed (for free, which is simply amazing.) Based on last year when Shannon only wore Lands' End pants, I found that by the end of the year the pants had faded a bit in color, but not a ton and far less than pairs I had purchased in years past from Old Navy, Kohl's, Target or Crazy 8, and all the knees were intact. I think there was one pair that perished, but it was ripped when Shannon walked by something and got caught on it, rather than the typical knee rips from playground play. The remaining four pair are packed away now for Sully to wear when he's older. Now that Shannon is big enough that I can order hemmed pants, I'm hoping I can stretch them out for two years of wear instead of just one. For the top, I buy the performance interlock polo shirts because I like the feel of them better than the mesh version. I've found that the white stays white the entire school year and the fabric stays soft.<br />
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All of this adds up though. Even on sale, the pants and polo shirts are a little spendy. And, when you're buying five pair of pants and then five short-sleeve plus five long-sleeved polo shirts, plus let's not forget Quinn who needs some short and long sleeved blouses or shirts as well, it <b>really</b> adds up. But, this year I plan on buying everything without spending more than hopefully $50. How is that possible? Well, I've been using my <a href="http://swagbucks.com/refer/itsmevkb" target="_blank">Swagbucks</a> and <a href="http://www.perk.com/perk/invite/3d5a9a13" target="_blank">PerkTV</a> points to buy Lands' End gift cards. I just placed an order for five polo shirts, which I paid $14.18 for, down from a total of $70.90 (sale of 25% off, plus free shipping, $50.00 in gift cards and $6.72 in <a href="http://www.shopyourway.com/sears?sid=SSx20131015x000001G&psid=101x827&knshCrid=4023308&k_clickID=6b38fe44-5bff-b809-a21f-00002ca1247a" target="_blank">Shop Your Way Rewards</a>.) By August I should be able to get a few more gift cards so I can buy pants when they go on sale again. Then, I have a little time before they'll need long sleeves so I should be able to get those totally free by hopefully mid-October. <br />
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If you've tried Swagbucks in the past and never were able to really earn points, Perk might be the better choice. The Perk TV app runs app and movie trailers, with ads in between, and you earn points just for letting it run. I have the app on my iPad and let it run overnight and during the day while I'm at work. There's no daily point limit so just letting it run can really rack up the points. If you have an old phone lying around you might be able to install the app on that and just let it run. If you're interested in trying it out, you can get 50 bonus points by using my referral code, 3d5a9a13. <a href="http://www.perk.com/perk/invite/3d5a9a13" target="_blank">Perk TV</a> can be downloaded from <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/perk-tv-get-rewards-when-you/id706630901?mt=8" target="_blank">iTunes</a> or from <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.juteralabs.perktv&hl=en" target="_blank">Google Play</a>. In addition to the Perk TV app, there is also a browser, a search engine and a quiz game, all of which also reward points for using them. I've been having some fun playing the quiz game at night after the kids are asleep.<br />
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Back to uniforms. Here's a picture of Shannon in his at the start of last year. He's standing as though he's off to military school instead of first grade.<br />
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And Quinn. Too bad they don't sell the uniform dresses at Lands' End.<br />
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I can't wait to compare pictures from this year. They have grown so much!<br />
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Please note that the Swagbucks and Perk links are referral links but all the others are not.Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-43345393910030323922014-07-08T08:59:00.001-05:002014-07-08T09:00:04.293-05:00Ducks Wandering Out of the RowI guess it's just too much to hope that things stay all lined up and ready to go. My list of things to do before proceeding was the FET was all checked off. Save some money - check. Lose weight - check. Good pap test - check. Get the okay from hematologist - check. <br />
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As of today, my ducks are running for the hills. I've spent some of the money I saved, I've gained 10 pounds and when I requested a prescription for Lovenox from the hematologist a nurse called me back and said I had to come back in for another appointment.<br />
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The appointment I had with the hemo in April was pretty complete. We discussed my history, my DVT, what the suspected cause was, how I'd used Lovenox in all of my subsequent pregnancies without incidence and how moving forward I would do the same during the FET. Before leaving I was given the a-okay to proceed and told to call when I needed the blood thinners. So, not sure what there is left to be discussed, but whatever it is it's going to cost me $35 to find out. At least I was able to get an appointment for this week as I'm on track to start the meds for the FET at the end of the month.<br />
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The plan is to do the FET mid-August so I figure I can hopefully take off the 10 pounds I've gained by then. I'm rededicating myself to eating better and eating less. I have some Brewer's games and Sully's birthday coming up but I'm confident that I can power through and let myself have just one treat at the ball games, instead of every treat.<br />
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Which would also help push another duck into line - my spending. I have a definite pattern of doing well with saving, clipping coupons, not needlessly spending and then it's like the dam bursts and I start buying everything in site. I'm smart enough to recognize the pattern but not smart enough to stop it which just frustrates me all the more.<br />
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So, I'm engaging in a no-spending challenge. Nothing crazy like going an entire month, more like just this week and then I'll re-evaluate for next week. I also am going to set aside a little time this week to really review my budget. I already know where I've gotten way off track but I want to analyze what I have allocated and see if there is a way to move some money around and really better prioritize where it all goes.<br />
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If anyone has any great tips or stories of how they stopped needless spending, I'm all ears.<br />
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<br />Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-35317529524718572812014-06-30T15:11:00.002-05:002014-06-30T15:11:47.707-05:00Summer TraditionsLiving in Wisconsin you really end up needing at least two good summer months to make up for what are normally very cold winters. These past winter having been unbelievably cold, I feel as though even six months of summer wouldn't make up for it.<br />
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From January 6, 2014: <br />
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Thus far, it hasn't even really been that warm so it's felt like a slow start to summer. But, then the first church festival came around and I knew it truly was summer. Attending church festivals is something I've done every summer since I was a teenager. It's the perfect blend of bbq and roasted corn, along side beer tents, along side carney booths with games you know you're never going to win but still fork over $10 so your kid can take home a $1 Oriental Trading plastic sword or random, small, ugly stuffed animal, or, goldfish that will likely die within 48 hours.<br />
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Maren stayed with her grandparents while Shannon, Quinn, Sully, our friend Bob and myself joined in the fun. Shannon and Sully drove a truck over bumpy landscape.<br />
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Quinn and Sully rode the train.<br />
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"Uncle" Bob helped out when the kids got tired.<br />
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And the kids came home with armfuls of junk.<br />
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As predicted, one fish died the next day and two days later, this little guy also went to sleep with the fishes.<br />
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Other great summer traditions, fishing! The husband is an avid fisherman so he'll get out on the water every chance he gets. Shannon caught a big one all by himself the other day.<br />
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The older kids are signed up for swimming lessons this summer but they also love heading to the county pools whenever they can.<br />
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Which hasn't been too often so far considering all the rain we've been having lately.<br />
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A few nights when it's been sunny out we've taken family walks. Along the way we've enjoyed stopping at <a href="http://littlefreelibrary.org/" target="_blank">free little libraries</a>.<br />
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Luckily, Father's Day was sunny and we got outside for pictures before heading off for brunch. Unfortunately, Maren was not all that interested in sitting down for pictures. Sometimes it just takes a little time for her to warm up, even when it is hot and summer.<br />
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<br />Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-27897901021413336942014-06-01T15:55:00.000-05:002014-06-29T07:39:37.363-05:00Channeling My Inner June CleaverToday I just had a craving to cook something. And, it wasn't just a craving to cook a meal, it was to cook something that I could make a whole bunch of, eat tonight for dinner and then freeze some for later. I decided on spaghetti sauce. Why I have no idea since I have jars and jars of it in my pantry.<br />
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So, I hopped in the car and drove to the fancy grocery store. I came home with tomatoes, mushrooms, celery, garlic, a sweet onion (or, as the kids call it, a stinky onion), salad mix, mild Italian sausage, thin spaghetti, two bottles of wine and a movie. <br />
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Since I haven't been to the big grocery store in quite a while, I took a little extra time to explore. There is a what used to be normal sized grocery store right near our house so I frequent that for basics, but because of the size, they don't stock many new or "fancy" items. That can be a plus since I don't waste time, and money, wandering the aisles and adding things like this to my cart:<br />
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Once home, I got to work on the sauce. I channeled my inner June Cleaver and even wore an apron. I bought one a few years back at an estate sale and it's been hanging off my spice closet ever since.<br />
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I chopped the onion, minced three cloves of garlic, chopped one stalk of celery and put all that in a skillet with once tablespoon of olive oil, a pound of mild Italian sausage and around a pound of ground beef. While the beef and sausage browned, I added one can of diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, tomato soup and a couple of chopped up mushrooms to the crock-pot.<br />
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After draining the grease from the meat and veggies, that got added to the crock-pot too and my little helper stirred it all up.<br />
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The plan is to have spaghetti for dinner with the veggie salad as a side along some Breadsmith garlic knots which I picked up yesterday. <br />
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Oh, and wine. Let's not forget the wine! The Toad Hollow Risque is what we served at our wedding so it always brings back good memories.<br />
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<br />Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-36437865855045116972014-04-08T16:36:00.002-05:002014-04-08T16:38:10.341-05:00Ducks in a RowI'm really bad at keeping up with this whole writing thing. Sometimes I'm also really bad at just keeping up with this whole life thing.<br />
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Right now I'm trying to get all my ducks in a row so that hopefully I can have the frozen embryo transfer done late this summer. In my traditional manner, this has lead to lots of lists making. Lists for doctor visits I need, people I need to call, money I need to save. <br />
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I started by scheduling a mammogram. At age 42 and never having had one I'd been getting some grief from my doctor's office and I figured my reproductive endocrinologist would require one before doing the FET anyway, and I was right. Thankfully, everything came back looking great.<br />
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Next, I called the fertility clinic to get specifics on timelines, price and protocols. The price has, of course, gone up over the years and lucky me, my insurance now no longer covers any of the medicines either. So, there's that. Then I found out that they no longer offer the option of doing a natural FET. I was a little disappointed as I had been considering that as a possible way to ease my worries about possibly developing another blood clot. Instead, the only option is a medicated FET, although at least it is a protocol without birth control pills. As for timelines, it sounds as easy as calling about two and a half months before I want to do the FET and they will get things going.<br />
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Due to my history of having a blood clot, the clinic requires me to get a clearance letter from a hematologist. So, I guess I'm not the only one worried about pumping estrogen into my body. Good to know my fears aren't unfounded. I had seen a hematologist back in 2010 after my miscarriages but he's since retired so I tracked down a new one and just had an appointment with him last week. Things seemed to go well aka he didn't tell me I was completely crazy for wanting to do the FET. He said so long as I stick with the Lovenox injections from the time I start taking the meds until either the cycle is done or six weeks after a pregnancy I should be fine.<br />
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So, two down, one more big one to go and that is another pap test. My follow-up in November came back great so I'm hoping and praying my next one, scheduled in May, is the same because, of course, if it's not then best laid plans and all. Since my ob/gyn has been on an extended medical leave I finally decided to just go ahead and find a new one. After six pregnancies it's a little hard to imagine seeing someone else but at this point I don't really have a choice.Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-18776796993923737692014-02-02T15:16:00.000-06:002014-02-02T15:16:34.035-06:00Strabismus and Accomodative EsotropiaPoor Sully. As if physical therapy at under six months old, a funky head helmet for a few months under a year old, hernia surgery at two-years old and now speech therapy weren't enough, he's been diagnosed with stabismus and accommodative esotropia. I think back when I was young this was just called a lazy eye.<br />
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A few weeks back I noticed that his right eye was crossing in towards his nose. The first time I saw it I just thought it was weird but sort of brushed it off given all the weird stuff that goes on with kids and that I'd never seen it happen before. But then I saw it again and my sister noticed it so I gave our pedi a call. It was funny, when the doctor walked into the exam room he looked at Sully, looked at the husband and me and said "I haven't looked at the chart yet to see why you're here but we're going to need to talk about that eye." <br />
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He checked inside Sully's eye and declared it free of any tumors, which hadn't even occurred to me as a possibility until right at that moment, and then suggested he see a pediatric opthamologist so that's what we did on Friday. There they checked his vision, declared him farsighted, and explained that his eye was crossing in (esotropia) to help accommodate that. The plan is to see if it can be corrected with glasses alone and if not then we would move onto possibly patching the stronger, left eye or even surgery on the eye muscles to help straighten the eye. Let's hope the glasses work.<br />
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I took Sully right from the eye doctor to pick out glasses since he was in a pretty good mood and hey, I was already off from work. He was not excited to try them on but my hope is once there are actual lenses in them he'll want to wear them since his vision will be better with them on. I settled on big, round frames since they make him look like an adorable little professor but also because it will take him longer to outgrow them and they aren't cheap. The sample they had was in brown but I ordered them in orange!<br />
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Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-26826765213075328802014-01-25T14:26:00.004-06:002014-01-25T14:27:05.970-06:00Meals Planned, Made and EatenWill wonders never cease? This week I created a very loose meal plan and actually managed to stick to it. Simply amazing. So often I plan meals and then when the day arrives I just don't feel like eating what I have planned to make. Or, I don't feel like making what I have planned to make. Or, calling for pizza delivery just seems so much easier.<br />
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Last week Saturday I made the simplest of simple chuck roasts. I threw it in a crock pot, dumped a jar of salsa on top and cooked on low for about eight hours. When it was done I shredded the meat and Sunday night we used it in soft-shelled tacos. Wednesday I used the crock pot again to make baked potatoes and then topped them with the shredded beef.<br />
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Other easy dinners this week were silver dollar rolls with turkey and cheese, chicken nuggets and french fries the night that the husband works late and another crock pot meal of pepper steak served over minute rice.<br />
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Today my plan is to roast a chicken. Yep, a real, whole chicken. I'm experimenting to see which is better - buying a whole chicken on sale and roasting it myself, or just picking up a rotisserie chicken. If that doesn't chicken us all out I may make slow cooked chicken chili this week.<br />
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I haven't spent much time thinking about anything else to make this coming week. Last week I had thought about making a bow tie pasta bake so that is being moved to the list for this week. Those three things may be enough if I consider leftovers on at least one night and the chicken nugget Tuesday night tradition.<br />
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Now I'm off to dig out my roasting pan. See you all when the chicken's done.Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363255830581335596.post-46845199126435737602014-01-19T15:56:00.003-06:002014-01-25T13:08:44.056-06:00Three Weeks InIt's three weeks into the new year and I have managed to not give up on any of my resolutions yet. That's easy when you actually didn't make any resolutions. Actually, I do have resolutions, they are just long standing ones that I didn't need New Year's to come up with. Mine seem to have remained the same for years. Lose weight, eat healthier, meal plan, clean up the clutter, spend less money, update the blog more, etc. etc.<br />
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This past year I've actually managed to lose thirty pounds ever so slowly but oddly not by eating healthier, just by eating less. Still, I'll take it any way I can get it.<br />
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Meal planning? I managed to meal plan for a few weeks out of the entire year. And by meal plan I mean actually writing down meals for a week or more at a time rather than figuring out what's for dinner on my drive home from work. What I did manage to accomplish this past year was moving the kids out of eating most of their meals at their little chairs and tables in the living room to eating most meals together as a family in the dining room.<br />
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Sad to say that the clutter remains. It seems that just when I feel like things are getting under control another huge stack of mail arrives that I don't get through, or one kid hits a growth spurt and I'm sorting through bins of clothes again, or things get so busy between home and work that I just lose the motivation to stay on top of things. One thing I did right at the beginning of the year to help with my email clutter was to sign up at <a href="http://unroll.me/">Unroll.me</a>. The program searches through your inbox and finds every subscription email (I had a whopping 78) and then asks you if you want to unsubscribe from each company's emails, keep the emails coming to your inbox, or instead, add the emails to a daily roll-up email from Unroll.me. I did about half and half. I unsubscribed from companies I have no long standing relationship with and just browsed their site or purchased something for a very limited purpose and I added ones from places I shop often like Target, Kohl's, Land's End and Groupon to my daily roll-up. Now I have fewer emails coming to my inbox and many that still do end up in one, tidy email I can review all at once. Thanks <a href="http://unroll.me/">Unroll.me</a>.<br />
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My resolution to spend less money is about even in success as cleaning up the clutter. I go through spurts where I'm really good at not needlessly spending money, clipping and using coupons and seeking out deals and then I seem to go through even longer spurts where I do none of the above. Two things that help me a little bit in this department and that I've managed to stick with are an app named <a href="http://get.viggle.com/" target="_blank">Viggle</a> and the<a href="http://swagbucks.com/refer/itsmevkb" target="_blank"> Swagbucks</a> web site. I use both to earn points which I can then convert into gift cards.<br />
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Viggle is a pretty simple app in which you earn points by having your phone or other device listen to what you're watching on television and then earning points for every minute you watch. Everyday there are bonus shows that if you check into them you earn more than just one point per minute and then there are also ads you can click on and earn points for watching them. You can earn even more points by playing trivia during tv shows or playing a fantasy football type game called MyGuy. Over the almost two years that I've been "Viggling" I've earned over $500 in gift cards, mainly to Best Buy and Amazon but also Target, Old Navy and Starbucks. Now, I don't really shop at Best Buy that often but it's pretty easy to trade in a Best Buy gift card for an Amazon one using sites like <a href="http://www.cardpool.com/" target="_blank">Cardpool</a>. And, I use Amazon all.the.time.<br />
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<a href="http://swagbucks.com/refer/itsmevkb" target="_blank">Swagbucks</a> is another way I earn gift cards. Every month I manage to rack up enough points to earn at least $25 in Amazon gift cards and then every so often I splurge and use my points for $100 gift cards to typically Amazon or Target but what makes Swagbucks better than Viggle is the sheer variety of gift cards available. In only about a year and a half I've earned $750 in gift cards. There are a ton of ways to earn points on Swagbucks. Mainly I watch videos and earn my points that way but I have also answered surveys, shopped online for things I was already going to buy but because I get to say the Kohl's site from the Swagbucks site I earn points for every dollar I spend and I use their search engine and every few searches or so they award me swagbucks. <a href="http://swagbucks.com/refer/itsmevkb" target="_blank"> </a><br />
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The above links will take you to the sites so you can get started on de-cluttering your inbox or earning gift cards throughout the year. The Swagbucks link is a referral link in which I would earn bucks on any searches done but the other links are just plain old links. As with all things, you get out of it what you put into it. It took me a little while to figure out good ways to earn more points and bucks on Viggle and Swagbucks so if you find yourself needing tips just let me know!<br />
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Now to get going on the resolution to update more often......but first, I need to finish the laundry.<br />
<br />Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07208378431989291794noreply@blogger.com0