20 day Challenge : Day 1

Well I have completed day 1 of my 20 day challenge to a clean and organized home and I am so excited about it. Blaine stayed home today in fear of getting stuck at work with the snow (that never really came) so he was able to help me out and it made it go by so quickly and we were really able to get it done well and even a little above and beyond what was on the list! So here the break down of what we did today along with a few after photos just to keep things a little more interesting. Today was the kitchen but it wasn't about going through all the cabinets or anything like that it was just a basic cleaning. Since we did our dishes last night I didn't have to worry about that so I started with wiping down all the cabinet doors while blaine cleaned the vents and the light fixtures. We wiped down all the walls, washed the windows, cleared off all the counters and wiped them down real good, gave the sink a good clean which it defintely needed, cleaned the microwave and dusted the inside and outside of the china cabinet. It sounds like a lot but with both of us on a mission to get it done while Peyton napped it only took about an hour and half!

The decluttering task for today was to declutter the countertops but my counter tops weren't cluttered. I keep a few things that I use regularly on my counters and a few pretties and thats it so there was no need for me to declutter! WIN!
The organizing task for today was to organize underneath the kitchen sink... I have organized this several times before and it always ends up being a mess again and there are always things under there that don't really need to be there so it was about time to do this anyway and since I knew I was going to be starting this challenge I stocked up on a few little basket things at the dollar tree the other day so I was prepared!! So now its nice and organized and clean!!

And the final task for the day was the five minute task which was supposed to be tidying up a bookshelf. well lets just say that our office could be a 20 day challenge all on its own so since i didn't have a bookshelf put together for me to tidy Blaine and I took that time (and then some) to rearrange and clean up and attempt to hang a shelf (need some anchors) and put together our bookshelf instead. We got a good dent done so now I won't be so overwhelmed when the office comes around in my 20 day challenge!
And on top of all those things I made dinner, vacuumed, did laundry, washed dishes, took car of peyton, and even got some relaxing time in front of the tv!! It was a very very productive day!! I am so excited to see how the rest of challenge goes and to see how much easier and simpler things are going to be to find and keep organized once its all said and done!! Hopefully my little adventure will give you some motivation to do a little spring cleaning yourselfs or just get your to do list done cause if your like me you have a to do list a mile long thats been building for months but the motivation just never found me but now it has and I am so excited!

A time for change

Well as you could probably guess since  I haven't been blogging much lately after my 2013 goals post that my goals have for lack of a better word... FAILED! I have every intention of picking them all back up and trying again though don't you worry! If I'm being completely honest I have been in a bit of a funk as of late and it has definitely affected my motivation to do much of anything other than those things are absolutely necessary. Maybe its the winter time and lack of sunshine, maybe its the whole not having a car for the past three months and counting, or maybe its just something that happens sometimes but no matter what is causing it I've had enough! I kept telling myself oh well when it gets nicer outside it'll be better or when I have a car again it'll be better, but enough is enough! No more excuses! Today is a new day and I fully intend to get out of this funk starting NOW! With that being said stay tuned for updates on the restart of my goals coming soon!
In the process of coming out of this funk I've decided that I need to get better at this whole housekeeping thing! I have no excuses anymore about not having the time I mean lets get real yes I have a small child at home with me but she's pretty easy and sleep at least 3 hours out of the day so at the very least I could get 3 hours of housework done! Well as most of us our I'm a bit addicted to pinterest and as I was enjoying some quiet time with my coffee before Little Miss woke up this morning I came across a pin about a 20 day challenge to a clean and organized home... BINGO! This things is awesome and I'm so excited about it! Its a lady for australia who does this whole blog about organization and housekeeping and she has some awesome ideas! For me the daily tasks like laundry and dishes and vacuuming (yes with my dog it is DAILY) are not a problem yeah the laundry gets away from me now and again but who doesn't it! But its the organization and all the other that I just can't ever seem to really get a handle on so I think this challenge will be perfect to get me going, get some organization in the areas that we desperately need it and hopefully kick start me to continuing these tasks in order to stay that organized! Plus this lady is genius on how she breaks it all up and she does no major cleaning on weekends! Hello break and family time! Now that is my kind of woman! So this weekend I'm doing a few prep things and come Monday I am starting this challenge! And hopefully by the end of the 20 days (4 weeks since she doesn't do weekends) by home with be cleaning, more organized, and just generally better! So wish me luck and if any of you want to join in on the fun here is a link to the start of the challenge!!

http://theorganisedhousewife.com.au/organising/20-days-to-organise-and-clean-your-home-challenge-pre-challenge-task-1/

2013 Goals

I know I'm a little behind but its been a little busy around here so I haven't had time to sit down and write this post out but its been in my head for like a week! So I don't do the new years resolutions and for the past several years I haven't done anything, just lived life the same as I had the year before but this year I decided that I needed to set some goals for myself in the new year. Now that I stay at home with Peyton I feel like in order for me to feel accomplished I need to have some goals for myself. They are all small things that have very deep seeded meanings behind them not just your run of the mill I want to lose weight this year! I wanted my goals to truly have purpose and meaning for me so that they will be that much easier to accomplish and I can say very proudly that so far I have kept each one of the my goals! But I thought it would be nice to write my goals on here and every so often I'll give an update of how those goals are going for me that way I have a few extra people holding me accountable! So here goes!
1) Read my Bible daily - this is something that I have always struggled with but it has always been something that I know I should be doing so this year because I not only want to do it for myself but I want to be able to set the example for my children in the future I'm determined to make this habit stick and so far it has been amazing! God has opened up that bible exactly where I needed it to be everyday!
2)Tithe the way god wants us to - this has been on my heart for months and every week at church I feel like the pastor is talking straight to me because this is something I've struggled with forever but I decided to pray about it the entire month of December so that I would have peace about it when we started doing it in the new year and so far so good!
3) Run 1 full mile without having to walk - I am NOT a runner and never have been but I'm determined that I'm going to start a little at a time!
4) Exercise at least twice a week - I want to lose weight as much as the next woman but for me its so much more than that I want to be healthy for myself and for my children and that is really what its all about. So far this has been a lot of fun I've found some kickboxing videos I really enjoy and a few fun do with your baby exercises that have been really good! And made me very sore!
5) Be more adventurous - I am a worrier and I am a play it safe kind of person but my husband is not and I know there are things he would love for us to do together if I would just be a little more adventurous so this year it is my goal to let go of some of the fears and be more adventurous. Plus I dont want to teach my children to fear everything so this is my goal.
6) Send more birthday cards - not just birthday cards but just cards in general. I am always thinking of my friends and family especially on their special days but I've never been good at remembering that little card that I know personally can make all the difference and brighten someones day so I want to start that habit.
7) Read 5 new books- lets be honest we watched entirely too much tv in my house so I hope by setting a goal to read more the tv will turn off a little more plus I want to expand my horizons on the types of books I read! Gotta keep the brain working!
8) Read with Peyton each day - I want her to have the love of reading and learning and I know that it can start now so we start everyday by reading a story from her bible stories for kids book and she loves looking at the pictures and listening to mommy read! Not only will this teach her a love for reading but it is also starting the habit of starting the day with god and that is what I want for her more than anything!
9) Pray Daily - I've always been a prayer randomly when something happens but I want to pray continuously and with purpose. i want to have a relationship with god that i can pray with him for anything and everything and nothing at all so I've added a prayer to the end of my bible reading everyday!
10) Be a better wife - this is just a goal to better myself and my marriage. i think we all have things to work on but you have to admit before you get change it so this is my way of starting the change!!

Well there you have it my goals and their purpose for 2013! Wish me luck!!

Our New Years eve Adventure

Ok so I mentioned in my previous post that we had a bit of an adventure on new years eve while were trying to drive home from Nebraska. The trip started out nice a sunny and calm and no worries in the world. Peyton was behaving Blaine was driving and I was reading in the backseat... all was right in this little road trip world of ours. We made a stop in York to eat lunch, and feed Peyton and then it was back on the road. Well once we get back on the road it seems the further south we go the darker the sky gets until eventually we hit snow. Ok not so bad until we continue going and the snow just gets heavier and heavier to the point that visibility is not super great at this point and the road are starting to get covered. So by the time we make it to Concordia Kansas which is about 50 miles north of Salina my nerves are completely shot and I tell Blaine I don't think its safe to go any farther. He tries to argue at first but after seeing how upset I was about it says ok we'll stop. So I see a sign that there is a holiday inn express just a mile into the town and we say great we'll stop there and get a room. At this point I've called people to check the radar for me and by the looks of the radar we were going to getting out of the storm anytime soon and it was supposed to continue on into the evening and night (it was about 3 in the afternoon at this point). So we go up the road to the Holiday Inn.... and of course this hotel sits on probably the biggest hill in this entire town and we can't get up the drive to the parking lot. Blaine tries both entrances and somehow doesn't get us stuck (I was terrified) so by this point I'm in the back seat in tears because I'm so upset and scared and I just want me and my little baby off of the roads and out of the cold. We had seen a super 8 motel just a few blocks back so Blaine says we'll just go there and thats what we did. They had a room, gave us a discount cause Blaine works for the federal government and so we bundle up and get out of the car and into the hotel. Blaine brings in the few things that we need for the night without unpacking the entire car in the snow and we just get comfy. Peyton naps a bit we watch some tv and play some angry birds just trying to make the best out of a not so great situation. Blaine treks next door in the snow to Mcdonalds later in the evening to get us some dinner (love my hubby) and we watch tv till we can't keep our eyes open anymore and call it a night. It def wasn't a super great New Years eve in fact I'm pretty sure we were asleep by 10 but around like 1230 Peyton made a few little noises that made us both stir a bit look at the clock realize it was after midnight we both said "happy new year" in our most unenthuased sleepy voice and went right back to sleep LOL! Aren't we so much fun!! Then in the morning we got up, had some breakfast, loaded the car back up and hit the road. The roads were still pretty gross when we first got started but by the time we made it to Salina they cleared up pretty well and we managed to make it home without anymore incidents! It was not the road trip home that we had planned by any means but thankfully I have been blessed with a wonderful husband who keeps calm in bad situations and we were able to make the best of it. All that matter to me was that we were together and that we were safe but man I can tell you the words "Home Sweet Home" never rang so trip after that trip!!!

Nebraska Christmas

We are home from our vacation and after two days of travel I have never been happier to be home. But thats a story all its own so I'll save that for my new years blog post! Anyways, we really enjoyed our time in Nebraska this christmas and we were all very blessed as usual! We drove up the day after christmas and as we drove we watched the temperature drop and the snow started getting deeper and deeper! LOL! But it was a beautiful sight and the roads were good so I didn't mind too much... although it was def. COLD! We spent a lot of time just relaxing and hanging out with family which lets be honest is my ideal vacation! We were able to celebrate our nieces birthday on Thursday along with Blaine's dad's and then we just enjoyed a lazy relaxing day Friday and did a little shopping as well. It was relaxed unplanned and wonderful! Then saturday was family day. We started the day by taking family pictures and let me tell you that was quite a task LOL! Considering our family pictures included 14 people and 6 of those people are 4 and under! So we planned it all out so that the children were napped and fed and happy. Well that would have been wonderful if the portrait studio hadn't been AN HOUR BEHIND! So needless to say our plan was out the window and the kids were OVER it by the time it was our turn to take pictures! But we did end up with a decent picture of the whole family and a pretty cute one of just the 6 kids... I dont really know how we managed it but we did LOL! After the lovely experience we all went back the Blaine's parents and enjoyed a day playing and laughing and eating... the way the holidays should be. We had a wonderful lunch of all the typical holiday food and then we opened all our gifts and we were so very blessed and Peyton is such a lucky little girl!! It was so fun and such a wonderful time! Then we just spent the evening enjoying eachothers company! Sunday we just had another lazy relaxing day and enjoyed every moment of it! Then we drove home... which is a story all its own! For now I'll leave with you some pictures from our trip!

There was lots of snow when we got there and it snowed a bit while we were there as well.

Peyton just hanging at having some tummy time!

Blaine and I having fun at Tempey's Bday party

Another snowy picture

Blaine was super excited LOL!

My sweet baby girl ready for a day of shopping!

Cousin Love!

Riding in the shopping cart for the first time!

Aly and I ready for family pictures and christmas!

Papa playing with his boys!

Peyton and Me hanging out! Enjoying our vacation!

Peyton's 1st Oklahoma Christmas!

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. Its full of family, friends, laughter, good food, and of course our lord and savior! It just really doesn't get any better... or so I thought. I have always LOVED giving gifts... recieving is nice too but I am a gift giver. I spend weeks trying to pick the perfect gift for each person on my list because I want everyone to be super excited and happy! But this year it was a little different. I still wanted everyone to be happy and get good gifts but really all I cared about was having wonderful gifts for my little baby! And yes I know she won't remember it but I will and I have pictures to look back at for a lifetime! I am so excited for the years to come because I know Christmas morning will just get more and more fun! This year she may not have really been able to open gifts or really even know what was going on but she was sooo cute and attentive and happy! She would pull the paper if you put it in her hand just a little, she looked at every gift as you pulled it out and the ones that lit up and made noise she really watched. 

She was just so cute and happy all day and for that I am so very thankful... it was a day full of few naps so the fact that she was in a good mood is a blessing!

We started our day at the Jones' opening gifts with them which is always super fun! Their girls are older so they get super excited! Zoe Squealed so loud when she opened the gift from us... it was so cute! We love spending our holidays with our extra family :) I've been doing it for so long its really hard to remember a time when my christmas mornings didn't start out over there. Then we made our way to Grandma Hibbs house and spent the day surrounded by our family. Its funny to see how the famiy has come full circle. I'm the youngest out of the grandchildren so I dont remember seeing a bunch of kids all running around at grandmas but now that there are three great grandchildren that are that super fun age its funny to think how we went so long without little kids running around and now here we are again! Someone comments everytime were all together thats its so nice to see the little kids in the house again. One downside to this fact is that we are running out of living room space LOL!

 There was barely a walking path left once all the presents were under the tree it was crazy! But super fun! In our family if you under the age of 16 then you get gifts from the family but once you turn 16 then you go into the white elephant. This helps with the costs of christmas because it keeps people from feeling obligated to get each person a gift. Plus its a hilarious game when you're playing with my family! Although I will say it was a pretty calm year this year. So the kids open first and then go on their way and the adults play our white elephant game. Peyton was napping during the kids present opening so we did it all for her and then she of course woke up right as it was time for the white elephant and wanted to eat so Blaine had to help me out a bit LOL! It really was my idea of the perfect christmas! After it was all said and done we got all packed up to come home and now we are preparing for the trip to Nebraska to have yet another Christmas celebration with Blaine's side of the family. Just thinking about all the family we get to spend time with over the holidays makes me realize yet again how blessed we are and how blessed Peyton is to have all these people surrounding her, encouraging her, loving her, supporting her, and praying her from the very beginning of her life! I really couldn't ask for anything else! So I hope all of you had a wonderful and Merry Christmas full of family and friends and laughter like we did because it truly is the best gift of the season and its all because of what Jesus did for us that its even possible and that is the greatest blessing of all!!

3 months

I'm pretty sure I say this every month but it is so true... I can't believe she's already 3 months old! The time is flying by and I just want to slow it down so I can hold on to every precious second of her life!! So much has changed in the last 3 months... not neccessarily material things, or lifestyle changes but more like personality changes I guess. Everything is just different now that we have her and I wouldn't trade the world for it. She is growing so fast and changing a little everyday!! She roll from her belly to her back now which officially she means she rarely gets tummy time because if she doesn't want to be on her belly she just rolls over LOL! She is holding her head up SOO good... its still a little wobbly after she gets tired but she is getting really good at it! She is smiling up a storm, she really is just a happy little baby and she lets you know that with all her wonderful grins! She even laughed for us the other day! It was just a little laugh and we haven't been able to repeat it since but I was so excited and it was the cutest noise I have ever heard in my entire life! She really does amaze us everyday and can brighten any day with one little smile! People always tell you that you can't understand it until you have children of your own... and it turns out they were right... I've never loved anything or anyone as much as I love that little girl! I just can't get enough! So in honor of her being 3 months old and super cute here are some pictures that we took of her! 

How can you not just smile at that face!!! She is so funny! 

BIG Yawn!! 

She loves looking at the Christmas lights!

Trying to be artsy! I love the look of the Christmas light glow!

She loves her Bumbo!! So sweet!

Sweet baby girl!! 

I told you... cutest thing ever!! I just can't get enough! I can't believe that its already been 3 months since she came into my world! I look forward to the next 3 months even though I wish she could stay my little baby forever!