Merry Christmas

December Daily 12/22/2008: My Favorite Things

Seeing my baby waking up all smiley,

Watch Wow Wow Wubbzy! and cuddle with Riley,

Big cups of coffee with sugar and cream,

These are a few of my favorite things.

Freshly scrubbed children,

and big toothless smiles,

NPR programs that help pass the miles,

Playing Mario alone on my Wii,

These are a few of my favorite things.

When I'm stressed out,

Nothing goes right,

When I'm feeling sad,

I simply remember my favorite things,

and then I don't feel so bad!

Frizz free good hair days,

and funny news stories,

small dogs in outfits and underdog glories,

Hearing Thomas 'talk' to Riley while he plays,

These are a few of my favorite things.

Time with my husband and book club discussions,

Last minute wins on a great ebay auction,

Being reminded of all my blessings,

These are a few of my favorite things.

When the storm blows,

when I feel alone,

When I'm feeling sad,

I simply remember my favorite things,

And then I don't feeeeeeel ssoooooo baaaad!

December Daily 12/21/2008: Here Comes Santa Claus

Today we decided to take the kids to see Santa Claus. Riley loves watching the Santa video that we personalized for him (you can find it here) So we thought he would love seeing Santa. We got to the Concord Mall and waited maybe five minutes - they had an excellent set up, were very friendly and patient (although Santa himself did not talk AT ALL - which was a little kooky since I was trying to talk to him...asked him questions even...). Brenna could have cared less what we did and easily went to Santa. Riley on the other hand was terrified and hid behind me the whole time. Maybe next year! Later when we asked him if he still wanted Santa to bring him presents, he kept saying, "No, you do it". I think now the whole idea of this fat old man sneaking into his house at night has totally freaked him out. :-)

I'll post a pic if I can get the scanner to work!

Give it Away Sunday: Saturday Edition

I'm at work cleaning out my coupons (yep, we are that busy!) and I have a gazillion coupons for diapers and diaper related accesories. I'll never use them all in time - so who wants them?? I have coupons for both Pampers (regular diapers and Easy Ups) and Huggies (diapers, wipes, and bathing products) Infant's Tylenol, Infant's Motrin, Mylicon, Balmex, and "any Johnson's baby product".

The awesome nurse that took care of me when I had Brenna gave me stacks of those hospital goodie bags, so I'm left with oodles of coupons. Email me at bethanyrudd@comcast.net with your address and which ones you'd like and they are yours!

December Daily 12/19/2008: Cookie Boy

Wednesday Riley and I made sugar cookies with vanilla and chocolate frosting to decorate. Riley was really excited about putting on the 'prinkles'! Once I had finished mixing the chocolate frosting, I gave Riley the beater to lick then went to work on my laptop. After a few minutes, I looked up and he was still working on the beater so I went back to work...then I heard his stool scoot across the kitchen floor. I looked up again just in time to catch the rascal. He had been dipping his beater in the frosting bowl and getting out big glops of frosting to eat. I had no idea! Sneaky snake! He was WIRED that night!

December Semi-Daily 12/17/2008 - Packages

I just have to give a shout out to Abrah and Brittany who are totally rocking out the blog posts with the December Daily! You two are supermoms!

Today my favorite man in brown (the UPS guy) brought me several boxes. One was my MK order (hooray!) the other was a mystery box (and a bonus mystery envelope).

The sender is overstock.com. I have a feeling there are Mighty B presents inside....MUST...NOT...OPEN...BOX!

And proof that the best things come in small packages with cereal covered faces.

Give it Away Sunday

Hi, My name is Bethany and I'm a stuff-aholic.

(Hi Bethany!)

I've decided that I'm going to start a new feature on the Mighty B - Give it Away Sunday. I've got great stuff! Just too much of it. So if you want it, it's yours.

For the first give away...I've got samples! My cousin Deanna blessed me with her Mary Kay things when I decided to start my business. I've got some really awesome stuff and I'm running out of room to store it. So, let me know you're skin type (normal to dry, combo to oily), skin tone (ivory, beige or bronze), any skin issues you need help with (blemishes, uneven skin tone, under-eye bags, etc.), and your address and you'll get a goodie bag from me. Email me at bethanyrudd@comcast.net.

A little free post-holiday pampering!

I want to encourage my fellow bloggers to start their own Give it Away Sunday! We all have too much stuff, it's the American Way! Giving it away is a great way to bless others with something they may need and bless ourselves with a less cluttered home! I'm going to work on a button for it, I'll post it on the side of my blog for you to copy and paste into your own blog. Who's with me for a less cluttered 2009??

December Daily 12/14: I love Christmas Music

I break out the Christmas music as early as possible. This year I've been listening to my Jim Brickman Christmas album quite a bit. It's so beautiful to listen to! It doesn't hurt that Mr. Brickman is one handsome guy! There's nothing sexier than a man who plays the piano ... except a man who plays the trumpet, right Jeff? :)

So cool!

This is the coolest thing ever! Riley has had us watch it a ton, he loves it! Especially the reindeer!
http://portablenorthpole.sympatico.msn.ca/home

December Daily: 12/12/2008 - Ugh

I have been trying to post for a week now and Blogger will not save or publish my posts. After reading Haley's post, I'm wondering if they were having issues...who knows! I'm going to keep this rather short, because honestly I have no idea if anyone will get to read it or if it will be sucked into the blogger black hole, never to be seen again.

Here's a small recap of what's been going on in the hive...

• I finished my 30 faces in 30 days for my MK goal and got some sweet bling! Thanks to all that helped me reach it! If you weren't lucky enough to get a facial from me, let me know! A new challenge begins 12/16!
• It's been so fun watching Riley learn everything about Christmas. All those Christmas specials we've watched a million times are new again. It's great.
• We got his train table and trundles from UPS today - can't wait to see his face when he sees them on Christmas! Also got Brenna's Laugh 'n Learn Kitchen at an awesome price and free shipping! I just looked at it again and they are selling both items for twice as much as I paid for it and you have to wait 2-3 months for shipping! WOO HOO! Good Timing B!
• Brenna is getting so big - and getting her first tooth!

On a quick side note, I wanted to address all the mom's that read my blog. In light of things that have been happening in my area, I've really been thinking about my role as a mom and what it means to be a good mom. Some things have really been laying heavy on my heart lately. We are constantly being pulled in every direction and immersed in guilt of never being good enough...our houses aren't clean enough, we're not thin enough, our kids don't eat right, we're not giving 100% at work...

Some of the best advice I've ever gotten was from my sister before I had Riley.

There is no way to be a perfect mom.

But there are a million ways to be a good mom.

Our houses may not be spotless, our kids may not be eating a well balanced meal, (if anyone can give me an idea on how to get Riley to eat something other than chicken nuggets and marshmallows, I'm all ears!), and we may now be a little squishy around the middle... but at the end of the day if our kids are safe, warm, have something in their bellies, and know they are loved, we have done our job.

You are a good mom.

Love,

The Squishy B

December Daily 12/7: Good, Good Day

I posted on Saturday from work and somehow managed to delete all my December postings! I can't figure out how to get them back....so here we go again!

Today was a very good day. Sundays are my 'catch up' days, and I got a LOT done. Laundry, took the recycling in, a little Christmas shopping...then made some popcorn and watched "Olive the Other Reindeer" with Jeff and Riley. I love how everything about Christmas is so new to Riley. Tonight he actually got the idea that Santa's reindeer fly, "In the sky - like an airplane" (that's how he put it!)

I've nearly finished all my Christmas shopping and was able to get the kids exactly what I wanted to get them at very good prices! I'll post more on that later...time to hit the hay!

Note This on Your Calendars Folks

- Laundry is folded.
- Kids are in bed (their OWN beds!)
- Everything is ready to go for tomorrow - some of it already in the car.
- I officially have three presents under the tree, wrapped and ready to go.

For once, the Mighty B is on top of things. This event may never happen again.
Yes, I am ...

The Rudd's can SHAKE it!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

A Mighty B Christmas Story

Around here we are all so excited for Christmas!

We're being good.

Eating all of our cereal.

In hopes that the cutest Christmas Elves...



Will come and put presents under our tree.

Are you there Readers? It's me, the Mighty B...

Hello? Anyone still check this thing?? I LOVE writing this blog and have a gazillion pictures to share, but I've been so busy lately! Busy in a very good way. Here are some highlights of what's been happening - details to come later!

• - Brenna ate cereal for the first time tonight. She's getting so so big!
• - I've started the awesome career of becoming a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant! Who knew the little girl who ripped the bows off her shoes would be good at this? But I LOVE it! It's an awesome company and an awesome opportunity. Email me to find out how you can help me reach my goal for this month!!! (No purchase required!)
• - Riley is the funniest little boy on the planet. Hands down.
• We put our tree up a little early - Riley loves it. I'm sooo ready for Christmas!

Gotta go get ready for tomorrow...more soon I promise!

Thank you for calling Liberty Mutual, this is Riley...

Training the boy to take over mommy's job so I can retire. You can already see the defeated look on his face. :-)
(A special post for my co-workers!)

Mommy's Day Off

I try and get as many photos of the kids as I can, but I always seem to do the best 'photo shoots' on my day off.

And yes, I do have the cutest kids in the universe. Thank you for noticing.

The Tiny B (Brenna Nicole) really is a happy baby, but you wouldn't know it by looking at the pictures. She always looks so bored! (in the above pic, Riley was entertaining her)

Riley is my cheeser. I had tried to scrapbook tonight and he found my popdots and decided they'd look better all over him.

This is him trying to escape the papparazzi (me) by rolling out of the car all stunt man like. (Notice he is not wearing pants, as usual, and he does have on the pretty pink pull-up! hee hee!)

It's been a GOOD day

A special package arrived.

It was confirmed that I have the cutest, sweetest kids ever. So blessed.
(yep, they are both asleep)

And finally - hope for our nation.

It's been a good day.

It's Your Duty

"Those who stay away from the election think that one vote will do no good:
'Tis but one step more to think one vote will do no harm."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Fine Dining

Since Elkhart County has practically the worst unemployment rate in the country, our local Martin's Supermarket has decided to help build morale by making gourmet dining affordable.

You can now have your Hot Pockets with wine! Classy!

"I'll have the ceasar salad and the hot pocket..."

(Click here to see what I'm talking about if you aren't a Jim Gaffigan fan!)

Happy Halloween!

James

The best picture ever - look at Brenna's face! She had had enough Halloween by then. :-)

Fluffy Brenna Dog

Save it for Therapy

Tonight I made a last minute schlep to Target after we decided that, yes, the kids will be dressing up for Halloween even though it is less than 12 hours away and we have no costumes. Apparently we aren't the only procastinators in Elkhart county because the costume aisle was packed and a huge mess. After settling on a puppy dog costume for Brenna, (it was either that or a sock puppet costume that was a little freaky looking...) I had almost resigned to dressing Riley up as a pony - how lame! Then it happened. While digging through a pile of sexy vampire dresses trying to figure out which one would be cubicle appropriate, the heavens opened up and the angels smiled upon me and I spotted James.

Not his favorite engine, but I do believe I am a hero in my 2 1/2 year old's eyes right now. In fact, Riley insisted on wearing the costume to bed. Of course there will be pictures posted tomorrow.

After my awesome find, I was feeling pretty good and strolled to the baby section to get some pull-ups. On the end cap, they had boxes of 68 pull-ups for $11.88! And I had a $2 coupon! Normally they are at least $19.99! So I'm thinking, "Could Target be any more perfect??" But then it hit me...all of the boxes were pink. There were no "boy" pull-ups on clearance. Only pretty pink "girl" pull-ups that literally had princesses on them. Dilemma. Do I save $10 and go with the pink? Or do I secure my son's masculinity and pay out the nose for the blue ones? I decided to go with the pink.

Others in my household (**cough, cough**...JEFF) feel I just don't get it and that I can't put princess pants on the boy. I say that their main purpose is to catch his poop and it doesn't matter what color they are. And if it DOES matter, I've just given him another topic to bring up during one of his therapy sessions later in life. After all, don't they always blame it on the mom? :-)

Oh, you were curious about what I'm dressing up as for Halloween??

A vampire of course.

How YOU doing?

It seems that I tend to blog about things and then just abruptly stop...(sorry mom!) so here is an update on the Rudd's thus far...

Riley is sleeping in his own bed! It was much easier than I thought it would be. I guess it was just time. He still puts up a little protest, but is content when you agree to read three books and watch some episodes of Thomas the Tank Engine. (Yes, my 2 1/2 yr old son has a tv in his room. I swore my kids would NOT have tv's in their room, especially so young! But it keeps him in his bed and allows us to watch something OTHER than Thomas and Friends.) He's such a good kid - says "please" and "thank you" and helps out with his sister. Little boys don't come any sweeter than this.

Brenna is a hibernating bear right now. She's moved up to eating 6 oz at a time and is CONSTANTLY SLEEPING! Last night, she slept from about 5 pm to 4:30 the next morning! She's growing like a weed and is so so sweet for the few hours she is awake. :-) She may look like her daddy, but she's as photogenic as her mom. Which is not at all. She's so precious when she smiles so I tried to catch a picture of her this afternoon and this is what I got...

Terrified Brenna

Brenna giving me the ol' stink eye.

And doing her best dead possum impression.

I did get ONE semi-blurry, but super sweet one. It showcases her pretty red hair.

Jeff is doing really well. Working hard among all the layoffs his company is doing. The RV industry is really awful in Elkhart County right now - the NY Times even did a story on how Elkhart is the "white hot center of the meltdown in the American economy". (Click here to read the story) Jeff works in IT (a.k.a. the computer guy) and not in the actual factories, so he does have some job security. I'm grateful to have a computer nerd for a husband! He's a good man and an awesome father.

Me - well, I'm good. I some how thought it would be a good idea to sign up for the craft fair at work, because I don't have enough on my plate with two kids, a house and a full time job. So I've been making cards like a mad woman. It's next week, so we'll see how I do! I've had some requests for my stuff already! I just hope I don't disappoint! I'll try and post some pictures of my creations before they are sold.

The whole "weight loss Wednesday" has been put on the back burner. I could come up with a thousand excuses why, but honestly my inner brat has won out recently and I just don't want to eat well and exercise. As much as I know I should and as good as I felt when I was going strong! I do really really really want to do the 5k that Mandy Hall is holding in March in honor of her son Connor. I am going to do it. I just need to get my brat in line. Like the Japanese proverb, Fall down seven times - stand up eight!

So what's up with you?

(p.s. how do you like the look of the Mighty B's blog?? I did the header myself! It only took me about four hours and a million google searches for tutorials on how to use Photoshop! HA! But now that I have it figured out, (sort of) I can't wait to make more! Start a blog! I'll design your header for you!! Only $29.95!)

Let it Snow!

Here's the local forcast for this week.

See those pretty little white things on Monday and Tuesday???

It's SNOW! I LOVE IT!

Mighty B Edit: The wonderful snow was actually just incredibly cold, big, wet, awful, semi-frozen raindrops. Blech. Bring on the real snow!

Cool Scrapbooking Class

I found info on this class at Cathy Zielske's website. I've never taken one of Jessica Sprague's classes, but she always has some really neat stuff. I'm very interested in learning more about digital scrapbooking (I'm not sure how much of that will be in this class...) and especially learning new ways of looking at scrapbooking. It looks pretty cool - and it's FREE! - so I signed up. Anyone else interested in taking it with me??

Go HERE for more info!

Night #2

This is my second night on bedtime patrol and so far so good. We read three books, (Sleepyhead, The Monster at the End of This Book, and Go Train Go). And now he is in bed with B-Bear - who wasn't thrown at me tonight - and D-Dog. Every now and then he'll yell, "Mommy wake up!" which to Riley means, "Mommy I don't want to go to sleep". But it's relatively quiet. May even get to bed before midnight tonight!

So Hard

We have gotten in the bad habit of letting Riley sleep in our bed. Since he's nearly 3, we decided it's more than time to get him to sleep in his own bed. Since I have tomorrow and Friday off, I'm the bedtime police for now (Jeff will be on duty Friday and Saturday night). Right now, Riley is sitting on his bed with D-Dog (he threw B-Bear at me when he realized what was going on.) and he is screaming. Sobbing. Wailing. He's only tried to come out of his room once, and went back to bed pretty well (screaming the whole way, but didn't resist like I thought he would). Every now and then he'll get quiet and I'll think, "Yes!" - then it starts again, "Mommy! NOOOOOOOO!"

Ugh. I know this is the right thing to do. But MAN! It's so hard! I want to run in there and hold him and say, "It's okay! Mommy's sorry! You can sleep our bed! I'll squish into your toddler bed!" But then I remind myself - I am the parent. He is the child. I want him to grow up to be a responsible little man, not a spoiled brat. He is not hurt. He will live through this. And so will I.

So now I sit and wait and listen to the crying. Clutching my Supernanny book and praying, "Please Lord let me make it through this..."

Daddy's Girl

I just can't get enough of the tiny B. She's so sweet and smart (she's rolling over already! At 3 months!). And to think I wasn't sure I wanted a little girl!

She looks exactly like her daddy, but with Aunt Jen's red hair!

Love you Miss Brenna Nicole! My little smoochie girl.

Celebrate good times COME ON!

Leaving up the birthday stuff in honor of my pal Haley Ramer! Happy Birthday!

Happy Happy Birthday to ME!

28 years on this Earth...looking forward to many more.

Seriously.

Dear John McCain,

After losing control of my mouth last night, I'm trying my hardest to be nice. But you're making it very hard. Your cronies have called my cell phone THREE times tonight. The first called Senator Obama "Bear-ick Obama" and the third called Barack a baby killer. (The second got an earful from me then hung up). Is this some kind of joke? Am I being punked?

Please stop calling me or I will be forced to blog about your opponent again.

Thank you,

The Mighty B

Simmah Down Now!

Whew! Ever heard of drunk dialing? Well, last night I did some tired-blogging (and emailing...). I got all fired up and posted some stuff, when what I really should have done was smiled, hit delete and went to bed. I have very passionate political views and stand behind everything that I said - but this isn't the right "forum". I want this blog to be about my family, me, happiness, love and making life easier. So the posts have been deleted. Sorry folks!

The Best Place to be is Together

Yesterday we made a family trip to Mishawaka. I've been wanting to go to Pages In Time (the best scrapbooking store for miles around here!) and we wanted to take Riley to Toys 'r us for the first time. I finished my whirlwind shopping trip at P.I.T. in record time and came out with some really cute papers like:

and

and some other things. I also picked up a Maya Road chipboard album to do my Week in my Life mini-book. I'm looking forward to digging into that this week!

Toys 'R Us was dangerous because they had a Thomas and Friends train table set up with the wooden trains for kids to play with. Riley LOVED it:

The fun part was the screaming, kicking and crying when it was time to go! Yeah, we won't be doing that again anytime soon. But we do know what Santa Clause is bringing this year...

And here is super sweet tiny B being the good pretty girl she is.

My Son DOES Wear Pants!

I realize that Riley hardly ever has pants on in any of these pictures. The stinker will come home, kick his shoes off, throw his hat on the floor, and his pants usually come off soon after that. But - here is proof that he does wear pants sometimes!

Sometimes he wears his pants backwards...

And sometimes he shows a little crack.

Feeling Thankful

Gas prices are finally going down!

They are even lower today - this picture was taken Thursday!

The leaves are changing.

(A pretty scene on CR 18 near my house.)

I have a dependable job that provides me with a great income and terrific and affordable healthcare for my family. And they do little things to let me know I'm valued - like give me a nifty pen, 2009 planner and COFFEE! (Pumpkin latte...yyuuummmyyy)

Life is good.

Gratuitous Nudity

Lovin' me some baby fat rolls!

Ms. Bren - this had better be the ONLY time your nekkid butt ends up on the internet!

Whatever Mom!