The Happy Life Wife

We all have dreams right? I'm not talking about the sleepy time dreams here, but the kind of dreams that we have about our life. Dreams that we're actually kind of OK with never happening because they're so far out there dreams. Well, here are some of those far out dreams of mine!

- I want to live on some land, or at least own some. I don't want to live in the middle of nowhere, but I'd love to not have people live 10 feet away from me one day.

- On that land, I'd love to have a semi mini farm. Our own large garden, chickens for farm fresh eggs, maybe a horse or a goat even!

- I'd love to be a real live full time stay at home momma.

- Even though I want to be a SAHM, I'd love to actually have my own photography business. Having a legit small business, better camera and all...I swoon.

The thing is, I have a pretty darn great life! I pretty much live versions of my dreams now.

- OK, we don't live on land at all. We in fact live in a twin with a small fenced in yard, on a stinkin' adorable street. Our house is great, we have three bedrooms a finished third floor, a dishwasher, great front porch and again a fenced in yard for our giant fur babies.

- We do grow our own raspberries, blackberries, basil, potatoes, and either twin on each side has a raised garden in their back yard. They share the wealth and it's great!

- I'm a semi SAHM. I'm home with Josh the majority of the time. I'm a nurse and have the luxury of having alternatives to working the typical 9-5 job. I work 2-3 evenings a week at a local hospital on a med/surg/trauma unit. Hopefully I'll eventually be night shift and be home with my boy and hubs most of the time. This is a great compromise until we are financially able to do the whole real live SAHM thing.

- I do have my own photography business, that is VERY small, but it's still mine. Mostly things for just family, friends, and a few referrals. I do work maybe once a month, and it's fun for me. I do have a great camera that I've had for four years that still works great!

I'm so thankful for my real life dreams and the life that I live now. It's no cake walk, but it's ours!

With Love,

Linking up with Chelsey and other ladies for Wordless{ish} Wednesday!

With Love,

Linking up with Women Connect '12

Sometimes I fail...

It's so true! Sometimes I downright fail. At blogging, at work, and some days as a person I think lol! This isn't a "woe is me" kind of post, it's a true and laughable post. This past week I haven't blogged once. Not really because I was too busy or anything, I just didn't. Sometimes this past week I was in a really bad mood, I mean foul, and my poor husband usually gets the brunt of this. Did I have a reason for being in a foul mood? Simply, no I didn't. To top it all off this past week of work, I feel like I left and could have done so much more...even though we're really busy. I looked back and really enjoyed Thanksgiving only to realize I didn't take one stinkin' picture to remember our son's first Thanksgiving by...total mom fail right there folks! My only reasoning for all of this is that sometimes I just fail...and it's OK!

It happens to all of us from time to time, or so I like to think at least! I figure the world definitely didn't stop turning by me not blogging for a week, I still have a job, my husband still loves me, and I hope that I will remember the little special moments from Thanksgiving, and that Josh will forgive us for not documenting it.

Failing and not wanting to fail is something that I've struggled with my whole life...maybe it's oldest child syndrome or something. I would get really down on myself for not succeeding or being "the best" at something. I've struggled with weight (still struggle) and will lose weight, gain it back, and get horribly down on myself, and start up a diet again rather than just changing my lifestyle to keep myself healthy and would beat myself up about it.

This is all changing in my life and changing for the better! It's a new journey that was sparked by becoming a mother. I want to be the best example for our son as possible, I'll never be perfect, and that's OK too. I just want to set the example for him that momma doesn't expect perfection, she just wants you to do your best, and be happy, and how could I be that example for him when I'm not walking that walk myself? So, here's to moving forward! We're not starting another diet, we're changing our lifestyle. We'll eat better, and be more active as a family. If weight loss comes with it, then bonus! My goal is to grow my blog and post at least five times a week. If I don't gain any more followers and I only post once a week, but enjoy it, then I'm OK! I'll continue to try my best at work to be the kind of nurse I want to be, and recognize that It's a a process, I'm always learning, and no one can do it all!

So, yes, sometimes I fail!

With Love,

With Love,

With Love,

Blogging along tonight with the lady over at Mommy and Her Meltdowns...

1. What do you wish someone had told you about pregnancy?

Honestly, how great it can be! I'm not trying to look through rose colored glasses here or anything, there are REALLY rough days in pregnancy. I feel like though that everyone focused on the negatives telling me, "You're going to be SO sick!" or "Just wait for those stretch marks." I ended up trying to focus so much on the positives of being pregnant when I was pregnant because of this. Again, I had some rough days, or quite a few. But those aren't what I remember now!

2. What do you wish someone had told you about labor and delivery?

There really wasn't anything anyone didn't tell me, 'cause let's be honest this is something people usually have no problem letting you know all the details about! Usually, it's every one's horror story for delivery. I'm a nurse I know the basics, not all the details because I don't work in anything close to labor and delivery, but I had an idea of how things would go, and we went in with a very open mind...no birth plan at all!

3. What did you feel when you delivered, emotionally and physically?

Emotionally I was exploding, but on the inside. I'm probably one of a handful of women (or at least I feel like it) that didn't cry when our boy was born. I almost have guilt about it, but I didn't cry at our wedding either, but I cry watching Homeward Bound...makes sense, right?! I had a c-section so hubs held our boy first, and while yes it would have been great having him put right on my chest after he was born, there was something so fantastic about looking over and seeing him in his daddy's arms and him looking over at me with the proudest look on his face that can never be replaced. Physically, I felt SO much relief! I was exhausted after over 48 hours of labor in the stinkin' hospital! I was also going nuts because thanks to my sock falling off my foot while I got my spinal I spent the entire 25 ish mins on that table feeling like my sock was half on my foot.

4. How long after delivery did it take for you to feel physically normal again?

I had a fantastic c-section with no complications and a great recovery. I wanted to get out of bed two hours after and wasn't allowed...darn rules! Once we got home I had the wonderful elephant ankles thanks to fluid shift, and soreness from over do-ing it sometimes, but I'd say after a couple weeks I for the most part felt back to normal. I still have some soreness around my incision, and of course my stomach is not back to normal yet, but I figure it took almost 10 months to get that way, give it at least that to get back to where it was or better.

5. What is the best thing about being a new mom?

My bond with my son. There are many nights I just sit staring at him while either dancing or rocking him to sleep that I cry. I cry because I'm so happy he's ours, so happy he's healthy, and so happy that we were blessed with being his parents and get to watch him grow.

6. What is the most unexpected thing about being a new mom?

You totally lose your modesty to a point...especially being a breast feeding momma.

7. Do you miss being pregnant?

Yes. Flat out yes. I had a pretty easy pregnancy, rough days that are expected, but really pretty smooth sailing. I miss knowing my boy was safe inside me, his kicks, and carrying him with me all day. Looking back I pretty much loved being pregnant, though at the time I may not have acted it. That being said, I love love love having him and getting to snuggle him.

8. How many kids do you want? How do you want them spaced and why?

We're thinking four. We're each from a family of four kids and we liked it. When it comes to spacing we'll totally play it by ear. The one thing I know is there was a very large age difference between me and my next siblings due to re-marriage and I do not want that. While I'm very close with my sibs, I wish I had the growing up memories and bond that the hubs has with his siblings all being only a couple years apart.

9. Is it hard seeing how fast they grow and how do you handle it?

It's incredibly hard. I leave him for an eight hour shift at the hospital and come home thinking he's changed in just that amount of time. I handle it by just loving it! It's natural, it's what all kids do, and it's what all parents experience. I soak up my time with him, and started to journal our days here and there to remember it all.

With Love,

With love,

1. Tell us what you like to do when it's cold outside.

One of my most favorite things to do when it's cold outside is slip on my Uggs (yes I still love them, and I need to get a new pair) or most comfy slippers, curl up on the couch with my little family, and put in a nice winter movie like White Christmas or Holiday Inn. Sip on a nice glass of red wine or hot cocoa and my night is made!

2. Tell us some of your favorite winter recipes.

They're not full recipes, but feel free to ask for them if you'd like! My moms freakin' fantastic chili, I choose to sub the ground beef with ground bison and let it cook all night and day before eating it...yum! Also, Pecan Cream Pie! My stepdad's mom was a baker by trade and she had the most amazing pecan cream pie in the WORLD guys. I mean, rock your socks off, pecan cream pie. It's become our Thanksgiving staple dessert. Quite honestly, anything in my crock-pot!

3. Show a picture of something that makes you think of the cold.




























4. Tell us/show us some of your favorite accessories/outfits for the winter.

Apt 9 boot from Kohl's

Burberry Pashmina

Caheez Winter Headband

The North Face Parka

The wonderful lady we are buying our house from introduced me to the Apt 9 boots, currently on sale at Kohl's for $49.99. Love love love the Burberry Pashmina (doubles as a nursing cover!). Found this fantastic headband over at Caheez for only $20. A splurge, I have the Eddie Bauer version, a great down parka. It gets chilly in these here parts!

Yes, that's right. We cloth diaper, and we LOVE it!

We knew we wanted to cloth diaper when I was pregnant with out little man and started putting together our stash of diapers, and if I remember back correctly even though registering for them, no one got them for us. We used several gift cards to Target and Babies 'R' US and some good old cold hard cash to get our stash.

The first few weeks after little man was born we used Earth's Best disposable diapers, wasn't a huge fan, and moved onto the Huggies natural diapers and we stuck with those until he fit into our cloth diapers when he was a good eight and a half pounds (when he was back to birth weight). We were so happy to make the switch to cloth diapers!

We didn't go with actual "cloth wipes" that are sold. We just bought soft washcloths and throw them in an empty wipes tub and we're set. I found these phenomenal small spray bottles that hold just the right amount of solution and it doesn't take up much room on the changing table. Plus, it has a quick lock you can engaged and disengage with your thumb for a leak proof way to take the spray on the go! 

It took some time to get into a routine, but we've got it down! I must confess, our little man is QUITE the heavy wetter at night and we gave in a couple months ago to using a good night time disposable for overnights, but will shortly be investing in night time cloth diapers that are great for heavy wetters and for sure will post how it goes. 

So far we're 7 months in and I see us sticking it out until potty training.

Thanks to gift cards our total investment for cloth diapers: $250! And these diapers go up to 35 lbs, woohoo!

Look for a cloth diapering favorites post soon!

A great find at the local Goodwill for just $24...hello new dining room table!

Snuggle time before bed with my little boy!
 A boy who took a nap without having to be asleep before I laid him down!
 Bath time laughs we share!

With Love,

Today marks the day we went from this...

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Lunch on the Cheap

With Love,

It's that time folks! Honestly, I don't care who you vote for, just do it! Of course I may hope it's for the candidate that I support, but honestly just do your duty and vote. Be heard!

Our morning was pretty easy voting except for one small bump in the road. We got to our local poll...which we realized we totally could have walked to (it ended up less than a block away), and there were maybe only five people ahead of us. We filled out our forms, everyone drooled over Joshua as per usual, and we waiting to sign the signature book. Everyone was very nice, super friendly, and not at all hectic like I had experienced before at other locations. I handed her my form and license, she found me and told me to sign right there. I signed and looked and thought it was funny Kurt's name wasn't around mine, but figured they have a system here I know nothing about. I took the boy and headed over and stood behind the whopping two people ahead of me as Kurt handed the same lady his form and ID. As I went in she said to him, "Hmm that's weird you're not in here."

I came out after casting my vote, walked over the the side table that Kurt was now at, and found a lady already on the phone trying to figure this out. Kurt and I went together to get our ID's and both said yes to be registered to vote at our new address. She quickly informed me that this was about the 8th person she had to do this for already that morning, and it was only 9am. After a few minutes of waiting, she had Kurt go ahead and fill out the registration form by hand while she was on hold, and soon she got her answer. Kurt's voter registration had been cancelled. Yes, cancelled. Apparently, it seems like he hadn't voted in two federal elections, which indeed is NOT the case. He was stationed out of the country for one and had an absentee ballot. Besides that we JUST got our new licenses and he said YES please register me. The poor guy who served his country in the NAVY in Puerto Rico, Spain, and as a block guard in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba was not allowed to vote. The lady was very apologetic and said she'd see to it this voter registration got to the right place but there was nothing more she could do...bummer city! At least she was very nice and helpful!

Either way, from here on out, we'll be seeking confirmation about our voting status to say the least. Get out there, have a great day, and make sure to vote!

With Love,

We're  linking up with the lovely lady over at From Mrs. to Mama this week for Show and Tell Monday!

1. Tell us what you studied in college. Is your job now related to what you studied?
One of the perks of majoring in nursing in college, you pretty much know your job direction. So, yes! I work as RN on a med/surg/trauma unit.

2. Tell us what your everyday job looks like.
There is no such thing, my job is different every day. Yes, tasks such as passing meds, giving flu shots, and encouraging my patients to get out of bed stay the same, but each day brings different patients and different challenges. Sometimes it's smooth sailing, other times is hell in a hand basket.

3. Do you have a picture of you at work? Show us.
Sorry, no pictures at work! 

4. In 10 years, what do you see yourself doing? Same thing? More? Tell us.
In 10 years, I hope to be a full time stay at home mommy with my kids. I will however ALWAYS maintain my nursing license and keep some sort of per diem job at the hospital. I hope to either have my photography business going full force, or continue with our business opportunity we just started working with energy deregulation working side by side with my husband. Want more info on this just send me a personal message!

5. Tell us what you have learned, and what {if any} recommendations you may have for those looking to go into the field you are in. 
In nursing you NEVER stop learning, and that IS my biggest piece of advice. If you ever think you have learned it all, or don't need to ask people for their opinion or input because you know it all, then stop. Stop being a nurse in that moment. Our field is always evolving and always changing, and every patient is different. Also, make sure you REALLY love doing this. Work is work, especially nursing, so make sure you love it!

With Love,