2014

A few years ago when I was still spending all my money on designer bags and booze I could never figure out where my money was disappearing to.  I mean, I virtually had no bills so what was I doing with my money?  I didn't pay rent, my parents paid my truck off, they paid my cell phone bill.  Basically all I had to pay was insurance and then I had to pay for gas.  I realized pretty quickly that dropping several hundred dollars each week on a new bag I would carry only a few times wasn't the most sound investment.  27 handbags later I finally read Dave Ramsey's book and decided I needed to get my life right because I couldn't live with my parents forever and I would eventually need a new car.

Since I finished his book I have been on a budget and can't imagine my life any other way.  However, Aaron and I have had a combined account for about 11 months now and it is much more difficult keeping someone else on a budget than it is yourself. 

I have never been one for New Years Resolutions or crazy bucket lists.  I have however used New Year's Eve to get my life in order every year.  I always make a list of goals I would like to accomplish for each month of the year and then a few goals that I know will take me the whole year to reach.  I also spend New Year's Eve deep cleaning and organizing.  There is just something about everything being in order and clean that helps me to start the year stress free.

So there you have my big plans for New Year's Eve.  Revamping our budget and organizing and cleaning our house. 

I feel like I'm 50.

Worth every penny!

Little J wanted an iPad mini or an iPod touch for Christmas.  Her reasoning was simple, she wanted to be able to text us and facetime us.  I had no idea the entertainment this would bring me.

Aaron and I went back on forth on whether or not we wanted to get her started on technology already. 



She really wanted a phone but there is no way this 7 year old is getting one! So she had a genius idea a few weeks before Christmas.  We were driving down the road and she starts telling me her plan.  "Ok, either you guys or Santa can bring me an iPad mini or an iPod touch for Christmas.  But I don't want one of those things that plays music."  Umm...ok.  "We can download those apps to text and facetime and you guys can buy me a phone number."  Umm...you just described a phone to me and that is not happening.  I explained to her how a cell phone works and how the iPad/iPod situation would work.  She looked at me like I was nuts.

Fast forward to last night.  She clearly got an iPad mini for Christmas which means she has been texting and facetiming her family members as much as possible.  I was about to leave work yesterday and I knew she was home with her dad so I sent her a text asking what she wanted for dinner.  Who knew that I would get this much entertainment from this!  I have decided that was money well spent.  Its obvious this kid is just like me.  She covers about 5 different topics in each text and keeps up with each one like a pro.  I take full responsibility and realize I am creating a monster.

 

 

What 7 year old informs you that they made a "typo?"  She has been saying "Ugh" after everything when she talks lately, only pronouncing it "Ug."  I have corrected her repeatedly but the madness never ends.  Apparently she is spelling it the way she says it now.

8 months of marriage!

Aaron and I realized this morning that we have been married for 8 months, today!  It feels like it has been much longer than that!  This year has been packed full of big events for us.  An engagement, a wedding, pregnancy, buying a new house and now we are 33 days away from Baby Moody making our family a family of 4. 

Is Christmas really over?

I am glad the stress and rush of Christmas is over but at the same time I keep thinking "is Christmas really over?" It seems like the month of December has flown by.  Baby Moody will be joining us in 5 weeks, give or take. 

Monday after my doctor's appointment I picked Little J up from her mom's and finished up the last of our shopping.  Aaron decided to spring it on me as we are headed home that Santa is going to visit just as soon as I get home so that Little J won't have to wake up super early for presents before he had to go to work on Christmas Eve.  This was an interesting task to accomplish to say the least.  Little J likes to hang out with me ALL the time.  Which I love, but makes for playing Santa while she is awake very tricky.  We managed to pull it off though.  We hid her Santa gifts and filled stocking in the Safe and left her a note from Santa (sent with her Elf of course) stating that since she had been such a great kid all year he was visiting her early and he put her gifts somewhere "safe."

We thought we were really clever but she instantly went straight to the safe and got her presents out without a thought.  She was very excited about the presents we gave her but was thrilled that Santa had brought her the iPad mini she had really been wanting.  I understand now why my parents were always so excited for us to open presents.  This little girl being so excited was better than any of the other gifts I received and I REALLY loved my gifts.

 

Little J and I slept in on Christmas Eve, did some shopping, and came home to open gifts with Aaron's family.  Immediately after that we loaded up the car with all the gifts for my family and were about to head that way.  Aaron and I had agreed not to buy gifts for each other this year since we have made so many large purchases this year, have quite a few more to go, and we both buy what we want when we want it.  So, imagine my surprise when he hands me a Michael Kors box with a wallet in it.  Thankfully I had the same thought he did and had just purchased his sound bar for the surround sound in the living room.  Once I gave him that he brought out ANOTHER box with the matching bag that he knew I wanted but hadn't bought yet.  Definitely a great surprise!

Santa's coming early!

With the way Christmas is falling this year and the fact that we get Little J for Christmas Eve rather than Christmas day, Aaron and I had to get creative.  Santa will be arriving at our house tonight just in time to open presents tomorrow morning before Aaron has to go to work for a while.  We are not fond of this plan but you do what you have to, I guess.

Once we made the decision to change things up for Little J this year I started noticing that there are so many people that celebrate a few days early.  I never noticed this before and its actually kinda sad that the world has become so fast paced and there are fewer days off of work for people that we have resorted to Santa arriving early.

I ventured out to get some shopping done on Saturday night.  Aaron kept telling me how crazy I was to be going out in this craziness on the Saturday before Christmas.  He contemplated coming with me but the thought of all that traffic and the crowds in the store kept him from leaving our home.  You can imagine my surprise when there was no traffic AT ALL and the stores were virtually empty. Of course I found very little of what I was actually looking for.

S and I decided to risk the mall yesterday. Again, I was expecting terrible traffic and awful crowds.  We saw neither.  Sadly, I still have Aaron's family to buy for and my dad of course.  Dads are the worst to buy for ever.  I never know what to get my dad.  He buys what he wants when he wants it then when we ask what he wants he says something we could never possibly give him, like: "to retire."  Great, let me know when you are at that point and I will slap my name on that and give it to you as a gift.

Transiberian Orchestra

Mama C has been dying to see Transiberian Orchestra for years.  Back in September she called and wanted to know if we would like to go too because she was ordering tickets.  I will admit I thought you was nuts at first making plans for a Christmas concert in September.

Last night was the big night and I had heard nothing but great things up until then.  Aaron, Little J and I went with my mom, Baby Huey, and my aunt.  Papa C is not into these types of things and was working out of town.

Let me just say that was an incredible show.  The story was amazing, the music was great, and the light show and fire had a 7 year old entertained until she just couldn't stay awake anymore.  Even Aaron enjoyed it and, to be honest, I really think he was dreading it.

 

If you ever get the chance to see them, you will love it!

Proud moment

Growing up Mama C always picked out wrapping paper that coordinated for each of us.  I rarely remember there being a present under the tree that didn't match the others.  So, naturally that is something Syd and I have felt was a necessary part of Christmas.  Last year was the first Christmas Aaron and I were together and we had blue snowflake paper and silver glitter paper (huge mistake! tape does not hold it together well!)  I wanted something a little prettier this year.

Since we all know Hobby Lobby puts out their Christmas stuff around about Easter, I have been browsing the gift wrap section for months now.  As much as I loved all the pretty Chevron paper I decided on leopard print paper with black tulle bows.  Mind you, I have never made a bow in my life.  I am more of a "pay someone to do it" type of girl. That applies to all aspects of my life.  Here is the finished product and I love it:

Even though Little J asked me not to wrap her presents and put them under the tree so she wouldn't be tempted (yes, I know I live with a 30 year old trapped in a 7 year old's body) her dad and I just couldn't look at a decorated tree with no presents under it any longer. She was at her mom's on Monday and Tuesday when we finished the wrapping so last night a very funny but proud moment took place for us. 

Little J is a child who takes everything in and doesn't forget a single thing she hears or that you tell her.  Even when you think she isn't listening, except when you tell her to clean her room or brush her teeth of course.  Some of our best conversations take place in the car or at 2am when she can't sleep.  We were in the car a few weeks ago and she brought up Adam and Eve, only she really wasn't sure what their names were for sure and she had never heard the story (that she could remember) of Adam and Eve.  So, I explained it the best way I possibly could.  I had forgotten about this conversation until last night when she discovered the tree was full of presents just for her. 

She proceeded to explain to me that my wrapping her presents and putting them under the tree made her feel like Adam and Eve and our Christmas Tree is the Tree of Life.  All those beautful presents are under that tree but she isn't allowed to touch them. 

For a few seconds I thought "maybe I don't suck at this whole parenting thing."  Then she called Aaron's mom to thank her for an early Christmas gift and blurted out that she was sleeping on the couch tonight because her sheets were in the washer and she was up past her bedtime because we were keeping her awake, I was reminded again that you win some and you lose some. 

 ***For the record, her sheets were in the dryer and she did in fact sleep in her own actual bed and she was only up 30 minutes past her bedtime.***

Nursery!

We have 6 1/2 weeks left until Baby Moody will be joining us in this world.  Unless of course she decides to arrive early or overstay her welcome in my body.  But the point is, I only have 6 weeks left to prepare a nursery. 

Typically, Aaron and I are the type that would have had that room decorated months ago.  We started off great.  We had a crib from when Little J was a babyand a very close friend gave me a changing table that matched it.  We had the crib and changing table all set up.  Only one problem...they were black and I was envisioning white.  So I went on a mission to sell them and buy new.  Then this fabulous idea came to my head, I have these awesome pieces already and I had seen a few pinterest pictures of painted cribs so why not have the crib painted a color you don't normally see!

Here is what I am envisioning:

Now, here we are, about 2 months later and the painter still has the furniture.  I have been trying not to hound the husband about it but I am getting frustrated and anxious.  I want this done already.  (Since creating this post I have been informed it is ready for pick up.  Now I just need Aaron to go get it!)

I picked up white/lavender chevron crib sheets, white/lavender polka dot crib sheets and a white ruffled crib skirt from Pottery Barn.  I am still on the search for the perfect quilt and throw pillows.  I am not going to have crib bumpers just because there is so much back on forth on whether they are safe or not and Aaron is adamant that it's not safe.  So, it's not worth the battle plus I haven't found bedding that I like other than what I have put together myself.

Aaron and I are not big into clutter or having tons of things on the wall.  BUT I knew my baby needed a monogram on the wall. So this is what I have:

 

Just need to decide on a color and get it painted and hung.  I am thinking Aqua, pink or sticking to the lavender.

Hopefully, I will have this thing put together in the next week or so and the stress I am feeling from it being completely undone will disappear.

Any suggestions from the creative designers out there is greatly appreciated!

Gatlinburg, here we come!

The C family hasn't been on a trip all together since I was 17.  I don't want to discuss how old I am now but that was 11 years ago, people! Baby Huey was only 10 and way shorter than me!  I don't even know where the time has gone!

Papa C has always been a workaholic so going on vacations or even short trips were out of the question due to his ridiculous work schedule.

Since Mama C and I have ventured into the wonderful world of SABA, we have been on quite a few trips.  However, none of them included the whole family.  This past weekend the whole family:  Mama & Papa C, Baby Huey, and Syd, along with my family consisting of me, Aaron, and little J made the 13 hour trek to Gatlinburg, TN.

It is a very short trip, left on Thursday morning and returned on Sunday afternoon.  People think we are nuts for traveling 13 hours for a SABA event but let me tell you, Mama C and I are making some serious bank with this little venture.  And this trip there was a Cadillac SUV up for grabs and all of us (minus Little J) had multiple entries in for this baby.

We were just positive that one of us was going to win that thing!  Didn't happen.  Right as they were about to draw the winner little J grabbed my arm, looked me in the eyes very seriously and said, "Layne, we might not win, ok?"  This little child was trying to prepare me for disappointment.  And who is supposed to be a parental figure?  Me or her?

As soon as the event was over on Saturday Aaron, BH, Little J, and I loaded up the car and started the drive home.  The weather was getting bad and roads were closed back home and we knew were were headed for some snowy/icy weather.  We made it to Nashville with no problems and when we hit Memphis at 10pm with intentions of just driving all the way home we started to hit some sleet.  What should have been a 2 1/2 hour drive to Little Rock ended up taking a bit longer so we ended up getting a room outside of Little Rock around 1am.  Anxious Aaron woke us up at 7:30 in the freaking morning to hit the road once again.  35mph across the ENTIRE state of Arkansas and we were finally back home in Oklahoma by 2:30!

We have a new rule: No road trips longer than 5 hours.

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

This weekend was full of decorating for the Holidays at the Moody house. Growing up the only decorating Syd from SouthernSassblog.com and I had was the Christmas tree.  Mama C always put the tree up and added the ribbon, burlap, etc she had chosen for the year.  Once the tree looked like it had come straight out of a department store we were allowed to put the "special" ornaments on. 

So knowing this bit of info plus the fact that I am very controlling and majorly OCD when it comes to things like decorating, organizing and the way people clean, you can imagine my reaction when Aaron pulled out the Christmas tree and decorations last year.  There was a pre-lit tree and "special" ornaments....that's it.  No ribbon, no bows, no glitter, no bulbs of one color to give the tree some uniformity.  It was more than I could wrap my mind around so we immediately made a trip to pick up the necessities and it ended up being beautiful.

Now that we have moved into a bigger, prettier home with much taller ceilings, his bachelor 6.5ft tall tree just wasn't going to cut it.  That man found me a beautiful full 9ft tree that looks amazing even before Little J has been home to put the "special" ornaments on.  Our new house definitely is more of a rustic decor home so we I opted for rust/bronze colored ornaments in shiny, matte, and glitter bulbs.  Wrapped some burlap ribbon around that baby, added some burlap to the bottom for a skirt, if you will, and it looks great.  We ended up getting a tree that was not pre-lit and I think adding the amount of lights we deemed appropriate was the most daunting task.

My parents never bothered with Christmas lights or yard decor when we were kids.  My mom always had more on her plate than she could handle anyway so it was a miracle the tree was even up before Christmas. So, when Little J wanted Christmas lights and yard decorations Aaron and I were not about to tell her 'no.'  Not to mention I probably wanted them more than she did.

I even changed out centerpiece for our table and our wreath for our door.  I was in major cleaning/decorating mode this weekend.  I'm not sure if it has something to do with being at the end of my pregnancy and I still haven't even started on the baby room so I needed to "nest" something or if I was just so excited to decorate our new house for the Holidays but Aaron and I are both much more pleasant to be around when our house is as clean as it is right now and everything is decorated.

Baby Bumps!

I have failed miserably at taking weekly, monthly, whatever baby bump pictures. If you know me, you know that everything has to have an order to it so obviously it drives me crazy that these are all so random! Here it is, my ever growing baby bump:

1 week (or so they tell me). Obviously I had no idea.

 9 weeks

15 weeks

 18 weeks

 23 weeks

26 weeks

30 weeks

 

As of tomorrow, I am officially 32 weeks.  Only 8 more weeks until we get to meet Baby Girl Moody!  

Baby Shower Time!

My baby shower was Sunday.  My mom and I may be the worst ever at getting invitations to events out to people in a timely manner.  The last of the invites were mailed on Thursday.  I won't even mention that the first set of invites were only mailed on Monday.  Seriously, who gives people less than one weeks notice for things like this?? 

I am not one for big over the top things.  I prefer to be low key and keep people out of my business.  So, the fact that my mom and aunts, Aaron's mom and aunt, sprinkled with a few other important people were the extent of my shower, made me very happy and took away the anxiety of having to make small talk with people I don't know. 

I have taken care of a LOT of babies in my nannying days so I am not clueless when it comes to babies and the things they need and how to care for them but when it comes to registering for necessary items your own baby needs, where do you even start?  We have a crib, we have a changing table, we have about 5 strollers (don't even ask), car seat: check, bedding, tons of clothes, more shoes than any human being could ever need.  So what is left?  Diapers and wipes obviously, but what else?  I had no clue what to tell these people I needed! 

Now that it is said and done I have a ridiculous list in my head of things I need to go buy to prepare for this child.  Where was this list weeks ago???  What are some things you guys couldn't have lived without when you had your babies? 

I guess someone needed new kicks...

Nothing irritates me more than people stealing from others.  I don't mind helping people out but do not take what doesn't belong to you.

I logged into my bank account this morning just like I do every morning to make sure the number I have in my head is the exact amount actually in my checking account.  Sure enough, it says I have $600 in my business account however, only $34.15  is available for use!  Umm..say what?  I haven't purchased a thing for business or personal use since yesterday when I checked on my money!

Upon further investigation there is a charge for $395 to finishline.com.   Sure, I could use new running shoes BUT I sure did not spend a dime at the place today.  And $395?  Are they serious?  How many pairs of Nikes did you need today?

I immediately called my bank.  As they are telling me how to go about recooperating my money I scroll down just a bit to see if there are any other charges I did not make.  Apparently the culprit also needed a Match.com account. 

So, to anyone perusing match.com profiles today, if you come across someone with a love for fresh kicks:  BEWARE!

Oh, how life has changed.

If you had asked me 2 years ago where I thought I would be in life right this second, I wouldn't have ever suggested anything even close to what my life has become.

Eighteen months ago I met an awesome guy who really wanted to put up with my shit.  No matter how much I fought it. 

Seven months later, he gave me this pretty ring, to be followed four months later with a wedding.  Yes, I  married this guy 11 months TO THE DAY that I met him. 

I exchanged my 20 something roommate for a  newer model 7 year old step daughter who teaches me way more than I could ever teach her.  And they tell me as of January 29th there will be 3 girls covering our house in glitter and tutus rather than just the two of us who live there now.

Clearly this is a far cry from what I, or anyone who has ever known me, would have expected but I love it and I wouldn't change it for anything!

Who knew?

I've decided that having a step-daughter is kinda like having a sister.  I know its not that way for some people but Little J is just cooler than those other step daughters.  When I start really getting upset that I don't get to spend as much time with S as I'm used to, little J pops in and gives me a taste of my relationship with S when she was 6 and I was 9. 

First of all, Little J thinks I'm awesome.  6 year old S thought I was pretty awesome too.  Who am I kidding, 20 something S still thinks I'm awesome.

Little J NEVER shuts up. As long as its just the two of us in the car or in the house she will chat ALL. DAY. LONG. When S and I were younger we could start chatting when we woke up and a few hours later we'd still be in the same spot where we had managed to lead into story after story of things that were important to our 6 and 9 year old selves. Little J does the same thing...that kid does not have a secret in the world she hasn't felt compelled to tell me. 

S and I used to get in trouble at night for talking too much.  We went to bed at 8:00 every night promptly after the theme song from COPS played through the ending credits.  Papa C did not give bed time warnings or warnings of any kind for that matter and we KNEW that the ending of COPS was our cue to get our butts to bed. We would take ourselves to bed and that girl would not stop talking.  Even though we would talk to each other all day every day we still had things to say for hours when it was time for bed until one of us finally said "I'm going to sleep. Stop talking."

Little J and I stayed at my parents house this weekend and slept in S's bed since she was gone.  I almost forgot it wasn't S chatting away keeping me awake until 2:30 in the morning in our childhood bedroom.  Add to that the grinding of the teeth and snoring as she slept, Little J transformed into S until it was time to wake up and she turned down eating breakfast.  The fact that she turned down a meal was my only indication that she was in fact not my sister.

 

I have a twin...

It all started 10 holy crap…really years ago.  I was at a high school graduation my senior year in a massive event center, I looked to my right and about 2 sections over I made eye contact with a girl that made me think I was looking in a mirror.  I kid you not, I was in such shock that I could not stop staring at her.  I’m sure she thought I was a freak but this girl looked EXACTLY like me.

Once or twice a year throughout college I would get phone calls from people wanting to know why I didn’t say hi when they saw me at a place I had never been or where I was going when I passed them on the road while I was magically still in my bed.  I even got an angry phone call from my mother when I was 19 or 20 because some guys that worked for my dad swore to him they saw me at some trashy bar in a town a didn’t live in or even visit that often.  Its hard to convince people its not you when the person looks exactly like you.

Over the last 2 years the encounters people in my life have been having with this girl have gotten more frequent and I’ve been mistaken for her on several occasions as well.  I can only assume I am being mistaken for the girl that is being mistaken for me.   Let me also note that the sighting of this mystery girl always occur in a 10 mile radius an hour from where I grew up.

One and a half years ago I bought a harvest moon color VW Beetle convertible (biggest mistake of my life, judge me later).  That’s when things really started to get weird.  I have been led to believe that my twin also drives this same car. When I drove that thing the amount of pissed off people that I ignored when they “waved at me” tripled.  Aubrey and Erin (cousins to S and me who lived with us at the time) were visiting their mom and passed “me” waving and called me immediately to find out where I was going. The real me was tucked up into bed watching Gossip Girl but that was the point that I knew there really was a girl running around town tricking people.

A few short weeks after that happened I was leaving a place with my mother in the same 10 mile radius and a truck swerved over in front of me in a parking lot and starting laughing and waving as he rolled down his window.  He pulled up next to me to chat and I just stared at him.  It took him a second and his eyes got quite large and he apologized because he thought I was someone else.

I hadn’t heard much about this girl in a while until last night. A distant cousin of my mom’s posted this on my facebook wall:

 

I thought “ah…she’s still alive.”

Then today my best friend in this world besides S of course, who would know me just by seeing my shadow sent me this:

At least my boobs are bigger.

Does this happen to other people???

-G