Flu

This is my night stand right now. The flu hit our house around 6 pm yesterday. So far it is just me. Hubby stayed home today so I could go to the doctor. Did a flu test and it came out positive. I have my meds, soup, and ginger ale. Hopefully we will say goodbye to Mr. Flu soon and pray that nobody else here catches it (yeah right, huh)?

Twins?

Just sayin'. :)

Get Connected!

Here we go! Today I want to link up with From Mrs to Mama for her first ever Women Connect '12.



Why am I nervous? I blog about my life all the time.

- I'm Nicole. I am a mom of three in my twenties from the south.
- I'm a christian. I love God. I believe in the bible. I should go to church more than I do. Maybe Paisley will outgrow her fear of other people soon...
- I'm Married. I have been married for seven years to the most wonderful man. He is a wonderful provider and a hard worker and THE best daddy.
- I'm a stay at home mom. I love my kids with all of my heart and sacrifice what I have to to be here with them every day. I'm honestly not sure this will ever change. This was my calling.
- I'm a stepmother. But I'm not. He is my baby and I am his mother and that's just the way it is. This was handed to us and we are embracing it!
- I'm a wannabe photographer. I am such an amateur but my dream is to start my own small photography business.
- I'm a crafter. Whenever my kids allow me to I love to break out the glue gun. Sometimes the sewing machine but then I wind up just wanting to break that...
- I want a farm. I have a child that is allergic to everything so we do not have pets. I dream of having a chicken coop with some "pet" chickens. We have a small vegetable garden every year but I usually expand it more and more each year.
- I am a runner. I cannot even say that without laughing. This is still a new chapter in my life so it just sounds very weird and strange.
- I am very self conscious. I struggle with my body daily and am not happy with it.
- I have anxiety. Even when there is nothing to worry about.
- I love to decorate. Well, I love to dream of decorating with all of the awesome stuff on pinterest that I cannot afford.
- I'm pretty proud of my sense of humor. Really.
- I blog because I love it. I wish I had more time to do it than I do.
- I'm a reader. Although I haven't done too much reading in the last fifteen months... ahem, Paisley.
- I'm slightly obsessed with all things Disney. We took our first trip to the World a few months ago and I am already planning another trip. Even if it is just in my head.
- I speak fluently in movie quotes.

Not too interesting, is it? Well that's okay, because that's ME!

I cannot wait to review the rest of the links. Leave a comment and let me know you were here! I'll make sure to check you out too. :)

Thanks for stopping by.

 

Santa! I Know Him!

On Saturday we decided to go ahead and take the littles to visit Santa. The closer it gets to Christmas the more hectic things get, so we decided to go ahead and make the trip. The kids were so excited! Well, Lucas was so excited! HA! Blake was pretty excited too but that is because we took them to Bass Pro Shops instead of the mall this year.

I snapped a few photos before we left. My mother bought Paisley the cutest dress and I knew it would be perfect for this! She looked precious in it (or "scrumptious" as the hubs has been calling her).

 Lucas thought his shirt was awesome! It's a Christmas shirt without being so "baby". He loves skull and crossbones and of course you can see why he loved it. We got it at Crazy 8.

You would think with Blake being the oldest that he would be the easiest. He hates to cooperate for photos. I am chalking it up to his age...

Are you ready for our Santa photo? No really, this years photo can never be topped! It is simply amazing.

Drum roll.......

HA! One child screaming (I expected no less from her), one staring into the distance, and the other is thinking "I really wanna go look at the duck calls....". CLASSIC! I have it framed proudly for everyone to see. I cannot wait for them to see it when they are sixteen. ;)

 

Move it Monday 11-26-12

So, Thanksgiving week sucks for anyone trying to lose weight. Period. I am not going to pretend like I did amazing because I didn't. The truth? I cute myself some slack. My diet is something that I want so badly to be so good at. When life shoves Thanksgiving in your face I think you just have to throw your hands up and eat the darn food. Am I right? I have found that if I torture myself I always blow it. So I did Thanksgiving the right way. I did not bring home any left overs though. Yay me!

This past week I was on Week 4 of the c25k program. I usually do the c25k training on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I only did Monday this week. We were super busy. I know, no excuses!
I think I am going to start week 4 over today. Wanna know what is crazy? I am signed up for a 5k on December 8th. I am on week 4 mind you. I am doing it with a pretty awesome group of girls. Most of them are way more experienced runners than I am. I have decided that I am just going to go at my own pace. I obviously do not intend to run the entire thing. I know that I can complete it distance-wise so I am down for it... I think :)

Source: womenshealthmag.com via Nicole on Pinterest

If you have any tips on really good tasting snacks or meals that are very low calorie, feel free to leave a comment. I am always looking for new ideas.

Linking Up:

The Domestic Wannabe

This Week in iPhone Pics...

I love this idea. I take so many little random snap shots on my phone daily and nothing ever happens with them. My bestie Amanda does this and I was inspired to try and do it every Sunday night as well.

We made a trip to Bass Pro Shops...

Visited Nanny and Pop and came home with this awesome bench that Pop made for her...

 Read a Christmas book on the tablet...

Played a little dress up...

 Painted some pretty piggies...

 Visited the mall with Batman...

 Started putting out Christmas decor. Almost a full week later we are finally ALMOST done...

Decorated a girly tree...

Hung our stocking with care...

...and had a play date with Bella.

~Nicole

Minnie Paisley

 Dress up has become a hit in this house. I have been collecting dress up clothes for Paisley since she was teeny. Yesterday we put her in a Minnie dress just for fun and when I tried to take it off of her she lost it!

 Watch mama! I can put my shoes on!

 I have to say I am loving the girly spell we are having around here.

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving was a huge blessing this year as it is every year. We got to see many family and friends that we love dearly. I did not take very many pictures at the lunch or dinner we went to, but I did manage to snap some of the kiddos in all of their preciousness!

 I did my best to snap some pics of my littles running around. Paisley is super fast. Seriously.

It is very hard to photograph Lucas without Perry and Paisley without a cup.

 I ordered her outfit from a sweet smocked boutique on facebook.

 My handsome man in his new "Thanksgiving" shirt. I got both of the boys some shirts from Crazy 8. They just added one to our mall not that long ago and I like it pretty good.. It is kind of a hit or miss for me honestly. We went in at midnight and I did not see a thing? That's okay because Amanda and I cleaned out Gap Kids. My new obsession for little clothes.

 Such a little busy body!

 I did my best to snap a decent pic of all three kids. I got two that I consider to be good. You can see them below:

I am still working hard to figure out my camera settings. I am pretty proud of myself considering that I have just started shooting without it being in auto mode.

I have to keep it real though. I got three decent pictures and fifty or so like this:

 I am most thankful for these babies. They make my life.

 Paisley has been talking up a storm lately. Her newest words are: baby, puppy, Sheshee (Chelsea- my sister), and kitty cat (or "kikat). In the photo above she is saying, "See it? See?" She constantly has that little finger pointed and repeats those words nonstop. Every time I try to video her she shuts up immediately? Maybe soon...

This last picture is just because I love her curls so much!

Of course as soon as the family festivities were over we headed to shop til we dropped!

We hit up Target first. I didn't have anything that I really wanted to get except some board games (Scrabble anyone?) and an $8 waffle iron. I did score the movie Brave for $10 and some precious tutus for Paisley for $3 each. Amanda and I always go together. I guess we mainly went just because it is tradition... :)

Had to make a quick pit stop before heading to Sears...

 ... where we totally checked out the Kardashian Kollection. Don't judge!

This was a tiny fraction of the crowd waiting for them to open the door to the mall at midnight. Yes- a stampede did happen. I lived through it and have tons of sweet kiddie clothes to prove it!

I am off to catch up on the dvr with my husband. We are headed to visit Santa tomorrow afternoon after the Georgia- Georgia Tech game. Pics to follow!

~Nicole

Happy Thanksgiving 2012

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

I thought it fitting to share the adorable photos I took at Lucas' Thanksgiving Feast at school.

 The class performing their play. They did a wonderful job. I have some video I will ad later.

Working hard! He loves school and is excelling and that makes my heart so happy. :)

 My sweet pilgrim!

 The most awesome teachers ever!

 Lucas and his best buddies!

I hope that everyone has a wonderful day full of food, family, and fellowship!

.... then go shop 'til you drop! ;)

~Nicole