Love and Marriage

07-07-07

This is going to be a sappy blog post.... sorry in advance :)

I am madly in love with my husband. I am very happy with they way my life has turned out. I have a beautiful home, a job that I love, an amazing family, etc.

Thinking back to my freshmen year of college, if someone would have told me I was going to marry Wolpert our Sorority's house boy. I would have said they were crazy! Chris and I met my freshmen year and were acquaintences for the next few years. I was interested in partying and being single and Chris wasn't even on my mind, and I wasn't on his either. Around Junior year we become close friends.... strictly friends. (I know there are people to this day that don't believe this) There was a lot of speculation about us because we hung out everyday, but like said before JUST AS FRIENDS! Towards the end of my Junior year he sat me down and told me that he couldn't be just friends with me anymore. He was falling for me. I had feelings toward him too, but wasn't quite ready. I was scared that if it didn't work out I was going to lose the best thing that ever happened to me. Being friends after a break up usually never lasts... needless to say as you all know that eventually I decided that it was worth seeing if we could work out. We then shared our first kiss and the rest is history!

Marriage is something sacred and not to be taken lightly. I get frustrated when people think that marriage isn't final and if it doesn't work out that there's always divorce. There are definitley some cases where divorce needs to happen, I am not saying that people should never get divorces. I am saying that marriage is hard, it isn't easy. It is something that you will work on for the rest of your life and will never be perfect. There will be good times and bad times and just because you may be going through a bad time... divorce isn't always the answer.

Chris and I have had our bad times and our good times. We are constantly learning about each other each and every day. There is no one else in the entire world that I would want to spend my life with. We have done so much in our three years of marriage. We bought a rental property, got 2 dogs, bought a house for oursleves, had a child, changed jobs, etc. We have built a lil' family of our very own.

I am proud of what Chris and I have accomplished in 3 short years and am excited to see what the future holds for us! I love Chris and Cara more than anything in the world and wouldn't trade my life for anything! :) Thanks for reading...

Words for new mommy's

I am sitting her going through pictures of Cara and crying! Where has the time gone? When did she become a toddler? It is absolutely amazing how much infants change in a year. Not only physically but mentally. They go from being completely helpless and needing us to tend to their every need and even hold their heads up for them, to walking, running, and talking in a years time...

Everyone always says that the love for your child is different than any other kind of love. Everyone is soooo right! I never thought I could love someone as much as I do Cara, I would literally do anything, if it meant she was safe.

If I can give any advice to new parents out there, it would be this....

1.) Cuddle cuddle cuddle with your little one, but also remember that we need to teach them that we can not pick them up every second of the day.

2.) A schedule is the best way to go, with a newborn and even a toddler, your schedule will vary a bit from day to day as far as time goes, but try to stick to the same thing everyday as best as possible. (i.e. for bedtime do bottle or breast, bath, books, bed) I have found that when Cara was young I fed her her last meal of the day before her bath and it helped tremendously getting her to fall asleep on her own.

3.) IT WILL NOT GET EASIER WHEN THEY ARE OLDER!!! Now, what I mean by this.... When Cara was an infant I didn't go out to eat much, or have a babysitter much because I always thought in the back of my mind that it would be easier to take her out when she is older. Boy, was I wrong. When they are newborns they sleep... yeah, you may have to feed them once in the restaurant or go to the bathroom if breastfeeding, but then they go right back to sleep. NOW, OMG I can't keep her still. She wants to run around the restaurant and go say Hi to everyone and play. While everyone else thinks its adorable that a little 1 year old is walking up and saying hi while they are eating... I am still starving! lol

4.) Don't stress over what they say in the books. I was an avid book reader when I found out I was pregnant. I was reading everything "No cry sleep solution" Baby Whisperer", "What to Expect When You're Expecting" Every book said something different and I was going crazy trying to implement things from the book. I finally had to stop reading. Every single baby is different and something that may have worked for Cara and I will not work for you and your baby. Do read and educate yourself about what to expect and how baby's should be developing and what they need, but take that information from each book and turn into something that will work for you and your baby!

5.) Take Pictures!!!!!! I can't take credit for this idea, not sure where I got it from. I took a picture of Cara every month in the same chair with the same stuffed animals around her. It was a fun thing that I looked forward to every month, and comparing the pictures was so fun. I put them in the last part of her first year scrapbook and displayed it at her birthday! It was a HUGE hit.

Cara at 1 month, 2months, 6 months and 1 year

running running running

For as long as I can remember I have hated running. I am not a person who can run around a track 20 times or run on a treadmill for 45 minutes. My idea of exercise is dancing, stunting (cheer stuff, for those of you none cheer folk), chasing Cara, or playing soccer.

I seem to never be able to stick to an exercise regime. It's either I don't have anyone to stunt with, or the soccer teams don't play on nights I can do, etc. There is always something to keep me from exercise. The biggest "something" that comes up is MYSELF!

Having a child really changes your perspective in life. Cara will grow up and form her opinions about love, life, etc. from what I teach her. I am responsible for teaching Cara about these things. I want to instill in her that family is important, honesty is always best, and taking care of yourself mentally and physically is the key to a happy life! How can I teach her these things if I don't practice them myself?

I don't know if it is because I am older or because I have less time for myself than ever before, but I have found comfort in running...yes the thing I have hated the most! When I run I feel liberated, I feel like I am showing Cara that being healthy is important. I am taking control of my life, and leading by example.

Now Cara and Chris are motivation enough, but for some extra motivation to get my "run on" I purchased a NikeFit Sportband...

It keeps track of how many miles you run, your pace, calories burned, etc. You can upload it to the nike site and keep track of your workouts! A fun little thing to add some excitment to running! My goal is to one day run in a marathon, will keep you posted on that though.... Not going crazy yet! :)

It's Wedding Season...

It's seems this summer everyone is getting married. Chris and I have 5...yes 5 weddings that we are invited to this summer, we have been to one so far. 4 left to go!!!! It is going to be an expensive next few months buying shower gifts, attending bachelor/bachelorette parties, and buying wedding gifts.

There are a million and one sites on how to do a wedding on a budget, but how about how to buy wedding presents on a budget? Weddings are a special event and it's not something that you can bring a $20.00 gift off of their registry too. A way to save money and get a very special gift for someone, is a site that I love called personalizationmall.com They have a ton of different inexpensive gifts to choose from. Some of my favorite are the wedding ornament that is on sale for $11.97 right now. What a great way for a newlywed couple to spend their first christmas together!

Another favorite is the wedding frame on sale for $19.95

Last but not least, this vase would make a great wedding or shower gift. It is $32.95....

Hope this gives everyone some great ideas on buying wedding gifts on a budget!

Mommy deal of the day!

Hey fellow mom's out there! Wanted to share some good buys with all of you. I am an avid sale shopper, I can NEVER pass up a good sale :)

When I am shopping for Cara I love to buy versatile things that can be worn with many different things. My sister has 2 children and she would buy outfits that come together, now that is not a bad thing at all, but if you can buy cute cheap tops and a few cute pants, you will have many more options to choose from and not have to spend quite as much.

My FAVORITE place to shop is Old Navy, not only for Cara but for myself! One stop shopping for me :) I went there today to take back a sweater I had boughten for myself and a pair of jeans for Cara that I both purchased in the wrong size when I was hurridely shopping with Cara. By taking those two items back I was able to get 2 pairs of jeans for Cara (in the right size), a t-shirt, a pair of shorts, and a cute tank all for the little one... and I still got $6.03 back.

The deal of the day is..... Old navy T-shirts for boys and Girls for $1.97 online, they have some in the store too! Different patterns cost more or less. These are a must have for summer and fall. So cute and comfy and cheap. Pick uup 3-4 of these and jeans for 2 for $22.00 and you've got yourself quite a few outfit options. Enjoy!

Green Living

The color of my life is green! Green means go....

It seems that I can never keep up with the tasks at hand. Chris (my husband) and I bought a short sale home in the wonderul town of Steilacoom, WA in March of this year. I mentioned it was a short sale because short sale = a shit hole that needs fixing up.

With that being said we did a lot of work on it, we put in new floors, new paint in every room, new carpet, new doors, new apliances, new cabinets, new countertops, etc. You get my point almost everything is NEW!

New = $$$$ = green

While yes, we did alot of work we still have a lot left to do. We need to do the second coat of paint in the bathroom then put up the wainscotting and trim, install sink, move washer and dryer into said bathroom, do backsplash in kitchen, new window sills, trim/molding in whole house, paint the new doors, trim bathroom mirrors, finish hanging pictures, etc. the list goes on and on! While I absolutely love being able to decorate and do whatever I want in my own home, I do reminise on the days when there was a leaky faucet and I could call my landlord to come fix it. I guess I am my own landlord.

We have been living in this house since April and really haven't done much! I knew this was going to happen, we move in and life becomes "comfortable" and we realize that we can survive without painted doors and trim. I find myself saying to people when they come see the house "oh, we just moved in and it's a work in progress!" How long can I use the "we just moved in excuse?"

I am hoping by sharing this with the world that it will make me get my butt in gear and get some things done around the house. Now we can't do everything right now that we would like to... like relandscape our backyard, but we can paint, hang pictures, etc. Those things don't require yep, you guessed it Green. Money rules the roost and without it life can become a little less comfortable. If I just had an unlimited amount of money I could hire someone to come in and finish all these daunting tasks for me... until then I will keep posting about how much crap I have to get done! Thanks for reading.... I will post pics of the finished product in 2 years ;)

Hello World

Hello everyone! It seems that everyone has their own blog nowadays, so why not me? I have a lot to say... right? My husband sure thinks so.

Well this is going to be a blog about the life of a working housewife and my interests. My trials and tribulations of keeping up with the piles of laundry, the messy diapers, and making time for myself and making time for my husband and I!

So sit back, relax, and enjoy some laughs with the blog of Valerie Wolpert!