Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

My husband is a generous person. An extremely generous person. So generous that I have had to push him off when it comes to my birthday, our anniversary or other special occasions where he insists on spoiling the crap out of me.

While this is cute, and I do let him spoil me at times (or he just does whether I like him spending on me or not). I've come to the conclusion that he deserves more, whether he likes it or not. Last Christmas, I felt awful because we just had our son, and we were tight with money, but also I was no longer working outside the home so had nothing to really spend on him. This would not have been so bad if only he were not so set on never spending on himself.

Yes, my husband seldom ever gets anything for himself, even during the holidays. This past year I finally got him to buy himself a new game for his PC that he really wanted, insisting it was his birthday and he deserved it. Score! He bought it and did as I asked.

I know he always says he does not want anything for Christmas or anything, but what nonsense. He is definitely getting gifts this year whether he likes it or not. I have devised a plan so I can "sneak" gifts into the house right under his nose without him knowing. And when Christmas comes, there will be tons of presents under our tree just for him, and he will be surprised!

Normally, I waited until the end of the year to buy gifts for him, which would end up having us broke because there was so much spending. While I agree, Christmas is not about presents, and never has been for either of us, but its time we stopped ignoring this tradition and started enjoying it instead. That and, I really need to know the meaning of a Christmas list!

So what have I done to make this possible? I started spending early in September. I would also just draw a little money out here and there, five dollars, ten bucks, and stashed it away. I would later, so as not to draw any suspicion, took that cash and bought my husband's gifts and gift wrap etc. He has not picked up on this yet, and I doubt he will, since he mostly leaves the spending up to me, and I grocery shop and get all of our things from stores anyway, so he won't even notice if a couple dollars is buying him stuff.

I don't usually do this, and the only reason I am doing it is for him, because I love him and he deserves a special Christmas this year! He works so hard, he is so strong and so supportive, and he deserves it. End of story.

I may get flack for it in the end, but it will only be humorous flack and he will be shocked to see so many things under the tree that he never expected. Now, the only problem is my keeping these things hidden until Christmas Day! Yup, I get to play Santa Claus!! And I absolutely love it.

WE ARE EXPECTING A BABY GIRL!!! :)

We told the ultrasound technician that we made a bet on who was right or wrong on the gender of our baby, when asked if we wanted to find out the gender during the ultrasound. I wanted it to remain a surprise, deep down, I didn't want to actually find out until our baby was born, but my patience wore thin and I gave in. I just needed to know. :)

As it turns out, my husband was right and I was wrong. We were not sure if we would actually find out, though, when it came time, because throughout the entire ultrasound Peanut was being a little stinker already. She was moving every other way except the ways the technician needed her to in order to get pictures and the tests.

Throughout the ultrasound, though, our tech was paying attention to the gender detail and was pretty positive it was a girl. When she said she could only be 99.0% sure, we insisted she check again if possible and show us. She did and that's when we found out we are having a little baby girl!

We are beyond excited! So far, we have been going over names, and although I have not had time to do any real shopping for her yet, we did get her bassinet and a super cute going home outfit. :)

Thanksgiving Preparations

Each year I usually do a run through on Thanksgiving dinner. I absolutely love being a host for the holidays! Dinners are my specialty ;). This year I am doing things a little differently, though.

For the first two years I did Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, I normally just waited to shop the day before the meal and busy myself preparing everything from decorating to dinner to desserts, and that has always left little time for family, which is my favorite part about the holidays!

This year I promised myself it would be different, and rather than rushing around in one day trying to get a million things done, I would make as much ahead of time as I possibly could, and shop for everything at least a couple weeks to one month ahead of time. So far, it's been working out great! The only problem is that a lot of things do go on sale around Thanksgiving, and I have just adjusted my shopping list accordingly.

Also, I made a menu with the entire dinner plan on it, and I wrote a list of items I will need for dinner, so I can easily shop and mark off what I get as I go, rather than going over recipes at the last minute and trying to figure out what exactly I need. This year I've become a lot more organized, and this year will give me a lot more time with my family :) I could not ask for more!

To keep organized and focused this Thanksgiving, here are some great tips I have learned so far that may help you during this holiday season:

1. First, get your dinner menu together. Figure out exactly what dishes you are having, and if you plan on having help then figure in what dishes others' are bringing or making.

2. Second will be the meal planning. This is the part where, after gathering your recipes or meal menu together you go over ingredients and items you will need. Jot those down on a piece of paper or an app on your phone and make a trip to the grocery store.

3. You can get things gradually. For instance, rather than one day shopping for the entire meal, shop for items specifically for make-ahead dishes like the cranberry sauce, which you can make 1 month ahead of time if you really want to. Purchase the perishables closer to dinner though, as those you generally make ahead the night before or day before, depending on your schedule.

Also buy cards and things of that nature well ahead of time as well so you won't be late sending them out or shopping while it's hectic and busy in the stores for them. These "little things" should help make the holidays time for family and the festivities. After all, you deserve to have more time to enjoy them!

Time with family is the most important part of the holiday season! The more time I can spend with them the happier I will be :).

I hope these tips help you all!

Great News!!

Since we started our vacation with my husband's parents (which was the middle of June) I have felt very tired. This is a fatigue I am all too familiar with, and while my ladies days had been right around the corner during that period of time I didn't think much of it, even though deep down I just "knew".

I chalked all my symptoms up to my upcoming ladies days, because on the day I was supposed to get it, I took an at home pregnancy test and it came back negative. I tried telling myself it would just be late, that maybe I was under stress and this is why it would be overdue, maybe my new exercise regimen was the culprit. It would still come any day now.

But . . . . I have never been one to ignore my gut feeling and intuition. Although I took a pregnancy test the previous day, something just didn't sit right with me, and so I asked my husband, Tim, to please pick up a couple more tests just so I could make sure.

On the day after my missed period, I took the second test, and boom! It came back with two lines, and I found out that I am pregnant!!

You cannot believe how excited I am, I can barely contain myself. Like Tim, I know I want more kids. So we are excited. Kind of scared this time, because that is just normal, we felt the same way with Lukas, but more happy and excited than anything! :)

We are waiting to give everybody (family and our close friends) the big news later, but I wanted to update my blog. This time, instead of over the phone from so far away, we want to make it special and give everyone the news face to face if possible. I cannot wait to tell my in-laws! They are so close to us and we have such a wonderful family I could not ask for more, they are the type of family you extend and want to add on to and keep the generations going teehee :) yes they are absolutely amazing! I am so lucky to be with them.