Teaholic not quite anonymous

I'm not talking about our dinner last night... We ordered from one of our favorite delivery places that have pizza, gyros, cheese fries... etc. Oh Heaven!

But no, no, no... I'm talking about SLEEP! Maddy was up at 4 last night and I knew she'd be hungry since she didn't have much to eat the evening before. However, it's not like she'd be up to a chicken dinner or anything, so I brought up some goldfish crackers and and some teddy grams. She ate some of it, had a bit of milk and was really stuffy. So I gave her a 1/2 dose of benadryl since it was raining most of yesterday and I think it got to her. She slept in until 8:10!!! Ooh, was that ever nice. I got up with her and let Matt sleep in an extra hour and a half. That was partially selfish of me. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep any more if it were my turn.

We were pretty lazy this morning. I took a very long hot shower. Matt moved our water line from our central humdifier from hot to cold water. We noticed that our hot water hasn't been lasting very long and with an 80 gal. tank it shouldn't be an issue. So the humidifier has been taking most of it, not to mention just constantly charging the water heater must be costing a ton of money. He also oiled Maddy's door since it's had quite a squeak in it the last week or so. But other than that, that's all we did all morning!

When Maddy went down for a nap, so did we. Oh, again, the decadence of sleeping in the afternoon. Aaaaahh... We all slept for two hours and even then I think we woke Maddy up because Matt went in to get her and then we realized there were kids playing outside and it sounded a lot like her. So, we don't know if she was up or not.

We ran out to World Market to exchange one of our martini glasses that was marred and then out to Walmart to pick up a couple of things I wanted to get. It's amazing how fast the afternoon goes though, and how quickly Maddy's bedtime routine needs to start when we get home.

A cute Maddy thing. Tonight she had on her purse, sunglasses and necklace and kept saying, "Catch Bus! Catch Bus!" And then she's run around the entire house in circles trying to catch the bus. I'm pretty sure she saw that on Max and Ruby since she's never taken a bus a day in her life. But every now and again Matt would stop her and say, "Oh, here's your credit card for when you get there!" "Oh, here's a can of (play) soup for a snack!" Finally, she stopped, showed dad her purse and said, "Too much!!!!" LOL! She's already a woman trying to stuff too many things in her purse and she's only 2!

But anyway, I'm off to hang out with Matt. Have a good night!

Tea of the day: Republic of Tea Holiday Spice tea

So I received my pictures in the mail from Kodak yesterday. The 4x6 really turned out nice. It's hard to screw up a 4x6. However, the wallets are small and have a white boarder I was not expecting and really, just aren't true wallet size photos. I have the same issues with Snapfish as well. The only online photo place I've tried that makes great wallets is shutterfly. The only reason I went with Kodak this time is because they had a 150 4x6 for $15. While I was there I bought two photo mugs for Matt and I and then these few wallets. I'm glad I didn't buy a huge amount of them!

Maddy was up at 5 this morning with a bad dream. But after some daddy snuggles and some Oobi (to get her mind off of things) she went back to sleep until 7:30. It was my morning to sleep in, but, alas, I couldn't!!! So I am up at 8. We did go to bed at 10 last night so that is 10 hours of sleep--more than enough. I was soooo cold last night I just couldn't warm up. My nose was even cold! Bed was the best bet for me.

Alrighty, I'm off to make some breakfast. Have a good one!

Tea of the day: Coconut black tea

I very seldomly take hot baths. I love them though. It's just all the prep that goes into it. But tonight Matt insisted I get one. I couldn't complain. The last time I had one the water was luke warm (due to the humidifier eating all our water up) and tonight it was nice and HOT! Matt actually prepped the room for me... took out the space heater (which I really didn't need, but it was a nice touch), gathered my iPhone and ear buds (darn you Apple for not making any earphones fit... of course, that was planned I'm sure. They make a little adapter for cheap, I must get one.) made me a cup of tea. Normally it would be wine, but I'm out of points tonight and I'm trying MUCH harder to be better about my diet. Speaking of, tomorrow I start working out again! I gathered up my bubble bath and matching lotion, PJs, bathroom, fuzzy slippers, spa headband, nailpolish and mask. I lit a couple candles and AAAAAAAaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh! Matt came to check on me periodically which was nice because I needed another cup of tea at one point.

Now I'm feeling all fuzzy and warm which is a nice change from last night where I was freezing. We had our 'superbowl snack' tonight. Nothing crazy. We made bean dip and dipped bell pepper spears in it. YUM.

This afternoon we ventured out to Costco for the first time. We became members and we'll continue our membership at BJs, too. It was INSANE there though today. I hope it's not always that way. We had a few items in our cart and when I went to check out the line was sooooo backed up that I literally left the cart there and just LEFT. Maybe I'll venture back tomorrow. We'll see.

Matt has DVR'd the superbowl so he is watching that as I type. He's quite good at the remote so he only gets the actual plays and not any of the recaps. He does watch some of the commercials though. But he started watching it a good hour late and he will be finishing it up any minute here. He loves watching football that way!

Tomorrow is a major grocery shopping day here. Lots to buy. We are out of most everything, not that I mind. I like using up everything before I buy more. I feel silly and wasteful trying to shove more things into an already tight fridge and freezer. Our meals are planned out through next weekend, so at least I won't have that to think about.

Maddy is about ready for potty training. She's enjoying sitting on the potty and is trying to squat on it. I think she really wants to do it! I think we'll be working on that soon.

Have a good night, everyone!

Tea of the day: Adagio Roobios (I think they misnamed it since there's definitely a Jasmine flavor there. So I think it's Roobios Jasmine)

It's been a busy morning here. After Maddy got up I quickly got dressed so Matt could hop in the shower. After we saw him out the door we ate a little breakfast and I put on some makeup. We grabbed the grocery list I made yesterday and went to the grocery store. We needed a TON of stuff, so it was a very long trip. Maddy insisted on bringing her purse which I used to my advantage. I put her snack and water bottle in her purse. Then we noticed it was starting to rain so she asked for the 'brella' so I put our umbrella in her purse as well. She was so good at the grocery store.

I would have liked to have gone to Costco before grocery shopping so we'd only need to make one trip out, but it doesn't open until 10!! BJs opens at 6 which I do love. We left the grocery store at 9:50 and were back out the door by 10:15 to go to Costco. I was so proud of Maddy. She was such a good girl keeping herself preoccupied while I put away all the groceries.

Costco was a LOT less busy, so I was happy about that. Maddy poo'd half way through our store run, so I tried to make the rest quick. I did stop down the book aisle to pick up something I saw there yesterday for Maddy and while in that aisle she yelled, "PRINCESS, PRINCESS!" When did this happen? When did my little girl become princess obsessed? Wasn't it just yesterday she liked Elmo? And the day after she liked Dora? Now we're already onto princesses? She's not even 2.5 yet! Anyway, it was a set of books, a CD player with mini CDs and a 'projector' with little film. It was WAY more than I was planning on spending today...but....but.... I caved in. It was mainly because she was SO GOOD at both the grocery store, in the car, in the house unpacking groceries, back out and then at Costco with a poopy diaper! She had been SUCH an angel. She held it the rest of the trip in Costco which was as fast as I could make it and in the car on the way home. The first thing I did after we came in the house was open it for her (after changing her diaper, of course). It really kept her preoccupied while I then unloaded all the Costco stuff as well. Soon after everything was unloaded it was time for lunch.

I warmed up Arby's from the day before. Matt bought their roast beef 4 for $5 deal and also potato cakes. So I was able to get Maddy to eat a WHOLE roast beef sandwich minus the bun and I was thrilled. She even put away a few bites of potato cake, too! After that she asked me for an ice cream cone. I don't know where she got that one from, but yesterday she had been asking over and over for an ice cream cone. I had to keep reminding her that we needed to eat good food before we had dessert. And even then I told her she could have ice cream but I didn't have cones. So today at the grocery store I bought a pack of cones to go with the ice cream and because her lunch was do decent she earned dessert. That little lady was in HEAVEN today! Two 'special treats' as she calls them!

I cut her bangs in the bathtub last night. I can't decide whether I like the job I did or not. Sometimes they look fine depending on how they fall on her forehead and sometimes they look crooked. She was very patient though even though she HATED to have me do them. We'll see how they look over the course of the next couple days but I may need to trim them a bit to even them up or catch some of the long ones I think I may have missed.

Other than that, there's very little else that will happen today. Maddy has again asked for 'Movie?' as she went down for a nap. I told her no movie today. She's seen Mary Poppins yesterday and the day before!! We'll do something else special instead when she gets up--maybe some painting since I bought her new paint brushes.

Tea of the day: Teavana Aloha Coconut tea, Rishi Oolong tea

This week has been and will continue to be a busy one. Fortunately, most of the stuff is fun stuff for Maddy, though. Yesterday we had her art class and she really seemed to enjoy it. We spent the afternoon outside since the weather was nice. Today we have a meet up/playgroup at the library and she literally ATE her way through it. She barely had breakfast (just turkey bacon) and when she got to playgroup and saw all the snacks the kid chowed down. Of course, once we came home she didn't want to eat lunch... grrr... We played outside again after we got home from playgroup today. It is 69 here right now and there is no need for a coat. We are expecting rain soon though, so I don't see much of an opportunity for us to play outside when she gets up from her nap. I have a couple other projects I want to do with her instead though that she will enjoy. Tomorrow we have another playgroup at a friends house and then Friday...oooooh Friday.

Friday will be a busy, busy day. Matt took off Friday for a dentist appointment so I jammed the day full of appointments. I have a dentist appointment, Maddy has her first dentist appointment (I am shaking in my boots for that one) and Matt has an eye doctor appointment. I would like to schedule in a bank trip in there, but I don't know exactly where I'd fit it in. Maybe I will somehow though. As it is, the bank has not been answering their phone and I've called THREE times now. Unfortunately, Maddy will have to skip her class on Friday since I completely forgot about it while scheduling. She'd still be able to make it, but then would go straight to the dentist afterwards and as it is, normally after class she's pretty spun up/worn out, so I don't want to put those kind of expectations on her.

I've started working out again! Monday was my first night. I don't even sit down after Maddy is in bed but go straight to the spare room and work out, take a long hot shower and then hang out with Matt. It's been cutting into my blogging time, but well, I need to get my workouts in. As expected, Monday was pretty easy and Tuesday was harder. I was tired last night and my muscles were a bit worn out from Monday, the first day. But it went well except my iPod (not iPhone) died midway through. It just seemed 'stuck'. So I jumped off the elliptical and grabbed Matt's iPod but then I couldn't seem to get it loud enough and that was because of the headphones I was using. But I only had 15 minutes left so I made it through. My iPod was possessed though because it would change songs but never played any or showed they were being played. After plugging it into my computer it seems to have fixed it up. I will try it again tonight. However, it did prompt me to get the iPhone cord adapter since there is no way I'm listening to those little ear buds while working out.

Not to mention, I'm trying, AGAIN to catch back up on the house and paperwork. I have this huge pile o'crap on my kitchen counter that needs to be sorted through and put away. I have just a ton of stuff to do and well, I have no ambition to do it. I guess I could be doing some of that now. So off I go!

Tea of the day: I had coffee this am, but will have herbal tea tonight and after my workout as well.

Today Maddy and I had playgroup at Nate's house. She seemed to have a lot of fun. She's always a bit shy around other kids though. She'll play and have fun, but just a bit reserved. She was funny. We went into their kitchen to have a snack and she went into their family room to find the remote and turned on the TV!! Then Nate came in and found another remote to turn on the TV. So they watched just a bit of TV. So funny. Of course, us moms are like, "No, no! This is playgroup! Oh no!" But finally we're like, "Eh, what the heck?" HA! After a bit they went to go and play again, but they sat around eating popcorn and watching TV for a bit.

After playgroup, Maddy and I quick stopped at the grocery store. We bought a red rose plant for our Chinese neighbors but they didn't have ANY Chinese New Year celebration stuff, so I had to make my own card. It's cute though and it worked fine. I also gave them some tea I thought they would like as well.

Other than that, there's very little going on here today. I have a huge mess of papers in the kitchen I need to get sorted out. I have a couple of bills to pay and what not. So I guess I'll go get on those now. Too bad I don't want to!

Tea of the day: Coconut Aloha Tea, Mighty Leaf Orange Deluce Tea at playgroup (I was still sleepy so I travel mugged it). Now I'm having decaf Bigelow Green tea.

Today is doctor appointment day in our household. I was first one up at 10 this morning with the dentist. I don't know if I remember writing on the blog about losing a filling around Christmas. Well, I did. It never bothered me so I was in no real hurry to get it looked at. So today I find out that it will need a crown since it's a very large hole and another filling will most likely fall out. ARGH. This will be my second crown. Add in my two other metal fillings that will sooner or later need to be replaced with crowns as well and my mouth is costing me a pretty penny. Fortunately, it is partly covered under insurance.

Up next was Maddy's first dentist visit. She did SO WELL. I was so proud of her. We went to a highly recommended pediatric dentist but we didn't much like it. We were seen very late and it's this long line of dentist chairs. So next time, she will come with us to see our dentist instead. But she was a good girl. She opened her mouth very nicely and only fussed once and even then when I told her we were almost done she continued on quite bravely. They didn't clean her teeth today, but instead just checked 'em out.

Of course, now I have a new situation to work on. Her thumb sucking. Maddy is a thumb sucker. She sucks her thumb for comfort and when she's tired. But I guess it's becoming a problem since she's developing a bit of an overbite. So.... anyone know how to make a kid stop sucking her thumb? I am not looking forward to this fight. I was just starting to think about the potty training, too. But I don't want to do both at once so I will need to pick one. Not sure which should come first. What do you think?

She was so good for the dentist that we stopped at McD's on the way home and picked up chicken nuggets, french fries and a shake for her. Matt and I are calling today our splurge day and we picked up lunch for ourselves, too. I don't think I'll be hungry today again!

Matt is at his eye doctor appointment now to get new contacts. Then later on this afternoon he has his dental checkup. I have called the dentist to see if I can get in between 2:30 and 4 to get my first step of my crown started on since Matt is home right now. I left a message and I hope they call back soon.

So that's the scoop here! I have a little errand to run later on today. But that won't be that big of a deal. What I really want right now is a nap! Her visit stressed me out.

Tea of the day: Coconut Aloha Black tea

I forgot to mention that I pulled out my back on Thursday night while I slept. Just a little bit, enough that I absolutely forgot about it until I jumped out of bed Friday morning to get Maddy when she got up. OOPS! Fortunately, it wasn't all THAT bad. I popped some Advil and wandered around gingerly. I'm glad Matt was home though because any lifting on Maddy I had to do was tough (mainly going in and out of the car).

Speaking of, when did she get to be so big? I realize I very seldomly have to hold her anymore. She and I will snuggle on the couch, but for the most part, unless she gets hurt, I don't lift on her too much.

Matt's two appointments went well. He's considering Lasik for his vision. He's had such issues with contacts (once it was so bad the doctor was afraid he'd lose his vision). So, we'll see about that.

Saturday was pretty uneventful. We ran just a couple errands. We went to the bank (one of four near our house) and while we were in the drive through Maddy asked, "Chuck-e-cheese! Please!" I don't know how this girl does it. But the last time we were at this bank we went to chuck-e-cheese afterwards. It's not like she can SEE CeC from there, she just knows that it's close to it and we went once after we went to that bank. She wouldn't have asked if we went one of the other three banks. I promised her we would go tomorrow, so we'll do that. I just DON'T go to CeC on a weekend if I don't have to.

After a grocery store run and then a run out with Matt to Home Depot, it was a pretty productive day, overall. Maddy and I also went outside to play with her powerwheel bike as well. She LOVES it.

This morning was Matt's day to sleep in. After he got up at 9 I promptly decided we should go to church. So we were out the door by 10:30. Maddy was great in church. So great she slept through half the service. You should have seen her. She was trying so hard to get comfortable on Matt or I. She so wanted to sleep! She was up at 6:15 that morning so she was pretty tired by 11 when church started. She woke up at the end of church and didn't go down for a nap until 1:45.

Matt woke up with a really bad sinus headache, so I sent him back to bed. He laid there for a while and when he got up and got some food into himself felt much better. It is soooo windy here tonight and while it's not all that cold, when the wind hits ya, you know it! But we wanted to run one more errand tonight, so we bundled up Maddy in a blanket and off we went.

Oh, one cool thing! I fit into my skinniest Anne Taylor pants today for church! I swear, I have a whole new wardrobe. :) Yeah!

Tomorrow night I have coffee night with the girls (if I can manage to make it) and I'm looking to buy some more new herbal tea, too, since I'm almost out.

Tea of the day: Adagio Roobios Tea, Adagio Spearmint Tea, and I had coffee for breakfast

I would have labeled it Teavana, but then you'd think I was discussing the store.

Last night I went out to Wegmans for coffee night with the girls. We are so funny. Most of our brought our own drinks. Wegman's coffee bar tea selection is horrible (7 teas, most of them caffeinated and pretty basic) so I brought my own tea. I can't drink caffeine that time of night. It was a ton of fun as usual. I was the first one to break up the party, but I had shopping to do! I went shopping for TEA!

Let's start off by saying that Matt really wanted me to get on Mighty Leaf or Adagio and buy some tea for valentine's day. I was running out of herbal tea. I had some decaf green tea left, and loose herbal teas (but even those weren't very much). I liked the idea, but I didn't want to pay shipping and really, I didn't want all the same brand of tea this time around. That's when I remembered that Wegmans has a truly wonderful tea selection and since I was going there anyway for coffee night I would just browse on through afterward.

Browse I did....and did......and did............ and did. WOW. Wow-wa-wow-wa-wowsers! I was in tea heaven. Wegmans has a full 1/4 of an aisle (in a very large store, that's huge) with one whole side from floor to ceiling covered in teas. I've NEVER seen a tea selection like it--NEVER EVER. Most of the time grocery stores carry 4/6 of an aisle with coffee, 1/6 with tea and 1/6 in hot chocolate. There's never really enough to choose from. But again, I'm still in shock at what I found at Wegmans. It is truly tea heaven.

In the end, I wound up coming home with 340 bags of herbal tea, 17 boxes of it! There was one lone caffeinated one I just couldn't pass up so I bought that one, too. I bought tea from two brands I've never tried. I did buy some tea that I have tried in the past and loved, but for the most part, I haven't had the majority of this in the house for quite some time. I was like a kid in the candy store (or a teaholic in the tea aisle)... eying it all up, taking my time picking it out, comparing two or three. I didn't even go for the most expensive teas (top shelf) since I will save that kind of money for the caffeinated tea which I still have enough of for a while.

I bought all tea bags. Loose tea is great and I make it inside of my Ingenuitea. However, in the evenings since I'm in the ground floor of our house I use our cup at a time coffee maker to make tea instead since I'm just adding hot water. My ingenuitea doesn't fit under the coffee maker, so I need to use regular mugs which isn't a big deal except with loose tea. Sure, I can use my empty tea bags and fill it with loose tea, but eh, it's a hassle. Having bagged tea in the basement is just easier. That said, I did buy four boxes of Celestial Seasonings tea and they irk me because they aren't individually wrapped, just bagged. They need to get with the program!

One day, when I'm out of tea again, I will need to make another Wegman's run to look at their tea goods selection as well. I didn't take the time to eye it up last night, but they seem to have pretty neat tea pots, cups, other items, strainers, etc. So... I may have to make another stop and look at that. It's not that I NEED any more of that, but it sure it is fun to look at!

So what did I buy!? Here's the list! (You should have seen me showing these to Matt last night. I was giddy like a school girl!)

Pretty basic:
Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime
Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice
Celestial Seasonings Tention Tamer

Bigelow Decaf. Spiced Chai
Bigelow Mint Medley
Bigelow Decaf. Constant Comment (always a favorite)

Twinnings Herbal revive (with black currants, ginseng and tahitian vanilla)
Twinnings Citrus Spice sunset

Wissotzky Ginseng Marvels
Wissotzky Cinnamon Magic

Zhena's Gypsy Tea Lemon Rooibos (with Lavender as well)
Zhena's Gypsy Tea Red Lavender (roobios and lavender)

Revolution Honeybush Caramel Tea

Eastern Shore Tea Company Burgundy Cherry Tea
Eastern Shore Tea Company Peach Melba (Peach, Vanilla and Raspberry)
Eastern Shore Tea Company Ginger Pear
Eastern Shore Tea Company Victorian Rose

The random caffeinated tea:
Celestial Seasonings Honey Vanilla White Tea Chai (Sounds DELICIOUS)

So there is my tea haulage. I had a ton of fun shopping for it. I also bought a few bottles of red wine and my other addiction lately--Jelly Belly Cinnamon Lollipops. Of course I picked up more diet root beer and tootsie rolls.

Today Maddy and I had class. Matt, Maddy and I ran out this morning to go vote in the primaries but the school we vote at was just starting session so it was insane there. We turned around and went home. Maddy had her art class today. We made another necklace which she loves to do, used glue, paint and scissors. The kid was just thrilled. She wasn't in the mood to play after class though, so we left instead. We stopped back at our polling place and we voted (she received her sticker, too). On the way out I did an exit survey and my goodness it was long and we were cold!!! But we were soon on our way home.

She had a meager lunch (not that I didn't try...grumble, grumble) she went down for a nap and here I am...trying all my new teas!

Tea of the day: 2 cups of Oolong tea this morning, I just had a Eastern Shore Tea company Burgandy Cherry tea (very good) and now I'm having a fully caffeinated Celestial Seasonings Vanilla White Chai.

So Maddy and I aren't going anywhere today! Between yesterday and today we had a good quarter inch of ice coat all the surfaces around here. Somehow the sidewalks and roads seem to be pretty ok. But our stoop, the trees, grass and cars are just covered.

So it's been a lot of hanging out today! I don't mind one bit. It's nice to do nothing now and again. We've been keeping busy with Maddy's first two issues of Highlights Magazine. We've read the stories, made some of the crafts and have done a few puzzles. She seems to really enjoy them.

I did get her to eat peanut butter and jelly for the first time today, together. She's been off peanut butter for a while now, but today she liked it again. But she wanted jelly. However, she got really mad/disappointed when I put it on bread and tried to get her to eat it. So I mixed a little of both together in a bowl for her. She seems to like that better. At least she ate something!

I've been enjoying my new tea. However, my carpet in my bedroom doesn't seem to enjoy my new tea as much. Last night Maddy got ahold of my cup and was bringing it to me. It was a full cup of tea, fortunately, not that hot anymore. But as she brought it to me it was dripping and splashing all over the place. I told her to stop and at that point she dropped it out of her hands. Sigh... cleaned up that mess before bath/bed.

Matt worked late last night and I could really tell. Maddy was squirrely from 6 o'clock on. But she did well, listened for the most part and didn't give me any fuss going to bed. That was good since I still wanted to get my workout in!

Alrighty, have a good one, everyone! Have a happy valentine's day tomorrow!

Tea of the day: I had coffee first thing this morning, but have had herbal tea the rest of the day. Boy it's fun trying new stuff!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I hope your day is going wonderfully. It's been a weird day here, but more on that in a minute. Matt and I celebrated Valentine's Day a night early. He wanted to buy flowers for me but assumed they'd be picked over by the time he went today after work, so he went last night instead. He bought two dozen roses (seen above). 12 were from Maddy and 12 from him. I think they are soooo pretty. I haven't had flowers in the house in forever. He also bought two bottles of champagne as well which we shared last night. I bought him a Wii game that we can both enjoy and also a photo mug of Maddy and I from Kodak with heart shaped Reeses peanut butter cups in it. He bought the tea for me and some lingerie as well. Even though I fully think that Valentine's day is a Hallmark Holiday, it's fun to celebrate it! :) It breaks up the monotony of February. I wore my red polo today and my lips fuzzy red socks. I also wore my garnet heart earrings/necklace/bracelet and of course my chastity ring (story if you click).

I made sugar cookies when we got home from the grocery store. Ok, I use the term 'made' loosely since all I had to do was put it on a cookie sheet and put it in the oven. I mean, they were already pre-sized for me and everything. Well, after Maddy gets up from her nap, we're going to decorate them. I bought pink and red frosting and also sprinkles at the store. Maddy also received a box in the mail today from my parents so she'll have that to open when she gets up as well! :)

It was a weird morning here. Maddy and I went to the grocery store after I cleaned out the refrigerator. She did great at the store, no problems at all. At checkout my credit card was denied which I absolutely didn't understand. I mean, we have a limit on there that we could buy one heck of a nice car if we really wanted to! So it's not that we went over the limit on the thing. I can't even imagine being CLOSE to the limit... it makes my brain spin! Then I remembered last night Matt and I bought an item online and it asked us for our security code and we thought we knew it (ok, I thought I knew it by heart) and I was wrong. So after a couple of tries I got off my lazy butt to go get the card to plug in the code. So that's what did it. They froze it for that reason. Once I was home I had the fun (ahem, yeah right) of putting away all the groceries, unloading the dishwasher, quickly putting in the cookies and I did some chocolate covered pretzels for Matt (since I know he won't read this blog before he gets home anyway, it's safe to put it on here). Of course, I had to get food in both Maddy and I for lunch and now she's down for a nap.

As soon as she went down for a nap the doorbell rang twice so I put her down as quickly as I could and came running to the front door. My parents package was here! But that's not why he rang the doorbell! He had a small envelope from our ophthalmologist for Matt and they hadn't put on enough postage so I had to pay them another .75 to get the envelope! Crazy.

Fun thing, my hair salon is having a customer appreciation sale the beginning of this week and I've been wanting to get my hair done so I made an appointment. I get $10 off the cut and a free parafin hand dip. Whoo whoo! They said they had other 'free goodies' too so that will be a nice treat. Now I need to figure out what I want to do with my hair. I've been trying to let it grow out, but I'm not sure if I want to continue and just get a trim or get it cut short again. *Sigh* the choices!

But I do know what's not a choice! I have some cleaning to do! So I'm out of here. Have a good Valentine's Day, everyone!

Tea of the day: Republic of Tea Holiday Spice and now Twinnings Herbal

Well, Maddy is feeling better today. She has a cold, but she's kind of miserable. During the day, she's pretty much fine. But still, it's been hard for her. She still doesn't like to blow her nose a lot and she's been taking her medicine really nice for me, so i can't complain.

The weekend was nice with Matt's folks. We did a lot of hanging out since Maddy couldn't really go anywhere. They ran out for Arby's and a few things I needed for groceries for Maddy. Friday I laid down when Maddy did considering I didn't sleep well and neither did she the night before. I did a great workout Friday night and Saturday morning. Nice, since I 'made up for' the two I missed during the week.

Saturday night after Maddy went to bed Matt and I went out for dinner to Glory Days grill. We had our usual--the grande nachos and warm cookie dessert. OOooh... it's heavenly. We came home to find out Maddy was up twice while we were gone. She got up about an hour after we came home. She was pretty hysterical so her and I let her sleep with me from 12-3. She was sooo stuffy. She blew her nose, I gave her dimeatapp and nothing really worked. Finally at three when her feet were in my face and she was sound asleep I thought it was time to move her to her bed. Matt came up off the pull-out sofa sleeper and she slept until 6. Matt got up with her at six and I slept 'til 9 since I had been up with her at 6 the day before. I took a quick hot shower this morning and before we knew it was noon and Matt's parents left for their trip home. Maddy was sad to see them go, though. Poor kiddo.

Ok, now we're all going down for a nap!

Tomorrow morning I have some fun planned out for myself. I have a haircut at 10. Then after that, I have a bit of shopping to do as well. Besides getting out for dinner last night I've been in the house all day Thursday through Sunday so it will DEFINITELY be a welcome outing!

Tea of the day: White vanilla chai and then Twinnings citrus spice herbal

Mom's morning out yesterday was such a blast. First I went to my local Ulta for my haircut. I swear that my stylist is a magician. I walked in wanting to get a good trim/reshaping/get rid of layers. Ok, if the layers aren't there to cut off, how do you get rid of layers? Some of them are still to short to really take care of. But honestly, I walked out with a great soft bob with soft layers and it really is a huge change although she barely cut off anything. She totally changed my cut without really cutting off much length! Also fun is that they were having customer appreciation services. So I received a free paraffin hand dip. They had coffee, homemade cookies, bottled water. Of course I received the head massage (which she seemed to do forever!!) while getting my hair washed. So nice! I did buy a top coat nailpolish and also a deep cleanser for once a week.

Then I went over to Walmart to do a bit of shopping! Eureka! My keychains were back in stock so I bought them out again. I have a ton of heart ones now and also the rectangular ones I like better. I will need to stop at the other Walmart to see if they have more in stock, too. Once I find something I like I stick with it! I did a bit more shopping but not for anything exciting at Walmart. Then I went over to DSW to buy a new pair of workout shoes. Lord, that took forever. I didn't want to spend a fortune on shoes but I wanted ones that were nice. I swear I spent a good 1/2 hour trying on shoes. Then I spent a total of three minutes trying on some cute ankle heeled boots. :) I bought both. I popped over to World Market to buy more Torani Sugar free syrup for the house.

I returned home and Maddy had just gone down for a nap. When she got up we went out to the post office to mail my mom's birthday gifts. Then we went to Wegmans for dinner. I got the sushi, Matt got a salad from the salad bar and I bought some soup for Maddy. We all sat upstairs to eat but it was anything but pleasant. Maddy was just too squirrely. I realize we don't take her out to eat that often (ok, once), but I think she'd actually be better at a sit down place because we aren't fussing with containers, food, etc.. After running a couple more errands and heading back home I started to realize something.

My throat was starting to feel raw. ARGH. Yes, I was catching Maddy's cold. Darn it! I still got my workout in (which has been going really well, by the way). I took a couple Advil and Matt and I watched some TV. We went to bed at 10 but I was having a hard time falling asleep. I'd say I fell asleep at 10:45. Maddy was up at 11:10 crying. I think she had fallen asleep outside the blankets and being cold caught up with her or she had a nightmare. After a few minutes of being rocked I thought she was ready to go back to sleep. Not so. So Maddy and I wound up watching Mr. Rodgers until about midnight to get her mind off of whatever was bugging her. So I really didn't go to bed until Midnight last night. Add in she was up once more that night and I was pretty dead this morning.

We skipped class since Maddy seems to be on the tail end of her cold and I wasn't sure which direction my stuff was heading. I didn't want to get anyone else sick and I didn't want to have us catch someone else's germs either. But Maddy seems so much better tonight and I am actually feeling pretty good as well! I'm hoping we continue this way through tomorrow so we can go to playgroup on Thursday.

Other than that, not much going on. Today was very uneventful. We spent the day in the house. I took a nap when she did. Matt came home earlier than normal since my dinner in the crockpot was done much faster than expected. I'm hoping to still go to bed no later than 10:15 tonight...who knows if she'll be up. Goodnight!

Tea of the day: Coconut Aloha tea and lots of other herbal tea throughout the day.

Maddy had her first 'big girl' hair cut today! Before we left I told her that today was a special day for her and she gets to go get her hair cut the same way mommy does. I reminded her about how Oobi, Shane and Henry all had their haircut (Noggin TV shows on haircuts) and she got very excited! She yelled, "Scissors! Maddy cut! Snip, snip, snip!" So off we went! When we pulled into the parking lot Maddy became really excited again yelling, "Maddy haircut! Yeah!" There was one woman in front of us, but even then we only had to wait about five minutes. It was enough to get us situated and get coats off and the like. Maddy watched everyone very intently in all the stages of getting haircuts. When it was her turn she ran over to the chair and hopped right in! They even drapped the towel around her and she sat really still and stared at herself in the mirror. She was such a big girl and I think she was so excited to be a big girl. Her bangs are a bit short now, but that's because they fixed the job I last did on them. :) Her back is all one length, right about collar length. I will hopefully get a good picture when she gets up of it. It's not too crazy, but it was all different lengths before and now the back looks so nice.

After her haircut we went over to Costco to pick up a few things we needed. Then home. As I was bringing the stuff in the house two cars pulled up and it happened to be the remodelers Matt thought were coming yesterday. He wrote it in his day planner wrong. So I showed them around and called Matt who came home to meet them as well. Maddy enjoyed seeing daddy but missed seeing him go again. She almost cried. Poor kiddo. I was able to get a bit of food into her and now she's down for a nap. Hopefully she stays down for another half hour or so to make it a full two hour nap.

Speaking of sleeping! She slept all night last night! It was the first time since this cold started that she slept all night! It was so nice for all of us and I think we're both feeling 100% better today. I'm still going to take it easy this afternoon, but for the most part, we're feeling good!

Well, that's about it here. Need to balance the checkbook some! Have a good one!

Tea of the day: Chocolate caramel coffee with Torani Sugar free Caramel syrup

I'm not thrilled about it. I have to say. I woke up with a scratchy throat and a dry nose. Immediately it turned into a very runny and itchy nose... so after a while laying there, I decided laying there simply wasn't helping anything, so here I am. I've taken two Advil and chugged some water so that most likely will help, soon.

Yesterday went well. Maddy and I went to BJs first thing since the cats were out of food. We buy the really big bag of cat food and then put it into a plastic container to pour out of. I forgot that I finished off the bag the last time I filled the container so when the container was out two nights ago, they were OUT of food! They were looking pretty frantic by the time we came home. I also picked up some more tea (Bigelow assorted pack for a really decent price) and a midlength trench coat for myself since the last peacoat I had literally wore out.

After BJs we went to playgroup! Maddy had a great time like always. However, now that the kids are getting a bit older, things tend to be a bit more tricky now and again. Maddy wanted her turn on a lot of toys immediately or they all seem to want the same toy at the same time. That's not a big deal. All the kids are really great kids and it's easy to work out. But Maddy is just starting to really care about getting her chance so it's a new learning curve for her (and me too--how much to step in). Most of the other kids have cared about getting a turn for quite a while, but Maddy didn't care. She would easily give up a toy if someone wanted it or move onto something else without much thought. Not so anymore! If she eyes something she wants she'll yell out, "Maddy's Turn!" Or if she has a toy someone else wants, she will make sure that she either keeps it or if she gives it up she's pretty sad/upset about it. She'll need to learn to be a bit quicker though, getting to and playing with the toys she's eying because as soon as she notices something she wants to play with, it never fails that another kid notices the same thing and she's normally not really fast getting to it or 'claiming' her turn. She'll get used to it though. It's just nice to see that she's standing up for herself, or trying to.

Of course, it's hard for me since 'they say' that parents should let their kids work it out. But I also don't think that most magazines/experts that I read expect kids to start actively playing together at playgroup at 18 months old! Normally you read about playgroups at 3 and the like. Also, honestly, I can't stand to see her get things taken away left and right or get a toy taken out from underneath her every time she gets interested in something new and someone else notices she's interested and wants it first. Plus, this is a good opportunity to teach turn taking for her and the other kids. I did put a toy in 'time out' today. Two kids were fighting over it (pulling back and forth) and neither one would be distracted so I took it and put it up for a minute. Once they were interested in other things I brought it back down and just quietly put it on the table. Soon one of them found it and played with it but it did bring a halt to the arguing. And it's not that I'm just making sure that she 'gets what's hers' either. There were times she wanted to take away toys from other kids who had them and I needed to remind her that it was THEIR turn to play with it and she will get a turn after they've finished.

Ahhh! The nuances of kids growing up! There's always a different learning curve for both the kids and the parents. It's what makes life fun and interesting though!

After nap, Maddy and I did a lot of reading. She hasn't been into books much lately and I'd love to see her get back into them. We do try to read every day. But she's not a before bed reader. So I make time during the day. She enjoys it once she's into it, but it's the getting her there that's hard.

Yesterday was Matt's work's family outing--dinner and ice skating. The more I thought about it the more I decided it just wouldn't be a good idea. Maddy just got over her cold and I had just gotten over mine (I think? I don't know what tonight's thing is, but I can tell ya I've felt fine the last few days). Being out in the 30 degree air wouldn't do much good for either one of us and I'm trying to limit our exposure to a lot of germs. One of Matt's coworkers has the flu and even though he's not at work, you know the virus is running around there now. We just don't need that.

Maddy was so happy to have daddy home last night. Matt worked late on Wednesday so he wasn't home before her bedtime. She was sooooo disappointed. At every new step towards bed she'd call out, "Daaaaddy! Hoooome, wooooork!" So when he was home tonight she was all over him playing. She was thrilled. They have so much fun together and I know he was glad to be home. He told he he was glad he didn't travel anymore and I know I am, too. But I know that Maddy and I would get used to it if he had to, but I'm also glad he doesn't!

We are expecting a lot of ice tonight into the day tomorrow. So I doubt we'll have class since it will most likely be canceled. I'll check in the morning. Well, I guess it is morning, so I may as well try to get back to sleep even though my allergies are still acting up full blown! Argh.

Have a good night and a great weekend, everyone!

Tea of the day: Oooohh.. that does sound good. Maybe a nice cup of herbal will clear everything up!

Although this one was no where near as bad as the last one. They sure did make it seem like it was going to be as all the local schools had off today. Because school was off, Maddy's class was canceled. I was going to go out to Ulta this morning since I had a coupon for $3.50 off a $10 or more purchase and also another Smashbox mini blush duo and mini blush brush freebie but honestly, I wasn't feeling all that hot and the weather was just gross. Even going out this afternoon to get the mail I noticed how the ground was not at all frozen, but thought better of going out with Maddy in the weather.

Maddy and I had a fun day today. I made her a kite like on Mary Poppins. She had a great time with that. I also brought up a Little People Bus and Swing from our rainy day toy stash. She also had an early bath and I brought in a bubble container so we blew bubbles, too.

I started to think about dinner first thing this morning and wondered what I was going to make. I wound up making Thai Red Curry Chicken with vegetables. Oh, it's no where near as impressive as it sounds--frozen chicken breasts, frozen stirfry mix, quick cook brown rice and a bottle of Trader Joes Curry sauce. I'm surprised, actually, at how decent it really was for us WW point wise. Normally curry is horrible for ya, but I checked the points over and over and it was right. We will have the left overs for tomorrow.

After dinner Matt took Maddy straight back out to Ulta and picked up the Smashbox freebie for me and also picked up one of the OPI Professional Series Nail polishes I love so much and used the coupon (originally $12). He also bought a gift card for me, too. That was completely unexpected. While he was gone I cleaned the house and uploaded pictures/video to Maddy's gallery.

Now Maddy's in bed and I'm going to bed EARLY tonight. I will have a couple cups of hot tea, take some Advil and off I go. I want to be in bed no later than 9:30!

Have a great weekend, all!

Tea of the day: Lots and lots and lots of tea.... a huge assortment!

Our weekend went well. Overall we didn't do a whole lot. We hung out a lot and went to the grocery store twice! I hate it when I don't plan well in advance. But Matt offered to take Maddy on Saturday after his shower so I quick made a grocery list of things I knew we needed but not of any food I'd need for recipes for dinner for the rest of the week. So on Sunday morning when he was sleeping in I made our menu for the week and the accompanying grocery list. We ran out right before lunch to Wegmans and then back home. Man was that place nuts, but it is a Sunday, so I can understand.

I was feeling a bit off all week. I'm fighting off this cold Maddy has. I was supposed to work out Friday night but I felt just horrible so I didn't. Then I was supposed to work out last night, but again, didn't. Finally, I worked out this evening, but not as long as I wanted to. As it was, I wasn't done working out and showering until close to 9:15. Maddy didn't go to bed until 8 tonight since she got such a great nap today 1-4:15. I tried to nap, too. But that just didn't work.

I made Sweet Potato French fries to go with our BBQ chicken breasts tonight. I had too many so Matt tried out a sugar/cinnamon on some of them instead of the salt, pepper and Mrs. Dash and I have to say, those things were pretty darn good!

Well, not much else to say, really. I'm tired tonight and will be going to bed shortly. Have a good one!

Tea of the day: Mighty Leaf Orange Deluce

Last night Matt and I didn't go to bed until 11. It was our own fault, but well, that's the way it goes. I didn't fall asleep until Midnight but even then I'd wake up coughing and then that would wake up Matt. So I went to the basement to sleep. It took a while falling asleep there, too. I told Matt to let me know if she woke up and he needed me.

Well, I guess Maddy woke up at 2 and she had some milk. Then she woke up at 5:00 totally leaked through onto the sheets (speaking of which, I should go do some laundry). Matt didn't call me then, either. I even woke up at 5 and rolled over a few times. I guess she was up from that point on.

I got up at 6:40 when I heard walking around upstairs. Matt had already had a cup of coffee. I guess he didn't sleep well either without me in bed even when he WAS in bed which wasn't that often.

So tonight is DEFINITELY an early bed night. And I'm taking cough syrup before bed. It's better that I'm at least asleep and not helpful than have everyone not be asleep!

Tea of the day: Earl grey, reaching for another cup now....maybe even coffee!

I guess today is the day for symphonies! First we start out with a goodwill symphony and then Maddy decided she LOVED William Tell Overture today (the most popular part at least). I had a classical CD in the car and it came on and all Maddy could yell was, "Horsie song! Horsie song!" I think I played that part over four times on the way home from class. She clapped along and danced in her seat. As you know it goes soft to loud an awful lot so I just left it loud. She LOVED that. All I could think of was how much of a WASP I must look like driving down the road with my car BOOMING to William Tell Overture with my kid dancing along in the back seat. None of that rap crap for me--no, no, no. HA!

Anyway, once we were home and we ate some lunch, I found it again on Youtube (easier than finding it on a CD since I don't think I downloaded that CD on my iTunes). Maddy loved to watch the Orchestra play it. Then it reminded me of the mom song so I watched that one a couple of times, too.

During her nap, I haven't done much. Well, I painted my nails. I can't tell you the last time I did that. I still need to clean up the edges with a q-tip and polish remover, but I did three coats and a top coat. WOW! That's big time pampering for yours truly. It's the new polish Matt bought for me at Ulta last Friday. Now I just need to keep up on applying topcoat to make it last longer. I went out and got the mail today and realized we hadn't gone to get it for a while. I still need to sort through that.

Maddy has realized she can get out of bed on her own now. I was hoping this day wouldn't come. Normally when she wakes up she calls for me, "Mommy! I'm awake!" But this morning we went in at 5 and she seemed pretty awake but I got her to lay down again anyway. Well, at 8 when we all finally woke up (check it out! We slept in!) Maddy showed me that she had her purple fuzzy pillow in her bed and not her normal pillow. She had climbed out of bed (which is still her crib with the side off and a safety rail covering half of it) got the pillow, somehow dragged the pillow back into bed, threw her other pillow out of bed and then got herself into bed and fell asleep. I don't know at what point between 5-8 she did this, but she was quite proud of herself. She called me up during her nap to show me that she did it again. She's also taken to knocking on the wall to get our attention instead of calling. Cute, but it can scare the heck out of ya at 3 am!!

Well, I'm off to sort that mail. Have a good one, everyone!

Tea of the day: Bigelow English Breakfast

Well, Maddy and I had a pretty relaxed morning here. I barely tried to get anything done although I have two loads of laundry to put away, pictures to file, etc. Oh well! Instead I made sugar free lime jello and sugar free, fat free cheesecake pudding (YUM!). After a bit I decided we need to get out of the house and we went over to Bloom to pick up a couple things we needed. Plus, I was on the hunt for butterscotch pudding and fudge chocolate pudding (both sugar free, fat free of course). I needed some chicken and cat litter, too. I was originally going to go to Safeway and then bum around the shopping center. But it's cold here today (ok, guys from Wisconsin, don't hit me); it's 39 and windy. It's not really the cold, but the wind. I decided it wasn't the best day to go walk around an outdoor center, so Bloom was our choice (Giant and Shoppers don't carry a great selection of pudding. Wegmans was out of both as well.).

Maddy was great in Bloom. She likes getting out of the house and she was very helpful. I found my iPhone came in handy when I wanted to plug in some numbers of some food for WW and I have iPoints on my phone. It can be slow, but overall, very helpful.

I picked up some spicy shrimp rolls for myself at Bloom and then we went across the parking lot to Burger King. I bought Maddy a kid's meal and we sat down and she ate her kids meal while I ate my sushi. After we were done, we went into the playground area and I let her run around for a while in there. She had a lot of fun. We came home and now she's down for a nap!

This afternoon will be pretty uneventful as well. Maybe I'll actually get to the laundry that's in our bedroom. If not, tomorrow is another day. I'm just feeling lazy today. Oh, I am irked about one thing though--remember how I said I painted my nails yesterday and I NEVER do that or at least never take the time for it? Well, three of them have chipped already!!! I'm mad about that since I used good polish and a really good top coat (one that's made to go over this kind of polish). I'm thinking about trying to touch it up tonight after my workout and shower. But we'll see... I may just take it off instead. Grrr....

Tea of the day: Red Lavender Herbal Tea. I had coffee this morning.

It was another lazy morning here. I caught up on some stuff that needed to get done. I finally burned discs for 24-27 months of all of Maddy's pictures and videos. I send one to each grandparent set. I realized that I had misplaced my 6-9 month disc and I didn't have 21-24 months either... so my disc has a lot of stuff on it. Now I file it away. It's nice to know Maddy's stuff is backed up. I really should back up the rest of my pictures as well to disc, but well... maybe one day. I should also get a safety deposit box for these discs, too.

Matt and I didn't go to bed until late last night. I didn't sleep real well (I had two martinis and that will do that to me) so I'm kind of tired today. Maddy and I may stop at the grocery store this afternoon for bread and milk or I may send Matt on the way home. We'll see how the afternoon goes and whether or not she gets squirrelly. So far today Maddy has enjoyed just being lazy with me. But I did get two loads of laundry done and some stuff mailed out... so I guess I'm not being THAT lazy.

Tea of the day: English breakfast and two cups of different flavored green tea since.

Maddy and I went to story book class first thing this morning. She was up at six and I tell ya, I was NOT ready to get up that early. I slept poorly (AGAIN) that night and when six rolled around.... argh. So Matt rocked her for a while and laid her down. Didn't work. She was knocking on the wall a few minutes later. I took some time to get ready and actually blow dried my hair. I do like it like that. I even picked out some earrings to match my outfit and wore my new ankle boots. I do like feeling put together!

Matt was a super eater this morning! I was able to get a piece of bread with butter into her, a piece of turkey bacon and 12 oz. of orange juice! That felt really good! She and I left for class early and wandered around a bit in the rec center. She loved class today although I think the teacher is a bit loud for her. Maddy plugs her ears when she first enters class. She has background music going and she's constantly talking, not loud, but definitely upbeat, so I think it overwhelms her a little bit. But she was ready to DANCE today!!! She was dancing up a storm to every song. So cute. After class we had our snack in the rec center like we always do and then went over to Target.

I had this nice list.... couldn't buy three of the things, thought I wasn't going to be able to buy the other two! They didn't carry the juice boxes Maddy likes (Mott's tots apple juice) or the screw sports top child water bottles with calcium or the bran buds! SHEESH. Then I couldn't find the Bissel rug cleaner but finally figured out to go look by the vacuums and not by the cleaning supplies. There it was. Then we went over to the big girl underwear and all I could find was size 4. Well, they are by the toddler/infant area mixed up with the bibs, rubeez, etc. Maddy now has NINETEEN pair of underwear!! I'm sure we'll be going through them quickly at first. I think we may even start trying today after her nap. After all, we have the carpet cleaner now. :) I also bought her a special toy to play with while she's on the potty, too. We'll see if she's ready and how long this takes. She's very excited about the big girl underwear, though!

I was about to leave Target when I decided we'd stop to eat lunch at their food court. They carry Pizza Hut pizza so I ordered a cheese one for Maddy. The kids meal comes with an icee which she's never had before (for good reason--it's all sugar!). But, hey, today was a special day... why not? Well, she drops it on the ground. No big deal, just less for her to drink which I'm fine with. I clean up the mess as best I could and she has a few sips and then says, "eeehh!! oooow!! ouch!!!" and holds her head. Yes, my daughter had her first brain freeze today. :) She chowed down on the pizza (it was just out of the oven and she scarfed it down) and almost fell asleep on the way home. Now she's down for nap!

So now starts the potty training! Wish us luck!

Tea of the day: Bigelow Constant Comment, Bigelow Green tea with Lemon and Bigelow Green tea with Blueberry.