Time Flies....

One year ago today.

Ella Madelynn was born at 3:32pm, weighing 8lbs.

And now....

Our little baby is growing right before our eyes!

Happy 1st Birthday, Princess!

The Princess...

My baby girl will be one year old in less than 2 weeks. She is walking--truly walking, from one room to the next, without holding onto anything or anyone. When she makes eye contact with anyone, she squeals in delight, because she knows she's pretty cool. She walks around like a mini Frankenstein--arms stretched out in front of her for balance.

We've started cutting out one of her most prized possessions: the "ba-ba". Girlfriend LOVES her ba-ba, but it's gotta go! What a break our wallet will have when we stop buying formula! The only problem so far is she doesn't seem to care for the taste of regular milk. If it comes down to it, I will gladly buy her a different form of milk--whether it be soy, or almond, or whatever. Anything to keep the little princess happy--but no more formula! So I figured while we cut out the formula, we might as well cut out the ba-ba's too. Milk in sippy cups only.

Chris is worried about her having her "nuk," but I figured if we can get rid of it by age 3, we are good to go. Right now Ella is cutting her 2 top front teeth, so there is NO WAY IN HELL I'm going to take the nuk away from her right now! Those things have been a blessing!

We are in the midst of planning her first birthday bash. We are doing a general princess theme--because Ella is certainly the princess in this house!

Last night Chris said he hopes her big blue eyes change color, because if they stay so big and so beautifully blue, he will never be able to say "no" to her! :) I agree. That girl looks at you, and she melts your heart....

It's like crack

Facebook, that is. It's so damn addicting. I can easily waste time away checking out my friend's status, and pics they've uploaded, and their notes. I jump online and check it out multiple times a day. It's not right! I can get a little insight into different people's daily lives, which I find totally interesting. Sometimes I feel like I'm spying on people...reading their comments to other people and stuff. But it's not REALLY spying...they are fully aware that everyone can read their stuff. If there's something that needs to be said privately, there is the private mail feature. Beyond all that, Facebook has allowed me to get back into contact with some long-lost friends and people I knew in high school. I love it.

The News Headlines....Staci style! :)

~Miley Cyrus Apologizes for Controversial Photos. Really? How many times will that dumb whore have to apologize to the world due to her poor judgement? You don't want to get "attacked" by the media, keep your photos private, and don't do dumb stuff in public.

~Bill Gates playfully frees swarm of mosquitoes. How nice of him! He assured the mosquitoes were Malaria-free. But were they blood-sucking-free?!? I wouldn't have wanted to be in that audience. Mosquitoes flock to me like white on rice!

~Home of man linked to 1982 Tylenol deaths searched. Wow. Finally, after all these years!

~Pranks involving electronic road signs stir worry. Seems as though hackers in a few states thought it would be funny to change road signs to read warnings of zombies and raptors. Funny, huh?!

~Man boldly robs Colo. store with Star Trek Sword. Seriously? That's the best weapon he could come up with?! Dude should get a refund from his "How to be a criminal" class.

~Police say Ohio woman set fires out of anger. This chick set 10 fires to homes and garages because she was "angry." Makes me look like an angel! 0:)

That's all for now, folks!

My week in numbers

32: pages in a book that Cole read to me on Monday. Of course it was a Spongebob book....

4: times I tried (unsuccessfully) to text Chris while he was in New York on Tuesday for work. I have no idea what that was about. Thankfully he has a BlackBerry and got my email message instead.

20: minutes to remove the snow and ice from the van and the driveway so we could go to Target on Wednesday.

14: times the boys asked to go sledding....before it was even noon.

48: minutes the boys went sledding w/the neighbors before I had to pull them in cause I was freezing!

100: dollar gift card I got from work....WOOHOO! (our store won a contest)

1758: times I've wiped poor Ella's snotty nose during the past week.

102: degree fever Ella had Thursday night.

3: hours of sleep I got Thursday night....while holding a sick baby.

13: minutes on the phone w/the nurse at the Pediatrician

2: ear infections my Princess was diagnosed with at the Drs.

10: days of antibiotics for her.

9: loads of laundry to do. *yawn*

My week in numbers

1: days Cole has slept in later than me. If only he'd do it on a weekend!

23.5: Pounds Ella currently weighs!

3: days the boys had school this week. They both had off Monday for MLK day, and Cole had off today for a teacher in-service day.

3,596: Rice Krispies I've vacuumed up off my floors. Ella is learning to self-feed, but sometimes they just don't make it into her mouth!

97: The percentile Ella is in for her weight.

19: times Cole has asked to play the Wii today alone. Also the number of times I've told him no, we will play tonight after dinner.

60: dollars raised for the March of Dimes walk I'm participating in!

8: days since Ella fell in love with her pacifiers.

100: tokens used at Chuck E. Cheese

7: loads of laundry I'm currently working on.

48: total minutes spent on hold with Verizon before speaking with a live person for less than 5 minutes.

70: degrees in my house, yet I still feel cold.

131: dollars in the bank account until next Friday. Thank you, Dave Ramsey for making my life miserable!

Moo....!

Yesterday we took our annual trip to the Pennsylvania Farm Show. Fun times had by all.

First, we park the car, and get a bus ride over to the Farm Show Complex. Sure beats walking! The boys love the bus ride. They think it's so cool. Then after dodging all the smokers standing outside the entrance, we finally arrive inside and we are instantly greeted by the sweet smell of animal poop! "What's that smell?" the boys ask. "It's poop!" we answer. Then we ride the escalator up, and then down to enter the area where they have the cows displayed. The boys love to pet the cows. I had Ella in a carrier, facing outwards so she could see the sights. She wasn't very interested in the cows.
Then we went to the goat and sheep area. We had to stop at every pen that had a goat within touching distance so the boys could pet them. Owen announced that we needed to buy a goat. We asked him where we'd keep it, and he never came up with an answer, so the conversation was dropped. Then it was off to the rabbit exhibit. This was where Ella finally got VERY interested in what she was seeing! She loved looking at the bunnies (I think she may have thought they were cats, which she adores!) and tried to reach out and touch them! It was very sweet to watch her expressions and hear her noises! After the bunnies, we went to see the chickens/ducks. We hit that arena just in time to watch the baby duck show...baby ducks go up a ramp that's set in a water table, get some food, and go down a slide. The kids just love it! And those little ducklings are just so cute, you wanna squeeze them! We also saw the "peeps" in the incubator hatching. Ella got to go face-to-face with a rooster, and Cole got to feed a chicken by hand. Owen was too scared to feed the chicken, but Cole thought that was the best part of the whole day.
Then we walked around the exhibits, and the boys got to play with some recycled plastic and create waterways with it. They love anything that involves getting messy! Afterwards we had some lunch and caught the bus ride back to the parking lot to go home.
I'm sure later today or sometime in the very near future, the boys will begin asking when we can go back to the Farm Show. Maybe we have some future FFAs in our house?!

Life's wake-up call

This afternoon I found out that a local boy had died after losing his battle with a rare form of cancer. He was just 2 years old. I didn't know him or his family, but my heart aches for them no less. I can't imagine the pain they must be feeling. No parent should ever have to bury their own child. It's just not right.
It makes me even more thankful that my family is healthy. I realize even more that the little things in life just don't matter. I am very blessed.

A no-good, totally rotten, crappy kind of day....

UGH! You know those days when you wish you would have just stayed in bed? Yep, I'm havin' one! First of all, I got up and got the boys ready for school. Checked outside and realized I'd have to warm the van up cause there was ice covering it. So out the door we go...about 15 minutes before Cole has to get the bus. I'm thinking I'm doing all right. Until I try to scrape some of the ice off the windshield. I'm not getting anywhere. Matter of fact, Cole missed the bus and was late getting to school. By the time I got the ice off the car well enough to see while driving, over 40 minutes had passed. Yes, that's right 40 friggin minutes!!! And I was soaked because it was raining. Yay! So I dropped Cole off at school, and then straight to preschool for Owen.

Then I get home and open the fridge for something, and see gross meat blood EVERYWHERE. Seriously, it looked like an animal exploded in the fridge! On the door, on the shelves, and on the bins as well as on the "floor" of the fridge. Bleh! Apparently my husband got a roast out to thaw for dinner this week. Well, it wasn't on a plate/in a bowl, so when it thawed out completely, the "juice" leaked out of the freezer bag. Damn. I HATE cleaning out the fridge!

THEN, I go pick Owen up from school. We get home and as we come in the house I realize I smell something funky. What's that smell? The trash went out last night, so it's not that. The sink only has a few dishes in it, so that's out. What could it be? So Owen goes over to the pantry to get out the stuff he'd like for lunch, and tells me that someone spilled soda on the floor. Huh? Look, he says. I walk over to the pantry, and there is the horror. A rogue potato must have been hidden in the back corner and has totally rotted to the point where it's leaking "juice." Yum. One more nasty mess I get to clean up.

THEN we get lunch taken care of, and the phone rings. Caller ID says it's Cole's school. Oh shit! I answer and it's the principal calling. Apparently Cole decided to "share" his hand sanitizer by putting it in 2 boy's lunches. WHAT?!?!? The principal actually thought the whole event was sort of funny, and knew that Cole didn't understand that the sanitizer could potentially harm the kids. She said everything/everyone is fine, but she just needed me to be aware of the situation. Ugh!!

So all this crap, and it's not even 2pm yet. Add that to the fact that it's supposed to snow tonight and I have to work. Someone shoot me, please!

The list...

Well, I've been working on making a 101 things in 1001 days list. I got inspired by some other people, and I think it's an awesome idea. My problem? I'm not getting very far on the list. Maybe I should make #1 on the list completing the list!
The amazing thing, is that I told Chris about the list and he didn't laugh at me. He actually thought it was a cool idea. So we are dividing the list in half (minus 1) and coming up with a list of stuff that we both want to accomplish--even if the items are geared more towards personal goal. The point is, we hope to get stuff done! So hopefully we can complete the list this week, so we can begin to cross items off the list!
Be on the lookout for the list to post in the near future!

It's a new year!

And my husband has announced that we will be following an EXTREMELY strict budget (thank you, Dave Ramsey!). I asked him if that meant no beach trip this year. Nope, not gonna happen. I almost cried. Seriously.
I'm going to beg him (at a later date) to at least make a weekend trip to OCNJ or something. This girl's gotta have her toes in the sand and ocean at least once a year, or I might truly die! Plus, this year will mark our 10 year wedding anniversary. I'm pretty sure we should celebrate the occasion at the beach!!! :)
Anyway, he then announced that if we follow his strict budget for the year, we will not only go to the beach next year, but we will take a trip to Disney as well. Ok, the man def. made my ears perk up! I've never been to Disney, and have been wanting to go since we got married. Now that we have 3 kids, I REALLY want to go!
So, I have a strong feeling that part of the strict budget includes me working more. Let me just say that I do enjoy going to work. My job is kinda fun, my co-workers are cool, and I get to interact with adults--some of who are very interesting to say the least! The only thing that I don't like about working, is that I miss my baby. She's about to turn 9 months old, and is learning new things everyday! Just this week she learned how to crawl! I would have been beyond devastated if I would have missed that precious moment! I'm worried that I'll be working when she takes her first step, or says her first real word (besides the baby babble she's currently chatting). I tried telling Chris that I have a good part of the rest of my life to make a few bucks, but those first moments with Ella we will never get back. Plus, not only is she my baby girl that I dreamed I'd have since Chris and I first started dating, but she's my LAST baby. And I cherish every second of her. So I'm torn. I want to work more hours to get some extra income to help out paying off bills so we can have a blast next year, but at the same time I don't want to leave my baby girl's side for fear I'm going to miss something important.
I think we need to start playing the lottery....

post-Christmas blahs

Well, it's Monday and the kids have off school for their "winter break." The school can no longer call the break "Christmas break" because that would be oh-so unPC. whatever. At any rate, the kids have off until January 5th, by which time I'm sure to have gray hair...if I have any left by that point!

We had a great Christmas. It was fun watching Ella attempting to open gifts...only so she could try to taste the wrapping paper and bows! We did our routine Christmas Eve of setting out a plate of cookies and a cup of milk for Santa, as well as putting reindeer food outside. The boys gave us a Christmas gift and did not wake us before 8am, a true treat! Cole was awake before the sun rose, but decided to play the wii until the rest of us got out of bed. Christmas morning was possibly the best we've had since we had the kids because we didn't have to rush to the in-laws in the morning. It was so nice to be able to spend the time and open our gifts, and have the kids actually be able to play with their stuff before getting ready to go. We went to Chris' grandparent's for dinner, and for the first year ever, we didn't exchange gifts. Sweet....I'll save that issue for another post, another time. All in all, it was a wonderful day!

We are now looking forward to celebrating the New Year! :)

It's today, it's today!!

Yay! Daddy comes home tonight!!!

You'd think he's been gone a month the way my kids and I are counting down the hours until Daddy (aka my husband!) comes home! We really love him! :)

I'm trying (not very successfully....) to get this house cleaned before he arrives. I got the bathroom cleaned and EWW! what a chore that was! A major to-do crossed off my list! Ella took a short nap, and Owen fell asleep in the living room surrounded by a billion Legos. I'm not kidding about that approximate count of the number of Legos currently on the living room floor! I ran a load of dishes in the dishwasher. Yay me, another one off the list! I packed up the excess Christmas stuff and put away Fall decorations, so now they need to make their way back to the basement. Oh yeah, and I ate lunch and (*gasp!*) BREAKFAST!!! Hey, cookie crisp counts as breakfast! ;)

I hate being alone...

Seriously. This is the THIRD mountains/hunting trip my husband has taken in the past 4 weeks. Jerk. I think he uses hunting as an excuse for a mini-vacation away from the kids. Maybe I need to learn how to hunt!
I can't sleep without him. Weird, I know. And we aren't the clingy, snuggly, all over each other type in bed while sleeping, but it's the presence and knowing he's there. Not only do I miss him, but I miss his help w/the kids as well. I would not make it as a single parent....I'd probably go postal on someone.
Cole has been really giving me a hard time about going to school, and has not been behaving at school as well. His issues began last week. Who knows what's up the kid's butt, but he needs to get rid of it asap!
Owen has been giving me a hard time about wearing a coat. He likes to be cold he tells me. But then he gets cold and whines like a baby about how cold he is. Duh.
Ella has just been a fuss-bucket today. Earlier while I was trying to cook dinner, she was sitting on the floor in the kitchen with me fake crying. Girlfriend knows how to push my buttons already. And she's only 8mos old.
Yep, it's time for my man to come home. One more long day....he'll be home tomorrow around 9ish.

Whoops....

Guess it's been a little while since my last post! Hey, this momma's been busy! I got 3 kids....plus a husband! Lord knows they don't take care of themselves! ;)
Anyway....I'm hoping I can post daily, but I'm not making any promises.

Well, here's what's been going on at the Wise's:
~Cole turned 7!! We threw him a super-fun pirate birthday party bash here at the house, complete with a homemade pirate ship cake that turned out pretty darn sweet! Argh! :)
~Ella has totally mastered sitting up by herself and is also trying to crawl....any day now!
~I painted the entire kitchen with help from Chris who painted the dining room area. The only thing left to paint on our first level is the mudroom (1/2 done) and the wall that goes up the stairs. Now we desperately need some stuff to put on the walls!! I'm very happy with the way it all looks though!
~The kids have passed around what seems to be the same damn cold since the beginning of October, and now it has finally hit me. It's not bad, just a super annoying cough!!
~We've watched the Polar Express movie about 27 times, and December has only begun!
~I've gotten some Christmas shopping done! :)

More later....

VOTE!

git yer butt out there and do it! cause you don't have the right to bitch if you don't vote for the person you support!! and have some patience! yeah, the lines are long, but this is a HUGE deal for our country!
I took Owen and Ella baby with me today around 12:45 to our local polling place, and was out of there within 1/2 an hour....not too bad in my book. I did, however, feel like I was standing in line to enter the geriatric ward....I was definitely one of the youngest people there! :)
I was pleased to find that the ballots were cast electronically--that was pretty cool. It sounded almost like a casino in the room!
After voting, I drug myself to WalMart (my LEAST favorite store on the planet...I avoid that place like the plague!!) just to check out their party items to see if I could find any pirate stuff for Cole's 7th b-day bash next weekend. WM let me down (again!) and had NOTHING....but that's ok, because the best store on the planet (Target) has lots of cool pirate b-day stuff. I love Target....

feeling: accomplished

Well....sorta. Now that Rae's wedding is over and I'm no longer stressing over favors and stuff, I took the time to update my business website. Talk about looooonnnnggg overdue!! I'm not 100% finished with it, but it's at least updated with the new fall and winter scents. I just got a HUGE fundraiser order in for a Girl Scout troop, so I will be busy cookin' up some candles within the next few weeks. And by that time it will be Halloween....still need to work on Owen and Ella's costumes! And then 2 weeks after that is Chris and Cole's birthday.....gotta do some party planning. Then it's Thanksgiving and soon after that is Christmas. Seriously? Where did this year go?!?!
Ella girl turned 6 months old yesterday (*sob*). I'm feeling accomplished by the fact that she's now 6 months old, and still nursing. I've struggled on and off with the idea of switching her to formula, but I haven't done it yet. I don't have any real reasons except for my own....selfish, I know....
Anyway, check out the updated website, and gimme some feedback. Good or bad, I want to know!! :)
www.soysweetcandleco.com

Beautiful.

My sister's wedding. Yep. That sure sums it all up. Beautiful.

Beautiful:

The colors my sister chose for our bridesmaid dresses.

The church decorations.

The music they chose.

My sister's wedding dress.

All of us bridesmaids.

My hair, makeup, and nails.

Ella in her dress, complete with baby bracelet and flower crown.

The slideshow they created.

The sparkle in my sister's eyes.

The love between Rae and Ryan that is so strong you can simply feel it.

The entire event....simply beautiful!

Another Random Thoughts Post...

Well, I borrowed a Bumbo seat from a Mommy for Ella baby. The Bumbo seat is for infants who can support their own head/neck (check), but who can not yet sit unassisted (check). The seat is sorta funny looking, but soft and cushy. So I give the seat a quick wipe-down with a Lysol wipe (yeah, my OCD...) and stick the girl in it. Within about 3.2 minutes, Girlfriend has come thisclose to wiggling her way out of it. Damn!
All the while looking at me with those BIG blue eyes and a goofy grin on her face. Oh I love this girl! :)

Owen has had some serious behavior issues. He is driving me crazy. Anyone who says anything about the "terrible twos" must have put their kid up for adoption before the child turned 3 or 4. I swear, these are the hardest years!! The boy is a bear! When he's not acting totally stubborn, he acts totally helpless, like a baby. And following directions? Yeah, it's like talking to a friggin brick wall! Grr....! }:(

Chris won the HOA Board Member position. By a vote of 17-15. Thanks to our neighbors who gave a proxy vote! My husband is very anxious to get some serious stuff done around here!
Our 1st Annual Block Party is next weekend. I hope the weather holds out for us!!!!

In other news, my one and only little sister is getting married this weekend. I am her Matron of Honor. I'm excited for this event, as well as being able to get dressed up (my dress is BEAUTIFUL!), get my hair and nails did, you know...the works! But at the same time, it's a little bittersweet. I HELD THIS GIRL WHEN SHE WAS FIRST BORN!!!! And now she's getting married! It's crazy! Pics will be posted after the wedding! :)

And finally in Political news:
This is script of a new Obama radio ad......I love it!
"Well, the Iraqi government is finally spending some of its $79 billion surplus from oil," an announcer says. "A surplus that has grown with the record high oil prices we pay. Where’s the money going? A Ferris wheel. It’s true -- the Iraqi government is going to build a 650-foot Ferris wheel with air-conditioned cars, right in the heart of Baghdad. It’s enough to make your head spin.
"John McCain wants America to keep spending $10 billion a month in Iraq when we should be rebuilding America. That’s right. With banks failing because of Washington’s lax oversight, gas prices soaring, and jobs moving overseas. John McCain will keep spending $10 billion a month in Iraq.
"After years of Bush-McCain policies taking us for a ride, we just can’t afford more of the same."
Amen brother, Amen!

Just Curious.....

For those who are supporting/voting for John McCain:
Are you voting for him because you TRULY believe he is the right person to run our Nation, or are you doing it because he's white?