Christmas Cards & Giveaway

I've been a loyal Shutterfly customer every year since they boys were born, but this year... I'm venturing out and checking out the Photo Christmas Cards from Tiny Prints. I've looked through their selection, and believe there are just as many GREAT options as there are with their sister company.

They have something for everyone with hundreds of styles... some of my favorites are:

Feel free to check out the special offers page over at Tiny Prints to see what their latest and greatest deals are -- I'm sure that with Black Friday coming and Cyber Monday following -- they will be giving their best offers of the season.

The awesome folks at Tiny Prints are offering one lucky reader a $50 coupon code to be used by December 14th. Who wouldn't love a discount on all those cards you're sending?! The only thing is that you've only got until Monday night (11/19) to enter...


a Rafflecopter giveaway
** I was compensated by Tiny Prints for this post and giveaway. 

Falling Off the Wagon

Well, I totally fell off the wagon on my posting daily for the month of November deal. I'm so upset with myself, but I have to be honest - I have been so sick that it just hasn't been possible. My body wouldn't allow it. It's been a constant flow of illness, and I go back to the doctor yet again tomorrow to try to get it under control.

I took the boys back to their doctor today, and we found 4 infected ears so we're trying a new antibiotic for them. 10 more days of medicines and possible diaper issues... joy. I go back tomorrow for another visit for my recurring issues, and hope that we can figure something out to get this kicked out of our house for good!

Since my posting has suffered, I thought that I'd at least some photos of the recent happenings from around our house...

This is a photo from a couple weeks ago, but it fits for this week too. We had a great day on Saturday watching our Texas A&M Aggies beat Alabama. The boys had fun yelling with Daddy, and enjoyed watching one of the few games from the season that they were awake for the whole game. I thought the second half of the game was the best because they boys snuggled up with me to watch movies on my iPhone, and it was so sweet to just have them close to me for a nice calm period of time. I watched the game while they were happy with their movies.

 I'm not sure why, but this weekend - the boys decided that playing in old boxes was more fun than any of our toys. So they have played in them for the last few days. Thousands of dollars worth of toys and they'd rather play in a box. I guess we will have a long future of decorating boxes like cars and other items as their creativity develops. I can't wait for those days!!

I made a major mistake on Monday, and we showed up for what we thought was our doctor's appointment... a day early... so on the way back from the pediatrician's office Tyler fell asleep. Any Mom out there knows about the dreaded "car nap" -- we fell victim to that yet again, and thus naps were a bit of a nightmare for us yesterday.

We are still slowly opening the new toys that the boys got for Tyler's Birthday. Yesterday was a stacking train, they loved it -- both were screaming "choo choo" and having a ball with it. It was pretty cute, but didn't last long... because it was in the end, no match for the boxes.

I try to capture as many moments of the playing together as humanly possible because it's such a rare occurrence in toddler land -- so here is just another photo of them playing with the train and their little Sesame Street character cars.

This happened this morning, Tyler climbed out of his crib and got into one of the twin beds in his room. We've been having some sleep struggles with Tyler lately because of him being sick, but also just in general he has been having a tough time. A couple of weeks ago, he figured out how to get out of his crib -- so we've bought him a toddler bed, and need to move it into his room. All of our illnesses has slowed that process down considerably, but it's clear that this boy is ready to move to another bed. He looks so sweet here, and I honestly was glad to see him sleeping because his stuffy nose has kept that from being as routine as it needs to be.

I'll leave you with another bit of information on my Scentsy business -- I've got two fundraiser's happening this month -- one for the Southern States Rottweiler Rescue (SSRR) and the other for American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) -- I will be donating 20% of all sales from these parties to their respective organizations. I would be honored if you'd help me by getting your holiday shopping started while supporting two great organizations... Just click on my website: https://khawkins.scentsy.us and then click of the party of your choice. There are two awesome BOGO deals going on with Scentsy right now too to help you get more for your money -- our Scentsy Buddies are 2 for $25 (scented stuffed animals) and our Fragrance Foams are 2 for $6 (scented hand sanitizer). 

Being Sick with Toddlers

If there is one thing I miss from my days before parenthood... it's the elusive thing called the "sick day." Ok, in all fairness - there are a couple of other things that I miss, but it's mainly date nights and such - which we will get back once we move home.

Back to the topic at hand, ya'll... being sick with toddlers is no joke. There isn't much in the way of resting -- because Lord knows they are in to everything! It might seem like a good idea to turn on a video and let them have their run of the place, but in reality - it doesn't work that way. At least not here.

Thank God, for the grace that is Mother's Day Out -- because that gives you 5 hours of a break to rest. Even that isn't enough to get you through the mess that we've been through lately. We've been sick in some form for over a month, and I'm out of ideas.

The movies don't work anymore, and the sicker I feel - the more they tend to run wild. I flat never feel guilty for doing what is necessary to get through the day -- it's basically survival mode at this point. I've done so many things I'm not proud of to get through the day -- like allowing them to climb on just about everything we own to keep them entertained.

When both parents fall ill, you are in serious trouble because there is no back up -- it's everyone for themselves!

Then when there is a hospital visit involved - it gets ugly. Especially when the kids have been to said ER for their own illnesses. Literally, James lost his mind when they got in the parking lot to pick me up -- he just freaked out and there was no logical way to explain to his 2.5 year old self that he wasn't being messed with -- it was Mommy's turn for all that. 

I still can't seem to kick this UTI/Flu/Sinus Infection mess -- and of course I also can't tell if I got rid of the pesky kidney stones because the fabulous health care providers at our closest hospital didn't give me a strainer to check if it passes. Greeeeeeat! So I guess, I just stop taking my pain meds and see what happens in the future. I just know that I can only avoid caffeine for SO long. On top of all that, the hubs now has the flu/sinus infection mess... I just pray that we can keep the boys from getting anything else and we can finally get this crud out of our house for good.

I had to laugh today when we were at the doctor's office for John to finally get checked out, and he asked me if we could call the Mother's Day Out program to see if they'd keep the kids over night so that we could get some good solid rest. HAHAHA! If only. I told him that I was pretty sure that those types of services are only provided by grandmothers and/or aunts. I'm pretty sure though that anyone could name their price, and we'd make it happen just to get well.

So, those of you that have family close by... don't take that for granted! Some of us would give a right arm for that today!

Unfocused

Lately, I have been living in quite a fog. To say that there have been highs and lows - would be an understatement. I've fallen prey to just about every trick in the book that has been thrown at me, and I am tired of letting it get the best of me.

No matter what it is: family, health, weight, children, friends, animals, temperature, geography... it has gotten to me at one point or another during the last few months.

I certainly am my own worst critic and even enemy at times. I often find myself wondering where things have gone wrong. Things sort of derailed shortly after the boys were born, and I don't feel like I've truly ever gotten control on life with kids.

Who knows what life would have been if we hadn't needed to move to Memphis. Would we have gotten back into a groove, and settled back in with our church family? Would things have settled back down, and my friendships gone back to flourishing in the way that they once were? Would we have the family help and support that we desperately need?

There isn't really any way to tell -- and ultimately the reality is that we are in Memphis today, and are trying to find the right balance to get through each day. It is difficult for me - most days I feel like I've failed at everything because I'm so stressed out... and I'm sure that it's not a fair assessment because in my mind things aren't perfect unless my kids are quiet & happy, my house is clean, dinner is ready when John gets home, and we are relaxed and happy.

The true picture of the day is that I've yelled far too many times, the house is a wreck, dinner isn't ready until almost 8 PM (the boys eat at 5PM), and I can barely speak by the time the kids are in bed for the night. Which means that I'm in bed myself trying to recover by 9... and that's only because I force myself to stay out of bed until 9.

I feel a lot of the time like a couple of critical elements are missing from my life - friends & family. I miss my people like crazy -- and miss having a best friend to hang out with and share in the craziness of having these nutty kids with. I've got three ladies that I shared so much life with back home, and I miss them more than I could ever explain. They know me almost better than I know myself, and I just haven't found anyone here that fits that bill. I have met some wonderful ladies, but I still just feel like an outsider most days.

I may be reading too much into it, but something just doesn't feel right -- and I certainly don't know how to fix it or to make myself loosen up enough to reevaluate my lot in life. Same thing goes with the husband too - a lot of days I feel disconnected because we don't really have a good babysitting option. My friends here all have their own kids and families, and I'm just not comfortable with leaving the boys with someone I don't know yet -- mainly because people are crazy and abuse kids... and while mine can't talk - I'm not cool with leaving them with someone I don't know extremely well.

I feel like we'd be much more apt to have a date night if we had our family close by -- because I certainly could trust our parents, our sisters, our friends, or our older nieces to watch the boys if we needed them to.

Being sick lately certainly doesn't help with all of these feelings -- because the longer I am sick -- the more bored and disconnected I feel from the world around me. Thank God for social media -- because I'd be postal by now with as little connection with the world as I've had lately.

I guess the holidays make these feelings come to the surface even more because it's just a tough time to juggle all the things you wish you could be doing... like shopping with friends, meeting our niece on the day she is born, and so many other things.

I wish I could just snap out of it, and hopefully I can do that with a little bit of holiday retail therapy while the boys are in school tomorrow. I'm hitting Hobby Lobby to try to cheer myself up with a few items to spruce up the house. Hopefully it works to bring a smile to my face. 

November Love

I try not to inundate ya'll with my love of all things Scentsy... but I have to share a few things with you that I'm excited about.

The Warmer and Scent of the Month for November are two of my all-time favorites this month... I loved the scent for October as well... so I want to share them with you.

 Holiday Lights Warmer

 Peppermint Dreams -- A warm rush of honeyed-cupcake sweetness cooled by a blast of fresh mint.

I personally think it smells like a combination between an Andes mint and a peppermint patty.

Mandarin Moon --  Spirited cinnamon and glowing ginger illuminated by sweet orange and star anise.

I love this one for it's little bit of spice mixed with citrus - which is one of my favorite clean scents.

Our Fragrance Foams are buy one get one free right now -- which make great teacher gifts, stocking stuffers, and all sorts of other gift giving options really affordable! You get 2 for $6!! You can't beat that!

Additionally, our Scentsy Buddies are buy one get one free too -- so you could make two kiddos very happy for $25!! These are GREAT, both of my kids have them in their room to help with the nasty diaper smell... but they've also played with them!

Last but not least, I wanted to share with you some holiday gift ideas that will be budget friendly for you too!

If there is anything I can help you with, please let me know - I'd be thrilled to help you put lots of things under your tree this year for a reasonable budget!

The Hits Keep On Coming...

When I woke up this morning, I knew something wasn't right... I didn't want to jump to conclusions too quickly - so I stayed in bed trying to wait it out and see if I was just stiff from sleeping funny. After about 30-45 minutes, I couldn't wait anymore.

I woke John up and told him that something was wrong. He was going to get the boys up to take me to the ER, but I was able to spare us the trouble and drove myself to the ER. I was having some really bad pain in my back on my right side and knew it just wasn't normal.

I got to the ER, and of course in the amount of pain I was in... my blood pressure was through the roof. That seemed to the the only thing they were initially worried about... because they certainly were quick to push medicine for that. I knew if they found the source of the pain, it would come down.

Things went from bad to worse when they decided to run some blood work -- because the nurse blew out two of my veins before we finally got someone else to try to get my IV started. In the process of all that, I got super nauseated -- which isn't uncommon for me as things spiral and go wrong. One of the veins just pumped blood into my arm all morning - and looks pretty gnarly tonight!

They finally got things going, and the blood work showed that I had a UTI... but that wasn't all -- I ended up showing kidney stones as well before the day was done.

When I talked to the doctor, she told me that I couldn't have anything more than Tylenol unless I was going to have someone pick me up from the hospital. Not a problem, I was going to have John bring the boys to pick me up when I was ready... but no.

The nurse came back not too long after and told me that I couldn't have the meds unless someone was in the room with me. Good times. You think my blood pressure isn't going to skyrocket when you force my two toddlers to sit in the room with me?!

Luckily, it took some time for the boys to get there -- long enough for me to get my dose of antibiotics, and be basically ready to go... but James still made his presence known when he got there. His experience at that hospital must have been memorable because he literally lost it when they pulled into the parking lot. Poor buddy.

John lit into the hospital staff for this complete waste of everyone's time... and to add insult to injury -- they made such a big deal about giving me the meds, but they didn't wheel me out to the car. They didn't walk us out to the car. They did absolutely NOTHING to make sure that I didn't get in my car in the parking lot and drive home.

I find that insane. They would have been much better off wheeling me out and putting me in the car... what a joke.

I've been laying low and pushing fluids for the rest of today... the funniest part was them giving me a work release for 2 days. Who am I going to give that to? The boys?! HAHAHA!! Lay off of Mommy boys -- I've got a work release!

30 Days & A Birthday

Apparently, I messed up my post I wrote to start off my 30 days... so forgive me for the fumble starting... but here we go.

I'm planning to write a post everyday for the next 30 days as a part of a month of Thankful Days -- and to hopefully kick start me back on doing something I dearly love -- writing!

We have been in a whirlwind of crazy sicknesses since Tyler's Birthday (Oct 4th) -- with stomach viruses, colds, the flu, ear infections, you name it...

In the middle of it all though, Tyler turned two... and we traveled to Texas to celebrate. Tyler loves Elmo so the theme for his party was easily decided, and he was thrilled. I think a good time was had by all, and instead of boring you with a bunch of words... let me just show you the day in pictures.

Thank you to everyone that had a hang in making Tyler's day special, both by making things and attending. We had a wonderful time, and can't wait until we are back in Texas full-time to share in many more days like this with those that are near and dear to our hearts.