New Website

If you have recently stumbled upon my site you will notice I am not posting here anymore. I have made the big leap to a self-hosted domain and wordpress. You can find click here to see our new site Parenting Princesses

Mostly Wordless Wednesday

These pictures are just a small part of why I love summer.





Ps. I'm sorry I've only been posting memes lately. I am working on finding jobs and applying for them. I am also in the middle of designing a new WordPress website which should be up pretty soon. In the meantime you can follow me on Twitter for more frequent updates. @KellyNMom is where I tweet about my daily life, contests I find and other things related to parenting and kids. If you leave your twitter id in the comments, I'll be sure to follow you.

Visit Ordinary & Aweseome for more links to Mostly Wordless Wednesday Posts.

Aloha Friday #87

Welcome to this week’s edition of Aloha Friday hosted by An Island Life. In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is a day to take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So on Fridays we take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, we ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response. Visit the Island Life Blog for more Aloha Friday Questions

I'm still looking for the perfect first career job. There's so many jobs I'd love to do but I need to start out at the bottom and work my way up. What was your first career-type job or first job as an adult (ie: not working at McDonalds in high school)? If you haven't worked yet what is your ideal entry-level job? And I know this is supposed to be a quick question, but if you have more time tell me about how it led you to your current job.

Wordless Wednesday

My sister was looking into hair options for herself and then decided to see how Princess would look with longer hair. It's scary how old she looks here.

Not Me! Monday

This is my 5th time participating in Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not procrastinate writing my Not Me! Monday post until Monday at 9pm my time. Because I definitely have not been neglecting my blog ever since I started using Twitter . I am not currently following 300+ people and trying to read all their tweets. I did not stalk follow the birth of Dooce’s baby. I certainly wouldn’t have endlessly refreshed her page and shouted encouraging tweets at her during labour. I did not stay up late wondering if I’d be one of the first people to catch the birth announcement. I am not on twitter enough that I would see when she went into labour, when she had given birth, and rush off to her website the minute she announced the name. I was not insanely jealous that she had over 100 comments in the first 2 minutes after posting and over 500 in less than an hour. (Speaking of famous bloggers, I did not get excited when I got an e-mail from MckMama. And if I had I wouldn’t have tweeted about it) Ahem. I certainly am not addicted to the internet.

I do not spend more time looking at job postings and talking about applying for jobs than I do actually applying for them. I did not have a dream about a really well paying job that came with a Porsche. The only catch was that it would be a 3 hour daily commute. I’m glad I don’t actually have to make that decision in real life.

I do not think that all our problems will be solved once we move out of our cramped apartment to our new house. I am not looking forward to the kids having a designated play area instead of taking over our living room and kitchen with their toys. I am not overwhelmed by the choices I need to make concerning paint colours. I am not also overwhelmed by the choices I need to make when I redesign my blog in Wordpress. I am not thinking of articles and blog posts to write but waiting until the new site to publish them.

And now I am not off to clean my house for the sole reason that there is a babysitter coming over tomorrow.

Aloha Friday #86

Welcome to this week’s edition of Aloha Friday hosted by An Island Life. In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is a day to take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So on Fridays we take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, we ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response. Visit the Island Life Blog for more Aloha Friday Questions

I had my graduation ceremony yesterday morning and now have a Bachelor of Arts Degree in psychology with two minors in business and communications. I really wish I had thought more about careers when I was in school. I'm unsure of what job I can get with my degree. I wish I had gotten a Business Degree or learned more about Marketing.

My Questions
Do you have a degree? Do you wish you had done a different degree. What kind of degree would you like to get if money weren't an object?

My Graduation

I had my official graduation ceremony this morning. I’ve been finished school for almost two months now so it was a little weird to go back to school. The ceremony itself was a little bit anticlimactic and impersonal. I handed a card to the speaker who read off my name and then I walked across stage and shook some hands. 30 seconds later it was over. I don’t know exactly what I was expecting but I knew I had to go just for the pictures. It was really interesting to see who was graduating with what degrees. You could tell who some of the fashion design graduates were by their style. The theatre graduates made the most noise as they crossed the stage. After the ceremony, my dad brought my girls to the campus. I wasn’t going to make them sit through 2 hours or a boring convocation, more importantly I wasn’t going to make my husband try to keep two kids quiet for two hours.



We can't even get them to sit still for 2 minutes for pictures.




I didn’t look at any of the pictures that were being taken and now I’m so mad at myself for not checking. I knew my flash was turned off and I asked if the person taking the pictures if they were getting good shots. They said they were but once I checked them at home I was so disappointed to see that there were shadows across my eyes in most photos. It was really sunny which isn’t great for photos.

I was feeling pretty good about my dean’s list standing and outstanding achievement designation until they announced the Excellence Award winner. A fellow mother with a GPA over 4.00. I didn’t even know you could do that. She had kids soon after finishing high school and then returned to school when they were a little older. She talked about how she had to find herself first and how it made her really appreciate her education. I tried to do it all at once though. I wasn’t going to let babies stop me from finishing school. I needed to prove that an unplanned pregnancy wasn’t going to ruin my life. So I did it. I’ve spent the last 5 years in school while having 2 babies. I’m glad I did it but I know that I wasn’t able to completely dedicate myself to school or to being a mom. Schoolwork kept me up late and made me a cranky mom sometimes, being a breastfeeding mother made me rush home after every class instead of getting to know fellow students or my teachers. Now I’ve got a piece of parchment in hand and will be trying to figure out what to do with it. I know I’ll go to school again at some point. I love learning, it’s the assignments, papers and exams I could do without. I hope I’ve inspired my girls to go to university one day, they already have the hat.

Mostly Wordless Wednesday- A day at the Park

We had a great day at the park today. We were a little late getting there since Sweet Pea was refusing to take her nap and I didn't dare take her out in public while she was so grumpy. You can see how excited they are to be in the stroller. They only were in there on the walk to the playground and the walk back.



Princes spun around on this pole and then was so dizzy that she fell down after getting off. That didn't stop her from doing it again though


Sweet Pea and Princess playing on the train at the park. It's so much nicer taking them to the park now that Sweet Pea can walk.



Visit Ordinary & Aweseome for more links to Mostly Wordless Wednesday Posts.

Beech Nut Toddler Food Winner

My first giveaway ended yesterday and I'm happy to announce that McVeggie is the winner of two boxes of toddler food.

Not Me! Monday

This is my 4th time participating in Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

My husband was gone this weekend on a mens' retreat. I was not secretly looking forward to a few days of alone time. When he came home I was not temporarily distracted while in bed with my husband with thoughts of blogging. I did not wonder, just for a second, if I could blog about what we were doing, because that would be scandalous. I do not let my husband go to bed alone every night so I can stay up and read and blog. I do not spend too much time reading other people’s blogs and run out of time to write my own posts. I am not excited to only have 200 unread blog posts in my Google reader. I would never have over 1000 unread posts in my reader at times.

Sweet Pea does not have a black eye. She did not somehow fall into the computer hard drive because I follow her around all day to make sure nothing like that happens. I do not wish she was still crawling and unable to walk and climb. I do not miss having a non-mobile child. I do not look forward to her morning nap every morning so that I have time to clean go on the computer or sleep. And since my oldest does not nap any more I do not distract her with tv while her sister naps so I can have alone time.

My husband and I did not go shopping for new bedding for our room and girls rooms. And if we did, we certainly wouldn’t have picked up all three sets at the first store we went to. I always look around and comparison shop everything we purchase.

I have not procrastinated on sending out resumes this last week. I definitely wasn’t hoping that I would I would get the one perfect local job that I applied for. I do not secretly wish I could be paid to be a blogger.

I have not just started using Twitter . I certainly don't need another thing to keep me on the computer.

This is not a picture of Princess eating a chocolate cupcake at a party. If it were her I never would have let her have some of the KFC fries that were also served. Because my kid eats healthy all the time just like her mom.



And I am most certainly not promoting my own giveaway that ends tonight for two boxes of Beech Nut Toddler Food.

Small Talk 6- One Proud Mama

Today's Small Talk Six is about 6 ways you are proud of your children. To see the other bloggers particapating you can head over to Mom Dot

1. Princess if finally pretty much potty trained. It was weird but one day she just started telling us she had to pee. (Thanks for all the advice)



2. Both my kids were great babies. They rarely cried and slept through the night by about 2 months with no sleep training. (I was scared that since our first was such a good baby, we'd have a colicky second baby and I wouldn't know how to handle it)



3. Both my kids started walking at 11 months. It isn't super early but my kids crawl later than average (7 or 8 months) and don't talk forever so it's nice to have at least one thing that they do early. It's so cute to Sweet Pea toddle around.



4. Princess is a natural dancer. She loves dancing to music and always makes everyone smile at church.



5. Princess has a great memory. She always remembers where at least one of her sister's soothers is. She helps take care of her sister a lot.



6. And of course I'm just proud that they are my little girls. The most precious, beautiful, funny little girls in the world (according to their unbiased mom).

Now if only they could learn to eat yoghurt without making a huge mess. Half-way through writing this post I turned around to find my oldest daughter had dumped yoghurt on our fabric chairs, on purpose.

Aloha Friday #85

Welcome to this week’s edition of Aloha Friday hosted by An Island Life. In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is a day to take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So on Fridays we take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, we ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response. Visit the Island Life Blog for more Aloha Friday Questions

My Question

If you had a choice of the following options free of charge which would you chooose and why?

• A Maid
  
• A Chef
  
• Limosine Driver
  
• Nanny
  
• Personal Stylist
  
• Gardener
  
• Someone to go to work for you
  

Summertime Fun

I’ve been anxiously awaiting summer but now that it’s here I’m reminded of some of the not so fun things about summer. We are having a really hot period right now and it’s almost uncomfortable outside. I hate being overly hot and it tends to make me frustrated. In order to avoid the hottest sun, I try to get the kids outside early in the morning. Usually that tires Sweet Pea out and she takes a nice long nap. It’s still really hot and it even tires me out.


I envisioned summer with lots of trips to the park and sitting on a blanket in the grass reading a book while my kids played peacefully. But I’ve discovered that it’s hard to read a book when you are looking up every few seconds to see where the kids have wandered off too. And when I see my youngest trying to climb the play structure, my book is instantly abandoned. I do love getting outside though since my girls have a lot more freedom to roam and it’s generally less cluttered than my house. But I worry about them getting too much sun exposure. I use sunscreen and hats but the hats don’t always stay on.



And even if they’re not getting sunburnt, the heat can make them grumpy and sick. Like last week when I took the kids to the park. About halfway around the path Sweet Pea started crying. I couldn’t calm her down, not even when I tried to breastfeed her. She rarely ever cries so I think it was the combination of being overtired and hot. I didn’t want to leave her screaming in the stroller so I was forced to walk 15 minutes back to our car holding her while attempting to push the double stroller. Thank goodness, I went with a friend who helped me out. Sweet Pea calmed down once we got home and she breastfed and was able to have a nap in her crib. The experience makes me nervous to stray too far from home though. So much for trips to the beach.


It was super hot again today but we turned the sprinkler on to cool down the kids. Sweet Pea avoided the sprinkler at all costs, which is odd because she loves the shower. She was perfectly content to play in the play house. Princess on the other hand loved it. I was worried about the water rinsing off all her sunscreen.




This intense heat wave should pass soon and then I’ll be able to go on walks and stay outside longer. In the meantime, I’m very thankful for air conditioning. If only I could have the space of the outdoors with the convenience of a gigantic air conditioner.

What are some of your favourite things to do in the summer? How do you make sure your kids don’t get too much sun exposure?

Cloth Diaper Giveaways

If you already cloth diaper and would like to add to your stash or are new to cloth diapering and would like to test out different cloth diaper brands try entering cloth diaper giveaways online. Below is a list of all the current diaper giveaways I know of. Unless otherwise noted they are only open to US residents. So I can't win but you might be able to


3 Fuzzibunz Diapers Comfort Joy Designs (June 30th)

1 Happy Heinys Look What Mom Found (June 15th)

3 3Monkeys Cloth Diapers MonkeyToes Reviews & Giveaways (Canada & US, June 10th)

1 AppleCheeks Diaper MonkeyToes Reviews & Giveaways (World-wide, June 18th)

1 Apple Cheeks Diaper From Jolly Mom (World-Wide, June 18th)


If you know of any others that I missed please let me know. Good luck!

Wordless Wednesday- First Birthday Party

Sweet Pea got some very nice presents. One was in Dora wrapping which made Princess think it's was hers since Dora is her other obsession. Princess was her usual helpful self and helped Sweet Pea open all her gifts.


Sweet Pea tries to carry my purse around but it's much too heavy, this little purse is perfect for her and she already know how to hold it. Just another reminder she is growing up.


Sweet Pea didn't really know what to do with the cupcake. She just kept picking at the icing. After her sister came to show her how it's done she finally picked it up for a big bite. But there was no big smash of the cake. I guess she's going to be a little delicate princess too.





The impossible family photo. This was the best picture out of the ones we took. Sweet Pea was too excited to sit still for even a second.

Not Me! Monday

This is my third time participating in Not Me! Monday! I didn't know that this meme was on holiday during memorial day so I still wrote a Not Me! Post for last Monday. This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not have a first birthday party for my youngest this week. It was not planned two days in advance because I am way more organized than that. I am not sad that she is growing up and I certainly am not thinking about getting pregnant so I can experience the baby stage again. I have not been too busy to post pictures of her party yet. (Except for the one below) Our outfits were not both from Walmart, and my top certainly didn't come from the juniors section.



I have not been eagerly waiting for summer to hurry and get here so I can go outside more with my girls. And now that it is finally here, I am not complaining that it is too hot. I am not already regretting not enjoying my time home with the girls more, now that I know I will have to start working at some point.

I have not been procrastinating about getting a job for over six weeks since I finished school. I do not regret getting a Bachelor of Arts degree and am not wishing I had some marketable skills and job experience. I am not reluctant to job search because I am not having any guilt about leaving my babies (ok toddlers) for 40 hours a week. I am not nervous about what it will be like to work a full 9-5 for the first time in my life. I do not secretly think that a job might be easier than being home all day. My husband did not promise to let me spend my first pay check on a new wardrobe in order to motivate me to look for a job. But only after we move, so I have closet space to put the clothes in.

I am not completely sick of my home and its lack of space. I would never need more than one drawer in the kitchen. I do not care that my youngest is sleeping in our storage room. I have not completely given up on trying to make it look nice while I wait for our new house to be finished. I am not completely blessed to be able to move into a beautiful new house.

And last of all, I did not stay up way too late just to write this post.


I am also not running my first giveaway. You should NOT click here unless you want to win some Beech Nut Toddler Food