Make the best of what's around

Wow! I can't believe it is 2014!! This year has seriously flown by!!! 2013 was very good to us. Like everyone, we had our ups and downs but I find when you focus on those things that have made you smile or have made you a better person, it will bring more amazing things to you. This way of thinking is still one I have to continuously work on.
Don't let the small things bring down your day. Don't spend so much time worrying about things. Just let it happen, and find the good in it all.

I find it silly to make "new year resolutions". Who said that January 1 of every year is the day we should start over and try to better ourselves or improve on the things we did not live up to in the previous year?! Personally I feel we should always try to be the best we can be. Of course we won't have perfect days everyday, hell... we won't have perfect days lots of days. But that doesn't mean you should give up or that you have failed.  When you have those bad days take a minute to look around and think about the things that are really good.... friends, family, or something as small as your child's laugh. That is what always brings me back, roman's laugh melts my heart.

I won't sit here and list all the wonderful things that 2013 has brought me and my family. But I can tell you I am extremely excited and look forward to what 2014 has in store for us. I hope you all have an amazing 2014 and whether you make new years resolutions or not, promise yourself that you will "make the best of what's around."

Social Sunday (My first and last one of the year)

Hey there fellow bloggers! I hope everyone had a great holiday!!! My Blogged Life is ending 2013 by linking up with to some Social Sunday fun!!!!

Lets start by connecting! Follow me on Bloglovin' and I will make sure to do the same :)

This Weeks Questions:

1. What is the best New Years Eve you’ve ever had?

I am sure there are a couple top contenders in this, but the only one I specifically can remember is when Josh and I had all of our close friends over to our apartment. 

2. Are you doing anything for NYE this year and if so what? 

After having Roman, NYE has been just another day. This is absolutely ok with me though. I just can't recover from those horrible hangovers as quick as I used to! We will probably do some random Pinterest inspired craft of some sort and be in bed before the ball drops, haha.

3. Name a book we should all read come January? 

I have been seriously slack on my book reading this year so I asked this to my sister in law who said "Tenth of December" by George Saunders. So add it to your to-read list, and I will add it to mine!

4. What are your new years resolutions? 

Have a healthier lifestyle,

Read more,

Wake up every morning knowing it will be a good day.

Not stress about the little things.

Grow my business (RoLeeJo)

Next Weeks Questions:

1. Do you plan to change any of your eating habits in the new year?

2. Any workout tips to get us back in shape after the Holidays?

3. What is your favorite thing you did over the Holidays?

4. What is something you hope that you accomplish in 2014 that you did not in 2013?

5. Name 3 things happening this year you are excited about and why.

Behind RoLeeJo & Holiday Giveaway

Most of you that know me know that I have a small sewing business, RoLeeJo. My passion for it sort of came out of nowhere, and I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered how easy it was for me to learn.

Once obtaining my first machine and started making random things for Roman. Then it sat there collecting dust for a good few months.  I can't exactly remember what made me start sewing again... BUT I did and that is when RoLeeJo was born.

The name RoLeeJo..... I came up with it by putting Josh's, Roman's and my name together.

At first I was making a little bit of everything, it was getting a bit overwhelming. Now RoLeeJo is mostly aimed towards personalized toddler and kid items. Don't get me wrong, I LOOOOVE adventuring off into making things I have never made before or just anything one will find on good ol Pinterest. I have a good amount of friends who send me pictures saying "Can you make this for me?", and of course I get excited for the challenge. It breaks up the same old daily sewing for me.

For Example... Here are a few pictures of my work (outside of what I normally do). Some of the pictures below are done by my good friend Danielle with Danielle Lemon Photography. She has the best personality and does AMAZING work! Definitely check her out!

Now I have an Embroidery machine and get to add embroidered monograms and personalization to just about anything! I don't think many people know I have this machine because I haven't done a great job at advertising it.

This is what sort of inspired me on my current Holiday Giveaway, that and the fact that I love Christmas. I kind of pride myself on being a really good gift giver so when the chance comes to give a bunch of gifts... it will be the only time you will find me broke and happy about it.

RoLeeJo's Holiday Giveaway is a pick your own personalized prize giveaway. Here is the banner...

So yeah... That is that and I am really excited to see who gets picked.  Lets be honest, giveaways are pretty awesome. Who doesn't love free stuff?! If you say you don't you are probably lying. It's ok though, I forgive you.

If you would like to stop by and check out my other work, just click HERE . You can enter the giveaway on the same page.

Happy Holidays everyone!! Much love to you and your families!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

It has been a pretty busy month so far. I am sitting here trying to list everything we have done in my head and it is all getting jumbled together...... Maybe I haven't done anything at all, but you will never know. So, yep we have been busy.

Roman is all potty trained (except for naptime and bedtime).

 I have started this cookie reward system for  every time he craps in the toilet he gets a cookie. So now he feels the need to push a turd out every time he goes to the bathroom. As you can imagine this has made him standing up to pee a little difficult. All in all though he is doing pretty dang good for his age.

I personally have grown to hate the cookie system. I have learned that when there are sweets in the house I have no self control. It is pretty bad when I am sneaking cookies at 7 AM while making my morning coffee and breakfast. It's my best chance of not getting caught though. Roman is in toonie land, Milo is outside (and yes he counts, that dog just sits and stares at me...... judging....), and Josh is catching up on his ZZZ's from a long work week.  So it is just me and my 5 morning cookies. Not a bad way to start a day!

We are all decorated for Christmas. It was pretty exciting getting the tree! We got a big one this year to make up for our sad little two footer fake tree last year. When we went to go pick it out Roman met the sweetest dog, Sandy. He sat on the ground and started talking to her in his own little animated way. She came up and laid her head right on his lap. It would so cute I could have died.

He loves our outside decorations and has befriended the blow-up Christmas penguin. He hugs it regularly, has conversations, the whole nine. Sometimes I wonder what he thinks it is saying back to him. One day on our way to the car he goes "Hey penguin, are you ok? Did they try to hurt you boy?". REALLY??!!! Where he comes up with this stuff, I have no idea.... but it definitely has me wondering.

Buying presents for Roman has been another story. I will be the first to tell you that I have a HUGE shopping problem. My mom says she is to blame. I really don't think that, but I won't argue it. If she wants to be responsible for it she can be :). (Thanks ma!)

For his one BIG gift I got him this Little Einstein's Pat Pat Rocket. He has loved this show for as long as I can remember. It is probably where his love for music comes from. Here was the issue.... Little Einstiens has be discontinued back in 2009 and now the toys are considered collector toys. Of course my child would obsess about the one show where they no longer make the toys.

Pat Pat Rocket toy

Anyways, I found one on EBay and feel I got a great deal on it! With a little help from family he will have the complete Pat Pat Rocket set.

Leanne-1
People trying to charge a crazy amount for a plastic toy -0

I cant wait until he can start making lists for Santa. That will be fun!
Speaking of.... My friend shared a blog post she found and it was insanely funny. You should check it out!

DADSPIN- My Kid's Insane Christmas Wish List, Annotated

I will definitely be doing this with Roman's lists when he gets older haha!

What are some things your kids asked from Santa?

Happy Holidays from our chaotic home to yours!!

Bloglovin

You can now connect with me on Bloglovin!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

What a fun website! Not going to lie... I am kind of excited and wondering why I am just now finding this site. haha!

I will be posting another blog tonight.... hopefully. They say if you write it out you are more likely to follow through.

 Lets all hope this is true. ;)

See you tonight! MAYBE. BAHAHAHAHAHA

It's Official!!!

It has been about two weeks and I can officially say ROMAN IS POTTY TRAINED! No more poopy diapers for this lady **raising the roof**!!!

His transition really was not bad at all. I think he already had the peeing situation down... I mean yeah, we had a few accidents here and there, but it happens.

Now pooping on the other hand..... OH MY LANTA! I could not get him to go!!! So I pulled out the potty chair we have (because I feel the need to have 3 different brands and styles of potty chairs and seats) and set it in the living room for him so hit on and watch TV. Doing this says a lot, because I personally hate potty chairs. I feel like they are another form of diapers. The point of potty training (in my opinion) is to not have to deal with as much clean up. But Roman was going on day 3 and this kid. needed. to. go!  Long story short, he wouldn't go so I stuck his undies back on him so I could go start dinner. Next thing I know I come back into the living room to roman "hiding". (AKA pooping). So at this point I am all "Oh he will just go in his undies and realize he doesn't like the feeling", until I look over and realized he no longer had his undies on... they were chilling by his potty.

This story ends with a big 'ol pile of crap right on my floor. I can tell you there is one person that got a good laugh out of this... my mom! Yep... My mom laughed harder than I have heard her laugh in awhile. I am glad my poopy misfortunes bring her such joy. You're welcome mom. You. Are. Welcome.

Well two or three floor incidents later, I finally got him to go! One of my best friends described it as the "Potty Olympics". I wanted to keep him moving until he REALLY had to go. "Jump higher, run faster, push harder!" , ha ha.

We would chase him around the table, and jump around finding things for us, until he absolutely needed to go! It was on the verge of being..... no, it was ridiculous.

Roman discovered potty yoga... and it is a new and upcoming trend. You saw it here first.

 We colored, read, and built with blocks...

And the blocks is what did it!!! I had him bending and grabbing blocks from one side and building towers on the table.

With all of these potty training powers combined.... I can now present to the world...

SUPER POOPER!

I know he is going to kill me for posting all of these someday. O'well, I can say it is payback for his rebellious teenage years to come!

Please feel free to share some funny stories of your own! :)

Until next time....

Hey there! (Two months later)

Wow I guess I really suck at keeping up with this whole blogging thing.
Quick run down of what has happened the past two months.....
We traveled to NY the end of September to visit my family. It was seriously the best ever! Josh was able to come this time around! So in my Nitro it was me, Josh, Aunt HeyHey (You're welcome), Roman, Milo and a partridge in a pear tree. It. was. packed!
I saw my bestie since 4th grade!! This is how she greeted me when I first saw her. (As she steps out of her car, doesnt even say hey) "SOOOO I am due in May".... UHH EXSQUEEZE ME?! lol At least she got right to the point. I am SOOOOO excited for them though, She is a really great mom and I know she will be double great the next time around.

Roman and Corbin

Me and Mandy

October, we ..... ummmm.... well we trick or treated! DUH! Roman was the big bad wolf. He had his roll all figured out, He "  ah puff and ah puff and I bwhoa your house daown".
This is actually the first year we took him trick or treating. It was interesting. All week I made sure he watched the Halloween episodes of all the toonies he loves. Of course the one that stuck with him the entire night was Little Einsteins. (For those of you who don't know what Little Einstiens is, it is a cartoon that incorporates famous classical music, art and certain geography into each episode.) My neighbors probably think I am some educational freak because all roman would talk about is the Buckingham Palace, and the Palace of Versailles.

On top of that, here is basically how the night went.

First house:  
Roman: "Trick or Treat"
Nice woman handing out candy: " Aw, Hey there, do you like Lollipops?"
Roman: "No" (and walked away)

Second house: He walked into!!!! No lie, straight up walked right past the guy with bins full of great candy and into his living room.
The rest of the night he wanted to just pull the wagon, haha. Out. Of. Control!

Now that November is here, I think it is time to start the potty training thing again.  The things I do for this kid, there should be some sort of reward. I would even settle for him just using the toilet!

A couple of weeks ago I was doing something in the other room and when I turned around, there was roman, with his potty seat around his head. "Look mommy I'm a lion, RAWWWRRRR!!!" I was mortified. I looked at him and said "Um, that's not even funny. That is just gross."
Then, I did what any sane mother would do. I sanitized his face. Luckily with the right brand because not long after I noticed I was cleaning his poor hands with Clorox kitchen wipes! Yep. Mother of the year award goes to me.

Also, I have never felt so encouraged to use the toilet. Now I receive applause, praise, and a "Good job mommy, you get a skittle now?" But all the praise also comes with a little head by my butt making sure that everything is going fine? Who knows, I don't question his technique.

Monday is when we start and I refuse to go back. I told roman tonight that he has to start going pee and poop all the time on the potty starting Monday because they stopped making diapers, and there is a sever diaper shortage. So that means all we have now are undies.

Good thing he isn't too smart, because I would be questioning why all of a sudden there is a mysterious shortage in diapers. I guess he will never know. ;)


Oh and I will leave you with one final thing.... you should probably watch this video:

CLICK ME!

It's roman's new fav video, haha! Thanks Aunt HeyHey!

Ranting and raving.... but mostly ranting.

Well, lets see.... Not much excitement has been going on here. Roman decided that I need to continue changing crappy diapers after-all. What a bummer. Not exactly sure what happened with all of that, but he was all gravy then just randomly decided he was over the whole potty situation. Most people would just keep on pushing it but the way I see it as he just really isn't ready for all the fun the porcelain god has to offer. We will try again in a couple of weeks.

We recently discovered this sweet new playground just up the road from us. I am pretty sure it is the best playground I have ever been too. Like, its a little inappropriate all the cool things our children are getting to enjoy now compared to what was available back in the early 90's.  Who am I kidding?! I am totally jealous because when I was young all we had was a wooden, wasp infested one. It was complete with those little pebble stones that would sneakily find there way into the bottom of your sneakers or jellies. Annoying.

Just so we are on the same page, let me share some pictures of the new park.

View as you are walking in

This. Park. Is. AWESOME! There are areas that have bells, drums, a color wheel, kaleidoscope, and tons more. Not going to lie, I can get a little edgy when I have to wait in line for the roller slide. I constantly have to remind myself that this is all for the kids, ha ha.
The only negative thing is there really is no place for parents to sit and NO SHADE (unless you like to hide under the playground its self). But lets be honest, I can only slouch like Quasimodo for so long.
It is hardly ever busy when we go there. I think people are just starting to hear about it since it is new. If you live in Wilmington and haven't been to Olsen Park, I highly recommend checking it out. Just make sure to sunscreen your little's up nice and good, and bring lots of water!

Oh and here is the park I grew up playing on....

Yeah, yeah, yeah... its big, and I did love playing on it. But when you leave with a couple of wasp stings, probably a few splinters and jellies full of rocks, you will start to question how much fun you really had. ;)

Face Yoga

I have been starting to notice the small signs of aging. I won't bore you with the details at this moment, but I have decided to start trying this facial yoga.
I hope this works! ha

The Joys of Potty Training.

I have been dreading this point for a very long time now. To the point where I was sort of prepared to just let Roman wear diapers the rest of his life. The positive part of that would  be he eventually would be able to change his own diapers and it would definitely keep the ladies away when he gets older.


On a serious note though, it hasn't been as bad as I imagined. I was planning on waiting until we got back from our trip to NY at the end of the month (Could you imagine two 14 hour drives with a newly potty trained toddler?!). Roman however had different plans and randomly asked if he could go pee on the potty. His ambition to keep going was that he loved putting toilet paper into the toilet. Well one roll, and a clogged toilet later I knew it was time to come up with a new potty plan if he was really going to do this thing!

Toilet paper in hand, and very excited about it.

A while ago we received a bulk size box of skittles from a good friend. They have become our new reward. He goes pee, he gets a skittle. He goes poop...... I plan on giving him a present and tons and tons of praise!

On the first day, he had a couple accidents as expected, but then he learned that if he went on the toilet that he would get a skittle. It got to the point where he would go a little, get a skittle... go romp around for awhile until he wanted another skittle and would go again. He would go a little and hold it over and over so he would keep getting more and more skittles. Sometimes I think he is a little too smart. But whatever gets him to go!!

The second day he did sooooo good! He woke up dry from sleeping and his naps. No accidents except for pooping in his underwear. OH MY LANTA!!! I wanted to gag. No way was I ready for this shit. Literally. I will spare you the details. You're welcome!


We are only on day 4, but things are still as good as day 2. My major obstacle right now is figuring out how to get him to poop on his porcelain throne. Here is what I have tried so far......

We started a poop band... yes you read that right, a poop band.
I really thought this was going to work BUUUT it hasn't.

Here are some of our top hits :

Roman had a Little Poop (Mary had a little lamb)
Twinkle Twinkle Roman's Poop
American Poop (American Baby- DMB)
The Itsy Bitsy Poopy
and many more!

My good friend was giving me some tips on potty training and it came up that kids like to feel grounded so I should try to keep his feet on something.

This is what I came up with lol... there is a small DVD player with Little Einsteins on it. Good news... he got to watch a whole episode of toonies. Bad news, he didn't poop.




We read books, played with iPhone apps, and consumed an inappropriate amount of skittles and chips. Hopefully something will work soon.

UPDATE--- as I was typing all of this up, you will not believe what happened! He pooped on the potty! WHOOP WHOOP!!!

What an overachiever. ;)

How funny is it that we get so excited over our children taking a dump on the toilet? The show and praise that goes on is pretty comical. I don't remember it, but I hope my first crap was just as fun and rewarding as Romans. (MOM- feel free to NOT share. Seriously, I won't approve your comment) haha

We just had a moment!

    Roman has been boycotting the pedals for as long as I can remember. He Insisted on scooting the bike with his feet no matter how uncomfortable or awkward it was.
Today was our turning point, Roman now uses the pedals! WHOOP WHOOP!! I think we may celebrate with some cookies and ice cream, and no not just because I have an unruly sweet tooth today. That just happens to be a crazy coincidence.

Here is a small video I got.







Today the tricycle, tomorrow a car and off to college. :(
Time needs to slow down

Dino Waffles

Sitting here looking through pictures from this week I find myself wondering things like why kids choose to eat random things like glue and Play-Doh?! Roman isn't a glue eater yet, but I have no doubt in my mind that one day this child will pick a bottle of Elmer's over a good home made dinner.

I am slowly but surely beating this picky eater stage. For awhile there he was living off Cheerios and  crackers. I would say last week was the paint where I became completely fed up with making him yummy meals, for it to only be dismissed as "yucky" without even taking a bite.

My tactic now? I make EVERYTHING into a sandwich! So simple and I'm sort of pissed at myself for not coming to this conclusion sooner.

So yeah, not a glue eater, but definitely a Play-Doh licker. Sounds nutritious right? HA! I first discovered Roman's Play-Doh problem when I came out of the kitchen and his teeth were mysteriously blue. He looked up at me, smiled his big toothy grin, and said "Yummy", as he proceeded to lick what was left of it.
Needless to say, I am still working on his 12 steps to recovery but we just can't move forward until he admits he has a problem.

This is how our progress is coming.... these were taken three days ago.

Side note: Who's brilliant idea was it to make a little winder thing to make it look like spaghetti?! I suppose in the end it's my fault because I let him play with it and choose to take these pictures rather then stopping this behavior.


There are times though when I can get a bit creative in how I sneak veggies into his diet.
For example, Veggie Waffles. Yes, you heard that right! Veggies... in waffle form, and topped with honey. I honestly don't think eating healthy gets any tastier than this!

What I do is puree two or three vegetables and mix it in with buckwheat pancake mix. I only will use half the milk they call for and substitute the rest for puree. God I am good :). You can do it with pancakes and whatever else too but not going to lie when I say I eat this shit out of these waffles too!
You really can't taste them in there at all!
I can't take all the credit for this brilliance though. I got the idea from this Veggie Muffin Recipe by dana-MADE-it . Roman is also obsessed with the muffins. I definitely recommend both sneaky recipes ;)

I know, I know... My photographing skills are pretty amazing. Try not to be too jealous.

WARNING:  If you make these amazing waffles, make sure to lockup all dinosaurs. Veggie Waffles are sort of a dino fav. ;)

Long lost friend.

OH HEY THERE! Long time no see.

I know, I know, I really suck at this whole blogging thing. Maybe third time is a charm? I can only hope.

Obviously a ton has happened since I last posted. I have started my own small sewing business, RoLeeJo, we bought our first home, and are in the process of trying for baby #2. (Crazy right?!)

Right now we are in the terrible two's stage with Roman. It honestly hasn't been horrible. I have only wanted to scream at the top of my lungs a handful of times. Shamefully I have done it twice and it was pretty amusing. Roman stopped his whining and leaching to my legs to look at me and be all "What is your deal woman?!". The nerve of this kid, I tell ya!

His Birthday (back in May) was pretty fun, and by the end of it, he could have opened up his own bubble lawn mowing business, ha ha!!! Seriously was the funniest thing ever! He got three or four of the same bubble lawn mower, lol. Everyone knows he loves playing outside and bubbles so it really made the perfect gift!

Recently he has taking up a position as a lead singer in a scream-o band. You know the type, heavy metal, and instead of singing they scream at the top of their lungs in attempt to break everyone's ear drums. How delightful.
Roman's scream-o band is a little different though. Instead of electric guitars and such, he prefers the violin and this wooden Indian flute my mom gave him. He says its a clarinet though.
So there you have it folks, your very first classical scream-o band. I have a feeling this type of music genre is going to get pretty popular so prepare yourselves.

Here is a sneak peak of what you hopefully soon will be able to enjoy.

Would you just check out that form?!

It totally looks all cute and innocent, but trust me when I say it can get rather disturbing. I will make sure to get a video of this and update you all on this newly invented music. :)

Until then, keep on rocking!