Just Say Julie

Day 13: Blue There is lots of blue in my house.  Wonder Bug is just one of the many things that has taken over my living room that is bright, bold blue. Day 14: Heart Of course the heart on Jackson's Valentine's bib is the heart I decided to use to represent the day of love.   Day 15: Phone Yes, I used my office phone.  Yes, I suck. Sorry...it was easy and I was still sick.   Day 16: Something New The elephant humidifier for Jackson's room purchased to help my poor baby's sinus issues he so luckily inherited from me and his dad.   Day 17: Time A clock in my living room was that was given to me as a wedding gift (the first time). I love this little clock.   Day 18: Drink My sangria swirl margarita at lunch at La Margarita during a date with my hubby.  We don't get time alone often enough. Day 19: Something You Hate to Do I can't think of any household chore that I really like to do but folding and...

It is no secret to those who have known me for a while that there was a time not that long ago when I didn't want children. I didn't think I had the maternal instinct and I just couldn't see myself with kids. We used to joke in college that I was going to be the favorite "aunt" of my closest friends' children. Ironically, I am the only one of us with a child now. One of the things that worked with my first husband was that he felt the same way about having children as I did. Towards the end of our marriage, my thoughts on the subject were beginning to change and that added to the problems between is. Ultimately, I realized it wasn't that I didn't want kids but that I didn't want them with him. Getting divorced at 30 led me to believe I wouldn't have a chance for motherhood. Chris even told me once that he believed I would be happy whether or not I had a baby but I knew in my heart of hearts I really wanted to experience it. I am glad that cha...

Chris and I aren't big on Valentine's Day so we decided to go the low key route this year.  That ended up being a good thing since Jackson and I were both sick with sinus infections. (What is it with us and sick on the holidays this year?) I walked into the room and Chris had left my gift with Trevor so I added his to bed so we could open them at the same time. I decided to dial in dinner since I felt so bad and opted for the Heart Baker pizza from Papa Murphy's.  We got one of these on our first Valentine's together so I think I am going to make a tradition from now on instead of going out to a fancy dinner.  Mom got Jackson this sweet bib for his first Valentine's Day so I had to make sure I sent him to school in it despite the fact he was a snotty mess. (No fever though.)  Here is Jackson's Valentine's to us.  I just love the tiny footprints at the bottom. And I love that our daycare makes sure to send home something we can keep for years...

Day 6: Dinner  Crunchy Beef Casserole, mixed vegetables, and a Dr. Pepper of course. Day 7: Button The button on J's play mat. This one gets pressed a lot and the music tortures me because I will get it stuck in my head all day long. Day 8: Sun I didn't really see the sun all day since my building has no windows so I opted for something sun related. I did get a good view of the setting sun as I was doing 75 around the flyover to the toll road on my way home from work.   Day 9: Front Door The inside of my front door.  The other side is red, crimson red, of course.  One of the things I loved about this house when I bought it.   Day 10: Self Portrait A typical look from me: bored at work and ready to go home. Day 11: Makes You Happy I was heading to Babies R Us for formula and diapers when I saw this sign for the World Market two doors down.  How could I resist.  Mama needs some wine! Day 12: Inside Your Cl...

I decided to post a quick followup to the Elephant story I posted earlier today.  When I got home, I was able to snap some pictures of Elephant in his current state.   Before Here is what Elephant looked like in happier days before he encountered the rough life of living with Maverick. (This is Elephant the 2nd.)  After Here is what Elephant looks like now.  Such a stark comparison of the life one could lead.

I really think Chris and I are getting the hang of this menu planning thing.  I typically spend some time on either Saturday or Sunday selecting the recipes I'd like to use each week and comparing that to weekly ads for any deals that make help make my decision.  We are also trying to be better about eating our leftovers.  By doing this, we have been able to make most of our meal plans last us two weeks instead of the one they were originally planned for.  This is really helping our grocery budget go down.  I am still getting most of my recipes from Pinterest and we've been pretty pleased with a lot of what we have tried.  Here is a list of the ones we have tried recently: Mexican Casserole : This one was easily a family favorite.  We ate off the casserole two nights and Sean asked for seconds both times.  Even Chris, who doesn't like beans, thought this was great.  I did leave out the onions and we used mild Rotel to save on the spiciness....

When I was preparing to bring Maverick home as a 7 week old puppy, I purchased a couple of stuffed animals for him to play with. I thought Mav would love them and it was cute because Mav would try to get both Bear and Duckie in his mouth at the same time. However, I quickly learned that stuffed toys do not last long with my dog. Bear made it a couple of weeks and we went through 3 Duckies in the first couple of months. Since then, I have avoided giving Maverick stuffed toys because I hated cleaning stuffing up after the dog demolished the insides of the toy. About a year ago, a friend of mine gave me two stuffed elephant dog toys. One for Maverick and one for the yet to be determined baby. I gave Maverick his elephant and he quickly removed the stuffing and the squeaker (I think he hates the squeakers) and I set about the task of cleaning up after him. I was waiting for him to discard the body of Elephant so he could be disposed of properly. Only Maverick wouldn't give up Elepha...