Tag: family life

Disney, Dreams

Little Things

Courtney

You know, it doesn’t really take that much to make me happy. I’m easily amused and love to enjoy the everyday things that some may see as “ordinary.” I wanted to make a little list of the little things that make me happy to share with you guys as we head into the weekend to help you recognize the little things in your life that can make you happy.

 Dual Monitors

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 ok, this one might seem a bit nerdy, but it really has made my working (and blogging) life so much better! Having a gazillion spreadsheets, emails and documents open can get confusing. This helps a ton. It was actually my Mothers Day gift (You know you married a techie when…) and I couldn’t think of anything better, besides a trip to Disney… which leads me to my next point.

Another thing that makes me happy… Disney. 

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I always have my Mickey Mouse glasses (those aren’t pink polka dots, they are Mickey Shapes!) and use my Disney Resort cup for Ice Coffee nearly every day. They remind me of the awesomeness that is Walt Disney World and help bring a little bit of that magic into my everyday life.

Also, I love that I have a family that shares this Disney love. As I type this an album of Classic Disney Songs is playing on Mr Dreamer’s computer. And what 2 year old little girl doesn’t love Disney Princesses? I’m pretty sure Little Dreamer is convinced she really is the lost Disney Princess.

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For some reason my camera didn’t focus while I was taking the first picture, and while it might be blurry it is one of my favorites. Just look at that face! And the second picture makes her look so old. Stop growing up!!

Mail & Packages

Not email. Snail Mail. Although I don’t use it as much as I’d like, I love getting it! If you want to make my day (or week!) Send me a letter or package! I still listen for the Mail Lady and run out there after I see her put the mail in the box. It is usually junk mail and bills, but every once in awhile I get something good. Today was the jackpot of good mail days. I got a surprise package from Lindt Chocolate for participating in their recent BzzAgent Campaign.

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Beautiful and Delicious.

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I also received a copy of the new book Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff for Moms and I am excited to be a part of the Don’t Sweat Moms team. Looking forward to reading this over the weekend, just in time for Mother’s Day.

Besides these two awesome surprises we also go Mr Dreamer’s and Little Dreamer’s passports in the mail. We are one step closer to Costa Rica! And we got back a $50 rebate card from a recent purchase from our wireless company. How often do you get that much goodness in the mail?! Today was an extra special day!

Now it’s your turn… What are some little things that make you happy?

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Family Life, parenting

Life Happens.

Courtney

My apologies for my lack of blog appearances lately. It seems like when things happen they come in waves. A few weeks ago Payton woke up from a nap with a fever. No other symptoms. After a few days of it not going down we went to the doctor. They thought it might be a urinary tract infection, so they were trying to do some tests to make sure. In the meantime her fever spiked to 105.1. I may or may not have freaked out…. and proceeded to take her to the ER as the doctor advised. They did some more tests and determined she did have a UTI and got her on antibiotics. That is such a hard thing to go through…. to not be able to fix anything. She started to get better with the antibiotics, but they did more tests to try to figure out why she got it in the first place. That was no fun either. Then as she finally got better I developed this awful toothache. I spent most of the weekend taking pain pills that made me literally sick and tired. Poor Chris. He took great care of me though. I ended up having a root canal (well at least part of it) and then had to recover from that.  On top of all that we were in our last few weeks of the school term… I’m not sure how I ended up finishing it, and getting decent grades. Only by the grace of God!!

Payton and I were both finally getting back to normal (or some semblance of it anyway) and we were so glad because it was just in time for Kylen to come visit!! Kylen and I were on the Acquire the Fire Ministry team together and we were both in the drama where we played “BFF’s”. Thing is that really turned us into BFF’s. I love her so much. She’s so sweet and loving. A visit from her is always fun. She came to visit last year when I was pregnant and it was so exciting for her to meet Payton. We had a blast!

Kylen and Payton at the park
Payton playing in the leaves

She just left yesterday, so today is the first day in about a month that Payton and I have had a “normal” day. We woke up and played and ate breakfast and played and now she’s napping (at a normal nap time, yay!) I have cleaned and vacuumed upstairs and now I’m sitting here with my Pine scented candle, coffee and Hillsong. I feel like i’m “decompressing.” Things have been crazy lately and it doesn’t seem like they are going to let up any as the holidays approach. Holidays are kinda difficult for me, to be honest. While living far away from family can have it perks (less drama? maybe? ok, maybe not…) I do miss them so much, and even more so now with Payton. I always think back to what the holidays were like growing up. I remember always having a thanksgiving with moms side of the family and dads side of the family. Then Christmas we had the tradition of waking up in the middle of the night and playing monopoly until mom and dad woke up, then reading the Christmas story, opening presents, then going to mom’s side of the family for breakfast and presents, then to dad’s side of the family for dinner and presents… so much family and fun, but I remember having to always run around. I realize now how important it is to really set traditions for our family now that we have Payton. I don’t know what those traditions are going to be, but I’m looking forward to them.

What are some of your favorite holiday traditions?

parenting

8 months.

Courtney

Yesterday Payton turned 8 months old! I can hardly believe how fast time flies, but at the same time how it seems like she’s been here forever. This month has been a fun one.
She is developing quite the personality.
She has experienced the emotion of frustration quite a bit over the last month, and even has her own cry/scream to express it.
She is a master at blowing raspberries.
She has the cutest open mouth smile, which allows you to see her now 4 (and almost 6) teeth. She has two on bottom, the two eye teeth have broken through an her two front teeth are on their way out.
She pays close attention to our facial expressions and tries to mimick them.
Daddy taught her to stick out her tongue.
She loves to laugh.
She is still working on crawling… she gets frustrated and stops trying. She would much rather be standing up than laying on her tummy.
She has learned what the word “no” means and doesn’t like it.
She learned to drink from a straw and really likes that.
She is so much fun!

Showing off her teeth
How big is Payton? SOOOO BIG

Family Life, parenting

recovering.

Courtney

so i’m still “recovering” from this cold/cough or whatever miserable thing it is. I feel fine in the middle of the day, but mornings and evenings are rough. The cough and the sore throat are killer. swallowing is a chore, which is sad because I love to eat. I guess that could mean its a good thing for my waist line, or so you would think! I’ve eaten tons of soup and had countless cups of hot tea. I’ve been trying hard to take care of Payton while also trying to not “share” my germs. Thats so hard! I didn’t realize how much I love to kiss her little face until I try not to!

Speaking of Payton, she is nearing the 8 month mark! Time flies doesn’t it? She has been developing quite a bit lately. She loves to clap her little hands. She tries to mock the noises we make and even some of the words we say. Her most recent work is “yes”. She has been saying “dada” for awhile now. She tries hard to say Delilah (thats our cocker spaniel) but it usually comes out “DUH”. No sign of “mama” just yet, but i’m working on it. She has been on the verge of crawling for a few weeks now… but just hasn’t had the motivation to do it. I’m ok with her not starting to crawl just yet, I kinda like the peace of knowing she will say where I put her… but I know it won’t last for much longer! Speaking of longer… she’s actually starting to get some hair (ok… it might just be some “fuzz”) but its better than bald!

Heres a few pictures we took today. We always have fun, even when I don’t feel good!

Family Life, parenting

sick day

Courtney

so yesterday afternoon i started to get a dry scratchy throat.
by the end of the night my throat felt swollen, i had a slight cough and a pounding headache.
when i woke up this morning my body was achy, still had the same closed-throat and pounding head.
i was going to call in sick… until i remembered moms don’t get sick days.
babys still need to be fed and diapers need changing.
school deadlines don’t change.
dishes don’t do themselves.
food doesn’t cook itself.
luckily my baby girl picked up on the fact i wasn’t feeling too hot and all she wanted to do this morning was cuddle….

cuddles

(please excuse my messed up hair and no make up face, since i took a “sick day” we stayed in our pjs until after nap time)
and i realized that while i can’t call in sick, i don’t think i would want to. my days spent with this precious little girl are just priceless!

so heres hoping this pounding headache, sore throat and grogginess disappears sooner rather than later.

Family Life, parenting

september?

Courtney

Is it really almost September? When did that happen? So much has been going on. Payton is growing more and more every day. I feel like her personality is developing so quickly. She has the funniest faces and loves to talk. She is trying to crawl and gets so frustrated when she can’t get where she wants to go. She has an enchanting smile and a contagious laugh. Sometimes she can have a huge attitude… don’t know where she gets that from! I love spending my days with her. The days and weeks can sometime melt together, which is probably how september snuck up on me.

I finished my second term of college today. Thats so weird. I always swore off college, just because I wanted to rebel against social norms. Now here I am chasing after what I swore against. Funny how that works, huh? I’m excited to get my Psychology degree and to go on to be a licensed counselor. I know that it will be a long journey, but I’m up for it!

Here are a couple of pictures from this month, enjoy!