Another Christmas...

Today we are celebrating Christmas with my family at my parents house. There are A Lot of people here. Presents are done and dinner is coming soon. Should be a nice relaxing afternoon.

Happy Friday Peeps!

Embrace The Camera December 29.

Let's get back to Embracing The Camera.

My sister took this when Zoie was just 4 days old. 

We had been home for 2 days at this point and I was exhausted. 

Apparently ... so was she.

Now it's your turn to join the fun. Head on over and visit Emily and her beautiful new baby girl, Olive.
So precious!
Be sure to visit other amazing Mommas and leave them some love.

What time is it???

I am still getting used to the 2:00 a.m. feeding thing.  Sometimes it's 2:00, sometimes 1:00 or 3:00 or 4:00 ... and some nights it's all of those. The time to wake up seems to come so fast when I don't get to sleep until after 10:00 on most nights. Does it ever get easier?

I am anxiously awaiting the nights when she'll sleep all the way till morning.

Oh well, I can't complain ... just look at this face!

Who wouldn't want to wake up to that?

Photo Courtesy of Small Beginnings Photography

Guess I need to start napping!

Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

If you haven't checked out my resolutions yet, go here. Then link up with Kristine over at J and M's Eye Candy to see what other inspring Mommas have to say.

New Years Resolutions

Every year I make a resolution or two.

And every year I fail horribly at keeping them going past the first few weeks of the year.

But this year I have a plan, and that plan is to make resolutions about things that really matter to me and to my family.  I figure, the more they truly matter to me the easier it will be for me to keep them.

2012

1. DROP SUGAR. I am sad to admit that during my pregnancy I gained a little lot more weight than I wanted or expected. A lot of it was water weight and I am already down a few pounds since delivery. But I am still about 40 pounds from where I want to be. Ugh. The only thing that has helped me in the past is accountability and dropping sugar. Sugar is bad. SO, sugar is gone.

Source: myonlinehealtharticles.com

2. RUN. I need to get back in shape. If I have any intention of getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight and being able to keep up with my little one when she starts moving around on her own, I will need to be in better shape. Let the running start! (As soon as I get the ok from my Dr.)

Source : allwomenstalk.com

3. WEEKLY DATE NIGHT. I love my husband. I miss my husband. Not in the way that i don't see him. I do see him, not as much as I would like, but I do see him. This year, I would like to schedule a weekly date night so we can spend time together without the kiddos.

4. JUST BREATHE. I have a tendancy to jump to conclusions, speak out of turn, and maybe over-react a little. I'd really like to stop that. So I am going to take 10 second to just breathe when the time is necessary for me to take a second to reasses my emotions and react in a possitive way.

 Source: downwardspiralintothevortex.blogspot.com

5. ORGANIZE AND TAKE MORE PHOTOS. It seems like we get in a place where we are either taking tons of pictures, or not taking nearly enough pictures. I am going to arm myself with either my phone or my camera on a daily basis. I am going to take more pictures, at least on a day, and share them on here. I will also be organizing the photos that I do have and get them off of my computer and into albums so everyone can enjoy them.

Source: maxmax.com

6. HUG MORE. We are going to have a new rule in my house; hug when you feel like yelling. This should make everyone either feel really uncomfortable or really loved. Probably both.

Source: mdjunction.com

7. SPEND LESS - SAVE MORE. I am going to work to save more money to do fun things with the kids, like vacations and weekend getaways. This will entail us spending less frivolously. We can do it, I know we can.

Source: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PiggyBank

8. BE READY EARLY. I am going to try to get up earlier and be ready when the kids get up. This way, we will have more time to spend together before we all head out the door in separate directions. Wish me luck on this one. I am a tired Momma.

9. GET OUTSIDE. We spend a lot of time out doors during the summer. When the winter comes around, it is harder to spend time doing fun things outside. So I am going to make a point to get our butts outside and find fun, inexpensive (if not free) things to do.

Source: kued.org

10. BETTER FOOD FOR MY FAMILY. I am going to make a point to cook better food for my family. With the "Sugar Take Down" I have planned, this shouldn't be to difficult. No more processed foods full of salt, sugar, and additives. Nothing from a box! More healthy foods with healthy ingredients. No More Junk!

Source: inuminstantetudomuda.com

I think that should keep me busy for the next 12 months. What do you think? Is it too much? I'd like to think that if anyone can pull off all of this, it will be me. I sure have my work cut out for me.

It is going to be a great 2012!
Go link up your resolutions and read others below. You'll find some great inspiration.

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

We celebrated with the kids yesterday before they returned to their mom's.

Today we'll be spending the day with my parents, grandparents, and my little brother and sister. It should be a lovely relaxing day.

More pics to come of our Christmas Chaos later. Until them, here is Zoie with the dolly Santa brought :)

I'm back!

Where has the time gone? I can't believe it has been three months since I last blogged. They do say, "Time flies when your having fun." Does the same go for exhaustion and being busy? It seems so in this house.

A lot has happened in the past couple months. I'll do my best to get you all caught up on everything in the next week. Until then ... Here is a little sneak peak at not what, but who has kept me the most busy.

Embrace the Camera - October 20

Good Thrusday Morning!
Today we are embracing Dad!

Dad LOVES his girls! The girls LOVE their Dad!

Two more weeks and he'll have another little girl to love!

How will you Embrace the Camera?

Join in the fun!

Ethan and Owen Have a Birthday

Last Saturday was the Halloween Birthday for my sweet little Godsons, Ethan and Owen.

Ethan (A little cowboy) turned 3 on October 6!

Owen (A little Indian) turned 1 on October 5!

I love these little kiddos. We had their Halloween themed party at the "Jump and Bounce" in Spokane Valley where they jumped and played their little hearts out for a while.

Afterward, we celebrated with pizza, cake, and a dessert bar in the party room.

The dessert table turned out beautiful!

Elisa (my cousin) worked really hard putting it all together.

She did such a good job!

I can't wait to plan another dessert table with you girl!

Happy Birthday Boys!

Sunday Drive

Taking a Sunday drive with my hubby. We have our coffee in hand and no destination in mind. This is my kind of morning.
I hope your enjoying your Sunday.

Wardrobe Help

I am having a bit of a Dilemma!

My closet is full of clothes... all pre-maternity clothes of course.
Part of being 9 months preggers - You have no clothes.

I haven't purchased a lot of maternity clothes during my pregnancy. They are so expensive and I can't bring myself to buy almost a whole new wardrobe to use for only a few months. And let's face it; it's much more fun to buy cute baby clothes, than fat maternity clothes. But right now I am currently having a crisis!

Dilemma #1

Almost nothing fits. I have one pair of jeans that fit, 4 t-shirts, and 2 tank tops. That's about it. Normally this would be fine for me, except even my shirts are getting snug. I really don't want to be that lady whose baby belly hangs below her shirt - yuck!

Dilemma #2

The weather here is changing. For months I've gotten away with wearing the same pair of shorts almost every day. I cycle through my t-shirts and tank tops as often as I can wash them. But in the last two weeks our weather has gone from 90 degrees to roughly 60 degrees and it could only get worse... too cold for t-shirts and tank tops.

So what do I do??

Do I suck it up and buy a few more items to get me through the next couple weeks? Or do I continue wearing what I have and hope that my undershirt covering my belly is good enough for now??

Anyone know of something practical I can buy that will get me through the next couple weeks and maybe a few months after that? I could really use some advice.

Zoie's Nursery

It's all starting to come together. All except the closet.
My mom and I worked to move Ryleigh to the basement. We then completely cleaned out Ryleigh's upstairs room to make it ready for baby.

Then it was time to get the room ready for baby Zoie.

It only took us about an hour, but we finally got the dresser put together. I don't understand why furniture comes in a dozen pieces and then all they give you to put it together is a allen wrench. Allen wrenches are horrible. But we got it done. Isn't it cute?!?

Zach helped me put the crib together. Of course the crib didn't come in quite so many pieces and he was much faster at assembling it than we were. But it turned out pretty cute as well.

Then we have this!

You see this mess?  I know it looks horrible. And this is only half of it. There is another big pile in my bedroom. I have Zach and my Dad adding shelves to the closet for me so we have some storage areas. So excited to get that done. I'll show you all the finished product when I can.

Until then, I just sit in here and go through stuff, it's so much fun to look at :)

We'll have better pictures of the entire room ... once I get it all done. It's still a work in progress. Tomorrow I have a trip to Hobby Lobby planned.

Embrace the Camera - Sept 29

Good Thursday Morning!

We took the girls on a train ride a few weeks ago. It was a lot of fun. In Northern WA there is a train ride that runs along the Pend Oreille River from Ione to Metaline Falls.

It is a nice, quiet ride through the woods and along the river where a conductor tells you about the history of the area.

If you'd like to know more, visit their website here.
The best part? All funds go to charity :) Can't beat that.

Now it's your turn to go Embrace the Camera with Emily.

Jealous Much??

You know what makes me laugh with jealousy?

Commercials for Halloween candy!

You want to know why??

Because they always show these adorable little kiddos in their adorable little costumes trick-or-treating in the sunshine and daylight.

You're probably wondering what about this make me envious?

Why would a grown woman envy a child in a costume?

Well, it isn't the child so much as how they are portrayed.

This is how Halloween looks on tv:

This is what Halloween usually looks like in the Inland Northwest (where we live):

Do you see kids Trick-Or-Treating??

No??

That's because they are in their houses trying to figure out how to get their costume on over their snow suits.

Okay... Okay... so it doesn't ALWAYS snow ...

but for once we'd like to have a Halloween that wasn't freezing!

Makes me laugh... and want to move south.

Naming a Baby

We have been trying to pick a name for our little princess for months. You remember the list? LONG

I have known exactly what name I wanted a lot longer than that. It was just a matter of selling Zach on the name I wanted. It was Zach, who was on the fence for a while. He always liked the name that I did, just wanted to be sure about it. I love that he thinks things through instead of jumping the gun like I tend to do.

The name we chose??

Zoie Katherine Ziegler

Want to know something cool about her name?
Her initials.

My husband is Zach or Zachary - Starting Initial Z

My Name is Kara or Katherine - Starting Initial K

Our last name is Ziegler - Z

Our initials together - ZKZ

Zoie's initials will be ZKZ!
How cool is that?

Now we just need this pumpkin to show up on her due date and her birthday will be 11-1-11.

Do your initials have special meaning?

Bears

Zach and I went camping a couple weeks ago in Leavenworth, WA.

Leavenworth is a beautiful little bavarian themed town in Central Washington.

We found the nicest little RV park on the Icicle River, only about 5 minutes from town.

Our first morning there, we received a lovely greeting from these little creatures.

Ok... So the Mama isn't so little and I wouldn't dare go even close to her. But it was pretty cool that they were so close to us, being only about 50 yards away from our camp site. They weren't affraid at all, just wandered the banks of the river eating berries and playing in the grass.

So Cute!

Cradle

My dad is an amazing wood-worker. He made the most amazing gift for our baby girl.

He worked for weeks on this cradle for his new granddaughter.

Isn't it beautiful!

I can't wait to use it. It will be a perfect heirloom.

Thanks Dad! Love You!



Embrace the Camera - September 22

Thrusday is the day to Embrace the Camera!

Zach and I took the girls bowling ...
and had an little photo shoot.

Embrace the Bowling Ball ... I mean Belly!



Happy Thursday Ya'll!

Go Link up with Emily!!

Baby Shower

My baby shower was last Saturday. It turned out beautiful. My mom worked so hard to make everthing perfect for my special day. And believe me, all her hard work paid off.

We were surrounded by good friends and good food.

Everything turned out so wonderful. I cant' thank everyone enough for coming and showing their support for our new little girl. We couldn't be happier and I was so glad to share this special day with everyone.





The Weekend

Today is my baby shower! I couldn't be more excited.

Lots of secrets and surprises floating around my parents house this last week. LOTS of secrets!

(Little Secret: I'm not big on secrets and surprises. But I'm accepting it graciously)

The weather should be gorgeous today and we are expecting a lot of people to share in the fun. I can't wait to see everyone.

What are you up to this weekend?

Whatever it is, I hope it is beautiful!

ETC - August 18

Today is the day to Embrace the Camera.

So I am Embracing the Bump.
My 28 Week Bump Shot!

My good friend Courtney, over at Small Beginnings Photography took this in a last minute 'Mini-Shoot' for me. I couldn't be more thrilled. She does such a wonderful job.

Head on over and visit Em to share your photos.

Don't forget how important it is to take pics of yourself... even if you don't like them; your kids will thank you one day.

Our Adventure Home

After our long 4 days in San Francisco...

We arrived at the airport for our stand-by flight home from San Francisco on Thursday Afternoon. After getting through security and waiting for the flight, the plane finally arrived and much to our dismay started filling up quickly... With only 6 seats available for us 'Stand-by' travelers we were a little nervous that we wouldn't make the flight.

Then the call came in... My dad had just checked the loads for the flight from Phoenix to Spokane and it was FULLY BOOKED!  AHHH! Which was a bummer all in itself... except our current flight we were sitting there waiting on filled up at the last minute...

We were stranded!

So what did we do? Well, If you can't get home for a couple days...

Why not jump on a flight to Vegas!!

So we did! We were able to get on a flight from San Francisco to Las Vegas without any problems and ended up spending two nights there. What a fun weekend! After a Fun Week!

Zach and I in the Bellagio Garden

My Birthday Week

What better way to celebrate my 31st birthday than a last minute trip to San Francisco.
I can't believe it has come and gone so fast. We had an amazing time, I wish we were still on vacation.

We essentially started our trip on Sunday evening. Flying stand-by with my mom's flight benefits always has me worried. At about 8:30 on Sunday night, my dad checked the flight loads for me and there was going to be no way we would make it out of town. [Insert Panic Mode] After an hour or so of searching prices online, we ending up buying a one-way ticket instead of taking the chance on flying stand-by.

So we finally made it out of town at 830 Monday morning. It was an easy flight without complications.

Monday's arrival to San Francisco was beautiful. I have never been there and was very impressed with everything. I am very big on traveling and seeing everything that I can, so of course I pushed myself to visit and see everything.

Fisherman's Wharf:

 Pier 39

  Rode the Trolleys

 

Took and Bay Cruise under the Golden Gate Bridge to see Alcatraz. (Who knew you had to book an Alcaatraz tour - 6 Weeks in Advance). So we were only able to see it from the water.

 A bus tour of the city to see all the sites from a double-decker bus

Ghiradelli Square

Overall we had an amazing time and I can't wait to visit again. I may have pushed myself a little too hard when my feet looked like this on the second evening:

I probably should have rested a little more often :)

More on our trip home later...