dissed.

Copper is a good dog. When it was just her and I we had all the fun a dog and a dogmom could have. She slept in bed with me every night when Andy was at the station. She was by my side during my pregnancy and never turned down a nap on the couch with her dogmomma. But, I'm feeling a bit guilty today after realizing how big of a diss it must have been when Colt joined our little family. I love her, don't get me wrong, but not near as much as I used to. On more than one occasion she has been a little pest to me. Her constant need for attention and love has often times made me wish she were a Cat.

Meow.

I think during the Winter she is a bit more annoying because she can't play outside...and that is a big engery burner for her.

Copper in happier times.



I took this picture last night and she looks so sad. haha.

Poor Puppy. I'll try harder...I promise.

too much fun.

My cousin Alex came over to visit last night. We were watching old re-runs of SNL and Colt was just bouncin away, having fun, and talkin to himself. A few minutes later Al goes, "Whoa! look at the kid! Is he sleeping?"

And this is what we saw...


That is what happens when your totally milk drunk and high on life. You pass out.

dear planner, oh how i love thee.

I've always been the type that needed to have a planner/organizer/all-in-one calendar thingie. I have actually saved my planners from the years previous and every once in a while I flip through them to remember what I was doing on...oh, lets say...April 21st 2006. And there it is. A detailed flashback. Lunch with mom @ 12. On that day...I had lunch with mom :) I like looking back. I especially like looking back from about October 2006-January 2007. I was completely and unbelievably an organized freakazoid during those months, the months right before my wedding. Jan 27th 2007. Whoohoo.

I love crossing off the days on a calendar too. I think I used to love it a bit more when I was working and had each day of the week staring me back in the face. There was a constant countdown to the weekend. I would shut my computer down for the day…make sure my stack of things to do was organized and in it’s proper red folder [which signified RED HOT importance], I’d straighten my stapler and mouse pad so everything was properly aligned and then I’m take a big fat marker and cross the day off on my desk top calendar. One time the warehouse manager was hanging out by my office and saw my end of the day routine. He laughed and told me I was ‘One of those people’. Yep. True. I'm one of those people.

I am also particular, a little picky and a tad finicky about my planner. It must be uncomplicated, effortless to use, and have loads of space to write on the days of the week and even more space for all my notes-to-self that pop in my head through out the day.

Well my friends…let me introduce you to my planner ecstasy.

My new Truly Mom Planner:




Did you hear the angelic voices in the back ground? I love this planner and must admit that I am slightly obsessed. Honestly...I don’t even have much to plan these days. Go figure!

I joked the other day that I take my planner to bed with me at night and lay it under my pillow so I can inhale its goodness all night long. I’m not to that point but sadly and quickly approaching that line.

I want all you planny people out there to share in this great thing. Please save up and buy one of these. It will totally and completely be worth every penny. It’s leather and has an awesome tri-fold thingie going on. Inside you'll find post-it notes, a "my day" pad, a "my list" pad, a "a note to" pad, a pull out calandar, a neat little pocket for invitations or anything that you would need to put in a pocket. : ) What also is great is you can buy calander/note refills when you run low or when the year itself runs out and keep the same planner. It comes in different colors and you even get a nifty pen that says ♥TrulyMom♥ on it. And if you're a dude you can just cross out the 'Mom' part on all the pages and post-its. Right? Sorry guys, this might be a chick only thing. Come check them out at Orange Tree.


K. I must go figure out what to do tomorrow so I'll have something to write in my planner.


Busy. Busy. Busy.

Hello 2009! Nice to meet ya.

Happy New Year to all my bloggy friends!

This post shall be quick because I must get back to my hectic schedule of watching movies with my husband, lounging in my pj's and making my son giggle. [Giggles! that's his new thing] Then off to Missy’s to ring in the New Year with my family. It doesn’t get much better than that!

In saying goodbye to 2008, I thought we’d take a stroll down memory lane…

January 2008.

Our 1-year wedding anniversary.
We made it. Whoo Whoo!


January-September 2008

My 1st pregnancy.

I got large, larger...largest!

August 2008

Goodbye Grandpa Breden.

We miss you.

September 2008

Welcome Colt.

Life is so great with you in it!

You might ask...

What does 2009 have in store for the Bredens?????

Well, Andy turns 26. He’s over the 20’s hump and quickly approaching 30!! Yikes. I still feel like a teenager! There will be a few anniversaries to celebrate…our 2nd…my parents 25th and my grandparents 50th. Andy might just complete his first ever triathlon. I’m sure there will be the biggest birthday bash, for a 1-year old, the world has even seen…and perhaps…just maybe…in the latter part of the year… I might become pregnant for the second time. BUT you’ll have to stay tuned!

Happy New Year!!

Becuase I cannt spell (sp?)

While writing a note in a Christmas card a few days ago I stopped on the spelling of a word I wasn't sure of. Andy was sitting right by me doing the crossword puzzle so I asked him if I was spelling the word right. In this particular situation I had spelled the word correctly. Go me. A few seconds later, after I had licked another nasty tasting envelope, Andy said, 'You can't spell. You need to start reading. It will help'.

WOE IS ME. It is true! After many years of being out of the classroom my brain has decided to put my knowledge on the back burner of life. WORDS WORDS WORDS. Why must you fail me brain?

SO...in an effort to get smarterer I'm going to start reading.

Any suggestions on what to read?

Here's what I like/dislike in a book:
a. Easy reads. Long books scare me. Boo.
b. Readings similar to The Five People You Meet in Heaven. I love Mitch Albom.
c. Nothing gory.
d. Nothing too loveyish. No Danielle Steel.
e. Readings similar to Dr. Suess, There's a Wocket in My Pocket.
f. I like things I can relate well with. I read a Fire Fighters Wife book once...I think I would like things about Moms.

Help.

Shut up about Dave Ramsey already...

I know many of my close friends have probably wanted to tell me to 'Shut up about Dave Ramsey already...' because since march (when we started taking Dave's Financial Peace University) it's all I've been talking about. Cash. Our struggles. The budget. Yada Yada.

I got my mind of my money and my money on my mind. What can I say?

So just hear my out one last time and I promise I'll stop talking about it.

Dave's method of madness is to cut up all credit cards, live on a budget within your means, pay and live by cash only. The hardest part of this whole transformation is the written budget. It's the hardest part because you have to have some self control...which I dont have much of : ) When we wrote down how much we made each month, what came out for bills/tithe ect... we realized that with our left over money we were just plain 'blow it' on nothing. We had nothing to show for the extra hundreds of dollars we had left over each month. I'm pleased to say that we've been credit card free since Spring. We'll have one vehicle payed off after the 1st of the year and our debit will be in the Pilot and our home. Which I think is pretty good!

In September, after seeing Colts little face and sensing the fear of seperation anxiety, I was blessed with the opportunity to stay home. I still work a few hours a week, but my main focus in life is being a mommy and it is what I've always dreamt of. At this point, with me bringing in almost no money we really had to be faithfull with the money we did bring in. It has taken major discipline and self control. I remember sitting on the couch one night last month crying because we looked at the numbers and after putting money away for a few months in a "Christmas Present Fund" we only had a few hundred dollars to spend on christmas presents for all our families, friends, bosses...everything. I was so upset because I lovvvvve to give! That is the best part of Christmas and that wasn't the number I had in mind...we have big families and I was just hoping we would have more. We devoured the sale ad's each Sunday looking for the best deals and actually did a great job at getting the most bang for our buck. It's going to be a really great Christmas.

Without plastic money you're reminded of what really matter around the holiday season. It's not all about presents and gifts. Even though their great, it's about God's love and being with your families. It has been long 'cash' journey. We're still adapting to me not making very much money but I get to see my babies face all day everyday and that is something you can't put a price tag on.

We're reminded of Gods promises and his faithfulness everyday. About a month ago Andy received a Advanced EMT bonus from the Fire Department that we weren't expecting and just yesterday we received a check from the hospital for a hefty ammount. Aparently our insurance covered some things that we had already paid for and after the hospital received the check from our insurance company they cut us a check for that ammount! You don't even know how excited we were yesterday. I was jumping up and down in the kitchen like a crazy person...and the 1st thing I said to Andy was 'Guess who's watch over us????' God knows the desires of your heart...all you have to do is be faithful.

Um...Hi.

Hi my name is Mo and I rarely post.

I'm going to try to start posting more often. I've done a horrid job so far. Even if I feel like I'm out of anything cool to say...I'm just gonna say it anyway.

So...let's see here...

Today, Eh...what did I do today?

1) Woke up to my baby's voice coming from across the hall! Yes, that's right ladies and gents, my son has been upgraded to his OWN crib, in his OWN room. Which has it's pro's and con's. Pros: Andy and I get our room back...and I sleep more soundly...and we put him to bed eariler and have civil adult conversations over a glass of wine. Cons: My child is no longer under my nose 24/7...if I want to touch him I can't just reach over into the play pin...he wakes up at 3am everynight looking for his paci and now I have to walk across the hallway...I have to swallow the fact that my baby is growing up and in only a few more blinks of the eye he'll be sleeping across the state in a dorm room. All in all, I am proud of the little booger.

2) I dropped the baby off at Mom in the afternoon and than I ran errands...baby free. It's much quicker that way. All our Christmas gifts are now offically bought and before I sat down at the computer I was on my way to being done wrapping them all too! It's going to be a great christmas. [** I'd like to pat myself and Andy on the back because we have sucessfully completed our 1st ever 'pay with cash only' christmas. All the gifts are bought...and we've got no debt to show for it. I was worried, but I must say we saved for a few months and was still able to get all the gifts we wanted for our friends and family. It feels quite good and empowering!**]

3) After tieing up the Christmas shopping I hung at Mom and Dad's house for a bit and helped them christmas decorate. My mother has 3 silk Christmas tree's and 1 real Christmas tree....all fully decorated!! She's crazy. 4 Christmas trees! I told her she needs to have some people over to enjoy the decorations with...if not it's just for her, Dad, Spence and Max to enjoy. It really is beautiful though...she even said that she's getting another tree from Rose so next year she'll have 5! I think she should hang one upside down. I always think those tree's look so cool.

That's about it for today. Pretty low key. Baby is now sleeping like a good boy [in his own room]. Copper is being annoying and laying by my feet...poor dog can't get enough of me...but she's driving me crazy. I can't stand when dogs lick, and she can't stop licking me. In her doggie world their kisses...which is sweet...but still. I love you Copper, but not that much.

And that's all folks...
Peace, Love and all of the above.

Logan Chaput is the man!

Last Wednesday our good friends Nic and Jen celebrated the birthday of their new boy, Logan. He weighed in at a healthy 8lbs. We we lucky to get to see him today and he is awesome!

Colt (I...) was excited that his first buddy was finally born. Today they played turtles-in-a-half-shell and just layed on their backs...helplessly...like babies or something. It was cute.

Colt looks like a giant and already seems more than just a few month old to me! Time is flying guys. We're looking forward to the days of little league. Logan is the pitcher and Colt, the catcher. We need some infielders and a few outfielders too...ANGELA?? KALEY?? BROOKE?? C'mon friends. Hop on the baby band wagon! It's so fun. Wheeeee!

Winter

I took this picture just a few days ago when we had our real first snow fall of the season. I've heard people all my life complain about snow and the weather getting icy cold and for a quick moment I was to say 'So MOVE', but I hold in my true feelings and the urge to kick people out of my state slowly passes.

I love snow. I love to get bundled. I love my fireplace. I love warm coffee. I love Christmas music before Thanksgiving [What? Me? No, I don't do that].

Sometimes I just stick my head out the door to my backyard and listen. It's so quiet and beautiful. I feel like it's God's way of saying to me 'I'm still here'. I love winter.

Happy Bday Mom & Dad

Mom and Dad celebrated their birthday's together this year since they're only a week apart. And let me just say, Mom...the forties are the new twenties and Dad...the fifties are the new thirties. Andy made them dinner. I made...I mean, Martin's made the cake. And Spencer brought the comedy.

Spencer always likes to be tricky with his gift giving. He bought Dad a random coffee mug from Walgreens and put a $50.00 gift certificate to Granite City inside the mug. Dad held the coffee mug in his hands and looked at it like it was the best thing ever. He was like 'Wow Spence...cool, a new mug!' [You could wrap up a bag of dirt and my Dad would think it was great...he's the easiest person in the world to buy for. Which makes him wonderful]. Spencer was like 'Ya dad...check out the inside...it's thermal and really cool!' - After a few moments of twisting the cap and having no success...Dad sets it aside, says 'I'll look at it later' and moves on to opening my card : ) Backfire! Spence grabs the mug, opens it up for Dad and reveals the real gift. We all laugh...mostly at Spencer's failed funny.

Here is a picture of the cake that Spencer plopped a large votive candle in the middle of because we couldn't find a birthday candle. I was mad because the votive ruined the beautiful cake. Another 'Spencer Moment', not to be confused with a 'Senior Moment' although they're one in the same...was when he picked up the votive candle to lick the frosting off the bottom and poured hot wax all over his hands and the table. Laughs for days.


Andy and I got Mom tickets to see the midnight showing of the play Dracula at the South Bend Civic Theater. We bought them four tickets so they could invite Grandma and Grandpa to join them in a date night to the Theater. They had a great time. Which they all deserved! It was a great night. Another year has passed and they went from a Mom and Dad to a Grandma and Grandpa. We're having fun making memories.