Simply the Smith's

When Stephanie from Wife Mommy and Me announced this link up I instanly wrote them all down in my planner so I would not forget. I love the idea of Mom's sharing their ideas and little tips and tricks. I feel like as Mom's we need all the support and help we can get because parenting is hard! So here we are week #1 and we are talking Indoor Toddler Fun. This is something I'm all too familar with because I live in WNY. We are in the throughs of negative temps and snow. Outside play is not an option for us right now so I have to get creative or go crazy. Here are our top 5 Indoor things to do. 1- Color. Grayson is obsessed with coloring and I take this as a chance to learn some colors. 2- Laundry- Listen I know this sounds crazy but I have made it a huge game and he loves it. Yes it takes me longer but I get it done while he is awake so when he naps I have a little more "free" time (which just means I can mop the floors!) Our laundry game is pretty inte...

This weekend was our big football party. It's a great night and I look forward to it every year. Grayson was fine all day. We packed him up for his overnight he ate breakfast and lunch and then went down for a nap. And then 15 mins before we were supposed to take him to my Aunt's house he projectile vomited all over poor Michael. It was awful. He went on to throw up 3 more times before we left and my mom insisted that we still go and she would stay with him. That woman is a saint I swear. But I swear kids have a switch that says Mom and Dad are going out time to get sick. I know it's not true but man it feels like it. My Mom says I could throw a fever at the drop of a hat if they were going out. Karma is what my mother calls it. We had a good night but now I feel sick to my stomach and have no appetite. Fingers crossed it passes fast because I don't have time to be sick. Mom's never do right? So this post is short and sweet and I only took two photos all we...

Linking up for Friday Favorites Today!!! -One- Coffee. I'm sure I have listed this before but with these cold months that seem to drain me coffee has become my life line. I even had a second cup yesterday because I was just that tired an cold. These K-cups are my FAVORITE!  -Two- Amazon Prime. I know it went up this year but I have without a doubt already gotten my money's worth out of it. Between diaper, k-cups, birthday gifts, and zip drives I order a lot. All within my budget of course -Three- The relationship my Mama has with my boy. They have this great connection and it is just sweet. She got him these cute owl clings and he loves them and we made a little video to "fank Gigi"  -Four- The way kids learn things (or maybe it's just my kid) Grayson thinks that when he get one drop of food on him or his tray that "Oh no Mama Ayson Messsssss" so I give him a napkin to clean it up and he says "Oh ...

Happy Tuesday! Thursday!!!! Yes I started this post Monday night and then I didn't have enough storage on my phone to take pictures. And I'm as nosy as can be and I love pictures so I set out to move all my photos over to my zip drive that still remains missing so I ordered a new one and thanks to Prime I got it last night and was able to click a few pics. So here we are 2 days late but better late than never! Right? I'm linking up with Andrea for her Show and Tell series. Ahhhh Organization the thing that keeps me sane. Without it I'm a fumbling fool. Here are my tips, tricks and crazy things I do to stay organized. This bench and coat rack is essential to my sanity. The bench holds our bags for the day. My purse, lunch bag and Grayson's diaper bag. Our hats, mittens, and scarves also get dropped here. This is our get out the door congregating area and so I love it. I come in plop our bags here and I know in the morning it's all right there aga...

So this weekend was nice and a bummer all at the same time. I'm sad to be back at work being a grown up is hard sometimes. Friday- I got out of work, grabbed Grayson , then went to pick up B and Libby. Let me just say to those of you that have 3 kids my hats off to you. It is just insane. My backseat was full. Grayson wanted to see B at all times, B wanted to scream at the top of his lungs to make G laugh, Libby wanted to listen to Taylor Swift but B hates Taylor Swift. It was the longes half an hour car ride of my life. And then trying to get all 3 of them and their overnight bags into my moms house was just laughable. I let B out first he ran into the house then I got Libby out and handed her her dolls. Then I got out G and started to get out bag when my Dad came out and saved the day. Once they were all settled which was 30 seconds because I got a quick hug and kiss from them and they were all up the stairs to help Papa get toys I headed home. I freshened up and we headed to ...

It's Friday!!! On one hand I'm all Yahooooooo and on the other I'm all Say what? already? where is the time going??? I'm linking up with Andrea to share some of my favorites from the week. These are just some Favorite Moments that make me happy! Michael and I went to the grocery store alone and together. Which is so one of my Favorites. We very rarely go together anymore. I usually just pop in after work, it's my ME time (such a mom right?). But on Wednesday he had a doctors appointment that I went to with him and after we scooted into the store to pick up a few things. We held hands and laughed together. Sure it was only 10 minuets but man did I soak that up. My next favorite is from the same day. We picked up Grayson together. He did not know what to do and him seeing Michael and saying "No No Daddy Home" was a favorite moment that I died laughing over. That kid is all routine and he knows that Mama drops him off and picks him up. The big ...

This is just a Hodge podge of my thinking this week. - For a few weeks Grayson was very into the potty. I have a potty chair and the seat that goes on the toilet he preferred the toilet and even went on it once (and one time on the floor as I was lifting him on the toilet). Now? Nothing so we have backed off. I know he is young but I was excited to see the end of the tunnel that is paved with diapers. - I got a sneak peak of my blog design and I'm in love. I promise I will do a whole blog post once it is finished! - We have dinner with my brother and sister-in-law on Friday and my parents offered to watch all of the kids overnight on Friday while we are at dinner. I'm beyond excited to have a night out and hang out with my sister-in-law. About 5 years ago we decided to stop buying Christmas gifts for each other and just go out to dinner, instead it's a nice tradition that I look forward to every year. Plus Saturday morning at home to myself? Okay you twisted my ar...

WE DID IT!!!!!! We have officially saved $1,000.00 Emergency Fund. And I'm so proud of us. We chose to start from a $0 balance for the Emergency Fund because we decided to pay off 2 smaller credit cards and used our savings for that. There fore we needed to build up the Emergency Fund. Which we did in 6 weeks!!! Now that we have our EF secure what is the next step? DEBT DESTRUCTION!!!! We have crunched some preliminary numbers and lets just say I'm beyond excited for this next year. We actually hit our EF goal mid December but decided to start Baby Step#2 January 1st because we wanted to save some money towards Grayson's 2nd (!!!!!!) Birthday Party. I wanted to be able to pay cash for this and since we have a large(r) family we like to host the party at a location rather than our house. That is a whole separate post for another day (soon promise!!) Anyway we have been faithful to the envelope system. And have seen such a drastic cut in monthly bleeding. ...

The weekend has come and gone way to fast in my opinion. Friday we had an awful snow going on all the schools were closed and so I called my Mom (at the early hour of 5:30 am) to see if since she was off would she watch G she said of course and they got to spend the day together. These two have the best connection he loves his GiGi and when I got home he kept telling me "My GiGi coat on, Gayson coat on, outside snow Mama" That was his way of telling me she took him outside to play. Normally Friday is take out pizza night but we were going out to dinner on Saturday with Michael's Aunt and Grandma so we cooked. Michael made the best smothered chicken I have ever had and french fries. Loved every bite of it. We ended the night with Monsters Inc ( the movie that is always on repeat at our house) and coloring. Saturday it was super sunny out but still only 14 so it was another day of staying warm and snugly in the house. We played blocks, colored, and put away some laun...

It's Friday and that alone is a Favorite!! The week after the Holiday's is always a bruiser for me. I'm exhausted and plus we have had a rough few days over at the Smith household. But I know that I will look back and wish for the days when he wanted me to hold him and rock him to sleep.  Anyway on to the fun with Andrea These boots are my Favorite. Listen I'm an UGG girl all day long. However -15 temps and 12" of snow call for some serious boots and these do the trick. Waterproof, sherpa lining and great traction= I'm sold plus the $78.00 price tag was nice too! My Mom was off school today so she offered to watch Grayson so that he was home safe when the next round of snow hits this afternoon. She just sent me this pick and I die him in the snow is a Favorite for me today. My boys love language is outside time so this just makes him happy. And yes he cried when she tried to take him back inside. *sigh* you win some you lose ...

Is there such a thing a a 21 month sleep regression? If so I'm in it Sunday night Grayson was up from 2 until 4:30 we finally fell back asleep at 4:45 only for my alarm to go off at 5:30. He got to stay snuggled in bed with daddy while I sucked down caffeine like it was my job, so I could ya know do my job. Tuesday night even worse he went down at 8:30 and was up at 12:00 until 2:30 when I finally shut the monitor off and fell asleep. I don't know when he fell asleep but I know he woke up at 5:45. I was a zombie all day at work and even had a soda at 2:30 just to keep me awake. That soda was not part of my new eat healthy plan but it helped me avoid falling asleep at my desk. Tuesday night he slept from 8 until 2:00 was up for 30 and then back down until 6 by far our best night and I woke up feeling like a million dollars with 6 hours of consecutive sleep.  Now last night back to the no sleeping. Ahhhhh it's killing me. There is nothing worse than hear...

In case you haven't noticed (probably not) I have backed off from blogging.  Why?  I felt like I couldn't find my voice.  I struggled with the putting it out there (and being judged) and seeming like it was sugar coated. So I have made a decision This year 2015 will be the year of me just being me. So I have contacted a new blog designer (which when I have my new blog design I will share!). And I'm just going to be me. I'm going to be a sarcastic if I want. I will have moments so sweet they will give you a cavity I will talk about our debt I will talk about our marriage I will do link ups  And I may or may not post a ton of pictures.  I hope that you follow along because I love to see real people and real moments.

The first Friday Favorites of 2015 and I'm ringing in the New Year Random Style I have yet to blog about Christmas and probably never will so I'm going to bring you our favorite gifts for us and Grayson  One My baby loves to collect and push things around enter the gift that Santa brought Shopping Cart I love that it has a spot to put a stuffed animal or baby (or Mike for Monsters Inc. lol) He uses this non-stop. We also go him these canned foods to go in the shopping cart. The lids open and now my kid likes to eat his snack out of them. Toddlers will always keep you guessing. Two Crayola Bath Colors These came in his stocking and he loves them. This jar will last us around 2 months. We alternate between colors and bubble bath. We have started putting two different colors at opposite ends and watching them meet in the middle and mix. He calls this "maygic" and oooo's and ahhhhh's every time. Three Trian...