Similing Sweetly!

Visit http://smiling-sweetly.blogspot.com/

this is my beautiful friend from Highschool and she is doing a giveaway for all you mommy's out there! Beautiful, handmade burpcloths! Check her out on Etsy too http://www.etsy.com/shop/smilingsweetly !!

AMANDA

Karrington's Kreations

So...my favorite hair bow/clip shop is closing as soon as she sells all her inventory (likely in the next week). I'm really sad about losing my beloved Emma Lee's Boutique, but Derinda is going back to school to get her Masters degree and I could not be happier for her!

With her closing shop, I wasn't sure where I was going to buy my bows...I have scanned through ebay and a few other etsy sites, but nothing was as good as ELB! So...I decided to open up my own Etsy Bow shop called Karrington's Kreations! :) The logo was done by a friend of mine, who is AMAZING...Bianca at BrioNova Designs (you can find her on Etsy and Facebook).

So ladies...I'm getting my shop up and running on Etsy in the next few weeks, I'll be posting updates, pictures and everything in as many locations as possible and reminders for you guys to all check out the shop! I'm so excited! I have been trying to find a means to keep me entertained and busy, other than school work, that could also make me some money and this just happened at the right time. It may be mid to late October before I have everything in full swing. I'm still trying to stock up on supplies, etc.

I'm starting the shop with varying sizes of bows in different colors and patterns...if that takes off like I hope it will, I will start doing flowers, headbands, felt shapes, you name it and I'll make it for you! I also thought this was a great time to get started with the holidays approaching, everyone wants to buy bows for their little ones. I'll also make designer bows for the holidays (Christmas trees, pumpkins, turkeys etc) I'm so so excited about this adventure, and I hope you are too...don't hesitate to email me @ amanda.donajkowski@hotmail.com, message me on facebook or give me a call or text if you have ideas or want something made custom...I'll make it happen!

Love you all!

AMANDA

Visit Emma Lee's Boutique!!

Visit this link to the Emma Lee's Boutique! Become her fan on FACEBOOK!

She makes amazing, and seriously non slip, clips for our precious little girls! I just ordered 5 new clips that I got yesterday and they are simply to die for!! She is also doing a giveaway, so click on the link below to enter! When she reaches 800 fans she will do a giveaway to FIVE PEOPLE!! :)

http://www.facebook.com/#!/topic.php?uid=251307682321&topic=14763

ASU

I got my acceptance letter today to ASU!

I start in the Spring of 2011...back at a University...back on track to get my Bachelors..FINALLY!

I'm majoring in Special Education and I want to eventually get my MASTERS in Special Ed too. As for a concentration when I get my master, I haven't decided, but I'm sure once I'm in the field I'll have a passion for a specific disability. ASU does offer an Online Masters with a concentration in Autism...we shall see where this venture takes me!

On another note...I started Weight Watchers last week...not just watching my points on my own, the full fledged thing...Meetings and all! My starting weight was 221.6 on Thursday last week, so I weigh in again tomorrow! I'm hoping for a 2 lb weight loss! :) It hasn't been hard for me to change my eating habits, but It's been different for my hubby...who knows...maybe he will jump on the WW bandwagon with me eventually. All I know is I make dinner with my points in mind so he has to kinda go with it...even though he can eat as much as he wants!

I think tomorrow I may start taking progress photos of myself. No I don't like the way I look, but to see my progress in my body with photos will probably be great motivation...I may even post it here!

AMANDA

BEEN TOO LONG!

So this post isn't likely to be that long but I really need to keep this up to date! I'm just so dang busy here lately! (Even though I make plenty of time to fac ebook..haha!)

School is 3 nights a week, plus an online class where I have to post more than one discussion question response a day it seems....so it's keeping me quite busy.

Christopher started PRESCHOOL...that is so super exciting to me! He has friends again that aren't adults which is AWESOME! (I think he may even have a little girlfriend, Miss Madison) :)

And then Karrington is going to be a YEAR OLD in only 15 days! How ridiculous is that?! I CANNOT believe that my little baby girl is getting so darn big! She is drinking LOTS of water during the day, so she is down to about 3 bottles of half formula/half organic whole milk and drinking mainly out of a sip py cup now. FINALLY! She is on to adult foods, I still have to break them up into pretty small chunks for her though, so she doesn't choke! And that child is a moving machine...she is on the run basically now and I can't keep up sometimes it seems. She has also found a new love for the grass...she absolutely hated it only a couple months ago but she cries at the door like a sad little puppy wanting to go out and play now...she's just adorable!

I do realize I need to start posting some pictures on here...I'll figure that out here in the near future, maybe make some time this weekend for that!

For now I guess that's it...except...I LOVE MY HUSBAND! I think he gets a little sad that I don't talk about him a whole lot, but then I remind him he didn't want to be a part of my life story online...so I'll just say I LOVE HIM! AMAZING MAN THAT HE IS!

AMANDA

Catching up!

Sorry it's been so long since my last post...I was on a roll posting at least once a week there and now I let it go for a while.

I've been trying to walk about 2-3 miles a day with the kids...Christopher is riding his bike and was loving it for a while, now he really seems to dislike it (afraid he's going to fall for some reason). Karrington loves her little outside naps in the stroller, she just relaxes.

I started the weightloss process...it's going slowly but surely it's coming off. I said last time I was down to 225, but the following day was 227...now i'm down to 223 so I'm seeing a little progress. I'm not doing entirely the Weight Watchers program...I'm trying to watch how many calories I take in and trying to keep in my point range in some ways, but I've been havin dessert a couple nights a week that is outside my point range for the day. Things are moving along and I think my walking is helping that. I need to step up my weekend walks though...I may be able to pull off 2-3 miles weekdays, but weekends I need to be doing much more.

I started classes Saturday. My online class that is, and Monday was my first day on campus. This is going to be a busy semester...it's the closest to full time that I have had since Christopher was born, 10 credit hours. That may not seem like a lot to some of you, but with two kids and a husband who sometimes has to work at night, its a trying thing...I need to make time to be a wife, a mom, a housecleaner, an errand runner, a studier, a school attendee and many other hats I need to wear....but I'm gonna do this to the best of my ability and make A's!!! :)

My Online class is a class that will take a lot of my time, as will reading for my Geology class...I have my first Geology lab on Wednesday and still have yet to see what my Thursday class will entail...but I look forward to it.

I'm having problems right now trying to figure out what to do for Karrington's First Birthday...it's coming up in a month and I have yet to buy gifts, think of a theme or even really decide if it's budget friendly enough for us to have a party at all. So many things going on...on top of all that, I'm going to start Christopher in PreSchool in the next few weeks! Crazy how time flys and the kids grow so quickly. Well enough for today...I need to get my butt in gear and do a little reading for my classes!

AMANDA

Everyone's doing it...

Everyone is doing the 4 goals before 2011 thing on their blogs these days....I got the idea from my friends Beth and Jenna...

https://ihavecats.blogspot.com/

https://jennaelayne.blogspot.com/

So my four goals go something like this:

1)COOK!! Yes, cook....I know how to cook out of a box or from the freezer with ease, but I've always had a hard time learning to love cooking. My husband is a great cook and encourages me endlessly to try and try again. (I'm afraid to make something people don't like so I just don't try for fear of failure.) Everything I have attempted the past week however has been a success. I've gotten recipes from my grandma, from online, from my husband and I can't seem to go wrong. I won't however be vary likely to just throw some ingredients together in some hodgepodge of food, but recipes from scratch I can handle...and I actually like it...FINALLY!

2)WALK!! Yes, walk...I'm walking in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure in November...it's a 60 mile walk to end breast cancer. I'm required to raise $2,300 to be able to participate in the walk, but my goal is $4,000. It's a great cause for great people and will likely be a great opportunity. Currently I'm up to 2 miles a day...I would love to do more, but with being a SAHM my kids can't handle much more than that in the AZ heat, and I don't have a gym membership. My hubby is an amazing motivator though...he makes sure I get up on the weekends and do my walk with the whole family right after breakfast. I'm suppose to be up to 11 miles/2 days a week right now and I'm not, so that is a little discouraging, but I'll find a way to make it happen! I'm planning to buy a bike trailer in the hope that I can get up to 10 miles of biking a day to help at least a little. It's an exciting adventure!

3)EAT RIGHT (to lose weight and get healthy)!! This goal kinda plays into the first two in some aspect...I'm the one who makes the meals so I have the opportunity to make those meals go a little further, to be healthy choices for all of us. I eat a ton of salt...I'm addicted, I add extra to everything and I probably have a problem...I gotta embrace the flavor of good food a little more!

My husband is an amazing man who works hard, sometimes (like yesterday) from 7am-1am, to make ends meet and make it possible for us to live a happy life as a family! I'm so lucky to have him and the least I can do is help him stay a little healthier too...we used to eat out all the time which made him and I both balloon up weight wise..now I get to fix that and save a little money in the process!

4)MAKE MEMORIES and display them!! By this I mean to start using the pictures I take everyday to make scrapbooks and mementos to remember these milestones my kids have and the adventures of our family life! I take pictures of the kids on my phone everyday, so I have a rolling timeline of their growth, I just haven't recorded it as much on my regular camera and printed the images for display. I have a creative side ready to jump out there and be seen, I just need to truly take the time and make it a reality, something we can all look back on and be inspired by or just make us smile!!

I guess that's kinda it for now...a lot to ponder, a lot to work on...should be an interesting last few months to 2010! EXCITING!!!

AMANDA

Great Weekend...'n' Scraps

So we had a stellar weekend!

I got in 4 miles this weekend....granted I'm suppose to be up to 10 miles, but I'm gonna get there. I'm working on walking 2 miles a day, pushing the little lady and Christopher finally LOVES to ride his bike and 2 miles is good for him. We stop a lot for water breaks and such though, so it takes us a good 45 minutes to do the 2 miles, but worth it for the exercise and time with my little ones outside...it's just so darn HOT here...I NEED to walk at like 5am before the sun is up! (But I do my walks at 8am, cause I can't function that early, neither can the kids)

Sunday night we got the chance to go to a friends house and enjoy a nice homemade pizza dinner with salad, dessert and WINE! It was spectacular...we took the kids with us and they enjoyed running around the spotless house and had a fabulous time. My friend Juanita has a 12 year old son, so she doesn't really have LITTLE kids...I was worried if Christopher would be able to find something other than the television to keep him busy...boy was I worrying for nothing..she has turned the closet of her office into a little boys dream toy world. All of her sons old toys are in there and he had a TON, so Christopher was content as could be! Her house is SPOTLESS however, she vacuums Everyday, has NO clutter and no one is allowed to wear shoes in the house...needless to say that is completely opposite of how I live. (Not that I don't have DREAMS about living that way, it's just impossible with two little ones and a roommate)

After a wonderful night, we came home, did baths and continued the bedtime routines...then Monday started and here we are.

On to the whole SCRAPS part of the title though...

I used to be an active Consultant of Close to My Heart a scrapbooking company that sells EVERYTHING you need to be artistic and imaginative...After Karrington was born, I became a Junior Consultant because I just don't have the time or patience to do my crafty things. I want so badly to get back into it however...I want to make scrapbooks, FINALLY, for my kids and my marriage...Things that are important to me. This is just me venting...I want to have the time, I want to be patient...but now I start school next week, it will be even harder! Plus, scrapbooking materials are the last thing I need to be spending my money on right now.

Oh and one more thing....is Anyone else ADDICTED to Etsy?!?! I've only bought one thing from there but I could very easily stock my entire house with things from there and spoil my kids rotten with amazing handmade things...just saying! :)

AMANDA

Weight Watchers & my son...

First off I'm going to start with my son, a little backwards from the title but I cant help how frustrated I am with him.

Today I had a dentist appointment, my amazing friend, Andi, watched the kids for me. Karrington is teething so she was crying a little, nothing Andi can't handle. My son on the other hand didn't listen to a word she said and went so far as to throw a large toy truck down her stairs in aggravation of her asking something of him. I'm appalled that my son would act this way toward anyone, let alone my dear friend who was doing a favor for me. When we got home he got his nighttime blanket, a bin full of pirate toys, his tools, and his TV privileges taken away..he is now confined to his room til bedtime. This child of mine has some major anger issues that I've got to find someway for him to work out..I'm thinking Karate might give him a little more discipline. I cant have my child acting like this when he starts school, I don't want to be the mom of the bully and I certainly don't want him growing up thinking this kind of behavior is acceptable. Now off my little rant and on to my life changes!

I'm thinking about starting Weight Watchers....not just for me (although I'm ready to lose this 60+ pounds and be back to my high school weight), but for my hubby and my kids as well. My husband has never seen me fit and trim and I want him to think me SEXY!...when we first met I was at my smallest since having my son, 173 lbs. Within our first year together, before getting pregnant, I was up to 206. I got pregnant, up to 252 and had our daughter. After breastfeeding the first 10 weeks, I was down to 215, within 9 lbs of my pre-pregnancy weight (GREAT!!!)! I got on Mirena, the IUD and within 3 weeks was back up to 230...I have since dropped 5 pounds but have kinda just stuck there. I know that I need to control portion sizes (Which I have taken to wholeheartedly) and be more active, but I think I may need a little more than that! So my thought is Weight Watchers, mainly because I know what a success it has been for my parents...both are on track to being lifetime members, which means they are nearly at the correct BMI and have to stay within 2 lbs of that weight for their lifetime! An Amazing Achievement if you ask me, especially to maintain such!

I'm going to start tracking my weight loss each week in a post, this will be my first step in becoming accountable and I'll also track my activity at weekly intervals to make sure I'm on track to my 3-day walk!!!

Here's to fitness and discipline...the last is for me and my SON! :)

AMANDA

Walking for a Cure!

MONTHS ago, I committed myself to a walk to end Breast Cancer! I've had family friends and loved ones, like my grandmother that have been dealt the BC card. My grandmother, Jean, was one of the lucky ones who survived her bout with Breast Cancer and is going on 17 years CANCER FREE. Others aren't so lucky.

The Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure, is a 60 mile walk over the course of 3 days where participants raise money to help this amazing cause to END Breast Cancer. If not for organizations such as this, I may not have my grandmother, a woman who helped my parents raise me, whom I spent my first 3 years with Daily! This woman is an inspiration to me and Everyone she meets and I'm so thankful to have her in my life!

I'm bringing all this up because I failed to train in a timely manner for this extensive walk...I was up for two hours last night thinking of what I need to do, how hard I need to work to help myself do this walk. I'm trying not to doubt my abilities and I'm trying to work hard now to catch up and make myself do this! When you break it down, I need to be able to walk a steady 20 miles for 3 Consecutive days...that's a lot of walking! I told myself 6 months ago that I could do this, that it would be motivation enough to get my ass in shape, but apparently I let myself down! This is an amazing cause and I let myself get LAZY! (It does NOT help that its up to 110 degrees here in Phoenix now)

This morning I decided to get on the ball, to get on the treadmill and Jog...I got a half mile before I scummed to the HEAT at 95 degrees at 8:30am this morning. At this rate I will never get my butt in shape and I will not be in shape enough for a walk of this magnitude! I need to start waking up before baby and get out there when the sun hasn't peaked the horizon. Getting up that early is hard though when I'm up at least twice a night with the little one...but I CAN DO IT!!! ENCOURAGEMENT is what I need I think and Time (Which is now only 15 weeks from walk weekend).

Another thing I need to get done is my emails for donations! I have to finish putting together this letter and send it out already...I want to raise as much as I can, a minimum of $2300 before the walk! If anyone wants to donate, even the smallest amount, send me your email so I can forward you the letter (which i need to compose still), and the link to the site where you can make your donations. EVERY LITTLE BIT HELPS!

Thank you for letting me get on my soap box for a while...I know it's not the most exciting of topics for everyone but there it is!

AMANDA

Better Late than NEVER!

I've been trying to hop on the blogging band wagon since before my daughter was born, TEN MONTHS AGO! I saw all my friends doing it and a million other mom's and after creating the web address, I didn't get any farther...I guess I felt in someway that everything I wanted to say was already said by someone else. I have finally come to the realization that every mother goes through some of the same things, but the story is never really the SAME! My story will be just that...MINE, my version of life..whether my day be alone, with school, with kids, my husband...I'm sure I'll have something interesting to vent about or something exciting to share. Maybe no one will read this but me, and maybe my husband, one day my children, but at least I will have recorded those special memories that often get lost in the the jumble of adult life. I may go back in time for certain blogs and recount a happy time that I missed by not doing this sooner, if you wish, come along for that ride! Whatever memories I decide to share will surely be special and I look forward sharing that with you!