I WUV YOUUU!!

Why have I not blogged in forever you ask? Well I had a little computer mishap. My hard drive crashed and I hadn't backed up in months so I lost all of my pictures. All of my pictures to inspire and populate blog posts. I have several posts waiting in the wings and I should get all my pics back this weekend. So stay with me.

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In the early months of Molly's life when I was bouncing all day long, struggling to figure her out and doing the best I could to make sure she was getting everything she needed I remember thinking, "I can't wait until she can tell me she loves me back." Well folks, the day has come!

A couple weeks ago Molly started saying I love You. And it is SO sweet. 

"I wuv youuu Daddy!"

"I wuv youuu Mommy!"

Gives me warm fuzzies every single time. 

This kid is going to be hard to say No to when she smiles and says those three words.

Before I leave you all for the weekend, congratulations to KC Strohbehn! Congrats KC, you are the winner of my Wienervention Applegate Farms giveaway! I will contact you to arrange the shipment of your organic all natural hot dogs. Thanks for entering! Visit Applegate.com for more information on the company's story and their products if you missed the giveaway. Great stuff!

Time for Two

Once your first child, or most recent child, hits the age of one the questions start in..."When are you going to have baby number 2?" "How far apart do you want your kids?" "How many kids do you want to have?" "You didn't take a drink of that beer, ARE YOU PREGNANT?!"

Please people...let me breathe! But I get it, I do it too.

So here we sit with our first born at 21 months. Woah! How did that happen? 2 going on 12. And so the wanting is starting to set in. First, its a desire to be pregnant because I loved it so much last time. Seriously, loved it. It didn't hurt that I had the best pregnancy ever with little to no "side effects." I am very aware that every pregnancy is different, BUT that is what I remember. Second, new little babies are making me gush. And they are everywhere it seems. So what is our plan? When is number two? 

Well... #2 will be arriving in February! 

 I kid, I kid. haha Did I fool you? Probably not.

But we do have a plan, so I thought I would share some of it (not all, gotta keep the mystery of it alive).

Spacing
My brother and I are 3 years and 8 months a part. I think its the perfect gap. Not too close that you are cramping each others needs and not too far apart that you can't relate. In terms of having a newborn and a 3 1/2 year old - I think its the perfect age for Molly to be. She will be potty trained, in "school," somewhat able to do things like dress herself, brush her teeth, get a snack and old enough where she will want to help (in her own way).

Timing
I don't want to be big and pregnant in the summer, in Texas. Sounds miserable. I don't want a baby born around the Christmas holiday. I don't want both of my children's birthdays in the same month. I know, I am getting pretty picky but last time around we didn't get to be choosy AT ALL so I am determined to take some factors into my own hands this time. And not being huge in 108 degree August is a must!

Finances
Chase is still in chiropractic school which means I am the sole breadwinner for our family right now. Which also means we don't have a lot of extra cash floating around that we can save up and use for the expenses of a new baby. Chase will be graduating soon and, cross your fingers, become gainfully employed. This means we can start to set some money aside and better prepare our family finances so we can comfortably handle a second child. I don't want to put money pressure on us when its not necessary. I also don't want to put pressure on Chase as soon as he graduates to start supporting 4 people. The planner in me will definitely have our budget lined out so we don't have to worry and can focus on enjoying our family.

Health
As mentioned above, I had a very easy pregnancy. No complications, no problems. I also had a very good labor and delivery and healed up quick with no issues. So while health during pregnancy and delivery is not a big concern I do want to be fit and in shape. Since we had just gotten married a mere 3 months before getting pregnant with Molly I was still in "fit into your dress" shape. Well this time around my life is a little more hectic and I have a little less time to hit the gym. I have some personal health goals that I must meet before I am comfortable with getting pregnant.

So as you can see, a plan is in place. Number 2 is in the not-so-distant future but he/she also isn't right around the corner. As long as I can stave off my baby fever! I have enlisted friends who will slap me and remind me of what it was really like in those early days so I won't get ahead of myself.

Now, back to enjoying number one. 

What a goof!

Its a Wienervention!

Hot dogs are a summer staple in our household. We love to get together with friends, hang out in the backyard chatting and playing games and fire up the grill to roast some hot dogs. Good fun and delicious summer food.

I never really worried about what was actually in a hot dog, I knew it wasn't great stuff but it tasted good and that was enough for me. Then we had Molly and when she started eating real food I was definitely weary of giving her hot dogs. Too many fillers and mystery ingredients. It just didn't sit well with me as a good food item for her. But of course she loved them...

So it was time for a Wienervention!

Courtesy of Applegate hot dogs! Cue the hallelujahs! And put hot dogs back on the summer menu.

Applegate was kind enough to send us a package full of delicious, healthy, organic, no filler hot dogs. I wasn't the only one that was excited when we opened up the box.



Applegate generously sent us a variety of dogs to try, both organic and natural.



I knew from the research I had done into Applegate's products and the ingridients listed on the packaging that these were definitely the best possible hot dogs you can eat. No guilty feeling for gobbling these up or giving them to Molly. I think this little quote from the CEO sums it up nicely,

"So…What if you weren’t afraid to read the ingredients on a hot dog package? Like me, you’d feel better about eating them, and serving them to your family. That simple idea has always been, and will continue to be, what drives Applegate."

But the true test would come when we tasted them. They have to taste good to make their way on our menu. So we grilled em up.



And served them to our prestigious taste testers...





Approved! These two tots practically licked their plates. That is a win for me! Us adults enjoyed them too. We slapped in some buns with mustard, ketchup, cheese, relish and avocado and devoured them. Our self proclaimed hot dog guru friend also gave them the seal of approval.

And it gets better! One of my hot dog lovin readers will get to experience this Wienervention first hand! The great people at Applegate have offered to send the same package full of dogs to one reader. 

Giveaway Details:

To win, simply comment on my post (be sure to include your email) with the words "Wienervention" and tell me what your favorite thing to throw on the grill is.

Giveaway closes Friday August  9th at 12pm CST.

Check out the Applegate Wienervention Facebook page for coupons and recipes. And visit Applegate.com for more information on the company's story and their products. They make lots of great stuff besides hot dogs.

And in the meantime, don't be afraid to spread the word about the Wienervention happening!!