Ready to work again!

Realtor cupcakes!  (Photo taken from NAR's Facebook page here)

I've been taking a small break from blogging because I have been spending too much time on Pinterest making some of those cool DIY projects!  OK OK, I've been back into Real Estate too.  It's kind of funny the attitude change I've had since the last year in regards to work.  I actually don't mind going anymore!  Let me explain.

The same week I decided to return to work after having Maxsen I had about 3 people call wanting me to be their agent. Sounds like every Realtors dream right?  Well I thought going back to work is what I was supposed to do, so I did.  I took 12 weeks maternity leave so that made Max 3 months old and I can now look back and say I was not ready. at. all. 

Who could leave this cutie???

Every new mom can attest to the fact that they are still sleep deprived at 3 months out and that was still the case with me.  I was not mentally ready and I was still physically exhausted and it was so taxing to be out and about and be putting 100% into what I was doing outside the home.  That's hard to admit because I worked for a great friend of mine but I was just not mentally there.  All I wanted was to get back to my baby and I worried about him every single minute.  Even though he was with his dad, at that early of a stage I still didn't trust anyone else with him. 

I worked off and on for the next 5-6 months and then winter rolled around and I decided I was going to take the winter off.  I just couldn't stand being away from Max and didn't want to be busy through the first holidays with him, I wanted to soak everything in.  That led to taking spring off, then summer and when fall rolled around I got a lead and I can honestly say that then I was ready to work.  I realized Max needed time with other people than myself and quite frankly, I needed adult time.  Even if it was for work.  So I closed a deal in October of 2011 and then after the new year got another lead and started working with them.  I showed them about 40 houses and didn't mind one single bit.  And that's a lot of houses! Trust me. A. LOT. OF. HOUSES.

I close that deal on Tuesday and I am kinda sad. It was nice being back into things, made me feel productive and validated me again as a career woman.  I'm ready to do some more!  It's a hard balance when you don't have set hours and never know when you are going to be working, but I have a great husband and family that supports me both working and not working so I am truly blessed there!


So it may not be snowing anymore but that's me ^ up there and I'm ready to work! 

Max Turns 2!

So my baby is 2.  Might not sound like a big deal to you, but to his Mama it is. Just 2 short years ago I was wondering just exactly how my life would change once I had a baby, and boy did I find out!  It's been a wonderful past couple years but it's also been stressful, trying, and full of ups and downs. I know its probably cliche to say, but you really have no idea what kind of change a child makes in your world.  It just isn't something you can convey on paper (or thru a computer screen).

First, let me explain my son's obsession with Kung Fu Panda 2. One day while I was getting us ready to leave I was flipping channels and found Kung Fu Panda on Nick.   I thought Max might like it so I put it on so I could get ready without interruptions  (please don't try and educate me about kids under 2 watching tv.   I know what they say, but sometimes it's easier to go to the bathroom without a kid on your lap).   Anyway as I am getting ready I hear actual laughter coming from the other room.  Up to this point Max hasn't watched much tv at all so I was shocked to hear this, he had never done that before.   He was straight belly laughing!   So cute.   So for the next couple days I kept putting it on. Its a half hour show so no big deal. That progressed to the movie obsession which progressed to the first movie (we started with Kung Fu Panda 2) and so on, so we had a Kung Fu Panda birthday party.   He loved it. 

That being said, let;s celebrate Maxsen's birthday with a bunch of photos!

I made him a panda cake, of course.

Po!

Po, complete with radishes

Gummi Bear sushi

Panda cake pops, made by my mom.

Birthday boy!

Got a panda from Grandma Sherry

You can't see it, but he just got some Play Doh. Very exciting.

Just like his mother, hates being sung to.

Make a wish!

Is is Po or Maxsen?

Fav pic of the day. Panda snuggles.

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Summer days

Missing the summer days with my baby

Follow up to Cans for Comments

The deadline for commenting on my blog post has passed.  Thank you everyone who participated.  What an easy way to give by only taking a moment of your time.  I generated my first 3 followers (YAY!) and got 7 comments.  That makes for 13 total can goods to be donated, but that was still lower than the 15 minimum I had promised.  Instead of just adding the last 2 cans and calling it a day, I have decided to go ahead and donate the 13 generated from the blog and the additional 15, for a total of 28 cans!

Max and I went to a few stores and got cans, mostly because we were there anyway and secondly he was having meltdowns so we had to leave each store early and couldn't finish gathering our cans. Here is a pic of our haul

As mentioned in previous posts, I have a preference to which food pantry and second hand store I like to donate our stuff too.  This isn't for any reason other than my mom goes thrift shopping at this particular store weekly and we both see first hand the line at the food bank and the need for donated items there.  It is of course the Agape House in Pacific Mo. 

I wanted to get the cans out there before Christmas but we didn't make it, and then I thought about the old saying, "Hunger knows no season" so I figure any time is as good as any, so we will be headed out there sometime this week.  My plan is to get a picture of Maxsen donating the items and make sure we talk to him about this sort of thing and make it a frequent thing.  I would love to get him started early doing whatever he can to help others.

Little Fishes Swim School

Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of being invited to my first mommy blogger event, a swim meet up at Little Fishes Swim School in Brentwood.  Maxsen had taken classes there this summer but we decided to take a hiatus for the winter and it was great to be back.  We have a swimming pool at our house as well as a condo at the Lake of the Ozarks, so Maxsen's water safety is a top priority for us. 

Just some quick swimming facts that I found on the Internet:

From the CDC's website: Every day, about ten people die from unintentional drowning. Of these, two are children aged 14 or younger. Drowning is the sixth leading cause of unintentional injury death for people of all ages, and the second leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 14 years.
Click the link for more information on water risks.

Here's a link to some children pool safety tips to follow.  Pool Safety Tips

I feel like one of the best things I can do is teach not only Max but myself how to keep both of us safe in the water, and swimming lessons are the first step.  Plus, it's fun!  Who doesn't like to have fun?!

sliding down the ramp

swimming to the fish before pancakes

We started the event by chatting with the other Bloggers and playing with all the cool toys they have in the waiting room.  Then it was time to swim!  I could tell Maxsen remembered the process of getting ready in the changing room but once we got to the pool it was a different story.  He was a little scared of getting in without me, but once I was in with him he warmed up to the situation again.   We did our island work, pancakes, and even went underwater (which I stated earlier that day I wasn't going to let him do but we got caught up in the moment and I knew he would be fine with it) .   He took to it like, well, fish to water!  HA HA I AM A COMEDIAN! 

Once class was over and we got dried off, we had snacks and chatted some more (we are women you know) and then painted some fishies.  Played, swam, painted fishies, had snacks, a one year olds little slice of heaven.  Click here for Little Fishes Blog.

After the event was over I realized how much we missed the class.  Swimming is so important to us given our situation and seeing how much Maxsen really loves it, I cannot wait to go back.  Swim lessons are not only a fun activity, but a life lesson as well.   Spring, hurry up!

Mom's Day Out

Maxsen has been going to a Mom's Day Out program at a local church for a few months now and he loves it. Around here we just call it school. I pack a lunch for him and I have to drag him out of bed to go there so I see this as a premonition of things to come when real school starts. His teachers names are Mrs. Marsha and Mrs. Andrea and when ever I say, "Max do you want to go to school today? " He yells, "MARSHA!!" with the utmost enthusiasm.  I Love it.  I even taught him to say Marsha, Marsha, Marsha, and then I felt like a total hypocrite being as that I am positive she probably hates that as much as I hate being sung to.  But just about anything is cute when a 1 year old says it (that's my story and I'm sticking to it).

Anyway, I always loved when my mom did things at school or made special things for the class or for my teachers and Mrs. MARSHA! and Mrs. Andrea are Max's very first "teachers" so we spent a couple days making something special for them. I of course saw the idea on the idea mecca of the world, Pinterest.

Max made thumbprint reindeer

Big box of Goldfish for the class

And judging from the stories Max's dad has told me about his school days, it won't hurt to start sucking up now.  Maybe I can get it perfected before Max really needs it ;)

So I'm sure you can see that this is a fairly new blog and I am doing my best to update it at least 2 times a month until I really get the hang of it.  I currently have zero, zilch, zip in the way of followers or subscribers and to a blogger (new or seasoned) that's like a proverbial kick in the b@lls.  (If I had b@lls, which I don't of course because I am a woman.  Hence the posts about fabric and rug making, but I digress.)

 I came across Cans for Comments idea on a blog that I read called great expectations and I thought not only is this an awesome way to help this time of year, it might help me get my blog out there.  

Here's how it works, for every comment I get from today until Dec 20th I will dontate one can of food, for every new follower I will dontate two cans of food.  I will make a minimum donation of 15 cans of food anyway in good faith, but I would love to see how much you all can help me out!