Brightness

So today (the 28th) my "baby" turned 2.....where did the time go? Could he REALLY be the same age of some of the kiddos I used to teach??? Sigh.... What a wonderful 2 years though. I have grown so much. I never realized how selfish I was (and still am..I'm a work in progress) until I had him. I never understood what it meant to WANT to die for someon...I do now!!! He brings so much joy to Andy and I's life. The things he says, the little quirky things he does, the different parts of Andy and I that come out every once in awhile, it's all been a joyeous ride. I'm sad that he is 2.... I am now a parent of a toddler, GAG. :) But I plan on enjoying each moment of his second year. Each season of his life I will enjoy, or force myself to enjoy if I have to. What a wonderful gift you are my son. I can't wait to see what God does with your life. I am proud to be your Mom, I am proud to call you my firstborn and my son. No matter where life takes you or where life ...

Well a few things to mention that are "new" for the Steinmann family. First on my weight loss journey I have lost 13 lbs in 4 weeks and I'm SO excited about it!! I'm on track and can't wait to see how many more I can lose!! :) Second, about 2-3 weeks ago we received some sad news that our pastor from church was let go. So Andy and I began questioning our membership there. So we began just trying new places and seeking God out for guidance. We visited Northside Christian Church and loved it. The only problem was location, it would be hard to be involved, especially as Maddux grew older. A friend of ours invited us to James River Assembly. We decided to "give it a try" thinking that there is NO WAY that we would end up there.. So we went, and guess what? We loved it! There are aspects that we want to know more about but their children's ministry is AMAZING!!! And really when I'm honest to myself that is the most important thing for me. I am a Chris...

"Change of lifestyle" that's what my sister calls a diet, and she's right. Over the last 9 years I have let things get in the way of keeping myself healthy. I could point fingers and lay blame for my weight but when it comes down to it, I am responsible for me. I have allowed myself to gain 100 lbs more than I should. Let me tell you it's awful to write/type that here where it is so public but I need to be honest. If I'm not honest this "change of lifestyle" wont ever work. So I am on a journey to lose that 100 pounds. This is a scary journey but also an exciting one. I want and need to be here for my son. If I keep allowing food to control me then I will be a fat blob who can't do anything with their child. I don't want to be that, so I'm changing. I'm taking the bull by the horns and doing it!!! :) So what am I doing you ask, well it's really quite simple. I'm cutting my calories. I have a Biggest Loser cookbook (which is ok...

Well lately I've had some new stuff to blog about so I'm going to blog. :) First stuff first, NO I'm not pregnant! :) Had to get that out of the way. My son has an allergic reaction to peanuts, especially peanut butter. While Andy and I have found this out the hard way in the past (he breaks out in blisters when it comes into contact with him) we found out today it's something to be very careful about. We are lucky that Maddux's outbreaks haven't been severe, yet. Today he came into contact, some how, we aren't 100% sure, with some sort of peanut product and rubbed his eye. His eye became very swollen and had small blisters around it, his typical reaction. So I called the Pediatrican to just make sure he was ok and that I could give him Benedryll. They are calling us in on Thursday for an epi pen consultation. We will get a pen and be trained in it. They said that peanut allergies have a way of getting bad very fast and it's important for him to have one...

Ok so this is going to be a vent blog. I just need to let it out somehow so I'm choosing to it on a blog that many don't read. :) This week has been a week from HELL!!!!!!!!!! I don't know if it's the full moon (Saturday) or what but I CANT WAIT for this week to be over!!! First I haven't gotten much sleep since Sunday because my son hasn't been sleeping well, or my husband is snoring freakin' king size logs. So I'm a bit emotional because of that. But my son hasn't been sleeping hardly at all. He went from taking 2 naps regularly to me adjusting him to 1 nap a day and last week he would sleep for 3 hours during his one nap. This week it's been at max an hour and a half nap. Then he's a cranky butt and a nightmare to be around. Today he threw the BIGGEST fit he's thrown ever. Hitting me, practically laying on the floor throwing his fit. Now I know he's almost 2, he's going to be testing his boundaries, blah blah blah. It is NOT ok...

Ok so most of you who know me know that I am obssessed with coupons and finding good deals for my family. I'm still learning, "the game" but I think I am progressing nicely. It's all about finding the good deals then the coupons that go with it, then making your dinners around those. Which is proving very hard. If any of you have advice, good healthy recipes, or just tricks let me know. I am out to save my family the most amount of money possible. It's the one thing (besides raise our son) that I feel I can contribute. Anyway, there is a new contest going on with my friends blog: iheartcoupons.blogspot.com that cellfire (a place where you can add extra coupons to your Dillons card) is giving away $100 grocery gift card and one of the things you have to do is blog about so guess what? I'm blogging about it. :) I'm also adding her button to my page. Seriously though if you are in the Springfield area you should check out her page. I have known this sweet lad...

So I love youtube . I can't help it. I go on and see all these old school videos and new videos and they intrigue me, except when they aren't by the artists themselves, then they frustrated me with their cheesiness. Except for one. Our church was bringing Mark Shultz along with Point of Grace for a concert and I wanted to know what Mark Shultz had done, realizing that I probably HAD sung his songs at one time but couldn't place them. So I typed in his name and up popped "He's my Son" with a video from "The Passion". Well first let me say, I LOVE this song, and I DID know it. :) But I have never seen "The Passion" and really I don't care to see it. Why? It's SO violent. I know it would probably make me see things in another light but I HATE violence it gives me nightmares so I opt not to see it. But I clicked on the video and was shocked by what I saw. Not the violence so much, but from the perspective of Mary, Jesus' mother. ...