Terrible Two's....already???

This picture pretty much explains my life lately. A screaming toddler! Wow, what happened to my perfect little angel?! She has been throwing the worst tantrums lately! Spoiled doesn't begin to describe her, and she hates to be told 'no'. In fact she hates the word so much, she decides that it is necessary to turn into a devil child and attempts to blow mommy's ear drums with her screeches! I've always heard of the "terrible twos" but I thought I had a little more time before I had to worry about that! Wow, this is making me re-think having another baby for a loooong time! lol


Overall she has been great. Ayla had her 18 month check up a few weeks ago. She weighed in at 27 lbs 4 oz and 34" tall (although I believe she is taller, the nurse had a really hard time getting her to stay still...lol). She is finally starting to come out with some new words, but "mommy" STILL isn't one of them :( Stubborn little girl! She reached the minimum number of words to avoid speech therapy for another few months. The pediatrician wants to re-evaluate her at her next appointment and make a decision.

Ayla and I are leaving for South Carolina next week! My little nephew is due this week! I'm so excited to get the news..... I can't wait to meet him :) Ayla hasn't met her Auntie Missy or her grandma Cheryl yet, so this will be a very exciting trip for everyone! We are staying down for a week, and I'm hoping to be able to take a drive to Charleston for a day trip to see some old friends!

Well thats about it for now! I'm going to really try to update more often :)

Pics of cake and Ayla...again :)

Midnight Madness

I know I haven't posted in awhile, I really haven't had much free time to myself at all. Really, couldn't we extend the day by say 10 hours.... or maybe just skip sleeping. I could get so much accomplished if I just didn't have to sleep ;) Let's see...where to start?...

Project Sweet Pea:

We had an awesome graphic designer put together a graphic for our logo. It came out AMAZING. The designer is Rachel Blanchard and you can check out her stuff here:
http://www.coroflot.com/RachelB83
We have uploaded our new logo to our cafepress store so check it out: www.cafepress.com/projectsweetpea
We are also working very hard on getting our online personal stores ready to go live. We will have t-shirts, tote bags, candles, ornaments, burp clothes, and much more! Check back on our website to see whats new.

I am also very excited to announce that we have 4 new project leaders working with us, and a few others who are interested! Added to Gabriel's Gift, Shannon's Star, Shelby's Sunshine, we now have Kiernan's Kindness, Ayda's Blessing, and 2 others to be named soon! I hope that we can continue to grow and cover as many hospitals as possible. I feel
so blessed to be working with such amazing women!

Sweet Cravings:

The business is still in limbo right now. I am working to get the deposits back from the restaurant owner. We are tossing around different ideas of ways to get this started, some of the ideas would mean putting it off for a year or so.... which I'm not too happy about, but I know I will have it eventually. Maybe it's just not the right time. That being said, I am still doing cakes for friends and family and actually keeping pretty busy with it! For the past two months almost every weekend has been booked with cakes. I am also now waitressing on a regular basis 3-4 days a week, and between the two I am exhausted. It's nice to finally be able to contribute again to the family income!

Ayla:

My sweet little baby is turning into a bit of a monster... I have to admit I think she may be just the teensiest bit spoiled ;) Oops. I'm hoping that all this is her going through the terrible twos early, and this is the worst of it, b/c if not....we are in HUGE trouble! It's really not all that bad though, she is still a ton of fun, and full of love.

Nate brought her to the Pawsox game last night, where she apparently had a great time. She even met Paws and had her picture taken (which I don't have yet).

Mini Get-Away:
We were able to escape to New Hampshire last weekend for my birthday, which was amazing! We spent the weekend relaxing, shopping, playing disc golf (which is actually a lot of fun!), and eating way too much! Ayla enjoyed all the new scenery. We even took a trip up to the Ben & Jerry's factory in Vermont and scored some free ice cream :)- mmmmm....ice cream!

Unfortunately I have been having issues with my camera lately so we only got a couple of pics from the weekend.




Well, I think that covers almost everything.... I promise very soon I will stop being such an awful friend and catch up with everyone! I don't really need full nights sleep ;)

Pictures

I will give a better update tomorrow, but thought I would share some pictures of my two favorite things while I had a couple of minutes :)

Ayla:










Cake:

Rollercoaster Ride We Call Life

If you couldn't tell from the title of this post, life has been.... interesting (for lack of a better word). This is going to be a chaotic post, all over the place with updates, so bear with me :)

Sweet Cravings Update:
The business is temporarily on hold. We ran into a problem with zoning, which I had been trying to fight. Apparently all of West Kingstown is residential zoning, and all businesses there existed before the zoning ordinance. The facility I was trying to rent is in the basement of a restaurant, but because that facility is non-conforming to the zoning ordinance, only restaurants can operate out of the building. I consulted a lawyer to see if there was anything we could do, and we could apply for a special use permit, but it would take time, money that I don't have, and would probably still be turned down. Now I'm back to square one trying to find a new location....I am so frustrated. I am still doing cakes on the side, along with any other odd and end jobs I can find. I have actually been picking up some shifts at the breakfast restaurant that I was trying to rent. Anything to pay the bills!

Ayla Update:
Ayla has been great. She is now climbing furniture, and getting herself into all sorts of trouble :) She is truly fearless it seems, which will probably give me a heart attack before she turns two! She had a check up earlier this week and all is well. They still couldn't figure out what had caused the hives and all her other symptoms, but since they haven't come back her doctor isn't worried about it.

Nathan Update:
Nate passed his CDE (certified diabetes educator) exam! Wooohoooo! Congrats to my hubby!!! Besides that, he is beng the wonderful supportive husband throughout all my craziness!!!! :)

Misc:
A couple of weeks ago we went down into our basement storage to find that moisture and mice had gotten to almost EVERYTHING we had stored down there..... tons of stuff that we had saved to use for future babies, our holiday decorations, etc.... Mouse poop is all over the place, and mold is growing on everything porous. I know it's all just material goods, and can be replaced, but ugh!!!! We just can't seem to catch a break lately!

Update on Me:
Well.... I've been better, and I've been worse. I have a lot going on right now, and emotionally I am a just really worn down. I know I owe a lot of people phone calls and visits, and I will start to catch up soon! Please be patient with me.....

Project Sweet Pea

Gift bags for parents with children in the NICU

We seek to provide a little touch of comfort for parents of children in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). This project was started by a group of parents and grandparents who have one thing in common, we have all experienced what it is like having a critically ill child in the NICU. Through our experience we came together for support and comfort. Now it is our turn to give back.

Our goal is simple:
To provide gift bags filled with items that may give a touch of comfort to someone in need and let them know they are not alone.

Check out our website: www.projectsweetpeas.com

Disclaimer: Project Sweet Pea is NOT a non-profit organization; all purchases and donations are NOT tax deductible. We are NOT affiliated with any group or organization. We are simply parents who have had children in the NICU, and look to provide comfort through this project.

A Difficult Decision

As most of my friends and family know, CHERUBS has been a huge part of my life for the past two years. There are a ton of wonderful people who I have met through CHERUBS, and for them I am forever grateful. They have helped me get through a very rough time in my life, I don't know how I would have gotten through it without them.

I wanted to let everyone know that due to personal reasons I have decided to leave CHERUBS. I will no longer be representing them in any form or way. All previous planned get-togethers and fundraisers in CHERUBS name are canceled. It was a difficult decision, but I feel that this is best for me and my family.

Because I am leaving CHERUBS as a representative, I have also stopped doing the gift bag project FOR CHERUBS. All donations previously made have been returned to the CHERUBS office to continue the project as they see fit. I WILL be starting a new gift bag project with a couple of wonderful moms, (and one amazing grandma) without any affiliation to a group or organization. For more information watch for an announcement coming very soon on:
Project Sweet Pea

I also want to let any and all CDH families to know that they can contact me anytime. I will still support any and all families in any way I can. You can contact me through:

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/corinnava
myspace: http://www.myspace.com/corin1118
Email: Chefrinny@gmail.com
Phone: 401-524-9182