"even if hate has a bullhorn, love is louder"

One of my favorite lines from one of Kid President's newest videos.  This kid makes the world such a better place... I hope Max enjoys him as much as his parents do, because I have a feeling we will be watching his videos for a long time to come!

Enjoy this one below, and remember to make it a great day, and tell people they are AWESOME and you're glad they are here!  We could learn a lot from this kiddo...

Photoshoot Surprise!

In case you missed it on my social media pages, we had a BIG announcement...

It still doesn't quite seem real that baby #2 is on the way!  We are excited about what is ahead and really look forward to seeing Max as a big brother!  

Some people have been asking about the story behind the video, so I thought I would answer those questions and give you a breakdown of the big surprise!  

Unlike with Max, we were not trying to get pregnant...in fact, we had said we would 'think' about baby #2 after Max turned one in mid-December.  However, when I went to bed one Friday night in early December, I thought to myself 'I am pregnant'.  I just felt it.  I didn't feel sick, I didn't feel sore, I just felt pregnant {yes, that feels just as odd to say as it is to read}.  Knowing I wouldn't be far along if I was, I decided to wait until Saturday morning to take a test because a morning test is more accurate in this stage {TMI for those no where near TTC}.  So Saturday morning, BL went off to work and I took the test...two lines formed a perfect cross on the screen.  Baby #2 was on the way. 

So many emotions ran through my head and I was having a hard time believing it was real.  I sat on our bed wondering how I would tell BL when he got home and then it hit me...use our photo shoot this afternoon.  This would be perfect!  Our photographer extraordinaire {and my adorable, sweet and beautiful cousin Lesley} could aid in my big reveal and it would be captured on camera to show this sweet baby someday...perfect!  So I made the phone call to Les and we started to craft the plans for the day. 

As we walked through the High Museum taking pictures I couldn't believe the bomb I was about to drop on my husband...he was blissfully unaware of what was yet to come! 

We finished up pictures inside and went outside to capture some different shots, and that was when Lesley did it....we posed in front of this huge white wall and all smiled at the camera.  

 

 Then Lesley said, "everyone look at the camera and say 'Chrissi's pregnant!'" To which BL obeyed and then looked at me and said "wait...really?"

 

      YES! Really! 

  

 Hooray!  Then he said "Max you're going to be a BIG BROTHER!"

 

{more excitment}

 ...and complete joy.

 

Baby #2, we are excited to meet you later this year......

EBATES, or what I like to call, FREE MONEY

I am back at blogging one day and I am already hocking some website at you... But seriously, I just got paid {via EBATES} and I am too excited not to share! 

Do you shop online?  If so, do yourself a BIG favor and go sign up for EBATES!  Seriously, it's free money in return for shopping online. 

Now, I am not going to lie... Originally I thought it was a scam.  Why would you get money to shop online?  I thought it was too good to be true.  Then I tried it.  I did a lot of my Christmas shopping online and scored some really great cash back deals.  Bought a new pair of Toms, received $4.20 back.  Purchased a few new items at Old Navy, got $5.60.   No joke, straight into my bank account.

Here's how it works...

When you want to shop online, go to the EBATES website first, in the upper right corner you simply type in the name of the place you want to shop {trust me, there are a LOT of shops!}, and then click the name when your merchant shows up.  On that next page is where you can see how much you will get back, as well as any extra deals the site is running {like free shipping, or $5 off, etc.}; it's basically a storehouse of all available deals!  Then you click any of the orange 'SHOP NOW' buttons and you're immediately transferred over to the actual site you're shopping and you {you guess it...} SHOP!  That is it, seriously.  Check back on your EBATES account page the next day and you'll see your money in the 'Cash Pending' portion of the account summary.  Then once a quarter, EBATES dumps that money straight into your bank or PayPal account.  Seriously. What is even better than that?! They have an awesome referral program for bloggers like you & me to make extra money just for telling people about their site.  No shame in my game, I want you guys to sign up! 

Ok, ok, ok... enough website selling for me.  Seriously though, go SIGN UP!  And don't forget to make it a great day!

XO!

Welcome to the world, 2014!

Happy New Year, friends! 

Does anyone still read this blog?  What a bore it’s become, I wouldn’t blame you for moving on… I keep hoping to come back, but alas never seem to quite make it.  Every day I sit at my computer for work, and stare at the screen, and type the little keyboard, and use the {awesome} cordless mouse… All. Day. Long.  Then I go home and spend time with my little man, whom I have missed so terribly during the day, and I try to find some time to unwind, all while doing a bazillion chores that didn’t get done during the day because I was, you guessed it, at work.  Working. 

Luckily for me, I really enjoy what I do and the people I work with.  Dad often told us growing up that if we like what we do, we will never work a day in our life.  Well, I do feel like this is true, but I also know a lot of days I am working, even if I do love it.  The end of the day can’t come soon enough, not because I dislike what I am doing, but because I want to get my arms, hands, kisses all over that sweet boy of ours.  

What does that have to do with this blog?  Well, quite frankly this is my venting session to make myself feel better about having no blog posts lately.  I doubt any readers have made it this far anyways…

There is so much to catch up on, really… Max turned one; we celebrated both Thanksgiving and Christmas.  And New Year’s too.  So maybe not that much, but it’s a lot to me.  I finally treated myself to a new camera (a “starter” DSLR, if you will) and I have loads of pictures to post!   So while I am nowhere near promising to post again soon, or to actually cover all of the above mentioned events in our lives, I do want to stop by this place of mine more often.

What I will leave you with today is something that made me melt into a puddle yesterday – Max can blow kisses now!!  Seriously, can’t stop asking him to do it.  Melts. Me.  I love being a momma. 

Make it a great day friends!