Baby's First Time Eating!

We broke down a few days ago on Memorial day actually, May 27th, and decided to try rice cereal on Bear. We were going to initially wait until he was 6 months but we decided it was time because he seems more hungry and he is grabbing at our food wanting to eat it!

He did eat a bit maybe 2 TBS of the rice cereal, then he started to fuss so we gave him his bottle. He did quite well, had no issues with swallowing and very little with the spitting out reflex. The only thing is, we aren't too sure he likes rice cereal :O We think it may just be that he needs to get used to the texture first. We will continue feeding it to him and see where it goes. I tasted it, and it tastes like water. Exactly like mushy water! lol so I'm not so sure it is the flavor he doesn't like... because there is NO flavor. Other than that he seems like a GREAT eater! I can't wait to start baby food with him and see how he likes those!

My Life Dreams

I have recently been posting some stuff about things I want to do in the near future like this week, this month or in the next few years. But I also have dreams. My ultimate dream! It does change all the time I do admit. But currently the following would just make my heart sing. (These are not in order cuz I am scatter brained)

 Buy a large house to live in and raise my kids. Much like this one. I know it's cliche but hey this is my dream and it's what I want lol. I want a cute picket fence and a little dog in the yard. A pool and a deck and lemonade outside in the summer. I want the kids to play outside until they are so tired they drop into bed. I want to ultimately stay at home and not have to go to work. I want to spend my days running multiple Etsy shops and doing crafts and fun things with my kids. I want to pack my kids cool Bento lunches everyday. And I want to blog all about it!

Now you may be asking... how do you plan to fund all of this? I would like to ultimately get into real estate. I want to buy a lot of houses with money that I save up and rent them all out. Somewhere around 17 of them. I know... far fetched. But this is MY dream!

I want to drive a pink Jeep and I want to take it to all sorts of places! The beach, the mall, fairs, theme parks, the lake, sporting events, conventions, festivals, concerts, I want to do things! I want to live life!

I want to have a family! This is actually what I want more than anything! I want to marry Anthony and have a load of kids. No lie! lol I want at least 3 more maybe even 4! And I would adore twins! I want my kids to grow up in a house full of love. I want to make family traditions and celebrate every holiday. I want to have family movie night and fun living room sleep overs. I want to have extended family for my kids to grow up with as well! Cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents too. 

I want to have a Christmas themed wedding with Anthony at the Gaylord Palms Resort! I want it to be a winter wonderland and I want there to be tons of people! I want it to be in 12-13-14 but I am willing to wait even longer to get my dream wedding! I want read and green and gold, jingle bells and reindeer too! I want to dance and party and have fun, I don't want it to be one of those lame boring weddings. I want this wedding to be rockin!

And even if I don't ever get any of these things... it will be ok. Because ultimately I just want to be happy. I do not need any of this to be happy. All I need is God and Anthony and Bear. As long as we are together I can say I will truly truly remain happy and fulfilled. Even if my life isn't quite what I would like it to be.

Shows I Used to Love as a Kid

Isn't it always fun to think back on what shows we loved as a kid!? It is for me. These were my favs!

1. Rugrats
2. Doug
3. Hey Arnold
4. The Weekenders
5. Recess
6. Rocket Power
7. Angry Beavers
8. Kennan and Kel
9. Tom and Jerry
10. Pepper Ann
11. Sister, Sister
12. Are You Afraid of the Dark
13. Goof Troop
14. Animaniacs
15. Pinky and the Brain
16. Kim Possible 

 And these here are some that I hated haha

1. Ahh! Real Monsters
2. Ren and Stimpy
3. Rocco's Modern Life
4. Dragon Ball Z
5. Boy Meets World
6. All That
7. Johnny Bravo

And these... are shows that I watched as a teen, my first loves outside of cartoonland lol

1. Prison Break
2. Malcolm in the Middle
3. Everybody Hates Chris
4. Monk
5. Psych
6. The King of Queens
7. Drake and Josh
8. Law and Order: SVU
9. Fresh Prince of Bell Air
10. Walker Texas Ranger

What were some of your favorite shows growing up?

20 Weeks Old!

This week Bear is becoming more mobile. He is now moving off his mat, rolling over from both sides, and trying to pull himself up into a sitting position.

He has become very interested in toys now and actually WANTS playtime with toys. Before we just offered them to him to see what he would do. Now if he is sitting on someones lap or in his chair he will look around for anything and everything he can play with!

He is still eating 5 oz of formula every 2-3 hours and his sleeping schedule has not changed.

His fussiness has gone down to a degree. He is becoming less fussy, but he still has days where all he wants to do is cry inconsolably.

He is really enjoying the walks that we go on in the morning on the weekends too!

We took him to the water park... well it was a park with water coming out of the ground lol he didn't like it very much at all though. We think he may have been over stimulated though as there was a lot going on that day.

He is talking A LOT more now! He will lay in his crib in the morning and talk to himself. :] It is the cutest thing. Anthony and I will be lying in bed half asleep and we will hear him start to babel away! Its nice for him to wake up and do that rather than cry.

Silent Sunday: I Love my Mommy!

10 Things I Would Like to Do in the Future

I often sit around and dream of how cool if would be to do things but then never end up doing them. Sometimes it is because I can not find the time or the money and other times it's because I just get too down right lazy about it! Lists don't tend to help me accomplish much either, I always make them but then only get a few things on them done. Well except for the monthly menu. Yes I do write out a MONTHLY menu! lol This is so we can stick to our food budget and not buy extra food or eat too much on one day or go out to eat when we really don't need to do so. One day when I have loads of money and more time I would like to accomplish the following!

1. Make this rainbow pasta! Doesn't it just look so fun?

2. Make a food review blog. I have always wanted to do this! I did some food reviews here on this blog and I really enjoyed it. I would love to do a whole bunch more but unfortunately I do not have the money to go out and buy new foods to try.

3. Continue my Bento blog - bentoclock.blogspot.com I had to stop this because of money issues as well as the fact that I am currently on a diet trying to lose 14lbs by July. I loved bento blogging and I still read other people's bento blogs on a daily basis! I just can't wait to start doing it again!

4. Re-Do my whole wardrobe. 50% of my clothes do not fit (hints why I need to lose 14lbs lol). But even including that 50% most of my clothes have holes or stains! I so badly would like to just throw them all away and start over again! I think my style is even changing as well! Most of my clothes, I am just tired of and I want a fresh new look one that's more me.

I love this!

And even this, but if you would have asked me about 6 months ago I would have said NO WAY lol

5. Create an Etsy shop that sells soap favors like these ones.
It's a long way down the road but it is something Anthony and I would like to do in the future. Making one Etsy shop that sells crayons is proving to be hard enough for now!

6. Re-Do my apartment to look fresh and spunky! I am really into super bright colors and I have been wanting to paint the walls and jazz it up from day one but I never got around to it! I am not at all satisfied with the way it looks like right now. It's dark, dull and just not me.

7. Go back to school. This one is a little more boring but yes indeed I would like to go back to school. Even though I hate it, I know it is something I really should do. The main issue with this one is the time factor. I just don't know where I would find the time.

8. Learn how to drive and get a license. I think it's time. lol I am 21 and I still have never attempted to do this. I never really wanted to until now (I know I'm and odd one). Sometimes I find myself wishing I could just go out with Bear on a mommy and son outing where we don't have to take Anthony. Because a lot of things I would like to do, Anthony doesn't want to do and in the end he ends up rushing me and not having a good time and nagging me to leave and thus the experience just doesn't end up as enjoyable as I hoped it would be.

9. Start cooking all sorts of fun recipes for Anthony and reviewing them as well. I sort of did this a few months ago when we had a lot of money. I made about 6 cool new recipes in a one month time span. Some were great and others were trash. I would love to continue on doing this! The newest thing that I saw and would LOVE to make are these Yummy Lemon Salmon Burgers. Don't they just look delish?!

10. Get back into exercising. Anthony isn't really into this all that much. He will walk every now and again but the stuff I wanna do like riding bikes and rollerblading... not his thing. So this is something I will have to work on with him or just wait until Bear is old enough that he can come with me because I feel guilty leaving him. I would love to be able to ride the whole 7 mile trail we have close by our house every weekend. I feel so good when I exercise because I want to. Walking home from work... now that's a whole different deal! lol

My Etsy Shop Launched!

I finally launched my Etsy shop! Yay! I currently have 28 listings and I will be adding 209 to that over the next 4 days (I hope). It took me the better part of 7 hours to list the first 28 items EEK! But I am so glad I did it. I feel like we are finally moving forward after over 2 months of preparation.

Be sure to stop by and check it out and feel free to give me your opinions :]

thecrayontrain.etsy.com and don't forget to like us on Facebook - The Crayon Train

Monthly Menu for May 27th through June 22nd

Here is our menu that we have budgeted out for us to eat this month the cost of the food for the whole month including everything on the menu comes out to $78

Listed is only dinner, Anthony eats a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every morning when I am getting ready for work and I take a cream cheese and jam sandwich to work for lunch.

Last month we had chicken, chicken, and more chicken! but Anthony specifically requested lots of burgers and a lot less chicken so this is not our usual. We normally eat chicken basically everyday because it is the cheapest route to go. I seriously have not eaten red meat in about 3 weeks lol.

Monday 5/27 - Burger and fries

Tuesday – Ham, Stuffing and Veggies

Wednesday – Hot Dogs

Thursday – Marinated & Breaded Chicken in the Oven, Pasta Sides, and Veggies

Friday  - Homemade Pizza (This costs about $4 to make)

Saturday  - Chicken Burrito

Sunday  – Tuna Sandwiches and Ramen Soup

Monday 6/3 - Burgers and Fries

Tuesday  - Chicken Ziti and Veggies

Wednesday  - Hot Dogs

Thursday  - Bar – B –Q Chicken, Scalloped Potatoes, and Veggies

Friday  - Homemade Pizza

Saturday  - Honey Mustard Chicken, Mac and Cheese, Veggies

Sunday  - Tuna Sandwiches and Ramen Soup

Monday 6/10 - Burgers and Fries

Tuesday  - Parmesan Crusted Chicken, Rice a Roni, Veggies

Wednesday  - Grilled Cheese and Ramen Soup

Thursday  - Burgers and Fries

Friday  - Homemade Pizza

Saturday  - Marinated & Breaded Chicken in the Oven, Pasta Sides, and Veggies

Sunday  - Tuna Sandwiches and Ramen Soup

Monday 6/17 - Burgers and Fries

Tuesday  - Honey Mustard Chicken, Mac and Cheese, and Veggies

Wednesday  - Hot Dogs

Thursday  - Grilled Cheese and Ramen Soup

Friday  - Burgers and Fries

Saturday 6/22 – Tuna Sandwiches and Ramen Soup

Budget Breakdown

Today I have been creating our monthly menu (yes I create a monthly menu to make sure I spend the correct amount of money at the grocery store and still be able to eat all month). Making the shopping list for the month goes hand in hand with making the menu so I did that as well. This month's total came to $78... $18 more than I would like it to be really, but I think if I go to Save - a - Lot, I may be able to shave some of that $78 off and get it down to at least $68 which isn't all that bad.

After realizing I need about $78 for food this month I then started to do our dreaded monthly finances! And this month... they are not so great :[

Here is a breakdown of what we are working with (yes I am sharing with the whole world how much money I have and make. This is mainly so I can go back a long time from now and see how far I have come):

Currently in account: $602
Expected to get paid on May 31st: $550 (at least, probably more but can't over estimate this or I will get screwed)

Estimated amount of money for this month: $1,152

Bills:
Rent: $625
Electric: $126
Internet: $75
Phone: $70
                  Total: $896

Other expenses:
Gas: $70
Food: $78
Contacts for Anthony: $65
                                          Total: $213

This leaves us with $43... but a few days ago we found out one of the tires on our car is gashed so now we need a new tire! So... $43 for a new (used) tire... which may not even be enough! :O

I am so very upset because I was looking forward to taking Anthony to Beef O' Brady's for his birthday on June 11th but it looks like we will not have a single dollar to spend.

I am trying so very hard to stay afloat here. It isn't like we are being extravagant and buying all sorts of stuff, we are just buying the bare essentials and we barley even have enough money for that. I hope and pray that Etsy comes through for us, we need, need, need it to work right now. God forbid we run out of diapers, dog food, toilet paper... anything. We would not be able to buy more until June 14th. And even thinking about the possibility of running out of formula for Bear makes my head want to explode, at that point we would have to ask family or friends for money because we can't let our son go hungry. Life is hard. It really is.

I lost weight!

On Saturday I hopped on the scale to see how much I weigh and I was expecting it to be something like 122 or 121 but it was actually 118.5! I now only have 7.5 lbs to go! I am so thrilled to know that my efforts are paying off! I do not really feel all that skinnier but I did try on my old pants and I can button my size 0 jeans again all though they are quite tight and not comfortable to wear yet. I can now fit into my size 2 jeans as well :] so yay me. I will post pics of my updated post baby belly in a few days. When ever I find the time to take some! lol

Have a great Tuesday!

Small Etsy Setback

Last weekend I made, tested, and photographed a new product to launch in my initial shop launch (planned on Thursday). That product is... Sidewalk Chalk Paint. The product itself is good, Anthony and I took Bear to the park and painted all over the sidewalk and got some cute pics!

The bad news... I started editing the pics of the actual product and when testing them out as thumbnails on Etsy I started to notice that ALL of the pics I took were getting SUPER cut off so you can hardly tell what is in the picture! It's like those close up pics that you kinda think you know what it is... but are not really sure.

I realized that Etsy does this with all pics that are taken vertical! And all of my chalk paint pics were.... you guessed it! Vertical! So now I have to go back and take them all over again which is going to mean I have to make more chalk paint (because we used the ones in the picture) and take the pics AND edit them. Work that I have all ready done!

This also makes me wonder about all the crayon pics that I took :O The only ones that NEED to be horizontal are the main pics because they will be the thumbnails. So the rest of the pics don't really matter. I think I took most of the crayon pics horizontal but I am pretty sure I took at least a few vertical. I may or may not end up taking those pics again.

I know this is a teensy set back in the scheme of things, but it is just so irritating because I have been working on this launch since March! So almost 3 months! I am ready to get it going and I just don't need anymore set backs. But that's life I guess. When it knocks you down you get back up!

Here are a few of the vertical pics I took. They are good pics, I mean I don't LOVE them but I was satisfied with them... at least until I saw how much of them would be cut off that is.

 This is the original pic. Looks pretty good to me.

 This is the editied pic with the amounts of stacks in the listing.

And this shows how it cuts if off... see what I mean? I do admit I feel like I am being sort of petty but I just want the shop to look EXACTLY how I have it envisioned in my mind when I launch it. I don't want it to look kinda crappy and then get better over time. I want it to look good from the start.

Silent Sunday: Bear's Growing Hair!

Fall in Love with your Work

"You have to love your job. You must fall in love with your work."

I saw this on the trailer to the movie Jiro Dreams of Sushi (which I so badly would like to see!). 

When I read this quote something hit me. It was an "aha!" kinda of moment. I have been pondering and pondering and my head has been spinning with the same question for days...weeks.... no scratch that! for months! That question... "HOW am I going to achieve my goal of being a successful Etsy power seller?"

It has plagued me and plagued me but it no longer does. I found the answer in that quote. I need to LOVE my products, LOVE my shop, LOVE making new products, and fall in love with the whole process! I KNOW in my heart that I CAN do this! I have got a massive fire up under my tush and no one.... NO ONE! is going to put that fire out!

Of course there is always that lingering question of... "How am I going to find the time to work 35 hours a week, cook dinner, clean my house, and run a business along with spending time with my family?" the only solution I can currently come up with... COFFEE! Lots and lots of it. If I can stay up later at night rather than going to bed at 7:30 - 9:30 like I normally do, I think this may work. I know this will work! This just HAS to work!

I am working slow as of now but I am chugging along and I have gotten up a faster pace as of late. I think my shop will even launch sometime this week! My initial goal is to make 5 sales in the first two weeks. I am not sure if that will happen or not but I am hopeful.

I know that not very many people read my blog, but for you very special readers that do, I am offering a FULL mini train set (6 mini links) with any order over $10. Just be sure to leave a note saying that you came from my blog!

I set up my company facebook page - The Crayon Train. so feel free to like us on Facebook! and I also set up a Twitter account... I am still learning how to use Twitter so bear with me here lol. I would love it if you followed me! - @TheCrayonTrain

Annnnnnnd one more thing! Here is a pic I edited in Photoshop to advertise the free train links we will be giving away with every order :] I know it is a super lame edit job but never the less, it works!

19 Weeks!

Bear has not had very many changes this week other than he is starting to show his personality more. He is starting to scream like a banshee when he is mad and pout when he is sad. And of course he smiles and laughs when he is happy! :] He is grabbing toys and putting them in his mouth all though he is still having a hard time reaching out and getting them. If we put them in his lap he can get them every time. He now loves tummy time and playing on the mat and is scooting all around.

At the park!

 

Me and Bear are both loving out Mommy and me weekends we have been doing! So far we have gone to two different parks, the post office, and an antique fair. I can't wait to hit the pool this summer!

He loves his new Bumbo Seat too!

Foods I Miss Eating & Diet Update

I often find myself walking through the grocery store ogling over all the things I really should not be eating. When I first started my diet looking at these things made me feel kinda sick. But now that I haven't had them in so long they just look so yummy!

I really wish I could have some...

French Fries...

or a burger...

or a few donuts...

or some fried chicken!...

I could die for some Hershey's Kiss' right about now!

or even some chips!...

And don't get me started on what I would do for some fried coconut shrimp!

Anywayssss! lol You get the picture! I miss just about everything that is super unhealthy!

Now for a diet update:

These last few days have been a bit rocky. It all started on Saturday when Anthony, Bear and I got invited to my uncle's house for dinner. I of coarse could not count calories at a dinner party! So I over ate. But hoped it would be okay because I did walk 5 miles that morning, but when we got home both Anthony and I were both CRAVING strawberry cheesecake... so we broke down and bought one. And I ate two pieces :O and another piece the next day as well. I did walk 4 miles on Sunday as well, but I still don't think that was enough to make up for the extra calories I did eat. I also ran out of cream cheese and apple sauce and have not yet made it to the store. So my lunches have been kinda off. Yesterday I had 8 fish sticks and some horseradish. That was a little over 300 calories so not too bad but kinda high for lunch. Today I had an okay lunch, instead of the cream cheese and jam sandwich I had a piece of fat free turkey with one piece of toast and jam with another piece of toast, the calories for that should be right where they should be or even maybe less. And now that I think of it, on Friday I seriously over ate at dinner as well. Anthony bought a very unhealthy Publix sub, I had about 1/4 of it and then later on in the evening I felt hungry again so I had about 250 calories worth of pasta (EEP!). 

I have been thinking about it and I know I am not fat and it would not hurt to just stop dieting as long as I did not gain weight. But I really do not want to stay at 125 lbs it's just not me and I definitely want to be back to my normal self before I re-do my wardrobe! (which won't be until Anthony and I have a lot of money coming in so that may not be for like a whole year from now). 

I think mainly it has to do with sticking to my guns. Proving to myself that I CAN do this! That I am not a quitter or a failure. I guess at the end of the day a little extra cheesecake isn't that big of a deal so long as I stick to the plan for the most part.

I still have not weighed myself but I do not feel like I lost any weight at all because my pants have not gotten looser. If I do not see any results by July, I guess I will have to make a new diet plan :O I hope to have lost about 6 lbs by now and be at around 119 but I somehow do not think that is the case... maybe I will venture to Publix tomorrow and hop on the scale when Anthony isn't looking <.<