The Domesticated Diva

summer 2008

*waves* hi keri =) i miss you!
ok, so i have been really bad at blogging this summer, i will admit it! we have been super busy swimming, having play dates, visiting with family, vacations etc. here is what we have been up to..... ( my computer has been acting funky so please excuse some of the pictures... i have no idea what happened.. grrr!)

as some of you know, shawn and i have been trying for baby # 4 for a long time  (over 2 years to be exact ) we haven't had any luck so we decided to adopt a new member into our family. her name is sophie and she is almost 3 months old....

isn't she sweet! i know i know, not what you were expecting but since we haven't been able to conceive a real baby an animal baby was the closest thing we could think of.  i needed something to take care of and keep my mind off not getting pregnant, so sophie was perfect!  although i am still hoping for a real baby =)
this is her sleeping in a doll cradle. i am not so sure she liked it but the girls had fun pretending she was a "real" baby.

we went blueberry picking! it was really fun but super hot. i have a new found respect for blueberry pickers ( i am not sure if they still do it by hand or machine but whoever does it.... rock on! ) blueberries grow on little bushes and if you are lucky there will be maybe 5 ripe blueberries per bush. it was very time consuming to fill a pint!




my sister holly and her family came to visit for 2 1/2 weeks! it was so fun to hang out with her and her boys. while she was here we went to ocean city, new jersey for a week. we had a blast! we ate mac and manco's pizza until we almost burst, went to the boardwalk and spent many hours on the beach. the kids loved boogie boarding in the ocean!
YUMMMMMMMMM!!!!



and last but not least, chloe got baptized. i am still in denial that she is 8! our camera  battery was dead so we only got a few pictures of chloe and her friends at the baptism. i have a few of our family but  i haven't copied them onto my desktop yet... so you'll have  to wait for those =)


i hope you all had a great summer like we did! it went by way too quick! i can't believe the kids will be back in school in a week and half! crazy....

Ellery has been tagged =)

my niece hallie tagged ellery =) these are her answers... it is pretty funny!

1.What is something that mommy always says to you? no...( LOL.. that makes me sad! )

2. What makes mommy happy? cleaning up your room

3. What makes mommy sad? when you don't do stuff that mommy says

4. How does mommy make you laugh? funny faces

5. What was mom like as a little girl? had gold hair

6. How old is your mom? 16 =)

7. How tall is your mom? this tall...

8. What is your mom's favorite thing to do? play with us

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? at work

10. If your mom ever became famous what would it be for? acting

11. What is your mom really good at? dancing

12. What is your mom not very good at? dancing

13. What does your mom do for her job? cook

14. What is your mom's favorite food? macaroni and cheese

15. What makes you proud of your mom? cleaning

16. If your mom were a cartoon character who would she be? cinderella

17. What do you and your mom do together? go to target =)

18. How are you and your mom the same? we have blue eyes

19. How are you and your mom different? hair

20. How do you know mommy loves you? cause i'm her "boo"

ellery tags brenna, shelby, brig, alyssa molen, chloe

101 things about me

i got this cute idea from some friends blogs. enjoy!

1. i am 100% completely OBSESSED with gordon ramsay
2. i pick which laundry detergent i wanna buy by smelling it, whatever smells the best, comes home with me =)
3. i am a control freak
4. i have OCD
5. i am afraid of being poor
6. my mom is a really good baker, sometimes i make myself feel bad because i don't bake as much as she did when we were little and i feel like that is gonna have some traumatic impact on my kids childhood
7. my parents and eye doctor made me wear an eye patch when i was little because i had a lazy eye
8. i wanna be martha stewart minus the enbesselment charge =)
9. i think i am a 16 year old trapped in a 31 year old woman's body
10. i think whenever anyone serves corn on the cob, they should have a side of dental floss with it
11. i love to be alone
12. i am WAY to nice sometimes and let people walk all over me
13. if you curse to yourself, in your head... does that still count?
14. i am listening to 311 on my ipod as i type this
15. i hate surprises ( refer back to # 3 )
16. i would love to be a surrogate mother for someone who couldn't have a baby
17. i am an impulse shopper
18. i couldn't live without my cellphone
19. i love tattoo's
20. i dream in color
21. i like to watch trashy reality tv shows ( flavor of love, i love new york, rock of love ) it makes me feel normal
22. i like to turn the radio up really loud in my car and dance
23. i made shawn buy me a kitten recently because i have that "feeling" again
24. fresh vacuum lines on my carpet makes me VERY happy
25. i feel guilty for not going to the gym... for the past 3 1/2 month...
26. gerber daisies are my favorite flower
27. i love to buy people presents and surprise them
28. i am really bad at sending people things in the mail , i have christmas presents from the past 2 years for my nieces and nephews sitting in my garage.. i am know that TERRIBLE!
29. i need to be better about sending things in the mail
30. i am a very good at keeping secrets
31. i get cranky when my house is messy
32. i love to read but rarely do i finish the books i start
33. i don't understand why shawn does wanna decorate his office at work... some plants, pictures on the wall... anything!
34. sometimes i look at my kids and think "  i can't believe they are REALLY mine"
35. i love the fact that caleb is turning out to be a rocker, just like me =)
36. i trip and stumble all of the time
37. i was afraid to bath my kids ( especially when they were little ) so i make shawn do it
38. i hope i die before shawn
39. i love chocolate
40. i wanna meet david cook =)
41. i hate public pools
42. i want everyone to like me
43. i love everything that has to do with food. reading about it, looking at it, eatting it, buying it etc.
44. i am shy around new people
45. i LOVE flip flops
46. starbucks hot chocolate is the best
47. fall is my favorite season
48. i am an animal whisperer =)
49. i love animals but hate cleaning up after them
50. i want the super nanny, jo frost to come to my house
51. i think my kids are hilarious
52. why are cherries so expensive?
53. i love to get mail and emails
54. i miss my friends and family that have moved away from me on a daily basis
55. i can't wait for my brother and his wife to have a baby
56. i love it when ellie says that when she grows up she is gonna live next door to me
57. i love chloe's sassyness
58. i want a suburban
59. i wish i lived in london
60. i think taking mental health days off from work is a great thing
61. i am very sensitive to animals.. there is this commercial for the aspca, it shows animals in really bad conditions, in cages, animals that have been abused etc. it makes me cry everytime i see it
62. i like to imagine the types of guys chloe is gonna date... a cross between one of the jonas brother ( looks) and napolean dynamite ( sense of humor )
63. i think all of my kids are gonna need braces
64. it makes me laugh when shawn styles caleb hair and gives him a faux hawk, caleb gets so mad!
65. i dread the day when we are going to have to have " the talk" with our kids.. ugh
66. i love grilled cheese
67. i love that my best friend kelley is just as crazy as i am
68. it makes me laugh when people ask shawn if he plays basketball or football ( because of his height and size)
69. sometimes i wish i could go back to my college days for a couple of weeks.. they were so fun!
70. i love the fact that ellie loves target as much as i do
71. i saw the ramones 3 times in concert
73. i think everyones life should have a soundtrack
74. i love the cure
75. i am currently obsessed with coldplay's new album
76. i can't stand rachal ray.... evoo... urg!
77. i wanna see wicked again
78. i am still mad at friendly's for taking the grilled cheese, tomato and bacon super melt off of their menu
79. if i could have a super power i would wanna be able to read peoples thoughts
80. i think air supply is still one of the greatest bands EVER!
81. i miss my grandpop... ihop is just not the same without him...
82. i wish the weight i wanna lose would just fall off
83. one of my greatest fears is that one of my kids will get run over by a car..
84. i love to eat out
85. i wish i didn't love eatting out as much as i do...
86. i like my hair
87. where did sexy go that justin timberlake had to bring it back?
88. i wish my brother and sisters and i all lived on one big property so we could see each other everyday
89. i would love to write a book.. not sure about what though....
90. i like reading about celebrity gossip
91. why are the american idol's on tour tickets so dang expensive? how am i suppose to see my boyfriend?
92. i wish shawn's mom and dad could have lived to meet their grand children =(
93. i am afraid shawn will die at an early age like his father, mother and grandfather did
94. i would love to know what animals are thinking
95. i can't wait to eat mac and manco's pizza in ocean city n.j. in less than a month!!! woo hooo =)
96. i wish i knew how to cut hair
97. are john mayer and jennifer aniston REALLY dating?
98. i used to hate ben affleck but he has grown on me
99. i hope everyone who reads my blog make a list like this so i can read it =)
100. i love babies. the way they smell, the little noises and faces they make, their snuggliness.
101. it took me an hour and half to make this list... geez!

she's crafty : part 2

 so the past couple of weeks i have been inspired by people to create things.. my things being a necklace and a family sign. i got the idea for the family sign from my friend hollie's blog and the necklace idea...well i LOVE jewelry and everytime i buy a piece i think.. i could make this.. so i did =) this piece was so fun to make, i am so proud of myself!                                                 

time to jump on the HOT TAMALE TRAIN!!

One of my favorite shows started its 4th season last night , So You Think You Can Dance... woooooo hoooo!! The poppers are Shawn and I's favorite to watch and this guy, Robert Muraine is the BEST i have seen so far!! Watch and be amazed =)  i was so excited to see Travis is doing the choreography round... i just love him. It's gonna be another amazing season, i can't wait!

Thankful Thursday!

Thanks to Keri, i was inspired to do "Thankful Thursday's". My family and I have been blessed in so many ways and sometimes i forget just how lucky we are =) Here are a few things i am thankful this week...

1. Shawn, he is a hard worker, compassionate, forgiving, always makes me laugh even when i am mad at him and most importently,  my babies daddy =)  ( had to represent Philly )
2. my job, even though i loathe going there most days
3. my best friend Kelley, we have been friends for about 25 years! we always manage a way to get a laugh out of anything and everything. i know i can always depend on her, no matter what.
4. my parents, but i want to mention my father, what an amazing man. He will do anything for his family. He recently started watching Ellery a few times a week for us so we wouldn't have to send Ellery to the babysitter as much. Thank you Dad =)
5. pre packaged salad mix ( makes my life that much easier )
6. watermelon.. yummmmy!
7. people who inspire me to be a better person, mother,wife, friend, scrapbooker.. you know who you are =)
8. my journal
9. saturday nights, Kelley and i scrapbook
10. our beautiful home

time to bust out the black eyeliner cause....

Kelley and I got tickets to go see The Cure May10th!!! They're like one of the greatest bands EVER !!!  (said in my napolean dynamite voice ) woo hoooooooo!! i'm so excited.. lalalalala!!

"but mommy, i am talking to the animals"

have you seen enchanted? ellery LOVES this movie and does this one part out of our windows ALL OF THE TIME! the first time she did it i was in another room and i heard her singing, so i went to the living room and said "ellie what are you doing?" and she said "mommy, i am talking to the animals" ( she said this with the "duh, what do you think it am doing mom, GOSH" tone. watch the clip =)

notice the part where she calls to the animals? this morning we were in the supermarket ( ice cream isle to be exact) and ellery figured out that her voice echoed... so she belted out, at the top of her lungs the " ahhahhah ahhahah ahahaha" it was HILARIOUS!! i need to post a video of it on youtube. there is never a dull moment when we take the kids out of the house =)

happy birthday boo!

this is a day late but it still counts right? =)

ellery is my boo and i can't believe she is 4 today. it seems like yesterday when i found out i was pregnant with you. we were so happy... and then we got the bad news. daddy and i went to the doctor because i started to bleed, they said my hcg levels were too low and when that happens it usually means something is wrong with the baby. the doctors advised us to terminate the pregnancy, that wasn't an option. they said we could wait another week to see if the hormone levels went up, so we waited. i had blood drawn again and the levels had not gone up, they advised us again to terminate the pregnancy. after alot of thought, prayers and tears we decided to leave it in god's hands.  you tried to come out early on many occasions but the doctor's always found a way to make you wait.
after months of throwing up, steriod treatments ( which were SUPPOSE to make me stop throwing up.. but they didn't ), premature labor scares and pre eclampsia, you arrived a month early. you were so tiny, only 4 pounds 3 ounces. your strength amazed us. you endured a blood transfusion your first night here in earth, a brain bleed and sleep apnea. you were the smallest and most beautiful baby i had ever seen. you slept through the night from day one, it was amazing! i will never forget how thankful i was that you joined our family.
you have grown from a  tiny baby to a little girl, the time has gone by way to fast.
you are 4 now and will be starting preschool next year, i don't know if i will be able to let you go....
i love you more than words can express and you will always be my "boo".

my attempt at scrapbooking and my FABULOUS london trip =)

I'm back! Did anyone miss me? I have been super busy since i got back from London but i did have time to try my hand at scrapbooking =) I thought that since i have been making cards for a few years it was time to graduate to scrapbooking. My best friend Kelley and I were up until 3 a.m sunday morning making layouts!! I am not sure if i like them yet......

London was AMAZING (minus the FREEZING cold weather, rain and bad hair)!! We saw the Tower of London, Covent Gardens, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Big Ben and the Parliament, National Portrait museum, British Museum, Westminster Abbey, Wicked, Phantom of The Opera, and tons of other things. I also got to eat some amazing food like bangers and mash, pie and mash, sticky toffee pudding and bonafee pie to name a few. We also ate dinner at one of Gordon Ramsey's restaurants Maze, it was AWESOME. We even got a tour of the kitchen ( i know i know.. so food nerdy of me.. lol ) I am counting the days until i can go back. Watch out world, Mandy has the travel bug! Here are a few of my favorite pictures, i took hundreds, it was hard to narrow it down for a slide show =) Enjoy!