Weekend Recap!

Good Morning, Happy Monday everyone! Did everyone have a good weekend? Do anything exciting? Here's what we were up to this weekend...

Friday:

Well, let's start with Thursday night, J went to bed at 10ish and was wide awake, screaming, at 12:30. Mind you, J just turned 3 and has been sleeping through the night since he was 9 months. I know his sleep schedule like the back of my hand. A and I take turns going in to check on him, threaten console him, but he still continued to wake up. After about 2 hours of this, yes, 2 hours, I finally decided to whip out the good ole thermometer. No fever. Okay....plan M (cause we've exhausted plans A-L), we let him come in our bed with us. Once he fell asleep, A and I feel asleep. I had to be up at 4 to workout so at this point, sleep was a foreign language to me. He woke up again, I said some obscene words in my head (honestly! I think it's so rude to curse at people, especially your children, despite how frustrated you are-stepping down from my soapbox now), this time he told us that his ear hurt! Ah ha! And there it was, a good old ear infection. Since it was 3:45am we gave him some Tylenol, some ear drops, and sent him back to bed. He slept until 9, I had to wake him up to go to the doctor.

So, back to Friday, I was exhausted. I trip to the Minute Clinic, some antibiotics, and my little guy was back to normal by 11. We raced home just cleaners to get there.

SN: A finally agreed to let me hire someone toe help out around the house. Not everyday, not every week, but once a month. I think that's pretty fair, considering I am away from the home 2 days a week, 2 days I am home but I have 3 little crumb snatchers, whom I adore ( don't get it confused), here with me, so I don't get a solid day to clean because who wants to clean on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?

I digress, the cleaners did an awesome job! Ashish came home early because he was exhausted from J's little night time episode. I decided that I was going to do some planting, not gardening, just planting. I jumped in the car, headed to Wal-Mart...the flowers were AWFUL. Not just ugly but AWFUL. I was disappointed. When I came back home, empty handed, Ashish felt so bad for me that he took me out for Mexican!

Saturday:

It was Ashish's weekend to work. Me Me and I met up for manis and pedis and then we had lunch. J hung out with his second favorite lady, my mom.

We went to hang out with some friends Saturday night for a couple's game night. I don't remember the last night that I laughed that much. The girls beat the boys!!!

Sunday

I rode with Ashish to work to get my car and pick J up (he was staying with Ashish's parents overnight). A quick trip to Sam's, lunch, and it was time to head home. I got ready for a baby shower while J took a quick nap then it was off to shower Abby and Baby Finn with presents and love!

All in all, I had a great weekend! How was your weekend?

It's OK Thursday

Hey Ladies!  I'm linking up with Neely and Amber for an It's OK Thursday!

It's Ok...

To love the Real Housewives of all of the cities! I do!

to eat most of your child's Starburst jellybeans

to watch soap operas

for me to be pee in your pants excited about our trip to Charleston next week

to eat ice cream for breakfast-hey, dessert is dessert!

That's all I have for today!

Link up with the ladies and tell us what's OK in your world!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Happy Wednesday! I've been away from What I'm Loving lately but I am back and in full force! Link up with Jaime over at This Kind of Love and tell us what your loving on this beautiful Wednesday!


I'm Loving...80 degree weather! I love the spring! One of the great things about living in the South is that the winters don't last long and we are usually the first to see Spring like weather!

I'm Loving...Becky over at From Mrs. to Mama. I spent a good amount of my weekend reading her whole blog. This girl is hilarious, I love it!

I'm Loving...that Hubby and I (along with my brother and SIL) are heading to Charleston next week! We are taking a little couples vacation, no kids, no work, just us! BTW, we've never been to Charleston so if you have any good restaurant, "touristy," must see places to recommend, please do!

I'm Loving...my husband! I love him every week, ever day, but this week he has really stepped up and shown me a new side to him. He is definitely making me step up my game!

I'm Loving...The 30 Day Husband Encouragement Challenge. Like I said earlier, I need to step up my game!


As always, I'm Loving these two!

Family

I love taking pictures of my family! My parents have a ridiculous amount of pictures of my brother and I growing up, unfortunately, we don't have a lot of pictures of our whole family. I never really understood it until I became a parent myself. I find that I am always the one taking the pictures, at the birthday party, the zoo, the aquarium, etc, that I am never in them. So, when I had Jordan I made it my mission to try and get at least one family picture at most events. Here are Jordan's 3 year old pictures:

Catching Up

Wow, it's been a over a month since I last blogged. To say that I've been busy would be an understatement! We're finally at the tail end of our busy months and it feels so good! Here's a quick recap of the past month!

I blogged about my birthday but never actually posted it...oops!

Tomorrow is my birthday, I will be 29. Am I the only one that continues to still have birthdays but believe (in your head of course) that you are still 25? Outside of the random tweak in my hip and back -thank you child birth, and the one stray gray hair that I found last week, I still feel 25.

So, what am I doing for my birthday? Well, in un-Danielle fashion, I didn't have any concrete plans going into this week. I wanted to do something low-key but fun. So, tonight, Ashish and I are going to dinner with some friends and then to see a movie. Tomorrow, we are having some family and friends come over for a Mexican themed birthday get together. That's it, nothing crazy or extravagant.

What I learned in year 28:

• That thinking about Botox injections and wrinkle creams is not all that uncommon
• 30 really isn't that old
• I can't expect people to do for me what I do for them.
• More often than not, people are late for things. I didn't just learn this, I've always known, I'm just now choosing to accept it.
• My friends and family are more important to me than anything.

So, here's to 29! May it be as full of blessings and love as 28 was!

My baby turned 3 on February 5. I can't handle it. The time has gone by so fast. Jordan wanted a Race Car themed party and that's exactly what he got!

The incredible cake made by Chelsie

Party in full swing

Happy Birthday boy!

Pinata time!

We reconnected with some old friends this month. Almost two years ago we decided that we needed to de-dramatize (is that a word?!?) our lives which meant taking a step away from some friendships. That step was one of the hardest things that Ashish and I have ever had to do in our marriage. It was Ashish's childhood friend and his wife, whom I was friends with. The wife contacted me this month and wanted to know if we'd be willing to have dinner and work things out. According to her, they were in a different place in their lives. She said that they've changed. There was a lot of hurt involved in the demise of the friendship. Things were said that can never be taken back. We decided to take them up on their offer. We quickly realized why it all happened, it was God's plan for The Patels. In the two years since the friendship ending we have found a church to call home, joined a small group, made so many good friends through the small group. We've learned how to surround ourselves with positive people, give it all to God, pray more,worry less, and the list goes on. God was using us, teaching us, and working on us.

We had dinner with the old friends on Saturday, it was awkward. I didn't expect things to be like they used to be, so many things had changed, we changed. I don't really know what will happen with that friendship. For Ashish's sake, I hope it can be rebuilt.

Until next time...

Spoiled

Don't you just love when a simple conversation gives you great insight?

Ashish's work schedule recently changed which leaves Jordan and I alone for dinner 3 nights a week. Ashley invited us to have dinner with her, Lorelei, and Madelyn because Adam's work schedule has him working late some nights also. Of course I said yes, I love a good dinner partner! Somehow we got on the subject of husbands. It started out as a general conversation, we love our husbands, blah, blah, blah. But then Ashley said something that will always stick in my mind. She said "you know, we are very spoiled by our husbands. Not only do they love us, they show us just how much they love us by the way that they value our families. Our husbands show up and are present for everything that involves us and our families."

Wow! I've always known it but it took for Ashley to say it for me to realize that we are very spoiled. In this day and age where divorce is so high, we have something that is good, something that is solid, and something that we treasure.

So, to my husband, thank you for spoiling me! Thank you for showing up and being present for everything that involves me and our family!

Resolutions

Don't change because a new year is coming up but change for your own personal growth no matter what resolutions you make, they start with you.-Unknown Author

It's the first day of January! I sound like a broken record but where did 2011 go? The 1st day of January not only signifies the beginning of a new year but it also signifies that my little guy is about to be a year older (his b-day is Feb. 5). Instead of making "resolutions," this year I am making "life style changes." Usually I would make resolutions in my head, I won't really share them with anyone. Maybe because I didn't want them to know that I failed at something. Or maybe because I never really intended to follow through. This year, instead of making personal life style changes, we are making changes as a family! I made a list of things that I wanted to change for myself, Ashish made a list for himself, and we made a list for our family. Looked a little something like this:

Danielle:

• Become healthier (last year I lost nearly 30 lbs, I want to lose about 20 more).
• Spend more time praying for myself (I am a good prayer warrior for others but when it comes to me, I kinda forget to pray about it.)
• Spend more time with my girlfriends.
• Loosen up! Wow, that wasn't as hard to type as I thought it would be.
• Join a women's bible study
• Become more supportive of Ashish's hobbies (he loves to play golf, I need to go with him more often)

Ashish

• Follow through on business ventures
• Continue to save for retirement
• Workout more

Family:

• Take advantage of vacation opportunities
• Pray together more
• Have more patience
• Spend more time with extended family
• Start having Sunday dinners again.

I believe that we will be successful because we aren't listing unrealistic goals. The good thing about this system is that Ashish can hold me accountable and vice versa!

Happy New Year!