SOCIAL MEDIA

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Weekending

I am popping in (late) to tell you all about my weekend.

Friday after work, we didn't do very much. We had lunch, picked up the girls and tried to get their passports done. But the passport office was closed for the day. And it was too late to try another since they are only open until 3 pm.

That evening, I had the girls sans husband. Rory was out to a baseball dinner (University dinner), so my in-laws came over to play with the girls and allow me to pick up some dinner for us.
 My Friday Night Dates

Saturday morning we headed to breakfast and then to my cousin's Bloody Mary Tasting Party. We drank bloody mary's (duh), watched the playoff games and stuffed ourselves full of food. So much fun. But I think the girls picked up a cold from some of the other children there.
 

Saturday night we celebrated Rory's promotion with a steak dinner. And it was so good. So was the people watching. Total family drama at the table next to us. 
 Sorry for the picture of a picture, but I loved the photo so much that I had to share it.

Sunday the girls colds were getting worse and we didn't get much sleep the night before. We ran a few errands, made a fire and relaxed at home most of the day.

Monday was another relaxing day due to the girls being sick. We did manage to make it out to sushi for dinner and it was really good. We were supposed to have a babysitter (my sister) to watch the girls while we had dinner and went to a surprise going away/birthday party for Nathalie, but we didn't want to leave the girls with them being so sick. So I went to the party instead and Rory sent his well wishes to Nathalie.
The cake made by Cake on Sunday
So much fun with these ladies

I didn't stay out late since I had work today and sick babies at home. But it was well worth the evening out.

How was your weekend?
Monday, January 18, 2016

I Am Going To Miss You

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

Today is awesome because we have it off and celebrate MLK day, but so very sad because today will be the last time I see my best friend, Nathalie for awhile. Not forever, but for awhile.

You see Mrs. Nathalie (not using her NEW last name) is moving to Oklahoma where her husband took a job. A fancy meteorology doctor job.

Nathalie is the sweetest, kindest, loving, charismatic, outgoing SPARKLE there ever was. Nathalie and I met in 2009 at a bar. Sounds like a bad dating story, but it was not. I often visited my friend Matt where he bartended at. It was a very quiet evening (probably a weekday) and he called a few friends to come hang out with him. Shortly after I arrived, Nathalie arrived. Matt introduced us and we quickly became friends over talk of body painting, bad dating stories and our love sparkles and clothes. We made plans to hang out that weekend and never turned back.

Nathalie has been there for me through so much. From my cancer scare (uterine) to getting married and the birth of my babies. She stood next to me on my wedding day, gave the most special maid of honor speech and danced the night away with me. She is MY person (Grey's Anatomy reference for those who didn't catch that).

And tonight I say goodbye (for now) to MY person. And hello to her being 30. She turned 30 last Thursday, but was off in New Zealand on her honeymoon!

Nat, I LOVE YOU!
Left: 2009 (yes that's my husband, but we were only friends at this time) Right: Nat's wedding in August 2015
Friday, January 15, 2016

Friday Five

Another Friday is here and I am so thankful for the upcoming three day weekend we will have. We have lots going on this weekend, but still enough time to rest and relax. My kind of weekend. Today I am linking up with Karli and Liz.

One. Rory and I have another date night this weekend. Two dates in one month is impressive. And it is all thanks to my in-laws for watching the girls. We are going to a steak dinner at one of our favorite steakhouses. The occasion...Rory got promoted at work. We made a deal that if one or both of us got promoted, we (whomever was promoted) would take the other person out to a steak dinner. Well Rory is now the newest Special Agent. And my belly gets to benefit from it. But I may have to pay up as well because I am up for a Senior Agent promotion in a few weeks. Fingers crossed.

Two. Sausage and Tortellini Soup. I was reading Carolina Charm's blog this week and came across this recipe. It has chunks of sausage. Check. Cheese Tortellini. Check. And it is a soup. Double check. I have been craving soups and eating them as much as I can this winter (heck any winter or any day) and this one is right up my alley. I will be making this Sunday night. I.CAN'T.WAIT.

Three. I know I am not supposed to be spending (but I will get that cute macaron necklace very soon), but I am dying for this hat. It is so cute and will keep my head warm while looking cute on the way to work. Win win, but I need to wait on this one. But you don't, and it is on sale right now.for $12.

Four. Toddler Cooling Dish. The girls are eating more and more foods and this week we dabbled in Mac n Cheese. Rory went to a Wolf Pack basketball game and I picked up my favorite mac n cheese at the store last weekend. I wanted the girls to try it and this little dish allows me to serve it to them right away. It cools the food down and it keeps ice cream cold. Game changer.

Five. Another game changer is this no water soap, Mustela Physiobebe. I was recommended this product by fellow bloggers and it is great for in-between baths, using after a big poopy change and cleaning your children's faces. Plus it is so gentle on their skin. I love this stuff and so will your children.
source

Six. (Because I have too much to say and who doesn't want free money?)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope you all have a good weekend!

*This post contains affiliate links. I only recommend products that I use and love myself.*
Thursday, January 14, 2016

Making A Murderer and a Group Giveaway

Tuesday night we finally finished Making A Murder. And to say that I am disgusted by court system and law enforcement is an understatement.

If you haven't finished Making A Murderer, skip down to the bottom for an amazing giveaway I am co-hosting with several amazing ladies.

SPOILERS AHEAD....

1. How can they convict Avery and Dassey when they have no blood evidence on Theresa. There was no blood in the bedroom and if they slit her throat like it was suggested, there would be blood spatter everywhere. On the walls, the sheets, the mattress, the floor boards, the ceiling, etc. And it would be really hard to clean all of that up. To get every spec of it up. Nope. Not having it.

And then they said it happened in the garage. But the only piece of evidence they found was the bullet with her blood on it. There were cracks in his garage floor. Blood would have gotten in there. And there was so much clutter in that garage that they couldn't have possibly cleaned up all the blood. Plus they found deer blood and Avery's DNA in the garage. What he cleaned up her blood, but not the others?

2. The confession of Dassey should have been thrown out. That confessions (and the others from him) were never consistent. And it was coerced out of him. "What body parts did you see in the fire pit?" After he said none of them several times, they said they knew he saw them. So what parts were there? They elicited a confession out of a boy who has an IQ of a 6 or 7 year old.

3. The cops did not find the Rav4 key for 4 days. So after everyone searched Avery's bedroom for three days, it just happens to be placed under slippers in plain view. Nope. It was planted to nail him (whether he did it or not).

4. It was creepy and suspicious that the ex-boyfriend and roommate could get into Theresa's phone (because her password was so easy) and then present the evidence. What are they hiding? And the fact that the roommate didn't call the police to say she was missing for three days is also off.

5. The fire pit area where the bones were found is off too. How can you burn a body there and it be burned to the degree it was. Only to find some bones. I think there would be a lot more body parts left over. And to burn a body that completely would mean that mega accelerates were used or she was burned elsewhere. Avery had an incinerator, he would have burned her in that. Then there would have been no trace of her. And he wouldn't go spread her bones and ash in the burn pit.

6. The Rav4 and where it was found. If Avery killed her, why would he just park the car up on the ledge area with some branches put on it? He has a car compactor. Wouldn't he get rid of the car that way? And Avery's blood was found in the Rav4, but no fingerprints were found. So he wiped his fingerprints off, but not the blood?

7. Avery did have the shackles that Dassey told the police about in his confession, but the DNA on them was from Avery and an unknown person. Not Theresa.

8. The pierced vile of blood from Avery's first investigation (rape). The only people who had access to the blood was the police....Detective Lenk. And the evidence package was opened and taped back shut using scotch tape. The cap was also pierced. Lenk took blood from the vile and put it in the car of Halbauch. Plain and simple. And so dirty.

9. Finding out about DA Kratz and his sexting put the final nail in his coffin of how dirty he is (literally and figuratively).

And now somethings that don't sit well with me regarding Avery/Dassey.

1. After reading some transcripts from the trial, I read about the perspiration on the hood latch of the Rav4. Avery had to have touched that car at some point and opened her hood. I don't know why? Did he wipe part of the car clean? Can it be planted? It was suggested that he and Dassey moved the car and then he popped the hood to remove the battery cable.

2. The bullet used to kill Theresa came from Avery's gun that hung above his bed. A felon with a gun is a no-no. And it is hard to believe that he didn't know something about her murder. Even if he didn't commit it, he may have known who did it. A family member? Charles?

Ok onto something lighter. A GIVEAWAY!


I am participating in a group giveaway hosted by Karli from September Farm. She is one of my favorite bloggers. We have done several group giveaways together and I even wrote a guest post, Saturday's Confessional.

So for the group giveaway Karli thought it would be great to encourage entrants to think about what they would use the mula for to help reach their resolution(s).

I would use it to towards my new boobs (so my workout tops would fit better and I would feel better about my chest).

Or I would finally get a fitbit/garmin watch (so I can track my workouts and sleep).

Or some new running shoes that I desperately need.

Anyways, what we are getting at, is there are tons of things you can do with $250.

SO...

1 | Check out all the WONDERFUL women below who brought you this great giveaway! You will find some new great reads // pinterest boards // instagram accounts // etsy shops...lots of goodies.

2 | Get yourself entered below via rafflecopter.

3 | Cross your fingers and toes!
jessica | katie
sarah | krista | vicki | hannah | liz
samantha | karli | michelle | danielle | libby
alexis | penny | tawnya | shelly | mae
lauren | jenn | beth | lindsay | jess




GOOD LUCK!
Wednesday, January 13, 2016

One Year Postpartum

I haven't talk much about my postpartum experience, though I touched on it here, here and there a little bit.

But now that I am a year out, I thought I would divulge a little about where I am at now.

During pregnancy I gained 40 pounds. When I look at that number, I cringe (even though it is healthy for twins). I just didn't imagine that I would be pregnant with twins or even gain that much. But I did. And a lot of it was water weight and sugar weight (I ate all things sugar).

Losing the baby weight wasn't too bad. I held onto that water weight for a few weeks due to my c-section, but it came off pretty quickly. After four months, I was 10 pounds lighter than my pre-pregnancy weight. I have since gained some of those pounds back and I am hovering around my pre-pregnancy weight.

But...

I still have loose skin on my stomach. No matter how many planks or exercises I do, I can't get the extra skin to go away. It doesn't look that bad. Only when I bed over can I see the ripples and not so tightness.

My boobs are awful. I am literally counting down the days until I can get a lift/boob job/augmentation. This has been one of the worst things for me post-partum. I used to be a 34D while on BC. Then I got off of it and I went down to a 34C (a large C). I was happy with it. Then I breastfed, pumped and had a breast abscess. Now my boobs are deflated balloons seriously in need of a lift and some life. I am barely a 34B now. Maybe a bigger A. Such a confidence killer. And I refuse to buy a new bra, so I rock my 34C bras and have gaps in them. I feel like a teenager who stuffs her bra, but I don't even stuff it.

Even though I am around my pre-pregnancy weight, I lack the muscles I used to have (and I am working on those at the gym), my thighs are thicker (but stronger. Must be the running/elliptical/stairs I am doing) and my waist is smaller (I am a zero now). I feel out of proportion.

My hair. I didn't have the thick hair while I was pregnant, but it stuck around and got thicker postpartum. Maybe the hormones, the pumping, prenatal vitamins, etc. I was really happy with it, but then I stopped pumping and it started falling out. I didn't notice it that much except when I had to sweep my bathroom floor a couple times a week. Or when I had to clean out my hair brush often. But that still didn't seem that bad. Until I started growing back the hair that I lost. And it is around my bangs and the framing of my face. I have so many "baby" hairs that it is hard to tame. And it makes me want to change my hair up everyday, but I hold back. DO NOT CUT YOUR HAIR (major cut, please trim it) until at least a year after you had your baby (per my hair stylist). I still don't think I will cut it. I am loving how long it is.

My scars are healing, but they are still very much visible and dark. I rub on scar creams on my scars at least once a day and I kneed them out (per my esthetician). My breast abscess one looks the best by far and it was done in March. My c-section is next best and my umbilical hernia is the worst. I can't wait to have them fade more and have an abdomen that looks semi normal.

My umbilical hernia has been a pain in the "tummy". Scar tissue causes discomfort, the scar is ugly and my belly button is half fixed I feel. But I said I would give it a year before going back and having a revision or laser it.

My hormones are back to normal. I went on the mini pill around 6 weeks postpartum and then back to my regular bc around 10 1/2 months postpartum. I vowed to never go on bc again after it wrecks havoc on my PCOS, but I don't want to get pregnant (for awhile or maybe never), it evens my hormones out, it makes me feel more like myself and I am too afraid to try other forms of birth control. So I will go with this now until we decide to have more children (and I know how to handle coming off of that now) or figure out something better. I am open to suggestions, so throw them at me.

And I think that is about it for my Year Postpartum. If you have any questions on any of the procedures I went through or any postpartum questions, feel free to ask. I am an open book.
Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Butler Twins at 12 Months!

So I am a little behind on the girls' 12 month update, but only because I wanted to have all their new stats.

Well the girls are officially ONE years old, and this last year flew by. It feels like yesterday we were in the hospital delivering the girls and trying to figure out what our life would be like for the next year. It was better than I ever imagined it would be.

The girls have changed so much and are now toddlers (gulp). How can that even be?

12 Month Update...
 
nicknames: Avery: Avery Girl, Avey, Bunny, Avery Madison  Sutton: Sutton Muffin, Sutte, Bear Cub, Sutton Kira

weight: Sutton AND Avery now weigh 19 1/2 pounds. Sutton finally caught up to her sister after being half a pound smaller most of her life thus far. That puts the girls in the 50th % for weight.

Sutton is 29 1/2 inches long (70th %) and 47.4 cm head circumference (95th %). Avery is 29 3/8 inches long (~65th %) and 47.6 cm head circumference (98th %).

Sutton has grown 12 1/4 inches in length and gained 16 pounds 9 oz. Avery has grown 11 7/8 inches in length and gained 16 pounds.
sleep: Sleep has been better this month with the girls only waking up once or twice. They did have a few days in there that they had a growth spurt which caused them to wake up more, but this month we have had better sleep. And they are getting better with their naps. Longer naps!

eats: The girls are trying new foods everyday. They have had so much people food this month. They finally have 6 teeth each which means they can chew food so much better. They love their cherrios, yogurt, cheese, bread, chicken, tortillas, eggs, etc. Sutton will try anything you give her. Avery takes a few minutes to try something, but she usually loves it after. The girls were drinking about 27 ounces of formula plus yogurt, a puree and cheerios and what was on our plates. The girls started whole milk at 12 months!
 
loves: Sutton: Sutton loves to crawl around everywhere. She is super fast at crawling. She loves to babble, say mama, mom and dada ALL the time. She loves to give the biggest and strongest hugs. She is also a fan of open mouth kisses and slobbering on you. She loves to play with blocks. She loves toppling them over and putting them into things. Sutton also loves her stuffed animals. Sutton loves food. Especially yogurt and Cheerios. Sutton loves to sit up in her crib, pull herself up on everything and pretend everything is a drum. Sutton loves Patty Cake, Peek-a-Boo, and If You're Happy and You
 Know It.
Avery: Avery loves crawling around and following her sister everywhere. Avery loves to cuddle and give hugs. She is also a lover of kisses, pretending she is being eaten and screaming. Avery loves to talk all the time. She will babble, but also say mama, dada, baba and ya. Avery has learned to clap and claps at everything. She sits up in bed every morning, so when we go in to get her, she is already up. She has been pulling herself up on all the furniture at home and daycare. Avery loves playing with her toys and smashing cupcakes. Avery also loves Patty Cake, Peek-a-Boo, and If You're Happy and You Know It. She loves when you sing to her.

dislikes: Teething, being sick, when mommy and daddy leave the room, missing nap time and being hungry.

clothing size: The girls are wearing 12 month clothing (and a few 18 month).

diaper size: Size 3.
Baby girls, mommy and daddy can't believe you are ONE! Thank you for choosing us to be your parents, being the sweetest babies EVER and such a joy! Mommy and daddy love you both so much. We can't wait to see what the next year holds!

This month we celebrated your first Christmas, your first birthday, said goodbye to Nick and Nathalie, played in the snow, met Santa, went to a Nevada basketball game, hung out with family and went to Christmas parties.

You two are the light of our lives! Love Mommy and Daddy!
Monday, January 11, 2016

Weekending

Monday already?! This weekend flew by in an instant (as it always does), but it was a good one.

I didn't work Friday since we had the girls' 12 month check up (post coming tomorrow about it). I was able to run some errands, walk Walter and get a bunch of play time in with my girls. We went to dinner that evening at a restaurant we USUALLY love, but they changed up their menu and concept. It was still good, but way more expensive than last time. And they didn't have our favorite dishes anymore. Total bummer. We came home to watch more Making A Murderer.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to get the girls ready for some play time with their grandparents while mommy and daddy went snowboarding. We snowboarded for 2 1/2 hours straight and had a blast. Pretty good snow for not snowing the last two days prior to it. After snowboarding, we headed back down the mountain to grab some in-n-out (deserved it after snowboarding) and get home to our babies. We got home just in time to feed them and put them down for a nap.

We went to a friends children's birthday party at a place called Jump Man Jump. Think of a warehouse with lots of bounce houses and toys. The girls aren't big enough to do things on their own, but we took them around and they had a great time playing with all the other kids.
Sutton loved this bounce house. Avery wasn't too sure of it.
Mommy and Sutton going down the Bounce House Slide (so hard climbing up the ladder with a baby)
Avery learning to drive (they got a princess car like this for Christmas!)
Avery loved this bike (the video is even cuter)

The girls had so much fun attending their first friends birthday party. After the party, we went to pizza (because it was near and easy with two sleepy babies) and then home with two exhausted babies. We watched more Making A Murderer after the girls went to bed and crashed early ourselves.

Sunday we got up and saw that no one won PowerBall, so I headed to Stateline and bought some tickets. I thought I would be gone for a half hour including grabbing breakfast to go. Nope. I underestimated the lines. Since Nevada doesn't do the lottery, we have to go to Stateline to get lottery tickets. There are a few near Reno and I chose the one everyone and their moms were at. And I didn't come prepared. No coffee and the wrong shoes. Total fail.

The worst shoes I could have worn out there. I was naive to think I could walk up and grab tickets and go. I thought since it was Sunday and we still had 4 days until the next drawing that I would be ok. I stood outside and in line for an hour and 20 minutes. But I got our tickets. Now here is to hoping we win SOMETHING.

I grabbed breakfast on the way home, watched the Vikings/Seahawks game by the fire and tried to warm up. We spent the day playing with the girls and watching football. I did head out again around 4 pm to grab groceries for the week, but that was it. Lots of cuddles, bath time, play time and naps were had yesterday. And it was the best.

We finished our evening off with another episode of Making A Murderer (only three left to go) in which I barely made it through that episode. I was so tired. 

How was your weekend? What did you think of the playoff games?