New Challenge

Sometimes I think of ideas at the most random times, like today driving to The Little Gym.
Since I'm turning 30 this August, yes 30, how the HECK did that happen? I decided that I need to get a goal in mind and really stick with it. The first goal, I mean the 10th goal I've probably set for my self I had started in Janurary, you see I do these fancy little cute charts that I like to put pretty girly stickers on once I lose a pound! I even made the hubsand a work out chart for him, speaking of that he need a new one =) Sorry, got sidtracted there! Anyways, so my little chart I started in January was 20 pounds by March, well March came and went and here we are in the end of April and I didn't lose the 20 pounds, I'm not going to beat my self up about it, because there is no point.

Since I'm turning 30 this year, I decided that I would challenge my self to 30 pounds by 30. After thinking about it a little more, I realized that my BFF Jillian Michaels, probably wouldn't recommend that. It's 10 pounds a month, which isn't exactly the best way to lose weight.

So, this may sound silly but my ULTIMATE goal is to lose 30 pounds by August 4th, and since I realize this is a HUGE challegne and might not be the healthiest way to lose weight, I'm going to set my goal at losing 20 pounds by August 4th.

Do you want to join me? If so, leave a comment with your email address or email me at kupuggie@gmail.com.

The details:
You will give me your starting weight and your goal(I'll put this all on a spreadsheet) each week on Friday's there will be a weigh in, you'll email me your weight and I will caculate total % lost weekly and over all total. Each week there will be a new challenge exercsie to do, these I'll post on the blog on Monday mornings so you can either add that exercise to whatever you are doing, or do it as a replacement for another one. You can do whatever you want to work out, eat healthy. If you already have a goal your working on you can still join in!
Sounds pretty easy right, so come on join me =)

My Two Kids

Love This Commerical!

Have you seen this Pampers commercial yet? It's adorable and a semi tear jerker!

Oops!

I thought it would be a great idea for Kiley to help us decorate our Easter Eggs, the husband asked If I really thought it was a good idea, and of course I thought it was, until Kiley decided to grab the pink dye and this happened:
Needless to say our floor turned pink and we scrubbed and scrubbed till it was white again!

Freebies For Earth Day

Since it's Earth Day, here are some freebies:

• Take your reusable travel mug into Starbucks and you will receive a FREE brewed coffee. You can do the same at Caribou Coffee too!
• -Trade 5 plastic shopping bags to recycle at Disney Stores and you will receive a FREE Mickey Tote.
• Free 12 page Earth Day Activities Book for Kids (PDF).
• Download for FREE The Four Seasons – A Earth Day Interactive Children’s Story Book on iTunes.
• Lowes: Get one of 1,000,000 free trees that the store will be giving to customers. Call ahead to make sure that they have them for you before you head out.
• At Babies R Us stores, you can get a free re-usable tote bag today, and then you'll get 25% off everything you put in it to buy. You'll need this printable coupon to take advantage of this offer.

Coupons/Deals Today

• If you shop at ShopRite and have a price plus card registered on Cellfire has a chance to get a .55, 1.75 or 5.00 e-coupon added to you account! This will be taken off your next shopping trip automatically. Talk about instant savings! They are only offering this from 6am to 3pm, so hop over there to see which e-coupon you can score. I scored a 1.75 coupon!

• A new promotion has started for Restaurant.com. Through April 24th, Restaurant.com is offering their $25 Restaurant.com Gift Certificates for as little as $2.00! After you add them to your cart, use code EASTER, to make sure the price changes for you!

• From April 18 to April 29, breakfast at SUBWAY will be buy one get one free! You can choose from any of your favorite 6” sandwiches AND try a new one for FREE at participating SUBWAY locations between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., no coupon required.

• Old Navy has a new Instant Win Game! The game is called Old Navy Crazy Code Egg Hunt. You can instantly win a $5,000 check (3 winners), a $1,000 check (35 winners), a t-shirt coupon (Buy 1 t-shirt and get 50% off a second t-shirt) or a shorts coupon (Buy 1 shorts and get 50% off a second pair of shorts). Plus, one grand prize winner will snag a $50,000 check!! Just head on over here to enter.

Be A Better Spouse Day 30

Challenge #30: Make it Happen

So, we've come to the end of the challenge! Hopefully, it's helped you in some way - big or small. I guess most importantly is that it's definitely affected me in a positive way. And that was the whole point of all this anyway. It made me start to think more of how I approach things, though sometimes my husband likes to remind me of the "Spouse Challenge"

The last challenge is less of a challenge and more of a call to action.

You've got the tools and the power to take this further than a month, to hopefully have it make a positive impact on your life - for you, your partner, and your kids.

For some of you, it's fixable. Maybe for others of you, it's not.

But it's got to be worth at least trying. That's what I did this month and that's what I hope to do next month, even though I won't be posting daily about it here.

Be A Better Spouse Day 29

Challenge #29: Go to bed together is important.

It doesn't need to be all the time, but there's something about finishing your day together, crawling into bed, and either falling asleep or waiting for your baby to yell at you on the monitor.

I've heard "the experts" say how important it is to sleep in the same bed with your partner/spouse if anything to just stay connected. Makes sense to me.

So if you don't do it, try it. And if you do, well, look at that. You're one ahead!

Tomorrow's our last day! I'd love to know how the month went!

Be A Better Spouse Day 28

Challenge #28: Read a self-help book (or blog)

There are no shortage of self-help books out there that can do wonders for helping your marriage.

Books and blogs are good for folks who need strategies that can actually work and most of the ones I've seen don't necessarily require a ton of time or brain power.

There's a book called Babyproofing Your Marriage ages ago and I heard it was really fantastic. It would be a good wedding present. Or even a baby shower gift. . And right now, the book is like $5. What do you have to lose?

And I was just introduced to Project Happily After (book and blog). Haven't read it yet.

Be A Better Spouse Day 27

Challenge #27: Finding the core issue

This is probably a tough one for a Monday but it's one that you can't exactly do until it actually requires action. But if you take a second to break down fights, arguments, and disagreements, they usually come down to the main issue that, if addressed, might eliminate a lot of future fights, arguments, and disagreements. Funny how that works.

Be A Better Spouse Day 26

Challenge Day 26: Get some rest

It's the last weekend of our this challenge and I realize that Saturdays and Sundays are quiet (and rightfully so), so I've got a relatively easy one.

This might seem odd, but I tell you what - everything is better with more sleep. I'm a better parent, wife, person in general when I get sleep.

I strongly suggest coming up with some sort of plan that allows one of you to sleep in on a certain day. That's always a nice gesture. But this might also mean going to sleep a little early. But I really need to make a point to get to bed earlier. If anything, I know my frustration tolerance is much higher when I'm not exhausted.

And if getting rest isn't feasible, doing something else together!

Be A Better Spouse Day 25

My husband is going to love today. In fact I can guarantee you as soon as this post goes live, I'll have a call or text from him on my phone.
Challenge #25: Saying sorry

I think it's important to apologize in a meaningful and specific way. We also need to keep in mind that everyone has their own way to apologize. My husband thinks I sound like a 5 year old when I apologize and he feels sometimes I don't mean it. But I do mean it, it's just the way I say it. So what I need to do personally is think about how I'd want my apology to be accepted and try to keep that in mind when I'm giving my own.

Taking a minute or 12 to breathe goes hand in hand with this challenge. There are plenty of times when I should have just shut up, apologized, and gone on with my day. But instead, I keep on fighting and then end up saying and even doing things that I really regret(like playing on my I-Phone) . And that require a bigger apology.

Be A Better Spouse Day 24

Challenge #24: Be spontaneous

So much of our days are parents are predictable. Scheduled. Rigid. Husband's alarm goes off at 6. My alarm(Kiley) goes off at about 6:45, we eat breakfast, Kiley naps at 9, I typically work out, etc.

And when things are spontaneous, it's usually not a good thing. Around here it involves cleaning up poopy diaper.

But when it comes to relationships, it's incredibly important to help keep things fresh and exciting.

I'm not going to tell you what you need to be spontaneous about, but try to think about doing something out of the ordinary today. Turn some music on and dance. Send him a text telling him that you miss him.

Maybe it's going out for dessert after dinner.

Look, being spontaneous doesn't necessarily have to do with sex. It just means adding a little fun and excitement back into your family and your relationship.

Be A Better Spouse Day 23

Challenge #23: Get Away (or at least start planning one)

It is so important to get away with just each other. But we live far from our families, about an hour and half from my parents and about 7 from the in-laws. So it's hard for us to just get away for a night.

I know that there are lots of factors that might not necessarily allow this to happen for you. But I really, strongly encourage you to try. Even if it's not until 2012. Talk about it now. Put away money for a bed and breakfast in the next town over and a ticket to fly family or someone trustworthy in.

Your kids will be fine. And your relationship will be better for it.

Be A Better Spouse Day 22

To my Mom and Mother in Law, STOP reading this post right now, lol!

Challenge #22: Business Time

So it took us 22 days to finally get to it.

THE SEX.

Yes, I'm talking about it. Because it's important. And because you've been working all month long on your communication and all that good stuff. So now it's time to get down to the business.

Now if things are really crappy around your place between you and your spouse or partner, this might not be the best idea, but if things are looking brighter, well, hell, get to it! You don't have to exactly do the deed, ahem, but get the party started.

Be A Better Spouse Day 20 & 21

Challenge #20/21: Get a hobby

So many of us are engulfed in work and our kids that we often have nothing to call our very own. However, our spouses seem to always have a hobby. Why is that? I know "always" is a generalization, but I've found quite often that it's very often the case.

What can happen is that the person without the hobby gets resentful when the other person goes off to enjoy their hobby.

That can't just be me, right?

Of course, if your spouse is gone every weekend on a golf trip, then getting a hobby yourself might not exactly be the answer. However, if you do, then you have a reason to go away, or get some time alone just like he is. (Though every weekend? Hmmmm. Not so much).

So think about something you've always wanted to do. It could be something like knitting or gardening, learning a new language, a sport (like running or dancing).

It's important for you to have something of your very own. Not just for you, but for your relationship as well.

Kiley is 8 months!

Kiley is 8 months today! Where is this time going? 2 months ago, I said I couldn't believe you were a half of a year old and NOW you are only 4 months away from being a year old. Time to start planning that party!

So what's new with you this month little bug? So much, again =) I love watching you grow everyday. You are an expert at rolling, if only you could make Mommy and Daddy some money by competing in rolling Olympics for babies! =)

You are SO close to crawling, you can get up on your knees now and rock a few times, but then you like to flop back down to your belly! Sometimes you get mad, because you really want something but can't figure out to get to it. No teeth yet, still waiting on those.

You love your Puffs and all the fun little snacks you can get now! You even tried some homemade ham last night and you loved it! You are loving jumping in your jumper, you go CRAZY! When we tell you jump, you jump! We also just bought you a walker, that you took a few steps with, but you like to hit the buttons better right now so it makes some noise. You have this fascination with playing with your baby food jar lids or any type of lid for that matter! You love to grab everything in your sight, your favorite things that you really try to get though are Daddy's cool new TV remote and Mommy's I-Phone.

The biggest change this month is that you are waving! On command waving also! As soon as someone says Hi or Bye to you, you wave! So cute! You keep waving to Puggie and look very confused as to why she isn't waving back to you.

You love to play a game, I'm not really sure what to call it. But you like when we scream, happy screams of course, and you scream them back at us. Yesterday while outside you heard your echo and you liked it. You started screaming at people at the grocery store as well, so they pay attention to you, such a ham!

Anyways, once again, I can't wait to see what you do in the next month.

Be A Better Spouse Day 19

Challenge #19: Be Thankful

I think one of the biggest challenges of being a parent is that it's a thankless job. That's probably why I'm all for Father's Day and Mother's Day. Damn straight there should be a holiday just for us.

But when I'm entrenched in my long days parenting, often times alone, I do forget to offer some thanks to my husband, who also works his own share of long days.

You don't have to go overboard here. But even just expressing your gratitude for whatever it is that your spouse DOES do is helpful. It sets a good example to, for your kids, and hey, even for your spouse who might not get the hint that you could use a little thanks for yourself.

That doesn't mean you're doing this just to get some thanks of your very own, but some things you've got to give out what you need and want for yourself.

So decide how thankful you feel like being and give thanks!

Green Giant Veggies & A Giveaway

Have you tried Green Giants Frozen Veggies yet? There are 29 delicious boxed veggies endorsed by Weight Watchers. Most of them only have 1 or 2 points plus per serving size. They have lots of flavor and a ready in minutes! They all have mouthwatering flavoring or seasoning. My favorite is the Broccoli with Cheddar, because it's yummy and actually healthy, only 60 calories per serving!So, two of my lucky readers will get 2- .50 cent coupons when you buy two boxes of any variety of Green Giant Frozen Boxed Veggies!

How do you enter? Simple, visit Green Giant and let me know your favorite flavor or what would be your favorite flavor!

Winner will be chosen next Wednesday, April 13, by random.org!

Good Luck!

Be A Better Spouse Day 18

I need to clarify something here, this is a spouse challenge. This isn't just for one person to work on in their marriage, you are a team, so if you are going to participate and for this to really work, both people in the marriage should be reading these and working on all of the different challenges. One should not be reading as just something for their better half to do.

So on with Day 18.

Be a better spouse challenge Day 18: Eat together

We're fortunate to have lots of family dinners when my husband is home, but lately, with so many kids needing so many things, we end up playing wait staff rather than sitting down with all of them ourselves.

Challenge #18: Eat Together

It's important to have at least one meal where it's just you two. This might be asking the impossible, but think about your schedules think about how you could make this happen. Maybe it's a late night dessert. Or perhaps it's dinner after the kids eat.

It's a good way to reconnect and check in. And well, you have to eat, so why not make it something you do together, even if it's just one time a week.

Wow, we're already over 2 weeks in!

Giggly Kiley

Don't mind her silly Buffalo Bill's PJ's, we have to semi support Daddy's hometown football team.

Be A Better Spouse Day 17

Challenge #17: Give them space

Now, I realize that this is a tricky one because there may be some of you whose spouses already get a lot of space, for whatever reason (I won't ask about specifics). In that case, you have to decide whether this is feasible.

I also think it's important for you to get your own space too, whether you work outside the home or not. We all need to get a chance to breathe and recover, even if it's just 10 minutes locked in a closet.

So give him space. And ask for your own. It's amazing what a little bit of breathing room can do for a person.

Be A Better Spouse Day 16

Challenge #16: Listen

Last night my husband was trying to tell me something and I was looking up at him with one eye from my computer and barely giving him my attention. Hi, rude much? It's something I do often, mostly because at night cause it's my free time, since he's so wonderful and takes care of Kiley when he gets home.

However, I felt terrible about it. So today, I'm going to try really hard to listen, especially if he's talking about something that's important to him.

So, who's the better listener at your house? You or him?

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Be A Better Spouse Day 15

Challenge #15: Say what you mean.

I'm pretty terrible in being direct with my husband, well, at least without sounding like an jerk. I'm the queen of "No, forget it, I'm fine."

But my poor husband is left trying to decipher what I'm trying to say from my cryptic messages.

So today, really try to express yourself. Be direct and straightforward. Not aggressive or agitated. I tend to think that if we were all able to just say exactly what we mean, we'd be a lot happier. And our spouses wouldn't be so confused all the time.