Day 23- 30 days of being thankful

Day 23:

I am thankful for laughter. Every day, Gianna does something to make me laugh. I could be having the worst day possible, but she can do one little thing and get me rolling. Even better is when I tickle her, and she cracks up hysterically. Which then gets me cracking up hysterically. Her laughter brightens the whole room up. She has the cutest laugh ever.

When AJ gets her going, it's the best. She certainly adores him, even when he's having one of his ODD moments. She looks up to her big brother, and lets him know through all of her kisses and hugs, and especially by laughing at all the little things he does. Falling? Yep. Running and sliding on the floor? Of course. Banging into things? Definitely. Even if he's singing or saying things in a silly voice. She just can't stop. It's the best sound ever!

Day 22- 30 days of being thankful

Day 22:

I am thankful for my family. My aunts, uncles, cousins, father, brother, and my mother. I am thankful for being able to spend Thanksgiving with my family. 

My family is wild, crazy, but we put the 'fun' in dysfunctional. I couldn't imagine having a better family than I do. I'm very close with some cousins, talking to them almost every day. Cousins who have kids of their own who my kids can play with. I would absolutely love to have our kids all play together and be as close as we were as kids, but so far, it hasn't happened as often as it did for us, but our kids know that there are a multitude of cousins out there, and that they are all very much loved. I couldn't ask for any better family. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Day 21- 30 days of being thankful

Day 21:

I am thankful for markers and coloring books. 

No, seriously. They keep my kids entertained for hours. Even Gianna. I buy washable markers so that I don't have to worry about if G decides to write on herself (she does). And they're non-toxic, so I don't worry if she decides to eat them (she does). The other week, we went out to Walmart. Gianna had a lovely purple marker near her eye. Someone asked what happened to her. It took me a minute to realize they were referring to her purple mark. I explained that we just recently began playing with markers, and that was the result. The woman laughed. She said she'd been there with each of her kids. It happens. 2 days again, we didn't go anywhere because she decided to chew on the brown marker. Her ENTIRE mouth was brown. Even her drool was brown. Gross. There was no way I was going to explain that to anyone! 

We have plans to celebrate Thanksgiving up at my Aunt's house, and then to Anthony's moms after. I just have to keep AJ and Gianna clean until then. Baths will be in order for tonight, and the markers will be put up high until tomorrow night. There will be no purple eyes tomorrow, or brown mouths. At least, not until after 8PM. 

Day 20- 30 days of being thankful

Day 20: I am thankful for cloth diapers. I tossed the idea around when Sofia was a baby, and even tried using the Gerber Prefolds and pins. By the way, despite what the package says, those are NOT suitable for diapering!! They are better suited to be burp cloths. I never even tried with AJ. But with Gianna, I tossed the idea around some more. By the time she was about 6.5 months old, I decided to give it a try. I got into it when I found out that Jillian's Drawers did a program that moms who receive WIC can receive a free loaner pack. After trying those, I was sold! I started with Kawaii pockets, and Swaddlebees Simplex AIOs. From there I tried BumGenius 4.0, Alva, Sunbaby (future giveaway as well!), and even some WAHM diapers. Some were amazing, others were okay, and some just down right stunk. I found my groove now, though, and absolutely love my AIOs.

 Speaking of diapers, I have another giveaway to offer! This Giveaway is being sponsored by Naturo Mommy on Facebook. She is offering one of the following diapers. Winner gets to chose their preferred color! These are one size pocket diapers, brand new, but out of the package. They do NOT come with an insert. This giveaway is for US entrants only, please. Look for the link below to enter! Giveaway starts now, and goes until Monday, November 26th. Entries WILL be verified, so please be sure that you are sharing publicly where applicable. If I cannot verify an entry, I will have to delete it. Winner will have 24 hours to respond to email. By entering the giveaway, you agree to the terms and conditions. Winner understands that Life In The O.D.D. Lane is not responsible for sending out the prize, only hosting it.


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Day 19- 30 days of being thankful

Day 19:

I am thankful for Amazon. It makes it so much easier to get Christmas shopping done for the kids. I'm following a simpler gift-giving guide this year. Something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read. I can get just about everything in those categories from Amazon. Although, I prefer to do clothes shopping in person. The only thing I'm really having trouble with is ... what exactly do they need?? Gianna is easy. She needs shoes. She needs a snowsuit. She needs a new toothbrush. She needs new earrings. But what about Sofia and AJ? They really don't NEED anything. 

Amazon has a Clearance section, and from there, I can get toys for them. I can do shopping for everyone based off Amazon's suggestions lists. I love that section. I just browse through it, and add what I want to my cart. Anddddd thanks to awesome websites like Swagbucks, most of my shopping is paid for by the Amazon Gift Certificates I earn. So, that means minimal out-of-pocket expense. Last year, I spent a total of $50 out-of-pocket for all 3 kids and my husband. Everything else was paid for by my AGCs. SWEEEETTTTT!! I plan to do that again this year. Anddddd, I don't have to put on REAL clothes either!! Amazon is fantastic. I absolutely love it. 

Day 18- 20 Days of being thankful

Day 18:

I am thankful that the month is more than halfway done. This 'thinking of 30 things to be thankful for' business is hard!! I didn't think it would be THIS challenging when I started it. Guess that's why they call it a 30-day-challenge, huh?

There are a lot more than 30 things that I am thankful for. But trying to find 30 that are blog-post worthy are hard! The materialistic things don't seem good enough, and other things seem too sappy. I guess I just can't wait until it's over so that I can resume my normal blogs. Like, blogging about how my 5 year old decided that floor is an EXCELLENT place to take a crap instead of the toilet. And the toilet was only an inch away from where he decided to go. What makes it even worse is that the cleaning supplies are under the sink, and I can't open the damn child-safety lock that's on the cabinet!!! I had to call the 9 year old up to take it off. How pathetic. UGH I'll never understand how to get that stupid lock off. 

Anyways, back to normal blog postings soon, I hope!

Day 17- 30 days of being thankful

Day 17:

I am thankful for being alive. There were plenty of times where I didn't think I could go on. Where I didn't want to go on. But here I am. I have fought through all the problems, all the dark days, all the illnesses, and I am still here, no more fighting.

Another short blog today. I'll get back into longer posts when everything gets straightened out.