Car pickup

So my Mary Kay car finally arrived. We had so much fun "partying" at the dealership for the pickup. I know Farrah's too young to understand what this means, but it meant so much to see her running around the dealership, sitting in the back seat of our new car and pretending to drive in the drivers seat. This is the moment I worked hard for and it has arrived.

There is something about being able to provide a need for your family that you couldn't have afforded without your efforts that brings a huge smile to my face. Now before I get crucified by the stay-at-home moms reading this, I in no way mean this as a knock on stay-at-home moms, or to start WWIII between working mom's and stay-at-home moms because, although I do work, I am essentially a stay-at-home mom so put down your pitchforks. I do believe that being at home taking care of a child and a home is a full time job. period. end of story. But if you knew my family and the current car situation we've had as well as some extra expenses we've incurred, you too would be posing for pictures in front of you car, you too would receive cards and balloons from excited friends and coworkers, you too would have a party at the dealership, and you too would blow up facebook with your car party pics.

I can honestly say that in that moment when I had finally achieved what I set out to do, and I provided a serious need for my family, I could not remember 1 person that told me "no" when I offered them a facial, 1 negative naysayer, and not 1 person that told me I couldn't do it. In fact, I think those people might be the first people who I pay a visit to in my new car. I'll pull in the driveway, lay on the horn until they come outside, wave and say "just wanted to say hi because I was in the area." and then speed off.

Ok so maybe I won't actually do that but thinking about it is satisfaction enough.

Farrah, sweet Farrah

Ok so maybe my last post was a bit dramatic. Ok maybe really dramatic. Such are the highs and lows of mommyhood. Basically as soon as I hit "Publish Post" on the last post Farrah has been a complete angel. Well maybe not complete angel but significantly more angelic. The ignoring of her meltdowns seems to finally be working. They are much less frequent recently. She's been waving bye bye and blowing kisses all the time. And for a while she was on a kissing strike and wouldn't give mommy a kiss no matter how much I pleaded and now the kid loves to kiss any and everything. Yesterday she kissed her high chair tray and the water coming out of the faucet in her bath... so I mean everything! I'll turn around sometimes and she's behind me kissing my legs. So sweet! I'm relishing in this sweetness because I don't know how long it will really last. I'm hoping forever but the chances of that are slim to none knowing how many phases this kid goest through.

On a side note, I turned 27 on Tuesday... Happy Birthday to me! 30 is approaching faster than I would like but that's a whole nother post. I realized recently (through a meltdown of my own to my poor unsuspecting husband) that I wasn't taking any time for me. I was feeling drained and felt like I had nothing left to give to Farrah and everyone else for that matter because I wasn't giving to myself. So on my birthday I went and got a massage, dropped off Farrah with my mom and went to lunch with my husband and then he took me dress shopping to by an evening gown for a big awards night for my work at a seminar in Dallas we're leaving for next week. One of the best days I've had in a long time because I never do anything like that for myself.

I realized the importance of giving to myself this week. A hard lesson to learn as a mommy but also so important to be a good mom and a good wife.

Long time no see

Over a month in fact. I have a good excuse. I am officially a Sales Director and free car driver with Mary Kay! Yay! This promotion means so much for my family and I worked hard to see to it that it got done. I'll now have a free car plus insurance paid, life and disability insurance, oh yeah and my income is about triple what it was before.... no exaggeration. So you can see why I've been away for a while making that happen.

Updates:

Farrah had her 18 month Dr's appt. Her weight was in the 85 percentile, her height in the 90th percentile and her head size is in the 95th percentile! Homegirl has a big head! The Dr didn't seem concerned about Farrah's lack of vocabulary so I guess I'll just be patient with her and hope figures out there are more words than mama, dada and cat.

I've heard from a lot of people that this age is such a fun age. And to be honest, for me, it's been the most challenging. There are fun parts to it, but for me, it's been the most challenging time in her relatively short life, by far.

I was always afraid of being "that mom" with the kid that throws tantrums. I was even more afraid that I would do all the "right things" and my kid would still be a brat. Thankfully, Farrah is no brat, but she definitely has the tantrum thing down to a science. I've tried completely ignoring it, and I've also tried getting down to her level and explaining to her that it's not ok to behave that way. But remember how I said she says the same 3 words and that's it? Yeah, makes it hard to have a conversation so I have no idea if she even comprehends what I'm saying. I'll have to get it on video one of these days but recently, she just started doing this short, loud grunt of a scream when she's not happy about something and she opens her mouth and her tongue hangs out when she does it. Usually she'll do it about 4 or 5 times and it takes everything I have not to bust out laughing because it's hilariously obnoxious.

So enough with the challenges of raising a toddler, how about some good stuff...

Farrah loves the water and I took her to a neighborhood park that has these water features that shoot out of the ground and she absolutely loved it. That's where these pictures came from. Swim lessons are on the horizon. Maybe in about a month or so. I can't possibly deprive my child of her favorite activity so I need to make sure she gets lessons.

Ahhh the highs and lows of raising a toddler. Definitely more highs, just have to remember to breathe when the lows come around.

Come on down!!!!

Nope it's not The Price is Right, it's good old fashioned hard work. I earned my FREE car! Woohoo! So now you know why I was MIA all month. Just in time for Farrah to officially be 18 months on Friday. Wow... a post on that will come soon. I'm still in shock but soooo excited. We needed a new, reliable car very bad. And I'm forever grateful to everyone who supported in whatever way they could. Can't wait to pick up my Chevy Malibu in about 6 weeks. Plus they'll pay insurance for me and my husband. So grateful! Next stop... pink cadillac! :)

Well hello again e-friends

Yes, I realize it has been over a month since I last got on and posted an update on our lives. But to be fair I did warn you that things would be very busy these next few months, so ummm yeah, I wasn't kidding. My Mary Kay team rocked it out last month and we are ahead of schedule and should be finishing up car qualifications this month and directorship as well. Just in time for busy wedding season to start and my husband to be working every weekend. Sometimes I feel like those wrestlers who tag their partner in when they need a break. He gets home from work in the evening and I'm out the door... tag. It's a Saturday and both of us are working so my friend watches Farrah for a few hours.... tag. It's a Thursday (daycare day)... Abe drops her off at daycare... tag.... I pick her up... tag.
I'm sure from an outsiders perspective it sounds exhausting, and I won't lie, there are times when I'm really, really tired, but I think the thing that seperates myself and other people that have been successful in Mary Kay from the people that try it and quit, is that I have come to understand the concept of a short term sacrifice for a long term gain. I don't have to do this forever, but I do have to do it now so that I can provide for my family for the rest of my life.

I do a promotion at a restaurant here in town every Friday night for my business. I hand out roses to all the ladies as they walk in and I do a drawing. A few weeks back a lady came in, I handed her a rose told her about the drawing and she smiled... "I used to do Mary Kay!" she said enthusiastically. "You did!" I responded... and before I could ask her anymore questions she said "Yeah, but it was too hard, because my son was little." Hmmm I thought. How to respond? "Do you like it?" she asked? "I love it!" I said. "It allows me to be home with my 16 month old (at the time) daughter." "Oh" she said realizing that her and I were much more alike than different. We had just chosen different paths. "Isn't it hard with a toddler?" "Well it's not easy, but I wouldn't say it's hard. Yes I work, but to me hard would be getting a job that requires me to be gone all day and put her in daycare when I've always wanted to be a stay at home mom. So for me, giving up a couple nights a week and maybe a couple hours on the weekends is well worth it." I could tell something clicked in her head and she got it. Trust me, I 100% understand that what I do isn't for everyone (and I'm happy about that because then I would have no customers ;) but I do love to change people's perceptions of what they think is "hard." It's a mindset. Go to a country where they work 15 hour days 7 day weeks for practically nothing... that's hard.

As a parent, we all make sacrifices in one way or another. We sacrifice our careers to stay home, we sacrifice time with a spouse to "tag out" and go to work. It's hard to avoid sacrifice when it comes to your children. In my case, every ounce of effort has been worth it. After a fun morning out with Farrah and seeing her asleep in the rear-view mirror I was reminded of that again.... it's worth it.
Here are some pictures of my little reason why I do everything I do. I'll save the Easter pics for the next post. It's been super hot here these past couple days. Yesterday it got to 95 degrees so we busted out the bathing suit (not me... ::shivers::) and the hose and Farrah loved it!

Busy month ahead

Ok so this is another work related post so if you're only here for the cute baby, sorry! None of that in this post.

So an update. I have had such an awesome past few months in my business and it's a really exciting time for me because I'm in the qualification period to become a director with Mary Kay and earn my first car with Mary Kay. This has been my goal for a while now, but our need is so much greater now that it's like there was a switch that flipped in my brain that made me go from "flirting" with my goal to "marrying" it. haha. My car is 15 years old and my hubby's is 12. Not exactly spring chickens. Especially when you have a baby, you worry about a reliable car. So please pray for me (if you're the praying kind) during this qualification. I know we're going to get it done and I can't wait to be able to post pics of my new car on my blog :)

In conjunction with that, I have to say that Mary Kay is doing the most awesome promotion right now for the month of April called the Spring break promotion. You can start a Mary Kay business for just $50!!! Isn't that so cool! It's normally $100 so it's half price but you get all of the stuff in the full price kit which is over $400 worth of Mary Kay products! This is an absolute no brainer to me. $400 worth of the best skin care and color products on the market for $50?!? So if you have ever wanted to make a little extra money (or a lot), need a new car, more flexibility, or just a discount on your own products, now is the time! You can learn more on my website HERE

Feel free to email me if you want more information as well kristanaldjian@marykay.com

Pass this along to anyone you know that is looking for something and if they become an active consultant you will get $100 in free product for referring them to me!

The thing I most love about this promotion is there is absolutely nothing to lose. If you give it a try and you hate it, you still got $400 worth of products for $50 and you can just stop. But if you love it, who knows, maybe you'll be blogging about your new free car too :)

16 months

This is her signal for "all done." If she's done with a toy, or food or whatever she puts her hands up like this. Apparently she'd made a big enough mess and was "all done." :) She already knows when we have a camera in our hands to smile... what a ham! Her first time walking on the grass... what a pro!

Enjoying the beautiful weather this weekend at the park.

that bear security blanket is her new best friend.... I couldn't even take it from her before going on the swing... so the bear went along

eating some of mommy's sandwhich at Quiznos... well really just picking it apart, not eating it.

I guess 16 months was the magic number for Miss Farrah to start walking. I thought for sure a several weeks ago when she took her first steps she would take off from there... not so much. But about a week ago she just started walking all over the place. It's adorable because she takes off and gets this big ol' grin on her face because she's so proud of herself. I am so proud of her too. I was thinking it would be more difficult but it's actually easier (at least for now it is). She was already into everything before, she was just crawling. Now she's excited about walking so she's much more easily entertained and she can entertain herself much more easily.

16 months also marks another new phase. The "I am no longer a big eater" phase. She used to eat whatever we gave her. And now, if it's not a carb or a banana she won't eat it. I'm trying to cleverly sneak in some veggies and have tried veggie juice (which she actually will take), sweet potato fries which she refused (I was shocked, who doesn't love those?), butternut squash soup (she ate some, but not much.) I know they say just don't give her anything if she doesn't eat what you give her. The problem is she won't give in and eat it. She just won't eat and I can't starve the kid. I'm hoping it's just another one of her phases. We'll see! Here are some fun recent pics of her. She loves the swing at the park and this time she was able to walk around on the grass at the park. I just adore her. But really, who wouldn't? :)