Hi! I’m Anna. I’m married to my wonderful husband and mama of two little girls (3.5 years, and 21 months). I get to stay home with my girlies most of the time, but I am also a labor & delivery nurse, internationally certified lactation consultant, and a Mary Kay consultant. During the school year, I also help run a local moms support group, which I love! And in my spare time, I have fun blogging about day to day life at Another Rainy Day in Paradise. As you can see, I wear a lot of different hats. :)
I had the privilege of meeting Gretchen and her family in real life through a small group our families were both in. My little Sweet Pea is just three days older than Jemma, so it’s been fun watching the two grow! I’m so excited for Gretchen and her family as add another little one to their family!
Favorite completed Pinterest project … Like so many others, I LOVE Pinterest! What a genius idea! I recently had fun completing this wreath as a housewarming gift for my mom. Honeygirl has also had fun with some science experiments inspired by Pinterest that I blogged about here and here.
Favorite recent mama moment … Honeygirl recently informed me that she wants to be a nurse just like me when she gets bigger. Awww. What mama doesn’t want to hear sweetness like that? With her compassionate little spirit, I think she could be a great nurse someday.
Recent thrift score … I am a huge fan of getting a good deal, and since garage sale season is just wrapping up, I’ve been on high alert! A couple of the finds that I am most excited about lately are a breadmaker that I scored for $1.00 (can you possibly beat that??) and a gently used bike for Honeygirl. I have had fun trying new bread recipes for my family, and it’s been a blast watching my little girl learn to ride a bike!
Guilty pleasure … Definitely chocolate. It is necessary for my daily survival.
Must have baby product … I think one of my very favorite products has to be my Ergobaby carrier. It’s one of those products that continues to be useful long after most every other baby product is stashed away for future kiddos. At 21 months, Sweet Pea still likes to be carried in it from time to time. So it lives in the minivan. That way I always have it with me when we’re out and about. Like when we picked 20 lbs of strawberries … read about it here.
Prized household tip … Make menu planning a priority and make use of the crockpot! I know some people love cooking. I am not one of those people. However, I find it much more bearable if I have a plan in place. I plan out all our meals for the week on Sunday night so that when I go grocery shopping Monday morning, I can pick up everything I’ll be needing for the week. And as I look at the commitments we have for any given week, I make sure I plan a meal that can be made in the crockpot on nights where I know the day will be busy. These two tips have made dinners at our house much less stressful for me.
3 things currently on the to-do list …
- Wrap the birthday present for the pajama tea party we are attending.
- Clean all the blinds in our house. Not looking forward to it, but it needs to be done. Especially since there are some that I haven’t exactly cleaned since we moved in two years ago. Yikes.
- Get Sweet Pea potty trained. I’d love to see her be mostly day-time trained in two weeks like some people can brag about, but after all our challenges getting Honeygirl to stay dry, I won’t be holding my breath.
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