11 Months

How did this happen? How is my itty bitty tiny man turn 11 months?

This means... in a month... he will be...

Ok I can't talk about it.

So this weekend Logan got some shoes for his 11 month day. He hates shoes. He yanks on them and tries to get them off his feet. However, at some point he can't be a barefoot kid out in public anymore.

I went to the Galleria with Aunt Kelly and we found him these:

Red chucks!

After a little while he quit trying to get them off and even played in them for the afternoon:

Then he figured out how to run in his little walkabout:

Too bad our living area isn't bigger!

He has gotten really finicky about the bottle. Doesn't really seem to want it anymore. I tried putting formula in the sippy and that doesn't cut it either. So I am trying to keep him hydrated with water and giving him yogurt and cheese to help with the dairy. Otherwise, he hoovers food. I took a broccoli and cheese deal from the freezer and combined it with some chicken and rice and he ate tons of it. Even with just having water and no formula, he slept solid all night and even a little later than normal!

I know in a few weeks he can have cow's milk so until then we will just keep trying other methods of dairy.

Here is something cute to get you through the day:

Have a great week everyone!

Color Naming Guy...

There is hardly a day that goes by at my job where I am not digging through a paint deck. Often enough I come across a color and color name that puzzles me. I thought it would be fun to show a few colors and their names, then re-name them to something more appropriate...

 Name: Confident Yellow
Should be: Surface of the Sun

 Name: Derbyshire
Should be: It's no longer 1993

Name: Eye Catching
Should be: Baby Pea Vomit

 Name: Neighborly Peach
Should be: I live in Miami

Name: Rose Colored
Should be: It's still not 1993

Name: Stop
Should be: My Eyes are on Fire

 

Name: Chartruese
Should be: What were you thinking?

Next time I will do perfectly lovely colors with awful names...

I want the job as a color naming guy for sure!

Have a great weekend!

In less than 60 days...

Christmas will be here.

I am not kidding. I would never kid about Christmas!

Recently I started working with a company called Scentsy. They make wonderful "warmers" that you would use in lieu of a candle.

Before you start a mob to my house about hating on candles, here are some reasons I like the warmer option:

1.       Spend $30 now, only $5 later… Yankee Candles (or most name-brand candles) are $25-30 and once you burn it up, it’s gone. With these warmers, you spend the money up front to buy the warmer but then you have over 80 scents that you can change out at only $5 for the wax. Each wax bar could last a few months depending on how long you burn it.

2.       No Flames! Ever go to bed or out to dinner and think “Oh no! I left my candle burning!” With the warmer, it’s just a 25 watt bulb, so no harm done

3.       Free Lightbulbs! If you choose me as your trusted rep, I will keep you in light bulbs for the life of your warmer. Just call me up and I will get one to you ASAP!

4.       Personal Testimony. I use a warmer in my home and I think it smells the house up better and I like that there is not an open flame with a little one running around the house. The wax only gets as hot as the paraffin used in nail salons, so it will not burn your skin if it fell.

5.       Variety of product: Along with the warmers and wax, there are travel tins, room sprays, hand soap, and sachets in certain scents.

6.      No Waste: Ever get about halfway down a candle and find that it's burning unevenly or the wick won't stay lit? With Scentsy, there is no waste of product because you melt it over and over until the scent has faded, then you toss it out and put new wax in the tray!

Basically you plug the little guy in, put a few cubes of wax in the tray and whala! Within 15 minutes your house is smelling goooooood.

So with that said, here are some images of popular products.

If you are feeling in the holiday spirit already:

Here comes Santa Claus...

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 If your little one needs a great smelling bear to snuggle with while dreaming of toys and treats:

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 On prancer on Dancer on Comit on Vixen!

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If you need a present for a college football obsessed friend, they have oodles of warmers (more than shown in this photo)

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I picked this one out for Tiffanie - for pretty obvious reasons... 

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There are so many scents that there are several for everyone. There are vanilla and baked goods smellies, cinnamon holiday smellies, clean citrus smellies, even tropical vacation smellies. I may have ordered some coffee smellies because, well, I am addicted to coffee...


So do some browsing and feel free to contact me with questions. These make great gifts for someone you just don't know what to buy them, or maybe something for your self to perk up your home!

Evil Pumpkins...

This weekend started off pretty great. We went to Logan's fall festival at school, which really ended up us just pushing him in the swing...

And sliding...

But he got to wear his costume!

Sorry, snotty nose...

Then on Saturday we went and did what every new mother can't wait to do... take the baby to the Pumpkin Patch for photos.
Logan slept all the way there and was in a generally happy mood when we got there... Then he saw the pumpkin patch.

We put him in his dinosaur costume and put him down next to the pumpkins..
He proceeded to cry:

and then scream:

Until someone picked him up:

See the tear?

I tried to get a good photo with him...

We tried everything... feeding him, checking his diaper, sitting down on the ground with him, taking his shoes off (made it worse b/c then he felt the grass) and taking off the costume... it was like he was 6 weeks old and it's 2 am and everyone is going "why is he crying? WHY IS HE CRYING?"

Later we pulled him in the wagon... we took the pumpkins out first:

But he was still very very unsure about the whole ordeal.

Anyone else ever had a baby freak out at the pumpkin patch?

People of Starbucks

We have all seen those "People of Walmart" sites and other embarrassing photos... but there are times I am in Starbucks and I think about the kind of people who frequent this establishment (myself included.) If you stop and look around, it really is quite the eclectic group. I don't have photos but here is how I see the group.

The Regular:
At my 'Bucks this is an old man who is normally wearing headphones and sitting in one of the cushy chairs. Other regulars stop and talk to him and admire his jean shorts and socks/sandals combination. Favorite Drink: Coffee. Isn't that why he is in a coffee shop?

High School Students:
You mainly see these kiddos if you are stopping in around 7:30/8am. There are times when they have shown up later and I am thinking to myself "what time does school start these days?" The girls have their hair in a slept-in-it ponytail and wrinkled uniform. Don't get me started on the boy's hair cuts... Favorite Drink: Passion Fruit Tea Lemonade.
*yes, I am an 80 year old woman these days*

Hipsters:
You know these guys. Skinny jeans, funky shirts, really odd shoes. My deal with them is that they shouldn't be at a Starbucks. They are too cool for that. They should be at some emo "organic" coffee shop that plays new wave music in the background. Their favorite coffee would more than likely include hemp.

Gym Bunnies:
These are my favorite. More than likely they have a kid or 2 with them and although they are wearing an outfit that suggests they are going to the gym, the hair and makeup state otherwise. They wave at other Gym Bunnies and get ogled by the fancy car driving CEO's. Favorite Drink: Venti Skinny Vanilla Latte, extra skinny.

CEO's:
Ferrari, Porsche, Maserati, Lamborghini... these are usually in a row in front of Starbucks with below-average-in-height men emerging from them for their latte. They are wearing insanely expensive shirts and barely look up from their iPhone except to ogle the Gym Bunnies. Favorite Drink: Venti Black Eye.

Cops:
Because there isn't a Dunkin Donuts nearby and a cop has to have a place to hide... Favorite Drink: Grande Americano.
Construction Workers: 
More than likely working on a fancy new store in the shopping center nearby, they sneak over for good coffee while the others hit up the Exxon station. They are slightly in the closet about their love for Starbucks because it makes them a little less rough around the edges. Favorite Drink: Coffee, because what the hell is a Pumpkin Spice Latte?

Addiction...

After seeing Tiffanie playing with puff paint last week, I was eager to get to Hobby Lobby and grab some up. With the cooler weather, I am actually leaving socks on Logan during the day and he was slip sliding away. Now he is good to go!

Last night I lined them up on the table and probably did about 6 more pair! Dots, stars, swirls, you name it. I can't wait to see him toddling around knowing there is something fun on the bottom of his feet!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Little Man Munchies

Last week when I saw that Tiffanie was having success with Preston on table food, I decided it was time to bite the bullet and get brave about it. The problem hasn't been that he isn't interested - he certainly grabs for our plates, but it's more because he eats at 6:30 and we eat after he goes to bed.

Then I was also avoiding the big mess of self feeding.. but that I will just have to deal with, because he LOVES it!

 Although I don't know how much goes into his mouth...

Another benefactor for Logan's messy eating is Teddy..

He positions himself so that any and all falling food is his. Since they have such sensitive stomachs, we are going to have to start keeping the dogs from the kitchen until he is done. Sorry Teds...

Since he loves it so much and we aren't really ready to eat at 6:30, I tried to be creative at the store on ways I can feed him "real" food without cooking two meals. Here are some of my ideas.

These are like little gifts from above. Single serving, in a little tray, that you pop in the microwave. I figure I can put this in to heat up, give Logan a bath, and by the time it's time for him to eat, this will be cool enough for him to chow down on.

Also comes in brown and chicken flavored.

Same deal here. 1 minute in the microwave! These look big to me so one cup should last 2 meals.

Also in bow tie and penne.

These are itty bitty, baby sized pieces of pasta. I could boil some on Sunday and have for most of the week to mix with other veggies I purchased. I heard babies love some butter noodles. I grabbed some Ziplock Steam Baggies so I can throw other veggies in the microwave for easy cooking while we do bath time.

My coworker told me that she used to buy these fruit cups, rinse the sugary juice off, and whala! Soft fruit for the taking.

Don't get me started on these. Now that he sprouted 4 teeth on top in the last 3 weeks, he loves to take these and bite on them. I do mean LOVE.
But what happens when the parents get ahold of these one late night while watching a movie?
Let's just say I bought 2 bags today...

While I realize that Gerber makes these:

I like the thought of fresh or flash frozen veggies and fruit when I can. For now I will still send whatever baby food I have to school to make it easier.. then I guess I will have to find a way to send finger foods with him. They are super nice and give me lots of suggesstions. In fact they told me to try juice and I can barely pry that sippy of diluted apple juice from his little hands!

Any more ideas on quick table food for when he eats before we do? I know I can do leftovers easily and when we go out to eat I can give him things off my plate.. the kid loves the Kabobs and Rice from Zoe's and my mother in law's chicken spaghetti.

I am looking forward to the switch from formula to cows milk in 6 weeks. Between that and the baby food, I am looking forward to over $200 a month back in my wine budget pocket!

Best. Wedding. Ever.

Lee and I went to Jacksonville / St. Augustine Florida, for a wedding this weekend. It was slightly traumatizing to leave Logan for the first time but we ended up being the best time!

I am not kidding... super best wedding ever...

Congrats Sarah and Brett!

So in little to no words, here is the wedding...

The bride watching the crew put on the finishing touches..

The "univited guests"

Who were shoo'd away....

The happy couple

Why a boutonniere when you can have a pinwheel?

Seashell sand...

Here comes the bride...

All dressed in white....

Husband and Wife!

The tables...

Popcorn!

Mustaches...

Sunglasses...

And co-best men holding bouquets so the bride can dance...

Wonderful time and wonderful friends!