The One with the First Birthday Wish List

As difficult as this is for me to wrap my mind around, the little man turns one in less than two weeks.

Holy.Shiznit.

I seriously have no idea where the time has gone.

We are planning quite the party for Memorial Day weekend and I put together a little wish list of presents for Liam.

Hubs and I haven't decided what we are getting for him yet, but here are some ideas.

Radio Flyer Ultimate Comfort Wagon

I have visions of strolls in the neighborhood with this bad boy and can already see Liam in this all dressed in his Halloween costume next fall.

Radio Flyer 4-in-1 Trike

This thing is pretty cool.  The harness and push handles can be removed so Liam can eventually ride by himself.  It even has a drink and snack holder!

Little Tikes Pirate Water Table

This is definitely something we will get a lot of use from this summer.  Liam already loves to splash in the bathtub and I can't wait to get him swimming.

Melissa and Doug Block Cart

Liam loved these blocks when we visited with friends last month and I think it's such a classic toy that he definitely needs.

FIsher Price Swing

So the jury is still out as to whether or not we have an appropriate tree to attach this swing to, but I still think L needs it!

Pottery Barn Kids Anywhere Chair

I can't decide which print or pattern I want for this chair, but I love the idea of getting a mini chair for Liam.  And my PBK chair is the most comfortable thing on the planet.

4moms Origami Mini

This stroller from my most favorite company isn't even out yet, but this mama is already drooling over it.  I truly love our stroller (Britax B-Ready) but would love this for quick errands when I don't need as much storage space.  A mom can dream right?

Liam can always use clothes too, but I did do some damage at Carter's this past weekend while we were in Maine.

Any other mamas have great first birthday present ideas for the little ones?

The One with The Catch Up on Life Lately

Holy Lord, it's been forever since I've blogged.  Gotta blame that baby Jesus and His birthday...it's been flippin' nonstop over here since the beginning of December.

I'm pulling out the bullet points for this post.  More to come on most of the subjects but here's a rundown...

• Little Mr. Man is growing like a weed.  Up to 22 pounds, 6 ounces at his flu shot appointment earlier this month.  9 month clothes are becoming a thing of the past and he is in constant motion.

• 48 hours before the aforementioned baby Jesus' birthday, the stomach bug descended upon this house.  The jury is still out as to whether this was a case of food poisoning or whether it was a virus going around, but at least a dozen of the people we were with the Saturday before Christmas at a party ended up very sick by late Sunday afternoon.  At this point, we think it may have somehow been passed to everyone through a sick employee at the restaurant who ruined everyone's food with his/her throw-up germs.  As a result of us being sick, many of the people who we were with on Christmas Eve then ended up sick.  It was one ugly germ-spreading holiday.

• Remember the puke and pee incident from last spring?  Well apparently that is not just something that happens to me when pregnant.  It's my new thing I guess because it happened again when I got sick last week.

• We thought Liam avoided the grossness until the overabundance of explosive diapers began on Christmas Eve.  Thankfully, we are down to only one or two a day now.  A drastic improvement from the dozen or so on Christmas Day.

• As a result of Christmas Puke-Fest 2013, our Christmas Day was pretty quiet.  Liam got a ton of presents, Hubs' parents visited for a while, and I somehow managed to get dinner on the table for Hubs and I in between changing diapers and doing a ridiculous amount of laundry.

 This wonderful little man stayed happy, despite not feeling great.

This was outfit #3 of the day.

• The crib transition began over a week ago.  It has been relatively painless thus far.  We had two real incidents of crying it out (CIO) Ferber-style.  I have kinda modified Ferber's methods to fit our needs (and the amount of time I can listen to my baby cry), but things have been going well for us.

• Baby-led weaning has been a lot of fun so far.  Liam has definitely become more interested in food and has tried a few more things.  Right now, he loves apples, pears, yogurt, and blueberries (although he hasn't had much food this week because of the stomach fiasco).

• Liam met Santa two weeks ago at our big family Christmas party.  My dad flew up from Florida for the weekend and dressed up as Santa as a surprise.  It was great to have L's first experience with Santa be with his Gramps.

He looks a little unsure here, but he was pretty unfazed by the whole thing.

• This vacation has been very quiet and not all that productive.  The sickness was a big part of the unproductive-ness, but it is certainly way harder to get anything done with an almost 8-month old rolling around and needing amusement (I know this is only going to get worse once he really starts moving!).

• I did the 24 books of Christmas with Liam this year.  Each night, I read him a new Christmas book before bed.  This is definitely a tradition I will continue with him.  In the future, I plan to wrap each book up for him to open before bed.  This year, they were just displayed on his bookshelves.

• I scaled it way down this year with the cookies.  Remember last year when I baked 28 dozen cookies at 20+ weeks pregnant and kinda hated my life a little?  Well, this year I only did like 16 dozen and it was still quite the challenge.  I had plans to make more, but then the vomit came and I decided that was a sign to quit while I was ahead.

• We also started a new Christmas pajama tradition this year.  We each got new Christmas jammies (have you seen the Christmas Jammies video?) and the plan was to wear them to bed on Christmas Eve and have our big Christmas morning breakfast wearing them.  No surprise things didn't go according to plan.  Hubs' jammies didn't arrive on time (thanks FedEx) and no one wanted a big breakfast after being sick.  So we celebrated with our jammies and breakfast last night and this morning.

I won't even tell you how many times we set the timer on the camera to get a half-way decent picture.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed time with family and friends.  We are looking forward to an exciting 2014 continuing to watch our little guy grow.

The One with the August Cara Box

I participated in August's Cara Box exchange this month.  I skipped July because we were traveling but I was so happy to get back into this again.

Cara Box was started by Kaitlyn at Wifessionals in an effort to get to know other bloggers and receive super fun mail!  Each month has a theme and you can read more about how Cara Box works here.  This month's theme had to do with the "season" of life you are in.  I accidentally ended up in the wrong group (married 30's, as opposed to have children 30's), but everything worked out really well regardless.

I was paired up with Kristin at Celebrate the Goodness and Cate from Random Crafty Georgia Girl.  It was so fun getting to know both ladies and I enjoyed picking out items for Cate's Cara Box.  Head over to her blog to see what I sent her in the Cara Box.

My box from Kristin arrived last week and I was so excited when it came in the mail.  I love getting mail and this month was no exception!  She is so thoughtful and really sweet.

In the box from Kristin, there were such great things for all the "seasons" in my life.  There was a journal and a cookbook, a notepad, a pair of earrings, a framed quote about teaching (which I already hung in my classroom), a magnet with our last name, and a Starbucks gift card (which will come in quite handy once school starts!).

Thanks so much Kristin!

I had a lot of fun with this month's theme and am looking forward to doing this exchange again.  Kaitlyn is changing up how she organizes it (the exchange will be every 3 months instead of every month) and I think it will be great to have even more time to get to know the bloggers you get paired up with.

If you aren't already participating in the Cara Box exchange, I definitely recommend signing up in September.

(And on an unrelated note, I am going to try to be a better blogger...try being the key word in that sentence since I officially become a working mom next Tuesday).

The One with the June Cara Box

This month I participated in the Cara Box exchange again.

Cara Box was started by Kaitlyn at Wifessionals in an effort to get to know other bloggers and receive super fun mail!  This was my third month participating and I had so much fun with this.  Each month has a theme and you can read more about how Cara Box works here.

I was paired up with Amanda at Mama & Co. and Erin from Lucky Clover Boutique.  It was so fun getting to know both ladies and while this month's theme was a little challenging, I enjoyed picking out items for Erin's Cara Box.  Head over to her blog to see what I sent her in the Cara Box.

I came home from Liam's doctor's appointment today to a box from Amanda.  This month's theme was all about fairs and carnivals and Amanda did an awesome job incorporating this theme into the box she sent me.  I didn't make it all that easy for her considering I'm not all that into carnivals (creepy clowns...no thank you!).

In the box from Amanda, there were two toys for Liam (Sassy brand is a fave of mine), funnel cake mix (uh cannot wait to try this out!), cotton candy cookie mix (I got this for Erin too and I almost bought a bag for me...so excited that I make some of these now!), lip balm (it's one of those cute little Eos ones that's shaped like an egg), hand sanitizer and nail polish, and the most adorable monogrammed cup (love.love.love).  Thanks Amanda for all the awesome stuff!

 

Once again, I had so much fun with the Cara Box exchange this month.  Unfortunately, I missed the deadline to sign up for July's exchange because I was on the big road trip, but I am looking forward to participating again soon.

I definitely recommend signing up for this exchange if you haven't already.

The One with the May Cara Box

This month, I participated in another Cara Box exchange.

Cara Box was started by Kaitlyn at Wifessionals in an effort to get to know other bloggers and receive super fun mail!  This was my second month participating and I had so much fun with this project.  Each month has a theme and you can read more about how Cara Box works here.

I was paired up with Krystal at Pressing Pause and Heather from Lawless Life.  It was great getting to know both ladies and I had a blast picking out things to send to Heather (although I will admit shopping with a newborn was a bit more difficult!).  Head over to her blog to see what I sent her in the Cara Box.

Last week, I came home to a super fun box from Krystal.  This month's theme was "Let's Get Regional" and we had to pick items from where the sender lives.  Krystal just moved to Utah and sent me a box of fun things from her state.

 There was such a sweet note in the box from Krystal.

Krystal sent toys for Liam and Max, along with lotion, makeup, and a candle for me.

Once again, I had a lot of fun participating in this month's Cara Box exchange.  I highly recommend looking into it if you like "meeting" new people and getting fun mail.

I am looking forward to continuing to participate in this great exchange!

The One with the Cara Box

I owe you a week 38 post and I have some news from the OB (yay for some dilation!), which I promise to share tomorrow.

But in the meantime it's time to link up for my Cara Box reveal.

Cara Box was started by Kaitlyn at Wifessionals in an effort to get to know other bloggers and receive super fun mail!  This was my first month participating and I had so much fun with this project.  Each month has a theme and you can read more about how Cara Box works here.

I was paired up with Laurie Created by Laurie and Claire from Gypsy Slow Down.  It was great getting to know both ladies and I had a blast picking out things to send to Claire.  Head over to her blog to see what I sent her in the Cara Box.

I came home on Friday to my awesome box from Laurie.  This month's theme was "Go Green."

  

 Such pretty packaging!

Laurie sent me such great stuff!  I got an adorable reusable tote bag, yummy chocolate hazelnut granola bars, a beautiful gold leaf necklace, plus two gifts for the boys in my life.  The monkey is for the little man and Laurie even sent a great rope and tennis ball toy for Max.

 Max was pretty excited to dig into this.

Thanks so much Laurie for your thoughtfulness!

I am so looking forward to participating in this exchange again.  I think I am going to skip May because it will be a little busy with the little guy's arrival, but I will definitely be doing the Cara Box exchange again.

The One with the Presents

I have just about put all the presents away that were under the tree.

There are a few still hanging out under there (including the huge box that has Hubs' train horn for his truck in it...don't even ask), but for the most part I was pretty productive yesterday.

Here's a quick recap of some of the fun stuff I got this year.  I didn't take any pictures of my actual presents so these are all from the wonderful Internet.

Dyson DC44 Digital Slim Vacuum
Hubs has been complaining about the shitty little dustbuster vacuum we have for MONTHS.  I told him that if we were upgrading, it was go big or go home.  I have the big Dyson animal vacuum (LOVE!) and knew if we were going to get a handheld one, I wanted one that would also be able to do the hardwoods without having to lug around the big one.  I charged this baby up yesterday and can't wait to use it today.

Shark Professional Steam Pocket Mop
I have heard nothing but amazing things about this mop and I can't wait to try it out on our floors.  Yes, I know I'm a dork and get excited about cleaning products, but considering I got my first KitchenAid for my 18th birthday, it was apparent a long time ago that I have a small obsession with household appliances.

SodaStream Crystal Red Soda Maker
While I haven't been drinking a ton of soda since I got pregnant, I am quite excited to try this out.  The soda apparently tastes exactly like the brand name stuff and it saves you quite a bit of money.  Going to be playing with this and all the different flavors of drinks later today.

UGG Classic Mini
I have been fighting the UGG craze since day one.  I am not a huge fan of the way they look and I think they have become way too much of a fad (don't get me started on the UGGs with mini skirt look).  However, I cannot keep wearing my one go-to pair of black flats with all my maternity leggings.  I needed something comfy that I could wear at school all day and also wear out on the weekends.  So, I caved and told my mom and brother I wanted these.  I am definitely a convert.

I also got an adorable black Coach scarf with the C's on one side and polka dots on the other from my brother's girlfriend, a really pretty heart necklace and some new pajamas from my in-laws, and a new serving dish that keeps dips warm.

I was very spoiled this Christmas and am thoroughly grateful to Hubs and the rest of my family for their generosity.  We know next Christmas is going to be all about the little bean, so we took advantage of spoiling ourselves for one last Christmas.

Hope Santa was good to everyone!

The One with the Very Merry

Wishing you and yours a very merry Christmas!

More on the amazing presents in an upcoming post!

The One Where I Feel Productive

I just finished ordering several Christmas gifts.  And there are quite a few bags in my spare bedroom that are also filled with Christmas presents.  I feel super on top of things this year with the holidays.  I mean, I am an early shopper but I have definitely gotten more done earlier than usual this year.

Love this lady!  Original image here.

This weekend I am going to work on getting a few lists organized and then hopefully I can finish up my shopping in the next couple of weeks.

Hubs' stocking usually takes the longest...

As a reward, I am heading off to make that amaze-balls looking popcorn from the earlier post this week.

I deserve it.

Have a fabulous Friday night.