4.25.2013

Cordial Lee Giveaway!


I'm excited to announce a giveaway from a company that I love!

You have a chance to win a...

Personalized Tooth Fairy Pillow

or

$20 Gift Voucher

(your choice)

from one of my favorite Mommy-owned companies...Cordial Lee!

Cordial Lee's owner, Shelby, is a former teacher and now stay-at-home mommy of three beautiful girls that pursued her passion for monogramming and graphic design when she started staying at home.  She is such a hard-working entrepreneur, a kind person, is easy to work with and will try to meet almost any request you have for the personalization of an item.  Her online gift boutique and print studio has grown rapidly over the past few years! You can read more about her here.

Codial Lee offers items such as personalized invitations and stationary, boutique kids' apparel, appliqued, personlized clothing, personalized decor, as well as women's bags, to just name a few!  I have personally purchased many items from Shelby for my sweet Adeline and myself and am always impressed with the quality of material and items she uses, as well as the amazing attention to detail you can tell goes into her choice of fabrics and personalization of an item!

Shelby recently created a Personalized Tooth Fairy Pillow for Adeline to use in the future that I just love and Adeline was pretty excited about when she got it in the mail!
 
 
The Tooth Fairy Pillow makes a great gift and a great collectible! The fabric choices were perfect and the quality of the product is better than any of these I have seen.  Cordial Lee doesn't miss a detail...down to the adorable packaging!


The pillow has one side with a pocket, ready for the tooth and the money! It also conveniently hangs from a door or a bedpost!

 

GIVEAWAY:

The choice of one personalized Tooth Fairy Pillow (or) a $20 Cordial Lee gift voucher will be awarded to one randomly selected person.

HOW TO ENTER:

You have FIVE chances to win!

The first mandatory entry is to become a fan of Cordial Lee on Facebook, comment on Cordial Lee's page that I sent you, and then come back and comment on this post that you are a fan of Cordial Lee on Facebook!

EXTRA ENTRIES:

You can earn one extra entry for each of the following. Please leave a separate comment for each entry in order for each to be counted.  Make sure to leave your email address with at least one of your comments so that I can contact you if you win.

1. Become a public follower of this blog!

2. Visit Cordial Lee and then come back and comment on this post with the link to your favorite product!

3. Grab my button for your site and/or add me to your BlogRoll on your blog!

4. Visit my blog and comment on another post.  Let me know in the comment section of this post which post you visited!

DETAILS AND FINE PRINT:

Giveaway ends: Friday, May 3rd at midnight (eastern time)
Winner randomly selected and posted on Saturday, May 4th.

*Winner must be from the US or willing to pay the international shipping charges.
*Winner has 24 hours to respond to my email.
*Winner has 72 hours to claim their prize from Cordial Lee once the winner has been announced.


Have fun and good luck! :)

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4.23.2013

oh yeah....

We went on vacation in January...

and it was fabulous...

...but I haven't shared any details yet or documented it at all on the blog! 

We originally planned to go to Disney world in October of this past year, right before Adeline turned a year old...but she had a big ear infection/allergy to antibiotics/possible fever virus saga and was as pitiful as can be...and we didn't get to go! (Oh, and then her daddy ended up with the flu at that time too! ;)  So we rescheduled and went in January.  It was amazing!!

We went to Disney World for 4 days...


 And then to the beach for a few days!


So I've decided that there are too many details, too many tips, and way too many pictures to put into a post or two.  So once I have all the posts organized and ready to go, I've planned a vacation week here on the blog! There will be details about our trip, plus road tripping tips, Disney World tips (organized by park), and beach-going with a toddler tips!  Stay tuned, and I will post to give a heads up of when it's coming!



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4.12.2013

still

Being still...

Not something I'm good at. At all. I busy myself. I multitask while I multitask. I worry. I get anxious. I try to handle it all. Myself.

But I'm really working with God and trying to let go and let Him change this in me. He knows me. Thank goodness. And He's fighting like mad to release me of this little quirk.

He's teaching me to be still. In many ways. For many reasons.

I convinced hubby a year ago that we "needed" our living room chair we have now for moments like tonight. I fell in love with the pattern. Paisley. Blues, greens, neutral. Perfection. I knew it would allow me to be still. To just be.

Truth: I can count the number of times I've intentionally used it to be still the past year on one hand.

Tonight though...it's different. It's not often I like different. But this change God is doing in me...it's a good thing. Hubby is asleep, baby is asleep and this I-don't-want-to-hold-it-all-together-on-my-own-anymore Momma is relaxing in a quiet house after a mad dash hour cleaning session and a busy, emotional roller coaster of a week.

I'm being still, taking a deep breath and feeling blessed.

"The Lord will fight for you...you need only to be still." -Exodus 14:14





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4.07.2013

monthly pic how-to

I have had many people inquire lately how I create the monthly update pics of Adeline.  (You can find those: here, here, here, or here!)  I was so excited when I learned about this trick and found this site, that I'm excited to share!

I use the website, PicMonkey.  It's free (mainly-unless you want to get super, duper fancy)!

First, I just make sure to have a picture of Miss Adeline (that's not hard to come by ;) that has a nice foreground image of her, but also has a lot of background area so that text will fit.

Example:


{1}


{2}


{3}
 

{4}


Clear as mud? ;)

This has been such an easy, fun, and creative way for me to keep an update on Adeline each month after she turned 1!  I try to be good and make these as soon as she turns another month old, but that just doesn't always happen.  I can't imagine why! ;)  If I forget what she's been up to when making my photo, I just go back and look at my Instagram pictures or my Facebook pictures from that month to get ideas. 

I like to save these in a special photo "Adeline-Year 2" on Facebook and on my computer under Adeline's file of pictures, in which I have another file titled "Monthly Pictures".  I also update them to the blog each month, of course. :)

I have noticed these do not print correctly from places like Walgreens, etc.  (the text doesn't fit all within the dimensions of the photo).  I would just recommend printing them from your computer on nice stock paper if you want them printed.

Other ideas with PicMonkey:  Text art for blogs, etc, or you can even do collages and make a Facebook timeline photo.

Enjoy!

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4.06.2013

16 months!

Oops! Adeline has been 16 months for almost a month now and is creeping up on 17 months! Here is a glimpse of our sweet 16 month "baby" girl!



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4.05.2013

family day!

Since this week is my Spring Break, Justin took today off for us to spend as a family! We knew there would be good weather, so it was the perfect day to plan some outdoor fun and mark some errand running off our list.

We started the day at Chick-fil-a. We enjoyed it in the car in the parking lot while Adeline napped. This kind of car nap rarely happens these days so we didn't wake her for lunch and just let her eat her meal when we got to the zoo.

Our big event was going to the zoo today. We wanted to try to get in at least one more visit before we renew our membership for another year. It was a busy day because of the (finally) nice weather. But another perk of a membership is we didn't feel bad if we skipped an exhibit or didn't spend as much time at one because it was too crowded. However, we were pleasantly surprised with how much we were able to do and see!

Last year, Adeline took it all in, but she wasn't waking yet. This was her first zoo trip walking and she was so excited when she got to "wah" (walk). She LOVED all the birds, and most other animals, but she was nervous and reserved around any animal in the ape family- which we found random and funny because when you ask her what a monkey says, she's quick to say "ah ah". She told all the animals we saw to "shhhh", with her finger to her mouth, which means either they were sleeping or she was telling them to go to sleep. She said "qua qua" at almost every bird we saw and roared at the lion. LOVE all the animal noises and names she is learning these days. She thought the penguins were fun and met them for the first time because they weren't on exhibit last year. The giraffes are always a fave, but the camels seemed to be a new fave this year. Random. ;) She enjoyed the wallaby walkway where you are a part of the exhibit- but none of the furry friends came as close to her as she would have liked. :) She was such a good girl getting in and out of her stroller (that doesn't always happen) and had fun strolling around and snacking as she gazed at all the animals. We ended the day at the zoo on the Carousel- her absolute fave when we were in Disney World- so we had to let her reminisce and enjoy a ride today. She made noises the entire ride, begging for "moh" when it stopped. She is so much fun- no matter what we are doing!!

After the zoo, we headed to Babies R Us and Toys R Us- our baby gate broke so we had to exchange and Adeline had a gift card still from Christmas, so we let her go shopping for a new "bay-bee" and some more "chuh chuhs" (trains). The art of distraction is a MUST when we shop these days...empty hands are not her favorite thing and going bye bye isn't cool unless it means we're leaving the house and she knows she's headed somewhere. But our sweet girl made out pretty well with a new baby doll, sling included, a new take 'n play Thomas the train set, two more new trains, and new Mickey coloring paper for her Color Wonder crayola markers.

We ended the evening with dinner at Qdoba (a fave of all of ours and a Lowe's trip.

Love days like today. Perfection.















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4.04.2013

date night budget-style

Justin and I got the gift and blessing of a date night tonight! My aunt is in town and was happy to watch Miss A while we went out for the evening.

I can count the number of dates we've had since Adeline on two hands. We always have such good intentions but we get so tired and busy that we let it slip as a priority.

We've really been working on trying to at least do a date night a month- I know, not perfect, but getting somewhere! We do have A LOT of evenings together on the couch and more impromptu time together. :)

When we do a date night, we really work hard to still stay within our budget. It's always fun to see how God can take a little and make it into such a fun, full time together! Tonight was no exception.

So tonight we started with dinner at Bucca di Beppo. We shared a salad and an entree (their portions are HUGE)!

Savings: $10 from a $10 off $20 or more coupon from our local fundraising coupon savings book.

Next, Justin planned for us to go bowling! We haven't bowled since our first or second year of marriage. :) We had a ton of fun and had kinda forgotten that playful/flirty/competitive side of dating. Success. :)

Savings: $15 savings with a buy one game/get one game free coupon from our local fundraising coupon booklet.

After bowling, we hit a Starbucks drive-thru and both splurged on frappuccinos.

Savings: $5 with my birthday freebie drink and $5 for the other drink with a gift card.

We ended our night at Barnes and Noble- both grabbing a stack of magazines (I NEVER take a moment to look at magazines anymore. Such a treat!) and sat to enjoy our picks for a while.

Overall, our $75ish date cost us around $15 of our personal money after using gift cards, coupons, cash we had been gifted, and choosing some free fun. Blessings!!

We came home to a sleepy Adeline (it's often so much easier to just let Adeline go to bed late on this rare occasion than leave step by step directions for whoever is watching her. Plus the fact I'm still nursing her- just easier all together! :)

We had such a blast and are always so blessed when we are intentional to spend alone time together. I'm so grateful for a man that pursued me like crazy before dating and still does 5 years into marriage.






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4.03.2013

play date!

Today we had our friends Page and Selah over for a lunch play date! We wanted to fit in one last play date with the girls before Miss Zoe makes her debut!

The girls loved praying and eating together. We had chicken/feta/red pepper cold pasta salad and a fresh cucumber and tomato salad. Page brought amazing cupcakes that we enjoyed a bit later in the afternoon for dessert.

The girls also had tons of fun playing with all the balls and babies (two common faves of both of theirs). They mostly shared ;) minus the few times Adeline wanted to hoard all of her toys from Selah or push Selah "gently" away from the front window so she could see better. (I am pretty sure I have a little boss on my hands. A sweet one none the less, but a bossy gal. ;)

We knew it was time to wrap things up when the girls were getting a bit grumpy and whiny (aka Adeline asserting herself quite loudly and Selah wanting to snuggle with Mommy a bit more ;)

We had a blast and I'm always so blessed by my time with Page- such a raw, Christian woman! Seeing our two (soon to be three) girlies playing together makes my heart so happy!

Thank you, Lord, for sweet friendships!






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4.01.2013

a day in the life (almost 17 month old Adeline)

8:15- I am slightly awake from Justin getting ready to leave. I finally decide to roll out of bed because I need to get some laundry organized and started before little Miss wakes up (our laundry area is in our unfinished basement and quite a interesting time hauling toddler and laundry up and down ;).

8:30- Adeline wakes up (slightly more grouchy than her usual chipper self in the morning.) Her hair is a mess and she has sleepy eyes- one of my favorite times of the day because she's just so cuddly in the morning! We cuddle for a few minutes, she refused a diaper change with that grouchy mood. So wet diaper stays on for now- you pick your battles and I kind of have a headache that I woke up with. We go into our master bedroom and make the bed. (I love a made bed and have GOBS of laundry to catch up on- great folding and sorting area.)

8:45 Adeline begs to nurse (again not normally like her in the morning). I nurse her for about 10 minutes and then start some breakfast. I let Boone out because he has finally gone to the door to ask if he can go out to go to the bathroom (such a good dog.)

9:00 We both eat waffles while Micky Mouse Clubhouse is on in the background (about the only TV show we "watch" during the day). She begs for "moh" syrup 100 times and feeds Boone the last couple bites (as always). Usually breakfast is turkey sausage (or "zsh zsh" as she calls it) but Daddy accidentally left it out when he fed her Saturday morning....oops! ;)

9:30 I unload the dishwasher and reload it (going to take a second load to get it all clean- we are so bad about keeping up with this!) while Adeline plays with her toy kitchen in the kitchen. She is so focused and busy! (This usually doesn't happen for this long so I am eating it up and trying to be productive). I hear her grunting a bit...you know what that means. Then I hear her say "poo poo" - her new thing is telling us when she has dirtied her diaper. So I got over and ask her if she poo pooed- she says yes and shakes her head. I ask her if she wants to get her diaper change...she says "nooo" and shakes her head. What is with this girl and not wanting her diaper changed?!

9:45 We got downstairs and put a new load of clothes in the wash and put the wet load into the dryer. My goal is to keep the machines going all day to finally catch up. Saw this idea on Pinterest thanks to another friend pinning it. Monday is now coined "laundry day!!" Adeline plays in her play area downstairs that we have created for when we are down there. I throw a few more things into our yard sale box for summer that catch my eye that we don't need anymore.

10:00 We head back upstairs, I fold some jeans, and Adeline plays with her new Easter toy- a shopping cart that holds her "bay bee"s. She chases Boone around a bit trying to throw something at him (oh the things he puts up with! Namely the 100 bear hugs he receives a day around his neck) Now it's time for a diaper change....like it or not for the little miss.

10:30 I change Adeline (she's content on changing table aka not screaming her lungs out and clawing at the table mat trying to climb off so must be tired of being in wet/dirty dipe.). I go ahead and change her clothes because we have to run a few errands. I get ready too and pick up a few more things around the house and get ready for our post office run. She finds a few books and magazines to "read".

11:00 We get a text from my aunt asking us if we want to meet her and my grandma at McDonald's to grab some lunch. After hubby and I gave up soft drinks for lent, I am more than ready for a large Diet Coke from McDonalds- the answer is yes! ;)

11:15 Adeline and I head out to run our errands and eat lunch. Getting out of the house is always a bit frantic- messes made as we leave, a dog to get fed and put in the foyer/bathroom area, and tons of "bye byes" for Boone from Adeline. ;) We head to the DMV to pay our car taxes and registration, the bank to grab cash for our weekly envelopes, and the post office to mail some packages. (Disclaimer in the pics below- we just got in the car and I was about to buckle her when I took the sucker picture after the post office. ;)

12:00 We meet my aunt and grandma for lunch. Adeline eats 3 of her 4 nuggets, some fries and some apples- girl can eat! I'm craving a cheeseburger so I get a mcdouble off the $ menu, a medium fry and upsize Adeline's happy meal drink (for free!) to a large diet coke and order her a water. We have fun visiting and get out without too much attention to the play place. ;)

1:00 I change Adeline and nurse her right before nap. She goes down asleep. I work on laundry (more!) and do a few things on the Internet from my phone.

1:50 Adeline wakes up with her heart absolutely broken- I decide to go in after about 10 minutes because I can tell her cry is one of those "not calming down" cries. I give her her paci and sway/shoosh her until she calms down. I put her back down and pat her for a few minutes- she gets up again for a second when I walk out but quickly goes back out. She sleeps for another 45 minutes or so while I do more laundry/cleaning up from the last couple weeks and very little time at home!

2:30 Adeline wakes up, we work in the bedrooms a little more. She is funny and silly, getting in the laundry hamper, dancing to a few minutes of TV, carrying my phone around dancing and saying "hey-yoh" (hello) as we listen to The David Crowder station on the Songza app. She continues to play and "helps" Mommy while I pick up and fold/put away laundry for a while longer.

4:00 We grab a quick snack (apple sauce pouch) and then I decide it's time to get outside and get some sunshine and fresh air! Adeline has been such a good and patient girl while I had to get so much done! I tell Adeline and Boone we are going outside- they get equally excited and impatient as I get Boone's collar on and Adeline's jacket, socks and shoes. We explore in the back yard, side yard and around the house. (We have woods on all sides and our yard is a fun little place to hang- just supper hilly so I have to watch her carefully! We blow bubbles, swing, take a short walk down our street, check the mail, dig in the dirt and rocks, check out our little stream, and throw sticks for Boone. Adeline LOVES being outside!

5:30 Daddy gets home and we hang out for a little while longer outside.

5:45 I start breakfast for dinner while Justin showers and Adeline raids the cabinets (mainly munching on Pirate's Booty, grapes, and shredded cheese).

6:00 We sit down to pray and eat dinner!

6:45 We clean the kitchen together as a fam (Adeline plays at her toy kitchen and "helps" unload the dishwasher). Justin and Adeline head into the living room to play with Adeline's new train set while I finish up the kitchen. Adeline LOVES this time with Daddy when he gets home!

7:00 We play in the living room together and watch Wheel of Fortune (on and off). Adeline loves clapping for the contestants and saying "aaaayyyy" (A) when they all that letter. :)

7:30 Bath time! Adeline's FAVORITE. You don't mention the word "bath" in front of Miss Adeline unless it's really happening ;). The entire fam (including Boone) plays during bath time and splashes. We love bath nights.

7:45 We get her PJs on and Daddy kisses her good night. We read Pat the Bunny, Little Quack and Adeline's other fave book that was mine about bears going camping while rocking. Her favorite pages in both of the first two books mentioned are when she can say "shhh" and bringing her finger to her mouth when the bunny and Little Quack are sleeping. Adeline gets her vitamins, gas drops and then nurses. While she nurses we always do our bedtime prayers- she always stops to say "dada" and "buh" after we pray for them. She stops to do itsy bitsy spider in the middle of nursing and prayer- why she does this I have no idea...it happens ever night. ;) At the end when I say "in Jesus' name, Amen" she stops nursing and says "bay bee? jee zshus" aka baby Jesus. She has said this other times but not at the end of prayer. :) melt. We finish and I kiss her a million times and lay her down, give her a paci, cover her up, and start we sound machine and night light stuffed animal.

8:00 I watch the season premier of The Real Housewives of Orange County and hubby and I get settled in on the couch for the night. :)


















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