Beauty Must Haves - GIVEAWAY!

So I'm sure that you all have heard about this 3D Lash Mascara... aka Lash Crack.  Well I FINALLY tried it. I know, I know, I'm a little slow to this stuff.

Now, I love lashes... I'll even wear fake ones from time to time, especially for pictures or date nights.  But with this mascara, you don't have to mess with falsies.  We recently had our family photos taken and in the middle of the session my husband says to me "Hey, your wearing fake lashes, I love them!!".  No I wasn't.  I was wearing this mascara... that's it.  It's definitely my new favorite!

Amber from Younique is giving away a generous Beauty Bundle to one lucky reader! (I'm seriously jealous of the person that wins this bundle).

It includes:

Moodstruck 3D Fiber Lashes

3 Piece Eye Brush Set

Moodstruck Mineral Pigment in Sexy

Illuminate Cleanser in Clear

Lucrative Mineral Lipgloss in Lavish

 

To order the 3D Mascara or any of their makeup line visit here.  It's 100% guaranteed.

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These are my other must have beauty stocking stuffers for the holiday season.

Mally Beauty 24/7 Illuminating Blush, Light 0.26 oz. (7.4 g) This highlighter gives you that J-Lo effect.  My absolute favorite blush.

Urban Decay Original Eyeshadow Primer Potion  Of course who can live without this product?

Urban Decay 'Naked Skin' Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Makeup  This is my favorite foundation.  I've tried them all, trust me.  It's amazing, great coverage yet VERY light.  Pick up a Beauty Blender Sponge to apply and its perfect coverage.

Urban Decay 'Naked2' Palette  My husband got this for me on my birthday and I LOVE it.  I use it everyday and it makes packing for travel a breeze.  All the colors you need in one convenient case.

Go get your beauty on!!

Jessy's Christmas List + COUPON

Well as you know we got her a teepee for Christmas along with the rocking horse.  I can't wait to set it up on Christmas Eve!  I purchased a grocery cart for her so she can play with her own food instead of getting into the pantry all of the time... no, I don't think its gonna work either but it was worth a shot!  Plus maybe we can teach her to pick up her toys at the end of the day with it!

We also got her a trunk and I've been buying cheap little costumes when I see them for dress up play.  I know in a few months she'll be all over that and I'm pretty excited about it.  She's at the age where she wants to get dressed herself and does a pretty good job (with a little help in the pants department).

Be sure to use the coupon code DASHER at Kohls if you get the grocery cart.  Its on sale 50% off PLUS an additional 20% off.  Totally worth $15!!

KidKraft Derby Rocking Horse

Step2 little helper's shopping cart

Stella Trunks

Best Toy Purchase So Far

So we got this little gem for baby J and we had to open it this weekend to play on it ourselves.  It is so much fun that I came home yesterday to find the nanny riding around on it.  "This thing IS fun!".  We all love it.  Its called a Swing Car, it holds up to 220 pounds and it turns on a dime.  I'm pretty sure we will be buying another one in the near future, mostly because mom and dad are competitive and there simply needs to be a race!

Its completely affordable and made really well.  Like I said, we'll definitely be getting another one! Baby J LOVES it.  

Purple Swing Car

Hello Baby Moccasins Giveaway!

So I wanted to do a really really great giveaway for my birthday. These are my favorite shoes for baby J and I won't tell you how many pairs we have because its a little embarrassing.  She LOVES these shoes even asks to sleep in them from time to time.  So I bought an extra pair to give away from Hello Mocs!!  These are handmade by a fantastic mom and the quality is EXCELLENT. She does Flash sales most Mondays and you can pick up a pair at 50% off, a great deal.

These genuine leather baby and toddler shoes are the perfect combination of comfort and durability. With elastic openings, these soft-soled moccasins offer ease in putting them on and taking them off of little wiggly toes. The best part? These moccs are temper tantrum proof! The flexible elastic opening also serves as a secure fit for those little kickers.  These are in size 5 inches.

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Best Toy Purchase Ever

Sometimes when you have a baby you become so absorbed in the life of caring for them that you lose a little of the relationship you used to have with your spouse.  Suddenly you are so exhausted at night that its easier to watch a movie in silence then take the energy to talk.  We used to talk about everything under the sun with passionate discussions.  We've forgotten.

I found these little cue cards that I've cut out and put in a jar.  When I feel like talking and learning something about my husband, I pull them out, choose one and let the discussion begin.  I've learned things about him I didn't know before and I'm sure its the same for him.

This weekend we set up the Little Tikes First Slide in our house.   Knowing cold weather is on the way and she won't be able to play outside, we've been trying to find indoor fun.  We could NOT get baby J off of it.  She absolutely loved it and I have to say its the best purchase we've made so far.

We had a great weekend, Hubby and I got a dinner out.  We went to breakfast Sunday morning and played in the sunshine. But then it was back to playing on the slide all day!

Hope you had a great weekend.  Ready for Monday Night Football. Go Hawks!

1st Day of October and a Burt's Bee's Hoodie Giveaway!

I can't help myself... the weather is crisp and cool this morning and I just wanted to sit in the blankets with baby J all morning and snuggle with a cup of coffee. Time to break out all those cozy clothes!

I did a Burt's Bees Hoodie giveaway that proved to be VERY popular so let's do it again!  I picked up one of these gray hoodies and an extra one just for YOU!  It's size 2T and will work for either a boy or a girl.  I like to pair it with some bright colored leggings for J.  Burt's Bees is 100% organic cotton and washes up perfectly.  Its definitely my favorite brand for cozy clothes.

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Fall Favorites Things

I've started noticing some of the back-to-school sales for kids.  There are some seriously adorable outfits around!

We picked up a few styles of the Burt's Bees Pajamas, so soft and cozy, I love them!  The Aden +
Anais Dream Blankets are fantastic.  Heavier but breathable, so I use it now in the summer with the air conditioner on and will use it in the winter too. I'm not quite ready to let go of summer, but I gotta admit, Fall is looking really fun!

Silver Glitter High Tops     Hello Shirt     Trouble Shirt   

Burt's Bees Pajamas     Blanket 

Baby Travel

Traveling with a baby can be a pretty scary and stressful thought.  I know, it absolutely consumed me before our first plane trip.  We recently flew to Dallas and had Baby J sitting on our laps.  When we left from our home airport, the plane we were flying on broke…. Yeah on top of already being stressed, now we have a broken plane and a delay… a delay that meant we had no time to eat.  No time to expend some of that energy.  No time to change a diaper.  Only enough time to catch our next flight.  It really was the worst possible situation.  But you know, it turned out just fine.

 As she gets older and we have our next flight planned this fall… I’m thinking about getting her own seat and bringing a car seat.  She rides great in the car, she has her own place to relax, she’s not stuck in our laps (which is uncomfortable for everyone).  Hopefully she’ll be more interested in videos or cartoons to keep her occupied for part of that time.

We have just been co-sleeping with her when we are on vacation.  So far that has worked out great.  I’m hoping it continues.

The best tips I can give you are these:

• Fly during the day.  Even if you think that a red-eye is the best option, its not.  They won’t sleep like you think they will.  I prefer to travel first thing in the morning when they are well rested. When it's their naptime, they’ll actually fall asleep and if they don’t, don’t stress, go with the flow.
• Go to the dollar store and stock up on a million toys.  The best item I bought was a bag of balloons.  I ended up giving them out to other kids in the airport and thankful parents.  They are the best distracter, time waster and energy expender there is.  Cheap and take no room to pack.
• Bring suckers, just in case they refuse to drink or eat anything to pop their ears for take-off and landing.  We had to do this once and it worked great.
• Bring a large bottle of water and their sippy cup.  Yes you can go thru security with it, just tell them its for your baby.  They will test it and send you on your way.
• Bring the snack pouches or pureed foods.  Baby J stopped eating them, but on the plane we ended up feeding her those.  It worked out great.  I wish I had brought more than I did.
• My favorite item we have ever purchased is our backpack.  We get stopped all the time with people asking about it.  She loves to ride in it, it’s great for getting through the airport and it travels well, you can even carry it on and stick it overhead.

Deuter Kid Comfort II

Most importantly, just go with the flow and do the best that you can.  Your schedule will be messed up, but you're on vacation, have fun.  If they can't sleep, get up and go to the pool at midnight, play games, watch TV.  It will all work itself out.  And if you can RENT BABY EQUIPMENT to save yourself time and hassle. Less things to lug around the airport is a positive in my husband's book

Also when you get home, things might be a little crazy for a week day or two while you adjust back to your normal routine.  

Any travel tips you want to add?

4th of July

Whew!  What a whirlwind of a weekend.  We spent a LOT of time outdoors over the last few days.  Lots of sunshine and heat meant we bought a kiddie pool and floaties for Jessy.  And now that she has learned to point at what she wants.... it was a ton of pointing at watermelon, cherries and blueberries.... all weekend long.  For fireworks we went to a friends house and watched people setting them off around the neighborhood.  Jessy made it 2 hours past her bedtime before she started to lose her marbles... so we went home and tucked her into bed.

Star Skirt    Little Sparkler Onesie (Old Navy - sold out)

Frog bath and pool toy

The frog float toy is the BEST!  And I'm pretty sure baby J loves it too! With tempts reaching 100 the next few days with no end in sight... we're going to get a lot of use from water toys!

One Year Favorites

Working on a birthday list for Jessy!  There are some adorable things out there right now.  This is what's on my list so far.

Gold Star Tank        Bow swimsuit        Navy Dress

Flap Book                    My First Slide   

      

Grandma Fun

My dad came over for a visit last night to play with Jessy.  He was standing in the middle of the room and told her if she crawled through her tunnel he would too.  Of course how she understood him is anyone's guess.  She immediately crawled into the next room to go through the tunnel... so he had to follow... and then get stuck!

She was pushing and pulling to get him out.  And then decided she needed to get into the tunnel with him which wasn't helping. I was laughing so hard.  I know dad was exhausted but baby J slept ALL night so she was too.  Hey dad... your HIRED!

9 & 10 Monthly Favorites

VTech Sit-to-Stand Learning Walker She LOVES this and spends a good portion of her day doing laps in our house.  Plus she knows how to push the buttons to make it play songs and then dances to it!

Step2 Infant to Toddler Swing She loves to swing and instead of finding a park to go to we brought the swing to her!

aden + anais Muslin Dream Blanket  Since the weather has gotten warmer I needed to upgrade from her fleece baby blanket.  I love this blanket, its the right weight for summer and its HUGE.

Beaba Stackable Formula and Snack There's a reason this is on everyones favorite list.  We have started traveling and this is awesome.  I can store her snacks and even formula in the separate compartments.  LOVE LOVE.

Favorite Spring Things!

Month 1 and 2 Favorite Things

Snugabunny Rock and Play - Jessy loves this little seat for during the day when I need to cook dinner or take a shower.  It will rock if she moves which makes it nice, so cozy and soft.

Aden and Anai Swaddles - These muslim swaddles are fantastic, lightweight so she doesn't overheat.  I use them for swaddles, nursing covers, burp clothes in emergencies or a lightweight blanket. 

Pumpin' Pal Shields - Uhm these are to die for.  They are so comfortable its like you're not even pumping, a must have if you need to pump!

Mustela Cleanser - I love this soap free cleanser, completely safe for preemies and has a nice smell. 

Burts Bees Baby Lotion - I literally give Jessy a massage with this every night.  She smiles the whole time!