TGIT

Well, its been a learning experience while daddy lives in another city.  Tuesday I thought was difficult with a teething infant.  I misplaced several items including her nightlight that I use to see for diaper change in the middle of the night.  I went to put down a cranky baby and shook her bottle of milk after putting some medicine in it. The lid wasn't on and milk went EVERY. WHERE.

I'm also in the process of washing clothes and packing for a 4 day vacation BY MYSELF while taking care of this cranky baby... which brings me to last night's drama.  I came home to find out I somehow washed an ENTIRE ROLL of TOILET PAPER in the laundry.  Do you have any idea what a disaster that is?  3 REwashes later and I'm packing clothes with white bits of fluff on them. I'll just tell people we have a BAD case of dandruff.  Of course I go to put the cranky butt to bed and she spills her bottle all over her so that means a wardrobe change which resulted in 30 minutes of crying and refusing to go to bed because I messed up the rhythm.  And then up EVERY 2 HOURS after that... I sure hope this vacation works out.

Bachelorette Weekend

I went to a Bachelorette Party on Saturday in Leavenworth. They wanted to do a scavenger hunt of sorts so I made these little Bride Bingo Cards.  It was a hoot watching these ladies mark off their cards... it made for some pretty funny pictures.

It was good having some girl time also.  Three of us have babies and this was our first time away from them. It's nice to compare notes and find out you're doing okay!

I can't wait for the wedding in a month.  Baby J is going to be the flower girl.  Let's just hope she isn't being a daddy's girl that day since he's officiating the wedding.  We may have some interesting stories to tell!

We also had Football to watch on Friday night and since our team was playing Chicago I had some deep dish pizza's shipped in!  It was DELICIOUS... and of course we won.

Diaper Rash Secret

This is the BEST diaper cream you will ever buy. How do you get it?  Well I order it online as a 3 pack from Amazon (link below)  so I always have it.  But if you go to the drugstore you have to ask for it at the pharmacy, they keep it behind the counter.  I know - totally top secret stuff.

If baby J gets a rash (she only gets them from teething but they can be bad), you put this cream on and the NEXT diaper change its at least 90% better if not gone.  It's really a miracle cream.

Even my husband comments on it... that tells ya something!

Calmoseptine

Therapy Thursday

I'd like to say that things are going better than expected with having daddy gone for the first week. Unfortunately, they just aren't.  I know that Baby J has one tooth cutting but I'm beginning to think she has a molar coming in now also.  Between crying fits, ice chewies and late night movie marathons for distractions, I got about 3 hours of sleep last night, only to get up at 5am to go to work. At which point my dog decided to throw up... IN. MY. BED.

Forget about the bottle of nail polish that Jessy grabbed and then threw across the tile in the kitchen.  Yes it broke and yes purple nail polish went EVERYWHERE.

The best distraction by far has been this ball pit that we got her.  We both get in and have a party. She loves kicking up the balls and balloons and I love that she isn't fussy.

One more day till the weekend.  Just breathe.

Weekend Recap

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!  Darlene C. is the winner of the Hello Goodbye shirt.  Stay tuned for more great giveaways coming up...

This weekend we went to a friends birthday party and baby J had fun meeting up with the other babies.  This photo melts my heart.

Daddy and Baby J spent more time outside playing with chalk, mostly Baby J spent time trying to eat the chalk and dad was playing but they all had a good time!

This is our first full week without daddy being home.  Keeping my fingers crossed that things go smoothly.  Hubby was gone on Saturday for 24 hours and by Sunday she was asking for him.  And of course we are getting ANOTHER tooth in so I spent most of the night holding her in a chair. Great way to start off a difficult week. 

Giveaways Galore!

The one mommy blog I read every day is Nat Your Average Girl...  I just love learning about her little girl.  I feel like it prepares me for the next step with mine, its always good to see other mom's perspectives. Natalie is a true blessing to other moms, jump on over and you'll see what I mean.

BUT WAIT!!!  She just happens to be doing a giveway too!  Click here to visit.  Then bookmark the page, trust me, if you're a mom, you'll enjoy her daily updates.

# FREE #GIVEAWAY - Hello Goodbye Shirt from Old Navy

I'm so excited to have my first giveaway and there is even more exciting ones to come!  I picked up this shirt for Baby J a few weeks ago and I loved it so much that I snagged a second one for my readers!

As much as I want summer to continue forever... I can't wait for the new fall clothes!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaways and Playgrounds

I'm so excited to announce tomorrow my first Fall Giveaway!  You won't want to miss it!  Not to mention their are several more in the works!

This weekend we spent some quality family time at the playground.  Baby J loves going down the slide so much, I'm really tempted to buy her one for the backyard or in the house during the winter. She'll only grow into it from here!

Yeah, this just melts my heart.

Chino Shorts      Flower Shirt - Sold Out      White Sandals

Date Night

We got to go on a date night this weekend to an outdoor concert of Bruno Mars.  It was so nice to be away for that short time.  Baby J had fun playing with her Aunt and Uncle (who graciously helped us after a sitter canceled), swimming, chasing their dog Bella... she was a tired baby!

Baby J has been changing so rapidly, there is a new character every day.  Lately its been all about "helping".  She loves to pull the clothes out of the dryer and hand them to me one at a time.  And she loves to "feed" our dog Darley.  Really she is shoving the food in the poor dogs mouth but the pup is soooooooooooo patient with her.  It's really sweet.

I'm not sure who is benefiting more from this little experience...

Ready for the Weekend

I'm so ready for this weekend to get started.  I've been having trouble blogging lately as I seem to be on an emotional rollercoaster.  My husband is going to be opening an office in another city, which means it will be just baby J and I during the week. This will go on for months.

I try not to think about it but sometimes it consumes my thoughts.  Yes we'll get through it but I don't want to. He's my best friend. He calms me down when things aren't going well. How will I handle everything alone? Not to mention only really talking to a 1 year old.... who's vocabulary consists of saying "Dat" ALL THE TIME.

We are going on our second big date this weekend.  WHAT!?  Yes, you read that correctly. My husband and I have been on one other big date since baby J was born. We just don't have the family support system like a lot of our friends do.  There is no dropping her off at the grandparents house for a Friday night dinner.  Hiring a babysitter for a weekly date is out of the question when you're paying $10 an hour plus dinner.

When you don't have that alone time, it can be REALLY hard on a new marriage with a baby.  So with the hubby moving out next week... well you can imagine my heart feeling broken. I also have a lot of anxiety over what Baby J will go through.  It will be just as hard on her not having daddy around for cuddles and pillow fights.  But... we will survive.

I just keep repeating... if you never go through the storm, how would you ever find the rainbow?

Weekend Recap

We had a fabulous weekend.  It started Friday evening when I got home from work and found that the baby had slept until 4:30!  We decided to head out to a winery for a glass of wine and play in their big grass yard.  We didn't know they had hens and roosters!  One hen in particular had a complete fascination with Baby J.  It MIGHT have been the animal crackers she was eating...

Daddy had to protect her for awhile until we realized the Hen wasn't going to hurt her!  I was ready to have chicken for dinner!

Saturday we headed to the other side of Mount Rainier for some hiking.  We went to Grove of the Patriarchs and Silver Falls.  It was a magical day complete with a crazy thunder/rain storm during our hike!  It just added to the adventure.

My only question is, why can't the weekends be just a bit longer?

Holy Teeth!

Teething has got to be one of the hardest things about having a baby.  I'm not going to lie, I walked out to my car yesterday morning for work and looked down to realize I hadn't put a shirt on yet.  I was up all night with a crying baby wishing I could take the pain away.  We're pretty much convinced she is getting the rest of her teeth in now.  I really hope the molars too so we can just get it all over with.  We see 3 teeth cutting right now.

One thing that has been invaluable is this feeder.  Its so much better than the mesh, it cleans better, it stretches to fit an ice cube, its just a life saver.  We buy frozen mango chunks, peaches, blue berries and cut bananas and then stuff them in the feeder frozen.  I've even filled it with Greek Yogurt and stuck it in the freezer, it works wonderful!  This is our go-to several times a day.  We can tell which tooth is hurting because she can hold it exactly where she wants it.  It's worth every penny, I promise you!

Kidsme Food Feeder

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