Friday, November 30, 2012

My Dad

Did I ever show you all this picture of my dad?
He's a handsome ol' feller.

This is his before and after pictures from Rodan+Fields Reverse Regimen.
Seriously unreal results.
I took these pictures at the same time of day with the same camera.
Does he not look 10 years younger?

Our Reverse regimen is a great for sun damage, melasma, hyperpigmentation, dull skin, and fine lines and wrinkles.
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Sign up as a preferred customer today and I will send you a $25 gift card as my way of saying thanks! (Just email me saying you saw the special on my blog).
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People love the products because they work.
If you are interested in additional income, email for details about this great business.
Dr. Rodan+Fields are the genius doctors who created Proactiv and their new line of skincare is spreading like crazy! Today is a great day to join us!

Business aside...
How are you all doing?
I don't know about you but I am SOOO ready for the weekend!
My hunny bun and I are going on a DATE!
So, I am off to fold laundry and try and be somewhat productive ;-)
I promise I will be posting about the rest of our Disney trip soon!
Have a fabulous weekend!!!


Monday, November 19, 2012

DIY Mickey Ears + Day 1 Disney World- The Magic Kingdom!

The day before we left for Disney, we made Mickey and Minnie ears.
Mind you that Caleb had NO idea why we were making them, but he loved them just the same and actually wore them the rest of the day!



You'll need:
-2 black head bands
-2-3 pieces of black felt
-1 piece of red felt
-1 piece of white felt
-hot glue gun and sticks
-Something round (roll of tape, drinking glass,etc.)


Fold a piece of the black felt in half and cut a circle, but don't cut the circle completely.  Let a fold over section to wrap around the headband as pictured below:


Do this 4 times.

Using LOTS of hot glue, glue the ears around the head band and then together.  The more glue you use, the sturdier the ears!

I mean, seriously...look at these two!





Thennnnn came THE DAY!
Seth had to work until noon, so we had the car packed and ready to go.
Caleb had no idea we were headed to Disney and Seth and I were about to explode from not being able to tell him.  It was way worth it though!
His reaction was priceless.  It was dark when we pulled into our resort.  We told him right as we were stopping at the gate.  The security guard was SO nice to him!  He was definitely in shock right after we told him.  He was kind of numb and speechless.  Then, it hit him when we walked into the resort and everything was so big and grand.  He went crazy!

This is THE WORST picture ever of his face.  I was running video, trying to take a picture of him, and tell him what was going on at the same time...plus I realized afterwards that my camera was on the wayyyy wrong setting. But, this is his speechless picture!

Checking in!

Port Orleans, Riverside Resort...we loved it!  But next time, we are splurging to stay at one of the resorts that has a direct monorail line to it.  Getting in and out of Magic Kingdom was a nightmare, and we went during off season!

First day outfits:
My friend Holly made these...soooo cute!

Everyone's first moment in Magic Kingdom!  They all look very confused....haha!




The amazing moment when you get your first glimpse of Cinderella's castle!  PLUS they had already decorated for Christmas!!!

We caught a show right when we walked in.




Caleb's FAVORITE ride! It's a new, mini roller coaster in Magic Kingdom called, The Barnstormer.
I was thinking he wouldn't like it, but he insisted on riding it.
When they got off, I asked how it went...thinking I would get bad news.
Instead, Seth said that Caleb rode the entire ride with his hands in the air, screaming! 
He LOVED it!!!


Pooh Bear honey pots!
We used a fast pass for this ride....sooo totally worth it!
Fast passes are free, you are just limited as to how many you can get.
Luckily, the lines weren't very long since we were there during off-season, so we never ran into any issues with our fast passes overlapping.

 Getting ready to get on the Pooh ride!

Here's how Lorelei and I rolled....I love Moby wraps!!!

Wheeeee!  Lorelei looks a little terrified/confused.

Caleb learned very quickly that he was NOT a fan of the indoor rides!
We scheduled our days after this to revolve around shows, outdoor rides, and fireworks!



The Buzz Lightyear ride was the final straw for Caleb...he was so scared in this one!!!  But, it was very neat.



First parade!

Caleb was waving at everyone and LOVING it!



Captain Hook came over and shook Caleb's hand.  I thought he would be terrified, but he was in awe.  Now he loves Captain Hook.

Borrowing my shades because we left his in the room.

Tips from day 1:  -Download the Disney app on your phone and check out which rides have long and short wait times.
If there is one with a long wait that you really want to go on, go grab a fast pass.
-Go to Disney during off-season.  It was BUSY while we were there so I can not imagine what holidays and summertime would be like.  You really wouldn't be able to get too much packed into your days.  We missed a lot, and we didn't even have to wait in line very long!
-If you can plan and save, stay in a resort with a direct monorail line to it. Especially if you have young kids and you are wanting to do Magic Kingdom more than one day!
-Get the hopper pass.  With little kids, it was so much easier to park hop and not feel pressured to fit everything in in one day.
-Schedule your day around the parades, shows, and fireworks.  EVERYONE will love them!  They were worth the whole trip for us!
-Bring sunglasses, sunscreen, and jackets (if you are going during fall or winter months.)
-Ask the photographers to use your camera to take pictures!  They try to push you to use their photopass, but they will also use your camera to take a picture too.  We have many great shots from their photographers using our camera.  Just make sure your camera has a strap!

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

20 One-Handed Snack Ideas for Breastfeeding Mama's




Breastfeeding is one of my favorite parts of having a little baby. 
 There is just nothing quite like the bond that Mama and baby get from breastfeeding.  Some people don't enjoy it, or are afraid to even try.  If I could give one piece of advice to any new mother contemplating breastfeeding it would be, TRY IT!  So many people don't even give it a chance. 
 It could be a wonderful experience for the both of you.  It's even more convenient than a bottle because, 1. You don't have to get up and make a bottle in the middle of the night and stay awake until baby is done eating.  All you have to do is pick baby up out of the baby and side nurse.  Then you can actually sleep while baby eats, baby falls back asleep and when you wake up, you can put your baby back in their crib.  
2.  It's the perfect source of nutrition for them.  Mixed and heated to the perfect temperature by GOD...om, who wouldn't want God to make their food??? 
3.  It's healthy for both Mama and baby.  Did you know that breastfeeding Mother's have less chance of developing breast cancer?  Not to mention, it will help you burn those baby weight calories more quickly! 
It has so many other positive attributes.
Breastfeeding helps prevent SIDS in infants, helps in preventing childhood leukemia and other cancers,   helps in preventing ear infection and colds, children are less likely to having learning and behavior issues, it's easy to digest, helps prevent constipation, helps with skin issues, is great for brain growth and development, it helps the mom to loose weight faster, baby and mama can get more sleep because baby is able to latch on while mama lays on her side in bed (this has been a dream come true for us!), it's a FREE, God given gift, and the list could go on and on and on!!!
I know I repeated myself, but I just can't say enough how great breastfeeding is if you are willing to give it a fair chance.

If you do choose to breastfeed, you will find yourself in a chair often, realizing you are hungry too.  Only problem is that, you only have one hand available.
But since breastfeeding only requires the use of one hand, you can feed yourself while you feed baby, but you are somewhat limited in that you have to find foods that are "one-handed foods" and as any breastfeeding mother knows, we stay hungry!  If you are breastfeeding, you burn about 500 extra calories a day which can add up to quite the appetite.
After two baby's and a combined total of 27 months of breastfeeding (and we are still going strong!), I have a great list of one handed healthy snacks and meals that hopefully will be helpful to all you breastfeeding mama's.
We need all the help we can get, right?!?
Plus, most of these are also great snack ideas that you can share if you have other hungry kiddos roaming the house.  If your house is anything like mine, Caleb has a nose for snack time.  If I have a snack, he wants one too.  It's always easier when we can both enjoy the same snack!

So, here goes:

1.  Fruit.  Pre-wash fruit and keep it handy.  Apples, grapes, berries, bananas. You could even make fruit kabobs. All are great sources of nutrition for you and your little bambino.

2.  Raw veggies.  Wash and cut veggies while baby is napping.  Keep in an easy to grab container.  You might even want to add a little bowl of ranch dip.  Sit on your couch near a side table and you're good to go!

3.  Craisins/Raisins

4.  Pickles (the whole kind).  Eat with a fork or wrap in a paper towel.

5.  Popcorn.  There are so many great popcorn options.  I even saw whole grain today!

6.  Cheese sticks or cubes.

7.  Glass of almond milk.  Wayyyy better for you then milk because it doesn't endure the horrible pasteurization product that cow's milk does (yes, even the organic!), and it has even MORE calcium than cow's milk!  Coconut milk is another great option if almond milk isn't your thing.

8.  Deli meat, rolled up.  If you have prep time, you could even spread some cream cheese and chives on the meat, then roll it up.  The perfect light snack!

9.  Meal replacement bars.  Be careful to look at the ingredients carefully.  You want something with good amounts of protein and fiber and not a lot of sugar.  I like Isagenix bars.  They have SAVED me and my 3 year old can have half of a bar with me!

10.  Salads.  This would require you to sit near a side table again.  Grab a fork and go to town!

11.  Squeezable's.  Many of the snacks geared towards toddlers can also double as adult snacks too!  The squeezable apple sauce and yogurts can be a great option if you are able to find the healthier, low sugar options.

12.  Nuts.  Raw almonds, walnuts, even peanuts! Great source of nutrition and easily eaten with one hand.

13.  Edamame.  I love getting the steam-able bags, still in the pods.  Steam them in the microwave, dump in a bowl and eat with your hands!  My 3 year old loves edamame in the pod, mostly because he has fun popping them out of the pod and into his mouth :)

14.  Whole wheat tortilla's rolled up and filled with spinach, a little ranch dressing and some real bacon bits, add some avocado if you have time for an extra burst of good fats. Or, spread peanut butter and honey on it to satisfy a sweet tooth!

15.  Granola.  Target sells great varieties of granola and snack mixes on their nut aisle.  Everything from sweet and spicy to sweet and sassy... I mean salty.  Or you can make your own combinations.

16.  Bean Salad, eat with a spoon, recipe HERE!

17.  Sweet Potato fries with raspberry dip.  To make dip, mix 2 tablespoons of raspberry preserves with a teaspoon of water.  Mix well and dip away...absolutely amazing!

18.  Grilled chicken tenders.  Buy a pack of raw chicken tenders, bake or grill and keep in fridge as a high protein meal or snack to grab!  Much healthier than buying them already cooked in the freezer section.  You can skip out on loading your body with preservatives and extra sodium by cooking them yourself.

19.  Frozen yogurt, scooped into a cone.  Our local grocery store has a huge selection of frozen yogurt.  It's has fewer calories than regular ice cream and you'll get a great dose of probiotics that ice cream doesn't offer.

20.  Soup poured into a mug so you don't have to worry about using a spoon.


For those of you who have other children still at home with you, lunchables were AWESOME for us!  You can make your own lunchable's or grab a stack at the grocery store because as all new mom's know, we don't always have tons of prep time.

I also kept snack boxes in the bottom shelf of the fridge and the bottom shelf of the pantry.  That way, Caleb could go grab him a snack when he was hungry instead of having to wait for me to finish feeding the baby.  
I stocked the snack boxes with several one serving baggies of pickles, grapes, cheese, yogurt cups, ritz crackers, graham crackers, pretzels, etc.

I know many of you have great one-handed snack ideas too.
Share in the comments section!
I hope this gave you all a few ideas :)






Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Halloween Costumes and the Pumpkin Patch

This year, we had a handsome football player and the cutest football I ever did see.




Caleb insisted on wearing a mustache...cracks me up!

Isn't he intimidating?

Caleb is holding tight to the football..he doesn't want to fumble!!!


I made Lorelei's outfit by sewing white felt onto a brown onesie.  I made the headband by gluing a football patch onto a brown flower, then I attached that to a headband.  Easy peasy!  Caleb's outfit came from our sweet neighbor's who let him have it because it was too little for their little boy.  We are Virginia Tech/ Georgia Bulldog fans, but hey, while in Alabama, we will do as the Alabamian's do!  Of course, the U of A fans didn't even want to give him candy...lol!  I think it would have been funny to wear the Auburn uniform with an Alabama helmet.  Let me just tell you all, if you haven't lived in the south and experienced football season, you just don't know what you are missing.  The south is hard core when it comes to football!!!


We also visited the pumpkin patch.
And we literally got LOST in the corn maze.
We were exhausted by the time we got out of there!
An experience we won't forget...hahaha!







My serious kid....

We also did our annual pumpkin painting day!

Lots of concentration going on here.


Lorelei's had the warmest seat during pumpkin painting.  She was taking it easy!


Final products!!!
If you look close, you can see the faces Caleb painted on his little pumpkins.


We also JUST got back from DISNEY WORLD last night!
We are exhausted but had a BLAST!
I have LOTS to share with you as soon as I get the energy to download and edit my ba-zillion pictures ;)
Happy Tuesday everyone!!!