Friday, January 28, 2011

eShakti Discount Code!!

 eShakti is generously offering my readers a 20% discount off of any and all of your purchases between now and February 28th!!  What a great deal!

Just enter the code: MAMA2011 at Checkout!

Click here if you didn't catch my review!

Let me know if you make a purchase. I would love to know what y'all are buying :)

Hope y'all all have a great weekend, and Happy Friday!
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Thursday, January 27, 2011

Zulily!

 I had never heard of Zulily until today!  But I'm so glad I did!  They have great deals for mom's and kids!
You just join and they send you emails with the great deals!
Today through February 1st, you can get $40 to tinyprints.com for only $20!

Click here to join!
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The Andy Griffith Show

 Little Man loves to watch Andy Griffith! His favorite part is the theme song...or theme whistle, I should say!  Got a little video of him when it came on the other day :)


Happy Thursday Y'all!
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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

{semi} Wordless Wednesday: My Nephew's First Birthday!

 On Saturday, after a visit to Little Man's great-grandparents...


We went to my Nephew S's first birthday party!

We had lots of fun!

This was the wonderful farm animal cake!

Little Man only wanted his Papa to hold him.

But he did let his cousin Sydney hold him for a little while!

Saying the blessing.

Eating the smash cake!

Too cute!

Little Man in his party favor sunglasses!

Getting tickled by his Papa!

We had a wonderful day...and Little Man wanted to wear his sunglasses even more without the lenses!


Little Man really took off walking at the party.  I think seeing all the other kids walking, he just had to join in.  It amazes me the way it happens so fast.  He really seems to enjoy walking, but when he gets tired of it...he's back to crawling!

Link up with Daph!


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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Need a laugh?

 One morning last week, Little Man woke up and after playing for awhile, I heard him struggling.

I turned on the baby monitor, and he was trying to take his shirt off.

When the mister and I got to his room, this is what he looked like:


My favorite (and the velcro is to hold on the teething rails...which I am reminded now that I can take those off!)  






Happy Tuesday Y'all!

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Monday, January 24, 2011

Check out these giveaways!

 Lisa from Diary of a Newlywed is hosting her first giveaway!!
Look at all of this great stuff you could win!
Click here to enter!

And Shannon from Webbisodes is giving away a $35 credit to CSN stores!
I know I could really use that!
Click here to enter!
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Win a Target Gift Card!

 Karen at Home is giving away a $25 gift card to Target!!
Everyone could use one of these!

Click here to enter, and good luck!
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Monday Message: Still, Small Voices

 When do you really feel the presence of God?

When you see a beautiful sunset?

When you are surrounded by family and close friends?

When you are doing something to help another person?


The message yesterday was wonderful for me.  The passage was 1 Kings 18:20-19:15.

Elijah had proven to the people who believed in a false god (Baal) that his God was the one true God.  

When they believed him, Elijah had the prophets of Baal killed.  

Then he got scared because he knew their queen would want revenge. 

So he hid. (I think this is what we do when we know that we aren't leading the life we should be...)

While he was hiding (in a type of cave), a strong, powerful wind came by...
but Elijah didn't feel the presence of God in the wind.

Then a hurricane came...still no presence of God felt...

Then a fire...no God.

Then Elijah heard a still, small voice...and that's when he got the courage to come out of hiding and face the troubles that he had made.  In the still, small voice, he heard God.

I feel the presence of God many times throughout the day...but I feel his presence the most in moments of gentle stillness...through the sound of sheer silence.  I want to make sure I keep my daily communication with God open by making time for silence!

The message challenged us by asking, "Will we be people of faith?"

Will we live for God on a daily basis...

or will we limp between living for God and living for self?

Something to think about...


Happy Monday Y'all!

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Friday, January 21, 2011

eShakti Review!

 I recently teamed up with eShakti to review one of the dresses from their company.

They have a great mission, vision, and policy which can be seen here!

I was able to choose any dress from their website and give it a try.

I wanted something that I could wear to winter weddings or out on a nice date with the mister.

I was not sure what to expect.  The products look very nice on the website and I was really excited to look at all of the beautiful options and choose one for myself.

I chose this (unfortunately it's no longer available on the website, but there are similar options):

  (Yeah, I wish the mister had told me to fix my hair before snapping these shots, but oh well...it's the dress your looking at right?!)


For the review:

Overall, I would say that I am really pleased with the dress.  I would definitely wear it to a wedding or on a date night.

When the box arrived (I was informed the dress would arrive between 7 and 10 business days, and it took 9...so right in the time frame), I was shocked that my dress was actually in the box.  It was a very small box and the dress was folded neatly inside.  It didn't even really need ironing.

My first reaction was that the top part was a little more sheer than I expected it to be, and I would probably need to wear something under it like a black tank.  I didn't put anything under it (except for my bra of course!) for the pictures, and you can't really tell.

I was also nervous about the pleats, but I think they add a little character to the dress, and I really like them.

With eShakti, you can order a specific size or place a custom order in which you add all of your body measurements.  I did partial custom, but wish that I had gone full custom.  The dress was way too big when I put it on.  I had to have it altered before I took these pics and wrote the review.  It just needed to be taken in on both sides from top to bottom, but now it fits perfectly!

The pricing for this dress was a little high in my opinion for the "sheerness" of the top fabric.  It was $79.95, and then I paid $18 to have it altered.  If I had paid for the dress in the beginning, I probably would have returned it and had them custom fit the dress.  There are many other comparable dresses on their site that seem much more affordable, and I will probably buy one in the future.

I'm excited to see what they have for the summer months, since I pretty much wear dresses all summer long!  I would definitely say to give them a try if you see something that you like.  They have a great return policy if you don't like something or want to try something else.

Hope you enjoyed the review and let me know if you've ever tried eShakti, or if you think you might in the future!

Happy Friday Y'all!

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Wednesday, January 19, 2011

16 months old!

 Little Man is really growing up!  I know that in the blink of an eye, he will 18, graduating, and heading off to college.  I'm going with him!  Haha...j/k.  But, right now, I can't imagine ever letting him go!

He is truly the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to us, and I can't imagine life without him!

What he's up to:

-He still loves to crawl, but he is starting to walk!  It usually takes some coaxing...but soon I'm sure he'll take off on his on!  

-He loves to blow kisses.

-He's still sleeping great at night and taking a great nap in the afternoon.

-He loves to read books, and that keeps him occupied for awhile in his room if I need to get something done somewhere else in the house.  I know he's reading when I hear, "Wow!" or "Ooh ooh!"

-He loves swinging in his Johnny Jump-up.  If he happens to get fussy, Daddy puts him in the "swing."

-We recently had to decide how to handle him hitting us in the face.  When he would get mad, his first instinct was to hit Mama or Daddy (or even others) in the face.  I did pop him on the hand one time, but felt so bad afterwards, so we opted for time-out.  (And I thought, what's the point of hitting him to teach him not to hit!) We put him in a little hallway between our bedroom and a child's gate.  If he hits us, we put him in there for one minute.  Fortunately, he learned very quickly.  After 5-7 times total of time-out, he hasn't hit either of us in over a week.  Whenever I would go to get him out of time-out, he would lay his head on my shoulder (as if to say I'm sorry.)  Now when he does something he shouldn't, I say, "Do you want to go to time-out?" and he immediately lays his head on my shoulder.  

-He is eating better, but still not great.  He won't really eat any meat, so we still have to give him that as baby food.  He did eat some bacon the other day when I made breakfast, but we realized that he still had it in his mouth 30 minutes later.  He was just sucking on it and not actually eating it.  

-He still loves to dance and has some cute new moves!  He usually just bounces up and down, but he has started shaking his shoulders side to side and wiggling his whole body.  I can't help but laugh everytime. Is that how I dance?  Haha.

-He also likes to sit in "big" chairs and act like he's an adult.  He thinks it's so funny to sit in a chair and laugh when we laugh.

-He also likes to stand in one chair and play for long periods of time.  Sometimes his daddy will lean him back in the chair, which really amuses him.

-He really likes seeing people's skin.  If I'm wearing pants, and he sees my ankle, he'll come lift up my pants and touch my leg.  He did that to his Aunt Ashley when we were visiting them.  She was laying in the floor and her back was showing.  He went over to her and pulled up her shirt and touched her back.  The lady that kept him in nursery on Sunday said he kept trying to lift up her skirt when she was sitting in the rocker.

-Whenever I'm in the floor while he's playing, he loves to climb in my lap and just sit there.  Now that is the best feeling in the world.  He sees me sitting "criss-cross applesauce" and he wants to climb in the hole and sit there with whatever toy he's playing with.  So sweet.

-He likes to pretend like he is talking on the phone.  His jibber jabber sounds like, "Doe, duh, doe."  He always says "Bye" when I'm getting off the phone with someone.

-He still tries to sing the ABC's.  One of his new toys has the alphabet song on it, and he loves to play it and clap and "sing."

-He loves when his daddy sings really loud.  He usually starts screaming, which I think is him trying to sing along :)

-He also likes to crawl into his room, go straight to the crib, and yell for his stuffed animals, "Ee-yah!" (for Eeyore) until we get them out.  One day I had packed Eeyore in a laundry basket for a trip and put it on the coffee table.  I was in my room packing, and I heard a little whimper.  I thought Little Man had really hurt himself because usually he screams, and this was the saddest little cry.  Turns out he was just trying to get Eeyore out of the basket.









Vocabulary

-He can pretty much repeat anything we say in his own little baby voice.  I guess because the mister was home so much last week because of the snow, he picked up on our real first names.  The mister is "Blake," and he would repeat me and say, "Bake."  He also said, "Baby" a lot, which is what we call each other most of the time.

-He is really good with two syllable words, but anything over that is still a little hard.

-Some of his favorite things to say are, "Ee-ee" (eat! eat!) "Sna-sna" (snack snack) "Nigh-Nigh" (night night!) and "Go Go!" (when he wants to leave the house)

-His grandmother "Bippie" kept him yesterday, and he learned "Uh oh, Sketti-O."  It is so cute to hear him say that.

-When he wants something, he's getting really good at saying, "Pwees."  We're still working on thank you!


Hope y'all have a great Wednesday!
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Monday, January 17, 2011

Monday Message: Be Content!

 I want to start by sharing some great news! Little Man is walking! He still crawls more than he walks, but on Saturday, he took 18 consecutive steps on his own.  The mister and I were both sitting on the floor across the room from each other.  I was holding Little Man and told him to walk to Daddy.  He was a little wobbly the first few times, but then he started getting the hang of it.  I would back up as he was coming to me and make him walk a little further.  When he would get to one of us, he would scream really loudly until we screamed too, and then he would clap and want to do it again!  

Many of the folks at church ask me each week if he's walking yet, so I was happy to let them show the answer yesterday!

On another note, this past week has been a real trial for me.  I have really had to learn to trust in God and believe that He truly knows what is best.  I do try to take control and want things to work out to my timeline and my desires, but that's not always His plan.  

A few friends have sent me Bible verses this week to help me through my struggle, and they will serve as my Monday Message:

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. 

Ecclesiastes 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

Philippians 4:11 Learn to be content...whatever the circumstances.

Happy Monday Y'all!
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Thursday, January 13, 2011

Thankful Thursday: The Mister

 Today, I am so thankful for my husband (the mister!)


We have been couped up together in the past few days, and it has been wonderful!

On Monday we cleaned the house.  If you are a faithful reader, you know I am not a huge fan of cleaning, but we started a weekly cleaning chart.  Among some of the mister's chores (which we agreed on) are emptying and taking out all the trash/recycling, cleaning Little Man's bathroom, and vaccuuming the whole house!  Yes, I know I am so fortunate to have a man willing to split the chores equally!  


He is also very willing (sometime "over"willing to me) to have a conversation almost immediately when we have any type of argument or spat.  If he realizes he is in the wrong, he offers a genuine apology.  I'm a little more stubborn and don't always immediately see when I'm in the wrong.  When we were about to get married, the pastor said, "Learn this phrase, and your marriage will last: 'You're right. I'm wrong. I'm sorry, and it will never happen again.'"  Great advice :)


He also takes great care of Little Man!  We usually take turns getting him up in the morning, which consists of a diaper change, rubbing Vanicream (to prevent eczema) from head to toe, and getting him dressed.  We also take turns putting him to bed, which means giving him a bath, rubbing Vanicream again, putting on pajamas, reading books, and singing songs.  That is probably my favorite time of the day.  The mister helps change diapers and washes the sippy cups.  He is truly wonderful!


I am so thankful to have him for a husband.  I am truly blessed!

Happy Thursday Y'all! What are you thankful for today?
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