iGriza

Current Loves:

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 22:23:00 +0000

She sure is pretty for a crackhead! and I love all her shades for Rimmel! Totally affordable and chic! She also said in an interview that she will sometimes apply it with her fingertip to achieve a more stained look and less color which does look marvelous!

Jurlique is a brand I stumbled onto in 2005 when a Spa in Vail used it for a facial. It is AMAZING. I can't always afford it but I did get some for my winter skin and it feels so wonderful! Sephora started selling it a year or so ago.

These tops from Victoria Secret Catalogue. They have built in bras which is heaven for me since I hate wearing a bra. They are cute too and will be super comfy for Summer. I have a green one I bought in 2005 that I still wear a lot every summer and it is WORN out so I finally decided to order some new ones. The ruffled bottom one was not as cute on me as it looked in the picture ( surprise surprise) .. ...

Well that is it for now! I am late posting today because like an idiot I took some cold medicine last night that woke me up at 1am and had me wired like a crackhead. It was absolutely terrible, and i did not get any more sleep last night past 1am so I am exhausted today!

Looking forward to my hooch Susannah arriving today with her 2 kiddos! Also Sunday we are taking our kids to a brunch with lots of lady bloggers who are in town from Blissdom! So excited!

Just a little Thursday Randomosity...

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 01:49:00 +0000

Let me start by saying it has been a FABULOUS day in Nashville today. Warm, beautiful weather that has me blasting music and in a fantastic mood. My sickle boy and I took to the yard today for some play time and it was awesome, but let me also say that our back yard is GROSS. I found a number of disgusting things back there. For one, today is the first time i really realized that our dogs actually DO poop outside! Albeit on special occasions ( we just had valentines day) but I thought they saved that for our bath rug. Anyway... gonna have to work on that situation before we roll around in the grass again! We got lucky today. He tried out his new sandbox and really enjoyed it!

We strolled around in the car and in the stroller. I love having neighbors that we enjoy so much. We have several great neighbors over here. I think this picture is SO cute because peebs is congratulating our neighbor Chad on his upcoming child. Today was an exciting day for them!

Did you guys realize that the instagram app is social? I had NO idea. I had no idea that I had friend requests or when people could or could not see my pictures. Thanks to JessiDesign for the quick tutorial because I enjoy it so much more now! It is like a visual twitter! I love seeing pics of people's days.
Anyway I am lg2006 on there if anyone is interested!

Our house is still yucky! I took Peebs back to the doctor the other day because he had a bad fever again. Turns out his ear infection had not gotten any better, so he got a new antibiotic. UGH. This joker hates taking medicine these days and it has gotten so bad that just when we walk into the kitchen he starts a MAJOR meltdown, which is making it hard to get him to eat. In fact he has eaten very little in the last few days. I am ready for us to all be well again.

I searched high and low but I finally found the last bin to complete my shelves for the playroom. ( I got them all at Target) and printed labels from the BHG Website that is pinned on pinterest. Loving it so far! Still gotta add the doors to the bottom. But this has given me project fever! I Have so many new projects I want to start!
I saw this today at Goodwill and think it would be so fun to refinish! It would be so PURTY white!

I swear I love pinterest! It has inspired me to do sooo much! The best thing is that I have been so lame in the kitchen for ~~my whole life~~ ever, and the problem was I never knew "what" to cook. Now I have new ideas every week and have been menu planning. It makes me feel so good about myself when I cook for my family!
One of the recipes I tried and really loved was this chicken with roasted veggies.

So that is what's happenin with us! What's up with y'all?

Chevron Iphone Wallpaper

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:50:00 +0000

It's been a while since we have done fun iPhone wallpapers so here you go! Just double click and save to your computer to load on your iPhone! Who doesn't love a good Chevron print?

And I found these on THIS blog with a cool tutorial on how to add them as your iPhone background. CLICK HERE to read those deets.

Clarisonic Brush Review and Report

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:23:00 +0000

So I have been using the clarisonic for several days now and can give you guys some preliminary feedback! I have wanted one of these for 2 years and after seeing this review on GMA I finally took some of my Christmas cash and pulled the trigger! So let it be known it was no gift for this blog ( unfortch).

video platform video management video solutions video player

From a girl who would regularly go to bed without washing off my makeup, this is a lot of work! But it does feel good ( like a mini facial massage) and it DEFINITELY cleans/shrinks pores and eliminates black heads.

I have not really had a problem with breakouts from using the clarisonic which some people report. My skin has been more sensitive though, but probably because of the peel that came with the clarisonic I have been using every night.

*** 2 weeks later****

So I have been using the Clarisonic for a few weeks now and I def. think it has helped out my skin. I am starting to see a little relief on my computer wrinkle ( forehead crease) and my pores are looking better. It's no perfect canvas or anything but definite improvement! I am glad I bought it and am enjoying using it.

I think it was a good purchase because:
- It has inspired me to take better care of my skin, and really committed me to doing so with all the washing and proper moisturizing.
- My skin is tighter and fresher and DEF better with the blackhead issue.

I would liken it to an electronic toothbrush. Can you get the job done without it ? Yes. But it is more efficient and better at the cleaning that the old fashioned way.

Weekend Project: DIY Pottery Barn Kids Toy Shelves

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:01:00 +0000

This weekend, I talked my bubs into helping me with a project . GAH it's been SO long since we did a project and I miss that stuff. Generally the way we approach any project is with me full of ideas and spark, and Erik full of realism and not too confident in his abilities. Good thing I know what his talents are! I also knew that if I could just get him going he would get into it and do a beautiful job and that he did!
I was catching up on my blogs and glimpsed this in the background of a bloggy pic On Bower POwer:

and was instantly coveting that toy organization. Little did I know, but read on later that she made those, fashioned after the pottery barn kids "Cameron Cubby Storage system". She printed off plans from Ana White's site and edited them a smudge. I prefer her version because she covered the bottom of the units with a door and self closing hinges.

And before Erik was even awake, I had printed of the instructions and planned our day out. I set off to Home Depot and had them cut all the wood out. I planned to make 2 of the units, which was probably best financially because they cut huge pieces of wood to get all the parts and so you either have a bunch of scrap wood on hand, or 2 units. All in all it costs me about $200 to make 2 units. I will break down all the costs later ( and add that info to the bottom of this blog) because that will vary for different people depending on what you have on hand and if you choose to add doors and hardware.

We did all of this inside as it was cold and nasty outside. Erik built them in the kitchen and I painted them in the living room.

It took him no time to build these, but it took me pretty much 2 full days of sanding, puttying and painting. That would be my biggest piece of advice for this whole project if you are considering it. The smoother your work surface, the easier it is to paint and the better it looks. I realized after my first coat that all of the seams of the wood needed some putty in order to have a nice finished look and no black cracks or gaps in the paint. Here is a pic of what I mean:

If you add putty in these crevices, then when you paint it is all just solid and perfect looking. Obviously it shows up much better since I was painting these white. If you are staining them dark then not such a big deal. I used a paint and primer in one in contractor white and used almost the whole gallon!

I also used this wood colored Elmer's wood putty. You can see below in the pic where i puttied and sanded over the screws so you can barely see them and it makes a smooth surface for painting.

It was super labor intensive but worth every bit of the work. They have changed the entire room and I love how easy it is to organize and clean now. We still need to add the cabinet doors to the bottom. I also need to purchase bins to go in some of the cubbies.

So here is the semi-finished product. I can't decide if we should add the doors on the bottom or just used pretty matching bins? I am looking for some now and will decided that soon and post new pics once it has been completed and styled!

Dear "People Who Wreck my Nerves"

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 02:04:00 +0000

Let it be said, I'm having a bad week for multiple reasons.. and I am irritable. If that's gonna annoy you, just skip this post.
My friend over at My Chiquaqua Bites does these post and they are HILARIOUS. ( Click here to read) so I am taking a page from her playbook and gonna get a few things off my chest:

Dear Walgreens Pharmacy Workers,
I know it sucks when customers come to your counter and you have to actually work, and break out of the circle of gossip and your red velvet cake to get my sick boy his medicine. I really hate that you can't get paid to eat your &^%#$ cake, but, if you ever make me stand in line waiting on a prescription that takes 5 minutes to fill and you have had hours but chose to eat cake and gossip instead, not to mention the crackhead ( literally) that is in line with me talking my head off while I wait on this medicine that should have been ready hours ago , I will straight crawl over that counter and JACK YOU UP. and incidentally that annoyed attitude you give when filling my order is unacceptable.
*realtalk*,
Mommabear

Dear Idiot who spilled coke all over my LV championship bag,

While I get that this is a total white girl problem, I am still gonna tell you that it was straight up RUDE that you kicked over your stupid coke in the first place, but when you saw it splash all over the outside and inside of my pretty handbag, you should have immediately leaned down and apologized. watching me cleaning up the sticky mess for 5 minutes and then throwing me a used napkin over my shoulder does NOT help. And while Im being all rude, let me tell you that those were not your seats and maybe you don't need to sit in the grown up section if you can not act like one.
Good day to you sir.,
Signed a girl who is serious about her handbags

Dear PayPal,
Get bent. I am SOOO irritated that you charged my business checking account TWICE for the same transaction, and then are taking 13 days days to clear up the mess which put me into overdraft without knowledge of the whole thing since I only wrote down one transaction. Saying stupid things in a nice sing song tone, DOES NOT change what you did or the mess that it caused. Don't you know I am knee deep in runny nose and diapers right now? I don't have time for your crap. I can not WAIT till someone else steps up to the online banking platform and wipes you off the map.

Dear Kris Humphries,
I know we are not peeps in real life, but I obsessively follow your ex-wife's family on TV so we will skip that little detail and just get straight to it. Dude, no one cares. Take your divorce and get on with it. You should never have married someone you barely knew, and no one buys that whole "she made you look like a jerk" on the show because guess what, you WERE a jerk. All the time. On every episode. I think you have some sort of complex about being in charge and all and that translated on TV as you being super insecure. It was a dumb idea and you had dolla signs in your eyes the whole time. We get it. Scott Disick should send you a thank you card though because you really improved his image!

Dear Mr. Temporary Post man,
I say temp. because you are not my regular super stellar postman. You are some rink dink lazy jerk bag who takes his route every now and then. I am just wondering, what exactly was in your job description if it was not to pick up and deliver mail? Seems fairly simple to me, so i struggle to understand why you are always bringing me someone else's mail and never take MY mail ? Perhaps you should consider a new career field.. .

Dear Germs,
Get. OUT. of our HOUSE. seriously. I know my boy is one heck of a specimen with his bulldozing ways and unending happiness but he can only handle so much in one week! Croup, then cough +snot + double ear infection? It is all very unfortunate. I have asked God to remove you and no doubt he will! Good day!

Our LOvE Story: Valentines special

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:52:00 +0000

FromMrstomoma is hosting a link up for Valentines about how you met your spouse! So here is our love story of those that don't know...

** Scrapbook photo from the night we met**

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

We had a hard time calculating that this year! We met on NYE 2003/2004 .. so I think that NYE makes it 8 years! The whole NYE thing makes it tricky.

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

We met at a New Years Eve party in Nashville. One of his frat brothers invited me to drive up from Alabama and I was terrified of going to a party several hours away when I only knew 1 person! My friend Linzy talked me in to it and it was a great time. Incidentally, that guy who invited me (D.O.) is responsible for Erik and I being together and then we returned the favor introducing him to my Kappa big sis and they got married too! Lots of people could be credited with our love story for various reasons but those are the bones of it!

3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry?

We got married exactly 2 years after we met so that means we have been married for 6 years now!

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding? If not, where would you like to get married? And will it be big or small?

We got married in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico . It was small and amazing. Just my parents, his parents and his 2 siblings were there. They played Rod Stewart as I walked down the aisle which was hilarious.

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

100%! I don't think we ever use real names, for anyone in this house. I call him "Bubbies" or "bubs" and he calls me "snuggles" or "bubbles". ( gag me I know. I had no idea how corny we are till I typed that out)

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

hmm well thats gonna be hard to put into words but I think first would be his sense of humor. My bubbies is one weird dude, and is very dramatic and funny and silly, and I think it keeps us young. I roll my eyes at him about 97% of the day, but I love every second of it (almost).

I love how thoughtful he is. That drew me in right away when we met because he did the sweetest most thoughtful little things for me always. and he still does them now, just not as often. BUt what is strange about that is the anticipation is fun and surprising. I never know when he is gonna celebrate a holiday, be romantic or if he is gonna ignore it. HA It is always a total surprise and generally a VERY good surprise when he does do something for them. In general i would just say he tries to and wants to make me happy, every day and I like that my happiness is important to him.

I could use my 3rd reason to tell y'all about what an awesome dad he is and how I love that about him, but thats just a given and too lame, since this is a survey about us and not peebs I will say my 3rd fav thing about bubbie cakes is that he enjoys my friends. I like that he knows all of my friends, and enjoys talking to them, hanging with them, and just in general shares those relationships with me and takes an interest in my interests.

7. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal?

He proposed to me on the beach at sunset and was so nervous he started speaking in tongues. It was very interesting/memorable!

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

None of the above really. He is more like Lillies from Fresh Market and hockey pucks. HA This will be the 1st year that we are not at a Hockey Game for Vday in several years.

** another scrapbook photo of the year he made me a pink cake HIMSELF!**

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

BOTH! I am currently dying for a beach get away! I wish we could just up and head to mexico right now and take peebs too!

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

ha wells this is for reals crazy but I think i would love for us to go over seas and do mission work as a family. Erik could use his medical skills and i had a heart for mission work and I think Peebs could learn lots of neat stuff.

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.

um.. i have not gotten that far in life yet. I am not a planner ahead type of girl. I know bubs is working and that is all I know. I did decorate the house for Vday and that counts for something because it sure is cute!

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

No, Cant say that I am. My bubs went all out for our anniversary so I think big gifts get to stretch far.

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

hmm. Hard to say just one thing. I think lots of things, but probably in our relationship our greatest asset is that we picked just the right person, meaning we both in our hearts are committed to us and working through whatever comes our way. We genuinely appreciate each other.

14. Show us a picture of what love means to you.

These 2 jokers right here:

( more old pics. I tried to dye my hair dark at some point when we were dating and it would NOT stick, so it would fade out and leave me with reddish hair.. ) Not one single person I knew liked my hair dark.

I have a good time, on a daily basis with my valentine and that is what counts. As I type this he is in the kitchen singing " The right stuff" by NKOTB. Keeping it real... and funny as usual.

FitBit : A Review and Informative

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:11:00 +0000

Have you guys heard of the fitbit? I remember hearing about them in like 2007 before they ever hit the market and I wanted one so badly.. then years go by and I forget about it. Well my mom and dad recently got them and have been taunting us with it. Now Erik, I and my aunt have all jumped on the band wagon. It is fun because we can compare our stats every day:

Mom: " It only took me 6 minutes to fall asleep last night"
Me: " Took me 8 minutes and I woke up 12 times!"

etc..
See it monitors your sleep! ( see pic below)

And it also monitors your activity which is super fun because I had no idea what a work out I was getting around this house, although I can sure feel it in my body every night when I am exhausted! I only wish it would allow me to notate that I do most of this with a 34lb weight in my arms!

Now that I have something count the stairs and reward me for climbing them one bajillion times a day, I don't mind them so much ..
Pre-FitBit " Awww man, I left my computer upstairs. Will you go get it bubs? PUHLEASE? Dang, I guess I will go get it."

Post Fitbit " I left my computer upstairs. Sweet, now I can log ANOTHER flight of stairs!" HA

** I may or may not be exxagerating that excitement for going up the stairs ***

Speech Therapy Appointment!

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:20:00 +0000

Today was our first appointment with the speech therapist for Peebs! It was for screening to see if he was indeed in need of speech therapy.
It all went really well. Right when she got here he clapped and got down and started moon walking for her. She thought that was hilarious.

She asked a lot of questions about his lack of shyness, which scared me some. She asked how he differentiates his behavior with us (parents) as opposed to say friends, family or strangers. That was kind of hard to answer. The only thing that came to mind is he shows out for other people, but not for us.

She played some games with him, like putting tape on the floor and asking him to walk on it in a straight line.

She asked him to look for objects in a picture.

She asked him to play cup stacking and she would hide things under the cup and move it to see if he followed the object.

She would give him commands and see if he followed them etc .

She asked me lots of questions about how he does this or that.

So in the end, she basically said that she thought he was 2 yrs old when she made the appointment. The doctors office told her his birthday was Feb 28, 2010 ( not July 28). When I told her that he was 1.5 then she more or less said she didn't need to come at all because he is not showing any abnormal signs for 18 months. She said some kids can do more and some less but that he was pretty average with his speech and communication.

She said if by 2 yrs old we were in the same place then to call her but she expects him to change alot between now and then. She showed me his scores ( pictured above) and said that he passed all screening areas except "adaptive behavior" and the reason he did not pass that was because:

he kicks his shoes off instead of undoing the velcro,

and that he does not eat with a utensil.

I told her that we rarely give him the chance because it is so messy and she said we need to start letting him try. She also said I need to start making him ask for things rather than catering to him. She said he def knows what is going on and that he has very high cognitive and social developments.

Translation: he is working his momma! He knows he can get what he wants by grunting etc so why should he do anything different?

I have to train myself to make him ask and communicate for things instead of anticipating his needs. Giving in is much easier and I am guilty of that!

This is more or less what I thought about his development all along, but it was good to hear my motherly instincts validated.

I asked her if my lack of teaching and drilling him was responsible for his lack of talking and she said no. Which was a relief.

We have never really discussed this on the blog I guess, but part of my parenting style is that I am against drilling small children or pressuring them into learning too much too fast. I feel like their childhood is so brief, and I want it to be fun and carefree, until school age comes around. I could go on and on about why I feel this way and give you some data, but I will just leave it at that and say no judgment to anyone who does it differently, that is just my own personal style.

Once this speech thing came around, I was concerned that my parenting style had effected his development but she assures me that it is not that, but more of a personality issue of my boy, where he is very relaxed and laid back about basically everything (but food).

So all is good! It was VERY interesting and I am glad we did it and I am relieved to know that he is indeed fine and normal and that I am not a terrible mother after all!

Tip Tuesday: Locking Screen Orientation

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:41:00 +0000

An oldie but a goodie! Most of you may know this already but for the new adapters, lets talk screen orientation!
If you are on your iPhone or iPad and you want to keep you screen locked to portrait view ( so it doesn't rotate when you are laying down to read Here is how:

Slide to unlock your screen

Double tap your home key which will bring up the dock

Slide your dock to the right and you should see this:

touch the very left button that shows the lock surrounded by a circle. That will lock and unlock your screen on the iPhone.

Also someone sent me this article about Steve Jobs if anyone is interested in reading it.
"10 Surprises we have learned about Steve Jobs".

Weekend Update and Some Randomosity!

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:47:00 +0000

The blog has been pretty lame lately and I apologize. I have been working a lot. So here are some updates in bullet point fashion :

Grizas, is doing well! I have updated my website with the new updates made to the ikid. I have had to get rid of 1 engineer ( who was a fellow AU alum and total disappointment) and 2 manufacturers in this process. It has been a nightmare trying to get it made but I feel like I may finally be on the right track and working with the right people.
Grizas is now on Amazon.com and will be on buy.com shortly. the way it works in retail is you need to prove yourself with good sales online before they give you floor space in the brick and mortar stores. HOWEVER. we are in talks with some very large retailers so I am super excited about all that but as always I feel like I can never tell y'all about any of it because it needs to be for real first.
I spent the entire day yesterday getting things tagged and ready for consignment sales. I LOVE consignment season and am excited about it, but am also starting to realize that the older they get, the less you have to consign and the less you need to buy so that takes some of the fun out of it.
I am caught up on MadMen and started watching Friday Night Lights on netflix. It is a really good show! I wish I had seen it before football season because maybe it will make me enjoy football more.

Yesterday was the first day my cubs has been off work in a while so he spent it with peebs and I did some chores. I also went to my guilty pleasure Goodwill and had a blast. I got several brand new LLBean Boat Totes. Most were monogrammed and just FYI you can rip out a monogram from those very easily in about 5 minutes with a seam ripper. I was recently telling someone about my trips to the Outlet and how it works and cracked myself up with how absolutely CRAZY I sounded! I am starting to learn how they work over there, and prime example would be yesterday. I scored about 20 printer cartridges. In the beginning when I started going there I did notice a girl going around with a ziplock bag ransacking printers for cartridges and thought it was odd, but assumed it was for her crack habit or something. Then last week my printer girl at Staples told me they buy used cartridges for $2! Well heck, I am already digging around may as well grab those too and so I did! ha

Last week I spent about 5 days in a haze convinced I was pregnant. I was late, which never happens! The first 24 hours of being late I was like, "cool" and started looking at maternity clothes online. The next day, I woke up and I was like AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. The novelty of being pregnant had worn off and I was terrified!! I started thinking of all the things I wanted to do and get done and how that would never happen. I also started eating sushi for every meal, as I knew that was about to be over! You never notice how much easier life gets with your toddler, until you relive in flash backs all the sleepless nights and so forth!

Anyway as I say, I was 5 days late, and so all is well now and I can relax. I have NO idea how I plan to get my other 2 children to this world, as much as I hate being pregnant.

and to make this even funnier, When Erik and I talk about this he says all he remembers is how much " I loved being pregnant" but all I remember is how bitter, mean and ANGRY I was. I was like on fire 24-7 and uncomfortable because of the extra 70+lbs.

Now how in the world can we have such different versions of what it was like? It's absurd.

SO I was pre-occupied in all of that dramaz, was running around doing all my fun interest projects because I just knew they would not last long if I was preggars, and blogging was on the back burner.

Hooray for a new week. Lets pray for some warm weather again so my boy can play outside. We are planning our new garden now!

Oh and Friday Night we had a birthday dinner for CB at City House and it was so fun and so good!

The Challenges of Feeding a Toddler

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:16:00 +0000

Lately, I feel like I have been letting a lot of things slide b/c of the Holidays... sickness.. whatever.
"Sure you can have fig newtons for dinner" sort of mentality. It is driving me nuts, but also paralyzing because I have no idea what to feed the little dude ( that he will eat).
If I feed him simple cooked and chopped veggies or fruits then he will learn to eat simply and be picky. If I give him tasty treats he will learn to eat diverse foods, that are unhealthy and too processed. .....
Finally what I decided I would do, is figure out what he likes to eat often, and make it myself in bulk and freeze it so that he can eat what he likes, and it will taste good/be heathy but also it would not be super labor intensive at each feeding.

Top of that list is Homemade Waffles and Veggie Tots. My boy loves a good waffle. I also have bought some of the Happy Babies veggie tots in the frozen food section at Publix. The week that I bought food like that for him at the grocery store my grocery bill was literally DOUBLE! Those things are over $6 a box! They also have a much longer ingredient list that I was expecting.

I found this video on youtube of this guy making them and it was pretty simple!
Recipe:

I shallow fried mine, which if I had it to do over again I would either break out my fryer or bake them because I had to turn them so much to even out the crispy on all sides.
I also probably would add a smudge of cheese, some spices and spinach on the next go round. The price difference is about 5:1. You could make 5 boxes worth for what one box cost in the store.

Baby Fenn is 18 months old!

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:50:00 +0000

Height : 34 inches (92.95%)

Weight: 33lbs 13 ounces ( 99.98 %)

Head : 19.88 inches (99.05%)

WOW! I can not believe my boy is closing in on 2 years old! Our Pedi warned us that "Terrible Twos" really start at 18 months and boy was he right! He seems pretty frustrated these days when he can not communicate his wishes ( and I am not catering to his every grunt so that he actually needs to talk) which can lead to the Mother of all Tantrums:

Generally the run down is : He wants something or I have taken something away from him that is inappropriate to play with ( i.e. nail polish) and he responds with a huge dramatic show of unhappiness that lasts about 20 seconds.
(MOST OF THE TIME. The video above was a clip from a 20 minute tantrum.)
I usually just lay him on his back in the floor ( because he thrashes around so, I don't want him to injure himself) and once he sees no one is paying attention he will either get up and go play, or he will run over and hurl his angry body in my lap.
Then I try not to laugh.

Clothes Size : His feet grow EVERY week. Now in size 8 shoe, which is a smidge big but I did that on purpose so he would wear them longer than 2 weeks. He can still wear some 2T stuff but most of it is getting too small. 3T Jammers, some 4T shirts but still 2T or 3T pants.

Milestones : Mostly he is just perfecting his previous skills. His little brain has changed a lot. for instance he used to thoughtfully work on puzzles or shape sorters and now he whizzes through them putting things in the correct place from memory without having to study each piece, each time. Crazy to see how easily he does those things now. He is not talking at all yet, just babbling still but he has started communicating his thoughts for instance going to his high chair and trying to climb into it when he wants to eat. Signing "more" when he wants more of anything, he uses that signal more in play than in food situations.

Baby Gear : Just the highchair and stroller really. He will still ride in the stroller without too much problem thank goodness because he is TOO heavy to carry around.

Toys : He is really enjoying books, and has started bringing them to us all throughout the day now instead of just art bedtime. This Fisher Price Car Track thingy, he is back into his incrediblock again, and some random little people villages I have on his train table. Still really enjoys his rocking chair and his grocery cart with all the plastic food in it.

Books

I am dying for some new books! Any suggestions? He still really likes the same ones the Dolly Pardon peeps send him but Momma is tired of reading the same stuff all the time. He loves lift the flap books and I only have one so would love any suggestions for that as well

Diaper Bag

I am pretty much down to just carrying diapers in my purse. Sometimes a snack and a sippy. I ordered a purse organizing insert from easy with zippy cup straps in it so I don't spill milk in my good handbag.

Eating

This is a crazy topic, daily. Sometimes he eats great, sometimes not at all. Sometimes he eats table food, and sometimes he eats mash. He will eat ethnic food which I am proud of, but I worry that he has TOO MUCH dairy in his diet. I don't offer juice because it is too sweet and filling. Since every day is different, I am not sweating this stage too much. It does hurt my feelings that his once perfect diet has been tarnished, but we can get back on track when he is older and can communicate better. For now, we are just getting by with what we can, when we can.

Sleeping

FINALLY the boy has started sleeping later. I honestly can not tell you if he is sleeping better/more, of if the fact that Erik and I have started using a sound machine in OUR room. ha Either way he is going down at 7-7:30 and waking up at 8 usually! The last 2 days he did start night crying again, which involves me going in there and rocking him, partly cause he sounds so sad, and partly because I just wanna snuggle him! I really wish I owned a recliner for these moments because my back is killing me holding him like that sitting straight up.

Teeth

I think his last little teeth are coming in now. He has been drooling and the runny nose started and small fevers. Sherry our babysitter said they were swollen so maybe they will break through soon. The doctor said today that he does have more teeth than most kids his age ( I get LOTS of commentary about him having a mouth full of teeth).

Diapers

Still size 5 and still in disposable right now . We just started using the cloth again. They are a little tight but seem to be working out. Glad to be back because I was feeling so guilty about that.

Discipline

My biggest challenge right now is just mastering the fits. They don't last long normally, but he is SO persistent when he wants something. After telling him no 45 times I will move the object of his desire. That is generally our only issue. He wants to play with things that are off limits, like kleenex, wipes, nail polish, my computer , my coffee.

Talking:
Still not talking with real words, just babbling or sign language. He communicates quite effectively so I usually know what he wants or means, but most kids his age can say quite a few words.
The doctor yesterday said he wants us to work with a speech therapist and somehow this is a government funded deal ? Anyway I am all for it because I too, would like him to start talking.
My first reaction when he mentioned it was to assume he thought something was wrong developmentally which made me feel kind of defensive, so I just straight out asked him that and he said, Peebs does all the things he is supposed to in other areas so nothing is wrong. Speech therapy is just to help him hurry up and talk. He did the same with his son who was not talking at age 2. That relaxed me a little , and then i realized that it is gonna be good for him regardless to have a trained professional teaching him so I am kind of excited about it now, and also very curious if it will actually help, since my feeling is his stubbornness is the issue.

Below are some pics from the 18 Month Pedi appointment. AS you can see he no longer enjoys them all the way through. He goes NUTS if anyone tries to hold him down for anything at anytime. When I change his diaper we have to sing "twinkle twinkle" in order to get him to stay still and not try to kick my face off! ha So each time they needed him to lie down at the doc's office he went BANANAS. You have never heard anything so loud.

He was about to kung fu her boob in this pic:

*** Gonna start adding a new section to these updates***

Goals:

Over the next month we will work on his talking, however I feel like that is just gonna happen when HE is ready.
I also need to work in making him feed himself. He can and will do it, but if you want to insure a well eaten meal of all the right stuff, then we have to feed him his bites. Otherwise he may sprinkle some on the floor, feed ralphie etc. but it would be so nice for me if he could use a spoon and feed himself while I am doing other things. When did your kids start feeding themselves with a spoon or fork?

Iphone App Review: HeyTell

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:41:00 +0000

So I am WAYYYYY Behind on the HeyTell Train. I know all my tweeps are deep into HeyTell... so here I am late to the party but I have to say I love it!

So what is HeyTell? It is an app that allows you to talk like a walkie talkie.. Same concept as texting but you are using your voice. It is super convenient when driving or trying to say ALOT in a short time.

You need to change your privacy settings to LOW if you want people to be able to add you.

Also it is a FREE app with no extra usage charges incurred. You can purchase extra features if you wish (shown above).

Erik and I use it all the time just to communicate when he is downstairs and I am upstairs with the boy!

Pinterest Projects In The Works..

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:07:00 +0000

I have been a busy bee lately with a few craft projects in the works!

First up is recovering some pillows for the playroom. My girlfriend CB found me 2 really cute fabrics that work well with my color scheme at The Fabric House in Nashville. (great fabrics, RUDE employees.. ) so I went and bought 1.5 yards of each to cover 4 Euro Pillows. I inquired about them making the shams, because lets face it, I am a basic sewer ( at best). Can you believe that they charge $125 minimum for labor on each pillow? That is $500 in labor for my 4 pillows!! I all of a sudden became much more motivated to make them myself.
Since being a mom, my free time is at a minimum and I always try to weigh out the benefits of paying someone else to do the handwork on projects like this, but this time it was totally worth it for me to give it a go.
I have a basic sewing machine that I bought at Target for $87 about 2 years ago. That sewing machine has paid for itself many times over ! All in all it cost me about $10 for the labor since I already had the sewing machine, I had to buy some zippers at $2.50 each
They are not professional quality by any stretch of the imagination, but they get the job done and I can remove them for washing which is imperative in all playroom linens!

Next up is this little Valentine Garland I saw on pinterest. I saw a similar one in Pier One for $12 for every 6 ft.

I spent about $6 on supplies and got about 2 strands from that.

Felt sheets .38 each
Crayola Clay $3.99 a pack ( makes about 60 balls) I substituted this for the felted balls shown in the tutorial because I could not find those anywhere!
Yarn

The tutorial was in Chinese, but thankfully the pictures spoke for themselves. Here is what I can tell you from my experience:

You can fold the felt horizontal for small hearts(8) or vertical for big hearts(6) per sheet.
It takes about 1 minute ( literally) for the sewing portion per sheet. SUPER easy.
In the end I think it would be worthwhile to just buy one. I think it turned out better than I expected but the string is so thin that strings it all together I imagine it will be a tangled mess when I pack it up

And I have been making lots of pinterest recipes lately. I normally hate to cook, but it is much easier to do when I know WHAT to cook. Pinterest has really helped me meal plan too.

Chicken Roll Ups ( This recipe needs tweaking.. too bland)
Tomato and Corn Pie ( delish and easier than it looks)
Hummus Melts ( I LOVED these. Erik notsomuch.)

Grizas Update!

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:05:00 +0000

Sorry I have been so lame lately! I guess just been busy.

Peebs has been a full time job lately. The other day I left the room to heat my dinner up for 30 seconds and in that time he stole a bottle of nail polish, bust it open and painted himself, the door, curtains and floor with it. ( t was totally awesome if you were wondering) so... that is just an example of how he is looking for opportunities to be devious! SO momma has to keep her eye on him!

I have also been organizing. You know how January is the month for that!I have piles of stuff EVERYWHERE and I really need to deal with them.

I have been trying lots of interest projects lately. Funny how almost 1.5 years later ( post peebs birth) I am finally kind of finding myself again, and hobbies and interests that don't completely revolve around him. Gonna post pics of those soon.
Here is a link to my Pin Board of "Projects I have tried" and I leave comments on if they worked or not or if the recipe was any good etc:

http://pinterest.com/lg2006/pinterest-projects-i-ve-completed/

Bubs has been working a lot lately. We are super behind on all our shows cause we have a rule about watching them without each other. He gets a video game every Christmas and plays it until he beats it. So that is what he has been doing in his free time, and I watch Mad Men on Netflix while he plays. Let me say I am OBSESSED with Mad Men. It took me forever to get into it but dang... its so DEEP. And I LOVE the 60's!

I am having LOTS of issues with my back lately. I think its Peebs related. Last weigh in he was over 33lbs and that is a lot to lift and move around all the time. Carry up stairs etc... It feels muscular so I am not sure what to do? Massage? Chiropractor? I mean other than back strengthening exercises... what can I do?

Still using the Clarisonic. Wanna give it a week or 2 before I write my review!

Tip Tuesday : Managing iCloud

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:50:00 +0000

I have been getting lots of chatter about iCloud and lots of questions. To be honest, I still have not spent to time to educate myself on it either, but maybe I can shed some light on a few things for you guys.

What is iCloud?

iCloud will back up your entire device; your messages, call logs, contacts, photos, calendars, and notes all will be backed up. And certain apps like Pages, Keynote and Numbers,... iCloud can also make a backup of those documents. As for the apps, iCloud will not backup the app but its data, and when you restore from your backup, the apps will be downloaded from the App Store.

How Can I Adjust my iCloud settings?
Settings>iCloud> and adjust the tickers to what you want to back up.

Why do I keep getting these annoying messages about not enough storage in my cloud?
Likely you have checked every box on your phone to back up to iCloud and are not backing up to your computer so you used your 5 Free Gigs up quickly! If you have IMAP email like gmail or yahoo, no need to back up your email to the cloud. Same for your calendar.

** Also I have not confirmed but I did hear that iCloud has been running up the data plan for some people by constantly backing up so be aware that could happen**

HomeMade Cleaning Recipes Printable

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:47:00 +0000

Still trying my hand at making printables .. and am getting better at the function part but the stylizing is still a struggle! Oh well... at least it's practical !
These are a few natural cleaner recipes I pulled from pinterest. I just typed them up on one sheet for convenience and so I could keep in my home organization binder.

**Note: That detergent recipe is safe for cloth diapers***

**CLICK HERE if you want to download this printable**

Pin It

iPhone App Review: Jo-Ann's Craft Store Coupon Clipper

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:03:00 +0000

I LOVE apps that allow you to carry coupons on them so that I don't have to clip them and carry them around. It NEVER fails that I leave them at home when I go to shop.
Jo-Ann's Craft store is all over the place so I am sure most of you know about it. I do not LOVE the store but I do go there on occasion for various things and am so stoked that I can just pull up coupons while shopping.
It is a FREE app download in iTunes. CLICK HERE to download\

Click on Coupons:

and clip them to your virtual wallet if you want to use them.

Shop online if you want too!

Tip Tuesday: Closing Open Apps

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:31:00 +0000

Tip Tuesday is back with a tip that works on both iPhones and iPads. If you have an app that won't work, crashes etc then this trick will likely solve your issues! It is important to close apps as often as you can remember to do it! Think about how slow your computer runs when you have 55 applications running... same concept.

Beauty Products Review and Buzz..

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:59:00 +0000

In the last few years I have really let myself go. I rarely dress up anymore and ~~showering~~ makeup is more for special occasions! In 2012 I am planning to change that. I miss the days of wearing trendy clothes and cute pictures that are the result of social interaction and not indulgent shots in the bathroom mirror before heading to Target.
My girl over at Sephora Junkie linked to a girl on you tube who does make up tutorial videos. She has very bad acne and has learned how to do movie star make up to hide that. Its fascinating. Through watching her videos, I realized how very little I know about proper make up application and face care.
Watch HER it will blow you away!
Sooo I have been making a solid effort to get dressed every day and wear make up , AND wash my face every night. I know .. i know.. Gross but I hate washing my face before bed.

So here are some things I have tried and loved!

Cover Girl Aqua Smoothers Foundation.
At my age, foundation is a must. I have ben using Bobbi Brown, but this youtuber girl explains that CG Aqua smoothers is water soluable. So easier to get off at the end of the day blah blah. She suggests buying 3 colors in your range to see what works best for you. I just bought one and it matched well and really works well. I am very happy with it ( and the price compared to Bobbi Brown).

I have loved Nail Polish for years and do my own mani/pedis except for when I was pregnant , and about maybe 4 times a year when I get a groupon or something. I recently bought some stuff at Ulta that I love. I am mostly an OPI girl but I do not like their base coat or top coat.
I love this Cuticle Cream from Ulta

Seche Clear Base Coat

and with my Christmas Money ( thank you Santa) I finally pulled the trigger on the Clarisonic! I have heard you guys raving about that thing for 2 years, and after the review on GMA this week from an anchor, I am sold. I can't wait to get it and tell you guys what I think about it. Who has one? Thoughts?

My SIL has had eyelash extensions for quite some time, and I am BEYOND envious. They look SO amazing! I think it would be hard for me to sit still that long, and cough up the cash, or commit to the maintenance but I am not nixing the idea yet, because they really do look AMAZING. I'll let y'all know if it ever happens!

Music and NYE

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 03:01:00 +0000

Before peebs I had quite a bit of music reviews and concert posts, and even though I have not posted much to that lately, we are still loving music and going to shows ( when we can). I have large dreams of a nekkid hippie peebs running through the grass at an outdoor music festival ( bonaroo?) HA
So for New Years ( also our anniversary) Erik and I joined our good Buddies from Florida ( Linzy and Adam) in Chattanooga and Greenville, SC to see the Avett Brothers back to back nights.

I REALLY love the Avett Brothers. They are super talented, lyrically and musically. Passionate performers, and all around good Christian dudes/daddies/husbands. It is a really refreshing music scene. One of their concerts I went to they had their mom and wives and kids on the side of the stage jammin in those big headphones to protect their ears and it was SO cute.

They have some really moving songs, and one of my fav's is called " Murder in the City" in which he talks about if he gets murdered, or dies, what he wants his family to think and feel and it makes me cry every time I hear it.

I really can't imagine the pride their mother must feel when she sees them making such beautiful music. Every now and then their sister Bonnie will join them on stage. SO awesome.

So basically I love them and put them up on my super fav lists with The Indigo Girls, Death Cab for Cutie, Jason Mraz, R.Kelly and Usher.

So speaking of my random music tastes.. Here are some downloads from 2011 I hope you didn't miss:

Paramour - The only Exception ( beautiful song)
Adele - Someone Like You
Tpain & Lily Allen - 5 O'Clock ( good beat, hilarious lyrics like "waitin on me naked with one of my gold chains on)
Drake - Headlines
Little Wayne - She Will
Jason Mraz - I won't give up ( so sad about his break up with Tristan Prettyman, but dang he needs to get off the Reefer so he can live in this universe)
Audio Push - Teach me How to Jerk
Thompson Square - You gonna kiss me or not

A Collection of Random Thoughts...

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:49:00 +0000

I recently learned about these Kids Shoes from a company called Livie and Luca. They are kind of Euro-Baby style and soft leather. I ordered peebs a pair and I ADORE them. So if you have never heard of them you should totally check them out.

Erik and I both got money for Christmas this year so I ordered a few things ( like the shoes above) and I also took a risk of ordering custom made blue jeans from a neat website called INDI Custom. I was pretty skeptical but had to try it because I do always have trouble with jeans. This website allows you to create a jean that solves all your current fitting problems like length, rise, how the pockets look and where they hit you on the butt, color fabric, stitching ..

My jeans came in while we were away and they look pretty awesome! I made the front rise too high so they look like mom jeans at the top, and thankfully INDI guarantees satisfaction so you can return for free and have that fixed. Once you create your perfect fit it is all saved on the site so you can reorder easily or create new styles. I will post better pictures of the new jeans once they come in so you can get an idea of the look. I would recommend this service though.

Next up, we got the SONY NEX 3 , which is a new camera that is combining the world of point and shoot with SLR. SO many of you are like camera geniuses and enjoy that stuff. I am not that lady. I got very frustrated( with our SLR) and am just too busy right now to invest the time to learn my way around that thing. Enter then NEX which I think takes awesome pictures and talks in easy to understand lingo like "click here to blur the background" "click here to create warmer tones" . it is also much smaller than my SLR so I am very pleased with the purchase. You can judge for yourself by the pictures I will be posting on the blog in the future.

TV SHOWS
I downloaded the 1st Season of PanAm FREE in iTunes over the holidays and watched it while we traveled, and fell in love. It is a great show. I love that period of time and am glad that MAD MEN and PANAM are finally writing shows about it. I also started watching Mad Men. It is very interesting. Not sure that I can say I love it like the cult following it has.
Still obsessed with all things Kardashian. No shame either. I just like them and find them so interesting and I ain't mad at Kim for divorcing that dirt bag.
Also loving RHWBH. Its my fav of all those shows and I was just talking to JessiPetti about how last season I hated Camille , and now I love her and think Taylor is a wackjob.
Glad Parenthood is starting back up too! I LOVE TV! ha

My boy no longer wants to eat! It is the strangest thing! He will show very little interest in food most of the time. Sometimes (most times) he will have a MELTDOWN when we put him in the high chair. If he didn't have lots of food stored up in that 25" belly I might be worried about the food strike. Our babysitter and pedi both assure us this is typical Toddler behavior. In the meantime I am about to start reading this book:

"My 2 Yr Old Eats Octopus "

Recommended by @HappyHolders and @beachbumandbaby ! It is about how Americans "dumb down" our children's palette by feeding them simple and bland foods so that when they get older they only want Chicken fingers and fries. So this book is supposed to teach me how to expand his palette so he can appreciate tasty foods. I am super guilty of giving him simple foods so I will be relieved to have some instructions and suggestions on this. Y'all know about my food hoodoo.

You can buy paper version or download it to your Kindle or Kindle App on the Ipad.

Tip Tuesday : How to Add Emojicons to Your ios Keyboard

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:28:00 +0000

You know those fun little smiley faces and what not? Well you can add them to your iphone /ipad easily.

First Step: Go to Settings and click on "General"

Step 2: Click on Keyboard

Step 3: Click on International ( emojicons are considered an International keyboard)

Step 4: Click on "Add new Keyboard" and Scroll through all the languages to the E's and click on Emoji. Once it has been added it will show up in your list like you see below.

Then anytime you are in a screen to type you will see the keyboard has a Globe on it next to the space bar. When you touch the Globe it will bring up the emoji keyboard.

and then you will see options like below. The tabs at the bottom are extra pages (by category) with more Emoji.

Done!! Enjoy your new smileys etc!

Chloe's 2nd Birthday Party!

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:59:00 +0000

Cousin Chloe turned 2 on December 28th and she had her party yesterday at The Monkey's Treehouse in Cool Springs. It is one of those cool indoor playground places and the kids all had a BLAST.

Peebs was very interested in Shauna's mother and Marti G and was trying his best to entertain them. ( He is looking at them in this picture to make sure they saw him come down the slide, and provide appropriate attention and applause)

Cute party room!

The cake looks just like the invitation:

The Birthday girl. She blew out the candles and let everyone sing to her and opened her presents with great glee! She was the perfect birthday girl!

and this little joker was exhausted! He slept for about 2.5 hours after the party!

I have a feeling we will be going to the Treehouse many more times this winter as it is too cold to play outside!

Nashville is full of places like this :
Inside Out Play Park
Gymboree Play and Music
Monkey Joe's
Shipwrecked Playhouse
The Fun and Party Zone

Happy Birthday Cousin Chloe-Bell!