Mommy Must Haves: January Favorites

January is half-way over. Crazy! I've been super busy. Doing things like wiping snot, cleaning R's behind (at least it's a pretty cute behind), and slamming back peanut butter M&Ms. Just keeping the dream alive. Oh, and also working at my real job and doing some of my "own work." Most recently, I've done a few party invitations and some birthday banners for friends. I'm always adding things to my Etsy shop too, although I have not listed invitations on there just yet. I'm still trying to decide if I want to have to deal with the general population concerning invitations...Kidding! I'm sure most of you are the nicest people ever. In all seriousness, I really have conversed with some of the NICEST people on Etsy. It's a great little community of shoppers. Do let me know if you have something coming up and have paper needs. I can usually accommodate a quick turnaround. Seems like it's how I work best!

On to my January must-haves! This list came to me really easily this month, I even have a few things I'm saving for February...

Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs- OK so I am not tan. That's actually putting it mildly. I'm the opposite. I am pale. Snowflake-ish if you will. What's not fun for the snowflake girls is wearing a short skirt with no tights in January. Unless you have Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs. My girl Sally does it again with this awesome product. Just spray a little of this in your hand, then rub it onto your leg. Repeat until you aren't as snowflake-ish. You aren't going to look like you just returned from Barbados, but you will, however, have a nice glow a shade or two darker than you really are. I use the lightest version they make (light glow for fair skin tones) so as not to look spray-tanned orange. Remember mystic tan? If you aren't as pale as me, knock yourself out with Sally's medium or tan glows.

PJ Salvage Flannel Pajamas- Who doesn't love flannel? Sexy, right? I don't care. I am obsessing lately. I still can't get enough of my favorite Land's End flannel shirts and now I'm loving these PJs. Flannel feels so right on a cold January night. This brand has tons of cute patterns and their jammies are oh-so-soft.

eos Lip Balm- Nothing like the dead of winter to bring out the best in your lips. I am a lip balm addict and this is the best lip balm ever. There are tons of fun flavors and my current favorite is strawberry sorbet. It's sitting on my nightstand as we speak. I may or may not apply it 500 times before bed. The containers are cute little spheres with tops that twist on and off.

Essie nail polish in "Penny Talk"- I am still continuing my venture exploring new nail polish colors. I have been testing out lots of metallic shades lately and this is my hands-down favorite so far. It's a coppery-gold shade, and it doesn't have a streaky look like lots of metallic polishes do after being applied. And guess what the best thing about it is? It gets the job done in ONE coat. HOLLA. Ain't nobody got time for three coats of polish plus dry time. Not people with kids who need butt-wiping anyway.

Hope your January is spectacular in every way!

Baby Must Haves: Month Ten

Ten months have flown by since little R joined the Lombardi party. I'm already planning the big first birthday. Crazy. Here are our ten-month baby must haves!

Fisher Price Walker Toys - These are a blessing and a curse. Robby LOVES it. It is a total trip for me to see him walking with it. He kind of looks like a slow 85-year-old man cruising with his walker. Where did my baby go? I feel like he'll be moving out tomorrow....or worse, bringing home a girlfriend.....NOOOOOOO! Anyway, the only minor problem is this walker does increase the bruise rate going on at our house. Sometimes R gets a little industrious and starts running behind this thing which usually ends in a fall. I still think it's a must have! #anythingtobuymetenminutes

Aden and Anais Sleep Sacks - I love the idea of Robby cuddling up under blankets and having a peaceful night's sleep. However, he moves allllll over the place in his crib and blankets would never stay on him. Sleep sacks stay in place and keep him snug as a bug til morning (which is hopefully post 6:00 am). We tried to go without the sleep sack altogether and just put him down in footed jammies but he started waking up at 5:00 am.....I researched this on google (duh), and there is a little phenomenon known as a "temperature drop" around 4 am, causing some babies to wake up cold. Back to the sleep sack and more sleep. Yay!

Tommee Tippee Rubber Bibs - I love everything about these. It's so nice to be able to just throw them in the sink and rinse them off. Ten-month olds make a HUGE mess when they eat. Like ENORMOUS mess. This whole learning to self-feed thing is kinda painful for me to watch....lots of food ends up NOT being eaten. Actually, is he even eating at all? His belly certainly says so. These bibs have little pouches on them that catch lots of the falling food, which helps with clean-up. You can always find them on Amazon, and usually at Target.

Keter Baby Bath Tub Ring Seat - Robby is totally cray in the tub. (I know I just said "cray" and that I am over 30 and apparently should not use that word anymore according to an article on facebook but I really want to). If we did not have this tub seat, I am not sure how in the world we would give him a bath....It contains him and forces him to be somewhat still so we can clean him. And he really needs his bath these days so thank goodness for this. Boys are messy.

Ten months is a fun age. But it's very busy, I tell you. Robby's new favorite foods include tiny pieces of ham, turkey, and cheese. And don't get me started on Cheerios. The kid loves carbs and I think if I let him, he would only eat Cheerios. He is refusing to let me feed him with a spoon a lot of the time. He wants to do it himself now....Oy. Let's hope he remembers that mommy is in charge. I somehow feel that we are already in a losing battle on this...

Robby loves anything that makes noise. The more obnoxious the better. Favorite games are beating on anything and everything while screaming about it, licking the dishwasher, and hoarding kitchen utensils and tupperware with the rest of his toys. I had been wondering where my favorite spatula was....in the toy box, duh.

Happy Thursday everyone!

Our Christmas...and an Apple Dumpling Recipe!

We had so much fun over the Holidays this year. I had more fun watching Robby rip up the wrapping paper on his gifts than I did opening any of mine. Here's a little photo montage of how we spent Christmas!

It's safe to say we had a great time. We must have had too much fun and too little sleep though because shortly after Christmas, all three of us came down with 10-day long colds. Hello, DayQuil Severe. Hello, snotty Robby waking up at 5 am. Goodbye, my old friend sleep. Fun times! Hope your Holiday was filled with wellness!

Here is the Apple Dumpling recipe I made on Christmas Day. One of the ingredients may surprise you, but I guarantee you that it is DELICIOUS. You would never guess what's in there!

Apple Dumplings

4 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced into wedges *Each apple should make 8 wedges

2 cans Crescent rolls *Have you noticed I love crescent rolls?

2 sticks butter, melted

1 1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 1/4 cup Mountain Dew *I KNOW....but just try it. You won't be sorry, I promise!

• Preheat oven to 350. Unroll crescent rolls and separate into triangles. 
• Place two apple wedges on each triangle and roll to enclose the apples. Place in a greased 9x13 pan.
• Mix butter, sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the rolls. 
• Add the Mountain Dew to the pan. 
• Bake for 40 minutes. Smell the goodness as it bakes.
• Serve warm with vanilla bean ice cream. Try not to eat the whole pan in one sitting....it's really hard.