Mommy Must Haves: April Edition

How is it April? And why do I begin every post with a question concerning the passing of time?

Anyway, this month snuck up on me but fear not - I have plenty of must haves to make your April a spectacular one.

Lindsay Phillips Ballet Flats - I am lusting over the adorable colors and patterns (Did you see the seersucker?!) Lindsay has going on with her shoes this spring. I discovered these flats in a boutique in the shopping mecca of Waco about four years ago. If you want these shoes and Waco isn't a part of your upcoming travels (and WHY wouldn't it be with the scenic beauty of that section of I-35?), you can find them online. One fun thing about these shoes is that you can switch out the detail on the front to make it look like you have a few pairs. They just snap right on and off and are interchangeable. How smart is that? Just think, you are saving money when you buy this shoe because it's really more than one pair. #winning #shoppinglogic #itcanalwaysbejustified And P.S. - they are SO comfy. I just ordered a metallic gold pair off of her web site. Amazon has some, but not all colors and styles. Check out her site to see them all. Aren't ballet flats so perfect for spring? Plus they're buying me some time on my desperate need to get back to regular pedicures. #coverthosetoes

Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss - I've been using this lip gloss for quite some time now. It is VERY similar to Chanel Glossimer but soooo much cheaper. You can go buy wine with the money you save. Yay! Sometimes "cheaper" equals "not as good," but that is not the case here. I actually like these glosses better! My latest fave color is Pink Pop. It looks super bright in the tube but goes on lighter. Rumor has it that this is the lip gloss Blair Waldorf is seen wearing in Gossip Girl.

Jergen's Natural Glow "Three Days to Glow" Moisturizer - *This was formerly called Jergen's Natural Glow Express. OK I love this stuff. Spring always brings out my need to sport sun-kissed skin. I am super crazy about wearing sunscreen and don't want to lay in the sun too much to get color. No thanks, skin cancer! This product helps take me from snowflake status to sun-kissed in no time. It just gives you a healthy glow and works faster than the regular Jergen's Natural Glow lotion. I find that I don't actually need to use it three days in a row to get the results I want. Which is great if you are lazy don't have time to apply it every night. One application is usually enough depending on how much color you want. I apply it at night and sleep in it. They have drastically reduced the "fake tan lotion smell" but I still like to wash it off in the morning. To maintain color, you can use the regular Jergen's Natural Glow after you use the three day version. I definitely don't use this religiously but it is nice when you have an event coming up and want to look a little bronzed.

Biscoff European Cookie Spread - Ummmmm, OK....why am I just now discovering this? NOT helpful to the summer bikini diet but oh so delicious. When I'm craving something sweet, I eat this on apples, crackers - well, just about anything. If you like Nutella, you will probably be a fan of this. Those Europeans sure know what they are doing!

Happy Hump Day, y'all!

And before I go, I leave you with a photo of Mr. R. This is what happens when you forgot to send extra clothes to school. Your son dons capris on a 40 degree day. How he fit into size 6-month pants when he wears size 18-24 month, I'll never know. Lesson learned on making sure we are stocked with extra clothes at school. Lesson also learned on sending raspberries in R's lunch.....

Robby's First Birthday: Party Animal Style

Mr. Robby turned ONE on March 9! I had so much fun planning all the little details of his party and wanted to share. We went with a "party animals" theme because of his love for all things animal related. It was a perfect day minus the cool, rainy weather. Nothing like having to improvise with a mostly indoor party at the last minute. We made the best of having to be inside and still had fun despite everyone being squished into our living room.

The first thing I did when planning the party was design the invitation. Shameless Plug: If you are in need of invitations/paper products, please let me know! I offer a variety of printables (meaning I design and you print yourself) on Etsy or you can contact me via email for design and printing.

I used a Dr. Seuss birthday book as the sign-in for guests. I think it will be fun for Robby to look back at this book when he is older and see all the messages people wrote him on his first birthday!

I made a coordinating banner and tent cards to match our theme. I just know that when you look at that tissue paper tassel garland, you can see how much I love my child. Oh the debacle that making tissue paper tassels is...for me anyway. Next time, I am totally buying one from this darling shop on Etsy. My tassel making was a total comedy of errors that finally came together at the last minute. At least Robby knows I love him. Fun times burning the midnight oil with the paper cutter!

We kept the food easy. Who doesn't love Chick-fil-a, and ham and turkey sandwiches? I ordered cupcakes from the most delicious baker in town, Leah's Sweet Treats, and made these adorable cupcake toppers. If you want some featuring your own little one (or big one), you can get them here in my Etsy shop. I think these would be hilarious at a 30th or 40th birthday. You're never too old for a party hat! I even made a large one and attached it to the balloon wreath I made for the front door. Want to make a balloon wreath? Tutorial here. Before you start this little project make sure you have all your supplies ready. One of the supplies you are going to need is a bottle of wine. Plus one bag of birthday cake m&m's. And possibly a Dairy Queen blizzard.

My mom, who is a fabulous cook and baker, made Robby's smash cake!

 We had a Bloody Mary and Mimosa bar for the adult guests. Obviously.

I made a ball pit using an inflatable pool and balls I ordered on Amazon. The kids loved it! I'm excited to keep this around for play dates and times when I really need Robby to give me a couple minutes to myself. Ball pits make great babysitters in case you didn't know.

We set up a corner for photos and I hired a local high-schooler to take pictures. I wanted to be able to enjoy the day and not worry about lugging my camera around. I was so lucky to find this photographer through a friend who also used her at her son's first birthday. I think she did a great job. (You're looking at her pictures).

I found some adorable animal books on Amazon that we gave as favors. I printed out little thank you cards that matched the food tent cards and invitations and tied them around the books with ribbon.

I can't believe my little man is one. I'm already thinking about his next party! Cray-zee, I know. I can't help it. I just love parties. Especially celebrating babies. Is there a support group for party supply lovers? Because I need to go.

I hope you are partying somewhere on this Hump Day Eve! We're partying tonight by eating FRIED.chicken. I know. Who eats fried food anymore? Well, we do!

Month Twelve: Baby Must Haves...and Thoughts on the Past Year

A year has come and gone. HOW? I feel like it was just yesterday that I was awake all hours of the night, walking around like Quasimoto post c-section, downing hydrocodone every four six hours, and changing my PJs three times a night because of "night sweats" that NO ONE told me about. Ah, fond, magical memories. Don't worry, friends. I am now sure to share my extensive night sweat knowledge with you before your next labor and delivery. You really need to know. Knowledge is power.

Those first few months were truly the best and worst experience of my life so far. We had NO.CLUE. how much having a baby would change our lives. You think about it and imagine it but until you are living it, you just have no idea. But, it.is.so.fun. Lots of people talk about bringing home a baby...they say things like, "OHHHH, you're in for it." Or how about, "See you in eighteen years!" And then there's my favorite, "Was this planned?" People can sound very cynical about the whole thing (including me at times). But you have to look at the wonder in it all. It is a complete trip to look at this little person who came out of you. It blows my mind. And the major plus is that I will have someone to take care of me when I'm 90. The hubs might have kicked the bucket by then, so this is good.

We have survived the first year! Yes, it rocked our world. However, I cannot imagine not having this little guy in my life. I am not really sure what we did before he got here. Oh yeah, sleep. There have been many highs and lows, but one thing is for sure - he keeps us laughing and he keeps us wanting to be better people. I love him to the moon and back. People told me you can't prepare yourself for the kind of love you have for a child and it's true. It's so much bigger than I imagined. I fully felt the depth of this love once I was getting a straight six hours of sleep every night again. *Disclaimer: I know I mention sleep a lot, but me with not much sleep = a totally hormonal, bat sh*t cray girl who is not fun. Like not fun at all. I won't get into specifics. But I will tell you there's lots of crying involved.

Without further ado, here are our month twelve baby must haves! Some of these have actually been "must haves" since month 10 or so... Can I even call these "baby" must haves anymore??? Where'd my baby go???? Whah!

• Kitchen Utensils - whisks, spatulas, you name it. This is Robby's obsession. He can be screaming bloody murder and I hand him a whisk and it's like the baby whisperer entered our home. Thanks whisk! Sometimes you can find random plastic kitchen utensils in the Dollar Spot at Target - I scoop up a few when I see them and stick them in R's toy box.
• Goodnight Moon board book - We have read this book to Robby every night at bedtime for a long time. I throw in other books too and Robby gets pretty irritated that we aren't reading Goodnight Moon. It's funny how babies really do fall into whatever routine you teach them. Thankfully, he only does this at bedtime so I don't have to read Goodnight Moon ALL day long. It only takes a few times through to memorize the words. The 107th time reading it gets monotonous. Maybe he'll have a new favorite soon. Maybe I'll write a sequel!
• Johnson's Hand & Face Wipes - These are just the best. Babies are messy. Especially when they start feeding themselves. These wipes smell so good and according to the package, remove 95% of dirt and germs. I'll buy anything that says it removes germs. I stash packages of these everywhere so they're always on hand. In the car, in my purse, in the junk drawer in the kitchen, and so on. R recently started thinking it's funny to pick his nose (just lovely) and these wipes really come in handy.
• Munchkin Mighty Grip Flip Straw Cup - We still aren't fully transitioned from the bottle just yet but this is one of the straw cups that R will drink out of. Not too hard to put together and dishwasher safe, cause y'all know I don't hand wash stuff in the sink. Ain't nobody got time for that! 
• Stride Rite Shoes - R took his first independent steps at 10 1/2 months and crawling was quickly history. These little shoes are perfect for new walkers. I finally realized that Robby was falling all the time at home because he was walking around in socks on concrete and wood floors (genius discovery) - so I got these shoes and he loves them. I can tell when I put them on him that he feels so dapper. I also ordered a pair of New Balance gray tennis shoes but they are a tad too big so we won't get to wear them for a bit. I'll get back to ya on those.
• IKEA MULA Bead Roller Coaster toy - This toy is fabulous because it holds Robby's attention for more than five minutes - and that is saying a lot these days. I randomly picked it up the last time I was at IKEA. They have some of the cutest and cheapest little children's wooden toys. And I have an obsession with classic-looking wooden toys. I have to class up our ginormous lot of plastic real estate around here somehow. My house is basically one giant ad for Fisher-Price. At least this gives me an excuse to go to IKEA. Not that I need one. Also, if you were wondering, IKEA knows their customer base. There's free diapers in the bathroom. They've got your back, moms.

Little man had his 12-month appointment a few weeks ago and he is weighing in at almost 25 pounds and standing at 30 1/2 inches tall. STOP.GROWING. Actually, don't. I want you to be taller than me when you're 20. 

Current tricks are clapping on command, "singing" songs, and walk/running anywhere and everywhere. His favorite foods are cheese, ham, and any carb. He has finally accepted one fruit: raspberries, and one vegetable: peas. Wait, he does eat avocado - is that a fruit or a veggie? Funny thing is, I can give him anything as long as it is in one of those baby food pouches. Otherwise, he's picky. Hopefully I don't have a dreaded picky eater on my hands. Oh well, we have plenty of time to expand his palate!

HAPPY April y'all!