links & things

Yay, its almost September!! I love Fall and the Back to School time of year. It happens to be my fav-O-rite! 

Here are some fun links & things for September / Fall 

Get this Uber-cute coffee grinder computer background from WildOlive

Since we are a Starbucks family this is perfect for us plus its a cute reminder that Pumpkin Spice is coming!

A collective of Fall crafts. What could be better?!

Mmm extra delicious French onion soup, I must make this asap!

Please try these as soon as available. 

Trust me you won't regret it! 

Plus there is also a Caramel Apple one too... Dangerous.

Who wouldn't love this Sweater Dress for the tiny lady in your life 

Then you can snuggle her :)

A great reminder for everyday from the super Julie Carson!

I am constantly comparing and evaluating myself (my biggest fault)..

I really needed this

Loving this Floral Tank & Shawl Sweater combo

The floral puts a spin on Fall brights and who doesn't love a nubby knit!

Hayden - 6 weeks

Everyday this girl looks chubbier and pudgier, its kind of amazing! As a breastfeeding mom it makes you feel really proud that what you provide is causing that. The girl and I stay home a lot during the week, so most people only see her on Sunday and always seem to note how she looks completely different every week. I am still loving being a stay at home mom: days are awesome, nights are a little crazy right now.

-We are full on cloth diapering now! Its really fun :) I really do like it better than using disposables. More on cloth diapering later. Oh plus they are super cute!
-Barely fitting newborn clothes, partially due to bulkiness of cloth diapers and the chubby

-Someone is learning to self-soothe by sucking her hand or thumb, only problem is she doesn't remember to do it all the time
-Loving all the sweet smiles we are starting to get :)

-Hayden is awake a lot more during the day, which is fun but a new learning curve for me to get things done. Thankfully she likes to sleep in... getting dinner on the table is the biggest issue though.
-When she is awake she is tracking people and things. Plus shes pretty darnb good at holding up and turning her head.

-Also while eating Hayden likes to grab onto my shirt and sometimes while holding her she grabs my hair.
-It looks like someone is getting some more hair of her own and surprisingly some looks a little red tinted.

fill in the blank friday

1.   One of life's most simple pleasures is     the smell of fresh laundry  .

2.    when people highbeam me while driving      makes me want to punch someone.

3.  I like   my husband    because,    he's really sweet when I least expect and most need it  .

4.    peeve    is a funny word.

5.  If I had to choose one beauty product to use for the rest of eternity it would be    bare escentuals foundation- this evens out my super uneven skin magically  .

6.  I'm happy that    my life has turned out the way it is    .

7.  I would never     go skinny dipping :)    .

The Swap

So remember I posted that my friend CuppaKim was throwing a Mug Swap for her 1st Blogiversary.

Well mine came! and as you can tell from the picture below its super cute!

It has different tea sayings and teacups and pots on it.

Which is perfect :) 

I may not be as hardcore about tea as the CuppaKim but I do love it, all kinds!

I was so excited to open my package when it came all the way from South Carolina... 

From the sweet Mrs. Heather K Holden :) from We are The Holden's

I encourage you to check her out and her shop
I'm doing everything I can to stop myself from buying all the headbands in her shop to share with Hayden but I just might have to get a couple soon ;)

So the best part about a swap like this is that you get to make new friends from all over the country and the blogging world becomes even better!

5 Weeks Postpartum

I had my postpartum check-up on Wednesday and was given the okay to workout! So scary and exciting. The thing I'm worried about though is actually finding the time. Heck I can't even get dinner accomplished most nights! How am I supposed to get in shape?!

Well 1st step is to read - Reshaping It All by Candace Cameron Bure. I've heard and read lots of great things about this book and can't wait to start reading it.

2nd Step - Begin doing 30 day shred twice a week and walking twice a week.

I'll re-cap in 2 weeks with my results plus before and after pics.

fill in the blank friday

1.   My idea of pure perfection would be       being slightly successful working from home, enough that I could take our family to paris  ..

2.    money and pride (gotta be honest, not my world but 'the world')     make the world go 'round.

3.  If it weren't for    my amazing diligent husband    I'd   have to work outside the home and not be able to spend this precious time with our baby girl  .

4.  Bloggers are   inspirational, creative, smart and often caring wonderful women (at least the bloggers I follow and know) .

5.  If I had    a million dollars    I'd buy you    a cute house, fill it with pretty things plus have a fancy washer + dryer (I love laundry, not a joke) and a mazda 5 (man do I love that car lol) plus pay off our other car   .

6.  I'm glad it's Friday because     well who doesn't love Friday, however Friday isn't usually Friday in our house because the hubs usually works on Saturday and I used to too    .

7.  Something I'm excited about is     Fall: its gonna be a great one! PSL coming back plus pumpkin muffins. If you couldn't tell we are a Starbucks family... literally. September means My cousin Keri's wedding and Blog Sugar!    .

Hayden - 1 month

I can't believe Our little cutie is 1 month old today!

The beginnings of lots of new things are happening with her and it is fun to watch her grow so much.. but so sad because my baby is growing so fast. I feel like she is huge compared to when she was born and she might possibly be. 

-Someone tried a new binky and didn't hate it (Mam not a hit but the Soothies are where its at). It has saved us from some car melt downs and one when we were out on the town with Grandma on Monday.

-Baby Hayden also got to have her first bath finally. It took her umbilical stump awhile to fall off and since she has an innie bellybutton there was a little residue residing in there still, so I was not gonna risk it. She only seems to get a little fussy when I first put her in and when I wash under neck plus last Saturday she hated that bath but was in a bad mood previous to putting her in but she needed one since she had an unfortunate spit-up that some how ended up in her hair. 

In the next photo I think Miss H looks like a tiny sleeping ballerina

-Hayden is beginning to make some coos and grunt noises.

-She is learning to grip on everything. Her favorites seem to be my hair, shirts, and arm, that one usually is more of a really painful pinch lol. 

-The Hubs discovered that she can be entranced by Elmo and this has got to be one of the weirdest things to witness. One second she will be fussy and crying and then you put on Elmo and she is silent and staring and that darn little monster. 

-Typically is very patient with her tummy-time and is turning and lifting her head really well. 

-Little bunny has started to smile a little here and there but also makes this super adorbs sad face, that I have yet to catch on camera. 

-She seems to really enjoy when I make her pretend to talk and sing songs to her. 

-We have also gone on a couple adventures in our awesome Peanut Shell Sling

mondays

Mondays around here are super sweet not just because sometimes we get sweet treats from Teacake but mainly because my Mom comes to hang out with me and Hayden! It is a blessing that I have a wonderful friendship with my Mom and now that she is a Grandma its so fun to see her interact and love on her first Grandbaby :)

Hayden loves her Grammy!

Linking up at:

p.s. that was a special Key Lime Coconut Cupcake and it was delish 

Button Me

<a border="0" href="http://formerlyknownasemj.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j472/CuppaKim/emjbutton150.jpg" /></a>

Big news peeps I just got a button!

Super specially made for me by my friend 

Who if you haven't heard is having this awesome Blogiversary Mug Swap that I will be participating in and you should too!

So grab a button and swap a mug :)

Hayden - Week 3

Hayden in her sweet ride

Boy is time going by quickly! I can't believe she is almost a month old already and I guarantee she has to be almost nine pounds because my arms are beginning to feel it. Hayden is also beginning to show some personality and its pretty cute. I've been super thankful thats she's pretty mellow, only gets fussy at night between 8-10 a little bit and sometimes when I change her diaper. 

First Hope Church Sunday

-Sleep is going surprisingly well: I usually get a 3-4 hour stretch and a 4-5 hour one and we usually take a late afternoon nap together.

-We are still using 7th Generation disposable diapers at the moment until we run out and then will begin our cloth diapering adventure.

-Hayden had her first church Sunday and was a really good girl. She only fussed a little bit while I was feeding her. We also prayed over her and I cried... 

Wearing her alarm clock onesie

Super Dad to the rescue!

-We tried out the BabyBjorn and it was definitely a success! The Peanut Sling not a success yet and I have yet to try out the Moby Wrap.

-We are half enjoying tummy-time lol not too surprised by that but Hayden is really good at lifting her head.

-Breastfeeding is still going amazingly. She has gotten more effective at eating so now eats for longer periods during the day but still cluster feeds during her 8-10 fussy time.

Baby H

fill in the blank friday on sunday...

1.   My go to outfit for a dress-up occasion like a wedding is       always a new little dress from forever 21, I have this weird stigma of wearing dresses over again to events like weddings so I always just buy a new one but I may have to find a new place to shop forever 21 isn't as cute anymore   .

2.  This week has been    up and down, loving the last bits of my husbands leave from work but sad to see him go back and hating this weather a bit now, I like heat but it sucks when you're already over-heated from breastfeeding  .

3.  When it's dinnertime and I'm feeling lazy I'll usually eat     either a bowl of cereal, a quesadilla, grilled cheese or a bag of popcorn  .

4.  My favorite pair of shoes is   a pair of leather and wooden heel shoes by michael kors that actually need to be repaired :( .

5.  A random item that I own that is completely unnecessary, but that I could never part with is      I have an ashtray but its an owl ashtray and adorable and I loathe smoking...  .

6.  My favorite person is      My hubs, he's awesome, he even remembers that I don't like whipped cream on my iced white mochas   .

7.  If I were going to write my own blank it would say       What is a book from school that you loved? and my answer would be... I loved The Crucible by Arthur Miller, yes I know its technically a play and I loved it and got an A- on my paper about it :) and my second favorite would be Night by Elie Wiesel . 

3 Weeks Postpartum

Pre-pregnancy on Our honeymoon

Here we are, 3 weeks postpartum... The one thing I didn't seem to research enough on. Oh well.. At this point I'm starting to feel a little more normal. Yay!

Almost ready to pop :) 

The part I didn't research: what can happen during pushing... uh hello you can tear! Okay maybe I knew that but boy did I not know the extent of how you actually can tear. So I have a 2nd degree tear (praise the Lord its not a 3rd or 4th) and of course I got an infection. Lovely... but I was smart and went to the doctor right away as soon as I felt something was not right and she put me on antibiotics and they are awesome and helped heal me and last week my doctor says it looks like I'm finally healing :) Personally I'm just glad I can sit down and stand up without hurting.

Post-birth hotness

Now onto the fun part. On the 15th I weighed in at 141 at my doctors appointment and last week I weighed 122!!! Only 9 pounds to be back to my pre-pregnancy weight.. What!? I am completely in shock over this as you might be able to tell. lol. Obviously I could use a good amount of toning but I cannot work out yet... Jillian and will just have to become friends again in a few weeks :) oh 30 day shred...

Update picture to come soon...

Hayden - Week 2

Our little girl amazes me everyday and also seems to change everyday. Some things are getting easier and I'm learning through the more challenging times. One thing I have been extremely thankful for is all the experience that I gained working as a nanny. There are a lot of things that you can't prepare for such as: sleepless nights, umbilical stumps and breastfeeding. I'm loving every bit of this. 

-Hayden is beginning to drool, which is also a personal problem of mine.

-I love her little smirks and giggles she makes in her sleep.

-It is terribly funny how frustrated she gets sometimes before eating, she even makes this little scream.

-My Aunt Carol and 2nd cousin Maya came to visit us, Maya has already come twice. She is kinda excited to have a new family member, she was the last new member and I was the one excited when she came. 

-Sleep is better and worse but what do you expect from a 2 week old 

-The hubs went out and bought me a very special push present: an iphone 4, which I swear was made for breastfeeding mothers (it is very handy during feedings and during the middle of the night)

-The little lady had her 2 week appt. when she was actually a week and half. I am a bit proud to say that she weighed in at 7 lbs 15 oz, they want babies to be back at birth weight (7 lbs 2 oz) by the time they are 2 weeks and Hayden surpassed that before she was even two weeks. 

-I started an easy start to tummy time with her where I lay flat and have her lay on my chest. She is already starting to learn what to do and getting stronger. 

-I'm loving that my mom has been coming to visit once a week :)