Pumpkin Picking

Last week we took Little M to pick out her pumpkin!  We went to the same place we went last year.  It was  fun to see how much she had grown in just a year.  Last year she couldn't even walk around, but this year she was able to run amongst the pumpkins and through the hay maze.  She had a wonderful time, as did we but I think we all enjoyed the donuts and cider at home the most!

Walking through the maze

Posing with mom

Picking out a pumpkin with Dad!

Looking for Furniture?

As a preferred blogger for CSN stores I am very impressed with their products.  As I have mentioned in the past, they have a plethora of products.  But did you know you can also buy furniture there?  Like these gorgeous kitchen bar stools for example.  

Isn't it beautiful?  It makes me really wish I had a bar in my kitchen to put these under!  I'll be doing a review of another one of CSN's wonderful products soon and I can't wait to share my experience with you!

It's That Time of Year!

I love Christmas, like big puffy pink heart LOVE Christmas.  It is by far my favorite holiday season.  I love the baking, gift buying and wrapping, spending time with loved ones, and especially, sending out Christmas cards!

I have sent our cards every year since I became a Mrs. and every year my list grows longer and longer.  Because of that I make sure I am organized and normally manage to send out my cards just a few days after Thanksgiving.  So I am already in the middle of my search for the perfect card!

The first few years Skip and I were married, I sent out basic greeting cards.  But since Little M came along, photo cards are a must!  And where better to turn than Shutterfly.  This has always been one of my go-to websites for prints and photo books, so it makes an obvious choice for Christmas cards as well!

I could peruse their website for hours on end....seriously!  Here is just a little sampling of some of their amazing products.

I'm Roman Catholic and so I like for my Christmas cards to be religious in nature.  How perfect would these be?

This one is so sweet and simple.  I love the wording, but it is not so religious that you couldn't also send it to someone who does not celebrate Christmas.

'O Holy Night' is my favorite Christmas song and I am a sucker for black and white cards.

I also love that Shutterfly also has party invitations!  This would be perfect for our annual Christmas party!

Another fabulous black and white option

With Halloween upon us and Christmas right around the corner, I have got some decisions to make soon!  What are your plans for holiday cards this year?

Disclaimer: I will be receiving free holiday cards from Shutterfly for review.  However, I was not paid for this post and all of these opinions are my own.  I was not influenced in any way.

Pacifier Update

Okay, it's been three days so I figured it is time for an update on Operation: Take Away Pacifier.  Since I don't know most of you in real life, it would be so easy for me to lie and tell you that it is going wonderfully and Little M completely and easily dropped the paci habit.  But I believe in honest on a blog, so I will tell you the truth.  Operation: Take Away Pacifier?  Big fat Mommy FAIL.

Sunday morning started off great.  When Little M woke up we collected all her pacifiers and I let her trade them in for her new Handy Manny toy.  She really liked it and all was good.  Then came nap time.  I went through Little M's normal routine then popped her in her crib.  She laid down but then popped right back up and asked "Where's the Nuk?" {that's what we call her paci}  I reminded her that she was a big girl and only babies need a Nuk.  She seemed to think it over and then laid back down.  I practically ran out of the room...yay!  She was going to be fine.

But as soon as I closed the door, Little M started screaming.  And she proceeded to scream for the next 10 minutes, crying big tears and just saying "Nuk, Nuk" over and over again.  This is totally unlike her as well.  She has always been a wonderful sleeper who needs little assistance in falling asleep.  It literally broke my heart to hear her crying for something I had the power to give her

I knew I should have been strong and powered through this first day, but to be honest I was exhausted.  I had not seen my husband for more than half an hour since the Thursday before and I just needed to take a nap.  And I knew that if I gave Little M what she wanted, her Nuk, that we would both get some sleep.  So not even 15 minutes into the first day sans-paci, I gave in.  I ran downstairs, grabbed a Nuk and gave it to her.  She popped it in her mouth, laid down, and immediately fell asleep.

I went to my room and also fell asleep for the most glorious 2 1/2 hour nap.  When I woke up though,  I felt very guilty for giving in to her so quickly.  On one hand, I felt like a terrible mom, a total failure.  On the other hand, my daughter took a nice long nap.  Good sleep is definitely something she needs to thrive.  And really, for nap time and bedtime, how bad is a pacifier really.

So after talking to Skip and some others, we have decided to hold off on taking away Little M's pacifier. She has no special "lovey" or toy...she doesn't suck her thumb....she has a pacifier.  And if that's what she needs to sleep then that's just how it is.  Commence judging now!  {though not too harshly, please!}

Mommy Confession....

My daughter still has a pacifier.  Yes I know she will be two next month, and it highly recommended that after 12 months children stop using a pacifier.  But to be honest, as a mom, it's hard to take something away from your child when they really love it.  Something that is really not harmful at all.  Obviously I would never let her play with scissors or a bottle of pills...it's just a paci!

The funny thing is Little M was never really attached to it when she was a baby.  She would easily take it, but she was also able to soothe without it.  I think she really got more attached to it when she was teething. Many times it was the only thing to help her.

A few months ago we decided to cut down on paci time and limited Little M's use of it strictly to nap and bed times.  She did well with this arrangement for a while...it really didn't seem to bother her much.  However a few weeks ago, her last few teeth were popping through with a vengeance and again, the only thing that would comfort her was the pacifier.

But Skip and I have decided that enough is enough, and as of tomorrow, no more paci.  I've been prepping Little M all weekend about it.  I've told her that only babies need pacifiers and she's a big girl now.  So tomorrow morning we're going to collect all the pacis and she can trade them in for a special Handy Manny toy I bought today.  I really think I'm going to have a harder time with this than her, but we'll see!  I'll keep you all posted on our progress.

What things did you let your children hang on to longer than you thought you would?  Or am I totally alone in this?  haha

Birthday Recap

Thank you all so much for all the birthday wishes!  I had a fabulous day on Tuesday.  I got to sleep in late and was woken up with some hot chocolate, smores pancakes, and presents!  After a relaxing morning we headed out to grab some lunch at the food court at the mall {one of our favorite family places!}

I spent the afternoon getting a relaxing pedicure and getting ready for a date night with Skip!  My mom came over to watch Little M and the only thing Skip would tell me was not to wear jeans.  We headed out to dinner and ended up at this super cute little French restaurant in our town.  As we were finishing up our meal, Skip surprised me with tickets to go see 'The Social Network'.  I couldn't believe we were getting to go out to dinner AND a movie!  You moms know what a treat that is!

The movie was really good and overall it was one of the best birthdays ever!!  Looks like 28 will be better than I thought.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today I turn 

Not sure why this feels so old.  My friend L thinks it's because the number 8 is so wide, haha.  She says it's just a big number.  

But even though I continue to get older and older every year, I am also more blessed.  And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Now this old lady has got to run and get ready for a fun day with my little family!

Great Weekend....Picture FAIL

We have had a fabulous few days around here.  On Saturday we headed back down the beach {again I know!} to celebrate the engagement of one of my Marine's Girls.  Back in 2004 when Skip deployed to Iraq, I became very close with two girls, M and L, whose boyfriends were in Skip's unit.  L got married two years ago, and just a few months ago, M got engaged!  We were super excited to head down and celebrate with them.

Little M tagged along and had a great time running around and playing with M's Old English Bulldog.  She was the life of the party and managed to stay awake and cranky-free until 9 pm.   Wahoo!!  Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures {bad blogger!} So these two I stole from M!!

The happy couple!

Hanging out with everyone!

Sunday we got up nice and early and headed back home.  My birthday is tomorrow but I celebrated it with my friends and family yesterday!  My family came over at 1:00 and we ate pizza, cake, opened presents, and of course watched the Giants beat the Lions!  Wahoo!!!  I didn't take any pictures then either, so here are some my big sis L took!

Let's open some gifts!

Reading some cards

Presents

A Giant's necklace from my parents!

My candles represented goal posts!

Snuggling with Little M, watching the game

Giant's win!!

We had a great time with my friends that night too.  We had about 13 people over and we watched the Sunday night football game {of course}  This time no one took any pictures {FAIL} since we were too busy having fun!  It was a wonderful weekend and I can't wait to have a relaxing birthday tomorrow!

Snip Snip

I've trimmed Little M's hair a few times since she was born....mainly just her bangs and whatnot.  But recently her hair's been looking extra shaggy so Skip and I decided to take her to an actual salon for her very first big girl haircut!

We found a fabulous kid's place nearby and headed over the other day.  They have seats shaped like cars and giant TV's for the kids to watch.  The stylist knew to put on Elmo as soon as we were called back!  She was very relaxed and Little M just sat there the whole time!  She wasn't a huge fan of the blowdryer but other than that she did great!  Once the cut was done, the salon gave Little M a certificate with a lock of her hair, a little lollipop, and a balloon!  It was a great day for my big girl!

Ready to begin!

First few cuts

Moving her head to watch the TV, haha

Getting some product put in her hair!

My big girl with her super stylin' new hairdo! 

CSN Review

A little over a week ago I received my order from CSN.  I was so excited to get it, I could hardly wait the 7 to 10 days they would take with free shipping {first plus to the whole experience}  But soon enough I was the proud owner of these gorgeous beauties.

I love them.  They are exactly what I had been lusting over and look exactly like the do on the website.  They are a great quality, fair price, and fit like a glove!  I also really liked that I could track my order online to see exactly when it would arrive.  In all honesty though, there was one slight downside to my order.  The boots arrived in a banged up box covered only in brown paper.  And there was no order form so I'm not quite sure what I would have done if I needed to send them back.  Though I'm sure if I had called the number on the website they would have been able to assist me.

Overall it was another wonderful experience ordering from CSN.   I'm sure I will be heading over there to do some Christmas shopping in the near future!

Disclaimer: I did receive a gift card to pay for part of the order.  I was not monetarily compensated for this review and all of these opinions are my own. 

Run Skipper Run

Whoops, totally meant to write this post on Sunday.  Anyways, this past weekend we went down the shore to cheer on Skip as he ran the annual Long Beach Island 18 mile race!  Skip has been a good runner since well, boot camp.  But only for pleasure.  The only other race he has ever been in was a 5K he did with my big sis a year and a half ago.  So this was going to be big!

This is a pretty big race and almost 1000 people run it every year.  It stretches from one end of the 18 mile island to the other.  It's nice and flat and great for running.  The only downside is that there is only one road  that runs the entire length of the island.  And they close that road for the race, obviously.  Which meant that  we could only see Skip at the finish line.  We couldn't see him at the start or anywhere else along the route :(  But the finish was the most important to me!

Skip drove himself to registration and took a bus down to the start line.  The race started promptly at 10:30.  Meanwhile, Little M, my big sis L, and I headed up to the finish line.  We had some lunch then sat in the warm sun for a bit, holding our homemade signs, and waited for Skip.

We didn't have to wait too long before my man rounded the corner and sprinted towards the finish line.  He finished right around his goal and ran the ENTIRE 18 MILES.  I'm seriously exhausted just thinking about it!  I could not be prouder of my man.  Now, enjoy a few pics from the day taken by my big sis L!

Little M waiting for Daddy, hanging out in her sling

A little snuggling to  pass the time

Some more waiting...

There he is!!!!

Running past us

Almost there!

Crossing the finish line!

Guess Why

As I said the other day, we are at the beach this weekend for a specific reason.  We are here because of these things:

What do these things have in common?  What are your guesses??

A Walk to Remember

We're down at my parent's shore house again for a few days {yay!} This time for a specific reason though..that I will reveal on Sunday {with maybe a few hints before that}  Anyways, we came down last night and are already much more relaxed!

We've had several raining days at home recently, so we were excited to wake up to sunny warm weather today, and made sure to take advantage of it!  We played outside a lot and tonight while I was making dinner, Skip volunteered to take Little M and Mr. B on a walk.  While they were out he took some really great pictures!  They might have only been taking with my I Touch, but the pure joy and love is apparent.  Check them out for yourselves!

This last one is my absolute favorite!

Wordless Wednesday

Who Cares about Stinky Feet

Since Little M was only a baby, Skip and I have always joked with her that she has stinky feet.  I don't know why...it's weird and we will probably give her a complex later on in life.  Anyways, the other day when I was changing her diaper, I made a big production of pretending to smell her feet and said "Pee yew!  You have stinky feet!"

She looked right up at me and said, very seriously, "So what?"

I almost died laughing.  What a little personality she has!!

Dear So and So

I love reading these on other blogs, so I thought it was time to do one of my own!

Dear showerhead,
I'm not sure why you decided to start shooting out really amazing water pressure the other day, but please don't stop.  It feels like a million little fingers are massaging my scalp every time I was my hair.  I have never felt so clean in my life!

Dear September,
Ummm, where did you go?  How is it October already?  I really hate the fall.

Dear Little M,
I am apologizing for the fact that your Daddy and I have already taught you to fist pump.  You're from Jersey...you're just going to have to embrace that.

Dear Giants,
Could SOMEONE on the team step up as a leader and make everyone start caring about winning again?  It's only the start of week 4 and I've already given up on the entire season.  You have one more chance against the Bears on Sunday before I change my loyalties to the other Manning brother {well really his team, as much as I love the Giants I hate Eli...no one can live up to Peyton 'Laser Rocket' Manning}

Dear stand-up comedians,
You're really not funny.  Any of you.  Please stop entertaining my husband for hours on end.  It's really interrupting my need to endlessly watch General Hospital on DVR.

Dear Bj's,
Thank you for carrying the 40 oz bags of pretzel M&Ms.  My waistline does not thank you but my mouth sure does!

Dear pretzel M&Ms,
PLEASE stop tasting so good.  Seriously.  Waistline expansion is 100% your fault.

Dear Tiki Barber,
This Sunday will be the first time you return to Giant's Stadium since you retired.  A year ago I would have been excited.  But then you cheated on your EIGHT MONTHS PREGNANT WITH TWINS WIFE.  I used to love you.  Now I can't stand you.  Way to shatter the dreams of a girl who stood online for 4 hours to meet you just four days before I gave birth.  Jerk.