3 Boys...Laying Sort of Still

These days can be crazy and challenging. Bo is the only one who will sit still for very long. But I wouldn't trade it and I know when this time is over, I'll miss it. So here's a sweet picture to help me remember

how precious these three little boys are.

Sam - high energy, very bright, completely into cars (still), could eat his weight in fruit snacks, asks me to snuggle every night

Grey - flys under the radar, circles the house constantly, gets into everything, drinks a TON, loves to give hugs

Bo - low maintenance, great sleeper, tough by necessity, loved by brothers, smiley

Not Going Green, Going 360° Clean

My friend Amy recommended this stuff and I am really enjoying it. (I've got the orange, exfoliating variety).

The smell is great.

It cleans really well but doesn't leave my face feeling dry.

And, 2 times in the couple months I've been using it, Bob has said, "man, you're face is so soft!"

I'm not being paid or compensated for reviewing any of these products.

Unfortunate, huh?

Everyday Absurdities - Buy This Book

If you haven't been reading Tyler Stanton's blog, you're missing out.
Thankfully, since it's out there on the internet, it's out there for good. So you've still got time.

In fact, as a gift to yourself, you should go ahead and buy his book. It's hilarious. I'm talking audible chuckles hilarious. (And if you buy it this week, use the promo code H5J74D59 to get it for a measly $8.99!)
Not looking for a gift for yourself? How about a gift for that person who's so difficult to buy for? I just bought one for a 30th birthday present. We pulled it out at the party and it was quite a hit!
Not looking for a gift? Here are a gazillion other things you could use it for.

And in the interest of full disclosure, and to let you know how cool Tyler is, he's giving $100 away to help in the aid of this promotion. I'd tell y'all about it anyway, but the possibility of winning $100 is quite the incentive to go ahead and hammer this post out.

Real Life Picture

Here we are (minus Bob of course, who was behind the camera).

End of the day, everybody's tired and Sam's got something (I'd like to think it's just food) on his face.

I love this picture though because it's just an everyday picture. We're not dressed up. We're not even smiling. We're just hanging out.

And I think Sam and I look alike here. We're at least making the same expression. Please don't tell me if you disagree.

Is it Three Years Before Something Becomes a Tradition?

I guess I took yesterday off from blogging...
Everyone ok with that? Alright, good.

We've been trying to decide what Christmas traditions we want to do with the boys. So far, we're thinking:
-open one gift on Christmas Eve, which will most likely be pajamas (a friend of mine did this growing up, I always wanted to open one gift on C.E. so this sounds like a compromise)
-taking the kids to get a pic with Santa...this is spear-headed by my mother-in-law and this year it went great...last year, notsomuch.
-bake a cake for baby Jesus (this year, it'll be a "cahaaaake wid m'n'ms!!!"
-Christmas Eve, go to the C.E. service, come home and open the one gift, get in PJs, hot chocolate for Sam, coffee for me and Bob, nothing for Grey just yet and we'll drive around looking at lights
-praying for families who send us a Christmas card (this isn't meant to exclude, it's just helpful to show the kids who we're praying for)

I think that's what we're looking at for this year. What about you? Any cool traditions you and your family do/have done in the past?
My friend Tyler also blogged about traditions. Honestly, he beat me to the punch and he's a lot funnier than I am anyway. That's why I didn't tell you about it until the end of this post.

No pictures in this one

So I haven't really blogged anything of much substance recently. Not to say what I've blogged about hasn't been important (i.e. the kiddos). But I know not everyone wants to look at pictures of the two cutest little boys there ever were. ::wink wink::

This isn't going to have a whole lot of substance either, but one thing it won't have is pictures.
Bob and grandparents, sorry. Everyone else, you're welcome.

1 - I need a maid. It's official. I cannot keep my house picked up, let alone actually clean while protecting Grey, changing 12+diapers a day, playing with 2 boys and preparing meals. I can't do it. You probably can. I can't. AND, I'm tired of beating myself up about it everyday.

Whew.

2 - Sam cracks me up. It is unreal what he understands and can communicate. Recent developments include us actually dialoguing....which is weird.

3 - I am now convinced that males come out of the womb able to selectively ignore what they don't want to hear focus rather intently.

4 - For Halloween, Sam's going to be a monkey and Grey's going to be a banana. Is that weird?

5 - Do you think I could convince Bob to dress up like The Man in the Yellow Hat?

6 - I heart the Swaddle Me. Why didn't I have one of these with Sam? Duh.

7 - For some reason, I'm obsessed with diaper burp cloths with decorator fabric off Etsy, like this, this, this, and this. The way things are going now, I can't have too many.

8 - I love sweaters, cardigans especially. I'm so glad it's now actually possible to wear them on some days without sweating my face off.

9 - I've had no less than 20 pumpkin spice lattes since they started selling them again. Hi there calories, you sure do taste delicious.

10 - When Sam was 4 months old, I was ready to start thinking about having another kid. I can not imagine feeling that way when Grey is 4 months. We'll see though...crazier things have happened.

Nature vs. Nurture

I majored in Sociology (and in Art) in college - two pointless degrees when it comes to a career. Lucky for me, I'm not really carer-driven and have always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. Anyway, being that I majored in Sociology, I had quite a few classes that touched on, or harped on, Nature vs. Nurture.

Most of my professors and sociologists fall on one end of the spectrum or the other. I happen to think it's a tie...maybe not an exactly balanced tie but I do think nature AND nurture play a huge part in who we are.

All that to say, if you know my husband, you know he's a car guy. In fact, it may be one of the first things that comes to your mind when you think of him. He loves cars, knows a ton about them, likes to work on them, clean them, read about them and on top of all that, he works at a garage.

So, if we're taking him to do stuff like this and with Bob as his dad, what chance does Sam even have?

Hobby Lobby, Take a Lesson from Chick-fil-a and Publix

CFA and Publix are two establishments who've got customer service down. They've identified their main customer base and they cater to it. I would argue that the customer base for each of these stores is the same...moms with young kids.

Chick-fil-a's got the playground, the sticky placemats, the option to trade in your toy for ice cream.
And we've already gone over what Publix has (double shopping carts with steering wheels, free cookies and balloons, free diapers in the bathrooms, etc.).

Hobby Lobby has got a lot going for it. It's a Christian company and I feel good about spending my money there. In fact, there have been numerous times I've called it my favorite store. However, after today, I don't know that I can say that anymore.

Relive it with me...
After I finagled Grey's carseat into the much-too-small cart, which didn't leave room for me to put Sam in the top, so he had to walk, I headed in to wait, in a pretty long line, to return some paper. Imagine this, an almost two, crazy little boy in Hobby Lobby. He is NOT allowed to not be in a cart in there for good reason BUT, I didn't have much choice because I forgot the double stroller. Strike one for me.

Anyway, I'm trying to exchange some paper I bought a while ago to get some for Grey's birth announcements and Sam's birthday party invitations.
I've got my receipt. Great, right? Nope. Strike number two for me.
The cashier informs me that my receipt is over 60 days old so she can't do anything for me. She won't even do an even exchange, which is what I wanted.

By this time, I've had to pick up Sam who was running around the registers, and he has begun to squirm out of my arms to touch the credit card swiper...oh, and he's whining :).

I let the lady know this store has allowed me to do this very same thing many times before. She just stares at me.
So, I ask her if I didn't have the receipt, would I be able to get store credit...and pick up my receipt to stick back in my bag. She informs me that she has to follow store policy and that if I come back through her line, she won't be able to do anything.

Ugh!

I understand an employee needing and wanting to follow store policy. She was doing the right thing. What I don't understand is why the store policy allows someone to walk in without a receipt and get store credit for any item but they have a time limit on when you can EXCHANGE something if you come in with a receipt for it. How does that make any sense?

I know one reason all these stores are cracking down on returns, ahem Target, is because they're losing money on shoplifting. But hello, if I can get something out of Hobby Lobby, then walk back in and "return" it for store credit YOU ARE LOSING MONEY. If I buy something and a couple months later, come in to exchange it with my receipt, you are not losing money. You are breaking even and keeping one of your most frequent customers happy.

Strike number three for me was not thinking to ask to talk to a manager. Surely they would've had a different response. Don't you think?

For Modesty's Sake

Remember a while back, when I told y'all about this awesome nursing cover?

Well, now that I've had a chance to use it, let me say with experience on my side that I.love.it!

The nursing cover...it's not a new idea. However, it is a handy contraption. And, I'm obsessed with the fabric on mine. Honestly, I'd love to have a shirt, or a bag like this, made out of the same fabric. (Or if I had a little girl, how perfect would this be?)

Need one for you? Or need one for a baby shower (this would make an awesome gift!)?

You can't go wrong ordering from my friend Jenna. And if you don't have her blog in your reader, you need to go ahead and do that. She's hilarious.

It's Only Fitting

I won Camille's giveaway...for some special Dr. Pepper. No, it's not Mr. Pibb, but they are close enough.

And I've consumed quite a bit of Dr. Pepper already this pregnancy. Might as well end it up with a special edition!

It's Cheap, Quick, Easy, and Delicious. What More Do You Want?

Here's the original recipe and below is the one I make...tastes great and in my opinion, it's a bit easier.

Black Bean and Corn Pizza

Ingredients:

1 can of diced tomatoes (or Rotel, Mexican style)

1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can of whole kernel corn

juice from 1/2 lime

1/4 cup of chopped cilantro

1 prepared pizza crust (I used Boboli - it comes in a 2-pack and can be refrigerated or frozen)

1/3 cup of BBQ sauce (enough to thinly cover the pizza crust)

1-2 cups of mozzarella cheese (I put some directly on the crust and over the toppings)

olive oil

Directions:

Preheat your oven according to directions on pizza crust package.

Brush olive oil over pizza crust.

Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl and mix well (these are your pizza toppings).

Spread BBQ sauce over pizza crust.

Top with about 1/3 of your mozzarella cheese.

Spread your toppings over the pizza.

Cover with the remaining mozzarella cheese.

Bake 7 1/2 - 10 minutes (according to directions on pizza crust package).

Enjoy!

Some Fun and Frivolous Stuff

I got tagged by Lauren to list 6 completely unimportant things that make me happy....sadly, not difficult at all.

-Clean, fluffy, warm towels.
-Starbucks coffee - namely Iced Caramel Macchiato, White Chocolate Mocha and Pumpkin Spice Latte.
-Etsy
-Gift cards
-Earrings - especially these.
-And you know I had to include Mr. Pibb, or Dr. Pepper - either will do.


If I may...here are a few things that make me happy mainly because it's late June and I'm pregnant. Although, arguably, air conditioning doesn't fall in the unimportant category.

-Air conditioning.
-Pillows, lots of pillows.
-Cold, sugary drinks...think Mr. Pibb, Dr. Pepper, Starbucks iced drinks. (Some things apply to either list).
-Microwave popcorn especially paired with the previous drinks.
-Browsing the baby section of Target.
-Frozen chocolate chip cookies.

Wanna do your own list? I'd love to read it. Just let me know in the comments :).

My New Favorite Thing

From the sewing room of the wonderful Sew Jenna, I give you, a picture of my custom-made, amazingly-cool, can't-wait-to-use-it, nursing cover! It is so well made, has an adjustable neck-strap, AND boning around the neck so you see your baby. I'm probably way too excited about it :).





Curious as to which fabrics those are? Ok, I'll tell you. On the front, Amy Butler's Lotus Lacework Grey and on the back, Amy Butler's Lotus Full Moon Polka Dot Lime.

I've enjoyed Jenna's blog for quite some time now. I found her through Molly's blog. (Don't you like how I call them by their first names like I actually know them? I don't think it would creep Jenna out, but I don't know about Molly. Molly, if you're reading this, please don't be creeped out).

Anyway, Jenna has a most excellent sense of humor, 3 adorable kids with another on the way and I, basically, think she rocks. Granted, we've never met in real life...but you can tell a lot about a person from their blog people. You can tell a lot.

So, with that said...
1-You should subscribe to and/or start reading Jenna's blog. It just may change your life.
2-If you are, or know of anyone who is, in need of a nursing cover, you should seriously consider ordering one from Jenna. Her prices are super competitive and you get to pick your fabric, or fabric combo should you go the reversible route (like I did...who doesn't want a little variety in their life?)
***Updated***
Interested in ordering? Just email Jenna at jennascheetz(at)gmail(dot)com.

Oh, I should mention that to Jenna's, and my, shock and horror, Amy Butler has discontinued both of the fabrics used on my cover. However, if you just HAVE to have one or both of them, I recommend checking Etsy.

Etsy Picks, v.15

Just a reminder, the name of the shop is listed above each picture. To view the shop, just click on the name. To view the item pictured, just click on it.

Sprout Boutique

Gifts & Talents

Roslyn's Closet

Etsy Picks, v.14 (It's Back)

Bohtieque



Beth Howard Studio





Fruit Fly Pie

Etsy Picks, v.13

JK Photography

Easy Edges Studio

Farouche

Etsy Picks, v.12

Easy Edges








Tasty Suites

Etsy Picks, v.10

Formerly known as "You Should Check These Out in Your Spare Time".

Dillon Designs

RKEM Designs

Visions in Vinyl

Wordless Wednesday

You Should Check These Out in Your Spare Time - v.9

Kotahouse

Brockway Betty

Retro Glass Works