Bloggers get 50 Free Cards from Shutterfly

I know, 2 posts from me in one day?!? Is it Christmas? Ha, not quite yet, but with Thanksgiving nearing, I am brought to one of my favorite times of the holiday.

ITS CHRISTMAS CARDS, YA'LL!

I know that it may be the type A in me, but I love coming up with fun, always photo Christmas cards. In the past, this gets expensive and usually causes a little distress with the hubs. Good thing I stumbled across an AMAZING deal for bloggers. Shutterfly.com is giving away 50 FREE Christmas cards if you blog about them. Seriously. Free. 50! Woo Hoo!

After perusing through the Christmas Cards, I decided on a few faves. Let me know what you think about THIS, THAT and ANOTHER card. I would have to say that I love all three and think baby J's precious face will make for a GREAT card this year.

Since J is the only grandchild on each side, I am thinking to do some customized, maybe monogrammed ;-), gifts. I am loving the photo tote and photo books. I think that either would be perfect for the Grandmas. I may even do one of the photo books with some pics from the big milestones in J's life thus far- as I think photos are way better than the baby book that I am barely keeping up.

I am totally going to talk JM into getting me some of our new family photos on a canvas. I am loving these right now- especially because the save me from shopping for frames, which, I guess in a way, saves me money, right?

If I love the Christmas cards as much as I think I will, I am going to have to hit Shutterfly up for J's first birthday. Sigh. Can it be possible that his birthday is so close? Where does the time go?

Ok, now that I have totally given all my Christmas secrets away, go to shutterfly.com if you have a blog. They will email you instructions so that you, too, can get the 50 free cards. What better Christmas gift to give to yourself than something memorable and FREE!?!?

Thanks-giving

Who can believe that Thanksgiving is around the corner!? Yikes. Next week. Seriously, this year has FLOWN by and I cannot believe that in LESS than 3 short months, I will be the parent of a one year old. Stop. The. World.

I cannot stop giving thanks for this guy. He is the sweetest little boy. He is the most adorable, fun, silly, happy and the absolute light of my life. Honestly, I just cannot believe that I have been blessed with this little guy.

Speaking of thanks, we got the giving part down this weekend. Dear Goodwill worker that took the two carloads of items we brought- THANK YOU! I am sorry to bombard you but when Momma starts purging she just CANNOT stop! I was so glad to get rid of many items that we just no longer use. RIP Ab Dolly from 2002- I can honestly say I never really used you. Doesn't getting rid of clutter just make you feel awesome!? AND if that clutter goes to giving people jobs and keeping Abby busy with her awesome thrift store finds? Bonus.

Hope all have a great week. More to come soon- I really mean it this time. Really.

Brunette- To be or not to be?

Here is an intellectual post....ready? Go:

Having a baby makes your (or at least my) roots darker. Fact.

Darker roots means having to dye more often. Fact.

Box hair dye (blonde) turns my hair orange. Fact.

Salon dye jobs are costly. Fact.

Going "natural" is free. Fact.

Do you like the old blonde Sallie?

Or the new bruentte Sallie?

So what do you think? (And please ignore my fat face. Ugh.)

Tuesday Tales

So, its been 2 months since I posted. Ah! What can I say? Life Happens.

September and October were full of lots of weddings, birthdays and happy times.

JM turned the big "3-0"! He was not so excited, so I wrote out a 3 and 0 on his cake instead of exposing him to the flames of 30 actual candles. Aren't I a great wife?

He celebrated by having a bit too much "fun" and losing his debit card...which I cancelled. At 2 am. Happy birthday, babe!

With fall, came a bit colder temperatures. I had to get Baby J a new hat. Its a moose, its from Carters and it looks adorable on my 22 lb (you got that right!) baby boy.

He loves his "baba"...not as much as "dada" which-by the way- is the only thing he will say now. Everything is "dada" and I cannot wait for the day that "mama" pops out of his sweet mouth.

Speaking of sweet mouths, my poor guy has had thrush for 4 weeks. Stop. the. world. 4 weeks!?! I have dishwashed every thing he uses every day, sprayed Lysol on all fabric toys, given medicine faithfully and he STILL has it. Sigh. Along with another ear infection- its off to the ENT specialist to see if we need tubes.

Good thing his appetite isn't affected- did I mention he is 22 lbs!?! We are now in the "big" boy carseat. We were so blessed because JM's cousins have twins so they GAVE us 2 Britax Blvd. carseats. Yes, GAVE. Can you believe that? We were so excited not to have to spend ANY money and have one for EACH car.

I took Jag to a pumpkin patch on a cold and blistery day. I would love to say we stayed for a while, but it was windy, and I needed to get him home- so I took approx. 500 photos in 15 minutes and then we headed home- ha! But, if I do say so- he is the most precious PUMPKIN in the patch!


Last weekend, I got reunited with some long missed sisters. I love these girls. Seriously.

A few examples of how I know my sisters and I are kindred spirits:
1. I had been talking to my mother in law about how I wanted a blazer because I LOVE the t-shirt blazer jean trend going on. And what do you know? MR shows up in a blazer from American Eagle. I may be 28 (as of the 24th!) but I am so getting it.
2. My sweet friend, L, is 3 months pregnant. I am so happy for her and Mr. L as they partake on this ride- buckle up- it is an adventure for sure :-)
3. LLR, my favorite person on Earth (especially when she's out), drinks KY Bourbon Ale. I love her. So. So. Much.
4. My adorable former roomie, S, has a new bf that she loves. And he loves her. Is there anything better than be happy for someone who deserves it SOOOOO much? S is the best "aunt" to my son in the world and an amazing friend to have. We may be in different "seasons" of our lives but when we are together, nothing else matters but being happy, encouraging and a joy to each other.
5. True friends are so rare. I am so glad I have these gals!

Listen, raising a sweet baby boy, taking care and paying attention to my marriage are #1...working full time is the time suck that takes away most of my blogging time and ability. More posts are to come soon...I hope :-)

Life of a M-O-M

When I found out I was going to have a baby, I had some many "ideas" and "convictions" about how I thought a good mom had to act, say or do. In fact, I had many things that I swore I would NEVER do.

February 3 all that changed.

I found that I would take any sleep I could get....even if it meant Baby J would sleep in his swing for 3 months.
I found that TV (usually Disney) although not a frequent babysitter, paired with an exersaucer is a welcome break when I am trying to cook, get dressed or clean.
I found that working fulltime is not really what I want. The "job" means very little compared to this extraordinary little boy.
I also found that, although not ideal, working fulltime is necessary. Damn bills :-)
I never thought I would feel guilty for giving my child formula. But I do...and let's face it, sometimes I need a break.
Speaking of breaks, I did not know how guilty I would feel when sneaking "me time"
I would NEVER call a babysitter several times- while my sweet slept- to make sure he was breathing....or have a panic attack that he would be missing me (again, in his sleep) and ending date night a bit early. Anyone related- ha!
I never anticipated falling more in love with my husband than I ever thought possible, each and every time I see him with our son.

I saw a quote somewhere (can't for the life of me remember- but I think it was Heidi Klum?) that said that their (meaning her and her husband's) love was so great, that it burst out of them in the form of their children. What a great way to think of kids- that you loved someone so much, that they are a product of love combustion. Something about that (I am sure I horribly butchered what she said, but still) makes me smile.

I have many wonderful, life enriching friends, but the fact is, I am the ONLY one with a child at the moment (Ok, one of my bf's had a sweet Baby Mac last week, but she lives 3 hours away...so I don't get to see her). I didn't know that I would need an outlet for these things. So I decided...that in addition to blogging, I am joining an evening MOPS group in Lex. Super excited about this! We will meet once a month, from 7-9 p. I think that this will make me a better mom and I hope I get to know others with wee ones too! I will post after my first meeting this Thursday.

Also- I decided to do a one month fitness boot camp for my birthday next month. Something about turning 28 calls for a ripped (albeit stretch marked) body, don't you think? More to come....

In all my days...

In all my days on this Earth....10,190 to be exact (27 years, 10 months and 25 days) I never thought I could love something so much!

Baby J will be 7 months old tomorrow.

- You can sit up all by yourself...and proceed to topple shortly thereafter- a work in progress! :-)

- You cut your first tooth! I was so excited and sad about this at the same time

- You are so pleasant. You rarely cry unless you need something.

- You LOVE your dad and smile whenever you see him.

- You are the BEST sleeper. You go down around 6:30 pm and I wake you up at 6:30 am to eat

- You are still nursing, but curiousity is getting to you and I am sure are days are numbered.

- You LOVE bottles and solid foods. You grunt and kick when you see a bottle or spoon.

- You hate peaches. You grimace each bite- ha!

- You are the light of our lives and make us soooo happy! We love you so.

I cannot believe my baby is 7 months old. Less than 1/2 a year and he will be one. This is going too fast- people say it, but its soooo true. I am so blessed to have a healthly, happy boy in my life! JM and I love him so much- we are totally nuts for this child!

I will leave you with a recent pic, taken by my sweet friend. His brown eyes are killer- don't you agree?

Teeth are...waaaay overrated.

I officially hate teeth.

Yup, we are teething in the K household and let me tell you, it is like baby boot camp ALL over again.

Didn't J sleep through the night since almost 6 weeks? Didn't he sleep for 12 hours both Friday AND Saturday night?

Why, please tell me, did he sleep for a total of 1 hour last night? I did not mistype. You got it. One. Hour. I am exhausted, frustrated and would LOVE someone to point me in the way of advice.

I gave tylenol every 4 hours. I rubbed ora-jel on his gums. I rocked, sang, kissed, cuddled until I literally could not keep my eyes opened. I nursed every 3-4 hours THROUGH THE NIGHT. I swear, teeth may actually kill me.

Any advice? I read all sorts of tips googling and I know every baby is different but PLEASE tell me that my adorable sleep through the night sweetie will return to me. Soon.

And yeah- I am hoping the next time he decides to sleep for 1 hour its not on a night when I have to get up for work at 5. Thanks for the help on that one.