Love Lately {fun t-shirts, soup & coffee - loads of it}

Happy Friday morning everyone...or in my world today a big "Happy Bret Michaels in concert at my work day"! I can't hide the fact that I'm excited. Excited to meet him. Excited to hear him sing some Poison songs (junior high slow dance, anyone?). And I'm excited to enjoy our last outdoor concert of the year.

But....before all of that, let's talk about what I'm loving lately.

{ONE}
Solid Threads. If I love anything, its great shirts with super fun sayings/pictures. Every shirt  we've gotten from Solid Threads has not disappointed {see below for a few of our faves}. Not only do we get tons of feedback and laughs from people, but the material of the shirts is just the softest ever and it holds up well after multiple washes {which as we know is important with dirty, little boys}.

via

{TWO}
SOUP! It's that time of year. The weather is changing and that means it's time to bring back some of our favorite soup recipes, or if I have my way, go pick it up from somewhere tasty so I don't have to make it myself. Wednesday night after work we headed to pick up some new shoes for little man and swung by Paradise Bakery for a quick dinner. Lo and behold its that time of year and they were featuring their Autumn Squash soup. Um, yum. It's as delicious as it sounds. If you like the idea of eating soup that tastes like dessert for dinner...you will love this.

{THREE}
Elf on the Shelf.  It seems with these little guys people either love 'em or hate 'em. I'm on the "I absolutely freakin love 'em" bandwagon and cannot wait to start seeing the posts on social media showing where creative mommies are hiding their elf each day.  Even more, I can't wait to do the same for Cruz! I think we he will get a kick out of finding the elf all over the house this year, now that he can understand what it is. I have to admit I almost started last year....but he was only one and that would've been just plain silly.

via

{FOUR}
Folgers Gourmet Selections - Caramel Drizzle. I have to admit I've been a Green Mountain Coffee snob since the Keurig came out. I ventured out and tried most of the mild flavors - and some of the bold by accident - and loved them. That is until I tried this...

Coffee goodness in a k-cup. It's amazing and definitely worth checking out. I like to mix mine with


{FIVE}
Blogger Meet-Up. I can't even tell you how excited I am to partake in my very first blogger meet-up this weekend. I found a group of Omaha bloggers just in time for the Sunday get together. And it's at Whole Foods. How convenient for me. Not only are we going to get together with other local bloggers, but I can get my shop on after we part ways. Eeek, I'm nervous and excited and anxious all wrapped into one.


Now if you'll excuse me, I have some Elf on the Shelf hiding ideas to start pinning. According to many of my other mommy friends I'm waaaay behind the 8-ball on this one. I mean some even have entire Pinterest boards dedicated to this. I need to step up my game. Big time.

Have a great weekend!

Letter to Cruz {September 19, 2013}

Sarah from Our Journey started this link- up and I absolutely LOVE it. I haven't done the monthly letter to Cruz as I've seen some other mamas do, but I think it's really special to have something for him to read when he's older (besides this entire blog which has basically been ALL about him).

And some of you may remember me posting {here} about getting one of the best gifts - a letter my mama wrote to me 25 years ago when I was just 7 years old - for our hometown time capsule. We had our town's 125th celebration this year and the time capsule was opened. I cannot even begin to explain how much it meant to me to receive it, so I'm hoping one day Cruz feels the same way.

So here goes....

Dear Cruz,

My first born baby, you will always have my heart. Right now you are twenty-two months old and I cannot even remember where the time has gone. I'm sad that our time with you has gone so fast, but I also look forward to every single day with you.

I feel like I'm the most fortunate person on this earth to be able to live in your world. Every single day you amaze me with just the littlest things. You are so smart and it's not just me who says that, everyone comments on it. I can see you taking in every little thing going on around you and taking in the details of your environment.  

You have the brightest smile - it really lights up a room. You have such a big heart, you are so funny, sweet, caring, loving and you are so darn cute. I catch myself staring at you and just wondering how you turned out so amazing and how we got so lucky.

You are loved by so many people. Not only your daddy and me, but our family is just smitten with you as are our friends and every single person you've encountered through both Primrose and Millard daycares and, of course, your best friend for eight months, nanny J. 

I have also never worried about one person more than I worry about you. With all of the craziness going on in the world around us, I just want you to be safe. Safe from harm, from bullying, from any types of danger, from illness. I have never felt the need to protect something more than to protect you. I don't want you to hurt or be sad or ever have to worry, although I know that's not realistic.

I want so much for you. I want you to get everything you want in life. I want you to be healthy and happy and loved and cared for. I want you to experience new things. To travel. To be successful in however you define success. I want to make sure we have a strong bond that never fades.  I want you to have a sibling who you can grow up with, be best friends with just like your dad and I have experienced with our siblings. I want you to love being around your family.

Cruz, more than anything I just want you to be happy. And I will do anything I can to make sure that is the case. I am so proud of you. Thank you for all of the joy you have brought me over the past twenty-two months.  I love you more than you will ever know. 

Love,
Me

22 Months!

Happy 22 months, little man!

As each month continues to fly by, I can hardly believe he is almost two. How I want to savor every minute with him, but I just love seeing all of the new things he does each day.

What's new with Cruz:

Development - up to 27lbs, has 4 new teeth (16 total), wearing size 18-24 / 2T clothes and size 6 shoes, diapers are size 4, and his hair has gotten even blonder. Loving his thick, wavy blonde hair - definitely got that from his daddy. He had his sixth haircut this month - his hair grows like a weed.

Sleep - started going to bed earlier this month to work better with daycare schedule - in bed between 8-8:30pm with the goal of waking by 7:30am. While I'm bummed that I get even less time with him after work, it's good not having to wake him up every morning before daycare, so I get some time with him in the mornings.  He's still on one nap a day - noon - 2pm approximately. I'm also glad to hear that he has accommodated so well to napping at daycare - although he was asking for a "blankie" to bring, which it sounds like he was asking his teachers because they other kiddos use them.

Daycare - officially comfortable - doesn't cry when I leave (may say "noooo") but easy to tell him daddy or I will be there to pick him up. As I was picking him up the other night and he was the last one there, his afternoon teacher told me he is by far the smartest kid in the class, knows colors, numbers, ABCs - all of the teachers that go in his room rave that he already knows them by name. (Totally not bragging about it, but I do love hearing people talk about how much he knows. Makes this mama proud.)

Although, we did have a couple issues in daycare with a little biter. Cruz was bitten three times by the same little girl - when I asked him who did it (because daycare can't - understandable), he told me "mama I told Vivy no bite. Bite naughty!" While I was a protective mama initially, I get that these things happen. Let's just hope it stops - I can't imagine how Vivy's mama feels getting talked to about her little one biting all the kiddos.

First day of his new daycare...just not too sure

Loves to sing - ABCs (all the way through!) - although LMNOP sounds like one letter - and Take Me Out To The Ballgame is a new one (my favorite part - he says "root root root for the Cubbies" but it sounds like tubbies). He also came home from daycare singing "head, shoulders, knees and toes" while pointing to every body part but those he's singing about. He still requests "Sunshine" and "Rock Bye" at bedtime.

Play time - loves going "weeeee" down big slides at the park and on the swing. The no fear thing is kicking into high gear and he want to climb up the slide and the fake rock climbing wall which is just too scary for me. His train table has been the toy of the millennium - he goes to bed asking to play trains and wakes up the same way. We are sooo appreciative of the Lynch's for giving it to our little guy.  He also still loves his tractors, coloring, airplanes, painting and playing in his big boy kitchen. And the iPhone, he is a huge fan. Our fave app - My Furry Friend. Check it out, you won't be sorry.

He looks like one of the big boys on his iPhone

TV - yes this is a topic - he still loves him some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but these days when Mickey asks a question and waits for kiddos at home to answer - Cruz answers back! And he's generally correct. It just blows my mind. Plus when they call trusty old Toodles in for a Mouseketool, Cruz usually knows which one they should use and shouts it out. It's too sweet. He's also incorporated a little Chuggington into his TV time and loves watching the trains with dada.

Doesn't everyone lay around watching TV like this?

Eating - he loves to eat next to mama or dada in regular chairs at restaurants these days, although his high chair is still the best place to keep him - and your food - contained! While I was traveling he and daddy feasted on filet - Cruz is down to eat 4 oz himself! - and grilled chicken breast. Dipped in applesauce, of course. He's also a big fan of peanut butter & jelly, egg salad, peas, green beans and mixing everything on his plate in his glass of milk and then digging it out and eating it. He loves snacks - grapes, bananas, dried fruit, fruit snacks and if he had his way, cookies every.single.day. He also loves helping me cook...or let's be honest, throw together sandwiches, because there isn't a lot of cooking that goes on in our kitchen.

His regular perch when we are in the kitchen

Favorites - TV, books, toys, activities, snacks, hiding from dada & surprising him, cookies, pulling all of the dishes out of the cupboards & playing with them (still, he's done this for the past six months and still loves it!), reading books to us (he knows every word in the 100 words book), watching Mickey Mouse. He also loved soaking up some last of the season swim time with us over Labor Day weekend.

Not so favorites - getting his diaper changed, pulling him away from his trains to go nigh nigh, taking pics (definitely needs to get over this...).

Potty training - is tough! We had such great momentum, but lately he's not loving it. Daycare has been helping by taking him to the toilet every hour and he's doing well, but at home he wants to fight it and not go. I just need to be more stern and need help from his daddy.

Talking - speaking in full sentences these days and while I would like to pretend we know exactly what he is saying, I find myself having to ask him a couple times or guess and then he furrows his brow and I can sense his frustration with his mama, like "come on lady, why can't you figure out what I'm trying to say?" He is talking soooo well these days. I love that he can communicate with us and tell us what he wants/needs. And his voice? It's just the cutest, sweetest sound in the world.


Here's to another great month with the best little guy around!!

My boys

Love Lately: Trains, Rocks & Cards

It's Friday again and a great time to share five of our favorite things. I can't believe how quickly this week flew by, but you won't find me complaining.

And with that, "these are a few of my favorite things..." {think Sound of Music here}.

{ONE}
This train table. We are very fortunate {or you could say we planned well by not having our kids until later} to receive my nephew's hand-me-downs for Cruz and it just so happens they have some of the coolest stuff, so we really don't mind that they are secondhand. We got this train table a couple weeks ago and I can't tell you how many hours little man has spent playing 'choo choos' since then. And the best part - it was F-R-E-E. And trust me, this bad boy wasn't cheap...I know because I had purchased some of the train sets for them over the years. Now that's what I call a great return on your investment.

{TWO}
Boon Catch Plate. If you know me, you know I'm a fan of all Boon products for kiddos and the Catch plate is no exception. Not only is it functional - it suctions to the table to prevent littles from picking it up and dumping their food everywhere and it has a great lip to 'catch' {get it, that's where the name comes from!} food falling from their mouth. But it also looks super cute and as with everything Boon has the cutest name. Even if you don't have kids, know that anything you get from Boon will be the greatest gift for your family and friends who have them.

{THREE}
My best friend is engaged!!  On top of a mountain in Colorado, 9,600 feet high, he proposed and she said yes! I'm so excited for Angie & Austin and can't wait for the wedding planning to begin. I see many trips to Houston in my future as she's already enlisted me to help with the wedding planning. {Um, how absolutely gorgeous is that rock?!?!}

{FOUR}
Lorac Tantalizer. This stuff is my savior. I have been bad about getting my sunless tan on these days  and for some reason it seems I forgot that summer was the time to actually get a tan {I believe my husband said something to the effect of "geez this is the whitest I've ever seen your legs"}, so when I have somewhere fancy to be I always use this. After my shower, I lotion up and then rub Tantalizer onto my arms and legs, let it dry while I'm getting ready {especially if I'm wearing something light-colored} and then I'm instantly bronzed. As we are talking about gifts, this is one of my favorite to gift to my girlfriends.

{FIVE}
May Designs. If you haven't checked this shop out yet, you're missing out. I first discovered it when I was searching for a cute notebook and planner at the beginning of the year and couldn't be happier with the products. You get to custom design the look of your items inside and out. So, when I was in need of some monogrammed note cards {sending snail mail is a lost art in my book}, I put these together and love, love, love sending them out a thank you or just a note to say hi. Plus, could the packaging be any cuter? I mean, when I see this show up in my mailbox, I squeal like a little girl.

And on that note {get it?}, have a great weekend everyone! I know I will.

Our Favorite Things: Nine to Twelve Months

I loved this stage because he was trying to many new things: eating solids, trying to walk and just being the cutest roly, poly baby ever.  Here are some of the products we couldn't live without.

9 - 12 Month Favorites:

• Pedialyte - we should've bought stock in this drink as much as Cruz drank when he was sick. It was great to help him rehydrate when he wasn't drinking his formula or milk, plus it isn't full of sugar like other drinks - which is a major plus in my book. I always kept some on hand. Just in case.
• Make My Day Silicone Bib - these bibs are by far the bomb dot com. My sister got them for us when he was first born, but I didn't use them until closer to a year when he started getting into more solids. I have two and just wash them between meals, throw them in the diaper bag on-the-go (they are rubbery so they just roll right up) and can't get enough of them. I buy them for all my expecting friends for gifts - that's how much I love them.  Plus they are super cute! The boy bibs have a bowtie design and the girls have necklaces. Definitely a must-have in my book.
• Plum Little Cremes & Gerber Graduate Yogurt Melts - depending on where we were shopping we always picked up a bag of these. If they had Plum I would always go with those first (we really liked this brand of food for our little guy), but he liked them both. They are basically freeze dried yogurt pieces - easy to eat and dissolve in their mouths. These were easy to tote along in a snack cup for road trips or visits to the grocery store. There is a bit of powder on them that gets on their fingers/hands, but it's super easy to wash off.
• Hyland's Teeting Tablets - these bad boys were one of the best "in passing" recommendations we got from a stranger. We were sitting in a restaurant while Cruz was in the middle of teething and drooling everywhere, when a young mom came up and started talking to me about little man. She noticed the drool and said we had to try these - nothing worked better for her kids when they were teething. I bought them that day and was sold from there on. Fortunately Cruz never had a terrible time with teething and I attribute part of that to Hyland's.
• Melissa & Doug Chomp & Clack Alligator Push Toy - my fave toy ever. We received this as a gift and I love (almost) everything about it. It was the perfect height, the little gators clacked when he pushed it (so cute!) and the wheels had rubber grips on them which made for slow moving for early walkers. Whether he pushed it on the carpet or on the kitchen, it never moved to quickly whereas he would fall over. (The only thing I would've changed was the fact that it was made of wood and hard when he fell on it - but I would've changed absolutely everything to soft rubber during this time if I could've). Definitely recommend for your kiddos as they start pulling themselves up and try to walk.
• Plum Teensy Fruits - these are great snacks to take on-the-go and they are delicious! We he loved every flavor and they were easy. That's the best part. 
• Old Navy PJ Sets - we love the jammies from Old Navy. I generally order mine online because they have a cuter selection and only buy them when they are on sale (they are often) but they fit well and last through countless washes. 

I hope this list helps as you are moving into the 9-12 month stage with your little ones or maybe you can relate to some of these items! What were your favorites during this time?

And check out some of our other favorites here.

Blur Of A Weekend

Wow...what a great weekend.

I can't believe it's Monday and now I'm just sitting here typing about it all. I wish I could rewind to Friday and slow it down a bit. We had so much going on this weekend that it felt like the past three days were squished into one really long, but really fun, day.

Prepare yourself for total picture overload. Don't say I didn't warn you.

{Friday}
Friday night was rehearsal for Ryan and Laura's wedding. With Nick in the wedding, Cruz and I tagged along to the church and then out to Shevy's for dinner and cocktails.

Family shot - so happy to actually get a real smile and not just the fake "cheese" he's been giving us these days.

The guys...this is one of the best group of dudes I've ever met and they've all been thisclose since our college days. They would literally do anything for each other and that's what makes it all the more amazing to spend time with them. They are goofy, hard core drinking machines, but you mess with someone in the crew and you better watch yourself.

And the wives. Loving up on the pretty bride-to-be in the coral dress. I have loved getting to know these girls over the years.

{Saturday}
Wedding day! I wasn't pleased with anything in my closet, so I packed up little man for a quick shopping trip. I ended up with some shoes and this yellow and gray sweater for him from the Gap. He looked so adorable...and matched his daddy so well. I, on the other hand, wore something I already had at home. :)

My loves...and I'm not the mushy kind, but how hot does my hubby look in this gray and yellow combo?

This picture has to be one of the cutest...don't you just love when big guys turn into a ball of mush around a cute little person?

The beautiful couple. I have to say this was one of the most touching ceremonies I have ever been to. The priest read letters that they had written to each other during the Homily and there wasn't a dry eye in the house. It was really special.

The reception itself was full of dancing, drinking, and chasing little man around after his "three pieces of cake"-induced sugar high. Of course I didn't take any pictures even though I had drug my DSLR along.

Oh, but there were pictures. Like this little gem that surfaced on little ole Instagram....kinda sums up the night after 9pm and once Cruz was safely in the hands of grandma.

{Sunday}
Fortunately we went home relatively early for us, which made waking up nice and early not too difficult. I had a big day ahead of finalizing the decor and desserts for Kristen's baby shower at our house later in the day, but first Cruz and I had a wedding shower across town. It was thrown by my sister-in-law for her little sis who is getting married in October.

Cruz, of course, was quite a character as he ran around the space still on a sugar hangover from the night before. And obviously from the frosting he ate off his hand after grabbing a piece of the cake right off the table.

Brittany (my SIL), her mama and Ashley (bride-to-be). It seems like we were just at Waterford having Brittany's wedding shower...hard to believe that she and Marc are coming up on a year!

My bestie. He was so tired of pictures by this point and kept putting his hand in front of his face, saying "no mama."  As if that would stop me!

Afterwards, we rushed home and put the finishing touches on our place for the shower welcoming little Kennedy Jude into our lives. I can't even tell the story without getting quite emotional, but the gist is that two of our very best friends have tried to have a baby for years with no luck. They've been on a list for adoption for just as long and just a few short weeks ago were contacted to meet this little angel. Their precious baby girl. I couldn't be happier for them and it is just the sweetest seeing them with her. And best of all we finally have a little girl to put all of our boys in their place.

Miss Kennedy Jude. I'm head over heels for her big brown eyes and all of that gorgeous dark, curly hair. It is the sweetest!

Proud mama, Kristen. How gorgeous is she?

I had to borrow Cruz's chair during gift opening...let's just say it wasn't ideal for a short dress. 

Kennedy, Cole and Cruz man. I can hardly believe how old Cruz looks next to these two.

And I told you there were loads of pictures.

What did you do this weekend?

Love Lately: Fall, Hair & Weddings

Don't you hate it when you have so many things to blog about, but you just can't find the time to put pen to paper fingers to keyboard? Well here are some things I've been loving up on lately.

{ONE}
If you know me, you know I'm hot and cold with holiday/seasonal decor. While I love the way the house looks all dressed up, I don't love the work that goes into it. Lazy? I think so. But for some reason I've been all about prepping for fall. I'm working on the inside, but a little change on the outside were these guys. Orange and a little bit crazy.  I just love the way they look!

{TWO}
And fall also means that Halloween is coming soon. Whether or not we are having our annual - minus the past two years - Halloween party remains unknown, but my mind is racing with costume ideas.  The one problem... I don't know how I'm going to find a costume cuter than little man's from last year. I guess if there is anything I like, it's a challenge. Is he not the cutest nerd EVER?

{THREE}
And what else do I love? A notification like this. $40 credit to Zulily - you know this is going to go to good use and be spent quickly. When I told the hubby? He asked if this would cover the cost of the five Zulily packages that have shown up on our doorstep over that past two weeks. Um, not so much, but nice thought.

{FOUR}
 A new hair color - I had a hair appointment last night and made the decision to go dark. I've went dark once before. Back then I was looking for a change and Nick thought it would be like having a new wife around the house (um, not sure how I should feel about that). Well I went really dark, didn't like it and lightened it a tad. Didn't love that either, so after a couple months I went back to blonde.

Here we are again, I felt I needed a change, plus my hair was feeling so dang dry from the constant highlights that I needed to do something to let it get back to healthy. Enter dark hair. I like it. I think I do. No, I really do. Let's just say the verdict is still out. But I do love the way Ricky styled it. Now if only he could replicate this for me every day.

{FIVE}

Not only did I get a new hair color, but I got a new hair color the night before a close friend's wedding weekend. Probably not my brightest moment. Instead of easing myself and others into the new color, I'm just ripping the band-aid right off and jumping in. Why not!

But our two friends are getting married this weekend and I couldn't be happier for them, nor more excited to spend the entire weekend with some of our favorite people. Ryan has been in our lives basically as long as I've known Nick and Laura is newer to the mix but fits in perfectly with our crew. I'm so happy for them and can't wait to see this beautiful couple tie the knot. Plus, I get to spend two full days with my guys...and have I told you about Cruz's dance moves lately? Kid cuts a mean rug!

Below is the print I made for Laura's bridal shower and I love how it turned out.

Linking up with the girls for Five on Friday. Have a great weekend everyone! I know I will!