Friday Favorite Christmas List for Her

This year I had a hard time thinking about items that I wanted to place on my Christmas list. After a lot of research and looking at what I need in my closet and makeup bag. I decided on the items above. I think they would be great additions that most women would love.

1. Buxom Mascara
This is by far my favorite higher end mascara around. I love the blackest black. The applicator is awesome. I would always be happy with a tube of this stuff in my stocking!

2. JCrew Factory Lexi Pants
These are my  number 1 go to pants for work, so I am always looking for fun new colors to add to my closet.

3. Sam Edelman Boots
My cousin wore a pair of these babies to our Thanksgiving celebration, and I have been dying for a pair ever since.

4. Tyme Iron
This thing is ridiculously expensive, but it is really cool. Anything to save your wrist while you are making those perfect curls with the straightening iron.

5. Pandora Brillant Legacy Clear Earrings
I don't often wear earrings, but maybe I would if I had these babies. I think they are pretty without breaking the bank.

Happy Friday, y'all!

Piper's X-Mas List

This year I was having a really hard time figuring out what my P would want for Christmas/ Hanukkah. She is still in that stage where she can show interest in toys, but cannot really tell you what she wants in so many words. So--The best way to determine what she might like is to actually take her to Toys-r-us and actually observe her in her own environment. Then there were things that as I walked through--I just thought would be good for her development. Here's what we came up with. Hopefully it can help you shop for the baby love in your life. Or for P if you are family :)

1. Just Like Home Deluxe Housekeeping Set
P is always the happy helper around the house. She loves to help us do the laundry and wipe up messes on the floors. I know that she would love getting this set for the holidays!

2. LeapFrog My own Laptop
J loves educational toys and specifically felt that we needed to buy this laptop for P for Christmas. It is already purchased and read to place under our tree. It will help P learn her letters and numbers as well as learn how to spell. I think she will love it.

3. Fisher-Price Bright Beats Dance & Move Beatbo
While walking through the store I saw this little guy, and although I didn't purchase him, I know my girl would love him as she loves anything musical.

4. Little Tikes 3 ft. Trampoline
When I was looking through different blogs and parent websites for gifts for 2 year olds. A lot of them said a small trampoline to work on jumping with both feet. P is still having a hard time mastering this skill, so I think that this trampoline will be great for her development. Thanks, Glammy!

5. Baby Amaze Learn To Talk and Read Babydoll

I saw this babydoll when we were walking through Toys r us and just knew that it would be a great pick up for baby P. We opted to get one of her accessories, but not the doll itself. It may be a great pick up for later on, or for another family member to get her. I can just see P reading along with the baby as she has a real passion for books lately. It is one of the things I really love about her!

6. Yvolution Y Velo Jr. Double Wheel Balance Bike

As someone who didn't learn to ride a bike until much later in life--I was fascinated when I saw the whole section of balance bikes in the stores this year. What a cool idea for a little one's development! I like this one because it is for two year olds and the double wheel helps them learn balance but is a little bit more stable. There are no pedals so it is just about learning to balance and move on the bike frame. This gift has already been claimed for baby P, but you should get your little one one of these pronto! I kinda want one for myself, not going to lie. Just make sure you get your little one a helmet too. Safety first Friends!

So that is it. There is my list of things that I think any two year old would want. You could always add Play-doh, coloring books with stickers, board books, and cute outfits. Those things are also always winners in my house. 

Happy shopping, and have a Happy Holiday Season, Y'all.

So Big!

Two nights ago Piper did something that scared the crap out of me. It is one of the fears I have always had as a mother, and something that I hoped she would never do. 

I had put her to bed and was sitting downstairs. I heard her start to cry. It is right after a break, so I knew that she probably wasn't tired yet because she had gotten used to going to bed a little bit later than normal over the past week. However, she had to get up early and needed to go to sleep. I went back upstairs and rocked her for a few minutes. I put her back down and she immediately popped back up and started screaming. She did NOT want to go to bed. I decided to let her cry it out for awhile. I went back down stairs. She was protesting pretty profusely and then all of a sudden I hear this big BANG and the whole house shook.

I knew instantly what had happened. I have never climbed a set of stairs so quickly in my life. When I reached her door I could tell that she standing on the other side of it. So there it was--my child, the crib escape artist.

I gave her a quick once over. Evaluated her pupils. Made sure she could walk to me without a limp. Made sure she could move and lift both arms over her head. Saw that she could wiggle her finger and toes, and turn her neck, and decided that she was probably fine. But. I. Was. Not. Fine. 

I raced down the stairs with her and grabbed my phone to call my husband, who was out getting dinner. I broke down on the phone with him trying to tell him what had happened. I was so scared. I knew she was fine. That wasn't the issue. The issue was the what if's. What if she hadn't been fine. What if she had broken something--like her neck. I would have felt like it was my fault. I couldn't live with that. 

After a call to the pediatrician and some M&Ms to calm our nerves we lowered her crib all the way to the floor to ensure that she could not again escape, but vowed that we would not let her cry tonight out of fear that she might try again. 

Yesterday I spent spare time searching Wal-Mart for toddler beds months earlier than I thought I would have to and choked back tears. My baby is not ready for a big girl bed. My baby is, well, a baby still.

But the facts were all there, she is not a baby anymore. She is almost two. She hasn't sipped from a bottle in almost a year. She can say full sentences, and count to fifteen. She can tell you her name, that she a girl, and that she loves her Daddy. She knows at least 15 different songs by heart. She can spoil the ending of any book in her repertoire. She is a busy, beautiful, wild, bustling, toddler. NO denying it anymore.

As I am already planning her second birthday party, I shouldn't be surprised. But I was. She may be ready, but I am not. As they say--each day she is youngest and smallest she will ever be. It seems like forever ago that I was pregnant with her. I can barely remember what it felt like to nurse her, to cuddle that tiny body. It just seems like a lifetime ago. 

And it was. She is a completely different person, and so am I. She has made me that way. I am thankful for that. I truly am. So I will have to learn to be ok with the fact that she is SO BIG! I needed the reminder to stop and savor the moments everyday. Because one day I will look back on these days and miss them too. I want to remember every little bit. So tonight we are going to play Ring Around the Rosie. I'll let her chase me around the kitchen island. Maybe we will even have a dance party on Mommy's bed. That's what I want to remember one day when she is again, So Big.

I Can't Even

There are many things that I am. One of those things is a Georgia Bulldog. BUT after yesterday's firing of Mark Richt, I just can't even explain how disappointed I am.

You may think it is silly. You can call me a crazy, deranged fan. So be it. I may be all of those things, but I am an alumni, and I am a fan.

So when I tell you that I shed a few tears yesterday. I mean it. I shed a few because I am sentimental. I also shed them because I felt sick at my stomach. I don't pretend to know everything about football, and god knows I have said he should be fired a few times in haste after a disappointing loss. But I have grown up in the Mark Richt era. He has been there since I was in high school. He was the coach I cheered for in the student section. He made me feel proud, safe, and at times superior.

When everyone said he was soft--I always followed it up with saying, but he doesn't cheat. And I believed it. I still do. He did it the right way, and I respected that.

So I feel like it is a death in the family. Maybe a much less significant one, but it feels like a real loss. I feel scared and anxious over our future, and I have never had to feel that way since I really started watching Georgia Football. For that I am sad.

I am sad that winning a national championship seems to take precedence over being loyal to someone who has given his all to our university, and who has proved countless times that he is a great role model and ambassador for us. It is a shame that that was simply not good enough.

BUT...come August, I will sit and watch the games with my red and black on. I will cheer on whoever comes next. It may never feel quite the same to me, but I am a fan. So I will cheer on. And so will Richt.

As a coach I know that what we do often comes with very little appreciation. It is frustrating. We give our hearts and our time away from our families to mold athletes. It is a hard job, yet rewarding. So today--even though my heart hurts--I will say. Well done, Coach Richt. Thanks for the memories. I will miss you, and GO DAWGS!

Home Projects

Since we moved into our new home--I have been hard at work to get everything ready to host my family's Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations this year. I know that the holiday season will be fast approaching (since Halloween is tomorrow!). Once it starts--I will have very little time to get everything ready for the holidays and P's SECOND birthday party in January.

So there are a few rooms that I have been working on feverishly and I am ready to share them with you. I am certainly no decorator, but I think these projects turned out pretty perfect!

1. P's Nursery
Since I have never really shared P's nursery on the blog--I decided this would be the big one for sure. Her room was the first to be completed in our new home. This was obviously out of necessity. It needed to have everything set up to be ready for her to sleep in each night. It is a room we all spend a lot of time in playing, sleeping, rocking, and reading.

 I was insistent upon getting blackout curtains to help her sleep, and I think that they have served their purpose pretty well. P actually has 4 blackout panels and then an additional 3 black out panels behind those to further block the light. It is DARK in her room, and I LOVE IT!

The other wall houses her changing table--whose days are numbered as I am anxiously awaiting P to show me that she is ready to potty train. It also contains her nightstand with all of her books and her rocking chair. The rocking chair was the one my mother used to rock me in. I just love things that are sentimental like that. The picture over her changing table is the printable I made for her birthday last year that details all of her stats. The wood monogram was a gift from Piper's Aunt Michelle. I spray painted it with gray chalkpaint spray paint to match her room.

The other side has her crib with her name over it, and her dresser with her bow holder.

She actually has two bow holders for all of that hair.

2. The hallway gallery wall
Upstairs we have this huge wall in the hallway that is actually visible from downstairs. Therefore I knew that it needed to be filled up quickly. It is the first thing you see when you walk in our house. I want it to be inviting. So--I hopped on Pinterest to look at a lot of different gallery walls and the best ways to do them.

I grabbed a roll of wrapping paper and traced the outline of each frame and where the nail would go for each one. Then I labeled it with what picture it was. I grabbed my painters tape and laid the wall out in a grid like pattern. I think it definitely looks good when you walk in. What do you think? We still have some pictures to print out and put in frames at the top.

3. My coffee nook

These are all over pinterest everywhere you look. This piece was actually an old hutch. We removed the top of the hutch (it is a shelf in our garage now where we leave our shoes and such). We painted the bottom and I believe that it is a beautiful pop of color for our eat in kitchen.

4. My office nook

I don't have a whole room as an office, but we have a very large bedroom with a perfect spot for a desk. I actually love the desk being in our room. I think it adds more character in the room that has a tendency to feel TOO big at times. This desk was previously our old kitchen table. My dad sanded it and painted it with grey chalk paint. I think it turned out lovely. Now, I just need a picture for the wall above it.

That's it for now. Tonight, we head to P's Trunk or Treat. She is going to be Minnie Mouse for Halloween. I hope actually participates this year. It is going to be so much fun! I couldn't get a good picture of her in her costume, so this one will have to do.

Have a happy and safe Halloween!

Sharpen it up!

In life there are times where you find yourself fighting to stay on top of it all. Moments where time seems fleeting and your attention is stretched between a million different people, activities, and moments. For me this has been true since school started.

I find myself, mentally, physically, and emotionally stretched thin between all of the things that need to be done and the things that I want to do. Prioritizing effectively is not one of my skills and as I have gotten older this has become more apparent to me. Since I re-entered the classroom, added Cheerleading Coach to my resume again, along with my most important jobs of being a wife and a mom--some days there are just not enough brain cells to make it all run smoothly.

I am not one of those women who has it all together. I don't claim to have great organization skills and it is EXTREMELY scary how little I remember dates (especially since I teach history). Lately, I find it hard to remember what the date is--is the it 14th or 15th? Is it Monday or Tuesday--Please god, let it be Friday. Add in late night cheerleading practices, weekend competitions, the occasional make-up job on a Sunday--and there is nothing left up there but one exhausted subconscious just trying to hold on for dear life.

Is it a personality flaw? ADD? Pregnancy brain that just never went away? I don't know--but I need some mental sharpening quick! I mean, stat!

Have you ever experienced this feeling: you are talking to someone and you know exactly what you want to say. The word you want to say is in your head, but you cannot physically get the word out. It is there and you can say it perfectly, but it gets stuck up there somewhere and you just end up awkwardly pausing until it magically unsticks itself. It's like being held prisoner to your own mind.

I used to experience this every once in awhile. But now it happens daily, and sometimes multiple times a day. I know what I want to say, but it takes me several seconds to be able to get the exact wording out. It is humiliating and is starting to scare me a bit.

Whatever the reason--I am really trying to be more present in my everyday life. I'm trying to concentrate more on my words and sentences. I am trying to write down my tasks for each day of the week. Along with important dates--so that way I don't forget something really important because I don't realize what day it is. I never had to write things down in years past. I just remembered in my mental calendar. Well, those days are long gone. Maybe I'm just getting old.

Anywho--I read up on ways to exercise your brain--yes, you heard it right. So I am going to start trying to do a few of these suggestions. In fact, I am doing one right now.

1. practice deep breathing--how often do you really take deep breaths. I never do, but I am going to start trying to give that brain more oxygen.

2. Journaling--see, y'all are helping me right now!

3. Use your non-dominant hand for every day tasks--like brushing your teeth or hair. It forces you to concentrate more.

4. Learn a new skill or hobby--I'm working on this one

5. Get outside, and get moving--this one is going to tougher, but it is good for me, so I will have to try.

How do you keep your mind sharp?

Happy Hump Day!

Sassy Mc-Sasserton

I currently have in my possession a 20 month old going on 15 year old. She is the sassiest little girl I ever did see, and I have a love/hate relationship with this fact for sure.

Last week J and I both had a week off of work. It was great in the sense that we took that time to move into our new home, but it wasn't very relaxing. It did, however, allow me plenty of alone time with my girl, P.

One of the not-so-secret heartaches about me going back to work and being a coach again is that there are days where I only see my daughter to put her to bed at night. It is a tragedy--I truly believe that. I have gone from one extreme in my life to the other, and sometimes I am hit by crippling guilt. What have I done to my baby? Will she forget me? Will she still understand how much I love her? I could cry just typing about it.

Insert last week and I could not wait to spend some time alone with my girl. About 5 minutes in I was worn out. O-M-G--there is no way I could have worked from home another year. Home girl would have burnt the house down around me as I taught my class. That sweet, beautiful little girl has the power to make me tear up with amusement, only to want to smack her bottom five minutes later. Her mood swings are like a teenager. She is up and down and round and round in just minutes.

P has recently taken to my old American Girl Bitty Baby. Which is awesome, because I am a sentimental schmuck and I eat these types of things up. She calls her, "baby" and she rocks, feeds, changes, bathes, and tucks Baby in at night. She is such a good mommy to Baby, and I know that she is just imitating me and how I mother her. Which is so flattering I just want to burst with pride. So last week, P had fed Baby in the high chair, and then forgotten about her and left her in the kitchen (not a very good mommy, P). About 20 minutes later she was upset that she could not find Baby in her play room. I coaxed her on to look for Baby. She looked in all of the toy bins, on each side of the couch, and in Baby's bassinet. Finally, I said, "I think baby is in the kitchen." Then my 15 year old, I'm sorry, my 20 month old gets this look of anger on her face. She turns pink, narrows my own green eyes back at me, points her chubby little finger towards the direction of the kitchen and yells, "GO GET MOMMA!"

My first reaction was to laugh at her, but knowing that that would only encourage her, I said, "no, you can go get Baby." She smiled and then happily complied with my request.

There are countless other incidents from the week. She can throw a tantrum down with the best of them, but you can't help but love that little pig-tailed beauty.

Since it has been awhile since I talked about her. P weighs in at 29 whopping pounds. She is the largest in her 18 month class at baby school. Her favorite food is Moe's chicken burritos. She can count to ten, recite the ABCs, knows all of her body parts, and can sing a mean Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. She still LOVES the Wiggles, but she will watch Mickey Mouse Club House and Handy Manny as well. Her new favorite toys are her legos and lego table. She had her first ear infection two weeks ago, and it is back with a vengeance this week. She loves to dance, sing, read, hug, and give kisses, and is all around just the best thing since sliced bread--boy, doesn't she know it.

My overall consensus is that if you don't have yourself a little girl--you need to get you one of these. It makes the world go round and everything in life just make sense. Love her to pieces!

Happy Hump Day Y'all!