Friday Makeup Favorites

Makeup is a huge part of my life. I try never to leave the house without a full face of makeup on. Since this is my side business--I want to be the best advertising I can be. These 5 makeup products are my 5 favorite products for everyday wear. Whenever I leave the house I have these on. Some of them are cheap, and some are expensive. All are quality and get their money's worth.

1. ELF Primer
This stuff is like $5 and it feels better than many other primers out there on the market. It helps my makeup stay all day and look flawless without making me oily. It mattifies my skin perfectly. I just love this stuff. You should always prime your face everytime you wear makeup. One of the biggest mistakes that people make is skipping this step. Skincare is so important to a flawless look.

2. Mabelline Dream Lumi Highlighting Concealer
This stuff is one of my favorite new finds. I wrote about this once before--but it is that special. It has replaced by heavy duty MAC and Benefit concealers. I put a coat on before foundation and a coat on after all of my makeup to highlight. It is DA BOMB!!

3. Buxom Lip Plumping Gloss
Admittedly, I am not a lipstick person. I would rather wear gloss. I love the warm tingling feeling that this gloss gives me. It is long wearing and rarely sticky. I am impressed with the colors in the collection and hope to own all or most of them eventually. Try this stuff. You won't be sorry.

4. Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner
My cousin has been wearing this stuff for years. This past Christmas she gifted me some and I have been in love ever since. Yes, it is very pricey. To be honest, though, I don't feel that the drugstore brands quite live up to the staying power and pigmentation that this stuff can give you. It will stay all day and all night. I have slept in the stuff and it does not budge. When you have hours where you need to be presentable, then this is what you need!

5. Lorac Unzipped Palette
I am an Urban Decay Naked Palette fan, but I LOVE this Lorac palette. I think that it is much better than the Naked 3. The shadows in this palette are much larger than the ones that you get in the Naked palette and I love their pigmentation just as much. The champagne color and rose gold color are my favorite. I use them daily on myself and on many of my clients. They just look good on all skin tones. While it is expensive--I think it is worth the money.

What products are part of your everday routine?

My Favorite Fall/Winter Recipes

One of the biggest reasons that I love fall and winter so much is the food. I love stews, soups and chili! I get a ton of use our of crockpot during the colder months. I know that this trend will only continue as P gets older and gets into activities. My mommy friends say the fall months are the busiest. Plus, I love the way the crockpot makes my house smell.

I am not a good cook. Truthfully, my husband does most of the cooking in our house. It is a system that works for us. He does the cooking, and I feed P. However, when we have a crockpot meal--I get to do most of the work. It makes me feel like a good little housewife all over again.

Here are my favorite quick fall meals

Poor Man Stew--This is a family recipe and favorite. I grew up eating this, and I think it stems from the Depression Era which makes it doubly cool in my book.  I love to serve this with Buttermilk Cornbread. I even put my corn bread slice in the bowl and ladle the stew on top. SO GOOD! Here is my recipe.

1 lb Ground Beef --Brown, drain grease and dump in large soup pot
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans creamed corn
1 medium onion chopped
Cook over low heat for about 45 minutes. Be careful not to let the corn burn
Combine beef, tomatoes, and onion in soup pot. Allow to cook on low heat for about 30 minutes
Add corn and cook an additional 15 minutes
Serves 4

Crockpot Chili--A seasonal favorite. I love to serve with shredded cheddar cheese and Fritos.

2 lbs Ground Beef browned and drained
2 medium onions
3 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans red kidney beans
3 Tbsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Garlic Salt
1 tsp Salt

Add all ingredients to large crock pot and stir. Allow to cook 10-12 hours on low. Serves 4

Chicken Noodle Soup--Just a feel good meal. I love to serve with Grilled Cheeses

1/2 of a medium onion or 1 small onion chopped
1 large bag egg noodles
2 cans of chunk chicken drained
2 can sliced carrots drained
water
bouillon cubes
parsley flakes

Sautee onion in olive oil in bottom of large soup pot.
Fill pot 2/3 of the way full with HOT water and add 4 bouillon cubes
Bring water to rolling boil and then add noodles. Boil until tender (12-15 minutes)
Add carrots and chicken and reduce heat to low
Simmer for 10 minutes
Sprinkle parsley on top. Serves 4.

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

4 Chicken Breasts
1 large can of salsa
1 bag brown minute rice
1 can black beans
quacamole
sour cream
shredded cheese of choice

Place chicken in bottom of crock pot. Cover with entire can of salsa. Cook on low for 5 hours.
Shred chicken and allow to sit and soak up salsa.
Cook rice and black beans to directions.
Place rice, black beans, sour cream, quacamole, and cheese in separate bowls. Allow family to make their own burrito bowls. Serves 4.

Crockpot BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

4 Chicken Breasts
1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

Place chicken in bottom of crock pot and cover with sauce. Cook on low for 5 hours. Shred and allow to sit in sauce for 15 minutes. Serve on buns for sandwiches. Serves 4.

What are your favorite quick fall meals?

Separation Anxiety

This weekend marked a very important milestone for P. It was the first time she had spent an entire 24 hours or more away from both of her parents. We have my brother in law's wedding coming up, and we knew that we needed to have a practice run. She will be away from us for 2 days, and I didn't want to just go cold turkey. It would drive me insane with worry.

I am happy to report that little miss P did a great job. She stayed at her Glammy and G-Daddy's house. When I walked in to get her--she glanced at me and just went right back to playing. She could care less that I was there. I, on the other hand, was ecstatic! I picked her up and gave her a big hug and kiss. I told her how much I loved her and missed her. The whole time she just whined to get back down to playing. How it hurt my heart and made me smile all at the same time.

While I am elated that she did so well out of her element for over 24 hours (this is not how I predicted it), there was a part deep down inside that was a little sad that she didn't seem to miss me. Don't get me wrong--I didn't want her to be inconsolably crying from the anxiety of being away from her mommy. But--dang--can I at least get a little whimpering? Can I get a sad tune of her repeating mamamamama? Nope, nothing. Just a happy, healthy, little P.

P also slept through the night while at my parents. If you want your baby to sleep well away from home--good luck. P normally hates sleeping in the Pack N Play. I finally figured it out that the PnP was for playing and not sleeping in her mind. At my parents house--they have their own PnP for P. We have been very careful to never let her play in this one. It is only for sleep while she is there. My parents bought a PnP mattress, mattress pad, and sheet. I highly recommend these things to all of you! It makes it more comfortable for her and more like a bed. We sent her with a blanket that I snuggled with the day before. That way it smelled of mommy. The blanket went in the PnP with her. Then she had her sound machine, pacifiers, and her lovie. All of these things combined for a happy baby P.

I now feel a little bit better about leaving her for 24 to 48 hours for the wedding. I will still be crazy missing her. I will still spend time rummaging through my photos of her on my phone. Truthfully I hope that part of me never changes. I love missing her.

I think I can successfully say that it is only me that experienced separation anxiety. I have become very controlling when it comes to P. I would prefer to do everything with her myself. I just feel like I do it better and with as little upset to her as possible. This may not be the best thing. When I watch anyone trying to do something with P--I hold my breath. I fight the urge to just do it myself.

She is a challenging baby. She is strong willed, and hard headed. My anxiety goes through the roof at the thought of someone else feeding her solids. I know that she cries, slaps, screams, and kicks me on a daily basis. I just cringed at the idea of her doing that to my mom. I worried that she wouldn't eat her food. That she wouldn't drink her milk. That she would be hungry and wouldn't sleep. But my mom found a way to get her to eat and sleep. HURRAY! I had nothing to worry about.

It is important for me to have time away from my daughter. I understand that. It was amazing to get to sleep in a little on Sunday morning! But--I think I still prefer to wake up to her smiling face each morning at 7 am sharp!

Do you have separation anxiety when being away from your little one? How do they do away from you? How do you cope?

Happy hOWLoween!

It's finally here! P's first holiday season. Today is Halloween. This momma couldn't be more excited for her little girl's first Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. My best memories from my childhood are the holiday ones. I cannot wait to make these special memoires with my tiny human.

The holiday season always reminds me of my grandmother. Christmas was her favorite time of year, and she always made it so special for all of us. I also loved the time of year because I got to spend it with my cousins. Since I didn't have siblings--they were the closet thing. I am so excited for P to get to spend her first Christmas with her cousin Luke.

I am all consumed with the idea of creating new traditions with P during these holiday months. I know that my husband thinks that they are cheesy and not at all necessary. However, I disagree. These are the moments that she will look back on when she is my age. These are the happy memories and moments that she will want to recreate with her family. AND--I am going to do it right. Uh, oh.

Anywho--So we will kick off this holiday season with P's first Halloween. P is appropriately going to be an owl. My favorite animal. It is fitting because there are owls all over her nursery.

I took her to my mommy and me group and snapped some adorable photos of her crawling around in her costume. She was so cute! We probably wont be going back to group again after yesterday. She was a little rough with the tiny babies. I will admit that my baby girl is a little mean. Stealing water bottles from other babies and hitting them with them is not my idea of a little lady. I know I am going to have my hands full with her in the coming months.

Our plans for tonight are to snap a million pictures of P and her brother before he heads out to trick or treat in our neighborhood. P--on the other hand, she will sit in my lap and watch at the kids walk by until her early bed time. The real fun will begin next year when she can actually eat the candy.

Happy hOWLoween Ya'll

The Solid Issue--Tips for Introducing Solids and Low Milk Intake

This post has been weighing heavily on my heart since I started introducing solids to P. Like everything with motherhood--I crossed my fingers and hoped that P would take that first spoonful of solids and never look back. It just wasn't that way for us. It has been a battle weekly. Every time I wanted to say we were out of the woods and that things were getting better--we would take a huge step back. I just didn't feel comfortable writing a post about it. I felt like I was doing something wrong in that department, and certainly wasn't the one to give advice on the subject.

I do feel like things have been better in the last month. P and I have gotten into a rhythm with her current schedule--as suggested by her new doctor. I will post that schedule at the bottom of this post for those of you who are curious. I mostly post these schedules for reference just in case I ever do convince my husband to do this again. I am sure there is a whole other post on that issue at some point.

For those reasons I have decided to share our struggle with solids and low milk intake. These two issues have driven me to more tears in the last four months than the first 5 month of motherhood. It has been my biggest struggle. Quite honestly--I have screamed, cried, and thrown things out of the frustration about P's intake. Why? Because I am a perfectionist when it comes to this whole motherhood thing. I. AM. CRAZY. I know it. It is my demon.

Here are my suggestions with introducing solids:

1. Don't be in a hurry to do it--Wait until 6 months if you can.
Don't believe the lie that some babies need solids to sleep through the night. P stopped sleeping through the night after solid introduction. Don't fall for that. Stay in your blissful bottle stage for as long as you can.

2. Educate yourself about first foods and baby led weaning.
I didn't do baby led weaning because P has a crazy gag reflex. She often throws up when she coughs. I just didn't feel comfortable with it, and neither did my husband. I have heard so many amazing success stories with it, and that is great for those parents. It just wasn't that way for us. We have just started finger foods, and it is a lot better. P needed those extra months to get her coordination down.

3. Understand that they spit it all out for the first 2 weeks or so.
Yeah--it all comes back out. They just don't understand how to move food from the front of their mouth to the back to swallow it. It is a fact of the process. You forcing them to eat won't change that.

4. It may take a month before they are eating solids well.
I mean putting away a container or two a meal. It took me about 3 months to get the point where she was eating two containers a meal and three during some meals. I felt pressured to feed her more because she wasn't eating her milk. Turns out that was the worst thing I could do. Once I relaxed a bit with the solid intake--the milk intake went back up. I had to learn how to balance the two. You also may need to experiment with different foods and textures. P likes her stuff thicker than most purees.

5. It is important to know how much is too much.
For P there is a definite difference between swatting at the spoon because I am full and swatting for fun. She pretty much swats non stop--so it was hard to know when she was really full. If I fill her too full--she will vomit everywhere. I want to avoid that like Ebola. You have to learn the cues and what works for your child.

6. Just because they don't like it today doesn't mean they won't like it tomorrow.
In the beginning P despised oatmeal with a passion. She hated that stuff. She would burst into tears if she smelled it. So I backed off. Starting off--she would only eat bananas and stuff mixed with bananas. Then it moved to all fruits. Then, veggie-fruit blends. Now she will eat some stuff that doesn't have any fruit, but still does better with blends. My husband gave her oatmeal after a month of not having it--and she gobbled it up. She loves oatmeal now. One of her favorite foods, seriously. It can change daily.

Next issue is milk intake. This one is really hard. I have heard that it is really common for a lot of babies. We have struggled mightily with this. P has taken as little as 9 ounces in a 24 hour period before. It was at a point where I was concerned about hydration. She just didn't want it at all. Here is  I have found to work with her.

1. Mix milk into everything they eat
EVERYTHING. I am not kidding. I even put milk in P's yogurt. I mix about 1/2 an ounce into most things she eats. For oatmeal--She usually eats 3 tablespoons of oatmeal with 2 ounces of milk. She eats it at breakfast and at dinner. This really helps to boost our ounce count.

2. Anything you mix into food counts toward your ounce total for the day.
If you can, try not to count the ounces. I am not able to do this, but it will help your sanity. If you have to count the ounces, then include anything you mix into food.

3.Have 1 cycle a day in which they can only have a bottle--no solids.
This is the one cycle a day that really helps to catch us up on ounces. I will not let her eat any solids. I just wait for her to want the bottle. She make take a few ounces here and a few there. That is fine. At least she is taking it.

4. Let go of the Eat, Play, Sleep Cycle.
I had to stop killing myself over this. It was making us both crazy. If she doesn't want the dang bottle right when she wakes up. I put her down to play, and she usually lets me know when she is hungry. If she doesn't by an hour before her nap, then I give her the solids. That is the best that I can do. Most of the time she will want the bottle about 45 minutes after the wakes up. She will then take her solids, and go down for a nap. It works for us.

5. Have the last solid feeding two hours or more before they go to sleep for the night.
This will just allow them to have time to get hungry and make it more likely that they will drink their milk at bedtime.

6. Offer water all day long
This was something that P's doctor really stressed at her 9 month appointment. She said any hydration is good hydration. Now, I make sure that I offer P a sippy cup of water after every solid feeding. It has really helped her wet diaper situation. Her urine is completely clear again (sorry for the tmi)

7. Consider that the problem may be your schedule.
When I went to see P's doctor--I took a copy of her schedule and her daily menu. The doctor looked at it and noticed an issue right away. She said we were keeping P up too late. What? I was trying to give her more time between dinner and bedtime--so I was putting her down 3 hours after dinner. P's doc said that the later you put them to bed--the worse they sleep. I have never heard of such a thing. It just goes against all common sense in my opinion. But--I'll be danged if it isn't the truth. Since we have moved P's bedtime--she has started taking more ounces and sleeping so much better. Turns out that she was waking in the night because of the late bedtime, and we were feeding her thinking she was hungry. This was making her less hungry during the day. Take away the night time feedings and viola! Baby girl will take those ounces during the day again. Seems so simple.

I guess I just needed a doctor to recommend the tough love with P. It was rough for the first few nights. She didn't want to go to sleep. But we stuck to our guns. Now, She goes down at 7 pm, and I wake her at 7 am. It has made such a huge difference. I will say that we still go in at about 10:30 most nights and offer her a dream feed. If she takes it--she does so in her sleep. It's the cutest thing and I love that feeding. She makes the sweetest little sighs.

I empower you to not become complacent when something is not going well. I had come to accept P's night time and eating issues. I chalked it up to her just not wanting milk anymore and not being a good sleeper. Turns out, it was something simple the whole time. Keep searching for an answer. There is one out there for you. I promise.

What works for your 9 month + baby?

P's Schedule 40 Weeks

7:00 am--Wake and bottle

7:45--breakfast (oatmeal and yogurt)

9:00--Nap

11:00--Wake and bottle * she usually wont take much if any bottle, but I always offer it

11:45--lunch (chicken and a veggie fruit blend)

1:00--Nap

3:00--wake and bottle *no solids offered this feeding

5:15--Dinner (oatmeal and fruit) 

6:00--We eat dinner and P eats finger foods and has water at the table with us

6:30--bathtime and then in room playtime

7:00--Bed time

10:30--dreamfeed

Friday Favs

Another Friday under way. This week has been crazy eventful. P started STANDING!!! O-M-G! What a big girl she is. She is also right in the middle of getting her top two teeth. Enter Friday Fav number 1

1. Chewbeads
My mom got me a necklace and P loves to chew on the silicone beads all day long. I have my eye on these bracelets that she can put around her own wrist. There is also no chance with the bracelet that she could hang herself--a plus in my book. If you don't have any chewbeads--you are missing out for sure!

2. Nuby Straw Sippy Cup
Once P got old enough to have water-I started to try to introduce sippy cups. P did not really care for the spout types. She loved to bang them on everything, but she wouldn't actually drink from one. At a restaurant one night I started letting P drink water from the bottom of my straw. I would just drop a small amount into her mouth. She was hooked. Once she got to the point were she was starting to suck the water out of the straw--I knew she was ready to drink by herself. We started using bendy plastic straws first. I would just put the straw in a glass of water and she would drink that way. Once she got good at it. I bought one of these sippy cups. It has been the best thing ever. P will drink a ton of water from this thing. It is spill and leak proof. She has even gotten really good at holding it herself. We have tried a similar Munchkin brand, but P doesn't like it as much! These are our favorite for sure. She will even drink milk out of it--WAHOO!

3. Pic Monkey
I love, Love, LOVE this site for making collages and other projects on my computer. I made P's first birthday chalkboard, her first birthday invite, and even the invite for my future sister in law's bridal shower pictured above. This site has all kinds of cool effects such as wrinkle eraser and lip plumper. I mean who wouldn't want to look like Angelina Jolie? It also allows you to use their fun fonts or fonts that you have downloaded on your computer. It is a must for your facebook cover photos and blog headers as well. Mine is made with Pic Monkey!

4. Old Navy Rockstar Skinny Jeans
I got hooked on these jeans when a friend of mine gave me three pairs that were too big for her. I seriously love how slim they make my legs and hips look while not riding too low on my waist. They are stretchy and flattering. I have them in red, orange, khaki, and black. I hope to one day own them in every single color imaginable. Did I mention that they are half the price that I normally pay for jeans at J.Crew?

5. Mabelline Dream Lumi Highlighting Concealer
This stuff just kicked my MAC concealer's little butt for half the price. While it does not have as much pigmentation or coverage--this stuff is buildable and makes you look so dewy. I love the effects it has on my under eye circles (damn genetics). I find myself reaching for it every single day and even putting it on my clients for photo shoots. Run out and get yourself one. I promise, you wont regret it.

I hope you have enjoyed my favorites for this week. I kinda mixed this one up with baby, fashion, and makeup. Hopefully you can find something in there that relates to you.

Have a great weekend, ya'll!

Daddy's Girl

As soon as everyone found out that I was having a baby girl--they were quick to tell me that little girls are just closer with their daddy. I heard it over and over everywhere I went. Some people even went as far as to say, "you should try for a boy next because they love their mommy." I thought, Really? Does the gender make that big of a difference? Will the fact that she is a girl mean she will love her dad more than me?

She should love me more. I carried her for 9 months. It was me that couldn't brush my teeth without throwing up. Me who couldn't sleep because of her kicking my ribs throughout the night. Me who labored with her. It was me that sacrificed my body to breastfeed and then pump for her over the last nine whole months.  Me that works from home so that she doesn't have to go to daycare. I clean up the vomit, poop, and urine. I patiently (and not so patiently at times) spoon feed her baby food. Compared to me--daddy is definitely the lesser parent, right?

Wrong. My husband is not the typical father and husband. He does a lot around the house, and rarely complains. He cooks while I feed P dinner. He does the dishes while P and I play and dance. He gives P a bath, and then we all have story time together.  He does all of these things after working a full day. He is always thinking of me, and rarely of himself. He is hands on and involved. 

When he found out we were having a girl he worried how he would do it. He didn't know anything about girls. I told him all he had to do was love her and play with her just like he did his son. I know that he will be great at playing Barbies and having fancy tea parties. I can see him letting her put makeup on his face and braid his hair. I don't worry about their connection. I know it will be very strong.

Baby girl is a daddy's girl. Monday afternoon I heard the familiar sound of the garage door opening. My husband was home from work. P and I were playing on the floor together. She was eating puffs out of my hand and watching Baby First TV. Daddy walked in. P greets him with the biggest smile I have ever seen, a big chuckle, and then she takes off crawling at light speed into his arms. She was so happy to see him. She has never done that when I come home after being away for awhile. 

This exchange filled my heart with happiness. I got that little tickle in the back of my throat. It was a heartwarming moment. I was witnessing their bond first hand. While I am still waiting for her to do that for me--I know that I get to do a lot of things with her that my husband does not. I cannot be jealous of that.

We are getting to the point where P is able to show her love for us. It is such a special feeling. We have gone months of loving her to amazing lengths with nothing in return, and now it is all paying off. She will give us kisses and hugs. She will crawl to me when she is tired--or just because she wants to sit in my lap. Reciprocation--it is amazing.

P is not the most affectionate baby. She doesn't really like to be held or cuddled. She doesn't like to be rocked unless she is really sleepy--so the moments where she shows us her love are really special. I will never forget the look on her face when she saw her daddy for the first time all day. It was truly priceless. I can't wait to see her love for him grow. 

What types of things do your husbands do with their daughters?