little letters (I'm ashamed to admit...)

Dear new "mom" car, I thought I loved you so... until I hit a freakin' pole! I've never hit a pole before!! But now that I have a brand new vehicle, that I haven't even made a payment on yet, and I swipe the pole and mess up your pretty paint job. Uuuugh! {insert the ugly cry emoji}

Dear hubs, remember that you love me! Better yet, remember why you fell in love with me! (Hint: it wasn't because of my driving skills.)

Dear Mia, I thought we were in the clear when your second top tooth popped through (which took eight days I might add. Eight long, miserable days. I wish they didn't hurt you!) but nope! You have your first ear infection because of those little teethies. And it has not been kind to us. Hopefully that antibiotic kicks the infection to the curb last night because we all need more sleep in this house!

Dear Netflix, I am loving the updated queue! I don't have a lot of time to watch my shows (hence the reason we don't have satellite, why pay the money for something we have no time for?) but when I do? I am almost giddy when I remember that I have new episodes to watch :) What are your favorite shows on Netflix??

Dear November thankful game, some people get really annoyed with you because "we should be thankful all year long". While I do agree with that, I love seeing what people are thankful for! It reminds us of every single blessing we are thankful for, or at times, take for granted. Plus I love that people recognize the spirit of Thanksgiving!!

Dear hubs, You have the cutest tush in the world. Not manly enough? You can grow a mean beard, or whatever kind of facial hair you want. You are the hardest worker and I appreciate everything you do to provide for our family! You will always be my forever!! (Have you forgiven me yet??)

Dear Mia, I feel bad complaining about your teeth and ear infection because you are still happier than most babies! But it just makes my momma heart hurt knowing your in pain! And what can I say? I miss sleeping through the night! But you are my favorite baby and I love you forever!

Dear readers friends, thank you SO much for taking the time out of your day to vote for sweet Mia. Gerber has changed things up and the direct link to Mia's photo doesn't work anymore (sorry!) If you want to vote click this link, click "view gallery" and enter her ID #: 249510. Thank you SO much!!

November bucket list

I made a fall bucket list here and I'm proud to say that I crossed almost everything off the list! I thought I'd make another bucket list because apparently that's the only way I get stuff done, AND November doesn't really feel like fall to me. We have crazy bipolar weather where I live. Let me explain. Monday we didn't get above 30 and it snowed all afternoon. Today our high is supposed to be 63. So because the weather changes so drastically from day to day, November doesn't really count as fall in my book. So a new bucket list it is :)

1- Buy a candle (or two) from Bath and Body Works. I admit that this was on my last bucket list but I couldn't find any scents I liked (I know, crazy!) But I found a couple that are so yummy plus their Christmas scents? Too die for, or something! Does anyone know when B&BW's is supposed to have a sale??

2- Make a dang craft! This was also on my last list and it just didn't happen. (I blame my friends because friends don't let friends craft alone!)

3- Clean out our storage room. I mean, pull out every. single. box. and throw stuff away! I guess not everything can be fun and carefree on this list.

4- Set up a little playgroup. I admit that Mia and I have been having a lot of fun with friends but it's been months since we did an actual play date with with all of our friends who have babies within just weeks of Mia! I wouldn't have survived the move to this town without those girls so I want to make more of an effort to not let our busy lives get in the way of our friendships (and our babes friendships)!

5- Bake more pumpkin goodies, of course :) I still can't believe how much I baked (with the fresh pumpkin from my MIL's garden that I pureed, thank you very much!) in the last month and a half. Eric doesn't know what to think about it, either ;)

6- Run a race this month. It's been difficult to get out and run with the cold weather but I really don't want to lose it! I get out of (running) shape so quickly if I slack!

7- Win the Gerber photo contest... but we can't do that without your help! Click this link and vote if you want to help change Mia's future (and share the link with your friends if you'd like)! Please and thank yoooou!!

What's on your bucket list?

week(end) review

Last week was a good week but kind of rough at the same time! My friend, Kyndra, and her two boys came and stayed with us for a few days. Her baby is just two days older than Mia and her little boy is 4. Mia had SO much fun with them! She was always touching them (ie: picture of the babies swinging) and anytime we got in the car, Mia would hold Ryder's (4 yrs) hand, ha ha! But the crappy weather ruined all of our plans :( Have I mentioned that I'm not ready for winter yet??
On Halloween I toted Mia around on all of my errands in her costume. I tried to get a good picture of her all day but she just wasn't having it! She wouldn't look at the camera or else she'd crawl away from me! Did I mention that Mia was teething all week? Anyway, as soon as dad got home she was allllll smiles, of course! (You can read about our Halloween here.)
I'd been dying to see Thriller but Eric told me he didn't want to go this year. So I decided to make a girls night out of it! I had the BEST time with these girls! And I did so good about not letting the zombies scare me until... The zombie in the last picture?? When I took my phone back from the boy who snapped our picture, I turned around and she jumped in my face and did some nasty, horrible growl thing that made me scream and almost pee my pants. I mean seriously, doesn't she know I've given birth?? I'm not as strong as I once was, ha! Anyway, it was such a fun night!
I soaked up lots of relaxing time with Eric and my poor, teething baby the rest of the weekend. I hate seeing Mia in pain, especially when it's beyond my control! Teething is awful :(
Vote for Mia??

insta-life

Bath time is our FAVORITE! (And that smile...)

"Even after all this time the Sun never says to the Earth,

"You owe me."

Look what happens with a love like that, it lights the whole sky."

My super cute Halloween nails! Does anyone else find that trying to take a picture of your nails is totally and completely awkward??

The many faces of my little bestie! We just happen to be posing right in front my new "mom" car. Any guesses? :)

My loves on Halloween. They just happen to be my f a v o r i t e!

This screams the perfect Fall day! Too bad my running (outside) days are over now that winter has arrived (it snowed all afternoon yesterday).

Check out my new picture from Easy Canvas Prints! It is beautiful and it was just the change up I needed to add to my gallery wall of photos. The colors are so vibrant and crisp (such a clean print job)... I can't even tell you how much I love this canvas! I will definitely be adding more to my collage! Easy Canvas Prints was incredibly easy (for real) to order through and I couldn't be more happy with the product!

If you want to follow along on IG my username is courtbrink. You should probably check out the latest video I posted of Mia anyway. It will melt. your. heart.
Please don't hate me, this is your friendly reminder to click here and vote for Mia (we can't do it without you)!  

her future needs YOU!

So, I have entered Mia in a contest that is practically impossible to win, but Mia deserves a chance so I'm bringing it to the blog to ask for help. Gerber is hosting a cutest baby contest on their Facebook page (I know, impossible!) and if we won, well, it was be huge for Mia's future!

This picture is a little dark, but it is what it is.

There are strict rules I had to follow to enter Mia's photo and one of them was no professional photographs. Well, unfortunately I don't know how to edit pictures soooo it's kind of dark BUT it's still cute :) Plus anyone who follows my blog or instagram has seen (too) many photos of Mia and we all know that she is beautiful!
I apologize ahead of time because I am going to be super annoying (especially if Mia can truly be in the running to win). Lives are touched, futures are changed because of social media!! So this is why I am totally begging... PLEASE help change my daughter's future! I can't do it without you!

If you want to vote just click here (you may have to like Gerber's page before voting, but you can hide the posts or unlike them after!). Gerber will ask if they can share on your FB wall (which is super annoying) but just skip it each time it asks. I know it's kind of a pain, but I will love you forever if you vote for Mia! And if you want to help even more you could share with your FB friends, twitter, blog, etc. Just be sure to share Mia's entry id number (249510) if you don't share the direct link. Seriously, thank you sooooo much for humoring me! (And I'll just throw it out there, if Mia makes it far enough, I will totally be doing a sweet giveaway to thank you for your help and to bribe more votes out of everyone I can :) ha ha!)

P.S. If you entered the contest, leave me your entry id in the comments and I will be SO happy to vote for you!
P.P.S. You can vote everyday. Like I said, I'm going to be super annoying (sorry)!!