pumpkin guts and other cute stuff {Her Joyful Studio}

Earlier this week we (I guess I should say Eric) carved pumpkins! We know that Mia loves painting pumpkins but I was curious to see if she would like cleaning out the pumpkin guts. Turns out that she LOVED "helping" Eric and really loved watching him work... but she steered clear of the guts as much as possible :) She held on to her measuring spoon and pretended to help the whole time, ha ha! She did try tasting the pumpkin which was super fun... until it wasn't fun anymore ;)
In other news, I am obsessed with our mommy and me head wrap set from Her Joyful Studio! We couldn't resist wearing them as soon as we got them from the mail. Once I realized that we would obviously be taking photos of the pumpkin carving and I would be posting on the blog, I thought about changing my clothes. But comfort won and you guys get a peek into real life in our home. If you were to show up at my home you find me in Eric's basketball shorts, a mismatching shirt, and if you're lucky my hair and make up will be done ;) I can't wait to pair our head wraps with an actual outfit (ha ha) but we are obsessed with how comfy they are, and the cute print! Heaven knows I jump on any and every chance I have to match Mia!

mommy and me head wraps c/o Her Joyful Studio

Side note: Eric got on my Pinterest and found the idea for carving these pumpkins, HA! He free handed the carving and you gotta admit- he's got T A L E N T :)

This weekend only, I'm offering 31% off any ad space! Use the code "pumpkin" to receive the discount when you check out here. Happy Halloween!!

what are sick days?

A few months ago Eric came down with a nasty case of strep throat. Our doctor was out of town so Eric went to another one in the practice. The idiot didn't even test Eric's throat; he diagnosed him with the H1N1 and sent him home. The next day I called our doctor and he called in a prescription for strep and a couple days later Eric's throat was good as new! Of course, the 3rd day of feeling like death (he had only been on antibiotics for about 12 hours) Eric showed signs of pink eye (we are guessing he caught that from his first visit to the doctor, great!). Sure enough, after a visit to the insta care he was provided with an antibiotic (and offered another one for his throat because after one look that doctor knew it was strep!) and sent home. As you can imagine, Eric was quarantined to the bedroom so that Mia and I could avoid that highly contagious crap. The antibiotics knocked those out of his system quickly, but until then, I brought him his food and took care of Mia while he slept.

I don't think I'll get that luxury of sleeping my sickness off and having food brought to me with no other interruptions until our kids are grown and out of the house, HA!

I have been extremely lucky to say I've been so sick that I just needed to lay around all day, twice, since Mia was born. Or I can only remember 2 times at the moment :) The first time Mia was just a few months old so she just played on the floor while I watched her from the couch, then she took the longest nap ever, which meant I took the longest nap ever! She was such an angel baby until Eric could come home from work and take over.
The second time was only a few months ago. I tried making breakfast for Mia and barely got the food on her plate. After that I literally turned on the TV, prayed Mia wouldn't get into too much trouble, and fell asleep on the couch. HA! Mia was, once again, an angel! She stayed right next to the couch playing with toys and watching TV. She went down for her nap and I got to sleep some more! To Eric's credit, he came home as soon as he could and took over dinner and bedtime! But really, no sick days to cover when the mom is sick? Someone really should make that a thing. To save the sanity of the sick spouse at home, to save the paycheck of the hard working spouse who can't afford to take a random day off, and to probably save the life of the child who is left to fend for him/herself, HA!

Obviously I am no help today because other than TV and prayer, I got nothin'!

The Not Quite Military Wife// Like a Morning Cup of Coffee//  Meet the Sullivan's

 From Here to Eternity//  Pig and Dac//   Everyday Love

A Cowboy's Life// Life of Faith//  Foxy's Domestic Side//  My Delicious Adventure

Oct 2:     Toddler Diaper Bag Essentials 

Oct 9:     Learning to love your post-pregnancy body

Oct 16:   Busy Toddler Activities

Oct 23:   Keeping in Shape While Caring for a Toddler

Oct 30:   Sick Day Tips

Nov 6:    How to Not Lose Your Patience with your Toddler

Nov 13:  Favorite Toddler Outings

An InLinkz Link-up

hey Washington, we love you!

My best friend moved to Washington a couple months ago, and when she told me the news, we planned my visit asap! I wanted to go at least once before I had to buy a seat for Mia on the plane! I felt guilty about going on this trip once Eric lost his job, but luckily the tickets were non-refundable because this was just the getaway I needed to simmer down and regroup. I came home feeling recharged and having more faith that we can totally handle this set back.
I've got quite the story about our flight, but I'll save that for another post :) I will say that I was totally nervous to be flying with Mia by myself, but she acted like she'd been flying all her life. She was such an angel! She slept on me (heaven!!) no problem, both ways! Spending the weekend with Jaicee was amazing and just what I needed! The kids all played great together and Mark and Jaicee were the best hosts and loved showing off their beautiful, new home state! They packed our weekend full of so much fun... I'll let the photos do the talkin'!

This is literally right across the street from their home.

Anacortes reminded me a lot of Salem, MA! We couldn't resist taking this photo of our little monkeys :)

Mia's headband c/o Her Joyful Studio

Deception Pass Bridge

The beach below Deception Pass Bridge

Jaicee and the girls!

I can't get over the greenery!

Hayride through the pumpkin patch

Mia's headband c/o Emma's Kloset

She loved it!

These kids, ha ha! Best friends for life... just like their momma's!

This beach is on the other side of their neighborhood... beautiful!

Bye, Washington!

Thank you SO much for an amazing weekend Mark, Jaicee, Paysen and Aspyn! We miss you all too much already!

just some randoms {22}

When Mia accessorizes herself... and crams her feet into boots that are a size and a half too small, ha ha!

Her doggie makes a better pillow than her pillow, obvi.

Mia got into my eyeliner and you would think she's pulling this face because I'm scolding her, but nope! I showed Mia her reflection and she hated the eyeliner! She cried until I got it all cleaned off, HA!

I just can't help but share her sleeping photos! Girlfran is all sorts of comfortable with her hands behind her head like that...

I wonder if this brought back some memories from her baby days, because I don't know who else would find such happiness in swatting the toys on her old play mat, ha ha!

our little super hero!

Erin and Lex spoiled Mia so good!

"Show me your muscles!"

Okay, so I posted like 5 photos too many, but I don't even care! Here's the story- I felt like I was at my breaking point from all the stress and anger that was eating me up last weekend, when I decided to take Mia on a walk to the mailbox. To our surprise, we had our Halloween exchange gift waiting for us! Mia happily carried it home and we tore into it... as soon as I got my camera ready, of course ;) I don't think Erin and Lex will ever know how much I appreciated these sweet (and AH-mazing) gifts! Just when I felt like I was losing my mind, I got to watch Mia inspect each gift and fall in love with them. As you can see from the photos... PURE. JOY. Focusing on Mia and her happiness totally freed me from my stresses and Eric and I could not stop laughing as Mia pranced around in her mask and cape. We kept saying "show me your muscles" and Mia kept giggling and showing us her muscles ;) Each time I showed Mia what she looked like in the mirror she got super excited and said, "dat's cuuuuu!" So thank you for providing just the night we needed, when we needed it, Erin and Lex! Mia is still obsessed with everything you sent, thank you!!
Check out Taylor's blog to see what we sent Harps!

monster bash

Laura threw the cutest little monster bash for our kids last week and aside from one terrible tantrum (Mia loved beating on the pinata and didn't want to share, yikes!) we had the best time! I pulled out Mia's lady bug costume from last year and since it barely fit, she had to wear it, ha ha! It made my heart so happy to see her wearing her first ever costume again! Not only were these little cuties dressed up, but this party was complete with good food, fun games, the cutest craft (which Mia wanted nothing to do with because, hello mom? New toys!!) that I can't wait to do with Mia for Thanksgiving and Christmas (I'll share a post when we do it again!), a pinata and more!
I'm kind of sad that the end of October is so close, we've had the funnest month full of the best activities! Thanks for having us, Laura!

one year and beyond

So here's the deal. I've posted on this subject "Keeping In Shape...." multiple times so I'll link you to those posts here, here, here and here if you'd like to read them! I posted here that I am stronger and more in shape than I've ever been, and I'm a mom now! Getting in shape is not easy! In fact, most of the time it just plain sucks, ha ha! Eric never had the 9-5 work schedule so I found myself at the gym at 4am before, and I've taken Mia on hundreds of runs in the stroller, and now that I'm brave enough to take Mia to the germ-infested gym daycare, we have a good routine! But I'll tell you what, as bad as it sucked getting back in shape, I never once regretted it! I have high energy, I can keep up with my toddler and I feel good about myself! Something that every woman deserves! It took me months of trial and error to figure out the "diet" (I didn't really diet, just cut out foods and ate less of some, and more of others) and the workout routine that worked for us. Now I just get to maintain my eating and workout habits and it doesn't really feel like work anymore! But chasing after Mia as she's running away from me to get to the park before I can take into our house? That feels like work!

Now on another note, that has absolutely nothing to do with this post, those pictures of Mia killll me dead! We've been dying to get pictures of her in Eric's boots and hat (she loves to wear this stuff) and these did not disappoint :)

The Not Quite Military Wife// Like a Morning Cup of Coffee//  Meet the Sullivan's

 From Here to Eternity//  Pig and Dac//   Everyday Love

A Cowboy's Life// Life of Faith//  Foxy's Domestic Side//  My Delicious Adventure

Oct 2:     Toddler Diaper Bag Essentials 

Oct 9:     Learning to love your post-pregnancy body

Oct 16:   Busy Toddler Activities

Oct 23:   Keeping in Shape While Caring for a Toddler

Oct 30:   Sick Day Tips

Nov 6:    How to Not Lose Your Patience with your Toddler

Nov 13:  Favorite Toddler Outings

An InLinkz Link-up

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