March Madness :: Thanksgiving Recap

 

Nothing else could explain what I’m about to show you except that I’ve gone a little mad…. perhaps a touch of “March Madness” if you will.

 

If this little family blog is my replacement for keeping up with a baby book, then I’ve sadly left out a couple of VERY important occasions from the first year of my little man’s life.

 

Thanksgiving AND Christmas.

 

Not like they were baby’s FIRST Thanksgiving or FIRST Christmas or anything monumental like that, which would make me darn close to being the worst mother in the world.

 

Oh, wait…

:(

 

 

If I could take just a moment to play the blame game here, I’m going to chalk it up to the fact that I came back from maternity leave the Monday after Thanksgiving and life has been moving at the speed of light ever since.

 

{Overtime the first week back to work from baby leave?! Why thank you, Meijer Pharmacy. How sweet of you! I find it so hard to remember why it is that I put my two weeks notice in 8 loooong weeks later when my welcome back was such a warm one ;)}

 

But it can’t all be blamed on Meijer since I did leave mid-January… as time continued to tick by, I became more and more ashamed to be posting about our holidays so late and now it has FINALLY come to this, March Madness.

 

Sometimes you’ve just go to admit your faults and go on.

Hello, my name is Stephanie and I’m a chronic procrastinator.

 

 

Enjoy {or ignore entirely} a few pics from our Thanksgiving.

You know, that day almost 4 months ago, way back in the year of 2011…

 

Beware that the madness shall continue and that a Christmas post is not far behind.

{I am aware this is utterly ridiculous. I feel confident you’ve already come to this conclusion about my personality though and that you’ve stuck around because you find amusement in others’ psychotic breaks. What sick, twisted people you must be… which is one of the reasons I do, truly, adore you♥}

 

I believe this picture wraps up how enamored our families our with our little man and that his life is not documented to ridiculous proportions on film by just me.

 

The rest of the pictures are from the Thursday through Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend, starting with our arrival with the little thug himself.

 

 

Ending with this picture of my favorite guy in my least favorite sweatshirt, I’ll say one final time before the big game tomorrow…

 

GO CATS!

 

 

XOXO,

Stephanie

so my husband reads my blog… and a GIVEAWAY

 

After Monday’s post, I got a string of texts this morning that let me know… yes, my husband does, in fact, read my blog.

 

 

Nick: “How long did the baby sleep this morning?”

Me: “Till about 7:45.”

Nick: “He slept pretty good last night then, no?”

 

{Thinking these was a weird conversation at this point, but still completely clueless where this was going.} Me: “Yeah he did.”

 

Nick: “I think it was because he was very comfortable in his clothes.”

 

 

DUH! Why did I not see this coming after I had already unzipped the baby’s sleepsuit this morning to find Daddy’s little surprise waiting for me…

 

 

When Mommy doesn’t get home till 10:30 from work the night before, Daddy is in charge of picking out the baby’s pajamas… after my post, I think he was out for vengeance!

 

I’m trying SO HARD, but I’m not sure how this story is going to end ;)

 

Now, who doesn’t love another giveaway?

 

If you have any little ones whatsoever in your life, you are going to LOVE Mimi & Chip and their personalized goodies!

 

bibs:

 

bags of every kind:

 

 

burp cloths:

 

nursing covers:

 

tons and TONS of shirts and onesies:

 

Not to mention blankets, key fobs, party favors, nap mats, preschool snack packs, pillow cases, Christmas stockings and so much more. You HAVE to check out her Facebook albums to see all the goodness!

 

***To enter to win a $35 gift certificate to her shop, you simply have to be a follower of this blog and also “like” Mimi & Chip’s Facebook page. Leave a comment letting us know you did!

 

For additional chances to win, you can do any of the following. Please leave a separate comment for each chance to win:

• “Like” our blog’s Facebook page
• Follow me on Pinterest
• Tweet about the giveaway
• Post about the giveaway on your blog

 

I’ll be announcing the winner this Monday, April 2nd.

{The same day the University of Kentucky plays in the NCAA National Championship after they beat the UofL on Saturday…}

hehehe ;)

 

XOXO,

Stephanie

a house divided

 

This Saturday will be monumental for our household.

 

{and maybe just as monumental for the rest of the state of Kentucky… but I tend to make things about me, so I’ll go on…}

 

Lexington’s University of Kentucky will be playing the University of Louisville in the final four of the NCAA tournament. In this house divided, you could cut the tension in the air with a knife!

 

Taken a couple years ago while in Disney World on a day when our teams were playing each other.

 

In the spirit of March Madness, I thought I would share a few images from our man cave, a.k.a. the basement.

 

 

I love this light switch, which I actually installed myself a few years ago while Nick was out of the house =)

 

 

Our magnetic wall with opposing magnets:

 

 

 

Drink coolers:

 

Even our son has been pulled into the battle… who will get to him to dress him first for Saturday?!

 

Can you tell who does all the decorating around here? ;)

 

 

Don’t tell Daddy, but we’re already getting our blue gear on this morning and learning important first words:

GO CATS!

 

 

XOXO,

Stephanie

 

 

 

 

Fan tip: Try out these Eastbay promo coupons and save on Cats fan wear.

Giveaway winner and a sneak peek

 

 

I had so many comments from sweet mommas in need of sleep that it actually pains me to give only ONE of these magic sleepsuits away!

Then again… I had to shell out my own dough for mine too :)

MONEY. WELL. SPENT.

 

{Seriously, baby boy had a 2 1/2 hour nap in his sleepsuit yesterday and I had to WAKE HIM UP to take him to the sitter’s before work… that NEVER use to happen pre-sleepsuit. Who knows how long he could have slept?!}

 

I also had several comments/questions about the wearability of the suit in the warmer months and if he gets hot. The sleepsuit does have some weight to it, like a baby comforter – which is really where the whole “magic” of it comes in to play. Take a baby that loves being swaddled and remove his nice cozy cocoon away from him, you’re asking for trouble!

 

The short answer: no, he does not get too hot in the least.

 

It was still cold when he started wearing it and he was in full long sleeved, footy pajamas underneath the suit. Within a matter of days, our weather went from snow to 70/80 degrees and he now wears a onsesie only inside the suit, with or without socks. I have never seen one drop of perspiration on him when he wakes up he never acts uncomfortable. On the other hand, he sweats like crazy in his carseat, so I know he has the propensity to sweat if he’s the least bit overheated, which just confirms the fact that wearing the sleepsuit is like sleeping in “baby bear soup” ;)

 

Without further adieu, the winner of Baby Merlin’s Magic Sleepsuit is comment #103!

 

 

Brittany Renee said:

I NEED this sleep suit! I am sooo intrigued to see if this will work on my little one. He only sleeps for maybe an hour and a half at night. :o( I'm beginning to lose my mind...

 

I feel your pain, girl. Email me { robertslove (at) live (dot) com } the address you would like this shipped to and I hope and pray you’ll receive the answer to your sleep prayers SOON!

 

Lastly, I also had several comments asking about Part 2 of Houston’s birth story…

God willing, it will be here next week.

I am the most shameful procrastinator OF ALL and I sincerely apologize for leaving you hanging :(

 

BUT…

On a brighter note, this morning I uploaded THE photo album of pictures from Houston’s Birth Day on the blog’s Facebook page.

Precious pictures like these two, my favorites:

 

Daddy cutting the cord while our sweet angel takes his first breaths… does it get any sweeter?

 

 

Check them out if you wish and “Like” our page while you’re there because…

I like to be liked.

 

There, I said it.

 

 

Have a lovely weekend!

We’ll be visiting family to have an early Easter celebration since momma has to work Easter weekend.

 

How special must Houston be if the Easter bunny is going to come 2 weeks early just for him?!

 

XOXO,

Stephanie

the seven year itch

It’s been seven years ago today since the hubby and I went on our second first date.

Thankfully, there wasn’t a third first date because this one finally stuck and we’ve been together ever since.♥

On March 21st, 2005, sitting in O’Charley’s restaurant, marveling at the devilishly handsome blonde haired, blue-eyed boy across from me, I could have never imagined what the next 7 years would hold for us.

Presenting the world’s most clueless 21 year olds, circa summer 2005:

I was all prepped and ready to recount the many monumental moments of our last seven years together, when I realized I did that same thing last year… and reading that post made me realize that I better not try to tweak what was a already a pretty good thing.

The first flowers Nick ever brought me – which I then displayed proudly in my bottle rack on my apartment’s windowsill at UK. I’m loving the classy background in this lovely picture… aww, the memories =)

The one thing last year’s post is missing is the phenomenally HUGE year we’ve had since.

{Nick would be sure to insert an “It’s gonna be huge” impersonation of Donald Trump after that sentence if I were saying this out loud… I can read that man’s next move like a book.}

The birth of our son and becoming a family of three has been the most challenging and wonderful year yet in our relationship. I am deliriously happy to be the lucky woman on my hard-working, good looking husband’s arm and even more so than that, to have him as the caring, doting father to our baby boy and {hopefully} future offspring.

May they all {continue} to look like him =)

{and may God bless the poor little things if they don’t!}

Happy 7 year anniversary, darling!♥

If you should get the 7 year itch, I know a friendly neighborhood pharmacist that might be able to recommend you something for that ;)

hardy-har-har…

many, many hugs and kisses to my beloved,

Stephanie

the magic secret for a sleeping baby AND a giveaway!

A couple weeks ago, I was hanging out with some long lost friends of mine from college. {A MUCH needed reunion and so much fun… a blog post in itself to come!} Several us girls became moms to baby boys in the past year and we were non-stop chatter boxes about all things baby all night long.

{Something I’m sure the non-moms in the group were absolutely thrilled to hear about incessantly… sorry, sweet friends, we’ll try to cool it on the baby talk next time!}

Seriously though, I needed this. There is nothing like another new mom to make you feel more normal about the daily predicaments you find yourself in these days and how you’re handling it. I thought I had motherhood all figured out until I became one. Now, I’m clueless.

P.S. It seems like there are a few women not yet in the ‘hood who think they have it all figured out… just a friendly note that I was with you at one time and believe me, I know you mean well, but you do not know how you’ll handle life in the motherhood until you’re right there in the thick of it. It’s okay, just write your “I would never _____” thoughts in your journal instead of saying them out loud, then refer back to them when you’re actually in those shoes and you will THANK ME you didn’t air them about like the expert I use to think I was as well!

{Oh yeah, I also use to compare dog owning to raising a child. ALSO, a mistake. Like I said, I meant well enough.}

Oops, veered off track.

Back to the mom venting at the reunion...

While we were commiserating on sleep, I explained how Houston has never been the same since we stopped swaddling him around 4 1/2 months. He thrashes and wiggles and beats himself up and makes it impossible on himself to stay asleep. He’s excellent at taking his own pacifier out, throwing it to the side, and then screaming for someone to find it and put it back in it’s rightful place.

What a goober.

He never seemed comfortable or secure anymore like he did in his swaddle. He was just plain fitful at night and during naps, which had been going on for 2 months.

Then my friend Ashley, mentioned that her niece had been sleeping in a magic sleepsuit of some kind ever since she had stopped being swaddled. I was hooked on every word about this mythical, magical sleepsuit.

That night, we left our friends’ house around midnight and as soon as we were in the car, I started Googling the magic. There was no doubt, my life now needed a magic sleepsuit before my sleep deprivation warranted my own magic suit, otherwise known as a straight jacket.

Then I found it, Baby Merlin’s Magic Sleepsuit. It was ordered and at my front door just a few days later.

The day it arrived, hubby was away on business in Vegas, {ummmm, yeah – business? What-eva.}, and my parents were staying with me.

We nearly died laughing at this little guy in his new sleep wear. It appeared as if he had put on a good 10 pounds.

 

Like I mentioned before, this baby loves to jump constantly. He was still jumping in the sleepsuit, but it reminded more of the slow, anti-gravity jumps of an astronaut on the moon. More laughter ensued.

That night though, I was no longer laughing.

I was sleeping like a baby, because my baby was FINALLY sleeping like a baby!

It was no fluke either, night after night, instead of waking every few hours to demand a diaper change or a mid-night snack, my baby sleeps.

Nap times too!

I am in awe and already fearful of him outgrowing it =)

Not only that, since I’ve started talking to others about it, I’ve found lots of people whose babies also sleep in Baby Merlin’s Magic Sleepsuit. Honestly, I was kind of ticked that I didn’t hear about this before and I couldn’t not tell you about it.

The gift of sleep is priceless.

I went so far as to email the maker, Maureen, mother of four and pediatric physical therapist, to ask her if she would give one of my lucky reader’s a sleepsuit of their own as well – she agreed!!

If not for your own babe or futures babes, the gift of sleep makes a WONDERFUL baby shower gift. The sleepsuits come in blue, yellow, or pink and sizes 3-6 months and 6-9 months.

{At this point, I think it’s very important to tell you I was NOT compensated to write a review of any kind. I genuinely learned about this product from a friend and bought it with my own money out of desperation to achieve SLEEP! I would not lead you astray or EVER be paid to write a positive review. I rarely rave about a product and when I do, it is REAL.}

{I feel better now :)}

If you would like to win a sleep suit of you own, any color, any size, you simply need to be a follower of this blog and leave a comment on this post.

For additional chances to win you can:

•  Like us on Facebook
• Follow me on Pinterest
• Tweet about the giveaway
• Post about the giveaway

Please leave a separate comment for each chance to win. A winner will be chosen this Friday, March 23rd.

XOXO,

Stephanie

let’s try this again, shall we? :)

Last week, I attempted to post the following pictures for Wordless Wednesday, but failed.

The day before that, on a whim and an attempt to get all fancy on “the internets”, I changed my blog domain to a .com address instead of a blogspot address, more specifically:

www.ABlueEyedBoyMetABrownEyedGirl.com

Yeah, it’s long.

My creativity was escaping me wholly that day.

What was supposed to be a smooth transition, wiped my blog out for nearly 5 full days. What.the.heck?!

Boo, Google and GoDaddy: you have disappointed me.

{Almost as much as UPS has disappointed Big Blue Nation, but we shan’t go there on this day…}

While the blog was out of commission, I turned my energies in other directions. One direction I had specifically avoided turning down as long as I possibly could, though I knew it was inevitable that I join…

PINTEREST, I am your newest addict.

{and possibly the last person on earth to join you… since even my mother beat me to it… :)}

It turns out, surprisingly enough, I am highly interested in new recipes {though I rarely cook}, lots of DIY crafts {can’t remember the last craft I did or when I even had time for one} and pictures of babies {despite my hard drive running extraordinarily slow because of the high volume of pictures of one particular baby I have saved on my computer}.

and we can’t forget the pictures of homes I’m drooling over, the hair tutorials, the inspirational images of art, party ideas, fun things to do with kids… the list goes on.

I mean, how cool is this little nugget for cute fonts while blogging?!

Source: inmyownstyle.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

There is no better way to become a spectator of my blossoming ADD:

Now that the blog is up and running again, expect lots of post to come, including a GIVEAWAY tomorrow! It seems a dependable trend in my life that with warm weather comes inspiration and motivation.

Maybe I should become a warm weather blogger?

Or more likely: MOVE SOUTH!

Now last week’s post, AGAIN =) :

Looking at these pictures makes my heart feel like it will burst with joy and my smile want to pucker into a million kisses for this precious little boy that I can’t believe it mine♥all♥mine… no words necessary :)

Photos taken in sunny, warm weather just mere days after this 4 inch snow.

bRING iT oN, sUMMER-tIME, wE aRE rEADY!

 

XOXO,

Stephanie