Thursday, March 29, 2012

Bossy Buggy

So, my kid knows what she wants, or doesn't want, and isn't afraid to express it!  The other day after school she was eating fig newtons and out of the blue did the finger point and told me 'not to eat her cookies' - and I hadn't even attempted to have one!  Although rotten, she was still so cute, so out came the video camera.  Yep - she's a boss alright!  Please disregard the fact that she isn't wearing any pants - we had a minor juice mishap in the car on the way home that day!!  And yes she's sitting on the counter - that's how we roll at our house! :O)


Happy Thursday Y'all!  Here's to the weekend right around the corner!!

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Dirty Thirty & Mommy/Buggy Comparisons

Well it's official.  I.AM.OLD.  OK maybe not old but I'm certainly not in my 20's anymore.  I wasn't quite sure how I was going to feel last Thursday on D-day.  But I made it through!!  I had an incredibly awesome 30th birthday - WONDERFUL friends (new, old, and then new again) and family.  My mom drove in from Ohio to surprise me for the weekend!!  I didn't know she was coming until Friday afternoon when she was almost here!! :O)  Oh and I got my first edible arrangement delivered to work on Thursday from my mom and sis.  What's better than a surprise filled with chocolate covered strawberries while at work?!  I was more than spoiled and I have been blessed with incredible people in the first 30 years of life - who knows what's to come for the next 30!!  (oh sheesh, that would make me 60!, ok, let's just enjoy this year first shall we!!) 

{hello beautiful!}

Recently I've heard a lot of comments about how much Bug looks like me.  Then my lovely friend Anna suggested I do a comparison post - YES! how fun would that be and why hadn't I thought of that sooner? Thank you Anna! I honestly don't see me in her so out came the old albums to see for sure.  Basically after looking at my baby pics I've come to two main conclusions: Buggy is a MUCH cuter baby than I was, however, she DOES look and make facial expressions like me! 

Check it out.  In all the pictures below Bug is on the left and baby me is on the right (except for the one of me in the diaper, somehow I did that one backwards! Oops!).  I tried to compare photos where we are making similar facial expressions.


{first birthday}

{second birthday}

{yep, she gets it honestly}

{smiling with our mouths open apparently runs in the fam}

{i think in this one we look VERY similar}

{this one just cracks me up!}

{check out that crazy diaper i'm wearing! the thing looks funny - guess they've come a long way in the development of diapers!}

{:O)}

{awwww!}

{pretty similar looking in this one too}

So, what do you think???
 

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Buggy Blast

I take a zagillion (yea i know it's not a word but i still said it!) pictures of Bug - never with a camera, always with my phone because it's so much quicker and easier.  Lots end up on Instagram, some of Face Book and some just stay in the abyss that is the camera roll on my phone.  Here's an update of recent Buggy-ism's through pictures.


{1. been looking for a desk for Bug for a while, found one at Hobby Lobby on clearance! 2. Buggy chillin' in bed - this is what she does most nights before falling asleep, yes bracelets & all 3. this morning before school, giving me a cheesy smile 4. eating some ice cream, very intently} 

{1. enjoying the window down in the car in this a.w.e.s.o.m.e weather! 2. littlest Cleveland Brown's fan 3. being silly outside with my sunglasses on 4. mommy's official taste tester}

{1. drying her hot pink, glitter nails at the salon, and obviously avoiding my camera 2. always has to have some kind of shoe on, even with jammies, cheesin' it up 3. coloring outside with chalk after school 4. lovin' on Addison - you can tell Addie is thrilled!}

{we spent a lot of time with Lilly & her mommy last weekend - even the mommy's got a little cupcake decorating play date!!}

Lemme just stop for a minute and say how incredibly happy I am that Buggy has such wonderful best girl friends.  I, being the chronic worrier that I am, was nervous she wouldn't have any girls to grow up with.  I grew up with mostly boy neighbors and although I had lots of fun and wouldn't trade that, I was hoping Bug would have some girls to be girly with,  because she is the epitome of GIRL!  We love Sophia and Lilly!!  We wish Sophia lived A LOT closer but do our best to see her and send voice notes to her as much as possible.  And we are very happy to have Lilly just down the street!!  Bug talks and asks about both girls ALL the time.      

{1. more chalk outside 2. checking out Lilly's Barbie car 3. working on the pedals on the bike 4. bubble time} 

{a quick modeling session after seeing Sophia's modeling pics on Instagram - she's def in copy cat mode a lot}

{a few weekends ago we got Buggy a fish.  i might have made the mistake of pointing them out to her in the store.  but fish are easy & we already have a small zoo, so....Buggy has a fish all her own.  she picked a cute neon-ish orange one & we also got a sucker fish for the tank - he's cool 'cuz he's albino & it's a challenge to find him in the tank everyday! she calls him 'sucker' & she named the orange one 'futsa-futsa.'}

I have recorded so many things Buggy says on my phone and I tried to upload them on here with no luck.  She had a hard time at first saying Sophia but now she's got it down - with 3 full, complete syllables.  She's now working on her middle name.  She's got the first and last but has a hard time getting out Reese.  But it's coming along.  She's also almost got Deondra down.  She used to say 'Ondra' but now she says it more like 'D -pause- Ondra.'  So progress has been made.  She knows how to say her own full name clearly now too.  She's developed a southern accent.  When she says friend it comes out 'frayend' and is the most hilarious thing I've ever heard!  If you ask her a question her fav response is 'uh-huh' or 'nuh-uh.'  She's super cute when she says I love you and she also says it in a sting of 'I love you, goodnight, see you in the morning.'  Man I really wish I could get the recordings on here. 

We're still working on the potty training thing.  She knows to say that she's gone in her pullup but still has a slight aversion to going on the potty.  Very independant my little Buggy is.  She's started putting her own pullups and pants on and gives a great effort to put her own shirts on.  Some of her shoes she can put on herself and others she needs a little help with.  But she gets them on the right feet 95% of the time now!!  She's recently started counting by starting with 4.  She knows her numbers and I think she does it specifically because we tell her not to.  The alphabet is also coming along - she sings along with the alphabet magnets on the dishwasher when she thinks we are paying attention. 

Happy Tuesday!

Monday, March 19, 2012

Product Review & a G.I.V.E.A.W.A.Y!!!

Ok, so first a little background.  I found the blog Our Little Bubble a while back and started following.  After following for several months I happened to have the blog pulled up at home and my husband saw the screen, stopped and said "wait, i know them!"  I'm thinking sure wise guy how do you know them, let's hear it??  Turns out the blog I had been following was written by one of his high school friends wives!  Crazy coincidence, huh!?  If you're anything like me you will LOVE Christa's blog.  She's a stay at home mom of four, yes FOUR boys and is pretty much super, crazy awesome!  She blogs a lot about what she does to stay Green and organic, eat healthy and then of course keep up with those adorable boys! 

She posted a review of Shaklee green cleaner products and did a giveaway of the product through Parents of a Dozen back at the beginning of the year.  Since I am always trying to go as green and chemical free as possible, I signed up for the giveaway and WON.  Yippee yahooo - I never win anything.  I was super stoked!   I liked the results Christa had posted about but still wanted to try for myself. 

Shaklee is a natural nutrition company that has been around for over 50 years.  Which means over 50 years of making our planet a little bit 'greener.'  Their philosophy is "always safe", "always works" and "always green."  Sounds good to me!

So let's give this bad boy a try shall we......

{i won the Basic H2 which came in these teeny, tiny little package, in this teeny, tiny little tube. I followed the directions & got 2 bottle of cleaner - you dilute it into 16 oz of water}

The Basic H2 can be used on ANY surface, indoors and outdoors.  I decided to try it on my stove and sink - both items which I ABSOLUTELY hate at the new house.  They both have been used and abused and don't clean or stay clean easily or for very long.  

Check out the stove before cleaning (warning! nastiness to follow!):

{yep it's pretty bad.  i feel like i'm always scrubbing this stupid stove top and then these spots reappear.  i took some close ups so you could really see.  sorry about the glare too.  i did my best!}

And the after:

{pretty & sparkly!  i like that.  i still scrubbed with the H2 but the biggest difference is there was no harsh, chemical smell ANNNND i don't have to scrub near as often!!  i would usually scrub every night to get those little boogers off, but with the H2 i can go more than 1 day in between deep scrubs!}

Since I got such good results on the stove, I then tried the sink.  This stupid sink is HORRIBLE.  I cannot wait to replace it!  The stainless steel is nearly always brown in one place or another and even after deep scrubbing - which I have to do often - it just doesn't cut it.

Here's the sink before:

{disgusting.  see in the drain the brown i was talking about.  old & abused.  not to mention it's really hard to get down in there to clean. once i've cleaned it really good i try to maintain it but those gross, brown things continue to pop up when i'm not looking}  

And here's the sink after:

{goodbye icky brown spots!  i had the same results as i did with the stove.  i still had to scrub nice & good but i didn't have to scrub as hard in between.  i def like!}

I really enjoyed using the Shaklee products and would definitely like to try more.  My favorite part is there is no smell whatsoever but you still see results as if there were.  I think we are somewhat fooled into thinking there will be a better 'clean' if there is a 'clean' smell when we are finished.  Not so much.  I got the sink and the stove clean and could still breath freely afterwards!  That's a winner in my book!  

Now for the G.I.V.E.A.W.A.Y!!

5 winners, open until March 26   

Parents of a Dozen will giveaway 5 samples of the Basic H2 to 5 of my readers .  If you are interested in trying out this product just leave a comment on my blog saying you'd like to give it a try and why!  It's free and most definitely worth it!!  For additional entries, follow and subscribe to Parents of a Dozen and 'like' Parents of a Dozen on FaceBook. 

Happy Chemical-Free Cleaning! :O) 




  

Thursday, March 15, 2012

i {heart} instagram - Cruise via Instagram

my favorite app is instagram.  i pretty much check it once an hour, sometimes more.  seriously.  now that i've gotten the hang of it i just can't stop!  for those of you who don't know about instagram it's an iPhone photo sharing app that also allows you to 'doctor up' your photos with different filters.  when you tag your photos with certain words you can then click on those words and it takes you to a whole album of photos that have been tagged with the same word.  since i'm a photo nut i became easily addicted.  

so as promised here is the cruise review via Instagram. 

*i must add that i did 'doctor' some of these photos first with an app called Frametastic, then imported them into Instagram*

** i must also note that all of the apps i use are 100% FREE.  you all know i'm cheap frugal and like to find the best deals on things, this includes my apps  - and free is the best deal out there!! :O)

{port of nassau}

{junkanoo beach, nassau bahamas}

{buggy & the lion}

{divas in training}

{best friends & a big boat}

{daddy, daughter beach time}

{view from the back of the boat as we were rolling}

{i absolutely love these girls}

{cocktails}

{looking up at the 'wing' of the boat - sure we'll call it a wing, that works}

{magic man in the celebration dining room}

{towel creations}

happy thursday = almost friday = almost the W.E.E.K.E.N.D = sleeping in and NOT being at work.  yipppppppeee yahoooooo!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Cruise Day 5

Day 5 was our last day at sea heading back to Charleston.  The weather was kinda rough and some of the upper decks on the boat were closed throughout the day because of high winds.  Safety first!  We spent the day hanging out with the girls, doing some shopping on the boat (they had some killer sales on various things in the on board stores, although sadly I found nothing to buy, unbelievable I know!) and eating.       

{Buggy on the top deck before it was closed for winds - she kept saying she wanted to be outside!}

{we had a meeting to learn how to properly disembark the ship & got an opportunity to thank all the hard workers on the ship - well some of them!}

{the girls hanging out in a window seat being cute}

{an attempt to get the girls to wind down & take a nap, which didn't work & we ended up having to separate them}

{on the last night we found a room where they were giving away free drinks & had a young girl singing so we stopped for a few to listen}

{anyone could get on stage to dance & Bug wanted to go}

{until she realized they were alone up there & she got embarassed - they did get a nice round of applause though!}

{picture with the lion on the way to our last night's dinner}

{this time she wanted Bobbi the Bunny to have his picture taken with the lion too, and who am i to not oblige her request}

{our view at dinner - this was the first night we had a window seat}

{feeding Bobbi some of her bread}

{time for dessert. the best part obviously!! Buggy always got her own kid dessert but then insisted on eating some of ours - she gets her sweet tooth honestly!}

{towel creation - to be honest we aren't sure what this one is.  but cute regardless}

{the girls spent a little time at Camp Carnival on the last night but we picked them up right before they were about to color t-shirts.  they sent the t-shirts with the girls to color some other time.  the girls of course had to model them right away.  some more downward facing dog - & soph kicking up her leg again.  TOO CUTE!}

{t-shirt models - i just love them!!}

That's the cruise!  As much as I could squeeze into my little blog.  I haven't seen any of the pics Deondra took on her fancy camera yet so when I do I will do some follow up posts.  And you all know I'm obsessed with Instagram - if you don't follow me and haven't already seen them, I'll do a quick 'Cruise via Instagram' post too.  

Our last day when we woke up we were at Port in Charleston.  WE had breakfast in the Celebration Dining room one last time then had a bit of time to walk around and enjoy the ship before disembarking and going through customs.  I am very impressed with the way Carnival ran things.  Everything went very smoothly and we had no issues.  Kudos Carnival!

Overall we had a GREAT time.  I loved watching the girls explore and play together and experiencing a cruise for the first time myself.  I wasn't sure at first if I would plan another one, but I think now that I will.  I'd really like to do a Disney Cruise for Buggy Lou.  We were looking at a book of them the other day and she was totally enthralled.  I don't think I'd do it right away - maybe in a year or two when she's a bit older.  She was very well-behaved on this cruise so I know that won't be a problem, I just want her to be able to remember a Disney Cruise and the once in a lifetime opportunity and be able to do all the things offered on the ships.  I'd also LOVE to do an Alaskan Cruise some day.  Yea - I know, probably in my dreams, but those are good dreams!!