3 Months

Our little Donut is three months old today! He's growing well, sleeping even better {generally 8:30 p.m. - 5:00 a.m.}, and is just an all-around good baby. He's been spending a lot of time sticking out his tongue and attempting to roll over, but so far he's only managed to master the belly rock.

Happy Three Months Owen! We love you!

Still scowling!

Do you ever feel like your life is in fast forward and you can't stop it? I sure do!

Undercover Mama Winner!

Danielle! Congrats! I have sent you an e-mail with details on how to claim your prize. I know you're going to love it!

Thanks to random.org for choosing the winner.


Stay tuned for future giveaways! :)

Christmas Lists

My Christmas list this year seems pretty typical, even if it does get a little ridiculous near the end:

Knife set
Cutting boards
Paring knives
Fashion scarves
DSLR Camera
Table Saw
Not the traditional, fancy wood shop kind. This one. Now there's a conversation starter and a reason to bake a ton of cakes! Want!

Photo booth

If I could re-do my wedding festivities, I would totally have a photo booth. I'd seen them around the blogosphere for special events but never anticipated seeing one at any event I would go to {apparently, I think my parties aren't as cool as those other parties!}. Well, what do you know - our friends had one at their wedding this weekend. What was especially sweet was that it printed two sets of our photos. One for us to keep, and the other went straight into a scrap book for us to personalize for the newlyweds. How sweet!

Hug me pillow

Ok. This is seriously a Black Friday Deal at Overstock {I found it purely by accident!}. It has a rating of 4.7/5 from 100 reviews! I read some of the reviews, and I guess it really is a great pillow, but don't you think it looks a little creepy? Tell me in the poll to the right: Creepy, cool, or both?


Did you get any good Black Friday deals?

Thursday Deals - 11/25/10

Happy Thanksgiving! Are you going shopping on Black Friday? What about Cyber Monday? I'm staying away from the stores tomorrow, but hoping to scope out a deal or two on Monday!

1. Don't forget to enter the giveaway for a FREE Undercover Mama here. What's a better deal than a possible FREE shirt?

2. Get a FREE sample of Starbucks Natural Fusions coffee here.

3. FREE sample of Vaseline Intensive Rescue Lotion here.

4. FREE item with any $10 purchase at Bath and Body Works {up to $13 value} with this coupon or online with coupon code FREE4U. Expires 12/24/10.

5. Gifts to Grow points! Get 10 more with code GIVETHANKS10PTS and 5 more with code NOVEMBERTHANKS5.

6. FREE Purina One SmartBlend dog or cat food sample here - this one's from Target. The last one I posted was from Wal-mart. Sophie is LOOOVING all of the free dog foods and treats that keep arriving at our door! :)

7. I already own Beauty and the Beast from the first time it was released on DVD, but if you don't own it, and you're going to go out and buy it, make sure you take these coupons with buy it for around $10: $10 off one DVD combo or blue-ray Beauty and the Beast; $5 off Target movie coupon - find it under the electronics tab!} If you're feeling really ambitious, you could use this $5 off Beauty and the Beast rebate when you purchase 3 Campbell's products combined with this $5 off Beauty and the Beast Western Bagel rebate to make your movie FREE or nearly FREE after rebates.

8. If you live by a CVS Minute Clinic - print this coupon and go get your FREE pack of sanitizing wipes!

Happy Thanksgiving

Our littlest member sending you the warmest Thanksgiving wishes:



Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!

{CLOSED} Giveaway - Undercover Mama!

The ladies over at Undercover Mama have so graciously offered to give one of my readers a FREE Undercover Mama! For those of you that missed my "must needs" for a new mommy post, I'm a huge fan of these shirts. They hook right onto your bra to turn all of your shirts into nursing shirts. Talk about a great way to save yourself some $$! Especially since your average nursing shirt is around $30-40. They are available in four different colors and are a perfect gift for new mamas, mamas to be {I think this would even work nicely as a maternity cami because there's enough length to it!}, been-there-done-that mamas, or even your regular girl wanting a simple, no hassle camisole. Christmas is coming up! So, treat yourself or someone you know!


I cannot say enough about my Undercover Mamas. I've been wearing them pretty much every day since I purchased them. They are beautiful. They give me confidence when I have to nurse in public because I don't feel like all of my skin is hanging out. I don't feel like I need to wear a cardigan or something to help cover that skin, and my Undercover Mamas keep me warm as the temperature drops. I wish I had discovered these as a first-time mom with Isaac. Developing a nursing relationship is hard enough as it is. It would have saved me a lot of time to have one of these rather than trying to learn to keep a blanket over the baby's head and around my torso. I would have been a lot warmer through the winter too! I love mine so much, I'll probably wear them with my regular bras even when I'm finished nursing Owen.

Here's a shot of my Undercover Mama in {posed} action {Jennifer, I know, Sophie is such a freak!}.


Now that I've told you just how great they are, here's the nitty gritty details: This giveaway will close on Monday, Nov. 29, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. CST. I {ahem...random.org} will randomly select a winner, who will be announced here on Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2010. I'll also send the winner an e-mail with details on how to claim your prize, so make sure you include an e-mail address in at least one entry so that I can reach you. There are four ways for you to enter {you can do all four for FOUR chances to win!} but you must leave a separate comment for each:

1. Leave a comment telling me why you want an Undercover Mama, or who you want to win one for.

2. Like Undercover Mama on Facebook {here} and leave a compliment on their wall!

3. Follow Undercover Mama on Twitter {here} and tweet them. :)

4. Follow my blog and leave a comment letting me know that you are a follower!

Super excited about this! Good luck readers!

Layered Pumpkin Loaf

This was a yummy little snack {pretty decent nutritionally too!}. It reminded me of a less-sweet version of the traditional pumpkin bars. The only thing I'd do differently next time is to make sure that I bake it a little longer. The center of the loaf {you can see in the pic} was clearly not baked. Then again, when the timer beeped, I let Blake check it since I was feeding our littlest member his dinner. He's sort of an amateur baker. The loaf came out a bit too soon. But, at least he tried!

The husband rating: No grade. Instead he said, "I'd rather have a real pumpkin bar." Nice.

My mom, however, thought it was very delicious and even asked for the recipe.


Layered Pumpkin Loaf

1 cup canned pumpkin {I actually used a whole can for more pumpkin flavor}

1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar, divided

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

4 egg whites, divided

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup canola oil

2 cups flour

2-1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp. salt

1 pkg. (8 oz.) Neufchatel Cheese, softened

HEAT oven to 350ºF.

MIX pumpkin, 1 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, 3 egg whites, milk and oil in large bowl. Add flour, baking powder, spice and salt; stir just until moistened. Beat Neufchatel cheese, remaining granulated sugar and remaining egg white with whisk until well blended.

SPOON half of pumpkin batter into greased 9x5-inch nonstick loaf pan; cover with layers of Neufchatel mixture and remaining pumpkin batter.

BAKE 1 hour to 1 hour 5 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Loosen bread from sides of pan; cool in pan 10 min. Remove bread from pan to wire rack; cool completely.

Small kitchen

I'm still adjusting to a smaller kitchen. I always feel like my counters are completely cluttered {worse than in my other kitchen: mail, recycling, dirty non-dishwasherable dishes, clean dishes set out to dry, wire microwave oven rack that I don't use.....blah!} and I hate that I have to crawl into the back of my cabinets. Oh, and that corner cabinet between the stove and dishwasher? It doesn't even open all the way because of the way the kitchen is organized, which makes storing things in the back of that one a complete pain! I really need something to organize it all, or some sort of system that would help me keep it decluttered with two little kids around. I still want this grass drying rack, so at least then I'd have a place for the clean drying dishes {that are hiding on that towel behind the milk jugs!}.

Here's a picture of the mess, and a paring knife at the edge of the counter that Isaac could reach {gasp!}, and a cute baby in a Bumbo chair on the counter {gasp!}, and a toddler attempting to pull that baby off of the counter {gasp!}. Any other hazards you see?


P.S. Totally unrelated to this post, but all signs are pointing to my very first blog giveaway soon! Still ironing out the details, but I'm sooooo excited about it! :)

Question of the day

Isaac just asked me the best question!

"Mommy, what is echolocation mean?"

It was so cute. Say it in his robot voice. Ha!

Thursday Deals 11/18/10

1. FREE sample of Aleve caplets here.

2. Print this $1/1 Scott's toilet paper or paper towels, then go buy a 4-pack of tp or a single roll of paper towels, use the coupon, and score them FREE or super cheap! :)

3. Get a FREE 4x5 Flipbook from Snapfish with ANY purchase {that means, you could get this by simply ordering one print for $0.09} using code MERRY1116. You'll have to pay shipping. This offer expires 11/19, so hurry!

4. Head on over to your local Starbucks Nov. 18-21 for buy one, get one Holiday drinks from 2 - 5 p.m.

5. Try a free sample of a new all-purpose cleaner, Mist-8 here.

6. FREE sample of o.b. tampons here.

7. Bath and Body works has a coupon for a FREE signature collection item with any purchase. Print yours here.

8. FREE download from People mag and iTunes of Christmas Music by various country artists, including the likes of Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, and Joe Nichols.

9. Want to get a bunch of FREE Nestle Tollhouse cookie dough at Target? Print this $1/1 coupon. Head to Target, purchase one Nestle cookie dough {$1.96}, pay $0.96 for the first one, a coupon will print at the register for $1 off Nestle Tollhouse cookie dough. Repeat with the printable, and use your Target printable from your previous purchase. Bam! Free cookie dough! :) Repeat, repeat, repeat!

10. FREE Dingo Jerky Chews for your dog, here. Take a picture, submit it, tell your story, and get your free sample!

Cool or creepy?

I got this prompt in my gmail today after attempting to send a message {which was supposed to have an attachment}.


My first thought was, "Uh....what? Oh, that's kind of cool for it to remind me to attach my attachments." And then I thought, "That's kind of creepy that it knew my message should have an attachment."

What do you think? Have you seen that prompt before? Vote in the poll to your right!

New Adventures

Starting December 1, I will be mostly a stay-at-home-mom to my two little hooligans. I'm excited about it, but it's really bittersweet. I really didn't want to leave my job. But, after a bunch of failed efforts to find a decent middle ground with my new boss, I submitted my resignation because I honestly felt, as long as I was having kids and they weren't in school, that there was absolutely no way I could meet his new expectations for my position. I'll be helping them out a little bit until they can find a replacement for me, I still have my part-time job elsewhere, and I'll be spending a day at Blake's office to help with some PR/Marketing stuff, so at least I'll have a day or two out of the house. :)

After much struggling and spending most of my maternity leave fairly distraught, I've really made peace with my decision. Five years from now, I know I won't regret being able to be with my boys.

Besides, who wouldn't want to hang out with these two cuties {sitting in my Paternal Grandfather's old chair. *Tear*}?

Don't we look like we're having so much fun watching Sesame Street videos on YouTube? :)

Weeee!!

I read this article on the new world's fastest roller coaster, and then I took a "ride." It was nice to get a little of an amusement park fix - I haven't been on a roller coaster since 2006!

It reaches its top speed of 150 mph in 4 seconds, and if you ever go to Abu Dhabi to ride it, you'll have to wear safety goggles. Isaac enjoyed the "ride" too. Hop on - I recommend full screen!

Cardigan Update

Dear Naysayers,

Blake is so thankful to you. The votes were close, but the orange cardigan with wings is on its way back to where it came from. I'm not making any more deals with my husband!

Thursday Deals - 11/11/10

1. Download 14 FREE Christmas Karaoke songs here.

2. FREE sample of Parent's Choice Infant Formula here.

3. Nov. 11-14, get 30% off your purchase at Gap brand stores with this coupon. 5% of your purchase will benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. {Thanks Jen!}

4. Get a FREE holiday shipping kit from the United States Postal Service here. It includes one of each size box, address labels and more. Sweet!

5. The Children's Place is having their $10 sale. Plus, get 15% off when you use code G4C2010. {Expires 11/15}

6. FREE Avery Shipping labels here!

7. Earn 10 FREE Gifts to Grow points by playing the EcoNursery game. They'll give you a code at the end.

8. Ladies: Free sample of Stayfree Thermo Control here.

9. FREE sample of Dove Ultimate Clear deoderant here. {You are taken to the page via Google Translate since the offer is from Univision, it was in Spanish.}

10. FREE 2011 Calendar from Oriental Trading Company here.

11. I have a one-time use code to Overstock that someone can use if they want. It's $15 off a $100 purchase {Expires 3/30/2011} using promo code 149418.

Sicilian Pepperoni Rolls

One morning, I asked Isaac what he wanted for lunch. He responded, "Pizza roll-ups!" He had never had pizza roll-ups before, and I had never really talked about them, but since he requested it, I started thinking of ways to make a pizza roll-up. Then, I remembered the Old Chicago {the restaurant!} classic, Sicilian Pepperoni Rolls! I found a knock-off recipe and got to work. They were SO good, that we had them twice in one week.

The husband rating? A+ {That's waaaay better than the D he gave my butternut squash pasta bowl, AND he thought my rolls tasted better than the ones at the restaurant! Say what?!}.


I diced the pepperoni, and mixed all of the insides together first. I figured it would be a more even mix then. I didn't measure out the amounts of cheese, just sort of eyeballed it. Also, I'm going to make them with turkey pepperoni next time so that they're a bit healthier!


Sicilian Pepperoni Rolls

- Pizza dough - enough for 1 pizza {I used the Betty Crocker kind where you add 1/2 c. hot water. The only one the original poster doesn't recommend is the Pillsbury kind that comes in a tube.}

- 1 package pepperoni

- 1 cup shredded mozz cheese

- 1 cup (or a few slices) Pepper Jack cheese

- 6 green onions, sliced

- Caesar or Ranch salad dressing, the supposed "magic" ingredient {I used Ranch!}

- Your favorite marinera sauce for dipping

Mix the dough according to the directions, roll it out into a thin rectangle and slice it into 6-8" long strips. Top each strip with pepperoni, cheese, green onions, and a fairly generous amount of Caesar or Ranch dressing {I didn't use a "generous amount" just spread a thin layer on each strip}. Roll the strips from end to end like a cinnamon roll - whichever side ends up flatter will be used as the "bottom". Place a pepperoni on the bottom and put the roll on a greased cookie sheet or baking pan. Bake for 18-20 min at 425 (or until dough is golden brown).

Wee

I had another post planned, but then Isaac peed, for the first time, in his little toilet tonight, so now I'm distracted! I can't believe how excited, and proud, I am about it!

Ah, potty-training. Not sure if he's 100% ready because he'll only sit on the pot at night, but we're definitely going to keep encouraging him throughout the day!

Middle C

Since Isaac was a baby, I've been sitting down with him at the piano. I'm so proud. He just turned 2, and he can find middle C on the piano. Maybe in a year, he'll be playing scales. Here's proof of his piano smarts: