My upcoming Fall Favorites!!!

Good Morning!

(Or depending on how long it takes me to write this post afternoon or good evening!!!)

Yesterday the pumpkin spice latte was available at Starbucks, the breeze outside is getting cooler by the day, and these are just a few of my favorite signs that the new season is just around the corner!

Here are a few of my favorite things I am recommending for you to try for fall...

(Along with a few give aways to get you ready for this fall season!)

1. The pumpkin Spice Latte(actually any of the pumpkin spice drinks at Starbucks they now have the Frap, Mocha and of course the latte). These drinks always put me in the mood for some fall cleaning, decorating and scarf shopping!

2. Tammy's Funky Flowers. Now when I first had my daughter I saw all of these women walking around with their babies with these huge flowers on their heads... and I thought to myself ... now thats just ridiculous. Who would do that? Well... ME ha ha I found Tammy's Funky Flowers through a recent blog hop and fell in love. She sent me one to try and not only did the flower she sent blow my expectations out of the water both my friends and I became obsessed. Everyone was asking to borrow Maddi's flower and even My honey loved how it looked on her. Everywhere we go people oooh and awww over my daughter and her pretty flower. So I am announcing this to be the new "IT" place to get your fall flowers.




3. Mother Goose Collections.(Children's Boutique) You are probably familiar with this since it was featured as my last give away. But since the give away I placed a rather large order from her for some cute fall clothes and I love them. My favorite part about Mother Goose Collection is she creates anything you want. I sent her a novel size email asking if she could make a number of things and together we created (well she created) the most amazing outfits, Here is my favorites of my huge order:




4. The Rattles: The Rattles Is a new children's Music Cd that I have recently discovered. I love it! Its adorable. It not the cheesy music that you normally get, its sort of is a mix between the Beatles and some classic oldies. My kids loved it Maddi danced and Bryce learned all the words... and I didnt want to shoot myself after listening to the Cd 3 times in a row!

5. Scentsy: I am new to Scentsy candles but now a believer. I didn't understand what the purpose was or why they were all the craze until I recently tried one. IT WAS AWESOME!!!! I love the ambiance it provides almost acting like a night light while of course making the room smell great! I also loved that the few times I felt the house and couldn't remember if I had turned it off or not... It was ok! I personally am super excited to try the new fall scents like the Carmel Spice!

SO now as you can probably guess.... Thats right.... I want you to win some of these items!!!! Every day starting tomorrow I will Post a new posting for some of the items in my fall favs list! SO keep your eyes peeled!!! Also I hope you share with me some of your Fall favorites, if it weren't for the Blogging world I wouldn't have found most of these these items!!! So please do share :0)

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Friendship Friday 9

Friendship Friday

you know the rules... There are none!
Meet some friends and have a great time!









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23 things I never thought Id be doing at 23!!!

Well it's official... this 22 yr old housewife is officially 23 as of today!!! First, here are a few things I never thought I'd being doing at the young ripe age of 23 and yet couldn't be happier doing them :0) I also have some gifts to share with some of you ... Three winners for my Mother Goose Collections Give Away!!! Woo Hoo!!!

SO here it goes my 23 things I never thought I'd being doing at 23!

1. Give up my shoe collection and designer bags for diaper bags and rain boots.
2. Be super excited when Nickelodeon's Story Time or Disney On Ice comes in town and less excited when Rhianna, Britney Spears, or any other artist I used to love comes to concert.
3. Pick Disney World as my number 1 choice for vacation (with or without the kids)
4. Have more fun shopping at Gymboree and Baby Gap than t Express, BCBG or BEBE.
5. Planning parties with juice pouches - watermelon and strawberry lemonade as opposed to planning parties with strawberry margaritas and watermelon Jello shots.
6. Explain (lie) to my 5 year-old what Lady Gaga means when she talks about riding on a disco stick.
7. Be a blog-aholic. I always wondered who had time for this and why they would want to do it! lol Now i know ;0)
8. Sweep up cheerios 6 times a day (at least)
9. Have a 35 sq ft play yard set up in my living room.
10. Have a whale-themed bathroom in my house.
11. Have Up, Cars, Beauty and the beast on blu ray
12. Call my girlfriends not to talk about boys or clothes but to talk about what color my daughter's boogies were that day, and find out how their child's ear infection is going.
13. Walk around anywhere public with spit up down my back not knowing until my honey gets home and asks, "Hey whats that down your back?"
14. Exchanges my business clothes, pencil skirts, high heels and skinny jeans for yoga pants and tank tops. (These make chasing around a baby much easier.)
15. Ask myself when the last time I showered was... and have a tough time remembering. (But remember that I have given a "little" someone else 3 baths that day!)
16. Be able to change a diaper, while wrestling my 11 month old and help my son with his transformer.
17. Be completely out of the loop when it comes to the Bachelorette and Desperate housewives but know exactly whats up with Handy Mandy and Olivia
18. Find myself Humming the Handy Manny song throughout the day
19. Find Fruit snacks, gerber peach puffs, pacifiers, popcorn etc in my couch, bed, purse, car etc.
20. or also find some of these things in my shirt, bra and hair at the end of the day...
21. Know how to make "under the sea" mac and cheese with octopus hot dogs and gold fish
22. Have an amazing boyfriend that I know I cannot live without. He is my strength, my heart and completes my soul.
23. Have 2 amazing, beautiful children that I couldn't imagine my life without.

Today was a wonderful day! I was surprised by my honey taking the day off and taking us to the zoo. I also got a new tripod and (drum roll please) MY PANDORA BRACELET!!! woo hoo

And now for the big moment! The winner of my Sweet Little Give Away hosted by Mother Goose Collections Children's Boutique are:

• 1st Place winner is M&MS Mommy from "And for good Measure". She is the winner of one of the following three items: A Mother Goose Collection TuTu Set, One of the signature boy short sets, or one of her adorable bags!!!
• 2nd Place winner is Aly From "Alygatr's Everywhere". She is the winner of a $15.00 gift certificate.
• 3rd Place winner is Tammy from "Tammy's Funky Flowers" She is the winner of a $10.00 Gift Certificate.

Congrats to all of you and I hope all of you enjoy your day!!!

I will have Friendship Friday up tonight around midnight!

Wordless Wednesday: Born to Wear Diamonds

Asking for some helping hands....

I was approached by the most amazing company, Baby Pickel This is a company whose sole purpose is dedicated to helping out single mothers in need of help.
They have approached me and my blog and asked me to team up with them. One of the first things we will be doing together is a monthly Give away where you can nominate a single mother who has a success story, a single mom who deserves some recognition, a single mother you think should (could use) some attention. The winners will receive some special prizes donated by Baby Pickel and a few other local and national Businesses. I will be launching my first give away September 1st. But I am reaching out and shouting out to others out there who would like to team up with us to recognize some amazing women. If you can donate prizes or services and are interested in this monthly event please contact me. Even if you can only do it once... This is fine and will be greatly appreciated.

I was once a single mother and know how hard it is... Lets reach out and help these mothers know they are appreciated and give them the encouragement they may need!

I look forward to hearing from all of you gracious and kind helpers ;0)

Pet Peeve: Teen Mom on MTV

I have to say after falling in love with the MTV reality show 16 and pregnant, I thought I would have the same feeling when they did the spin off Teen Mom. As a teen mom myself there was a lot of thing I could relate to with these girls. I had to work hard to graduate from high school, suffered with single mom hardships, and had to battle my way through situations that no mother should have to go through(let alone a teenager) I had to work very hard to keep my son healthy and happy. I experienced the stereotype and negative looks from people when they saw me with my son and saw how old I was, I never understood why people had to judge me by my age when they knew nothing about my mothering or the love I had for my child no matter how much help I had or didn't have; Until I watched Teen mom. This show is by far the most frustrating show on TV right now. I feel like MTV picked the worst Teen parents in the world (yes im sure the tactic in mind was to scare other teens from being in this situation. Understandable) However... These girls let their children run around around everywhere, they refuse to get an education (some of them) they cause so much drama with parents and family members acting completely immature especially in front of these sweet babies that have no idea whats going on, its ridiculous! This is why I as a teen mom got tons of evil looks and stares from the older generations. I am not saying we haven't had our trials and my errors ... but what mother hasn't. (we just dont do it all over national television and make ourselves look like bigger idiots by acting like spoiled brats, use our kids as pawns to get what we want, and teach our kids its ok to act like idiots!

Alright Im done complaining!!! lol

Lastly I wanted to tell everyone hat my give away ends Thursday!!!! SO GO SIGN UP!!!!!Children's Boutique Mother Goose Collections Sweet Little Give Away!

Friendship Friday: Week 8 Guest Post

Strength Of A Mother
Kaitlyn F.
I didnt know I had it in me. I didnt know id ever be capable of really embracing motherhood to the extent that I have! My daughter. Amazing. Wonderful. Gives me Reason. Shes all consuming and forever embracing. I cannot express what motherhood has done for and to me. I cannot express how much Auburn has done for and to me. I cannot express the pain that I feel, GUILT, extreme guilt and sorrow. What have I given Her. I cannot begin to say how SORRY i am to my sweet girl. She deserved only the Best, im not the best. She should have a mother and a father, a home of her own with us, Safe, Peaceful, warm and United. What she gets, Broken parents, a broken home. The strength i feel for her on her behalf, is quite incredible. I have done the unthinkable, I walked away from an unhealthy and unsafe situation that Auburn was in. Before her I could do it, I could settle in and dig my feet in, and put up with it all. I could live life everyday trying to save someone else so that My dreams could happen. I could find my self worth in someone else needing me at their convenience and at the same time filling my head and heart with broken and empty promises. But Auburn. Sweet Auburn. She helped me see. She gave me my vision back, my ears, my heart, my head, my convictions-Ruminating Convictions. She gave me the courage. Auburn Rose. Shes my life savor. No matter the pain and sorrow i feel in my heart, my Internal conflicts and battles, my internal Pain, theres nothing more important to me than having the peace of Mind, Auburn Rose is safe, healthy, happy, in peace, in Unity. This is Our Home. This is Our Life. Shes my Own Chariot. Shes my Grace, Strength.


Welcome to Friendship Friday!!!

If you are new here are the rules...

1. There are no requirements for you to participate (the more the merrier)!

2. This Blog Hop is purely to make new friends and discover new blogs you may not have known were out there...

3. There really are no rules :0)

So grab a button if you want and add your name to the list and have fun!!!!

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Please check me out on Facebook!!!

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And all of you mommas out there check out my Give Away There will be 3 winners... and as of right now there are very few entries!!! (That means you have a great chance to win!!!!

Is Natural completely "Unnatural" these days?

My best friend in the whole world Alia has recently found out she is having her third baby! (I know I am super excited too!) We got to talking the other day about her birthing choices. She had her first two babies with the help of an epidural and was talking about the possibility of having this baby natural.

I have personally experienced both avenues and cant say that I have a preference. Both experiences were completely different and special in their own ways... I will say that if it weren't for Nick my natural birth would not have been possible. He was an amazing labor partner, birthing couch and overall a great "doula", he was kind, loving and patient. The only two things I would ever suggest to a women who wants to attempt a natural birth is labor in the tub, and have an amazing partner.

With not having been much help to her... I took it to my readers. I opened up a Facebook Discussion Board and got some amazing feedback on both avenues. Here is some of what I got back:

I had both of my girls with an epidural, but both were still very different experiences. With my first, Lexi, I was induced, so I got my meds before I experienced any true labor pains and the epidural worked so well that I couldn't even tell she was born. Amazing. With Madison, I went through hard active labor for about three hours at home before going to the hospital and during that time, all I could think about was the painful contraction that was happening or preparing for the one that was about to happen, NOTHING ELSE! Once we got to the hospital and received my epidural, I was able to relax, smile, and enjoy life again! lol I always hear no med moms say they don't want to be out of it while they have their baby, but it was not like that for me at all. I had complete presence of mind the entire time and after was all there. haha. I just think of it like this, if you knew you were about to go through any other painful procedure in life, you always take the meds! I don't know anyone who would get their wisdom teeth taken out with out meds, or try to pass a kindey stone without some pain killers. Having a child hurts, we know that, why go through that if you don't have to and it has no affect on your baby? -Bekka

I had both my babies with no meds and would do it again. If baby number three comes it will be no meds for me. I want to be up and moving untill it is time to push. Both times I labored standing up either swaying or walking. I just tried to relax when the contraction came and did not fight it. I did some practicing before the labors. I just put myself in a zone and don't talk to anyone and try to keep a clear mind. Walking through them helped me. -Jill

I got an epidural with both my kiddos. I must say "good for you" to all the mommies that have gone natural but it definitely is not for me! With my 1st I was in labor for 18 1/2 hours and got my epidural 12 hours into it. It was the perfect epidural, I LOVED giving birth and was able to enjoy each moment. With my 2nd (6 weeks ago) I was in early labor for 2 days! Then when I switched over to active labor it hit HARD and FAST. In the 12 hours I went without meds during my first labor, I never experienced pain like I did with my 2nd. As soon as I got admitted I was begging for my epidural, in fact I couldn't wait and asked for IV meds before the Epidural lady could get there! ( I would not reccomend this, it made me groggy between contractions but didn't do a darn thing to ease the pain!) Well I got my epidural and again it was perfect. 6 hours of labor this time and I was able to sleep since I hadn't slept n 2 days, then 2 1/2 pushes and he was out. I was laughing because I couldn't believe how fast it went, and just kept saying how cute my new lil man was! The atmosphere was so happy and light and I enjoyed every single second. If I was in SERIOUS pain from natural child birth I know I couldn't have enjoyed it as much as I did. Knowing that the epidural doesn't affect the baby make me very much PRO epidural :-) You don't get an award for going natural and God gave man wisdom to create the epidural so I am going to take full advantage! -Seana

I think every mom should get to hear "good for you" and "i have a lot of respect for you" REGARDLESS of if they had a natural, epidural, or C-section. I hate that it's looked at as this noble act when moms go all natural when the reality of it is, we are ALL noble and deserve praise for bringing a baby into this world. Notice how no one said to someone who had an epidural "GOOD FOR YOU!" I am reading all these birthing stories of women trying to JUSTIFY why they got an epidural... when in fact, they shouldn't even have to explain! It is still just as beautiful and wonderful a process as a natural delivery. Notice the women who did it "all natural" only typed a sentence or two and you can just hear it in their typing (yes, HEAR, lol) that they feel more proud than the rest. It tears me up inside when a woman gets an epidural and feels like she has failed somehow. I think society (mostly moms) need to be a little more supportive of one another of whatever route they choose. So as for me, I am PRO natural, PRO epidural, and PRO C-section -Kristin

So I am extending the question to you fellow mommies and birth partners, Is it completely Unnatural to go natural this day and age when drugs are so readily available?

I would like to take a second to agree with Kristin and congratulate and say "good for you" to every mother out there. Each and every birth story is miraculous and amazing in its own way.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

PS If you are a mommy reading this post ... I hope you will check out my current It ends this week and there are very few entries... (which means there is a good chance to win *wink *wink)

Tomorrow starts a whole new chapter in my life...

From the beginning of my career as a mother it was just Bryce and I. We had been through the worst, created the best memories, and created a bond that is indescribable.

When he was born a whole new chapter of my life was created. The chapter of us being together no matter what, doing whatever we could to stay together and me making sure his life would only get better with each and every day. It wasn't until last year when I found out I was pregnant with my daughter that the love of my life Nick suggested I stay home with the kids. It has been amazing. I got to enroll Bryce in Pre-school last year and go to every field trip and come to every little event. I felt like I was able to be apart of Bryce's life in a whole new way.

Well Tomorrow starts yet another chapter. Tomorrow For the first time I will watch my sweet baby boy get onto a school bus and head of to a whole new chapter in his life! I think knowing it was coming this summer was somewhat misleading. I wasn't real until I took him to meet his teacher today and figure out all of the details of this school year that it became real. I think at the moment I was filling out the cafeteria paperwork and marking whether I would be making his lunch or he would be eating in the cafeteria is when I realized how big he has gotten.

In just five short years he has leaned to crawl, walk, talk, argue, communicate, write letters and spell some words, speak a little Spanish, and has developed an interest in politics.(He can tell you who is president, who was president, if they are democrat or republican, what the mascot is for each party, and how to pass a bill into congress.) It doesn't seem to me by looking at him that he is ready. But there he stood today in his classroom like a little man staying true to self and trying to draw some sort of attention to himself by telling his teacher right off the bat, "I am 5 and I have glasses!"

On my way home it dawned on me... This is now one of the most important chapters in my life... The chapter where I now need to guide him into a successful path, the chapter where I hopefully protect him from the things I can and help him learn from the mistakes I cannot protect him from. As I am sure most parents do at this point of their lives, I looked back into my 13 years of school and picked through all of the choices I made that I do not want him making, I sat there with anxiety building praying that God give me the time to be there for each and every moment of these ever so important years and that nothing happen where I would be unable to participate in his life. I prayed I would be able to help him succeed and help him stay the kind hearted person he is now. I prayed for his success and prayed for him to enjoy these years to the fullest and take full advantage of his youth and try and help him to not grow up too fast.

Here are some pictures of my little man:

Also I have started a little something new... I have started discussion boards on topics I would love to hear feedback on from my readers!!! From the different opinions and stories I will pick a few and create a blog post about the topic! SO Join me on Facebook and give me your opinions!!!! New discussion will be posted every Tuesday!!!

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Friendship Friday: Week 7 & and A little about Me :0)

A little bit about me...

Lately I have been getting message and Facebook posts etc. of people asking a little about me and who I am so here is goes:

• I used to be a purse collector ( now i carry a diaper bag and my designer bags sit pathetically at the top of my closet.)
• I want 4 kids ( I know you all think I'm crazy)
• My idol is Tori Spelling, I think she is a great multi-tasker, party planner, and of course a great mommy.
• As I hinted above I LOVE LOVE LOVE to plan parties.
• I actually love to do anything that requires me to use the creative side of my brain. (Which is pretty much all of it.)
• I hate hate hate laundry
• I love to vacuum! I think a little Vacuuming goes a long way ;0)
• I love to cook! (Thank God my Honey will eat just about anything bless his heart lol because I can be like a mad scientist in the kitchen, explosions and deadly combinations and all)
• I never leave home without My phone or camera. (and the kiddos of course)

Welcome to Friendship Friday!!!

If you are new here are the rules...

1. There are no requirements for you to participate (the more the merrier)!

2. This Blog Hop is purely to make new friends and discover new blogs you may not have known were out there...

3. There really are no rules :0)

So grab a button if you want and add your name to the list and have fun!!!!

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Got Milk?

Well I'm sad to say that a few weeks ago my sweet 10 month old baby girl has decided she is done nursing. When I first decided I was going to breastfeed I said I would do it for 6 months. Then the 6 month mark came and I said ok 1 more month... and so on ...until I had hoped I would do it until she because a year(or until she got teeth and bit me for the first time) but neither of those happened... she decided she was done on her own. It all started when her pediatrician said she needed to be drinking water twice a day... so I gave her water in a sippy cup... and as she got better and better at it her breastfeeding sessions became less and less frequent. It's now to the point where she will only take liquids from a sippy cup and I'm all dried up. I'm sad we didn't make it to the 10 month mark or longer for that matter... however... I am completely proud that her and I did such a great job and lasted as long as we did.
It was my honey who actually suggested we breastfeed from the beginning... having not breastfed my son I was completely ok with formula feeding... He suggested we take a breastfeeding class and at least out weigh the pros and cons. After the pros were obviously better. I decided I would at least try. I (as most expecting first time nursing moms do)had heard horror stories about how painful it was how hard it was and had little support from anyone but Nick. Well right from the second they handed her to me she latched on and never turned back. I never thought I would enjoy the experience as much as I did... The fact that she 100% completely needed and relied on me.(as exhausting as it was sometimes... and even though sometimes all I did was wish her dad could have gotten up with her.)It was an incredible feeling. I now know that when we have more children (yes when no if) I will be breastfeeding them as well. I also cannot thank my honey enough for providing me with the support that he did to help me succeed and experience such and amazing thing. My sweet girl's first birthday is coming up and everyday gets harder and harder to wake up and see the new things she is learning over night it seems.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

(Now we prefer to eat dirt... among other things lol)