Jordan Matthew: 20 Months

Weight: 23 lbs
Height: 32 inches
Size: He wears mostly 18 month clothes but can also wear some 12 month still (especially in pants) and some 24 months, though they usually look a bit big on him.
Favorite Food: He's been in kind of an anti-eating phase lately where he doesn't want to eat even his usual favorite foods. He's been enjoying fruit and gummies though, without fail. He loves to drink Propel Black Cherry flavored water. He is officially weaned from nursing!
Words: "Watch" "Help" "No" "Mom" "Dada" "Baba" (grandpa/grandma) "block" "down" "more" "milk" "eat" "yeah" "bath" "Shoe" He mimics almost everything we say.
New Accomplishments: He helps get himself dressed by putting his arms in shirts and legs in pants. He knows some animal sounds (dog, cat, cow, and duck) Climbed out of his crib so he got moved to a big boy bed and does well with it. Said two words together for the first time {"more eat"} Got tooth #13, #14, #15, and #16. Can open doors.
What We Did This Month: I never posted a 19 month update so this will be April & May. {April} Celebrated Easter, nursed for the last time, went for our first bike ride of the season, switched to a toddler bed from a crib. {May} Went to a baby shower at my work, Met Amanda {my cousin}, went to Relay For Life, went to the pool
Likes: balls, cars, food, being chased, baths, his block, his pacifier, his brother, music, dancing, being thrown, being tickled, books, playing peekaboo, climbing, blocks, drawing, doing things he knows he's not supposed to, playing in water, jumping in the pool and going down the slide, being outside, swinging, sitting on his potty
Dislikes: going inside, being held down, being touched by Jake, being told no, having his diaper changed, pineapple, spicy food

Random Fact: One thing he likes to do right now is stand up on his bed, say "watch" and then drop down on his butt. He thinks he's really funny when he does that. He has a really goofy personality. I think he's going to be a jokester as he gets older. He likes to make people laugh.

Pictures:

{April}

{May}

Proud Mama Monday 5/28/12

Yesterday we put a clean diaper on Jordan. He then sat down on his little potty in the kids' bathroom {he sits there a lot} and peed. When he got up he pointed to the front of his diaper and said "wet wet" And he actually HAD peed in his diaper! And I can very safely assume he did it while sitting on the potty because, like I said, we had just put a clean diaper on him. 

Today we went to the pool. Jordan had a blast. He was going down the slide over and over and he was jumping off the edge of the pool into the water. One mom was trying to show her little boy who was probably a whole year older than Jordan how to do it like him. One dad said Jordan was the bravest kid he'd ever seen. 

7 on a Shoestring 10K Facebook Fans and 1 Year Blogiversary Celebration

I have teamed up with 7 on a Shoestring to help her celebrate her 1 year blogging anniversary as well as reaching 10,000 facebook fans. To celebrate, we have teamed up with many other bloggers to offer you, the readers, some fabulous prizes. Thanks for being loyal fans and readers. Check out below what's up for grabs. 

10K Facebook Fans and 1 Year Blogiversary Celebration

Not only do you have a chance to win the great prizes below, but you can also enter to win from the 7 Giveaway-A-Day sweepstakes from over the past week. Our sponsors have been awesome and all deserve much appreciation as well!

Sponsors for the Grand Prize Event

Each of the sponsors below have included a prize in the Grand Prize event. On the Giveaway Tools form you will find each of their Social Media accounts listed in order to support them as well. I will draw 6 winners, 1 for each prize. You MUST tell me your 1st and 2nd choice in prizes and you MUST like the sponsors Faccebook page in order to be eligible for that prize. I believe it is only fair to the brand.
Secondly, a HUGE thank you to the 143 other bloggers that have joined me in promoting this celebration! My blogging community has been amazing and I could do not have gotten where I am without your support. Therefore, other than liking them on Facebook or following them on Twitter, please make sure to include the blog's name or URL where you are entering so I can personally thank them for their hard work!

Enter to Win

Are you ready? Here are the prizes up for grabs and the sponsors offering them:

VTech - Safe & Sound Digital Audio Monitor

Clipa- Polished Silver Handbag Hanger

BabbaCo - The BabbaBox

Bling Bling by Cyndi- $25 Gift Certificate

Rubbermaid - Clean & Dry Plunger

Build a Dream Playhouses - Choice of The Cosmic Cruiser or The Dream Machine

Enter using the Giveaway Tools form below. Make sure to show your support for the sponsors and bloggers in the event. And THANK YOU for making the past year a success. Good luck!

Javascript must be enabled to enter this giveaway. Learn how to activate Javascript by clicking here.

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Disclaimer: No purchase is necessary to enter. Void where prohibited by law. The odds of winning are clearly based on the number of entries received. This promotion is no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook or Twitter. This giveaway is compliant with Facebook TOS. To qualify to win, you must fill out the entry form and follow all rules above. Winners will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to respond. You must be 18 years old to enter and live in the continental US only! Please understand that 7 on a Shoestring and other participating bloggers are not responsible for sponsors that fail to fulfill their prizes. Please allow 4-6 weeks for shipping.

COMING SOON: Photo Frenzy Giveaway

It's no surprise that I love taking pictures. It's a hobby that my husband and I both share and would both like to improve on. So I am teaming up with Couponing and Reviewing in Texas as well as several other bloggers to offer a photo frenzy giveaway. The event will run from June 1-30 and the prizes include:

• $35 Gift Certificate from mod. straps
• How to Photograph Your Baby DVD
• PicBound Photobook
• 8X10 Photo Canvas from Build A Sign
• Many more prizes to be included…..

If you'd like to sign up for the event, you can do so by heading over to Couponing and Reviewing in Texas and filling out the form. 

Want to Get Fit??

Want to Get Fit? Join me for a Health Awareness giveaway happening July 1st through 15th with products to inspire you to get fit!


If you'd like to sign up for this event,  click here! Otherwise just stay tuned for your chance to win some great prizes! US only! 

Wilton Cake Decorating Class Course 1

One of the most special and memorable things about my youth were birthdays. My mom always made them special and my favorite part was the cakes she made. Before we were born, my mom took a few of the Wilton Cake Decorating classes and she always made amazing cakes for our birthdays and special occassions. Growing up, I knew I wanted to take the classes as well -- eventually. Finally, my mom gave me a gift card to take the classes as well as a ton of her supplies for my birthday and last February we took Course 1 together {I made her go with me! And yes, I'm just writing about it now.... I was slightly embarrassed by some of my creations -- you'll see!}

We took a four week class through Hobby Lobby that met on Wednesday nights. At the first class, we brought in cookies and practiced doing star tips. At the second class, we learned how to frost a cake as well as do gel piping transfers. The third and fourth class we learned basic designs {like seashells} and some basic flowers. We also learned how to print and write on cakes and then we got to have fun and use all the techniques we learned to make our final cake. I thoroughly enjoyed the class and will definitely be taking a few more in the future. But after the class was over I was certain that I needed a break from making cakes and frosting. You wouldn't think it, but it's a lot of work!

So anyway, here are my results from the class.

Class 1: Random star tips on cookies

Class 2: Worst/Ugliest cake EVER. {See why I was embarrassed..... in my defense, we only had 5 minutes after class to color our frosting and decorate our cake...}

Class 3: Cupcake fun

Class 3: flowers

Class 3: flowers

Class 3: pom-pom flower

Class 3: My sad attempt at Cookie Monster

Class 3: My sad attempt at Elmo

Class 3: Quick 2 minute decorations that look better than the ones I spent time on, lol

Class 3: Quick 2 minute decorations that look better than the ones I spent time on, lol

Class 3: More flower practice

Class 4: Final cakes -- everyone's in the class. Mine is in the back row on the right

My final cake

My final cake

Pinterest Project: 4th of July Wreath

It was my first attempt at making a wreath and I have to say, I am very proud of myself for how this turned out! In fact, I think I like mine better than the original :-)

The Challenge: 
4th of July yarn wreath created by Naptime Crafting

                                                                   Source: naptimecrafting.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

The Supplies: 
-straw wreath form
- red, white, and blue yarn (I used "I love that yarn" brand)
- 2 packages of white star buttons (can't remember what brand I bought)
- hot glue gun
- scissors

The Results: 
My wreath!

What do you think??? 

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I'd love to have a garden

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Whitney Farms. All opinions are 100% mine.

Now that the weather is getting warmer again I start dreaming about gardening again. I would love to be able to have my own garden -- to grow at least some of the food we eat. Unfortunately, our backyard gets zero sun so I will have to just keep dreaming.
In my dream world, Whitney Farms® would be a great help in my gardening adventure. Using organic soil and organic plant food I would grow many vegetables for us to eat. I would love to grow peas, tomatoes, carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, and maybe even lettuce. How easy would it be to have a salad every day!

When I was younger we had a small backyard garden that grew tomatoes and green beans. I remember as a child how much I hated going out there to do the gardening -- to pick the ripe tomatoes and green beans. Now, I think it would be fun. Maybe I'm crazy! But I think there's a certain joy to creating something and being able to grow and create your own foods sounds wonderful to me. Maybe some day we will move somewhere that gets sunshine and be able to make these dreams a reality! Until then, I will keep dreaming up my perfect garden! 

Do you garden? If you do, what do you grow? Check out Whitney Farms® for a $3 off coupon! 

Silly Saturday 5/19/12

Me: "How much do you think I weigh?"

Mom: "125 lbs" 

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! Dream on!!!

Jake comes up next to me. "So... what's new?"

Source: someecards.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: pinterestoffer.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Emily on Pinterest

{Wordless Wednesday} Mother's Day 2012

My Mother's Day present from my boys <3

The butterfly is Jordan's handprints. The flower is Jake's handprints. 

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EcoWellDog Review: SleepytTime Tonic & KissAble Toothbrush & Toothpaste Set

EcoWellDog sent me two products to test out for my dog, Charlie. Charlie is a 64 lb beagle mix who has stinky breath due to tartar buildup. He also goes crazy barking when anyone is near the house {or sometimes just because} Because of this, I was sent the Sleepytime Tonic to help with his anxiety and the KissAble toothbrush and toothpaste set. 

SleepyTime Tonic: I have to admit, the thought of giving my dog sleep medicine seemed both ridiculous and tempting at the same time! Charlie's anxiety is not the typical anxiety that some dogs get and it's hard to predict when he's going to have a barking spell. This made it a bit more challenging to truly test this product. One thing that always gets him going is when the mailman drives by. So when I heard the mailman heading down the street in the opposite direction, I gave Charlie the tonic. The SleepyTime Tonic is made with all natural ingredients and is given using a dropper. The number of drops given depends on the size of the dog. The drops are most effective when given directly in the dog's mouth but can also be mixed into food or water. It was a bit challenging to get the drops into Charlie's mouth with his tongue trying to lap them all up at the same time. Unfortunately, the tonic didn't really seem to help with his barking at things passing by our house -- including the mailman. I am going to save it and try them again closer to the 4th of July and fireworks. I will let you know how that goes. 

KissAble Toothbrush & Paste Set: When I first saw the toothbrush I thought GENIUS! Why don't our toothbrushes look like that too? If you can't tell from the picture, the toothbrush has a set of bristles that are flat and two other sets of bristles on the sides that are angled in. You only have to brush in a straight back and forth motion over the teeth to get all angles. The toothpaste is a natural vanilla flavor and smells great! Charlie liked the taste of it as well. Even after the first use we could see a difference in the cleanliness of his teeth. I really like this product and would recommend it to all dog owners! 

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