5 on Friday + a winner

O*N*E
Well I promised that on Friday I would announce the winner of the The Little Mermaid Giveaway, so without further ado.....

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congrats Maria!!!

Please make sure to email me your address by Monday September 30th, so i can give it to the sponsor. 

T*W*O
So after seeking out some advice from a few of my favorite photography bloggers, I decided to go ahead and rent the 50mm 1.4 from borrowlenses.com. Let me just say, OMG!!! I love this thing!! I havent even really had the chance to fully use it yet on a client/subject, but i played with it in my backyard on the dogs and i think im in LOVE! I cant wait to use it tomorrow on my new nephew. Thank you Mandy for your suggestion!!! Now if only i can convince someone to buy it for me for Christmas. Only 88 days to persuade someone, who will be the lucky winner? :)

my mother-in-laws black lab, Sophie

T*H*R*E*E
Im so proud of myself for jumping back on Weight Watchers full force! And not only because i can see a difference on the scale, but also because I feel like i am making better choices. Like right now, i just went on to plan what im having for dinner because I know we are going to a mexican restaurant since its my mother in laws last night in town. I tracked all the points, yes everything down to how many tortilla chips im going to eat, so that i know i will make a better choice while im at the dinner table. go me! (oh and look for an upcoming post where i will do a complete update on my progress thus far)


F*O*U*R

via

Ive been thinking about what I want Matthew to be for halloween this year. Surprisingly hubs agrees with my idea, normally he has some kind of remark on it being cheesey. But you see my mom has been calling matthew "bam bam" for quite some time now. So i think it would be really cute if he was Bam Bam from Flinstones. I could even be Betty Rubble, or Wilma Flinstone. Highly doubt hubs would be willing to dress up as Barney or Fred, but I could give it a shot. lol. My issue is, we live in south florida, and EVERY.SINGLE. costume i find for kids is like a full body suit. Dont the makers realize that my kid might die of sweat? And come on, its Bam Bam for god sake! all he needs is a little skirt-like thing and a stick! but no, all the ones i can find look like this. Not only is it a full body suit, but the whole hair thing makes it look really weird to me. So i think i might just bite the bullet and shop for the costume on Etsy. It may be a little, read ALOT, more expensive to have someone make it, but i think it will look way better. Anyone know anyone that could make me a bam bam costume? Im sure it wouldnt be too difficult, and i could probably make it, but i just dont have the time or will power to try and figure it out.

F*I*V*E
Not only have I had major baby fever lately, but i think Ive also got a case of the "i wanna bigger house" fever too. The two kinda go together. You see i want another kid soon. Like would love to be pregnant before the new year (no we are not currently trying), but we honestly dont really have a big enough house to add another kid into the mix. Technically we could enclose the carport, which is what we have wanted to do all along. But 1) we dont really have the money for that right now and 2) that still wouldnt give us the space we need. Ideally, i would love a 5bd/3bath. I know, i like to dream BIG. But think about it 1-our room 2-matthews room 3-baby #2's room eventually 4-my home office and 5-a spare bedroom, or possibly baby#3. Technically kids can share rooms, so thats always negotiable, but i need a separate room for my office. Currently its in whats supposed to be a dining room. But technically we cant afford a house like that out east where we live now, and i really dont want to live out west if i can avoid it. So basically i just have to live with my baby fever and big house syndrome until someone decides they just want to give me lot and lots of money! any volunteers? Id be happy with something like this:

via

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

If youre new here, leave a comment and ill make sure to hop on over to your blog too!

a quick update and a giveaway

Wow, you know how everyone tells you once you have kids time seems to literally fly by? Well they werent kidding. I cant believe it is already half way through September. Alots been going on around our neck of the world. Lots of projects at work, lots of random house projects (including building a swingset!), baby shower for my sis-in-law, and now she is actually at the hospital as of last night getting induced due to a liver condition they found in her. All is well so far, and I cant wait to meet my new lil nephew hopefully later today! <insert baby fever here>

But along with all that good news for me and my family, I have some good news for you, my bloggy friends, too! I have the opportunity to give one of my lucky readers The Little Mermaid Diamond Edition 2-Disc Blu-ray+DVD Combo Pack with Digital Copy!

I was so beyond excited to be able to host this giveaway! We all know we love Disney around here, and The Little Mermaid just so happens to be one of my all time favorite Disney classics. Funny, I was just talking to hubby about how when I was growing up, i would have definitely considered myself a Disney kid (opposed to Nickelodeon). I think i had every classic Disney movie on VHS (omg, showing my age now with the VHS reference), but the few that stayed in my normal rotation were The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, and Sleeping Beauty.

And honestly, it kind of makes me sad that all my old VHS's will go to waste, and my kid(s) wont have those for their viewing pleasure since we dont own a VHS player anymore. But luckily, The Little Mermaid is coming out of the Disney Vault for the first time on Blu-ray Combo Pack and HD Digital on October 1st!

If you want you chance at winning a free copy for your kiddos (or yourself, if youre a fanatic like me lol) then just simply enter below through the rafflecopter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Oh and you can also check out is the movie's website, which includes clips, games and activities by going here.

Good luck!

I received a copy of the movie in exchange for this post. All opinions are my own.

fridays letters (giveaway winner announced)

 

dear hubby, i know this week was a hard week for  us, but i think after sitting down and having a civilized conversation we made some real progress. there are things that still need to change, for both of us, but im just glad that we were able to see each others points. just know, I may not like you some days, but I always love you.

dear matthew, thank you so much for sleeping through the night last night! mommy needed some sleep, badly, and so did you. today you woke up in such a better mood. Smiling at me as I walked through your door, i knew today was going to be much better than this past week

dear hair, what is up with you lately? i just cant seem to figure you out. youre kinda too long, but i dont want to cut you. bangs overgrown, do i really want bangs? you've been incredibly greasy lately and I dont know why. so greasy that last night i didnt even put conditioner in (something Ive never done) and yet this morning you still feel yucky. what the h-e-doublehockeysticks is going on?!?!?! get it together. any suggestions on making my hair not so greasy, would be greatly appreciated.

dear reese's peanut butter eggs, you will be the death of my. ive already eaten 2 and its not even 2pm yet. i bought you to pt in hubs easter basket, but it doesnt look like youll be making it that long in our house.

dear pottery barn kids, thanks for making such cute easter baskets! i got matthew the peter rabbit one and it came this week. i die of the cuteness!

dear spring, im so glad youre finally here! its beautiful outside (although a lil overcast today) with the windows open and the wind airing out the house. if only someone else could do my sping cleanign for me ;)

dear previous employer, thank you so much for the surprise performance bonus check that came in the mail. i was not expecting you at all, but you came at just the right time, as i needed to order a new convertible carseat for matthew and was dreading the $250 price tag. This makes it so much easier.

dear old navy, why must you have so many cute dresses? i want all of them! i only bought 2, but i might go back for more colors. hehe

dear hubby, i didnt expect you to meet me at matthews pedetrcian appointment on wednesday, but Im actually kind of glad you did. it was great to have the doctor tell you that nothing is wrong with matthew and that hes just teething and acting like a normal baby. i already knew this, and have told you multiple times, but i guess it took a professional to tell you for you to actually believe it.

dear matthew, im so proud of how good youve become while eating at restaurants. wednesday night it was well past your bedtime by time we got to the restaurant and I was for sure that we would have to leave early due to you being up for so long with no nap. but you surprised all of us by being extremely well behaved, eating dinner, and just playing with your toy while the rest of us finished. you only started getting cranky when the bill came. thank you for being such a good boy!

And before I forget, the winner of the CROODS giveawy is:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congrats again Allison!

You must be one lucky lady, as you won my last giveaway too!!

And i know I usually leave you with a photo, but i thought this little video was better. We gave Matthew a lemon at dinner wednesday night and he loved it, although his face may tell you different ;)

Hope ya'll have a great weekend! And dont forget to link up with Ashley for Fridays Letters!

who are THE CROODS? {giveaway}

If you havent noticed, our family is filled with movie lovers. Like if we could literally just pay for the movie channels from DirecTV we would be absolutely set! (unfortunately there isnt a subscription like that, you have to buy all the other channels we dont even watch lol) Needless to say, we hope to be able to pass our love for movies onto our kid(s). You dont even understand how many times ive dreamed about taking Matthew to his first movie. The big screen. The oh-so-delicious buttery popcorn. The snow caps. The trailers. All things I remember from my childhood. Unfortunately, Matthew is just not old enough yet to enjoy the movies. But if he were, you better believe we would be going and see THE CROODS! Have you seen the preview yet?
Dont worry Ill wait.......

Its basically a 3D comedy adventure that follows the world's first modern family through the journey of a lifetime. When the cave that has always been their home is destroyed – with the rest of their world not far behind it – The Croods are forced to set off on the first family road (or path) trip. Rocked by generational clashes and seismic shifts, The Croods discover an incredible new world filled with fantastic creatures, and a future beyond any they imagined.


The funny part is with any journey comes discovery – and The Croods’s trek provides many “firsts,” including: a road trip, fire and shoes, as well as the first pet, the first cell phone (OK, it’s a shell, but still) ...plus: the first joke, the first pair of sunglasses, and even the first mid-life crisis.

Im actually thinking maybe I can convince my mom to watch Matthew and I can take my niece with me to go see it. She enjoys the popcorn just as much as I do! ;)

There is a great set of actors who do the voices for all the characters, including Emma Stone (Eep), Nicolas Cafe (Grug), and Ryan Reynolds (Guy) among the cast. It releases in theaters next Friday March 22, 2012.

And just because I thought it was so hilarious, I had to Crood-ify our family!

Oh and I forgot to mention one last thing. Because I love you all so much, one of you lucky followers will get to take home your very own official The Croods poster and Belt (the cute lil guy you see in hubs croodify picture) plush toy. Lots of quick & simple ways to enter. Sorry US residents only. Winner will be announced next Thursday, and you will need to give me your address by the Friday March 22.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
And if you want to learn some more about the movie (or croodify your family, which I highly encourage!) here are some links:

movie site | facebook | twitter | Crood-ify App

I received a poster & plush toy in compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

fridays letters

 

First and foremost lets not forget the announcement of the Premama giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congrats Allison!!! 

Send me your address ASAP so the company can send out your 30-day supply of Premama. 

Now onto are regularly scheduled post....TGIF & TGIWN!! (thank god its WINE NIGHT! hehe)

dear hubby, i know how excited we both are about going to the Tortuga Music Festival, but we really need to book our hotel like yesterday, prices are basically skyrocketing and if we dont book soon we wont be able too!

dear matthew, remember when I was worried about you not siting by yourself at 7 months? Well, it may have taken you that long to sit by yourself but this past month you have developed so many more skills. You can not only sit by yourself, you can go from laying down to sitting, crawling, kneeling while holding on to your crib when you wake up, to pulling yourself up to standing with your toys. It amazes me how fast you learned all of these, and I swear any day now you are just going to take off running!!

dear facebook friend, (name not included for privacy) I am so happy that you are getting rid of your daughters bunk beds, when I saw the picture of them I just knew they would be perfect for my niece. I was so excited to tell my sister about it this morning (just to make sure she wanted them) and cant wait to see your face light up when we build it in your room. And double bonus? Totally getting it for FREE!! you know I cant pass up an offer like that! picture below so you all can be as excited as I am

dear rollerblades, it was a sad day Monday when I realized we would finally be parting ways. You have been in our family for a very long time. I remember when I stole acquired them from my sister back when she was in highschool. We've had many good memories, some bad, like when I busted my ass in our old neighborhood right in front of a car, which said car had to slam on their brakes to avoid running me over. I still have yet to actually put you in the garbage. even though I know you are no longer usable, instead you stare at me from the corner of the office, waiting for the day I gather you up and drop you in the trash. But hey, thanks to you I am going to work even harder to loose the next 12.6lbs to go buy one of your long lost cousins (aka a new pair of rollerblades) as my reward. So thank you for helping inspire my love for rollerblading!

dear budget project, Ive been doing good about not using the credit card for things, but obviously Im not paying enough attention to whats in our accounts, cuz lets just say the $230 overdraft on Tuesday wasnt exactly in my plan. Thank god the accounts are connected to other accounts for overdraft protection, but that totally could have been avoidable had I been really paying attention. This week Im going to start really budgeting, like actual bills, excels files, receipts, ect. If you follow me on pinterest you can take a look at my budgeting board to see where im getting my ideas from. Wish me luck!

dear hubby, i mentioned the above bunk beds to hopefully give you a suttle hint that I will need your help, and truck, this week to go and get them, pretty please :) Your the best husband in the world! thanks!

dear matthew, what is up with this new high-pitch scream of yours? Aunt D and I noticed it a couple of days ago, were not sure where you learned it or why your doing it, but it would be much appreciated if you could go back to the normal crying whining that you did. ok? 

And because I never leave you without a picture, and because its March 1st, I figured I share with you the past 2 months of my Project365. Thanks to instagram Ive been pretty good at keeping up with it. Here is Jan & Feb's pics. (if you follow me in instagram most likely you've seen every single one of these already)

Hope you all have a good weekend, starting my off right with a few glasses of wine with some great ladies tonight.

dont forget to link up your Friday's Letters with Ashley over at The Sweet Season

Taking prenatals just got easier!!!

Calling all preggos, mamas, breast-feeding mamas, trying-to-conceivers, basically all women! Do I have some great news for you. I dont know about all of you but when I was first started trying to concieve my obgyn suggested I start taking prenatal vitamins. At first I was a lil confused. I had always thought you didnt start taking prenatals until after you got pregnant. WRONG. Since about 50% of all pregnancies are unplanned, some doctors and organizations, such as the March of Dimes, actually suggest any woman between 15 – 50 take prenatals every day.

So I took a little trip to my favorite place in the world, Target, and went to buy me some prenatals. I didnt exactly know the difference between the brands, so I did what any normal woman would do, I looked for the prettiest. lol. ok maybe not any normal woman, but what can I say? Im a sucker for good packaging. (that would be the designer in me speaking, btw)

Now let me just preface that Ive never been good at taking pills. For some reason I could just never swallow them, always opting for the chewable or liquid. As Ive gotten older Ive learned to be able to take pills, but the size of prenatals? Nobody warns you about those things! I like to call them horse-pills. But for the well-being of my baby one day, Ill do whats best. So I started taking them. Not everyday, but whenever I remembered.

I quickly learned that these horse-pills were not only gigantic and horrible smelling, but they also made me feel extremely nauseous. And hell, I wasnt even pregnant yet. I couldnt even imagine what it would be like to try and take these plus have morning sickness. So back to Target I went to try and find a smaller, better smelling, non-nausea, anything better prenatal option. After multiple attempts of which had no success, I basically gave up.

And then the best thing in the world happened. We found out I was pregnant! We were so excited and couldnt wait to tell everyone our good news. But in the back of my head all I could think about was the dreaded horse-pill I would have to take for the next 9 months. I even spoke with my doc about how to make the daily ritual a little less painful. She suggested eating something with or before taking it, taking it before I went to bed, or using the prescribed ones she gave me a prescription for. I do admit, out of those three suggestions, the one that worked the best was taking it right before I went to sleep. But that still was just not good enough in my eyes. Too bad I would have to just deal with it.

But ladies, you need not worry anymore, enter Premama! I wish, I wish, i repeat, I WISH, they had this product when I was pregnant.

Premama is your prenatal vitamin as a drink mix. You know, kinda like crystal light on-the-go packets? But get this, it has absolutely no flavor, this way you can add it to any of your favorite drinks! It tastes best with juice, fruit flavored beverages, iced tea and milk. You technically would be fine adding it to water, but there may be a hint of ginger taste to it. Note: You should not mix it with sodas or hot beverages. And get this, you can also sprinkle it on your breakfast cereal if you'd prefer. I personally mixed it with my Strawberry Orange Banana Crystal Light drink and honestly couldnt even tell there was anything added. Again, back to the wishing I had this long ago! But thankfully now that baby #2 is our our brains (not trying yet, but the thought is there lol) I can start taking this prenatal instead of those horse-pills.

Now you may have a couple question, and thats fine, I did too, so Ill try to give you a quick overview:

Prenatal Vitamin Powder Drink Mix

• Doctor recommended
• Nausea Relief
• Contains all the nutrients baby needs
• Gluten-free, Lactate-free, BPA-free
• 100% Natural
• Just 6 calories per serving

Premama is most effective if taken:

• While trying to conceive
• During pregnancy
• While breastfeeding

Key ingredients include:

• Biotin: May help support embryo growth
• B Vitamins: Help provide energy
• DHA Omega-3 fatty acid: Suggested to support fetal cognitive development
  and protection against postpartum depression
• Vitamin D3: Supports mom and baby’s bone health
• Proprietary Iron blend: Can help lower the risk of preterm birth and low birth-weight;
  gentle on the system
• Coenzyme Q10: May help protect against preeclampsia during pregnancy
• Choline: Used, along with folic acid, to help further protect against neural tube defects
• Ginger Root: Helps with nausea relief
• Folic Acid: Clinically proven to reduce the risk of some birth defects by up to 70%

Each daily serving of Premama may be consumed in two equally divided doses (dont worry, the each package is already split into 2 for your convenience). Processed in FDA-regulated facilities, Premama also contains USP Verified and Food and Drug Administration GRAS nutrients not typically found in combination with other prenatal supplements.

Now, for the best part of this little post, one of my lucky followers will be winning a 30-day supply of Premama! And as I mentioned before, you dont have to be pregnant to qualify ;) all women should be using this easy to take prenatal drink mix. Unfortunately, this post didnt post when it was scheduled, so you only have until tomorrow to enter (sorry).  And the winner will be announced in Fridays Letters. Also, the giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. Theres lots of ways to enter, so you'll have lots of chances to win even if the giveaway is only open for a short time.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
But dont worry, theres more!! All of my lucky readers are able to save 15% off using the promotion code Sweepstakes2013. You can buy and learn more about Premama here.

I hope you all enjoy, and good luck!

I received this product free to review from Premama through MomSelect. All opinions stated are my own.

fridays letters + giveaway winner announced

dear hubby, have I told you lately that I love and appreciate you more than anything? last night when I woke you up in the middle of the night crying hysterically from the unbearable pain of an earache, you calmed me down, and rushed me to the ER. And even though I knew that the blood coming from my ear probably freaked you out even more than it did me, you played it cool, and reassured me Id be fine. On top of that, we both knew you wouldnt be getting much sleep and this morning wouldnt be fun. But you never once complained. I love you and thank you so much taking care of me (and matthew).

dear matthew, i love your chubby little legs youve started to form. That baby fat is absolutely adorable, and it means that youre getting plenty to eat and staying healthy!

dear ruptured eardrum, omg ive never felt pain like this before, i think id put you 1 notch below childbirth. i hope the 6 prescriptions the ER doc prescribed help fix everything, and get my hearing back to normal. ill tell you what, those percocets are at least helping ;) 

dear pinterest, you are genius in what you do! secret boards? great addition! now no one is going to be able to see the random home health remedies ive been too self conscious to pin all the presents I pin for christmas.  

dear instagram, you finally introduced web profiles, you are genius as well, not sure what took you so long, but Im glad you finally did it (go check mine out by requesting to follow me).  

dear mr president, im not too happy about the results of this election, and im scared out of my mind about whats going to happen in the next 4 years, but that being said, you are MY president, and im lucky enough to live in a country where I have the right and privilege to vote, obviously the rest of the country didnt agree with my opinions, but i will support you as much as I can with despise for the next 4 years, im hoping and praying ill see what everyone else whats to believe, come true. its your chance to prove your "change."  

dear blogger friends, i didnt forget about you, theres just been alot on my mind this past week. we all know why youre really reading todays letters, its to find out who won my awesome giveaway! Well i wont make you wait any longer

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Congratulations Mandy! I know how badly you wanted to win this for you and your lil fam of 4 to watch together! Email me you address and Ill make sure the company sends to you asap.

dear hubby, because you and matthew always get two, im so happy you finally got your iPhone 5, even if you do continuously bug me on how to work the thing. you'll get used to it, its fairly easy, welcome to the apple family finally!!

dear matthew, with the holidays being right around the corner, i cant control myself on how exciting this year is going to be with you! i know you wont remember much, but I have so many things I want to do with you to start our own family traditions (hhhmmm maybe a holiday bucket list?)

hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, ill be taking it easy by letting the meds work their magic.

dont forget to link up with ashley

my first giveaway: BRAVE

so remember how I told you I had a surprise for you all? Well today is your lucky day! I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of this year's #1 animated movie - BRAVE and so will one of my lucky readers!

You dont event realize how happy I was when I got the email. I  really wanted to see it when it first came out in the theaters, but never got the chance. Now you may be asking yourself why would a grown woman want to go see an animated movie so badly? Well, lets just say I may have a slight obsession with Disney Pixar movies. Like I love all the Toy Story's, Monsters Inc, A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo, Cars, and Ratatouille.....just to name a few ;)

So you could imagine my excitement when I not only found out that I would finally be able to see it, but I would be receiving the Ultimate Collector's Edition 5-Disc Set, which includes Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray 3D, and DVD!

Now side note, when hubs and I bought a new TV as our anniversary gift to ourselves last year, we went all out. And what I mean by that is yes, we got a 55in 3D LED tv. A little over the top, yes. Did we actually want the 3D part, no. But it came with the awesome deal we got on Black Friday. And to tell you the truth, we havent even watched one movie or show in 3D. So you could imagine my excitement when I put two & two together and realized I was going to be watching BRAVE in 3D!

Now, I couldnt contain myself, and I had to share my happiness with someone. So who did I pick? My lovely 6 year old niece of course! She had actually already seen the movie in theaters and loved it, but was just as excited as me to be able to watch it in 3D. So the date was set, popcorn was popped, halloween candy was accessible, and 3D glasses were in place.

If you havent yet seen Brave, its about the heroic journey of very opinionated young princess and adventurer Merida (voice of Kelly Macdonald).

via Disney

Determined to follow her own path in life, Merida confronts tradition and challenges destiny to change her own fate. Her actions, which includes turning to an eccentric witch for help, inadvertently unleashes chaos when she is granted an ill-fated wish.

She then has to use all her skills and resources, including her mischievous triplet brothers, to undo the evil curse.

via Disney

In the end this forces her to discover the true meaning of bravery.

The movie is a great addition to, and turn on, Disney's collection of princesses. It's a great movie to share with your little girl, to let her know princesses are more than just a pretty dress and crown. While also great to share with your younger boys, as they will get a kick out of the trouble-making lil brothers and bravery of Merida throughout.

Now, as I promised before, one of my lucky readers is going to be able to take home this awesome Brave - Ultimate Collector's Edition 5-Disc Set! Great if you're planning a family movie night sometime soon, or even just to get a jump start on some early Christmas shopping! I know a lil girl *ahem my niece* who would just love to find this wrapped up under the tree! All you have to do is follow the steps below and enter through the rafflecopter. The winner will be choosen on Friday morning and announced in Fridays Letters.
(note I will need the address of the winner by no later than the morning of Monday November 12, 2012, if I do not receive by then, I will need to choose another winner)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received a copy of this film to review. All opinions are my own.