Halloween : Take Two

I can’t believe we were celebrating Sophia’s second Halloween yesterday! Time passes so very very quickly!

She was thrilled to wear her costume and be out with the other children trick or treating! In fact I think she was more excited about all of the other children in their colorful costumes than she was the candy and toys!
That doesn’t mean to say that she didn’t have her fair share of treats, and we stopped at a park to run off some of her sugar buzz!

(ducky in a swing!)

Now that Halloween is over there’s only one thing left to do, get rid of all the extra candy in the house before I eat it!
Hope you all had a wonderful night!
Here’s to a lovely November!

Weaning update part 1

A few months ago I set out on a daunting task, weaning my one year old. We spent 2 full months just trying to convince my daughter that cows milk was actually yummy instead of gag worthy. (strawberry and chocolate milk may or may not have been used as bribery). By the time she actually drank a full serving of while milk she was 14 months old. At this point I had been pumping in the bathroom (literally sitting on the toilet) at work on my lunch breaks for over a year. Not exactly ideal and I was more than eager to be done.
After much trepidation, mostly on my part we started dropping feedings one at a time, first the afternoon feeding, replacing it with a snack and a sippy cup full of whole milk. Sophia responded to this by climbing on to my lap and sucking her thumb while giving me the saddest little puppy dog eyes I had ever seen and trying to pull down my shirt. I almost gave in right then and there but remembered my goal and stayed strong. Each day became easier and after a full week of no afternoon nursing sessions, instead of climbing all over me or asking to nurse she sat down at her little table and ate her grapes. ( I might have done a private little victory dance in the kitchen. Maybe)

We went a full 2 weeks without incident and then I attempted to drop our morning feeding as well. This was more difficult for 2 reasons.
1. Without a nursing/ snuggle session Sophia head no inclination to settle down for her nap. Instead of laying a drowsy little baby down to drift quietly off to sleep I was laying down a rogue, independent toddler who much preferred to have a full out screaming, crying hussy fit when I attempted to lay her down.
2. When my daughter doesn’t take her nap she scares me. Is like someone had replaced my sweet, happy, smiling angel with an angry dunk. (screaming and throwing herself on the ground is the norm)
This broke me. After 2 napless aka hellish days I caved in and Sophia happily resumed her morning nursing sessions for the rest of the week. At this point, I was pretty discouraged. Every hurtful comment ever made by family members that I was going to regret nursing Sophia for so long because it would make her too dependent came ringing back. Head banging against walls ensued. (I’ve been told that I should clarify that it was my own head I was banging against the wall hahaa)

Face time!

I’ve ALWAYS struggled with acne (mostly on my chin, which is hormonal), blackheads on my nose, and dry skin everywhere else. Lately though, I’ve been making drastic strides in improving my skins health and appearance!
As a licensed cosmetologist I was taught every trick in the book. This  extremely expensive product claims to do this, another to do that, and all I was ever left with was skin in the same sad condition and a much thinner pocketbook.
So lately I’ve taken a different approach. No more fake ingredients or harsh chemicals. Just all natural, holistic, wholesome products, and so far it’s been incredible!
Every week I’ve been doing a mask of Indian healing clay and apple cider vinegar to draw out the impurities and exfoliate. I read about this on The Fitnessista and am so grateful!

Total cost at Sprouts farmers market : $10 and some change

To wash my face I’ve been using something that I’ve seen countless times over the years and always dismissed. Dr. Bronner’s castile soap.

Made of water and essential oils, it cleanses without over drying and leaves my skin feeling fresh. It claims to also be effective as a shampoo and toothpaste but I haven’t tried it for either as I’m pretty satisfied with what I’m using currently.
Total cost at Sprouts farmers market: $7

For a moisturizer I’ve been using a few drops of lavender essential oil mixed with pure jojoba oil.

The jojoba oil is non-comedogenic so it won’t clog pores, and is supposedly the closest thing to skins natural oils, meaning it is super easy for your skin to absorb it.
The jojoba oil was about $6

The lavender essential oil is antibacterial so it’s excellent for acne prone skin plus it smells amazing! It was however the most expensive out of  everything, $12 for that small bottle, but you use only a few drops at a time so it should go a long way.

In total everything costs a little under $40, which is close to what you might pay just for a “quality” moisturizer at some high end department stores.

Do you have any skin care secrets? Ever used any of the stuff I’m trying out?

Check it off

1 million things.
That’s how many I feel like i have to do on a daily basis, and it is far too easy for me to feel overwhelmed at which point I always start making to-do lists.
Is there anything more calming than a neat, organized, and oh so thorough to-do list?

(a cleaning check list technically haha)
Well  I suppose there’s always a completely crossed off to do list, that might be more calming…but still, a to-do list.

The cutest task to cross off of my own list this week?

Sophia’s first Halloween costume! Now I’m even more excited for Halloween!

Do you have any stress coping mechanisms that help you? Wanna share?

Out of focus

I haven’t blogged in ages. At some point on an extremely hectic day I skipped writing an entry. And then everyday after that I did the same, finding something better to do with my oh so very limited amount of free time.

(family coffee date at Starbucks)

But I’ve missed the creative outlet, and I’ve missed interacting with all of you!
I plan to expand my blogging parameters a little to keep my self more engaged in this little bloggy, not just writing about motherhood and toddler shenanigans but also about the occasional recipe, craft, or other non mommy related things that help keep me sane!

In other news, fall is in full effect here in Colorado! The little one and I have been embracing it completely!

I’m on a quest to find Sophia the perfect Halloween costume for her first time trick or treating, I’m torn between a little monster and the cutest chicken costume ever!

(torturing her a little bit making her try on costumes in target…)

What has everyone else been up to? Any Halloween plans?

I’ve been a bad Blogger.

Sorry for dropping off of the virtual map a of late. I’ve been suffering from a bit of the lazy bones syndrome lately.
I’ve been spending most of my free aka while-baby-naps time whiting on her baby book and scrapbook. I figured it was about time seeing as to how she isn’t much of a baby anymore.

She’s entered a phase where she talks all day long and knows exactly what she’s talking about. Unfortunately, I on the other hand have no idea what she’s trying to say although it sounds like a mix between Japanese and Russian…
Its so much fun watching her a she grows and learns new words every day!

I’m still working on weaning Sophia. I’ve been holding off, mostly because she refused to drink whole milk up until now.
After reading dozens of blog entries and parenting websites I’ve had success!

While its obviously not the most nutritious additive, she seems to like it and actually drank an entire 8 oz of milk yesterday, which was very exciting! I plan to gradually add less and less to her milk until she is used to the flavor of plain milk, while (hopefully) dropping the last few feedings over the next 2 months. While I’m not super set on that time frame i would like to wean completely by the time she is 18 months, which gives us a max of 4 more months. Wish me luck!

(reading her book aloud/speaking Japanese, while sitting in her new favorite spot, her living room toy bin)

What have you all been up to?
I’m going to try to get back in the habit of blogging more often, I promise!

Sorrow

Every morning while laying in bed snuggling Sophia I usually grab my phone and check for any calls, texts, etc I may have missed while I was sleeping. Then I’ll usually jump on Facebook (because I’m addicted) and check the local news headlines.
This morning I woke up to a real life horror story… A masked gun man had opened fire at the midnight Batman premiere, killing 12 people and wounding 50. Among the victims were a 3 month old and a 6 year old little girl. All of this was a mere 15 miles from my quiet little suburban neighborhood.

As tears ran down my face I couldn’t help but to hold my daughter a little tighter. Such senseless cruelty is completely beyond my comprehension and fills me with terror. Even trying too imagine what those parents must be feeling brings tears to my eyes once again.

All of this makes me wonder, how will I ever let my daughter go out in to the world as she gets older? As much as I would love to never let her out of my sight (or slightly over protective reach) I know that all too soon she’ll be venturing out on her own, and as absurd as it sounds the thought of it nearly paralyzes me with anxiety.
In a world where strangers will randomly shoot children in a movie theater, how can we ever feel safe?
I apologize for all of the gloom and fear wrapped up in this post but I had to put it somewhere.
Am I the only crazy mom that would like to wrap their baby up in bubble wrap and never let them leave the house?

The best gift is the present.

I’ve been really trying to live in the moment with my little girl lately, making the most of our wonderful summer days before the cooler weather creeps in in a month or so.

Playing at the splash park with cousins

(picnic included)

Long days spent at the park,

Followed by an afternoon snooze fest (with balloon clutched in hand of course)

Along with hanging out at the pool and the baby pool at the local Rec center, we now have some serious tan lines and a lingering perfume of chlorine.
Life is good, and I am so incredibly blessed.
But all of this outdoor fun has me wondering what in the world we are going to do to fill out days once the weather turns cold. What do you guys do to entertain the little ones in yucky weather?

Photo Friday

Tunnels are awesome mom!

Having a blasty at the park!

Climbing on tables like a maniac

A little bit of baby attitude for ya

Pretty girl at the pool!

Mom! Let’s get back in the pool!

Sweating buckets…

After a week long workout hiatus (I’ve been dealing with debilitating cramps instead. Anyone else suffer from awful period after having babies? This is only my second cycle since having Sophia but they have both been awful.) I decided to start a second round of Insanity.

I did one round at the beginning of the year and had awesome results. I love being able to do workouts in the living room while the baby naps, and it’s simply getting too hot to do anything but walk outside these days (except when it’s pouring rain).
I know so many mamas struggle with their weight but I can definitely vouch for the efficacy of Insanity (or any other intense workout routine like it). Hopefully I’ll have some more excellent results to report at the end of the 60 day program

What are some of your favorite exercise go to’s?