Happy Birthday Dan!

Happy Happy Birthday to my husband, who is the kindest man I know. I know I don't tell him often enough....er ever for that matter, but he is an amazing father, husband, and friend. I am so incredibly lucky to have found him and we are beyond blessed to have two beautiful little girls.

So Happy Birthday Dan! I love you!!

I tried to find a picture of Dan to put in this post but all the pictures I have on my phone are awful! So instead I'll include a picture of Addison looking super cute!

Product Rave! Oscar Blandi Pronto Dry Shampoo

As a working mom of two, I have seriously limited time in the mornings, and frankly my hair takes a backseat to say getting dresses or making coffee. On top of that I HATE washing my hair. It isn't so much the washing aspect that I hate, but the blow drying, flat ironing, etc etc that seems to take way too much time.
So a couple years ago I started washing my hair less, this was a win-win for me since I was having to blow dry my hair less, thus saving me time and saving my hair from getting too dried out. Well then came kids, and my time to get ready got even shorter....so I tried to figure out a way to wash my hair even less than every other day. I decided to buy some dry shampoos to see if that would help. I tried every drug store brand, and they either left a powdery residue on my hair, or had a crazy overpowering scent, or just didn't work.
So I decided to bite the bullet and go for the slightly pricier dry Shampoo by Oscar Blandi ...and OMG I am in love! Not only does it work amazingly well, it is virtually clear when it goes on and totally clear when it dries....as opposed to the drug store brands that went on white, and dried even worse, and the fresh lemon scent is great but not overpowering.
My hair looks great, seriously almost better than if I had washed and dried it today, and the best part is that I only had to spend like 5 minutes on my hair this morning! 5 freaking minutes!!! How awesome is that?!?!?
Anyhow, I just thought I'd share for all of you out there who can use a little extra time in the mornings, and who love a good hair day!

A different kind of Labor Day weekend...

In years past Labor Day weekend marked the end of summer and we always went out with a bang. We'd go camping, or have huge parties, and pretty much drink for an entire 3 days.
But my how times have changed, this year for Labor Day weekend we decided to potty train Natalie, transition her into a big girl bed and feed Addison rice cereal. All things went amazingly well, but the fact that I was up WAY before 8 am on a "holiday weekend" and by 8 had done laundry, and cleaned up after a meal already made me feel a pang of nostalgia for those carefree days of yore.
Which made me think of all the Then vs Now moments I've had lately....and man there have been a few.

Then, my apartment was constantly clean, everything had a place and it was always perfect...Now I clean my house and within 15 minutes you can't tell at all. Nothing has an official place other than the middle of the floor here and there, and I don't own one single perfect thing anymore.

Then, weekends were spent getting dolled up to go out and get drunk, then sleeping until late in the afternoon, waking up and getting dolled up again to go out and get drunk again. Now, I wake early, get dressed, get two other people dressed, fed and entertained all before 8 in the morning, and they're going down for naps before I used to even get out of bed. Not to mention my multiple outfit changes that are a result of sticky fingers, spit up, and other various gross kid things.

Then, I'd gladly drop $100+ on a new outfit for a night out, get accessories, shoes and makeup for big events, and never left the house looking less than put together. Now, I gladly spent $100+ on clothes for my kids while I shop the clearance racks everywhere. I never wear accessories, slap on a bit of makeup and never look put together.

But I have to say I wouldn't trade the stains my kids have left on my clothes, the scars they've left on my body, the spots on my carpet, nor worry lines they've left on my face, or the gray hairs they've given me for anything in the world. I'm more blessed than I've ever been before and can't imagine my life any other way.

Getting on the Potty Train

For a while now Natalie has been asking to use the potty, most of the time this just means that she sits on the potty talking to me while I wait and wait for nothing to happen. And if I indulged this game once it meant countless trips to the potty throughout the day.
I hated the idea of potty training since it meant that we would be housebound for an entire weekend...and I HATE staying home all weekend.
But I finally decided to bite the bullet and jump on the potty train this weekend...and it went great!
Saturday morning I put Natalie in training pants, we discussed going to the bathroom countless times and within an hour she went on the potty....and from then on it was about a 50-50 success rate. Which I was please with, Dan was irked by the peeing on the floor but I told him it was par for the course.
Anyhow, we even *warning TMI* got a poop on the potty on the first day! Wooo Hoo!
Day 2 and 3 went pretty much the same, with only one major accident while I was out shopping and Natalie was home with Dan (man I love that she saved it for him) which resulted in him cutting the undies off of her and throwing them away. Hilarious if you ask me!
But all in all I'm thrilled that we decided to do it and, I'm hoping that we can say goodbye to diapers (for Natalie at least) once and for all soon!

My new passion...a Thursday Thirteen of sorts

I've never been much of a reader, I always like to read but hated carving out the time for it. But I was feeling like I was watching too much TV (not that I've cut down on the TV) and had heard of all these great books that my friends were reading, so I decided to dive back in.
I started slow with the Twilight Saga....I know, I know just like all the other sheep. I liked the books they were entertaining, but more than that they got me excited about reading again. So this year I decided to make an attempt to read more. I've done a pretty decent job keeping up with it and have read the following books this year:

1. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyers

2. The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella

3. Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin

4. Something Blue by Emily Giffin

5. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

6. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

7. Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

8. Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris

9. Remember Me by Sophie Kinsella

10. The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicloa Kraus

11. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson

12. Baby Proof by Emily Giffin

13. Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner

My goal was to read 10 books this year, since it had been quite a while since I read at all. But now considering I've already read 13 and it's only September I think I'll shoot for 20....although I'd be happy with just 15. We'll see.

They love each other....for now.

So I guess I had better take as many photos of them together while I can.

An epidemic?

Of babies! I swear everyone I know is pregnant. There are babies coming left and right!

Okay that's a bit of an exaggeration, but in all seriousness, I've been to a shit load of baby showers, sprinkles, or meet the baby parities recently! I LOVE babies, I love the new baby smell, the cuddly mushy phase....all of it!

I'm so very happy for all of my friends who are popping out kids lately, and I am even more excited for the days to come where we are all totally out numbered by kids at every social gathering. It's a good think I don't own anything nice so I won't have to worry about things getting ruined at parties. See I was thinking ahead when I only bought cheap crap....or at least that's what I tell myself.