Winning is fun

Many of you probably know that I am obsessed with free things! I love sampling new products and entering giveaways. I've won a few little things in the past, but recently I've won some pretty cool stuff!!

The Funky-monkey blog hosted a giveaway for a platter & coasters from Savvy Charms Boutique...and here they are!! I really like them & they would make great gifts!!

I've recently discovered the awesome blog of My Four Littles and won the beautiful prize pack of natural baby products by Hip Peas! Can't wait to give them a try!

 

Then I also won a gift certificate for Initials Inc through one of the first blogs I started reading years ago, Bright, Bold & Beautiful - I haven't used it yet, but I'll be sure to post pictures of it when I get my stuff.

I saw that I won the NurturMe giveaway on Thrifty Nifty Mommy, but I haven't received anything yet.   I hope it does come because I really look forward to trying it, especially because it's organic & Logan is almost at the phase of life where he'll be starting food.

I'm super excited that I won a 3 month subscription for Conscious Box via the blog Dirty Truth Reviews. The first box just arrived and it was full of goodies fit for us!

Lastly, I won something from the blog SimplyMe - It's a stationery/photo item from http://www.crinklednose.com that our families will probably enjoy around Christmastime ;)

Sooo much fun & I couldn't wait to share these awesome things with you!

Nursery Wall Art

I searched for tons of ideas for wall art for Logan's room and there were SO many great options & ideas! I was having such a hard time deciding and thought it would be fun to use my (maternity leave) time off to create a little something special on my own. I didn't really have anything in mind yet, but I bought some canvases and started thinking up a plan and looking around at ideas on the internet. Since Logan's room is mainly jungle animals (big surprise, right?), I decided to do something with animals and create my own wall art, but something that wasn't too "baby". I searched images online and found some cute silhouette animals that I decided to try and hand paint. My friend Tara has been painting something for her bathroom, so we got together and painted our projects while the guys discussed Theology. I haven't painted something in a while, so this was a lot of fun, especially when you have good company to do it with too! I painted the animals on the canvases using a toothpick, which made it a little easier to handle, and I decided to put all the canvases around the fun letter I bought from Pottery Barn. Here is the finished product!

The animals clockwise from the top are a Panda, Deer, Pig, Giraffe, Elephant and Kangaroo. It's still not quite what I had visualized, but I think it's fun and different...and I am proud of my work! :) 

Growing baby!

Yesterday we went to the pediatrician for his 3 month check up (I think it was really supposed to happen a month ago, but they messed up I think because our last visit was at 1 month). Logan had to get 3 shots and he was not happy! The doctor made him upset at the end of his assessment by doing tummy time in the nude - he screamed! I think he was cold!! So we put his diaper and socks on and comforted him until the nurse came in. She gave him 3 shots in his thighs and he immediately screamed - the loudest we have ever heard so far! Poor guy!! Brian bounced him to happy land (sleep) while I got him dressed. Throughout the day he was a little more sad than usual and I think it wore him out because he slept for 10 hours straight last night!!! Definitely a record! 

Logan's numbers: weight 12 lbs 11.7 oz (21%), head circumference 41 cm (63%), and length 26 inches (100%!!!!) - maybe we really do have a future basketball player in our hands! That's our big boy!! He is such a joy! He is a big drooler now and enjoys blowing bubbles with all his slobber. He loves sucking on his hands and Sophie the Giraffe, grabbing hair, fingers, clothes, and shaking his rattle. We just can't get enough of his "oohs" and "ahhs"!! 

Today has been a relaxing jammie day due to Blizzard Nemo. There is probably already a foot of snow out there now and it's going to continue into tomorrow. Pictures to come!! :) I actually tried to go snap a few shots a little bit ago and I couldn't even open our front door because there is so much snow - we are literally snowed in! 

Also to note, I go back to work this week Wednesday! I am starting back part-time and easing into full-time over the next month, which is really nice. I am glad that I am able to do that! Thus, I should be back to 40hrs/wk by mid-March. We are hoping my schedule works around Brian's so that he can watch Logan while I am at work and vice versa. All I can say is that the past 3 months went WAY too fast!! Time really does fly!

Life with baby

So it has definitely been too long since my last post, so sorry!! As you already know, Logan was born on election day in November and he has truly blessed and changed our lives! We have been enjoying our time bonding with him as well as watching him grow, learn and make a million faces. In addition, we have been having a wonderful time with all our visitors, family from California and local friends/co-workers. Logan is already 2 months old and I haven't blog since his birth...but I have made a new year's resolution to blog at least once a month! Even though I have more time on my hands now than I ever will, I usually find many other things to do in my down-time, like cleaning up around the house, laundry, paying bills, etc....or just staring at my super cute son! Also, I am often holding Logan in my arms, but it's too difficult to blog one handed. So, I am going to do my best to continue posting updates and pictures here for those who don't have facebook or just feel like reading more of the details. :)

Brian starts back to work/school on Monday, but we have truly had the greatest time this past month while he was off. We love listening to Logie (as we like to call him) and all the cute little noises he makes now. He also is getting so good at holding his head up and grasping toys. Being parents is so magical and we love every moment with him. I will be heading back to work (starting out part-time for the first few weeks) the second week in February - I am looking forward to it (I do love my job!), but I am really going to miss being home with him all day, everyday. 

 I've included some of our favorite pictures from the past 2 months.

This post has taken me almost 10 days to write/finish - every time I started writing, Logan started crying. I think I will try to make my posts shorter and, hopefully, more frequent.

Earthquake on the East Coast

Last night I was at work, sitting in the nurses' station working on some documentation when all of a sudden I felt an earthquake...the computer monitors were shaking a little. It was SMALL, compared to my usual California quakes! I immediately went to find some other people to talk to, thinking everyone was going to be freaking out because that was so unusual for this area, however most people either didn't even feel it or didn't really know what it was. I guess it was a 4.0 earthquake in Maine. It was quite a conversation topic for everyone last night - kinda a big deal for New England. Just thought I'd share this story with my fellow quake-experienced Californians. :)

Approximately 1 more month!!

Our baby is due in 1 month - we are 36 weeks today and we will now start seeing the doctor every week. We are super excited and just had a good trip to Babies R Us to get the last few essential items. We are still getting the room together and waiting for the furniture to arrive, but feeling more and more ready every day! [We just had a little set back - I was just finally starting to feel like the room was ready, we bought a nice rug, measured out where the crib and dresser will go, etc...but then maintenance came to fix the boiler/thermostat. On Monday, they worked in both bedrooms and had to cut holes in the walls. They had moved all the stuff in the baby's room to the middle of the room and covered it with a tarp (thankfully!), but we are basically back to square one with possibly some dirt on the rug. :( We were pretty bummed but are moving forward and getting things back in order]. Here I am at 36 weeks!

Visit #3 back home

  

Baby Shower @ Pam's

We made our 3rd trip back to California in September for a little baby shower with some church friends and my niece's baptism (surprisingly there was no wedding to attend!). Since we saw most of our family and friends in April and June, Brian and I were able to spend a little more time actually "vacationing" a little - we did some shopping and spent some time at the beach. It was nice to have some time to relax and not be rushing from one place to another. We had lunch on Saturday with Brian's family and then dinner with friends at Dee Dee's house.

Valentina's baptism was on Sunday in South Orange County. Brian & I are her Godparents - such an honor! She looked so beautiful in her dress and was such a good baby - so mellow and content with everyone and everything. What a blessing! It was a gorgeous warm California day spent with family and friends. 

We had a lovely, but brief, visit home - it's sometimes hard to believe that the next time we go back we will have a little person to tag along with us! :)

A lesson in Carbon Monoxide

Last night I was sitting at the top of the stairs working on the computer and Brian was downstairs reading and cooking. All of a sudden the carbon monoxide alarm started going off - it was alarming "move to fresh air" - it wasn't the battery light, it was the alarm. We, naturally, started to panic a little and immediately opened all the windows and turned on the fans. We called the emergency maintenance number and the guy told me that it was probably the battery and instructed me as to how to take out the battery. He then said he would come by in the morning to install new detectors. I wasn't completely satisfied with this response, so I called my brother-in-law, Luis, since he has worked in maintenance at apartments. He basically said the same thing, which made us feel better. While I was on the phone with Luis, I noticed that we had another detector downstairs, in the living room - which wasn't going off. Interesting...made me think it was probably the battery too. Then, I was reading the back of the detector, which said to call 911 or Fire Dept if alarm goes off. So, I called the Boston Fire Dept and asked them if taking the battery out was the best idea. The man wasn't very nice on the phone. He told me to put the battery back in and that he was going to send some people over to check things out. Of course the alarm stopped beeping once the battery was back in, making it look like it might have just been the battery. Brian and I were waiting and within a few minutes we hear the sirens approaching - I didn't think the sirens were necessary. Three fire fighters came in with all their gear on, one carrying the CO detector. Brian showed two of them the alarm that was going off and the other was with me downstairs checking the stove. They said the detector probably wouldn't pick anything up now that all the windows were opened (I was hoping for a little more praise that we did ventilate the rooms!). They only stayed a few minutes, made sure we were feeling okay and said to call them back if the alarm began going off again. One thing we learned from them was that CO is heavy and that the detectors need to be placed low to the ground. Ours, like everywhere you usually see them, are high on the wall. One of the guys said to Brian "you would die in your sleep by the time it reached a detector that high". We told the Fire Dept that we would let the maintenance person know that when installing them. So, when maintenance came early this morning we let him know, but he said he has never seen it low to the ground and that they are always installed on the wall, a little lower than the smoke detectors. We tried. I was telling Brian that it needs to be a better known fact to have CO detectors near the ground because I am sure these are improperly installed everywhere! Perhaps they are placed high for aesthetic reasons, but it seems like an important enough device to install properly. Anyway, we learned a lot from this experience and are thankful that it wasn't anything & we are okay.

My 29th Birthday

 

After working 6 days in a row (which I had never done), we headed back to California for my niece's baptism and a little shower with some friends. We left Boston early on my birthday and arrived in Cali late afternoon - I got a couple birthday wishes at the airport and we got to board with the families on Southwest, which allowed us to sit together thankfully! So, I like to think that was my treat for flying on my birthday. :) Once we got settled in, we went to dinner with my mom's side of the family at the amazing Woodranch. Unfortunately my mom wasn't feeling too good, but it was just nice to be able to spend my birthday with family! We saw all the parents that first night in California!!! :)

Enjoying Summer

As usual, on nice days (when I'm off of work) we like to get out and try to go somewhere new. One afternoon we went to Castle Island/Pleasure Bay in South Boston for an afternoon walk. It was quite windy with a little rain, but otherwise a beautiful day.

Hurricane Irene ruined my Cape Cod birthday plans last year, so we decided to use our hotel credit this summer. We drove down to the Cape and wandered around Chatham for the afternoon. One of our favorite things to do is walk around little unique town shops. After exploring Chatham, we drove to our hotel in West Dennis, MA. It was so nice to just relax and enjoy being near the beach. We saw our first East Coast sunset! Then we watched some of the Olympics (which we were pretty into this summer) and then went to dinner at The Ocean House. The food was amazing - Brian, naturally, got lobster and I got a steak. We slept in and then read a little out on our little cottage porch, then checked out and headed to the other side of the Cape to explore and shop. We headed home in the late afternoon and had a nice phone chat with Angie to catch up while driving home.

Our Cape Cod Cottage at the Lighthouse Inn

 Dinner at the Ocean House

The young crowd at work requested a night off work so that we could all go out for dinner. We sat on a rooftop in downtown Boston on a lovely summer evening. My co-workers in this picture are (from Left to Right) Merideth, Jill, Kristen, (me), Lauren and Rosalind. We had a great time, even though we still talked a lot about work  haha.
 
Dinner at a friends house for his birthday. The Kelly's on the left and the Jones' in the middle. These two ladies will be throwing me a little baby shower here in Boston in a couple weeks. :)

Brian and I went to a farm one afternoon to pick our own vegetables. We picked green beans, corn, tomatoes, and apples. We used all the veggies for our next two dinners - they were all yummy!! It's super fun to go farming and we plan to do lots more of it!

After coming home from the farm, we stopped by the little summer festival that our apartment complex was having. They had a BBQ, games and activities for the kids, tons of bounce-houses, and a little petting zoo. We didn't stay long - just enough to check it out...and get some free water haha.

That's a little of what we have been up to on my days off! :)