What a post?!? EASY Button Love

Who is blogging these days? I have been so busy and loving my boards on pinterest that I have forgotten all about blogging. I have had many ideas for cool blog posts but keep forgetting who has time? to post my awesome ideas but as I sit here I had to post some of my most favorite things in the world at the moment. So here's a post on stuff that makes this working single, with an airman that lives in another state mom's life a little bit easier.

Free Cookies and Balloons at Publix - what! So you have to go grocery shopping with your kids right?! Probably the worst task ever. Especially after working all day and then the trip to get kid or kids from different places (daycare and school for me). Then you go grocery shopping in the same heels you have worn all day because you can't go home or then life would unfold and there would be no way in umm...he// you could leave again...Where was I? Cookies...So you go grocery shopping and they will give your child(s) a free cookie and balloon! My kids are ecstatic about grocery shopping now. Plus we get the spaceship cart - the kind where they normally sit...not the one where it adds an extra bus to the front of your cart. Have you tried to use that before? AWFUL!

So you are planning a birthday party and want to get some of those adorable cake pops but you don't have hours or you don't want to spend $20 on ...get yourself a cake pop maker! I know it sounds like one of those wasteful products like make your own slushy, make your own cotton candy, or my favorite...make your own soda. COME ON PEOPLE! Who has time for that when you can buy a liter or two for $1-$3. My daughter is a precious party planner and is turning 6 next week. She asked for a cake pop maker for Christmas - she also asked for that slushy maker...that didn't happen. So last night I plugged it in and made up some strawberry muffin mix (it has to be a thick cake mix like muffins or brownies) and we made 20 perfect cake pops in 10 minutes! I was ecstatic. I put them in the freezer and will take them out Friday to thaw and dip them in a sugar mix for a glaze. That's it!

Pictures. Oh gracious. I have the cutest pictures EVER and I don't have a single copy of them. AND of course 90% are taken using my phone...well thanks to my drugstore app on my phone I can just click and bam! They are ready in an hour! Shut up! No uploading pictures from this place to this one and editing them again blah, blah, blah. I can even send them those super fancy ones I "edited" in instagram. So now I have lots of pictures to give out and put around my house and look like I got my act together.

Review #2 for 2012

I found two amazing hair products that I wanted to share:

Suave Keratin Shampoo & Conditioner *****
So a few reviews ago I posted that I had the keratin treatment done and it was a waste of money, but Suave came out with shampoo and conditioner with keratin in it...LOVE!!! I have not tried their Keratin Kit that you do it home, but it had some awful reviews online so I personally would use that, but the shampoo and conditioner is great! My hair is strait and less poofy.

Moroccan Oil *****
I put this in my hair after I have brushed it out after washing it. It makes my hair feel so silky and helps it to dry faster while protecting it. I love it!

Babies, Babies, Babies

It's so exciting to have so many friends expecting children. I have a list in my prayer journal of over 17 women...and they are true friends, not just I heard someone was pregnant. Which also means lots and lots of baby showers and presents to make. I am hosting a shower this month for my sister-in-law. It is going to be a light pink and teal shabby chic shower with a photo booth and hair bow making station. I am not a big fan of games but I found this matching game online that looks fun and you give out candy bars to the winners...who doesn't love chocolate?!? Plus it does not require writing stuff down or remembering what words you can't say. OH HOW I HATE THE CLOSE PIN GAME! Please ladies let that game retire!

Brycen is 8 months old and weighs 23 pounds. He fits in 12 month clothes but we buy 18 month clothes so they last a little longer. He crawls super fast and is into everything. He broke the disk tray on our xbox a few weeks ago and tried a few pieces of dog food. He loves making a splash with Meiko's water bowl. He loves Elmo and when I went to buy him a tickle me elmo I was shocked to find that they no longer make them. They were selling on ebay for $100 USED! This past week I found a lady on facebook selling the TMX Tickle Me Elmo for $8! I was so excited. He is used but in perfect condition. Brycen loves him. We have Elmo soap, Elmo PJ's, a few Elmo books, and a few Elmo toys. I was thinking of doing a Little Monster theme for his first birthday, but there is so much to choose from these days that I haven't nailed down my ideas yet.

Bailey will be going into Kindergarten and she is very excited. We still don't know where we will be living when school starts so I am registering her here for now. We are going today to drop off the paperwork and then head to the library to turn in her weekly list of books. We are reading through the American Girl books. We finished Kirsten and we are starting on Molly. After that we will read Kit. I loved these books when I was 10 years old so it is fun to re-read them with Bailey. She follows along even without the pictures and asks a lot of questions about the characters. My favorite part of the summer is reading books every night with her because there isn't anything else going on and she doesn't have to go to bed at 8 so we have an hour to spend together since Brycen is already passed out. Brycen loves to read books too but he squeals so loud and "talks" at such high pitches that you can't hear me so we usually give up after a page or two.

Blake is waiting to hear about the job in Arkansas and if he gets it then I will be on the job hunt as well. His job is so specific that we have to move or he will have to change his career...that is Plan F. I think we are on Plan C at the moment. I hope that we can finally be settled - you know to put a nail in the wall. Ever since Blake joined the AF we got the house ready to sell...its been over 4 years of living with bare walls and not buying anything that will not pack up easily. I will hate living away from family and friends, but it will be nice to feel like I am home. Even when we move it will still be staying in boxes for a year at a rental house. I wish we could just stay here and move into our final house, but that would be too easy.

First Reviews of 2012

Here are some products I have tried this year in the past few weeks that I love & hate:

Advocare "24 Day Challenge": Big Fat F
I went to the mixer and learned about "how great Advocare is" and bought the "24 Day Challenge" from a friend. I was told that I would loose 10 pounds EASY...well I lost maybe 2 and I already gained them back. I received a 25% discount and still paid $168. I have been asked by a few people who sell it "don't you feel better though, I feel great". I never felt bad so I don't feel any different on it. I'm bitter because I was told I would loose 10 pounds so I thought it was worth $168. He also said that his wife had hypothyroidism like me and after being on the products her thyroid is normal...I realize now that was false. He wasn't a thyroid doctor nor a doctor at that...he was just trying to sale me the product and told me what I wanted to hear. The drinks taste fine and it wasn't hard to do, but it didn't work.

Crystal Light Grape "Energy": A+
I saw the commercial on these and couldn't wait to try them. They are so good! They have vitamin B and caffeine in them and only 10 calories. Plus, you get 10 in a pack for $2.00. Piggy-backing off of the product mentioned above - it taste like Spark and has the same effect but for $15 cheaper.

Progresso Soup "Chicken Cheesy Enchilada": A
I eat soup for lunch usually with a snack so I like to have a different soup every day and Publix had them on sale this week so I tried a few new ones and I loved this one. It isn't too spicy and its filling.

Rimmel London "Stay Matte" Face Power: A
I was in Ulta using my coupons and needed a new shade of powder because the one I bought a week ago is too dark but in a few weeks it will be great because my skin will be more tan. So I didn't want to spend a lot for another powder and this one was only $5! I tried it this morning and I love it...I will get it from now on.

Color Copies at UPS: A+
I like to go to professional places to print out colored copies because it is better quality and cheaper to make my labels, invitations, or other things. Most copy places like to charge $1 or more per sheet but at UPS you can get it for so much cheaper. Also, if you need a few sheets of card stock in a specific color then it's the place to go because they are only 10 cents each!

Pop Tarts "Blueberry Muffin": A
If you are a pop tart fan or even if you aren't these are really good. They taste like a blueberry muffin...not just another blueberry pop tart. I had these at my parent's house but when I went to buy them for Bailey they didn't have any in-stock. Bailey has 1 pop tart (not package...1 pastry) for breakfast every morning on the way to school...because it's so healthy for you :)

Catch up!

Oh my goodness...it's been almost 2 months! Sheesh. I did run my 5K, but I didn't do it in a race because my SIL is pregnant! SO EXCITED! She was my running buddy but she wanted to go to her appointment before running that much. Also...there happened to be a Disney Character Breakfast that morning in town...an opportunity to see Disney Princesses for $10 each...sign me up!
House Update: Two weeks ago we got a contract and Blake was leaving for a few weeks so we packed everything and moved in one week to an apartment! Chaos. Then the closing date got pushed back a week and then the closing fell threw so we still have the house and an apartment. Yep! We just have to pray that things work out and that it was meant to be and possibly a better offer will come along.

All the moving really cut into the planning of Bailey's 5th LPS Birthday Party. Thank goodness I reserved the place and jumpy castle, made the invitations and ordered all the Littlest Pet Shop animals in advance because time sped up and I lost track or who I gave invites too and who I didn't invite that I was so late sending them to some people. Then it was 4 days before the party and I still hadn't planned/made ANYTHING: all the food, decorations, games, music, labels...so I had 4 days to do it all basically. I stayed up late at night working on everything for 4 strait days, but it all came together and I was very pleased with how it all turned out. I skipped the lily pad game and didn't get all the pictures I wanted but it was a great 5th birthday. She received tons of Littlest Pet Shop toys...she was so excited about each one. Blake was so helpful with the kids at night while I frantically got things done. OH the jumpy castle...yeah, it came on a trailer! I consider myself a "Jumpy Castle Expert" at this point...I'm going to list it on my resume....seriously.

There is much more to say but no time to do it :( We just got the Internet back of Friday night and I have a barbie kitchen so I am making weekly trips to the grocery store...Publix for their weekly deals. Who knows...I might get back into couponing since I am going weekly. I made an appoitnment for Family Pictures a month ago on a weekend Blake was home and we didn't have plans...yeah, that was the weekend we moved ;) But we still did them (once again...Blake was so sweet to do them after moving all day) and they are BEAUTIFUL. They were Brycen's 4th month and Bailey's 5th year pictures plus group shots and with Meiko. It was our first photo shoot with Meiko and he smiled so good.

Keratin Treatment Review

This past Friday I used a gift card my mother gave me for an express Keratin Treatment. The gift card was actually a door prize my father won at a golf tournament a while ago and it said "Express Keratin Treatment $50 value" on it. So I looked up what it was and saw that the Duchess of Cambridge...you know Kate, well she gets it done and that was all I needed to know. So I called and made my appointment right away. So they put this product in your hair and blow dry it in...like a really thick conditioner only it doesn't make your hair smooth to brush though...more like tree sap. My scalp still feels like it's bruised in areas where she kept brushing and brushing and brushing...it felt like sticky goop was all in my hair. I thought I would be leaving with silky shiny hair but instead left with thick greasy hair, because you cannot wash it for 8 hours. She tried to make it look nice so that I didn't look gross, but it didn't help out too much. I had plans that night as well! At this point I'm starting to think "I should have saved this for another day." So I put it in a pony tail and literally you could move it and sculpt it. Come to find out an express Keratin Treatment for my length of hair (a little past the shoulders) is $150 - thank goodness they honored the gift card value or I would have been out $100 for sticky hair. I did buy the special shampoo and conditioner is the smallest bottles for $10 each - she said the larger bottles would be best for value and when I get it done again. Yeah right...I'm not spending $150 a month to be tortured for 2 hours again. It took 2 days to wash out the goop completely and now feels normal, but to be honest there is not much difference. It does lay down easier but I still need to use my flat iron to make it really strait. My hair does feel good but there isn't a big enough difference for me to give this a great review. Maybe if I had curly hair, but I have a natural wave to my hair and it is really thick. So don't waste your money but if you have a gift card I would do it.

Learning to Run Week # 4

Yesterday was the start of week #4. I started the Couch to 5K program the week after Christmas, but instead of 9 weeks I had to shorten it to 7 weeks because I wanted to do my first 5K earlier. So I challenged myself to do more each week and run as far as I could each time. The circle in my neighborhood is a little short of 1 mile so I do it twice each time. I usually run each night somewhere between 4-6 before it gets really dark. Last week was week #3 and I could already run 2 miles without stopping! I was pumped! Of course now my knees hurt and it's harder but I'm not stopping. Tomorrow I am adding another mile to my training and hope to be able to run all three miles without stopping by the end of week #5. Then I will add another mile to that and try and complete all 4 miles without stopping by the end of week #7 to complete the 5K in a good time. My goal is get my miles down to 10 minutes each - right now they are at 12 minutes. It would be great to complete my first 5K in under 31 minutes, but 35 minutes wouldn't be bad either ;) I am also watching my calorie intake and doing Ripped in 30 on days I cannot run or need to workout. I was doing it 3 times a week but this past week I was lazy and did not do it - it's a great workout and really tough! I'm still on week #1! My plan is to do it a few more times this week and finally move to week #2. I have to keep reminding myself that it's totally worth it because nothing feels as good as being skinny and fitting great in your clothes. I am 5 pounds away from pre-baby weight, but I am 13 pounds away from being at my "good weight" and I'm 23 pounds away from "No way! You have kids?!". So I have a ways to go before I hit the "good weight", but I'm close enough now that I can see the difference running is making.

New Year's Resolutions 2012

My New Year's Resolutions for 2012...I love making lists and checking them off especially big year long goals. I have been thinking for over a month what I want to put on my list for this year. I have a very big imagination but I also know my limitations so I have made a challenging but doable list for 2012. Some are really hard and some are just time consuming...some are nuts and some are practical.

1. Become a runner! I have actually started on this one already meaning I bought cute clothes ;) I am signing up for my first 5K on February 11th with my dad and sister-in-law. My mother was suppose to do it with me as "our new thing", but she broke her leg...so sad! I'm hoping she can start training in February and we can do one in March together. This counts as learning one new thing.

2. Read the Bible in a year. This one will be a life changer if I can stick with it. I have a Bible my dad gave me last year that goes in chronological order and has everything you need to read each day to finish in one year.

3. Make my first quilt! I am determined to finish my ZTA t-shirt quilt. I cut up half the shirts and took a class but I quit after that so I need to figure out how to do a few more steps and get it done. I know I will love it once I finish it.

4. Make some more progress toward my little home business - upgrade my embroidery machine is the next step toward that and replacing my laptop.

5. Sell our house! We are putting it on the market hopefully by the first week in January if everything goes well. We took down Christmas decorations last night and I started clearing out areas and staging the rooms...I have a few more rooms to do and closets to thin out. I am taking it room by room and each day stopping by Goodwill to donate it....its like spring cleaning and getting a tax deduction at the same time :)

6. Join one more organization this year...not sure which one but I want to do one more this year. Plus get more involved in the eMerge Marketing Committee.

7. Read books to Bailey everyday. During the summer I am really good about it because it seems less busy and we participate in the Summer Reading Program, but I need to do more throughout the entire year.

8. Cook more meals and not eat fast food (try for less than 3 times a month). If I cooked more at night I could take leftovers to work for lunch...saving money and calories. I need to enrich our diets by making meals with vegetables and whole grains. This will be beneficial toward our "family time" as well. My goal is to cook 4 nights a week - eating out as a family once (Saturday or Friday) and lunch after church on Sunday.

9. Find something Blake and I can do together...maybe running could be our thing once I can keep up ;) I just really want to find something we enjoy doing together. We got the Kinect for Christmas and it is so fun to do as a family so hopefully we will make time to have more fun with each other this year.

10. Get an iPhone! We are eligible for upgrades in March :) I can finally get cool apps!

To sum it up... I want to loose weight by running, feed my family healthy meals, be debt free, become closer to God, become closer to Blake, get more involved, grow as a person, and be a better mom.

Looking Back on 2011

Its feels unreal that the year 2011 is almost complete. I looked at my post from last year on goals/resolutions for 2011 and it's a little heartbreaking because we had hoped 2011 would be "THE YEAR" for us. I realize that when I wrote those "hopes" I was not being realistic. Every single card in the deck had to be aligned perfectly in order for that to have happened and well...our cards were a tad messy. One thing that I wrote for 2013 is that we would start on baby McArdle #2 and we were over achievers and did it in 2011 instead. What's funny is that I was pregnant every single day of 2011 until October 26th.

So here are our big moments that did NOT happen in 2011:
- I absolutely quit playing guitar and sold it :) lol...it wasn't for me as much as I tried to be a rock star...I will stick with singing
- I absolutely organized my t-shirts for my quilt...and packed them away into a box
- Career Moves that will have to wait for next year

So here are our big moments that DID happen in 2011:
- The Embroidery Machine was well worth the purchased and used a lot this year
- We went to Disney World for Bailey's 4th birthday and she had fabulous outfits for each day :)
- We converted the craft room into a nursery
- I did a lot of de-cluttering! All of Bailey's baby things and pretty much everything we don't "need"
- Summer of Cupcakes
- Bailey was a beautiful flower girl in my sorority sister's wedding
- We had our 5 year anniversary <3
- I started a facebook page for my business (go like it!) and I've created some fabulous stuff Had a baby
- Blake spent 3 months of the year in Puerto Rico
- Our house was broken into

I feel like 2011 was a slow year for us because I was pregnant for 10 months and couldn't do that much...plus Blake was gone 3 months of it in the summer so it just felt uneventful. Looking back on this list it shows me how great of a year it truly was...even though our "hopes" didn't happen...there's always next year ;)

Hello Blog World!!!

Wow! My last post was on October 12th...that was 2 weeks before my little Brycen was born. There has been many things to happen in the last 2 months: #1: Brycen Conner McArdle was born and I had an AMAZING delivery #2 "Worst Week Ever" #3 Returning to work 4 weeks early #4 Parties, Parties, and Parties #5 Pinterest was born #6 Halloween & Thanksgiving Activities

Brycen's delivery was so awesome! I loved the nurses and my doctor was so great. No complications at all...much different than Bailey's delivery. One thing that did not go as planned was nursing. Day 4 I realized that I was making hardly anything and we had to start supplementing with formula because Brycen was dehydrated. I nursed for 30 minutes, fed the baby formula, pumped for 30 minutes every time...day 5, day 6, day 7, day 8...nothing. On day 8 I looked up Synthroid side effects and there it was - if your thyroid is really messed up while you are pregnant and they have to give you a lot of thyroid medication it can mess up your metabolism and cause the milk to never come in. So day 8 I washed up all the pump and packed it away and gave away all the stuff I bought for nursing. It was heart breaking. I think I cried from day 4 to day 10 constantly and it still hurts when people see the baby and ask "Are you nursing?". All I can say is "no" because I can't explain it. He is a healthy baby and is doing just great on formula so we are blessed. So one of my new year's resolutions is to find a new thyroid doctor. I wrote this out because it helped when I googled "nursing and thyroid" and found a girl that went through the same thing I did - it helps to know that it isn't your fault and you did everything you could.

So onto the "Worst Week EVER"...It all started the day Blake left for a 2 week trip to Puerto Rico - it was the same day as the Iron Bowl. Bama was beating Auburn by a huge margin and in the 4th quarter my mother went to take the Turkey leftovers to the outside frig and misstepped and landed on her leg causing it to BRAKE! Sheesh! What a nightmare! So dad and the neighbor help mom get into the van, turkey bones and grease are all over the ground, kids are crying, and mom is screaming from pain. Well her leg was definitely broken and she needed help during the day while dad was working. I thought this is so great that I'm on maternity leave because I can come over and help. I had lots of plans for us to do - I've wanted to help her go through all the pictures and categorize them as well as put them in albums and picture frames. Well on Friday I was on my way to pick up Bailey from school after spending the day with my mom and I received a phone call from my neighbor...our house had been burglarized. All I could think of was my dog, work laptop, and camera. She found Meiko locked up in the baby's room scared to death and they left my new camera on the kitchen counter, but everything else was gone. I had been working 5-10 hours a week from home on maternity leave so I had my work laptop on the kitchen table - it has everything on it but it also has a government issued password so there is no way in the world they will figure it out so my files will stay confidential. I miss those files so much and all the pictures I saved on it as well as the new picture CD we just got from having our family pictures done the week before...thank goodness I already uploaded them on facebook! They stole a few big things and went through our bedroom but in the end we are fine - it was overwhelming because I had no time to do anything and I wanted to be with my mom and I didn't have a computer to work on and to find quotes for. They stole my maternity leave from me because instead of being with my baby I had to deal with insurance stuff which was very time consuming. I was very mad that they took my security away, time from work, and time from my new baby...those things will never be replaced.

So life is getting back to normal now that I am back at work but one thing that is very different is that Blake is a stay at home dad. He is off orders with no orders in sight which means he is looking for a civilian job at the moment and the job pool is very shallow at the moment :( Life takes some really weird turns sometimes and hopefully he will find something in January.

Have a fabulous Christmas and I hope to update back soon with new projects!! My next post will be my New Year's Resolution List for 2012!! I love NY's resolutions.

Fall Decor 2011

This year I decided to decorate for fall because Christmas is going to be less crafty with a new baby arriving. In fact I have already decided to do the barely 6 foot Charlie Brown Christmas Tree instead of our bigger one. Kind of sad to think that we won't be having any parties at the house this year like usual. I love having an open house, cookie exchange, and decorate your own cookie party for Bailey...this year we will be going to those instead of hosting :) So for fall I decided to do a little yard work at 9 months pregnant with a husband 1,578 miles away (yeah...I googled). So to kick off the fall I hosted a baby shower and a falltastic pumpkin party for Bailey.

I turned my plane vases into fall ones by adding orange and brown glass stones to my clear ones and whipped up a few vinyl pieces in fall colors.

I made a rag wreath for the front door using scraps of orange, brown, and crimson fabric left over from previous projects.

This makes me laugh because I pulled up a dead bush my husband tried very hard to save. It took hardly any effort to pull it up and drag it across the yard...but it left a nice space that needed to be filled so I went and searched for a bail of hay and a cute pumpkin that wouldn't die and could be rained on. I call it "my decoration spot" until he is able to plant another bush. At Christmas I will put my wooden cross in this spot.

Meiko chilling in his hot dog costume :)

My mom and sister came over the night before the baby shower and helped me plant new orange flowers in my pots...these are the only flowers you will ever see me grow. I don't do gardening or flower beds, but I like my two pots. That morning I spread the pine straw in the area in front of the house.

And there it is...my little groomed house ready for fall. I trimmed the bushes, pulled up a bush, spread pine straw, made a "decorating spot", and hung a wreath.


Party Here: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyCQvZ4gVf5Sqe4pjgITZkJoC0rAkKgMPvAdN6gGPE4vAXpKb0i9hIJLO8R0KQjtBc9hvS-GGzAad5d2CvEQCUMjS984EC2V-s10D2jTiRUYUSUhr9dEybqndrMFEGki6ZBwYj190OPbI/s1600/wgw+button.jpg

Falltastic Pumpkin Party

I wanted to have one last party for Bailey as an only child...you know before she has to start sharing everything with her new baby brother. I also knew the baby would be born right around Halloween and we would not be able to do much this year. She was so excited about having a pumpkin party and helped me get everything ready. We had 10 little friends come over and the weather was beautiful! I made most of the food but had some help with the pumpkin shaped PB&J's as well as Little Debbie and her fall cakes ;) We played 3 games: Wrap A Mummy in Toilet Paper, Sweep the Pumpkin, and Pop the Balloon by sitting on it. There were 2 tables set up outside. The first table was set for the pumpkin magnet craft and fall themed coloring pages. The second table was set for "Decorate Your Own Cupcake". Target had 5 different kinds of Fall/Halloween themed sprinkles in a pack and I dyed cream cheese frosting orange for them to use.

It was a fun party and Bailey loved having her friends come over for the afternoon.

Yummy fall food! Orange Cupcakes, Popcorn, Chicken Nuggets, Cookies, Cheese Ritz Bits, Marshmallows...

Party Favors with Halloween Gummies and Candy

  

Little Debbie Fall Cakes in White and Chocolate as well as Pumpkin Shaped PB&J's

Pumpkin Shaped Sugar Cookies

Pumpkin Rice Krispy Treats

Everyone dressed up including Meiko

Each child made a Pumpkin Magnet to take home

Party Here: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyCQvZ4gVf5Sqe4pjgITZkJoC0rAkKgMPvAdN6gGPE4vAXpKb0i9hIJLO8R0KQjtBc9hvS-GGzAad5d2CvEQCUMjS984EC2V-s10D2jTiRUYUSUhr9dEybqndrMFEGki6ZBwYj190OPbI/s1600/wgw+button.jpg

Flower Girl Bailey

I really need to figure out how to twist the pictures around! Bailey was a flower girl this past weekend in a wedding. She did such a good job and was so pretty. One of my sorority sisters did her hair and we painted her fingernails and toenails to match the bridesmaids. She loves going to weddings and being in them even more! She loves to dance and stays on the dance floor the entire time unless she is taking breaks for punch, cake, and food. The bride was beautiful and Bailey was extremely fond of her as she is her teacher and my sorority sister. She was so proud to be in Miss Jessica's wedding.

Wreaths

So thanks to the invention of Pinterest I have anxiety over getting things done ;) No seriously, I went on for a total of 30 minutes and found two projects that had to be done in a few days for my baby shower. It ended up being 3 things but 2 came from pinintrest. I made the hospital wreath for baby Brycen and a fall rag wreath for my front door. I also painted some canvases and did brown vinyl letters on them to go above the crib. They are now nailed to the wall thanks to my dad coming over to do some handy work while Blake is deployed. I had a few things on the list for him to tackle and my mom helped plant fall flowers in my planters outside to make my home ready for fall and my baby shower that was being held at my home. I will have to do another post soon on just my fall decor...I changed things up this year since we are having a fall party for Bailey next weekend. I wanted to have one last party for her before Brycen makes his debut and steals the show. I'm so excited to get my hands on him and read books laying on my stomach again.

 Ribbon Wreath with wooden "M" - I am going to get a white paint marker to write his weight and height on the "M" after he is born.

 Fall Rag Wreath with 2 different browns, 2 different oranges, and some crimson thrown in.

His initials in vinyl on canvases...the middle canvas took a while to get the borders but it turned out really cute. 

Summer of Cupcakes #8 & #9

Well I didn't get to #10...and really #8 & #9 were the same cake just different icings, but they were still delicious! Very Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Icing and strawberry drizzle or filling. I decided I liked the filling better so that each cupcake received the same amount. These are going over really well that I made them for another occasion and received high remarks about them. I made them with homemade whipped topping the third go around and they were delicious. I still think the strawberry icing tastes the best to get the "very strawberry" taste.

Very Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Filling and Vanilla Buttercream Frosting in Pale Pink and Pale Green with "6" flags for a birthday party

An order of #4 cookies for a birthday party at school for a little girl turning 4.

Life in the past few weeks

This past month had a few big things...school started back, Blake left for his 2 month deployment to Puerto Rico, I kicked off my business using a facebook page (Go like it!), I bought the silhouette vinyl machine (newest obsession), consigned all of Bailey's clothes and shoes from infant to size 5 (tear), Bailey's soccer practice on Thursdays and games on Saturdays, and the nursery is almost ready!

It has been an exciting past few weeks of new things and we have been very busy. It helps to stay fully scheduled while Blake is gone - it makes it feel less lonely when you have so much to do. I have orders to work on at night on days I don't have commitments. On Wednesday night I joined a new Bible study while Bailey is in choir...I can already tell that it's going to be fabulous. Bailey moved into the big kids choir so she has to learn a Bible verse each week - she is so cute trying to memorize her verse so she can get a sticker.

The pregnancy is going...I wish I could figure out how not to gain so much, but I guess it's the thyroid doing what it does best...messing everything up. At night I look down and do not recognise my legs and feet...they look like they belong to someone else large hippopotamus. I try to get off of them but I have to much to do. The pregnancy brain is at its finest. I have done some of the dumbest things ever in the past couple of weeks that I just laugh because I know it's not an all-together-Brittany making those choices/decisions.

One thing we have had to adjust to is the size of our TV screen. Blake took the xbox/only dvd player we have on his trip so if we want to watch a movie we have to do it on Bailey's 19 inch TV/DVD player in one. I have gone to red box on two different occasions to rent movies only to get home and realize we have to watch it on Bailey's single bed from across the room. Thank goodness I DVR'd a bunch of movies on the bigger TV in the living room so we just rewatch Tangled, Toy Story 1-3, Princess and the Frog, Beauty and the Beast, a Barbie Movie, or The Land Before Time.

So yeah, that's what our family has been up to in the past month.

New Facebook Page

Here is my new facebook page! Each month will have a cupcake deal - September's deal: $15 for 1 dozen (2 dozen minimum same flavor). Please like it! Thanks!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Cupcake-Boutique/142109545881175

Embroidery Items

I had an order for 4 polos this weekend...#3 wasn't cooperating so I cut the machine off for the night and finished up yesterday on #3 & #4. I was also able to get a little backpack ready for my neighbor's son before school starts next Monday. I have one more order I'm wrapping up this week. I'm so thankful for all the orders I've been given over the past few weeks...It's a fun way to make some extra money plus I like to give my friends a better deal than the catalogs.

Summer of Cupcakes #7

These cupcakes were specially ordered by my best friend for her birthday dinner with family. They are Mint Chocolate Chip with Chocolate Ganache filling, Mint Icing, and Ghirardelli Mint Chocolate Pieces crumbled on top...in Jumbo size green liners. They were pretty amazing. I tried a new recipe for the chocolate cake that was less difficult...here's the secret...Hershey's Chocolate Cake recipe. Yeah...I'm that original. I looked and looked on the internet for variations and different recipes but people kept commenting on Hershey's recipe...and since I use Hershey's cocoa I figured they must know how to make a good cake and I was right. It was super moist and delicious...even 3 days later.

I'm hosting a jewelry party next Tuesday so I will have #8 posted by mid-next week...still deciding on the flavor. I haven't made anything with coconut yet! Only 3 cupcakes left to do before the end of summer!

Summer of Cupcakes #6

Yesterday I decided I would make blackberry cupcakes, but when I got to the store they were out! So my backup plan was to make blueberry cupcakes. They turned out so good. I refrigerated these over night with blueberry preserve filling, fresh whipped cream topping, and garnished with sugared blueberries. I used jumbo dark purple cupcake liners...I love making jumbo size! I took a few to the ZTA luncheon today -- the last one of the summer. I will be taking the rest to family members... this recipe made 16 Jumbo size cupcakes so I have around 10 left to get rid of. I give these 5 stars because they were so moist and delicious without being too sweet. I think they could also be eaten for breakfast because they are light. Only 4 more left in the summer of cupcakes challenge!!! Next up: Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes on Saturday!