Friday Favorites

Today started out with me waking up at 5am, realizing I am late and jumping out of bed (actually it was the couch because I couldn't sleep last night so I moved to another location hoping that it would help me to sleep, ever do that?). I got dressed, not even sure if I brushed my hair, and then rushed into Mini Fox's room to feed her before I left. Note: I need to leave the house by 5:08, and it takes Mini Fox about 3 minutes to eat...you do the math. So I go in to feed her, and I usually can feed her for 2-3 minutes, but after two minutes I pop her off and put her back down and she starts screaming and searching for me. Of COURSE the day I am late she wants more. I made it to my carpool at 5:16, go me. So I really need to think about my favorites instead of thinking about how tired I am. So here are my Friday Favorites:

#1

I got to work, put the headphones on, turned the iPod on and this song comes on...how can I not get in a better mood after listening to this? You know you're sort of dancing in your chair.



#2

The love my kids have for each other, constantly kissing each other, melts my heart.

#3

I just bought this pajama set for Mini Fox and I LOVE it, I can hardly stand it, ruffle cuffs? Yes please! And the best part, it was only $5.97! ON mega clearance at Babies R Us.

#4

This song. I heard it in my Kettle Bell Class last week and on Monday I walked up to the instructor after she was done teach a completely different class and asked her if she could tell me the name of a song that she played last week. She said oh I put all of the songs in one song that's an hour long, I don't think I'll be able to find it...I told her well it was during the part when we did this (then I showed her what we were doing in the class) and she's like, I actually know what song you're talking about! And she found it for me, and I sort of love her for it...and it's been playing on repeat ever since.



#5

Nordstroms Anniversary sale. I'm sure everyone has jumped on that band wagon...I've bought way too much, seriously everyday I find something new that I want. So many packages arriving at my door. I keep telling myself, I probably won't keep it, so I'll just put it in my cart just to see, and then...you guessed it, I've only wanted to return 1 thing! Oops.

Here's what I've gotten so far and am going to keep:
 
Mixed Media Tunic 
This is the MUST HAVE SHIRT according to Sheaffer from Pinterest Told Me To

I bought the petite and still had to size down and it's a perfect fit.

 
Peacoat -In White

Unfortunately they are all out, there is only Black Large left, darn. But if they do come back, I got a size medium and it's perfect. Although I'll probably wear this once because it never really gets cold here.

Leopard Scarf 

I've been wanting a leopard scarf, but just didn't want to spend that much, and I saw this one, but it was $20, and I just didn't know if I liked it enough to spend $20, but now it's only $12.90, I thought why not, and I absolutely love, love, love it, Mr. even loves it and pairing it with my white jacket from above, well it's to die for. I might just have to take a picture for you guys, just cause I can't wait to show you, I'm willing to suffer in the 95 ° heat for the sake of fashion.

Kate Spade Studs 

I admit, I bought three pairs of these. I bought the green (below), pink and the clear ones, although those last two are going to be gifts, so shhhhh, don't tell anyone. For $24.90, I think it's an awesome deal and some lady in your life is going to squeal with delight when she opens it.

And then of course these are the things I'm still waiting for...tapping fingers impatiently.

Black Bootie

Again a suggestion from Sheaffer, I haven't gotten them yet, but Vanessa bought them, and they look pretty cute on her feet, so I figured I NEEDED them too.

Lace Trim Tunic

Andrea from Momfessional suggested this one, I thought she got it and showed us (perhaps it was on her IG account?) anyway, it was super cute, so I decided to give it a whirl.

Grey and Black Striped Tunic 

Another PTMT pick (seriously, I need help)

Blue Tunic

This one I actually picked out on my own, yay me, I love the zipper shoulder, I really hope it fits/looks good when I get it.

The sale doesn't end til next weekend, so there is plenty more time for me to shop, in all honestly there are several things in my Nordies shopping cart that are just screaming for me to hit submit. I'll at least wait till after lunch to do so. See that restraint there?

So spill, what did you guys get? Is there something I should add to my cart before I hit submit? Okay even if I do, I'll still probably get it, who are we kidding?

Linking up with the Farmer's Wife and September Farm and for Friday Favorites with Andrea, Erika and Narci! 

Christmas in July

I know another post in the same day. What is going on here?! It just so happened that I'm participating in two different things and they both happen to fall on the same day, so you get me twice, not sure if that is good or bad, I'm going to chose good thing.

The lovely ladies Courtney @ Sweet Turtle Soup and Jenny @ The Chronicles of We put together a Christmas in July Swap. How fun to get something from an awesome Mama in July.

I got a gift from Jasam @ The Opulent Owl. She sent this awesome box:

Baby Fox wanted to open the box with his new scissors...

don't worry he just wanted to take the picture of him using them, I actually opened the box.

Once the box was open, Baby Fox could hardly contain himself, wondering what was in the box.

Water Balloons, he couldn't wait to try this out!

Cheers, margarita glasses for some fun drinks, although Baby Fox has claimed them as his and drinks milk and water from them.

Cheers!

Some silly puddy like stuff, we haven't had a chance to open it, but it sure does look fun!

He kept saying, wow, this is so cool! Look at this Mommy, this is for me?!

Jasam was so generous and we loved everything! Thank you for such a thoughtful gift from a new friend.

He was trying to use his safety scissors to get into it, I suggested his other ones.

Go check out Crystal @ Mason's Mama to see what I go her.

Toddler Communication: How to Help them

Back again for the next topic of "One Year and Beyond", this week's topic? Helping your toddler to communicate (words, emotions, etc). 

This is a hard one because every kid is different. Some kids just get it better than others, ya know? So just remember every kid is different and because they don't speak as well as another, doesn't mean they are behind.

Here are 3 tips for what we do with our kids:
 
1.  Early on Baby Fox taught us sign language. Yep you read that right, he started doing some hand signals and I knew he was trying to tell us something, I figured out what he was trying to tell us over the course of about a week. (He would open and close his fist with one hand if he wanted some more of something, and he would open and close both fists if he wanted something to drink, and he would raise his hands in the air (think the signal for touchdown) if he was done with whatever he was doing, crazy right?)

Funny, but Mini Fox, on her own is starting to use the same signals for things too. Must be a baby thing? We just encourage the behavior to keep up with the signals. While we didn't ever set out to teach our babies sign language we follow their lead. It does make it easier when they want something to eat/drink/are done. 

Opening and closing her fists

 2.  What we did for Baby Fox and continue to do with Mini Fox is we never talk in baby talk. We never dumb anything down, we talk to the kids like Mr. and I speak to each other. Basically, we can't stand baby talk so we never did it to our kids. If they say something incorrectly, we never say, no that's not how you say it, we usually just repeat back to him and use the word in the correct way. So if he said "go imming" we would just repeat, "you want to go swimming?" Eventually he caught on to the correct way to pronounce things.

4.  We were/are constantly talking to them, when going to grocery store, instead of thinking things in my head, I would talk out loud to them. Like "so what's next on the list? Oh that's right let's go get some paper towels, where do you think they put paper towels? Usually they're over in the corner, let's head that way" or "remind me when we get home to put the sprinklers on" even though you know they can't remind you, I always talk to them like I would talk to a friend.


5. Emotionally we never let his emotions or lack of being able to communicate lead to bad behavior. So if he's trying to tell us something and is getting frustrated and starting to yell and scream/cry we always keep calm and in a calm voice tell him "Baby Fox, stop crying and show us what you want/use your words" When he did have a few words and could communicate to us that he wanted a toy or something to eat and he would start to flap his arms and cry (his signature move), we calmly tell him, "since when do you get anything when you throw a fit? When you calm down, let me know when you're ready to talk" Usually that gets him to stop and think about what he's doing. Occationally when his fits are really bad, we'll mimic what he's doing to show him what he looks like and reiterate, "you don't get anything by crying and throwing a tantrum."

This was Baby Fox's first and only full on tantrum. He literally threw himself on the ground and started kicking. I took one look at him, said this is great, and grabbed my camera and started snapping pictures while laughing at how dramatic he was being. Literally 30 seconds later, he realized, oh I'm not getting what I want. He got up, walked over to me and just gave me a hug and stopped crying.

What are some of the things that you do to help your kids communicate?

Week 1 - Keeping Your Marriage Alive with a Toddler
Week 2 - 10 Fun Summer Activities for Toddlers 

Now go check out some other awesome Mama's and their ways to communicate
  

We are back with week three of our series and hopefully this helps you other mamas to find out how to help your toddler communicate!  Make sure to check out the other 10 wonderful mamas who are posting with me this week.  And don't forget to write your own post and link it up below!

Like a Morning Cup of Coffee// From Here to Eternity// The Not Quite Military Wife//

A Cowboy's Life// My Delicious Adventure// Sadie Sky Boutique// Meet the Sullivan's//

Love and Life//  Foxy's Domestic Side// Everyday Love// Life of Faith

July 10:  Keeping your marriage alive with a toddler

July 17:  Favorite summer toddler activities

July 24:  Helping Your Toddler to Communicate (Words, emotions, etc.)

July 31:  Dealing with Separation Anxiety

Aug 7:    Car Trip Necessities

Aug 14:  Deciding when the time is right for baby #2 (and/or how to handle these questions)

Aug 21:  Tricks for eating out with your toddler

Aug 28:  Feeling confident as a mom (How to feel this way, Your struggle with, etc.)

An InLinkz Link-up

My First Curling Wand Review

I've been really bad and didn't take an outfit post this week, but found this on my computer and realized I never posted it. So it seems silly to be wearing this outfit when it's hot and humid outside, but hey, if I don't do it now, it will never get on the blog.

I love how the scarf just ties everything together and makes it a bit more dressed up, when in reality I'm wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

I feel like such a model in this one, the wind blowing through my hair, lol.

*I was not compensated or asked to write this review, I'm just sharing something that I really like, no one knows who I am.

Speaking of hair, I bought the Nume curling wand set. Ever heard of it? No? Well I first heard of it from Jen at From Head To Toe in her Top 10 Must Have Hair Products. I had been thinking I wanted a curling wand for a while, but couldn't justify the price, but she had a coupon code for $151 off! So what was $250 was only $99, I figured hey I get 5 curling wands in one, why not?! Guess what? I just checked and her coupon code still works, enter jensummer at checkout. **I tried googling youtube coupon codes for this and a bunch came up, so there's always a coupon code out there to use, just need to find it!

So I ordered it and anxiously waited for it to get here. I was so excited when it showed up!

What it looks like fresh out of the box.

It's like Christmas, I'm so exited!

There are 5 interchangeable wands that comes in this handy case

Even comes with a heat protectant glove, must have, this thing is HOT, my first use I barely brushed the wand against my shoulder and it bubbled up and left a nice little mark.

Here is everything laid out. You get a 32mm, 25mm, 19mm barrel, reverse barrel, which starts from 13mm from the tip to 25mm at the base, and last but not least the pearl (you can guess what Mr. said about this one).

So far I am LOVING them. Granted I have only tried the 3 barrels and not the reverse or pearl.  What I like to do is use the 19mm and then the next day I get a more wavy look. This is actually after I've just used it a few hours ago.

This is I've just washed my hair, let it dry and then I section my hair into 6 pieces, curl with the 19mm and go to bed. When I wake up I comb my fingers through my hair for an awesome look. Here's what it looks like after night 1:

And then I slept on it again and here it is the next day. Still slightly wavy, but totally perfect for a casual day out and about.

So if you are thinking about a curling wand get this one, it's only $99, plus you get a free bottle of Argan Oil. I use that usually on day two when my hair is slightly frizzy, it tames those wild hairs. Not sure if that's how you're supposed to use it, but it works for me!

Let me know if you have a curling wand or are going to get and how it works out for you! I'd love to know.

When I use the other two wands I'll let you know how it works for me.

In case you were wondering why there are wet mark on the pavers next to me...this is why:

There's that pose again

And he's back in the pool!

Linking up with Because Shanna Said So, Get Your Pretty On, The Pleated Poppy, and Tucker Up

I Can Get My Life Back

Have you heard this little game called 2048? If not, walk away, just walk away right now and don't continue to read. Okay I really don't want you to walk away, but seriously, it's taken me FOREVER to pass this game. I started playing when I went back to work (back at the end of January, yes it's taken me 7 months to win), and I was obsesses at first. It was like when you first started playing Candy Crush, it consumes you, except this one you can keep playing forever, it doesn't cap you at 5 lives...but finally, finally I won! It feels so good. I feel accomplished. Is that weird?

It said to keep going, so I did...then I "died"

and sighed a breathe of relief that I can finally do this:

 

If you want to know how I won? Shear luck...sort of. If you play or start to play, swipe left/right and up, only up, don't swipe down, it will break you. I did have to swipe down twice in my game, but for the most part I swiped left/right and up. Now back to regular scheduled posts.