Last Minute Holiday Gifts for Her

I just love the holiday season. Even amongst the increased traffic, and busyness that comes with it, there's just something so magical about the holiday season. Now that it's crunch time, and shipping cut offs are nipping at our nose (see what I did there?) I've rounded up my favorite last minute gifts for her.

1. all that glitters Kate Spade pendant (because who doesn't love glitter!)

2. Mark & Graham faux fur collection (and right now it's 30% off with free shipping!)

3. Madewell leather tote (this is SO versatile - plus 20% off!)

4. LL Bean slippers (I could live in these!)

5.NARS lip pencil gift set

6. Alex and Ani bangle (they have SO many options - but everyone knows I'm a sucker for anything personalized!) 

Hope you're enjoying the holiday season as much as I am!

What I Wore...

You know that feeling when you literally have a closet full of clothes but you have nothing to wear? That's pretty much every morning for me. So once in a while when I put something on that I feel really good about it, I just have to document it. And maybe when my girls are older and reading through this they'll have proof that hey Mom didn't always wear yoga pants and sweatshirts! :)

Also, I hate taking selfies. Perhaps I should study up on Kim K's methods. NOT.

On turning 30

I'm definitely not one of those people who's dreading turning 30. In fact, bring it on. It's a totally viable excuse to have a grand celebration. Most people scoff when you have elaborate plans to turn 27. (What's so special about 27 they say? What's NOT so special I say?)

Anyways - even though I have a hard time remembering that I'm turning 30 and not, say 22, I've had to make some drastic changes to my morning and nightly routines. Gone are the days of simply washing my face before bed. Now I have to worry about things like wrinkles. GASP! Even though I'm not trying to correct any and/or get rid of any just quite yet, I'm in the preventative phase. I'd rather start using something now, than start freaking out about wrinkles in another 10 years.

Enter this beauty:

I am so impressed with this Vitamin C Serum. My biggest selling point? Organic ingredients! And it has the most delicious scent. It's very light, and usually I have a hard time with serums like this making my skin feel greasy, but not at all with this. It absorbs quickly, and a little bit goes a long way. So this should last awhile! I've been pleasantly surprised with how much it's evened out my skin tone. Certain areas of my face are prone to get red and blotchy (especially in the winter!) and this has worked like a dream. Highly recommended!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

5 Months with Parker Mae

I'm sure it gets old when I say that I can't believe another month has flown by, but my goodness. I would be content keeping you a little baby forever but you clearly have other plans.

It's amazing the differences between your first and third child. With your first born every milestone is SO exciting and you can't wait for the next one! But with the third it's like wait what? how is it time for you to start rolling everywhere? Food - what? Can't be!

Although the month was a blur, it was quite an exciting blur! You discovered your toes, and you love them. We have to set aside time during the day to take your socks off and you get reallly excited about it. You also LOVE your thumb. And as much as I don't want to have to think about you sucking your thumb, it's quite adorable. When I put you to bed we start off with the pacifier, and then once I lay you down you spit it out and in goes the thumb. As if you could get anymore precious.

You had your first Halloween! You dressed up as a ladybug, and didn't really get what all the fuss is about. All in good time my love.

We took family pictures this month, and I'm super anxious to see them. You were pretty much stone faced the.entire.time. I'm just glad you didn't throw up all over your pretty outfit. #itsthelittlethings You're such a serious baby! Except when you're not. Makes total sense right?

You absolutely LOVE your sisters. They can make you giggle and giggle. Until I try to get a picture of it, then it's stone faced Sally. However you still don't really like it when they hold you. But you pretty much don't like anyone to hold you except Mom or Dad. (Which I'm totally OK with btw, I'm cherishing this stage as much as I can!) You've kind of got some stranger anxiety. Which again, I'm secretly relishing. All too soon you'll be running around and demanding everyone's attention. So I'll get in all the snuggles while I can.

You've embraced tummytime. Hooray! You love playing on the floor and rolling around everywhere. And the exersaucer is your new BFF. Although the jumper is slowly climbing in popularity. You're pretty independent at home, which is bittersweet, but in the best possible way. Have I totally confused you yet?

Remember that time when I was so excited you were sleeping through the night? Insert foot in mouth. You decided that just wasn't your thing anymore, and we're back to being up a few times a night. #wompwomp Is it because we moved you to your crib? I don't know. You also have a tendency to have blowouts in the middle of the night, which is awesome. NOT. So by the time you're done getting cleaned up you're ready to party. Mom and Dad? Not so much. Let's get back on the sleeping through the night train this month shall we?

You've started eating solid food! What the what? This month you've tried peas, carrotts, and beans. And of course you got treated to some whip cream at Thanksgiving. (That's what grandparents are for right? to sneak you sugar! *technically* Thanksgiving should be part of your next monthly update but whatevs) This time around we've decided to skip baby food altogether. GASP! I know right? But I've done a lot of research on it, and we're following the baby led weaning method. And it's a lot less stressful, and saves us from buying/wasting baby food. I know it's not for everyone, but I'm totally embracing it.

Last but not least - your monthly photo! I'm super impressed (insert pat on the back here) that I've made it 5 whole months (only 7 to go!) taking your pic on the exact day! Although this one was a close one. I totally thought Thanksgiving was on the 26th, turns out it was the 27th. SO right before bed we got this pic, but you were not in a good mood, and the lighting is super bad because it was already dark out. But some day you'll appreciate these photos right? RIGHT.

Happy 5 months sweet girl!

Thankful

Thanksgiving is one of my very favorite holidays. There's just something so special about a holiday centered around giving thanks for all that you have, and the food. Oh the food! and wine! and pie! and did I say wine?

And while my husband may argue I love it for the black Friday shopping, that's just the icing on the proverbial cake.

This year we headed North to Iowa early Thanksgiving morning, and had a pretty smooth ride. We got there just in time to finish the parade - one of the best parts! I loved watching the parade growing up, and it's pretty awesome that I get to share that with my own kiddos.

We spent two days eating, and playing cards, and more eating. I didn't take a single picture (gasp!) but I was too busy, ya know, eating. And yes we did do some black Friday shopping, but let me tell you I was pleasantly surprised by NO crowds. Yep you read that right. In the wee hours of the morning from 5 to about 7 there weren't very many people out. AND we got almost everything we set out to get!

My darling Parker is homebody like here Mama, and in general doesn't like loud noises and chaos. So we decided to head home Friday afternoon to try and catch a good nap in the car and make it home to sleep in our own beds. We headed South around 3:45ish, and everything started out well. Two were napping and one was watching a movie. We made it to Bethany (the halfway point) and stopped for dinner and to feed Miss P. Mistake #1 - should've just gone through the drive through and kept up the good momentum! After eating and making sure everyone used the bathroom, we were back on the road. We had been back in the car for oh about 10 minutes when someone had to go to the bathroom. Of course. So we told her we'd stop at the next exit. We missed the next exit. Awesome. Finally we made it to the next exit (with NO accidents!) and after a 15 minute stop we were back on the road. We were I'd guess about 45 minutes to an hour from home at this point, and hoping everyone would take a quick cat nap the rest of the way.

You probably guessed that didn't happen.

After only 10 minutes in the car Gracen said she thought Parker had a dirty diaper. I didn't smell anything, so we just kept cruising. Well P kept getting fussier, so we decided to stop AGAIN but just change her in the car. Well that plan wasn't going to work. Because girlfriend decided that was a great time to have a blowout. The Mr. kindly volunteered (or maybe I volunteered him...) to bring her in and change her, which let me tell you was no easy task. He didn't want to set anything on the floor (gross), and the loud noises in there were scaring her. And when they finally emerged 20 minutes later, she was naked in the car seat. I ever so nicely (prob not so nicely - luckily he still loves me anyway) reminded him there was a spare outfit in the diaper bag. So back in they went again to get her dressed. When she was finally back in the car she.was.pissed. She screamed bloody murder for at least the next 10 minutes, so I tried to make her some milk, but ain't nobody got time for cold milk. She finally fell asleep about 30 minutes from home. We pulled in our driveway around 9:30. 9 freaking 30. What normally was a 3 hour trip took us over 5 hours. Ah the joys of traveling with a baby.

DESPITE the rough ride home, we still had a wonderful holiday. I am so incredibly thankful for my sweet little family, and feel lucky that I've been trusted to add a 3rd little peanut to my crew this year. We're all healthy and happy, with a roof over our head and food on our table. What more could I ask for?

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! Now bring on the Christmas music, decorations, and treats!!