November in a Flash

November was like a catapult shooting us toward December. Now I find myself standing in the wake of it's madness with December on the other side of this night and all I can think is, what the hell have we been doing all month?

Well, here's the answer.

CARNIVALS

 Why yes, the picture on the left is one of me drinking a beer from home while sitting in my daughter's stroller. This would be a good time to mention this carnival is walking distance from my house.

HOME HYSTERIA

I swear, I walked in on her like that.

PREGNANT BOOBIE CAKE (x2)

FIRST HAIRCUT

Yes, I cut those bangs all by myself!

LEARNING TO BAKE

LEARNING TO DRIVE

CATCHING FIRE PREMIERE

MEETING SANTA

WORK WITH MOMMY

 

BLACK FRIDAY

FSU BECAME #1

...and MUSTACHES

 

The end. Bye November.

❤A

Kickstarting November

With October in our rear-view, it is finally holiday season! Turkey, more birthdays (including mine), Christmas shopping and tree decorating are in our near future, but the holiday season is also about spending time with loved ones--both planned and not.

This past Friday Ryan and I went out on the town to celebrate his 29th birthday. Auntie Evan stayed home with Mila Girl while we grabbed dinner with some friends and surprised Ryan with tickets to JJ Grey and Mofro at Jannus Live. The show was epic, they played all the hits as well as some new stuff. Ryan and I worked our way through the crowd to the front and hung out with some old hippies. It was great not being the oldest people at a concert.

When we left Jannus Ryan and I were walking around Downtown St. Pete, it was "First Friday" so the streets were closed and the booze was flowing. We were talking about which bar we should go to, but then some how found ourselves back at our car and climbing in--who were we kidding? We did make one stop before we got home, at Steak and Shake for milkshakes.

Saturday was the laziest of days--not because I was hung over but because sometimes they're needed. Jonah, Mila and I wore jammies until about 3PM when I decided that we should go for a stroll around the neighborhood in FSU gear, pretending to be walking to Doak for the FSU vs. Miami game.

Sunday started off as a day dedicated to jammies too, which quickly turned into cleaning the house in jammies, then some how evolved into an impromptu trip to the Brocante Vintage Market with Mila and some of my girl friends. While checking out at the market, where I somehow only ended up buying things for other people, a woman told us about the Folk Festival just a few blocks away. Local craft beer, art and live music? Sold. We decided to drive the 13 blocks and found ourselves turning down an alley--so many alleys in this damn town-- in search of a parking spot. We found the perfect spot right in front of a brewery none of us had ever heard of, Green Bench Brewing Co.

"Girl's Day, you say?"

In search of an adventure, we decided to stop by Green Bench before heading to the Folk Fest. This place is awesome. Not only were there tons of other kids there, they have a huge beer garden, tons of choices and a super helpful and friendly staff.

Humorously enough, MJ wasn't the only one subject to a wardrobe change, her Auntie V also found herself in a new shirt after dousing herself with her very first beer of the day. Luckly, as previously stated, the crew at Green Bench was helpful and friendly. They made sure V had a new beer and "GB" tank top just as quickly as the spill happened.  

If the rest of the month is as must fun as this past weekend, I'm going to be exhausted by Thanksgiving.

❤A

Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet!

Mila didn't merely "enjoy" trick or treating, she absolutely loved it with every fiber of her being. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have already seen our family costumes. But for those of you who haven't, here you go!

Maybe it's because it has been more than 11 years since Aladdin came out, but baby "Abu" costumes don't seem to exist anymore. I looked everywhere on the web I could think to look, I went to several costume shops and even reached out to a few Etsy seamstresses, all without luck. Furthermore, Aladdin's "street rat" costume is also very hard to find. The only one I found was on ebay and the "Buy It Now" price was over $100. No, thank you! Feeling frustrated, and a bit defeated, I had the crazy idea to make our costumes. I found a $20 monkey suit at Target, got some fabric at Jo-Ann's and used a turquiose Holdensmaaa bandeau top for me. BAM! Oh, and the hats are solo cups I cut and covered in fabric haha!

I'm pretty proud about how well our costumes turned out, we got several compliments from other parents and trick-or-treaters. I suppose I had never really noticed before, but not too many parents dress up. And while I saw a couple of mini Princess Jasmines running around, I was definitely the only adult one--which is probably why a little girl actually thought I was the real Princess Jasmine. She walked past us with her dad staring at me so I smiled at her, she gasped and squealed to her father, "Daddy, it's Princess Jasmine!" Naturally, this made my night--well, almost.

The best part of the whole experience was showing Mila the ropes. She has no fear, she would march right up to people and hold out her hand for candy. She did try to go into the first few houses (she didn't understand that we were just stopping by) but she got the hang of it eventually. As soon as we would stop the wagon, she'd stand up to get out, hold my hand and run up to the house for her candy. She would just as quickly turn back around and run back to the wagon. Mila was the youngest kid in our group, yet outlasted everyone and was even still running around the house like a little monster at 10PM when we got home.

After we tucked Mila in, Ryan and I slept through watched scary movies on the couch, which was always my favorite part of Halloween as a kid. Everyone gathers on the couch in jammies while pigging out on the newly earned candy stash*. Perfection.

❤A

*One of my childhood best friends past away last year. She is the one who taught me to love scary movies. I remember doing this on Halloween with her so many times. At the celebration of her life, I promised her I would show Mila all of the classic scary movies when she is old enough. I'm going to keep that promise and I'm going to tell Mila that the only reason I love Freddy Krueger so much is because of my brave friend, Rebecca, who taught me to never fear.

Happy Halloween!

All Hallows' Eve is upon us! I'm up with the birds anxiously putting the finishing touches on our costumes, but mentally I'm already home from work applying fake eyelashes and trying to whip up a quick and healthy dinner for M before we rush out the door. Tonight we are taking Mila Trick or Treating for the first time! Last year she was too little, so after handing out some candy dressed in our costumes, we threw on some cozy jammies and walked around the neighborhood with a sleepy baby quietly riding in the stroller.

Although I find myself missing that sweet, snuggly lump of love we had this time last year, Ryan and I are really enjoying toddlerhood. Mila's little personality keeps us laughing and we're thrilled that as we start approaching the holiday season, we get to introduce her to traditions almost as if it were for the first time! And while Mila is much too young to understand the joys of pumpkin coffee, she certainly had a blast at the pumpkin patch earlier this week.

❤A

October in a Flash

It happens every October, with the [ever so slightly] cooler weather also comes the slam packed calendar. With all that's been going on PLUS an undefeated football season for Florida State, we've hardly noticed that October is almost over--talk about gone in a flash! But before we take a flashback of the month so far, let me mention that this week is going to be the busiest we've been all month.

Tonight Ryan and Mila are meeting me at the pumpkin patch as soon as I get off work. We're going to take some pictures, buy some pumpkins and hurry back to the house before it gets dark so we can carve pumpkins and watch the sunset from our backyard (Florida has the best fall sunsets). This year will be Mila's second Halloween but her first pumpkin carving experience--last year, at the tender age of 4 months, she slept through it. Unfortunately, wielding a knife seems like a dangerous activity for an almost 16 month old, so until her motor skills are perfected, she will mainly be in charge of pulling out pumpkin guts.

After pumpkin carving, I will toast some pumpkin seeds (my all time favorite snack) and spend the rest of the night chained to seated at the sewing machine so I can finish our family costumes. I'm super hoping that I can convince Auntie Evan to stop by our house tomorrow before work so we can get a couple family Halloween pictures in the morning, when the light is the best.

Wednesday is Ryan's 29th birthday, which he will actually be working through--BOOOO! <-- not the cute ghost kind, the Regina George kind. Thursday is Halloween, yay! And Friday is Ryan's super secret special birthday celebration, yay yay YAY!

BUT before this week can kick off, I have to catch you up. So here is a quick look into our October so far...

Festive Decor & Festive Beer

Festive [glow-in-the-dark] Jammies -- seriously, why don't they make these in adult sizes?!

The only thing making it bearable to live outside of Tallahassee this season.

Fall Festival at the Farm

Saturday Mornings with Festive Films -- should The Nightmare Before Christmas be considered a Halloween or a Christmas movie? It's both at our house.

Hardcore Mel's Bachelorette Party -- which MJ totally crashed.

Fall Festival and Craft Beer BREWhaha (and a sneak peek of the base of Mila's costume--oh yea, you know there is more)

The night FSU broke records at Death Valley when we beat Clemson 51 to 14. BOOM!

 Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes by Max and Jonah's

I told you Florida has the best sunsets in the fall.

Finally getting to break out the cool weather clothes!

And with that, let the best week ever commence in 5, 4, 3...

❤A


P.S. I'm in rare form this morning, maybe it's because of the "chill" in the air or maybe I'm just STARVING because I spent half of my mom's birthday weekend sick (and yes, she was here visiting, and yes, she did end up taking care of me--on her birthday). Regardless, I apologize if this post is a bit awkward and jumpy.

The Scariest Moment of My Life

Last night I experienced the most horrifying moment of my entire life. It was late, almost midnight, and I was still up cleaning, doing laundry and filling some orders for our cottage food bakery, Max and Jonah's. M was sound asleep and had been since about 8:30. She had gotten shots early in the evening and was really tired when bed time rolled around.

I snuck in her room to put some laundry away. I only turned the hall light on, so I didn't bother her. When I walked in, I looked at her, peacefully sleeping. She was quiet and still--almost too still, I thought and then smiled at myself for having such a worried mom thought. She was fine, I told myself lightly. 

It took several trips in and out of her room to bring in and put away all the laundry. Once I finished hanging her little dresses, I was done. But before sneaking back out and carefully shutting the door, I was going to steal a kiss. I gently sat on the side of her bed and looked down. She really was unusually quiet, even if she was sleeping. I noticed a watermark on her sheet, by her mouth, as if she'd been drooling. Then I noticed food around her mouth--but it couldn't be, I gave her a bath after dinner, right before bed.

She was snuggling her blanky, I pulled it from her grip, it was soaked an covered with food. Vomit. "Mila" I said in a low voice as gently nudged her shoulder--I had to wash her face and change her jammies and sheets, I couldn't leave her life that--but she didn't respond. Fear, the heart-sinking kind. Almost blackout, paralyzingly fear. "MILA" I said much louder rolling her onto her back from her side and finally noticing that she was laying in a huge pool of vomit. Her body had been covering it but there was much more than just a little spit up. Her jammies were covered and soaked and her hair and side of her face were caked with it.

This moment took only a second but the world stopped. I absorbed everything, I had a distinct sense of clarity. I was aware of every detail. As I waited for her to respond I collected her into my arms, repeating her name and running through first responder protocol in my head--four years of lifeguarding and renewing my CPR certification annually prepared me for a moment like this for someone else, I never thought I'd need it for my own daughter. That one second was the scariest I've ever lived though.

As time moved into a second second, Mila sleepily opened and rubbed her eyes, confused to see me at that time of night. With an emotional gasp and tears in my eyes, I pulled her into my chest, taking no mind to the vomit I was coincidentally covering myself with. We made our way to the shower, put on fresh jammies and snuggled in my bed with Chopped glowing from the TV. I completely aborted my laundry and baking responsibilities, texting Ryan to wrap things up when he got home from his late night tutoring session. 

You always hear how one second can feel like minutes, and sometimes you think you've experienced it. But you will never quite understand that feeling so much as when you're waiting to see if your child will wake up after vomiting in her sleep.

Mila slept fine the rest of the night in our bed. No more vomit. The doctor mentioned she might get sick after the chicken pox shot, and she was right. No fever or anything, just an untimely vomit.

❤A

 

October 1st - Happy Fall Y'all!

September is like the purgatory of months, it's not quite summer, not quite autumn, but it sure gives us time to gear up for the second best month of the year, October! And now it's here, October 1st--which, in my world, means it's officially fall. Happy Fall Y'all!

You better believe that today I will be enjoying pumpkin coffee, wearing orange, shopping for Halloween costumes, making soup and drinking pumpkin beer while singing, "It's the [second] most wonderful time of the year!"

Besides the usual goodness that October brings, October is also birthday month for some of my favorite people, which means birthday planning, parties and presents! I love birthdays. I have some ideas already brewing; unfortunately, I can't tell you much, in case they're reading. However, I will say that I'm going to be making some extra special birthday cookies and a festive cheesecake or two!

❤A