Tooth Fairy

So I didn't post yesterday, because I was too drugged. Let me explain. I had a dentist appointment Tuesday morning. I was getting my teeth cleaned, and one of my old crowns felt slightly loose. I figured I'd just have to have the crown reattached. After the cleaning, they took an X-ray only to discover I had sensitivity over by that crown due to a large abscess at the root!! I had to have an emergency tooth extraction!!! Ouch. Ouch. And ouch. Luckily the dentist was able to squeeze me in that day since my Mom was in town and could watch the girls. I had a minor freak out moment while I was alone in the surgery room hooked up to an electronic blood pressure machine. I had a flashback to my heart issues when the machine went off twice within a minute. At that moment, fear and anxiety overtook my entire body, and I had to talk my way back to my IGBOK mentality. (It's gonna be okay!) while I was in the waiting room and they were prepping the OR, all I could think about was what ridiculous thing(s) would come out of my mouth while I was drugged. Sure, it wouldn't take very long for me to fully be out, but in that meantime there's just no telling what I would say. I mean, let's face it, I don't hold back too much to begin with, so at that point I'm sure wherever I took the conversation would be dangerous. Since I'm me, I of course voiced my concern to the dentist and his assistant to which his response was that they would treat it "Vegas-style!" As in what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Lol Here we are 2 days later. My poor Mom has been stuck here the past couple of days when she needs to be home getting ready for a big party she's hosting at their house in early April, and I'm in pain. The oops of the day? Yes, already an oops. This am my Dad had texted to check on how I was feeling. I responded that my mouth was hurting and repeated how bad for emphasis. The problem?? I accidentally responded to Wren who was about to have a c-section!!!!! So there I was (unknowingly) texting someone about to give birth how my mouth was hurting "realllllllly" badly!!!!! Nice. Luckily, I caught it and was able to apologize before she thought I was completely losing it!!! Love ya Wren, and welcome to this crazy world baby Scott Howell!!! Nattie can't wait to hold you!!!

-Nattie B

Pics: yesterday was Wacky Wednesday at HA's school. It's Dr. Seuss week. Here is her wacky hair and mismatched outfit. Collins turned 7 months old yesterday, too!!

Facing the Day Part 2: A few new beauty favs

I have a few new beauty products that I am loving right now, and I thought I would share them with you. I always like trying new things especially if they come highly recommended by a credible source. And yes, I'm credible. At least I think I am.

 

 

First up, remember how on my previous 'Facing the Day' post I shared that I used the Suave kid's detangler in lieu of conditioner since my hair is so thin? Well, I was getting my hair cut by my new girl Elle (whom I adore, and if you are anywhere near the Nashville/Franklin area, call The Studio by Studio Gaven to make an appointment with her!!), and I was explaining how I hate the way hair products make my hair feel. Wellllll....actually it started because I was complaining that I don't have enough volume in my hair. So she asked what products I used to which my response was none and that I hated the feel of products in my hair. To which her response was of course that you cannot get more volume if you don't use products. Anywho, she asked me if I was going to use a product what would my perfect product be. I said a spray conditioner that detangles. Here is the Pureology one she recommended, and I love it!! It's even actually good for my hair.

 

Pureology Perfect 4 Platinum

You can get it at your local salon

$24.00 (but a little goes a long way)

 

 

Next is my new favorite lip color. When I hosted the girl's night for Wren, she gave me that adorable silver owl cosmetic pouch. Inside were two Bert Bees Lip Shimmers. The Bert's Bees Lip Shimmer in Caramel is my new go-to for my lips. It has just the right amount of color, and it doesn't dry my lips out. I love glosses, but they don't stay on for very long. And the ones that so always dry out my lips. So this is the perfect combo, and it smells like yummy mint!

 

Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer in Caramel

Target

$5.00

 

Number 3. When I was out shopping for my BFF from high school's birthday gift last month, I was in the Coach store. When I bought her a key chain, the sales associate through in a sample of their newest perfume Love. It's not too strong, so I wear it every single day. In fact, I'm already out of my freebie.

 

Love by Coach

www.coach.com

$72.00

 

And last but not least, I use lip balm a lot. My lips get really dry. The same day that I got the little Love sample, I also went into Sephora. Since it was the beginning of the year, they had a bunch of leftover birthday gifts they were trying to get rid of. They put these Sugar Rose Fresh lip treatments in my bag as a free gift! I love them, and it doesn't hurt that they smell like lemon cake. I use the one that is tinted on the days I'm headed to the gym and don't wear makeup. Okay, that's a lie. I wear under eye concealer and powder. People would run if I wore no makeup at all! : )

 

Sugar Rose Fresh

www.sephora.com

$22.50

 

 

Hope you get a chance and try out one of these products from your high "qualified" source!

 

~Nattie B

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Funny Bunny [Craft]

Well, as you know, we were supposed to go back home today. Where am I? Still at my Mom & Dad's. Somehow my Dad and I completely missed the fact that my Mom would have to stay at their house with my nephews while he drove us back to Nashvegas. Long story short, neither my dad nor Chris wanted to spend their Sunday on the road all day, so here we are. Still. I'm a planner, so in my head, it was time to go back. That WAS the plan. But I'll accept the extra night sprawled across the entire bed without worrying about Collins waking up! So let's just pretend we weren't supposed to go back until Monday.

We didn't really do anything much today except hang around the house. And I know I've mentioned recently that I'm ready for Easter crafts. A couple of days ago, my mil Judy had shared a photo on Facebook with this adorable picture of a bunny Peep driving a Twinkie car! Have you seen it?! It. Cracks. Me. Up. I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned it before, but this might be a good time to add that I'm easily amused. Very. But hey! It can make everyday things a lot of fun sometimes. So back to the bunny driving a car. (Insert laughter here.) Since I was already pretending it was on the schedule to stay another day, I extended my make believe and pretended it was already March so that we could make the funny bunnies!! It was a perfect kid craft, because it was cute, easy, quick, and cheap!! Below are our funny bunnies! You could use all different kinds of candies and really get creative with the car details, but this was the perfect amount of detail (and time) for the two 4 year olds.

HA wanted her bunny's "headlights" to be pink instead of yellow. She also insisted on adding extra candies to jazz up her bunny's wheels. Just one candy in the center didn't cut it for her! She. Is. So. My. Child.

-Nattie B

[Not] Walking in Memphis

Welp, it's almost time to get back to reality...I mean home. Tonight (I've started this post at 11 pm CST) is my last night to spread out completely across the bed, fall asleep with the tv on and not have to fear Collins waking up in the middle of the night. Ahhh...it's been great!!!!

Now to my "story" for the night! My super sweet girlfriend from way back to middle school, Laura (check out her blog: "Walking in Memphis in High Heels"....grab button to the left!), was so thoughtful and added me to the Memphis Bloggers group on Facebook! Even though I am in Nashvegas, I'm still "home" often and am interested in what's going on around the Memphis area. I always will be. So back to the bloggers. There has been a planned get-together dinner for a month now (mb longer), and she added me to the guest list for that as well! I was sooo excited!!!! Not only would I have the chance to meet fellow bloggers, but I would also be able to reconnect, in person, with some of my past dearest girlfriends that, prior to the blog, I had lost touch with many years before!! As soon as they decided the date, I put it on my calendar! It's the whole reason for my trip here this time. Any clue where this is going?! Well, I didn't get to go! 😭 Here's what happened: My brother-in-law Hutch had a terrible death in his family this week, and he and my sister Ashley had to make a trip to Arkansas to be with family and attend the services, So they needed to leave the boys with my Mom tonight. They have two boys - Nicholas, 10, and Brandon, (almost) 5. That would've left my mom with a 6 month old, 4 year old, 5 year old, and 10 year old basically by herself. Now, I'm selfish, but I'm not THAT selfish!!! She knew how badly I wanted to go, so she repeatedly explained how she was going to be completely fine, but I knew better. She would be completely fine if everyone behaved themselves the entire time. With any group of kids from age 6 months to 10 years old, even if they are good kids, well...I don't think that's possible. So, I decided to put on my big girl panties and deal with it. As in deal with not being able to go to the dinner. I decided this was one of those times that I needed to be a grown up and do what I needed to as opposed to what I wanted to. Man, being a grown up sucks sometimes!! First up, I tried to see if my girlfriends could meet for lunch on Saturday instead since Ashley & Hutch weren't leaving until early afternoon. No such luck. And as I sit here tonight typing this, after they are all finally in bed asleep, I know I made the right decision. It's still not the one I wanted, but it was the right one. It isn't that Mom couldn't have handled the night, but it would have completely drained her. She would have been overly exhausted, and she has a big upcoming party she is hosting at the house that she needs to be able to focus on. She's just not as young as she used to be. So to all of the Memphis Bloggers out there, I hope you all had a blast getting to know each other! And thank you for letting me be an honorary part of your group!!! I look forward to the next gathering. I'll make the trip down then, too!! And maybe next time I'll be able to actually go!! : )

Pics from today: pretty much all just Collins. HA was too busy running around playing with her cousins!! As you can see, I got a little carroed away with the Red Stamp app. I could play on that app for hours!! And the cupcakes are a peace offering to a neighbor whose dog Ava (our always laid back and happy dog) evidently isn't a fan on. Once again, Confetti Cupcakes by Brande Hanks Burrow!! [Another] Shout out to B! She's evidently been blowing up in blog land this week!

-Nattie B

Open Mouth, Insert Stiletto

Lunch today was so fun! It was great to catch up and automatically be comfortable with someone you haven't seen in forever!! She wasn't even embarrassed when I ordered from the kid's menu. In fact, we both did and not for monetary purposes. Hey! You like what you like, and chicken tenders just sounded better than shellfish crepes! My foodie bff Bashty will get a good laugh out of that one! We ate at Old Town Hall & Cafe on the Covington square. After we ate, we headed to the shopping part of our outing followed by grabbing one of Brande's y-u-m-m-y chocolate chip cheesecake cupcakes from Perennial. If you live in or near Covington, and you haven't had one of these, fix that!! she sells them at the front counter of the new store Perennial on the square. The one downfall of the day? My big mouth. We were walking through a couple of stores on the square. One of the shops still had it's entire front window decorated for Valentine's Day complete with a large, wooden cut out of Cupid and his arrow. I had noticed it as I continuously circled the square hoping for a parking spot to open up on the right side (which never happened). So there we are on the sidewalk walking in the store's direction when it happens. I open my mouth, and in turn, insert a very large foot that's possibly wearing a stiletto! Out flies a couple of comments about the fact that it is not only not Valentine's Day but already February 20-something and the window shows no signs of life or something to that effect. She wanted to go in to look around, so we did. Not 5 seconds later (aka directly behind us), the door dings again. In walks the shop's owner who is explaining WHY she hasn't had a chance to put out her spring things and put up her Valentine's. At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to bend down, lift up a wooden board, and crawl under the floor!!!!! I'm 99% sure that wasn't a coincidence... Me and my very big mouth. I felt awful!!!!!!! I was so embarrassed I didn't even mention it. I'm honestly surprised things like that don't happen to me more often!

Pic: Here we are at Old Town Hall. Linds thinks her hair looks awful in this picture (which it doesn't!), so I hope she doesn't get mad I posted this pic. As far as I'm concerned, as I was heading out the door to go to lunch, my Mom told HA that I looked like an Easter egg with my neon pink top paired with lavender cords. My response? "Lavender is the new neutral!"

Love you, Linds! So thankful to have reconnected!! XOXO!!

-Nattie B

Take Out, Family, & Mexican

Okay. So, you're going to crack up. Remember how I had those lovely Pinterest recipes, well...That didn't exactly happen. You see, what had happened was... Collins was still fussing, so I decided maybe I should take her to have her ears checked again. Not sleeping or eating and being fussy are not things normally used to describe Collins. I love how sometimes it takes me much longer to figure something out than it should! Turns out, the ear infection had never gone away. So now we are on medication numero three, and I'm crossing my fingers for the old "third times the charm!" Scratch that. Let's make that crossing my fingers AND toes. So, since I had to rush to the pediatrician at the last minute late afternoon, that left me no time to cook my delicious Pinterest recipes that had my mouth watering all day just thinking about them. All of that potato prep at 1:00 pm was for nothin'!! My dad had driven up from Covington (the small town outside of Memphis where I'm from), to bring the girls and me back to their house for the weekend. So, take out from Pei Wei was ACTUALLY what was for dinner!!!

Well, we finally made it to Covington. It only took 4.5 hrs to make a no-more-than 3 hour trip! It started out on a bad note when we had made 3 stops before we even got on the main interstate to head out of town. First up was the Dunkin Donuts drive thru for Munchkins (what they call their donut holes) followed by Sam's for gas in the car (which should have been done the day before), and finally Hardee's drive thru for my Dad's favorite biscuit sandwich. Things went well for awhile, and I even got to ride in the front seat and not entertain. I was starting to get comfy when away went sweet Collins and out came the screaming banshee baby. At that point we were about 20 minutes outside of Jackson (, Tn which is about 40 minutes from our destination). Needless to say, we made a visit to the Jackson Target. I actually hate that Target, because it always looks so ransacked, but it was the relief we ALL needed. Man do they have some cute little baby faux Sperry's...but anywho. In the end, we made it safe and sound which is all that really matters!!!

For dinner tonight we did my parents usual Thursday night Mexican at a little place called Margarita's. yum yum. It was wild since we had so many there including a teenager, 2 preteens, 2 four yr olds, and a 6 month old. Someone was constantly up and about or in the bathroom (playing). Just glad to be "home." One of my homes, that is. It always feels like comfort, and my Mom helps with the girls to give me a little break. Tomorrow I am meeting my cousin (who I haven't seen in forever....check out her blog: "A Plane Doctor, His Nurse & Three Little Passengers"...button over to the left) lunch at the little cafe on the square and hanging out with my sister and her boys at our parents house. Good times!!! One last thing, several people have told me lately how much they love the blog. Good to know people are reading since my "followers" number is only 11. Is it difficult to "follow" or something or are you peeps just tellin' lies? Lol JK!

- Nattie B

Pics: Collins at the doctor yesterday and pics from the trip today (pre and post-banshee)

Beef is Not What's for Dinner!

WIDN? Listening to a mixture of my hospital play list which is largely composed of Twilight movie soundtracks from Collins and Collins screaming. The music is supposed to drown her out, but I don't have to fully hear her to know she is still screaming. What do I do? Take the headphones off. Am I trying to punish myself or something??! I mean really, Natalie, wth?! She is absolutely exhausted. Her eyes are red and swollen, but she will not go to sleep. Listening to her screaming makes me feel like a horrible mother. Then, in my "I overanalyze everything" brain, I quickly remind myself that "they" (whoEVER they are) say it is good for them to cry sometimes. Well, a lot of things that are "good for you" are painful. My nerves would be completely shot if not for my anti-anxiety medicine. Ha! But, as I have established previously, I don't take "happy" pills, I take "me" pills, so it is still making my skin crawl to hear her. So, since my Robert Pattinson music, including two songs sung by Mr. Pattinson himself (yeah, that's right...he sings, too), isn't cutting it, I've turned to you. This better work. So...I just finished prepping some new potatoes for dinner tonight. Yes, I like saying that since I have never prepped dinner at 1:00 p.m. before AND it makes me sound like Miss Donna Reed who I would love to be! Forget Martha Stewart! She's crafty, but she has no personality!! At least Donna is sweet and demure...you know, unlike me! I'm trying out a couple of new Pinterest recipes that I found. I'll post the links to them below in case you get a wild hair like I did and want to try them. We just always have the same thing: a meat and two vegetables. But since this new medicine makes me not hungry (absolutely not complaining), I am having trouble eating the plain jane meals. Chris and I (and therefore HA) are both really picky eaters, but of course, we are not picky in the same ways. So, it makes trying to be adventurous in the dinner department a little more difficult! So....what is for dinner tonight? Pork tenderloin, potatoes, and something green, but not salad. I hate lettuce. Here are the recipes for the pork tenderloin and potatoes. I'll let you know how they turned out.

Pork tenderloin: (but I'm doing in the oven since I don't yet have a Crock Pot. Don't hate! http://mycrossfitpaleojourney.wordpress.com/2012/07/05/crockpot-honey-apple-pork-loin/

Potatoes: http://www.aimeesadventures.com/RecipeFiles/SideDishes3/OnionRoastedPotatoes.html

~Nattie B

GRAB BUTTON...FINALLY!!!!!

I FINALLY have a grab button. So, grab it!!!!

Why I'm Ready for March!

I'm soooo ready for March, and not just because of hopefully warmer weather! Here (in no certain order) are my really good reasons why:

1. Spain! My mother and father-in-law are taking us and my little brother (-in-law, but I just call him my little brother. I've known him since he was 12!) and his wife to Spain for vaca. I'm not complaining. I am sad to leave my girls, but they will be more than happy with my Mom & Dad and my big sis, Ashley & her family. HA is so excited about it. I get major anxiety when thinking about being gone from them for 10 days, but I did it with HA when we went to Paris and ended up having the time of my life. So, I just keep reminding myself. I think I will be okay once I get on the plane, and we get the trip started, but the anticipation is driving me crazy! Luckily, we live in the era of FaceTime!!! First up on the agenda is Barcelona. We will also visit Tarifa, Morocco, Granada, and Madrid. I'm a lucky girl.

 

Barcelona

 

 

Tarifa

 

 

Tangier, Morocco

 

 

Granada

 

 

Madrid

 

2. Easter!! I love spring and all things Easter!! Since we are going to be gone for a chunk of March, I think I may have to start the fun crafts sooner rather than later. Like maybe this week. Don't hate. Of course I'm headed to my Pinterest board ("on the Third Day") for some fun ideas! Here are a couple I'm going to try:

 

 

I LOVE this one, and how yummy it will be, too!!

 

 

Jellybean topiary

 

 

Bunny Butt cake...so cute!

 

 

 

Since I was looking at Easter things, I went back to last year to look at the pictures. Here are a few of my favorites from last year's church egg hunt:

 

 

HA ready to head to the church Easter egg hunt.

 

 

HA and Liv (Wren's oldest daughter) at the church Easter egg hunt! Silly, sweet girls and best buddies!!

 

 

Super into the sack race!

 

3. Ker comes to visit!! Kerry is a close friend of mine I met through our church small group a few years ago. We just clicked, and I adore her. We were even pregnant with our 2nd at the same time, both of which ended up being girls. Collins and Campbell were born 2 days apart! Shortly after, this past October, she and her hubby and two kids moved to the Seattle area. That is close to her Mom, who was thrilled, so I attempted to put on my big girl panties, but it has sucked. They are coming to visit for a couple of weeks when we get back from Spain, so I'm ready to see her, too!!

 

 

Ker at my 30th birthday party in October. 2 days before she left for Washington. Sorry, Ker, I was going to use that one of us, but it wouldn't let me rotate it. Love ya! You look adorable as always!!

 

AND FINALLY...

 

4. Baskin Robbins ice cream bunny cake!! Shock I look that forward to food! It's an unspoken tradition in my family to have a bunny cake at Easter Sunday lunch, and my favorite is the Baskin Robbins ice cream bunny cake. It. Is. Adorable AND delicious!! I think I get as excited about this as HA does.

 

 

So as you can see, I have some major reasons to be excited about March this year!! Not to mention that some of my favorite people were born in March - Chris, my Mom, Chicken (AKA the BFF/AKA Bashty), Manda, & Dev...whew! March is almost like Christmas time with all of the gifts! Only 10 more days until March 1!

 

 



 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 



New Direction?

Well, it's 5:45 am, and I'm up. I awoke to Collins moving around about 5, so I got up and fixed a bottle only to realize she had dropped back asleep. The problem? Now I can't fall back asleep. Normally, Chris would already be off at the gym, but since he is off for President's Day today, he's still sound asleep, too. I laid awake in our bed for awhile before deciding to take the baby monitor in the guest room so I could get on my phone. So here I am in the dark when I start thinking about my blog. I'm wondering if I should take it in a new direction and give it more of a certain theme. I feel like I'm not really posting lately (post Collins getting better), because I feel like I don't have some big thing to discuss. I also have a bad habit of wanting to add pictures, etc, which means I have to post on my desktop and not phone. But that takes a lot more time, and the new medicine I'm on makes me sleepy, so I'm not actually up until 2 am trying to find ways to waste time.
What would my 'theme' be? The things i love: party planning, Fashion, Mommyhood, Decorating...I'm not sure I'm making sense right now. It is 5 something in the am. And for all of you put there that are regularly up at this here early hour, don't hate that I'm stressing how early and out of the norm this hour is for me. Lol I think I just need to post randomly like I planned, but actually post when I have an idea as opposed to trying to make one long posts. Okay. I can do it...now I think I'm going to do a little Groupdealz and Very Jane 'window shopping,' and attempt to fall back asleep for a few minutes!

Love is FINALLY in the Air - Valentines & treats for HA's class

Well, we finally made it to Valentine's Day!! I've only been posting about it for about a month now. I'm in a super good mood. My Mom came up for a visit Wednesday afternoon. I love when she comes. We don't do anything special, but I just love when she is here. It's fun having someone to talk to and not through text messages. We took Collins and went to HA's class's Valentine's party. Yes, it was on Wednesday. Mom didn't want to go, because she had cataract surgery Monday so she can't wear eye make-up for a week. She didn't want the people at the school to see her without eye make-up. Guess that's where I get feeling the need to go in a baseball cap and my glasses "incognito" if my hair and eyes aren't done. And I wear a cap and glasses a lot, remember?! Tuesday I made the actual Valentines for HA's class and her teachers, so Wednesday I worked on the treats: chocolate-dipped Rice Krispies treats with sprinkles.

The Valentines: Cherry Ring Pops in a "ring" box

 

 

 

 

And for her teachers and the school directors, we were shooting for "Brownie Points!"

Hey Kelly, did it work?! (Pinterest idea!)

 

 

Next up were the Rice Krispies treats dipped in chocolate. I found this amazing little Wilton Chocolate Pro thingy when I was at JoAnn's on Tuesday. It was $29.99, and I had a 40% off coupon on my phone. If you shop any craft stores, most all of them now have an app for your smart phone with free coupons!! Yes, please!!

 

 

If you will notice in the pictures below, I didn't actually even end up using the sprinkles that are in that above picture, I just ate them while I used the others I decided would be cuter and more uniform. Here they are all complete sans my signature lollipop stick.  Yeah, yeah, that's Woodchuck Cider over on the left.

 

 

Aaaaaaannnnnndddddd......with the signature stick.

 

 

Kelly (AKA the school head honcho director who apparently resorts to my blog only when bored), since you ate two I'll ask you were they good??!

 

And here is the whole lot all together:

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the party, we went to the mall to get HA new tennis shoes. Stride Rite luckily had a sale at the same time she out grew hers! We were walking around in Crazy 8 when I saw this cute little hat. Collins loves hats like her Mommy, so I put one on her. It was too cute not to share!!

 

 

 

~ Nattie B