The early bird catches Santa!

So since Halloween pretty much got away from us minus two miniature pumpkins which was as far as our decorations went, I decided I better get started early on Christmas this year. 

You know I hadn't opened up the bar doors in quite some time. Maybe I should start enjoying a nice glass of wine to calm my nerves some days when the girls have me all frazzled. Who am I kidding? I keep saying this, but I don't do it. Ha-ha! I'm still nursing anyways so it's not happening anytime soon.

Makeup Review: NYX Satin Finish Black Liner

If I was stuck on a deserted island, the one product I would want with me would be eyeliner. Forget a hair brush, forget foundation, forget mascara, but give me eyeliner! It's my favorite makeup product to put on and probably because I spend the most time on my eyes. Most days I don't wear foundation but I always have eyeliner on. I consider my eyes one of my best features, so I just like to play them up--and I do that with a pencil eyeliner. 

I'm really no good at eye shadows and I feel because my eyes are on the exotic side that too much eyeshadow or bottom liner is just too much and I feel overdone. However I would love to learn how to blend and maybe change my makeup look a little, but whenever I do try, I always chicken out and end up taking some off before leaving the bathroom.

Last week I ran out of a cheapie eyeliner I had bought from Walgreens, so I loaded up the girls and headed to Target to pick up some things--besides diapers and baby stuff this time. One of the first things I spotted in the makeup section was the NYX brand. At only $4.99 I was intrigued after I swatched it. Let me just say, that I am loving this eyeliner! It goes on super easy and stays put! I haven't had any issues with smudging and it comes off easily with eye makeup remover. 

With just eyeliner

Completed look. I like to add a little bit of black shadow right on top of my eyeliner. It tends to bring my eyes out and will give a fuller lash look. Mascara was added after this and then concealer, L'Oreal lip gloss and NARS blush.

DIY: Leaf Garland

Supplies needed:

{Needle} {Thread} {Scissors} {Fake or real leaves}

Step 1: Thread the needle and make a knot right at the base of the needle where the hole is. Just do this directly from the spool, in other words, no need to try to determine how long you want your string.

Step 2: Grab several of your plastic or real leaves and just pierce the needle through their tops and string them along.

Step 3: Determine how long you want your garland to be and then cut at the end and tie a knot so they don't fall off the string.

Step 4: Hang them up! Some great places for them are along a mantle or outside if you have a deck. 

Happy Wednesday!

When in doubt..wear pink

That belly!

I need to do Mariam's 12 months stats, but I will wait till after her wellness checkup next week. She has really blossomed this past month and I can't wait to see all that the future has in store for her this coming year. 

I would link up her adorable Carter's top and Target skirt, but they are hand me downs from little miss Layla. It's still so fun being able to reuse all of Layla's old clothes that she only wore for a short period of time. Speaking of Layla, you see that purple dress she's wearing in that first picture? Well that's all she wants to wear these days! At the house she likes to alternate between that dress, this nightgown with strawberries, and this maroon dress with a butterfly on it. She's going through a phase right now. It's cute...sometimes, but not when we need to go somewhere and I have to chase her down and struggle to change her. Yesterday when we went to the grocery store, I may or may not have just thrown some pajama pants under the dress, a coat and mismatched socks on her. She looked like a little bag lady but sometimes you just don't feel like having yet another battle with a screaming toddler. 

Have a great weekend!

When a neat freak becomes a mom

My favorite part of the day--besides H coming home from work is the morning after Mariam goes down for a nap. Serena is at school and it's just me and Layla. During this time Layla and I work on her ABC's and numbers, and then we play, or we might go in the backyard for a little while. Since Mariam naps for about 2 hours in the morning, I also spend a little bit of this time cleaning up and doing some laundry. With a family of five I tend to be washing a load or two at least every other day. 

There's something about folding a fresh batch of sheets as the sun shines through the blinds in my room that comforts me. It's really the act of getting something done with it being quiet, and something that I can control that I like. I am a neat freak by nature. I've always been like this since I was little. My parents never had to ask me to pick up my room, I just always did. I know in most cases, keeping a clean house with little kids goes to hell in a hand basket, but not here. I just feel like things are out of control if the house is too messy.

You know those cute little signs about the house being messy you see plastered on Pinterest or on a friend's Facebook page..

Yeah no. I'm in the camp of my children are making memories, but the house is clean.

This isn't too say that I'm constantly picking up, but I do spend a lot more time than I probably should picking up after everybody. If you know me, you know I can juggle a lot. That doesn't say it doesn't come with a price for myself, but that subject is for another day. When you become a parent, your former self doesn't just pick up a suitcase and leave, rather you adapt, or modify your ways a bit. My neatness hasn't changed but I have gotten better about relaxing a little about it.

Happy Birthday Serena!

You guys! My first born is now 11! 

Gosh the years just flew by! I've found myself thinking a lot these days of when she was little. I miss those days. 

Look what I found. One of her very first pictures.

She seriously was a beautiful baby. Even her profile was perfect in her ultrasound. I had so many people commenting on her when she was a baby. Shh..don't tell the others, but she was the cutest newborn out of the three. Only I didn't have a good camera back in 2002 and not many scanned on the computer so you'll just have to take my word for it. 

Let's reminisce though shall we?

 

Happy Birthday!

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat..

Please to put a penny in the old man's hat....

I swear that song has been on repeat in my head for the past week. Obviously I've got Christmas on the brain. Speaking of which, I've got a few goodies in the shop that would work great for the holidays--or not the holidays. Either way. 

So if you're looking for a gorgeous bib for the holidays..or not the holidays, for your little one, or as a gift, take advantage of free shipping in the continental US all week. 

Have a great Monday!

Mariam's Birthday Party Recap

We threw Mariam's first birthday party this past Saturday and it went great! I did a fall harvest theme which was perfect because I was able to get all the decorations for 60-70% off. Score! I don't know about you, but I love a good deal. I only wish I had gotten better pictures and had more time to spend on the decor. I guess with only having a week to plan it wasn't too shabby. 

Yes talk about procrastinating big time on this. Bad mommy! Would I have liked to have done the first birthday cake photoshoot? Sure. Would I have liked to have had an awesome decorated table with all these goodies--heck even created a goody bag for the kids? Yes, but time got away from me. I had Layla and Serena to still tend too, I hit a busy period with the business and Halloween was the same week. Oh well. The food was good, family was all there and my Mariam was happy. That's all that mattered. 

This banner would have come out awesome had I not left out the H! Obviously someone doesn't know how to spell once it hits midnight. Nonetheless I put it up anyways ha!

Another DIY I tried to do was gold polka dot balloons. Gosh much harder than I thought. Do they sell these anywhere? Sheesh.

Ah but my leaf garland did turn out quite nice.

Her bib from my fall line that matched her harvest theme perfectly got filthy with cake and even blackberry on the collar, but it all washed right out after going through the washer. 

So all in all, I'm sad that Mariam is now one, but glad to have the party behind me. I just have Serena's birthday to celebrate next week and then that should wrap up all the birthday parties for the rest of the year.