My Finds

Oprah had a coupon (on her website) for 50% everything at Payless that ended today. I will give you three guesses as to what I did this afternoon. :)


Check it out.


Zachariah is outgrowing his current shoes, so we snagged him these adorable Airwalks. And if you think they look cute in this picture, just wait till you see them on him. Stinking adorable.


The last pair of boots I owned was back in 2004, when Daniel and I were dating. When I wore them I realized that the heel was so tall that it made me taller than my boyfriend. That was not cool. So I pretty much gave up on boots.



...until these. The heel is a good height and they can be worn with jeans or with something a little dressier. I was in desperate need of a black (and brown) shoe that did not resemble a flip flop, and I was so happy that I found it!



I'm not going to lie... this style of boot is so not me. But I am hoping I can pull them off anyway. Because they were so incredibly cheap.


And now for my favorite find of the day. Remember how I mentioned I wanted brown shoes too? Well. Low and behold, my new babies.




I was originally just wanting a brown boot that I could wear under my jeans. I didn't care what they really looked like cause they would be covered up. But boy howdy. I love these so much that I am going to cringe if they are covered by a ratty old pair of jeans!! I may need to go out and find a cute skirt or dress or something. I am still iffy about being able to pull off "that look" though.


I mean, tell me these aren't cute? Go ahead.

Never mind. I will get self conscious if you do that and then it will be a waste of money. So how about you lie to me and tell me how much you love them. Ok? Thanks.



So do you want to know the total for all three pair of shoes?

$45.45.

Yeah. I am one heck of a happy camper.

Do The Cool Whip

This has been one heck of a busy week (and it is far from over), but I wanted to stop in and show you Zachariah's new favorite thing to do in the kitchen! All you need is a bowl, spoon, whipped cream and food coloring! We had all of that in the house, so we quickly got to work.



We started off with plain ol whipped cream in one of my mixing bowls.





Then we added some red food coloring, and much to Zachariah's excitement and surprise, it made pink!





Then he told me he wanted "booo" to go in the bowl, so I put a good bit of blue in there and he went to town stirring.




And wala! We ended up with a pretty shade of "puh-ple". (My favorite color, in case you were wondering.)


After we made the purple, we put some whipped cream in a separate bowl and Zachariah asked to use red and yellow.




After a good bit of stirring, we ended up with this almost orange color. It actually looks more orange in the picture. In real life it was a bit wacky. But Zachariah recognized it as "orrrage" and he was pumped. :)




Here he is, posing with his colored whipped cream.
What a cute little goober.





And here he is praying for his whipped cream. I thought that was hilariously cute, so here I am snapping pictures, when all of a sudden...



Ohhhhh! That is why he wanted to pray for it! Duh. I totally should have seen that coming. But that is why I used whipped cream instead of shaving cream.




When it was time to clean up, there was a bit of a tantrum. And as you can tell, Zachariah really enjoyed the whipped cream.

Ah well. Besides that little episode, it was great fun! This is particularly fun for a toddler/preschooler who is just learning their colors. Zachariah already knows all of his, but he had a blast telling me what color dye to put in and then telling me what color it made!

This cute little idea got two thumbs up from this mommy and toddler! :)

Help Needed

Ok, I am in a slight freak out mode and I would love it if one of my blog readers could help me out.

Friday I noticed five or six bug bites on Zachariah's chest/tummy. No big deal. They are just about gone. But Tuesday afternoon I discovered six new bites on the back of his shoulder. Here is the kicker. Due to the rain, we did NOT step foot outside at all on Tuesday. That made me freak out a bit. He is being bit inside, and I am pretty sure it is when he is sleeping. And wait for it... he woke up with two more bites on his back this morning.

Here is some info:
- The bites are red and just a little bit raised off the skin. They look like a typical bug bite.
- The bites are in clusters or rows. The first set on his chest was kindof spread out, but the ones on his shoulder are almost in a straight line. (This is why I do NOT think its a regular bug bite)
- The bites do not seem to bother Zachariah at all. He doesn't even know they are there.
- I only notice them after he has been sleeping

We don't have any pets, and Zachariah has had flea bites one time before (while on vacation to NC), so I have pretty much ruled those out.

My biggest fear is that bed bugs are biting him. I did a lot of research on them and they just flat out CREEP ME OUT. Out of everything I have read, our home would not be the "typical" place that would acquire bed bugs... but now I am just paranoid about it.


Does anyone know what might be the cause of Zachariah's bites? Has anyone had this happen before? I am going to be making some calls today, but I just wanted to know if anyone else has some info for me that would calm my nerves.

Back In The Day

Do you remember Colorforms? If so, you may remember the endless amount of fun that you had playing with these things. I remember in elementary school, my teachers had as set and they were the simplest toy in the room. But we all LOVED playing with them. Once "free time" was declared, it was a race to see who would get to play with the different colored shapes first.



That being said, I cannot wait until Zachariah is old enough to play with colorforms! The age on the box says 36 months to 8 years, but I am tempted to go ahead and buy them and just play with them myself until he is a little older.

I may see how he does with a mini set of colorforms. This one is Wonder Pets (which he is obsessed with) and it seems like it would be a good start. Then once he masters that, I can get him hooked on the classic shapes!

I don't know if you can tell, but I love me some colorforms! I just think they are such a great tool for imaginative play. Definitely beats having kids sit in front of the TV all day... in my opinion at least. :)

2 year old pics

So I am in major Halloween Costume Crisis Mode. Due to the fact that Zachariah is deathly afraid of his pirate costume, we will be going a different route for Halloween this year. And due to the fact that there are hardly any costumes left this close to Halloween, my child may be going as a cranky toddler. But I do have a few other options I am going to try, so we will see if one of those happens to work out. I will keep you posted on my progress/stress level. :)

In hopes of getting my mind off of the Halloween Crisis, I am going to show you a few of Zachariah's 2 year old pictures! (Click here to see the blooper reel)











I think one of these two are my favorite. I can't decide which one...






Anyway! More of the pictures will be up on facebook sometime soon. And by soon I mean whenever I make a dent in my To Do List.

Happy Monday! :)

To Do List(s)

I don't know about you, but I am a "To Do List" freak. I can't do ANYTHING unless I have a list. I cant go to the grocery store, think about what we are getting Zachariah for Christmas or figure out what chores I need to do for the day without making a list. I make at least three a day and either lose them or decide that I don't have time to accomplish the things on the list(s). Then the next day I will start the whole process over again. Sometimes, if I am feeling particularly crazy, I will put things on the list that I have already accomplished that morning, that way I feel a bit better about how much I won't get done during the day.

There are actually times where I cannot go to sleep until I write a list of things to do in the morning. Does that make me sound crazy?

How about this: I could not even finish the second sentence of this post without making a list of things I needed to do tonight and tomorrow.

That is bound to make me a crazy person, right?

Please, please, please tell me I am not the only one obsessed with lists. I mean, I know none of you are this bad... but just let me know that there is someone else in the bloggosphere that has a "list problem". Or heck, if you just share any of the things that make YOU a crazy person that might make me feel better.



Oh, and for those of you that are desperate for some entertainment, here is the list I made while typing the blog post. :)

Current To Do List:

Make a big batch of pancakes and waffles for Z
Edit Z's two year old pics
Edit pumpkin patch pics
Read stuff for bible study
Pick up the playroom and living room
Vacuum the kitchen floor
Put away the three loads of laundry that are on the futon
Schedule more practice photo sessions
Find time to do the practice photo sessions
Print bible study material for next week
Return books to the library
Call doctor for Z's two year check up
Stress about the whole vaccine confrontation that will soon follow
Stress about Zachariah refusing to wear his Halloween costume.

Tara

You know how I have been whining and complaining about how I need to practice my photography? Well, Hayley called me up yesterday and asked if I would go with her to take a friends senior pictures! I was pumped.

And can I just say that I was just amazed how fun learning can be! I absolutely loved it. I cant wait to do this again!! I know it will take me a LONG time to get to the point where I want to be at, but I am just loving the whole learning process!


Anyway. Enough about me and my happiness. :)


We met Tara and her mom downtown and roamed around for a while. I think we are going to try to meet up with them again soon, due to the fact that the sun set way to quickly. We had more outfits to shoot her in and we didn't have enough time! But here are a few pictures from last night. I will probably post some more once we finish her other session, but I wanted to show you a few.











Until next time...

It's The Simple Things In Life...

Zachariah wanted me to show everyone his new pajamas. His Mimi and Poppie gave them to him this past weekend and he hasn't really taken them off since. Seriously. The only day this week he (and by he I mean BOTH of us) has changed out of his PJ's has been Monday. And even then we didn't get changed until after nap time. So it is safe to say that these are his new favorite pajamas. :)



And why wouldn't they be? These pajamas have on of his favorite instruments plastered all over them! Aren't they adorable?!?


Here, I will give you a better look at the pants...

Nothing makes him happier than waking up to a lot of guitars all over his pants. Each morning when I go to get him up he makes sure to show me the "itars" on his legs. You don't get much cuter than that folks!




On second thought... the fact that my son pretends to play the guitar on his shirt might be cuter. Yeah, it is. Playing an instrument that he is wearing definitely takes the cake. :)

Halloween Costume: Take 5

Houston, we have a problem.

Zachariah is apparently terrified of his Halloween costume. I don't know what the deal is. He has been obsessed with pirates for the past month. We saw this costume in Old Navy and he FLIPPED. OUT. He wants it so badly. He would ask for it every time we went into that store. So we eventually bought it.

He will wear the hat all day long. He will put on the pants without a fuss. But he will not, under any circumstance, wear the jacket. He will pick up the jacket and count the buttons. He will carry it across the room to me. But he will not put it on. He screams like never before when I put it on him. He is truly freaked out by this thing!

If I cannot get him to put on this costume for Halloween, I am going to be devastated. So I am officially on a mission. "A mission from God"


(Name that movie!)


I will not rest until I have exhausted all of my options. I am going to try everything I can to get Zachariah comfortable in this pirate costume... if its the last thing I do.

Wish me luck dear friends. This could get ugly.

Blooper Reel

This weekend I forced Daniel and Zachariah go down to the Veranda so I could take Z's two year old pictures. Well, I didn't force them. They actually went quite willingly!

Apparently two is an age that is just about impossible to photograph. Especially if you don't go into the whole thing with a lot of patience. Now I know why people hire professionals to do this. I have no clue how my photog friends get the amazing shots of toddlers that they do. I find it just about impossible!

Just for fun, here are a few "bloopers" from the shoot. I will post some of my favorite shots later this week. :)













This last one made me laugh. My kid is such a goofball!



Oh, and on a side note... I did so much squatting and bending down during this that my thighs are KILLING ME. If that is not a sign that I need to work out, I don't know what is.

New Library!

Zachariah loves the library. He likes to read, but he really likes to run through all the bookshelves trying to convince me he is lost. The library that we frequent has recently changed locations. The old library's "kid section" consisted of two buckets of books supposedly for toddlers. *insert eye roll here* But the new and improved library came with a new and improved children's section! It really isn't a section as much as it is a room. A nice, big, spacious room.



Seriously, this is probably the closest thing to heaven for Zachariah at this stage in his life. I mean, check out the running space in between the shelves!




When Zachariah is not using the library as a running track, we usually do the whole "library thing". You know, reading. But Zachariah doesn't just sit down in a chair and read. That would be to logical. Instead, he sits on every single surface in that room, and for every new seat he usually gets a new book. It is actually pretty hilarious to watch.




Now that the library is in a new building, Z takes a break from reading to walk up and down the steps in the reading corner. He does this for approximately 5 minutes and then flops down on the super cool red piece of furniture. (I am still trying to figure out a way to sneak that out of the library and into my car. So far I have got nothing.)




Then after the stepping and the flopping we go back to reading in different locations all across the room. And playing on the computer.

Then we start the cycle all over again. And again. And again.




Its makes for a crazy outing and I have to make sure to take my patience with me, but I love that the library makes him so happy. :)

Sneak Peak

First, I want to thank everyone for the responses to the Chinese Lunar Calendar post! From what I read recently it is accurate about 50% of the time, and judging from your responses that is just about correct. Due to my curiosity on the internet being able to predict the gender of your child, I am going to look for more gender predicting things and I may ask you to do this again. If you missed it, click here and tell me if its accurate for you! :)


----------------------------------------

Now, I know we still have a couple weeks before Halloween, but we got Z's costume earlier this week and I just had to show you part of it. It is actually the only part of the costume he will put on right now, but we have a little while to get him adjusted to the rest. :)




The hat is a hit. He stood in front of the mirror for about 5 min. saying "arrrr!".

I love this kid.

I will share more costume pictures when it gets a bit closer to Halloween! :)

My Thoughts

- I want to eat organic meat. But financially that is so not even on the radar. So I will just dream about it. And one day I will write a post about how we are all dying due to the non organic things we put into our bodies.:)

- I want/need to research vaccines again. I said I would be ok with Zachariah getting the MMR when he turned two, but now he is two and I am still not ok with it. Even though I have no problem going with my motherly instinct, I am a sucker for research and I would like to be able to back up my decision when asked.

- I want to research circumcision. Not like I can change anything about Zachariah's little buddy, but I read something today and it makes me want to learn more about why people are against it.

- My son needs to go to sleep. He has been in his crib for 2 hours and has not stopped talking to himself. I seriously may go crazy if he doesn't take a nap today. We are going to my in-laws for dinner, so putting him down early is not really an option. Why does he choose today to not take a nap??

- I need to have more interesting blog posts. I have several cooking posts that I have not put up, but I have a hatred towards my horribly lit kitchen and the editing it will take to make the pictures look halfway decent. Needless to say, that has been put on the back burner.

- Zachariah's Halloween costume came in today. I am SO excited. He is going to be the cutest little pirate to sail the seven seas!

- There are two reasons I am excited about fall. One would be the cooler weather. The other would the baking. I have so many different recipes involving pumpkin that I cannot wait to try! Cookies, muffins, cupcakes, bars... oh boy. I am drooling just thinking about it.

- I want to improve my photography, as usual, but I am not making time for it. I need to get out there and take pictures. I need practice. I desperately want to make money doing this one day and the only way that is going to happen is if I get out there and practice. So watch out. I may be harassing some of you to let me photograph your child or family. :)


Not like you asked, but those are a few thoughts that have been jumping around in my noggin as of late.

What about you? What has been on your mind?

Chinese Lunar Calendar

A while back I saw a Chinese Lunar Calendar on a blog and I was intrigued. Apparently this thing can predict what gender your kid will be according to the age of the woman and month she conceived.

I have heard rave reviews about this accurately predicting the gender, but for Zachariah and it said he was a girl. Which is obviously wrong. So I want to know how accurate for your kids. And if you don't have kids, find out from your mom her age and the month you were conceived. That is if you want to know. I will not hold it against you if you would rather not to go there.


Here is the info...

To find the gender prediction, find the mother's age at conception (across the top of the table) and then the month in which conception occurred. Follow the column and row to the intersecting point. The color of the box tells you what the prediction is. Blue = Boy and Pink = Girl

Woman's Age at Conception
Month of Conception	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Woman's Age at Conception
Month of Conception	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Ok, now spill the beans! Accurate or not?

Hurry Santa!

This cookbook is at the TOP of my Christmas list.


Seriously folks. I cannot wait for this to be in my hands. I stalk this woman's blog religiously and I drool over her cooking. Ree has a fabulous way of making me WANT to cook. I have tried several of her recipes and they have turned out wonderfully.

She is going on a book tour and she is coming to Atlanta in December. I am considering going. Any other PW fans want to tag along if I do? :)

Guitar

Zachariah loves instruments. And I am not kidding. It is almost an obsession. He loves anything that makes music, but his top three favorites are the guitar, drums and piano. He has previously acquired a keyboard and a tambourine, and received a drum, maracas, recorder and guitar for his birthday. So it is safe to say that we have several jam sessions during the week.




And he is apparently VERY serious about his jam sessions.


And on a side note... if that picture didn't make you laugh out loud then there is no hope for you ever finding your sense of humor. Ever. I mean, that is just freaking hilarious!


Anyways. Moving on.



During this particular jam session, Zachariah became extremely lazy.





Or he may have been a little annoyed at me for taking pictures. That happens a lot around here.




Yeah. He definitely did not want to be photographed. He is punishing me by pretending he has no interest in the guitar whatsoever. "Oh look, a book. Let me casually read this in hopes that Mom will leave me alone."

And just when he thinks it is safe...




BAM! I take another picture.





Dang it. He is mad at me again. *sigh* Fine. I will leave him alone.

For now...

Muahahaha!

Oh Fudge.

I made my first ever batch of fudge this weekend. Peanut butter fudge to be exact. It was/is heavenly!! It was super easy and oh so yummy, so I thought I would share the recipe with you guys. It is Bakerella's recipe, so you know its going to be good! :)

Peanut Butter Fudge

3 cups sugar
3/4 cup margarine
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
6 oz package semi sweet chocolate pieces
7 oz. jar Marshmallow Creme (I like Kraft)
1/2 cup peanut butter

1. Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar, 6 tablespoons margarine and 1/3 cup evaporated milk in a medium pot.
2. Bring to full rolling boil, stirring constantly.
3. Reduce heat to medium and continue boiling for 4 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent scorching.
4. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate pieces until melted.
5. Add 1 cup (1/2 jar) marshmallow creme and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until well blended.
6. Pour into greased 13 X 9 pan.

Repeat with remaining ingredients substituting peanut butter for the chocolate. Spread the peanut butter mixture over the chocolate.

Cool at room temperature and cut into squares.

Just in case you needed a visual... here is my chocolate layer of the fudge. It looks very runny, and that had me worried. But it turned out just fine. Just try to avoid having to many craters in there.



And here is the peanut butter layer on top of the chocolate layer!

Whatever you do, do NOT put them in the fridge until you have already cut them into bars. It is ridiculously difficult to cut these suckers after they have been refrigerated. I needed a pick axe or something. Sheesh.

And here they are! Next time I may use a different baking dish to try and get some thicker pieces, but I am going to have to play around with that. Overall I was very pleased with my fudge making experience. If you give this recipe a try, let me know how it turns out! :)