Thankful on a Thursday

today, i will be writing on a few things i am thankful for & i pray to God that i don't even take the littlest things for granted!

1) thankful that my hubby took fox to school so i could lolly-gag & take my time getting ready this morning.
2) thankful my hubby made me breakfast (microwaved french toast sticks)
3) thankful that fox slept all night & slept a little longer when i put him in bed with us this morning
4) thankful for the cuddling & playing with the baby before getting ready for work
5) thankful for being blessed with a great job, great flexibility & perks
6) thankful to God for letting me live to see another day (something to be grateful about every day)
7) thankful for good music to get me through the day
8) thankful my hubby didn't have serious injuries when he fell off a bridge while mountain biking on sunday.. but has really bad scrapes
9) thankful for a healthy baby boy
10) thankful that i can meet up my hubby for lunch
11) thankful for cooler weather & that fall is right around the corner
12) thankful for all these cool & fun giveaways i've won & i hope there's more to come! ;-)


what are you thankful for today?

what's on my mind?

i want you to take note & see that this is the 3rd. three. tres. thrice note for today. hope you feel privileged! and i've been wanting to just write about a few things.. and write about them before i forget.. and time gets away. so this is going to be random!

major, super sweet news: sugar pop ribbons giveaway

well, i honestly don't know remember how i was introduced to sugar pop ribbons.. but i am pretty darn happy that i was! i have been looking through some pretty amazing blogs as of late. i want to get crafty & i've found some great ideas for myself & our home. and i am desperately in need for some inspiration! i've run across some giveaways, as you should already know. well, sugar pop ribbons has giveaways just about every.single.day. and honestly, it's fun to enter because there's no catch. you don't have to buy anything. you just have to click on a link & browse a store & tell sugar pop what you like. and some of these stores, i've bookmarked because some of the things are so cute & would make great gifts for my loved ones. so while on her site a week or two ago, she was hosting a giveaway for a $945 black pearl necklace from Pearl Paradise.

i love pearls. i wore pearls for my wedding (which were my mothers).. i love pearls with diamonds. if i had to choose between pearls & diamonds, i pick both. together. ha! so i thought "what the heck? i'm gonna enter this contest!" so enter i did! i was able to get several entries in for being a fan on facebook, following on twitter, & putting her buttons on my site (did you notice them on my sidebar?!), etc. and this past saturday i was having a rough/frustrating day. fox didn't want to eat anything i put in front of him. he didn't want to take a nap (brandon was finally able to put him down). i took a little bit of my frustration out on brandon (sorry, babe). so when fox woke up from his nap, i apologized for getting frustrated. while i was nursing him, i was checking my email on my iphone. my messages loaded & one caught my eye. all i saw was "pearls".. and i felt like my heart stopped. and i was like "pearls? could it be?!" so i opened the email & the first line i read was to the extent "hi, you are the winner for the $945 black pearl necklace from Pearl Paradise!" my hands started shaking (weird, they are shaking now!). and i was like "i don't believe it!".. i called brandon into the room & i told him to read the email & we just started hooting & hollering. so i can honestly say my day ended on a pretty high note! i am still in shock & amazed that i won such an awesome giveaway. thank you, jennifer! for sharing all these awesome finds & setting up these pretty sweet giveaways! and i honestly can not wait to wear it! i think i might get brandon to do a photo shoot with me in my pearls! heehee!

concert: john mayer

looking back, brandon & i have been to a big concert once a year. the first year we were married, we saw the fray in albuquerque. brandon won 3rd row seating & backstage passes to meet them. that was a pretty awesome experience! our 2nd year of marriage, we saw dave matthews. talk about amazing musical talent. no, i didn't understand half the stuff dave said, but i was just in awe. and i think fox enjoyed him too (i was big preggers). so to keep the trend, we will be seeing john mayer. let's face it. i love john mayer. he's my favorite artist. when i get a new account on any site (pandora, grooveshark, etc.), john mayer is the first one i look for & add to my playlist. and i plan on that to stay the same. john mayer will be in concert in tulsa, ok & yours truly (with the hubs) will be seeing him next week. i am super stoked. and not to mention, we will be staying the night in tulsa. this will be our first night without fox. i am very hesistant about leaving him, but i know our marriage needs this. because honestly, i've neglected to date my husband since our baby was born (we've only been on 3 dates in 1+ year). and brandon & i would love to take a trip to new york in early december without the bam. so this is a trial run. and my hubby let me go buy a new outfit for said concert. he doesn't understand why i "needed" a new outfit. but he needs to understand... this our first "real" date & i want to feel super pretty! so yea. yay for john mayer! celine dion, maybe next year?

headbands: rolled fabric flowers

have you noticed the big trend with the rolled fabric headbands? look it up on etsy. i promise, you will not be disappointed. so i came across it a couple months ago.. and fell in love. i quickly googled tutorials & emailed them to myself. i made one flower & it looked janked. that's my tern for jacked up. ha! so this weekend, i set out to make some flowers.. and they came out cute. so i made myself a headband. it's casual & i love it. i have a couple of ideas. i plan on making a zebra print fabric flower headband for a close friend (& one for myself) & i am going to make me a navy & grey flowered headband to match my john mayer concert outfit. woot woot! maybe i should sell some?

the one i made.. and the edges are frayed

12 months:

fox had his 12 month check up last tuesday. he will be 13 months in 4 days. it's insane. i love going for his check ups because i get to hear that he's healthy. and i'm so thankful that he is. fox is a climber. he knows how to climb off our bed. he climbs on his rocking chair. he climbs up our elliptical machine (at least someone is using it, right?). he climbed up the big rocker at church on sunday. his teacher told me on monday that he is the climber of the class. should i be proud? i dunno. he loves to dance. he loves yo gabba gabba & go diego go. he loves to ride his cozy coupe, his power wheel & his momma's back. he loves fruit. and he prefers it over anything. and he loves cheese. if he's hungry/thirsty, he will start beating my chest to alert me that it's time to nurse. would now be the time to quit? he likes to grab my phone & put it up to his ear or the back of his head. sometimes, i think i hear him say words like "thank you, that, hello, etc." he's so much fun. and i love that i have a boy.

his stats at 12 months:
weight: 24 lbs, 4 oz; 70th percentile
height: 32" tall; 95th percentile
head: 471/4 cm (or something like that); he was 14.5 cm when born. mind you, that we dilate to 10 cm. so yea.


okay, so i think this will be my last post for the day. ha! thank you & goodbye.

wee bit wednesday

hey, again! a second post in one day! woe (what on earth?!) yea, i just made that up. so remember a couple of posts ago, i said i found some sites that will kinda help me be consistent & make me want to blog. i promise i have things to talk about.. but honestly, it's just hard when your day begins at 6 am & doesn't end til 10 pm, 11, or so.. and i'm trying.

so today, i am linking up with Leigh Ashley & taking part of Wee Bit Wednesday.. just something fun for my followers or others that want to take part & can get to know us better. and i'd love to get to know you better.. so i think you should do it, also!

here goes!

{one} what was your favorite birthday gift?

hmm.. mine actually doesn't come in the form of a gift, but for my 21st bday (2006) my Mom already had cancer & wasn't doing very well (she had finished chemo & there was no other form of treatment we could do).. well, i begged her to go out to eat with the whole family. if you know anyone that has ever been through chemo or cancer, it puts their body through hell. and even though, she was not feeling well & couldn't eat & had no desire to go anywhere, she got dressed & joined my family & a couple of my friends at olive garden & we had a great time just celebrating my birthday. that was the best gift she gave me. and it goes to show what an amazing mom she was...always thinking of her babies.

{two} have you ever been cow-tipping or snipe-hunting?

nope. i'm too scared to step in cow poo. and i've never heard of snipe-hunting

{three} what’s the strangest talent you have?

i can pop my sternum & my very, very low back & hip back into place... i do this like 100x a day. no lie.

{four} what are your favorite kind of chips?

my ultimate favorite kind is vinegar & salt.. salt & vinegar. whatev.

{five} do you know any tongue twisters?

q: how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

a: a woodchuck could chuck as much wood as a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

{six} what was the last movie you saw in a theater?

last movie i saw was step up 3d with a couple of girlfriends on my last trip home.. and yes, i liked it.

{seven} do you collect anything?

i used to collect monkeys.. and then i grew up & quit collecting them. and right now, my house is collecting dust. i so gotta clean. :-/

{eight} what is something you wish you were better at?

i wish i was better at being patient & better about being content. i always want something. i guess it's the princess inside of me. ha!

{nine} what’s the worst habit you have?

right now, telling brandon to watch fox for one second while i get changed into my jammies & then doing a hundred things before i change into my jammies. it annoys brandon.

{ten} when you wake up, what is the first thing you think?

"is today saturday?"

now it’s your turn!

july birthday bashes

so as i've mentioned before there are so many birthdays in july.. and 3 very dear & special little beings share the same birthday on july 29th: my son, ethan fox; my nephew, maddox lee; & our special friend, adalie grace. and so today, i decided to finally post pictures of their birthday bashes.


first up: maddox lee turned 2!

like i said before, we celebrated fox & maddox's birthday in the same weekend to avoid a lot of travel time on our part. maddox had an elmo party at a local gymnastic place in my hometown. maddox is so sweet & so shy (at first). by the end of the trip i had him saying "aunt jj" & letting me hold & kiss him. it seems like he & fox are in a battle with who gets my dad's attention. i love my little redhead & i'm glad i was able to make it to his party this year. (i missed his first party for obvious reasons).


happy birthday, sweety!!


the kiddos playing games!


my handsome daddy & stepmom


this little guy loves to swing


maddox's great grandma (in yellow) & grandma


foxy & uncle alex having a sweet moment


uncle alex waiting for his cupcake



lito stealing some sugars from the bday boy

all was forgotten when he came across the bike




next up: adalie & fox's watermelon/water party

my friend, rachel, & i had a joint birthday party for adalie (who turned 2) & fox. honestly, it was all rachel's idea & i just hosted it at my house, bought the cupcakes & made chili to go on top of the hotdogs or for frito pie. we invited friends & rachel's family. we really did have a great time & the kids enjoyed getting wet.



these pictures were taken before the party & the first pic was used on their invite!


isn't she so cute in her watermelon swimsuit?


foxy has mastered his fake cry!


getting wet with mrs. angela


the goods on the tables


these were the bday cupcakes: adalie had one, as well

i think the cupcake was a big hit for my boy!


i just love her!


and can you believe i still haven't uploaded the pictures from brandon's camera of fox's jungle/safari family?! i'm such a bad momma. i really need to upload them...and one day, i'll make a post with the pictures! ha!

happy birthday, lisa!

{Source}

today is lisa leonard's birthday! i've enjoyed keeping up with her blog. she is really talented in what she does! i love her jewelry pieces.. i'd love to have one for every special lady in my family. maybe as christmas gifts? it's never too early to buy christmas gifts!

click over to her site & wish her a happy birthday.. and don't forget to enter her birthday giveaway. of $100 towards lisa leonard's designs + $100 to target. who doesn't love jewelry or target?

Diaper Bag giveaway

tonight, i came across sugar pop ribbons blog & she is having some pretty awesome giveaways right now. and i wanted to share one with you.

sugar pop ribbons has teamed up with the store, layla grayce, & she is giving away a petunia pickle bottom diaper bag boxy backpack. you've got to check it out. for all the future mommies.. or mommies that want a new bag!

this one is my favorite:

you can go here & enter to win this bag! also, don't forget to look on my sidebar & keep track of giveaways.

Monday Minute

okay.. i know it's been a week or two since i have written. and i just haven't really had any motivation. honestly, i want to write, but i don't want to upload pictures because it takes for.ever. .. and to me, i feel like i need pictures in order to write. so whatever. but i found a site that has little things that will hopefully help me post or blog more often even if i don't have a lot of time or really anything to say. and i promise to get on my computer at home this week & upload pics of the birthday parties.

so.. here is my monday minute.

If you could have plastic surgery, would you? If so, what would you get done?
i say all the time that i would love to have plastic surgery.. but i think in the end i am a big chicken to do it. i'm just scared that i would be that 1 or however many percent that gets a botched job... but if i could, lipo (now after having a baby).. tummy tuck.. and my boobies. ha!

What laws have you broken?
speeding. i smoked a cig once. and i have drank alcohol. but speeding is the one i still do.

What is your quirkiest habit?
i rub my feet together in order to fall asleep.

If you only had 3 songs to listen to for the rest of your life what would they be?
Tough question...here they go... (as of right now.. i'm sure they might change)

john mayer- free fallin'
celine dion- because you loved me
luther vandross - endless love


and finally...

How often do you have sex?
hmmm... i'll just say it's a lot more often than it was 4 months ago. ha!

Child Rescue Serenade Super Giveaway

Good morning, lovelies!

I have an awesome giveaway to share with you! Bree at ModBlog is hosting a super giveaway in support of ending Child Trafficking. Head over to her blog to learn more about the benefit & the giveaways!





"The Child Rescue Association of North America is a non-profit organization in the United States and Canada that exists to rescue children from the horrors of human trafficking. Child trafficking is the business of removing children from their homes and families, transporting them elsewhere, whether elsewhere within the country or overseas, to be put to use by others, usually to make money. The purpose of this trafficking is child labor or child sexual exploitation."


Also, stop by Tatertots and Jello and enter to win a $50 gift certificate to Bree's personal store, CocoRoseCouture.



Happy Thursday, friends! It's almost Friday! woohoo!

random goodness

birthday parties:

this past weekend we hosted a joint party at our house for adalie's 2nd birthday & fox's 1st birthday. it was watermelon/fun in the water theme! it was cute! so this party concluded the birthday festivities for my son. hallelujah! throwing a party is hard work, no?! and can be stressful. we have only been in our house for less than 2 weeks.. and we have been out of town, too. so i kept reminding myself not to stress about getting the house super, super clean & all the frames & whatnot on the walls.. and i gave up on decorating the house. i hid a big box of pictures & decor in the hall closet. ha! the house was clean. i even mopped! and we just had a great time outside. we had a lot of fun.. and it was bloody hot outside! we got some great pictures! i plan on doing different posts in the coming weeks with pictures on fox's jungle/safari theme party we had out of town, adalie & fox's watermelon party & my nephew maddox's 2nd birthday party.

biting:

yesterday morning, i took fox to get his one year vaccinations. it just broke my heart. that was the first time he had actually really cried with it. but he stopped crying when the nurse walked out of the room! she was scary to him!! heehee! so i picked fox up from school yesterday & there was a "biting report" in his bag. and i started kinda laughing at first.. because i was like "oh geez. this kid is already causing me troubles." but the note didn't really explain the incident or what happened. so then i started freaking out & my hubby & i started researching on how to prevent fox from biting. honestly, he bites me & leaves bruises.. last week, he bit me & now i am left with a little scab. i am usually the only one he bites. he is usually playing on the floor, comes up to me, bites me, and goes away & continues happily playing. i feel like that's his way of kissing me. i try to discipline him. but how do you really discipline a one year old? i don't want him to turn into one of those kids that you dread coming to your house or being around! lord, i pray against that! he doesn't do it with malice. i've started telling him sternly "no".. i gently pop his mouth. people tell me to bite back. so i don't really know. brandon dropped fox off at school this morning & no one was there to explain to him about the incident.. brandon had to drop him off in the neighboring class. so i got a call just a bit ago.. and his teacher stated that fox did not bite anyone.. that he was the victim. well, it made me feel really good that it wasn't my child who did the biting. but i will keep trying to discipline him the best i can. so my poor baby got shots & bit yesterday. :(

local celebrity:

yep. my hubby is a local celebrity. ha! so remember when i said arkansas is bloody hot. well, it is. yesterday, i got into my car to pick up fox & my car read 116*. i could have had a heat stroke just driving in my car! can that really happen? i don't know. well, my hubby has a pretty nice view of downtown & he say the local news station coming into his office building. so he raced downstairs & started talking to the news people & i guess they liked him so much that they wanted to interview him about the heat/weather. it's so funny. you can watch the video here. do you ever watch tv commercials & think ghetto? or "omg, why do i live in this town?".. well, i'm glad his interview wasn't too bad! & he was wearing something decent.. and not his swimming shorts. he told me they asked him something along the lines of what does he do to keep cool.. and he stated he liked to lay down on the floor. i'm so, so glad they edited it out! heehee! i'm proud of my celebrity. american idol is next year!! we're going big! heeehee!!

giveaways:

yesterday morning, i was kinda bummed about foxy getting his shots & him crying. it really does break my heart. so i got online & started reading & catching up with the blogs i follow. on the weekends, i usually don't read.. because i'm enjoying downtime. so i was just looking through & going down the list & my eye caught the word "winner".. and i thought to myself. did i enter that giveaway? *click* so i went to the blog & the first picture i saw was a cute little girl holding a piece of paper with the name "Jessica C" written on it! and my heart stopped & leapt. and i was like "I'm Jessica C. is that me?".. so i went to the previous post & realized i was the only Jessica that entered! so yay for me! i won an easy lunch box.. and i'm pretty excited about it!

also, tiffany at mom-nom.com is having some sweet giveaways this week in honor of her baby girl's birthday! you should stop by her site & enter these cutesy giveaways! and get connected with all these other talented women! oh! and check out my page at the top for blogs i follow!

dining table:

so when we moved from new mexico to arkansas. one of my dining table chairs was shattered. and the other chairs & tables were badly scratched. ugh! so when we moved to this new house, we turned our spare bedroom into the office (my hubby no longer has to work in the garage or cold/heat). it also holds our elliptical machine & a futon that will lay out into a bed..for any guests. so we left the big desk at the old house. left it in the driveway for anyone to come & get! and i told my hubby to use our small, scratched-up dining table & use as his desk.. and he promised me a new dining table. so we finally got a new one! yippee! it was cheap.. and bigger than our old one. and in perfect condition! i love eating at the dining table...when we eat at home! ha! so yay for an awesome hubby! oh, and he bought me a hutch & i got two super cute bookshelfs at target for fox's room! yay!


okay. i think that's enough for now! keep a look out for the birthday party posts & pictures!