Happy Haunting!

Happy Halloween!! This is one of my favorite holidays! I mean, who doesn't love a day that revolves around candy?! Halloween in our neighborhood is a little lame, though, in spite of the fact that this place is lousy with little kids. As of 8pm, we had exactly eight trick-or-treaters. Eight.

And while our neighborhood may have lost their Halloween spirit (or they just all went to the Fall Festival at the church up the road), we made sure Z was dressed and ready to greet trick-or-treaters!

I had grand plans of making the babe a strawberry costume. But a great friend of ours recently gave us this little cheerleader costume and I just couldn't resist! Maybe Z will turn up as a strawberry next Halloween.

Of course, Baby Tuna had her share of festive Halloween outfits, that were worn all month. So please allow me to throw a little festive babyness your way!

Yes, folks, another pumpkin patch photo! 

Trying to cast a spell, perhaps? 

And finally, if you follow me on Instagram, you saw a yum-o teaser of some cookies that I was baking yesterday. They may be the best cookies I've made in a long time. And I'll just say that it's a good thing I started running again, cuz these bad boys are addicting! 

At the request of a few readers, I've added the recipe here. Enjoy!

Hope you all had a spooky Halloween!  

Month Eight Must-Haves

Z has really been enjoying all of her old favorite toys lately, so there haven't been many new purchases in the toy department. We have, however, been trying out all sorts of new stuff when it comes to feeding. Here are some of our essentials from the last month.

1. Honest Company: You may be familiar with Jessica Alba's Honest Company. Plant-based, eco-friendly, family-friendly, wallet-friendly products from cleaning to baby care. The prices are comparable with what you'd find elsewhere, and there's free shipping on orders over $50. We've had Z in the biodegradable Honest diapers (cuz there was no way in hay-ell I was gonna deal with cloth diapers) since she was a newbie, and loved them so much, we branched out to their cleaning products for the kitchen, floors, and bathroom, as well as bubble bath, and I'm thinking of adding more! Everything smells so amazing and I don't worry about Baby Tuna licking the tile floors anymore (she's so weird!). And, much to my excitement, they just brought back the strawberry diaper pattern in time for our most recent shipment!! Check them out...you won't be sorry!

**Disclaimer: This is not a paid advertisement. Honest Company is not a sponsor of this blog (although I'd be thrilled if they were!). They have no idea who I am, I just love their products that much!!

2. Bumkins Bibs: These bibs are awesome! They are made of a thin vinyl and are nice and wide. There's a big ol' pocket at the bottom to catch wayward treats, and they rinse (and machine wash) nicely. We love them!

3. Plum Organics Super Puffs: We are huge fans of Plum and Z loves her puffs. They dissolve super quickly so there's zero worry about choking, and they help baby learn to pick up small things with her  thumb and index finger. Also...they're yummy! (Yes, I share puffs with Z. I'm that kind of momma!)

4. Hyland's Teething Tablets: God bless 'em!

5. Playtex First Sipster: These were given to me by a momma who knows, and she was right. They are perfect for a little one to learn on. Z's usually end up in a pile of toys on the rug and have yet to leak. She tosses them around after drinking, chews on the handles, and drums on the bottom. My only complaint is that the lid is a bit tough to get off, but since that's helping to prevent leaks, I'm willing to overlook that.

6. Boon Bath Squirts: When you start thinking about what might be growing inside your kid's favorite bath toys, you start looking for an alternative. These are a must-have because they unscrew, so you can be sure all of the water comes out. No bacteria-laden crud living inside these guys, which is a good thing since my kid uses them as bath time teethers.

7. Leap Frog Discovery House: This is one of the few new toys that we've purchased recently. Like most kids her age, Baby Tuna loves that it plays music, makes noises, and talks. She hasn't figured out how to manipulate every aspect of it yet, but loves turning the bathtub handle and playing with the birds on the roof, making them tweet. I can see this one being a favorite for a while.

8. These are Z's favorite books from her Halloween shelf this month. Little Owl's Night isn't really Halloweeny, and won't be put away after the holiday since the whole family loves it. The illustrations are way cute, and it tells a sweet story about what it's like at night for the little nocturnal owl.  Ghosts in the House looks like an old book, but isn't. I love the retro illustrations and the cute little witch and her cat.

Eight Month Update

I can't believe Baby Tuna is now eight months old! (Her birthday was last week and I'm a total blogging slacker) That means that in just four short months we will be chasing a one year old around. And that four months ago, we were sitting in the hospital as Z healed from her surgery. Seems like ages ago, and now she is growing and hitting all of her milestones like a champ!

Weight: about 18 pounds (no doctor appt this month, so I had to measure myself)
Height: about 26.5 inches (tough to get since the kid is always in motion)
Sizes: Baby Tuna is wearing a little of everything. She still fits in her summery rompers that are 3-6 month size, but also fits in 6-9 and 6-12 month items, too, although they are a wee bit big on her. It's tough to shop the sales and buy clothes for next year. Who knows how big (or not-so-big) she'll be next summer!


Sleep: It's been tough this month. Z is super inconsistent, sleeping from 8pm-7am one night, then waking up 4 or 5 times the next, then waking up at 3am another night and staying awake until 5. The Hubs and I have a deal - he takes care of bedtime and any wake-ups before 3 am. I get everything after and nap times. We. are. exhausted. Naps aren't much better. Most are her typical 30 minutes, but then she'll throw a couple 2 hour naps in once in a while just to get momma excited that things may be changing. We've tried a couple of different sleep training methods, unsuccessfully, and have just started the Ferber (which always makes me think of Meet the Fockers) progressive waiting method. Last night was the first night, so if it's successful, I'll probably post all about it. It was tough, but I've heard from many mommas that it works. Hope so!

Diet: We have yet to find a food that this kid won't eat. Ok...that's not completely true. Although she loves green bean puree from a pouch, she will not eat homemade green bean puree. I don't blame her. It has a funny gritty texture. She's old enough now, though, that this month, we may start giving her bites of real green beans. She lives for mashed bananas, mashed mangos, homemade cinnamon applesauce, homemade sweet potatoes with cinnamon, and a blend of kale, pear, and greek yogurt. Pumpkin and banana is another favorite that I may try making myself. Lots of yummy sounds while she eats and sometimes, when it's one of her favorites, Z will even close her eyes a little bit. We may have a foodie on our hands. She also love loves her puffs, and has even started to pick them up between her index finger and thumb instead of using her whole hand to shove them in her mouth!
Z is drinking water from her sippy throughout the day (although she enjoys chewing on the handles more than anything), but probably only gets an ounce or two. She also gets a 6 oz bottle four times a day, but doesn't usually finish it. I guess that's normal?

Milestones: Yowza! This month has been exciting! 

Crawling: We now have a full-fledged crawler in the house! Though she's been scooting around (mostly backwards for the first few weeks, then army crawling like she's in boot camp for another few weeks), the babe just recently started moving on all fours. She gets around so quickly in her army crawl, she usually goes that way, especially on the tile. Z giggles and chirps when she starts crawling like a speed demon, usually headed around the corner to her bathroom or across the living room to hang out under the jumperoo. 

"Talking": This chatterbox babbles all day long. Her most common "words" are "ya-ya", which she usually says while nodding, and "mamamam", which the Hubs swears is her way of saying mama. Who knows! 

Pulling Up: This month, Baby Tuna started pulling up on everything! It started with pulling up on us if we were sitting or laying on the floor, then she moved to the coffee table and crib rail. For the longest time, she could only get to her knees, but after her eight month birthday, started making it to her feet! 

That mean mug is so intimidating! 

I took about a zillion pics this last month, as usual, so here are a few more...

For Z's eight month birthday, we were in Ellijay, GA at my parents' cabin. If you've been following this blog for a while, you may remember that we went there last October for our babymoon. It's one of our favorite places, lots of hiking, close to Atlanta (although we only stopped for lunch this year on our way through), and a great place to relax. 

We left in the wee hours of the morning, about 4am, so that Z would sleep for the first half of the trip. (That way we both got a few hours of sleep before hitting the road.) She was an awesome traveller! We really didn't have to stop any more often than we would have anyways, and we rented an SUV so that I could easily climb from front to back when she needed company. Other than lousy weather when we reached Atlanta foiling our plans for eating Willy's in Piedmont Park on the way up, the trip went very smoothly. 

I wasn't great about taking pictures, and most of them haven't been edited yet, but here are a few from our trip.

The view from the front of the cabin. The view from the back porch is the same. Like being in a little treehouse!

Someone loves the chilly weather! 

How we spent our nights...s'mores and Uno. Good times! 

 On the last day of our trip, we went to our favorite spot in the area, Amicalola Falls. The little creek in the first pic actually feeds the falls. We took the 425 stairs down to the viewing deck, but Z was the only one who was amped to climb back up.

I'm not sure what this face is, but it's super cute!!

The rest are from Z's actual 8 month birthday. I'm so into polka dots lately, and the babe's polka dot corduroy romper is seriously my favorite!

I've been slacking so much on my blogging duties lately. It's tough business trying to work, blog, and chase around a curious 8 month old! Look for 8 month favorites just around the corner! 

Friday Favorites

1. This is the time of year when I really start wishing for a front porch, or at the very least a covered entry. We have neither. The front of our home faces east, which means every pot of festive mums just roasts, holiday wreaths fade in the morning sun, and there isn't much space to decorate. Driving around north Georgia this past week on vacation, just about every house had a beautifully decorated front porch with arrangements of pumpkins and pots of colorful mums. Scrolling through Pinterest (I'm loving the porches here, here, and here!) during the holiday season gives me some serious porch envy. It only gets worse as we get closer to Christmas! I really need help.

2. White pumpkins...obsessed! I want them everywhere and am in the hunt for some cute fakes. These puppies below are real and (sad tear) won't last until Thanksgiving.

3. While we were in Georgia, one of our top goals was to find a cute pumpkin patch to take pics of Z. This being her first Halloween and all. We had a cute little outfit picked out, complete with super cute black sequins-covered sneakers that were a baby shower gift. Pumpkin patches in Florida are fine, but it's 1,000 degrees, and I didn't want her first pumpkin patch pic to be taken in a sundress.
Every patch we passed was small and not as fabulous as we had pictured in our minds. Until the last day of our trip. On our way to one of our favorite spots, Amicalola Falls, we passed a place called Burt's Farm. It was so much better than we had imagined! Pumpkins for days!

We didn't have much room for all of the pumpkins we wanted to bring home (they were crazy cheap, too!), but we brought home three little beauties which may or may not end up as baby food or pie. 

Aren't the long stems amazing?! They were all like this. And disregard the wretched table that they're sitting on. It's total junk and will be painted blue soon until the perfect replacement (dreaming of a storage cocktail ottoman) falls from the sky and lands in our living room.

4. So, who else loves Philosophy products? When I was preggo, my wonderful friend Kara gave me a gift set from Philosophy for mommies. I love love Philosophy (which Kara knows very well), especially the peppermint bark lip gloss and body washes. Anyway, among other things, this set included the Purity cleanser, which I went out and bought recently, remembering how much I liked the trial size right after Z was born. This stuff is amazing and a bit pricey. I have sensitive skin and crazy breakouts since having Z, but this makes my skin so clear and soft. You only use a tiny bit at a time, so the bottle will last a long time, making it worth the price tag. The set also had a tiny tub of Hope in a Jar, which was also great, and I'll probably end up splurging on that, too. 

5. The moment Starbucks rolls out all of the peppermint drinks in December, I'm waiting in line and fighting the urge to go every day. Peppermint is probably my favorite flavor, unless it's summer and I'm craving strawberry everything. So when the Hubs and I found this mix in an Ingle's grocery store while on our trip, we both squealed with glee. Ok, maybe only one of us squealed, but we were both pretty excited! I'm not sure if Publix has it or not, but if they do, there will be more gleeful squeals in the future! 

6. And while drinking our peppermint hot cocoas, Baby Tuna may just be wearing these pjs from Baby Gap. The polka dot bottoms are pretty darn cute! I'll be ordering them for her the next chance I get. 

7. ABC Family's 13 Nights of Halloween makes me happy and I look forward to it every year! I don't watch all of it, obviously, but definitely try to catch my festive favorites. Night Before Christmas, Coraline, Corpse Bride, Hocus Pocus, and Alice in Wonderland. They even show throwbacks like Teen Witch and Goonies. Check out the schedule here and enjoy! 

Happy Weekend!! 

Friday Favorites

In my opinion, Fall officially starts on October 1 (though someone forgot to tell the SoFla temperatures). October marks the official start to holiday season, decorating, candy, and yummy baked goods. I love, love, LOVE this time of year! Here's what else I'm loving right now...

1. Pumpkin Spice EVERYTHING! When you live in south Florida, it's hard to get into the fall frame of mind. The leaves don't change, hibiscus are still in full bloom, and it's about a zillion degrees outside. Enter pumpkin spice.

Kisses, Cookies, and M&Ms available at Target. Latte from Starbucks...Yum! 

This time of year, the Hubs starts making pumpkin spice waffles on Sundays. I dream about these all summer. They. are. the. best. and really put you in the mood to jump into a pile of leaves. 

Recipe

2. Fall TV: I'm embarrassed even mentioning how much I love TV, but this time of year my condition is at it's worst. Premier weeks make me happy.  Modern Family, Parks & Rec, Once Upon a Time, CSI, Person of Interest...the final season of How I Met Your Mother (my all-time favorite)... good god I could keep going, but I'll spare you. 

3. Fall evenings at the park: We are so lucky to have an amazing community park at the end of our block. Lots of big shady trees, playgrounds, swing sets, even a little skate park. Now that the temps are so pleasant in the late afternoons, we've started walking over and giving the babe a little swing time. She's always loved the wind in her hair, so swinging is right up her alley.

This is what pure joy looks like!

4. Essie Smokin' Hot: My go-to nail color for Fall. I'll probably being wearing this until December 1. It's from a few years back, but I noticed it at Target a few weeks ago.

5. Halloweeny books for kids: It's no big secret that I am a hoarder of children's books. Although I've been away from the classroom for two years, I still have boxes of books in storage (some of which I may be selling soon, teacher friends...I'll keep ya posted). It's an addiction. So, shock of the year, Baby Tuna has an entire shelf dedicated to Halloween. By the time she is able to read on her own, I have a feeling she will have quite an extensive collection.

More info on all these books, in an upcoming post, so stay tuned. 

 HAPPY WEEKEND!!