Favorite Things Link Up - Christmas Wish List

Rob, I hope you're paying attention. This one goes out to you. ;) I'm joining some great ladies for a festively fun link up. Today I'm sharing some things I'd love for Santa to put under the tree for me. I'm also hoping to find a few good ideas from some other bloggers. So here it is, my list.

Tiny Tag Necklace. These necklaces are perfectly understated. I don't wear a lot of jewelry, so something simple and personalized like this is right up my alley.

NIKKOR 50mm Lens. I'm trying to get away from shooting in auto, and it's become quickly apparent that my kit lens is not so great. I'm hoping this one makes it into my stocking.

Starbucks Gift Card. To help feed my coffee addiction. Enough said.

Joules Navy Spot Wellies,. I have a pair of Hunters and love them, but I think these need to be in my closet. One of the main reasons I want them is so I can buy matching ones for the kids. How cute would Harry be in these?

Steve Madden Emojjii Boots. I have a couple pairs of black boots and would love some brown ones to wear too. I love the buckle detail and overall simplicity of these.

Sweater Socks. These look so comfy, my feet need to wear them. Maybe in all three colors.

Marc Jacobs Take Me Tote. I definitely don't need this purse. But what is a wish list without something you want but don't need? I saw this while walking through Von Maur the other day and was instantly drawn to it. I am a devoted Coach fan, but this MJ purse could make me switch brands.

Calphalon 8 Quart Multi Pot. My standard dutch oven isn't doing the trick anymore. When I make soup, most times its right to the brim of the pot and very often boils over. Time for an 8 quart.

Columbia Veloca Vixen Pants. I had a pair of Columbia snow pants I loved. They somehow got lost when we moved three years ago. Last winter I had to wear Aeropostale track pants from high school with UA compression leggings underneath every time I shoveled snow, which was a lot. This year I need some good snow pants, especially since it's already snowing!

I usually have a very hard time coming up with a Christmas Wish List. My parents have demanded lists from us since we were little, and still insist they get one every year by November 1st. With this in mind, I've been putting off buying a few things I need so I can have things to put on my list. I've needed a larger stock pot for months, but I've been holding off.

[April, Elise, Katie, Zelle]

Want to join in on the fun? Click through to any of the blogs listed above and link up!

Weekending

Another fun weekend is in the books. It was a busy weekend, mainly because it was my on call weekend with the dogs, but we also fit in a lot of fun around my work schedule. Be prepared for a lot of pictures. My phone camera was put to good use this weekend.

Friday morning the kids and I headed to Meijer for a grocery run. They were surprisingly good, and we managed to get everything we needed in under an hour. Right as we were checking out, I got a text from their Aunt Kim asking if we were free for lunch. We had a delightful impromptu lunch date that was filled with pizza, beer, and two toddlers who wouldn't sit still. I miss the days when they sat happily in their car seats snoozing while we lunched.

We took some killer afternoon naps, and by we I mean all three of us, and then headed into work. A couple hours of work, dinner, baths, and it was time to call it a night.

Since it was my on call weekend at the daycare, our usual donut and library date was on the agenda. They were so excited about their donuts, and then barely ate any. I helped eat what they didn't, and then we were off to play and find some new books.

After the library we went to Old Navy to make an exchange which turned into buying more clothes for the kiddos. They had winter coats 50% off, so I picked up this pea coat for Brooke. We made a quick stop by Hallmark for some wrapping paper, because I didn't need more, but it was on sale, and then hit up TJ Maxx where I was underwhelmed by their holiday decor. Our final stop was to pick up cupcakes for Sunday, and then it was home for lunch and naps.

Saturday evening we met Rob for the tree lighting ceremony at Jefferson Pointe. The kids got in some play time at the soft play area, and then it was off to see Santa ride in on his carriage. We got a brief glimpse of Santa and then watched the lighted tree show. After standing outside in the cold, we decided a hot chocolate and hot caramel from DeBrands were in order to close out the evening.

My boys. LOVE!

Sunday was a busy day for me, thanks to work, but a laid back day for everyone else. The kids asked for Cinderella first thing when they woke up, so waffles, berries, and Cinderella they had. We started decorating their room, which they thought was the best. We listened to Christmas music which led to dancing in their beds, and hung ornaments on their little tree. Brookie kept talking about how "we decorating," all day.

It started snowing just before nap time and continued all evening. I was hoping to do a mini photo shoot in the snow, but Harrison napped until it was pretty well dark, and neither of them were into the snow. They loved it from inside, but as soon as they were in it, forget about it. I still managed to snap a few pictures of each of them in the snow. Although they weren't happy about it.

They turned two and a half on Sunday, so CUPCAKES! Cupcakes after naps meant they didn't eat much dinner. I made veggie tacos along with carne asada for our TWD dinner. Those kids don't know what they missed out on. We did manage to convince them to eat a PB&J quesadilla before jumping in the tub. Of course once they were tucked in, we watched The Walking Dead. And that is how we finished our weekend. How was everyone else's weekend? Anything fun happen?

Today starts an interesting week for us. I am down an employee which means I'm working 40 hours plus interviewing to fill the open position. I am anticipating two weeks of craziness, and then hopefully things will be back to usual. And now I'm off to print resumes and get interview questions prepared. Happy Monday!!

5 on Friday

I seriously slacked off in the blogging department this week, but for good reason. See #1 below. I'm back today though, and teaming up with Darci, April, Christina + Natasha Five on Friday.

One - My laptop gave up on life Saturday. While I was ordering Christmas gifts on Amazon, it keep getting slower and slower and then wouldn't run any programs. After a couple days of fighting with it, I gave up and bought a new, inexpensive HP laptop. Getting used to the new Windows platform makes me feel old. Like eating dinner at Richard's restaurant at 4 in the afternoon old. I miss my old desktop and Start menu. 

I did have to take my old laptop in to have pictures and documents pulled from it. There are 17,005 picture on my old laptop. I think I can officially say I am a picture hoarder. 

Two - How cute are these buckets?! I found these at Pier 1 right before Brooke broke an ornament in the store. Oops! I'm not sure what I'll be using these for, but I'm sure we'll find something fun to fill them with. They also had an adorable reindeer bucket.

Three - It officially feels like winter here. We had light snow yesterday, and the temps won't be cracking 40 anytime soon. I love to wear fleece jackets and pullovers, and immediately snatched this one up when I saw it at Target. I love the high neck and tie detail. It comes in a few different colors and is on sale this week for only $15.99! I may only wear this and leggings for the next week.

Four - This shirt! If you follow me on Instagram (@jennpargeon) you probably already saw this shirt. I discovered Mave Designs through their Instagram page and fell in love. They still have a few kid sizes available and are taking pre-orders for adult sizes through tonight. Jump on it while you can!

Five - Today marks one year since we lost Layla. While I don't think about her everyday anymore, she is still on my mind quite often. Especially over the last few weeks. While the kids don't remember her, they know her in pictures. It tugs at my heart strings every time they point to a picture of her and say her name. This picture still hangs on the wall in the kids room. I've thought about taking it down since she's no longer with us, but I want them to always remember the sweet girl who loved them. And it gives me peace to see her smushy face. 

I Got 5 on It

So it's been a hot minute since I've done a Five on Friday post, but I am so excited about lots of things right now, so here we go.

ONE

Starbucks Dot and Holiday Collection - They knocked it out of the park this year. The silver star cold cup, red ribbon tumbler, and the red and chrome stacking mug will all be making their way to my doorstep soon. Their demi cups are so cute, I wish I drank espresso.

I procrastinated on purchasing their advent calendar last year and majorly regretted it. I ordered two of them this year and plan to add little notes with scripture to each tin. I think H and B will love opening a new tin each day. Of course they will, there's chocolate involved.

TWO

We love these Just One You winter sleep sets. We had been wearing every last inch out of their sets from last year. We finally had to give up when the buttons on Harry's barely closed a couple weeks ago. It was prefect timing though because the new ones came out a couple weeks ago too. Harrison has the seal print and Brooke will be rocking the deers. Mail day yesterday included their Christmas jams from Carter's and Osh Kosh, so we are rocking new jammies every night this week.

THREE

Target Holiday Decor - I am already in love, and I haven't even seen it all. What I have seen is great. I decided I am going to decorate the kids' room this year, so I picked up a few pillows to be our jumping off point. I can't wait to pull all the pieces together over the next few weeks.

FOUR

I am a rather faithful La Croix drinker. It helped me drop my diet soda fix, and I am eternally grateful for the lack of Aspartame in my diet. On a recent Target trip, are you surprised ;), I found Simply Balanced Cucumber Mint sparkling water. For whatever reason, it wasn't with the other water, but on an end cap. It is definitely my new favorite beverage of choice. I haven't tried their other flavors, but this one is a home run.

FIVE

It seems like everywhere is having big sales right now. Gap's friends and Family is this weekend. There's a Panty Party at Victoria's Secret. Pottery Barn Kid's friend tire sale is going on. Up to 50% off at Express.  My e-mail has been flooded with sale ads. It's a good weekend to do some shopping. Express is my favorite place to buy cardigans and sweaters. I've already purchased a few this fall, but I may just have to spring for this sequin beauty. If sequins, rhinestones, or glitter are involved, I'm in. Now my issue is deciding if I should get it in black or grey. 

Etsy Favorites

I know that Thanksgiving is the next big holiday, and I'm super excited to stuff my face and give thanks for all I have, but I'm already getting excited for Christmas. It's hard not to. On our most recent trip to Target, we perused their holiday wares. When I got my hair cut yesterday, the salon already had up their decorations. I may even put up our tree a little early this year. One thing I am definitely getting on early this year is shopping.

I love shopping on Etsy, and want to support as many small business owners as I can this holiday season. I found quite a few great new shops and of course placed some orders from ones I already know and love. I know a lot of Etsy shops will stop taking Christmas orders by the middle of this month, so it was definitely time to get on it.

Bub and Bug Studio - Kelly's bows and accessories are amazing! We have quite a few of her bows and clips, and we love them all. They are definitely our go to hair accessory. The shop is mostly closed right now, but there are a few holiday items still up for grabs. 

Charlie Cocos - I have been a long time admirer of Amber's accessories. Her bow, clips, and headbands are the cutest. We just purchased the snowman and penguin clips listed in her shop, and I can't wait for them to arrive!

Babee Bees - This shop is a new find for me. I discovered their shop thanks to their adorable breed specific dog tees. "My best friend is a boxer," Super cute. While looking through their shop, I came across the shirts above. Santa will definitely be delivering these bad boys on Christmas morning.

Margaux Makes - H and B got a letter and number set from Margaux's shop last year. They have held up well, and still get used on the regular. Quite often by adults spelling inappropriate things on the fridge. :) As much fun as we have with them, the kids have more. Whether is working on our letters, or pushing all the magnets to the floor just to make a mess, they love them.

September Skye - Brooke got her first purse when she was just days old. Between her purse and my purse, Harrison has serious purse envy. I bought a pink and blue cat purse at Target for him, but I think he'll like this much better. I think an airplane messenger bag is right up his alley. and of course B is getting a messenger bag too. We have to keep things fair. There are lots of cute girl and boy designs in Debbie's shop.

Garnished Girl - Karen has some very cute felt accessories in her shop, but what drew me in were her felt activities. We scooped up the cupcake set shown above as well as a letter train set. I think they'll love them, and I am definitely excited to get to play with them.

So there you have it, a round up of some of our old and new favorite Etsy shops. Any shops y'all recommend? We're always on the lookout for great small businesses to support. If anyone reading this in The Fort know of local shops, I'd love to hear those suggestions too. Just over 7 weeks until Christmas. Happy Shopping!

We Be Cribbin', No More

I had been looking forward to, and simultaneously dreading this day for the longest time.  Brooke started crawling out of her crib just before 18 months. Harrison started a few months later. I was not ready to loose the cribs, and they weren't either. I knew it was coming though. We dropped the mattress all the way to the floor, separated their cribs, moved them back together, purchased a Tot Clock. We did everything to keep them sleeping in 4 walls as long as possible.

Shortly after we got back for Seattle, Harrison had two back to back days where he climbed out of his crib and hurt himself. I knew it was time, so we headed to Target to pick out some new bedding accessories. We considered switching to twin beds, but decided against it because their room isn't really big, and it's mostly taken over by their toys. Since we were just losing a side rail, all they needed were new sheets and a couple pillows. One for functionality and one for decoration.

I don't think they could have picked out more mismatched items. Harrison in particular. A brown, blue, and yellow dump truck pillow paired with green and blue robot sheets. Brooke picked more of a matching set, but her pink polka dot sheets and multi-dot heart pillow don't compliment Harry's choices at all.  Any attempts by me to steer their choices in a more matching direction were completely shot down. I lived with it because the point is to get them excited about sleeping in bed, right? They were beyond excited to sleep with their new pillows.

First night in their big kid beds

That evening we took one side rail off, explained their new beds to them and how even though they could get out, they weren't supposed to, and off we went. The first couple weeks were cake and they rarely got out of their beds until the appropriate time. Then their two year molars started to come in, they were restless, and naps became almost nonexistent. Thankfully their evening sleep is still consistently good, although the time change is really pushing that.

We found a couple things really worked well for getting them to stay in bed and go to sleep.  The Tot Clock. I can't sing the praises of this thing enough. Having a visual cue for them to know when it's ok to be wake up, and when they need to stay in bed is great. If we ask them what the blue light means, they tell us, "Stay in bed. Go to sleep." I also remind them it means to keep their head on their pillow and their hand to themselves.

The other thing that's a huge help? Being a stalker in their room. I always remind them that I'm watching on the monitor, and I come in as soon as one of them gets out of bed or even sits up in bed. If I have to go back in multiple times, I will sit in the corner of their room and watch them until they fall asleep. It works within 5-10 minutes every time. Rocking, patting, shushing, singing, etc., doesn't work for them. Once we sleep trained, they have needed to do it on their own.They need their own space and to fall asleep without help. Which is nice, but sometimes I wish they would let me snuggle them until they fall asleep. Although not in a toddler bed. I'm ready for twin beds already. However I don't think they'd be happy if I did away with some of their toys to make room for bigger beds.

So that's how we made the transition and are keeping them in their beds. Does anyone have any go to tricks for keeping your little ones in bed? I'm sure me being a creeper in their room won't always work, so I need some extra tricks up my sleeve. Because, I need quiet time and they need naps, otherwise we are not pretty in the afternoon. They've started shortening their naps too. Anyone else's kids do that around 2.5?

It's 8 am and their light just turned yellow, so off I go. Make sure you get out and vote today! H and B will be coming with me to the poles. Happy Election Day!

Halloween Weekend

Halloween, I love it and the kids do too. We've been building it up for weeks and working on their "trick or treat" and thank yous. All last week each day they'd talk about trick or treating and I'd have to tell them not yet. We were a hot mess after naps on Friday, but we managed to get dressed, in multiple layers, snap a few pics and get out the door with minimal meltdowns. 

Brooke was all about it. The costumes, the drumsticks, the pictures. Harrison, not so much. Once we made it outside though, he was ready to go and happily running from house to house ringing doorbells and saying "trick or treat." They didn't even care that we were being snowed on and it was super windy. They loved running around, and of course, candy. Their BFF, Sophie, joined us for trick or treating and dinner. Then we had their first slumber party. Slumber parties already?! Wahhh!

Brooke licking a Tootsie Pop is quite possibly my favorite thing ever.

Saturday morning once the kids were all up, we had waffles, watched Aristocats, and jumped in the bounce house. Aristocats is Brooke's new favorite. She doesn't want to watch Mickey or Frozen anymore. It's always "Cats."

Saturday evening we get dressed up again to go to a store opening and a costume party. Harry was equally as upset about his costume on Saturday. Who knew jeans, a t-shirt, and a hat would cause such a fit?

Wayne, Garth, and Stacy

Once we made it to Sweets So Geek, all was right with the world, until they saw Darth Vader. Tears and hiding ensued. They weren't having it. Enter cake. Raspberry Pomegranate White Chocolate Cake. So good! Definitely go check them out if you live in town. Their desserts and chocolates are amazing!!! The bacon and Nutella filled chocolate Millennium Falcon is out of this world.

We had treats, ate Bravas, ran around like a couple of crazies, and then headed to our cousin's costume party. Food, booze, a bonfire, and games for the kids. All the elements for a great fall shin dig. We stayed up past bed time in the hopes of getting them to sleep in. That failed. I definitely spent an hour Sunday morning laying on their floor in order to keep them in bed until their 8am wake up time.

It was chilly but sunny Sunday morning, so we took a walk to the park. By the time we got there, Harrison was already so sleepy that he almost fell asleep while swinging. When we did get home, he took a three hour nap, which is unheard of recently. 

We ended our evening as per usual, with friends, food, football, and The Walking Dead. We had the tough decision between watching TWD or The Steelers on SNF. We chose TWD with football updates during commercials. I did not survive until the end of the game, but I did last until mid way through the 4th. My 6am wake up call was lurking. I was happy to wake and see that The Steelers closed out the game strong. Yay for another win!

On a completely unrelated note, I am finally going to bite the bullet and paint our kitchen, living room, and hallway. I've been debating it since we moved in and even though it will require a lot of nap times worth of painting, it needs done. I think I shall pick out potential paint colors this afternoon. Happy Monday indeed!