Where he has been

New photos for Colin's Travel Album!

I have more photos and will post them when I get a chance.

SNOW DAY!

I got 2 2s...I'M A FOUR!

OK, not a number...but my first spray tan experience did not go well. Why you ask?

I had a choice of light, medium, or dark. And a clear coat or an instant bronzer. Then I could add a moisturizer.

I picked the light (b/c I am WHITE and didn't want to be too dark) and a clear coat. I also added the moisturizer.

I jump in the booth and do all four sides and get dried off. Then I wait for my moisturizer to start and nothing...so I call on the phone. I get dressed and the woman comes in to check it. I mention to her that I already look darker and I picked the clear coat, not the instant bronzer for the finish. I told her I was a little worried I didn't get the right thing. She assumes me that it looks darker at first.

She can't figure out why I didn't get my moisturizer and her co-worker finally does: she started the spray tanning that was for another customer in the line. Yes folks - I ended up with a medium and an instant bronzer. And never got my moisturizer.

It was ridiculous the hoops I went through to try and get back what I paid for the moisturizer. They wanted to credit me for my next visit. I kindly said I may not be back...I don't even know if I like the results of the incorrect tan I was given. I did get my money back (actually all of it, I was surprised) and now I sit here feeling orange.

Also, the worker was kind of a b*tch. Seriously - you guys did me wrong and I get attitude? OK? I mean, I know you have to call a few numbers b/c for some reason no one has authority there to correct a problem but do not mash the buttons on the phone and huff around like I ruined your day. Someone is in need of a little customer service training.

I may try it again after I see what this looks like faded. But I will probably ask a million times if they are SURE they got me started on the right spray.

Friday Review: Earth's Best Baby Food

Before feeding Colin solids I was doing a lot of research. I didn't know what to feed him, how often, and when. I read the Gerber website and a few others including Earth's Best. I found the most helpful information on the Earth's Best website in terms of when to introduce what foods. The Gerber website spit me out some outrageous daily feeding plan that made no sense and appeared to having him eating every hour or so. I also liked the Earth's Best information b/c it went right in line with what my doctor recommended for Colin.

When I bought his first baby food I bought a mixture of Gerber and Earth's Best. After a few feedings I was looking more into the ingredients of the food and noticed in the Gerber ones that "tuna oil" was listed along with a bunch of other things. I looked at Earth's Best and it was just veggies/fruit and water. I was really grossed out by the thought of tuna oil. Aren't they supposed to stay away from fish for the first year - at least!?

I read online...evidently the tuna oil provides the DHA that Gerber boasts about in their products. I was still super grossed out. You have to understand that I don't even give a recipe a second thought if it includes ketchup, mayo, vinegar, or (until recently) sour cream. If I couldn't eat it I won't feed it to Colin. I think that is only fair. The only thing I will say is that just b/c I don't like a veggie I won't avoid it for him. I just mean stuff that truly grosses me out.

I will also say that he honestly likes the Earth's Best food better. He never would finish the Gerber stuff and will usually clean out a jar of Earth's Best. His favorites so far: Carrots (#1!!), Sweet Potatoes, Squash, Pears, Apples, and Corn & Butternut Squash. Not into: Peas and Prunes. Doesn't seem into yet but we are giving it a few more chances: bananas, green beans, and banana oatmeal & mango combo. He also really likes their pear juice.

It is a little more expensive but I try and stock up on his favorites when I see them on sale. And it ends up being less wasteful b/c he finished an entire jar. I haven't tried any of there other products (teething biscuits or cereal) so I can't comment on those. He does enjoy the Gerber Puffs - when he get them in his mouth!

You can find Earth's Best in most stores with the baby food. I get mine at Publix, Target, and Whole Foods. Coupons are also available on there website.

Jeans

I love baby jeans. I didn't realize how exceptionally cute they were until Colin started pulling up. They are so much cuter than when all he was doing was rolling around on the ground.
I didn't realize until after the fact that his fly was unzipped. Ooops.

Speaking of jeans, yesterday was a good day for me. I got my old denim capris on! I was able to do it with no laying on the bed, sucking in my belly and holding my breath!! OK, they aren't to the point where I am ready to wear them out yet, but THEY BUTTONED AND ZIP WITH EASE. Huge deal.

I still had to go buy some clothes for the cruise so I hit up Old Navy for some cheap clothes. I ended up with 2 pairs of Bermuda shorts (a new fit for me) and a couple of shirts. I am ready for some warm weather! Bahamas - please excuse my pasty white skin - I avoid the tanning bed and haven't gained the courage to try a spray tan.

The Bachelor

I am over it. I don't like any of the girls. Maybe the girl from TN, but I don't see her with Jake...

All these girls do is gang up on Vienna (which I was never fond of really) and I don't have any clue what the deal is. Did I miss something?? Or is it poor editing on ABC's part...b/c I really don't understand what the deal is.

I am sure I will keep watching it but I am really upset that I cleared out How I Met Your Mother on my DVR in order to record this lame season of The Bachelor. Boo.

I won't have a pick for next Monday as I will be on vacation! Maybe it will get better while I am gone. This time next week I plan on being in the casino at the Atlantis Resort.

Until then I will stay busy comforting a teething 6 month old (we actually have swollen gums and a bump...this might actually be it!) and keeping him from attacking the xBox every chance he gets.

Friday Review: Moonstruck Chocolate Truffle

I love chocolate. I think it is one of the best gifts I can receive. When I went to visit Cassie in Chicago for the first time I remember going to Moonstruck Chocolate and having a hot chocolate and one of their little chocolate discs.

After that I made sure to have Andrew bring me some back went he went to Chicago, as CNA is headquartered there, and I was able to go back again the weekend I got engaged in Chicago.

They no longer exist in Chicago and are based out of Portland, Oregon. That is too far to go for my chocolate. I do order some online at their website, but I recently found out that Whole Foods carries some of their chocolate bars and a selection of their truffles!

They do not carry my favorite truffle alone. You have to buy the little box with two truffles to get my favorite one: the Mayan Truffle. If I could buy these by the pound, I would. The woman behind the counter at Whole Foods said I could order them there...but I think I would have to make a pretty substantial order and I don't have that kind of cash laying around for chocolate!

This is how Moonstruck describes the Mayan Truffle:

One of our most complex and exotic truffles. A ganache of milk chocolate, cinnamon and crushed roasted almonds, hand dipped in milk chocolate and rolled in sugar and cinnamon.

My mouth is now watering...

I placed an order for my mom's birthday and noticed they have Mayan Chocolate bars. I ordered two for myself and I am hoping they are as good as the truffles!

If you stumble across any Moonstruck Chocolate I highly suggest you give it a try...and pick me up some. =)

I'm teething

Yep, me...not my son. OK, not really teething, but this is what I imagine it to feel like.

Yesterday morning I began my year and a half long adventure with Invisalign. I am so excited. I have wanted braces since I was in middle school. Both of my sibling received them (although their teeth were far worse off than mine) and I have always been a little angry about that. So after some saving and a blessing from my husband, I got Invisalign.

I will wear each tray for 3 weeks and then put in a new one. Each new tray will use pressure to slowly push my teeth into place. Kind of like when you get your traditional braces tightened. I have 10 trays on top and 27 on bottom. I did not realize how much worse my bottom teeth were than my top, but I also have a couple teeth that are turned and they said it takes more time with those. By my calculations I should be finished with the top trays on August 11, 2010 and finished with the bottom trays on August 3, 2011. My son will be 2 years old. Having a 2 year old seems so far away....but only wearing these clear retainers that long doesn't.

They hurt way more than I expected. When I first put them in they were tight but not painful. By they end of the night I didn't want to remove them to eat and by 2am I was wide awake with pain in my teeth and gums and I swear I could feel my pulse through my teeth. I popped some Tylenol and though it didn't help completely I was able to fall back asleep. These does help with the whole eating less plan. I really want to avoid taking them out to eat except for my three meals a day. They are so sore, at least right now. I also have to brush my teeth and the trays before putting them back in. It is a lot of work to eat right now! This isn't a bad thing though. I makes me decided if my hunger is true or just our of boredom. I think this might stay with me even after I am done with treatment.

(When Colin doesn't sleep well because he is cutting teeth I might understand his pain a little better and not be so frustrated!)

I did a lot of research before deciding on these...I have been reading about them for years...probably since high school. When I Googled Invisalign hoping to get pages about personal stories and picture of finished smiles I didn't come up with much. So I am going to periodically write about my progress and hopefully post pictures of the trays so that if someone is doing the same research I am they might come across my blog and get some useful info.

On my way to straighter teeth in 2010!

Wordless Wednesday

Jogging Stroller

It is freezing outside, but I want to use my jogging stroller now that Colin hit the 6 month mark and it is "OK" to use it now.

Do any of you know a place I can use it indoors? I wasn't sure if they let you bring jogging strollers (or strollers in general) to an indoor track like at the Sports*Com or Patterson Park.

I think I'm in trouble

This little man is starting to get curious and he is trying to get a good peek at whatever he can...anyway he can. We have started to pull up on our knees:

He struggles and tries to get up on his feet, but always falls. I am in no rush for his to be on his feet just yet.

Friday Review: Travel Compression Bags

Today's review is pretty short and sweet because it is a simple product I like...and I have to get the books closed for two different companies. So here we go!

Travel compression bags - these bags are filled with your clothing and then sealed and rolled until all the air has been released. No vacuum needed! I like them because it makes so much more room in my suitcase, didn't wrinkle any of the clothes (surprised me!), and gives me the peace of mind that my clothes are protected if a bottle of something busts open during the trip.

But, they can be deceiving. When the weight limit for baggage when you fly is only 50 lbs, you can really go above and beyond. Make sure to weigh as you pack to ensure you don't go over!

I purchased mine at Target in a family sized pack: 3 large bags and 2 medium bags.

Travel Compression Bags: Retail Price $19.99

Hallelujah...

...I have found a Girl Scout.

It might actually make up for Amazon screwing up my order.

Off to make my cookie list. I personally like Tagalongs and Samoas. I could skip the Thin Mints, unless crushed up on my ice cream.

My ass is growing just thinking about them...

My new ongoing project

At the current time we are lucky enough to get to travel and that means Colin does too! This may not always be the case as our finances may be different year to year, but this is something I want to be able to do for him. I didn't get to do much traveling until I was out of high school. Actually, until my last year of college. I don't want to wait that long for Colin to get to see and try new and interesting things.

This desire to give Colin the gift of travel through his childhood and my love of pictures and scrapbooking have started my newest project: his own travel album.

I can't tell you where I have visited my entire life. We have pictures from family vacations, but I don't think they are organized too well and I am sure I don't know where they all are. I do scrapbook vacations now, but those are for me. Colin doesn't get those until I die...and even then, what boy wants a scrapbook??

For every city/state/country Colin visits throughout his life I plan on taking my favorite picture from that visit and putting it in an album for him. On the photo I will put where he visited and on the back I will write the date, his age, and any special place he went (like the San Diego Zoo). If he goes to a place more than once, he will have a picture in there for every time he went. If possible, I would like to get some kind of landmark in the photo...so he knows he was really there.

This idea also comes from the fact that we like to cruise and you don't ever get your passport stamped when you cruise. So he won't have those stamps to prove he was there...just these photos in some cases.

I found a simple travel photo album at Target that looks boyish - it is orange with blue and green writing and stamps on it. It holds 104 photos, so he has got some traveling to do!

Here is what I have so far for his album:

Now he will always know where he has been and how old he was when he went. No second guessing if he went to visit a random state at the age of 2 - since he can't remember!

**Colin also had his 6 month appointment yesterday and weighed in at 19lbs 4oz and 27.5 inches long. Grow baby grow!**

Wordless Wednesday

Our trip to California

This entry will be mostly pictures. First, I want to brag on my little guy. He is such a great traveler! His first flight was 4.5 hours longs and he did so well! We didn't have any issues getting him through security with all of his stuff and he flirted and smiled at just about every stranger we saw. People told us after he landed that he was such a good baby and that they didn't hear a peep out of him. He LOVED looking out the window and watching everyone around us.

Saturday we walked along some of the streets in Long Beach and then attended the wedding that night (a big fat Greek wedding!). My sister in law looked beautiful and the wedding was so nice. I left the reception before dinner was served to put Colin to bed but heard there was a lot of traditional Greek dances done and that the party lasted a long time.

Sunday we headed to San Diego for a day at the zoo. Colin loved watching the animals and I enjoyed the warm weather. That evening we met Andrew brother (the Groom) for dinner and he and Aunt Niki gave Colin some camo sleepers he bought on base. They must breed Marines to be big...b/c he wears 6-12 and 6-9 in most clothes now and he was swimming in these 6-9 sleepers!

Our flight back was peaceful and Colin slept most of the way home.

The Kokopax carrier was great to have at the airport. We would kick out he stand and the would sit in it in the waiting area at times. We ended up using a stroller at the zoo. And I am looking for a bigger diaper bag for travel. His current one I love and is great for every day kind of stuff, but I want something bigger to hold EVERYTHING so that I only need one carry on - not two!

Here are some pictures from this weekend...

AND...we have started crawling. He will got two or three crawls and then fall...but I am sure consistant crawling is not far behind. He also started doing this weird "tee-pee" thing this weekend. Every so often I will catch him pushing up on his hands and feet and sticking his tush in the air. I don't know what he trying to accomplish though...

Friday Review: On Hold

I am currently on my way to sunny California! So today I am skipping my review. I have a travel product in mind for my review next week after I see how well it performs, so check back next Friday for that!

Hope you are having a Happy New Year and starting it off right. My New Year's resolutions?

• Keep my kitchen table cleared off (no junk mail, coats, etc.).
• Hit "unsubscribe" to all the junk mail that enters my e-mail.
• Get down to a weight/clothing size that makes me feel comfortable in my own skin again! No numbers off the top of my head. I will know when I get there b/c I will feel it!
• Most importantly - not to dwell on my weight loss, or lack there of. As long as the scale isn't going up then I am doing something right!

I feel like I set pretty attainable goals for this years resolutions. Don't forget to set some good ones for yourself!