24 hour emotions

The last 24 hours have included a wide range of emotions.  Let's review:

Boredom - Last night, I spent two hours working on a spreadsheet in Excel with my computer-illiterate husband.  It was, quite possibly, the longest two hours ever.  This is what I looked like when we were done.

Fear - Today, I took my son, niece, and cousin to the mall to shop and for dippin' dots while my Granny had an eye doctor appointment.  I left my iPhone on the chair where we ate our ice cream and didn't realize it until we were at Wal-mart 30 minutes later.  OMG.  I was terrified.  We rushed back to the mall to try to find it.  Luckily, a good samaritan turned it in to the Brookstone store beside the sitting area.

Excitement - I remembered that we have a photo session with Melody Hood tomorrow night for Atticus' three-month pictures as well as some family shots.

Sadness - I found out that my Granny has to have cataract surgery on Monday. :(

Disappointment - I used my new Essie "Fair Game" nail polish on my toes.  In the bottle, it looks like a light gunmetal gray.  On my toes, it looks like shit.

Excitement - This Saturday is our club's annual raft out on the lake.  I'm giddy with excitement.  We don't sleep with the generator on, so we're not going to spend the night out on the lake, but I'm looking forward to it regardless .

Makeup Must Haves

I did a post on skin products I love, so here are the makeup products I love. 

Smashbox Photo Finish Color Correct Foundation Primer - Color Adjust (minimizes redness.  It's the green one).
I love this primer.  My skin has a red tone year round because of dryness in the winter and sunburn in the summer.  This primer makes my face look less red, and I often wear it when I don't wear any makeup.  I love it.  With primer, a little goes a long way, so it lasts a long time.

Smashbox HD Healthy FX Foundation with SPF 15 - Fair 0
This is the foundation I use.  Do I love it?  No, but I'm 27 years old and have yet to find a foundation I love.  It works.  It evens out my skin, has nice coverage, and doesn't break me out.  I like it.  We're friends, but I'm not going to marry this foundation.

Benefit Boi-ing Concealer - 01 Light
I LOVE this concealer.  It is creamy and perfect.

Nars Blush - in, yep, Orgasm
I believe this is everyone's favorite blush.  It's mine, too.   I also want to get Mati Hari or Desire (two very pink shades)

Clinique Naturally Glossy Mascara - Jet Brown
I hate mascara that looks like mascara, you know?  My eyelashes are blonde, so it's pretty obvious when I'm wearing mascara, but for a day-to-day look, I don't like having massive eyelashes.  This mascara is wonderful.  It darkens and lengthens my lashes without making them look absolutely ridiculous.

Kiehl's Lip Balm #1 - This is my favorite lip balm, ever.

**all pictures from Sephora.com**

My Daddy and My Husband

This is my Daddy.

My Daddy

He's awesome times a billion to the power of 9.

First of all, he was the easier parent.  If I went to him and said, "Mom said it's okay with her if it's okay with you if I _____________," he never seemed to check with Mama.  Obviously, I never asked my mom first.

Second of all, he taught me that it's totally okay to not like visitors who don't call first, family functions, or phone calls after 8:30pm.

Third of all, he allowed me to marry Michael, and he liked Michael so much that (**BONUS POINTS**) he paid for the wedding.  And he only told me one time if I got divorced I'd have to pay them back every red cent.  

He was excited for me to get married.  It meant that he wouldn't have to pay for me anymore.  The Ashley Maintenance payments were transferred to Michael.  That's why he's so happy in this picture:

But Daddy, Mama still pays my cell phone bill. :)  You'll never be able to completely get rid of me.  

Happy Father's Day, Daddy.  I love you, and I'm glad you're stuck with me.

And this man.... The one who "took over payments"....

I will never forgive him for holding my our baby first.

I guess if someone was going to get to hold him before me, Michael was who I wanted it to be.

Michael wants to do appropriate fun activities with Atticus, like, teach him how to swim when he's two months old.  The boy doesn't know those hands waving around belong to him, but sure, he can learn to swim.

So I laugh at him and take pictures while secretly thinking he's also awesome times a billion to the power of 9 because he knows that even though Atticus has no flipping idea what's going on, he does know that his Daddy loves him (and also for reading The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding).

Happy Father's Day, Michael.  There's no one else I'd rather console me when I'm trying to decide if it's me or the screaming baby about to go out the window.  I'm glad we're in this together. 

Skincare Products I Love

I subscribe to a LOT of blogs, and I always find the posts about different skincare regimens very helpful.  I've gone out and tried a few products because of recommendations in the blogosphere, so I decided to put the products I use on the 'net in case one of my 2.5 readers (Hi Mama!) finds it useful.

Right after Atticus was born, I decided I should start taking better care of my skin.  I'd occasionally go to bed without washing off my makeup, and I'd buy random products for quick fixes rather than spending money on something that would actually work.

I have dry skin that breaks out when I go longer than a week without washing my pillowcase or when it gets too dry.

That being said, here are the products I use and the order in which I use them:

Caudalie Gentle Cleanser
I love this cleanser.  It's non-foaming and super gentle.  I use it morning and night.  Unless I wore heavy liner and mascara, it removes all of my makeup.  It lasts a while, too.  I've had the same bottle for about 4 months, and only 2/3 of it is gone.

Ole Henricksen Invigorating Night gel
I use this night gel every evening after I wash my face but before I moisturize.  This gel stimulates cell turnover so you have younger, firmer looking skin.  As soon as I put it on, I feel my skin tighten up.  I don't really like the packaging.  It's a tub instead of a tube, which I don't really feel is very sanitary, but it's a large tub, and each application requires a very small amount, so it will last a long time.

Caudalie Vinosource Quenching Sorbet- Creme Moisturizer
I use this moisturizer morning and night.  It's lightweight, but super moisturizing.  If I only got to keep one product, it would be this one.  I LOVE it.

Caudalie Vinosource Anti-Wrinkle Nourishing Cream
I use this moisturizer at night during the colder months and on occasion the rest of the year if my skin is feeling dry.  It is super rich, and it smells good too.

Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avacado
I love this eye treatment from Kiehl's!  It doesn't do anything for wrinkles, but it is super moisturizing.  I use it morning and night after my regular moisturizer.  Even if I have a super rough night with Atticus waking up all the time, I never have bags under my eyes the next morning.  Eye makeup seems to glide on and look pretty and even if my eye areas are well moisturized.  This is my second favorite product. :)

Clinique Acne Solutions Emerrgency Gel-Lotion
If I do have a massive zit, this stuff makes it go away pretty quickly.

Yeah, some of the products I use are a little pricey, but I only have this skin.  I already have scars on my back from pre-cancerous growth removals, so I try to take good care of the skin I have.

Oh yeah, for sunscreen, I like Neutrogena for my face, Neutrogena or Aveeno for my body when in water, and Kiehl's Creme de Corps for my body for every day.

**pictures are from sephora.com, except for the Kiehl's product (kiehls.com)**

Trip to Manhattan

We just got back from a long weekend in New York City and New Jersey.  Michael's co-worker's son had his Bar Mitzvah this past weekend in New Jersey, so we used the trip as an excuse to visit Manhattan.  Well, I used it as an excuse to visit Manhattan and made Michael and Atticus come along. :)

Our flight was supposed to leave at 12:20.  We had delay after delay and finally got on the plane about 3:30, only to sit on it until 5:00.  We arrived at Newark International Airport at 7:15, about five hours after we were supposed to.  Atticus performed superbly on the plane.  He ate, slept, and played quietly in my arms.  When we landed in Newark, there wasn't a gate for us, so we had to sit on the tarmac for a while.  Everyone on the plane was incredibly pissed that we had yet another delay, so when Atticus started screaming to let him off the damn plane, no one really minded.  They wanted to scream too.

David, one of our friends, was kind enough to pick us up at the airport and take us into Manhattan.

Michael and David on the way to the Empire State Building

After we got checked into our hotel (The New Yorker), we decided to grab some New York style pizza at the Famiglia across the street. It was fantastic. Even though it was already after Atticus' bedtime, we decided to walk to the Empire State Building to have a peeksie at the city after dark. I knew he'd sleep terribly anyway, so it was worth it.

The Empire State Building

Waiting to go to the top of the Empire State Building

at the top of the Empire State Building

The view was amazing! It was definitely worth the $20 admission.

The next morning, after a very crappy night of sleep for all of us, we took the subway to our Circle Line Tours boat ride around the island of Manhattan.

On the boat tour of Manhattan

NYC from the water

Seeing the city from outside was awesome, as was seeing the Statue of Liberty and all the bridges into the city.

Lady Liberty

The Brooklyn Bridge

On the boat tour

After the boat tour, we walked back to the subway station to take a ride to Central Park. Man, I love Central Park. It was just like it is in the movies.

In Central Park.  This picture was not staged.  I love it. :)

On the carousel in Central Park

After Central Park, we went to the Time Warner Center and to Times Square.

Times Square

We were so tired at that point (about 3pm) that we decided to go back to the room to give all of us a break. It was about 95* outside, and we were miserable from the heat and walking around so much. We rested until dinner time and ended up eating at the TGI Fridays across the street because we were too tired to walk to a restaurant that wasn't a chain.

We came back to the room and rented the Lincoln Lawyer on PPV in the room. I had been reading the book on my kindle and wanted to know what happened at the end, so I convinced Michael to pick that movie. Of course, I fell asleep (not a testament to the movie - it was fantastic!), and Michael won't tell me what happened. I need to read faster.

We woke up early on Saturday morning because we had to catch the train to New Jersey for the Bar Mitzvah. Michael messed around all morning, and we missed our train by two minutes. The next one wasn't for an hour. I was PISSED. PISSED. We had to take the train to Newark Aiport, rent a car, and drive 30 minutes to the temple for the Bar Mitzvah ceremony. We showed up the ceremony late, of course. I hate being late.

The ceremony was very interesting, and the party was way better than any wedding I've ever been to (aside from our own). I didn't take my camera to either. :(

Atticus - Three Months

Height: 25" (I think - I measured him myself).
Weight: 15 pounds, 9 ounces (wearing a diaper and a onesie.  I weighed him at my mom's post office).

Diapers:  Atticus is still in cloth diapers.  No disposables and no diaper rash for this boy!

Sleep:  The boy likes to sleep on his belly.  What can I say?  He takes after his parents.  He can roll from his back to his belly, so I stopped swaddling him and started letting him sleep on his belly.  He usually puts himself to sleep within 5 minutes for naps and at night.  Aside from the three month growth spurt (which was a week early and total pain in the ass), he takes a couple naps a day, falls asleep around 9 pm, and wakes to eat once or so around 3-4 am.  He's up for the day between 6:30-8 am.  I almost threw him out the window during the growth spurt.  Seriously.  He woke up FIVE times between the hours of 11 pm and 6 am THREE nights in a row.  I was a walking zombie.  It was worse than having a newborn.  

Eating:  He's still exclusively breastfed!  No formula (or cereal) for Atticus, hopefully ever.

Clothes:  Atticus is wearing mostly 3-6 month clothes.  He has a couple of 0-3 month items that still fit. 


This month, he rolled over from back to belly for the first time.  He's only done it twice.  He has started paying attention to the TV when it's on in the den.  I know he doesn't really know what's going on, but it has caused me to watch what I'm watching, and to not have the TV on as often for background noise.  


We spent our first full weekend on the boat on Memorial Day weekend (4 nights!).  Other than taking more than an hour to go to sleep a couple nights, he did great. 

We got an Ergo carrier to add to the Moby for babywearing.  At first, he hated it.  I did not buy the infant insert, and he was a little too small for it.  After wearing him in it a few times, he changed his mind.  He loves it! I usually wear him in one of my Moby wraps when we're at home, and I use the Ergo when we're out and about running errands or if we're going to be outside.