It's a FRIDAY FAVORITE kind of DAY!

Hi Everyone!

Happy Friday! Today is Friday Favorites! I would love for you guys to comment about some of your favorite things! I love to hear what other people love!

1. Baby Braithwaite: So there is this AMAZING store in Atlanta called Baby Braithwaite. Yall-this store is EVERYTHING. One of my dreams is to own a baby store. When I think of what I want my store to be-I cannot help but think about Baby Braithwaite because they do everything to perfection. Everything from the clothes, to the huge stuffed animals, to the decor, and the amazingly pleasant staff. I LOVE everything about this store! I actually got the opportunity to go in this morning and help the owner do a little special project. While I was there- I learned that there was 20% off everything in the store. I am like a kid in a candy store in that place. I came out with 3 different pieces of clothing for my sweet Grafton to wear for Christmas. 

So I ended up buying him some corduroy red pants. Every little boy needs corduroy red pants at Christmas time and for UGA games! Then I got him this super cute navy dog sweater and a light weight long sleeve shirt with the firetruck! These outfits just make my heart want to melt! I literally want everything in this store, but for the sake of my marriage and bank account-these 3 pieces were all that I got. Yall seriously need to follow them on Instagram/ Facebook and go check out the store if you haven't! LOVE THIS PLACE!

2. Chad Cone: Yall this man is my best friend and partner in life. I would be so lost without him. I always tell him if something happens to him. I will pack all my stuff, sell our house, and move in with my parents because I would be so lost in life. Of course- he would never do that. He is much braver and has greater life ambitions! It is Chad's birthday this Sunday! Grafton and I cannot wait to celebrate him all weekend long! He works so hard every day for us! We are so appreciate of him and his life/birthday! Make sure to send him some birthday love on Sunday! Grafton and I love you! Thank you for being the best husband and daddy! Love you Chaddy!

What is on your Friday Favorite list this week???

Happy Reading!             

Homemade Toys that were a HIT!

Hi Everyone!

I am here to tell you...those reading with babies are small children. Why do we as parents even buy toys for our children? My child would be much happier with my iphone, computer, remote, magazine, or a box. Grafton loves music and anything that makes noise. I decided since he loves to play with Tupperware containers that I should just put some stuff in them. So he and I did just that!

I found these fun items in my pantry. I figured the different sizes/shapes would give each little shaker a different sound. Sure enough-this boy had a BALL!

He loved to play with an empty cup and the box of shells. I noticed that he liked the medium shells shaker the same. Probably because they were the biggest. BEWARE: it was the loudest! Maybe why he liked it the most! :) 

We also made these cool bottle shakers! I went to Target and got all of the stuff to make them. They turned out super cute!

Everything you need! Bottles, water, baby oil, fun things to fill the bottles!

I found cute Halloween stuff in the dollar section at Target. Your girl is on a budget now that I am home full time with Grafton. It was the perfect spot to get a few things. I found cute little plastic spiders and a can of plastic dinosaurs. I bought the fuzzy balls, googly eyes, feathers, and the little gems.

 All you have to do is have an empty bottle. Pour about 1/2 of the bottle up with the baby oil and fill the rest with water. Insert whatever you want into the bottom. We made a Halloween one and then a fun one. The Halloween one has spiders, googly eyes, the gem beads, and we put green food coloring in it as a fun extra. The other bottle we made  was dinosaurs, fuzzy balls, and the gem beads. 

Important Tip: Make sure to hot glue the cap onto the bottom to keep from baby unscrewing it or water leaking out! 

Happy Reading!

The BEST Fall Cookie EVER!

Happy Monday Everyone!

Friday is the start of fall! I personally cannot wait! I love when leaves change colors, it's so cool that you can leave the back door open so Sophie can go in and out, football is on all weekend long, the crockpot comes out once a week for soup/stews, and my most favorite-PUMPKIN EVERYTHING! I typically do not cook with pumpkin any other time of the year with the exception of fall. I have hit the JACKPOT of pumpkin this year! 

I recently was reading the blog BAKER by NATURE whom I am obsessed with! She had a Chewy Cinnamon Chip Pumpkin Cookie recipe! As soon as I saw it-I knew I had to make it! I changed a couple of the rations of the ingredients just a little!

The best part about this recipe is that it is so easy to make and throw together if you need to take a special treat somewhere,give as a gift, or take to a tailgate! The ingredients are super simple also!

Trusty Assistant!

My trusty assistant also wanted in on the action of baking today. Unfortunately, he didn't need these butter and sugar filled cookies. He got his own cookie of spinach, apple, and kale! They are made by PLUM Organics! They are seriously SO good. He loves them!

Back to the baking-  The hardest part of this entire recipe was finding cinnamon chips. It took me a while to find them. I finally found them at my Target. However-when I went back to get more....they weren't there anymore! So if somebody sees them somewhere-let me know where you find them!

The BEST part about this cookie recipe besides the taste is that this cookie dough does not have to refrigerate for an hour or two. You simply make the dough and scoop it out onto a pan!

 Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
16 tbs butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cup of light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 tsp Vanilla
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 1/2 cups cinnamon chips

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. I used two baking sheets that I had lined with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice in a medium to large size bowl. 
3. In a kitchen aid beat the softened butter until it is smooth. Add the vanilla and sugars and beat until fluffy. You don't need this on high speed. Add the pumpkin puree and beat until it is combined. Very carefully fold in the flour mixture into the wet ingredients a little at a time. It is best to use a spatula for folding in the flour. Fold this until you can barely see the flour anymore. This took a little longer than expected for me. Don't over work the batter but know it will get there one day. Finally-fold in the cinnamon chips.
4. I used a medium cookie scoop to roll the dough into balls. Make sure to leave room in between each cookie on the cookie sheet. They will spread out quite a bit.
5. I baked my cookies for about 15 minutes or until they had darkens on the tops and edges.

 I seriously cannot wait to make these cookies again! Somebody else cannot wait either....

Happy Reading!

Favorite thing Fridays!

I have decided that since Fridays are already awesome! I am going to make a Favorite things Friday list every week. Until I run out of favorite things! Might be a while!

For the first Favorite Fridays list I am going to be talking about food. Everyone loves food right!?!?!

1.  Cookies: Now I have recently discovered these amazing cookies. No, they are not new. No, they are not a new brand. When you have a child browsing through the grocery store doesn't happen as often anymore. This new obsession comes from the brand Immaculate. This particular brand did not start too long ago but have taken the market by storm. Scott Blackwell is the maker of these amazing cookies. I blame him for still not being able to fit back in my pre-pregnancy pants. This brand is certified organic, gluten free (Does anyone really know what this means? I know its a type of flour? As far as I got on my research), and non GMO. They make a variety of cookies, brownies, and crust. I have only gotten my hands on the refrigerated cookies thus far. However-I am looking high and low at other places for the box brownies. I ABSOLUTE favorite are the Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies. It says to cook them for 14-18 minutes. HOWEVER-I am a half cooked cookie kind of girl. And DON'T mess it up. So about 11-12 minutes are the perfect time for myself! Chad and I ventured SO FAR this week and decided to buy the Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. They were definitely good, but I liked my chocolate chip ones better!

2. Cinnamon Rolls: While I am still thinking about sweet things that our Good Lord blessed us with, I will tell you about the second favorite sweet item that I always have in my refrigerator these days. Annie's Cinnamon Rolls. Yes-I switch back and forth from Annie's and Immaculate all the time. This company is also organic and has been around for awhile. They have stormed the grocery store scene also. I buy their mac and cheese all the time also. Grafton loves it! Anyway- Yall these cinnamon rolls are so delicious. They should totally be on that show on Food Network- The Best Thing I Ever Ate (Refrigerator Edition). Something like that. They have the best gooey center of any brand of cinnamon rolls I have ever had. My brother and my dad love cinnamon rolls also. We have eaten lots in my lifetime. They are really "sturdy" if you will, around the outside of the cinnamon rolls. I don't know how you eat your cinnamon roll, but the proper way to eat one is to untwist the entire cinnamon roll until you are left with the golden prize, THE MIDDLE! The icing for these crazy things are so delicious! Yall HAVE to go try some of these! There are only 5 to a pack. So buy two cans if you are sharing with someone! ;)

3. Coffee: The perfect way to round out this Friday's Favorite Things list is to eat cookies, cinnamon rolls, and drink your coffee while you stuff your face! I really love coffee. I drank it every morning before I found out I was pregnant. Then I stopped cold turkey. I didn't want to have caffeine while I was pregnant. Totally my own choice and to each his own. I quickly began to miss it, especially those early mornings going to school. I began to start bring decaf before long. I really enjoy all coffee but my all time favorite coffee is at Fresh Market. It is the Butterscotch Caramel Bliss. Sweet bliss it is. Every time I buy it the check out person is always like, "This coffee smells so good. I want to drink it but I don't like coffee." Although I am still breastfeeding I do enjoy my cup of coffee every morning now!

Caramel Butterscotch Bliss! THE ONLY LEGIT SUGARY COFFEE!

I hope everyone enjoys their Friday and Labor Day Weekend!

Happy Reading!

To be organic or not to be organic?

I feel like this is the new age old question: to be organic or not to be organic?. I obviously want what is best for Grafton and for him to be healthy. We are approaching the 1 year mark rather rapidly. Too rapidly in my opinion. Chad and I have started discussing what kind of milk that we want to buy Grafton. I am honestly leaning towards buying him organic milk. I really have no reason because I haven't done extensive research or anything. I plan on doing that soon. I would love to hear opinions or what you guys do for your family and why!? Please feel free to comment.

Introducing Grafton to the Blogging World

I will most likely be spending lots of time writing about my 9 month old son Grafton. I wanted to introduce him to the blog for those of you who are reading, but do not personally know him.

This is my beautiful little guy, Grafton. He is actually Charles Grafton, but Grafton is the name we decided to call him. I told my husband that I would never call our children anything other than their first name. Being a school teacher to young children, I see that they get a little confused or bent out of shape when you call them by a name they don't usually go by. It can be a little confusing to little ones. However-we decided Charles Grafton sounded better than Grafton Charles. Isn't that so silly? Anyway- Grafton's name came from Chad's (my husband) great great grandmother. It was her last name. We loved it so much that we decided to call him Grafton. Charles comes from a whole line of men on Chad's side of the family. Chad is also a Charles. 

As I was planning the nursery for Grafton, we decided that we would like to go with navy and grey for his bedroom/ furniture. Lots of people started gifting us with stuffed animals that were elephants. I loved the idea of elephants being a type of accent detail around his room. Chad and I learned later from his grandmother after Grafton was born that Chad's great great grandmother, whom Grafton is named after, also collected elephants. She collected these little figurine elephants. We learned that the superstition was that the elephant trunks are suppose to face the door at which guests arrive through into the room. It is supposed to bring happiness and prosperity into the home. I thought that was the coolest coincidence. So if you have any elephants in your home, face them towards the door! :) 

Our awesome little guy loves to crawl all over, stand up, eat, and is the happiest baby I have ever been around in my entire life. He has this amazing laugh that makes anyone he is near within ear shot laugh and feel so good. He is very busy! We are in a constant rotation of toys, moving rooms, and inside/outside all day long. Grafton hates to sleep though. So calling any mommies with advice on this topic. Help a sister out! 

Stay tuned for updates on our sweet little monster!!

Happy Reading!

Old Habits Die Hard....

The title of this post could not be more true. Seeing that I go a year or more/less without posting is insane. A lot has changed since that last time I blogged. I am actually hoping to keep it up this go around. I actually did have a baby, not go back to teaching, and am now juggling being a stay at home mom plus doing some other business ventures can take a toll on your girl.

Grafton is getting older now (WHAT!? I know...just a novel thing). I find myself wanting to express myself to more than just my 9 month old child and my 3 year old 4 legged child (Sophie). I started this blog when I went to college in hopes of allowing my family to keep track of my journey through writing. However- if you go back through my achieves, it won't take you long to see that I was not good at keeping up...hence again the title of this post. As little writing as I have done in the past- I hope to focus this blog more on to mommy life, food, and a cool discussion board about mommy life and being a stay at home mom. I will also use this blog as a means to discuss my new business adventure: selling Arbonne products. Let me know if you would like to learn more about this...I will be posting other posts about Arbonne at a later date.

I hope all you readers enjoy my posts upcoming. Please hold me accountable this time! :)