Never Ever Ever

I am linking up with the above-mentioned ladies for
NEVER EVER EVER....

And I will
Never, Ever, Ever...

1. give up coffee. It just wont happen. I become a raging you know what
and lets be honest no one has time for that.

2. {unless I am PG or BF} would I turn down a glass of red wine.

3. will I like the Tory Burch Revas.
I just don't see how everyone says the are so comfortable.
They are THE most uncomfortable shoes I have ever put on my feet.
The Caroline's are where its at.

4. does a day go by that I don't worry about my child in some capacity.

5. will I take motherhood for granted.

6. will I turn down a poolside vacation with fruity umbrella drinks.
And let me define vacation for you...
Vacation-no kids.

7. will I turn down a sunglass shopping spree.
Not like that has ever come up in life but if it did I wouldn't turn it down.

8. will I be a reader.
US Weekly is the most reading you will get out of me.

9. will I be night person, or morning person.
I am just there.
I got to bed at 9 and wake up and go straight to the coffee.
I am a day person who needs a nap by noon.

10. does kisses from my sweet toddler get old.

Who I Really Am...

There are so many things about myself that I would love to share but I don't want to bore you with all the details.

So, let me to get down to the nuts and bolts of what I am all about.

I am a true Florida girl.

If it drops below 70 degrees I am freezing.

I love the hot weather here.

I wear and have my sunglasses with me at all times.

I am a sunglasses snob.

Sunglasses to me are two-fold, they protect your eyes from the sun for one, and secondly they make a great fashion accessory.

I am constantly on the prowl for new glasses.

Since the Florida sun rays can be your friend or your worst enemy,

sun protection is a must.

I am a huge advocate of sunglasses (not only as a fun accessory, but as a great way to protect your eyes), large brimmed hats, and cover ups.

Not only do I love the Florida weather,

but I love Florida State University.

Go Noles!

I graduated from FSU with my degree in Social Work.

Do I work the Social Work field now?

Ha!

Of course not!

I am a hardworking Paralegal by day, Loving Wife and The World's Best Boo-Boo Kisser by Night.

I love all my jobs.

But I must say the latter two have some pretty cute bosses.

Great perks of the job.

I work from 6:00 a.m. until shut eye.

My job is never complete.

I have been married for 5 years to a great man who I love dearly.

He is my rock.

He knows how to keep my in line and keep be going.

We share something pretty fun.

Our sense of humor.

It's dry.

And we are hilarious.

We are constantly laughing and having a good time.

 

Did I mention we make some pretty cute babies?

Well, we do!

Our son is 2.5 years old.

To say he is the light of our lives is an understatement.

He means EVERYTHING to us.

Since we decided we rock at this parenting thing (hahaha) and make some pretty adorable kiddos, we decided to have another.

I am currently pregnant with our second child.

I am in love with newborns and sweet little babes,

so I can not wait for the arrival of Baby E number2!

After all the boo-boos have been kissed, pleadings filed, and my husbands love tank filled I try to blog.

I am the voice behind Nap Time Is The New Happy Hour.

Since I am chained to my desk during 8-5 and then under house arrest from 5-night night time

I decided to start taking up blogging and share my thoughts, stories, fashions, and other crazy antics with the whole intranet.

Blogging is my hobby and while I love it, my family comes first.

 

When Two Together As One

I am here to tell you about two gems in the Tampa Bay Area that I bet you didn't even know about.

They are two companies that do amazing work and even work together on occasion.

And when these two collaborate, boy do they make some gorgeous work.

I am here to introduce you to Christina Higman Photography and Birdie Baby Boutique.

They are both located in the St. Pete area and not only do they create amazing pieces of art in their own sense,

they are personally two of the sweetest and funniest women I know.

 

Christina Higman Photography is a natural light photographer who works with families, babies, children, high school seniors, maternity, and well just about anyone or anything. She actually did the photo shoot for the contributors of Tampa Bay Moms Blog which turned out amazing! She just has that natural eye.

The Birdie Baby Boutique is an Etsy shop owned by the talented Katy.

Katy creates little masterpieces that go on your head.

Yep, she creates gorgeous headbands for little girls and even their mommies.
 

 

Aren't these headbands the cutest girl accessory?!

Birdie Baby Boutique headbands are a must have for that girly girl in your life.

Now, I told ya that they created some pretties when they work together.

Christina takes gorgeous photos and Katy from Birdie Baby Boutique makes the best headbands around and they are right here in the Tampa Bay Area.

Make sure you check them out.

Here are the links to check them out...
 

Christina Higman Photography Website

Christina Higman Photography Facebook

Birdie Baby Boutique on Etsy

Birdie Baby Boutique on Facebook
 

Make sure you go like their Facebook page to keep up to date with what these two have going on.
 

Family Sun Protection Tips

Hi!

I am so happy to be here and want to talk about something close to my heart today.

Sun Protection.

 

With a sister who died from melanoma I want to make it my mission to educate people about sun protection.

Not just the obvious things like use sunscreen and tanning beds are your worst enemy, but other

products out there that you maybe wouldn't necessarily think of that you can use to keep your family safe.

We only one one skin.

When our skin gets old and wrinkley too early, we can't just go buy "new skin".

What we need to do is protect the skin we already have. And as parents, we need to start when our kiddos are babies.

Yes, babies. The earlier the better.

The sun can be very damaging to your families skin and you need the right tools to protect your families skin from those harmful rays.

With spring here and summer right around the corner I wanted to do a post to help you and your family keep those harmful rays off of you and your loved ones.

1. Sunscreen-

The higher the SPF the better. I personally buy Neutrogena and Aveeno for my family. They are not harsh to the skin and work amazingly well.

2. Sun Shirts-

These are my favorite beach attire.

Not only does it work as a shirt but it also keeps the sun off their chest.

It is a shirt that has SPF. Even though it was as a sun protection you still should put sunscreen on them. Just in case. I get my son's sun shirts from Target and Old Navy. Old Navy has a great selection of cute and trendy ones.

3. Kids Sunglasses-

Enough said. Sunglasses help protect their eyes from the sun. And not only do they protect from the sun but those baby aviators get them every time. So cute!

4. Sun Hats for the Kids-

The key to these are the back and side flaps. The extra flaps help keep the sun of their ears and back of the neck. My favorite brand for these are from iPlay.

5. Beach Tent-

This is by far the best beach invention. They are normally easy to put together and big enough for your whole family. You can spend all day at the beach or under the sun if you have one of these. It is a great place to get out of the sun and rest. If you dont have one of these I would highly recommend getting one. Espeically in this Florida heat.

6. Floppy Hat-

Again, great accessory but also great for keeping the sun off of the face. Which in turn helps keep wrinkles away. Totally invest in one of these if you don't already have one. I got a cute one from Ann Taylor Loft.

7. Cover Ups-

Not only do coverups keep the sun off of you they also hide some of those areas of our bodies that we want to keep...hidden.

I can't tell you how many cover ups I own. Its a ton! I buy a lot of mine from TJ Maxx.

8. Sunglasses-

Like the kids, these will help protect the eyes from those harsh rays. My husband's go to sunglasses are his Costa Del Mar's.

9. Hat-

Guy's dont have too many options besides sunscreen, bathing suit and a shirt but a hat like a baseball hat will help keep the rays off his face.

So who said that sun protection can't be fun and fashionable?! Not this girl. The most fashionable thing about sun protection is that you will be cancer free. I don't know whats better than that!

Now go scoop up the kids and slather some sunscreen and follow these simple tips and hit the pool or beach!

It's A....

I took off a week of blogging to truly taken in all this baby stuff.

This will be my last baby...at least that is my plan, maybe not God's plan though.

So, since this will be my last pregnancy I really wanted to take everything in.

Including staring at the sonogram pics and reading all the books and bump updates.

What exactly is that little babe doing in my belly this week?

This past Monday we found out the sex of Baby E #2 and I could not be more happy!

Since I can't possibly hold in the news any longer....here it is....

and....

I have always felt like I would be a boy mom.

I don't know why I can say that, I just felt like I would be a good boy mom. 

And now, well, I am going to be an all boy mom.

Yes, if God had given me a sweet girl then I would have been happy with her as well, 

but to me, a house full of boys just makes me smile.

I am saying that now but not sure what I will be saying when they are teenagers

eating five meals a day and being all hormonal on me.

Ill get back to you on my take on boys in about 10 years ok.

Come October we will be welcoming sweet baby E into our lives

so be on the look out for lots of boy talk around these parts.

Arsenal

I have an arsenal.

I keep it tucked away so the Tot can't get into it.

These secret weapons are dangerous and I don't want them getting into the wrong hands.

Do you want to know where I keep them?

If I told you, I would have to kill you.

But I can let you in on a little secret.

They arsenal is kept in the kitchen somewhere at the highest possible point.

It is tucked way back so the weapons aren't easily triggered.

Now, one might think that I am actually taking about real weapons,

like guns, knives, and whatever else there is.

But I'm not.

Im talking about secret weapons to use when my Tot is bored, or acting up and I need a quick fix.

My arsenal consists of 

Lollipops (a.k.a. suck-a's), M&M's, Fruit Snacks, 

Pez of all characters, 

and really any type of candy you can think of.

I am not ashamed.

I do what human nature calls for.

It's called Survival Of The Fittest.

Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

Sometimes I pull out the arsenal for good behavior,

bribery, and quite time.

The Tot sure doesn't mind and wonders where where all these goodies come from.

They just appear out of thin air but he doesn't ask questions he just snatches the suck-a right from my hand and says "Thank You Mommy".

At least the kid has manners when he is being bribed.

So, tell me Mama's,

do you have an arsenal?

What is in yours?

I'm linking up with Mandy from A Sorta Fairy Tale for The Mama Memoirs.

I Didn't Even Know...I Have Hypothyroidism

This second go around of pregnancy is just different.

When I was pregnant with C it was so easy.

For the first 30 weeks I did not have any symptoms, no morning sickness, no nausea, no tenderness,

no heartburn, no anything really.

But come 30 weeks I was huge.

I was a big sweaty pregnant girl.

I was miserable.

And hot.

You see my torso is very, very small so there isn't much space for my babies to grow.

So my belly just grows outwards.

It looks like an alien took over my body.

Oh and I can't forget my random wake up calls at 4 AM.

I couldn't sleep past 4 AM.

It sucked.

So after having my sweet face the largeness or my torso of course went away,

I no longer had nasty heartburn, and I had a sleeping pattern of a newborn.

After the newborn stage was over and things started to level off,

I became overly exhausted.

Every time there was an option to take a nap I would.

When I was home with C during the weekends I would take a nap every time he did.

Now, I love sleep, like a college kid ok.

So I really didn't think much of it.

But by 8:00 PM on a day I took a nap I am complaining to my husband how tired I am.

And if I didn't get a nap on the weekend, forget it.

I was terrible cranky.

Not only was I so tired feeling all of the time but my hair was falling out like crazy.

So of course I hop on the Google to find out that post partum hair loss is normal.

And now I have a little kiddo to take care of so of course I am extra tired.

It was not until the 10th time, that my hair girl told me I needed to go get my blood levels checked

because my hair loss a year later is just not normal.

I was losing too much of it.

As much as I love pain, I kept putting it off and putting it off until one day I had really bad stomach pains (doesn't relate to my exhaustion or hair loss) that it made me go to the doctor.

Since I was there I figured I might as well get my blood levels checked.

I told him I was beyond tired all the time and my hair was falling out like I was using Nair as my shampoo.

They did my blood work and I told them to call me if anything looked suspicious.

I never got a call back.

It wasn't until my 6 week check up this pregnancy that they caught something in my blood work.

They said I have hypothyroidism.

Of course I had no clue what that was and jumped back onto the Google only to get freaked out.

My poor itty bitty baby is in jeopardy and I didn't even know it.

I felt helpless.

I felt tired.

But after they diagnosed me with hypothroidism it all made sense.

I did a lot of research and asked a lot of questions and my excessive sleeping, hair loss, and weight gain all made sense now.

My OB said they only check the thyroid levels on patients 30 years and older.

Great so not only am I pregnant, I'm OLD, and have hypothyroidism.

So, I could have had it when I was PG with C but I highly doubt it.

I just didn't feel like this when I was PG with him.

It wasn't until post partum that all the fun symptoms started to kick in.

So, now back to the original doctor that I went and got my blood work done because of my hair loss.

I was curious to see if I had it back then, which would be almost a year from now.

I called and of course it took them a MONTH to get the labs back to me.

I kept calling and calling and got the run around.

I hate that.

There is nothing more annoying to me than someone not doing their job properly and now I'm having to suffer because of your.

Not cool.

Anyways, I finally got the labs and my thyroid levels were QUADRUPLE of what they are supposed to be.

I never got a call or anything.

I was walking around with hypothyroidism being untreated for almost a year!

My blood was boiling when I found this out.

Just pure negligence on their part.

I have learned my lesson about doctors.

They are people too and they are "practicing" medicine.

They are not perfect and they will make mistakes.

Hopefully its not a life threatening mistake, but they do make mistakes.

So, after you get any sort of lab work done, call and get the reports yourself.

Follow up and be the crazy lady who is relentless.

Its your health.

Who cares what they think.

You should get your labs back every single time.

Someone may miss something and its at your expense not theirs.

I am now on medicine to keep my thyroid in check and the baby healthy.

I am starting to feel less tired.

I think.

Some days are worse than others and I just hit a wall.

My body will get super cold and then it will just hurt.

To the point where it hurts to move.

The OB doctor said everything should be ok for me and even better news, the baby will be ok.

I have always been a healthy person so this was quite the scare for me.

Remember to get your blood checked and get your labs back.