1st Birthday Party Reminicising.....come walk with me!! :)

Where has the time gone??? In preparing for Croix's 2nd Thomas the Train themed birthday party. I started reminiscing on his progress over the past year. Two weeks after his first birthday he started walking and now he is running around and jumping off everything fearlessly, lol. All the words he has learned, the sentences he can say clearly, he's in the process of being potty trained.......he is just growing up so fast right before my eyes *TEARS*, lol. I held the party in my hometown of Chicago, so it was his first plane ride from DC. Which was extremely interesting. I had everything I could think of with me in preparation for the worst. I so did not want to be one of those parents with the screaming child on the plane. Luckily for me Croix did very well arriving, returining......mmmmm.....it was so-so! lol. He kept wanting to touch and talk to the person sitting next to us with slobby wet hands. I had to keep offering the man wipes and apologizing, lol. Glad he was understanding. Also there is the situation of flying with a child in your lap. All babies less then 2 years old can ride for free in your lap. Now, that's great for some, but here were the challenges I faced.

1. I'm 6'2!! Before having Croix my goal was to always sit in the exit rows on all flights. All tall people can relate to this. When you have babies with you, say bye bye to the exit rows. Your back to stiff knees.

2. Croix at age one was already the size of a two year old. So just imagine my big self in a seat with a two year old on my lap in a window seat.......yeah not comfortable

3. Now picture Croix not being able to sit still......now picture us both trying to sleep..........lol.

4. Beverage Time! I think I will order a ginger ale....."Thank you, ma'am" now go to set it on your tray.......Tray?! What Tray? You have no room to put the damn tray down....now your holding your drink and trying to hold a baby that keeps slobbing on the person next to you. HAHA!

Extremely challenging but when we finally arrived it was so worth seeing all my family and friends. I had so much funny designing and planning his first birthday party and I can't wait to have his 2nd party next month. I thought I would share with you a recap of his 1st Sesame Street Soiree party. <------Click there. Enjoy :)

XOXO,

Mommy & Son Date Ideas

I love doing things with Croix. I like introducing new things to him and exploring new things myself. Its important to keep that mother son bond strong. Getting to know your kids as individuals and learn there personalities is key I believe to having a successful and healthy relationship with them as they grow. I made a list of things I wanted to do with him before he was even born (Yeah I was a pretty excited, lol). My list is pretty damn long let me tell ya! I even broke things down into seasons HAHAHA! But I wanted to share a few general ideas with you mommies out there as inspiration to take your son(s) on dates. I am all about making memories. Have fun! :)

At Home:

• Have a picnic (indoors or out)
• Explore outside
• Play catch
• Practice soccer skills
• Build a fort in the living room
• Craft day
• Movie night at home
• Play hide-and-go-seek
• Build a puzzle together
• Play board games
• Bake some sugary goodies
• Dig in the dirt
• Water fight
• Have a dance party
• Go on a treasure hunt
• DIY project
• Play wrestling (although watch your nose its very fragile and will bleed easily, trust me!)
• Cook together
• Color in coloring books.
• Read together

Out and About:

• Miniature golfing
• Play football
• Go to a kid movie premiere
• Have a lunch/dinner date
• Play basketball (we do this in the house too, lol)
• Play at the park
• Go out for ice-cream
• Take a bike ride
• Visit a toy store
• Visit the zoo or local museum
• Go to the beach
• Go to a sporting event
• Go for a long drive
• Art class or pottery
• Go to a bounce house
• Shopping trip
• Visit a book store and pick out a few new books

If you have any other fun date ideas I would love to hear them. Feel free to comment and share. :)

VOTE FOR CROIX TO BE ON THE COVER OF PARENTS MAGAZINE!

 

Hey everyone,  I entered Croix in the 2013 Parents Cover Magazine Contest. Click on the link below and VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!!!!! Please and Thank you :)

 

http://www.parents.com/photos/parents-cover-contest-2013/2013-04-15/wy3d

 

 

My 1st Aquarium Visit

Some friends and I took Croix to Aquarium in Baltimore a few weeks ago for the first time. Our first stop was Bubba Gump's on the harbor.....OMG it was great. Croix really enjoyed his mac and cheese and all the food on everyone else's plate, lol!

Next stop the Aquarium. He was really amazed. His two favorite words throughout the whole visit was "Ewwwww" and "Whooooaaa" lol! And his cute little finger was pointing at everything. Here are a few candid moments of our trip.

 

This was a huge stingray.

 

It was feeding time in the tank. He took a break to wave to Croix.

 

Look at his reflection in the tank, priceless!

 

Dolphins.

 

Jellyfish.

 

In the sharks mouth, lol!

 

He was trying to reach for the monkey's. Thanks Tina for being his guard rail, lol! 

 

It was a great trip and we had a great time. Thanks to my friend for the candid shots. Unfortunately, we don't get too many of those being that its just us. I'm always the photographer.

 

xoxo ;)

 

 

Easter Decor & Fun

So I totally don't feel bad posting my Easter recap late, considering the fact that Easter is always in April soooooooo, lol. Easter was so much fun. Between decorating, Easter treats, making baskets and Easter egg hunts I don't know were to start. But let me attempt.......First I decorated of course :)

 

 

 

Then I made Easter treats for Croix's daycare friends...

 

 

THEN I made Croix's Easter basket and prepared our eggs for our Easter hunt...

 

I put stickers, crackers and a few pieces of candy (mostly for myself, lol) in the eggs and then I put alphabet letters on them and had our little own alphabet egg hunt. When we finished finding all the eggs I planted around the house we put them in order and sang the alphabet song :)

 

Croix's Easter Basket:

Bunny Ears, Elmo Potty Coloring book, 8 Jumbo Crayons, Cars Keys, Bunny Cookie, Mr. Froggy and an Iron Man glow stick.

 

 

THEEEEENNNN Croix put on his Easter outfit and we hit up the town for our other Easter egg hunts.

 

I believe this about sums it all up, lol! Extremely eventful day.

 

 

Happy Belated Easter XOXO,

 

 

 

 

 

Valentine's Day Decor

Ok......don't kill me I waaaayy late with this post, but I had to post it. I recently added working out to my already hectic schedule and literally pass out even faster, lol. I wanted to share my holiday decor with you guys. I switched up my gallery wall a bit and added a few new pieces. I love it, I think I may add a few more things but I have to be inspired.

Valentine's Day was great! I took Croix out on a a date to this really good Mexican restaurant, I made homemade heart donuts for my co-workers and Croix made the cutest card at daycare. What can I say I'm a lucky mama :)

Here is old layout

 

and here is the NEW layout

 

and WHAALLAA......

 

 

 

I made this Valentine's Mailbox, so we can make Valentine's and "send" them to each other, lol! :)

 

isn't my little card cute!!!

 

in the words of Croix "Mmmmmm YUMMY"

 

 

 

xoxo ;)

 

 

 

Cookies n Cream Cupcakes Recipe

As promised here is the recipe for my Cookies n Cream Cupcakes. I got this idea of these cupcakes from Pinterest (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE PINTEREST). Pinterest is just a happy place to be, HAHA! These cupcakes are SOOOOOOOOO good and the icing is just EVERYTHING!! I can't even explain how good the icing is, you just have to make them. A lot of you have asked me for the recipe so here it is. I made these for my potluck at work and they were a hit! Hope they are as good for you as they were for me, lol.

 

Cupcake Ingredients: 

24 Oreo halves, with cream filling attached
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 2/3 cup sugar
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup milk
20 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped

Icing Ingredients:

8 oz. whipped cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners' sugar sifted
2 tbsp. heavy whipping cream
Oreo cookie crumbs
24 Oreo cookie halves

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Cupcake Directions:

Preheat the oven 350F. Line the cupcake wells with paper liners. Place an Oreo halve in the bottom of each liner cream side up. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir together with a fork and set aside. In another large size bowl combine butter and sugar and beat together on medium speed until fluffy for about two minutes. You can use a mixing spoon for this too if you don't have a mixer, but I promise you your arm will get TIRED, lol! Blend the egg whites one at a time, beating or mixing well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, beat in half of the dry ingredients just until you incorporate everything together pretty good. Add the milk and beat just until combined, then mix in the remaining dry ingredients. Gently fold in the chopped Oreos with a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated, being careful not to over mix.

Evenly divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting Directions:

Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium size bowl and beat on medium-high speed until smooth for about 1-2 minutes (or you can use a mixing spoon but again your arm will be TIRED, lol....TRUST ME). Add the heavy whipping cream to the bowl and beat on low speed or mix just to incorporate the cream, whip or mix until creamy.

Frost the cooled cupcakes as you like. Sprinkle the Oreo crumbs and garnish with an Oreo halves and BAM!!!!! Your done......ENJOY!!!

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Take pictures of your creations and send to llovescinc@gmail.com and I will post them on my blog. Can't wait to see them :)

YO GABBA GABBA!!!!

YO GABBA GABBA, YO GABBA GABBA, YO GABBA GABBAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.........Ok now that I got that out my system, lol. Croix and I went to see Yo Gabba Gabba : Get the Sillies out and it was a GREAT SHOW!!! Highly recommend it to all parents. It was colorful, the music was fun, there was lots of dancing. We went to the Modell Performing Arts Center in Baltimore, MD. They had paper confetti shooting from the ceiling, bubbles being blown. It really was a great show. All the kids were super excited including Croix. I can't wait to take him to see other shows like this. He really enjoyed himself and so did I, seeing him happy makes me happy :).  Enjoy a few photos from our show.

Posing for mommy in his Yo Gabba shirt

 

Getting settled waiting for the show to start. Pretty good seats huh?

 

 

HEYYYY DJ LANCE!!!

 

Can you see the confetti?

 

 

 

Check out Croix getting is groove on