September Favorites 2014

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Happy October 1st everyone! I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am for this month. It is literally my most favorite month of the year!

Today I thought I’d hop on real quick before we begin out Gilmore Girls marathon on Netflix and our Halloween decorating, to share with you some of my favorite things from September. Because as much as I love October, September was a pretty great month as well.

First up, one of my favorite things about Fall is all the new scents! I love scouting out what new scents come out each season.

Some of my favorite scents right now are Acadia Sweet Vanilla & Pumpkins by Air Wick & Pumpkin Pie Dinner by Glade. (I also came across a Cashmere Woods scent by Glade as well that I only passed on because it didn’t look like it was limited edition like these others. It’s definitely on my shopping list for this Winter though!)

The past week or so I’ve been using the Pumpkin Pie Diner wax melts and I have been amazed at how much scent one of those little wax melts packs! One fills up almost our entire house! (Maybe my Scentsy cubes are just old, but they don’t give off nearly as much scent as these ones from Glade?! I am still using my Scentsy warmer though).

And those scented oils will be getting plugged in down in the basement and upstairs… just as soon as I can find my holders for them! We still have some unpacking to do around here!

(Note: To find these scents in stores, look for a Limited Edition display on the air care isle. That’s where I found them at our local grocery store.)

Second, I am really enjoying the book The Brainy Bunch: The Harding Family’s Method to College Ready by Age Twelve. If you are a home schooling parent or even just someone interested in different ways to educate, this is a great read! Love reading about their philosophies, experiences, etc. So much great information!

I actually picked this up at Barnes & Noble a couple days before I had Chayse and have slowly been making my way through it since then. It’s taking me a while, not because it’s a hard book to get through, but because it’s hard to find longer than 2-3 minutes to read each day with everything else that’s going on. 🙂

Looking at this photo also reminds me of another favorite thing, my leopard print coasters from the Dollar Store! So cute and useful!

Third on my favorites list, is our new car seat cover for the baby girl from Ivory Kate! I ordered this limited edition cover right when they came out and I about died when it arrived. So gorgeous and well made! Plus, it’s a thicker material so it will be perfect for winter!

I don’t believe you can order these anymore (I think only like 3 or 4 were made) but what you can do is follow Ivory Kate on Instagram and Facebook to see if the owner ever does another set. (Side Note: The owner of Ivory Kate, also has an Instagram account called latewithkate where she shares random tidbits about life and she is hilarious! When I’m up late nursing Chayse, her account is one of the first I check!)

Fourth, are these ridiculously addicting and yummy Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups from Trader Joe’s. When we went to Pittsburgh for Chayse’s appointment with the Ortho Specialist we were right by a Trader Joe’s and decided to stop in real fast for a couple things.

The store was PACKED and crazy busy so we literally ran in and out, but I did manage to grab a couple things on my list…and these delicious things! If you ever find yourself in a Trader Joe’s, grab these and then thank me later! 🙂

Fifth, are these garbage bags from Glad that neutralize odors with Febreze freshness. Maybe I’m late to the party but I seriously am so excited about these and I came by them on accident.

I purchased these really fast one day on Amazon because they were a good price and we were out of bags for our kitchen. When they came and I opened them I was really surprised by the scent they had. They smelled SO good! (Like I wish you could smell through the computer screen good!) I hadn’t realized I had purchased ones with any thing extra on them, I thought I’d bought just plain old garbage bags.

I’ll definitely be watching for another deal on these to pop up. I mean, now that I know these exist…not so sure I can go back to the regular ones! (Especially when the price is comparable!)

 
Last on the list for this month is this Chevron Chenille Throw from Kohl’s that I was able to grab for around $5.00! (Reg. $50!) We have slowly been putting our house together little by little. And while we want it to feel warm and inviting, we also don’t want to invest too much in things just for this home because we will only be here another 8 months. 
Enter the accessories! I love blankets scattered around our home for the fall and winter months and this one was perfect for this little area. 
That sums up my favorites for this month, well a few of them any way! I also want to put together a post of New Mom Must-Haves and a post of Favorite Baby Items and so I tried to stay away from those categories! Hopefully I’ll get those done sometime this month as well though. 🙂

What were your favorite things in September? Please share in the comments below! I love hearing about other things people have found and love! 

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This post contains affiliate links and sponsored content. All opinions and comments are my own though and I only share things that I personally use and love.

Are You Beautiful?

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I am Brave and Beautiful – a beauty movement that is sweeping the globe. Colbie Caillat started it with her recent song and video called TRY. My blogging friend Megan of Brassy Apple wanted to push this movement along and invited women from all over to share what they looked like without make up and I joined in!! Colbie’s song says, “Take your make up off. Let your hair down… Look into the mirror at yourself, Do you like you? Cause I like you… “

Megan and her friend Cobi of Peacefrom6pieces have been the team behind this whole project. Their worldwide vision included creating their own video inspired by the song TRY. The talent of Robbins Creative made it possible for them to pull it off. You have to click play and see the beauty and bravery displayed and you might even recognize a few faces in there.
Me along with 101+ other blogging women from different backgrounds, religions, ethnicities, ages, shapes and sizes have decided to be Brave and Beautiful! You can join in this movement too by sharing what you look like without makeup on. You don’t need a blog either! Just tag your photo with #IamBraveAndBeautiful on Instgram and search the hashtag to see who else has joined in. ALSO, if you tag it with a second hashtag – #ColbieTRY we just might be able to get Colbie Caillat’s attention since she was the inspiration behind it all!
Are you brave and beautiful? I am, here I go!

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Holding my daughter Chayse the day she was born, July 11, 2014.

When I first heard about the Brave and Beautiful project, I immediately knew I wanted to take part. As I thought about what I wanted to share, two experiences came to my mind. The first took place a couple weeks after my daughter was born this last July. 

I was looking through all the photos we had taken the day she was born and I hesitated at the photo above and then quickly passed over it deeming it not “social media worthy”. Why? Well, because on any given day you can look on Pinterest, Facebook & Instagram and see other moms with their new babies looking a whole lot more put together. Their hair is perfectly curled and cascading just right, their makeup is impeccable, they have cute pajamas on, their baby is in a new adorable onsie and wrapped in a super cute luxurious blanket, there are floral arrangements from friends focused just right to the side of them, etc.
Comparing myself to those photos, all I could notice was that while I had showered my hair wasn’t done, my makeup wasn’t done, baby girl was still in the hospital onsie and blanket, the lighting was awful…want me to go on? I was so stuck in the comparison trap that I was forgetting the joy and beauty of that night when Chayse was finally released from monitoring and I got to have her in my room and hold her as much as I wanted. How sad is that?! 
Sure, I looked tired in this photo and the lighting is awful, but you know what I brought that little girl in my arms into the world just a few hours earlier and that took work! HARD work! And it was scary, and intense, and it took more than I thought I had during some of it, but I did it! (With the amazing help of some doctors and nurses of course)! Our little girl was safe, healthy and finally in my arms. 
That’s what I should have been focusing on and remembering when I looked at that photo. How strong, brave, and truthfully amazing I was during her delivery. Not how my photo doesn’t compare to everyone else’s.
With my son Titan in Disney World
(May 2014 | 36 Weeks Pregnant and no makeup because I just did not have the energy!) 
The second moment is from a few years ago, I was sitting in a conference/lecture and the speaker 
caught me off guard by asking me directly, “Are you beautiful? Are you pretty?” and then she waited for a response in front of the other 100-120 attendees. You know, nothing like being put on the spot. All around me I had people very nicely and politely whispering, “Say, yes. You should say yes.” 
What was my response? I really wasn’t quite sure what to say, so I said, “Well, I guess it depends on who you ask?” To which she replied, “Because you know in some cultures you could be too skinny, right? Or in others too fat? And some might think you are too pale, while others might think you are too tan. It’s all about perspective….” (And then she transitioned into something else probably about how at any given moment we can change our perspective and change our attitude).
Looking back on that experience, my answer should have been “YES! Yes, I am beautiful.” And that should be the answer we all have any time anyone asks us that question or even any time we look in the mirror and ask ourselves that question! 
That’s the way I know I want my daughter to answer that question as she gets older. No matter her hair color, weight, makeup expertise, the labels on her clothing, etc. I want her to always be able to say “Yes, I am beautiful.” without hesitation. And I want her to know that she is beautiful because she is one of a kind, because she is a daughter of God and because she serves and loves others. Of course, the first step in teaching her that is to model that behavior myself. 
So… “Yes, I am beautiful! Yes, I am brave!” 
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share your natrual beauty - brassyapple.com
Don’t stop here. Get clicking around – its a blog hop! Below are more brave and beautiful women bearing more than their natural beauty. They each have a little bit of their heart to share with you. Some get very personal. Some share stories. For some this was very hard to do yet they gathered their courage and did it anyway. We hope as you click around (and YES pin these different posts!) you will feel the importance of it, the empowering effect it has and that it encourages you in some way.

>>>>>>>Important info! Blog Hops often have glitches the first day. If the link has an ERROR, simply click on the HOME button for each site, or google the blog name next to the link, and you should see their brave and beautiful post there. Links will be updated as soon as possible.<<<<<<<<<<<<

women sharing their natural beauty - no makeup
women with our makeup on and what makes them beautiful
women from around the world share their face with no makeup on - BrassyApple.com
Mommy bloggers share their face without makeup and what makes then beautiful
Natural beauty untouched photos
raw natural beauty - join the movement
beauty and bravery - women wearing no makeup - Brassyapple.com
#colbietry #iambraveandbeautiful
Ready in join in? Snap, hashtag and share! Tag @BrassyApple and @Peacefrom6Pieces if you can too!
Also follow our Bravery and Beauty PINTEREST board for more inspiration!

Baby Girl Has A New Fashion Accessory | Hip Dysplasia and the Pavlik Harness

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Chayse wearing the Pavlik Harness (10 1/2 weeks old)

As you can see from the photo, baby girl has a new fashion accessory! 🙂 For those of you that we don’t get to talk with very often, I thought I’d do a quick blog post about that fun new accessory. That way when pictures start showing up on Instagram and Facebook, you all aren’t wondering what in the world happened to her.

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Because Chayse was breech, her pediatrician recommended that at one month we do an ultrasound to double check that her hips are forming properly. (Hip dysplasia is more common in babies who are breech because of how they are sitting and growing in the womb). At that time (and at birth) her hips were not dislocating, popping, clicking, etc. (all the usual signs of hip dysplasia) but if there is an issue, it’s MUCH easier to fix at this age than later on when she’s older. That’s why they like to do the ultrasound just to be sure.

I took Chayse in on August 8th to the East Children’s Hospital location in Monroeville and at the end of the appointment was told that if we needed to do anything, we would hear from our pediatrician. We never heard anything, so we figured no news is good news. 
Then, on September 12th, I took Chayse in for her 2 month check up. At the end of the appointment they asked if I had any questions, I said no and the PA was actually half way out the door when I remembered the ultrasound. I quickly asked, “Oh yeah, her hips? That all checked out ok, right?” To which the PA looked in the chart and then excused herself to go look into it. Apparently they hadn’t even received the results yet?!? So glad I thought to ask or we probably never would have gotten the results!
The PA (Physicians Assistant) came back into the room, told me they didn’t have the results yet and that they were on the phone with the Radiology department and would call me with the results, good or bad, but the end of the day. Well, later that day I got a call from the doctor and he left a message saying he would call me on the other number he had for us. I immediately figured something must have shown up on the ultrasound otherwise he would have just left a message saying everything looked great. 
The other number is Broc’s number and so he spent a few minutes on the phone with the doctor and we learned that Chayse’s hip joints are shallow. Not a major issue right now, but could be a big issue as she starts walking, etc. So, another appointment was scheduled for her but this time with an Orthopedic Specialist at the Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh.

We took Chayse to that appointment this last Monday, September 22nd, and after hearing that it had been five weeks since the last ultrasound, the Nurse Practitioner (NP) immediately requested another ultrasound be done. A lot can change in a growing baby in that amount of time. (Of course, we had called in the week before to see if that would be beneficial, but never got a call back…) Thankfully, since we don’t live in Pittsburgh, they were able to move some things around and they got us right over for an ultrasound and the NP waited over in Ortho for us and the results. 

Quick picture before we went in for the appointment. I wanted one last picture of her this age/size and not wearing the harness.

She could probably tell that at this point I wasn’t too thrilled with the Children’s staff and their follow up capabilities since they can’t seem to send results over in a timely manner or even return phone calls. I will say though, that while everything leading up to this appointment was ridiculously handled and very frustrating, they were fantastic at the actual hospital and did everything they could to make sure similar things didn’t happen again. And for that I am very thankful! I would have been really upset had they told us we had to come back another day for another ultrasound and follow-up, especially since I had called in twice and left messages trying to set up an ultrasound in advance in an attempt prevent that issue and be proactive on our end.  

Getting the second ultrasound. During her first ultrasound they had us bring her hungry and then feed her a bottle so she would be occupied. This time around, we didn’t have a bottle but luckily her fingers kept her occupied. 😉

Any way…after the ultrasound, we walked back over to Ortho and there was the NP with a Pavlik Harness in her hand. SHOOT! I was hoping and praying they would say the ultrasound looked awesome and there was no need for the harness. 

Turns out, her left hip looked perfect but her right hip was still shallow. Not wanting to take any chances, the NP recommended that we do treat her. I mean, the hip could fix itself on it’s own given more time, but it could also not do that. So better safe than sorry. I think the actual statistic is that 98-99% off cases similar to Chayse’s resolve on their own, but you never know if you’ll be that 1%. And if you can fix something, why not fix it?! 
The treatment for hip dysplasia like Chayse’s is wearing the Pavlik Harness at least 22 hours a day for 4 weeks. Then we will do another ultrasound and see if more time is needed. After the first 4 weeks, what will probably happen is she will go to just wearing the harness for another 4 weeks but only part-time instead of full-time. (Or there is a teeny tiny chance they will say she can be done completely with the harness…which is what I’m hoping for). 🙂
Once the NP went over the treatment with us, we were shown how to fit Chayse into the harness and then we were done with the appointment. Truthfully, we were both surprised how much she can still move in it and while she did get upset when it was being put on, I think that was more from being tired and having lots of people moving her around and examining her all day than from the harness itself.

Amazing church we passed driving to and from the hospital. I seriously could admire the architecture here in PA for days! So much history! 

Our appointment got out right during rush hour, so we passed some time at Trader Joe’s and Panera Bread and then made the drive back to pick up Titan from our friends…and Chayse slept through pretty much all of it! 🙂

Well, that’s it for this novel of a post. Next week I’ll try to do a follow up post with how she’s doing, anything we’ve had to change since she’s started wearing it, etc. More of a “Day in the life…” type post. 
PS: Two things I want to remember, it was so great that Broc was able to go to the appointment on Monday with us. For his schedule to work out like that is REALLY rare. It was really nice though to have him to help drive, fill out paperwork, talk with while we waited, etc. And I’m VERY grateful for some friends of ours who watched Titan from 12:00-8:30 while we were gone. That is a long long time to have someone else’s kid. 🙂