Real Life with Mason

Y'all, my husband is an incredible photographer and he always captures some amazing pictures of us and others. But I gotta tell you, sometimes our little guy could care less about the camera. And even then, my husband still manages to catch some great pictures of him. Love love love! In the midst of dirty laundry on the ground, diaper genie being played with, pajamas being worn...this is real life. 

"See my straw, Dad?"

Blurry Selfie with Dad! 

Love this little boy so much and the man behind the camera even more! 

Our Fourth Anniversary!

We celebrated our 4th Anniversary on 1/1/15. I cannot believe that it has been 4 years! What fun we have had! 

Wedding Day 1/1/11:

1st Anniversary 1/1/12: 

2nd Anniversary 1/1/13: 

3rd Anniversary 1/1/14: 

4th Anniversary 1/1/15: 

This year was super low key for us. I worked some that day and we just hung out. That night we went to dinner at Golden Corral and it was so good! Mason and Matt brought me flowers. 

It was a fun night with my guys! 

A few days later after we put Mason to bed, Matt cooked steaks and we had mashed potatoes and yeast rolls and molten chocolate cookies. We watched a movie and just snuggled. It was nice!

You saw above our 4th anniversary pic, here are some more pics from that day. We have been taking this style of picture every year. It super cheesy and we love it!! 

Here's to a great year! 

When those unexpected blessings come...

Y'all, last Tuesday was probably my worst day in the last 14 months of being a Mom. Before I go on, let me just say, I know that those days come and will come again and I've moved forward. :)

But, just to recap. We have been dealing with some sleep issues with MMM, crankiness, and it kind of all came to a head that day. He cried, I consoled. He fussed, I tried to help. He misbehaved, I yelled. It was just rough. Matt got home and we discussed it all. We gave lots of love to our boy. We went to bed and said "Tomorrow is a new day". And lo and behold, I woke up Wednesday and went to work for a bit. On the way, I talked to a dear friend who gave some good advice. I felt refreshed just from the beginning. 

When I got home, Mason and I played a bit and headed out for the morning. It was fun walking around Target and going to story time at the library. 

On the way home, we stopped by the grocery to pick up 4 items that we needed. We got in line behind an older couple. We smiled and they smiled back and I started talking to the lady behind me who had two children. When it was our turn to check out, I noticed the cashier was putting the groceries through but the lady in front of us wasn't moving yet. I was confused but I just waited. As she moved, I walked forward and the cashier said "That couple paid for your groceries" I was shocked and was able to hold my tears until we left the store. 

Y'all, that was just God saying "Life is hard some days but others, it's just amazing." 

Thank you, Lord, for closing out 2014 with an extra blessing and the promise that 2015 will be amazing. We love you. 

Influenster: #FrostyVoxBox {Review}

Just two days before Christmas, I received my Frosty VoxBox from Influenster. It was like Christmas, for real!! Here's what I received:

Boots No7 Perfect and Protect Serum
NYC Expert Last Sugar Plum Lip Color
Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Decaf Green Tea
EcoTools Hairbrush
McCormick Gourmet All Natural Thyme
Fruit Vines Strawberry Bites
Rimmel London Gentle Eye Make up Remover
Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal Eyeliner

I know, I know...excellent box!!

Here's what I thought about each item:

Boots No7 Perfect and Protect Serum
I haven't used this product yet but I'll try to update when I do. 

NYC Expert Last Sugar Plum Lip Color
I enjoy wearing make-up. In fact, before I became a Mom and stayed home several days a week, I wore make-up most days. Now that I'm home more, I don't put make-up on each day.  However, lately with the cold weather, my lips have been rather dry so even on days we are home, I have been wearing lipstick, gloss, or chapstick to keep them from cracking. When the NYC Expect Last Sugar Plum Lip Color came in the FrostyVoxBox I immediately loved the color. I was still a little nervous how it would translate on my lips because let's be honest, you never really know. I was quite pleased with it because it is the perfect shade and very similar to other shades I wear already. I've had it in my make-up basket for a couple of weeks now and I would say I've worn it most every morning. Yay for new lipstick! And also, the price point on this is GOOD!

Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Decaf Green Tea
I do not usually enjoy many mint flavored things so I had Matt drink this tea just so he could give an honest opinion. His thoughts are that it's a great tea for daily drinking. It isn't too strong or overpowering which he likes. It is a refreshing tea with the peppermint taste but the mint didn't overwhelm the actual tea flavor. Overall, he enjoyed it. And I personally, love Celestial Seasonings Teas. They are my preferred tea for sure. 

EcoTools Hairbrush
I was super excited to try this brush because it looks like such a great brush. When I used it for my own hair, I didn't love it. I have super thick hair and it just didn't brush through my hair thoroughly. However, I tried it with my son's hair and it is perfect for him! I really like love the way it brushes his hair easily without being harsh. I think that anyone with thinner hair could use this brush easily. I just don't think it's great for thicker hair or at least not mine.

**Edited to Add a picture of Mason with the brush. It isn't the best picture but this boy LOVES the brush!!**

McCormick Gourmet All Natural Thyme
Matt and I are big fans of using various spices to add to our favorite dishes. We have used thyme in the past but not in a long time. The day we received the box, I had some turkey in the fridge for burgers so Matt cooked up a great recipe using the thyme. The burgers were perfect and the 1/2 teaspoon of thyme added just the right touch to the burgers. We will use this thyme often for soups and casseroles, I'm sure! 

Fruit Vines Strawberry Bites
Y'all, these are so dangerous. They were kind of like twizzlers but better! The flavor is excellent and they are just the perfect size to eat a ton of them without realizing it. Haha! They are the perfect movie/evening snack at our house! 

Rimmel London Gentle Eye Make up Remover
This product made me screech when I saw it in the box. I love love love this product and I've used it for years. It removes ALL eye makeup of any kind with one swipe. It isn't oily, doesn't irritate my face, and it only takes a small amount to get all of my eye makeup off each night. I highly recommend this to anyone. In fact, I got my Mom hooked on it about two years ago and she's never looked back! 

Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal Eyeliner
Rimmel products make me happy as evidenced by my love for the above product. :) This eyeliner was no exception. It goes on smoothly and doesn't smudge. The only thing that I may do differently when I purchase again is get a brown color versus a black eyeliner. I like the black for some days but it isn't a everyday eyeliner for me.

Thank you, Influenster (and partners) for the excellent products! You rock! 

I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

Wal-Mart Beauty Box

Several months back, someone told me about Wal-Mart Beauty Box and I knew I had to check it out. You can sign up here! The basic run down is that it's a free beauty box that contains various beauty items and ships for a flat fee of $5. You get one box each season. I signed up initially in the fall and although it was late fall, I still got a box. A few days before the official beginning of winter, my debit card was charged and I received my box on the first day of winter! Here are a few of the items I received in my winter box and if you order now, you can get them, too! Note: These are not referral links. I just want to share the fun! 

Also, I received sample sizes of the bottled items but it's still plenty to be able to try the items out to see if you want to purchase further. 

Maybelline Color Sensations: here

L'Oreal Paris Hair Expertise Shampoo and Conditioner: here

Jergens BB Body Perfecting Skin Cream, Light tones: here

Olay Fresh Effects: here