Aveeno review

I was sent the Aveeno Positively Radiant Targeted Tone Corrector to try out thanks to Influenster. I love Aveeno lotions, but have never really tried any of their other products. I also have never tried a tone corrector.

The product claims to help fade dark spots and uneven tone. I wanted to use it for a few weeks before reviewing to see if I noticed any difference. Overall, I didn't notice any change. Luckily, I don't really have any dark spots, but I do have some uneven skin tone where areas are redder.

While it didn't really live up to it's claims for me, it did feel smooth going on. It wasn't sticky like some products and it has a nice, light scent. I used it both morning and night and it didn't affect makeup at all. I was worried at first that it would make makeup more cake-y, but it didn't.

Most of the reviews on it are pretty positive in regards to fading dark spots so if this is something you struggle with, I'd say it's still worth a try since it's only around $15. It may just be better at that than fixing the skin tone unevenness.

Growing up

As we're getting ready to welcome out baby girl into this world (a little over 4 weeks!!), we've been reflecting on how much has changed in the last year and a half. It's hard to believe E was just a little baby so recently when he seems so grown up now. On one hand, it feels like we just had him, but on the other I can't even picture our lives without him.

He's always been in a hurry to get out of each baby stage. He was over his swing/bouncer by about 2.5 months, started crawling early, and quickly swapped to walking. He's always trying to grow up too fast for us. There are only about 2 things he does that are "baby" like: snuggling with his teddy bear and wanting to hold our hands when walking. He is soo happy when he gets to hold both mine and J's hands and will walk with his little hand outstretched until he has us both. It's the cutest thing ever. He's fearless and confident the rest of the time always in a rush to try new things and push himself.

The everyday things that E does constantly surprise me. It's amazing how much kids learn and change in such a short amount of time. Our morning starts out with him (usually) happily babbling and talking to his teddy bear, then downstairs for breakfast. In the last week he's added his first "chore" because he'll feed the dog while I make him breakfast. Then we have play time until lunch/nap. E loves to pull every toy out normally, so we've started a system where we have things organized by type and he can't pull out more until we put the other away. The first few weeks were rough since he didn't understand really, but in the last week, he's already starting to help me put the toys away. Don't get me wrong, he's still a toddler so it's far from perfect. Some days there's still toys everywhere, but it's a work in progress and I'm trying to teach him good habits now.

When he's hungry, instead of just getting crabby, he now says "unch" for lunch (doesn't matter what meal lol) and heads to the gate at the kitchen. He's still eating pretty good, but goes through stages now we're he won't eat much. I think it has to do with teething since he's getting a ton of teeth lately. When it's time for bed, we say ready for bed and he heads up the stairs to the bathroom (for vitamins and teeth brushing). When he wants to go outside, he brings us his shoes and says bye bye. Now if he could only learn to listen when I saw "no"...

It's so weird to really be communicating with him. All his new words are adorable and his understanding of us is incredible. It's so cool to see someone who a little over a year ago couldn't do anything on his own become so smart and independent. I can't wait to see how he handles having a baby sister. And hopefully she isn't in as big of a rush to grow up as he is. Since she'll likely be our last, she needs to take her time.

Feeding Zuker

Chaos

Life with a 1 year old is never predictable. Some days (like yesterday) go super smoothly. Lots of playing and having fun and happiness. Then there are days (like today) that are completely exhausting. E has been a crazy jumble of chaos today. If there's a way to get into things, he will.

This is partially my fault. After a breakfast of eggs, I gave him 2 mini donuts. He doesn't usually have sweets in the morning so I'm gonna blame the sugar.

So far today he has: cleaned out the toilet with the scrub brush (I'm usually really good at keeping the bathroom door closed), gone in the closet to grab an umbrella and try to bash the tv and speaker, threw a tantrum because I took away the umbrella before he could break anything, tried to lift his ride on motorcycle onto the entertainment center, ripped his diaper off, dumped my water on the carpet, climbed all over the furniture, unhooked the bottom of the baby gate, and reached over the gate to grab the lid off the trash to put on his head. All of this as I'm right next to him...that kid is quick (well and I'm slow right now with only 6 weeks left to go).

This looks like a good hat.

And this is just what I can remember. He's full of energy and mischief. We've also done multiple somersaults and played basketball to try to wear off some of this energy, but he's still running around in circles. Normally, I would take him to the park or outside, but it's WAY too hot for that. Or I would take him to an indoor play place, but as luck would have it, his carseat is in pieces since he threw up in it last night. (Note to self: no yogurt before swim class). I'm thinking once J gets home, I'll put the carseat back together and take him to open gym class at WinKids. I would do it during nap time, but I think I'll need a nap too.

What?! I shouldn't be up here mama?? 

I say this all the time, but it's a good thing he's cute. I can only imagine the kind of chaos the new baby will add to the mix. Can't wait for the craziness. 

Happy Father's Day

Up until last year, Father's Day was just another day to me. My dad hasn't been in my life for quite awhile so it just came and went. But, last year I finally got to really celebrate Father's Day since we finally had our little one. 

I'm so grateful that our E has such an amazing dad. Before we had him, J had only held a baby maybe once in his life for about 5 min where he was too scared I move. So he was definitely nervous about becoming a dad and afraid he was going to somehow break him. But once the little guy was here, he quickly became a natural. 

Their first pic together remains one of my all time faves. It shows how he instantly became a dad, totally in love with his kid. He seems so at ease holding him.

Not only is he an awesome dad, but he's supportive of me and helps with all the parenting decisions we make along the way. He embraced babywearing and wore E just about everywhere til he started walking. When I suggested baby led weaning, he let us give it a try even though it kinda freaked him out. He was my rock through the early struggles with breastfeeding and he's the calm one to tell me everything will be ok when I have those normal mama worries.

Even though he's a super busy dad with a full time job and going to school full time, he takes every chance he gets to spend quality daddy/son time together. They take trips to Home Depot, work in the garage, and wash the car. He does the bathing and nighttime routine. And he'll be the one taking him to swim classes next month. 

I'm super bummed that he's overseas this year for Father's Day and we aren't able to spoil him like he deserves. E is definitely missing his dad and gives him tons of kisses through the phone (thanks FaceTime!). We can't wait for him to get home. I'm excited to see what the future brings and how he handles being a dad to a little girl. 

Also a shout out to J's dad/E's grandpa. So happy that he has such an amazing grandpa as well. E just loves him and gets so excited when we get to see him, either in person or on FaceTime. These 3 guys are soo similar it's scary. That Mincher gene is strong I tell ya.

Toddler Travels

Every 6 months of so, my husband has to go overseas for work. It normally lasts 2 weeks to a month so I usually use this as an excuse to go see family. Neither of our parents live anywhere close to us so it makes sense that since he'll be gone, we might as well get some family time for the little guy. Well, that may come to an end after the last 2 trips. Unfortunately, he is so used to his room and routine at home, that the change completely throws him off. He seems to have a harder time adjusting with each trip.

The hardest part is his sleep. He has barely been sleeping at all and nothing seems to help. He's only been sleeping maybe 8 hrs a night instead of his usual 11-12 and his napping is almost non existent. He only napped about 30-40min today. Not nearly enough. Even with that little bit of sleep, he wouldn't go to bed tonight. I think a big part of it is that he's just more aware now. He's used to his dad doing his bedtime routine and I'm sure now he realizes that his dad isn't here. So, he's extra attached to me like he's afraid I'm going to leave also. He's NEVER been the type of baby who wants to sleep in bed with us. We've tried co sleeping a few times and he has wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. But, the last few days, he can't/won't sleep unless he's in bed with me. And the second I move or get up, he freaks out.

Obviously, this lack of sleep ends up with a super cranky baby. During the morning and early afternoon nothing makes him happy. Luckily, by around 4ish he starts to deal and get happier. But it's making for a super stressed out me. I haven't really gotten any time to myself. Normally, I have a few hours after he goes to bed and nap times to get things done. The mornings and afternoons are the hardest since I'm exhausted and just want him to take a nap and he's unhappy. At night, he totally makes up for it and is super duper adorable though and it makes me feel so bad for being frustrated with him during the day. Each night, he holds on to me tight, smiles at me, stares into my eyes like he's trying to tell me something, and "sings" along with the bedtime music.

Hopefully as the days go on, he'll get a bit more used to being in a new place, but I'm not getting my hopes up. This is gonna be a long 3 weeks and I can't wait until the hubster is back so we can get back to normal.

Fun on the farm

This morning we went on a field trip to Homestead Farms in Keller with the NISD Family Involvement program. I've never heard of Homestead Farms and I've probably passed by it about a dozen times. It's definitely hidden away if you don't know what you're looking for. Ethan LOVES his books and youtube videos with animals so I figured he'd enjoy going.

When we first got there, as usual, he was pretty overwhelmed by all the people and so much going on. He kinda stood back and took it all in. But then he saw the chickens and went running over trying to make little chicken noises. He spent a lot of time just watching them, until we noticed there were little baby chicks and we got to hold one.

They had an area where kids could plant a seed. He just wanted to play with the shovel and dirt so I let him get dirty for a little while before we headed over to see the goats. As usual, he got distracted by anything with wheels. He saw the tractor and went running for it, then tried to pull it.

At first he was a little scared of the goats and kept hiding by me and wanting to be held, esp when they'd come really close to him to say hi. But once we got over by the smaller baby goats, he got a bit more comfortable. He kept pointing and squealing and even ended up petting them. I loved seeing his smiles as they would pop their heads out.

When we were getting ready to head out, we saw the hayride was about to start so we decided we might as well do that too. It was only $1 a piece so why not? Make sure you bring some singles with you so you can take a ride around the farm. He wasn't too into the hayride since he's so little, but it gave us a nice break to sit down and chat with other moms.

The farm also has a bunch of goodies to buy. This is always a fave for me since you get to try different things and support local businesses. The farm itself has goats milk, fruits/veggies, and meats. But they also have stuff from other vendors in the area too, like local honey, granola, salsas and jams. My fave was "In a Pickle" foods. They had a booth so you could try samples first-always a plus. We loved every kind we tried, but ended up buying the Apple Bourbon Cinnamon and the Lemony Pear Vanilla Bean since they were soo delicious and they had unique flavors. I also got a jar of sweet and spicy pickles for Josh. When I was checking out the store, I also grabbed some Chipolte Corn Salsa from Renfro foods for Josh. He loves his salsa.

We only ended up staying for about an hour, but we had a blast. I loved seeing him warm up to the animals and experience something new. We've taken him to the zoo a few times, but he was really little and didn't really know about animals yet. Also loved getting to meet some new people and getting some new treats from local places. I'm so glad we found out about the NISD program since it's getting Ethan used to other kids and learning with hands on play.

Here's a link to Homestead Farms
The yummy stuff we bought from In A Pickle
And the salsa from Mrs. Renfro's

Easy peasy

Every once in awhile I have some great, easy days with the little guy that I finally start feeling like I really have this parenting thing down. He sleeps in, we have good meals, we're all smiling and happy everywhere we go, etc. 

The last 2 days have been the easy days. He slept in (til 10 today!), we had lunch, did errands all over while without complaints, we danced through the store, we played at the park and the backyard, he took naps like a champ, and went to bed quickly. These are all amazing things to me since most days rarely seem this easy. 

Errands can be fun some days!

Swings and smiles

These are the days that make me think, hey maybe I'm not so crazy to be having another one soon. Maybe I will be able I handle 2 under 2 keeping some of my sanity. They are the days that make me wonder why some days are so much harder. So hard that I dream of being back at work or school so I can get some "alone" time and think I'm not cut out for the stay at home mom gig.

I wish I had the slightest idea what makes  a happy child some days and a terror child the next so that I could make them all be like this. I'm trying to brace myself for tomorrow when he'll likely be back to a crankerpants. We are supposed to get rain which usually makes him cranky for some reason. 

But for now, I'm just enjoying these happy, easy days for a change. Sitting outside as he plays at his water table, splashing happily. Cross your fingers we start getting more days like this. It's fun not going crazy for a change.

Even the dog is happy!