Big Boy Car Seat

A couple of days ago, we finally bit the bullet and bought Jackson a big boy car seat. His feet were hanging off the edge of his infant car seat and I knew it was time for an upgrade. My awesome sister had done some research on what some of the best car seats were right now, so that helped me in deciding which one to choose for Jackson. I knew I wanted a 3 in 1 so that we wouldn't have to buy a booster seat later. With all of that in mind, I went with the Graco Nautilus 3 in 1 car seat. It is very safe and I was really happy with the Graco Infant seat we used for Jackson, so I knew Graco was a good brand.

He just got to try it out for the first time last night! He did really well in it and I think he liked being able to see what was going on, now that he's front facing.

(I took this picture with my phone and the flash was really bright, which is why his eyes look like he is about to fall asleep.)

My Sister-In-Laws "Girls Night In" Birthday Party

This past Friday night, we celebrated my SIL Amie's birthday with a "girls night in" at my MIL's house. My MIL, my SIL Amie and her 3 girls, my other SIL Liz and her daughter Bella and I were all there to celebrate. We had "healthy" foods, a few drinks, we did facials and watched Mirror Mirror!

It was a super fun night! Here are a few pictures. (You can click on any of the collages to view the pictures bigger)

Here is the food! My MIL made my SIL a bouquet of little liquor bottles. She got the idea on Pinterest. She also made some yummy chicken salad that she put in little filo dough cups! They were very very good. Then she made a caramel/cheesecake dip, in place of a cake, that we dipped apples in for dessert. She also had some fruit and veggies and some caramel and chocolate rice cakes. The food, though healthy, was all very good.

Facials! As part of Amie's gift, my SIL Liz got her a Clarins facial mask. We all tried it out! :-) Don't we look beautiful? Ha.

Dance Party after watching Mirror Mirror (which was a really cute movie BTW). The girls were all wound up, and apparently so was my MIL! Ha!

We had a super fun night!☺

I'm also linking up with Embrace the Camera today! Click on the picture below to find out what Embrace the Camera is all about!

Oh How Pinteresting Wednesday! Mickey Mouse Edition

I'm linking up with thevintageapple.com for Oh How Pinteresting Wednesday today! I thought I would share some of my pins for Jackson's first birthday party! I am planning on having a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse themed party for him in our church's dining hall! We will be inviting all our friends and family. Though I'm not ready for him to be one yet, I am looking forward to planning his party. We are having the party on his actual birthday, Sat. Oct. 20th! Here are some of my favorite pins.

First things first, the invitation. I thought this one was really cute!

I thought we could easily make one of these signs to go out by the church driveway.

I thought this table decor was super cute.

I thought something like this would make super cute centerpieces.

I really love this banner and could easily make this using my cricut!

And we'll need some red, black and white pom poms!

I also want to make a little photo banner of his first year, somewhat similar to this one, but using the Mickey Mouse colors and little Mickey Mouse heads for the numbered months.

I thought it would be cute to have all the little kids where Mickey Mouse Ears!

 And they can color this cute Mickey Mouse color sheet.

I think we'll probably have hamburgers and "hot dog hot dog hot diggity dogs" for lunch and then have some cute mickey mouse cupcakes for dessert.

And some Mickey Mouse shaped oreos.

or these cute suckers.

And for Jackson's smash cake, I thought one of these bibs would be perfect for him to wear.

For gift bags, I thought this was a cute and easy idea.

I also thought these would be cute to pass out as a favors.

So those are my ideas so far! I can't wait to get started working on his party! I can't believe he'll be one in a little over 2 months! Time is going by WAY too fast!

Car Shopping

For the last couple weeks, we've been doing some car shopping. My car's service engine soon light has been on for several months now and we've had it checked out and it came back as being the transmission. The last guy that tested it said it could cost us anywhere from around $700 to $4000 depending on the problem. Since its a 2005 with 150,000 miles on it, we think its probably just best to trade it in.

We are wanting an SUV that gets good gas mileage. I drive around 30-45 minutes to work and back every day, so gas mileage is important to us. I also want slightly more space than what I have now with my Pontiac Vibe. 

We've test driven 8 SUV's.

Kia Sportage: 22/32 mpg

Kia Sorento: 21/29 mpg

Mazda CX-5: 26/35 mpg

GMC  Terrain: 22/32 mpg

Honda CRV: 23/31 mpg

Chevy Equinox 22/32 mpg

Hyundai Tucson 22/30 mpg

Ford Escape 22/31 mpg

There were certain things I liked about all of them, so its so hard to make a decision.

So in the next few weeks we have to make a decision on which car will work best for us. I would love any reviews you all might have. We can use all the help we get as we want to make a good decision.

Jackson's 42 Week Pictures!

Jackson is 42 weeks old now! Only 10 more weeks until he turns 1 year old! I can't believe we are that close to one already! :-( Time is going by way too fast!

I don't have much to report this week. He's walking all over the place and getting into everything! We have baby proofed the house by putting in the electrical outlet protectors and we've always had gates up to keep him in whatever room we want him to be in. I've had to take down almost all the pictures that I had sitting out in our living room because he is so tall that he can reach the top of our entertainment center and the end table. :-(

He tried a few new foods over the weekend, some small bites of grilled chicken and a couple bites of licorice. He loved both of course!

He's got his 2 top front teeth all the way through now and seems to be a little happier. I'm hoping we'll get a teething break for a while. 

He slept all the way through the night last night!! He went to sleep at around 9 and didn't wake up until around 6:15 this morning. I gave him a bottle and then he fell back asleep until around 9 this morning!! This would be a perfect sleep schedule for us. Oh how I hope it continues (but I'm not getting my hopes up for that). I have a feeling he's been sleeping better the last couple of nights because the teething pain has subsided for now. :-)

Saturday, Jackson started giving me hugs! He's never really done that before. He'll give kisses from time to time, but never hugs! Its the sweetest thing EVER! He comes over to you and lays his head on your leg or if you're down on the floor he'll lay his head on your shoulder and even say awww! It melts my heart! I just love this little boy of mine so much!

My Papa's 75th Birthday Party

Last Saturday we celebrated my Papa Reg's 75th Birthday. We had a party at Hatfield and McCoys Restaurant for both him and his twin brother Ronald. :-) You would never know he was 75 as he's in such great health! I'm so thankful for my Papa Reg and love him so much. Here are a few pictures from the party. :-)

My Papa on the left and his twin brother Ronald on the right. :-)

The cakes.

My Papa opening his gifts.

Family at the party.

My Papa's 7 grand-kids and 3 great grand-kids.

A few pictures of my Dad with his grand-kids.

We had a great time celebrating with my Papa Reg and his brother Ronald. :-)

Jackson's Favorite Things

These are just a few things Jackson is loving right now. Its so cute to see how much he likes certain things at such a young age.

Of course, he loves birthday cake. We give him little bites of our cake at birthday parties and he loves it!

He's gotten really attached to a blanket. It doesn't really matter what blanket, just as long as he has one.

Playtime.

He's just started to have an interest in books recently. I'm going to have to get him some more.

Sips of Papa's soda! 

Veggie Straws are a favorite snack of Jackson's.

Now that he can walk, he wants nothing more than to be down and walking around.

He loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Wonder Pets, and Backyardigans!

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