Touch Up Tuesday

I found this easy tutorial for converting your pictures to black and white. So I thought I'd give it a try. I really love picmonkey and use it for all my photo editing now, so I was happy to see she used it in the tutorial. Its always fun to learn new editing techniques.

I just love it when babies smile around their binky!!

I'm linking up with:

Jackson's 43 Week Pictures!

43 Weeks!!!

I can't believe how fast time is flying by! I know I say that every week, but its true. I really can't believe it. Jackson turned 10 months old yesterday! I just can't get over that he's 10 months old already! He's such a big boy and he's just so much fun. I'm really loving this stage. He's so inquisitive. He has to see everything thats going on and be right in the middle of it. 

He's still eating great, walking better and better and learning something new every day it seems like. 

I love my sweet little boy so much! He's such a blessing.

See his two front teeth! :-)

And just for fun... here are a couple pictures I took of him yesterday on his 10 month birthday!

And the Winner Is...

 A 2012 Chevy Equinox!!

After test-driving 8 different SUV's and a few days of comparing them against one another, we ultimately decided on a 2012 Chevy Equinox! (To see which SUV's we test drove, click here.)

The Chevy dealership by our house had a huge inventory of 2012's and they were priced to sell because they were getting the 2013's in soon. So in going to that dealership, we were able to get all the things I wanted and stay slightly below our price range.

So here are a few pictures of my new car! I love driving it. It drives very nice and has so many fun features.

The color is called Gray Stone Metallic.

 

It has a touch screen stereo, a back-up camera and blue-tooth connectivity. It also has a sun-roof and an automatic start (which will come in handy this winter).

Foto Friday

The theme for Foto Friday today is "window". Happy Friday and I hope you all have a great weekend!

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!