February Goals: Update

February Goals {Updates in orange}

1. Try out Stroller Strides & Little Gym with Trey {Accomplished trying out & joining Little Gym, didn't make it to Stroller Strides yet, also joined a library story-time group}

I bought a bundle pack for Stroller Strides on one of those "daily deal" sites back in November and I have yet to go try it out. Each week I have had great intentions. Each week something has came up and I haven't made it a priority. My blog friend, AP from I Love You More Than Carrots and her son Carter really love going and it seems like something Trey and I would really enjoy too.

I have heard mixed reviews on Little Gym so I have decided just to plan and go to the free class and see if it's something that is worth the money for Trey and I. From what I hear, it's pretty expensive and the Beach Bum household is on a much tighter budget these days. Hopefully if we love it I can find some sort of deal.

2. Lose 8 more lbs. {4 lbs down this month - 8 was clearly overzealous and I need to be more aware of that. My goal next month will reflect this. Overall I'm still feeling better, have more energy and my clothes fit better by the day}

I have had the hardest time losing all of this baby weight. And there isn't any excuse, I just have. I lost a bunch the first few weeks after Trey was born and then it stalled. I joined Weight Watchers, loved it, and then Thanksgiving came, I gained, the new point system came, I felt like I couldn't get a grasp on it. And then the problems with my mom started up (if you follow me on Twitter, you know what I am referring to). And I just let it all fall apart.

So the first week of January I cancelled my membership. Right? Who cancels their WW membership at the beginning of the year? Isn't that when everyone joins?

But you know what - I'm down 7 lbs since then!!! I'm 3 away from my pre-pregnancy weight and 30 from where I'd like to be. I'm hoping that posting this will help keep me motivated! How many days till Summer?

3. Blog More {Definitely accomplished! I blogged every.single.day this month and I have LOVED it. I feel more like the *old me* back from when I posted on my old blog, Lis Loves. I also started to comment more and more on others blogs, loved it!}

I really want to start blogging more regularly and posting comments on every one's blogs. I read them every single day on my iPhone but I rarely comment. I'm hoping to change this.

4. Get More Organized & Get on a Regular Cleaning Routine {YES! The Beach Bum household is looking better and getting easier to take care of as I organize things. I have been a laundry machine and it's really helping keep everything tidy and less of a chore because it's not piling up!}

I'm going to leave this one kind of open-ended and hopefully I will have some great projects to share with you.

5. Learn how to be more efficient at couponing and stocking up {Definitely accomplished! I got a box of 234 Pampers swaddlers diapers delivered next day to my house for $11.99! I'll have lots of upcoming posts about how to save money! I'm adding my favorite sites to the right of my sidebar under all of my favorite blogs - check it out!}

I'm so bad about running out of things and not planning ahead. I would like to only grocery shop once a month, besides fresh items each week but I know that goal is way to big for me right now. So I'm starting small. I have all the diapers and wipes I can handle thanks to deal sites, Amazon Moms and Diapers.com and I hope to start stocking up on all household items such as paper towels, toilet paper, etc. I'll share some of these deals as I find them with you.

**I'll be back tomorrow with my March goals!**

Weekend Recap

This weekend was filled with more fun than I have probably had in all of 2011 combined!

We headed down to the Outer Banks for a little impromptu vacation. JD found a great deal on a hotel room at The First Colony Inn. We've stayed there a few times now. It's an older Bed and Breakfast slash beach hotel type place. It's not super fancy like our favorite spot - The Sanderling, but the people are super friendly, the rooms are charming and the location is great!

We were a little worried because Trey has been sleeping in his crib at night since he was 4 weeks old. We packed up the pack and play and hoped for the best!

And... success! Trey went down at 8:45 and slept until 8 am the next morning. He was a little fidgety at first but didn't make one peep all night!! He's always been an awesome sleeper and this just made me even more excited to go on trips with him in the future!

We ate, we shopped, we beached, we napped, we ate some more! It was literally a perfect weekend - relaxing, silly and fun. On Sunday we went down to Manteo by the water and walked all around, exploring the the area. We enjoyed watching the boats and had an awesome lunch outside.

I took lots and lots of pictures, I know I'm obsessed, clearly...

In our room at the Inn

After hitting up the J. Crew, Gap & Gymboree outlets

Sunday's weather was simply amazing

Trey got SO excited when he saw the ocean - he is definitely my little beach bum!

The beach makes him sleepy

In Manteo on the water

He's clearly just too cool

Back home in the jumperoo

Once we got home we decided to keep the fun going and cookout on the grill and enjoy some time on our back deck!

OBX Bound

Taking Trey on his first trip to the Outer Banks!

Hoping he sleeps as well in his pack n play as he did in his car seat (with only one sock - per usual) on the way down!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Perfect Mascara?

Most of the make-up that I use I'm 110% in love with. I am loyal to my favorite brands: MAC, Make Up Forever, Tarte, Urban Decay and Too Faced. But sadly I don't have a favorite mascara.

I usually buy drugstore mascaras because I'm a weirdo and like to make sure I throw them away before the 3 months hit. But I couldn't help but fall in love with this awesome mascara sampler at Sephora last week! It's originally $40 but currently on sale for $32. It has an amazing eyelash curler by Tarte that I am LOVING! And 1 full size mascara and 9 sample size mascaras (which are all still decently sized).

I have only tried the Benefit BadGal and so far so good. I can't wait to try more! I definitely think that this is WELL worth the $32 price tag!

What is your favorite mascara? Do you think drug store mascaras are equal to department store brands?

Thursday Randoms

I don't have much - just a bunch of random thoughts for the day:

• Trey and I tried out The Little Gym on Wednesday - we LOVED it. Full Mommy & Me post to follow.

• We also started going to story time at the library - again total win! Some of our "Little Gym" friends were there. Very exciting for Trey & I both.

• Luckily my BOB stroller was not one of the ones in the stroller recall.

The day I got my car! I still love it that much!

• But I found out later today that my 4Runner was part of the Toyota recall. I'm taking my mats out asap.

• These are the bottles we use. We originally had 6 glass and then went and bought 3 plastic. The plastic are for travel and now that Trey is holding bottles himself sometimes (the glass bottles say not to let the baby feed themselves with it). Lets discuss how I didn't know you needed to change the nipple to a different flow once the baby got older. I kept wondering why Trey was getting frustrated and fidgety when he was eating. We were apparently using a Level 1 nipple (what they came with) and we should have been up to a Level 3. I went out and picked up 8 new ones today. Well worth the money spent!

• I also didn't know about these until Ashley over at I Love You More Than Carrots mentioned them! I called up the pediatrician. (Because I am a crazy-new-mom and call about everything --- Mangoes? No! Yogurt? No! Baby Mums? Yes!) It was nice to hear a yes! And be able to try something new! We started them this evening and Trey LOVES them! I thought they were pretty tasty too!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday tomorrow!! I know we are all READY for the weekend!!

{Almost} Wordless Wednesday

What I did a few weekends ago on a random Sunday night with the fam....

Giraffe Obsessions

We had dinner with JD's college roommate and his wife tonight. They are expecting their first baby - a little boy due in June! We had a wonderful dinner and Trey was an absolute angel! We all just had the best time!

When they saw Sophie they mentioned how much they both love giraffes because they are both tall and thin. This got JD and I thinking that we will order them a bunch of great baby things with a giraffe theme.

Here are some ideas that we came up with (besides Sophie, she is obviously first on the list):

I love this personalized Ceramic plate from Pottery Barn Kids.

I think these giraffe note cards would be such a sweet and unexpected gift - from Minted.

I literally melted when I saw this sweet little hat on Etsy

I am obsessed with all of the Cordy Jellycat animals and this giraffe is no exception. These are by far my favorite stuffed animals!
And I had bought this Wubbanub for Trey (along with the puppy dog one) and while Trey never took a paci - if he had liked them I'm sure he would have loved these!

I had such a hard time finding a Baby Book for Trey, I really like everything Pearhead makes and I think this book would be a great present as well!

What is your favorite gift for parents-to-be?

Have you seen any cute giraffes anywhere lately?

Spring *Need* - Tory Burch Bag

Yep, I *need* this bag.

When Trey and I went into Carter's this weekend I realized that I need a bag like this to throw just my keys and phone in places while I am carrying him. Our Carter's store is tiny so the stroller is a no-go, I hate lugging around the huge diaper bag without the stroller and a regular purse would just get in the way.

So after much ahem... *research* I found the perfect "mom" bag for Spring. Cross-body, slim, and still stylish? Sign me up!

Hopefully the hubs will agree!

Weekend Recap

Getting to Starbucks in some of his new clothes! I LOVE these pants on him!

Sleeping on Da-da at Starbucks while everyone catches up!

We had a pretty quiet weekend around here, which is nice for a change!

Friday evening we went to dinner with my Mom. Trey sat in the high chair at the Mexican restaurant and had some pumpkin in the boon spoon. As soon as he was done he was trying to knock chips over and bang toys around - it was crazy! He's turning in to such a little kid!

Saturday morning we did our usual Starbucks morning routine with our BFFs, their baby and my friend J's parents came too - they are awesome. Totally the type of parents every kid wishes they had! JD had to go work on some studying at the library (he's taking part of the CPA this week) so Trey and I went to Carter's to do a little Spring shopping.

Afterwards Trey and I came home, took a nap and then it was time to go to the BFF's house for dinner. We had amazing chicken tacos and Samoas for dessert.

As a side note: the beach bum household did not buy any girl scout cookies this year since I'm trying to lose weight. But DARN were those cookies AMAZING!! Thanks J for sharing!

Sunday morning we went back to the BFF's (I know, we basically live there - they are right down the street for anyone who is wondering!) for brunch. They had eggs, sausage, fresh fruit, homemade whipped cream, CHOCOLATE CHIP pancakes. You're hungry just reading this right? It was ah-mazing.

Trey and I headed to a baby shower this afternoon for one of my neighbors. It's her second little girl in 18 months so it was just a "diaper shower". I thought it was a little weird that she was having another shower but she is so sweet that I just hopped on Amazon - ordered her the biggest box of 1-2's and was on my way. I had a great time catching up with all of my neighbors.

We live in a great neighborhood. And by great I don't mean the biggest, nicest houses, the best location, or the most amazing yards (they are TINY) I mean it's great because not 1 day goes by that I don't have some sort of communication with my neighbors. We had our sweet neighbor B over for dinner tonight even. Her fiance is in the military so when he's gone we make sure to invite her to do things often because I know she can get lonely. Whenever I get annoyed with something about my home I realize no matter what I will never find awesome neighbors like these ever again.

So really, not that exciting of a post. But I'm still working hard on trying to post often as well as reading other peoples posts, commenting here and there as well as trying to find new blogs to read. I'm really glad that this has been one of my goals this month because I am really enjoying it!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!!! xoxo

iPhone Photo Dump

Here's what's going on in the world according to my iPhone.... which I have 6,056 photos on (yes, that's a real number) the hubs keeps threatening that it's going to crash soon. Oops.

Our Pediatrician's office gives kids ages 6 months - 5 years a book at every well baby & well child visit. How cool is that?! This is one of Trey's new favorites "Animalitas".

Mr. Beach Bum sent me this while I was at my pedicure Sunday. It just melts my heart.

Has anyone tried this yet?

Or this? I immediately tweeted these to Andrea. I know she is a loyal Argan oil user! I need to try it for myself!

See, I told you he was obsessed with this thing!

6 months going on 16...

Checking in with Sophie. Yep, still loves her!

Trey is officially sitting in high chairs when we go out now. We went out for Fro-yo Thursday night and he was so good. He loves sitting up high looking around.

The Gap has an additional 44% off all of their sale items this weekend. We found TONS of cute stuff super cheap. We have officially hit a growth spurt and I have been scrambling for clothes almost every day this week. This hat wasn't included with the sale but I just had to get it. He looks thrilled, huh?

Look what I found at Walgreens yesterday?!!? It's called BEACH BUM BLU!! (p.s. When did Walgreens start selling Essie? Or am I just behind?)

And I leave you with... baby plumbers crack! HA!

(sorry Trey... I *had* to!)

Please

Please go send some love and prayers to The sweet Staats - they just lost their four month old daughter this week.

6 Months

Trey turned 6 months on February 4th! I can't believe it's already been half a year since he was born! It's all going by way too fast - I feel like he is turning into such a big boy!

This has been an exciting time around here. From 5 months to 6 months we have gone through so many changes. He is now sitting up playing so well by himself. He still gets a little wobbly here and there but all in all he's very solid.

He had his first cold right after he turned 5 months and I ended up sick at the same time. Daddy was great and stayed home and helped us get back on track. It was so scary to see him sick and not wanting to eat (that's very unusual - he really will eat anything). Since he was having tummy issues we went ahead and started with bananas for his first solid. From there we moved on to sweet potatoes, apples and pears.

He is still trying his hardest to crawl but right at 5 1/2 months he started being able to scoot backwards across the room. He doesn't realize that he's doing it - it just happens once he gets his belly up and pushes. Once he finally realizes he's going in the opposite direction of mommy/daddy/puppies/toys he gets really upset and usually starts crying. It's so hard not to laugh!
Right before he turned 6 months he really started playing by himself, in his exersaucer or jumper by himself for longer periods of time. And while it makes me so sad to see him growing up and relying on me less, I know that it's good for him.

He's really enjoying lots of new toys, textures and putting anything and everything he can get his hands on in his mouth! He's very curious and it's starting to get a little more challenging to take his monthly pictures - or even eat sometimes - he literally just wants to go PLAY!

He's all boy!

And one of my most favorite bloggers, D from All Things G&D always did monthly stats for her daughter Kate and I really enjoyed reading them - so I thought I would incorporate them (and add favorite books, favorite songs and what Mommy is reading) into Trey's monthly posts as well!

Trey's 6 Month Stats

Bedtime: between 8pm and 9pm

Wake-Up: anytime between 8am and 9:15 am

Naps: Naps aren't Trey's strong suite but he is getting much better and I'm working on a better flex-schedule during the day. He usually has 1-2 long-ish naps (1-2 hours each) and 1 cat nap mixed in somewhere

Bottles: (This was the first month I wasn't EBF - that's another very long emotional post for another day but feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions) 4 bottles a day, 7-8 oz for each one (About 30 oz a day)

Foods: Bananas, Sweet Potatoes, Apples, Pears

Developmental Milestones & Firsts: Eating, "Crawling" backwards, playing by himself, sitting up for longer periods of time without assistance

Favorite Toys: Sophie (she will be on this list forever), Move and Crawl Ball (he is OBSESSED with this), Melissa & Doug Wooden Frog

Favorite Books: Moo Baa La La La by Sandra Boynton, The Belly Button Book by Sandra Boynton, Bears in the Night by Jan Berenstain

Favorite Songs: The Itsy Bitsy Spider, ABC's, When you Wish Upon a Star

Mommy Books: What to Expect the First Year by Arlene Eisenberg, My Two Year Old Eats Octopus by Nancy Tringali Piho