Spring?

Just when I thought Spring had sprung, we wake up to a foot of snow!  It's crazy talk, I tell you.  I knew we were supposed to get a dusting of snow, but I never thought we'd get this much.  The good news is that the sun is already out and I'm sure it will melt quickly.  For now, it just looks like a beautiful winter wonderland out there!

In other news, I have some cuteness I have to share with you.  Yesterday while I was running on the treadmill, Drew was in the exercise room with me.  He really loves that room because it has one wall that is completely mirrors, and he loves looking at himself.  Now that he's able to pull himself up and stand on pretty much anything, he was getting up close and personal with himself!  Oh boy was it cute!

We've also been working on walking.  Drew has a walker that he can roll around the living room, so we spent some time yesterday doing that.  His legs are getting strong, and he can cruise along furniture.  It's only a matter of time before he'll be walking.  I'm so excited for it!  I know most moms say you don't want it to happen too soon, but honestly, Drew is already mobile enough to be a handful, so I don't think much will change in that regard when he's walking. He's just getting so big, it's hard to believe he's my little baby!

Chestnut Mountain

Oh weekend, you always go by so fast!  I can't believe it's already Monday.

We had a good weekend.  It was fun having my brother-in-law in town.  It's always good to see him and spend some time with him.  He and Doug spent most of the weekend doing "guy stuff," so Drew and I had a lot of mommy-son time.  Doug, Drew, and I did finally get out for a snowshoe Sunday afternoon, which was fun.  It's been so darn cold the last few weekends that we weren't able to do anything outside with Drew, so it was fun to get out and enjoy the great outdoors!

We snowshoed up Chestnut Mountain, which is a trail pretty close to our house.  It was a beautiful day and incredibly warm, almost too warm for winter activities.  I felt like I could have been wearing a bikini up there and I would not have been cold.  It was good for Drew though since I always worry about him getting cold when we do stuff outside in the winter.  He seemed to have a great time.  I think he loves being outside just as much as his mom and dad!

 

High Five for Friday!

Happy Friday, friends!  It's the weekend once again, which always makes my day a little better.  My brother-in-law is coming to stay with us this weekend so he can do some skiing, which will be fun.  He and Doug get along so well, and I feel pretty lucky that they have such a great relationship.  Truth be told, I kinda like him too! ;)

It was a good week.  Very busy, but that's always nice because it makes the days go fast.  Here's a list of the top five:

1.     I went to the play, West Side Story, with Doug's mom on Tuesday night.  It was one of those traveling Broadway productions and was really quite good.  I was impressed with the talent.  I've always heard a lot about West Side Story, but I'd never seen it, so it was fun to finally see what everyone was always talking about.

2.     Last night, we had date night at The Garage.  It was good and Drew was really well behaved for that time of night, so we were lucky.  It's always nice to have a night out to relax and recharge, and do something a little different than the nights before.  I even had a sip of beer to impress Doug (don't worry, I'm not a beer drinker still, it's his!).

3.     Tonight, I'm going out for a girls night.  I feel like I've been partying all week with the play, date night, and now a girls night!  It should be fun and I'm looking forward to it.

4.     Drew has been super cute this week. It's crazy how fast he progresses and how fast he seems to pick things up.  At this rate, he's going to be a teenager in no time!  Yesterday I was feeling nostalgic, so I watched some videos of him as a tiny baby.  It's crazy how I can see many of the same mannerisms then as I do now.  He's just much smaller and less able to convey his feelings, but I definitely still see my Drew.  Boy do I love him!

5.  It's been a super productive week for me.  I've been working on some projects, and I got so much accomplished around the house as well.  It always feels good to get stuff done.  Yesterday we had some minor flooding at the house, which was a little scary at first, but we got it figured out and it turned out to not be nearly as bad as we originally thought, so that was good too!  We continue to be impressed with the quality and workmanship of our new house.  We couldn't be happier with it!

There you have it.  A fun and productive week at the Neil household.  Hope you all have a great weekend!

Drewday!

Wednesday Wisdom - New Research

If you read my blog regularly, you probably remember my post here on why I'm choosing to not be ashamed of being a formula feeding mommy.  That post conjured quite the response from friends, family, and strangers, and I'm happy to say that most were positive and very supportive.

A new study came out earlier this week that reinforces the fact that formula feeders shouldn't feel ashamed or like failures, and interestingly enough, actually found a downside to breastfeeding that hadn't been recognized in the past.  Bottom line is that whatever path you take (and for whatever reason), if you're a loving, caring parent, your child will be just fine.  I hate to preach on the subject, but it's just so true that we need to change the undue pressure and oppressive nature of the "breast is best" philosophy and be more supportive and more accepting of other mothers.  Hopefully the findings of this study are a step in that direction.

You can read more on this study here:

http://www.businessinsider.com/study-breast-feeding-benefits-overstated-2014-2

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/28/health/time-breastfeeding/index.html

Winter Skin

It's no secret that my skin can get dry and dull looking in the winter.  Not to mention, it takes on a pasty white hue, that is not so flattering!  I try to use lotion to stay moisturized during the harsh winter months, but I've never been that good at using it regularly.

I recently saw a new product by Jergens advertised, and it caught my eye.  It's the Jergens BB Body Perfecting Skin Cream.  Now, I have to say I was skeptical at first.  I mean, this whole BB, CC, DD cream thing is getting out of control.  And now it's not only for our faces, but you can get BB cream for your body?!  Crazy talk!  Well, I have to say I was curious.  I do really like the BB cream that I use for my face, and I do happen to think it really does work.  So I thought I might give it a try.

I checked it out at my local Target, and it was EXPENSIVE.  Like $11 for a bottle of lotion.  You've got to be kidding me.  I'm more of a $3 kind of girl!  Not to mention, the hype was so high that it was sold out at most stores.  So I decided to skip the BB body cream and go for something a little more reasonably priced (I do realize that $11 may not seem expensive to a lot of you, but it gave me sticker shock!).

Well, the last time I was at Target, the Jergens BB Body Perfecting Skin Cream was on sale.  I decided that if I really wanted to give it a try, now would be as good a time as any, so I took a bottle home with me.

I've used Jergens lotions in the past, and I can't say that I've ever been overly impressed with them.  They've always been just fine.  I have tried the skin darkening one, and I really didn't like it.  It stained my clothes and sheets, smelled horrible, and gave me an orange tint.  Not awesome.  So I definitely wasn't expecting anything too great from this new product either.

The BB Body Perfecting Skin Cream comes in two shades, light and medium, and it promises five beautifying benefits in one moisturizer for a flawless appearance.  It claims to have five visible benefits in five days, which include: hydrates and smooths, brightens and illuminates, evens skin tone, visibly firms skin, and minimizes the appearance of imperfections.  Quite the claims for a lotion!

I've been using it daily for about a week, and I have to say I really, really like it.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that it has a very nice scent.  It's sort of fruity and summery, and when I put it on, I feel like I'm sitting on the beach drinking a pina colada.  Aside from the smell, it also adds a nice glow to my skin and it helps liven up my wintery, lifeless skin.  Since I've only been using it for about a week, I can't speak to the lasting benefits of this lotion, but so far I really like it.  I think it does make my skin look more bright and healthy and I really like the smell.  Is it worth $11, I'm still not sure, but if it's on sale again, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it!

Easy Cookies and Some Snow!

Well, we finally got some of the snow they were calling for Friday night and Saturday this weekend.  In fact, we got so much snow that we got stuck in our driveway Friday night.  We went out for date night and had dinner downtown at Copper Whiskey Bar, and by the time we got home, the drifts in our driveway were deep.  Doug made a run for it, but the Acadia got stuck and he had to spend about an hour digging the car out.  It was good that we were in our driveway, so Drew and I could go inside.  Way better than being stuck in the middle of nowhere.  Hindsight 20/20, we probably should have stayed in, but what can I say, it was an adventure!

Anyway, Saturday Doug went to work, so Drew and I were home alone.  It snowed all day, which put me in the baking mood.  We were having friends over for dinner that night, so I wanted to make a dessert, and I thought I'd make my favorite brownies, which I shared the recipe for here.  Unfortunately, I didn't have all the necessary ingredients, so I decided I'd try to make cookies out of the German chocolate cake mix I had.  Now I'm not usually a fan of cake mix cookies.  I don't think they taste as good, and I kind of think it's the easy way out, but I thought I'd give it a go anyway.

Here's what I used:

1 German chocolate cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 c. oil
1 c. white chocolate chips
1 c. chopped candy bars

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, blend well, and drop onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

These actually turned out really good. I have to say it was one of the better cake mix cookies I've ever made.  And it was great to just use what I had in my pantry. I had the white chocolate chips leftover from another baking project and we had a few leftover fun size candy bars from an advent calendar I had at Christmas time.  So not only were the cookies good, but I got to use up some ingredients taking up space in my pantry.  If you're looking for easy, these cookies are just for you!!  Tasty with minimal effort!