First Beach Trip (Hilton Head Island)...7 months later (oops)!

I've been meaning to write about our trip to Hilton Head Island since we went last July. As it turns out, Kelly's Korner is doing a link-up today about favorite vacations! This was just the incentive I needed! My all-time favorite vacation has been a Royal Caribbean cruise since our honeymoon. We have now been on 3 cruises, and they never disappoint! However, this was the first vacation we've taken that Eliana has been old enough to really have fun and enjoy it! That alone made this one of my favorite vacations ever!

I have always loved the beach! I remember going to the beach as a little girl and thinking it was the coolest place in the world! I love almost everything about it (minus the things in the ocean that can hurt me)! That is why I couldn't wait to take Eliana to the beach. I wanted to take her the summer after she was born, but she was only about 3 months old, and her doctor really advised us that it wasn't worth it. I love her pediatrician, so I took his advice, and we waited a year. Eliana's first trip to the ocean was when she was 16 months old...and she LOVED it!

The first day we went to the beach she thought it was awesome! She loved playing in the water and the sand! The second day didn't go as well. As soon as we walked into the ocean a wave knocked her over, and that was it for the day! She still loved the sand, but needless to say we didn't play in the ocean that day. The rest of the week was great, and she was back to loving the water!

We stayed in a 2-bedroom condo that was about 2 blocks from the beach. There were so many great things about this condo. We loved having 2 bedrooms so we didn't have to worry about waking Eliana up if we wanted to stay up later. The condo had a pool as well as a membership to the gym across the street. The gym had an indoor pool which would have been great if we had bad weather (we didn't)! It also came with 2 adult bicycles and beach toys! We ended up having to rent a bike because we needed a baby seat for Eliana, but there are plenty of places to rent bikes from on the island. Hilton Head is very bike-friendly. There are bike paths everywhere! I also loved where on the island the condo was located. We were in South Forest Beach, which seemed to be close to everything! We loved going to the beach in the mornings and the pool in the afternoon!

We ate at so many good restaurants! I don't have a picture of all of them, but I can tell you a little bit about each one. We ate at Frosty Frog, Sea Shack, Marley's Island Grille, and Skull Creek Boathouse. All of these were fabulous! Frosty Frog is known for being a daiquiri bar, but their food is great, too! They have a little bit of everything, and our service was great! Sea Shack is apparently one of the most popular places to eat on the island, but you definitely wouldn't know it by looking at it. My advice...get there early!!! The line forms outside because the inside is very small! Marley's Island Grille has a tropical feel to it, and since I love everything about the Caribbean, it was right up my alley. Skull Creek Boathouse is a great place, especially if you have kids! This one is also super popular so be prepared to wait. The best part is that they have lots of fun things to do outside to keep you (and the kids) occupied.

It was a fabulous vacation, and I'm really hoping we get to do it again this year!!! Comment below and tell me about your favorite vacation spot!!

Mickey Mouse cookies!

While shopping the other day, Eliana and I spotted some Mickey Mouse sugar cookie dough on sale because Valentine's Day was over. I decided to buy a box because I thought it would be an easy way for her to help me in the kitchen. I'm usually a "make-it-from-scratch" girl, but these pre-sliced cookies had Mickey on them! Ellie immediately called them "Mickey Markers"...a sign that she's watched the Mickey Mouse Road Rally episode a few too many times. Anyway, check out the pictures of our fun!

We don't always wear gloves to cook, but Tanner is getting over the flu.

I held the pan while she placed the cookies on it.

I'm not really sure why, but she told me we had to be quiet while we looked at the cookies. 

We decided to watch Mickey while eating our Mickey cookies.

So...what about you? What's your favorite kind of cookie? Feel free to leave a recipe if you want!

Infertility - Link-up with Kelly's Korner

This week's Show Us Your Life with Kelly's Korner is about infertility. As many of my readers know, we tried for almost 2 years before we got pregnant with Eliana. I know that many people try for much longer than that, but to us it felt like an eternity. Anyway, I am going to repost the entry that I wrote when we announced that I was pregnant. It talks a little about what we went through, and our emotions at that time. Now, Eliana will be 2 in a couple of weeks! Feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me (you can do that through the contact form on the right side of the page) if you want to chat about it. 

Note: The post below was originally posted in 2011. This is not a current post. 

Wow. I’m not even sure where to start on this blog. I have a feeling this will be long…so bear with me.

Let me begin this by saying that God is good. Even when we in our finite minds don’t understand Him, He is good. He knows best. His timing is best. He loves us more than we can ever comprehend. This is some of what I have learned in the journey that I am about to describe. I pray that God will continue to use this experience to mold me into the person He wants me to be, as well as to allow me to use this to help others who are in the same situation.

In October 2009, Tanner and I decided that we would love to have a child. Since then, I have realized how silly we were in thinking we had control over this, but at the time, we decided that we were ready. Needless to say, it didn’t happen right away. The problem was obviously with me. I will spare the readers of this blog from specific details, but you are more than welcome to talk to me about it if you are interested. I will be happy to discuss it especially if you are experiencing similar issues.

During this time, we chose not to say anything to anyone. At first, this was mainly because my husband hates it when people announce that they are “trying to conceive.” You will have to ask him about his reasoning behind this, but needless to say, we kept this all to ourselves. The first few months were sad, but not terrible. I thought that surely it would happen the next month, and I continued thinking that for a while. 6 months later, I started getting worried. During this time, my best friend had a baby, and this only increased my maternal desires. Eventually I stopped wanting to tell people because I didn't want to get the "pity look." If you have ever been in a similar situation, you know what I'm talking about.

After about 8 months, my doctor decided to try a few medications. Some of the medicine (Clomid) is not safe to take for an extended amount of time. It may cause cancer, but at the same time, the percentage is almost equal for people who never have kids. If you are reading this, and you ever decide to take Clomid, let me warn you. You may or may not feel terrible. It really messed with my emotions, but other than that it was ok. Anyway, I took Clomid for 4 months, with no pregnancy. At the end of 4 months, my doctor was not comfortable keeping me on it, so he switched to a different medicine (Metformin). The odd thing about this medicine is that it is mainly used for diabetes. It is also used for polycystic ovarian syndrome, but I had not been diagnosed with that. I took Metformin for 5 months.

Tanner and I left for a vacation in Jamaica on June 22, 2011. I have to admit looking back on it, that I felt a little different while I was there. However, I had been disappointed several times before, and I tried not to even allow myself to think that being pregnant may be a possibility. We came home on June 29, 2011, and I was still feeling a little off. I did not want to take a test until I was absolutely sure that if I was pregnant it would come back positive.

We had plans to go to the lake on the 4th of July, and I knew I wanted to know by then so I wouldn’t ride the jet ski or the intertube if I really was pregnant. We decided that I would take a test that morning. I woke up before Tanner and decided I would go ahead and get it over with. I took the test, and it turned positive immediately!!! I woke Tanner to tell him, but we had to keep our excitement quiet because my mom was in town and staying at our house. We already knew that we didn’t want to tell anyone until I had my first doctor’s appointment, so somehow we managed to keep quiet.

I have never been so happy, amazed, in awe of God, etc. in all of my life. God did this. God knew that for some reason the timing was right now. God is developing the baby that I am carrying. He is using this trial in mine and my husband’s lives for His glory.

I wanted to write this for several reasons. The first being to give glory to God for the work that He has done in me. I have never been a patient person, and though I still cannot claim to be one, I have learned some patience over the last 2 years. He knew best. I also understand now more than ever how much He is in control, and I am not. The second reason is that I want people going through the same situation to know that they are not alone. I know how it feels. I even know what it feels like to find out that someone else around you is pregnant, and believe me I do not want to rub that in your face. I want to encourage you by saying, don’t give up and trust in God’s goodness and perfect timing. I know you have probably heard that God’s timing is best a thousand times, and it may even be one of your least favorite phrases at the moment. However, it is true. Even when we don’t understand and we are in pain, it is still true.

So with that, I leave you with a picture of my baby who is due to make his/her entrance into this crazy world on March 6, 2012.

A Toddler's Prayer

I had to share about Eliana's random prayer the other day. We had been busy painting a Valentine's Day painting which involved painting her hands and her feet. After we finished that painting, I let her paint on some paper. I was busy throwing away some paint-covered paper towels, and I heard her say, "Dear God," with her little hands clasped. I immediately stopped what I was doing to see how this was going to play out. She bowed her head, kept her hands clasped, and said..."Dear God, paint on my hands." Philippians 4:6 states, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God" (ESV). She hates to feel like her hands are messy (a trait that her OCD Mommy may have caused), so maybe she really was concerned about it, or maybe she clasped her hands together and it made her think about praying. I don't know. What I do know is that it made this Mommy cry. It was the first time that she randomly started praying on her own. She had asked us to pray with her before, but she had never done it by herself. God, I pray that you continue to help us lead this sweet little one to You so that when she is older she will not depart from You (Proverbs 22:6).

  

Dial Vitamin Boost Body Wash...A Giveaway!

Update: Congratulations, Katie Henderson and Lindsey McCurry! You are the winners of the Dial Vitamin Boost Body Wash Giveaway!

I'm back with another review and another giveaway! Purex Insiders allowed me to try and review Dial Vitamin Boost Body Wash. They also sent me 2 coupons to give away for a free bottle and a coupon for the men's body wash. I haven't had a chance to get the men's body wash yet, but when I do, I'll try to get Tanner's opinion and update this post.

I love trying new "girly" products, so I was quite excited to try this body wash! The scent that I received was kiwi. I have to admit that I don't usually race to buy every kiwi-scented product that I see on the shelves at the store. However, I really do like the smell of this body wash! If I closed my eyes I could pretend I was back in the Caribbean for a minute. Something about it just seems tropical. Meanwhile, I had 6 inches of snow outside my window a few days ago.

Dial advertises that this body wash is lotion infused, has a moisturizing complex, and helps draw in vitamins and moisture to your skin. Typically when I read something like this about a product I think, "yeah right." All products advertise what you want to hear about them, so I really wasn't confident that this body wash was going to be super helpful in moisturizing and providing me with super soft skin. However, I was quite pleased with this body wash. I really struggle with dry skin during the winter months, and this product seemed to help with that. I won't tell you that it was perfect, but I will say that I could tell a difference.

Would you like to win a free bottle of this body wash? There are several ways to enter the giveaway. Just log-in to the giveaway window below, and choose your entry methods. The giveaway ends Thursday, February 20, 2014 at 11:59 pm. You can earn extra entries each day by tweeting or sharing about the giveaway on Facebook.

Be sure you check to make sure your entries are counted. It will say in the upper right corner of the giveaway window how many entries you have earned.

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*The Dial brand provided me with a sample of Dial Vitamin Boost body wash in exchange for a product review. However, all the opinions expressed here are my own.

Snow day = Potato Soup Day

Ok, that title isn't completely true. Soup sounds really good, but I don't have all of the ingredients that I need. I'm actually posting this today as a link-up with Kelly from Kelly's Korner.

One of my favorite kinds of soup is potato soup, but with a special ingredient. My stepmom actually got me hooked on this, and you can't knock it until you try it.

My favorite ingredient in potato soup is...corn! Yep, I'm a corn-lover anyway, but it is so good in potato soup.

Sorry I don't have any pictures yet of this one. 

Potato Soup with Corn

Ingredients

- 8 potatoes (thinly sliced)

- salt (to taste)

- 2 onions (chopped)

- 1 pound frozen yellow corn

 - 1 can of evaporated milk (small can)

- 1 stick of butter

 - pepper (to taste)

- 1 can cream of celery soup (optional) or chopped celery (optional)

Directions

Put the potatoes in a pot with just enough water to cover them. Add the salt and onions. Cook on medium until the potatoes are tender. This will probably only take 10-15 minutes. Once the potatoes are tender, mash them slightly. Next, add the frozen corn, evaporated milk, butter, and pepper. Let this simmer at least until it is heated through. If the soup needs to be thinner, you can add some milk. You may also add celery or cream of celery soup if desired.

Note: You may also put this in your crockpot on low for 4-6 hours.

What's your favorite kind of soup?

There's a "Little Bit of Snow."

There's a "little bit of snow." That's what Eliana says about any amount of snow that we get. It doesn't matter if it's one snowflake or 6 inches (what we currently have)! Anyway, the last couple of days have been snow days around here, and I love it! I should explain why I love it, though, because I understand that many of you do not. I love it because:

1) I work from home and don't have to drive in it.
2) Tanner works for the local university, so if they close he gets to stay home with us!
3) I have a toddler that thinks it's the coolest thing ever!!!

Anyway, the snow was supposed to hit yesterday around lunchtime, so the university made the decision to close at noon the night before it even started! It actually didn't hit until a little bit after that, but I'm not complaining! They were closed today, and we just got the text that said they will be closed tomorrow, too! I am so excited about our 5-day weekend together!

Now what you've all been waiting for. Pictures and videos of Eliana in the snow!

This is how we spent Snow Day #1. Cuddling on the couch, watching movies, and just having fun.

It's really hard to get a clear picture of a toddler riding on her Daddy's back.

This was when the snow first started...around 1:30 pm.

This was around 7:30 pm.

This was at 10:30 pm. As the next picture shows, we were at 5 inches.

This morning.

6 inches as of 9:00 this morning.

And now for the videos! My phone wouldn't let me e-mail them as one video, so they are in smaller clips.

I just wanted to get a shot of her waddling out of the house in all of her layers.

We started going much faster after this initial run, and she wasn't scared at all! She loved it!

What did you do today if you had a snow day?

Purex Mountain Breeze Laundry Detergent...Review & Giveaway!

Update #2: Congratulations Brenna Fouts & Serena Milan! You are the winners of the free Purex laundry detergent! I'll get you the coupons soon!

Update: The giveaway works best if you do it from a tablet or computer. Some people have had trouble when using a phone.

I love being a Purex Insider! They keep sending me great products to review and give away, and I am so excited about that! As I promised last week, I'm giving away 2 coupons for a free bottle of Purex Mountain Breeze Laundry Detergent. Keep reading to find out about this product and to find out how you can win!

Last week I wrote about making my own laundry detergent. I really started doing that for two reasons:
1) Price
2) I wasn't sure how Eliana's skin would react to products, so I wanted to have a very simple detergent without a lot of chemicals.

However, it does take time to make it (especially the liquid version which is what I prefer). So when I was given a free bottle of Purex Mountain Breeze Laundry Detergent to try, I was thrilled! Life has been crazy busy since Christmas, and I am all about time-savers right now!

You should also know a little bit more about my laundry detergent background. Prior to making my own detergent, I was a detergent snob. There was one brand I used my entire life, and I was not really willing to budge on that. Thankfully when Tanner and I got married, he didn't care what brand we used (unlike our toothpaste disagreement...we each have our own). Making my own detergent (and trying to be frugal) has made me less of a detergent snob. I'm willing to try other brands now! All of that to say, I think now I can write an honest review of Purex Mountain Breeze Laundry Detergent, but 2 years ago would have been a different story!

So, what do you want in a laundry detergent? I can think of a few things off the top of my head: it cleans well, it smells nice not only initially, but the fresh smell lasts, and it isn't expensive. If you have kids, it's also a bonus if they don't get a rash from it. Here are my thoughts on Purex Mountain Breeze Laundry Detergent in each of these categories.

1) Does it clean well?
I've done several loads with this detergent. I'll spare you the details of the first load. Let's just say there was a surprise waiting for me in Eliana's crib when I got her up one morning. Anyway, her pillow case, pajamas, sheets, and toys were DISGUSTING!! As in, I almost just threw them all away and started over. What a great time to test out a new detergent! I'm happy to say that Purex Mountain Breeze Laundry Detergent did a fantastic job cleaning these! I didn't use any stain remover because I wanted to see how well the detergent worked. I couldn't find any spots after they had been washed! I didn't take any pictures of this load, for obvious reasons.

I decided to test Purex Fresh Mountain Breeze laundry detergent on a white load. I'll be completely honest, I don't bleach my whites as much as I should. Bleach freaks me out for some reason. Anyway, because of that, my whites end up being not so white anymore. Eliana's socks end up being the worst! I took some before and after pictures to show you how the detergent worked. I can't say it got all of the stains out of my whites, but they did smell nice and fresh!

Before (I promise I really do wash our clothes).

After (Not perfect, but better).

 

2) Does it smell nice?
Words cannot describe how much better the first load smelled after I used this detergent. However, I'm a weirdo and I think the smell was still in my head, so I washed them again just to be sure the smell was completely gone! Keep in mind, I really do think the smell was gone after the first time, but I just had to be completely sure. All of the loads I have done with Purex Mountain Breeze Laundry Detergent have smelled great! I love walking into our laundry room and smelling such a fresh aroma!

3) Is it expensive?
The coupon I received was for a free bottle of Purex Mountain Breeze Laundry Detergent, but it had a maximum value of $6.00. In the past, I paid $11.97 at Walmart for a bottle that stated it was for 48 loads. This bottle of Purex Mountain Breeze was $5.50 for 66 loads!!! I definitely think that's a better deal! Granted, I can make my own for much less than that, but this is not an expensive detergent!

4) Bonus: It doesn't give Eliana a rash!

Overall, I am quite pleased with Purex Mountain Breeze Laundry Detergent! I'm not sure yet, but I could possibly be convinced to stop making my own detergent. That will be determined after I've finished the bottle.



The Giveaway
Now, what you've been waiting for! I am giving away 2 coupons for a free bottle of Purex Mountain Breeze Laundry Detergent! This giveaway will run from today (February 5, 2014) to 11:59 pm on February 11, 2014. A few people had some problems with getting my last giveaway to work, so I will try to post detailed instructions. If you want me to check to make sure your entries have been counted, contact me and I will verify it.

How can you gain entries?
1) Follow me on Twitter (1 entry).
2) Tweet about the giveaway (3 entries). This can be done once per day.
3) Leave a comment on this blog telling me the biggest factor you look for when choosing a detergent (1 entry).
4) Follow me on Instagram (1 entry).
5) Follow me on Pinterest (1 entry).
6) Share one of my Facebook posts about this giveaway (3 entries). This can be done once per day.

How do I enter?
1) Sign-in to the giveaway window below. You can sign-in with your e-mail address or Facebook.
2) Choose which options you want to complete to gain entries. Click the arrow beside each option and complete the task. Be sure to click the button that says something like, "I follow on Twitter."
3) Continue until you have completed all of the tasks that you want to do.
4) Note that some of the tasks you can complete once per day.
5) You can check to see if your entries worked by looking in the upper right corner of the giveaway window. It will tell you how many entries you have earned. Also, if you write a comment on here be sure that it posts.

 I thought I'd throw in an Eliana picture for the grandparents.

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*Purex Laundry Detergent provided me with Purex coupons in exchange for sharing the Purex-Make-A-Wish Campaign. However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own.

Conversations with Eliana...

So here are two of my most recent conversations with Eliana. She seriously cracks me up on a daily basis.

Eliana: "I like school. I like teachers. Ms. Ruth (her teacher). I like boys."

Oh dear. I am not ready for that, yet!!!


Eliana: "I'm going to go to Walmart."
Me: "Oh, what are you going to buy?"
Eliana: "Stuff."
Me: "Like what?"
Eliana: "Mermaids, and Sofia the First, and fish. Mommy can go shopping, too."

Can you tell we've been watching the mermaid episode of Sofia the First over and over and over?