This girl...

This girl is so cute, she manages to pull off overalls, a headband, and rain boots...in my completely unbiased opinion anyway.

2 or a teenager?

At what point did my child become a teenager? Look at how she's sitting in these pictures. Also, yesterday I was asking her who her friends were at school. Her reply, "my boys are my friends." Oh dear.

Dial Deep Cleansing Hand Soap...A Giveaway!

Update: Congratulations Lindsey McCurry, Katy Gouge, & Cheryl Taylor! You are the winners of this giveaway!

It's time for another Purex review and giveaway! Please note: I'm using a different giveaway application this time, so please tell me if you have problems! I am trying to find the best option!

I received two different bottles of Dial Deep Cleansing Hand Soap to test and review! The two scents that I received were Coconut Lime Verbena and Yellow Raspberry & Black Sugar. I have to admit, when I first saw these names I thought, "Eh. I really don't know if I'm going to like these." I'm here to tell you that I was wrong! I actually really like both of these scents! These soaps have just enough scent to them that if you smell your hands they smell nice and clean, but not so much that it overpowers you for the rest of the day!

The soap itself has gentle micro-scrubbers... aka what I like to call "the little gritty pieces." Personally, I love this! It makes me feel like the soap is doing a great job of scrubbing the germs away! However, my 2-year-old is not as big of a fan. She loves to wash her hands, but not with this soap! I'm not sure why, but she does not like the micro-scrubbers!

I received this soap at just the right time! My husband was recovering from the flu, my daughter had a cold, and I ended up with strep! Needless to say I was washing my hands A LOT! Prior to receiving this soap, my hands had become very chapped from washing them so much. I can say that since switching to this premium hand soap, they have not gotten any worse, and they are even a little less chapped! Dial uses a moisturizing formula with skin conditioners to hydrate your skin.

The packaging is bright and colorful! I have one bottle in my kitchen and one bottle in my guest bathroom. They are much prettier than some bottles of hand soap that I've seen.

Now for what you've been waiting for...the giveaway! I have 5 coupons to give to 5 winners! Each winner will receive a coupon for a free bottle of Dial Deep Cleansing Hand Soap. Remember, I'm using a new giveaway application, so let me know if you have any problems. There are several ways to earn entries in the giveaway, and some methods even allow you to earn entries every day. This giveaway will end Thursday, March 13, 2014 at 11:59 pm.

Entry-Form

A Chick-fil-a Birthday Party!!!

If you know us, you know that once a week we eat breakfast at Chick-fil-a. Seriously, I think we've missed 2 or 3 weeks since Eliana was born. Eliana is known by almost all of the staff there and even some regular customers look for her each week. It's actually become pretty funny. We decided that would be a great place to have her party! We were looking for somewhere relatively cheap, but still nice and fun. Chick-fil-a was a perfect choice!

Then came the decision of what the party theme should be. I really wanted to do some sort of Disney theme, but I decided to wait until after we take her there later in the year. We thought about the fact that it was at Chick-fil-a and decided to do a cow theme. At first I wasn't sold on the idea, but by the time we got it all together, I loved it!

We just invited a few of her closest friends. Unfortunately 2 of them had a stomach bug, so they couldn't make it. Her party consisted of 3 little girls, and it was so much fun! They loved playing in the play place (a treat for Eliana since her Mom is a little on the OCD side) and playing "Ring Around the Rosie." Mommy may have saved the day and joined her on the Play Place.

Uncle Tuck played, too!

I knew I wanted to make a cow cake, but I wasn't exactly how I wanted to do it. After looking at tons of pictures, this was the final product.

And no party would be complete without treat bags!

Don't forget the presents!

Playing her new piano like Mommy!

I had to post this one of Popsy modeling a pretty pink shirt!

I'm going to post this video of the girls playing "Ring Around the Rosie." Please note that it will not work from a mobile device.

Where's your favorite place to host a child's birthday party, or what was your favorite birthday party? Leave a comment and tell me! Maybe we can give each other ideas!

Eliana...You're 2 Years Old!!!

Wow. I can't believe my baby is 2 now! I've been rounding up her age recently in order to prepare myself for her birthday. You see, I tend to have a hard time accepting that she is growing up. I love every single stage she goes through, and I'm always afraid I'll miss the current stage once it's gone (I probably will, but that's okay). I thought I'd do a little (or long) update on what Eliana's been up to in the last year.

March 2013 - June 2013

- You started walking on May 4, 2013. You turned 14-months old the next day. Once you started you never looked back! 

- At your 1-year checkup you were approximately 28 inches and 20.5 lbs.
- When we first taught you to sign "please" you started out by doing it on the table. You did it like this every time you wanted more food. It was pretty adorable! You started doing it correctly about a month later.
- You've been participating in pretend play since you were 13-months old. You started by holding everything up to your ear like it was a phone.
- You said approximately 25 words when you were 14-months old.
- You've been able to tell us when you mess your diaper since you were around 13-months old, but we still haven't potty trained you. We let you sit on the potty when you want to, but we don't force anything. I figure it will be easier when you're really ready to do it.
- You first said the word, "again" as "gi" over and over and over and over...and it was pretty adorable.
- One time when you were about 15-months old, I was upset and crying about something. You were very concerned. You kept looking at me, making a sad face, and wiping my tears. Then you checked Daddy's cheek to make sure he wasn't crying, too.
- At your 15-month checkup you weighed almost 23 pounds and were 29 & 3/4 inches tall. They measured you at 31 inches at the doctor, but we knew that couldn't be right. We came home and measured you that night.
- You love to shop! Ever since you were about 15-months, you always answer, "yeah!" if we ask you if you want to go shopping.

July 2013 - October 2013
- You used the potty for the first time on 8-3-13.
- I've already written about our trip to the beach. Let's just say it was awesome!
- Your first phrase was "sit there." 8-7-13
- You started preschool on 8-8-13. That's a whole other post for a different day. Let's just say you love it! Mommy was so nervous, but it was so worth it!

- You can recognize hearts, stars, triangles, circles, and squares and say the words. This started when you were around 18-months.
- As of your 18-month checkup on 9-30-13, I stopped counting how many words you knew. You were at over 200. By then you were learning them so quickly I couldn't keep up. You weighed 24 lbs and were 31 inches tall.
- In October your preschool had their state assessment. You charmed the assessor so much that by the end of the day she was offering to babysit you.
- Around 18 or 19-months you started getting very independent about some things...particularly eating. Your favorite phrase was, "I do it, I do it, I do it." I'll think this video explains it best.

- About the same time I tried to give you oatmeal for breakfast instead of yogurt. Your response..."Try again, yogurt."
- You also started calling yourself "Anna" from around September to January. It cracked me up because this was your shorter way of saying "Eliana," but most people call you "Ellie." I'm not sure how you picked up on "Anna" instead of "Ellie."
- You also liked to scare people by saying, "SCARED!"
- You call "wagons" "dragons."
- When you want to hear something you say, "listen, listen" and then you put your hands on your ears.
- You loved to drive Mommy crazy doing what is shown in this next video. Thankfully, I think you have stopped this.

November 2013 - March 5, 2014
- Your first 5-word sentence was in November. It was, "Mommy read it to me."
- You also said, "This bracelet. This bracelet. Two bracelets."
- You used to tell Daddy "love you" when he would say it to you, but if I said it you would only say, "no." Now you tell me you love me, and it's fabulous! You also tell me that you missed me!
- You say, "look at me" and take your tiny hands and move my face.
- You had a card that said "to a special girl." We had been reading it one day, and later that day you told me that Daddy is a "special guy."
- When Daddy was getting Christmas decorations down from the attic you said, "Wow that's amazing!"and put your hands on your cheeks.

- You loved opening presents at Christmas. When you got your kitchen the first thing you did was put your real sippy cup into the refrigerator. Speaking of refrigerators, you can say the word, "refrigerator."
- We made a birthday cake for Jesus, and you thought that was awesome!
- One night out of nowhere you told me you wanted to "go to Grandma's house and make pancakes." I still have no idea where that came from. You've never eaten pancakes at Grandma's house.
- Your favorite word is "actually." You are a Clements.
- Your favorite phrase right now is, "No, I'm fine"...particularly when we ask you if we need to change your diaper.
- You said to Daddy, "Look at me. No, Mam." Then you tapped his nose.
- You still get the words "tomato" and "potato" mixed up. You created a combination of the two which comes out as, "topato."
- You say "coconuts" for "polka dots." I kind of hope that never changes.
- Your favorite breakfast food is yogurt. I'm pretty sure you could eat it all day every day. When you first started talking you called it "ewww" even though you loved it.
- Your animal sounds are still one of the cutest things ever. Horse and chicken are my favorite.

- You still love bath time! I'm pretty sure you would stay in there all day.
- You can almost sing the whole Alphabet Song. You get different parts of it at different times. When you first started singing it you sang, "ABBB."
- You can point to the letter, "A" consistently. Sometimes you can get a few others.
- You can count to 10...when you want to.
- You love to sing! Some of your favorite songs are "The Apple Tree Song" (Five Little Apples), "Jesus Loves Me," and "The Alphabet Song."
- We've been dealing with tantrums for the last year. I'm really hoping that means we'll be done with them sooner rather than later.
- Naptime is much better than it was this time last year, but it is sometimes still a struggle.
- You sleep like a charm at night, though.
- You say "thanks" almost every time that someone hands you something or does something for you. You also say, "I'd love to" when we ask you if you'd like to do something.
- You recognize the routes we take to places we go frequently. You especially like looking for "tunnels" (overpasses) and "bump bumps" (speed bumps).
- You really like blonde boys. All of the boys from school that you talk about are blonde.
- Your teachers love you! They always talk about how sweet you are and how much you can talk! That may get you in trouble in the future, but for now it's super cute!
- You say "I gon know" for "I don't know."
- You love all things Mickey & Minnie, Sophia the First, and Doc McStuffins! You love to read books and point at pictures. However, you mostly love whatever Mommy is doing at the time.
- You love to dance! I have a couple of really cute dancing videos, but I can't post them on here because I'm not sure about the copyright laws regarding the music in the background. Ask me if you want to see them.
- I wrote about a couple of recent conversations we had here.
- I wrote about your first solo prayer here.
- You love to grab my cheeks and say, "smosh."
- Your first 8-word sentence..."I want to stand on the scale, right."
- You say, "what's gonna happen?" and "it's gonna happen" almost every time we watch something on tv.
- I had to catch a stink bug one day, and you started saying, "What was that stink bug doing?" You still say it.
- I'm not sure where you got it, but sometimes you say "This is serious" about random things.
- You call "balloons" "booballoons."
- You still adore it when we sing the "Itty Bitty Baby Girl" and the "Baby Girl" songs.
- You like to help me with household chores. I hope that sticks.

We love you so much, Eliana! You make me laugh every day, and I can only imagine how much fun we are going to have between now and your next birthday!

2 years ago today...

Two years ago today, I had no clue what the next day would bring. I had no idea how much my life was about to change for the better. I didn't know the love that I would feel, a love that cannot be put into words.

Two years ago today I didn't know what Eliana Grace would look like. I didn't know how beautiful her bright blue eyes would be. I didn't know how funny she would be. I didn't understand what it meant to fall in love at first sight.

Two years ago today I didn't know the pain of labor. I didn't know how long 17 minutes could take until I was waiting on Tanner to get home from work to take me to the hospital. I didn't know that I had a terrible case of scoliosis until I was getting an epidural administered. I didn't know the frustration of having a c-section.

Two years ago today I didn't have any concept of how much God loved me because I had not felt such an intense kind of love for my own child, yet. I hadn't seen my husband with his Baby Girl which caused me to fall even more in love with him.

Two years ago today I didn't know how interesting life was about to become...