Simply Bags recently asked me to review one of their personalized tote bags. I chose the chocolate and turquoise patent trimmed laptop bag with my initials monogrammed on the front. It's super cute!!

The laptop bag has a side to side zipper closure that makes it easy to insert or remove my computer. It also has an inside pocket with a zipper closure, two slots for pens, and three slots for business cards. The handles are the perfect size for underarm carry. This laptop bag will definitely come in handy when I have to travel back home!

If you are looking for a great gift to give someone this holiday season you should check out all the stylish personalized tote bags that Simply Bags has to offer!

Flashback Friday!

Me and my momma! :)

I feel beyond blessed that I'm able to call this amazing woman my momma

& my best friend!

His & Her Diaper Bags

Well apparently J has been trying to plan a surprise baby shower for me here since he knew I've been super bummed that I can't have one back home with my family & friends. Things weren't working out the way he was hoping though so tonight he brought in a big box that was filled with baby gifts that my mom and aunt sent. Y'all.. I bawled my eyes out! Thank goodness I wasn't opening it in front of a group of people because I was totally doing the ugly cry. haha It was so sweet of them to try to put something together for me.. definitely made me realize how blessed I am!

As usual my mom and aunt sent us a bunch of great gifts! One of the things that we really liked is they got us both a diaper bag -- so if J goes somewhere alone with Joel he won't have to carry a girly bag.


My bag!

 

J's Eddie B@uer Broadmoor Diaper Bag

Inside his bag were a few items that my uncle helped pick out. They had us cracking up! Can you guess what they are for?

Daddy Survival Kit! haha



Holiday Cards

Every year I go on a hunt for the perfect Christmas card to send to our family and friends. I usually start my hunting in the Fall as soon as stores start putting out their Christmas stuff. Normally I just buy a pack of premade cards even though it's not very creative or original, so this year I wanted to do something different.. which is why I got SUPER excited when I heard about a great deal that Shutterfly is currently doing! All you have to do is blog about them and they will give you 50 free holiday cards. How simple and awesome is that?!

They have a ton of cards to choose from! Here are a few of my favorites:

* Click here to check out all the great holiday cards that Shutterfly has to offer!

* Click here if you are a blogger that would like receive 50 free holiday cards!

The [Not So] Newlywed Game

A few bloggers did this with their hubby's, and I thought it would be fun to do with J! I gave him a bunch of questions to see how well he knows me.. Let's see how he did! {His answers are in black, mine are in red.}

Q.  I'm sitting in front of the TV, what's on?
A.  A happy reality series, like 19 Kids & Counting.. or a Lifet!me drama.
>  Well, he got the "happy reality series" right.. but there has to be nothing on for me to watch a Lifet!me movie.


Q.  We're out to eat, what kind of salad dressing do I get?
A.  Ranch
>  Yep!

Q.  What's one food I don't like?
A.  There's alot. But there is one that really irritates me that you don't like, and that's eggs. It makes it impossible to find any breakfast items for you besides cereal!
>  I have always been a very picky eater, and I have to be starving to eat eggs. I mostly don't like the way eggs smell that's why I don't like to eat them.

Q.  If we're out to eat what do I order to drink?
A.  Anything with no caffeine, so it's usually Mug RB or Sprite.
> Yep


Q.  What size shirt do I wear?
A.  Medium
> That is correct.

Q.  What size shoe?
A.  8
> Also correct.

Q.  What is my favorite kind of sandwich?
A.  Nowadays it's a roast beef with mayo, tomato, lettuce, and cheese on wheat bread. Other than that tuna.
>  He would know because he is usually the making it for me! ha


Q.  What would I eat everyday if I could?
A.  Fried zucchini
>  Since I've been pregnant, yes. Before I was pregnant it was ice cream.


Q.  What is my favorite cereal?
A.  Kix
>  Yep yep


Q.  What is one thing I would never wear?
A.  Anything with polkadots.
>  I don't mind polkadots. Spandex on the other hand I would never ever wear.  


Q.  What is my favorite sports team?
A.  The MS Surge (hockey) and the Saints.
>  Definitely hockey over football any day!


Q.  What is something you wish I wouldn't do?
A.  Oh man let me think about this one! *laughs* What was the question again? I want to answer right. *laughs again* Question my knowledge of every day things.. especially when it comes to the car.
>  Ha! I'm going to leave this one alone! :)

Q.  What kind of cake do I like?
A.  Chocolate
>  I prefer german chocolate over just plain chocolate.


Q.  What could I spend hours doing?
A.  Browsing the Internet.
> Sadly, yes..


Q.  What is one unique talent I have?
A.  You have a high tolerance for extremely misbehaved kids.
>  I never considered that a talent but I guess it could be.. haha

Q.  What is my favorite type of coffee?
A.  You don't drink coffee.
>  Correct. I don't drink anything that contains caffeine.

 Q.  What is my heritage?
A.  150% Irish
>  Yep, and I'm proud of it!! :)

27 Weeks!

Everything is still going great--praise God! The worst thing I've been dealing with is hot flashes every night and swollen fingers in the morning when I wake up. 

My cravings lately have been roast beef sandwiches, fried zucchini, and root beer. I know I know, not very healthy.. but.. I still crave my fruits so that makes up for it right?! :)

Halloween

The weekend before and of Halloween were nuts for us! J participated in his command's annual haunted house and I helped with the child care (thanks to my sweet husband volunteering me..) so we spent all of our time at "the unit." It was nice to get out of the house and meet new people, but it was exhausting and we're both glad it's over!

Like I mentioned in my previous post I'm not a big fan of Halloween, so I tried my best to stay as far away as possible from the haunted house area. It honestly boggles my mind why people would pay money to have someone scare them! &Oh yes, they were definitely scaring people! They had to tone down kids hour because they had so many kids freaking out (and that's another thing.. why would you bring your child to something that could possibly give them nightmares???!).. one lady peed her pants.. a kid passed out.. tons of people would run to their cars after exiting, and one girl even fell on her face because she couldn't get away fast enough!  

J dressed up in his room, the chop shop.
So gross.. and this is a toned down picture btw..

Helping with the child care was.. um.. interesting. The person that was "in charge" was a joke. She either sat on her butt the whole time barking orders to the other volunteers or would find an excuse to leave and stay gone for an hour. So unfortunately most of the ladies that helped the first weekend didn't show up for the second. A few didn't even show up the second night! It was chaos and at times a bit too much for this prego to handle. Another thing that really sucked was people were told not to bring sick kids and they did anyway. I tried my best to keep a distance from them but it wasn't easy.. and of course.. I ended up sick. I woke up Halloween morning and felt HORRIBLE. I stayed home that night and tried to rest but the next day I felt worse, and it continued for a full week. If it taught me anything it's that I definitely want to get the flu shot the next time I go to the doctor!! I wasn't too sure about getting the shot but now I can't & don't want to imagine how horrible having the flu would be while pregnant! Trust me, having a cold was bad enough!!