Tag Archives: halloween

Happy Thanksgiving & an Update on Emmett?

Since there is no greater time to be grateful than Thanksgiving, I decided that I wanted to share an update on Emmett, since he is one of the top people I am MOST thankful for, day after day.

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When I originally started my Dear Emmett series, my goal was to capture everything that I could, while Emmett was an infant, and early toddler. It eventually became a big hit and quite a few people looked forward to those updates. Since he’s turned two, his major milestones have slowed a bit, which doesn’t really give me enough to write about every month – however, I don’t want to forget the developments that he IS hitting. So, I decided to started a semi-regular series to track what Emmett is into every few months or so & to update you on his progress. Plus, I love sharing stories about my little!

Every morning when he wakes up I feel like he is doing something new and different that he hasn’t done before, or something that he has done before but is now better at. He amazes me!

He’s been talking for awhile now, but it continues to develop. Back in Sepetember, Emmett and Seamus were on the phone with his grandparents, he was getting bored, so Seamus told him to look out the window. He did, and a few seconds later he turns around to us, and very seriously says, “Oh my gosh!! This moon!” We laughed so hard!! It was just one of those moments that you couldn’t recreate, even if you wanted to.

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On that note, he does say oh my gosh and oh my goodness A LOT! That’s the phrase they must use at day care, or maybe I use it a lot (but I feel like I’m a bit more direct with, oh my god), because everything is an oh my goodness. The other day we were sitting on the couch watching TV And his little car fell between the cushions, he looked up at me with wide eyes and said, “Oh my goodness, Momma. My car felld.” I couldn’t help but grab him and cuddle, because he is just TOO cute!

So, yes, he is speaking mostly in full sentences. We don’t always understand everything he’s trying to say, but eventually we can figure it out. We’ll either ask him to point to what he wants, or he’ll repeat the phrase until we get it. It really doesn’t take that many tries. I am MUCH better at translating Emmett, than Seamus is. I have no idea why that is, though.

Halloween was a lot of fun this year! I talked more about it in my post a few weeks back, but Emmett was Flint Lockwood. It was the perfect costume for him, because he hates putting things on his head, and this didn’t require a head piece, just messy hair. And then Seamus found him a tuxedo t-shirt at Kohl’s, so he wore that with jeans and the white lab coat we got him.

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We got out to trick or treat, but our first house pretty much brought an end to the fun. When they brought the candy out for Emmett, their dog snuck out, too. Very nice dog, he was just interested in sniffing us and Emmett, but since Emmett isn’t often around dogs, he got startled and very upset. We calmed him down, but that was pretty much it, every house after that he would get scared and say no doggie, no doggie. After about 6 houses or so, I asked if he wanted to go home, he said yes, so we called it a night. No big deal! It was his first Halloween out, there will be plenty more!

Oh man! He is SO into cars and trucks right now and has been for quite some time. It started with trains, and has now progressed into cars and trucks. He has SO many matchbox cars for a 2 year old (don’t worry he’s never left alone with them, because of the small parts). He loves holding them, looking at them and racing them around his track (that’s meant for trains, but works for cars).

I don’t mind him being into matchbox cars, because they’re a pretty cheap prize for him. Lately Wegmans has been having them for 99 cents, so we’ll grab a couple to keep on hand. I’m thinking, if he sticks with the cars, it will be a great reward when it comes to potty training. Which will have to come eventually, but I’m in no rush! We’ll do it when E’s ready.

Emmett’s been going in phases with his night time routine. We always do bath, lotion, PJs, book, bed. But every so often, Emmett will switch and not want a book, and just want his bed. I was really surprised when this started happening because he has always been a cuddler. But, his likes and desires so going to change frequently. An example of this, is that 2 weeks later, he was done going right to bed, but was ready to read again.

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Oh yeah! And with his bed time routine, we used to do a cup of milk while we cuddled and read books. I was beginning to worry that he’d never give that crutch up, and I was going to start researching ways to wean from a night time bottle (he wasn’t sleeping with it, just having it before bed). When, low and behold, he didn’t want it any more and hasn’t since.

This kid amazes me with his ability to just wean himself from things. He knows what he does and does not want. It started with breastfeeding, he had no desire to nurse after 14 months. I offered him my boob on a couple different occasions and he whined and pushed away, so we just stopped. Now with his milk at bed time, it was the same thing. It is because of these two situations, that I don’t worry whether he’ll ever give up his binky, or whether he’ll ever be potty trained. He’ll tell me when he’s ready. I trust him.

We have begun letting him watch a bit more TV in the evenings, but ONLY educational. His current favorite is Team UmiZoomi, if you don’t know what it is, it’s a Nickelodian cartoon, with these 2 kids and 1 robot that go around “behind the scenes” and fix things that aren’t working or are causing problems. It’s super cute!! I thought it would be a little advanced for him, but he gets it, based on his answering of their questions that they ask. Previous favorites have been Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Handy Manny, Bob the Builder and Chuck. I would say that Chuck is probably the least educational out of all of them, but he just loves trucks SO much, so we let him watch it on occasion.

So, I’ve obviously never had another child, so I have nothing to compare it to, but Emmett is really smart! He knows all of his colors and can recognized them, he knows most of his shapes and is pretty good at naming them, and is slowly learning his numbers. He’s great at counting when you do it along with him, when he does it alone, he tends to start around 3 and count up. Either way, I was very impressed when I realized he could do this. He also can recognize the letter “E,” and knows it is the first letter of his name, and can also recognized M, for momma, G for grandma and D for daddy, about 80% of the time

Oh! And his memory is exploding! He is beginning to remember things you tell him in the beginning of the day, or even days before. For instance, we went to Trader Joe’s and they gave him stickers, now, every time we go he knows to ask for stickers, and we don’t go there that frequently, maybe once every two weeks. I love it! I just need to be MUCH more careful of what he is promised. haha

WOW! This is long!! I’m going to go ahead and publish anyway, this post is partially to provide my readers with an update on the person that was the inspiration for this blog, but also as a way to remember everything that is going on with him. He’ll love having this later in life and I look forward to reminiscing with him. 🙂

If you’re interested in reading all of the Dear Emmett posts, just click on HERE! 

I also want to wish all of my readers a VERY Happy Thanksgiving!! I hope that you ALL have an amazing day and enjoy being surrounding by those that love you most.

Happy-Thanksgiving

Your turn!

What are some of your favorite memories of your two year old child??

How do you celebrate Thanksgiving? 

Share in the comments below!

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Flint Lockwood and a Meal Plan

Making our meal plan was pretty easy this week, but before I get to that, I want to share Emmett’s costume – he was Flint Lockwood from the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs movies.

A few weeks ago, Seamus was at Kohl’s shopping and came across a t-shirt that had the tuxedo print on it. He obviously bought it, because what’s cuter than a 2 year old wearing a tuxedo shirt. HEHE At this point we still were unsure what Emmett would be for Halloween, he had mentioned being Daniel Tiger from Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, but it has a head piece and Emmett isn’t fond of putting things on his head. So, we kept thinking…

One Saturday morning when Emmett decided to sleep in, Seamus and I were just laying in bed brainstorming ideas and he had the brilliant idea for Emmett to be Flint Lockwood. With his tuxedo shirt, and a pair of jeans, all we would need is a lab coat! Did you know you can get them in child-size lab coat and at an affordable cost?? This is the lab coat (affiliate link) we purchased for Emmett and it fit him perfectly.

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This worked out perfectly, because to Emmett it felt as though he was just wearing regular clothes not a costume so there was no fighting to get dressed. Plus, he loved that his labcoat had pockets and he could hide his many necessities (ie: his hot wheels, binkie, Percy from Thomas and Friends). It was really the cutest thing!!

We made it about 6 houses down the street before we decided to call it a night. I wasn’t expecting to get far, it was chilly and drizzling, but I thought we’d at least make it down the street, oh well. At the first house, while we were waiting for Emmett to grab his candy, the family dog ran out to sniff Emmett. Very sweet dog, Emmett was not in danger, but because Emmett doesn’t have a lot of experiences with dogs, he was freaked out. So, every house going forward we had to coax him to come up, that they didn’t have a dog, that it would be okay – it got to the point where he was just crying. Poor guy! I kept asking if he wanted to go home and he’d tell me no, I asked again and he said yes. So home we went. I’m glad we got out and got to experience everything – next year will be even MORE fun. 🙂

Flint Lockwood and a Meal Plan - Baby Doodah6Now our Meal Plan

Breakfast: 2 Scrambled Eggs & bacon

Lunch: Salad with ham and chicken, blue cheese crumbles, sunflower seeds and honey mustard dressing

Sunday: Pot Roast

Monday: Breakfast for Dinner

Tuesday: Tacos and Guacamole

Wednesday: Homemade Steak Subs

Thursday: Scrounge day

Friday: Rotisserie Chicken & Baked Potatoes

Saturday: Balsamic Pork & Asparagus (Seamus found this recipe, I need to get it from him so I can share it)

It’s a pretty easy week, but one that will be super yummy!! Have you seen my post with tips to make your meal planning easier? You should check it out, these are my TRIED and true tips – they really work.

Join me and link-up with Laura from Mommy, run fast! and Jill from jillconyers.com.

Your turn!

What were you or your children for Halloween? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

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Looking for a quick, easy and FREE way to get your news? Check-out theSkimm and sign-up for your daily email box delivery of the world’s news, plus if you share your birthday, you get it listed at the bottom of the newsletter on your day. It’s like celebrating with thousands of people!!!!

Turn It Up Tuesday – #58

Welcome to the 58th week of Turn It Up Tuesdays!!! We’re so happy to have you here this week – and thanks for the amazing posts last week!

Can you believe that last week we had 298 blog posts link-up and we featured 13 of those posts across over 15 different blogs. That’s a lot of exposure!! You definitely should consider linking-up, we would love to have you!

Happy Halloween!!! The holiday is right around the corner, and it makes me realize that the year has flown by! What are you doing for Halloween? Going to any parties? Dressing up your kids in those adorable costumes? Share them all with us this week – present or past!

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Turn It Up Tuesdays is all about being happy, excited, energetic…and having fun! Link up your favorite posts (old or new) and meet some awesome bloggers in return! Link up your funny stories, DIY posts, recipes, mommy moments — anything at all, as long as it is family-friendly. We want to laugh, be entertained, be inspired, and have a good time!

Thanks so much to everyone that joins us each week and makes this blog hop the best that it could be!

SPONSOR OF THE MONTH

Danielle from The Frugal Navy Wife

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Danielle is a Navy Wife and Stay at Home mom to 3 (soon to be 4) children age 5 & under! She has learned to save money on a set income & I want to teach you to save money for the things you WANT to spend
it on and not what you HAVE to, like bills! The Frugal Navy Wife provides fellow military wives with recipes, DIY, deals, and money-saving tips, along with homeschooling tips.

Stop by and check out her blog…it’s definitely a great read!

Are you interested in having your blog or website featured in this spot? Then, sponsor Turn It Up Tuesday for a month! Click here! It’s only $5 for an entire month!
We’re accepting sponsors for 2015!

Welcome the lovely ladies of Turn It Up Tuesday!

TUT Hosts 10.5.14

(from the top – left to right)

Natasha from Epic Mommy Adventures | Stacey from This Momma’s Ramblings | Jessica from The Wondering Brain | Cathy from A Peek Into My Paradise | April from 100lb Countdown | Meghan from Life with Peanut | Kae from Where’s My Pacifier? | Kelly from Making-More | Laura from Another Cent Saved | Cindy from Mom Maven | Kimberly from Keystrokes by Kimberly| Rhonda from Mother 2 Mother | Silvie from My Silly Little Gang | Jillian from Baby Doodah | Chelsea from Mommie and Wee | Tenns from New Mama Diaries

And welcome our awesome guest hosts for October!

This is the last week for our October guest hosts…thanks for all you have done to make this month great!

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(from the top – left to right)

Bernadyn from B is for… | Cathy from Three Kids and a Fish | Dorothy from ZzzonkOwl: All Things Etsy | Elina from Scrapbooks, Crafts, Cards, Oh My! | Shelly from The Domestic Heart | Melissa from The Coupon Chronicles | Michelle from Failing Perfect | Sonya from Saving Everyday With Sonya K | Tina from The Happy Creations

Interested in being a guest host or becoming a permanent co-host?

Complete the form here! Monthly co-hosts will be chosen on a first come first-serve basis. We’re now accepting guest hosts for December, January, and February.

Here are the Featured posts from last week!

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Laura chose Nature Mini Wreaths: Love Inspired from Simple Nature Decor. “I love the simple and adorable idea. This could easily be made with the family or that special time when Mom needs to hide and just be creative. Bringing Nature and memories always inspires me as a Blogger to want to be even more creative.”

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April chose 10 Reasons to STOP Breastfeeding from MBA SAHM. “Butterfly turned ONE this week, and to stop nursing has been wearing on my mind a lot lately. There are so many things that are easier with breastfeeding. That said, things are getting more difficult as she’s teething and using me to soothe herself.”

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Jillian chose Dollar Store DIY: Easy Owl Banner from Table Decor Ideas. “I chose this post because I am looking for new fun ways to decorate for Halloween outside of pumpkins and skeletons. This is perfect!”

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Cathy chose Spiced Apple Cupcakes with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting | Apple Recipes from A Simple Pantry. “Karly creates the ultimate fall sweet treat! A moist apple cupcake topped with a creamy caramel cream cheese frosting with an added M&M on top! This cupcake is the perfect mouthful of fall flavors!”

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Meghan chose How to Create An RH Baby Room without Spending the Money from Seeking Lavender Lane. “I want to redo my daughter’s room soon as she transitions to a toddler bed, but I already redid her nursery once so definitely can’t afford another major redecoration! This post gives great ideas on how to decorate affordably and still give you the look you are going for.”

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Stacey chose Candy Overload Magic Bars from Annie’s Noms. “OMG! Those look absolutely amazing! I am definitely getting some sweetened condensed milk the next time I go to the store! Maybe even 2 cans, so that I can make a version with nuts, all for me! LOL! Thank you so much for sharing!”

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Bernadyn chose Marriage and Money from Trusting the Journey of Motherhood. “I think this post about separating your finances in a marriage is a smart and practical way to keep the marriage more balanced. It may not work for everyone but then again, it may be a great way for some couples to be happier with how the finances are handled in their marriage or partnership instead of only one person having the burden of handling all the financial obligations.”

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Jessica chose Couponing: My New Addiction // How I Saved 50% on My Groceries from Mommie and Wee. “I’ve been wanting to try out couponing for awhile. It’s kinda hard in San Antonio becuse the only main grocery store is HEB, but once she mentioned WalMart, I was like, huh?!? Maybe I need to start looking into couponing again and pick up the Sunday paper! Thanks for the tips :).”

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Tina chose Painted White Mini Boos from Woods of Bell Trees. “I love this craft. Nice, easy to make and so elegant. I’d love to have them all year around!!”

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Sonya chose 3 Mobile Mystery Shopping Apps That Pay Cash from Being a Wordsmith. “This is a great post for anyone looking to make cash from mystery shopping. Kimberly does a great job of explaining how each app works. Along with listing the pros and cons for each app.”

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Elina chose Flower Collage Canvas from Sum of Their Stories. “I love this project because she takes you step by step on how she created it. The floral papers she used were beautiful and I love that she used a black marker to draw an offset outline around the petals. It really gives the completed project a touch of whimsy.”

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Natasha chose 7 Things You Don’t Get Warned About When You are the Parent of a Toddler from Mum-bo-jumbo.com. “Love this post! All the points are so true – no one can truly warn you about what to expect with a toddler, but sometimes I wish someone would’ve warned me how crazy it is!”

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The post with the most clicks is 5 Reasons Why You Must Watch How to Get Away With Murder from Being a Wordsmith.

Stop by and show some love to our featured bloggers this week! I’m sure they’d all appreciate it!

If you were featured above, feel free to share the badge below with pride on your blog or website!

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And the Best of the Best is…

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Spiced Apple Cupcakes with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting | Apple Recipes from A Simple Pantry

There’s a tie for second place!

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Candy Overload Magic Bars from Annie’s Noms

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Marriage and Money from Trusting the Journey of Motherhood

Show some love to our Best of the Best bloggers this week!!!!

As the Best of the Best, you win free ad space on Epic Mommy Adventures for 30 days! Please showcase the badge below with pride on your blog!

Please send an e-mail to Natasha at 1EpicMommy@gmail.com and she will provide you with all the details!

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So now that you’ve met our sponsor of the month, our hosts and co-hosts, the Featured and the Best of the Best, and the winners of our anniversary giveaway…

let’s get started!

*Show some love to your hosts and co-hosts simply by following them on social media and leaving a comment so they can follow you back. *Link up as many posts as you’d like! The more, the merrier! *Check out some of the other posts and make some new friends! *Grab the button below and showcase on your sidebar! Invite your fellow bloggers to join the fun!

Epic Mommy Adventures

 

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Link up your posts, make some friends, and earn the chance to be featured or become the Best of the Best on Turn It Up Tuesday! We will feature the favorite posts each week!




Interested in reading all of the Featured Posts on Turn It Up Tuesdays – past or present? Or do want to know if your post was featured before we go live next week? Follow Natasha Peter’s board Featured on Turn It Up Tuesdays! on Pinterest.​

Happy (belated) Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

You have to forgive us, Emmett had shots on Wednesday (4 of them!) and on Thursday he had a fever. Since the fever went over 101, day care called me and needed Seamus or I to come get Emmett. We ended up spending the day cuddling on the couch, reading some books (the same 2 over and over again). Once Emmett had some Tylenol, his fever went down and he was fine. He was still a bit cranky but nothing some momma cuddles and love can’t handle.

I had planned on stopping for Halloween candy on my lunch (yeah, I like to plan ahead), but since I went right home we ended up not turning our lights on and just got Emmett dressed up in his costume for some adorable pics. We tossed around the idea of not even getting him a costume, since we wouldn’t be going out, but in the end, we felt we had to. We needed to have pictures, plus the costume was inexpensive, we really had no reason not to get it.

So it was after much deliberation, that we decided Emmett would be….

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Captain America!

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This costume was perfect for us and for Emmett! The reason this costume is so fitting is because when I was still pregnant with Emmett we watched the movie Captain America, for some reason Seamus started calling him Captain Doodah. Somehow, that turned into calling Emmett, Baby Doodah (while in my belly), which led to me naming my blog that, so see, it is perfect! If you’re interested in buying your own Captain America Costume, you can buy it here.

happy-halloween-7 happy-halloween-5 happy-halloween-4 happy-halloween-3 happy-halloween-2 happy-halloweenIsn’t that the cutest Captain America you’ve ever seen? I love this kid!

Your turn!

What were you or your kids for Halloween?

What I Ate Wednesday – #13

Happy What I Ate Wednesday!

It has been an incredibly stressful week so far but I wanted to make sure I linked-up!

First up, breakfast.

Does anyone else do the same exact breakfast every single day? I feel like there’s something wrong with me that I literally eat 1 egg, a slice of Canadian bacon and a slice of American Cheese on a Whole Wheat English muffin everyday. I guess I tend to switch things up on the weekends, but overall it’s the same thing and I’m not sick of it in the least. I guess I just keep doing what I’m doing, huh?what-i-ate-wednesday-109-3

Man do I look forward to snack time!

Today’s snack was a yummy Clif Bar and a cup of coffee. When you were a kid do you remember adults eating cookies with their coffee, or (gasp) even dunking them? My grandma used to do this a lot and I thought it was disgusting. Now, one of my favorite things to do is to have coffee and something sweet. Yum!

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Lunch-a-roo

I totally had leftovers. Last night we ordered pizza for dinner and it was all I could do to simply put the slices in a bag for lunch today. Like I mentioned earlier, things are really stressful at work and it’s causing me to feel extremely worn out by the time I get home from work, which ends up meaning leftover pizza for lunch. However, I’m definitely NOT complaining! 😉

what-i-ate-wednesday-109-6 what-i-ate-wednesday-109-7Lots of stuff going on at work leads to…

Stress eating!

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And finally, dinner.

We marinated some chicken and cooked that on the grill, we had that with some homemade potato pancakes. They were SO good! What can I say? My husband LOVES to cook!

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Remember last week when I shared that I’d be joining in with the Spooky Snack & Healthy Halloween Treats, What I Ate Wednesday? Well, instead of sharing pictures of what I’ve made for Halloween, I’ll be sharing links to some of my favorite finds for Halloween treats from around the web. I unfortunately haven’t had any time to make any special treats but I still wanted to join in on the fun.

Emmett loves grapes, so making these grape caterpillars would be so much fun!

Oh my gosh! I wish I was having a Halloween party for kids OR adults. I love the idea of putting plastic spiders in the ice cube trays. It looks so awesome in the drinks!

And just for fun…

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Thanks for hosting Jenn! Check out Peas and Crayons and link-up!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Baby Doodah and Family!

Amazon Prime

Oh my god, I’m obsessed!

I joined Amazon Mom a few weeks back. What that is for anyone who isn’t familiar, Amazon allows anyone who is a mom, a caregiver, knows a mom, grandparent (pretty much anyone), to join their program for free. The program offers a 3 month FREE membership to Amazon Prime which provides FREE 2 day shipping, this right here is a huge selling point for me but you also get 20% off all diapers and wipes, as a plethora of other discounts. After 3 months, you can choose to pay for Amazon Prime for a year or not, either way, you still get those 3 months free.

Anyhow, that’s not why I’m writing this post, I’m writing this post because I cannot stop searching for items that are Amazon Prime available. I’m not even planning on buying all of the items, I just keep putting some term or another in the search box and seeing if anything there is available for 2 day shipping. And really, SO MUCH IS!

Here a few of the items I found…

and then something for mom…

But I need to wait to buy this until my hair gets quite a bit longer!

I didn’t buy any of these items today (just added them to my wishlist) but I did buy some diapers and a Halloween costume for Emmett (pics will come after Halloween). The best parts for me are 1- diapers and wipes are cheaper online than they are in a store (we use Pampers Swaddlers) and 2- I can wait until pretty much the last minute to buy diapers and they’ll still get here quickly enough because of the 2 day shipping. Love that!

I know, I probably lived in the dark ages but I’ve finally seen the light.

Have you experienced Amazon Prime? Any great items you’ve found through Amazon?

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