Aveda Institue - LivingSocial Deal

I love going to the Aveda Institue. Facials, pedicures, it's wonderful. Especially pedicures because you get to keep the nail polish, which is OPI.

Check out today's Living Social Deal to get a $60 voucher for $30!

How I came to love $22 lip balm

$22.50 is an extreme amount to pay for lip balm. I realize this. But Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment is more than lip balm. This lip balm is glorious stuff. It's super smooth and has a fantastic scent. I sort of want to eat it. Which is not at all healthy and sort of pica like.

But if you don't want to pay $22.50 for lip balm (and no one in my income bracket does or can) sign-up to be a beauty insider with Sephora. It doesn't cost anything. It's more of a points/freebie tracking system. The last couple of years they've had really great birthday gifts. Last year it was Happy Birthday shower gel from Philosophy and this year's birthday gift (drum roll please ...) is a duo of Fresh Sugar Lip Balms - clear and rose.

If anyone has an extra $22.50 burning a hole in their pocket and wants to buy me something, look no further :)

Lemon Tree Photography

These are a few of Lucan's 10 month pictures that were taken by Cristi of Lemon Tree Photography. This is the first time since our wedding that we've had professional pictures taken by someone other than one of our friends. Last Mother's Day I won a gift card from Lemon Tree and I figured it was time to get it used. You can tell that Cristi loves what she is doing and is a total pro. She made us feel right at ease and it was a really fun shoot. She definitely has a gift! We did a combo location, we started out at her in-home studio in Des Moines and then we finished up at Water Works park. Lu did pretty well, despite having a double ear infection and being totally distracted by the cars and bikers at the park.

For more pictures from the shoot, click on to Lemon Tree's website!

Lucan: 10 month update, almost a month late

Lance, the husband, who likes to say that blogging isn't the best use of my time, told me that my blog sucks because it's been so long since I've posted. SO SORRY LANCE. :)

Month 10 has been one of the most challenging months to date. Not because Lucan has suddenly started getting mouthy or turned into a kung-fu ninja, but because he has been sick. I know that it sounds trite to be complaining about such infantile things like ear infections and colds, but they have kicked our butts in this household.

Around the end of March, we noticed one night that Lucan was coughing some. Not a lot, but any coughing from Lucan is a sign of concern. At the beginning I wasn't too worried, I figured it was just a cold. No biggie, all kiddos get colds. But then my spidey-mom sense kicked in and I started wondering if Lu had an ear infection. I didn't really want to take him to the doctor or have him go back on antibiotics. I probably waited too long, but with Lucan it is hard to know when he's sick enough to go to the doctor. He typically doesn't have nighttime sleep issues, run a temp, or get overly crabby when he is sick. So I held off taking him in. Then by the time he did go in, Lu had a full blown double ear infection. Round one of antibiotics. 10 days late and 1 visit to the chiropractor too, still no signs of improvement. Lu was still coughing, periodically throwing up and still tugging on his ears. And OMG my sweet, easy going child turned into the most high strung crabby version of my child. Cue round two of antibiotics. Still no real signs of improvement and he was still coughing quite a bit. Second chiropractic visit and another trip to the pediatrician. Ears are "better" but Lu was still coughing and throwing up. So the ped put him on predisone - a steroid that has a tendency to make babies edgy and crabby. Just great. We did the full five days of predisone and thought he was doing better. But then he spiked a temp again (and was still coughing), so Lance took him back to the doctor. They said that his ears looked good ... No more meds. But Lu is still coughing and the other day spiked another temp and threw up all over himself mid-day. I haven't taken him back to the ped, but we are going to the chiropractor one more time. We'll see. Lu lu, feel better.

That being said, illness and crabbiness aside, Lucan has made some progress this last month!

• Crawling! Lucan started army crawling mid-March. He has been in hot pursuit of Fire ever since :) L doesn't really get up on his knees and crawl, which I would think would be easier than pulling himself around by his arms.
• With the start of crawing, we finally put up a baby gate. With much nashing of the teeth, we put up a gate that installs right into the wall. Oh, and the nashing of the teeth- that was Lance. My friend Jessica pretty much laid down the law one day when we were babysitting her daughter and told Lance that we had to put a permanent one in, not just a pressure gate. Apparently the information coming from a disinterested third party parent, had more of an impact than me. Whateve.
• Waving! This is recent, just in the last week has Lucan starting waving with his right hand. It's pretty adorable.
• Being sick, Lucan hasn't really put on much weight. In fact, I'm a little concerned he might have lost some.
• Total teeth count: 4 on top, 2 on the bottom.
• No movement on the sippy cup front. Lu is pretty stubborn about his beverages. I tried to give him Pedilite when he was sick and he would have none of it. Not even out of a bottle. I wonder where he gets his stubbornness ... probably Lance.
• We are still nursing. It really seems to soothe and settle him.
• At the end of the month, Lucan got his third haircut. Man, this kid has hair!
• One of L's favorite games is to remove everything from outlets. Nightlights, air fresheners, cords ... You name it, Lucan will remove it.
• Second favorite game: playing with the spiral spring door stoppers. I remember liking these too. But my parents wouldn't let me play with these. But I let Lu, I'm not really seeing the harm in it.
• Going to the doctor's office so much, L also discovered his love for shredding the tissue paper on the exam room table. I've often found myself being embarrassed about the mess Lucan makes of the tissue paper. But don't worry, I always clean it up. I'm not one of those parents :)
• His favorite toy are the stackable rings. It's an oldie, but a goodie.
• When he was sick, we went on a lot of walks. Distractions helped Mr. Crabby Pants. Except for the time L fell asleep in his stroller and then woke up when I was resting on a park bench (it was an hour and a half walk, I got tired!). L seemed to be of the opinion that I had tricked him into napping and was ticked at this.
• Ugh. Lucan has started intermittently grinding his teeth. It's a horrid noise. Absolutely horrid.
• We've taken a break on introducing new and table foods. With so much vomiting and crabbiness, it seemed to be the best idea.
• During his sick period, we had some issues with separation anxiety. Meaning, if we set him down and walked into the kitchen, Lucan would freak out and start crying hysterically. Fortunately, I think the worst of it has passed.
• We started putting a blanket in Lucan's crib with him. He adores his blanket. Lucan's face just lights up when I spread it over him.
• Lucan has also discovered that he can make noises with his lips. Lots of fun watching him motor boat about.
• Lu also loves playing with the cords on his blinds. I know, not safe.
• We had 9/10 month professional pictures done at the end of March. They are pretty much awesome. But then again, I'm totally biased that my son is the most ADORABLE baby ever.

And in other news, I started a new job at the beginning of the month. Same company, different department. The major bonus has been my new 30 hour work week. One day a week I stay home with Lucan and we chill together. I'm looking forward to when he's healthy and back to his old cheerful self!

Did someone say I was crabby? I don't believe it!

Reach for the stars outlaw!

I am solemn and serious. I am giving you all sorts of model face. I'm America's Next Top Baby Model - male edition