Stella and Dot Online Trunk Show. It's here....tomorrow!

Hi friends!

Tomorrow's the day!
It's almost time to SHOP!

For those of your who are not that familiar with Stella and Dot, I wanted to show you what some of my favorite items are. It was seriously hard to narrow it down to these, I love them ALL, but these are some of my favorites.

one // two // three // four // five

six // seven // eight // nine // ten

eleven // twelve // thirteen // fourteen

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For all necklaces, click here

For all charms, click here

For all bracelets, click here

For all earrings, click here

For all rings, click here

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one // two // three // four

five // six // seven

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For all scarves, click here

For all tech accessories, click here

For all small accessories, click here

For all wallets, click here

For all bags, click here

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Like what you see? Want to shop? The official party doesn't start until tomorrow, but the trunk show is open now for early shoppers!

Click here!

Happy shopping!

Life Lessons : Patience

Sometimes I feel like I need to step away and have a break while others I feel like I can't 

tear myself away. 

Both of these instances happened this weekend.

This weekend started off on Friday afternoon with a mani/pedi. And it was amazing. 

And very relaxing. 

The mani/pedi was followed up by us all going out to dinner for my brother-in-law's birthday.

Then Saturday, we had a make up class at noon at Gymboree to attend. Since that was smack dab in the middle of the day, I had wanted to get some errands done before. So we ate breakfast and got ready and were about to leave when we realized that Mason pooped. No big deal. I tell Seth that I'll go change him and then we can go. 

If only it were that easy with a toddler.

And to be honest, it normally is pretty easy. Mason's gotten squirmy recently but we usually distract him with a book and he just "reads" the whole time.

But this time was different.

I don't even know what happened. I laid him down to change him and he started squirming. I gave him a book and he pushed it away. I tried to offer it again and he started full on crying and trying to turn over. I kinda just let it happen and then tried to get him to flip back over. He did eventually and I offered a book again and this time he took it. I figured I was good. I figured wrong. I started to take off his diaper and he decided he wanted to turn over. I tried to keep him still and told him no over and over and he kept trying to turn over. And let me tell you. HE IS STRONG. I was starting to get frustrated. I kept saying no. He didn't have his diaper on and he had poop all over.

And then I just let him turn over.

I couldn't fight it anymore. I will admit it, I was frustrated. By this time Seth had asked if I needed help and had come upstairs and I was just letting Mason rub his poopy butt all over his changing pad sheet. At this point, Seth took over. I was so thankful he was there because I needed a minute.

Being a parent is hard!

Toddlers don't listen.

Sometimes it sucks. I will admit it.

Seth was able to get Mason changed and met me downstairs. Twenty minutes later than I intended on leaving, we left for Target. As we were driving to Target, Seth and I talked. And what he said hit me hard. "You need to have patience with him." And I know this. He is learning. He is little. I know I need to have patience, but sometimes it's frustrating! And he understood that. It happens to him too.

But then he said "when he gets upset, he needs you the most. He needs you to be patient. You are so good with him when he is upset." And that struck me right in my core.

I need to be more patient.

Being a parent is frustrating sometimes. But I need to be patient. He is little. He is getting a tooth. That could have been why he got so upset. I have no idea what's going on. But it's my role as a parent to calm him down. And I want that role. I want to be the one who can calm him down. I will do it.

Sorry to be so sappy, but his words really hit hard that day and I had to share. After my serious pep talk, we finally arrived at Target and I had the best time shopping and Starbucks-ing with these two goof balls.

We headed home, ate some lunch, and left for Gymboree.

Since Mason's regular level 4 class was full, they thought it might be good for us to attend the level 5 class since he would be turning 22 months on Sunday. I didn't realize it was time to move to the next level, so I agreed. I'm actually glad I did because I met another really nice mom who has a daughter one month older than Mason.

After Gymboree, we went home, Mason took a nap, and then we headed over to Seth's mom's house for our niece, Emma's, birthday party. Well it was her birthday party, but we were celebrating Emma, her dad, and her grandpa as well.

Shawn's cake (Breaking Bad) // Emma's cake (Frozen) // Grandpa George's cake (photography)

auntie + niece matching scarves

We had a great time at the party! Mason's favorite part was the cake. For sure. Oh and helping himself to chips in a bowl on the table. Now that he's tall enough to reach the table by himself, he just helps himself. Kids.

Sunday we went to Gymboree again and then to Costco (where Mason ate his weight in free samples). We came home, ate lunch, Mason napped and Seth and I made progress on this...

Mason's table!

It's not quite finished yet, but we made major progress and I hope to complete my goal of it being done by the end of the month.

Seth's dad came over for dinner on Sunday night and we just had a nice night.

Until...

I hit the monitor button to check on Mason and comment to Seth how cute he was sleeping (I may be bias and I'm ok with that) and then all of a sudden he started moving around. And then crying. It's like he could tell I hit the button and I woke him. I let it go (cue the Frozen song getting stuck in your head for hours now... sorry!) for a sec and then realized he wasn't falling back asleep so I went up to his room to check on him. By now he was sitting up and crying. I had no idea what was wrong other than maybe a bad dream or the top molar that's coming in was hurting so I just started rubbing his back to make him feel better and know I was there. I am by no means a baby whisperer and it didn't work right away but soon he stopped crying and I was able to get him to lay down. Seth was right. I am good at being patient and calming Mason down. I sat down next to the crib (instead of standing over it) and reached my arms through the slats and rubbed his back and his head/hair. He calmed down. He started his cute little snoring. And all of a sudden, I couldn't get up. I didn't want to get up. I went from being so frustrated at the diaper change incident on Saturday to not being able to leave my baby's side after he fell asleep. Seriously, these little people do crazy things to your heart strings! After I could tell he was really sleeping, I jotted down some notes (because I didn't want to forget any details) and then I got up and went to bed myself. It was 10:45pm after all. I probably would have slept on the floor next to his crib had my alarm not been set to go off at 5am the next day and I didn't want to wake Mason up prematurely. I laid in bed for a little while and I think I might have fallen asleep, but then at midnight a heard more crying. I went back in to check on Mason and just rubbed his back and his head again and it calmed him down. This time was a lot faster (which I was thankful for since it was midnight). But I was also thankful that I was able to calm him down again so easily. 

It was a different ending to the weekend than I expected but it couldn't have ended any better because it re-affirmed what I needed to "hear".

I'm his mom. He needs me. I need him.

And I just love him so much.

[BOY MOMS] Suzanna from One Hoolie Mama

Hey, y'all!  My name is Suzanna and I blog over at One Hoolie Mama.  I'm so thankful to Elizabeth for extending the opportunity to post on her blog about my experiences being a #boymom!  (By way of explanation, "hoolie" is our shortened version of "hooligan" and I am surrounded by both furry and non-furry hooligans at my house!)

Throughout the first several months of my pregnancy, I really felt like I was going to have a girl.  I didn't have a preference either way, but I started dreaming that I was going to have a girl, the heart rate was in the "girl range," and I just really felt like it was going to be a girl.  (Hubby did secretly hope a little that it would be a boy, though.)  We were both ecstatic to see the ultrasound when the tech asked Hubby "what do you see there?" and he responded "it looks like it's a boy!"

#BabyD was born on New Years Eve 2013 at 9:40 p.m.  He was 8lbs 14 oz.

It's almost unreal to me how much we can fall more and more in love with this little guy each day.  He's a happy, talkative, stubborn little boy who loves his mommy & daddy, smiling, trying to sit up, and bath time, and hates being in the car when it isn't moving and hates, hates, hate tummy time.  

As he continues to grow, Hubby & I will do our best to teach him to be a good man, to take care of his furry siblings and his other future siblings, and that if he works hard, he can do just about anything he puts his mind to.  

On a completely superficial note, man I hope he keeps these blue eyes and reddish hair! 

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If you would like to share a post about you and your son, email me at chasinmasonblog@gmail.com .

I would love to feature you! You don't have to have a blog to participate!

Five on Friday

Boy oh boy am I SO GLAD that today is FRIDAY!

This week has been crazy. I still have so much to do at work today, but knowing that it's Friday will get me through :)

ONE.

Stella and Dot Online Trunk Show.

Reminder : some exciting news! I've teamed up with one of my friends who is a Stella and Dot rep and we're going to be hosting a trunk show! Mark your calendars for May 22nd (next Thursday!)  because we're having a Stella & Dot ONLINE Trunk Show! Get cozy, grab some wine, relax and shop for the latest styles from Stella & Dot in your PJs from the comfort of your own home. And who doesn't love shopping in the comfort of our own home while sipping on a glass of wine?! 

Our personal Stylist, my friend, Katie Foster, will be online to send you pictures of some style options for the season and help with any outfits you may need help styling. 
Can't wait to see the collection? 

Take a sneak peak now!

I'm personally really excited about this trunk show because she is donating 10% of her commission to help support breast cancer awareness so ANYTHING you buy help this cause! As some of you know, my mom passed away from breast cancer 11 years ago so this cause is especially important to me. I've been doing breast cancer walks in the past to help support research and awareness but have been unable to now that I have Mason so this trunk show and being able to help donate means a lot to me. I am really looking forward to this! Let me know if you send the link to a friend and they shop too because then Katie will treat you to free shipping!!

TWO.
Drink for the Weekend.

I was searching on Pinterest the other night and came across these beauties : sangria in a jar. Genius. Seriously genius. I love sangria but...Seth does not. These would be perfect! I could make my own and portion them out and have one a night. Not sure why I didn't think of this earlier! The recipe sounds delicious and the idea is so smart. Can't wait to try!

THREE.
Fruit Infused Water.

This fruit infused water is inspired by my trip to the spa for Mother's Day. They had THE BEST fruit infused water there. It had watermelon, lemon, and mint. I didn't have any mint at home but the watermelon and lemon combo was so good!

FOUR.
Mani. Pedi.

via

Kinda loving the pink color with the accent of gold!

For Mother's Day I got a gift card to a nail salon and I could not have been more excited. I've been dying to get my nails done for a while now but haven't had time (or extra money) to do so. Today after work I fully intend on spoiling myself!

FIVE.
Costco PJ's.

(sorry for the awful, awful picture quality)

I was shopping at Costco the other day and noticed that they had Carter's pj's on sale. $6.99 instead of $8.99. I had been wanting to get some for Mason for a while now (mainly because he only has winter pj's and it is ridiculously hot here) and the fact that they were on sale was even better. They come in a 3-pack (shirt, shorts, and pants) which I LOVE because it gives me matching options when it is warmer or cooler. And with the weather we've been having, it's been super nice to have a shirt and shorts that match for Mason.

And two extra...
SIX.
Grey's Anatomy.

Did anyone watch?!?! All I can say is wow!!

SEVEN.
Birthdays.

Today is my brother-in-law's birthday (I know he's not reading but HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHAWN!) and Sunday is my niece, Emma's, birthday as well as Shawn's dad's birthday. So Saturday is birthday party central! Pretty excited to celebrate and to eat cake :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

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Linking up with the lovely ladies of  The Good Life, Carolina Charm, A. Liz Adventures, and Hello Happiness

[A Day in the Life] Working Mom : The 8am Shift

I did a [A Day in the Life] Weekend Edition post a couple months ago, but I thought it would be nice to document what our weekdays are like. Last week I documented what working an 11am-7:30pm shift was like, but today I am documenting the 8am-4:30pm shift.

My schedule this semester (I work at a school) usually goes something like this :

Monday : 11:00am-7:30pm

Tuesday : 8:00am-4:30pm

Wednesday : 8:00am-4:30pm

Thursday : 7:00am-3:30pm

Friday : 7:00am-3:30pm

Friday's aren't as bad even though I work at the same time as I do on Thursday because Seth works only every other Friday (his schedule is Monday-Thursday (every week) 7:00am-5:00pm and every other Friday 8:00am-5:00pm and the other Friday off). Obviously, the Friday's that he's home are the best. I get myself up and ready and out the door by 6:30am and don't need to worry about what kind of schedule Mason is on that day since Seth will be home with him all day. And the Friday's that he does work, he works at 8:00am so that gives him the flexibility that I normally have on my 8:00am days, so again, I kinda just need to worry about myself.

Here is a day in the life of a working mom working 8am-4:30pm.

{Warning : this will be long and wordy... and sorry for the lack of pictures in the middle. I kinda forgot to keep taking pictures once I got to work lol}

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The date is Wednesday, May 7, 2014. Mason is 21 months old. Seth is 32 years old. I am 29 years old.

5:00am - my alarm goes off. I think "no way, no how". I had a rough day yesterday and could totally use about 9 more hours of sleep, but decide the 9 extra minutes will do. Hit snooze.

5:09am - My snooze alarm goes off. I still think "no way" and hit snooze again.

5:18am - My snooze alarm goes off again. I still have no desire to get up but know I have to or I will make Seth super late for work. I turn off my alarm, check Instagram real fast (priorities), and then get up to go put in my contacts, brush my teeth, and take a shower.

5:43am - Out of shower and head back to my room. I wonder how I took a show so fast when I thought I was running late.

6:07am - Done getting ready and head downstairs.

6:12am - Mason starts moving around in his crib and whining. I go upstairs to get him and am greeted with a happy, smiley baby. That's a surprise since a couple minutes ago he was crying. I pick him up out of his crib and lay him on the changing table to change him. The only way we can keep him from squirming these days is to give him a book. This morning I had to find one from his book shelf since he had dropped all five books we had behind the changing table.

6:22am - Done getting Mason ready. I let him close the closet (he has two doors that open and he is obsessed with opening and closing them). We head downstairs. Seth got Mason's milk ready and put some Cheerios on his high chair tray and put a waffle in the toaster. I turn on Mickey to avoid a meltdown.

6:25am - I make myself some breakfast - Frosted Mini Wheats with strawberries and milk - grab a yogurt for Mason and sit down next to him to eat.

6:37am - Seth leaves.

6:40am - I start getting Mason's and my lunch together and put into our lunch boxes. I grab some last minute items that I didn't get ready the night before.

6:44am - Done preparing lunches. I check my email real fast and send off an email response to someone. I make sure Mason is ok and run upstairs real fast to change out of my pj shorts and into my work pants.

6:50am - Head back downstairs and grab Mason's shoes and socks and put them on him. Everything takes two times as long since Mason likes to "help" me do this. I put his jacket on, grab all my stuff, and we head out the door. When we get to the car, I put Mason down and tell him to stay there while I put the stuff in the front seat. He, of course, doesn't listen and starts to run away. I grab him and tell him he can't run away where they are cars that could hurt him. He looks at me confused and like he'd rather be playing than listening to me. I put him in the car and we leave.

7:14am - Arrive to daycare. He shows me the Mater toy he has been playing with during our whole ride there. I leave it in the car, steal a selfie with my little love, and we head on in to daycare.

7:27am - Talked for a little bit and now leaving and on my way to work.

7:47am - I park in the parking lot and see a text from my opener saying that my text person didn't show up. Also didn't call. I head inside and figure out how to make the morning work when I get a call saying that my text person will be there soon, he's just running late. I get it covered until he gets there so I can check my emails and work on getting things ready for the temporary employees to come back the next week to help train for buyback.

8:15am - 10:00am - Respond to various emails, get asked various questions, and do a lot of everything.

10:00am-11:30am - Student Services Manager's Meeting.

12:00pm-12:30pm - Lunch

12:30pm-4:30pm - Basic work stuff. (Also as I'm typing this up, realize that I forgot to take notes during the day and can now not remember what I was doing when. The fact that I didn't take notes must mean that I was really busy! Right?)

4:44pm - Leave work and check the traffic. Red. Not good. Decide to chance it anyway.

5:15pm - Arrive home. Traffic wasn't as bad as I thought. Get the mail, change out of my work clothes into pj's, and get some water. Turn on the computer and check bloglovin.

5:34pm - Text Seth to see if he needs me to do anything to the chicken or corn for dinner. I expect him to say something like "yeah, take the chicken out of the fridge and put it on the counter" but instead he says "put the chicken in a ziplock bag with some olive oil and pesto". Umm? I'm sorry, what? How much is some? Remember, I'm your wife who does the BAKING, not the COOKING. I work in exact measurements. So, I do what anyone else would do, I guess. Hopefully that's what he wanted! (Also, side note : I HATE raw chicken and would have preferred not to touch it, but I was feeling generous lol)

5:45pm - Hear Seth and Mason coming to the door and go check it out. Mason's busts open the door and runs towards me for a hug. But then...psych. He turns around right when he gets to me and I get no hug. His new favorite thing.

6:19 - Seth starts BBQing our dinner of chicken, corn on the cob, and fries. Mason starts to get a little whiny so I know I am going to need to make him something for dinner before ours is ready. I make him chicken nuggets, grapes, edamame, and a pickle. When it's ready, I plan to give hime some of the  corn on the cob and a couple fries from our dinner.

6:20pm - Mason realizes that Seth is outside and now wants to go outside. I guess he's forgotten that he's hungry. We normally like him to stay inside, far away from the BBQ, but I decide to say yes this night and just tell Seth to keep a close watch on Mason.

6:35pm - Mason wants in. Or so we think. Seth opens the door to let him in and he walks away. I ask him if he's hungry and he walks towards me. Seth tells him to shut the door and he does. I put him in his high chair to eat and he grabs the pickle first and takes a huge bite out of it.

6:36pm - Mason has finished his pickle. Literally one minute later. And he seems uninterested in the other food. I think could have just given him a dinner of pickles and he probably would have been happy as can be.
Then all of a sudden Mason starts crying. I have no idea what's wrong because he was fine two seconds ago. I pick him up and ask if he hurt his hand or bit his tongue and he cries and moves around like he wants down. I put him down and he walks over to his Cars table, stops crying and picks up a train. I think to myself "that kid just pulled a fast one on me." He picks up his VTech Smart Wheels helicopter, brings it to me and signs "please" for me to turn it on. I tell him no and put him back in his high chair to finish eating. Cue the tears again and spitting out food.

6:42pm - Seth comes in with the corn on the cob and cuts one in half for Mason. And as you can see, I think we have found a new favorite food. Seth cuts up some tomatoes, gives them to Mason, he eats them all. He puts some fries on his tray, he eats those. Only thing left is chicken. He spits out every piece of chicken I put in his mouth. I put the chicken pieces on my fork and tell Mason he can use Mommy's fork and it works...temporarily.

7:03pm - I notice Jeopardy is on now so I turn the tv on and Mason is interested immediately. We play and watch Jeopardy and the Wheel of Fortune.

8:00pm - Mason's bed time. We head upstairs (with a few tears shed) and I brush his teeth and Seth reads him two stories.

8:16pm - I head back downstairs and start typing the rest of this post and check bloglovin real fast.

9:12pm - Hit publish on my post and start making pasta salad.

9:54pm - Done making pasta salad (and now thinking how did that take me so long??) and Mason's lunch and sit down to look at the Stella and Dot catalog that my friend sent me for my online trunk show on May 22nd.

Mason's lunch

veggie crunchies // cut up grapes // cheerios with blueberries

turkey with olives and edamame // avocado // cheese stick // apple sauce pouch

10:20pm - Fall asleep on the couch. Good night!

[It's the Little Things] Half Naked Pillow Fights

The title is a little deceiving. This post isn't about what you think it might be about.

One night last week, we were watching Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune (our two new nightly watches). Mason was sitting on the couch. I was sitting on a different part of the couch. Seth was sitting on the floor. Mason accidentally knocked off one of the pillows on the couch and then it started...

Seth pushed the pillow back at Mason (gently, but enough for it to bump him) and he started giggling like crazy. We thought, "hey this is fun" and kept doing it. Mason kept laughing SO HARD and we all kept tossing the pillow at each other.

Mason was so cute picking up the pillow with both hands, lifting it above his head, 

and chucking it at Seth.

These definitely aren't the best pictures. They are almost all blurry.

But I think it gives a pretty accurate portrayal of the fun that we were having!

It really is the little things in life that make them the most fun!

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Linking up with Jess from Sadie Sky Boutique and Ashley from Words About Waverly

Mother's Day 2014

Happy (belated) Mother's Day mamas!

I hope everyone had an amazing day with their families!

Mine was the BEST Mother's Day yet.

Even though this was my second Mother's Day (or third if you count the one when I was pregnant), I still can't believe that I get to be a part of the celebration on this day. I feel so blessed to be Mason's mama that that is enough for me. But to be able to partake in the celebration now is extra special.

My weekend of celebration started off on Friday when I got home from work and walked in to these...

They were gorgeous.

Saturday wasn't really a celebration day since Seth had to work but I did go to the mall with my mother-in-law and Mason and we had the best time so that was still fun.

Then Sunday, the boys went all out this year and the girls started off their day here...

BURKE WILLIAMS SPA.

Holy moly. What did I do to deserve this? Because whatever it is, I want to do it again so I get this lucky next year!

And because Burke Williams loves moms, we started off our visit with these...

Champagne. I'd say our day was starting off pretty fantastic.

Unfortunately these were the only pictures I took at the spa because they...have a no cell phone policy. I might have gotten yelled at right after I took that picture of our champagne. Oops.

We arrived around 8:30am, enjoyed our champagne and a short tour of the facility, and then got changed and hung out a little before our massages at 9am. At 9am we each had a 50 minute massage and let me tell you, it was heaven. They signed us up for some sort of exfoliating, hydrating, amazing massage thing and it was wonderful.

After our massages we over, we all reconvened, went in the sauna and hung out a bit. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law and I decided we were going to leave after that and walked around the mall a bit, got a Starbucks, and then they went home to shower and I called Seth to get me. We went back to my brother-in-law's parents house and hung out for a bit, snacked on some goodies, had some drinks, and waited for the rest of the girls to get back. We fed Mason some lunch and then he took a nap. Then the other kids decided that they wanted to play on the slip n slide but didn't have swim suits so what's a kid to do? Get naked. Yep. We had a two and a three year old running up and down the slip n slide and into the kiddie pool. 

Totally naked. 

I could only keep thinking about how cold the water must have been but they were happy as can be.

The boys made steak and chicken on the BBQ and we had tacos, rice, and beans for lunch.

It was perfect.

And when Mason woke up from his nap, I was able to steal a picture with him.

Love this boy SO MUCH.

After our selfie, we headed outside to see Daddy and to share a cookie.

By now it was getting late, so we let Mason enjoy his cookie and then we headed home.

We made our grocery list and Seth went grocery shopping and Mason and I watched Cars 2 and he ate some snacks (a la no pants) since I realized he never really had dinner.

Seth came home, put the groceries away, and then it was pretty much time for Mason to go to bed. We put him to bed and when I went to check on him, he was sleeping like this.

One arm out. One arm in his shirt. Legs up on the crib.

I swear he has enough room in there but he insists on sleeping this way instead of the long way.

Kids.

Seriously. It was the best day. I couldn't have been happier or more lucky.

But. One person I haven't mentioned yet. My mom.

She passed away 14 years ago, but I never forget. I know she is looking down on us and celebrating with us. She was such an inspiration and role model of a mom for me for how I am with Mason. If I am even half the mom to Mason that she was to me, I will have succeeded. 

Happy Mother's Day Mom! I love and miss you everyday, and especially today.