Breakfast With Tropicana

I love waking up in the morning and realizing that it is a Saturday. Not only does that mean my husband is off for the day, but it also means that we get to eat breakfast together as a family of five. I tend to brag a little on my husband's breakfasts. He goes all out with what he cooks on the weekends: scrambled eggs, homemade potatoes cut into squares, turkey bacon or turkey sausage, homemade pinto beans and all of this is served with warm flour tortillas. It is so good--we all look forward to the mornings when we can have a home cooked breakfast instead of cold cereal.

We also love to serve Tropicana Orange Juice with our breakfasts. I love having a nice, hot breakfast and a glass of orange juice (pulp free for us) on the side. Orange juice is a refreshing drink to have in the mornings and I love that is a part of our weekend family breakfast tradition.

Tropicana has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. When I hear the words orange juice my mind automatically thinks of Tropicana 100% Pure Florida Orange Juice. I'm willing to bet that as you're reading this you recognize the name Tropicana. While the name is familiar I have also had the opportunity to learn some interesting facts regarding Tropicana:

• Tropicana is the single largest buyer of Florida fruit, purchasing approximately 11.6 billion oranges from Florida yearly
• Tropicana's roots in Florida go back a long way. Some of its current grower relationships date back to the 1960's
• Many of the Florida growers sample oranges by cutting them into a cup shape, allowing for drinking juice directly from the fruit
• Tropicana Pure Premium is 100% Pure Florida Orange Juice

As if you didn't already love Tropicana, they are giving their loyal fans yet another reason to love them! By entering their Facebook sweepstakes you will have a chance at winning one of 100 Florida prizes. The prizes include winning Tropicana for a year and a trip to visit one of their Florida orange groves. Ninety nine winners will receive Tropicana for a year, while one lucky winner will win the round trip airfare for four to Florida for a three night stay in a hotel. The winner and their guests will get to tour a Florida orange grove.

You may enter now by visiting the Tropicana Facebook page, liking them and entering their sweepstakes. 

Do you have a breakfast tradition that you follow with your family? Or maybe you remember breakfasts while growing up? I have many fond breakfast memories as a child and hope that my daughters will grow up one day and remember how much we loved having breakfast together on the weekends as a family.

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Tropicana blogging program, to earn My SocialMoms Rewards Points. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own. To read more posts on this topic, click here.

Playing Catch Up.

-An entire week has flown by since my last post-I'm never going to catch up with blogging until at least one of my daughters is in school. When do you find time to write? To read a blog? Send me suggestions--I'm begging you!

-I finally got contacts--and I love it. Can you believe in my twenty plus years of assistance in sight that I never once tried contacts? Now that I have them I love them. As in I never want glasses again. Eventually I would love me some Lasik, but until then these will do.

-Our new living room furniture FINALLY arrived. I say finally because it took two months to make it to our home. That's a post for another day...

-I had my first ER worthy injury on Saturday. I was playing with Madelyn and I was lying down on the living room floor. She does this thing where she starts to make herself fall and you're supposed to catch her. Only this time I couldn't catch her and she landed on my face. Her head literally crushed my nose--I'll never forget the sound *shiver*. I stood up and had blood coming out of my nose...turns out she shifted my nose, I have severe bruising and swelling inside of my nose. Crazy, right?! It hurts like hell...

-We've been having so much fun outside. Beach trips, yard work, playing in the sprinkler, spring walks...it's been 80 degrees almost every day and I'm totally taking advantage of it!

-I recently bought new bedding. Ohmyheavens. It's wonderful. I bought the Dream Quilt from Garnet Hill in the color cottage blue. It's the softest quilt that I have ever felt in my life. I bought some cool white sheets from JCPenney...they are the softest sheets EVER. I also bought a cute throw for the bottom of our bed. Now I need to get some cute decorative pillows, curtains and wall decor. Slowly yet surely my house is looking how we want it. I'm going for crisp, clean and cleansing--with a chic flair.

-I think that's it--hoping to find some more time one of these days to make my blog a priority again. I miss everyone!

Sand Between Her Toes...

I ventured out to the beach on Monday and did it all. by. myself.

Correction.

I had my girls and met a couple of friends with one of their little boys.

BUT.

The point that I am making is that I braved the sand, water and seagulls without my husband. If that's not a miracle I'm not sure what is.

We survived, had fun and I even snapped some pictures. After all, it was Brynlie's first time in the sand.

She loved it. She ate some sand. She had fun. She ate sand covered Goldfish.

I survived. I have a weird pattern on my back from where I couldn't reach sunscreen. I, too, ate some sand.

Did I mention that I survived?

Your Eight O'Clock is Dead {Book Review}

If there is one thing that I love to read it is a book with humor, mystery and a lovable lead female character. These types of books allow me to continue to wonder about the book even when I am not reading it. Do you ever find yourself as you are trying to fall asleep you continue to try and solve the mystery of your current read? That is usually a great sign of the book I am reading--it means it has ultimately drawn me in.

I recently read Your Eight O'Clock is Dead by Kat Jorgensen. This novel is about Becca Reynolds, a young office manager (as she has given herself the title) at a psychiatric partner office. She arrives to the office one morning and begins her day as usual. She notices one of the patients in a chair ready for his 8:00 appointment. As Becca begins her morning routine she carries on a conversation with the patient until she realizes that something is wrong, very wrong, with him.

This is when Becca discovers and has to tell Dr. D that his eight o'clock patient?

Is dead.

I loved everything about this book. Becca is a lovable and I found myself able to relate to her and her nosy antics. She has managed to meet a handsome Russian and finds herself drawn to the manly accountant in the office across the hall. Can Becca solve the mystery and save her bosses' practice from going under due to an unsolved murder occurring in their office?

I rate this book five stars. I absolutely loved it and found myself unable to put it down. It sucked me in and had a great plot as well as a great mystery. It was fun to read and I recommend it to my readers!

Interested in purchasing Your Eight O'Clock is Dead? You can buy it on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble or Smashwords.

About the Author

Kat Jorgensen, a notorious daydreamer, knew that it was only a matter of time before she became a writer. She learned to read by age four and had her first library card before her fifth birthday. To this day, she can lose herself for hours among the books at her local library or neighborhood bookstore. Ebooks and online ordering have made it really easy for her to keep her To Be Read pile from ever going down. A native of Richmond, Virginia, Kat is married with children and has a cranky tuxedo cat named Ben.


I received an ebook of Your Eight O'Clock is Dead. A huge thank you to Chick Lit Plus and Kat Jorgensen for this fun book tour! All opinions above are my own and no other compensation was received. 

Too Sweet.

Blogger has been making my pictures' color look really bizarre...sigh.

Miss Brynlie is almost 10 months old. On the 21st she will be two months shy of turning one.

One.

Where has the time gone?

With turning 10 months comes new and exciting things! This has been a busy, busy month for her as you are about to see...

She has TWO teeth as of now. Two. Just a month ago she was my toothless honey. Now? She has chompers!

She went through a biting/teething phase while nursing. That was horrible.

Speaking of nursing, we are almost to 10 months. If you asked me 10 months ago how long I would nurse her for I would of answered that I did not know if I would be able to do it. I am so proud of the both of us for making it this far!

She says mama any time she cries. Is it bad that I kinda hope she cries just to hear her say mama?

She also says dada and baba (which I assume means mama milk, haha). Oh-and gaga as well as "vvvvv". Love the sound of her voice!

She sings little songs. Sometimes I join in and she grins ear to ear and belts the notes out even louder. Heart melting.

Talk about a cruiser! She has mastered cruising.

Her big sisters are her world. She smiles anytime she hears their voice. She laughs at them constantly--which encourages Isabella and Madelyn to be even sillier. I love seeing the love she has for those two. There's nothing like seeing the love your children have for one another.

Last, but not least, she cannot stand baby food. Besides nursing she only wants real food. Can you blame her? Her favorite dish is pinto beans. Those are her favorite!

The Spirited Child {PYHO}

I could write about so many things, but want to write on a topic that I haven't ever talked about on my blog. It's actually taken me a few years to come to acceptance and talk to my mom about this. It won't be easy to write about, but feel like I need to get this out. Maybe my story will click with another mom or dad.

Deep breaths. Here I go...



When Isabella was born I honestly had no idea how a newborn baby should act like. Sure, I knew there would be crying. Dirty diapers. Sleepless nights.

She cried. A lot. Screaming. Crying. Nothing would soothe her. Nothing.

Leo and I would walk around the house to try and hope that she would finally, at last, fall asleep. We pleaded with her in our heads. I prayed that she would just sleep. She never really did, though. Still to this day I have a hard time getting this girl to sleep. It's crazy, but something that we have grown accustomed to.

She remembers everything--seriously. She will ask me if I remember an event and it blows my mind that she can fully grasp onto that memory. Her memory amazes me and I think that it is fabulous that she has such a great one. I'm jealous to be honest.

She is very sensitive to changes. If there is a lot of noise, activities, people, she shuts down on me. It's as if her sweet self can't comprehend what all is going off. I want to say it's a sensory type of thing--but her pediatrician has blown me off in the past when I have brought this up. Case in point: we recently went to a children's museum. She was so excited to go--talked about it, happy and jabbering away a mile a minute about how excited she was. We arrive and it's as if I have a different child. She shut down. Crying. Anger. Hitting out of frustration. Now that I can recognize these signs I had Leo take her to another part of the museum that was quiet and not so sensory overloaded as the area that we were in.

Loud noises frighten her. To the point of hysterics. Screaming. Attacking whoever is closest for her to lash out on.

Same with bugs. She melts down even spotting a bug within radius of her. She isn't just scared, but is terrified. It's heartbreaking as a mother, as a parent to see my child so scared of normal things. I don't like bugs, but I don't break down when I see them.

When she was younger the tantrums were awful. She bit. She hit. She scratched. It hurt me to see her lashing out at everyone who would come into contact with her. It hurt me to apologize on countless times to children and parents who were injured by my daughter. No parent wants to see their child hurt another. It broke my heart. What was I doing wrong?

I thought perhaps this was my fault. Had I failed my child? Had I failed my oldest daughter? What could I have done to prevent this?

Then I gave birth to Madelyn and eventually Brynlie. It has taken me 4 years to realize that I have done nothing wrong in raising my Isabella. She is spirited. Some will say a handful. Some may even call her difficult. Sure, we have difficult moments. Who doesn't?

But she is different. I have finally, after FOUR years, accepted that she is different. She is simply spirited and I have taken steps to understand her better. I recently bought a book about raising a spirited child. I have spent countless nights pouring over the internet and soaking up all of the information that I can so I can help her.

I can't imagine having some of these things that my sweet girl goes through on a daily basis. Could you imagine? I love her with all of my heart and vow to learn as much as possible about spirited children. This isn't something that she can help. This isn't the path that she chose to go on. But I can take her and guide her with the best of my ability.

I don't want this to come across as a whiny post about an ill behaved child. She is far from ill behaved. She is smart--as in very advanced for her age. She has one of the biggest hearts of anyone that I have ever met. She loves helping me with tasks around the home. She is an amazing dance student. She is wonderful in so, so many ways. I love my daughters and as their mom I will do everything that I can in my power to make sure that they are equipped with the right tools in life to succeed, have a joy filled life, and to be happy little girls who grow up into happy teens, happy women.

Sorry this was so long. Hey--it's called Pour Your Heart Out for a reason, right? Happy 2nd Anniversary, Shell!

My Middle One.

Oh, Madelyn. She's my sweetie pie.

Or as she calls me (and everyone to include the cat & dog) "cuuuu-tee".

She is my cuuuu-tee. 

Speaking in full sentences. 

Picking flowers for hours.

Animal lover.

Sister sidekick.

My middle one. 

Always the one with a huge heart.

A heart that is as easily broken as it is full of love.

I? Love her. With every ounce of my being.

A Note to My Non Friends.

Dear Pimple Taking Up Residence On My Face,

Okay. I never thought at the age of thirty two and a half  that I would even need to write this letter. I was obviously WAY mistaken.

After I had Brynlie I thought, huh. It's that whole postpartum breakout thing. That was 9 1/2 months ago. You refuse to leave. My face has become your new residence. Yay me!

And to make it even worse? You have brought your friends with you. It's as if you are having a party on the left side of my face. Isn't there a teenager somewhere on earth that has yet to deal with you? Please?

You obviously think that because I am older I must need more company because there are three, I repeat, three pimples just taking it easy over here.

I think it would be best if we terminate this relationship before someone gets hurt. Although, honestly? You have hurt me enough. In my thirties? With pimples? I am sure the other moms on the playground will call me pizza face now.


Yours,
Sincerely,
Signed,
One UnHappy Pimply Faced Thirty Something

Wrapped Around Her Finger...

Oh, how I love this little girl.

I remember when I first found out that I was pregnant with her.

I was scared. 

Three babies?

Really?

She was the best unexpected gift that I have ever received.

Stomach Bug from Hell.

Oh my word. Somewhere from Texas to Mississippi Isabella picked up a stomach bug. I have decided that this bug is the virus from hell. I am not even kidding.

It all began on Wednesday with Isabella throwing up all. day. long.

She started feeling a little better on Thursday, which made me do a happy dance and thank the Lord that I wouldn't have to smell puke anymore. Which, by the way, is one of my least favorite smells in the world.

Friday morning all five of us were in our bed making plans of perhaps going to the park for some fresh air. Madelyn and Brynlie--within seconds of one another--throw up all over me. So much for park slash fresh air time.

*sigh*

Baths, mountains of laundry, carpet shampooing.

That was the extent of our week last week. I am now an expert of realizing the moment of puke impact and how many towels can fit into my washing machine at any given moment.

Here's hoping that Monday will be our day of no throwing up. In fact, I am declaring tomorrow the day of zero tolerance to anything puke related. Hopefully the virus will get that memo as well...

Kushyfoot? Yes, Please!

How many times have you been out either shopping, on a playdate or at a local bar and have told your friends that your feet were killing you? I am raising my hand over here. It seems like I always seem to wear the wrong shoe, aka shoes that are super unkind to my poor feet.

I can honestly say that when my Kushyfoot products arrived I did a little happy squeal. Kushyfoot products are absolutely wonderful and are made with the happiness of your feet in mind. From massaging socks, soft & flexible ballet flats and tights, they are cute and exactly what my poor feet were in need of.

Flats-To-Go are genius. They fold up and you can literally stick them anywhere. You can go out wearing your favorite heels, but you can actually pull out your folded up ballet flats to wear once your feet begin to hurt you. The ballet flats that I received were surprisingly comfortable and I really wish these had been around back in the day when I would head out on the weekends (or even during the week) with my girlfriends. They fold up so small that you can place them in your tiny handbag and they wouldn't take up an insane amount of room.

Flats-To-Go come in a variety of cute colors from basic black to embossed alligator. The suggested retail price is $9.99 which makes owning a pair (or two) an affordable must have for your purse.

The bottom line is this: I recommend owning a pair of Flats-To-Go if you are constantly killing your poor feet with your footwear. They are cute and look like a pair of every day ballet flats with the exception of folding up and being able to be tucked away in your purse. They are extremely comfortable and beat having sore, swollen feet any day.


All opinions expressed above are my own. I was sent a pair of Flats-To-Go and a pair of massaging socks in order to facilitate an honest review. No other compensation was given.

What Did Yours Look Like?

I remember my first pair of glasses like it was yesterday. I was all of 10 years old and it was during the summer. My Mom and I picked out (what seemed like it at the time) the coolest pair of eyeglasses ever. Gold and navy eyeglasses frames. They were, simply put, the most amazing pair of glasses that I had ever seen.

When we went and picked them up from the shop, I was lucky enough to talk my mom into allowing me to bring my best friends with me. I bravely waited until the clerk brought them out to me in all of their glory and she handed them over. I was so gentle with them and placed them on my face.

I could see! I never realized how poor my eyesight was prior to placing the frames on my face. I could read letters, see the individual leaves on trees. I finally saw that grass was actually individual blades rather than the green mass that I had been seeing for quite some time.

That was over 20 years ago. Technology has come so far that now we can order our prescription glasses over the internet. Back then I had no idea what an internet even was! GlassesUSA.com offers prescription eyeglasses that not only look great but are of high quality as well. My favorite part of shopping with them? Their selection of cheap glasses is great. They have a huge variety that won't empty your wallet.

Feeling a little apprehensive about purchasing a pair of glasses over the internet? They offer a virtual mirror that allows you to "try on" glasses without leaving the comfort of your home! So neat and a lot of fun to play around with.

My virtual pair...

Do you remember your stylish first pair of glasses? They surely can't beat my navy and gold frames. They were pretty spectacular...


Special offers!

Take 50% off on the frame price for any order over $80. Code: Special50
Take 10% off any order of prescription glasses. Code: Blog10


This was a sponsored post. All opinions expressed above are my own. I was compensated for writing the post.