Three Months...

Another month has come and gone, and Isaac keeps getting bigger! 

I cannot even begin to express how in love I am with this little man.  He absolutely makes me melt, and I'm so incredibly grateful for the honor of being his mama.

Alot has happened this last month!  Isaac had his first Christmas, which was so much fun!  {This one's gonna be a tad spoiled with 4 sets of grandparents, that's for sure.}  He has slept through the night {9+ hours} three times.  Hasn't happened now for about a week, but that's okay.  I'm fine with him staying little just a while longer.  We did finally move him to his own room two weeks ago, and he's done great.  Mama, on the other hand, misses having him close still.  What can I say?  I miss him when he's in the next room!

He's talking up a storm, and is the happiest boy in the mornings.  Although he always wants to get up earlier than I do, all the smiles and cooing make it well worth it.

It's so fun watching him figure things out.  He's starting to grab at his toys, and loves talking to Grover.  Cute story about his Grover doll...Jon put him on our registry, and I didn't know until later, after we got him that it was because Jon had a Grover when he was little, and loved him so much.  How sweet is that?!

Isaac's starting to grow back some hair, and I think is going to be curly.  I sure hope so.

Here's to another beautiful month under our belts!

We love you buddy boy!

jdavissquared is back...

The shop will re-open on Monday! 

Now excuse me while I prepare....

Whole Fruit Smoothies and Sweet Cinnamon SUPERPRETZELS...

First, I have to admit that I've been holding out on you, my readers.  Last fall, I was sent some Whole Fruit Smoothies and Sweet Cinnamon SUPERPRETZELS to review, and then life got crazy with Isaac's arrival and I'm just now getting to tell you about them!

But, better late than never, right? 

Let's start with these smoothies....

Overall, I really like these!  Coming in at only 100 calories each, they're great for a low cal snack or part of a healthy breakfast.   Personally, I wish they were a little bigger so that they could constitute a more substantial portion, but I get the appeal of having them at 100 calories. 

These would be ideal for all you folks who are trying to lose some extra pounds with the new year.  ;) 

The directions say to stick them in the microwave for 20 seconds to soften, and I often just eat them with a spoon like ice cream.  I could see (and had planned to before Isaac changed my plan) sticking them in my bag on the way out the door to work, where I'd expect they'd be just the right consistency by the time I would have arrived at my desk.  A great little way to start the day!

I'm not sure the packaging really lends itself to drinking them through a straw like a traditional smoothie, but that's alright with me.  I'm more than happy to use my spoon.  :)

Let's talk flavors...Strawberry Banana, Pineapple Mango and Mixed Berry.  All delicious, but my favorite was by far the Pineapple Mango.  What can I say, I like-a the mango.  (hehe)  It had a great tropical flavor that always makes me happy. 

You can find the Whole Fruit Smoothies at your local grocer in the freezer section.  I'd highly suggest giving them a try! 

Also, be sure to visit Whole Fruit's website, and connect with them on Facebook for special offers.

Now for the pretzels....

I've never been a huge pretzel fan, but you know if I was going to down some pretzels, they'd have to be covered in some cinnamon sugar!  Pretty delicious, if you ask me.

These babies have cinnamon infused dough and come with a cinnamon sugar packet to add yourself.  They bake up soft and delicious in your oven and make for a great snack.  You could even have them for breakfast or even as dessert.  (perhaps with a side of ice cream? oh my.)

These too can be found in the freezer section at your local grocer...give them a try!

You can find fun recipe ideas and more info on SUPERPRETZEL's website.  Connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, and they even have a blog!

Anyone tried either of these products?  What did you think?

**I was gifted an assortment of Whole Fruit Smoothies and Sweet Cinnamon SUPERPRETZELs free of charge in compensation for my honest review of the product. The thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are truthful and solely my own.

The First Day...

Source: seanwes.com via jennifer on Pinterest

Today is indeed the first day of the rest of my life.  Yesterday, I did something I've only dreamed of.

I quit my job.

Let me say that again...

I QUIT MY JOB.  

I still can't quite believe I did it.  It was not an easy decision, and it was a very long time in the making. A lot of thought, and a lot of prayer went into this, and I'm quite positive it's the best more for me and my family.

I will hereby be spending my days doing freelance graphic design from home, reopening (and expanding) my Etsy shop, and most importantly, being a mom.  I cannot wait!

I feel free and ready to take on the world.  So, here we go!

p.s. make sure you check out seanwes.com (where that image is from).  There are some amazing designs over there and many of them can be downloaded as backgrounds for your desktop or iPhone!

Have a Holly Jolly....MLK Day?

Are we the only ones who haven't taken down our Christmas decorations yet?  I'd like to use the excuse that we have a tiny human in the house, but truth be told, we do this every year!

It's just so hard to take them down!  I will always be a proponent of leaving them up til New Years, but it so quickly becomes embarrassing after that.  For instance, I'm not opening the blinds on the front of the house until the tree is down, lest anyone see that we're still all holly-jolly over here at the Davis'.  But, make no mistake, we're still plugging in those lights!  In my book, it's a travesty to have a tree up without the lights on, no matter what day of the year it is!

Yeah....we need to get those taken down. 

So, are we alone?

Baby K'tan Review...

Remember when I had the big Baby Shower Event here on the blog back in September?

Well, the kind folks over at Baby K'tan sent me a carrier to review after BabyD arrived!

Me looking oh-so frazzled.  Isaac was about 2 weeks old when this picture was taken.  Look at him all snuggly in there!  And look at how swollen my hands still were!  Yikes!

I have to say, I did not make good enough use of this in the beginning, partially because I was scared to strap any extra weight to myself for quite some time while I recovered from my c-section. However, the days I did remember, it was a fantastic way to get some things done when Isaac just refused to let me put him down. {Or when I just couldn't tear myself away from his sweet little face!}

First impression?  I was a little worried about picking a size.  It's hard to determine what size you'll be after birth when you're a giant house of a pregnant woman who's about to pop!  Just sayin'.  I went with the medium, and it seems to be working well.

Like any wrap carrier, I had to learn how to put the Baby K'tan on, but I must say, it really is quite simple. There's no real wrapping with this carrier since it's a big loop {kinda like a figure 8}, so that makes it way easier to get on and off.

At first I was concerned that it was too tight, but Baby K'tan's helpful twitter presence assured me that it looked perfect! Besides wearing it to get things done around the house, I've also used the Baby K'tan at Target, and even across the street to have dinner with the neighbors. It's so helpful whenever you'll be standing for long periods of time. Really helps keep your back and arms from hurting!

So far, I'm loving it!

I'll be posting more about the Baby K'tan throughout Isaac's first year...stay tuned!

Baby K'tan is offering jdavissquared readers 15% off now through January 31st with coupon code BKJD15.  Valid only on full priced Baby K'tan brand items on www.babyktan.com

*Baby K'tan sent me a carrier in exchange for this review

Fresh Start...

Source: pinkofperfection.com via jennifer on Pinterest

Happy New Year!  I hope you all rang in the new year just the way you wanted.  We spent ours with good friends eating apps, playing board games in our comfy clothes.  It was awesome!

Yesterday, I found myself getting a little sentimental about 2012.  It will forever be one of my favorite years, I'm sure of it.  When I look at the ways God blessed us during the last year, I am overwhelmed with gratitude.  It was a good year.

That being said, I'm not sure I've ever entered in to a new year with as much excitement as this one.  2013 holds so much promise to be just as good, or better than 2012.  I'm beyond excited to experience it!

In recent years, I've stopped making resolutions, and started setting goals.  I try to set my goals with the following in mind:

1.  Make them attainable, but challenging.  I have a tendency to want to hold back a little, to make my goals a little easier to accomplish.  However, I've found that if I set my sights on things that feel just a little out of reach, it helps me get out of my comfort zone and stretch myself to levels I didn't know possible.  For example, a couple years ago when I set my goal to run a half marathon.  I was more than a little nervous to set my sights on that one, but I did it, and it will always be one of my proudest accomplishments.

2. Write them down!  It's not real unless you commit to it in writing!  It also helps to keep them someplace where you will see them regularly.  {this I completely failed at in 2012...I have no idea where my list went! Whoops!}

3. Be specific.  I find that saying things like "Work out 5 days a week" is way more likely to happen than if I say "Get in Shape".  I need specific actions to strive for.

I'm not going to share all my goals here.  Some of them aren't ready for the world yet, but I will tell you that one of my goals is to get back to blogging regularly.  I've missed it.  It was never that I wanted to slow down, but life just got in the way!  I'm determined to make room for blogging, because I love having a record of my life, and now that Isaac is here, I don't want to forget a single day!

I'll be sharing other snippets of my goals as they start to unfold...stay tuned!

Are you a goal setter?  Or do you make resolutions?  Tell me what you're striving for in 2013!

If you want to get excited about goal setting, go read Nancy Ray's post.  It got me all fired up, and I think it will you too.