Pasadena Bound

We're booking our tickets to the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP! Pasadena, here we come! Congrats to my boys, they played their hearts out last night.

ROLL TIDE ROLL!

Ivyrose Gifts Baptismal and Birth Records Product Review

The wonderful people at Ivyrose Gifts sent me a baptismal record for Baby J's nursery. It has only taken me two months to finally tell you about it. Whew! No one told me that a cruising/crawling/almost walking 10.5 month old was harder than a newborn! My little man is wearing me out!

My item arrived very quickly (my review not so quickly) and the personalization was great and is in perfect condition! The frame is a simple plain glass frame and then there is a print of the artwork. They write on the print your personalized information in beautiful handwriting. A white grosgrain ribbon is attached to the glass frame so you can hang it. It is a precious keepsake. Check them out here.



Here are a few of the baptismal designs:

This is the one I decided on. Isn't it precious! It matches the colors in Baby J's nursery.

Here are a few of the name designs:

A handpainted option for a girl's room...any age! =)

Cute preppy princess print!

I always love a handpainted polka dot frame. They have it in pink and blue too!

They even make wedding records! What a great shower or wedding gift for the bride in your life.
How cute is this lemon family tree? I could see it now in my future kitchen!

Or you can go with the holiday version...

Bagtags make a great baby shower or new baby gift or even a stocking stuffer for any age!

You can also get these and a lot of Rebecca's other beautiful designs in note card form like this:

I love these handpainted step stools. They would make a great 1st birthday gift or baby gift! We received a step stool for a baby gift and we love it!

The Mini Social-Melissa and Doug and Kayce Hughs Sales

Hi Friends!

Just wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know The Mini Social (similar to Rue La La, but it is just for kids stuff) is having a Melissa and Doug and Kayce Hughs sale today! I LOVE both brands. The Kayce Huges sales has some great items for little girls. I ordered 4 different things for Baby J from the Melissa and Doug sale. Stock up today on Christmas gifts and gifts for birthday parties! I love their products and the prices can't be beat today! Email me at magnoliasmarriageandmanhattan@gmail dot com and I'll send you an invite if you aren't already a member! Happy Cyber Monday!

More on life and Thanksgiving later, but couldn't wait to pass these great deals along!

Garment Bags

Hi friends! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. We went to the park on Saturday and a great lunch...oh and watched our Crimson Tide win AGAIN! Roll Tide Roll! We're two games away from a sunny vacation in California. We are either going to the National Championship or the Sugar Bowl and I can't wait. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Pasadena, but there is a tough road ahead with Auburn and Florida. Yesterday we took Baby J to the Central Park Zoo and Petting Zoo. It was a blast! I'm busy getting the apt ready for A's sisters arrival.

Quick question though, does anyone know where I can get garment bags for under $100? A's parents both want them for Christmas. His Dad just wants a plain black one and his Mom's only request was a working zipper. She's not very Vera Bradley or the grosgrain ribbon type (like me) so I'm at a lost. I've checked Lands End and LL Bean and nothing...any help much appreciated!

Hope all is well!

Christmas Tree Skirts

A friend of a friend sent me this link for handmade Christmas Tree Skirts. Thought y'all might enjoy:

Site Name: Claire and Kathleen tree skirts
Site URL: http://claireandkathleentreeskirts.shutterfly.com/

Pretty cute!!

A Note from The Monogram Swap

Hi Readers,

I got this note a few weeks ago and Lauren explained things pretty well, so I'll let her introduce you to her fabulous concept herself! Enjoy!


MMM


************************************************************************


Hi Mrs. MMM!

I wanted to let you know how much I enjoy reading your blog. I grew up in Alabama and love seeing your baby in UA outfits:) I wanted to introduce myself and also let you know about a website that I think might be of interest to your blog readers. It is called The Monogram Swap and is an online place to buy and sell pre-owned personalized goodies. A lot of people invest money in monogrammed items and this is a great way to get a little more out of them. We take children's clothing, bags, backpacks, linens, baby stuff, sporting goods, accessories, etc. If it's got 1 letter, 3 letters, or a name, we'll take it.

The address is http://themonogramswap.com if you want to check it out.We just started a few weeks ago, so we don't have a ton of items for sale yet. I'm hoping to make some connections in the "pink & green" network:)If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Thank you!

Lauren

Misc Hodgepodge

We've experienced the circle of life this past week. Saturday A's cousin/J's Godfather got engaged to a fabulous girl in Paris! A friend of mines Grandfather died last Wednesday. A friend's healthy baby girl was born on Thursday. Another friends healthy baby girl was born on Friday. Last night we lost a wonderful family friend to stage 4 lung cancer. My heart is full of happiness and sadness this week. Please keep all of these families in your prayers.


What have we been up to? A's parents were in town Sat-Tues and then Baby J's Godmother and one of my best friends was in town this past weekend. We had a great time with everyone!

Baby J decided to not honor daylight savings time in the morning. My perfect 7pm-7am sleeper decided to wake up at 5am, 5:45am, etc the past few weeks. The past two days we are finally back to 7am, but I am no early bird and those mornings were killing me. His top two teeth are almost in so I'm sure that had something to do with it to.

What else is he up to? He is the cutest thing in the entire world, but he is the reason for my lack of blogging. He's 10 months old today and he is into EVEYRTHING! He is crawling, cruising and standing on his own for about 15-30 seconds. I feel like those first steps are coming soon. He has a great personality and smiles so much. He loves to go for long strolls and he is OBSCESSED with Daisy. The two of them together melts my heart. He'll be ONE in two months !

I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving. We are staying in the city and A's sister is coming to stay with us. We are going to watch the balloons be inflated in Central Park and go to the parade on Thursday! So fun! Are you doing anything interesting? What's on your menu? We need to start planning ours. Anyone have a great dressing or cranberry sauce recipe? I want to mix it up this year.

My sister is graduating from Alabama on December 12th so Baby J and I will spend 1/2 the month in Alabama going between the Gulf Coast and Birmingham. I can't wait to visit with friends and family! We will be in the car a lot though! Any tips for THREE long car rides with a 11 month old and 2 plane rides? We have got to move closer, this travel is killing me.

For those of you that have kids, what are your favorite 12-18 month toys? I need to make a list for the Grandparents for Christmas and Birthday! Can't wait to hear your suggestions!
We're thinking about getting this or this?

It's time to start planning Baby J's first bday! Any suggestions on themes? We'll probably just do it at our apartment since it cost like $1000 to rent anywhere in the city and it will be too cold in January to have it in the park! Yikes!

I've been busy with Junior League. Email me if you live in the city and want to get involved! We have a great holiday shopping thing coming up soon. Check out the website for details or email me.

I got another check from ebates this week! Y'all they have sent me $430.00 this year!!! How awesome is that! If you have not signed up, you are crazy. Click here and get started. (You get $5.00 and I get $5.00) If you have any questions, let me know. Basically if you can remember to go there and then search for whatever store you are about to make an online purchase from, you will get cash back. The big fat checks get paid every few months. I use it the most for diapers.com and ebay. It's just one extra step, that pays! Do it for all of your Christmas shopping and you can treat yourself to something!

That's it for now. I need to take a shower before the little one wakes up. We have music class today! I love Little Maestros!