Perfectly Imperfect Mom

Side and Front View

As a Mom of a toddler I am realizing more and more that my son is no longer a little baby and at times it makes me a bit sad but overall I love watching him become the amazing little person that he is. With that being said I love products that are functional and made specifically for toddlers. When going from having a baby with a ton of stuff all around the house (i.e. swing, bouncer, play mat, ect.) I was excited to start streamlining Ace's things that he needed on a daily basis. One of the main items we had to keep around was his Space Saver seat. I love this seat because it attaches to a regular chair and can be used from babyhood to kid hood <--is that even a word? The only "issue" I had with this product was the lack of mobility it had. It was big and clunky as well. Less clunky than a regular high chair but still clunky. I then got this awesome BabyBjörn Booster Chair.

First of all this seat is the perfect height for sitting at a table so Ace can sit with us at the dinner table and not at his other seat which is a bit too high for the table. With that chair he still has to use his chair. It also is great for when he does arts and crafts. When we would do them in his Space Saver seat it made it difficult because the tray is small and paper would always stick off the edge causing coloring books to fall to the floor easily. At the kitchen table he has a lot more space. He also was so excited to be sitting at the table like a big boy.

The best feature has got to be how small it is, making it easy to take with us to friend's houses where we are having dinner or our place in the Keys. It straps to a chair and you are good to go.

Overall this has got to be one of my favorite items for my little toddler.

Pros: Small, Perfect heigh for a kitchen table, Attaches to a chair, Portable. Easy to clean. Neutral color.
Cons: No Safety belt around child's waist.

The only con I could find is there isn't a safety belt that goes around the child's waist but in reality at this age Ace doesn't need one. I do think some parents might not like this so I listed it.

Do you want to win your very own BabyBjörn Booster Chair?! Here is your chance!

Has there ever been a piece of furniture you saw and just had.to.have? You just have to have it like yesterday. Well, that was how I felt about this incredible sideboard table. I have been browsing Pinterest looking for home decor ideas and stumbled across this sideboard table. I fell in love! I was debating on getting it because of the high shipping cost but thankfully because of the holiday weekend I got it with FREE shipping. Heck yeah! Talk about making my night. I had planned on waiting to buy it when we moved so we wouldn't have one more piece of furniture to move but I could not pass up the free shipping. Even with the shipping it was worth the price to me.

Has there ever been that one piece of furniture you had your heart set on and just had to have?

My little man, you are 19 months old. This past month has had many ups and downs for you. You got some more teeth, which were a killer for you. This has been the first time you have ever truly had issues with teething. You were a hot mess and even got an ear infection to go along with it making you even more miserable. There was a time or two Mommy even cried over how to handle your pain. I hate seeing you so distressed.
You also are having major separation anxiety. I know this has to do with daycare and the fact that Mommy went out of town for a weekend but it breaks my heart to watch you cry when we leave you. You always stop crying fairly quickly but it still stinks.

On to the positives...
You are so so funny. I mean there are no words for how funny you are. Everyone always comments on it and I must say I am pretty proud of the fact that you are so silly, happy and laid back (when you aren't getting those awful molars). You definitely take after the Boyd side with your goofball attitude. You are a lot like your cousin Kayla when she was little and I love it because she is my mini-me and you are hers.

You also are really starting to copy things we say. The other day in the store you dropped my phone and it broke and I said "That's ok" and you copied it, I nearly died from how cute you said it. You also are remembering what things are more and more. We went to Chick-Fil-A for family night and they had the cow walking around and you pointed and yelled "COW!"
You are obsessed with your Grandpa's Ipod and when you want to listen to the music you say "dance" and hold your one hand in the air and do a little tiptoe dance with your feet. We will do "dance parties" before bed and you just crack up.

At school they call you their surfer dude because of your teething necklace and mohawk. Everyone thinks you are so cute and enjoys you.

You have started calling your blankets "kiki" and are starting to really get attached to having a blanket with you. You went through this once before so I am wondering if it will stick this time. You also do this with your sippy, if you are upset you want to hold it.

You want to eat all.the.time.


You shreek and scream a lot now. People always laugh when you do it so unfortunately you think you are super funny.
Newest sign: cracker
Words: hard to keep track of these but here are a few... blankie "kiki", that's ok, don't touch, baby Lily, "hey, girl, hey", sparkle, you're welcome

Height: 33 inches
Weight 26 lbs

With every couple there is a "love story" so to speak. You meet, you fall in love and the rest is history. Branden and I are no different. We met, fell in love, got engaged, got pregnant (oops), had a miscarriage, got married, TTC for over a year and finally had our beautiful son. We have been through a lot in the past 5 years together and yet we have made it through many trials and triumphs stronger than ever. Here is the first part of our love story.

Bran's MySpace profile pic back then.

Branden and I met in a funny way. My best friend Maggie and I were totally freaking out about getting new roommates when our friends were moving out when we were in college. We lived in an apartment complex that matched roommates and since we were in a town we were still fairly new too we didn't know any friends we could ask to move in with us so the apartment complex was able to match us with roommates they thought were a perfect fit. I decided to try to hunt down two cool girls to take the place of our roommates that we totally loved. I looked on MySpace Classifieds and saw an ad for someone looking for a place with 2 bedrooms & 2 bath open. That fit us! I then discovered it was two guys and gave the guy some tips on apartment places in the area that might work for them but that we didn't want guy roommates. The guy I talked to was Branden and I thought he was really cute. He apparently thought the same and friend requested me on MySpace. I accepted but that was about it. We didn't really talk much and didn't for a few months.

Fast forward to that summer when I had planned to go home for the summer and my best friend got stuck with the worst roommates ever! These girls were not just messy but they were slobs. They would leave food all over the house, our apartment had flies and she called me upset on a daily basis. I knew if I were in that situation I would not want to be alone so I told her to give me a week or two and I would come back up there.

In the time I was home Branden and I started randomly chatting on AIM (ha, remember that?) and he was moving near USF where I was living and so we talked about the campus and any other random thing. One night Branden said why don't we just talk on the phone? I was a bit nervous about this since it was weird for me to talk to someone offline who I didn't know. He ended up calling me and that night we talked for 3 hours. The funniest thing we both remember talking about is that show Dinausars.

After that Branden would call me when he would get off work and we would talk on his drive home and he asked to meet me. I was a bit leery but told him I would be in town for a couple of days on Father's Day night. He was also going to be in Tampa signing his lease for his new apartment so he would come meet me before he had work (he was working an overnight shift at a hotel). It was going to be a quick meet up but the only time we both could do it while I was in town.

Maggie and I sat in my room getting ready and were both looking out my window for Branden's car. Right before he got to my apartment it started pouring rain! I was so annoyed since I just just done my hair so Maggie was like put this towel over your head, ha! Super classy.

I ran down to his car since there was no parking near our apartment. I got in and neither of us could think of anything to really do since it was raining so hard and we decided to just drive around and talk before Bran had to go to work. So romantic! haha!


After that night I was kind of iffy on if I wanted to go back out with him. I went back to my parents for another week or so before heading back to Tampa for good. I remember my friend Maggie being like just give him another shot, you are so picky! I decided to go for it and we went on another date to go see Transformers. It was right after Branden's birthday and we had both really wanted to see the movie. He came over to pick me up and I remember thinking woah this guy is hot! He was wearing a backwards hat, a button up shirt and ripped jeans. He has this all American boy look with the cutest dimple. We ended up having the best time together that day and from that moment on I was hooked!

How'd you and your partner meet?

Coming soon...Part 2: The Break up & the Make up!