Skylor 14 month Update

{No more monthly onesies, now what do we do?!}

WEIGHT: 21 lbs

SLEEPING: Sky is either sleeping 12+ hours or he's been waking up and crying 3-5 times a night and we end up rocking him back to sleep and doing it every few hours. It's either amazing or exhausting!

EATING: Everything.  Literally, EVERYTHING! Sky will follow Trey around eating his scraps!

FAVORITE MOMENTS: His laugh! His laugh is deep in his belly and is constantly smiling and laughing at everything we do or say! Capturing it on video is my favorite!

LEAST FAVORITE MOMENTS: Crawling does a number on babies knees and Sky's are so sore., you can see it in his eyes. He will stop and sit there to cry and reach for us to pick him up because he just can't get to where he wants to be fast enough

FIRSTS: Sky is walking but prefers to crawl since he can get places faster. He finally started doing the hand motion for 'more' in sign language! Tracen did it {I think at a younger age?} and we've been working with Sky on it! He always shakes his head 'no' when he has had enough to eat or is done with his bubba so this was great to see he's starting to pic up some signs! He's also waving hi/bye and if I catch him on a really good day and ask for a kiss, I get a big, wet, open mouth one, the only kind I like!

LIFE CURRENTLY : Is fun but busy! It's getting more stressful in the sense that he's so mobil he doesn't want us to hold him, but then his knees hurt and wants to be held, but put down, but held, it's a vicious cycle really! He's also getting into EVERYTHING!!! If he is on his way to the dog dish and you say "Sky no no" he will look at you, smile and crawl as FAST AS HE CAN THERE and laugh hysterically because he knows he shouldn't be in it! This goes along with the toilet bowl and trash can as well. We've been baby proofing more areas but he is unstoppable it seems! Sky still follows Trey around like a shadow and some days he doesn't even notice, but there are times where you catch him with no nap and a sassy attitude and he will push Sky over. This causes all hell to break loose from both of them and I don't know who to console or scold first. Fall is here and in full swing! We got our family pictures taken and they are ABSOLUTELY amazing! My girlfriend Jenny, who is the photographer, is having an exclusive promo for the first 10 people who book with her and mention East Willow Grove. Take a look here for more details! I'm looking forward to my girl friend from California coming into town soon and our mini vacation we have planned to go to the DC/Virginia area in two weeks to visit family! I honestly can't WAIT to leave and be in a car with kids for 8+ hours. I sound crazy right? I am, I really am. But that is how bad I need a vacation!

If you need me, I'll be running for the next 21 days straight. The marathon is only a short 3 weeks away and I'll let you guess as to HOW not prepared prepared I am....

Family Photos

On Wednesday I raved about Jenny, who happens to be a really close friend of ours, Tracen's future mother-in-law and our photographer that shot our first family photos. I hate to admit but I had Tracen's newborn photos done at 5 weeks old and have yet to have any professional pictures taken of him, us or Skylor #momfail. I guess because I rock that selfie scene and am constantly taking photos and videos  of the boys, that professional ones were just never on my radar of wanting or needing. It's only been a recent thing that I became obsessed with the fact that we needed to get these done. That and it was one of my September goals {BOOM, ACCOMPLISHED YO!}

Last Sunday we were blessed with the most amazing weather and headed to Crankbrook. My biggest concern was the fact that the weather gods better hold off raining till we were done! And to make sure that Trey and Sky didn't have a black eye or jacked up face {my boys are VERY clumsy!}
It's safe to say that holding off and waiting till it was fall was THE best idea I Jeni had. The weather was AMAZING, the scenery was on fleck {oh yeah, said it} and the boys were pretty well behaved, Jerek included.

Before you scroll down I want to share something with you that is so amazing, I want to book another session with Jenny just to score this deal! Jenny is offering the first 10 people that book with her and mention East Willow Grove will get $25 off a mini sessions ($75) or $50 off a standard session ($150). I know, I know, that's an amazing deal and it won't last long, I promise you that! After you stare at my beautiful family, you can head over to her Facebook page  or her website for pricing, contact info and check out all her other amazing work! And if you like what you see below, go to Cranbrook! There were so many other spots we could have shot at but with two crazed children we needed to get back home.

>>Without further adieu, here are my boys, the pieces to my puzzle<<

I mentioned this yesterday but if you want to get the curling wand that I use to do my hair above {and any other time you've seen my hair like this!} Nume is having a MEGA promotion but only for 4 days{ending Tuesday!} The curling wand is normally $169 {don't worry, I didn't pay that either!} but using the code INSTA28 at checkout you get it for $28! NO, you did not read that wrong! I even bought myself another one to have as back up because it was so cheap! You can score this deal on any of the "classic" wands { 13mm, 19mm, 25mm, 32mm & reverse wand } I personally use the 19mm and my hair holds the curl SO well!

Between the curling wand and Jenny you will basically have your glamor shots for Christmas cards all done thanks to me! Just make sure you send me one, I love getting snail mail.

H A P P Y  S A T U R D A Y!

© East Willow Grove All Rights Reserved

Happy Birthday East Willow Grove- A Year in Review

Happy First Birthday East Willow Grove!

As promised the winner for the giveaway posted last week is Rondah St!
{I've emailed you, if I don't hear back in 48 hours I will pick a new winner}

A year ago I was home with a newborn and two and half year old, longing to do something else than wipe ass and pump my boobs. I was lucky enough to be on a paid maternity leave and in between the meltdowns and night feedings I managed to come up with this crazy idea to start blogging our life.  Knowing that Jerek might be the only one who would read it I decided to do it anyway. I headed back to work 8 weeks after giving birth with Skylor and continued to blog but didn't tell anyone. I'm not sure why it took me so long to tell people I was blogging but it did. I started letting family and friends in and was blown away at all the positive comments. It was nice knowing that someone other than Jerek was reading it and enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. I felt happy knowing that family and friends far away could keep up with our lives just as if they were nearby.

As the months have flown by I've connected with other bloggers, written guest posts, learned HTML coding along with better photo and video editing.  I've also Googled everything under the sun if I had a question on how to do something. I can honestly say that I have probably self taught/discovered 90% of all things that go into this blog and my YouTube channel. I transferred my site over from blogpsot to my personal website and I've even been able to answer other people's questions blogging and video editing related. Sometimes I have people bringing up a post that they read while in conversation and it's really cool feeling. I have other friends/mothers, telling me that I'm not alone and their kids are acting the same way. It's comforting knowing that you're not alone in this crazy journey of life. And that's why I do it, I not only blog and vlog to document our life for our family to reflect on but for others to know that I'm right there with them. That I'm loving that new OPI nail polish too, I'm failing at Pinterst projects and I'm right there with them, crying in the bathroom because my kids won't sleep and are driving me insane.

I started East Willow Grove as a baby book, a home remodel diary, a family photo album and a personal journal. Life can be stressful, exciting and scary, writing or filming it just makes sense to me. It has helped me over come feelings of struggle as a mother when times are tough, it's also made me realize just how amazing life is in the most simplest form. To laugh when shit just does not go right and to smile as we grow as a family

It's been a crazy year full of family time, weekend play dates, late night editing and amazing opportunities with companies and other bloggers. I've made some really great connections with girls across the country as well as locally. You can find some of my favorite posts here and here from this past year. These last 12 months have been great and I'm excited to see what the next 12 bring!

A big thank you to everyone who has read one post or every post. Who leaves comments, tweets, or messages, I read them all! Thank you to Jer for putting up with my crazy antics and understanding that pictures and video footage are important to me no matter how psycho I sound sometimes!

And don't worry, these are low fat blueberry muffins and not cupcakes, that marathon is T-minus 3 weeks yo! {I did however make homemade frosting and put fall sprinkles on them. Yes, I own fall sprinkles.}

Don't forget since advertising is new to East Willow Grove I'm currently offering 30% off all orders with the code 'WILLOW'. Just enter code when checking out and price will automatically be reduced!

Hump Day Confessions

Two weeks have past which means Trace has gone to preschool 4 days so far and I'm here to report. Just like everyone said, 'it will get better.'

and it has.

It's odd how that works, people tell you something and they end up being right, for now at least. Until the next obstacle emerges and I'm crying to the internet for help, reassurance, proof that it will get better. I never ask for it to be easier, that's just so unrealistic and we all know I'm trying to keep it real here folks! All in all he is still a little stressed the night before but we {both of us} are not crying at drop off and he actually is helping his friend in his big boy room be brave and they color together in the morning. I seriously am smiling ear to ear when I leave because he's being so sweet and brave!

These last few weeks we haven't had much planned but we've done a lot. I started getting everything together for the Mom2Mom that my girlfriend and I are working this Saturday. I'm going through everything we have and selling anything I'm not 100% in love with or think we will need in the future (if) we are lucky enough to have another. I say this because having children is not easy for everyone and "deciding" when/how you want to have them isn't just that easy. I will have a whole video next week on the M2M if you haven't been to one before as they are for the crazy's. No really, you have to be nuts to go to them but scoring fabulous deals is something I'm all about so ya know, I put my crazy mother F hat on and get on in there with a big bag and some green paperbacks.

Speaking of my girlfriend that is doing the M2M with me, she is also my photographer! I realize that sounds weird, like I own her, it just sounds fancy right! no Chelsea, no.

This past weekend we had our first family of four photos taken. Yes you read that right. Sky is almost 14 months old and this was the first time someone other than myself in selfie mode was taking pictures of us. I hate to brag but we all look really good! I mean, I planned the outfits and did my hair and makeup and I made those boys, and I guess you can say Jerek helped. Really the person who should be noted is Jenny. She is the star here. Capturing moments of smiles and laughter on such a beautiful fall day it was literally {for you mom!} PERFECT. This was just a taste of the amazing photos Jeni took and I will have more up this weekend so look for that!

You'll probably notice how great my hair looks in the photos too right? Well it does and if Youtube would ever upload my vlog from this past weekend you would see I got it colored and cut {3 inches off}. My hairdresser, Jamie is also due with her first little one {a boy!} on Tracen's birthday! I'm secretly wishing she has him then and we can bitch and moan together about how annoying Christmas birthday's are.

Tomorrow the winner of my one year of blogging will be announced and I will be eating cupcakes to celebrate. Yup, sure will, any reason to celebrate and eat cake is good enough for me!

Hope you all are having a great week, happy hump dayyyyyy!

Makeup Look| Berry Lips

Currently in Michigan the weather is pretty bangin. I might be the only one who thinks this but I honestly don't mind the 60 degree temp we've been rocking lately! I love nothing more than a great pair of skinny jeans, booties, a white tee and my beloved brown faux leather jacket. Throw some curls in your hair, a scarf and a bag and boom, this is me!

With the cooler weather coming in fast I get extremely excited to change up my makeup routine. My go-to look for the fall/autumn time line is a nice subtle eye paired with a rich berry lip. If you have seen my recreation of Iggy Azaela's make up, you will notice heavy cat eye, eyeliner and the bright, vibrant pink lip. While I love the bold eyeliner and shocking lip color, that is something I'm all about in the warm summer months. When fall comes around, for me it's all about luscious berry and deep red lips.

Finding makeup that works for you skin type and color is very important for everything to blend well {I have normal to dry, cool, pink undertone skin}I remember buying foundation that was two shades too dark because I wanted to look tan and 'swore that was my color.' I now look back at pictures and cringe sometimes at how orange I looked! While makeup can be expensive it can also be affordable. Going to Ulta and testing foundation shades, eye shadows and lip products out is one of my favorite things to do {I know, I don't get out much.} Not only are there trained professionals there to help, but also testers for most products to swatch on your own skin. This ensures you are almost always going to match your foundation correctly. They also have coupons for $3.50 off $10 and 20% off your purchase every week online or in their magazine.

Finding the right makeup that fits your lifestyle is also very important. There is no need to spend money on something you will not use! Regardless of the purchase you make at Sephora or at CVS I always suggest you invest in some quality brushes, they will make or break the look of your foundation or eye shadow! My absolute favorite ones are by Sigma. The ones I used for this look are the F80 Flat Kabuki for my foundation, the F10 Powder/Blush for my blush and bronzer and E40 Tapered Blending brush for my eye shadow. Sigma brushes are great quality, hold up through tons of using and washing and you will not need to replace them often like you do with other lower quality brushes. Right now they are offering a few different deals when you order, free shipping on purchases over $50, and 10% off your ENTIRE order using SEPT2014 when checking out.

{All products used on the look above are listed below}

1.  L'Oreal Quad Desert Sunrise 106{Limited Edition}
2. Tarte Amazonian Clay Full Coverage Foundation-Light
3. The Balm- betty-Lou Manizer {bronzer}
4. Milani Blush- 05 Luminoso
5. Rimmel Stay Matte- 001 Transparent
6. Maybelline Age Rewind Concealer- Brightener
7. N.Y.C Lipstick- 320 Mahogany
8. Benefit Bad Gal Lash- Black
9. Jordana Lip Liner- Cabernet

How I named my blog + Giveaway

How did you come up with that name? 

I get this a lot. 

I get this from my dog's name Ducati, 

my sons' names Tracen and Skylor 

and also with this blog.

None of these names were thought up over night. In fact I'm so crazed about naming such things that it took me months to think of dog names, baby names and a hell of a lot of blog names. Since this is about how I named my blog, I'll shy away from the other boys mentioned.

East Willow Grove began in my head while I was pregnant with Tracen, writing in a baby journal that I will give him when he's older. It began in the glider in the nursery as I was projectile vommited on and crying. As I rocked him to sleep I thought about the day, the things we did and the pictures I took. It began when we went to cider mills and pumpkin patches, dinner dates and early morning brunches with friends. It began in bathrooms waiting for pregnancy tests to show two pink lines to house hunting, lots of house hunting. It began after disappointments, hospital visits, tears, after loosing house after house after house. It began after birthday parties and anniversary celebrations, after first heard heartbeats and laughter. It began after drives to church and snowstorms, after births of babies and nights of screaming toddlers. The funny thing is, it began years ago, before I hit publish.

I've been reading blogs for years now, and always thought I would love to have my own, but never took the plunge. This was most likely because I was in college, always working three jobs, maintaining a long distance relationship and trying to figure out what the hell I was doing after school. It wasn't until I was pregnant with Skylor that I thought, 'hell, I'm going to do this, I need to start thinking of a name!' I use to write names down in my phone and and go on namechk.com to see if the name was available. I wanted to make sure that I could have the website as well as all social media accounts under one name. To me it was important as I hated finding bloggers and YouTubers that have all different names on social media. I also Googled, how to name your blog and read every article there was. I'm not kidding, I honestly read tons of articles on 'What's in a blog name' or 'How to name your blog.' What I got out of it all was it needed to be short and sweet, something that people would remember easily and that could not be spelled wrong {or in a way that people would get confused.} It also shouldn't have the word 'the' or 'blog' in it, such as www.chelsealovespizzablog.com or thechelseablog.com.

I also started thinking what I wanted my blog to be about or what 'category' I would consider it to be. I read blogs about fashion, finance, babies, DIY, beauty and lifestyle. I knew that I wanted it to represent me and my life and everything that I'm interested and involved in. Because if I'm sharing my life with the world, I want the world to see it through my eyes. This is why you will find beauty and hair posts, fashion finds and coupon deals, mommy moments and toddler meltdowns, real life confessions and photos, lots of photos. East Willow Grove is simply a lifestyle blog that focuses on life, imagine that!

Now to the part of where the name came from, which I'm sure that's why you're reading this {minus the fact that I have a big giveaway, right? right.} Now as I mentioned before I had notes in my phone titled 'Blog Names'. I remember thinking that I loved how short and simple Pink Peonies and Ivory Lane was and I had been thinking about the name 'Sequins and Sippys.' While the name was available I thought about it and in 3 years now from now I may hate sequins and sippy cups may no longer run my life. I also had the word willow written down. I can't remember when or why but it was there and I just loved it.

On Sundays I usually would go to church with either all the boys or sometimes just one. This Sunday was weird, Sky wasn't up from his nap, Jerek wanted to do things around the house and Tracen wasn't feeling like leaving the house, so I hopped in the car and took full advantage of going solo. I also needed some alone time. While I had actually left early, I took a route that had so much construction I was actually 10 minutes late. Sitting in traffic behind a kajillion cars turning left into the parking lot, I glanced over and saw the street name from the picture. Looked at it and realized it had willow in it. I wrote it down and went to church. I had never been to church alone and it was a totally different feeling. I told myself if by the time I got home, looked up the name, if all of the social media sites weren't taken, that was it. When I got home and checked I was pretty disappointed. The website was taken as it was a resort in Tennessee. I started thinking I was never going to find something that I liked. I'm not sure why I kept looking and trying to make it work but I typed in East Willow Grove and boom. NOTHING was taken, so I took it. Every account that I thought I would use.

And there you have it, the story that started it all! Sorry that was so lengthly! 

With next Wednesday being my 'actual' 1 year blogiversary {since pushing publish} I'm having a big giveaway with some of my favorite things as a huge Thank You! I would love to personally thank each and every one of you that has read, commented and shared East Willow Grove but that would cost a lot in gas and as you remember, I live in a house full of boys with very large stomachs. All details for the giveaway are below and it will stay open for one week. The winner will be announced next Wednesday, the 25th in the "one year" post.

{Everything was purchased with my own cash flow & this is in no way shape or form a sponsored post}

a Rafflecopter giveaway

5 Things I Don't Like Talking About to Expecting Mothers

Longest title of all time? YEP.

As Rebecca Black would say, It's Friday, Friday! 

Sorry to do that to you, but I just hadddd to.

Today I took a vacation day at work. Yep, Friday's and Monday's are usually day's I like to use my vacation time since I'm already paying for daycare/preschool it's like a sunk cost babysitter! Economics class anyone? Moving on. On Wednesday I explained how distraught Tracen and I were after the first two days of preschool. But just because I took the day off work today, doesn't mean I'm letting Trace stay home with me. That would mean I'm not making him face his fear and although this is extremely tough on both of us, he needs to be there. He needs the interaction with other kids his age and to learn to take instruction and obey rules from someone else than myself, Jer or family members. With that being said, I have a shit ton of things I want/need to get accomplished today in a short amount of time. 

This week I wanted to talk about some things I either refuse to talk to expecting mothers, or just people in general, about! With friends and family members becoming pregnant and everyone having their own opinion, sometimes things can get heated when they don't need to be. So while a lot of people refrain from talking about politics I tend to refrain from starting conversations up about the following. Now this isn't to say I DON'T talk about these things, because I do, I just try to not be the one who brings it up.

1. BABY NAMES| I can't tell you how many times people asked if we had names picked out for both Tracen and Skylor before hand. I usually just said we had some in mind but were waiting till they were here to decide. Which was true. I also didn't want to tell anyone what names we were deciding between because what if they took them! Or bet yet, cringed and said "Oh, that's different."I do have to say all the names we had picked out for Skylor people I know have already taken them this past year. So basically if we have another baby it will have to be a girl because I'm fresh out of good and different boy names! *tear*

2. BREAST FEEDING| So here's the thing, I am ALL for breastfeeding, people talking about, doing it, etc. You could wip your girls out while were drinking some Starbucks together and nurse that baby all you want. I am a total advocate FOR it. The thing that stresses me out is the shame that some women feel when they can't, or they don't want to or they give up because it's hard freaking work! It's a VERY hard topic to talk about sometimes and a lot of women feel intimidated when they are speaking to other women that can BF. So I tend to not bring it up. If someone asked if I did and how my experience was, I would tell them the truth. It was harder for me to breastfeed and/or pump than it was for me to give birth to Skylor, funny right, but very true. 

3. SLEEPING| Now I did it totally different with my two boys. With Tracen he was in a crib within a month after he got home from the NICU. We never registered for a bassinet and didn't have a rock n' play. So all I knew was to put him in his crib and he woke up, feed him, rock, burp and put back in crib. This was also why it probably took him till he was 15 months old to sleep through the damn night! With Skylor I had invested in a rock n' play (hello Godsend!) and we bed shared IE: he slept in our bed. The problem with this topic is the SID's talk and the "you're going to roll over the child" talk people like to give you. I'm not going to get into a debate on any of this I just wanted to tell you that I've done it both ways and both kids are well and alive. Tracen now hates sleeping in his bed and crawls into ours around 2am every night and Skylor LOVES his crib and has tons of animals and blankets and a pillow. Another topic people will turn into a debate is the safety of things in the crib. At 13 months old if Sky wants to, and he has, he will chuck everything out of his crib so yes, he sleeps with a small pillow, 4 blankies and about 7 stuffed animals, as did Tracen. {Clearly we didn't do this right away, only when he was mobil.}

4. CIRCUMCISION| Since I live in a house full of boys, this topic applies to me. I've never actually been asked if we circumcised the boys or not but I've seen this topic come across many mommy blogs, Facebook groups, etc. I honestly have never felt the urge to voice my opinion as my opinion is this: whether you know you are having a boy or not, you should talk about the topic with your partner before hand and do whatever you both agree on. Sounds like an easy thing to do right?! I know people that have and also have not gotten it done and I honestly could care less on what you do to your son. It's not going to effect my life so if you don't want to do it, rock on! And if you want to, rock on too! All I gotta say is, you still gotta clean that thing really good whether you choose to circumcise or not! Also, wieners are weird man, really weird!!!

5. HOW YOUR LIFE IS OVER| This one, this is one I will probably get in fights with people about so I try to keep my mouth shut when I can. Children are a gift, an opportunity that not everyone is so fortunate to be blessed with. The fact that I see people writing or hear people speaking these words baffles me. My life has not ended twice, it's begun a new chapter each time! A chapter that is hard work but with THE greatest pay off life could give you. Sure, there are days where I want to give up, wave the white flag and scream, cry and run away. Sometimes I want to give up for days on end, thinking, will things ever get better!!! But they do, and then they get worse and then they get really good and then they get worse again. It's a vicious cycle but in-between the meltdowns, the 'leave me alone's' and the hitting there is love, compassion and laughter. Your life is not over when you have kids, you just live it differently. How you choose to live it is up to you. You have to come up with ways to paint your living room, clean the dishes or film videos and write blog posts! You figure out when the best time to go out to eat with them is {you don't just stop going out all together!} And you figure out what activities can wear them out them most before bedtime! Your life is never over when you have children!!!

       ^^See! Still having fun and a "life" with kids^^

I get that these are some pretty hard topics that not everyone will agree with me on but these are ones that I try to not talk about with expecting moms, new mothers or people that have ears in general. To me there are greater things that can hold a conversion and a debate on any of these topics is just not something I try to engage in. I'd rather talk about coffee, wine or trashy tv to be honest.

On a lighter note, it's Friday bitchssss!

Linking up with some pretty awesome people this week, not only the wonderful Karli & Amy for Oh Hey Friday but also with a few other girls I hope you will check out their pages as well! Linking up with Lauren, Ash, & Amanda wonderful Friday!

Hump Day Confessions

Dear Wednesday,

I have to confess, I'm glad you are not a 'daycare day'. I can't handle another daycare day right now. I'm exhausted just thinking about the stress Tracen is going through lately. I'm getting questions thrown at me that I don't want to answer because I know he'll start crying, barrel into my arms and collapse. Like Monday, Monday was bad.

Monday I actually sat in the hallway at school, holding Tracen while he trembled in my arms, crying that he didn't want to go in his classroom, that he didn't want me to leave. I was a mess. I cried too, holding him tightly in hopes the embrace would calm him down. Like those jackets you put on a dog, the pressure is supposed to make them relax. But Tracen is not a dog nor did it work, so we just cried together, on the floor, holding each other as other parents dropped their kids off. The daycare owner came and tried calming us both down. Prying him from my arms to give me a break, a moment to regroup. Holding him, consoling him like he was her own.

The whole morning leading up to the meltdown wasn't bad, in fact, it was relatively normal. He woke up and did his usual morning thing; not wanting to leave my spot of the bed that holds the warmth around his little body, asked to watch a Peppa Pig, reluctantly got dressed, drank some juice and got in the car. He was a little hesitant on the drive to school but didn't say much. When we arrived he waited for me to get Sky out and we rang the bell to be buzzed in. I held his hand, staring down at his face, wondering when it was going to happen. Last Friday, the 5th, was his first day of preschool and it took Jer and I an hour to leave. I was scared what today had in store, with just me this time. We took Sky to the infant room and I could sense it. The tension, stress, as he looked at me waiting for me to mumble the words "now on to the big boy room Trey."

When I spoke, his lips began to quiver, the same way mine do when I'm about to start ugly crying {as if there is a non ugly way to cry?}. They started. The tears, lots of them, full force. The infants started staring, Sky just ate {per usual, he was use to this.} Trey ran off screaming "I don't want to go to the big boy roooooommmmm!!!!" and I went looking for him. He was sitting on the floor in his old room that he transitioned from with his head in his hands. I lost it. I melted. I couldn't help it if I tried. So I scooped him up and started walking with him back into the hallway. Trying to reassure him that he was brave, a big brother and he was so lucky he got to play all day with his friends. He looked at me and sobbed "but I don't want you to weave, I want to play wif you and sing songs wif you. please don't weave me mumma"

Now you can understand why my lips started shaking. When a child tells you that, you lose it. You don't care that you're late for work, or that traffic is going to be horrific. All you care about are those words, those emotions attached to the 'don't weave me.' This is when the owner came in to the rescue, she saw I needed it. I honestly had no idea what else to do. I consoled him by saying daddy would be there in a little bit to pick him up and I loved him. Then I left. There was nothing left to do but leave and call Jerek crying on the way into work.

As we inch one day past a daycare day, we also inch one day closer to the next. To the next feeling of security that is lost when we have to drop off. To the next set of tears I don't want to see stream from his bright blue eyes. To the next guilt I'm left to deal with as I head to work, stressed out myself. As I bring all of these emotions and anxiety with me. They travel in my car, up to my office and back home. Until he walks through the doors and runs in and smiles, 'I had a good day, I was brave mommy!'

Favorite Fall Nail Polishes

I think I've expressed my love for fall about a bajillion times already and it's only September 8th. Living in Michigan we really get to experience the four seasons. The only debate is how long these seasons last. Winter basically lasts about 8 months and that then leaves us with 4 months to squeeze in three other seasons. {LAMEE!} If Michigan actually had four seasons spanning three months each, I would probably never complain about the weather or living here. No, I probably would. but that's not the point.

Moving on! I've mentioned in my at home manicure post that 99.9% of the time I am doing my own manicures and that I rarely get them done in a salon. With fall steadily approaching, I can't help but get excited to bust out my favorite plums, deep forest greens and cozy gray nail polishes! While it is still transitioning from summer into fall I try to not just bolt to the black and still keep it fun. Here are four of my favorite fall nail polishes at the moment. Remember though, these will get even deeper and darker once the cold really sets in. And when the holiday's start, my nails get real festive! If you like seeing nail post, I do tend to upload these to my Instagram. I also just made a short video on my YouTube channel that you can see the colors on my actual nails. AND if that wasn't enough and you are in a DIY mood, I have my DIY nail polish rack posted as well! 

My last request, leave me a comment of some new colors to check out! I'm always on the hunt for new fall/winter colors! 

Favorite Posts + oh hey Friday

September is my birthday month! 

"but I thought July was?" is what most of you are probably thinking?

This is true, I was born in July, the 8th to be exact.

But September IS East Willow Grove's birth month! 

I had been reading blogs for years before I was pregnant and started throwing around the idea of starting this little guy. It took months of coming up with a name that I liked and wasn't taken across all social media platforms. I looked at different designs daily before I finally took the plunge. September 25th 2013 was my first post I had written and published on here. This month I will be celebrating in true form, ALL MONTH LONG! There will be more posts to come such as "how I named my blog", "a year in blog review" and a big giveaway! For today though, I wanted to share some of my favorite posts that either I enjoyed writing, or that have been extremely popular among the readers.

Since it's Friday, it's only fitting that I'll be linking up with THE one and only Karli & Amy for Oh Hey Friday! If you missed my guest post over on Karli's page last week here it is again!

Here we go!

1. My Hairdresser Hates Me- This is in my top 10 for most read. Keep your eyes peeled for Part 2 coming in the next week or so where I give you all the tips, tricks and secrets for my long and luscious blonde locks! Shot out to my girl Jamie, YOU DA BEST BOO!

2.Make Time For You- This is in my top 10 for most read and I really enjoyed writing it. So many days we are caught up in motherly duties that brushing your teeth can be forgotten {yup, I said it!} I love my kids but remembering to take time for yourself everyday can be life changing!

3.A Day In The Life In Pictures- This wasn't one of the most popular posts from this year but I love reading these from other bloggers so I had fun doing it for myself! Maybe next time I'll do one when I am at work next time.

4.What I Would Tell My 18 Year Old Self- This was also in my top 10 for most read. I enjoyed writing this one so much because I went back in my archive of photos and went down memory lane for the last 10 years! It is also my most read post with over 1000 page views, pretty cool if you ask me!

5.Iggy Azalea Inspired Makeup Look- A popular read but I'm pretty sure I had the most fun doing my makeup, taking the photos, editing and trying to get the right look down. There will be more makeup and beauty posts to come this month and the rest of the year so keep your eyes open for those too!

Narrowing it down to 5 was hard believe it or not! Especially with one of my favorite posts to write was my guest post on Karli's blog. I decided to leave it out of my top 5 here since it wasn't technically posted on EWG. Trying to tell your story to thousands of strangers in one blog post is hard but so fun! I've discovered some amazing new online friends because of it {so corny, I know, but so true!}

Are there other posts that you enjoyed reading of mine that maybe I've totally forgotten about?

As always, Happy Friday! You know where I'll be tonight, Face deep in a pizza box with my three blonde haired boys, uhh get some! K, I'll stop now >_<

You can't sit with us

In college I learned a lot of things. I learned how to take 18 credits, work three jobs, go out at night and still make it to my 9 am Friday class {sometimes}. I learned how to make a paycheck stretch extremely far, to the point that I'm pretty sure I lived on a few dollars daily. I learned that working in the food business was great because they FED you! This meant that you had to buy less food at home and your paycheck went even further! I also learned which fifth of Burnett's tasted the least like rubbing alcohol. At 28 years old I'm rather pissed that no one ever told me about having to date after college.  I'm not talking about dating for a husband or wife, I'm talking about friend dating. The concept to me would have seemed ludicrous 5 years ago but the struggle is real folks!

I went to two different colleges for a total of five years. My absolute best and closest friends have come out of college. After graduation, I was that girl in denial, thinking things wouldn't change after graduation. Five years later and I'm here to admit, I'M WRONG. I'm putting having kids to the side because it's not just kids that make it hard to keep in touch, it's LIFE in general!

I have friends all over the world in different time zones, different countries and different states but I also have some that are just a few miles away from me. As everyone is in different stages of their lives it gets extremely hard to keep up.

Enter friend dating.

Friend dating is weird when you're not in a school anymore. When you are in high school or college it's normal to meet people in class, after school events or in sports. Meeting people outside of school, such as at work, the gym or on the internet {yes, I'm taking social media, blogs, Youtube} can be weird. Trying to find new female friends is just plain stressful! Most of us spend at least 40 hours a day in a place of employment. Others stay at home those 40+ hours working or raising children, or both! So it's only natural to want to socialize with people that have similar interest as yourself. I mean, how the hell are you suppose to get through that work day with out a work wifey?! How do people that work or stay at home do it!

I'm not really sure of the rules but I'm also not someone who follows them. So imagine starting a new job, your first 'big girl/real job' after college. You meet someone you could 'totes see yourself talking about last nights Rich Kids of Beverly Hills with,' there are some questions that run through my mind. Nothing crazy, but they go something like this.

'She's super cool, I could totally see us getting froyo together and gossiping about dumb shit'

'Should I tell her I want to send her a funny picture and then ask for her phone number?'

'No that sounds totally lame.'

'Maybe just ask, 'hey, what's your number girl, I wanna take you out.' She'll totally think I'm funny. '

'But what if she thinks I'm coming on to her, I mean she's pretty and all but I like men, specifically Jer.'

'Okay so I'm pretty sure were like, lunch besties, I mean she doesn't eat lunch with anyone but me? and we exchanged numbers, I can text her funny stuff right? I hope she thinks I'm funny. But I wonder how she feels about abvs? Do I have to use proper grammar and punctuation? I NEVER re-check what I type, I always just push send. Shit, she's gonna judge me for sure. will she know when I'm being sarcastic? I wonder if she's a lol or haha or what about a LMFAO? Can I call her boo or bestie or maybe she wants to be called something different? I wonder what emojis she uses? I wonder what she thinks about emojis? Oh lord, I hope she uses them...if she doesn't I don't think we can be friends'

'So now when do I introduce her to my boyfriend or my kids, what about my kids! They always say not to bring too many people in and out of your kids life, they might get confused. I really don't want them to be even more confused than they already are. Tracen already doesn't understand how he got in my belly when there is no door! Do I dare tell Tracen that she's one of my best friends, he always says that we're best friends? Would he understand, do you think Sky knows, I bet he does, maybe that's why he's been crying so much when I leave him lately'

Some of you may think I'm joking but I know we all have thought these things! Meeting new people can be intimidating no matter how old you are or how outgoing you think you may be. I'm just wondering, when will Match.com breed and reproduce ineedsomemorefriends.com because I want in on that money making plan as well as the friends, yea the friends. The friends that have kids, that don't have kids, that are married, that are super single and everyone in between. I want in on it all, lord knows that growing up is hard and a girl could use a few more girlfriends to drink Starbucks with. Not that you're not enough Elyse, because you are ;)

In case you're wondering, and think I had that whole conversation in my head it happened over a few months time a few years ago. Insert Elyse, my work wifey, bestie and twin. No seriously, we constantly show up for work wearing the same outfit down to the shoes, it's sickening. We dated casually before exchanging numbers and the rest is history guys. Now if we could only find some other friends who will sit with us at lunch...{sighhh}

September Goals

September guys, IT'S SEPTEMBER!!! Lets cut to the chase and recap the August goals. {oui!}

1. Finish Kayla Itsines workout- Gahhhh! I'm pretty bummed to say I haven't. I would love to tell you I've been doing other work outs to compensate but I'd be one big fat liar! I have started running again because the marathon is less than 8 weeks away! Operation #getbackontrack is a thing and I will begin and finish the 12 week course...sometime this year. ha! That's a good thing right? riighhttt....

2. Family Pictures/Skylor 1 year pictures-They are booked, that counts right?? September 21st. Now I have a little less than a month to figure outfits out and make sure that no kid has a black eye before hand. Pray for me on the black eye part because I'll need it with these two crazy boys!

3. Bike Rides- Jerek legit just installed the seat to my bike this past week and we've gone on a couple rides. So it happen, just a little later than we were hoping. Both Tracen and Sky love sitting behind me and we switch them off from the trailer and the bike seat between the two. If we didn't do the switch half way through Trace would throw a fit and tell us were not sharing. #toddlerprobs

4. Run- Again, I just started back up. I'm actually getting excited for the marathon! {Reminder, I'm running 1 of 5 legs, the longest at 6.4 miles. Didn't want you to think I'm running the actual whole thing or something!}

5. No booze- THIS, THIS GUYS, THIS HAPPEN!!!! Out of all 5 goals I was the most nervous about this one and this was the only one I 100% kept!? I had some pretty awful nights, mornings and weekends where I just wanted a glass of wine to unwind but I didn't! I told Jerek I bet some people are thinking I'm pregnant and I'm using this as a way for no one to ask me why I'm not drinking. Rest assured, I celebrated this long weekend with a mighty hangover today. {Not cool} No bun in this little boy making oven...for now ;)

I'm going back to three goals this month because making 5 and keeping them is hard work! So for the month of September, here are the next three up. PS. how adorable are these two?!?!?!

1. Sign up for mom2mom sale/have garage sale- So I have been going through kids stuff {and house stuff} and really getting things ready for a mom2mom and/or garage sale and/o selling stuff on ebay, Facebook groups, etc. We have a lot of stuff and even if we want to have another little one in the future I have plenty that I'm saving. Plus after two kids, poo explosions, projectile vommiting and lots of washing, some of this stuff is just donzo and needs to be tossed! So I need to get rid of and sell stuff to make room for whatever other crap we bring into this house this year. Plus who wouldn't like some extra cash money, ya know!

2. Meal Plan- This needs to be a thing again. With the cold weather coming I love using my crockpot and smelling all the warmness that comes from that thing when I walk in the door. Plus my commute is hella long in the fall/winter months so coming home to a easy peasy meals is just what I need! And our wallet needs to be put in check with these boys eating everything I buy in the first 4 days!

3. Paint living room- Guys, this should be super simple but I'm actually worried it might not happen this month! I really want to get this room painted and decorated since we spend so much time in it. We've made other rooms/things priorities {which we should} but I want this done. {wink wink Jer!} Plus for the first time in four years, we will be hosting Christmas for my mom's side of the family and I just want to get it painted since we Jer ripped the carpet out everywhere! It's the finishing touch that we need.

So these seem relatively easy this month but they are things I REALLY need to get done/start working on. So the pressure is on Chelsea! I will also be running/training for the marathon but it seemed silly to make that a goal again as I have to do it anyways! It's NUTS that it's already September! I started these goals as New Years Goals and I'm pretty proud of myself for at least attempting them every month. Cheers to another month!

|| As fall is beginning and I recently added advertising on East Willow Grove I'm offering 40% off all ads with the coupon code 'ILOVEFALL' entered at check out. That's kind of a huge deal guys! Take advantage of it before September ends.||

Andddd if you can't get enough of me, us, the boys, here is the vlog from this past weekend. A little bit of this, a little bit of that. Good bye summer, hello you beautiful fall beach angel! I can't wait to prance around in plaid!