Friday, December 9, 2011

Seven Month Photos Attempted

My Little Man is on the move!  So much so, that when I tried to take his "seven month pictures" in his chair and crib, he would not hold still.  Thus, most of them turned out blurry.  See below...
  
I initially sat him in the corner of chair.


Attempt number 2


Attempt number 3


Attempt number 4


Attempt number 5


Attempt number 6



Let's try some crib shots.  We started out in the corner of the crib, ended up pulling up on the bumper pads.
Still climbing
Another attempt at the crib shot
My personal favorite
Considering cooperation

Success!!

I suppose the 8th time is the charm!






And we're done here.


katielassiter

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Skin Care Product Review

Ok, this post is extremely random, but it is something I have been wanting to do for a while now.  I rely very much on product reviews so I feel that it is only fair for me to do my own to contribute, thus helping someone make a decision about investing in a product.  Most skin care products that are supposed to be "really good" are quite pricey.  I know this as in the past 3 years, I have tried 3 different pricey products.  I am not really sure how I began trying these products other than I heard about them and felt my skin looked blah so I thought I would try them.  I was tired of trial and error with random products that I ended up not liking and using half the bottle before tossing it in the trash.

The first pricey product I tried was Bare Minerals Rare Minerals (all photos on this post courtesy of google image search).

My friend Shelley told me about this product and I thought it sounded neat.  Is is supposedly made from untouched soil/minerals found in another country. (Obviously my memory of the product details is a little foggy.)  You apply it at night like a powder and you can use it in the morning under your make up. You can even wear this product as a make up if you get the tinted kind.  I really loved the Bare Minerals make up so I was excited about trying their skin care product.

This little baby (and I mean little) will run you about 60 dollars.  There were a lot of great reviews about this product but I was not blown away.  I don't know what I expected, but I am not sure I could tell a huge difference in my skin.  However, I have to say that I was not 100% compliant and I used it at night for a few weeks before I just gave it up out of pure laziness.  (When I was using Bare Minerals make up I didn't have to wash my face before bed because it was "natural" so I was hit or miss on this.) The shame, right?  Who spends that kind of money on a product and lets it disappear into a drawer? I know, I know....





Product #2 is the hailed WonderBar.  I went nuts over this thing.  I read all kinds of reviews and researched the website and thought it sounded like the best product ever!  I used it during my pregnancy and the thing that appealed to me most, besides the great reviews, was the fact that it was supposed to shrink pore sizes and tighten your skin.  That sounds good, right?  Well, this tiny bar, the size of a bar of hotel soap,  will cost you $45.  The price went up since I purchased it at $40 but I am pretty sure it is now $45.  Ben made fun of me for months for buying this but I was so excited about it. 
The trick to this little bar is wetting your face and then rubbing the bar on your skin.  This preserves the bar and mine lasted about 6 months.  
I loved this product to begin with.  After I used it, my skin had the look of getting a facial.  I could tell that it was tight and shiny and it felt really clean.  You are supposed to leave the product (also some type of special soil from some other country) on your face for 3-5 minutes before rinsing. (I rarely left it on that long.) This product claims to detoxify your skin and balance the pH.  If you purchase this, I highly recommend reading the details on the website about how it works.  The first week of use induces what they call a "healing crises" where your skin goes nuts and breaks out because it is getting the "toxins" out of your skin, thus balancing the pH.

The main con of this product, besides the price, is that you can only use certain make-ups while using it and NO mineral make ups (which is what I used).  I had to totally switch make up brands to use this product.  Also, as I said, it is not compatible with certain make ups but you don't know what make ups.  So, that is a pain since make up can be expensive and you don't want to go switching make ups all the time trying to accommodate your expensive skin care.  

I used this product over a year before I started to dislike it.  (I even bought bars for my sister, mom, and a friend because I loved it so much.)  However, after much continued use, I felt that it really dried out my skin.  It seemed as thought no moisturizer could fix this problem so I stopped using it and switched to product number three.  

Using product #3 was like coming home... Clinique's Skin Care regimen is what I used as a teenager back in the day.  I did a little research and thought I would give it another go.  


I love it!! I have been using the three products above in a stepwise fashion for about 3 weeks now and I am extremely happy.  After using it for less than a week, my skin went back to normal and was more balanced.  I really like the way these products make my skin look and feel.  I got the three products about plus a bag and a travel size bottle of each product for 65 dollars.  That is a special for this time of year and I believe you can get the three above for about $50-$55.  After 3 weeks of use, I have barely made a dent in the products.  

The main con of this regimen is that the face wash, which is the first step, is to be used AFTER you remove your make up.  That means you really have 4 steps.  I am a bit of a slacker in that aspect and just splash my face with water to "get off" my make up and then proceed.  Works well so far.

Well, that about sums it up.  I thought this would be a good post in case some of you were looking for some beauty products for Christmas!  Let me know if you have any questions.

I am also familiar with Bare Minerals, Lancome, and Repechage make up.  I just switched to Clinique Even Better make up and I love it! I am happy to answer questions about those as well.


katielassiter

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Getting Ready for Christmas!

So, I have 1,100 lights on the tree and counting.  We found the most awesome deal on Fraser Firs at Costco where you could get an 8-9 foot tree for only $30.00!  However, the trees were wrapped up so you just had to pick one and hope it looked good.  We got ours home and, yes it looks great, but it is massive!!!!!!! By far the biggest tress we have ever had...nearly 10 feet tall.  I will post pictures of it when I get it all lit up (which could be a while since we have already made 2 Christmas light runs and it still needs more).  I am trying to re-vamp my light stringing method because it is taking me forever.  I grew up with artificial trees and my grandmother taught me how to go up and down each branch to give the tree depth.  However, with real trees, that is proving to be a challenge since the branches aren't exactly symmetrical.  Oh well... we will see what happens.   

If you are familiar with Snapfish, then you know they were running a special that expired yesterday for 500 prints for 1 cent apiece and 50% off the entire website.  Well, Ben and I were gonna get everyone hooked up with photo gifts AND get 500 pics printed (since we are backed up to 2007 with no pics printed) and just get sooo much accomplished.  Well, we put it off too late (trying to get the tree lit) and fell asleep with the computer between us while we were waiting on the photos to upload!  However, here are a few old shots of Mason (and one of Poodle) that I never got to post.  They are from 4 months old and 5 months old.   

Fingers crossed, I will be back soon with tree pictures! Fingers crossed.....










katielassiter

Friday, November 25, 2011

Grand Babies (and Mason vs. Neely)

This past Monday we went to Russ and Jessi's new house in Auburn to have dinner with Ben's whole family (as in immediate family).  Jessi cooked an awesome meal and we all enjoyed getting to spend some time together.

Here are a few photos from the evening... remember how I said I am learning to shoot on manual?  Well, forgive the quality of these photos because I was wedged up against a couch trying to get both babies in the frame and shooting quickly so as not to miss any of the fun.


Heeeeyyy... I'll have some of that milk please.

No Mason, That is Neely's milk.  

Mimi is about to feed you some baby food in just a minute.



But I still want that milk.


Me and my skinny jeans are taking the milk some place safe from that baby.


Blast!


Now I can enjoy my milk in peace.

Curses!!!!

Cate, Adalyn, and Cole are so big now!  


Russ and Jessi are loaning Mason their walker and HE LOVES IT!!! It is perfect for this little man who wants to walk everywhere but can't quite do it on his own.


After several attempts at getting all 6 grand babies to look in her general direction, Tori successfully snapped this photo.  Mason thinks his Uncle Russ is hilarious!


Then we attempted to get a photo off all the kids and grandkids....


Mason is still depressed about the milk.  Bentley wants Pop and doesn't want to sit on the couch.  Neely has the cutest belly!

And.... almost complete success! This time next year, there will be one more on the couch!! (Tori, not me.)

We had such a fun night together and it is so fun to see all of the kids playing and laughing.  Mason is going to have such a good time growing up with his cousins!

We all have so much to be thankful for... especially family and friends!



katielassiter

Monday, November 21, 2011

Blue Ridge and Other Things

Happy Thanksgiving week!  I am sure everyone is gearing up to cook and/or eat lots of food here in a day or two.  I, for one, am super excited about spending Thanksgiving with my family!  I haven't spent Thanksgiving in Florence since I got married so I cannot wait to see a lot of relatives I haven't seen since my wedding and introduce Mason to everyone.  I am also very much looking forward to my Aunt Marva's macaroni and cheese and my mom's seven layer salad and my grandmother's (Mamaw) chicken and dressing, fried okra, and potato salad!!!!! I am so pumped! (Big Fat Fatty)  Notice I only mentioned the food and nothing about the thankfulness.  I am very thankful for so many things, but I will save that for a future post, Lord willing I have time to do another one soon.  

Now, let me wrap up the Blue Ridge vacation with these pics from the last full day we had at the cabin...

Here we have Ben's artistic photography capturing his "perfect s'more."

Ben and Mason are going to kill me for putting this one on the blog, but I love it!!! Mason doesn't favor us in many ways physically (the bright blue eyes and blonde hair), but he has so many of our other characteristics.  I love their sleepy head looks early this morning.  We didn't get much sleep on the trip because Mason had a hard time sleeping through the night for some reason.  Special thanks to mom and dad for staying up with him a couple of nights.

Ahh, I am so sneaky capturing this picture of Matt.  Cara brought her cool travel hammock and I think I need one of those as well... maybe for Christmas.

Cara was forcing Matt to share the hammock with her.  

Not exactly the correct focus, but I think this picture of Berkley is hilarious.

Mason is always thrilled to walk around.  I am learning to shoot on Manual and I forget I have the camera set to manual and just start shooting.  This pic is over exposed and unedited but I love the expression captured on Mason's little face.

Berkley Boo my mountain dog.  He is such a rugged poodle.

The sun made the leaves light up like they were glowing!  I love fall because of all the beautiful colors!
It was all in all, a wonderful trip and we had so much fun! I definitely recommend Blue Ridge as a fall vacation spot for any family.  I wish I had captured a few shots of down town Blue Ridge because it is such a quaint little town.  I also need to share our experience at the store "Gypsy Eyes, Mystical Shop." Yes, didn't know that was the name of the shop until after we went in there.  You can just imagine....

I would also like to share this link with you.  It is from Women's Bible Cafe which I stumbled upon while searching for a good Bible study.  The Women's Bible Cafe offers several on-line Bible studies that you can follow along with every week.  I did Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World and I loved it! I highly recommend this website if you don't have time to meet weekly with a group or another individual but would like to participate in a study.  It was a blessing to me even though I did struggle to keep up with the reading.  The link I shared is a really uplifting article about gifts that we can all share with others such as Joy, Strength, and Peace.  It reminds me that "small" things, as simple as praying for someone or just being there for a friend going through a tough time can have such an impact on another person.  Check it out if you have time!



katielassiter