Pink Pig!

This afternoon held a long anticipated event--the grand opening of the Macy's Pink Pig! The twin and I made plans to attend the Grand Opening Preview party more than a month ago (which is really planning when it comes to my calendar!).

Sadly, Cutie Face decided that this would be the day where she did not need to take a nap. She finally fell asleep on our way back downtown. First, though, I had to make a pitstop at Babies 'R' Us...not knowing what to do with my sleeping bambina, I decided to lay down our shopping cart cover and place her into it...like so:

We shopped for 25 minutes with her in the cart like that the whole time. And, she even transferred BACK to the car without waking up--I was impressed!

The Twin and I eventually made it to the Pink Pig where we could hear the festivities from the parking lot.

Time out you say! What is the Macy's Pink Pig?

Well, if you aren't from Atlanta, you may be wondering what could be so exciting about a pink pig at Macy's.

The twin and i, despite spending 11 out of our 28 years in Atlanta, had never experienced the Pink Pig in person. Sure, we had heard about it, but we really had no clue what it was or what it entailed. We decided today would be the perfect time to find out just what the Macy's Pink Pig was since 1) we now had our own kiddos and 2) we had free passes!

Despite not needing to get...

The line for the ride was way past the ticket booth.

and it stretched for ever forward:

Here is sweet Lil' Miss sitting patiently. She was so cute in her PIG-tails (get it?)

We eventually made it outside where we could glimpse some of the balloons:

Cutie Face decided she was still tired...or she was just sick of waiting in line:

The twin and I took turns walking (dragging?!?!) around to keep them occupied

I wish that this event happened a little earlier--there were SO many great "kodak moment" balloon shots available that would have tied in perfectly with this week's I ❤ Faces theme!

As we inched our way forward, we saw what the end of the line held for us:

We also saw Priscilla the {GIANT} pink pig:

45-minutes in line and we've almost made it to the sign...getting closer


Then we made it to the outside of the tent...getting closer, getting closer...

Woohoo! After a 60+ minute wait, we made it inside the CRAZY pink tent...it was next to impossible to get a decent picture due to the crazy colors and lighting:

I can't help but wonder...was the line this long when the Pink Pig looked like this:

The line behind us...still stretching:

almost there chickadees! (they can barely contain their excitement)

WOW! We actually made it on the ride!

The twin and Lil' Miss

the rare photo of me with Cutie Face (thanks sis for this capture!)

After all that hype, I'm glad to say that we rode the pink pig. We got our sticker (which is the coveted souvenir for riders each year) and we have pictures...

I also have a video of the 90-second ride. You tell me if you think it was worth the 60+ minute wait:

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas?

Oh no!

Oh yes!

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE the Christmas season and the joy that celebrating Jesus' birth brings to nations.

BUT.

I also treasure the Thanksgiving season and don't like to rush through it just to get to, what has become, an all-too commercialized, frantic "holiday" (ie no longer "Christmas") season.

Anyway, despite what I might like, there is no denying that stores everywhere are displaying their Christmas decorations and wares (not to mention Christmas music!). My mom works at an interior design store and today they had their Christmas Open House--{note: it does make sense that they need to get people in the door to buy Christmas decorations before the Holiday season officially starts...but still...}

I met up with Cutie Face's cousin, Lil' Miss, and my twin at the store.


They had their Fraser Fir line out and man-oh-man-ooohhh-man did it smell incredible. Seriously, the best Christmas scent EVER hands down no question. I took this picture for J since he is even more fanatical about the scent!

They also had yummy food which is never oblivious and always tempting to a pregnant woman:


My twin, the crafty genius of us two, volunteered to personalize ornaments for those who purchased them. I loved the ornaments they have this year:

Actually didn't like THESE as they are Bulldog ornaments (GO TECH!)

Great verse!

The Mom-to-Be ornament unfortunately gave me a taste of what I get to look like in a month and a half:

More verses--so nice to see scripture in Christmas--as i said, i think it is WAY too commercialized so these ornaments remind you why you are celebrating!

and one of my very favorites for its creativity & relativeness to my life:

Hopefully I can avoid more Christmas open houses until after Thanksgiving!

No pictures...?

Wow! Today i only took THREE pictures. That is a huge record for me as i am usually snapping hundreds (no lie!) per day.

The pictures I took were of Cutie Face finally sleeping. I'm not sure what is going on with her but I think that she is either teething, growing, or still not used to Daylight Savings Time. Poor kiddo--she just isn't taking "real"naps (ie: naps longer than 30 minutes) these days!

Here is my little sleeping beauty, conked out for one of her 30-minute slumbers:




Thankfully, my father-in-law sent a few of the pictures he took of Cutie Face in the park yesterday...so at least we can all get our daily fix :-o

You just might see one of these pictures on a Christmas Card....

Parks x 2

Seriously, you'd think we spent our lives at the parks.

and sometimes i think its true, too!

Today we hit up two parks--

one with Gramps (who came into town specifically for the park--he is hosting photo sessions there this weekend!)

and one right before dinner

don't be alarmed--it is the same day, just a different outfit:

my little tomboy:

clearly, i've loved crazy angles through holes of late:


What a great way to pass the time before dinner!


We are so blessed to live so close to these parks!

Squeaky Clean at TJ's

We absolutely ❤ Trader Joe's (or TJ's or "the Teej"). It is my go-to place for just about everything we consume. I've also been a fan of their "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" hand soap but I hadn't bought any of their other cleaning products before...

until today...

it started out when I had a looooong list of cleaning supplies that we ran out of and were in desperate need of. I searched the weekly ads and didn't find any outstanding deals so just decided to head to TJ's and then maybe go to CVS for the rest of the supplies later.

Well, Cutie Face declared she had to go "peepee" upon entering Trader Joe's so we headed to the bathrooms.

Upon washing her hands in the sink (which she LOVED since they have a step stool for her!), I thought, why not just get all my cleaning supplies from the Teej?

So that we did:

The best things about their stuff is that it
1) SMELLS GREAT (if you like lavender, which i do, so i'm in good shape)
2) is affordable
3) is funny...case in point, the tissue box:

absolutely

hilarious

& true

and, when we woke up this morning, we found that even the Trader Joe's balloon wanted to get in on the cleanliness fun:

Cutie Face thought that was quite a trip!

November!

Wow. i cannot believe it is already November!

We crammed a lot into our 1st day of the 11th month...first, i crammed Cutie Face in her room. We bought a baby gate a loooong time ago but never thought to use it for our super small apartment.

As fans of BabyWise, we are also fans of individual playtime. Cutie Face, however, likes to be near us at all times so J and i thought a babygate in her room would allow her to see us (and vice versa). And it would encourage her to play on her own.

At first she thought it was...interesting...?

then she got really sad about it & wouldn't stop asking "up. PLEASE."

Church came...and Cutie Face went. As in, J took her home mid-service because she was on the verge of massive meltdownS. Sadly, that meant J missed the sermon (I was on nursery duty so i missed it anyway).

However, the kiddo rallied after a nap and we set out for a Fall tour of Inman Park. Of course, we hit a playground...and J took a turn on the swings:

Then they played on the slide

until they found a ladybug...

J placed it on Cutie Face to which she promptly responded with a "No. No. No?"

there is also a duck pond near the playground

and cute, friendly doggies:

After the playground,

we viewed a house that was on the market,
in our price range
and supposedly 4 bedrooms...

though it seems REALLY small:

Mainly, though, our first day in November centered around taking pictures of the gorgeous fall foliage...that i just can't get enough of!

See this tree?

J had the brilliant idea of making me lie down under the tree
and shooting up, like so:

While he and Cutie Face watched from the sidewalk,

I carried on with his instructions...

It was a great way to welcome November!