The Thing About Parenting...

You know, you read eight million books while you're pregnant + ask all of your mommy friends for advice so that by the time your sweet peanut comes into the world you think you're super prepared. Too bad you were wrong. The thing they don't tell you about parenting is that really you are undergoing more vigorous activities than Olympic athletes. No really, parenting legitimately should be an Olympic sport. Let me give you some examples why.
1} You give up sleep. Like for 18 years. Even if you're blessed with an angel baby in the sleeping department, guaranteed you will never sleep as well as you previously did. In the early days its out of fear/nerves. When you reach toddler-Dom it's because after the little one goes to sleep you have to be productive and REclean the house that your wildabeast destroyed all day or anything else you had high hopes of doing during waking hours. I'm not even going to breach teenage years, I know how bad I was so I am bound to suffer through some hellacious years with BK.
2} You get way more physical activity than you used to pre-baby ( even if you don't go to the gym anymore). I am constantly on the go with BK. For one, she has the attention span on a peanut so we are constantly changing activities. For two, she has the ferocity of a hurricane and creates similar paths of destruction that I continuously run around trying to clean up. Lastly, when IF you eat it is usually a much more wholesome meal. I cook better for BK. Toddler eating is a fight of its own, but on the days that she does eat I have to be sure to get the best food possible in her. Therefore you eat better too.
3} Changing a diaper 100% should be an Olympic sport. Once your child surpasses the age of four months they no longer lay sweetly and coo at you while you change their diaper very easily in about 30 seconds. They start kicking + bucking + rolling + arching, pretty much doing anything that makes it impossible for you to smoothly and efficiently change a diaper. You're forced to resort to extreme tactics. Bribery works well. The "evil eye" is hit and miss. Sometimes i enlist extra help so i dont get hit by a flailing limb. But at least once a month, at least in the summertime, you have to add in he dreaded diaper cream to equation. It's cold, it's thick, and its messy. Sounds fun right? It's not. Well not until I was introduce to Dr. Smith's Diaper Ointment. It has been our saving grace this summer, especially with all of our time on the go. We keep one in the swim/beach bag and one in the diaper bag. I highly recommend it!
And now Dr. smith's is available nationwide at Walgreen's stores, and you have the chance to celebrate their new venture! You can win a $50 Walgreen's gift card and a supply of diaper rash cream! Just enter using he widget below. You won't regret it!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

4} Children make EVERYTHING better. Literally everything. Though things may take more planning, the joy you get in return is SO worth it. I have never been happier. And hey, winning an Olympic medal must come in pretty damn close to parenthood.

So tell me, what were you surprised to learn about parenthood?

This post was sponsored by Dr. Smith's but all thoughts are my own.

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I'm back and bigger than ever

Hello again! So so happy to be back y'all. Life has just been really eventful, and to be honest I havent wanted to miss a second of it. Sometimes it's good to unplug, don't you agree? I promise to update on all of the wonderful things that life has thrown our way lately, but first I want to kick off my return with a bang. How would you like to win a Vino2Go XL or a Brew2Go? I get to give away both! One person will win the Vino2Go and one will win the Brew2Go in the colors of their choice.

I know y'all have read about my love of the Vino2Go before, and now it is back and even bigger than ever. The Vino2Go XL holds 12oz opposed to 8 and still comes in all of the fabulous colors.

But now, the amazing people at The Product Farm have also created the Brew2Go. Stephen was so excited when I gave this to him, and he has happily toted his sippy cup all around. He can't wait to use it at the Blake Shelton concert next month. They really are fantastic.

Enter below to win of the two for yourself! {obviously I felt the need to share my love of The Product Farm for all to see on Instagram}

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is a sponsored post. All thoughts are my own. 

Check out my amazing sponsor:

So You Had a Baby... Now What

I'm linking up with the fabulous Kaitlyn over at Wifessionals for part of her baby series. 

Today they're discussing bringing a baby home and surviving the first few weeks. We got discharged from the hospital on a Friday, Brooklyn was two days old. 

Our first weekend home was actually really nice. My dad and Stephen's mom both brought food, and Stephen was home with me as we got acclimated to being a family of three. Then Monday came and S had to go back to work. I was terrified. I was also sick. I had ten long months to get accustomed to the idea that I was having a baby, but now I had no idea what in the hell I was supposed to do. Here are my tips for your first few weeks at home.

-Relax. It is scary knowing that you are in sole control over the precious life of your little one, but I promise that it will all be ok. Take a deep breath. Take it moment by moment. Your mama intuition will kick in and you will know what to do.
-Process. Having a baby is a massive life change, give yourself some time to take it all in. You might have some baby blues, you will d.e.f.i.n.i.t.e.l.y. be emotional. All of that is totally normal.
-Create a routine. Initially baby will sleep a LOT. Maybe you will nap some, maybe you won't {it's ok if you do though}. You can get yourself into a routine even if baby isn't. Blog during the first nap, prep dinner during the second. Set yourself up for some future normalcy.
-Enjoy. Babies grow so so so fast. Treasure every coo, every gassy smile, every tiny cry. You will blink and your baby will have changed tremendously. So it's ok if you sit on the couch and watch tv just holding your baby for hours. It's ok if some days you dont shower until your husband gets home. Time goes all too quickly, enjoy this while you can.

Most of all just know that whatever you're doing is okay. The first few days I was in shock, and I cried a.lot. I cried over how blessed I was, I cried over how beautiful my daughter was, I cried because I scared. I cried over everything. Eventually my shock went away, I felt more in control and I was able to venture out. Just know that every baby and every mama is different, so take things as they come for you. Your baby will just be happy having you there.

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I also want to introduce you to two of my fabulous sponsors Katie and Katy! They are chatting a little about their spring plans.

Check out my amazing sponsor:

Long Distance Love

This week we found out that the husband is going to be traveling quite a bit for work the next few months, he's gone for twelve days in May and almost all of June. Now we live in a very military heavy area, many of my closest girl friends are navy wives and some of my very best Biffles {Samantha & Kaitlyn} are army wives, so I do not take my time with S for granted. I'm trying to go into it really positive, because being a Negative Nancy doesnt get you any where and I know that S is a little anxious about leaving us as well. We're going to try and have a few date nights before he leaves and a few more when he is back for the two weeks before leaving again. I'm also going to try and tackle a bunch of Pinterest ideas that I've saved. And more than likely this blog is going to get LOTS of love, not to mention BK is going to be smothered in affection. I'll be doing anything to keep busy, which shouldnt be too terribly hard with a toddler running around.

What would you do with your free time? I'd love some suggestions, anything from Pinterest ideas to recipes to mommy daughter dates. Or any ideas to keep the spark up long distance with S.

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I also wanted to introduce two of my fabulous sponsors Nicole and Alexa as they talk about what they are looking forward to most this Spring. Arent they the cutest?

Check out my amazing sponsor:

Catching Up

This week has been filled with anniversaries, perfect temperatures, beach days, and lots of use of our grill so please pardon the silence that occurred on this little blog o' mine. Starting next week I have a really awesome "blog flow" setup that I'm going to start using, and I think that it will help give my blog a good consistency and give me a little more organization for regular posts {Shout out Meagan for the inspiring ideas. So be excited for next week! My new sponsor spots will finally be up too.

Here are some fabulous posts that I almost missed out on during my sebatacle:

-The recipe for this amazing Grilled Mac N Cheese that I am totally making on my diet cheat day next week
-Katy is fundraising for a second trip to Africa, and she reflected back on her last trip
-I got to learn a little more about this super funny lady
-And today is the last day to enter the Carmex give away here. I know I always have bad chapped lips in the summer

And now for some Friday Letters

 

 

Dear Hubs- I can't believe it's already been two years of wedded bliss! I love you so much. Lets renew our vows soon k?

Dear BK- Walking?!? Really? How are you so grown? You consume so much of my heart I cant even stand it.

Dear warm weather- Thank you so much for finally showing up! Please stick around

Dear allergies- Booo you whore

Dear Salt- I am super excited for you to open! I cant wait to attend Friends and Family night tonight. So excited for my friend Ashley and her husband on this new venture!

Dear Lauran- Lets get to planning on that fab dinner party!

Dear Ashley- I just love you so much! We didnt get to talk much this week and I miss you. Can't wait to finally hang out this summer. 

 

How not to fail at your guest post

I have had the honor of my sidebar holding the most wonderful ladies that choose to advertise with me. They are all truly funny and great women. Today's love is the fabulous Kiersten. And I have to say, her topic... GENIUS! Now go read and find out or yourself.

So I know what you’re thinking - who is this chick, and where’s Brandi? Well I’m Kiersten, and Brandi was sweet enough to let me take over for a day. I know, I know - you can barely contain your excitement, right? Okay, maybe not - so let me tell you why you should stick around.

First, some introductions. I blog over at Good Day Sunshine where I write about life (my own, and the general concept), my seemingly never-ending search for love, flowers (and recently, the fact that it’s springtime and where are the flowers?), and of course, The Beatles, all with a touch of what I falsely believe to be humor and whit. If you’re justdying to know more (because I know you all are), you can hop over to my about me

I’ve been blogging in this space for a little over a year, but that definitely wasn’t my first time on the merry-go-round... I started blogging back in 2009, and trust me - there have been too many blogs to count between then and now.

In all that time though, I’ve only written one guest post before this one (and trust me, you don’t want to read that train wreck, circa 2010). I think I feel out of my element - as though I’m in Russia trying to introduce myself to someone who doesn’t speak English. I feel as though everyone is going to know I don’t belong, and will resent my presence here. (Crazy, I know - you all love me, right? Right?)

So up until Brandi offered me this opportunity, I’d avoided guest-posting like the plague. I think though, that I’m beginning to feel comfortable enough in my own skin to try this party out, and I have the perfect idea too:

Kiersten’s Tried and True List of Ways to Fail at Guest Posting:

(1) Have no idea what you’re going to say. Just ramble for a bit and turn it into a 5-paragraph essay. Everyone loves those!

(2) Be a little bit neurotic. Rewrite the post about 30 times, with about 30 different concepts. And then, once you’ve mailed it off, bite your nails off worrying that you should have stuck with concept #17. Obviously, that’s the best way to write isn’t it?

(3) Wait till the last minute to write the post. You wouldn’t want to give yourself too much time to work on anything, would you? And speaking of procrastination, I have a great list of ways to do that right over here

(4) Try to write as though you are the blog-owner. I know you probably have your own “voice”, but check that at the door!

That’s all I’ve got for that, guys. But if you’re looking for more (and let’s be honest, I know you are), hop on over to my little space and read up!

<3 Kiersten

 

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I have a vegetarian baby

Truth. I think my baby is a vegetarian. This doesn't bother me except for the fact that I dont know very many recipes to keep her satisfied. 9 times out of ten that I offer her meat {unless it is Chick Fil A and even then she will only eat so much}, this is the reaction that I get...

Ok, not really, but she does turn her head and clamp her mouth closed. She will go to town on some fish, veggies and carbs though. To be honest, it doesnt completely surprise me. For one, I hated meat when I was pregnant with her. Like I probably ate meat less than a dozen times the whole ten months. And even now I'm still not a huge meat eater. Unless we're talking about Chick Fil A or seafood. Every once in a while I will get a hankering for a nice juicy steak, but it isnt very often. I dont eat ground beef at all. Most chicken meals I make are kind of carb and veggie heavy because I tend to fill up on more carbs + veggies than chicken. So maybe she kinda gets it from me. Maybe she will grow out of it. I dont know.

I do know that I am thankful for summer. With summer comes better fruits and veggies and much better seafood. So our options are about to expand. I do need to grow my vegetarian recipe collection though. Are any of yall vegetarians or know any super yummy meatless meals? I'm open to all suggestions.

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I also wanted to introduce some of the fabulous ladies that have graced my sidebar this past month!

My sister from another mister, Ashley from It Is What You Make It

My favorite part about spring is the beautiful flowers that it brings out. People seem to start taking time to literally stop and smell the roses. I love seeing families out taking pictures in the bluebonnets that we have all along every road in Texas. 

My go to spring recipe or cocktail.....hmmmm good question.... I'll have to go with a mojito... I could sip them all day while sitting by the pool or the beach or on our boat. hehe 

My staple piece in my spring wardrobe are my fuschia pants or my white tops. I have an obsession with white tops and LOVE wearing them during spring with fun colors to spice it up a little. 

Kiersten from A Good Day Sunshine 

1) My favorite part of spring is that everything starts blooming again, and the snow finally melts.

   2) I know it's not really a recipe, but I seem to eat more fruit in the spring and summer.  I guess it's the warm weather.

   3) My spring wardrobe staple is Flip flops.  Everything else seems to change from year to year, but you'll always find at least a few pairs of flip flops in my closet.

Lacey from Charm and Sass

1) My favorite part of Spring is all of the festivals!

2) My favorite recipe is my mother in laws' noodle salad. No one makes it quite like her - it's so fresh and light. I can't get enough!

3) My Spring wardwrobe staple are my flip flops, but then again, they are always my staple piece :)

Sponsorship

I'm going to get real honest with y'all, lately I have not had the best experience sponsoring blogs. It's a total bummer too. I mean I shell out my hard earned cash for those advertising spots, so it is really disappointing when people dont follow through with their side of the bargain. The upside to that though, is I know exactly what I want to do for the people who choose to advertise on this little blog of mine.

So with that being said, beginning in April my sponsor spots are going to change. I never want anyone to feel disappointed in choosing to advertise here. One of the greatest perks of the blogging world is the community and how supportive {most} girls are to each other. I know I haven't been on the scene for too terribly long, but I do want to make the most of my little space. So as I go about setting things up for changes I would love your input. What do you want out of the blogs you sponsor? What blogs have you had the best experiences with?

Weekend Wrap Up

Hey y'all! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend, I know ours was simply fabulous. I'm actually joining the Weekend Wrap Up for the first time! Woo hoo

Friday we got a new back door installed, woo hoo for home improvement. Then the baby and i ran some errands and did some shopping. Friday night we met back up with daddy and had a super delicious dinner out. It was a wonderful end to our day! Especially the creme brûlée lol.

Saturday morning I woke up early and had to run one billion errands. Then we headed to BK's bestie's first birthday party. We had so much fun celebrating Miss L turning one! Bk just laughed the whole time!

After the party BK and I got in the car and hit the road. We came up to the mountain for a little bonding and r&r before the big birthday. She did great on the 3.25 trip, and we grabbed some dinner to go. We got settled in the cabin, ate our pasta, and then hopped in the jacuzzi tub. It was devine and we both slept hard. Today we woke up to beautiful views and took our time getting our day started. We went to the little mountain market and made lunch, we took two naps, and we built lots of blocks. Then the Gigi got in town! We went to dinner & checked out the waterpark for tomorrow. Bk squealed when she saw it, I cannot wait to get her in there. Then we came home to the cabin for another jacuzzi bath and some play time before bed.

It was the perfect weekend, And I plan on making the rest of the week perfect as well!

A few things:
-Daisymae is home! We are so happy to have our sweet puppy back. She was taken care of by the sweetest family too. God was watching out for her. Thank you all so, so very much for your words of love and encouragement! You have no idea how much they meant to me.

-I am five people away from 500 readers! I could not be more excited and humbled. I am so thankful for y'all and the relationships I've come to form through the blogging world. As soon as I reach 500 I'm going to be doing a huge giveaway. Would y'all be interested in participating? Its going to be good, I promise. Please email me {brooklynstateofmindblog at gmail dot com} if you want to talk details

-In honor of BK's birthday all ad spots are 25% off using code Brooklyn. Snatch them up while you can. I plan on changing my sponsor spots around a bit this spring.

-BK turns one in three days! How is that possible? I brought lots of crafts with me to work on. There will be nothing but fun and focus on BK on Thursday so I'm trying to get my duties out of the way.

How was your weekend? Do you have any big plans this week? What would you like to see in the giveaway? {people who host can enter too}

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January Giveaway

Today my super fabulous sponsors are hosting a giveaway for you! I'm super excited to bring this to y'all.

Tara from Faith, Hope, and Mommyhood is giving away a Scentsy plug in and two bars.

Katie from Life with the D's is giving away a custom hand stamped initial necklace from her shop.

Joanna from ModaMama is giving away a month of cool ad space.

You know you want to win this loot.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

*I'm going to be changing up my sponsor options in March and that month I will also be having a HUGE giveaway in honor of BK's birthday. So hop on my sponsor options now. For the next week you can get 30% off using code football*

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Cherry Cheesecake Dip + A giveaway

Today the fabulous Tiffany is taking over my blog. Y'all this recipe looks delicious! I will definitely be making it for the super bowl.

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Hello Brooklyn State of Mind readers! I am excited to be featured here today. My name is Tiffany and I blog over at Little Gems. To avoid a really long, boring introduction of myself I am going to pretend I am limited to 6 phrases. Here goes:

Follower of Jesus  

Wife to an awesome man for 5 years

Mommy to a 6 month old beauty

Nurse extraordinaire (not really) 

Lover of Coffee

Etsy Shop owner (Little Gems Creations)

There you go, that's mostly it. As you can imagine I blog about all sorts of family and mommy things. Of course I can't resist showing you a picture of my little family so here you are...

Today I have 2 awesome things for you readers today! The first is an absolutely yummy recipe for Cherry Cheesecake Dip and the second is a giveaway! 

Let's Get Started

Warning: This recipe may sabotage any New Years resolution to stay away from sweets. 

 Cherry Cheese Cake Dip. I have made this dip on several occasions, for parties and family get together's and the like. Each and every time I come home with an empty dish with only a few sad crumbs in the bottom. Everyone always raves about it and I just do an evil laugh to myself because I know how easy it is to make. You can see the original recipe here. This lady gets all the credit for it. See, it's not even an original recipe and people still think I'm a genius when they taste it. 

You will need:

1 box of Graham Crackers (I used Honey flavored but any kind will work)

2 tubs of cool whip (I used generic)

1 block of cream cheese

1 jar of Marshmallow fluff (aka heaven in a jar)

2 cans of Cherry Pie filling

*These ingredients were enough to make 2 small dishes or 1 large dish.

Steps

Crush a sleeve of Grahams and pour into bottom of dish, smooth down

Mix Cool whip, cream cheese and Marshmallow fluff in a big bowl

Layer that on top of the crushed grahams (be careful when you smooth this layer down not to mix the crushed grahams in, you have to be delicate) I divided this between 2 dishes.

Pour 1 jar of Cherry Pie filling on top. If you make a large dish you would but both jars on top. 

Break apart the rest of your grahams to dip with and enjoy!

I have tried this dip at room temperature and after it has chilled over night, both taste great!

Now for the giveaway.

Because I love the nail polish craze that is currently everywhere you look (I may or may not have a Pinterest board devoted to it), I have decided to give away 2 fabulous colors : Grey and Mint, 2 full size nail files, and a 5 piece pedicure set. Who wouldn't want that? So Enter away! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Celebrity List + A Sponsor Spotlight

Last night as I sat drinking my wine and having my weekly date with the Salvatore brothers I got to thinking about my "list." You know, your celebrity list. The 5 people that you could hook up with should the occasion ever arise and have absolutely no repercussions whatsoever from your husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, significant other. Stephen and I both have a list, but to be honest we are so grossly obsessed with each other that it is probably a moot point. It's funny because some of the girls on his list completely baffle me. I just don't see how he can like them and be married to me. Kim K and I both have the ghetto booty thing in common, but other than her I don't really get his choices. To each their own right? And I guess that's the whole point of the "list."

On my list is:


1. Ryan Gosling
-I mean, I don't think he really needs an explanation.
2. Ian Somerhalder
-I have a thing for bad boys. And those eyes, ooooo those eyes.
3. Channing Tatum
-Look at that body, and the boy has some serious moves. In Magic Mike he popped his body in ways that should be illegal.
4. Tyrese
-Remember the song Sweet Lady? Ya that came out in 8th grade and I fell in love. He sealed the deal in all 800 Fast and Furious movies.
5. Mark Wahlberg
-The man has aged WELL! I mean who didn't love Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch? I was only five, but still...

So apparently bad boys do it for me. But the best of them all is this man right here

Oh hubs, you just give me tingles all over!

So do you have a list? Who's on your list?

I also wanted to take a minute and introduce the fabulous ladies of my sidebar to y'all.

Meet Michaela

PreppyHouseWife is a lifestyle blog about me, my husband M, and our puppy Reese living the preppy good life in the suburbs of Boston. A lot of style, a little dreaming, and a ton of monograms.

My guilty pleasures: Mac and Cheese (could honestly eat it every day), fancy workout clothes from lululemon (nothing inspires me more to get to the gym then wearing lulu), and house porn (I am obsessed with searching real estate listings for our dream house).

Meet Tara

I blog at Faith, Hope, and Mommyhood. A corporate fitness gal turned stay at home mom/newbie blogger! Having a blast with our baby girl, Tallan Hope, and loving all the milestones I get to experience daily. I am a lover of fitness, dogs, DIY, and living the good life with my high school sweetheart hubs.

 

My 3 guilty pleasures?

* Chik Fil A cookies n cream milkshakes

* Any corny scary movie

* Vampire reading material (Sookie Stackhouse, Twilight, anything!) LOL

Meet Katie

Hi, I'm Katie! I blog over at Life with the D's. I blog about pretty much anything and everything! I have two fur babies and have been married for almost 10 years. I'm currently a stay at home wife and have a small business called Katie Bug's Custom Creations where I make Hand Stamped jewelry, name/word and picture blocks, and much more!!

My three guilty pleasures are....

MTV trash TV, A good book (wife porn :-) haha), Husband

Meet Joanna

Hi I'm Joanna, an actor and photographer trying to live a full and fashionable life. My blog is filled with daily outfits as well as the awkward and often sarcastic musings on life and the grand scheme of the universe. Don't I sound profound? Trust me, the reality is far from it, but it might make you laugh.

Three guilty pleasures:
1. Jigsaw puzzles - addicted to doing them online.
2. re-runs of BSG - best show ever!
3. Dark mint chocolate - delicious!

Be sure to check out their fabulous blogs & let them know I sent you!