Happy Halloween!

Jared and I aren't huge dress-up fans. Probably because of this experience we had with an ugly sweater party once.

Now, have you ever seen a cuter cow with such long skinny legs and fashionable boots?!
No. You have not.
And how about that pumpkin in Jared's arms? He's the best in the patch, that Mr. Warner!

expose yourself

Baha, that post title sounds so provocative! I bet you all were really excited for a good story, but alas, I have none. Unless Evelyn lifting up her shirt to show every possible stranger her belly button counts, which is embarrassing because she pulls it up all the way to her neck and seems as if I'm teaching her to flash. Nope, we're just still excited about our belly button 5 months after discovering it. and even more excited that brother has one, too.

I took off the month of October from offering sponsorships, but we're back in business! So please consider "exposing" your blog or business. I've made some changes to how I'm running ads. I'm trying out passionfruit for the first time to see how I like it. You can find out the info HERE! I look forward to getting to know some of you better and hopefully help you grow your shop/blog!

P.S. we made it through the storm without the loss of power and are safe and warm. I could not believe it. That makes my last post sound over-dramatic, but I know that millions of others were not as fortunate as we were. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!

bunkering down

Sooo we're bracing for a storm of epic proportions here on the East Coast. Sandy is supposed to rip through DC this morning with chaos and power outages uninvitedly tagging along. You may recall that the last time a monstrous storm hit, I was pregnant with Warner and alone with Evelyn while Jared was in Argentina, so I'm already counting on Sandy being more bearable for me seeing that I'll have a husband this time around. And if we do lose power for a couple days, atleast we've got our friendly punkin as our lantern. Yeah, our creative juices weren't flowing Friday night when we were carving. Typical one tooth pumpkin. Eh, Ev thought it was fancy shmancy just the same. 

Here's to bunkering down for terrifying winds, meals cooked on a propane stove, fire in fireplace for actual heat this time and not just for fun, hundreds of dollars of refrigerated and frozen groceries perishing, and most of all some crazy wicked family time by candle light. Bring it on, Sandy!

Shabby Apple Giveaway! {CLOSED}

Today we have a lovely giveaway from Shabby Apple! I first have to vouch and say that I bought this dress for my bff's wedding and I am completely in love with it! I am always swooning over their retro and vintage dress collections. However, right now I am actually wishing for this maxi skirt. So chic, right?

Shabby Apple is offering one reader a $50 gift card!

Want to snatch up one of these pretties? Here's what ya gotta do:

Leave a separate comment for each entry:

1. Visit Shabby Apple and pick their favorite dress (MANDATORY)

2. Like Shabby Apple on Facebook 

3. Tweet about your giveaway

4. Blog about your giveaway

***Only entries from readers with USA shipping address at this time.

Winner will be drawn one week from today. As a bonus, Shabby Apple is offering a 10% discount to Little Almanac readers for the next month with the code littlealmanac10off. Best of luck!

who do I thank for this?

I need to thank whoever invented instagram. I love capturing and sharing all those moments that seem too minute to whip out the big slr, but precious/funny/beautiful/delicious enough that they need to be documented. All the above are little moments that captured my heart {or tastebuds :)} and make me so grateful for this life. Even when the two little babes get shots together. That is priceless.

***disclaimer: what is not captured in these photos are all the hard times. Like right now, when Evelyn has refused to nap multiple times over the past two weeks. Don't give up those 3 hr sleeptimes, little gal! I need that break now more than ever!

we be slidin'

You'll notice these pictures are saturated with three things: the vibrant color orange, sunshine, and lots of smiles.

On Friday night after we left a very successful evening at the fall festival, Jared turned to me and thanked me for the fun. Yes, it was I who provided the massive seven slides, the farm animals, the hayride, the cider, the pumpkin patch, the little western town ... or maybe I just provided the tickets. Regardless, yes, dear, I will take the credit for our fabulous evening. Friday night was one of those nights where we went to bed thinking "dang, we are awesome parents." It never gets old seeing your kid's face light up.

{some of you have asked about how I do gifs. I make mine in photoshop, but you can also make them for free here}

one month.

I spent the other night looking through photos of Evelyn at this age, trying to spy any sibling resemblances and to refresh my mind of what we have coming up ahead in the next couple of weeks with Warner. Questions like "when will he start smiling?" and "was Evelyn this chunky?" were answered by flipping through memory lane. To my surprise, Evelyn had more hair to begin with than I had remembered. I know! Evelyn have hair? I dare say she {barely} did. Warner had a beautiful fauxhawk going on, until he decided to be an older gentleman and let it fall out on top, so we are working with a very receded hair line at the moment :) It's quite distinguished.

I'm looking forward to what month number two has to bring to the plate. I'm excited for the cooing and the grinning to start. I'm also excited to get this boy growing out of onesies and on to bigger, more stylish things :) I'm excited to see his daytime sleeping hours diminish and watch him take in more of this big beautiful world.

happy one month, son!

you asked, so I delivered...

I told you last week that we attempted make-shift family photos and that the photos didn't turn out so hot. In my crazy mind I thought "hey, let's try this again!" this past Sunday, and we got pretty much the same results, except for maybe 3 saving shots. Some of you asked to see what those "disaster images" looked like. Behold the glorious madness of containing both a bobblehead gassy infant and a restless, curious, late-for-her-nap toddler!

how you like dem apples?

I love to bake. However, the problem with me and baking's relationship is that a) I have to do everything JUST right; leave one thing out and I can kiss my should-be-yummy dessert good bye. and b) I have to be patient, which, let's just be honest, I am a very get-that-in-my-mouth-ASAP kinda woman so... yeah, patience not my thing. So when I saw this pin for an apple tart that requires no effort at all yet pops out looking divine, I knew immediately that this would be the fate of our hand-picked apples from Saturday. And what a good fate it was :)

Quick and Easy Apple Tart

Originally from Pioneer Woman

Ingredients
1 whole Sheet Puffed Pastry, Cut Into Half Or Thirds
4 whole Apples, Cored, Halved, And Sliced, But Not Peeled
1 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt

Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 415 degrees. Place puffed pastry rectangles onto a baking pan that’s been sprayed with nonstick spray. Add sugar and salt to apples. Stir to combine. Allow to sit for a few minutes. Arrange apple slices on the pastry rectangles in a straight line, overlapping as you go. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until pastry is puffed and golden brown. Remove from pan immediately and place on a serving platter. Serve plain, with caramel topping, whipped cream, or a sprinkling of powdered sugar.

to the orchard, said I!

I know, I know! Another post in this blogging world about apple picking, but we couldn't say no to the craze! It's one of the reasons I wanted to move to the East Coast, after all. Let me tell you what I was thinking Saturday morning when I woke up.

"Ok, self. Do you really want to drive an hr with two kids, knowing full well that before you get to the orchard you will have a screaming newborn and a squealing toddler asking you to sing "Sally the Camel" and "Old McDonald" the whole car ride? And with our luck, there will most likely be minimal apples left in the orchard. Our feet will be disgustingly muddy. Our hands and nosies will be frost bitten. And do you really want to take your newborn out in the cold? Will the apples to be too pricey for our budget? Is it really worth it? Maybe we should just stay at home and eat pancakes this morning!"

If you haven't taken note already, my brain is kinda nutso. I think of every possible outcome and always prepare for the worst. Mostly because experience has taught me that traveling with a kid {even to the grocery store!} is no easy feat. {Actually, I've gone grocery shopping TWICE now with the two kids and it's been delightfully easy!.... so far....} So, my heart sang a little happy tune inside when we a) arrived to the orchard earlier than anticipated and without a fit b) apples were still on the tree c) Evelyn LOVED it, minus the loud tractor that she must have thought was out to get her d) gorgeous sunny weather. I mean, I felt like the luckiest person on earth to be out with my little family, in a little orchard, picking little apples with my little baby asleep on me, making little but memorable memories.

P.S. Can you tell that Evelyn is a totally Daddy's girl now?  I LOVE IT! And I think she's got dad wrapped around her finger, too ;)

a year older

So Sunday morning Warner must have been so excited to know it was his momma's birthday, because at 12 am on the dot he proceeded to ring in my 26th year with tears. Maybe to him they were tears of joy, but to me [the sleep deprived mom], it was 5 hours of complete agony. I already said this on facebook yesterday, but by golly I will take the toddler over newborn stage any day.

One thing I wanted for my birthday was a family photo shoot with all four of us. Well between bribing Evelyn to sit and smile with chocolate chips, Warner screaming his head off, and me repeatedly adjusting my skirt, we came out with some great shots. Oh wait, no.. we just captured each scene EXACTLY HOW IT FELT. When I was going back and looking at them later to edit, I just laughed at how real they were. And I kinda loved it. NONE of them turned out, but they just perfectly captured the crazy life that is ours right now.

And I shall say that the best present of all was the love of my husband. Corny, corny, wah wah. But oh how nice it is to know that there is always someone there for me, someone who will talk to me in funny accents, and someone I can xxooxxooXoXXx whenever I want to.

Oh, and howdy funfetti cake! I'm so glad you were in attendance at my burfday and that I ate way too much of you. Here's to being one year closer to 30!

spreading the news!

Thrifting is all the rage these days. If you thrift something, you go out of your way to let someone know that you didn't pay full price for that awesome Gucci bag or pair of Banana slacks. It's like you earn extra mega-cool bucks for being cheap and {the word most people like to toss out when talking about thrifting and often mis-use} "vintage." I admit I feel validated after scoring terrific finds on clothing that others deemed unworthy, especially when I find overalls as cute as these for Ev. You'll even notice I gloat about them being thrifted in the comments!

Well peeps, I want you and I both to earn some extra mega-cool bucks both literally and figuratively by spreading this news. What if I told you that there was a way for you to thrift without leaving the comfort of your own home? That you could dress your kids for half the cost this fall? That you could get $10 free credit for joining the movement? Last month my friend introduced me to ThredUp, which is practically an on-line thrift store for kids! I was able to order 7 things for Evelyn for $33! All good quality with brands like Zara, baby Gap, Gymboree, etc. So why am I sharing this with you? Because I want to let you in on this deal. The deal: if you are interested in signing up {it's free}, I can send you a link and you will receive a $10 credit. You can visit thredUP directly, but you will only receive the $10 credit if you sign up through the link I send you. If you order over $40 you get free shipping. If you use the code FAN10, you get 10% off your order. If you spread the word to your friends, you get a $10 credit when they make their first purchase! It's a fab deal!

If you're interested in getting started and earning $10 credit toward thredUP, email me directly at littlealmanac@gmail.com. I'll get the link to you ASAP! Happy thrifting and Happy weekend :)

** this is not a sponsored post!
***clothing pictured are items I purchased for Evelyn

two weeks.

Last night I can't count how many times I told Jared "look at how big he is!" It was like throughout the day yesterday he just grew and grew. His face looked fuller, his legs longer, and his eyes more alert from the time the sun came up to the time it went down.

I'll be honest and say that having a newborn the second time around isn't as magical as it was the first time. Not that Warner isn't a great baby, but I'm so busy now juggling two kids that I don't have time to sit and admire every squirm, every hair, every dimple like I did with Evelyn. Because of this balancing act that I'm in throughout the day, dusk is Warner and I's time to shine. Last night the kid was lucky enough to have me sing a solo of "pumped up kicks" for him as I puppeteered his little body. Mother/son bonding time, how else should it be done? ;)

Two weeks old already, huh, Mr. Warner? I am so looking forward to what you have in store for us. If you're anything like your sis, we are in for some wildly good entertainment!

a how-to by Evelyn

If you couldn't tell from yesterday's post, Evelyn LOVES cookies. I'm proud to say she gets that from her mama. We make cookies quite frequently around here. And in case you are in search of the best chocolate chip cookie recipe like I was just over a year ago, look no further. We use this bomb-diggity one. It is 100% da bestest.

see here for more of Evelyn how-to's.