The 12 Days of My Hiatus

Oh where, oh where has Sweet Leigh Mama been? EVERYWHERE! I haven't posted for over a month... but I'm back in action. And I thought I would give you a glimpse into the craziness I call life with a little song {to the tune of "The 12 Days of Christmas}. Feel free to sing along : )

On the first day of my hiatus, my crazy life gave to me... a baby with a craniotomy.

On the second day of my hiatus, my crazy life gave to me...
*...100 dissolveable stitches, and a baby with a craniotomy.



On the third day of my hiatus, my crazy life gave to me...
*...utter and pure exhaustion, 100 dissolveable stitches, and a baby with a craniotomy.

On the fourth day of my hiatus, my crazy life gave to me...
*...a smiling & happy Deacon, utter and pure exhaustion, 100 dissolveable stitches, and a baby with a craniotomy.

On the fifth day of my hiatus, my crazy life gave to me...
*...one positive pregnancy test {WHAT?!}, a smiling & happy Deacon, utter and pure exhaustion, 100 dissolveable stitches, and a baby with a craniotomy.

On the sixth day of my hiatus, my crazy life gave to me...
*...an appointment with my O.B. {How exactly did this happen?!}, one positive pregnancy test {WHAT?!}, a smiling & happy Deacon, utter and pure exhaustion, 100 dissolveable stitches, and a baby with a craniotomy.

On the seventh day of my hiatus, my crazy life gave to me...
*...a "fun" hystrosalpingogram {OUCH!}, an appointment with my O.B. {How exactly did this happen?!}, one positive pregnancy test {WHAT?!}, a smiling & happy Deacon, utter and pure exhaustion, 100 dissolveable stitches, and a baby with a craniotomy.

On the eighth day of my hiatus, my crazy life gave to me...
*...a negative HCG test {PHEW!!}, a "fun" hystrosalpingogram {OUCH!}, an appointment with my O.B. {How exactly did this happen?!}, one positive pregnancy test {WHAT?!}, a smiling & happy Deacon, utter and pure exhaustion, 100 dissolveable stitches, and a baby with a craniotomy.

On the ninth day of my hiatus, my crazy life gave to me...
*...two of three NY houses under contract {YIPEE!}, a negative HCG test {PHEW!!}, a "fun" hystrosalpingogram {OUCH!}, an appointment with my O.B. {How exactly did this happen?!}, one positive pregnancy test {WHAT?!}, a smiling & happy Deacon, utter and pure exhaustion, 100 dissolveable stitches, and a baby with a craniotomy.
 
On the tenth day of my hiatus, my crazy life gave to me...
*...a booming Etsy business {Anyone need a wreath?}, two of three NY houses under contract {YIPEE!}, a negative HCG test {PHEW!!}, a "fun" hystrosalpingogram {OUCH!}, an appointment with my O.B. {How exactly did this happen?!}, one positive pregnancy test {WHAT?!}, a smiling & happy Deacon, utter and pure exhaustion, 100 dissolveable stitches, and a baby with a craniotomy.

 On the eleventh day of my hiatus, my crazy life gave to me...
*...glass shards in Paigey's big toe, a booming Etsy business {Anyone need a wreath?}, two of three NY houses under contract {YIPEE!}, a negative HCG test {PHEW!!}, a "fun" hystrosalpingogram {OUCH!}, an appointment with my O.B. {How exactly did this happen?!}, one positive pregnancy test {WHAT?!}, a smiling & happy Deacon, utter and pure exhaustion, 100 dissolveable stitches, and a baby with a craniotomy.

On the twelfth day of my hiatus, my crazy life gave to me...
*...4 dissolveable stitches {this time for Paigey}, glass shards in Paigey's big toe, a booming Etsy business {Anyone need a wreath?}, two of three NY houses under contract {YIPEE!}, a negative HCG test {PHEW!!}, a "fun" hystrosalpingogram {OUCH!}, an appointment with my O.B. {How exactly did this happen?!}, one positive pregnancy test {WHAT?!}, a smiling & happy Deacon, utter and pure exhaustion, 100 dissolveable stitches, and a baby with a craniotomy.


Like that sneak peek?! For the next few days I'll expand on each of these incidents. Fun times : )

xoxo,
Sweet Leigh Mama
aka Erica

Anyone Looking for a House (or 3) in the NY Area?

My family's official migration to the South is almost complete. And I couldn't be happier! I started my migration away from the icy, snowy, freezing winters of New York in 2001 when I started college in Southern Pennsylvania. But it was still snowy there and still cold. So after college I moved to Washington DC for a short time. Lo and behold, it was still freezing : ) So as luck would have it I fell in love with a Southern boy and moved down to Atlanta in 2005. And I've been here ever since - happy as a clam. And as I built my life here over the last 6+ years, I longed for my family to be closer. And this summer my dream came true - my sister and her family moved to Atlanta!! My Grandma is also here now. And soon my Mom and Step Dad will be here as well. YAHOOOO! Which leads me back to the title of my blog post: Anyone looking for a house (or 3) in the NY area?? Yup - that's right. All three houses are still for sale at this moment in time. BOO : (  So I figured that out of 25,000 readers (can you believe there are that many of you following Sweet Leigh Mama? YAY!) a few of you may reside in the Hudson Valley area of New York state, or may know someone who is looking for a house in the area. So in an effort to make the official New York to Atlanta migration complete, here are MLS postings for all three houses up for sale. It's kind of like a real life HGTV House Hunters. Enjoy! : )

House #1:  Port Jervis, NY (12771)
$149,900
3 bedrooms / 2 bathroom

Click Here to view Property 

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION - Located on an oversized lot on a quiet residential street this three bedroom home is a great investment. This charming two story home features three spacious bedrooms, large living room, formal dining room, spacious eat in kitchen and two full bathrooms and laundry room. Home also features hardwood flooring throughout and a partially finished basement. Exterior of home will sport a new fresh coat of paint and also features a large yard with patio. This is a solid home located in a great area of Port Jervis and is priced aggressively to sell. Invest in your future and stop paying rent while the interest rates are at their lowest in history.



House #2: Montgomery, NY (12549)
$169,900
3 bedrooms/ 1 bathroom

Click Here to view Property 

Impeccable Village of Montgomery Ranch. This home features a beautiful kitchen w/stainless steel appliances spacious living room new thermo windows hot water heater interior doors and trim water conditioner new bathroom central air conditioning huge deck overlooking very lush landscaped backyard. Very large basement that can be easily finished. This home needs nothing just move in. Come see!



House #3: Slate Hill, NY (10973)
$279,900
4 bedrooms / 2 bathrooms

Click Here to view Property 

Absolutely stunning gorgeous sprawling ranch - Award Winning Minisink Schools - This beauty features large formal living room w/lot's of natural sunlight formal dining room beautiful gourmet kitchen w/granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. Huge bedrooms w/oversized closets. Master Bedroom and Master Bathroom Suite. Both bathrooms feature granite tops and imported tile floors. Massive family room. 4th bedroom. 2 car oversized garage. Central air conditioning. Party Deck. All situated on over 1.1 acres of lush landscaping. Rocking chair front porch. All blacktop driveway. Don't miss this home. One of the nicest homes you will ever see!

Falling In Love With My Skin

Thanks to Walgreens for underwriting this post. I was paid as a member of the Clever Girls Collective, but the content is all mine. Visit http://moms.dailybuzz.com/channel/style.

A few weeks ago I wrote about my new semi-obsession with my skin (Click here for a refresher: Do I Have Time To Worry About Wrinkles?) So since then the seasons have officially changed and any semblance of a tan has faded back into the paleness that consumes my skin 8 months out of the year. And now in addition to worrying about potential wrinkles, I'm face to face with dark circles under my eyes from stress, brown spots on my right cheek that appeared when I was pregnant with Miss Paige and some lovely red splotches on my forehead and chin that I'm still a little perplexed by. So when Walgreens asked me to discuss the ways I'm "falling" in love with my skin this autumn, I realized I was going to have to dig pretty deep to muster some positivity about my appearance. One glance in the mirror and I knew I needed to give my daily beauty and skin care routine a serious 180. And what a better time to do it than fall - the unofficial "new year".

Besides my obsession with preventing wrinkles, my summer beauty routine has been non-existant. Which is sad since I moonlight as a freelance make-up artist (from which I am taking a brief hiatus until after Lil D's surgery and recovery). But I'm inspired to step it up a little (especially now that I know my make-up won't melt off the second I step out the door). However - the last thing I want to do is look like I'm about to hit the clubs in Midtown when I'm really just heading to the grocery store in the burbs. So I have to keep it simple. Here is what I'm thinking....

1. My to-die-for anti-wrinkle toner (yes, I am still obsessed)

2. A smidge of moisturizer (too much and I'll break out) to take care of the red spots

3. A super light foundation to cover the spots, freckles, etc that have accumulated over the last three years of pregnancies (I've always been a fan of Loreal's Visible Lift because it has the most natural pigments in my opinion)

4. A quick brush of powder to smooth everything out
5. Bronzer. Can't forget the bronzer.

6. Mascara - a thickening and extending one that adds definition (BTW - at some point over the last year my eyelashes turned blonde. Muy disturbing and random, I know.)

7. A neutral (just a shade darker than my actual lips) lipstick.

Oh - and I know this doesn't have anything to do with make-up or my skin - but I've just got to do something about my ridiculously gray hair. So a trip to the salon to get some nice low lights is definitely a must over the next week or so.

And there you have it.: my official plan to step it up in the appearance department this fall. I figure if I can pull it off 4 out of 7 days in a week, I'll be in good shape. At least when I leave the house. Although I'll still be in sweatpants - maybe I'll work on sprucing up that part of my life next spring : )

 

Thank you to Walgreens for sponsoring this blog post. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.