BOO!!!

'

HAPPY HALLOWEEN from Monkey Man!!!

The holidays are near - Celebrate with Shutterfly!

It's almost November!!!

Oh my, where did October go? :)

My friends - It's the most wonderful time of year --

THE HOLIDAYS are near!!

Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years -

Just thinking about them fills me with Cheer!

The holidays mean Parties, Cards & Presents!

and Shutterfly is always a part of all 3 for me!

Every year we buy my parents one of those awesome Picture Calenders!

It used to be pictures of my sister and I when we were younger -

a nice flashback that my parents loved!

But this year - as expected - it's all about monkey man!!

 I'm having a hard time deciding between the traditional Wall Calender!

Or the new awesome Desk Calender!

Then there are the Cards!!

It's our first "Family Christmas" - so the card has to be perfect!!

They have soo many beautiful ones!

I love the monogram look of this one!

So Preppy!

But then I love how this one is so trendy with the "Subway Art" look!

But maybe we'll spice it up and send Thanksgiving Cards instead!!

Or maybe both!!!

You can never have enough pictures of monkey! ;)

and how adorable are these?

No matter what you Celebrate this Holiday season,

Pictures make everyone smile!

So I'm sure that Shutterfly has something for you!

3 Giveaways!

I've been working really hard to bring y'all some awesome giveaways!!!

Here at DOPM, we're making Mondays a little more exciting!

Mondays are Giveaway days!

and right now - we've got 3 straight weeks of giveaways! :)

Just in time for the Holidays!!

Monday, November 1st - Little One Books Review & giveaway!

Monday, November 8th - Little Green Books Review & Giveaway!

Monday, November 15th - Happy Baby Review & Giveaway!

You don't want to miss these!

Are you interested in hosting a giveaway on DOPM for your Esty shop or Company? Email me!

A little of this and that!

This week has been super crazy, so I haven't done a ton of crafting ...

but I did manage to whip up this delicious cheesecake yesterday!! 

I'll have to share the recipe next week!!! :) It's Amazing!

So besides baking - what else has been going on around here?

well, LOTS!

Little monkey man has an pneumonia - so Monday & Tuesday were filled with hospital trips, catheters, blood samples & x-rays! It was really scary but 3 days of antibiotics later - he's feeling better! :) Thank you God!

My husband has 2 of his college roommates visitng for a LONG weekend -- which means we now have 4 kids in the house ;) (jokes. sorta!) But monkey is really loving "hanging out the guys"! (and I'm loving my alone time!)

My mom is flying into town Saturday to see Monkey on his 1st Halloween - so we are very excited about that! You know what that means when mom comes into town ... BABYSITTER = Date night!! ;)

Celine Dion named one of her twin babies Nelson .... I'm such a trendsetter! :)

I've completed ONE Christmas gift (for my 4 yr old step-brother)! I'm taking the homemade pact this year and hoping to make the majority of my gifts! I think it means so much more!

Then I added a few more last minute Halloween Decorations ...

Spooky Spider Silhouette Wall Art.

New Family Pets! :)

Cob Web Creepy Candles.

So yeah, like you, we've been busy!

But I'll be back to crafting/blogging Monday in full force!

with a GIVEAWAY!

Bee Friendly Friday Follow CO-HOST!

I'm so excited to be the very 1st Co-Host of the Bee Friendly Friday Follow

over at Crazy about my Baybah!!

If you haven't checked out her blog, you're missing out! It's awesome!

Want to make some new blog friends?

Want more Followers?

Want to be inspired by others amazing crafts?

Then come and link up! :)

and don't forget to stop back by on Monday -
Diary of a Preppy Mom is hosting 3 straight weeks of awesome giveaways!!!

New look.

Notice something different?

Yup - DOPM is slowly getting a facelift!

what do you think of the new look?

Be honest. I can take it! :)

Is the argyle background too busy with the argyle header? :)

too matchy matchy?

Do you like the colors?

Bold eh?

I think they shout "preppy" without screaming Target Baby Aisle pastel blue or Sorority Green/Pink.

Am I right?

I would love some feedback!

Crawl in Comfort: Baby Knee Pads.

Nelson is officially VERY mobile!!!

He's crawling everywhere and getting into EVERYTHING!!

(he is so mobile in fact - that at times
 I wish it was socially acceptable to crate train him) :)

We have LOTS of hardwood floors & hard tile throughout the house -

and since Nelson is a Mama's Boy -

he needed some padding for those sweet little knees,

so he could hit the tile in style!

So in about 5 minutes, I whipped up some Crawler's Knee Pads!

Want to make some for your cute little crawler?

What you need:

- Nursing Pads (or batting would work too)

- Material - I used shirting knit but anything would work!

- Elastic (4 pieces about 4" for 2 knee pads)

Cut Fabric circles a tad bit larger than your nursing pads.

If you're using batting - my circles are about 4".

Make a Knee Pad Sandwich  --

Fabric Circle (right side up), Elastic (2), Fabric Circle (right side down), Padding

Sew around it, leaving a 1" opening. (back stitch!)

Flip right side out - sew around for extra strength!

These things will get lots of wear & tear!

That's it! You're done!

Put them on your baby and off he goes ... in comfort & style! :)

Oh - and be careful... because your little monkey may love these so much,

that he may take off after dinner before you have time to clean his face! :) 

But he's smiling and let's be honest -

that's all that really matters!!

Somtimes I like to party! Check out these great parties!

Wanna Swap??

I've noticed a lot of "ad swapping" happening out there in Blogland! I think it's brilliant! What a great idea - we all need to help support one another! That's what the "blog community" is all about, right?

So - is anyone interested in "ad space swapping"

with Diary of a Preppy Mom?

I even have a super cute new button.

How cute would that look on your sidebar? :)

How does it work?

- I post your 125 x 125 button under my "sponsors" for one month and you post mine! We would also each do a short write up about our "new sponsor". Easy right?! :)

*I ask that you have at least 300 Followers and actively blog (at least 4x/week, host giveaways or participate in blog hops/link parties, etc).

Do you have a new ETSY shop or a new blog?? Would you like to promote it here on Diary of a Preppy Mom? Rates start as low as $5/month!

If interested - please email me at

PreppyMomDesigns {at} gmail {dot} com

I'm looking forward to some exciting new opportunities!

New Orleans!

This post is about 2 weeks overdue but the task of picking just a few pictures seemed so daunting. And then I remembered - hey, this is my blog - I can do what I want! So I just picked LOTS of pictures! :) Beware, picture overload!

"It has been said that a Scotchman has not seen the world until he has seen Edinburgh; and I think that I may say that an American has not seen the United States until he as seen Mardi-Gras in New Orleans."  -- Mark Twain 1859

ok so we didn't exactly go during Mardi Gras but it was wonderful nonetheless!

My best friend Krystyn lives in New Orleans and since both Tarzan and I had never been we decided to make a quick trip out of it! :) I'm so glad we did, we had a blast!

It was an action packed two days ...

We went to this beautiful park near the Audubon Zoo right on the Mississippi River!

The weather was wonderful and Monkey had a blast -

He played with Mommy & Daddy ...

He played with Krystyn ...  

and he crawled all around eating Grass! :)

Then we stopped at this hole in the wall place for a Snow Ball!

My friends - if you find yourselves in New Orleans, you MUST try a Snow Ball.

It's like a snow cone - but 100 times better!

It's creamy and sweet and oh so yummy!

We took a late night stroll down the infamous Bourbon Street!

Monkey man had a blast "people-watching"!

and so did Tarzan!

That fancy glow-in-the-dark drink he has is a Grenade!

It's one of those "you have to try on Bourbon Street" drinks and it will knock your socks off! :)

The next day we strolled through Jackson Square!

Admired all the talented steet artists

(& avoided the creepy Fortune Tellers!)

and drooled over Hotdog vendors!

New Orleans is seriously so beautiful! :)

Then we stopped by the World Famous Cafe Du Monde

for some of their DELICIOUS Beignets!

Heaven.on.Earth.I.tell.you.

they are worth every bit of the 4000+ calories! :)

Monkey man LOVED all the live jazz music!

We strolled through the French Market!

I just LOVE Farmer's Markets!

had some "dressed Shrimp Po Boys" for Lunch at Johnny's!

and walked, walked & walked some more!

I LOVE all those Balconies & Ferns!

and by the end - Monkey was so exhausted he fell asleep in Tarzan's arms on the walk back to the car!

Thanks Krystyn for showing us such a great time!!!

We can't wait to come visit New Orleans again!!!