something corndog this way comes...

it's our last few days in this little half-house. here is a stop-action sequence of Otto in our living/dining/kitchen room. you can cut it out and make a flip book. Ot got a cool guy haircut this week. i am really loving it, but dudes, he is getting so big and how it makes me catch my breath. i will never stop saying those words. so big! will i still feel this reeling feeling of wonder/love when i look at him when he's thirty? i bet the answer is yes. but let's not talk of such things (it kinda hurts). here, flip.

he has the haircut of every skater boy i ever had a crush on in junior high. and the character Keanu Reeves played in Parenthood. and George Mcfly! all of whom went on to become presidents of the united states of america. amen.

while doing this little routine he told me, "i'm on the loose!". <-- ha!

errrrm... and you can see that we've made incredible progress boxing up all of the things.

on the agenda for this weekend we have the county fair (yesyesyesyesfunnelcakesandcorndogsyes!), a trip to Portland for a much-loved friend's baby shower (♡), and boxing up all of the things. 

i'm really excited about all of it. this is a much-looked-forward-to weekend. last year when the fair was in town i was 3ish months pregnant and pre-gall-bladder-surgery and i couldn't eat a thing, not fried Pepsi, not pizza cup, not butter wads, nothing yummy. this year i will EAT the fair! 

when i was a kid we never really went to the fair. i remember hearing about it but not really knowing what it was all about. i went once with a church group when i was about 14 and my parents sent me with $5 (no joke) which meant i had to choose between getting a hotdog or going on one ride. just kidding, i got a fountain soda. sooooo... now that i've hit the fair scene a few times as an adult, i am just all for the fair. i love seeing all the animals, the quilts and crafts, the rides, the games, the food, just all of it. it feels timeless and charming and fun and i'm so excited to make going to the fair an annual tradition in our house. also tomorrow i will EAT the fair! just to be clear.

what's everyone up to this weekend? is it fair season in your neck of the woods? xo

haircut!

i jabber with wild abandon on here so this is about as close as i get to a wordless wednesday post, but this picture from ot's haircut on saturday is one of those "worth a thousand words" ones. so without further ado (ps. hope you're all having good weeks!)...

impressed? or soooo not impressed? or blue steel? haha!

oh, ps, if you don't mind. a vote? i used to be ranked a lot higher then i got all depressed and dropped the blog for a few months. anyways, if you'd click and then click the owl on the left that would be so awesome of you. thanks!

shaggy boombastic

after...

we're growing Ot's hair out. i have this dream of having a blonde-haired blue-eyed little hippie urchin cutie pie running around Oregon with belled out corduroys and flowy tendrils peaking out from under a woolen cap. the thing is, bangs-and-mullet-wise, we've been going through somethin' of an awkward stage lately. like he's been looking shaggy and neglected (or so says Nana with her eyes, tsk tsk). so we trimmed it up yesterday, just removed some of the mangey mullet in back and shaped the rest a bit... and now?.. duh! he looks super cute. but if i'm being totally honest? i think he might also have Jennie Garth's haircut from the last season of the old 90210. whatever... the "Kelly" was a cute haircut.

before...

this here pic is from Ot and mama's breakfast date Tuesday morning. i just love this pic, haha! because Ot looks like a 45 year old cheeto-eatin beer drinker who just saw his curling team win some curling something something on ESPN. right? oh boy. but we really did have a fun breakfast...

i let him drink straight applejuice. which is basically baby crack. then i let him try my pellegrino --> he loved it! he kept saying, "yucky ewwwww," then taking another sip and laughing like crazy. it was pretty much a magic pellegrino moment.

then he drove his tractor along the "roads" on the wall for a while and i snapped a shot of his soon-to-be-less-mangey locks. while chowing down on a sourdough egg&cheese sammy.

now just waiting for his stinkin bangs to grow out!
-lindsey

CLOSED - This Ain't Your Mama's Review & It's Not Your Mother's Giveaway! Fonzie!

Not Your Mother's - Styling Products...

Beach Babe Texturizing Sea Salt Spray - 2 Reviews:

We were sent 2 bottles of Not Your Mother's "Beach Babe" Texturizing Sea Salt Spray to review and this worked out perfectly because I was headed to the San Diego beaches to visit my mama friend Annie. I brought along a bottle to try out while there & then left it with Annie so she could try it out and write her own review. I kept the 2nd bottle at home and I'm not sharing! I love it!

Note that Annie and I have completely different kinds of hair so although we both have positive reviews, it's nice to note that this spray worked well for both of our hair types.

Annie's Beach Babe Summation:

Not Your Mother's "Beach Babe Texturizing Sea Salt Spray" touts itself as giving your locks an I-spent-the-morning-at-the-beach allure. Which indeed it does, as I witnessed on the waving tresses of the lovely Lindsey when she and her family were visiting us here in San Diego. I, however, have no natural wave to speak of. Also, I always wear my hair up in a bun or chignon as I have a super-strong ten month old son who LOVES to pull it! I wouldn't normally pick this product for myself for the aforementioned reasons, but it turns out it is great for me! In addition to being super straight, my hair is also super fine and slippery, and it is constantly falling out of its 'do. When I use this spray, it adds a nice texture to my hair so that when it is in its perpetual up-do it stays put--amazing! Without the spray, it falls out all day long. A real pain. "Beach Babe" has a nice limey, coconut scent that floats around your head, not overbearing, just light and tasty. In conclusion: a keeper.

My Beach Babe Experience:

I thought it would be more fun to give my review in pics. So I documented my hair stylings the other day and plus I'm getting all crazy with the photo editor lately so it gave me an excuse to go nuts on these! So here's my review:

In other words, I really love it! It smells like summertime: coconut, salt, and flowery sweet.

How to Buy It:

You can purchase the whole Not Your Mother's line of products on the DeMert Brands website HERE. 

How to Win Your Choice of 2 Not Your Mother's Products:

The Giveaway - 1 winner will get their choice of 2 styling products from the Not Your Mother's line:

- She's a Tease - volumizing hairspray

- All Eyes On Me - shape & shine hairspray

- Beach Babe - texturizing sea salt spray

- Beat The Heat - thermal styling shield spray

- Smooth Moves - frizz control hair cream

- Kinky Moves - curl defining hair cream

How to Enter:

- Mandatory First Entry - leave a comment telling me which 2 Not Your Mother's products you would choose if you won. It's that easy!

Additional Entry Opportunities:

- Follow Not Your Mother's on Twitter (2 bonus entries) (if you already follow that counts too)

- Follow @OttosMomBlogs on Twitter (2 bonus entries) (if you already follow me that counts too)

- Tweet about this giveaway with a link to this page in your tweet. In your comment below make sure to put a link to your tweet (up to 3 bonus entries per day - 1 per tweet - 30 mins apart or more please)

- Like Not Your Mother's on Facebook (2 bonus entries) (if you already like them that counts too)

- Like TidbitsParenting on Facebook (2 bonus entries) (if you already like us that counts too)

- Follow this blog via Google Friend Connect (2 bonus entries) (if you already follow us that counts too!)

- Grab the TidbitsParenting badge (on the right) and in your comment leave a link to your badged up blog homepage (4 bonus entries) (if you've already got the badge that counts too)

Please Note:
Just remember to leave a comment for EACH entry. For example, if you follow us on Facebook since that's worth 2 bonus entries make sure you leave 2 comments for that.

Make sure that I can reach you if you win - via email or Twitter. We will contact the winner on September 1 and they will have 48 hours to claim the prize or we will choose a different winner.

Giveaway ends at 11:59pm Pacific Time on August 31st. We will use Random.org to choose a winner and will verify that the winning entrant has played by the rules so it only makes sense to be honest!

The opinions expressed here are 100% my own and the fabulous Annie's.

AND THE WINNER IS VHUBLER WITH COMMENT #41! CONGRATS! WE'LL CONTACT THE WINNER VIA EMAIL!

- Lindsey