Saturday, October 26, 2013

In Case You Were Wondering... A Steam Vac Review

It takes a one year old less than 3 minutes to squeeze out an entire tube of makeup foundation all over the carpet. It takes about 5 hours to clean up said mess- just in case you wondering.

I happen to know, because this is what happened at my house this week.  In the mornings, I often times will put C in my bedroom/bathroom while I get ready. I have usually showered by this point, but this particular morning I had not and decided she would be fine for a few minutes... I can see her from the shower... how much damage could she do? RIGHT?!?!?!

I get out to notice my foundation smeared all over C's clothes.  I then notice its in the bedroom. I didn't panic too bad... it was my fault for leaving her unattended and I didn't think it would be that hard to wipe up.  I scoop up C and strip her down and head to her room for morning nap (it was time anyway) and notice makeup ALL down the hallway You see, little miss had the tube in hand and crawled all over the bedroom and hallway. Every time she put that hand down, it squeezed out onto the carpet. This was a brand new full tube of waterproof foundation. Excellent.




I started to panic when my trusty Spot Shot carpet cleaner wasn't cutting it. This stuff gets up EVERYTHING. I immediately got C up and ready and decided to head to the sitter early (I usually let her nap first and then take her over after.)  I was going to rent a carpet shampooer from the store, but it was the same price to buy a steam vac. {P.S... I had to show the house to a potential renter at 1:00!! Less than 5 hours after the "incident!"}

I got the thing home and got to work putting it together. I decided on the Hoover Steam Vac. I got it at Walmart on sale.  It was not the most expensive, but not the cheapest model they had. Normally, I would have ordered something like this off of Amazon and read hundreds of reviews, but time was not on my side, people!  The unit was easy to put together... I'd say It took me 10 minutes to assemble and 3 minutes to mix the solution and I was ready.

At first... disappointment. The vac didn't touch the spots. I went ahead and went over the areas and emptied the dirty water container.  And then... excitement... at the GRIME that was collected. Lots of dirt, yall!

It was gross, but I love a good cleaning so it made me a little happy. Especially since we just bought a new place (more on that soon) and I was going to pay to have the carpets cleaned... I think at this point I'll do it with my new vac.  So... there were STILL spots and I STILL had to show the house.... panic started to set in! I was convinced I was going to have to hire someone or worse- replace the carpet! Then, I decided to do a good ole' vinegar/water solution instead of the included shampoo.  It got a little better... but still spots! And then... I got out trusty Spot Shot... sprayed... then sucked up with the hand tool. Voila! Like magic, the spots. were. gone. I was happy! I was thrilled! I may have kissed the vacuum!  I probably spent an hour total on the carpet, then another 30 minutes once I realized the Spot Shot was working. (There were a LOT of spots.) Finally, just in time for the potential renter to look at the house... except they didn't show. Grrrrr.

Here are some after shots:


This isn't how I pictured my morning, but I was thankful the crisis was averted! I'm sure this is the first of many shenanigans for Caroline. 


{This is not a paid review and 100% my opinion of this product.}

Caroline's First Birthday Party

We celebrated Caroline's first birthday the weekend before her actual birthday in Benton.  It was a {small} gathering with family and close friends. It was supposed to be small, but we have a lot of family and close friends!  I went with a gold/pink theme and simple.  I had dreams of a huge bash and even considered (and purchased) supplies for 2 parties- one in Benton and one in Fayetteville- but with everything we had going on, decided one party was plenty for a one year old.  At first I hated not having our closest friends in Fayetteville there to celebrate, but in the end I'm so glad we kept it small- ish and had our families there.





 The fabric and monogram are from Caroline's nursery. The high chair was Adam's when he was a child.

 Our favorite desert... strawberry cake made by a lady in our home town. It is to DIE for! C loved it too! A friend made the cookies and cake pops.  I kept it easy with food- pizza and salad.





Mommy and baby

Poppa and C

One of my childhood best friends and her niece

C and Cece

My uncle and cousins

C's Poppa took us on a hayride






C and her Benton buddies. I love these girls and their mom's SO much!
Happy Birthday, sweet Caroline!



Tuesday, October 22, 2013

First Birthday

Caroline turned one on October 16th. She woke up to a birthday banner and presents!


I took the day off of work, C skipped her morning nap and we met a friend at the Little Gym. It was Caroline's first time and she LOVED it!



Miss Becca came over after lunch and brought some goodies including this super cute coffee filter wreath! She is so talented!

We had a nap and then headed to take family pictures.  I could not be happier with how they turned out... especially since it was FREEZING outside. Here are a few of my favorites...







After pictures we headed to our favorite Mexican place for dinner and cake. We had such a fun day with our sweet girl.  I can't believe I have a ONE year old!